ã€ŠPet Kingã€‹


 Chapter 1: Amazing Fate Pet Shop

    <h4>Chapter 1: Amazing Fate Pet Shop</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    On the magnificent East Coast of the mothend, there was a quiet coastal city called Binhai City. It was beautiful, with arge economy and a slow pace of life. Binhai had an absence ofrge industrial enterprises, making it a suitable ce to live a peaceful life. In this quiet city, there was a small, unknown pet shop.

    This particr morning, a taxi parked in front of the pet shop. Zhang Zian got off, removed his suitcase from the trunk, and thanked the driver. As the taxi disappeared around the corner, Zhang Zian breathed in the salty air and looked up to see the pet shop sign: Amazing Fate Pet Shop. The shop doors were closed, and a small, in paper sign had two words on it: temporarily closed.

    He did not hesitate to tear down the notice, kneading it into a ball and putting it in his pocket, because this sign was one that he had posted. If one looked carefully at Zhang Zian¡¯s face, it would be easy to find that he had dark circles surrounding bloodshot eyes. Clearly, he hadn¡¯t slept very well for several days and had been depressed for a while.

    He pulled out the key, unlocked the shutter door, and then pulled it up, exposing a ss door. He then unlocked the ss door and pushed the two ss doors open. Because the shop hadn¡¯t been open for days, the indoor air quality was not pleasant. Holding his suitcase, he walked further into the shop.

    ¡°Wee home,¡± he murmured to himself.

    The Amazing Fate Pet Shop was as quiet as a graveyard¡ªno cats meowing, no dogs barking, and no birds chirping. There were only some empty cages and disy cases. Cat litter and bird droppings that hadn¡¯t been cleaned left an unpleasant odor. It seemed like the shop owners and the animals had left in a hurry.

    At this moment, Zhang Zian remembered that the pet shop had been very busy and lively, a variety of pet calls mixing into the ambient noise of the city. He shook his head, trying to put those memories behind him. He dragged his suitcase and walked up to the second floor.

    Entering his old room, he opened the windows and took the ck and white portrait of his parents out of his suitcase. After cing the portrait on the desk, Zhang Zian put his hands together in prayer.

    Shortly after Zhang Zian graduated from college, he found a decent job in another city. One night, he received the bad news that his parents had been involved in a car ident. He was devastated and rushed back to Binhai City. His father died on the site of the ident, while his mother was seriously injured. She had to stay in the ICU for a few days but, unfortunately, still passed away.

    This pet shop was the only legacy left by his parents. After Zhang Zian returned, he got a chance to see his mother onest time. The mother gazed into his eyes with urgency and said with a weak voice, ¡°Zian¡­ the pets in the shop¡­¡±

    He immediately understood his mother¡¯s words. The pet store had been left unattended for days, leaving all the animals starving and dehydrated. He hurried back to the pet store, only to find all the pets dying, just like his mother.

    In order to be with his mother as much as he could, Zhang Zian had to get rid of these pets. He had to either sell them at a low price, give them away, or set them free.

    After returning to the hospital, he told his mother, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mother! The pets are all right.¡± She then held his hands and passed away with a satisfied smile.

    Then there was the funeral which made him physically and emotionally exhausted. Zhang Zian was not sure at all what he was supposed to do to arrange the funeral. Luckily, his parents¡¯ friends, neighbors, and out-of-town rtives had all been very helpful. After a few busy days, his parents ashes were sent to the cemetery.

    Finally, Zhang Zian returned to the pet shop after staying in the small hotel next to the hospital for several days.

    The Amazing Fate Pet Shop had two floors. The pet shop was downstairs, and the living space was upstairs. The area was not toorge, but it was his parents¡¯ legacy after many years of hard work.

    At this point, Zhang Zian had two choices. He could either sell the shop or rent it out, and still keep his hard-to-get job, or he could stay in Binhai City and continue to run the pet shop.

    Although his parents owned the pet shop, Zhang Zian knew next to nothing about running a pet business; his parents didn¡¯t to distract him from his school work.

    Logically, Zhang Zian knew that he should have chosen the first choice.

    After days of not having a good meal, he decided to go eat first, leaving the decision forter. He had asked for one month of leave from his job. There were still a few days left, so he had no need to rush a decision. After all, one¡¯s decisions would often be irrational when one was hungry.

    Down thest step of the stairs, he saw a small silhouette sh by the ss door.

    ¡°Was there a thief? What could a thief steal in this empty pet shop? It would be very nice if the thief could steal the cat litter and bird droppings. That would save a lot of cleaning time,¡± Zhang Zian thought with a bitter smile.

    ¡°Who is it?¡± He asked in a higher pitch.

    A little girl with braids stuck her head through the door frame and timidly asked, ¡°Is¡­ the shop open yet¡­?¡±

    She was wearing a small yellow hat, carrying a pink backpack, and looked to be about seven or eight years old. Her eyes were wide open and her knees bent; she looked like a small rabbit who had just run into a wolf, ready to run away at any time.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t expect any customers toe this early. Giving it a little thought, he said, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s open. Pleasee in!¡±

    The girl hesitated to go in, looking confused. ¡°Are Uncle and Auntie there? The shop hasn¡¯t been opened for a few days¡­ Did the owner change?¡±

    Zhang Zian pondered for a moment and said, ¡°Oh, there is no change. It is my parents¡¯ pet shop.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± The girl was put at ease.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t turn on the lights when he walked in, and the morning sunshine had not shone into the shop yet, making it look dark and gloomy.

    The little girl walked in and looked at the empty cages and disy cases in astonishment. ¡°Where are all the animals? Where did they go?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you know? We had arge sale for all the animals a while ago.¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°That day the shop was full of customers. The prices were so cheap. Some were even lower than the cost prices and some were just given away for free.¡±

    The little girl shook her head. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that. I was not allowed to have pets in my house. I only coulde here to check on the animals before and after school every day. The uncle and auntie here were so nice to me even though I never bought any.¡±

    ¡°Ah, was that so?¡± Zhang Zian suddenly felt that he did not fully understand his parents. Why were they so in love with these pets?

    ¡°There won¡¯t be any more pets here, right?¡± The little girl looked up sadly at Zhang Zian.

    He thought for a while, then said with a grin. ¡°Of course there will, we¡¯ll have more very soon. Come back and check in a few days.¡±

    ¡°Really? That¡¯s awesome!¡± The little girl jumped up in happiness and eagerness. ¡°Well, I have to go to school now. See you, Mr. Manager!¡±

    ¡°Mr. Manager¡­¡± Zhang Zian sighed to himself. Irrational choices really dide with hunger.

 Chapter 2: Pet Hunter

    <h4>Chapter 2: Pet Hunter</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Zhang Zian decided to continue the pet store until he couldn¡¯t support it anymore. His parents had loved pets very much. If they were looking down from heaven, they would be sad to see the store go.

    Although it was a good wish, he knew nothing about running a pet store. There was a first time for everything, though; he believed he would find a way, one step at a time.

    His first goal would be rtively small¡ªto establish a solid footing in the city.

    He had a big breakfast at a street vendor and felt energized. He returned to the store, moved the cages and disy cases out, dusted with a broom, soaked the mop in disinfected water, and mopped the floor until it was nice and shiny. He moved the cages and disy cases back after the floor had dried.

    He also wanted to renovate the store, but he gave up on that thought after realizing the shortage in cash flow.

    When he was cleaning the store, some neighbors walked by and expressed their sympathies for his loss. Some neighbors didn¡¯t know him and just looked at the cages and disy cases with curiosity.

    When the sun started to rise, he finished cleaning. All the dust and odors werepletely gone, leaving only the fresh scent from the disinfecting water. It smelled just like before.

    His parents had always taught him to keep a clean mind and live a clean life.

    He had gotten all sweaty from cleaning the store. He moved the reclining chair to the door and rested for a few minutes.

    Now that he had decided to take over the pet store, there had to be some paperwork to handle. First, he needed to change the owner¡¯s name from his parents to his name on the business license. He was not familiar with the procedure, so he started researching online using his cell phone.

    ¡°I have to go to the notary¡¯s office. So much work!¡±

    In order to inherit and transfer the pet store to his name, he needed to get an inheritance notarization using his ID card, the deed for the pet store, and his parents¡¯ death certificates.

    Zhang Zian always tried to avoid dealing with troublesome matters like that because he hated them. He was not even sure how he made such an irrational decision like inheriting the pet store.

    He wanted to have a fresh mind and pull himself together. No matter how sad he was, he should not show his tears to the customers.

    He opened the app store in his cell phone and started a search with ¡°pet¡± as a keyword. He wanted to see if there was an app which would teach people how to run a pet store, although deep in his mind he didn¡¯t think he would be able to find it.

    Umm, what was that?

    A game with a ¡°limited time download¡± sign showed up in the search results.

    Some apps and software were free for a limited time, but this was the first time he ran into something tagged ¡°limited time download.¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    [Game Description]: This is a magical game! You can capture real or virtual pets in this game. You can even capture mythical creatures and turn them into your faithful friends or partners! Download now and run towards the sunset, young man!

    Ha!

    Heughed. He achieved his goal to freshen up his mood.

    Exaggerating! This was way over the line!

    It might be possible to capture virtual pets, but how was it possible to capture a real pet with a cell phone? It even mentioned capturing mythical creatures¡­ Unbelievable!

    There was a countdown next to the game, showing that there were only 00 hours, 00 minutes, and 49 seconds left to download.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see if this really is a ¡®limited time download¡¯!¡±

    He hit the ¡°download¡± button, and the download shortly reached full speed.

    This game was prettyrge. Hopefully it wasn¡¯t a virus!

    He hesitated. When he was about to cancel the download, it showed ¡°downloadpleted!¡± on his cell phone.

    Almost at the same time, the downloading page disappeared. The app store went back to the home page automatically.

    He put the keyword ¡°pet¡± in the search bar again.

    ¡°Oh really?! Nothing?!¡±

    The result showed nothing was matching his keyword.

    He didn¡¯t want to give up yet. He added ¡°hunter¡± after ¡°pet¡± as keywords, but still nothing came up.

    ¡°This game is really a limited time download¡­ What does the developer want?¡± he murmured to himself, confused.

    Developers made games for marketing. The more yers there were, the broader the influence. The broader the influence, the more money the game would make. Even free games earned reputation for the developer. Limiting the time to download meant limiting traffic. Who would do something like that?

    A dialogue popped up on his cell phone: Install?

    He chose ¡°Yes.¡±

    Installing¡­

    Instationpleted. ¡°Confirmed¡± or ¡°Open¡±?

    He chose ¡°Open.¡±

    Initiating game¡­

    The logo of ¡°Pet Hunter¡± showed up on the screen.

    [Game Hint]: This is an augmented reality game. It requires you to turn on your mobile camera and needs your location information.

    [Game Hint]: This is your first time entering the game. Please register an ount.

    [Game Hint]: ¡°Register for free¡± or ¡°Have an ount? Log in immediately.¡±

    He chose ¡°Register for free.¡±

    [Game Hint]: To ensure user uniqueness and login safety, we need to record your fingerprint. Please ce your finger in the fingerprint recognition area and record from different angles as per the instructions.

    ¡°Record fingerprints?! What if it¡¯s a scam¡­¡± He frowned.

    He used the fingerprints on his right hands for online banking. Just in case it was a scam, he used his left hand to record the fingerprints.

    [Game Hint]: Fingerprint recorded sessfully. Logging in automatically¡­

    The background looked like the deep dark night. A shining white light was jumping lightly.

    [Navigation Elf]: Hello! Wee to Pet Hunter¡¯s World. I am your navigation elf.

    [Navigation Elf]: I will try my best to assist you throughout the game. I hope that we can experience an extraordinary adventure together.

    The sudden voice caught him off guard. He almost threw away his cell phone.

    [Navigation Elf]: If you encounter any problems during the game, feel free to contact me!

    ¡°Ugh, is it the customer service representative? How do I contact her¡­I don¡¯t see where to input words¡­¡± Zhang Zian was speaking to himself, feeling confused.

    [Navigation Elf]: You may speak to me!

    ¡°Really?! You can hear me?!¡± he asked, once again surprised.

    [Navigation Elf]: Yes! I can hear you nice and clear!

    ¡°OMG! This is a 24-hour one-on-one customer service representative! No wonder the download was limited¡­¡± He shrugged his shoulders and thought, ¡°This game must be high in costs. Howe I didn¡¯t see the developer¡¯s name¡­ What is it? Hiding from fame?¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: This is your first login. Beforeunching the game, would you like to go through the beginner tutorial? Alternatively, you may skip the tutorial and start immediately.

    ¡°What¡¯s your rmendation? Is this game difficult?¡± he asked.

    [Navigation Elf]: You are unable to save your state during the game. For a better experience, I rmend you take the beginner tutorial.

    ¡°Okay, whatever you say. Let¡¯s start the beginner tutorial,¡± he said.

    [Navigation Elf]: Beginner tutorial starting, retrieving data¡­

 Chapter 3: Beginner Tutorial

    <h4>Chapter 3: Beginner Tutorial</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Zhang Zian stared at the screen curiously; he wanted to know what was so special about this game.

    [Navigation Elf]: You can capture real or virtual pets in this game, and even mythical creatures can be pocketed and be your faithful partners.

    [Game Hints]: Beginner Tutorial: Capturing a real pet.

    [Game Hints]: The name of the game is . The pets that are captured in the Beginner Tutorial are limited to regr pets such as cats, fishes, birds, and so on. Capturing insects, like ants and cockroaches, will not be counted aspleting the task.

    [Game Hints]: The rear camera is being turned on¡­

    The game started up the rear camera on his phone, which was simr to a normal camera phone. There was a translucent ball at the bottom of the screen with ¡°Capture¡± written on it.

    [Game Hints]: Keep the camera focused on the pet you want to capture and click ¡°Capture.¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled. It turned out to just be taking a picture of the pet, not a real capture. The game was too easy.

    If it was a while back, any of the pets in his store could have helped himplete the task, but now¡­

    ¡°Yes!¡± He had thought of a good idea.

    He jumped off the couch, hurried up the stairs, and took hisptop out of his suitcase.

    He turned theputer on and connected to the inte. After opening the search engine and selecting ¡°Image,¡± he searched for ¡°Cat.¡±

    A pile of cat pictures appeared on the screen.

    He erged one of them, held his phone and focused on it, and then clicked ¡°Capture.¡±

    [Game Hints]: Capture failed!

    [Navigation Elf]: Please capture a real pet!

    He patted his head regretfully, as he had forgotten that the game had one-to-one customer service rather than a stupidputer program. It wasn¡¯t easy to deceive.

    Looking at his watch, Zhang Zian found out that it was already past nine o¡¯clock in the morning.

    ¡°Oh, let me just go to the notary¡¯s office now to submit some paperwork. Maybe I will meet some real pets along the way!¡±

    Locking all the doors, Zhang Zian got on a bus heading to the nearest notary¡¯s office.

    He had no problems in the notary¡¯s office, as he had all the materials ready.

    After finishing up in the notary¡¯s office, he went to the Trade and Industry Bureau and Housing Authority to handle the business license and property transfer.

    Other than there being too many customers and not enough staff, it could be considered that he got things done pretty smoothly.

    It was about two o¡¯clock now, and Zhang Zian had to grab something to eat.

    Ready to leave after having a quick bite at a bistro, he noticed a pale-yellow stray cat, back hunched like a thief, jumping over the wall.

    ¡°Don¡¯t run! It¡¯s you!¡±

    He quickly took out his phone, started up the game, entered the interface, and clicked ¡°Capture.¡± But that cat ran away so fast he only caught some cat hair.

    [Game Hints]: Capture failed!

    [Navigation Elf]: Hunting target meets the task requirement! Keep it up!

    Chase! He had eaten too much for lunch; now it was time to digest!

    This stray cat must have had extensive experience tracking and evading the staff of the homeless-animal shelters. The cat soon realized someone was running after him, so he immediately sneered and chose ces that were difficult to walk through, like dpidated housing, the flea market, and construction sites.

    Like Mr. Shan Tianfang¡¯s storytelling during on morning radio, this stray cat could ¡°Jump up and down through the river and ocean and step on the feet of tall buildings.¡± It could ¡°Jump across the walls and run over the roof, the same as it walked on the ground!¡± Unbelievable!

    Zhang Zian was worn out. How could someone with two legs run as fast as something with four legs! Plus that cat with four legs didn¡¯t use ordinary paths!

    Damn it! If the beginner tutorial was this troublesome, how difficult would the formal tasks be?

    It could also be med on hisck of exercise, as he was now totally exhausted!

    Click! Click!

    He was running after the cat, holding his phone and looking for an opportunity to take a picture. Passersby all looked at him uprehendingly.

    At this moment, the stray cat sprang up and thennded on the ground. Zhang Zian seized the opportunity to capture itpletely onto the screen from behind, and then immediately clicked the ¡°Capture¡± button.

    ¡°Did Iplete the task?¡± he stopped and said to himself, wiping the sweat off his face at the same time.

    [Game Hints]: Capture failed!

    [Navigation Elf]: Must be a frontal HD photo!

    ¡°¡­¡± Now that put Zhang Zian in a bad mood!

    F*ck! This cat ran so fast. How could I take a frontal HD photo?

    [Navigation Elf]: The best military action is to defeat the enemy with strategy, followed by diplomacy, then by force, and finally by siege.

    [Navigation Elf]: You can change your strategy by not just chasing it, but also using something to attract your target.

    Zhang Zian paused momentarily and thought that was right. Why didn¡¯t he think of that?

    The stray cat saw Zhang Zian was not running after it, so the cat squatted down next to the wall to rest, its stomach going up and down.

    Zhang Zian thought that, since it was a stray cat appearing near a bistro, it might be hungry now. Why not use food to attract it?

    Anyway, he would not give up after chasing the cat for so long!

    He found a nearby store and bought a can of sardines.

    He got out of the store after checking out and found that the stray cat was still there, staring at him from the distance.

    He pretended to have lost interest in it, not even looking at it.

    He used the direction of the wind to find a corner of the alley, opened the can, and put it down on the ground. He then hid himself in another corner, ready to take photos.

    Five minutes passed, and then ten minutes¡­

    The aroma of sardines was blown into the end of the alley.

    However, the stray cat hadn¡¯te over yet.

    Zhang Zian remained calm, as he was aware that stray animals were very alert and not easily tricked.

    Now what he needed was patience, a lot of patience!

    He had nothing to lose since he had just had lunch and was feeling neither hungry nor thirsty. He had plenty of time to waste.

    Finally, the temptation of food beat the cat¡¯s alertness.

    A pale-yellow cat¡¯s paw was the first out of the corner, trying to get the can. But the can was a little too far away, and the cat¡¯s paw was not long enough.

    The stray cat couldn¡¯t help itself anymore and jumped out all of a sudden, its two front paws already on the can.

    At the same time, the well-prepared Zhang Zian jumped out from the other side, urately capturing the front of the cat on the screen, and then immediately clicked the ¡°Capture¡± button.

    Click!

    [Navigation Elf]: Congrattions! Goal reached!

    [Game Hints]: Captured! Nu Luctus Felis!

    [Navigation Elf]: You can now take your pet home!

    Zhang Zian put down his phone, satisfied, but found, to his surprise, that the can was still in ce, and the stray cat had disappeared!

 Chapter 4: Nulla Luctus Felis

    <h4>Chapter 4: Nu Luctus Felis</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Zhang Zian thought the stray cat had run away through the original path at the corner of the alley. However, when he looked back, there was nothing out there. It was impossible for the cat to have climbed up the wall, because the height of the wall was almost 2 meters. It would be easy for a stray cat to climb down from the wall, but it would not be easy for it to climb up.

    He looked around and found nothing on the ground, not even a piece of cat hair. There were very few people around, and nobody cared because it was a far-off, old residential area waiting to be pulled down.

    He swallowed his saliva and asked himself, ¡°Well, where did the cat go?¡±

    No one could be asked, not even a ghost, except for the navigation elf that could hear only his voice.

    [Navigation Elf]: You have caught the Nu Luctus Felis. Please check the Pet Bar if you have any questions.

    Zhang Zian saw an icon that looked like a little house in the upper right corner.

    [Game Hints]: Click here to open the Pet Bar.

    He clicked it.

    After the animation finished, the Pet Bar appeared.

    The Pet Bar was divided into two areas. The upper area was for real pets, and the lower area was for mythical creatures.

    Every area had 5 bars.

    The first bar of the real-pet area was upied by a khaki cat.

    He clicked the cat.

    [Game Hints]: Pet property

    [Common Name]: Nu Luctus Felis

    [Rarity]: None

    [Features]: Ordinary cat

    [Origin]: It is a second generation stray cat. Its mother was originally a home pet before being abandoned by its owner.

    [True Name]: None

    The cat became alive in the picture, stretching and yawning in the Pet Bar, clearly bored.

    ¡°Wait, I didn¡¯t mean this. I meant the cat, the real cat¡­¡± Zhang Zian said.

    [Navigation Elf]: It is exactly the real cat that you captured.

    [Navigation Elf]: Please bring the cat back home, as part of the novice tutorial. Later, you can decide by yourself whether to release it or keep it.

    [Navigation Elf]: Your question will be answered when you go back home.

    Zhang Zian stayed still for a while. He didn¡¯t know what he was waiting for or what he was expecting. He felt like he couldn¡¯t just wait, because the sun was going down. He decided to go back home first.

    He was rxed when he went out. However, when he came back, he felt that the cell phone in his pocket was extremely heavy. While sitting on the bus, he kept thinking about what had happened. It seemed unscientific.

    He returned to the store, seriously picked a seat, sat down, and started the game.

    [Game Hints]: You have returned to the starting point. Do you wish to set this location as your home?

    He clicked ¡°Yes.¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: Home, warm and sweet home.

    [Navigation Elf]: Wee home, novice adventurer!

    [Navigation Elf]: Your novice tutorial will end if you release the cat you captured.

    Zhang Zian noticed there was a little icon on top of every Pet Bar. The style of the icon looked like an open door.

    [Game Hints]: This pet is real. If you decide to keep it, please aim the cell phone camera toward the cage. Otherwise, please aim it towards any other space.

    He hesitated for a while, then aimed his cell phone¡¯s camera toward the door and clicked ¡°Release.¡±

    After he put down his cell phone, he, impressively, saw the stray khaki cat appear at the store door.

    The stray cat looked confused. He felt like he was just about to go to the swill bucket to find something to eat. Then he would meet the flirtatious cat who was raised by Mr. Wang nearby. Why did he appear to be here? Where was here?

    He looked around, then decided to run toward the sunset. He wanted to start his new life.

    Zhang Zian felt relieved because it was the same cat going in anding out, not some surreal monster.

    Although there weren¡¯t any pets in the pet store, he didn¡¯t intend to keep the cat; he felt it was weird, and the cat was a stray.

    He had never run a pet store or raised a pet by himself, but his parents had talked about pets every day during lunch and dinner. It was like an upational disease.

    His parents mentioned that, for cats and dogs, there was a critical socialization period after they were born where they could easily learn how tomunicate with human beings.

    For dogs, this period was between seven to fourteen weeks¡ªabout two or three months after it was born.

    For cats, the period was shorter and more advanced. That period was between four to eight weeks¡ªabout one or two months after it was born.

    During this period, if the kitten had frequent contact with human beings and was treated kindly, it would be strongly attracted and attached to humans. If it didn¡¯t meet with a human being within 10 weeks of being born or was treated maliciously, then it would be wary of, alert to, and afraid of human beings for its whole life.

    Maybe that was why many people took a stray cat home, only to find that, no matter how they treated it, it still held an unfamiliar attitude. As they would say, ¡°No matter how you raised the cat, it still felt strange.¡±

    Hats off to those who took stray cats back home. However, a pet store would be discourteous if it sold stray cats as home pets.

    Whoever went to a pet store trying to buy a pet, no matter if it was a cat or a dog, would hope to have the pet grow close to them. Nobody wanted to meet the situation above, so Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t keep the stray cat.

    Of course, if a cat was first a home pet, thenter abandoned, and eventually adopted, it could still get close to its new owner as long as it was not abused. However, the khaki cat was not on that list.

    If you want to run a pet store, you¡¯d better purchase the pets from a breeding base.

    ¡°What happened? Why did the cat disappear and thene back?¡± Zhang Zian expected to receive a satisfying exnation.

    [Navigation Elf]: That is the rule of this game¡ªcatch pets, regardless of whether they¡¯re real or virtual; even mythical creatures are included.

    ¡°What¡¯s the final purpose of this game?¡± Zhang Zian had to find out.

    [Navigation Elf]: This game is extremely free. The yer is not forced to finish any tasks, do anything unwillingly, or have a final purpose. The yer can y this game however he likes based on localws and social morality.

    Zhang Zian felt relieved. He didn¡¯t want to be led around by a strange game. Who knew whether it would lead him down the wrong path.

    [Navigation Elf]: As the reward for finishing the novice tutorial, you will get a lucky lottery.

 Chapter 5: Lottery

    <h4>Chapter 5: Lottery</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    ¡°Lottery?¡± Zian Zhang asked.

    [Navigation Elf]: Yes. This is your only chance in the game, and it is only offered to those yers who have finished the tutorial. Please be serious, as this is the only chance you have. The only one.

    ¡°Does that mean¡­ there won¡¯t be a bonus if I capture any pets in the future?¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: The pet itself is the bonus. Special pets have special abilities that are beyond your imagination.

    ¡°Okay¡­ when could we start? Now?¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: Anytime you like.

    ¡°Eh¡­ Maybeter.¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: After the lottery, we won¡¯t give any specific tasks, only providing information on the appearance of rare pets or mythical creatures. Capture or not? It ispletely up to you.

    ¡°By the way, the lottery. What can I get from that?¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: Any pet in the database, even those extremely rare mythical creatures.

    Zian stared at the blinking light for a while and asked ¡°By the way¡­ Are you the so-called 24-hour customer service? ¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: I am your navigation elf.

    He knew that he would not get an answer from the elf, and the conversation woulde to an end, so he turned off the game.

    The reason he didn¡¯t decide to go through with the lottery immediately was because he was never a ¡°lucky¡± guy. He never won anything like this, not even the lucky draw for a popsicle or a can of soda. Lucky draws always gave him a headache. Since this would be his only chance, he decided to pray for victory this time in a traditional way¡ªby taking a shower, changing into clean clothes, burning some incense, and having a good dream in the hopes of obtaining better luck.

    The next morning, he work up exhausted and felt sore all over his body.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t exercised in a while. I need to get back on track.¡±

    Why did he feel like this after only chasing that stray cat for a while yesterday?

    In fact, he didn¡¯t sleep wellst night, instead having lots of weird dreams. Various pets yed with each other in his dream and disappeared after a while.

    After cleaning himself up, he said good morning to his parents¡¯ portrait. Then he went downstairs to the shop.

    He nned to buy some pets from the breeding base after the lottery.

    ¡°Gameunched.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­ Lucky draw now?¡± he asked.

    [Navigation Elf]: Any time you like.

    ¡°Then¡­ now.¡±

    An extrarge block appeared on his phone, divided into innumerable smaller blocks, like a chessboard. He could vaguely see a pet¡¯s headshot in each block.

    [Navigation Elf]: You only need to say ¡°start,¡± and the game will traverse the entire database. When you say ¡°stop,¡± the cursor will be in the position of your pet.

    Zhang Zian looked at the watch and said, ¡°Start!¡±

    The cursor swung around the blocks randomly, left and right, up and down at a very fast speed. He saw the time reach 08:08:08 and said, ¡°Stop!¡±

    The cursor stopped.

    ¡°What did I get?¡±

    The block was too tiny to distinguish what was in it.

    [Navigation Elf]: Congrattions! ¡°Lucky Cat¡±!

    [Game hints]: Pet ¡°Lucky Cat¡± has been added to your Pet Bar, where you can always review it.

    ¡°Lucky Cat¡­?¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what to say; hopefully, this was not specifically making fun of him.

    Anyway, he wanted to take a look at the cat first, so he entered the Pet Bar.

    A ck and white kitten was in the first position on the Pet Bar.

    He clicked the kitten¡­

    ¡°Meow¡­ Don¡¯t touch me¡­!¡±

    It could actually talk!

    The kitten looked scared, with its body curled up into a ball, its forepaws covering its head, and its long tail covering its nose. It peeked at Zhang Zian through the cracks between its paws and tail on the screen.

    [Game Hints]: Pet property

    [Common Name]: Lucky Cat

    [Rarity]: Unknown

    [Features]: Able to turn bad luck into good luck

    [Origin]: Locked

    [True Name]:

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Tons of questions came to Zhang Zian¡¯s mind, but he had to solve them one by one.

    ¡°First of all¡­ how can this kitten¡­ talk?¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: The Lucky Cat you got is a mythical creature that has the ability to talk.

    ¡°Secondly¡­ what does it mean by locked?¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: That is because the favorability level between you and your pet is too low. Please try to improve that.

    ¡°How can I check the favorability level?¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: The favorability level cannot be quantified and is thus uncheckable. It is exactly like how you cannot measure how much you love your parents. There is no measurement for this. However, please try your best to improve the level until quantity converts into quality.

    ¡°Alright, whatever. The next question will be¡­ how?¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: Different pets have varied approaches. The yer needs to figure it out himself.

    Zhang Zian waspletely confused, as it had said nothing! It really was a challenging game.

    ¡°True name, what does that mean?¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: Every special pet has its own, unique, true name. Please keep it a secret, otherwise anyone can freeze the pet¡¯s actions.

    [Navigation Elf]: A true name confers true power. Knowing a creature¡¯s true name means having total authority to control the elf, even if releasing or imprisoning it.

    That actually reminded Zhang Zian that in western legends, there was a certain term called ¡°true name.¡± Maybe this game was using that term?

    Checking the time, Zhang Zian remembered that there were still a lot of things that needed to be done. He could not spend the whole day on the game.

    He tried to use the cell phone to search for ¡°pet breeding base¡± on a map app.

    In order to sell the pets, he would need to have pets first. No pets woulde from nowhere.

    There were two nearby breeding bases among those around Binhai City. One was located to the north, called ¡°Love Lovely Pet,¡± and another, called ¡°Pet¡¯s Home,¡± was to the south.

    When talking about ¡°pets¡± here, they were mostly referring to dogs and cats, while birds and fish were in another group.

    Zhang Zian just wanted to focus on dogs and cats for now.

    Based on the data from the Chinese Bureau of Statistics, China had the thirdrgest amount of dog owners in the world after the USA and Brazil, with 27,400,000 dogs as pets, and the secondrgest amount of cat owners after the USA, with 58,100,000 pet cats.

    The market had grown 12% annually, which was even faster the GDP.

    Cats and dogs upied 90% of the pet market. In other words: whoever owned dogs and cats, owned the market.

    Until 2014, 7% of families nationwide had dogs, about 30,000,000 families. The percentage of families owning cats was 2%. It was easy toe to the conclusion that people usually kept one dog or a herd of cats.

    Therefore, if one needed to make a priority, then: whoever owned cats, owned the world.

 Chapter 6: Breeding Base

    <h4>Chapter 6: Breeding Base</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    The Amazing Fate Pet Shop had been taken care of by Zhang Zian¡¯s parents without any extra help. Zhang Zian understood that taking care of the pets daily was a very troublesome task. Every morning at 5 o¡¯clock, his parents would get up and clean the shop, including the cages and the feces in the disy cases. They wouldb the pets¡¯ hair, feed them, and conduct a quick health check. This allowed the pets to meet the guests at their best state when the door opened.

    Now, Zhang Zian was the only worker. If he brought in too many pets at the beginning, it would only make a mess. Therefore, he decided to take the ¡°quality over quantity¡± approach.

    His advantage was also obvious. He owned the house and didn¡¯t have any other employees. He simply didn¡¯t have to worry about paying rent or wages every month. In the worst case scenario, if the pets were not sold, it wouldn¡¯t be a big deal for him to temporarily raise them.

    After checking the map, he locked the store. He put an A4 paper on the door that read: ¡°This store will reopen soon.¡± He took a few more looks at the store and then, feeling satisfied, headed to the bus stop.

    There were two breeding bases in town. One was located on the south side of the city, while the other was on the north side. Both were about the same distance from where he was, but he decided to go to the one on the north side simply because he wouldn¡¯t have to cross the road from the bus stop.

    After about ten stops, he arrived at the suburb and got off the bus. It didn¡¯t take him long to find the ¡°Love Lovely Pet¡± sign.

    ¡°This is quite a huge breeding base.¡±

    The long, tall walls separated arge area for the breeding base.

    The sign for the Love Lovely Pet breeding base was an expression pack from a famous husky. It was really funny.

    As he stepped inside, a man dressed in a nice suit, looking like a real estate agent, came up and gave a warm wee.

    ¡°Hi, sir. How are you? Looking for pets?¡± the man said with a smile.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    ¡°Are you looking for a home pet?¡±

    ¡°I have a pet store and want to see what is avable,¡± he exined.

    The man showed an even bigger smile after learning that Zhang Zian might be a big customer. ¡°Great! Pleasee this way!¡±

    Zhang Zian was taken to a meeting room that was divided into a couple of smaller areas. He knew the salesman would get amission based on the sales; the more he sold, the more he would make onmission.

    After they settled down, the salesman pulled out a pack of cigarettes named ¡°Yuxi¡± and offered Zhang Zian one, but he refused.

    ¡°That¡¯s great! Smoking is harmful to the health anyway. I don¡¯t smoke either, but I always carry a pack of cigarettes for my customers.¡± The salesman put the cigarette back and asked, ¡°How should I address you, sir?¡±

    Zhang Zian answered, ¡°Myst name is Zhang.¡±

    ¡°Oh, really?! What a coincidence! We have the samest name! We must have had the same ancestor years ago.¡±

    The salesman was very excited and handed his business card to Zhang Zian with both hands.

    The business card showed: Love Lovely Pet Breeding Base Sales Representative Zhang Wanguo.

    Zhang Zian should¡¯ve given his business card to the salesman in return, but he didn¡¯t have one, so it was better to y the fool.

    He thought to himself, ¡°¡®Zhang¡¯ is such amonst name. What¡¯s the big deal seeing someone named ¡®Zhang¡¯? If we were both named Murong, that might be worth all the excitement.¡±

    Zhang Wanguo realized he hadn¡¯t received a business card from Zhang Zian. He smiled and asked, ¡°May I know which pet store you own?¡±

    Zhang Zian said vaguely, ¡°Well, it is a new store. You may not have heard of it.¡±

    ¡°Haha, well, you made a great choice, Mr. Zhang! You know, we are the supplier for most pet stores in the city, including the chain supermarket named ¡®Stars Pet¡¯.¡±

    Zhang Wanguo was a very experienced salesman and had seen tons of customers. It didn¡¯t take him long to figure out that this customer was a newbie. If he gave an impression that everyone bought pets from here, he was sure he could get this deal done quickly.

    There were quite a lot of customers like that. They excitedly wanted to open up a pet store, thinking that pet stores were an easy way to make money. As a matter of fact, eight out of ten new pet stores closed within a year, but that had nothing to do with him.

    Zhang Zian had heard about the Stars Pet chain supermarket. It was a famous pet store that everyone in the pet business knew. It was a giant national chain, owning 153 direct-sale stores and 164 franchise stores nationwide. It covered almost all the small, medium, andrge cities and often put outmercials on CCTV.

    A deeper meaning of Zhang Wanguo¡¯s words was: Evenrge enterprises bought pets here, so there should be no problem for others to do so too.

    Zhang Zian had his own thoughts. Although he was a newbie in this business, his parents had run their pet store for over ten years.

    ¡°Can you show me around?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    The smile froze on Zhang Wanguo¡¯s face. He frowned slightly and said to himself, ¡°This newbie is not following the routine.¡±

    Zhang Wanguo quickly responded, ¡°The breeding base is so dirty and smelly. It is not a good ce to visit. After you walk around the base, you can¡¯t even wear the same pair of shoes any more. Why don¡¯t you tell me what you want, and I will have someone bring the pets out for you? You may review our quotes first; our price is verypetitive. If you can find somewhere cheaper than us, I will pay you twice the difference!¡±

    These words were said so sincerely that someone else might have fallen for them already!

    Zhang Wanguo handed over a catalog with pictures and descriptions. The prices and pictures were all very clear in the catalog.

    Zhang Zian took the catalog and nced over it for a while. Then he got up, wanting to leave.

    ¡°My apologies, sir. I have an appointmentter today. I will stop by another day.¡±

    ¡°Oh, Mr. Zhang. Oh, sir, don¡¯t leave yet. Please stay. If you are not satisfied with the price, it is negotiable.¡±

    ¡°I am so sorry, but I do have anothermitment. I wille back another day.¡±

    Zhang Zian left the store, disregarding Zhang Wanguo¡¯s persuasion.

    Zhang Wanguo watched him get farther and farther away. He angrily spat on the ground.

    ¡°Geese! Who do you think you are! You are only a piece of crap! A total waste of my time.¡±

    After venting for a short while, he saw a new target and immediately put a huge smile on his face.

    ¡°Hi, Sir, are you here to look for a pet?¡±

    ¡­..

    Zhang Zian walked to the bus stop and got on the bus toward the south side of the city.

    He remembered that his parents had discussed this before, that if a breeding base did not want to show you around, there had to be some sort of scheme. You should not get pets from there no matter how low the price was. His parents must have been right.

    He took a nap on the bus. After about an hour, the bus reached its final stop.

    Zhang Zian got off the bus, yawning. He found the ¡°Pet¡¯s Home¡± breeding base through the map on his cellphone.

    From the outside, it was a lot smaller than ¡°Love Lovely Pet.¡± There were a lot less trucksing in and out.

    The sign of ¡°Pet¡¯s Home¡± was an abstract outline of a cat.

    Upon entering the door, he didn¡¯t see any salespeople like Zhang Wanguo, so he had to stop ady who was trying to go out.

    ¡°Excuse me, who should I talk to if I wanted to buy some pets?¡±

    Thedy was wearing a whiteb coat, a mask on her face, and gloves on her hands. She was carrying a medicine kit; it seemed like she was a vet.

    She looked him up and down. ¡°You want to buy pets?¡±

 Chapter 7: The Petâ€™s Home

    <h4>Chapter 7: The Pet¡¯s Home</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Her voice transmitted through the gauze mask, sounding a bit stuffy.

    White coats were a magical existence. When one was put on, it could perfectly conceal any merit or defect of the original body, although the white coats in the movies were not the same as here.

    This woman was wearing a white coat, covering her face with a gauze mask, and wearing a disposable head cover that was usually used in surgical rooms. Zhang Zian could only see her bright and clean forehead, her glistening eyes, and a little bit of ck hair sticking out from the head cover.

    ¡°Yeah, I own a pet shop and wanted to check on the supply,¡± he replied.

    The woman peeked outside then turned around and said, ¡°I¡¯ll take you in, but today we are short-handed, so we¡¯re a little busy.¡±

    ¡°I noticed,¡± he responded with a smile.

    The Pet¡¯s Home store also had a waiting room, but it was all one big, open space, not like the few small ones in the Love Lovely Pet store. ¡°Please wait here, I will go and get someone to help you.¡± The woman brought him up to the entrance of the waiting room but didn¡¯t go inside. Zhang Zian followed her and asked, ¡°Can I visit the breeding ground?¡±

    He was just trying to check if this was possible, because he wasn¡¯t sure whether this woman worked here or not. Perhaps she was just a temporarily hired vet for the pets, and her words didn¡¯t count.

    Almost without any hesitation, the woman nodded. ¡°That¡¯s fine, you can follow me.¡±

    Following this woman, he walked by the waiting room, the office, and the storage room. Way in the back, there was arge area blocked by a metal fence. The smell of chemical disinfectant was discernable from far away; one couldn¡¯t miss it even if he closed his eyes.

    The fence was loosely held, without a lock. The woman easily opened the door. ¡°Come in.¡±

    Behind the door, there was a world of pets.

    Over ten rows of breeding houses built with red bricks were lined up in order, like troops lined up for review. There was a two-meter-wide corridor in between the rows. A man was working in a sterilized, light-blue one-piece uniform.

    The man was carrying a sprayer; both hands were wearingtex gloves, holding the sprayer pole, and spraying the diluted sterilizer while he stepped backward.

    ¡°Dad! We have a guest!¡± the woman called from the back.

    The man did not respond at all, instead continuing his spray job.

    Besides the noise from the sprayer, they were surrounded by a few hundred pets, and the many barks were enough to cover normal voices.

    The woman smiled at Zhang Zian apologetically, but the smile was hidden behind the gauze mask, so he only saw her eyebrow curved.

    She took a few steps forward and patted the man¡¯s shoulder.

    The man turned around and saw his daughter first, but then his eyes moved up and saw Zhang Zian, who was right behind her.

    He turned off the automatic sprayer, took off the ear plugs, and pulled down the hygiene mask. Under the mask was a farmer-like, wrinkle-filled face.

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± he asked loudly.

    ¡°Dad! This man owns a pet store and wants to buy pets,¡± the woman replied loudly as well.

    The man frowned, ¡°Go and wait at the front desk if you are purchasing a pet. I am almost finished here.

    Zhang Zian raised his voice, ¡°No problem! Please continue your work. I will wait here!¡±

    The woman pulled Zhang Zian and pointed to the corner of the wall that blocked the iing wind, hinting that he should wait there so the smell of the disinfectant spray wouldn¡¯t travel through the wind and stain his clothes.

    Zhang Zian did not mind at all since his cheap clothing was purchased online. Furthermore, he too had to use all kinds of disinfectants daily to sterilize his shop. Any one kind of disinfectant could not be used too long. They had to be used alternatingly or mixed together to avoid pathogenic bacteria developing a resistance.

    But it was hard to refuse such a thoughtful suggestion, so he followed the women to the corner of the wall, watching the man put his ear plugs and gauze mask back on and continue spraying.

    ¡°That is your father?¡± he asked.

    The woman took off her gauze mask, revealing a fresh-looking face.

    She curled her lips and said, ¡°A stingy old man! He would not pay his daughter to help him with the pets¡¯ immunization shots, or even cover the cost of gas.¡±

    ¡°You are family, so there¡¯s no reason to talk about the cost.¡± Zhang Xian grinned. Because he had just lost his parents, he knew how valuable family was.

    ¡°Yeah right! He just uses me as a free employee,¡± sheined angrily.

    Zhang Zian was here to pick out some pets, not flirt with a woman. After a few casual conversations with her, his focus transferred to the arrangement and details of the breeding farm.

    In these rows of breeding houses, there were mother cats and dogs nurturing their newborns or getting ready forbor. The noises rose and fell in session.

    The outside of each breeding room was tagged with a stic index card. They werebeled ¡°1¡±, ¡°2¡±, ¡°3¡±, and ¡°4¡± and had clear indications of dates. He did not understand what they stood for.

    Since he was here to visit the breeding ground, anything unclear should be rified, so he asked her.

    ¡°Oh, you mean that¡­?¡± She looked at where he had pointed and replied, ¡°They are cats¡¯ or dogs¡¯ birth counts and birth dates.¡±

    Zhang Zian was briefly dazed but then understood immediately.

    For cats and dogs, they could not continuously give birth until their death. In reality, the more they gave birth, the higher the chance problems would be found in their newborns. Weakness and sickness were minor problems, but some would have birth defects.

    In the trade of breeding cats and dogs, the ones with only one birth would cost the most.

    Just like human beings, cats and dogs also had infertility problems. It would be a greater risk to purchase breeding cats or dogs that had never giving birth before. It was like gambling. Giving birth just one time would prove ¡°this one is fertile.¡±

    There was one serious problem: cats were different from dogs. Some cats did not have a mother¡¯s instincts; they would ignore their newborns, and breastfeeding would be impossible.

    The worst part was that some cats had the habit of eating their children. This kind of cat, no matter how beautiful or how purebred, would have difficulty being a breeding cat. It was better to be sterilized. If those cats were used as breeding cats, then they needed full time care and a lot of patience, and even that might not be sessful in the end.

    Defects in cats and dogs that had given birth only once could be easily detected. That period was also the most glorious in their life.

    A cat could give birth to three to four babies per year, whereas a dog could giving birth to two babies a year. However, if they continued to breed without proper rest and rehabilitation, then it would cause a great harm to their bodies. Therefore, cats and dogs could normally only breed two babies per year.

    For those breeding cats and dogs, after they¡¯d given birth five or six times, it would be time for them to retire. If they were forced to have more babies, then the babies would usually be weak and get sick often. Of course, the unscrupulous businessmen wouldn¡¯t think this way. To them, more was better. Lowering the breeding costs could potentially provide better pricing for their customers. They definitely would strive to squeeze thest drop of value out of the pets, until they could not give birth anymore, and then they would be abandoned.

    This was the reason why Zhang Zian insisted on visiting the breeding ground.

    In this realm of business, torturing animals should not be promoted or encouraged.

 Chapter 8: The Meaning of The Pet Shop

    <h4>Chapter 8: The Meaning of The Pet Shop</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    What was the meaning of a pet shop? To act as a filter, the store picked docile, healthy, beautiful pets from the breeding base, and then rmended the customers buy these pets. After all, few customers were experts.

    Compared with the Love Lovely Pet that was reluctant to let Zhang Zian visit the breeding base, he was satisfied with the breeding environment of Pet¡¯s Home after a tour, both in terms of the breeding density and the sanitary condition. The most important factor was that they didn¡¯t treat dogs and cats like machines.

    He paid a lot of attention to thosectating cats and dogs, observing their posture, hair color, and especially their healthy and vigorous spirits and their caring movement toward kittens and puppies.

    Another feature here was that all nonctation cubs had their own cages, regardless of size, rather than being squeezed in with other cubs.

    The man who seemed like an old farmer finished the sterilization procedure. He removed the sprayer from his back and took off the personal protection clothing, earplugs, and mask, and then walked toward Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Which pet shop are you from?¡± he impolitely asked Zhang Zian, looking him up and down.

    His name was Sun Yinian. He looked and dressed like an old farmer, which he used to be. But now he was the owner. He personally worked here in order to save the money when he was out of helpers, like now, so he didn¡¯t look like a usual boss.

    ¡°Amazing Fate Pet Shop, you probably haven¡¯t heard of it,¡± Zhang Zian answered.

    ¡°Oh, do you mean the one on Zhonghua Road?¡± she interrupted.

    ¡°Right, you know that store?¡± Zhang Zian felt proud when she mentioned his pet shop.

    ¡°I know it. We are kind of neighbors!¡± She smiled, and stretched out her hand to him. ¡°My name is Sun Xiaomeng. Have you seen the new Spirit Curing Pet Clinic on Zhonghua Road? ¡±

    Zhang Zian thought for a while. There actually was one, just on the north side of Zhonghua Road, while the Amazing Fate Pet Shop was on the south side. They are separated by a whole block, just hundreds of meters. He would be reluctant to say they were neighbors, but they were really close.

    The Spirit Curing Pet Clinic was newly opened. Due to a state regtion, the locations of pet clinics and hospitals had to be at least 200 meters apart from breeding bases, ughterhouses and trade centers. As such, to avoid cross infection when sick animals were present, it was impossible for the two to be adjacent.

    He quickly shook hands with her and said, ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, and I¡¯m looking forward to our future business partnership.¡±

    She forthrightly said, ¡°Of course. We are neighbors and should help each other.¡±

    Sun Yinian was waiting impatiently. He rudely separated their hands and roughly said, ¡°What are you doing here? Hurry up if you want to pick some pets. I have something else to do.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng pouted, indicating that Zhang Zian should not be offended by her dad¡¯s hot temper.

    Zhang Zian had decided to buy at most four or five pets before he came into the store. Because he ran the Amazing Fate Pet Shop by himself, and was also a beginner in the business, it would be overwhelming if there were too many pets.

    He said, ¡°I¡¯d like to see your Siamese cats, British Shorthair cats, and Samoyed dogs, all around the age of four months.¡±

    These three kinds of pets cost several thousand yuan and were pretty popr, so basically every breeding base had them.

    ¡°Okay, follow me.¡± Sun Yinian didn¡¯t talk too much and immediately led the way.

    He took two steps and looked back to find his daughter following them. He stared at her angrily and said, ¡°What are you doing here? You just said you wanted to go back early!¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng looked up and said, ¡°Hum, that¡¯s because you didn¡¯t pay me and I didn¡¯t want to work for free. Besides, he¡¯s my neighbor. I have to follow you and make sure that you will not take advantage of him.¡±

    Zhang Zian persuaded her. ¡°You can go if you are busy. I can take care of myself.¡±

    She totally disagreed, ¡°No problem. My clinic just opened so there¡¯s not a lot of business yet. Did you drive here or¡­¡±

    ¡°I took a bus here. Do you deliver for free?¡±

    ¡°Do you think a cheap person like him will deliver for free? Usually people drive here to get pets.¡±

    He was now worried about carrying some cages on the bus. A taxi driver might not be willing to take them either. He could use the game, Pet Hunter, to temporally store the pets in his cell phone, but he didn¡¯t want to do that in front of others. After all, it sounded crazy¡­

    She noticed his embarrassment and thoughtfully said, ¡°That¡¯s fine. I have a car and can give you a ride.¡±

    ¡°What a big favor! I will pay for the gas, then,¡± Zhang Zian replied gratefully.

    Picking out pets was an easy process. He had never managed a pet shop, but he had at least seen a lot of pets, so he was familiar with some pets¡¯ features. On the other hand, he felt more rxed because Sun Xiaomeng, a professional veterinarian, was there. The pets had been picked, and then it went to the price.

    When hearing the several numbers out of Sun Yinian¡¯s mouth, Zhang Zian twitched his mouth, even though he had been mentally prepared. The price was 40% higher than Love Lovely Pet (LLP) store; no wonder LLP had much greater scale and better business.

    For a pet shop, the purchasing price was directly rted to the profit. It would be difficult to reject the temptation of a low price. After all, he would earn the money as long as he could sell the pets. It was none of his business whether the pet was healthy or had any birth defects; he could simply me the customer for not knowing how to raise it.

    But why had Amazing Fate Pet Shop been run by his parents for more than ten years, while 80% of the new pet shops went bankrupt after one year? It was only because the businesses with bad reputations, the ones that always chased immediate profits, would only survive for a short period of time.

    Folks who had pets liked tomunicate and post pictures on blogs, Weibo, and WeChat. They would surely tell other people not to go to certain pet stores if they bought unhealthy pets. Bad news always spread faster than good news. He would only be hurting himself if he wanted to cheat customers.

    Sun Xiaomeng chimed in, ¡°Dad! It¡¯s his first time here. Can¡¯t you give him a discount?¡±

    Her dad stared and said, ¡°Are you my daughter or his daughter? Who exactly are you helping?¡±

    ¡°Hum! So cheap!¡± She got mad and, not wanting to say anything, turned her face aside.

    ¡°Fine! I¡¯ll take them at this price!¡± Zhang Zian decided, as good value woulde with a high price.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s quick response surprised Sun Yinian. He had purposely raised the price higher at first in order to let the young man go. He was not optimistic about this young man. There were a lot of petty bourgeoisie who simply wanted to open flower shops, coffee shops, and pet shops. The young man in front of him¡­ was not a profiteer.

    ¡°Mm!¡± Sun Yinian coughed. ¡°Well, I can add some other pet for free if you spend more than 5,000 yuan here.¡±

    ¡°What? Why didn¡¯t I know this rule?¡± Sun Xiaomeng turned her face back and mocked her dad.

    ¡°Do I have to ask for your permission when making rules here?¡± Sun Yinian stared again.

    Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s car was an Encore, which was a smallpact car, but it was still spacious enough for four cages.

    Zhang Zian became speechless when seeing the free pet from Sun Yinian. What a small free hamster!

 Chapter 9: The Release

    <h4>Chapter 9: The Release</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Sun Xiaomeng drove Zhang Zian and his pets back to the Amazing Fate Pet shop and invited him to visit her pet clinic when he had time. Zhang Zian insisted on paying for the gas.

    He was a little bit excited as it was the first time he had pets of his own.

    In the past, there were many types of pets in the Amazing Fate Pet shop. He didn¡¯t use up all the cages and disy cases, so he moved the leftovers into the empty room upstairs.

    Theyout of the whole shop was that the cashier was at the door and the pet disy area was in the center. The north side was for pet products, such as cat climbing frames, traction ropes, food bowls, shavers, and warm nests, while the south side was for consumables like pet food, pet shampoo, and disinfectant. The store seemed a little empty as there wasn¡¯t much stuff yet.

    After giving it a little thought, he went to the nearby flea market and bought several evergreen ornamental nts like lobr purple sandalwood, which could not only help purify the air but also add some color to the shop.

    The ornamental nts in the pet shop were for decoration, so a few nts were enough, otherwise they would be too overwhelming.

    Zhang Zian had some other ideas on how to arrange the shop¡¯s empty space, but right now was not a good time.

    The Siamese cat, the British Shorthair, the Samoyed, and the bonus hamster finally arrived at this strange new ce after leaving their noisy breeding base, with a lot of bumps in the road. They all seemed a little bit timid and nervous, shrinking into the corner of their disy cases and cages, uneasily shaking their heads from left to right, and checking out their new home.

    The Siamese cat featured a delicate and pointed face with tworge ears that looked like those of a fox rather than a cat. Its eyes were round with light-blue eyes. The fur was a milky color, while the muzzle was dark brown. The limbs were a deeper color down from the elbows, and the ws werepletely ck-brown like the muzzle. Its most attractive part was its ears with dark brown outer circles and pink centers. Because the cub¡¯s auricles were so thin-skinned, and the ears were proportionallyrge, if it was facing the light, the blood vessels of the auricles could be clearly seen.

    The Siamese cat was intelligent and lively, needing more space to move around and a lot of attention from the owner.

    The British Shorthair cat was a sedate and docile one, like an elegantdy born in Great Britain. It needed some private space, and even the owner better not bother it all day long. It was fondest at a distance.

    If the Siamese cat was cute, then the British Shorthair was almost the best looking among all the popr house cats. Even if it was a little bit reserved, there would be still many suitors¡­

    The British Shorthair¡¯s fur was smooth and blue-gray; itsrge and round eyes glowed with a green light. It had a pink nose, a small pout, and a little tongue sticking out and licking its hair from time to time, just like a fairdy ensuring she was always ready to model or pose for a picture.

    The Samoyed¡­ If a husky was considered the silly type of therge size dogs, then the Samoyed would be the cute type, with no mighty power. It could be considered one of the most approachable types to human beings. It seemed to be close to anyone, not defensive at all¡­ Anyway, it was very white, just like Snow White, making people fall in love with it right away, as long as nobody saw its trouble-making.

    Since the pets were all four months old, they were less flexible at adapting to new environments than adult pets. In order to not scare them, Zhang Zian decided not to touch or feed them until the next day.

    It was sunset again. He was tired but fulfilled after being busy for a while.

    He pulled the reclining chair to the doorway and sat down, letting the golden sunshine shine on his body and looking at the bustling flow of people, dreaming about the future.

    Ding! A new notification showed on his phone.

    [Navigation Elf]: Wee back! The novice adventurer!

    [Navigation Elf]: After working hard in the outside world, the home is always your best escaping harbor.

    [Navigation Elf]: In order to improve your favorability, you could release the virtual pet you captured. The location has already been set as your home. The virtual pet can only be released at this location, until you be more favorable.

    ¡°Won¡¯t the pet escape or disappear after being released?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    [Navigation Elf]: It won¡¯t.

    Zhang Zian clicked the virtual pet in the pet bar. The Lucky Cat appeared to be able to see his action, shrinking into a ball on the screen, more timid than the cubs¡­

    He pointed to one empty area in the shop and clicked ¡°Release.¡±

    Suddenly, a cat appeared after he moved his phone away. ¡°Meow! Don¡¯t touch me!¡± the cat said and hid itself behind the lobr purple sandalwood at a lightning speed.

    ¡°Damn it! How did that happen? People would think that they saw a ghost!¡± he screamed. The Lucky Cat was different from that stray khaki cat. The stray cat was real, but this cat was absolutely a virtual pet. How on earth could ite to life¡­?

    [Navigation Elf]: The game used the conversion model from 3D to 2D and from 2D to 3D.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°What the f*ck! What kind of ck technology was that, manipting as it pleases?¡±

    However, this was a fact that he had to believe.

    Since it was impossible to understand by using an ordinary human being¡¯s intelligence, he decided to take a look at the cat first.

    The pot of lobr purple sandalwood was small, and the leaves were not luxuriant, so it obviously couldn¡¯t cover the cat¡¯s body. The cat also realized this, so it began to move, first trying to cover its head, then changing its posture to cover its rear, just like an adult who insisted on wearing a child¡¯s clothes. How cute and stupid!

    Since his childhood, Zhang Zian had been good at identifying pets and gotten to know many types of cats. But this cat was very special, and none of the cats in his mind were like that.

    Its whole body was ck and white, ck as ink and white as snow. There was no white hair in the ck area and no ck hair in the white area. The ck and white areas were clearly distinct. Its head, back, and the outside of its limbs were ck, while its chest, abdomen, and the inside of its limbs were white.

    Its ears were the usual equteral triangle shape, and thus many types with very distinctive ears could be ruled out. In terms of shape, it should be ssified as a small-medium cat, such as the British Shorthair, but its cheeks had a small, cute peach shape, rather than being as round as the British Shorthair¡¯s. Comparing with the short-haired type, it had slightly longer hair.

    ¡°Navigation Elf, what kind of cat is this so-called Lucky Cat? Could you tell me its type without telling me its origin?¡± he asked curiously.

    [Navigation Elf]: Your Lucky Cat can¡¯t be fit into any ssification ofmon cats. It only looks like a cat, but is not a real cat. It was a mythical creature, existing due to the faith of human beings.

 Chapter 10: Naming

    <h4>Chapter 10: Naming</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    [Navigation Elf]: The Lucky Cat is one of the few pets that is hard to capture; the only way to obtain this kind of pet is through the lottery after the yer finishes the tutorial.

    [Navigation Elf]: That¡¯s all I can tell you. Please make every effort to improve its favorability. After you unlock its origin and true name, all of your questions will be answered.

    ¡°What does it eat?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    [Navigation Elf]: Your Lucky Cat is quite special in that it doesn¡¯t need to eat.

    ¡°Look, it¡¯s too timid to stay close to me or let me touch it, and it doesn¡¯t eat, so how can I improve its favorability?¡± Zhang Zian pointed to the kitten and smiled bitterly.

    [Navigation Elf]: Please try to find the solution by yourself. That¡¯s the fun part of the game.

    After saying these words, the navigation elf became silent once more.

    ¡°All right!¡± Zhang Zian put the phone back on table, trying to show his kindest smile to the perturbed Lucky Cat hiding behind the purple-leafed flower pot. However, the kitten looked shocked, as if it was seeing some horrible ghosts or a bank robbery, and was lying on the ground, trembling, with two tiny paws covering its head.

    Zhang Zian was hurt deep in his heart.

    ¡°Am I that ugly?¡± he thought, touching his face.

    No, no matter what I look like, I have a soft heart!

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, I won¡¯t hurt you or even touch you, I mean that! Look, I am sitting far from you.¡± He started sitting in a chair, taking off his shoes to show that he would not get close to it.

    ¡°Meow¡­ Don¡¯t touch me¡­¡±

    ¡°I know, I won¡¯t touch you, I promise!¡± He stretched his hands aside, showing the cat.

    The Lucky Cat moved its right paw a little bit and peeped at him timidly. ¡°For sure?¡±

    ¡°For sure!¡±

    ¡°Who knew what had happened to this kitten before that made it so afraid of people?¡± Zhang Zian said in his mind, but why had the navigation elf said people had faith in it? Who could harm the thing they had faith in?

    Yeah! It didn¡¯t matter. Although It could not be touched or fed, it talked! The first thing on the list was to make it not be scared of him. Such a thought suddenly appeared in his mind.

    ¡°Eh¡­ Do you have a name? Could you tell me your name?¡± He spoke softly.

    ¡°Meow¡­ No, I don¡¯t have a name¡­ Meow¡­ People always called me by another name, but I don¡¯t like that name¡­ ¡±

    ¡°So it is¡­¡± Zhang Zian wanted to ask its real name, but it seemed that the kitten hated that name and would never give that name out. If forced to say it, the favorability would absolutely decrease.

    ¡°Then, how about I give you a name you like?¡± he suggested.

    The kitten nodded slightly after hesitating for a while.

    Zhang Zian found that he had made trouble for himself. He was not good at picking names at all, and he didn¡¯t know the kitten well, so how could he know its preference?

    ¡°cky?¡±

    The kitten bowed its head, looking at its white belly.

    ¡°How about¡­ Whitey?¡±

    The kitten blocked its eyes with ck paws.

    Damn it! The name was too cheesy! Maybe it was unhappy now!

    ¡°White-ck?¡±

    ¡°What a bad idea!¡± heined to himself in his mind. ¡°It is not a cold medicine!¡±

    ¡°No, no, no, that didn¡¯t count. Let me try again!¡±

    He tried to hold his head with both hands like the kitten had done, thinking hard.

    All of a sudden, he saw the sunset-projected shadows of pedestrians on the road and looked toward the bloody sun setting in the west, a few stars blinking in the sky.

    ¡°Yes!¡± He snapped his fingers. ¡°How about Dawn? Do you know dawn? The moment between darkness and light, when there are still some stars blinking in the dark blue sky, but the east shows¡­¡± He wanted to say ¡°fish-belly white,¡± but before he said that he reced it with ¡°cat-belly white.¡± He was very proud of himself for saying that ttering sentence.

    He stared at it with hope, waiting for its response.

    The kitten didn¡¯t move, with only its slim ck tail swiping.

    ¡°That meant¡­ not satisfied?¡±

    Zhang Zian felt that he was in trouble, since ¡°Dawn¡± was the best name he had in mind in such a rush.

    ¡°Okay¡­ could you tell me what kind of name do you like? At least give me a direction¡­¡±

    ¡°Meow¡­ I¡­ I want a big name¡­¡±

    ¡°What? What is a ¡®big name¡¯?¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned. The principle of naming usually included sounding good, being easy to remember, being meaningful, not being a bad homophone¡­ but it was the first time he had heard of asking for a big name¡­

    ¡°Big¡­ Okay¡­ Let me think¡­¡±

    He had to follow the preference of this poor, cute kitten.

    ¡°Big¡­ Big¡­ Big¡­¡±

    ¡°How about Yellow River? The Yellow River flows from heaven to the ocean and never turns back! The Yellow River is the mother river of the Chinese people, the origin of China; is that big enough?¡±

    ¡°Meow¡­ Bigger¡­¡±

    What the f*ck! Although it was said that the mind was as wide as the world, the mind of this kitten was so wide that even the Yellow River could not satisfy it!¡±

    ¡°Bigger than Yellow River¡­ how about Grasnd? With its blue skies, wind blowing, and grass with sheep and cows? The great Genghis Khan only knows how to shoot eagles with archery¡­¡± He didn¡¯t care whether the name sounded good or not, it just needed to be ¡°big¡± enough!

    ¡°Meow¡­ Bigger¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian tried to restrain his motivation toin, smiling instead. ¡°How about Ocean? Ocean¡­¡±

    Before he tried to exin, the kitten said, ¡°Meow¡­ Bigger¡­ Bigger¡­¡±

    ¡°Sky! People always say that, as much as the ocean is wider than thend, the sky is higher than the ocean! Is Sky big enough?¡±

    Its swinging tail paused for a second, but right when Zhang Zian said ¡°That¡¯s it!¡± in his mind, it swung again. The more it swung, the weaker its confidence.

    ¡°Meow¡­ The bigger the better¡­¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± After a deep breath, Zhang Zian face grew serious. ¡°The next name may satisfy you. I can¡¯t find any name bigger than this.¡±

    ¡°G-A-L-A-X-Y¡±

    Time froze; the tail stopped swinging.

    One second¡­ Two second¡­

    ¡°Gxy¡­ Meow¡­ Gxy¡­¡±

    Lights blinked in its silver eyes, and the kitten carefully put down its paws.

    Zhang Zian felt a bit dizzy. Those were not silver eyes, but the stars in the universe blinking!

 Chapter 11: Ready for Business

    <h4>Chapter 11: Ready for Business</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    ¡°Meow¡­ Gxy¡­ Meow¡­ Gxy¡±

    The Lucky Cat enjoyed chasing its own tail. It seemed like it had epted the name ¡°Gxy,¡± but when Zhang Zian looked at his cell phone, its origin and true name were still ¡°locked.¡± His hope of increasing his favorability with the cat was now lost. However, it didn¡¯t appear to be scared of him anymore.

    He wanted toin about how this game¡¯s favorability level started below zero. It was almost sunset, and the sr street lights were on. Zhang Zian felt a little bit hungry.

    He cleared his voice. ¡°Hi! Do you want to eat anything? Or would you like me to prepare a cozy nest for you?¡±

    The navigation elf said the Lucky Cat didn¡¯t need to eat, but what if it did? Feeding was a shortcut to building good rtionships.

    The winter was rtively cold in Binhai City, but most of the residents had no heating system, so the store was selling warm, semi-enclosed cat nests.

    ¡°Meow¡­ No¡­ Meow¡­ Gxy hated the nest¡­ Dark and small¡­¡± The cat immediately showed strong resistance. ¡°Okay! No nest, then!¡± Zhang Zian got scared and broke out in a cold sweat, as it was the first time that the cat had clearly hated something.

    He bit his lips. ¡°How about you sleep on my bed, and I sleep somewhere else then?¡±

    ¡°Meow¡­ Gxy would rather stay here¡­¡±

    It seemed to like the empty first floor. It left the little rosewood leaf it had treated as its base and expanded its activity circle from fifteen centimeters to fifty centimeters.

    ¡°Mm¡­ Not a problem. You can stay anywhere you want in this house. By the way, my name is Zhang Zian. Hello, Gxy.¡±

    ¡°Meow¡­ He¡­ Hello¡­¡± The cat was too shy to show its face.

    ¡°I am about to do some cooking upstairs, then I¡¯m going to take a shower and doundry afterward. Are you all right staying here by yourself?¡±

    The cat nodded.

    Zhang Zian quietly went upstairs like a thief. He walked into his own bedroom, closed the door, andy down on the bed, totally exhausted.

    It was very tiring to take care of this Lucky Cat; it was like holding priceless china. He had to focus all the time, avoid saying any wrong words, and not make any moves to scare it.

    Meanwhile, Zhang Zian was almost a hundred percent sure that the cat had psychological trauma, which one hundred percent came from a human.

    He wasn¡¯t too concerned about why it was called Lucky Cat or how mysterious its origins were. He just wanted it to have fun like a normal cat¡­ If his favorability level increasing could help with this, he would try his best to do so, at any cost.

    Like other men his age, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t like cooking. He was only good at scrambling eggs, cooking instant noodles, and cutting things like sausages. Because of such limitations, he often went to small eateries. Now he had to eat instant noodles and sausages, or he¡¯d be leaving the Lucky Cat alone in the store. The Lucky Cat became so quiet on the first floor that, on several asions, he thought it had escaped or disappeared, just like shadows in a dream. Zhang Zian quietly went downstairs and saw the cat staying behind the front big ss door, looking at the sky. Its eyes reflected the gxy, just like its name.

    The bright moonlight shone on it, leaving a clear shadow on the ground. Not moving even a bit, it seemed, unrealistically, that the cat would melt in the moonlight in the next second. It appeared to be so real that it couldst forever. It was fragile but powerful, and its unspeakable presence was heartbreaking. Breaking the silence here was almost disrespectful.

    The night was cold, so Zhang Zian gently slid a cushion towards the cat on the floor and then quietly went back upstairs.

    He woke up at midnight and went to the restroom. After he was done, he became a little alert when he thought about the cat. He quietly walked down and saw it curled up on the cotton pad, sleeping soundly under the moon and stars. After midnight, he did not go back to sleep. He opened hisputer, surfing the inte to search for some factories which could customize the crib¡­

    The next morning, he walked downstairs with dark circles under his eyes. The sky was now barely bright, but he had set today as the official opening day, so he needed to prepare in advance. ¡°Good morning, Gxy!¡± The Lucky Cat was already awake, but it was still lying on the cotton pad. Through the ss door, the Lucky Cat was curiously watching the pedestrians walking along the street. Some people seemed to be on their way to work, some seemed to have just gotten off from work, and some seniors in silk practice outfits, carrying swords, seemed to be going to the park together for some morning exercises. To be honest, these elders looked more energetic than the younger people, because they had gotten enough sleep.

    The night before, Zhang Zian did not close the roll-up door, but just locked the ss door from the inside. There was nothing to be stolen in the store anyway. He had never heard of a thief that only stole pets. The Lucky Cat seemed to feel safe behind the ss door. Only, when people passed by the door, the cat would curl up on the ground. It seemed to be telling people: ¡°You cannot see me! You cannot see me!¡± When the Lucky Cat heard Zhang Zian¡¯s greeting, it wagged its tail, ¡°Meow, good¡­ good morning¡­¡±

    ¡°OK. Let¡¯s get to work!¡± Zhang Zian said with confidence and rolled up his sleeves.

    The Lucky Cat¡¯s attention was transferred from the outside pedestrians to him. The day before, in order to prevent the new pets from being frightened, Zhang Zian put them into the disy cab right after he came back, without cleaning up. But now, he at least had to clean the pets, as they had to face the customers directly. Combing the pets¡¯ fur and removing the odors from a variety of animals mixed in from the breeding base were necessary steps to getting ready. Every pet shop had a special sink to bathe the pets with. It was usually located in a small room. Apletely open area was not favorable, because it could not guarantee the temperature while bathing, especially in winter. On the other hand, the noise from the hair dryer would also disturb the customers.

    Zhang Zian did not have any experience bathing pets, so he had chosen two kittens and a puppy. Compared to ten-pound adult cats and twenty-pound adult dogs, kittens and puppies were much easier to take care of. Moreover, right now their fur was short, which was easy tob. Long-furred adult cats and dogs were much moreplicated to clean. The fur would never finish drying within one or two hours. During the time his parents ran the shop, it was always his mother who bathed the pets in the morning and his father who cleaned up the whole store. Every morning she could only bath one pet before the store was open. But anyway, pets didn¡¯t need to take a bath every day.

    The consequences would be very serious if the pet¡¯s fur was not dry enough. Fungi, eczema, and mites would stay at the bottom of the warm and humid fur zone. Pets couldn¡¯t tell people that they felt itchy, they could only keep rubbing and rubbing¡­ Zhang Zian did not rush to challenge himself with the epic task of cleaning the kittens. He just dipped theb into the water,bed their knotted fur, cleaned up their tear ducts and ears with cotton balls, and then wiped their faces. Finally, he blow-dried them and put them under the sun. He called the nearby floral shop and asked them to send over two flower baskets.

 Chapter 12: Grand Opening

    <h4>Chapter 12: Grand Opening</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    After everything was ready, he finally copsed into the reclining chair.

    In the past, Zhang Zian always thought it was easy to run a pet shop. Now he finally realized that it was really difficult. However, this was his own choice, he had already sent a resignation letter to hispany; it was toote to regret it.

    But when he saw several energetic cubs full of beautiful fur innocently looking at him, asking for food, he felt that all of his pain had been rewarded.

    ¡°Gxy, how about taking a bath?¡± he joked with his Lucky Cat, who had been observing for a long time.

    The Lucky Cat shook its head desperately, indicating that this matter was not negotiable.

    Zhang Zian also thought that the Lucky Cat didn¡¯t need a bath at all, as his fur was even cleaner than those that had just received one. He really didn¡¯t know how that could happen like this.

    A little whileter, the floral shop delivery man parked his electric tricycle in front of the shop and knocked on the ss door. He also tried to look inside through the ss holding the shed.

    Gxy had already carried its cotton pads and huddled into the corner. Zhang Zian bounced from the reclining chair at once and hurried to open the door. The cold morning air poured in with the opening of the door.

    ¡°Is this the flower basket your ordered?¡± the delivery man asked.

    ¡°Well, yes. Thanks a lot.¡± Zhang Zian took out the money to pay him.

    ¡°Is this a pet shop?¡± the man asked while counting the money.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    The man put the money in his pocket but didn¡¯t leave. He looked inside and said, ¡°How much is the puppy?¡±

    ¡°Is this the so-called business knocking on my door?¡± he thought.

    Zhang Zian tried not to show his excitement and said, ¡°My shop was just opened. There weren¡¯t a lot of pets yet but we have a Samoyed, if you would like to take a look.¡±

    The man thought for a while and said, ¡°Samoyed, I¡¯ve heard of it before. How much is it?¡±

    ¡°Ah? So expensive? No! No! You are too deceptive! A puppy is much more expensive than a person!¡± The man hurried away with a brief wave.

    Zhang Zian felt helpless and went back to the shop with a bitter smile. The price of £¤2500, which was almost the same as its cost, was not that expensive. He initially wanted to sell it for at least £¤3000. The pet had been immunized with six imported vines at Pet¡¯s Home. Those imported vines were much more expensive than domestic ones. But he never had a chance to exin that, as the man had already escaped from him, as if he was running away from the gue Gods.

    Pets were luxuries, not daily necessities. In other words, was it expensive to have a £¤2500 ne? Was it expensive to have a £¤2500 diamond ring? Was it expensive to have a £¤2500 LV bag?

    ¡°Not closing the deal today was okay, and it might have been a lucky thing for the Samoyed. If that man was barely willing to pay £¤2500 for it, once the Samoyed had a serious illness, the man would give it up, as the pet didn¡¯t have medical insurance,¡± Zhang Zian thought.

    When Zhang Zian thought of the word ¡°lucky,¡± he looked at the quiet and cute Lucky Cat with a smile.

    When he had justid down on the reclining chair, a girl with two braids peeked in. ¡°Manager, are there any pets yet?¡± she said.

    It was the little girl from the other day who had said her family couldn¡¯t have a pet. She still had her schoolbag; it seemed that she had dropped by on her way to school.

    ¡°Yes,e in and take a look if you want,¡± he said.

    Zhang Zian was under great pressure, as he didn¡¯t expect that the first customer would be a schoolgirl without any money. The girl gave a loud cheer and ran into the shop with her little schoolbag lightly trembling on her back.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay to check the pets, but don¡¯t bete for school, all right?¡± he reminded her.

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    She stopped at the pet disy area with her mouth half-open and full of excitement, looking at the Siamese cat, the British Shorthair, and the Samoyed. Then, her eyes finally fell on the little hamster.

    Zhang Zian had justbed the hamster¡¯s hair, which made it look very clean. Hamsters did not usually need to take baths, because they had very small figures. Bathing in the water could make them sick. If bathing was necessary, they had to be washed with special sand. As a matter of fact, the hamster¡¯s activities area was limited to the cage, so keeping the cage clean would help keep the hamster clean, and no bath would be needed.

    The hamster was a milky color, with chubby cheeks that were cute to poke at. It had three ck lines on its head, going all the way down the back like the popr mohican hair style.

    Half of the hamster¡¯s body was buried in sawdust, and its two small round ck eyes stared at the little girl.

    ¡°How small! How cute!¡± the little girl eximed and pped her hands.

    She looked left and right around the hamster cage made of transparent, acrylic te circles. It looked like she wanted to go into the cage and y with the hamster.

    The lights in the Amazing Fate Pet Shop were regional. Zhang Zian dimmed the light in the middle area to fit to the little hamster¡¯s vision, it being a nocturnal animal, so that it could see the little girl.

    ¡°Anyway, there are no other guests right now, so it¡¯s better to save power,¡± he thought.

    ¡°Manager, what does it eat?¡± she asked, turning her head toward Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Well¡­ It has a mixed diet, such asmon fruits and vegetables; in addition, peanuts, melon seeds, yellow beans, and ck beans are also okay,¡± he answered.

    ¡°Oh! Can I bring something tomorrow to feed it?¡± The girl bit her lips nervously, begging. She was concerned that Zhang Zian wouldn¡¯t agree.

    ¡°Sure, but don¡¯t feed it too much. Just several peanuts are more than enough. The hamster is so small that it doesn¡¯t eat a lot. If it eats too much, that will not be good for its health,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°Thanks, Manager! I am going to school now, bye-bye!¡±

    She hurried out just like she hade in, with her two ponytails and backpack swinging up and down.

    ¡°Kids at her age should be dropped off and picked up at school by their parents. How could her parents let her go to school by herself?¡± Zhang Zian thought.

    When the little girl had just stepped out, a slim figure entered the door.

    ¡°Was that girl your daughter?¡± Sun Xiaomeng asked.

    Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s first sentence after getting into the shop almost made Zhang Zian faint. The old wounds ofst night were not healed, but new wounds were already being made today.

    ¡°Am I so old?¡± Zhang Zian touched his face, depressed.

    Without the white coat, Sun Xiaomeng appeared to be a young, urban beauty. Zhang Zian barely recognized her.

    ¡°How do you have time toe today?¡± He rose up from the reclining chair.

    ¡°Well, is it a question? My pet clinic was just opened too. There are almost no customers, just like yours, so I stopped by.¡± Sun Xiaomeng didn¡¯t even greet him, walking directly towards the disy case and ying with the cubs.

    She had done all the cubs¡¯ vinations, so they seemed very close to her, immediately trying to get to the side of the disy case.

    ¡°No, no, you misunderstood that my shop was really just opened. The customers are on their way here!¡± Zhang Zian stressed.

 Chapter 13: Favorability Mission

    <h4>Chapter 13: Favorability Mission</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Zhan Zian said to himself, ¡°Bullsh*t, who said I didn¡¯t have any customers!¡±

    ¡°Come on, don¡¯t argue any more. Obviously there aren¡¯t any customers here!¡±

    Waiting for customers toe was a verymon problem for new businesses. If it was a restaurant, there would always be someone dropping by to give it a try, but for a pet shop¡­ If someone didn¡¯t want to buy a pet, they would pass by without stopping.

    She nced at Zhang Zian¡¯s recliner and couldn¡¯t stopughing. ¡°You are quite azy guy. If a customeres in and sees you sitting on your recliner, they will definitely turn around and leave!¡±

    Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders. ¡°Theye for the pets, not for me. By the way, the shop¡¯s grand opening is today. Are you not nning to give me some gifts or a red envelope[1]?¡± He shamelessly reached out his hand to her.

    Sun Xiaomeng was left speechless; she had never seen such a greedy person, asking for a red envelope just a few days after they¡¯d met.

    Zhang Zian put his hand down. ¡°Ugh, I guess you don¡¯t have any gifts for me. Ok, there is another choice for you, just a dozen buns and one cup of soy milk¡­ And the buns should be from Yan¡¯s at the end of street, vegetarian, with some vinegar, please.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng red at him, feeling funny and mad, then turned around and left the shop. Just for a while though, and then she came back.

    ¡°Take it!¡±

    With a white sh, a bag of steaming buns was dropped right into his arm. He heard her muttering, ¡°Meat buns are for feeding dogs!¡±

    She had not only bought buns for him, but had also gotten half a dozen for herself. She then enjoyed her buns, sitting on the chair behind the cashier. Of course, she ate in a more sophisticated way, drinking soy milk through a straw, not like Zhang Zian, who was directly drinking from the cup.

    After she finished eating, she wanted to throw out the garbage. While looking for a trash can, she found Gxy hiding behind the lobr purple sandalwood pot.

    ¡°En? What is this cat?¡± She was stunned.

    As a vet, her major was learning how to treat cats and dogs, as they were the mostmon pets. Plus, she had grown up with cats and dogs, since her family had a breeding base, so she was pretty good at recognizing cats. Although there were many varieties of ck and white cats, the cat behind the pot¡¯s colors were too clear to be real, almost like they were painted on. She could not tell what type it was.

    ¡°Ugh¡­ Have you never seen this type before?¡±

    Zhang Zian made a face like the badasses in cartoons.

    Sun Xiaomeng ignored him and tried to hold Gxy after putting the soymilk cup aside, but the cat, frightened, ran away to the pet supply area and hid behind the pet toys, looking at her timidly.

    Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s feelings were badly hurt.

    Zhang Zian jumped from the recliner, ran in front of her, and blocked her. ¡°Sorry, the cat is very timid, so don¡¯t scare it,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°Scare it¡­ Do I look like a monster?¡± Sun Xiaomeng red angrily.

    After a while, she finally calmed down. ¡°Is this your cat?¡±

    ¡°This store is mine, so of course the kitten is mine as well¡­ Could it have been yours?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you know you need a punch to the face?¡± she said, grinding her teeth.

    ¡°Aha! You finally figured that out. When I yed video games with my college friends, they always assigned me to be the warrior, saying I was born with a face to be mocked.¡±

    ¡°Humph¡­ I wille backter!¡± She angrily turned away.

    ¡°Hey! Remember to bring chicken buns next time! With some red pepper!¡± he shouted after her.

    After she was far away, Zhang Zian waved at Gxy. ¡°She is gone, don¡¯t worry.¡±

    ¡°Meow¡­ Don¡¯t touch me¡­¡±

    ¡°Take it easy, I won¡¯t touch you or let anyone else touch you!¡± he promised seriously.

    Gxy didn¡¯te to him, but blinked its silver eyes at him expectantly.

    ¡°What? Do you want anything?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Meow¡­ How about¡­ hide and seek?¡±

    Zhang Zian looked calm on the surface but was very emotional inside, ¡°Favorability mission! Finally! It seems that this kitten loves to y hide and seek! ¡±

    ¡°Aha, no problem! Everyone called me ¡®The King of Hide and Seek¡¯ when I was a kid¡­ all right, who will be the seeker?¡±

    ¡°Meow¡­ Gxy does not like seeker¡­¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­ that means I am the seeker¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian turned his body on the recliner and faced down. ¡°I will count to 100, hurry and hide!¡±

    ¡°Meow¡­ Don¡¯t count too fast¡­ Don¡¯t peek¡­¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, I got it. Hide yourself and don¡¯t let me find you too easily!¡±

    Then he closed his eyes and began to count, ¡°One¡­ Two¡­ Three¡­¡±

    ¡°98¡­ 99¡­ 100¡­ Are you ready? I¡¯ming!¡±

    He got up from the recliner after waiting for a few more seconds, rubbed his eyes, and looked towards the cat tree where the Lucky Cat had been, but nothing was there.

    ¡°So easy! Just like ying games with a kid, right? To improve the favorability level, I have to y to lose, letting the kitten win,¡± Zhang Zian thought.

    ¡°Let me improve the favorability level dramatically today without wasting any time!¡±

    He hung a cat ne from pet supplies, which had a bell on it, on the handle inside the door. If any customers entered the store, it would ring.

    He had thought searching for a cat in the two-floor building would be easy, as the space was quite limited, but he soon realized that he was wrong.

    He started from ground floor first.

    The unused showcases and cages had all been moved to empty rooms on the second floor, so the ground floor was empty; it could be easily seen with a single nce. After searching the space under the cashier¡¯s counter and the pets¡¯ bathing room, there shouldn¡¯t be any other hiding spots.

    ¡°I aming upstairs now!¡±

    He shouted out so Gxy could prepare, and then he slowly walked upstairs.

    There were five rooms on the second floor: his and his parents¡¯ bedrooms, the living room, the kitchen, and the storage room. The Lucky Cat would not be able to enter the storage room or his parents¡¯ bedroom, as they were locked.

    What he wanted now was to subtly lose the game to Gxy.

    ¡°All right, I will start from the kitchen!¡± he shouted loudly to remind Gxy to sneak downstairs while he entered the kitchen.

    After searching for a while in the kitchen, he found nothing.

    ¡°I know, you must be in the living room!¡±

    In the living room, there was only a Sofa, a TV set, and a TV cab. There was no Lucky Cat.

    Thest ce was his bedroom.

    ¡°I am going to my bedroom now!¡±

    He was a bit nervous, as he hadn¡¯t seen the cat sneak through the corridor, which meant the cat was still upstairs.

    But the game couldn¡¯t be stopped, losing obviously might annoy it.

    He entered his bedroom, but¡­ nothing was there. Where was Gxy?

    Trantor¡¯s Thoughts

    Nyoi_Bo_Studio Nyoi_Bo_Studio

    [1] Red Envelope: In Chinese and other East Asian societies, a red envelope, red packet,i see (Cantonese), ang-pau (Hokkien) or h¨®ngb¨¡o (Mandarin) is a mary gift which is given during holidays or special asions such as weddings, graduation or the birth of a baby.

 Chapter 14: Loser in Hide and Seek

    <h4>Chapter 14: Loser in Hide and Seek</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Zhang Zian rushed downstairs and took a nce around. There were no traces of Gxy, and the bell on the ss door was still hanging quietly. He went back upstairs and carefully searched his bedroom, the kitchen, and the living room again. While searching, he left the doors open, staring at the hallway the whole time, but he still didn¡¯t find Gxy. ¡°Could it have gotten into those two locked rooms?¡± Although he didn¡¯t think that was the case, he still opened the doors to his parents¡¯ bedroom and the storage room. The furniture in his parents¡¯ bedroom was still as it had been when his parents were alive.

    The cat was nowhere to be found; it was not under the bed, in the cab, under the desk, or on the balcony. He entered the storage room again, where there were extra cages, disy cabs, and a bit of debris. It was impossible for the cat to be hiding there. Zhang Zian was in a panic now, ming himself for ying hide and seek. Now it was totally messed up.

    He spoke out anxiously, ¡°Gxy, I surrender¡­ I can¡¯t find you, where are you?¡±

    Just when he thought that he would not receive a response, he heard a ¡°meow¡± from downstairs. He rushed downstairs and found Gxy sitting in the middle of the shop, circling around joyfully. ¡°Meow¡­ Gxy won¡­ Meow¡­ Gxy won¡­¡± Zhang Zian blinked again and again, feeling reassured. But where had it hidden?

    ¡­

    ¡°I lost. I surrender. Gxy, you are good at ying hide and seek. Could you please tell me where you were hiding?¡±

    ¡°Meow¡­ Here¡­ There¡­ Here¡­ There¡­¡±

    Did the words ¡°here¡± and ¡°there¡± mean it didn¡¯t hide in a fixed location, but was running between two or more ces? However, there was only one set of stairs, so it had to have run from the second floor to the first using the stairs. Zhang Zian had paid great attention to the stairs during his second search. He was certain that it had not appeared there.

    Quite weird! It raised his curiosity andpetitiveness, so he squatted down and said, ¡°Gxy, let¡¯s y hide and seek again tomorrow, okay?

    ¡°Yeah! Meow! Gxy likes hide and seek!¡±

    The next day, the little girl brought a few peanuts and almonds to the store, as expected, and fed the small hamster through the hole. It seemed that she enjoyed watching it eat more than she enjoyed eating. She yed for about ten minutes before leaving. After the little girl left, Sun Xiaomeng rushed in and threw a bag of buns to Zhang Zian before she went straight to trying to please Gxy, but she failed again. Once in a while, several seniors would stop by on their way back from their morning exercises. However, after asking for the prices, they left the shop, shaking their heads.

    ¡­

    Zhang Zian did not feel disappointed or surprised. Anyway, the seniors that tended to be picky about the price were not his target customers. As they said in the antique industry: an antique shop won¡¯t make a profit until three years after it opens. A pet shop could not bepared with an antique shop, but it was simr. It could at least be said like this: a pet shop would make a profit after being open for three days.

    Whatever happened, he would not choose to raise the sales by selling cheap pets, because people often don¡¯t cherish cheap things. When there were no guest in the store, Zhang Zian decided to y hide and seek again with Gxy. ¡°Last time was just a warm-up!¡± he announced. ¡°Now I¡¯m serious! I¡¯m afraid of myself when I¡¯m serious! This time I am sure that I will find you!¡±

    ¡°Meow!¡± Gxy ignored his im. As a matter of fact, this time was simply a replica of yesterday. He still did not find Gxy, and after he gave up, Gxy re-appeared on the first floor again.

    ¡­

    On the third day, Zhang Zian felt fully confident, because he was determined to be a hide-and-seek expert. Today, being well-prepared, he was confident he would be able to break the mystery behind Gxy¡¯s trick. After the game began, he counted to one hundred while Gxy finished hiding. Zhang Zian went upstairs backward, carefully cing a thinyer of flour on each step. There was a ny degree corner halfway up the staircase, which meant it was impossible for Gxy to jump directly from upstairs to downstairs; it at least had to pause to change directions at the corner. As long as Gxy passed through the stairs, it would leave traces of flour. He cautiously looked around on the first floor several times to confirm that the cat was not on the first floor, and then he moved on to the second floor. But this time, after he surrendered, Gxy still appeared on the first floor. There was no footprint on the floured stairs. Zhang Zian had to admit that there must be some kind of trick! If possible, he really wanted to put a ring directly around Gxy¡¯s neck, but for hide and seek, that was too shameless¡­

    ¡­

    The fourth day.

    ¡°Well, you won¡¯t go crazy because you don¡¯t have customers, right?¡± Sun Xiaomeng asked.

    Zhang Zian looked up confusedly. ¡°What? What did you say?¡±

    ¡°I said¡­¡± Sun Xiaomeng crossed her arms, looking him up and down as if he was a patient. ¡°Why do I feel something is wrong with you? You seem out of your mind. Do you want me to give you a checkup?¡±

    ¡°Leave me alone! You are out of your mind. You are a vet. How could you give me a checkup? Be careful, otherwise I will sue you for seeing a patient without the proper license! In fact, I was thinking, didn¡¯t you hear that serious men were the loveliest people?¡± Zhang Zian responded.

    Sun Xiaomeng pouted. ¡°Come on. You are thinking? I bet you were daydreaming!¡±

    Zhang Zian raised his hands, pushing her out. ¡°You¡¯d better take care of your own business! Speaking of no customers, there isn¡¯t much difference between us, right? Otherwise, would you be spending your time here?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Sun Xiaomengughed out loud. ¡°In fact, I came in person to tell you that somebody made an appointment to see me today.¡± After saying that, she ran away. Zhang Zian¡¯s attention had beenpletely transferred to how to catch Gxy, so it didn¡¯t matter if there were no customers. Today he was ready to go all out. The mills of God grind slowly but surely! He still used the flour, but this time he scattered the flour on each room upstairs instead of the stairs. He closed the doors before he started the game.

    The game started as usual. When he searched from the first floor to the second floor, and opened his bedroom, he saw an incredible scene. The only ce that had Gxy¡¯s tracks was in the center. The thin flouryer was rubbed off a little bit, which showed that Gxy was just lying there, leaving four small w prints.

    There were no footprints from the door to the center of the room. It seemed like it had suddenly appeared in the center of the room and then disappeared. He opened the kitchen, his parents¡¯ bedroom, the storage room, and the living room, and saw its footprints were in the center of each room. No wonder it was here¡­ It was there¡­

    The cat could move between every room instantly. He had a slight clue about the origin of the Lucky Cat¡­ It was definitely a sad story. ¡°Gxy, I throw in the towel,¡± he said. ¡°Meow! Gxy won! Gxy won!¡± The voice came from the first floor again.¡±

    ¡°But tomorrow I will definitely catch you!¡± he issued a deration of victory.

 Chapter 15: The Observer of Destiny

    <h4>Chapter 15: The Observer of Destiny</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    The Fifth Day.

    Zhang Zian started the game.

    ¡°Navigation Elf, you said that the Lucky Cat was a mythical creature, which exist because of the faith of human beings?¡± he asked the flickering light on the screen.

    [Navigation Elf]: Yes.

    Zhang Zian sighed and said, ¡°I see. I think I can guess its origin. ¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: If the yer can guess the origin of the pet, your favorability level would improve.

    Zhang Zian responded, ¡°I don¡¯t know who made the game, but the maker is awesome. Even¡­ such ethereal things can be made into pets.¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: You were lucky enough to win the ethereal pet.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°I have another question. Can the conversations between me and the Lucky Cat be heard by others?¡±

    If a conversation between him and Gxy was overheard¡­ Well, Gxy was impossible to capture, but Zhang Zian might be sent to the psychiatric hospital.

    [Navigation Elf]: Only the yer can hear, other people would just hear a cat¡¯s or dog¡¯s voice.

    Zhang Zian replied, ¡°Good.¡±

    He turned off the screen and talked to the Lucky Cat, who was staring at the pedestrians while sitting on the cotton pad, ¡°Gxy,e and y the game!¡±

    ¡°Meow! y the game! y the game!¡± Gxy raised its tail happily.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t ready for anything today, as it was impossible to defeat Gxy. However, there was still a little hope through a strong will and a little luck.

    After Gxy had hidden, he first searched the first floor and confirmed that it wasn¡¯t there. Then he went up to the second floor, closed his eyes, and began to circle around.

    One¡­ two¡­ three¡­

    Zhang Zian felt dizzy and nauseous, and he almost fell down.

    He was not able to distinguish between southeast and northwest, nor did he know where he was facing.

    He stopped without thinking or listening, just relying on his sixth sense and a bit of luck.

    He touched a handle and opened the door. Then he opened his eyes. This was his bedroom, and Gxy was sitting in the center of the room.

    ¡°I got you,¡± he said with a smile.

    ¡°Meow! How wonderful! Zhang Zian is great,¡± Gxy said and jumped excitedly, like a dancer.

    Sunshine shone through the windows. At this time, it seemed very real, no longer a phantom that could disappear at any moment.

    ¡°Ding dang!¡± The bell of the first floor rang, but it wasn¡¯t a customer.

    ¡°Express! Is there anyone there?¡± a man asked.

    Zhang Zian answered, ¡°Yes, wait a moment!¡±

    Then he said to Gxy, ¡°Follow me, I have a gift for you.¡±

    Gxy froze, like a spell had been cast on it, and said, ¡°Meow¡­ Present?¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Right, present, a present for you!¡±

    Gxy murmured, ¡°Present¡­ Present¡­ Meow¡­¡±

    The courier delivered a heavily packaged box and left after receiving Zhang Zian¡¯s signature.

    Zhang Zian opened severalyers of therge box with a scissor and a knife and then removed the cushioning foam. Gxy squatted a few meters away and stared at his actions.

    After the box was openedpletely, Zhang Zian took out a baby crib which had a very soft cotton pad, pillow, and quilt. The side of the bed was engraved with the word ¡°Gxy.¡±

    ¡°Come here, try it,¡± he said, pointing to the crib.

    ¡°Meow¡­ Present¡­ For Gxy?¡± Gxy hesitated.

    Zhang Zian nodded and said, ¡°Yes, for you. Come and give it a try.¡±

    He left the crib, and Gxy slowly walked toward it.

    The crib was very low because Zhang Zian had requested that the factory shorten the four legs. That way even a small cat such as Gxy could jump into it.

    ¡°Meow¡­ How warm¡­ Meow¡­ How warm¡­¡± Gxy said. Then ity in the crib, nuzzling happily.

    Zhang Zian picked up his phone, as a notification had suddenly appeared.

    [Navigation Elf]:Congrattions! Your favorability level was improved to friendly! Unlocked its true name!

    [Game Hints]: Pet Attribute

    [Known As]: Lucky Cat

    [Rarity]: Unknown

    [Feature Update]: Avert disaster and predict the future!

    [Unlock Origin]:

    In 1935, Schrodinger, a physicist from Austria, proposed a famous idea for an experiment called ¡°Schrodinger¡¯s cat.¡± A cat was sealed in a ck box containing a bottle of deadly cyanide and a switch triggered by the decay of radioactive material.

    The cat could have been either alive or dead; nobody could know the result until the box was opened.

    As quantum theory had been proven by many experiments, Schrodinger¡¯s cat had be well known and interesting.

    With great faith, Schrodinger¡¯s cat was transformed from a pure dream into a mythical creature.

    It had or had not.

    It lived or died.

    It was real or unreal.

    It desired to live.

    It desired to be real.

    It desired to exist.

    It desired to escape the ursed ck box.

    The experimental cat existed here as well as at the other end of the universe. It was the observer of destiny. In its eyes, the future of doom faded away while the future of happiness copsed into reality.

    It could be pulled back to the frightening ck box at any moment. With the cyanide and radioactive substances, its cycles of life and death were changed until quantum theory would liberate it.

    It could decide the destiny of everything, but it could not decide its own destiny.

    [Unlocked True Name]: Schrodinger¡¯s Quantum Cat

    Zhang Zian¡¯s hands were trembling, and though he had guessed it, the destiny of Gxy still made him sigh.

    People imagined it in that ck box, so it was in that ck box.

    Quantum theory had been set up for a hundred years, so it died many times in that ck box, then it rose again and died again.

    People believed in it and abused it.

    The cat hated Schrodinger and its real name.

    It was ustrophobic because of its long-term incarceration, so the cat liked rge¡± and hated the semi-enclosed cat¡¯s nest. The cat never hid in closets and cupboards when ying hide and seek.

    In theory, as long as it left Zhang Zian¡¯s vision, it was in a cloud of probability, and it could be in five rooms at the same time. Only in the moment of ¡°observation¡± would its ¡°in¡± or ¡°absent¡± wave functions copse into reality.

    However, there was a smallg between ¡°open the door¡± and ¡°observe the room,¡± during which it could escape to other rooms. So he closed his eyes and opened the doorpletely before opening his eyes.

    As for making himself unconscious, he had tried to diminish the impact of his ¡°consciousness¡± and be a weak observer before opening the door, and then he became a strong observer when he opened his eyes.

    ¡°Gxy, this is your home. I will pay attention and observe you all the time and never let you go back into that damn ck box again!¡± Zhang Zian said.

 Chapter 16: Morning Exercises

    <h4>Chapter 16: Morning Exercises</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Another beautiful morning.

    ¡°No. 9 Broadcast Exercise Series, let¡¯s begin. Walk in ce¡­ Go!¡±

    ¡°Stretching¡ªready¡­ Go!¡±

    In front of the store, Zhang Zian connected his bluetooth speaker to his cell phone, performing the exercises while listening to music.

    Next to the ss entrance door squatted a ck and white kitten, curiously observing his movements: stretching, kicking, bending, jumping¡­

    The pedestrians passing by were staring at him as well.

    ¡°Chest exercises¡­ One, two, three, four¡­¡±

    Exercising was not just a sudden idea Zhang Zian had; he had known his body was too weak after he chased that street cat a few days ago. If he didn¡¯t begin to work out, he would probably be weaker than those seniors who worked out in the park every morning.

    Right now, he was interested in the game ¡°Pet Hunter.¡± Were there any more poor pets like Gxy, suffering unimaginable lives alone in an endless life cycle in that database? If so, he wanted to rescue them all.

    This game tested the yers IQ and knowledge base, but basic physical strength was essential too.

    He had asked the navigation elf and it said that the appearance locations of the pets were unpredictable. Some would stay where they were and transform into mythical creatures, and some would wander around aimlessly; it mostly depended on their features and backgrounds.

    Without an observer, Schroginger¡¯s Quantum Cat, Gxy, stayed in an unpredictable random probability status. That is to say, it could be anywhere on earth or even at the end of the universe, such that it was one of the ¡°most uncatchable pets.¡± The probability of it being picked from the lottery was infinitely small.

    The lottery was a kind of observation as well, so the probability function converged to ¡°Chosen¡± or ¡°Not Chosen.¡±

    ¡°Obtaining Gxy was the luckiest thing, even if that was all the luck in my life,¡± Zhang Zian thought.

    He never expected Gxy to bring him any luck. He only wished that it could stay with him forever.

    ¡°Kicking¡­ One¡­ Two¡­ Three¡­ Four¡­¡±

    ¡°Mr. Manager, what are you doing?¡±

    He knew it was the girl that visited the little hamster by hearing her steps. He didn¡¯t even need to turn around.

    Today was Monday. She hadn¡¯te over the weekend.

    ¡°See, I am doing exercises. Do you want to join me?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± The girl hesitated, looking back and forth between the store and Zhang Zian. Time was pretty tight in the morning, so she didn¡¯t want to waste any of her hamster-ying time.

    ¡°Do you know why there is a rolling wheel in the cage? Because life is movement! The little hamster works out every day!¡± Zhang Zian said with a grin.

    ¡°All right, I will do it!¡± The girl put aside her backpack, followed Zhang Zian, and started exercising too.

    ¡°Turning¡­ One¡­ Two¡­ Three¡­ Four¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was a little proud of his intelligence, as now people were staring not just at him, but at the two of them. ¡°How clever I am!¡±

    ¡°Cooling down¡­ One¡­ Two¡­ Three¡­ Four¡­ Five¡­ Six¡­ Seven¡­ Stop!¡±

    ¡°Well done! Give me five! Yeah!¡± Zhang Zian felt quite rxed.

    Without realizing what happened, the little girl gave him a high five and picked up her backpack. Then she entered store to y with the hamster.

    When he picked up the speaker, he suddenly realized that someone was standing behind him, looking at him coldly.

    ¡°Hello? 911? There was someone luring a little girl¡­¡± Sun Xiaomeng spoke into her phone.

    Zhang Zian rushed to grab her phone, only to find out that she had just entered the number without dialing.

    ¡°Oh my God, you almost gave me a heart attack! Do you know you will be fined for submitting a false report?¡± he said with a bitter face.

    ¡°Hey, Mr. Zhang, you really can do anything to attract customers. I am surprised you were acting like a monkey in front of your store¡­ Anyway, that¡¯s your idea, but why did you let that innocent girl act like you?¡± Sun Xiaomeng had a sharp tongue.

    However, Zhang Zian was more shameless than anyone.

    ¡°Act like a monkey? Chairman Mao said, ¡®civilize the spirit and brutalize the body!¡¯ Since we are neighbors, if you want to try some brutal things, I can offer you 20% off.¡±

    ¡°Go to hell!¡± Sun Xiaomeng said with disdain.

    ¡°Gxy! Come here, I brought treats for you!¡± She waved at Gxy, opened a can of food, and ced it on the ground to attract the cat.

    ¡°Your favorability level is¡­ far behind,¡± Zhang Zian sneered in his mind.

    As expected, Gxy was frightened and hid itself behind the wall, spying on them with one eye.

    ¡°Humph¡­¡± Sun Xiaomeng was annoyed. ¡°Did you spend the whole day talking bad about me to the cat?¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless¡ªpeople were always obsessed with what they couldn¡¯t obtain. For example, Sun Xiaomeng. She had so many cats in her breeding base, but she was only interested in Gxy. The funny thing was that the cat ignored and disappointed her every time.

    ¡°Come on, Gxy, let¡¯s go back inside and take a rest.¡±

    Zhang Zian stepped into the store, followed by Gxy. Although it still kept its distance from him, it was much better whenpared with their first meeting.

    ¡°Zhang Zian, do you want to annoy me on purpose?¡± Sun Xiaomeng stomped and left.

    Zhang Zian poured him a cup of tea. ¡°People always say that fortunate people enjoy watching unfortunate people get tired out, is that the truth? ¡±

    ¡°Meow?¡± Gxy tilted its head to the side, wondering.

    That little girl fed the hamster with several unshelled nuts. ¡°How lucky to be a pet! You don¡¯t need to work, just y and be cute and someone will give you food.¡±

    Zhang Zian was jealous. ¡°You don¡¯t have to unshell the nuts, or you can feed them raw beans,¡± he said.

    ¡°Really? Isn¡¯t that too rough for its teeth?¡± the little girl asked worriedly, turning around.

    ¡°Hamster¡¯s front teeth grow all its life, so it needs something tough to wear out. If it always eats soft food, its front teeth will be too big to close its mouth,¡± he exined to the girl while knocking on his own front teeth.

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± The little girl seemed to understand.

    ¡°Your parents don¡¯t allow you to have pets?¡±

    The little girl nodded sadly.

    ¡°I agree with them. Although I own a pet shop, when I was a kid, maybe even twice as old as you, I had never owned a pet,¡± he said.

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely. You are young, you¡¯d better focus on your studies. Your parents¡¯ concern is that you cannot control yourself. Having a pet is very time consuming, and they don¡¯t want you to spend too much time on this.¡±

    He was serious when he said these words. At that moment, he understood how much his parents had cared about him before.

 Chapter 17: Look Forward to the Future

    <h4>Chapter 17: Look Forward to the Future</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    ¡°I promised my mom that I would never let the pets affect my studies, but ¡­¡± The little girl grew sad and started crying.

    ¡°But think of it this way, if your studies were impacted, your family would certainly not allow you to continue to raise it. Maybe they would send it to others or give it up. Wouldn¡¯t the pet be pathetic?¡± he patiently exined to the little girl.

    ¡°Woo¡­¡± The little girl looked at the hamster, imagining the scene of it getting lost on the street.

    ¡°It¡¯s notpletely impossible for you to raise a pet, but from now on you have to practice your self-control, such as getting up and going to bed on time, without being reminded, and helping your family with housework, like sweeping the floor, cleaning the dishes, and preparing food. The most important thing is to study hard. Don¡¯t be left behind. Got it?¡±

    The little girl saw hope in those words and nodded happily. ¡°Yea! I got it! Thank you, Mr. Manager!¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°You are wee. However, saying is easier than doing. It is easy to do it for one day or two, but it will be difficult to keep at it long term, so you should set a small goal first, like doing it for a semester, and let your parents see your effort.¡±

    She pumped her fist and said, ¡°I can do it!¡±

    ¡°Okay, go to school and don¡¯t bete,¡± Zhang Zian responded. After sending the little girl away, he fed the three cubs and the hamster until they were 80 percent full. Many people who loved pets were afraid of not feeding their pets enough food, so they fed the pets until they could no longer eat. This topic was still controversial. No matter whether they were human beings or animals, the best way was to eat was between half and 80 percent full. Many studies proved that people and animals would be more healthy and live longer this way.

    To eat less and more frequently was a good habit. People would get high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and other chronic diseases if they ate too much, as would pets. Zhang Zian often saw fat cats and dogs struggling to walk down the street, which wasn¡¯t healthy at all. Wasn¡¯t there some news that some Siberian tigers were fat like balls?

    The ancestors of pets were wild beasts, which were always threatened by famine. They wouldn¡¯t stop eating until they couldn¡¯t eat anymore, because they didn¡¯t know when their next meal would be. Nowadays, home-raised pets had neither natural enemies nor fear of famine, but their habits were preserved. Pets couldn¡¯t control themselves, so they needed breeders to control them. Never feed pets too much if you loved them.

    For the pet shop, it was enough to feed the pets to seventy or eighty percent full. If a customer came, the pets would more enthusiastically wag their tails to ask for food, which enhanced the sales. A pet who was fully fed wouldzilyy on the ground to digest, ignoring the customers. It would be hard to sell it and find its real owner. A pet shop was just a temporary stop for the pets, not their final home.

    While the pets were eating with a good appetite, Zhang Zian sighed because of the gloomy business. How long could he run the store like this?

    ¡°Meow, Zian is unhappy?¡± Gxy was sensitive to his change of expression. It squatted on the crib he had prepared for it, burying half of its body in a soft sponge pad and only exposing the upper half of its face. Its silver gray eyes stared at him, sparkling.

    .

    ¡°No, who said I was unhappy? I¡¯m so happy!¡± He cheered up because he could not let a kitten worry about him. ¡°Come on, should we y hide and seek, Gxy!¡±

    ¡°Meow! Hide and seek! Meow! Hide and seek!¡± Gxy was extremely excited, its eyes sparkling. The crib gently shook due to its actions.

    ¡°Should I still seek and you hide?¡±

    ¡°Meow! Zian seek! Now Gxy is serious! Gxy is afraid of itself when it is serious!¡±

    Zhang Zian felt speechless. Gxy had copied his words from several days ago. ¡°Well, go and hide! I¡¯m warning you that I¡¯m more serious than you are today! I¡¯m sure to be the king of this game!¡±

    ¡°Meow! Meow!¡±

    Zhang Zian ended up losing the game again. Did Gxy lose on purpose on that day? After they finished the game, he was resting on the couch, eyes watching the pedestrians outside the shop. There were so many people; why didn¡¯t anybody stop by the store? Gxy looked at him with its sparkling eyes.

    ¡­

    Ta! Ta! Ta! The sound of high heels was brisk and rhythmic like drums. Zhao Qi finished her morning work and left the office with her purse. She was trying to find a restaurant. She usually ate lunch with some close female colleagues, but today her boss had med her for something, which left her in bad mood, so she had rejected her friends¡¯ invitation. She wanted to be alone for a while.

    She walked down the street with her head down, biting her lip. The more she thought of it, the angrier she became. ¡°Obviously it was not my fault, why did he me it on me? Rumor has it that the new assistant is the manager¡¯s rtive. No wonder the manager always stands on her side! I¡¯m so mad! I want to quit!¡±

    She didn¡¯t actually intend to quit her job. After all, the economy was in a downturn, and her sry was not bad. It would be risky to quit without any other offers in hand.

    ¡°Patience! I need patience! One day I will teach that b*tch a lesson!¡± She was breathing heavily, and the sound of her high heels became disorderly. When the sign of the pet shop entered the corner of her eye, it didn¡¯t draw her attention¡­

    When the sign of the pet shop entered the corner of her eye, it didn¡¯t draw her attention. She took out her phone and checked a message¡­

    When the sign of the pet shop passed the corner of her eye, it didn¡¯t draw her attention. She felt an itch on her neck and scratched it¡­

    When the sign of the pet shop crossed her eyes, it didn¡¯t draw her attention. She saw a car with an interesting te¡­

    When the sign of the pet shop crossed her eyes¡­

    ¡°Uh? Pet shop?¡± She stopped. She was starving, but she was so angry she didn¡¯t want to eat anything. She had never raised a pet or thought of doing so. ¡°Well, let me take a look. I will leave if there¡¯s a creepy reptile!¡± She decided to go for a look, since she had nothing else to do.

    Gxy put its head down and closed its eyes, as if it had been fighting hard against the sleep monster.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Gxy? Are you not feeling well?¡± Zhang Zian sat down on the deck chair. He didn¡¯t notice the professional womaning to the door, as he was focused entirely on Gxy¡¯s unusual behavior.

    ¡°Meow¡­ Gxy is sleepy¡­ Gxy needs to sleep for a while¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian felt relieved and said softly, ¡°Go ahead.¡±

 Chapter 18: The Real Guest

    <h4>Chapter 18: The Real Guest</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Zhao Qi didn¡¯t have a pet and certainly hadn¡¯t been to a pet shop before, but she felt this shop was a bit strange. First, why did shee in and see a ck and white cat sleeping in the crib? Second, why was the young man who looked to be the shopkeeper not sitting behind the cashier to greet the guests but insteadyingzily on the reclining chair?

    However, the air quality in the shop was very fresh, as opposed to the smell of pet dung she was afraid of. The most important thing was that there were fewer types of pets in the shop and no disgusting reptiles. It seemed that it was very popr to keep those curious pets, as if they were signs of their owner¡¯s personalities. Zhao Qi didn¡¯t think so.

    While she was looking around the pet shop, Zhang Zian was looking at her. The woman was wearing a famous brand dress. Although it wasn¡¯t a top luxury brand, the price of a single item was more than 1,000 yuan. Her makeup was slightly thick, like she had quickly finished in the bathroom, and her eyes were angry, like she had just lost her temper.

    Zhang Zian evaluated that she paid attention to brands but was more rational with her purchases. She could be considered a target client, although he was not sure whether or not she wanted to buy a pet.

    Even so, he didn¡¯t greet her. He allowed her to choose her own pet, simply brightening the pet disy area by remote control without disturbing her.

    Zhao Qi¡¯s first impression of the shop was good. In addition to the clean and tidy shop, she thought the shopkeeper had a good attitude, unlike other salesmen and shopping guides that acted like dogs when she entered, trying to please her. They talked non-stop, leaving her in no mood to shop.

    She ignored the white mouse without a second nce. In her mind, it didn¡¯t matter if it was a gray, white, or yellow mouse, it was an abomination, probably crawling with germs.

    The Siamese cat was the first to get up. It looked through the ss of the disy case and meowed. The sound was very slight and soft, like a little milk cat¡¯s normal cries.

    The Samoyed paused and then immediately got close to her, looking at her with its tongue sticking out.

    The British Shorthair was a little reserved. It didn¡¯t appear to be as eager as the first two, but it slowly moved towards her, somewhat tempted.

    Zhao Qi felt slightly shocked. She lived in a high-rise apartment and went to work early and got off workte. She could asionally see people walking dogs in public areas, but those dogs and cats were adults and seemed to be unruly. They would either hit each other or bark at each other, and the owners would have to pull them apart in despair¡­

    Once, when she was in middle school, something happened that particrly embarrassed her. At that time, she met a brown puppy. It jumped on her calf and began to move up and down. She paused and suddenly felt her legs get wet. She looked around and saw peopleughing at her, and then she understood and grew angry, kicking the dog away. However, that made the owner of the dog unhappy, and he pulled her aside, using her of hurting the dog and telling her to take it to a veterinarian¡­ Anyway, that was a big ident, and she still remembered that dog¡¯s name¡ªTeddy.

    That event left her with a lot of mental issues. She had found puppies cute before that, but afterward she avoided dogs, both big and small.

    She admitted that the white puppy was lovely, but sorry, she couldn¡¯t handle dogs.

    Zhao Qi moved two steps to the right, leaving the Samoyed¡¯s disy case and standing between the disy cases of a Siamese cat and a British Shorthair.

    The Samoyed was disappointed andid down, sadly sobbing with its ears drooping. It didn¡¯t know what mistake it had made or why it was hated by this potential owner.

    The Siamese cat was much happier, pressing against the ss with its front paws and trying to get its head out through the middle of the ss wall to be touched. However, the ss hole was so small that it could only get its muzzle out.

    Meanwhile, the British Shorthairid against the side of the ss wall, its bright eyes staring at Zhao Qi.

    To be honest, both cats were very cute, but Zhao Qi considered herself to be an elegantdy, so she preferred thedy¡¯s-style British Shorthair.

    Zhao Qi had superior looks with a roundish face, so the British Shorthair¡¯s round cheeks were also a bonus for her.

    She was worried about whether the British Shorthair disliked her or not. Zhao Qi turned around, wanting to say hello to the manager, but saw Zhang Zian was already standing by her side.

    ¡°Manager, what cat is this?¡± she asked, flicking the ss wall of the British Shorthair¡¯s disy case with her fingernails.

    In fact, the majority of customers that entered the pet shop were like Zhao Qi, not knowing anything about pets. A few did know some of the moremon types, especially when it came to dogs, such as the Siberian Husky, Samoyed, Golden Retriever, and so on. Because dogs needed to be walked, they could often be seen in the neighborhood or on the street. On the other hand, cats didn¡¯t need to be walked, so they could stay at home their whole life. The more expensive the cats were, the more reluctant the owners were to let them out of the house, so the rate of identification of cats was much lower than that of dogs.

    Zhang Zian introduced the animal, ¡°This is a British shorthair, and next to it is a Siamese cat.¡±

    Zhao Qi said nomittally, ¡°Oh.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that this brief introduction was meaningless, so he asked, ¡°Have you ever had a pet before?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± she said, shaking her head and looking back and forth between the Siamese cat and British Shorthair.

    ¡°For a first timer, both cats are very suitable. I would personally rmend the British Shorthair,¡± he said.

    Zhao Qi hesitantly said, ¡°I also felt this blue cat was very cute, but it didn¡¯t seem to like me very much?¡±

    He exined, ¡°The two cats are different types, so their personalities are different. A Siamese cat is much more enthusiastic and familiar, while a British Shorthair is very enthusiastic about its owner, but it is wary of strangers. You are a stranger to it for now, so its attitude is not surprising.¡±

    Zhao Qi was not quite convinced and wondered if the shopkeeper was just being superficial and trying to sell the British Shorthair as soon as possible.

    ¡°Are you sure? I am afraid that, once it grows up, it will be still cold to me¡­¡± she said.

    Zhang Zian smiled and said, ¡°You can rest assured that these dogs and cats came from a normal breeding base and were all my top picks. For British Shorthairs, after their parents give birth to a litter of kittens, breeders would pick out the cats that were particrly close to them and keep them as breeding cats. Then when they raise the cat, it will be able to connect with other cats that are particrly close to people, so the kittens will be more intimate.¡±

    Zhao Qi nodded but still felt like she didn¡¯t really understand.

 Chapter 19: The First One!

    <h4>Chapter 19: The First One!</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Zhang Zian continued, ¡°Whether the cat will be close with people or not depends on both congenital and acquired factors. Acquired factors are more significant than congenital ones. The congenital factors are the so-called selective breeding, however the acquired factors are moreplicated and usually consist of three parts. First, the teaching and learning period, where the mother cat teaches the baby cats how to interact with humans. Of note, this is where they learn not to show their ws to humans. Second, there is a certain ¡®socialization period.¡¯ If cats can have peaceful contact with humans, they will be more friendly toward humans. The third will depend on how the owners treat their pets.¡±

    ¡°I guarantee that there are no problems concerning gics or education for all the pets in my shop. As long as you take good care of it, it will be close to you, I promise,¡± he said.

    Zhao Qi was moved because this British Shorthair cat was so lovely. When she stepped into the shop, she barely wanted to spend any money, but its eyes had a marvelous magic and moved her heart such that she could not give it up anymore.

    ¡°How much for the british short hair?¡± she asked.

    ¡°6,000,¡± he answered.

    Her eyebrows raised, as the price was a bit beyond what she had was expecting.

    ¡°How about the Siamese cat?¡±

    ¡°4,000, vinated three times already, imported.¡±

    One was cheaper, but she preferred the other. It was a hard choice.

    Zhang Zian was good at observing. ¡°You are an officedy, aren¡¯t you, madam?¡±

    She nodded. ¡°Yes, I am a secretary.¡±

    He said, ¡°My rmendation was not based on price. This Siamese cat relies on people too much; it needspany all the time and is a better choice for kids and housewives. You seem to be pretty busy with your work. After you go back home, you might need to do some extra work, spend time with a boyfriend, or do some reading, and because of that you might find the Siamese cat to be a bit¡­ annoying. But the British Shorthair is a good choice for you, as it can y with you, if you want, or by itself, if you are busy or need some downtime.¡±

    These words directly touched her heart. Zhao Qi lived alone in her rental apartment. She currently had no boyfriend, but there would be one in the future¡­ right? When she had a lot to do, she might continue to work at home. Add in reading, makup, skin care, anddies¡¯ tea time, and if the Siamese cat relied on people as much as he said, she might not have enough time to take proper care of it.

    He continued, ¡°By the way, the Siamese cat is more active and gets dirty much more easily, like a naughty boy, so it needs to take baths and bebed more frequently.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know how strong her desire to buy a cat was, so he had done everything he could do, and now he just needed to be patient and wait for her decision.

    Actually, there was only step for Zhao Qi to buy this British Shorthair¡ªshe needed a reason to persuade herself.

    She suddenly recalled that the new b*tch assistant said something at the wee party rted to cats, but she couldn¡¯t remember exactly what.

    She sent a message to one of her work friends. ¡°Shishi, do you remember what that b*tch assistant said about cats at her wee party?¡±

    After a while, her friend replied, ¡°I remember that she said she was allergic to cats and sneezed at every ce with cats. What¡¯s up, Qiqi? Why did you have lunch alone today?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m okay, let¡¯s talkter. Remember, keep our conversation a secret,¡± Zhao Qi quickly replied, smiling like a witch.

    Zhang Zian was listening to the side and her smile gave him chills.

    ¡°I will take this cat,¡± she said. ¡°Can I pay by Alipay?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely.¡± He pointed to the pet supplies. ¡°Do you want to have a look at this stuff? Since this is your first time owning a pet, you may need some essentials. Maybe you can get some from here.¡±

    ¡°You really know how to do business.¡±

    But Zhao Qi agreed with that, as she couldn¡¯t go home with only the cat.

    She walked to the pet supply area with Zhang Zian. She found the bristle brush for short hair cats, the scissors for cat nails, and the ear wash for cleaning its ears. Nothing was expensive. She didn¡¯t care about this amount of money after spending six thousand yuan on a cat, so she got them all.

    When they talked about liquid bath soap, she asked, ¡°Could it use my liquid soap, since it is imported¡­?¡±

    ¡°Nope.¡± He pointed to the introduction on the bath soap and exined, ¡°Cat and human skin have different pH levels. Cats will suffer hair loss and skin disease if they use a human¡¯s bath soap. It doesn¡¯t matter if it was imported from an alien country or an alien star!¡±

    Zhao Qi was amused. Bath soap was put in the cart, obviously.

    Cat litter, cat pillow, litter box, scratch board, cat tree, food bowl, identification, and a cat shovel, Zhao Qi bought them all.

    Cat food and canned food, hum, she needed some as well.

    And an automatic feeder, which was extremely useful for single office workers like Zhao Qi. With this, she didn¡¯t need to worry about feeding the cat if she had to work overtime.

    A lot of single people liked to put food in the bowl, which would be good for one day, but actually, it was not a good thing, since the kittens would easily overeat and harm their digestive systems.

    Other than all of that, she also needed a cat bag, otherwise how would she bring the cat back home? She thought the cat would feel safer staying in a cat bag when she took it to visit friends or the vet.

    Zhao Qi bought too much stuff and was now worried about how she would take everything home.

    ¡°If you can give me your phone number and address, I can deliver all these to you, but you need to pay the delivery cost,¡± Zhang Zian suggested.

    Zhao Qi stared at him. ¡°I spent almost seven thousand here and still need me to pay the delivery cost?¡±

    ¡°My business is very small¡­¡± He rubbed his hands, embarrassed.

    It was just a joke, since she felt closer to this young shop owner after their deal. Zhao Qi didn¡¯t really care about the delivery fee, which was no more than a few dozen yuan.

    ¡°All right.¡± She waved her hand. ¡°I will pick up the cat after work. Will that be okay?¡± she asked.

    ¡°No problem, I can print out some beginner tips for you as well, and you can take them together then.¡±

    Next, checking out sessfully, Zhang Zian handed the receipt and sales agreement to Zhao Qi, along with the immunization certification she had never asked about.

    ¡°Congrattions, this cat belongs to you now.¡±

    Zhao Qi put the receipt into her wallet, delighted. ¡°By the way, can you give me your WeChat? That way, in case I have any questions, I can ask you.¡±

    After they connected on WeChat, Zhao Qi left. Zhang Zian waved his fist excitedly.

    ¡°The first pet was sold!¡±

 Chapter 20: The Falling of the First Domino

    <h4>Chapter 20: The Falling of the First Domino</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    As the saying goes, ¡°Everything is difficult at first. A good start is half the battle.¡± During the earlier transaction, Zhang Zian seemed very talkative and knowledgeable, but in fact, he was extremely nervous. Fortunately, he handled it well and gave the customer a good shopping experience. However, he was disappointed that the customer had used the online money transfer instead of cash, as he wanted to feel the excitement from counting the money.

    ¡°Hoo!¡± He took a deep breath and finally calmed down. When he turned around, he saw Gxy quietly crouching in the crib, fast asleep. Their conversation didn¡¯t seem to have disturbed it. He picked up his phone and started the game. ¡°Navigation Elf, I have a question for you.¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: Go ahead, I¡¯m always at your service.

    ¡°Uh ¡­¡± He thought for a while. ¡°The mythical pets are not real, so they aren¡¯t supposed to get sick, right? ¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: They usually aren¡¯t.

    ¡°Are there any special cases?¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: Whether it was virtual or real, once captured by the yer, the pet will exist in the real world in a real form, so it can get hurt and even die.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s excitement disappearedpletely. He was worried and took a look at Gxy. ¡°Then can you check Gxy? I noticed that there was something wrong with it. It¡¯s unusual for it to sleep so deeply.¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: Your Lucky Cat was neither injured nor sick, but it was tired due to using its special ability and is now recovering.

    ¡°Special ability? What do you mean?¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: It just observed your future and made the wave function of the future copse to benefit you. Please don¡¯t worry, because it was only a brief peek into the future, and the range of influence was so small that its physical strength became weak, but it was not injured.

    Zhang Zian was holding his phone tight. ¡°What a joke! You asked me not to worry? Using its special ability recklessly for such a trifle¡­¡± He hit his thigh hard. ¡°Or I¡¯m just too useless and made the kitten worry about me!¡± He silently made up his mind, ¡°Gxy, I will prove it to you, even if you do not use your ability, I will make my pet shop better and better!¡±

    ¡­

    Zhao Qi excitedly went back home with her new cat bag. She rented a high-rise apartment with two bedrooms and one living room. This British Shorthair was blue gray, so she called it ¡°Lan Lan,¡± which meant blue. While she was waiting for the elevator, there was a mother with a child at the door as well. The child was about four or five years old. One hand was holding her mother¡¯s, and the other was being used to drink yogurt.

    Zhao Qi had met them several times before, but with just a passing nod. She had never talked to them or learned their names. The only thing she knew was that they lived upstairs.

    The cat bag and the child were at the same height. Lan Lan probably smelled the yogurt. It reached to the side of the bag, and its yellow green eyes stared at the yogurt. The child was surprised, even forgetting to continue to drink the yogurt.

    ¡°Mom! Mom! It¡¯s a cat!¡± The child swung her mother¡¯s hand.

    The mother looked down and saw the mellow little face behind the window. ¡°Oh, what a kitten, a lovely kitten! It¡¯s so quiet!¡± The mother squatted down, holding the child and giving lots ofplements to Lan Lan.

    Zhao Qi felt proud, as if they were praising her. She thought the seven thousand yuan had been well spent. When she paid ten thousand yuan to buy a Gi purse, she never heard people in an elevator say things like ¡°your purse is gorgeous.¡± At most, she got somepliments when she showed it off on WeChat.

    ¡°What type of cat is this, girl? How beautiful and well-behaved it is!¡± the mother said with an envious face.

    ¡°It¡¯s a British Shorthair. It¡¯s really cute and easy,¡± Zhao Qi praised as if it was her own child.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a foreign cat. This cat must be very expensive, right?¡±

    ¡°Not too bad, it was six thousand yuan.¡±

    ¡°Gee, no wonder. It¡¯s worth every penny. It¡¯s different from those that are noisy and always jumping around. Yours looks like an elegantdy.¡±

    ¡°Mom, I want one too¡­¡± The child eagerly looked at her mother with her fingers in her mouth.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m afraid we can¡¯t.¡± The mother suddenly shifted the subject and coaxed the child.

    ¡°Please, I want it¡­¡± The child began to lose her temper.

    ¡°Ah, naughty kid¡­ You just want to buy anything you see¡­ Two days ago, you wanted a Barbie doll¡­¡± The mother was embarrassed.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want a Barbie¡­ I want a cat¡­¡± The child yed her own trick.

    Zhao Qi smiled and said, ¡°I bought it at a store on Zhonghua Road. It¡¯s not far from here. The owner is very nice. If you have time, you can take your child and go have a look.¡±

    The mother smiled and said, ¡°To be honest, we have never raised a cat. I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t do it.¡±

    Zhao Qi said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I haven¡¯t either. But if you get a cat too in the future, we can exchange our experiences with raising cats, since we are neighbors.¡±

    The mother was a little persuaded. Because her and her husband were usually busy, they didn¡¯t have much time to y with their kid. The child was somewhat lonely. She thought it would also cost three or four thousand yuan to buy a tablet for the child, which might affect her eyesight. So she¡¯d rather buy a kitten or a puppy to apany the child.

    ¡°Well, tell me the address. I¡¯ll check it out with my kid when I have time,¡± the mother finally relented.

    ¡°Yea,¡± shouted the child, ¡°Buy a cat! Buy a cat!¡±

    Zhao Qi said, ¡°Let¡¯s be friends on WeChat. You can always ask me if you have any questions.¡±

    ¡°Sure, thank you very much.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re very wee. We¡¯re neighbors.¡± Zhao Qi felt very happy. She almost forgot the unpleasantness with the b*tch assistant at work. If she hadn¡¯t bought this kitten, she would still nod to greet the neighbors and might not have talked to them today. She immediately sent a WeChat message to Zhang Zian. ¡°I introduced a client to you so that you can waive my delivery charge.¡±

    Zhang Zian replied, ¡°¡­Sorry, I can¡¯t waive that charge. But If I get the business, I will give you a referral fee.¡±

    Zhao Qi smiled. ¡°The owner is very interesting.¡± The elevator arrived, and she took the elevator up with the mother and daughter. When they arrived, the elevator door opened, and she said good-bye to them.

    She found the key, opened the door, and entered the room. Like many singledies, Zhao Qi¡¯s home was not messy, but there was still a certain distance from the standard. After all, she rented the apartment; she didn¡¯t own it. It was unnecessary to make it so clean.

    She put the cat bag on the ground, took off her coat, and put on her slippers.

    ¡°Lan Lan, this is our home. Do you like it?¡± She opened the cat¡¯s bag and gently held it in her arms. It was like a hairball, very warm and fuzzy.

 Chapter 21: Showing Off

    <h4>Chapter 21: Showing Off</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Lan Lan looked curiously at the new house, purring, and seemed satisfied.

    Zhao Qi ced the cat on the sofa in the living room and went to the kitchen to boil water for her coffee.

    As soon as the water was ready, someone rang the bell.

    Through the visual inte system, she saw it was the delivery guy, and he was carrying a lot of stuff.

    Soon after turning on the ess control system, the elevator stopped at her floor, and then the delivery guy knocked at the door.

    ¡°Coming,¡± she said and opened the door.

    ¡°Please sign and pay the delivery charge,¡± the courier said.

    Zhao Qi took the pen and signed. She took her wallet out of her handbag and paid him the fee.

    The guy counted the money and made sure it was the correct amount. While putting the money into his pocket, he asked, ¡°Was that your cat that just ran out?¡±

    Zhao Qi suddenly paused, then looked back. The British Shorthair was no longer in the living room.

    She wanted to swing her handbag at the delivery guy¡¯s face. Why hadn¡¯t he said something sooner?

    She ran out in a hurry. Fortunately, this was a high-rise apartment. The elevator door was not open, so the cat hadn¡¯t run far. It was squatting on the stairs before the escape, looking left and right.

    She held Lan Lan in her arms right away, feeling relieved.

    ¡°Bad Lan Lan, don¡¯t run around in the future!¡± she scolded in a low voice.

    Lan Lan didn¡¯t seem to realize the seriousness of its behavior. It stared at its new owner with its big eyes. The confused and slightly guilty look made Zhao Qi¡¯s heart melt.

    They went back home and closed the door. She saw the piece of paper that Zhang Zian had given her, containing the cat-raising instructions, tossed to the side. She picked it up and started reading. The first line read: ¡°As the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat. The cat is curious about the world. It is important to pay attention when opening the door¡ªdon¡¯t let the cat get out the door and run away, otherwise it will get lost. If you live in a high-rise building, pay special attention to this matter.¡±

    She was astonished and felt guilty that an irreversible mistake had almost been made. She folded up the paper and put it on the desk so she could read it carefully tonight.

    But before that¡­She took out her phone, getting ready to take some beautiful pictures of the cat and share them on her Weibo and WeChat Moment to earn a few ¡°likes¡± from her friends.

    ¡­

    Okay, if she just showed a few pictures, the result would be¡­ out of her hands.

    Zhao Qi had shown her new handbag and shoes on her WeChat Moment previously, but the handbag and shoes were just some objects, while the cat was different¡ªit was alive.

    The British Shorthair was a quiet cat, but its curiosity was too strong. At first, there was a ce for her without barriers. It immediately got restless and wanted to explore the new area. It yed there for a while then moved to the signature pen on the desk, then onto the keyboard, and then jumped on a loudspeaker, but it was scared by the speaker¡¯s sound and suddenly hid behind the monitor. Oh my, it was very active.

    Zhao Qi started taking pictures with her phone. The more pictures she took, the more she felt that Lan Lan was absolutely a little beauty. The cat was cute in every pose and picture. She was afraid that she didn¡¯t have the photography skills to show it off. She just unwittingly took one hundred or two hundred photos until the phone prompted low battery.

    ¡°Lan Lan, you are so magical!¡± She took it in her arms and rubbed her face against its cheeks.

    Lan Lan seemed to have gradually epted its new owner. It wasn¡¯t struggling at all.

    The connection led to a kiss. Zhao Qi finally chose ten pictures among the one or two hundreds pictures to put on Weibo and WeChat Moment, and she didn¡¯t forget to emphasize her bad photography skills andck of SLR.

    Zhao Qi installed the litter box and cat nest, following Zhang Zian¡¯s cat tutorial introduction. After she plugged her phone into the charger, she rushed to take a bath.

    As a youngdy, Zhao Qi took at least an hour in the bathroom, taking a bath and blow-drying her hair, but today it only took her half an hour to get everything done.

    The whole time, she was thinking, ¡°Ah, did I close the balcony window? Will Lan Lan stick its ws into the socket? Did I forget to put away the kitchen knives?¡±

    When she walked out of the bathroom in worry, she saw Lan Lan ying happily with some cat toys. Lan Lan saw here out, dropped the cat toys, and ran to her feet, smelling the scent of her body wash.

    ¡°Oh dear! Well behaved, Lan Lan!¡± she said.

    In spite of the bath, Zhao Qi picked it up again and made a connection with the cat.

    She was wearing a bath towel while holding Lan Lan with one arm. She could hardly wait to check on people¡¯sments on her WeChat Moment.

    ¡°Wa! When did Qi Qi buy a cat? Kawaii!¡±

    ¡°What cat is it? How beautiful!¡±

    ¡°Is it a shorthair cat? British Shorthair or American Shorthair?¡±

    ¡°How much? I want one too!¡±

    ¡°Wuwuwu¡­ Overnight, the rival in love added another¡­¡±

    ¡°Great pictures.¡± Two short words, this was Zhang Zian¡¯sment.

    Besides, there was a private letter from her colleague, Shi Shi. ¡°F*ck! Shame on you!¡±

    She replied, ¡°Hum!!!! From now on, I will y with Lan Lan every day! Get some cat hair and go to work! Let the b*tch know my way!¡±

    Shi Shi: ¡°You are not a man; you are a woman!¡±

    Zhao Qi: ¡°From now on, I will be a man and I will cherish my little Lan Lan every day!¡±

    Shi Shi: ¡°Haha! I will go to your house some day and visit your Lan Lan!¡±

    Zhao Qi: ¡°Wee!¡±

    After sharing on Weibo and Wechat Moment, she updated her QQ space as well. Of course, the theme was Lan Lan.

    Even with all of that, she wasn¡¯t satisfied. She wanted the whole world to know her stunning Lan Lan.

    There was a famous local forum in Binhai City named ¡°Wang Haige.¡±

    Wang Haige was aprehensive forum, divided into many sub-sections. Zhao Qi had also registered an ount in this forum. Her apartment was found in the rental section of Wang Haige. Besides that, she also sold a few clothes in the forum that were not avable in the second-hand trading market, as well as the luxury cosmetics which didn¡¯t fit her skin. In case of second-hand trading, it was reassuring to have a local deal.

    As aprehensive forum, Wang Haige also had a subsection in the life and leisure section called ¡°The family has a lovely pet,¡± or pet area for short.

    Zhao Qi had never been in this section before, but she knew the amount of postings and the level of activity ranked in the top three in Wang Haige after the second-hand market andprehensive irrigation district.

    She clicked the pet area, and it was as she had thought. At least half of the posts in the forum were pictures of their pets, and the rest were for help and questions and answers.

    After randomly viewing a few posts, she smiled coldly.

    ¡°Hum, were these ugly pets brought out to show? Look at my Lan Lan!¡± she said.

 Chapter 22: Wang Haige Forum

    <h4>Chapter 22: Wang Haige Forum</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Zhao Qi posted immediately, ¡°My new family member, the little angel Lan Lan.¡±

    There were more than one hundred pictures that had been taken but not used. She added dozens of lovely pictures from different angles to her post and put all her effort into editing this post to be as nice as possible, and then she clicked ¡°Post.¡±

    ¡°Pet in the house¡± was a popr online social tform for pet lovers in Binhai City. After ying with Lan Lan for a while, Zhao Qi checked her post to find severalments already.

    ¡°Humph, British Shorthair? Nice¡­ Three or four months old?¡±

    ¡°Wee, new members, to our pet lover family.¡± This guy seemed to be the section administrator.

    ¡°:) Lovely BSH! One more BSH owner!¡±

    ¡°By looking at the hand holding the cat¡­ the poster must be ady, please date me!¡± This one had the potential to be Mr. Holmes.

    ¡°I have a BSH too, what is your location? Request mating!¡±

    ¡°Hey upper poster, asking for mating with a three or four-month old cat?¡±

    ¡°Upper, my area is from cradle to tomb LOL.¡±

    ¡°WOW, who was asking for MATE? You or Your lord?¡±

    The dialogue became unserious from here.

    There were some professionalments as well, ¡°The most significant feature of BSH is ¡®round¡¯: round eyes, round face, round paws, round tail end, and round body. The cat in this post looks great and has the capability to be a breeding cat, which is a good deal.¡±

    Zhao Qi was so delighted that she didn¡¯t care whether Lan Lan was a breeding cat or not, she just felt happy that her cat was beingplemented by others.

    She observed Lan Lan in her arms. It looked exactly like what that guy had described: fatty and round, bell eyes and moon face, and alluring and lovely. The longer she observed the cat, the more correct she thought buying this cat was.

    She kept refreshing and replying to her post, sharing her joy.

    Thetestment: ¡°Could I ask¡­ where did the poster get the cat? All thesements made me feel like getting one.¡±

    ¡°South end of Zhonghua Rd, Amazing Fate Pet Shop.¡±

    After following her post awhile and finding no newments, she refreshed the front page of the pet section again and saw a Q&A post: ¡°Need a cat, which shop is good in east Binhai City?¡±

    The name on the post looked familiar to her and had the same ID as thestment on her post.

    Usually, she would never click those Q&A posts since there were too many people asking for help. How could she help all of them? But today was different. She was in a good mood and was willing to help others.

    She clicked in, and there were a fewments already.

    ¡°It¡¯s better to have a kitten born at home than bought from a shop.¡±

    ¡°Buy a cat? There are so many homeless cats, you can adopt one.¡±

    ¡°Buy it online, pets are too expensive in local shops and cheaper in online shops.¡±

    ¡°Stars Pet Chain Super Market! One of the leading brands in national pet market, you will never be frustrated there! How could a big name lie to you? NEVER, NEVER go to those small shops, who knows whether they will continue to be open tomorrow? I was fooled once and that is the reason for me saying this.¡±

    Zhao Qimented as well, ¡°I bought my cat from Amazing Fate Pet Shop on the south end of Zhonghua Rd. Good reputation, you can take a look. Nice and professional shop owner. Not too many pets there due to recently opening.¡±

    After finishing thement, she was surprised as she was not aware that it was 10:00 PM. She shut down theputer and got ready to go to bed.

    If there was anything she regretted getting, it was that cat bed. She needed Lan Lan to sleep with her in her bed!

    She never imagined that herment would ignite a huge war on the Wang Haige forum.

    ¡­

    From noon till night, only one customer, Zhao Qi, stepped into the Amazing Fate Pet Shop. The unchosen Siamese and Samoya were less energetic, but they looked much better after Zhan Zian fed them more food.

    In the early evening, Gxy moved its ears and its head after a long, deep sleep, yawning with satisfaction.

    ¡°Gxy, you¡¯re finally awake!¡± Zhan Zian rxed a bit, ¡°What¡¯s up? Feeling okay?¡±

    The whole afternoon, he had been worried about Gxy, but it looked fine, judging by its energetic eyes after it woke up.

    ¡°Meow, Gxy is feeling great! Hide and seek again?¡± Gxy, who was now recovered, was eager to y.

    ¡°Promise me one thing before we y hide and seek.¡± Zhang Zian stretched out a finger.

    ¡°Meow?¡±

    ¡°Please do not use your ability for some small issue again. Don¡¯t you know how worried I was about you?¡± he said grimly.

    ¡°Meow, that was a present! A present to Zian from Gxy!¡±

    Zhang Zian was touched, Gxy had a beautiful mind as pure as crystal. Although it was abused repeatedly in people¡¯s imagination, it had never been ruined.

    ¡°Okay! I ept this present and this will be the only one. If you use your ability for some trivial issue again, I will never y hide and seek with you again!¡±

    His warning was quite effective, as Gxy instantly became nervous.

    ¡°Meow, hide and seek¡­ Gxy promises! Gxy promises!¡±

    ¡°All right, let¡¯s y hide and seek!¡±

    Zhan Zian locked the door, ending today¡¯s business.

    ¡­

    The next morning, Zhao Qi was woken up by the rm clock, feeling wet and itchy on the tip of her nose.

    She opened her eyes and found Lan Lan sitting beside her pillow, licking her nose with its little tongue.

    ¡°Yo, sweetheart, a morning kiss!¡±

    Zhao Qi opened the quilt and held Lan Lan in her arms, hugging it.

    After ying for a while andpletely waking up, she began her morning routine and prepared her breakfast.

    In the bathroom, she stared at the familiar face in the mirror, feeling something was missing¡­.

    ¡°OMG! I forgot to do my maskst night!¡±

    ¡°How can I go out today?¡±

    ¡°What should I do¡­? How about taking the day off?¡±

    Of course, taking a day off was a joke. Doing so for such a small issue was just looking for trouble.

    Time went by fast in the morning. Not only did she need to get ready herself, but she also needed to prepare a day¡¯s food and water for Lan Lan.

    After she dug out the cat-litter shovel from the package, a sense of sorrow came to her.

    ¡°Eventually, I be a ve to a cat¡­¡± She sighed, depressed.

    Her wonderful single life had gone.

 Chapter 23: Cyber War

    <h4>Chapter 23: Cyber War</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    At the morning meeting, the b*tch assistant whom Zhao Qi hated sniffed a lot. The manager was concerned she might have a cold. Only Zhao Qi and her close colleague, Shi Shi, sneakily smiled at each other. ¡°Just wait and see! I¡¯ll carry more and more cat hair. Sooner orter, you¡¯ll make a fool of yourself in public!¡± Zhao Qi thought proudly. During lunchtime, Zhao Qi had lunch with some close female colleagues and showed off some cute pictures of Lan Lan, which made everybody excited again.

    Zhao Qi finally got home at the end of the day. Lan Lan noticed right away and ran to her when she opened the door. Zhao Qi first closed the door and then held Lan Lan high over her head. ¡°Baby, how are you doing today? Come on, give me a kiss!¡± After taking a shower, she sat in front of theputer, holding Lan Lan in her arm. When she went onto the Wang Haige forum, there were dozens of new unreadments on the upper right corner of the page, below her avatar. She was stunned when she saw thements, as it seemed that several unknown posters had tried to attack her online.

    ¡°The one who rmended the pet shop is the owner¡¯s marketer, right?¡±

    ¡°Right, I have never heard of that small shop. How could it have decent pets? It¡¯s malicious to rmend that shop¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey, nowadays, there are always some losers who sold their own conscience for a little money,¡± poster QI QI said. ¡°To be honest, how much do you earn from the owner once you post a message?

    ¡°Maybe he is a damn demon and specifically made a female name.¡±

    ¡°The picture of the cat must havee from the web and gone through photoshop.¡±

    ¡°I want to join that team. I also want to earn money by posting!¡±

    Zhao Qi held the mouse, shaking and extremely angry. She hadn¡¯t been humiliated ever since she was born, except for that time with Teddy. Lan Lan felt it and was shaking while squatting on herp, screaming uneasily.

    She soonforted Lan Lan. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Lan Lan, don¡¯t worry¡­¡± After the initial anger, Zhao Qi took a deep breath and gradually calmed down, and her eyes shed coldness.

    What was Zhao Qi¡¯s personality? One can tell from the matter between her and the b*tch assistant, she was definitely not a person who treated people with kindness. She admitted clearly to her bestie: a real man is sure to take revenge. I can secretly do it. It¡¯s hard to tolerate it! Good men are wronged, horses are well ridden! It was the same in the workce, in thework, as in life! She went to the kitchen and made a cup of coffee while refreshing her thoughts by walking around. By the time she got back to herputer, she hade up with countermeasures.

    ¡°You guys want to fight? Ok, let¡¯s do it!¡± First, she created an empty folder on the desktop and saved screenshots of the posts that had assaulted her, in order to prevent them denying it in the future. She then clicked on those IDs one by one to check their previous posts and replies. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly.

    These IDs had one thing inmon, which was that they only stayed in the pet area, never spreading to the other sections. Anothermon point was that they never posted their own pets or tabbed into those technical help posts, but as long as they saw people posting for help to ask where to buy pets, they would appear crazily, like a swarm of bees. They always rmended Stars Pet Chain Supermarket, especially the franchise in Dongcheng District, putting down others all the while. These IDs coborated together, someone praising and someone deprecating, and sometimes they changed roles in order to deceive the public.

    Even if she had no idea before, now she realized that these IDs were really an inte water army[1]¡ªthe viins filed suit first, and the robbers acted like cops. They were the real inte water army, but they ndered others. They took advantage of the fact that confused people abhorred inte water armies so that they could manipte public opinion. Maybe other people could tolerate this and be okay with noting to this forum, but Zhao Qi was not that kind of person.

    The rules posted at the top of the pet area clearly prohibited merchants, as well as inte water armies, from settling in this area. It illustrated that pet trading was done at the Secondhand Sale area, and vitors would be punished. She was able to report these IDs right away, but she decided to adopt a long-term n to secure something big. ¡°Let¡¯s see who the inte water army is!¡± She screenshotted these IDs¡¯ posts and then made a post named ¡°Find out who the merchants water army lurking in the pet area are.¡±

    In the post, she attached both their and her own posting records, presented the facts and reasoning, tearfullyined about the nder of these IDs, and begged people for justice. At the end of the post, she also put a picture of half of her obscured face and wrote, ¡°In order to prove that I am honest, I exposed myself to show innocence! Rumormongers, do you dare to do the same?¡± As she clicked ¡°post,¡± the forum confirmed that the message was published sessfully and was loading.

    She put her forehead close to Lan Lan¡¯s forehead and said, ¡°Lan Lan, look at your sister giving vent to your anger!¡± This post had been issued, and it astonished everyone! In a male dominated forum, a beauty¡¯s picture always caused a surge in hormones. It was half past eight in the evening. The number of people on the forum was at its peak. The article with both an extraordinary title and content had be the focus of the forum, and the poprity of the pet area kept increasing, almost equaling the trading area and chatting area, which were always the top two areas on the forum. Since her post was full of evidence, with excellent pictures and apanying words, then as long as people weren¡¯t pure idiots or selectively blind, they could see at first nce that the ID¡¯s records were really tricky, and even that the registration time was pretty close.

    ¡°It¡¯s too long to see it!¡±

    ¡°Damn! These IDs felt familiar. Why did they appear at every post and rmend the ce to buy a pet? At first I thought they were ardent people, but as the page host said, they¡¯re really a f*cking inte water army!¡±

    ¡°Beauty! Beauty!¡±

    ¡°Beauty will dominate the forum forever!¡±

    ¡°I have to say, I saw another of this host¡¯s posts. I didn¡¯t dare to speak because I was afraid people would give me a hard time. I bought a blue British Shorthair at Stars Pet Chain Supermarket too. Then I found something wrong with the cat. Why did its hair grow longer and longer? I came to a person who knew the business and was told that I was cheated. It was a hybrid of a British Shorthair and some long-haired cat¡­ I went to that shop but they rejected me¡­¡±

    ¡°The reputation of the pet shop was destroyed by this shameless inte water army! The people were forced to catteries or kennels only!¡±

    ¡°I have proof for the host. Although the Amazing Fate Pet Store is not popr, it was opened many years ago and owned by a middle-aged couple with good reputations, but nobody knows why it closed down a while ago. I¡¯m not aware of its situation right now since I haven¡¯t been there recently¡­¡±

    ¡°F*cking, damn water army!¡±

    ¡°I was deceived by Stars Pet Chain Supermarket, too¡­ because of the rmendation from the forum¡­¡±

    ¡°Me too¡­¡±

    Situation reversed! Where there is oppression, there is resistance!

    [1]On the Inte in the People¡¯s Republic of China, an Inte Water Army or Wangluo shuijun (simplified Chinese: ÍøÂçË®¾ü; traditional Chinese: ¾W½jË®ÜŠ; pinyin: W¨£nglu¨° shu¨«j¨±n; Wade¨CGiles: Wang-luo shui-ch¨¹n) is a group of Inte ghostwriters paid to post onlinements with particr content. In this ¡°astroturfing¡± (meaning ¡°artificial grass-roots¡±) technique for public rtions and media maniption, online Chinesepanies employ people to make postings on social media in order to change public opinion.

 Chapter 24: The Second Mythical Creature Appears

    <h4>Chapter 24: The Second Mythical Creature Appears</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Zhang Zian still didn¡¯t have any customers, as usual. He didn¡¯t know that a war was happening on the inte or that he was about to get hunted in that war.

    ¡°Now, the ninth broadcast exercise series starts¡­¡±

    Today was Saturday, so the little girl who liked the hamster didn¡¯te. Maybe she slept in on the weekends or her parents sent her to all kinds of tutoring sses. Anyway, anything was possible.

    Zhang Zian did the exercises alone with music while Gxy sat in front of the shop and looked left and right.

    Zhang Zian felt a lot better recently. When he first started the exercises, he had some shortness of breath, but now he could even do two sets.

    Packing up the speaker and walking back into the shop, he sat down in the reclining chair and saw a sh at the door, and Sun Xiaomeng came in.

    As a new shop, Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s pet clinic was much better off than his shop. There were already some returning customers, so she didn¡¯t have time toe around every day.

    On the other hand, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t expect any returning customers. Who would buy pets all the time?

    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s happening with the British Shorthair? Where did you hide it? Or¡­ did it die already?¡± Sun Xiaomeng asked, eyes wide open, as she walked around the shop and found a pet was missing.

    Zhang Zian respondedzily, ¡°As a normal person, the first reaction would be ¡®has the British Shorthair been sold?¡¯ Why are you different from a normal person? Would you like to go to the hospital and get checked out?¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng stared at him angrily and said, ¡°You? Forget it, check your attitude. Plus, you¡¯re sozy. Do you treat customers like that? There must be something wrong with that customer who bought your pet!¡±

    He immediately retorted, ¡°The problem is that you are not my customer and you will never buy any pets from me! Why should I waste any of my time and energy on you?¡±

    She didn¡¯t argue, instead looking left and right. ¡°Gxy? Where is Gxy?¡±

    He told her the cruel truth. ¡°Gxy must have hid somewhere when it saw youe in.¡±

    At this moment, a new notification appeared on his phone.

    He thought the message was from his WeChat or push ads, but after he unlocked his phone, he saw a message from the game .

    [Game Hints]: A rare pet was detected in your city. It is up to the yer whether to go hunting or not.

    [Game Hints]: The following is the pet¡¯s information.

    [Pets Type]: Mythical Creature

    [Rarity]: Epic/Legend level

    [Hunt Difficulty]: Uncertain

    [Risk]: Low

    This was first time that he had received a pet detection message from the game; he stared at the screen for several seconds.

    Sun Xiaomeng noticed a strange expression on his face and asked suspiciously, ¡°What¡¯s up? A breakup message from your girlfriend?¡±

    Zhang Zian stood up from the reclining chair, walked behind Sun Xiaomeng, and pushed her out of the door with both hands, saying, ¡°Excuse me, do not disturb my business.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng wanted to resist, but she was only a girl and was now abruptly pushed out the door.

    ¡°Zhang Zian! Keep this in mind!¡± Sun Xiaomeng stormed out.

    He watched her walk far away and thought for several seconds. ¡°There are no customers in the shop, so I can just go out for a walk.¡± What¡¯s more, he had just sold a British Shorthair, so he didn¡¯t need to worry about this month¡¯s living costs. Plus, he didn¡¯t have a girlfriend, so there was no other money to spend. How sad a story it was!

    ¡°Navigation Elf, if I leave home, what about Gxy?¡± he asked.

    [Navigation Elf]: Because your favorability level was improved, you can bring the Lucky Cat with you. Besides, it is a mythical creature, others can¡¯t see it. Another way is that you could temporarily put the Lucky Cat back into the pet bar.

    ¡°Great! Come, Gxy, let¡¯s go out for a walk!¡± he said and locked the ss door, leaving the pet shop.

    As a matter of fact, in addition to ordering meals from a bistro across the street, he was a super male otaku[1] now. He almost never left the pet shop, even if he was sometimes sick of the bistro¡¯s take-out food.

    Gxy timidly followed him, keeping three or four meters from him and looking around carefully, trying to avoid pedestrians from a distance.

    During the time Zhang Zian had been getting ready for his shop¡¯s opening, the street had changed a little bit. A fruit shop had changed to a fried chicken restaurant that was 50 meters away from the pet shop. An inte cafe seemed to have been growing its business, as it was doing renovations. Some oldputers were on sale outside the cafe. The pavement on the street was broken down again, as if someone was fixing underground pipes. The municipal development meant digging, filling, and building, as the GDP of city was growing.

    The game hinted to Zhang Zian that the pet¡¯s general location was downtown. It would be much easier to take a bus to get there.

    They went to the bus station. When Gxy saw the crowd at the station, he hesitated to go over.

    ¡°Meow¡­ Many people¡­ Gxy is scared¡­¡± Gxy said.

    Zhang Zian had no choice but to put it back into the pet bar.

    ¡°Navigation Elf, if I don¡¯t hunt this new pet, or if I don¡¯t have time now, will that pet stay there all the time?¡± he whispered to the phone, as if he was talking over WeChat.

    [Navigation Elf]: No, this pet is a stray type, so it will only stay there for a short period of time.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t feel that it was a big deal whether he could catch the pet or not, but he wanted to give it a try.

    In the morning, the bus ran smoothly without any traffic.

    For years, Zhang Zian had rarely returned to Binhai City, since he went to school and found a job in another city. Even if he came back on holidays, he left a few days after visiting his parents. This time, his parents had an ident, and he went to the hospital, arranged the funeral, and reopened the pet shop, so he didn¡¯t even have any time to stroll through downtown. Binhai City was considered a new city to him now, as he only saw some old buildings at historical sites that he could still remember.

    The sun rose from the clouds. The bus ran though the mottled shadows. The seabirds soared in the eastern sky. The salty sea breeze passed through the opened window of the bus, yfully brushed Zhang Zian¡¯s hair, and then left through the skylight again and circled the municipal building in front of the gpole, setting the national g aflutter.

    Quiet and casual, Binhai City might not have been a big international city, but it was absolutely a good ce for people to enjoy their lives. Even pets appeared on the streets more frequently than in other cities.

    Dogs of all shapes and sizes were the dominant type of pets on the streets, but this didn¡¯t mean there were more dogs than cats. It was only because dogs needed to be walked, while cats could be kept in a cage, as they didn¡¯t require walks.

    There was a saying that dogs were tamed by wolves, while cats were tamed by stray cats. In terms of body shapes and appearances, dogs had more distinctive features and were far more different than cats. They had variety, from Mastiffs and German Shepherds to butterfly dogs, Teacup Teddys, and Chihuahuas, the big difference seemed not to be the same species, so the dogs were rtively easy to recognize.

    The cats were different. It was hard to identify a cat¡¯s species, so shoddy, deceptive behavior in cat business was moremon than dog business.

    There was another saying that the cats were tamed by people. What? Obviously they tamed human beings! A cat was such a proud and independent animal. Dogs treated human beings as their owners, while cats made friends with human beings.

    Owners were like brothers, while friends were like clothes¡­ Well, no problem!

    Today, Zhang Zian would face the most proud cat in history.

    [1] Otaku is a Japanese term for people with obsessive interests,monly the anime and manga fandom.

 Chapter 25: Searching for the Target

    <h4>Chapter 25: Searching for the Target</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    The bus went into the business district of downtown and slowed down.

    On the map of Binhai City that was disyed on his phone, a light circle was blinking on some location in downtown, and a shing point that marked Zhang Zian¡¯s location was approaching it.

    [Navigation Elf]: The rare pet is around, please leave the vehicle and search by foot.

    Zhang Zian raised his eyebrows. ¡°Really? This area seems to be toorge. Could you zoom in the map? It¡¯s too small to read!¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: Sorry, the game¡¯s settings are like this. Please try your best.

    ¡°Could you at least tell me the type of pet? Cat, dog, or something else?¡± Zhang Zian asked

    [Navigation Elf]: Noment.

    [Game Hints]: Uncaptured virtual pets can only be observed via camera, you cannot see it with your own eyes, which means no one other than the yer will realize the existence of virtual pets.

    [Game Hints]: Please turn on your phone¡¯s camera to observe.

    Zhang Zian had no option but to get off the bus at the next stop and look around the buildings.

    This business street was a north-to-south street, and the bus stop was on the east side. On Zhang Zian¡¯s right-hand side was a KFC, China Tel, Apple store, Jiuai Wedding Photography Store, and Kangyuan pharmacy. On the other side of the road, to Zhang Zian¡¯s left, was a Longfeng Jewelry, Bank of China, Uniqlo, and Lenovo store.

    ording to the blinking light circle, the uncaptured pet should be nearby.

    Since the virtual pets could only be seen via cell phone¡­ Zhang Zian inspected the street with his eyes first. He saw two dogs, one Teddy and one Shih Tzu, and one stray cat. He turned on the camera on his phone and inspected the street again, but still saw the same three.

    This indicated that the pet was not on the street. It must have been in one of the stores.

    Starting from the easy part, Zhang Zian ambled into the KFC and intuitively wished the unknown pet was not a chicken, especially not a fried one¡­

    There were a few people in the KFC, since breakfast time had just passed.

    He pretended to be looking for a seat and dawdled around, but he found nothing.

    ¡°A medium coke, please.¡± He went to the cashier and put in an order, holding his phone above the counter to make sure no pet was hiding behind it, while the waiter was getting him the coke.

    After paying for the coke, he left the KFC. If the pet was hiding in the kitchen of the KFC, he would admit his failure. However, could an epic/legend level pet be staying in a smoky and noisy kitchen? He doubted that.

    Turning right after he got out of the door, it was China Tel.

    ¡°May I help you, sir? Are you buying a cell phone or changing ns?¡± the salesman asked calmly when Zian entered the door with his phone in hand.

    ¡°Humph¡­ Let me think,¡± he said.

    The salesman seemed dissatisfied with his answer and thought, ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t you decide before entering the door?¡±

    The store was small and simpleyered. Showcases for cell phones were on both sides, and a service counter was in front. It was busy on weekends, and the waiting line was pretty long. That was the salesman who was selling cell phones calling him just now.

    He went to the service counter first. Those customers in line stared at him vigntly, thinking that he would jump the line.

    He checked around but saw nothing.

    ¡°What a crowd¡­ anyway, I wille backter, maybe.¡± He seemed to talk to himself and those customers in line rxed a bit.

    He went to the left showcase, and before the salesman said anything, he checked around with his phone. ¡°Oh, too expensive, maybe that side?¡±

    Back to the right side, checked again. ¡°Forget it, let me save some money first.¡±

    He left China Tel, entered the Apple store, and did the same thing, but he found nothing.

    Walking into Jiuai Wedding Photograph Studio, a clerk came to him. ¡°May I help you, sir?¡±

    Since a bridal photo studio was a ¡°couple¡± business, they knew from experience that single men usually brought no business, so the clerk girl seemed quite cold.

    ¡°I am looking for a bridal dress,¡± Zhang Zian lied without hesitation, even though he was single¡­

    The clerk smiled, unconvinced, and asked, ¡°Your bride didn¡¯te with you?¡±

    ¡°Can I not wear it?¡± Zhang Zian responded to shut the clerk up.

    Bypassing the shocked clerk, Zhang Zian ambled around, shamelessly taking photos. He even chatted with the photographer and stopped by the photo studio, and then he left with a mysterious look at the clerk, as he had found nothing there.

    The clerk watched him entering the Kangyuan pharmacy and nodded quietly. ¡°He absolutely needs some medicine.¡±

    Finding nothing in the pharmacy, Zhang Zian found he was on the edge of the light circle of the pet on the map, so he crossed the road and went to the other side.

    After searching the Lenovo store, Zhang Zian thought this store was of a much lower level than the fancy Apple store.

    He always had some expectations on the fitting rooms in Uniqlo, but it was so early that the fitting rooms were all empty.

    When he walked into the Bank of China, a security guard said to him, ¡°Please pick your number, sir,¡± pointing to the ticket machine.

    Zhang Zian selected ¡°Personal business,¡± and his number was 085.

    The guard was staring at Zhang Zian when he entered the gate, because he felt this guy was strange. He used his phone camera to check his path, which was unusual. Perhaps¡­ This guy was a bank robber preparing for a big robbery?

    For a moment, all those domestic and foreign action movies the security guard had watched in the past suddenly came to his mind.

    The guard fell into deep thought. ¡°If I was right and arrested him now, could I get interviewed on TV or awarded by my boss? Could there be some customers taking videos of my brave actions and uploading those videos to YouTube, letting me be famous across the country? And could I be a hero in the story, beating Mr. Charming from Kangzhuang Boulevard and marrying a beautiful girl?¡±

    When the guard decided to move, the suspect had already left the hall. He regretted his hesitation so much.

    Although Zhang Zian suspected the pet could hide in the treasury box behind the cashier, he decided to give it up, as the risk was too high.

    Just like the guard, he regretted as well, since he found his target when he stepped into Longfeng Jewelry. A golden cat was sitting on the counter.

    If he had started from here, he would have saved a lot of time and shame!

    If Sun Xiaomeng was here, she would have indicated that his time was worthless and he had no sense of shame at all from the beginning!

    When his phone aimed at the golden cat, game hints appeared.

    [Game Hints]: Target confirmed: Maneki-Neko.

 Chapter 26: Longfeng Jewelry Store

    <h4>Chapter 26: Longfeng Jewelry Store</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    As a new shopping guide, Su Min was told to respect the senior guides and obey her superiors. As such, when the guests walked into the store, those who were obviously rich were taken care of by the senior guides, especially those men between thirty years old and fifty years that were old apanied by a twenty-year-olddy that looked like a college student¡­ However, she had to take care of the poorer guys.

    Every month, when seeing the senior guides¡¯ richmissions, she felt sad. Having worked in Longfeng Jewelry Shop for about three months now, Su Min not only hadn¡¯t saved money but had spent a lot. Although her uniform was provided by the store, she had to buy makeup and perfume on her own. At first, she had bought some cheap domestic ones, but that was noticed by the picky manager, who demanded she change to imported ones.

    The basic sry was £¤1200. Full attendance was an extra £¤200. The makeup subsidy was £¤100. What type of makeup would only cost £¤100?

    There were fewer customers in the morning. Earlier, a young couple had walked into the store, but they were taken care of by senior staff. Although the young couple¡¯s consumption capacity was not high, their desire was very strong. As the saying goes, ¡°a mosquito¡¯s legs are also made of meat.¡± Su Min saw the senior guide chatting with the girl like they were BFFs andplimenting the girl on her beautiful white skin, which Su Ming thought was too extreme.

    This couple should have been college students, young and naive. How could they resist the senior guide¡¯s ndishments? The guide rmended a £¤3888, 18-carat gold-and-diamond ring to the girl. Although the size was small and the diamond was tiny, it was still an authentic diamond ring. If the deal was made, the senior would earn amission of about 100 yuan. Su Min was not greedy¡ªas long as she made one deal like that every day, she could earn a sry of 4500 yuan. It was not too much, but it was at least enough to live on, so she would never have to ask for money from her family.

    The man nced at the price tag and turned red. Although he did not say anything, his sweating forehead revealed the truth. His girlfriend had been totally intrigued by the senior guide, excitement shining in her eyes. Su Min felt like the girl¡¯s pupils werepletely filled by this tiny diamond ring, leaving no room for anything else. ¡°An An, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s beautiful. What do you think? Let¡¯s see something else. How about that gold ring?¡± The man clumsily tried his best to distract her attention, holding her hands and pointing to another two-thousand-yuan gold flower ring that weighed less than 6 grams.

    His girlfriend was usually very considerate, but now she gave him a long face. ¡°No, a gold ring is too vulgar!¡±

    The senior staff smiled and said, ¡°Exactly, you¡¯re too young to wear a gold ring. That is for old woman like me.¡± Since the price of gold was very transparent and the processing fee was not high, themission for the gold ring would only be about 20 yuan, maybe not even that.

    The young man obviously had cold sweat, like a thirsty traveler that kept licking his dry lips in the desert. ¡°An An, we agreed that we would just be looking around today, didn¡¯t we?¡± He tried to keep his voice down, almost imploring his girlfriend.

    ¡°But I like this!¡± The girlfriend was extremely stubborn today and responded in a high pitch. The boyfriend blushed, it even extending past his ears, and his sses were covered with mist.

    ¡°Or, let¡¯s go for a movie. You always said you wanted to watch that romantic movie, didn¡¯t you? Let¡¯s watch the movie and have some popcorn. We can have lunch after we are done. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m on a diet.¡± The girlfriend pouted. The boyfriend was at a loss. ¡°An An, you¡¯re in such a good shape. You don¡¯t need to be on diet¡­!¡± Su Min couldn¡¯t bear it anymore.

    The door opened. The No. 2 senior staff stepped forward with a fake smile, then pulled back his feet, pretending not to see the customer and returning to standby mode. The supervisor in the back pushed Su Min. ¡°What are you doing? Go and take care of the customer.¡± Su Min suddenly rushed forward and almost knocked into the customer that had just walked inside. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry!¡± she apologized, panicking.

    The customer was a young man with short hair, wearing a twill Uniqlo shirt¡ªshe recognized it because Uniqlo was just next door. She couldn¡¯t recognize the brand of his jeans. The only ones that were a little more expensive were the pair of shoes, New Bnce sneakers, but who knew whether they was authentic or not. She had heard that there were a lot of fake products of this brand¡­ He held his phone high up and seemed to be looking for something. There were no extra essories on his ears, neck, fingers, or wrists.

    The man was somewhat handsome. The casual outfit made him stand out even more, but being handsome and standing out was nothing. Su Min was not a nt that could germinate by photosynthesis¡­ Su Min¡¯s view was not as sharp as the seniors, but she had confidence that this man¡¯s consumption ability and desire were infinitely close to zero¡­

    As a single man, Zhang Zian had never entered a jewelry store. He felt astonished as soon as he walked into the store. He couldn¡¯t have handled it if he hadn¡¯t upgraded his snobiness in the Apple store! There was not only one sh bomb. His eyes had just recovered from the light of a Rose Gold iphone and immediately saw a couple of college students showing off their love in front of the counter. He was astonished for a second time!

    Feeling pained, he looked through the camera and found a cat sitting on the counter that matched the jeweler¡¯s decoration style. As he was about to carefully observe it, Su Min suddenly rushed up and almost hit him,pletely blocking his the phone camera. ¡°What would you like to see, sir?¡± Su Min asked with a professional smile.

    ¡°You blocked the stuff I want to see,¡± Zhang Zian answered reluctantly.

    ¡°What?¡± Although Su Min had been able to deal with some difficult questions before because of some internal training, this question still left her confused. When Zhang Zian saw that she was hesitating, he turned his body a little to try to see the cat. That really was a mythical creature. It was invisible through human eyes, but he could see it through the capture screen of the game. It was weird to describe a cat with the word ¡°elegant,¡± but seeing this cat, Zhang Zian thought of this word at first nce.

 Chapter 27: The Diamond Ring

    <h4>Chapter 27: The Diamond Ring</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    The word ¡°elegance¡± tended to give people the impression of fat andzy, but this cat was different. It was toned and lean with some wild beauty, and it might have even been a stray cat, but it was absolutely not a stray cat. Its almond, aquamarine eyes were like a pair of priceless cat¡¯s-eye emeralds, shining with the light of reasoning and wisdom.

    The cat had a small face butrge eyes. Its body was tall and graceful, which was the legendary nine-headed body scale. If there were models among the cats, it would absolutely be a good one.

    The head was wedge-shaped if looked at from the side. The bridge of its nose was very high, with an inverted-triangle red nose tip. Its mouth was very small, with smooth contours. Its ears wererge and pointy and looked dignified and charming.

    It had muscr limbs, strong toes, and a lightweight body, making its movements extraordinarily flexible, like a well-trained ballet dancer.

    In terms of the length of its hair, its hair seemed slightly longer than a British Shorthair¡¯s, but it would still be in the category of short-haired cats.

    Its body was covered with various stripes and spots. The cheeks and neck had shallow, wavy stripes, and the limbs had thick, irregr stripes. The tail had round stripes, while the body was covered with tiger spots. All the stripes and spots were dark gold.

    In addition to the dark gold stripes, the spots, and the white beard, the rest of its fur was a bright gold that could strike people¡¯s eyes. The gold jewelry store was its natural camouge.

    The cat was squatting on the ss counter, very close to the college-student couple, but neither the couple nor the clerk noticed it.

    It seemed that the young couple had started an argument, and their voices were getting louder and louder. It sounded like their argument was about the diamond ring the girl was holding.

    Zhang Zian stood there for a moment and heard what was going on. The girl wanted to buy the diamond ring, but the boy didn¡¯t, so the girl used the boy of no longer loving her, otherwise why did he not want to buy it for her?

    Zhang Zian had no sympathy toward the boy. He gave a cold grin and thought, ¡°Sure enough, show your love and die fast!¡±

    There was a shopping guide next to the couple who was afraid that wasn¡¯t enough and asked, ¡°Would you like to try it on?¡±

    The girl opened her eyes in surprise and responded, ¡°Oh? Really?¡±

    The senior staff smiled. ¡°Certainly. If you don¡¯t try it, how would you know if it fits you?¡±

    With a low voice, the boy whispered in her ear, ¡°An An, please don¡¯t try it. If you try it, we must buy it, so don¡¯t believe them¡­¡±

    The senior staff handed the girl a pair of thin gloves. Ignoring the boy, the girl put on the gloves and then put the ring on her left middle finger. The girl raised her left hand so it was facing the sun, letting a ray of light from the diamond reflect the colorful lines.

    ¡°How beautiful¡­¡± She seemed to enjoy looking at it.

    Zhang Zian looked at the cat, which seemed to have great interest in the diamond ring, as the cat was staring at it without blinking. Whether the diamond ring was in the girl¡¯s hand or on her finger, the cat¡¯s eyes were like iron that had met a ma. The green eyes reflected the diamond ring¡¯s shadow, and asionally a small pink tongue licked its mouth.

    ¡°Is it okay to take a frontal HD photo? The cat is very quiet, so it shouldn¡¯t be difficult to take a picture. I just need to find a right angle¡­¡± Zhang Zian thought and got ready to do so.

    ¡°Sorry, sir, you can¡¯t take pictures here,¡± Su Min moved a step toward him and blocked his camera.

    ¡°Why?¡± Zhang Zian asked with a puzzled face.

    ¡°Because all the jewelry in our store are outstanding pieces designed by masters. In order to preventpetitors from stealing their ideas, please don¡¯t take any pictures.¡± Su Min fluently recited the contents of the staff handbook.

    Zhang Zian scratched his head and thought that this was rather difficult. He and these shopping guides had the same upation¡ªthey were all salesman. One was selling pets while the other was selling jewelry. Heart to heart, he didn¡¯t want to embarrass her intentionally. However, he had found a rare pet. It was obviously not his style to return empty handed.

    As the saying goes, ¡°Despair gives courage to a coward.¡± Zhang Zian quickly thought of a good idea.

    He went through the idea silently in his mind and found it doable.

    ¡°I would like to buy something,¡± he said to Su Min.

    Su Min couldn¡¯t believe it but still asked with a smile, ¡°Could you tell me which one you like?¡±

    ¡°That.¡± Zhang Zian raised his hand and pointed at the diamond ring on the girl¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Um, please wait a moment,¡± Su Min walked over and looked at the counter.

    The senior staff saw hering and was very unhappy.

    Su Min apologized by lowering her head and returned to Zhang Zian. ¡°That¡¯s the only one left,¡± she said in embarrassment. ¡°Would you wait for a moment? Can you wait for the two customers to take a look at first?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to embarrass the staff, but as for the loving couple, he would not be polite, and he couldn¡¯t wait. Who knew when the cat would disappear?

    ¡°You misunderstood me, I don¡¯t want to ¡®look at¡¯ it,¡± he stressed, ¡°I want to ¡®buy¡¯ it, now!¡±

    He opened Alipay on his phone and said, ¡°Can I use a money transfer? Or I could go and get cash at the Bank of China ATM.¡±

    Su Min was surprised, her mouth half open. ¡°Did this mane here to cause me trouble?¡±

    She didn¡¯t know what to do. She looked back at her supervisor, as the employee handbook didn¡¯t cover how to deal with these kinds of situations.

    The supervisor was about 40 years old and very experienced, and she believed this principle: ¡°Whoever is able to pay is God, whoever cannot is garbage. Garbage should be wiped out.¡±

    Although she was also a bit surprised, she walked up to the young couple without any hesitation. She knocked on the ss counter with her knuckles, saying with a professional voice, ¡°Sorry, this ring has just been bought by that gentleman. Please take it off.¡±

    She pointed at Zhang Zian who was behind her, then opened her palm to the girl, a serious look on her face.

    The girl, who was enjoying the diamond¡¯s light, suddenly went from a dream to a nightmare. Her face suddenly turned pale, and her lips kept trembling. While the boy was relieved, like a long drought finally receiving rain, he immediately came to life and said, ¡°Hey, I said I would buy it for you, you see¡­ ¡±

    The senior staff was mad, her mouth open wide enough to swallow a mouse, watching the boiled duck fly. How could she not be angry? She dared not show her anger to the customer, instead ring at Su Min with her round eyes. Su Min lowered her head and was scared to look at the senior staff.

    The girl¡¯s actions were as slow as the reys on TV. She took off the diamond ring unwillingly and put it in the supervisor¡¯s hand. The supervisor demanded of Su Min, ¡°Pack this well for the customer!¡±

    The girl stomped on the boy¡¯s foot and left angrily, but the boy responded with a relieved grin, like he had been rescued unexpectedly from a desperate situation. He passed by Zhang Zian and whispered to him, ¡°Hi, thank you so much! I¡¯ll treat you to dinner next time¡­¡±

    Then the boy left the jewelry store as well, following his girlfriend.

 Chapter 28: Maneki-Neko

    <h4>Chapter 28: Maneki-Neko</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Zhang Zian was very confused. He had not done it to help the boy; he had done it to help himself!

    He didn¡¯t want to exin, and it was impossible to exin. He paid for the ring online, and everything was all set.

    Su Min was confused and put the diamond ring into the ring box. Zhang Zian stopped her from doing that and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to bag it, but just give me the ring and box, thanks.¡±

    The supervisor, senior staff, and Su Min were all surprised, as this was a woman¡¯s diamond ring that was too small for a man¡¯s fingers¡­ Unless he was a gay, but Zhang Zian didn¡¯t look gay.

    Su Min had no choice but to give the ring and box to Zhang Zian as per his request.

    Zhang Zian thought for a while and asked, ¡°By the way, do you have any kind of thin rope or string?¡±

    Another weird request! ¡°This man is so strange,¡± Su Min thought.

    She found some yellow silk ribbons used for gift packaging. ¡°How about these?¡±

    ¡°That works, thanks.¡± Zhang Zian tied the ribbon through the ring to make a knot and put the small ring box in his pocket.

    ¡°Oh¡­ this man wanted to hang the ring on his neck. There was a fashion like that, where you use the ring as an amulet, like a cross or Jade Buddha,¡± all the staff thought.

    However, what Zhang Zian did next surprised them all again.

    Instead of wearing it on his neck, he held the ribbon so the diamond ring hanging at the end of the ribbon was just one foot away from ground.

    That action almost meant ¡°calling for robbery!¡± Would he be robbed after leaving the store?

    The supervisor suddenly calmed down from the surprise. She pushed Su Min again. ¡°Didn¡¯t you forget to say something?¡±

    Su Min remembered and caught up to Zhang Zian. ¡°Excuse me, sir!¡±

    Zhang Zian was just about to step out of the door, but he stopped upon hearing Su Min¡¯s words. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡°This is¡­ that¡­ that¡­ ¡± A bit embarrassed, Su Min took out her business card and passed it to Zhang Zian with both hands, ¡°You are wee to shop with us again! This is my business card. You cane to me when youe back next time. We have a discount for loyal customers¡­¡±

    Although Zhang Zian didn¡¯t think he would visit here again, it was difficult to refuse someone who was trying to make a living, so he epted her card and left.

    He strode for a few steps and turned his head to find that Su Min was still standing on top of the stairs. He waved his hands. ¡°Go back, please, you don¡¯t need to watch me leave.¡±

    Su Min bowed gratefully and walked back into the store.

    The senior staff was in a really bad mood, as she had promoted the ring for half an hour but failed. On the other hand, Su Min took her advantage and business. How could she feel happy about this?

    The supervisor cleared her voice and advised, ¡°Do remember not to judge anyone on their appearance¡­¡±

    There were a lot of rich people shopping in this jewelry store, and some of them treated money like paper. However, Zhang Zian had still made the record for the shortest shopping time from entering to exiting the store¡­

    Su Min went back to her position humbly, waiting for the next customer.

    Although she had only earned 100 yuan, she had apletely different mood now and felt a bit more confident about herself.

    She took out the key chain from her pocket and yed with it in her hand. There was a red and white Japanese Maneki-Neko pendant on the key chain. Although it was cheap and made of stic, it was vivid and lovely.

    ¡­

    Zhang Zian was not an idiot that didn¡¯t know not to show off his wealth. Wandering the streets with a diamond ring was an absolutely stupid idea even though Binhai City had good public security.

    Wandering not too far, he stopped at the entrance of Bank of China, since he thought this ce was rtively safe.

    Since no photos were allowed to be taken in the store, he had to lure the cat outside. The Maneki-Neko seemed to be keen on this diamond ring. That was the reason Zhang Zian had made this n.

    Practice was the only standard to verify a theorem. He wasn¡¯t confident about whether his n would work or not. If the n failed, he could return the ring. There was no way he would waste any of his money.

    He took out his phone and went into capture mode. Through the camera, he saw the golden Maneki-Neko following him a few yards away and staring at the waving diamond ring, looking like a panther on the hunt.

    The n had worked! He wanted to apud himself! This was much easier than capturing that stray cat had been.

    He squatted and held the diamond ring forward with his left hand to lure the cat, holding his phone in his right hand. ¡°Don¡¯t move, let me take a picture of you¡­ Cheese¡­¡±

    He was so happy to notice that the cat¡¯s eyes seemed to grow brighter and brighter, and nothing could suppress them anymore!

    Before he said ¡°cheese,¡± the cat moved like a sh! It arched its back and put all its strength on its back legs, its slim body transforming into a golden sh and rushing toward Zhang Zian like an arrow.

    Zhang Zian was shocked when the Maneki-Neko blurred on the screen.

    In a rush, he clicked the ¡°capture¡± button and was then blown to the ground by a strange wind, his phoneing out of his hand.

    Pedestrians passed him by without stopping but wondered about this young man. They didn¡¯t know what was happening. Was he sick?

    Zhang Zian got up from the ground, but the ring was gone with the ribbon untouched.

    What the f*ck! Go for wool ande home shorn?

    He picked up his phone.

    [Navigation Elf]: Congrattions! A new pet!

    [Game Hints]: Captured! Maneki-Neko!

    A golden cat appeared in the second, empty block of the virtual pet bar

    He clicked the Maneki-Neko, zooming in so the image upied the whole screen.

    The cat was excitedly ying with a diamond ring in its paws.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Navigation Elf, are you sure this is a Maneki-Neko and not a love-money cat?¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: The true name of pets might be wrong, but not the nickname.

    Zhang Zian was speechless. If he was not wrong, that came from Gu Long¡¯s Novel, but a pet was being talked about here, not a human being.

    Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Just one question, can I get my ring out of there?¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: Sorry, this is the necessary cost.

    He really wanted to cry. It seemed like hitting a dog with meat buns that you would never get back!

    Anyway, he decided to have a look at the pet.

    [Game Hints]: Pet features

    [Known As]: Maneki-Neko

    [Rarity]: Epic/Legend level

    [Feature]: Which cat dares to meow before me in spring?

    [Origin]: Locked

    [True Name]: Locked

 Chapter 29: Two Customers

    <h4>Chapter 29: Two Customers</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Zhang Zian felt heartbroken! He had just sold one British Shorthair for seven thousand yuan, but now he had spent half of it. It wouldn¡¯t bother him at all if it had been for Gxy. He would pay any amount, no matter if it was three thousand or seven thousand. Poor Gxy! But this Maneki-Neko was very aggressive and didn¡¯t seem to have been mistreated. Its hair color was beautiful and couldn¡¯t be any brighter.

    ¡°Navigation Elf, howe I got two cats in a row? Do you not have any other types of animals in your database?¡± he asked.

    [Navigation Elf]: Humans are the spirit of all living things. Pets can be mythical creatures due to the belief of humans. Because cats and dogs are in contact with humans more often, they are more likely to be mythical creatures. However, there are many other types of pets in the database, waiting for the yer to explore.

    [Navigation Elf]: Another thing I want to mention is that, between your two current pets, the Maneki-Neko is the only cat that existed in real life. The Lucky Cat looks like a cat but is not a real one. Strictly speaking, it is just using a cat¡¯s appearance and posture.

    ¡°A cat that existed in real life¡­¡± Zhang Zian thought for a moment, but he couldn¡¯t find the clue, so he decided to improve his favorability level in order to unlock the origin.

    Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t gone out that often before, so today he decided to go home after having his lunch at Kentucky Fried Chicken. Afterwards, he took the public bus back to the Amazing Fate Pet Shop. In front of the shop, he found two middle-aged women having a conversation. One of the women was with a four- or five-year-old girl.

    Was the woman from the neighborhood association,ing to ask for his association fee?

    He was about to go somece else to avoid her, but after careful observation, these two middle-aged women were not wearing any neighborhood association badges¡­

    Since they were not from the neighborhoodmittee, were they¡­ customers?

    Zhang Zian walked over and asked, ¡°Can I help you?¡±

    The middle-aged women with a child was Zhao Qi¡¯s neighbor. Her name was Liu Wenying. Her daughter¡¯s nickname was Yueyue. Since thest time they had met Zhao Qi and her British Shorthair, Yueyue had kept asking for a cat.

    Usually, Liu Wenying would not buy anything right away that Yueyue was asking for. After a few days or a few months, Yueyue would forget what she had asked for earlier. However, this time was different. Yueyue liked that cat very much and had been crying day and night asking for one. Even her husband had surrendered and asked her to take Yueyue to get one over the weekend. She got the Amazing Fate Pet Shop¡¯s address from Zhao Qi through WeChat. Then, after having lunch, she took Yueyue down to the store. Unfortunately, the pet store was closed. She peeked through the ss door but found no one inside.

    ¡°Yueyue, there is nobody inside, should wee back another day?¡± sheforted her daughter.

    ¡°No, no, I want a kitty!¡± Yueyue squatted down, mad, and did not want to leave.

    While Liu Wenying was having difficulty with her daughter, she heard someone speak.

    ¡°Excuse me, is this the Amazing Fate Pet Shop?¡±

    She turned around and saw a woman whose age was simr to hers, in a fairly in outfit.

    ¡°Yes,¡± she replied.

    ¡°Are you the owner?¡± the other woman asked.

    ¡°No.¡± To avoid a misunderstanding, she quickly exined, ¡°I am here to check out the pets too, but the store is closed¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± The other woman sounded a bit disappointed after hearing her reply.

    ¡°Are you also here to check out the pets?¡± Liu Wenying asked.

    ¡°Yes, I saw some online reviews saying that this pet store was pretty good, so I just wanted to check it out¡­ What about you?¡± the other woman responded.

    ¡°Me too, my friend rmended this ce to me,¡± Liu Wenying replied.

    The woman who had just arrived was the original poster who posted <> at the Wang Haige forum. Her name was Deng Jie.

    Deng Jie did not check the Wang Haige forum often, just going there sometimes when needed. That night, she finished posting and, after receiving a few replies and suggestions, left the page. Hence, she did not know her post had be the fuse of a cyber war.

    She wrote down the names of a few shops mentioned on the forum and utilized the map to locate their positions. She then decided to choose the weekend to do some shopping. The Amazing Fate Pet Shop was her fourth stop. Before this, she had already been to Stars Pet Chain Supermarket and two other pets stores, but she still couldn¡¯t make up her mind. She did not know much about cats but thought every cat was adorable.

    Deng Jie gained a bit more confidence about this store when she met Liu Wenying and her daughter, seeing them also waiting in front of the store although it was closed.

    The two simrly aged women started chatting about topics such as their husbands, kids, product prices, housing prices, food prices, their pasts, and the future. The more they chatted, the closer they felt to each other, even regretting not having met earlier. Time passed by unconsciously and quickly.

    Deng Jie knew that Liu Wenying came here because of her friend¡¯s rmendation. Liu Wenying knew that Deng Jie came here because of a referral online. Both of them felt pretty confident about this shop, although they did not realize that both of their referral sources were the same person, Zhao Qi¡­

    While they were chatting, Zhang Zian walked by. Liu Wenying told him enthusiastically, ¡°The store is closed.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded and responded, ¡°I know.¡±

    ¡°Are you alsoing here to buy pets?¡± Deng Jie asked.

    ¡°No¡­ I am the owner,¡± he replied.

    Liu Wenying and Deng Jie were surprised, but they looked at each other with a smile. They would not be wasting their visits today and were finally able to get into the store. However, they were a bit worried because the owner looked pretty young, and they wondered if he was capable enough to run the store.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what had happened today. Two customers just showed up together. Could it be the instant impact from the Maneki-Neko? Maybe it was the aftermath from Gxy¡¯s sudden nce? He took out the key and then unlocked and opened the door.

    ¡°Pleasee inside. The store is small and simple. I hope you don¡¯t mind.¡±

    Following the clear and melodious bell ringing, the Siamese cat and Samoyed noticed that customers wereing and excitedly ran around inside the disy cab.

    ¡°Please help yourself,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Although hearing the good feedback from Zhao Qi, Liu Wenying and Deng Jie were still astonished by the fact that there was only one cat, one dog, and one hamster in the store.

    Zhang Zian noticed their facial expressions and exined, ¡°I am the only one here in the store, so it would be impossible for me to take care of a lot pets at once. Please let me know if there any pets you might be interested so I can go and get them for you in person. All pets in the store were handpicked by me. The pet¡¯s health and appearance are guaranteed. You can even request the age and fur color of your pet.¡±

    Liu Wenying had a lot confidence, as not only had Zhao Qi told her nice things about the store, but she also saw Zhao Qi¡¯s British Shorthair with her own eyes, so she responded to Zhang Zian first, ¡°My neighbor who lived below bought a British Shorthair from here. That one was so cute and well behaved. My child loved it at first sight. I was wondering if you could find a simr type for us.¡±

 Chapter 30: One More Customer

    <h4>Chapter 30: One More Customer</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Liu Wenying¡¯s daughter Yueyue was a bit shy. She hid behind her mother, one hand holding her mother¡¯s thigh. Half of her timid face was visible, staring at the Siamese and Samoyed while biting her finger.

    Zhang Zian noticed Yueyue and asked Liu Wenying, ¡°Is this your daughter?¡±

    Liu Wenying loved her daughter. She always liked to show off her daughter when she met others. She didn¡¯t expect that Zhang Zian would change the conversation topic, but she still happily pulled her daughter out from behind her and squatted down, touching her little head and speaking softly, ¡°Yueyue, do you like cats?¡±

    Yueyue felt bashful, but she still nodded heavily and answered childishly, ¡°Want a kitty¡­¡±

    ¡°So¡­¡±

    At this moment, outside the door, a dazzling shadow passed. The bell on the door handle rang again, and a man pushed the door open and came in.

    Another customer?

    In general, over seventy to eighty percent of the customers were women and children; male customers were rare. If there was a male customer, he would probably be apanied by his girlfriend, or maybe he happily brought his wife and daughter together. Rarely would any young man woulde alone.

    The man who just came in was dressed in an out-of-season long wind coat and a baseball cap. While it had cooled down a little bit these days, the streets were still filled with beautiful young girls wearing hot pants and shorts. With that weather, anyone that was still wearing a wind coat could be considered either a jerk or a fool.

    Zhang Zian made the decision that he wouldn¡¯t turn on the AC even if that guy was suffering from heatstroke!

    The man wore the baseball hat so low that he seemed to be hiding away from Zhang Zian¡¯s sight. The man roughly took a nce around after entering the store and then walked toward the pets¡¯ essory section, away from the others. In his mind, Zhang Zian flipped his middle finger at the man. They were not having a secret underground meeting like the ones in spy movies, so why was the man acting like this?

    ¡°Mr. Owner?¡± Liu Wenying drew his attention, as she had noticed that his mind was wandering off.

    Zhang Zian came back and decided not to worry about the weird man for now. He said to Liu Wenying, ¡°If you want to purchase a cat, I would suggest you take a look at the Siamese cat.¡± He pointed to the Siamese cat, which really tried its best to show off.

    Liu Wenying was a bit confused and not very pleased. She had heard of some businesses like this before. When going to the store for one thing, the salesmen would get the customers to buy something else with a much higher price. She frowned and asked, ¡°How much does it cost for a Siamese cat?¡±

    ¡°4000.¡±

    She was even more confused. Other owners would try to market more expensive types. Why did this young man only market the cheaper type? Did the Siamese cat have a hidden sickness she didn¡¯t know about, so he wanted to get it out of the store?

    No wonder she was thinking negatively¡ªthat was what the market environment was like. Many different sizes of stores often tried to counterfeit or be fishy, so people were scared of being tricked. Hence, the customers often thought about worst-case scenarios.

    At this point, she stuck to her guns, put on a long face, and rejected. ¡°No, thank you. I just want a British Shorthair.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t mind her change of attitude and spoke calmly, ¡°Of course you can have a British Shorthair, but the reason I rmended the Siamese cat was because of your daughter.¡±

    Liu Wenying held her daughter tighter, like she was afraid someone might hurt her daughter, and asked seriously, ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Zhang Zian exined, ¡°I don¡¯t know how much you know about these two types of cats. They both are very good house cats, and many people like them. However,¡± he paused, ¡°there is a slight difference between them.¡±

    Liu Wenying tried to be patient. Nonsense, the obvious difference between the British Shorthair and the Siamese cat was the appearance. Was there a need for him to mention that? This thought was mingling in her mind.

    Zhang Zian continue exining, ¡°If you wanted to get a pet for yourself, I would definitely rmend a British Shorthair, but for your daughter, the Siamese cat might be more appropriate. The reason is very simple. The Siamese cat is a betterpanion for young kids.¡±

    ¡°But, I noticed that the British Shorthair was very well-behaved,¡± Liu Wenying responded, not fully convinced.

    ¡°There is a saying within the realm of pet markets: ¡®pick a cat by its good temperament; pick a dog by its appearance.¡¯ This means that there is a great difference between various kinds of dogs¡¯ appearance and their body structures. No matter what kind of dog it is, their temperaments are going to be simr: all loyal to their owners, all energetic and very active, and requiring their owners y with them often. Hence, you just have to pick the one you like. On the other hand, cats are total opposites. Any kind of cats¡¯ appearances can be cute and adorable, but the temperaments can be very different, like human beings. Some cats like to y with their owners. Some cats can be very cool. Even the same kind of cats may have slightly different temperaments. Hence, when picking cats, you have to consider their temperaments first.¡±

    ¡°The British Shorthair indeed is the type of cat that is very well-behaved. However, for a little child, it can be too quiet, and will not be able to satisfy the child¡¯s active energy level and curiosity. A Siamese cat¡¯s temperament is very gentle and loyal to its master, and at the same time it can be very active, a so-called ¡®dog of cats,¡¯ just like a kid.¡± He continued, ¡°Being well-behaved is your expectation, but it is not necessarily a child¡¯s anticipation. A child doesn¡¯t have enough patience and focus. If a cat is too well-behaved or too quiet, the child will soon lose interest. If you were nning to purchase one for yourself, then I would rmend a British Shorthair, but for your child, she will be much happier if she grows up with a Siamese cat.¡±

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t sure if he had seen an illusion or not, but through the corner of his eyes, he saw the brim of the mysterious man¡¯s cap rise up a little bit. It seemed that the man agreed with his exnation.

    ¡°Thank you, Mr. Owner. I really appreciated your honest opinion! This is my first time meeting such a responsible pet shop owner!¡± Her eyes were a bit red.

    Deng Jie felt the same way while listening to their conversations on the side. Honestly, there were so few pets in the store, if she hadn¡¯te with Liu Wenying, she might have already left. Now she was d that she hadn¡¯t done so, as she had shopped at a few other pets¡¯ stores, including the well-known Stars Pet Chain Supermarket. Those salesmen were all anxious to sell their pets and imed their pets to be the greatest pets of all.

    Comparing Zhang Zian¡¯s attitude with other salesmen¡¯s, one could totally tell who was speaking the truth and who was not. All could be judged clearly. Zhang Zian spoke openly with supporting reasons and could be easily trusted. He was not afraid to reveal the British Shorthair¡¯s weaknesses¡­ Actually, those weaknesses were not considered to be shorings. The British Shorthair was suited for those adults who had self-control. Sincerity and honesty was worthy of respect any time.

 Chapter 31: A Siamese Cat for Sale

    <h4>Chapter 31: A Siamese Cat for Sale</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Liu Wenying picked up her daughter Yueyue, allowing Yueyue to take a closer look at the Siamese cat through the clear ss-built disy cage.

    ¡°Yueyue, do you like this cat?¡±

    Siamese cats were naturally attached to human beings. At this moment, it couldn¡¯t wait to get through the venttion hole and jump into its owner¡¯s arms to cuddle.

    The Siamese cat had a very tiny face with two big round eyes. It was already very adorable, and its small body brought out even more cuteness. Especially the Siamese cat¡¯s mouth and nose, which had ck fur that extended up its forehead and, after passing the eye sockets, spread out in three directions¡ªup, left, and right¡ªbefore fading out. It looked like a trident from a distance, which not only showed its cuteness but also how full of energy it was.

    Liu Wenying was a bit concerned about whether or not Yueyue was going to like the Siamese cat, because Yueyue had favored Zhao Qi¡¯s British Shorthair when they met at the entrance of the elevator, but as a matter of fact, she had slightly underestimated a child¡¯s ability to change its mind. Yueyue was very excited and reached out toward the Siamese cat while screaming, ¡°Kitty! Kitty!¡±

    The venttion hole was about five centimeters in diameter, conveniently positioned for a four- or five-year-old child¡¯s finger to go through. Without waiting for Liu Wenying¡¯s permission, Yueyue had already poke her tiny finger in there and upied the edge of the ventting hole. The cute little Siamese cat immediately rushed over.

    Liu Wenying was about to scream before she saw the Siamese cat stick its tongue out and gently lick Yueyue¡¯s finger. Yueyue chuckled continuously due to the tickling.

    ¡°Haha, tickles! Kitty!¡±

    After seeing this, Liu Wenying made her decision without any hesitation. ¡°I will take this cat!¡±

    Although Zhang Zian seemed to be very calm, he was actually very d. One reason was because he would make some money by selling the cat. The other one was that the Siamese cat finally found a real home and no longer needed to stay at the pet store, which was just a temporary shelter.

    Now it was up to the Siamese cat to integrate itself into, and be a part of, its new family. Zhang Zian had full confidence in it, because he knew that the Siamese cat would try very hard to please its master. When Zhao Qi had selected the British Shorthairst time, it made the Siamese cat a little depressed, but it didn¡¯t take long to cheer up again. With this great character, it would be weed no matter where it went.

    On the other hand, the Samoyed was very anxious, observing that its neighbors were being selected and taken away. It jumped up and down impatiently. It couldn¡¯t control that the customers wanted to have cats, and it was toote to be a cat anyway¡­

    Liu Wenying also chose to pay by Alipay. Right away, Zhang Zian saw 4000 yuan was in his ount already, at the same time, he was sad to see that, two hours earlier, the diamond ring had cost him 3888 yuan.

    He went into the game¡¯s pet bar, clicked the Maneki-Neko, and found that this golden cat was still enjoying ying with the shining diamond ring.

    [Game Hint]: Pet ssification

    [Known As]: Maneki-Neko

    [Rarity]: Epic/Legend level

    [Feature]: Who dares to make a sound before me upon the arrival of the spring?

    [Origin]: Locked

    [True Name]: Locked

    ¡°What a coincidence! I just got this Maneki-Neko. Did this cat help improve my financial status? No.¡± Zhang Zian got rid of this thought right away, as the diamond ring was an actual expense, but the money earned by selling the Siamese cat needed to deduct the cost of the cat and other supplies, so obviously he hadn¡¯t earned the money back yet.

    Liu Wenying suddenly patted her head and said, ¡°Oh, I almost forgot, Mr. Owner! My neighbor said that she also bought some pet supplies like cat food and body wash. Please get the same set for me, like what she got.¡±

    Zhang Zian would love to sell some of the pet supplies, since they could also bring good profits. These supplies not only brought convenience to the pet owner, but also made the pets feelfortable. It was like killing two birds with one stone.

    ¡°Okay, no problem! But there are many items and they are pretty heavy. If it is not convenient for you to take them with you, would you like me to deliver them to youter?¡± he inquired.

    ¡°Sure!¡± Liu Wenying had full confidence in this young owner and responded without any hesitation.

    ¡°About the delivery cost¡­¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°I understand, I have to pay for the delivery cost, right? My neighbor told me that the owner was very good, but he¡¯s just too cheap¡­¡± Liu Wenying was too happy and idently let those words slip out. She smiled awkwardly, realizing that those words were not very polite.

    Zhang Zian originally felt appreciation towards Zhao Qi, as she had referred a customer, but now he was quite angry. He decided to text her on WeChat and request she pay the price for spreading rumors around. In addition to that, he would request interest.

    As a matter of fact, he gave a diamond ring to a cat worth 3888 yuan. Was there anyone out there that could be more generous than him? The more he thought about the ring, the guiltier he felt.

    He took out the Siamese cat from the disy cage, put it into the bag, and passed it over to Liu Wenying.

    ¡°Your cat, please handle it carefully.¡±

    Yueyue lent a hand and said, ¡°Yueyue can help mommy carry the cat!¡±

    Liu Wenying happily kissed Yueyue on her cheek. ¡°Yueyue is such a good girl, but it is heavy! Let mommy carry it!¡±

    ¡°And that one too¡­¡± She gestured a rectangr shape in the air and asked, ¡°My neighbor had a paper that had guidelines for a new cat owner¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian walked to the register, took out a sheet from the printed guidebook, and marked note seven with an important sign. He took it along with the sale contract and handed them over to her.

    ¡°Little kids have weaker immune systems. As she is constantly in contact with the cat, you might want to pay attention to epidemic prevention and pest control. Pest control can be internal and external. Internal pest control depends on the age of the pet, the weight, and its overall health, and the medication is deliberately measured. Being a new cat owner, if you are not certain about first-time pest control, you can go to the pet clinic to learn how to do it.

    He thought for a moment and decided to do Sun Xiaomeng a favor. ¡°Around the north corner of this street, there is a Spirit Curing Pet Clinic, which is owned by someone I know. She is a very skilled and conscientious vet. The price is reasonable as well. I would rmend you take your cat there regrly for checkups.¡± He was satisfied with his rmendation and thought it might be worth a few breakfast buns from her!

    Liu Wenying listened tentatively, nodding and trying to memorize what he said. She also asked to connect with Zhang Zian via WeChat so she could asionally ask for advice. At this moment, she just remembered that Deng Jie had alsoe to get a cat, but now she bought the only cat. Liu Wenying felt bad for her. ¡°Look what I did¡­¡±

    Deng Jie waived her hand and responded, ¡°No problem, I am not in a rush. It doesn¡¯t matter to me if it is earlier orter, so don¡¯t worry about me. You¡¯d better go home now; your kid seems to be a little tired.¡±

    ¡°I feel really sorry. Thank you for your understanding. I am leaving now.¡± Liu Wenying was not going to continuously apologize, since she sensed that Deng Jie was very straightforward. She also exchanged WeChat IDs with Deng Jie and nned to keep in touch in the future. After that, she left with one hand holding Yueyue and the other holding the cat bag.

    ¡°So, what would you like to have?¡± Zhang Zian asked Deng Jie.

 Chapter 32: An Unfinished Business Deal

    <h4>Chapter 32: An Unfinished Business Deal</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Previously, Liu Wenying had gone through a simr experience, but Deng Jie knew she shouldn¡¯t let someone else¡¯s experience prejudice her own. Because of this, she wanted everything to be open, so she asked Zhang Zian to help her find a cat.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to buy a cat. On the forum, I saw that your store¡¯s British Shorthair was quite nice, and other customers have said you provided quality cats. I am also interested in purchasing one of your British Shorthairs, but I would still like to ask you to help me think about this decision. You canugh all you want, but my husband and I have no children, and this cat will be like my child. It will help take my mind off my loneliness. In your experience, for my situation, is the British Shorthair a good choice for me?¡±

    Zhang Zian guessed the woman to be in herte thirties based on her appearance. When she mentioned that she didn¡¯t have any children, she seemed sad, so it seemed to be a topic that should not be broached.

    ¡°What¡¯s your budget?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Um¡­ Around four or five thousand, but a lower price would be best¡­¡± she answered vaguely.

    ¡°The British Shorthairs I sell are normally £¤6000. If you also want to buy kitty litter, a cage, and food, you might consider some different types of cats,¡± he responded.

    ¡°Six thousand?¡± Her eyebrows went up in shock while she backed away. ¡°£¤6000 is¡­ it¡¯s too expensive.¡±

    She had seen British Shorthairs at the Wang Haige forum, but she had never known the prices. From her conversation with Liu Wenying about her Siamese cat, she knew that a Siamese cat cost around £¤4000, so she had guessed a British Shorthair would be more or less the same, falling perfectly in her price range. Never in a million years would she have thought that a British Shorthair would cost her six thousand!

    It wasn¡¯t that she couldn¡¯t afford to spend six thousand, but that she saved wherever she could to keep her family and household running.

    ¡°Sir, to tell you the truth, six thousand is way too much for me.¡± She started to bargain for a better price, because she knew that the cats from this store were high quality. If she could get the price down, she would be willing to buy from here.

    She was serious as she said, ¡°Before I came here, I looked online. For six thousand, you could buy two British Shorthairs! Even at other pet stores, no one else sells these cats for six thousand!¡±

    Zhang Zian calmly waited for her to finish her little rant before pointing to his clothes and saying, ¡°Look at my shirt, I also bought it online. It was somehow a brand-name piece. The pictures and descriptions showed ¡®apricot yellow,¡¯ but only when it arrived did I realize that it was a khaki color. The seller wouldn¡¯t let me return it because he said there were always slight variations in color between aputer screen and reality. It didn¡¯t matter that much, so I still kept the shirt, since it was cheap. If worst came to worst, I¡¯d throw it out. If you buy an expensive pet, would you be willing to throw it out?¡±

    He was on a roll as he continued, ¡°Online shopping may be cheap, but you can¡¯t tell from photos or videos the shine of a pet¡¯s fur, the sticity of its muscles, or the light in its eyes. You can¡¯t tell if there are problems with its nose and ear secretions, whether or not it¡¯s healthy, its attitude¡ªwhether it¡¯s friendly or irritable¡ªor if the pet shown in the photo is even the pet you will receive.¡±

    He pointed to the seemingly crestfallen Samoyed. ¡°When the farm sent new litters of puppies, the nearby pet shops screened them and kept those of the highest quality. Could the farm throw the lower grade puppies away? Of course not, they can¡¯t afford to do that, so they put them online, for lower-level sellers to buy them, or they sell them to pet hunters, who sell the puppies at extremely high prices. Cheap things are cheap for a reason, just as expensive things are expensive for a reason. I advise you not to buy a pet online.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t as if Deng Jie had never shopped online, of course she had been fooled by the inte at times. She agreed with what Zhang Zian said because it was relevant and true. She had heard that even for clothes and shoes, the quality of the final products would depend on where they were sold, such as via the inte or in a store.

    ¡°I¡¯ve looked at different pet shops, and yes, they¡¯re more expensive than online shopping, but they are all considerably cheaper than yours! Even the Stars Pet Chain Supermarket, thatrge business, is still cheaper than yours!¡± she stiffly replied.

    When she brought up the Stars Pet Chain Supermarket, the mysterious man who had been looking through the pet-supplies aisle turned toward their conversation.

    This wasn¡¯t the first time Zhang Zian had heard of the Stars Pet Chain Supermarket, and it puzzled him why peoplepared his meager little store with such a giant chain when their operations were so different.

    He chuckled and said, ¡°I¡¯m not very clear on how the Stars Pet Chain Supermarket got their prices so low, nor have I ever been there. Realistically speaking, such arge-scalepany should have much higher operating costs than mine¡­ I¡¯ll give you an example. If you buy an antique, you¡¯re going to find an expert to help you examine and appraise it. If you buy a new house, you¡¯ll want to consult a realtor and inspector to help you analyze and inspect the house. When you buy a pet, of course you don¡¯t want to buy a pig in a poke and end up regretting it. I¡¯m just here to help you check, to help you inspect the pet ahead of time, to see if the pet is healthy or not and whether or not it is good-tempered. The extra money you¡¯re paying is for the insight I deliver to this deal. Whether you think the money is worth it or not is absolutely up to you.¡±

    At that point, Zhang Zian predicted that she wasn¡¯t going to buy a cat right away. The customers who were too hung up on the price never treated their pets as a luxury. Even so, he wasn¡¯t nning on lowering the price, but was the knowledge not worth the money?

    Deng Jie considered this proposition left and right, but she couldn¡¯t make up her mind.

    ¡°If it¡¯s alright with you, I¡¯d like to go home and consider your offer a bit longer.¡± She couldn¡¯t decide what to do, so she decided to discuss this with her husband.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine, feel free toe back any time! A new delivery of pets will being in soon, maybe you can take a look at them next time you¡¯re here!¡±

    For the first time, Zhang Zian owned his own pet shop, and he worried that he had taken toorge of steps and it would be dangerous. With the pets sold one by one, Zhang Zian¡¯s reputation grew, and he became more and more confident. He nned on bringing in even more pets next time.

    Once Deng Jie had left, Zhang Zian tried to greet the mysterious man, but he simply walked out of the store with Deng Jie, albeit on a different path.

    He scratched his head in confusion and said aloud to himself, ¡°What was that man doing?¡±

    The Samoyed whined, lying down on all fours in its disy case. It whined at a low pitch, ears twitching and seekingfort.

    Originally, Zhang Zian nned to bring out the Lucky Cat when there were no more customers, but he saw how sad the Samoyed looked, so Zhang Zian opened the cage cover, picked him up, and let the Samoyed stroll around the shop. However, he had to watch over it carefully in case the Samoyed urinated or pooped inside the store. If a customer stepped in dog poop right as they walked through the door, Zhang Zian would get in trouble!

    At around 4 o¡¯clock, Zhang Zian guessed there would be no more customers, so he was nning on closing the store early.

    Just as he reached the door, two customers appeared on the other side, one around the age of forty and one around ten, looking like father and son.

    The boy was still in his school uniform and was a little chubby, his little face red. He was wiping tears off his face as he walked in, his eyes and nose red from crying. The father didn¡¯t appear to be too happy, but he didn¡¯t seem to have a choice but to walk in with the boy.

    ¡°Are you the owner of this store?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yes, I am.¡± Zhang Zian nodded.

 Chapter 33: One by One

    <h4>Chapter 33: One by One</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    After entering, the man turned around and scanned the store.

    ¡°Do you have¡­¡±

    Before he could finish his question, the Samoyed excitedly rushed between the legs of the new guests and spit out its tongue, desperately trying to act cute. This type of self-defeating energy left even Zhang Zian without words.

    The chubby little boy stopped crying, staring at the Samoyed.

    The man pointed to the dog and asked his son, ¡°What do you think of this dog?¡±

    The chubby boy did not speak but squatted down and stretched his hand out to the dog. The Samoyed immediately put its two forepaws up to take the hand.

    The boy¡¯s crying turned into a big smile, and he used his other hand to pat the dog¡¯s neck.

    ¡°Good dog! Good dog!¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡± The man sighed heavily and took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He put one into his mouth and handed one to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Brother, do you smoke?¡±

    ¡°No, thank you,¡± Zhang Zian declined because he still hadn¡¯t figured out the situation. He had heard that there was a new opioid now that could befuddle a person in one breath. What would he do if a handsome man like him had been drugged and robbed?

    Before Zhang Zian could even ask about the situation, the man immediately started chattering.

    ¡°This child has been home in the country every summer vacation, and today the yellow dog at the old house died.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Zhang Zian understood. No wonder the child was so sad.

    ¡°His mother and I have been very busy with work, so we send him to the countryside every summer so his grandfather can take care of him. All of his schoolmates are in the city. There were noputers in the country home, so he could only y with the dog. They would run wild with each other, which even made him forget aboutpleting his summer homework. Every time school started and he had to return to the city, he cried, not wanting to leave. s, the dog was really too old, with only a few teeth left. There were timesst year that it couldn¡¯t even keep up with the boy. I should have thought of this earlier, but this year¡­¡± The man did not go on.

    After a while, he said, ¡°The dog had survived this summer. Now school has started, and many rtives came over. I was not at home at the time, and my boy asked how the yellow dog was. The rtives said that two days after the boy left¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian also gave a big sigh as he remembered his parents, whose love was only separated by death. That was such an ufortable feeling. In the blink of an eye, they were separated by yin and yang.

    This child must have regretted not staying an extra day to be with the dog at its time of death, but the dog must have tried hard, too, and strived to insist on thest breath, to let its little master see itsst weak moment.

    The man patted his son¡¯s head with sympathy.

    ¡°This kid cried all day, and the rtives didn¡¯t know what to do with him. They left before I even got home. I told my boy that I would buy him another one.¡±

    In front of Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes emerged a picture. In the hot, sunburned country, the deafening cicadas roared. A boy wearing a tank top and shorts yed pstick with a loyal yellow dog, running against the wind to the hills, stepping on pebbles across the river, catching dragonflies, grasshoppers, butterflies, fish, and shrimp, and running until they were hot and tired. The dog would lie on the grass with its tongue outstretched, and the chubby kid would lie on top of him, wiping sweat with his elbow. It must have been a very, very happy day.

    Trees grew taller day by day, while the river froze and then melted. The little boy grew up year after year, while the dog grew older every year. Gradually, the yellow dog had more trouble catching up with the little boy, its eyes bing muddy, its hair bing sparse, its body bing thin, and its appetite growing less, but they still yed every day together.

    A lot of things had happened in thatst summer, and it had be a permanent stagnation. The boy had a premonition of sorts, thus driving him to ask so eagerly of the yellow dog when the rtives came to visit.

    However, the dog certainly did not leave with regret, as it had longed for heaven.

    When the man had finished his cigarette and was snuffing out the butt, he said, ¡°Well, boss, I¡¯m not going to keep you any longer. I want this dog, how much is it?¡±

    ¡°Three thousand,¡± said Zhang Zian.

    The man nodded.

    ¡°A little expensive, but since the child likes him, I would spend any amount of money to buy this dog for him, aspensation for not being there in the summer all these years. We will take care of his dog together.¡±

    Zhang Zian patted the back of the Samoyed, but it turned away from him, not even looking at him. It did not look at all sad to leave the shop and immediately turned its head to please his new owners.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help but yfully scold in his heart. ¡°This snobbish dog! Tossing me aside after getting sold to new masters! And I had felt sympathy for it, being all alone in the shop.¡±

    Out of the three pets sold today, the Samoyed was thest one but may have been the most fortunate. The father and the son who had suffered such a sad loss would be sure to spoil it and look after it well as long as it acted as cute as it could.

    The chubby boy and the Samoyed had already begun to y with each other when the man and Zhang Zian arrived at the counter to pay.

    The man turned and looked at the Samoyed and asked, ¡°Boss, does this dog have any health problems? I don¡¯t want to buy a dog that will be sick after a few days at home!¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°You can rest assured that this dog has just gotten a vine. Here is the certification.¡±

    Zhang Zian gave the receipt, certificate, and the sales agreement to the man.

    ¡°The agreement is valid as long as the vine is valid. If the dog has an infectious disease, you cane back to me at any time. I will be responsible for its health.¡±

    The man nodded, reassured, and Zhang Zian said, ¡°I have a dog training guide that I wrote myself. You can take one if you need¡­¡±

    The man waved his hand in dismissal.

    ¡°No need, no need, this is not the first dog that we have owned.¡±

    ¡°How about some other things, like dog food?¡± Zhang Zian did not want to lose any chance to earn extra money.

    ¡°Not today, the kid¡¯s mom should be worried by now. We¡¯ll see you in a couple of days.¡± The man beckoned to the boy. ¡°Come on, son, let¡¯s go home.¡±

    The chubby little boy picked up the Samoyed and followed the man out. The dog¡¯s head peeked over the boy¡¯s shoulders and gazed at Zhang Zian with its tongue outstretched, until it could not see him anymore.

    Zhang Zian was suddenly struck with sadness, and he stood at the door for a long time, watching the passing pedestrians who didn¡¯t notice the bittersweet feeling in his heart.

    ¡°It¡¯s finally quiet in here!¡±

    He returned to the store, looking at the empty disy cabs and cages, leaving only the hamster to wake up from its daytime nap, ignorantly prepared to start its nightlife. When the three pets were there, Zhang Zian was constantly worrying about selling them, but now that they were gone, Zhang Zian felt some dismay.

    ¡°Fixed Barracks, Floating Soldiers!¡±

    Since it was a pet shop, the owner had to sell the pets. Money had to be made, or it would close down.

    The pet industry had good and bad business practices. Every day there were new shops opening and old shops closing. Big fish ate small fish, while bad businesses drove out good businesses, which made the industry more vile.

    The store might be quiet now, but soon it would be noisy again.

    Most definitely.

 Chapter 34: Shi Shi

    <h4>Chapter 34: Shi Shi</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Shi Shi was the kind of girl that would wear summer clothing even when the weather was cold. She alwaysined that she wasn¡¯t born in a warmer ce so that she could go out dressed in a short skirt all year long without being criticized by her parents.

    From her appearance, Shi Shi seemed like the lovely style. The clothing she wore was mostly Japanese style with a lot ofyers and many matching essories. She liked to talk by using a falsetto voice. From her appearance and her clothing style, she was appealing to male otakus.

    However, she was not interested in male otakus. Her goal was to find and marry a self-made millionaire. It would be even more ideal if his parents were deceased and he had no siblings or any single rtives living under the poverty line. It would be even better if his age was under thirty-five years old. Nevertheless, this wish temporarily hadn¡¯t been granted, and she was still diligently searching for a target¡­

    Shi Shi and Zhao Qi were close friends who worked at the samepany and often went out together for fun. The reason they were good together was simply because they had different styles and never had to worry about one of them surpassing the other. They could be considered toplement each other.

    This was not the first time Shi Shi had been a guest in Zhao Qi¡¯s apartment. She easily found her way through this little neighborhood and went up the elevator while carrying a huge bag of snacks in her left hand. After the elevator stopped, she stood in front of Zhao Qi¡¯s door and pressed the doorbell.

    After a while, the ¡°da da da¡± of slipper sounds behind the door could be heard. A shadow dazzled through the peephole. Spontaneously, Shi Shi immediately posed with her finger making the ¡°V¡± sign.

    ¡°Qi Qi, it¡¯s me!¡±

    As the door lock clicked, the door opened.

    ¡°Ghost!¡± Shi Shi turned around and was ready to run off, but Qi Qi pulled her from behind.

    ¡°What ghost! Get in, please!¡±

    Zhao Qi dragged the constantly struggling girl into the room, then shut the door.

    Shi Shi was trembling with fear. She looked Zhao Qi up and down many times before finally being able to confirm that she was not a ghost.

    It was only afternoon, but Zhao Qi looked like she had just woken up. Her hair was messy. All the curtains in the room were kept sealed, so the room was very dark. Hence, under the ck and white contrast, Zhao Qi¡¯s pale face and her white night robe seemed very terrifying.

    ¡°Qi Qi, you, you, you¡­¡± Shi Shi pointed at Zhao Qi and couldn¡¯t make a sound.

    Zhao Qi pulled her hair back and said, ¡°Oh, I was busy with an argument and forgot to wash my face. You can take a seat. I will go and clean myself up.¡± She took the bath towel and went to the bathroom. Soon, the sound of running water came to Shi Shi¡¯s ears.

    Argument? With who? The new assistant?

    Millions of questions filled Shi Shi¡¯s head, but she would rather wait than go to the bathroom and ask Zhao Qi.

    Theputer in the bedroom was still on. She put down the snack bag and opened all the curtains and windows in each room. The rooms brightened up right away.

    ¡°Meow¡­¡±

    She turned around and saw a round, hairy kitten leaning against Zhao Qi¡¯s pillow. It was curiously and cautiously staring at her like a stranger.

    ¡°Hey, are you Lan Lan? You are so cute, even prettier than the one in the pictures!¡± Shi Shi was not immune to cute little animals. Her eyes filled with many red hearts, and she rushed over instantly.

    Lan Lan was frightened and took many steps back, curling up its body.

    ¡°Hee hee, don¡¯t be scared! I¡¯m your big sister, Shi Shi. Wait a minute and I will get you a present!¡±

    Shi Shi dug out a few seafood-vored potato chips from her snack bag. She put some in her mouth first, then held out a piece of potato chip to lure Lan Lan.

    ¡°Come on, Lan Lan, it¡¯s very delicious! Come over to your big sister! Meow, meow!¡±

    Zhao Qi walked out the bathroom, wiping water off her face. She immediately stopped Shishi. ¡°Don¡¯t feed the cat that salty snack! It¡¯s not good for her to have too much salt! Just eat it yourself!¡±

    ¡°Nonsense! That must be a myth!¡± Shi Shi quickly filled her mouth with potato chips and said, ¡°You are saying this is because you are afraid that I will kidnap Lan Lan!¡±

    Zhao Qi throw over the instruction paper prepared by Zhang Zian and said, ¡°Read it yourself.¡±

    Shi Shi lost interest after a few glimpses andmented, ¡°Too long. I refuse to read! Only a male otaku would summarize such things¡­ Hey, Qi Qi, who did you have an argument with?¡±

    ¡°On the inte, you don¡¯t know them.¡± Zhao Qi went back to herputer, refreshed the website, then started typing.

    ¡°What the heck! Qi Qi, please don¡¯t be a female otaku! I heard only male otaku and female otaku would swear at each other online,¡± Shi Shi responded, concerned.

    ¡°The problem is that the other party was making me really angry, you know!¡± Zhao Qi typed a line of words and posted them, then leaned against the bed while holding Lan Lan in her arms.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Shi Shi questioned while chewing the potato chips.

    Zhao Qi told her the whole story at once.

    When Zhao Qi had posted herments, the post had instantaneously be a hot post on the forum. Of course, it was attributed to her beautiful photos. On the inte, where male otaku dominated the realm, beautiful women were hard to find.

    The spies from Stars Pet Chain Supermarket usually only appeared in request posts talking about where to purchase cages. Numerous people who were deceived at Stars Pet Chain Supermarket posted their experiences. Additionally, people of neutral standing added fuel to the mes, so the spies at Stars Pet Chain Supermarket seemed lost in argument. They started acting unreasonable and shameless. They started flinging abusive words and insulting the posters. Finally, it brought about public indignation. Since it was the weekend, there were more people online than usual. In the pets¡¯ section, the quantity and poprity of posts went straight up. It surpassed the trading section and was just below the irrigation section. Within those spies, a few IDs had been revealed by Zhao Qi, who became the target of public criticism.

    The current focus was that both sides used the other party of being inte spies, but none of the parties had substantial evidence. General members weren¡¯t able to see each other¡¯s IP addresses, only the forum owner was able to see IP addresses, but thest digit was reced by an asterisk. Only the forum manager would be able to see theplete version of it. However, at this point, the online incident had not been brought to the manager¡¯s attention.

    The byproduct of these posts was the repeated mention of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop¡¯s name. Many people were asking about the location of this pet shop. Some people enthusiastically replied back.

    ¡°Hey, no need to be so serious! Just treat them as a group of mad dogs. Just ignore them.¡± Shi Shi couldn¡¯t understand why Zhao Qi was so serious about this.

    Speaking of the reason, Zhao Qi felt very mad after being bullied by thepany¡¯s new assistant, and now she felt an urge to find a way to release her anger.

    ¡°No matter what, now that I am in a bad mood, I will continue to fight back!¡± she said with determination.

    Shi Shi took a nce at the clock and reminded her, ¡°Don¡¯t forget that we were nning to go to the new coffee shop.¡±

    Zhao Qi shook her hand and said, ¡°You can go by yourself. I have no time.¡±

    Shi Shi felt anxious because that coffee shop was a high-end ce surrounded by a few bigpanies, and she might be able to meet a rich CEO there. If not a CEO himself, the next generation would be fine too. Two of them together would draw a lot of attention from the crowd. If she was going there by herself, she would not feel the same way.

    She rolled her eye and suggested, ¡°Qi Qi, you didn¡¯t find any evidence yet, right? I have an idea.¡±

 Chapter 35: The Computer Geek

    <h4>Chapter 35: The Computer Geek</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    ¡°What kind of idea?¡± Zhao Qi did not think Shi Shi would have any good ideas but still tried to listen to her anyway.

    ¡°Be patient.¡± Shi Shi took her cell phone, looked through her contact list, and dialed a number.

    ¡°Hello! Mr. Liu?¡±

    When the phone connected, Shi Shi automatically changed to her falsetto voice that sounded soft and flirty.

    ¡°Yes, Mr. Liu, it¡¯s me, Shi Shi!¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ Mr. Liu, I need your help¡­ No, myputer isn¡¯t broken. Did you know there is a forum called Wang Haige in our city? A few members were insulting and bullying me on that forum. Can you help me identify their IP addresses? Uh¡­ I won¡¯t do anything. I just want to know¡­ Against thew?¡±

    Shi Shi¡¯s face immediately became long. ¡°You mean you can¡¯t do it, right? Then I will go and ask Mr. Aren to help me!¡±

    A flurry of pleas could be heard through the phone.

    ¡°Yes? Ok, I will send you a few IDster. I will give you one chance!¡± She hung up the phone.

    Zhao Qi looked at her, speechless. ¡°Who was he?¡±

    Shi Shi switched to her normal voice. ¡°Who else? Xiao Liu from the technical department.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Zhao Qi thought for a moment, but she didn¡¯t know him very well. ¡°Is he interested in you?¡±

    ¡°A male otaku, he means nothing.¡± Shi Shi twisted her mouth in disdain. ¡°He didn¡¯t even dare to ask me to be his friend in person, instead he sent an email to me, and he even used thepany email.¡±

    Zhao Qi suggested, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t fool him. Poor guy.¡±

    ¡°How could I fool him? I still need him to fix myputer when it breaks,¡± Shi Shi said with a sly grin.

    Not long after, Shi Shi¡¯s cell phone rang. The corresponding IP addresses of those IDs from the forum were shown. They all came from the same address, and the location of the IP addresses was confined to one area on the electronic map, precise to the street and the neighborhood.

    ¡°Holy moly, remarkable!¡± Zhao Qi stuck her tongue out. ¡°He is so amazing. You should hold him tight and stop daydreaming about getting a wealthy CEO!¡±

    ¡°Just this made me feel uneasy. What if this male otaku turns into a stalker, then I will be doomed,¡± Shi Shi said with a distressed look. She picked up the phone call and called, ¡°Thank you, Xiao Liu. You did a good job, as I expected¡­ Hmm, okay, pick a day and invite me to dinner. Can¡¯t be MPK¡­ Hmm, I¡¯m hanging up now.¡±

    Zhao Qi thought she had misheard the conversation, as it didn¡¯t sound logical to her. ¡°He did you a favor, and he has to invite you to dinner?¡±

    ¡°Of course! I gave him the chance to invite me to dinner! He should appreciate the opportunity I gave him!¡± Shi Shi responded proudly.

    ¡°What is MPK?¡±

    ¡°McDonald¡¯s, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken. These male otaku always invite girls to those ces for dinners.¡± Shi Shi urged, ¡°No more talking, hurry up! We have to go to the coffee shop soon!¡±

    Zhao Qi had no choice but to shake her head and say, ¡°Forget it! I don¡¯t care anymore!¡±

    She was searching ¡°Stars Pet Chain Supermarket¡± on the electronic map. There were two results in range of the city: one, a directly managed Stars store, was located in the western region; the other, a Stars franchise store, was located in the eastern region. Afterparing it with the map on Shi Shi¡¯s phone, the spies were in the franchise store.

    Now the evidence was irrefutable.

    After deleting some private information, she posted the unambiguous evidence, in photo form, on the forum, including their IDs, the corresponding IP addresses, and the map locations.

    Now the forum got fired up, and the number ofments grew at a crazy speed!

    ¡°Chao! The beautiful girl is unexpectedly aputer geek?¡±

    ¡°usible evidence, persuasive!¡±

    ¡°They are really spies. That¡¯s crazy!¡±

    ¡°The Stars need to appear and clean up the floor, then!¡±

    ¡°China Tel has to take the me for it!¡±

    Some people seemed to be more calm and careful. Theymented: ¡°This¡­ person easily rendered others¡¯ IP addresses and locations. Was she right?¡±

    ¡°You are right. Is it considered a vition of people¡¯s privacy?¡±

    Zhao Qimented: ¡°It¡¯s apany, not an individual. I will be in trouble if it is individual. The IP address was under thepany¡¯s name and the address was under thepany name too.¡±

    Many people backed up Zhao Qi. ¡°Why couldn¡¯t it be exposed? One had the courage to do so, but is too cowardly to let others talk about it?¡±

    ¡°Be a man and step out and admit his own action! Don¡¯t be the person who refuses to face reality!¡±

    ¡°Stars should continue to confront the truth, why have they instead backed off?¡±

    It seemed weird, since this blog grew hotter, all of the pet-area monitors seemed to have vanished.

    ¡°Could the monitors have also epted money from Stars?¡±

    ¡°Probably!¡±

    ¡°Blocking others from the path of wealth is like killing their parents¡­¡±

    Shi Shi had urged Zhao Qi to go to the coffee shop repeatedly. Zhao Qi closed her posts and took a glimpse at the pet-area main page. Many people had opened new interactive posts to denounce Stars. One of them was called <>

    She did not even get a chance to scan through the posts. She prepared some food and water for Lan Lan. After putting on some makeup, she and Shi Shi rushed to the newly opened coffee shop.

    The next day was Sunday, another fresh and cool day.

    Being a shop owner, one would have no winter or summer vacations, nor beautiful weekends off. All seven days a week were business days. The weekends in particr were the busiest time of the week, because during weekdays, only elders and little kids with low consumption capacity would have the time to wander around the street. Only weekends were considered to be prime time for young people.

    Zhang Zian was still young, but not even mentioning when he was at college or at a sried job, he enjoyed sleeping in over the weekends after school or work. Aftering back to Binhai City and running the pet shop, he had gotten used to waking up early in the morning. Now he wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep after six o¡¯clock.

    He finished cleaning up and walked to the first floor. Today was one of those rare days where he didn¡¯t have to clean up the poop and pee from those three pets, but he was feeling a little bit lonely. Nevertheless, he found more things to be done. He needed to clean up the whole store, mop the floor, and then disinfect it. After that, he had to polish the ss and hoe the soil for the lobr purple sandalwood pot.

    Subsequently, he had to replenish the products in the pet supply and consumables areas. Those stocks had been purchased by his parents. There were still many supplies in the storage room, so there was no need to order new products.

    Finally, he took a few disy cases that were not in use out of the storage room on the second floor. At the same time, he rearranged the items around the three cleared areas.

    This work was all done by himself. He worked as both an employer and an employee. Honestly, it was much harder than just being a regr employee, but on the other hand, the benefit was less stress for him, not like old times when he had to mind his boss¡¯s temperament. In other words, his body was tired, but his mood was rxed.

    Dealing with the cute and adorable pets, the interpersonal rtionship had be pure and clear. He never had to consider the intrigue against each other in the office or being anxious about the rtionship between supervisor and colleagues. Every evening, as soon as his head touched the pillow, he would fall asleep immediately. No wonder so many people dreamed of opening their own pet shops.

    After tidying everything up, he was sweating a bit. The feeling of sweating was not too bad because it was sweating for oneself. Was there anything more wonderful than sweating for his own good?

 Chapter 36: Small Gambling was Entertaining

    <h4>Chapter 36: Small Gambling was Entertaining</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    After finishing cleaning, Zhang Zian opened the shop, letting the fresh air blow in. The sweat also subsided gradually.

    Flipping through the contact lists, he dialed Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s phone number.

    ¡°Come over, I will treat you to breakfast,¡± he said.

    ¡°Huh?¡± One could imagine the astonishment on the other end of the phone.

    ¡°Right,e here by driving.¡± He hung up the phone as soon as he finished talking, without waiting for the other¡¯s response.

    The Spirit Curing Pet Clinic and the Amazing Fate Pet Shop were located separately on the south end and north end of Zhonghua Road. The straight-line distance between them was just a few hundred meters. Not longter, Sun Xiaomeng parked her car right outside the door.

    She got out of her car doubtfully. ¡°Did the sun rise from the west today? A stingy guy like you would invite me over for breakfast?¡±

    Zhang Zian looked as if that had hurt his feelings very much. ¡°Was there anything wrong with that? Being neighbors, building a good rtionship is necessary. Treating you to breakfast is not a big deal.¡±

    ¡°Give me a break! Just tell me what you want, otherwise I won¡¯t dare to eat this breakfast!¡± Sun Xiaomeng did not believe those nice wordsing from his mouth.

    Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Thus¡­ Will you be going to your parents¡¯ home today?¡±

    ¡°My parents¡¯ home?¡± Sun Xiaomeng did not realize what was going on.

    ¡°The breeding ground,¡± he reminded her.

    ¡°What are you going to do?¡±

    ¡°Borrow your car. Of course, I will pay for the gas!¡±

    ¡°My father is stingier than you. In his breeding ground, all pet sales are final, no exchanges or returns!¡± she responded.

    He asked curiously, ¡°Why would people want to return or exchange?¡±

    ¡°Did you have any customers? I assumed you were about to close your store and were on your way to seek other work opportunities,¡± she said seriously. ¡°If you let me have Gxy, then I might help you ask a favor from my dad to allow your pets to be returned to him in case they aren¡¯t sold.¡±

    ¡°So¡­ this is your opinion! But I¡¯m sorry that you will be disappointed. Except the little hamster I got as a bonus, all the other pets have been sold. I am nning to order more today,¡± he said.

    ¡°Nonsense! When I came here the day before, I saw both the Siamese and the Samoyed were still here. You sold both of them in one day?¡± Sun Xiaomeng was in disbelief.

    ording to the consumption levels of most regions in the country, oneprehensive pet shop that was willing to do some advertisements would only be able to sell about two hundred pets per month. Additionally, the majority of these sales came from pets sold at discounted prices, such as the hamster, ranging from ten yuan to a few hundred yuan.

    Sun Xiaomeng initially thought that Zhang Zian must have priced his pets too high. Usually, new shops would start off with cheaper prices to build a client base.

    As a matter of fact, most newly opened pet shops lost money in the beginning. Some people couldn¡¯t hold it until they started making money. Some closed their stores or switched their careers secretly. Some just went the dishonest path. Being the daughter of a breeding ground, she had seen many such cases.

    ¡°Come in and take a look if you don¡¯t believe me.¡± Zhang Zian did not bother to exin too much, instead directly telling her toe inside and find out for herself.

    Sun Xiaomeng was still in doubt but walked into the store and took a look. To her surprise, the disying cages were all empty. Zhang Zian gave her the bookkeeping records.

    She started looking through it, ¡°Siamese, 3000¡­ Samoyed, 4000¡­ Dates¡­ were both yesterday¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian felt proud and happy. ¡°I felt my luck was on its way.¡± He curled his finger and counted, ¡°one day seven thousand, ten days seventy thousand, one month two hundred thousand¡­¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng was speechless. She threw the records back to him. ¡°Enough! Look at you! Don¡¯t even know your name anymore! You could just be lucky! Don¡¯t brag about it! How about this, let¡¯s make a bet, seven days down the road starting from tomorrow, if you can sell one pet a day every day, then I will treat you to lunch for a week. Otherwise¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian first thought she would ask him to invite her to lunch for a week, or maybe just give her Gxy. Instead, she said, ¡°If you are incapable of doing it, then you have to be the cleaning guy for my pet clinic for a day. I noticed that your ce is well cleaned, you must be gifted in cleaning¡­ How about this deal? Will you dare to take the bet?¡±

    Simr to Zhang Zian¡¯s situation, Sun Xiaomeng was also very busy working on her clinic, treating the animals, and cleaning the clinic, all by herself. She hated spending money on hiring a cleaner, and it was exhausting work for her too.

    He thought for a moment and made a decision.

    If he won, then he earned seven free lunches. If he lost, he just had to sweat a bit. Honestly, there was nothing he could lose.

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s bet!¡± he said.

    After locking the shop door, they went to the Yonghe Soymilk restaurant first for breakfast, then went straight to the breeding base.

    Likest time with Sun Xiaomeng, they did not go to the reception but went straight to find her father.

    Based on Zhang Zian¡¯s observation, Pet¡¯s Home¡¯s business seemed unwell. It was hard to point to anything specific. However, based on what he saw and heard down the road, business was more sluggishpared to thest time he was here. Many breeding boxes were empty and workers¡¯ faces were taut. He had already noticed these as an outsider, so Sun Xiaomeng would surely be able to see the changes as well. Since walking into Pet¡¯s Home, she had kept her head down.

    Sun Xiaomeng was willing to drive him here, not only because they were good neighbors, but also because she wanted to try her best to help her father. Even selling just one more pet would be better than nothing.

    Inferior markets expelled by the superior markets didn¡¯t only exist in the pet retail market, they even existed in the breeding market¡­ Perhaps it could be said that the cause was from the root. Focusing on foul profit-seeking would eventually lose the consumer¡¯s trust. Once their trust was lost, it would be gone forever.

    But Zhang Zian was incapable of changing this situation, at least for now. One in poverty should maintain his own integrity, while one in the wealth should give back to others. What he needed to do was to continue maintaining his pet store business by not ordering pets from those fishy breeding bases. This was the one thing that he could control now.

    Sun Yinian was feeding the pets one by one. He was the owner of the breeding ground but also worked as a regr worker.

    ¡°Daddy! We got a customer. It¡¯s him again.¡± Sun Xiaomeng pouted toward Zhang Zian. ¡°I drove him here.¡±

    Sun Yinian got up after hearing his daughter¡¯s voice. He paused for a second, and he seemed to have some problems straightening his back, a soft ¡°ga da¡± noiseing out. But before Sun Xiaomeng could hold him, he already got his body back up. His face was covered with knife-cutting wrinkles, and there was a lot of gray hair growing on his short-haired head.

    ¡°You sold all those pets fromst time?¡± Sun Yinian asked with a raspy voice.

    ¡°Yes, all sold out, except the hamster. This time I was nning to get a few more pets,¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    Sun Yinian pointed with his hand and said directly, ¡°Go and pick them yourself.¡±

    He first picked out a Samoyed and Siamese likest time. The British Shorthair was unexpectedly popr, so he got two of those.These three kinds of pets had already demonstrated their capability to attract more customers. He also selected an American Shorthair cat and a Miniature Schnauzer. He went around the ce and picked out a Persian cat too. All of the selected pets were young animals aged from three to five months old.

    To be honest, he wasn¡¯t quite willing to select the Persian cat, due to its hair being too long and it requiring constant grooming. Additionally, it was very expensive, but it was a veritable noble cat. If it wasn¡¯t able to be sold quickly, it would upy much of his time. He chose it just to put together seven pets for the bet and to better understand the pet market.

 Chapter 37: What a Paranoid Cat

    <h4>Chapter 37: What a Paranoid Cat</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    The sole principle of selection was to select cats with a higher market share and sale price.

    A cat¡¯s high market sharey in its suitability for most families.

    A license was needed to raise a dog, but there was no required license for raising a cat. A license usually meant extra expense.

    It was not suitable for elders to raise dogs, especiallyrge dogs. When walking dogs on the street, if a dog was startled or went into heat, the elder would definitely not able to control it. If they did not let the furious dog loose, they would be dragged away, tumbling and getting hurt. However, if they did let the dog loose, it might bite pedestrians and babies, so the old masters would not only have to be responsible for the miserable casualties but alsopensate the people who got injured. It was amon practice in the public.

    Raising dogs was not suitable for those who lived on the 6th or 7th floor without elevators or for those who were too busy to walk their dogs.

    ¡°What are you doing? Are you going to call a fairy dragon[1] by collecting so many cats?¡± Sun Xiaomeng mocked. Anyway, she was still pleased to see Zhang Zian buying a number of cats.

    Zhang Zian thought he would be at a disadvantage if he answered back, so he left her alone and turned to ask Sun Yinian, ¡°Do you provide free delivery?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll send them to your home immediately if you buy ten at a time,¡± Sun Yinian answered professionally.

    ¡°Ten¡­ Not now.¡± Zhang Zian thought it over and said, ¡°To avoid great failure, I¡¯d better try to proceed step by step.¡±

    It cost him almost 3,000 yuan, of which the noble Persian cat made a great contribution. As a gift, Sun Yinian also gave him a lop-eared rabbit.

    After getting some gas, they drove directly back to the pet shop. Zhang Zian moved the pet cages to the shop after the car stopped in front. Sun Xiaomeng didn¡¯t get out but drove back to her clinic for an appointment.

    After separating the pets into the disy cases prepared ahead of time, all Zhang Zian had to do next was wait for customers.

    However, the Persian cat¡¯s hair urgently needed to be cleaned. Due to its young age¡ªas kittens should not have baths within three months of their birth¡ªits hair was glued together, its whiskers were glued to the hair on its neck, and its dirty face was as streaky as facial makeup in a Beijing opera. Even worse, some of its feces was stuck to the hair on its bottom. It looked so much like a stray cat that, if left on the street, nobody would take it home, not to mention buying it.

    ¡°So, it¡¯s best to keep short hair,¡± Zhang Zian said with a deep feeling, and he put a hand on his short hair.

    The previous master of the Persian cat must have be an angel with broken wings in his previous life.

    Thanks to its hair not having grown too long yet, after half an hour¡¯s tough work, the Persian cat finally had a new look, having gone from an ugly duckling to a white swan.

    Seemingly knowing of its nobility which deserved special treatment, the cat instantly became naughty. All the other cubs huddled up in this strange new environment except the Persian cat, which was actively looking all around.

    With no guests in the shop, Zhang Zian released Gxy from the pet bar. Gxy was somewhat confused, as if it had just awoken from a dream, turning its head and looking around. Its face did not light up until it found itself in the safe home.

    ¡°Meow, hello, Zian!¡± It squatted on the ground, happily raising a front w to say hello.

    ¡°Hello, Gxy.¡± Zhang Zian carefully found his words and said, ¡°Hum¡­ Would you feel¡­ happy if some pals lived with you?¡±

    ¡°Meow! I like living with many pals, the more the better!¡± Gxy jumped happily, circling around.

    Zhang Zian beamed too. ¡°Yeah, Gxy doesn¡¯t like loneliness.¡±

    Gxy stopped and nodded earnestly. ¡°Meow! Gxy would like to make lots of new friends, friends like you!¡±

    ¡°You are so smart that everyone must want to make friends with you,¡± he said in a gentle voice.

    Now he was sort of worried about the arrogant Maneki-Neko. Would it get along with Gxy?

    Dogs were domesticated wolves that were born to be social animals while almost all cats, including wild cats, were lone rangers with strong senses of territory.

    He made up his mind. ¡°Anyway, try it first, if they can¡¯t get along well, I can just lock the cat back in the case.¡±

    Pointing to the empty ground before him, he pressed the ¡°release¡± button, and the golden noble cat abruptly appeared at that exact ce as soon as Zhang Zianid his phone down.

    Totally different from Gxy, who was too scared and hid himself behind the little flower pot the first day he came, the Maneki-Neko just squatted there in a serious manner, resembling a supercilious kitten with green eyes shining intrepidly.

    Unlike the strong dazzling light in the jewelry shop, the light in the pet shop was soft, under which each hair of the cat was glittering.

    Zhang Zian stared at the cat, and the cat stared back until he felt ill at ease. It was just a cat, but the expression in its eyes was much more than that.

    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Zhang Zian. May I have your name?¡± He tried to say hello gently.

    Here it began, in a cold and noble voice, ¡°Your majesty, my name is Fina Paris XIII, guardian of the Kingdom of Eternity! Shining things are my favorite!¡±

    Zhang Zian frowned. The name might belong to it, but that didn¡¯t sound like its true name. Based on his experience, it was not that easy to get its true name, which should usually be in the form of XX¡¯s XXX, the former XX representing its former master.

    It shook its head with pride, taking it for granted and asking, ¡°Where are my servants? Why are you the only person here? Go summon them quickly if they still want to live on.¡±

    Zhang Zian was puzzled. ¡°¡­¡±

    Trying to hold his causticments back, he coughed and responded, ¡°First of all, I¡¯m not your servant¡­¡±

    In a rage, the Maneki-Neko cat goggled its enchanting gingko-like eyes. ¡°How dare you! All people and cats under the sun are my servants, so you are as well! How could you, a mundane human, be so rude!¡±

    Zhang Zian, found himself dumbfounded, pointing outside and saying, ¡°I can¡¯t figure out your mysterious background, but just look outside and you can see the world is no longer the one you once lived in. Now, people are the masters of their own country, and the so-called servants are already gone with history¡­¡±

    The cat tilted its head, looking like it was digging into the meaning behind the man¡¯s words.

    After a while, it turned back and saw Gxy.

    ¡°Meow! I¡¯m Gxy! Nice to meet you!¡±

    The cat carefully measured Gxy with its eyes.

    [1] call a fairy dragon:es from anime Dragonball: Evolution, saying that there are 7 dragon balls scattered in the world, and anyone who collected all of the 7 could realize any dream.

 Chapter 38: Shining Little Stones

    <h4>Chapter 38: Shining Little Stones</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Gxy seemed to only be afraid of humans, not other creatures. It was not terrified to see the huge-phony Maneki-Neko at all.

    Gxy talked happily with the Maneki-Neko, ¡°Meow! Come and y hide and seek? It¡¯s fun!¡±

    Maneki-Neko had probably evaluated Gxy¡¯s power level already and stood up straight. ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you, venerable opponent! I am Fina Paris XIII, the guardian of the Kingdom of Eternity! Please wait a moment if you want to challenge me!¡±

    ¡°What! This cat looks up to Gxy but not me? The tones were so different.¡± Zhang Zian was very depressed.

    Maneki-Neko walked around Gxy and approached the ss door.

    ¡°Meow?¡± Gxy got confused and looked at Zhang Zian. Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders and made a face.

    Through the ss door, Maneki-Neko gazed at theings and goings of pedestrians and vehicles.

    Although the appearance was different, and they had very different personalities, but at this moment, the back of the Maneki-Neko was very simr to Gxy, as both were lonely and proud, leaving Zhang Zian with the same loneliness across time and space.

    After a long time, it slowly paced back with a very sad look, as if something seemed to be gone forever. Zhang Zian noticed itscrimal nd was secreting lots of tears, which made its eyes crystal clear.

    The navigation elf had said that this Maneki-Neko was real and had existed in history. It was subjected to people¡¯s beliefs and became a mythical creature. The navigation elf probably wasn¡¯t lying. However, Zhang Zian could not imagine any cat in history could act at this level. It was for sure that it was not a cat from Chinese history. A Chinese cat wouldn¡¯t have a name such as ¡°Fina Paris XIII.¡±

    Zhang Zian wondered, but saw an incredible sight from the corner of his eyes.

    The Persian cat, brimming with spirit, was sprawling in the disy case, facing Maneki-Neko, just like it was worshipping the emperor!

    The other cats, no matter if they were British Shorthairs, Siamese cats, or American Shorthairs, all had the same posture, as if they were were worshipping Maneki-Neko!

    Maneki-Neko ignored them as if it took their worship for granted.

    Zhang Zian opened the lid of the disy case with his mouth wide open, gently striking Maneki-Neko. A slight shudder wasing from the back of Maneki-Neko; it was shivering! The other cats were shaking too.

    ¡°Wait a minute. What is happening? Why are they so scared?¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know whom he was asking, but he had to say something, otherwise he would be frightened to the point of trembling by this eerie sight.

    Looking back at Gxy, it was fine, without any affection or fear, just full of questions in its head.

    The Samoyed and Schnauzer behaved normally, just looking at this glittering cat curiously.

    A long, clear voice,ing from Maneki-Neko, called out, ¡°Rise up.¡±

    The Persian cat stopped shaking and carefully changed from a prone posture to a sitting position, as did the others.

    ¡°Oh, my gosh! This cat is weird!¡± Zhang Zian was too shocked to say anything.

    Maneki-Neko sprang gracefully with its slim and athletic shape, as if walking on air, and fell on a chair prepared for customers, then looked up slightly at Zhang Zian.

    ¡°I know it now. Time is ovepped,¡± it said.

    Zhang Zian was relieved. ¡°Great, this cat is arrogant but reasonable.¡±

    ¡°From now on, I appoint you asmand manager, in charge of my daily life.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Should I change my name to Junior An?¡± thought Zhang Zian.

    ¡°This is my mercy. Do you have anyints?¡± it inquired with a raised eyebrow.

    Zhang Zian heaved a sigh and forgot why he needed to argue with a cat.

    ¡°No. But how should I address you?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Your Majesty, of course!¡±

    ¡°No, change it.¡±

    Maneki-Neko was enraged, its golden hair surging like a wave. ¡°Human, do not push too much!¡±

    Zhang Zian tried to please it. ¡°Please listen to my exnation. What do you think of Gxy?¡±

    It looked at Gxy and hesitantly said, ¡°It is a matching opponent.¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°But Gxy and I are friends. Right, Gxy?¡±

    Gxy nodded. ¡°Yes, friend. Zian is my friend!¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°See, Gxy and I are friends, and both of you are on the same level, so that means you and I are on the same level. Isn¡¯t that right?¡±

    Maneki-Neko was confused, its eyes blinking a few times, and it looked at Gxy, then at Zhang Zian. ¡°So what?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be a stranger if we are peers. You can call me Zhang Zian or Zian, either is fine. How about I call you Junior III instead of Fina Paris XIII¡­¡±

    Before he got thest word out, a glitter shed by, and Maneki-Neko did its work quickly. Zhang Zian¡¯s shirt sleeves were ripped up!

    ¡°How dare you!¡± Maneki-Neko snapped at him, ¡°I am Fina Paris XIII, the guardian of the Kingdom of Eternity!¡±

    Zhang Zian was frightened and had to say, ¡°I was joking. How about I call you Fina?¡±

    Maneki-Neko rolled its eyes, saying nothing. Even though it was still not satisfied with the name, it had probably epted it.

    Zhang Zian pitied his shirt, which he had boughtst year and had cost him 99 dors! But it was good then. He did not like the shirt that much since there was a color difference between the picture online and the shirt itself.

    Maneki-Neko jumped off the chair, held its head up, and toured around the shop proudly. When it passed by the consumable area, it showed some curiosity toward the food which had some cute cat pictures. Only when it passed by the pet supplies area did it act like a real cat. It looked up at the cat climbing frame and touched the cat scratching post and cat rod with its ws. When it came back to the pet exhibiting area in the center of the shop, it walked by each disy case, examining the pets inside.

    ¡°Well, the current cat family seems to be growing.¡± It nodded with satisfaction.

    Finishing the tour, it jumped back to the chair and talked to Zhang Zian, ¡°Howe you don¡¯t have those¡­¡± It raised its right front paw strikingly. ¡°Those shiny little stones?¡±

    Zhang Zian froze. ¡°Shiny little stones?¡±

    There was deep contempt inside Maneki-Neko¡¯s green eyes. It seemed like Maneki-Neko was bewailing his foolishness. ¡°Shiny little stones that you can wear on your finger.¡±

    He thought for a moment and said, ¡°Do you mean diamonds?¡±

    Maneki-Neko paused thoughtfully. ¡°Diamonds? So they¡¯re called diamonds¡­¡±

    ¡°Correct,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°A diamond iid on the ring is called a diamond ring. It can be worn on the finger.¡±

    It raised up its head and said, ¡°No matter if it is a diamond or a diamond ring. I like shining things!¡±

    Its face was implying something.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°I like them too, but I can¡¯t afford to buy them.¡±

    The contempt in Maneki-Neko¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t be any greater. ¡°To buy them? Why should I buy them? All the treasures in the world belong to me. Anything, as long as they be my favorite, they should be obediently lifted up to me with human hands!¡±

 Chapter 39: Is This the Best Era?

    <h4>Chapter 39: Is This the Best Era?</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Zhang Zian helplessly told the smug cat, ¡°As I said, the era now is different from the past. If you want something, you have to buy it or grab it with violence. But being respectable like you, you obviously cannot grab, so the only option left is to buy.¡± He didn¡¯t forget to tter a bit near the end.

    Maneki-Neko was satisfied. ¡°What you said is totally right. A respectable being like me, how could I grab normal beings¡¯ belongings? You should be the one to buy.¡±

    ¡°Cannot grab normal beings¡¯ belongings? Bullshit. Who asked me to grab the diamond ring and let me tumble,¡± Zhang Zian thought.

    ¡°But I don¡¯t have money. I can¡¯t afford it,¡± he repeated.

    ¡°Money? You mean gold?¡± it asked, tilting its head.

    ¡°No. Gold counts, of course, but yuan is the currency in cirction,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    ¡°Yuan?¡± it was thinking. ¡°Those pink papers?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t get it. What the hell was paper? Gosh, his poor English¡­

    He grasped his wallet, took out the only one-hundred-yuan bill inside, and put it on the chair where Maneki-Neko was sitting.

    ¡°This is yuan. It can buy pretty much everything in the world, more or less.¡±

    Maneki-Neko flipped the bill with its w, carefully examining the back of it.

    ¡°The currency in this era looks just like this. Hum¡­ Yuan is a good thing.¡± It looked at the statesman on the bill and asked, ¡°Who is he?¡±

    ¡°The founder and greatest leader of this country,¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    ¡°Well, the tradition hasn¡¯t changed a bit in hundreds of years.¡± It epted it with good understanding.

    After seeing it flip the bill many times, Zhang Zian tried to take the bill back, worrying its sharp w might scratch it.

    Maneki-Neko held the bill with its w, refusing to lose.

    Zhang Zian was worried.

    He grasped it with more strength.

    It held the bill even more firmly, staring at him coldly.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    He reluctantly let the bill go. Otherwise, it might have broken into pieces.

    ¡°This is my money,¡± he stated this fact.

    ¡°All the money and fortune in the world belongs to me,¡± the cat said arrogantly.

    Zhang Zian mimicked its tone. ¡°All the beauties in the world belong to me.¡±

    ¡°You are daydreaming!¡± it responded, just like it was talking to a foreman. ¡°Wake up and go ahead and move your bricks.¡±

    Zhang Zian was annoyed. It was okay to be despised by a human being, but being despised by a cat? How could that be?

    ¡°Don¡¯t you like the bling bling? I had to use money to buy the diamond ring. The diamond ring you sawst time cost me forty bills of that same value. Even the cheapest one cost more than ten bills,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    It tilted its head and thought a bit. ¡°Why don¡¯t you hurry and buy them?¡±

    Zhang Zian emphasized for the third time, ¡°I said I don¡¯t have enough money.¡±

    ¡°How do you get enough money?¡± It looked down at him as he bent down to grasp the money.

    Zhang Zian returned to the pet disy area.

    ¡°I am a pet seller. I have to sell them to earn money.¡±

    ¡°In other words, you are a ve dealer?¡± It became impatient. Cats were impatient animals, after all.

    ¡°No¡­ I am not that high end. I am a pet dealer at most.¡± Zhang Zian felt it tiring to exin. ¡°These cats and dogs will be bought and taken home by those people who love them.¡±

    Maneki-Neko¡¯s ears pricked up, and it became very serious. ¡°Why do people buy them and take them home? Catching some mice? Or patrolling?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Zhang Zian waved his hands. ¡°There are few mice issues in the city. We don¡¯t need them to patrol either. Actually, they do not have to do anything, as long as they enjoy their life. People want them to be theirpanions in order to be free from loneliness. My job is to find the right masters for them and make them happy for life.¡±

    After hearing Zhang Zian¡¯s words, it said to itself, ¡°It seems that this era is not too bad after all¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian replied with a bitter smile, ¡°Yes, you are right. This is the best era for cats and dogs. People bring them home, treat them like masters, y with them, feed them, take care of them, find the best treatments for them if they are sick, feel really heartbroken if they pass away, and still remember them for years toe.¡±

    The cat looked at him out of the corner of its eyes. ¡°Rare and strange! This era sounds pretty good; it could be the best era, as you said!¡±

    It picked up the bill from the ground with its w. ¡°I reward you this money for your dedication to cats.¡±

    ¡°What? It was initially my money!¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have time toin, hurriedly picking up the money and putting it back in his wallet, then holding the wallet tight against his chest, just like an elementary school student that had just been robbed on the street.

    ¡°In other words, if you sell a cat, not only can you earn money, but you can also make the cat¡¯s life better, right?¡± asked Maneki-Neko.

    ¡°Yes, you are right. That¡¯s what call ¡®win-win¡¯ in this world.¡±

    ¡°But if it was that good, as you said, why does no onee to the store and buy pets?¡± it asked, looking around the store.

    Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders and answered helplessly, ¡°There are not too many customers yet because the store is newly opened, small-scale, short on pets, and doesn¡¯t yet have a reputation.¡±

    It threw another question at Zhang Zian. ¡°Why don¡¯t you have more cats?¡±

    ¡°I am the only one working in the store and I don¡¯t have enough hands,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°Helping these cats take a bath already reaches my limit.¡±

    As a matter of fact, cats were not scared of water, but cat hair was not waterproof. They hated the wet feeling, so seven out of ten cats didn¡¯t like taking a bath, which made it a tough task to aplish. Anyone who owned a cat would have the same concern.

    But the good thing was that cats don¡¯t need a bath every day. The calm and well-behaved short-haired cats, like British Shorthairs, only needed a bath once a year. They would lick themselves clean if they found their hair getting dirty. However, it was tough to deal with long-haired cats, especially the active ones. They were not like stuffed animals that could be thrown in the washing machine for cleaning, instead needing to be taken care of carefully and gently.

    Zhang Zian had picked mostly cubs as they ate less, pooped less, and were easier to clean; even if a bath was needed, it would be easy to do. An adult cat that really hated baths needed two humans to help with the bath.

    A lot of pet shops offered pet bathing services to the customers, mostly targeting those adult cats that hated baths. The owners gave up on trying themselves, so it would be easier to just send them to the pet store.

    Although Amazing Fate Pet Shop had a room for pet baths, due to ack of hands, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to start this business. When his parents were around, they had that service, but it was still tough to handle sometimes, so he didn¡¯t think it would be worth trying it now.

    Maneki-Neko heard those words and its two eyes lit up, wondering, ¡°The cats of this era don¡¯t like taking baths?¡± It seemed very serious and curious.

 Chapter 40: Developing New Business

    <h4>Chapter 40: Developing New Business</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    If speaking of giving a cat a bath, Zhang Zian had heard many horror stories.

    When Zhang Zian was still in high school, one night he was doing his homework in his bedroom on the second floor. Suddenly, he heard some terrible screams from downstairs. The screams were as harsh as a ghost¡¯s night cry. It scared him so much that he dropped his pen and almost had diarrhea in his pants!

    At that time, some neighbors who slept earlier had to get up, turn on the lights, open the windows, go out the door, and look around with shlights in hand. Some people were even carrying tennis rackets and crutches in their hands.

    What was happening?

    ¡°Horrifying sounds!¡±

    ¡°I think a night owl was howling.¡±

    ¡°Was there a homicide¡­?¡±

    ¡°Everyone, please be careful. I will call the police!¡± a neighbor said while holding a cell phone.

    The door of the closed shop opened, and Zhang Zian¡¯s father walked out wearing a waterproof apron. He was wearing rubber gloves, and his hair was soaked and tightly clinging to his head. Right away, he apologized to the neighbors, ¡°I¡¯m so sorry! Sorry for disturbing everyone! Please don¡¯t panic. We were just giving a bath to our cat¡­¡±

    Many people certainly did not believe him. ¡°Giving the cat a bath, Mr. Zhang¡­ So that scream was from a cat?¡±

    ¡°It didn¡¯t seem like that. I heard a young woman¡¯s scream¡­¡±

    ¡°Huh? I felt like it was a child¡¯s voice¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s father hadn¡¯t yet had a chance to exin when another tragic wail came from the first floor. Everyone heard it very clearly this time, as the ss door was open, and it made people¡¯s faces change color.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, is that really a cat?¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s father wiped his face, which was drenched in hot water and sweat, and responded, ¡°If that was not a cat, what could it be?¡±

    Most neighbors were decent people, but some were not afraid to make things worse when they saw some excitement. ¡°That is impossible! I think it is certainly a homicide!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go inside and check it out!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s all go together so we will not be scared!¡±

    Some conservative neighbors also tried to follow the crowd and said to Zhang Zian¡¯s father, ¡°Mr. Zhang, let us go and take a look. It will put everyone at ease.¡±

    It seemed that Zhang Zian¡¯s father couldn¡¯t win over the crowd. He had to make a decision. ¡°Well, if you do not believe me, pleasee inside and check for yourselves.¡±

    Everyone followed as his father walked into the store while a young Zhang Zian walked down the stairs from the second floor.

    Following the screams, everyone walked toward the pet¡¯s bathroom. Before his father could remind them not to open the door, someone had quickly done so.

    An adult Dragon Li cat, whose whole body was drenched in water, slipped out the door and rushed into the crowd, frantically waving its ws like Li Yuanba[1] and attacking anyone in its way!

    ¡°Be careful! This cat is crazy!¡±

    ¡°Run fast! You can¡¯t deal with this cat logically!¡±

    In the crowd, there were a few arrogant men that had never backed down before, but this time they were screaming like little girls after being scratched by the cat. The people standing behind them did not know what had happened, but they tried to run as well, following those men. Some people were almost pushed down to the ground and injured, as they were a little bit slower in their actions.

    At that time, Zhang Zian¡¯s mother walked out from the pet¡¯s bathroom soaked, wearing a waterproof apron and rubber gloves and feeling helpless looking at such a chaotic scene.

    As was routine after receiving a call, a police car with shing lights stopped in front of the shop. The police were shocked to see a big crowd running out of the shop like crazy and sensed there might be some big crimes happening, so they picked up their phones. ¡°Here is 034! Please send more help to Zhonghua Road South Exit! Please send more police to Zhonghua Road South Exit!¡±

    Eventually, seven police cars came one after another and the pet shop was surrounded. Finally, the Dragon Li cat was caught.

    The police gave some warnings to those who had made the police calls. Zhang Zian¡¯s parents apologized to everyone and agreed to pay the medical expenses for those who were injured and the costs for those whose clothes were torn.

    This incident was posted on the local news that day.

    At that time, because of people¡¯s genuine characters and his parents¡¯ poprity, they didn¡¯t pay too much attention to this incident, but it was not a pleasant event. Young Zhang Zian was very angry, as he thought it should be those people¡¯s faults for getting injured or scratched, since they had insisted oning into the store and opening the door.

    That was the first time his parents had tried to provide bathing services for the pets, but it was also thest time. From that point on, they only gave baths to pets sold from their stores, not pets from other stores.

    It sounded a little bit exaggerated, but it did in fact take a lot of effort and energy to give a cat a bath.

    Zhang Zian finished telling the story, not knowing whether the Maneki-Neko, Fina, understood it or not. Its beard moved, and it seemed to beughing a little.

    The Maneki-Neko jumped from the chair, getting closer to those pet cats, and made a few meow sounds in front of them.

    The British Shorthair, American Shorthair, Persian cat, and Siamese cat seemed to understand its order, circling a few rounds in ce in the disy cases.

    Zhang Zian had just wiped the Persian cat¡¯s body, while the other cats looked dirtier and smellier and seemed like they had just left the breeding grounds.

    ¡°I see.¡± Fina sighed softly. ¡°It was my fault for not disciplining the cats enough for thousands of years, which made the humansugh at us.¡±

    Zhang Ziyan kept silent, but he couldn¡¯t believe what the cat was saying.

    ¡°As you said, giving our cats baths can not only keep our dignity, but can also help you make money, right?¡± it asked.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Earned money can be used to buy shining stones?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Well, please go out of the pce and post that you are going to provide this service.¡±

    ¡°You are joking, right?¡±

    Fina stood tall and proudly said, ¡°I am not joking!¡±

    ¡°What does ¡®out of the pce¡¯ mean? In addition, where is this pce?¡± Zhang Zian only knew ¡°into the pce¡±¡­ ¡°Does it want me to change to a servant¡¯s name?¡±

    ¡°Wherever I stay, there is a pce.¡± It mncholy nced around the pet shop. ¡°Although this pce is a little bit out of date.¡±

    ¡°It should be good enough that you have a ce to stay. You are still picky about it!¡± Zhang Zian tried hard not toin, in order to avoid lowering his favorability.

    ¡°In addition, these cats do not need to be locked in these ss prisons. Since I am here, they dare not go out of control.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought for a while. It seemed to be asking him to let all the cats out of the disy cages.

    He looked at the open door, worrying about whether or not they would escape. That would leave him empty handed.

    ¡°What? How dare you doubt me?¡± Its voice became colder.

    ¡°No, no, I dare not¡­ I was thinking about when to put up a sign offering pet bathing services¡­¡± He took a deep breath. It seemed that it was easy to lose his favorability.

    He took the cubs out of the disy cases and ced them on the ground.

    [1] Li Yuanba, one of 18 legendary fictional heroes living in Sui Dynasty and early Tang Dynasty.

 Chapter 41: A Pair of Good Friends

    <h4>Chapter 41: A Pair of Good Friends</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were college students at Binhai University, and they were currently in their junior year. Their parents were also very familiar with each other, and they were almost betrothed when they were still in the womb. Even their names had already been chosen as ¡°Qian¡± and ¡°Kun.¡± Their parents only gave up on the thought of them getting married after they got ultrasounds at the hospital. The two grew up together. They went to elementary school, middle school, and high school together, and afterwards, they both got into Binhai University. They studied the same major and were assigned to the same dormitory. It could be said that they had been good friends forever.

    College. Everyone who had been to it knew that, after getting through freshman and sophomore year, it became more rxed in junior year, when professional sses began. The two were studying liberal arts and did not need to do any experiments, so they were even more rxed. When they had nothing to do, they would chat online or socialize with other students in their dormitory. The two were called the Bumping King and Bumping Sage of the Wang Haige forum. They started to chat online in high school and continued all the way until college. Wang Qian had been registered for five years and made 76,000 posts. His good friend Li Kun had also been registered for five years, and the registration dates were the same. He had made 81,000 posts.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun¡¯s main battlefield was the chat zone. Basically, they could leave their footprints in every post. From thetest election to Sri Lanka¡¯s travel trap, no matter if they understood or not, or whether or not they¡¯d been, they would always find the right angle to cut into it to mingle. If no one paid them any attention, then they¡¯d let it pass by, but once someone used their post to express an objection, they would reply to that person with one post after another and defeat that person.

    Student dormitories definitely did not allow pets, because the dormitory control aunt would enter into a violent invincible AOE mode. Wang Qian and Li Kun also did not have pets, but both of their families had raised a Nu Luctus Felis and a Pekingese dog at home. As such, they would sometimes look around the pet area of Wang Haige¡ªor actually, it should be said that there were no areas in the forum that they did not visit.

    The two were well aware of everything that happened on the forum¡ªall the affairs and gossip. The brawl on the inte that was caused by the person with the ID of ¡°Qi Qi¡± continued to heat up, and Wang Qian and Li Kun also joined in. This was not the proper way to say it¡ªit should be said that they were agitated.

    But their attitude in the beginning was on the Stars¡¯ side, because there was no solid evidence for the question that ¡°Qi Qi¡± had originally called out. ¡°Qi Qi¡± mentioned that those few ID¡¯s registration times were very close, and would always appear in the same type of posts, and thus it was an inte water army. This made Wang Qian and Li Kun refuse toply. ¡°Based on what? Our ID¡¯s registration times are the same, and our post replying habits are also the same, so we are an inte water army?¡± There had to be a battle to the death!

    The two were very famous on the forum. Although they only knew how to brag, they each had several hundred followers. The two led the opposition, and their followers also posted one after another. It could be said that before the Stars inte water army appeared in the post, it was the two of them vigorously turning the tide in the brawl with ¡°Qi Qi.¡± They believed that ¡°Qi Qi¡± was the Amazing Fate Pet Shop¡¯s water army. However, by Saturday evening, the circumstances reversed, and an intriguing plot appeared. ¡°Qi Qi¡± took out critical evidence and publicized the IP addresses and real addresses that corresponded with the few water army IDs.

    The two became silent, as did their followers, and a number of followers stopped following them. The two were self-proimed envoys of justice. If they continued to support Stars, wouldn¡¯t they be essories to a tyrant¡¯s crimes? They closed the web page and collectively opened League of Legends and yed a game, but they couldn¡¯t stop worrying.

    Wang Qian gave a nce and Li Kun acknowledged it. The two left from the front and back and went into the corridor to smoke. Wang Qian lit his cigarette and helped Li Kun light his as well. Li Kun inhaled a deep breath, held it in his lungs for thirty seconds, and expelled a long white smoke. Li Kun happily eximed, ¡°F*ck! Arrow-like expiration! Did I seed in cultivating immorality?¡±

    Wang Qian coughed from choking. ¡°Bullsh*t! You f*cking read too many cultivating immortality novels!¡± Of course, Li Kun did not cultivate immortality. He had only wanted to enliven the atmosphere. Now that his goal was achieved, he would stop being purposely foolish.

    ¡°What about it?¡± he asked. Being good friends among good friends, there was no need to say all the words. Li Kun even thought that, in a few years, there would be no need to talk between the two of them. ¡°Let¡¯s go take a look tomorrow,¡± Wang Qian said dryly.

    ¡°Okay, tomorrow is Sunday, and it just so happens there¡¯s no ss tomorrow,¡± Li Kun replied.

    ¡°You say it as if you¡¯d go to ss if there was¡­¡±

    Such short andfortable conversations like this had gone on for many years between the two, and they would continue¡­

    The next morning, they went to eat ¡°breakfast¡± at the cafeteria with the first wave of customers, then left the campus and headed straight to the address of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop. The ID ¡°Qi Qi¡± had boasted that the pets at that shop were particrly good, that they were good and obedient. The two scoffed at this type of diction. You really think people have never raised pets? How much of a difference could there be between pets of the same type? Could it be out of this world? Obedience was nonsense. It was true that dogs could be obedient after being trained, but cats were always entrically independent; the sky was the boss, and the cat was second inmand. Cats didn¡¯t listen to anyone; it would be preposterous if a cat obeyed.

    The two were not willing to admit defeat, so they intended to find another approach. ¡°It was true that those IDs were the Stars¡¯ water army, so if us two can prove that ¡°Qi Qi¡± was the Amazing Fate Pet Shop¡¯s water army, could it possibly be a tie and save face?¡± It was indeed witty! How could they not let everyone know about such a witty action? When they walked near the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, Wang Qian made a post on the forum from his phone, ¡°Live Post: The risk of death to reveal the truth about the Amazing Fate Pet Shop!¡± And it was posted into their base zone¡ªthe chat zone!

    ¡°Why did the nine year old cat die on the street?¡±

    ¡°Why did hundreds of female donkeys scream in the middle of the night?¡±

    ¡°Why did the pet store¡¯s dog food frequently suffer in the hands of bad people?¡±

    ¡°Why did the fish tank¡¯s heater get stolen?¡±

    ¡°Just who is the person behind the QJ female pig case?¡±

    ¡°The old parrot¡¯s cage was struck every night, was it a person or a ghost?¡±

    ¡°What was hidden behind the death of the hundreds of female dogs? Was it the distortion of human nature or moral decay behind all of this? Or was it the outbreak of sex, or the helplessness of hunger and thirst?¡±

    ¡°Wee to the legendary Amazing Fate Pet Shop!¡±

    Such a gimmicky title and content immediately ignited the chat zone!

    Of course, if they had not yed League of Legendsst night and had immediately rushed here before Fina showed up, they probably would have seeded. In the words of a friend from a foreign country, the two were in the wrong ce at the wrong time.

 Chapter 42: The Advanced Animal-Taming Skills

    <h4>Chapter 42: The Advanced Animal-Taming Skills</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Wang Qian was responsible for posting, while Li Kun was responsible for following the post and hyping up the atmosphere, but the atmosphere was lively even without them having to hype it up.

    There were some spectators in the chat zone that did not know the truth. They posted and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the situation? I didn¡¯te to the forum for two days and I¡¯m out of the loop? What¡¯s up with this Amazing Fate Pet Shop?¡±

    Enthusiastic spectators replied, ¡°Go scroll through the top page of the pet area and you will know.¡±

    These days, various posts and a variety ofments upied the pet area. Not only were there ones that were opposing Stars Pet Chain Supermarket, but there were also ones that spontaneously shared their experiences of having been tricked and lied to. Even more peoplemented how the country would no longer be a country, wondering, ¡°Where could they buy a high-quality pet in the future?¡±

    In the midst of the mor, there were also people who mentioned the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, saying that this shop had almost no stains at all. On the other hand, there were also people who rebutted, saying how it seemed the shop manager had changed, that normally when passing by Zhonghua Road, they only saw a young person going in and out and not the middle-aged couple they had seen before.

    ¡°Maybe the store was transferred, but the old name was kept. Therefore, even if the shop had no stains before, that does not mean that it¡¯s still pure now.¡±

    Right at this time, the pet area moderator who was always MIA put in a mirror post and highlighted it. It was the post that Wang Qian had posted in the chat zone.

    Thus, the spectators of the chat zone and the pet area all surged to Wang Qian¡¯s post at once. There were hundreds ofments in the blink of an eye!

    Having fooled around with the forum for so many years, it was Wang Qian¡¯s first time seeing a post of his be so popr. He couldn¡¯t help but rub his palms together. ¡°Ready to make big news!¡±

    ¡°Come,e, take a photo with me first,¡± Wang Qian said gleefully.

    ¡°F*ck! Should we reveal our faces?¡± Li Kun asked.

    ¡°Nonsense! What if it bes big?¡± Wang Qian replied.

    Wang Qian stood on the sidewalk. Li Kun took a few steps backward with his phone in his hand and took a picture of Wang Qian with the Amazing Fate Pet Shop in the background.

    Wang Qian posted the picture with the caption ¡°We have already arrived at the entrance of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop. There are no parked cars at the door; it seems there are currently no customers.¡±

    People on the bottom replied in session, ¡°F*ck! This is the real face of the Bumping King Wang Haige?¡±

    ¡°His face is too big, it covered up everything. I can¡¯t see anything!¡±

    ¡°Do a live broadcast. A written broadcast isn¡¯t satisfying!¡±

    ¡°This shop is very average¡­¡±

    Wang Qian promptly typed, ¡°Sorry everyone, we normally only watch live broadcasts instead of being anchormen. We aren¡¯t professionals and can¡¯t even talk sessfully in front of the camera. Everyone, please work hard and read the texts.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t that easy to be an anchorman, or it would be easy to make money. It required talent and strength as well as some luck. How to create a topic, how to entertain the audience, how to speak eloquently yet not annoy the audience, and how to cleverly deal with things when the audience was being difficult¡ªthese were major attributes.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun had no singing or dancing talents, nor did they have a talent for being funny. They loved to y games, but they sucked and were always beaten badly. They talked eloquently when they were texting and chatting on the forum, but when they faced girls or teachers in real life, they became nervous and would stammer. They would definitely make fools of themselves if they were to be anchormen.

    The outside of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop was indeed very average. A typical street shop had two residential floors. A blue sign hung on the first floor, the ss on the French window was brightly polished, the entrance was swept clean, and tulle curtains hung on the window of the second floor.

    Wang Qian typed, ¡°Okay, we are about to go in. Gentlemen of the forum, if we still haven¡¯te out after thirty minutes, remember to call the police.¡±

    ¡°Rest assured, we will call the crematorium. Go at ease.¡±

    ¡°Leave your bank card number and password first!¡±

    ¡°I will take care of your wife and children!¡±

    ¡°F*CK!¡± Wang Qian gave the middle finger to thestmenter¡¯s ID. Then he gave Li Kun a meaningful nce, and the two entered the pet shop, one behind the other.

    Growing up together, Wang Qian and Li Kun¡¯s mode of action had long since be fixed. Usually, Wang Qian decided the general direction to take and took the lead, while Li Kun followed closely behind as a shield and gave suggestions.

    This time was not an exception either. Wang Qian entered the pet shop first, and Li Kun followed behind. Unexpectedly, Wang Qian suddenly stopped after taking a few steps into the shop. Li Kun had his head down, postingments, and he wasn¡¯t paying attention, so he ran into Wang Qian all of a sudden.

    ¡°F*ck! Howe you stopped walking all of a sudden? What happened tomunicating with our eyes?¡± Li Kun wasining from behind and had almost dropped his phone because of the crash. His phone was bought recently with the sry he had earned for a whole summer, and he loved it dearly.

    Wang Qian acted as if he had seen something really horrifying. He didn¡¯t turn around, only quaveringly saying, ¡°Brother, pinch¡­ pinch me¡­¡±

    Usually, Li Kun yed the role of a fool during critical moments¡ªhad Wang Qian taken the wrong medicine[1] and was now taking his business?

    He did not pinch Wang Qian but went around his side, wanting to know what Wang Qian had seen to make him this scared.

    He also became dumbfounded after only taking one nce.

    There was a deck chair ced in the shop. A person who looked like a shop manager sat on the deck chair. There was a four-legged folding chair next to the young person, and a golden cat sat on it.

    Judging from the cat¡¯s figure, it seemed to have just be an adult.

    Its aquamarine eyes, like water in autumn, were squinting and had a refreshing demeanor.

    There was also a ck and white cat on the other side of the shop manager. From the look of its figure, it seemed to be between the phase of an adult and a kitten. It was curious at this time, and stared at the two people who had just walked into the shop with fear and vignce.

    What had astonished Wang Qian and Li Kun the most was that a few kittens that were four or five months old were lined up neatly, sitting on the ground, posed in the same way, and facing the golden cat as if they were guards of honor receiving inspection. Not only that, when the young shop manager raised his left hand, the kittens also raised their left paw; when the shop manager raised his right hand, the kittens also raised their right hand; when the shop manager scratched his head, the kittens also followed, scratching their heads with their paws.

    ¡°Oh sh*t!¡± Li Kun pped Wang Qian¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Advanced animal-taming skills! This brother has seeded in cultivating immortality!¡±

    Both of their families raised cats and dogs at home. When they were younger, after having watched some movies about pets, they decided on a whim to train their Nu Luctus Felis and Pekingese cats to be as obedient as the pets seen in movies. In the end, of course, they failed.

    Pekingese cats were a bit better. Although training them wasn¡¯t simple, minimal results could be seen through repeated daily training. Nu Luctus Felis were more frustrating. They woulde over when it was feeding time and would escape right after eating. If you forcefully made them stay, they would use their ws when they got annoyed. After a few days of failure, Wang Qian and Li Kun felt that they could not blindly train them like this, so they went online to search for information.

    Only after reading the information had they understood that training cats was very particr and that not all cats could be trained. It was the same reason not any dog could be a police dog. Why were all police dogs German Shepherds? That was because those types of dogs were highly qualified.

    Simrly, only cats that had gentle characters could have the possibility of being trained, such as the Persian, Maine, Brazilian Shorthair, Hibiscus Bobcat, Russian Blue cat, and the Mumbai cat. They also had to be trained starting from a young age, and they had to be trained one-on-one. Even so, the proportion of hard work to reward was not equal¡ªarduous but fruitless.

    With the same amount of time spent, it would be better to train dogs, unless you were running a circus.

    Seeing the interaction between the kittens and the shop manager, Wang Qian and Li Kun felt that the previously-investigated information was all nonsense!

    Those kittens were the famous Siamese cats, known for their energy and liveliness, and they were being trained one-on-many.

    The most important thing was that the actions of these cats were not the regr and simpley down, crouch, or y dead. Their actions of raising their paw, turning in circles, or scratching their heads were uniform. They wereparable to line puppets!

    These kittens were only four to five months old, counting from the time they stopped being nursed. How long could they have been trained for? It was aplete subversion ofmon sense!

    Wang Qian and Li Kun came to a conclusion. Either the shop manager was a reclusive, skilled person with advanced animal-taming skills, or the cats of the shop had all became mythical creatures¡­

    However, the shop manager with the young appearance did not seem to be a person who cultivated immortality. His dress was very average and did not have any sage-like air.

    Li Kun poked Wang Qian with his elbow. ¡°Didn¡¯t they say pets were not allowed to be mythical creatures after the founding of the nation?¡±

    ¡°Maybe they became mythical creatures before the founding of the nation?¡± Wang Qian replied thoughtfully.

    At the same time the two were shocked into a mess, the spectators on the forum were crying with hunger and were about to fly the coop.

    ¡°Where did they go? Howe there are no follow-up reports?¡±

    ¡°F*ck! Bumping King and Bumping Sage went and did not return. What should we do?¡±

    ¡°The two big vitality leaders and water element leaders of the forum, I can¡¯t sleep without a day of seeing them chat!¡±

    ¡°Abovementer, this is an illness, you need a cure!¡±

    ¡°Maybe they found a g party and are conducting gay acts. Don¡¯t be anxious! Wait patiently!¡±

    ¡°I am new here. I heard that they broadcast gays acts here?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Talking about shock, perhaps no one was more shocked than the witness of the event. After he had taken the kittens out of the disy cabs, he went around to the side near the door to prevent them from escaping, but unexpectedly, they all obediently stayed in ce and were motionless.

    Fina gave a cry, and all the kittens lined up in a pencil-straight line. They were even arranged in order of size!

    It meowed a few times, and this time the kittens did not move.

    ¡°Okay. I have already given the order. They will now imitate your actions until I tell them to stop. If you have any suspicions, you can test it,¡± Fina said to Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian tested it. He raised his left hand, and the kittens raised their left paws. He raised his right hand, and the kittens did the same¡­

    What the hell! It really was heretical!

    Just when Zhang Zian was amazed by the asion, Wang Qian and Li Kun came into the shop and happened to witness the scene.

    Seeing the customers, Zhang Zian stood up and asked, ¡°What do the two of you want to order? Or are you guys just looking?¡±

    He normally would not take the initiative to greet customers, instead letting the customers first look around the shop by themselves. He would then go up to them if the customers had questions, but these two customers were really strange. How to say it¡­ They did not seem like customers. Their four eyes were staring straight at Zhang Zian with a look like they were about to strip him naked, and they would stare at him until his heart grew hair¡­

    Zhang Zian thought, ¡°Did theye to look for trouble? Or did I not give them back the money I borrowed from them in the past? No, I don¡¯t even know them.¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun connected and exchanged nces. ¡°Let¡¯s rush forward together and bow our heads in salute to Zhang Zian!¡±

    ¡°Master above! Disciple Wang Qian¡ª¡±

    ¡°Disciple Li Kun¡ª¡±

    ¡°Begs master to take us in!¡±

    ¡°Coach¡ªNo, Master, we also want to learn your advanced animal-taming skills!¡± Li Kun eximed.

    Wang Qian pped Li Kun on the back of his head. ¡°Shut up! Don¡¯t blindly say the truth!¡±

    Are these two people crazy?

    What the heck are advanced animal-taming skills?

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help but retreat two steps back, and he only replied after being dumbfounded for a while. ¡°That¡­ Which mental hospital did you two escape from? Do you want me to call a taxi to send you guys back?¡±

    After some thought, he made another tough decision. ¡°I¡¯ll pay the fare.¡±

    Footnotes:

    [1] The phrase ¡°to take the wrong medicine,¡± meant to get out of the wrong side of the bed¡±.

 Chapter 43: The Big Door of a New World

    <h4>Chapter 43: The Big Door of a New World</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Zhang Zian hoped to get rid of these two strange people as soon as possible. Wang Qian raised his head andughed, ¡°Master, we saw it all.¡±

    Li Kun also raised his head. ¡°That¡¯s right, Master, don¡¯t think about lying to us.¡±

    Zhang Zian was even more puzzled; these two people did not seem to be crazy. ¡°Could it be that they are the paranoid type? It is said that this type of patient is no different from normal people when they were normal, but once they fall ill, they do not recognize or care about anyone¡­¡±

    ¡°What did I lie about to you guys? Did I deceive your money or your moral integrity?¡± He pretended to be polite andpliant while he turned his gaze toward the door, expecting someone toe in at this exact moment, see there was something wrong with the situation, and help him call the police.

    ¡°Master, of course you didn¡¯t deceive our money. We don¡¯t have money to be deceived,¡± Wang Qian said.

    ¡°What moral integrity, it was thrown away long ago,¡± Li Kun also said.

    Zhang Zian shook his head and tried his best to persuade them gently. ¡°If you two want to buy pets, you can look around. If not, then I¡¯m afraid this small shop does not have what you two want. Please go somewhere else.¡± He did not dare to scold these two people, as he did not want to not provoke them. It was not against thew for a mentally ill patient to kill people!

    ¡°Master! Please don¡¯t give up on treating us!¡± Wang Qian eximed.

    ¡°You guys should go back to the mental hospital for treatment!¡± Zhang Zianined internally.

    Wang Qian wanted to say more, but Li Kun rolled his eyes, pulled Wang Qian, and said loudly, ¡°Disciple understands, master must be testing this disciple¡¯s sincerity.¡±

    Wang Qian suddenly realized, ¡°How could a reclusive superior take in disciples so easily¡ªthen the disciples would be too worthless. They must pass a heavy test!¡± Thus, he said no more, and Li Kun, who had read numerous novels about cultivating immortality, was made to make the decisions.

    Li Kun stood up, pulled Wang Qian up, and said to Zhang Zian submissively, ¡°Master, please rest assured. Us two brothers¡¯ sincerity is as bright as the moon! We wille by daily in the future. Complete sincerity can affect even metal and stone; absolute sincerity will move a heart of stone. We will definitely move master¡¯s heart with our sincerity, and you will definitely open your gates to us!¡±

    ¡°Be sure not to! How will I do business then?¡± Zhang Zianined bitterly. These two came fast and left even faster. They had turned and left the shop right after they finished talking.

    Fina¡¯s drawn out words drifted from behind. ¡°Since the two aremitted to being ves, you might as well take them in. The more people to serve I, the better.¡±

    Gxy happily said, ¡°Meow! Gxy likes lively! Let¡¯s all y hide and seek together!¡±

    Zhang Zian held his head in his hands, ¡°There was no way to live each day!¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun both left the pet shop and were once more bathed in the warm sunlight. They watched the lively streets and recalled the magical scene they saw in the pet shop. They heaved a deep sigh, as if they had be new men.

    ¡°Brother.¡± Wang Qian was moved to tears, and with hot tears in his eyes, he held Li Kun¡¯s hand. ¡°The big door to a new world has opened.¡±

    ¡°I said novels about cultivating immortality were true, but you never believed me¡­¡± Li Kun wiped away his own burst of tears.

    Wang Qian lowered his head in shame. ¡°Brother, I was wrong, I apologize to you!¡±

    Li Kun held Wang Qian¡¯s hand. ¡°We¡¯re brothers of one family, why apologize!¡±

    ¡°Brother!¡± Wang Qian eximed.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Li Kun replied.

    ¡°The way the people on the street are looking at us is a little strange¡­¡± Wang Qian remarked.

    ¡°What¡¯s there to be afraid of? We are about to be the main characters of a novel about cultivating immortality! Anyone who dares to re at us, we will kill their whole family once we have seeded in our cultivation!¡± Li Kun eximed.

    ¡°Brother, your evil-foreboding air is too strong. It must be controlled, or you will go to the dark side instead of cultivating immortality¡­¡± Wang Qian responded.

    ¡°I actually don¡¯t want to either, but all the main characters in novels about cultivating immortality are straightforward and simple when ites to killing¡­¡± Li Kun said.

    Wang Qian waved his hand. ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about this first. How old do you think our master is?¡±

    Li Kun pondered for a moment. ¡°Although he appears to look not over thirty, the practice of cultivating immortality is sessful in making oneself look youthful. I¡¯m guessing that the master ought to be more than a hundred years old.¡±

    Wang Qian drew in a breath of cold air. ¡°Then that would be¡­¡±

    Li Kun nodded. ¡°It can make the advanced animal-taming skills supreme, and master¡¯s level has already reached the Sage level[1] at least, maybe even half a step into the Demigod level[2]¡­¡±

    Wang Qian was shocked. He knew that his brother¡¯s study of the cultivation of immortality was very deep. Since his brother had said it was so, then it was so.

    ¡°Us two brothers actually met a reclusive superior half a step into the Jin Dan level,¡± hemented.

    Li Kun disregarded the type of look one gives a fool the pedestrians were giving them andughed out loud. ¡°Hahaha! That¡¯s right! This is the treatment of the main characters in the novels! As long as master opens his gates to us, then us two brothers can take on the world in the future, and no one can stop us! If God gets in the way, then we will kill God. If Buddha gets in the way, then we will kill Buddha!¡±

    Wang Qian suddenly became keen. ¡°Should we change our form of address?¡±

    ¡°Then I will call you Master Fellow Apprentice in the future!¡± Li Kun agreed.

    ¡°You will be my Junior Fellow Apprentice in the future!¡± Wang Qianughed.

    ¡°Master Fellow Apprentice!¡±

    ¡°Junior Fellow Apprentice!¡±

    Just when the two brothers were being sentimental, Wang Qian¡¯s phone rang, as if it couldn¡¯t read the atmosphere. Wang Qian took his sweaty hand from Li Kun¡¯s palm and looked at his phone. The caller was one of their ssmates. Although this ssmate was not studying the same major as them, this ssmate also muddled with the Wang Haige forum. As such, they had gotten to know each other.

    Wang Qian picked up the phone. ¡°Hey! Lai Zi, anything the matter? Big brother has good news to tell you, but you have to treat big brother to a meal¡­¡±

    ¡°You still f*cking ask if anything¡¯s the matter? Eat your big head!¡± Lai Zi cursed loudly, ¡°You f*cking posted such a lowly live post? People know that I know you, and they all came to ask me whether or not you went to jail. My f*cking forum message box is almost going to explode!¡±

    ¡°F*ck!¡± Wang Qian had only just remembered that live post and couldn¡¯t help but break out in sweat.

    He didn¡¯t have time to say anything else and hurriedly said, ¡°I know! I¡¯m hanging up, I¡¯ll go renew it immediately!¡± He hung up after he finished.

    He switched to the Wang Haige forum to take a look. Good God, the live post¡¯s amount of replies had already surpassed two hundred pages and four thousand floors[3]. The refresh page became slow and spotty; the BBS server almost couldn¡¯t maintain it anymore!

    He typed the fastest he had ever typed before, ¡°Bumping King here, brothers, don¡¯t panic!¡±

    Li Kun also cooperatively typed, ¡°Bumping Sage returns, everyone keep calm!¡±

    A female ID replied first, ¡°Ahhh, I calcted, you guys disappeared for seventeen minutes and forty-two seconds. Your endurance ability is above the average level! Heehee!¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun¡¯s heads started to sweat as they read the reply. Even though they clenched their buttholes at the same time, it felt as if the exmation point pierced their buttholes¡­

    ¡°F*ck! Where did you guys go die? We almost called the police!¡±

    ¡°Yea, we seriously debated whether to call 110 or 911.¡±

    Seeing the two leaders of the water element about to be drowned by the tempestuous flood, Wang Qian could only save his nonsense and go straight to the main point.

    ¡°I dere the results of this investigation!¡±

    ¡°We admit our mistakes!¡±

    ¡°We saw with our own eyes, the pets of Amazing Fate Pet Shop¡­ are indeed good and obedient!¡±

    Footnotes:

    [1] The name for a very advanced level of skill.

    [2] The name for an even higher level of skill.

    [3] People in China like to refer to each individualment on social media as ¡°floors¡±, or ¡°stories¡±.

 Chapter 44: Momentary Crisis

    <h4>Chapter 44: Momentary Crisis</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    From Wang Qian and Li Kun¡¯s perspective, their master had ancient wisdom. That conclusion was a matter of course, but the spectators on the forum saw it as clear as a thunderbolt on a sunny day!

    The Bumping King and Bumping Sage had been unrestrained on the forum for more than five years. They¡¯d had about one-thousand or eight-hundred small and big online fights, and to whom did they submit?

    They disregarded whether they were being reasonable or not, and if they being were unreasonable, they still had to impose some argument points. This pair of live treasures, they finally admitted defeat!

    ¡°F*ck! Are you guys saying the opposite?¡±

    ¡°The brain of a spermatozoid also has a limit, you two!¡±

    ¡°Who can contact the forum administrator? The Bumping King and Bumping Sage¡¯s ounts have been hacked!¡±

    A post with red words unexpectedly appeared at the top of the most recentments.

    The admin of thementer had written, ¡°The Bumping King and Bumping Sage are both logged in on their usual equipment. There is no possibility of them being hacked.¡±

    The spectators went into an uproar.

    ¡°My eyes! My eyes! The administrator, who has never spoken before, actuallymented!¡±

    ¡°Huge worship to the administrator!¡±

    ¡°Two miracles appeared on the forum at the same time: Bumping King and Bumping Sage admitted defeat, and the administrator spoke!¡±

    ¡°Fabulous! There¡¯s no loss in this wave!¡±

    ¡°Could it be that badger apes were pets of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop as well?¡±

    ¡°Abovementer, you are seeking death! Don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t warn you¡­¡±

    ¡°Above and belowmenters, see y¡¯all in the novice area of the forum!¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun felt absurd when they read these and promptly rified, ¡°We are not being hacked. This conclusion was through our careful investigations. We will use our reputations to make a guarantee! If we speak any false words, then these two forum IDs will be closed off forever! May the administrator be a witness!¡±

    Wang Haige forum was previously open registration, but in thest two years, with the nation¡¯s increased reinforcement on inte rumors, it had already been changed to code registration. This meant that if you wanted to register for the forum, you had to obtain a code from an older user. All the registered users of the forum valued their ount number very much; now the Bumping King and Bumping Sage dared to use their old forum ID of five years, under the witness of the administrator, to wager a vow. The spectators finally calmed down temporarily and started to take their remark seriously.

    ¡°May I ask Bumping King and Bumping Sage, that ID ¡°Qi Qi¡± said that the Amazing Fate Pet Shop¡¯s pets were very obedient, and you guys were very cynical at first, but now you guys have changed and said that they are obedient. Then to what extent are they obedient?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Bumping King and Bumping Sage, please tell us. We are very curious!¡±

    Wang Qian replied, ¡°Haha, so many four or five month old kittens sit in a row to eat fruits. To what extent of obedience do you say that is?¡±

    ¡°Nonsense! Do you guys have dim eyesight? Are you sure it was kittens and not puppies?¡±

    ¡°We still know the difference between cats and dogs,¡± Li Kun replied.

    ¡°F*ck! I really don¡¯t motherf*cking believe it! Do you guys have anymon sense? It¡¯s not possible for cats to be obedient to that extent!¡±

    ¡°We also thought that way before we went into the shop,¡± Wang Qian replied.

    ¡°As a result, my face was pped until it was swollen. It still hurts even now,¡± Li Kun replied.

    ¡°Did you guys take a picture? Give an excerpt of a video too! How else could we believe?¡±

    Wang Qian replied, ¡°We were too shocked at that moment and were dumbfounded. We didn¡¯t have the time to take footage.¡±

    Li Kun also replied, ¡°Seeing is believing. If you don¡¯t believe it, go take a look yourself. All who mess around on this forum are from Binghai City anyways. It¡¯s only a few steps.¡±

    ¡°Alright, we will believe Bumping King and Bumping Sage this once! It¡¯s toote today, and I don¡¯t have time. I will go see for myself another day!¡±

    ¡°I will go too!¡±

    ¡°Count me as one!¡±

    ¡°How about we go as a group? I¡¯m a little frightened to go by myself¡­¡±

    ¡°Frightened rubbish! Just do it if you¡¯re not satisfied!¡±

    ¡°Organizing the group! Private message me to enter the group! And say when you will have time at the same time!¡±

    ¡°One group is full! Opening a second group!¡±

    ¡­

    As a young¡¯un in a new generation with ideals and dreams, Zhao Qi could not possibly stay at home on Sunday, so she went out with Shi Shi early in the morning to shop and look at clothes and makeup, and half a day went by without her noticing. Zhao Qi only window shopped today and did not buy anything, because after buying Lan Lan, she was short of money for the month, and there would be a huge pile of credit-card bills for next month.

    She came back home at noon to cuddle and y with Lan Lan for a while, then took a beauty nap. She did skincare after the nap and brushed Lan Lan. Only afterward did she open herputer to go on the forum.

    When she logged in to Wang Haige, the ¡°ding¡± sound of forum messages did not stop. She frowned and opened the message box, thinking that it was Stars¡¯s water army sending private messages to insult her, but she had already blocked the water army¡¯s ID, so she should not be receiving any messages from them.

    The first and second private messages were from the Bumping King and Bumping Sage of the forum. Zhao Qi did not go to the chat zone often, but the big names of the Bumping King and Bumping Sage resounded like thunder, and she had even made things unpleasant with them with the event of Stars¡¯s water army.

    The Bumping King and Bumping Sage were awful, but their morality was pretty good, and she had never heard them curse anyone with dirty words, so she opened the content of the private message at ease.

    Seeing the content of the private message, she was shocked. The Bumping King and Bumping Sage were sincerely apologizing, saying that they had eyes but failed to see Taishan Mountain[1] and looked down at people with their lowly eyes.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t have to be so harsh on yourself even if apologizing¡­¡± she muttered in her heart.

    Private messages had a word limit, so it could not be too long. At the end of the private message, Bumping King and Bumping Sage carefully asked what rtionship Zhao Qi had with the pet shop owner, and they also mentioned that it would affect the form of address in the future. Zhao Qi did not understand what the issue with the form of address meant. Thus, she truthfully replied that it was just a rtionship between a customer and a shop owner. It was just that she had a very satisfying shopping experience, so she helped the shop manager propagate a few words. As a result, she was ndered as a water army and thus started this crisis.

    The other few private messages included some requests for dating and even for one-night stands. After taking one nce at them, she blocked them.

    Thest message was a system private message informing her that her post had been locked.

    Zhao Qi grew angry again. ¡°Why lock my post? Could it be that this moderator of the forum was actually bribed?¡±

    She clicked into the pet area and found that the pet area had a new sticky post: ¡°Regarding the conclusion of the recent crisis in the pet area.¡± The poster¡¯s ID was Silent Hunter.

    Silent Hunter was the super moderator of the casual living entertainment area. He was known to be ruthless, with the personal statement of: ¡°Rather kill a thousand than to let one mistakenly go.¡±

    She clicked the post and read the content.

    The main idea of the post was:

    ¡°To reiterate again, the pet area prohibits the stores and water armies that the stores employ from entering. Please post tradings and promotions in the trade area. The results of this event are as follows:

    One: ID: xxx, xxxx, xxxxx, xxx, xx, and all the small ounts under the same IP are permanently disabled.

    Two: Post ¡®Revealed who was the water army of the pet area¡¯ locked due to alleged exposure of privacy.

    Three: I have personally confirmed the investigation that the person under the ID of ¡°Qi Qi¡± was verified, and this person was not the hired water army of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

    Four: There were some moderators who neglected management of the pet area and are under suspicion of dereliction of duty. Everyone please apply enthusiastically in the recent new recruitment of moderators for different areas.

    Five: If there are any objections to processing, please go postints to theint area.¡±

    Zhao Qi read it once carefully, and her anger gradually disappeared. ¡°This recruitment for moderators was pretty fair. Even the moderators of separate areas were about to be dismissed. But when did he go to investigate and confirm?¡±

    Footnotes:

    [1] A Chinese phrase that describes someone who failed to recognize a great person.

 Chapter 45: A Hard-to-Please Cat

    <h4>Chapter 45: A Hard-to-Please Cat</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Morning.

    Zhang Zian stretched and got up from his bed. This was his parents¡¯ bedroom, and the bed was his parents¡¯ double bed. The reason he changed bedrooms was very simple¡ªhis bedroom was taken over by Fina. When his parents had bought this two-story building, they gave Zhang Zian the best room for his bedroom. That was because, even though the room was a little small, the window faced greenery at the street corner. It wasn¡¯t close to the street and was more peaceful. The air was good as well, and it was suitable for studying. The worst room on the second floor became a storage room. His parents¡¯ room was a bit bigger, but there was an alley right out the window where people and cars often passed by.

    Last night, Fina saw Gxy¡¯s crib and boldly announced its desire to have a simr one, but more like a princess bed with a veil of fine gauze. Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t get a princess bed anywhere within that limited amount of time, so he could only let it sleep on his bed. It even despised it for a while.

    After washing up, he went downstairs. Gxy was roving in between showcases, chasing its own tail, as if ying hide and seek with itself.

    ¡°Good morning, Gxy!¡±

    ¡°Meow! Good morning, Zian! Do you want to y hide and seek?¡± Gxy looked at him expectantly.

    ¡°Alright, sure, but let me fill my stomach first¡­ I actually envy that you guys don¡¯t have to eat.¡± Zhang Zian patted his empty stomach.

    ¡°Who told you that I don¡¯t have to eat?¡± Fina was patrolling around inside the store early in the morning, as if this ce was its territory. It stopped at this moment and stared at Zhang Zian with its shiny aquamarine eyes. ¡°But you want I to eat the same type of food as those ordinary cats? This is an insult to I!¡±

    Zhang Zian noted that this gold-worshipping cat was hard to please, and his head really hurt. ¡°All right, all right, you want to eat grilled fish, right? I have time to go buy it today, but let me make it clear in advance¡ªI¡¯ve never grilled fish before. I cannot be sure that the fish will be edible after grilling¡­¡±

    ¡°Then what¡¯s the use of having you?¡± Fina responded.

    Zhang Zian was speechless. ¡°I¡¯m really not a servant!¡±

    He had originally thought that Fina was like Gxy and didn¡¯t need to take in food, but it seemed that this was not the case. Maybe it was because Fina had once existed as a real cat?

    Regarding Fina¡¯s origin, he could not guess. It was definitely a cat from ancient times. Cats from that time had different physical characteristics from present day cats. After all, house cats evolved with human intervention toward their expectations. In fact, referring to it as ¡°evolution¡± was not proper. This type of evolution was only the one-sided expectancy of humans. To have cats grow toward the direction of ¡°as a little bird rests upon a man¡±[1] was deterioration in survival for cats, such as furless cats or Scottish Fold cats.

    Fina¡¯s figure was the most well proportioned and well built of all cats he had ever seen. Sturdy-yet-not-overly-developed muscles hid under its golden satin-like fur. Every step it took was steady and graceful, and its eyes were clear and sharp. It dered its vigorous vitality every second and every moment. If talking about evolution, this should be the ideal direction of evolution for cats. He had brought domestic water, but it wrinkled up its face in distaste after one taste but eventually swallowed it grudgingly.

    Of course, spare the aspect of personality. This fortune cat¡¯s personality was too vile, always talking with an air of pretentiousness and always being nitpicky. It had to sleep in a princess bed, only ate grilled fish from the sea, wouldn¡¯t spare a nce at canned cat food, and only drank bottled water. Last night, Zhang Zian was forced to run to the nearby store to buy water.

    ¡°God knows how its previous master had raised it to be such a rascal! Is it supposed to be raised like a princess? Was it a fortune cat or a gold-worshipping cat? Nevertheless, Gxy is cuter.¡± Every time he saw Gxy, he would be charmed. Zhang Zian silently thought about these rted and unrted things while he was about to start today¡¯s clean up work and opened the door for business.

    ¡°Huh?¡± He found today¡¯s work to be particrly rxed. Those few kittens were not locked away in the disy cabs. Zhang Zian followed Fina¡¯s instructions and put some cat-litter bowls in the corner, then covered them with cat litter. Those few kittens obediently went to the cat-litter bowls to settle their physiological issues. He had saved time normally spent cleaning the few disy cabs and now he just had to clean the Samoyed¡¯s and Schnauzer¡¯s disy cabs.

    Feeding and drinking water was also the same. Zhang Zian ced a bowl of clear water and a bowl of food at another corner. The kittens lined up to go eat and drink.

    There were two groups for both the clear water bowl and the food bowl. One group wasid t on the ground for the British Shorthair, American Shorthair, and the Siamese cats. The other group used an abandoned old book to give it height, for the Persian cats¡ªcats with t faces and long hair. If not so, after the Persian cats drank and ate, their beards, faces, and necks would have food and water residue. In addition, it would consume extra cleaning time. There were more cats, but the workload decreased?

    Having to choose between Fina¡¯s pretentiousness and more heavy work, Zhang Zian could only choose to continue to bear with Fina¡¯s pretentious face. After all, having the ability to act pretentious meant that it was actually pretentious. Without the ability to act pretentious, it would only be foolishness. Zhang Zian felt that it would be wonderful if Fina couldmand the other two dogs as well, but that was just an impossible thought¡­

    The Samoyed and Schnauzer bitterly watched the kittens ying on the floor. Why were they able to y outside, but we must be locked inside the disy cabs? Was this store manager racist?

    ¡°Do better in the next life,¡± Zhang Zian stated.

    Since he finished the clean-up work early, Zhang Zian opened the door for business earlier than usual, even though there were probably no customers this early in the day. There was another reason for opening the door for business earlier, and that was to ce a new sign he had made at the entrance. The sign was made from a wooden board and written by hand with a highlighter. It was very simple, and the words were pretty ugly, since very few people wrote with a pen nowadays. The contents of the sign were: ¡°This store offers bathing services for cats for a fee.¡±

    The content was a bit long, so he had to simplify it, but he found that no matter what words he took out, it was not appropriate. He tried changing it to: ¡°This store offers bathing service for a fee.¡±

    ¡°No, this won¡¯t do. People would think that it was a shower or bathhouse. Especially with the word ¡°service,¡± it leads people to think otherwise. There might even be unscrupulous customers who would request special services with soap¡­¡±

    ¡°What about changing the word ¡°cats¡± to ¡°pets¡±? That also wouldn¡¯t work. What if people bring in a Tibetan Mastiff?¡±

    ¡°Get rid of ¡°This store¡±? That still won¡¯t do. It would be a sentence with no subject, and I can¡¯t afford to mess with the OCD!¡±

    ¡°Get rid of ¡°with fees¡±? What are you thinking of?¡±

    ¡°Change to ¡°Cats take fees for baths¡±? Even worse. Am I the store manager or are the cats¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it, no changes.¡±

    ¡°You are also carrying out a new business here?¡± Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s voice came from behind, full of suspicion. Her house was in Cheng Nan, and her pet clinic was at the north entrance of Zhonghua Road. Thus, when she went to open up business for her clinic every morning, she would always pass by the Amazing Fate Pet Shop at the south entrance of Zhonghua Road. Sometimes she would get out of the car to stay a while, and sometimes she would stop the car to give an unfriendly greeting, such as today.

    ¡°Of course. Once changes have been made, a solution emerges,¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    ¡°Can you handle it all by yourself?¡± She knew very well how hard it was to give baths to cats, especially other people¡¯s cats.

    ¡°Then how about youe help me?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t even dream about it! I¡¯m going to leave first. Customers made appointments early in the morning.¡± She intentionally unted that she had customers, then pressed down on the throttle and left. Her voice drifted from afar, ¡°Don¡¯t forget toe to my store to do cleaning after a week.¡±

    She said it as if she was definitely going to win the bet this time¡­

    Footnotes:

    [1] A Chinese saying that describes the weak relying on the strong.

 Chapter 46: Donâ€™t Say I Didnâ€™t Warn You

    <h4>Chapter 46: Don¡¯t Say I Didn¡¯t Warn You</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Manager!¡± A very sweet greeting came from the second guest of the day.

    ¡°Good morning.¡± Zhang Zian raised his hand. ¡°High five!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, high five!¡±

    She was not a customer but the schoolgirl who often visited the little hamster.

    Zhang Zian realized that he had never asked her name. ¡°What is your name?¡±

    ¡°My name is Cai Xiaoqin!¡± she answered. Today was a normal school day. She carried the same backpack, and her face was flushed from running.

    ¡°Should I call you ¡®Little Celery¡¯[1]?¡±

    Cai Xiaoqin was surprised and stared at him. ¡°How did you know my nickname?¡±

    ¡°I guessed,¡± Zhang Zian said with a grin.

    ¡°Wow.¡± Cai Xiaoqin¡¯s mouth was wide open.

    ¡°Little Celery, can I ask you a question?¡± Zhang Zian was looking at her two braids.

    ¡°Yes¡­¡±

    ¡°It seems that the position of your left-side braid is always fixed, but the position of your right braid changes every day, gradually moving down and cycling around once per week?¡± He had long noticed that her short braids were very interesting. Every week the positions of the braids would move symmetrically, like the clock pointers starting at ten o¡¯clock and two o¡¯clock, but by Friday it changed to ten o¡¯clock and four o¡¯clock.

    ¡°Yes, my mother made them for me! Mr. Manager, you are so smart. Even my ssmates never notice them!¡± She held her two little braids and gave a bright smile. It was not enjoyable to look at her smile, as she was during the stage of changing teeth.

    ¡°I am going inside now!¡± She flew into the store, then eximed, ¡°Mr. Manager, the cats all ran out of the cages!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s okay; I let them out,¡± said Zhang Zian calmly.

    ¡°Are they going to run away?¡± Little Celery¡¯s eyes were wide open.

    ¡°Of course not, because I am so charming!¡± He imitated the TV shampoo ads and shook his hair handsomely.

    ¡°Amazing!¡± Little Celery gave Zhang Zian an admiring look.

    Zhang Zian was trying to continue bragging, but he identally noticed Fina¡¯s despising gaze, as if it was asking him not to do that in front of the little girl!

    He turned and whistled, pretending not to see it.

    Little Celery and the small hamster yed for a while. She fed it a few pistachios and whispered to it secretly, then said goodbye to Zhang Zian.

    Today didn¡¯t seem to be a good day, as the third guest didn¡¯t look like a customer either.

    A young man wearing a strangebination of a long coat and a baseball hat that was pushed very low walked into the store.

    Zhang Zian remembered him; he hade into the store two days ago. Why did hee again today?

    ¡°Boss, aren¡¯t you afraid of those pets running away?¡± the man asked in a voice that was low for his age, pointing to the yful kittens. His face above the bridge of his nose was hidden in the shadow of the baseball cap.

    ¡°I¡¯ll catch them if that happens.¡± Zhang Zian was still acting very calm. He had to answer in a normal way to a man of his age.

    ¡°Why are you creating trouble for yourself?¡± the man asked, puzzled.

    ¡°Because, ording to my observations, these kittens have a calcium deficiency. Letting them out in the sun and doing some exercise will help with their calcium levels,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    The man was stunned after hearing Zhang Zian¡¯s answer. ¡°You can evaluate the cats¡¯ calcium levels? These cats are so active. There is no way they have calcium deficiency! Your words make no sense to me at all! Why didn¡¯t you release the dogs too?¡± The man pointed to the Samoyed and the Schnauzer.

    The two puppies saw someone trying to fight for their justice and immediately whined, agreeing.

    ¡°Because they have enough calcium.¡±

    The man choked.

    The Samoyed and the Schnauzer were confused, as if asking each other what calcium was. If that meant girlfriends, they were missing a lot of them.

    The man shook his head, indicating that he could notmunicate with this strange owner.

    Zhang Zian seemed like it did not bother him at all, since the man didn¡¯t appear willing to buy anything here.

    Suddenly, the man noticed Fina, and his eyes, hidden in the shadow of his hat, seemed to light up.

    He walked two steps further and wanted to get a closer look at Fina, while Gxy had long been hiding.

    Fina narrowed its eyes, looking like the king of beasts on the prairie, waiting for the little rabbit to near.

    ¡°That¡­¡± Zhang Zian said behind him, ¡°You¡¯d better not get closer, otherwise I do not know what will happen¡­ Don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t warn you!¡±

    The man sneered, ¡°¡®Don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t warn you!¡¯ Do you consider yourself to be the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?¡±

    ¡°Come on, cutie pie, let me take a look at you¡­¡± The man crouched down and stretched out his hand, wanting to hold on to Fina¡¯s chin and see the shape of her head.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to look at them anymore, as it seemed like a man was trying to flirt with ady on the street. But the man had not yet realized that thisdy was a tough one to handle.

    The man seemed to know how to deal with cats. He stretched his hand out half way, then he saw Fina¡¯s two ears were up like the wings on an aircraft.

    The man was shocked that this cat¡¯s attack wasing at him unexpectedly. He withdrew his hand hurriedly.

    Late! Toote! His action was far slower than the cat. Even when he had just begun to withdraw his hand, a golden stream had already swept away.

    Three parallel big holes were torn in the man¡¯s coat, from his right shoulder to his left ribs, exposing a high-end shirt inside.

    Zhang Zian deeply inhaled cold air and was secretly shocked by the fact that these sharp ws could cut anyone open if they wanted to!

    ¡°Thump, thump, thump!¡± The man took three steps back, and his face turned pale like white paper. His neck was covered in cold sweat, and he wasn¡¯t sure what had just happened.

    Looking back at Fina, it was still calm, as if it hadn¡¯t moved at all. As it gently moved its ws, a piece of the man¡¯s coat slipped quietly from its ws¡­

    Now Zhang Zian had to admit that this cat was too special!

    He coughed with some guilt. ¡°Don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t warn you¡­ Anyway, I will not reimburse you for your clothes!¡±

    Zhang Zian had noticed that the man¡¯s coat was very expensive. Even if he could afford to pay him back, he didn¡¯t want to do that.

    The man casually took off his coat and said to Zhang Zian, with one hand pointing at Fina, ¡°I want to buy this cat.¡±

    Zhang Zian warned him again, ¡°I had to advise you to leave quickly as the cat was staring at your butt. I don¡¯t think walking away half naked sounds good to you? Plus, I will not let you borrow my pants¡­¡±

    The man obviously didn¡¯t know that Fina could understand his words, which made it angry¡­

    In Fina¡¯s view, how dare such a man actually think he could buy it? Could he afford it?

    The man quickly turned around and noticed that Fina¡¯s green eyes had narrowed down to a crack, staring coldly at his butt where the meat was, and more¡­

    The man suddenly felt threatened, hurriedly covering his butt and backing out from Fina¡¯s attacking range.

    No joke! This cat was simply called thew of the world, and no one should disrespect it at any time!

    [1] The name of ¡°Xiaoqin¡± could be tranted into English as ¡°Little Celery¡±. ¡°Xiao¡±¨CLittle, or small. ¡°Qin¡±-Celery

 Chapter 47: Eating, Drinking, and Having Fun in Binhai

    <h4>Chapter 47: Eating, Drinking, and Having Fun in Binhai</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    As an anchorperson, especially an outdoors anchorperson, making selections was very important. The locations you chose had to be interesting and unique, or there would be no way to evoke the audience¡¯s interest and enthusiasm. One needed to know that enthusiasm was like a fire. Fuel had to be added from time to time, and venttion needed to be sustained to ensure that oxygen was sufficient, or else the fire would easily go out.

    The news-anchor industry was developing very fast; it could even be said to be a little too fast. It was no longer the era where one could just randomly broadcast a game or song and have tens of thousands of fans, like in the past when the business was on the rise. If an anchorperson didn¡¯t have any special features, then he or she could only be obliterated by the crowd.

    Jiang Qianxue was an anchorwoman, an outdoors anchorwoman. Her channel name was ¡°Eating, Drinking, and Having Fun in Binhai.¡± As the name suggested, her live broadcast¡¯s content was about searching everywhere for delicious eats and drinks, fun ces, and interesting things, and thus she introduced these things to her live audience. The majority of her fans were, of course, people from Binhai City and the surrounding areas, but there were also a few fans who came from all over the country. She was fated to never be a super anchorwoman with millions of fans, as the audience was very limited. But it was because of this that she did not suffer a lot ofpetitive pressure; she did not have to sell her body topete for poprity with the big national star anchors. She only needed to have a firm foothold in the local Binhai city.

    Up until now, there were no other anchorpeoplepeting with her for the theme of ¡°Eating, Drinking, and Having Fun in Binhai.¡± She had around two or three thousand permanent fans, and the peak number of fans on the online channel was four thousand. The amount wasn¡¯t much, but her fans were very loyal; they would usually watch the whole thing once she began her broadcast.

    Because of certain reasons that everyone knew about, usually, when the anchorperson was a woman, the majority of the audience was male. But Jiang Qianxue¡¯s fans¡¯ had a one to one ratio of male to female. It could be said that both men and women enjoyed it.

    After she introduced a shop, a lot ofdies would go out of admiration, and at the same time, they would drag their boyfriends there. A lot of men would also quietly remember the stores or sceneries she had introduced and would bring their girlfriends to those locations on their next date. They never had to stress about deciding where to go for dates.

    In order to find interesting shops and sceneries, Jiang Qianxue often wandered around on the inte to get first-hand information. The Wang Haige forum was also one of her interests. She had certainly paid attention to and followed up on the hot incident regarding the Amazing Fate Pet Shop and Stars Pet Chain Supermarket, but she had not participated in the discussions. When the forum had been started, she had registered immediately. ¡°This seems to be a pretty good theme for development,¡± she had thought back then. ¡°I¡¯ve never actually broadcast at a pet shop.¡±

    Jiang Qianxue had been lively and energetic ever since she was little, but she had never raised a pet, because she thought that raising pets was bothersome. ¡°Taking care of myself is already tiring, and I would still have to take care of pets¡­¡±

    She saw that it was about time, closed herputer and changed, and left the room with her phone and selfie-stick. She tiptoed downstairs and observed that her father was reading the newspaper in the living room, and her mother was baking a cake in the kitchen. With her back bent, she wanted to run out quickly from behind the couch but was caught by her mother, who had coincidentally turned to grab eggs from the refrigerator.

    ¡°Little Xue, what and where are you going?¡±

    Oops! That was it! She knew she would have to suffer a lecture.

    Her father, Jiang Tianda, turned his head to look. He saw that she was holding a selfie-stick and his face immediately sank. ¡°Going out to do that live broadcast again! I¡¯ve told you how many times already! Girls have to be gentle and quiet, not going wild outside all day long! What kind of future will you have by doing this!¡±

    Her mother wiped her hands with the apron and walked out of the kitchen, trying to persuade her father. ¡°Father of the child, say less. The child is still small¡­¡±

    Her father once again scolded her mother, ¡°Still small? Already twenty years old and still small? It¡¯s all because you spoiled her!¡±

    Fortunately, at this time, her father¡¯s assistant, Li Wen, came in through the door and reminded him, ¡°Chief Jiang, it¡¯s time for the meeting. Today is Monday, and it¡¯s easy to get caught in traffic¡­¡±

    Li Wen was close to forty years old and had worked hard with her father since the start of the business. He had practically watched Jiang Qianxue grow up and was like her much-older brother. Her father frowned and looked at his watch. Jiang Qianxue secretly expressed thanks toward Li Wen¡¯s two hands. Li Wen winked at her, and her mother couldn¡¯t help but shake her head.

    Jiang Tianda stood up, and Li Wen helped him put on his suit jacket. ¡°This weekend, you¡¯d better go on a blind date. The counterpart is the second son of the Lu household. The person who introduced him was the vice president of the bank of Binhai.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going!¡± Jiang Qianxue pouted.

    ¡°You have to go if you want to go, and you have to go if you don¡¯t want to go! This matter is not up to you!¡± Jiang Tianda snorted coldly and hastily left the house with Li Wen following close behind.

    Jiang Qianxue immediately became arrogant once the door was closed. ¡°Fascist! Dictator! Big bastard!¡±

    ¡°Little Xue, don¡¯t talk like that!¡± her mother said. ¡°You must attend the blind date. The counterpart has a good family, and I heard that he is quite nice. What if you guys get along well?¡±

    Jiang Qianxue smiled yfully. ¡°Get along with me? Then be an anchorperson with me! I¡¯m heading out!¡± She was afraid that her mother would stop her again, so she fled from the vi.

    Her mother sighed from behind. ¡°This child¡­ sigh, maybe I really did spoil her¡­¡±

    Once Jiang Qianxue had left her house, it was as if a bird had left its cage. She immediately felt as if her body was as light as a swallow¡¯s and all her troubles were swept away. Although her vi was spacious and luxurious, she always felt too constrained there. ¡°I really don¡¯t know how mother had endured all these years.¡±

    She got on a taxi and arrived at the south crossroads of Zhonghua Road not long after. This was the arranged ce for the gathering. Jiang Qianxue was still looking forward to it a little, because she normally did broadcasts alone. This time, she chose a support group because she knew nothing about pets and was afraid that she wouldn¡¯t be able to get the main point if she went alone.

    There was a statue on the west side of the crossroads, and it seemed to be of an ancient famous person of Binhai city. However, there was no need to care about such details. The main point was that this location was very conspicuous, so it often became the meeting spot for strangers.

    At this time, two groups had gathered under the statue. One group had only two people. One of the people held a phone and was carefully examining it. It was probably a same-city exchange of a second-hand phone by hand. She temporarily ignored them.

    The other group had four people. She went over and asked, ¡°May I ask, is this the group that is visiting Amazing Fate?¡± The four people were chatting and asionally checking the time on their phones. They heard her words and turned their heads one after another to look.

    Jiang Qianxue was a very beautiful youngdy. Her outfit was very suitable for an outdoor broadcasting location: sneakers, jeans, a backpack, and a hooded smock. She looked approachable, vibrant, and dazzling.

    One of the boys wearing sses asked in surprise, ¡°Are you anchorperson Little Xue? I¡¯ve seen your broadcasts!¡±

    It wasn¡¯t the first time someone recognized Jiang Qianxue, and she immediately smiled. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me. Hello!¡±

    The boy excitedly said, ¡°My direct broadcasting room and forum ID are both ¡®Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff¡¯, I even gave you a gift before!¡±

    Jiang Qianxue did not have any impressions of this ID, but still politely said thanks.

    Next to them, a male, about thirty years old and wearing a casual jacket and trousers, sighed with uncertainty. ¡°You¡¯re the anchorperson?¡±

 Chapter 48: Tuhao[1] Versus Hillbilly

    <h4>Chapter 48: Tuhao[1] Versus Hillbilly</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    ¡°Excuse me, a small anchorwoman without much fame.¡± Jiang Qianxue nodded her head in regards.

    The man immediately felt at ease. ¡°There are anchorpeople everywhere these years. Inte users are as many as dogs. How many can be famous? Oh, my forum ID is ¡®Boss Afei¡¯. Oh right, how much money can you make a month as an anchorwoman?¡±

    Jiang Qianxueughed. ¡°Not much, barely enough.¡±

    Boss Afei sneered and measured up Jiang Qianxue with his eyes. ¡°I can tell that you don¡¯t make much by looking at the way you¡¯re dressed. You have to dress less if you¡¯re an anchorwoman, do you understand what I mean? You have to show off your chest and butt. Tell me what tform you¡¯re at in a moment, and I will give you a reward.¡±

    Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff was very dissatisfied with Boss Afei¡¯s attitude, but he noticed that his counterpart intentionally or unintentionally exposed a superior watch, so he quietly swallowed his words.

    Jiang Qianxue smiled radiantly. ¡°Then I will give my thanks in advance.¡±

    ¡°Good talk.¡± Boss Afei took out a cigarette, lit it, and casually sucked in a mouthful.

    The remaining people were a young couple. The girl¡¯s looks were average but delicate and timid. She clung closely to her boyfriend¡¯s side, and her boyfriend was carefully caring for her. Seeing how they were ordinary yet happy, Jiang Qianxue remembered the blind date on the weekend that her father had forcefully nned and couldn¡¯t help but feel low-spirited.

    ¡°My forum ID is ¡®Fried Mushroom¡¯.¡± The boy shyly introduced the two of them. ¡°This is my girlfriend, her forum ID is ¡®Outman¡¯.¡±

    Jiang Qianxue also introduced herself. ¡°My forum ID is ¡®Qianmo¡¯, and I am also a small anchorwoman. In a moment when we go to the pet shop, do you guys mind if I include you guys in the shoot?¡±

    Fried Mushroom shrugged. ¡°I do not care.¡± He then whispered to his girlfriend, ¡°What about you?¡±

    Outman hesitated and said, ¡°I¡¯m okay¡­¡±

    It was apparent that she felt unpleasant knowing that she wasn¡¯t as pretty as Jiang Qianxue, but she had no idea that Jiang Qianxue was a little envious that she had such a considerate and caring boyfriend.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind! When I watched your broadcast, I had thought that, if I met you on the streets one day, I would definitely take a picture with you! If you shoot me in it, that would be so great!¡± Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff said excitedly.

    Boss Afei spat. ¡°Whatever is fine¡­ I will treat you to eat in a moment, you can choose wherever!¡±

    Jiang Qianxue smiled. ¡°Let¡¯s talkter about the things thateter.¡±

    She looked around and said, ¡°Is it just the few of us? How about we leave now?¡±

    In fact, on the registration on the forum, there were a full twenty people in a group, but in the end, only five came. The majority had decidedst minute that they would note.

    The others had no objections.

    Jiang Qianxue opened her phone to start the live broadcast. She seemed to change into a different person when facing the camera; her intonation enhanced and her tone became lively and cheerful, such that even the viewers on the other side of the inte were influenced by her happiness.

    ¡°Hi, everyone! I am Little Xue, wee to my live broadcast room! My slogan is ¡®Eating, Drinking, and Having Fun in Binhai!¡¯¡±

    Since the live broadcast had just begun, there were only two or three hundred people in the live broadcast room, but the number was increasing rapidly.

    ¡°Little Sister Snowy, I¡¯ve finally waited on you! Where are you going today?¡±

    ¡°Snowy-chan, I went to the water bar that you rmended with my boyfriend yesterday, and we really liked the White Russian there!¡± Hemu Xuanlin sent out ten pieces of five-kernel mooncakes and left ament. It was the equivalent of fifty yuan, but it still had to be split in half by the live-broadcast tform.

    ¡°F*ck! Stuffed with another bite of dog food again.¡± Xiyu Zhi LM sent out a big freshwater crab, the equivalent of one hundred yuan.

    ¡°In fact, today¡¯s live-broadcast content is really rted to dog food! But the specifics are temporarily a secret. Everyone will find out in a while!¡±

    ¡°Damn! No way! Did Snowy find a boyfriend, so now she wants to feed us dog food personally?¡±

    ¡°I choose death!¡±

    Jiang Qianxue pointed to the four people beside her. ¡°These people are my partners for today. Yes, especially this person, he is also one of my fans.¡±

    Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff had also started the live broadcast software.

    ¡°Hi everyone! I¡¯m at the scene!¡± Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff sent out five big freshwater crabs and left ament. He waved toward Jiang Qianxue¡¯s camera lens. Five hundred yuan! Wallet-Kun expressed some fleshly pain. This was the most expensive gift he had ever given out in all of his live-broadcast watching.

    ¡°Kill him?¡±

    ¡°Where should we bury him?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t bury him, feed him to the dogs.¡±

    Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff felt the dense malice.

    ¡°Small case, reward for you.¡± Boss Afei sent out a bear paw and left ament. It was the equivalent of one thousand yuan. After he sent it, he waved his phone toward the camera lens.

    ¡°There¡¯s a tuhao?¡±

    ¡°It seems to be an overnight millionaire.¡±

    ¡°If gifting one thousand yuan means Tuhao, then Tuhao is too worthless.¡± Binhai Tuzhu sent out two bear paws andmented.

    ¡°Wow, a real tuhao is here!¡±

    ¡°Not tuhao, it¡¯s tuzhu[2]!¡± Binhai TuZhu replied.

    ¡°Tuhao is being modest again!¡±

    The user Binhai Tuzhu was very mysterious, seemed to be Snowy¡¯s iron fan, and would always show up at every live broadcast. This person didn¡¯t talk for the most part, but if someone gave Snowy a high reward, he would definitely use a higher amount of money to suppress it. He only added a little bit each time, as if tempting the other party to follow up. Once the other party really did follow up, he would suppress it again, until the other party gave up.

    Jiang Qianxue heedlessly smiled. ¡°Snowy thanks everyone for their gifts.¡±

    ¡°Snowy-Chan reckons to be the person most indifferent toward gifts on this tform,¡± Dugu Qiu Nue Limented and then gifted out a big freshwater crab.

    ¡°I think so too.¡± Citywangmented, gifting ten pieces of five-kernel mooncake.

    Boss Afei did not normally watch live broadcasts at all and didn¡¯t understand the consumption capability of the audience. He chose the most expensive gift on the tform and sent it out, with the original thought of being able to cause a startled praise and fascinate thisss. He did not think that she would not even mention his name, only grouping him in with ¡°everyone.¡± Even his limelight was suppressed by Binhai Tuzhu.

    ¡°Small case, catch this,¡± Boss Afeimented, gifting out three bear paws¡ªthree thousand yuan.

    ¡°Continue,¡± Binhai Tuzhumented, gifting out five bear paws.

    ¡°¡­¡± Boss Afei was speechless.

    ¡°Hate is starting, hurry up and watch!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be frightened if you¡¯re a real tuhao!¡±

    Since it was morning, the super anchorpeople and big national anchorpeople were still sleeping. The continuous stream of banners caused even more people to enter the live broadcast room. There were more than three thousand people already, and the number was still growing.

    Boss Afei adjusted the number of bear paws to ten, but he couldn¡¯t bear to click. This was one million yuan!

    At this time, Jiang Qianxue said, ¡°Okay! We have already arrived at the destination for this live broadcast! Everyone please take a look! Isn¡¯t it rted to dog food? Snowy never lies to anyone!¡±

    The camera lens fixed right on the shop¡¯s sign: Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

    ¡°F*ck! It really is rted to dog food!¡±

    ¡°I surrender to this!¡±

    ¡°There won¡¯t be any weird animals in the store, right? Lizards or snakes and stuff¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say anymore! I get goosebumps the moment I see crawly creatures!¡±

    Jiang Qianxue patted her chest. ¡°Everyone, don¡¯t be scared! If something happens, Snowy will go first!¡±

    ¡°Gift to cute-faced Snowy!¡± Sanfumented, gifting ten pieces of five-kernel mooncake.

    ¡°Money to buy dog food,¡±mented Wu Nv Lin, gifting a big freshwater crab.

    Boss Afei hastily cancelled his gift when no one was paying attention, just in case he identally pressed the button¡­

    At the other end of the city, in the chief executive office in the headquarters building of Jiang¡¯s group¡­

    ¡°Chief Jiang, all the customers have arrived,¡± assistant Li Wen reminded him.

    ¡°Oh? Oh¡­ okay, you go and greet first. I will go over immediately.¡± Father Jiang quickly hit the ¡°home¡± button, and the phone screen switched to the main page in a sh.

    ¡°A hillbilly, and he still wants to be ¡®a toad wishing to eat swan meat¡¯[3]!¡± His face was very gloomy.

    He didn¡¯t think that he had done anything wrong. As a father, his duty was to drive those real tuhaos and fake tuhaos on the inte away from his daughter, simr to flies, so as to avoid having his inexperienced-in-life daughter be carelessly fooled.

    Binhai Tuzhu left the live broadcast room.

    Footnotes:

    [1] Nouveau riche

    [2] A poor man

    [3] A Chinese saying that describes a situation where or someone that one craves for something one was not worthy of.

 Chapter 49: Why Are You So Awesome

    <h4>Chapter 49: Why Are You So Awesome</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    ¡°Hello! Is anyone there?¡±

    Halfying on the deck chair andzily holding and reading the Pet Encyclopedia, Zhang Zian put down the book and saw five people suddenly flock through the doorway. One of the girls in the lead, practically full of vitality, jumped through the door and said to her phone, ¡°Everyone, please take a look. This is the interior of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop. There are indeed no weird pets!¡±

    Zhang Zian only came to a realization after a moment of staring nkly. ¡°Huh? Was this the legendary anchorperson? But why is the anchorpersoning to my shop?¡± he thought, but he did not intend to take the initiative to stand up and give his own greetings. His legs were sore from ying hide and seek up and down the stairs with Gxy and had not yet fully recovered.

    Fina opened its squinted eyes, changed its pose fromying to sitting, and majestically ran its eyes over the intruders. Gxy, who was afraid of people, had already hid by the stairs that went to the second floor.

    ¡°Hey, the door handle has a cat bell hanging on it, so cute!¡± Jiang Qianxue aimed her camera phone at the door handle.

    ¡°I want to see how Snowy-Chan looks wearing the cat bell!¡±

    ¡°Snowy, buy a cat bell and wear it!¡±

    ¡°And pair it with cat ears and a cat tail¡­ Just imagining it is already extremely cute! I can¡¯t¡­ I¡¯m going to go wipe my nosebleed.¡±

    ¡°I want to take Snowy home to raise¡­¡±

    Some of the audience had sharp eyes. ¡°Did you guys not pay attention to the key point? The pets of this shop are actually breeds!¡±

    Jiang Qianxue turned her camera phone toward the shop interior again only to see a few kittens happily chasing, ying, and fighting for fun on the floor, and they would sometimes fall from running. The few kittens cuddled into a ball like a heap of furry balls.

    ¡°Such cute little kittens!¡±

    ¡°Cute to death!¡±

    ¡°I really want to reach my hand in and scoop up a few¡­¡±

    Jiang Qianxue¡¯s little mouth was opened in an ¡°O¡± shape. ¡°Are the breeds really unusual?¡±

    ¡°Did Snowy not notice that the shop door ispletely wide open? Isn¡¯t this shop manager afraid of the pets running away?¡±

    ¡°Oh, right.¡± Snowy looked at the wide-open door of the shop, then looked at the kittens ying near the door, then looked at the shop manager who was leisurely sitting in the shop andying on the chair reading a book, and she felt a bit perplexed.

    ¡°I¡¯ve seen some high-end,rge-scale pet shops that were open to the public overseas, but they were not this open. Their openness was based on different regions; pets could roam freely in a certain region of territory. I¡¯ve really never seen a shop that¡¯s the type to be fully open to the public.¡±

    ¡°Having said this, isn¡¯t the shop manager worried that the cute kittens will run away?¡±

    ¡°Snowy, go ask the shop manager!¡±

    The boisterous kittens also fascinated the couple, Fried Mushroom and Outman.

    Boss Afei was standing near the shop entrance, staring at Jiang Qianxue¡¯s legs that were tightly wrapped in her skinny jeans, thinking, ¡°I could y with those legs for a year.¡±

    Jiang Qianxue leapt to Zhang Zian¡¯s side with two or three steps. ¡°Excuse me, are you the shop manager?¡± she asked, leaning forward.

    Zhang Zian moved the Pet Encyclopedia away and nodded. His eyes continued to fall upon the book, as if he had already answered.

    ¡°Such a cool shop manager!¡±

    ¡°The shop manager is cosying as Geyoutan[1]¡­¡±

    ¡°Snowy, ask the shop manager, why are you so cool?¡±

    Jiang Qianxue puckered her lips and smiled. She definitely would not ask this.

    She pointed at the kittens and asked, ¡°Mr. Shop Manager, are you not afraid that these little kittens will run away?¡±

    ¡°Not afraid,¡± Zhang Zian answered nkly. ¡°They won¡¯t run away.¡± His eyes never left the Pet Encyclopedia throughout the conversation.

    ¡°Shop manager, who gave you such confidence?¡±

    ¡°Willful if rich!¡±

    Jiang Qianxue asked, ¡°Did you ¡®biu~~¡¯ and put magic on them?¡± She imitated the action of a magic girl.

    ¡°Snowy, do that action again one more time! It¡¯s so cute!¡±

    ¡°No, I will lose too much blood and die if I see anymore.¡±

    ¡°¡­I can¡¯t do magic,¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    ¡°Yes! Western tricks can¡¯t please my eye. Thus behold my advanced animal-taming skills of the ninth heaven!¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun suddenly appeared at the entrance door. They had skipped their morning ss for their profession and hade to show their sincerity toward their master.

    Their manner of walk was majestic; they came to Zhang Zian side by side and bowed their heads in courtesy.

    ¡°Master above! Disciple Wang Qian¡ª¡±

    ¡°Disciple Li Kun¡ª¡±

    ¡°Gives respect to master!¡±

    Zhang Zian silently ced his book on his face¡ªhe did not want to see them.

    ¡°What is this? Filming a movie?¡±

    ¡°Seems like two retards have arrived!¡±

    Jiang Qianxue was also shocked. ¡°Howe these two people just kneeled? Father was so rich, yet she had never seen anyone kneel before him. Could it be that this shop manager has an impressive background?¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun saw that Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t paying them any attention and firmly believed even more that the master was testing their sincerity. The two stood up, looked around the shop, and angrily said, ¡°Our master wants to be isted, everyone quickly retreat! Oh!¡±

    Zhang Zian grew angry and threw the Pet Encyclopedia at them. ¡°Should I go feed on the northwest wind[2] if you drive way all the customers?¡±

    ¡°You two, shut up! Go to the side!¡±

    Li Kun rubbed his head and said to Wang Qian, ¡°Solemnly obey master¡¯s instructions!¡±

    ¡°Pick up the book!¡±

    ¡°Yes, master!¡± Li Kun picked up the Pet Encyclopedia and gave Wang Qian a look that meant, ¡°See, this is definitely the secret to the advanced animal-taming skills. Master had actually thrown the secret at us. It definitely meant that he has the intention to teach us, just as the Bodhi ancestor had knocked Sun Wukong¡¯s head three times¡­¡±

    Wang Qian¡¯s approval toward Li Kun¡¯s reasoning abilities suddenly increased.

    Li Kun bent over and respectfully handed the Pet Encyclopedia to Zhang Zian with both hands, then stood side by side with Wang Qian with an air ofcency.

    Zhang Zian was toozy to acknowledge the two retards. He flipped to the previous page he was reading and continued to read.

    The other people in the shop were dumbfounded. The curtain scene of ¡°Why Are You So Cool¡± swiped over the screen in the live broadcast room.

    ¡°This is simr to how the grandfather disciplines the grandson¡­¡±

    ¡°Nonsense! It¡¯s obviously simr to how the grandson disciplines the grandfather!¡±

    ¡°All right, all right. Your chest is big, you have reason!¡±

    ¡°F*ck! How did you know my chest is thirty-six D?¡±

    ¡°A man with a thirty-six D chest size is not something to be proud of¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡­ Shop manager, the little kitten, can I pet it?¡± Fried Mushroom and Outman stared at Zhang Zian eagerly.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhang Zian gave a definite reply. ¡°You can pet the little dog over there as well.¡± He pointed at the Samoyed and Schnauzer in the disy cabs. Facing potential consumers, he still had to endure it even if it meant the counterpart was a hateful pair of couples.

    Only then did they notice that over there were two puppies begging for attention; the free frolicking kittens had stolen all the limelight.

    ¡°The shop manager is very able, huh. Why are the cats let out, but the puppies are locked up?¡±

    ¡°Maybe the shop manager¡¯s zodiac sign is a dog?¡±

    ¡°It must be because the shop manager is a single dog, they both reprimand each other!¡±

    ¡°Single dogs both reprimand each other¡­ Hahahahahaha¡­ Wooooooh¡­¡±

    ¡°Started crying with these words¡­¡±

    ¡°Be good, don¡¯t cry, and stand still!¡±

    ¡°You guys want to make meugh to death? Snowy, please don¡¯t tell the shop manager! I want to see the shop manager¡¯s cool face a bit more.¡±

    Fried Mushroom and Outman clung to each other, whispering, as if they were discussing if dogs were better or if cats were better.

    Boss Afei slowly walked next to the kittens, squatted down to watch for a while, then pointed at the most expensive Persian cat and asked, ¡°Brother, how much are you selling this one for?¡±

    Footnotes:

    [1] Ge You (born April 19, 1957) is an acimed Chinese actor. A native of Beijing, often with a bald shaven pate, he is considered by many to be one of the most recognizable acting personalities in China. His sess with majoredy roles made him a well known name throughout China.

    [2] A Chinese phrase that describes when one goes hungry and has nothing to eat, so they could only live on air.

 Chapter 50: Kittens Doing Stunts

    <h4>Chapter 50: Kittens Doing Stunts</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

    Zhang Zian looked at the Persian cat that Boss Afei was pointing at and said, ¡°10,000 yuan.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Boss Afei stood up. ¡°Are you trying to rob money from the customers? That price is absolutely outrageous!¡±

    Zhang Zian was not bothered by his words and suggested, ¡°Then you can buy it from someone else.¡±

    Boss Afei was surprised for a moment, and then heughed. ¡°Brother, please don¡¯t trick smart people here. Why is your store¡¯s cats more expensive than a CFA-certified shop¡¯s? Who do you think you are?¡±

    Zhang Zian knew right away that this person just wanted to bargain the price down, so he decided not to argue with him. But after seeing the rest of the people all waiting for his answer, he started exining, ¡°CFA-certified stores are not necessary selling CFA-certified cats. But if any CFA certification is needed, it could be easily done by applying for it online and just paying the fee. By the way, a CFA-certified Persian cat is not cheap¡­¡±

    Boss Afei seemed to totally disagree. ¡°Anyway, other stores¡¯ cats are better than yours.¡±

    Zhang Zian did not want to argue with him and calmly answered, ¡°The word ¡®good¡¯ has a wide range of meanings. If you think ¡®good¡¯ refers to pedigree and appearance, then I have nothing to say. You can buy the cat from other stores, and I will have no opinion on it.¡±

    ¡°May I ask, Mr. Manager, what is CFA certification?¡± Jiang Qianxue raised her hand and asked Zhang Zian curiously, like a little girl.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun said aloud in unison, ¡°Do not call him ¡®Mister.¡¯ Call him ¡®Master¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Shut up, you two!¡± Zhang Zian said angrily.

    ¡°CFA is an abbreviation for Cat Fanciers¡¯ Association, which is headquartered in the United States and organizes cat shows around the world every year,¡± exined Zhang Zian seriously. ¡°It is amunity organization, but it sounds better as it is from the USA.¡±

    ¡°Bullsh*t!¡± Boss Afei sneered. ¡°The person who was not able eat the grapes thought they were sour.¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°You can continue to say so.¡±

    An audience named ¡°Future Online Games¡± sent a ¡°crab¡± sign and messaged, ¡°My family has a CFA-certified cat. Miss Jiang, can you help me ask the manager whether anything is wrong with CFA-certified cats?

    Jiang Qianxue asked Zhang Zian, ¡°Mr. Manager, my audience would like to know whether anything is wrong with CFA-certified cats?¡±

    Zhang Zian put down the book. ¡°Nothing is wrong. If you pay special attention to pedigree and appearance, then there is no problem buying a CFA-certified cat, but CFA-certified cats can be good and bad, so please be careful when you identify them¡­ Anyway, it was my personal opinion of only buying the cats categorized as pets instead of showcase ones.¡±

    ¡°What is that?¡± Jiang Qianxue didn¡¯t not understand the difference between regr pets and showcase ones, nor did her audience, so she tried to ask Zhang Zian further questions to find out.

    Zhang Zian continued, ¡°CFA sets the standard, so we all desperately meet that standard. The so-called standard is the cat¡¯s appearance. In order to maintain and repeatedly strengthen the appearance, inbreeding is inevitable. As for the side effects of inbreeding, if you do not know, please go back to your middle-school biology books¡­¡±

    ¡°Mr. Manager, among all your pets, are there any simr problems?¡± asked Jiang Qianxue.

    ¡°I only sell those pets which were selected by me personally from the breeding base. The breeding base has arge number of pets, unlike smaller pets¡¯ houses which focuses on a few. Although the breeding base does not have the best quality pets, which I admit, one thing I can guarantee is that the pets there are healthy.¡±

    While he was speaking, Fina¡¯s ears pricked up, listening very seriously, and its tail, with its dark-gold ring patterns, shook slightly.

    Jiang Qianxue patted her head. ¡°Thank you, Mr. Manager, for teaching me some new knowledge!¡±

    ¡°Learning knowledge with Miss Jiang!¡± some of the audience posted online.

    Zhang Zian nodded modestly. ¡°It was just my personal opinion. Please don¡¯t be angry with me if your audience has pets¡¯ houses.¡±

    After he finished talking, he looked at the two British Shorthairs ying with each other. Their eyes were quite different, not as round as the one¡¯s sold to Zhao Qi. ording to the CFA standards, they were not considered as good as Zhao Qi¡¯s cat.

    ¡°I only sell purebred cats and purebred dogs, but I do not think the mixed strings are very poor quality, although I will not survive if I decide to do so. No one wanted toe to a pet shop to buy non-purebred pets? If anyone wants to get one, they can easily pick one up on the street.¡± Heughed.

    Zhang Zian concluded his exnation, ¡°The CFA standard is mainly to judge the appearance of a cat, suitable for those who focus more on a cat¡¯s look, but whether the cat is smart, healthy, loving, or obedient, it will be difficult to tell from the CFA¡¯s shows. Usually there are so many people at the shows that most cats are scared to move. If you mistakenly believe that to be ¡®obedience,¡¯ you are absolutely wrong.¡±

    ¡°Nonsense! CFA at least has its specific standard. How about you? Smart, healthy, loving, and obedient, these are all hard-to-judge characteristics. Who knows if it is true! But anyway, there is no reason at all to sell at such a high price!¡± Boss Afei said angrily, and he put his hands into his pocket.

    At this time, the audiences online who were quietly listening could not hold back anymore¡­

    ¡°Is it any of your business how much the owner wants to sell his pets?¡±

    ¡°You are so greedy and cheap. You are worse than my mom. If you don¡¯t like the price, go somewhere else. No one is forcing you to buy anything!¡±

    Zhang Zian responded to Boss Afei, ¡°Who says I don¡¯t have standards here?¡±

    Boss Afeiughed hard. ¡°Would you like to give these cats IQ tests?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need those tests.¡± Zhang Zian sat up, putting down his book and pping his hands three times.

    After hearing Zhang Zian¡¯s ps, the cats stopped ying, and even the British Shorthair that was so enjoying the guest girl¡¯s rubbing got away from her hands right away. They all stared straight up at Zhang Zian.

    Even people who knew nothing about cats could tell some strange things were happening. It seemed like someone issued a ¡°get to work¡±mand and the kittens changed from y mode to work mode in an instant.

    Zhang Zian snapped his fingers, and the kittens immediately ran around in a figure eight.

    After they finishing running, the kittens went back to their original positions. Zhang Zian snapped his fingers again, and the kittens immediately did the run one more time and then uniformly went back to their starting points.

    ¡°What do you think of my cats? They can understand and follow my orders, which at least proves them to be smart and obedient, right? If they have problems in their physical coordination and strength, they will not run as stably or urately as this, so we could say that they are absolutely healthy. But whether they are close to humans or not, you have to see with your own eyes.¡±

    He then pped his hands twice. The kittens got his signals and went from work mode back to y mode, chasing each other around the feet of several guests.

    Thanks to Fina, Zhang Zian had sessfully used the signals andmands to control the kittens. It seemed that Fina had some kind of mysterious and powerful energies, such that no cats dared to disobey it.

    Zhang Zian went back to his couch and continued reading.

    ¡°Wow, that was amazing! ¡±

    ¡°Were those some kind of movie special effects?¡±

    ¡°I am going to cover my face. Compared with those cats, mine seems too stupid¡­¡±

    ¡°10,000 yuan for a cat who knows how to do stunts is really reasonable!¡±

    ¡°That is insanely cheap!¡±

    ¡°I am on my way to the store. Miss Jiang, Can you ask the manager to save an American Shorthair cat for me!¡±

 Chapter 51: Pilfering Doesnâ€™t Count as Stealing

    <h4>Chapter 51: Pilfering Doesn¡¯t Count as Stealing</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio

    Jiang Qianxue did not understand. But even if she did not understand pets, from all the spamming and all the gifts that she had been rewarded with in the live broadcast room, Jiang Qianxue understood that the scene just now was extraordinary,.

    ¡°I just arrived. May I ask where this live broadcast room is?¡±

    ¡°Amazing Fate Pet Shop.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m asking, in which city is it?¡±

    ¡°Binhai. Are you not a local?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m from out of the country. Who recorded that segment just now? I camete, and only saw thest bit.¡±

    ¡°I recorded it in preparation for licking the screen. If you want it, transfer fifty on Alipay.¡±

    ¡°F*ck! So witty! Making a profit like this!¡±

    ¡°Fifty it is, give me your private ount number. I want to show the members of the local friends of the cat group.

    The majority of the people in the live broadcast room were locals of Binghai City, and all of them were more or less proud of their city. Once it was heard that it was a good opportunity to make Binghai City (and its cats) famous, people immediately jumped out to help.

    [Bo Bo Energy]: ¡°I also recorded, I will provide it for free if anyone messages me.¡±

    Jiang Qianxue had only then noticed that there were more than five thousand people in the live broadcast room. This was a peak of poprity she had not ever experienced since the start of her broadcasting!

    In addition, a lot of the IDs of the people who tipped were unfamiliar and seemed to be foreigners, such as [Capital Snoop Dogg], or [Jinhua Qiying].

    She said to Zhang Zian, ¡°Mr. Shop Manager, could I help someone reserve a cat? It¡¯s called the American Shorthair or something¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian pointed. ¡°That one is the American Shorthair. You can take a look first. You need to pay a deposit if you want to reserve it. My pets here are in very high demand, and they sell very quickly. If you don¡¯t pay the deposit and someone else wants it, then I can only sell it to someone else.¡±

    He felt Fina¡¯s contemptuous eyes once again, as if she was saying, shameless boasting! There were obviously no customers at all the whole morning!

    He released his powerful aura (presuming that he had one) and gave a reply, ¡°This is a strategy for marketing, understand?¡±

    Jiang Qianxue ran with quick and short steps over to the kittens, pointed at a silver Tabby cat and said, ¡°Is it this one?¡± Zhang Zian nodded.

    ¡°Boss, which one is better between these two?¡± Outman and Fried Mushroom asked, as they pointed at the British Shorthair and the American Shorthair. Unable to make a decision after a long time, they were getting a bit anxious.

    After all, there were two British Shorthairs, and only one American Shorthair¡ªthere would be no more if someone else were to snatch it.

    ¡°There is no ¡®good¡¯ or ¡®bad¡¯, it just depends on what type you like.¡± Zhang Zian saw that they had strong intentions to buy, and so he seriously exined, ¡°These cats are all very close to people, but their levels of clinginess are different. That Siamese is the clingiest, the most energetic, and it cannot be even one moment away from its owner. The American Shorthair is in the middle. It¡¯s clingy, but not naughty. The British Shorthair will give you some alone time¡­¡± His finger pointed sessively towards the Siamese, the American Shorthair, and the British Shorthair. He wanted to add a sentence topare the Persian cat, but found that he pointed at nothing. The ce where the Persian cat had just been was empty. Huh? Where did the Persian cat hide?

    Suddenly, he felt the fierce aura of presence behind him also disappear.

    ¡°Shop manager, your cat wants to escape¡­¡± Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff, who had not really spoken after entering the shop, pointed at the entrance.

    Fina had snuck unobserved to the entrance without a sound. Her tail was pencil straight like a saber, all her muscles were tight, and her aquamarine eyes as deep as a bottomless pond reflected the figure of a panicking man.

    Boss Afei awkwardly stood at the entrance door. He shifted to the left and shifted to the right, but Fina still blocked him.

    It was the time of the day when the sunlight was the strongest. Fina was bathed in sunlight; every hair was illuminated, glittering and dazzling, and she looked like a gold casting.

    Boss Afei looked back and saw that everyone¡¯s eyes were focused on him. He forced a smile and said, ¡°Old brother, did you raise this cat? Howe you don¡¯t manage it well? It blocks the customer and doesn¡¯t let him go, what kind of principle is this? You don¡¯t even care for your own cat, it seems that your so-called obedience was exaggerated after all¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian sighed, ¡°Don¡¯t be a f*cking idiot. Hand over the cat that you¡¯ve hidden in your clothes first.¡±

    Boss Afei had a beer belly, and his jacket was usually open. But now, it was actually zipped up, and something was squirming in the area between his chest and stomach.

    He had taken advantage of people¡¯s attention being fully on the British Shorthairs and American Shorthair just now, and had quietly hid the left-behind Persian cat against his chest. He was ready to sneak away, but who knew that the golden cat with a strong sense of vignce would discover him.

    Well, ever since Zhang Zian had told Fina that kittens not only could live a wonderful life being served by humans if they were sold, but also that they could make a small amount of money, she became even more vigorous than Zhang Zian about marketing the kittens.

    It was really an exaggeration to actually have dared to take advantage of this pretentious gold-worshipping cat. Wasn¡¯t this the same as disturbing the legendary god?

    ¡°Oh f*ck! Cat theif!¡±

    ¡°Your whole family will die if you steal cats!¡±

    ¡°Catch him, resent him to death!¡±

    The live broadcast room was riled up again!

    This broadcast was witnessing a crime caught in action!

    Jiang Qianxue stared at Boss Afei in disbelief. Having been so pampered growing up, she just could not understand: This person had clearly tipped a few thousand dors just now. Howe hemitted theft for a cat in the blink of an eye? Even Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff, who did not want to stir up trouble, had his fists clenched tightly.

    Seeing that he had angered the public, Boss Afei broke out in a sweat. If it were an ordinary cat, then he would not have been so desperate to take the risk. But, he had a friend who was opening a Cat¡¯s House. If he could get this Persian cat, worth eight thousand, and sell it to his friend to be a breeding cat, he could possibly scam several tens of thousands from him.

    There were two roadsid out in front of him. One was to hand over the kitten and obediently admit wrongdoing, beg for the public¡¯s forgiveness, ask for mercy from the shop manager, and beg the shop manager to not call the police. The second was to¡­

    These people don¡¯t know me anyways. They are all from chatting in BBS. At the worst, I won¡¯t go on to BBS anymore!

    Having thought of this, he made his decision. He saw that the crowd was not so close to him, and leapt up! His potbelly was deceiving¡ªhe actually had been a ser yer when he was young. He was quite agile; with that leap, he used the same skills that he had used to head the ball in his former days. He leapt very high, wanting to go clear over Fina¡¯s head¡­

    Unfortunately, the saying held true, ¡°Topare human agility with that of a cat is to seek death.¡±

    Fina disappeared right in front of his eyes as he jumped!

    While he was in the air, he suddenly felt his back sink. A ferocious force had grabbed him by his cor. Then with a ¡°Chi,¡± like the sound of silk ripping, the back of his canvas jacket split in half. The rip was as smooth as a cut made with a scalpel!

    That kind of sharp and unparalleled force continued downward. Not only his jacket, but now also his leather belt, which stubbornly resisted for half a second, was slit open. Next were his pants¡­

    Thanks to the many years of ser training, and with the reliance on his weight that obviously obscured his good points, Boss Afei barely managed to retain his bnce when hended; and, he staggered quite a few steps, even though he had been assaulted in mid-air.

    He turned his head to see that the crowd and the golden cat had not yet caught up to him. He made strides to continue to run, but his pants down at his ankles tripped him, and he fell t on his face. His front teeth were almost knocked out as he fell on the ground with his butt in the air.

    Jiang Qianxue blushed and turned her head away. She aimed her phone at Boss Afei from afar.

    ¡°Oh f*ck! Such a white arse!¡±

    ¡°This pose is too overwhelming!¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha!¡±

    ¡°Erection¡­¡±

    ¡°Stripped!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t stand you guys. Totally unnecessary!¡±

 Chapter 52: Two Became One

    <h4>Chapter 52: Two Became One</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio

    Boss Afei¡¯s jacket had be a tank top, and his pants were down at his ankles. As his posture was strangely funny, a lot of pedestrians tried to get closer and take pictures with their phones.

    Boss Afei was so confused, having no time to think but wanting to escape without dy. He rushed to pull up his pants, desperately running for the side of the road. He used his body to stop an oing taxi. Regardless of the driver¡¯s dismay, he opened the taxi door to dive in, and then urged the driver to take off! The driver did not understand what happened, but still started the car. Then, in a moment, the taxi disappeared around the corner of the street.

    ¡°F*ck, how could he run away?¡±

    ¡°Howe nobody chased him?¡±

    ¡°He should be caught and turned over to the police!¡±

    ¡°I am not sure whether I should say or not¡­¡±

    ¡°Just say what you want to say!¡±

    ¡°I know this person. He was the owner of Xin Miao Auto Repair Shop in the west part of the city. If I remembered correctly, hisst name was Liu ¡­I brought my car there for repair once¡­¡±

    [ID: Future Online Games] posted.

    ¡°Now we can find him easily at his shop!¡±

    ¡°You dared to take your car for repair at his shop?¡±

    ¡°It really was just a car repair, nothing else ¡­¡±

    ¡°I have recorded the scene, and had just uploaded the video to my blog named ¡®Cat Thief At A Pet Shop¡¯. You are wee to forward it to yourwork!¡± [ID: Jinhua Qiying] posted.

    The almost-stolen Persian catnded on the ground as Boss Afei¡¯s jacket was cut in half, looking left and right, and tried to find the way back. After it went back to the pet shop with its unique meow sounds, it sat down at Jiang Qianxue¡¯s feet with big yawns.

    Zhang Zian shrugged to the crowd. ¡°I told you that my cats would never run away.¡±

    From the beginning to the end, he never left the couch.

    ¡°Wow, it was amazing!¡±

    ¡°The manager rocked!¡±

    The audience for Jiang Qianxue¡¯s online live broadcast hit over 6000, and she was getting a variety of online donations constantly.

    At that time, Wang Qian and Li Kun couldn¡¯t wait to give theirplements to Zhang Zian, ¡°My master is the best in the world. He will live long and control the whole universe!¡±

    Zhang Zian ignored the two silly boys¡¯ words.

    Jiang Qianxue spoke up, ¡°Mr. Manager, I want to buy this Persian cat, and I will pay the deposit for the American Shorthair for someone else.¡± She squatted down, scratching the cat¡¯s back. The Persian cat wed her hand with its forepaws,fortably exposing its belly.

    She did not care how much this cat cost, but only whether it was well behaved or not. She and her father worked a lot, and it would be nice for her mom to have a cute little cat as apanion because she was a full-time housewife. Despite everything that she had just experienced, the cat was neither making strange sounds nor panicking, but was very gentle and calm. She knew that her mother and the cat would get along with each other!

    After watching the American Shorthair being sold, the young couple seemed to panic. Fried Mushroom had transferred some money to Outman¡¯s Alipay ount; She finally decided to pick up the English Shorthair and said, ¡°Mr. Manager, I want this one.¡±

    When seeing the customers ready to pay, Zhang Zian could not continue to sit on the recliner. He jumped up and took out his cell phone. ¡°Alipay money transfer or cash? Do you need something else too, like cat food, a litter box, cat tree, cat scratcher, cat carrier, a shovel, etc.? Do you have ns for travelling abroad soon with the cat? Do you need a suitcase?¡±

    The profit for these cat essories were almost 100%, some were even higher!

    The audience online suddenly became silent.

    ¡°Wow, where is your coolness, Mr. Manager?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you feel tired!¡±

    If Zhang Zian saw those posts, he would have said to those posters that a salesman should be considered a loser if he loses opportunities to sell!

    Fried Mushroom and Outman discussed this for a while and finally decided to get the package: cat, litter box, and a bag of cat food. They would buy other things online, as the prices would be more affordable. But on the other hand, Jiang Qianxue bought everything Zhang Zian rmended, whether it was useful or not.

    There were a lot of people online rewarding her for getting some cat food.

    ¡°Howe this store doesn¡¯t sell any cat ears or cat tails, but only cat bells?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it can¡¯t be called a pet shop without having cat ears and cat tails.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought, ¡± You¡¯re ming me? Does your family pet shop sell cat ears?¡±

    ¡°Miss Jiang, next time, host a live show with the Persian cat wearing cat ears, cat tail, and cat bells. That will definitely attract a bigger audience!¡±

    Two cats were sold just like that: after the money was transferred through Alipay, Zhang Zian handed the invoices and sales contracts to Fried Mushroom and Jiang Qianxue.

    While the three werepleting the transactions, Outman couldn¡¯t wait and pped her hands three times and snapped her fingers once, but the British short did not respond, wagging its tail confusedly.

    ¡°Mr. Manager, What is going on?¡± Outman almost burst into tears, as this wasn¡¯t a cheap cat. Did she get fooled?

    Fried Mushrooms, still holding the invoice and other paperwork, was also shocked by what he saw. He gave Zhang Zian a suspicious look.

    Zhang Zian said to Jiang Qianxue, who was watching the whole thing, ¡°Please, you try.¡±

    Jiang Qianxue gave Great Chieftain Thunder Bluff her cell phone and asked him to continue the live broadcast. Then she did exactly what Zhang Zian did before, but the Persian cat did not respond.

    Some in the audience started making sarcastic remarks.

    Although faced with more and more questioning looks, only Wang Qian and Li Kun still had respect and confidence in Zhang Zian. Zhang Zian said to Jiang Qianxue with a smile, ¡°Let me try.¡±

    He first pped his hands three times. The Persian cat¡¯s attention suddenly concentrated on him, even the people around could tell that thezy cat lookedpletely different. Then he stretched out his arm, and watched by the Persian cat, he patted Jiang Qianxue¡¯s left shoulder.

    ¡°Okay, try again,¡± he said.

    Jiang Qianxue then pped her hands three times. The Persian cat no longer stared at Zhang Zian, but changed its stare to Jiang Qianxue.

    She snapped her fingers with a low sound, not brittle, but the Persian cat immediately began to go around the ground in a figure eight, back to the starting ce, squatting there and waiting for the next instructions.

    Jiang Qianxue was surprised and delighted. She pped her hands twice, and the Persian cat suddenly became softer and less militant, once again gaining itszy look, softly resting on her feet.

    ¡°Master! Is this the so-called transferring of master identify?¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun eximed.

    Zhang Zian did not expect the first reactions to be from these two fools. He was not sure whether they were stupid or smart..or maybe two dummies together became smarter?

    The audience suddenly felt as if they were waking up from a dream and cheered.

    ¡°Wow, this really caught me off guard¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey, someone is doing some cool stuff here! Totally wild!¡±

 Chapter 53: Damn Single

    <h4>Chapter 53: Damn Single</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio

    After she had embarrassed Boss Afei on the spot, Fina went back to the shop. She found the highest cat tree, jumped up onto it, and surveyed the entire shop condescendingly.

    Zhang Zian felt two eyes towering over and staring at him. He secretly cursed in his heart, how this pretentious, gold worshipping cat was too hard to serve, knowing that Fina wasn¡¯t really satisfied with the statement of ¡°transfer of master identity.¡± But, he couldn¡¯t afford to provoke her, so he could only correct her immediately: ¡°No, actually, this isn¡¯t a transfer of master identity, but it¡¯s saying how you are the next hokage¡­no, it¡¯s the next cat ve, the one who will be in charge of the future great cause of shoveling feces!¡± Hearing this new rhetoric, Fina narrowed her eyes. It seemed as if she had approved.

    The crowd and the audience in the live broadcast room were all overjoyed. They thought that this was Zhang Zian¡¯s whimsical rhetoric, and made some ridiculing remarks and didn¡¯t care.

    .

    Zhang Zian said to Outman and Fried Mushroom, ¡°So which one of you will take over the great cause of shoveling feces? The identity of a cat ve can only be inherited to one person, and only one person canmand your cats to do stunts.¡±

    As expected, Outman couldn¡¯t wait and eximed, ¡°Give it to me!¡±

    Fried Mushroom nodded, ¡°Give it to her.¡±

    Zhang Zian secretly had sympathy for this obedient young man. In the future, his status would always be at the bottom of the pyramid. The order from highest to lowest would be her, and then him; the tables would never ever turn. Zhang Zian was determined that he would train his girlfriend to be very obedient and submissive, and never fall into this kind of state. Of course, he would have to get a girlfriend first.

    After he had transferred his identity to Outman, she pped her hands to try again. This time, the British Shorthair also obediently walked in a figure eight.

    Fried Mushroom and Outman joyfully left with the cat. They began to post videos on their WeChat moments the instant they left the shop.

    Great chieftain of Thunder Bluff said, ¡°Shop manager, this dog of yours¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s facial expression changed. Even if I was damn single you still can¡¯t call me that to my face! [1] Wang Qian and Li Kun saw that their master was being humiliated, and they immediately geared up in preparation to get vengeance for him. Even though master was half way into Jin Dan power level, and crushing a mortal human to death was easier than crushing an ant to death, wouldn¡¯t it dirty their master¡¯s hand? In addition, this was a great opportunity to show their loyalty and sincerity!

    Great chieftain of Thunder Bluff knew that he had said the wrong thing, and hurriedly corrected, ¡°No, I¡¯m saying the dogs you have here. Can they do stunts like the cats?¡±

    Jiang Qianxue aimed the camera phone at the Samoya and the Schnauzer, who were in the disy cabs. The audience in the live broadcast room was also looking at it with anticipation.

    Zhang Zian coughed dryly and said, ¡°Regretfully, I didn¡¯t train them.¡±

    Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff continued to ask, ¡°Why? Isn¡¯t training dogs much easier than training cats?¡±

    Zhang Zian soberly said, ¡°You are right! It¡¯s exactly because training dogs is easier, so I didn¡¯t bother to train them.¡±

    Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff disyed a face of great bafflement.

    ¡°Training cats is very difficult, so I do the difficult work on behalf of the customers. Training dogs is easier, so I leave that opportunity and pleasure to the customers themselves,¡± Zhang Zian replied. ¡°Think about it: training pets is the same as teaching your own child how to walk and talk; It¡¯s a great pleasure, which is part of the journey of maturation for your pets. How could I bear to deprive you of it? Even for cats, I¡¯ve only made a start; it¡¯s the same as giving the cats a basic enlightenment. In the end, to what degree they could be trained ispletely up to the customers themselves!¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s demeanor was fervent. People who didn¡¯t know would think he was about to be the prime minister of China.

    He hardened his face and forcefully withstood the spiteful stares of Fina. Everyone suddenly realized that the shop manager was earnest and sincere, and he had indeed expended much care and thought: he thought of what customers needed, and did what anxious customers wanted.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were extremely excited, ¡°This is what they mean by, ¡®the teacher opens the door, but the individual has to enter it on his or her own¡¯!¡±

    Zhang Zian heaved a deep sigh, ¡°In order to train these cats, I¡¯ve gone to bed at two in the morning and had to wake up at four in the morning; I¡¯ve dedicated my short life to the cause of endless cat training¡­After going through arduous training, there are still people whoin that the price is too expensive, even though I just sell them at cost¡­ is that even ethical?¡±

    Men who have their hearts set on business were the cutest, andmanded respect from everyone. Comments of, ¡°Shop manager take care of your body¡±, ¡°Too touched¡±, ¡°Don¡¯t overwork yourself¡± filled the live broadcast room.

    Samoya and Schnauzer said, ¡°Exo_me?¡±

    Motherf*cker, this shop manager didn¡¯t even have a rough draft when he acted pretentious! They kept the process of ¡°arduous cat training¡± in their minds. Zhang Zian was nothing but a shadow in Fina¡¯s steps. The training was done single-handedly by Fina. If they could talk, they would definitely reveal Zhang Zian on the spot. The puppies spun around anxiously in the disy cabs, and they wanted to tell the truth to those deceived idiots. But the crowd mistakenly believed that they also wanted to participate in the training, and they couldn¡¯t help but to smile.

    Zhang Zian understood why Fina put on a pretentious face at every moment¡ªthis feeling of acting pretentious was so damn satisfying! He was the recipient of someone acting pretentious when he was facing Fina, but this did not deter his acting pretentious in front of others!

    Tears were rolling down Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff¡¯s face. ¡°Don¡¯t say anymore! I¡¯ll just buy it!¡±

    Actually, the original intent of the group of five, other than Jiang Qianxue, who came for live broadcasting, was to buy pets. Not many woulde to just to kill time.

    Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff scratched his head and asked, ¡°I don¡¯t understand dogs too much. Which one is better to buy?¡± Talking about choosing pets, Zhang Zian became serious. This time, it was real seriousness.

    ¡°None is better,¡± he stressed. ¡°It¡¯s only a question of which one is more suitable for you. Don¡¯t worry so much about the characteristics of the dogs, but rather exin your situation and needs, and then I can give you some suggestions.¡±

    Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff pondered for a while, and with some embarrassment said, ¡°I¡¯ve just graduated from college¡­ and haven¡¯t found a job yet. I want one that I won¡¯t have to worry about too much; one that¡¯s a bit easier to take care of. Oh yea, I live on the third floor and am renting it together with someone else. Does this make a difference at all?¡±

    Zhang Zian had an unhappy expression, ¡°Those are all alright, but why did you have to hide the most important detail?¡±

    Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff was stunned, ¡°What did I hide?¡±

    Zhang Zian pointed with revenge, ¡°You¡¯re damn single.¡±

    Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff suffered ten thousand violent attack injuries!

    Some of the audience in the live broadcast room suffered AOE injuries!

    ¡°How?¡± he cried. ¡°How do you know?¡±

    Zhang Zianughedcently, ¡°Because you haven¡¯t looked at your phone since you entered the shop, so you¡¯re clearly single!¡±

    Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff wiped his tears, ¡°But shop manager, you also haven¡¯t looked at your phone once since I entered the shop.

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    He pointed at the Pet Encyclopedia. ¡°I was reading, and also I just used my phone for Alipay.¡±

    Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff pointed. ¡°Shop manager, why do you have to hide it, you are actually damn single as well, right!¡±

    He stuck out his chest. ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s have at it!¡±

    Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff thwarted the attack and counterattacked. Zhang Zian suffered ten thousand points in damage!

    Zhang Zian also suffered the resulting effect of continuous blood flow!

    The audience in the live broadcast room:

    ¡°Why does a damn single have to hurt another damn single!¡±

    ¡°Be together, be together!¡±

    Footnotes:

    [1] Modern people in China like to refer people who are single as dogs. ¡°Damn single¡± directly trantes to ¡°single dog¡±.

    [2] AOE is a Chinese ng that is often used to describe a person who has trouble differentiating the reality from the anime/manga world.

    [3] Hokage is a ng term derived from the anime, Naruto, which means ¡°fire shadow¡±, or ¡°fire chief¡±.

 Chapter 54: End of Friendship

    <h4>Chapter 54: End of Friendship</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When the two dogs fought each other, they both suffered!

    Zhang Zian wiped the blood off his mouth and said lightly, ¡°Well, let¡¯s stop here. For you, I strongly rmend a Schnauzer. A mini Schnauzer is small and suitable for the indoors. The amount of exercise indoors is enough for him. Samoya requires frequent cleaning; otherwise, the entirety of Samoya¡¯s white fur turns gray. In addition, Samoya needs good training or it could create a disturbance when it doesn¡¯t listen. Dog training can be quite challenging for a first-time pet owner though. Also, considering that you have a roommate, it would be wiser to get a Schnauzer so it is less likely your roommate would get sick of the dog and do something to it.¡±

    With tearsing down his face, the Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff said, ¡°Thank you so much for saving my life!¡±

    ¡°Well, a Schnauzer eats less, considering that you don¡¯t really have a job yet.¡± Zhang Zian thought he was being tactful.

    The Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff was speechless.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Large dogs can be very expensive. I would say at least five or six hundred a month, even more expensive than arge damn single.¡±

    The Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff replied, ¡°There we go again! Back to the same topic. Did you fill up the HP? Furthermore, how do you spend your time, huh?¡±

    Ignoring the attack, Zhang Zian said, ¡°Schnauzer it is. A Samoya¡¯s hair can drive you crazy. Even though a Schnauzer also loses hair, it¡¯s a much smaller dog. The only premise is that your roommate should agree that you can have a dog.¡±

    The most troublesome thing about having a pet when renting with another person is that you never know whether your roommate is really in agreement or just too shy to say no.

    The Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff responded, ¡°Yes, I know. I know. I am positive that I can ovee all the difficulties. My roommate is not opposed to having a pet. My job hunt is also getting somewhere. My biggest concern now is that between the two, which one is more popr among girls?¡±

    Zhang Zian pulled a long face, ¡°Wank every now and then, young man. Daydreaming is not good for you.¡±

    Holy sh*t! This guy was witty. A great way to get a girl!

    I must talk him out of it. I could not let such a fine young man fall into a wrong path!

    The Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff raised his hand, ¡°Manager, you may shut up now. I did not ask for your opinion nor do I think you know the answer.¡±

    That¡¯s right! Why would a fresh college graduate, a damn single, rush to get a pet, a dog in particr?

    Very simple. It ismon sense that you need to walk your dog. After getting a dog, he would walk the dog every day near his apartment. He might be able to meet a girl who was also walking a dog. They could chat about dogs. Furthermore, he could use the dog as an excuse to get the girl¡¯s WeChat ID. In the second half of the year, he then could gradually deepen the rtionship and ultimately stop being single. He could go home with the girl for New Year¡¯s.

    It would be too strange to walk a cat, of course.

    That must be n A.

    n B would be to post pictures on Weibo or WeChat to attract attention. Many girls like cute pets. Some might even reach out to him for further discussions about pets.

    Perfect ns!

    Of course, all wishes are beautiful, but whether wishese true? That¡¯s another story.

    ¡°Snowy, which one do you prefer?¡± the Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff turned his head and asked Jiang Qianxue.

    With a Persian cat in her arms, Jiang Qianxue giggled while looking at them. The broadcast room was lively. She normally had to think really hard to start some conversations but this time, it couldn¡¯t have been easier.

    The question caught her off guard. She looked at the Samoya and the Schnauzer and said, ¡°Umm, they are both very cute¡­¡±

    The Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff simply wouldn¡¯t stop. ¡°If it was up to you, which one would you take?¡±

    The audience was irritated. This kid was way out of line. How dare he tease Snowy right in front of us!? This brat looked harmless but he sure knew how to pick up girls!

    ¡°Why do you ask her? Take whatever you want!¡±

    ¡°Listen to the manager!¡±

    ¡°Take one and get out of here!¡±

    The audience was sensationally halted!

    Jiang Qianxue recalled Zhang Zian ¡®s words and said, ¡°If it was for me, I would like something easy. Girls spend more time in other stuff. I would pick the Schnauzer.¡±

    The Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff agreed immediately. ¡°I¡¯ll get the Schnauzer.¡±

    The audience was again mad. ¡°What? Damn it!¡±

    The Schnauzer cheered, ¡°Manager is magnificent!¡±

    Samoya cried, ¡°End of friendship!¡±

    As virus of damn single attacked Zhang Zian, he reluctantly processed the sale for the Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff. The more reluctant he was, the more confident Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff became for his n. After all procedures werepleted, the Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff said goodbye to Snowy and left the pet store in Zhang Zian¡¯s whispered curse.

    After a while, the person who reserved an American shorthair cat came to pick it up. He first expressed gratitude to Snowy, and then very happily paid the money. This person had a cat at home already, so he left without buying more stuff.

    In the blink of an eye, Snowy was the only one left. As for Wang Qian and Li Kun, they could be ignored.

    Jiang Qiaoxue felt that it was almost time to end the show, so she spoke on the cellphone, ¡°It is about time to end today¡¯s live show. If you like my live show, please follow my show, the Snowy Live Studio.¡±

    The audience began to act up when they heard Snowy¡¯s closing lines.

    ¡°No, no! Please don¡¯t go, Miss Snowy!¡±

    ¡°A bit longer, Snowy!¡±

    ¡°When is the next show? I have to set an rm!¡±

    ¡°Snowy, you have to wear the cat ears next time! Otherwise I willy down on the floor!¡±

    Zhang Zian came up and asked embarrassedly, ¡°May I have a few words?¡±

    Jiang Qianxue pointed the cellphone at him, ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    He cleared his voice, ¡°This is an advertisement. Our store sells pets and essories. We also provide bathing services for cats. If you are interested, please bring your cat here. It would be a whole new experience.¡±

    ¡°Wow, manager, why do you look so horny? You won¡¯t do anything bad to our cats when you bathe them, will you?¡±

    Jiang Qianxue pointed the camera back at her andughed, ¡°The cats here are excellent. The advertisement was great. You guys should definitely give it a try.¡±

    Her right hand remained holding the cellphone while her left hand moved from behind her body to her chest. She then bowed elegantly in the camera.

    ¡°Thank you for everyone¡¯s support! Regarding the time and content for our next live show¡­it is undecided at this point. Please follow me on Weibo and WeChat!¡±

    ¡°See you next time!¡±

    She ended the live show, turned around, and saw the manager trying to imitate her pose, but not so well. She giggled. ¡°Mr. Manager, don¡¯t hurt your back!¡±

    Zhang Zian stood up, all embarrassed. ¡°Umm, I practiced gymnastics before. I am just getting old.¡±

    Samoya was the only one left in the store, ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    Gymnastics!? Are you referring to the morning exercise at school?

    Zhang Zian gave him a hard look and said to Jiang Qianxue, ¡°Are you taking the pet essories with you now? You may leave your address and phone number. I can mail them to you. There are a lot of heavy items. The shipping costs should be paid by the recipient.¡±

    Jiang Qianxue hesitated, ¡°Well, I can leave my address and phone number but you¡¯ll have to keep it confidential.¡±

    Zhang Zian felt amazed. Nowadays, even camgirls acted like celebrities. ¡°We do not disclose our customers¡¯ personal information. If you are worried, you may keep them here and have a friend pick them up at ater time.¡±

    Jiang Qianxue was wealthy. She also hadrge audiences. But when it came to trustworthy friends¡­there might not be as many as she had wished.

 Chapter 55: Mineral Spring Water, I Only Drink Evian

    <h4>Chapter 55: Mineral Spring Water, I Only Drink Evian</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Jiang Qianxue was a little anxious.

    If it were mailed to Father¡¯spany, then it would have been all right, but Father would probably have thrown all the pet products away.

    ¡°Forget it, just give me the mail.¡± She wrote down her own home address and phone number.

    Zhang Zian took the note and nced at it. The location seemed to be the famous top-notch vi area of Binghai city.

    Does one make that much money being an anchorperson nowadays? A vi can be bought with that kind of ie?

    He was very despondent, and seriously considered if he should try it and be an anchorperson. But what would he broadcast? He was sedentary, couldn¡¯t carry a tune, and was very bad at ying games. Should he live broadcast himself shoveling cat feces?

    [Shocker: Some anchorperson earns a monthly ie of one million live broadcasting shoveling cat feces]? My UC Shock couldn¡¯t be so busy!

    Jiang Qianxue used the cat carrier to carry the Persian cat, waved goodbye to Zhang Zian, and left the shop. The shop became quiet again.

    Zhang Zian let out a breath of air, ¡°So, why are you two still poking in there?¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun bowed their heads, ¡°Disciples beg master to take us in!¡±

    For these patients in thete stage of retard cancer, the only treatment was probably to send them to Professor Yang for shock therapy.

    Zhang Zian nodded, ¡°I see that you guys are bored to death, how about this You,¡± he pointed at Wang Qian. ¡°You, go to the market and bring some fish back for me.¡±

    He also pointed at Li Kun. ¡°You, go buy a box of mineral spring water; it has to be Evian. Bring back the receipts, so I can reimburse you guys.¡±

    This pair of patients with retard illness was overjoyed. There must be some deep meaning behind master¡¯s move. Maybe it was to refine ultimate immortality medicine? Master actually gave us such a heavy and important responsibility; he must have been touched by our sincerity! As long as we have faith that could move mountains, what hardships could we not ovee? There will be a day when master will definitely pass onto us the advanced animal-taming skills, as well as other skills of the celestials!

    The two said in unison, ¡°Solemnly follow master¡¯s orders! We will go into boiling water and step on fire [1] under all circumstances for master!¡±

    F*ck! How did having you guys run to the market be going into boiling water and stepping on fire?

    ¡°Master, forgive disciple¡¯s feeble-mindedness! What kind of fish?¡± Wang Qian carefully asked.

    What kind of fish¡­ Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t sure either, and Fina wouldn¡¯t necessarily be able to exin clearly if he asked her. After all, the names of the fish from ancient times were probably different from the names of fish now.

    After some thought, he replied, ¡°Tpia, has to be boneless.¡±

    ¡°Following master¡¯s orders!¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were indeed college students with a lot of energy and nowhere to release it. Their footwork was fast, and they were gone within the blink of an eye.

    Soon afterwards, they came running back, out of breath. Wang Qian carried a bag of tpia, and Li Kun carried a box of Evian water. Zhang Zian reimbursed them, and also gave them an extra twenty dors each.

    There should be a payback in return for giving. Although he was stingy, he wasn¡¯t stingy to that degree.

    ¡°Ok, you two are both college students in school, right? Hurry up and trundle back to ss. You guys are not allowed toe here during ss time in the future! If you guys flunk a ss at the end of the semester, don¡¯t ever think about entering my shop door!¡± hemanded coldly.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were dripping with cold sweat. They looked at each other, and could only helplessly obey, ¡°Yes, master!¡±

    After they had left, Gxy, who was hiding on the second floor, quietly revealed his head around the corner of the stairs, ¡°Zian, did all the people leave?¡±

    Zhang Zian waved his hand at him, ¡°They all left,e down.¡±

    Gxy counted only a British Shorthair and a Siamese cat left of all the kittens, and among the puppies, only Samoya was left, ¡°Everyone decreased,¡± Gxy said.

    Zhang Zianforted, ¡°It¡¯s ok, it will be more and more lively here.¡±

    Gxy narrowed his eyes, ¡°Gxy likes lively! Everyone y hide-and-seek together!¡±

    ¡°No problem. After I finish eating lunch, we will y hide-and-seek!¡±

    Zhang Zian turned around to see that Fina, who had climbed up the cat tree, had already quietly jumped down, and was circling the bag of tpia, smelling it, and wing at the outeryer of the stic bag carefully.

    ¡°Familiar smell,¡± she said. It seemed she was quite satisfied with tpia.

    When Fina was dealing with Boss Afei, she disyed extraordinary keenness. At that time, Boss Afei had leapt up in front in her, wanting to jump over her head. She did not approach, but instead jumped up from her original spot, inteced with Boss Afei in mid-air, spun in the air, and in the blink of an eye, she appeared behind Boss Afei; her keenness was extraordinary. Even if a human could imitate this action, it wasn¡¯t possible to do it so naturally and weightlessly. This was something that was engraved in the genes, one could not refuse toply.

    To give an example, it was like the feeling of the legendary super soldier king returning to the city.

    Zhang Zian used a paper knife to cut open the outer packaging of the box of Evian water. He retrieved a bottle, and honestly felt sorry.

    F*ck, the most top-quality water I¡¯ve ever drank was only Nongfu Spring, and now I have to give imported mineral spring water for cats to drink.

    He unscrewed the cap, and squatted down to fill up Fina¡¯s personal water bowl. The other kittens did not dare to covet Fina¡¯s personal items, and Gxy did not need to eat or drink.

    ¡°Tsk, tsk, imported high quality mineral spring water in the end! This water quality is clear and fragrant, through the bottlees a refreshing and cooling feel, and bathes one in the spring wind¡­nope, I can¡¯tpose anymore¡­¡±

    He gave himself psychological implications in order to console his wounded soul, and to make himself believe that this water was indeed worth it. But it was a pity that he couldn¡¯t tell the difference between it and the bottles of water that were one dor a bottle.

    Fina pulled on his clothes from behind¡ªluckily she did not stretch her ws, or else he would have had to dispose of another shirt.

    ¡°I, the queen, ask you, howe those people left without paying?¡±

    Her face was frosty and her aquamarine eyes glowed even stronger. It seemed that she had endured this question for a long time already. She sniffled from time to time, and leered out the door. As long as Zhang Zian¡¯s answer did not satisfy her, she could transform from the Lucky Cat to the Debt Collector Cat at any time, and chase after those people until she got the money or the kittens back.

    Zhang Zian only realized what she meant after he had nkly stared for a moment, and exined, ¡°Modern society rarely uses cash for transactions ofrge amounts of money. That¡¯s because no one brings that much cash on them. It¡¯s inconvenient and easy for thieves to be concerned with. We made our transaction through Alipay just now. Alipay is a big business, with credit to ensure the fairness of transactions. The money has already been saved into my Alipay ount, and can be taken out at any time and changed into cash.¡±

    She tilted her head to the side and digested what Zhang Zian had said for a while . The fierce, imposing momentum that was hovering around her side gradually receded. She swung her tail and went to the water bowl to drink.

    Zhang Zian was convinced yet again to never attempt to try to take advantage of her.

    She was really thirsty, and drank half the bowl in one breath. Her tongue agilely licked clean the remaining water on her mouth and beard, and left a note of pretentiousness, ¡°This water is not bad.¡±

    F*ck! A ten-dor bottle of water in exchange for this mediocre review! Why don¡¯t you go up into the sky! [2]

    Zhang Zian had only two expert dishes, scrambled eggs and ramen. Today, he had to take on the challenge of grilling fish. To buy ready-made grilled fish from the grilled-fish store was, of course, convenient. But firstly, it can¡¯t be certain that the fish from those stores were indeed sanitary or not. Secondly, it was more expensive than the fish that one could make by oneself. Thirdly, there was too much salt in the seasoning of that type of grilled fish, and was not suitable for cats to eat.

    Footnotes:

    [1] A Chinese saying that means to go through thick and thin.

    [2] Chinese ng that impolitely suggests one to be modest.

 Chapter 56: Baking a Fish

    <h4>Chapter 56: Baking a Fish</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The tpia Wang Qian bought was still half frozen. The fish had already been cleaned by removing the head, tail, scale, bones and guts. The fish was sashimi-grade, so it could be consumed raw if chosen to. This was exactly what Zhang Zian asked for.

    The fish smelled fresh. The texture of the flesh was clear and delicate. The meat seemed very flexible when pressed down. It was fatty and tender. The thickest part was about as thick as a finger. He must have experience picking out fish. This kid was rather reliable, although he was sometimes silly.

    Zhang Zian half-closed the door. If someone entered, the cat bell would ring.

    He took the fish to the kitchen upstairs. Fina followed him closely. She could not take her eyes off the shopping bag. She looked as if her mouth was watering, but when Zhang Zian looked at her, she immediately switched back to a calm face. Haixing also followed purely out of curiosity. Zhang Zian put the shopping bag on the counter. Fina jumped up immediately. Her body had an infinite power; however, she used it very carefully without any waste.

    The kitchen still looked the same.

    Zhang Zian had little experience in the kitchen. His mother was always busy here with her apron on. He always heard the concerto of pots and pans and smelled the scents of various sauces from the kitchen.

    Hunger breeds discontent. The most important ce of life in a family is undoubtedly the kitchen.

    Now, the kitchen was empty.

    Mother¡¯s apron was hanging behind the door. The original color had been washed away. Only a faint pattern of bears was still noticeable.

    The crooked stitches reminded him that this apron was made in crafting ss when he was in elementary school. He gave it to his mom as a Mother¡¯s Day gift.

    It had been over 20 years, and Mother was still using it.

    Zhang Zian put on the apron and felt as if his mother was around. It felt like she was holding his hand.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s cook!¡± He tried to cheer himself up.

    Zhang Zian knew the only way to make sure his parents rested in peace was to live a fulfilling life.

    Baking fish was rtively simple. There were many cooking apps online to show novice cooks how it was done. So, he downloaded one.

    The tpia was wide. He cut the fish from the middle, and followed the tutorial on the app using scallion, ginger, wine and soy sauce for marinating. He reced salt with soy sauce.

    He rinsed off the rice while he was waiting for the marination. Then, he used a rice cooker to cook rice.

    Fina was curious about the various spices. She was sniffing them with her beard almost sticking to the spices.

    Zhang Zian suddenly came up with a mischievous idea. How about having her sniff the ck pepper? However, he decided not to risk his life.

    ¡°What kind of spices did you have in your fish?¡± he asked.

    Fina shook his head, ¡°Fish is fish. They were baked on a dish containing palm leaves underneath and then topped with chopped olives and Persian dates.¡±

    Damn! What a way to enjoy fish!

    Now he had a rough idea where Fina used to live. It must have been close to the sea. She could get fresh Tpia. There were olive trees and palm trees. It was also not far from Persia.

    When the rice cooker began, he ced the marinated tpia on a rack in the oven. Then he put another pan under the rack to catch any oil that may drip onto the oven.

    When he opened the oven, Gxy made a ¡°meow woo¡± sound and was so scared, she rushed out of the kitchen. She was trembling to stick out her head and said, ¡°Gxy hates ck boxes ¡­¡±

    ¡°It is not a ck box. See? There is a light inside,¡± Zhang Zian turned on the oven and the built-in light. The whole oven was lit up.

    Gxy walked back to the kitchen with her body against the wall. She still did not want to get close to the oven.

    The oven started buzzing and operating. Wiggling her tail, Fina was sticking out her head and neck. She had been observing very cautiously.

    ¡°I could not feel the heat,¡± shemented.

    ¡°Of course. This is so much better than a stone.¡± For the first time Zhang Zian took pride in the modern technology. Finally, there was a chance to brag about what he knew in front of her!

    ¡°You didn¡¯t build it! Why are you so proud?¡± Fina immediately put on a contemptuous face.

    Damn it! She was always sharp!

    Although embarrassed, Zhang Zian still wanted to defend himself, ¡°How did you know I didn¡¯t build it?¡±

    ¡°The way you looked at the scale was so unwise. If you built the oven, you wouldn¡¯t have to study it before you used it.¡± She simply turned away.

    Lies exposed!

    Well, I could not be mad at a cat! Zhang Zian secretlyforted himself and then pretended to pay serious attention to the oven.

    This was his first time baking. He¡¯d better make sure the fish didn¡¯t burn. Otherwise, he would lose more face in front of this cat, a gold digger.

    Whatever it was in the oven, the mastery of temperature was most important, especially for fish and meat. The variance could be huge based on the cut.

    After some time, the fish began to change color. Golden oil dripped from the most tender part and fell into the bottom pan.

    Even though the oven door was closed, the aroma was gradually flowing out. Zhang Zian¡¯s stomach was growling.

    He turned off the oven, put on some thick gloves, and warned Fina, ¡°Do not touch. It is very hot.¡±

    He took out the half-way cooked fish, dipped it into the marinating sauce making sure to cover the top and bottom and then put it back into the oven.

    Fina¡¯s eyes did not leave the fish. She kept licking her lips, raising her forepaws and then lowering them. She would¡¯ve jumped up to the fish if she wasn¡¯t being restrained.

    This was a critical time. Zhang Zian would rather turn down the temperature than burn the fish.

    He immediately turned off the oven when he saw just a bit of a burn mark on the edge of the fish.

    He removed the fish from the oven. He was happy that it smelled fine and not burnt.

    It was time to te it. It would be even better if he had sometro, celery, broli or lemon for the te. Unfortunately, he hadn¡¯t been grocery shopping since his return to Binhai City.

    The rice was ready. Beautiful hot steam came up as he opened the lid.

    Zhang Zian served himself a bowl of rice. As he turned around, Fina had already dug in. Man, where had her elegance and royal characteristics gone?

    Fina licked the fish, but her tongue was burned. She stepped back immediately.

    Cats have very sensitive tongues. That¡¯s why some people are described as having ¡°a cat¡¯s tongue¡± when they are unable to eat hot food.

    ¡°Let me cut it into small pieces. Eat when it cools down!¡± His warning came toote. Fina gave him an livid look.

    He cut the fish for Fina into small pieces just as big as the nail on a pinky finger. Cutting it small would help cool down the fish and the pieces would fit Fina¡¯s mouth perfectly.

    When two servings of baked fish and one bowl of rice was put on the table, Fina jumped to the table directly from the counter.

    Gxy was running around on the second floor. She might be practicing for the hide-and-seek gameter. Honestly, she didn¡¯t need it. She would definitely beat Zhang Zian nevertheless.

    ¡°Looks good now. Please enjoy,¡± he said as he picked up the chopsticks.

 Chapter 57: People Are Inferior to Cats

    <h4>Chapter 57: People Are Inferior to Cats</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian had hardly finished speaking when Fina had already started to eat in a whirl. There were no side dishes, and cats did not eat rice. It was actually a little bit shabby. He thought for a while that there were still some eggs in the refrigerator, so he made two more servings of egg drop soup again. He chopped and shredded one of the servings while it was hot, and ced it by Fina¡¯s side.

    ¡°Don¡¯t only eat fish, there are also eggs,¡± he said, but Fina turned a deaf ear and still only ate the fish.

    Why am I talking sense to a cat? Heughed helplessly and went to the refrigerator to get a small piece of natural butter. He used a spoon to poke in Fina¡¯s egg drop soup, dug a small hole in the middle and put it in, then covered it up with shredded egg. Not long after, the hot egg drop soup melted the butter, and the aroma overflowed out. Fina lifted her head from the te of grilled fish, stared hesitantly at the dish holding the egg drop soup, and sniffed. ¡°What did you do?¡± she asked. Zhang Zian smiled mysteriously, ¡°Magic.¡±

    Fina originally wanted to make a contemptuous expression at him, but her natural curiosity overcame everything. She tried a bit of the egg drop soup, and it seemed that it was very ptable. She threw the fish down and started to eat the egg drop soup in a whirl again.

    ¡°Let me help youbine them.¡± Zhang Zian waited to get consent from her first. He didn¡¯t want to get wed by her.; a lot of cats were very protective of their food. Seeing that she did not oppose, he poured the grilled fish pieces into the egg drop soup.

    Fina ate very happily, and did not even bother to lift her head. Zhang Zian also began to eat his own share of food. Due to the fish having been marinated for too short of an amount of time, he felt that it was a bit nd, but it probably suited Fina¡¯s taste.

    A salty or nd level that was just right for humans was too salty for cats, and what humans taste as too nd was just right for cats to eat.

    A cat¡¯s need for fats was greater than what a human needs. Thus, food like butter that was practically pure fat was very attractive to them, and was the ultimate way to deal with cats that were picky eaters. But the premise was natural butter, made with cream, and not margarine. Margarine was hydrogenated oils, harmful for humans when ingested, and even moreso for cats. Cats still can¡¯t eat too much of it even if it was natural butter, or else they would have diarrhea.

    Fina was still a cat no matter how ruthlessly tyrannous ormanding she was.

    This was his first time returning to eat at the table ever since his parents had passed away. Usually, he resolved with small restaurants or take-outs. He knew that it wasn¡¯t good, but he never had the motivation to try to cook.

    Thank you, Gxy. You made me pull myself together.

    Thank you, Fina. You made my life get back on track.

    ¡­

    After lunch, Fina ran into Zhang Zian¡¯s room after she had wiped her mouth and beard. She jumped on the windowsill to sunbathe and digest, and began to sleep soundly not long after. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t expect her to help with cleaning up the tes anyways. After cleaning up the tableware, he yed a few rounds of hide-and-seek with Gxy¡ªthe record was, of course,plete defeat.

    Two customers hade in during this time, but they did not have any desire to buy, and left after just having a casual look around. Zhang Ziany down on the deck chair to rest. He took a nap, woke up, drank some water, went to the bathroom and yed on his phone for a while, then took another nap. He didn¡¯t do any meaningful stuff other than calling express delivery to receive items.

    The afternoon went by very quickly after half the day had been snatched.

    Life should be as so; the rich would naturally be in admiration of everyone¡ª¡±Picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, I gaze on the southern mountains with tranquility¡±[1]¡ªboth were different types of lifestyles, but who could affirm that the former was better than thetter?

    ¡­

    When the sky turned dark, Zhang Zian assumed that there would be no more customers, and closed the shop early. It was still fish for dinner; there was nothing else to eat. While Zhang Zian was making dinner, he turned the TV on in passing, wanting to watch the local news. Fina, who had slept the whole afternoon, keenly heard the voices of strangers. She moved her ears and opened her eyes immediately. Two pairs of glowing green gems lit up the dark, dusky room. She pulled the door of the room open and went into the kitchen, following the sound; her eyes immediately focused on the twenty-four inch small screen LCD TV.

    There was arge TV in the living room, and this small TV was installed for mother, so that when she cooked, she would not be bored. On the contrary, too big of a TV screen would be a hindrance if it were in the kitchen.

    Simr to a lot of young people, Zhang Zian watched very little TV.

    ¡°How did that person get inside?¡± Fina stared at the announcer of the local evening news in the TV. She took a fewps around the thin TV, and even fiddled with it with her cat ws. Luckily, the TV was stabilized on the wall, or else it would probably have been knocked down.

    ¡°This is a TV, also a product of modern technology¡ªof course it¡¯s not invented by me. It can transmit scenes from very far away to every household. The person you see is in fact several kilometers away in the television station. The television station is an institution responsible for making television programs.¡±

    Fina snorted a few times, not sure if she had understood or not.

    The announcer said, ¡°The next news. This is a video that was broadcast on the Inte today. Someone tried to steal a kitten at a local pet shop, and as a result was caught in the act by a cat. Someone happened to be live broadcasting in the pet shop, and enthusiastic users transcribed the video onto the Inte. Viewers please look¡­¡±

    The scene switched to the video that the users had uploaded. Due to the uploaded video having beenpressed, the picture quality wasn¡¯t too clear, but it was enough to clearly be able to see the happenings of the event and the details.

    The television station even matched the scene of the video with remarkable replies of some users of Weibo.

    ¡°Word! The cat was ferocious!¡±

    ¡°Pretty and able. I request the address of the pet shop¡ªplease give me a dozen of this cat!¡±

    ¡°They all say dogs look after the house and protect the yard, but I think that this cat is more able than dogs!¡±

    ¡°My cat must be fake¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was very downcast to find that the main interest of the video was Fina, while the scene of him in a calm posture with the situation well in hand on the deck chair was abruptly cut out.

    The scene changed to the broadcast room of the television station. The announcer was grinning from ear to ear, ¡°Upon seeing this video, my colleagues were also amazed. Maybe this was the legendary ¡®other people¡¯s cat¡¯.¡±

    The announcer quickly lowered his head and changed the manuscript, and continued to say, ¡°Regarding the suspect of the cat thief in the video, enthusiastic users have already identified that person¡ªa boss of a local car repair shop. There is news of this person owing hundreds of thousands of dors in debt, and has been relying on ¡®tearing down the east wall to repair the west wall¡¯ [2] to maintain loans. Currently, many creditors have already gone to block the door of the car repair shop. After this video was exposed, this person¡¯s whereabouts became unknown. Rumors say that this person has already abandoned home and is on the run.¡±

    ¡°A straw can break a camel¡¯s back, but a cat can destroy a boss.¡± If this had not happened, maybe this boss¡¯s true colors wouldn¡¯t have been exposed for a long time. He would borrow even more loans, and cheat more people out of money. There was a creditor who called the police after having seen the video. Currently, the police are already involved, and I believe that this person will be arrested and brought to justice soon.¡±

    ¡°The next news¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian quietly turned off the TV.

    Fina¡¯s pretentious face was even more arrogant. It had already evolved to the point of being able to act pretentious without even having to speak!

    In this world, people are inferior to cats!

    Footnotes:

    [1] An excerpt from a poem written by a poet of the Eastern Jin Dynasty named, Tao Yuanming.

    [2] A Chinese saying that meant to rob Peter to pay Paul. In other words, to try to make ends meet.

 Chapter 58: Uncle Jin, The Dog Walking Man

    <h4>Chapter 58: Uncle Jin, The Dog Walking Man</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Jiang Qianxue had lunch in a restaurant that she had never been to before. Unfortunately, she found that the restaurant was not good enough for her live show. She then took a taxi to the beach, yed with the Persian cat for a while and then went home.

    After getting out of the taxi, she carried her cat bag and told the vi guard that she was expecting a package. She would like him to sign the package on her behalf, but he didn¡¯t need to notify her. She woulde get it when she had the time.

    People who lived in this vi were either the rich or the powerful. The guard dared not to say no.

    The vi had spacious alley roads. The environment was extremely clean, tidy, elegant and green. All around, there were 20-year-old Chinese parasol trees that were transnted from another area. With a small reservoir sitting in the central area, the whole vi looked almost like a beautiful, small, quiet park. It was so quiet that very rarely would a person walk by. Even when there was one, he or she would walk by quickly. The human scene of lively pedestrians would disappear instantaneously and the warm human world would turn into a cold fairnd in the blink of an eye.

    Although beautiful, the fairnd was lonely.

    A property maintenance staff member was cutting thewn with a push mower. Not far away, there was a middle-aged man walking a dog, the famous ¡°Get Lost Easy¡± Husky. The man was wearing amon white shirt and slippers. He looked no different than any ordinary middle-aged man, though walking a dog leisurely in this vi was already a powerful sign of his wealth; he had to be a billionaire in order to afford it.

    A Husky would not get lost in this vi, neither would it be hit by a car. Even if it did get lost, the guards would find it.

    The Husky must have smelled the Persian cat. He ran towards Jiang Qianxue from blocks away and as he reached her, he paced around the cat bag. Jiang Qianxue worried that he would scare the cat so she waved her hand to drive him away, ¡°Go y in another ce!¡±

    The husky was wagging his head with a smiling friendly face, its two round eyes were wide open. He was whipping his tail and pretended he didn¡¯t understand her words.

    In the meantime, a small cat w struck out from the cat bag directly at the Husky¡¯s face. The Husky looked like he was kicked ruthlessly in the stomach, his four feet jumping off the ground with his whole body bowing back. He barely escaped the attack.

    The Husky took a few steps back, dropped his tail, and put on a serious thinking face as if he was saying, ¡°Holy, that was not right.¡±

    For some reason, she felt that his serious face looked like the manager from the pet store. She could not help but to giggle at the reaction.

    (Off-screen voice: Zhang Zian, who wasying on a recliner, sat up and sneezed. He thought, ¡°Who was talking about me? Ouch! Totally coteral damage to me!¡±)

    The middle-aged man walked over slowly with his hands crossed behind his back, ¡°Hi, Snowy! Coming home?¡±

    Jiang Qianxue responded in an endearing tone, ¡°Hi, Uncle Jin. How are you?¡±

    She knew that this man was a business owner as well as her father¡¯s friend; however, the only thing she knew about him was hisst name.

    Nowadays, everyone could be a business owner. Someone could probablye across half a dozen business owners around the corner. Even the pet store owner from this morning, the cat thief, was a business owner.

    Even if this Uncle Jin was a business owner, his business was likely not substantial at all. Jiang Qianxue had seen him walking his dog during the day several times. Was it really appropriate? In her opinion, a real business owner should act like her father, who worked all day in hispany making the staff feel more secure.

    After a fun afternoon at the beach, Jiang Qianxue forgot to close the cat bag tightly. There was a tiny gap in the zipper where the Persian cat sat in order to search for the dog with her eyes. What a smart little creature!

    ¡°Yo! Did you just get a cat?¡± Uncle Jin saw the cat¡¯s face exposed in the gap.

    ¡°Well, yeah. I got it as apanion,¡± she said.

    ¡°Haha! There are going to be some cat and dog fights in this vi all the time now. We will have some excitement around here. This vi is extraordinary but way too quiet.¡±

    Typically, huskies turned weak when the opponent was strong and vice versa. He was frightened because he thought it was a big cat in the bag; however, from the gap he could tell it was only a kitten so he immediately thickened up his skin and tried to harass the cat.

    Uncle Jin yelled at him. He then reluctantlyid down on thewn, looking like an upset wife.

    ¡°Ah! Uncle Jin, your husky is very well trained. He listens well,¡± Jiang Qianxue was surprised.

    ¡°That is true. Training dogs is very interesting. It gives you a unique sense of aplishment when you do a good job,¡± Uncle Jinughed, ¡°I didn¡¯t know you wanted a pet otherwise I would have had someone send you a purebred skan Mmute.¡±

    Jiang Qianxue waved her hand, ¡°Uncle Jin, that¡¯s fine. Thank you though. I wasn¡¯t going to get a cat but I adored her when I saw her. That¡¯s the only reason I got her. She also listens very well. The pet store manager trained her well before selling her.¡±

    Uncle Jin was shocked when he heard that the pet store trained the pets before selling. He had never heard of anything like that.

    Although she was already an adult, Jiang Qianxue had been well protected by her parents as she grew up, so deep down she was still a little child. Of course, she had to show off her new toy.

    ¡°Uncle Jin, please keep an eye on your dog.¡± As she spoke, she put the cat bag down on thewn. She felt that the husky didn¡¯t seem to want to jump over, so she opened the cat bag and took the Persian cat out.

    ¡°Gee, what a small cat! How old is she, four or five months? You can train a cat this young?¡± Uncle Jin was in doubt.

    ¡°Hey, you just watch!¡±

    The Persian cat was in the cat bag for a long time and being brought out to a new environment next to an unfamiliar man made her anxious and overwhelmed. Her apricot-yellow eyes were eagerly staring at the husky, whimpering.

    ¡°Come, Snow Ball! Don¡¯t be afraid. Let¡¯s show some tricks to Uncle Jin!¡± Snow Ball was a name that had juste across Jiang Qianxue¡¯s mind. She pped three times as she spoke.

    The Persian cat didn¡¯t know that she had been given a new name¡ªSnow Ball. However, her master pping three times was her signal to get ready. It was rooted deeply into her memory and took precedence over anything.

    Snow Ball immediately changed her pose to standard sitting on thewn with her eyes focusing on the owner and waiting for the next instruction.

    ¡°Yo! That¡¯s excellent¡­¡± Uncle Jin thought that the posture was her training and he could not help nodding. After all, it was very difficult to train such a young kitten to do that.

    Jiang Qianxue snapped her fingers. Snow Ball immediately walked on thewn in the shape of a figure eight. She returned to the start point, resuming her sitting position after one round.

    Uncle Jin¡¯s eyes were wide open, which looked just like his Husky.

    Others might not know what that meant, but he knew it well because he was going to train his husky to walk the figure eight shape as advanced training.

    Dogs would be trained to ¡°walk the eight-shape¡±, but that was closer to ¡°go around in the eight-shape¡±. They were usually trained to walk around two fixed objects. After a long period of intensive training, they would form a conditioned reflex. When they got the instruction from the owner and saw familiar fixed objects, they would immediately implement the conditioned reflex.

    Just now, the cat was walking on the ground in the ¡°eight-shape¡±. That was way more advanced than ¡°going around in the eight-shape¡±.

    There was no reference object. It simply relied on the owner¡¯s instruction to implement the conditioned reflex. That was simply magical!

 Chapter 59: What the F*ck

    <h4>Chapter 59: What the F*ck</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Uncle Jin pondered in his heart. ¡°It would have been alright if it was an adult cat, but it was such a small kitten; even if it started being trained right after weaning, how many days could it be trained for? Not to mention that cats were much harder to train than dogs!¡± Uncle Jin turned his head and nced at Husky.

    Husky was puzzled.

    Uncle Jin was speechless. ¡°¡­¡±

    Jiang Qianxue had not raised a pet before, not to mention trained a pet. She did not know just how difficult this was; she just thought it would be fun. She pointed her finger again, and Snowball immediately walked in a figure eight again.

    Uncle Jin¡¯s mood could only be described by ¡°what the f*ck.¡±

    F*ck, the two walks of the figure eight shapes were practically the same size!

    He secretly contemted, ¡°Truly the noble miss of Jiang¡¯s Group had such high sight! Regr pets were definitely not pleasing to her eyes.¡±

    Luckily, he didn¡¯t finish what he was saying just now. If she had said, ¡°All right, give me an skan Husky who knows how to walk a figure eight,¡± where would he go find one?

    He gathered up his mood of contempt, and did not dare to look down upon this seemingly ordinary Persian cat again. He asked carefully, ¡°How much money was this cat bought for? There should be a number at least, right?¡±

    He stretched out three fingers, meaning an estimate of thirty thousand. Putting aside the condition and lineage, the owner certainly would not bear to sell it if not at a high price for a cat that was able to be trained like this.

    Jiang Qianxue shook her head andughed. ¡°Can¡¯t buy this with three thousand dors. I spent twelve thousand.¡±

    Uncle Jin was speechless. ¡°¡­¡± He had another ¡°what the f*ck¡± impulse.

    Husky whimpered, and tucked his tail in between his two hind legs, protecting his butthole, for security and peace. Jiang Qianxue pped her hands, and relieved the training mode on Snowball. She then picked Snowball up, put him back in the cat carrier and zipped it up. Uncle Jin pped his forehead and suddenly realized, ¡°So that¡¯s how it was! It must be that the cat owner had intended to curry favor with Jiang Qianxue, and sold the cat to the noble miss of Jiang¡¯s Group at a low price! This can¡¯t be wrong; this must be it!

    He thought about this event with the mind of a sessful businessman, and immediately sorted out inhis mind. But he also secretly felt sorry for the original owner. ¡°This was done poorly; since you wanted to ingratiate yourself with the Jiang family, you might as well have simply gifted the cat. Why gild the lily and receive the twelve thousand? Now this favor was discounted.¡±

    He concluded that the person who did this was young; a middle-aged adult would not make this type of mistake.

    Snowy picked up the cat carrier with a ¡°humph!¡± and waved at him, ¡°Uncle Jin, I¡¯m going home first, bye-bye!¡± Uncle Jin nodded absent-mindedly, figuring out how to train his Husky in order to save face. Husky expressed that his current mood summed up in one sentence was to want to find another dog to f*ck. Snowy ran all the way back home in a pleasant mood.

    She lightened her footsteps as she opened the vi¡¯s door. She first looked to see whether or not father¡¯s leather shoes were at the entrance; only when they were not there did she breathe a sigh of relief, kicked off her shoes, and ran into the house.

    ¡°Mama! Where are you?¡± she shouted as she looked around in every room.

    ¡°Aiya! This darn child, without any air of reliability! Onlying home after a whole day of being crazy outside! How can you get married off if this continues?¡± Mother walked out of the living room with a worried face, ¡°What is it again?¡±

    ¡°Hehe, look what I brought home!¡±

    ¡°Not having been out to buy nes or dresses anyways!¡± Mother said confidently.

    This girl was wild since youth, like a tomboy. Other families¡¯ girls all yearned to buy superior quality princess dresses, but she would not wear a dress if she could. Even nes and essories, she always said that those things were a hindrance!

    ¡°What¡¯s the use of nes and dresses¡­look at this!¡± She ced the cat carrier on the table, andughed as she pulled the zipper open. Snowball ignorantly stuck his head out and looked around uneasily.

    ¡°Aiya!¡± Mother was taken aback. This child actually brought home a live animal, and this live animal was actually a cat! She had originally thought that this child would choose a dog if she had to choose a pet.

    ¡°Hehe how is it? Pretty, right? His name is Snowball.¡±

    Snowy could not guess her mother¡¯s thoughts. She took Snowball out and ced him on the table, and Snowbally down quietly.

    Mother was surprised once again. This cat was gentle and quiet enough, unlike the imagined little wild cat. Could it be that her daughter¡¯s nature has changed? This cat was indeed pretty and well behaved. If it were a girl, then it would have been the ideal daughter. Thinking of this, mother red at Snowy with discontentment again.

    She reached out her hand to pet Snowball. Snowball did not hide and squinted his eyes to pleasantly enjoy it.

    ¡°¡­¡± Mother retracted her hand and speechlessly looked at the sand that stuck onto her fingers.

    ¡°Hehe, I took him to the beach to y for a bit¡­¡± Snowy stuck out her tongue.

    ¡°Crazy girl! Hurry and go take a shower; I will give him a shower too!¡± Mother eximed.

    Unfortunately, they faced big trouble when they gave Snowball a shower. This cat appeared pleasant and well behaved, but once his body came into contact with water droplets, he resisted, and his cried wese delicate and pitiful.

    Mother Jiang¡¯s heart softened, and she became helpless once she heard his cries. She could not bear to force it; after Jiang Qianxue had finished showering and hade out, she still had not washed the cat, and instead had worked up a sweat herself.

    Snowy walked over in her bathrobe wiping her hair, and immediately said to mother, ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be so troublesome, just use ab to brush off the sand in his fur.¡±

    Mother red at her, ¡°Not loving to be clean like you? Besides, howe you always take such quick showers? Did you wash yourself clean? Fooling around?¡±

    Snowy dreaded mother¡¯s nagging. ¡°Ok ok, I will bring it out to shower another day. The pet shop also provides this kind of service, they are professionals!¡±

    ¡­

    Wang Qian and Li Kun returned to the dormitory one after the other.

    The other four roommates in the dormitory were teaming up to y in full swing. The lights were off, the monitors were lit, theputer fans whirled, and the mouse and keyboards clicked and cked. Although the weather had be cooler, it could not withstand the heat emitted by four strong guys and fourputers in the cramped dormitory. Everyone¡¯s arms were bared, and appeared fresh and shiny.

    The dormitory boss at the door looked at them and cursed, ¡°F*ck! You two just came back now! Wecked one person for teaming up just now and could only grab an able-bodied man from next door!¡±

    ¡°Haha, apologies, apologies,¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun did not exin themselves either. Theyughed and went to turn on theirputers, then went on BBS.

    ¡°Holy crap! Did you two change your natures after one day of not being seen? Don¡¯t you guys normally find a huge pile of excuses, such as stepping on dog crap while going downstairs or helping an olddy cross the road or something¡­¡± The dormitory boss was shocked. He took off his headphones, and didn¡¯t even y the game anymore.

    The able-bodied man from next door roared, ¡°That 503 pig is just standing there and not moving? Other people have already f*cking triple killed!¡±

    ¡°Sorry, was answering the phone just now!¡± The dormitory boss yelled back. He put his headphones back on again, and continued to expedite and call on Summoner¡¯s Rift. To say why¡­Wang Qian and Li Kun looked at each other. They felt that they were different from the past, reborn, and had an air of immortality already.

    If they continued to mingle with these earthlings, it would really be an insult to the division.

    It would be better to free talk!

 Chapter 60: Increase Friendliness

    <h4>Chapter 60: Increase Friendliness</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In the morning, Little Celery came over to feed the hamsters as usual. At the same time, she was also interested in the Miniature Lop. It seemed that she liked ¡°small¡± animals¡­ to be precise, she was fond of little rodents with tworge teeth.

    Zhang Zian secretly giggled when he looked at Little Celery, for she was at the stage where she was losing her baby teeth.

    Almost at the same moment as when Little Celery was about to leave, Sun Xiaomeng drove by and pulled up to the roadside.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t wait for her question. He walked up to her window, put on a frowny face and cottoned up to her unconfidently.

    ¡°Xiaomeng, I didn¡¯t sleep well all night. Look, we are friends. How could you make your own friend clean for you, right? Regarding our bet, how about¡­¡±

    ¡°Trying to call off the bet? Please don¡¯t even ask!¡± Sun Xiaomeng refused firmly, ¡°If you could not sell those seven pets in seven days you¡¯d better show up at my clinic next Monday morning at 7 o¡¯clock. I already bought you work clothes, mops, brooms and disinfectants!¡±

    He was waiting for her words and asked immediately, ¡°What if I sold ¡­¡±

    ¡°If you sold them all, I would treat you to lunch for a week. I promise!¡± Sun Xiaomeng said confidently with her sunsses on her face.

    ¡°Okay. That¡¯s what I want to hear,¡± of course Zhang Zian was confident. He already sold four. It should be quite promising to sell three pets in six days.

    His sudden change in attitude made her wonder. She looked at her watch. It was still early and she didn¡¯t have any appointments yet. It was a good time to get out of the car and find out what was happening in the store.

    Zhang Zian pointed to the locked door, ¡°Sorry! We are closed temporarily. I want to take a walk. There are no guests at this time of day anyways.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng was speechless. ¡°It won¡¯t work if you don¡¯t work hard. How could you even make a living off the pet store? It is hard to own a store. Why don¡¯t you close your store and find a normal job?¡±

    Zhang Zian shrugged and snickered.

    She waved, stepped on the gas and drove off.

    Zhang Zian just wanted to joke around with her. If it was a time before owning Fina Zhang Zian would be looking forward to seven days of free lunch. Even if he obtained the free lunches he would have to cook anyways for Fina. This was very troublesome.

    Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s words might be tough for some people, but he knew that she was right. What she said made perfect sense. She was in the industry and had seen the opening and closing of many pet stores. Over 80 percent of newly opened pet stores closed within the first year. If the pet store was going to fail anyways, it would be wiser to close it now and find an alternative way out.

    However, Sun Xiaomeng did not know everything about him. Although he was just an ordinary man with no special ability, he had two very powerful helpers. If it wasn¡¯t for Gxy, who attracted the first customer into the store, he wouldn¡¯t know how far he could go. Fina, on the other hand, showed him the prosperous future of the store.

    People should repay kindness with gratitude. Stories about pets paying back their masters are touching. It should work both ways. People should not take their pets for granted when they do things for them. Those people don¡¯t deserve the name ¡°human.¡± They should turn into a cockroach after they die.

    Gxy loved to y hide and seek. Zhang Zian would y with her no matter how tired he was. Fina liked shining things ¡­ so he closed the store this morning for he was nning to go to the jewelry store down by the city center. He wanted to repay his pet¡¯s love; it didn¡¯t matter to him if he missed a few customers while he was out.

    In case something happened, he printed out a note and posted it on the door: The toilet is blocked. The owner is out searching for a bathroom. Customers please be patient.

    He was worried to leave Fina and Gxy in the store, so he started the ¡°pet hunter¡± game and put them into the pet bar. Gxy could have followed him to the city, but she was afraid of people and hated crowded ces. Fina was not scared of crowds at all, but she was not approachable enough. The game prompted that she could not leave ¡°home¡± ¨C that is, the store.

    The game provided a total of 10 pet bars, five for real pets and five for Elfin pets. At this time, two out of the five Elfin pet bars were upied while the real pet bars were all empty.

    Zhang Zian noticed that behind the lit pet bars, there were some dark ones. He clicked those but a ¡°not unlocked¡± sign popped up.

    ¡°Navigation Elf, are these 10 pet bars the only open ones?¡± he asked.

    [Navigation Elf]: The game only provides 10 pet bars by default. If the yer captures and tames a pet that is or above epic level, two free pet bars will be unlocked. Free pet bars can be allocated at the yer¡¯s wish.

    ¡°What does tame mean?¡± He asked again.

    [Navigation Elf]:The degree of friendliness reaches good or above.

    ¡°Gxy¡¯s friendliness has reach the level of good. Why weren¡¯t they unlocked? Is Gxy not an epic pet?¡±

    It was impossible. Even Fina, the most arrogant creature on earth, admitted that Gxy was her well-matched opponent. ordingly, to his knowledge about Fina, she was on the conservative side and might only reveal 80% of her thoughts.

    He pulled up the property page of Gxy.

    [known as]:Lucky cat

    [Rarity]:Unknown

    [Updated characteristics]:Turns the perilous to the prosperous. Changes the misfortunate to fortunate. Build a bright future!

    [To Unlock]: (click to show details)

    [Unlock real name]:Schrodinger¡¯s cat!

    She was really not an epic. What the hell was that ¡°unknown¡±?

    [Navigation Elf]:Schrodinger¡¯s cat is not recorded in the pet list we provide to yers. Therefore, it cannot give a reference rating.

    ¡°What in the world!¡±

    He then pulled up the property page of Fina.

    [known as]:Maneki-neko

    [Rarity]:Epic / Legendary

    [Characteristics]:When springes, if I don¡¯t open my mouth first, who dares to make a sound!

    [Source]:Unlocked

    [Real name]:Unlocked

    ¡°Finally. Fina is an epic, right?¡± he asked.

    [Navigation Elf]:Yes. She is the highest level Maneki-neko.

    ¡°The highest level? You mean Fina is not the only Maneki-neko?¡± That was surprising. He thought there was only one Maneki-neko.

    [Navigation Elf]:There are several pets who share the same ¡°known as¡± name. Only the real name is unique. Schrodinger¡¯s cat is not the only lucky cat.

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment and decided to forget about it and take it one step at a time. First of all, the game seemed to be moreplicated than it looked. Catching pets was not so simple either. Maybe he will never be able to catch other pets. So he made up his mind to cherish what he owned at the moment!

    In any case, Fina¡¯s friendliness needed to increase for sure; not only to meet his curiosity to unlock more pet bars, but also to fulfill Fina¡¯s wish.

    He figured out the way to increase Gxy¡¯s friendliness with pure luck. Fina had been saying, ¡°I like shiny things.¡± This was so simple and straightforward ¨C just like her characteristics. Obviously, this was the most effective way to increase her friendliness¡­although this was a really expensive way because he had to spend real money to buy her ¡°shiny things¡±!

    He yed games for so many years and finally became someone he despised in the past: spending real money in a game¡­

 Chapter 61: Occupational Illness

    <h4>Chapter 61: upational Illness</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    There were not many people on the bus heading towards the center of the city due to it being business hours. There were handfuls of empty seats. He sat in a corner, picked up his phone, and took out a business card from his wallet.

    Longfeng Jewelry Store Shop Guide

    Su Min

    Telephone: xxxxxxxxxxx

    After he had obtained this business cardst time, he had casually stuffed it into his wallet. He had originally thought that it was useless, but in the end it hade into use very quickly. If he did not have this business card, he really would not know the name of the female shop guide, as her appearance was a bit blurred in his mind. He remembered that the female shop guide had told him that if he came again next time, he could get a discount if he looked for her. No matter how much the discount, one dor was still money. He could save a little and count a little; even mosquito legs were meat! He dialed the phone number.

    ¡°Hey?¡± The counterparty picked up.

    ¡°Hi, is this Su Min from Longfeng Jewelry Store?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yes, who is this?¡± The speech was very respectful.

    ¡°My surname is Zhang. It¡¯s like this, I bought stuff from youst time,¡± he said.

    ¡°Oh, Mr. Zhang. May I ask if there are any problems?¡± The other party¡¯s tone immediately became anxious. She probably had thought that maybe some quality issues had appeared for the jewelry that was bought.

    ¡°No problems, but you gave me a business card when I left, and said that there would be a discount the next time I came¡­¡±

    The other party suddenly felt at a loss, and even stuttered when speaking.

    ¡°Ah, oh, that¡­yes, if you buy a second time, then I can give you a discount of two percent,¡± the tone became stiff, as if reading a script.

    ¡°Ok, then I will go over there right now. I will arrive in a moment,¡± he replied.

    ¡°All right. I will wait for you.¡± She waited for him to take the initiative to hang up the phone after she had finished talking.

    It was cloudy, and the winds were strong too. The gs on the gpoles at the entrance of public institutions were blowing to and fro from the wind. In sr terms, it seemed to have already entered the beginning of the autumn season.

    It wasn¡¯t cold during the day; a long-sleeved shirt would be enough if one did not go bike riding. Fashionable women on the street would add shawls or velvet vests; it was too early to put away skirts and dresses. In the past, Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes would never stray from beautiful women when he strolled the streets. But now, he would involuntarily look around for pets at the ends of alleys, no matter if their owners led them along, or if they were strays. He really wanted to wake himself up by pping himself: ¡°Was this a f*cking upational hazard?¡± he thought.

    Pet cats and dogs raised by Chinese families add up to at least thousands, millions, and maybe even more than a hundred million. Among them, the majority were mixed breeds. The rate of purebreds for dogs was higher, and even lower for cats.

    Of course, there was nothing bad about mixed breed pets, but in ordance with the increase in spare money people had, the demand for purebred pets also rapidly increased. After all, people would want prestige when they have money. This was the same logic as how people want to wear name-brand clothes and live in vis once they have money. If everyone had no pursuits, they could just raise a random pet, and Zhang Zian would have to just fiercely chug the northwest wind. [1]

    At this time, there were not a lot of people nor cars; the roads were not jammed, and the bus arrived at the bus stop not long after. Amazing Fate Pet Shop was at the Dongcheng district, adjacent to Binghai University. Dongcheng district was the cultural and educational district, and educational resources and historical sites were more concentrated, but it was rtively deste. There was a lot more bustling in the business district at the center of the city. The poption was a few times more than the poption of Dongcheng district, but the most important thing was that beautiful women were gathered like clouds¡­

    For example, there was a young woman dressed in professional clothing not far away in the front. Her figure and disposition were pretty good, but her makeup was a bit thick, and made her look a bit tacky instead. Really should have Zhao Qi teach her how to put on makeup. In her WeChat Moment, Zhao Qi would either be showing off her cat,showing off herself the whole day, or showing off her new clothes or makeup. Could there be other unique pursuits? Only when she showed off her credit card bills at the end of the month did people love to see and hear about it.

    Hm? This girl seemed to look a bit familiar?

    Su Min stood at the entrance of the jewelry store with her hands twisted, and waited uneasily for the person who had called.

    Jewelry was not cabbages, jewelry stores were not restaurants, and returning customers were few. Even the richer people would only generally wear one ring on their finger. No matter how lovey-dovey, no one would wear two rings on their ring finger to prove that their love was double¡­bigamy was a crime in China.

    At the store branch where Su Min was, only an elder with the surname of Yuan was a regr returning customer. That was because elder Yuan knew a wealthydy, and the wealthydy would sometimes bring her close girl friends to buy jewelry at the store.

    Su Min had heard rumors from the other elders behind her back, saying how the wealthydy¡¯s husband had long already had an affair with a female college student or something. The wealthydy was well aware of this, and treated her husband as a stranger, but she had always kept silent because of her greed for her husband¡¯s money. Her husband also felt sorry for her, and thus had never made things difficult for her in rtion to money as long as she didn¡¯t go out to find other men, or else they would break up in a heartbeat.

    The wealthydy¡¯s close girl friends were generally the same as well. They had lost inner sustenance, and were filling the empty space in their hearts with arge amount of shopping.

    She wasn¡¯t sure whether or not those rumors were true, and so what if they were true? The wealthydy satisfied her consumer¡¯s desire, elder Yuan earned amission, the jewelry store made a profit, the nation earned taxes, and it seemed beneficial for everyone, even you and me. Everything was fine, right?

    She was very surprised when she received Zhang Zian¡¯s phone call. In her impression, the customers she had received were not wealthydies nor wealthy businessmen. Those people were snatched away by her elders before she even realized it. When Zhang Zian saw her, she also saw Zhang Zian. In fact, her impression of Zhang Zian was much deeper than Zhang Zian¡¯s impression of her. After all, it was her lucky day that day.

    Zhang Zian also recognized Su Min; he recognized that she was the shop guide that had received him that day. He also felt very surprised: he did not think that Su Min would actually be waiting outside of the store entrance to wee him in. This courtesy was a little too high¡ªhe was just purchasing jewelry, not purchasing a house. Recalling his manner of receiving customers while lying on a deck chair, there was really no harm in notparing.

    ¡°Hello, you are Mr. Zhang, right? Pleasee in!¡± Su Min slightly bowed, and made an ¡°inside please¡± gesture. Although Zhang Zian was still dressed very casually and average, she dared not to neglect anything. Upon receiving such respectful treatment, Zhang Zian who had thought that he himself was thick skinned, was actually a little embarrassed instead. ¡°Resplendent and magnificent fitted styles still blind damned eyes!¡± he thought.

    It was too early, and there were not a lot of customers in the jewelry store. Seeing this, Zhang Zian¡¯s mentality was a little more bnced: ¡°It was not my fault that there were few customers at my shop; the world is the one at fault!¡±

    He had thought it was unlikely, but just in case, he still opened the game¡¯s catch interface and scanned the store¡ªdidn¡¯t the navigation elfin say that there was more than one lucky cat? Maybe another one could be found with sheer luck?

    In the end, there was nothing. Tips for detecting rare pets did not pop up on the game radar. This was also good; one gold-worshipping cat had already almost emptied his body¡ªhow horrible would it be if another came?

    As for his strange actions, Su Min had tentatively treated them as his quirks. She was just about to stop him from filming, but he had already put his phone away. The expressions of the other shop guides in the store were somewhat unhappy. They had heard Su Min when she was answering the phone, and they had also seen that Su Min had gone to the door to wee him in. How could a newbie who had only worked for a few months get a returning customer?

    Footnotes:

    [1] To drink the northwest wind refers to a broke person who has no choice but to live off of air¡ªon nothing.

 Chapter 62: The Best Customer

    <h4>Chapter 62: The Best Customer</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The higher-level workers looked at them with a hint of judgement as well as with hidden malicious spections.

    It is true that two of a trade seldom agree.

    Zhang Zian had a weird, itchy feeling under his skin when all thedies in the store stared at him at the same time. He wanted to scratch. For some reason, this time he didn¡¯t feel good at all when all these pretty women were looking at him. His gold-digging cat seemed to be friendlier than these girls.

    Was this a special skill all damn singles have ¨C feeling ashamed of themselves?

    In short, all he wanted was to end it quickly and then go back to hisnd. Although old and broken, it was a veryfortable andforting ce.

    Su Min also felt the tension in the air but she got used to it. She smiled and asked, ¡°What are you looking for? A ring, a ne, or something else?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment. Fina was fond of shiny things, so diamonds would be her first choice. She might not like other stones. Diamonds would be a safe bet. Although he could not afford a diamond ne, he could get a diamond ring.

    ¡°I would like to look at the diamond rings please,¡± he asked.

    Su Min took him to the diamond ring counter.

    ¡°Do you have any preference in brand?¡±

    ¡°No, not really,¡± he shook his head. He did not even know what brands were on the market.

    ¡°Your budget?¡±

    He paused for a second. Thest purchase was around 4000. This time should be a bit more.

    ¡°Between 5000 and 6000.¡±

    This was the most he could afford because he did not want to suck up the store¡¯s working capital. He was also nning to restock with more pets shortly. He could buy something better when sales increased and the store became more prosperous.

    Su Min showed him an area in the counter and suggested, ¡°These are all products that meet your requirements. You may choose from those, or of course, we can customize a ring for you.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked in the disy counter. There were so many dazzling pieces of jewelry that choosing one was overwhelming.

    ¡°Whatever,¡± he said.

    ¡°What?¡± Su Min¡¯s mouth was wide open. She could not believe what she just heard.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know about jewelry. You can help me pick one out,¡± he said.

    He thought it was a normal practice. In his pet store he helped customers pick out the most suitable pet for them. A jewelry store should provide the same service. He did not know a thing about jewelry. If he had to pick something, he would make a blindfolded decision. He would rather listen to the store¡¯s rmendations. This was merely basic trust in the store. Why was it that difficult toprehend?

    Su Min was shocked at first, but then she forced a smile. Who would buy jewelry like that?

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, if you are not sure about the style, maybe you can tell me what the ring is for? I might be able to provide some rmendations if I know more details,¡± she said patiently.

    What for? Zhang Zian had to stop and think. I could not tell her that I am buying a diamond ring for my cat, could I?

    ¡°Nothing,¡± he said.

    ¡°Eh¡­¡±

    The other girls in the jewelry store who had been watching them the whole time started whispering. They all agreed that Zhang Zian was ying a joke on Su Min. Who knew when Su Min might have offended him?

    The whole situation made Su Min very ufortable. She looked down and spoke lightly, ¡°I mean, are you selecting wedding bands, an engagement ring, or a gift?¡±

    Zhang Zian wanted to say that he was picking out wedding bands, although it was at the expense of betrayal to the FFF Group. He did not even have a girlfriend. iming that he was getting married was absolutely contrary to what a damn single should do!

    ¡°Well, I would say it is a present,¡± he replied.

    Su Min rxed a bit and said, ¡°In that case, you need to provide an urate size. Do you know the size of her finger? If you are not sure, we can provide measurement tools for you to take back. You could have her try it on.¡±

    Zhang Zian remained silent. Su Min kept saying ¡°She¡± or ¡°her¡± which made it sound like as if he really had a girlfriend.

    If possible, he would rather have been buying a men¡¯s diamond ring. That would¡¯ve saved a lot of trouble, since men¡¯s diamond rings were extremely limited. However, the diamonds would have been too small as well. All of the choices would not have met Fina¡¯s standard.

    ¡°Size doesn¡¯t matter,¡± he spoke seriously. Not to mention whether the ring would fit Fina. Even if the ring fit, it would be an absolute torture for a cat to wear a ring.

    ¡°Eh¡­¡±

    Su Min¡¯s coworkers startedughing even harder. Su Min¡¯s forehead began to exude some sweat.

    ¡°In that case, it¡¯s quite hard for me to do that,¡± she whispered.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand what was wrong with her. She looked like he was bullying her around or something. Obviously, she was the one who repeatedly said ¡°she¡± or ¡°her¡±, which greatly hurt his feelings as a single man.

    He thought for a moment, raised his hand and gestured, ¡°Well, her finger is as thick as my pinkie finger.¡±

    That was a release for Su Min. ¡°Fantastic. Would you like to look at the styles first?¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. She came back to the same topic again.

    He understood. Choosing jewelry was greatly subjective. People usually want to pick out their favorite style within the budget. However, the problem was that Fina could note to pick it out herself and he was not great at this task.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you pick one out for me?¡± he said it again.

    His facial expression looked like he was saying that I am the best customer. Please praise me!

    If someone walked into his pet shop and asked him to rmend a pet, he would be more than happy to help. He was confident in his ability to satisfy customers.

    However, Su Min refused shaking her head, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sir. We have rules that we are unable to select jewelry for the customers.¡±

    ¡°There are too many rules in your store! No pictures. No rmendations¡­¡± he could not help but toin and sigh.

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry,¡± Su Min bowed down her head.

    ¡°I am not ming you.¡± He understood this feeling of working for someone and having to follow the rules.

    He chose to resign from his old job and inherited the pet shop because he was longing for freedom.

    Finally, he thought of a way that might work.

    ¡°Okay. I do not need your help to pick out the style,¡± he first emphasized and confirmed she fully understood, and then continued, ¡°but assuming that you were to buy a diamond ring, in the price range of 5000 to 6000, which one would you choose?¡±

    Su Min was stunned.

    As a clerk who worked in a jewelry store, someone who did not have great performance, and a person who could only watch the senior coworkers steal the high-quality customers, she was looking at the bright and shiny diamond rings all day and always fantasized about the ring she would wear in her wedding.

    She dared not to even think about wearing an expensive ring. Therefore, she had always focused on the rings that cost less than ten thousand. She alwayspared the rings. She looked at the diamond shape, color, weight, rity and cut to the ring¡¯s style, material, color and mosaic process. After countlessparisons, she secretly selected several rings that were the most cost-effective. Afterwards, she chose her favorite one out of her selections. She always fantasized one day there would be a boyfriend to give her this ring, although she could not even picture that boyfriend¡¯s face.

    She reached out and carefully pointed to a ring in the corner.

    ¡°If¡­if I was buying a ring, I would choose this.¡±

    This was probably not a vition to the rules, right?

    The diamond ring she referred to was, in her opinion, the best one priced within 6000.

 Chapter 63: Su Minâ€™s Decision

    <h4>Chapter 63: Su Min¡¯s Decision</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Among conventional diamond rings, a value of six thousand dors could only be regarded as middle to low. If stuffed to death, a full one hundred percent would still only be around twenty points or so. Not to mention those Tuhao ss diamond rings. Diamond rings of this level had small ws; it was not possible to be wless, and it wasn¡¯t really possible to have only miniscule ws. Although there were some small ws, experienced artisans would cover up the defects as much as possible through methods of cutting and mosaic. It could not be seen with the naked eye.

    With this diamond ring, its every aspect had already surpassed the quality that this level of price should have. The only regret was that the form of the diamond was emerald, which was simr in shape to a rectangle. It was possible that the artisans had deliberately tried to cover up the ws in ordance to its original size. Diamonds on diamond rings came in a variety of shapes. The mostmon ones were round circle-shaped, square-shaped, and heart-shaped. Heart-shaped ones were the most popr among young men and women. That was because by just looking, the heart-shaped ones appeared very romantic. However, the heart-shaped ones also had the lowest ratio of the original stone being used. Under the same price, if you insisted on choosing the heart-shaped, then you must have somepromise in other areas, such as in weight and in rity. Otherwise, you should unquestioningly add more money. Most middle-aged men and women would choose round circle-shaped or square-shaped diamonds, which symbolized harmony, firmness and stability. People also liked other shapes such as teardrop shapes and marquise shapes, especially sentimental girls under the age of twenty-five. Inparison, the emerald shape was a bit awkward.

    Su Min actually quite liked the emerald shaped diamonds. That was because this type of diamond has a very unique cut, unlike other cutting methods that were brilliant. Thus, it was rarely confused with fake diamond rings¡ªshe really valued this point. It must be upational illness; whenever she walked down the street and saw a ring on a woman¡¯s finger, she would always ponder whether it was real or fake. Very few fake diamond rings were emerald shaped. That was because there was no need to consider the original stone or the issue of covering up the defects. Of course, what was prevalent was popr. This diamond ring had been disyed on the counter even before Su Min had assumed her job. The original price was 8888; it couldn¡¯t be sold so it was lowered to 7688, then it still couldn¡¯t be sold so it decreased to 6688, and then that couldn¡¯t be sold either so it was decreased to 5888, where it was now. As a small shop clerk, Su Min did not know its purchase price, but the cost was roughly equivalent to its value, no matter how you looked at it.

    She also liked the romantic heart-shape and the stable round circle-shape, but she would more so consider the issue of diamond preservation. Sure maintenance of value was directly associated with the diamond¡¯s weight. If she could only choose one between the three factors of romance, stability, and preservation, she would choose preservation without hesitation. Zhang Zian asked her which one she thought was the best, and she chose this one. After she had finished speaking, she felt not only her face, but also her hands burning up. When she moved her fingers, there was a small cluster of water vapor where her palms were on the ss of the disy cab.

    ¡°Was I making a decision that I was not in a position to make?¡± she wondered. ¡°Maybe the customer was just speaking casually, but I took it for real.¡± She stared at the ground, and secretly peeped at Zhang Zian¡¯s face in the ground¡¯s reflection. ¡°Not everyone could ept the emerald shaped diamonds; what do I do if he requests a change?¡± Zhang Zian did not understand jewelry, including the one that Su Min had pointed out. He saw that all the diamond rings were very pretty, and all very upscale. In addition, looking with his judgment for cats and dogs, this ring¡¯s diamond was indeed bigger than the other diamonds in the same area, although visual assumption wasn¡¯t that urate.

    Thus he decided at once, ¡°Then I want that one. I¡¯ll pay now.¡±

    Su Min¡¯s heart suddenly felt excited. It was the first time that a customer trusted her so much. Something close to six thousand dors was decided upon with one word of hers. The other customers would always pick and choose¡ªthis style wasn¡¯t good, that diamond was too small¡ªbut they didn¡¯t want to add more money, so it was difficult to deal with.

    ¡°All right, I will wrap it up for you immediately,¡± she said with her lips tight.

    ¡°Right. I can get a two percent discount, right?¡± Zhang Zian asked to confirm.

    ¡°Yes, I can only offer you this much of a discount,¡± she replied.

    Zhang Zian was very satisfied, ¡°Ok, two percent is pretty good.¡±

    The colleagues collectively expressed their distaste and turned their faces away.

    They had not thought that Su Min would make the first business of the day since opening. This even had a smallmission of two hundred; they could basically take a break for the day.

    On the other hand, the forty-year-old foreman did not have a good expression on his face. ¡°This customer, who dressed averagely, paid money too happily every time. Could he be a hidden Tuhao? But how could a Tuhao fancy a six thousand dor ring, and would even be in a tizzy over a two percent discount?¡±

    The foreman had decided he would discipline the damnss with the surname Su well after the customer had left. ¡°Where did she forget the teachings received during new staff training? If the customer wanted a six-thousand dor ring, the shop clerk should rmend a seven-thousand dor one. Who let you sell and rmend a 5888 one?¡± The wallet of the customer was like a peanut¡ªas long as it was pressed on, some extra oil could always be extracted from it¡­

    Paying with a check was done really quickly. Su Min ced the wrapped-up ring into the gift bag and handed it to Zhang Zian. Zhang Zian constantly felt that the atmosphere in this store made him ufortable, and earnestly wished to end it quickly and leave. He received the gift bag and nodded at Su Min and said, ¡°Goodbye.¡±

    With no need for the foreman¡¯s reminder, Su Min chased him closely out the door, and bowed deeply at his back , saying, ¡°You¡¯re wee toe again next time!¡±

    Zhang Zian thought in his heart, ¡°This ring better increase Fina¡¯s likability, I don¡¯t want toe again. What kind of rotten setup is this for this game; it would be better to simply charge money directly through Alipay!¡±

    His restlessness and anxiousness only gradually decreased as the cool wind blew on him. When he was waiting for the bus, he seemed to have contracted the fear that Gxy had towards humans. He clutched the gift bag tightly in his chest; everyone looked like a thief, and he constantly felt as if troublesome people wanted to harm him¡­

    The road back was smooth. After getting off the bus, he walked back to the pet shop, and to his surprise, found someone patiently waiting in front of the locked door of the shop. It was a pity that someone who hade this early was definitely not a customer! It was a young person wearing a long windbreaker and a baseball cap. The person¡¯s forehead, eyes, and most of the nose were hidden in the shadow of the baseball cap, and only his thinly pursed lips could be seen. This person must have a deadpan face that does not usually harbor a smile, and always has pursed lips. There were obviousugh lines at each corner of his mouth.

    The strange thing was, didn¡¯t a w from Fina tear the long windbreaker that he wore to act pretentious? Could there really be a person who would buy two sets of clothes?

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to pay attention to this person, but this person was standing in front of the shop¡¯s entrance, and there was no way to go around him to open the door.

    This person charged into the shop, and his gaze swept left and right as if he was looking for something of interest. Hearing Zhang Zian¡¯s footsteps, this person turned around, and his eyes shed under the brim of his cap. Zhang Zian stood firm. ¡°Zhang Zian here, what business have youe here for?¡±

 Chapter 64: Missing A Huge Deal!

    <h4>Chapter 64: Missing A Huge Deal!</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The man nced at the jewelry store shopping bag in Zhang Zian¡¯s hand, looked at his face, and spoke peacefully, ¡°I want to buy that golden cat. I will pay ten thousand.¡±

    Straightforward.

    Zhang Zian liked dealing with frank and open people like that. He responded without hesitation, ¡°Sorry, but no.¡±

    That was funny! Fina was not a normal pet, okay? She could not be sold; otherwise he, Fina and his cell phone would all to be sent to ab, opened up and studied by scientists.

    Furthermore, cats never consider humans as their masters. As arrogant as Fina was, she would not take Zhang Zian as her master, nor would she think of herself as his pet. Honestly, it might be the opposite in her mind ¨C that Zhang Zian was her pet.

    However, when the man said he would pay ten thousand for Fina, Zhang Zian was a bit convinced. Although he had to reject, he still felt like he was missing out on a huge deal!

    The man¡¯s lips moved and said, ¡°The best and purest-bred cat in the highest-end pet store is only worth 5 thousand. I am offering you double.¡±

    Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders, ¡°Then you should buy a cat somewhere else, if you could get it.¡±

    ¡°It looks like you already know her breed,¡± the man paused for a second and said.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t absolutely sure, but upon looking at your offer, I am pretty sure what she is,¡± Zhang Zian responded. It sounded like the man wanted to y mysterious: Zhang Zian had to go along with him.

    It was a p on the man¡¯s face. He pressed his lips together even tighter.

    Looking at the man¡¯s upset face, Zhang Zian felt an unspoken pleasure.

    ¡°Twenty thousand,¡± the man said.

    ¡°Sorry, but still no,¡± Zhang Zian refused with a terrible anguish.

    ¡°I could help you win thepetition against Stars pet chain supermarket in East Town,¡± the man changed the subject all of a sudden. He thought this was an offer Zhang Zian could not reject.

    Zhang Zian was surprised, ¡°What does Stars pet chain supermarket have to do with me?¡±

    The man was even more shocked when he heard Zhang Zian¡¯s words. ¡°You didn¡¯t know? You didn¡¯t know why people came to your store in a group?¡±

    Zhang Zian recalled the cat thief and the camgirl using a cell phone for a live show. They came as a group! No wonder there were suddenly five customers in the store. Although he wasn¡¯t expecting the information, he still pretended to know everything. ¡°So?¡±

    He went to college and worked in a different city. He had never heard of an online BBS called Wang Haige in Binha, nor did he find out what happened in the BBS recently. Li Qi, Wang Qian and Li Kun all didn¡¯t mention anything to him.

    The man understood and asked, ¡°Have you heard about Wang Haige?¡±

    This was the first time Zhang Zian heard this name. He responded immediately, ¡°Well, do you know about Amway?¡±

    Upon the questioning, the man paused again. There was a hint of anger in his peaceful voice. ¡°Wang Haige is the biggest BBS in this city. What the hell is Amway?¡±

    Zhang Zian waived his hand, ¡°No matter what, I am not selling her. Please excuse yourself! I have to open up my store.¡±

    The man didn¡¯t give up but continued to offer. ¡°I could stick your store in the pet section of Wang Haige for a year as long as you sell me that cat. Do you understand how many hits that would bring and how many orders would be generated from the hits? The manager of Wang Haige is an old friend of mine. I am sure I could get this done.¡±

    That was an alluring offer that Zhang Zian could not ept! He then teased the man on purpose, ¡°Unless you can stick my store in 1024 BBS for a year, I might consider your offer. Also, don¡¯t forget to get me a general manager¡¯s invitation code.¡±

    The man was astonished. He took a deep breath, ¡°It looks like you don¡¯t really know what real power is!¡±

    What the hell? It was only a BBS. Why would he position himself as a big boss? He was scaring Zhang Zian.

    The man pulled his cap down a bit, ¡°ording to my observation these days, your store has been taking away some business from Stars pet chain. Although this is not your fault, they are going to me you for it. Without my help, you will be a lone warrior in future battles.¡±

    What? Took away Stars pet chain supermarket¡¯s business? I wasn¡¯t interfering with them. This guy was trying to spread a rumor in order to get Fina¡­

    Zhang Zian thought the man was exaggerating. The total volume of pet market in the whole country was around 10 thousand pets. The annual increase had been over 12%. China would surpass the USA and be the biggest market in the world. The Stars pet chain supermarket is a shark in this pool; why would they care about the existence of a small fish like his store?

    There is a saying: do others a favor in a current tangle; make oneself a waiver for a future trouble. They didn¡¯t have to burn the bridge.

    He chose not to believe the man¡¯s words and said indifferently, ¡°Hehe, being a single warrior doesn¡¯t scare me. I will show you. If they dare to challenge me, it isn¡¯t a good decision.¡±

    The man raised his head astonished. He stared at Zhang Zian for a second and spoke, ¡°Okay, I will look forward to it. I hope you will not regret what you just said.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me.¡± The man whipped his coat to the side as he walked away putting his hands in his pocket as he left.

    ¡°Please.¡±

    The guy left finally. Zhang Zian opened the store, pulled down the note and threw it in the trash can.

    The remaining British shorthair cat and Siamese cat were well-behaved without Fina. They neither peed or pooped in the store, nor did they step on the water bowl. When they saw Zhang Zian return, they meowed as they came up to him. They looked more rxed than Fina: they looked like students in a self-study ss without a teacher¡¯s supervision.

    The Samoya in the disy cabzily gazed at him and then closed his eyes. Zhang Zian rmended the Schnauzer to the customer, which offended the Samoya.

    The hamster and the Miniature Lop might not be as smart as other pets. They ate, drank, peed and pooped as they wished. They didn¡¯t really care about staying in the store forever because everything they ever needed was provided.

    ¡°I want to live a life like you guys. I wish there was a wealthydy that provided me with anything I¡¯d ever need,¡± Zhang Zian sighed.

    He released Xinghai and Fina to the empty space in the store.

    Xinghai tilted her head, wiggled her ears and found that she was in a familiar environment. She stretchedfortably and said happily, ¡°Meow, Zian. Let¡¯s y hide-and-seek.¡±

    Proudly, Fina raised her head and stared straight at Zhang Zian with her almond shaped eyes, ¡°Where have you been?¡±

    Zhang Zian brought out the shopping bag from the jewelry store and sat it right in front of her, ¡°I went to get you this.¡±

    Fina¡¯s eyes instantly shined. Her ears pricked with excitement and her little lips licked her mouth. She could not take her eyes off the diamondmercial printed on that shopping bag! Again, Zhang Zianined in his head, what a gold-digging cat!

    ¡°Well, it is yours. Open it. Xinghai, let¡¯s y hide-and-seek,¡± he said to Xinghai, closed the store and stroked the cat bell.

    The crisp, sweet sound of the cat bell was chiming in the store.

 Chapter 65: Cultivated Immortality Last Night Again

    <h4>Chapter 65: Cultivated Immortality Last Night Again</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As the bumping king and bumping mahatma, Wang Qian and Li Kun really stressed professional morals. They would take turns going on BBS even when walking; they did not let go of any chance to ravage new posts. They really shocked the four other people in their dormitory that morning when they woke up to go attend their first ss. It has to be known that the previous night the other people in the dormitory ganged up to y League of Legends until twelve when lights turned off, then they used a 4Gwork interface card with aptop to y League, and atst theyid down only when theptop ran out of power. They then chatted in bed for an hour about dormitory night chatter, which was nothing but boring topics such as which professors were fools, and which girls¡¯ boobs were big. Which also meant that they had only fallen asleep at 2:00am.

    However, Wang Qian and Li Kun were actually like beasts and had still set a seven o¡¯clock morning phone rm, and the volume was set at the maximum so that it woke up the dorm room next door when it rang. The dormitory boss cursed, and raised his head from his pillow to ask if they had set the wrong time. The two actually seriously replied that it was correct, and that they were going to attend the first big ss. ¡°Did you two be muddled with sleep?¡± The dormitory boss kindly reminded them that they had already asked the girls over there to sign in for them, and the professor didn¡¯t even take attendance, and it would be better to continue sleeping. Wang Qian and Li Kun were of course very sleepy, but the master¡¯s might had already suppressed the seduction of the magic of sleep. ¡°Since mastermanded us that we could not skip ss,¡± they thought, ¡°then there must be a deep meaning behind it.¡±

    Li Kun eximed, ¡°Cultivating immortality is bitter, cultivating immortality is tiresome, only those with strong perseverance can get a glimpse of heaven. Master certainly must be testing us. If we cannot ovee even this kind of hardship, then why talk about cultivating immortality?¡±

    Wang Qian agreed.

    Because they had skipped the previous sses, they sat on the stairs in the ssroom and stared nkly, not understanding what the professor was talking about. But they still gritted their teeth and listened. Besides master¡¯smand, another reason was because there were just so many girls in the ssroom¡ªtheir legs and arms were a field of white. Wang Qian and Li Kun were indeed listening to the lecture, but their eyes were not fixed on the ckboard.

    ¡°Big brother, I recall that the ratio of girls wasn¡¯t this high in our department?¡± Li Kun asked, puzzled. Wang Qian thought deeply for a moment, pped his thigh and eximed, ¡°F*ck, the guys are still sleeping!¡±

    There was only onerge ss for the whole morning. They were drowsy, but they immediately became energized when ss was over. They ran to the university cafeteria to eat breakfast, and then left the school and rushed to Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

    Binghai University was also in the Dongcheng district. Taking the shortcut from the school¡¯s entrance to Amazing Fate Pet Shop only took twenty minutes. But it would be an additional ten minutes if heading there from the dormitory or the education district. It would be very convenient if there were on bicycle, but in this lousy school, as long as it had two wheels, then it would usually be stolen in one night.

    ¡°Ring-a-ding-ding.¡± The cat bell sounded the moment they pushed open the door.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun smiled at each other; they knew in their hearts.

    Hanging a cat bell on the door handle facing the inside was probably master¡¯s cruel amusement right? With master¡¯s ability, he presumably had already cultivated the ability to hear really well¡ªmaster would even be able to hear a mosquito that flew by on the other side of the Earth. To have purposely hung up this cat bell was to y¡­.to show weakness on purpose, and then viciously p the enemy when the enemy was acting pretentious!

    Trap, it was all a trap!

    Just as they entered, master yet again enlightened their senses.

    The first to notice something unusual was the attentive Li Kun. They stepped on a piece of paper the moment they stepped through the door, and almost slipped. He picked up the paper and wanted to throw the trash away for master, but then suddenly realized that it wasn¡¯t a normal piece of paper.

    ¡°Diamond, g¡­g¡­g¡­g¡­rading¡­report? What¡¯s this?¡±

    Li Kun recognized the first word ¡°diamond¡± and also recognized thest word ¡°report¡±. But he had only figured out that the middle word ¡°grading¡± was the past tense of ¡°grade¡±. Tranted to Chinese was¡­diamond grading report?

    He stared at the word ¡°diamond¡± a few times, and recalled if he had mixed up this word with some other words. But the huge diamond stamped on the paper told him that there was no fault in his memory, that he hadn¡¯t yed too much League of Legends the previous day. There were even shapes of the letters ¡°GIA¡± next to it. Of course he didn¡¯t know what the initials stood for.

    Gurgle!

    Lu Kun heard Wang Qian swallow loudly, and then elbowed him with his arm.

    ¡°Second¡­second brother, what kind of object is held in that cat¡¯s paw? Did I y too much League yesterday and am having blurred vision?¡± Wang Qian said with a tremble.

    It was a little cloudy in the morning, but now the ocean breeze had blown the dark clouds away, and the sky had turned sunny. Li Kun stuck out his head and looked around, and only saw the golden cat sitting in the sunlight that was pouring into the room, with all the fur on its body glistening with golden light. In contrast to the brilliantly shining fur that blinded damned eyes, it was ying with a ring in its ws. The front of the ring¡¯s iy was an emerald shaped shiny stone, and due to the prism effect, the sunlight shot from outside the room onto the stone, which was broken down into a colorful glow behind the stone. It gave the golden cat¡¯s aquamarine eyes an additional touch of radiance.

    The golden cat stretched out its sharp ws, with the ring hanging on the tip of its ws. It turned its head from side to side, admiring the ring under different angles of the sunlight. It grinned slightly, its beard quivered gently, and its eyes were almost fully narrowed as if it was intoxicated.

    ¡°Second brother, we must havee across a fake diamond, right? Hehe, the master appeared cold but he is still pretty humorous inside,¡± Wang Qian said with a forced smile. Li Kun silently passed him the GIA certificate, ¡°Big brother¡­¡±

    Wang Qian gazed quietly at the certificate for a moment, and joyfully replied, ¡°I know, the English that we learned in the past must have been fake English.¡±

    Lu Kun shook his head, ¡°Big brother, don¡¯t try to run away from reality anymore. Master¡¯s pretentiousness was much higher than what we had thought!¡±

    Wang Qian¡¯s heart ached, ¡°This was not possible! Why does the cat have a diamond ring, but I don¡¯t!¡±

    Li Kun patted his shoulder, ¡°In the world of cultivating immortality, talk about what¡¯s possible! Or it could be said that from the moment we met master, possibility had been decreased to zero. The heavens and the earth are big, but master is bigger!¡±

    The two fixed their eyes attentively on the diamond ring that was being yed within the cat¡¯s ws. It glowed brilliantly like a fantasy illusion.

    The torn pieces of the shopping bag that was scattered around the cat, the elegantly wrapped box, and the red velvet swan pad that was trampled on under the cat¡¯s ws obviously showed that it was a brand new diamond ring that was neither found nor passed down by the ancestors, but that it was newly purchased from a designer store.

    Just what kind of person was master that he could just casually throw a newly purchased ring for the cat to y!

    Upon thinking about this, they felt sad again. Could it be that in master¡¯s eyes, we were not even as good as a cat? Wang Qian held Li Kun¡¯s hands, and transferred his firm faith through his palms, ¡°Second brother, don¡¯t be let down! This means that we just have to get on the same level as the cat under master¡¯s care, and master will also throw us rings to y with!¡±

    Li Kun¡¯s face overflowed with tears, ¡°Big brother, I don¡¯t want a diamond ring, I just want the advanced animal-taming skills!¡±

    Zhang Zian heard the door¡¯s bell from the second floor. But with Fina there, no one dared toe steal anything. He had only slowlye down after a while.

    ¡°Howe it¡¯s you two again¡­¡± He frowned the moment he saw the two of them. ¡°Can¡¯t more decent customerse?¡±

    ¡°Master!¡± The two ran over crying and bowing their heads!

 Chapter 66: Shiny Things

    <h4>Chapter 66: Shiny Things</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Fina could care less about the two cranky men. She nced at them as they walked in and didn¡¯t look at them again. She would ignore their presence as long as they were not here to steal cats. In her eyes, humans were born to serve cats and everyone in this world should be her servant.

    She used to own countless treasures and jewelry. In most cases, small rings were not even up to her standards. The only thing that fascinated her was the bright, shiny stone mounted on the ring¡ªthe diamond. It was so pure and clear, yet shed a dazzling brilliance. The radiance could drastically vary when looking from a slightly different angle.

    Fina soon solved the mystery: the wonderful, luminous lights came from the extraordinary cut. Even in the great era she used to live in, the most experienced craftsmen could not have made such a great piece of art. Every ray which came off the diamond was so straight, every edge was extremely smooth and every angle was very sharp.

    Although magnificent, she could also tell where the wsy. The rays were straight, yet some were shorter than others. The edges were smooth but the size of the edges were not exactly the same. The angles were sharp, however, the degree of the angles all varied. Those ws were super tiny. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that she had owned numerous valuables before, she would not have been able to find the ws right off the bat; instead, she might fall for its dazzles.

    When this diamond went through the cutting and grinding process, for some reason, there was a symmetry problem. There would be three reasons for that to ur: the artisan¡¯s ability had reached its limit, the equipment had gone past its peak performance, or the stone wasn¡¯t a perfect piece.

    It wasn¡¯t difficult to figure out that all three contributed to the imperfection. Looking around the shabby pet store, she noticed it was very narrow. The whole store might be just as big as her bathroom in the heaven pce where she used to live. The ceiling was so low that people would worry about hitting their heads if they jumped. This was only a normal person¡¯s residence. How could the owner of such a ce obtain a top-notch diamond? A normal diamond would not deserve the use of the best instruments for processing, nor would it be able to attract the most elite craftsmen to work on it.

    In fact, it wasn¡¯t Fina¡¯s first time seeing a diamond.

    She had seen diamonds as early as the era she came from. However, diamonds were not called diamonds back then. They were called Adamas in Greek and they were in the form of original ore.

    In that era, diamonds were famous for their hardness and they were useless for anything else. As a precious gem, the potential of diamonds had not been discovered yet because there wasn¡¯t any equipment to process them. Even wrought iron or bronze was more favorable than diamonds at the time. Without going through the fine cutting process, the charm of diamonds would be hidden forever in the original stone and would never shine in the world.

    This so-called rare treasure is abined result of the precious gem crafted by a world-ss artisan using the most sophisticated instruments. Only when all three key elements were in ce could a masterpiece be born.

    Fina once possessed countless treasures. She got them from wars, piging, and dedications from other tribes.

    When a king gives a normal person a precious prize, the prize might only be one of the treasures the King possesses; however, when a normal person gives you a valuable piece, it might be all he owns.

    So, she epted his gift.

    Fina loved shiny things.

    She hadn¡¯t told him that the so-called ¡°shiny things¡± not only referred to treasures, but also included faith, courage, wisdom, honesty, friendship, romance, and so forth. All the beautiful matters in the world would be these shiny things she so loved.

    She was Fina Paris XIII, guardian of the immortal kingdom. She could care less about exining her thoughts to the normal people.

    Just let the misunderstanding continue.

    ¡­

    Wang Qian and Li Kun cried like babies holding Zhang Zian¡¯s thigh.

    A man does not easily shed tears unless his heart is truly broken. Now that they found out a cat was treated better than they were, their hearts werepletely shattered.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t touched at all. He pushed them away, one from each side.

    ¡°What the hell! I just changed into clean pants this morning. My pants are not for wiping your runny noses! Are you guys skipping ss?¡± He looked at them, speechless.

    Wang Qian wiped away his tears.

    Li Qian cleared his nose with his hand. As he was about to to throw the mucus on the ground, he noticed the cold eyes of the golden cat. He lightly patted on Wang Qian¡¯s back and secretly wiped his hand off on Wang Qian¡¯s shirt.

    ¡°Of course not, master. It is your order that we could not skip ss. We dare not defy yourmand!¡± Wang Qian defended quickly.

    Li Kun was smarter. He pulled out his cell phone with the hand that just wiped off his mucus, found the ss schedule from a whole bunch of files and respectfully showed it to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Master, please look. We do not have ss today,¡± Li Qun told him. As he spoke, he figured he wasn¡¯t correct. If there wasn¡¯t ss, where had they gone to this morning?

    Zhang Zian looked really quick and said, ¡°Are you awake? Look at the schedule yourself. That is the schedule for the first semester. Now it is already the second semester.¡±

    Li Qun was nervous. He started sweating, swiping his phone rapidly trying to find the schedule from his photo folder.

    However, there were too many pictures in the photo folder. He could not find it after a long while. As a bumping mahatma, he had to save a great amount of Bao Zou Comics to fight with pictures against other people. That¡¯s why he umted more and moreic pictures, which upied the space for normal files¡­ Of course, this was not Li Qun¡¯s fault. It was theic authors who created tens of thousands ofics that took away Li Qun¡¯s storage space.

    It was weird. He could easily find any specific Bao Zou Comic picture for hisic picture fight. It was an intense fight every time. Howe the mere ss schedule disappeared?

    In the end, Wang Qian found the schedule. Wang Qian was a much more straightforward person, so the way he resolved problems was also straightforward. He downloaded a new one from the ss¡¯s BBS.

    ¡°Master, please take a look. We only had one big ss this morning. We came after ss!¡± Wang Qian handed over his cell phone as if he was handing over a gem.

    Zhang Zian had a quick look. It was true. They had one ss in the morning and now they were off. ¡°So how can you prove that you went to the early ss and didn¡¯t sleep in?¡±

    ¡°It is absolutely impossible,¡± Wang Qian said affirmatively. ¡°If we were to sleep in, we would be still in bed right now.¡±

    Zhang Zian was again speechless. He just wanted to p them in the face when he saw them take thisfortable life for granted. Poor Zhang Zian had to get up early in the morning to clean cat litter and dog feces, groom the dogs and wipe the cats¡¯ faces when Wang and Li were still deeply in their dreams. How was it fair to anyone that worked hard?

    The most critical thing was that Zhang Zian had also experienced that period in life. Now when he thought back, he regretted it from the bottom of his heart. Why did he spend the greatest time of life sleeping instead of chasing girls? That was the biggest reason why he was still a damn single to this day¡­

 Chapter 67: Aunt Liu, Who Loves to Take Advantage

    <h4>Chapter 67: Aunt Liu, Who Loves to Take Advantage</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was debating whether or not to yell at these two idiots to wake them up, but he also worried. What if they actually got some girls after they hade to this realization? He would definitely be so regretful that he¡¯d want to p himself! Then, the cat bell on the door rang.

    ¡°Aiya, it¡¯s Aunt Liu!¡± Zhang Zian recognized her after a moment of shock.

    ¡°Zian, long time no see,¡± Aunt Liu greeted with a smile as she held an adult American shorthair. Aunt Liu was a neighbor on the same street, and ran a dry cleaningundromat about two hundred meters north of Amazing Fate Pet Shop. She counted as an acquaintance.

    Aunt Liu was about fifty years old, and her curly perm couldn¡¯t hide the fact that her hair was thinning gradually day by day. But her eyes were still as shrewd as ever.

    Before his parents¡¯ car ident, his mother, in the hospital, had asked Zhang Zian to sell the pets for cheap before they starved to death. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to disobey his mother during herst moments, and he really couldn¡¯t be at two ces at once; he couldn¡¯t take care of his mother while taking care of the pets. Thus, he used a whole morning¡¯s time to sell the pets at half price to the neighbors nearby and people on the street. The American shorthair that Aunt Liu was holding was sold at half price during that time. If all the painstaking efforts that were put into the shop were counted, one may as well say that it was a loss.

    ¡°Aunt Liu, what kind of wind blew you here? Hurry ande sit,¡± Zhang Zian greeted. Wang Qian and Li Kun did not know who hade, and silently stood to the side. He said to take a seat, but in fact, there were only three chairs in the shop. One was Zhang Zian¡¯s deck chair, and another was taken over by Fina¡ªit was originally prepared for customers, but if it were given to a customer to sit in under Fina¡¯s eyes, it would probably produce a bloody scene. Thest chair was the chair behind the counter. It was the only one that aunt Liu could be offered to sit in. Aunt Liu nced at it and waved her hand, ¡°No sitting, I can¡¯t stay for long.¡±

    She took a few steps into the shop, looked around, and pitifully smacked her lips. ¡°Reopening this shop must¡¯ve been hard for you¡­ay! Your mother and father were really good people. Are there any neighbors on this street that don¡¯t point their thumbs up the moment they talk about your parents? They all say that they were the role model couple¡­in the end, this kind of thing happened, and they died at such a young age. Who knows what god they had wronged to leave you all by yourself. I, Aunt Liu, my heart aches when I see this¡­¡± She wiped the corner of her eye after she had finished talking.

    ¡°Zian, we are all street neighbors. If you have any problems, don¡¯t be modest;e find Uncle Liu and Aunt Liu! As long as you open your mouth aunt and uncle can do it, we will definitely help you to our full extent, and we definitely won¡¯t be careless! If you are not courteous with Aunt Liu, it will mean that you disrespect me!¡±

    If it weren¡¯t for the past event of giving Dragon-Li cat a bath, Zhang Zian probably would¡¯ve really believed it. But if he remembered correctly, among the people who argued and wanted his parents topensate for clothes at that time were only Aunt Liu and her husband. Aunt Liu and her husband had always been very calcting¡ªthey split one penny to spend as two cents. Their clothes from head to toe added together were obviously not even worth one hundred dors, but they had to insist that their clothes were bought for two thousand dors from a big mall.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s parents had always been honest people that restrained themselves and were easygoing with others. The one time they were really wronged, they could only keep their grievances to themselves in the face of Aunt Liu¡¯s im, andpensated two thousand dors to solve the problem.

    If the event of having bought the American shorthair cat at a low price was added as well, then Aunt Liu had already earned a lot of money from Zhang Zian¡¯s family.

    Aunt Liu didn¡¯t even show her face at his parents¡¯ funeral. Her dry cleaner was opened as it would normally open; she did not even want to miss one day¡¯s opportunity to make money.

    The moment Aunt Liu had stepped through the door, Zhang Zian¡¯s heart was in distaste. On the other hand, Wang Qian and Li Kun were touched by Aunt Liu¡¯s seemingly honest words, and were nodding their heads constantly.

    Zhang Zian inly replied, ¡°The dead can¡¯t be raised back to life. The past is already the past; there is no need to mention it again. I am already grateful for you, Aunt Liu; you have this kind of regard. But I don¡¯t have anything that is in need of help. I am living fine by myself right now. Business has improved, and other than not having a girlfriend, everything is pretty good¡­ay, right!¡± He pretended to have just thought of it and patted his head. ¡°Aunt Liu, your daughter has almost graduated from college, right? What¡¯s her name? Little Jin, right? I remember that she was pretty beautiful. Let us meet each other one day. We might even be suitable¡­then, Aunt Liu, we would be rtives in the future. As one family, let¡¯s not talk as strangers¡­ay, I have a hard time with naming things; what should I name my future children¡­?¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were dumbstruck, and thought in unison, ¡°F*ck! Master really is a master! He changed topics so f*cking smoothly and naturally! He probably had already had his eyes set on thess when she was young¡­¡±

    Aunt Liu¡¯s face suddenly grew white with anger, the flesh on her cheeks trembled, and she cursed in her heart. Her daughter indeed had almost graduated college, and she had also been looking around to find a suitable partner for her daughter. There were a lot of leftover men and women nowadays, and she was afraid that once careless, her daughter would be leftover. But no matter what, she would turn her nose up on Zhang Zian, because she felt that running a pet shop was not a real job, and that there was no guarantee for the future.

    Zhang Zianughed, ¡°Aunt Liu, I¡¯m joking with you. Amon saying says that a smile gives ten years of youth. Aunt Liu, youugh too little; you keep a straight face the whole day. I think that you shouldugh more in the future.¡±

    Aunt Liu was just about to put to good use her ability to shout abuse up the street like a shrew, and to curse Zhang Zian until he couldn¡¯t hold his head up, but was stifled by his casual and lightment, and could only force a smile.

    ¡°This child, your mouth has grown after going out and mixing these few years. I remember in the past that you were a pretty honest kid.¡±

    Zhang Zian said in his heart, ¡°Bullsh*t, my parents were taken advantage of by you guys because they were too honest!¡±

    He also added a smile, ¡°People have to grow up. Let¡¯s not talk about this. Aunt Liu, did youe for something today? Or did you just casuallye to take a look?¡±

    Before Aunt Liu replied, she took a look at Wang Qian and Li Kun¡¯s faces and asked, ¡°Who are these two people?¡±

    Zhang Zian rushed to reply before they could say something stupid. ¡°They are from the university nearby. A ssmate among them wanted to buy a pet and entrusted them toe here to take a look.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Aunt Liu nodded and continued to ask puzzled, ¡°Raising pets are allowed in the university?¡±

    Li Kun¡¯s was a little more quick-witted, and knew that there was a deep meaning behind master¡¯s words. Thus, he replied, ¡°It¡¯s raised at home.¡±

    Aunt Liu made an ¡°oh¡± sound again, and said, ¡°You guys came here first, you guys buy first, I will wait a while.¡±

    Li Kun said, ¡°No need, you go first, we are not in a hurry.¡±

    Aunt Liu then said, ¡°It¡¯s like this, Zian. I saw that there¡¯s a sign in front of your shop saying that cats could be given baths. I remember that your mother and father did not have this service in the past.¡±

    Zhang Zianughed to himself; it really was ¡°never go to the temple for nothing¡±![1] He thought, ¡°I¡¯ve already been back for so many days, and you didn¡¯te yesterday. I just hung the cat bath sign out a few days ago, and you promptly brought the cat over¡­turns out that you havee to take advantage of our family again! If I let you walk away having taken advantage of us, I will write my name ¡°Zhang¡± upside down!

    Footnotes:

    [1] A Chinese phrase that describes how a person never goes to someone¡¯s ce except on business or for help.

 Chapter 68: Self-service Cat Bathing

    <h4>Chapter 68: Self-service Cat Bathing</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°I am nning to expand my business. You know, selling pets doesn¡¯t make much. Diversification is the trend. I am ready to diversify my services as well.¡±

    Aunt Liuughed to herself, ¡°There are not many customers in the store. It looked like he could not support the store anymore, so he had to make a few bucks off of bathing cats.

    ¡°Yo, my cat,¡± she patted the American shorthair cat on her arm, ¡°she is quite well behaved most of the time, except when ites to taking a bath. I have never sessfully given her a bath ever since you sold her to me. Every time I try to bathe her, she gets water everywhere and jumps around in the apartment. She even destroyed my genuine leather couch and rosewood furniture. Look, you provide a bathing service here. It has to be a professional service that¡¯s much better than mine, right? Zian, please help me out and give her a bath.¡±

    Same trick again. Zhang Zian thought, ¡°She is exaggerating her loss to make me feel bad and then she will take advantage of me without an excuse.¡±

    He nodded, ¡°No problem.¡±

    Aunt Liu¡¯s face lit up and it seemed as if allints were lifted off her chest immediately. She thought, ¡°As soon as you start bathing my cat, you will have to bathe her every time.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t bring much cash with me today¡­ Come on, take 10 yuan.¡± She pulled out a wrinkly 10 yuan note and was about to give it to Zhang Zian. In the meantime, she was hoping that he would not take it and push the money back to her.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t ept the money. He raised three fingers and said, ¡°300. The charge for the bathing service is 300 each time.¡±

    Aunt Liu¡¯s mouth dropped wide open and could not speak a word.

    ¡°Hey, Zian, you are joking again, right?¡± Aunt Liu forced a smile. Her hand holding the 10 yuan paused in the air.

    Zhang Zian shook his head, ¡°Nope. How dare I joke around with Aunt Liu? I told a small joke a minute ago and your face turned green. I am worried you would have a heart attack if I kept joking around.¡±

    ¡°300 yuan to bathe a cat? Zian, are you crazy? I have never heard of a bathing service as expensive as that!¡± Unpleased, Aunt Liu rebuked.

    Zhang Zian said calmly, ¡°Aunt Liu, that¡¯s my price for bathing services. If you think it is too expensive, you are more than wee to bathe your cat in another store.¡±

    Aunt Liu was really irritated, ¡°Now you tell me, why is it so expensive? Do you do a splendid job? Or is your water much more expensive than other stores?¡±

    Zhang Zian replied seriously, ¡°Aunt Liu, you misunderstood. I am not bathing your cat but you are.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Aunt Liu, Wang Qian and Li Kun were all astonished.

    Zhang Zian turned around and pointed at the pet¡¯s bathing room on the first floor. There was a note on the door saying: self-service pet bathing: 300 yuan per use.

    ¡°Everyone has been to a buffet. There are no people to wait tables. You go get whatever you want. There are self-serviceundromats where you put in the money and do yourundry. This is self-service pet bathing, which means the owner bathes their own cat. I am only providing the space.¡±

    Aunt Liu burst her anger intoughter. ¡°I am bathing my cat and have to pay you 300 Yuan?¡±

    Even Wang Qian and Li Kun didn¡¯t agree. Master, are you ripping people off?

    From Zhang Zian¡¯s perspective, the price was fair.

    There were two types of people who would use the cat bathing service. One was those who absolutely hated bathing cats. The other was those who were toozy and wanted to spend the money for convenience.

    Apparently, Zhang Zian¡¯s target customers were the first group of people.

    The biggest problem when it came to cat bathing was that cats hate getting wet. Some might not fight back as much but they just would sit still and get bathed. It would be easier for the owners to bathe their own cat. However, if the owners had the skills, they didn¡¯t really have to send their cat to a store for bathing services.

    When Fina was here, cats would all listen.

    In this case, it would improve the connection between the owners and the cats if the owners bathed the cat themselves. It was much better than having another person take care of business.

    Also, Zhang Zian was the only person in the store. If he bathed the cat, who was going to watch the store? Bathing and drying would take at least half an hour if the cat cooperated. What if a customer walked in while he was bathing a cat?

    If he were to hire someone, even if it was a part time helper, he would have to pay at least 2000 yuan a month, which was only slightly higher than minimum wage. In that case, he had to bathe more than ten cats to break even. Otherwise, he would lose money. Zhang Zian also had other considerations¡ªunless it was someone he got along with for a long time, he won¡¯t be able to tell whether the new employee would be a good fit. If the employee pretended to be nice, but was actually a mean person, he might do something damaging to the store or mistreat the pets behind Zhang Zian¡¯s back. Everything needed to be thoroughly considered.

    Zhang Zian was being very cautious when it came to running the pet store. Running a business is more serious than ying an online game. There is no S/L magic. He could lose everything if he made one bad decision. He might hire some helpter on when the store got busy, but not now.

    Aunt Liu disagreed. ¡°Crazy! This is crazy! For 300 yuan, I can bathe my cat three times in another store. In your store, I have to pay you and also do the work¡­I cannot believe you turned into Mr. Scrooge after all these years living in another city. Your parents would be ashamed of you! If you are not going to change the way you do business, your store won¡¯tst long.¡±

    At first, Wang Qian and Li Kun thought that thisdy was nice to Master. Now, they obviously felt the tension. If she was nice to Master, she would not curse like that.

    Zhang Zian shrugged, ¡°Whether my storests or not is really not your business. All prices are clearly marked in my store and it is totally up to you if you want to pay for the service. If you are not bathing your cat today, please show yourself out.¡±

    He was kicking her out. It wasn¡¯t fun to squabble with a middle-aged woman. It didn¡¯t even mean anything to him even if he won.

    Aunt Liu was so angry that she stomped her foot heavily, turned around and was about to leave. Someone came in at the same time.

    It was a coincidence that the person was also holding a cat.

    It was a young girl around 20 years old. Long bangs covered her eyebrows. She was wearing big sses with thick frames. Only a small portion of her face was not covered. She was wearing a huge sweatshirt and sweatpants with no makeup on her face. Her image was quite slovenly and homey.

    The girl saw that someone was about to walk out the door and jumped to the side like a little rabbit to give way to the person inside the door.

    Amazing Fate pet shop still used the old-fashioned ss doors where there are signs saying ¡°push¡± and ¡°pull.¡± It was not like the high-end automatic doors in the jewelry store.

    Aunt Liu saw the girl was holding a cat. She changed her mind quickly and stepped aside. She waved at the girl so she woulde in.

 Chapter 69: The Lonely Illustrator

    <h4>Chapter 69: The Lonely Illustrator</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The name of the young girl was Lu Yi Yun. She was the ultimate female otaku, and a severe ACG otaku; once an otaku, there were no regrets for life¡ªshe was the type to rather face haggard than to miss a loved one. She dropped out right after a few days of college because of her extreme inability to adapt. After that, she had always just stayed home in her rented house.

    Lu Yi Yun had a talent for painting. She had learned to sketch and oil paint when she was young. She has walked onto the path of no return of manga and illustration because she was led astray by her passion for manga. Now, she was able to live off of a few orders for her illustrations, and had also published some manga online, but the poprity wasn¡¯t too high.

    She was very well aware of the reason; her drawings were not of any issue, but the plot was defective. If the plot was good but the illustrations were bad, it could be tolerated, such as, ¡°One Punch Man¡± and ¡°Attack on Titan¡±. But if it were the opposite, then it would not work. Having said that, the skill for fabricating plots could not so easily be improved¡ªonly slowly. Recently, she has been reading some popr novels, and wanted to use that to improve herself. But maybe it was because she had read too much manga that she got headaches whenever she read texts. Lu Yi Yun was also a regr customer of the live broadcast room, ¡°Eating, Drinking, and ying in Binghai¡±, but she couldn¡¯t be counted as a fan because she had never tipped any money or spammed, thus she did not dare call herself a fan.

    She watched Snowy¡¯s live broadcasts not because Snowy was cute¡ªshe had long since lost all hope for the real world¡ªshe watched because Snowy would mention a lot of ces to go around in Binghai on her broadcasts. It was as if she could travel Binghai without having to step a foot outside, and they were the essence of Binghai City. This was a very important life experience for Lu Yi Yun who always stayed at home.

    She followed Snowy¡¯s live broadcasts to all sorts of unique stores, no matter if the main topic of the store was good eats, tabletop games, exquisite flowers or ancient books¡ªshe watched them all with relish. She also recorded them every single time¡ªthey could all possibly hold valuable material for her future manga. She had imagined herself walking into the stores together with Snowy, personally trying the foods, hearing the musical performers, deeply breathing in the fragrance of flowers, sitting on an old chair holding the traditional books, and having spent the whole afternoon under the warm sun. But, that was just her imagination; she didn¡¯t have money, and did not have time, and even more so felt frightened about leaving the house, untilst week when Snowy actually chose a pet shop to do a live broadcast.

    Lu Yi Yun also raised a pet cat¡ªthe former tenants left it behind. She was uncertain what kind of breed it was¡ªprobably a mix. If it were an expensive purebred cat, the people certainly would¡¯ve taken it away. The back of this cat and the back of its head were yellow. Its chest and face were white, its four limbs were a mix between yellow and white, and its fur was pretty long. The former tenants had called it ¡°Jasmine¡±.

    At that time, Lu Yi Yun was on bad terms with her family because she had just dropped out of college. Her parents had threatened to cut off ties and expenses. She almost had no money after renting the apartment, and she was worried that if she couldn¡¯t even keep herself alive, how could she raise a cat? Thus, she had asked the former tenants to take Jasmine away, but the former tenants refused, and had inly said, ¡°If you don¡¯t want to raise it, then help us throw it out.¡± After they had finished speaking, they carried their belongings and left, with their backs looking sharp. If you don¡¯t want to raise it, then help me throw it out, if you don¡¯t want to raise it, then help me throw it out. Why did it feel like as if it was like old newspaper books? A life can just be thrown away?

    Maybe it was because of the same type of hurt, but she had always felt that her lonely self was very simr to this lonely cat. After she had came back to her senses, she was already holding it in her arms, crying. Jasmine did not resist its new owner, and nestled softly and warmly in her arms; maybe it had already epted its fate of having been abandoned. Lu Yi Yun wiped her tears after some time had passed. Even if it was for the cat, she still had to find to a way to fill their stomachs. From that time on, she worked hard to exert herself, and sent her illustrations to different web submissions. She desperately entered a variety of QQ group chats to receive orders and ce advertisements. Since she was a newbie, the orders that she had received were not much and were unstable, and the expenses were low. But demand was high; she was often woken up by phone calls in the middle of the night and had to get out from bed to edit. The counterparties weren¡¯t satisfied with one edit, and wanted second and third edits¡­

    She had also lost control before, and raged tantrums in the empty rented apartment. Other than her mobile phone orputer graphic boards that she did not dare to throw, she hurled everything else that she saw. But even during those times, Jasmine still did not hide, but squatted quietly by her side as if it hadmitted a wrong itself, and did not move even when called. In the end, they cried together as one cat and one person, then continued to edit after having cried enough. Once she started editing, she would not stop until dawn.

    Because she experienced these initial hardships, she did not vite customers, and since her illustration skills were pretty good and she handed in orders on time, the amount of orders slowly increased. The price for single pictures also increased a little, and her life had finally improved. But she and the cat had also lost a lot of weight.

    When she saw Snowy¡¯s live broadcast about the pet shop, the owner had introduced to the camera that the shop offered services to give baths to cats. She had only remembered then that she had never given Jasmine a bath since she took Jasmine in. She had always clung together with Jasmine in the cramped, rented apartment. They had just experienced the mugginess of midsummer, and Jasmine¡¯s fur had gotten longer. It would be self-deception to say that Jasmine¡¯s body did not have an odd smell. She felt guilty and med herself, ¡°Why didn¡¯t I ever think of giving Jasmine a bath when I took a shower myself?¡± In the live broadcast, she had seen that Snowy bought a cat in the shop as well, and the price was staggeringly expensive, but Snowy did not even twitch an eyebrow. It really seems that it was lucrative being an anchorperson.

    In the light of trusting the shop that Snowy had chosen, she decided to bring the cat to Amazing Fate Pet Shop to give it a bath. She searched the map online, and was surprised to find out that the old fashioned small district she was in was actually very close to Amazing Fate Pet Shop. The backdoor of the small district was on the same street as Amazing Fate Pet Shop. It was also only a ten minute walk, which further dispelled her fear of going a long distance. There were small supermarkets in the small district, and she knew how to cook for herself. Other things could be taken care of with express delivery and online stores. She had not left the small district for a few months, and had always stayed in her room drawing desperately.

    Thus, she had lost a lot of weight. She did not need to buy new clothes since she did not go out often, and when she wore the clothes from the past, they appeared toorge. She had taken care of her haircuts in front of the bathroom mirror, so her hairstyle was too horrible to even look at. Her cheeks appeared pale and unhealthy because she had not seen the sunlight in a long while. Her myopia had also worsened due to repeated weary and cumbersome work. The most basic moisturizing cream was the only cosmetic she owned. She felt herself that she looked like a hillbilly in the mirror. But it was fine; she wasn¡¯t looking for outside encounters anyways, so her image did not matter.

    Along the way, she kept feeling as if passersby on the street were looking at her; countless eyes intertwined into a and bound her tightly. She hugged Jasmine closer, restrained the urge to turn around and flee, and briskly walked to the location on the electronic map with her head lowered.

 Chapter 70: Difference in Value

    <h4>Chapter 70: Difference in Value</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The middle-aged woman in the store insisted that shee in first, so Lu Yi Yun carefully pushed the door open, stuck her head in and looked.

    Other than the middle-aged woman, there were also three men in the store. A few kittens were ying in the corner on the floor. A golden cat was ying with a shiny, small object indifferently and looked as if she didn¡¯t care about anything. Another cat with ck and white stripes was popping her head in and out under the stairs: she felt that the ck and white cat was quite simr to hers.

    A young, white dog was locked in the disy cab, walking precipitously in circles. There was a hamster cage and a rabbit cage. Theyout of the store looked exactly the same as shown in Snowy¡¯s live show. She knew she found the right ce.

    ¡°Ex..ahem.. excuse me, is this the ce that provides the cat bathing service?¡± She realized that she could not even talk. When she started talking, it sounded so strange and weird that she had to clear her throat to cover up her nervousness. She surfed online all day where she only needed to type, and when she spoke to Jasmine she could make whatever noise and Jasmine would respond. Neither chatting online nor talking to Jasmine required face to face interactions.

    Zhang Zian nodded firmly, ¡°Yes. You need to bathe your cat?¡±

    She responded, ¡°Um¡­Do you take a cat like this?¡± Her voice was very soft. Fortunately, it was quiet in the store, but Zhang Zian could barely hear her.

    ¡°Yes,¡± he said, ¡°Except for kittens that still drink milk and cats that are sick, everyone else is wee.¡±

    ¡°Great. I want to bathe my cat¡­¡± she said.

    At this time, Aunt Liu who was standing aside, stopped Lu Yi Yun, ¡°Youngdy, that¡¯s not wise!¡±

    Lu Yi Yun paused and realized that she was talking to her. She looked at Aunt Liu with tons of questions going through her mind. She didn¡¯t know this middle-aged woman. Why would she start talking to her all of a sudden?

    This was her first time in a pet store. In order to prepare for today¡¯s big moment¡ªbathing her cat¡ªshe watched Snowy¡¯s live show, recorded it, and watched it again so she would not make any mistakes or run into embarrassments. She was pretty sure she didn¡¯t see this middle-ageddy in the live show. The middle-ageddy was holding a cat. She didn¡¯t look like a staff member nor did she seem to be a customer. Customers would at least have a cat bag; seldom would they carry a cat like her.

    Aunt Liu put on a warm smile and said to Lu Yi Yun, who was greatly confused, ¡°Youngdy, you have to ask for the price first. If you don¡¯t ask for the price, what happens when you find outter that you don¡¯t have enough money to pay? Did you see the news? Some people went to a restaurant and didn¡¯t ask for the price. When they finished, the bill was over 10 thousand yuan. What would you do if that was you, right? You can¡¯t spit out the food and turn it back into the dish on the table. Right?¡±

    Upon hearing Aunt Liu¡¯s words, Lu Yi Yun agreed. She had not interacted with a stranger in so long that she forgot about the basics.

    ¡°I forgot. Thanks for reminding me,¡± she praised Aunt Liu politely.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun saw the whole story and hadpletely changed their impressions of Aunt Liu. At first, they thought that Aunt Liu was a caring person. Then, they were confused because she started to be mean, and now they were totally sick of her. She was totally unreasonable. She didn¡¯t buy the service because of the price and now she was trying to talk people out of it. That¡¯s a total disturbance to the store! What¡¯s more, she was too good at pretending to be a nice person.

    Zhang Zian watched quietly. He was not surprised because Aunt Liu was that kind of person. If she didn¡¯t try to ruin his business, then it was not like her. That was okay. He was about to tell Lu Yi Yun the price anyways. He didn¡¯t expect to have customers spend 300 Yuan to bathe their cat every day. The bathing room was empty. If he could make something out of it, it was better than nothing.

    Aunt Liu¡¯s smile was even bigger and her tone wasforting, ¡°That¡¯s fine. You look so young. I am guessing you have not had many bad experiences, so I just wanted to remind you. Look, you are very polite and your skin is beautiful. You would look stunning if you changed your hair and got a new pair of sses.¡±

    Aunt Liu thought the girl would fall for her. However, she didn¡¯t know Lu Yi Yun was a female otaku that was truly disappointed in the real world. She was immune from Aunt Liu¡¯s tricks.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± Lu Yi Yun was just about to ask Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian pointed at the note on the door of the bathing room and simply said, ¡°Self-service cat bathing, 300 yuan per use.¡±

    Aunt Liu was worried that Lu Yi Yun didn¡¯t understand and she exined, ¡°Youngdy, listen! You have to pay 300 yuan for one use. You also have to bathe your cat on your own. He will not do anything to help.¡±

    Lu Yi Yun thought for a second and said, ¡°but I don¡¯t know how to bathe a cat¡­¡±

    Aunt Liu started to get impatient. She spent all that time and the youngdy wasn¡¯t getting her point! She raised three fingers and emphasized, ¡°300 yuan per use! It is 300 yuan!¡±

    Lu Yi Yun nodded, ¡°I know, but I don¡¯t know how to bathe a cat¡­¡±

    She was so confused. What on earth was this olddy was trying to do?

    Aunt Liu was astonished. Is this girl smart? A normal person should respond: What?! Why is it so expensive? This store is a rip-off. I am noting here! I will expose you online about the rip-off.

    From Lu Yi Yun¡¯s perspective, she was willing to spend all her money for Jasmine. She didn¡¯t know the price in other pet stores. Even if she knew, she would not change her mind simply because Snowy picked this store! Snowy¡¯s selection of stores were all on the pricey side, but they were all super special and they never disappointed Lu Yi Yun. She believed in Snowy¡¯s choice and came here because of her.

    Zhang Zian interrupted at the right time, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter that you don¡¯t know how. It is actually very simple. I will stay right by your side. If you get stuck, I will help you.¡±

    ¡°Perfect.¡± Lu Yi Yun¡¯s reply was short. ¡°May I start now?¡±

    ¡°Of course, pleasee this way.¡± Zhang Zian pointed to the bathing room.

    Lu Yi Yun walked right by Aunt Liu as if she didn¡¯t exist.

    ¡°Should I pay now orter?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Either way is fine,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°I will pay now.¡± She put her cat on the floor, open her wallet and pulled out some money.

    Zhang Zian squatted down to look at her cat. ¡°Nice cat. A hybrid of Persian and chinchi?¡±

    Lu Yi Yun smiled for the first time since she entered the store. ¡°Thank you.¡± It was her first time knowing what breed Jasmine was.

    Aunt Liu was shocked, thinking to herself, ¡°She didn¡¯t even respond when I praised her for her looks. Now this guy said something nice about her cat and she was thrilled? Why would she spend that kind of money to bathe her cat when she only wore lousy clothes?¡±

    Aunt Liu simply could notprehend.

    All in all, everyone had a particr value in their heart.

    Aunt Liu looked at her cat as a pet that was not worth spending money on. Raising children could bring great returns when they grew up. However, raising a pet could never lead to material gain.

    To Lu Yi Yun, Jasmine was not only a pet, but apanion, best friend and a force pushing her to be a better person. This was how experience and value caused the difference in consumption.

    The former was not Zhang Zian¡¯s target customer, but thetter sure was.

 Chapter 71: Bathe

    <h4>Chapter 71: Bathe</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After she had paid, Lu Yi Yun immediately picked up the cat as if she was afraid of losing it. But she felt that it was a bit strange; Jasmine seemed to be particrly good today. She obediently stayed in her arms after entering the shop, and didn¡¯t even make any movements to look around. What was going on? Zhang Zian put the three new red tickets into his wallet, pulled the bathroom door open, and said, ¡°Come in.¡±

    The bathroom on the first floor of Amazing Fate Pet Shop was designed by Zhang Zian¡¯s parents and constructed by other people. They had nned to open services for bathing pets, and although it did not work out in the end, there was no issue on this bathroom¡¯s design. The bathroom wasn¡¯t too big; it was one meter and a half wide, two meters tall, and appeared a bit cramped.

    The center was an aisle, and there was a bath counter simr to a kitchen counter on each side. At each bath counter, there were three sinks in the proper order of small, medium, andrge, respectively, in correspondence to small pets, medium-sized pets, andrge pets. There was also a shower spray above each sink. The sinks looked like ordinary stainless steel kitchen sinks, but their inner walls were marked with scales. What was somewhat extraordinary was that the bottoms of the sinks were lined with rubber padding. There were a lot of non-slip particles on the pad to prevent the pets from slipping and falling when they were bathing in the sink.

    In theory, there were a total of sixrge and small sinks, so six pets of different sizes could bathe at the same time. But this type of ideal situation could not possibly appear. Bathing one pet alone was already troublesome enough; bathing six pets together would be earth shaking.

    The bathroom used transparent ss that was single-handedly separated from the corner of the first floor. After Zhang Zian took Lu Yi Yun in, he closed the door to maintain the temperature. He could give her instructions just by standing outside. Zhang Zian pointed to a medium-sized sink, ¡°Just right there then. First, plug the bottom of the sink, then turn on the shower spray, and fill it up with five centimeters of water¡ªthere¡¯s a scale on the inner wall, you see it right? It would be fine to just immerse the cat¡¯s paws.¡± Lu Yi Yun did as he said and inserted the plug.

    At this time, Wang Qian couldn¡¯t help but open his mouth, ¡°Master! She is just a mere mortal, how could she bepared to master with your indestructible ability? How about having her put on some rubber gloves first? Don¡¯t I see gloves hanging on the walls of this bathroom¡­¡± Wang Qian raised a Nu luctus felis at home, and although his parents were taking care of it, he knew a lot of cats that would begin to toss around in chaos the moment they entered the bathroom, not to mention when bathing. He thought, ¡°ording to master¡¯s ability, he would not forget this point. Also, there were obviously spare rubber gloves hanging there; why didn¡¯t master say anything?¡±

    Aunt Liu and Lu Yi Yun were shocked when they heard it. What the heck was indestructible ability? Besides, was there anyone who wasn¡¯t a mortal in this room?

    Although Zhang Zian was thick-skinned, he still blushed a bit at this time. He was really anxious to plug those two idiots¡¯ mouths with the rubber gloves. Lu Yi Yun lifted her head up slightly, and also saw the line of rubber gloves hanging on the bathroom wall. ¡°Mr. Manager, do I need to wear gloves?¡± she asked. She had unconsciously learned to address Zhang Zian as ¡°Mr. Manager¡±, just like how Snowy had in her live broadcasts.

    ¡°No need,¡± Zhang Zian replied straightforwardly, ¡°Cats are animals with a strong concept of domain, including house cats. They will use urine to divide domain. I also have a super fierce cat in my shop, her. This is her domain.¡± He pointed at Fina. ¡°All animals bully the weak and fear the strong. Upon entering someone¡¯s domain, one must mp one¡¯s tail if one can¡¯t defeat the other person. This is the generalw of the animal world. No matter how rebellious a cat is thates to my shop, it must weigh its ability to see whether it can defeat her.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± Lu Yi Yun nodded as if she understood. She noticed that Fina¡¯s stature was very robust, and her eyes were sharp. She was like a small leopard, and appeared very fierce. Compared to Fina, her Jasmine was just like a small white rabbit in front of a lion. ¡°Then can I start?¡± she asked Zhang Zian. ¡°Yes,¡± Zhang Zian replied affirmatively.

    Thus she stretched her hand out towards the shower spray valve.

    Whoosh! The water turned on, countless streams of water spurted out from the shower¡¯s pores and sshed into the sink. The shower spray was connected to a hot water faucet, with the temperature set to forty-three degrees. The body temperature of cats was thirty-eight point six degrees, which was a little higher than the human body temperature, so the temperature for the bath water must be higher than their body temperature. Of course, the temperature couldn¡¯t be too high; cats did not have the refined interest of soaking in hot water baths.

    The screams of people and cats that Wang Qian had imagined did not ur. There was only the sound of the steady flow of water. He took a closer look; the cat was still perfectly lying on the counter next to the sink, and there were not any bizarre movements. He patted his head and thought, ¡°F*ck, the advanced animal-taming skills were so godly that it even changed the nature of the cat.¡±

    Lu Yi Yun stared at the lines on the scale. When the water hit five centimeters, she turned off the valve ording to Zhang Zian¡¯s instructions. ¡°Now, put the cat into the sink, lift its chin up slightly with your left hand, and open the shower spray to rinse it. Just pay attention to one point, and don¡¯t wash its face when you are bathing it. There is nothing else other than that. Very simple,¡± Zhang Zian said. Lu Yi Yun put Jasmine into the sink. Other than having felt its body tremble briefly when its paws first entered the water, it was continuously obedient. It was better behaved than usual; it was well-behaved like a fake cat.

    She held on to Jasmine¡¯s chin ording to the instructions, and opened the valve of the shower, carefully avoiding its face. The water soaked its long fur, and all that soaked fur clung onto its body. Its body shrunk rapidly like a rubber ball that was leaking air. The cuteness was not there anymore, and it looked a bit ridiculous.

    The shower spray was fixed, and faced the center to the sink. As long as the pets don¡¯t move around, their heads and butts won¡¯t get washed.

    ¡°See the sponge next to the sink? Dip the sponge into the water, and wash all the parts that did not get rinsed.¡±

    She used the soaked sponge to wet the fur on Jasmine¡¯s chest, butt, inner legs, knees, and tail.

    ¡°Next, turn off the shower spray. There¡¯s body wash on the shelf. Squeeze some onto the sponge, and rub out some foam. Then scrub it like you¡¯re giving yourself a bath. Make your movements swift to prevent it from catching a cold.

    The body wash on the sponge produced arge amount of foam; Jasmine¡¯s entire body was covered in foam, apart from her face and paws. Lu Yi Yun gently stroked its fur¡ªit was both supple and smooth, like high quality silk. Bubbles also floated on top of the water on the surface of the sink. The water became no longer clear; considerable filth and half-strands of fur floated up and down. She had not expected that Jasmine, who usually appeared to be pretty clean, would actually be this dirty already. This was despite herbing Jasmine¡¯s fur every day. ¡°God knows how long it had been since its former owner had given it a bath, perhaps never,¡± she wondered. She felt that it was really good that she could bring Jasmine to bathe!

 Chapter 72: Witty Aunt Liu

    <h4>Chapter 72: Witty Aunt Liu</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian looked at the time and reminded Lu Yiyun again it was about time to rinse off the bubbles. Once the water in the sink cooled down, it would be too cold for the cat.

    Lu Yiyun followed his instructions to unplug the stopper in the sink. The water along with some dirt rapidly went down the drain. She then turned on the shower and rinsed off the bubbles on Jasmine using a sponge.

    She started to sweat, wiped her forehead using the back of her hand, and didn¡¯t even notice that some bubbles got in her hair. After confirming Jasmine was all clean, she turned off the shower, pulled a towel from the rack, and wrapped Jasmine up. Jasmine¡¯s whole body was wrapped in the towel, with only her little face sticking out. She looked just like a cute chicken wrap that everybody loved¡­

    The towel dried off most of the moisture from Jasmine. It was time for the dryer.

    This is another obstacle in cat bathing. Most cats are scared of the huge noise from the dryer.

    As a girl, although being a female Otaku, Lu Yiyun was great with dryers. Zhang Zian specially reminded her not to put on high heat, otherwise it would burn the cat¡¯s hair¡­

    In most circumstances, this step required cooperation between two people. One person would be holding ab with one hand and the dryer in the other. Another person would grab the cat so it wouldn¡¯t move around. If there was only one person, she could only dry the hair withoutbing. In that case, the oue would be a lot less pretty, and the hair would be less fluffy. However, in Zhang Zian¡¯s store, it only took one person for this task, because cats would not move around, instead standing still like a model and letting the owner dry their hair.

    Tools were also avable in all varieties. As drying began, one needed a wide-toothb to lift up the hair to make sure the skin was dried. Afterwards, it required a fine-toothb to smooth out the hair throughout the whole body.

    When Lu Yiyun put down the dryer andb, Jasmine lookedpletely different! When she held Jasmine up, her hair was as soft and smooth as cotton. Her hair smelled beautifully, like the fresh body soap.

    The whole shower waspleted within 40 minutes. If she was familiar with the process, it would¡¯ve been even quicker.

    ¡°Thank you, Mr. Manager!¡± Lu Yiyun had Jasmine in her arms, very satisfied with the result.

    ¡°Customer satisfaction is the best gift to me,¡± Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°If you have anyments or suggestions, please feel free to let me know.¡± He was surprised that his first customer in the bathing business went so well.

    Aunt Liu kept winking at Lu Yiyun, trying to have her tell Zhang Zian that the pricing was ridiculous and she would nevere back.

    Lu Yiyun shook her head, ¡°I am very happy with the service here. Noments.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great. See you next time.¡±

    She took a second and said, ¡°I would like the same cat bag as Snowy¡¯s.¡±

    Snowy? Zhang Zian searched in his memory and realized she was talking about the camgirl Snowy.

    ¡°Oh, are you a fan of hers?¡± he asked.

    She timidly dropped her head: ¡°Not really a fan¡­ I just watch her live show every time¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand the logic behind her words. Howe she didn¡¯t consider herself Snowy¡¯s fan, but she watched her live show all the time? However, he was d that the advertisement worked. Deeply buried gold cannot shine.

    He brought out the same cat bag as Snowy¡¯s. Lu Yiyun paid, put Jasmine in the cat bag, nodded, and said, ¡°Thank you, Mr. Manager. I wille back.¡±

    At this moment, he thought of the girl in the jewelry store and started to understand her feeling. It feels good to have returning customers!

    Of course, feeling good is great. However, he was toozy to show Lu Yiyun out in the same way Su Min had done in the jewelry store.

    After watching Lu Yiyun leave, he turned around and spoke to Aunt Liu, ¡°Aunt Liu, it is almost noon. Why don¡¯t you go home and make lunch?¡±

    Aunt Liu pulled a long face. She stomped her feet, walked around the store and was about to leave furiously. All of a sudden, she spotted the golden cat ying with something really shiny.

    ¡°Yo!¡± she suddenly remembered, ¡°A few days ago, my nephew¡¯s daughter came to my house and lost her toy ring. She almost cried her eyes out! Look, your cat found it! She did me a great favor!¡±

    She reached out to Fina as she spoke.

    In fact, she wasn¡¯t sure if that shiny ring was a diamond ring or not. It didn¡¯t hurt to try anyways. What if it was a genuine diamond ring? That would be an excellent steal!

    If the scene in front was a y, Zhang Zian would¡¯ve been amazed by Aunt Liu¡¯s quick-witted action. Although she was older, her brain acted quicker than many young people.

    Of course, Fina had to guard her property. She caught the ring in between her nail, widely open her mouth, and screamed!

    That was a sharp and powerful scream. A few kittens who had been ying started shaking immediately. The American shorthair cat in Aunt Liu¡¯s arms was so scared that she urinated involuntarily! Urine sprayed from under her tail all over Aunt Liu.

    Cats urinate in two forms. One is the normal way. The other is to spray urine. This happens when cats are in a fight or are frightened. The American shorthair was obviously greatly terrified.

    Cat urine smells awful. It is very difficult to eliminate the smell once it gets on garments. In other words, the garment is pretty much trashed once it gets cat urine on it. Even cats cannot stand the smell of their own urine, so they were born to use litter to cover up the smell. That¡¯s why they always covered up after urination no matter, if there is cat litter around.

    Zhang Zian covered up his nose.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun, the two silly guys, were happily surprised and screamed at Aunt Liu, ¡°Oh no! The cat had the sh*t scared out of her!¡±

    Aunt Liu had made herself a fool in front of those young kids. She was so angry that she pped the American shorthair¡¯s butt. ¡°Damn cat!¡±

    Hitting a cat in front of Fina? That was intolerable! That was worse than the most serious crime! She suddenly stood up, making a scary sound.

    The American shorthair cat bit Aunt Liu¡¯s hand on the thickest part of her palm.

    Aunt Liu screamed ¨C the cat bit four bloody holes in her hand. It hurt!

    Fortunately, the cat let her go as soon as it bit her. She jumped off Aunt Liu¡¯s arm as she was screaming, trying to escape from the store.

    ¡°You Damn Cat! Stay! Come back! I am going to kill you!¡± Aunt Liu covered up the wound and ran after the cat. Although she wanted to cut the cat into pieces, she would take her back because she had paid for it.

    ¡°Aunt Liu, don¡¯t forget to get your vine for rabies! Can¡¯t save money on that!¡± Zhang Zian yelled as Aunt Liu rushed out of the store.

    The cat and the woman disappeared at the door. Aunt Liu¡¯s scream was fading out. Many pedestrians stopped and didn¡¯t know what was wrong with that middle-aged woman.

    Wang Qian and Li Kunughed as if they were watching aedy. Well, they would have some stories to tell on the forum after going home tonight.

    It was almost noon. Now having more customers, Zhang Zian could not close the store as he wished. He pulled out the money from Lu Yiyun, had Wang Qian go get some food, and also asked Li Kun to go get some chicken breast and chicken liver.

    ¡°I am not tipping you guys today, but you can stay for lunch. Go right back to school after we eat!¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were happily surprised, ¡°Thank you, Master, for lunch!¡±

    A while after they left, the escaped American shorthair quietly slipped in the store from a different direction andid down right in front of Fina.

    ¡°I knew it,¡± Zhang Zian sighed.

 Chapter 73: The Issue of Marriage

    <h4>Chapter 73: The Issue of Marriage</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Cats were nocturnal creatures, and would spend two-thirds of their lifetime sleeping or napping. Humans rose up upon hearing the crow of a rooster to practice the sword [1], and would spend two-thirds of their lifetime studying, working, living, andboring. When humans fell asleep at night, it was the time of the day when cats were their most energetic and vigorous. The two types of living creatures with theplete opposite work and rest times would actually attract each other. Wasn¡¯t forming an unbreakable ally a marvelous thing? The rtionship between cats and humans were simr to marriages, needing protection and patience from both parties. Humans spent time shoveling cat feces, spent money to treat cats¡¯ illnesses, gave a lot of care and effort to providefortable living environments for cats, and mocked themselves with terms like ¡°feces scooper¡± and ¡°cat ve.¡±

    At the same time humans were sacrificing, cats also worked hard to change their habits in order to amodate the work and rest times of humans: theypletely gave up the happiness of leisure that the wild ones of their kind had, and were even deprived of the ability to procreate. They could only spend the rest of their lives with one family in a lifetime. Even within married couples and partners, how many people could do this?

    However, many people could only see their own sacrifices, think that cats should be so, and casually mistreat and abuse cats. Then, if cats chose to end this rtionship and run away from home, they shouldn¡¯t be criticized for doing so. After all, cats and dogs were different. One was righteous, and the other was loyal. Righteousness was that if the king was bad, then the minister would go to a foreign country. Loyalty was that if the king wanted a minister dead, then the minister must die. If unrighteous, then the rtionship could only be broken off and demarcated. Zhang Zian thought about this topic on the morning bus.

    The p struck by Aunt Liu, who was humiliated, was very hard. It was not a rare sight for the American shorthair to bite her in return and then run away. But it was not normal that this event happened in front of Fina. Fina had absolute power over domestic cats, and ordinary cats did not dare to act hastily in front of her. Therefore, after the American shorthair had run away, Zhang Zian knew that it must have been at Fina¡¯s instructions.

    For a cat to run away and get rid of a middle-aged aunt was nothing, and Aunt Liu could not possibly have thought that the American shorthair would circle back and return to Amazing Fate Pet Shop. After all, the golden cat had frightened the American shorthair. Common sense would say that the American shorthair should be very scared of Fina, and would have hidden far away. Aunt Liu was stingy and greedy, but definitely not a fool¡ªeven smarter than the average person. But in the event that things surpassedmon sense, it was easier to think too much.

    When the American shorthair had escaped back to Amazing Fate Pet Shop, she was still limping on the leg that was pped. Zhang Zian could not find fault with Fina for this. He suddenly thought of a question: ¡°What kind of attitude did Fina have towards the stray cats of the cities and viges?¡± If Fina summoned all the stray and wild cats into the shop, it would be big trouble.

    He quickly estimated that all the strays and wild cats of the country would probably total a few billion. They would close the shop in one day by eating so much! Even the top five hundredpanies would not be able handle it! Binghai City would be upied by wild cats of all colors, the city government would be surrounded, the rescue forces would fail, Amazing Fate Pet Shop would appear like the image of a big devil in front of the world, apany under umbre protection, followed promptly by panic-stricken global political emergency consultations, and the final decision would be to drop a nuclear bomb.

    B¡­b¡­boom! A huge mushroom would rise up.

    Game over!

    Heroes, please start over toe back!

    Howe it seemed like a biochemical crisis? But before that, he and Fina would probably already have been sent away to be sliced into pieces¡­

    The bus braked, the loudspeakers rang to indicate they had arrived at a stop, and Zhang Zian awoke from the middle of this vigorous daydream. His thinking could move from a fleeing American shorthair to a biochemical crisis; and he felt that he probably couldn¡¯t be counted as old and was still far away from getting dementia. Forget it; don¡¯t think about this much, just stop at this point. Fina seemingly does not have ns to change this novel into, ¡°Crisis of the Cat,¡± thank heavens!

    That American shorthair was, for the time being, up on the second floor; there was still a risk after all to put it on the first floor. It was better to lie low until the wind blew over.

    After initial physical examination, its leg was not a big problem, except that it was just a little thin. It might have been malnourished¡ªAunt Liu certainly would not spend money to buy special cat food nor make separate food for it, but would only feed it leftovers.

    Aunt Liu probably wouldn¡¯t deliberatelye to look for it, and he wasn¡¯t worried even if she did. If worst came to worst, he could hide the American shorthair in the pet bar that had been provided by the game Pet Hunter at that time. Who would¡¯ve thought that cats could be hidden in a phone? In all seriousness, Zhang Zian hade to the breeding base of Pets¡¯ Home to purchase merchandise. He hade with Sun Xiaomeng the first two times, but this time he hade by himself after familiarizing himself with it. This time he wanted to introduce a few more pets.

    Besides small hamsters and lopped-ear bunnies, all the other pets in his shop had been sold. Actually, there were people who asked about the price of these two rodents, but Zhang Zian had told them that someone else had already requested them.

    Over time, he learned to be smarter, and pretended to be careless and asked the customers how they hade to know about his shop. One customer said it was from BBS¡ªprobably from that Binghai BBS or something, and unlikely from Altar 1024. Another customer said that it was from watching Snowy¡¯s live broadcasts, and another customer said she heard from a friend¡ªZhang Zian did not have the nerve to ask who the friend was. His business prospects couldn¡¯t be counted as small change anymore, but as a huge opportunity!

    The store¡¯s sales on a particr day had already exceeded the highest daily turnover record when his parents ran the shop. Moveover, profits were even higher than was standard, and the extent of hardbor wasn¡¯t even worth mentioning! This wasn¡¯t saying that he was already familiar with managing the shop, nor was it saying that his professionalism had already surpassed his parents¡¯. It was just that he had a little more luck than his parents had.

    Who said luck wasn¡¯t needed for a business¡¯s sess? That would have been a huge mistake! Most of the current sess should be attributed to Gxy and Fina. Fina¡¯s recent performances seemed to be even more eye-catching, but Gxy was the source of all that. If not for Gxy, then the first domino, namely ¡°Zhao Qi,¡± would not have fallen, and would not have caused a series of follow-up reactions. He could finally be sure that he had a firm foothold in this business, and that he would not tip over due to some waves and storms.

    With the demographic dividend here, China¡¯s pet market potential was nearly as unlimited as the bottomless ocean. There were fish and shrimp in the sea, big sharks, and maybe even dragons; all creatures moved freely in the autumn light.

    First set a small goal: Set a firm foothold¡ªthis goal had already been reached.

    Then set the next goal: Save some money to ensure a certain cash flow under the assumption that he would remodel.

    He had not considered further goals before. Meals had to be eaten one mouthful at a time, roads had to be taken step by step. It was easy to choke if meals were eaten too quickly, and it was easy to pull a hamstring if steps were taken too big.

    His parents¡¯ spirits in heaven would definitely bless and protect him.

    Footnote:

    [1] A Chinese saying that describes waking up early to do work.

 Chapter 74: First Time in Stars Pet Chain Supermarket

    <h4>Chapter 74: First Time in Stars Pet Chain Supermarket</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    There was a truck parked in front of Pet¡¯s Home Breeding Base. Zhang Zian walked by yet spotted something wrong, so he stepped back to take a closer look. The back of the truck was filled with cages, but there was room for more. A slogan said ¡°Wee to Stars Pet Chain Supermarket.¡±

    The hood was still warm, which meant it had just arrived.

    He was wondering why the truck was there. It belonged to Stars Pet Chain Supermarket. Were they there to purchase pets?

    He had heard about ¡°Stars Pet¡± from his parents when he was in high school. The name kepting up those days. It was the biggest chain store for pets, a super enterprise. Its franchise stores and direct-sale stores were all over the country. It was the Apple and Samsung of the pet industry. Although it was not as well known on forums as some technologypanies, it was truly a moneymaker. Its profitability was as good as somerge corporations.

    Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t paid attention before. The pet market was huge. No singlepany could take all the market share. Why couldn¡¯t all storespete fairly? They had to fight against each other, and someone had to sacrifice. However, the man¡¯s visit the other day was a warning to him. Now that they were here, he was curious to see what they could do.

    There were three rows of cages in the truck. Each row had fouryers. Each cage had at least two or three pets, mostly cats and dogs. There were also ropes, tape and rain covers for fixing the position of the cages. In case the driver suddenly stepped on the break, the cages would still stay on the truck.

    Zhang Zian was worried. Most of the pets were younger than six months. They were most likely already frightened being in an unfamiliar environment. The transportation didn¡¯t help calm them down. They each should have their own cage, otherwise they might fight against each other. He also didn¡¯t know where their destination was. If it was close by, then it didn¡¯t really matter.

    The side of the truck was in the way, so he could not see the bottomyer of the cages. The third and fourth rows were too high and at a bad angle. Therefore, he could only have a look at the pets on the second row.

    There were some American shorthair cats, Siamese cats, dragon-li cats, Persian cats, golden retrievers, toy poodles and chow chows in the second row. There were two Persian cats. Since they were expensive, they each had their own cage.

    Not to mention how the cats and dogs looked. In Zhang Zian¡¯s opinion, their biggest problem was that they weren¡¯t close to people. When he approached the cages, only the Siamese cat and the golden retriever got closer to him. The others either stayed in the corner scared or rolled themselves up without moving. Even the eyes of the Siamese cat and the golden retriever indicated worries of uncertainties. Their muscles were tense and looked as if they were ready to escape at any time.

    He lightly pped his hands. A few cats and dogs who wereying down raised their heads, looked at him and thenid back down, uninterested. A chow chow stood up, move its butt towards him and farted loudly.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    From Zhang Zian¡¯s perspective, people chose to buy purebred cats and dogs because, in general, they were closer to humans and more docile as a result of the long process of selective breeding. It was not good that these pets were so frightened of humans. If he was correct, it was because there were defects in their socialization, which was the fault of their mothers.

    In his selection process, there were several essential elements. First, the pet had to be weing to humans. Second was the health of pets, and third was the appearance. No one wanted to raise an unfaithful pet.

    Different breeds also vary in the degree that they warm up to people. For example, Siamese cats are closer to humans than American shorthairs. Dragon-li cats are not evenparable to the other two.

    There are also differences between individual pets. Some hybrid cats and dogs are weing to humanspared to purebred pets. When looking at the big picture, purebreds are for sure better than hybrids. Otherwise gicists and pet breeding experts were wasting their whole life studying pets.

    ¡°Hey! You! What are you doing?¡±

    A man wearing a long-sleeve shirt and jeans showed up at the corner. Dirty sleeves, unkempt hair, oily face, slip-on shoes and no socks made him look like a long-distance truck driver. He was humming a song while trying to fix his belt. He might just have gone to the bathroom. Seeing Zhang Zian wandering around the truck, he was suspicious immediately and yelled at him.

    ¡°What are you doing there? Are you trying to steal my pets? I am telling you, those are expensive pets! You couldn¡¯t afford to pay me back if one escaped,¡± he said as he walked closer.

    Zhang Zian pulled his hand back, smiled and waved, ¡°No no no! The cats and dogs are cute. I just wanted to y with them.¡±

    ¡°y with them? I am not responsible if you are bitten!¡± the driver immediately said.

    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t put my hands in the cages,¡± Zhang Zian imed.

    The driver was still in doubt. He stuck his head out, concerned, looked at Zhang Zian from head to toe, and said ¡°You didn¡¯t take anything from me, did you?¡±

    ¡°Hehe, my friend. Do I look like a thief?¡± Zhang Zian was quite confident about his appearance. He at least looked like a normal man.

    ¡°Yes, you do!¡± the driver said affirmatively.

    Zhang Zian, ¡°¡­¡±

    The driver pointed at him, saying, ¡°You do look like one. Greasy face! Don¡¯t go away. I have to count my stock!¡±

    The driver pulled out a wrinkled paper from his pocket and started counting the pets.

    ¡°American shorthair, 1, 2, 3¡­ Sia¡­something¡­1, 2¡­¡±

    ¡°Let me help you.¡± Zhang Zian always wanted to help.

    The driver exploded, ¡°Stop talking to me! I forgot where I was! Damn! I have to recount now!¡±

    ¡°American shorthair, 1, 2, 3¡­ Sia¡­something¡­1, 2¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian got close to the driver and saw there was a funny husky image on the paper¡¯s upper left corner saying: Love Lovely Pet.

    Love Lovely Pet? The name sounded familiar.

    He started searching his memory. Oh! That was the breeding base in the north city! He was there when he was looking for a supplier. The sales representative didn¡¯t allow him to walk around the breeding base so he went to Pet¡¯s Home instead.

    So, all the pets from the truck came from Love Lovely Pet.

    He then once again recalled his parents¡¯ words: there had to be something wrong with the breeding base if they didn¡¯t let you walk around.

 Chapter 75: Tricky City

    <h4>Chapter 75: Tricky City</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In the beginning, the quoted price that the sales clerk at Love Lovely Pet gave Zhang Zian was very favorable. Compared to the offer from Pets¡¯ Home, every pet was cheaper by a few hundred. At the time, Zhang Zian was just purchasing for the first time, and the amount of purchase was pitifully small as well. One could imagine that super customers like Stars with the ability to bargain could certainly enjoy bigger discounts. His parents had said before that no matter how inexpensive the pets were at the breeding bases that did not allow inspections of their breeding farms, they should not be purchased¡ªthose pets had problems. Zhang Zian pondered. He knew the results now, but was still uncertain of the reasons that had caused them. Unless he had personally gone to check out Love Lovely Pet, everything was an assumption.

    The driver counted the number of pets, and matched the number with the quantity stated on the delivery note, then waved his hand and said, ¡°All right, hurry and leave, don¡¯t hang around in this area. It¡¯s quite an eyesore.¡±

    Jealousy! This must be him being jealous of his handsomeness!

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to keep pestering with this kind of trash, so he turned around and walked towards the inside of Pets¡¯ Home.

    The road suddenly became broader before his eyes after going all the way through a number of bungalows and two story buildings. He finally arrived at the core of the region¡ªthe breeding ground. It was his third timeing here.

    The boss of the breeding ground, Sun Yinian, was in a fierce debate with a woman about something, and was even waving his arms to increase his imposing manner. In addition, there was also a person who looked like an assistant standing on the side with a folder tucked under his armpit. More precisely speaking, it was a one-sided conversation for Sun Yinian. The woman on the opposite side was like a rock and did not move. Near them, hundreds of small iron cages were lined up with a pet in every one of them, with the equivalent of cats and dogs as the main pets. It was as if they were prepared and chosen to be ready to send out and load onto the truck at the entrance. Sun Yinian¡¯s spit flew everywhere. ¡°Money manager! I can¡¯t ept this price that you offer! It is just too low! I can¡¯t recover my costs if you are like this!¡±

    Qian Fang wore a gray, fitted professional outfit, her facial lines were cold and sharp, and she gave people a very smart andpetent feeling. ¡°Boss Sun, this is not the first time we have made a deal.¡± Qian Fang¡¯s tone was very calm. ¡°You should know that the price of goods fluctuates in ordance with the market. It¡¯s an economic downturn currently, and housing prices are constantly rising as well. People have less and less money, and if we want to sell pets, we can only cut the prices, or else we won¡¯t be able to sell them out. Stars is such a big business, and there are arge number of staff members to support at each branch, so we have to control costs from all aspects. I hope you understand.¡±

    ¡°Motherf*cking bullsh*t!¡± Sun Yinian couldn¡¯t help but to burst out a foul mouth on the spot. ¡°You guys made a deal at the start that the price would be based on this. Now you want to change it just because you say so? You guys have a lot of staff members to support? I still have a big family here to raise!¡±

    ¡°That was only a verbal agreement, but circumstances have changed now, and we have no way either,¡± Qian Fan replied.

    ¡°Bullsh*t! I think you guys had wanted to secure me at the start, but now you want to kill the donkey the moment it leaves the millstone? [1]¡± Sun Yinian cursed. ¡°Do you guys still have any conscience? Do you guys talk about integrity? Your words are like farts and change every day! Verbal agreement? I talked about signing an agreement at the time, and you guys were very unwilling, so that¡¯s why it wasn¡¯t signed! Now you say that verbal agreements don¡¯t count? F*ck you!¡±

    Qian Fang took out her handkerchief, wiped off the spit that was sttered onto her face, and was still unmoved. ¡°Boss Sun, please calm down. Emotional agitation won¡¯t solve anything. We all muddle along in the industry, so let¡¯s speak frankly. Pets are living things, and each pet is unique, right?¡± Sun Yinian was sulking and did not reply, but Zhang Zian nodded his head in agreement to this statement. Qian Fang continued, ¡°Since they are living things, then the prices are unsteady, of course. Two Persian cats, with one¡¯s condition being lower than the other, could have a price difference of hundreds of thousands, right?¡± Zhang Zian still nodded¡ªthis statement was correct.

    The price of living things should be flexible; it could not be fixed. A restaurantbeled their garlic vored shredded meat to be ten dors, so it should be ten dors for any customer who orders a serving of garlic vored shredded meat. Even if the chef came down with Parkinson¡¯s disease, and the hand holding the tasting spoon always shaked, and caused the serving sizes to be different for each te, it should still be ten dors for each te. It can¡¯t be eleven dors for one te, and then nine dors for another te. The customers would definitelyin if that were the case, and the bureau ofmodity price would definitely seek trouble for you.

    But it wasn¡¯t the same for pets. Their ages were different, their conditions were not the same, and so the prices should be different. A pet being perfect in all aspects should bebeled at a whopping price. It being worth this price was the same as a beauty contest champion in terms of the human race. It wasn¡¯t that Sun Yinian was foolish at the start, but it really wasn¡¯t easy to sign an agreement for living things. Every pet was different, so how could the agreement be signed? It was impossible to have a unified price.

    Qian Fang saw that Sun Yinian had no objections, changed her tone, and threw out the trump card. ¡°When we came for the first time, we told you, ¡®We have to be like this in the future; the price shouldn¡¯t be changed¡¯. This was our verbal agreement. But can you say that this batch is in the exact same condition as the first batch was?¡± Sun Yinian gaped, and was tongue-tied.

    The issue was on the statement of, ¡°We have to be like this in the future¡±. Pets don¡¯t emerge from the industrial line. It was not possible for every batch to be the same. Thus, this statement was a trap from the very beginning. Sun Yinian had fallen for the trick at the time. Zhang Zian reflected that if it were himself, he would not necessarily fall for the trick.

    Qian Fang readily said, ¡°Since you want to talk about integrity, then it¡¯s better to ask yourself: is this batch of pets the exact same as the first batch? If the pets are not the same, then we don¡¯t need to provide the same price, right?¡±

    The words that this woman said could not be counted as wrong, but it made a person feel extremely ufortable upon hearing them.

    Sun Yinian desperately wanted to clutch onto a life-saving straw, and said with a trembling voice, ¡°Then howe you guys didn¡¯t say anything about the previous batches? Why did you guys pay for it happily and quickly?¡± Qian Fangughed and said, ¡°The pressure of our sales were small before. We decided that we preferred to suffer on our own, but¡­I¡¯ll tell you a secret in advance. Stars is preparing to appear on the market, so the head office requested that ounts of each branch must be clear and beautiful with no deficits, so it is very difficult for us to do as well. Please understand.¡±

    Zhang Zian scratched his head. This woman was very powerful¡ªshe could make herself the victim with just a few sentences, and Sun Yinian seemed to be the party that was selling and buying by force. If he had to deal with this woman in the future, he must be very careful. Sun Yinian stomped fiercely, ¡°What the f*ck does you guys going on the market have to do with me! I can¡¯t get even a cent of benefit! No matter what you continue to say, I won¡¯t sell at this price!¡±

    Qian Fang shook her head, ¡°You can¡¯t talk like that. When we have seeded financially on the market, and after our capital is sufficient, the quoted price that we give to a supplier like you would also rise. These difficulties are only temporary at the moment, so please try to ovee them. Let us pull through together.¡±

    Feed on fancies! Feeding on fancies again!

    They were all tricks!

    Footnotes:

    [1] A Chinese saying that meant to get rid of somebody.

 Chapter 76: A Deal Stealer

    <h4>Chapter 76: A Deal Stealer</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Don¡¯t fool me! I won¡¯t fall for your tricks!¡±

    Sun Yinian was fooled once. She couldn¡¯t take advantage of him again!

    From preparation to sessfully going public, it sometimes takes years. What if it failed? Stars Pet¡¯s counteroffer was really low. If they continued to do so, his breeding base would go out of business this winter. Everything was nonsense if his store died.

    Qian Fang was patient. She winked at her assistant. Her assistant pulled the folder out from under her arms and took out a piece of paper from it.

    ¡°Okay. I shouldn¡¯t show you this. It is confidential.¡± She took the paper from her assistant¡¯s hands and said embarrassedly, ¡°We are old friends¡­Look, this is our counter offer to Love Lovely Pet. Don¡¯t tell anyone you¡¯ve seen this.¡±

    She gave Sun Yinian the paper as she spoke.

    ¡°After you see it, you will believe me. Thinking that we are old friends, I already gave you a much better price than theirs. If our profit is low, I am ountable for it. I might be fired.¡± She was worried.

    Sun Yinian took the quote and nced at it. His hands shook and he was shocked. ¡°That¡¯s impossible! The quote is lower than our costs!¡±

    Qian Fan put her arms in front of her chest and said seriously, ¡°That¡¯s the truth. Mr. Sun, you should recharge yourself when you have time. Read some books! Always staying in your store doesn¡¯t help you improve. You should go out and talk to some people in the industry; learn some advanced breeding techniques. It is time to let go of the old-fashioned stuff and learn some new knowledge¡­ If other stores can cut costs, why can¡¯t you?¡±

    Sun Yinian¡¯s eyes were wide-open. Looking at the quote, sweat dripped from his forehead and neck. His hands kept shaking and he continued saying, ¡°That¡¯s impossible¡­that¡¯s impossible¡­¡±

    Qian Fang reached out her arm, took the quote back from his hands and gave it to her assistant. Her assistant and put it back in the folder at once.

    ¡°Nothing is impossible. Everything is possible, Mr. Sun. Why don¡¯t you make a decision? Our offer is not going to change. If you can ept it, we can wire the money and load our truck. If you reject¡­¡± she drawled, ¡°then I am sorry. You are not the only breeding base in town. We are going to work with another base.¡±

    She smiled, but her smile was cold. ¡°I think you know what it means if you lose a VIP customer like Star Pets. No pet store in the area can afford to lose big orders like ours. At this time, you can keep the pets for yourself¡­¡± Obviously this was her final warning.

    All of a sudden, Sun Yinian felt as if a cold breeze went through his body and soul in such a powerful way that his body shook involuntarily. He was light headed and felt as if he was standing on wavy water.

    That was true. Local pet stores were attached by Star Pets. Stars Pet Chain Supermarket almost kicked everyone out of the market.

    Many pet stores bought from Sun Yinian before. Less and less came. He asked about what happened and found that most of them either were closed or sold.

    How could a small pet store fight against a super enterprise like Stars Pet chain Supermarket? There was no cost advantage, no bargaining power, no running capital, and nowork. Stars Pet Chain Supermarket even had their own delivery trucks!

    The real world is cruel. Only the fittest can survive.

    Should he suck it up and ept this quote although he would lose money? What if they came back with a lower price next time?

    Sun Yinian couldn¡¯t see any light in front of him. He was confused.

    His breeding base still had to pay back loans from banks. All the staff was counting on him. It was easy to close the business, but then he would be deeply in debt and the staff would lose their jobs.

    Sun Yinian sighed and was stuck.

    Zhang Zian knew he had to stand up for himself. He could not let Stars Pet Chain Supermarket take those pets otherwise his store would run out of stock.

    ¡°I like the old-fashioned way for breeding. Not all new things are good. A quote from Mr. Deng Xiaoping is that when opening a window, fresh aires in, but so do flies.¡±

    Qian Fang raised her eyebrow. The old guy was about to give in. Who was disturbing?

    She looked at Zhang Zian up and down, frowned, and asked, ¡°And you are?¡±

    The young man in front of her was wearing casual clothes and sneakers. He was not wearing expensive pieces nor a valuable watch. He might not be a big shot. He wasn¡¯t wearing a uniform so he was not a staff member either.

    Her quick judgement was correct.

    Zhang Zian smiled and said, ¡°We are in the same business. I have a pet store.¡±

    Same industry? Sheughed. A small pet store couldpare with Stars Pet Chain Supermarket?

    However, she should still be nice. Otherwise, she would look small-minded.

    She quickly pulled out a business card. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s great! We are in the same business. Let¡¯s keep in touch. Maybe we could help each other out someday. My name is Qian Fang, regional purchasing director for Stars Pet Chain Supermarket.¡±

    Help each other out? Zhang Zianughed in his mind. I would thank you if you would just leave me alone.

    Of course, he also had to show respect. He epted the business card, took a look and said, ¡°My name is Zhang Zian.¡±

    Qian Fang saw that he wasn¡¯t going to exchange business cards and asked him, ¡°Which one is your store?¡±

    Zhang Zian replied, ¡°Amazing Fate Pet Shop. A small store. I bet you have never heard of it.¡±

    In Zhang Zian¡¯s opinion, it wasn¡¯t worth it to hide. She could find out if she wanted to.

    Qian Fang paused for a second. She had never heard of it. It had to be a small shop that might not even exist in a few days. It wasn¡¯t worth her time to learn more about.

    She looked at her assistant. Her assistant slightly shook her head meaning that she had never heard about it either.

    Binhai City and the surrounding area had dozens of small pet shops like that. No one could remember all of them.

    It was about time. From Qian Fang¡¯s perspective, she had shown enough respect to Zhang.

    She nodded, ¡°Mr. Zhang, nice to meet you. Hope that we can help each other out in the future.¡±

    After discontinuing the conversation with Zhang Zian, she said to Sun Yinian, ¡°Mr. Sun, please make a decision ASAP. I am on a tight schedule. I still have to go to a few more breeding bases that are farther.¡±

    ¡°Wait,¡± Zhang Zian stopped her, implying that it wasn¡¯t done between them.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Mr. Zhang?¡± She was impatient.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°We don¡¯t have to wait. You can help me out now.¡±

    He pointed at the cages on the side and said, ¡°Could we talk about it? I would like to buy these pets as well.¡±

 Chapter 77: The Issue of Market Share

    <h4>Chapter 77: The Issue of Market Share</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As the boss of a breeding base, Sun Yinian could roughly calcte their sales situation from the frequency of purchases from different pet shops. With ordinary pet shops as a reference, it would take about one month to sell ten high-priced boutique cats¡ªthis was the average level. Therefore, he did not believe that Zhang Zian would purchase so many pets in one breath. At the scene were all industry insiders; Sun Yinian did not believe it, and Qian Fang even more so did not believe it.

    She said very seriously, ¡°Boss Zhang can really crack a joke. Do you know many pets there are?¡± These few rows of pets in these cages were all that she was preparing to load, to be shipped away together with the pets for Love Lovely Pet. Zhang Zian took a nce and replied with uncertainty, ¡°About eighty.¡± Qian Fang¡¯s smile weakened, stretched out a finger and pointed at him. ¡°urately saying, it¡¯s a total of eighty-three! Eighty-three pets, Boss Zhang, you want to take in all of them?¡±

    Zhang Zian did not reply immediately. He went over to the few rows of cages, and squatted down to take a look. They were different from the pets on the truck by the entrance. These pets came closer the moment they saw a humane near, and gathered by the edge of the cage one after another in a pool to beg. Even if some pets were cold and timid, it was unlikely for them to have no reaction at all, and even more so they would not be scared and hide in a corner of the cage. He moved his hand to the edge of the cage, and some lively pets immediately pointed the tip of their noses out of the cage, and sniffed around. Some pets even let out meows as if to please.

    If he had a choice, he would not have decided to take in this many pets in one breath. But if he didn¡¯t fight for this breath, Stars would take in these pets, and then he would have no pets to sell in his shop at that time. Pets don¡¯t pop up from the industrial line; babies that were under three months old could not be purchased. He hade here to visit twice already, and generally understood the breeding cycle here. If he lost this batch of pets, he would have to wait at least another three weeks for the pets to be able to leave their mothers andplete their vinations. Should he sell for these three weeks? Should he close the shop and go on a vacation? No matter what, he would not choose the cheap pets that Love Lovely Pet offered.

    Zhang Zian noted that within these pets that were chosen, the majority of them were cats and dogs, and there were fifty percent more cats than dogs among them. It was very fitting with the sales ratio in the ssifications of the pet market. Stars had sold pets for many years, and had mastered very detailed data on sales and customer buying trends. They knew very clearly which pets were easy to sell, and which pets were not easy to sell; it was definitely not a blind purchase. It would certainly be a very difficult war to have such a strong opponent as the enemy. But he could not back down, or else the little capital and reputation that he had finally umted would be naught. He said, ¡°Within these pets, I want all the cats. For the dogs, I want the majority of them.

    Once Zhang Zian had made his decision, he did not set aside time for Qian Fang to react. He immediately dered to Sun Yinian, ¡°Boss Sun, I¡¯ll make a full payment for half of it, and I will pay a deposit for the other half, is that alright? As for the unit price, with ordance to the previous standards, it will drift up and down by ten percent ording to the conditions. What do you say?¡± For those who understand, don¡¯t try to fool anyone with the issue of condition. Some details could be controversial, but in general, both sides were aware. Sun Yinian waspletely shocked into speechlessness by this unexpected development. Qian Fang said, ¡°Boss Sun, what do you mean by this?¡± Zhang Zianughed, ¡°In this market economy, one is free to offer a price, freepetition. You guys haven¡¯t made a deal yet, so surely it doesn¡¯t mean that I can¡¯t offer a price? Boss Sun, can I offer a price?¡±

    Sun Yinian finally recovered, ¡°Of course! Of course you can!¡± Qian Fang could choose to follow the price of course, or even crush the price that Zhang Zian had offered, but this had alreadypletely disrupted her n. At the beginning of this month, when she had reported to the regional manager, a military order warrant had been set. In order to respond to the head office¡¯s decision in preparation to go on the market, she would have topress procurement costs by ten percent. Although the procurement costs could bepressed, it certainly would not reach the goal of ten percent if she followed the price. This would give a bad impression for the regional manager, and it would affect her future road for promotion.

    Another path was to not follow the price. It would take a long time for an ordinary pet shop to sell such arge batch of pets. Although doing this would lose a batch of high-quality supply, it could at least be a deterrence strategy, and let Sun Yinian know the consequences of going against Stars. Her means were not guileless, but standing from Stars¡¯ perspective, she was definitely a talent who could help the boss save money, so she could be in a high position. She took a deep breath, calmed her mood, nodded and said, ¡°Zhang Zian of Amazing Fate Pet Shop, right? Fine, I will remember you.¡± She finished and called the assistant. ¡°Let¡¯s leave!¡±

    After they had left, Sun Yinian carefully observed Zhang Zian¡¯s face and hesitantly asked, ¡°Store manager Zhang¡­just now you, you weren¡¯t kidding, right?¡± Zhang Zian waved his hand.¡±Don¡¯t be so courteous, and just simply call me Zhang Zian or Zian. Of course I am serious you also don¡¯t have to thank me. I did note forward for you, I just came today to make purchases.¡± Sun Yinian whispered nonstop with his hands twisted, ¡°Great¡­but¡­¡± He paused, ¡°But thest batch of seven, you¡¯ve sold them all?¡± Zhang Zian nodded, ¡°They¡¯re sold, so I¡¯ve came to purchase new ones. Boss Sun, can I suggest a proposal?¡±

    ¡°Please say it, please do say,¡± Sun Yinian replied hastily.

    Zhang Zian euphemistically suggested, ¡°Boss Sun, from my point of view, the supply has a bit exceeded the demand in your breeding farm.

    ¡°Huh? What does that mean?¡± Sun Yinian did not understand.

    Zhang Zian replied, ¡°Cats and dogs ount for ny percent of the pet market share, and within that, the amount of cats are twice as much as dogs. In other words, in the pet market share, cats ount for sixty percent, dogs ount for thirty percent, and the rest of all the other pets could only be attributed to as ¡®other¡¯.¡± He pointed at the chinchi and rabbit in the cage. ¡°These are ¡®others¡¯.¡±

    Zhang Zian continued to speak, ¡°Instead of siring these low profit ¡®other¡¯ animals, it¡¯s better to concentrate energy and resources on cats and dogs. Introduce more varieties, introduce more breeds of cats and dogs as to avoid mixing of blood lineage and inbreeding. Competition is intense in this era, and as we are such small businesses, we don¡¯t have to demand perfection. It¡¯s better to have expertise. Survival has toe first before considering development.¡±

    From what he saw, the biggest weakness of this breeding farm was that it was excessive butcking in exquisiteness. They did not have the puppet cat or any other novel and expensive cat breeds. He didn¡¯t say much, and stopped at this point. Sun Yinian was a middle-aged man at this age, and his cogitation would tend to be more rigid; he was not easy to persuade. Just let him think about it on his own. Maybe he could think it through, maybe not.

    ¡°All right, let¡¯s not mention things that are too far away. Let¡¯s talk about our business first. I remember that Boss Sun, you have said before that it would be free shipping if it¡¯s a purchase of more than ten pets at once, right?¡± Zhang Zianughed, ¡°This time, don¡¯t send me any hamsters or lopped-ear rabbits, I really can¡¯t take care of them. It¡¯s better to just take away a few dors from me!¡±

 Chapter 78: Fighting for Your Rights

    <h4>Chapter 78: Fighting for Your Rights</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhao Qi had to work overtime again tonight. There was no announcement about the overtime until about 30 minutes before closing time. Most people thought that they would be able to go home on time, but unfortunately had to stayte.

    The b*tchy assistant went right back to her office after the announcement of overtime before people even startedining. Right then people heard two loud sneezes from her office and then the noise of her cleaning her nose. Although super annoyed by having to work overtime tonight, Zhao Qi and Shi Shi smiled at each other when they heard her sneeze. Shi Shi secretly put her thumb up at Zhao Qi.

    The b*tchy assistant embarrassed herself again in today¡¯s meeting. She sneezed four or five times before even finishing one sentence. Her eyes were watery from all the sneezing. Some male coworkers that didn¡¯t know about the situation worried about her not recovering from her cold for such a long time. She replied that maybe someone had a cat. She was allergic to cat hair. Zhao Qi was delighted in her heart because of what the b*tchy assistant had done to her.

    In order to cover up her n, Zhao Qi wore a different jacket every day, five styles in five days. In fact, she continued to wear the same jackets without cleaning them so that more cat hair could get on the jackets. Her jackets turned into her biological weapon towards the b*tchy assistant.

    Finally, they got out of work. It was already dark. Zhao Qi and Shi Shi ate dinner at Pizza Hut.

    After ordering, while they were still waiting for food, Zhao Qi pulled out her cell phone.

    ¡°What are you looking at?¡± Shi Shi stuck her head over. ¡°Funny video or hot guys?¡±

    ¡°Looking at my little princess,¡± Zhao Qi replied.

    Shi Shi¡¯s eyes zed over and she lost interest immediately. ¡°Oh, your cat again!¡±

    Zhao Qi installed a smart camera at home for security reasons and also to keep an eye on Lan Lan so she knew if Lan Lan ate on time from the timed feeder.

    Every morning and during the weekend, Zhao Qi would feed Lan Lan after soaking the cat food in water. She could not do that when she was at work. As per instruction from Zhang Zian, it was best to feed young kittens and old cats with cat food pre-soaked with warm water. If a young kitten or an older cat ate dry cat food, they then would go drink water. The dry cat food could easily expand after absorbing water and hurt their digestion system, which could lead to indigestion or diarrhea.

    At this time, the timed feeder came in handy. It fed the cat at a certain time and a certain amount so the cat would not overeat and drinking water would not be a problem. Her kitten might have gotten a bad stomach if she put out a full bowl of cat food and the kitten could eat whenever she wanted.

    Seeing that Lan Lan was being good and was eating as nned, Zhao Qi felt relieved. She always felt bad for Lan Lan. She worked all the time, and sometimes overtime. She also went out on weekends. It had to be very lonely for Lan Lan.

    Maybe she should buy another cat to apany Lan Lan. She started seriously thinking about this problem.

    If Zhang Zian knew her thoughts, he would have shown off and said, ¡°I told you. Dog keepers usually only have one dog, but cat keepers usually have a whole bunch.¡±

    The reason was that raising a dog is like raising a kid. Less is more.

    Many people raise a cat because cats are cute. Every cat is cute. Cat keepers always fall in love with different cats. It is like an emperor with a group of concubines that are different in figure and personality.

    Something suddenly came up in Zhao Qi¡¯s mind. She interrupted Shi Shi with her arm. ¡°Shi Shi, what if my future boyfriend doesn¡¯t like cats? What would you say?¡± Shi Shi was looking at handsome male celebrities¡¯ pictures on her phone.

    Shi Shi stopped and thought really carefully. ¡°Then you will have to see who is more important to you.¡±

    ¡°Bull sh*t. Of course Lan Lan is more important,¡± Zhao Qi spoke seriously.

    ¡°¡­ You are hopeless,¡± Shi Shi¡¯s face was filled with sorrow as if she was looking at a friend that had four-stage cancer. ¡°Well, you¡¯ve reminded me that I should never get a cat.¡±

    After dinner, they both got on the subway to go home separately.

    As Zhao Qi opened the door, Lan Lan approached and meowed, as if she was saying that Zhao Qi waste again today.

    ¡°I am sorry, honey. Working overtime again tonight.¡± Zhao Qi kicked off her shoes as she spoke. Her feet hurt from those shoes!

    She put down her purse on the cab by the door and picked up Lan Lan. ¡°Let¡¯s see. Did you put on weight? Come on. Sister is going to weigh you.¡±

    Every fashionable girl should have a scale at home.

    ¡°Yo! You put on 150 grams again.¡± She put Lan Lan on the smart scale, opened the App and saw Lan Lan¡¯s weight graph. It was a slow upward curve.

    After weighing Lan Lan, she turned around, about to leave, then changed her mind and stepped up on the scale

    ¡°¡­ The scale has to be broken. I should get a new one.¡± She picked up Lan Lan and left the bathroom without any expression on her face. In her mind, she swore that she would never eat unhealthy food like Pizza Hut again.

    Before she had Lan Lan, Zhao Qi wouldy on the couch for half an hour surfing on social media after work, but now she always picked up some cat food from around the feeder and put fresh water in the water bowl for Lan Lan.

    She took a shower then started her mask. Lan Lan looked at her, turned around and yed in the living room.

    It was normal. Every time she put a mask on her face, Lan Lan would not listen to her, no matter how hard she tried. Sometimes, she picked her up, but Lan Lan would struggle and jump off. She went back to normal after she took off her mask.

    Putting on a mask was in her routine. She had to maintain herself in order to have better luck with boys.

    Zhao Qi turned on theputer with the mask on her face. She felt that it was the perfect time for theputer. Maybe the mask could stop some radiation from theputer.

    She surfed online for a little bit, and then went to Wang Haige Forum.

    The forum turned into a much better ce after the inte water army from Stars Pet Chain Supermarket was cleaned up. There was moderate recruitment advertising in the banner area, but she was not interested.

    ¡°Hmmm, what about all these posts with videos?¡± She was murmuring to herself, ¡°What are they showing off this time, a cat or a dog?¡±

    One of the posts was titled, ¡°Tested Myself! An Amazing Cat!¡±

    What kind of cat is an amazing cat?

    She was curious, so she clicked it.

    The post said, ¡°I heard from my friends from this forum that cats from Amazing Fate Pet Shop have special skills. I was very skeptical. A coworker happened to ask me to buy a cat for her, so I bought a British shorthair cat from them to find out what that special skill is.¡±

    She yed the video.

    There was a British shorthair in the video, about same age as Lan Lan.

    It was filmed at home. You could tell from the wood flooring.

    The person who posted the video didn¡¯t show her face. You could only hear ps and conversations.

    The person pped three times.

    The British shorthair immediately paid full attention, looking just like when Lan Lan heard the UPS guy at the door.

    The person snapped her fingers.

    The British shorthair started walking in a figure-8, and then ended where she started.

    The person snapped again. The cat did it again.

    The person pped twice.

    The British shorthair rxed.

    The video ended.

    Zhao Qi was speechless.

    Although time was not up yet, she quickly pulled off her mask, rushed to Lan Lan and pped three times at her. She then also snapped her fingers.

    Lan Lan was full of questions.

    Zhao Qi, ¡°what?!¡±

    Howe my Lan Lan doesn¡¯t have the special skill?

    It was already toote at night, otherwise Zhao Qi would¡¯ve run to the store to interrogate Zhang Zian.

    However, after she cooled down, she decided to visit her neighbor, Liu Wenying, to find out if her Siamese cat had the special skill. If not¡­Zhang Zian, just wait! I will fight for my rights!

 Chapter 79: Second Group Starts, Sending message if come

    <h4>Chapter 79: Second Group Starts, Sending message ife</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When Xiao Yan arrived at the gathering location, there were already four people waiting there. She parked the car a little far away, didn¡¯t turn off the engine, and observed a little through the windows of the car. The four people were all young people, a little younger than her. When the group opened on BBS, there were obviously fifteen people, but in reality including her, there were only a total of five people who came. This was also very normal. It was literally two different worlds online and offline. To have an attendance rate a quarter of the total at this line of meeting was already pretty good. Xiao Yan adjusted the angle of the rearview mirror, and checked her makeup. There were no problems, so she drove the car next to them, stopped, and got out of the car carrying her bag.

    Evidently, the Mercedes-Benz S500 she drove had caused psychological pressure on the few young people. They were talking jovially at first, but had simultaneously quieted down in a spontaneous manner. Their gazes were somewhatplex. They probably all walked or had taken the public bus here. There were no cars in sight nearby.

    ¡°Everyone is from Wang Haige, right? My BBS ID is ¡®Spark¡¯.¡± She gracefully greeted them.

    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Xiao Niu.¡± A man wearing sunsses and a casual jacket spoke.

    ¡°I¡¯m Lea.¡± A slightly short and slightly chubby girl smiled. Her smile was very friendly.

    ¡°ck Jack,¡± a tall and slender sporty man said.

    ¡°I am Gu Tianle, ¡®Gu¡¯, as in stocks. Yea¡­although it¡¯s about to be ¡®Gu Tianku¡¯ [1]¡­¡±

    An average looking guy wearing a denim shirt, a backwards baseball cap, an earring in his left ear and growing a very chic beard gave an embarrassed smile.

    ¡°Apologies, there was a traffic jam at the city¡¯s center, I came a bitte¡­is there anyone else who¡¯sing?¡± Xiao Yan asked.

    Gu Tianle was this group¡¯s group leader, but he was obviously a bit powerless offline. Maybe this was his first time having arranged this type of gathering offline after having mustered up his courage. He looked around and said with uncertainty, ¡°Probably¡­not?¡±

    Lea spoke up. ¡°Those who wanted toe should have all arrived already. How about we go first?¡± Everyone did not object.

    They were the second group toe visit Amazing Fate Pet Shop through a group on BBS. After the group one visitors hade, there was a bigmotion on BBS. One reason was because no one had thought that anchorperson Snowy with such small fame in the local city would be part of group one. The second reason was because Snowy¡¯s live broadcast had revealed that Amazing Fate Pet Shop¡¯s cats could perform stunts, and they were even collective stunts.

    At the beginning, the group of spectators on BBS gave a first reaction of the video being fabricated, but this theory was quickly denied. That was because it was a live broadcast, so it wasn¡¯t possible for it to have been fabricated. Also, a few people with small fame on BBS confirmed it from the side, and the famous bumping king and bumping mahatma had even more so patted their chests to guarantee the authenticity of the video. Thus, the organization of the second group was imperative. Led by Gu Letian, the second group was set up, and thus constructed this temporary group.

    Everyone¡¯s free time was calcted in the group. It was hard to cater to everyone¡¯s preferences, but this time period was finally decided upon. Five of them came, and among the rest of the people, some backed away at thest minute. Some expressed that they couldn¡¯t match up with the time and that they would go by themselves when they had time, and not with the group. Xiao Yan looked at the traffic signs and said to them, ¡°I can¡¯t park here. I will drive straight to the entrance of the shop. Everyone get in? We should all be able to fit with a little squeeze.¡± They exchanged nces, all hoping that someone would make a decision.

    ck Jack shook his head, ¡°Forget about me, I¡¯ll walk there. I just need to cross a street to arrive there.¡± Lea was afraid that Xiao Yan would feel awkward and rushed to say, ¡°I¡¯ll sit if you guys don¡¯t! I won¡¯t walk if I can sit in a car, that¡¯s my principle. No wonder I¡¯m getting fatter and fatter, ahhh¡­¡± People who were good atughing at themselves certainly have good rtions with other people¡ªespecially a fatty who couldugh at herself. They always give a good impression of being harmless to humans and animals to people. The moment Lea¡¯s words were spoken, everyone immediately kindlyughed out loud, and the atmosphere became a lot more rxed. ¡°I¡¯ll sit too! Don¡¯t sit if you don¡¯t want to! I haven¡¯t sat in a Mercedes in this lifetime yet! I can even brag about it when I go back!¡± Xiao Niu also followed tough at himself, ¡°So what? I¡¯m a loser, who am I afraid of?¡±

    As a group leader, Gu Tianle was in an awkward position. If he also chose to sit in the car, then it would seem as if ck Jack was isted. He found an excuse for himself. ¡°I¡¯ll also walk there. It happens to help me digest my food.¡±

    Just like that, the five people divided into two teams, even though they weren¡¯t a big number to start with. If it were a horror film, it would definitely be a prelude to death. Having said that, the gathering location was indeed very close to Amazing Fate Pet Shop. It was just two or three hundred meters plus a crossroads; it was just a difference of a few minutes whether you walked or took the car there. It just so happened that it was a red light at the crossroads. The Mercedes-Benz stopped behind the zebra crossing lines to wait for the green light. Gu Tianle and ck Jack waved at them when they passed them on the sidewalk. It appeared that they would arrive first. ¡°Hey, let me ask you guys. Do you guys n to buy pets?¡± Lea broke off the silence while she sat in the co-pilot seat. Xiao Niu sat in the backseat. He stretched his legs in between the two front seats, and said, ¡°I have a disposition. My main purpose is to buy one to apany my mom and dad. They are retired, and are bored and flustered at home every day. I also don¡¯t want them to go y mahjong in a foul atmosphere, so I figured that I could buy a pet for them to find something to do.¡±

    ¡°Hey yo! Pretty filial, huh!¡± Lea praised him. Xiao Niu scratched his head in embarrassment and coughed, ¡°I¡¯ve just started working, and have made a bit of money, so I want to buy a gift of some sort. I just happened to see on BBS that the pets of this shop are pretty popr¡­but I heard that the price isn¡¯t that cheap. It sounds pretty expensive¡­¡±

    As he talked, his nced towards the chevron symbol at the center of the steering wheel. Lea replied earnestly, ¡°There is no good merchandise that is cheap, good merchandise isn¡¯t cheap. You must buy good merchandise if you are buying for your parents, so that they don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s all right if it¡¯s a little expensive as long as it¡¯s good value for the money.¡±

    Xiao Niu nodded, ¡°You¡¯re right. How about you, Lea?¡± Lea mocked herself once again. ¡°I want to buy one to apany myself. A female loser who¡¯s poor, dumb, ugly, and fat like me definitely won¡¯t have anyone who would want me in the future. I¡¯ll just hold a pet and slowly grow old! Haha!¡±

    Xiao Niu didn¡¯tugh in return, but instead retorted, ¡°Lea, your character is good, you have good rtions with people, and there¡¯s no pressure when being with you. You will definitely have someone who will want you. Don¡¯t they all say that fatties aremon stocks and umon profits? Then again, you¡¯re just slightly chubby.¡± He emphasized, ¡°slightly¡±. Leaughed. ¡°Don¡¯tpliment me in case you make me lose my determination to lose weight. I will me you in the future!¡±

    The two were talking andughing, and Lea was afraid that Xiao Yan was being left out. She then asked, ¡°Spark, how about you? You¡¯vee with the intention of buying a pet, right?¡± The light turned from red to green, and Xiao Yan was focused on observing the left and right, while focusing on elerating. She replied, ¡°I have a cat at home, and I heard that this shop can give baths to cats, so I nned toe take a look.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Lea turned around to look in the backseat, ¡°Then where¡¯s your cat? ced in the trunk?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t bring it,¡± Xiao Yan replied lightly. ¡°I¡¯m just taking a look first. I can¡¯t let my cat be wronged.¡±

    Xiao Niu was speechless, ¡°¡­¡±

    Lea was also speechless, ¡°¡­¡±

    Were all wealthy people such d*cks?

    Footnotes:

    [1] Thest part of Gu Tianle¡¯s name, ¡°Le¡±, meant, ¡°happy,¡± in Chinese. To change it to ¡°Ku¡± meant ¡°to cry¡±.

 Chapter 80: The Hottie

    <h4>Chapter 80: The Hottie</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The courier delivery man quickly pounded on the ss door.

    ¡°Is the hottie here? I have a package for you.¡±

    Upon hearing the delivery man, Wang Qian, who was pouring tea from the teapot, thought to himself, who the hell was the hottie?

    Zhang Zian sipped some tea, raised his head, and said, ¡°Go get the package. It is mine.¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun couldn¡¯t say a word.

    Li Kun¡¯s hands were empty. He ran up to the delivery man and signed the package, getting weird looks from the delivery guy.

    What an intimidating experience¡­This had to be some sort of test Master gave us!

    ¡°Big brother,e help me!¡± Li Kun saw that package was huge, so he yelled for Wang Qian¡¯s assistance. The essence of brotherhood is to share bothughter and tears.

    Wang Qian put down the teapot, andined as he walked, ¡°You are just a wimp. What package is so big that it takes two people to move¡­¡±

    When he got to the door, he was shocked to see such a huge package. It looked like there was a wooden fixture to protect the goods inside.

    Both people picked up the package and put in some hard work to move it in front of Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Master, is it a tailor-made alchemy furnace to refine some special pills?¡± Li Kun wiped off his sweat.

    Zhang Zian gave that stupid kid a hard look. ¡°Refine your sister!¡±

    Upon hearing those words, Li Kun quickly went down to his knees, closed his hands in front of his chest, and started begging, ¡°Master! If you really are trying to refine some sort of pills, please don¡¯t bother my sister! I beg you!¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. This kid¡¯s got problems!

    Wang Qian also begged, ¡°Master, this kid has a little sister. Please let her go¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian could notmunicate with these two stupid kids. He waved his hand and said, ¡°Stop being stupid. Go wait on the side.¡±

    He sat up from the recliner, picked up the scissors, and opened the box. Wang Qian and Li Kun rxed. They stood aside, looking like they just went through a big disaster. The package was securely packed withyers andyers of protection. After quite a while, with the help of a hammer, he finallypletely unpacked the package.

    Taking a nap up on the highest point of the cat tree, Fina opened up her eyes for just a bit, saw what was inside the package, and jumped right down from over two meters high. Shended urately right by the package without any noise.

    It was a European-style princess bed that Zhang Zian specially ordered online. On the footboard, thereyplicated yet morous carved patterns. The bed board was real wood painted in an off-white color. The imperial style headboard was wrapped with genuine leather. The fine gauze curtain was half-translucent. The mattress was great and it also came with matching pillows and sheets. The most special part was that the miniature bed was tailor made specifically to Fina¡¯s size.

    It looked like Zhang Zian put in a big investment in hopes of getting his bedroom back from Fina.

    It was only a miniature bed, so the seller sent the bed whole. Customers didn¡¯t have to go through instation.

    Fina couldn¡¯t wait for Zhang Zian¡¯s invitation; she jumped right in her new bed. She slightly jumped up and down in the bed to test the bounciness of the mattress. She even rolled herself up just like a normal cat would do. Fina used her paws to move the curtain and put her little face on the pillow and mattress so she could leave her scent and mark her territory. It looked as if she was happy with her new bed.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun weren¡¯t surprised. They had seen their Master buy that cat a brand-new diamond ring. A new bed was nothing.

    Zhang Zian picked up an advertisement from the floor. On the advertisement, it said, five Yuan cash back bonus if you give a positive five-star, 10-word or above feedback and also post a picture. He folded the advertisement and put in his pocket, nning to leave a feedback tonight. Five yuan is five yuan. Every penny counts!

    Zhang Zian pointed at the packaging and wooden frame pieces on the floor and said to the guys, ¡°Take thisis trash out.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master!¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun started picking up. Each took some trash outside.

    Zhang Zian just sat back down and saw them rush back in.

    ¡°Master! There is a Mercedes-Benz parked outside the shop!¡±

    Zhang Zian suddenly felt alive. Herees a big customer?

    ¡°Hello! Mr. Manager! Here Ie again!¡±

    Along with an inspiring greeting, Jiang Qianxue almost jumped in the store from outside. She had her cell phone in her right hand and a cat bag in her left hand.

    After her, Xiao Yan, Lea, Xiao Niu, Gu Tianle and ckJack all flooded in the store.

    A moment ago, when Xiao Yan parked his car by the door, a taxi also stopped. Snowy got off the taxi with the cat bag after she paid.

    The group saw the videos on the forum. They knew the beautiful girl in front of them was the famous outdoor live show host Snowy, one of the visitors from the first time at the pet store.

    Jiang Qianxue came back because her mom pushed her to. She took the Persian cat to the beach and she got quite a lot of sand in her hair. The sand wouldn¡¯te off just by brushing. Many fans left her messages requesting a second visit to the store because they were all interested in the cat with the special skills.

    She seldom visited the same store twice on her show; however, she would do it for her fans. It was also a coincident that the visiting group #2 from the BBS also came on the same day.

    ¡°Snowy? Wee. Wee,¡± Zhang Zian got his butt up from the chair to greet Snowy. It was unusual for Zhang Zian, but this girl¡¯s show brought so many customer and businesses to the store, he wanted to express his gratitude.

    ¡°Yo! Mr. Manager stood up from the chair! I thought he was a handicap!¡±

    ¡°Haha¡­I agree with you!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense! Mr. Manager is only a super fan of Ge You¡¯s.¡±

    [The hottie manager]: ¡°The ones just bad-mouthed me; get out here! I promise I will not beat you to death.¡±

    ¡°Oh no! Who is it?¡±

    ¡°Such a disgusting name!¡±

    ¡°What? I am the hottest guy in the world!¡±

    Zhang Zian waved with his cell phone in his hand, ¡°I downloaded your live show app. I heard someone made malicious remarks about mest time.¡±

    Snowy giggled, said to her cell phone camera, ¡°Let¡¯s wee Mr. Manager to visit my live show.¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°in fact, I have to tip you, as a payback forst time¡¯s advertisement.¡±

    ¡°Yo! I didn¡¯t know that Mr. Manager was so nice.¡±

    ¡°Agreed! Give her a big tip! How about 10 bear paws?¡±

    Miles away, there sitting in a luxurious office, was Jiang Tianda, Snowy¡¯s father. He had been tuning in to watch Snowy¡¯s show in the office. He thought to himself, another sick young kid wants to approach my daughter! He looked at the bnce in his ount, adjusted his tipping to 10 bear paws, picked up his coffee with a cold smile and was waiting for Zhang Zian¡¯s tip to show. No matter how much Zhang was going to tip Snowy, Jiang Tianda would out tip him.

    However, unlike other camgirls, Snowy didn¡¯t really care about the tips. She shook her hands and rejected, ¡°that¡¯s okay, Mr. Manager. Your pets are excellent. It is my honor to let other people know.¡±

    Zhang Zian seriously stopped her and said, ¡°That¡¯s not cool! I don¡¯t like owing a favor to other people.¡±

    Now that he put it that way, Snowy couldn¡¯t say anything to reject. She smiled, ¡°Sure. Thank you, Mr. Manager.¡±

    Zhang Zian dropped his head and swiped on his cell phone. Finally, he pressed the button with an expression looking like he was about to spend a ton of money.

    [The hottie Manager] just tipped a five-nut mooncake and left a message: Sending a mooncake from miles away. Hope you enjoy it.

 Chapter 81: Never Have Seen Such a Brazen Person

    <h4>Chapter 81: Never Have Seen Such a Brazen Person</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Ssh!

    A few kilometers away from Jiang¡¯s Group¡¯s president¡¯s office, Jiang Tianda sprayed a mouthful of coffee onto the monitor! Suddenly, the bullet screen that was originally live broadcasting non-stoppletely quieted down. Fans of Snowy from all over the ce silently watched the disy on the screen. ¡°User [Handsome Store Manager] tipped with a piece of five kernel mooncake!¡±

    Not a bear paw that was worth one thousand dors, nor a big hairy crab worth one hundred dors, but a piece of five-kernel mooncake that was worth five dors¡ªand it was only one f*cking piece! After dividing with the live broadcasting tform, Snowy could only receive two dors and fifty cents! Just like that, Zhang Zian¡¯s face changed to an expression of tragedy like that of a one-armed hero. Those who did not know the situation would certainly have thought that he was excessively bleeding. Yet you still had the face to say you didn¡¯t like to owe others! Was your principle worth just this small amount of money?

    Thousand of fans cursed desperately in their hearts, but there were too many things toin about, so they did not know to express them in a refined manner, which caused the bullet screen of the live broadcast room to undergo a temporary state of suspension. Finally, the first bullet screen appeared with a struggle.

    [Li Xiaoyao]: ¡°I¡¯ve never seen such a brazen person!¡±

    Yes, that was the sentence! Only this sentence could urately summarize the feelings of the fans at that moment!

    ¡°Seconded.¡±

    ¡°Seconded.¡±

    ¡°Seconded.¡±

    ¡°Seconded.¡±

    ¡­

    Countless posts of ¡°Seconded,¡± flew rapidly across the bullet screen within the next few minutes.

    Inside the president¡¯s office of Jiang¡¯s Group, Jiang Tianda was stunned as he stared at the disy on the screen, ¡°[Handsome Store Manager] tipped with a piece of five kernel mooncake.¡± The brown coffee was still dripping non-stop from the monitor onto the floor. A movement like a water ripple appeared on the screen disy, the brightness level fluctuated, and then it becamepletely ck.

    Motherf*cker! Howe this brat didn¡¯t y ording to the trap? Jiang Tianda¡¯s heart felt like it was being trampled over by countless stampedes of alpacas.

    His confidence was still stifled no matter how much money that hillbilly had tipped.

    But f*ck, that young person tipped an amount of money at a lower limit after having engaged in wild talk. How could he suppress this? The five-kernel mooncake couldn¡¯t be split in half to give! He sulked as he picked up the interphone, ¡°Have the technical department send me a new monitor.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it will arrive immediately.¡± The secretary heard that his tone wasn¡¯t quite right, and trembled to answer, not knowing who had wronged the chairman.

    However, he then remembered the keywords, ¡°Amazing Fate Pet Shop¡±, and the user, ¡°Handsome Store Manager¡±. That was because the impression was too deep, and he couldn¡¯t forget even if he wanted to.

    Jiang Qianxue was also in a state of disorder. She onlyughed and replied after a long time. ¡°This seems to be the lowest amount of tip money that Snowy has ever received since the start of live broadcasting¡­but still, thank you, Mr. Store Manager.¡± Zhang Zian nodded modestly, ¡°You¡¯re wee.¡±

    [Tianci Shifu] tipped two big hairy crabs andmented: ¡°Feeling sorry for Snowy, don¡¯t cry!¡±

    [Dodge Collection] tipped four big hairy crabs andmented: ¡°Comforting Snowy.¡±

    A big wave of gifts that flooded the screen followed closely¡­

    Zhang Zian eximed with his nose in the air, ¡°See? How could so many gifts be attracted if I didn¡¯t tip you a piece of five-kernel mooncake? That¡¯s why these gifts should be counted on my behalf!¡± Snowy pondered, ¡°¡­It seems pretty reasonable. Mr. Store Manager is very witty!¡± ¡°Just averagely witty. There¡¯s still room for improvement,¡± Zhang Zian replied modestly.

    Fans had already left their fury behind, and another wave of, ¡°I¡¯ve never seen such a brazen person!¡± flooded the screen yet again like a storm.

    From then on, everyone who was a fan of Snowy that came to the shop to buy pets all gave up their ns to bargain. That was because everyone knew that the store manager was an iron cock that wouldn¡¯t give out a penny [1], and it would purely be a waste of time!

    In the small district not far from the pet shop, Lu Yiyun, who seldom smiled, actuallyughed while in her leisure wear as she watched Snowy¡¯s live broadcast while she painted. Fluffy-haired Jasmine was curled up on her knees, and was throwing her tail around leisurely. She erased the line that she had mistakenly drawn when she was caught in a surprise just now: when she saw Zhang Zian tip a piece of five-kernel mooncake. She decided that once she finished handing in the draft this time, she would charge some money into the live broadcast tform. She had always felt that she really couldn¡¯t give out such a small tip, but Zhang Zian¡¯s tip had given her some courage. Maybe she had regarded the amount of money of the tips too much. What was important was not the amount of money, but the thought. After she tipped, she could confidently im to be a fan of Snowy¡¯s.

    Having put chatting andughing aside, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to neglect the few other guests. She turned towards Xiao Yan and the others and greeted, ¡°You guys also came with Snowy? What do you guys want to look at?¡±

    Lea replied, ¡°No, we just bumped into each other on ident. We have some people who would like to check out the pets, and some who would like to give their cats a bath.¡±

    Zhang Zian stated, ¡°Oh, then do what¡¯s pleasing to you. Feel free to call me if you have any questions.¡±

    Xiao Yan had gone to every single pet shop in Binghai City that offered services for pet baths, but not one had satisfied her. Her satisfaction was not based on the hardware facilities, but on how her cat was treated during its bath. She only had one principle, which was her cat could not be brutally treated. It was such a simple principle, but not one pet shop could aplish it. She looked around the pet shop with hypercritical eyes. This pet shop was different from the ones she had been to in the past; there were two main differences. One was that the kittens here were being raised in a distributed state, and they could freely frolic and chase each other around in the store. Even so, this young manager did not seem to worry about them escaping. Of course, she had heard of this event on BBS, but the feeling of being able to see it with her own eyes was different from hearing about it. In addition, what was up with this cocky looking golden haired cat?

    Not only did Xiao Yan notice Fina, but Lea, Xiao Niu, Gu Tianle, and ck Jack did too. It was hard to not take note of her, because she was just superciliouslyying on a small, magnificent princess bed, and her own physical appearance was countless times even more gorgeous than the princess bed! With her shiny, golden fur, dark gold colored noble and elegant markings, aquamarine eyes like autumn water, a majestic expression that did not try to be cute, and a super cocky manner, she showed that she was not an ordinary housecat.

    Fina¡¯s iparable presence made the majority of the people overlook another timid ck and white kitten probing around by the staircase.

    Lea whispered, ¡°This is the golden cat that attacked the cat thief in the video right? It can¡¯t be seen clearly in the video, and seeing it with my own eyes, it really is amazing!¡±

    Xiao Niu nodded. ¡°I even feel as if I don¡¯t dare to fiddle around when it looks at me. Is it because I¡¯m a loser?¡±

    Gu Tianle also whispered, ¡°Not to deceive you, but I also have that type of feeling. Its eyes make me feel like it¡¯s not a housecat, but more like a cheetah on an African grasnd.¡±

    ck Jack eximed, ¡°Isn¡¯t that too much of an exaggeration? But if I can raise this cat, then I will definitely have a lot of face.¡± Having that said that, he asked Zhang Zian, ¡°Boss, is this cat for sale?¡±

    Footnotes:

    [1] A phrase to describe a stingy person.

 Chapter 82: Bathing Cage (1)

    <h4>Chapter 82: Bathing Cage (1)</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Fina was excited about her new bed. Although ck Jack was rude, she only stared at him angrily and didn¡¯t scare him with her nails.

    Zhang Zian replied immediately, ¡°Nope.¡±

    Fina¡¯s stare frightened Lea. She said softly to ck Jack, ¡°That¡¯s fine. This cat has a strong personality. A normal person could not handle her.¡±

    Fina wasn¡¯t a must-have for ck Jack. He sighed and let go of the thought.

    Snowy counted the pets in the store and said, ¡°Mr. Manager, did you get more pets?¡±

    There were more than 10 cats ying and chasing each other on the floor. Counting the dogs in the disy cab, there were over 20 pets in the store. All sorts of soft noises from the pets brought some joy to the store.

    Zhang Zian spoke affirmatively, ¡°Yes. I just brought in some great pets.¡±

    The pets were from the deal he stole from Stars Pet Chain Supermarket and bought from Pets¡¯ Home. He divided the group into two halves. These pets were the first half. Zhang Zian paid a partial deposit for the other half, but they were still at Pets¡¯ Home. He would not tell anyone the reason for this, but it was because he had capital problems.

    [Luo Jiang] tipped two crabs and left a message: ¡°Snowy, I didn¡¯t make it to thest show and missed the cat¡¯s special skill performance. What a pity! Could you ask Mr. Manager if these cats have special skills?¡±

    ¡°Mr. Manager, one of my fans just asked if these cats have special skills?¡± Snowy thought that was impossible. Those cats were kittens just brought from the breeding base. They could not be trained in such a short time.

    In fact, this was a question many people were wondering.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s response was short and clear.

    No kidding! It was a piece of cake for Fina to train them. She only needed to show them a few times. The whole process usually took less than five minutes.

    The crowd was suspicious. Zhang Zian pped three times. All 10+ kittens stopped ying at once and turned around to look at him. They were like a well-trained army.

    New fans in the live broadcast room were surprised, and the old fans began toin. ¡°Again! Mr. Manager is showing off now.¡±

    Zhang Zian snapped his fingers and all the kittens started walking in a figure-eight, then resumed to their original position when they were done.

    He pped twice. They went back to ying. The kitten army disappeared.

    Last time, there were only a few cats. This time, over 10 kittens of various breedspleted the task at the same time. It was simply overwhelming!

    People in the live broadcast room were once again excited.

    ¡°Oh no! that was soooo cute!¡±

    ¡°Does Mr, Manager need help? I want to work there for free!¡±

    ¡°I will do whatever Mr. Manager wants. Does Mr. Manager want a friend with benefits? Hehe!¡±

    ¡°Buy buy buy! I couldn¡¯t afford to miss this!¡±

    ¡°I would buy them all if I had the money!¡±

    Lea, Gu Tianle, Xiao Niu and ck Jack were all shocked. Watching it from a live show was totally different from seeing it in person. All of their previous suspicions were gone.

    Xiao Yan was also astonished but she tried hard not to show it.

    Maybe¡­this pet store has special talents, she thought.

    The crowd separated to search for their own pets.

    ¡°Excuse me, Mr. Manager,¡± Xiao Yan walked closer, took off her sunsses, and said, ¡°I heard you provide a bathing service for cats here?¡±

    Li Kun got closer and spoke in Zhang Zian¡¯s ear with a really low voice, ¡°She is the one with the Mercedes-Benz.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded to acknowledge that he received the information. Li Kun returned to where he was.

    ¡°Yes, but we only provide self-service cat bathing, which means the owner has to bathe their cat. If you don¡¯t have experience bathing a cat, I will walk you through the process,¡± he said. In the end, he added, ¡°we charge 300 Yuan each time.¡±

    Discussion in the broadcast room was even hotter.

    ¡°300 Yuan each time? That is too expensive. I live in Beijing. The luxurious pet store near my home only charges 200 Yuan each time. There might be higher-end ones but I have never been.¡±

    ¡°A normal pet store only charges 50 Yuan!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not the point, guys! The point is you have to do! It! Yourself! That¡¯s the point.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Manager thinks we are stupid or something?¡±

    Zhang Zian had the live show app on his cell phone. He nced at the conversations and responded, ¡°You get what you pay for. You will not regret bathing your cat in my store.¡±

    He continued, ¡°I am sure some of you have pets and have taken your pets to bathing services. I am not sure if you¡¯ve ever noticed the price difference between cats and dogs. Usually cat bathing is twice the price of dog bathing.¡±

    In a normal pet store, if bathing a dog is a charge of 50 Yuan, then bathing a cat would cost 100 Yuan. If bathing a dog cost 80 Yuan in another store, then they are likely to charge 150 Yuan to bathe a cat.

    Zhang Zian waited until the pop-up conversations slowed down and went on. ¡°Why do you take your pets out for a bath? You can¡¯t do it at home, so you take them to a store. Is the store going to solve your problem? It might or it might not. In one word, you can take your cat here to try it out. It only costs you 300 Yuan and you could choose to never return if you don¡¯t like the service here, right?¡±

    Other might notprehend, but Xiao Yan totally understood Zhang Zian¡¯s words. She had been to almost every pet store in the city. Most pet stores forcibly bathed cats, sometimes violently. Someone even invented a ¡°bathing cage¡± for cat bathing.

    She couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°Do you¡­use a bathing cage?¡±

    That was a weird name. Everyone was confused. Even in the live broadcast room there popped up many question marks.

    ¡°What the hell was she talking about?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t hear her.¡±

    Zhang Zian raised his eyebrows. He was surprised to hear the question. She seemed to know about the industry.

    ¡°Simply speaking, a bathing cage is widely used in pet stores to bathe cats,¡± he found some pictures online as he spoke and showed the pictures to the crowd.

    ¡°This is anti-humanity¡­no, it should be an anti-catity invention. I don¡¯t know who or which country invented it. It was absolutely the worst idea in the world.¡±

    Although unwillingly, he continued the exnation. ¡°A bathing cage is simr to the cage people used in old times to punish men and women who were found guilty of infidelity. They were put in a cage like that and submerged into water to kill them. The cage is usually made from thick wires. The pet store usually puts the cat into the bathing cage, locks the door, and ces the cage in the bath, leaving only the head above the water. To keep the cat from struggling, people usually make the bathing cage extremely small so the cat cannot move once it is locked in the cage.¡±

    Just imagine that from the cat¡¯s perspective. It was extremely scary to be tied to a huge stone and watch the water slowly go up to the legs, stomach, chest and to¡­the neck!

 Chapter 83: Cat Washing Cages (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 83: Cat Washing Cages (Part 2)</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Even though the audience had never seen a cat washing cage, they had more or less heard of the pig immersion cages of the old society, and their faces couldn¡¯t help but change color once they heard of it. Old China had the pig immersion cages; medieval Europe also had the ¡°Iron Maiden¡± (Iron Virgin). They were both tortures that people feared. Their ways of punishment were very simr as well. They both included having people locked into a narrow and cramped space where they could not escape, and then have the poption slowly watch as they died slow and painful deaths.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Cat washing cages were invented to solve the difficult problem of bathing cats. But this thing is not worth being promoted or spread. A lot of pet shops¡­no, I should say that the majority of the pet shops all have them. It¡¯s just that sometimes it¡¯s not ced on the surface, so you can¡¯t see it. Of course, this shop absolutely does not have it.¡± His parents had built a bathroompartment for the pets, but would rather leave it idle than to use the cat washing cage. It was just that there were less and less of good people like them.

    Xiao Yan¡¯s expression was dim as she bit her lower lip, and eximed with hatred, ¡°I did not know there were such things before. At that time, I always sent my cat to be washed at this one pet shop, and my cat was washed there several times¡­in the end, there was this one time when a bloodstain appeared at the corner of my cat¡¯s eyes, and it was very close to the eyes. I was certain that this bloodstain was not there before I sent my cat to be washed. I went to the pet shop, but they insisted that they did not cause that. In the end, someone actually told me that this was because that pet shop uses cat washing cages!¡±

    Zhang Zian felt empathetic, nodded his head, and said, ¡°Cat washing cages are made in small workshops and weaved with thick iron wires. The rough work is inevitable. When the cats struggle in the process, the sides where the iron wires are snapped or ces where they are bent can hurt the cats very easily. It is already very fortunate that your cat¡¯s eyes are still alright.¡± Everyone who was present got goose bumps when they heard this. Xiao Niu patted his chest and eximed, ¡°Good thing I¡¯m nning to buy a dog; it really is hard to serve uncle cat!¡±

    ¡°Please say no more, I even feel ufortable listening!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s actually better to say some more. I wouldn¡¯t even know of things like this if you didn¡¯t say!¡±

    ¡°Thank you store manager for your popr science. I¡¯ve gained knowledge!¡±

    Zhang Zian turned and faced Snowy¡¯s camera phone. ¡°I personally suggest that if your cat hates being washed, and at the same time you can¡¯t bear to spend money toe to a professional level pet shop like mine, then it¡¯s still preferred that you don¡¯t use cat washing cages. Do you guys know how big of a psychological shadow it leaves in your cats¡¯ hearts?¡±

    ¡°If you guys love your cats, then apany them throughout the whole process of when they are given baths at the pet shop, and firmly stop them when they n to use cat washing cages. Don¡¯t be those types of irresponsible owners that go do their own thing once they throw their cats into the shop. Of course, it would be best toe to my pet shop. What¡¯s more reassuring than giving your cats baths with your own hands?¡±

    ¡°F*ck! The store manager took the opportunity to boast again!¡±

    ¡°Powerful words, store manager. Why don¡¯t you fly up into the sky?¡±

    Xiao Yan smiled bitterly. This was like a dead cycle. If you could give your cats baths with your own hands, then who would want toe give them a bath in a pet shop?

    She walked in front of Zhang Zian, and suddenly stretched her arms out towards him.

    ¡°Huh?¡± Zhang Zian stunned. He didn¡¯t know what she wanted to do. Her arms were stretched too high for a handshake, and there was no need to stretch out both arms for a handshake anyways. ¡°Look at my arms,¡± she said.

    Zhang Zian lowered his head to observe her arms. These arms were slender and symmetrical, with no extra fat, and the skin was very good. But there were a few unknown red scars on the back of her hands and knuckles that sabotaged the beauty. Not only was it just the backs of her hands and knuckles, but there were also simr scars on her wrists and forearms. Each scar was about one centimeter long and two millimeters wide.

    ¡°These are scratched by cats?¡± he asked with a frown.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, and the most serious one is right here.¡± She pointed at a dark red circle scar at a joint of her left middle finger, ¡°Although this one isn¡¯t big, my nerve was pulled. It¡¯s been painful for a whole month.¡±

    Snowy looked at Xiao Yan¡¯s scarred hands and was terror-stricken. If she had seen these arms in the past, then she probably would have nevere up with the idea to purchase a cat.

    Zhang Zian replied with great sympathy, ¡°If you cut your cat¡¯s nails first and wear rubber gloves, then you wouldn¡¯t have had such intense injuries.¡± Xiao Yan put her arms down, ¡°Don¡¯t mention things of the past. I want to know, what are the differences between your pet shop and the other pet shops?¡± Although her cat sounded to be troublesome, he was still very confident, ¡°You will only know if you try it.¡± Xiao Yan frowned. It wasn¡¯t that she did not believed, but it was just that her past experiences made her to not be so credulous.

    ¡°Older sister, just let me try it first then. I happen to need to give my Snowball a bath. Mr. Store Manager, there are no dangers, right?¡± Snowy said as she pointed at her own cat carrier. ¡°Of course not. Come here.¡± Zhang Zian led her into the single bathroom. ¡°Let me help you hold your cellphone.¡± He took her cellphone and helped her continue shooting. She emptied her hands and took out her Persian cat, then made a ¡°v¡± shape gesture at the camera lens. ¡°Just let Snowy personally try it for everyone!¡±

    ¡°Yamete! Snowy, don¡¯t!¡±

    ¡°Snowy-chan, be careful! How about just change shops!¡±

    ¡°Hoohoo, I don¡¯t want to see Snowy¡¯s hands get injured!¡±

    Jiang Qianxue felt a little afraid in her heart, and her fingers fluttered a little. But at the same time, she felt the same type of refreshing excitement when eating crab. Wasn¡¯t this feeling of refreshing excitement the exact original intention for her pursuit of outdoor live broadcasting? ¡°You have to have confidence in yourself. If even the owner is afraid, then the pet will also feel uneasy,¡± Zhang Zian encouraged.

    ¡°Thanks for Mr. Store Manager¡¯s advice.¡± She felt that it was very reasonable, so she took a long deep breath, then breathed out again. Her nervous mood also seemed to have flown away without a trace with her breathing in and out.

    ¡°It appeared! Snowy¡¯s stunts!¡±

    ¡°Snowy is about to let out big tricks!¡±

    ¡°All right, now ce it into the sink,¡± said Zhang Zian. ¡°I will teach you what to do step by step.¡± Snowy did what she was told. When her fingers sunk into the Persian cat¡¯s fur and she felt the warmth of its body, she felt that it was small and fragile, and her chest filled with the thought of wanting to protect it. The Persian cat seemed to catch the strong will of its owner, and its body that was originally trembling slowly quieted down. When Snowy opened the shower spray valve, Xiao Yan held her breath and clenched her fists. She was holding a handful of sweat for Snowy. The others were probably like so as well. On the contrary, Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Lu Yiyun, who were watching the live broadcast, were not worried.

    Nothing out of the ordinary happened. The Persian cat quietly stood in the small sink. Its chin was gently held up by Snowy¡¯s left hand; the water that Snowy had rubbed on with her right hand soaked the fur on its body, and its eyes were fixed on Snowy, like a child who wanted to show that he or she was brave in front of his or her parents.

    Fina gently lowered her jaw to the extent where the human eye couldn¡¯t catch. It was regarded as though she had given her recognition to it. Putting on body wash was next, then drying its body, and then blow-drying it; everything went smoothly. Although it trembled a bit, the Persian cat didn¡¯t make a sound from the beginning to the end, and it even more so did not fiddle.

    Xiao Yan inhaled deeply and said, ¡°Please wait a moment, I will go home to get my cat.¡±

 Chapter 84: Same Dog as the British Queen

    <h4>Chapter 84: Same Dog as the British Queen</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    From birth to leaving the breeding base, then going home with Snowy and taken to the beach, Snowy¡¯s Persian cat had never had a bath. Although Zhang Zian quickly wiped her down and also brushed her hair before, it was nothingpared to taking a full bath.

    After the bath, the hair on her whole body was as white and fluffy as cotton. Her royal and elegant characteristics werepletely presented in front of everyone.

    Lea said, ¡°She is so pretty. I want a Persian cat now.¡±

    Zhang Zian was happy, but he said seriously, ¡°Persian cats are expensive. Their long hair is also difficult to clean. Someone has to leave ample time to clean the cat. Also, the best thing is to take them to a pet grooming store every now and then. In other words, keeping a Persian is costlier than raising other cats. I rmend evaluating your time and financial ability before making the decision.¡±

    Lea waved her hands immediately, ¡°I wasn¡¯t serious. I am not a persistent person. If I was persistent, I would¡¯ve sessfully lost weight by now. An easy cat is a better option for me.¡±

    Zhang Zian replied, ¡°shorthair cats are easier to take care ofpared to long-haired ones.¡±

    ¡°Hey, what kind of cat do you guys think that girl has?¡± ck Jack suddenly asked a question.

    Xiao Yan already left in her Mercedes-Benz; however, many people were very curious about her. More than one person was actually thinking the same question. Only ck Jack asked directly.

    Xiao Niu rubbed his head. ¡°Well, she was driving a Mercedes-Benz S500. She¡¯s got money! Her cat has to be expensive. Mr. Manager, what kind of cat is expensive?¡± Apparently his question was for Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t think there was a connection between driving a Mercedes-Benz S500 and raising a cat. However, he still replied, ¡°Among normal cats, Persian, Ragdoll, Scottish Fold, and Turkish Van are the more expensive breeds.¡±

    Gu Tianle had a different opinion, ¡°I think it will be a more ferocious breed, such as a Jaguarundi cat or Caracal¡­¡±

    People already started discussing. Those were more monstrous than catlike. Who would raise a pet like that in the city?

    Gu Tianle insisted on his opinion. He heard from a friend that a friend¡¯s friend was a rural, rich fellow. He had a mixed-breed of a Caracal and a Chinese cat, which was extremely ferocious. It was fed live chickens every day.

    However, when someone talked about a friend¡¯s friend, most of the time it was a rumor. It was not reliable at all. People justughed and didn¡¯t really pay attention.

    Xiao Niu bent down, looking around the disy cabs, and could not decide what to get, so he asked, ¡°Mr. Manager, I want to get a dog for my parents. What is your rmendation?¡±

    Lea reminded him, ¡°Hey! Hey! are you crazy? The cats here know stunts. Why would you get a dog?¡±

    Xiao Niu also felt sorry about it, but he exined, ¡°I want to get my parents outside of the apartment more, so a dog is a much better fit. I have never seen someone walk a cat.¡±

    Zhang Zian agreed and suggested, ¡°In these circumstances, a dog really sounds like a better choice. What floor is your home on?¡±

    Xiao Niu said, ¡°First floor. We switched to first floor when we bought this new apartment, considering that the ground floor is more convenient for my aging parents. Also, if there is an emergency, the first floor is a much easier ce.¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°If so, a small or medium size dog would be suitable. The biggest dog I would rmend is a Border Collie. Anything bigger than that is not a good option because it would be out of your parents¡¯ control if it was frightened. That could potentially be very dangerous to your parents and others.¡±

    Xiao Niu hesitated. ¡°In fact, my parents did talk about what kind of dog to get when they saw other people¡¯s dogs. They don¡¯t like small dogs like Chihuahuas. They think it looks like a rat. They don¡¯t like the look of a Shar Pei either. They felt that Shar Pei is even more wrinkly than them. Same thing with Schnauzer¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t say a word. This guy had excluded the mostmon small and middle-sized dogs. Remaining options were limited.

    People always long for things they don¡¯t have. For instance, the elderly always like young and active pets. That¡¯s why grandparents always spoil their grandchildren. However, Schnauzer and Shar Pei are popr among young people.

    ¡°I understand what you mean.¡± He thought for a second. ¡°Your parents like dogs that look like a dog. They don¡¯t like weird looking nor super miniature ones, correct?¡±

    ¡°Possibly,¡± Xiao Niu nodded.

    ¡°A Welsh Corgi might be a good option,¡± Zhang Zian said and took him to the disy cab.

    A young Welsh Corgi wasying quietly in the disy cab, unlike the excited Samoya and Chihuahua, who were jumping up and down and could not stop barking. The little Welsh Corgi stood up when the two people came close and steadily stepped up. He sometimes dropped his head, smelled and growled.

    Welsh Corgis have two characteristics: the short legs and the big ears. Its two ears and mouth form an equteral triangle. Big ears don¡¯t look good on human but they look exceptionally cute on dogs.

    ¡°A Welsh Corgi is easy to recognize. It can be easily distinguished from a normal Chinese dog. However, it is still a good and normal looking dog. Welsh Corgis are nice to people. The British Royal family is especially fond of them. Queen Elizabeth the second had a Welsh Corgi for over 80 years. She even had the dog with her in the London Olympics Opening Ceremony. If it wasn¡¯t a nice dog, she would not take the dog.¡± Zhang Zian effortlessly mentioned the royal characteristics of Welsh Corgi because older people liked it. They are proud to present their dog ¨C they have the same kind of dog as the British Queen.

    ¡°Children love Welsh Corgis as well because they are short. They are more approaching than arger sized dog,¡± Zhang Zian finished with all the advantages and he continued with the disadvantages. ¡°Welsh Corgi¡¯s have a long back so they are not good with stairs. Your apartment is on first floor so it shouldn¡¯t be a problem. Also, a Welsh Corgi sometimes barks¡­¡±

    As if it was a response to Zhang Zian¡¯s words, the Welsh Corgi softly growled. He was quite loud, considering its small size.

    Zhang Zianughed. ¡°You can train him to stop barking. Training a dog is the most fun and fulfilling experience a dog owner could ever have; an untrained dog is no different than a stic toy. Its hair is thick and it shreds in some seasons. Compared to a Husky, skan Mmute or Samoya, a Welsh Corgi sheds less hair. Also, it is quite active. Your parents have to walk him every day. The longer, the better. If you can take all the disadvantages, a Welch Corgi is a good option.¡±

    Xiao Niu thought for a second. The so-called disadvantages were not a deal breaker, although no dog was perfect. It was great that Mr. Manager was being honest and straightforward. An automatic sweeping robot could take care of the losing hair problem. The barking should be fine because many neighbors had dogs, so they were used to it. In the future when he moved out, a barking dog could guard his parents. Being active was great because that was his purpose of buying a dog for his parents ¨C to keep them busy and active.

    Compared to its shorings, its advantages were more attractive to him. People like his parents liked to show off. Before retirement, they always showed off their job, wages, andworks. Now, they showed off their children and pets. That was also an important reason why Xiao Niu didn¡¯t want to get them an inexpensive Chinese dog. He didn¡¯t want the neighbors tough at his parents behind their back. His parents would be so proud to tell the neighbors that the dog was the same as the British Queen¡¯s.

    ¡°Okay! That¡¯s it!¡± Xiao Niu made a decision.

    When he and Zhang Zian went back to the cashier desk, Xiao Yan came back.

 Chapter 85: Until Death Do You Guys Apart

    <h4>Chapter 85: Until Death Do You Guys Apart</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When the Mercedes-Benz stopped at the entrance, it didn¡¯t matter if Xiao Niu was ready to make a payment, or if other people were choosing pets; they all paused for a moment, and stared at the car doors curiously. They were curious as to what kind of cat Xiao Yan would bring out. In the end, from the co-pilot seat, she took out¡­a cat carrier¡ªthe cat did not show its face at the moment.

    It would be false to say that Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t the least bit curious either. He also quite wanted to know what kind of temper the cat had that was so bad. Xiao Yan locked the car doors, and walked into the shop carrying the cat carrier. The gazes from the people around her made her feel a bit awkward. She coughed lightly and said to Zhang Zian, ¡°Should I let it out here? It will toss around ferociously the moment it enters the bathroom¡­¡±

    ¡°As you please, anywhere is fine,¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    She ced the cat carrier gently on the floor, unzipped it, and softly said, ¡°Rainy,e greet everyone.¡± A grayish-ck colored cat paw stretched out first, and was followed closely by a cat¡¯s face that was speckled with white spots. Although the whole view was not seen, Zhang Zian had already determined that this was a hybrid of the Dragon-Li cat. Its special characteristic was the feature of its high nose bridge¡ªforeign cats usually had t and copsed nose bridges , but this was the exact opposite of the ethnic characteristics of the people of the region.

    ¡°Master, isn¡¯t this a Dragon-Li cat? It¡¯s simr to the cat I have at home!¡± eximed Wang Qian, who was raising a Dragon-Li cat a home. Zhang Zian nodded in recognition of his judgment. ck Jack and Gu Tianle eximed in astonishment, ¡°The wealthy would actually raise cheap cats like this?¡± Their eyes turned upon the Mercedes car parked outside. Suspicion rose in their hearts, and they discussed in confusion, ¡°Is she really wealthy or faking to be wealthy? This car can¡¯t be rented, right?¡± Their discussion was a bit loud, and Lea was afraid that Xiao Yan would feel awkward or that the crowd would start to quarrel, so she tried to smooth things over by saying, ¡°What cheap cats? As long as they¡¯re cute, right? I think this cat is pretty cute.¡± She crouched down to pet the cat¡¯s head as she spoke, and Xiao Yan hastily stopped her. ¡°Be careful!¡± This cat¡¯s fur immediately red up, it made a whole circle with its body apanied by a scream, and stretched its front paw upwards like lightning to scratch Lea¡¯s hand! Considering the speed of reaction of a human, Lea would definitely not be able to dodge this bloody disaster. It seemed as if additional w marks would have to appear on that small chubby hand.

    Just at this time, Fina, who was lying on the princess bed, abruptly stood up, and cried out with a meow! The Dragon-Li¡¯s ws instantly shrunk back even faster than they had probed out. It hasn¡¯t had the chance to observe its surroundings when it came out of the cat carrier, and had not noticed Fina. Due to the many people, many cats, and many dogs, it also had not distinguished Fina¡¯s smell. Fina¡¯s rebuking cry actually scared it so much it rolled around in ce, and theny down, afraid to move. Lea was shocked. She retracted her hand and put it back into her pockets; her face was pale. The crowd was silent, and all eyes gazed back and forth between Fina and the Dragon-Li cat. One, they were surprised at how wild this Dragon-Li cat was, and two, they were shocked at its attitude of surrender towards Fina. ck Jack couldn¡¯t help but to inquire again, ¡°Is this golden cat really not for sale?¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t bother to answer.

    Xiao Yan apologized to Lea, ¡°Sorry, did it hurt you? I didn¡¯t have time to say that my cat doesn¡¯t let strangers touch it at all¡­¡± Lea was very generous. She had already recovered by now andughed, ¡°It¡¯s alright, it¡¯s alright. It¡¯s my bad. Everyone should learn from me as well, and not casually touch a stranger¡¯s cats or dogs.¡±

    ck Jack was met with a mild rebuff by Zhang Zian and eximed while angrily touching his nose, ¡°I really don¡¯t understand why someone would raise this type of cat. It¡¯s cheap and worthless, and its temper is so bad!¡±

    Not only did he not understand, but other people more or less felt awkward as well. To raise a cat like this was certainly very hard work, and it would definitely wrong people. You would have topensate money if it hurt others, and the main point was that the cat itself wasn¡¯t a valuable cat, so was it worth amodating like this? This Dragon-Li cat was raised very well. Its body was robust and symmetrical, and its fur and beard shone. Even its cries were vigorous; the owner must have spent a lot of effort on it. No matter what others thought, Xiao Yan still loved it dearly. She stroked its back with her scarred hands and gentlyforted it.

    ¡°Do you guys know how to choose cats?¡± Zhang Zian asked suddenly. This topic was strange and unexpected, and everyone¡¯s thoughts were forcefully turned around.

    ¡°This still has to be questioned? The breed should be picked first, of course, and then pick the ones with good conditions.¡± ck Jack looked on with disapproval, with an expression of, ¡°I read little books, don¡¯t lie to me¡±.

    This opinion represented the majority of the people, and a lot of people in Snowy¡¯s live broadcast room agreed. ¡°I think that health is the most important. No matter what type of breed, it could not be exchanged for health. Cats aren¡¯t flower vases,¡± Lea replied. People who already had a cat or a few uncle cats even more so agreed with Lea¡¯s point of view¡ªnothing could be exchanged for health.

    Li Kun was moved with a sudden inspiration, and felt that this was the chance to prove himself in front of master. He thus rushed to answer, ¡°Master, you¡¯ve always said to choose cats with characteristics. Disciple thinks that you should see if the cat draws near to humans. If the cat¡¯s temperament is short-tempered¡­¡± He nced at the Dragon-Li cat as he spoke. ¡°Then it shouldn¡¯t be included in the range of selection.¡±

    ¡°You guys are all correct.¡± Zhang Zian agreed with their views first, then changed his tone and immediately said, ¡°These are all important reference factors for choosing cats, but they are not the most important. There is one condition that surpasses all these factors.¡± Everyone looked at each other, and there were non-stop guesses in the live broadcast room. Even more people requested that the store manager should stop talking in riddles, and to just directly say it. Zhang Zian pointed at Fina, then at the Dragon-Li cat, and spoke, ¡°What do you guys think; which cat is better among these two?¡± Fina, who was already a bit angry at the Dragon-Li cat¡¯s arrogance, moved her ears and narrowed her eyes. She looked directly at Zhang Zian with cold eyes that dispersed a murderous intention like the sharp edges of a de. How could hepare her honorable identity with an ordinary Dragon-Li cat?

    At the unattended corner of the staircase, Gxy keenly felt the murderous intention. He stared at Fina with countless stars shining in his eyes. After a moment, the stars disappeared, and Gxy returned to his usual state of looking charmingly na?ve, because he saw the uing future. The crowd was surprised for a moment as well. Those two cats could not bepared. Although they did not know what species Fina was, her manner was outstanding; anyone would think that Fina was better. However, Xiao Yan whispered in a low voice, ¡°I think my cat is better.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded slowly, ¡°That¡¯s right. Just like how humans fall in love at first sight, the most important thing is fate of the eyes for this so-called choosing of the cats and dogs.¡±

    ¡°Fate of the eyes has nothing to do with the type of breed. It has nothing to do with lineage, condition, health, or characteristics. There¡¯s nothing more marvelous than fate of the eyes. Once the fate of the eyes meet, it¡¯s like the wedding vows of a Western wedding. Whether it was for better or for worse, for rich or for poor, in health or in sickness, in happy times or sad times, to apany each other for life from now on, and never give up until death do you guys apart.¡± In the end, Zhang Zian concluded, ¡°Instead of saying that you chose the cat, it would be better to say that you both chose each other.¡± The bullet screen in the live broadcast room was at rest, and everyone present was totally quiet.

    Fina¡¯s eyes re-opened, and her gaze grew brighter and brighter. They were like a pair of aquamarine moons that emitted brilliant light. Notifications rang on Zhang Zian¡¯s cellphone.

    [Game Hints]: Congrattions! Your Maneki-neko¡¯s likability has increased to friendliness!

    [Game Hints]: In the process of unlocking the real name!

 Chapter 86: The Guard From Ancient Egypt

    <h4>Chapter 86: The Guard From Ancient Egypt</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian could not believe what he just saw on his cell phone screen.

    That was impossible!

    That material cat?

    I didn¡¯t buy her a diamond ring today; howe her friendliness increased?

    Did she¡­find my debit card?

    Putting the questions aside, Zhang Zian was more interested in Fina¡¯s history.

    [Tip]:Pet property

    [Known As]:Maneki-neko

    [Rarity]:Epic

    [Characteristics]:When springes, if I don¡¯t open my mouth first, who dares to make a sound!

    [Unlocked History]:All house cats are originated from Egypt!

    4000 years ago, on the alluvial ins along both sides of the Nile, the improvement in cultivation technology remarkably increased the production of food. For the first time ever, humans started reserving surplus grains on arge scale, which also brought the problem of mice. In order to resolve the mice problem, ancient Egyptians tried to tame Felis silvestris lybica, a wild cat from the African desert, into a gentle house cat. It was the beginning of a friendship between humans and cats. All current house cats were originated from there.

    Cats had an extremely high status in ancient Egypt.

    2900 years ago, the goddess Bastet was honored as the official God of Egypt. Cats were in a tremendously high position in people¡¯s hearts at the time.

    Ancient Egypt strictly prohibited exportation of cats; however, cats arrived in Greece 2500 years ago and spread from there ever since.

    2000 years ago, the expansion of Rome brought cats all over Europe. During roughly 200 BC, they were brought to China and India through Mesopotamia. Unfortunately, the 12 zodiac animals were already chosen at the time and the cat was not able to make an appearance due tote arrival.

    In the 15th century, to resolve the mice problem on the ocean carriers, Columbus brought house cats to America.

    In the 17th century, house cats appeared in Australia.

    In the 19th century, cats reached the south and north poles on explorer¡¯s ships.

    The cat hadpleted its global upation.

    However, no matter how widely cats reached, their root and most resplendent time was still in Ancient Egypt.

    At that time, cats would be made into mummies after death. The owner would hold a grand funeral and the owner¡¯s whole family would shave off their eyebrows to show their sorrow. Whoever hurt a cat could face a death sentence.

    The Ancient Egyptian Kingdom was a real cat enthusiast country, the first and has been ever since.

    The Fina Paris family has been honored as the guardian of the ancient Egyptian Ptolemaic dynasty and the Grand High Priest of the Bubastis Shrine for generations. The beloved pet of Cleopatra VII, Fina Paris XIII was the most powerful cat of all time. In the annual Best Festival, 700,000 adult men and women would rush to the holynd of Bubastis, and present their most valuable gifts, pray to the Bubastis Shrine. With the powerful faith blessing, Fina Paris XIII became an Elf.

    She was half epic, half legend, and almost reached the Goddess status!

    Undoubtedly, Fina Paris XIII was the closest to the Goddess cat. She was the ancestor of all cats, the queen of cats.

    [Unlocked Real Name]:the golden cat of Cleopatra VII!

    ¡­

    It was a total shock to Zhang Zian!

    Cleopatra VII is a name not many people know, but everyone knows that beautiful queen from ancient Egypt.

    No wonder the golden cat was so arrogant. She was in disdain to deal with a normal person.

    All of a sudden, everything started to make sense.

    Tpia from the Nile and Persian date palm¡­

    Fina called RMB notes the pink paperaa. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand. She actually said pa-per-aa, which means papyrus in Ancient Egypt, the treasure of the Pharaoh. It was also the origination of the word paper in English.

    Fina imed that she was incredibly wealthy. It looked like it was all true. At the time, Cleopatra VII almost turned the Roman Kingdom into a province of Egypt. This once again proved the golden statement ¨C men conquer the world; women conquer men and cats conquer women.

    Even now, a purebred Egyptian cat is very rare. It pretty much didn¡¯t exist in China. Zhang Zian had never seen a purebred Egyptian cat before, not to mention a cat like Fina, the original Egyptian cat from 2000 years ago. Until the man offered two hundred thousand Yuan to purchase Fina, he realized how valuable she was. However, he would¡¯ve never anticipated that she was the beloved pet of the Cleopatra VII.

    ¡°Master?¡±

    ¡°Mr. Manager?¡±

    The crowd started questioning, seeing that Zhang Zian didn¡¯t speak for such a long time.

    Lea rubbed her eyes and said, ¡°Mr. Manager was right. It was not you that picked the cat. It was a mutual selection.¡±

    Jiang Qianxue held her Persian cat tightly, buried her face in the cat¡¯s hair and quietly cried.

    Xiao Yan was deeply touched. ¡°I found my cat on the street one year ago. It was raining cats and dogs that day. She was in a paper carton, all wet. She was quiet and watching people walk by. Whenever a person approached her, she would scare them away.¡±

    Zhang Zian sighed and said, ¡°She had to be waiting for her master to take her home.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t even know why. Maybe it was what you called chemistry. When I saw her, I thought to myself that I could not leave her behind,¡± she gently rubbed the Dragon-Li, ¡°so I took her home with the carton and named her ¡®Rainy¡¯. She was fierce when I first got her. She left a mess in my apartment, knocked over her food bowl and water bowl¡­even now, a yearter, she isn¡¯t close to me. She fights especially bad whenever I try to bathe her.¡±

    Zhang Zian analyzed, ¡°She might be deeply hurt from the memory that she was abandoned in a rainy day. Whenever she got wet, she thought that she was going to be abandoned again so she would fight. No one wants to be abandoned twice.¡±

    ¡°Could she¡­ take a bath like a normal cat?¡± Xiao Yan looked up. Her eyes were red.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t sure. This Dragon-Li was as wild as one could get. This one was hurt when she was a kitten, so she had to be extremely alert and offensive against humans. He looked at Fina in hope of getting some input from her.

    At some point, Finaid down again, closed her eyes, nodded slightly and meowed.

    Suddenly, Xiao Yan felt the tension in her cat rx and she softlyid on her feet. The cat raised her head. Instead of vignce, there was trust and peace in her eyes.

    ¡°You may bathe your cat now. Are you clear with all the steps?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Yes, but¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± he said.

    Xiao Yan took a deep breath, picked up the Dragon-Li cat and walked in the bathing room. Her cat didn¡¯t struggle at all. That was not like her.

    The whole bathing process was super smooth. It was like apletely new cat. Even Xiao Yan could not believe her eyes. Even more surprisingly, she started making cute meow sounds like a kitten. She even licked her arms. This had never happened before! If it was in other ces, she would have already begun making threatening low roars.

    As everyone was focused on the Dragon-Li, Zhang Zian quietly walked to Fina and asked, ¡°What did you say to her?¡±

    Fina said peacefully, ¡°I just told her, don¡¯t worry. Your master will not leave you behind. You can trust and rely on her.¡±

    Holy moly! What a genius golden cat!

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Fina¡¯s history wasn¡¯t fully disclosed here. There will be a separate chapter to fully introduce her. There is a small part of her history in this chapter due to its relevance to the story.

 Chapter 87: The Problem with Returning Customers

    <h4>Chapter 87: The Problem with Returning Customers</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After Xiao Yan had finished bathing her Dragon-Li cat and carried it out, everyone could see that its attitude was different from before. It waspletely rxed, and ity in her arms gently and pleasantly. Zhang Zian had said that bathing your cat with your own hands could strengthen the rtionship between you, the owner, and your cat. The crowd did not believe it at first, but now they had witnessed the transformation of the Dragon-Li cat, and they had to believe.

    ¡°Boss, thank you so much!¡± Xiao Yan hugged the Dragon-Li cat tightly, and was so moved that she did not know what to say. ¡°You¡¯re wee. To be able to satisfy the customer is this shop¡¯s honor,¡± Zhang Zian replied politely. She ced the Dragon-Li cat back into the cat carrier and took out her wallet to pay. But then she thought for a moment and asked, ¡°Boss, can I only pay for a single washing here?¡± Zhang Zian was confused. ¡°? ? ?¡±

    ¡°I mean, do you have a one-year card for washing here, or something like a membership card? It¡¯s too troublesome to pay each time,¡± she exined. Right! So clever! Howe I didn¡¯t think of that? Zhang Zian felt as if he had woken up from a dream for the first time! Ever since the encounter with Su Min at Longfeng Jewelry Store, he had been constantly pondering about how he could attract more customers. His situation with Su Min was somewhat simr¡ªthey were both selling luxury goods. Su Min would be extremely excited when there were returning customers, and this touched Zhang Zian¡¯s heart.

    If membership cards were released, it would help to umte funds quickly as well as increase the shop¡¯s retention rate. After all, it was a prepaid thing. You can¡¯t waste the money that you had put in. If you didn¡¯t want to let it be a waste, then you would have toe give your cats a bath every once in a while. But what could be relied upon to attract customers? It wouldn¡¯t do to just rely on the washing; cats didn¡¯t need to be washed so often, and he also knew that the fixed price of three hundred dors each time was a bit expensive. There must be something new. This needed to be slowly considered again. Of course, there was no way that he would admit with his own mouth that he hadn¡¯t thought of it before, so he replied with a calm expression, ¡°Haha, great minds really do think alike. I was just thinking about the details of membership subscriptions just before you guys had entered the shop¡­¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were confused. ¡°? ? ?¡± The Samoyeds, Golden Retrievers, Pomeranians, Bichon Frise, Huskies, and all the puppies eximed, ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    Weren¡¯t you lying stiff as a corpse on your deck chair and drinking tea before?¡± Even the corgi that was about to leave the shop couldn¡¯t help but to call out a few times in support of its fellow doggy brothers.

    Zhang Zian solemnly reminded Xiao Niu that training should be done early on, and that the bad habit of barking randomly should be trained to stop. Xiao Niu did not understand, and nodded his head in agreement. The corgi charged towards Zhang Zian and cried out even more powerfully, ¡°This is a revenge blow! If you want to fire me, I can still prove my ability anywhere else!¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s fine. I will reserve a membership card. I will pay in cash this time.¡± Xiao Yan took out three brand-new red hundred-dor banknotes from her wallet and handed them to Zhang Zian. ¡°Mr. Store Manager, I also want to reserve one!¡± Jiang Qianxue also eximed. Zhang Zian liked these types of Tuhaos who would first reserve something before even asking about the price, and replied with full support, ¡°No problem. You guys will definitely be members of this shop with a single digit, and you guys will have twice the amount of face when you take them out in the future. Maybe you guys can even use them like credit cards!¡± The crowd was speechless. ¡°¡­¡± Never have seen such a shameless person!

    Being able to have a membership card with a single digit was pretty attractive. Although it was just a membership card for a small shop, who knew whether or not this shop would develop into a big store in the future? Lea was quite touched, and raised her hand to proim, ¡°Store manager, if the membership isn¡¯t too expensive, then I want to reserve one too.¡± Zhang Zian nodded, ¡°It will definitely be worth it.¡± The other people expressed that they wanted to think about it first. For instance, Xiao Niu had bought a dog, and dogs weren¡¯t afraid of water. It was easier to give baths to dogs, so hecked interest in the membership card event. He left first after he had paid.

    Lea chose a British Shorthair that had ayer of silver gradient. Apart from the color of its fur, the British Shorthair with a silver gradientyer was simr to a regr British Shorthair. It was an offspring of the hybridization between a British Shorthair and a Chinchi. It not only had the round-bodied figure of a British Shorthair, but also had the big round eyes of a Chinchi. It would inherit the shorthair characteristic of a British Shorthair after it grew up, and not the long hair of a Chinchi that was difficult to care for; it belonged to the strong and typicalbinations. But because it was still very young, this silver gradient British Shorthair was still slightly thin and weak, which highlighted the pair of big and round eyes that it has, that aroused people¡¯s love and affection. Although the price made Lea feel distressed, she knew that it was impossible to pluck a single hair from this iron cock [1]. Besides, the price included the price for the included trained stunts. She felt that it was worth it once she thought of that.

    Gu Tianle and ck Jack expressed that they would like to have further considerations. Gu Tianle actually had his funds set in the stock market, so his money was tight and he couldn¡¯t bear to spend any more. As for ck Jack, he still had not given uppletely on Fina yet¡ªthis did not count at the fate of eyes, but it was rather simply because he thought that he could allure girls with such an assertive and pretentious cat like Fina. A true fate of the eyes would ignore all other external factors. Who cared whether they were cheap dogs or multitudinous cats, or whether they were sick or disabled. As long as the fate of the eyes had happened, they would be taken home to be cared for. Zhang expressed that he couldn¡¯t pretend to be pretentious since ck Jack had performed all the pretentious acts. There was no way that Fina could be sold, so ck Jack might as well just get rid of this thought. Zhang Zian had those who would like to purchase the membership cards leave their phone numbers or Wechat numbers, so that when the membership cards were made, he could notify them promptly.

    Not only were Xiao Yan, Jiang Qianxue, and Lea were interested, but there were also people of the audience of the live broadcast room who expressed interest. Zhang Zian of course loved to see that. This five-dor advertisement fee was really worth it. On the contrary, although the audience hated how much of an iron cock he was, and how he loved to act pretentiously, they could only admit his abilities after having seen with their own eyes the rebellious Dragon-Li cat transform into an obedient baby. In addition, many female members of the audience were touched by Zhang Zian¡¯s speech about fate of the eyes, and they also expressed interest in wanting to raise pets. Zhang Zian was very despondent. This causal rtionship wasn¡¯t right? Shouldn¡¯t you guys want to pledge to marry if you guys are touched? Take me, this handsomed, home to take care of!

    The pet shop returned to its peaceful and quiet state after wave and wave of people left. Zhang Zian returned to the deck chair once again, lifted up his cup of tea to take a sip, and his eyebrows furrowed¡ªthe tea was a bit cold. Li Kun observed that and immediately brought the thermos sk over to give him hot tea. To have a cup of hot tea go down into the stomach wasfortable, blissful, and satisfying! He put down the teacup.

    ¡°So, why did you twoe here again?¡± Uhhh¡­ Wang Qian and Li Kun exchanged nces. Master never yed cards ording to the routine¡­

    ¡°Master, howe you didn¡¯t ask us this question when we first arrived?¡± Li Kun asked with a wry smile.

    Zhang Zian crossed his eyes at him, ¡°I will ask when I want to ask. I¡¯m that capricious!¡±

    ¡°Cough, yes! We don¡¯t have sses today,¡± Li Kun answered helplessly.

    ¡°Rubbish! I remember that you guys have sses today!¡± Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t that easily fooled.

    Wang Qian piped up on the sidelines, ¡°There was ss originally, but the school is currently holding the autumn sportspetition, so there are no sses.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Zhang Zian rubbed the middle of his eyebrows, made a decision, and said, ¡°I am currentlycking a handy-man here. I really can¡¯t handle everything by myself¡­I want to ask if any one amongst you guys have the interest ofing here to work part-time?¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun almost cried out, ¡°Master! You are finally willing to take us in!¡±

    Footnotes:

    [1] A saying that describes the situation of not being able to bargain even a cent from a stingy person.

 Chapter 88: The New Direction

    <h4>Chapter 88: The New Direction</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian had been immune to their crazy teenager thoughts. ¡°Well, you guys would stay in your dorms and y online games anyways. Why not use that time to do something that is, in fact, meaningful? Here is my offer: you have to work two hours a day. One hour at noon and one hour at night. Your major responsibility is to clean, do odds and ends, and run errands for me. The hourly wage is 50 Yuan an hour and you can also eat two meals with me. That¡¯s all for now. We can discuss further in the future. Who is interested?¡±

    100 Yuan and two meals a day?! Sounds like a good deal! They could make 3000 Yuan a month by only working two hours a day. That was almost as much as what people made working full time. Who would reject such an attractive offer? Like Zhang Zian said, if they stayed at their dorms, all they did all day was y online games and talk on the BBS.

    Li Kun elbowed Wang Qian, meaning, ¡°Look, great achievements begin with basic training. We will get Master¡¯s attention if we continue working hard. This is a trick!¡±

    The two immediately said, ¡°We both wille, with or without pay.¡±

    The store had been getting busy. Zhang Zian could no longer handle it on his own.

    Cats were fine. Although Fina had been a great help keeping the cats calm, someone still needed to change the litter. There were less dogs than cats, but they required more attention.

    When there was only one person in the store, he could not even get out of the store to get some food. Also, he came up with the membership system today. He was obligated to research and develop the system. It was time to get some extra help; however, it happened much sooner than he had anticipated.

    Through getting along with Wang Qian and Li Kun these days, he found that although they were crazy at times, they were reliable, kind people. They also had pets at home, so they could work with pets. It was not a highly skillful job, but the job required dealing with cat and dog waste, so he offered a good wage.

    Zhang Zian asked them to go home and think over the offer. If they were willing to ept, they coulde the next day at noon and in the evening. In that case, their job would not interfere with school work. Even though they imed that no further consideration was needed, Zhang Zian kicked them out anyways.

    It was a shame that the cashier desk was not really helpful. His parents were old-fashioned and had been writing down all transactions by hand. There wasn¡¯t even aputer in the store. Therefore, if he wanted to start the membership system, he would need aputer, or at least a desktop.

    Zhang Zian checked the price on his cell phone. Desktops were fairly reasonable. However, the membership system seemed quiteplicated. There were so many versions. He waspletely lost on which one was the best fit. It would not be fun to find out the system didn¡¯t work after instation.

    At this time, a notification popped up on his cell phone.

    [Game Tips]:The Maneki-neko¡¯s friendliness increased to friendly. She could go out with yer. Congrattions! Keep up the good work! Continuous improvement on the pet¡¯s friendliness will further release the pet¡¯s capability.

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    Seriously? This had to be a trick. Normally, the improvement on friendliness would be harder and harder. How many diamonds would it take to fully release Fina¡¯s friendliness? It is going to be an endless investment.

    He was thinking about the setting of the game. All of a sudden, a golden light shed in front of his eyes. Fina jumped from her princess bed to the recliner.

    ¡°Zhang Zian, I am hungry,¡± she stared at him and said.

    ¡°Okay, Madam. I am going to cook,¡± Zhang Zian stood up from the recliner. Haixing came down from upstairs and was ying hide and seek with the kittens.

    This was the first time she called his name. Although it sounded blunt, it was much better than before. She had never even called his name before. Maybe this was a sign of improvement of friendliness?

    He went upstairs and got in his bedroom. Aunt Liu¡¯s American shorthair meowed as she walked up to him asking for food. Since he had been adding chicken and fish in addition to her normal cat food, she recovered quickly. Her leg got much better these days.

    ¡°Okay, okay. I am going to cook now.¡± He lightly flicked his fingers on her head.

    He nned to make a pumpkin, carrot and chicken stir fry, heat up the chicken liver and heart that he cooked before, and make a seaweed and egg soup with some dry shrimp. Both cats and humans could eat it. Although it was going to be a bit too light for humans, he would just eat it because he didn¡¯t want to cook two separate meals. He wasn¡¯t a good cook anyways. As long as the food was cooked, it would be served.

    My Lord, please give me a girlfriend, someone who can cook!

    His cell phone rang. He was hoping that it was a game tip that said a girlfriend was waiting for you. To his disappointment, it was a message from Xiao Yan.

    ¡°Mr. Manager, I am not sure what kind of membership system you are going to use. If you need help you can let me know. The system I use is pretty good. You are wee to take a look.¡±

    He responded immediately, ¡°That¡¯s great. Where is it?¡±

    Xiao Yan sent him an address. Zhang Zian found out that it was a beauty salon called mour.

    ¡°Okay. I wille over in a day or two,¡± he replied.

    He put hisptop in the kitchen and watched a movie as he cooked.

    It was an old movie from 1963 called Cleopatra by Elizabeth Taylor. He remembered seeing it on the Movie Channel. He forgot most of the story, but only remembered the fascinating setup and Taylor¡¯s beautiful bathing scene.

    The movie was four hours long. It was a great movie with lots of famous stars and extraordinary scenery. It was the best of the best. In his opinion, the movie still lived up to today¡¯s standards.

    After cooking, eating and resting, his whole afternoon was contributed to that movie. He paused the movie when customers stopped by and continued after they left.

    In the first 10 minutes of the movie, Cleopatra¡¯s brother and rival Ptolemy XIII was holding a cat which looked like a pure white Persian cat.

    The movie didn¡¯t show Cleopatra holding a cat; however, in the beginning of the second half, there were two variations of cat sculptures on her chair, one on each side. In the meantime, the Goddess alligators and coyotes were carved on the deck. All in all, cats were highly appreciated and had an extremely high social status at that time.

    The Chinese Emperors used dragons on their chairs. Egyptian Pharaohs used cats on theirs. It was not difficult to tell that they honored cats.

    At some point, Fina came to Zhang Zian quietly and watched the movie with him where current actors and actresses were trying to present a story that happened over 2000 years ago. Zhang Zian was anxious. He knew the movie to Fina was like Chinese people watching a Kung Fu movie performed by Caucasians. It had to be ridiculous to her.

    It turned dark when the movie ended.

    Fina jumped back to her princess bed, only leaving one simplement: ¡°Thatdy was ugly.¡±

 Chapter 89: A Dream of Two Thousand Years

    <h4>Chapter 89: A Dream of Two Thousand Years</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Fina! Fina!¡± An empty sound came from the end of the night sky.

    ¡°Fina! Fina!¡± A faraway sound traveled from the depths of the ground.

    ¡°Fina! Fina!¡± A dim sound came from the ancient prehistoric times.

    Fina woke up.

    It was she!

    This sound, this smell, these footsteps, it was her!

    She was here!

    Fina raised her head suddenly, jumped down from the solitary deity throne, and ran towards her as fast as she could. In the magnificent pce, there were countless big cats and kittens resting there. But they could only y around under the deity throne, and did not dare to take even one step closer. This was Fina¡¯s magical pce; this deity throne belonged to Fina!

    The mysterious jade that came from the East, the fine silverware from the North, the big gem from the South, and the countless amount gold¡­ these massive treasures were stacked like mountains and were reduced to cat toys. Fina turned a blind eye to herpanions, as well as to the shining treasures. Her eyes were fixed on the silhouette of the person holding the corner of a skirt, who was flying towards her. She was calling out to Fina, and she needed Fina.

    She kneeled on the soft carpet of sheep wool and opened her arms to hug Fina tight. Her long, slender fingers went into Fina¡¯s fur and felt her warmth, and her cheeks caressed Fina¡¯s neck as she said, ¡°Fina, my Fina, how are you?¡± Fina opened her mouth and had a lot of things she wanted to tell her, but could only produce a cry of ¡°meow¡±. Fina remembered that she still couldn¡¯t speak at that time.

    Why? Why must you have me go through this kind of pain again?

    ¡°Fina, Fina, why is your heart beating so fast? Is it because you really missed me? I also missed you a lot too. I think of you every day.¡± She hugged Fina tightly, and they listened to each other¡¯s heartbeats.

    Meow, meow! I missed you so much, I missed you so much! I don¡¯t want to lose you again!

    ¡°Fina, I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?¡± She ced her mouth by Fina¡¯s ears and whispered gently.

    Meow, meow! Don¡¯t say it! Don¡¯t say it!

    ¡°Alright, I will tell you the bad news. My younger brother is about to make a move on me. You also know, my evil younger brother, my weak and feeble younger brother, he always wanted to have his cat rece you. Such a good-for-nothing younger brother who actually want to make a move on his older sister! But I will not sit still. I am already prepared, because I had expected this day toe. There is only one true pharaoh, and that is I. No one can rece my position, not even my family!¡± Sheughed, but there was no joy in her smile at all. ¡°I also don¡¯t want it to be like this, but I have no choice. If I don¡¯t do this, then I will only die, or be imprisoned and exiled. I don¡¯t want that to happen, Fina, I don¡¯t want that to happen! I want the deity kingdom to be eternally immortal, and let the quartet bow to the minister!¡±

    The hand that was stroking the fur on Fina¡¯s back suddenly stopped. This was a sign that she was about to make a great decision. Fina knew. Fina knew everything. History was repeating itself, and she had to make the decision that would be very painful for Fina once again. ¡°Those who are loyal to me are too few. My army cannot match him. If we fight face-to-face, then we would probably be crushed and defeated. But I will also tell you good news¡ªCaesar ising, Julius Caesar! The great Caesar, invincible Caesar! As long as we draw support from his power, we will definitely be able to defeat my younger brother, and revive the deity kingdom!¡±

    Meow, meow, meow!

    Fina pulled on her arm tightly, and exhausted everything in attempt to stop her. It was of no use. Everything had already happened, and nothing could be changed. She gently pulled Fina aside, and used the corner of her clothes to wipe the tears that were gushing out of Fina¡¯s eyes. ¡°But Fina, that great Caesar, that invincible Caesar, he¡¯s actually afraid of cats! Isn¡¯t that ridiculous? When I had just heard of this, Iughed until my legs were soft. Fina, it seems that you are the invincible one. The great Fina, the invincible Fina!¡± She smiled even more joyfully, but her expression looked like she was about to cry.

    Fina shook her head. Don¡¯t go, and don¡¯t go to see Caesar! Caesar would be assassinated, and although Anthony was of no use, we could think of other ways. We don¡¯t necessarily have to rely on the power of the Romans!

    Fina already knew the trend of history, but she still didn¡¯t know. She was like a moth that longed for happy days, but was rushing towards zing mes instead. Fina could not say anything, and could only wail sadly. ¡°Fina, I¡¯m very sorry, but we have to be separated for a period of time. I can¡¯t take you to see Caesar who¡¯s afraid of cats. Otherwise, I will not be able to establish a covenant with Caesar.¡± Her fingers gently wandered around on the top of Fina¡¯s head, and caressed the crease between her eyebrows. ¡°You shall wait patiently for me in the deity pce. Wait for me toplete a great cause using Caesar, and then I wille back to find you. At that time, we will never separate again. Forever won¡¯t separate.¡±

    Big liar.

    Big liar!

    You will be lost in the endless struggle for power, and will never return!

    She kneaded her knees and stood up. Fina stretched out her ws and desperately hooked onto the corner of her skirt, not letting her leave. This departure was goodbye forever. She bent down and gently kissed Fina¡¯s forehead. ¡°Fina, I know you are very worried about me, but I must go. I am Cleopatra VII, the pharaoh of the cknd, the guardian of the immortal deity kingdom, and maintaining the deity kingdom is my life¡¯s mission!¡± She wanted to protect the deity kingdom, but Fina wanted to protect her.

    ¡°Fina, my trip may not be a sess. Caesar might ept me, or he might take me into bondage and give me to my younger brother. I don¡¯t know which possibility is greater either, but I have to try. If I fail¡ª¡± She hesitated for a moment, then spat out the bitter words, ¡°If I fail, I will not live in degradation either, and have people regard me as a trophy¡­If I fail, the deity kingdom will probably be destroyed, and there will be no seat for me in the big pyramid¡­Fina, do you still remember the ce where we first met? I will build my mausoleum there. If I fail¡­go there to see me whenever you think of me.¡± She took off the gold ne on Fina¡¯s neck that was full of gems, and wore it on her own neck. ¡°With your ne apanying me, I will not feel lonely anymore.¡±

    ¡°Goodbye, Fina!¡±

    She stood suddenly and straightened her body. The majesty and firmness of a pharaoh had made her face hard and cold, as if she was wearing a gold mask.

    Ridicule!

    She disregarded the corner of her skirt that was torn by Fina, and resolutely turned her head and left. Her figure slowly melted in the sunlight outside of the deity pce.

    Meow, meow! Don¡¯t go!

    Don¡¯t go!

    Fina wanted to chase her and stop her, but her body had be stiff and she could not move.

    ¡°Don¡¯t go!¡±

    Fina woke up suddenly at the same time she shouted out these words.

    The stars were shining through the windows onto the veil of the princess bed. She curled her body up, and there was an empty piece in her heart that left a pain that could not be erased for eternity. Suddenly, she could not differentiate clearly between which side was reality and which side was a dream.

    ¡°Fina!¡±

    ¡°Fina!¡±

    There was another person calling her again. The voice was very near, and very real. She lifted the curtains with her ws, leapt down from the princess bed, followed the sound up the stairs, pushed open the bedroom door, and saw Zhang Zian sleeping in a poor position on his bed and muttering in his sleep.

    ¡°Fina! Don¡¯t snatch it¡­that¡¯s my money¡­¡±

    Fina was speechless, ¡°¡­¡±

    This man was no doubt a mortal, not an ancient Roman consul, and not the pharaoh of the cknd; but such a trivial mortal she was dreaming of. Would he leave her for greatness and glory like she did? Fina didn¡¯t know, but she decided that she would give him a chance. When Zhang Zian was sleeping soundly, his phone lit up, and a hint shed across the screen then immediately went out again.

    [Game Hint]: Congrattions! Your Maneki-neko¡¯s likability has increased and has been promoted to trust, and the ability of the freedom of movement has been gained.

 Chapter 90: The Horn of War

    <h4>Chapter 90: The Horn of War</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Staring at the financial report on the monitor, Cao Yong¡¯s eyes stared at a few critical data on the report. His face was as peaceful as water.

    Although there was A/C in the room, Chen Taitong, who was standing next to Cao Yong, could not help but sweat nervously. He bent his back down slightly and didn¡¯t dare to stand up straight. He looked as if he was a Eunuch who was carefully taking care of and waiting for questions from his master. The longer it took, the more uneasy he felt.

    Chen Taitong knew that today would be a rough day. Sales had dropped significantly. The ident didn¡¯t help the situation. Also, corporate had announced again and again that this year was the most critical time for the preparation of going public and all branches were required to not have any scandals.

    Finally, Cao Yong¡¯s eyesnded on the dropped percentage of sales. Chen Taitong almost stopped breathing.

    ¡°Manager Chen, is it wrong?¡± Cao Yong asked pointing at the number. He was being polite and indirect.

    ¡°Uhm¡­This is¡­uhm¡­¡± Chen Taitong was sweating like crazy. He forced a smile and said, ¡°Sales dropped a bit. Now school started. Sales were way better during summer¡­¡±

    Cao Yong was the regional sales director of Stars Pet Chain Supermarket. Honestly, his position was only a bit higher than Chen Taitong. Most importantly, Cao Yong was from corporate. Chen Taitong was only a manager from a chain store. Cao Yong had a much greater influence in thepany.

    Cao Yong looked him in the eyes and said, ¡°Manager Chen, it is normal that sales go down a little after school starts. It happens to every store. however, none of the stores dropped 50% in sales. What is going on?¡±

    Outside the window across from Stars Pet Chain Supermarket, about twenty people were holding up signs and watching the store entrance. Some pedestrians slowed down to read the signs curiously.

    ¡°Stars Pet Chain Supermarket hires inte water army! They swindle money out of us!¡±

    ¡°Stars Pet Chain Supermarket sells second quality pets for full price and doesn¡¯t admit it!¡±

    ¡°Stars Pet Chain Supermarket ys foul with customers. They hide their pets¡¯ health problems!¡±

    There were people from all age groups. They were holding signs, but remained silent. They were trying to put pressure on Stars Pet Chain Store and warn the new customers. It was very effective. Some people had second thoughts once they saw the signs, while some still trusted a super enterprise like Stars and ignored the signs.

    Chen Taitong could not do anything about it. The group stayed across from the road, which was not on their property. He could not kick them out. There were also some senior citizens who were seventy or eighty years old. No one wanted to talk to them in case anything happened.

    He called the police. The policemen came but could not do anything about it. They didn¡¯t kick anyone out. In the contrary, they asked Manager Chen topensate the group some money to deal with the matter.

    Chen Taitong could not open a can of worms. If he started paying those customers money, more customers would ask for more money. The policemen then went talk to the group, told them to go to the business bureau, the consumer protection bureau, or the courts. Chen Taitong was pissed off. Those policemen only knew how to make arbitrary suggestions.

    The group didn¡¯t achieve an agreement internally neither did they take the advice from the police. The policemen went back knowing that neither side was going to take their suggestions. However, since Chen Taitong called the police, although the problem wasn¡¯t solved, there was always a police car nearby. The policemen were observing the situation and they would take action once anything happened.

    Chen Taitong was trapped. The group had nothing better to do. The elderly people sat there all day. Someone would send them food and drinks at noon. They had nothing but time. However, if they sat there all day, it would be an extremely negative influence on his store.

    At this point, Chen Taitong could not hide it anymore. He had to tell Cao Yong about what happened and see what he could do. A huge enterprise like Stars Pet Chain Superstore had to have some ways to resolve problems like that. What seemed to be difficult to him might not be a problem to Stars Pet Chain Store.

    Cao Yong¡¯s face was pulling longer and longer. He was knocking his desk with his fingers. He looked like a bomb that was about to explode. Corporate cared about the enterprise¡¯s image very much because of the n to go public. Hiring an inte water army was quite normal in the industry. It was highly effective and inexpensive. It was an open secret; however, it could be very troublesome once found out.

    After thinking about it, he said, ¡°Manager Chen, you have to resolve this problem as soon as possible and can¡¯t let corporate know. This is an order. Don¡¯t count on corporate to clean up the mess for you; otherwise, corporate will only fire you to set an example!¡± Chen Taitong was shocked. He was counting on corporate to help him through the problem. Now it didn¡¯t seem like it was going to happen. Corporate might close this store to keep its reputation. It was only a small store after all.

    The pet industry was a high-turnover industry. Chen Taitong chose to join Stars Pet Chain Supermarket because it was a huge chain. Its purchasing price was a lot better than other stores and it had its own transportation team. It was the best fit to his business model. It was all fine when nothing went wrong. However, when something was wrong, it was not going to fight for a small chain store.

    Although sales went down significantly, the licensing fee could not bete. Otherwise, the deposit would be taken by corporate and the licensing contract would be cancelled.

    ¡°Director Cao, you have to help me! I have to close the business if this situation continues. My whole family is counting on this business for a living. Please help me!¡± Chen Taitong¡¯s legs felt weak and he almost kneeled down in front of Cao Yong.

    Cao Yong wasn¡¯t going to get involved. However, if this store failed, he as the regional sales director would be ountable for it to some degree. He had beenpeting with the regional purchasing director, Qian Fang, for the general manager position. If he could get that position and make some good contribution, it was highly likely that he would be promoted as a middle or high-level manager in corporate. Even if he could not get promoted to upper management, as a regional general manager he would get stocks from thepany, which was also great.

    Considering the above, Cao Yong said, ¡°I couldn¡¯t do anything to the people outside, but I might be able to do something to increase sales.¡±

    Chen Taitong saw the light. ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°Very simple. Say the total sale in this area is constant. The sales in your store dropped. It means sales in another store has gone up. Think, which store is it?¡±

    ¡°It seems to me that the Amazing Fate Pet Store is quite popr these days,¡± he responded. The information had toe from his staff, who was also an inte water army.

    Cao Yong Laughed, ¡°I know that one. It is an old store. it wasn¡¯t a big threat before. Your purchasing price is a lot lower; you should be able to win thepetition. A price war takes care of everything.¡±

 Chapter 91: Collaboration Proposal

    <h4>Chapter 91: Coboration Proposal</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was early in the morning at Spirit Curing Pet Clinic.

    There was an emergencyst night whichsted veryte into the night. Sun Xiaomeng had not returned to the breeding farm, but had slept in the clinic. In the locker room in the clinic, she put up a bunk bed, which was for temporary rests. She slept on the bottom bunk, and she put misceneous items on the top bunk to save space. She was the only person in the clinic anyways, so there was no need to pay attention to specific details.

    The clinic gradually became busy from the beginning of opening, and Sun Xiaomeng was feeling a bit powerless. Perhaps she should request a nurse to help her, but that would be an additional expenditure of sry¡­ She was trying to save money currently, and she has been doing all of the clinic¡¯s cleaning work by herself. Her practice hours were from nine o¡¯clock in the morning to seven o¡¯clock at night. But there usually weren¡¯t any customers in the morning or at night, it often dragged on until nine o¡¯clock before she could end the day. That was because people always only realized that the condition of their pets weren¡¯t right after they got off work, and would rush their pets here to be treated. She couldn¡¯t just shut down the business. She took into ount that she would probably sleep in the clinic very often, and intended to use the time in the morning to go back home to take some clothes to wash and change into to bring back. The weather was getting cooler; it was about time for the season to change.

    She pulled the rolling shutters of the front door open, and unexpectedly saw Zhang Zian standing outside the clinic while gnawing on a bun. ¡°Howe you came here?¡± she asked him in surprise.

    Zhang Zian shoved the rest of the bun into his mouth two or three times and replied ambiguously, ¡°Didn¡¯t we make a bet? I lost, so I came to be your janitor for the day.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t time not over for the bet yet? You¡¯re admitting defeat this early?¡± Although it was expected, she still felt a little disappointed and regret.

    ¡°Admitting defeat early orter are the same. Let¡¯s not talk about that first, I have other stuff that I need to discuss with you today.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Save it if you need to borrow money,¡± she said resolutely.

    Zhang Zian almost choked on his bun and said, ¡°Who said I wanted to borrow money¡­but it does have to do with money indeed.¡±

    ¡°Come in to talk,¡± she sighed and stepped aside to make way.

    It was actually Zhang Zian¡¯s first time to bee here to be her guest, and he couldn¡¯t help but to look around. The fa?ade of the clinic was very small. A car essory shop was on the left side, and on the right side was a decorationspany¡ªthey both hadn¡¯t opened for business yet. There was an eye-catching notice posted on the ss on the shop front that said, ¡°Fixed unit for pet vination shots¡±. The clinic was small, butplete. The interior of the clinic was divided into several areas. The moment you entered the clinic, you saw the waiting area. There were a few armchairs for guests to rest in, and also magazines of the pet world that could be flipped through at will. A conventional price list hung on the left side of the wall, and the wall across from that hung an ¡°Animal Treatment Permit¡± and a business license.

    Going further in was a treatment room. At the same time, it was also Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s office. A copy of her veterinary certificate was posted on the wall. Looking into another room from the treatment room, you could vaguely see a stainless steel operation table and a small shadowlessmp¡ªthat should be the operation room. It could be said that although the clinic was small, it was very formal.

    ¡°So in the end, what¡¯s the matter?¡± Sun Xiaomeng asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s like this,¡± Zhang Zian retracted his eyes, ¡°I intend to open a membership system, and I want to ask if you have any interests. At the same time, there should be a discount if you buy two sets at once.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± She did not understand at the moment.

    ¡°I¡¯ve thought about it, and there are benefits of a membership system. Once customers put money into your business, they will certainly choose toe to you first when their pets are sick, or when their pets need physical checkups. You can also give discounts of five percent or ten percent to membership cardholders. This should be very attractive,¡± he exined. She was not used to Zhang Zian¡¯s serious look, and suspected that she hade across a fake Zhang Zian. She only spoke after a pause. ¡°I know the benefits of a membership system, and big pet hospitals all do that. But is there a need for that for my small clinic? The cost should be pretty high, right? And we would also need manpower to operate this.¡±

    ¡°There will definitely be a cost, and that is my purpose ofing here. We can share the responsibility of the costs and risks together,¡± Zhang Zian said and continued, ¡°I have a preliminary idea, which is to support the customers with memberships in your clinic toe to my shop. No matter if it is buying things or giving cats baths; they can all enjoy a five percent discount. My shop will also rmend my customers with memberships to go to your clinic to get vinations, do physical exams, or for medical treatment, and will be able to enjoy a five percent discount as well. Five percent is just an example, the specific number can be discussed again, but I think that we shouldn¡¯t go lower than this number, or else it would have no meaning.¡±

    This was a very bold proposal. Once this proposal was epted, it would be equal to the fact that Amazing Fate Pet Shop and Spirit Curing Pet Clinic have formed alliances and became partners, and that the two of them would have gone from being just simply friends to business partners. When talking about business, it would have to be considered whether or not the business deal was worthwhile, and whether or not it would bring benefits to your own shop. Thus, Sun Xiaomeng bowed her head in deep consideration.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s proposal¡¯s nature was tobine the flow of customers of each store. Both stores were pet-rted, and this was the basis of the coboration. Their coboration had a natural advantage, which was that both of their stores were very near each other, and located at the south and north entrance of Zhonghua Road respectively. There was only a distance of a few hundred meters in between, and one could just stroll there. After a bit of analysis, Sun Xiaomeng felt that the proposal was a disadvantage for her. That was because to talk about the flow of customers, her clinic certainly dominated that. The equity of the strength of both parties should be the premise of coboration. Only through that way canplementary roles be yed. After some thought, she said, ¡°Give me some time to think about it. It¡¯s hard to make a decision in all of a sudden.¡±

    Zhang Zian expressed understanding; this wasn¡¯t as simple as just buying aputer, but there was a need for an additional hire, and it would be the same as having an additional burden to give out another portion of sry. She would not be able to handle everything by herself. ¡°Tell me when you¡¯vee to a decision. I¡¯ve made appointments with other people, and I have to go inspect their membership systems for these two days. If I think that it¡¯s efficient to use, then I might just settle on it, so it¡¯s better to not drag it out for too long,¡± he replied.

    Sun Xiaomeng stared at him suspiciously. Could just selling pets and giving baths to cats attract customers to make membership cards? ¡°Nothing else?¡± She asked.

    He shrugged and said, ¡°Another thing is that I am going to be a janitor for you this once. I concede defeat. Where are the uniform, the gloves and the disinfectant?¡±

    She shook her head, ¡°No need. It was just a joke.¡±

    ¡°No. A man sticks to his words,¡± Zhang Zian insisted.

    He had actually wanted to use the opportunity of cleaning to inspect the inside of her clinic. This consideration was made for the coboration. It was simr to how she had questioned his ability, and he also must check to see if her clinic was up to standard. She saw that he was stubborn about it and could only say, ¡°Thene with me.¡±

    He followed her inside past the treatment room and operation room, and arrived at the locker room in the back. Upon opening the door of the locker room was a pair of sinks. This was for washing hands before an operation. One side of the wall waspletely upied by a row of wardrobes, and across from that was a bunk bed. There were quilts and nkets that still haven¡¯t been folded on the bottom bunk, and there were women coats scattered on the top bunk. Sun Xiaomeng pulled open the wardrobe at the very edge, and there were a variety of cleaning supplies and disinfectants in it. ¡°Do you really want to do it?¡± She asked to confirm. He nodded as he put on the gloves and mask at the same time.

    ¡°Then alright, I will take a trip back home¡ªI¡¯m warning you, don¡¯t go through my things while I¡¯m gone! I have a monitor here!¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. Am I really that untrustworthy?

 Chapter 92: Victoriaâ€™s Secret

    <h4>Chapter 92: Victoria¡¯s Secret</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sun Xiaomeng left in her car. Zhang Zian kept his promise and started cleaning.

    Compared to the pet store, cleaning the clinic wasn¡¯t bad at all, mainly because there weren¡¯t too many customers. There was some dust and pet hair in the waiting room. The consulting room and surgery room were even more tidy. She might have cleaned the clinicst night after closing, so he only needed to disinfect the ce.

    Sun Xiaomeng was the only person running the small clinic; hence, there was not too much equipment. She mostly conducted sterilization and trauma fracture surgeries. A pet¡¯s clinic is very expensive. Some were even more expensive than hospitals.

    A sterilization surgery for a person might cost 200 Yuan, but the same surgery for a dog cost at least 400!

    Conclusion: Damn singles were not being treated as well as pet dogs. That¡¯s sad!

    The equipment in a normal hospital was all paid for by the government. However, the equipment in a pet clinic was paid for by the clinic owner.

    That¡¯s why it cost so much to visit a vet.

    An X-Ray machine for pets costs at least 50 thousand Yuan. The life span is about 3-5 years. All sorts of maintenance fees add up. Counting other equipment such as color Doppler ultrasound, one could not get back his/her investment if he/she does not charge a high price.

    There are also overheads like rent, utility, wages and other expenses. Having a pet clinic is not easy. The vet has to make a living and also make their exudation worthwhile. If the profit is too low, they would be better off working for arge pet hospital.

    Some people think that the vet is expensive because there is insurance to cover the cost for humans, but animals don¡¯t have insurance.

    Now it is popr to ¡°adopt a pet instead of purchasing¡±. This was a great idea; however, when the pet gets sick, how many people would in fact spend the money and take them to the vet? Some people might, but most people won¡¯t. This is to stop losing more money.

    On the other hand, if someone spent 10 thousand Yuan on a Persian cat, it is very likely the owner would spend a few thousand Yuan to take care of their pet. This is also a way to stop losing more money.

    The conclusion is that an ideal situation is always difficult to achieve.

    Two doors were connected to the surgery room. One was the locker room and the other was connected to a short hallway which led to an observation room and a ward.

    Zhang Zian opened the door of the observation room. There were two small beds inside the room with white sheets. An electrocardiogram monitor and an oxygen machine were sitting by the beds. Both beds were empty and some breathing masks wereying on the beds.

    After a quick nce by the door of the observation room, Zhang Zian then opened the room to the ward.

    There was one row of metal cages in two levels and four cages in each level, totaling eight cages. A small extraction fan was running on the roof and it was making a regr humming noise.

    There were three pets in the ward, one young Golden Retriever, one adult Chinese cat and one adult Poodle.

    As he opened the door, all three pets stood up. The Poodle even barked at him.

    He walked in the ward. On the shelf, there sat some cat food and dog food. Also, there was a water dispenser and a half-full bottle.

    Zhang Zian approached the cages. Both the golden retriever and the Poodle came towards him. Apparently, they were all hungry. The Chinese cat took a quick look at him and thenid back down.

    The golden retriever and the poodle didn¡¯t have scars. Some hair on the left front leg of the Chinese cat was cut off. New hair had notpletelye out yet so the healing scar could easily be seen.

    From his perspective, all three animals were quite healthy. They might be a bit weak, but staying in the cage all day might¡¯ve caused that. He could tell that the Chinese cat¡¯s surgery was at least 2 weeks ago from the newly grown hair. They could¡¯ve left the clinic by now.

    Then the question was, why are these pets still here?

    Sun Xiaomeng had too much cat food and dog food? Of course not.

    What is it then?

    ¡­

    As Zhang Zian was exploring the Victoria¡¯s secret¡­no, it was the pet clinic¡¯s secret, Sun Xiaomeng went back to Pet¡¯s Home breeding base.

    Her fatherined about the business in the breeding base being slow but she really could do nothing about it. She was a vet, not a marketing expert.

    A few years ago, business at the breeding base was looking great; therefore, her father decided to take out a loan for expansion. It didn¡¯t take long for all kinds of cat houses and dog houses to be popr. Comprehensive breeding bases were facing severepetitions. There were two reasons breeding bases could not get ahead of thepetition First, the costs were too high. Expansions and seeking of integrity in breeds were all contributions to the high operation costs. Second, cat houses and dog houses had their own gimmicks. Some even imed that their pets could be traced back five generations!

    Five generations?! That was exaggerating!

    From a vet¡¯s perspective, the purer the breed is, the weaker they get. However, mixed breeds are always much healthier. The weaknesses of purebred pets usually do not show until they get old. All kinds of cardiovascr and neutral system problems are the biggest threats to their health.

    The British people seemed the most delicate in pets¡¯ breeds. She once read a report that 50% of the purebred dogs in the UK were rted to each other. In other words, your dog might be rted to your neighbor¡¯s dog. It was crazy to even think about it.

    A BBC documentary Pedigree Dogs Exposed discussed this problem in depth.

    It was an open secret in the industry that in a middle-sized city, most of the purebred dogs or cats from the dog houses and cat houses were very likely to be rted.

    Due to all the above reasons, to get down the possibility of hereditary diseases, she rmended to bring in breeding cats, dogs and rabbits from another area. It increased the cost dramatically, but the pets were much healthier. Sometimes, their appearances were not good either. Most customers didn¡¯t understand it and they all wanted good looking pets under the overwhelming marketing campaign from CFA and FCI.

    Tricks could always bring customers yet honesty most of the time didn¡¯t work.

    Now she regretted it. The operational costs were high because of her insistence to provide healthy pets to their customers.

    As she was being emotional, a few strangers came out from the rabbit barn with some cages. She recognized the rabbits in the cages. They were the new breeds being promoted by the base.

    ¡°Wait! Who are you guys? Why do you move our rabbits?¡± She thought they were thieves so she tried to scream hoping to stop them.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. I am selling them. We will not keep rabbits in the future,¡± Sun Yinian came out following the guys.

    ¡°What?¡± she was shocked.

 Chapter 93: Mr. Liar

    <h4>Chapter 93: Mr. Liar</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Other people might not know about Sun Yinian¡¯s hot temper as much as his daughter, Sun Xiaomeng, knew it all too well. Although not a young man anymore, her father was still a dreamer. He named her ¡°Xiaomeng¡±. ¡°Meng¡± in Chinese means dreams. ¡°Xiao¡± referred to the fact that she was born at dawn.

    Her father¡¯s dream was to grow Pets¡¯ Home into thergestprehensive breeding base in the country. Therefore, he was shooting for all kinds of pets to be avable such as cats, dogs, rabbits, turtles, hamsters and lizards. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t include birds and fish.

    Since when did her father change his dreams?

    She reached out her arm to see if her father was sick¡­

    Sun Yinian patted away her hand, ¡°I am fine!¡±

    Although he said so, she didn¡¯t think he was fine. The real drunks would never admit that they were drunk. Her father seemed worried and sighed from time to time.

    ¡°I know you are going to ask. I will tell you inside,¡± he pointed at the store and walked in.

    She followed.

    Even though the fans were turned on in the rabbit barn, the special smell from rabbit waste was still strong. There were only a few mini lops, Siamese cats, snow hares and hotots. There were around the three or four hundred Yuan price point. The breeding rabbits were all gone.

    ¡°What is going on? You scared the crap out of me!¡± she asked.

    It was a strange day for her. First, Zhang Zian talked about setting up a membership system for his store. Second, her stubborn father changed his mind.

    Was she just having a bad day?

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to sell those anymore,¡± her father sighed, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I should¡¯ve known! Pets like rabbits and hamsters are small, cheap, low in profit, difficult to sell and even take a lot ofbor to take care of¡­ I just can¡¯t make up my mind to get rid of them. I was hoping they would be popr one day and I could sell them all overnight¡­Hehe, that was¡­ anyways, finally I see what is the money maker!¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng remained silent. Rabbits and hamsters are cute, but they do not have an emotional tie with humans like dogs do. They are also not as pretty as cats. Their only advantage is easy maintenance. However, if someone really wants a pet that is easy to maintain, they probably do not want a pet.

    Honestly, her dad was more likely to win the lottery than seeing rabbits and hamsters be popr. Pets like lizards were even less popr.

    It was.

    He was curious howe her father suddenly understood this.

    ¡°Sell them all!¡± her father sounded like he was trying to encourage himself, ¡°our base was toorge before. Staff was too busy and sometimes even resigned¡­in the future, we will focus on cats and dogs exclusively and that will be great!¡±

    ¡°Dad, is it a money issue?¡± she asked cautiously, ¡°I have some money saved up. You could¡­¡± she was really worried about her father.

    Her father stopped her. ¡°It isn¡¯t about money.¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡± she asked.

    Her father looked at her, bowed down his head and said, ¡°Amazing Fate Pet Shop ordered a bunch of pets. He paid for half and also a 50% deposit for the other half. I sold the breeding rabbits and hamsters which will save some feeding money. Everythinges together. This is the best month in a few years! I want to give the staff some bonus for their hard work¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait! Wait! Howe Zhang Zian bought more stock? I thought he didn¡¯t sell the pets fromst time,¡± Sun Xiaomeng was totally confused.

    Her father said, ¡°Who told you he didn¡¯t sell the inventory fromst time? I delivered to his store a few days ago. Everything was gone! His business is doing great! As we were unloading the pets someone bought a Siamese cat. He bought that cat from us for 3000 Yuan, and guess how much he sold it for¡­¡±

    Her father waved his hand and said, ¡°5000! The cat was shipped from our base to his store. It didn¡¯t even get in his shop and he made 2000!¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡± Sun Xiaomeng remembered Zhang Zian priced a Siamese cat at 4000 Yuan. That wasn¡¯t cheap. She wondered why he raised the price and people continued to buy from him. Were they stupid?

    Her father felt this was unfair, ¡°I had the staff move the pets and followed the customer. I asked him if he would like another cat. I will sell a Siamese cat for 4000 yuan.¡±

    Her brows furrowed, she criticized her father, ¡°Dad, that¡¯s not right. How could you do that?¡±

    Sun Yinian Opened up his eyes, was about to defend himself and sighed, ¡°you know what that guy said? At the beginning, he was interested. He asked if my Siamese cat could do stunts. I was confused. That was the first time I heard cats could do stunts¡­the customer left without saying anything¡­¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng was shocked. Is Amazing Fate Pet Shop changing its name to Amazing Fate Circus? They could train cats to do stunts?

    ¡°That¡¯s fate! This kid is going to make big money! Weird things happen sometimes and this year there are a lot of weird things!¡± her father smiled with jealousy.

    ¡°Oh!¡± her father suddenly got excited, ¡°have you heard another weird thing? His store provides cat bathing service. The customer has to bathe their own cat and he charges 300 Yuan for it! He would just sit there and do nothing! He also hired two young kids to help. Moneyes too easy for him¡­ Customers paid 300 Yuan, bathed their own cat and thanked him like he did a big favor to them! That was impossible!¡±

    Unbelievable! Unbelievable!

    Sun Xiaomeng could not be more surprised at those stories from her dad!

    It all makes sense now. No wonder Zhang Zian wanted to build a membership system. He had to have a good customer base.

    After all, only one thing came to her mind ¨C He was such a big liar!

 Chapter 94: The Third Elfin

    <h4>Chapter 94: The Third Elfin</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sun Xiaomeng parked the car in front of the pet clinic. The auto parts store next door was about to open. The fat owner rolled up the shutter door and said hi to Sun Xiaomeng. ¡°Good morning, beautiful! Coming to work?¡±

    Although she spent an hour and a half back and forth to the breeding base, it was only a little past 8:30 ¨C a normal time to open the store.

    All the staff, including the owner in the auto parts store, were all male. They sometimes said hi to her so she was used to it.

    ¡°Good morning, Uncle Niu!¡± she didn¡¯t talk much, locked her car and walked in her clinic.

    Zhang Zian already finished cleaning. He was watching a TV show called Man and Nature in the waiting room.

    ¡°Liar Zhang!¡± She threw her purse on the table and screamed angrily. Her face was all red and said, ¡°You intentionally made a fool out of me, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°It was just a joke. You don¡¯t need to get mad.¡± He was eating the free candies from the front desk with his legs across and said, ¡°I was going to tell you but thought that you would not believe. So, I just let it go.¡± He made it sound like it was Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s fault.

    She was speechless hearing his exnation. She stared at him and said, ¡°you had to at least try! Otherwise, how are you so sure I don¡¯t believe you?¡±

    ¡°Okay. If I told you that I had my customers bathe their own cats, would you believe me?¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡± honestly, she didn¡¯t think anyone would be that stupid. However, she knew her dad would not joke about things like that. Therefore, it might be true.

    ¡°There you go.¡± His face was innocent as if he was saying, look, I knew you wouldn¡¯t believe me.

    ¡°Okay. Tell me how you did it then,¡± she couldn¡¯t help asking.

    He replied calmly, ¡°Business secret.¡±

    She was silent. After all, it made sense. His business started to pick up in such a short time. There had to be some untold secrets. Otherwise, he would lose his advantages.

    Zhang Zian changed the subject. ¡°What is up with the two dogs and one cat in your ward?¡±

    She sighed, shaking her head.

    Zhang Zian already knew before she said anything ¨C the owners had to abandon the pets after taking them to the clinic. They didn¡¯t want to pick up the pet and pay for the treatment costs. In other words, they would nevere back.

    It was normal. Every pet clinic or hospital had encountered this situation.

    The owner didn¡¯t want to pay for the high costs of treating the pet; however, they didn¡¯t want to watch their pet die, so they sent them to the clinic. If the vet didn¡¯t save them, then it was not the owner¡¯s fault.

    What was even more annoying was that the vets had to pay for the treatment and they could not get rid of the pets. They could only continue keeping the pets with their own money. If the owner came back for their pet after they were given away or sent to the shelter, then the clinic would be in trouble.

    This would cause a dead circle. The clinic already lost money treating those pets; therefore, such costs would be transferred to consumers. They had to increase the service charge to keep the clinic running. The increased costs causedints and then some customers would turn into abandoners due to financial pressure.

    The only way out was to push pet insurance like western countries.

    In fact, pet insurance was already avable in the market, but it wasn¡¯t popr.

    If pet insurance was a mandatory item that all pet stores had to carry, just like someone had to get insurance for their car, then it would solve the problem. However, it would increase the cost of pets. No one would like to see that.

    Also, to calcte the premium and ims would be very tricky. It requiredrge amounts of data for the calction. Honestly, only Stars Pet Chain Supermarket was capable in doing so.

    He was in the zone thinking about those problems when his cell phone chimed.

    [Game Tip]:There is a rare pet in your city. It is up to the yer whether to capture.

    [Game Tip]:Following is the information of the pet.

    [Type of Pet]:Elfin

    [Rarity]:Top level

    [Difficult to Capture]:Could not determine.

    [Risk]:Low. Attention: Capture by force will bring extreme high risk.

    He didn¡¯t say much, tapped her on the shoulder and said, ¡°I¡¯ve got to go. Think about the membership matter and call me.¡±

    He left before she responded.

    ¡°Rush rush rush¡­¡± she shook her head.

    Zhang Zian was about to walk towards the bus station. Then a message popped up showing the location of the pet. He stopped.

    It showed that the location was in a small mountain in the Northeast side of the city. There was no bus to go there.

    He could only get there in a taxi.

    ¡°Hi, can you take me to Yinwu Mountain?¡± he asked the driver. Some drivers were not willing to go beyond the border of the city.

    ¡°Sure!¡± the driver nodded quickly.

    ¡°Thank you so much. You did me a big favor.¡± He hopped in the taxi and said, ¡°Please hurry.¡±

    The driverughed, ¡°Yo, gentleman. Are you rushing to see your girlfriend?¡±

    Zhang Zian chuckled, ¡°Haha¡­¡±

    Most taxi drivers are chatterboxes. They could talk about everything and anything, from celebrity gossip in China to the presidential election in the US.

    As soon as the trip started, the driver could not stop talking. ¡°Young kids like yourself love going to Yiwu Mountain for a date. It is a nice ce. Quiet, fresh air, nice view. They can talk as they hike. Sometimes they may get lucky¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was amused. This driver was quite inappropriate.

    The driver turned around, looked at him and giggled, ¡°Did you bring a condom? You have to be careful on these things¡­¡±

    Oh my goodness! The driver worried too much. He should¡¯ve just shut up and driven the car!

    ¡°Oh¡­sir, please look forward. Don¡¯t turn around and look at me. I don¡¯t want to die yet!¡± Zhang Zian felt quite nervous when the driver kept looking at him.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. That¡¯s fine. I drive on this road every day. I can drive with my eyes closed.¡± The driver continued to turn around. ¡°Young man, even though I am bald now, I was very handsome when I was younger. So many pretty girls chased after me!¡±

    Zhang Zian was embarrassed. This driver was crazy!

 Chapter 95: Running into an Acquaintance

    <h4>Chapter 95: Running into an Acquaintance</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The driver was right. The road was quiet.

    The taxi arrived at the bottom, and Zhang Zian felt lucky to be alive. He rushed to get out of the car.

    Mt. Hidden Fog was a small and nd mountain that merely any ounders were familiar with. Being only four or five hundred meters high and with a gently sloped terrain, it was, in fact, an excellent location for hiking. There weren¡¯t any attraction points up the mountain, nor any special wonders. It was a quiet ce and nothing else. Most tourist came in the fall to look at the maple leaves. It was the beginning of fall. Green trees started turning yellow and it wasn¡¯t very pretty yet.

    Mt. Hidden Fog was named because it was often covered with fog, especially in the spring.

    Zhang Zian had been here several times when he was little. He also came for a few spring and fall field trips when he was in Junior High. It had been more than 10 years since hisst visit.

    He once again confirmed the pet¡¯s location on the map within the game. When the target was far away, the map only showed a rough location. As he got closer to the pet, the pet¡¯s location was much more urate on the map. At this point, the shing ring representing the rare pet was located over the main mountain. However, he couldn¡¯t zoom in any further.

    In other words, the rare pet could be any ce in the main mountain. Besides the top of the mountain, it could be anywhere on either side of the mountain. Even though Mt. Hidden Fog wasn¡¯t high, it was a mountain surrounded by trees, swamps and the possibility of crags. Without detailed information, it would be extremely hard to find the pet, which might take more than one day.

    Thinking of ¡°search of the mountain,¡± he felt frustrated. This would take more than one person.

    Simr to other attractions, there were many street vendors at the bottom of the mountain. However, it was not a tourist hotspot the government didn¡¯t really regte the vendors here. As a result, they spread out as they wished.

    The street vendors sold convenient food and drinks like water, tea, bread and spam, etc. As Zhang Zian walked by, they all tried to sell him something. ¡°Hi handsome! Going up the mountain? Take some food and drinks with you. They are going to be very expensive up the hill!¡±

    Zhang Zian nced at the drinks. They had to be counterfeit. Someone might have collected the bottles and refilled with who-knew-what. Was it even safe to drink? Well, good luck.

    Besides food and drinks, some vendors sold hiking boots and umbres. Someone spoke to him loudly, ¡°Hi, handsome! You have to bring an umbre. The weather changes very quickly up the hill. It might rain anytime.¡±

    The target customers for the hiking shoes vendors, were people who came with heels or dress shoes. Seeing that Zhang Zian was wearing sneakers, the shoe vendors didn¡¯t even bother talking to him.

    He wasn¡¯t sure what to do. He came in a rush and wasn¡¯t thinking. With only his wallet and cell phone, he basically didn¡¯t have enough equipment to search the mountain.

    This was a lesson to him. Pets in the game not only appeared in the city, but also in the suburbs. He would at least bring a portable charger next time.

    ¡°Navigation Elf, tell me how to categorize the rarity of pets? What is Premier?¡± he asked his cell phone.

    [Navigation Elf]: Elfin is categorized in six sses. They are Elite, Elite/Premier, Premier, Premier/Epic, Epic, Epic/Legendary. Legendary Elfin doesn¡¯t exist in this game because they are equal to spirits.

    ¡°Okay¡­So is Epic better than Premier?¡± he asked again.

    [Navigation Elf]: Not always true. Every field has its masters. Epic only means that the pet¡¯s faithful power is stronger and it has a deeper influence in a certain field. Sometimes an Elite pet might not be worse than an Epic.

    He understood now. This isparable to a city¡¯s mayor and a chef. A mayor is powerful and reputable. He might be even managing the hospitality industry. However, when ites to cooking skills, a chef would KO a mayor immediately.

    Looking up at Mt. Hidden Fog covered in light fog, he knew he had to hike this mountain. He would not regret it if he could not find the pet. He would regret if he stopped at the bottom of the hill.

    As he was zoning out, someone patted him on the shoulder.

    He was scared to death and almost dropped his cell phone.

    ¡°Ha-ha! Mr. Pretend-to-know-it-all, time to pay you back!¡±

    ¡°I already recorded his expression. I am going to make funny faces out of it¡­¡±

    ¡°Why was Mr. Manager zoning out? Did he have too much sexst night?¡±

    ¡°Why did Mr. Manager goof off? You should¡¯ve been in the store at this time.¡±

    ¡°Did he follow Snowy here? Disgusting stalker!¡±

    Jiang Qianxue was standing behind him with her cell phone pointing at him. A sneaky big smile was on her face.

    ¡°Hello, Mr. Manager! What a coincidence to see you here!¡±

    Zhang Zian had the crap scared out of himself and said, ¡°You should apologize to me before even saying hello.¡±

    She bowed down, ¡°I am very sorry, Mr. Manager. My fans all wanted me to scare you¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was unhappy. He pulled a long face and said, ¡°Is this how you apologize? That¡¯s not even serious. It ismon sense that you have to show your boobs when you apologize.¡±

    She acted scared and covered up her chest.

    ¡°What the f*ck! Mr. Manager, if you dare to see Snowy¡¯s boobs, I will kill you!¡±

    ¡°I will call the police!¡±

    ¡°Mr. Sexual Manager go to hell! Snowy is mine!¡±

    ¡°Mr. Sexual Manager, I will beat you to death!¡±

    ¡°Shut up, Mr. Sexual Manager!¡±

    [The Hottie Manager] entered the live broadcast room.

    ¡°Here Ie. Come fight me!¡± [The Hottie Manager] wrote.

    The monitor suddenly was full of cursing from the fans. Everyone said something like, ¡°This is the most shameless person on earth!¡±

    Snowy was a nice surprise to Zhang Zian. After fighting back to the fans in the broadcast room, he began to act serious. ¡°Snowy, why are you here?¡±

    ¡°Snowy, don¡¯t tell him! Ask him why he is there!¡± the fans said.

    ¡°That is right. See if he is a stalker!¡±

    Jiang Qianxue smiled and asked, ¡°I am a live show camgirl. I came here for a show. Why are you here?¡±

    Zhang Zian replied seriously, ¡°To bring my powerful greatness to the unruly.

    The street vendors thought, ¡°Excuse me? Who is the unruly? Your whole family is unruly!¡±

    ¡°Umm¡­so Mr. Manager, your job is an urban management officer?¡±

    He put his thumb up, ¡°Nice try!¡±

    ¡°In fact¡­ I came here for a break. Work hard, y hard!¡± he brushed her off with a whatever excuse knowing that capturing rare pets was a secret that he could never reveal.

 Chapter 96: Appreciate Life

    <h4>Chapter 96: Appreciate Life</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Although Zhang Zian sounded perfunctory and so were his facial expressions, it was a reasonable excuse. Running a pet store does not allow him to have normal days off like other people. It was absolutely normal to get out of the store when it was not busy.

    ¡°Mr. Manager, do you like hiking? I thought you preferred staying indoors,¡± Jiang Qianxue was curious.

    ¡°Of course! Don¡¯t judge a book from its cover! In fact, I was in the hiking club when I was in college. I¡¯ve been to Yulong Mountain, Meili Snow Mountain, and Mount Everest, so on and so forth,¡± he said seriously, ¡°but now I am getting older and not in the shape I used to be in. So, I am hiking this small mountain for fun.¡±

    Some viewers in the broadcast room started cursing. Zhang Zian ignored them.

    He noticed Snowy looked different today. She was wearing a red color name-brand wind breaker, a pair of hiking shoes and a small backpack on her back. An Evian mineral water was sitting on the side pocket of her backpack, the same brand as what Fina drank. Obviously, she was well prepared.

    Looking at himself, he was dressed like normal: a long-sleeve shirt and a pair of jeans. He didn¡¯t bring anything. He wasn¡¯t dressed for hiking.

    ¡°Your equipment¡­that¡¯s too much for hiking! If you want a live show for hiking, you are lucky today! I am a professional hiker. I can help you!¡± He still tried to pretend.

    She smiled and shook her head. ¡°I am not hiking today. There is a new teahouse on top of the mountain and my fans would like me to visit.¡±

    Zhang Zian faked to be a hiking professional; however, when he heard the word ¡°new¡±, he was excited. Was the new teahouse rted to rare pets?

    ¡°A new teahouse? Up the hill?¡± he asked.

    She nodded, ¡°yeah. It is called Teahouse in Hidden Fog. I heard it is very distinctive.¡±

    ¡°When did it open?¡± he asked again.

    ¡°About¡­two weeks ago?¡± She wasn¡¯t sure.

    He thought about it for a second and pped his hands, ¡°that¡¯s great! Let me, a professional hiker, protect you today! Buddy, Let¡¯s go!¡±

    More cursing came out from the live broadcast room, ¡°Who is your buddy?!¡±

    He turned around as he spoke. After a few steps, he found that she didn¡¯t follow.

    ¡°So¡­Mr. Manager, are youing to the tea house?¡± She asked, standing still.

    He was moving around and said, ¡°Yeah! Why wait? Time is of the essence!¡±

    She pointed at the opposite direction and told him, ¡°Then we have to go that way¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was embarrassed. Why didn¡¯t she tell him earlier!

    People wereughing like crazy. He walked back and got started heading the other direction.

    Half an hourter¡­

    Zhang Zian was left behind for at least 10 meters.

    ¡°Wait! Wait! Let me catch my breath!¡±

    Zhang Zian sat down on the side of the road, gasping for breath and sweating like rain. He thought he was quite fit since he stretched every day. He was wrong!

    Snowy exined in her show as she hiked. She was breathing normally. She was fit.

    ¡°Haha! Mr. Manager is a wimp!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s all find out what other lies Mr. Manager told!¡±

    ¡°That was a p on your face, Mr. Manager!¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have extra energy to fight back. He asked as he was panting, ¡°How¡­ how much longer is it?¡±

    Snowy pulled out the map and said, ¡°Close. Another 30 minutes.¡±

    ¡°Let me take a break¡­10 minutes¡­no, five is enough¡­¡± he wiped off his sweat. His legs would kill him tonight!

    She pulled out the water from her side pocket and handed to him, ¡°Come on. Have a drink of water.¡±

    People burst into an uproar.

    ¡°Snowy, you can¡¯t waste your water on him!¡± the fans were unhappy.

    The water bottle was unopened. Zhang Zian licked his lips and asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you want a drink?¡¯

    She shook the water bottle and handed to him. ¡°Take it. I am not thirsty. We will get some tea when we get up there.¡±

    Now was not a good time to fake it. He would be dehydrated if he could not get a drink. He took the water, opened the lid, drank half a bottle and soothed his breath.

    The path was quiet. There was barely anyone on the path. Countless green stone steps were built along the path and disappeared in the woods.

    It got colder up here. The fog also thickened. However, he could still see clearly.

    On both sides of the path,yers of fog lingered in the woods. The sound of bugs and birds brought out the quietness in the mountain.

    A guy showed up from the bottom of the hill, walking up steadily on the steps. His steps were firm yet light. As he approached, they could tell he was a local farmer wearing a men¡¯s tank top. An old towel was wrapped on the carrying pole where the pole touched his shoulder. There were two cartons of mineral water on each side of the pole. Two patches were on his tank top. Sweat was showing in the front and back of his top. However, he looked a lot less exhausted than Zhang Zian.

    There were four cartons of water on the carrying pole. That was at least 50 kilograms.

    As the carrier walked by them, Jiang Qianxue respectfully pointed her camera at him and wanted to share with her fans how difficult to it was to walk up the stairs with water. Life is difficult. We should appreciate it.

    Some fans were quick, ¡°Wow! That is Fiji mineral water! Principal Wang also drinks this water!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true! It is Fiji water!¡±

    ¡°I am a poor guy. I only drink Peasant Lady Mineral Water!¡±

    ¡°I will buy it if I can get a peasantdy from drinking that mineral water!¡±

    ¡°That is heavy!¡±

    ¡°Real poor guys only drink tap water!¡±

    Zhang Zian wiped his mouth and asked, ¡°Sir, where are you sending the water?¡±

    The carrier didn¡¯t stop nor did he turn his head. He only replied, ¡°The teahouse.¡±

    The carrier looked like he was in a steady pace but he walked way past Zhang Zian and Snowy and disappeared in the fog. The teahouse? Was he going to their destination ¨C Teahouse in Hidden Fog?

    What a coincidence!

    ¡°How many tea houses are there in this mountain?¡± Zhang Zian asked Jiang Qianxue.

    ¡°Umm¡­ only one, I think,¡± she paused and replied, ¡°I came here for a hiking live show before and didn¡¯t see any tea houses.¡±

    There was neither spring water nor tap water in Mt. Hidden Fog. Only rain and snow water. Therefore, many local people from the vige would carry water up the hill and sell it. A one-yuan bottled water would sell for five yuan up the mountain. This was a great way to exercise and also make money. Zhang Zian was curious how much the normally 10-yuan Fiji water would sell for up the mountain.

    Why did the teahouse order expensive water like that? For making tea?

    That was crazy! Zhang Zian felt his wallet through the pockets in his pants.

    It looked as if he would have to pay some serious money for a tea today!

 Chapter 97: Teahouse in the Hidden Fog

    <h4>Chapter 97: Teahouse in the Hidden Fog</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After resting for five minutes, Zhang Zian struggled to stand up and followed Jiang Qianxue hiking up the mountain.

    The carrier interested the fans even more. Many teahouses used high-end mineral water to make tea; however, a teahouse located on top of a mountain that still used high-end water seemed quite distinctive.

    How much does one pot of tea cost?

    As they hiked up further, the fog seemed thicker and the humidity was very high. The sky was dark. It looked like it was going to rain soon. Maybe the street vendors down the hill were right about the rain.

    When Zhang Zian almost died climbing up the stairs, the path took a sharp turn to the right and there was a t area looking extremely like the mountaintop.

    In fact, they were about 20 or 30 meters away from the top. The real mountaintop was so narrow that it wasn¡¯t suitable for tourists. As a result, most people would stop there and call it the mountaintop. Not many people had reached the top. Although it seemed awfully quiet on their way up, there were actually quite a few tourists up there. A few college kids were taking pictures of the fog using some expensive cameras; two families who seemed to know each other were resting on the stone bench, chatting andughing; a young couple was hiding under the trees¡­Zhang Zian reached into his pocket. It was too bad that he didn¡¯t bring a lighter, otherwise he would scare the crap out of those two annoying lovebirds.

    A group of strong-looking older people who hiked there every day were about to go down. When they saw how tired Zhang Zian was, they allughed at him. ¡°Young man, you have to get some more exercise! Look at that girl, she is much better than you!¡±

    There were a few gazebos and stores selling food, drinks and souvenirs. Not many people would spend money there though.

    There, the mysterious teahouse was standing right in front of Jiang Qianxue and Zhang Zian ¨C Teahouse in Hidden Fog.

    It was a two-level Chinese traditional style building that looked like the teahouses in old Chinese movies. Small but elegant, it looked exceptionally attractive among the other old buildings. There were some antiquenterns hanging along the eaves of the veranda. The signboard also seemed toe from some famous calligrapher. It was a beautiful piece of art.

    Even though Mt. Hidden Fog wasn¡¯t too high, building a teahouse like this had to be costly. All the building materials had to be transported up by the carriers. How long would it take for the return on investment?

    Jiang Qianxue pointed her cell phone at the teahouse so her fans could see it. Zhang Zian also was using his cell phone and looking around. People thought he was taking a picture, but in fact he was searching for the elfin.

    There were barely any buildings there so the elfin was very likely hiding in the teahouse.

    Someone came out from the teahouse. It was the carrier they saw on their way up. Now he looked rxed and happy with only an empty pole on his shoulder, since those four cartons of mineral water had turned into cash in his pocket. He walked around, pulled out a stic bag and picked up the empty bottles people left behind. After, he nodded at Zhang Zian and Snowy with a smile, then followed the older group down the hill.

    The college kids saw Zhang Zian and Snowy at the gate of the teahouse. They came over to tell them, ¡°That teahouse is crazy expensive. We checked out the prices a minute ago.¡±

    Jiang Qianxue didn¡¯t really care. ¡°Well, it should be a bit more expensive. The water was moved up here by the carriers.¡±

    The kids came to tell her because she was pretty and looked like she was the same age as them. If there was only Zhang Zian, they wouldn¡¯t have bothered.

    ¡°It is a lot more expensive,¡± theyughed.

    Snowy was more curious after talking to them. She spoke to Zhang Zian, ¡°Mr. Manager, want to take a look?¡±

    Zhang Zian wiped off some sweat, ¡°You go first. I want to take a breath out here.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t wait to walk in the teahouse happily.

    The kids saw that Snowy walked in. They immediately turned around, but Zhang Zian stopped one of them, ¡°How expensive is it?¡±

    ¡°Well, go check it out yourself,¡± they walked away and continued taking pictures.

    Are they really taking pictures? Zhang Zian suspected that those kids came up to pretend they were taking pictures. Their real purpose was to attract pretty girls. The high-end cameras might not even belong to them.

    He walked in the teahouse after cooling down for a bit.

    ¡°Wee. How many guests in the group?¡± a young girl wearing a waitress uniform came up with a big smile on her face.

    The d¨¦cor in the teahouse was fresh and elegant. There were six sets of Chinese redwood tables and chairs. Each set was separated by a folding screen with Chinese painting. It provided privacy for each party. Wooden windows with carved patterns were wide open so the customers could look at the beautiful mountaintop view as they enjoyed the tea. Some Chinese calligraphy was hanging on the wall between the windows. However, Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t good at art, so he could not tell what they were about. Some antiquenterns were hanging inside to light up the teahouse.

    Behind the counter stood ady in her 30swearing a traditional Chinese Qipao.

    To look good in a traditional Chinese Qipao is not easy. A normal person usually could not carry it well. A high-end Qipao is usually tailored for a perfect fit.

    Thisdy looked great in her Qipao. She looked like a ssical Chinese beauty. Behind her, there was a padauk shelf which listed various kinds of tea making tools. She smiled and nodded at Zhang Zian as their eyes met.

    There were no more customers.

    The aroma of tea filled the teahouse.

    Jiang Qianxue was showing her fans the d¨¦cor in the teahouse and talking to them quietly. The female owner didn¡¯t stop her. Zhang Zian rxed. Not like the jewelry store, taking pictures and filming was allowed here.

    The waitress understood immediately. She pointed at Snowy and asked, ¡°are you guys together?¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded, ¡°yeah.¡±

    The waitress said, ¡°please take a seat. Let me know whenever you are ready.¡± She then returned to the counter and stood next to the owner. They were chatting from time to time. There was a mini copper stove with charcoal burning inside. Four different color teapots wereying on the counter side by side. They were silver, copper, ck and brown.

    Zhang Zian pulled out his cell phone and scanned around the teahouse. His target was found immediately.

    [Game Tip]: Target confirmed ¨C the benevolent and righteous cat.

 Chapter 98: The Benevolent & Righteous Cat

    <h4>Chapter 98: The Benevolent & Righteous Cat</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    What is being benevolent and righteous? To sacrifice life for the truth and for righteousness.

    Song Jiang and Liu Huangshu both weren¡¯t the most talented people; however, they finally reached exceptional achievements because they were benevolent to others and did righteous things. The stories in Ouws of the Marsh and Romance of the Three Kingdoms may not be true, but they are great representations of how much ancient Chinese value benevolence and righteousness.

    In the Chinese culture, piety ranks on top of all virtues. It might be difficult for some people to serve the country and at the same time take care of their aging parents. However, when ites to treating friends, benevolence and righteousness are beyond everything.

    The government always promotes benevolence while normal people value righteousness. For some reason, in China the pursuit of righteousness was always rted to the pursuit of political power so it was not favored by the government.

    A cat called the benevolent and righteous cat had to be somebody.

    This is the third Elfin cat he had ever seen and the first time he could recognize the breed. Schrodinger¡¯s quantum cat ¨C Xinghai, was a pure spiritual Elfin that didn¡¯t belong to any breed. The golden cat belonged to Cleopatra VII ¨C Fina, was an ancient Egyptian cat from 2000 years ago. A normal person had never seen such a breed he didn¡¯t recognize.

    Zhang Zian confirmed her breed at first nce ¨C she was truly a ck stripe Chinese Dragon-Li, a perfect match to her super Chinese style name ¨C the benevolent and righteous cat.

    It was funny that she was wearing a grey vest and a bamboo hat.

    Since she was wearing a bamboo hat, Zhang Zian could not see her face nor could he take a high definition picture of her.

    She wasying by the firece with her hands tucked under her chest. With her head bowing down, she looked like she was getting warm or taking a nap.

    Zhang Zian walked closer to take a look.

    It was an older cat, at least 10 years old. Its hair was thin and already lost its shininess. Some muscles on her chest and belly were already sagging.

    Cat¡¯s average life expectancy is about 14 years. House cats, slim cats, and neutered cats generally live longer. A 10-year old cat is quite old.

    She seemed extremely rxed. If someone approached to take off her hat, she might be captured easily.

    Zhang Zian was about to do so. Suddenly a game tip came up ¨C it is highly risky to forcibly capture this pet.

    Does it count as forcible capture if I took off her bamboo hat? Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t sure. When the cat¡¯s name came to his mind and thinking that some people would die for benevolence and righteousness, he felt a bit scared to approach the cat¡­

    Snowy talked to him, ¡°Mr. Manager, pleasee sit by me! Waitress, I¡¯d like to order!¡±

    The female owner and the waitress both looked at him with questions. They weren¡¯t sure about the rtionship between Zhang Zian and Snowy.

    The waitress came over with a menu and asked, ¡°What would you like to order?¡±

    Jiang Qianxue looked over the menu and took a picture with her cell phone.

    The broadcast room exploded immediately.

    ¡°What the f*ck?! The least expensive item, jasmine tea and rose tea are 388 Yuan a pot?!¡±

    ¡°The least expensive tea and dessert set is 588 Yuan.¡±

    ¡°Red robe tea is 988 Yuan. Bi Luo Chun tea is 888 Yuan!¡±

    ¡°Tie Guan Yin is 1288 Yuan. Top graded Tie Guan Yin is 1888 Yuan!¡±

    ¡°I would only pay for that if the teapot is as big as a water tank¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh no! I couldn¡¯t even afford to drink tea!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s so special about that tea?¡±

    [Chuyu Rongzhi] Tipped two crabs and left a message, ¡°Snowy, this is your tea money.¡±

    [Zhanshi Ouren] Tipped one crab and left a message, ¡°Snowy, I will buy you a tea on behalf of all on-duty policemen.¡±

    [Binhai Tuzhu] Tipped five bear paws and left a message, ¡°Snowy, you have to go for the best tea.¡±

    ¡°Holy Sh*t! herees a tycoon!¡±

    ¡°On-duty policemen? Is it real?¡±

    ¡°Does the tycoon need a friend? I volunteer to be one.¡±

    [Binhai Tuzhu] said, ¡°I am not a tycoon, just a local.¡±

    Snowy pointed at the menu and told the waitress, ¡°a top graded Tie Guan Yin and dessert set, please.¡±

    ¡°Okay. 2888 Yuan. Please pay now. We ept cash, credit card and online transfer,¡± the waitress nodded.

    Jiang Qianxue transferred 2888 Yuan.

    ¡°It will be ready in a minute,¡± after saying to Snowy, the waitress then yelled to the back of the teahouse, ¡°new order! One top graded Tie Guan Yin and dessert set.¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡± the female owner responded.

    The waitress then walked to the back. It looked like she was also the chef.

    The owner grabbed two bottles of Fiji water, quickly poured them all to the silver color tea kettle.

    Someone spoke in the broadcast room.

    [Art of Tea] said, ¡°kettle and water are two keyponents for making good tea. The kettles on the counters are silver, copper, iron and ceramic kettles. A specific kettle is used for a particr tea and customer.¡±

    ¡°Wow, there is an expert here!¡±

    ¡°Watch live show and learn something. Great!¡±

    ¡°Question to expert: what are the differences between various kettles? I can act like an expert next time.¡±

    [Art of Tea] said, ¡°I am not so much an expert. The history of tea is long. I only know some of it. In short, iron kettles improve the texture and silver kettles increase the aroma. Iron kettles are best for deeply fermented tea such as ck tea and Pu Er tea. Silver kettles can kill bacteria and soften water. They are great for lightly fermented tea such as Tie Guan Yin and green tea. Those tea kettles look fantastic. They look like the old handcrafted kettles from Fusang Workshop. I don¡¯t use copper kettles so I don¡¯t want toment. Theoretically, they should be quite simr to iron kettles. Ceramic kettles are the best mate to iced berg water¡­ however, I didn¡¯t use a ceramic kettle because I was worried about getting a fake one that might be poisonous. The ceramic kettle in that high-end teahouse had to be a good one. I am guessing they would match it with Kunlun Mountain spring water and Diannan roast tea.¡±

    ¡°Bravo! You are so knowledgeable!¡±

    ¡°With that said, considering the energy added to the water from carrying it up to the top of the mountain, 388 Yuan isn¡¯t too bad for a pot of tea¡­I still couldn¡¯t afford it.¡±

    ¡°Here we go! A straight-A student!¡±

    ¡°Oh no! This teahouse is way out of my reach. I rather use the old kettle at home and save some money¡­¡±

    ¡°I thought that Mr. Manager charging 300 Yuan for self-service cat bathing was expensive enough. This teahouse is even more expensive than I would¡¯ve imagined.¡±

    Some viewer suggested, ¡°Snowy, have Mr. Manager look at the mane. Don¡¯t forget to point your camera at him. Can¡¯t wait to see his reactions!¡±

    ¡°Haha! You are so nasty but I like it!¡±

    ¡°Haha! I agree! Let¡¯s see how he pretend to be rich this time.¡±

    ¡°From my experience, I bet he would order the least expensive item ¨C jasmine tea.¡±

    [Binhai Tuzhu] normally onlymented when he tipped. This time, he also agreed with the crowd, ¡°Yeah! I also want to see what he will do this time¡­¡±

    The crowd was extremely excited about ying a trick on Zhang Zian so Snowy followed the flow and asked, ¡°Mr. Manager, what would you like to order? Here is the menu.¡±

    Zhang Zian put his whole focus on how to capture the benevolent and righteous cat. He didn¡¯t realize Snowy was talking to him after a while.

    The waitress brought out a beautiful tray of desserts and dry fruit. She asked after putting down the tray, ¡°Hi sir, what would you like to order?¡±

    Everyone in the broadcast room was ready to see Zhang Zian¡¯s reaction, including Jiang Tianda, who was the CEO of Jiang¡¯s Group, who was waiting to see how Zhang Zian would make a fool out of himself.

    Zhang Zian took a quick look at the menu and said peacefully, ¡°An ice water, please.¡±

 Chapter 99: Ice Water

    <h4>Chapter 99: Ice Water</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°An ice water¡± soon became famous in Binhai City.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s order was out of everyone¡¯s expectation.

    Jiang Tianda was so angry that he wanted to beat up Zhang Zian through theputer monitor.

    The female owner already had the water boiled and was about to clean the tea set with it. As she heard Zhang Zian, her hand shook and some steaming hot water spilled.

    The waitress was looking at Zhang Zian as if she could not believe what he said.

    Even the benevolent and righteous cat napping next to the stove slightly moved. Zhang Zian confirmed that she was not sleeping nor deaf. Just like humans, some cats lose their hearing ability as they get old. Sometimes they yell and sometimes they don¡¯t respond to their master. These are all signs of cats losing their hearing ability.

    ¡°What? Is water not avable?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    The waitress turned around and looked at the female owner for help.

    The female owner put down the silver teapot. She put a thermometer in the teapot to monitor temperature change. She slightly nodded after thinking for a bit.

    The waitress then announced with a shaking voice, ¡°One¡­iced¡­water!¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded with satisfaction. ¡°Cool. Please hurry!¡±

    The broadcast room was once again heated up.

    ¡°What the f*ck?! Hurry up?!¡±

    Ordered an iced water in a teahouse? Man, you are shameless!¡±

    ¡°Mr. Scrooge in real life!¡±

    ¡°Agreed!¡±

    ¡°Shameless indeed! Couldn¡¯t find a better word for him!¡±

    Snowy realized her live show broadcast room was a lot more active since she met Zhang Zian. Not only the number of viewers had gone up but also the number of tips she received.

    Before she met Zhang Zian, she had a certain number of fans every time. Most fans watched her show quietly. Only a few people talked during the show. Sometimes she was even in doubt when she had thousands of fans watching online. Ever since Zhang Zian made his appearance, fans could not stop talking about him¡­even that mysterious rich person [Binhai Local] had changed. Usually, he only spoke when he tipped. Now he had been actively scolding Zhang Zian like everyone else.

    What an interesting person! She thought to herself, ¡°He always does something out of people¡¯s expectations.¡± The female owner picked out a tea tin from the shelf, used a small spoon to pick up some tea leaves and put them in the tea bowl. When the temperature dropped slightly, she poured hot water into the tea bowl. Loose tea leaves swirled as water was poured in. A light tea color came out as the leaves swirled. The aroma from that tea soon filled the whole room.

    When water was about half an inch from the top, she stopped pouring, covered with a lid, picked out some bubbles and then threw away the tea. The first brew was only for cleansing the tea leaves and wakening the taste of tea.

    That tea was expensive. She dumped it out like that?

    ¡°What a waste!¡±

    ¡°May I work there? I could rece that waste tea bucket!¡±

    She did everything again, poured water in the tea bowl for the second time. This time she didn¡¯t dump out the tea. Instead she closed the lid tightly.

    During that time, the waitress delivered Zhang Zian¡¯s order on a tray¡­an iced water.

    ¡°How much is it?¡± he asked.

    The waitress looked at the female owner again. The owner didn¡¯t give a specific response.

    ¡°Um¡­ 88 Yuan,¡± the waitress had to make something up.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t take out his wallet but looked at her. ¡°May I say something?¡±

    The fans were extremely mad. What a goofball! How could he be so demanding ordering only an ice water?!

    The waitress didn¡¯t know how to react so she turned to the female owner for help again.

    The female owner cleared her voice and said peacefully, ¡°Of course. We don¡¯t have ament book yet. Sir, please tell us. We will remember it.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°First, you should have ament book.¡±

    The female owner nodded, ¡°That¡¯s true. We just opened so we didn¡¯t think of that.¡±

    ¡°Very well,¡± Zhang Zian continued. ¡°Second, you charged me 88 Yuan for this water. Honestly it isn¡¯t expensive because it is Fiji water carried up by a porter. However, iced water is not listed in your menu and you are selling this water for 88 yuan. It is a breach of pricing regtions. You should list everything you sell clearly. I am a businessman so I wanted to remind you.¡±

    The female owner paused, then nodded, ¡°Sure. We ept yourments. As a thank you gift, your water will be free.¡±

    Zhang Zian then nodded happily, ¡°It is not toote to take my advice.¡±

    ¡­

    In the corporate building of Jiang¡¯s Group, a huge noise came from Jiang Tianda¡¯s office. The secretary thought something happened. She quickly ran in his office and saw that Jiang Tianda had thrown the monitor on the floor. Jiang Tianda started stepping on the monitor a few times. He scolded as he stepped on the monitor, ¡°F*cking liar!¡± The secretary was so shock she didn¡¯t know what was going on and how to react. Jiang Tianda, the CEO had never been this angry before.

    After letting out his anger, Jiang Tianda fixed his suite and said seriously, ¡°Please get me a new monitor.¡±

    ¡­

    Time was up! The tea was done after one minute. The female owner picked up the lid, poured the amber color tea into a smaller teacup on a tray. The waitress sent the tray to Snowy¡¯s table.

    ¡°Please enjoy, madam.¡±

    Snowy pointed her cell phone at the tea cup.

    [Art of Tea]: Different tea cups should be used for different types of tea. Green tea, yellow tea, and lightly fermented oolong tea is light. A zed smooth china tea cup, such as porcin, cdon and Ruding Jun cup releases the best aroma. ck tea, Puer, and heavily fermented oolong tea need to use Yixing y or ceramic cups. Those cups have a rough surface withrge pores which only retain a perfect level of aroma. This is what our Chinese culture value the most ¨C bnce. Snowy¡¯s cup is a cdon cup specialized for making tea.

    People admired Art of Tea¡¯s knowledge and forgot scolding Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Holy Sh*t! I feel like I am drinking tea with a dog¡¯s bowl.¡±

    [Art of Tea]: If it is ss, it is fine. ss is simr to porcin.

    ¡°Thank you! Let me cry alone¡­¡±

    Snowy giggled, ¡°You guys embarrass me.¡±

    [Art of Tea]: ¡°After all, only professional teamakers care about these things. A normal person really doesn¡¯t care, as long as tea is good. Thinking too much about the tea cups will only be an interruption to enjoy a good cup of tea.¡±

 Chapter 100: Mr. Pretend-To-Know-It-All

    <h4>Chapter 100: Mr. Pretend-To-Know-It-All</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Snowy gave her water to Zhang Zian on their way up. She didn¡¯t drink any water herself so she was rather thirsty by now. She drank one third of the tea in the cup.

    She lightly pressed her lips and said bashfully, ¡°Please excuse my poor vocabry¡­ it was great tea¡­ it wasn¡¯t bitter at all but aromatic and sweet.¡±

    There were some dry fruits and desserts in the tray. She picked up a pumpkin cake, put it in her mouth and praised immediately, ¡°This is yummy!¡± Apparently, she was much more interested in the desserts than the tea.

    Zhang Zian had a drink of in water, and said loudly, ¡°This tastes good!¡±

    Everyone was shocked!

    He held up the cup to eye level, staring at the water and sighed, ¡°Fiji water it is! As soon as this water gets in my mouth, my taste buds are dancing in the Pacific Ocean!¡±

    He took another sip and said, ¡°Oh! This sip has the bitterness from the calcium, the sweetness from the magnesium and the smoothness from the silicon. The taste exploded in my throat. I felt like I saw the whales dancing, seagulls flying and hot girls walking towards me in their h skirts on the beach¡­¡±

    His eyes were wide-open, ¡°The water glided down my esophagus and entered my stomach. As my whole body was rinsed from inside out with that water, I turned into a pure, noble and moral person ¨C this water had toe from heaven!¡±

    The female owner and the waitress looked at each other and didn¡¯t know how to respond. Snowy stared at her cup suspiciously thinking her taste buds died¡­The viewers in the broadcast room went crazy!

    ¡°What the f*ck? A ss of in water made you a food critic!¡±

    ¡°Whoever beats him up will get 10 thousand Yuan from me!¡±

    ¡°A moral person? Your whole body and soul shows inferiority!¡±

    The owner forced a smile, ¡°Sir, your praise embarrasses me¡­¡±

    Seeing Zhang Zian still standing with the ss in his hand, Snowy kindly invited him, ¡°Mr. Manager,e try some desserts and snacks.¡±

    The viewers all objected to Snowy¡¯s nice gesture. The desserts and dry fruits were too nice for Mr. Manager.

    They thought that Zhang Zian was going to thicken up his skin and sit down to eat with Snowy. However, he waved his hands and said, ¡°Have a good day.¡± Surprisingly, he then sat down at a table behind her.

    In fact, Zhang Zian wanted to block the owner and waitress¡¯s attention with Snowy sitting there. He needed some space to think and observe.

    He already noticed that the benevolent and righteous cat tilted her head at the waitress as she walked by her with the tea in her hands.

    The owner made a second brew and had the waitress send it to Snowy. It was clearer this time. The benevolent and righteous cat loved the smell of tea. Although her face was under the bamboo hat, Zhang Zian could feel her eyes following the waitress as she walked by.

    He guessed that the cat liked tea so she came to this teahouse.

    Here to, he waved at the waitress, ¡°Excuse me, I would like to order.¡±

    The waitress pulled a long face and walked to him reluctantly, ¡°Sir, what do you want this time? It was our fault for not listing a price for in water, but we can¡¯t offer that for free again¡±

    The female owner was upset, ¡°Anxin, the gentleman is our customer. How could you treat a customer like that?¡±

    Anxin was wearing a waitress uniform. She looked to be 17 or 18 years old. Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t mad at her because she was still young. Honestly, he felt that he didn¡¯t really treat his customers that well anyways.

    ¡°I¡¯d like a top graded Tie Guan Yin,¡± he replied.

    ¡°1888 Yuan. You have to pay now,¡± she said perfunctorily.

    He transferred immediately.

    The viewers overheard Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Oh no! what makes Mr. Scrooge open up his wallet? He must¡¯ve faked being stingy before.¡±

    ¡°Ms. Waitress, you¡¯d better double check his transfer in case it was fake. I heard that was a popr fraud these days.¡±

    The waitress seriously double checked a few times and then yelled to the back, ¡°One top graded Tie Guan Yin.¡±

    The female owner responded, ¡°No problem.¡±

    She pulled out another simr tea set to that of Snowy¡¯s and started making tea using the same method.

    She threw away the first brew and started serving from the second brew.

    A cup of amber color tea was served to Zhang Zian. The waitress went back to prepare for the next brew.

    The teahouse was filled with aroma from different tea being brewed. At this time, the strongest smell came from Zhang Zian¡¯s tea cup. The hot steam slowly distributed the refreshing smell of his tea.

    The hat of the benevolent and righteous cat slightly moved. The movement really took attention to see and could be easily ignored.

    The aroma from tea must¡¯ve brought her here. However, she had not had a chance to try the tea because robbing or stealing simply wasn¡¯t her style.

    How to attract her to drink his tea?

    Such a pride cat would not like free food. He could not force her toe either.

    Zhang Zian raised his head and said, ¡°one more top graded Tie Guan Yin.¡±

    ¡°Sir, are you sure?¡± the female owner was shocked. Although she was very confident at her brewing skills, it was the first time a customer ordered two pots of Tie Guan Yin.

    ¡°Of course. Come get the money,¡± he walked to the waitress and again transferred 1888 Yuan.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t even finish your second brew,¡± the waitress reminded him.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. I am waiting for a friend,¡± he replied.

    His weird actions made the viewers curious. However, he was sitting behind Snowy so the viewers could only hear his voice but not see him.

    Shortly, the owners made her third pot of top graded Tie Guan Yin of the day. The waitress sent over the third brew of the second pot and the second brew of the third pot. Since the tea set was different, he could easily tell.

    ¡°Put this cup across from me please,¡± he pointed at the second brew of the third pot.

    Now, there were two cups of tea in front of him and one cup across from him.

    Soon, there were three cups in front of him and three cups across from him.

    ¡°Got to drink this tea hot. It won¡¯t taste good when it gets cold,¡± Zhang Zian seemed like he was talking to himself.

    The waitress said to him after sending all the tea to his table, ¡°Sir, both pots of your tea are on your table. Enjoy.¡±

    After the waitress left, Zhang Zian said to the bamboo hat, ¡°there are so many people in this world. Fate brings people together. Would you like to enjoy some tea with me?¡± His voice was extremely low and he was quite far from the cat. However, the cat should¡¯ve heard him because cats are eight times more sensitive to hearing than humans.

    Righteousness also meant to be casual and not limited by any form of social status. A simple word or a ss of wine could bring two very different people together as lifelong friends. It works the same as the chemistry between lovers.

    From other people¡¯s eyes, Zhang Zian looked like he was murmuring to his cell phone, or trying to take a selfie.

    A few secondster, from his cell phone monitor, he saw her stand up from the firece, lightly shake her body as if she was shaking off some dust from her vest, and then she slowly walked towards him one step at a time.

 Chapter 101: A Rainy Day

    <h4>Chapter 101: A Rainy Day</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian remembered when he first met Fina in Long Feng Jewelry Store. Her eyes lit up when she saw the diamond rings. As soon as Zhang Zian left the store, she pushed to take a diamond. Compared to Fina, this benevolent and righteous cat was like a real gentleman. One cat loved money and the other was fond of tea. No wonder one was more difficult to keep¡­

    Hidden Fog Teahouse had taller chairs with high backs. He was worried that the benevolent and righteous cat would not be able to jump up. When cats get old, their muscles start to get weak, so they cannot jump as high as before. Sometimes, a cat cannot even jump up to its favorite cat tree. Old cats normally have a very high self-esteem and are sensitive. If their master put them on the cat tree, they may not like it. The best way to handle this is to put a stool next to the cat tree so it can jump up on its own.

    Honestly, Zhang Zian worried too much. He didn¡¯t even see how she jumped. He only saw a shadow quickly sh over before she was already sitting on the table.

    Her bamboo hat was still there. It looked like she was looking at the three cups of tea in front of her.

    The female owner and the waitress were chatting behind the counter.

    ¡°Sister Ye, do you think any store up here has a cat?¡± Anxin said with her hand under her chin.

    Sister Ye was the female owner¡¯s name. She tilted her head to look at Anxin. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen a cat¡­did you run into one?¡±

    Anxin shook her head and said, ¡°Not really. I found a few hairs that looked like cat hair when I mopped this morning.¡±

    ¡°Maybe it could be dog hair?¡± Sister Ye asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I have ever seen dogs up here either,¡± Anxin said.

    Sister Ye thought for a second. ¡°It might be from some customer who has a pet at home. They might have brought up the hair.¡±

    ¡°That could be possible,¡± Anxin agreed to this thought.

    After a few seconds, Anxin spoke again. ¡°Sister Ye, why don¡¯t we have a cat or a dog up here? We are the only ones in this teahouse, and it is not very busy up here.¡±

    Sister Ye smiled. ¡°What is the point of opening a teahouse up here? Because it is quiet! If you want to have a busy teahouse, we should¡¯ve picked a ce like downtown. Don¡¯t tell me you can¡¯t take the quietness anymore.¡±

    Anxin stopped her. ¡°That¡¯s not the same! Pets are so much cuter than humans. I don¡¯t like too many people, but I love all pets!¡±

    Sister Ye agreed. ¡°Maybe you are right. What kind of pet are you thinking about? Do you want to keep a snake?¡±

    Anxin was scared by the thought of having a snake in the store. ¡°Sister Ye, please don¡¯t joke around like that. I hate snakes!!!!!¡±

    Sister Yeughed. ¡°I thought you had to like snakes because that was your zodiac animal.¡±

    ¡°Oh no! Sister Ye! Zodiac animals have nothing to do with someone¡¯s preference. Does someone have to like a rat if his or her animal was a mouse?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you use to like mice?¡±

    ¡°But that¡¯s different than a rat!¡±

    ¡°They look alike!¡±

    Anxin almost went crazy, ¡°Sister Ye. you are such a badass!¡±

    ¡°Ha-ha!¡±

    The benevolent and righteous cat smelled the tea, reached out her front paw, and dabbed it in the first cup of tea. That one was perfect for drinking at this point.

    Zhang Zian picked up his first cup as well.

    ¡°Please,¡± he said before he raised up the cup and drank the tea. He was hoping he had correctly guessed what the benevolent and righteous cat liked.

    That cup of tea was worth one third of the whole value of the pot ¨C 1888 Yuan. He should¡¯ve slowly enjoyed it. Chucking it down so quickly waspletely a waste. At the moment, he really wasn¡¯t in the mood to slowly enjoy the tea, nor was he interested in the teapots. All he wanted to see was the cat¡¯s reaction.

    She bent down to reach the tea. However,before her lips could reach the rim of the teacup, her bamboo hat fell on the table.

    She stood up straight and realized that if she kept the hat, she could not keep her elegance while drinking tea.

    Take it off¡­take it off¡­take it off¡­Zhang Zian said in his heart, just like he would if he wanted to see some pretty girl take off her shirt in a pornography¡­

    The cat did what she wanted to do. She didn¡¯t take off the bamboo hat, but instead pushed it on her back. So now, she was carrying the hat instead of wearing it.

    The hair on top of her head was a bit thinner due to wearing the hat all the time. The hair was pressed down. She was a bit chubby in general with a round face. Her eyes were peaceful and a copper color. She looked like she was older.

    She once again bowed down to taste the tea. She closed her eyes and slowly tasted the tea after one small sip. And then she took another sip, and another¡­ when she drank tea, she looked more human than Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian slide his finger to the ¡°capture¡± button, but he stopped. He knew that as soon as he pressed that button, she would be saved in his cell phone and could not taste the rest of the tea. He could not do that to her.

    He picked up the second tea and said, ¡°Please.¡± He drank it down quickly.

    Although not a tea expert, he could tell that the second cup, which was the third brew, still tasted the same as the previous one. It was, in fact, great quality tea!

    She, on the other hand, looked like she was tasting something different. One small sip after another. Her beard lightly shook as if she could taste something different.

    After she finished the second cup, Zhang Zian waited for a second, then picked up the third cup and said, ¡°Please.¡±

    This tea was exquisite! Even though it was the third cup, which was the fourth brew, the taste and aroma remained the same. In ancient China, good tea was determined as having the ¡°same taste in the 7th brew.¡±

    She drank the third cup bottoms up, just the way Zhang Zian drank his tea. She kept the tea in her mouth for a bit and then swallowed it.

    After drinking all three cups of tea, her hair softened. She looked delighted. She put her two front paws together to thank Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian felt so touched. What a polite cat! Compared to Fina, that arrogant b*tch, this cat was like an angel.

    As soon as she finished thanking him and got ready to put her bamboo hat back one, Zhang Zian pressed the ¡°capture¡± button.

    The benevolent and righteous cat disappeared.

    [Game Tip]: Captured! The benevolent and righteous cat!

    He rxed, knowing that today¡¯s trip was fruitful.

    Snowy finished talking to her fans. She turned around and was shocked. ¡°Oh! Mr. Manager. Did you drink all six cups of tea? That was quick!¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Ha-ha¡­ that¡¯s nothing.¡± Compared to capturing rare pets, drinking six cups of tea was a piece of cake.

    The fans just hated Zhang Zian¡¯s arrogant face.

    ¡°Mr. Sexual Manager kept holding up his cell phone ever since he came in. How many selfies did he take? Oh no! He must be secretly taking pictures of the female owner!¡±

    ¡°Could be! So disgusting!¡±

    ¡°Holy sh*t! I don¡¯t know if the cops wille up the hill! I am calling the police for them!¡±

    Zhang Zian was happy that he got the cat. He stood up and was about to leave. ¡°I have to go back to the store.¡±

    Snowy looked at her cell phone and said, ¡°It is quitete. I will go too.¡±

    ¡°Please stay a bit longer,¡± Sister Ye said as she walked down elegantly. ¡°It is raining out.¡±

 Chapter 102: The Male Owner

    <h4>Chapter 102: The Male Owner</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    What a scheme! The female owner must be blown away by my handsome face and is trying to keep me here to be the ¡­male owner¡­

    In fact, she is quite good-looking. I guess I could take her!

    Zhang Zian touched his face and thought to himself.

    He looked out the window. It started raining for real. What should I do? Is the rain karma for not buying an umbre before hiking up? Or is something going to happen to me so that I am trapped in this mountain? Zhang Zian continued these thoughts in his mind.

    The misty rain didn¡¯t make any noise as it touched the ground, therefore he and Snowy didn¡¯t realize it was raining until Sister Ye told them.

    The fog disappeared from the rain. The whole mountain was full of green trees, a fantastic scene.

    Zhang Zian walked up to the window. Far away, in the misty rain, there was the white coastal line winding through to the east.

    ¡°On sunny days, you can clearly see somendmark buildings from here¡­ I wish there were more sunny days,¡± the female owner said as she and the waitress both walked up to another window.

    Zhang Zian followed her line of sight to see where shended her eyes. He could see the field of Binhai University. There weren¡¯t tall buildings in the way, so the beautiful green field stood out quite well. Using Binhai University as ndmark, he should be able to see his pet store; however, the visibility was too low today.

    ¡°I brought an umbre.¡± Snowy unzipped her backpack and pulled out a small purple folding umbre. It was so small that only one person could fit under it. If two people got under that umbre, each would get half of their body wet.

    ¡°Come on. You take it,¡± she said as she handed over the umbre.

    ¡°How about you?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°My wind-breaker is water resistant. I will be fine wearing it with my hood on.¡± She smiled and put up two fingers in a V-shape. ¡°I am not in a hurry anyways. I can wait here for a bit longer if I have to.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d better not,¡± the female owner interrupted. ¡°The rain isn¡¯t bad. If you use an umbre, it is difficult to bnce. The stone steps are very slippery in the rain; you might slip on your way down. I don¡¯t think the rain willst long. Why don¡¯t you wait? Are you in a hurry, sir?¡±

    Zhang Zian hesitated. It was risky to leave in the rain, but no one could tell if the rain would stop soon or if it would get worse.

    Snowy replied quickly, ¡°He is the manager in a pet store. I guess he is in a rush to go back to the store and feed the pets.¡±

    ¡°Oh, really?¡± Sister Ye and Anxin looked at each other. What a coincidence. They were just talking about getting a pet and here was a pet store owner.

    ¡°Is it why you call him Mr. Manager?¡± Sister Ye asked.

    The viewers all try to verify, ¡°No no no, we all call him ¡®Mr. Sexual Harassment¡¯ or ¡®Mr. Pretend-To-Know-It-All.¡¯ You should call him that!¡± However, Sister Ye and Anxin weren¡¯t looking at the monitor, so they didn¡¯t see the viewers¡¯ments.

    Snowy said, ¡°That¡¯s right. Mr. Manager is a super pet store owner. The cats in his store are well trained and have special skills.¡±

    ¡°Really? That¡¯s great!¡± Sister Ye and Anxin thought Snowy was just being nice, so they didn¡¯t pay extra attention. The so-called special skill might be very simple tricks such as pets putting their paws on a human¡¯s hand.

    Zhang Zian said humbly, ¡°Well, you are exaggerating¡­ my pets are only a bit better than those sold in any other pet store in the world.¡±

    Sister Ye and Anxin were both at a loss for words.

    It was a good thing that they already knew about his thick skin through previous conversations, so they weren¡¯t too surprised at his words.

    Snowy exined quickly, ¡°It is true. Mr. Manager might not look different, but he is a real charm, at least to the pets.¡±

    Zhang Zian was thrilled to hear Snowy¡¯spliments. He didn¡¯t realize he was a charm. As Snowy finished, he almost cried. Really?! A charm to pets? How good is that?

    Anxin giggled. She was a very simple-minded girl that was about the same age as Snowy.

    Sister Ye didn¡¯tugh. Instead, she spoke as if she was in deep thought, ¡°Someone told me not to take pets as fools. Animals are way more sensitive than humans. They can sense a lot broader than humans. He also said that cats and dogs turn into a human¡¯s best friend not because they amodate themselves to how a human lives, but because their instincts drove them to live with humans so it was easier for them to live and reproduce.¡±

    ¡°A distinctive point indeed,¡± Zhang Zian agreed.

    The navigation elf once said that the quantity of cats and dogs was significantly higher than other animals in the game. Mankind was beyond all creatures. Cats and dogs were closest to humans so they could turn into an elfin easier.

    If a normal cat or dog could speak, this world would be a lot different.

    ¡°The rain stopped!¡± Anxin said when she reached her arm out of the window.

    ¡°Thanks for having me. I am leaving now,¡± Zhang Zian said after he confirmed that the rain had stopped.

    ¡°I will go with you.¡± Snowy put her umbre back into her backpack and said, ¡°Oh, the desserts were great!¡±

    Anxin was very appreciative upon hearing this praise. ¡°Thank you! My name is Anxin. This is Sister Ye. I made the desserts and she brewed the tea. We wee YOU next time!¡± She emphasized ¡°YOU¡±. Obviously, she didn¡¯t want to see Zhang Zian ever again!

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t mind. He wasn¡¯t nning oning again anyways. Who could afford having tea here every day? Such a money burning game! He had bigger goals in mind ¨C to save up money and fix up the pet store.

    Snowy made a face. ¡°Everyone calls me Snowy! I don¡¯t have any special skills¡­ Mr. Manager¡¯s cats are probably better than me¡­¡±

    The viewers all replied, ¡°Snowy, you are so cute. It is your special skill that no one could ever rece.¡±

    Sister Ye and Anxin were fond of this lovely girl. She kept mentioning the special skills that Zhang Zian¡¯s cats had, which made them curious. They wouldn¡¯t believe Zhang Zian, but they trusted Snowy.

    Sister Ye said, ¡°Sir, do you mind leaving me your business card? I would like to visit your store someday.¡± She patted Anxin¡¯s head. ¡°She was just talking about getting a pet as apanion.¡±

    Anxin turned her head away, embarrassed.

    Snowy¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Mr. Manager doesn¡¯t have a business card. The pet store¡¯s name is Amazing Fate Pet Shop. It is near Binhai University. You should be able to find it once you get to the university. Oh, I could leave you my WeChat. I will go with you. Your teahouse is great, but a bit too quiet. If you had a few pets, it would certainly brighten it up here.¡±

    Anxin stared at Zhang Zian and thought, this guy is lucky to have such a nice girl to speak for him.

    Anxin¡¯s stare was nothingpared to Fina¡¯s, which Zhang Zian was already used to. He acted like he didn¡¯t see her at all.

    The threedies exchanged their WeChat usernames, and Snowy followed Zhang Zian down the mountain.

 Chapter 103: RPG

    <h4>Chapter 103: RPG</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Although Jiang Qianxue had already left the teahouse, she was looking back every few steps. It looked like she was quite fond of the teahouse.

    ¡°Stop looking back! Mind your steps! I have to warn you: if you fall, I won¡¯t carry you down the hill!¡± Zhang Zian stopped walking and spoke to Snowy. The rain had stopped, but the sun was not out. The path was slippery.

    Cursing started in the broadcast room immediately.

    ¡°You shut up! Look at how tired you were when you were halfway up the hill. You want to carry Snowy down? Bull sh*t!¡±

    ¡°Mr. Sexual Manager was cold blooded. So bad!¡±

    Zhang Zian read the people¡¯sments and said, ¡°Snowy, why don¡¯t you fall right here? I will carry you down.¡±

    No morements from the crowd.

    Snowy was worried. ¡°There is barely anyone on the hilltop. Sister Ye and Anxin are on their own. What if someone tried to take advantage of them? I think they should get a big dog to protect themselves.¡±

    Before they entered the teahouse, there were some tourists outside the building. When they left, there was no one remaining. Other hikers might have returned home seeing the bad weather. They didn¡¯t see anyone as they hiked down the mountain.

    The owners of the other stores were some middle-age men. Sister Ye and Anxin were like two beautiful roses in the woods.

    ¡°Take advantage of¡± is a phrase that means one thing to men and another to women.

    Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Do you think Sister Ye and Anxin are stupid?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± she replied.

    ¡°Are they crazy?¡±

    ¡°Of course not!¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s it. Even you would think it could be dangerous to run a teahouse up there, so how do they not think about it?¡± he said.

    The crowd felt that Zhang Zian was fooling around with Snowy on purpose. That was not cool.

    Snowy¡¯s mind was full of questions.

    He continued, ¡°A normal person would choose to open a teahouse in a busy area like downtown. They were not stupid nor crazy. Why did they pick the mountaintop?¡± He turned around to point at the top. ¡°Think about it. If I wanted to open a store up there, I wouldn¡¯t even know where to begin the application process¡­Since they could get thatnd and open up a teahouse, they are not normal people. I am telling you, they are wealthy, and maybe even powerful. I am sure they have a safe way to stay out of trouble.¡±

    Snowy looked confused.

    Zhang Zian knew that she didn¡¯t have much experience when it came to the real world. For him, this was an excellent chance to take a break, so he continued speaking.

    ¡°Some people might save up some money and open a business¡­a coffee shop, flower store, bubble tea house, maybe even a pet store even when they couldn¡¯t tell you the pet¡¯s breed¡­then they lose money and go back to real life. I could tell that Sister Ye and Anxin aren¡¯t those kinds of people.¡±

    He once again pointed at the hilltop. ¡°Couldn¡¯t you tell? They are not just normal, wealthy people. They are tycoons. They have the teahouse for fun and don¡¯t care whether or not it is profitable. When they are sick of this RPG game, they will be able to get rid of it anytime. We are different from them. We are only normal people living a regr life. It is not our business to worry about them and honestly, we couldn¡¯t really do much for them¡­¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± he finally said, and went down the hill happily.

    Snowy followed but she was still confused.

    ¡­

    In the corporate building of Jiang¡¯s Group, Jiang Tianda looked at his new monitor, remained silent for a while, and said, ¡°Snowy, my darling, when will you get tired of your RPG game?¡±

    ¡­

    At the bottom of the mountain, Zhang Zian and Snowy split. Zhang Zian took a taxi back to his pet store.

    It was almost noon. The store was still closed. It would¡¯ve been open by this time normally.

    When he got out of the taxi, he saw Wang Qian and Li Kun standing outside the store. They were ying with their cell phones and talking about something.

    As soon as the taxi stopped, they both ran over and yelled nervously, ¡°Master, Master! Not good! Not good!¡±

    Zhang Zian was used to how they talked, so he didn¡¯t really take them seriously.

    He walked toward the store, took out the keys and asked, ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

    Wang Qian said, ¡°Stars Pet Chain Supermarket on the east side has an advertisement. They are going to have a fall sale. Everything 50% off. They are fighting back!¡±

    Li Kun agreed, ¡°Yeah, Master. They are mean! That¡¯s a price war! We can¡¯t let them win!¡±

    The two crazy kids were trying to make Zhang Zian mad and hoping to see how he would fight back.

    ¡°Stars Pet is offering 50% off everything?¡± Zhang Zian rolled up the curtain, then unlocked the ss door. ¡°How did you find out?¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun showed him their cell phones. There was a post in the BBS¡¯ pet section. The title was: ¡°Stars Pet Chain Supermarket¡¯s fall promotion: 50% off everything. Who wants to go?¡±

    There was also a picture in the post. It was a picture of the advertisement sign saying that Stars Pet would start their fall promotion this weekend and everything was up to 50% off. The location was the Stars Pet Chain Supermarket on the east side.

    Someone responded:

    ¡°Is that an advertisement? Ads are prohibited here. Best of luck to you.¡±

    ¡°I thought it was the directly operated store on the west side. Well, the one on the east side is too far away.¡±

    ¡°Is it a real or fake promotion? The trick is to increase the price first and then give a big discount.¡±

    ¡°Oh no! This is the store that hired that inte water army for promotion. Honestly, whoever goes will be tricked. I assure you.¡±

    ¡°Well, I am nning on going. I won¡¯t lose a dime by going, right?¡±

    ¡°I am going too. I know pets, so they can¡¯t trick me.¡±

    ¡°Ha-ha, stores will always trick those who think they are experts. Remember, buyers can never be more cunning than sellers! I quite like that crazy owner in the Amazing Fate Pet Store. He is always honest about his tricks. Ha-ha¡­¡±

    ¡­

    He casually read through the posts and asked, ¡°is this the Wang Haige BBS? How do you get an invitation code?¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were surprised. Master¡¯s focus point is always different than ours!

    ¡°Master, we can get you an invitation code,¡± Wang Qian replied.

    ¡°Okay, get me one.¡±

    Zhang Zian downloaded the BBS app and registered a new ID using the invitation code from them.

    ¡°F*ck! Who registered the ID name ¡®The Hottie¡¯? Shameless!¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were confused. They knew their master had to mean something deep by saying that.

    Zhang Zian could only register the ID ¡°The Hottie Manager¡±. As soon as he was done with registration, he responded to the post mentioned to him with: ¡°You are in fact crazy! I am the hottest of the hot!¡±

    ¡°Holy Sh*t! Shameless ID and style¡­ the real crazy manager is here!¡± the crowd replied.

 Chapter 104: No Kneeling Down

    <h4>Chapter 104: No Kneeling Down</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After fighting back on BBS for a bit, Zhang Zian went back to the main page.

    Smart people always leave before the next war starts.

    A post in the Pet Section attracted his attention immediately. The title was Wanted ¨C An Egyptian Cat. The author was Silent Hunter.

    He clicked on the post.

    Content: An Egyptian cat wanted. Price is not a problem. Note: Don¡¯t fool me with a mixed breed.

    There were some responses.

    ¡°Oh no! Isn¡¯t this Super Moderator¡¯s post? First floor on Super Moderator¡¯s post? This feels GREAT!¡± Abandoned User said.

    ¡°Come on! Mr. Super Moderator! Do you know if there are any purebred Egyptian cats in China? There are barely any purebred Egyptian cats left in the world, let alone China. Nowadays, Egyptian cats are more or less mixed.¡±

    ¡°In response to the previous floor, I bet there are some purebred Egyptian cats in China. China has everything¡­However, they might be hiding in some tycoon¡¯s home where they do not have ess to the opposite sex. Otherwise, people would breed a lot of them.¡±

    [Silent Hunter]: Response to all: Yes, there is a purebred Egyptian cat in our city. I have seen purebred Egyptian cats on wall monotypes when I was in Egypt. I wouldn¡¯t make a mistake.¡±

    ¡°If you have seen it in our city, why didn¡¯t you buy it from the owner?¡±

    [Silent Hunter]: That owner is crazy. He didn¡¯t want to sell that cat.

    ¡°Super Moderator, you have me interested. Did you ask the owner where he got that cat?¡±

    ¡°In response to the previous floor: Stop day-dreaming. The owner would not tell you unless he is stupid.¡±

    ¡­

    [The Hottie Manager]: ¡°You are a retard. No, your brain had to be burned under the sun on this hot summer day.¡±

    ¡°This is such a weird ID. Is he that motherf*cking manager from Snowy¡¯s live show?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Hey! Are you a fan of Snowy¡¯s?¡±

    ¡°Haha¡­This feels like Snowy¡¯s fan club.¡±

    ¡°The golden cat in that motherf*cking manager¡¯s store is a purebred Egyptian cat! I have seen it on the live show but I didn¡¯t realize¡­¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ Mr. Pretend-To-Know-It-All has a pet store. Maybe he knows where to get a purebred Egyptian cat¡­¡±

    ¡°No! I have seen some pictures from the live show. That cat looks like a purebred, but it is not exactly the same. I bet it was a mixed breed.¡±

    ¡°There might be another possibility¡­however, this is only my estimate. Please don¡¯t quote me on this. I think that was not a modern Egyptian ca,t but an ancient cat, a real, purebred Egyptian cat.¡±

    ¡­

    ¡°Haha¡­ you must be day-dreaming. An ancient Egyptian cat? Where did he find it? That is impossible!¡±

    ¡­

    What the f*ck! These people keep looking down on me! As Zhang Zian was about to fight back, a notification on his BBS app popped up showing that he got a message.

    He opened the messages and saw that it was from Silent Hunter.

    [Silent Hunter]: ¡°Four hundred thousand Yuan plus one year of sticky ads in the BBS. I suggest you think it over.

    [The Hottie Manager]: What the f*ck?! You registered the ount name?! What a shameless person!

    [Silent Hunter]: You are in no position to me.

    [The Hottie Manager]: I will ept the ID. Only I deserve that ID. My cat is not for sale.

    [Silent Hunter]: Hehe, Stars Pet Chain Supermarket has already started fighting back. This is myst offer to you.

    [The Hottie Manager]: Well again, if Stars Pet Chain Supermarket fights against me, they will be on their way to closing. I don¡¯t even think they are a serious opponent.

    [Silent Hunter]: You are too na?ve. If Stars Pet Chain Supermarket wants to get you out, they will use other approaches that you are not prepared for. That¡¯s all I want to say.

    Zhang Zian checked the time and left the BBS app.

    It looked like Stars Pet Chain Supermarket was taking thepetition seriously.

    It was clear that he didn¡¯t have the capital to fight them in price. It was also unnecessary.

    The price war is a strategy that hurts both sides. People usually are not willing to go down that route if they have a choice. If Stars Pet Chain Supermarket chooses to take the price war approach, it will further show their fear. Getting into a price war would leave Zhang Zian in great trouble. One day he would be defeated by Stars Pet Chain Supermarket because of their ample operation capital.

    His strategy was to stay put and let them go down the price war route.

    He was curious as to why they would chose the price war approach. Maybe they have a reason?

    At noon, he was in charge of cooking. Wang Qian and Li Kun took care of the cat litter, adding water, cat food and dog food, and cleaned the dogs¡¯ wastes. He was correct. They both had pets at home, so they learned very quickly.

    He sent them home after lunch. He started the game while there were no customers in the store.

    [Navigation Elf]: Wee home! A hard-working explorer!

    [Navigation Elf]: Get some rest and rx. Wash off the dust from yesterday and imagine the life for tomorrow. Look forward to more adventures!

    [Navigation Elf]: You got two free pet bars. Allocate now?

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°No, can I wait?¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: Of course. Whenever you need one, you can activate and allocate.

    Zhang Zian released Xinghai and Fina, and then clicked on the benevolent and righteous cat in the pet bar.

    [Game Tip]: Pet property

    [Known As]: The benevolent and righteous cat

    [Rarity]: Premier

    [Characteristics]: Powerful yet modest

    [History]: Locked

    [Real Name]: Locked

    The information was limited, so he could not find out about her history. He could only unlock her real name through increasing her friendliness, just like how he unlocked Xinghai and Fina¡¯s real names.

    He aimed at an empty spot and clicked ¡°release.¡±

    When he moved away his cell phone, the benevolent and righteous cat was already sitting there.

    She was still wearing her little vest, turning her bamboo hat peacefully and observing the surroundings.

    She was shocked when she saw Fina. Fina still had that arrogant face and was looking at the new cat proudly.

    ¡°Nice to meet you!¡± The benevolent and righteous cat slightly bent her body down and bowed. ¡°I never thought that I could meet you in person, my Majesty.¡±

    Not only was Zhang Zian surprised, but Fina was too, who opened her eyes wide. Apparently, the benevolent and righteous cat was a real cat, not like Xinghai who was only an imaginary elfin. All real cats would kneel down to Fina to show obedience.

    Zhang Zian thought, Maybe it was a race thing? The Chinese Dragon-Li was brought in from the west thousands of years ago. Due to the inconvenience in transportation, they then mixed with Asian wild cats and started an individual breed. Hence, the Chinese cat seldom has Egyptian cat blood in them.

    Fina¡¯s eyes were shining and her whole body was tense. She stared at the benevolent and righteous cat as if she was her pray.

    The environment became extremely tense all of a sudden.

 Chapter 105: A Good Girl

    <h4>Chapter 105: A Good Girl</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Egyptian cats are the fastest among house cats.

    Zhang Zian had seen Fina jump up as fast as lightning. The benevolent and righteous cat was an old Dragon-Li. If they started a fight, the benevolent and righteous cat would be beaten immediately. However, the benevolent and righteous cat didn¡¯t seem to sense the tension in the air, nor did she defend herself with anything. She didn¡¯t even look angry at all.

    While Zhang Zian worried about how to solve the problem, Xinghai stepped in at the perfect time to introduce herself. ¡°Meow, hello! My name is Xinghai!¡± Xinghai was standing right in between Fina and the benevolent and righteous cat. Fina snorted and jumped up to the highest rack of the cat tree. Although Xinghai had always been peaceful and friendly, Fina somehow respected her because she couldn¡¯t determine Xinghai¡¯s power level.

    Zhang Zian took a deep breath.

    The benevolent and righteous catughed. ¡°I am too old to remember my name. You can call me Old Time Tea.¡±

    It was quite difficult to believe that someone would forget his/her name. Maybe there were reasons that she didn¡¯t want to mention her real name. Nheless, Old Time Tea was a perfect name for her. Her fur was an amber color with ck stripes, and she loved tea.

    He introduced himself. ¡°My name is Zhang Zian. You may call me Zhang Zian or Zian.¡±

    Xinghai walked around Old Time Tea happily and invited her to y, saying, ¡°Old Time Tea, want to y hide and seek?¡±

    ¡°Ha-ha, I am too old for this. You go ahead and have fun.¡±

    Old Time Tea declined the invitation gracefully. Fortunately, Xinghai didn¡¯t care. Zhang Zian and the kittens would y with her.

    Zhang Zian thought and asked, ¡°Old Time Tea, you¡¯ve travelled a long way. Would you like some tea? My tea may not be as good though¡­¡±

    Old Time Tea smiled and her beard went upward. ¡°That sounds great! Don¡¯t be too humble. I have tasted the cheapest tea from street vendors¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was thirsty after the meal, so he walked upstairs to make tea. He found the best tea he could find from his parents¡¯ bedroom, and dug out a tea set that hadn¡¯t been used for a long time. He cleaned everything, made the tea, and brought it downstairs.

    ¡°Please enjoy,¡± he said to Old Time Tea.

    He also dug out a stool from the storage room and ced the tea tray on the stool so that it was the perfect height for Old Time Tea.

    Old Time Tea didn¡¯tin. She even praised the tea, saying it was good. Zhang Zian knew she was only being polite. Compared to the water, tea and tea set in the Teahouse in Hidden Fog, his tea was rubbish. Fina was aggressive towards Old Time Tea. Although he knew the best way to increase Old Time Tea¡¯s friendliness would be to feed her good tea, he didn¡¯t want to spend thousands of Yuan on tea and a tea set at this point.

    After having one cup of tea, Old Time Tea stared outside and said, ¡°I am getting old and all my friends have died. Who could have tea with me again¡­¡± She looked a bit depressed. She had to be thinking about the past.

    ¡°My new friend, the most important thing is not tea. It is the person who drinks tea with you.¡± She sighed.

    Zhang Zian was still young. He was not able to fully understand Old Time Tea¡¯s thoughts. Her words reminded him of some old friends from work and college. Although it had not been that long, he felt like it was decades ago.

    He had not told anyone about his return to Binhai City for two reasons. First, it wasn¡¯t necessary to announce it. He didn¡¯t want to have worried his friends. Second, he was a bit embarrassed about his situation. Most of his friends were working hard in arge corporatepany. On the other hand, here he was hiding in a pet store picking up dog waste¡­

    Although it was a difficult and different route, he didn¡¯t regret it.

    ¡­

    His store was impacted by Stars Pet Chain Supermarket¡¯s promotion. The number of customers had gone down in the afternoon. Most customers came for the cat bathing service. That was fine with him because the value proposition for his store had been ¡°low in quantity and high in quality.¡± In his opinion, people¡¯s quality of life had been getting better. Spending a few thousand more on a healthy pet that would live 10 or 15 years should not be a problem. Second quality pets equaled jeopardizing his own reputation.

    Some stores did that anyways to increase their probability of a sale, but customers would find out sooner orter.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun came as soon as it got dark to help him pick up the store and clean the pet area. They had dinner together. Zhang Zian gave them 100 Yuan, sent them back to school, and closed the store.

    Fortunately, Old Time Tea was not picky about food. She ate whatever was provided. Zhang Zian bought some decent quality food, which he turned into whatever was barely good enough to eat.

    Old Time Tea was polite to Fina, but she was not obedient like other cats. It was uneptable to Fina. Zhang Zian was worried that one of them would initiate a fight, so he separated them at dinner. Fina ate upstairs and Old Time Tea ate downstairs. He was grateful that Old Time Tea didn¡¯t mind it.

    Zhang Zian felt that Old Time Tea was like an ancient schr. She didn¡¯t fight for wealth and fame and only wanted to live and enjoy tea.

    The easier going she was, the more Zhang Zian took her seriously. ¡°The benevolent and righteous cat¡±! What a name! She had to be somebody great to be granted that name!

    Before going to bed, he wanted to clear the storage room for Old Time Tea. She insisted a nket was enough and she could sleep downstairs.

    He remembered that she was sitting close to the stove for warmth. Older cats usually liked a warmer ce. He dug out a small electric nket from when he was younger and tested it to make sure it worked. He put a thick nket by the power outlet, put the electric nket on top and had her try her new bed.

    Old Time Tea was very happy and thanked him again and again.

    Zhang Zian thought he would finally get his bedroom back, but Fina was mad. He could not let her stay with Old Time Tea downstairs.

    ¡°Xinghai,e.¡± He had Xinghaie upstairs.

    ¡°What¡¯s up, Zian?¡± she asked.

    Zhang Zian closed his hands in front of his chest to make a ¡°thank you¡± gesture and said seriously, ¡°May I ask for a favor? Could you keep an eye on them in case they start fighting?¡±

    ¡°Favor? Are you asking for a favor? From me?¡± Her grey eyes lit up upon hearing his words.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Only you can do this.¡±

    ¡°Sure! I am helpful now! YEAH! I am helpful!¡± She was so happy that she jumped up and down.

    Although surprised, Zhang Zian was deeply touched when he saw Xinghai so happy.

    He remembered when he was younger, he was always extremely happy when he could lend a hand to his mother.

    Finally, he figured it out¡­ He only wanted to protect and provide the best for Xinghai, so he never asked her to do anything. Now, he realized that Xinghai was longing for a chance to help him back.

    ¡°Xinghai, you are a good girl,¡± he said lightly, just like a mom talking to her child.

    Zian, you are a good boy!

    He seemed to hear his mom¡¯s voice again.

    ¡°Xinghai is a good girl! Xinghai is a good girl!¡± Xinghai was delighted.

    She walked around Zhang Zian¡¯s feet and was told, ¡°Xinghai, I have a mission for you.¡±

    ¡°A mission?¡± Xinghai stopped suddenly and looked at him with questions in her eyes.

    ¡°Yes, a very important mission!¡± Zhang Zian said seriously, ¡°You¡¯d like more friends, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Yes! Xinghai loves friends! We can all y hide and seek!¡± She nodded.

    Zhang Zian smiled and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. You are going to get more and more friends. Among those¡­¡± he looked at Fina and lowered his voice, ¡°There might be some short-tempered ones. You are the peace police in this home. Can you do that?¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡± Xinghai said proudly.

    ¡°Great! That is my important mission for you!¡± Zhang Zian encouraged her.

    He understood that he would still have to consider Fina¡¯s feelings. Cats are controlling in their own territories. If a new cat came into to their home, the original pets would not like it.

    He moved Fina¡¯s princess bed upstairs into his bedroom.

    ¡°You sleep in your bed and I will sleep in mine, okay?¡± he asked Fina.

    Fina gave him a dirty look, jumped on her bed, closed the curtain andid down.

    Zhang Zian rxed andid down on his twin bed. Looking at the sky outside, he was happy that he had his bed back.

    Fina¡¯s friendliness might be going down again!

    It was too difficult to keep everybody happy!

 Chapter 106: Rancor

    <h4>Chapter 106: Rancor</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    On Saturday morning, Chen Taitong was standing at the door of Stars Pet Chain Supermarket with a big smile. He was wearing a vinous new Chinese traditional shirt to wee his customers. Behind him stood his staff with new clothes and colorful ribbons in hand. A red carpet extended from the sidewalk to the door.

    It was the first promotion day. The whole store was well decorated as if it was Chinese New Year. He called in all the staff for today¡¯s big promotion. No one was allowed to take today off. He also promised twice themission for every pet sold. The staff were all excited about the newmission n, so everyone was extremely happy and ready for a big day of sales.

    This was the benefit of having a franchise store. Promotions in a directly operated store needed to be filed and approved from the regional general manager; however, a franchise store could control daily operations and was much more flexible.

    Through this battle, Chen Taitong wanted to KO not only Amazing Fate Pet Shop, but also the other small pet shops in the area. He was ready for losing some money short-term. It takes money to make money. As long as this battle could help him seed over the other stores, he could then monopolize the local market. At that time, he could price as he wished. All the money lost today was going toe back tomorrow.

    Stars Pet Chain Supermarket¡¯s standardized purchasing and delivery system was the best in the industry. No one could beat their cost.

    However, as time passed, he felt more and more stressed.

    Even before the customers showed up, a group gathered across from the store. They held up signs saying that his store was selling second quality pets and requested his apologies. The group was very annoying.

    Chen Taitong decided not topromise. In his opinion, he was making money the right way, the corporate way. The group should not judge him.

    Apparently, the group heard about the promotion and they came prepared for the huge fight. The attendance doubled,at least. Some people came with their entire families. From children to the elderly, everyone was there. Some brought water and food. Someone even brought a loudspeaker ¨C the kind that was extremely loud, disturbing, and used in public square dancing.

    As soon as he saw the loudspeaker, Chen Taitong turned pale.

    He yelled, ¡°Get me the phone! I have to call the police!¡±

    ¡°Boss, there are some policemen under the trees.¡± A sharp worker pointed at the shade not far away.

    Normally, there was one police car parked under the trees. There were two today. Maybe the policemen heard about the promotion and came over in case any violence took ce?

    Chen Taitong was shaking with anger, but couldn¡¯t think of anything to stop the group. Suddenly, he turned around and spoke to the staff. ¡°Come on! Go borrow some loudspeakers from surrounding stores. The more the better! I have to fight back!¡±

    The staff all went out for loudspeakers. The neighboring stores were all watching what was going on. Some even started filming.

    A customer came around 9:30.

    At the same time, the group turned on the loudspeaker. A disturbing loud announcement flooded the store like a powerful wave. ¡°Stars Pet Chain Supermarket hires an inte water army for promotions that deceive, ys foul with customers, hides their pets¡¯ health problems, and refuses to pay for the vet costs from the pets¡¯ concealed sickness! Customers, please open your eyes! Don¡¯t be fooled like us! Go to another store for pets!¡±

    The spokesman was a middle-age man. Other people held up their homemade wooden signs with all sorts of slogans. Some signs had a huge picture of the pet and the vet report. It was astonishing.

    The first customer was shocked before even entering the store and was about to leave. Chen Taitong grabbed his arm and spoke through a loudspeaker, ¡°Don¡¯t listen to them! Those people were sent by ourpetitors! We are an honest and reputable store. Stars Pet Chain Supermarket is a huge corporation. We wouldn¡¯t deceive our customers like they said.¡±

    Why did he talk through the loudspeaker? Because that was the only way the customer could hear him.

    The customer¡¯s face suddenly darkened. He freed himself from Chen Taitong and left without letting him finish. It looked like he was going towards Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

    That was not good!

    What day was it? It was a Saturday, a Saturday morning! It was the day most students and workers would sleep in. They could not bear such a disturbance! The emergency call center got a lot moreints than usual. Some people didn¡¯t even care what was going on, but only wanted to stop the noise!

    The two police cars took action before the emergency call center dispatched the police. Half the policemen went to stop the group and half tried to stop Chen Taitong. Both were told that they could stay but could not use loudspeakers.

    Both sides stopped after the warning from the police.

    It didn¡¯t take long for the third police car to show up. It parked directly between the protesting group and the store.

    In fact, the police¡¯s action was beneficial to Chen Taitong. At least his store resumed peacefully and quietly. A police car parked right in front of his store wasn¡¯t a good thing but he could do nothing about it.

    It was almost 10 o¡¯clock. There came more pedestrians.

    A young couple walked by the store. Chen Taitong and his staff all put on big smiles and said, ¡°Wee! Pleasee in! Everything is 50% off today! We also have gifts with purchase. Take home a cute kitten or doggie!¡±

    ¡°Really? That is great! Let¡¯s take a look!¡± the two lovebirds walked in the store.

    A few minutester, a middle-aged housewife also came.

    It was almost noon, and more customers came. Some even came with friends. The store had never been so busy!

    Chen Taitong was happy. See? Low price is king!

    He regretted not pushing the price war earlier. Otherwise, he would not have needed the inte water army, and the Amazing Fate Pet Shop wouldn¡¯t have lived this long.

    Heughed at the group across the street. No matter what they do, it won¡¯t work! They are just wasting their energy! Such a group of losers!

    As he was secretly cheering in his heart, a worker rushed out and could not catch her breath.

    ¡°Bo¡­boss¡­¡±

    Chen Taitong smiled. ¡°What¡¯s up? How is it going? Remember to call purchasing manager Qian Fang for more pets once stock runs low.¡±

    ¡°No¡­ Boss, no. You need to look for yourself¡­¡± The worker looked worried. ¡°It is out of control inside.¡±

 Chapter 107: A Temporary Staff Member

    <h4>Chapter 107: A Temporary Staff Member</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The worker¡¯s tone worried Chen Taitong.

    He followed the worker into the store. The worker pointed at the young couple who came in first. Chen Taitong approached them quietly, hoping to find out what was going on. He would definitely punish the worker if he had done something wrong.

    The young couple was in their twenties. They looked like they were working adults. Customers that age were the best because they were usually willing and could afford to spend money. They were standing in front of a Chinchi disy cab. Another worker was working hard at selling that cat. No one wanted to miss the chance to get doublemission today!

    Chen Taitong felt that his decision to provide doubledmission might not be as great as he had thought. While the workers were working hard to sell, the customers were getting annoyed. They would definitely leave if the worker continued to push them.

    He walked up to the young couple and immediately pushed the worker aside. He smiled and said to the young couple, ¡°Excuse us! He is only a temporary staff member and doesn¡¯t know much. I am the store owner. Do you have any questions about this Chinchi?¡±

    The guy murmured, ¡°A temporary staff member? I don¡¯t think so¡­¡±

    Chen Taitong pretended he didn¡¯t hear the guy. Honestly, he didn¡¯t really care about his feelings. Normally, when a young couple walks in a store, the girl usually makes the decision and the guy¡¯s only job is to pay.

    The girl nodded and said, ¡°Is this a Chinchi? She is so cute. The price is reasonable as well.¡±

    Chen Taitong continued to smile. ¡°Beautiful, you are good! Chinchis are a good house pet. They are obedient, pretty, and love being with people. Regarding pricing, you came at the best time! We currently have a fall promotion for 50% off everything. You can take her home for 2000 Yuan. Normally, a cat like this would sell for at least 4000.¡±

    Before opening his own store, Chen Taitong had worked in a pet store for two years, so he was familiar with pets and knew what customers liked to hear. He had also seen how business dropped at the pet store he worked at. He knew that if he wanted to stand out in thepetition, he had to partner with a corporation like Stars Pet Chain Supermarket.

    The girl didn¡¯t agree nor disagree, but asked suspiciously, ¡°It has to be troublesome to pick up its long hair, right?¡±

    ¡°No! No! No! It is easy. You¡¯ve never had a cat, right? Cats are great at picking up after themselves. It doesn¡¯t matter if it is long-haired or short-haired. Cats lick themselves clean,¡± Chen Taitong promised.

    ¡°Really?¡± The girl was even more in doubt. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about cats. Please don¡¯t lie to me ¨C I¡¯ve never had a cat myself, but my friend has one. She told me that taking care of a long-haired cat is much more troublesome than a short-haired one. Even though cats clean their own fur, they won¡¯t lick the floor clean if their hair falls. You wouldn¡¯t lick your dirty clothes, right?¡±

    Chen Taitongughed. ¡°Yo, beautiful. Your friend doesn¡¯t know everything. If you are worried that the hair is too long, you can shave it, especially in the summer. It would be cooler for the cat.¡±

    The girl shook her head. ¡°Well, I have read a lot of bad reviews about your store. I thought the bad reviews might not be true, so I came anyways. Today¡¯s visit is just disappointing.¡± She dragged at her boyfriend. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t leave yet. We also have short hair cats like British shorthair, American shorthair, Exotic shorthair¡­ you name it. Take a look at the shorthair cats before you go!¡± Chen Taitong tried to stopped them from leaving.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. Honestly, I don¡¯t know much about pets and would rather go to a reputable store. I¡¯d rather pay a bit more upfront than be tricked. Keep your tricks. They don¡¯t work on me.¡± The couple walked around Chen Taitong and left.

    The worker who had been serving the young couple was standing next to the disy cab. He could tell that the big boss was extremely frustrated. However, deep in his mind he was thinking: Boss, your sales skill is only so so¡­

    ¡°F*ck! That girl has a sharp tongue. I don¡¯t need her to tell me what to do¡­¡± Chen Taitong was mad, watching the young couple leave. ¡°They came for the promotion to save money. Now they pretend they have money for expensive pets?!¡±

    He tried tofort himself. That¡¯s okay. You get all kinds of weirdos! Fortunately, the day is just starting¡­

    Chen Taitong saw a middle-ageddy that seemed to have an issue. Man! Today was just not a good day for Chen!

    He walked directly to the customer and pulled the sales representative aside. He said with a huge smile, ¡°I am the owner. How can I help you?¡±

    The middle-ageddy was fond of a border collie. She asked Chen Taitong, ¡°You are the owner?¡±

    ¡°Yes. If you need any further consultation, please ask me. I will tell you everything I know.¡± Chen Taitong was still keeping that big smile on his face.

    The middle-ageddy waved her hand and said, ¡°I don¡¯t need any consultation. My only question is: can you sell this dog for cheaper?¡±

    Chen Taitong spoke in an extremely gentle tone, ¡°Well, everything is 50% off today. This dog is normally priced at 5000 Yuan, but you only pay 2500 Yuan today. This is the best price. You won¡¯t be able to find anything cheaper in the city¡­¡±

    Thedy stopped him. ¡°Don¡¯t fool me. I asked if you could further lower the price. All you need to tell me is yes or no.¡±

    Chen Taitong started swearing in his mind. Thisdy had to be crazy! Does she think she¡¯s a judge or awyer? A yes or no answer¡­

    ¡°Madam, look¡­¡± he continued to smile.

    ¡°Trying to be a friend now? Ah¡­Is it a no? Okay, I will leave.¡± thedy turned around and was about to leave the store.

    ¡°Wait!¡± Chen Taitong followed. ¡°If this dog is too pricey for you, we have other dogs that are budget friendly.¡±

    The middle-agedy stopped and snorted, ¡°Bullsh*t! 50% off everything today! Of course, I pick an expensive pet. 50% off 1 Yuan and 50% off 10 Yuan: which one saves you more? My little boy is better than you in math.¡±

    Oh no! She was so smart!

    Chen Taitong was speechless. He was thinking to himself, is thisdy going to resell the dog?

 Chapter 108: No Way Out

    <h4>Chapter 108: No Way Out</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The middle-aged housewife continued, ¡°Don¡¯t try to fool me! I know your store is going out of business, so you are trying to sell all the stocks. This is such a normal thing. Don¡¯t be sad! Why don¡¯t you sell that dog to me for 1500 Yuan? I will take it home and you don¡¯t have to feed it.¡±

    That was unexpected. Chen Taitong said, ¡°No, madam, please don¡¯t joke around. A purebred border collie for 1500 Yuan? I will lose too much over this deal.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. Goodbye then!¡± the middle-aged housewife left without saying anything else.

    The atmosphere turned even more embarrassing. The boss had to be really mad at this point. The staff all pretended to be busy so the boss would not scold them.

    ¡°You all are rubbish!¡± Still, Chen Taitong had to let his anger out.

    ¡°Wee! Everything 50% off today!¡± There came the voice of the workers trying to get customers toe in.

    A youngdy about 17 or 18 years old walked in the store.

    Chen Taitong was excited. The girl was holding thetest iphone and wearing name-brand sneakers! Apparently, she had money to spend. She was young, so she was less likely to be calcting like a grown-up! In a word, she would make a perfect customer.

    He stopped his staff and walked up to her himself.

    ¡°Wee, beautiful! What are you looking for?¡±

    The youngdy was straightforward. ¡°I am shopping for a cat.¡±

    Chen Taitongughed. ¡°No problem! We have arge variety of breeds, the best in this city. Do you know what breed you are looking for? If not, I can make some rmendations. I am the owner of this store. Our cats are 100% purebred and delivered from corporate. You will get the best value, one that you could not get anywhere else.¡±

    The young girl took a second, ¡°I don¡¯t know much about cats. Could you rmend one to me?¡±

    Chen Taitong was even happier. This girl must be wealthy and stupid. He was ready to make some big bucks off of her!

    He winked at a worker and the worker immediately understood. The worker walked away quickly to the disy cab for Persian cats and Ragdolls, rapidly recing the discounted price tag with the old one showing the original price. He wrote ¡°discounted¡± on the original price tag with a marker.

    Chen Taitong walked the girl down slowly on purpose. He talked as he walked. When they reached the disy cab and he saw the price tag was switched, he winked again to the worker with praise. The worker was happy, looking forward to some rewards after the deal was made.

    ¡°Beautiful, look, these are the best cats in our store, Persians and Ragdolls. I would rmend this Ragdoll for you. Look at its cute little face, they are the the most beautiful among cats. Ragdolls are cute and listen well. They are the most wanted cats in the market. Everyone would be jealous of you if had it. It is perfect for you.¡±

    As Chen Taitong had hoped, the youngdy nced at the 21,000 Yuan price tag and then stared at the Ragdoll.

    Ragdolls are well-liked by women. They are cute, obedient and perfect for a house cat. However, their disadvantages are also obvious. First, although their hair is a bit shorter than Persians, they are still long-haired cats, which require more frequent maintenance. Second, they are bigger in size. Not everyone likes big cats. Third, they are expensive.

    There was only one Ragdoll cat in Chen Taitong¡¯s store, and he used it as a special attraction for customers. Ragdolls were too expensive for his 50% off promotions, so he only wanted one. He used a Ragdoll as a special attraction because he confirmed that Amazing Fate Pet Shop didn¡¯t have Ragdolls.

    Chen Taitong smiled. As per his experience, this deal was almost closed.

    ¡°This cat is so pretty.¡± The girl nodded and asked, ¡°Does she have stunts?¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Chen Taitong opened his mouth and thought he heard her wrong. ¡°What stunts?¡±

    The worker standing next to him knew what she was looking for. He whispered to Chen Taitong, ¡°Boss¡­the cats in the Amazing Fate Pet Shop have stunts¡­¡±

    ¡°Get out of the way! Stop talking nonsense!¡± Chen Taitong butted the worker away.

    He had been in the industry for years and had never heard anything about cats with stunts. Of course, people his age didn¡¯t care about live broadcasts, so he was not aware of Snowy¡¯s show. Since sales had droppedtely, he was busy trying to find a solution.

    The sparkle in the girl¡¯s eye faded. Chen Taitong was scared and wanted to close the deal quickly.

    ¡°No stunt¡­What a pity!¡± The girl wanted to leave, as she was feeling bad.

    ¡°Wait wait wait wait wait!¡± Chen Taitong was mad. He could not understand why people used a circus standard for a pet store. What the f*ck?!

    The youngdy stopped.

    Chen Taitong was upset, but he could not let it out on the customer. He pointed at a worker and said, ¡°It was him! He put up the wrong price tag. Today the Ragdoll is 50% off, only 11,000 Yuan.¡±

    The worker had to take it. He was the boss. He was always right.

    ¡°I am sorry. I made a mistake!¡± He acted along with his boss, took the lower price tag out, and put it up.

    The young girl looked at him, then at Chen Taitong, and asked, ¡°So this cat does not have stunts?¡±

    Silence.

    An embarrassing silence.

    The youngdy turned around and walked out of the store quickly.

    The worker wanted to slip out, but Chen Taitong grabbed his cor.

    ¡°Bo¡­Boss¡­¡± the worker was shaking. This was the first time his boss had gotten this mad. It was scary!

    ¡°Tell me,¡± Chen Taitong said word by word, angrily, ¡°What¡¯s up with the special cat talents?¡±

    ¡­

    A few blocks away, Zhang Zian was happily counting money from the day¡¯s sales. Nowadays, not many customers used cash, but today there was one. He was counting the money and feeling thrilled. Fina greedily licked her lips looking at the cash.

    ¡°Master, you¡¯ve counted so many times. The cash will break if you continue counting it!¡± Li Qun looked at Zhang Zian and Fina and felt speechless.

    Zhang Zian put down the cash and said, ¡°Remember, a unique product is the best money maker!¡±

    Li Qun thought, Master is all about money now.

 Chapter 109: The Survey

    <h4>Chapter 109: The Survey</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Before Stars Pet Chain Supermarket on the east side started its promotion, the number of customers for Zhang Zian seemed to drop a little. However, as soon as the promotion began, his customers remained at the same level asst weekend.

    People who came in the store would not always spend money. Pets are not a necessity. Most people wouldpare prices and then make a decision. As long as the customers remembered Amazing Fate Pet Shop, it was better than nothing.

    He was always busy during the day.

    Zhang Zian copied a short survey. If a customerpleted a survey, he/she would get a free small calendar, no matter if they spent any money in the store. Zhang Zian bought those calendars in bulk. This year was half gone, so he got those calendars for dirt cheap¡­

    Questions on the survey:

    1. How did you hear about this store?

    A. BBS

    B. Inte influencers

    C. Friends

    D. Happened to walk by

    2. Your age:

    A. 40+

    B. 30+

    C. 20+

    D. Always 18, just like Mr. Manager

    3. What kind of pet do you like?

    A. Cat

    B. Dog

    C. Mr. Cute Manager (Only girls can choose this item. Guys, please go away)

    D. Other (please specify)

    4. Our store is going to start a membership system. You can deposit a certain amount to be a member and get a discount on your purchases and pet bathing service. What is an amount you can deposit?

    A. 10,000 Yuan+

    B. 5,000 Yuan+

    C. 1,000 Yuan+

    D. 1,000 Yuan-

    (Note: Don¡¯t worry. The owner will not run away with some hot chick because he is still in search of one.)

    Wang Qian pointed at the note, ¡°Master, you don¡¯t have to add the note. You will never get one anyways.¡±

    Li Kun kicked him from the back, ¡°Don¡¯t tell the truth!¡±

    Zhang Zian got mad. ¡°Leave! Both of you!¡±

    5. What do you think the store needs?

    A. More diversity in cats (please specify)

    B. More diversity in dogs (please specify)

    C. Some pretty sales reps.

    D. Mr. Manager could be hotter.

    ¡­

    It was almost 6 o¡¯clock, almost time to close. Wang Qian and Li Kun were cleaning up. Zhang Zian was reading the surveys.

    What the f*ck? Why didn¡¯t anyone pick D in question 5?

    For diversity of cats, some people wanted to add Ragdolls, Maine Coons and Bombays¡­ For dogs, some people would like to see Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Lhasa Apsos, Tibetan Mastiffs and¡­ damn single dogs?

    It was true that Pets¡¯ Home Breeding Base only had some verymon breeds. That was also the reason he tried to convince Sun Yinian for an update in strategy. In fact, adding more breeds was not as easy as it looked. They could only take one step at a time.

    The less popr pets that people wanted such as snakes, fish and birds¡­ now was not good timing.

    Regarding age, most customers from the BBS were older. Customers that came from influences were younger. Some people picked D ¨C Always 18, just like Mr. Manager.

    The most important question was question #4. The average amount people were willing to pay for a membership was 1300 Yuan. Of course, the number of surveys were very limited, so he could only use it as a reference.

    ¡°Master, we are done,¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun reported.

    ¡°Okay, you may leave now. I have something going on tonight. I can¡¯t have dinner with you,¡± Zhang Zian replied without looking up.

    Normally, Zhang Zian closed the store around 7 or 8 o¡¯clock. He had to close early tonight because he had an appointment with Xiao Yan to go over the membership system in her salon. He didn¡¯t want to gote at night.

    Old Time Tea¡¯s friendliness was not high enough yet, so she could not leave the store. Xinghai was scared of people, so he had to put her in his cell phone. As he was about to put Fina in his cell phone, she raised her head and said proudly, ¡°I want to go with you.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought that would be okay, so he brought her along.

    The bus would be too crowded at this time. He also didn¡¯t want Fina to hurt anyone on the bus, so he decided to take a taxi.

    A taxi stopped right in front of him. He asked the driver, ¡°Sir, may I bring my cat?¡±

    The driver turned around and looked at Fina. ¡°Is she well-behaved?¡±

    Zhang Zian assured him, ¡°Very much so!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. She looks quite clean,¡± the driver agreed.

    Zhang Zian opened the door. Fina jumped in, and then he hopped in.

    ¡°I would like to go to mour Beauty Salon. Do you know where it is?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yes. Of course.¡± The driver started the car.

    ¡°Okay. Thank you.¡±

    The driver looked at Fina from the rearview mirror. ¡°Your cat is very pretty. Did you get her from a pet store?¡±

    Fina didn¡¯t look at the driver. She turned around and stared at the night view of the city. It was getting dark. Everything seemed so dim under the orange street lights. The LED signs were shing, and young people were getting out for night-life¡­ nights in the city were beautiful, yet very different from the day.

    Zhang Zian was surprised. ¡°Do you know about Amazing Fate Pet Shop?¡±

    ¡°Of course! I am a taxi driver, a walking map! I don¡¯t even need the GPS.¡±

    ¡°Ha-ha, that¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°That store has been around for quite a while. Most older drivers know about it.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ do you know about the owner?¡± He was interested.

    The driver shook his head, ¡°nope. We only drive. We don¡¯t get out of the car when we get to a destination.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s too bad.¡± Zhang Zian said, ¡°The owner is a super-hot guy.¡±

    The driverughed. ¡°Really?! Well, good thing I am not interested in hot guys.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. You should tell your female passengers. They have to be interested in hot guys. Maybe they will tip you more,¡± Zhang Zian continued, shamelessly.

    The driver seemed to realize something. Looking at the rear view mirror, he said surprisingly, ¡°Your cat seems to despise you. What¡¯s going on?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t look back. ¡°You think too much! She is a cat, not a person. How could she despise me?¡± He was trained to look at Fina without turning his head.

    ¡°No! No! No! That¡¯s true. The cat takes a weird look at you! That is exactly how my wife looks at me when I smell! Oh no!¡±

    The driver kept checking out Fina from the rearview mirror. He was so excited that there was no logic in his words¡­ Zhang Zian could understand how the driver felt at the moment.

    ¡°Sir, you¡¯d better drive. I don¡¯t want to die yet!¡± He was surprised that all taxi drivers liked looking back when they drove.

    They got to the destination safely. Zhang Zian paid and got off with Fina. The driver kept looking at Fina as he left.

    ¡°Hey, can you behave when we are out?¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Whatever, Fina responded.

    mour Beauty Salon was standing right in front of him.

 Chapter 110: Glamour Beauty Salon

    <h4>Chapter 110: mour Beauty Salon</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was worried that the beauty salon might be closed at this time. Unexpectedly, it was the busiest time of the day; customers kepting and going.

    There were a lot of pretty girls.

    Did all the pretty girls in Binhai city alle to this salon?

    They were not only pretty with beautiful makeup, but also very well-dressed. Zhang Zian knew nothing about top notch brands those girls were wearing, not to mention the luxurious handbags they were carrying.

    Zhao Qi was the most fashionable youngdy in his social circle; however,pared to these girls, Zhao Qi was nothing.

    The cars parked outside the beauty salon were all fancy and worth over 200 thousand Yuan. The least expensive one was probably an Audi.

    Normally, highly sessful men or 2nd generation rich folk drive such luxury cars. In a beauty salon¡­ highly sessful men or the 2nd generation rich would probably not want to wait for their wife/girlfriend for an hour or two. Zhang Zian guessed that these high-end cars belonged to these beautiful women.

    All of a sudden, he felt greatly pressured.

    At first, he thought Xiao Yan¡¯s beauty salon was just a store slightly bigger than a hair salon. He waspletely wrong.

    Since he had alreadye this far, he might as well go in. Otherwise the taxi fare was wasted.

    As he walked into the lounge, the receptionist stopped him. ¡°Sir, we are a female-exclusive salon and don¡¯t serve male customers.¡± She continued when she saw Fina, ¡°Pets are also not allowed. I am sorry.¡±

    Zhang Zian walked over to the receptionist. He was sweating out of nervousness. ¡°I am not here for your service. I came for a friend.¡±

    ¡°Who are you looking for? A customer or a staff member?¡± The receptionist was alert.

    ¡°Um¡­I am here for Xiao Yan. Does she work here?¡±

    The receptionist paused and asked politely, ¡°Do you have an appointment?¡±

    ¡°Yes. She is expecting me.¡±

    She picked up the internal line and asked, ¡°May I know your name?¡±

    ¡°You can tell her I am from the pet store.¡±

    She pointed at the couch in the lounge using her elbow and said, ¡°Please wait. Let me find out¡­please take good care of your cat. If she breaks anything or if she hurts anyone, you will have to be held ountable.¡±

    She kept talking. Zhang Zian expressed that he already knew and stopped her.

    He wasn¡¯t mad at her because he understood it was her responsibility to warn him. If a pet hurt a customer, she probably would lose her job. It was not always easy to keep a job.

    The couch was made from genuine leather. It was superfortable. Zhang Zian¡¯s recliner was a piece of sh*tpared to this couch.

    Fina¡¯s golden fur looked extremely pretty on that dark brown couch.

    Two fashionable youngdies walked in and immediately ran to Fina.

    ¡°Oh my! what a magnificent cat!¡±

    ¡°The way she looks at me is so domineering!¡±

    ¡°This cat is so much prettier than the one Xiao Yan owns.¡±

    One of them asked, ¡°Is this your cat? Can I pet her?¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°You¡¯d better not. She is very grumpy. She doesn¡¯t like being petted.¡±

    ¡°Aww¡­that is too bad. Where did you get her? What breed is she? She is the prettiest cat I have ever seen! I want one just like her.¡±

    Zhang Zian cleared his throat, ¡°Ummm¡­ I am sorry. This is a very rare breed. I don¡¯t think you can get it anymore¡­¡±

    As he spoke, someone walked quickly towards him.

    ¡°Mr. Manager, I am sorry to make you wait. I was in the middle of something.¡± Xiao Yan reached her arm out as she walked.

    Zhang Zian stood up immediately and shook her hand.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. You came right after I sat down.¡±

    It seemed that the two pretty girls knew Xiao Yan quite well. They waved at her. ¡°Hello, Sister Xiao! Here we are again!¡±

    Xiao Yan nodded with a smile. ¡°Xiao Tian, you look great today. So, do you, A Yun. What¡¯s up? Got a boyfriend?¡±

    Xiao Tian immediately joked around, ¡°That¡¯s right! She got a boyfriend. Look at her! She was keeping it a secret, but we found out anyways! Isn¡¯t that right, sister Xiao?¡±

    Xiao Yanughed. ¡°Ha-ha, okay. Let¡¯s see how many days your love willst.¡±

    A Yun pretended to be mad at Xiao Tian and hit her on the shoulder. She said to Xiao Yan, ¡°I am confident that it willst for at least three months this time.¡±

    Xiao Tian was rubbing her shoulder and saw that Zhang Zian was standing next to them. She asked, ¡°Sister Xiao, who is he? I heard you call him Mr. Manager. Does he own a new beauty salon?¡±

    Xiao Yan smiled at Zhang Zian with an ¡°I am sorry¡± look and said, ¡°Let me introduce him. This is the owner of Amazing Fate Pet Shop. These two are my friends and customers, Xiao Tian and A Yun.¡±

    ¡°Oh, a pet store¡­¡± At first, they were surprised, but then they realized something. ¡°No wonder you have a cute cat like that. Mr. Manager, are you saving the good pets for yourself?¡±

    Zhang Zian was veryfortable with pets and pet lovers. However, since he was in a beauty salon talking to fancydies, he felt shy all of a sudden.

    ¡°Um¡­my store is very small.¡± He was embarrassed.

    Xiao Yan said, ¡°Well, his store might be small now, but the future is very promising!¡±

    ¡°Thank you¡­¡± He felt even more embarrassed.

    Xiao Yan continued, ¡°You are both my long-term customers. Still remember what my salon looked like?¡±

    ¡°How could we forget¡­it was such a small, old salon. You didn¡¯t want to turn on the AC in the summer. One time, I got three bug bites after having my hair done there¡­You still did people¡¯s hair at that time¡­¡± Xiao Tian said before then she sighed. ¡°Sister Xiao, the hairstyles you designed back then would still look good today. I don¡¯t even remember how many years ago it was. I was in high school at the time¡­such precious memories!¡±

    Xiao Yan nodded. ¡°That is right. Looking at a store, you can¡¯t judge it from its current size but have to see if there is something unique and better than other stores in the industry.¡±

    She was half joking and said, ¡°Mr. Manager¡¯s pet store is like that. His store might be small, but I can see something different ¨C I can tell. Ten years from now, who knows how big it will grow!¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay!¡± A Yun covered her face andughed. ¡°Ten years from now I will be old and ugly.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t think you are old and ugly now?¡± Xiao Tian giggled. ¡°You are on your way there.¡±

 Chapter 111: Suggestions and Warnings (1)

    <h4>Chapter 111: Suggestions and Warnings (1)</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The old Chinese saying is so true: Three women are enough for y.

    Xiao Yan, Xiao Tian and A Yun were chattering so happily. Zhang Zian could not add in a single word. The discussion was either too difficult for him to understand or too naughty, so he had to pretend he didn¡¯t understand.

    It was an all-female beauty salon. It was extremely naughty in a man¡¯s mind.

    Xiao Tian and A Yun yed jokes on Zhang Zian from time to time, which embarrassed him to death.

    They were talking in the reception area where many people walked past time to time. Most customers walking by would say hello to Xiao Yan; She remembered almost everyone¡¯s name. She was nodding and smiling at the other customers while still very engaged in the conversation with Xiao Tian and A Yun. Zhang Zian was amazed by how natural it was for her to handle all these people and make everyone one of them feel valued.

    It takes luck to seed. That luck is sometimes in the form of an opportunity. It takes talent and hard-work to turn the opportunity into sess. Like Xiao Yan, if she was only good at what she did and could not handle rtionships with her customers, she would not be as sessful. Zhang Zian felt that today¡¯s trip was worthwhile because he at least learned something from her.

    A man, in which men were barely seen in the salon, and an extremely pretty, yet arrogant cat were all standing in the reception area. It attracted many pedestrians to slow down.

    Women liked small pets, especially cats. A pretty cat with golden fur like Fina was meant to attract gazes.

    Most females, from teenagers to wealthydies in their 50s, all slowed down to look at Fina. Some even started guessing her breed. Of course, no one could figure it out.

    Fina was used to it. People have been admiring her for two thousand years. It wasn¡¯t a big deal to her. Humans SHOULD admire her. But once someone tried to touch her, she showed her teeth and made a fierce noise to scare the girls away. After a while, they realized Fina didn¡¯t really want to hurt them. As long as they gave her some space, they could look at her as much as they wish.

    Many people started taking pictures of Fina. Some even tried various angles to take a selfie with her. Zhang Zian immediately warned those girls about the sh on their cell phone. The sh would make Fina angry.

    There were too many people stuck at the reception area. Some staff members even stopped working and came to look at Fina. That was not good! Xiao Yan then told Zhang Zian, ¡°Mr. Manager, let¡¯s talk in my office.¡±

    Zhang Zian was daydreaming about those girls turning their interests in Fina to him¡­he woke up upon Xiao Yan¡¯s suggestion and said, ¡°Yeah, sure.¡±

    She said to Xiao Tian and A Yun, ¡°It¡¯s time for your appointments. Go enjoy your spa!¡±

    Xiao Yun and A Yun looked at their watches. That was right! They couldn¡¯t help but express their admiration. ¡°Sister Xiao, do you have every customer¡¯s schedule in your head?¡±

    Half joking, Xiao Yan said, ¡°Maybe I cheated and looked before you came?¡±

    Theyughed and went to the spa together.

    ¡°Come on. This way please,¡± Xiao Yan said to Zhang Zian. She also turned around and gave the staff a hard look. The staff all went back to work.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Fina,¡± he said.

    Fina stretched, jumped down from the couch lightly, and gave the receptionist a hard look. It was a powerful enough look that it scared the receptionist to death. She thought the boss was mean enough, but this cat was even worse!

    Fina was with Cleopatra VII for a long time. She had the elegance and majesty from Cleopatra VII. Xiao Yan was nothingpared to the queen from her day.

    There were two elevators in the salon. One was for customers and the other was for employees. Zhang Zian followed Xiaoyan into the employee elevator. Fina also jumped in, curious about this big metal box.

    Xiao Yan simply exined her salon. The first level was for skin brightening, eyebrow art and nail art. There were sometimes weight loss courses. The second level was for the spa and such. The third level was for offices and more private areas. The higher up you went, the more luxurious it got.

    Zhang Zian understood that she meant to tell him not to wander around on the third floor. He might run into a naked woman when he opened a door. Maybe she would have sex with me? Ha-ha; honestly, thatdy might call the police instead.

    µçÌÝÍ£ÔÚÁËÈýÂ¥,ÃÅ¿ªÁË.

    The elevator stopped at the third floor. The door opened.

    The first and second floor both used shiny marble flooring and the third floor used dark red carpets.

    It was really quiet.

    The first floor was kind of noisy. He didn¡¯t know about the second floor. The third floor was extremely quiet, like a five-star hotel. Along the hallway, all the doors had carved flowers on them and were all tightly closed. Some doors had a small badge on the handle. Some didn¡¯t, depending whether or not there were guests inside.

    The elevator was across from the office. Outside the office was a reception area. The receptionist was about 40 years old and very serious looking. When she saw Xiao Yan, she bowed slightly.

    Xiao Yan nodded and walked straight to her office.

    Zhang Zian followed and closed the door.

    ¡°Make yourself at home.¡±

    Behind the door, Xiao Yan looked like any other person. She put down her guard and sophistication and turned into a normal person, just like how she was when she went to the pet store the other day.

    Her Dragon-Li cat, Rainy, wasying on the desk.

    ¡°You might be too embarrassed to ask but I can tell you that my salon only runs legal businesses. Nothing else.¡± She brought out two drinks from the fridge and gave one to Zhang Zian.

    Honestly, he was suspicious. The deeper things hide, the more interesting it gets.

    ¡°I believe you.¡± He took the drink and said, ¡°You have a great business. It is not necessary to do anything illegal.¡±

    Xiao Yan shook her head. ¡°People always want more. You know, VIP customers are only 5% of my entire customer base, but they are 30% of the revenue and 50% of my profit.¡±

    Zhang Zian was listening closely. He knew Xiao Yan was trying to lead him, and that was her experience to sess.

    She had him sit down, and she sat down on the couch across from him.

    ¡°Of course, I know nothing about the pet industry. Otherwise, it would not have taken me so long to find a good ce to bathe Rainy. Since we are both in the 3rd industry, there are simrities between my business and yours.¡± Her voice was soft and peaceful, which made her even more attractive than a normal business woman.

 Chapter 112: Suggestions and Warnings (2)

    <h4>Chapter 112: Suggestions and Warnings (2)</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As soon as Fina came in, Xiao Yan¡¯s Dragen-Li jumped down from her desk and docilely followed Fina. In a new environment, as always, Fina walked around and pickily looked at the room d¨¦cor.

    Xiao Yan smiled looking at Fina and whispered to Zhang Zian, ¡°no wonder there were so many people out there looking at your cat. She is a real beauty! The way she sits is so elegant and proud.¡±

    Zhang Zian exined, ¡°don¡¯t be fooled by her look. She is arrogant and not elegant!¡±

    Fina¡¯s pretty face was her biggest advantage!

    Upon hearing his words, Fina nced at him and then jumped on the couch. Shended right across from Xiao Yan¡¯s chair ¨C the seat saved for the most respectable person in the room in the Chinese culture.

    ¡°What you just said means VIPs bring in the most value to the business?¡± Zhang Zian asked after thinking about Xiao Yan¡¯s words again.

    She nodded slightly, ¡°that¡¯s right. When you talk to the public, of course you tell people all customers are important; however, not all customers are created equal. That¡¯s just how it is,¡± she bent down and stroked her cat, ¡°I love my cat, but in front of yours, she seems to be not as cute anymore.¡±

    Zhang Zian was not sure how to react to that one. He smiled and looked at Fina and Fina gave him back a hard look.

    Xiao Yan didn¡¯t pay attention to the minormunication between him and Fina. She continued, ¡°some people are wealthy and generous. Some are rich but tightfisted. Some are poor and are willing to give, while some are less-fortunate so they are cheap. All businesses want to expand their customer base and turn all four types of people into customers. This really is impossible. In fact, all you need to do is to secure the first type, strive for the second, pay attention to the third and drop the fourth.¡±

    Zhang Zian agreed, ¡°that¡¯s absolutely right. I have the same feeling you spoke my mind. When I took over the pet store I wanted to serve only the high-end customers, not like Stars Pet Chain Supermarket who tries to get every bit of the market.¡±

    Xiao Yan smiled, but she only agreed to some of his ideas, ¡°my salon is a quite sizable local beauty salon. It is nothingpared to Stars Pet Chain Supermarket. Stars Pet could develop into such a huge enterprise. Itsworks, capability and financial ability are all on an exquisite level. However, if it wants to take over the whole pet market¡­unless they have supports from the central government or some superpower corporation, otherwise, I would say it is extremely difficult. Mr. Manager, you have to be careful. They could do things that you never expect to hurt you.¡±

    Zhang Zian was also alert. Stars Pet Chain Supermarket controlled the situation. He could only respond to their attacks.

    Xiao Yan pointed at the private rooms and said, ¡°look, this is what I meant byworks. Ultimately it is thework of people who could help you when you need them. My VIP customers are wives of the wealthy or the higher-level official, and some are the 2nd generation rich. If you keep them happy, they are willing to treat you well. When someone¡¯s trying to attack me, I could use theirwork and power to get out of trouble.¡±

    ¡°Attack you?¡± Zhang Zian could tell there were stories behind those words.

    ¡°Yes,¡± she looked at the night view outside of the window and started telling her story, ¡°you know,petition is just natural in the business world. If you win, someone else must lose. This is a brutal path to sess. If sess is on top of a hill, you are just starting and I am only half way up. At the beginning, you may still see some friendliness from thepetitors. As you get closer to the top people begin to fight against each other and will push thepetitors down the hill whenever they can.¡±

    She turned her eyes back and looked at him in the eyes, ¡°Mr. Manager, you have to remember this. It is easy to deal withpetitions, but you will be vulnerable if someone¡¯s trying to trick you. Most businesses died because of the setups frompetitors! Your situation is much more challenging than what I handled. I only had to deal withpetition from local stores. You are facing a big shark like Stars Pet Chain Supermarket.¡±

    Obviously, Xiao Yan had done her homework before Zhang Zian came. She knew his store was small and growing rapidly. Also, Zhang Zian was providing something unique that any other pet store could notpete. Jealousy frompetitors woulde sooner orter. She wanted to warn him about the attacks in the dark.

    Both Revolutions and doing business are not easy jobs. Some people may not be able to win, but they sure want to try everything to kick out theirpetitors using whatever method they could get a hold of.

    Xiao Yan started her life working in a beauty salon after high school. At first, she worked for someone and then opened up a small salon after a bit. She then slowly grew her little salon to today¡¯s mour Beauty Salon. It took hard work and persistence that most people wouldn¡¯t even understand. Although owning a huge salon like this, she still had quite a bit of debt and debts were nothing new to business owners.

    She was attacked by many people in this long and lonely road to sess.

    Some people would not attack her directly though instead spread rumors so the government agents would not let her go. As soon as they found a small w, her business would go to the end.

    Fortunately, she was an honest person and ran the business in the correct way. That was how she stood her ground in those attacks. Someone even reported her using the salon for prostitution, gambling and drug dealing. Sometimes the police woulde a few times a month¡­that was a time that she was really tired of life. Fortunately, she had her Dragen-Li cat to support her. Otherwise she might¡¯ve given up a long time ago.

    People only paid attention to her sess and ignored her hard work behind it.

    She told Zhang Zian that her store had never done anything illegal because she was too scared of having all the nightmarese true one day and she would lose her business.

    ¡°Mr. Manger, you might feel weird by me wasting time to tell you this. What do I want from you?¡± she once again read Zhang Zian¡¯s mind.

    Zhang Zian nodded and smiled embarrassedly.

    ¡°That¡¯s simple. I think one day you would turn into mywork resource,¡± she was straightforward, ¡°it is better to grow yourwork recourses from the humble time, right?¡±

    Although she didn¡¯t tell Zhang Zian, another reason she told him the story was that she could see in him the younger version of herself, a girl trying to build a beauty kingdom. This girl was still alive deep in her heart.

 Chapter 113: The Membership System

    <h4>Chapter 113: The Membership System</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Xiao Yan started ying with her cat as she finished her speech. She took out a brand-new drinking bowl, put in some fresh mineral water and tried giving it to Fina. She wasn¡¯t sure if Fina was going to drink her water. She noticed that some customer tried to give Fina her leftover water but received a very unpleasant look from her, which was quite embarrassing for the customer.

    Fina smelled it and didn¡¯t drink it.

    Xiao Yan then poured the rest of the bottle into Rainy¡¯s water bowl. She started drinking happily.

    Fina waited for a moment and confirmed that the water was fine to drink. She then started drinking her water.

    This cat was wicked smart! She waited to make sure that the water was safe before taking a sip?! Xiao Yan was extremely amazed.

    Zhang Zian was surprised as well. He would have never imagined that Xiao Yan¡¯s road to sess was that rough. Compared to her, he was truly lucky.

    It was certainly challenging to run a business!

    Xiao Yan sat down on her desk and told him, ¡°Well, let¡¯s take a look at my membership system. That¡¯s what you came here for.¡±

    Zhang Zian walked up next to her and started looking at theputer attentively.

    She exined as she ran through the system. ¡°I purchased this system through a vendor. If you like it, I can connect you with him. The advantage of this system is that it is very flexible and easy to expand. It is very strict when ites to administration ess. This is important when you have more than one store in the future. Also, the system connects directly to your marketing system, so your membership holders will get notifications as soon as you have new stock or promotions.¡±

    She showed him how to add, delete, suspend and upgrade members, start member groups, apply member discounts, set up administrator rights, profit and loss reporting, WeChat marketing tools¡­etc. It was a very powerful and user-friendly system. He was especially interested in the WeChat notification function. If he needed to go somewhere, say, fetching Elfins, he could notify customers toete.

    He was quite impressed, and he trusted that Xiao Yan would not trick him with the system.

    ¡°The price of the system is 20 thousand Yuan. Each extra store costs an additional 10 thousand Yuan. Thepany will take care of the instation, connection, testing, maintenance and upgrades. All you need is aputer and inte. Member cards are an additional cost. Pricing is based on the size of your order.¡±

    Zhang Zian paid full attention and tried to remember everything she said.

    ¡°You probably don¡¯t have to worry about additional stores at this point, so¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, I have a friend who is also interested in the system,¡± he said, ¡°my friend owns a pet clinic that is close to my store. I think it would be great if we could exchange our member¡¯s data. We both install the system. Members in both stores could enjoy benefits from both. However, member deposits and finances of both stores should remain separate. Do you think that sounds feasible?¡±

    Xiao Yan agreed. ¡°That is a great idea!¡±

    The idea of sharing member data was a thought that had juste to his mind. He wasn¡¯t sure if it was even practical. He was afraid that Xiao Yan wouldugh at him, but unexpectedly, she agreed with him. That was the best encouragement!

    Xiao Yan said quickly, ¡°In fact, I had the same idea. My industry is different than yours. I could not find a partner to work with me. Competitors will not work with me either, of course.¡± She smiled. ¡°Your case ispletely different. A pet clinic and a pet store do notpete, but insteadplement each other. My bet is that your idea would totally work. However, when it rtes to revising the system to fit your specific needs, there will be additional costs.¡±

    He nodded. ¡°That¡¯s fine. As long as it is reasonable, I can ept it.¡±

    Xiao Yan said, ¡°I will give you the contact for the IT firm. When you talk to them, mention my name. I don¡¯t think they will charge you an arm and a leg because the big boss¡¯s wife is one of my VIPs.¡±

    They smiled at each other.

    Zhang Zian understood that even though most people thought that this was a male dominated society, the wife¡¯s power was also essential.

    She found the phone number from her cell phone and Zhang Zian saved it in his.

    She reminded him, ¡°Don¡¯t rush into this stuff. Think over the details of your membership system to avoid frequent modification on the software, which would definitely add to your cost. You can get aputer ready though.¡±

    He understood. ¡°I have to talk about the details with my friend. We are still in discrepancy over the discount. She also needs to hire a nurse; otherwise, it would be too much work for her.¡±

    Another question would be how many member cards should he make? How many customers would deposit money and be a member?

    No one could answer those questions before it actually happened.

    Xiao Yan was great, but she could only provide rmendations. He was the one who needed to make the decisions.

    It was gettingte. He felt that he had taken up too much of her time, so he stood up to say goodbye. ¡°Today¡¯s information was very valuable to me. Thank you very much for your support. I have to go. I will carefully think about the details and call thepany.¡±

    Xiao Yan saw him off.

    Fina jumped up from the couch and followed Zhang Zian. Rainy also jumped up and followed.

    When they were waiting for the elevator, she reminded him again, ¡°Don¡¯t rush into a decision. You can wait. My rmendation is to mind the attacks from yourpetitors. I remember being attacked by my enemies. They used to spread all kinds of rumors about my salon. If you need my help, you can call me at anytime. Handle things with great care. I just found a great ce to bathe my cat, I don¡¯t want to lose it!¡±

    She kept reminding him about the enemy¡¯s attack. Zhang Zian knew it was her experience and was highly likely to be what was waiting for him down the road. The attacks were not detectable; he might as well do what he had to do.

    The rule of thumb was to not touch any illegal business.

    Something else came to his mind. He asked, ¡°Sister Xiao, you know a lot of people. Do you know where I can get some good tea that won¡¯t break my bank?¡±

    ¡°Tea?¡± Xiao Yan was surprised, yet a bit disappointed. She had been trying to warn him all night, and all he cared about was enjoying life?! Did she overestimate him?!

    ¡°Sure, I will ask around.¡± Although disappointed, she agreed to help.

    The art of building awork is like spreading seeds on soil. When a seed is nted, no one knows what the oue will be. The seed could die in the soil. However, if just one out of 100 seeds can break the ground and grow into a big tree, then it had been very sessful.

 Chapter 114: The Diorama

    <h4>Chapter 114: The Diorama</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was Sunday morning. Zhang Zian had just finished ying hide-and-seek with Xinghai and was waiting for customers toe. He wasying on his recliner and kept sending WeChat messages. Xinghai continued ying hide-and-seek with the young kittens. Fina wasying on top of the cat tree taking a nap under the sun. Old Time Tea was sitting next to Zhang Zian, curiously watching him y with his cell phone.

    Zhang Zian told Sun Xiaomeng what he had learned about the membership system from Xiao Yan and was waiting for her response.

    Attacks from the enemies¡­

    He remembered the warning from the man that wanted to buy Fina. He didn¡¯t take it seriously because he thought the guy was just trying to scare him into selling Fina. The warning from Xiao Yan really drew his attention. He only knew that the man was the super moderator of Wang Haige BBS and he wasn¡¯t sure what he did for a living in real life. Nheless, he looked like he was pretty well-off. Apparently, he had nothing to do with Xiao Yan. Both of them warned him about attacks from the enemies.

    His parents always taught him to keep a clean mind and live a clean life. He had thought it was just another innocuous generality, but now he realized there had to be a deeper meaning to it. When his parents were alive, he didn¡¯t run the daily operation of the store; his never bothered him with any problems from their business. Maybe they also suffered from enemy attacks¡­he would never be able to find out.

    He looked at his store and tried to put himself in the enemy¡¯s shoes to find a weakness.

    He had all his required licenses ready.

    Drugs and prostitution? Not very possible. Who would do drugs or hire a prostitute in a pet store¡­?

    ¡°My friend, this thing is convenient!¡± Old Time Tea sighed as he was looking at his cell phone. ¡°Is this the legendary technique that can transfer sounds from thousands of miles away?¡±

    Guessing from Old Time Tea¡¯s vest, she could be a cat from the Qing Dynasty or the Republican Period of Chinese history. Just like when Fina first came, she showed great interest in modern technology.

    ¡°A technique that can transfer sounds from thousands of miles away¡­well, that sounds right. It is amon thing now. Even children own cell phones these days,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    Old Time Tea turned her eyes away. There was new construction not far away from the store. The tall and heavy-duty cranes were busy transferring building materials. She was emotional and said, ¡°This is the best time I have ever seen. Look at all the new skyscrapers! Isn¡¯t this the Great Harmony that I have been longing for?¡±

    ¡°The Great Harmony¡­ we are not that far back! We are in the modern, yet beginning stages of socialism. We are far from achieving amunist society.¡± Zhang Zian was embarrassed.

    Old Time Tea was surprised. ¡°To me, this is 100 times better than the golden age of the Qing Dynasty. So, there is a world even better than this?¡±

    ¡°Well, theoretically,¡± Zhang Zian replied affirmatively, ¡°The road to a bright future is always full of struggles.¡±

    ¡°Besides, you can look outside. Even though people¡¯s living standards now are a lot better than in the old days, they are far from being perfect. Some people are still suffering from the cold and hunger. Not everyone can afford an apartment. There is a lot of unfairness and injustice in this world.¡±

    The Great Harmony¡­It mighte true, but Zhang Zian didn¡¯t think he would see it during his lifetime.

    Old Time Tea nodded. ¡°It is too bad that I am old and weak. Otherwise, I would like to travel around China and witness this magnificent era!¡±

    Zhang Zian thought for a second andughed. ¡°Well, that¡¯s easy. If you really want to see the outside world, there is a convenient tool. Just wait!¡±

    He quickly ran upstairs and moved the LCD TV from his parents¡¯ bedroom to downstairs. He also brought down the TV box. Old Time Tea liked the electric nket in the corner. Zhang Zian put the TV and TV box over there. Old Time Tea was curious and wondered what he was doing.

    Zhang Zian powered the TV and turned it on.

    There were pictures and soundsing from the TV. Old Time Tea was again amazed. ¡°What is it? A diorama?¡±

    ¡°A diorama¡­hmmm, more or less. This is a television. It allows you to learn about what is going on around the world without leaving your own house!¡± Zhang Zian tried to adjust the channels. ¡°Look, this is the news channel. This one is the science channel. If you want to know more about the modern world, you can start with these two. Also, this one is the sports channel and after that is the movie channel¡­ you can think of this as a high-end diorama. This one is the Chinese opera channel. Not sure if you¡¯ll like it¡­ This one is the agricultural channel, which will tell you about agricultural stuff and some news.¡±

    Old Time Tea was so attached that she couldn¡¯t even blink her eyes. She agreed, ¡°Hunger breeds discontentment. Agriculture is a big deal that affects people¡¯s lives. It should have its own channel.¡±

    ¡°This is TV drama channel. I don¡¯t rmend it for you. The drama is a whole bunch of bullsh*t! They are too unrealisticpared to real life.¡± Zhang Zian turned back to a local channel. ¡°This is a local channel. It tells you some of the local news in Binhai. Of course, any reports that reflect the negative side of society are screened out by the government. You won¡¯t see them!¡±

    ¡°Look, this is a TV remote. It is very easy to use. You only need to know five buttons. The left button and right button are for changing channels. The power button turns the TV on and off, and finally, the volume up and down button. The other buttons are pretty much not useful. Now I am going to turn up the volume,¡± Zhang Zian exined as he turned up the volume. He didn¡¯t turn it up too much because he didn¡¯t want to wake Fina.

    Remotes for older TV¡¯s were quiteplicated, but the developer had simplified it a lot so that older people could learn it in a snap. After exining a few times, Old Time Tea understood the operation. She tried changing channels using her paws. At first, she wasn¡¯t good at it, but after a while, she started having fun.

    There were too many TV stations and it was difficult for Old Time Tea to remember them all. It didn¡¯t really matter though, because every station was new to her.

    At this time, three people appeared at the door. They were Zhao Qi, Liu Wenying and Liu¡¯s daughter, Yue Yue.

    ¡°Zhang Zian, we are here to fight for our rights!¡± Zhao Qi was straightforward.

 Chapter 115: The Pet Food Problem

    <h4>Chapter 115: The Pet Food Problem</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian felt quite confused and innocent. He looked at Zhao Qi and Liu Wenying, who was standing behind her.

    ¡°What is going on?¡± he asked.

    They both brought their cat bags. Apparently, they brought the British shorthair and the Siamese cat.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why do other people¡¯s cats know stunts but ours don¡¯t? Are you ying tricks on us or something?¡± Zhao Qi was angry, ¡°I thought your cats were fine and I told everybody about your store. Why did you trick us?¡±

    When Zhao Qi found out that other people¡¯s cats from Amazing Fate Pet Shop knew stunts and hers didn¡¯t, she went to look at Liu Wenying¡¯s cat immediately. Liu Wenying¡¯s cat didn¡¯t know tricks either. Zhao Qi could not stand being taken advantage of, so she came with Liu to fight for their rights.

    Liu Wenying was much older; thus, she was also wiser. First off, she wasn¡¯t sure if the video online was reliable. Even if it was true, they couldn¡¯t really do anything because the owner didn¡¯t im that the cats knew stunts. If he did im that, then they should fight for their rights. In their case, they couldn¡¯t really say that Zhang Zian tricked them.

    Zhao Qi understood, but she wasn¡¯t happy. If everybody else¡¯s cats knew stunts, then hers should know them as well. Although Liu Wenying didn¡¯t want toe, she came with Zhao Qi anyways to support her.

    When Liu Wenying bought the Siamese cat, Zhang Zian provided some very helpful suggestions. Her daughter, Yue Yue, liked it. Honestly, if she were to switch cats, her daughter may not like it. As a result, even though she came with Zhao Qi, she didn¡¯t say a word.

    Zhang Zian understood immediately.

    He exined, ¡°I didn¡¯t y any tricks on you. Your cats don¡¯t know stunts because I hadn¡¯t trained them yet. Later, I started training the cats and the price has gone up since then!¡±

    ¡°What¡­¡± Zhao Qi opened her eyes surprisingly. ¡°The price has gone up?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. The price on everything is going up: grocery, housing¡­ The price of my cats has gone up because they have learned new skills. Of course, if you are not satisfied, you can return your cat. Honestly, you are way past the return warranty, but I will do it because customers are king.¡±

    Zhao Qi couldn¡¯t say another word. She had prepared a huge speech to use the excuse of returning the cat to threaten him, but she didn¡¯t expect Zhang Zian to bring that up on his own resourcefulness.

    What should she do? Return the cat?

    She didn¡¯t want to.

    To her, Lan Lan was more than a piece of merchandise.

    Every morning, Lan Lan woke her up by licking her face. When she went off to work, Lan Lan was reluctant to let her go. When she had a bad day at work, she woulde home, hold Lan Lan in her arms and talk about her day. Lan Lan had be her family. Even if she exchanged her for another cat that knew stunts, that cat wouldn¡¯t be Lan Lan anymore.

    Liu Wenying sighed and dragged her from behind, which meant to have her leave.

    Zhang Zian saw that they had quieted down, then said, ¡°Maybe I can make it up to you!¡±

    ¡°How?¡± Zhao Qi asked.

    ¡°We are going to establish a membership system. If you deposit and be a member, then I can teach your cat stunts.¡±

    The offer furthered thedies¡¯ expectations. They looked at the store that was quite simple and old. What if he collected member¡¯s deposits and ran away with them?

    ¡°Ms. Liu, I remember rmending to you the Spirit Curing Pet Clinic on the north side of the city?¡±

    Lie Wenying nodded. ¡°I have taken my cat there once for repellents.¡±

    ¡°Good. My store is going to partner with that one. If you be a member, you are also entitled to the discounts in her clinic for repellents, vines, checkups, illness treatment, and etc¡­¡±

    Liu Wenying was interested. Unlike Zhao Qi¡¯s cat, which always stayed at home, she always took her daughter and the cat for a walk outside. For Yue Yue¡¯s safety, she would like to take the cat for repellents often.

    ¡°You can use the deposit to buy cat food and bathe your cat. It won¡¯t be wasted. The training of your cat will be free of charge,¡± he added.

    Zhao Qi shook her head. ¡°Nope, I bought cat food from overseas. It is better than yours.¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Well, I am not sure about that. Many overseas shopping websites have counterfeit products.¡±

    She didn¡¯t take him seriously. ¡°I only purchase from the best rated supplier. It couldn¡¯t be counterfeit. You think other people are all stupid? I don¡¯t trust Chinese-made products, so I don¡¯t let Lan Lan eat them.¡±

    Zhang Zian exined, ¡°Unless your cat food was directly shipped from overseas, it is very likely to be fake. Profits from selling fakely imported cat food is extremely high, so counterfeits are abundant.¡±

    The pet food market was a mess. Chinese-made pet food was not trustworthy. Counterfeited imported pet food was verymon.

    From a legal aspect, there wasn¡¯t any regtion for pet food manufacturing. This didn¡¯t help either.

    Some of Zhao Qi¡¯s clothes and shoes were bought from overseas shopping websites. The shops were all good at marketing. Some people said that cats love imported cat food because attractant was added to the cat food. This was very scary to her. However, she couldn¡¯t do any better than buying from the most reputable stores.

    She was stubborn. ¡°Very well. I won¡¯t feed Lan Lan Chinese-made cat food, no matter what. I know it is better to buy cat food directly from stores overseas. Cat food is heavy and it is too expensive to ship. Also, if customs found out, they would throw away the cat food. I only have one cat; I couldn¡¯t buy too many and have them expire.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, Zhang Zian sensed an opportunity. If he could purchase cat food and dog food in bulk from overseas and sell them to the customers for a reasonable price, many people would join his membership system!

    It was not that easy to find a good source of product. Large suppliers would not even care to do business with him. Purchasing from eBay was not ideal either, because he could not control the quality. He didn¡¯t have any rtives overseas. Some of his friends from college who currently lived in foreign countries might be too busy with their lives.

    The reliability and sustainability of the source was essential. Korean and Japanese cosmetics were selling great online. However, a normal person could not get into this business easily because it was difficult to find a source and very challenging to go through customs.

    After thinking for a bit, he was not getting anywhere. He asked Zhao Qi, ¡°If we bought real, imported cat food in bulk, we could cut costs in shipping and handling. Then, if I sell the cat food at a reasonable price, say, the same or lower than your online supplier, would you be our member?¡±

    Zhao Qi was surprised. She asked immediately, ¡°How would you prove that your product is not counterfeit?¡±

    ¡°Our reputation is the best proof. Also, if it became our new offering, I will have the importation and shipping documentation. You don¡¯t have to worry about it.¡±

    Zhao Qi said, ¡°If it is real and cheaper than buying from online, then it is great!¡± Zhao Qi said.

    ¡°Okay, deal!¡¯

    ¡°Do you have a source for pet food?¡± Zhao Qi questioned him even though he looked confident.

    ¡°Well, not at this point,¡± Zhang Zian was honest.

    ¡°Then stop bullsh*tting!¡± Zhao Qi was disappointed.

    Zhang Zianughed, ¡°Well, I am not. Not having a supplier currently doesn¡¯t mean I couldn¡¯t get one quickly. I am in the industry ,so I am well more aware of the pet food supply chain than you. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±

    Liu Wenying also said, ¡°I think making our own cat food is the best solution. At least we know it is safe.¡±

    Zhao Qi said, ¡°I know. I am too busy though. I don¡¯t even have time to cook for myself.¡±

    Liu Wenying was helpful. ¡°Well, why didn¡¯t you tell me? I am busy during the week but I can make cat food on weekends. I will make more for your cat next time.¡±

    Zhao Qi was grateful for Liu¡¯s offer. She knew it wouldn¡¯t be a long-term solution because it was too much work for Liu to cook for both cats.

 Chapter 116: The Returned Samoya

    <h4>Chapter 116: The Returned Samoya</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian made a concession. ¡°How about this? You both are my first customers. I will give you both free memberships. You don¡¯t have to deposit any money and I will teach your cats stunts. This is a ime offer!¡±

    Zhao Qi was happy about Zhang Zian¡¯s offer, but she didn¡¯t show it. ¡°Are you serious?¡±

    ¡°Of course! She could be the witness.¡± Zhang Zian pointed at Liu Wenying.

    Zhao Qi grabbed Liu Wenying immediately and said, ¡°Did you hear?¡±

    Liu Wenying forced a smile. These young people were hard to understand. Sometimes they couldn¡¯t care less about how much they spent, while sometimes they could also be nickel-and-diming all day long.

    Zhao Qi got what she wanted, so she epted it.

    ¡°Okay. Liu Wenying is the witness of our conversation. I will believe you for once.¡±

    Zhang Zian had her write down her information. ¡°Write down your name, cell phone or WeChat number. I will let you know once our system is officially running, and you can thene pick up your member card.¡± He then looked at Liu Wenying and said, ¡°Please feel free to join.¡±

    Zhao Qi and Liu Wenying wrote down their contact in a notepad.

    ¡°When are you going to teach Lan Lan stunts?¡± Zhao Qi asked as soon as she finished writing.

    ¡°I am nning new stunts. I will let you know when I am ready. You maye back. Then, your cat could learn two stunts at a time. Great deal, huh?¡±

    Zhao Qi was speechless. Liu Wenying was satisfied. ¡°That sounds great! Zhao Qi, let¡¯s go! Mr. Manager has to work.¡±

    Zhang Zian gave them a receipt.

    When they first arrived, Liu Wenying let Yue Yue y on her own so she could talk to Zhang Zian. She was standing right at the door so she wouldn¡¯t worry about Yue Yue walking out of the store. It was now time to go, so she yelled, ¡°Yue Yue, where are you? We have to go!¡±

    Yue Yue replied with her young voice, ¡°Mom, I am watching TV with a cat.¡±

    Zhang Zian turned around and saw Yue Yue squatting next to Old Time Tea. They were enjoying a cartoon show together. When he looked closer, they were watching the kids¡¯ channel.

    Zhao Qi and Liu Wenying walked over curiously.

    Liu Wenying couldn¡¯t help butugh. ¡°What an interesting cat! It is even wearing a vest and a bamboo hat, just like a person!¡±

    Zhao Qi stared at Zhang Zian. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? Are you from the Qing Dynasty? People dress up their cats with modern clothing, but you are putting a vest on your cat?!¡±

    That was out of Zhang Zian¡¯s expectation. He fought back just the way he had always done. ¡°Well, now you know. In fact, my full name is Zhang Aisin-Gioro Zian.¡±

    Zhao Qi said, ¡°¡­I will believe you if you have a long braid. Why don¡¯t you show us your family tree and your ID?¡±

    Zhang Zianughed. ¡°Well, she likes wearing a vest. It isfortable. You are not her. You don¡¯t know if it feels good.¡±

    ¡°How about that bamboo hat?¡±

    ¡°To prevent her from being hit by stuff falling from above!¡±

    ¡°Bullsh*t!¡±

    Zhao Qi didn¡¯t believe him. However, it was his cat and it was none of her business.

    ¡°Come on, Yue Yue. Let¡¯s go home!¡± Liu Wenying waved at her daughter and then said goodbye to Zhang Zian. ¡°Mr. Manager, we are leaving now. Thank you.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± he said, ¡°Come back soon!¡±

    ¡°Of course he wants us toe back¡­¡± Zhao Qi wasn¡¯tpletely happy because she felt like she was tricked by Zhang Zian again.

    As he sent them out the door, two men came running up carrying a dog in their arms. They were approaching the Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

    As the two men came closer, Zhang Zian recognized them. They were Tiny Chubby Tiger and the middle-aged man who bought the first Samoya from his store. The middle-aged man was holding the dog, looking p*ssed off. Still wearing his school uniform, Tiny Chubby Tiger was crying as he ran and kept wiping off his mucus on the uniform.

    Zhang Zian knew the Samoya was sick because he looked extremely tired.

    ¡°Look at him! What a profiteer! He sold us a sick dog!¡± The middle-aged man started yelling when he was 30 feet away.

    Zhao Qi dragged Liu Wenying behind and winked at her. She wanted to stay and find out what was going on.

    Liu Wenying hid Yue Yue behind her. She wasn¡¯t going to stay for the scene because she was worried that her daughter would get hurt if those men started fighting. Curiosity won; she stayed.

    The twodies were standing in the corner with Yue Yue and their cats. They should be safe there.

    The middle-aged man looked mad as hell. Zhang Zian knew he had to take responsibility in stopping the situation from getting worse.

    Zhang Zian raised his voice and said, ¡°Well, don¡¯t worry. Take the dog inside. If it is our fault, I will give you a full refund.¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s calm attitude might have eased the tension. The middle-aged man¡¯s face moved slightly and he didn¡¯t say anything. He constrained his anger and walked inside. As he walked in, he hit Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder on purpose.

    Finazily stretched her back and stood up from the cat tree.

    Old Time Tea turned his head, looked at her, then focused back on the TV.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t get mad at the middle-aged man. He cleared the cashier¡¯s desk, put some old papers on top and had the many down the dog.

    Tiny Chubby Tiger cried, ¡°Is Ball going to live? I don¡¯t want him to die¡­¡± He kept weeping, ¡°Mr. Manager, please save him. Please save him!¡±

    Although not a vet, Zhang Zian had seen enough sick pets through the years.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! He will be fine,¡± he assured Tiny Chubby Tiger.

    Although tired looking, the Samoya¡¯s eyes were still sharp; therefore, Zhang Zian knew he was fine. He first sniffed Samoyas mouth. There wasn¡¯t any odor. He knew it was not the most fatal illness ¨C acute food poisoning, which coulde from any food he ate when he was outside.

    ¡°What are the symptoms?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Mr. Manager, when I bought this dog, you said he had all the vines, right? Now he is vomiting and pooping. My friend told me that you tricked me. This dog was not vinated. He might have gotten CPV!¡± The middle-aged man¡¯s eyes popped out. He was talking extremely fast.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! It is not infectious!¡± Zhang Zian looked him in the eyes. ¡°Honestly, if the dog got CPV, not only will you get your money back, but I¡¯ll get mine back too. I will not let the breeding base go if they tricked me. Just rx and tell me what happened.¡±

    He checked Samoya¡¯s bottom and noticed some loose stools. The color looked okay, so it shouldn¡¯t be serious.

    He then felt Samoya¡¯s belly and knew what happened.

 Chapter 117: The Real Cause

    <h4>Chapter 117: The Real Cause</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°When did he start all the symptoms?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°About one or two hours ago!¡± The middle-aged man replied.

    Zhang Zian thought for a minute, counted the time and asked, ¡°What did you feed him this morning?¡±

    ¡°Same as normal. Fried rice with egg and sausages. There were also some vegetables in there.¡±

    ¡°How much did you feed him?¡±

    ¡°One bowl.¡±

    ¡°How big was the bowl?¡±

    The man showed him in the air. It was a big bowl, about twice as big as a normal sized bowl.

    ¡°Did he eat anything else?¡±

    ¡°Nope,¡± the man spoke affirmatively.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Yes, I am sure! I feed him that every day. He likes it!¡± The man became frustrated again. He thought Zhang Zian was going to y tricks on him.

    ¡°Egg, sausages and rice¡­ were they all good?¡±

    ¡°Bullsh*t! We all ate it. You think we are stupid or something?¡± The man started yelling.

    ¡°Calm down, Sir. I have to know all the details to help you,¡± Zhang Zian remained peaceful.

    He turned his eyes and saw that Tiny Chubby Tiger was trying to say something and stopped. He looked like he was afraid his dad would get mad at him once he told the truth. Zhang Zian bent down and said to Tiny Chubby Tiger nicely, ¡°Tell me, did Ball eat something else? If you want to save him, you have to tell the truth.¡±

    The middle-aged man¡¯s eyebrows tightened. He was about to explode, but then he saw that very familiar face. When Tiny Chubby Tiger failed his tests and didn¡¯t want to tell his father, this face came up. The father knew immediately something was wrong. ¡°Did you feed him after breakfast?¡±

    Tiny Chubby Tiger stopped crying and started sobbing as soon as his father yelled at him. ¡°I¡­I was eating the meat crackers grandma gave me¡­and Ball wanted some, so I gave him a few.¡±

    The man continued questioning, ¡°How many did you give him?¡±

    Tiny Chubby Tiger looked at his dad and murmured, ¡°Just¡­just a few¡­¡±

    ¡°A few¡­ How many is ¡®a few¡¯? Just tell me already!¡± The man almost choked with rage, yelling.

    As a mother, Liu Wenying could not stand the way the man was talking to his son anymore. She wasn¡¯t going to get herself in trouble, but she simply could not stand this father. She handed Yue Yue to Zhao Qi and stepped up. ¡°Hey! Stay calm! There is no need to scare your kid. What a jerk! Look¡­ your kid is too scared to talk now.¡±

    The man was even more angry upon hearing Liu¡¯s words. He nced at her. ¡°This is my way to teach my kid. Back off!¡±

    ¡°You¡­you¡­¡± Liu foamed at the mouth.

    Zhao Qi dragged her from behind. She wanted Liu to stay away from this trouble. This was Zhang Zian¡¯s responsibility. He should take care of it. She got her cell phone ready in case she needed to call the police.

    ¡°Calm down, everyone,¡± Zhang Zian interrupted and separated them, ¡°The emergency is to save Ball, not to discuss how to teach children.¡±

    He squatted down, put his hand on Tiny Chubby Tiger¡¯s shoulder, ¡°Buddy, you have to tell me what you fed him and how much. If you don¡¯t tell the truth, we may not be able to save Ball, and he might be sick all his life if we miss the best time to save him.¡±

    Tiny Chubby Tiger looked at his father, then looked at the Samoya. He bowed his head down quietly.

    ¡°I fed him¡­about¡­one¡­¡± Tiny Chubby Tiger was still hesitating.

    ¡°Did you feed him one piece?¡± the man asked.

    ¡°I fed him¡­about one half¡­¡±

    The man¡¯s eyes popped out again, ¡°You two finished over three pounds of crackers?!¡±

    Tiny Chubby Tiger stepped back and nodded.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t hungry at breakfast so I didn¡¯t eat much¡­then I got hungry so I ate the crackers¡­¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t eat breakfast because you wanted to eat those crackers?!¡± The father knew his son very well. Whenever he got a new snack, he could eat it in one sitting. His wife wouldn¡¯t let the kid keep eating, so Tiny Chubby Tiger found a way to get around that: skip the real meals and eat snacks instead!

    The problem was that the Samoya had eaten a full breakfast that morning.

    Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Did he drink some water after he ate?¡±

    Tiny Chubby Tiger nodded.

    ¡°Anything else?¡±

    ¡°There was¡­. also, an apple¡­¡±

    Everyone was silent at this point. That was too much freaking food for a dog!

    ¡°Well, I think it is clear now,¡± Zhang Zian said, ¡°He ate too much and got sick.¡±

    The middle-aged man thought that could be possible, but he didn¡¯tpletely trust Zhang Zian. ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    Zhang Zian pointed at the dog¡¯s belly. ¡°Come feel it. Be gentle. Here, thest rib.¡±

    Tiny Chubby Tiger wanted to touch the dog but was pushed away by his father.

    The man reached out his hand.

    Zhang Zian reminded again, ¡°Be gentle. A dog¡¯sst rib is very small and soft. He is still a puppy. If you aren¡¯t careful, you might break his rib.¡±

    The man touched the spot Zhang Zian pointed out.

    ¡°If you want to know whether a dog is full, feel that spot after feeding. If you can feel his stomach at thest rib, that means he is full. You should stop feeding. Look how big his stomach has be. The breakfast you gave him was big enough. He then ate crackers and then drank water. The crackers expanded as soon as the water hit the stomach. He is too young for all that food.¡±

    The man could tell the dog¡¯s stomach was huge. No wonder he had gotten so sick.

    ¡°Stupid kid! Look at what you did! Trouble maker!¡±

    The man got hot under the cor, raised his hand and was about to hit Tiny Chubby Tiger, but then gave in.

    Tiny Chubby Tiger hid behind Zhang Zian, looking at his father as if he made a huge mistake.

    Zhang Zian said to Tiny Chubby Tiger, ¡°Don¡¯t feed him too much next time. Give him some medicine and he should be fine tomorrow. Don¡¯t feed him anymore today.¡±

    ¡°I am so sorry about everything, Mr. Manager. I was so rude. Please ept my apologies!¡± The man was embarrassed, especially with Zhao Qi and Liu Wenying there.

 Chapter 118: A Naughty Kid

    <h4>Chapter 118: A Naughty Kid</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Liu Wenying started to scold the man as soon as she got a chance, ¡°Hey! You! You have to change the way you talk to your kid. Why didn¡¯t he tell you the truth? He was too scared of you! He couldn¡¯t even talk when you got mad. Fortunately, it wasn¡¯t anything serious this time and Mr. Manager helped you solve the problem. What if something worse happens next time?¡±

    The man was in the wrong, so he didn¡¯t say anything back.

    ¡°I am so sorry, Mr. Manager. Thisdy is right. I am short-tempered. Toote to change it now. Oh, right¡­ Mr. Manager, can I get some medicine from you?¡±

    Liu Wenying said, ¡°It is never toote!¡±

    Zhang Zian had some normal medicines but he could not sell them because he was not a vet. If he sold pet medicine without a license, it could be very troublesome if someone found out. After the talk with Xiao Yan, he was being extremely careful.

    ¡°Head north from here. In about 1000 feet, there is a ce called Spirit Curing Pet Clinic. The owner is my friend. She is a licensed vet. Take your dog there and tell her what happened. She will know immediately. It should be cheap,¡± he said as he pointed north.

    ¡°You can get it for less online,¡± Zhao Qi put her cell phone away as the problem was solved.

    Zhang Zian stared at her. ¡°That will take too long to get here.¡±

    The man felt that he waspletely losing his face so he rushed to get out, ¡°Okay. I will get some medicine from there. You are right. Buying it online takes too long. Son, let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°To the north, right?¡± He picked up the Samoya, walked a few steps and came back to confirm.

    ¡°Yes! It is about 1000 feet away. There is a big sign that says Spirit Curing Pet Clinic,¡± Liu answered on behalf of Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Okay. Thank you. I am leaving now,¡± the man felt at ease as he picked up the dog and left.

    Zhang Zian said to Tiny Chubby Tiger, ¡°Well, stop eating snacks. You won¡¯t get a girlfriend if you get too big!¡±

    Tiny Chubby Tiger saw that the problem was resolved, he wiped his mucus and said, ¡°I have a girlfriend. It has nothing to do with figure. Mr. Manager, you are skinny and you can¡¯t get a girlfriend yourself!¡± Upon saying that, he followed his dad out of the store.

    Holy sh*t!

    What a naughty kid!

    Zhang Zian froze. His was sad and humiliated.

    ¡°Ha-ha¡­¡±

    Looking at Zhang Zian¡¯s face, Zhao Qi and Liu Wenying both couldn¡¯t stopughing. Theyughed so hard that their bellies hurt. Yue Yue didn¡¯t know what was going on. She saw her momughing so hard that she startedughing too.

    ¡°Oh no! Today was way more fun than I anticipated,¡± Zhao Qi wiped herughing tears.

    ¡°I know! This is so funny! I feel like I am 10 years younger!¡± Liu continuedughing as she spoke. She put her thumbs up to Zhang Zian. ¡°Mr. Manager, you are very professional. I admire you for that. Look, I am almost 40 years old and I don¡¯t feel this way often. When ites to pets, you are the best!¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­well¡­ that is just mymon sense. If I don¡¯t know this kind of basic stuff then I don¡¯t deserve to be in the industry¡­?¡± Zhang Zian exaggerated the fact to hide his embarrassment. However, Zhao Qi didn¡¯t understand his humor, so heughed at himself. ¡°You should¡¯ve picked on me.¡±

    Zhao Qi nced at him and didn¡¯t do anything.

    ¡°Ah¡­I really don¡¯t understand you young kids¡­ Oh, regarding checking the rib on a dog, does it apply to all dogs? My coworkers and friends have dogs at home. Maybe I can show off sometime. Ha-ha¡­¡± Liu was interested.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Zhang Zian thought for a second, ¡°I haven¡¯t seen all kinds of dogs myself¡­ I guess, it should work on all dogs, besides the super huge or tiny ones.¡±

    ¡°Perfect! As long as it applies to most dogs!¡± Liu Wenying was thrilled.

    Zhao Qi didn¡¯t say a word because at this point she really had nothing to say. She knew Zhang Zian knew a lot about pets and she would not be able to take advantage of him.

    ¡°We are leaving for real this time. Come here, Yue Yue. Say goodbye to Mr. Manager,¡± Liu said holding her daughter¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Goodbye, Uncle Manager!¡± Yue Yue said as she waved at Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian winked at her, ¡°Don¡¯t call me Uncle Manager. Call me Brother Manager. Brother is always 18 years old.¡±

    Yue Yue was confused. She looked at her mom for help.

    Liuughed. She left with Yue Yue and her cat.

    Zhao Qi still was unhappy. She wanted to give Zhang Zian the middle finger but she left with Liu Wenying.

    Problem solved! Zhang Zian returned to the store andy down on his recliner, hoping a customer would show up.

    Fina jumped to another cat tree. The first one was in the shade, so she switched to one that was under the sun. Xinghai came back down to y hide and seek with the kittens after everyone left.

    ¡°You did great, buddy.¡± Old Time Tea moved her eyes from the TV show Naughty Blue Cat With 3000 Questions to turn her head and praise Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Well, you are too kind.¡±

    Zhang Zian had to behave in front of the benevolent and righteous cat.

    ¡°It is not easy for a young fellow like yourself to be so patient. There is a hidden gem inside of you. Facing an angry person, the best thing is keep calm and go on. Sometimes, your peace and wisdom may change the angry man¡¯s understanding. Compromise will make a conflict much easier to resolve.¡±

    Zhang Zian listened closely.

    ¡°You are right. My parents always told me not to bully my ssmates. If someone bullied me, never start a fight. I have to think about whether I did something wrong first. If I did, I had to make it right and ask for forgiveness. If I wasn¡¯t wrong, I should report to the teacher and ask the teacher to resolve the problem.¡±

    ¡°Just a bit of encouragement.¡± Old Time Tea smiled. ¡°Your father was a good guy. He taught you well. It is a pity I never met him.¡±

    Old Time Tea returned to watching her show after she finished. She was having lots of fun. Zhang Zian rxed andid back down on the recliner. He felt like he was hanging out with a respectable old gentleman. This made him nervous.

    He raised his head and saw Fina looking at him with contempt. She looked like she was saying, ¡°What a fake dork!¡±

    Zhang Zian responded to her with his eyes, ¡°I am not faking. I am just showing care to the elderly. You are the untruthful cat!¡±

 Chapter 119: Divine!

    <h4>Chapter 119: Divine!</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was getting dark.

    Zhang Zian watched the clock. It was past 5 o¡¯clock.

    It was almost peak hour for people to go home from work. More and more people were walking on the street. At this time, most people were in a hurry to get home and seldom would stop for a pet. The wind felt good in the morning, but as it got dark, it started to get cold. As the wind blew through the trees, the rustling leaves gave people an eerie and depressing feeling.

    It wasn¡¯t too dark yet. No customer was in the store. Zhang Zian turned on the lights outside of the store, but not the ones inside. The ¡°Amazing Fate Pet Shop¡± sign was lit up as well. He was hoping the pedestrians would notice the sign and remember the store.

    This was a boring time for him. No customers. The two followers of his did not arrive either.

    Fina was taking a nap on the tallest cat tree. Her tail was hanging and whipping from time to time just like a bell in an old clock, or a magician¡¯s watch. Zhang Zian started to feel tired just watching her tail whip.

    Old Time Tea was still having fun watching TV. The light from the screen lit her beard up. Old Time Tea was just like Zhang Zian when he was little. She moved her body from time to time, wanting to jump into the TV and be part of the show.

    Zhang Zian fell asleep for a second. His head suddenly jerked down and he was awake.

    I can¡¯t fall asleep like this. I will get sick.

    He wiped his face and turned his eyes to look outside.

    Xinghai was also yawning. The kittens were not as energetic as her, so they couldn¡¯t keep up after ying hide-and-seek for just a little while.

    ¡°Xinghai, do you want to y?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Hide-and-seek? Yeah! Xinghai wants to y hide-and-seek!¡± Xinghai got excited.

    ¡°Okay! Let me warm up first!¡± He stood up from the recliner, stretched his back, and moved around. Although he knew warming up wouldn¡¯t help him beat Xinghai, it was better to warm up so he wouldn¡¯t hurt himself easily during the game.

    Zhang Zian found a wall and said, ¡°I will start counting now. You¡¯d better hide yourself, otherwise I am going to win this time¡­¡±

    Bullsh*t!

    Xinghai standing right behind him and said, ¡°Zian won¡¯t beat Xinghai.¡±

    Xinghai¡¯s heart was always pure. She always told the truth, which sometimes was quite hurtful.

    ¡°Okay. I am going to punish you by counting fast! One, two, three¡­¡± He was counting quickly, only leaving half a second between the numbers.

    ¡°Oh no! Zian is tricky!¡± Xinghai¡¯s voice faded.

    ¡°Four, five, six¡­adults can y tricks just like kids can whine¡­seven, eight, nine¡­¡± Zhang Zian continued counting. What a thick-skinned person!

    When he finished counting to 100, he turned around. Xinghai was gone.

    Fina was not interested in childish games like this at all, so she kept napping.

    Old Time Tea stared at the second floor. He looked like he had something to tell.

    ¡°What¡¯s up, Miss Tea?¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t search for Xinghai.

    Old Time Teaughed, ¡°That kid¡¯s name is Xinghai, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhang Zian was too embarrassed to tell that he gave her that name.

    Old Time Tea wiped her beard with her front paw, and spoke with her eyes half closed, ¡°That kid is good.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± He knew Xinghai came with a deep background, but he wasn¡¯t sure how Old Time Tea found out.

    Old Time Tea turned around, staring at the stairwell. ¡°I am old but I am still sharp. That kid disappeared within seconds as you started counting. Even I could not follow her movements. That speed¡­. was just phenomenal!¡±

    ¡°Oh, no¡­ You are not old at all. If you take good care of yourself, you will live for decades¡­¡± Zhang Zian was being nice.

    ¡°Well, thank you.¡± Old Time Tea smiled.

    ¡°In reference to Xinghai¡­¡± Zhang Zian nced at the stairwell, ¡°She is a very special kid. It is not that you are too old to follow her movements. Even the most advanced technology could not capture it.¡±

    ¡°Oh, really?¡± Old Time Tea nodded, ¡°That speed is divine! She disappeared in a blink, only leaving three shadows. The shadows were behind you as you turned around, at the bottom and on top of the stairs.¡±

    Zhang Zian was surprised!

    He was not amazed at Xinghai¡¯s speed because he already knew. He was surprised that Old Time Tea could capture the three shadows. It was amazing!

    It was not that Xinghai was detected by Old Time Tea, but Old Time Tea separated Xinghai from the quantum status.

    It was a profound theory which was tooplicated to exin. Honestly, Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t sure if he understood it enough to exin to Old Time Tea. He might confuse her instead of making it clear. Not to mention, Old Time Tea was a cat from ancient times, which would make it even harder to understand modern theories.

    There is a saying ¨C People who im that they know quantum physics are all liars ¨C from The Hottie Manager¡¯s own words

    ¡°Miss Tea, look at you! I bet you are not old just by how sharp your eyes are!¡± He gave Old Time Tea a serious praise.

    Honestly, he took a peek several times when he was counting. He wanted to win, at least once! However, even if he took a peek, he could not tell how Xinghai moved. Old Time Tea could tell immediately¡­ All and all this contributed to his conclusion about Old Time Tea ¨C She was a real observer, a very powerful one!

    That was not fun. I am not even as good as a cat!

    Zhang Zian was terrified. He realized that he was at the lowest level of the food chain! Xinghai, Fina, Old Time Tea¡­he was only a bit better than those puppies and kittens.

    Wait a minute! He suddenly thought, ¡°I am better than Wang Qian and Li Kun, two waste-picking machines!¡±

    He felt much better when he thought of that.

    The Elfins are magnificent because they are blessed by spirits. If I could get that, I might be even better than them. Zhang Zian¡¯s confidence all came back.

    However, he was only an ordinary man with no followers.

    Wait! Wang Qian and Li Kun followed him without a second thought! But they are only two crazy college kids¡­

    I will just stop here. Those thoughts hurt me!

    He yelled upstairs, ¡°Xinghai, here Ie!¡± He then ran upstairs quickly.

    The result was not surprising. He searched for a while upstairs and couldn¡¯t find anything.

    When he came back down, Xinghai was sitting in the middle of the store.

    ¡°I lost!¡± He was low. ¡°I want a rematch! One more game?¡±

    He thought Xinghai would agree immediately, but she was watching the night in the street. Her eyes were shiny.

 Chapter 120: The Desired Benevolence

    <h4>Chapter 120: The Desired Benevolence</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Not far north of Amazing Fate Pet Shop, there was Zhong Hua Road bus station.

    The No. 39 bus slowly drove close to the station and stopped. Both doors opened at the same time. The crowd who had been waiting for the bus immediately rushed to the front door. From the back, ady got off the bus with a little boy.

    When there were no more people getting on or off the bus, the bus driver pushed a button. The doors closed. The bus drove out of the station and headed towards the next stop.

    Thedy was about thirty years old. She looked quite young. By the way she dressed and the fact that she took the bus, one would suspect she came from a normal family.

    Her name was Gu Le. She had just taken her son back from his friend¡¯s birthday party and was about to head home. Zhong Hua Road stop was the closest station to her home. She had to walk rtively far from there to get home.

    The little boy, Yi Le, pursed his lips and walked reluctantly. He didn¡¯t look too happy. Gu Le had to drag him along.

    He should¡¯ve been very happy after the birthday party. What had upset him?

    The birthday party was held in a hotel. Everyone had fun. The food was great. The birthday cake was so good that the kids ate it all. All the kids were well-fed. As the party approached the end, the birthday boy casually asked Yi Le, ¡°Next week is your birthday. How about we have a party here again?¡± Yi Le agreed in front of everyone without thinking. ¡°Sure! Why not!¡±

    It was an awkward moment for Gu Le. A meal like this would cost at least a few thousand Yuan in this fancy hotel. They didn¡¯t have much extra money after paying their mortgage and they were trying to save up for a car. An extra expense like this didn¡¯t help. As a result, she said, ¡°Let¡¯s invite your friends to our house for the party. I will make some yummy food for you guys!¡± All of the other parents were very understanding, including the birthday boy¡¯s parents. They all agreed to this idea. However, Yi Le felt that his mom lost his face, so he was grumpy since they left the hotel.

    Gu Le tried tofort him. However, the harder she tried tofort him, the grumpier Yi Le became. Gu Le didn¡¯t really take it seriously. The only things in her mind were to go home, cook and then discuss with his dad how to calm down the child. Yi Le was a good boy. He should be fine soon.

    At this time, her cell phone chimed. She had received a message. She let go of Yi Le¡¯s hand and took her phone out. It was Yi Le¡¯s teacher! She started reading the message immediately.

    The teacher was happy with Yi Le. She said Yi Le behaved well and was engaging in ss. He was friendly to his peers as well. The only thing was that he was naughty sometimes and would draw on the ckboard after it had just been cleaned.

    Gu Le first expressed her gratitude towards the teacher. She carefully thought about the wording of the message and promised she would talk to Yi Le about his behavior of drawing on the ckboard.

    She didn¡¯t notice that after she let go of Yi Le¡¯s hand, the grumpy kid was left behind.

    When he walked by Amazing Fate Pet Shop, Yi Le looked inside and saw a ck and white kitten looking at him with her silver-grey eyes. Yi Le loved dogs but not cats. He thought cats were too girly. He was a real man so he didn¡¯t want anything to do with cats. He tightened his eyebrows and stared at the kitten.

    He was almost 50 feet behind Gu Le. She was focused on her cell phone, busy returning his teacher¡¯s message.

    Yi Le was upset and down. He thought that his mom didn¡¯t love him anymore. ¡°Is it because I wanted to have my birthday party in the hotel? Mom is so stingy!¡± he thought.

    They walked past Amazing Fate Pet Shop. There was an intercession in front of them. After this intercession, if they headed west, they would reach their home.

    Yi Le suddenly came up with a weird thought. He wanted to punish his mom.

    As a result, he decided to hide from his mom. If his mom could not find him and got worried, that meant she still loved him.

    There wasn¡¯t any ce to hide though! Across from the street, there were a few street vendors selling skewers. Several customers stopped there to buy skewers. If he hid behind the street vendors, his mom might not be able to find him. Then his mom would worry sick and he coulde out. She would be on top of the world when she saw him and she might agree to have the birthday party in the hotel.

    He was a little worried that his mom would be mad, but he already had an excuse ¨C I am only ying hide-and-seek with you. What a naughty boy!

    Children at his age take action immediately when they think of something. Yi Le ran across the street.

    Coming at a normal speed, the driver didn¡¯t expect a child would jump out in the street all of a sudden.

    There came a sharp screech of a car¡¯s brakes¡­

    There was blood¡­

    There was the crowd¡­

    There came the ambnce¡­

    Sorrow¡­

    Two families would have been in tragedy since¡­

    ¡­

    Zhang Zian thought Xinghai was not feeling like herself today. She usually agreed to another game, but she didn¡¯t today. Her shing silver-grey eyes worried him. He told her not to use her magic over small things. If she used magic to attract customers, even if the customer was the president of the United States, he would be mad at her.

    ¡°Xinghai, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    As he asked, Yi Le was making a face at Xinghai who was walking by the store.

    Xinghai turned around to look at Zhang Zian.

    She seemed like she wanted to say something. She then looked at Old Time Tea and thought for a second. The silver light faded from her eyes.

    Xinghai hadn¡¯t changed the future, yet.

    She raised one paw, pointed at Yi Le and said, ¡°Zian, that child is going to be hit by a car.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Zhang Zian was shocked. He looked at the direction where Xinghai pointed.

    There was a little boy, about seven or eight years old. His hair was short. He was wearing a shirt with a bear pattern. With his hands behind his body, he looked like he was walking without looking.

    Zhang Zian looked at the road. He thought someone was going to do something stupid like drive up to the sidewalk, but he didn¡¯t see one single weird car. Everyone looked fine.

    He trusted that Xinghai would not joke around like that. Then what was it?

    Without hesitation, Zhang Zian rushed out the door and ran towards the boy.

    Yi Le turned on his naughty mode. He was about to cross the road and heard a man¡¯s voice behind him. ¡°You! Stay there!¡±

    That scared Yi Le. He stopped, turned back and looked. It was a man he didn¡¯t know, so he was highly alert.

    At the same time, a car flew by. The driver was thinking about his newly-wed wife. A happy smile came up on his face. He didn¡¯t know that he just stayed away from a tragedy that was going to change his and his wife¡¯s lives.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what was going to happen. He wasn¡¯t sure which car was going to hit the little boy. Looking around, he walked up to the boy quickly and stopped right in front of him.

    Yi Le was scared. He cried, ¡°Mom! Mom! Come save me! Someone is going to beat me up!¡±

    Gu Le hit the ¡°send¡± button and took a breath. She knew she could not offend the teacher. Otherwise, the teacher might be mean to her child. In the parents¡¯ meeting, she was even more careful talking with the teacher than talking to her boss¡­ The teacher¡¯s words were the truth and no one dared to refute. A message from the teacher was like an order from the King ¨C it simply could not be ignored.

    She was trying her best for her kid.

    It was almost the Moon Festival. She still could not determine what to give the teacher. Is a 500-Yuan supermarket gift card enough? She heard this teacher didn¡¯t ept gifts and she returned all the gifts sent to her. Gu Le wasn¡¯t sure if the teacher was really a good person or she didn¡¯t want to take small gifts¡­Whatever! She finally made up her mind that she should go home and discuss the gift with her husband.

    At the same time, she heard Yi Le¡¯s voice. As her hand rattled, the cell phone dropped and the monitor broke. She reached out to the side, but nothing was there. Since when did Yi Le disappear? She turned and saw about him 60 feet away, with a man stopping Yi Le.

    She almost hit the ceiling!

    ¡°You! What are you doing!¡± She screamed as she flew over.

    Within seconds, she was standing in front of Yi Le and dragged him behind her.

    Zhang Zian was astonished as well. He thought the little boy was ying alone on the street and he didn¡¯t expect a woman!

    He took a few steps back and put his hands above his head, showing that he wasn¡¯t doing anything. At the same time, he was looking around to make sure there were no more unexpected crises.

    ¡°Mom! This is a bad guy! He suddenly stopped me and didn¡¯t let me cross!¡± Using his mom as a shield, Yi Le pointed at Zhang Zian and yelled.

    ¡°I am not a bad guy!¡± Zhang Zian exined helplessly.

    Champed with rage, Gu Le didn¡¯t believe a word he said. ¡°You are not a bad guy? If you are not a bad guy, why did you stop my child?¡± she raised her voice in the hope of attracting some pedestrians so Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t do anything to harm them.

    ¡°Your kid was going to cross the street. I was worried he would get hit so I stopped him,¡± Zhang Zian continued to exin.

    Gu Le was mad, turned around and asked Yi Le, ¡°Did you want to cross the road?¡±

    Yi Le denied immediately, ¡°No! He is lying!¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    Gu Le stared at Zhang Zian. Her eyes turned from confused to hostile. Between two stories from a strange man and her own son, she chose to believe her son. That was normal.

    Some pedestrians stopped and watched them from a distance. They were curious what happened. Were this kid¡¯s parents having a fight on the street? Didn¡¯t look like it.

    ¡°I am warning you. Don¡¯t you daree close to us! I will call the police,¡± Gu Le felt much morefortable when there were more pedestrians around.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean anything bad,¡± It seemed like that was all Zhang Zian could say. What else could he say? His cat knew the kid was going to get hurt? No one would believe it!

    Gu Le didn¡¯t listen. She took Yi Le¡¯s hand, stared at Zhang Zian and started stepping back.

    Yi Le hid behind his mom. He even made a face to Zhang Zian. He felt that he was the big winner! He not only got back his mom¡¯s attention, but also yed tricks on this man.

    Adults are so stupid!

    Gu Le picked up her phone from the ground, rubbed the broken monitor and gave Zhang Zian another hard look.

    ¡°Yi Le, let¡¯s go!¡± She held Yi Le¡¯s hand and walking quickly to the intersection. She kept looking back to make sure Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t chasing them.

    She knew she had to tell her husband about everything when they arrived home. They had to make serious ns on getting a car. This world was too dangerous!

    Standing in the depressing dusk, Zhang Zian was a bit sad. The pedestrians all looked at him with a strange face. When Gu Le and Yi Le disappeared in the dark, he then slowly walked back to the store.

    ¡°Zian, you are the best!¡± Xinghai said happily.

    Zhang Zian forced a smile, ¡°Xinghai, you are the best! If it wasn¡¯t for you, who knows what would¡¯ve happened.¡±

    Fina woke up. She murmured coldly, ¡°Mind your own business!¡±

    Zhang Zian sat back down in the recliner, watching people pass by. The store grew darker and darker. He forgot to turn on the lights.

    ¡°Buddy,¡± Old Time Tea said.

    He cheered up, ¡°What¡¯s up, Miss Tea? Is the tea cold? I can boil some water.¡±

    ¡°Nope,¡± Old Time Tea smiled, ¡°When you walked out of that door, what was in your mind?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought for a second, ¡°That kid might be in danger and I want to save him.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. You got the desired benevolence. You shouldn¡¯t be sad.¡±

    Old Time Tea was pleased, ¡°When I do something, I desire to keep benevolence in my heart. As long as I am honest to myself, I don¡¯t care if other people understand.¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart brightened.

    That was true. His only thought was to save the little boy, not to be a hero. He didn¡¯t want gratitude from the mom. All he wanted was to avoid a tragedy.

    He already received what he desired. There was nothing to be sad about.

    Naughty kids should be taught a lesson, but not in such a cruel way that his life would be taken.

    He cheered up when he thought about it.

    ¡°Xinghai, go on! I am going to win this time!¡± He turned on the lights and jumped off the recliner.

    ¡°Liar! Big liar!¡± Xinghai was excited.

    ¡°Okay. Try me! You¡¯d better hurry. I am going to count!¡± Facing the wall, Zhang Zian started counting, ¡°One, two, three¡­¡±

    Xinghaiined, ¡°That¡¯s not fair. You are counting too fast!¡±

    She then disappeared again.

    Watching Zhang Zian ying games with Xinghai, Old Time Tea¡¯s eyes were shining.

 Chapter 121: The Dead End

    <h4>Chapter 121: The Dead End</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was nighttime before everybody got out of work.

    It was the Stars Pet Chain Supermarket east district franchise store.

    Chen Taitong was reading the sales performance report for the weekend, upset. The staff were all quiet so the boss wouldn¡¯t let his anger out on them.

    ¡°Tell me why! We have a 50%-off promotion and sales went down?!¡± No matter whom he was looking at, that person would bow his head down more.

    In fact, the staff weren¡¯t stupid. If the boss could not ramp up sales, they couldn¡¯t really do anything.

    The boss is the boss. He had to let it out on someone. No one could help that. The staff were praying that someone else would be the ¡°lucky¡± one.

    A few smart staff, including the one med in front of the customers, already knew this store wouldn¡¯tst long so they started looking for a new job. If a 50% off promotion could not boost sales and change the situation, this shop was pretty hopeless.

    They were only employees, not the owner of the store. They didn¡¯t really care if the store could stay in business.

    Some were even thinking about trying their luck with the Amazing Fate Pet Shop. If Zhang Zian was willing to offer better wages, they would ditch Chen Taitong for a higher sry¡­

    The staff were all bowing their heads down, which made them look like they were repenting; however, their faces showed that they could care less. Who knows what they are thinking about? Probably where to get girls tonight.

    Knowing that he could not count on these people and also being extremely frustrated, Chen Taitong waved his arm, ¡°Well, go home. Get out of here!¡± He suddenly pounded on the table and yelled, ¡°Go!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Am I not wee? Why did you want me to go?¡± Stars Pet Chain Supermarket¡¯s Regional Sales Director Cao Yong opened the door and entered.

    As if he had been hit by lightning, Chen Taitong jumped up and smiled, ¡°Oh no! Of course not, Director Cao! I had no idea that was you. I was yelling at these useless pieces of trash with only food and girls in their mind. I can¡¯t count on them at all! Come, Director Cao. Please have a seat!¡±

    Cao Yong smiled, ¡°I know you weren¡¯t ming me. I saw that it was quite intense in here so I joked with you. Let¡¯s calm down. Anger won¡¯t solve your problems.¡±

    Afterforting Chen Taitong, Cao Yong spoke to the staff, ¡°You guys can leave now. Do whatever you are nning to do. Manager Chen is having a rough day, so he was a bit harsh on you. Don¡¯t take it personally.¡±

    The staff all rxed and left quickly.

    Chen Taitong got even angrier. He pointed at the staff and scolded, ¡°Look at them! They are slower than turtles whening to work and now they run faster than a rabbit to go home! They will ruin my store!¡±

    Cao Yongughed and sat down. ¡°Rx! It is not worth it if you get yourself sick from anger.¡±

    Chen Taitong sighed and sat back down into his big chair. At this time, he only felt weak. The big chair was making squawky noises as he sat down.

    ¡°Well¡­ nothing can save my business this time. I should just kill myself. What an exhausting world to live in!¡±

    Cao Yong didn¡¯t take him seriously and encouraged him, ¡°It doesn¡¯t help being negative. You should man up and fight.¡±

    Chen Taitong forced a smile and pushed the report in front of Cao, ¡°My negativity was not out of nowhere. I don¡¯t think I can fight back. I am dead!¡±

    nced at a few crucial numbers, Cao Yong sighed with knitted brows, ¡°I thought your store was well prepared for the promotion. Why are sales so low?¡±

    ¡°Well, I just want to cry!¡±

    Chen Taitong forced a bit of tears. He was so frustrated that he needed to let it out on Cao Yong.

    ¡°Director Cao, honestly, I am so sad! I don¡¯t even know why customers are now so difficult. Theye in the store with millions of requirements. Everyone acted like they were pet experts. Other than that, Director Cao, you are aware that among all the pets from Director Qian Fang, only some are healthy.¡±

    Purchasing Director Qian Fang had beenpeting with Cao Yong for the position of Regional GM. Cao Yong understood immediately once Chen Taitong mentioned her name.

    Stars Pet Chain Supermarket centralized their purchasing and delivery system. However, pets are pets. They are different than a product from a production line.

    Various batches from different breeding bases usually varied in quality. He knew Chen Taitong was going toin about the quality of the pets.

    ¡°Manager Chen, frankly, I can do nothing about it. She is the one and only decision maker for purchasing. If I interfere, she definitely will report me to management.¡±

    In fact, Cao Yong had always been skeptical about Qian Fang¡¯s source of pets. He was suspicious that she brought in low quality pets on purpose so sales would go down. If sales went down, Cao Yong was the one to me. Qian Fang would benefit from it no matter what.

    Would she really do shameful things like that?

    Chen Taitong forced a smile. The customers were picky. The supplier couldn¡¯t send in good quality pets. What could he do? Did they keep the good pets for their directly-operated store and give him the bad ones? He was suspicious and dared not to ask.

    A franchise store enjoyed more freedom when it came to operations; however, the support and benefits a franchise store could get from corporate were also considerably less.

    He had heard about the rivalry between Cao Yong and Qian Fang before and he chose to be neutral. Stars Pet Chain Supermarket was as powerful as it could¡¯ve been and could defeat anypetitors. For the first time, he felt vulnerable about the internal fight that might cost his own store.

    ¡°Director Cao, please help me. The customers are very difficult these days. I just can¡¯t handle them anymore¡­Maybe I should close the store and go back to my hometown¡­¡±

    Chen Taitong was half serious about what he said but he really wanted to push for more help. If Stars Pet Chain Supermarket decided to let him go, he would do the same!

    If the staff could find another job, so could he!

    Stars Pet Chain Supermarket was about to go public. If a franchise store closed at this time, it would affect the chain¡¯s reputation for sure.

    Cao Yong understood exactly what Chen Taitong wanted. He pulled a long face and said seriously, ¡°Manager Chen, please don¡¯t do something you are going to regret! Remember, you will have to pay for the early termination fee if you close your franchise early.¡±

    Chen Taitong¡¯s heart froze immediately.

    Oh no! I totally forgot about that!

    Stars Pet Chain Supermarket had its own legal department. Of course, they anticipated that some people might terminate the contract, so they added a use that an early termination fee would be charged for any premature resignations. Chen Taitong was doing well when he signed the contract, so he didn¡¯t foresee that one day he would consider selling the store.

    It was okay to sell his franchise now, but most of the money he made would turn into the termination fee.

    He was pushed to a dead end where he had to continue, although vulnerable.

 Chapter 122: The Family Secret Method

    <h4>Chapter 122: The Family Secret Method</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was a brand-new morning.

    Thanks to Wang Qian and Li Kuning over to clean up every night, the workload wasn¡¯t too bad for Zhang Zian in the morning. He only needed to clean the puppies¡¯ disy cabs, give the pets water and food, and open the store. Wang Qian and Li Kun came to clean the cat litter at noon.

    Hiking Mt. Hidden Fog made Zhang Zian sore for a few days.

    ¡°Let¡¯s begin the 9th generation broadcast gymnastics! March on the spot¡­Go!¡±

    ¡°Stretching¡­Ready? Set! Go!¡±

    Zhang Zian started to exercise along with the music.

    It was a work day morning. Cars and pedestrians were passing by quickly. Everyone was busy with work and school. They kept themselves busy in the hope of a better future.

    Fina was majestically watching her territory and people.

    Old Time Tea was happily enjoying her first tea of the morning.

    Xinghai was sitting by the door, looking at the passersby curiously and waiting for Zhang Zian to y hide-and-seek after his exercise.

    What a peaceful moment! Zhang Zian wished time would freeze right there.

    It was getting cooler and cooler, especially in the morning. Zhang Zian could not exercise with his thin t-shirt anymore. Before warming up, he had to put on a jacket.

    ¡°Brother store manager, good morning!¡± With a backpack on her back, Little Celery walked over joyfully. After putting down her backpack, she started doing broadcast gymnastics as well.

    ¡°Little Celery, may I ask you a question?¡± Zhang Zian said without stopping.

    ¡°What is it, Brother store manager? Hmmm¡­if it is a math problem¡­¡± Little Celery was upset.

    ¡°No, no, no¡­. I just wanted to ask if you will turn into a naughty kid sometime and hurt my feelings?¡± Zhang Zian came across two naughty kids in such a short time, which made him scared of them.

    ¡°Oh¡­ What are naughty kids? What do they do?¡± tilting her head, she asked.

    Zhang Zian was pleased, ¡°That¡¯s okay. You don¡¯t have to know.¡±

    ¡°Rx¡­One, two, three, four, five, six, seven¡­stop!¡±

    ¡°I have got to go!¡± As soon as the broadcast gymnastics music stopped, Little Celery picked up her backpack and rushed out of the store. She missed the hamsters and mini lops.

    Zhang Zian was going for a second round of broadcast gymnastics, when he heard the noise of tires breaking on the ground.

    Sun Xiaomeng parked on the side of the road. Instead of getting out of the car, she stuck her head out and asked, ¡°Are you joking? You know how to train cats to do stunts and teach them new ones from time to time?¡± She looked at him as if he was a scammer.

    Zhang Zian made a heart-breaking face and said, ¡°You are out of the loop!¡±

    He stopped the music, walked to her car and started preaching, ¡°Youngdy, it is good to focus on your profession. It is also important to keep up with new stuff and stay in trend.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng was speechless, ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you for a few days. Why do you talk like an old man? Are you trying to trick people into believing you¡¯re a sophisticated gentleman?¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that it was because he was talking to Old Time Tea all the time these days. Birds of a feather flock together¡­

    He waved, ¡°You should do your homework. Go search on a video website or local BBS. Use keywords like Amazing Fate, stunt and cat. You should be able to find something. Facts speak louder than words.¡±

    If it was a few days ago, she would not believe a word he said. However, even her father told her about the cat stunts, which made her curious.

    ¡°Are you serious? How did you train the cats?¡± She continued questioning.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s nose was in the air, ¡°It¡¯s our family¡¯s secret method!¡±

    ¡°Bullsh*t! I have never heard about that.¡±

    ¡°Well, cat and dog training has been around since ancient times. It is a part of the Chinese culture. Don¡¯t you agree?¡± Zhang Zian stated his theory in a big way.

    Sun Xiaomeng knew him well enough now, ¡°Well, stop ying your tricks on me. I am smarter than that. Pet training in ancient times had never made it to official history records. There are some stories about training cats to steal or even kill people. Those kinds of stories are not only popr in China, but in many other countries as well. There are many detective novels about pets killing people¡­ don¡¯t feel like you can fool me yet. I have never heard of any example of training cats in bulk.¡±

    She totally got the point. Animal training was mostly a one-on-one activity. There were a lot of stories about how people trained their pets to extremely smart. Those people trained their pets to serve them, for instance, stealing, killing or sending messages. They didn¡¯t train those smart pets to sell.

    ¡°It is up to you if you believe me. It is a family secret,¡± Zhang Zian was thick-skinned so he insisted.

    He knew there was no way he could exin everything to her. The more she knew, the more confused she would get. So, let it be.

    In the modern world, information spread so quickly that it was almost like a virus. If more people knew that his cats knew stunts, he would get more questions.

    The only way he could get by was to insist it was a family secret that he could not reveal to other people. The secret could only be passed along by teaching in person. There wasn¡¯t any documentation.

    Training pets was nothing serious. He should be fine.

    Sun Xiaomeng could do nothing about him. She shook her head and said, ¡°Okay. Fine.¡±

    Zhang Zian was relieved. Frankly, he could not handle any more questions from her. He quickly changed the subject and said, ¡°Look, my business is doing quite well. How about the membership discount matter?¡±

    She said as she rolled up the window, ¡°I will think about it.¡± She took off.

    Sun Xiaomeng decided to do her homework first and figure out what to do.

    She got to her store in a few seconds, parked the car and jumped off.

    ¡°Hey, beautiful! Morning!¡¯¡¯

    The owner of the auto parts store rolled up the curtain door. He was wearing a tank top. His belly was so big that his belly button was showing. The cool morning wind woke him up.

    ¡°Uncle Niu, good morning,¡± she nodded.

    ¡°Well, how many time did I tell you? Don¡¯t call me Uncle Niu. I have a mature face but I am only¡­ a bit over 30 years old. Call me Brother Niu,¡± the owner said and patted his belly.

    ¡°Okay, Uncle Niu. I have to go.¡±

    Uncle Niu was speechless. Was she even listening?

    Sun Xiaomeng unlocked the clinic, put on the ¡°open¡± sign and started her day.

    She learned how to cure pets¡¯ illnesses at school, but she never learned how to deal with annoying neighbors.

    There are tons of advantages of being a woman but there are also plenty more troubles.

    Whatever, it doesn¡¯t help being sad. I should make more money and change to a better location.

    She walked into her office and looked at her appointment table. The first appointment was at 10 o¡¯clock. She had plenty of time.

    She turned on theputer, she started searching using the keywords Amazing Fate, stunt and cat.

 Chapter 123: The Dream of Glorious Age

    <h4>Chapter 123: The Dream of Glorious Age</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sun Xiaomeng drove away, and Little Celery trotted off to go to school.

    Zhang Zian finished the second-time broadcast gymnastics, feeling pretty good.

    ¡°What kind of martial arts are you practicing?¡± Old Time Tea looked away from the TV, and curiously asked. ¡°I snuck a few nces just now and found that this martial arts was unusual, with no rules at all, but it can neither attack the enemy nor keep self-defense. What is the purpose in practicing that?¡±

    Zhang Zian responded that the question was a good one, just like the General Administration of Sports getting all thoseints.

    ¡°Master Old Time Tea, it is a type of aerobic daily exercise. If youpare it with the martial arts, then you look down upon martial arts¡­ although martial arts have been declining all these years. Why do I practice it then? Because I don¡¯t have other exercises to do. Moving is better than doing nothing. Life is about moving.¡±

    Old Time Tea nodded without any additionalment.

    Zhang Zian was trying to decide whether it would be better to change to the eighth set of broadcast gymnastics tomorrow, or to just change to Tai Chi.

    Was it too early for him to do Tai Chi? He didn¡¯t want to attract all the seniors who do morning exercises. He didn¡¯t want to make the area in front of his store a ce for public square dancing.

    ¡°Master Old Time Tea, did you watch TV all night long yesterday? You have to pay attention to your rest!¡±

    At midnight, when Zhang Zian went to bathroom, he vaguely heard some television noise downstairs. At first he thought there was a ghost, butter he realized that Old Time Tea was not sleeping yet.

    Old Time Tea suddenly seemed a bit embarrassed. ¡°I am getting older so I do not want to sleep¡­ My little friend, the TV, is really interesting. They can perform all night long, which makes me energized the whole time and not wanting to go to bed¡±

    Zhang Zian responded, ¡°Will it be a long road to educate the public about science?

    Old Time Tea, you can watch TV anytime you want. It will not go anywhere. You don¡¯t have to watch it at night. There are so many TV programs, good or bad, that you could never finish them. Please take care of the most important thing first, your health.¡± He advised, ¡°If the TV has already made you so obsessed, what ifter on you learn how to use the inte? I¡¯ll have to send you for medical treatment at Dr. Yang¡¯s ce!¡±

    Old Time Tea was pleased to say, ¡°I understand what you are saying, but everything on this TV is so decadently shocking to me, I get so excited and I¡¯m not able to sleep. But you are correct; I will pay attention from now on.¡±

    Both were cats and both did not understand modern information. What a huge difference between them!

    Fina would eat when it was hungry, drink when it was thirsty, sleep when it was tired and still would have an arrogant face all day long. When it had nothing to do, it would just count a few coins or y with the diamond ring. All day long, Finained that the money was not enough and the diamond was too small¡­

    Looking at Old Time Tea, it was well mannered, worried about the country and the world, had big dreams, studied diligently and did a self-evaluation every day. It was simply a role model among all cats¡­

    The differences were too obvious! But surprisingly, Fina was also identified as an epic/legendary cat, whereas Old Time Tea was only at premium level. Something must be wrong with the game designer, right? Even Zhang Zian would like to fight for Old Time Tea!

    Especially now, Old Time Tea was actually watching the morning news from the news channel. Zhang Zian considered the lengthy reports on national public servant meetings a luby, yet Old Time Tea was still so excited to watch them!

    ¡°Old Time Tea, do you think this is interesting? Do you want to change the channel? After apanying Old Time Tea in watching TV for a while, Zhang Zian¡¯s eyelids were twitching, so he tried to change the topic quickly.

    ¡°Interesting!¡± Old Time Tea straightened her back, not looking old at all. ¡°The country is prosperous and the people live in peace. I am so happy to see that! The arrogant people from Dongyang and Lao Maozi made this country miserable to live in! If they knew it would be like this now, they wouldn¡¯t have done that. The poor people in this country were living in tears and loneliness!¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at the bragging news announcer on the TV, feeling dumbfounded.

    He had intended to tell Old Time Tea that, in fact, the domestic situation was not as good as she thought, and foreign countries were not that bad, but he didn¡¯t.

    The word ¡°Guotai Min¡¯an¡± was only a meaningless four-character idiom for modern people which meant ¡°the country is prosperous and the people live in peace¡±, but it may have been Old Time Tea¡¯s lifetime dream, even if it was not 100% a true dream.

    After all, Old Time Tea was a benevolent cat.

    As for Gxy, whether it was money or treasure, a nation or country, even the world, the, or the universe, everything was just as transient as a fleeting cloud.

    ¡°Zian, let¡¯s y hide-and-seek?¡± Gxy jumped in front of him and asked, full of hope.

    ¡°When do you not want to y? Anyways, you are always free,¡± Zhang Zian said lightly.

    At least this moment was extremely real and it was enough.

    Fina was free and easy; in fact, it was pretty good too. But was Fina really as free and easy as it seemed?

    ¡­

    Zhang Zian was repeatedly defeated in the game of hide-and-seek, and was about to try to prepare to fight back, but the cat bell hanging on the ss door rang several times.

    ¡°Is Mr. Manager there?¡±

    Is there a guesting? Shouting for ¡°Mr. Manager¡±, was that Miss Snowy the anchorwoman?

    Zhang Zian went downstairs after telling Gxy to stop the game.

    The person at the door was not Xiao Xue, but another girl that looked familiar.

    The girl was wearing a pair of sses that covered most of her face. She had long bangs that covered her eyebrows, and she was wearing arge baseball shirt with the hood on.

    Zhang Zian had an impression that she was the first girl that hade to the store to get a cat bath. On that day, neighbor Aunt Liu was there too, but they almost had an argument. Aunt Liu¡¯s American Shorthair was still on the second floor.

    Lu Yiyun had a great impression of Zhang Zian. One reason was because he recently appeared in Snowy¡¯s live show, and the second was because she was a homebody; her social circle ran between the vegetable market and her rental apartment. It was considered very far for her to travelst time when she brought Jasmine here for a bath.

    Today, Lu Yiyun didn¡¯te with Jasmine; her hands were empty.

    ¡°Were you the guest who came here for the cat bath services?¡± Zhang Zian tried to confirm.

    Lu Yiyun stood at the door, nodding.

    ¡°Come in.¡±

    She walked like a kitten who had done something wrong. Once she saw through her huge sses that no one was there, she became rxed.

    ¡°You are noting to have a cat bath, right?¡± Zhang Zianughed. ¡°What can I help you with?¡±

    Lu Yiyun¡¯s disturbed fingers intertwined, and hesitantly she said, ¡°I ¡­ I want to apply for a membership card¡­¡±

    ¡°The first one wanting to be a member!¡± Zhang Zian was so excited that his nose was almost blowing bubbles!

 Chapter 124: The Lonely Illustrator

    <h4>Chapter 124: The Lonely Illustrator</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Lu Yiyun¡¯s recent days were no different from what they used to be. Day after day, she picked up new orders, drew illustrations, handed in manuscripts, reworked, handed in drafts, collected money, and so on.

    In the mountain, there was no sun nor moon, no winter nor summer.

    Because of almost no other human interaction, even Lu Yiyun herself was not aware of her paintings bing more sophisticated each day. The price for her single leaf illustration increased from 800 to up to 1200. She no longer needed to advertise, as more and more customers had been activelying to her, and she needed less and less time to rework.

    In order to save money and maintain her lifestyle, she had to take at least five orders for illustrations every month. She had a little more leisure time because of her increased speed of painting and the reduction of rework.

    In her spare time, she still updated herics on Weibo, but the amount of people that viewed them was very few ¡ª Painting could depend on one¡¯s efforts, but creating stories requires a certain talent, and not all her stories were suitable to be used inic form.

    Lu Yiyun was not discouraged, and did not even think to give up. She had gotten through more difficult days, so what could she not ovee now?

    She first used the money she saved to upgrade herputer and drawing board for a higher grade professional color monitor. To do a good work, she must first sharpen her tools. Before, she was always asked to redo her work. One of the reasons was that her original disy had too poor of color quality ¡ª she thought it was green but the customer said it was blue. Because of this, she secretly shed tears, thinking that she was deliberately bullied by new buyers, until after the change of disy, she found that it really was blue¡­

    The professional monitor was very expensive, but if she was going to stay in this industry, a professional disy was required.

    Then she bought a fridge online, so she didn¡¯t have to go out and buy food every day, just to save time. Then she bought an electric oil heater ¨C most residents didn¡¯t have a heating system in Binhai, and the weather was getting cold; winter was not too far away.

    The empty rental house was bing more and more like home now.

    She was still watching Miss Snowy¡¯s live broadcasts, never missing an episode, which became a part of her life.

    From the show, she came to know that Amazing Fat Pet Shop opened up a membership system. Members would be given a discount if receiving services of cat bathing or buying cat food.

    Jasmine was her long-haired cat. The first time she got a bath, Zhang Zian said that it was from the chinchi family, so she needed to give her more frequent baths than a short-haired cat. When she got enough money, she immediately went to the pet shop to start a membership card, without any hesitation.

    Zhang Zian did not know her journey, but she was happy anyone could get a membership from him.

    ¡°The shop is going tounch a membership system, but is still in the preparatory stage. Currently we are taking reservations ¡ª if I¡¯m not wrong, you can get one of the first ten membership cards,¡± Zhang Zian gantly rmended.

    ¡°Great, I want to make a reservation.¡± Lu Yiyun immediately nodded.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    She agreed too quickly, which gave Zhang Zian no need say all of his prepared selling words. How was this girl totally different from Zhao Qi?

    It took him a long time to get over it. ¡°Because the membership system has just beenunched, there is a discount, and you can book a membership for 1000 Yuan.¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡± Lu Yiyun was stupefied. ¡°1000? I thought I would need pay more, or I would havee a few days earlier.¡±

    Zhang Zian felt confused. Howe the girl did not follow the routine? 1000 Yuan was too little? Her dress was so ordinary. Was she a hidden new-rich?

    He took out the registration book and pen and said, ¡°OK, please register your name, and leave your cell phone number or your Wechat ID. When the member system is officially on, I¡¯ll let you know.¡±

    Lu Yiyun wrote her name and telephone number.

    Zhang Zian looked from side and eximed, ¡°Are you Lu Yiyun? Your handwriting is so good!¡± And hispliment was pretty sincere.

    When Lu Yiyun heard the surprisingpliment, her hands started shaking. The number ¡°6¡± at the end of her phone number was written in a grotesque squiggle.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I will rewrite it,¡± she apologized hurriedly.

    How long had it been since she was praised?

    Her parents had broken off their rtionship, and had not praised her for so long before. She forgot when thest time they praised her was. Was it the first time in elementary school that she got a prize for a painting contest?

    Customers did not usually praise her as they were purely a business rtionship ¡ª one paid the money, one gave the work. Besides that, she never received praise. Maliciously pushing deadlines, customers unkindly required rework very often, and even when some orders werepleted, the customers did not pay her until she reminded them repeatedly¡­

    The salesmen at her local supermarket did not praise her.

    The delivery guys from the online stores did not praise her.

    Even if she paid her rent in advance, thendlord did not praise her.

    Her usual contacts were just limited to these people. She had never dreamed of praise actually appearing after such a long time, especially in this pet store, of which she had only been in once.

    As a Chinese saying goes, kind words make people warm like a fire in a cold winter, while bad ones hurt people seriously, just like snow in the summer.

    Zhang Zian felt that he had said a very usual sentence, and it was a great truth, but Lu Yiyun suddenly cried, tears dripping onto the registration book.

    ¡°OMG, what happened?!¡±He was panicked at once.

    ¡°Oh, what happened? Why did you suddenly cry? Are you feeling ok? Do you need to go to the hospital?¡± Zhang Zian was sweating and asked helplessly.

    However, the more he asked, the harder Lu Yiyun cried.

    ¡°Yes¡­ Are you feeling 1000 is too expensive? 500 is ok! No, today. Today is your lucky day, free! I will give you a free membership?! Please don¡¯t cry!¡±

    No matter how Zhang Zian persuaded, it did not work. He looked around seeking help, but just met Fina¡¯s eyes. The eyes were no longer despising, and clearly said, ¡°Why don¡¯t you go to hell?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not me who made her cry!¡± Zhang Zian thumped his chest and stamped his feet, feeling there was nowhere to get fair justice.

    Clearly, there was only Lu Yiyun and him in the shop. He was obviously the scapegoat!

    Zhang Zian felt like he was getting into big trouble, and the end of the world wasing!

    At this time, he must ask the elder for its life experience on how to make the girl not cry!

    He hastened to look at Old Time Tea, hoping that it could put the country and the nation aside for now, first to save him from the abyss of misery.

    But Old Time Tea simply yawned and said to itself, ¡°I didn¡¯t sleep the whole night, now let me make up for that.¡± Then it took off its hat,y on the nket, stretched slightly and began to snore.

    No one could be relied on at this critical moment! He picked up his phone quickly, entered Wang Haige Forum, and posted a message:

    [Handsome Manager]: Help! What do you do when you made a girl cry? I am waiting, urgent!

 Chapter 125: UFO

    <h4>Chapter 125: UFO</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian really didn¡¯t know what to do, as he should have known better how the inte¡¯s free-talk zone could never give him the correct answer.

    ¡°I remember that manager was single! Where is the girl from? Your imagination?¡±

    ¡°I remember that the manager is a single dog. The girl is not in your fantasy, is she?¡±

    ¡°Make a girl cry? First you have to have a girl.¡±

    ¡­

    Zhang Zian read through several pages ofments, which all sounded ridiculous; none of them was suggestive!

    He was so disappointed with the inte feedback that he threw his cell phone aside and turned around in ce, not knowing what to do.

    Suddenly, he had an idea and shouted towards the outside of the shop, ¡°Look, a UFO!¡±

    This trick worked its magic!

    Lu Yiyun raised her crying red eyes and looked out, ¡°Where¡¯s the UFO?¡±

    Zhang Zian also wanted to cry himself. ¡°A UFO just flew by! My princess, please don¡¯t cry anymore! I almost want to go and hang myself! What happened? Can you tell me exactly why are you crying?¡±

    Lu Yiyun had been crying for a while, her sses getting blurry, but she felt a lot more rxed. She was too embarrassed to take off her sses and wipe her tears. She whispered, ¡°Sorry. I don¡¯t know what happened. I just wanted to cry.¡±

    Suddenly, Zhang Zian wanted to cry, too. The reason left Zhang Zianpletely speechless.

    He hopelessly pleaded, ¡°Let¡¯s make a deal. Next time, can you drop some hints before you cry? Like, ¡®I¡¯m going to take a deep breath,¡¯ or ¡®I¡¯m getting frenzied¡¯¡­ even the BOSS in a video game can¡¯t trick people as suddenly as you!¡±

    Lu Yiyun burst out augh, shook her head and said, ¡°I will really not cry anymore!

    It was an ident,¡± she stressed.

    She didn¡¯t want to tell him the real reason she was crying; after all, it was not a glorious thing.

    Zhang Zian stared at her as if he was watching a time bomb, and a nuclear bomb that didn¡¯t show the countdown number which could identally knock him into a cinder.

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry,¡± Lu Yiyun noticed that the registration book had been soaked by her tears, and even the handwriting had been blurred. She quickly took out a tissue and tried to wipe it. ¡°What can I do about it?¡±

    ¡°No worries, as long as you don¡¯t cry. ¡± Zhang Zian did not dare to me her.

    Not only was it the page that had Lu Yiyun¡¯s name, but the other pages that had been soaked. She felt more embarrassed; how could she have cried so hard this time?

    ¡°Mr. Manager, I¡¯ll rewrite them.¡±

    ¡°No, I will do it!¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want her do it in case she cried again.

    ¡°No, this is my fault. I have to take care of it,¡± she said firmly, as if to say, ¡°if you don¡¯t let me do it, I can cry any time!¡±

    ¡°All right, you can do what you want to do.¡± Zhang Zian was afraid of her.

    Lu Yiyun used cutting knife to cut the few wet pages in front of book. Then on the next dry pages, she neatly transcribed the names and contact information of Xiao Yan, Jiang Qianxue, Liu Wenying, Zhao Qi, etc.

    The few people before her left a variety of handwriting styles, but Lu Yiyun¡¯s handwriting could beat any of them.

    ¡°Have you ever practiced calligraphy?¡± Zhang Zian looked at her face and asked carefully, ¡°It¡¯s rare to see a person who can write so well in this world ofputers.¡±

    As she wrote, she said, ¡°I can paint, and I have practiced calligraphy for a while.¡±

    ¡°Oh, no wonder.¡± Zhang Zian was relieved. His writing was like a dog climbing, because he never got chance to practice. If he did, maybe he could write as well as her.

    She quickly finished, stood up, and handed the book to Zhang Zian. Then she bowed, and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t usually do that.¡±

    It was another little lie. This wasn¡¯t the first time she¡¯d cried suddenly, but it was the first time she cried because she was praised. Sometimes she wondered whether she had been alone for too long?

    But except painting, she has no other skills to make a living. She could go to a restaurant to wash dishes, as she only had high school diploma, but she could not earn more by doing that than if she painted.

    Zhang Zian thought he was unlucky and responded, ¡°Well, that¡¯s the way everyone does. Sometimes I suddenly want to cry too.¡±

    He swallowed thest few words ¨C like now.

    Lu Yiyun was not good at expressing herself. Zhang Zian did not to me her, which made her unsure of what to do. Finally, she quietly took out her cell phone, opened her Alipay app, and said, ¡°I will pay.¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Zhang Zian waved. ¡°I said that I would give you a free membership.¡±

    ¡°No, I should pay,¡± responded Lu Yiyun.

    Zhang Zian asked her to think for his situation. If he didn¡¯t keep his promise, not only would he be despised by Fina, but he would also let Old Time Tea down.

    ¡°The rechargeable money is also charged to the membership card. When youe in next time, take your membership card and pay in cash,¡± he exined.

    There were two reasons that he insisted on charging money to be a member. One was to umte funds quickly, and the other was to bring customers back. The customers woulde back often if they had the money in the card; even Inte cafes knew to advise customers to do memberships. But Lu Yiyun seemed to already be a returning customer, and he didn¡¯t need her 1000 to umte the capital. So he didn¡¯t insist upon it.

    ¡°Oh,¡± Lu Yiyun thought for a while, and agreed with his exnation. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll leave now, sir, I¡¯m sorry to bother you.¡±

    After she repeatedly apologized, she left the store. As soon as she was out the door, she almost ran instead of walking normally. She felt so embarrassed, and could not wait to get home and cover herself with herforter.

    Old Time Tea started watching TV again quietly.

    Zhang Zian sat back on the couch, drained of energy, and said, ¡°Old Time Tea, you¡¯ve done a very unkind thing. How could you stand by when I was in urgent need of your help? I am okay if Fina didn¡¯t help, as I never expected it to, but you are such a kind cat. Where did your kindness go?¡±

    ¡°Well, well!¡± Old Time Tea rolled its eyes, trying to find the reason.

    ¡°Come on, stop it!¡± Zhang Zian responded angrily. ¡°I got hurt.¡±

    He picked up his cell phone and looked at the post he had sent, which had gotten so many ridiculous responses.

    He updated his post: ¡°Both women and cats are difficult to raise!¡±

    An ID called ¡°Evil Bottle for Ten Years¡± immediately replied, ¡°Congrattions for finally realizing that women are too troublesome to deal with.¡±

    Zhang Zian re-edited the title of the post.

    ¡°The problem was solved. Web host, please close the post.¡±

    Then he dropped his cell phone aside but there was a WeChat messageing.

    It was from Xiao Yan.

    Xiao Yan¡¯s message was: ¡°I forgot to remind you. I got a WeChat ID number for your shop which will be connected to your membership system in the future, but it needs to be updated frequently. Please go to the 58 City and hire a part-time or full-time artist who is good at dealing with pictures; it would be better if he/she has some creativity.¡±

    Zhang Zian responded slowly that he needed a rest as he was so tired from the earlier incident.

 Chapter 126: The Depressed Show Host

    <h4>Chapter 126: The Depressed Show Host</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Shi Rong, Jiang Qianxue¡¯s mother, knocked on the door. ¡°Xiao Xue, I aming now.¡±

    Walking into the room, she noticed that Xiao Xue was staring the ceiling, lying on her bed, wearing her pajamas.

    ¡°Xiao Xue, there¡¯s fresh-baked cake and ck tea, would you like some?¡± Mother handed the te over in front of Xiao Xue.

    Xiao Xue suddenly came back from her deep thoughts, getting up from her bed embarrassedly.

    ¡°Yes, yes, I would like to have some!¡± she responded.

    Shi Rong was a full-time house wife, and very good at baking cake. Plus, she used only the top baking materials, so her baked goodies were much better than those from the bakeries. When Jiang Tianda¡¯s old friends and former subordinates came to their house for parties, they all loved her baking. There were not a lot of people who tried her baking, but a few housewives from hermunity even requested to be her students ¡ª There was a saying that the way to a man¡¯s heart was through his stomach.

    While Xiao Xue was enjoying so much cake and tea, Shi Rong thought something was wrong and looked at her daughter.

    ¡°What happened? Is there something on my face?¡± Xiao Xue tried to use her elbow to rub at her face.

    Mother was hesitant, then said after a few seconds, ¡°Xiao Xue, why haven¡¯t you been out these days?¡±

    Xiao Xue gave a cuteugh. ¡°I was med so much when I was out all the time before. Now when I stay home more, you start to ask me why. Should I split myself into two?¡±

    The lighter side of Xiao Xue¡¯s personality was showing, Mother felt more uneasy¡ªif someone suddenly changed their personality, something must have happened to her, most likely not a good thing.

    Xiao Xue had been less happy since she hade back from Mt. Hidden Fog. Initially, Shi Rong thought she was too tired from the trip and she would get back to normal after a few days of rest. But a few days passed, and Xiao Xue was still in the status of not eating nor drinking, and seemed very confused all day long.

    ¡°Xiao Xue, please tell mommy honestly. Did someone mistreat you?¡± Shi Rong asked softly, holding her hands.

    ¡°No! Not at all! Who would dare to treat me badly?¡± Xiao Xue answered right away without hesitation. She didn¡¯t seem to be lying ¡ª Shi Rong knew her daughter pretty well, and Xiao Xue was not the type of person who could pretend nothing happened if she had been mistreated.

    Shi Rong knew that Xiao Xue was doing live shows online. Sometimes she would turn on theputer and check on her. But since she didn¡¯t know much aboutputers and online stuff, she didn¡¯t register for an ount, only viewing the website as a visitor. After checking the website a few times, she felt that the live show was safe for Xiao Xue; plus, thousands of people were watching her every step of the way. If something happened to her, there would be someone reporting it to the police. So she felt pretty at ease about it.

    It must be true that Xiao Xue said that she was not mistreated. But why was she feeling so unhappy?

    Shi Rong¡¯s heart was broken when she saw how depressed Xiao Xue was. She knew that she spoiled her so much. But what could she do? Xiao Xue was her precious pearl. She would feel hurt even if Xiao Xue got a scrape on her skin.

    ¡°Mom, your cakes always taste so good. But the pumpkin cake I had at Hidden Fog Tea House a few days ago tasted yummy too. You should give it a try next time,¡± she said softly. She finished her cake, putting the tea cup back to the tray, and sucked her finger.

    ¡°Sure.¡± Shi Rong gave an uneasy grin. ¡°But I don¡¯t know how to get there. You should take me next time.¡±

    Xiao Xue hesitated, nodding slowly.

    ¡°Yes, something must have happened on the Mt. Hidden Fog trip.¡± Shi Rong thought to herself, ¡°If that was her usual Xiao Xue, she would have said ¡®yes¡¯ right away.¡±

    But why? Xiao Xue had a good impression of Hidden Fog Tea house, otherwise she would not rmend her mother to go, but at the same time she didn¡¯t want to apany her mother to go back. Was there someone she didn¡¯t want to see in that Tea House?

    The Persian cat came through the door and jumped on Xiao Xue¡¯s bed.

    ¡°Snow Ball! Come, Snow Ball!¡± Xiao Xue waived at the cat.

    Snow Ball quietly snuggled into her hug.

    ¡°Did Snow Ball grow a little?¡± Xiao Xue held it up, trying to weigh her.

    ¡°It always will grow.¡± Shi Rong had another meaning when saying this.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Xiao Xue held her cat tightly in her arms, gently stroking its long hair.

    ¡°It is good to be a cat,¡± she said. ¡°It just needs to be a cat.¡±

    Shi Rong was shocked, not knowing what exactly she meant.

    After a while, she tried to ask cautiously, ¡°Xiao Xue, did your dad me you for anything?¡±

    Xiao Xue shook her head. ¡°No, he didn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Did he ask you to go on a blind date again?¡±

    Xiao Xue grinned, ¡± I think that my dad was busy apologizing to the guy, Mr. Lu, who I didn¡¯t meet for the blind date. I don¡¯t think that he has the time to set up another one.¡±

    Shi Rong realized that she couldn¡¯t get the answers she wanted so she decided to ask some straight-forward questions.

    ¡°Xiao Xue, are you worried about anything? Please feel free to talk to mommy about your worries and concerns. We could talk about everything before.¡±

    Xiao Xue lowered her head, hiding her face in the cat¡¯s long hair.

    After she sat up, she went back to the original worry-free Xiao Xue.

    ¡°Nothing happened! I just feel a little bit tired; I need a few days of rest!¡± she responded with a nice smile.

    ¡°I am going to take Snow Ball for a walk,¡± she said to her mom, holding the cat and getting off the bed.

    Shi Rong sighed, without saying anything.

    Hearing the noises Xiao Xue made while she went downstairs, there was a thought that suddenly came to Shi Rong¡¯s mind, of which she didn¡¯t want to think about deeper: Was she in love?

    Thinking of that, Shi Rong became even more uneasy.

    Who was the guy? Tall or short? Fat or thin? Family background? What kind of upation? Healthy or not? What did his parents do for a living? Any criminal background? What was his educational background?¡­

    Her daughter was too innocent. She was always worried that her daughter would be tricked by someone. Nowadays, so many people would get married just for money. That was why she and Jiang Tianda would try to find a good match for Xiao Xue until they found one.

    Even if that one was not a bad guy and both he and Xiao Xue fell in love with each other, would Xiao Xue¡¯s father agree? Jiang Tianda had set a very high standard for his future son-inw. If he thought that one didn¡¯t fit Xiao Xue, would he force them to separate?

    Shi Rong was upset, wanting to know that man¡¯s name and his background right away.

    But then, she felt that something was right.

    If they were dating, they should be chatting or talking over the phone often, and Xiao Xue should check her phone frequently¡ªbut instead, she didn¡¯t touch her phone nor herputer.

    Was this a one-sided love?

    No, Shi Rong did not want to believe this could be a possibility. In this world, Xiao Xue was better than any man, none being worth a one-side love.

 Chapter 127: Not Only A RPG Game

    <h4>Chapter 127: Not Only A RPG Game</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Snowy wandered around themunity after leaving home.

    The vi was quiet. The noise of the city was blocked by the tall, guarded walls.

    Not far away, she heard dogs barking.

    ¡°Ruff-ruff!¡±

    A Husky jumped out from the trees along the pond and ran towards Snowy¡¯s Persian cat, Snowball. From behind Snowy, Snowball jumped in front of its owner to protect her. Snowball had to be really alert. Its ears opened. Its hair stood up, which made it look evenrger. It was making a threatening sound. Trying to scare the Husky away, it even held up its paw in preparation for a fight.

    The Husky opened his eyes with a funny look. It made a sharp stop and fell. After rolling around, it stood up and walked around both Snowy and Snowball in arge circle.

    ¡°Go! Go! Go away!¡± Snowy attempted to kick him out.

    The Husky didn¡¯t seem to get it.

    ¡°Oh? Isn¡¯t this Uncle Jin¡¯s dog?¡± Snowy remembered.

    ¡°Snowy, words bleed. You just hurt my feelings!¡± There came Uncle Jin¡¯s sad voice from the weeping willows.

    She realized that what she just said had a double meaning. ¡°Oops¡­¡± She made a face and was surprised at how great Uncle Jin¡¯s ears were.

    Uncle Jin whistled loudly, ¡°Good-For-Nothing,e back!¡±

    The Husky looked at Uncle Jin, and then looked at Snowball, as if it was making a tough decision: go to its owner or stay with Snowball.

    ¡°Ha-ha!¡± Snowy couldn¡¯t help butugh. She didn¡¯t expect such a hrious name for this dog: Good-For-Nothing.

    ¡°Good-For-Nothing, I am going to start counting. If you don¡¯te back when I count to ten, you won¡¯t have meat for dinner tonight. One, two, three¡­¡±

    The husky jumped up and flew back to the trees. It was much faster than when it ran over.

    ¡°Snowball, let¡¯s go take a look,¡± Snowy spoke to Snowball and headed towards the trees.

    It was a nice area full of weeping willows. The spaces between the trees were simr. It was quiet, but not dark in the woods. There were hidden cameras installed on the trees along the pond. The area was monitored 24/7 in case someone fell into the water. Wearing an old jacket, somerge pants, and slippers, Uncle Jin was sitting on a campstool fishing. There was a bucket next to him.

    The management office put many carp in the pond for people to fish.

    The Husky went back to Uncle Jin, smiling. Uncle Jin knocked on the dog¡¯s head, ¡°What a stupid dog. Eating is the only purpose in your life!¡±

    The Husky shook its head, put its tongue out and didn¡¯t really care what Uncle Jin said.

    Snowy watched him fish for a while. No one was talking.

    Uncle Jin didn¡¯t fish for food. He released them as soon he got one, and then put another worm on his hook.

    Snowy was disgusted seeing the live worms, so she was about to leave.

    ¡°Snowy, are you sad?¡± Uncle Jin asked, unexpectedly.

    ¡°What?¡± Snowy was in shock. He didn¡¯t even look at her. How did he know she was sad?

    ¡°Ha-ha¡­ A normal Snowy would not be patient enough to watch me fish,¡± heughed. ¡°What¡¯s up? Got dumped?¡±

    ¡°Of course not!¡± Snowy pursed her lips, squatted down, pulled up some grass and threw the grass into the pond one piece at a time.

    ¡°Then what is it?¡±

    She thought for a second and asked, ¡°Uncle Jin, you either walk your dog or fish every day. Do you have to work?¡±

    ¡°Work? I have made enough. I am retired by now, trying to enjoy life,¡± Uncle Jin said. Then he murmured, ¡°What a sneaky fish! Took a bite and left!¡±

    ¡°I am not like your father. Your father is a pure workaholic. I am happy with what I have,¡± He said as he prepared his line with new bait.

    Snowy was confused, ¡°My father said you are wealthier than him.¡±

    ¡°What is he joking about? Look at me. Do I look like a rich man? My whole outfit cost less than 100 Yuan.¡±

    Snowy remained silent. After a few minutes, she asked, ¡°Uncle Jin, are you ying a RPG game?¡±

    For some reason, Snowy feltfortable having a few words with this Uncle Jin, who was as casual and funny as his Husky. She wasfortable enough to discuss topics with him that she couldn¡¯t even talk about with her parents.

    ¡°What?¡± He turned his head, looking at her.

    ¡°RPG stands for role ying game¡­¡± She exined.

    ¡°No, no. I am not asking what a RPG is. I know what it is. You weren¡¯t even born when I yed RPG games. My question was, what did you ask that for?¡± Uncle Jin put the fishing pole aside and spanked the Husky who was about to run off.

    ¡°Well¡­ Someone said that to me. I didn¡¯t understand¡­I think you are ying an RPG game, too. You are a well-off guy, yet still live a normal life.¡±

    Uncle Jin said with distain, ¡°The person who told you that must not have money.¡±

    Zhang Zian came up in Snowy¡¯s mind. She said, ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t think so.¡±

    ¡°Snowy, having money is not a bad thing. Money provides more opportunities and possibilities for us,¡± Uncle Jin pointed at himself, ¡°If I don¡¯t have much money, I can only live a normal life. I can¡¯t do anything about it. When I am better-off, I have more options. I can choose to live a wealthy or normal life. It is my life that no one can change.¡±

    Snowy nodded, but she wasn¡¯t sure if she understood it at all.

    Uncle Jin continued, ¡°When I was at the entrepreneurs¡¯ meeting, many people, including your father, said that I was not doing the right thing. They said I retired too soon and already lived like an old man. I told them that was bullsh*t. My mind is more youthful than any of theirs.¡±

    He raised his voice, ¡°You can never make enough money. There will always be people that are wealthier than you. For me, as long as I have enough, I am happy. I¡¯d rather spend time enjoying myself than trying to make more money. Look at people like your own father. They work extremely hard their entire life and retire old. What can they do then, other than just be old and sick, and wait for their time to go?¡±

    ¡°Snowy, you are at an age to y your RPG. A normal person couldn¡¯t afford it. They have to work for a living. You are different. You are young and wealthy. Those are your most important assets. You will only find out what you really like after experiencing life. I am sure your parents would love to see you end up with a happy life eventually.¡±

    ¡°So, in the future, if someone asks you the same question, tell him bravely, ¡®Yes, I am ying an RPG and it is none of your f*cking business!¡¯¡±

    ¡°Ruff-ruff!¡±

    Husky barked as if it also agreed.

    ¡°Son of a b*tch! Stop barking!¡± Uncle Jin spanked him again. ¡°I am trying to talk here. Be quiet!¡±

    Snowy¡¯s eyes brightened. What bothered her for a few days was all gone. She was happy.

    ¡°Snowy, what do you do for a living?¡± Uncle Jin nced at her.

    ¡°I am an online liveshow hostess,¡± she said proudly.

    Snowy hade back to life!

 Chapter 128: People of The Same Trade

    <h4>Chapter 128: People of The Same Trade</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was the next day.

    The nights were getting longer as winter approached.

    Sunrise cameter andter. It was difficult for people to get out of bed. Being in bed was the mostfortable ce one could imagine to be: soft, warm, attractive.

    The mean messages from Wang Haige BBS about Zhang Zian never being able to get a girlfriend really hurt his feelings. He had a nightmare that night. In his dream, he found a beautiful girlfriend. He couldn¡¯t wait to have sex with her. As he pulled up her dress¡­ f*ck! Her penis was even bigger than his!

    He woke up, scared!

    He then was scared a second time. Aunt Liu¡¯s American Shorthair cat was sitting on his chest. No wonder he had a bad dream. Sending her off the bed, Zhang Zian nced at Fina¡¯s bed. Its princess bed was empty, and the door was open. It had to be walking around and inspecting its territory in the early morning.

    ¡°It should¡¯ve closed the door when it got out. What does it have that long tail for¡­¡± Heined quietly as he got dressed.

    After brushing his teeth, he went downstairs. Gxy was up and running around the store. Old Time Tea must still be sleeping. It had been spending too much time watching TV and now was trying to catch up on its sleep.

    He counted the pets. He had sold most of them. He nned to call the breeding base so they would send in the other half of his order.

    Since his cats could do stunts, most customers came for cats. Even though the dogs were more expensive in his store, some people would stille for the good reputation. His dogs couldn¡¯t do stunts, so they were not selling as well as the cats. The profit of selling dogs was also a lot lower than cats. That was just normal.

    Nevertheless, he didn¡¯t want to only sell cats. His store is a pet store. It is not a cat house. If customers thought that he was only selling cats, it might limit the store¡¯s future.

    As usual, he cleaned and sanitized the store, cleaned the dogs¡¯ waste, opened the door to get some fresh air, and started the day¡¯s operations.

    Unexpectedly, the first customer came really early.

    ¡°Hello? Where is the owner?¡±

    A girl with a ponytail knocked on the ss door even before Little Celery and Sun Xiaomeng came over.

    Zhang Zian was about to get some breakfast from the street vendors across the road when he saw the girl at the door. Fina only ate fish and meat. Zhang Zian liked his breakfast the traditional way ¨C full of carbs.

    ¡°I am the owner. Pleasee in.¡± He let her in; his breakfast could wait.

    Zhang Zian turned up the lights so it was easier for her to look at the pets.

    Under the lights, this girl looked exceptionally sharp. She was not like other customers who came in with a confused face. Zhang Zian could tell this girl either knew a lot about pets or did her homework beforeing.

    Zhang Zian would remain quiet when facing these kinds of customers who knew what they wanted.

    She nced around the store, ignored the dogs in the disy cab and focused on the cats that were ying on the floor.

    This batch of pets was almost gone, only leaving an American Shorthair, a British Shorthair and a Persian cat.

    Her eyes stayed on each cat for about two seconds, then she nced over the entire store again. This time she saw Fina, who wasying on top of the cat tree, and Old Time Tea, who was wearing an old vest.

    Old Time Tea was sleeping. Cats are light sleepers. One could tell that it was only half-asleep because its ears were slightly shaking. It might wake up at any time.

    Fina watched her from up top. Its eyes were weird.

    ¡°Mr. Manager, that one¡­¡± She pointed at Fina.

    ¡°That one is not for sale,¡± Zhang Zian interrupted her.

    The girl¡¯s eyebrows tightened. She was disappointed. She then looked at Old Time Tea carefully. Even if Old Time Tea was wearing a vest, she could tell it was a Dragon-Li. She immediately lost interest.

    ¡°Mr. Manager, are these cats all you have?¡± she asked.

    Zhang Zian replied, ¡°There will be a new batching in today. If you are not in a hurry, you coulde back tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°A new batch? What breeds are there in the new batch?¡±

    ¡°Is there a specific breed you are looking for?¡± he asked her without answering her question.

    ¡°How about a ragdoll?¡±

    Zhang Zian paused and said, ¡°Sorry, we don¡¯t have it.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± The girl didn¡¯t seem disappointed and continue to ask, ¡°How about a Scottish Fold?¡±

    ¡°Sorry, don¡¯t have that either.¡±

    The girl nodded. ¡°So you only sell popr breeds, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Zhang Zian reconsidered and said, ¡°For now.¡±

    That was another reason why Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to limit himself to selling only cats. His cats and dogs came from the Pets¡¯ Home Breeding Base. They offered too many different kinds of pets, from birds to fish. However, they only had some verymon breeds. For example, they didn¡¯t have newly popr breeds, like ragdolls.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s too bad. I will look somewhere else.¡± The girl nodded and left.

    ¡°Goodbye,¡± Zhang Zian said politely.

    Fina watched the girl leave and said with confusion, ¡°I could smell lots of cats on this girl.¡±

    Zhang Zian was also watching her leave. He smiled and said, ¡°That¡¯s because she is also in the pet industry.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Fina looked at him.

    ¡°I am just guessing. I think she either owns a pet shop or a cat house. Thetter is more likely.¡± Zhang Zian stretched and put the Bluetooth speaker on the steps at the entryway. He continued, ¡°An old Chinese saying says ¡®two of a trade seldom agree¡¯. She might have heard about my shop so she came for a visit. She left because she found out that my store wouldn¡¯t threaten her business.¡±

    ¡°This is my spiritual pce,¡± Fina said unhappily.

    ¡°Fine, fine. This is YOUR spiritual pce.¡± Zhang Zian thought he was a forgiving person. He didn¡¯t care for an argument with a cat. My name is on the title of this store. I¡¯d rather get some exercise than argue with a cat.

    ¡­

    Once Qing Jing was far away from the pet store, she pulled out her phone and started dialing.

    ¡°It¡¯s me. I just went to Amazing Fate Pet Shop. I aming back now.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, the one that has been popr online.¡±

    ¡°I asked the owner. They only have some normal breeds such as British Shorthairs and American Shorthairs. They don¡¯t have Ragdolls and Scottish Folds.¡±

    ¡°Him? I think he could tell I am in the industry. I don¡¯t really care.¡±

    ¡°No. I didn¡¯t see the stunts. Don¡¯t worry. As long as we keep the high-end market, he is not a problem.¡±

    ¡°Only¡­Well, nothing.¡± She was going to talk about that golden cat, but she stopped.

    ¡°Okay, goodbye.¡±

    Qing Jing hung up. She was relieved.

 Chapter 129: The Ragdoll

    <h4>Chapter 129: The Ragdoll</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    A small truck parked in front of Amazing Fate Pet Shop. There was an abstract cat painted on the vehicle¡¯s side. It was a truck from the Pets¡¯ Home Breeding Base.

    Sun Yinian jumped off the passenger¡¯s seat. Together with the driver, he started moving the pets inside the store.

    There were no customers in the store, so Zhang Zian came over to help.

    To avoid confusion with the current stock, he put all the kittens back into the disy cab.

    After unloading the truck, he gave Sun Yinian and the driver each an ice-cold drink. He was checking the pets on the packing list.

    The number looked right. He then pulled up the photo album in his cell phone.

    He had taken a picture of each pet he picked. Now he was trying to check and make sure they had delivered what he had chosen.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. They are correct!¡± Sun Yinian was impatient.

    Zhang Zian smiled and insisted, ¡°A double check keeps us out of trouble.¡±

    Even reckoning makes long friends.

    After double checking, everything looked fine.

    Zhang Zian signed the packing list and then used an online transfer to pay the bnce.

    In fact, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have much cash on hand, even though sales had been great. He had to keep buying more stock, thus the cash wouldn¡¯t stay in his ount for long. Theoretically, his capital should be growing like a snowball, but he couldn¡¯t really see it. The money had been going right back into inventory. As famous Chinese saying goes, ¡°animals cannot be counted as money¡±.

    This saying is for the breeding and animal farming industries. It means that money is not secure in these industries. It may disappear overnight. If a breeding base or an animal farm caught an animal flu or a fire, or if there was a change in government policy or market, a millionaire would easily be destroyed.

    A pet shop is the downstream industry of the breeding base industry.

    Zhang Zian invested every penny he had in those pets. If the pets had problems, he would go broke. He might not end up killing himself to stay away from debt, but it would definitely destroy him.

    The atmosphere rxed. Sun Yinian and the driver each lit a cigarette and took a break. Zhang Zian was good when it came to payments. He didn¡¯t bargain very much either. Thest time they delivered pets, they saw that Zhang Zian¡¯s business was doing great; as a result, they thought Zhang was making big bucks. No one knew he was almost out of cash.

    ¡°Boss, could you tell the breed of that golden cat?¡± the driver asked Sun Yinian with a cigarette in his mouth.

    Zhang Zian kicked them out of the store when they started smoking.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Sun Yinian shook his head. He could care less. ¡°That¡¯s none of my business.¡±

    ¡°Yo! Look! That Dragon-Li is wearing a hat and a vest and watching TV!¡± The driver had good eyes. He patted his boss on the shoulder, and pointed at Old Time Tea, ¡°No kidding!¡±

    Sun Yinian turned his head and stole a nce. He was surprised, but he didn¡¯t want to admit it. ¡°Don¡¯t bullsh*t! Cats don¡¯t watch TV. It was just curious.¡±

    Zhang Zian emptied the cages and took them to the door. The breeding base had to take them back.

    ¡°Mr. Sun, may I ask you a question?¡± he said.

    Upon hearing that, the driver threw away the cigarette, nodded at Sun and walked away to put the cages on the truck.

    ¡°What is it?¡± Sun Yinian replied.

    Zhang Zian thought and asked, ¡°Would you be able to find Ragdoll breeding cats? Other breeds are okay as well, such as Bengal cats or Maine Coon cats. These high-end cats are the money makers and there is not muchpetition.¡±

    Sun Yinian¡¯s brows tightened. He didn¡¯t respond immediately.

    Zhang Zian waited patiently.

    After a little while, he shook his head and said, ¡°Very difficult.¡±

    That was it¡­ Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t surprised. If Sun could have gotten Ragdolls, he would¡¯ve done it by now!

    ¡°Frankly, I asked before. A Ragdoll breeding cat would have cost hundreds of thousands a few years ago. Now the price might have gone up.¡± Sun Yinian sighed.

    Zhang Zian understood. It takes two breeding-grade cats to reproduce, a male and a female. Considering the time for pregnancy,bor, nursing, and recovery, a male cat should at least have three female cats.

    A pet-grade Ragdoll could sell for over 20 thousand. The price for show quality and breeding quality Ragdolls had to be rocket high.

    Due to the high profit, however, the Ragdoll market had been monopolized.

    Cat houses that offered Ragdolls tried every way possible to repel newpetitors through methods like purposely increasing the cost to enter market and strictly controlling the breeding cats. Almost all Ragdolls for sale were pet-grade and show-grade cats, which were already neutered before being released to the market. The breeding-grade Ragdolls were rarely avable to the public.

    Arge amount of capital was a must if one wanted to enter the Ragdoll market.

    Ragdolls are sweet and beautiful looking as well as gentle and obedient to the owner. That¡¯s why they are an evergreen tree in the high-end pet industry.

    Being able to offer Ragdolls is pretty much another way to look at the pet shop or cat house¡¯s market position.

    At this time, Pets¡¯ Home Breeding Base was going through a total turnaround of their offerings. Their running capital was too tight to invest in some breeding-grade Ragdolls. Zhang Zian was also financially tight.

    If he was lucky, he might be able to get Ragdolls from a cat house or try a breeding base that was farther away.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. Let¡¯s take it one step at a time,¡± Zhang Zian decided to not worry about it at this time. Worrying would not help anyways.

    Sun Yinian and the driver both hopped in the truck and left the pet shop.

    Zhang Zian sent a message to Sun Xiaomeng, ¡°If you have a customere in with a Ragdoll, please ask them where they got it from.¡± There were almost 30 pets in the store, which was a lot more animals to take care ofpared to when the store first opened and there were only three pets. It was apletely different story.

    The workload had increased dramatically as well, especially when new inventory came in. All of the pets were about four months old. Most of them hadn¡¯t had a bath since they were born, so they were quite dirty. Zhang Zian had to clean each one, which took a long time and hard work.

    Zhang Zian was considering hiring another full-time worker as he wiped the pets¡¯ bodies, and cleaned their faces and ears. In the end, he made up his mind to wait until he sold this batch.

    In fact, Wang Qian and Li Kun were the ideal candidates for this job. They were simple-minded and quite silly. They thought Zhang Zian had special magic powers, so he didn¡¯t have to think about how to exin the stunt issue. They were in their junior year of college. It might be too early to talk about a full-time offer.

    How about hiring a graphic designer?

    Speak of the devils¡­

    Wang Qian and Li Kun ran into the store and said, ¡°Master! It is not good!¡±

 Chapter 130: Running Away

    <h4>Chapter 130: Running Away</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Quietly opening her bedroom door, Jiang Qianxue saw no one in the corridor, so she immediately returned to her bedroom for her cell phone and selfie-stick, tiptoed out of the bedroom, and then gently closed the door.

    Looking down the stairs, she saw her mother was on the phone, holding Snowball in her arms, and her father was sitting in the living room, reading a file with his sses on. It seemed that she could take advantage of this opportunity!

    She was happy. Learning from previous lessons, she put her body lower, moved forward step by step from behind the couch. The tall leather sofa blocked her body. The crashing sound of her father turning the pages and her mom¡¯s conversation covered her subtle footsteps.

    The entrance was getting closer and closer. Victory was only a few steps away!

    In Snowy¡¯s mind, there was a perfect simtion of how to quietly put on her shoes at the entrance, and slip out of the house without anyone noticing¡­

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    Although it was only a low cat noise, it was particrly harsh at this time.

    Suddenly, all noises stopped. It was dead silent. The house was so quiet that even a falling leaf could be heard.

    Frightened, Snowy looked up from the back of the couch and saw her father and mother staring at her.

    ¡°You behaved for just a few days and now are busy sneaking out for a live show again?¡± Jiang Tianda said impatiently. ¡°How many times do I need to tell you? What do you get out of those live shows? You should learn to behave like ady. Look at the other kids in this vi; who goes out every day like you?¡±

    ¡°Woo¡­¡± Snowy¡¯s face wrinkled up. She knew she had to listen to her dad¡¯s preaching, which he told her again and again.

    ¡°Honey, I allowed her to go out.¡± Shi Rong suddenly said.

    Snowy and Jiang Tianda were both shocked at the same time. What was going on in her mom¡¯s mind?

    Shi Rong came forward with Snowball in her arms and faked a severe usation. ¡°What a wild girl! Go if you want, but don¡¯t take Snowball next time. Did you see how much mud and rotten leaves got caught in her hair from the woods? Take her for a bath!¡±

    Shi Rong pushed Snowball to Snowy without saying anything else.

    Snowy quickly understood and kept nodding. ¡°No problem! Trust me! I guarantee I¡¯ll bring back a clean and white Snowball! Bye!¡±

    She quickly went to the entryway, took the cat bag out from the cupboard, put Snowball into the cat bag, put on her shoes, and ran out with joy. She did it quickly so her father could not stop her.

    After Snowy left, Jiang Tianda pulled a long face and stared at his wife. ¡°Look at how you spoil her! How will she find a husband in the future?¡±

    Shi Rong shot back without hesitation, ¡°If she cannot find a husband I will keep her all my life¡­ Anyways, I don¡¯t want to see a depressed daughter!¡±

    ¡°What?! Like mother like daughter¡­¡± Jiang Tianda was choked with rage. He could not continue to read the files anymore, so he took off his reading sses.

    After a while, he suddenly felt something was wrong.

    ¡°Let me ask you. Howe all of a sudden she started to behave for a few days?¡± He asked.

    ¡°How would I know?¡±

    ¡°Did you not ask?¡±

    ¡°I did. She didn¡¯t say anything.¡± Shi Rong fought back, ¡°How about you? Why don¡¯t you pay more attention to your own daughter? All you care about is your work¡­¡±

    Jiang Tianda thought in his head that of course he cared about Snowy and he never missed one show of hers. However, he was too embarrassed to admit that. He didn¡¯t want his wife tough at him and chances were she might tell her friends as a joke. Bing theughing stock of the vi was thest thing he wanted to happen.

    He remembered thest live show, which was when she went to Hidden Fog Tea House in Mt. Hidden Fog. Snowy was normal during the whole broadcast. The owner from the pet shop was annoying¡­ after that live show, Snowy became very quiet.

    ¡°Was it because of¡­¡± Jiang Tianda thought of what Zhang Zian said about the RPG game.

    Was Snowy hurt by that?

    He thought that was very possible. Why did she go back to her normal self today?

    ¡°Did she go out yesterday?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Nope¡ªshe only wandered around within the vi.¡±

    ¡°Wandered around within the vi?¡± Jiang Tianda thought for a second. The vi was very quiet during the day and Snowy wouldn¡¯t go far. If she met someone in the vi, it might be¡­

    ¡°Did you say she took the cat into the woods?¡± He continued questioning.

    ¡°Yes. What¡¯s up?¡±

    A bad feeling came to Jiang Tianda¡¯s mind.

    In the morning when he went to work, he sometimes saw Loser Jin walking towards the woods with his fishing gear and a funny looking Husky.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve got to go,¡± He changed his shoes and left without saying much.

    ¡°Where are you going? It is cold outside, take your jacket!¡± Snowy¡¯s mom reminded.

    After leaving home, Jiang Tianda went straight to a house not far from theirs ¨C where Jin lived. He stayed at home all the time now. If Snowy came across someone in the vi during daytime, it had to be him! The guy was known formenting on other people¡¯s business.

    Jiang Tianda was so mad that he approached Jin¡¯s house quickly.

    Late fall is that special time of the year ¨C starting to get cool yet stillfortable.

    Stopping at the door, he was staring at something.

    The door was tightly closed with a piece of paper stuck on it. The paper was dancing in the wind.

    He held down the paper and read carefully.

    Someone wrote a note:

    My apologies, Lao Jiang. I know you are very busy with work so I talked to your daughter the other day.

    I know you have to be choked with rage at this moment. It does not help. I am out of town for a few days. I will return when you calm down.

    Trust me. I regret it for real! I will never do that again. Please let me be!

    Don¡¯t go crazy. I am a legend.

    Pretending to be a life coach was fun. Now I have to run away! That feels even better!

    The signature was a funny looking Husky¡¯s head. ¡°What the f*ck! Loser Jin! You¡¯d better shut up from now on!¡± Jiang Tianda was as mad as a wet hen.

    He ripped off the paper and tore it into pieces!

    That didn¡¯t make him feel better. He also kicked the door several times.

    ¡­

    In the security room, a few security guards were watching him and didn¡¯t know what to do.

    If it was someone from outside themunity kicking at the door, they would stop him immediately and request for financialpensation to any damage to the door. However, this looked like a conflict between the residents¡­ They could not afford to make any of them mad.

    After discussion, they decided to push this trouble to their supervisor.

    ¡°Copy supervisor! Something is wrong in the security room. Pleasee immediately. Urgent!¡±

    After a short while.

    ¡°What is it? Something wrong with Loser Jin?¡± the supervisor rushed in with his walkie-talkie.

    The security guards all remained silent and pointed at the monitors.

    Supervisor, ¡°Hell! You guys are all pieces of trash!¡±

 Chapter 131: Tit for Tat!

    <h4>Chapter 131: Tit for Tat!</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As soon as she left home, Snowy hopped in a taxi and went towards Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

    With her cell phone in her hand, she was going through a long struggle. Then she turned on her phone.

    Tons of messages popped out as soon as she opened Weibo.

    ¡°Where has Snowy been? No live show for a few days already!¡±

    ¡°Is she sick?¡±

    ¡°Did she have an ident?¡±

    ¡°To the previous message: stop it, don¡¯t jinx!¡±

    ¡°Sh*t! I care about Snowy, okay? She¡¯s never disappeared like that. She would post new statuses on Weibo and WeChat even when she didn¡¯t have live shows. Now she ispletely gone!¡±

    ¡°Stop the fighting! We are all her fans!¡±

    ¡°Honestly! Who could contact Snowy and find out what is going on?¡±

    ¡°Why did you ask? You are a huge fan and always talk to her in the live show. You go ask her!¡±

    ¡°Calm down! I only talk to her online. I have never met her in person. I don¡¯t know where she lives or her cell phone¡­¡±

    ¡°Hell! Waste of time!¡±

    ¡°Hey, that person! You always tip Snowy. Do you have her contact?¡±

    ¡°Since when do you think Snowy cares about the tips? Honestly, my tips are far from [Binhai Local]. Maybe he knows?¡±

    ¡°Bullsh*t! At least I know what Snowy looks like. [Binhai Local] is even more mysterious than Snowy.¡±

    Reading every message on Weibo, Snowy felt the warm hearts from all her fans. Their concerns and cares were like countless snowkes that came down from the sky,nded on her shoulder, melted in her heart and turned into powerful support.

    With her shaking hands, she started typing:

    ¡°Hello! How are you guys? I haven¡¯t talked to you in a few days. I miss you all!¡±

    Her tone was as pleasant as usual, yet her eyes were red. All the messages allowed her to realized that her show was in fact touching people¡¯s lives and bringing joy to her fans.

    A few secondster¡­

    ¡°Holy moly! Speaking of my Snowy, here shees!¡±

    ¡°I left thest message! It must be my invisible power that brought her back!¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah! Snowy, where have you been? We miss you!¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t go! No matter what illness you have. I can¡¯t live without your live show!¡±

    ¡°Snowy, when is your next show?¡±

    ¡°Snowy, did you get sick? If you are sick, you should rest!¡±

    ¡°Snowy, are you well?¡±

    Snowy posted another feed, ¡°I am sorry to worry you guys! I am fine. I was out for a few days. My show will be back on soon!¡±

    ¡°Snowy, if you don¡¯t tell us, we will be worried sick! What¡¯s wrong? We will help you.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Snowy. Tell us!¡±

    She did bring her cell phone and selfie stick out of habit. She was going to wander around today and didn¡¯t n to host a live show. However, it looked like if she didn¡¯t show up in the camera, her fans would keep asking! As a result, she typed, ¡°I haven¡¯t found a new location for a show. I am going to Amazing Fate Pet Shop to bathe my cat. If you are interested, I could have a live show there.¡±

    ¡°Of course, we are interested. We like any show you make. Please start your show ASAP!¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t want to see the ugly face of that store owner but I will take it if I can see your pretty face.¡±

    ¡°Snowy, you have to call the police if that sexual manager bothers you.¡±

    Snowy couldn¡¯t help butugh at the messages.

    The taxi stopped right in front of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop. Snowy paid and jumped out of the taxi with her cat bag.

    She opened the live show app, and started a show in a happy voice as normal. ¡°Hello everyone! Wee to my live show! Our slogan is food, drinks, activities and fun in Binhai!¡±

    Tons of audience members had already been waiting in the live broadcast room. The broadcast was full of excitement.

    Normally, the audience would chat about random things at the beginning of the show. However, at this time, many of them started sending messages without Snowy finishing up, ¡°Snowy, turn around! Quick!¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± Snowy turned around, shocked.

    On the sidewalk, right outside Amazing Fate Pet Shop, were listed many disy cabs and cages. People were still moving stock down from a truck. A red banner with white fonts were hanging up, ¡°Stars Pet Chain Supermarket Special Promotions¡±.

    Zhang Zian, Wang Qian and Li Kun all stood at the door, watching what was happening, seriously.

    No need to exin, the audience all understood. That was a rival game!

    Some pedestrians stopped and looked from a distance. Some crowded together to watch this free show.

    Chen Taitong yed hisst card. It was a desperate fight: he brought all his pets to sell right in front of Zhang Zian¡¯s store.

    He was nning to use a pricingpetition and was sure the consumer would be smart enough to pick a less expensive supplier. If Zhang sold a cat for 8000 Yuan, they would sell one for 4000. If he sold a dog for 5000, he would sell it for half. He didn¡¯t care that he would lose money over these deals as long as he could win over Zhang Zian.

    Snowy ran up to Zhang Zian and asked curiously, ¡°Mr. Manager, what are you going to do?¡±

    ¡°Master, you can¡¯t suck in it anymore. They casted the first stone, right here!¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun were also pushing Zhang Zian to fight back. In their mind, their Master could win over Chen Taitong easily. They simply couldn¡¯t understand.

    The audience in the live broadcast room all started scolding.

    ¡°What the heck?! That is disgusting! If it was me, I would beat that guy up!¡±

    ¡°Ha-ha, I am d that fat guy didn¡¯t live in the North. Otherwise he would be dead by now. Shame on Southerners!¡±

    ¡°Hey! Hey! Hey! Mind your words! People that live in the South also stand up for themselves!¡±

    ¡°Oh! Yeah! There are people from the North in this live broadcast room? Nice!¡±

    People loved the crowd. Many bystanders stopped and looked at the pets. Chen Taitong¡¯s staff immediately entered fight mode, exining to people about pets and keptparing the price difference between their store and Zhang Zian¡¯s.

    Zhang Zian walked down the stairs towards Chen Taitong.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun winked at each other and followed Zhang.

    Snowy also followed, carrying her cat bag and holding up her cell phone. The fans kept reminding her to be careful in case anyone started some violence.

    Chen Taitong saw Zhang Zian and put on a big smile, ¡°Hi there, how can I help you?¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head, ¡°I am not here to shop. I am the owner of this store.¡± He pointed at Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

    ¡°Oh!¡± Chen Taitong faked a surprised smile and wanted a handshake, ¡°We are in the same trade. Nice to meet you. My name is Chen Taitong.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t shake his hand. Even the most uneducated person would not shake his hand.

 Chapter 132: Ready for The Fight

    <h4>Chapter 132: Ready for The Fight</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t reach out his hand for the handshake. Chen Taitong put down his hand slowly. The two men looked at each other quietly.

    Chen Taitong¡¯s staff kept ncing at them both as they were selling the pets. They had to pay close attention so they could leave if anything happened. Some staff members, who were nning to leave Stars Pet Chain Supermarket for good, looked at Zhang Zian. They thought Zhang looked quite young, so he might not be a good boss.

    Chen Taitong¡¯s smile cooled down. He didn¡¯t think Zhang Zian would start a fight, although he was hoping Zhang would beat him up so he could call the police and put Zhang in jail. He wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything in the pet industry after he got out of jail.

    Snowy pointed the camera at Zhang Zian. Everyone knew he was going to take action otherwise he wouldn¡¯t have walked over. Only spoken warnings might not work at this point.

    ¡°Mr. Chen, you will affect my business if you sell your pets here,¡± Zhang Zian said peacefully, with confidence.

    Chen Taitong scolded in his heart, Well, I didn¡¯t say anything to you when you affected my business!

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, look¡­we are justpeting fairly.¡±

    As he spoke, they sold the first pet. A Husky puppy went home with its new owner.

    ¡°Zhang Zian, what is going on?¡± There came Sun Xiaomeng. Her appearance surprised Zhang Zian. She left in a rush, so she was still wearing her doctor¡¯s uniform. She overheard conversations in the auto parts store about Zhang Zian being in trouble, so she ran over.

    ¡°Nothing. Don¡¯t worry!¡± Zhang Zian waved, ¡°Mr. Chen is leaving soon.¡±

    Chen Taitong was shock andughed, ¡°Who told you that I am leaving? We ordered lunch to deliver here. We aren¡¯t going anywhere!¡±

    Although he was being tough, he was nervous. Zhang Zian¡¯s peaceful attitude made him nervous. He wasn¡¯t sure what card Zhang would y.

    Zhang Zian persuaded another time, ¡°I am serious. Mr. Chen. Please leave. I don¡¯t want to make it worse.¡±

    ¡°How could you make it worse?¡± Chen Taitong patted on his chest, ¡°Come on! Try me!¡±

    ¡°Okay. Don¡¯t regret!¡± Zhang Zian pulled out his cell phone and started dialing.

    Everyone was looking at him thinking that Zhang had to know some big potato. Now it was time to show off. Chen Taitong was nervous ¨C does he have a strong background?

    The phone was connected.

    ¡°Hello? Urban management office? I want to report a case. Someone is selling stuff illegally on Zhonghua South Road. Pleasee handle it¡­What? My name? Well, don¡¯t thank me. Call me a good person! What? Reporting can im a prize? Oh¡­ You can keep the prize.¡±

    He hung up.

    Silence.

    Sweat rolled down Chen Taitong¡¯s forehead.

    Zhang Zian looked at his watch, ¡°A while back, an old farmer was selling bananas on a tricycle across from the road. He had a fight with the owner of the fruit store and was reported. The urban management officer took away all his stock, the tricycle and himself. I was not busy, so I watched the whole process. It took the urban management officer 11 minutes to arrive. You know, it is almost the end of year, so the urban management officers have to work hard to meet their goals so they can get their year-end bonus.¡±

    Chen Taitong¡¯s face turned pale. He looked like a breathing dead person.

    His lips moved. It seemed like he might say something.

    ¡°Boss, what did you say?¡± A worker was close to him so he asked.

    ¡°Go! Go! Go! Let¡¯s go!¡± Chen yelled as hard as he could.

    Everyone took the order!

    ¡°Don¡¯t watch! We are closing!¡±

    A second ago, Chen was hoping to get more pedestrians. Now he started to send people away.

    Some customers startedining.

    ¡°What are you doing? Are you going to sell me this dog or not?¡±

    ¡°These people are crazy!¡±

    Zhang Zian raised his voice, ¡°Everyone, attention please. Their operation is illegal. That¡¯s why the pets are cheap. If you are interested in pets, pleasee to my store.¡±

    In fact, not many people were interested in pets; however, it didn¡¯t hurt to take a look.

    What the f*ck! Chen Taitong almost hit the ceiling.

    He wanted to beat Zhang Zian up!

    He couldn¡¯t because he had to move quickly back to his store. Otherwise, he would be in big trouble.

    One worker was slow. Chen Taitong kicked his butt, literally! ¡°Come on! Hurry up!¡±

    Offended, the worker threw the cage on the ground, ran up to Zhang Zian, and asked, ¡°Boss, I want to work for you. I have two years of experience working in a pet store. No training required.¡±

    What?! Raising the white g? Chen Taitong and other staff members were all shocked!

    Zhang Zian stopped him. ¡°I don¡¯t need a worker who throws the cages on the ground¡­¡±

    The Poodle in the cage which was thrown on the ground was shaken too crazily, so it kept barking.

    The worker was embarrassed. He looked at both sides and returned to Chen Taitong, ¡°Bo¡­Boss¡­I was drunk¡­Don¡¯t fire me!¡±

    Chen Taitong got hot under the cor. He raised his arm ¨C the worker thought Chen was going to hit him, so he stayed away. However, Chen Taitong pointed away, ¡°Go! Don¡¯t evere back!¡±

    ¡°Boss, you¡­you owe me two weeks of paychecks¡­¡± All of a sudden, the worker started to be firm, ¡°If you don¡¯t pay me, I am going to sue you!¡±

    Chen Taitong took out a deck of cash, threw it on the ground without counting and stepped on it. ¡°Go! Go with the money!¡±

    The worker picked up the money and counted. It was more than what he deserved. He put it in his pocket and left.

    Chen Taitong asked the rest of the staff, ¡°Anyone else want to leave? If not, pick up the stuff. Quick! Otherwise we will all go to jail.¡±

    The staff hurried up.

    The scene amazed Sun Xiaomeng. She said to Zhang Zian, ¡°You always y the unexpected card!¡±

    The audience startedmenting as the scene ended.

    ¡°Mr. Manager was shameless!¡±

    ¡°Yeah! How could he call the urban management officers?!¡±

    ¡°The urban management army will arrive in 7 minutes! Crash them!¡±

 Chapter 133: The Empty City Strategy

    <h4>Chapter 133: The Empty City Strategy</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The clock was ticking. Chen Taitong kept pushing as he looked at his watch. He also worked with the workers to move the cages on the truck. After everything was picked up, he hatefully stared at Zhang Zian, and then jumped in the passenger¡¯s side.

    ¡°Drive!¡±

    They disappeared in no time.

    After they disappeared, Zhang Zian sighed slightly. He knew that he had set himself up with an enemy from now on.

    Well, no one could change history.

    ¡°Master! That was magnificent! You kicked them out without even making an effort!¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun admired him even more. They thought that the urban management army was undefeatable, yet Master could send them over by making a simple phone call. Master was obviously above them!

    ¡°Mr. Manager, you scared me!¡± Snowy rxed, patted on her chest and said, ¡°You reminded me of the famous Chinese idiom: ¡®Don¡¯t change countenance even if Mt. Tai copses right before your eyes¡¯.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng pounded on Zhang Zian, ¡°Be honest with me, where did youe up with all these ideas?¡±

    The audience was curious. They all asked questions.

    ¡°Oh no! Please tell me this is not true! Sexual Manager has a girlfriend now?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it is possible for him to get someone!¡±

    ¡°Who is on site? Go warn that girl not to fall for Sexual Manager¡¯s tricks!¡±

    ¡°She was wearing a doctor¡¯s uniform. Is she a doctor?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Maybe Sexual Manager forced her to wear a doctor¡¯s uniform. You know how it goes¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian knew the audience was going to be mean so he introduced Sun Xiaomeng immediately, ¡°This is a licensed vet named Sun Xiaomeng. Her clinic is north of my store by about 1000 feet. She might be my partner in the future. If you want to take your pet for a checkup, disinfection, or vines, you can try her clinic.¡±

    He then introduced Snowy, ¡°This is Snowy. She owns more than 5000 local pathetic fans.¡±

    The fans almost hit the ceiling!

    ¡°Sexual Manager, please take back the word ¡®pathetic¡¯!¡±

    ¡°YOU are the pathetic one!¡±

    Snowy nodded nicely, ¡°Hello, I am Liveshow Hostess Snowy.¡± She looked at her hands, meaning that her hands were all full, too full for a handshake.

    Sun Xiaomeng looked at her cat bag andughed, ¡°Hello! My name is Sun Xiaomeng. I run an animal clinic, neighbor of Mr. Pathetic Manager.¡±

    One simply word stole the fans¡¯ hearts away.

    ¡°Goddess! I am already her fan!¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Goddess, for fighting for us!¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah! I will take my dog to your clinic for what you just said!¡±

    Some customers were looking at pets in the store. With Fina being there, no one dared to take anything. Zhang Zian knew Snowy might need something, since she had been carrying her cat bag around, so he suggested, ¡°Let¡¯s go in, everyone.¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were truly crazy kids. They said, ¡°Master, we want to see the urban management officer first.¡±

    Zhang Zianughed, ¡°What the hell! There is no urban management officer!¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± everyone was surprised.

    Zhang Zian took his cell phone out and showed his dial history. ¡°Look, I dialed 114, the information hotline. How do I know an urban management office¡¯s number?¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun respected him even more. ¡°Master, it was an empty city strategy ¨C presenting a bold front to conceal unpreparedness!¡±

    ¡°Then the story about the fruit store owner reporting the old banana farmer¡­¡± Sun Xiaomeng asked.

    ¡°I made that up,¡± he replied.

    Really?!

    Mr. Manager was a born genius when it came to lying!

    ¡°Mr. Swindler Manager!¡± Another new nickname from the fans.

    ¡°Be careful of Mr. Manager!¡±

    ¡°Snowy, don¡¯te to this store again ever! He might take advantage of you and you don¡¯t even know!¡±

    Most people didn¡¯t agree with what Zhang Zian did.

    ¡°Why did you let them go?¡±

    ¡°Agreed! You already dialed 114. Why didn¡¯t you check the number of the urban management office?¡±

    ¡°You have to teach them a lesson, otherwise they wille back again.¡±

    Even Sun Xiaomeng didn¡¯t understand, ¡°You did them a favor yet they won¡¯t appreciate it. I don¡¯t think they will change. If theye again, your empty city strategy won¡¯t work next time.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded, ¡°You are right. I know.¡±

    ¡°Then why did you¡­¡±

    ¡°Because the pets are innocent,¡± he said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what the urban management officer will do to the pets. There are lots of cats and dogs. The pets might be confiscated forever or taken away temporarily. Once they get in that office, they probably won¡¯t be able to live. This is a fight between humans and it shouldn¡¯t hurt the pets.¡±

    Silence¡­

    What would the urban management officer do? Zhang Zian really didn¡¯t know. He knew that they would take away a fruit cart and everything. They might do the same to the pets. That was thest thing he wanted to see.

    All he ever wanted was to scare them away.

    He would handle the situation if anything happened in the future.

    That was the reason he was standing at the door for a while and didn¡¯t take action. He was evaluating the oues.

    Sun Xiaomeng and the audience were right; however, they didn¡¯t take the pets¡¯ safety into consideration.

    If he called the urban management office for real, the officer would have confiscated the pets, yet the problem would still exist. It was a fight between him and Chen Taitong.

    ¡°What are you guys doing here?¡± He rushed to them. ¡°Go back to where you belong. You! Go back to your clinic.¡± He pointed at Sun Xiaomeng.

    ¡°You two, go serve the customers,¡± he said, pointing at Wang Qian and Li Kun.

    Snowy lifted up her cat bag, ¡°I came to bathe my cat.¡±

    ¡°Sure,e on in.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng sighed and left.

    Zhang Zian went back to the store, sat back down on his recliner and was deep in thought.

    In such a situation, it might not even be helpful to ask for Fina and Xinghai¡¯s opinions.

    ¡°Grandma Tea, what do you think?¡± he asked.

    Old Time Tea was enjoying an action movie that took ce in ancient China.

    Upon hearing Zhang Zian, she smiled, ¡°I don¡¯t know what an urban management office is, nor do I know why you hate each other. So, I really could not judge.¡±

    Zhang Zianughed, ¡°That¡¯s right. Even I don¡¯t know why I offended them.¡±

    ¡°However,¡± Old Time Tea said seriously, ¡°I have to thank you for saving those young kittens and puppies¡¯ lives. Buddy, what you have just done was benevolent and deserves a bow from me.¡±

    It sat up and bowed to Zhang Zian with its two arms put together.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t! That was too much!¡± Zhang Zian was scared. He didn¡¯t think he deserved a bow from the respectful Old Time Tea, so he stopped it.

    This time, it was totally different than saving the naughty kid. He didn¡¯t think about the possible oues at that time. Saving the kid was everything in his mind. This time, he thought about the situation thoroughly, yet still chose the option that was against his own interests because he wanted to save the pets. Doing it once might be a coincidence, but doing it twice had toe from his heart.

    Old Time Tea was stopped by Zhang Zian. A secret smile came up on her face under the hat.

 Chapter 134: Qing Ren Lane

    <h4>Chapter 134: Qing Ren Lane</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Without saying a word, Chen Taitong pulled a long face on their way back. The driver sitting next to him kept sweating as if he was sitting by a bomb that could explode at any second.

    ¡°Stop the truck!¡± Chen Taitong suddenly said.

    ¡°What?¡± The driver was shocked, ¡°Boss, we are not back to the store yet.¡±

    ¡°I know. Stop the truck!¡± Chen Taitong repeated.

    The driver didn¡¯t know what was in Chen¡¯s mind. He stopped the truck as instructed.

    He slowly pulled over.

    Chen Taitong jumped out of the truck and looked around.

    The driver was being nice, ¡°Boss, the closest public bathroom is over there¡­ That bathroom is very dirty and smelly. You will be better off solving your problem behind a pole¡­¡±

    Chen Taitong was up to the ceiling. ¡°Bullsh*t! I am not a dog. I don¡¯t pee behind a pole.¡±

    The driver was frightened to death. He thought he was just being nice and didn¡¯t anticipate making his boss mad.

    Chen Taitong lit up a cigarette, ¡°Why don¡¯t you guys go back to the store first.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± The driver was shocked again, ¡°What about you?¡­¡±

    Chen Taitong stopped him, ¡°I have some urgent matters to handle. I will go back to the storeter.¡± He waved away the driver, not speaking another word. ¡°Go! Go! Go! Put away the pets and go home early today.¡±

    The driver was thrilled to hear that he could go home early.

    ¡°Okay. Then I will leave you alone, boss.¡±

    ¡°Go!¡±

    Chen Taitong was uneasy as he watched the small truck disappear at the corner of the street.

    He looked around again. He felt that pedestrians passing by were looking at him, as though they could see his thoughts. He couldn¡¯t tell if this was an illusion.

    ¡°F*ck!¡± He was choked by the cigarette. This was apanied by coughing a few times, causing his eyes to get watery.

    He spat a few times, threw away the half of a cigarette and stepped it out.

    What should he do?

    He looked up and saw there was ane not far from him.

    It was a narrowne where a car could not even conduct a three-point turn.

    Thene was very quiet. There wasn¡¯t a single person who went in or came out from there since he had gotten out of the truck. Even passersby would not look down there.

    In short, it was a very unlucky lookingne, suitable to film horror movies on.

    Once someone walked down thisne, he might not be able to get out.

    Chen Taitong wasn¡¯t scared.

    Chen Taitong observed a little longer. When there were people walking by, he pretended to rub his head so he could use his arm to cover his face and quickly walked in thene.

    What a whole new world inside thene!

    The noisy cars and pedestrians were left behind. Nothing but quiet was left.

    Thene wasn¡¯t open and straight. Some old buildings on both sides were sticking out and some were leaning in, which created ayered view that was difficult to see through. Someone might be hiding in the shade of the building without being seen.

    No one was in thene besides Chen Taitong. A dirty street cat was ying with a stic bag. It looked at Chen and returned to its game with the stic bag.

    It was a ck cat, a sign of misfortune.

    A unfortunate cat in an unlucky lookingne.

    Chen Taitong took a deep breath. He bent down to pick up a rock and wanted to scare the cat away. When he stood back up, he found the cat was gone.

    Heughed, threw away the rock and saw there was a metal te on the wall that read ¡°Qing Ren Lane¡±

    Qing Ren Lane. What a weird name! Chen Taitong wondered who named it. It was even more hrious that someone changed the writing to a different Chinese character that pronounced the same yet meant ane without a person.

    Qing Ren Lane, ane meant to be kept quiet.

    Chen Taitong proceeded deeper into thene.

    The further he walked in, the noise from the main road became fainter. Halfway into thene, the outside noise hadpletely disappeared.

    Chen Taitong could only hear his own footsteps.

    He suddenly turned around.

    Nothing was behind him. Nothing was ahead of him either.

    He was suspicious someone was following him.

    Highly nervous, blood-pressure rising and turning around too quickly all contributed to his dizzy head. Blood was flooding into his brain.

    Holding his fists tight, he continued walking.

    Under such a nerve-racking moment, a normal person would make some noise tofort himself. So did Chen Taitong. Although he was way past the age of acting like a teenager, he started humming a song, whistling and kicking a rock along the ground.

    The ground was wet. Household dirty water was floating everywhere. It gave out a strong odor because no sun could evaporate the water. The water at least was a proof that there were residents in thisne.

    He heard a squeaking noise.

    Frightened, Chen Taitong felt like electricity had suddenly stricken his body, which gave him goose bumps all over.

    There was something behind him. This wasn¡¯t an illusion this time!

    His heartbeat was raising. His head hurt.

    Taking a deep breath, he slowly turned around, scared.

    The street cat was 60 feet behind him. With its yellow eyes staring at him, there was a big rat struggling in its mouth.

    The rat made another squeaking noise.

    A man and a cat were staring at each other in dead silence.

    Chen Taitong nced at the ground, trying to search for the little rock he had been kicking. The little rock rolled into a deep swamp from the underground drain.

    Normally, he would not be so afraid of such a cat. However, he felt that the cat was blocking his way.

    The street cat¡¯s mouth came loose. The rat fell down and wanted to escape. The street cat patted without even looking and its pawnded on the rat¡¯s tail. The rat could not get out no matter how hard he struggled.

    It upset Chen¡¯s stomach. The street cat was ying with the rat. It would eat it only after it had enough fun and the rat became desperate.

    Cats are born this way. However, it looked awfully disgusting at this moment.

    He raised his hand and pretended he was going to beat up the cat.

    The cat didn¡¯t go away. It smiled as if it wasughing at him.

    Chen Taitong pointed at him and yelled, ¡°Don¡¯t follow me! I will beat you up!¡±

    He stepped back as he spoke.

    The street cat didn¡¯t follow. It bowed down and took a bite out of the rat¡¯s head.

    The rat shook and died.

    This was scarier than a horror movie! The only thought in Chen Taitong¡¯s mind was to run away.

    Thene wasn¡¯t long at all. Soon he was at the end of it.

    It was a dead end.

    Holding on to the wall, he was breathing rapidly.

    He turned around and saw the street cat was enjoying its meal. It didn¡¯t follow him.

    A three-story building was standing at the dead end. A dusty sign read ¡°Qing Ren Consulting Firm.¡±

    Chen Taitong rang the doorbell as he was trying to catch his breath.

    A cold voice came out from the speaker after a bit, ¡°Who is it?¡±

    ¡°My name is Wang Qi. I called before,¡± Chen Taitong said.

    The door opened after a minute.

 Chapter 135: Qing Ren

    <h4>Chapter 135: Qing Ren</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    A bald guy who opened the door.

    The bald guy pointed upstairs, beckoning to have him go up.

    Before entering the door, Chen Taitong turned his head and confirmed that the cat didn¡¯t follow.

    ¡°What a quiet location! It took me a while to find it,¡± He was trying to start a conversation.

    The bald guy didn¡¯t respond. He locked the door and walked upstairs.

    How embarrassing! Chen Taitong followed the bald guy upstairs.

    The door on the second floor was locked. They walked straight up to the third floor.

    There were two rooms on the third floor. One was a bathroom and the other was the office.

    The bald guy pushed open the door and let him in.

    Chen Taitong walked in cautiously. The bald guy closed the door immediately and stayed outside.

    It was an old building and the office looked old as well. The office was only about 15 feet long and 9 feet wide. There was an old desk and a very dirty couch. Two beautiful asparagus iron nts were also in the room.

    A young gentleman with gold-rimmed sses and a nice suit was sitting behind the desk. He was a lot younger looking than Chen Taitong. Upon seeing Chen, he stood up with a big smile and had Chen take a seat.

    ¡°Please be seated. Wang Qi, right? Your fake name is really fake.¡±

    As he sat down on the couch, Chen Taitong¡¯s body froze upon hearing his words.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s okay. Most people whoe here use a fake name. Your name isn¡¯t too bad. I had a customer, who might be your brother, named Wang Ba.¡±

    His nice smile was in sharpparison to the cold bald guy.

    Chen Taitong smiled, yet he had a feeling his smile might look fake as well.

    ¡°So¡­ how should I address you?¡± Chen asked.

    ¡°Well, I am toozy to make up a name. This is Qing Ren Consulting Firm. Call me Qing Ren.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Qing Ren, I called before¡­¡± Chen Taitong didn¡¯t want to bullsh*t, nor did he want to stay long.

    ¡°I know. I know. I havepleted the investigation upon your request. Please take a look.¡± Qing Ren stood up from the couch, walked back to the desk, picked up a file holder and put it on the coffee table in front of the couch.

    Seeing that Chen Taitong wasn¡¯t moving, he took the file out from the folder andid down the pages on the coffee table.

    ¡°You wanted to know more about this pet store. That was interesting. These are my findings ¨C business registration, fire registration, housing department, CDC and tax department. Everything looks great. It looks like the owner is very careful. Oh¡­ look¡­¡±

    He then pulled out a few more papers. ¡°This is where he gets his stock ¨C Pets Home Breeding Base. Not to mention others. The pets are all fine. Vine records of the pets are sufficient. I don¡¯t know anything else because I personally don¡¯t have pets. You must know more about the industry since you are in the same trade¡­¡±

    Chen Taitong wanted to say something, but Qing Ren stopped him immediately.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to say or exin anything. People of the same trade hate each other,¡± Qing Renughed. ¡°Mr. Wang Qi, please rx. Look at all your sweat¡­ I have three types of customers, a spouse who wants to find out something about their other half; disputes within the same industry, and piled-up grievances from life. For example, failure in debt collection¡­ You don¡¯t have to worry. I have seen them all. Isn¡¯t there an idiom that says, ¡°There is nothing new under the sun?¡±

    Chen Taitong¡¯s throat hurt. He felt like all the water in his body had dried out.

    ¡°Oh, look at this,¡± Qing Ren handed over a color picture. It was a picture taken secretly with a cell phone and then printed out.

    ¡°This is the sales agreement. I don¡¯t understand all the content, but it looks normal to me.¡±

    Looking at the coffee table full of papers and pictures, Chen Taitong was desperate. His heart was so tight that he felt like it used up all his strength for each beat. Breathing was also more and more difficult for him.

    All of a sudden, he thought, ¡°Is there going to be someone who investigates me in the dark and waits for a good time to kill me?¡±

    Upon thinking about all the possibilities, his stomach was upset and he wanted to puke.

    ¡°You look awfully pale. Are you alright?¡± Qing Ren asked, ¡°This is totally normal. Many people have the same reaction when they see the dark side of society for the first time. Regret, fear, anger¡­all these feelings mix together. It doesn¡¯t make you feel good. I understand. But¡­¡±

    He put his face up against Chen¡¯s so close that their noses almost touched, ¡°Congrattions! You¡¯ve officially be a member of the dark side. Don¡¯t be scared. No one is scared of himself, right?¡±

    Chen Taitong moved back and wanted to sink into the couch.

    ¡°Mr. Wang Qi, seriously, don¡¯t worry. Don¡¯t be scared of me¡­You are my customer, my source of wealth. I am employed by you. Why would you be scared of me? In fact, I would be scared only if you don¡¯t pay me¡­¡±

    Chen Taitong forced out a sentence, ¡°I¡­ I will pay¡­ for the investigation. I will pay¡±

    ¡°No need to rush.¡± With a smile, Qing Ren shook his head. ¡°This store is doing really well. If I had a pet store, I would be jealous as well. In other words, I totally understand your feelings, totally¡­ So, are you going to do something about it? Or are you going to let him take over your business?¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s face appeared in Chen Taitong¡¯s mind. When he called the urban management office, his voice and tone all clearly appeared in front of Chen. He thought to himself, ¡°That guy must think I am a joke. I was scared away by a phone call¡­ I can¡¯t let that be. I have to save my face.¡±

    ¡°So¡­ what are you going to do?¡± His voice was shaking.

    Qing Ren touched his own nose and said hesitatingly, ¡°If we fight directly against him, it won¡¯t be easy because all his paperwork and sourcing channels are okay. If we report him, it won¡¯t hurt him¡­ However, as you saw when you first came in, we can handle the problem for you. To beat him up is far easier than beating his business up¡­¡±

    ¡°You mean¡­¡±

    ¡°Teach him a lesson. He will know he offended someone that he shouldn¡¯t have. To save you from trouble, we could either break his arm or his leg. If he is smart, he should learn that he needs to stop messing up your business. The cost to break his arm is 60 thousand Yuan and a leg costs 80 thousand Yuan. Of course, the investigation fee is extra. Please pay on time, otherwise we will have a headache.¡±

    The office door opened, and there stood the bald guy at the door with his arms across his chest.

    Chen Taitong looked out the window. Unless he wanted to jump down from the third floor, he had to make a choice right now.

 Chapter 136: A Small Deal

    <h4>Chapter 136: A Small Deal</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After Chen Taitong left, Qing Ren picked up his cellphone happily and dialed a number.

    ¡°Hello?¡± Someone answered. It was super loud over there and sounded like a karaoke bar.

    ¡°We got business,¡± Qing Ren said.

    After a bit, the noise disappeared. That person probably walked out of the karaoke bar.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while. Mold has almost grown on me! What is it, a big deal or a small one?¡±

    ¡°Just a small deal,¡± Qing Ren replied.

    ¡°What? A small deal again? Sh*t!¡±

    Qing Ren sighed and said as if he was worried about the country, ¡°Well, now the whole economy is going down. All of my money is in the stock market and real estate. The real economy is weak. It is good to have a deal. Don¡¯t be picky.¡±

    ¡°Qing Ren, I suggest you change your location. Look, your office is too difficult to find. You won¡¯t get much business there.¡±

    Qing Renughed, ¡°Rent is cheap here. Why would I change my location? Honestly most of my customerse from word of mouth, so location is not a problem.¡±

    ¡°Well, never mind. Tell me, where is the deal?¡±

    Qing Ren picked up a piece of paper and read, ¡°Zhong Hua South Road. Amazing Fate Pet Shop.¡±

    ¡°Holy sh*t! A pet shop? That¡¯s crazy!¡±

    Qing Renughed, ¡°The real economy is weak. Customers are limited. We have to do what we can.¡±

    ¡°Hey, Qing Ren. I remember you graduated from a good college, right? You know, nerds like yourself can only find so many big excuses!¡±

    Qing Ren giggled, ¡°Don¡¯t joke around, A Jin. If I graduated from a good college, I would¡¯ve done much better!¡±

    ¡°Well, you are doing well enough. Don¡¯t fake it! I know, you guyse up with the ideas and make the big bucks! We only get the pennies.¡±

    Qing Ren smiled, ¡°So, are you going for this deal or not?¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah! Of course? Which part? How much?¡±

    ¡°An arm. 40 thousand,¡± Qing Ren replied.

    ¡°Hey, why don¡¯t you only provide the leg as the only option to your customers? Eight out of ten would choose an arm to save money.¡±

    Qing Ren disagreed, ¡°That wouldn¡¯t work. If there is only one option, the customer doesn¡¯t have a choice here. My theory is that the customers alwayse first. If the customers aren¡¯t happy, where do I get the returning customers?¡±

    ¡°Fine. Stop your bullsh*t. Is there a time limit?¡±

    Qing Ren recalled, ¡°No. The customer was a bit scared, so he didn¡¯t mention it.¡±

    ¡°Ha-ha¡­ That¡¯s good, otherwise 40 thousand would not be enough.¡±

    Qing Ren understood, ¡°You are going to¡­¡±

    ¡°Of course! We have to make more money to make up for the part that you took away from us.¡±

    Qing Ren was knocking at the desk, ¡°Well, now most people use online transference so I don¡¯t think he has much cash in the store.¡±

    ¡°Get as much as we can!¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Qing Ren thought for a second, ¡°I was told that the owner makes a deposit at an ATM every three or four days. You can take action when he does that.¡±

    ¡°I knew I would have a long and great partnership with you.¡±

    ¡°Well, we are also in the service industry. Friendliness is conducive to business sess,¡± Qing Ren smiled and said, ¡°You won¡¯t forget the rules, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. I won¡¯t tell on you if I fail. I won¡¯t fail anyways. I am a professional. We have worked together for such a long time. You should trust me,¡± A Jin promised.

    ¡°Perfect,¡± Qing Ren responded. He didn¡¯t trust A Jin. Although he made all kinds of promises, if he failed, he knew A Jin would tell on him immediately¡­ He was well-prepared for that day.

    ¡°Trust¡± didn¡¯t exist in his industry.

    ¡°Oh, right. The pet store you just mentioned?¡±

    ¡°Amazing Fate Pet Shop,¡± Qing Ren confirmed again.

    ¡°How many people are there in the store?¡±

    ¡°Only the owner. It is going to be an easy job for you.¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t worry about that¡­ Does he sell weird things like lizards, poisonous snakes, or crocodiles?¡± A Jin sounded uneasy.

    Qing Ren found it interesting so he asked, ¡°You are scared of those?¡±

    ¡°Bullsh*t! Who isn¡¯t?! If you aren¡¯t, how about you have a poisonous snake bite you? Poisonous snakes are not the worst. I heard about the blue octopus¡­¡±

    ¡°Blue ring octopus,¡± Qing Ren corrected him.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s it! I heard if you get bitten by that, you will die! Hey, if that pet store sells that stuff, I am not taking this job! No matter how much you offer.¡± A Jin started to get loud. ¡°Holy! If the owner got mad and threw an octopus or snake at me, I would be frightened to death!¡±

    ¡°Ha-ha!¡± Qing Renughed.

    ¡°Why did youugh? Laughing at me?!¡± A Jin screamed.

    Qing Ren stoppedughing, ¡°Hey, man. I mean¡­ We have worked together for so long, I wouldn¡¯tugh at you. You were overthinking! That pet store only offers cats and dogs. Maybe there are a few rabbits and hamsters. Octopus, poisonous snakes and lizards are not in the store¡­ Are you happy now? Don¡¯t tell me you are scared of cats and dogs! If so, I really have to think about getting a partner that¡¯s brave¡­¡±

    ¡°Go f*ck yourself! I am not scared of cats and dogs! I am going to make a cat and dog hotpot¡­¡±

    Qing Ren remembered a video he saw online and reminded him, ¡°There is a troublesome cat in his store. It is a golden cat. You will notice when you walk in. That cat caught a cat thief earlier. She looked quite ferocious. Pay attention to that cat.¡±

    ¡°Sh*t! Qing Ren, how could youpare me to a cat thief?¡± A Jin raised his voice.

    Qing Ren sneered and thought, ¡°This stupid guy was so impatient. He thought he was great? If it wasn¡¯t for all the information he provided, these idiots would¡¯ve failed many missions.¡±

    ¡°Well, I just wanted to remind you. The owner is a wimp. Other than the golden cat, you don¡¯t really have much to deal with. Make it quick. You should be fine.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Understood! I will get it done in a few days. Have your customer prepare the money.¡±

    The karaoke noise returned from the other end. A Jin walked back in the karaoke bar as he spoke.

    ¡°No problem,¡± Qing Ren said, ¡°Leave it all to me.¡±

 Chapter 137: The Dream of the Glorious Age

    <h4>Chapter 137: The Dream of the Glorious Age</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Old Time Tea, can I give you a little bit more hot water?¡± Zhang Zian held a water pot, pouring hot water into Old Time Tea¡¯s cup.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Old Time Tea gently smiled.

    ¡°My pleasure. Please be careful not to get burned.¡± Zhang Zian went upstairs, holding the water pot. Based on what Old Time Tea heard, Zhang Zian went back to the kitchen, putting the water pot back on the table with a ¡°ding¡±.

    Old Time Tea put its forepaw close to the cup, feeling the warm temperature from the hot water.

    In the autumn afternoon, the sun was not strong, the wind soft and not depressed, and everything was calm and peaceful.

    Old Time Tea narrowed its eyes, its pupils shining with a beautiful light.

    Getting older made it like warm things.

    The world was very warm and this young man was also very warm.

    This was a bright and warm time. All the dark having beenpletely dispersed, at least this country was back on its feet ¨C Old Time Tea thought so through the TV programs.

    Although feeling a bit sad, Old Time Tea was more pleased at the same time.

    A peaceful country and happy people ¡ª the world had the same mission. Was that a wishful goal a lot of people from all around the world sacrificed themselves to work towards?

    In this wonderful world, what else could be asked for?

    Sometimes, it would not be a bad thing if an hero had no ce to use his skills.

    Was it solved peacefully when there was a little argument in front of the store?

    It must be a new era in this peaceful and prosperous country with happy, living people!

    Old Time Tea thought to itself, ¡°For the rest of my life, it would be very nice if I could just be like a normal cat, lying on this electronic carpet, drinking some hot tea and watching some TV.¡±

    The only disappointment was that it could not leave the shop yet, otherwise it would like to go out, look around, walk in this strange world and experience this glorious era.

    Old Time Tea loved this little shop.

    Almost every person into the store was full of love, eager to find himself a desirable partner. When they stared at the cats and the dogs in the store, their eyes would be wide open, and then burst into happiness ¨C On TV, it was called hormones. Humans themselves could not detect it, but sensitive Old Time Tea could sniff them out easily.

    Zhang Zian went back downstairs and saw no guests in the shop, theny on the reclining chair and picked up a book called ¡°Rare Pets Illustration¡± he bought online.

    Old Time Tea liked this young man called ¡°Zhang Zian¡±.

    He was a principled person. He introduced the different pets to the customers, telling them their merits, never hiding their shorings, which sometimes made him lose some deals, but even when the next customer came, he would still do the same.

    He was a benevolent person. He handed over dogs and cats to different customers, exined to them methods on how to take care of them, and even printed the instructions on paper and gave them to customers.

    He was a dreamer. When there were no customers, he wouldy on the reclining chair. While Queen Fina despised at him, he was still thinking of his little dream ¨C to renovate this shop. He and Queen Fina counted the money, arguing about how much more money they should save to cover the renovation costs. He always smiled and said how they would renovate the ce and where they should put stuff.

    This was the time for everyone to dream!

    This was the time for dreams toe true!

    The way he treated Old Time Tea, the oldzy cat that only ate all the time, was no different from the way he treated Gxy and Queen Fina, and was sometimes even more respectful and polite.

    Old Time Tea had been filled with several inexplicable impulses and wanted to be more deeply rted to this young man, but it forced itself to stop.

    There was no need.

    It told itself ¨C no need!

    This was a beautiful era in which the prince and the ordinary people would get the same treats and punishments.

    On television, no matter how high level the official was, once a crime wasmitted, he would be announced to the public and have a trial, then sent to jail.

    It should show its limited ability, otherwise it would only beughed at by the public as a joke.

    Let the past things pass like the wind.

    ¡°Master, in ordance with your orders, we recorded all IDs on the forum who called you ¡®Sexual Harassment Manager¡¯ and ¡®Fraud Manager¡¯.¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun ran in breathlessly.

    ¡°Well done!¡± Zhang Zian geared up, ¡°How about the one that called me ¡®Arrogant Manager¡¯?¡±

    ¡°This¡­¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun looked at each other.

    ¡°I must have that one,¡± Zhang Zian said seriously.

    ¡°This is really not¡­.¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun responded with crying faces.

    Old Time Tea liked Zhang Zian¡¯s friends.

    Whether it was Sun Xiaomeng, who had harsh words but a soft heart, or that lovable Little Celery, or the vibrant and bubbly Xiao Xue, or this pair of clowns, they were all kind-hearted young people.

    In this infinite bright light, there were some unpleasant ck spots, though.

    Old Time Tea felt some people¡¯s maliciousness more than once, which was in hormones released in the same. Human beings could not detect this, but Old Time Tea knew easily. Queen Fina could also probably sniff this out, but it was too young and too arrogant, not to mention too inexperienced. For the understanding of the world, Queen Fina was not as thorough as Old Time Tea.

    As for Gxy¡­ Old Time Tea tilted its head, and looked at that lucky cat, which was happily ying with the kittens.

    Old Time Tea never knew what Gxy was thinking. Gxy seemed to have always been carefree, living a very happy day every day. But Old Time Tea felt that Gxy¡¯s eyes seemed to be able to prate everything. Was it not aware of those who were malicious? Or why didn¡¯t it tell Zhang Zian? Or¡­ had Gxy had mastered the trend of history, knowing who would not pose a threat to Zhang Zian? This was a possibility; after all, this was a new era of civilizedw.

    Those who were disguised as customers walked into the shop, and seemed to be looking at the pets, but looked at the store¡¯s furnishings andyout secretly. There was a person who did not walk into the store, but observed the shop from far away for several days.

    How could this be?

    So in this great era, why didn¡¯t those red-eyed bloodthirsty mice go extinct?

    Old Time Tea did not understand, but it would rather be wrong.

    Perhaps this was the ¡°primary stage¡± Zhang Zian was talking about. Maybe it had to wait for another few years, and these unpleasant spots would disappear.

    Old Time Tea hoped so, as it wanted this glorious age to be a never-fading dream.

    If not¡­

    If this time was not as good or as bright as it was portrayed on the TV¡­

    If someone wanted to crush the store¡¯s warmth¡­

    Old Time Tea looked down at its cat w, where there was a hidden de that had not exploded for a hundred years.

    The hero camete, but he still was a hero.

 Chapter 138: Rainbow Warriors

    <h4>Chapter 138: Rainbow Warriors</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Another day.

    Another seemingly calm day.

    Early in the morning, Zhang Zian, as usual, simply cleaned up the shop, and opened the business at the usual time.

    Usually there were no customers this early, so he poured some mineral water into Fina¡¯s dish, and gave Old Time Tea a pot of brewed tea. Then he nned to buy himself some breakfast across the street.

    He put on his coat, went to the door, unlocked the lock and pushed the door open. When he walked out, he saw a few young people sitting on the sidewalk; they seemed to be waiting for someone.

    These young people didn¡¯t give off a good impression. He counted that there were about seven people, wearing uniformed motorcycle leather jackets.

    Hearing the sound of Zhang Zian opening the door, they all looked back at the same time.

    Zhang Zian wanted tough a little as each person¡¯s hair was dyed a different color: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.

    What was this? Making a movie? Looking at the seven heads with different hair colors, they were probably the ¡°Rainbow Warriors¡±, like in the children¡¯s film¡­?

    But he could notugh, as these seven people¡¯s eyes were very fierce, and in order to emphasize their ferociousness, they also wore heavy eye shadow and several nose rings, lip piercings and earrings.

    Under their feet, empty beer cans were scattered around and each was holding a new can in his hand, drinking.

    Zhang Zian wanted to say that the sanitation workers just finished cleaning the street, and that they should respect their work.

    But he could not say anything.

    These people stood up and invariably threw away half of the beer cans, ttened them, and flooded the street full of beer foam.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes passed over them, looking for the breakfast vendor across the street. For some unknown reason, the couple that ran the breakfast booth every day unpredictably had not shown up.

    Other shops did not open so early.

    Those seven people put their hands into their pockets, walked towards Zhang Zian and circled around him.

    There was a man wearing a suit and sses and carrying a briefcase who was looking down at his phone whilst walking towards them and Zhang Zian.

    The purple haired one sitting on the edge immediately snapped loudly, ¡°Four-eyed dog! I am talking to you! You got four eyes and you didn¡¯t look at the road? Do you want me to give you a few more eyes?¡±

    The man was so scared that he dropped his phone, and looking at this situation, he knew it was bad, so he bent over to pick up the phone and stumbled to run away back to the original road. While running, he looked back to see if there was anyone chasing him.

    The other pedestrians tried to stay at a far distance, and detoured.

    It seemed that even the vehicles passing by tried to elerate.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s stare was very intense and he could feel the color fading from his face.

    These people were obviously noting to buy pets.

    What should he do? Close the ss door and return to the store?

    It was toote. Even if it had been closed, if they really wanted to smash the windows, they could easily break through. If he escaped for one day, he couldn¡¯t hide forever¡­ Should this shop be closed down?

    He decided to ask them clearly at least.

    ¡°Gentlemen, this is a pet shop,¡± he said. ¡°We do not sell anything else.¡±

    ¡°I know, I know,¡± said the blond in the middle. ¡°We are looking for a pet shop.¡±

    ¡°Oh, really? Want to buy a pet?¡± Zhang Zian quietly asked.

    They allughed very loudly and exaggerated.

    ¡°Misunderstanding! Misunderstanding!¡± The blond said with a grin, ¡°We do not raise pets, only women.¡±

    ¡°I do not have a woman here,¡± Zhang Zian responded.

    The blond nodded. ¡°I know, but we need money to raise a woman. You understand that, right? The reason we came today is to borrow money from you, but please rest assured that we certainly will pay it back.

    Zhang Zian felt a cold sweat in his palms, but he still maintained a trace of a smile, and said, ¡°Sorry, the business is not so good. I don¡¯t have money to give to you.¡±

    ¡°No money? Haha! You are not really honest. You sell a pet for a few thousand? You must be lying when you say that you don¡¯t have money. You must look down upon me, right?¡± The blond threatened him.

    ¡°The money for purchasing the pets was borrowed, so I paid them back as soon as I sold the pets,¡± responded Zhang Zian.

    The blond stared at him, ¡°Mr. Boss, This is nonsense: You can borrow money from someone, but we can¡¯t borrow money from you? Please help these brothers here, okay?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know why he felt really disgusted with the Blond¡¯s heavy made-up face. Even if Chen Tai Tong was in front of him now, he would not feel the same way. He had the urge to beat him up, hard.

    Zhang Zian took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and said with someughs, ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I have a small business and have difficulty in turning money around.¡±

    The blond scratched at his one-foot-high hair and said embarrassedly, ¡°Mr. Boss, you would let us down? My brothers, they¡¯re all waiting for dinners and girls; if they are not fed, I cannot guarantee what will happen next¡­¡±

    The other six then all pulled a variety of slovenly postures, staring at Zhang Zian and surrounding the store with a semicircle.

    Zhang Zian kept silent.

    The blond smiled. ¡°Mr. Boss, your face looks very pale. So let¡¯s do it this way. I promise that my brothers will not harass you. You say you have no money, right?¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at him, still silent.

    The blond then turned and said to the others, ¡°Please understand that the boss doesn¡¯t have money now, so just wait here till he sells some pets. Then he will have money.¡±

    The gang said, ¡°Yes¡±, and immediately three of them squatted down, took out cigarettes, lit them and puffed away.

    They were squatting on the sidewalk, not bothering anyone. But because there were seven such guys squatting here, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t think he could continue the business today.

    They could afford wasting time here, but Zhang Zian could not afford it.

    What worried him more was that it would soon be time for Little Celery to go to school, and he did not want her to see these people.

    Little Celery wasing soon, and so would Sun Xiaomeng.

    Zhang Zian really did not know what to do. Even if he called the police, who said that anyone could not borrow money? Who said anyone could not squat on the sidewalk?

    At this time, Old Time Tea¡¯s voice came from inside the shop, ¡°My little friend, since these friends have difficulties, you may just lend some money to them.¡±

    To ordinary people, the voice from Old Time Tea was just a cat¡¯s meowing.

    Zhang Zian was stunned. Didn¡¯t Old Time Tea know the situation?

    But he had no other way. Little Celery was going toe soon, and his heart was not without a trace of hope ¨C maybe it really was only this time, and after that they would note anymore¡­?

    ¡°How much do you want?¡± he asked.

    The blond jumped up at once, smiled and said, ¡°Great, Boss! We got seven here, so we need at least over ten thousand, right?¡±

    Zhang Zian quietly returned to the shop and took out ten thousand from the small safe box under the cash register, which was almost the only cash left in the shop. After all, very few people now chose to pay cash.

    He walked out of the shop and handed the money over to him. ¡°Only this time.¡±

    He didn¡¯t know whether it was useful to say that, but he had to say it.

    The blond nodded, counted the money, and gave a thumbs up, ¡°Awesome! Brothers, let¡¯s go!¡±

 Chapter 139: The Dream of the Glorious Age was Gone

    <h4>Chapter 139: The Dream of the Glorious Age was Gone</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The seven Rainbow Warriors walked side by side and upied the entire sidewalk. The pedestriansing from the opposite direction separated and formed a path for them in fear of identally offending them.

    Zhang Zian looked at their backs, his heart full of sorrow.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Fina jumped out, stared at his face, and looked at the seven Rainbow warriors who were leaving.

    Fina had learned to use the bathroom toilet. She came downstairs after having just used it.

    Zhang Zian was d that Fina hadn¡¯t seen that scene, otherwise she would definitely fight with them. Fina was vigorous and sensitive, but the result would never be good if one faced seven ¡­ Moreover, they wore bulging clothes, so he suspected that there were dark weapons hidden inside.

    ¡°Nothing, they were asking for directions,¡± he sprinkled a little lie.

    Fina stared at him suspiciously.

    He could not tell the truth, otherwise Fina would run to catch up with them. Compared with losing money, he did not want to see Fina injured.

    ¡°That was true,¡± heughed. ¡°They were bunch of idiots.¡±

    This sentence was very convincing.

    ¡°In my opinion, they look like those who live in the south that have feathers on their heads and eat raw meat,¡± said Fina, with approval.

    Zhang Zian burst out a bigugh, as that analogy was so vivid.

    South ¡­ she was probably referring to the middle of Africa, south of ancient Egypt.

    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go in. It is too cold out here.¡±

    Fina went back into the house, jumped onto its exclusive cat tree, and began to take a nap.

    Gxy had been ying with the kittens all day long, ignoring what had happened outside.

    ¡°Wait a minute. Did Gxy really ignore everything?¡± Zhang Zian thought, ¡°Maybe it had already known the result ahead of time? Well, the quantum theory is not simple for ordinary people to understand, and it would be useless to think further.¡±

    He entered the house and returned to his recliner.

    Old Time Tea tasted its hot tea leisurely and said, ¡°You look very pale. Is everything okay?

    Zhang Zian gave a bitter smile, indicating that there was something bothering him. He felt like heavy rocks were pressing on his heart. It didn¡¯t matter to him that he lost ten-thousand Yuan this time. His fear was that those people woulde back and ask for more ¨C this was a certain thing! If those people had any morality, they would not do this in first ce.

    ¡°Old Time Tea, it¡¯s just those people¡­¡±

    He swallowed half of his words as he suddenly realized that it was useless toin to Old Time Tea. What kind of help could he get from kind-hearted Old Time Tea?

    This was his shop and this was his home.

    He should find a way to solve the problem if there was any way.

    ¡°Nothing, it was because of my constipation this morning.¡± He gave a perfunctory smile.

    Zhang Zian did not notice that under Old Time Tea¡¯s calm appearance, there was a hidden tranquility inside. Especially in its eyes ¡ª they contained a deep sadness and disappointment, like waking up in the morning and finding out that one¡¯s beautiful dream was gone¡­

    However, sadness and disappointment was not all of it. Deep in its eyes, there was a storming; a pile of ashes that seemed to have burned out re-burst into a raging prairie fire! It was about to burn all the evil in the world!

    ¡°I am going out to get something to eat.¡± Zhang Zian wanted to go out to get some fresh air. At least those people would note back again today.

    After Zhang Zian left the shop, Fina, who was snoozing, suddenly opened its eyes, jumped up andnded in front of Old Time Tea.

    Old Time Tea was still drinking its tea quietly.

    ¡°Let me ask you, what just happened?¡± Fina¡¯s face was cold as frost.

    ¡°Your Majesty, it was only a small thing, not worth mentioning,¡± said Old Time Tea calmly.

    ¡°Well!¡± Fina ¡®s ws stuck out, and it aggressively responded, ¡°I have tolerated you for a long time.¡±

    ¡°In that case, why don¡¯t you tolerate me for a couple more days?¡± Old Time Teaughed. ¡°I can assure you that I will give you a satisfied answer.¡±

    Fina narrowed its eyes, puzzled.

    The impression Fina had of Old Time Tea was mysterious. It was not the kind of unpredictable feeling that Gxy gave others. It seemed that Old Time Tea was hiding its real power. Fina did not understand this kind of oriental thought very well ¡ª if one had the power, why not just show it? Otherwise, step aside. What was the purpose of hiding its power?

    Usually, Fina was able to rule all the house cats, but the strange thing was that it couldn¡¯t rule this old cat. It vaguely felt like there was some kind of stubborn, resisting force in this old cat¡¯s body: small like sand, but unshakable like mountains. It must be¡­ some kind of belief in power. Even if sacrifice to the death was needed, it would retain the faith.

    Fina still did not understand this kind of oriental thought. In addition to living and being with favorable people, what could be more important?

    However, to Old Time Tea, in the world there should be some things that were higher than the imperial power, beyond life and death.

    Neither rich nor honor could corrupt Old Time Tea. Neither poverty nor humbleness could make it swerve from principle. And neither threats nor forces could subdue it.

    Old Time Tea so wished that those seven people woulde back soon. The sooner, the better. This time, they shoulde into the shop, instead of staying outside. It would treat them very well as a host.

    Yes, as a host. Because it no longer thought that this was only Zhang Zian¡¯s shop ¡ª it was everyone¡¯s shop, including Old Time Tea¡¯s. Whoever wanted to smash its tea cup would not allow it to drink tea for its lifetime! The outside world might not look so warm, but at least this shop was; just like the electric nket underneath it, Old Time Tea felt veryfortable.

    Old Time Tea was trembling ¨C not because of fear, but from excitement. It had been unable to suppress its urge to fight; it¡¯s been many years of cooled-down blood boiling!

    Fina could not decide how to continue. Should it force Old Time Tea to tell the truth? Fina hated the feeling of being kept in the dark.

    At that time ¡ª

    ¡°Believe in Old Time Tea,¡± Gxy said suddenly, with its head turned while enjoying ying hide-and-seek.

    Only having said such a sentence, Gxy was almost caught by the kittens, which made it no longer dare to be distracted.

    Fina was surprised.

    Though Fina did not know how much power Old Time Tea hid, it did understand Gxy very well.

    Fina looked at Gxy, then at Old Time Tea, back and forth. Then, it gave an unhappy sneer, and jumped back to its exclusive cat tree.

    Old Time Tea bowed to Fina slightly to show its gratitude.

    Old Time Tea did notin about Fina¡¯s arrogance, because it knew that Fina¡¯s and its own goal was exactly the same: To not let anyone break the shop¡¯s serenity. Old Time Tea was old enough to see through Fina¡¯s little thoughts.

    In addition, it was very clear to Old Time Tea that those stupid idiots only instigated and that the real culprit was still hiding behind the scenes ¨C over thousands of years, this routine had never changed. It remembered the man with the smell of gutter.

    As long as Old Time Tea could leave the store freely¡­

    Do not worry! It had patience.

    Rats!

 Chapter 140: The Breakfast Vendor

    <h4>Chapter 140: The Breakfast Vendor</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know where Little Celery lived; he only knew that she came from the north. So after he left the shop, he wandered in that direction.

    When he had almost reached the corner of the street, he saw Little Celery running towards him, holding a bag of nuts in her hand.

    Today, her two ponytails were pointing 10 o¡¯clock and 3 o¡¯clock on top of her head.

    ¡°Little Celery!¡± He waved at her.

    ¡°Oh! Brother Manager!¡± Little Celery responded with excitement, covering her little mouth.

    ¡°Be careful when you cross the street,¡± he reminded her.

    ¡°Yes, I know!¡± Little Celery nodded. She waited until the traffic light turned green and the cars stopped. She carefully looked left and right, then ran across the street.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you stay in the shop, Brother Manager?¡± Little Celery ran to him and asked. ¡°Who is taking care of all the pets?¡±

    Zhang Zian squatted down and answered, ¡°Actually¡­ I have some matters to deal with these days. I will have someone else help me.¡±

    Little Celery nodded as if she understood. ¡°I know! My mom said that adults were very busy and they had a lot of stuff to deal with. Don¡¯t worry, Brother Manager, Little Celery can help too. It will be no problem for me to sweep the floor.¡±

    Zhang Zianughed. ¡°That¡¯s ok. I aming to tell you not toe by the shop for the next few days.¡±

    ¡°Oh! Why?¡± Little Celery raised her eyebrows and looked in the direction of the pet shop.

    ¡°Because the person who is helping at the shop now hates little kids. If you go there, you will get yelled at. So don¡¯t worry, after I finish my stuff in a few days, you cane back again to y,¡± exined Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Wuwu¡­ Little Celery will not make trouble¡­¡± she said unwillingly, with a sad face.

    ¡°I know you are a good girl. This has nothing to do with making trouble or not. That person hates little children overall. So wait for a few days, Little Celery. I will ask that person to take extra good care of the hamster and squirrel,¡± heforted her.

    ¡°When are youing back, Brother Manager?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought for a while, then responded, ¡°Is this the only road for you to go to school, Little Celery?¡±

    She nodded.

    ¡°When Ie back, I will wait for you here like today. But before that, please don¡¯t go to the pet shop. It will be very scary if the person gets angry. I am afraid that he will put his anger onto the hamster and squirrel.¡±

    The sentence seemed to have worked on Little Celery. She suddenly opened her eyes widely and nodded, ¡°Little Celery understands now! I will wait for you toe back here.¡±

    ¡°Ok, you understand. Hurry up and go to school. It is prettyte now.¡± He patted her little head.

    ¡°Yes, bye-bye, Brother Manager!¡± Little Celery started running towards the school while looking back and waving at Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Stop waving and watch the road ahead. Don¡¯t fall!¡± yelled Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Little Celery was pretty easy to deal with, which made Zhang Zian feel a little bit superior about his IQ.

    He hesitated for a while and decided not to tell Sun Xiaomeng. She usually only stopped by in the morning, and sometimes not even that, so she would not notice. It would be even more trouble if she found that he told a lie.

    He decided to dy the shop¡¯s opening till the stores around him opened at around 9 o¡¯clock.

    Zhang Zian walked back and saw that the breakfast vendor across the street had started selling breakfast when he had almost arrived his shop.

    He then crossed the street, found a chair and sat down. ¡°Please give me a big bowl of dumplings.¡±

    ¡°Sure! Right away.¡±

    The middle-aged couple worked very well together as a team even withoutmunication: One was in charge of cooking while the other worked on cashiering and other things. Zhang Zian heard other customers call them ¡°Grandpa Li¡± and ¡°Grandma Li¡±, not knowing whosest name was Li.

    After a short while, Grandma Li put a big bowl of dumplings in front of Zhang Zian.

    He paid.

    Grandma Li took the money, but didn¡¯t leave.

    ¡°Young man,¡± she said in a low voice, ¡°Did you offend anyone?¡±

    Zhang Zian raised his head in shock.

    Grandma Li wore a mask and looked to be 40 to 50 years old. Her face was sunburned into a ck and red color, and a few strands from her hairpin escaped into the wind.

    ¡°My husband and I saw it this morning. Please don¡¯t me us for not helping you, as we are outsiders and afraid to make any trouble,¡± she apologized.

    Zhang Zian waved. ¡°No worries. I will not me you. As a local, I don¡¯t want to make trouble either.¡±

    He looked around and saw only him and another student-like young man at the booth, then said, ¡°Let¡¯s sit down and talk.¡±

    Grandma Li sat down in front of Zhang Zian and sighed, ¡°Young man, you are the owner of that pet store?¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded while drinking the soup with his spoon.

    ¡°These days, it is not easy to run a store. You have to have someone to back you up, otherwise if something happens, you will be in big trouble,¡± Grandma Li couldn¡¯t stop sighing, ¡°It reminds me of a while back, my husband and I¡­¡±

    She wanted to say something but stopped, looked around like she was afraid, then said in a lower voice, ¡°Years ago, my husband and I ran a restaurant in another city. The business was pretty good until we offended someone. Then, the restaurant was destroyed and we were even threatened that we would be killed if they saw us again¡­¡±

    ¡°As ordinary people, we were so scared and unable to defend ourselves. And we didn¡¯t know what else we could do to make a living. Then we decided toe here and open this breakfast booth¡­¡± Grandma Li continued while wiping her tears.

    Hearing that, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t even swallow the dumpling in his mouth.

    Who wanted to run a booth outside on the sidewalk if they could open a restaurant? Instead of stability, they were burned on sunny days, drained on rainy days, and even sometimes chased by the city police¡­

    ¡°Young man, my advice is to not deal with them at all. You look like a college graduate. It will be fine if you find a job instead of running a store. If you really want to run a store, wait for a few years until this trouble passes. They are like crazy dogs, biting whoever they meet. There is nowhere for justice if you get hurt.¡±

    Zhang Zian finally swallowed the dumpling in his mouth and asked, ¡°Grandma Li, you said that I had offended someone?¡±

    Grandma responded, patting her thigh, ¡°Yes, most definitely! If you didn¡¯t offend anyone, howe they came to give you trouble? There are a lot of stores here. Why didn¡¯t they go to other stores, but only went to yours? Did you ever think about that?¡±

    Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t thought about that before Grandma Li warned him. He was confused and shocked after this incident had just happened to him, only thinking of how to not let Little Celery and Sun Xiaomeng get involved in this to avoid any possible injuries and losses. He thought this incident was because of his bad fortune, but Grandma Li was right, he must have¡­

    He suddenly thought about Chen Taitong, his glimpse full of perniciousness before he left.

    That was it¡­

    But still no answer.

    What should he do even if he knew the reason?

    Zhang Zian could not help but recall recent incidents, from the man in the windbreaker to Xiao Yan¡¯s warning. Simply, the prediction was urate as fulfilled.

    Sure enough, he was too naive.

    ¡°The business world is like a battlefield.¡± This was really true!

    Grandma Li had a feeling that Zhang Zian knew who was behind this incident from his expression change.

    She said sympathetically, ¡°Young man, do not fight with them. It will be useless unless you have strong backup. But you don¡¯t look like that you have that¡­¡±

    The student-like customer left after finishing the food.

    She sighed without talking further. Then she stood up and left to clean up the table.

 Chapter 141: Guinea Pig

    <h4>Chapter 141: Guinea Pig</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Chen Taitong had been acting really weird these days.

    ¡°What do you think about Boss these days? He looks so worried, it¡¯s like he¡¯s having constipation.¡±

    A few workers were discussing this during the lunch break when the boss wasn¡¯t around.

    ¡°Sales have gone down tremendously. You would look the same if you were the boss,¡± another worker responded.

    In fact, sales weren¡¯t too bad. It was even pretty goodpared to other pet stores. However, the operating cost was high considering all the staff that was hired.

    ¡°Hey, let me tell you. I saw that boss was talking on the phone outside the store. He seemed like he was doing some under-the-table deal because he kept looking around as he spoke.¡±

    ¡°Is he trying to sell the store?¡±

    ¡°What the f*ck? You are right. He might be contacting the buyer!¡±

    ¡­

    Taitong walked out of the store, found a quiet spot and checked to make surethat there was no one around. Chen Taitong pulled out his cellphone and dialed a number.

    The line was picked up. The person didn¡¯t speak, but Chen could hear his breathing.

    ¡°Hello? This is Wang Qi,¡± Chen Taitong said.

    Qing Ren said slowly over the other end, ¡°Mr. Wang Qi, what¡¯s up?¡±

    Chen Taitong asked nervously, ¡°You¡­You agreed¡­¡±

    ¡°What did I agree?¡±

    ¡°You agreed¡­to handle him¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. And?¡±

    ¡°He still¡­¡±

    Conscious about the conversation being recorded, Chen Taitong muttered and mumbled.

    ¡°Oh, I see,¡± Qing Renughed, ¡°Mr. Wang Qi, you didn¡¯t mention a timeline so I thought it wasn¡¯t urgent. I will push them to take action as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°It¡­ It is urgent!¡± Chen Taitong growled quietly, ¡°I already paid you¡­¡±

    Qing Ren stopped him, ¡°Okay, I will rush them. They should get it done within a few days. Do you have any further questions?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­I am set.¡± Chen Taitong hung up with a forehead full of sweat.

    Qing Ren was right. He had rolled into underground deals and there was no way back.

    Even¡­

    The people who offended him appeared to his mind one by one. Everyone¡¯s face wasbeled with a price, 60 thousand, 80 thousand¡­

    So-called life was only a bigger number¡­

    As long as someone had money, they could easily¡­

    As soon as Chen Taitong hung up, Qing Ren immediately dialed another number.

    ¡°Hello?¡±

    ¡°A Jin?¡±

    ¡°Ha-ha¡­Who? Who is it? Qing Ren?¡±

    The background noise from the other end was still loud. A Jin seemed to be drunk and his tongue sounded stiff.

    ¡°It¡¯s me.¡± Frowning his eyebrows, Qing Ren knew they went out partying again. These people were not professional at all. They would blow money like today was theirst day.

    Qing Ren picked them because they were stupid.

    He hated them also because they were stupid.

    ¡°What is it? Qing Ren? You got another deal? A big one or a small one?¡±

    Qing Ren said coldly, ¡°You have not fulfilled this deal.¡±

    ¡°Ha-ha¡­ Why do you push¡­ Get some more money, then we¡­will take action¡­¡±

    Qing Ren tapped on the desk impatiently, ¡°We have to keep our reputation. I wouldn¡¯t push you if the customer didn¡¯t rush it, but now he wants to get it done ASAP!¡±

    ¡°Reputation? Ha-ha¡­ Qing Ren, you are interesting¡­ I never knew there was such a thing called reputation in our industry¡­¡±

    Qing Ren paused and said, ¡°Go wash your face, then call me back.¡±

    ¡°No! I¡­ have to have more fun¡­¡±

    ¡°Go wash your face and call me back. If I don¡¯t hear from you in 10 minutes, don¡¯t call me again, ever!¡± Qing Ren hung up.

    Honestly, he had been in this city for quite a while now. Maybe it was time for a fresh start¡­

    He never stayed in a city for long, but traveled to various ces and never looked back.

    Binhai was a nice ce to live,fortable, with clean air.

    People slow down when they have afortable life. To Qing Ren, slowing down meant a risky life.

    He could get rid of others and vice versa.

    Qing Ren was in deep thought.

    Five minutester, the phone rang.

    Picking up the phone, he didn¡¯t say a word.

    ¡°Qing Ren?¡± A Jin asked.

    ¡°Qing Ren? I washed my face. For real! I was just joking with you! Don¡¯t take it seriously!¡± A Jin was nervous.

    Qing Ren said, ¡°Get it done today.¡±

    ¡°Today? Give me until tomorrow. I will get some more money from him tomorrow morning and we will take action tomorrow night, okay?¡± A Jin begged.

    ¡°This is an order. If you can¡¯t get it done today, I am going to find someone else next time,¡± Qing Ren hung up.

    A Jin tried to call back yet Qing Ren rejected his call.

    What¡¯s going on?

    I am extremely impatient today.

    Qing Ren rubbed his forehead.

    He had been in the industry long enough to have the sixth sense, a sense to anticipate danger.

    His sixth sense didn¡¯t always work, yet it had saved him multiple times.

    In fact, other than being mysterious, the sixth sense was, rather, his subconsciousness.

    What was neglected by the subjective consciousness would most of the time be alerted in the subconsciousness.

    Did I forget something?

    Qing Ren thought carefully.

    He investigated Zhang Zian¡¯s background. He was apletely normal person with a very simple social status andwork. Of course, Qing Ren only spent limited time on the investigation, so there might be some missing point. At the end of the day, Wang Qi only spent enough money to get the most basic information. He should¡¯ve spent more and obtained more details.

    What did I forget?

    Qing Ren recalled carefully.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s store was in. There was no problem with the title¡­

    The pets in the store¡­ There weren¡¯t dangerous pets in the store¡­

    Wait¡­

    He suddenly pounded on the desk!

    How did he train the pets?

    Why do his cats know stunts?

    Qing Ren¡¯s heart was racing¡­

    How could I neglect such an important point?

    It seemed like something irrelevant, but he only did things that he was sure about. There was no room for error in his industry.

    Qing Ren picked up his cellphone, found thest call, hesitated, and put the phone back down.

    Never mind.

    Let those idiots be the guinea pigs. It would be great if they seeded; however, if they failed, he could save a ton of money by not paying them.

    ¡°Mute,¡± he called.

    The door opened and there stood the bald guy.

    ¡°Pack. Get ready to move.¡±

    Mute nodded, then closed the door.

    Mute could speak, yet he seldom did. Qing Ren spoke for both of them.

    They had stayed in Binhai for way too long. It was time for a new home.

    Tonight¡¯s action would determine if they were going to stay or leave.

    Qing Ren stood up, walked to the window and stared at the deadly-silent Qing Ren Lane.

 Chapter 142: An Undistinguished Hero

    <h4>Chapter 142: An Undistinguished Hero</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was fall. Nighttime arrived sooner and sooner.

    ¡°BBQ skewers! Come get some! Warm and yummy skewers!¡±

    When people get old, they tend to get cold easily. Aunt Li and her husband already started wearing thin jackets.

    Their jackets were their son¡¯s old jackets. Busy grilling all day, they would get dirty from cooking all the time. They never bought new clothes because it would be a waste, not because they were trying to save money ¨C at least that¡¯s what they told people when they were asked.

    Grilling in the cool autumn wind wasn¡¯t an easy job. A burning fire dancing in front of them and a cold wind blowing at their backs, it wasn¡¯t fun. However, they got used to working with it. They had to.

    Aunt Li looked up at the sky and said to her husband, ¡°Honey, it is getting dark. Let¡¯s go home.¡±

    Full of confusion, her husband looked at his old-style phone and said, ¡°It is getting dark, but the night is still young. It is only seven o¡¯clock. We usually go home at nine.¡±

    Aunt Li and her husband had a street food cart across from the Amazing Fate Pet Shop. They sold breakfast in the morning and BBQ skewers at night. The couple worked extremely hard to support the family. Their son was in high school. Watching their son grow up day after day was the most joyful thing in the world.

    Now it was a little past seven, so the peak time for working people returning home had passed. Most students had gone home by now as well. A few pedestrians were left on the sidewalk. Some would stop for a few skewers to take home or to eat right there.

    They could get some more business if they went hometer.

    Full of worry, Aunt Li looked over at the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, winked at her husband and whispered, ¡°Look, it has been uneasy these days. We¡¯d better go home early.¡±

    The pet store was still open. They could see the young owner and a few others from the ss door. She was worried about Zhang Zian, who didn¡¯t listen to her, and wished he would close the store for a bit. He might get hurt by those crazy men.

    Her husband didn¡¯t agree. Pointing at the meat skewers and fish skewers, he said, ¡°We still have more food, which will go bad overnight. There are not many left. Let¡¯s sell them all and then go home. It is still early.¡±

    Aunt Li¡¯s eyelids kept twitching. She felt even more uneasy. Something really bad might happen tonight.

    ¡°No. Let¡¯s go! I want to go!¡± Aunt Li firmly shook her head, ¡°Something bad might happen!¡±

    Her husband pointed at the pet store and said, ¡°I don¡¯t understand why you are so worried. Look, he doesn¡¯t even care. Honestly, it is none of our business.¡±

    At this time, a customer on a bicycle stopped to ask about the skewers. Her husband put a big smile on his face and got busy with the customer.

    Up to the ceiling, Aunt Li raised her voice, ¡°What do you mean it is none of our business? Don¡¯t you remember how our store was ruined?¡±

    Seeing that the owners were having a fight, the customer left on his bicycle

    That heartbreaking moment was unforgettable. Her husband opened his eyes. ¡°How could I forget?¡±

    He suddenly pulled up his sleeve, disying a dark red scar about 3 inches long on his left arm.

    ¡°Ask if he forgot about it!¡±

    The scar was a souvenir from that scary night.

    At the time, her husband was young and impulsive. Seeing the people trying to break into their store, he picked up his meat cleaver to fight the intruders. In the end, he couldn¡¯t stop them and was beaten up.

    How could someone forget such a bloody lesson?

    Aunt Li¡¯s eyes turned red when she looked at the long scar. Sitting down on a chair that was meant for the customers, she started crying, ¡°You said you didn¡¯t forget, but I don¡¯t think that¡¯s true. Can¡¯t you tell what is going on? The owner must have offended someone without knowing and who knows what¡¯s going to happen¡­¡±

    The husband remained silent.

    ¡°I know,¡± he said sadly.

    Aunt Li kept pushing, ¡°You know. Then why are we still here? What if theye out and break our cart as well¡­¡±

    ¡°I know, so I can¡¯t leave,¡± the husband said.

    ¡°You¡­¡± Aunt Li was in shock.

    ¡°Our store was ruined and you can watch others go through the same thing?¡± He was extremely mad and veins showed on his forehead. He was angry about the people who broke their store, not at Aunt Li.

    Aunt Li was shaking. She pointed at his nose and said, ¡°You¡­ what are you going to do? Tell me. Don¡¯t bother! Last time they were trying to break your arm. What if they stab your belly this time? How would I and our kid live if anything happened to you¡­¡±

    The husband sighed. The fire in his eyes faded.

    ¡°I know. I am past the age to fight against these young kids,¡± he said. ¡°I could not leave. If I stay, I could at least help him by calling the police or an ambnce.¡±

    Aunt Li could not believe what she just heard. She turned her astonishment into admiration. Since she married him a long time ago, she had a lot of feelings toward this man, the most important man in her life: bashfulness, anger,ints, regret¡­ For the first time ever, she looked at him with admiration.

    All she worried about was her family¡¯s well being. She thought she tried her best by warning Zhang Zian. He would get his lesson by not listening to her. Her husband, a person who seldom talked, at this time looked like a real hero.

    People admire heroes, even though he was only an undistinguished one.

    The husband was embarrassed by the way she looked at him. He turned around and said, ¡°Why don¡¯t you go home first. I will stay until nine. You go home to take care of the kid and I will pick up here.¡±

    Aunt Li didn¡¯t say much. She picked up the rolling pin and hid it under her jacket. Her jacket was her sons so it wasrge for her. She could hide several rolling pins without a problem.

    She showed her point.

    The husband looked at her and nodded. He knew it didn¡¯t help even if he exined more.

    ¡°BBQ skewers! Come get some! Warm and yummy skewers! One yuan a piece!¡±

    They were trying to get the passerby¡¯s attention.

    They were hoping if they could get more people to stay, they might scare the gang away.

    Time passed quickly, and so did the skewers. The couple began to rx.

    There were less and less people in the pet store as well. Only the owner and one customer were left in the store. He should be closing the store soon.

    Today should be a peaceful day?

    Poor people counted their lives day by day.

    At 7:45, there was a sharp breaking noise apanied by a van without a license te stopping across the street. The couple got nervous immediately.

 Chapter 143: A Strange Signal

    <h4>Chapter 143: A Strange Signal</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    At 7:15pm, Zhang Zian looked at the watch and said to Wang Qian and Li Kun, ¡°Start picking up.¡±

    Surprised, Wang Qian and Li Kun said, ¡°Master, we still have customers.¡±

    At that time, two customers were looking at pets, a man and a woman. They came separately.

    Zhang Zian nodded, ¡°I know. Start picking up and then you can leave when you are done.¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun didn¡¯t understand, but they followed Zhang¡¯s instructions. They were already very familiar with the procedure, so it only took them 15 minutes to pick up.

    In the meantime, the female customer left without buying anything.

    Zhang Zian told them to leave when they were done.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun looked at each other. Li Kun said, ¡°Master, howe you look unhappy these days? Are you okay? Are you mad at us?¡±

    Zhang Zian waved, ¡°Everything is fine. I have ns tonight. You guys can leave now.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Although confused, Wang Qian and Li Kun left as told.

    The male customer was slow. He kept wandering in front of the dog disy cab and could not decide if he wanted to get a dog or not. Previously, Zhang Zian would not have rushed him; yet it was a special time and he wanted to close early.

    Fina was resting on top of the tallest cat tree.

    Old Time Tea was watching TV happily.

    Gxy was ying hide and seek with the other kittens and stayed away from the customer.

    Everything looked extremely peaceful.

    However, Zhang Zian could smell the uneasy tension in the air. It felt like the peace before a war.

    He heard a squeaking noise outside the door.

    A motor tricycle stopped at the store, which frightened Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Is Zhang Zian here? Your package!¡± The courier came in with a package.

    ¡°I am Zhang Zian.¡±

    ¡°Please sign here.¡±

    ¡°You are still working thiste?¡± Zhang Zian said as he signed.

    ¡°Your package is thest one. I am going home after this.¡± The courier smiled and his face was filled with happiness when he talked about home.

    Zhang Zian looked at thebel. His name, address and phone number were all on there. However, he didn¡¯t recall purchasing anything online. The most important thing was that his online name was ¡°The Hottie.¡±

    After Zhang Zian signed, the courier left and went home on his tricycle.

    Zhang Zian opened the package with a knife.

    To protect the goods inside, there wereyers of packaging materials, bubbles and stic wrap. When he finished unpacking, a beautiful ceramic tea tin was in front of him.

    There was a handwritten note packed with the tea tin saying, ¡°The tea you are looking for. You can pay me backter.¡±

    The signature was Xiao.

    There was nothing else on the note. She didn¡¯t even mention the name of the tea.

    Taking the tea tin, Zhang Zian quickly walked to Old Time Tea.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, I got some tea from my friend. You want to try?¡± He murmured so the customer could not hear him.

    Old Time Tea was excited. It kept nodding, ¡°Of course, of course. Let me smell it.¡±

    Zhang Zian opened the tin. A refreshing smell came out.

    ¡°Great tea! My friend, this is great tea!¡± Old Time Tea started dancing with joy.

    ¡°Better than the one from Hidden Fog Tea House?¡±

    ¡°Well, it is not the same tea, but the quality is as good,¡± Old Time Tea confirmed.

    Zhang Zian rxed. It was excellent that Old Time Tea was satisfied.

    ¡°Let me make some tea for you?¡±

    ¡°Sure! Sure! Honestly, my friend, I am drooling all over already. I can¡¯t wait to taste this tea¡­¡± It seemed that Old Time Tea was really excited about this tea.

    ¡°Okay. You wait right here. I am going to boil some water. I will be done soon.¡±

    Looking at the male customer, Zhang Zian decided to wait a few more minutes before having him leave the store.

    He went upstairs and started boiling some water.

    Fina opened its eyes, looking at Old Time Tea with a despising look, and then closed its eyes again.

    Old Time Tea didn¡¯t notice the hatred from Fina. It kept sniffing the tea and ignored everything.

    When the water was boiling, Zhang Zian squatted and looked down at the door. It seemed to him today was another peaceful day.

    He thought to himself, ¡°Those people may note today.¡±

    It didn¡¯t take long for the water to boil and the kettle to whistle.

    Zhang Zian walked down the stairs with the piping hot water kettle. He picked up Old Time Tea¡¯s teapot and was about to make tea.

    ¡°Buddy, wait for another minute, otherwise you will waste the tea. The water is too hot right now,¡± Old Time Tea reminded as well as stopped him.

    ¡°Okay,¡± Zhang Zian replied. He put down the kettle and walked to the customer.

    ¡°Excuse me, sir. We are closing.¡±

    The male customer was shocked. ¡°This early?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I am sorry. I have ns tonight so I am closing early,¡± Zhang Zian apologized.

    The male customer murmured to himself, ¡°What time is it even¡­¡±

    He pulled out his cell phone to see the time, ¡°It is not even eight o¡¯clock yet. Hey, Manager, howe the signal is so weak in your store? I am waiting for a call ¡­¡± He raised his cell phone trying to get reception.

    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be,¡± Zhang Zian was confused. He looked at his own phone.

    He usually got a full five-bars or sometimes four, depending on the day. However, at this time, the signal was disappearing quickly, from three bars to two, and then one¡­ In the end, it showed ¡°no signal¡± on his cell phone.

    Weird.

    ¡°There might be something wrong with the tower¡± Zhang Zian could not exin why.

    The male customer was trying to search for signal reception while Zhang Zian left. He picked up the kettle and poured water into the teapot. He had already put the tea into the teapot. The store was filled with the aroma from the tea instantly.

    He put the lid back on the teapot and was about to put the kettle back upstairs.

    Gxy was chased by the kittens. It took them away from the door and close to the stairs.

    Fina once again opened up its eyes as if it heard something.

    Watching the smoke slowly rise from the teapot, Old Time Tea paused and thought about the old days.

    ¡­

    A van without a license te stopped in front of the store.

    A golden-haired guy in the passenger seat asked the guys in the back, ¡°Did you turn on the mobile phone shielding device?¡±

    The purple-haired guyughed, ¡°Of course. It is not our first time and I am sure it is not thest.¡±

    He patted the equipment next to him. The green light was on, indicating that the machine was working properly. He said, ¡°This is a great machine from Qing Ren. Now, no one usesndlines anymore. With this machine, we won¡¯t have to worry about people calling the cops.¡±

    The golden-haired guy said, ¡°Of course Qing Ren is smart; otherwise why would I work with him? He ced an order today. We have toplete this task nicely, otherwise we won¡¯t get any more business from him.¡±

    The green-haired guyughed, ¡°Qing Ren was being really skeptical about our ability. Look, it is only a small pet store. I am sure we will get it done. Honestly, we don¡¯t even need the whole team. I alone could ruin this store¡­¡±

    The golden-haired guy pushed, ¡°Stop your bullsh*t! Let¡¯s get to work and go party afterwards.¡±

    At the same time, the seven Rainbow Fighters each pulled out a pair of pantyhose and put them on their heads.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

 Chapter 144: The Benevolence

    <h4>Chapter 144: The Benevolence</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    All of a sudden, every door of the van opened. They jumped out of the van with baseball bats, golf clubs and nunchucks in their hands.

    Scared, Aunt Li opened her eyes. The nightmare hade back!

    She grabbed her husband¡¯s arm, ¡°Honey!¡±

    Her husband already had his cell phone ready. As soon as the doors opened, he dialed the emergency number ¨C however, ¡°no signal¡± showed on the small monitor of his phone.

    ¡°What the f*ck!¡± The husband almost threw away his cell phone, ¡°Give me yours!¡±

    Shaking, Aunt Li gave him her cell phone. She got her phone from her son. It was an old smartphone. Although very slow, it was a smart phone.

    However, at this time, the smartphone wasn¡¯t that smart. It also showed ¡°no signal.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t only their phones that weren¡¯t working ¡ª many pedestrians confusedly raised their phones to search for signal ¨C they focused on their phone for so long that they didn¡¯t even notice the van and the seven men!

    Aunt Li and her husband didn¡¯t know what had happened, but they were sure the devils had kept the signal away.

    ¡°Be careful. Run if you are in a bad situation. I am going to a store and use andline.¡±

    The husband ran away after talking to Aunt Li.

    He started asking stores one by one.

    ¡°Do you have andline phone? I have to make an emergency phone call!¡±

    ¡°Does your cell phone get reception? I have an emergency call to make!¡±

    Holding her breath, Aunt Li huddled up her body and watched the seven devil men walk into the pet store. She wanted to yell for help but as soon as she opened her mouth, all she felt was a dry throat that could not make any sound due to extreme fear.

    ¡­

    ¡°Bang!¡±

    ¡°Boom!¡±

    The green-haired guy hit the ss door heavily with his baseball bat. The ss door was destroyed immediately. ss flew around everywhere.

    Bang!

    At the same time, the purple-haired guynded his golf club on the cash machine, which was smashed to the ground right after.

    The male customer was shocked at this scene.

    With the water kettle in his hand, Zhang Zian¡¯s heart was up to his throat.

    A few pedestrians finally noticed something was going on. A few girls screamed and ran away. Some guys were hiding to film what was going to happen so they could upload it online. Many wanted to call the police but their phones all showed ¡°no signal.¡±

    The owners of the neighboring stores came out upon hearing the noise. When they saw the scene, they immediately rolled down their curtains, no matter if they had customers in the store or not.

    The golden-haired guy jumped up, whipped the nunchucks in his hand and broke the surveince camera.

    He used his nunchucks to point at the male customer and shouted, ¡°Leave!¡±

    The male customer turned pale. He didn¡¯t even attempt to help and quickly ran out of the store.

    Zhang Zian was the only person left with the seven devil men.

    The golden-haired guy pulled the panty hose off his head, waved his nun chucks around, andughed. ¡°Someone wanted an arm of yours. Why don¡¯t you work with us so we don¡¯t waste time and perhaps you can save your pets? It doesn¡¯t help to fight back, that¡¯s only a waste of time.¡±

    The other six people held up their weapons and went nuts destroying the pet toys and food area. They yelled excitedly as they broke stuff. The pet food was broken and got everywhere. The automatic feeders and flight cases were all destroyed. The whole store was ruined in no time.

    Then they crowded at the center pet disy cab.

    The kittens were brought to the stairs by Gxy. Only a few puppies were left in the cab, shaking.

    Tightly holding his fists, Zhang Zian almost exploded with anger!

    Fina¡¯s hair was all standing up. It screamed and got up from the cat tree. Its whole body was tense and ready for a fight.

    The Rainbow Fighters were warned beforehand by Qing Ren. Knowing that the golden cat was not an easy enemy, they sent three people to stand in front of it.

    The golden hair guyughed. ¡°It looks like you are not going to cope with us¡­¡± He whipped the nun chucks, ¡°Well, don¡¯t me me!¡±

    Under extreme anger and pressure, Zhang Zian stepped forward. He was about to fight back, but then¡­

    A low and sad voice came from the corner of the store.

    ¡°The utopia is nothing. Benevolence is only a dream!¡±

    Old Time Tea stood up from the electric nket, shook its vest, fixed its hat and slowly walked up to the center of the store.

    Sadness filled its eyes.

    Zhang Zian suddenly realized that he didn¡¯t really know Old Time Tea that well.

    The normal Old Time Tea was gone! The one that liked watching the news and worried about the people; the one that loved drinking tea and cared for nothing else; the one that would dance with a TV show¡­ had disappeared!

    At this time, Old Time Tea looked like a real warrior that pressured people with every step it took. There was an invisible power around it and its vest moved without wind.

    ¡°Since there isn¡¯t justice in this world, I am going to kick the devil out on behalf of God!¡±

    Along with an angry scream, Old Time Tea raised its head. Its eyes under the hat were shining a bright light. Its razor-sharp nails came out of the paws¡­

    Zhang Zian¡¯s cell phone chimed. He looked at it.

    He didn¡¯t have any signal, but a message came in anyways.

    [Navigation Elf]: Congrattions! The benevolent and righteous cat¡¯s likability has gone up. Unlocking its real name.

    [Game Tip]: Pet category

    [Known as]: The benevolent and righteous cat

    [Rarity]: Premier

    [Characteristics Update]: I subdue myself not because I am weak, but out of persistence towards the morality of society and leniency towards others.

    [Unlocked History]: This warrior cat has the characteristics of benevolence and righteousness. It is a honest warrior.

    All hatredes from love.

    All sadnesses from mercy.

    Help the less fortunate!

    Fight for justice!

    The benevolent and righteous cat apanied the juvenile Ye Wen in practicing Wing Chun Kung Fu. It was the embodiment of 2000 years of the Chinese Kung Fu spirit and was turned into an elfin from people¡¯s trust and faith.

    [Unlocked Real Name]: The juvenile Ye Wen Foshan Wing Chun Cat!

    Immediately, Zhang Zian noticed the name under ¡°known as¡±. The benevolent and righteous cat started to fade and ¡°benevolent and righteous¡± became one word. The ¡°known as¡± had changed to warrior cat.

    [Game Tip]: Congrattions! Your warrior cat¡¯s likability has increased to ¡°trusting¡± and got free capability of actions.

    The gentle and humble benevolent and righteous cat Old Time Tea was gone. Instead, a brand-new warrior cat was born ¨C the juvenile Ye Wen Foshan Wing Chun Cat!

    Turn benevolence and righteousness into ¡°warrior¡±!

    Your benevolent and righteous cat is offline¡­

    Your warrior cat is getting online¡­

    The warrior cat is fighting for its country and people.

 Chapter 145: The Oceanâ€™s Roar

    <h4>Chapter 145: The Ocean¡¯s Roar</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The seven Rainbow Fighters were frightened by the cat¡¯s scream. They searched and couldn¡¯t stopughing when they saw Old Time Tea.

    ¡°What a weird cat, wearing a vest and a hat!¡±

    ¡°The owner is quite nice. He is keeping an old cat that can barely walk!¡±

    ¡°This cat is a piece of cake!¡±

    ¡°Your master is going to be beaten up by us! Are youing to save him? No worries, I will beat you up as well.¡±

    Putting down his cell phone, Zhang Zian looked at them as if he was looking at seven corpses. He sighed and persuaded, ¡°Let me tell you. You can still get out of here and save your lives. Otherwise, I am not sure what is going to happen.¡±

    The seven Rainbow Fighters didn¡¯t believe him andughed.

    ¡°Are you stupid? We should run away? Why? Because of this half-dead old cat?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t even know how many of those cats I killed in my hometown!¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°I warned you. You are going to regret this if you don¡¯t listen to me.¡±

    The golden-haired guyughed. ¡°You are about to lose an arm. Stop pretending to be fearless. My customer wanted an arm of yours, but I will take your leg as well just to make you shut up. Don¡¯t you ever fake again in front of me!¡±

    Old Time Tea turned its head, looked at the hot tea, and said sadly, ¡°What a pity to waste such a good pot of tea. Both benevolence and good tea should not be forgotten.¡±

    The seven Rainbow Fighters heard Old Time Tea¡¯s voice and didn¡¯t know what was wrong.

    The red-haired guy elbowed the golden-haired guy. ¡°Jin, howe this cat¡¯s voice is so scary?¡±

    The golden hair guy pushed him away. ¡°Bullsh*t! All cats scream like that.¡±

    Zhang Zian interrupted, ¡°In fact¡­ it was talking.¡±

    The seven Rainbow Fighters paused, thenughed. Theyughed so hard that tears came out of their eyes.

    ¡°The cat was talking? Is he a retard?¡±

    ¡°I think he is so frightened that he¡¯s bing crazy¡­

    The golden-haired guy spoke as he wiped away hisughing tears, ¡°Ha-ha¡­ You meant it was talking? The cat with a vest? Tell me what it said. Did he want me to let it go?¡±

    Zhang Zian said seriously, ¡°It said, you should all fight at the same time. It didn¡¯t want to waste any more time.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± The seven Rainbow Fighters were shocked.

    The golden-haired guy pointed at Zhang Zian with his nunchucks. ¡°Motherf*cker! How dare you put me down like that¡­¡±

    Without allowing him to finish, Zhang Zian turned off the lights with a remote.

    ¡°Oh no! Power outage?¡±

    ¡°What the f*ck! Who turned off the light?!¡±

    At the same time lights went out, Old Time Tea prowled the floor with its four paws, its body was as fast as lightning, and its two yellow eyes were shing.

    Old Time Tea was not as fast in speed, nor as agile and powerful as Fina. However, there was something special about it. It had the experience of thousands of years of practice and mastered the essence of skill.

    This technique was known as martial arts by foreigners: the Chinese martial arts ¨C the art of Kung Fu!

    A cat¡¯s eyesight is not as good as humans during the day, but at night, it is another story¡­

    In the dark of night, to fight a cat that knew martial arts was not fun!

    A cat that knew martial arts was unstoppable!

    Fina stared at Zhang Zian with its despising green eyes, as if to say, ¡°Just fake your way to being a good person by turning off the lights!¡±

    When human eyes go from a bright environment to a dark one, they will enter a semi-blind state, which causes blindness for a short period of time. One could ease the symptom by closing his eyes for a few seconds and then open his eyes again. However, the seven Rainbow Fighters didn¡¯t have the time to close their eyes!

    Fortunately, they were not underplete darkness. The street lights and the lights from the stores on the other side of the road shone in. The unexpected darkness still created a chaotic moment to for the seven Rainbow Fighters.

    ¡°Ah!¡± The chaos started with screams.

    ¡°I told you to run away, but you didn¡¯t listen.¡± Zhang Zian was hoping to push the excitement to another level, so he pulled out his phone and found a song named ¡°The Ocean¡¯s Roar¡± from his music library. It was Old Time Tea¡¯s background music.

    Among all the heroes in the world, only Old Time Tea deserved this song as its background music.

    [The ocean roared]

    [Tempestuous waves ran high]

    As the seven Rainbow Fighters were still dealing with the temporary blindness, Old Time Tea had already rushed in front of them. Slightly bending its four legs, its paws stepped on the floor and jumped up. It was at a perfect timing to escape the golden-haired guy¡¯s nun chucks.

    The first target was the green-haired guy.

    With a baseball bat in his hands, he was still blinking, which meant that he wasn¡¯tpletely used to the darkness yet.

    Before he even realized it, Old Time Tea heavily punched him on the nose with the ¡°sun punch¡± move.

    Bang!

    The green-haired guy screamed. His nose was broken. Blood mixed with tears, mucus and all sorts of other bodily fluids exploded out of his nose and mouth.

    He fainted. He felt like he was up in the clouds and his feet could not touch the ground.

    Immediately, Old Time Tea followed with another kick on his chest as it flew down from the air. This kick blew him out of the door and onto the ground. He could not get up anymore.

    [Current situations are all tied to the highs and lows of the tide¡ª¡ª]

    Bouncing back from the kick on the chest, Old Time Tea changed directions in the air and flew directly towards the red-haired guy. It used the ¡°three cat hits¡± move, and hit the red-haired guy¡¯s belly three consecutive times with its two front paws.

    Fortunately, Old Time Tea didn¡¯t really want to kill him, so it took back the sharp nails. Otherwise, there would be six holes in his belly.

    Every man dreams of a six-pack or eight-pack, but a six-hole belly may not sound attractive at all¡­

    It wasn¡¯t that Old Time Tea had any mercy towards these devil men. In fact, it really wanted to kill someone to teach them a lesson. However, from the news it saw on TV, it knew that killing someone would put Zhang Zian in indefinite troubles.

    Although Old Time Tea didn¡¯t use all its strength, the red-haired guy still could not take the hit. Old Time Tea hit him in acupuncture points, which put him in all kinds of pain.

    His face distorted from pain. He bent down with both arms wrapped around his belly and could not speak a word.

    Old Time Teanded on the ground. With another move called ¡°neck clutch¡±, it heavily hit the red-haired guy¡¯s throat.

    This time, the red-haired guy was thrown to the ground. He rolled out of the store and cked out.

    [The sky roars¡ª¡ª]

    [Tides keeping¡ª¡ª]

    By now, the remaining five Rainbow Fighters had gotten used to the darkness and started to observe the situation.

    Oh no! They were shocked!

    In only a few seconds, two of the seven fighters were KO¡¯d.

    ¡°Who is it?¡±

    ¡°Who?¡±

    ¡°Come out!¡±

    They screamed as if their own voices wouldfort themselves.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s cellphone was bright and yed the background music. They all looked in his direction.

    ¡°It had to be you, jerk¡­¡± The purple-haired guy pointed his baseball bat at Zhang Zian¡¯s vague shadow next to the cell phone.

    Without finishing his words, a ck shadow flew in front of him.

    Immediately, the baseball bat pointing at Zhang Zian tilted down.

    What was going on?

    He was confused and saw a ck shadownd on his bat.

    Was it a bird?

    But¡­ birds don¡¯t have two bright yellow eyes like that¡­

    Old Time Tea steadilynded on the bat, standing still.

    It spun its body and used centrifugal force, throwing out a move called ¡°flying kick¡±!

    The purple-haired guy was going to say something, but then he felt a hairy cat leg heavilynd on his face!

    He was worse than the green-haired guy. The green-haired guy had only broken his nose, but the purple-haired guy¡¯s nose and front teeth were all broken. Blood was all over his face. He fell out of the store, struggled to get up, then stepped on an empty spot. He fell again and was knocked down.

    [Only God knows who wins in the end¡ª¡ª]

    As Old Time Tea kicked the purple-haired guy¡¯s face, it turned directions in the air. The vest waved along with its movements. It looked like a fairy from another world.

    The blue-haired guy hid behind the remaining fighters and was hoping to use their bodies to protect himself. He was the youngest among the seven and was also the most timid. He kept looking out of the store in the hope that someone would save him.

    Thest time he looked out was when the green-haired guy was kicked out of the store. Terrified, he turned around and felt two hairy paws grab his head.

    Old Time Tea judged directions when it attacked the purple-haired guy and timed it perfectly to hit the blue-haired guy. As it flew in front of him, it grabbed his head with its two front paws and pressed his head down, hitting his face with its two knees.

    These were the moves of ¡°bridge hands¡± and ¡°knee kick¡±.

    As its knees hit the blue-haired guy¡¯s face, Old Time Tea let its paws go.

    The blue-haired guy¡¯s head quickly moved up from low to high and his whole body flew off the ground from such a heavy hit. A few teeth came out of his mouth. He rolled out of the store and fainted.

    [The mountainughed¡ª¡ª]

    [The rain roared¡ª¡ª]

    Old Time Tea once again bounced up and the orange-haired guy was the next target.

    Besides Zhang Zian, there were only three guys left in the store. They were the orange-haired guy, the teal-haired guy and the golden-haired guy.

    Zhang Zian stayed at the farther end of the store, which was quite dark. The other three men were standing by the door where it was brighter. Zhang Zian could roughly see Old Time Tea¡¯s movements.

    He was scared as he watched, as if he could feel the pain Old Time Tea inflicted.

    Old Time Tea only hit people¡¯s most sensitive and soft spots.

    At first, he thought Old Time Tea was a soldier. Then, he thought it should be in the calvary. After seeing all these movements, he realized it should be in the air force. Its speed and movements were a lot better than any martial art performance he had ever seen.

    He looked at Fina, who was also shocked. Its little tongue stuck out and wouldn¡¯t go back.

    It really was true: ¡°I subdue myself not because I am weak, but out of persistence towards the morality of society and leniency towards others.¡±

    Don¡¯t ever offend Old Time Tea. If it wanted to kill, it was able to.

    Crazy!

    Looking at Gxy, it didn¡¯t seem surprised at Old Time Tea¡¯s work. Instead, it was stretching as if it was bored.

    [How many stories could the waves tell¡ª¡ª]

    ¡°Don¡¯t panic! Let¡¯s stay together, back to back!¡± The golden-haired guy screamed.

    The golden-haired guy was the leader of the team. He remained calm, even in such a mysterious situation.

    In fact, he was panicked himself and just pretended to be calm. He had cursed a thousand times at Qing Ren for putting them in a trap with dangerous pets. At the moment, he¡¯d rather be dealing with a poisonous snake or a blue ring octopus!

    The orange-haired guy and teal-haired guy gathered as soon as they heard the leader¡¯s instruction.

    ¡°Brother Jin¡­I want to go home¡­¡± The orange-haired guy cried as he ran.

    In the next second, he couldn¡¯t cry anymore because a hairy tail wrapped around his neck. The tail was soft as it touched the skin but it turned as hard as iron immediately.

    The orange-haired guy opened his eyes and mouth widely and tried to breathe. However, fresh air wouldn¡¯te in. He threw away the weapon in his hand and tried to get rid of the tail.

    Old Time Tea kicked him in the head, then loosened her tail. The guy fell and was kicked out of the store.

    [The wind smiles ¡ª¡ª]

    [It makes me feel lonely¡ª¡ª]

    [But there are still great thoughts in my mind¡­¡ª¡ª]

    The teal-haired guy could not remember the brotherhood, loyalty nor his face any longer. He ran out, waved his arms and cried, ¡°Help! Call the police! People are dying!¡±

    Crying for help didn¡¯t help because they had blocked the phone signal themselves.

    The golden-haired guy was also anxious, ¡°What the f*ck?! Rubbish!¡±

    If the two guys fought back together, they might be able to go for a while. However, they were a group of people who had always been a group of mobs. When everything went well, they stayed together. As soon as hardships were encountered, they fleed.

    The teal-haired guy was about to leave the store. He was only one step away.

    Old Time Tea flew down from the air. Its yellow eyes stared into his. The teal-haired guy was scared to death.

    ¡°Direct kick from the front!¡±

    Old Time Tea kicked from low to high; its legs heavilynded on the teal-haired guy¡¯s chin.

    The teal-haired guy immediate saw the ceiling. His eyes paused. His body rolled out of the store and he passed out.

    A chair near the cashier¡¯s table was flipped. All four legs were facing up.

    Old Time Teanded on one of the chair¡¯s legs. Now, the golden-haired guy was all that was left.

    [The people smile¡ª¡ª]

    [No more loneliness¡ª¡ª]

    [My great thoughts are still here¡ª¡ª]

    Seeing only one guy left, Zhang Zian became active.

    ¡°Hey! Come here! Come here! Come here!¡±

    He made a movement in the air.

    The golden-haired guy found all of his six followers beaten up. He decided not to continue to fight. He threw away his weapon and said, ¡°I lost!¡±

    Zhang Zian was disappointed, ¡°Holy moly! I didn¡¯t even get to fight back¡­¡±

    Fina was speechless.

    So was Old Time Tea.

    Gxy jumped up happily, ¡°Zian is great!¡±

    Zhang Zian was deeply touched. Gxy was so cute!

    The golden-haired guy said, ¡°Brother, I am only helping someone out. Could you let me go? Oh, yeah, your money¡­¡±

    He started searching through his pockets, from left to right, in and out. In the end, he pulled out some wrinkly notes and put them on the floor andughed. ¡°I am sorry; I spent some. Don¡¯t worry, I will pay you back!¡±

    Old Time Tea said, ¡°It¡¯s important to capture the ringleader. Ask him who is behind this mission.¡±

    Zhang Zian stopped the music and asked, ¡°Who sent you here? I will save your life if you tell me.¡±

    The golden-haired guy looked at him, then at Old Time Tea, ¡°Well, we have rules¡­brother¡­¡±

    Old Time Tea whipped her vest, and the golden-haired guy immediately changed. ¡°Okay okay! It was Qing Ren!¡±

    Zhang Zian was shocked. What a weird name!

    He continued questioning, ¡°Who is that?¡±

    Golden-haired guy knew he couldn¡¯t keep the secret anymore, so he told everything, ¡°Qing Ren from Qing Ren Lane¡­ That¡¯s all I know. I don¡¯t know his real name.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at Old Time Tea, then asked, ¡°What does he do?¡±

    The golden-haired guy begged, ¡°I really don¡¯t know! Qing Ren has a Qing Ren consulting firm on Qing Ren Lane. He gets the business and weplete the missions.¡±

    What the f*ck?! Qing Ren owns Qing Ren consulting firm on Qing Ren Lane¡­

    Zhang Zian pointed at his own nose. ¡°So I am your business?¡±

    The golden-haired guy coughed. ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡±

    Old Time Tea nodded, ¡°That¡¯s good. He is of no more use to us.¡±

    Zhang Zian pointed at the door, ¡°Leave!¡±

    The golden-haired guy was amazed. He didn¡¯t expect to be able to leave in one piece, so he ran as soon as Zhang Zian told him to.

    It was too bad that as he approached the door, Old Time Tea flew behind him and kicked him in his knees.

    Bang!

    The golden-haired guy kneeled down on the sidewalk and his knees turned blue.

    Old Time Tea immediately followed with a neck chop on his neck.

    Another one from the group!

    All seven Rainbow Fighters were gone!

    Old Time Tea slowly walked back into the store, sat back down on its electric nket and took a sip of the tea.

    ¡°Great tea! Right at the best temperature!¡±

    Golden-haired guy got kicked in the neck, but he was only dizzy and didn¡¯t pass out.

    Zhang Zian saw a good chance that he couldn¡¯t miss. He walked up to the golden-haired guy and snapped him on the forehead.

    The golden-haired guy passed out for real.

    Zhang Zian waved his hand, ¡°That was a hard forehead.¡±

    He stood up, nced at the seven men and was shocked.

    Amazing!

    The seven Rainbow Fighters¡¯ bodies were on the ground outside his shop in the shape of two Chinese characters: ¡°benevolence¡± and ¡°righteousness¡±!

 Chapter 146: Learn Kung Fu To Get Girls

    <h4>Chapter 146: Learn Kung Fu To Get Girls</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Aunt Li¡¯s husband rushed back. He was wearing quite a bit of clothes, so he was sweaty all over.

    ¡°Hon¡­Honey, I¡­ I called the police and¡­ the ambnce. They will be here shortly. I already told them it was important!¡± he said as he wiped off the sweat.

    ¡°Honey?¡± He was surprised that Aunt Li didn¡¯t respond.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that will be necessary¡­¡± Aunt Li murmured, ¡°We might have put our fingers in his pie¡­¡±

    ¡°What? What are you talking about?¡± The husband was confused. He thought Aunt Li might be too scared and didn¡¯t know what she was talking about.

    Following Aunt Li¡¯s eyes, he saw that the Amazing Fate Pet Shop was dark. They could not see anything in there, but there was a man standing at the door¡­

    ¡°Is that¡­ the owner? He didn¡¯t get hurt?¡± He rubbed his eyes.

    And then he saw that there were several men lying outside the store.

    ¡°What¡­What is going on?¡± He was even more confused.

    Aunt Li forced a smile, ¡°Honey, I think we are over thinking¡­ He had to know Kung Fu¡­¡±

    ¡°What? What Kung Fu? What do you mean?¡± The husband was astonished, ¡°What is it? I only left for a few minutes, what happened? Tell me!¡±

    Aunt Li sighed and said, ¡°Those guys went in and were going to rob the store. I thought the owner was going to be in big trouble¡­ then, the lights went out and those guys were thrown out one by one¡­¡±

    The husband pointed at Zhang Zian and couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°You mean¡­ That young kid is a great fighter?¡±

    Aunt Li nodded, ¡°I am sure. No wonder he didn¡¯t listen to our warning. I guess he might have be a soldier or a policeman before. It was so dark in the store. All I heard were the screams of the guys¡­¡±

    A few young men who were hiding to film the situation all came out at this point.

    They discussed the situation excitedly as they walked.

    ¡°Holy sh*t! That guy was good!¡±

    ¡°Best fighter ever!¡±

    ¡°I know! He beat up seven guys that had weapons!¡±

    ¡°The point is that he was very quick. All those guys were kicked out within minutes¡­¡±

    Aunt Li was shocked. She walked up to the young men.

    ¡°Hey guys, could you show me what you recorded?¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡± Holding smartphones withrge screens in hand, more than one of them had recorded what happened. They were thrilled to share.

    In the video, it was the same as Aunt Li¡¯s description. Seven men went in and were thrown out. Before the lights went out, there was only Zhang Zian in the store.

    Since the store waspletely dark, the recorders were standing across from the street, and their phones weren¡¯t professional devices,no one was able to capture what really happened in the store once the lights went out. What a pity!

    ¡°Oh¡­there was music!¡± Aunt Li¡¯s husband listened again carefully.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± The young men started discussing again, ¡°You missed it. After those people went in, the owner didn¡¯t panic. He didn¡¯t run nor did he start fighting right away. Instead, he turned off the lights and picked a song for background music before initiating the fight.¡±

    ¡°It was ¡°The Ocean¡¯s Roar¡±! What a song!¡±

    ¡°What a hidden hero!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what Kung Fu is about!¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ If I was gay I would definitely marry him¡­¡±

    Aunt Li was speechless.

    From the beginning to the end of the song, it was about 2 minutes. Within those 2 minutes, everything had been handled.

    Zhang Zian turned the lights back on as if he wanted to prove something.

    Everyone clearly saw that the store was a mess. The door was broken and there was blood on the floor. However, Zhang Zian waspletely in one piece and it looked like nothing had happened to him. The most important point ¨C he was the only one in the store.

    Everyone was amazed!

    This was not the end of the story yet.

    Two young men that looked like college kids ran over to him.

    ¡°Master! Master! Howe you didn¡¯t show us how you beat up those devil men?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Master! That¡¯s not fair! We have been longing to see your Kung Fu and you kicked us back to school early!¡±

    The crowd heard and understood. Although young, the owner already had two followers. He had to be great at Kung Fu.

    One of the guys that had recorded the fight started praising him. ¡°Before, I thought Chinese Kung Fu was only a performance, and that Western-style boxing was better. That was because I have never met someone who knew Kung Fu¡­¡±

    Another person agreed, ¡°That¡¯s true. Not to mention it isn¡¯t easy to meet someone who really knows Kungfu. The guys on TV are there for a show. Real Kung Fu masters wouldn¡¯t even consider going on TV¡­¡±

    ¡°Do you guys think this master will recruit more students?¡±

    ¡°Oh no. Great minds think alike!¡±

    ¡°If I could learn real Kungfu from him, I would be willing to spend some money.¡±

    ¡°Of course! Money is nothing. If we can learn real Kung Fu, we could use it to get girls!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go ask him!¡±

    Looking at the group of excited young men running towards the pet store, Aunt Li and her husband was astonished.

    Aunt Li¡¯s husband wanted to follow, but Aunt Li dragged him back.

    Aunt Li was mad. ¡°What the heck, old man? Do you want to learn Kung Fu and get girls, too?¡±

    The husband was anxious, ¡°Of course not! I wanted to follow. If he really is a Kung Fu master, our family will be safe here.¡±

    Aunt Li agreed, so she let him go.

    The husband looked around and whispered, ¡°When we have enough in our savings, we could start a small restaurant here. It is quite close to the school and the rent is much cheaper here. Look, the traffic is quite good here as well. We would do well having a small restaurant here¡­¡±

    Aunt Li¡¯s eyes brightened up.

    Having their own restaurant was something Aunt Li had been dreaming about after all these years of being a street vendor.

    However, the nightmare from their previous experience still scared them. They didn¡¯t know when trouble woulde back. But if this kid could keep them safe, it would be another story.

    ¡°Hurry up and see what¡¯s going on. Go!¡± She pushed her husband.

    The husband was speechless. It was her who had dragged him back and it was also her who rushed him to go forward¡­

    Seeing that no cars wereing down the road, he ran up and followed the young kids into the pet store.

 Chapter 147: The Fairy Cat

    <h4>Chapter 147: The Fairy Cat</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Knowing that Old Time Tea apanied the juvenile Ye Wen to practice martial arts and knowing that it was blessed by the 2000-year spirit of Chinese martial arts, Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t surprised that Old Time Tea could KO the seven Rainbow Fighters in no time. However, he was amazed that Old Time Tea could beat up all seven men so quickly and so precisely all while throwing their bodies in front of the store into the Chinese characters ¡°benevolence¡± and ¡°righteousness¡±. That was f*cking awesome!

    He returned to the store and turned on the light. Upon seeing the mess in the shop, he was sad.

    ¡°Buddy, don¡¯t be sad,¡± Old Time Tea said slowly after drinking one sip of tea. ¡°When something is broken, a new and better recement has to be established..¡±

    Old Time Tea always had its own way offorting Zhang Zian. He nodded.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you want to renovate the store? This is an excellent opportunity,¡± it continued.

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    Zhang Zian was inspired. Although the store was broken, all the pets were well, including Gxy and Fina. That was fortunate.

    When something is broken, a new and better recement has to be established.

    He just didn¡¯t understand why Old Time Tea was only a ¡°premier¡± grade elfin. It was the master of the 2000-year spirit of Chinese martial arts! Although it might not be as strong as Fina¡¯s 6000 years of faith, in Zhang Zian¡¯s mind, Old Time Tea deserved a better rating.

    He didn¡¯t want to ask the navigation elf in front of Old Time Tea, but he would sometime.

    He was thinking about how to clean up the mess when he heard two familiar voices.

    ¡°Master! Master! Howe you didn¡¯t show us how you beat up those devil men?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Master! That¡¯s not fair! We have been longing to see your kungfu and you kicked us back to school early!¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun ran up, trying to catch their breaths.

    After they had left the pet shop, they wandered back to their dorm. As soon as they got back to their room, the other four guys were leaving.

    ¡°What are you guys doing? Going out to eat?¡± they asked.

    The other four kids were shocked.

    The leader of their dorm asked surprisingly, ¡°Holy sh*t! Are you two okay? Don¡¯t you work at the pet store?¡±

    Wang Qian nodded.

    ¡°Precisely, we are cultivating immortality there,¡± Li Kun corrected him.

    ¡°What the f*ck? Isn¡¯t cultivating immortality every night enough?¡± The leader ignored them. ¡°Don¡¯t you know? Someone posted online that the pet shop was broken into! I don¡¯t know why there weren¡¯t any pictures or videos. I thought you guys were in trouble, so I was about to have everyone go out to support you. The guys in the next room are ready too.¡±

    Upon hearing that, Wang Qian and Li Kun knew that something had happened. They ran down the stairs and went straight back to the pet shop. They ran even faster than in gym ss.

    Want Qian asked as they ran, ¡°Master¡­ is Master going to be okay?¡±

    Li Kun said breathlessly, ¡°He should be fine. Master is a master! He is not a normal person.¡±

    Wang Qian continued, ¡°What if another master came? What if a group of masters came?¡±

    Li Kun started to panic. He murmured, ¡°Master is the best. He could fight against any group. Don¡¯t worry! If there are a group of masters in town, the whole town will fail but he won¡¯t!¡±

    They ran all the way to the store which tired them out.

    They stopped and looked around. Master was fine, and all the intruders were beaten up and kicked out of the store.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun began crying, ¡°Master, you are the best! We admire you so much!¡±

    As Zhang Zian was having a headache on how to deal with these two, a group of more young kids came over.

    ¡°Master, are you recruiting students?¡±

    ¡°Master, you already have two students. We want to learn from you as well!¡±

    ¡°Master, money is not a problem. Give me a number. As long as I can learn real Kung Fu, I don¡¯t care about how much I spend.¡±

    The group gathered around, trying to express their admiration.

    Zhang Zian was frightened. ¡°Sh*t! I never knew silliness was contagious!¡±

    ¡°Hey, Master. You know Kung Fu, right?¡± Aunt Li¡¯s husband asked.

    Zhang Zian looked closely. Oh no! That was Aunt Li¡¯s husband from the breakfast cart. Howe he was silly, too?

    Suddenly, a siren approached. Two police cars parked in front of the pet shop.

    A few policemen jumped out of the car, told the crowd to leave and cordoned off the store.

    The crowd stepped back, but their mutual admiration for Zhang Zian was beyond words.

    The policemen were experienced. They knew immediately what had happened, seeing the mess and the peopleying on the sidewalk. Some devil men still had pantyhose on their heads. It was a robbery.

    ¡°Owner, who is the owner?¡± A policeman who looked like the leader yelled.

    ¡°I am!¡± Zhang Zian stepped up.

    ¡°Come here to file a case.¡±

    Zhang Zian walked over slowly and was thinking about what he should say.

    Some policemen were taking pictures. Some were checking on the wounded people. They were surprised at how precisely the hitsnded. If the person hit just a bit heavier, these guys would die.

    ¡°Captain Sheng,¡± a young policeman called out and waved.

    Captain Sheng had Zhang Zian wait there and he headed up to the van.

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Captain Sheng asked.

    The young policeman knocked at the van¡¯s door. ¡°No license te.¡± He then pointed inside the van. ¡°Mobile phone shielding device.¡±

    Captain Sheng¡¯s eyebrows gathered. They used a mobile phone shielding device which meant that they were likely to be experienced. This case should go from a robbery to a nned crime.

    He turned around to look at Zhang Zian and told the young policeman, ¡°search carefully and keep all the clues. These stupid guys are useless. They must have someone behind them.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The young policeman nodded.

    Captain Sheng was going to get back to Zhang Zian when another policeman called, ¡°Captain Sheng, one of the guys woke up.¡±

    The golden-haired guy slowly opened his eyes. He couldn¡¯t see clearly and only felt sharp pain in his knees. He wished that he hadn¡¯t woken up.

    Captain Sheng squatted down and asked seriously, ¡°I am a policeman. Tell me the truth, who beat you up like this?¡±

    The golden-haired guy grabbed Captain Sheng¡¯s uniform. Fear was all over his face and he yelled, ¡°It was a cat! It was a f*cking cat! That cat was evil¡­ It agreed not to kill me¡­ Mr. Policeman, please save me!¡±

    ¡°A cat?¡± Captain Sheng was full of confusion.

    If the golden-haired guy had said it was a ghost from a foreign country, Captain Sheng would have been less surprised.

    ¡°That¡¯s true. It was a cat!¡± the golden-haired guy recalled. The pain in his neck almost killed him when he moved.

 Chapter 148: Illusions

    <h4>Chapter 148: Illusions</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Captain Sheng knocked off the golden-haired guy¡¯s hand, stood up, and fixed his uniform. He did not have any sympathy for the golden-haired guy. Such people should be punished because they broke society¡¯sw and order. They deserved to be beaten to death. However, asw enforcement, he had to follow the rules.

    The golden-haired guy was loud. The crowdughed out loud after hearing his words.

    ¡°This idiot is stupid, right? He was obviously being beaten by a man, yet he said he was beaten by a cat and he seemed to be proud of it¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Such garbage should be beaten up and imprisoned for a lifetime. They are purely gues!¡±

    Captain Sheng walked over and asked, ¡°Have you seen things through?¡±

    Several young men nodded, ¡°We have not only seen, but also recorded.¡± Aunt Li¡¯s husband also nodded.

    ¡°Oh, really? Could you show me?¡± Captain Sheng asked.

    One of the young people handed their phone over.

    The video was short. Captain Sheng finished it quickly.

    From the video, two points were clear. First, these people well deserved to be beaten up. Second, the owner was trying to defend himself.

    The only thing was¡­ what happened when the lights were out? No one knew.

    Uncle Li coughed,¡±Mr. Policeman, I was the one that reported the case.¡±

    Captain Sheng returned the phone and went up to Uncle Li, saying, ¡°Then please talk about it.¡±

    Uncle Li went through the whole story, from the morning a few days ago when the seven Rainbow Fighters showed up for money, to tonight¡¯s incident.

    Uncle Li¡¯s voice was loud. A few young people next to him could hear clearly. Their admiration towards the owner went up even higher. It took patience to get the big shark. The owner pretended he was weak and then he KO¡¯d the whole group. What a master!

    Sheng calmly listened and asked, ¡°So you don¡¯t know what happened after the lights went out, correct?¡±

    Uncle Liughed, ¡°What else could¡¯ve happened? The young master beat them up and threw them out!¡±

    A few young men agreed.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun both tightly closed their mouths. They knew that the protagonists in novels always maintained a low profile so they could surprise peopleter on. Also, they wished not to talk to people who worked in the government.

    Captain Sheng looked back at Zhang Zian. Could this young kid really be that outstanding at martial arts?

    But¡­ the golden-haired guy confirmed it was a cat.

    Captain Sheng was puzzled until a young policeman responsible for technical stuff ran over and whispered into his ear, ¡°Drug and alcohol residue was detected in their bodies; the concentration is high.¡±

    Captain Sheng nodded, indicating that he understood.

    Everything was self-exnatory now.

    These people consumed drugs and alcohol before they came. Drugs and alcohol led to their visual and auditory hallucinations. They robbed a pet shop in the dark. Listening to the cat in the dark as they were beaten up created the strange illusion.

    On one hand, he had confessions from a suspect whose body contained high concentrations of drug and alcohol residue and was also likely to have a criminal record. On the other hand, he had witnesses from a group of sober people. It didn¡¯t take much to judge which was more trustworthy.

    Captain Sheng was a firm believer in materialism. He did not believe a word about the evil cat. Frankly, if he dared to report it to his boss, he might get demoted immediately¡­

    He told the team, ¡°Take the suspects back to the police station. When they wake up, conduct a mental evaluation. Don¡¯t waste time if they are retards¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The young policeman took the order.

    Captain Sheng had decided what he was going to do, so he wandered back to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°How should I address you, sir?¡± He asked politely.

    ¡°My name is Zhang Zian; I¡¯m the owner of this pet shop,¡± Zhang Zian replied. He was uneasy because he wasn¡¯t sure how bad the seven Rainbow Fighters got hurt and if he could get in trouble.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, have you practiced martial arts, boxing or free fighting?¡± Captain Sheng asked with great interest.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what to say.

    Obviously, he had to say something; otherwise he could put himself in trouble.

    He said hesitantly, ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯ve learned some basic Wing Chun Kung Fu¡­¡±

    With that being said, the young guys were immediately happily surprised.

    ¡°Sh*t! Master is a Wing Chun expert!¡±

    ¡°Wing Chun! This will make big money!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t stop me! I have to learn from him!¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kunughed, ¡°Wing Chun Kung Fu is only a basic means of self-defense for Master. You guys have never seen the real fairy magic!¡±

    Captain Sheng was also very surprised, ¡°Wing Chun?¡±

    Zhang Zian bit the bullet and said, ¡°Yup. Learned a bit from the family.¡±

    Captain Sheng didn¡¯t believe him. If he only learned a bit of martial arts, he would not be able to beat up seven criminals with weapons in such a short span. And in a dark room? Even a well-trained special policeman could not do it.

    He felt that Zhang Zian wanted to keep a low profile on purpose, otherwise he would be known by many people. Since it was family martial arts, he was certainly not willing to let outsiders know about it. Captain Sheng read his mind from his hesitation of speaking up. He only felt pity that such a martial arts master hadn¡¯t opened a school to carry forward the fascinating Kung Fu spirit.

    This was none of his business and he could not change anything.

    He walked around the shop, looking at Fina, Old Time Tea, and then at the kittens and puppies. Finally, his eyes fell on the top of the cashier where the smashed surveince camera was located.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, we need to borrow the memory drive of the surveince monitor. We will return it when we are done.¡±

    Zhang Zian ran up to the second floor, removed the monitoring system¡¯s hard drive, and gave it to the captain.

    The surveince camera only covered the cashier area and the entrance. Giving it to the police didn¡¯t matter.

    ¡°Sir, my case should be a legitimate act of self-defense, right?¡± he asked carefully.

    Captain Sheng thought it should be, but he didn¡¯t dare make a statement, so he said, ¡°We will go back and check the injuries on the suspects. ording to my experience, you do not have to worry too much.¡±

    Zhang Zian was relieved. ¡°That¡¯s great.¡±

    ¡°You have to pay attention next time. Those people were injured quite badly,¡± Captain Sheng reminded him with a friendly tone and thenughed, ¡°I guess you don¡¯t have to worry about it. I am sure tonight will make you famous. I don¡¯t think anyone will dare to provoke you.¡±

    He looked around as he said this. As the signal shielding device turned off and cell phones resumed signal reception, many young people were taking pictures or videos, and then uploaded them to a variety of social medias.

    Zhang Zian was helpless. He wanted to keep a low-profile¡­

    ¡­

    Uncle Li cheerfully ran back to Aunt Li.

    ¡°How is it?¡± Aunt Li asked eagerly.

    ¡°It is Wing Chun Kung Fu! The young man is just like Ye Wen. He is a great master of Wing Chun!¡±

    Aunt Li was stunned, ¡°He seems to be too young to be a master.¡±

    ¡°He has the legendary martial arts talent!¡± Uncle Li couldn¡¯t stop praising.

    Aunt Li pulled at his shirt and whispered, ¡°We shouldn¡¯t charge him in the future when hees for breakfast!¡±

    Uncle Li nodded, ¡°I understand.¡±

    ¡°You know nothing! We should maintain a good rtionship with him and in the future, our son can learn Kung Fu from him and get a girlfriend.¡±

 Chapter 149: The Real Fight

    <h4>Chapter 149: The Real Fight</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When the police officers finished investigating the evidence, they had Zhang Zian, Uncle Li and other witnesses make a transcript.

    The majority of the policemen had left, including Captain Sheng. One police car was still parked outside the pet shop. It was there for both protection as well as monitoring. After all, the case had not been closed.

    Zhang Zian sent Wang Qian and Li Kun back to school. After persuading a bunch of young men who were sincere Kung Fu fans to go home, he pulled down the curtain and locked the door.

    He would pick up the mess in the shop tomorrow.

    ¡°Buddy, where is that so-called Qing Ren Lane?¡± Seeing that everyone else had left, Old Time Tea immediately asked him.

    Zhang Zian was also very confused and said, ¡°Although I was born and raised in this city, I have never heard of any ¡°Qing Ren Lane¡±. Let me check.¡±

    He brought theptop from the second floor, and opened up an electronic map for inquiries.

    ¡°Yo! There is a Qing Ren Lane!¡± He magnified the map.

    ¡°Tell me how to get there,¡± Old Time Tea said.

    Zhang Zian was surprised. ¡°Grandpa Tea, you want to go there now?¡±

    Old Time Tea nodded indifferently, ¡°I have to clear the evil.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you wait until morning?¡± He looked outside. The night was as dark as ink. He was worried that it might be a dangerous trip for Old Time Tea.

    ¡°I am guessing they have already left by now, but I still want to make a trip down there,¡± Old Time Tea insisted.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Old Time Tea lifted its w to refuse. ¡°You won¡¯t be able to help.¡±

    Zhang Zian burst into tears, Yes, I am a wimp! Although you are right, it still hurts!

    He connected to a wireless printer, and printed out a detailed map. He used a marker to circle the pet shop and then put an ¡°X¡±on Qing Ren Lane.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, this is Qing Ren Lane,¡± He pointed at the cross.

    Old Time Tea looked carefully for a few seconds. ¡°I will be back.¡±

    Zhang Zian wanted to open the door for Old Time Tea, but it stopped him, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I am going out from the second-floor window.¡±

    Sh*t! What a demeanor!

    Old Time Tea followed him to the bedroom on the second floor. He opened the window for it, saying, ¡°Grandpa Tea, be careful!¡±

    Old Time Tea smiling heroically, ¡°I have dealt with such devils a thousand times. They won¡¯t be able to trick me. Don¡¯t worry! You are the one that has to be careful. Keep the door and windows shut tight. I¡¯ll knock on the window three times when Ie back.

    Zhang Zian nodded, ¡°Okay.¡±

    Old Time Tea jumped and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

    Zhang Zian closed the window and took out his cell phone.

    ¡°Navigation Elf, I have something to ask you.¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: Please go ahead. I am at any time for your service.

    He thought about every possible word and phrase, but then decided to be straightforward. ¡°Why is Old Time Tea only a premier level elfin? What are your rating standards?

    [Navigation Elf]: Juvenile Ye Wen¡¯s Foshan Wing Chun cat was born from the benevolent and righteous spirit in thend of China. However, such spirit has been decreasing in power day by day; therefore, the faithful power is going down rapidly. That¡¯s the reason it is only a premier level elfin. It might be downgraded in the future. If you found it a hundred years ago, it would¡¯ve been an epic.

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    After a while, he asked again, ¡°Further downgrades¡­I remember you told me that the lowest level for an elfin is elite, right?

    [Navigation Elf]: Yes. If the power of faith could not even support an elite-ss rating, the elfin would never appear. However, yers don¡¯t have to worry too much. The Chinese poption isrge. Although the benevolent and righteous spirit has been decreasing, it will notpletely disappear anytime soon.

    The more Zhang Zian knew, the worse he felt.

    Where has the benevolent and righteous spirit gone?

    What can I do?

    There is nothing I can do.

    He was not a hero, nor could he rise up for the injustice.

    In fact, he has a more urgent question to ask.

    ¡°Navigation Elf, what is the lifespan for the elfin?¡±

    Compared to the disappearance of the benevolent and righteous spirit, he was more worried about the life of Old Time Tea.

    [Navigation Elf]: Yes. Whether it is just fantasy or a real existing elfin, once it was captured by the yer and became alive as a pet in real life, it will be subject to a life span.

    The average life expectancy of a cat is fourteen years. Old Time Tea had lived for at least ten years by now.

    However, there are a lot of cats which live to a very old age. Zhang Zian could only pray that Old Time Tea would live as long as possible.

    Separation and death are both sorrows in life.

    After being silent for awhile, he finally said, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: It is my job to answer yers¡¯ questions. No need to thank me.

    Zhang Zian forced a smile, ¡°No, I didn¡¯t thank you for this. I am grateful that you brought these elfins into reality so I can meet them.¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: We did bring them into reality, yet we unable to control whether yers can meet them or not.

    Zhang Zian was puzzled, ¡°What does that mean?¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: Theoretically, the golden cat of Cleopatra VII was abandoned by the original owner and had been wandering everywhere since then. The juvenile Ye Wen Foshan¡¯s Wing Chun cat should have stayed in Foshan, yet they came to Binhai city.

    He still didn¡¯t understand, ¡°So?¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: Don¡¯t you think you are lucky?

    Finally, he got it.

    It isn¡¯t because I am lucky, but that I have a lucky cat.

    This is the hope of Gxy. It is also the future Gxy has been hoping for.

    [Navigation Elf]: The speed at which yers collected elfin at was far beyond our expectations. Once someone has collected and sessfully tamed three elfin, we willunch the PVP encounter mode ahead of time, which was originally scheduled tounch in six months.

    [Game Tip]: The announcement of the PVPunch will be released to all yers in five days.

    Zhang Zian was out of his mind. ¡°Wait!¡±

    There was too much information in this tip.

    ¡°In addition to me, there are other yers?¡± His heart was beating violently.

    [Navigation Elf]: Of course. You are not the only yer who downloaded and installed the game.

    ¡°Who else is ying this game?¡± he continued asking.

    [Navigation Elf]: Unfortunately, this question involves other yers¡¯ personal privacy. I cannot tell you.

    Zhang Zian was silent.

    [Navigation Elf]: However, I can give you a hint.

    ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± He paid close attention.

    [Navigation Elf]: Oriental grey dog and the ck cat from the sky.

    ¡°What?¡±

    Oriental grey dog and the ck cat from the sky?

    What on earth did that mean?

    ¡°Are they also yers of this game?¡±

    Zhang Zian almost broke down at this point!

    [Navigation Elf]: They are beta yers selected by ourputer program. They drew the Maneki-neko and lucky dog from the new yer tutorials and used those elfin as a corporate logo and totem.

    [Navigation Elf]: Their PVP battle has continued to this day. You do not have to worry. Unless you take the initiative to dere war, there will not be PVP battles between beta yers and formal gamers.

    [Navigation Elf]: I wish you good luck.

 Chapter 150: A Trip For Righteousness

    <h4>Chapter 150: A Trip For Righteousness</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Two street cats were trying to stand their ground up on the wall. One was orange and the other was white. Both were male cats.

    One had to intrude the other¡¯s territory. They were only a few feet away from each other. With their backs arching and fur standing, muscles tightened and sharp teeth revealed, neither one wanted to step back.

    ¡°Meow ah!¡±

    ¡°Meow ah!¡±

    Their screams were high pitched and long. They sounded like babies crying or ghosts screaming. It was terrifying.

    The orange cat reached out one paw and put it on the white cat¡¯s forehead. It looked as if it was pushing the white cat back.

    The white cat didn¡¯t fight back. It kept screaming and whipping its tail impatiently.

    The white cat was bigger, so it was a strong opponent to the orange cat.

    The orange cat took its paw back as if it was scared.

    At this time, they both heard an abnormal noise.

    Bang!

    Bang! Bang!

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Cats are curious. Both cats turned around to look in the direction where the noise came from.

    Hooah!

    Something flew in!

    The orange cat and the white cat were both terrified. They raised their heads, attempting to find the new intruder.

    The moon was like a big round te. A strong shadow quickly flew past their heads.

    The moonlight lit up the intruder¡¯s shadow on the wall. It was wearing a vest and a hat!

    Is that a person?

    With their mouths wide open, both cats¡¯ eyes followed the movement of the shadow.

    Humans weren¡¯t this quick.

    Is it another animal?

    A window on the third floor was pushed open. A broken slipper flew out of the window,nded on the wall. It flew a few rounds in the air and then fell on the ground.

    ¡°What is that noise? It is so annoying!¡± said a woman¡¯s voice.

    Then a man said, ¡°Let it be. It was a cat.¡±

    The woman discovered something. ¡°Come here! What is it? A cat flying?¡±

    The man walked up to the window. ¡°What? I don¡¯t see anything.¡±

    The woman was mad. ¡°You are too slow. It flew by!¡±

    The two cats had already forgotten about the intruder. They were confronting each other and trying to push the other cat away.

    A war would start at any time.

    ¡­

    When Old Time Tea jumped up in the air, it could precisely find where tond as soon as it reached the peak.

    Inhale ¨C exhale ¨C inhale ¨C exhale ¨C

    Its breathing was smooth. It was doing great.

    Every time it jumped up again from the wall, its sharp nails would rub against the wall.

    It jumped through countless pointy roofs, t roofs, round roofs, roofs with sr panels and roofs with clothes hanging¡­

    Old Time Tea felt like it was back at its peak. Its old friends¡¯ faces kept showing up in its mind. It was too bad they were all gone now, leaving only Old Time Tea in this world.

    Bang!

    Old Time Teanded on a red brick on a roof. That brick looked okay, but it was broken inside. It broke down as soon as itnded on it.

    Old Time Tea lost its bnce and fell from the roof.

    It regained its bnce with the assistance of its long tail. It turned around in the air and reached out a paw to grab the wall.

    Three scratches from its sharp nails immediately appeared. Dust came off the wall like snow.

    As soon as itnded, the resistance waspletely gone. It jumped up again onto the roof. Its sharp nails were shining under the moonlight.

    A man said something. ¡°What was that noise? A rat?¡±

    The woman was impatient. ¡°Who cares! Keep going!¡±

    Old Time Tea watched from the roof. Qing Ren Lane was not far away.

    It had been traveling in a straight line since it left the pet store.

    A straight line is the shortest distance between two points. The same theory also applied to martial arts.

    This was the first time Old Time Tea had left the pet shop. It wasn¡¯tpletelyfortable with the environment.

    In older times, where it came from, the only light source at night was the moon. It could block off the light by wearing a hat. However, in this era, there were too many light sources everywhere. The high beams from cars especially made it ufortable.

    As was the noise.

    In the old days, at this time it would be dead silent. However, in this modern world, the night had just begun. Laughter, crying, and screaming was everywhere.

    Smells.

    There were so many smells it had never sniffed.

    Fragrances, cosmetics, cement particles, car exhaust¡­everything turned the pure world into a melting pot.

    The smells were strange and weird. Old Time Tea wasn¡¯t sure what it was going to bring.

    It had seen surveince cameras on TV. It had asked Zhang Zian about it and he had exined, pointing at the camera above the cashier area.

    It endeavored to avoid the surveince cameras as it travelled.

    Some cameras were hiding, so it wasn¡¯t sure if it had managed to avoid them all.

    Nheless, probably no one would care about a cat.

    It remembered Captain Sheng, who came to the store tonight. He had sharp eyes just like the famous police sergeants in the old days. Although he had only walked around once, he remembered everything in the store by heart.

    No matter how great he was, he was only a normal person who would be limited by the era he lived in and his own experience, education, and training. He would not connect tonight¡¯s case with a cat.

    Old Time Tea was fighting for righteousness.

    Warriors and policemen could never be friends.

    It knew that not all policemen were incapable; however, they were subject to disciplines and regtions. They were also controlled by their superiors. In general, they were only a tool to deal with both thieves and knight warriors.

    There is littlemon ground for understanding between people of differing principles.

    A knight warrior is always true to himself.

    Old Time Tea looked at its all-conquering ws. In this new era, only they still made it feel at ease.

    Old Time Tea clearly knew that it wasn¡¯t only the old cat that had apanied Ye Wen. The powerful blessing gave it an iron body. Although it could not know about the future like Gxy or order cats around like Fina, it was happy because it was a real knight warrior who could fight for righteousness.

    It only took Old Time Tea one w to get rid of bad people.

    Old Time Tea once again jumped into the sky, leaving a never-ending ck silhouette under the silver moonlight.

 Chapter 151: A Trip For More Righteousness

    <h4>Chapter 151: A Trip For More Righteousness</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    There came a rotten smell.

    The dead, rotten smell came from a quietne ahead.

    Old Time Tea knew it had arrived at its destination.

    A hot wave came from its chest up to its throat.

    It knew it was getting old, not as strong as he used to be, just like how the song went:

    [The wind smiles

    It makes me feel lonely

    But there are still great thoughts in my mind.¡ª¡ª]

    It wasn¡¯t a good time to be sad at the moment. Old Time Tea tried to let out excess body heat from breathing quickly, which also reverted its rapid heart rate back to normal.

    Old Time Tea didn¡¯t enter thene from the ground. Being a cat, walking on the wall was way safer.

    Standing up on the wall, Old Time Tea carefully observed thisne.

    Slop and garbage was everywhere. The heavy stink was, in fact, a natural protection of thene from outsiders. A normal person would note in.

    There were no street lights.

    It raised its head and found that there were indeed street lights, which were all intentionally broken.

    Thene was dark, but darkness wouldn¡¯t stop Old Time Tea.

    Through the eyesight only cats had, Old Time Tea discovered that there were signs of fresh cat urine in thene. A ce where humans abandoned could sometimes be a cats¡¯ heaven.

    A big fat rat came out from the sewer. It was squeaking and smelling around before it decided that this was a safe spot to find some food. Immediately, it ran towards the trash piling up at the corner, tore up the stic bags, and searched for dinner.

    Old Time Tea was about to move forward until suddenly, a slight friction-like noise caught its attention. It stopped.

    A ck cat quietly squeezed itself out from another corner, staring at the rat. Apparently, it had been waiting for its prey¡¯s arrival for quite a while.

    Quietly raising its feet and lightly approaching to the rat, the ck cat didn¡¯t make even a tiny bit of noise. It was getting closer and closer to the rat from behind. However, the rat didn¡¯t hear the cat all, digging half of its head into the trash bag and enjoying its delicious dinner.

    As the ck cat got close enough, it suddenly jumped up with two front paws, andnded on the rat¡¯s head and body.

    The rat was scared, screaming and whipping its tail. Yet it was fate that decided that tonight was the end for him.

    After watching this scene, Old Time Tea once again jumped up and headed inside thene.

    The ck cat was frightened by Old Time Tea¡¯s movement. It thought that was apetitor so its paws loosened. The rat grasped at the chance to escape, but the ck cat wouldn¡¯t let it go. It was thrown at the wall and passed out.

    Old Time Tea changed from running quickly to slowly jumping so it had time to carefully observe the environment as it proceeded.

    People lived in thisne. Dim lights came out from a few houses. Why would they live here? Out of financial reasons or others?

    A small three-story building, which looked very much like an observation tower, appeared in front of Old Time Tea. Surrounding the building, there were short one-story houses on either side.

    It was the Qing Ren Consulting Firm.

    The building was dark and as quiet as a tomb. Old Time Tea listened carefully, but it could not hear a thing.

    Old Time Tea jumped down from the wall and walked around the outside of the front door.

    It smelled carefully.

    That was it!

    The smell of rotten rats from the sewer lingered.

    The front door was a metal gate. Old Time Tea reached out its paw and tried to open it. The door was tightly shut.

    It didn¡¯t really matter because Old Time Tea had other options as it came to entering a building.

    If a person wanted to enter the building, he had to pull the door open from outside. Old Time Tea thought about it for a second and found a piece of wood that was about 3 feet long, which was very likely a piece of leftover material from a piece of furniture.

    Old Time Tea pressed its sharp nails in the wood to pick it up and went back to the door. It tried a few different angles and utilized a small hole on the ground to ce the wood against the doorknob. Old Time Tea then raised and kicked so that the wood was tightly fixed on the door and kept it shut.

    In this case, if someone in the building tried to escape, they could not get out from the front door.

    When Old Time Tea pushed the wood against the door, it made a loud noise.

    Old Time Tea listened again. It was still dead-silent inside.

    It then jumped up to the wall and walked to the side of the building.

    Sewer pipes ran from the top level to the ground.

    The stic pipes were held on the wall by a few old rusty metal rings.

    Old Time Tea jumped up, grabbed a pipe and went up to the top level within seconds.

    There were all sorts of garbage and leftovers on the top level. A small door led to the roof.

    The roofs between this building and the neighboring one were close enough that if someone rushed to escape, he could jump to directly from one roof to the other.

    The door was made of metal, and was locked from inside.

    Old Time Tea did the same thing, using some garbage to secure to lock so no one could ever get out.

    It had to eliminate all possible ways out.

    Standing on top of the building, Old Time Tea was staring down at thene and thinking everything over again.

    A few secondster, it jumped down from the roof!

    Within the blink of an eye, it was at level three.

    Old Time Tea whipped its tail, strengthened its back, and adjusted its core and direction. It reached out its paws to grab the balcony on the third floor, and pulled itself up to third floor.

    Sitting outside of the window, it looked into the room.

    It waspletely dark inside, but that was not a problem for Old Time tea.

    If someone was watching from inside, he would be frightened to death by Old Time Tea¡¯s yellow eyes.

    It seemed like there wasn¡¯t any activity going on inside. People had left.

    Old Time Tea raised its paw and hit the ss rapidly.

    Bang!

    The ss broke. Most fragments fell inside. Some fell outside, rolled down to the ground and got smashed.

    What a loud noise!

    It there was someone sleeping inside, he should¡¯ve been awakened by now.

    Old Time Tea didn¡¯t rush to get in. Instead, it stayed by the window to observe.

    The residents in thene might have gotten used to such disturbances. If they heard ss breaking, no one woulde out and everyone would shut their doors and lights.

    Thene got even darker.

    It was still quiet inside the building.

    Old Time Tea wiped away some of the fragments on the window. It put down its sleeves to cover its two front paws, cleaned up the rest of the ss and hopped in.

    In fact, before it broke the ss, Old Time Tea already knew no one was there because the human scent was very light, which meant people had left a while ago.

    It looked like an office. The person didn¡¯t leave in a rush so he cleaned up the ce. He swept to floor, mopped the desk and everything in between.

    Looking at this, Old Time Tea know two things. First, it would not be able to find any clues here; second, the person was cunning as a fox.

    It wasn¡¯t urate that the person didn¡¯t leave behind any sort of clue. In the middle of the desk, therey a stack of documents. It looked as if it was waiting for people to read it. Old Time Tea worried that it was a trick.

    Old Time Tea walked around the room from the outside inwards, round after round, trying to search for clues. The couch, under the desk, the coat rack¡­ it didn¡¯t miss any spot.

    When Old Time Tea searched, it usually reached out its paw to knock on the floor and listen to the resulting noise. It had to make sure there wasn¡¯t a trap underneath.

    Finally, it had searched everything but the desk.

    First, it checked the bottom of the desk to see if there were any killing traps.

    None. Everything looked fine.

    It jumped up to the surface. Besides those documents, there wasn¡¯t even a paper left in the room. It reached out one paw and slightly pulled at the documents in front of it.

    There was a note on the paper sitting on top of the stack.

    ¡°I was not sure who would get here first. It might be the police or someone else. By the time you see this paper, I¡¯ve already left the city. Don¡¯t waste your time looking for me. There was no personal grudge between us. My business was merely amercial act. Someone paid, and I provided the service. That¡¯s all.¡±

    ¡°I am only a small potato trying to make a living by running a business like this. It is not worth your time searching for me. There are too many people just like me. You can¡¯t get them all. A famous saying goes: where there is a will, there is a way. I say that where there is demand, there is supply.¡±

    ¡°Of course, my words won¡¯t ease your pain. I understand. I haven¡¯t failed my mission a lot, but this is not the first time. The fighters might be too weak or you might be too strong. I admire you for beating us. The documents underneath this paper are your souvenir. I hope this makes you feel better. ¡±

    ¡°If you insist in chasing me, I will show you real trouble.¡±

    Signed ¨C Qing Ren.

    Old Time Tea moved away the paper. There were some documents that looked like conversation records. Besides the stack of documents, there was also a small stic thing which looked like Zhang Zian¡¯s thumb drive. It might be the same thing.

    Qing Ren thought these things would ease the visitor¡¯s anger. Old Time Tea was debating whether or not it wanted to believe him.

    From thene, there came the siren.

    Old Time Tea jumped back to the window and saw that a few police cars were blocking thene.

    The police sergeants were here!

    It rolled the first paper into a ball, put it in its pocket and was going to leave from the window. Suddenly, a banner on the wall attracted its eyes. There were two lines on the banner, written in beautiful Chinese calligraphy:

    If someday I be king, there will be peach blossoms everywhere.

    Old Time Tea sneered. What an egomaniac!

    It jumped up, reached out its paws and cut the banner in half like slicing a piece of tofu. The cutnded on the character ¡°Qing¡±. The wall behind the banner was all fine.

    Thene was too narrow for cars. It was dark, and the policemen ran in.

    Old Time Tea jumped out of the window and slid down to the ground through a pipe. It kicked the wood at the door to the side, jumped back on the wall and was ready to head back to the pet shop. There, a new partner was waiting for it, just like how the song went:

    [Peopleugh,

    No more loneliness

    My great thoughts are still there¡ª¡ª]

 Chapter 152: It Would Become Popular

    <h4>Chapter 152: It Would Be Popr</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was the next morning.

    Humming a song, Snowy ran down the stairs and saw her father had a long face.

    Fooled by Loser Jin, Jiang Tianda was mad. He had been walking back to Jin¡¯s house every day hoping to run into him. When he ran into Loser Jin, he was going to scold Jin. However, Loser Jin had to know what was in Jiang¡¯s mind. He didn¡¯t return at all!

    Snowy made a face to her mom,ughing and pointing from behind at her dad, who was reading the newspaper. Who read the newspaper these days? Lame!

    Mother didn¡¯t respond to her. Instead, she said, ¡°Sit down and have some breakfast.¡±

    Her parents had already eaten. Only her breakfast was left on the table.

    Snowy grabbed her orange juice, looking at her cell phone as she drank.

    ¡°How many times do I have to tell you? No cell phones at the dining table!¡± Father put down the newspaper, looking mad, ¡°You are an adult already. Act like one.¡±

    Snowy was indifferent to father¡¯s old speech.

    She turned on Weibo to check messages.

    What?

    Thousands of messages popped out!

    ¡°Snowy, Sexual manager¡¯s store was robbed!¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°It is real! I took a detour this morning before I went to work. It was robbed.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I saw that. It was mess in there.¡±

    ¡°Did he offend someone?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not the point, okay? The scariest thing was that Sexual Manager beat up seven fighters who came with weapons.¡±

    ¡°No way! I don¡¯t believe it.¡±

    ¡°It couldn¡¯t be him!¡±

    ¡°Something must be wrong.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. At first I didn¡¯t believe it. There are many videos posted online already. Go take a look. Many people begged to learn Kung Fu from him.¡±

    ¡°I am toozy to get up. Snowy, could you investigate and have a show?¡±

    ¡°F*ck! I love the way you beg for a live show!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Snowy. Working people are begging for a live show for investigation.¡±

    ¡°Students are begging, too. ¡±

    ¡°Out-of-towners are begging, too¡±

    ¡°Overseas audiences are begging, too. I am nning to buy a stunt cat to show off to my American friends¡­¡±

    ¡°Out-of-spacers¡­ never mind, I will just wait for the show quietly. ¡±

    Snowy suddenly stood up. Her orange juice was only half gone but she said, ¡°I am full.¡±

    Jiang Tianda¡¯s eyebrows tightened, ¡°You haven¡¯t even begun your breakfast. Do you know how important breakfast is? Not eating breakfast will cause gallstones! Someone in mypany¡­ ¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to go. I will be back soon. I¡¯ll eat when Ie back!¡± Snowy stopped her father, ran back up to her bedroom, changed, took the selfie-stick and ran downstairs.

    Mother already made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and gave it to her. ¡°Eat it on the go.¡±

    With two full hands, Snowy bit into the sandwich, and said something that no one understood.

    Mother waved her head, ¡°Wild girl¡­ even cats are more elegant than you¡­¡±

    Knowing that she was rushing to do live shows, Jiang Tianda was even angrier.

    ¡°Going out again? Can¡¯t you stay home for just a few days¡­¡±

    A door closing was her response to him.

    Jiang Tianda was speechless.

    ¡°Why was she in such a hurry?¡± he asked his wife.

    ¡°How would I know?¡± she said as she shrugged her shoulders.

    Snowy quickly ate the sandwich, left the vi and got a taxi.

    ¡°Amazing Fate Pet Shop,¡± She said to the driver.

    ¡°Are you going to learn Kung Fu?¡± The driverughed as he looked at her.

    ¡°What?¡± Snowy was confused.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you know? That pet shop is popr online. Not including you, I already took two other people there trying to learn Kung Fu,¡± The driver said as he steered.

    ¡°A young and pretty girl like yourself should learn some Kung Fu, so you can protect yourself in danger. I hear that the owner doesn¡¯t take students. What a pity¡­¡± the driver kept talking.

    Snowy didn¡¯t say a word to him.

    She posted a short tweet: I am on my way.

    Upon opening the video app, the video was on the main page. She was surprised!

    It was titled, Robberyst night in Binhai, The owner fights against seven!

    Snowy hit the y button.

    The video started with seven Rainbow Fighters walking into the pet shop. The recorder obviously didn¡¯t know what was going on at first and started filming after the ss was broken.

    Snowy could tell at one nce that it was the Amazing Fate Pet Shop. The seven Rainbow Fighters were in fact going after Zhang Zian. However, the video was taken from a distance so some details were not clear. It was also impossible to hear the conversation.

    At that time, ament popped up, ¡°Here ites!¡±

    The lights went out.

    After a few seconds, the seven Rainbow Fighters were thrown out of the store one by one, all passed out. Thest one was the golden-haired fighter who was able to make slight movements.

    Zhang Zian went to the door. Under the streetlight, he snapped on the golden-haired guy¡¯s forehead and the guy passed out.

    Later on, the light came back on. Zhang Zian was in one piece.

    Most people didn¡¯t believe it.

    ¡°Is this a trailer or advertisement for a new movie? The way they advertise is so low!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It is only a low-cost production. The producer must have juste from some movie school, and is trying to get this clip popr and get famous.¡±

    ¡°Shut up! I am a Binhai local. Come look at it yourself. Don¡¯t bullsh*t when you don¡¯t know! ¡±

    ¡°I am also a Binhai local. I have heard about it but haven¡¯t had time to go over there yet.¡±

    ¡°I live in the northwest! I won¡¯t go there to look at a pet store! Crazy people!¡±

    ¡°Then you¡¯d better shut up!¡±

    The discussion was getting more and more heated.

    Many Binhai residents felt honored to have a master like that in their city. They all showed up and persuaded people to believe what happened was real.

    ¡°Everyone shut up! Look, a live show about this will begin soon. You guys take a look! You will find out after watching the live show. The name of the broadcast room is ¡°Food and Fun in Binhai¡±, the one with most fans.¡±

    ¡°Okay. I don¡¯t normally watch live shows, but I will watch this time.¡±

    Snowy was silent.

    That¡¯s wasn¡¯t true, right?

    She read the information of the video. It was yed over 30 thousand times. People left over 300ments. Fromst night to this morning, it had only been half a day!

    The video would be very popr.

 Chapter 153: A New Start

    <h4>Chapter 153: A New Start</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was worried.

    Fame portends trouble for man just as fattening does for pigs.

    In the early morning, Zhang Zian was going to get out for some breakfast. As soon as he opened up the curtain door, there stood a student who begged to learn Kung Fu from him. He looked to be at least forty years old and called Zhang Zian ¡°Master Zhang,¡± which scared him, so he closed the door immediately.

    Looking down from the window, holy moly, there were at least thirty people waiting for him.

    It looked like it would take a few more days to get his life back on track. He had to wait for his poprity to fade away.

    If he was a Wing Chun master, he wouldn¡¯t mind it. However, the problem was that he was nowhere near being a master.

    Cyber poprity usuallyes and goes fast. He was pretty positive that in a few days, his poprity would go away and some gossip about a celebrity having an affair would draw people¡¯s attention.

    Speaking about getting his life back on track¡­ The store was a total mess at the moment. What should he do? He had been hoping to renovate the store, but he had never worked out any details.

    ¡°Master! Master!¡± There came two loud voices from outside.

    Zhang Zian opened the curtain door. Wang Qian and Li Kun hopped in through the crowd.

    ¡°Master, here is some free breakfast for you from the street vendor,¡± They each had a big bag of steamed dim sum in their hands, and handed the food to Zhang Zian happily.

    ¡°What do you mean it was for me?¡± Zhang Zian took the food. ¡°Did you pay?¡±

    Wang Qian replied, ¡°I did, but they didn¡¯t take the money.¡±

    Li Kun helped, ¡°We did pay, but they just wouldn¡¯t take it.¡±

    Zhang Zian was confused. He didn¡¯t really have that good of a rtionship with the couple who ran the food cart. Why would they give him food for free? Did they want to learn Kung Fu from him? They were a bit too old for that.

    ¡°Did you eat?¡± he asked. ¡°If not, then let¡¯s eat together. I couldn¡¯t finish all that food.¡±

    The two silly kids didn¡¯t eat before they came, so they each picked up a few dim sum and put them into their mouth.

    ¡°When you are done, clean up the ss and trash,¡± Zhang Zian said as he ate.

    The two silly kids had a mouthful of dim sum and kept nodding.

    ¡°Zhang Zian, what is going on? Tell me!¡± Sun Xiaomeng came in from the curtain door.

    Zhang Zian stuffed his mouth with food on purpose and pretended to be swamped.

    Sun Xiaomeng was a typical curve wrecker. She worked really hard at work and after going home, she normally would read and learn new knowledge. She seldom spent time on Weibo, BBS or video websites. She only shared some normal pet diseases and methods for cures on Wechat. It was more of a way for her to keep records rather than sharing with others. She found an unusual scene at the pet shop as she drove by.

    The pet store would normally be open at this time; however, today, the curtain door was halfway shut. There gathered a group of people outside pointing at the store. ss fragments were everywhere. It all looked unusual, so she stopped to check out the situation.

    Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t exined yet, but Wang Qian and Li Kun couldn¡¯t help it.

    Wang Qian said, ¡°Last night people were trying to rob the store.¡±

    Li Kun said, ¡°Master beat them up. That¡¯s all.¡±

    ¡°Use humannguages!¡± Sun Xiaomeng didn¡¯t follow at all. What were they talking about?

    Li Kun pulled out his cellphone and yed the video he downloaded.

    She was astonished after seeing the video.

    Full of confusion, she looked at Zhang Zian, who was trying to stuff his mouth. Honestly, she didn¡¯t know much about Zhang. What did he do for a living before having a pet store? Where did he go to school? How did he learn to train cats? She didn¡¯t know a thing. All she knew was that he was a good neighbor and she might partner with him in the future. He was also a VIP customer of her father¡¯s. That was all. So he was the man in the video, an undercover Kung Fu master?

    The problem was that he didn¡¯t look like one at all!

    What Kung Fu master would stuff his mouth with dim sum like that? Hrious!

    Zhang Zian knew that there was no way he could exin what happenedst night. It might be smarter to pretend as a profound person.

    When he was done eating, he wiped his hands and said, ¡°The store was ruined. I am nning a renovation. I might need to borrow your pet wards for a little while so my pets could stay there.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng immediately said, ¡°It won¡¯t be free.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded, ¡°That¡¯s fine. We could talk about the moneyter. I will send these two silly kids to clean. I will pay them. They won¡¯t take long.¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun looked around trying to figure out where the two silly kids were.

    Renovation was a big project. It could be loud, dusty and smelly, which was not a suitable environment for pets. His original n was not to get new pets after selling this batch and restock inventory after the renovation. However, ns never catch up with changes. It was only fair to pay Sun Xiaomeng if he needed to use her clinic temporarily.

    To Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s surprise, he was being quite reasonable. She knew that he was ky from inside out, yet he could keep his mouth zipped. He would not reveal anything he didn¡¯t want to let others know. It didn¡¯t matter how many times he was questioned.

    ¡°Well, I am going back to my clinic,¡± she looked at her watch and found it was almost time for her appointment.

    ¡°Okay. Regarding the membership system, I am afraid you have to wait until the renovation ispleted,¡± Zhang Zian reminded her.

    She thought for a second. ¡°That¡¯s fine. I need to hire a nurse first. I have been getting really busy myself.¡±

    ¡°The road to sess is full of hardship,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°We could rethink over the details in this time and see if we could make further improvements.¡±

    She stared at him, ¡°Wow, you even sound like a philosopher¡­ Tell me, who on earth did you offend? Was it Stars Pet Chain Supermarket?¡±

    Who did he offend?

    Now that the problem had been solved, let it be. He didn¡¯t want to tell her the details which might worry her. She belonged to the world of brightness and she should stay there.

    He smiled with pretended lightness. ¡°No! You are wrong. They were only a few gangsters that came for money. I gave them some the first time but I couldn¡¯t stand that they kepting back.¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun both nodded. Master was exceptional with his trick ¨C he yed dumb and got the monsters.

    ¡°That¡¯s all?¡± Sun Xiaomeng didn¡¯t totally believe him.

    ¡°Yeah! What else could it have been?¡± he nodded affirmatively.

    ¡°Okay, I am leaving then,¡± She knew that he wouldn¡¯t tell the truth, so she walked to the door. Before she left, she turned around and said, ¡°If you need anything¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian interrupted, ¡°Of course! I will let you know.¡±

 Chapter 154: I Want to Read a Poem

    <h4>Chapter 154: I Want to Read a Poem</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were picking up the ss fragments on the floor with the rubber gloves from the pet¡¯s bathing room so they wouldn¡¯t get hurt from the fragments. Zhang Zian was in the middle of the mess, trying to sort out anything that was still seble. He had to dig out the sebles from the broken as soon as possible to avoid further loss.

    ¡°Is Mr. Manager here?¡±

    What a familiar voice! Snowy was here!

    ¡°I am here,¡± he said.

    ¡°Oh no!¡± Snowy was astonished by the mess in the store. It looked like Zhang Zian and the kids already cleaned up a bit. It had to be worsest night!

    ¡°Mr. Manager, are you okay?¡± She looked at Zhang Zian, worried. Zhang Zian stood up, saying, ¡°I am fine. Are you here for a live show?¡±

    ¡°May I? If it isn¡¯t a good time¡­¡± Snowy hesitated.

    Zhang Zian picked up two cans of cat food from the mess and put them back on the shelf, ¡°Not a problem. Go ahead!¡±

    ¡°Okay, then I will start my show.¡±

    Snowy turned on the live broadcast app.

    ¡°Hello everyone, here is Snowy! Wee to my live show! Our slogan is food and fun in Binhai¡­¡± Without finishing her slogan, thousands of audience members poured in the live broadcast room. Her total audience came up to 10 thousand people and it was hiking up!

    Apparently, those audiences came from the video websites and Weibo.

    ¡°Where is the Kung Fu master?¡±

    ¡°We want to see the Kung Fu master!¡±

    ¡°Oh no! I don¡¯t want the Kung Fu master whatsoever! Give back my Mr. Weak Sexual and Liar Manager! ¡±

    ¡°Oh! Thework anchor is beautiful! She is my cup of tea!¡±

    Snowy pointed her camera at the messy store and said, ¡°Snowy is at the Amazing Fate Pet Shop. You could see that something dramatic happened here.¡±

    She slowly moved her cellphone, trying to film the messy floor, the deformed shelves, the broken cashier machine, and the broken ss door¡­

    ¡°Holy sh*t! Bad!¡±

    ¡°Looks like the incident was legitimate¡­¡±

    ¡°BS! Of course it wasn¡¯t fake. I have been to that store, okay?

    ¡°He probably offended someone¡­¡±

    ¡°Snowy, Mr. Weak Manager is fine for sure?¡±

    Snowy pointed the camera at Zhang Zian, ¡°Mr. Manager, why don¡¯t you say something?¡±

    Zhang Zian walked over, put up two fingers to form a ¡°V¡± sign, and said, ¡°I am back to earth, feeling good! You shall be at ease!¡±

    ¡°Sh*t! He was joking around? I am really at ease!¡±

    ¡°This is the legendary Wing Chun master? Doesn¡¯t look like it!¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t judge a book from its cover, silly!¡±

    ¡°Snowy, ask Mr. Weak Manager if he really knows Wing Chun!¡±

    Snowy also wanted to know, so she asked, ¡°Mr, Manager, people said you are a Wing Chun master; is it true?¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded seriously, ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s got to be fake. A real master is much more humble.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Manager, could you show us? We will know once he shows us.¡±

    Zhang Zian cleared his throat and said, ¡°It is impossible to show you because I don¡¯t have an opponent. Thest seven fighters wanted me to show them and they went out of my storeying down. Yesterday, my opponents were just like you; yet their tombs are full of grass today!¡±

    The audience was mad!

    ¡°Sh*t! He started a poem!¡±

    ¡°I want to make a poem!¡±

    ¡°No! No violent poems!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Snowy, we don¡¯t want to look at Mr. Manager¡¯s ugly face anymore. Show us the pets!¡±

    Snowy pointed the camera at the store.

    The disy cabs were moved to the corner so it was easier for cleanup. The puppies were frightenedst night, so they were all curled up at the corner. The kittens were uneasy as well.

    ¡°Poor guys!¡±

    ¡°I know! Last night, it had to be Mr. Liar Manager¡¯s karma that resulted in scaring these little cuties!¡±

    ¡°Snowy, I am going to tip you and please give Mr. Manager the rest after you take your cost out. Tell him the money is not for him. It is for the pets!¡± Someone tipped.

    ¡°Count me in!¡± [The lonely painter] tipped a bear paw and left a message.

    ¡°Even though I hate this sexual manager, I couldn¡¯t stand that those poor pets lost their home.¡± [Binhai Local] tipped ten bear paws and left a message.

    ¡°Oh no! The rich is ying a big card!¡±

    ¡°Rich! Rich! Rich!¡±

    [Binhai Local]: ¡°I am not rich. I am just a local!¡±

    Lots of tips flew by the monitor which surpassed any other live show Snowy had ever done.

    Snowy didn¡¯t know what to do. She looked at the screen and it took her a while to figure out what happened, ¡°Mr. Manager, may I use your calctor?¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun flipped over the desk cashier desk that was beaten up by the golf club. Although beaten up, it still served its purpose as a desk so Snowy pulled over a chair and sat down in front of the desk, got a piece of paper and a calctor, started her math project on how much tips she received from the audience today.

    Zhang Zian was going to remind the audience to tip directly through Alipay so they didn¡¯t have to pay the live broadcast tform 50% of the tip. He took back the words that were half way out. Tipping could directly promote Snowy¡¯s channel and attract audience from other live shows. The advantage of tipping through the tform might break even with the disadvantage.

    ¡°Mr. Manager, I have a number of the audience¡¯s tips,¡± Snowy waved at him and had hime over.

    ¡°Really? How much?¡± Zhang Zian stopped what he was doing and walked up to Snowy.

    Snowy looked at her paper and said, ¡°There are 27 bear paws, 45 crabs, and 614 nuts mooncake. The total is 34,570 Yuan¡­¡±

    ¡°This much!¡± Zhang ZIan was excited, ¡°Have I be an inte celebrity? Should I start a live broadcast room and get money from people¡­¡±

    Snowy¡¯s live show was still on, so the audience heard every word from Zhang Zian. The fight started again.

    ¡°Liar Manager, if you have a live show only ghosts wille!¡±

    ¡°Snowy, I regret it ! Can I have my money back?¡±

    Snowy exined, ¡°34,570 Yuan in total. The live show tform would take half and the remaining is 17,285 Yuan. Everyone agreed not to give you the money yet so I will keep it for now,¡± She didn¡¯t mention anything about the taxes and fees. She had to be thinking about paying for that herself.

    Shit! Zhang Zian was mad. Did he look untrustworthy?

    He heard that some inte celebrities would get tens of thousands of tips. Some even could get tips worth as much as a house. He wasn¡¯t sure if that was true. Snowy had quite a fan base; howe she only got so little tips? Maybe the nationwide live show anchors were paid a lot better than Sowy, a local anchor?

    Althoughughing, in fact, his heart was warm from the care of the audience. The audience, who always made fun of him, had already considered him as a friend of theirs.

    ¡°No. That¡¯s fine,¡± He shook his head and rejected, ¡°I am not refusing your good wish. There are many street cats and street dogs are waiting for a home. We should use that money on those pets in need.¡±

    Resting with her eyes closed, Old Time Tea slightly opened her eyes at this time. Although very thin, she could feel the spirit of benevolence and righteousness was getting stronger and stronger in the store. When disasters ur, help woulde from all. That¡¯s what benevolence and righteousness was about.

 Chapter 155: Raising Pets on The Internet

    <h4>Chapter 155: Raising Pets on The Inte</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The workday had begun.

    Liu Sang nced at a cute selfie profile picture from the QQ Instant Messenger contact list, pressed the buttons Win and L to lock theputer, and stood up to pour himself a coffee. Thepany provided free coffee for its employees. It wasn¡¯t the best coffee on earth, but it helped to keep people awake, which was essential to a software engineer like himself.

    Holding the coffee, he was about to head back to his seat to check if she responded to him. As he turned around, he found that the new intern, Ye Yu, was ying on his cellphone and the girl intern, Bei Feng, was standing next to him watching.

    Unhappily, Liu Sang¡¯s eyebrows tightened. He coughed quietly in the hope of getting the kid¡¯s attention. They shouldn¡¯t have been ying on the cellphone at work because they could be fired if the boss found out.

    However, Ye Yu was way too focused on his phone. His two thumbs were dancing rapidly on the screen. Excitement was all over his face. Interestedly, Bei Feng was also pointing at Ye Yu¡¯s cellphone. Who knows what they are doing! They didn¡¯t hear Liu Sang¡¯s warning at all.

    Liu Sang looked around and confirmed the boss was not around. Walking up to the interns, he knocked at Ye Yu¡¯s desk and said, ¡°Hey, what are you doing? Gaming is not allowed at work.¡±

    Frightened, Ye Yu looked up. His cell phone slipped out of his hand andnded on the floor. Sticking out her tongue, Bei Feng made a face and left.

    Liu Sang was nervous. Look at them. Are they secretly dating each other? Ye Yu, what a jerk! He is getting girls from the office!

    ¡°I am sorry, Sir. I will never do that again!¡± Ignoring his cellphone, Ye Yu stood up and apologized with his head down.

    ¡°You are lucky that it was me. If the boss saw you two ying on your phone, what do you think would have happened?¡± Acting like a senior employee, Liu Sang said this seriously.

    Liu and Ye Yu graduated from the same college. Ye Yu had been addressing him as ¡°sir¡±, which made Liu Sang feel good. He would tell Ye Yu some office survival tips from time to time, including right now.

    ¡°I am really sorry! Thank you, Sir!¡± Ye Yu kept bowing to Liu Sang and said, ¡°I promise I won¡¯t do it again.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s fine,¡± Liu Sang bent down and picked up Ye Yu¡¯s phone. ¡°You focus too much on your cellphone. That¡¯s not good.¡±

    Instead of a game on the screen, there was a full list of dog photos. Liu Sang had seen that dog in his vi. They were Schnauzers that looked like white-bearded grandfathers.

    ¡°What are you doing? Selling dogs?¡± he asked curiously.

    ¡°Nope, of course not¡­¡± Being shy, Ye Yu looked around and said quietly, ¡°Senior, I am only telling this to you. Please don¡¯t circte it. I am trying to get a girl through owning a dog¡­¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Surprised with his mouth wide open, Liu Sang spilled half of the coffee in his mug.

    ¡°Well, honestly, I have been single for 23 years. I am eager to get a girlfriend. That¡¯s why I am a bit desperate.¡± Ye Yu looked even more embarrassed. ¡°I will be a leftover man if I am unable to get a girlfriend.¡±

    ¡°Wait! Tell me exactly what your n is,¡± Liu Sang was extremely interested.

    Stunned, Ye Yu said, ¡°Sir, you want me to tell you now? What if the bosses over?¡±

    ¡°The boss is nothing! Tell me!¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ okay.¡±

    Ye Yu was amazed by how quickly Liu Sang changed his attitude. Ye Yu paused for a second and said, ¡°Sir, as you know, many girls love pets, right? Pets such as kittens and puppies. I bought a puppy from a pet shop and was hoping to ¡­ post my dog¡¯s pictures online to attract girls, you know¡­ I could probably also meet some girls when I walk my dog¡­¡±

    ¡°Did you meet one?¡± Liu Sang continued asking.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡­¡± Ye Yu sputtered a few words.

    ¡°Come on!¡±

    ¡°Honestly, Sir, my dog walking n is a failure. I realized it only after getting a dog though. Most people who walk their dogs are either senior or middle-aged citizens. I haven¡¯t met girls at all¡­ and now I have be the freaking middle-ageddy¡¯s friend in my vi!¡± Ye Yu said with frustration.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Liu Sang was speechless.

    ¡°However, I did find out that many girls have a dog, but they were toozy to walk their dog, so they have their parents or grandparents walk it.¡± Ye Yu said, ¡°Now the most popr thing is raising dogs or cats on the inte. Do you know about that?¡±

    ¡°Raising dogs or cats on the inte?¡± Liu Sang had heard about this, yet never paid attention.

    ¡°That means many people are too busy with work and life. They don¡¯t necessarily have the time to take care of pets. Some people then look at other people¡¯s pets online and imagine that it¡¯s their own pet,¡± Ye Yu exined.

    ¡°So¡­ did you get a girl or not?¡± Liu Sang started to get impatient.

    ¡°Well, very likely¡­ That¡¯s all I can say,¡± Ye Yu looked at Bei Feng secretly. ¡°Sir, why do you care? You probably have a girlfriend already, right?¡±

    Liu Sang murmured, ¡°Umm, Yeah¡­¡±

    Having something else on his mind, Liu Sang turned around, walked a few steps, turned back and said, ¡°Don¡¯t y on your phone anymore! The office is not a ce to get girls! Don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t warn you!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡± Ye Yu promised.

    Taking his half-spilled coffee back to his seat, Liu Sang typed in the password to unlock theputer. Looking again in the contact list on QQ Instant Messenger, there was a cute selfie of a girl named Shi Shi.

    He sent a thoughtful message to Shi Shi earlier this morning: ¡°Shi Shi, how is yourputer running? I haven¡¯t asked you since thest time I helped you restore the system. If you have any questions, feel free to let me know.¡±

    Shi Shi worked in the samepany yet in a different department. Therefore, he didn¡¯t see her very often. Sometime even when he saw her, they didn¡¯t really talk. Shi Shi always hung out with her besties like Zhao Qi. She only thought of Liu Sang when herputer was down.

    Liu Sang knew that she wasn¡¯t interested in him. Sometimes he didn¡¯t even understand why he had to thicken up his skin to draw her attention. Yet every time he saw her beautiful smile, his heart melted.

    Beep beep!

    Shi Shi¡¯s profile picture was shing.

    Liu Sang quickly clicked on her shing profile picture and looked at the pop-up window as if a desert traveler found an oasis. Every movement was so spontaneous and fluid, without even having to go through his brain.

    Shi Shi wrote, ¡°Fine.¡±

    It couldn¡¯t be simpler than her response. Even one more word to him was a waste of her time.

    Liu Sang was deep in thought. ¡°Did she mean herputer was fine or did she mean¡­ ¡®Fine, I wille to you if there is any problem¡¯?¡±

    He wished it was thetter.

    He wished she could use 0 and 1 to express herself. Maybe he would understand her better that way?

    Oh! He clicked on Shi Shi¡¯s most updated status. There was a nice selfie of her with a cute victory gesture. Along with the selfie there was ament, ¡°Annoying! Another bestie turned into a cat owner! Who should I hang out with next?¡±

    She was so cute! He stared at her cute little face, quietly.

    He then carefully sent another message, ¡°Shi Shi, do you hate cats?¡±

    He thought he would have to wait for hours to get a response. Unexpectedly, she responded immediately, ¡°It is not fair! All my besties are too busy with their pets!¡±

    He then wrote, ¡°Do you hate dogs?¡±

    After a bit, she responded, ¡°Puppies? I like the cute ones.¡±

    He continued, ¡°Do you have a dog?¡±

    Shi Shi, ¡°Nope. Keeping pets is too much work.¡±

    Liu Sang recalled a new thing he just learned about: raising dogs or cats on the inte. Immediately, he found Ye Yu¡¯s web ID ¨C Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff. He messaged him, ¡°Where did you get your dog? I¡­ I want to follow your example to get a girlfriend.¡±

    My friend, my neighbor, my coworker, my ssmate¡­ word of mouth is the best marketing tool indeed.

 Chapter 156: The Cutest Dog

    <h4>Chapter 156: The Cutest Dog</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Liu Sang got a free ride to the Amazing Fate Pet Shop after work.

    Zhang Zian had borrowed a tricycle and was busy helping Wang Qian and Li Kun move the pets to Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s clinic.

    ¡°Excuse me, is this a pet shop?¡± Liu Sang asked hesitantly.

    Surprised, Zhang Zian looked at Liu Sang. Liu was wearing a id shirt, jeans, and a in jacket, looking honest and innocent. A yellow silk chain extended from his neck to the side pocket on one side of his chest, showing half of his work ID.

    From how he dressed, Zhang Zian knew he was an IT guy.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I am the owner. May I help you?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Looking at all the pets being transported to the tricycle, Liu Sang hesitated and asked, ¡°Is this store closing?¡±

    Zhang Zian immediately understood what he was thinking about so he exined. ¡°We are going through a renovation, so all the pets are being moved to another location. They will be moved back after the renovation.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Liu Sang didn¡¯t say much. He couldn¡¯t help but stare at the puppies.

    ¡°Are you here for a pet?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Umm¡­¡±

    In fact, Liu Sang wasn¡¯t sure at all if he was going to get a puppy. He was not like Ye Yu, who was fond of pretty much any girl. He had one and only one target ¨C Shi Shi. Shi Shi had only told him that she liked cute dogs, but she didn¡¯t really define what a cute dog was. What if he got a dog she didn¡¯t like? That would be a waste of money!

    ¡°If you have any questions, you can be straightforward. Customers are everything in my store. I am more than happy to answer your questions,¡± Zhang Zian began using his sales techniques and added, ¡°It is okay if you decide not to get one in the end.¡±

    Liu Sang thought for a second and made up his mind to give it a go. Ye Yu told him that he could ask the owner if he had any questions. The owner wasn¡¯t the nicest person in the world, but at least he would be honest.

    ¡°Well, here is the case. My friend told me toe here. His name is Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff.¡± Liu was embarrassed when he said Ye Yu¡¯s name out loud.

    Confused, Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Who?¡±

    That was understandable. The owner met with so many customers a day, it was impossible to remember everyone¡¯s name.

    ¡°Oh. He said that if you didn¡¯t remember his name, then I should tell you that he already got a girl.¡±

    Sh*t!

    Zhang Zian recalled it n no time. That single guy!

    That kid who bought a dog to attract girls. He already got a girlfriend? That was not fair!

    Liu Sang was secretly shocked. Ye Yu was quite good. He could even predict the owner¡¯s facial expression upon hearing that he got a girlfriend.

    ¡°So¡­ birds of a feather flock together. Don¡¯t tell me you are here to get a dog for the same purpose!¡± Zhang Zian asked impatiently.

    ¡°Well¡­ umm¡­¡± Liu Sang recalled Ye Yu¡¯s warning so he said, ¡°Of course not. I am here to pick out a puppy for my little sister.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked relieved. ¡°A puppy for your little sister¡­¡± He carefully looked at Liu Sang¡¯s face.

    That was weird. Liu Sang asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on? I can¡¯t be a good brother?¡±

    ¡°Of course, you are,¡± Zhang Zian felt sorry. The brother was not handsome, so the chances of his sister being pretty was quite low. He asked, ¡°What kind of dog does she like?¡±

    Liu Sang was prepared for that question, ¡°She likes cute dogs. What kind of dog is the cutest?¡±

    Zhang Zian replied without thinking, ¡°A damn single dog is the cutest!¡±

    Liu was speechless.

    Can this owner talk like a normal person?

    ¡°Well¡­ besides that¡­ how about some real cute dogs?¡± he asked.

    Zhang Zian had Wang Qian and Li Kun stop moving the pets.

    ¡°Being cute is not the only criterium. Many dogs are cute. Do you have more specific details?¡± he asked.

    Liu Sang rubbed his head, embarrassed. ¡°Specific details¡­ Well, I have no idea. Mr. Manager, which breed is the cutest?¡±

    Zhang Zianughed, ¡°Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A dog that I think is cute might not look cute to you. A dog you like may not be the one your sister wants. The best thing is to bring your sister next time.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡±

    His hesitation made Zhang Zian suspicious. ¡°Are you buying the dog for your real sister? Or your made-up sister?¡±

    Liu Sang was quiet, but in his heart he thought, ¡°That¡¯s none of your freaking business!¡±

    ¡°Actually, I wanted to get the dog as a birthday present for my little sister,¡± he made up an excuse, ¡°So I don¡¯t want her to know about it.¡±

    ¡°Oh, okay,¡± Zhang Zian understood. That was normal. If he was buying a dog as a surprise birthday gift, he would not want her to find out. Zhang Zian turned off his suspicions of Liu buying a dog to get a girlfriend.

    Immediately, he stepped back and looked disgusted. ¡°Do you have a Lolitaplex?¡±

    ¡°What the f*ck?¡± Liu Sang couldn¡¯t help but swear.

    ¡°Well, good to hear that you don¡¯t. You know, there are too many freaks out there. I have to be careful,¡± Zhang Zian nodded, confidently. ¡°So, is there any other requirement other than a dog that is cute?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ I want to train the dog with her. Do you have anything that is cute and easy to train? I don¡¯t want a big dog though,¡± he said.

    ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t have a Lolitaplex?¡± Zhang Zian started to question him again. ¡°You don¡¯t look that young. How old is your sister? Is she going to train the dog with you?¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t¡¯ have that!¡± Liu Sang wished he could kill Ye Yu. Although he was prepared for the fact that the owner was not nice and also liked to pretend to know everything, it was a lot worse when dealing with him in person!

    ¡°Well, in fact, even if you do have a Lolitaplex, it is none of my business,¡± Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°You want a cute dog that is easy to train, right?¡±

    ¡°Correct¡­ and I really don¡¯t have a Lolitaplex.¡±

    Zhang Zian pointed to a Labrador puppy inside the cage and said, ¡°If the only requirements are a cute dog that¡¯s easy to train, you may want to look at thisbrador. Although it¡¯s a middle-sized dog,bradors are gentle and seldom attack people. They are a suitable breed to keep in the city if you are searching for a medium torge-sized dog. Two others which arerge to medium-sized dogs that are non-aggressive are huskies and golden retrievers. Golden retrievers are very beautiful and quite easy to train, but are not as smart asbradors. You know,bradors are often trained as seeing-eye dogs. Have you seen the famous movie that touched the hearts of all of Asia, ¡°Seeing-Eye Dog Little Q¡±? The dog in that movie is abrador. It can be a partner for the blind and help them avoid danger, so you can imagine how sweet and intelligent they are.¡±

    Liu Sang nodded, looking a bit confused. ¡°I have never seen that movie¡­ how about a husky?¡±

    ¡°To train a husky? Are you serious?¡± Zhang Zian questioned, ¡°You really don¡¯t know about their silliness? If you are training a dog to be a joke, then you can pick a husky.¡±

    Zhang Zian opened a cage and took out a youngbrador, gently rubbing its hair.

    It was a cream-colored Labrador with a wide forehead. Two soft ears were hanging on either side of its face. Someone would mistaken it for a doll if it wasn¡¯t for its beautiful big eyes and cute tongue that sometimes stuck out to lick its nose.

    ¡°Compared to golden retrievers and huskies,bradors also have a big advantage. They are a short-haired breed, which means they are easy to take care of. You will be grateful when it is shedding season.¡±

 Chapter 157: A Lolita Complex

    <h4>Chapter 157: A Lolita Complex</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Whining quietly, thebrador moved its body around in Zhang Zian¡¯s arms and kept looking at Zhang and Liu alternatively. It tried to stretch its neck to push forward its nose, sniffing at the stranger. Its ears were gently trembling, as if it was listening carefully to the conversation.

    Looking at its cute eyes, Liu Sang¡¯s heart grew soft and he almost forgot his real purpose of buying a dog.

    ¡°Wait, how big is this dog going to be when it is fully-grown? I don¡¯t want a big dog,¡± he asked.

    ¡°It is a middle-sized dog. When it is fully-grown, it will be about a foot and a half,¡± Zhang Zian gestured in the air.

    ¡°Really¡­ isn¡¯t that too big? Do you have smaller ones?¡± Liu Sang asked. His intuition told him that Shi Shi would like smaller-sized dogs because she always wore small essories.

    ¡°Nope,¡± Zhang Zian was straightforward, ¡°Labradors are on top of the list if you are looking for a cute dog that is easy to train. Small dogs are not suitable for training; maybe they have a smaller brain or something? I don¡¯t know. Some dogs are smart but they are not ¡®cute¡¯ at all.¡±

    After thinking for a while, Liu Sang raised a request might be a bit too much to ask, ¡°I¡¯m not sure if you will agree¡­ umm¡­ I¡¯d like to buy this dog and give it to my sister on her birthday. I will keep it if she likes it, but I want to return it if she doesn¡¯t like it.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t sure if Shi Shi would like this dog. He was not even sure if his n on using the dog to pursue Shi Shi would work at all. If she didn¡¯t like it, the dog was nothing but extra trouble.

    Zhang Zian thought for a second and replied, ¡°That¡¯s fine, but you have to return it within a certain time frame.¡±

    Thinking for a bit, Liu Sang asked, ¡°How about seven days? Now many industries offer seven-day hassle free returns.¡±

    ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t work like that in the pet industry. Seven days is too long. I will allow three days at the most,¡± Zhang Zian raised three fingers. This was indeed a risky move. Unless the pets were unhealthy, most pet shops didn¡¯t allow returns. Pets are pets. No one would know if they would be maltreated after going home with the customer. Once pets were hurt from an ill-treating experience, it would take a long time to recover.

    Zhang Zian allowed him to return the pet because he looked like a normal person that would take care of the pet¡­ although he might have a Lolitaplex.

    ¡°Okay. Three-days it is,¡± Liu Sang agreed.

    ¡°Okay, can you pay now? When you decide to keep the dog, you coulde over for the sales agreement. I will issue the VAT invoice at that time. I could give you a cash receipt now and you¡¯ll have to bring it back in exchange for the sales agreement and VAT invoice. Okay?¡± Zhang Zian said seriously.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Liu Sang knew that his requirement was too much to ask. He was lucky that the owner agreed to it at all.

    ¡°Perfect. Follow me to the store and I will give you a cash receipt.¡±

    Zhang Zian handed thebrador to Wang Qian and Li Kun and showed Liu into the store.

    ¡°Oh no! You didn¡¯t have to smash the door and windows for the renovation, did you?¡± Looking at the mess, Liu Sang couldn¡¯t help to ask.

    ¡°Well, it is easier to move stuff out that way,¡± Zhang Zian wrote out a cash receipt as he spoke.

    ¡°There you go. I noted on the receipt that you may return the dog within three days. Please sign here,¡± Zhang Zian gave him the cash receipt.

    When Liu Sang bent down to sign the receipt his work ID slipped out of his pocket. He moved it to the side without thinking, signed his name on the receipt, and gave it back to Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian nced at him, tore out the second copy and gave it to Liu. ¡°You are all set. I will give you a new dog-owner¡¯s guide. You can follow the instructions after you get home¡­¡±

    As he spoke, his eyesnded on Liu¡¯s chest, where the work ID was waving slowly.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Liu Sang looked down and thought he got his shirt dirty from lunch.

    ¡°Nothing,¡± Zhang Zian forced back a smile. ¡°As long as you follow the instructions, you will be fine. Do you want to get an aerated box? Or are you going to hold the dog on your way home?¡±

    ¡°I will get an aerated box,¡± Liu Sang was worried that the dog might go to the bathroom on him.

    All the aerated boxes on the first floor were ruined by the Seven Rainbow Fighters. Zhang Zian took one out from the inventory room on the second floor, and put thebrador puppy and the new dog-owner¡¯s guide in the box.

    Liu Sang transferred the money, picked up the aerated box and asked, ¡°Am I all set?¡±

    Zhang Zian asked, ¡°When do you n to start training your dog?¡±

    ¡°Umm¡­¡± Liu Sang wasn¡¯t sure. ¡°I might¡­ begin soon, if I decide to keep it.¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head, ¡°I suggest you startter.¡±

    ¡°What? What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°I mean, if you decide to keep it, you could begin with building a rtionship with it and start potty training. Keep itpany and y with it. If you would like to proceed with some more sophisticated training, I rmend waiting until it is one-year old,¡± Zhang Zian suggested.

    ¡°Why is that?¡± Liu Sang didn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°It¡¯s simple. Dogs, especiallybradors, are not mature before one-year old. Like training a naughty kid, you would only get half the result but do double the work. When it reaches one-year old, its ability to focus and execution will increase quickly,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    ¡°Okay. How old it is now?¡± Liu Sang asked.

    ¡°About four months old. You can start training now, but it will be a lot more time-consuming.¡±

    Zhang Zian was honest and waited for Liu¡¯s decision.

    Liu Sang indeed didn¡¯t care about the oue. All he cared about was whether training the dog would interest Shi Shi. That was somethingpletely not up to him.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. I will take it,¡± He finally made up his mind.

    ¡°Oh¡­ one more thing,¡± Zhang Zian emphasized. ¡°Besides potty training, the first thing is to train him is to not to eat everything it finds. Many dogs die from food poisoning.¡±

    ¡°Understood,¡± Liu Sang nodded.

    ¡°Perfect! If you decide to keep it, you should consider buying arge cage. You could lock it in the cage at nights so it won¡¯t bother your sleep and it would be easy to clean up after,¡± Zhang Zian continued the exnation.

    Many people would buy a dog out of a hot mind but couldn¡¯t stand it after a few days. Dogs were extremely energetic animals, which required the owner¡¯spany and attention. Locking a dog in the cage might seem cruel, but it was, in fact, beneficial, because it eliminated the problem of an untrained dog peeing or pooping on the floor. Many people would give their dog away after a few times of cleaning it up.

    After Liu Sang left with his aeraed box, Zhang Zian messaged Zhao Qi on WeChat, ¡°Hey! A guy from yourpany bought a dog from me. I thought you brought him here at first.¡±

    Zhao Qi responded, ¡°Really? What does he look like?¡±

    Zhang Zian, ¡°A damn Lolitaplex.¡±

    Zhao Qi replied in no time, ¡°What? Tell me!¡±

 Chapter 158: The Fate of Two Dogs

    <h4>Chapter 158: The Fate of Two Dogs</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Since he was not clear on whether or not to keep the dog, Liu Sang only bought one bag of dog food. If he decided to keep it, he would buy other pet suppliester. He was quite nervous that the dog would pee or poop in the aerated box, so he kept staring at it. Fortunately, the puppy didn¡¯t do anything embarrassing.

    Liu Sang opened the box and let the puppy out when he got home.

    Liu Sang was, in fact, a homeowner. His apartment was a small two-bedroom. His parents gave him some money towards the down payment and he was paying the mortgage on his own. He was fortunate that he bought the apartment early, because the real estate market was skyrocketing high at the moment and it most likely would continue to grow. If he hadn¡¯t invested in the apartment back then, he probably would never have been able to afford one. The mortgage was high, but it was worth it.

    Like other single gentlemen, Liu Sang attended blind dates quite often. Some were out of his own interests, while some were forced on him by his parents. Having a good job and an apartment of his own, he had two incredible advantages in winning a girl¡¯s heart. However, he was quite introverted as a person; therefore, some good-looking girls would not fall for him and the ones who liked him were way less pretty than his desire. Honestly, Shi Shi had always had a special ce in his heart. As long as Shi Shi was still single, he would not give up any chance to approach her.

    Considering a renovation would be needed before his wedding, his apartment was very basic. There was flooring on the ground, the walls were painted, and the furniture was made of only simple, inexpensive pieces.

    Thebrador stuck its head out from the box and looked around at the unfamiliar environment curiously. It whined quietly and then looked at Liu. He gently rubbed its head and said, ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    It acted as if it understood his words and stepped out of the box. It started running around with its trembling feet. Firstly, it went to the kitchen because of the smell. Soon it discovered there was no food in the kitchen, so it went to the porch. Its two front feet rested on the rail. Its tail was wagging quickly and its nose was pressed against the ss. The porch was enclosed, so Liu Sang wasn¡¯t worried about him falling.

    He walked into the kitchen. There was an empty box on the counter from something he had ordered online. He was going to throw it away, but suddenly thought of a use for it.

    He took the box to the porch. The puppy turned around and looked at him.

    ¡°Come, buddy,e!¡± He grabbed it and put it in the box.

    cing its front paws on the box, it looked like it wanted to escape. He pushed it back, saying, ¡°Wait a second. Let me take some pictures.¡±

    Pulling out his cellphone and letting go of the puppy, Liu Sang quickly took a few pictures before the puppy got out of the carton. The pictures looked great.

    ¡°Perfect. Now you can y.¡±

    One of the pictures looked exceptional. The Labrador puppy had its mouth open with its tongue sticking out and looked at the camera with a cute face. Liu found Shi Shi from his contact list, clicked on her profile picture, hesitated for a while and then sent the picture. He sent ament with the picture: ¡°Someone left a dog at my door. What should I do? I¡¯ve never had a dog.¡±

    After clicking the send button, his heartbeat increased. Sweat came from his forehead and he almost fainted.

    He wasn¡¯t sure how long it would take Shi Shi to respond. Putting down the cellphone, he turned around and found a yellowish soft and fresh paste on the clean floor¡­

    ¡°Sh*t! You just pooped on the floor?!¡±

    Thebrador didn¡¯t know it had done something wrong. Sitting behind its still-warm waste, it was looking at him as if it needed praise and encouragement.

    Looking at the dog poop, Liu Sang suddenly felt disgusted and annoyed. This poop was not the most important. The worst thing is there might be more trouble that woulde because of this dog. Buyer¡¯s remorse started to kick in.

    Maybe I should return it before it is toote?

    He wanted to attract Shi Shi with this dog. It might be impractical anyways.

    Sighing, he found a piece of old paper and a small shovel, picked up the poop,id it on the paper and then folded the paper in half. He then wrapped it with another piece of old paper. Next, he found an old rag and cleaning spray to clean the floor.

    ¡°No more pooping on the floor!¡± he warned it, pointing at its nose.

    The puppy whimpered. It tilted its head, not really understanding Liu¡¯s words.

    ¡°Never mind. I will take you back tomorrow.¡±

    He threw the small shovel and rag into the sink and washed his hands.

    While he was washing his hands, his cell phone chimed.

    He grabbed the cellphone and unlocked it.

    ¡°What?¡±

    Shi Shi had responded, ¡°It is so cute! Why are you so lucky? Who left such a cutie behind?¡±

    His hands were shaking with joy. Immediately, he replied, ¡°But I¡¯ve never had a dog.¡±

    Shi Shi said, ¡°Never had a dog? Then learn how to raise one! You can fix anyputer. I am sure keeping a dog is far easier than fixing aputer.¡±

    Unbelievable! Shi Shi just sent him a message that was longer than one line?! For a dog?! That was the longest message she¡¯d ever sent him.

    His mind was running at lightning speed. If there was a fan installed in his brain, the fan had to be overheating. He then asked, ¡°I don¡¯t know how to get along with pets¡­ well, never mind, I will put it back where I found it. Maybe some nice people will adopt it¡­ Oh, the weather forecast said there might be rain tonight. The nightly fall rain¡­ it might be cold. I hope someone will pick it up before the rain.¡±

    Shi Shi replied immediately, ¡°Don¡¯t do that! That is too cruel! It will die from the cold.¡±

    Liu Sang¡¯s n worked. He responded with unspoken excitement, ¡°What should I do then? May I send it your way? Do you want it?¡±

    After a little while, Shi Shi said, ¡°No, I can¡¯t take it. I don¡¯t have the time, and most importantly, my lease stated that I couldn¡¯t have pets.¡±

    Did she dig out her lease just now? Otherwise howe she could be so sure? Liu Sang thought. He hoped so. At least that meant that she cared.

    He said, ¡°I have time¡­¡±

    Shi Shi replied, ¡°Because you are a male Otaku!¡±

    Ouch! That hurt, girl!

    Liu Sang then responded, ¡°I mean, I am quite introverted so I have the time to take care of it¡­ Could you share your knowledge of dogs with me? I will raise it. You only have to tell me what to do.¡±

    The clock was ticking. He looked at the cell phone nervously. All he could hear was his own heartbeat.

    Thebrador walked around, returned to him and looked at him, full of expectations. It looked like it was saying, ¡°Come! Let¡¯s y!¡±

    ¡°Wait,¡± He said to it seriously, ¡°The next message is going to determine the fate of two dogs¡­ No! No! No! I am not a dog! Damn! I¡¯ve started to talk like the pet store owner now.¡±

    10 minutes passed. There was still no response from Shi Shi. Liu Sang was patient when it came to Shi Shi. The average wait time for Shi Shi¡¯s response was 53 minutes, so 10 minutes was nothing.

    His cell phone chimed. The monitor lit up.

    Shi Shi said, ¡°I did some research online. You¡¯d better take it to the vet for vines because it was a street dog.¡±

    Liu Sang paused. The silly pet shop owner told him that the Labrador already had all the vines. However, he could not tell her the truth.

    He replied, ¡°Okay. I see. I will take it to the vet tomorrow. And?¡±

    Shi Shi, ¡°And you can treat it like family.¡±

    He responded, ¡°Where do I begin with that?¡±

    Shi Shi replied immediately, ¡°Silly!¡±

    He then thickened up his skin and wrote, ¡°I am not that smart. Please tell me.¡±

    Another long wait.

    He was patient, but the Labrador wasn¡¯t. It turned around and yed somewhere on its own.

    20 minutester, his cell phone chimed.

    Shi Shi had replied, ¡°Oh NO! Annoying!¡±

    Looking at her words, he felt as if his heart had dropped through the ice.

    So, it was a no-go? Shi Shi never had been passionate towards him anyways. However, this was the first time she had said he was annoying.

    Desperately, he threw away the cellphone,y in bed, buried his face into the pillow and quietly took the hurt alone. Never mind. Shi Shi is out of my reach. In my next blind date, I will take whoever wants to date me. It doesn¡¯t matter how she looks and whether or not I like her. As long as she is a girl, I will take her. Maybe I should forget about Shi Shi like that¡­ he thought to himself, sadly.

    His cell phone chimed.

    He knew it wouldn¡¯t be Shi Shi. Lying in bed, he was toozy to move. All he wanted to do was to fall asleep. Maybe in the morning when he woke up, he would find that it was only a heart-breaking dream.

    Suddenly, he felt something lick his foot. He sat up, frightened.

    It was the puppy! It was licking his foot while looking at him.

    ¡°Oh¡­ I forgot all about you¡­¡± Heughed, as if he wasughing at himself, ¡°I couldn¡¯t sleep like this. I should take you back to the pet store¡­ I am sorry I am not an owner with pure love to give you. Please forgive me¡­¡±

    He sat up, and put his cell phone in his pocket.

    Thinking about the chime just now, he pulled out the cell phone to check if someone from work needed his support.

    Shi Shi, ¡°It is so annoying! It took me so long to type everything and I deleted it by mistake! How about this? Where do you live? I cane to your apartment to show you about dogs.¡±

    Frozen like a statue, Liu Sang couldn¡¯t believe a word he saw. He knew every word on the screen, but together, the sentence seemed so unbelievable. He felt like it was the first time he discovered coding. The magnificent magic behind the simple words was astonishing! Shi Shi¡¯s words also had the same power, if not higher!

    The phone chimed again. He woke up.

    Shi Shi, ¡°What? Is there a problem? Never mind then.¡±

    Whipping his fingers, Liu Sang was thrilled. He sent his own address and said, ¡°Sorry, I was looking up vets near me.¡±

    Shi Shi responded, ¡°Oh, you live quite close to me. Just wait there. I maye any day when I have a chance. I don¡¯t need any advance appointment, right? You are a male Otaku anyways.¡±

    He quickly replied, ¡°That¡¯s right. You are wee anytime.¡±

    Shi Shi stopped talking then. Liu Sang was on top of the world.

    The distance between desperation and happiness was only one message away.

    Looking at his simple apartment, he was so excited. For the first time, a cute girl was going to visit here.

    Thebrador tilted its head, looking at its new owner who was sad in a minute and thrilled the next, confused.

    He rubbed its head. ¡°That¡¯s fine. When you grow up, you will understand the pain of being a damn single dog.¡±

 Chapter 159: Starting A New Restaurant

    <h4>Chapter 159: Starting A New Restaurant</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was getting dark. Most of the kittens and puppies had been transferred to Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s clinic, leaving only one of each breed at the store as disy. Zhang Zian could get the pets from the clinic anytime he needed them because he was so close to the clinic.

    The mess in the store was mostly picked up by now. When customers who didn¡¯t know about the fight came through, Zhang Zian simply exined that the store was going through renovation. Some customers woulde with a goal. Some wanted to see why the pet store would get in a fight with the gang and if Zhang Zian would teach them martial arts if they bought a pet¡­ It was nothing but draining to handle those customers.

    As Zhang Zian was getting ready to close the door early, he saw a taxi pull over. Liu Sang, who had bought thebrador a few hours ago, hade back.

    Zhang Zian thought he hade to return the dog, but there was no aerated box in his hand. Feeling a little confused, he walked up to Liu.

    ¡°Brother Lolitaplex, what brought you back?¡±

    ¡°Well, I told you I don¡¯t have a Lolitaplex,¡± Liu Sang corrected Zhang Zian seriously.

    Zhang Zian noticed Liu lookedpletely differentpared to a few hours ago. This time he looked much happier and walked quickly into the store. Zhang Zian was curious. What had changed this young man in such a short period of time?

    Liu Sang was on the top of the world that day. Smiling at everyone he saw, it was not difficult to tell that he had something exciting going on. Since Shi Shi said she mighte any time, he was totally out of control of himself. He had to run over to the pet store and get the whole set of pet gear ready before she visited. This would definitely show how caring he was. Purchasing equipment online would take too long to arrive.

    Zhang Zian was even more curious seeing the excitement on Liu¡¯s face. He didn¡¯t even get mad when Zhang Zian called him a Lolitaplex! Zhang asked, ¡°Brother Lolitaplex, what happened to you? Did you win the lottery or something?¡±

    Knowing that he wouldn¡¯t have time to bullsh*t with Zhang, Liu waved his hand and said, ¡°No! No! No! Please be quick. I need a whole set of dog gear! Also, I don¡¯t have a Lolitaplex.¡±

    Compared to making money, fulfilling Zhang Zian¡¯s curiosity was far more important. He asked, ¡°So you decided to keep the dog?¡±

    ¡°Yup,¡± Liu Sang nodded, ¡°I am not returning the dog¡­ Hey, Mr. Manager, howe your question sounded a little weird?¡±

    Zhang Zian showed him an innocent face, ¡°I am just talking normally. Why, am I weird?¡±

    Liu Sang corrected him, ¡°I don¡¯t know. It was just weird.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­ So, you want to keep it?¡±

    Liu Sang was speechless. This owner was not a people person.

    Never mind. He doesn¡¯t even matter, Liu thought to himself.

    ¡°You are right. I am keeping it. This is the cash receipt. Please give me the VAT invoice,¡± He gave Zhang Zian the receipt.

    Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders, finished all the paperwork and gave him the VAT invoice, vine record book and sales agreement.

    Liu Sang took it over, put away the vine record book and the other two items separately. He knew he had to hide the VAT invoice and sales agreement, otherwise Shi Shi would know the whole ¡°finding a dog on the street¡± tale was a lie.

    ¡°Please give me everything I need for keeping a dog.¡±

    Zhang Zian counted off on his fingers. ¡°Puppy dog food is a must, unless you n to cook for it every day. Snacks are necessary if you are nning to train it. A cage is necessary, but I don¡¯t have it in the store. I only have rails, which should be enough for a puppy. You probably will walk your dog at some point, so a cor and a leash are must-haves. Also, he is changing his teeth now, so you need some toys for that; otherwise, all your furniture will be ruined¡­ Also, what kind of flooring do you have? Tiles or hardwood?¡±

    Liu Sang responded after a second of thinking, ¡°Tiles. Why?¡±

    ¡°If you have tiles, then you need a mat so your dog cany on it. If itys on tiles for too long, it will catch a cold. Other small items like a dog bowl, water bowl and toys are all necessary.¡±

    Liu Sang nodded affirmatively. ¡°That¡¯s fine. I will get everything. Please prepare them ASAP because I am in a rush.¡±

    Zhang Zian stared at him, ¡°Why are you in such a big rush? To keep your sisterpany?¡±

    Liu Sang really wanted to tell him the truth so he could shut up. However, he knew that it wouldn¡¯t really help so he said, ¡°No. My apartment has tile flooring. After listening to you, I realized I should go home as soon as possible; otherwise, my puppy might catch a cold.¡±

    ¡°I see. Wait here. I will get things ready for you,¡± Zhang Zian went upstairs to the inventory room and got the order ready, ¡°There is a lot of stuff. If you want to, I could mail them to you. You can pay for the shipping upon arrival.¡±

    Liu Sang rejected, ¡°That¡¯s alright. I am calling a taxi. The stuff should fit in the trunk.¡±

    He paid, stopped a taxi, had the taxi driver helped him move the stuff and jumped in the taxi.

    ¡°Hey,¡± Zhang Zian said to Liu through the taxi window, ¡°Brother Lolitaplex, are you nning to train your dog for real?¡±

    ¡°Please!¡± Liu Sang didn¡¯t want the driver to hear Zhang, ¡°I don¡¯t have a Lolitaplex!¡±

    ¡°Dog training can be quiteplicated. If you misunderstand some details, then it could be a big problem.¡±

    ¡°Well, don¡¯t worry! I am not nning toe to your store anymore. What¡¯s wrong with you always calling me a Lolitaplex?! Driver, please go!¡± Liu Sang pounded on the driver¡¯s seat and closed the window. The taxi left quickly.

    Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders, turned around, and found Aunt Li and her husband looking at the fruit store.

    He walked up to them to say hi.

    ¡°Good evening.¡±

    ¡°Good evening, Master Zhang!¡± The Li couple turned around and said hi to him happily.

    ¡°Well, please don¡¯t call me Master Zhang,¡± Zhang Zian felt helpless. Maybe Liu Sang felt the same when he was called ¡°Lolitaplex¡±?

    ¡°What are you guys doing?¡± Zhang Zian nced around quickly, and found there was a small sign at the door saying, ¡°Seeking new owner.¡±

    ¡°We want to take over this store and start a small restaurant,¡± Aunt Li said happily, ¡°Master Zhang, please keep us under your wing.¡±

    ¡°A new restaurant¡­¡± Zhang Zian looked around. Honestly, there were already quite a few small restaurants on this street. If they were going to open another one, it might be a tough survival! Although that was Zhang¡¯s thought, it was not his business, so he didn¡¯t want toment on that. Having a breakfast cart was one thing, but having a restaurant would be quite stressful.

    ¡°Yeah¡­ we will sell breakfast in the morning, and lunch and dinner atter time. We will also sell barbeque skewers. If you need any food, please juste. Free for you!¡±

    ¡°No, no, no. If you don¡¯t take my money, I won¡¯te,¡± Zhang Zian knew there was no such a thing as a ¡°free lunch¡±.

    He looked back at his store. ¡°Are you going to renovate the restaurant? Maybe we will re-open at the same time!¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have much of a budget, so we will only do some simple fix-ups,¡± Aunt Li said. ¡°Master Zhang, are you going to have a total turnover of the store?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± he said. Honestly, he wanted to have Xiao Yan connect him with a renovationpany, so he wasn¡¯t sure what kind of person he would connect him with.

 Chapter 160: Visit

    <h4>Chapter 160: Visit</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was the next day, time to go home again.

    Liu Sang felt that thehedies at work looked at him differently. It might be his illusion though.

    He left the office as soon as it was time, standing at the reception area to pretend that he was waiting for someone. Shi Shi, Zhao Qi and a few girls left thepany together, talking andughing. Shi Shi didn¡¯t even look at him when she left.

    Immediately he felt as if the sky turned gray. There was nothing left in his heart but sorrow. Did Shi Shi forget about their conversationst night? Is she just joking with him?

    At this time, Ye Yu and Bei Feng walked out of the office together. They looked like they were heading the right direction.

    ¡°Sir, see you tomorrow!¡± Ye Yu waved at him. He forced a smile as a response.

    He got home, put on his slippers andid on the couch, sad. He closed his eyes. His body and brain were tired, and so was his heart.

    Umm¡­?

    He smelled something. What was it?

    Thebrador puppy whined.

    Opening his eyes, he saw the puppy was trapped in the corner inside the rails with its nose and mouth sticking out. Its front paws were outside of the rails, waving, showing only one message: it wanted to get out.

    There wereyers of old newspapers underneath it. There was some poop here and there, yellowish and soft, with various shapes and smells¡­ Oh no¡­ He didn¡¯t want to smell the poop!

    Sh*t! This dog can sh*t!

    He stood up, feeling exhausted, lifted it up, checked if its paws had gotten any poop on them, and then ced him on the floor carefully. He stepped inside the rails, covered his nose with one hand and picked up the old paper with the other.

    Thebrador puppy started running around happily once it got out of the rails. It sniffed as it ran around.

    ¡°Don¡¯t poop on the floor, okay?¡± he said.

    At this time, someone rang the doorbell.

    ¡°Coming,¡± he replied. The package he ordered yesterday should arrive any minute, so he thought it was the delivery guy.

    He stepped out of the rails and ran towards the door.

    Shi Shi was standing outside, wearing a knitted hat and scarf which covered most of her face. She was looking around impatiently.

    Stunned, Liu Sang stood at the door with newspaper-wrapped dog waste in his hand.

    ¡°Hey, are you going to invite me inside?¡± Shi Shi asked.

    ¡°P¡­Please!¡± He made room for her, ¡°I¡­ I didn¡¯t know you wereing over. I thought you were going out with your besties¡­¡± He thought he overheard them when they walked out of thepany. Weren¡¯t they going somewhere together? Maybe going to the spa?

    ¡°Oh! Annoying!¡± Shi Shi took off her hat and scarf and started making her way inside the apartment, ¡°We made a n and then Zhao Qi blew us off all of a sudden. Watching from the camera, she found that there might be something wrong with her cat so she had to go. Another girl left for a hot date with her boyfriend¡­ She kept saying that guys are rubbish but she left as soon as her boyfriend called her! That¡¯s not fair!¡±

    Looking at the simple interior, she asked casually, ¡°Do you lease this ce? How much is rent?¡±

    ¡°No, it is not a lease. I bought this apartment,¡± he followed her, tightly, and said.

    ¡°You bought it?¡± Shi Shi sounded suspicious.

    Liu Sang nodded, ¡°Yeah. Have to pay a mortgage every month. This apartment is going to be my home when I get married.¡± He emphasized thest sentence.

    Shi Shi replied without thinking. She didn¡¯t seem to care about his implications. Looking at the newspaper in his hand, she asked, ¡°Why are you walking around with newspaper?¡±

    Astonished, Liu Sang realized he had a bag of dog poop in his hand. He hid the paper behind his body and said, ¡°Oh, that¡¯s just some trash. I will throw it out.¡±

    ¡°Okay. You go throw it out. Oh. Where is your dog? Did you trick me intoing here?¡± Shi Shi asked.

    ¡°Of course not. Why would I lie to you?¡± Liu Sang raised his voice, ¡°Puppy, puppy, where are you?¡±

    Thebrador puppy heard the sound and came out from the second bedroom, which was temporarily a study. It ran to them happily. Its round big eyes were staring at Shi Shi and its nose started sniffing her. Of course, it didn¡¯t forget to whine quietly.

    Liu Sang ran to the kitchen, put the poop in a trash bag, walked back to the door, opened the door, and put the trash bag outside the apartment. He nned to throw that away when he took out the trash at night.

    ¡°Oh¡­ so cute!¡± Shi Shi squatted down, ¡°Does it bite?¡±

    ¡°No. it doesn¡¯t bite! I asked the store¡­¡± Over-excited, Liu Sang almost let himself out.

    ¡°Store?¡± Shi Shi looked up. From this angle, she looked even smaller and cuter. He couldn¡¯t help but to adore her.

    He took a breath and said, ¡°I meant, when I took it to the vet, there was a pet store nearby. I asked the people at the store and they told me it is abrador andbradors are very gentle. They don¡¯t bite.¡±

    ¡°Labrador¡­ I have heard about it¡­¡± She held her chin with one hand, thinking deeply.

    She was just the sweetest thing in the world. Liu¡¯s heart melted.

    ¡°If it doesn¡¯t bite, may I pet it?¡± She asked.

    ¡°Of course, please!¡±

    Although he said this, he was still watching nervously. If the puppy bit Shi Shi all of a sudden, it would be the end of the world.

    She reached out her right hand, gently rubbing its head. ¡°Oh¡­ It feels like a stuffed animal¡­ and so warm¡­¡±

    The puppy was attracted to her swinging bracelet. It raised its head and began licking her wrist.

    ¡°Ha-ha¡­ itchy!¡± Shi Shiughed.

    Liu Sang wished it was him who was licking her.

    Jealously, Liu Sang wished he could turn into a dog just like in some novels¡­

    Shi Shi took back her hand. The Labrador appeared to love the rub. It stretched its back and lifted up its upper body, its two front pawsnded on her knees, and it looking at him, then her. It whined again, a little louder than before.

    ¡°Oh, what is its name? I heard you call it puppy. You didn¡¯t give it a name yet?¡± Shi Shi asked curiously.

    ¡°Umm¡­ I am not good at naming!¡± Liu exined, ¡°How about you give it a name?¡±

    He would not tell her that he was thinking about returning itst night!

    ¡°No, no, no. It is your dog. You have to name it,¡± Shi Shi waved her hand.

    ¡°A dog I saved,¡± he corrected her.

    ¡°Well, same thing. Now it is your dog,¡± Shi Shi pushed, ¡°Come on! Give it a name!¡±

    He insisted, ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for you, I wouldn¡¯t even think about taking it home. You should give it a name.¡±

    Liu Sang made up his mind. Once Shi Shi named the puppy, she would get a close tie to it, and possibly to him.

    Shi Shi, of course, didn¡¯t know about all the ns in his head. She thought for a second and said, ¡°Okay. I will name it. What should it be called¡­ hmmm¡­ Did you say it is a Labrador?¡±

    ¡°Yup!¡± He was thinking to himself, Labradors eat and poop a lot!

    ¡°How about Xiao La?¡±

 Chapter 161: The Wrong Generation

    <h4>Chapter 161: The Wrong Generation</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Xiao La?!

    It was an unthoughtful name. Was she going to name it Xiao Ha if the puppy was a husky?

    She held its two front paws just like she was holding hands with it, ¡°Hello, Xiao La. I am your sister, Shi Shi. This is¡­¡± she pointed at Liu.

    ¡°Oh, yeah. What is your full name?¡± she asked.

    Liu Sang almost died!

    ¡°Liu Sang,¡± he said, embarrassed.

    ¡°Oh¡­ This is Liu Sang, your father. Understood?¡±

    ¡°Wait. That was the wrong generation!¡± He reminded her.

    Howe I became its dad and you are its sister? I don¡¯t want a child! Liu Sang thought.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Shi Shi tilted her head, meaning that she didn¡¯t understand, cute!

    ¡°Nothing.¡± He forced a smile.

    She started searching through her pockets, ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t bring many snacks today. What should I give you?¡±

    ¡°I have snacks!¡± Liu Sang got some beef jerky from the pet store. He opened it and gave it to her.

    Smelling the goods, Xiao La immediately climbed up on her, showing a hungry face.

    ¡°Come on. This is for you.¡± Shi Shi pulled one out and the puppy took it quickly.

    The beef jerky was quite hard and the puppy was changing teeth. Some new teeth were not fully grown yet, so they were not as sharp. It took the jerky from Shi Shi,id it on the floor, stepped on the jerky with one paw and then tore it apart. It then chewed on it for a few seconds, swallowed it and came back to Shi Shi for more.

    ¡°Ha-ha, don¡¯t rush. Slow down. Look I have more!¡± Shi Shi pulled out the beef jerky to feed it piece after piece.

    Looking at them both, Liu Sang was touched. He had heard that in the United States, a wife, some kids and a dog would make a perfect life for a man. Liu Sang was not an American, yet that was also what he longed for ¨C Now, he already had a dog, just needing a wife and some kids in his perfect life.

    He was a traditional Chinese guy. He was good at his work, introverted, saved his money, and was good to his parents. He also got along with his co-workers. He didn¡¯t have close friends from work, yet maintained a good rtionship with everyone. Shi Shi waspletely different. She was fashionable, lively, and zero savings, but had a bunch of close friends. He was not sure why he fell in love with her. Maybe because she was so different. Or maybe there was no reason at all. Love indeed was something unexinable.

    Liu Sang knew that it would be difficult to reach a girl like Shi Shi. There was only a little hope. His parents were also traditional like him. Would they like Shi Shi to be their daughter-inw? Would her parents ept a normal person like him as their son-inw? However, he still wanted to give it a try. He wouldn¡¯t regret it, even if he failed.

    Shi Shi came to his home to see the dog, not him. At least it was a good start.

    She gave Xiao La a piece every time it asked for one. Soon, the beef jerky was gone. Xiao La didn¡¯t seem satisfied yet, still licking her fingers when the whole pack of jerky was gone. It whined a bit, patted its two front paws on her knees as if it was rushing her.

    ¡°Do you have more? Give me some more!¡± Shi Shi opened her hand.

    ¡°Yup, I have another one!¡± Liu Sang brought out another pack.

    ¡°Honey, slow down. Your sister has some more,¡± She opened the package and continued to feed it.

    Liu Sang was too thrilled to even think about training the dog. He didn¡¯t realize that Xiao La¡¯s attitude towards them was gradually getting worse. Labradors were a very smart breed. They were quick learners and great observers and also would try everything they could do to be morefortable.

    Whining could be exchanged for some good food. The louder it whined, the faster its snack woulde ¨C such a concept started to root itself in Xiao La¡¯s heart.

    Waiting to get fed was not good enough for Xiao La any more. It quickly grabbed the food as soon as Shi Shi opened the package.

    Two pieces of jerky stuck together, so it was too thick for it to bite on. Shi Shi wanted to separate them before feeding it, but it couldn¡¯t wait and grabbed everything.

    The jerkies were too tough for Xiao La. It chewed on it, spat it out on the floor and used its paws to try to tear them apart.

    ¡°Too tough for you? Come on, I will tear it up,¡± Shi Shi reached out for the jerkies on the floor.

    All of a sudden, Xiao La bit her hand.

    Liu Sang and Shi Shi both didn¡¯t expect that, so it got her wrist.

    ¡°Ouch!¡±

    Astonished, Shi Shi screamed in a low voice. Both of her legs softened and she sat on the floor.

    Xiao La only bit her lightly. Shi Shi lost the jerky as she was frightened. It picked up the jerkies on the floor.

    ¡°Shi Shi, are you okay?¡± Liu Sang immediately went up to her and helped her up from the ground.

    ¡°I am fine. I am fine.¡± Shi Shi took a deep breath, waved her hand and began staring at her wound.

    Liu Sang was nervous, ¡°Should I take you to the hospital? Do you need some shots? Wait there, I will call the ambnce¡­¡± he looked around, panicking, trying to search for his phone.

    ¡°Really, I am fine. Don¡¯t worry,¡± Shi Shi was calm. She raised her wrist to Liu Sang¡¯s eye level. ¡°Look, my skin is not even red. It only bit my bracelet.¡±

    Looking at her skin, smooth as silk, his face blushed. He couldn¡¯t help to adore her.

    Taking back her wrist, Shi Shi didn¡¯t notice the difference in his face.

    Liu Sang shook himself awake and said, ¡°Great. I am d¡­¡± He never wanted to see anything happen to that perfect skin, nor did he want to see her get hurt. If Xiao La would¡¯ve hurt her, he would definitely put it down!

    Now that he had calmed down from the shock, he realized that Xiao La did indeed try to bite her.

    He was mad, standing in front of Shi Shi. ¡°This dog bites! I have to send it back!¡± What he meant was to send it back to the pet shop because the owner told him that Labradors wouldn¡¯t attack people. Why did it bite? Was it a pure-breed after all?

    Shi Shi thought that he wanted to abandon the puppy. She pulled a long face and said unhappily, ¡°How could you be so cruel? If it gets wet in the rain, it will die!¡±

    ¡°But¡­ but it bit you¡­¡± Liu Sang was murmuring.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it bit me on purpose. It was my fault. It is natural that dogs protect their food. I didn¡¯t get hurt anyways,¡± Shi Shi kept exining.

    Looking at the puppy who was happily eating its jerky, Liu Sang hesitated. Yes, she didn¡¯t get hurt but it did bite her! Fortunately it bit her on her bracelet this time. What if next time it hurt her for real? On the other hand, Shi Shi was right. It was a dog¡¯s instinct to protect its food. Was that a reason for them to bite their owner? Or did it not take him and her as the owners yet because it had just gotten there?

 Chapter 162: Bitten

    <h4>Chapter 162: Bitten</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Shi Shi reached out her hand, rubbing Xiao La¡¯s neck. She rubbed it from its head to tail and then went back to its ears. Xiao La was too busy eating its jerky to care about Shi Shi¡¯s petting.

    ¡°Maybe it is not used to this home yet and it is still nervous,¡± Shi Shi said quietly. ¡°It will get better over time. You have to get along with it.¡±

    ¡°Maybe,¡± Liu Sang forced a smile, ¡°Maybe it is still young and naughty.¡±

    Liu Sang and Shi Shi thought Xiao La was ying with them, but in fact, it was trying to test their baselines step by step. It was like a smart kid who had never been to school yet tried to get the most benefits from the grown-ups. Loving in an incorrect way would not only spoil a kid but would also spoil a dog. However, Liu Sang and Shi Shi didn¡¯t know about this yet.

    Cats were independent. To them, other creatures would be categorized as either friends, neutrals, or enemies.

    Dogs, including their close rtives, wolves, lived in groups. They strictly followed the hierarchy in their group. When someone intruded their territory, they would instinctively test the other party, no matter what they were: human, dog, cat or any other animal. It would toughen up if the enemy was strong; and vice-versa. If the owner didn¡¯t show dignity or power, they would put the owner below their hierarchy. After the habit was formed, it would be very difficult to handle in the future.

    Some people had both a cat and a dog at home. If they got along, they were either brought up together or the cat was in a higher position than the dog. If the dog was in the higher position, it would definitely harass the cat.

    Xiao La loved the jerky, but two bags were a bit too much for it. It waspletely full when it was done, so it left Shi Shi alone. It drank some water from its water bowl. After that, its little belly was like an inted balloon. It was rolling around on the floor, showing its little belly and¡­ its private parts.

    Shi Shi covered up her mouth andughed. Totally embarrassed, Liu Sang walked over and turned it around. As soon as he let go, itid back down on its side.

    Shi Shi came over and said, ¡°Come on, Xiao La, let me train you how to sit andy.¡±

    Although Liu Sang never had a dog, he was not stupid so he reminded her, ¡°It is easier to train it when it is hungry. I saw on TV and movies that people train dogs with treats in their hands.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Shi Shi agreed, ¡°Oh, I had a perfect n before I came. Howe I forgot everything when I see this cute puppy? It is just sooooo cute!¡±

    ¡°Do you want to¡­ take a walk?¡± Liu Sang asked courageously.

    ¡°Oh? Where to?¡± Shi Shi was confused.

    ¡°I mean¡­ to walk the dog downstairs. People always walk their dogs. Look, it just ate and now it is full. I guess it would want to poop or pee in a little bit.¡± Liu Sang was forcing the words out. He had learned. Every time after he fed it, it would pee and poop within half an hour and he had to pick up after it. If he was by himself, it might be okay. but now that Shi Shi was at his home, he would not let such an embarrassment happen.

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Shi Shi understood, ¡°Xiao La, let¡¯s go downstairs!¡±

    ¡°Wait, let me put Xiao La on the leash,¡± Liu Sang found the leash and wanted to put it on Xiao La. This was the first time the puppy had ever been put on a leash, so it was very resisting. In the end, Liu had to hold its front paws and Shi Shi helped him put on the leash.

    ¡°Is it necessary? Many people walk their dogs without a leash,¡± Shi Shi felt bad forcing it on a leash.

    Liu Sang insisted, ¡°We should put it on a leash. It is young and it will grow up before you know it. It will get used to the leash since it is a puppy,¡± He was still thinking about Shi Shi getting bit a minute ago and did not want the puppy to bite anyone else while they were out.

    As soon as they headed out, they saw a neighbor walking out as well. He was a college student in his early twenties. He was renting an apartment with two other friends. Liu Sang and him were acquaintances.

    ¡°Xiao Tian, throwing the trash out?¡± Liu Sang asked when he saw Xiao Tian with a trash bag in his hand.

    ¡°Yeah, Brother Liu¡­¡± Xiao Tian replied without thinking. He raised his head, saw Shi Shi and his eyes brightened, ¡°Brother Liu, is this¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, this is my co-worker,¡± Liu Sang hesitated and introduced Shi Shi.

    Shi Shi was never shy in front of strangers. She waved her hand and was very friendly. ¡°Hello, I am Shi Shi.¡±

    ¡°Pretty girl! I am a neighbor of Brother Liu. My name is Xiao Tian, a senior at Binhai University,¡± Xiao Tian introduced himself.

    ¡°Oh, you are graduating next year! Good luck!¡± Shi Shi was not interested in him, so she was just brushing him off. Holding the leash, she was following Xiao La around, who showed great interest in a newspaper ball in the garbage. It kept sniffing around it.

    Everyone seemed like apetitor to Liu Sang. He affirmatively stopped the conversation, ¡°We have to walk the dog. See youter,¡± he said as he picked up that newspaper ball.

    ¡°Brother, is that trash? I will throw it away for you. I am heading that way anyways,¡± Xiao Tian grabbed the newspaper ball and stuck it into his own trash without getting a response from Liu.

    ¡°Oh¡­ okay¡­ Thank you then,¡± Liu Sang said. He had seen Xiao Tian before when he threw out trash yet he never helped out. Today was a special day because Shi Shi was here.

    Seeing that Shi Shi was walking downstairs with Xia La, Liu Sang was about to catch up when he was dragged back by Xiao Tian.

    ¡°Brother Liu, does Shi Shi have any single friends? Can you hook me up with her friends?¡±

    Liu Sang was amazed, ¡°Well, you are too young for a serious girlfriend. The girls in ourpany are all older than you.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. An age difference is not a problem!¡± Xiao Tian imed, ¡°Honestly, I prefer girls that are a bit older than me because they are gentle and know how to take care of me.¡±

    Liu Sang was speechless. Is this kid looking for a girlfriend or a mom?

    He was perfunctory. ¡°Okay, I will keep an eye out for you.¡±

    After Liu Sang left, Xiao Tian murmured to himself, ¡°Even Brother Liu found a girlfriend. I have to work harder¡­ Ha-ha, he lied to me that she was a co-worker. Who would believe that?¡±

    It was evening time, so everyone was rushing to get home from work or school. The aroma of food preparation lingered in the air.

    ¡°I am home! I am starving! What is it for dinner?¡±

    ¡°Dad, I am not going. I have stuff to do. Could you tell uncle?¡±

    ¡°Okay. Don¡¯t forget to eat. I love you too.¡±

    Shi Shi and Xiao La were walking on the path. Liu Sang followed. Some residents walked by. It was a time when the vi was the liveliest.

    After a while, they both got tired so they stopped to rest on a bench. Liu Sang took out his handkerchief, wiped the bench clean and had Shi Shi sit down.

    Xiao La seemed to be very interested in a small tree next to the bench. It kept sniffing at the tree.

    ¡°Good boy, Xiao La! You didn¡¯t bark the entire time!¡± Staring at Xiao La, Shi Shi was truly happy.

    ¡°Shi Shi¡­¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Liu Sang hesitated, yet he asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you worry abouting up to my home alone? I mean, I am really happy about your visit, but¡­ it is quite dangerous to visit a single man alone, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Everything happened perfectly as nned, but now he started to worry. If Shi Shi believed in people so easily, she was highly likely to be scammed or¡­ who knows! He knew that as soon as he asked her, the answer might be something he didn¡¯t want to hear. He made up his mind to ask her because he truly cared about her.

    ¡°Nope,¡± Shi Shiughed. ¡°If it was a different guy, I wouldn¡¯t havee. Or maybe I would havee with a friend, but you are different.¡±

    Stunned, Liu Sang¡¯s heart began to race, ¡°Me¡­ different?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Everyone in thepany knows you have a Lolitaplex and so do I. You bought this dog for your sister, right?¡± Shi Shi looked at him with a smile. ¡°Honestly, I thought you were boring before. It was unexpected that you would care about your sister so much. That is cute. I wish I had an older brother myself. You can¡¯t be a bad person if you care about your sister so much.¡±

    Well that was totally unexpected. Liu Sang was embarrassed. What did the noisy pet shop owner say? Now his reputation in thepany was going to be ruined. However, if it wasn¡¯t for him, maybe Shi Shi would not havee today. Maybe he should thank him instead.

    Was that fate?

    ¡°Hey, where is your sister? Is she cute? When can I meet her?¡± Shi Shi was interested and asked.

    He didn¡¯t know how to respond.

    After sending Shi Shi home, Liu Sang¡¯s cell phone rang

    ¡°Hey, Mom. What¡¯s up?¡±

    Over the phone, his mom kept talking as usual. She was telling him about a new girl she had set him up with, her education background, upation, family, height, appearance, contact, etc¡­ He could even imagine the way his mom reading all those to him with her reading sses on.

    He was waiting for his mom to be done. He wasn¡¯t listening to a word.

    ¡°Mom, I want to tell you something.¡±

    He was silent for a bit, then he said affirmatively, ¡°There is a girl I like. She is my co-worker. She is not in love with me yet¡­ So please don¡¯t arrange more blind dates for me please.¡±

    His mom kept persuading him to go on the date.

    ¡°I know, mom. You are right, but I still want to give it a try,¡± he replied. ¡°Mom, I promise. If I can¡¯t get her to love me back, I will start going on blind dates again.¡±

    His mom sighed, and hung up the phone.

    As he grew older, he gradually understood how much his parents loved him, yet he wanted to follow his heart at least once.

    Putting his cell phone back in his pocket, Liu looked at Xiao La and said, ¡°I am sorry. I got you with malicious intent. However, I will never send you back. Even if she won¡¯t love me back in the future, at least you gave me time with her this evening¡±

    Xiao La seemed to be happy with that tree, so it raised its butt and started peeing.

 Chapter 163: No Raw Food

    <h4>Chapter 163: No Raw Food</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was evening time.

    Zhang Zian was resting on the recliner.

    Since the ss door was broken, the cold wind rushed into the store without anything stopping it. The store was as cold as it was outside. He didn¡¯t want to fall asleep in case he caught a cold in his sleep; therefore, he sometimes stood up to move around and sometimes yed hide-and-seek with Gxy.

    ¡°Grandma Tea, more tea for you?¡± he asked Old Time Tea.

    Old Time had turned back into theid-back, quiet, old cat. It was sitting on the electric nket with both front paws tucked into its chest, happily watching TV. It could have a drink of tea by only dipping its head and not moving another muscle.

    ¡°I¡¯m okay. I have plenty,¡± Old Time Tea smiled.

    ¡°Okay,¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t get up. He was nning to close the store in a bit.

    ¡°Do you really understand the meaning of ¡®I have plenty¡¯?¡± Fina stood up from the highest cat tree, staring at him.

    Zhang Zian was confused. ¡°Doesn¡¯t it mean what it reads?¡±

    Fina was worried about Zhang Zian¡¯s intelligence. Soon, it raised its head, ¡°¡®I have plenty¡¯ means I already have enough tea. It is time for dinner! I don¡¯t understand why you are so stupid!¡±

    Really?! That was interesting.

    Just say the word if you are hungry. Why do you have to speak on behalf of Old Time Tea?!

    Zhang Zian turned around to ask Old Time Tea, ¡°Grandma Tea, are you hungry?¡±

    Old Time Tea said peacefully, ¡°Well, I am okay.¡± When it said that it was okay, that meant it was hungry, because it was not demanding like Fina.

    ¡°Okay, I will cook,¡± Standing up, Zhang Zian saw Gxy sitting at the gate, watching pedestrians walk by.

    ¡°Gxy, are you okay?¡± he asked. Ever since the naughty kid incident, he had be extremely alert.

    ¡°Zian, I am fine,¡± Gxy turned around and said.

    Zhang Zian felt that Gxy was not as scared of strangers as it used to be. When it first arrived, it was both curious and terrified of humans. It would always secretly observe humans behind the ss door. Whenever someone walked by, it would curl up, scared. Now, it sat in front of the broken ss doorfortably. Only when someonended their eyes on it would it slightly curl up. Sometimes, when a customer walked in the store, it would escape and hide. There was definitely more curiosity in its heart than fear.

    Now that the ss door was broken, so was the defensive wall towards humans in Gxy¡¯s heart.

    Zhang Zian recalled Old Time Tea¡¯s words: ¡°When something is broken, a new and better recement has to be established.¡± He looked at Old Time Tea. There had to be great wisdom inside its sophisticated mind.

    ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there. I am starving!¡± Fina raised its front paw to pound on the cat tree angrily.

    ¡°It is unfortunate I have a demanding pet like you¡­¡± Zhang Zian sighed and walked upstairs, ¡°When will I find a girlfriend? One that is gentle, caring and good at cooking¡­¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about? How dare you say something behind my back?!¡± Fina was even angrier. It jumped down the cat tree but Zhang Zian had already left.

    ¡°My majesty,¡± Old Time Teaughed, ¡°I think he was just joking with you.¡±

    ¡°Tut!¡± Fina¡¯s belly growled. ¡°I was the distinguished pet in the old days and I never suffered from hunger. Now, I have to push him to cook for me every day.¡±

    As Fina wasining, Gxy noticed that across from the road, the street vendors Aunt Li and her husband came to start their dinner time business.

    Zhang Zian took out the chicken breast and fish that he had prepared ahead of time. As usual, he turned on the oven, put the meat in, set a timer and started baking.

    The oven didn¡¯t turn on, nor did the light inside even flicker.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did I forget to plug it in?¡± Zhang Zian stuck his head behind the oven and confirmed the oven was plugged in. He turned on the kitchen hood to make sure the circuit didn¡¯t trip. The kitchen hood was fine.

    ¡°Oh no. The oven is broken?¡±

    He pounded on the oven in the hope of fixing it before he once again tried to turn on the oven.

    Still nothing.

    ¡°Sh*t!¡±

    The oven was from his parents. It was old but it had been functioning just fine. Today, it finally gave up.

    Honestly, an oven wasn¡¯t expensive. However, should he get a new one from the store now? He was fine without food for a bit or he could even eat something else for dinner. However, Old Time Tea and Fina would be out of food. Especially troublesome was Fina; if he fed it the cat food from the store, it would not be good. When Fina was hungry, it was even more grumpy. Thinking that he had to tell it the bad news about not having food for at least another hour or two, he was terrified.

    He tried several times. It didn¡¯t work. If he could just cook the fish and meat with the stove¡­ No, this was way too difficult for him to try.

    Walking around in the kitchen, he was out of ideas. So, he walked downstairs slowly.

    Fina was not doneining yet. Once it saw him it started questioning, ¡°Dinner is ready? Howe it is so quick today?¡±

    Old Time Tea was also curious. It knew that food wasn¡¯t ready because it didn¡¯t smell any aroma from the chicken or fish.

    Zhang Zian cleared his throat and said, ¡°I have a suggestion. How about we try something new today?¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± Fina stared at him, coldly. ¡°I am listening. However, don¡¯t even try to trick me like you trick others.¡±

    Zhang Zian felt helpless. Fina knew all his tricks. It wasn¡¯t easy to trick it. ¡°Fina, maybe you don¡¯t know. There is a country to the east of ours, across from the sea, named Japan.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I know this,¡± Old Time Tea said. ¡°I am curious: what is the rtion between Japan and dinner?¡±

    ncing at Fina¡¯s angry face, Zhang Zian said with all his courage, ¡°In reference to Japan, people there love one way to eat fish, called sashimi. In fact, sashimi originated from ancient China, but it became popr in Japan. It started over 2000 years ago, in the same era you used to live in¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, don¡¯t talk nonsense. Tell me how to eat sashimi,¡± Fina said as if it saw right through him. It stopped his BS.

    ¡°In fact, sashimi is another word for raw fish¡­¡± Zhang Zian hid himself behind Old Time Tea as he spoke.

    ¡°How dare you to tell me eat raw fish?! How dare you topare me with those uncivilized crooks?!¡± Fina was angry for real this time. Its hair was exploding. ¡°I never eat raw food!¡±

    ¡°My Majesty, please don¡¯t be mad.¡± Old Time Tea paused the TV and tried to help calm down Fina. ¡°Buddy, why did you suggest eating raw fish? Honestly, I don¡¯t really like raw food.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Zhang Zian said, ¡°Grandma Tea, the oven broke all of a sudden. If you guys can wait, I will get a new oven from the store¡­ But right now it is a busy time, so the store might be busy.¡±

    Tilting its head, Gxy was staring at the street cart across the road.

    Aunt Li and her husband moved a few folding chairs off their tricycle and started their cart. They lit the portablemp, turned on the stove, heated up the cooking surface and waited for their customers.

 Chapter 164: A Door in Galaxyâ€™s Heart

    <h4>Chapter 164: A Door in Gxy¡¯s Heart</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Aunt Li and her husband had been doing business in this area for quite a while. They had some returning customers who were students, white cor workers, nighttime runners, and even some dog walkers.

    It was funny how even dog walkers became their customers. One time, a person was walking by the food cart with a huge dog. He bought 50 yuan¡¯s worth of BBQ skewers. Aunt Li and her husband thought that he was taking the skewers home to share with friends and family; however, the customer gave the meat to his dog.

    Of course, such behavior disgusted other customers. Soter on, when a customer came by with a dog, Aunt Li or her husband would ask who the skewers were for. If the customer was nning to feed the dog with the skewers, they would have him feed it somewhere else.

    ¡°Honey, how much more do we need?¡± Seeing that there were no customers around, Aunt Li secretly asked her husband.

    Her husband was intimidated. ¡°Look at you¡­ I don¡¯t ever remember how many times I have told you. After everything, we need an extra 10 thousand Yuan. That¡¯s not a big deal. We should be able to borrow it somewhere.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± Aunt Li was happy. She looked down the street in the dusk. From what she could see, there were four restaurants on this road already, including onerge restaurant and three small specialized ones. Other than that, there was another fried chicken store.

    To open a store on this road would be highlypetitive. It would be the same anywhere else though. Any industry waspetitive as long as it offered a good return on investment. The best thing about this ce was that it was safe. Even their son, who was in middle school, had heard about the martial arts master on this road.

    ¡­

    Zhang Zian had a bad headache. The hungry Fina was grumpy. It keptining in his ear, which drove him crazy.

    ¡°I can understand when you can¡¯t prepare dinner at a certain time. Fine. I¡¯ve never ced high expectations on a human. But what does it mean when you sometimes offer raw food or burnt food?¡±

    Jumping up on the chair, Fina continued toin about Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian knew that it was right because everything it said was right. Through experience, he knew that to make a good baked fish or meat required constant attention. Sometimes, when a customer came over, or if he had other things going on, he would forget about the food in the oven. Besides the few times he made a perfect meal, the food was either not cooked fully or burned all other times. Sometimes, when a customer was in the store, he was too busy with the customer, which would dy meal time. A hour dy for lunch or dinner was quite normal.

    Old Time Tea was great about the meals. It was never picky. However, Fina was on the other extreme.

    ¡°My Majesty, take it easy. I think the most important thing right now is to have him get a new oven.¡± Old Time Tea was trying to help him out.

    ¡°The oven is not the problem. The problem is that he is not showing any respect to me which is unbearable!¡± Fina got even more angry. ¡°If he was reverent enough, he would find a way to cook the fish at a set time!¡±

    Zhang Zian murmured, ¡°Yeah, that is easier said than done¡­¡±

    ¡°What are you murmuring about? Do you think I can¡¯t hear you?!¡±

    ¡°I mean, if we continue thisining game, the store will be closed pretty soon,¡± Zhang Zian corrected himself.

    At this time, Gxy came back to the store from the door, pointed at the street cart using its front paw, and said, ¡°Meow, Zian, that cart can cook food.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Zhang Zian was confused.

    ¡°Across the street,¡± Gxy said as it ran back to the door.

    Zian signaled to have Fina calm down but it didn¡¯t listen. He walked to the door and looked. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s Aunt Li and her husband¡­¡±

    Aunt Li and her husband sold breakfast as well as BBQ skewers. Zhang Zian had tried their breakfast, but not the skewers.

    He turned around and said to Fina, ¡°There is a street vendor that sells BBQ skewers. There are even BBQ hotdogs. Do you want to check it out? If you like it, we could get BBQ skewers for dinner tonight. If not¡­ we¡¯ll have to figure something else out.¡±

    Fina looked over with doubt. It saw a few customers stop and buy some food. It said, ¡°That is a shabby street cart. It doesn¡¯t deserve a chance to serve me!¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded, ¡°Okay. Then you can stay here. Grandpa Tea, do you want to try it out?¡±

    Old Time Tea left its electric nket and said, ¡°That¡¯s what I was thinking.¡±

    ¡°Gxy, do you want to join us? That could be a walk for you,¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Gxy hesitated, staring at the two street vendors and the customers.

    Zhang Zian looked at it patiently and waited for its decision. If it decided not to walk close to the strangers, he could understand. Honestly, he¡¯d rather Gxy only belong to him. However, he wanted Gxy to be happier. He could not restrict it when Gxy was willing to try.

    ¡°Meow, Gxy will follow Zian.¡± It looked at him with trust.

    ¡°Great, Gxy is brave!¡± Zhang Zian praised it from the bottom of his heart.

    He tried to bring Gxy along when he went to the jewelry store, but that was a premature decision. To force it on a busy street during the day only scared it more.

    To take it out at night was perfect. It was quiet and the night was beautiful.

    Besides, Aunt Li and her husband were notplete strangers. Gxy looked at the street every day through the door. In fact, it remembered them and knew that they were good people.

    Zhang Zian and Old Time Tea started to walk out of the store, turned around, and looked at Gxy with encouraging smiles. He was also paying attention to the street and was hoping that no one would jump out at this time to scare Gxy.

    Gxy came to the door. In fact, there was no door anymore. Only a slight white line was left behind to prove that there had been a door. The real door had disappeared, yet the door in Gxy¡¯s heart was still there.

    After staring at the white line for a few seconds, it ced its front paws outside the line, followed by its back paws.

    Zhang Zian and Old Time Tea both smiled.

    Gxy turned around to look at the white line again.

    ¡°Meow, I am out!¡± It screamed happily.

    ¡°It was only an imaginary door. How could it stop you?¡± Zhang Zian was sad but he forced a smile. ¡°Not to mention Binhai city, you can go to the end of the world.¡±

    There was nothing to stop it besides itself.

    ¡°Gxy wants to go ces!¡± It started dreaming about the future.

    ¡°Of course. Wherever you want to go, I will go with you¡­ Well, let¡¯s begin with crossing this street.¡± He reached out his hand and pointed at the road.

    ¡°Okay,¡± Gxy nodded.

    ¡°Wait!¡±

    Fina jumped out all of a sudden, staring at him angrily. ¡°How dare you go without me?! What do you think I am?!¡±

    ¡°We didn¡¯t go without you. Didn¡¯t I ask you? I ask you first! I can¡¯t force you if you don¡¯t want to go. It is only a small street vendor, it doesn¡¯t deserve¡­¡± Zhang Zian started mimicking Fina¡¯s tone.

    Old Time Tea stopped him right there so Fina wouldn¡¯t kill him. ¡°Well, let¡¯s go eat. We can resolve any other issues after dinner.¡±

    ¡°Humph!¡± Fina turned its head around unwillingly.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go. This dinner has been a lot of work!¡± Zhang Zian started heading over.

    ¡°As if it isn¡¯t his fault¡­¡± ncing at him, Fina followed.

    One man leading three cats walked towards the street cart.

 Chapter 165: Feeding the Cats

    <h4>Chapter 165: Feeding the Cats</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Here are your chicken skewers. The total is 12 Yuan. Would you like to eat here or take them to go?¡± Aunt Li quickly gave the skewers and change to the customer.

    ¡°Three chicken and twomb skewers,¡± said the other customer.

    ¡°Sure.¡± Uncle Li took five skewers out of the stic wrap-covered tray, cutting at the thick parts of the meat a few times. ¡°Would you like any pepper or cumin on them?¡±

    At that time, Aunt Li stabbed her husband with her elbow.

    ¡°What are you doing? You made me put on too much pepper!¡± Uncle Li was not happy and apologized to the customer, then took out a new one from the tray.

    Aunt Li ignored his words and stabbed him some more, even getting to his waist.

    ¡°You¡­stupid woman!¡±

    ¡°Master Zhang ising!¡± she whispered.

    ¡°Ah?¡± Uncle Li stopped what he was doing and looked up.

    Zhang Zian stood across the street, smiled at the couple, and raised his hand to wave.

    ¡°Still with the cats from his shop,¡± Aunt Li whispered again.

    Three very striking-looking cats followed Zhang Zian: The one on the left wearing a hat, its face hidden in the shadow; The one on the right had fur that glittered and looked extravagant under the street lights; Thest kitten trembled as it followed behind Zhang Zian, looking towards their direction, about two or three meters away.

    ¡°What would Master Zhange thiste for?¡± Uncle Li waved while whispering.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. He usually justes for breakfast, never at thiste time.¡± Aunt Li was puzzled, ¡°Does he¡­¡±

    She suddenly remembered that some people bought skewers for their pets. ¡°Does he want to buy some to feed the cats?¡±

    ¡°That¡­¡±Uncle Li felt bad while looking at the customers waiting in line. If Zhang Zian did use the skewers to feed the cats, there might be some controversy. The dissatisfied customers would not say anything, but they would note back either.

    Zhang Zian waited for a break in traffic, then said to Fina and Old Time Tea, ¡°Let¡¯s go and cross the street.¡± He looked back at Gxy with concern. ¡°Gxy, follow me please.¡±

    Gxy nodded.

    Zhang Zian sped up his pace, paying attention to the vehicles from both sides, while consistently looking back and checking on Gxy. Luckily, they crossed the street without any idents.

    Gxy trotted on the sidewalk, looked back at the pet shop on the other side of the street and murmured, ¡°So far¡­¡±

    ¡°Not far.¡± Zhang Zian squatted down, ¡°Gxy will certainly be able to go further. However, even if you go far away, you can find your way home, right?

    ¡°Meow-woo ¡± Gxy lowered its head, while its front paw gently scratched at the ground. ¡°Gxy does not know¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s ok. I will pay attention to you and will not let you get lost,¡± heforted Gxy.

    Aunt Li came up quickly behind him. ¡°Master Zhang, how can I help you?¡±

    Zhang Zian stood up. ¡°Aunt Li, in fact, my oven is broken, and they are three picky cats, so we came to see if you had anything here they could eat.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s easy.¡± Aunt Li looked at the three cats and her eyes finally fell on Fina. She had only seen ordinary stray cats and wild cats before, but had never seen any expensive cats. Even so, she would recognize Fina¡¯s value through the cat¡¯s way of looking down upon others just like humans.

    ¡°They are very picky, so please do not use any spices,¡± Zhang Zian reminded.

    Was cooking the same thing? In fact, the simpler ingredients of cooking dishes needed higher requirements. The dish ¡°Hot Water Cabbage¡± at the state banquet was the most typical example, but every restaurant could cook the dishes with a lot of oil and salt.

    Skewers without any spicespletely tested the level of mastery.

    Aunt Li was surprised at first, but then nodded and said, ¡°No problem, my husband has cooked skewers for more than ten years. He has encountered some customers who didn¡¯t want spices. What kind of meat would you like?¡±

    ¡°Do you have fish?¡±

    ¡°No, we don¡¯t have that. But please trust us, Master Zhang. I have all fresh meat here, never cheating anyone.¡±

    ¡°Great, then chicken skewers please, 20 of them.¡±

    She raised her voice, ¡°20 chicken skewers, no spices.¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± responded her husband.

    Because they were for Zhang Zian, Uncle Li focused one hundred percent. His eyes stared at the colors of the meat on the fire without blinking, turning them evenly, so that they could be evenly cooked and gradually covered with ayer of pale yellow.

    ¡°Master Zhang, would you like them to be more tender or a little bit more well done?¡± he asked.

    Zhang Zian bowed and consulted with Fina and Old Time Tea quietly.

    ¡°Tender,¡± Fina was still angry, only spitting out one word.

    ¡°Me too.¡± Old Time Tea followed.

    ¡°Tender please,¡± Zhang Zian responded to Uncle Li.

    The other two customers who were waiting for their skewers felt very strange. Why did the owners call him ¡°Master Zhang¡±?

    ¡°Well, these are yours.¡± Aunt Li gave the skewers to the two customers and received the money. She sighed with relief after they left.

    ¡°Master Zhang, your chicken skewers are ready too.¡± Uncle Lee brought the skewers up in front of Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian took advantage of the waiting time and looked though the price list of all kinds of skewers, then took out the correct change from his pocket.

    ¡°Master Zhang¡­¡± Aunt Li wanted to decline.

    Zhang Zian put the money directly on their electric tricycle.

    These spiceless, fleshy skewers allowed the taste of the oil to bepletely released. Although Zhang Zian didn¡¯t like this too much, Fina¡¯s drooling face showed that it was quite satisfied.

    ¡°Should we eat here or bring them back to eat?¡± Zhang Zian seemed to talk to himself.

    Old Time Tea was easy to feed, but Fina had always only used its own special dish.

    But at that time, Fina simply opened its mouth, meaning for Zhang Zian to feed it immediately.

    Zhang Zian was speechless, but there was no other way. He had to carefully put the meat into its mouth.

    Fina had been very hungry for a while now, so right away it bit on the first piece of chicken on the bamboo skewer from the side. It twisted its neck and pulled it off, then chewed it hard. Although the hot chicken made it wrinkle its face, it still swallowed after a few chews and then went for another piece.

    ¡°Looks good; I will go back to the shop and eat.¡± Old Time Tea had a very good demeanor, not wanting to fight for food with Fina.

    While Zhang Zian fed Fina, Aunt Li looked curiously at the ck and white kitten from a distance. Why didn¡¯t Zhang Zian feed it? Was it because the golden cat was more expensive? Poor little kitten, she thought confusedly.

    She took a fresh skewer from the next bunch her husband had just finished cooking and bent down, holding on to her knees, and waved at Gxy with the skewer in her hand.

    To her astonishment, this little kitten shook its head, seeming to know what it was doing and giving a shy smile.

    Zhang Zian gazed at her action with the corners of his eyes and exined, ¡°It doesn¡¯t like to eat meat skewers.¡±

    ¡°Oh, then what does it like?¡± asked Aunt Li.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know yet,¡± Zhang Zianughed. ¡°But I will knowter.¡±

    Fina finiitd six skewers in no time and didn¡¯t stop until its belly was round.

    Zhang Zian saw Fina¡¯s satisfaction and walked to the couple. He said, ¡°My cat seemed to like your skewers. Would you please send some to my shop every day around 6pm? I am the only person in the shop, managing the business and taking care of the customers. Sometimes I don¡¯t even have to take care of them. I will pay the money for sure.¡±

    ¡°Sure, no problem at all!¡± The couple smiled at each other. It would be too easy, since it would only take them two minutes to cross the street. It sounded wonderful to earn such easy money and have a good rtionship with this Kung Fu Master.

    What was even more surprising was that the other two customers who were eating and standing off to the side did not think it was strange to feed the cats skewers. They observed Zhang Zian and the golden cat¡¯s interaction with great interest, and even showed some envy. The reason might be that, in addition to the difference between cats and dogs, Zhang Zian was holding the skewers and feeding the cat so carefully,pared to the customer before who was so rude to throw the meat on the ground to feed the dog.

    Zhang Zian picked up the rest of the skewers and waved at the three cats. ¡°Go, let¡¯s go home.¡±

 Chapter 166: Compensation Exchanged for Commutation

    <h4>Chapter 166: Compensation Exchanged for Commutation</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    A Mercedes stopped in front of the shop. Xiao Yan got out of the car and walked in.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, I heard the news, but I have been so busy these days¡­¡± She walked in the shop, took off her sunsses and looked around with sympathy.

    ¡°No problem. It is over.¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t need herfort, but wanted her to rmend a reliable design and constructionpany as this industry was very tricky.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°You did remind me before that it was easy to dodge an open spear thrust, but difficult to guard against an arrow in the dark. With that being said, the arrow in the dark came.¡± He pointed to the broken ss.

    Xiao Yan raised her hand to press against her temple, as if she was having a headache, and said,¡±But I did not expect them actually be so despicable, trying to destroy the shop entirely¡­ Why didn¡¯t you tell me? Otherwise, I could have at least helped a little.¡±

    After being ckmailed by seven Rainbow Warriors, Zhang Zian really considered asking Xiao Yan for help, but ultimately did not do it. It wasn¡¯t because he was trying to save his face, but because he remembered that even though she said the scale of her beauty salon was not small, it could notpare to Stars Pet Chain Supermarket.

    He did not know whether the enemy woulde again or not, or when they woulde and who ordered them toe; what could Xiao Yan do if she was asked for help? Ask her to drop the beauty salon to stay here day and night? Their friendship was not at that level yet.

    Bluntly, Xiao Yan thought that his shop would have a good business future and tried to be close to him.

    So he tried to give an easy smile and said, ¡°I am a martial arts master, ah, what could these people do to me? Did you watch the video?¡±

    Xiao Yan frowned, and looked at him with doubt. ¡°You really know martial arts? That can¡¯t be real right?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± he said with certainty. ¡°Everything was in the video and how could I lie?¡±

    Xiao Yan was about to try to ask something else when a police car stopped at the door.

    She heard the sound of the brakes and held her words, staring outside.

    Sheng Ke got out of the police car, removed his hat from the passenger¡¯s seat, closed the door, swept through the crowd, then went straight into the pet shop.

    ¡°Oh, Ms. Xiao is here?¡± He bent over and went through the shutter door. He felt surprised when he saw Xiao Yan.

    ¡°Captain Sheng, long time no see. You recently solved a big case, right?¡± Xiao Yan reached out and shook hands with him.

    Zhang Zian felt a little surprised at first, but then thought that it was reasonable. The business growth process of Xiao Yan¡¯s beauty salon was not that smooth, as it repeatedly suffered nder of prostitution, gambling and drugs. It should be pretty normal that they knew each other. Maybe the team led by Captain Sheng searched for evidence in her salon before.

    While Sheng Ke and Xiao Yan greeted to each other, Zhang Zian stood silently to the side. From their conversation, he felt that they weren¡¯t that close in rtionship.

    After finishing greeting each other, Captain Sheng nced at Zhang Zian and said to Xiao Yan, ¡°You two know each other?¡±

    Xiao Yan nodded, ¡°He is my new friend.¡±

    The ssification of ¡°friend¡± was too broad. Captain Sheng was not clear just how close of friends they were, but his impression of Zhang Zian deepened a little.

    ¡°Captain Sheng, may I ask what you are here for? Is it because of the case?¡± Zhang Zian asked even though he knew the answer already. Captain Sheng had led his team to investigate Qing Ren Lane a lot these days, and probably had gotten some evidence. Zhang Zian knew he woulde back again, but did not expect him toe so fast.

    Sheng Ke looked at him deeply, which made Zhang Zian feel like he was being scanned by an X-ray.

    ¡°Yes, Mr. Zhang, I aming to ask you whether you know the manager of Stars Pet Chain Supermarket, Mr. Chen Taitong?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhang Ziyan immediately replied. ¡°A few days ago, he brought a group of people to make trouble in front of my shop.¡±

    ¡°No wonder¡­¡± Sheng Ke pondered for a moment and said, ¡°We arrested Chen Taitong on suspicion of hiring hitmen.¡±

    Zhang Zian listened quietly.

    ¡°Chen Taitong confessed to this crime, and as far as I know, thewyer he hired would like to discuss with you about civilpensation for your understanding?¡± Captain Sheng said.

    ¡°Captain Sheng, please wait,¡± Xiao Yan stopped him from going on, and said to Zhang Zian, ¡°Come with me.¡±

    She pulled Zhang Zian to the corner of the shop.

    Captain Sheng knew that they would have a discussion, so he just looked around the shop.

    Fina closed its eyes, still taking a nap and trying to ignore him.

    Captain Sheng knew nothing about cats. He couldn¡¯t even realize Fina¡¯s worth; he was more interested in Old Time Tea, who was wearing its hat and vest.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Do you know what civilpensation is?¡± Xiao Yan asked.

    Zhang Zian really did not know. ¡°Does it mean that he hired people to smash my shop and I getpensated for the damage?¡±

    Xiao Yan smiled. ¡°Did you think it was that simple? Did you think he tried topensate because he felt guilty?

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what to say, but put on a questioning face.

    ¡°That¡¯s not it?¡± he asked.

    Xiao Yan corrected him. ¡°Your thought is too simple,. The purpose of hispensation is to exchange for your understanding to getmutation.¡±

    She looked at Zhang Zian¡¯s puzzled look, and further exined. ¡°In ordance with our legal standards, if he gives fullpensation for your losses, he can get 30% of the benchmarkmutation. If he can get more of your understanding, he could get another 10%. ¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Now Zhang Zian started to understand why Chen Taitong took the initiative to make civilpensation.

    He was very grateful for Xiao Yan¡¯s reminder, while deeply aware of the sad fact that he was blind to their legal system.

    ¡°So, you have to think clearly whether you want to ept hispensation or not.¡± She solemnly reminded. ¡°In other words, how much do you hate him?¡±

    How much did Zhang Zian hate Chen Taitong?

    He looked down and started to think.

    In fact, he had just met him once, when Chen Taitong led a group of people to block his door.

    This time¡¯s robbery incident was clear that Chen Taitong hired someone and did it, but fortunately the pets were not injured. Gxy, Fina and Old Time Tea were still safe and sound¡­

    The conclusion was that he did not hate him anymore, at least not to the point of wanting to kill him.

    The most important thing was thatpared to revenge, Zhang Zian needed more money.

    He did not know how many years Chen Taitong would be sentenced, and assumed a decade, reduced by 40%, would leave six years. Then he assumed that his performance in the prison would be pretty good to get the correspondingmutation, but he had to at least stay in prison for three years.

    Zhang Zian turned and checked on Old Time Tea.

    Captain Sheng was very curious about Old Time Tea, but the cat pretended to be sleeping on the electronic nket, ignoring him.

    Which option would Old Time Tea pick if Zhang Zian let it choose?

    Old Time Tea had chosen already.

    She hadn¡¯t gone and given Chen Taitong trouble. That meant that she didn¡¯t think Chen Taitong was important.

    Zhang Zian calmly responded to Xiao Yan, ¡°I don¡¯t hate him that much.¡±

    Xiao Yan was shocked. ¡°So you will ept hispensation?¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°We should forgive people if we can. I feel that everyone deserves a second chance. He has already gotten punished.¡±

    p! p!

    Captain Sheng pped his hands calmly. ¡°Return good for evil. Mr. Zhang really deserves the title of Martial Arts Master. A kind heart like yours is not easy to have!¡±

 Chapter 167: A School Student

    <h4>Chapter 167: A School Student</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sheng Ke wandered through the pet shop. Out of his professional instinct, his ears had been listening to the conversation. From time to time, he nced at Zhang Zian through the corner of his eyes because he showed great interest in this martial arts master who appeared suddenly.

    Xiao Yan was vignt against him. ¡°Captain Sheng, I don¡¯t think eavesdropping was really good, wasn¡¯t it?

    ¡°Ms. Xiao, you can¡¯t say that! This was not eavesdropping; I simply heard it by ident,¡± Sheng Keughed.

    ¡°Oh, really? Congrattions, Captain Sheng, on your good hearing. You will not be deaf when you get older,¡± Xiao Yan said ironically.

    Sheng Ke did not care, butughed out loud again, picking at his ears with his little finger.

    The two seemed have some conflicts before. Through Xiao Yan¡¯s entrepreneurial journey, she probably received a lot of grievances from the police. She could maintain peace from the outside, but inside her heart, her grudge was not so easy topletely erase.

    ¡°Captain Sheng, what¡¯s your opinion? Should I ept hispensation or not?¡± Zhang Zian asked. In fact, he already knew the answer, because Sheng Ke personally came to ask him.

    Xiao Yan sighed and whispered, ¡°They are police and they love nothing more than conflict¡­¡±

    Old Time Tea¡¯s ears moved a little and its beard trembled while it pretended to be asleep.

    Sheng Ke approached him. ¡°Well, my personal opinion is that it is better to solve the conflict instead of making an enemy. Mr. Zhang, if you can ept the offer, that is great.¡± He paused, then said, ¡°Since you are pretty open to me, I will tell you whatever I want to say ¡ª because Stars Pet Chain Supermarket is involved, we¡¯ve gotten a lot of pressure on this case.¡±

    Zhang Zian understood, and so did Xiao Yan.

    It was hard for Sheng Ke to deal with this case.

    Chen Taitong¡¯s shop was just a franchise, but because of the pressure of going on the stock market, in order to maintain corporate image and prevent the attack ofpetitors, the incident would definitely be intervened, hoping to turn a big problem into a smaller one, or a smaller one into nothing. Stars Pet Chain Supermarket in the industry, of course, didn¡¯t have any realpetitors that couldpete with them, but standing on corporate levels, there were still some that didn¡¯t want it to expand endlessly.

    Stars¡¯ marketing and legal departments had already gotten involved. This so-called involvement did not mean that they wereing to Binhai City, but instead were trying to connect to people in the provincial and ministerial levels, from top to bottom, to exert pressure.

    After thinking for a while, Xiao Yan began to understand and stopped persuading Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian did not want to continue to struggle with Stars Pet Chain Supermarket anymore as it would not benefit his shop at all. It would be better to solve the problem now.

    So he simply replied, ¡°I understand. As long as thepensation is fair, I will forgive Chen Taitong.¡±

    Captain Sheng¡¯s expression also rxed a little, ¡°Mr. Zhang, you are very reasonable. I will remember your favor this time. In the future, if anything happens, in a reasonable legal range, I will try my best to help. Ok, then I will go back now¡­ It may take a couple of days, but theirwyer wille and talk to you aboutpensation. So Mr. Zhang, please use these two days to make a list of damages, trying to be as urate as possible¡­¡±

    He swept at the damaged goods which were notpletely cleaned up yet. ¡°It will save you a lot of time if you¡¯ve kept the purchase documents, but as for other things, you can only estimate the prices¡­ I guess theirwyer will not care about it too much. That¡¯s all. I am leaving now,¡± he said.

    Zhang Zian was ready to send him out.

    ¡°No, you don¡¯t have to.¡± Sheng Ke walked to the door, then looked back at the kittens which were ying happily inside of the shop,¡± Also, I checked the Inte yesterday and learned that your cats know how to do the stunts?¡±

    Zhang Zian said indifferently, ¡°Some of my ancestors were cat trainers, so they passed on some tips and skills to me.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Sheng Ke and Xiao Yan were surprised at the same time.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang is not only martial arts master, but also a cat trainer?¡± Sheng Ke asked with curiosity.

    Zhang Zian was also very surprised because the captain did not ask what the cat trainer was, which meant that he had clearly known before that there was such an ancient and mysterious career the world. There were not even a lot of people in the pets industry that knew about this, so how did a cop actually know?

    ¡°Most of my ancestors¡¯ crafts were lost, and I only know a little,¡± he exined with caution. He did not how much Sheng Ke know about this, so he tried to be more cautious.

    Sheng Ke spaced out after a while, then sighed, ¡°There were a lot of good things in ancient times, but unfortunately¡­ but Mr. Zhang being low-key really made me admire him. I did not expect a hidden dragon in my territory. If it were not for the incident this time, Mr. Zhang, you probably would have hid it forever?¡±

    Zhang Zian gave a mysterious smile. He was neither a martial arts master nor a cat trainer, but asionally he had heard of such jobs. He had no other way to exin things, but he would not pretend to be an expert.

    Based on Sheng Ke¡¯s observation, he knew that Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to reveal too much, then said, ¡°Ok, when we solve this case, I wille and learn from you one day.¡±

    After Captain Sheng drove away, Xiao Yan whispered, ¡°I guess he may make a case to ask you for help.¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡± Zhang Zian was shocked for a moment and thought to himself, ¡°Can I just transform into a school student and never grow up?¡±

    Xiao Yan said with certainty, ¡°I could tell right from his reaction at the time he heard you say ¡®cat trainer¡¯, but because there were other people present, he did not feel convenient to disclose more, so he just said he woulde by another time. In my opinion, he¡¯s probably encountered some difficult cases rted to cats.¡±

    Zhang Zian carefully thought about what she had said and felt that it made sense. If this was usual for Zhang Zian, perhaps he would have figured it out already, not needing a reminder from Xiao Yan, but because of his nervousness facing unknown police, his reaction became dull.

    ¡°Then if he came here again¡­¡± he asked Xiao Yan because after all, she had more entrepreneurial and life experiences, not to mention experience dealing with Sheng Ke.

    Xiao Yan pondered for a moment and said, ¡°It will be up to you. If you feel sure, you can give it a try. If you seed, you can let him owe you a favor, which will be very helpful for your future career. As far as I know, Captain Sheng is not a bad person. His detection rate is very high, and as long as he doesn¡¯t have big w or station in a wrong team, he may get promoted in a few years.

    ¡°Station in a wrong team¡­?¡± Zhang Zian took the hint.

    Xiao Yan did not know hisplex feelings at this time, and continued saying, ¡°On the contrary, if you think it will be difficult to solve the case¡­ then reject it. If you ept the task but fail, it would be better to not take the task and keep your mystery. ¡±

    Zhang Zian did not know what kind of task it was and couldn¡¯t decide it now, only saying, ¡°Thank you for your reminder, I will think twice before I make the decision.¡±

    Xiao Yan nodded.

    ¡°But you are so powerful and know everything,¡± he sincerely gave her apliment. Xiao Yan not only understood the relevant knowledge of civilpensation, but also knew the detailed background of Captain Sheng. It was not luck for her to be sessful in her career.

    Xiao Yanughed, ¡°You think I wanted to understand this? I was forced when I was feeling helpless.¡±

    Her life, summed up, was: Entrepreneurship was hard with a lot of battles.

 Chapter 168: Pet King War

    <h4>Chapter 168: Pet King War</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After Xiao Yan and Captain Sheng left, Zhang Zian continued to clean up the garbage in the shop.

    He was refreshing his mind of Xiao Yan¡¯s positive feedback of Captain Sheng, carefully thinking it over again. Initially, he thought that after this incident, he would not have any further interaction with Captain Sheng. That was why he didn¡¯t pay much attention to his appearance.

    Now, in his retrospect: Captain Sheng was somewhere in histe 30¡¯s to early 40¡¯s, in the prime of his life. Because of long-term implementation of outside tasks, his cheeks were tanned into a dark brown. But the clear shape of his face made him look serious. He probably needed a lot of alone time to think hard when handling cases; there was a heavy cigarette smell that exuded from his body. Those cigarettes were obviously not the high-grade ones. His hair was short and sharp, like steel needles, some of which had turned grey already.

    Zhang Zian did not know the captain¡¯s full name. Last night, Captain Sheng did show him his police officer card, but at that time, it was so dark, and he was not in the mood to pay attention to this detail. Anyway, he was not a fake policeman, that much was certain.

    Cat trainer¡­

    Zhang Zian just heard a little about it before, but knew nothing about it. If Captain Sheng really believed what he had said and came back to him for assistance in some cases in a few days, then he would continue to lie to him ¨C but probably would not be found out.

    This animal crime was not umon in detective novels.

    In the world¡¯s first true detective novel, ¡°Moog Street Murder¡±, written by Ellen Slope, the atmosphere was rendered horrific and weird: The victim¡¯s bodyminuted intense fracturing, and then was forced into a chimney. What kind of human could have such power? After the final mystery was revealed, the killer was actually a reddish-brown orangutan.

    It was unexpected but reasonable.

    Reddish-brown orangutans¡¯ power and agile actions were superior to humans. Their strong upper arms could cling to your body and contraction of the muscles could break a human¡¯s entire sternum. Before one died of asphyxiation, his heart may be pierced by broken ribs.

    The answer seemed to be tooplicated, far-fetched and deliberately bizarre, but this was this type of detective novel with no coincidence, as no one would like to read boring novels.

    Not only did Ellen Poe write animal novels, but many other famous detective novelists did too.

    The world¡¯s first detective, Sherlock Holmes, suffered a ¡°Spotted Tape Case¡±, in which the victim died within the Chamber of Secrets. The murderer was a British doctor that used to live in India and was a secret snake trainer. He used a whistle to guide a highly poisonous moond viper to kill his stepdaughter.

    In the waves led by these two detective novel masters, all kinds of animal killers debuted. There was nothing they could not imagine. Some of these stories, of course, sounded a little far-fetched, but no one couldpletely deny the possibility of their urrence.

    In these so-called suspicious cases, many of them were nned from the dead corner of human thinking.

    Zhang Zian did not think that the captain would like to solve these types of suspicious cases. Honestly, although the captain was a very capable policeman, he was not qualified to solve these kind of cases, which existed in novels and theories.

    Captain Sheng had probably confirmed, or at least suspected, that this might be an animal crime, but could not find the main suspect, so instead he showed great interest in Zhang Zian, calling him a cat trainer.

    Think of this, Zhang Zian suddenly shuddered.

    The reddish-brown orangutan in ¡°Moog Street Murder Case¡± would not be themon conception because of the faith of those detective fans, right? After all, this novel was the ancestor of detective novels, which seemed qualified enough¡­

    At this point, his phone suddenly rang in a notification.

    A sleeping Fina woke up and Old Time Tea, who was leisurely drinking its tea, looked up too. There was some kind of premonition in their hearts, like hearing the horn on the ancient battlefield, so they invariably looked towards the phone.

    Zhang Zian picked up the phone and unlocked it.

    The ¡°Pet Hunter¡± game started automatically, and after the animation, the sh of light on the screen jumped.

    [Navigation Elf]: Wee to the ¡°Pet Hunter¡± world, all you lucky yers all over the world who downloaded the game!

    [Navigation Elf]: If a yer has already collected and tamed three elves, novice protection mode is over and the pet king war is about to begin!

    [Navigation Elf]: After careful consideration, in order to improve the enthusiasm of the yers involved, the ultimate winner of the pet king war will be given the ¡°King¡± title and an exciting great reward ¡ª he or she will immediately be able to promote any designated pet to the legendary level, transcend its life and death cycle, and get the equivalent of the power of the gods.

    [Navigation Elf]: There are two kinds of victory mode in the pet king war ¨C collecting the most elves, or beating all the other elves.

    [Navigation Elf]: At the same time, once the pet king war starts, the scanning range of elf pet detection radar will be increased to a radius of 1000 km.

    [Navigation Elf]: We wish you a happy game!

    The game automatically exited, and brought him back to the phone¡¯s standby interface.

    The amount of information that was released just now was a lot for Zhang Zian.

    He already knew that he was not the only yer in the world, but didn¡¯t know that he had downloaded the game within the limited given time. But he hadpletely no idea as to what types of elves they had, not to mention what level and what characteristics they had.

    As for the reward of the pet king war, it was simply incredible to be able to promote any designated pet to the legendary level¡­

    He had no doubt about what the navigation elf had said, as this game absolutely could do what it said, at least for now. He did not want to put Gxy, Fina or Old Time Tea in a dangerous situation for the reward, and he did not want to participate in thispetition, but there was no doubt that there would be other yers that wanted this award.

    It was very important that the detection radar radius would be up to 1000 km! So howrge was the range of radar detection before? Did the so-called novice protection mode limit the scope of the radar detection, so that novice yers could only detect the elves near them?

    So, now that the detection range was up to a 1000 km radius, then it had a diameter of a 2000 km circle. Two or three yers might detect an elf at the same time, which would bring too many variables. What strategies would other yers use? Friendly fairpetition, backing off to save his strength, or being unscrupulous to win¡­?

    Among these yers, how many of them would be happy to participate in this game?

    Old Time Tea gently coughed. ¡°My little friend.¡±

    Zhang Zian put down the phone. ¡°What¡¯s up, Old Time Tea?¡±

    Old Time Tea thought for a while and said, ¡°Just now, that person named Sheng had a vision that was not simple. I am afraid that you couldn¡¯t hold the secrets for long. Well, anyways, the shop will not be open for a few days. Tomorrow morning, let¡¯s find a secret ce and I will teach you some basic routines of Yong Chun Kung Fu.¡±

 Chapter 169: Extra Worries

    <h4>Chapter 169: Extra Worries</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was worried a little bit.

    Last night before going to bed, he repeatedly confirmed several times that the doors and windows had been locked, in fear of other so-called yersing to his shop.

    One night passed, and nothing happened.

    In bed, tossing and turning back and forth until the middle of the night, Zhang Zian was just getting into a deep sleep¡­ When he had just barely fallen asleep, he heard the voices of pedestrians who got up early, greeting each other on the street, through his back window. He opened his eyes quickly, the day not yet bright, much earlier than his regr wake up time.

    He scratched his itchy head and picked up his phone to start the ¡°Pet Hunter¡± game.

    ¡°Navigation Elf, may I ask whether or not the other yers know my location?¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: No. In order to increase the fun, the yers do not know each other¡¯s name, identity or location.

    The yers didn¡¯t know each other¡¯s position. How could they easily connect if they were located everywhere in the world?

    Now knowing the game and still in a foggy state, Zhang Zian¡¯s heart had been put ease a lot. As long as he was more careful when he captured elves in the future, he would be able to avoid encountering other yers.

    ¡°May I ask whether there is a time limit in the pet king war?¡± he asked.

    [Navigation Elf]: No. Until the final winner appears or the game experiences an outage, the battle will not end. Two yers who have been fighting for over a decade are still fighting.

    ¡°What is the winner¡¯s reward when they finish the game? Are they also able to upgrade a designated pet to a legendary level or is there no reward?¡± he asked curiously.

    [Navigation Elf]: Of course there are incentives, but the difference is that the winner could make any designated pet die immediately. Please note: Legendary pets can be exempt from this death effect.

    Zhang Zian was so scared that his phone almost fell to the ground. What kind of reward was that? Invoke legendary death with one finger? No wonder the two fought all day long¡­ He decided not to provoke the two big brothers. He¡¯d let them continue to beat each other down; at least one was better than two.

    Suddenly, his worry disappeared, and he immediately became excited.

    Yong Chun¡­ do I really want to be a master of Yong Chun Kung Fu?

    Why bother running a pet shop? He could go directly to the bar, be friends with the second generation of the wealthy, and date the prettiest women. Was that being on top of life?

    But where would he practice it?

    In ordance with the routines in martial arts novels, the protagonist must find a very secret ce where he couldn¡¯t be seen by anyone. Themon choice was generally on top of mountains, in deep mountain caves, on the edge of iceberg cliffs, and so on¡­ The problem was that there was no such ce in Binhai City!

    Mt. Hidden Fog was not a high mountain, plus it was too far away; that would waste time if he went there to practice.

    He got up from bed and put on clothes that were easy for him to move around in. Fina, still sleeping in its princess bed, opened its eyes a little and closed them again.

    It was too early, and still dark outside. There was no difference in pulling the curtain open or keeping it closed.

    He stood in front of the window and looked out. Where would he find a secret ce? Now there were people everywhere in this city. Where was his secret ce?

    If his bedroom was spacious enough, he could possibly practice there.

    He left his room and walked into his parents¡¯ room next door, where the furnishings had not changed, remaining exactly the same as when his parents left.

    Zhang Zian gently stroked his mother¡¯s dresser and rubbed his fingers together, now very dusty, feeling the texture brought by the dust. The makeup in front of the mirror was covered with some dust as well, and even the mirror itself was somewhat blurred.

    He sat on his parents¡¯ double bed and looked down at his feet on the floor.

    Except that time when Fina was upied his bedroom, he rarely entered his parents¡¯ bedroom, not to mention clean it. Half a year had passed, but he had notpletelye out of the shadow of his parents¡¯ death just yet.

    He knew that he needed to look forward, no matter how much he missed the past.

    The two bedrooms were connected through the living room. If he moved his parents¡¯ bed and the sofa into the living room, and put the dresser, TV, side cabs and other things into the storage room, the second floor would be very spacious.

    Because Fina seemed to hate that Old Time Tea did not kneel down for it, Zhang Zian feared they would have conflict. So he separated them, letting Fina sleep in his room and letting Gxy apany Old Time Tea on the first floor. After the store was renovated, they obviously could not stay on the first floor any more. His bedroom was rtively small and there wouldn¡¯t be room to stand after putting Gxy¡¯s crib and Old Time Tea¡¯s tea electric nket in the room.

    He gently sighed. If he was a millionaire, then there would be no such worries¡­ Wrong! These years, millionaires were not rare, and one would need to be at least a billionaire to buy arge house. But the question came again: even if he was a billionaire and bought a big house, he still meant to move away from this home.

    What was more important, past memories or today¡¯s partners?

    The answer was easy, but the decision was not so easy to make.

    Well, his parents¡¯ bedroom could wait to change. Since the shop was going through a renovation, he would connect his bedroom and living room. The total space of ??the two rooms together was not smaller than the master bedroom. He decided to put the sofa in the living room to sell or just give away, as it upied too much space. He would feel guilty keeping Gxy and Old Time Tea on the first floor with those noisy pups and kittens.

    After making this decision, he stood up from the bed, taking a big stretch.

    Returning back to the previous question, in order not to cause suspicion from Captain Sheng or other people, he must find a secret ce to learn a few strokes of Yong Chun Kung Fu, at least to look like the real deal. But where could he find a secret ce?

    He went to the window again.

    It took him a while to think and recall. Now, the East slightly exposed the bright light and the visibility outside had greatly improved.

    His eyes fell on the greens behind the pet shop.

    That piece of greennd had existed for a long time, even when he was a child.

    Dongcheng District was the cultural and educational district and had an old residential area, unlike the business district, which had a high cost. In fact, there was a rumor that the city wanted to demolish and transform the area, but it never happened, probably because the demolition costs were too expensive and some stubborn seniors boycotted too badly, so it was not worth it for the city to implement this.

    This piece ofwn was sandwiched between the two residential areas, but coincidently, there was no pathway connected to it from the two residential areas, so few people usually passed through thend. Sanitation workers seemed to always bezy and ignored cleaning thewn.

    Should he go to that ce to practice?

 Chapter 170: Going Out For a Walk

    <h4>Chapter 170: Going Out For a Walk</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    If the green space behind the shop was a good choice, maybe he could take advantage of the renovation and create a back door in the back wall of the pet shop. Just in case he encountered any dangerter on, he could escape from the back door, unlikest time, where he was blocked. In order to prevent the theft, the windows of the first and the second floor were equipped with protective fences which he could not escape from.

    He went back to his bedroom and saw Fina stretching.

    ¡°Old Time Tea and I are going to check out the greennd in the back. Would you like toe with us?¡± he asked Fina, pointing out of the window.

    Fina yawned, jumped on the table in front of window, looked outside without any interest and said, ¡°It is kind of boring now, always staying in this shrine. I would like to go out and take a walk.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought, ¡°¡­When will you change your attitude, Fina?¡±

    He went downstairs.

    Most of the pets on the first floor had been ced in Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s clinic, so only a few were left in the store.

    ¡°You!¡± Zhang Zian pointed at a ready-to-move Chow Chow. ¡°Do not eat your own sh*t!¡±

    But it was toote. The Chow Chow quickly lowered its head, fearing Zhang Zian would stop it, and the lump of feces disappeared.

    It licked its mouth and barked at Zhang Zian twice, as if to say, ¡°Look at me! How good am I that I have saved your time by cleaning up my own sh*t. This is self-cirction. Hurry up andpliment me!¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    ¡°Dog can¡¯t change their habit of eating their own feces.¡± This saying was not a joke, and the reason was still veryplex. It could be because of congenital gic and acquired stress factors, or maybe it was suffering from intestinal diseases or parasites, or maybe it was even too bored to find something fun to do¡­

    Dogs did not think that eating feces was that bad, but it would bother their owners a lot, especially when they used their tongues to lick them enthusiastically after eating their own sh*t¡­

    Zhang Zian sometimes thought it would nice to capture a dog elf that could rule all the dogs.

    But that was only wishful thinking.

    Dogs were so different from cats.

    Cats originated in West Asia and North Africa, and every cat all over the world came from that area. Dogs didn¡¯t have a single source of origin and were domesticated by ancient people all over the world.

    Cats were first domesticated in the Middle East rather than in other ancient civilizations because African desert wild cats were originally curious, sensitive and not afraid of people, which made them very suitable for domestication.

    Asian wild cats in Central Asia and East Asia were too rebellious, making them difficult to be domesticated. Chinese civet cats inherited part of their descent from the wild, making them one of thergest and most unlovable house cats. There was no way to tame them if their genes were like that.

    In addition, the ¡°Pet Hunter¡± game was set up based on the power of faith.

    There seemed to be no country in the world that worshipped dogs as the ancient Egyptians worshipped cats¡­

    At night, Zhang Zian usually would not pull down the shutter door, so that Gxy could sleep under the stars, but now the ss door was broken, so he had to pull down the shutter door. Gxy was ying around with the kittens, bored to death.

    ¡°Good morning, Gxy.¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Zian. Want to y hide and seek?¡± Gxy saw himing downstairs, very happily came over, and stopped one meter in front of him.

    At first, Gxy hid from him three or four meters away. Slowly, it became morefortable and came as far as one meter away now. Zhang Zian believed that one day, he could finally pat Gxy¡¯s head, and tell it that it did not matter, that there was no need to fear anymore.

    ¡°Gxy, let¡¯s go outside and y today?¡±

    ¡°Go outside?¡± For a moment, Gxy exposed its fear and gave a retreating look.

    He exined, ¡°There is a ce close to home where there is nobody. We can y hide and seek there.¡±

    ¡°A ce with no one there?¡± It tilted its head and tried to confirm.

    ¡°Yes, there will probably only be me and you there.¡±

    ¡°Oh, let¡¯s go outside to y hide and seek! Let¡¯s go outside to y hide and seek!¡± Gxy was very excited, jumping up and down.

    Zhang Zian went to the corner of the shop. Old Time Tea was lying on the electric nket, its chest and abdomen going up and down. The rhythms and the intervals in between each breath were quite long. They seemed even longer than Zhang Zian¡¯s. He was wondering how he did not notice this little detail before, which clearly proved that Old Time Tea¡¯s heart and lung functions were still very good. This gave him inexplicable peace of mind.

    The power indicator on the wire shed green, indicating that the electric nket was working properly.

    He was not sure whether Old Time Tea had woken up or not. When he was about to turn and leave, Old Time Tea opened its mouth and asked, ¡°Did you find a ce?¡±

    While it said this, Old Time Tea sat up and put on its hat, looking at Zhang Zian with its shiny eyes.

    Zhang Zian pointed behind him. ¡°Behind the shop, there is awn where usually very few people go. The environment is generally normal, maybe a little bit dirty¡­ I¡¯m not sure whether it would be ok or not?¡±

    Old Time Tea slightly nodded and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go and take a look. Of course, it would be great if we could practice at a ce close to home.¡±

    Zhang Zian used his hands to surround his mouth, and shouted towards the upstairs, ¡°Let¡¯s go, Fina!¡±

    Zhang Zian opened the shutter door, went out, then pulled the door down and locked it.

    The autumn wind in the morning was really quite cold.

    He pulled his jacket zipper to the top and put his hands near his mouth, thinking of wearing gloves pretty soon.

    Damn it!

    He should write a message on paper and put it on the door like before, in case of any customers¡­ there might be no customers temporarily, but what if Chen Tai Tong¡¯swyer or Captain Sheng came?

    But on this freezing day, he really did not want to touch the cold copper lock again.

    He was about to open the door into the room to grab a pen and paper when he heard a voice from behind shout, ¡°Master Zhang! Master Zhang!¡±

    Zhang Zian looked back and saw that it was Uncle Li of the breakfast cart crossing the street, cheerfully trotting towards him and waving, ¡°Master Zhang!¡±

    Zhang Zian thought to himself, ¡°¡­It sounded like a crook big day was so-called really enough shame, sounds like akes and rivers crooks.

    He temporarily stopped fiddling with his key, close a few steps to go up.

    ¡°Uncle Li, what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Uncle Li made a ¡°please¡± gesture, bowed very respectfully and said, ¡°Master Zhang, did you not eat breakfast yet? If not, would you like to have some?¡±

    Honestly, Zhang Zian had not eaten breakfast yet, and now really felt a little bit hungry at this mentioning.

    Walking to the food stand, he asked, ¡°Uncle Li, can I make payment once a week for the skewers I ordered yesterday?

    Uncle Li waved again and again, ¡°No, no! You don¡¯t have to pay me at all, Master Zhang. It is my luck to have you as my customer. How could I charge you?¡±

    Zhang Zian responded, ¡°I can¡¯t do this. You work so hard starting from the morning. I can¡¯t eat breakfast for free.¡±

    Aunt Li stared at her husband, and starting cursing from her heart, ¡°You are so useless, not even knowing what to say!¡±

    She said earnestly, ¡°Master Zhang, I told you that our old store had been smashed before.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded and remembered what she had told him.

    She sighed and spaced out a little, ¡°I am honest to tell you that neither of us has a high education background, nor any skills. Our life will be as this is, but we do not want our son to follow us everywhere and he can¡¯t get into a good school¡­ ¡±

    Zhang Zian agreed that the treatment for those local kids outside the city were so different. Being the parents, their whole purpose of living was to raise their child and give him a good environment in which to grow and have a better future.

    He looked at Aunt Li¡¯s sun-tanned dark red face and Uncle Li¡¯s white sideburns and could not help but think of a sentence ¨C long breaths cover the tears of sad peoples¡¯ difficult lives.

 Chapter 171: A Hero Protects Three Villages

    <h4>Chapter 171: A Hero Protects Three Viges</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian¡¯s family could not be considered a rich family, but at least they were not poor. They had all they should have. Compared to the old couple, he had already felt quite happy.

    He listened patiently.

    Aunt Li looked at her husband, tempted to ask his advice. She said, ¡°We have lived outside of our hometown for several years. Most of the time, we are in Binhai city ¨C If I had to use one sentence to describe this ce: Intelligent people live in this beautiful ce.

    ¡°Good Feng Shui!¡±Her husband also nodded hard as the couple finally agreed with each other .

    Zhang Zian felt that if the Feng Shui heard her words, it would faint.

    Aunt Li nodded to her husband. ¡°We do not want to hide the secret from you, Master Zhang. For all these years, we have worked so hard and saved some money as we could not wonder around anymore¡­

    Most people could understand their feelings and Zhang Zian was no exception. Who wouldn¡¯t want to settle down? Who wouldn¡¯t want to have a home? Zhang Zian was willing to reconcile with Gxy, because he also thought of living the days with peace.

    ¡°We want to settle down. We have been lived here for so many years, and we do not want to go back to our hometown again.¡± Their hometown had be their nightmare, even if they went back once, they were fear of encountering with those bad people.¡±

    Zhang Zian gradually understood a little, ¡°Did you mean that you nned to stay in Binhai City permanently?¡±

    ¡°Master Zhang, because of you, we finally are able to settle down.¡± Aunt Li raised up her thumb.

    ¡°What? What do you mean?¡± He didn¡¯t understand her logic.

    Her husband began tough. ¡°Master Zhang pretended that he didn¡¯t understand it. I know all the smart people are like that.¡±

    Aunt Li said, ¡°Since you are here, those bad people dare not toe back. All the neighbors already know about your good deed.¡±

    Zhang Zian waived his hands. ¡± No, no, no, don¡¯t say that. I don¡¯t have those skills.¡±

    ¡°Master Zhang, you are so humble!¡± Uncle Li responded, ¡°What is it that¡¯s said?¡±

    Aunt Li understood what her husband wanted to say, ¡± The Hero can protect three viges¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian felt very ttered, although he knew that he misunderstood. ¡°So if I am the hero, where is my beautiful woman?¡±

    Uncle Li was reminded of his wife, but suddenly remembered the next sentence and happily continued, ¡°Good dog protects three neighbors!¡±

    Zhang Zian was puzzled. ¡°¡­What?¡±

    He almost fell down after hearing this sentence.

    Aunt Li was embarrassed, as initially, Uncle Li agreed tomunicate with her through eye contact. How on earth would he slip out that sentence?

    She quickly corrected, ¡°Master Zhang, please don¡¯t mind him. This ce is a city, not a vige!¡±

    Zhang Zian felt even worse, as she had denied the first half of the sentence.

    He was tired of continuing listening to them, and quickly stopped them to go on, ¡°I understand what you have said, but you misunderstand me in that I really do not have so much ability¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, Master Zhang, you don¡¯t have to be so humble. As long as those bad guys thought you had such ability, that¡¯s enough.¡± Uncle Liughed.

    ¡°Well, there is no way to exin to them now.¡± Zhang Zian gave up trying. If he continued, there would be no time left.

    ¡°If you two stay here, I¡¯ll just walk around. if someonees to my shop, please ask them to wait, or call me.¡±

    Uncle Li nodded, ¡°We will not leave until 9:30 or 10am¡­, you can rest assured that we will take care of your shop.¡±

    Aunt Li quickly took out her old smartphone, said, ¡°Master Zhang, we do not know your phone number¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, this is my phone number,¡± Zhang Zian responded.

    Aunt Li respectfully recorded it.

    ¡°Master Zhang, please take these snacks with you.¡± Aunt Li handed him a stic bag holding wheat noodles and a bowl of dumplings without asking for any money.

    Zhang Zian touched his pocket and realized that he forget to bring his wallet, and nned to pay the old couple when they delivered the skewers tonight.

    He waved his hand, carrying the wheat bag and dumplings and left. The old couple watched him walk away.

    That greennd was right in the back of the shop, but if he wanted to go there, he had to go through the half of the street, and then turn at the corner, into an alley, and then went back to half of the distance. Was that reallyplicated? So Zhang Zian always thought that it would be more convenient to open a back door to get to the ce.

    The morning was pretty cold. He was afraid the food in his hands would get cold quickly, so he walked really fast, almost trotted, and slowed down after the wind receded.

    This alley was not too narrow. At least one car could get through, but no cars could stop as one would block the traffic. Most of the alley residents were the elderly, but some young people rented on this street due to the cheap rent. There were office workers and college students; after all, it was not far from Binhai University.

    Fortunately, college students generally did not get up early so early, otherwise Zhang Zian would cross paths with them, which would make him have no appetite

    When he passed the windows of his own shop, he stopped and looked up.

    At this time, above his head was his master bedroom window. Viewing the building from this angle made him feel like he was looking into somebody else¡¯s house.

    He looked around again and felt that he would bother anyone if he opened a back door.

    Near the front was the entrance to the greennd. From the alley, it seemed to be just a piece of small greennd, but after entering, it was, in fact, quite big.

    The shape of the greennd was not very regr and was built along the pattern of the surroundings in the neighborhood. There were a few scattered stumps. The original colored cobblestone trail was hidden among the widely growing weeds.

    Today, it was unknown what this piece of greennd was originally intended for. Maybe it was for the seniors nearby to walk around. But unfortunately, the nearby residents closed their back doors or side doors due to some thefts, which led to increasingly deserted here

    Zhang Zian stood at the entrance and looked at the greennd. There were no surveince cameras, and even the streetlights were still those incandescent bulbs, unlike the rest of the city which had been reced with automatic sr lights. It was doubtful that these old street lights could still light up at night¡­

 Chapter 172: Promise Made After Three Cups of Tea

    <h4>Chapter 172: Promise Made After Three Cups of Tea</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It waste autumn, and insects seemed to have disappeared. If someone walked into this green field in summer, their head would be full of mosquito bites.

    Zhang Zian confirmed once again that there was no one else in the green field, so he pulled out his cellphone, aimed at a path, and released Gxy, Fina and Old Time Tea.

    ¡°So dirty!¡± Fina jumped onto a slightly cleaner stone alongside the path, and looked at this green field despitefully.

    As Zhang Zian had observed, trandhis ce was quite dirty, so it was normal for picky Fina toin. He held up his phone and asked: ¡°Do you want to go back in the game temporarily?¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Fina stared at him, ¡°I can finally take a walk now.¡±

    ¡°OK, OK, then stop whining.¡± Zhang Zian sighed, and wondered why it was so hard to make it happy.

    ¡°Meow!¡± Several stray cats of different colors shot out from the grass suddenly and ran away, terrified as soon as they saw Fina.

    ¡°Hide and seek! Hide and seek!¡± Gxy thought they were ying hide and seek with it, so it quickly assumed the ¡°ghost¡± role and chased after the wildcats.

    ¡°Gxy, don¡¯t go too far!¡± Zhang Zian reminded it loudly.

    ¡°Meow! Got it!¡± Gxy responded from afar.

    Even in thispletely strange ce, Old Time Tea was still so calm and collected that even if the Taishan Mountain was copsing above its head, it wouldn¡¯t even blink. Without running, it simply jumped, cing one hind leg against the wall to generate force. It flipped in the midair, andnded gracefully and lightly on top of the wall. Its yellow eyes looked around under the bamboo hat.

    Zhang Zian may be missing some details, but Old Time Tea would never make such a mistake.

    Old Time Tea observed the whole greenfield by walking a full circle on the top of the wall, and returned back to the starting point.

    Old Time Tea was satisfied with this site. Almost no residue of human urine were seen on the side of the wall, indicating that people rarely visited this ce; even if they did, it was just because their dders could not hold up anymore. Because of therge number of stray cats, mice urine also wasn¡¯t found.

    Old Time Tea jumped down from the top of wall, andnded in front of Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian was waiting anxiously, not because he wanted to learn a few new tricks, but because he worried that if Old Time Tea was not happy about this ce, he had to find another one.

    ¡°Zian, this is a nice ce. Let¡¯s go with this one.¡± said Old Time Tea.

    ¡°Good. Good. ¡°Zhang Zian was relieved.

    He hadn¡¯t noticed yet, but Old Time Tea started to call him ¡°Zian¡± instead of ¡°my new friend¡±. From that moment, Old Time Tea would not treat him as a friend anymore, but it deemed itself as his teacher. Though Old Time Tea and Gxy both called him ¡°Zian¡±, the meaning implied within was different.

    He asked curiously: ¡°Grandpa Tea, do I need to pay for my tuition?¡±

    Last night, he had nothing better to do and searched on the Inte. As it turned out, when Ye Wen wanted to learn Wing Chun Kung Fu from Chen Huashun, he paid 32 pieces of gold for tuition!

    The ancient Chinese had a saying: ¡°The only way out for the poor is study, and martial arts is for the rich.¡± Only rich people could afford to learn martial arts without worrying for their future. People chose the academic way to obtain fame and money, while the investment in martial arts was not in proportion to the rewards.

    Old Time Tea obviously was knowledgeable about traditional Chinese culture, and if it demanded Zhang Zian to pay 12 pieces of gold as tuition, then Zhang Zian would have to rob the Dragon and Phoenix jewelry stores¡­

    Old Time Tea smiled. ¡°No need for tuition.¡±

    Zhang Zian was unwilling to see Old Time Tea break its own principles because of him, and he insisted: ¡°Grandpa Tea, please, let me pay¡­¡±

    Old Time Tea lifted one w and waved: ¡°You have paid the tuition.¡±

    Zhang Zian was confused. Have I? When?

    Seeing him puzzled, Old Time Tea smiled. ¡°At the Teahouse in Hidden Fog, you served me three cups of tea. And as the poet Li Bai said, ¡®One must be serious about keeping the promise that is made after drinking three cups of tea.''¡±

    Now, Zhang Zian remembered. Back then, when he wanted Old Time Tea to take off its bamboo hat, he bought three ridiculously expensive cups of tea from the Teahouse in Hidden Fog, and offered them to Old Time Tea. He felt sorry for his pocket then, but right now it seemed the money for those three cups of tea had been well spent! It was cheaper than 12 pieces of gold anyway! Besides, 12 pieces of gold was far from enough to cover the fees for real Kung Fu!

    Fina turned away its head disdainfully, ¡°Tea is so bitter in taste. I don¡¯t understand why you like it.¡±

    Old Time Tea replied, conveying some kind of message, ¡°After bitternesses happiness.¡±

    Now that he knew he didn¡¯t need to pay any expensive tuition, Zhang Zian was very eager to begin his training. He did not bother to ponder the message implied in Old Time Tea¡¯s words, but asked quickly, ¡°Grandpa Tea, can you formally take me as your apprentice now?¡±

    Old Time Tea shook its head, ¡°No need for that. After all, my Kung Fu was learned secretly. I¡¯m not the orthodox sessor of Wing Chun, and I don¡¯t have the qualifications of a master. So, I think we can just skip such a formality.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought Old Time Tea was just being modest, as always.

    The Navigation Elf had said clearly that Old Time Tea epitomized the Wuxia Spirit that had existed for over 2000 years. Even if Old Time Tea was not the Orthodox Wing Chun sessor, it had inherited the Wuxia Spirit! Surely thetter carried much more weight.

    He grew even more admiring of Old Time Tea. What a capable person¡­ No, what a capable cat! A humble, open-minded cat who was willing to take on new things and not be confined by the shorings of traditional culture. It was simply a perfect cat! Of course, he¡¯d better not to provoke it, or the Benevolent and Righteous Cat would turn into the Warrior Cat again, just like the transformation of the Super Saiyan¡­

    Old Time Tea looked at the sky. ¡°It¡¯s gettingte. We will begin after you finish your meal.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at his own hands and saw himself carrying food. He quickly grabbed the noodles and dumplings and stuffed them into his mouth, and asked, ¡°Grandpa Tea¡­When will I be No.1 in the world?¡±

    He was just joking; he didn¡¯t think he had what it took to be No.1.

    Old Time Tea was not aware that Zhang Zian was merely joking. It pondered the question for a moment and answered, ¡°Work hard. In 20 years, no one will be able to beat you.¡±

    Zhang Zian almost choked! He thought, ¡°20 years? Did I hear you right?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s meaningless if it takes 20 years for me to be No.1! How am I going to show off my abilities and hit on girls in these 20 years?¡±

    But it was always good to have something to look forward to.

    He had eaten his noodles and dumplings, and wiped his mouth. ¡°Grandpa Tea, I¡¯m ready now¡­Do you want me to find a wooden dummy? It¡¯s so cool punching wooden dummies!¡±

    Old Time Tea simply replied, ¡°You can think about using wooden dummies in five years.¡±

    Old Time Tea suddenly felt a bit sad. It wondered whether it could make it another five years¡­Though the current era was not as bright as it previously imagined, at least there was hope, and it wanted to learn as much about this world as everyone else!

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, Are you alright?¡± Zhang Zian observed that Old Time Tea was absent-minded, so he asked, worried.

    Old Time Tea decided to disperse that shadowy thought with cheerfulness, and smiled with its whiskers going up, ¡°I¡¯m fine, just overthinking something.¡±

    ¡°Zian, learning martial arts is neither about winning in battles, nor about gaining that No.1 title. Learning martial arts is good for your physical and mental health. Moreover, you can use your martial arts to help the poor and weak people.¡±

    Zhang Zian focused on its words with great respect.

    ¡°Wing Chun was originated from the Shaolin martial arts, but it did not rigidly adhere to them. Unlike the monks of Shaolin, Wing Chun practitioners did not live in seclusion, have a vegetarian diet, or recite Buddhist chants. In Wing Chun practitioners¡¯ eyes, what martial heroes should do is to fight injustice bravely and help others.¡±

 Chapter 173: Release Power Like a Cat

    <h4>Chapter 173: Release Power Like a Cat</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Old Time Tea remembered the pretty girl named Snowy and the benevolent power in the store and believed that the future of the world was bright.

    A benevolent heart might dim, but it would never vanish.

    Zhang Zian nodded seriously, ¡°I understand, Grandpa Tea. If I see something unfair happen, I won¡¯t let it get by.¡±

    Old Time Tea nodded satisfactorily, ¡°I trust you. If I had even a little bit of doubt, I wouldn¡¯t teach you Wing Chun Kung Fu. In fact, I have been observing you these days and trying to see if you are a reliable and righteous person.¡±

    Zhang Zian was nervous. He had been making fun of people online all the time. He also made Lu Yiyun cry one time. He was eager to find out what Old Time Tea thought about him as a person.

    As if Old Time Tea could read his mind, itughed, ¡°I only look at the big picture. As a person, you should remain unmoved by either the carrot or the stick. Young kids always joke around and that is normal. If you were too serious, I would worry that you were faking it. All real benevolent warriors do not restrict themselves in tiny details. The Kung Fu master Ye Wen was a crazy kid when he was younger.¡±

    Old Time Tea was in its deep memories as it spoke. A smile came up on its face.

    Zhang Zian rxed.

    The smile disappeared on Old Time Tea¡¯s face. It said seriously, ¡°Being tough is great, but you have to be very clear about your limits. For example, when the seven Rainbow Fighters came for money, it was an easy decision to get them out of here by simply giving them some money. You have to remember that a real benevolent warrior should be smart and nicely K.O. the enemies without getting hurt.¡±

    ¡°True!¡± Zhang Zian agreed.

    Honestly, Zhang Zian felt scared after the seven Rainbow Fighters left. If those people stabbed him, it wouldn¡¯t be worth it to fight back¡­

    ¡°Simrly, before you turn into a real Kung Fu master, when you see someone in need of help, I¡¯d suggest calling the police,¡± Old Time Tea said.

    Old Time Tea¡¯s words made himugh. He could feel the concern and love from Old Time Tea through its words.

    ¡°Understood,¡± he said.

    Tired of being ignored, Fina was impatient and grumpy. ¡°Are you guys done?¡±

    Zhang Zian looked up and saw that not far from where he was, Gxy was having fun chasing a group of street cats.

    Old Time Tea smiled, ¡°Queen Fina is pushing us. Let¡¯s begin. I will teach you the Wing Chun form first. It is okay if you cannot understand. All you need to do is memorize it and then understand it through practice.¡±

    Zhang Zian paid full attention and tried to memorize.

    ¡°Wing Chun techniques are from Shaolin. No actions rte to the animal shape and the five elements. Instead, they focus on movement, power and angle to defeat the strong with less energy. Every move is resolved by another. There is no killing move. Save your power like a snake and release it like a cat¡­¡±

    Release power like a cat?

    Zhang Zian almost burst intoughter when he heard this. No wonder Old Time Tea could easily defeat the seven Rainbow Fighters! Old Time Tea used ¡°release power like a cat¡± to the utmost extreme because it was, in fact, a cat.

    The so-called ¡°release power like a cat¡± probably meant to move as quickly as a cat. The essence of Kung Fu was the speed of movements.

    Old Time Tea finished the form. It said immediately, without asking the student¡¯s feedback, ¡°Wing Chun is very easy to learn yet difficult to master. You only need to learn some basics, so you should be okay.¡±

    Zhang Zian was offended. What did Old Time Tea mean? I have the samest name as Zhang Wuji. Howe he could be a Martial Arts master but I can¡¯t?

    Of course, Old Time Tea was not aware of Zhang Zian¡¯splicated feelings. It continued, ¡°Wing Chun includes three sets of basic Chinese boxing ¨C The Intention, The Search and The Advancement. There are also a sets of wooden dummy practices, a set of knife practices and a set of stick practices.¡±

    Old Time Tea looked down at its paws and giggled, ¡°I am not going to teach you the knife practice and stick practice because I am not good at it. Also, it is not easy to carry a weapon around nowadays.¡±

    ¡°You are right,¡± Zhang Zian agreed yet felt pity because he wanted to learn the whole thing.

    Old Time Tea continued, ¡°It is best to master the essence of some movements. It will help you your whole life. For example, the Intention is entry level boxing, but people always say that if you master the Intention, you master half of Wing Chun. From today on, I will teach you from the Intention.¡±

    ¡°First of all, look straight forward, and keep your arms down naturally. Focus your mind on Kung Fu and don¡¯t think about anything else,¡± Old Time Tea started.

    Zhang Zian followed the instruction to pose a standby gesture and keep his mind focused.

    However, he couldn¡¯t help to ask, ¡°Grandpa Tea, howe the standby gesture feels like the broadcast gymnastics I practice at home?¡±

    Old Time Teaughed, ¡°I can¡¯t stand watching you practice that useless broadcast gymnastics so I decided to teach you Wing Chun. It might seem simr at first but will be very different as you advance.¡±

    Zhang Zian was, in fact, joking with Old Time Tea. He knew that broadcast gymnastics could only warm up the body and was not very effective in real fitness training¡­ After learning Wing Chun, he didn¡¯t need broadcast gymnastics anymore.

    ¡°Okay. Stay focused and let the first movement begin ¨C double direction point. Raise both arms to the front. Put the power in your fingers and poke to the front as hard as possible. Your fingers should remain at the same height as your eyes.¡±

    Old Time Tea only taught him a few simple moves which formed the first movement in the Intention. Old Time Tea had Zhang Zian practice on his own as it jumped up to the wall and observed the environment. At times, it pointed out some mistakes in Zhang Zian¡¯s practice.

    The movements looked simple, yet they were difficult to practice. Old Time Tea required every move to be fast and light yet powerful. His eyes had to move alone with his hands and his lower body had to stay firm. Old Time Tea was normally easy-going but when it came to Kung Fu, it could not stand any tiny mistakes or ckness.

    Zhang Zian warmed up quickly. He took off his jacket and threw it on a rock. Fina jumped on his jacket immediately and used it as a nket. Zhang Zian was toozy toin so he decided to focus on practicing.

    The moves were simple and didn¡¯t seem to be powerful. He kept practicing repetitively.

    His body felt more and more tired, yet his mind was clearer and clearer.

    It seemed that every movement would get rid of a bit of distraction and impurity from his body.

    He was sweating all over. Sweat came down from his hair, forehead and neck.

    Old Time Tea was very happy with its new student. Finally, it said, ¡°Let¡¯s call it a day.¡±

    Zhang Zian was so tired. He called to Gxy, ¡°Gxy, it is time to go home.¡±

    Gxy ran back quickly. Apparently, it had had fun.

    Fina wasying on the jacket and taking a nap.

    ¡°Fina, let¡¯s go. It is time to go home. I need my jacket back!¡±

    Fina opened its eyeszily, stood up, and stretched. It jumped up and gave him back his jacket.

    It was windy. Although Zhang Zian was warm and sweating, he had to put his jacket back on. Otherwise, he might catch a cold.

    After putting his jacket on, his cellphone rang. An unfamiliar number was calling.

    ¡°Hello?¡± he answered.

    ¡°Master Zhang, it is me,¡± Aunt Li said, ¡°A man in a suit is here for you. He looks like one of those white-cor workers from TV shows.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Have him wait there for a minute. I aming now,¡± He hung up.

 Chapter 174: An Official Settlement

    <h4>Chapter 174: An Official Settlement</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian had Xinghai, Fina and Old Time Tea stay in the pet bars in the game. Zhang Zian walked back quickly.

    By the time he arrived at his store, the sweat had all dried off.

    There was a man in front of his pet shop. He was about 40 years old, wearing a nice suit and holding a luxurious case. He kept looking at his watch, looking like those sessful men in TV shows.

    Aunt Li and her husband were busy with customers. They looked over and nodded at Zhang Zian, meaning that the man was the person they told him about.

    ¡°Hello, may I help you?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    The man saw Zhang Zian, put on a smile and said, ¡°Hello! Are you the owner of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, Mr. Zhang?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhang Zian replied as he took his keys out and unlocked the door. ¡°Can I help you?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great. I saw the door was locked so I was worried that I couldn¡¯t meet with you today. Fortunately, the street vendor told me you were out for a bit and had me wait here. I am thewyer from the legal department of Stars Pet Chain Supermarket. My name is Rong Bai. Here is my card,¡± the man said as he gave him a business card.

    Zhang Zian took the business card. Just like Captain Sheng said, the legal department of the Stars Pet Chain Supermarket was taking quick action. Just a few days ago, they were still adding pressure to the provincial public security department, and today, they arrived in Binhai to solve the problem. How efficient it was!

    ¡°My name is Zhang Zian. I am the owner of this store, I am sure you already know. Oh, I don¡¯t have a business card.¡±

    He pulled up the curtain door, ¡°Do you want to talk here or in the store?¡±

    Rong Baiughed, ¡°It is quite windy out here. Let¡¯s chat inside. I am excited to see the famous Amazing Fate Pet Shop myself.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Pleasee in,¡± Zhang Zian was very polite.

    As soon as Rong Bai walked in, he started making a scene, ¡°Oh no! look at what they did. That¡¯s unnecessary. You guys should get along with each other.¡±

    Zhang Zian agreed, ¡°That¡¯s right. I don¡¯t want to go through these troubles myself. I am cooking some noodles. Do you want some?¡±

    What?! Rong Bai was confused, yet he replied politely, ¡°I¡¯m fine. I ate before I came.¡±

    The store was cleaned out and looked a lot nicer than it had a few days ago. The broken ss and warped canned food had been cleaned out. The front of the store was ruined and it took more than a simple cleanup to reopen.

    Zhang Zian pointed at the chair next to the cashier desk, ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, please have a seat.¡±

    Looking at the simple outdoor chair, Rong Bai frowned and said, ¡°Well, that¡¯s fine. There is only one chair. I can¡¯t sit down if you are standing and talking to me. I won¡¯t take long¡­¡±

    Zhang Zianid down on the recliner before Rong Bai finished talking.

    What the¡­?! Who would talk to a guest on a recliner?

    Zhang Zian read his mind. He said, ¡°A long time ago our country leaders had a swimming pool diplomacy. How about we have a ¡®recliner diplomacy¡¯?¡±

    Rong Bai felt that the person in front of him was quite difficult. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t seem to follow his normal tricks. However, Rong Bai was a capable man and he had handled way more difficult situations than this.

    Rong Bai showed a smile and sat down, ¡°Mr. Zhang, you are a special man. You are so unpredictable. Now I kind of understand why Chen Taitong did all that to you.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t respond and waited for Rong Bai to continue.

    Knowing that Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t responding, Rong Bai had to continue the conversation, ¡°Mr. Zhang, I am here today to seek a settlement.¡±

    ¡°Settlement. I am looking forward to one depending on how you want to handle it,¡± Zhang Zian said vaguely.

    Rong Bai waved his hand, ¡°Mr. Zhang, don¡¯t take me wrong. I am here today to represent Stars Pets, not Chen Taitong. Chen Taitong has his ownwyer and I don¡¯t really care what he does.¡±

    Zhang Zian was surprised. What was going on? Chen Taitong was the owner of a franchised store. Rong Bai represented their headquarters. Why didn¡¯t he care about Chen Taitong?

    Rong Bai smiled. He unzipped his case and took out a deck of paper.

    ¡°This is a copy of the franchise agreement between the headquarters and Chen Taitong. Of course, I can only show you part of it and the confidential information is already covered. Please take a look at these lines I am pointing out.¡±

    Zhang Zian took the file and looked it over.

    The summary of the paragraph was: The two parties reached an agreement in the spirit of equal and friendly cooperation. Party B (Chen Taitong) has the power to set his own pricing, and Party A (Stars Pet) has no right to interfere. Party B shall not vite any international or domesticws, regtions or moral standards, nor shall he damage the image of Party A in any public or private circumstances, otherwise the contract will be terminated automatically. Party A reserves the right to impensation for the loss caused by Party B. The following are specificpensation standards¡­

    Honestly, contracts give people headaches. This one was so long and difficult. However, Zhang Zian understood this paragraph.

    He returned the copy to Rong Bai, ¡°Okay. I read it. What¡¯s next?¡±

    Rong Bai took back the copy and put it in his case.

    ¡°Like I said, I am here to represent Stars Pet, not Chen Tai Tong.¡±

    He shrugged his shoulder. ¡°In fact, I know Chen Taitong personally. However, business is business. We have to follow what is on the agreement, otherwise a contract means nothing.¡±

    Looking at his watch, he said, ¡°It is gettingte. I don¡¯t want to hold you up. I am going to start my purpose of this visit.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, I officially represent the Stars Pet Chain Supermarket, to inform you of the following two points: First, we will not interfere with the private affairs between you and Chen Taitong. Second, if Mr. Zhang decided to take legal action towards the damages Chen Taitong caused you, Stars Pet Chain Supermarket shall not undertake joint and several liabilities.¡± Rong Bai pulled a serious face and got right into the topic.

    Zhang Zian was confused. He hadn¡¯t dealt with legal issues like that nor did he understand thew.

    Rong Bai didn¡¯t give him the time toprehend his words. He said immediately: ¡°If you agree to these two points, I will personally provide some financial assistance to you. If you object to the second point and decide to prosecute the Stars Pet Chain Supermarket, then we will meet you at court. I want to remind you that you have seen the contract I showed you. Even if you sue us, you have no chance of winning.¡±

    He took out a craft paper bag from his suit pocket andid it t on the cashier table. ¡°There is 20,000 yuan in cash and a waiver of prosecution in this bag. If you agree to sign the waiver, the money is yours.¡±

    He shut up uponpletion of his words and waited quietly for Zhang Zian¡¯s response.

    Zhang Zian was never involved in any legal issues. He had seen it on TV shows. If he were to sue a giant enterprise like Stars Pet Chain Supermarket, it would cost a fortune and he might not be able to run his store anymore.

    ¡°May I look at the waiver?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Of course,¡± Rong Bai took a piece of paper out from the craft bag, and gave it to him.

    Zhang Zian read it through. It was a short and simple statement.

    The title was ¡°Waiver of Prosecution¡±.

    The content was simple: I voluntarily waive the rights to sue and recover from Stars Pet Chain Supermarket through litigation. Reference case number xxxxxxxxxxx.

    The signature space and date were nk.

    Looking at the waiver, Zhang Zian regretted not learning more about thew.

    He said, ¡°Wait here. I need to make a phone call.¡±

    Without waiting for Rong Bai¡¯s response, he ran upstairs. Seeing that Rong Bai was still sitting in the chair, he walked in his bedroom, closed the door and called Xiao Yan.

    She picked up soon after he dialed.

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± she asked, simply and directly.

    Zhang Zian told her about the waiver.

    ¡°Okay. Let me call mywyer friend and I will get back to you.¡± She hung up.

    Zhang Zian silenced his phone. He walked out of his bedroom quietly and saw that Rong Bai was still sitting there.

    One minuteter, his cellphone vibrated.

    He walked back in the bedroom and closed the door.

    ¡°Hello?¡±

    ¡°You can sign it,¡± Xiao Yan said briefly, ¡°Those waivers mean nothing. If you decided to sue them in the future, you still could. Some might say you don¡¯t keep your promises, but that should not do anything to the case.¡±

    No wonder they only offered 20,000 Yuan!

    He was nning to settle the case anyways. Now Stars Pet had sent him some free money, which was great!

    ¡°Thank you,¡± he hung up.

    Zhang Zian walked downstairs happily, ¡°I will sign the waiver. Give me a pen!¡±

 Chapter 175: An Artistic Designer

    <h4>Chapter 175: An Artistic Designer</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It waste in the morning.

    Since Zhang Zian had closed the store for a few days, there were not as many people outside to seek the martial arts learning opportunity. Only a few people were waiting there. They crowded up as soon as they saw Zhang Ziane out of the store.

    ¡°Master Zhang, please teach me Kung Fu! I have waited here for several days!¡±

    ¡°Master Zhang, I am willing to pay. How about 100 thousand a year? 200? As long as you teach me real martial arts that could beat up 7 people at the same time, I am willing to pay more.¡±

    Zhang Zian cleared his throat, ¡°I am sorry to disappoint you but my family has our own rules. I am not allowed to take students before I turn 40. I am not the only one in this world who knows martial arts anyways. Please find someone else.¡±

    Some people were still pushing, ¡°Well, Master Zhang, don¡¯t fool us. Don¡¯t you have two students already?¡±

    Zhang Zian rified, ¡°Who told you that? They are not my students. They work in my store. Don¡¯t let others mislead you.¡±

    They looked at each other and thought to themselves, those two guys must be on top of the waiting list.

    ¡°Master Zhang, we want to work here too, okay?¡± They asked, ¡°We won¡¯t charge a penny.¡±

    Zhang Zian was sick of talking to them. He pointed at the store, ¡°Look, my store doesn¡¯t need more workers. Please go home.¡± He waved his hand and stopped talking to them.

    While he was about to turn around and get back to the store, he saw Xiao Yan¡¯s Mercedes Benz pull over and stop.

    Xiao Yan parked the car. There was a person with a ponytail sitting in the passenger¡¯s seat. Was that a¡­ man?

    The ponytailed man and she both got out of the car. Zhang Zian walked up to them. In his mind, he was still trying to decide whether this ponytailed person was a man or woman.

    The man was rather thin with small shoulders. His eyes looked sad, yet he dressed quite fashionably. There were a few bracelets on his wrists and nes on his neck. In a word, he looked like an artist.

    Xiao Yan introduced the person, ¡°This is Guo Dongyue, the designing director from Haitian Home Interior Designs. They are the ones who designed my store. This is Zhang Zian, the owner of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop that I mentioned to you.¡±

    Zhang Zian had mentioned to Xiao Yan that he wanted to renovate the store, but he had never thought it through. He didn¡¯t expect Xiao Yan to be so efficient as to bring an interior designer here¡­ He looked quite expensive, which made Zhang Zian wonder about the cost to work with him.

    ¡°Hello, my name is Zhang Zian. I am the owner of this store.¡± He reached out for a handshake.

    ¡°Guo Dongyue, Dong means winter and Yue means mountains.¡± The ponytailed man ignored his handshake and nodded coldly.

    Zhang Zian took his hand back, embarrassed. Xiao Yan seemed not to be surprised. She smiled.

    ¡°Yan, this is the store you talk about? This is so tiny!¡± Guo Dongyue startedining in front of Zhang Zian. It sounded like he was quite a close friend of Xiao Yan.

    ¡°Yue, don¡¯t bullsh*t. Mr. Zhang is a friend of mine. Go inside and look,¡± Xiao Yan said.

    She stepped back and said to Zhang Zian quietly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. That¡¯s just his personality.¡±

    Zhang Zian understood. Everyone was different. Some artistic people had especially distinguished characteristicspared to others.

    Guo Dongyue walked around the outside of the store, and kept looking up and down and murmuring to himself. He then walked into the store, looked around and patted the wall with his hand.

    ¡°He is good at what he does. I heard he was educated in Great Britain.¡± Standing outside of the store, Xiao Yan spoke to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°No wonder,¡± Zhang Zian said. He could understand why Guo acted so arrogant now: He went to school overseas.

    Guo Dongyue walked out of the store and showed no interest, ¡°This store is too small. Not enough room to show my talent at all!¡±

    ¡°Look, why are you so humble? Haven¡¯t you always said that you can build a pce inside a snail¡¯s shell? Was that just a joke?¡± Xiao Yanughed.

    ¡°Hey, hey. Are you challenging me? Okay, if you think I was joking, I will prove you wrong.¡± He would not take any criticism.

    ¡°You are the owner, right?¡± He asked Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian nodded.

    ¡°Tell me what you want ¨C but don¡¯t ask for too much!¡± Guo Dongyue said.

    Zhang Zian started, ¡°Well, first of all, I need a backdoor on the first floor. That¡¯s the most important.¡±

    Xiao Yan was confused, so she interrupted, ¡°Why?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to tell her about practicing martial arts on the green, so he said, ¡°If I am ever robbed again and there are too many robbers, I could at least leave from the backdoor.¡±

    Xiao Yan nodded and agreed. Although Zhang Zian was a master in martial arts, if the opponent had too many people or had weapons, escaping was the best solution.

    Zhang Zian continued, ¡°The door only needs to be a normal door at an apartment. I am nning on putting in an rmed door. I will only turn it on when there is an emergency. As for other things¡­ Pleasee inside to discuss them.¡±

    He took them both inside the store and walked upstairs.

    ¡°The second floor doesn¡¯t need much work. I only want to remove the wall between the 2nd bedroom and living room.¡±

    Guo Dongyue walked up to the wall, patted it and observed for a bit.

    Xiao Yan asked, ¡°Is it a bearing wall?¡±

    Guo shook his head, ¡°Nope, it could be removed. I rmend keeping some of it. Don¡¯t remove itpletely.¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°That¡¯s fine. You can decide on that.¡±

    ¡°How about the other rooms? No changes at all? I am telling you, if you want to make changes, tell me now. Don¡¯t tell me you want something else when the project is halfway through,¡± Guo Dongyue was looking at the other side of the 2nd floor which was the master bedroom and storage room. The doors were both closed.

    Zhang Zian was thinking about it.

    Xiao Yan asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on? Does someone live in there?¡±

    ¡°Well, no. That was my parents¡¯ bedroom. I haven¡¯t changed a thing since they died. I have not decided what to do with it yet.¡± Zhang Zian was honest.

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Although Xiao Yan was a decisivedy, she didn¡¯t want to make a decision for Zhang Zian this time.

    ¡°Oh, you are quite a nice son!¡± Guo Dongyue praised him. This was the first time he really looked at Zhang Zian since he arrived.

    ¡°Well, I will break the rules for you. You think about what you want to do and let me know.¡± Guo Dongyue walked back downstairs and started seriously looking at theyout.

    ¡°What is that?¡± He pointed at the pet¡¯s bathing room.

    ¡°It is a bathing room for pets,¡± Xiao Yan replied.

    ¡°Okay, do you want to keep it?¡±

    ¡°Yes, please,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Touching his chin, Guo Dongyue wandered around in deep thought.

 Chapter 176: The Fourth Elfin

    <h4>Chapter 176: The Fourth Elfin</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Remaining silent, Guo Dongyue walked around the store thinking. Sometimes his eyebrows gathered, or his lips slightly moved as if he was calcting something.

    After a little bit, he pulled out his cellphone and took pictures everywhere. He kept taking pictures, and for some important ces, he had to take several pictures from various angles. After taking pictures on both the first and second floor, he then videotaped from the door, mimicking what a customer would see walking into the store.

    As Guo was busily recording, Zhang Zian asked Xiao Yan secretly, ¡°How much does it cost to hire apany like this?¡±

    This concerned him the most. The ponytail guy looked so professional. If he was extremely expensive, Zhang Zian could do nothing but turn him away.

    Xiao Yan waved and calmed him down, ¡°He didn¡¯te for his family. I invited him here as a friend. You can give him something for his work. When his design ispleted, you can outsource an affordable contractor toplete the project.¡±

    Zhang Zian was appreciative. Although he didn¡¯t know what she meant by ¡°something,¡± it would be a lot more affordable than hiring a design firm.

    ¡°Is it okay to do so? What if hispany finds out? Is he going to be in trouble¡­?¡± He was happy, yet couldn¡¯t help to worry about Guo.

    Xiao Yan was positive, ¡°No problem. They have side jobs all the time. It is an open secret. Easy money for them.¡±

    ¡°Okay. I see.¡± He understood. That was true. It would be stupid to not take easy money like this.

    ¡°Oh, right. The other day when you were on the phone, was it a call from the legal department of Stars Pet Chain Supermarket?¡± she asked, yet she pretty much knew the answer.

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Zhang Zian smiled, ¡°I couldn¡¯t thank you enough. If it wasn¡¯t for you, I wouldn¡¯t have dared to sign the waiver of prosecution. It looked kind of scary.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s nothing at all. Don¡¯t mention it. So now you¡¯ve imed peace with them?¡± She asked.

    Zhang Zian nodded affirmatively, ¡°Of course. I don¡¯t want to be No. 1 of the country. All I want is to run this store and them to let me go.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great. You handled it very well. Now everyone is happy,¡± She then said, ¡°Well, you know, the other day you took your golden cat to my store. Many customers heard about it¡­ you know, they are friends with each other and have a broadwork ¨C they asked if you have more pretty cats like that.¡±

    ¡°Nope, I really don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s too bad,¡± Xiao Yan sighed. ¡°They are very wealthy.¡±

    ¡°Yeah but what can you do. That cat is very rare, extremely rare. I got it by ident and I don¡¯t think there is another one like that,¡± Zhang Zian said with pride.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. I mentioned your store on the BBS and told people that your kittens know stunts. Many people are interested. You know, the wealthy wives are on board,¡± she said.

    ¡°Thank you very much, I really appreciate it,¡± Zhang Zian thanked her from the bottom of his heart.

    After a while, Guo Dongyue seemed to finish collecting all the information he needed. He walked up with his ponytail whipping in the air, ¡°Do you have the structure drawing? You can find that in your deed.¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Yup. Should I get that for you now?¡±

    ¡°No rush. You can send me a picture when you find it.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. They friended each other on WeChat. Zhang Zian thought of something and said, ¡°I have the structure drawing, but many ces are not the same as the drawing anymore¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, don¡¯t worry about it. I already took pictures of those spots. I just need to see the structure of the building,¡± Guo Dongyue was confident and interrupted him.

    ¡°Yan, let¡¯s go. Dog and cat hairs are everywhere. So gross!¡± he said to Xiao Yan.

    Xiao Yan was a busy person. She nodded, ¡°Well, we¡¯ve got to go.¡±

    ¡°Wait a second.¡±

    Zhang Zian walked up the stairs and grabbed an envelope from his bedroom. There was 20 thousand Yuan inside the envelope from the legal department of the Stars Pet Chain Supermarket.

    He walked downstairs and handed the envelope to Xiao Yan. ¡°This is for the tea.¡±

    He didn¡¯t know how much the tea was. If 20 thousand Yuan was not enough, then he would have to make up for itter on.

    Xiao Yan didn¡¯t reject. She took the envelope and felt it. She already knew how much money was in the envelope.

    ¡°That is too much,¡± she said. ¡°I bought the tea from a friend and I only paid something¡­ You know, that is the value ofworking.¡±

    ¡°The extra will be my deposit then. I have to get it again when it is gone,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    After getting along with Xiao Yan these days, he learned thatworks needed maintenance. Sometimes it was only a game of exchange. Xiao Yan got the tea from her friend for lower than the market price. At the same time, she would need someone to help her out at times. Now, she didn¡¯t need his help yet, but in the future, if she ever needed a hand from him, he would try his best to help.

    Xiao Yan unzipped her purse and put the envelope inside. She said curiously, ¡°You are a real tea lover.¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled without saying anything. He couldn¡¯t tell her that it was his cat who loved tea.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± She waved at Guo Dongyue, and nodded at Zhang, ¡°Keep in touch.¡±

    Guo Dongyue had already walked back to the car. Zhang Zian was still worried about the renovation. He texted Guo, ¡°My store is a pet store. Please don¡¯t make your design too busy. Being practical is the most important.¡±

    He responded immediately, ¡°I know! Don¡¯tment if you don¡¯t know about interior design.¡±

    Zhang Zian was astonished. He used more emojis than words in his sentence.

    Among all the female customers he knew, only Snowy had sent a few emojis from time to time, yet Guo was way more extravagant than Snowy.

    What an arrogant man! He was almost as bad as Fina. Who wants to deal with a guy like that¡­?

    Putting his cellphone on the desk, hey on the recliner. Although he wasn¡¯t practicing martial arts, he was trying to enter the zone where he could meditate¡­

    Half of his body was sore from practicing martial arts. It was a good thing that the store was only open half-time so he could take a good rest. Until his body got used to the exercise, the renovation should be done and he could re-open the store.

    As he was meditating¡­ and about to fall asleep, his cell phone chimed.

    ¡°What¡¯s up? So annoying!¡± He murmured to himself, picked up and unlocked the phone.

    [Game Tip]: We detected a rare pet in your city. It is up to the yer whether to capture or not.

    [Game Tip]: Below is the pet information.

    [Type of Pet]: Elfin

    [Rarity]: Elite

    [Difficulty to Capture]: Uncertain

    [Degree of Danger]: Low

 Chapter 177: A Special Ratio

    <h4>Chapter 177: A Special Ratio</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    600 miles away from Binhai city, there was another city called Hu City.

    It was the grand opening of the brand-new headquarters building of Stars Pet Chain Supermarket.

    Feeling helpless, Qian Tong sighed, ¡°So many people! I absolutely hate crowded ces!¡±

    With a huge professional camera on his shoulder, Yu tried tofort her. ¡°What else are we going to do? That¡¯s our job. Hey, if you hate crowded ces so much, howe you majored in journalism?¡±

    Upon hearing these questions, Qian Tong startedining, ¡°Well, I majored in journalism because I wanted to be a TV show anchor. I have been through so much to get a job at the TV station, yet all I got is this no-name reporter position!¡±

    Yu was in his forties and had a family to feed, so he was much more tolerant. Wearing a photographer¡¯s vest which had a thousand pockets between the inside and outside, he used one hand to carry the camera and the other hand to reach into the chest pocket for his cigarette. He shook the package until one cigarette stuck out from the opening. He bowed his head and got it in his mouth, pulled out the lighter, lit it and took a deep drag.

    ¡°Everyone wants to be an anchor because that is where the fame is. The problem is that you don¡¯t have a greatwork, nor did you graduate from a broadcasting and hosting arts major. So, it could be difficult to be an anchor. Anyways, getting a paycheck regrly is nice, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Taking another drag of the cigarette, Yu felt a bit annoyed by the crowd in front of him. There were a lot of cameramen from other TV stations and newspapers. If he wanted to get a good angle for the news, he had to fight for a good spot to ce his camera. He had gotten in a fight with others for a good spot before. It wasn¡¯t good. However, he was excited when he thought about the cash gift the organizer was going to distribute.

    He fixed his cap, and looked up to the top of the headquarters building.

    It was a 25-story building: square, solid and practical. Compared to other new designs, this building looked somewhat in. Stars Pet Chain Supermarket was such an enormous enterprise. Why didn¡¯t they spend more money on the exterior design?!

    Anyways, that¡¯s none of my business. He habitually fixed his cap again and thought to himself.

    There was a long red carpet extended from the front door of the building to the outside. The red carpet then went from the middle to both sides.

    A few technicians were on the stage testing the microphone.

    On both sides of the podium, there was a bunch of stuff mysteriously covered underneath some red clothes. They might reveal it during the ceremony.

    Qian Tong took out a mirror and fixed her makeup carefully.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go. Their PR person is here. Go get our cash gift,¡± Yu pushed her.

    Qian Tong was excited. Yes, she liked toin about her job, but the side money she was getting was, in fact, not bad.

    She was wondering how much there was inside the red envelope. Was it enough for the imported perfume she had been dreaming about?

    Other reporters also started to act and rushed towards the PR manager.

    ¡°Don¡¯t rush. Pleasee this way to sign in and get your lucky money. One for each person,¡± the PR manager said with a big smile.

    This was an unwritten rule in the news industry. The organizer needed to give the reporters some money as a thank you gift. The reporters then would write a nice article about the organizer after receiving the cash gift.

    Qian Tong and Yu waited in line, signed in, and the PR manager gave them each a red envelope.

    Coming out from the crowd, Qian Tong couldn¡¯t wait to open hers and counted the cash inside. ¡°2888 Yuan! Stars Pet is generous!¡±

    Yu put the camera down on the ground, opened his red envelope and counted. He only got 1888 Yuan, but it was better than nothing. The production crew always made less than the people standing in front of the camera.

    He pulled out 200 Yuan and put the remaining 1688 Yuan back in the envelope.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Qian Tong was confused.

    Yu put the red envelope in one of the pockets of his vest andughed, ¡°It¡¯s all my fault. I was drunk one time and told my wife about the organizers giving out cash gifts and my wife remembered it. Ever since then, I have to give her all the cash gifts I receive. I am a grown man. I have to have some money put aside for myself, right?¡±

    He shook the 200 Yuan he took out, ¡°Look, I am giving her 1688 and keeping 200.¡±

    ¡°F*ck!¡± Qiang Tong didn¡¯t like it. ¡°Men are tricky! I don¡¯t like it.¡±

    Yu responded immediately, ¡°Well, that¡¯s because youdies are too harsh on us. I almost cannot afford my cigarettes. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t do that to my wife.¡±

    ¡°Well, I am going to tell on you sometime.¡± She felt bad for his wife.

    Yu smiled, ¡°If you tell on me, I won¡¯t teach you any other tricks I know. When you get married, you won¡¯t be able to figure out your husband¡¯s tricks.¡±

    ¡°You¡­¡± Qian Tong was speechless.

    Raising up the 100 Yuan note to the light, Yu checked if the notes were real ¨C He heard from friends that somepanies put fake notes in the cash gifts, so he was cautious.

    The notes were real.

    He rxed, put down his hand, and found something interesting.

    ¡°Qian Tong, look,¡± he said to her.

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    Qian Tong replied without thinking while she was still caught up on Yu¡¯s act of hiding pocket money from his wife. She thought that when she got married, she had to be a generous wife: give a bit more pocket money to her husband. Yet men could not have too much control on money, otherwise who knows whom they were going to spend the money on¡­ How much is a good amount? 300? 500?

    ¡°Qian Tong,e!¡± Yu called her again.

    ¡°What is it?¡± She walked over unwillingly.

    ¡°Look at the ratio! Does it look like something you know?¡± Yu was holding up a 100 Yuan note and had her look up.

    ¡°What ratio?¡± She was confused.

    He said, ¡°Look at this note and the building. Look hard!¡±

    He was a photographer who had excellent eyes when it came to observation. Holding up a 100 Yuan note next to the brand new headquarters building, he had Qian Tonge over.

    ¡°Look, the length and width ratio of this note is very simr to the building.¡±

    Qian Tong stood next to him, looked at the note and then at the new building.

    ¡°Really?¡± She wasn¡¯t sure.

    Yu was affirmative, ¡°I am sure!¡±

    ¡°So?¡± She was still not interested.

    Yu was a bit frustrated, ¡°Don¡¯t you find it interesting? I don¡¯t think this is a coincidence.¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡± she questioned.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Yu couldn¡¯t respond, ¡°If it is a coincidence, then it had to be a rare one!¡±

    ¡°So, what if it isn¡¯t a coincidence? It is their building. They can design it however they want.¡±

    She was not curious as to why the Stars Pet Chain Supermarket designed the building that way at all. Yu was disappointed. It looked like there was in fact amunication gap between men and women.

    He looked at the stage. The staff had left. It was almost time for the show.

 Chapter 178: Missing Each Other

    <h4>Chapter 178: Missing Each Other</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Some sensitive reporters saw a Cadic limousine slowly drive towards the building. It slowed down as it got closer and eventually stopped in front of the building.

    Sitting in the back of the car, Li Yuanfei closed his eyes to rest. The driver was skillful and the car was extraordinary, so he didn¡¯t notice that the car had stopped.

    Ding! His phone chimed.

    He picked up his cellphone and looked at the monitor with his eyebrows furrowed.

    [Game Tip]: We detected a rare pet in Binhai City. It is up to the yer whether to capture or not.

    [Game Tip]: Below is the pet information.

    [Type of Pet]: Elfin

    [Rarity]: Elite

    [Difficulty to Capture]: Uncertain

    [Degree of Danger]: Low

    ¡°Binhai City¡­ That¡¯s too far away.¡± Li Yuanfei locked his cell.

    In fact, he wouldn¡¯t mind having another Elfin. However, it was a crucial time for hispany to get ready for IPO and he was about to head to Beijing for meeting. Going to Binhai City for an Elfin seemed to be a luxury at this time. Most importantly, he could not assign anyone to capture Elfins for him.

    Looking outside through the window, he noticed that he had arrived. More than 100 reporters were waiting for him to get out of the limousine.

    If he wanted to capture the Elfin in Binhai city, the driver would take him to the airport as soon as he told him. When he arrived at the airport, his private ne would be ready to head anywhere¡­ However, this was only an elite grade Elfin. It didn¡¯t really matter if he missed it. Obviously, the crowd outside was more important. The ceremony of the new building and new logo was essential to thepany. There was no room for error.

    He lightly patted the cat¡¯s head and said gently, ¡°I don¡¯t need another Elfin because I have you. Wait here. I will be right back.¡±

    With its eye squinted, it seemed to enjoy his petting. It made a noise that sounded like a cat yet was much lower and rough.

    The driver got out, ran over to the door and opened his door.

    Bending down, Li Yuanfei got out of the limousine. Smiling, he waved at all the reporters.

    Lights kept shing. He was used to being the focus of the crowd.

    ¡°This is the owner of Stars Pet Chain Supermarket? He looks so young. Is he in his forties?¡± Some reporters seeing him for the first time were astonished by how young he looked.

    ¡°That¡¯s true. He didn¡¯t finish high school. A self-made millionaire, just like Bill Gates,¡± another reporter said.

    ¡°Really? I only thought about how to get girls when I was in high school!¡±

    ¡°Everyone is different, so are the opportunities. It is not evenparable.¡±

    ¡°Right. Hey, let me remind you: When we do the Q&A, don¡¯t call him ¡®President Li¡¯. He doesn¡¯t like that name.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Thanks for reminding me. I would¡¯ve called him that.¡±

    ¡°How should we address him?¡±

    ¡°He likes the name ¡®Representative Li¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Representative¡­ Li? So¡­¡±

    ¡°After this ceremony, he is flying to Beijing for an important meeting with the country¡¯s leaders. Understand?¡±

    ¡°Wow! Isn¡¯t that something?¡±

    The PR manager came up with a big smile. She quietly reported the number of reporters and pointed out that a few well-known media outlets were also here. It was a ceremony that everyone was talking about.

    Li Yuanfei nodded. He was happy with the PR department.

    Today was going to be a historical moment. The more media, the better. For those who couldn¡¯t make it, they would have a hard time dealing with him in the future.

    The PR manager was excited to get the big boss¡¯s praise.

    Qian Tong and Yu fought their way up to a good position in the front.

    ¡°Wow! That¡¯s the legendary owner of the Stars Pet Chain Supermarket? What a handsome middle-aged man!¡± Qian Tong couldn¡¯t believe her eyes.

    In fact, Li Yuanfei and Yu were same ago.

    However, one was the owner of the biggest pet store chain and the other was only a cameraman. One was sharp in his expensive suit and the other was wearing a thousand-pocket vest. One was always the focus of the crowd, and the other was in charge of making sure the focus was on the ¡°focus¡± of the crowd. One was a billionaire and the other was a husband trying to hide 200 Yuan from his wife¡­

    Losers were losers, even when they grew old. Only the brightest could turn into handsome middle-aged men.

    Without saying anything, Yu smiled embarrassedly. There was a bit of sadness in his eyes. The embarrassed smile was blocked by the camera where no one could ever find out.

    Qian Tong would¡¯ve never known that her thoughtless words had hurt Yu. She was not fantasizing Li Yuanfei, she was just shocked at how young and good-looking he was.

    Yu said lightly, ¡°Well, he is not that impressive. Look at those young kids who turned into billionaires in the IT industry. Before you worked here, I interviewed a billionaire in his twenties.¡±

    He was as if telling this to himself so he could be a bit morefortable ¨C Li Yuanfei was wealthy, yet he was not the most outstanding among the rich.

    Qing Tong didn¡¯t say anything.

    Another reporterughed and said, ¡°That¡¯s not an apple-to-appleparison. The IT industry has passed its golden era. Honestly, the industry is sopetitive, it has be the red sea. A greatpany could die the next day¡­ the pet industry ispletely different. Stars Pet Chain Supermarket is the one and best in the industry and no one can beat it.¡±

    Blushed, Yu was going to fight back, but the other guy continued, ¡°Talking about money, they are preparing for the issuance of IPO now. Once they sessfully go public, his worth is going to be enormous. Ha-ha¡­¡±

    That was totally true.

    ¡°Issuance of IPO¡­ Who knows if that will work out. There are too many examples of failure,¡± Yu continue.

    The reporter said, ¡°Yeah, you are right but look at it. It doesn¡¯t have any sign of failing. You probably don¡¯t know this, but after this ceremony, Li Yuanfei is going to Beijing to meet with the Secretary of Commerce as representative of the business sector.¡±

    Yu and Qian Tong looked at each other.

    ¡°That¡¯s crazy!¡± Qian Tong¡¯s eyes were wide-open.

    ¡°I heard,¡± the reporter said in a low voice, ¡°Li Yuanfei is going to announce some breaking news!¡±

    ¡°What breaking news?¡± Yu was inquisitive.

    Qian Tong held her breath, waiting for the mysterious breaking news.

    ¡°Well, I am not sure. It is a huge one! Our general editor got the inside scoop about it, but he didn¡¯t tell us a single thing. He said there is going to be an earthquake in the pet industry.¡±

    ¡°F*ck!¡± Yu couldn¡¯t help swearing while looking at Li Yuanfei from the backstage, ¡°This guy is wealthy enough. What does he want now?¡±

    ¡°Ha-ha¡­ Money is a great thing! Who doesn¡¯t want more?¡± The reporterughed as he patted his pocket, ¡°I hope they make more money. I don¡¯t care. They might give out more cash gifts next time. Right?¡±

    ¡°That¡­ is true,¡± Yu couldn¡¯t deny that.

    Li Yuanfei walked up to the podium and smiled at the audience.

    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen!¡±

 Chapter 179: The War Between Two Maneki-nekos

    <h4>Chapter 179: The War Between Two Maneki-nekos</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Everyone noticed the confident smile on Li Yuanfei¡¯s face. His confidence seemed to be emotionally contagious. That was 120% of confidence, no doubt at all.

    Why is he so confident? That was a question in everyone¡¯s mind.

    Most of the reporters had attended such ceremonies many times. In one hand, they could finish their work; on the other hand, the cash gift was very attractive¡­ They had seen many owners of huge enterprises. They all faked confidence in such situations. The reporters were bright; they could tell who was really confident and who was not.

    Li Yuanfei was the real confident one.

    After the opening, he looked down to the audience from above, as if he was their majesty the King.

    ¡°Wee, everyone, to this ceremony. This is very important to us. I assure you this is going to be a ceremony full of fun!¡± There weren¡¯t any notes in his hands. His speech was spontaneous.

    ¡°In this ceremony, we are here not only to celebrate our brand-new headquarters building, but also to reveal the new logo of ourpany.¡±

    Oh? The reporters started whispering.

    A newpany logo? That was interesting.

    The old logo of Stars Pet Chain Supermarket was a big golden star with a line of small stars in a curve. It was not special, but it was a good logo. What would a good logo look like?

    ¡°I think,¡± a reporter said to Yu quietly, ¡°They might pick an animal as a logo. They are a pet store, right?¡±

    Qian Tong responded, ¡°I agree. Is it going to be a cat or a dog?¡±

    ¡°It might be a lion or a tiger, the king of all animals. It is mighty and powerful, a great fit to Stars Pet¡¯s position in the industry.¡±

    Yu said, ¡°It might be a dragon, which is even more powerful?¡±

    Qian Tong and the reporter both agreed that it couldn¡¯t be a dragon.

    Li Yuanfei sessfully made everyone curious. He smiled, walked over to the red cloth, andnded his hand on the red cloth.

    Every reporter and cameraman all focused on the red cloth.

    ¡°Here, I present to you¡­ the new logo of Stars Pet Chain Supermarket!¡±

    As soon as he finished speaking, he pulled off the red cloth.

    Hundreds of people¡¯s eyesnded on the mascot.

    Silence.

    After a short period of silence, people started murmuring to each other.

    ¡°What the heck is it?¡±

    ¡°Is it a¡­ cat? It looks like a cat¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it is a cat¡­¡±

    ¡°This is so difficult¡­¡±

    The reporters were not the only ones to whom the logo was revealed to for the first time. Many of the lower-level staff members had never seen it before either.

    The people¡¯s reactions were all within Li Yuanfei¡¯s expectation.

    In fact, this logo was the subject of a heated discussion within higher management because it was not clear what it was or meant.

    ¡°Okay,¡± he looked at his watch, ¡°It is about time. I have to catch a flight. Our PR manager will take care of you guys¡­¡±

    The PR manager walked up to the podium right away.

    Li Yuanfei walked towards his Cadic limousine.

    The driver was waiting by the door and opened the door for the boss.

    Li Yuanfei sat inside the car, stretched, and made himselffortable.

    Bang! Bang!

    Someone knocked at the window.

    At a nce, Li Yuanfei saw that it was the senior manager from thepany¡¯s legal department.

    He opened up a small gap.

    ¡°What is it?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Something went wrong in the franchise store in Binhai city. The owner is a suspect for hiring someone for intentional assault. He was arrested and we are handling this matter,¡± The manager knew his boss well enough so he was brief and to the point.

    ¡°Binhai city?¡± Li Yuanfei was surprised. Didn¡¯t the game send a tip about detecting an elfin in Binhai city?

    Was it a coincidence? It had to be.

    He waved, meaning that he got it. He didn¡¯t need to give any instruction. If he had to take care of everything, then many people would lose their jobs.

    He closed the window.

    ¡°Go to the airport,¡± he said to the driver.

    The Cadic started slowly. After closing the window, the car waspletely quiet; even the PR manager¡¯s speech was blocked outside the window.

    Li Yuanfei had more important issues to think about¡­ the chance to meet with the Secretary of Commerce was hard toe by. He had to fetch this opportunity to impress him. Everything could be prepared on the ne.

    Turning on his cellphone, he quickly grasped the news.

    It was almost Single Day sale festival, the biggest online sale event in the country. Many emerce tycoons were getting ready to roll up their sleeves.

    Of course, every year, the two big rivals were in a fiercepetition.

    Since he knew that they were yers of the game, heprehended the news from a brand-new perspective.

    There was a sarcastic smile on his face.

    Grey dog in the east and ck cat from the sky?

    Rubbish!

    Next to him, a cat was resting on the beautiful genuine leather seat. There was a big smile on its face.

    He petted it and then turned on the game.

    [Game Tip]: Pet characteristics

    [Known As]: Maneki-neko

    [Rarity]: Epic/Legendary

    [Characteristics]: Jostling and joyous,

    The whole worldes after profit;

    Racing and rioting,

    After profit, the whole world goes!

    [Unlocked History]:

    On October 1st, 1999, the fifth generation RMB was officiallyunched. It gradually reced the fourth generation RMB and had be the major currency in the country. It had be something the Chinese were familiar with.

    After more than a decade, someone surprisingly found that there were a few weird-looking cats hiding on the notes.

    No one knew how those cat patents appeared on the notes. Maybe it was an anti-fraudulent mark? Maybe it was because of something else¡­

    China was growing more powerful day by day. RMB had be one of the major currencies in east Asia, southeast Asia and even throughout the whole world.

    Many people longed for, worshipped and had faith in RMB.

    In a short time since the fifth generation RMBunched, the bowing cat collected a stunning faithful power which took other Elfins thousands of years to collect.

    Under fanatical faithful and worship powers, the bowing cat turned into an Elfin.

    It was the most powerful Maneki-neko in the legendary grade. It was granted a goddess status. However, it was downgraded half a grade due to the unstable nature and uncertainty of currency.

    [Unlocked Real Name]: The fifth generation RMB material cat from ancient times

    The building with a perfect RMB note ratio was disappearing from the rear mirrors as the car drove far.

    He noticed there was a note under his feet, so he picked it up. His shoes were clean so the note was very clean. It looked almost brand-new ¨C in fact, it was brand-new.

    There were some more 100 Yuan notes scattered inside the car. Those notes were not there before he got out of the limo. Also, besides him, no one had gotten in the vehicle.

    He picked up all the magical notes and rolled them in a ck case. He was very familiar with this, as if he had done it a thousand times.

    Half-closing his eyes, he started to rest.

    In the meeting in Beijing, he really wanted to meet the other two yers. He would¡¯ve enjoyed seeing their desperate and terrified faces. He was so ready for that moment.

    He didn¡¯t really need to capture other Elfins, which was a waste of his time.

    He was not interested in the Pet King Battle, which was hrious and meaningless to him.

    His Maneki-neko was unbeatable because it perfectly represented RMB.

    Except¡­he opened his eyes, pulled out his cell phone and searched something.

    Launch date of the fourth generation RMB: April 27, 1987.

    Launch date of the fifth generation RMB: October, 1999.

    Worries somewhat came up in his heart. He locked the cell phone.

    Currency was not stable and was uncertain¡­

    I need to resolve all the problems before that happens¡­

 Chapter 180: Condition to Appear Invisible

    <h4>Chapter 180: Condition to Appear Invisible</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian looked at the Elfin detective tips and was astonished.

    This time, the Elfin was extremely close to him. In fact, he¡¯d rather it was farther away.

    The circle showing the location of the elfin covered the entirety of Binhai University¡­

    Oh no! To find an elfin at the university?

    That¡¯s disappointing!

    The difficulty of finding Old Time Tea, who appeared in Mt. Hidden Fog, was nothingpared to this one.

    It was definitely easier to find an elfin in the rural area than a highly popted ce.

    Binhai University was a four-year school. It wasn¡¯t the best university in the country and its students mostly came from the local area. However, from undergraduate to graduate schools, there are tens of thousands of people on that piece of property, not counting faculty members and workers¡­

    There were too many students, ssrooms and dorms. Where should he start?

    The dorms?

    He was quite interested in going to the girls¡¯ dorms; however, the dorm manager was usually difficult to deal with.

    As for the guys¡¯ dorms¡­ He¡¯d rather not go there or he would die from the smell of dirty socks.

    What should he do?

    He decided to try his luck.

    He wasn¡¯t even sure if he was the only one searching for this elfin.

    The detective areas covered 600 miles. As long as other yers didn¡¯t live in Binhai, it would take them quite a while to get here.

    This was only an elite grade elfin, which was nothing too outstanding. Maybe some high-level yers would give up once they looked at the rating of the pet.

    Above all were his selfforting techniques.

    ¡°Gxy! Fina! You guys want to go somewhere?¡± he raised his voice.

    ¡°Meow! Where? Are we ying hide and seek in the greennd likest time?¡± Gxy jumped out from a group of kittens.

    ¡°Nope, we are going to the university.¡±

    ¡°University? Is it crowded?¡± Gxy asked cautiously.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Zhang Zian said, ¡°Yeah. There are a lot of people.¡±

    ¡°Meow¡­ I don¡¯t like crowded ces,¡± Gxy quailed.

    ¡°Then you¡¯ll have to stay in my cellphone and I will let you out once Ie back,¡± Zhang Zian respected its thoughts.

    ¡°Can we y hide and seek?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± he promised.

    ¡°Okay, then I will take a nap. We will y hide and seekter!¡± Gxy was happy.

    Zhang Zian saved it in his cellphone.

    Fina slowly shook its beautiful golden hair, and walked down from upstairs.

    ¡°Where are we going?¡± It asked without interest.

    What azy cat!

    ¡°We¡¯re going to Binhai University nearby,¡± He said.

    ¡°What is so fun there? Are there shiny things?¡± it asked.

    ¡°Shiny things¡­¡± He thought for a second, ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± Universities wouldn¡¯t have jewelry.

    Fina¡¯s eyes were half-closed. It yawned.

    It seemed that Fina was never interested in anything other than shiny jewelry.

    ¡°Well, why don¡¯t you sleep in my cellphone then. You look tired.¡±

    ¡°I do want to take a nap. These days, there are too many people whoe to learn martial arts. They don¡¯t even care about how I feel,¡± Fina stared at him coldly.

    ¡°Okay. Don¡¯t be mad. It is all my fault, okay?¡± Zhang Zian had learned a long time ago that exnations didn¡¯t really help when he talked to Fina. He put it in his cellphone.

    Old Time Tea was watching TV on its electric nket with both its paws hiding under its chest. The TV show was the old-fashioned Kung Fu stories. The pictures, stories and special effects were very old¡­ they still wore the wire from the back¡­

    Zhang Zian thought it was hrious. If he hadn¡¯t known about Old Time Tea¡¯s history, he might think that it was only a cat that was addicted to TV shows, which wasn¡¯t too surprising. However, Old Time Tea was the benevolent and righteous cat. Watching those poor quality Kung Fu show seemed a waste of time.

    He could understand that maybe Old Time Tea was recalling the old good days through watching the old shows¡­ It was a totally different world these days.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, I got a game tip that there is another elfin nearby and would like to check it out¡­ Do you want to stay home and watch TV or go with me?¡±

    Zhang Zian could not leave Gxy and Fina at home yet he was quitefortable with Old Time Tea being home alone. It was a cat that was tolerant, yet strong, with superior wisdom and experience. No matter what happened, it could handle it with ease. This was very unlike Gxy and Fina: one was afraid of people, and the other was a hot-tempered cat. It was not a good idea to leave them home by themselves.

    If Old Time Tea wanted to stay home, he would make some tea and put it in the new thermos water pitcher. He just needed to teach Old Time Tea how to use it.

    Old Time Tea raised its head and asked, interestedly, ¡°Where are you going?¡±

    ¡°Binhai University. It is quite close to here, about a 20-minute walk,¡± Zhang Zian pointed in the direction of Binhai University.

    ¡°A University¡­¡± Old Time Tea said, ¡°I have heard about those but I have never been to one.¡±

    ¡°Would you like to go check it out?¡±

    Old Time Tea nodded. It pressed a button to turn off the TV.

    ¡°I was thinking the same thing. It is good to check out the world. It is better to travel ten thousand miles than to read ten thousand books¡­¡± It nced at the TV and added, ¡°Watching ten-thousand hours of TV can¡¯t get the same benefit of traveling ten-thousand miles¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was amused. ¡°That¡¯s right. Not everything shown on TV is true. TV shows and movies are not real most of the time. Even some news shows and documentaries are quite objective. You have to see the real life with your own eyes.¡±

    Jumping up from the electric nket, Old Time Tea looked at the vest it was wearing.

    ¡°Well, it looks like this is a dated fashion. People might be pointing at me if I go out with this¡­¡±

    That was true!

    Zhang Zian thought for a while. Old Time Tea would not take off its vest and walk outside naked. He didn¡¯t have any cat clothing at the store either¡­

    He remembered that the Navigation Elf mentioned that Elfins could appear invisible when they went out. Only the yer could see them. He hadn¡¯t asked for details, but now it seemed like a great opportunity to figure it out.

    ¡°Navigation Elf, can I make Elfins invisible?¡± he asked.

    [Navigation Elf]:Yes, but only under the following conditions: First, the Elfin cannot appear invisible when it goes out alone. It can only appear invisible when its owner goes with it. Second, Elfins cannot be seen by normal people, but can be seen by other yers. Third, when Elfins are invisible and they attempt to attack, they will automatically resume their visibility.

 Chapter 181: Calling Its Real Name

    <h4>Chapter 181: Calling Its Real Name</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian carefully analyzed all three restrictions and found them to be very reasonable, especially thest one ¨C when a pet appearing invisible attempted to attack someone, it would automatically resume visibility. This restriction resolved the potential threat that an invisible pet might bring to a normal person.

    If Elfins became overly powerful and could do whatever they wanted when invisible, it would be very dangerous to the human world.

    He then asked, ¡°Is there any harm to the elfin if it appears invisible?¡±

    [Navigation Elf]:No.

    Zhang Zian was at ease. The Navigation Elf didn¡¯t have to trick him. It had never lied to him anyways. However, sometimes he could not fully understand the deep meaning in Navigation Elf¡¯s words.

    ¡°How can I make the benevolent and righteousness cat appear invisible?¡±

    [Navigation Elf]:Call its real name and then deliver the invisiblemand.

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± He looked at Old Time Tea¡¯s vest. ¡°What about the clothing on an Elfin? Will it turn invisible as well?¡± Honestly, that was his true concern.

    [Navigation Elf]:Yes. Clothing is part of the Elfin. It was thest wish this Elfin had before turning into an Elfin.

    Really?

    That was surprising.

    In other words, before Old Time Tea turned into an Elfin, itsst wish was to have a vest and a hat?

    Why?

    Did it think they were fashionable or did it want them for some other usage?

    Zhang Zian could not figure out the reason and he was too embarrassed to ask Old Time Tea. No matter what, Old Time Tea got what it wanted and that was what mattered. Digging into further details was not necessary.

    When he chose ¡°The Ocean¡¯s Roar¡± as its background music, he thought the music was a perfect match to Old Time Tea. Only it could deserve this song. He thought about when he had first met it in Hidden Fog.

    ¡°Okay. Thank you.¡±

    Zhang Zian expressed his appreciation to the Navigation Elf, locked the cell phone and talked to Old Time Tea, ¡°Grandpa Tea, did you hear our conversation? Do you want to go with me invisibly?¡±

    In fact, Old Time Tea was looking forward to this special experience. It replied happily, ¡°Sure! I heard people in Japan know how to appear invisible and then do what they want. I didn¡¯t believe it and it was too bad that I didn¡¯t get to see it. I never thought I would have a chance to try it out.¡±

    Zhang Zian did not reply. He felt that Old Time Tea sounded more like it regretted not having a chance to fight against the Japanese.

    He decided he should remain a low profile in the future. Look, even Old Time Tea talked like him now.

    ¡°The juvenile Ye Wen Foshan Wing Chun Cat ¨C Invisible!¡±

    Howe this sounded so stupid?

    As soon as he finished, Old Time Tea¡¯s body turned vague yet still could be seen. It looked like it was covered by a thinyer of fog. The edge of the fog faded out so it was not easy to see what it was.

    Holy moly!

    Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes were wide open. If he wasn¡¯t a yer of such a magical game, he would¡¯ve called the police when that happened.

    Old Time Tea was also surprised. It stretched its arms and legs and couldn¡¯t believe what was happening. It was always calm, even in crisis. It was the first time Old Time Tea showed that it was indeed astonished by what it saw¡­

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, are you feeling okay?¡± Zhang Zian asked again.

    Old Time Tea shook its head, ¡°Nope.¡±

    All of a sudden, it reached out its sharp nails.

    Immediately, the invisibility disappeared and visibility resumed to normal.

    That had to be the so-called attempt to attack.

    Zhang Zian was amazed. It took some time for Old Time Tea to be invisible, yet it only took seconds to disable.

    Zhang Zian had been dealing with the Navigation Elf for quite a while, so he didn¡¯t question anything the Navigation Elf said. However, Old Time Tea was more careful. It had to testify Navigation Elf¡¯s words before beingfortable. As a benevolent warrior, all its friends had died. Old Time Tea only trusted the friends who it spent time with. The Navigation Elf was invisible, so Old Time Tea didn¡¯tpletely trust it.

    Despite the fact that it didn¡¯t trust the Navigation Elf, Old Time Tea wanted to try out the invisible effect itself. Compared to Gxy and Queen Fina who might be able to apany Zhang Zian for a much longer time, Old Time Tea was an old cat who was willing to take the risk if anything fatal happened. Old Time Tea was confident that it would sense danger during the process if there was any.

    Old Time Tea quickly waved its paw and left three sharp scratches on the wall. Its speed and strength was as great as usual and wasn¡¯t influenced by being invisible.

    Looking at the scratches on the wall, Zhang Zian secretly felt anguished. Fortunately, the store was going to be renovated soon.

    ¡°The juvenile Ye Wen Foshan Wing Chun Cat ¨C Invisible!¡± Zhang Zian turned Old Time Tea invisible again after getting its consent.

    Old Time Tea didn¡¯t show its sharp nails this time, so the invisible effect was normal. Zhang Zian was curious as to if other people could see Old Time Tea, so he decided to test it out.

    He pulled down the curtain door and locked it.

    He had handled all matters with the attorney, so it was unlikely that anyone woulde by. If Captain Sheng came, he could contact Zhang on his cellphone. If customers came¡­ then they would have toe backter. It looked like a WeChat official ount was necessary at this point.

    ncing across from the street, he saw that Aunt Li and her husband were picking up the street cart. They woulde back in the evening. The food in the street cart would turn from breakfast to BBQ skewers.

    Zhang Zian wanted to see if they could see Old Time Tea.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, let¡¯s go¡­¡±

    It was awkward that he appeared to talk to himself. Would he draw people¡¯s attention by doing so?

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, wait a second. I will be back.¡±

    He unlocked the door, pulled up the curtain door halfway and got in the store. Walking upstairs, he found a bluetooth earpiece in the drawer and put it on.

    This way, people thought that he was talking on the phone using a bluetooth earpiece.

    He walked back out of the store and locked up.

    It was the first time that Old Time Tea had left the store during the day. It felt that this world was full of so much new and fun stuff that it wished it had six pairs of eyes.

    Lots of cars were running on the street.

    It had seen cars before, but standing on the street and feeling them drive by was a whole new experience. Although cars didn¡¯t smell good, they smelled better than horse manure. Cars were beautiful with smooth, sexy shapes.

    Walking on the sidewalk, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t feel anything different, but Old Time Tea¡¯s beard could urately sense the airflow when a car drove by. There were too many cars driving by too fast. The airflow from each car interfered with the airflow of other cars, which formed an extremelyplicated turbulence. If such turbulence was visible, then it would be even more terrifying than a deadly hurricane from the ocean.

 Chapter 182: A Special Experience

    <h4>Chapter 182: A Special Experience</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, how about we take a taxi? It is quite close so it won¡¯t cost much.¡±

    Zhang Zian noticed that Old Time Tea kept staring at the cars, so he thought it wanted to get a ride. He totally understood that Old Time Tea was getting old and a ride in a car would be handy.

    ¡°Nope, we can walk there,¡± Old Time Tea said humbly. ¡°Everything in this new era seems interesting to me. Look, even cars have dozens of various models. It is true that seeing is believing. TV shows don¡¯t represent the real world.¡±

    Zhang Zian got a great idea upon hearing Old Time Tea¡¯s words. He could get a 3D TV which Old Time Tea could watch through a pair of 3D sses. It had to be a great experience for it¡­ Or he could turn them invisible and take them all out for an Imax movie. He had fun just by thinking about how terrified Fina would be.

    Considering Gxy, going during the day would be ideal because there would be less of an audience.

    He would pick a movie that was good for all ages. They probably would not enjoy Sci-fi movies. Horror movies were also not a good choice, and chick-flicks would make him sad¡­ Disney movies would be excellent, something like ¡°Frozen¡±. It had been the bestseller all over the world because it was a great movie for all ages¡­

    Pointing at an 18-wheeler, Zhang Zian said, ¡°Look, Grandpa Tea. You have to stay away from those trucks. They are too heavy and may not be able to stop on time¡­ Also look out for the electric mopeds. Man, those things are fast. If you stay on the sidewalk, you should be fine.¡±

    Old Time Tea kept observing and nodded.

    When they arrived at the intersection near the pet shop, Old Time Tea saw the crossway and asked, ¡°I saw those on TV. People have to wait until the cars stop?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. When the light across the road turns green, pedestrians may cross. However, you need to look around and keep an eye on some bad drivers. There are so many people that drive without a license or when they are drunk. Sometimes they y with their phone when driving¡­ it is very dangerous indeed. We have to be alert and stay away from those people.

    The traffic in China was quite messy because there were too many people, cars, bicycles and electric mopeds. Public transportation was great, but when a whole family went somewhere, it was much easier to have your own car. It also brought integrity to the family. He remembered the naughty kid¡¯s mom kept saying that they needed a car¡­ Zhang Zian wondered how the naughty kid was doing.

    When there were too many cars, dead animals could be found on the side of the street. Sometimes kids ran into idents when the adults weren¡¯t paying attention.

    An animal¡¯s eye level was very different from that of the human being. They usually could see farther away, so they could spot enemies before they got close. However, animals were short, so their eyes could see as high as car tires. When a car came towards them at extremely high speed, they usually wouldn¡¯t be fast enough to get away. Especially at night, most animals would be blinded by a car¡¯s high beam headlights.

    Zhang Zian could tell that Old Time Tea was curious about the outside world even though it was older. It was not like Fina and Gxy, who loved to stay at home. Old Time Tea loved watching TV on its electric nket, but when there was a chance to get out, it was excited. Therefore, Zhang Zian patiently exined the traffic rules in case it ever went out on its own. Although it was an Elfin and much tougher than a normal cat, it wouldn¡¯t be tougher than a moving car.

    He then realized that he hadn¡¯t seen Little Celery in several days. He thought that Little Celery¡¯s mom had to teach her as well. Honestly, animals were very simr to children.

    Regarding safety on the road, it would be an endless lecture. Zhang Zian brought it up as they were standing at the traffic light: stop on red; go on green; stop, look and then go¡­

    As they were talking, there came a good looking youngdy across from the road waiting for the light. She nced at the timer above the light and continued reading on her cellphone. She might be reading some news or chatting to her friends.

    The light turned green after a bit. Zhang Zian and Old Time Tea started walking across the road.

    A youngdy put down her cellphone and walked towards them.

    Zhang Zian stared at her nervously. He was worried that it could see Old Time Tea and would be scared by a cat with a vest and a hat.

    The youngdy didn¡¯tnd her eyes on Old Time Tea at all. As they walked by each other, she murmured, ¡°What a freak, staring at pretty girls¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. He wasn¡¯t staring at her. She felt too good about herself!

    Old Time Tea and Zhang Zian took their time on the road. Zhang Zian kept telling it about the traffic rules, yet it didn¡¯t really pay attention to what he was lecturing. Instead, it was more curious about this lively world.

    Being invisible was a new thing to Old Time Tea. At first, it was not used to it. When it came across other people, it instinctively held its breath. Soon, it realized that it was truly invisible and no one evernded their eyes on it. Gradually it felt more rxed. It even tried to so walk close to other people that it could feel their body heat, yet they never knew it was there.

    Although it was invisible, when Old Time Tea turned around, it could see its own footsteps that a normal person couldn¡¯t see. It smelled another cat. Looking up, there was an orange and white street cat on top of the wall. The street cat acted like it also smelled Old Time Tea and it kept searching for the intruder. Old Time Tea smiled and waved at the orange and white cat, but it could not see it.

    Zhang Zian looked at and saw the street cat. He said to Old Time Tea, ¡°On the other side of the wall there is Binhai University. Faculty housing is near here and there are a lot of street cats. Teacher and students oftene here to feed them.¡±

    The street cat they saw was quite big and strong. It had to be a good fighter and know how to get people¡¯s affection.

    The college kids were quite kind. Some guys didn¡¯t like pets, but they would still treat the street animals nicely, especially when there were girls around. The animal control center wouldn¡¯t bother to capture the street animals. Street cats were overpopted and sometimes you would see a few dogs if you were lucky.

 Chapter 183: Planned Route

    <h4>Chapter 183: nned Route</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Typically, pets were not allowed in the dormitories, at least not in the most popted undergraduate students¡¯ dorms. For graduate students, some small and quiet pets were allowed. The school was nice about it. Many students felt sorry for the street pets, but they could not break the rules and take them back to their dormitory. Of course, a few especially cute and lucky ones would be adopted and go home with the students.

    Old Time Tea smelled cat urine from the wind. There was more than one cat living here. The urine had to be marking their territory.

    ¡°Are universities ces for study? In my era, there were few. I heard only the best students can continue higher education,¡± Old Time Tea said with longing.

    Zhang Zian forced a smile and said indirectly, ¡°Well¡­ In this era, more and more universities are avable. The quality of education is also varied. The best students are not the only ones wee to a university. In fact, anyone can go if they want¡­ College students are not as valuable as they used to be. Look, the two silly kids who work at our store go to school here. I seriously wonder how they got in. Maybe their parents paid extra money for them to go to college? I don¡¯t know. If they are from wealthy families, why do they work in my store?¡±

    Old Time Teaughed.

    Zhang Zian continued, ¡°Of course, more universities are not necessarily a bad thing. Everyone should have the right to go to school, right? Some bad habits and superstitions are eliminated slowly because more people are educated. However, the quality of teaching and students ¡ª especially the quality of students ¡ª are notparable to those in your era.¡±

    Old Time Tea agreed because it was disappointed in this new era already. It was true thatpared to where it used to live, the current era was way more advanced. People didn¡¯t go to witch doctors anymore when they were sick. They would visit a real doctor instead. Even pets had their own doctor. All of this had happened because of education.

    ¡°Zian, are these women all students?¡± Old Time Tea asked confusedly.

    Most of the young kids wandering around the school were students. The freshmen and sophomores still looked quite green, but the junior and senior students already looked no different than those who had already graduated. In Old Time Tea¡¯s mind, a female student should wear a blue shirt, a ck jacket and a scarf ¨C exactly how female students dressed in the early 1900s.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Girls these days are¡­ very different than they used to be.¡±

    Old Time Tea remained silent.

    Zhang Zian got used to it. Now, everyone seemed to be under a lot of pressure and freedom had be the most precious thing. People could do what they wanted. However, he knew Old Time Tea would not be able to ept these new thoughts.

    Various street vendors were all over the outside gate of the university. You could find anything you ever imagined: clothes, snacks, necessities, or cell phone cases. It had be a night market. Street vendors yelled to attract customers. People¡¯s bargaining conversations made it very noisy yet lively. Of course, students were the street vendors¡¯ target customers. Copying and courier services were there because of this university. Binhai City was not a first-tier city, so the street vendor management was not as strict as in Beijing and Shanghai.

    At first, Zhang Zian was worried that the road was too crowded for Old Time Tea and it might get hurt. However, soon he found himself overthinking. Old Time Tea could perfectly dodge the pedestrians every time.

    Soon, they arrived at the gate of the university.

    Zhang Zian zoomed into the electronic map in the game. The shing circle representing the location of the Elfin as inside the university. He decided to go in.

    ¡°Zian, can we walk in like this?¡± Old Time Tea was confused.

    A girl walking by was curious. ¡°I thought I heard a cat¡­¡±

    After she walked away, Zhang Zian said, ¡°Yes. As long as a person doesn¡¯t look too suspicious, he can walk through the university as he wishes.¡±

    Binhai University was a good school. The gate was nice. The long electric gate was open and people walked in and out. Sitting inside the security room, the security guy was watching the pretty young girls go by as he drank tea.

    There was a huge map of the university not far from the gate.

    Zhang Zian stopped in front of the map andpared it to the electronic map on his cell phone.

    ¡°Girls dormitories¡­ Oh no, I am not here for the girls!¡±

    The electronic map was zoomed in to the maximum. After carefulparison, he found that the shing circle covered the front part of the university, which was the ssrooms and offices. The dormitories in the back were not covered.

    That was a huge area to look through for an Elfin.

    The circle covered seven academic buildings and one office building. Each building was at least four-stories high and the center academic building was at least 20 stories.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were probably in ss¡­ or staying in their dormitory, wasting time. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want them to help though, because those kids would only bring trouble.

    Zhang Zian waited at the gate for a bit and sometimes turned around to look behind.

    ¡°Zian, are you waiting for someone?¡± Old Time Tea turned around to look behind just like him.

    Zhang Zian was hoping he was lucky likest time, Snowy or someone he knew would pass him from behind and tell him about a new teahouse or store¡­ That might save him a lot of time.

    However, today was not his lucky day. He didn¡¯te across an acquaintance.

    He sighed, ¡°Nope. I was trying to figure out where to begin.¡±

    He came up with a strategy as he waited. It was good that the Elfin wasn¡¯t in the girl¡¯s dormitory. If it was in the academic buildings, he should be able to get in without a problem. He should be able to get in the office building as well. All in all, the mission might be time consuming, but it was highly likely to seed.

    He had to do one thing before he started searching.

    ¡°Navigation Elf, if the Elfin is sessfully captured, it won¡¯t appear on other yer¡¯s radar, correct?¡±

    [Navigation Elf]:Yes. Once the Elfin is captured, it will disappear from the radar.

    That was great!

    He took a picture of the map with his cellphone.

    Good preparations sped up the process. Zhang Zian yed a game that required him to connect several dots with lines without going to one spot more than once. This was exactly what he needed to do. He considered the seven academic buildings and the office building as eight dots. This way, he nned the perfect route that was the shortest and didn¡¯t hit the same building twice.

 Chapter 184: Search Along the Route

    <h4>Chapter 184: Search Along the Route</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian had a picture editing app on his cellphone. He tried nning out a route several times on that app and finally got a satisfying solution. He saved the map with the route.

    It wasn¡¯t a perfect route because he might not be able to search the fields on the sides, behind, or even on the roofs of the buildings. He tried. If he couldn¡¯t find the Elfin after going through the whole route, he would have to think of other routes. Regarding the roof, Zhang Zian guessed that it was locked because the school didn¡¯t want students to have ess to it in case they jumped off the building tomit suicide.

    Gxy was afraid of people, so it was a special example. For Fina and Old Time Tea, they had both appeared in a ce where people were. They turned into Elfins due to people¡¯s worship. Therefore, Zhang Zian thought that the next Elfin was less likely to appear in an empty ssroom¡­ unless the Elfin was also afraid of people.

    After excluding some impossible ces, Zhang Zian felt a lot more at ease.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, let¡¯s wander around. It is a great opportunity to enjoy the university,¡± he said to Old Time Tea.

    Old Time Tea followed.

    Zhang Zian followed the route he made, and walked around the office building which he hated the most. That was thest building in his n. First, he headed to the No. 1 academic building.

    The No.1 academic building was one of the original buildings when Binhai University was established. It was a three-story building with a dated look. Although it was at least 40-years old, it was very practical. It was a red brick building with vines all over the bricks. The windows were old-fashioned wood windows. It looked like it would be torn down soon because the school hadn¡¯t done any maintenance work at all.

    Pine and evergreen trees were on both sides of the door. It was very quiet.

    The No. 1 academic building was closest to the gate yet farthest from the dorms. It was also the oldest building, so not many students came here to study. One could tell from the number of bicycles parked outside. Honestly, no one wanted toe here if it weren¡¯t for ss.

    As he entered the building, he saw faint lights on in the hallway. It looked quite scary. The bathroom was near the door on the right-hand side. The door of the bathroom was wide open with a sign ¨C under maintenance. A strong mixed smell of disinfectants and human waste came out from the door. It was disgusting.

    Holding up his cell phone, Zhang Zian tried to search for the Elfin, but didn¡¯t notice anything.

    As he got close to a ssroom, he pushed open the back door and scanned the room with his cellphone. There were a few students studying inside. Most of the seats were vacant. A few couples were doing their thing as if there were no one around.

    It was quite normal nowadays anyway.

    Those who could still study there had to be a real curve wrecker.

    He got out of the ssroom and closed the door.

    Old Time Tea didn¡¯t follow him into the ssroom. It stayed in the hallway and looked around. He was happy that Old Time Tea didn¡¯t go in, otherwise what those young kids were doing in public might be a huge disappointment to it.

    Zhang Zian checked all the ssrooms on the first floor using the same method. Some ssrooms had ss in session. He would go in, sat down in thest row, pretended he waste, and left after confirming there was no Elfin in the room. He didn¡¯t have time to care about the teacher¡¯s feelings.

    The first floor was done. So were the second and third floor.

    He confirmed the Elfin was not in No. 1 academic building.

    He checked the time. It took him roughly half an hour.

    There were seven more building. He had to hurry up.

    ording to his n, the No. 4 academic building would be the next one.

    The No.4 academic building was much newer than No.1 building. Unlike the No.1 building which was dark and old, the No. 4 building was well maintained, clean and modern.

    After searching for a while, he confirmed that the Elfin was not in the No.4 building either.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, want to take a break?¡± Zhang Zian asked after getting out of the No. 4 building.

    ¡°I am fine. I am not tired.¡± Old Time Tea was energetic. It was happy looking at the kids in school. ¡°Watching the young kids makes me feel young.¡±

    ¡°Oh no! Great y!¡±

    ¡°Excellent!¡±

    The sudden noise drew both Zhang Zian and Old Time Tea¡¯s attention.

    There were three basketball courts on the side of the No.4 academic building. The courts were fenced in. Some young men were ying basketball there and a few girls were cheering.

    A tall guypleted a handsome dunk. The girls were screaming while the other guys also showed admiration. The tall guy waved his fists at the girls with a big smile on his face. Unexpectedly, someone he was guarding quickly got the ball, dribbled, and scored. 2 points!

    A dunk was exciting, yet it only got the same points as a normal jump shot.

    The tall guy immediately pulled a long face. He stared at his opponent as if he was on fire.

    ¡°Defense! Defense!¡± The cheerleaders from both teams started cheering.

    Zhang Zian sighed, ¡°Youth!¡±

    ¡°You are not old,¡± Old Time Teaughed.

    ¡°I am oldpared to them.¡±

    As he sighed, he didn¡¯t forget to search for the Elfin. Maybe Elfin Michael Jordan was hiding on the court¡­

    Zhang Zian and Old Time Tea both walked around the basketball court and entered the No.5 building from the other side of the basketball court.

    The No. 5 building was even newer than the No. 4 building. The outside wasyered with white and shiny tiles which made it look even more outstanding. There were lots of bicycles parked outside. Zhang Zian looked in through the window: almost every ssroom was full. Some ssrooms had ss and different subjects were shown on the huge monitor or LED screen.

    From the No.1 to the No.5 academic building, it showed the history of Binhai University, from dated to modern.

    Zhang Zian started searching room after room.

    When he pushed open ssroom 101, he was surprised. There were many brand-new bicycles in the back of the ssroom. It made sense because all the bicycles parked outside were extremely old. A new bicycle would be stolen within minutes if they had been parked outside.

    The ssroom was almost full. Most people focused on studying. Some couples were talking quietly. No one was doing anything weird.

    Another building was searched. There was still no Elfin.

    Zhang Zian suspected that the Elfin had been captured by another yer.

    He switched back to the game and reconfirmed. The circle representing Elfin¡¯s location was still there and hadn¡¯t moved.

    Leaving the No.5 building, he headed towards the central academic building as nned.

    The central academic building waspletedst year. It was a magnificent building in the shape of the letter X if looked at from above. Although Zhang Zian didn¡¯t believe in premonitions, he had a strong feeling that he would find the Elfin in this building.

 Chapter 185: On the Observatory

    <h4>Chapter 185: On the Observatory</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The central academic building covered arge area with four entrances from various directions. Zhang Zian and Old Time Tea both walked around the building and confirmed that the Elfin wasn¡¯t there before they entered the building.

    The ground floor was busy. The shiny marble floor was reflecting everything above it. Looking up, the high ceiling could make people dizzy. Four elevators and an extra one for teachers were all full. Many students were waiting to get on the next ride.

    Although he didn¡¯t want to get in the crowded elevator, climbing up the stairs sounded less attractive. Zhang Zian decided to take the elevator and take the stairs down one floor at a time.

    He squatted down and said, ¡°Grandpa Tea, let¡¯s take the elevator. Jump up to my shoulder so it will be morefortable for you.¡±

    Looking at the seriously cramped elevator, Old Time Tea smiled and jumped up on Zhang¡¯s shoulder.

    Feeling the weight on one side of his shoulder, Zhang Zian supported himself with one hand on the ground.

    Old Time Tea was quite heavy.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, you have to stay put. I am getting up now,¡± he reminded Old Time Tea and then raised himself up.

    Old Time Tea securelynded on his shoulder with its four paws.

    The door of the elevator opened. Zhang Zian followed the flow to enter the elevator. Everyone was trying to get in until it was absolutely full.

    Old Time Tea was doing great. No matter how he was pushed and pressed by others, Old Time Tea always remained bnced on his shoulder.

    Zhang Zian took a look at the buttons. Someone already pressed the button for the top floor so all he needed to do was to wait until he was there.

    The elevator stopped at almost every floor. Some people got off and some came in. In general, more people got out than got in. Therefore, there was more and more room as the elevator went up.

    The elevator arrived at the top floor.

    There weren¡¯t any ssrooms on the top floor. It was an observatory.

    Surprisingly, there were many young couples hanging out up here. They were hugging each other, speaking softly andughing loudly.

    Zhang Zian felt ufortable as soon as he got out of the elevator. Old Time Tea jumped down from his shoulder and walked around the observatory with him. Zhang Zian was the only single guy up there.

    ¡°Look, Grandpa Tea. Isn¡¯t that Mt. Hidden Fog?¡±

    Coming to a corner, Zhang Zian looked out from the ss wall and saw a small mountain. He remembered seeing Binhai University from Mt. Hidden Fog, so it was not surprising that he could see Mt. Hidden Fog from here. It was a nice day with barely any clouds in the sky. The visibility was extremely high. He could see the peak of the mountain. It was too bad he didn¡¯t bring his binocrs, otherwise he might have been able to see the Hidden Fog Teahouse.

    He was wondering if the twodies in the teahouse were still in their RPG game.

    Old Time Tea tried his best to look that way and said, ¡°If you think that is Mt. Hidden Fog, you should be right.¡±

    Zhang Zian suddenly realized that cats couldn¡¯t see as well as humans during the day. It was normal that Old Time Tea couldn¡¯t see it.

    However, he also thought of something really important!

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, the teahouse owner¡¯sst name is Ye¡­ Is she¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian had already forgotten what the owner and waitress looked like. Maybe it would strike a chord when he saw them again. He remembered that the teahouse owner¡¯sst name was Ye and the waitress¡¯s name was Anxin. Those were normal Chinese names. Now that he was looking over at Mt. Hidden Fog from the university and thinking about Old Time Tea¡¯s real name and history, he realized that the owner, Miss Ye, might be someone special¡­

    Old Time Teaughed, ¡°Well, I am not sure either. I just think she smells very familiar. Maybe she and my previous owner were rtives.¡±

    Immediately, Zhang Zian felt bad about capturing Old Time Tea.

    Old Time Teaing to the Hidden Fog Teahouse was not merely because of the good tea there. There were numerous teahouses in the city and many were even better. Even if Old Time Tea came to Binhai City because of Gxy¡¯s power, it could¡¯ve been to any teahouse. Apparently, it went to Hidden Fog Teahouse because of the female owner!

    He now thought that Old Time Tea sitting by the firece was, in fact, to protect the twodies¡­ He had captured it and taken it away!

    At this time, there was a mixed feeling in Zhang Zian¡¯s heart. He started to regret everything that came to his mind. If he would¡¯ve stayed home, he wouldn¡¯t havee up here and seen Mt. Hidden Fog¡­

    If he would¡¯ve given up the thought of capturing the fourth Elfin, he would be in the store, ying hide and seek with Gxy, being despised by Fina and refilling tea for Old Time Tea.

    After spending some time with Old Time Tea, he began to really admire it. Old Time Tea was a Kung Fu master and easy to get along with. He loved Old Time Tea and also needed its protection. However, the twodies might¡¯ve needed it more than him. It hade to protect them!

    Zhang Zian came to capture an unknown Efin, yet got himself caught between this rock and a hard ce where he might have to let Old Time Tea go.

    Now that he knew the reason Old Time Tea came to Binhai, he could not pretend that he didn¡¯t know.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, if you want to go back to them¡­¡±

    He squatted down and looked Old Time Tea deep in the eye.

    Sometimes, letting go is also a form of love. Now that Old Time Tea was unlocked, it could go wherever it wanted to be. Therefore, Zhang Zian gave it the freedom of this choice. He would respect Old Time Tea no matter what its decision was. Although sad, he believed that this was the right thing to do.

    Staring at Zhang Zian, Old Time Tea giggled with its beard shaking, ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t believe his ears. Even though that was what he was hoping for, he still was confused.

    Old Time Tea said peacefully, ¡°When I saw them, I thought it could be dangerous on top of the mountain. However¡­¡±

    ¡°What?¡± He asked curiously.¡±

    ¡°If I was right, Ms. Ye is pretty good at martial arts,¡± Old Time Tea replied, ¡°I could tell from the way she walks and stands. A normal person can¡¯t do that. She practiced for at least 10 years. That waitress Anxin also was good. The TV shows were not evenparable.¡±

    What a surprise!

    Zhang Zian wouldn¡¯t challenge Old Time Tea¡¯s judgement. If it said they knew Kung Fu, they should.

    He remembered telling Snowy that if twodies opened a teahouse at the top of a mountain, they had to have a special bodyguard somewitse. He never would¡¯ve thought that they were Kung Fu masters!

 Chapter 186: Life and Death

    <h4>Chapter 186: Life and Death</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Ever since he found out that the twodies in Hidden Fog Teahouse were Kung Fu masters, Zhang Zian seemed to understand a lot more about the situation.

    Wing Chun originated from Shao Lin martial arts. Lady Yan Wingchun made it famous. It focused on skills more than power. It was perfect for girls to practice. Although the twodies were not as great as Old Time Tea, who was an Elfin, they could easily beat up a few robbers. Maybe they even had some unseen weapons¡­

    ¡°I followed you home because I knew that they would be fine without me,¡± Old Time Tea smiled. ¡°When you have a minute, we can go back to the teahouse. Ms. Ye is your senior in Kung Fu.¡±

    Zhang Zian replied seriously, ¡°Sure. When we have time, I will bring some gifts and visit her.¡±

    As long as Old Time Tea was willing to stay, he was willing to go to the teahouse every day.

    Well¡­ going to that teahouse everyday might make him bankrupt. He could afford to go maybe once a month¡­

    Old Time Teaughed, ¡°You don¡¯t have to¡­ We don¡¯t have to go in. As long as we watch them from a distance and know that they are doing well, I am happy.¡±

    Zhang Zian really felt that Old Time Tea deserved every penny he spent in that teahouse.

    Old Time Tea was such a sweet cat. It didn¡¯t care about fame or benefits. Its personality was so calm and pure. Honestly, it could¡¯ve left Zhang Zian, gone back to the teahouse and enjoyed the fresh air and tea up in the mountain. Old Time Tea not only stayed for him, but also fought for him and protected him when he was in trouble.

    Old Time Tea hadn¡¯t betrayed the Ye family. It just took benevolence and righteousness more seriously.

    In fact, even if Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t mentioned the Hidden Fog Teahouse, Old Time Tea was nning to mention it to him anyways. It wanted him to connect with Ms. Ye so that she could teach him Kungfu after it passed away.

    Old Time Tea didn¡¯t tell Zhang Zian these thoughts because it was unnecessary.

    Being dead or alive was not that important to Old Time Tea anymore. Death was a way it could go see its friends and family. They had been waiting for too long.

    ¡°Zian, it is gettingte. Let¡¯s continue the search,¡± Old Time Tea said.

    Zhang Zian and Old Time Tea left the observatory and walked down the stairs.

    Including the observatory, there were 30 stories in the building. The first floor and second floor were opened up as one story. There were a few storage rooms for the cleaning crew, a security guard office and bathrooms. Therefore, he had 27 more floors to go.

    29th floor, nothing.

    28th floor, nothing.

    27th floor, nothing.

    ¡­

    Zhang Zian walked down one story at a time. Soon, he was familiar with theyout in the building. There were two enormous ssrooms on each level, a few small ssrooms and a teacher¡¯s office.

    Some ssrooms had sses going on. Some were filled with students doing their homework. Some were blocked for small groups doing activities. Awkwardly, Zhang Zian walked into an orchestral group and got weird stares from students.

    The search was a great challenge to Zhang Zian. He started questioning himself, did I miss something?

    Besides the floor numbers, every level looked extremely simr. To Zhang Zian, it was like walking in a recorded video, which made the search even more boring.

    His cellphone vibrated to remind him low power mode was turned on. The camera was turned on the whole time so it consumed power quickly. his cell phone was fully charged before he left, but it was in low power mode already. Fortunately, he came well prepared with a portable charger. Otherwise, he would¡¯ve been forced to give up the search.

    After connecting his cell phone to the portable charger, Zhang Zian walked in a small ssroom and saw a familiar person.

    It was a small office with six desks and a couch. There were two people in the room: the guy who wanted to buy Fina and a person who looked like a teacher.

    It looked like a biology teacher¡¯s office. Every desk had rted textbooks and references. Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t sure if they were books for bioengineering, biotechnology or bioscience. There was a contact list on the wall and a few skeleton models in the corner.

    The guy who wanted to buy Fina was facing the other way. It looked like the two were arguing about something.

    The noise of Zhang Zian opening the door stopped them and they both turned around.

    ¡°It is you!¡± The guy who wanted to buy Fina frowned his eyebrows. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    He looked at the teacher and asked curiously, ¡°Do you know each other?¡±

    The teacher, who was a young man replied, ¡°I was going to ask if you know him.¡±

    ¡°Nope,¡± Zhang Zian and the guy both said.

    They spoke almost at the same time. They looked at each other and turned around, embarrassed.

    Funny! I don¡¯t want to be friends with such an arrogant person! They both thought to themselves.

    ¡°Okay¡­ That¡¯s fine,¡± The teacher looked at them both, ¡°I am telling you. You are asking for too much. Yes, I am going to Egypt for work and I am interested in ancient Egyptian cats, but they became extinct long ago. Where would I be able to find one for you?¡±

    ¡°Okay, stop!¡± The guy who wanted to buy Fina looked at Zhang Zian and stopped his teacher.

    Zhang Zian was amused. So, this guy still wants an ancient Egyptian cat? That¡¯s impossible.

    ¡°Professor Wei, I am leaving. I wille again sometime.¡±

    The guy pulled a long face and walked to the door, grumpy. He stared at Zhang Zian and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Why should I go?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Why are you here?

    ¡°It is none of your business!¡± Zhang Zian was tough.

    The teacher was afraid that they would start a fight. He stopped them immediately, ¡°You¡¯d better go¡­ You are¡­¡±

    ¡°He is not a student here,¡± The guy who wanted Fina said.

    ¡°Well, why do you care?!¡± Zhang Zian was mad, ¡°I want to enroll in a Master¡¯s program!¡±

    Without waiting for Zhang Zian to finish, Professor Wei grabbed him excitedly.

    ¡°Do you really want to enroll in the Master¡¯s program?¡± Professor Wei was thrilled and kept shaking Zhang Zian. ¡°That¡¯s great! I knew I could do it! Come fill out a form.¡±

 Chapter 187: Finish What You Start

    <h4>Chapter 187: Finish What You Start</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was dizzy.

    Oh no! I am not here to fill out a form!

    About 40 years old and normal looking, Professor Wei was pretty short and skinny. His clothing was nothing fancy. Wearing a pair of ck-rimmed sses, he was strong enough to drag Zhang Zian to his desk.

    Zhang Zian wanted to get out, but found that he was trapped by an iron. He sat back and tried to increase the traction between his feet and the floor. However, it didn¡¯t help.

    He turned his head and looked at the guy who wanted to buy Fina, hoping to see what he had to say about that teacher.

    The guy looked at him with an ¡°I-am-sorry¡± face, yet there was some unspeakable pleasure in his eyes. He said, ¡°Professor Wei has been waiting for this moment for three years. Last year, someone wanted to enroll in his Master¡¯s program, but it was a girl who could not stand the rough life doing research in the wild. She gave up eventually. You¡¯d better be prepared!¡±

    Zhang Zian was dragged to Professor Wei¡¯s desk. Ignoring his rejection, Professor Wei gave him a pen and application form.

    ¡°Here, fill in your name, age, hometown, ID card number, undergraduate school, gender¡­ well, I can fill out that one for you¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait wait wait wait wait¡­¡± Zhang Zian was so nervous that he couldn¡¯t speak.

    He threw away the pen. This was crazy!

    Professor Wei was pushy. ¡°Why do you want to wait? If you are worried about enrollment, I assure you will be epted as long as you pass the entrance exam. Come on, sign here. Starting tomorrow, you maye every day and I will have a special cram course to help you pass the entrance exam. No matter what major you were in as an undergrad, I am sure you will be epted into my program.¡±

    It was obvious enough that as long as Zhang Zian signed the form, Professor Wei would tell him pretty much everything that was going to be on the exam.

    The pushier Professor Wei got, the more ufortable Zhang Zian became. It was suspicious. Why did Professor Wei have such a difficult time recruiting students for his graduate program?

    Honestly, Zhang Zian really couldn¡¯t sign this paper because he had to take care of the pet shop.

    The guy who wanted to buy Finaughed. ¡°Professor Wei, I forgot to tell you something. This guy has a pet shop. I found the ancient Egyptian cat from his store.¡±

    ¡°Alright, good luck! Professor Wei, I wille by another time.¡± He left the office.

    Professor Wei grabbed Zhang Zian¡¯s cor!

    Scared, Zhang Zian looked at Professor Wei and found that he was so excited that his eyes turned red. Professor Wei screamed, ¡°You have an ancient Egyptian cat? Where did you get it? Tell me! Tell me!¡±

    What a weirdo!

    Zhang Zian almost cried. He only wanted to capture the fourth Elfin. Never had he wanted to deal with this crazy teacher!

    He turned around to look at Old Time Tea. Old Time Tea jumped up to another desk and looked at the biology textbooks curiously. It didn¡¯t seem to notice that Zhang Zian was in trouble.

    Old Time Tea didn¡¯t help because it didn¡¯t feel a threat from Professor Wei. If it appeared all of a sudden, it might make things even moreplicated. After looking at the books, it wandered to the skeleton models and started observing those.

    Zhang Zian used his trick again. He pointed outside, ¡°Look! A ne!¡±

    Old Time Tea and Professor Wei both looked out.

    Zhang Zian struggled out from Professor Wei¡¯s grip and rushed to the office door, opened the door and said, ¡°Don¡¯te over! I will scream if you do.¡±

    Professor Wei realized he fell for Zhang Zian¡¯s trick. He wasn¡¯t angry, but said, ¡°Please don¡¯t! You don¡¯t have to be scared. I won¡¯t hurt you. Come back in and shut the door.¡±

    ¡°I am not stupid,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°What is it? Tell me directly. If you are not going to tell me, I am leaving now.¡±

    Professor Wei paused for a few minutes, sighed and sat down, ¡°Maybe I am being too pushy, but I didn¡¯t mean anything bad! Please trust me. I only wanted to ask you two things¡­ First, do you really have an ancient Egyptian cat?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought for a second. Fina was exposed in the media. It was even on TV. He knew he couldn¡¯t lie about it so he said, ¡°I do have a cat, but I am not sure if it is an ancient Egyptian cat. Anyways, no matter what breed it is, it is my cat, not yours.¡±

    Professor Wei fixed his sses and said, ¡°Do you know what it means to rediscover an extinct animal? It is huge!¡±

    ¡°I know it is huge but don¡¯t you dare steal it from me. I am telling you. I can let it go anytime.¡± Zhang Zian started being firm.

    Professor Wei stood up. Zhang Zian almost left.

    ¡°Let it go? You can¡¯t do that!¡± Professor Wei screamed.

    Zhang Zian emphasized, ¡°I am serious. I¡¯d rather let her go than have her go through pain being tested in ab. Try me if you don¡¯t believe me.¡± He had to stop Professor Wei¡¯s thoughts of having Fina. Otherwise, Fina would be in big trouble.

    It worked. Professor Wei sat down and said, ¡°You can¡¯t do this¡­ You can¡¯t do this¡­¡±

    ¡°I can because it is my cat,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Professor Wei thought for a few minutes and said, ¡°Okay. If there is one, there might be another. It takes more than one to reproduce¡­ Can you tell me where you got the ancient Egyptian cat?¡±

    Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Is this your second question?¡±

    Professor Wei was embarrassed, ¡°Well, this is the second small question from the first big question.¡±

    Zhang Zian stared at him and said, ¡°I can tell you, but you will have to answer my question.¡±

    Professor Wei was confident. ¡°You don¡¯t have to ask. I will tell you everything that is in the exam.¡±

    What the f***?

    ¡°The guy who just left, who is he? What is his name? What is he here for?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Professor Wei opened his mouth, then stopped and said, ¡°That is three questions.¡±

    ¡°They are three small questions from my first big question,¡± Zhang Zian paid him back.

    They stared at each other for a long time. Both realized they had to stop.

    ¡°Okay. You can ask me three questions and I can ask you three,¡± Professor Wei said.

 Chapter 188: The Elfin in Class

    <h4>Chapter 188: The Elfin in ss</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian thought about it and said, ¡°Okay. Deal.¡±

    Professor Wei fixed his sses, ¡°His name is Zhang Xu. He was my student at this university. I heard he was reselling pets. Oh, by the way, my name is Wei Kang. It sounds the same as the stomach medicine but it¡¯s a different character¡­¡±

    ¡°Reselling pets?¡± Zhang Zian was surprised. He knew that guy was quite wealthy. He was also the super moderator in Wanghaige BBS. Why would he would resell pets? He had the same family name as Zhang Zian¡­

    ¡°Well,¡± Professor Wei exined, ¡°He collects rare pets and sells them to the very rich all over China. His profites from reselling.¡±

    ¡°What exactly is it?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°I am not sure. I heard that the very rich love rare pets. They use pets as a symbol of wealth and power,¡± Professor Wei said. ¡°ording to him, the very rich love anything that is hard to get. Luxury cars, young models and female celebrities are no longer worthy to chase. Anything that can be exchanged for money isn¡¯t attractive enough. Rare pets are different. The rarer the pet, the more expensive it gets. Sometimes they are extremely hard to get even when you are loaded with money.¡±

    Zhang Zian understood why he was willing to buy Fina for an extremely high price. He could get an outrageous profit out of her.

    ¡°Well, he was here because of the ancient Egyptian cat. He told me someone has one and asked me where he could find one. I told him such a breed became extinct a long time ago. You can¡¯t find it anymore,¡± Professor Wei sad.

    ¡°And? I heard you were going somewhere?¡± Zhang Zian continued his questions.

    Professor Wei sighed, ¡°I don¡¯t even know how he heard that I am going to Egypt. He kept begging me to get an ancient Egyptian cat for him and promised he would pay a fortune to buy one. Isn¡¯t that a joke? Even if I could find one, I don¡¯t think I could take it out of Egypt.¡±

    That was true. A real ancient Egyptian cat might be the national treasure of Egypt.

    ¡°Are you done with your questions? Now it is my turn,¡± Professor Wei started with his biggest concern. ¡°Where did you get that cat? I thought they vanished a long time ago.¡±

    Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you question Zhang Xu? Maybe he made a mistake?¡±

    Professor Weiughed, ¡°I don¡¯t think so. He is good at this. He was the top student in my ss. It¡¯s too bad¡­¡± He shook his head.

    ¡°Okay. Tell me where you got that cat,¡± Professor Wei asked again.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t tell the truth, ¡°I am telling the truth¡­ I picked it up off the street.¡±

    That made Professor Wei angry!

    ¡°Bullsh*t! You can¡¯t pick up an ancient Egyptian cat on the street! What? Do you think I am an idiot or something?¡±

    ¡°Well, it is up to you if you want to believe it or not,¡± Zhang Zian said, ¡°Howe you are so certain that it is not possible? If people can find cash on the street, I can find an ancient Egyptian cat as well.¡±

    Professor Wei was speechless.

    That was true. It was just a matter of possibility.

    Zhang Zian looked at the time and said, ¡°What is yourst question? I am on a schedule.¡±

    Professor Wei realized something and asked, ¡°Do you want to enroll in my graduate program? I will write all the papers for you as long as you agree.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew exactly what he wanted to do. Professor Wei could study Fina if Zhang Zian agreed to be his student.

    Zhang Zian was smart, so he rejected. ¡°I am sorry. I am not interested.¡±

    He left the office as soon as he finished. Old Time Tea did as well.

    There were a few more ssrooms to search. Zhang Zian continued the search in his own method, big ssrooms first and then the small ones. He pushed open the door and walked into an enormous ssroom.

    ss was in session. Not many students attended ss, so only half of the seats were taken. Most students were sitting in the front rows and only a few were sitting in the back rows. He looked carefully and didn¡¯t see Wang Qian and Li Kun. Honestly, he didn¡¯t even know what major those two were of. Anyways, he could bet that they didn¡¯t even care about their major.

    As he entered the ssroom, a few students looked up at him, but they lost interest immediately.

    Zhang Zian sat down in thest row, and scanned the ssroom with his cellphone. He didn¡¯t leave but nned to rest for a bit.

    As he was daydreaming, the teacher raised her voice.

    ¡°Hey guys, please be quiet. ss is in session.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked over. There was a group of girls discussing something. They were getting louder and louder and they were bothering other students. The teacher had to stop them.

    The girls shut up and winked at each other.

    Zhang Zian realized that there were more girls than boys in this ss. Almost 80% of the students were girls. He didn¡¯t see many boys in this ss. Some single guys were spread out in the corners.

    He wondered what ss this was.

    Looking at the monitor, it showed: Modern Chinese 1.

    Chinese ss¡­ No wonder¡­

    Modern Chinese 1 was an entry level ss. These kids had to be freshmen. The girls were all young and most of them were taking notes seriously. Only that group of girls were more mature.

    ¡°In vocabry, the Chinesenguage is in the form of a single syble and makes new words using the rootplex method. Double sybles are far more adventurous.¡± The teacher was lecturing.

    ¡°As for grammar,pared to othernguages, Chinesecks strict changes in many forms. There is no simple one-to-one correspondence between word ss and sentenceposition in Chinese. The inner structure of Chinese sentences is consistent with the construction of phrases. There are rich quantifiers.¡±

    Although the teacher was trying very hard, the content was way too boring. Her voice was like a luby which made the students fall asleep.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t interested in Chinese. He yawned, got up and was about to leave.

    ¡°Professor, I have a question.¡±

    Right at that moment, a voice arose.

    Everyone, at the same time, looked back towards the source of the voice ¨C Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian only stood up. He hadn¡¯t said a word. From other people¡¯s perspectives, he stood up to ask a question.

    What?!

    Zhang Zian¡¯s face turned blue.

    Who is ying a joke on me?

    Old Time Tea was surprised. The source of voice was nearby, but it could not identify the urate location.

    There were too many people in the ssroom and the door was shut. The smells wereplicated.

    Old Time Tea wasn¡¯t sure if they were in a dangerous situation. It wasn¡¯t sure if it should be visible.

    Zhang Zian was calm. Apparently, it was just a joke; no one was trying to harm him.

    ¡°Great. I am d you are asking questions. Next time, please ask questions at the end of the session. Now that you have a question, I can exin further,¡± The teacher said.

    The teacher was quite happy that there wasmunication between her and the students.

    ¡°For example, in othernguages, subjects are usually nouns or noun phrases. However, in Chinese, it is a lot moreplicated. Besides nouns, there are a lot more that can serve as the subject in a sentence: numerals, azimuth nouns, verbalponents, adjectiveponents, and even prepositional phrases. I would like to cite two examples ¨C in the following sentence, ¡®Paying attention in ss is what you should do¡¯, a verbponent acts as the subject. As for ¡®Against the wall, there stands a row of desks¡¯, the prepositional phrase ¡®against the wall¡¯ acts as the subject. Do you understand now?¡±

    Zhang Zian was not interested in the teacher¡¯s detailed exnations. It was extremely boring for him. He was trying to search for the fourth elfin using his phone.

    Old Time Tea could not find the source of the voice because the source was an elfin. It could only be seen from the capturing screen of the Pet Hunter game.

    Front, no elfin.

    Left, no elfin.

    Right, no elfin.

    The back was a wall. There was no elfin.

    There was nothing¡­

    He raised his cell phone up, and saw a pair of creepy little eyes.

    Above his head, a huge parrot was standing on the wall fan, looking at him happily.

    [Game Tip]:Target confirmed ¨C Apprehensive Bird.

 Chapter 189: A B*tch Bird Elfin

    <h4>Chapter 189: A B*tch Bird Elfin</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian recognized its breed at first. It was an African grey parrot, a veryrge one.

    Light grey-colored feathers covered its body, leaving only a white face. Its small, ck eyes looked very smart. Its mouth opened slightly and it looked like it wasughing at Zhang Zian.

    When his parents were running the pet shop, there were a few parrots in the store. They were not expensive breeds. When he was little, he tried to teach them to talk but never seeded. Not all breeds can learn to talk and the chance to learn was even smaller.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s finger moved to the ¡°capture¡± button yet he didn¡¯t press on it. The majority of the bird¡¯s body was hiding behind the fan and it was looking at him fearlessly.

    ¡°You!¡± The teacher was mad, ¡°You asked a question yet didn¡¯t pay attention to my exnation. Please put your cell phone away.¡±

    The students looked at Zhang Zian curiously.

    Zhang Zian was going to defend himself and say that he didn¡¯t ask the question. The bird up top started to speak instead. ¡°Professor, your ss was so boring. Didn¡¯t you see everyone was falling asleep?¡±

    The teacher was even more angry. She stood there with a blue face.

    Some girls started to giggle quietly. A few boys couldn¡¯t help butugh out loud. They all looked at Zhang Zian with admiration. They thought this guy was so cool that he dared to challenge the teacher. It didn¡¯t look like he was going to pass this ss. Honestly, ss really was boring.

    Zhang Zian was nervous. That bird was b*tchy.

    Old Time Tea rxed because it knew they were safe. It was curious as to how Zhang Zian would handle the embarrassment, though.

    The teacher was so mad that she pointed at Zhang Zian, ¡°What¡­ what is your name and school ID?!¡±

    Zhang Zian kept silent. Who knew what that b*tchy bird was going to say?!

    The teacher was choked up with anger. She screamed, ¡°Where is the ss monitor? Where are you? Who is ss monitor from ss One?¡±

    The ss monitor from ss One sat in the front. She looked like a good student. Looking back, she said nervously, ¡°Umm, he doesn¡¯t look like he is in ss One.¡±

    ¡°What did you mean ¡®look like¡¯??¡± The teacher was letting out her anger. ¡°How do you not know if he was in your ss? How are doing your job as the ss monitor??¡±

    The girl was helpless. Almost crying, she said, ¡°We just started school this fall and we have been going to big sses. I am not familiar with the boys in ss. Maybe you can ask the assistant ss monitor. He is a boy¡­¡±

    Just like Zhang Zian¡¯s estimation, the students were freshmen this year. They went through military training in the first month so they had only started ss not long ago. There were almost 100 people in one ss. Unable to see each other all the time, it was not surprising that she couldn¡¯t recognize everyone.

    Their ss had more girls than boys, so there was one female ss monitor and one male assistant ss monitor. The male assistant ss monitor was an easy job because there weren¡¯t many boys in the ss.

    The teacher was too mad to be rational. She said, ¡°I am asking you. Are you qualified to be a ss monitor? If you are not, I am going to tell your managing teacher to rece you.¡±

    The female ss monitor was scolded in front of everyone. She started weeping.

    A boy stood up from the side and said, ¡°Professor Chen, I am the assistant ss monitor. This person is not a student in our ss.¡±

    ¡°Okay. He is not a student in ss One. How about ss Two and ss Three?¡±

    All the ss monitors stepped up and proved that Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t a student in their ss.

    That was surprising. People were confused again. If he was a sit-in student, then why would he get the teacher mad¡­

    The teacher was even more confused. If Zhang Zian was not an official student, then she could not threaten him with grades.

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    He knew that all he could do was remain silent. As long as he opened his mouth, the b*tchy bird would voice over him. He had to either speak really loud to cover the b*tchy bird¡¯s voice or remain silent. What should he say? Everyone thought it was him because no one could see the bird. If he told people that a bird was pretending to talk like him, the teacher probably would send him to the hospital.

    He sat in thest row for convenience and there was no one near him. Therefore, he couldn¡¯t me it on another person. He was going to leave, but he had gone through so much trouble to find this elfin. He didn¡¯t want to go home with nothing.

    ¡°So, you don¡¯t think I can punish you because you are not an official student?¡± The teacher was jumping up and down, ¡°I am telling you, I can tell your managing teacher and give you a warning!¡±

    The professor¡¯s threat meant nothing to Zhang Zian. All he had in his mind was to capture the b*tch bird elfin and leave.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s attitude showed that he didn¡¯t care. The teacher was even more angry.

    ¡°Okay! You stay there! Don¡¯t go away!¡± The professor had lost her mind. She pulled out her cellphone and dialed the number of the security office.

    ¡°Hello? Security? Here in the central academic building, room 1703, a student is bothering other people. Please send someone over.¡±

    She tried to lower her voice, but most people in the front row heard it. They started murmuring to each other and soon the news travelled to the back of the ss.

    ¡°Hey!¡± A girl sitting close to Zhang Zian turned around and told him quickly, ¡°Professor Chen is really mad. She already called security. You¡¯d better run. Otherwise it could be troublesome.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that it was not good, especially because he was not a student. Because he was not a student from the university, it would be even worse when security came.

    The b*tchy bird grabbed the top of the fan, using the fan to block its body. Its eyes looked lively. It had been waiting for Zhang Zian to speak so it could voice over him.

    Okay, you think I can¡¯t get you because you are hiding from me?

    Zhang Zian reached out his hand and turned on the fan. He was praying that the fan worked.

    The fan started running quickly.

 Chapter 190: A Safe Move

    <h4>Chapter 190: A Safe Move</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The fans in the ssroom were huge because they had to cover arge area. In order to scare the bird, Zhang Zian turned it on high speed.

    However, it was fall already. Turning on the fan wasn¡¯t enjoyable at all.

    ¡°It is cold!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with him? Turn off the fan!¡±

    Most students in the back startedining. They put up their hoods, zipped up their coats, put their hands in their pockets¡­ They had started to admire Zhang Zian a few minutes ago, but that admiration didn¡¯tst long.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t care. He only saw the b*tch bird Elfin fly up as he wished.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t! Please don¡¯t!¡± The b*tch bird struggled.

    Sh*t! The b*tch bird¡¯s voice sounded like a Japanese porn star! What the heck??

    Zhang Zian decided to focus on what was important. He quickly pressed ¡°capture¡± as soon as it flew up.

    Click!

    The b*tch bird Elfin disappeared from the ssroom.

    [Game Tip]:Captured! Apprehensive Bird!

    Zhang Zian put away his cellphone happily. Ha-ha¡­ I won!

    As soon as he looked up, he froze.

    Everyone in ss was staring at him weirdly ¨C especially the guys.

    F*ck! He suddenly realized that the b*tch bird¡¯s voice got him in trouble.

    The students had to think that he made the voice which sounded like a Japanese porn star. That was wrong!

    The students began murmuring again.

    ¡°Is he a man or woman?¡±

    ¡°Maybe he is a transgender. Half man and half woman¡­¡±

    ¡°Wow, he was good¡­ that sounded just like a Japanese porn star¡­¡±

    ¡°His voice made me hard¡­¡±

    Hearing those discussions, Zhang Zian was nervous. It wasn¡¯t funny!

    At this time, the door was pushed open. Two security guys came in.

    Besides the professor, Zhang Zian was the one standing up and he became the first suspect.

    ¡°That¡¯s the student Iined about,¡± Professor Chen pointed at Zhang Zian to confirm.

    Zhang Zian was speechless. What a bad day! The security was quite quick!

    ¡°Sir, please follow us. Bothering people in ss is not allowed,¡± the security guys weren¡¯t sure who he was, but they were quite polite.

    Zhang Zian was nning to leave, but he didn¡¯t want to be questioned in the security office. He was thinking hard about how to get himself out of trouble.

    The security guys looked at each other and kicked Zhang Zian out.

    Old Time Tea¡¯s beard moved. Looking at Zhang Zian, it wasn¡¯t sure if it should help him.

    ¡°Wait!¡±

    Someone walked into the ssroom.

    The voice was familiar. Zhang Zian looked up. It was Professor Wei Kang, whom he had just met.

    The security guys recognized Professor Wei Kang. Although they didn¡¯t even know what ss he taught, they didn¡¯t want to offend him, so they stopped.

    ¡°Professor Wei¡­ This is¡­¡± One of the security guys asked confusedly.

    Professor Chen walked over and asked unhappily, ¡°Professor Wei, what is going on?¡±

    Professor Wei fixed his sses andughed, ¡°This is a mistake. This is¡­¡± He pointed at Zhang Zian, ¡°A student from another city that wanted to enroll in my graduate program. I wasn¡¯t in my office just now, so I had him wait outside. I didn¡¯t know he hade to your ss.¡±

    The two security guys stepped aside. They knew their work was done.

    ¡°But he was bothering other students in my ss!¡± Professor Chen wasn¡¯t easy.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Professor Wei looked at Zhang Zian, ¡°What did he do?¡±

    ¡°Umm¡­¡± Professor Chen was speechless.

    Zhang Zian had only said three things. The first one was a question, so it was fine. The second one was toin that Professor Chen¡¯s ss was boring. And the third thing was that line in Japanese porn, ¡°please don¡¯t¡±. That was too embarrassing to repeat.

    The students startedughing. Professor Chen looked back at them. The students resumed a serious face.

    Wei Kang realized it wasn¡¯t easy for Professor Chen, so he said, ¡°How about this? I don¡¯t know what happened, but I think it might be a mistake¡­ So¡­¡± Wei Kang looked at Zhang Zian and gestured that he apologize to Professor Chen.

    Although Zhang Zian didn¡¯t cause this scene, he was in it. It wasn¡¯t nice to bother Professor Chen¡¯s ss. An apology didn¡¯t cost any money¡­

    ¡°I am sorry, Professor. I didn¡¯t do that on purpose,¡± He kept his head down and apologized without any exnation. His situation was tooplicated to exin.

    Professor Chen looked a bit rxed but still mad. The simple apology didn¡¯t seem sincere to her.

    ¡°Professor, how about we call it a day?¡± Wei Kang said, ¡°I have been waiting for so long to have a graduate student. Please don¡¯t ruin it.¡±

    Wei Kang was polite yet firm, which terrified Professor Chen a bit. Wei Kang was in a higher position than her. Although they didn¡¯t belong to the same school, he was still in a higher position. If she insisted to stand her ground, Wei Kang might hate her and give her a bad review in the future¡­ It was an easy choice.

    Professor Chen also heard that Wei Kang hadn¡¯t had a single student enrolled in his graduate program. He studied the animals in the wild and not many students wanted to do that these days. It was possible that this kid from another city was blindfolded and willing to join Professor Wei.

    In the end, it wasn¡¯t a difficult decision.

    ¡°Okay. You are lucky. I will let you go. Please don¡¯t do that again,¡± She lectured just like a teacher.

    Zhang Zianughed in his head. He replied vaguely, ¡°Okay. I understand.¡±

    Both security guys also rxed. They were the happiest people seeing this problem settled.

    ¡°Professor Wei, Professor Chen, we will leave then.¡± The security guys left.

    Wei Kang gestured to Zhang Zian, ¡°Let¡¯s go to my office. I have to give you some tests.¡±

    Zhang Zian left the ssroom silently.

    As soon as the door closed, Zhang Zian said, ¡°Professor Wei, I am grateful that you helped me, but if you just want to pressure me to enroll in your program, I¡¯d rather you call back the security guys.¡±

    Wei Kang waved his hand and sighed, ¡°Just leave. I went to the bathroom and heard themotion in that big ss, so I dropped by to check it out. It was nothing. I won¡¯t pressure you into anything.¡±

    Zhang Zian was embarrassed. He knew he was too calcting. However, the secret about Fina as well as the Pet Hunter game was too important to him. He would not share this secret with anyone.

    ¡°Okay. Thank you very much. If you need help with other things in the future, you can drop by the Amazing Fate Pet Shop.¡± He did emphasize ¡°other things.¡±

    He left uponpleting the sentence.

    Old Time Tea followed. A cat and a man once again stepped in the elevator.

 Chapter 191: Captain Shengâ€™s Visit

    <h4>Chapter 191: Captain Sheng¡¯s Visit</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Since they had sessfully captured the fourth Elfin, Zhang Zian and Old Time Tea took their time on the way home. Zhang Zian was fooled by the b*tch bird, yet he was still thrilled to get another Elfin. He knew he would get revenge on the b*tch bird sometime.

    ¡°Zian.¡±

    Old Time Tea called his name as they walked.

    ¡°What¡¯s up, Grandpa Tea?¡±

    ¡°That bird we just captured doesn¡¯t seem to be friendly¡­¡± Old Time Tea looked at him with concern. ¡°If it is too difficult to tame, we are better off just letting it go¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded, ¡°I know. But I want to give it a try, otherwise today¡¯s work was all a waste.¡±

    This bird was too b*tchy. It wasn¡¯t cute like Gxy, nor was it straightforward like Fina. Compared to Old Time Tea, it was aplete jerk. How could Zhang Zian increase its friendliness?

    When they walked close to the intersection of Zhong Hua Nan Road, they saw from a distance that two policemen were waiting at the door in front of the pet shop. There was a police car parked outside. Zhang Zian was nervous.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, that looks like Captain Sheng,¡± he said to Old Time Tea as they were waiting at the stop light.

    ¡°Oh, that police sergeant?¡± Old Time Tea asked.

    ¡°Yeah. I am not sure what he is doing here¡­¡± Zhang Zian thought for a second, ¡°Are they here for Chen Taitong¡¯s case or¡­¡±

    ¡°Or what?¡± Old Time Tea asked.

    Zhang Zian exined, ¡°Last time when he was here, he mentioned something. I don¡¯t know the details but it sounded like someone trained cats¡­ or other animals to do bad things. He wanted me to assist him.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Old Time Tea paused, ¡°What do you want to do?¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°I am nning to reject him. I am not a smart guy. I can¡¯t be of much help.¡±

    Old Time Tea disagreed, ¡°You don¡¯t have to put yourself down. Although I was never friends with policemen, it isn¡¯t surprising that they need our help. If we can do something good for the society, we should do it.¡±

    ¡°You are right, Grandpa Tea. Would you like to sit in? If you think we can help them, then I will ept his invitation. If you don¡¯t think so, then just shake your head.¡±

    Old Time Tea said, ¡°Great idea!¡±

    Old Time Tea was sophisticated. It knew that a normal person could only benefit from having a great rtionship with the police. It was an opportunity many people had longed for. This sergeant looked like he was high-ranking. To be friends with him would be greatly beneficial.

    The lights turned green. They crossed the road together and walked towards the policemen.

    When they got closer, he confirmed that was Captain Sheng.

    Captain Sheng also saw him. He quickly walked up to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Master Zhang.¡±

    Zhang Zian was embarrassed, ¡°Captain Sheng, please don¡¯t call me that. I don¡¯t deserve the name of ¡®master¡¯. Please call me Zhang Zian.¡±

    ¡°Captain Sheng, why didn¡¯t you give me a call before youe? How long have you waited?¡± Zhang Zian said as he pulled out the keys to unlock the door, opened the curtain door and invited Captain Sheng inside.

    Captain Sheng took off his hat, walked inside and said, ¡°I just arrived. I will address you as Mr. Zhang then. Honestly, the name ¡®master¡¯ sounds like a scammer, ha-ha¡­ Mr. Zhang is a good name. I like it¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian kept a safe distance from Captain Sheng. He was concerned that Captain Sheng would suddenly hit him to see if he was a Kung Fu master. Obviously, he was overthinking it. Captain Sheng was a policeman who was not allowed to hit a normal person. Otherwise, he would lose his job. If Captain Sheng requested a match, Zhang Zian could easily refuse it.

    ¡°Please sit down. I am sorry about the mess. I don¡¯t have much to serve you,¡± Zhang Zian pointed at the chair next to the cashier table and had Captain Sheng sit down.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Captain Sheng sat down and looked around, ¡°Mr. Zhang, are you going to renovate your store?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I have a friend connected with a design firm. My friend Xiao Yan, whom you also know,¡± Zhang Zian was honest.

    ¡°Oh¡­ Hey, how did you meet Ms. Xiao?¡± Captain Sheng asked curiously, ¡°As far as I know, her salon doesn¡¯t serve male customers.¡±

    ¡°Long story short, Sister Xiao has a cat that is quite naughty. The cat didn¡¯t like taking baths and she didn¡¯t like the services from other pet stores, so she tried mine out,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Captain Sheng¡¯s eyes shined as he asked, ¡°So you nailed it?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Fortunately,¡± Zhang Zian was humble.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, you are too humble. Well, I should¡¯ve known. You are a cat trainer, so bathing a cat shouldn¡¯t take you too much work,¡± Captain Shengughed.

    Old Time Tea was invisible the whole time. It had been observing Captain Sheng¡¯s facial expressions.

    It realized that Captain Sheng kept the small talk going all while leading the conversation to his main points.

    Zhang Zian also noticed that he was straightforward, ¡°Captain Sheng, I am a cat trainer. I know there are various styles and techniques for cat training. There isn¡¯t one rule that applies to all.¡±

    He made that up.

    Captain Sheng waved, ¡°Mr. Zhang, rx. I am not interested in knowing how cats are trained. I also understand that people don¡¯t like to reveal these secrets. I am very practical. I only want to see results, I don¡¯t care about how you do it. My goal of this trip is to invite you to help us in a case.¡±

    Zhang Zian nced at Old Time Tea. Its hat was going up and down. It gestured him to listen.

    ¡°Please tell me the details,¡± he said.

    Captain Sheng hesitated and remained silent.

    ¡°Well, if it is not a good time¡­¡± Zhang Zian was hoping that Captain Sheng wouldn¡¯t tell him.

    ¡°No, I was just thinking about how to tell you¡­¡± Captain Sheng shook his head, ¡°Well, I will tell you everything. However, this is not a good thing to share with people. If you expose it to the public, there will be a negative influence on us, so¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian understood that this was an oral non-disclosure agreement.

    ¡°I promise I won¡¯t tell other people, no matter if I can help or not,¡± He emphasized ¡°other people¡±. Of course, Old Time Tea, Gxy, Fina and the b*tch bird were, in fact, not ¡°other people.¡±

    ¡°I trust you, Mr. Zhang. I will tell you the ins and outs of this story. Here we go¡­¡±

 Chapter 192: A Stolen Luxury Watch

    <h4>Chapter 192: A Stolen Luxury Watch</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was in themercial zone of Binhai, surrounded by skyscrapers and high-end offices. Thepanies in those buildings are some quite sessful localpanies or branch offices from national enterprises.

    The case happened not long ago¡­ that was not urate. It should be said that the first official report was set up in the police station not long ago. No one except for the offender knew when the first case was.

    One day, the police received a case reporting a stolen watch. Honestly, it was quite normal that petty thieves stole something here and there. The policemen kept a record most of the time, but they wouldn¡¯t really spend time searching for the loss because most of the stuff could not be found. If they caught a big group of thieves, then they might be able to get back some stuff. Only when the lost item was extremely valuable would the police take the case seriously.

    The value of the lost item wasn¡¯t extremely high. It was an imported luxury watch. Local policemen went to file a case. Captain Sheng knew nothing about it.

    The location of the case was Yuanhua Building ¨C an office building at the edge of themercial zone. The policemen went and took statements.

    The person who reported the case was a 37-year old man called Liu Miao. He was a mid-level manager in a localpany. His annual ie was about 200,000 Yuan. He filed a case with the police that an imported diamond ent TAG Heuer female watch was missing in thepany and he suspected one of his co-workers stole it.

    His friend bought this brand-new watch from overseas for him. The watch cost about 30,000 Yuan, which was shown on the receipt. Because his friend bought it from overseas, his friend had to wear it to enter customs. This way, they could avoid paying the duties. The police found out afterwards that a luxurious item like that should be taxed at 60%. Therefore, that watch was in fact sold in China for more than 50,000 Yuan.

    His friend brought the watch to thepany and told him he would mail the box over in a few days. He was a trustworthy friend. Also, before Liu Miao bought this watch, he did extensive research on how to identify a counterfeit watch so he wasfortable about receiving the watch without a receipt and box. After receiving the watch, Liu Miao was thrilled. He was going to hide it and surprise his wife when the box arrived.

    After his friend left, a few co-workers heard that he bought an expensive watch and all came over to congratte him and have a look. The girls were jealous of his wife for having such a generous and caring husband. Because there wasn¡¯t a box, he left it on his desk for his co-workers to look at.

    His co-workers were clever. They looked at it and then put it down immediately. No one dared to try it on. Liu Miao was watching the whole time. He trusted his co-workers and wasn¡¯t worried about losing the watch. All he worried about was someone dropping the watch, so he was prepared to save it if that happened.

    After looking at the watch, his co-workers all promised they wouldn¡¯t tell his wife about it. Then they all went back to work.

    Up until then, the watch was stillying on his desk, safe and sound.

    As the mid-level manager of thepany, Liu Miao didn¡¯t have an office of his own, but he did have a separaterge desk. It was on the edge of the public area close to the wall. His team sometimes came over to report to him or had him review something. He was a busy man.

    Some co-workers from other departments heard about the luxurious watch and came over to look at it. Liu Miao felt it was too troublesome to keep pulling the watch out from the drawer, so he kept it on the desk. In fact, he was also trying to show off the watch.

    Liu Miao¡¯s department was quite stable; thus, the turnover rate was low. There hadn¡¯t been any new employeestely nor did he hear about anyone trying to change departments. He had worked in thepany for years. Sometimes, people were frightened that they lost their phone or wallet. Soon they would find that they were careless and found the item quickly. There had never been anything officially stolen in the office. People who worked there had a great job and they didn¡¯t have to risk their reputation for a few thousand Yuan.

    When it was almost noon, an acquaintance sent Liu Miao a message saying that he wanted to buy a simr watch so he wanted toe look at it. If he liked it, he also would like Liu Miao¡¯s friend help him get a piece from overseas and he was willing to pay him somemission.

    Liu Miao understood. In fact, before he got the watch, he was worried that it would be taxed at customs. Now that his friend really showed himself to be reliable, Liu was extremely happy about the purchase. It was normal that other people wanted to do the same because of the savings. Liu Miao was a great friend of that guy, so he only needed to take him out as a thank-you. Other people wanting the same service would have to pay his friendmission.

    He replied, ¡°Okay. You maye over.¡±

    The co-worker replied, ¡°Coming.¡±

    Liu Miao needed to use the bathroom. He hesitated for half a second whether he should put the watch in his drawer. He then thought it was unnecessary because the bathroom was very close to his desk and it should only take him a few minutes to get back. Thinking that his co-worker was on his way down, it was too much trouble putting the watch back. He trusted his co-workers wouldn¡¯t do anything to it. Also, his desk was separated. If someone wanted toe over and steal the watch, someone would see it.

    He rushed to the bathroom, leaving the watch out.

    From the surveince camera, the total time from him leaving the desk to returning was only three or four minutes. However, something happened during that time.

    When Liu Miao returned, his acquaintance was waiting by his desk.

    The acquaintance¡¯s name was Shaoyu. He joined thepany at almost the same time as Liu Miao. Both shared the same hobbies ¨C watching ser and drinking beer. They spent a lot of time together at bars during thest World Cup. Shaoyu wasn¡¯t married yet so he enjoyed more freedom than Liu Miao.

    Seeing him return, Shaoyu said immediately, ¡°Everyone is talking about your fancy watch. Let me take a look¡­¡±

    Liu Miaoughed and pointed at the desk, ¡°It is on the desk¡­¡±

    The watch was missing.

 Chapter 193: Surveillance Camera

    <h4>Chapter 193: Surveince Camera</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Realizing the TAG Heuer watch was missing, Liu Miao¡¯s first thought wasn¡¯t the fact that the watch was stolen, but instead that Shaoyu was ying a joke on him. Heughed, ¡°You silly kid, why would you y a joke on me like that¡­ Look at my watch all you want. Let¡¯s have lunch together.¡±

    Shaoyu was confused, ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°The watch.¡±

    ¡°Where is it?¡±

    Liu Miaoughed, ¡°Stop your joke! I put it on the desk. Feel free to take a look. Don¡¯t scare me by hiding it.¡±

    Looking at the desk, Shaoyu was even more confused, ¡°What? I didn¡¯t see it.¡±

    Liu Miao¡¯s smile froze. He realized something was wrong. Rushing back to his desk, he opened his eyes, searching carefully. He lifted up the keyboard hoping it was under there. He pulled up the files to check if it was in between the pages¡­ he pulled out all the stuff in all four drawers in his desk.

    Two drawers out of four had documents and other paperwork so it was easy to go through. Another drawer was random stuff such as a knife, stapler, some pens, hand cream, scarf¡­ thest drawer was a picture of him and his wife as well as the receipt of the watch. Nothing was found.

    Liu Miao¡¯s face turned pale. He pulled Shaoyu aside and said, ¡°Brother, don¡¯t joke around like that. If you hid it, just tell me. I don¡¯t like this kind of joke.¡±

    Shaoyu was nervous, ¡°I didn¡¯t hide it. I haven¡¯t seen a watch on your desk since I came.¡±

    Liu Miao¡¯s forehead started sweating. His heartrate raced. This watch was a gift to his wife. The purchase didn¡¯t have his wife¡¯s approval. If he lost the watch like that, he could not imagine how mad his wife would get. It was also impossible to hide it from his wife because it was quite arge expense. His wife would find out sooner orter.

    ¡°Brother, are you serious?¡±

    ¡°I am serious. I am not stupid. I won¡¯t joke around like that.¡±

    They were getting louder and louder. The other staff members didn¡¯t know what was going on so they nced over from time to time. It was about lunchtime, so people were hungry and they couldn¡¯t really focus on work. It was too difficult to hide it from the crowd. Almost everyone in the department gathered and watched what was going on. Some were murmuring to each other.

    Shaoyu looked impatient. It was understandable. He had nned a short visit but was now involved in a thievery case. Now Liu Miao thought he hid the watch.

    Someone smart said, ¡°You guys keep searching. I will go to the control room to find the surveince video.¡± He left in a rush.

    News travelled fast in the office. A few minutester, people from other departments also came over to look at the show which made it even more crowded than before. Some jealous people murmured, ¡°Look how he showed off his luxurious watch. Now it is missing. It was karma!¡±

    After a little while, the guy came back.

    ¡°What happened? Did you see the thief?¡± Several people asked at the same time.

    The guys looked undaunted and said, ¡°It was too bad¡­¡± He pointed at the surveince camera on the ceiling, ¡°The camera only caught half of the desk, the half that was close to the door. We can confirm that no one entered this office when he was gone.¡±

    Liu Miao¡¯s desk was an add-on after the expansion. The camera was pointing at the central area of the office and half of his desk was in the blind area. Unfortunately, this blind area made the whole story much moreplicated than it should¡¯ve been.

    Shaoyu knew that he had to clear the suspicion on him. Otherwise, he would have a bad reputation. He called the police.

    The police arrived in no time. The first thing they did was get the surveince videos.

    Captain Sheng¡¯s voice started to turn low at this point. He cleared his throat. Zhang Zian gave him a bottle of Evian mineral water. That was expensive! Fina would be jumping up and down if she knew that her water was being offered to a normal guy!

    ¡°Wow, Evian water. It looks like you are doing great!¡± Captain Sheng didn¡¯t deny it. He opened the lid and drank half of a bottle.

    ¡°What is next?¡± Zhang Zian was not interested at first, but now he wanted to know the end. It was the same thing as people listening to stories at a teahouse. The storyteller usually only told half of the story and wouldn¡¯t continue unless they got some money from the customers. His Evian mineral water to Captain Sheng was sort of the same thing.

    Captain Sheng wiped away the water on his mouth and said, ¡°We looked at the surveince camera. Just like I told you, the desk is in a blind spot and only half of the desk could be seen. We confirmed that no one walked in the office besides¡­¡±

    He took out his cellphone and pulled up a video. ¡°Mr. Zhang, you may have a look yourself.¡±

    Zhang Zian took the cellphone and looked at it carefully.

    It was arge office with at least 30 desks. Yuanhua Building was built a few years ago, so its surveince cameras were quite low in definition. The camera covered arge area, so some details weren¡¯t clear at all.

    ¡°Look, over there where it is only showing half of a desk is Liu Miao¡¯s desk,¡± Captain Sheng reminded.

    The clock on the upper right corner continued counting. Time was passing by.

    ¡°Don¡¯t stare at the desk. Look at the door to the left,¡± Captain Sheng reminded him again.

    Zhang Zian focused on the left side of the screen, which was covered fully by the camera.

    ¡°This guy rushing out to the bathroom is Liu Miao.¡±

    In the video, a guy walked out of the office quickly.

    ¡°Pay attention.¡±

    Captain Sheng wasn¡¯t looking at the video himself, but he could urately point out the reminders at the correct time. He had watched the video many times.

    What?

    A cat stuck its head in and walked in from the door.

    The door was the farthest from the camera and due to the low definition, it wasn¡¯tpletely clear. Zhang Zian guessed it was a white cat with a few big ck spots on its face and tail. It should be a Chinese cat.

    The cat came in and acted like a well-trained soldier. It walked up to thest row of desks, marched from behind the busy staff and then disappeared in the blind area.

    ¡°Pause here,¡± Captain Sheng said.

    Zhang Zian pointed at the monitor and the video paused.

    ¡°Look at the desk.¡±

    Zhang Zian stared at the picture with extreme focus. He found that about 8 inches above the desk, there was a small white tip of the tail, which meant that the cat had jumped on the desk.

    What was it doing? Although prepared, Zhang Zian still could not believe his eyes. It was true that some people trained their cats to steal. It was way more overwhelming when he saw the video for himself.

    Captain Sheng reached for his cigarettes then realized that it was a non-smoking store. He said, ¡°If the cat was trained only for stealing, that¡¯s not a big deal. I am afraid¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian understood immediately.

 Chapter 194: Mission Accepted

    <h4>Chapter 194: Mission epted</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When facing a stranger, a normal person would typically be wary. However, they had a different feeling towards small animals, especially cute little kittens and puppies. People loved them, approached them and fed them ¨C in fact, it could be dangerous because not all pets were nice. Therefore, one should pay special attention when approaching a strange cat or dog. Kids should never do that on their own.

    If someone could train a cat to steal, he could also train it to conduct other crimes.

    Captain Sheng said, ¡°When the police arrived, we got the surveince video. When everybody realized that it was the cat, it had already left through the stairs.¡±

    ¡°So, Liu Miao had to suck up the loss?¡±

    ¡°That is not urate,¡± Captain Sheng pointed out, ¡°We set up a file and are trying to find the suspect and his watch. That¡¯s why I am here to ask a favor from you.¡±

    Zhang Zianughed, ¡°Okay. My bad.¡±

    ¡°In fact, when the police were there, they didn¡¯t realize it was that serious. They thought the cat might have thought the shiny watch was pretty so it took the watch. We missed the best chance to use a police dog.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought to himself that the thief cat had to be rted to Fina.

    ¡°Many dayster, I overheard some co-workers¡¯ conversations and learned about this case,¡± Captain Sheng continued, ¡°I don¡¯t think this is a simple case, so I counted the stealing cases we received in recent months. How many cases do you guess we got?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a difficult guess,¡± Zhang Zian was honest.

    ¡°There are 13 cases where the camera caught the cat stealing. Counting all the cases without surveince records, there were almost 100 cases. I am not saying that the cat did them all, but it is certainly possible.¡±

    Captain Sheng simply described the situation and it looked like those cases had been giving him a big headache. ¡°If it was a person who conducted those crimes, we¡¯d have a way to find him. However, it was a cat¡­ Honestly, we can¡¯t do anything about it. The way we track people does not work on cats. These cases have been a big influence on the police image. They weren¡¯t serious crimes, but the fact that people think we can do nothing¡­¡±

    ¡°So, you are hoping I could help resolve these cases?¡± Zhang Zian re-confirmed.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, don¡¯t be overly humble. If you agree, we will send a crew to assist you in this cat. You are the cat trainer, we aren¡¯t,¡± Captain Sheng said politely.

    ¡°Well¡­ I see,¡± Zhang Zian pretended to think, but in fact he was looking at Old Time Tea.

    Old Time Tea slightly nodded its head and immediately slightly shook its head.

    He guessed that Old Time Tea meant he should ept the case, but he should not make any promises.

    ¡°Okay. I can give it a try. Please give me some time for preparation,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± Captain Sheng was happy to get his help. He stood up and reached his hand out for a handshake, ¡°I am d you epted our invitation. I¡¯ve got to go. Come see me in the police station anytime you are ready and we can work out some details.¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his hand and saw him off at the door.

    As soon as Captain Sheng left, Zhang Zian lowered the curtain door and said, ¡°Grandpa Tea, you maye out.¡±

    Old Time Tea became visible.

    ¡°What do you think?¡± he asked.

    Old Time Tea thought for a second. ¡°Let¡¯s discuss this with the team.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Zhang Zian agreed.

    The biggest concern for this case was that the suspect was stealing from various office buildings and it was extremely difficult to track where it would go next.

    Zhang Zian released Gxy and Fina.

    They both had taken a nice nap and looked refreshed. Fina shook its furfortably, smelled and frowned, ¡°A strong cigarette smell. Did that policemane back?¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded, ¡°He came to discuss a case that needed our help.¡±

    ¡°I am not interested,¡± Fina rejected immediately, ¡°I don¡¯t want to get involved in things like that. If the weather is nice, I¡¯d rather take a nap in the sun.¡±

    Zhang Zian was embarrassed, although he was prepared that Fina would say something mean.

    ¡°Ha-ha, My Majesty, please listen to me,¡± Old Time Tea always spoke at the right time, ¡°First, Captain Sheng is in high ranking. If we do him a favor now, it might be beneficial to us in the future. Second, this time it was cats breaking thew. If people start to broadcast this, it will only shame us cats and you as our Queen.¡±

    Zhang Zian was amazed at how sophisticated Old Time Tea was. The Kings and Queens only wanted to hear what they wanted to hear. Old Time Tea totally understood this.

    Fina was curious immediately. It nced at Old Time Tea and asked, ¡°Tell me about it.¡±

    Zhang Zian repeated the story he just heard from Captain Sheng.

    ¡°What?!¡± Fina¡¯s eyes were wide open, ¡°How dare it steal shiny things and not give them to me!?¡±

    Zhang Zian forced a smile. So that¡¯s what Fina cared about?

    He cleared his throat. ¡°That¡¯s true. I heard that all the missing things are very expensive. Luxurious watches, wallets, purses¡­ There was ady who saw a cat in the bathroom. She thought it was cute so she petted it. That cat was obeying. As soon as she took off her ring to wash her hands, the cat jumped and ran away with the ring. She followed it out immediately, but it escaped.¡±

    Those cases were filed with the police. He could not imagine how many people just let it go and didn¡¯t report the case. Many people may have thought that the cat just liked the jewelry. No one would¡¯ve thought that the cat was trained to steal. The suspect chose to steal from high-end offices because people who worked there were pretty well-off.

    ¡°Well, what are we waiting for? I have to punish these cats who damage our reputation as cats!¡± Fina said seriously, ¡°When we find the jewelry, can I have all the shiny things?¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. He knew that wasing¡­

    He knew it was useless to discuss with Fina because it simply didn¡¯t care. He said, ¡°Let¡¯s find the suspect. If the lost items were recorded, they¡¯ll have to go back to the original owner. If some weren¡¯t recorded¡­ You can probably pick one.¡±

    Fina said reluctantly, ¡°Stingy!¡±

    Zhang Zian asked Gxy, ¡°Gxy, do you think we should ept this case?¡±

    Gxy kept nodding, ¡°I want to help! I hate bad boys!¡±

    Zhang Zian knew Gxy wouldn¡¯t be a problem so he said, ¡°Now, let¡¯s¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait, Zian,¡± Old Time Tea said.

    ¡°What¡¯s up, Grandpa Tea?¡±

    Old Time Tea looked outside. It was getting dark.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have to rush into this. A few days ago, I was walking outside and saw that the moon was very bright. Today is a full moon. Let¡¯s take today as the Mid-Autumn Festival and celebrate that we have a new member in the family. How about that?¡±

 Chapter 195: The Blooming Flowers and Full Moon

    <h4>Chapter 195: The Blooming Flowers and Full Moon</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Was it the Mid-Autumn Festival already?

    Zhang Zian was surprised at how fast time flew by, and then sorrow suddenly came to his heart. He almost cried.

    The Mid-Autumn Festival was almost a month ago, before Old Time Tea arrived. Zhang Zian was too busy, so he forgot all about it. By the time he remembered, the festival had already passed.

    He¡¯d had no one to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with. His parents died a while ago and all his rtives lived somewhere else. He didn¡¯t really care. It was just another holiday.

    ¡°Mid-Autumn Festival?¡± Gxy asked curiously, tilting her head.

    ¡°Ha-ha, the Mid-autumn Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday. It is one of the most important holidays in a year, representing a time to celebrate the harvest and reunite families. People enjoy the beautiful view of a perfect full moon and eat moon cake. Although today is not the Mid-Autumn Festival, the moon looks just as perfect. As long as it is a nice view, we can still enjoy it. However, it is much cooler now, so it is easy to catch a cold. How about we celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival together tonight?¡± Old Time Teaughed.

    Lowering his head, Zhang Zian resumed a smile on his face as soon as he looked back up. He agreed, ¡°That¡¯s a great idea. I bet Gxy and Fina have never celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival before. Today, let¡¯s have some fun! Mid-Autumn Festival is the best time to enjoy the moon and Osmanthus tea. Grandma Tea, I will get you some Osmanthus tea.¡±

    Old Time Tea was thrilled. ¡°Perfect. Thank you very much!¡±

    ¡°Wait. I will be right back,¡± Zhang Zian left quickly.

    Looking at him walking away, Old Time Tea smiled. It was getting old and there might not be many Mid-Autumn Festivals left in its lifetime.

    ¡°What the heck is the Mid-Autumn Festival? Don¡¯t tell me something I don¡¯t understand,¡± Feeling ignored, Fina was grumpy.

    ¡°My Majesty, in a word, Mid-Autumn Festival is a day to celebrate with family,¡± Old Time Tea said. ¡°Even for people who live far away, they will try to get home on this day to see their family.¡±

    Fina thought for a second, ¡°Zhang Zian¡¯s family all died.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Isn¡¯t that what happened to us all?¡± Old Time Tea said with a bit of sadness, ¡°All my friends and family died a long time ago. I don¡¯t even have someone to enjoy tea with. I am the only one left alive.¡±

    Old Time Tea started thinking about that hard-working young man, the person it had watched over for a long time. It saw him grow up and be a Kung Fu master. However, he finally died as well.

    Fina was in deep thought. Its mind went back to thousands of years ago. It was as if it saw the person it missed the most. However, it was the same person who abandoned Fina for treasures and glory. Fina saw her beautiful lips saying, ¡°Fina, wait for me. We will never be apart.¡±

    Yes. They both lost their most important tie. A person they thought would never leave them. A person that was closer than family and friends.

    ¡°We found a new family. That¡¯s great!¡± Gxy said all of a sudden. Its mind was so simple and pure. Gxy was best at finding the root cause of the problem.

    Fina woke up from the memories. It looked at Gxy and said, ¡°No, she was an irreceable person to me.¡±

    ¡°Irreceable, but there¡¯s also no need to rece,¡± Old Time Tea smiled, ¡°We don¡¯t have to rece them. Families are not lovers. We can have more than one.¡±

    Fina dropped its head. Both Cleopatra and Zhang Zian¡¯s faces appeared in its mind. They sometimes became one, butt sometimes went towards two different directions. It could not understand why, but it had more than enough time to figure it out.

    Zhang Zian came back after a bit. There was a bag of tea in his left hand and some Osmanthus flowers in his right hand.

    ¡°I went to a few flower shops and eventually found some Osmanthus flowers. We don¡¯t have a Osmanthus tree here, so these flowers are better than nothing,¡± As he spoke, he noticed that all three cats seemed sad.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± He was surprised. He was only gone for a little bit. Howe the atmosphere turned weird so quickly?

    ¡°Nothing. We were talking about how we hope the new Elfin is nice to us,¡± Old Time Tea said.

    Zhang Zian believed Old Time Tea. He waved the osmanthus flower and said, ¡°I will get a vase for the flowers and then make some osmanthus tea. We can look at the moon from the roof.¡±

    There was a hidden door on the roof in the storage room. Zhang Zian opened the lock, and a beautiful bright moonlighte in.

    He walked up the roof with a kettle in his hand and a towel on his shoulder.

    There wasn¡¯t much stuff on the roof. In the middle, there was a card table. His parents put it there. They always came up to the roof to cool down on hot summer nights. A little te was on the card table and in the middle of the te there sat some small ck stuff. It looked like it was some left-over mosquito coils soaked too long in the rain.

    Even after he had left home for college, his parents still came up to the roof during hot summer nights. They would move the card table back down after Mid-Autumn Festival, but now the card table was still here even after his parents were gone.

    Zhang Zian ced the kettle on the ground and used the towel on his shoulder to wipe clean the chair and table. The white towel soon turned ck. He poured some water from the kettle to rinse off the dirt on the table. Once, twice¡­ until the table and the chairs were clean.

    He stood up and breathed in some crisp air.

    The moon was so bright that there were barely any stars. Although there was no light on the roof, visibility was still great.

    Zhang Zian walked over to the edge of the roof and saw that Aunt Li and her husband were busy. They packed up the BBQ skewers for their customers with a big smile. They¡¯d smiled at customers before, but this time, their smiles were not only happy, but also peaceful and full of hope for the future.

    He walked around the edge in a counterclockwise direction and arrived at the other side of the roof. Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s clinic was still open. He had heard that evenings were a busy time for her because people brought in their pets after work. 12-hour days were a norm for her. Most of the pets in the pet shop were transferred to the wards in the clinic. Wang Qian and Li Kun went over to clean up every day.

    He continued walking and saw the green field. The moonlight covered the field, looking like a silver cover. The street lights by the field were mostly broken. A few working lights were exceptionally dimmed which added a mysterious feelings to the field. He could hear the noises of a few street cats fighting.

    He then walked to thest edge of the roof. Looking at the intersection there, numerous cars were waiting to cross the street. An ambnce flew by with the siren on. Cars moved away to make way for the ambnce.

    He went back to the door and yelled to the downstairs, ¡°You guys maye up!¡±

 Chapter 196: Understanding the Bird

    <h4>Chapter 196: Understanding the Bird</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Gxy was the first one to jump up. It was immediately attracted by the moon and the stars. ¡°Meow! Meow! How beautiful!¡±

    In fact, the moon was so bright that most of the small stars were hiding. However, this was the first time that Gxy saw the sky from a roof. It was so excited that it was jumping up and down, which scared Zhang Zian. He said to Gxy, ¡°Gxy, stay away from the edge. I don¡¯t want you to fall.¡±

    There weren¡¯t rails around the edges. Along the edges were some bricks, which made the edge more visible. He remembered that his parents didn¡¯t allow him to run around in case he fell down.

    Fina came up after Gxy. It said after a quick nce, ¡°Such a simple roof!¡±

    ¡°I am sorry it is simple,¡± Zhang Zian knew it would say something like that.

    ¡°I love the stars!¡± Gxy screamed excitedly.

    Fina looked up to the sky and said coldly, ¡°I don¡¯t see anything exciting. There are barely any stars! I have seen ten times more from my star observation tower!¡±

    Gxy couldn¡¯t believe it, ¡°Really?!¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡± Fina raised its head and said like a proud peacock. ¡°I could look up and the stars in the sky were just as shiny as my jewelry. This ce is notparable.¡±

    ¡°Meow! I want to see¡­¡± Gxy was jealous, looking at Zhang Zian like a little kid.

    Zhang Zian cleared his throat, ¡°Well¡­ in fact ¡­ In this era, it is very difficult to see the stars because there are too many lights all around. Also, the air pollution in the city doesn¡¯t help. Unless we go deep in the woods, we really won¡¯t be able to see the stars.¡±

    ¡°I like it here. It feels lively,¡± Old Time Tea was thest one to jump up to the roof. ¡°Going deep in the woods is only nice in your imagination.¡±

    Zhang Zian agreed. Professor Wei spending three years to get a student enrolled in his program was the best example. People lived in the city for too long, so they admired nature. However, if they had to live in the woods, most of them would not be able to stand the loneliness and inconvenience. Social life was very important to humans.

    ¡°Please wait. Let me get the tea.¡± He left the roof to get four sets of tea cups and a thermos water bottle. The water bottle was filled with freshly boiled water.

    Gxy usually didn¡¯t eat or drink. It sat down on one of the chairs. Fina was not interested in tea. Zhang Zian was worried that it would reject the invitation directly. However, it waszily sitting on the chair to his left. Old Time Tea was pumped and it jumped up to the chair to his right.

    After setting up the tea cups, he opened the thermos water bottle and waited for the water to cool down a tiny bit. He then poured the water into the teapot. After spending time with Old Time Tea, he knew that rolling boiled water would spoil tea. It had to cool down a bit to make good tea. With the water in, the golden Osmanthus tea was aromatic.

    ¡°That tea smells good,¡± Fina smelled.

    ¡°When it gets cold outside, drinking hot tea is very soothing,¡± Old Time Tea smiled, ¡°Osmanthus tea isn¡¯t expensive, but it is the best thing at this time of year.¡±

    While waiting for the hot tea to cool down, Zhang Zian grabbed the vase filled with Osmanthus flowers and put it in the middle of the table. The flowers were fragrant.

    ¡°I have never seen this flower,¡± Fina stared at the Osmanthus.

    A golden cat was staring at some golden flowers. What a beautiful picture! Old Time Tea wanted to paint this picture if it could.

    The golden flowers were a great match to Fina.

    ¡°Osmanthus tea was made from these flowers,¡± Old Time Tea exined.

    Zhang Zian poured tea for each of them and said, ¡°Please enjoy.¡± Finally, he poured himself some.

    Looking down, Gxy was staring at the stars shown in the tea. It then looked up and saw the real stars as if it was confused as to which one was real.

    Looking at the golden tea, Fina was staring at the face reflected in tea ¨C it was its own face. On the day before she left, that woman was rubbing its forehead as if she wanted to rub it into her heart. Fina could never forget her tiny gentle hands. However, the number of times it woke up from nightmares were getting less and less. The nightmares seemed to be fading away.

    Drinking the tea, Old Time Tea breathed out some white steam from its mouth. Steam kepting out of its mouth for a few seconds. Only Kung Fu masters could achieve this long breath.

    Compared to daytime, Old Time Tea preferred the night. Many people pretended to be nice during the day and turned back into a monster at night. Now it had a stable home and a caring owner. It never had to fight for food again. Staying on the roof and drinking tea was really nice.

    Zhang Zian still didn¡¯t know how to enjoy tea. He drank the tea quickly and pulled out his phone. ¡°Let¡¯s wee our new member. I have to warn you¡­ this bird is quite b*tchy.¡±

    Gxy and Fina were confused. Only Old Time Tea had seen that bird and knew what Zhang Zian meant.

    Zhang Zian turned on the Pet Hunter game and clicked on the one and only Elfin in the pet bar. The huge grey parrot was looking around from the monitor.

    [Game Tip]:Pet characteristics

    [Known As]:The Apprehensive bird

    [Rarity]:Elite grade

    [Characteristics]:People have never heard of the apprehensive bird because they don¡¯t understand it.

    [History]:Locked

    [Real Name]:Locked

    Zhang Zian read in his heart, ¡°People have never heard of the apprehensive bird because they don¡¯t understand it.¡± Is that the reason why it showed up in a Chinese ss?

    He pointed at an empty space and clicked ¡°release.¡±

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    The grey parrot appeared in the sky. It seemed to be unprepared, so it dropped like a dead bird. Fortunately, it woke up, adjusted its position and flew up.

    ¡°What is going on?! Who got me here? What do you want? Money? Sex?¡± The bird was loud.

    Zhang Zian was again speechless.

    The apprehensive bird pped its wings and wanted to fly away. However, there seemed to be an invisible wall about 10 feet from the ground to push it back down.

    ¡°What is going on? Why can¡¯t I fly? Is this a kidnapping?¡±

    [Game Tip]:The apprehensive bird is not friendly enough to leave home.

    Zhang Zian said to it, ¡°Don¡¯t waste your time. Stay here.¡±

    The apprehensive bird tried a few times and failed.

    Finally, it was tired, so it stopped trying. It looked at Zhang Zian, then Gxy, Fina and Old Time Tea. It soon sneered.

    ¡°Oh, one stupid man and three silly cats¡­¡±

    Before the apprehensive bird finished, a golden light stormed in and went straight at it.

    Fina attacked the bird with fury. Who dared to offend Fina?

    Zhang Zian was shocked.

    So was Old Time Tea.

    The apprehensive bird was scared too¡­ well¡­ it wet it¡¯s pants. Some yellowish poop came out.

    Fina had attacked with full power.

    The apprehensive bird screamed. Its body fell heavily on the roof leaving a few feathers with blood dancing in the sky.

    ¡­

    That was all in Zhang Zian¡¯s imagination. Here¡¯s what really happened¡­

    Zhang Zian still didn¡¯t know how to enjoy tea. He drank down the tea quickly and pulled out his phone, ¡°Let¡¯s wee our new member. I have to warn you¡­ this bird is quite b*tchy.¡±

    Gxy looked back down and said, ¡°Zian!¡±

    Zhang Zian was going to release the bird. He stopped and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Gxy?¡±

    Gxy said, ¡°I think the new mate has to be silly. It is not good at hide-and-seek so it was captured.¡±

    Zhang Zian was confused, ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s leave it the way it is,¡± Gxy stared at his phone and said seriously.

    Zhang Zian was fine, so he said, ¡°Okay. I will wait until we are done.¡±

    Old Time Tea was in deep thought.

    When Fina and Old Time Tea finished their tea, Zhang Zian was going to refill their cups. Fina jumped down and said, ¡°I am going back. It is too cold up here.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew it wanted to take a nap on its princess bed, so he only refilled Old Time Tea¡¯s cup. ¡°Okay. We wille down when we finish.¡±

    Fina left the roof.

    Zhang Zian refilled his own cup and Gxy suddenly said, ¡°Zian, I want to meet our new mate.¡±

    He was confused. What made Gxy change its mind?

 Chapter 197: Get a Fashionable Name

    <h4>Chapter 197: Get a Fashionable Name</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was confused, but Old Time Tea spoke out, ¡°Gxy, did you stop it because you knew it would fight with Your Majesty Fina?¡± Gxy nodded. ¡°It doesn¡¯t know how to y hide-and-seek.¡±

    ¡°That exins it,¡± said Old Time Tea. During these days of living with Fina, it had be quite familiar with Fina¡¯s temperament. That bbering Apprehensive Bird could provoke Fina quite easily.

    Zhang Zian was still baffled, but since Old Time Tea made no objection, he took out his cell phone and activated the Pet Hunter game.

    [Navigation Elf]: Wee home! A well-known explorer!

    [Navigation Elf]: No pain, no gain. More exciting adventures are waiting for you!

    The virtual elf bar was upied by the grey and white Apprehensive Bird.

    [Game Tip]: Pet property

    [Known As]: Apprehensive Bird

    [Rarity]: Elite

    [Characteristics]: Birds Have Their Own Languages

    [History]: Locked

    [Real Name]: Locked

    He aimed at an empty spot and clicked, ¡°Release¡±.

    ¡°Quack!¡± The bird almost fell onto the floor.

    ¡°What the hell just happened? Who got me here? What do you want? Money? Or me?¡±

    After pping and struggling a few times in the air, the bird found itself unable to escape, so itid its ck eyes on Zhang Zian, and then looked at Gxy and Old Time Tea.

    ¡°Quack! A fool and two stupid cats!¡±

    The powerful and polite Old Time Tea just drank its tea, smiling and remaining silent. It did not bother to quarrel with the bird. Gxy was right¡ªif Fina was here, it would have beat this big-mouthed Apprehensive Bird until its blood dripped in no time.

    Gxy did not feel offended either; it just tilted its head to one side and looked at the bird curiously.

    But Zhang Zian was furious. He pointed at the bird and yelled, ¡°What did you just say? You think we are all morons?¡±

    ¡°Yep, everyone is a moron except me!¡±

    Apprehensive Bird hovered around the roof, and found that not only could it not fly upwards, but there seemed to be invisible walls in all directions in the air, preventing it from leaving.

    Zhang Zian could not help butugh, ¡°Don¡¯t waste your energy. You are not getting away from this.¡±

    ¡°Damn it! What kind of sorcery is this? You stupid moron, stopughing!¡±

    Apprehensive Bird pped its wings andnded on the table. Old Time Tea used one of its paws to cover its teacup so that the dust stirred by the pping and in the bird¡¯s feathers wouldn¡¯t fall into it.

    ¡°We are not done, remember? I was humiliated in front of the ss by you!¡± said Zhang Zian.

    Apprehensive Bird stuck out its thin and long tongue, liked it was mocking him. ¡°That proves my point. You ARE stupid!¡±

    It tilted its head and saw the osmanthus in the vase. Richard pecked one flower and swallowed it into its stomach, ¡°Quack! That tasted nice!¡± Then, it picked another flower.

    ¡°Hey, those flowers are not for you to eat!¡± Zhang Zian was angry, but he also thought the scene was quite funny.

    ¡°Gosh! So stingy! I forgive you for being stupid, since basically everyone is stupid. But stupid and stingy at the same time? You are hopeless!¡± Apprehensive Bird kept on devouring the osmanthus, and in no time, there were only branches and leaves on the osmanthus bouquet.

    ¡°Hello! I¡¯m Gxy!¡± Gxy raised one of its paws to greet the bird, ¡°Want to y hide-and-seek with me?¡±

    ¡°Quack! What the hell is hide and seek? I never y games that are for kids!¡± Apprehensive Bird shouted snobbishly.

    ¡°I¡¯m just asking. You would lose anyway; you would get caught right away.¡± Gxy replied gently.

    ¡°Quack?¡± Apprehensive Bird was shocked.

    Zhang Zian chimed in, ¡°Hey! Aren¡¯t you going to introduce yourself? Gxy¡¯s inviting you to y!¡±

    ¡°Introduce myself?¡± Apprehensive Bird looked at Zian and Old Time Tea and said, ¡°Okay. You introduce yourselves first. I want to know your names.¡±

    Old Time Tea smiled. ¡°I¡¯m Old Time Tea.¡±

    ¡°Pfft. What a lousy name!¡± Apprehensive Bird looked at Old Time Tea, who was not affected by itsment at all. Then, it turned to Zhang Zian, ¡°Idiot, what¡¯s your name then?¡±

    ¡°My name is Zhang Zian.¡± He tried to warn Apprehensive Bird, ¡°You¡¯d better watch your month. You will be beaten to death if you talk like this to someone who is ill-tempered.¡±

    ¡°Quack! Quack! Your name is even lousier!¡± Apprehensive Bird kept bbering, rolled its eyes and continued, ¡°Well, you are lucky that I¡¯m in a super good mood today! Let me give you a fashionable name!¡±

    ¡°A fashionable name?¡±

    ¡°Yep, a Western, fashionable name.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that it must be hatching some wicked idea, but agreed to carry on. ¡°All right, go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Well, how about I call you Jeff Richardson?¡± said Apprehensive Bird slowly.

    ¡°Sh*t!¡± Zhang Zian yelled at her, ¡°How stupid do you think I am? That¡¯s such an old-fashioned name!¡±

    ¡°Such a moron has heard this name before?¡± Apprehensive Bird was surprised.

    Zhang Zian pointed at Apprehensive Bird, and said, ¡°Do you want to be called Richard Jefferson?¡±

    Apprehensive Bird clearly did not prepare for this, ¡°You are very interesting! Perhaps you are slightly smarter than other idiots? I haven¡¯t had witty conversations with anyone for quite a while! All right, as you wish, you can call me Richard Jefferson from now on. Hello, Jeff!¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess we did have a witty and funny conversation! Hello, Richard!¡±

    Zhang Zian and Apprehensive Bird stared at each other, then both burst intoughter a momentter, leaving Gxy and Old Time Tea bewildered.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m not leaving, for now¡­¡± Apprehensive Bird jumped a few times on the table, and seeing that there was water in Gxy¡¯s teacup, it went to drink it without hesitation.

    Zhang Zian tried to remind Apprehensive Bird once again, ¡°Richard, I actually have another cat named Fina. And you¡¯d better behave yourself if you see her.¡±

    Apprehensive Bird shook off the beads on its beak and eximed arrogantly, ¡°Another cat? Let me tell you something, Jeff. I am not afraid of any cat. Stupid cats have tried to catch me when they saw me, but not one has ever seeded! So ridiculous!¡±

    Old Time Tea finished drinking its tea quietly, and used its w, sharp like steel, to flip a small piece of an osmanthus petal near its teacup. The petal shot out violently in the air, and hit the butt of Apprehensive Bird in an instant!

    Apprehensive Bird did not see the petal flying from its back, but it surely felt the pain in its ass!

    ¡°Quack! Quack!¡±

    The bird¡¯s eyes were wide open and it almost fell off the table.

    ¡°Do not underestimate heroes in this world.¡± Old Time Tea said calmly. The cat waved its Mandarin jacket and jumped off the chair. ¡°Zian, I¡¯ll leave first.¡±

    Apprehensive Bird was shocked, its mouth opening and closing. Zhang Zian said to it, ¡°Told you to watch your mouth. You¡¯re lucky that today, only your butt is hurt. If you keep talking like this, your life will be in danger.¡±

    Apprehensive Bird replied sheepishly, ¡°That was¡­really eye-opening¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what to say.

 Chapter 198: A Temporizer

    <h4>Chapter 198: A Temporizer</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The next morning. It was just bing bright outside when Zhang Zian was curling up in his warm,fortable bed. He wasughing out loud from his dream where he found a beautiful and wealthy girlfriend. He could not help but drool.

    ¡°Squawk! Squawk!¡±

    ¡°F*ck!¡± Zhang Zian woke up. Sitting up in his bed, he was wondering where the noise came from.

    Fina was also awakened. It was usually grumpy when it first woke up. This time, it was even more upset. Opening the princess bed¡¯s curtain with its paw, it asked impatiently, ¡°What is that noise?!¡±

    Half awake, Zhang Zian was confused. It took him a while to realize what was going on.

    He shook his head to wake himself up.

    At this time, a poem that didn¡¯t make any sense came from downstairs:

    ¡°Farmers weeding at noon, along the river in the Qingming Festival;pound caoshanhu tablets, a candidate stem cell¡­¡±

    What the heck?! It was that b*tch bird.

    Upon hearing the poem, Zhang Zian recalled what happened yesterday.

    ¡°A pear tree is prettier than the Begonia; all my brothers put a branch on the mountain, only mine was missing.¡±

    The Apprehensive Bird¡¯s voice was loud and clear. Zhang Zian felt as if he could see the way it read the poem.

    Fina pulled a long face, ¡°What the heck is going on?¡±

    Fina had gone to bed aftering down from the roof, so it hadn¡¯t met the new member yet.

    ¡°Well,¡± he exined, ¡°It is our new member named¡­ Richard Jefferson, an African grey parrot.¡±

    ¡°A parrot?¡± Fina paused. ¡°I don¡¯t care what it is. It better shut up; Otherwise, I am going to teach it a lesson!¡±

    ¡°Okay. I am going to stop him.¡±

    Jumping out of hisfortable bed and putting on his jacket, Zhang Zian quickly ran downstairs.

    As soon as he came down, he saw Richard perched on the metal bar in the middle of the ss door. It was excited and looking around.

    It saw Zhang Zian and said creepily, ¡°A great night with one beauty is priceless. Even a king would give up everything for a pretty girl¡­¡±

    ¡°What the f*ck?! Shut up!¡± Zhang Zian stopped it. It was so loud that the pedestrians outside might have heard him.

    Gxy and Old Time Tea were both woken up. Gxy jumped down from its crib, yawning. Old Time Tea rubbed its eyes, shook its vest and put on its hat.

    ¡°I am the Apprehensive Bird!¡± it said, helplessly. ¡°Do you understand what an Apprehensive Bird is? If I shut up, then I am no longer the Apprehensive Bird!¡±

    ¡°If you continue talking, I am going to turn you into a speechless bird!¡± Zhang Zian said as he picked up a strappy item from the ground. ¡°Do you see this?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. What do you want?¡± It tilted its head and looked at the strap.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t shut up, I am going to tie your mouth closed with this,¡± Zhang Zian said as he gestured to the item.

    With its eyes wide open, Richard seemed fearless and discovered something new from Zhang Zian. ¡°I never thought you were into this, Jeff¡­ I love Japanese Turtle Binding as well. This strap is a bit too thick to be fun, though!¡±

    ¡°Shut up, you dirty, b*tchy bird!¡± Zhang Zian was helpless. He looked down at the strap and had a different feeling. Such a dirty bird! What if it taught something bad to Gxy?!

    ¡°I am telling you. There is a golden cat upstairs. It doesn¡¯t like jokes like that. You¡¯d better behave in front of it. That¡¯s my kindest warning to you.¡± He was being proactive.

    ¡°Who is talking behind my back?¡±

    Fina walked down the stairs, elegantly staring at Zhang Zian.

    Pointing at the Apprehensive Bird, Zhang Zian said, ¡°It was the Apprehensive Bird!¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Richard opened its mouth, looking at Zhang Zian with a big surprised face.

    Zhang Zian made a face that said, It was your fault. You made a fool of me yesterday in ss!

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Fina didn¡¯t believe him. It stared at Zhang Zian and said, ¡°I thought I heard you speaking?¡±

    ¡°That was a mistake. It was that bird!¡± Zhang Zian swore.

    Richard understood immediately. It knew Zhang Zian was scared of Fina so it started talking, ¡°Squawk, squawk. I am¡­ Richard Jefferson. How are you, my beautiful elegant queen Elfin of the cats? Please ept my warmest regards. I wish the wind will be your excellence to every corner of the world.¡±

    It ced one wing in front of its chest and bowed to Fina as it spoke, acting like an elegant gentleman, and seeming totally different than it had a minute ago.

    What the heck?! This bird was a temporizer!

    Even Old Time Tea was confused.

    Sitting on the ground with its eyes half-closed, Fina nodded with pride, ¡°I ept your humble praise. I am the guardian for Fina Paris XIII, the unvarnished empire. I like shiny things!¡±

    Zhang Zian had to tell it the truth. ¡°It was just kissing your ass!¡±

    ¡°Stop! It was giving me its devoted heart!¡± Fina was mad. ¡°Since I started to live here, this is the first ¡®person¡¯ who¡¯s treated me well. Why are you trying to sow discord?¡±

    Zhang Zian exined patiently, ¡°No, I am not trying to sow discord. This bird is dirty-minded and b*tchy. It was making up some inappropriate poems just a minute ago! I don¡¯t want you to be fooled.¡±

    Richard pretended to be helpless. ¡°My dear Mr. Jeff, you don¡¯t have to lie to our Queen. I am not here to rece you.¡±

    ¡°Shut up! I was never scared of being reced!¡± Zhang Zian was upset. ¡°I can¡¯t stand the fact that you are trying to fool Fina!¡±

    Richard bowed its head with sorrow. After a second, it raised its head and said, ¡°I swear to the sun and the moon about my loyalty to my Queen. If I had a next life, I would like to be a cat and serve you forever and ever, My Majesty!¡±

    ¡°Well, you don¡¯t have to wait until your next life. I will help you get to your next life right NOW!¡± Zhang Zian looked around to search for a weapon.

    Richard flew up,nding behind Fina and stayed away from Zhang Zian, ¡°My Majesty, please save me! Save my life!¡±

    Fina pounded its paw on the table, ¡°Stop it! Who would dare do anything to Richard!¡±

    Standing behind Fina, Richard made a face to Zhang Zian when Fina couldn¡¯t see it.

    Jumping up and down, Zhang Zian was choked up with anger, ¡°What a b*tchy bird! Come here! I will kill you!¡±

    ¡°My Majesty, this man is trying to threaten me. Threatening me is an offense to you, my Majesty! Please help me!¡± Richard asked Fina for help.

    Fina nodded, ¡°You are right. Zhang Zian, how dare you disobey me in my pce? Put down your mop!¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. This was not an Apprehensive Bird. It should be an ass-kissing bird!

 Chapter 199: A Bird that Finds Destined Love for People

    <h4>Chapter 199: A Bird that Finds Destined Love for People</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian waspletely dumbfounded by the arrogant Apprehensive Bird, who had Fina on its back, but couldn¡¯t provoke the cat either. He could only bitterly stare at Richard, and threw the mop aside.

    Seeing that her trick had seeded, Apprehensive Bird was extremely proud of herself.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, don¡¯t just watch on the side, testify for me!¡± Zhang Zian asked Old Time Tea for help.

    Old Time Tea was confused, ¡± Zian, what do you want me to prove?¡±

    ¡°That it¡¯s a b*tch bird!¡± He pointed at Richard.

    ¡°Well¡­ ¡­¡± Old Time Tea pondered, ¡°It may have been just joking around yesterday, right?

    ¡°Even if it was joking yesterday, today¡¯s dirty poetry was definitely not a joke!¡±

    Old Time Tea smiled sheepishly. ¡°Actually I did not quite understand it. I just thought that thebination of those well-known works of poetry was very strange. Can you exin to me why you think the poetry arranged by Apprehensive Bird are dirty jokes?¡±

    ¡°Well ¡­ ¡­¡± Zhang Zian was speechless. There was no easy way to exin the nasty messages implied in the poetry!

    Modern Chinese people would recognize those messages in no time, so it was totally normal that Old Time Tea and Fina couldn¡¯t understand the dirty jokes insinuated in the poetry. How could he exin it to them? If he really exined it, then in the eyes of Fina and Old Time Tea, his good and wholesome image probably would copse¡­ Although his image was probably not very good now!

    Seeing that Zhang Zian was embarrassed, Richard immediately yelled arrogantly, ¡°Your Majesty! Did you see that? This guy is trying to nder me! He has no evidence at all! He should be kicked out from the Sacred Pce now!¡±

    ¡°Damn it! What a shameless bird! Calling my cat ¡®Your Majesty¡¯!¡± thought Zhang Zian.

    Fina enjoyed Apprehensive Bird¡¯s ttery very much, but she tried to remain cool and said, ¡°That would be not necessary. If he was kicked out, who would take care of me?¡±

    Richard wanted to say more, but Fina jumped up to the highest rack of the cat tree. ¡°Well, chop, chop. Prepare breakfast for me, I¡¯m starving.¡±

    ¡°Ha!¡± Zhang Zian rolled up his sleeves and said to Apprehensive Bird, ¡°Fina is not on your side now. No one can help you!¡±

    Richard did not know why Fina had suddenly betrayed him, but knew that his ttery was not as effective as he had expected. He rolled his eyes and came up with an idea.

    ¡°Wait!¡±

    Zhang Zian stood still, ¡°Are you begging me for mercy?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s one thing that will never happen!¡± Richard tried hard not to seem vulnerable. ¡°But we can make a fair deal that will make both you and me happy!¡±

    Zhang Zianughed, ¡°What fair deal? Quid pro quo? An eye for an eye?¡±

    ¡°Way better than that!¡± Richard stood up proudly, ¡°I can help you get a date!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t believe what he just heard!

    ¡°You are a damn single, right?¡± Richard looked at him contemptuously. ¡°Do you want to get a date or not?¡±

    ¡°You bet I do!¡± Zhang Zian answered honestly.

    ¡°Good. Then I will find a date for you!¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute!¡± Zhang Zian was not gullible, ¡°You are just a bird; how can you help me find a girl to date?¡±

    Richardughed, ¡°Quack! Quack! Don¡¯t you know? I¡¯m a bird that can help people find their destined love!¡±

    What? Can a bird really do that?

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know why, but he still thought Richard was just making another nasty joke.

    Richard continued, ¡°And, you might have more than one girlfriend.¡±

    ¡°Seriously?¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s jaw dropped.

    ¡°What do you mean I will have more than one girlfriend? I can have two at the same time?¡± he asked excitedly.

    Richard smiled wickedly. ¡°Hey, son, you would like that, wouldn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Who wouldn¡¯t?¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t care whether he had revealed his dark side. He just answered truthfully.

    ¡°Great. Then I¡¯m going to make your wishe true.¡± Richard said confidently.

    ¡°How?¡±

    Richard started to make his observation of Zhang Zian, ¡°First, your look is okay; at least you won¡¯t scare girls off at night.¡±

    Then he lifted his head to look at the store, ¡°And you have this store, which means you are kind of rich.¡±

    Zhang Zian was puzzled, ¡°What¡¯s your point?¡±

    ¡°You see, you are not ugly, and you have some money. Plus, you have that fancy name, Jeff. Howe you still don¡¯t have a girlfriend?¡± said Richard earnestly.

    ¡°Wait a second! Not ugly and not poor does not guarantee someone a girlfriend!¡±ined Zhang Zian. ¡°Besides, you picked that ¡®Jeff¡¯ name for me. It¡¯s just amon name, not fancy at all!¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about? Jeff Richardson is such a lovely name! I¡¯m telling you, boys don¡¯t care if you are ugly or poor. What matters is that you really need to present yourself and talk eloquently. Can you do that?¡± Richard fluttered his wings and flew up to an empty disy cab in front of Zhang Zian.

    ¡°No¡­wait.¡± Zhang Zian must have heard something wrong. ¡°Boys? Why would I care about what boys will like?¡±

    Richard looked at him with disdain, as if looking at someone from another universe. ¡°Don¡¯t you know? True love only exists between the same sex, while the love between opposite sexes is for reproduction! Our has been very crowded, so for the sake of future generations, you should consider making a sacrifice in the name of true love!¡±

    ¡°Why me? I am not sacrificing my own happiness for the sake of the descendants of others! China encourages families to have two children now, but I don¡¯t even have a child! So, you should focus on finding me girlfriends, not a boyfriend! ¡°Zhang Zian was going crazy because of Richard. Somehow, he felt he was being led into Richard¡¯s trap.

    Richard opened his mouth in surprise, ¡°Be more open-minded, all right? Boys can also have romantic rtionships!¡±

    Zhang Zian wished he did not understand what Richard was saying.

    At this point, someone knocked at the door for a few times.

    ¡°Is Master Zhang home?¡± said Grandpa Li.

    Tired of the noise made by Zhang Zian and Apprehensive Bird, Fina was lying on the cat tree covering her ears with her paws. As soon as she heard Grandpa Li¡¯s voice, she stood up immediately ¨C to be urate, she stood up not because of the sound, but because she had smelled something.

    A momentter, Old Time Tea, who was watching the morning news in the corner of the shop, also smelled it.

    Zhang Zian gestured Richard to shut up, and he opened the door.

    Grandpa Li was waiting in front of the door, holding bunches of barbecue on skewers, which smelled really good. He smilingly handed over the barbecue to Zhang Zian and said, ¡°Master Zhang, my wife and I have just made these skewers. Enjoy while they are still warm.¡±

    Zhang Zian had told them to deliver barbecue at night, and now they were also delivering to him in the morning. He knew Grandpa Li and his wife usually sold dim sum in the morning, so they were making barbecue especially for him.

    ¡°Thank you so much! Let me pay you.¡± But both of Zhang Zian¡¯s hands were upied by barbecue, so he couldn¡¯t reach his pocket.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Next time is fine. I should go back to help my wife now.¡± Grandpa Li waved his hands and left.

    Zhang Zian gathered the cats for breakfast. ¡°Fina, Grandpa Tea, breakfast is here.¡±

    Richard stared at the barbecue skewers and eximed excitedly, ¡°Hey Jeff, look at the meat on those skewers, don¡¯t you think they are like boys¡¯¡­.¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡±

    Zhang Zian was right. This bird not only liked telling dirty jokes, but he also liked to talk about gays!

 Chapter 200: Apprehension

    <h4>Chapter 200: Apprehension</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The apprehensive bird had been reading poems since the early morning and also had been nagging Zhang Zian for a while. It was thirsty and hungry, so it pped its wings andnded next to Fina, wanting to drink from Fina¡¯s water bowl. Fina nced at it coldly and reached out its sharp nails. Looking at those nails, Richard decided to turn to Old Time Tea.

    ¡°Hey, old guy. Let me drink some water,¡± it said to Old Time Tea.

    Old Time Tea waved its paw calmly and said, ¡°Help yourself to some tea. I don¡¯t like sharing my teacup with others though.¡±

    The teapot was sitting right there. Richard knew that there was no way it could lift that teapot even though it was an Elfin. It was better at talking than doing.

    Looking around the store, it noticed Gxy was ying hide and seek with a few kittens. Immediately, it flew towards Gxy.

    ¡°Meow?¡± Gxy looked at it questioningly.

    ¡°Water, are you going to drink your water?¡± Richard asked. It already started nning on fighting Gxy over for water. It felt that Gxy was the easiest opponent if it had to fight someone.

    ¡°Nope. I don¡¯t drink water!¡± Gxy replied.

    ¡°Squawk, who doesn¡¯t drink water? Water is the source of life, you know? What an idiot!¡± Richard opened up its small round eyes, ¡°Water, wody, agua, wasser, ¦Ä¦Ø¦Ñ, understand?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t drink water!¡± Gxy said again and wanted to continue its game with the kittens.

    pping its wings, Richard stopped Gxy, ¡°You don¡¯t want water but I do. Go get water from that guy! If you don¡¯t listen, I am going to beat you up! I am so powerful. You won¡¯t be able to escape if I am mad at you¡­ I can ¡­¡±

    Without finishing its words, Richard found that Gxy disappeared suddenly.

    ¡°Squawk!¡± Richard kept looking around, ¡°Where did it go?¡±

    A voice came up from behind.

    ¡°Don¡¯t run! Gxy ising!¡±

    Richard turned around and saw that Gxy was behind it, having continued its game with the kittens.

    ¡°What the f*ck?¡± Richard was amazed, ¡°When did you slip off? Are you a ghost?¡±

    As Richard turned around, it was frightened once again.

    Fina was standing right behind it. Its green eyes were shining.

    ¡°My¡­ My Majesty, What¡­ What¡¯s up?¡± Richard was too scared to look at Fina¡¯s cold face. What if this cat eats birds?

    ¡°My Majesty, I am¡­ not tasty. You know, I am skinny¡­ bony¡­¡± Richard kept begging.

    Staring at it, Fina said after a few moments of silence, ¡°Let me ask you. What was thest word you said?¡±

    ¡°Myst word?¡± Richard rxed after hearing that Fina wasn¡¯t going to eat it. It thought for a second. ¡°Ghost?¡±

    ¡°Nope, earlier.¡±

    ¡°¦Ä¦Ø¦Ñ?¡±

    Looking at Fina¡¯s facial expression, Richard knew it had hit a home run. Fina¡¯s face turned from arrogant to sad. Richard didn¡¯t know what happened. ¡°¦Ä¦Ø¦Ñ¡± was the ancient Egyptian word for ¡°water.¡± This ce was confusing. Richard didn¡¯t understand why Gxy moved so fast. It didn¡¯t understand what the rtions were between this golden cat and ancient Egypt. Richard dared not to ask at this time.

    Water. That was right. This store was very weird. The young ck cat was elusive. The golden cat was moody. The old brown cat attacked a bird¡¯s butt without notice¡­ Richard knew it couldn¡¯t afford to offend anyone there, with exception of the guy working the store.

    Zhang Zian was cleaning up the shop as usual. He knew the apprehensive bird was jumping around to tease the cats. He pretended to not know because he seriously didn¡¯t think that bird could hurt anyone. People had never heard of the apprehensive bird because they didn¡¯t understand it. Richard might not simply repeat what it heard, but it should be able to understand the deep meaning of people¡¯s words.

    Squawk! Squawk!

    Richard flew back to Zhang Zian, ¡°Hey, Jeff. I think we will be great friends.¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Who wants to be friends with you? Also, I just mopped. Watch your falling feathers!¡±

    ¡°Come on! You can¡¯t get a girlfriend if you are so mean. I meant a real girlfriend.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Zhang Zian stopped, still holding his mop, and stared at Richard.

    ¡°Of course! Come on, trust me. I will get you one,¡± Richard said confidently. ¡°Tell me. What is on your wish list for a girlfriend?¡±

    Zhang Zian started counting off on his fingers. ¡°First, a pretty face. Second, a hot body. You know, nice and curvy. Third, a sweet voice. Fourth, a good cook. Fifth, gentle and obeying. Sixth, wealthy and willing to spend money on me¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡± Richard raised one wing to stop him. ¡°Let¡¯s get you a boyfriend¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    Richard calmed itself down by pping its wings. It said with with care, ¡°I know why you don¡¯t have a girlfriend now. If you are looking for someone like that, you will never get one. Well, you are lucky to have met me. If you serve me well, I will help you find a girlfriend in three days¡­ nope, three months.¡±

    ¡°I heard you said three days,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Richard kept shaking its head, ¡°For a normal person, yes, three days are plenty. However, you are almost helpless. To get you a girlfriend in three months will take me some serious hard work.¡±

    ¡°Never mind. I have been single for so long that three days and three months don¡¯t really make a difference anymore.¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t believe Richard. He continued cleaning.

    ¡°Hey¡­ My dear Jeff,¡± Richardnded on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder, ¡°Look, we are best buddies now. How about you get me some food and water?¡±

    Staring at Richard, Zhang Zian said, ¡°I am warning you. Don¡¯t poop on my shoulder, otherwise I will feed you your own poop.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t! I am a civilized bird!¡± Richard swore.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t going to starve Richard, so he picked up a te and put some water in it. ¡°There you go.¡±

    Richard was so thirsty. It jumped down from his shoulder and started drinking immediately.

    Looking at it closely, Zian realized that Richard was really a huge parrot. It was almost 16 inches long and its chest hair was a bit messy. Zhang Zian just saw that there were some red feathers in its tail underneath the silver-gray feathers.

    Richard finished the water quickly. Shaking off the water on its mouth, it turned around to look at Zhang Zian and found that he was staring at its tail. It immediately said, ¡°Creep!¡±

    What the heck?! What do you think I am watching?! Why would I be creepy to a male parrot!?

 Chapter 201: In the Name of Decoding Words

    <h4>Chapter 201: In the Name of Decoding Words</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Before the Apprehensive Bird appeared, no one could defeat Zhang Zian in name-calling, whether it be a solo battle or gang fight. But curiously, Zhang Zian kept losing to this grey parrot, who always pulled him down to its level, and then beat him with its rich experience.

    Although Zhang Zian seemed to beughing and joking with the parrot, he was actually shocked by it.

    Perhaps in the eyes of ordinary people, Richard was just a bird that liked foulnguage and telling all kinds of dirty jokes. But the tricks Richard had employed in its jokes were quite incredible, whether it be the differentbination of Jeff Richardson and Richard Jefferson, or the homophonic rhetoric and puns it had used in arranging Chinese poetry.

    In the linguistics discipline, homophonic rhetoric and puns are always the most difficult obstacles to ovee. This is why they are the ultimate sources of proof thatnguage learners have truly mastered thenguage. Homophonic rhetoric and puns exist in anynguage, but homophonic rhetoric and puns in Chinese are the most difficult. Numerous foreigners who have been studying Chinese for years still struggle in grasping thenguage when theye to China. One reason is theplex tones, and another major difficulty lies in its homophonic rhetoric and puns.

    This bird applied homophonic rhetoric and puns in Chinese so flexibly and so subtly that neither Fina, Old Time Tea nor Gxy understood what Richard had done. In fact, a lot of Chinese people might not even understand Richard¡¯s tricks. That¡¯s why its pet property was, ¡°The apprehensive bird was never heard before simply because it was not understood¡±. And it was not a coincidence that Richard appeared in the Chinese ss and ridiculed the lecturer.

    Richard also spoke many othernguages that were strange to Zhang Zian. If Richard, a bird, could speak thosenguages as excellent as a Chinese human being, that would be terrifyingly incredible.

    Richard was not thirsty now, but he put forward a new request. ¡°Come on, bring some shelled melon seeds and peanuts for me to eat. Do you even know how to be a host?¡±

    ¡°We are out of melon seeds and peanuts now. Would you like some millet and dry corn?¡± said Zhang Zian.

    Richard was disappointed, ¡°Really? How about vegetables and fruits?¡±

    ¡°There are apples.¡±

    ¡°Quack!¡± Richardmented, ¡°All right, just bring them. It¡¯s better than nothing.¡±

    Zhang Zian went upstairs into the kitchen and found some millet and dry corn, which had been left by his parents. Then, he took an apple downstairs, and ced the food in front of Richard.

    Richard started pecking at the millet and dry corn immediately, then added, ¡°Go wash the apple. What if there is pesticide residue inside? I have a very delicate body! So, wash it first and then cut it into small pieces. I can¡¯t eat it like this!¡±

    What a picky bird!

    Zhang Zian washed the apple, then used a fruit knife to cut it into small, crescent-moon shaped pieces, and ced them on the te.

    ¡°Hm¡­That¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about.¡±

    While Richard was eating, two men arrived.

    ¡°Master! Today, we are¡­¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun went into the store and noticed this eye-catching gray parrot immediately.

    ¡°Wow! A giant parrot!¡± eximed Li Kun. ¡°I have seen a budgerigar before at my neighbor¡¯s home, but this one is way bigger than that. Master, what kind of parrot is it?¡±

    ¡°An African grey parrot,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°It is arge parrot.¡±

    Wang Qian leaned closer to watch it. ¡°It¡¯s very expensive, right? Master, can it talk?¡±

    Richard swallowed a small slice of apple, looked up at Wang Qian and Li Kun, and yelled, ¡°Butt buddies!¡±

    ¡°No! Not butt buddies! We are just buddies!¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun answered simultaneously.

    They were so embarrassed that they immediately began to sweat. They wondered how the Master had trained his bird? They had never seen parrots that were able to say something like ¡°butt buddies¡± before.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°You are early today.¡±

    ¡°We have no ss today, and we were walking nearby, so we decided toe here to say hello,¡± replied Wang Qian, whose eyes were still fixated on the grey parrot.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°I need to go outter, so you don¡¯t need to help me with my store today. You can just head to Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s ce and help her do some cleaning.¡±

    ¡°Okay, see you next time.¡± Li Kun gestured to Wang Qian, and the two left the store together.

    After they had walked about twenty meters away from the store, Wang Qian asked Li Kun curiously, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? That¡¯s a really rare parrot, why didn¡¯t we watch it for a bit longer?¡±

    Li Kun gestured him to lower his voice, ¡°Don¡¯t you think that parrot is a little bit weird?¡±

    ¡°Weird?¡± Wang Qian did not make as detailed of an observation as Li Kun did.

    Li Kun smacked his lips andined, ¡°Did you even see that parrot?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± Wang Qian grew more confused.

    ¡°Did you not see its eyes?¡± Li Kun made a hint.

    ¡°Eyes?¡± Wang Qian thought for a moment, ¡°I only paid attention to its feathers, and it seemed to be enjoying its meal.¡±

    Li Kun sighed, ¡°Big brother, eyes are the window to the soul! Next time you see a creature, you must look at its eyes!¡±

    ¡°All right! Just tell me what¡¯s so special about that parrot¡¯s eyes?¡± Wang Qian was getting more curious.

    Li Kun looked back at the store and said, ¡°Its eyes¡­ make me feel like those are the eyes of a human¡­ ¡­¡±

    Wang Qian couldn¡¯t agree with him. ¡°Nonsense! I did not look very carefully, but I can tell the difference between humans¡¯ and birds¡¯ eyes.¡±

    ¡°No, no, no. I don¡¯t mean that bird¡¯s eyes look like a human¡¯s eyes. I mean¡­¡± Li Kun pondered how he should put it. ¡°I mean those eyes have the spirituality that is usually found in humans. Its eyes are so vivid and intelligent, as if a human¡¯s soul is residing in them. When the bird looked at me, I felt like I was red at by a human.¡±

    ¡°Bullsh*t!¡± Wang Qianughed.

    Li Kun said solemnly, ¡°I mean it! I guess that bird is definitely not a normal bird; it probably is some kind of spirit bird that has been controlled and tamed by the Master. Anyway, let¡¯s just not look at that bird. I don¡¯t want to have anything to do with it.¡±

    Li Kun was always the one who came up with ideas. Wang Qian did notpletely believe Li Kun¡¯s conjecture this time, but he thought he should watch out for that bird anyway.

    It was Sunday, so they had no sses, and Wang Qian¡¯s sister and brother-inw were moving to a new house, so Wang Qian brought Li Kun over to help. Their n was that after helping Wang¡¯s sister move, they were going to go to the veterinary clinic to do their cleaning. After they left the university, they were going to go to the pet store. With such a busy day ahead, they made their way to the bus station.

    On their way to the bus station, a person approached them.

    ¡°Hello.¡±

    The person was greeting them.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun stopped and looked at each other, confused. Neither of them knew this stranger.

    The person was in his thirties. He was wearing a cheap suit, no tie, and he looked quite normal, so normal that no one would even notice him in a crowd.

    Li Kun waved his hand, ¡°Sorry. We don¡¯t need it.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± The stranger was stunned at first, and then heughed. ¡°You don¡¯t need what?¡±

    ¡°You are either handing out leaflets or recruiting members for some strange group, which we will not join.¡± Li Kun remained alert.

    ¡°No worries, I¡¯m neither.¡± The stranger smiled and exined, ¡°I¡¯m the owner of a pet store. My name is Huang Mingyu.¡±

    A pet shop owner?

    Wang Qian and Li Kun got even more confused. The only pet shop owner they knew was Zhang Zian. ¡°What do you want from us?¡± Wang Qian asked straightforwardly.

    Huang Mingyu looked around. ¡°Let¡¯s find a ce to sit down and talk. My treat.¡±

    ¡°No, thanks. We have things to do.¡± Wang Qian refused. ¡°If you have something to say, say it here.¡±

    ¡°All right then¡­¡± Huang Mingyu pondered for a moment before speaking. ¡°Here¡¯s the thing. You guys work for the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, right?¡±

    ¡°We are actually cultivating there to achieve immortality,¡± Li Kun corrected him, and Wang Qian agreed with what Li had said.

    ¡°Cultivating?¡± Huang Mingyu was surprised, and thenughed snobbishly. ¡°You guys are so funny!¡±

    Wang Qian looked at the time. His sister and brother-inw were waiting for their help. There was no time to chat with this suspicious figure, ¡°Look, if you have nothing better to say, we will be leaving now¡­¡±

    ¡°Please, wait a second.¡± Huang Mingyu cleared his throat. ¡°Actually. I was wondering if you were interested in working for me? No matter how much money that store manager offers you, your pay will be doubled with me.¡±

    Work for him?

    ¡°Sorry, we have no time for that.¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun refused decisively.

    They wanted to take another route to walk away, but Huang Mingyu stood up and stopped them.

    ¡°Just hear me out.¡± Huang Mingyu finally revealed his real intention. ¡°I know that you have been working at the Amazing Fate Pet Shop. And everyone knows that the cats at that shop can do stunts. Get the secret of cat training from that shop owner for me, and I will pay whatever price youe up with.¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were silent for a moment, and then suddenly burst intoughter!

    Huang Mingyu looked at them bafflingly, wondering why they wereughing so hard.

    ¡°Guys, why are you¡­¡±

    Wang Qianughed so hard that his cheeks hurt. He went over to pat Huang Mingyu on the shoulder and said earnestly, ¡°Brother, it is time to wake up from your day-dreaming. We will never betray our Master or help you get his secrets. See you.¡±

    ¡°Wait! Don¡¯t you want to know how much I can offer? Maybe you will change your mind?¡± The unexpected response from them made Huang Mingyu panic, and he tried to keep them in his game, ¡°if you think the money is not enough ¡­¡±

    Wang Qian just headed to the bus station, ignoring Huang Mingyu.

    Li Kun also patted Huang Mingyu¡¯s shoulder, ¡°Dude, how easy do you think cultivation is? We have not yet learned our Master¡¯s magic art of immortality, and even if we had grasped the arts, we would never tell you. As a cultivator, I¡¯m warning you not to do anything stupid against our Master, or else you will be doomed. Goodbye!¡±

    They left immediately, leaving only Huang Mingyu standing there looking silly.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with these people? Is it true that there are people who don¡¯t give a damn about money?¡± he wondered.

 Chapter 202: A Fitness Plan

    <h4>Chapter 202: A Fitness n</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Fina and Old Time Tea finished their dinners of BBQ skewers. Fina was drinking its Evian water and Old Time Tea was enjoying a cup of hot tea.

    Counting the number of the skewers, Zhang Zian said, ¡°Fina, you have been eating a lottely. You don¡¯t worry about getting fat?¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Fina was mad, ¡°I¡­ I will never be fat!¡±

    ¡°Agreed! Shut up, you humble human! Our queen didn¡¯t eat much. Did you steal the skewers?¡± Richard would not miss any chance to kiss Fina¡¯s ass, ¡°Give me another apple, and I will shut up.¡±

    Zhang Zianid all the skewers on the ground, ¡°Count them! Grandpa Tea only ate three skewers, but you ate five and a half!¡±

    Old Time Tea was witty. ¡°Umm, I am too old to eat much food. Queen Fina is still young. It should eat more than me anyways¡­¡±

    Looking down at the six skewers on the ground, Fina was quiet and then exined, ¡°That¡¯s because you are a crappy cook!¡±

    ¡°Keep eating when there is good food. That is your first step to getting fat. You don¡¯t even like exercising and love napping too much. I am going to borrow a scale from the fruit store and weigh you,¡± Zhang Zian continued toin.

    ¡°Cut it out!¡± Fina tuned down its voice and felt unconfident. Looking down at its own body and feet, it actually might be¡­ putting on a few pounds?

    In fact, Fina wasn¡¯t putting on weight. Even if it was, it wasn¡¯t noticeable at all. Seeing that Fina was falling for his tricks, Zhang Zian immediately said, ¡°I told you that you put on weight. Let¡¯s get out and walk around. I am going out and you cane with me. Otherwise you will get even fatter!¡±

    A normal Fina would¡¯ve seen him through, rejected the invitation and stayed home for a nap. However, today it was surprised by Zhang Zian¡¯s suddenments. Worried about putting on more weight, Fina nodded. ¡°Okay. I want to get out for some fresh air anyways. Now that you¡¯ve mentioned it, I will go with you.¡±

    Old Time Tea forced a smile. It knew that Zhang Zian was ying with fire.

    Richard, the temporizer, agreed immediately, ¡°Our queen is getting out. This is a huge deal! I¡­ I will serve you because I am your loyal servant.¡±

    ncing at Richard, Zhang Zian knew what it was thinking about ¨C all it wanted was to escape at some point. It wasn¡¯t easy because Richard could not get out on its own due to its low friendliness.

    ¡°Gxy!¡± He waved at Gxy, who was busy ying hide-and-seek with the kittens.

    Gxy ran over, ¡°Zian, I aming!¡±

    ¡°Gxy, you want to y outside today?¡± He squatted down and asked.

    ¡°Outside?¡± Gxy looked out the door, seeing that Aunt Li and her husband were busy at the food cart.

    Zhang Zian knew what Gxy was thinking about. He smiled and said, ¡°We are not going over there but to a much farther ce. A ce we have never been.¡±

    ¡°Meow!¡± Gxy looked scared. It curled up like a ball. Apparently, it didn¡¯t want to.

    ¡°It is a quiet ce, a good ce for hide and seek,¡± he said.

    ¡°So, no other people?¡± Gxy reconfirmed.

    ¡°Nope,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°It is highly likely that no one is around.¡±

    ¡°We can y hide-and-seek?¡± It asked.

    Zhang Zian smile mysteriously, ¡°In fact, all we are doing today is ying hide-and-seek.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Gxy was confused.

    ¡°Remember when a cop was here a few days ago? He told me that some cats have been trained to steal. Today we are going to get that bad guy, just like ying hide-and-seek,¡± Zhang Zian exined patiently.

    ¡°Stealing?¡± Gxy tilted its head. ¡°Like the guy who wanted to steal a kitten?¡±

    Zhang Zian guessed Gxy was referring to the cat thief.

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Zhang Zian nodded.

    ¡°A stealing cat¡­ is a bad boy?¡± Gxy raised its face and asked him.

    ¡°Yup. They are bad boys now, but they weren¡¯t until someone told them to,¡± he said. ¡°So we are going to get the bad guy behind the scenes and turn the bad boys back into good ones.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I want to help!¡± Gxy was excited.

    ¡°No problem. It will be much easier with your help,¡± Zhang Zian encouraged. ¡°Grandpa Tea¡­¡±

    ¡°Of course, I will go,¡± Old Time Tea said.

    ¡°Let¡¯s all go! Let¡¯s all go!¡± Richard finished everything on the te. There wasn¡¯t even a single grain of rice on its lips.

    ¡°Well, you can¡¯t go,¡± Zhang Zian pointed at Richard.

    ¡°Why?¡± Richard was surprised, ¡°So you are not only a damn single, but also a racist?!¡±

    ¡°I am a racist? Go f*ck your sister!¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s swearing was a breakthrough since he met the apprehensive bird.

    Richard said seriously, ¡°I don¡¯t have a sister. Anyways, you are also a sexist!¡±

    ¡°I am not bullsh*ting with you. You can¡¯t go because you can¡¯t leave this store. Did you already forgot about what happenedst night?¡± Zhang Zian reminded it.

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t it your wizardry?!¡±

    ¡°Nope! Don¡¯t think you are smart!¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°In a word, you can¡¯t go this time. I will put you back into my game. Take a nap if you want.¡±

    ¡°Oh no! I was ditched! I was ditched by Jeff! What a cold-hearted man! Just kill me! I don¡¯t want to live! I¡­I am pregnant with your child! I will go to hell with you!¡± Hiding its face under one wing, Richard turned into a female voice and pretended crying.

    The crying was so overwhelming. It almost sounded real.

    Zhang Zian almost wanted to kill that bird! This bitchy bird was putting on a heartbreaking love story.

    Honestly, when the bitch bird mimicked the voice of a Japanese porn star, its voice sounded almost like one. If it hadn¡¯t happened in ss, Zhang Zian might be turned on hearing that voice.

    Some pedestrians were walking by quickly. They slowed down and peeked into the store upon hearing the bird. They were hoping to see some breaking news about someone dumping a pretty girl. Yet they were disappointed to find that only a young man, a few cats and a huge bird were inside the store¡­

    ¡°Weird, is he watching TV?¡± They shook their heads and moved on.

 Chapter 203: Going Out for a Field Trip

    <h4>Chapter 203: Going Out for a Field Trip</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Gxy, how about you go back into the game and take a nap? I will release you when we arrive, okay?¡± said Zhang Zian to Gxy.

    ¡°Okay!¡± Gxy agreed.

    Zhang Zian put Gxy back in his cell phone.

    ¡°I can follow you in the invisible mode,¡± said Old Time Tea.

    As for Fina, titse was no doubt that it would walk normally, so Zhang Zian didn¡¯t even ask it. Though its appearance was eye-catching, it was the most normal one among the three cats, since Gxy was terrified of people, and Old Time Tea dressed itself up in a peculiar way.

    Zhang Zian aimed his phone at Jeff, but then put the phone down, ¡°Wipe those millets from your mouth. Gosh, you are such a mess.¡±

    Jeff wiped its mouth casually using its feathers, and said, ¡°You are wrong. I¡¯m a thrift bird and those millets are for my meal on the road.¡±

    When the millet grains finally fell to the ground, Zhang Zian once again raised his cell phone to aim at Jeff.

    ¡°Wait!¡± Jeff lifted its wings in front of itself.

    ¡°What now?¡± Zhang Zian reluctantly put down his hands.

    ¡°Do you have ab? I want to part my hair down the middle.¡± said the bird shamelessly.

    ¡°You must be kidding me, right? Just put down your wings!¡±

    ¡°Quack! You are not funny at all. At least let me have a pose before going into the game. Look at me! I¡¯m the Discobolus! ¡± It was imitating that famous sculpture of Discobolus by putting one wing front and the other back, and turning its head to look backward¡ªthe imitation was quite impressive!

    Zhang Zian put it back into the phone before its pose hadpleted.

    ¡°Young Ye Wen¡¯s Foshan Wing Chun Cat ¨C Invisible!¡±

    Old Time Tea¡¯s body became blurry and hazy when he spoke of its real name. Zhang Zian had seen him transform before, so he remained calm this time. But Fina was a little shocked with its mouth opened. ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°The invisibility effect, so that no one can see him.¡± Zhang Zian exined, ¡°Do you want to try?¡±

    ¡°Why would I want that!¡± Fina reject, ¡°How can otitss show their respect to me if they cannot see me?¡±

    ¡°Whatever you say.¡± Zhang Zian shrugged. Invisibility was unnecessary for Fina anyway.

    Fina and Old Time Tea followed Zhang Zian and left the shop togetits.

    Zhang Zian put down the shutter door, locked it, and pasted a piece of paper on it ¨C ¡°The shop manager is going out for a field trip temporarily. For urgent issues, customers may contact the Spirit Curing Pet Clinic by adding the Wechat ID xxxxxxx.¡±

    ¡°Zian, what does field trip mean? I¡¯ve never heard of this word before.¡± Old Time Tea asked curiously.

    Zhang Zian sounded very seriously, ¡°Grandpa Tea. Field trip¡­is actually like taking a day off from your work. It¡¯s subtler than asking a day off directly, and it is more easily eptable.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± Old Time Tea nodded, ¡°If I remember correctly, that secret code you put on the paper belonged to Dr. Sun, right?¡±

    What secret code¡­ Zhang Ziaan looked at the Wechat ID on his note.

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡± He replied, ¡°She is the working partner of this shop. Isn¡¯t it its job to sell pets when I go out to have a field trip?¡±

    What he didn¡¯t tell Old Time Tea was that he once left his number on the door, andter received calls from strange men asking whetits he was interested in being butt buddies. Then he went out to find who had revealed his number, and he found his number posted on the wall inside the men¡¯s washroom on the street. Some moron even added that the owner of that phone number was flexible in bromance rtionship. Since then, he swore he would never leave his number on the door again.

    Making sure that he had taken care of everything, he began to dial the phone number of Captain Sheng.

    The phone was picked up after the ring rang three times.

    ¡°Hello, Mr. Zhang.¡± Sheng Ke sounded like he was expecting something.

    ¡°Captain Sheng, about that thing you have told me. I decided to go see for myself. I¡¯m not sure whetits I can fix the problem, but for the sake of the happiness and wellbeing of residents in Binhai City, I will try my best!¡± Zhang Zian said passionately, ¡°As the poetry goes¡­¡±

    ¡°Just skip the poetry!¡± Sheng Ke just wanted him to get things done quickly.

    ¡°Okay. Witse should we meet? See you at the Public Security Bureau?¡± Zhang Zian asked. He looked forward to this trip since he seldom visited the Public Security Bureau except for taking ID card photos titse.

    ¡°Wait a minute, let me check.¡± Said Sheng Ke.

    Zhang Zian heard pages turning from the otits side of the phone.

    Old Time Tea nodded its head frequently as appraisal of Zian¡¯s performance.

    Fina made a ¡°pfft¡± sound and its face went nk.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m free now, so let¡¯s meet at the scene.¡± Said Sheng Ke.

    ¡°The scene witse people lost their watches?¡± Zhang Zian was confirming with him.

    ¡°Yes. In the Yuanhua Building. Let¡¯s meet at the gate of Yuanhua Building.¡± Sheng Ke was going to hang up the phone.

    ¡°Wait!¡± Zhang Zian quickly stopped him.

    Sheng Ke put the phone back to his ear, ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°This is the thing.¡± Zhang Zian considered his wording, ¡°I¡¯m helping the police with a case, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡± Sheng Ke sounded a bit surprised, and then suddenly he raised his tone as if he had remembered something, ¡°Oh! Right¡­ please allow me¡­on behalf of the police station, we are extending our sincere gratitude to Mr. Zhang for your generous help¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian interrupted him, ¡°No, that¡¯s not what I meant.¡±

    ¡°No?¡± Sheng Ke was getting more confused.

    Zhang Zian looked at the traffic. ¡°I mean, if I take a taxi titse, can I get reimbursed for that?¡±

    The otits side of the phone remained silent.

    ¡°So, no reimbursement?¡± Zhang Zian tried to confirm.

    Sheng Ke replied, ¡°If I tell you titse¡¯s no reimbursement, then you will note to the scene?¡±

    ¡°I will be titse, for sure, but by walking if you can¡¯t cover my taxi fare.¡± Said Zhang Zian.

    Silence again.

    For quite a while.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, your pet shop is about ten kilometers away from the Yuanhua Building, right?¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at Fina, ¡°It¡¯s not a huge deal, walking is good for my weight loss.¡±

    Silence.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, take a taxi toe over, and I will reimburse your fare.¡± Sheng Ke sounded exhausted and frustrated.

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Really.¡±

    Zhang Zian reinforced, ¡°It¡¯s not that I can¡¯t afford the taxi fare. I am doing something good for my city by sacrificing my time at my pet shop. I can¡¯t make money today, but at least I shouldn¡¯t lose money, right?¡±

    ¡°You are right, my mistake.¡± Sheng Ke gave up, ¡°Our police station will be responsible for your taxi fares back and forth, and today¡¯s lunch.¡±

    ¡°Great!¡± Zhang Zian said excitedly, ¡°Oh, right, I¡¯m also bringing some cats with me. You know, an eye for an eye, a cat for a cat¡­¡±

    ¡°Money for cat food will also be reimbursed.¡± Sheng Ke knew what he wanted now.

    ¡°No, no, no. My cats don¡¯t eat cat food. They just eat barbecue meat and grilled fish with no seasoning.¡±

    A long sigh from over the phone.

    ¡°Got it. Barbecue meat and grilled fish, no seasoning. This will be prepared for you.¡±

    Sheng Ke felt that he had never felt so exhausted before. Not even days of investigation without rest couldpare.

    ¡°Captain Sheng, thank you so much. See you soon!¡± Zhang Zian hang up the phone.

 Chapter 204: Testing the water

    <h4>Chapter 204: Testing the water</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Captain Sheng was still day dreaming after Zhang Zian hung up the phone.

    A colleague walked by and saw that Captain Sheng was not acting normally. He asked, ¡°Captain Sheng, what is going on? Are you okay? Would you like me to call your wife?¡±

    The colleague was confused. Captain Sheng had been fine the whole day, yet he looked lost after getting a phone call.

    ¡°I am fine. I am fine.¡± Captain Sheng rubbed his eyes, ¡°Hey, do you think geniuses are all strange?¡±

    The colleague didn¡¯t expect a question like that. He guessed it might be rted to the phone call so he said carefully, ¡°They could be.¡±

    Captain Sheng only wanted to speak to someone about it. Now that he was done, he stood up and said, ¡°I¡¯ve got to go. Call my mobile if you need me.¡±

    ¡°No problem,¡± the colleague said.

    Putting on his hat, Captain Sheng walked out of the office quickly.

    ¡­

    After hanging up, Zhang Zian said to Fina and Old Time Tea, ¡°I am getting some breakfast. Let¡¯s cross the road. Be careful.¡±

    Walking in front, he paid attention to both sides of the road and then crossed quickly. He pulled out his wallet and said, ¡°A bowl of wonton.¡± He then gave Aunt Li the money for his breakfast and the amount he owed from previous meals.

    Aunt Li and her husband had him sit down.

    ¡°Master Zhang, are you going out?¡± Aunt Li noticed he closed the curtain door. Most of the time Zhang Zian left the curtain door open when he came over to eat.

    ¡°Yeah. I have to go downtown,¡± Zhang Zian answered.

    ¡°Umm¡­ taking your cats with you?¡± Aunt Li was surprised.

    ¡°Yeah. I am taking them,¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t talk much.

    In fact, Fina was full from its earlier meal. Now that it smelled the aroma from the wonton, it couldn¡¯t help but turn around.

    Aunt Li¡¯s husband was quick. He could make a wonton in a few seconds, like magic.

    ¡°Oh. Does your cat want some? Should I give it some?¡± Aunt Li served Zhang Zian a bowl of wonton and asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. It just ate BBQ skewers. It should be full. Flour is not good for cats; they can¡¯t digest it,¡± Zhang Zian poured some vinegar and hot oil in his bowl and started eating.

    Staring at him, Fina turned around and stopped looking at the wontons.

    Old Time Tea was walking around invisibly. It was sniffing the strange smells and looking up and down at the wall.

    ¡°Where is the cat with the special hat and the ck and white kittens? Where are they? Did you leave them in the store?¡± Aunt Li asked as she nced at the pet shop.

    ¡°Yeah. They are at the store,¡± Zhang Zian quickly finished one bowl of wonton. He felt much warmer, put down the chopsticks and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

    ¡°Master Zhang, how about another bowl? If you are going out, you might get hungry. You are young. One bowl of wonton won¡¯t stick to your stomach for too long.¡± Aunt Li said.

    Patting his belly, Zhang Zian said, ¡°I know. I would¡¯ve had another bowl but someone is taking me out to lunch. I have to save room for that.¡±

    ¡°Umm¡­¡± Aunt Li was speechless. She was thinking to herself that Master Zhang had to be joking.

    ¡°Okay, I have to go.¡± Zhang Zian stood up, ¡°Oh, how about your new restaurant? He looked at the fruit store which was closed.

    ¡°Everything is fine,¡± Aunt Li smiled happily, ¡°We are about to open. Pleasee!¡±

    Zhang Zian waved them goodbye. Aunt Li¡¯s husband waved back although he was extremely busy.

    Zhang Zian stopped a taxi by the side of the road.

    ¡°Hey, may I take my cat in your car?¡± Zhang Zian pointed at Fina.

    The driver looked in the rear mirror, ¡°As long as it stays clean and does not pee or poop in my car. If it dirties my car, you have to clean it up.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not a problem at all.¡±

    Zhang Zian opened the door to the backseat and had Fina and Old Time Tea hop in. He then closed the door and sat at the passenger seat.

    The driver was surprised. He asked carefully, ¡°You don¡¯t have to watch it in the back seat?¡±

    ¡°Nope. If it dirties your car, I will be ountable for it,¡± Zhang Zian assured.

    The driver didn¡¯t say much, ¡°Where are you going?¡±

    ¡°Yuanhua Building.¡±

    It was the weekend. Many people were still catching up some sleep. Not many cars were on the road at the moment. The taxi arrived at Yuanhua Building in no time. Zhang Zian paid, opened the back seat door and let Fina and Old Time Tea out. The driver also got out of the car and checked whether the back seat was clean.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, what do you think?¡± Zhang Zian asked Old Time Tea.

    It was the first time Old Time Tea rode in a vehicle. It was a new and fun experience for it. It replied, ¡°It was good. just a little smelly.¡±

    ¡°That was the smell of gasoline. The taxi was old so it smells worse. The newer ones are much better,¡± Zhang Zian exined, ¡°It was good that you didn¡¯t get sick.¡±

    Yuanhua Building was a 20-story office building. Today was a weekend so there were only a few cars in the parking lot.

    Zhang Zian was looking up at the building when he heard someone calling his name.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, I am here!¡±

    He looked forward and saw Captain Sheng waving at him next to a police car.

    ¡°Captain Sheng, I am sorry to get you out on a weekend.¡±

    Zhang Zian walked over to Captain Sheng as he spoke. He decided toe today because it was a weekend and there were less people in the building, so it was a great opportunity to search for clues. Also, Gxy could y happily with less people around. The only thing was that it had to take up Captain Sheng¡¯s weekend. Zhang Zian felt a bit sorry about it.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Captain Sheng came up. ¡°I was working overtime in my office when you called.¡±

    ¡°You are so busy,¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    When the two came close, Captain Sheng looked very weing and shook Zhang Zian¡¯s hand.

    When their hands met, Captain Sheng felt powere through from Zhang Zian¡¯s hand. He could definitely feel the difference in Zhang¡¯s hand than others. Captain Sheng had shaken hands with special police. Their hands were big and rough. Zhang Zian¡¯s hand felt like a normal person¡¯s yet very powerful in a way.

    Captain Sheng thought to himself, ¡°It looks like it is real that this kid knows Kung Fu.¡±

 Chapter 205: Life in the Past

    <h4>Chapter 205: Life in the Past</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Compared to Sheng Ke, Zhang Zian stillcked social experience, so he did not expect that Sheng Ke would use handshakes to test him. He just felt that Sheng Ke¡¯s grip was a little bit too hard, but the handshake did notst long and he did not give it a second thought. Though he had just started practicing Wing Chun not long ago, both his master and himself were serious about his training, so the effect was quite good.

    Sheng Ke released his hand and then looked at Fina.

    Fina looked around with disdain at the dirty ce, so it was not squatting on the ground as usual. It was standing casually to look at the scenery and pedestrians, mainly picking on the fashionably dressed young women.

    Fina was too eye-catching. Zhang Zian had been used to its look in the shop, but here outside, its golden fur and dark gold spots were attracting the attention of pedestrians like a ck hole, and many people had stopped to watch it and take pictures.

    ¡°Is that a little leopard? Can people bring leopards on the streets? Should we call the police?¡± Some people pointed at Fina and said quietly.

    ¡°Well, there is a police officer standing next to it.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not a leopard. I like animals, and I saw what leopards look like in documentaries. I have also seen them in zoos. Leopards¡¯ faces are totally different from this animal¡¯s face. It¡¯s obviously a cat.¡±

    ¡°What kind of cat? Leopard cat?¡±

    ¡°It looks a bit like leopard cat, but it¡¯s not. The most obvious difference is its strange stripes on its forehead ¨C seldom do cats have stripes on their foreheads, and even they do, the patterns are irregr or in an ¡®M¡¯ shape. For example, all sorts of tabby cats have the stripes in the shape of character ¡®Wang¡¯ (Íõ), which are simr to that of Manchurian Tigers. As for the forehead stripes of this cat, they are not irregr, but I really can¡¯t recognize the pattern¡­¡±

    Fina remained calm and cool among thesements. It even raised its face so that it looked even more arrogant.

    Some girls came very close to tease Fina, but it simply turned its head, as if it was saying, ¡°Show some respect. I¡¯m not for you to y with.¡± But its arrogant attitude just made the girls want to tease it more.

    The invisible Old Time Tea, on the other hand, could move freely. It was curiously circling around the police vehicle, and put its face up against the window ss to see what was inside.

    Now that they had greeted each other, and that more of a crowd was gathering around them, Zhang Zian pointed to the Yuanhua Building. ¡°Shall we go in now?¡±

    Sheng Ke nodded, ¡°Let¡¯s go. The management of this office building is quite strict on weekends because people are afraid that something might be stolen again, especially after that case. People can¡¯t go in without work permits from thepanies in that building.¡±

    ¡°I remember you told me that, this is not the only office building that has lost something?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but the case of this building is a typical one.¡±

    ¡°It happened on the fifth floor. We have photographed the scene and kept the evidence found there, but it is of no damn use ¡ª¡± Sheng Ke quoted a buzzword of the inte. He grabbed a bag from the passenger¡¯s seat and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    They walked side by side toward the Yuanhua building with Fina was behind them. It impatiently walked quickly, trying to get rid of the girls that were teasing it. Old Time Tea cautiously kept a distance from them and walked at their side.

    Yuanhua building looked very deste on the weekend. Only a security guard on duty could be seen on the first floor.

    Seeing that Sheng Ke was wearing a police uniform, the security guard immediately greeted him.

    ¡°Captain Sheng, you are here again. The same case, huh?¡± The guard smiled humbly. ¡°It¡¯s a small case, and we¡¯ve troubled you many times.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. It¡¯s what we should do, to serve the people.¡± Sheng Ke greeted the guard back, ¡°You are Xiao Yu, right? Where is your boss?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not here today. But he told me that if youe again, I should listen to your orders¡­ or do you need me to call him and have hime over?¡± Xiao Yu was surprised that Sheng Ke still remembered him, and he felt ttered.

    ¡°No need to call him.¡± Sheng Ke waved his hand to refuse Xiao Yu¡¯s gesture. ¡°In this case, the fewer people, the better for solving it. Besides, I also bring¡­¡± he pointed to Zhang Zian, ¡°He¡¯s an expert that I invited to help, and you may support himter.¡±

    This expert was so young!

    Xiao Yu was astonished, and he was carefully looking at Zhang Zian who he had ignored just a moment ago.

    The moment Zhang Zian stepped into the office building, he immediately had a mixed feeling that he was familiar yet also strange to him.

    The shiny and clean marble floor, the tall columns in the lobby, the metal nametes written with the corresponding floors and names of thepanies, the cleaning staff walking by pushing cleaning carts, and the security guards wearing uniforms¡­ Not long ago, he was also a suit-wearing office worker who arrived at the office on time daily and everyday was pretty much the same. He felt the office work life was not bad back then, but if he were returned to that kind of life right now, he would be suffocated by it.

    Fina once owned a magnificent Sacred Pce, and it went to a luxury beauty salonst time, so in its eyes, this office building was nothing special.

    Old Time Tea was looking up and around curiously, especially at the surveince cameras in the corners of the ceiling.

    Zhang Zian nced at Old Time Tea. He knew that it was worrying whether the cameras could spot it even with the invisibility effect. In fact, he also had a simr concern. But there should be no problem; after all, invisibility was the ck technology provided by that game.

    Sheng Ke introduced Zhang Zian to Xiao Yu, ¡°This is Mr. Zhang. He may be young, but he has unique skills that even I need to learn from him.¡± He worried that if the guard did not take Zhang Zian seriously, Zhang would angrily walk away. So, he was emphasizing the importance of Zhang Zian to Xiao Yu.

    And his efforts worked. Xiao Yu didn¡¯t have a doubt about Zhang Zian¡¯s expertise anymore. ¡°Oh! Hi, Mr. Zhang! It¡¯s an honor to finally meet you. My name is Yu Fei, and I am a security guard of this building. I will do my best to assist you today.¡±

    Sheng Ke told Zhang Zian, ¡°He is today¡¯s shift boss. If you need anything, do not hesitate to let him know.¡±

    Zhang Zian shook Xiao Yu¡¯s hand, ¡°Hello. Thank you for your assistance in advance.¡±

    ¡°You are the expert invited by Captain Sheng, so we will definitely fully support you.¡± Yu Fei patted his chest to show his determination.

    ¡°OK, show me the control monitor first.¡± Zhang Zian gave his first order right away.

    Yu Fei was stunned by Zhang Zian¡¯s speed, but he immediately reacted. ¡°The surveince video of the day when the case happened?¡±

    Sheng Ke remained silent. He had watched that video for many times, and he had shown it to Zhang Zian before. Could they really find something new if they watched it another time?

    ¡°No.¡± Zhang Zian pointed to the camera in the corner of the ceiling. ¡°Can you show me the real-time monitoring screen?¡±

    ¡°Well, yes, of course. Mr. Zhang, have you found some new clues?¡± asked Yu Fei curiously.

    Sheng Ke was greatly surprised. He didn¡¯t understand why Zhang Zian asked such a question.

    In fact, Zhang Zian just wanted to see if the surveince camera could capture the image of the invisible Old Time Tea. The camera in his shop was smashed, so he had no way to take this experiment. Well, this idea did not dawn on him before.

    ¡°This way, please.¡±

    Zhang Zian waved his hand at Old Time Tea secretly to tell it to stay there temporarily.

    Yu Fei showed Zhang Zian to the monitoring room on the first floor. He informed the security guard who was responsible for the monitoring about their purpose, and that guard quietly withdrew from the monitoring room.

    ¡°You can take a look now.¡±

    The wall was fully covered with twenty to thirty screens, and each screen was divided into four small screens, which were monitoring every important location in the office building.

    ¡°I want to see the real-time images of the lobby.¡± Zhang Zian requested.

    Yu Fei operated on the panel, found the surveince screens of the lobby, and zoomed in on the main screen in the center.

    Zhang Zian looked at the screen, and he rested assured. Nothing. The surveince cameras couldn¡¯t see Old Time Tea.

    ck technology was impressive indeed!

 Chapter 206: Clue Search

    <h4>Chapter 206: Clue Search</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian stared at the monitor. Captain Sheng and Yu Fei were focusing on Zhang Zian¡¯s face and trying to figure out any sort of hint from his facial expression. However, Zhang Zian quickly nced at the monitor and said, ¡°Okay. I am good.¡±

    Captain Sheng and Yu Fei were even more confused. They felt that Zhang Zian was either faking or hiding his real power.

    Zhang Zian requested seriously, ¡°And I have another request.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± Yu Fei asked.

    ¡°Did the stealing happen on the fifth floor?¡± Zhang Zian confirmed again.

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Captain Sheng replied.

    ¡°Okay. I request to turn off all the surveince cameras.¡±

    The request was unexpected. Captain Sheng was quiet for a second and said, ¡°I understand your request because what you are going to do might reveal your trade secrets. However, I don¡¯t have the power to make this decision.¡± He then looked at Yu Fei and the ball was thrown to Yu Fei¡¯s court.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Yu Fei was not sure. Although Zhang Zian was the expert that Captain Sheng brought over, what if anything happened on the fifth floor while the surveince camera was turned off?

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t care less, ¡°Yes. It rtes to my trade secrets which I don¡¯t want to reveal. If that¡¯s too much to ask for¡­ Captain Sheng, can I still reimburse my taxi charges for this trip?¡±

    ¡°Okay! I will make this decision,¡± Yu Fei decided. ¡°How much time do you need?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought for a second, ¡°Half an hour to an hour.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± Yu Fei operated the surveince system and the monitors on the fifth floor all turned off at the same time.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang. How is it now?¡± He asked.

    Zhang Zian was satisfied, ¡°That¡¯s great. Thanks. Please don¡¯t turn it back on before Ie down.¡±

    ¡°Should Ie with you?¡± Captain Sheng asked.

    ¡°Nope. You can go back to where you were. It is the weekend. Go home and have fun with your family. When I am done, I will report to you no matter what the oue is,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°I have to reimburse my taxi charges, remember?¡±

    Captain Sheng was surprised, not because of Zhang Zian¡¯s rejection of hispany, but in his reminder to go home. He thought of secretly conducting Zhang Zian¡¯s background check and thought about his parents who had passed away. Captain Sheng started to really like this young man.

    Captain Sheng was having problems with his wife. That was why he went back to the office on the weekend. He meant to stay away from his wife, but that made her even more mad at him.

    He sighed and said, ¡°You are right, Mr. Zhang. I will go home ande back before noon¡­ Oh. Should I bring you some food? Or do you want to order take-out?¡±

    Zhang Zian replied without hesitation, ¡°If it isn¡¯t too much trouble, please bring me some food from home.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s fine but I only have some normal homemade food. Nothing fancy,¡± Captain Sheng reminded him.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. Homemade food is great! I have too much take-out these days.¡±

    Captain Sheng looked at him intently. Then he put his hat back on and said to Yu Fei, ¡°I wille back in a bit. Please take care of everything here.¡±

    Seeing Captain Sheng drive off, Yu Fei asked, ¡°Mr. Zhang, what is next?¡±

    ¡°You can wait here. I will go on my own.¡±

    ¡°Okay. These are the key cards for the fifth floor,¡± Yu Fei gave him a few key cards and keys.

    ¡°Okay,¡± Zhang Zian took them over. Each key card had thepany¡¯s name on it. It was very clear.

    As Zhang Zian was about to leave, Yu Fei stopped him. ¡°Mr. Zhang, please wait. Take this.¡± He gave Zhang Zian a walkie talkie. ¡°You can talk to me with it.¡±

    Yu Fei taught Zhang Zian how to use the walkie talkie.

    Taking the walkie talkie, Zhang Zian left the monitor room. Winking to Old Time Tea, Zhang Zian brought both Old Time Tea and Fina in the elevator.

    It was the weekend. The elevator was empty. Both Old Time Tea and Fina had been in an elevator before so they weren¡¯t surprised.

    When they reached the fifth floor, Zhang Zian took them out of the elevator. He looked up and saw a surveince camera. He already knew from Captain Sheng that there were dead angles in these cameras so he wasn¡¯t worried that Yu Fei would turn the cameras back on. As long as the process of releasing Gxy from the app and turning Old Time Tea invisible wasn¡¯t being recorded, he had nothing to worry about.

    No one was on the fifth floor. It was quiet.

    He entered the stairs, which also served as an emergency escape route. There was no surveince camera there.

    Pulling out his cell phone, he released Gxy.

    Gxy yawned and raised a paw to rub its eyes. ¡°Zian, where are we?¡±

    ¡°This is a tall building. Some bad kids who stole people¡¯s stuff came here before. Now it is our job to find them,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    ¡°Zian, they might not be here anymore,¡± Old Time Tea reminded him.

    ¡°I agree. Well, we have to try our luck. A few buildings were stolen from before, too. We can¡¯t search every one.¡±

    Old Time Tea nodded. ¡°As far as I see, this building looks like it is strictly managed, but there are lots of loopholes.¡±

    Zhang Zian agreed to Old Time Tea¡¯s point. The biggest w was that there were not enough security guards. When they talked to Yu Fei, there was no one on duty at the gate. If a car or other small animal slipped in, no one would¡¯ve noticed. Of course, it was also a weekend, so there might not be as many security guards. There might be more during the week. Zhang Zian also noticed that the security guard in the monitor room was not paying attention to the monitors because he quickly put away his cell phone when the group came in.

    Fina was a bit impatient. ¡°So what are we doing here? I don¡¯t want to waste any more time.¡±

    ¡°So, you are saying that you are a busy cat? You would onlyy in the sun and do nothing at home anyways. You cany in the sun here,¡± Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help but rebuke.

    Fina opened up its eyes and fought back, ¡°Shut up! That is my pce, which is way better than here!¡±

    ¡°Okay. I don¡¯t want to argue with you. Well, let¡¯s search for some clues and we can go home when we are done.¡±

    Hearing that it could go home, Fina reluctantly shook its fur and braced itself up.

    ¡°Zian, should we stay together or search on our own?¡± Old Time Tea asked.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t sure. He threw the ball back to Old Time Tea. ¡°Grandpa Tea, what do you think?¡±

    Old Time Tea thought for a second. ¡°Either way has its pros and cons. Let¡¯s stay together.¡±

    Zhang Zian confirmed right away. ¡°No problem. Let¡¯s do that. I prefer staying together as well.¡±

    Honestly, if they got separated, he would have to worry about Fina causing trouble or Gxy getting lost. Staying together seemed like the way to go.

 Chapter 207: Haste Makes Waste

    <h4>Chapter 207: Haste Makes Waste</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian went first to thepany that lost the imported watch. He used the ess card given by Yu Fei to open the ss French door.

    Old Time Tea observed the ess control system carefully, ¡°Zian, only this small card can open the door?¡±

    ¡°It should be.¡± Zhang Zian patted the ess card in his hand, ¡°but it¡¯s hard to say because this card can be copied privately by people for evil purposes. As long as they have the original card, they can use simple technology to produce a fake copy that has all the functions of the original in only a few seconds.¡±

    Old Time Tea was pondering something. ¡°Even if those cats did steal something, how did they run away? Did someone open the door for them?¡±

    ¡°It is possible.¡± Zhang Zian admitted that from the beginning, he believed there was someone, perhaps a real cat trainer, behind the scene controlling those cats.

    He held the door to let Gxy, Old Time Tea and Fina enter first.

    There were twopanies located on the fifth floor. Thepany that had lost the watch was called Red Leaf Commercial Trading, an enterprise of small to medium size that specialized in foreign trade of garments.

    Zhang Zian recalled the content of the video, and soon he found the office in which the watch was lost.

    He used the key provided by Yu Fei to open the lock, pushed open the door and entered into the office. He noticed Liu Miao¡¯s desk right away, or precisely speaking, the desk previously belonged to Liu Miao, as the current name te on the table had been reced by someone else¡¯s name.

    Theyout of the office was no different from any other office building¡ªrows of desks arranged in an orderly manner, and on each desk was one or two monitors. The less important documents were scattered on the desks. Observing the clutter, you could roughly tell if the owner of that desk was male or female, a scene that Zhang Zian also felt very familiar with.

    ¡°Zian, I feel¡­¡± Old Time Tea didn¡¯t get to finish its sentence when it and Fina looked up at the same time.

    Zhang Zian followed their gazes.

    Above his head was a metal venttion pipe that went across the entire office.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Fina¡¯s ears turned like antennae aimed at the venttion pipe.

    ¡°Zian, something seems to be moving in there,¡± Old Time Tea whispered.

    ¡°What is it?¡± Zhang Zian also lowered his voice. He stared at the venttion pipe, but he did not notice or hear anything.

    Old Time Tea shook his head, ¡°It has stopped moving now. Something was moving and jumping around swiftly, probably¡­¡±

    ¡°The Mytha.¡± Fina said coldly, ¡°These scums dared to do such shameless things to taint the reputation of the Mytha! Uneptable!¡±

    Really?

    Zhang Zian carefully observed the venttion pipe, ¡°So, the cat that stole the watch came in and out through the venttion pipe?¡±

    ¡°Yes, very likely.¡± said Old Time Tea assuredly.

    ¡°No wonder no one has caught them.¡± Zhang Zian suddenly became confident. ¡°If we follow that sound, we can locate the criminals.¡±

    ¡°We need to figure out how those cats got in the pipe.¡± Old Time Tea reminded him.

    Zhang Zian knew that there must be an entrance somewhere, so that the cats could have free ess to the venttion pipe. In general, a venttion pipe had a mesh fence before the outlet. Cats may be able to push out the fence to jump out, but certainly they could not restore the fence back to its original state if they were outside the pipe.

    ¡°Meow! Gxy can go in!¡± Gxy suddenly said.

    Zhang Zian was confused for a second, but then he understood what Gxy meant. It was going to enter the pipeline in quantum state, and then return to normal when it got in the pipeline. This was a viable option, but he was somewhat worried about it.

    ¡°Gxy, are you sure you can do that?¡± He squatted down to ask Gxy.

    ¡°Of course! It¡¯s just like hide-and-seek! And I¡¯ve never lost in hide-and-seek!¡± Gxy said happily, and then it remembered, ¡°Meow ¡ª I¡¯ve only lost once, to Zian.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at Gxy¡¯s face. It was serious. And he looked at the the cold metal pipe above him. He was uncertain whether he should let Gxy try.

    ¡°Gxy wants to help!¡± Gxy said dedicatedly, ¡°Gxy is good girl! Those cats are bad girls!¡±

    ¡°Zian, from my perspective, this trip is not dangerous.¡± Old Time Tea looked at him with encouragement.

    He nodded, ¡°Well, Gxy, you can go now. But be careful. If you sense any danger,e back immediately.¡±

    ¡°Gxy understands!¡± Gxy was eagerly trying to leap at the venttion pipe.

    ¡°Gxy, if you see them, you do not need to stop them, just follow them and see where they are going,¡± Zhang Zian patiently said. ¡°Our goal is to seize the main man that pulls the strings behind the scenes.¡±

    ¡°Got it! Gxy is leaving now!¡±

    Gxy stared at the venttion pipe.

    Zhang Zian looked at it worryingly. He was aware that Gxy would disappear instantaneously and then appear in the interior of the venttion pipe in the next moment.

    However, something unexpected happened¡ªa momentter, Gxy was still there.

    ¡°Hmm? Howe Gxy can¡¯t go in the pipe?¡± Gxy lifted a paw and gently waved in front of itself. It was puzzled too.

    Fina and Old Time Tea were stunned.

    Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Gxy, are you feeling ufortable?¡±

    ¡°No, Gxy is fine.¡± It was still confused. ¡°But Gxy is not moving.¡±

    Zhang Zian turned to Old Time Tea for help. ¡°Grandpa Tea, do you know what¡¯s going on?¡±

    Old Time Tea shook its head, ¡°I remember you told me that Gxy is a very special kid in that even the most advanced modern technology might not capture it. And I know so little about modern technology¡­¡± It then looked at the camera in the corner of the ceiling and said,¡± Is it possibly because of that thing? ¡±

    Zhang Zian turned to look at the camera.

    It was hard to tell whether the camera was working from its sheer appearance.

    Could there be an unexpected observer?

    He picked up the walkie-talkie and pressed the call key. ¡°Xiao Yu, Xiao Yu. Answer me if you hear this. Over.¡±

    Two or three secondster, Yu Fei¡¯s voice was heard from the walkie-talkie, ¡°This is Yu Fei. How can I help you, Mr. Zhang? Over.¡±

    ¡°The camera on the fifth floor, is it working or is it turned off?¡±

    Four or five secondster.

    ¡°It¡¯s off.¡± Said Yu Fei.

    ¡°It was never turned on. You cane down and see for yourself. If the camera was on, the monitoring system would automatically record the images.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t feel that Yu Fei was lying, so he raised the walkie-talkie and said, ¡°Got it, thanks. And please keep the monitor off.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, is there anything I can help you with?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. I will let you know if I need your assistance. Over.¡±

    He put down the walkie-talkie and turned his head, only to find that Gxy had disappeared.

 Chapter 208: A Forever Tie

    <h4>Chapter 208: A Forever Tie</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Gxy? Where is Gxy?¡±

    Gxy had suddenly disappeared, which made Zhang Zian worried. His forehead was sweating.

    Where did it go?

    ¡°Zian, Gxy is here!¡±

    Gxy¡¯s voice came from the metal pipes. It sounded like it was in a tunnel.

    Oh? What was going on? Gxy couldn¡¯t use its magic a few seconds ago now it had disappeared!

    ¡°Gxy, be careful.¡± He was worried.

    Old Time Tea looked like it remembered something.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Old Time Tea remained silent for a second. After a second, it finally said, ¡°Zian, don¡¯t worry. We might be wrong¡­ Do you remember I said normal people could not catch Gxy¡¯s movements?¡±

    ¡°Yup,¡± Zhang Zian nodded with questions.

    He was obviously still concerned about Gxy.

    ¡°We were all looking at Gxy a few seconds ago.¡± Old Time Tea raised its paw and pointed at Fina and Zhang Zian, ¡°I can¡¯t exin exactly what happened but it could be the reason¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was dumbstruck for a second and then he realized what Old Time Tea meant.

    He was a normal person without any special magical abilities, but Old Time Tea and Fina were both powerful Elfins. They were blessed with people¡¯s spiritual powers. Their willpowers affected Gxy¡¯s performance.

    That could be why.

    ¡°Wait, that¡¯s not right.¡±

    Zhang Zian was going to praise Old Time Tea for its intelligence but Old Time Tea denied himself.

    ¡°What is not right? I think what you said makes sense,¡± Zhang Zian was even more confused. He felt like he just had walked out of a maze and immediately entered another one, a muchrger one.

    ¡°Of course, it is not right,¡± Fina said sarcastically, acting like it was none of its business.

    ¡°Can you guys just be straightforward? I want to know!¡± Zhang Zian gave up on the guessing game. He couldn¡¯t just wait to find out the answer. He was upset that even Fina knew the answer and he didn¡¯t.

    Old Time Teaughed, ¡°Well, it wasn¡¯t me and Queen Fina. It was you, Zian.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± Zhang Zian looked at himself. He was only a normal man without any special skills. How could he influence Gxy¡¯s performance?

    ¡°Tell me please,¡± he continued the question.

    Old Time Tea said peacefully, ¡°When Gxy yed hide-and-seek, Queen Fina and I watched ite and go all the time. Gxy sometimes slowed down, but was never frozen like a few minutes ago. That¡¯s because you were always looking away. However, when you stared at it, it stayed put. I think that¡¯s where the problem lies.¡±

    Fina stretched and didn¡¯t say anything. From its expression, it agreed with Old Time Tea.

    Zhang Zian was even more confused, ¡°Grandpa Tea, are you serious? I am only a normal guy. How can I¡­¡±

    ¡°It does not matter. The most important thing is that Gxy felt your stare and gave feedback,¡± Old Time Tea confirmed. ¡°I would say that another person will not be able to lock Gxy in ce like you did. It might be a good thing, or it might not be. No matter what, only you have this magical power.¡±

    Zhang Zian was silent.

    Was this a tie between him and Gxy?

    Obviously, Old Time Tea was not a professor and didn¡¯t know about Quantum Theory, yet it exined the phenomenon in its own simplenguage. He understood exactly what Old Time Tea meant. His attention caused Gxy to be extremely self-conscious; therefore, it was eager to show off in front of Zhang Zian. At this time, an even stronger observer came out. That was Gxy itself, stopping it from entering the zone.

    When Zhang Zian turned his eyes at the surveince camera, Gxy rxed and resumed its magical powers.

    Like Old Time Tea said, this might be a good thing. It might not be.

    Everythinges with two sides. Nothing is absolutely good or bad.

    The Navigation Elf said Gxy could be pulled back into the fantasy ck box and stay with the cyanide. It would die ande back to life, die again and thene back to life one more time. It would be an endless circle until the Quantum Theory was proven wrong.

    The Navigation Elf also said that Gxy could determine everyone else¡¯s destiny except for its own.

    For the first time, Zhang Zian had a new thought ¨C The Navigation Elf might be great and knew a lot, but it wasn¡¯t the almighty God that knows everything. In fact, it made a small mistake regarding Gxy.

    Maybe Gxy didn¡¯t have to wait until the Quantum Theory was proven wrong to bepletely released.

    Today¡¯s experience made him believe that it was possible, although the possibility was low. The Navigation Elf could notpletely control Gxy. The person who made the game was sharp, but he was not able to control everything.

    He then recalled when Gxy first came. It hid behind the flower pot, scared. Now, it sat at the door and watched people walk by. He thought about how Gxy looked up at the sky with joy and a minute ago how Gxy wanted to show off in front of everyone¡­ Time passed slowly, but it was also moving fast. Gxy was growing up step by step without him even noticing.

    However, when Gxy waspletely released, it might permanently lose its ability to enter the quantum stage and hence, be a normal kitten. That may be a better choice for Gxy. It would be a much easier life.

    Gxy was growing. What about Fina and Old Time Tea?

    Everyone was slowly changing, including himself.

    Zhang Zian knew that all his work was worth it. His work wasn¡¯t about how many pets he sold nor how much money he made. It was also not how many big shots he got to know. It was something deeper; invisible, yetforting him in an incredible way.

    The road ahead was long, but it was very exciting.

 Chapter 209: the Maze

    <h4>Chapter 209: the Maze</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Gxy had entered the venttion pipe, which was a very strange environment for it. The pipe was a straight channel made up of cold metal walls. Cool wind from outside was breezing through the channel and touching its cheeks gently.

    Gxy bowed down and noticed that the metal wall below was covered with a thinyer of dust, and several rows of paw prints of small animals could be seen from one end to the other end of the pipe, and they disappeared at the corner. The paw prints were very messy, which were leading in both directions of the pipe, and it seemed that the paw prints belonged to different little animals.

    Gxy lifted one of its paws and tilted its head to stare at the prints for a few seconds, then put its paw alongside one of them. The sizes seemed very simr, as were the shapes.

    ¡°Bad kids¡­¡± Gxy muttered.

    Suddenly, an anxious voice was heard from below the pipe, ¡°Gxy! Where are you?¡±

    The metal walls had distorted the sound, but it immediately recognized that it was Zhang Zian¡¯s voice.

    Gxy shouted, ¡°Zian! Gxy is in the pipe now!¡±

    It stared at the metal wall, quietly waiting for Zhang Zian¡¯s response.

    ¡°Be careful, Gxy.¡±

    Gxy was a little bit disappointed. It was waiting for his praise. But his concern was not bad.

    Was there really anything it should beware of in the pipe? It was the only creature in there, with the floating dust in the air, the shallow paw prints on the metal walls, and a few small hairs in the colors of white, ck, yellow, and gray ¡­

    ¡°What should I do next?¡±

    Gxy thought very hard but still had no clues. It offered to go into the pipe because it believed it could help Zhang Zian, but it didn¡¯t know what exactly it should do after entering the pipe.

    It felt very stupid, especially whenpared to Fina and Old Time Tea. It envied them. If they were here, they would make their moves without hesitation. Old Time Tea was always calm, no matter what happened. It would just smile and solve the problems with its great wisdom and excellent martial arts techniques. Fina only cared for shiny things, and was indifferent to other people and things¡­ perhaps Zhang Zian was an exception.

    What should I do? Should I go out and ask Zian, Fina and Old Time Tea ande back again?

    ¡°Meow ¡ªI feel so embarrassed!¡±

    Gxy tried to wrinkle its nose like Old Time Tea did, but it did not smell anything strange ¨C perhaps there was indeed something, but it couldn¡¯t tell. After all, it was not a real cat, so its sense of smell was not as delicate as a real cat¡¯s.

    ¡°I¡¯ll try go this side first. If there is any danger, I¡¯ll run away.¡±

    Gxy looked down again at the paw prints, among which one row seemed fairly clear and new. It seemed that the animal who left that row of paw prints marched from the front side of Gxy to its rear side. Gxy decided to follow that row of paw prints.

    The channel was long and dark, which made Gxy feel that it was back in the horrible ck box again. If the pipe got even darker and narrower, it would not be able to stand it and would escape. Even now, already felt frightened, as if it was entering a never-ending tunnel, which would be increasingly narrower, and it would bepletely trapped in the end.

    Gxy did not want to go back outside so soon because it felt really embarrassed. Zian would console it that its safety was the most important thing, and everything else came second. But it still felt disgraced. Besides, it really hoped that those bad kids would realize that they had made mistakes, and it wanted them to know that, if they stop stealing and be good kids, they would encounter people who genuinely liked them.

    Gxy carefully stepped forward. It looked down at the paw prints, and then looked up at the front side, where a dim light could be seen. It was the weak sunshine after being refracted several times. Gxy missed its leisure time at the pet shop, where it could take a napfortably under the warm sunshine, where if something urred, Fina and Old Time Tea would solve it.

    Gxy could vaguely hear Zhang Zian and Old Time Tea talking from across the metal wall. Their voices made it feel at ease.

    Gxy walked step-by-step towards one end of the pipe, and the light became increasingly bright, while Zhang Zian¡¯s voice was getting weaker and weaker.

    A fork in the road.

    The venttion pipe divided into four directions, leading forward, to the left, to the right, and to the above, respectively.

    Gxy looked above where the light came from. From the roof far away, apanied by a low buzz, the venttion fan was rotating at a constant speed, sending down fresh air into the pipe continually, and mincing the straight sunrays into everchanging mottled lights and shadows.

    Gxy squatted at the fork, looking nkly at the three paths leading forward, to the left and to the right. Which one should it choose? Each path had paw prints on them. It wanted to try all three paths, but it was afraid that it would never find its way home if it got lost.

    This building was so huge andplicated, just like a maze. Zhang Zian was like a small grain of sand in this maze, and Gxy was another grain, but smaller.

    But it must choose a direction! If it quit now, its previous efforts will have been wasted.

    Right then, it heard a faint sound.

    Scratch¡­

    Liked something sharp was scratching on the metal.

    Gxy found this sound familiar. It was like the sound that Fina¡¯s ws made when it scratched across the metal bowl when it lost its temper because the food tasted poor.

    The sound came from the channel in front of it, so it decided to choose this path. However, when it tried to take a step forward, its body was blocked, as if an invisible wall was in front of it.

    Gxy stuck out its paw to press against the invisible wall. The air could flow through it, the dust was falling from it, but Gxy simply could not pass through it.

    It remembered a simr situation that had happened to the neer, the parrot elfin, at the roof of the pet shop, as if he was confined by some setting of the game. Even for the intelligent Old Time Tea, it also took it a long time before it could leave Zhang Zian freely.

    ¡°What should I do?¡±

    Another sound came from far away, from the front path.

    Gxy did not want to wait anymore, thinking about what it was not good at. It closed its eyes, and when it opened its eyes again, it had teleported quite a distance forward, leaving the fork road far behind it. It was now on the other side of that invisible confinement. No new paw prints were left on the floating dust in the metal passage, but the air had contracted and then expanded due to its sudden disappearance and reappearance, bringing a tiny whirlpool that was invisible to the naked eye.

    ¡°Gxy is the best hide-and-seek yer,¡± it whispered to itself.

    It trotted in towards the direction where the sound came from.

    At the same time, inside his pocket, Zhang Zian¡¯s phone screen became bright. The Pet Hunter Game initiated automatically. The game¡¯s interface shed a few times as if it had been interfered with. And then the game terminated automatically.

    The screen became dark again, as if nothing had happened.

 Chapter 210: Unexpected Discovery

    <h4>Chapter 210: Unexpected Discovery</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    There was a short reply from Gxy and nothing else. Looking at the pipes, Zhang Zian was nervous.

    ¡°Rx. Gxy will be fine,¡± Old Time Tea said, ¡°Even if it runs into a dangerous situation, it will be able toe back out safely.¡±

    Zhang Zian sighed. Old Time Tea might now know that Gxy could determine everyone¡¯s destiny but its own. He could not stop thinking about it.

    It was Fina¡¯s first time in an office. It had nothing to do, so it jumped on a desk curiously and looked at theputer monitor¡­ or the reflection of itself in the monitor, rather.

    Fina then jumped to another desk and knocked off the stuff on the desk, items such as tissue boxes and pens. Zhang Zian felt a headacheing.

    ¡°Fina, why are you jumping around? Be quiet and stay where you are. Look at Old Time Tea. It is always quiet and calm.¡± After Fina knocked a teddy bear on the floor, Zhang Zian had to say something. Zhang Zian would have to pick up everything when they were about to leave.

    Old Time Tea jumped on a turning chair and started spinning around curiously.

    Fina turned around, stared at him and said unhappily, ¡°Howe all the monitors are bigger than yours? How poor are you?¡±

    Zhang Zian finally understood Fina. He exined, ¡°Theseputers are desktops. Desktopses with bigger monitors. Mine is aptop which is made for portability so the monitor has to be smaller.¡±

    ¡°Look at these monitors. They are so dusty.¡± Fina looked at the monitor closely.

    ¡°Of course, because no one cleans aputer at work,¡± Zhang Zian exined. He never cleaned his monitor when he worked in apany until it was absolutely unbearable. ¡°People don¡¯t care about thepany¡¯s assets.¡±

    Fina jumped to another desk, and knocked off a mug. The mug was a good one. It bounced on the floor and remained in one piece.

    ¡°Well, this one is pretty clean,¡± Fina said.

    ¡°This desk must be a girl¡¯s desk,¡± Zhang Zian guessed. ¡°Hey, why do you care about whether the monitor is clean?¡±

    ¡°It was windy outside. My hair needs to bebed.¡± Looking at the reflection in the monitor, Fina sometimes moved its body to look at its side and back.

    ¡°Really? I think you are trying to see if you have really put on weight,¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t believe Fina.

    ¡°Shut up! Where are your listening ears?!¡± Fina was mad. ¡°I told you I didn¡¯t put on weight.¡±

    ¡°Hey!¡± Old Time Tea stopped them and tried to change the topic, ¡°This chair is fun!¡±

    Old Time Tea¡¯s voice was different. Zhang Zian looked up and saw it was turning around on the chair. Old Time Tea was having so much fun!

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, be careful. You will get dizzy!¡± he said.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine¡­ I¡­ I¡­¡± Old Time Tea raised one paw and wanted tond it on the desk so the chair would stop turning around. However, it couldn¡¯tnd its paws on the desk.

    Zhang Zian ran over and stopped the chair.

    Old Time Tea wanted to jump down but Zhang Zian stopped it. ¡°Grandpa Tea, why don¡¯t you sit for a little and wait until you are not dizzy?¡± He knew Old Time Tea should rest.

    ¡°Okay, I will.¡± Old Time Tea listened and stayed on the chair.

    Bang!

    Bang Bang!

    A noise came from behind.

    What a headache! Zhang Zian turned around and saw Fina was using the monitor as a mirror when its tail whipped and knocked down a stapler. Staples spread everywhere.

    Staring at Fina, Zhang Zian was hoping that it realized what went wrong.

    ¡°I¡¯d say spend that time picking up the staples rather than looking at me. What? Are you trying to have me pick them up?¡± Fina nced at him and returned to enjoying its image reflected on the monitor.

    What the f*ck?! Zhang Zian was speechless. He was hoping Fina and Old Time Tea would be working on the case, but they were too busy ying. Now Gxy had to do everything.

    Old Time Tea had never had so much fun¡­ And Fina¡­ It didn¡¯t listen anyways. Therefore, Zhang Zian knew he had to babysit both of them and pick up all the things Fina knocked down on the floor.

    At this time, he heard Gxy¡¯s voice.

    ¡°Meow! Zian, Gxy is back!¡±

    Zhang Zian turned around immediately and saw Gxy sitting on the ground and looking at him excitedly.

    He first looked at Gxy to make sure it was fine. He rxed and said, ¡°Gxy, you have been gone for a while. I am happy to see you back!¡±

    ¡°Zian, Gxy found those bad boys!¡± Gxy said proudly.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Old Time Tea recovered. It opened its eyes and jumped down from the chair.

    Fina looked up and continued staring at its own reflection on the monitor.

    Zhang Zian had thought about Gxy finding the thieves, but Gxy really didn¡¯t have any social skills, so he didn¡¯t have high hopes. Now that Gxy mentioned this, he was excited.

    ¡°Did you find them? You are so good!¡±

    Gxy nodded. ¡°Yeah! They are all down there, at the lowest!¡± It padded on the ground using its paw.

    ¡°The lowest?¡± Zhang Zian looked down to the floor without thinking.

    ¡°Yeah. The lowest. Go down the pipes, all the way!¡± Gxy gestured with extreme excitement.

    They were on the fifth floor of Yuanhua Building. If they went all the way down¡­ It would not be the first floor, which was the lobby. Were they in the underground parking lot?

    ¡°Are there many cars?¡± Zhang Zian confirmed.

    Gxy shook its head, ¡°Nope. It was a room with many desks and chairs.¡±

    ¡°Desks and chairs?¡± Zhang Zian thought for a second, ¡°Is it the storage room?¡±

    Gxy didn¡¯t know.

    ¡°Was there a person? I mean, was there a person to manipte the cat thieves?¡± he asked again.

    ¡°Nope,¡± Gxy shook its head again.

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Zhang Zian thought he knew it all, ¡°So the wire-puller wasn¡¯t there. Only the cats were there?¡±

    ¡°Nope,¡± Gxy shook its head one more time.

    Zhang Zian was confused. Gxy¡¯s answer was way too difficult toprehend.

    Gxy said seriously, ¡°The wire-puller was also a bad boy!¡±

    He waspletely lost. What did Gxy mean? So, the cat trainer was also a kid? That was unexpected.

    Old Time Tea suddenly got it. It asked Gxy, ¡°Did you mean¡­ it was a cat who trained other cats to steal?¡±

    Gxy nodded, ¡°Yes! It was an Elfin like us.¡±

 Chapter 211: Seeking the Elfin

    <h4>Chapter 211: Seeking the Elfin</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    What Gxy said produced a huge impact, just like the explosion of a nuclear bomb.

    Zhang Zian waspletely shocked. Even his senses and reactions were slowed down.

    ¡°An elfin is instructing these cats to steal things?¡±

    Fina, who was using the screen as a mirror, also turned around in surprise. It jumped down from the desk and walked towards Zhang Zian, ¡°What? There¡¯s an elfin in this building?¡±

    Gxy nodded. ¡°Meow ¡ª Gxy saw it very clearly.¡±

    Fina and Old Time Tea nced at each other. They were getting nervous.

    ¡°Gxy, can you describe what the elfin looks like?¡± asked Old Time Tea.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Gxy tilted its head and thought, ¡°It looked just like us¡­¡±

    ¡°Just like us¡­ are you saying that the elfin is one of the Mytha?¡± asked Fina seriously, which was abnormal, because it usually was indifferent to everything.

    Gxy kept nodding, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a cat, a beautiful one.¡±

    Seeing that Zhang Zian was absent-minded, Old Time Tea called out, ¡°Zian!¡±

    ¡°Yes? Grandpa Tea, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Old Time Tea remainedposed and instructed Zhang Zian to do the same, ¡°To truly master martial arts, you must first have a big heart and remain calm even facing an impending catastrophe. And you seemed to be upied by some thought just now.¡±

    ¡°Understood, Grandpa Tea. I was thinking that, if an elfin urred, why didn¡¯t the game give out the tip of elfin detection?¡±

    Normally, when a new elfin appeared, the Pet Hunter game would give out the elfin detection tip. But this time, there was no tip. If Gxy did see an elfin, then this event should be very interesting.

    Old Time Tea pondered for a moment, ¡°Gxy, are you sure there were no other people or creatures alongside with that elfin?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Gxy answered with certainty.

    ¡°Did the elfin look fierce?¡± asked Old Time Tea.

    Gxy shook its head, ¡°No, not at all. It looked very pretty.¡±

    Fina chimed in, ¡°I don¡¯t know about you guys, but I am going to meet this elfin.¡±

    In Fina¡¯s eyes, it was totally uneptable that an elfin could tell cats what to do, especially when they did were terrible things like stealing. And Gxy kept saying that it was a beautiful elfin. Nonsense! Fina believed that it was the most beautiful cat in this world. And that¡¯s why it must meet this elfin.

    Fina wanted to see the elfin, but Zhang Zian intended to leave. How about Old Time Tea?

    Old Time Tea was thinking while pacing at a constant rate.

    For fear of interfering with its thinking, Zhang Zian did not dare to breathe deeply.

    Fina became impatient. It patted the ground with its paws, ¡°Are youing with me or not?¡±

    ¡°Can you have some patience?¡± Zhang Zian said to Fina.

    Old Time Tea stopped its pacing, ¡°I think we should go see it. If we don¡¯t stop the elfin, I¡¯m afraid simr thefts will bemitted again and again. Also, Gxy said that the elfin was not dangerous.¡±

    Fina was d that Old Time Tea was on its side, and stared at Zhang Zian arrogantly. ¡°Well, well, well. And you call yourself a man. You can go home first if you are afraid.¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head in despondence, ¡°I guess I have to follow you guys then. Let¡¯s go find this elfin. But we must be very careful! If you sense any danger, you run, okay?¡±

    ¡°What a coward!¡± Fina muttered and looked up at the venttion pipe, ¡°I don¡¯t have to go into that dirty ce, right?¡±

    ¡°No, you don¡¯t. I¡¯ve never counted on you to do something like that.¡± Zhang Zian continued. ¡°It must be downstairs. Let¡¯s walk downstairs through the emergency exit passage and see where the storage room is.¡±

    Through walking down from the emergency exit passage, he learned that there were five floors on the ground, and two floors underground, B1 and B2. Gxy said it met the elfin on the lowest floor, so it must be on B2.

    B2 was an underground garage, where the temperature was much lower than those upstairs. It was damp and cool. Since it was weekend, only a few cars were parked there. These cars seemed to have been parked there for a long time. Some cars were covered with thick rain cloths, and the rest were covered with thick dust; some tires had even been deted.

    No one was there except Zhang Zian and his cats. It was so quiet that only the subtle and rhythmic tick-ta of water leaking from some pipes was heard. Shrouded by pale lights, the underground garage looked like the shooting scene of a thriller movie.

    ¡°Gxy, do you remember in which direction?¡± asked Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Meow ¡ª¡± Gxy looked around in confusion, ¡°Gxy¡­¡±

    Old Time Tea reminded him, ¡°Zian, look up. If we follow the venttion pipes, we should be able to find it.¡±

    He looked up and saw the long venttion pipe. Because they were at an underground garage with no extra walls or ceilings, the venttion pipe was easy to be seen. But the garage was toorge, it was not easy to follow the direction.

    ¡°We must remain alert.¡± Zhang Zian tried to remind his cats, but no one was listening¡ªGxy was bright and excited, Fina was unhappy and in doubt, and Old Time Tea was calm as always.

    They followed the pipeline to walk across the underground garage. Zhang Zian saw that on the other side of the garage, there were several rooms with doors closed. And the venttion pipe extended into the middle room.

    Fina and Old Time Tea stopped and stared at that room, twitching their ears.

    ¡°There are cats meowing,¡± said Old Time Tea with a very low voice.

    Zhang Zian also lowered his voice, ¡°What are they talking about?¡±

    He was asking Fina, because Fina seemed to be able to understand the meanings of the cats¡¯ meowing.

    But Fina turned its face away and ignored him.

    ¡°Some disgraceful things,¡± answered Old Time Tea.

    ¡°Well¡­ why don¡¯t you guys wait here, and I go in there by myself? If they notice me, I will pretend to be the employee here,¡± said Zhang Zian nervously.

    Old Time Tea smiled, ¡°No need for that. This elfin seems to be a very interesting one.¡±

    He calmed down with Old Time Tea¡¯s words. He walked quietly to the front of the room and held the door handle with his right hand, praying that it was not locked. He twisted the handle clockwise, and door pushed open.

    Just as Gxy said, this was a storage room piled up with abandoned desks and chairs.

    A few cats were chasing at each other in the room. A very pretty cat was lyingzily on a cushion and taking a nap.

    They were rmed by the door opening. They stopped ying and looked at the door.

    He raised his phone quickly, opened the hunting interface of the game, and aimed it at that distinctive cat.

    [Game Tip]: Target confirmation ¨C Cat from the book (has been captured by others).

 Chapter 212: Linqing Lion Cat

    <h4>Chapter 212: Linqing Lion Cat</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The storage room was, in fact, a small warehouse. It was quiterge for storage. The old and worn desks and chairs were stacked up against the wall, which took up almost one third of the space. The grill on the wall covering the air conditioner duct was removed. A cat could easily get in there. A grey and white Chinese cat was about to get in the duct as Zhang Zian opened the door. It was scared and fell down. Fortunately, cats have nine lives. It didn¡¯t get hurt.

    A few cats ying with each other were immediately tensed up. They gathered around Cat From the Book whose hair was standing up. Showing their sharp teeth and screaming in a high-pitched voice, they were waiting for the general¡¯smand to start the fight.

    Zhang Zian noticed there were various luxury watches, wallets, and jewelry around Cat From the Book. They were shining under the light. As the grey and white cat fell down from the duct, it opened its month and a CPU chip fell out.

    He felt uneasy seeing all these cats in such tension. If they all came towards him, he would not be able to fight back.

    Although he was nervous, he nced at Cat From the Book through the capturing screen of the game. Cat From the Book was hiding behind arge group of cats but he could tell immediately that it was a Linqing Lion Cat. Its ears were pink and elegant, and its hair was white as snow. There was a dark line on its forehead which made it look even more charming. It was squinting up and down at Zhang Zian and its eyes showed natural disgust towards him. It didn¡¯t show any hostility, just pure disgust, as if it was telling Zhang Zian how annoying he was.

    ¡°Are you an Elfin? I don¡¯t mean anything bad,¡± Zhang Zian tried to be calm.

    Cat From the Book closed its eyes and gave him a cold shoulder, ¡°Are you an idiot? You are already pointing your cellphone at me? What am I if I am not an Elfin?¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. The way this cat talked sounded just like the b*tchy bird.

    He double checked and found no one was around, so he asked, ¡°Where is your owner?¡±

    ¡°Owner?¡± It opened its eyes a bit and said disdainfully, ¡°I don¡¯t have an owner.¡±

    ¡°No owner?¡± Zhang Zian was confused, ¡°Howe?¡±

    ¡°Humph! My owner is stupid, so I ditched her!¡± It waved its paw without even looking at him, ¡°Okay, go away. If you stay, I am going to leave some scratches on your face!¡±

    As soon as it said so, the cat group got even more excited.

    Now that Zhang Zian knew it didn¡¯t have an owner, he could not leave without having more information.

    ¡°Well, I only have a few questions for you. I will leave after that.¡± He tried to negotiate with it.

    ¡°Shut up! I don¡¯t have time to waste on you! Men are assholes!¡±

    This calm and beautiful Cat From the Book exploded its hair. It was a long-haired cat and with the hair standing up, it looked twice as big! It stood up, looked at Zhang Zian angrily, and screamed. The cat group ran towards Zhang Zian as soon as they heard its scream!

    Zhang Zian was scared. Although Old Time Tea stayed calm no matter what happened, it still stepped back vulnerably. Zhang Zian wished he could get out and shut the door. Honestly, this was not a good time to fake being a hero.

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    A clear yet low cat meow came out.

    Fina walked in slowly as it meowed.

    As soon as Fina appeared, all the normal cats froze as if by magic. They looked at Fina like a statue and all bowed down to it as if it was the Pharaoh.

    ¡°Who is causing trouble here?¡± Fina opened its beautiful green eyes, staring at Cat From the Book.

    Old Time Tea and Gxy both walked in following Fina.

    Old Time Tea saw that everything calmed down at this time. so it started looking around the warehouse.

    Gxy jumped up and raised a paw pointing at Cat From the Book, ¡°Zian, look. Isn¡¯t it beautiful?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It is beautiful.¡±

    Zhang Zian had to admit this Cat From the Book was as pretty as Fina. Fina was pretty, strong and valiant, looking like a mighty Queen. Cat From the Book was apletely different kind of pretty. It looked more like a morousdy, from the top down.

    Fina never used its beauty in exchange of any benefits; However, this Cat From the Book was teasing. Its eyes shimmering and its face teasing, its image was nothing but attractive. Although it was mad, it still was as charming as a pearl.

    Feeling worried, Zhang Zian looked at Fina and Cat From the Book and didn¡¯t know what to expect.

    As soon as Cat From the Book saw Fina, its eyes opened wide and its hair softened. Its eyes were as round as a full moon. Fina¡¯s eyes were more of an almond shape.

    Zhang Zian rxed. It looked like Cat From the Book was not against Fina, so now he couldmunicate with it normally.

    He was curious of what grade Cat From the Book was. It couldmand normal cats. Would it also worship Fina like other cats? Gxy didn¡¯t bow to Fina because it was an imaginative Elfin, which didn¡¯t really count as a real cat. Old Time Tea was a real cat, but it was a benevolent and righteous cat so it could be exempt from the norm. How about this Cat From the Book?

    It was proven that he was too young too na?ve. Cat From the Book¡¯s eyes shined bright. It didn¡¯t only worship Fina, but also fell in love with it.

    Before Zhang Zian woke up from his daydream, Cat From the Book jumped in front of Fina and smiled, ¡°My Majesty, may I lick your fur?¡±

    What?! What a teasing cat!

 Chapter 213: Fina Loses Control

    <h4>Chapter 213: Fina Loses Control</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Before entering the storage room, Zhang Zian had thought of a variety of possibilities. The fierce Elfin would fight with him, or the Elfin was timid and would flee as soon as it saw them. But no one could have thought that this Elfin would approach Fina and offered to lick its fur!

    ording to his observation, Fina was different from ordinary cats. It never licked its fur, because it thought it was dirty. Fina¡¯s fur seemed a bit messy because of the strong wind today, but it did not bother to make it smooth.

    Zhang Zian was surprised by the Elfin, and Gxy was impressed by it. Old Time Tea remained silent, and Fina was so shocked that it took a step back.

    ¡°Stop¡­stop right there! What do you want from me? You want to fight? Show me your ws! I¡¯m ready!¡± mored Fina, but its voice was trembling. It was very unusual that Fina lost its self-control like this.

    Cat from the Book did not stop, but moved a little bit closer to Fina, and begged it with a delicate and soft voice, ¡°My Majesty, I just hope I can have the honor to lick your fur for you.¡±

    Zhang Zian envied Fina. The Cat from the Book had such a nice and pleasant voice. Wouldn¡¯t a massage be nice, too?

    Fina panicked and withdrew further, ¡°Get away from me. I don¡¯t want you to lick my fur!¡±

    Fina kept withdrawing while Cat from the Book kept stepping forward, and the distance between them maintained at half a meter or so.

    Fina kept retreating and its tail touched Zhang Zian¡¯s pants. She looked back and angrily yelled at him, ¡°What are youughing at? Do something! Get it away!¡±

    Zhang Zian shrugged. He was d that finally Fina was afraid of someone.

    ¡°Why do you have to turn it away? It seems nice. Licking fur will not get a cat killed.¡±

    ¡°You bastard!¡± said Fina furiously, ¡°You will be dead when we get home!¡±

    ¡°If you can ever go back home. This cat seems to like you very much. Perhaps you should stay here with it?¡± said Zhang Zian with a schadenfreude tone.

    Old Time Tea chimed in, ¡°Zian, stop joking now. We should figure out what happened first.¡±

    Seeing that Fina was on the brink of an outburst of violent rage, Zhang Zian raised his hands like surrendering, ¡°I was just kidding. I will never leave you here.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll say it one more time! Get this cat away from me!¡± Fina was busy avoiding Cat from the Book and had no time to me Zhang Zian. The Cat from the Book was chasing Fina with its tongue sticking out. It seemed like the cat was determined to lick Fina¡¯s fur today. Zhang Zian wondered whether the cat was a male or female.

    ¡°Stop! Stop chasing Fina!¡± He stood in front of the Cat from the Book, ¡°You can¡¯t do that to a girl you just met!¡±

    ¡°Filthy man! Get away and mind your own business!¡± Cat from the Book said fiercely.

    Fina fearfully hid behind Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Well, Fina happens to be my own business.¡± Zhang Zian was standing with his hands on his back, ¡°How about this? Answer my questions honestly, and I can persuade Fina to let it ept you fur-licking service. Agreed?¡±

    He could feel Fina¡¯s anger behind him. He waved his hands at it, hoping it can understand that he was actually helping it.

    ¡°Really?¡± the Cat from the Book stared at him with its sky-blue eyes, ¡°You, a filthy man, can really do that? I seriously doubt it!¡±

    ¡°Hey! Howe you respect Fina so much and keep calling me a filthy man?¡± Zhang Zianined.

    ¡°Because it is My Majesty, and you are just a despicable man, like every man is!¡±

    What has every man in this world done wrong to provoke this cat?

    ¡°Believe it or not, Your Majesty does listen to me sometimes. If you want to lick its fur, answer my questions honestly.¡±

    The Cat from the Book looked at him, and at Fina who was hiding behind his back, then smacked its lips. ¡°Pfft! What you said seemed somewhat reliable. Okay, what do you want to know? I¡¯m warning you, if you don¡¯t keep your promise, I will have you castrated.¡±

    What the hell! Zhang Zian felt the pain in his testicles already.

    Howe this beautiful and seemingly quiet Cat from the Book was so violent that it would castrate men that betrayed it?

    He looked back at Fina as if he was saying, ¡°Did you see that! You must help me! Or I will be a eunuch!¡±

    Fina was still angry at him, so it turned away its head and simply ignored him.

    Zhang Zian could only go on and ask questions, ¡°Tell me about your owner. Why do you say your owner abandoned you?¡±

    The cat grunted with disdain, ¡°That woman, she lied to me.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so your owner is a woman?¡±

    ¡°Yes! And that bitch lied to me! She said she liked women and loathed men. So I thought me might get along well. Guess what? She fell in love with a man, who was even younger than her!¡± The cat¡¯s face was twisted by anger and humiliation.

    ¡°Wait a second!¡± Zhang Zian tried to follow up.

    ¡°So, your owner was a woman who imed that she only liked women, butter she found a man, and then you left her?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± said the Cat from the Book righteously, ¡°I was able to move freely without any confinement then, so I decided to leave her for good! What a waste of time! I trusted her so much!¡±

    Was leaving its owner really necessary?

    ¡°So,¡± Zhang Zian looked at it, ¡°I guess you like women?¡±

    It nodded hard, ¡°True love only exists among the same sex. Different sexes only produce offspring.¡±

    Why did this statement sound so familiar?

    Zhang Zian looked down at the phone where the parrot Elfin was residing; it had said the same sentence before.

    If two elves had said so¡­ Could it be true? True love only exists among the same sex?

    He kept shaking his head and tried to forget this terrible idea.

    But he figured out what had happened. This Cat from the Book was previously a pet Elfin of a female yer, who knew about the cat¡¯s sexual orientation and pretended that she only liked women in order to increase the cat¡¯s likability so that the cat gained its ability to move freelyter. However, that female yer met her true love, who was a man. The Cat from the Book felt betrayed and abandoned her¡­

 Chapter 214: Ill-gotten Wealth

    <h4>Chapter 214: Ill-gotten Wealth</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Cat from the Book told its story yet it could not help but nce at Fina with unstoppable love. It sometimes moved its body around. Its fur was as white and soft as snow. If it was a normal cat, Zhang Zian was sure that thousands of cats would fall in love with it¡­ well, maybe not, because its name sounded like an imaginative Elfin.

    After hearing its story, Zhang Zian felt sorry for its owner. What an experience to be loved by a lesbian cat! She had to pretend to be lesbian to increase the cat¡¯s friendliness¡­ Oh no¡­ Maybe she wasn¡¯t faking it. She could be bisexual. Or maybe she thought she liked girls and then her Mr. Right showed up and she realized she was wrong.

    This Cat from the Book was 100% lesbian because it left its owner after finding out that she fell in love with a man. Although it was only a thought, Zhang Zian felt that he was getting a hint.

    Also, Zhang Zian realized something he never thought of ¨C Elfins didn¡¯t belong to a certain owner. They had their own wishes and willpower. Reaching a certain friendliness didn¡¯t necessarily mean a secured rtionship. The pet could choose to leave if it wanted.

    Cat from the Book was impatient, ¡°Are you done questioning me? Get out of my way, stupid!¡±

    ¡°Nope, I am not done yet.¡± Zhang Zian pointed at the area it wasying on and it contained lots of luxurious items, ¡°Did you have those cats steal these expensive items?¡±

    ¡°Yup. So what?¡± Cat from the Book obviously didn¡¯t feel ashamed.

    ¡°Stealing is what bad kids do!¡± Gxy interrupted.

    ¡°Bad kids?¡± Cat from the Book raised its head and giggled, ¡°I am not a kid!¡±

    Zhang Zian started thinking about how to handle the stolen goods. At first he thought there was a person behind the crime so he was prepared to report that person. Now the story just didn¡¯t go along with his imagination. What should he do with this Elfin?

    ¡°Why did you steal those things?¡± he asked again.

    ¡°Why?! There is no why! I like them! I had nothing to do!¡± It turned around to look at those normal catsying on the ground. ¡°I like it when other cats get jealous and fight for me. What is it now?¡±

    Zhang Zian was shocked. Fight against each other for jealousy?

    Now he understood. Cat from the Book was not as powerful as Fina, who couldmand all the cats. It used the love from other cats to steal for its benefit¡­ However, this cat was smart to use human¡¯s love towards cats so the cats could steal anything, anywhere they wanted.

    Zhang Zian thought about it over and over. He knew that this elfin could not be reported to Captain Sheng. He had to lie about it, otherwise the whole secret of the Pet Hunter game could no longer be kept.

    He wanted to negotiate with the cat, ¡°Well, those items are of no use to you. Why don¡¯t you return them to the original owner? I will let you go as long as you do that and pretend we have never met. The cops areing pretty soon. If you stay, I don¡¯t know what they are going to do to you.¡±

    Cat from the Book stretched its neck and found that Fina was staring at the shiny jewelry. It immediately knew that Fina liked the jewelry so it said gently, ¡°My Queen, do you know why I collect them?¡±

    Fina looked at it, confused, ¡°So you also like shiny things?¡±

    ¡°Shiny things?¡± Cat from the Book smiled blinking its eyes, ¡°You are the shiniest thing to me!¡±

    Oh no!

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help butugh. He knew that it was a miss for Cat from the Book. Honestly, its words were as sweet as honey, but Fina didn¡¯t like girls. If Cat from the Book admitted to liking shiny things, it might have a word with Fina.

    ¡°Screw you! Why are youughing? Did you see the romance going on?¡± Cat from the Book stared at him angrily. It was still pretty even-keeled when it was mad.

    ¡°What romance? I only see that Fina isn¡¯t interested in you,¡± he said. ¡°Stop your daydreaming.¡±

    Cat from the Book raised one paw to scare him and then said to Fina, ¡°My Queen, if you like those things, I will give them all to you. I am willing to devote myself to you forever and ever.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me, those are not your things. I have to return them to the original owners,¡± Zhang Zian interrupted.

    ¡°Why? These are presents for my beloved Queen,¡± Cat from the Book didn¡¯t like his idea.

    Fina looked at the shiny jewelry again. It was moved.

    ¡°My Queen, please take them!¡± Cat from the Book once again persuaded Fina.

    ¡°No! This is ill-gotten wealth,¡± Zhang Zian said seriously, ¡°People love money but get it in a good way. I love money but I will never steal. You stole all these from other people¡­ in other words, these are all used items. Fina, you don¡¯t like used stuff, do you?¡±

    Fina paused and showed disgust towards the jewelry, ¡°Are they all used?¡±

    Zhang Zian rxed. He hit the nail on the head.

    Fina was a neat-freak and didn¡¯t like used stuff. It could not share anything with anyone, including its food and water bowls. It was willing to ept the diamond ring from the store because the sales rep handled the ring with gloves on and didn¡¯t touch it. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t take it.

    Cat from the Book was astonished. It nced at Zhang Zian angrily and then spoke softly, ¡°My Queen¡­¡±

    ¡°Stop it!¡± Fina said proudly, ¡°I don¡¯t like used stuff. Get them out of my way!¡±

    Cat from the Book was scared. It kept begging, ¡°My Queen, please! Please give me one more chance! I will¡­¡±

    ¡°Cut it out.¡± Zhang Zian interrupted it and said, ¡°Fina loves shiny things but not all of them. Things like this, ill-gotten wealth, is too dirty for Fina¡¯s honorable status.¡±

    Old Time Tea nodded. Zhang Zian only had had the b*tchy bird for a few days, but it had already learned well how to lick Fina¡¯s shoes.

    Fina was happy, ¡°That is right. I love shiny things, but not all of them.¡±

    Cat from the Book was even more confused.

    Zhang Zian continued, ¡°All in all, Fina won¡¯t take this jewelry and you don¡¯t like them. Just leave!¡±

    Cat from the Book thought for a second and said, ¡°I am not going anywhere. I will follow My Queen wherever it goes.¡±

 Chapter 215: The Cat from the Book

    <h4>Chapter 215: The Cat from the Book</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was not sure how to deal with this elfin. He couldn¡¯t just give it to Sheng Ke, but if he let it go, he worried that it would continue telling cats to steal things.

    It said that it wanted to go home with Fina. Zhang Zianughed and said, ¡°Forget it. I suggest you return to your previous owner.¡±

    The Cat from the Book made a ¡°pfft¡± sound in disdain. ¡°Never! She doesn¡¯t own me anymore. Someday, if she loses everything to that filthy man, andes begging to me in tears, then I will¡­¡±

    ¡°You will forgive her?¡±

    ¡°Forgive her? Huh! No! I willugh at her, ask her kneel in front of me, and then I will turn her into a slut¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait a second! What do you mean by slut?¡±

    Zhang Zian was surprised by this cat¡¯s awful character, which was more terrible than even that of the parrot elfin.

    ¡°Wow! Are you saying you don¡¯t know what ¡®slut¡¯ means? Come on! Don¡¯t lie to me!¡±

    ¡°I know what it means. She was your owner once; is it really necessary to do that to her?¡± Zhang Zian tried to exin himself.

    The Cat from the Book walked by him and approached Fina, smiling humbly. ¡°Your Majesty, please allow me to be at your service. I will do way better than this filthy man. I will test your food to see if there¡¯s poison inside. I will lick your fur when it bes messy because of the wind blowing. I will be your punching bag whenever you are upset and mad¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡± Zhang Zian interrupted it, ¡°It¡¯s wrong to use others as punching bags when you lose your temper!¡±

    Fina was actually thinking very seriously. ¡°Fur-licking is unnecessary. But I do need a servant¡­¡± It stared at Zhang Zian resentfully, ¡°I¡¯m not satisfied with my current one.¡±

    ¡°I am not your servant, remember? We are equal.¡± Zhang Zian corrected Fina.

    Still no fur-licking? The Cat from the Book smacked its lips full of regret, but then said vigorously, ¡°Your Majesty! I will be a good servant! And one day, I will be able to lick your fur!¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Fina you can¡¯t be serious, right?¡± Zhang Zian said, ¡°This cat could be a big troublemaker¡­¡±

    Fina was serious, ¡°Well, I do need a qualified servant. Back in the old days, I had so many servants, and right now, I only have you, a lousy servant. What a shame!¡±

    While Zhang Zian was trying to persuade Fina to give up the idea of bringing the Cat from the Book home, his cell phone suddenly rang.

    He thought it was a message sent by someone. But when he unlocked the screen, he found that there was no signal at the underground garage. The Pet Hunter game had initiated automatically, and its interface had upied the whole screen.

    [Game Tip]: Congrattions! An elfin has been defeated by your elfin and pledges its allegiance. Do you want to ept it as your pet?

    Below the game tip were two options, written with ¡°yes¡± and ¡°no¡±.

    How did this happen?

    ¡°Navigation Elf, what¡¯s going on?¡± He was asking the Navigation Elf who could be reached 24/7.

    [Navigation Elf]: As I said, the Cat from the Book has been defeated by your Maneki-neko and pledges its allegiance. You can take it as your pet, or you can waive your right to do so.

    ¡°What will happen if I choose ¡®no¡¯?¡± he asked again.

    [Navigation Elf]: If you choose ¡®no¡¯, it will be a free elfin again, and will appear on the detection radar of this game.

    What should he do? If he took it as a pet, and this Cat from the Book only liked females, then how could he increase its likability? Did he have to¡­? No, no way!

    ¡°Navigation Elf, is there a third option?¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: No. But for the defeated elfin, if its real name had been unlocked by its previous owner, you don¡¯t need to unlock its name again.

    ¡°What?¡± Zhang Zian was confused.

    [Navigation Elf]: The defeated elfin¡¯s likeability towards its previous owner will be transferred to the elf who has triumphed it.

    ¡°So, Fina would be its new owner?¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: That¡¯s one way to say it.

    ¡°And I don¡¯t need to increase its likability again?¡±

    [Navigation Elf]: Yes.

    That was some unexpected good news. And Zhang Zian carefully thought about the pros and cons of it. Although the Cat from the Book did not listen to him, at least it obeyed Fina¡¯s words.

    He moved his finger to ¡°yes¡± and then clicked on it.

    [Game Tip]: Congrattions! You have captured a new elf!

    [Game Tip]: The Cat from the Book¡¯s likeability towards Maneki-neko has been promoted to the friendly level!

    [Game Tip]: The Cat from the Book¡¯s real name has been unlocked, with no need to repeat the unlocking process!

    [Game Tip]: The Cat from the Book¡¯s likeability towards Maneki-neko has been promoted to the trust level, and it has gained the ability of free movement!

    The Cat from the Book threw itself at Fina excitedly, ¡°Excellent! Your Majesty! We are officially together. Allow me to lick your fur, please!¡±

    Fina avoided its hug, ¡°Stop it! I told you I don¡¯t need you to lick my fur!¡±

    The Cat from the Book was so upset that its sky-blue big eyes filled with tears.

    ¡°Your Majesty¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian stood in front of the Cat from the Book, ¡°Come back into the game. I will release you after we solve this case and get home.¡±

    ¡°No! No! I will stay by My Majesty¡¯s side!¡±

    Zhang Zian came up with a trick, ¡°Look, I have nude photos of Fina when it¡¯s in shower.¡±

    ¡°Where?¡± The cat jumped over excitedly.

    Shoot! Zhang Zian sessfully captured it and put it back in the phone.

    Fina was looking at him angrily, so he quickly exined: ¡°Fina, I don¡¯t have your nude pictures! I just said that to trap it!¡±

    He spent a long time exining before Fina finally believed he didn¡¯t take pictures of it when it was bathing.

    Zhang Zian sighed exhaustedly, then opened the virtual pet bar of the game, and clicked on the Cat from the Book.

    [Game Tip]: Pet properties

    [Known as]: The Cat from the Book

    [Rarity]: Elite level

    [Features update]: Diligent reading can bring you wealth and a beautiful cat.

    [History Unlocked]: ording to the ssic Chinese novel Chin Ping Mei, Pan Jinlian had a Chausie, who had snow-white fur and a ck line on its forehead. The Chausie was called ¡°Charcoal Sent in Snowy Weather¡±, and was also known as the Snowy Li. Pan Jinlian loved Snowy Li dearly, and she and her maid servant provided it with meticulous care. Snowy Li was very clever, intelligent, and considerate. Through Pan Jinlian¡¯s borately-designed training, it mastered the skills of carrying handkerchiefs and picking up fans in no time.

    Xi Menqing had numerous lovers, and Pan Jinlian would cuddle Snowy Li in bed when she felt lonely.The Snowy Li grew to know increasingly more about human nature, and Pan Jinlian affectionately called it the ¡°Snowy Snitch¡±.

    This cat did not really exist, but it had be an elfin in this world because of people¡¯s belief in Chin Ping Mei and Pan Jinlian.

    [Real name unlocked]: Pan Jinlian¡¯s lesbian cat!

 Chapter 216: The Cat Training Ancestor

    <h4>Chapter 216: The Cat Training Ancestor</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Lesbian cat¡­

    Zhang Zian was speechless when he saw the name.

    He did some research.

    This cat¡¯s experience was in fact quite sad. At first, Pan Jinlian took it as the most precious thing. It was very smart and quickly learned how to pick up things with its mouth. It always slept in her arms. Soon enough, Pan Jinlian started to train it to attack her husband¡¯s other wives. Snowy Snitch only ate fresh pork, so Pan Jinlian wrapped fresh pork inside red silk and train it to attack and bite. Her husband, Xi Menqing, had only one son, Guan Ge¡¯er, who loved to wear red clothing.

    When Snowy Snitch was trained well, Pan Jinlian secretly put it in the bedroom of Guan Ge¡¯er. Seeing Guan Ge¡¯er in red clothing, Snowy Snitch instinctively thought it was a piece of fresh meat, so it attacked and bit him. Guan Ge¡¯er was scared to death, literally. Xi Menqing was so pissed that he grabbed Snowy Snitch and threw it at the stone stairs. Snowy Snitch died immediately.

    Zhang Zian understood now. It was all about animal¡¯s trained reflexes.

    He also understood why this cat was so sick of men, why it liked to train other cats to steal, and why it was grumpy all the time. Its story was a heart-breaking one.

    At first, he was curious about how there was a dark line on a snowy white cat. Now, he understood that it was an imaginative cat from a novel. Millions of readers¡¯ imaginations turned it into an elfin.

    Pan Jinlian wasn¡¯t the first one to use an animal¡¯s trained reflexes tomit crime. More than 2000 years ago, Tu Anjia from Jin Guo practiced the same thing to train a dog to kill Zhao Dun. 300 years after Jin Ping Mei was published, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle also had simr stories in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Hound of the Baskervilles.

    Both Tu Anjia and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle chose to write about training dogs for crimes because dogs are easy to train. Pan Jinlian was probably the first ever to write about catsmitting crimes. Therefore, it wasn¡¯t surprising to have Snowy Snitch be an elfin.

    ¡°Gxy, I will put you back to my cellphone if someonees. I will release you when we get home,¡± He said to Gxy, ¡°You did me a great favor today. We wouldn¡¯t have found this ce without your help.¡±

    Gxy was excited about getting praised. It raised its head happily and said ¡°Sure, Zian.¡±

    Zhang Zian put Gxy back in the cell phone, and left the storage room with Fina and the invisible Old Time Tea. He walked back up to the lobby from the stairs when Captain Sheng came in from outside.

    Seeing that Zhang Zian didn¡¯t take the elevator but walked up the stairs, Captain Sheng was surprised but he didn¡¯t ask. He gave Zhang Zian a homemade lunch box. ¡°Mr. Zhang, Thanks for working with us. Come have some lunch. It is all homemade food. I hope you like it.¡±

    ¡°Wow, great!¡± Zhang Zian took over the lunch box. The clock in the lobby showed it was already noon. Zhang Zian immediately felt hungry.

    Captain Sheng gave him a pair of disposable chopsticks. ¡°Sit down and eat.¡±

    ¡°Captain Sheng, did you eat?¡± Although it was quite obvious, Zhang Zian still asked politely.

    Captain Sheng patted his belly, ¡°Of course. My wife just finished cooking when I got home. Sheined that I had to work on a weekend, but at least she still cooked for me.¡±

    Yu Fei saw them from the surveince camera so he pushed the door open, ¡°Hey,e in here. You can eat at my desk.¡±

    Captain Sheng and Zhang Zian entered the monitor room. Zhang Zian put the lunch box on the desk, pulled up a chair and pointed the monitor with his chin, ¡°You may turn the surveince back on.¡±

    Yu Fei turned on the surveince cameras and was about to ask Zhang Zian if he had found any clues. Captain Sheng winked and stopped him.

    Zhang Zian opened the lunch box. The firstyer was rice. The secondyer was split into fourpartments. There were spare ribs, wintermelon meatballs, stir-fried pork, and sour and spicy shredded potato. There was a lot of food.

    ¡°Yu Fei, do me a favor,¡± Captain Sheng pulled out some money from his wallet, ¡°Go get some BBQ skewers and fish. Don¡¯t put any spices on them.¡±

    Yu Fei took the money and thought the BBQ was for Captain Sheng and Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian opened the disposable chopsticks and said, ¡°Captain Sheng, that¡¯s fine. I was joking with you. My cat is very picky. Even if you bought fish for it, it won¡¯t eat without its own food bowl.¡±

    Yu Fei finally understood that the BBQ skewers and fish were for the cat. That cat was high maintenance!

    Captain Sheng looked at Fina, who was sitting next to Zhang Zian. It was indifferent. The aroma from food didn¡¯t interest it at all.

    Zhang Zian got some food in his mouth and couldn¡¯t help but praise, ¡°Your wife is a good cook!¡±

    ¡°Well, thank you. I am d you like it,¡± Captain Sheng was humble.

    ¡°This is really great!¡± Zhang Zian quickly ate the food. He either ate greasy take out or tasteless BBQ skewers or fish all the time. He almost forgot what homemade food tasted like.

    Yu Fei was hungry as well. His food was provided by thepany and it wasn¡¯t delivered yet. Looking at Zhang Zian eating, he felt hungrier.

    Zhang Zian put a meatball in his mouth and spoke as he ate, ¡°Oh yeah, Captain Sheng, I already figured out the case. It wasn¡¯t as good as I was hoping for, but you could at least return the stolen goods to the owners.¡±

    ¡°Really? You are good! Please tell me the details.¡±

    Captain Sheng wasn¡¯t surprised because he could tell that Zhang Zian was much more calm and peaceful than he was this morning. So, he guessed that Zhang Zian had some good news for him. He honestly didn¡¯t know much about Zhang Zian, so he wasn¡¯t sure if his guess was correct or not.

    Zhang Zian ate all the food quickly. Pushing the lunch box away, throwing the chopsticks in the garbage can, he then wiped his mouth, ¡°Captain Sheng, I am not cleaning the lunch box for you. I know you are eager to find out what happened. I am going to show you.¡±

    ¡°Where?¡± Captain Sheng asked.

    Zhang Zian pointed down, ¡°In the underground parking lot.¡±

 Chapter 217: Mysteries Unsolved

    <h4>Chapter 217: Mysteries Unsolved</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°In the underground garage of this building?¡±

    Sheng Ke and Yu Fei were stunned by this news.

    After painstakingly searching for the watch-stealing thieves, as it turned out, the thieves were in this building, living right under their noses. A series of thefts happened in several office buildings in this area, so Sheng Ke had just brought Zhang Zian to this building with a faint hope of finding out the truth. Lucky for him, the case had been solved today.

    But Yu Fei, who was not informed about the whole truth, was thinking aboutpletely different things. He worried that whether it was an insider jobmitted by some employees in this building with their partners outside. If that was true, the impact might be severe.

    Without making too much exnation, Zhang Zian led them through the emergency exit passageways and entered the underground garage. He opened the door of the storage warehouse in front of them, ¡°The stolen items are all here. Captain Sheng, if you have a list of all the reportedly stolen items, you canpare and see whether anything else is missing.¡±

    Yu Fei was curious and was about to go inside, but was stopped by Sheng Ke, ¡°Don¡¯t spoil the scene!¡±

    Sheng Ke looked at the warehouse, and his eyes fell on a few ordinary cats, ¡°Where are the suspects? Did you catch them?¡±

    Zhang Zian was a bit nervous. He knew that was the most critical issue, and he replied with his prepared answer, ¡°The suspects might have gone already. When my cats brought me here, there was no one. These cats are probably trained by the suspects to steal things.¡±

    He came up with a suggestion, ¡°Captain Sheng, you can have some of your people guard here. Maybe the suspects wille back again to take these stolen items.¡±

    ??Sheng Ke was also thinking about that possibility. He stood at the door, and looked at the stolen items scattered on the ground,paring them with the reportedly stolen items on his list. He recognized some items that had obvious features, like the missing TAG Heuer watch of Liu Miao. He was not sure about the rest of the items, so he needed to observe closely to identify them. But right now, the most important thing was to protect the scene and extract footprints and fingerprints, and that¡¯s why he stopped Yu Fei from entering the room.

    Although the stolen items had been found, there were so many unsolved mysteries of this case. Where were the suspects? Did they escape in advance because they knew about the impending danger? Those watches, handbags and jewelry could be sold out very easily, so why didn¡¯t the suspects carry these items with them or sell them?

    This series of cases were very unusual from the beginning. Though Sheng Ke had rich experience in handling cases, he couldn¡¯t figure out the pattern of this one.

    Zhang Zian felt sorry for Sheng Ke. He secretly nced at Sheng Ke, the leader of the criminal investigation team, who was frowning and had all kinds of expressions on his face. He knew that Sheng Ke was trying hard to figure out all the puzzles in this case. Zhang Zian was very sympathetic to Captain Sheng. This case involved an elfin, which could not be exined or thought about inmon sense. If Captain Sheng insisted on applying his previous experience in this case, he would be led into wrong directions and would not be able to find out the truth.

    He didn¡¯t worry about if Captain Sheng would doubt him, because he had never gone inside the warehouse. He just stood at the door for a while, so none of his fingerprints or footprints were left on the scene.

    ¡°Captain,¡± he said.

    ¡°Yes, Mr. Zhang. Do you have any advice?¡± Sheng Ke was brought back to reality from his pondering.

    ¡°In my opinion, if you have been waiting here for a few days, and the suspects never return, perhaps you could close the case.¡± Zhang Zian said sincerely. Sheng Ke was a very responsible police officer and even worked on weekend to solve the case. Zhang Zian felt really sorry if Captain Sheng and his team would waste their time guarding here because of what he said.

    ¡°Captain Sheng, think about that. The suspects know how to use cats to steal things, so maybe they are also using cats to detect the environment. Right now, they probably have known that we have found the scene, and if they are not idiots, they have fled far away. Even if you do guard and patrol here, you might not be able to bring them to justice.¡±

    Sheng Ke did not answer immediately. Instead, he looked at Fina as if he had thought of something, ¡°Mr. Zhang, can I¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian quickly refused: ¡°No.¡±

    Sheng Keughed, ¡°Mr. Zhang, you have not even heard my question.¡±

    ¡°I know what you want. You either want to borrow my cat, or you want me to take my cat to chase the suspects. I regret to tell you that I can¡¯t say yes to your request. My cat does not listen to people¡¯smands. Plus, I know nothing about tracking suspects.¡± Zhang Zian thought about what Sheng Ke would ask in advance and prepared his answers well.

    Zhang Zian was right. Sheng Ke was thinking about having police guard the warehouse, and at the same time, let Zhang Zian track suspects in secret. But since Zhang Zian had explicitly refused the proposal, Sheng Ke had to give up the idea. Fortunately, the lost items had been found. But how should he write the police report to his superiors when the suspects were still atrge? What a pain in the neck!

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, let¡¯s go upstairs. Xiao Yu, please guard here for a while,¡± said Sheng Ke.

    The case hade to an end for now, and there was no need to to stay there. Since there was no signal in the underground garage, Sheng Ke went upstairs to call for backup. He told Yu Fei to guard the door and not to leave or let anybody go inside, and wait for the arrival of police officers.

    Yu Fei followed the order obediently, and the way he looked at Zhang Zian became totally different. He couldn¡¯t imagine that this young man, who was at the same age as him, possessed such impressive powers. He settled this case, which had been bothering the police for a long time, in just an hour. Although he did not catch the suspects, finding the lost items was a fulfillment of police duties.

    Sheng Ke left the underground garage and returned to the lobby on the first floor of the Yuanhua Building. Zhang Zian followed him, and Fina and the invisible Old Time Tea were behind Zian¡¯s back.

    ¡°Here, Mr. Zhang, your round-trip taxi fares.¡± Sheng Ke pulled out 100 Yuan from his pocket and gave it to Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian pretended to decline, ¡°That would be unnecessary, Captain Sheng, the honor is mine to help you today. I was just joking about the reimbursement.¡±

    Sheng Ke thought, ¡°You did not sound like it on the phone.¡±

    He insisted that Zhang Zian ept the money, ¡°Just take it. Our police station has promised to be responsible for your taxi fares back and forth. And no worries, though today I use my money to cover your costs, I will also be reimbursed from the police station.¡±

    Zhang Zian was ready to take the money. But suddenly, a cat w appeared and patted down the money from Sheng Ke¡¯s hand. They looked down and found that it was Fina. Fina was tired of Zhang Zian¡¯s etiquette and politeness, so it leaped up to grab the money and put in in its ws, as if dering that the banknote belonged to it now.

    Sheng Ke was speechless. Like owner, like pet!

    Zhang Zian was quite embarrassed and tried to exin, ¡°My cat usually doesn¡¯t do that¡­¡±

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, I am very grateful for your help today.¡± Sheng Ke looked at his watch, ¡°I need to wait for my colleagues. If you are busy, you might leave now. I will visit you to extend the police station¡¯s gratitude in a few days.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. I¡¯m just fulfilling my obligation as aw-abiding citizen.¡±

    Zhang Zian squatted down to take his money back from Fina¡¯s paws and put it into his wallet. He had to pull several times before he finally seeded.

    ¡°Well, see you next time.¡± He waved and said goodbye to Sheng Ke. He took a taxi with Fina and Old Time Tea and headed back to the pet shop.

 Chapter 218: Giving A Name

    <h4>Chapter 218: Giving A Name</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was the next day.

    Zhang Zian kept the Apprehensive Bird and Cat from the Book in his cell phone all night so he could have a good night¡¯s sleep.

    It was dawn when Zhang Zian woke up. He practiced martial arts upstairs first, then took a shower and changed his clothes. Picking up his cell phone, he felt pressured.

    Honestly, he didn¡¯t want to release the two. One was a gay bird, and the other was a lesbian cat. What a weird group!

    However, he had to release them, otherwise there was no way he could increase their friendliness. If he kept them in the cell phone, they would just take up two pet bars. He clicked open the Pet Hunter game. There were three empty pet bars provided by the game. Since Gxy, Fina and Old Time Tea were not in the game, there were two additional free pet bars.

    While he was practicing martial arts and taking a shower, Gxy and Old Time Tea both got up. Fina was aszy as it had always been. It had just woken up after he was done with everything.

    Zhang Zian released the Apprehensive Bird and Cat from the Book to the ground.

    Richard was smart this time. As soon as it started falling, it pped its wings and flew up. It yelled as it flew around the pet shop, ¡°Good morning, Jeff! Did you miss me? I thought you had given me up by putting me inside your cell phone for such a long time.¡±

    Zhang Zian warned it, ¡°I am telling you, if you poop as you fly, I will beat you up!¡±

    ¡°Squawk! Bad boy, Jeff!¡± Richard didn¡¯t care about the warning but instead started yelling excitedly, ¡°When you picked up the rope and wanted to y sexual games with me, I knew I was getting close to your heart. I just didn¡¯t expect it to be so quickly! I am going to help you. Do you have¡­¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Zhang Zian stopped it. If Richard continued, Zhang Zian would be curious about what it was talking about, and then he would google it. Who knew what would happen next!

    ¡°Squawk! Squawk! My little Jeff is shy. That¡¯s fine. I will teach you well¡­ Squawk?¡± Richard flew around and found the freshly-released Cat from the Book, ¡°Another cat?¡±

    Arriving in apletely strange ce, Cat from the Book was a bit scared. It slowly moved its eyes around the store and saw Gxy ying hide-and-seek with the kittens and Old Time Tea enjoying its morning tea. It then ignored Zhang Zian and locked its eyes on Fina, who was walking down the stairs elegantly.

    ¡°My Queen! Let me lick your fur!¡± It quickly ran over to Fina.

    Sitting on the recliner, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t move, but stopped Cat from the Book with one leg: ¡°Wait!¡±

    ¡°What a dick! What is it now, you want a fight?¡± Showing its sharp teeth, Cat from the Book tried to scare him off.

    Pointing at the other elfins, he said, ¡°You are new. Introduce yourself to your other friends. This is basic etiquette.¡±

    Cat from the Book opened up its big blue eyes, ¡°Introduce myself? I only care about my Queen!¡±

    ¡°Squawk! Squawk!¡± Richard was pping its wings in the air and said to Cat from the Book, ¡°Hey, white cat! Hearing from your words, are you¡­¡±

    Cat from the Book didn¡¯t notice the Apprehensive Bird before. Now hearing it in the air, the cat said, ¡°You sound gay. Are you gay?¡±

    Richardnded in front of Cat from the Book, ¡°I never would¡¯ve thought I could meet a gay friend in this pet shop! What¡¯s our slogan?¡±

    Cat from the Book nodded and said, ¡°Real love only exists among the same sex.¡±

    Richard responded, ¡°Different sexes only produce offspring.¡±

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    ¡°Squawk! Squawk!¡±

    The gay bird and lesbian cat looked at each other andughed, which frightened Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Well, since we are both gay, let me introduce myself,¡± Cat from the Book said to Richard, yet it had been staring at Fina the whole time. ¡°My name is¡­¡¯

    ¡°Snowy Li!¡± Zhang Zian interrupted.

    ¡°No!¡± Cat from the Book was pissed off. ¡°My name is Snowy Snitch!¡±

    Old Time Teaughed, ¡°Snowy Snitch¡­ It is not as good as Snowy Li.¡±

    ¡°I like it! I don¡¯t care what you think!¡± Cat from the Book was offended.

    ¡°Well, you are a pretty girl, why would you want to be called a snitch?!¡± Old Time Tea¡¯s response had a double meaning. It knew that Cat from the Book taught other cats to steal. Also, Zhang Zian told Old Time Tea about Snowy Snitch¡¯s history¨Cit was all because of Pan Jinlian¡¯s poor training.

    Old Time Tea felt sorry for Cat from the Book. It was used by its owner to attack the enemy¡¯s kid. It was killed immediately after the n was carried out. Maybe Pan Jinlian was really fond of Snowy Snitch, but it was only a cat to her. The child was innocent and did not deserve to die after all. So was the cat. They died because of people fighting.

    Zhang Zian agreed, ¡°You have long hair and look like a lion. Snowy Li is a much better name for you.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care! My name is Snowy Snitch and that¡¯s that!¡± Cat from the Book insisted.

    Zhang Zian asked the half-awake Fina, ¡°Fina, what do you think? Which name do you like more?¡±

    ¡°Why do you ask me?¡± Fina yawned, looked around and showed no interest in the topic. ¡°When will breakfast be ready?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it your servant? Do you want it to be Snowy Snitch or Snowy Li?¡± Zhang Zian said as he pointed at Cat from the Book.

    Fina turned around and looked at Cat from the Book casually.

    Cat from the Book sat elegantly, raised its head, opened up its big blue eyes, tucked in its tail and nervously waited for Fina¡¯s answer. Honestly, Cat from the Book was very pretty when it behaved.

    Fina looked at Cat from the Book, walked close seriously, raised one paw and picked out a small bunch of hair. It looked at the hair carefully.

    This was the closest distance Fina and Cat from the Book had ever been. They were only one paw¡¯s distance away from each other. They could hear each other¡¯s breathing. Cat from the Book felt so nervous and happy. It almost fainted. Fina was perfect. Its green eyes were as clear and calm as water. Its golden hair was shiny. The most attractive thing was its elegant and graceful manner that only a queen deserved to have.

    There was only one thought in its mind¡ªQueen Fina was perfect!

    Fina put down its paw and said peacefully, ¡°You have such long hair. I think Snowy Li is a good name for you.¡±

    ¡°Sure! Thank you, My Queen, for giving me a name. My name is Snowy Li from now on!¡± Cat from the Book was shaking with excitement.

 Chapter 219: Two-Way Apprehension

    <h4>Chapter 219: Two-Way Apprehension</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Fina named the Cat from the Book as Snowy Li because it felt that its fur was really long, even longer than the furs of most of Persian cats. Fina thought Snowy Li was a more suitable name for the Cat from the Book than Snowy Snitch; what kind of a name was that?

    Fina had seen lions long time ago. In fact, it had met lions many times. And the fur of the Cat from the Book reminded it of their long manes. Fina disliked long fur, for it was really troublesome and inconvenient. Long fur would hook it on tree barks and weeds, and it would feel too hot in the summer¡ªin Egypt, summer was all year round. Though Fina didn¡¯t want long fur for itself, it appreciated it. Even in Fina¡¯s picky eyes, the fur of the Cat from the Book was very beautiful. It looked like silver silk, which was pure and wless.

    After dering the Cat from the Book¡¯s name, Fina gently leapt onto its exclusive tier on the cat tree and waited for its breakfast.

    The Cat from the Book was excited to follow Fina. It tried to jump up as high as Fina did¡­ Bang! The Cat from the Book hit itself on the wall, and then slipped down slowly.

    Zhang Zian thought to himself, what a funny scene; it looked just like a buffoon character in animation movies.

    ¡°You know, people have their own limits. You don¡¯t have Fina¡¯s excellent athletic abilities.¡± Heined about the Cat from the Book¡¯s emtion of Fina.

    Egyptian cats, especially original Egyptian cats, were the best athletes among house cats. Compared to Egyptian cats, Persian cats and Linqing Chausie cats, who had short little legs, were much weaker. They were basically greenhouse flowers in need of meticulous care.

    ¡°Meow¡ªThat hurt!¡± Snowy Li tearfully pressed its paw on its nose. Normally, it would have bickered with Zhang Zian, but right now, it was worrying whether Fina would look down on it after what just happened.

    Fina nced at it from its tier at the top, showing no ridicule or contempt, then closed its eyes and went back to sleep.

    Snowy Li was so embarrassed. When the pain on its nose slightly diminished, it started to observe theyout of the cat tree against the wall. The tiers of the cat tree were distributed in tiers irregrly: some board tforms were closer to each other, while others were distributed far away. Fina leaped from the ground and jumped directly to the top tier. Snowy Li did not possess Fina¡¯s remarkable leaping or athletic ability, so it could only jump to the lowest level, and then ascended tier by tier, and stopped when it finally arrived at the second-highest tform.

    The Cat from the Book looked up at the top. The highest tform had been upied by Fina, and it was a little far away from the second-highest tform. It was not sure whether it could jump to the top, since this tform was notrge, and there was no room for it to have some area to run up. Besides, oneyer of tform did not have enough room for two cats to lie on. So, instead of embarrassing itself again in front of Fina, it chose to stop there where it was closest to Fina.

    Suddenly, Snowy Li found a great advantage!

    Fina was lying on the highest tform, and its long tail was hanging down to the upper part of the second tform, swinging gently in a small range. Whenever Fina heard strange voices, smelled something peculiar, or encountered something or someone in its dream, its tail would tremble, be taut, or roll up.

    Snowy Liy on the second-highest tform carefully. It was so d to find that Fina¡¯s tail was hanging so close before its eyes. Thought it couldn¡¯t be with Fina on the same tform, it was satisfied to see Fina¡¯s tail. It gazed at this tail fondly. Afraid of provoking Fina, it tried very hard to restrain its desire to lick the tail.

    It stuck its nose forward, and deeply sniffed at the tip of Fina¡¯s tail, trying to firmly remember Fina¡¯s body odor.

    Zhang Zian was amused by Snowy Li¡¯s behaviors. What a persistent admirer! And what a pity that Fina did not like it back, Fina just regarded it as a servant and attendant.

    Richard pped its wings andnded on Zhang Zian ¡®s shoulder, saying enviously and regretfully, ¡°True love!¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is!¡± Zhang Zian agreed.

    ¡°Just like what I said before¡­¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡±

    Zhang Zian had seen through its trick, and Richard could only bitterly swallow thetter part of that sentence.

    ¡°Okay. I need to go out for a while, and I will be back soon.¡± Zhang Zian looked at his watch.

    ¡°Bring my breakfast back.¡± Fina opened its eyes and reminded him.

    ¡°Got it. And what about you, Snowy Li, you want to eat anything?¡± After all, the Cat from the Book was a virtual elfin, and he was not sure whether it needed to eat.

    Snowy Li was gazing at Fina¡¯s tail infatuatedly, and it answered impatiently, ¡°Of course, and I want fresh meat!¡±

    Just like the description in Chin Ping Mei.

    Both Gxy and Snowy Li were virtual elves. But Gxy didn¡¯t need to eat, because in Schrodinger¡¯s hypothesis, there was no description about its eating. Xiao Xiao Sheng from Lanling, the pseudonym of the author for Chin Ping Mei, had explicitly attributed Snowy Li with the property of favoring fresh meat, so when it became an Elfin, it still liked eating fresh meat.

    The fictitious setting would be extended into reality¡ªa seemingly small detail, but Zhang Zian had also understood it, and he was content by it.

    He opened the shutter door, and the wind on this autumn morning blew in.

    ¡°Ah-choo!¡±

    Richard, who was standing on his shoulder, sneezed.

    Zhang Zian frowned, ¡°You don¡¯t have avian influenza, right?¡±

    Richard raised a wing to wipe its nostrils and rebutted, ¡°Nonsense! I am very healthy! It¡¯s because your stupid ce is too damn cold!¡±

    ¡°Too cold? It¡¯s only autumn. You will know what freezing is when winter arrives.¡± Zhang Zian waved at Richard, ¡°Now get away from my shoulder. I¡¯m going out.¡±

    ¡°Quack! What a rude person!¡± Richard fluttered its wings and flew upwards, ¡°Remember to bring delicious food back to me, like pistachios, pecans and walnuts. Don¡¯t try to fool me with millet grains or dried corn!¡±

    ¡°Just be grateful that you have something to eat!¡± Zhang Zian was about to leave the shop when he turned back and warned Richard, ¡°Keep your mouth shut when peoplee to our shop. If you keep talking in this way, you may end up being dissected by the government for scientific research.¡±

    Zhang Zian also noticed one thing ¨C when Gxy, Fina and Old Time Tea talked, ordinary people like Wang Qian and Li Kun could only hear themon ¡°meows¡± of cats. But when Richard said ¡°butt buddies¡± to them yesterday, they heard the words clearly as what is was.

    What did that mean?

    It seemed that Richard¡¯s apprehension went two ways. It could understand ordinary people¡¯s words, and what it said was also understandable to ordinary people. Impressive!

    So it was an Elfin that couldmunicate normally with ordinary people?

    ¡°Quack! Quack! I didn¡¯t know you cared about me so much! Rx, I¡¯m not that stupid! I know what I should say in front of different listeners. I¡¯m an expert, you know?¡± Richard kept bragging about itself.

    It was giving Zhang Zian a headache. He didn¡¯t expect that this loquacious bird could shut up at the right time, but he was hoping that its big mouth would not cause any serious trouble¡­

    He went out of the shop, pulled down the shutter door and locked it, leaving the noise of the Apprehensive Bird behind the door.

 Chapter 220: Little Celery

    <h4>Chapter 220: Little Celery</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When Zhang Zian left the pet store, he nced over to the other side of the road and noticed that Aunt Li and her husband hadn¡¯t started their day yet. Looking up, the sky was blue, although there were some clouds in the way. The weather forecast said that there was no rain today.

    Are they okay? he thought to himself.

    It was okay that they took a day off, but he had to think of other ways to prepare breakfast for Fina, Old Time Tea and Snowy Li.

    He had gotten used to a much more rxed lifestyle where he didn¡¯t have to cook for the pets. It was too easy to turnzy. Honestly, he didn¡¯t even have food in his fridge. The supermarket wasn¡¯t open at this time either.

    Well, the pets had to wait then.

    He looked at his watch again and then headed north along the road. He was paying attention to the pedestrians walking towards him. When he was about to reach the intersection, he noticed a little girling towards him.

    ¡°Little Celery!¡± He waved at her.

    ¡°Oh! Mr. Manager!¡±

    They hadn¡¯t seen each other for almost two weeks. Little Celery had put on more clothes and a pair of cute winter earmuffs. The two little ponytails were still there, so he recognized her from far away.

    ¡°Watch out for cars,¡± he reminded her.

    Little Celery looked left and right, waited until the car drove by and then ran over. Her cheeks were as pink as a rose. She was trying to catch her breath as she ran.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you for a while. You are still so energetic!¡± Zhang Zian sighed and noticed that her ponytails were pointing in the 10 o¡¯clock and 2 o¡¯clock directions. They were symmetrical.

    ¡°Mr. Manager, are you going out?¡± Little Celery stopped in front of him, put her hands on her knees to rest and then stood back up straight.

    ¡°Yeah. I just got back,¡± Zhang Zian looked at her. ¡°How are you? Are you being good?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! I am good!¡± She nodded heavily. Her ponytails also moved with her head.

    ¡°How about at school? Are you doing good in school? Are your ssmates bullying you? Do you bully your ssmates?¡± He acted like an adult and started preaching.

    ¡°Yup. My teachers and ssmates all like me.¡± Little Celery answered his questions but couldn¡¯t stop ncing at the pet store.

    ¡°That¡¯s great, Little Celery! You have to keep up the good work. One day, your mom will know you are a good kid and that you can take care of yourself. Maybe she will agree to get you a pet then,¡± Zhang Zian encouraged.

    ¡°Sure! I will keep working hard!¡± she said.

    Zhang Zian nodded, ¡°I know you will. I am always here for you!¡±

    ¡°Mr. Manager, now that you are back, may I go pet the little hamster and Mini Lop?¡± She asked eagerly.

    ¡°Of course! I aming to tell you,¡± Zhang Zian smiled.

    ¡°That¡¯s great! That¡¯s great!¡± She was so happy that she started jumping up and down. The pedestrians all looked at them questioningly.

    Her happiness didn¡¯tst long. She seemed to remember something and looked sad.

    ¡°Mr. Manager, are you going to travel again?¡± she asked with concern.

    Zhang Zian smiled. He knew exactly what she was worried about. ¡°Not for a while. Even If I do have to travel, I will need someone to take care of the pets, so you can stille see them.¡±

    ¡°Oh?! How about the angry man? Is he gone?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Yeah! He is gone!¡± Zhang Zian assured her. Chen Taitong¡¯s face came to his mind. ¡°He will note back again. Last time, I had him here because I couldn¡¯t find anyone else. Don¡¯t worry. I will hire a nice person next time.¡±

    She patted her chest and said, ¡°That¡¯s great! Mr. Manager, I have been worried about that person being mean to the little hamster and Mini Lop. I was too scared to go check on them¡­¡±

    Little Celery put down her backpack, searched, and found a few bags of mixed dried fruit.

    ¡°Look, I saved these from those days. My backpack can¡¯t hold any more.¡± She showed them to Zhang Zian.

    The dried fruits were not in their original bags. There were various kinds of nuts and dried fruits in zip-lock bags. They looked like snacks she got from rtives¡¯ houses when she visited.

    ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s go back to the store. I know you can¡¯t wait!¡± Zhang Zian helped her carry the zip-lock bags so she could put her backpack back on.

    ¡°Great! I even dreamed about feeding them!¡± Little Celery said as she stuck her tongue out looking shy.

    They walked back to the pet store together. Zhang Zian kept asking her stuff about school. Little Celery kept answering his questions and telling him about the good-behaving girls and naughty boys in ss.

    When they walked by the fruit store, he noticed the fruit store was open, so he looked inside.

    ¡°Good morning, Master Zhang!¡± Aunt Li¡¯s husband walked out from the back with a foam lunch box in his hands. He said hi happily as soon as he saw Zhang Zian.

    Little Celery didn¡¯t know this person, so she hid behind Zhang Zian, scared, leaving only half her face to observe what was going on.

    ¡°Good morning! This is¡­¡± Zhang Zian stared at the white foam lunch box, confused.

    Aunt Li¡¯s husband walked closer and opened the lunch box to show him.

    There was arge bunch of BBQ skewersying neatly inside the lunch box.

    ¡°I was about to send these to you. Now it is getting cold out and we are not running the street cart right across from your store anymore. Our restaurant is quite far from your store. The food gets cold easily. So, we thought we could put the food inside a lunchbox to keep it warm. I guarantee it will taste as good as before!¡± Heughed and closed the lid tightly.

    Zhang Zian was appreciative. He didn¡¯t even think of this problem himself, ¡°You guys are so considerate! It is too much trouble to deliver food to me. I wille get it.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I will deliver it to you.¡±

    ¡°No, no, no. I wille get it,¡± Zhang Zian insisted.

    At the time, Aunt Li¡¯s husband noticed Little Celery hiding behind Zhang Zian. He asked curiously, ¡°Who is this little girl? So pretty! Is she your kid?¡±

    ¡°No way! I don¡¯t have a kid this old,¡± Zhang Zian was embarrassed.

    Aunt Li¡¯s husband thought about their age difference and said, ¡°That¡¯s true. She doesn¡¯t look like you anyways¡­ Is she your rtive?¡±

    Zhang Zian dragged Little Celery out from behind, ¡°No! She was the first customer who walked in my store.¡±

 Chapter 221: Talking with Pets

    <h4>Chapter 221: Talking with Pets</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Uncle Li was stunned for a second, then looked down at Little Celery in surprise. He thought to himself, a little girl came to buy pets on her own? Or did shee with her parents?

    Little Celery was very shy, so she said timidly, ¡°I juste to see the pets, I¡¯m not buying¡­¡±

    Her voice was particrly low, just liked the buzzing of mosquitoes, and Uncle Li had poor hearing, so he bent down and turned his ears closer to her.

    ¡°What did you say?¡±

    Little Celery hid even further behind Zhang Zian, and her voice became even lower, ¡°I said, I¡¯m not buying pets today, I¡¯m here to see them.¡±

    From their first meeting to present day, Zhang Zian had always thought that Little Celery was a particrly lively and outgoing child, and he even worried that such a personality made her vulnerable. But right now, he could see that Little Celery was only talkative in front of acquaintances, and would remain alert and wary when meeting strangers.

    If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that Zhang Zian was running the pet shop left by his parents, and that Little Celery came to their pet shop to y oftentimes, Little Celery would still be wary of Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian repeated her answer to Uncle Li, ¡°Uncle Li, she said she came to see the pets, she¡¯s not buying them.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see¡­¡± Uncle Li stood up straight and kept murmuring to himself.

    He admired Zhang Zian¡¯s patience. As known to every businessman, window-shopping customers were the most annoying. If customers wereparing prices of different stores, then the shop owner might still have something to look forward to. But if customers had explicitly said that they were not buying anything, then most shop owners would stop being nice to them and would just kick them out. Imagine that! If a person kept asking how much a kabob cost but never bought anything at his store, he might lose his temper and yell at that person in only a few days.

    Zhang Zian looked around the fruit store and found that the fruit shelves and showcases had been removed. Nothing was left inside the store, and only the sign of the previous fruit store was still hanging. He asked Uncle Li, ¡°Have you moved in already?¡±

    ¡°Yes, we just moved in today! The decoration workers wille overter and help me tidy up. And we will be opening for business two days after,¡± said Uncle Li with great anticipation and satisfaction.

    ¡°Where is Aunt Li?¡±

    Uncle Li randomly pointed at a direction in the store, ¡°She¡¯s inside sweeping the floor and cleaning the windows. I told her that could wait until after the decorations are done, but she just won¡¯t listen to me.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded but did not say anything. He decided that on the day Uncle Li and Aunt Li¡¯s store was officially open for business, he would give them some money as a gift, hoping it would bring them good luck.

    ¡°You can give this to me, I will bring it back to youter.¡± He took the foam insted box from Uncle Li.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to¡­¡± Uncle Li intended to decline his offer. But Zhang Zian took the box anyway.

    Zhang Zian put the foam insted box under his armpit. Little Celery wanted to help him, but he gently declined. He said to Uncle Li, ¡°You must be very busy preparing for the grand opening, so from now on, I wille by to take the box by myself. See youter!¡±

    Walking behind Zhang Zian, Little Celery kept looking back at the store from time to time, and after a while, she asked, ¡°Brother store manager, who is that grandpa?¡±

    ¡°You have not met him before? You only have breakfast at home?¡± Zhang Zian walked a regr pace and asked casually.

    ¡°Yes, my mom makes breakfast for me.¡±

    ¡°No wonder. How I envy you, Little Celery; you have a family to prepare meals for you. That grandpa and his wife run a breakfast stand, and they sell barbecue at nights.¡± He patted the foam insted box, ¡°Inside are the barbecue skewers I ordered from him for my picky cats. They have bought that fruit store, and they are going to turn it into a small restaurant.¡±

    Soon, he and Little Celery arrived at his pet shop. He gave the box and the zip-loc bags to Little Celery, and fished out the keys from his pocket to open the shutter door.

    She crash closed the shutter door.

    ¡°Wow!¡± Little Celery was shocked, ¡°Brother store manager, what happened to your shop??¡±

    She found that lots of things of the old pet shop were gone, including the ss door and many cats and dogs.

    Zhang Zian exined, ¡°Oh, nothing. I¡¯m going to redecorate it, so I have sent the cats and dogs away to other ces temporarily. But your hamster and Lop-Ear rabbit are still here.¡±

    Little Celery rested assured. ¡°Oh, I see. I know how decorating is. When my aunt had her house decorated, the whole family had to rent a house outside.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh. When the re-decoration is done, the shop will look nicer, and will attract more customers, thus the pets will live morefortably.¡± Zhang Zian patiently exined to her.

    He took the foam insted box from her. ¡°I¡¯m going to feed the cats, and you can go whisper with your little hamster and Lop-Ear rabbit now.¡±

    ¡°How do you know about my whispering with them?¡± She bashfully covered her face with her hands.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I did not eavesdrop on your conversations. My cats told me that you were whispering.¡± He can see from her nervous look that the things she confided with the little hamster and Lop-Ear rabbit were unknown to her parents.

    He opened the lid of the box, and put the skewers into the food bowls of Fina and Old Time Tea, then went to fetch a new bowl for Cat from the Book.

    ¡°Why is the meat cooked? I told you I want fresh meat!¡± Snowy Li could tell it wasn¡¯t the fresh meat that she liked just by smelling it.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so fussy! I will prepare fresh meat for you next time.¡± Zhang Zian said, ¡°Uncle Li is very busy these days, and I need to inform him to prepare fresh meat in advance.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care! I only eat fresh meat!¡± Snowy Li lost its temper.

    ¡°Well, we¡¯ve only got barbecue today. Don¡¯t starve yourself. You know what? Fina also eats barbecue.¡± Zhang Zian put Fina¡¯s food bowl onto the highest rack of the cat tree. Fina started to devour the meat immediately.

    Ayer of tin foil paper was paved at the bottom and the interiors of the foam instion box, so that the heat could be preserved better, and the meat was not directly exposed to the foam. When being taken out from the box, the meat was still warm but not burning hot, which was the best time to enjoy.

    Snowy Li looked up and it could tell that Fina was enjoying the barbecue very much because its tail wasshing jubntly.

    ¡°Well then¡­ I will also eat chicken, because I am the loyal servant of Queen Fina!¡± After hesitating for a long time, Snowy Li finally made its determination.

    Zhang Zian put its food bowl to its tform on the cat tree, ¡°Enjoy.¡±

    Snowy Li sniffed the meat and frowned. Perhaps out of starvation or out of its admiration to Fina, it began to nibble at the meat in small portions.

    Zhang Zian turned around and saw the dumbfounded Little Celery.

    He touched his face and looked down at his clothes, but still did not understand why she was so surprised.

    ¡°Wow! Brother store manager, were you talking to your pets?¡± She was standing next to the showcases where the little hamster and Lop-Ear rabbit were residing. Her big eyes were sparkling, as if she had seen something novel and intriguing.

 Chapter 222: Apprehension

    <h4>Chapter 222: Apprehension</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Looking at Little Celery¡¯s astonished face, Zhang Zianughed, ¡°Don¡¯t you talk to the little hamster and Mini Lop?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but¡­¡± Little Celery was confused. ¡°Adults don¡¯t talk to pets¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian pointed at himlself, ¡°Do I look like a normal adult?¡±

    Little Celery thought about it, ¡°Maybe not.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. I am a special man. You are a special girl. We don¡¯t have to worry about what other people think,¡± Zhang Zian put the skewers back in the lunch box, ¡°Little Celery, this might be too hard for you toprehend. There are two kinds of people in this world. One follows what other people do and the other stays true to their heart and does not care about what others think.¡±

    Little Celery was even more confused.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay if you don¡¯t understand. I am trying to tell you that you don¡¯t have to follow what other people do. You should try your best to be yourself and be a good student.¡±

    Little Celery thought for a minute and said, ¡°That means I should do what I am doing.¡±

    ¡°Yes. What you are doing is already great!¡±

    Zhang Zian knew from their conversation when they walked up to the store that there were a few naughty boys in her ss that always caused trouble. She didn¡¯t like them.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t really do anything about it, so he tried his best to encourage her.

    ¡°Okay,¡± Little Celery again went into deep thought and then nodded confusedly, ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t overthink it. Let it be,¡± Zhang Zian knew that she wouldn¡¯t understand fully at this age. If she overthinked it, it would only make her unhappy. She was only a little kid. She deserved to be happy.

    ¡°Oh, right, Mr. Manager, when you talk to them, do you think they understand?¡± Little Celery curiously stared at Snowy Li, who was eating the chicken.

    ¡°Of course, didn¡¯t you see them meow to answer me?¡± he answered affirmatively.

    ¡°Really?! So, they meow to talk to you?¡± Amazed, Little Celery¡¯s mouth opened into an O-shape. She turned back to the little hamster and Mini Lop, ¡°So do you think Xiao Ling and Ear can understand me?¡±

    ¡°Oh. You named them Xiao Ling and Ear?¡± Zhang Zianughed, ¡°I am sure they understand. Hamsters and Mini Lops don¡¯t meow, so they can¡¯t talk back.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great! I never thought they understood. I thought it was only me talking to myself¡­¡± Little Celery was happily surprised.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t sure if the hamster and the Mini Lop could understand her, but he was quite sure that they could feel her love.

    ¡°Are they going to turn into a person someday?¡± Little Celery looked at him with hope.

    Looking into her eyes, Zhang Zian decided to tell a white lie. ¡°Yes, if you keep talking to them, one day they will turn into a person and y games with you,¡±

    ¡°Really? That is great!¡± Little Celery jumped up and down, cheering.

    Zhang Zian looked at her with a real smile on his face.

    Someday, Little Celery would grow up and find out that there was no Santa us and a princess didn¡¯t always marry a prince, but she would remember when Mr. Manager told her a joke about animals turning into humans¡­ Childhood was priceless. He wished her to enjoy it as long as possible.

    Little Celery tore open the zip-lock bag, and took out the nuts and dried fruits to feed the hamster and Mini Lop. She said seriously as she fed them, ¡°Slow down. I can get more for you.¡±

    When they were chewing with their mouths full of food, she stared at them and said happily, ¡°Xiao Ling, Ear, I haven¡¯t seen you in a long time. Did you miss me?¡±

    The hamster and Mini Lop nced at the source of the voice, then continued chewing on the food.

    ¡°Mr. Manager said you can understand me, right?¡± Little Celery asked.

    Fina, Old Time Tea and Snowy Li finished breakfast. Zhang Zian was picking up their bowls. Neither him nor Little Celery was expecting a response from the hamster and the Mini Lop.

    However¡­

    ¡°Little Celery, long time no see.¡±

    A strange voice appeared all of a sudden.

    The voice was soft but low, so you couldn¡¯t tell the gender. Zhang Zian was sure he had never heard that voice before.

    He was terrified and almost threw the bowls in his hands thinking that a thief hade in.

    He turned around and found that Little Celery was extremely excited.

    ¡°Brother Manager, you are right. Xiao Ling and Ear are talking to me!¡± Little Celery was so excited that her cheeks and ears all turned red, ¡°I am not sure who was talking to me, Xiao Ling or Ear?¡±

    Zhang Zian was still scared. ncing through the store, there was no one in there besides him and Little Celery. He turned to Old Time Tea for help.

    Old Time Tea also looked surprised. Its eyes screened through the store like a radar but found nothing.

    Fina opened up its eyes and stood up from the tall cat tree. It was on top of the store so it could spot the thief as soon as possible.

    Snowy Li didn¡¯t care and it continued to look at Fina¡¯s tail and daydream.

    Gxy also didn¡¯t care and continued its game with the kittens.

    Was it¡­ a ghost?

    Zhang Zian thought he had made a mistake, but everyone in the store heard the voice.

    Old Time Tea raised a paw and pointed at the direction behind Zhang Zian.

    He turned around and looked¡­

    What the f*ck?! It was the b*tchy bird!

    Richard was hiding behind the disy cab of the hamster and Mini Lop, giggling and winking at Zhang Zian.

    ¡°I am Xiao Ling. Can¡¯t you tell this is my voice? That breaks my heart!¡± Richard said in the same voice.

    ¡°Oh, Xiao Ling. I am sorry I couldn¡¯t tell it was your voice,¡± Little Celery apologized to the hamster, who was eating the nuts and dried fruit.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. You don¡¯t have to apologize. We are friends, right? No apology is needed between friends,¡± Richard continued the show.

    Knowing that they were okay, Zhang Zian rxed. Old Time Tea kept on watching TV. Fina stared at Richard andid back down on the cat tree.

    ¡°Yup, we are friends. Good friend. Best friends forever!¡± Little Celery nodded.

    ¡°So only it is your friend, and I am not?¡±

    A strange, gentle voice that sounded like a girl appeared this time.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Little Celery was again surprised.

    ¡°It is me, Ear. Don¡¯t you call me Ear?¡±

    Little Celery was even more excited. Putting her face against the cage, ¡°Ear, are you talking to me?¡±

    ¡°Of course, am I your friend?¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, yes! You and Xiao Ling are both my friends!¡± Little Celery confirmed.

    ¡°Okay. Let me tell you as a friend that you are almostte for school!¡±

    Little Celery realized she had to go!

    ¡°Xiao Ling, Ear, Mr. Manager, I am sorry I have to go. I wille see you tomorrow!¡± She waved in a rush and ran out of the store to go to her school.

    Richard pped its wings andnded on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder, ¡°Lolitaplex?¡±

    ¡°What the f*ck?! Shut up!¡± Zhang Zianughed.

    For the first time, he realized Richard¡¯s voice was quite useful sometimes.

 Chapter 223: Richard Deserves Rewards

    <h4>Chapter 223: Richard Deserves Rewards</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian picked up a zip-lock bag with some assorted dried fruit in it which was left by Little Celery. He threw the bag onto his shoulder, and Richard caught the bag nicely with its beak.

    ¡°Quack!¡± When it opened its mouth, the stic bag fell. It quickly bowed its head to pick up the bag again, and flew onto the cashier desk. Richard loosened its beak, and the bag fell on the desk.

    ¡°Quack! Quack! Why are you being so nice to me today, Jeff?¡± it cried noisily.

    ¡°It seems you are somewhat valuable,¡± said Zhang Zian while he was cleaning up the food bowls of his three cat elves.

    Richard clenched the stic bag with its ws, pecked open the bag, and poured all the dried fruits onto the desk. It kept pecking the fruit, yet it did not stop talking even when its mouth was full.

    ¡°Quack! Quack! Jeff, don¡¯t be shy! Just admit that you have fallen in love with me!¡± It tilted its head, ¡°Quack? You ARE falling in love with me? Or you HAVE fallen in love with me? Never mind! Either is fine!¡±

    ¡°No! I haven¡¯t, I¡¯m not and I won¡¯t!¡±ined Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Quack!¡± Richard kept pecking at the dried fruit satisfyingly.

    When he met the Apprehensive Bird in the Chinese ss for the first time, Zhang Zian had sensed that it was able to imitate the voices of others very well. He didn¡¯t think much of it at the beginning, because many impersonators of celebrities can do the same. But what just happened had proved that various results would ur if the very skill was used in different ways.

    He had never expected that the Apprehensive Bird could make his white lie usible, thus preserving the childhood dream for Little Celery. Maybe its cynical appearance was just a disguise; it might have a soft heart inside.

    So he gave that bag of dried fruit to Richard as its reward. He also decided to buy some dried fruit, vegetables and fresh fruit online for it. Richard deserved these rewards for its performance this morning.

    Zhang Zian took the food bowls to the second floor to wash them clean.

    At this moment, he heard someone talking downstairs.

    ¡°Hello? Is anyone home?¡±

    ¡°Coming.¡± Zhang Zian quickly put down the food bowls and rushed downstairs, ¡°Who is it?¡±

    He came down to the first floor and looked around, but no one was there.

    Old Time Tea pouted its lips as a signal. It was the Apprehensive Bird, and it was looking outside pretending nothing happened.

    Zhang Zian yelled at Richard, ¡°You!¡±

    ¡°Quack! You got me! Did you like it? It was funny, wasn¡¯t it?¡± Richard mored while fluttering its wings.

    ¡°It was not funny at all!¡±

    Richard kicked the empty stic bag with its ws. ¡°Jeff, I need more food.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any. Little Celery brought these for the hamster and Lop Ear rabbit, not for you. I only gave them to you because you did well earlier today.¡± Zhang Zian went upstairs and continued to wash the food bowls.

    ¡°Pfft, stingy Jeff!¡± Richard muttered indignantly.

    Within ten seconds, there was another noise downstairs, ¡°Hello? Anyone home?¡±¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Zhang Zian knew it must be the b*tch bird again, so he replied impatiently in a loud voice.

    Silence.

    Zhang Zian sneered and swore that he would not fall into that b*tch bird¡¯s trap again.

    ¡°Then who¡¯s answering me?¡± The sound downstairs continued asking.

    What the hell! That b*tch bird had nothing better to do?

    ¡°I said no one is here! I¡¯m warning you! Don¡¯t think I am an idiot, I will not be fooled by you again! Stop this prank!¡± he shouted downstairs.

    Silence.

    Zhang Zian finished washing the food bowls and put them into the cupboard in order.

    ¡°Hello? Is this the lunatic asylum? There is a lunatic in urgent need of your treatment. The address is Southport, Zhonghua Road¡­¡± Someone was making a phone call.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s brain crashed for a few seconds.

    That b*tch bird didn¡¯t know that his address was Southport, Zhonghua Road!

    Oh my god!

    He ran downstairs without closing the door of the cupboard, and shouted, ¡°Wait! I was kidding! No need to bother the psychiatrists!¡±

    Next to the cash register, a tall and slender man with his hair in a ponytail was talking on the phone. He acted and dressed like an artist. He was the designer Guo Dongyue, rmended by Xiao Yan.

    Apprehensive Bird was standing on the cashier and winking at Zhang Zian with schadenfreude.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry! So sorry! I was just kidding! Could you please put down your phone?¡± Zhang Zian quickly exined to Guo Dongyue. There was no time for him to punish that bird.

    Guo Dongyue hesitated, and spoke on the phone, ¡°I¡¯ll call backter.¡± And then he hung up.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, you said you were just joking?¡± He tried to confirm.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Zhang Zian was relieved, ¡°I really was kidding!¡±

    ¡°With whom?¡± Guo Dongyue asked again.

    ¡°With¡­¡± Zhang Zian raised his hand and was going to point at that bird, but immediately realized he shouldn¡¯t, and his wrist turned to Guo Dongyue, ¡°I¡¯m joking with you!¡±

    Guo Dongyue was quite surprised and pointed at his own nose. ¡°Me? Mr. Zhang, I believe we have only met once before. Besides, how did you know it was me calling for you?¡±

    Zhang Zian was going to say that he saw Guo Dongyue approaching through the window on the second floor, but Richard chimed in, ¡°A bird helps people find their destined love!¡±

    Guo Dongyue was so scared that he stepped back a little bit. He gazed at this peculiar grey parrot, and his face became pale.

    Zhang Zian angrily stared at Richard, and hastily made his exnation, ¡°This parrot was not talking. It can¡¯t talk!¡±

    Guo Dongyue kept staring at it for thirty seconds, and turned to Zhang Zian, ¡°You are acting weird. I heard very clearly that this parrot can talk. Why did you say it can¡¯t?¡±

    ¡°No, I mean¡­ it can talk, but it can only repeat what I teach it!¡± The more Zhang Zian tried to exin, the more mysterious Richard seemed.

    Guo Dongyue looked at his cell phone, and hesitated whether he should continue that phone call. ¡°You teach your bird to say things like that?¡±

    Zhang Zian really didn¡¯t know how to exin further. He swore that he would punish that b*tch bird severely when he had time!

    Fortunately, Guo Dongyue seemed to have epted the fact that the shop manager was a little bit lunatic and strange, and stopped delving further into what happened.

    He bent down and looked at Richard carefully.

    Richard was straightening the feathers on its chest with its beak, and ignored Guo Dongyue¡¯s gazing.

    ¡°What breed is it?¡± He asked.

    Zhang Zian was so happy that Guo finally changed the topic, and he immediately replied, ¡°African grey parrot.¡±

    Richard rolled its little ck eyes, ¡°Hi! Hello! My name is Richard, nice to meet you!¡±

    Guo Dongyue stared at it. It was greeting him in a somewhat normal way, so he was not much surprised.

    Zhang Zian exined, ¡°Those are the only sentences it knows, and it just keeps repeating¡­¡±

    ¡°Quack! Person in front of me! Tell me who you are!¡±

    Richard pped its wings and yelled loudly, proving that Zhang Zian was wrong.

 Chapter 224: The Super-rich and the Parrot

    <h4>Chapter 224: The Super-rich and the Parrot</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As a young and famous architect and designer, Guo Dongyue had seen it all, from local super-rich people¡¯s private houses to Binhai City¡¯s government buildings. He was a member of the design group, either representing his design firm or designing himself.

    The super-rich loved pets. Guys are especially fond ofrge-sized pets such as the Tibetan mastiff, which was extremely popr a few years back. Now, various breeds of huge-sized cats and dogs were the new trend. The rarer, the better. When he designed their houses, many of the super-rich would require him to design a special space for their pets. If the pet was arge sized breed, they sometimes would give them spacerger than a normal person¡¯s apartment.

    A few years ago, Guo Dongyue saw a huge parrot in a super-rich female¡¯s house. It had been such a long time, he could not recall the name of the bird. Now that Zhang Zian reminded him, he realized that it was an African grey parrot.

    At the time, the super-rich female requested a special greenhouse for her bird. 90% of the material needed to be tempered ss so that the grey parrot thought that it was outdoors.

    Guo Dongyue didn¡¯t say anything, but he didn¡¯t like the idea. No matter how pretty the greenhouse was, it was notparable to the real outdoors. However, the super-rich female was his customer and she was willing to spend whatever. He didn¡¯t really care whether or not the greenhouse was practical. He spent a lot of time designing a 100% tempered ss greenhouse, which looked like an astronomic observatory from the outside. The bottom of the greenhouse was a round base and the top was a ss dome. The super-rich female was extremely satisfied with the design.

    He knew from that project that the super-rich female loved that grey parrot and was willing to spend tons of money on it because the parrot could speak many sentences. He wasn¡¯t sure how many, but he guessed probably over 100.

    After the greenhouse was built, the super-rich female invited her wealthy friends over to a party so she could show off her bird and the expensive greenhouse. As the famous designer who designed and built the greenhouse, Guo Dongyue also received an invitation.

    It was a beautiful early evening. The sun was about to set and the colorful clouds were floating on top of the dark blue sky like many bright roses. The ss greenhouse looked so pure under the sunset as if it was a huge diamond shining from the ground.

    Her wealthy friends were totally amazed by what they saw. They were screaming about how pretty the greenhouse was and kept congratting the super-rich female on her aplishment. Guo Dongyue was proud that his design was so well-liked. When the super-rich female introduced him to her friends, he soon became the focus of the party.

    When the group of women were done, the super-rich female took them on a tour inside the greenhouse. In the center, there was a set of elegant, British-style cane chairs and a table. A delicate British-style tea set was sitting on top of the cane table. Surrounding the cane furniture, there were tons of colorful flowers under the setting sunlight. The aroma of the fresh flowers was everywhere. It was as perfect as it could be.

    When they stepped in the greenhouse, someone was ready to host. ¡°Hello! Wee to my house!¡±

    The wealthy friends were shocked and didn¡¯t know who was speaking. Guo Dongyue was surprised at first, but then realized that it had to be the parrot that the super-rich female loved. He had never seen the parrot during the whole process of building the greenhouse, although he specially built several standing bars for the parrot. The standing bars were gold ted.

    He started searching and soon found the parrot standing on one of the bars. The bird looked like the one Zhang Zian owned, but was a bit smaller. The biggest difference between the two birds were their eyes. The eyes of the super-rich female¡¯s bird were smart and alert. It looked like it was ready for any challenge from the wilderness.

    However, the eyes of Zhang Zian¡¯s bird were suspicious. They were always focused on him and made him feel like the parrot was judging him. The parrot¡¯s eyes followed him around everywhere.

    Weird!

    That was how Guo Dongyue felt.

    Its eyes¡­ Guo Dongyue felt that he might be wrong but he always felt like the parrot was looking at him and asking, ¡°Hey, are you gay?¡± That was scary!

    The super-rich female¡¯s parrot sessfully drew everyone¡¯s attention as soon as they walked in. Guo Dongyue¡¯s beautiful design faded into the background.

    ¡°Hey, look at your hair, so pretty!¡±

    ¡°Pretty girl, look here! Look here!¡±

    ¡°Tomorrow is going to rain. Don¡¯t forget your umbre!¡±

    ¡°You still have to be careful when driving, even if you are a good driver.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to bed. Let¡¯s go to bed!¡±

    These were the sentences that the super-rich female¡¯s parrot would say. Some of the sentences were repetitive, but it wasn¡¯t a big deal. In the end, the group was trying to have it repeat the same sentence. The wealthy friends kept ying with it and couldn¡¯t help but praise how smart the parrot was.

    Some friends came over to ask the super-rich female where she got the parrot and how much it cost. They showed a lot of interest in the bird. She told her friends that they could get the parrot for roughly 10 thousand Yuan, but hers was specifically trained to talk. It was worth at least two to three hundred thousand Yuan.

    Two to three hundred thousand Yuan was nothing to these extremely wealthy people. However, a talking parrot was not easy to find because not only did it cost money, but it also took patience and time to train.

    Guo Dongyue didn¡¯t join the crowd. He poured himself a cup of tea, standing away from the crowd and observed the parrot from his particr perspective. He was a bit disappointed to find out that although the wealthydies were having fun, the parrot was only a pet that was no different than a kitten or a puppy.

    This parrot in Zhang Zian¡¯s store was special.

    At first, when Zhang Zian said that he was making a joke, he pointed at the parrot and then changed his mind immediately. If Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t joking, then the parrot was really intelligent!

 Chapter 225: The Renovation Plan

    <h4>Chapter 225: The Renovation n</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Guo Dongyue just kept staring at the Apprehensive Bird and did not disclose why he was here today. Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t wait any longer, so he asked, ¡°Mr. Guo, why are you here?¡±

    ¡°Are youing to be my butt buddy?¡± Richard quickly chimed in, with a voice just like that of Zhang Zian.

    Guo Dongyue was speechless.

    ¡°No, no, no! I didn¡¯t say anything!¡± Zhang Zian must clear up the misunderstanding, and he pointed at Richard, ¡°It¡¯s the bird!¡±

    Guo Dongyue looked at Zhang Zian in a strange way, and he spoke again after quite a while, ¡°Why would you teach it to say something like that?¡±

    ¡°No! I didn¡¯t teach it! Someone else did!¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s voice sounded just like yours, can anybody else teach the bird to imitate your voice?¡± Guo Dongyue pointed out the loophole in his exnation.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know how to reply.

    ¡°Of course, I¡¯m not judging your sexual orientation, which is your freedom.¡± Guo Dongyue moved on and stopped drilling the question as to why the bird talked that way. He took out hisptop from his briefcase and said, ¡°I¡¯m here today to show you the design rendering of the renovation n, and you can ask me any questions.¡±

    Zhang Zian was so d that Guo Dongyue had diverted the topic, so he quickly approached Guo¡¯s back to see the rendering. He thought that the rendering would be professional two-dimensional pictures, but Guo Dongyue had made them into three-dimensional animations, which could present the effect more directly. The animation was designed in a first-person perspective, like following a customer into the pet shop.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, from my perspective, your shop is too small, and that¡¯s why it looks so messy.¡± Guo Dongyue pointed at the animation on hisptop screen.

    Zhang Zian agreed with him. The Pet Shop left by his parents was not big, and theyout was quite random. Basically, he didn¡¯t make many changes to the pet shop, but he was not as diligent as his parents were in tidying it up, so the current messy look was an unavoidable result.

    ¡°Previously, your shop was divided into a few areas. When people came in, they saw the cashier first, and the middle area for selling pets, while the left and right sides were for storage racks and other things. Such ayout is a waste of space, especially the area around the door, it has been totally wasted. My suggestion is that you divide your shop into two areas, one in the front, and one in the back. The cashier desk and other items can be put in the smaller area near the door, while the bigger area in the back is saved for the pets, and you can use an automatic inductive ss door to separate these two areas.¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do it.¡±

    Guo Dongyue¡¯s n happened to be what Zhang Zian desired. He was nning to hire a cashier who would be responsible for handling customers¡¯ membership statuses and operating the pet shop¡¯s WeChat public ount, but his conversations with the elves might seem suspicious to the employee¡ªafter all, not everyone was as na?ve as Little Celery. If he was going to adopt Guo Dongyue¡¯s n by separating his shop into front and back areas using an automatic inductive ss door in the middle, then he wouldn¡¯t worry so much about his secrets being heard. So, he immediately agreed with this n.

    Guo Dongyue was quite surprised that Zhang Zian consented so quickly. He was waiting for Zhang Zian to find faults in his n.

    ¡°So, you have agreed with this design n?¡± He wanted to confirm with Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhang Zian answered firmly, ¡°You are rmended by Xiao Yan, and I trust her, so I believe in your expertise.¡±

    Zhang Zian did trust Xiao Yan, but thetter part of the above sentence was just ttery.

    ¡°Look, Mr. Zhang. You are the boss, and I am employed by you to do the job. So, I hope you can take another look at the n, and if you are not satisfied with anything, I will make alterations.¡± Guo Dongyue sincerely hoped Zhang Zian could make some sort ofment.

    It would be rude to dismiss his gesture. So, Zhang Zian watched the animation presentation a few times.

    ¡°I am truly satisfied with your n, and I can¡¯t find any ws in it,¡± said Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Okay, great.¡± Guo Dongyue closed hisptop. ¡°Now, let¡¯s talk about price.¡±

    Zhang Zian got nervous, ¡°Xiao Yan told me that you would give me a discount.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Guo Dongyue nodded, ¡°But I offer various discount rates to different friends, you know, ordinary friends, good friends, best friends¡­¡±

    ¡°And butt buddies!¡± Richard chimed in at the perfect timing.

    African grey parrots just couldn¡¯t stand boredom. Richard had been waiting for a long time to engage in their conversation, but it couldn¡¯t find the right timing. Richard was so bored that it kept pecking its feathers in front of its own chest, and a few feathers had been pulled off. And now that it had sessfully stolen the spotlight, it started to jump excitedly on the desk.

    Zhang Zian was so embarrassed that he wanted to find a ce to hide and bury this b*tch bird into the ground.

    ¡°Oh,¡± Zhang Zian asked, ¡°So Xiao Yan is what kind of friend to you?¡±

    ¡°She used to be my customer, andter we became good friends.¡± Guo Dongyue didn¡¯t look at Zhang Zian, but kept staring at Richard with great interest.

    ¡°So, what¡¯s your discount rate to a good friend?¡± Zhang Zian asked nervously, he was afraid to hear that the price after discount would still be an amount he couldn¡¯t afford.

    Guo Dongyue finally turned to looked at Zhang Zian, ¡°Mr. Zhang, I have a proposal.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Now that we have finalized the design n, the next step is carrying out the renovation.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Zhang Zian nodded.

    ¡°Have you found a decorationpany?¡±

    Zhang Zian was not sure why he cared about the decoration process so much, but he answered honestly, ¡°Not yet, I¡¯m going to find one within a day or two.¡±

    ¡°Well, I have a proposal for you to consider.¡±

    ¡°Tell me about it.¡± Zhang Zian looked forward to his offer.

    ¡°I can offer you a whole package, from design to renovation, I will cover everything. And I can assure you that the decorationpany that I bring will be much better than what you will find on the market.¡±

    Zhang Zian believed him, but money was the most critical issue. He had thought about retaining a big decorationpany that could guarantee the decoration quality and use decoration materials that met environmental protection requirements. But bigpanies charged too much!

    ¡°How much will it cost?¡± he asked cautiously.

    ¡°Marily, it will cost you nothing.¡± Guo Dongyue knew Zhang Zian would ask such a question, and he replied immediately.

    After spending some time living with Apprehensive Bird, Zhang Zian felt that his apprehension ability had improved a lot by listening carefully to the differences in tones and stress. He found that Guo Dongyue put the stress on the word ¡°marily¡±, which meant that Guo Dongyue didn¡¯t want his money, but wanted something else.

    ¡°You don¡¯t want my money? Then what do you want from me?¡± he asked carefully.

    ¡°Bromance! Bromance!¡± Richard quickly answered before Guo Dongyue could.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Zhang Zian turned around and stared at Richard angrily. He could tell from Richard¡¯s exciting eyes that it was fermenting more pranks to do to him.

    Zhang Zian knew that there was no free lunch in this world. But what exactly did Guo Dongyue want from him?

 Chapter 226: â€œMy Mom Doesnâ€™t Recognize Me.â€

    <h4>Chapter 226: ¡°My Mom Doesn¡¯t Recognize Me.¡±</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Guo Dongyue didn¡¯t really care about Zhang Zian¡¯s questioning face. He whipped his ponytail and smiled. This was the first time Zhang Zian saw a smile on his face. He never smiled and looked as if he was worried all the time.

    ¡°I really like your parrot. Smart and talkative. Did you teach it how to talk? Don¡¯t worry. I don¡¯t mean anything bad. I am only curious who trained it if it wasn¡¯t you. As long as you tell me, I will renovate your store for free!¡± He said this peacefully but Zhang Zian could tell he was very interested.

    ¡°Well, it was me,¡± Zhang Zian said vaguely.

    Before knowing his full intentions, Zhang Zian would not disclose or agree to anything, no matter how much money he offered. Zhang Zian tried to train a parrot when he was young, but he gave up after a little bit. Training a parrot took time and persistence. After he grew up, he also found that the breed of the parrot was also essential.

    Guo Dongyue had worked with many people in his life. He realized that Zhang Zian was, in fact, more sophisticated than he appeared. Most importantly, he would have to feel 100%fortable before he would reveal any information.

    ¡°Well, I want to give a parrot to someone, a talking parrot,¡± he exined.

    ¡°I am not selling this one,¡± Zhang Zian was proactive.

    ¡°I know. I don¡¯t want to take away your pet,¡± Guo Dongyue replied, ¡°I wanted to find an expert who could train a parrot for me. Of course, my requirement is quite high. If you can help me, I am going to pay you well.¡±

    ¡°What are your high standards? You can tell me. I will evaluate them.¡±

    Zhang Zian was interested. It wasn¡¯t thepensation that attracted him. He was interested out of pure curiosity in what Guo Dongyue was looking for.

    It wasn¡¯t just him either; even Richard was interested to find out. They both stared at Guo Dongyue curiously.

    Guo Dongyue stood up from the chair, and walked around with his hands in his pockets. His face looked like a mixture of sadness and happiness. In the end, he sighed, ¡°Mr. Zhang, have you heard of Alzheimer¡¯s disease?¡±

    Alzheimer¡¯s disease?!

    Zhang Zian thought it sounded familiar yet couldn¡¯t recall what it was. Richard spoke immediately, ¡°Dementia!¡±

    Although it was right, Zhang Zian still flicked his finger on its head. For one, to warn it not to speak anymore; for two, Guo Dongyue used a big word like that because ¡°dementia¡± was not polite to say to his rtive or family.

    ¡°Oh! Beating shows affection and cursing shows love!¡± Richard yelled, pping its wings.

    Guo Dongyue was once again surprised to see the interaction between Zhang Zian and the parrot. He knew that Zhang Zian didn¡¯t lie. He did make jokes with this bird when Guo Dongyue first arrived. At this time, Guo Dongyue felt as if he saw hope.

    The grey parrot?¡­ Nope. This owner was amazing. How did he train a parrot to be so smart? Saying ¡°wee¡± when someone came in might be normal. Saying ¡°Beating shows affection and cursing shows love!¡± when being hit was not the most surprising. However, it quickly responded ¡°dementia¡± as he talked about ¡°Alzheimer¡¯s disease¡±¡­ It was astonishing. How big was this bird¡¯s vocabry?

    ¡°My parrot is naughty. Hope you don¡¯t mind,¡± Zhang Zian found that Guo Dongyue looked different.

    ¡°You are naughtier!¡± Richard fought back.

    Zhang Zian pretended he was going to flick his fingers on Richard¡¯s head again. It flew away to dodge from him.

    ¡°Please continue,¡± Zhang Zian cleared his throat to cover his embarrassment.

    Guo Dongyue was straightforward after making up his mind, ¡°Well, Mr. Zhang. I am going to be honest. My mom has Alzheimer¡¯s disease and it isn¡¯t easy to cure. So¡­¡±

    He felt sad and couldn¡¯t force the words ¡°she was dying¡± out of his mouth.

    ¡°So, she is on basic treatment until her timees,¡± Zhang Zian continued all of a sudden.

    A warm feeling poured into Guo Dongyue¡¯s heart. He smiled and said, ¡°You are absolutely right.¡±

    When his parents were both in the hospital, that was exactly what Zhang Zian was told by the doctor. The doctor made it sound way more positive than it really was. Zhang Zian walked by the doctor¡¯s office and overheard the doctors¡¯ conversation. They said his parents were nothing but waiting to die.

    Although Zhang Zian knew this was the final result yet he would still get really mad when people told him that his mom was dying. He almost started a fight with the doctor but he tried really hard to calm himself down.

    ¡°Well, medication is developing very quickly. Maybe the doctors will find a way as she waits,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Looking at his face, Guo Dongyue could feel how sincere he was.

    That was true. Everything was possible in this era. Even an Elfin game was possible.

    Guo Dongyue continued, ¡°My dad died. Now it is only me and my mom.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. Hepletely understood him.

    ¡°But¡­¡± Tightening his fist, Guo Dongyue looked extremely sad until he finally said, ¡°She doesn¡¯t recognize me anymore¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was shocked. He then realized what ¡°dementia¡± really meant and understood Guo Dongyue better.

    The most painful thing in the world is to see your kids die before you. The saddest thing is probably when your parents don¡¯t remember you anymore.

    He still wasn¡¯t sure what that had to do with the parrot.

 Chapter 227: Sickness Comes on Horseback

    <h4>Chapter 227: Sickness Comes on Horseback</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Alzheimer¡¯s was a very terrible disease. The cause of it was unknown, but it was incurable.

    As a young and talented designer, Guo Dongyue often went on business trips at home and abroad to talk about projects or exchange experiences with other designers in the industry. And every business trip took him from half a month to several months.

    Guo Dongyue was upied with his career, and he was still single, which was a great concern to his mother. From a long time ago, Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother had formted a habit: she would call him every 3 days to make sure he was safe. Before making the phone calls, his mother would check about the local time of Guo Dongyue¡¯s business trip¡¯s destination, and considered his working schedule, so that her calls would not bother him while he was sleeping or working. When he finished the work, and came back to the hotel, his mother¡¯s call would arrive on time.

    Guo Dongyue regarded his mother¡¯s phone calls for checking his safety as an obligated routine. Sometimes, when he was agitated by work, he would sound very impatient on the phone when talking with his mother, and would hang up the phone within a few words.

    It was thest night of one of his business trips. He had sessfullypleted his work, and he could finally rx. After taking a bath in the bathtub at the hotel, he wore a bathrobe, poured himself a ss of wine, listened to his favorite ssical music, and leaned back on the sofa to take a nap.

    He should have been enjoying this leisure time. He had decided that after drinking that ss of wine, he would go to bed and take a sound sleep and would take a flight back home the next morning. Yet for some unknown reason, he still didn¡¯t feel sleepy when he finished the wine. What¡¯s worse, he was supposed to be in a rxed mood, but he somehow got anxious, as if he had forgotten something.

    At first, he thought it was because of work. He tried to recall the details in the day, and nothing seemed to have been left out. He thought about his work over and over again, and he even opened hisptop to review his design sketches and bidding contracts. Still, nothing was wrong. Could it be about his rtionship status? Unlikely, because he only had a few unsessful and transitory dating experiences with women, and he had already forgotten what they looked like.

    He opened his cell phone, and saw the notification message about his booking of flight ticket. He noticed the date on the flight ticket, and he understood why he was upset¨C today was the day his mother should have called him. Why hadn¡¯t she called?

    Was something wrong?

    He calcted the time difference, and found that it was lunch time in China. Perhaps his mother was preparing for lunch and forgot to call him. But she had never missed a call before. All that said, senior people had the tendency to forget things easily.

    Should he initiate the call today?

    That would be unnecessary, he thought. They would only talk for a few minutes on the phone. And besides, he would be home tomorrow; nothing could go wrong in such a short time. If his mother was busy cooking, and her phone suddenly rang, she might get hurt if she hurried to take the call.

    So, he stopped worrying. He started to feel intoxicated by the wine, so he jumped on his bed, and fell into a sound sleep.

    Ding ding ding ding¡­

    His phone rang suddenly, and he was pulled back into reality from his dreams.

    ¡°Hello?¡± Having not returned to sobriety, he picked up his phone with his eyes still closed.

    ¡°Dongyue! I forgot to call you! I wanted to let it go, but I can¡¯t rest assured if I don¡¯t hear your voice!¡± His mother sounded very sorry on the other side of the phone.

    ¡°Mom, I¡¯m fine. Everything is alright, and I¡¯ll be back tomorrow,¡± he said.

    ¡°Great, great. You sound like you are sleeping. Go back to sleep. It¡¯s good to know you are fine.¡±

    ¡°Bye, Mom.¡±

    ¡°Okay, bye.¡±

    Just like before, Guo Dongyue hung up the phone first. He put down his phone and went back to sleep. Perhaps he felt more rxed after finally having heard from his mother, but he slept more soundly without having any dreams.

    Ding ding ding ding¡­

    His phone rang again.

    Guo Dongyue reached out his hand to fetch the phone at the bedside table, but it wasn¡¯t there.

    The phone kept ringing, which was really noisy.

    He had to open his eyes, turned his head from left to right, and found his phone was at the edge of the bed. He turned around and rolled beside his phone. He picked up the phone. It was his mother calling again.

    Guo Dongyue stared at the image of his mother on the screen for a few seconds before answering the phone call.

    ¡°Mom, what¡¯s wrong?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Dongyue! I forgot to call you! I wanted to let it go, but I can¡¯t rest assured if I don¡¯t hear your voice.¡± His mother apologized on the other side of the phone.

    He was confused. Was it because of the alcohol and that he was half-asleep? He remembered his mother had just called and said the same thing. Was he dreaming? Was he dreaming the first time his mother called, or was he dreaming now?

    During conversations with his colleagues, he had heard them talk about a marvelous feeling called ¡°deja vu¡±, which meant that people were very familiar with the things that were happening, as if they had experienced or dreamed about the exact things before.

    Was this what deja vu felt like?

    ¡°Mom? Didn¡¯t you just call me?¡± he rubbed his forehead and asked.

    His mom paused for a while, and she said with confusion, ¡°No, I was having lunch, I didn¡¯t call you. Were you dreaming? My bad, I shouldn¡¯t have called you while you were sleeping¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, I¡¯m not sleepy.¡±

    ¡°Are you well? When are youing back to China?¡± asked his mother.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m well, and I¡¯ll be back tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Great. Come back home for dinner; I will make your favorite braised pork chops.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Usually, he would find an excuse to hang up the phone, but that strange feeling kept haunting him. So, he switched the phone interface to the background, and started to search hismunication records. As it turned out, there was an iing call from his mother¡¯s number half an hour ago, and the conversationsted for 1 minute.

    Guo Dongyue was shocked and became sober. He sat straight on his bed.

    ¡°Mom?¡±

    ¡°Yes, my son.¡±

    ¡°Did you call me before?¡±

    His mother chuckled, ¡°Why do you keep asking me this? Are you suffering so much pressure from your work that you have poor memory? Poor thing.¡±

    ¡°No! Mom, check the dial out records on your phone, didn¡¯t you call me half an hour ago?¡± he asked anxiously.

    Mom was slow when operating cell phone. She replied 30 secondster, ¡°That¡¯s strange. I don¡¯t remember I made the call.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t remember?¡± Guo Dongyue was nervous. Something was wrong, could it be some supernatural powers?

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t. I probably dialed it by mistake.¡±

    Guo Dongyue didn¡¯t say anything. It¡¯s possible that his mom had dialed the phone by mistake, but what about their conversation over the phone? Was he really dreaming?

 Chapter 228: The Fading Memories

    <h4>Chapter 228: The Fading Memories</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian could easily guess what happened next.

    Guo Dongyue was well educated. Being a designer had turned him into an extremely detail-oriented person. Heforted his mom, but he couldn¡¯t fall asleep after hanging up the phone. The next day, he flew back to China, went directly to his mom¡¯s house and wanted to take her to the hospital. His mom was resistant because she didn¡¯t think she was sick. Guo Dongyue spent much time persuading her to go with him.

    They went to various hospitals, but nothing was found. Finally, one hospital was able to diagnose her problem ¨C Alzheimer¡¯s disease. She was in the early stage of the disease but some of the symptoms were already quite obvious.

    Guo Dongyue med himself for not noticing his mom¡¯s sickness. He researched this disease online. Although it was not clear what the exact cause for Alzheimer¡¯s disease wa, many elderly people who had lost their spouse or who were depressed were more likely to obtain it.

    His dad died young. His mom raised him on her own. He left home for college and then studied abroad. After returning to China, he rented an apartment that was close to hispany so he didn¡¯t have to spend too much time traveling. He was also traveling quite often for work. Therefore, he only visited his mom when it was a holiday or once a month or so.

    He had worked so hard to work his way up and stand his ground in his career, but he never thought about how lonely his mom was. Sometimes, he even got impatient with her when she called. His mom was retired. She was a quietdy who didn¡¯t like visiting rtives all the time. She didn¡¯t really have many hobbies either. Now when he started thinking further, he just couldn¡¯t imagine how his mom spent all those lonely days.

    Every time his mom called, he always brushed her off and never really asked about her health. Of course, his mom wouldn¡¯t tell him anything if it was only small problems.

    His mom didn¡¯t understand what disease she had. She thought Guo Dongyue was wasting money ¨C in the early stage, the patient of the Alzheimer disease appeared to be no different than a normal person most of the time. It was not only that his mom feltpletely fine but also that no one could tell she was sick; therefore, even many hospitals could not figure out what was going on.

    Guo Dong Yue hired a full-time nanny to take care of her. He was afraid that she would get lost and wouldn¡¯t find her way home when she was out and about. His mom was used to living alone and she didn¡¯t like the idea of having a stranger living with her. Also, she thought it was a waste of money. She felt that Guo Dongyue should have saved that money for his wedding in the future. Yes, she knew her son was making good money. When ites to money, for most people, the more the merrier. Although she didn¡¯t like it, she agreed to have a full-time nanny because her son insisted on it.

    Guo Dongyue paid a lot for the nanny. She was great with his mom. However, as his mom got worse, she turned into a grumpy little meandy and always thought the nanny was a thief. She even reported her to the police. One time, when the nanny was out getting groceries, she locked his mom inside the house so his mom couldn¡¯t get out. His mom thought someone was trying to kidnap her and called the police again. In the end, the police got sick of getting her calls and all the good nannies all left.

    Many people suggested that Guo Dongyue should send her to the nursing home because she had be quite a problem. He didn¡¯t want to because he cared about his mom too much to send her to a ce full of strangers. Also, his mom was apletely normal person when she was not ill. Sometimes, when he visited his mom, she was reading papers with her sses on. In those moments, he suddenly realized all the time he had lost.

    One time, his mom raised her eyes and smiled at him. He smiled back and saw that she looked really great. In fact, she actually looked as if she was a few years younger. He was so happy and thought that perhaps the doctors had finally found a way to cure her disease.

    She smiled and asked curiously, ¡°You look quite familiar. Who are you looking for? My husband will be home from work soon. You can wait here for him.¡±

    Guo Dongyue forgot about what happened next. When he opened his eyes again, the bartender woke him up and told him that the bar was closing.

    As his mom¡¯s sickness became more and more serious, there was less and less time that she was clear-minded. She always forgot about what she was about to do after standing up from her chair. Then she would stand confusedly and even forgot to sit down. Her memories were like a broken pearl ne that was missing the string, and the remaining pearls were disappearing one by one.

    She remembered Guo Dongyue. Sometimes she recognized him, but most of the time she only remembered the son who was in high school because she was extremely proud of him. She always made lunch at 11am and dinner at 5pm because she had to cook for her son who was getting out of school soon.

    Guo Dongyue tried his best to exin to her that he was her son but he had grown up. At first, she could remember some things and asked him how work went. Later, she seemed impatient with him. She pushed him away and told him not to pretend to be her son¡­

    Finally, she would stand for two minutes and calm down. Then she would smile to Guo Dongyue, ¡°You stay here. I am getting out my son¡¯s winter coats. It is getting cold¡­¡±

    At that moment, Guo Dongyue knew that his mom could no longer remember anything of him after he went to college. Naturally, that was normal because he really didn¡¯t do much with her since then. He knew it was a karma for his negligence of his own mom.

    He knew that she would gradually forget about her high-school aged son, then middle-school aged son and the elementary school aged son. It was like an old, fading picture. The color would nevere back.

    When she had forgotten everything, it was probably her time to go.

    Time passed quietly. The store was deadly quiet. Old Time Tea turned off the TV. Fina stopped napping. Xinghai was sitting on the side. Even the ever-chatty Richard didn¡¯t say another word. Everyone was paying attention to Guo Dongyue¡¯s story with the exception of Snowy Li. It only cared about Fina¡¯s tail and nothing else.

    Guo Dongyue was calm, as if he was telling someone else¡¯s story. However, Zhang Zian could definitely feel the pain under that calm and peaceful face.

 Chapter 229: Psittacosis

    <h4>Chapter 229: Psittacosis</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian listened very patiently to Guo Dongyue¡¯s story, and making sure that Guo Dongyue had finished the story, he began to ask, ¡°What can I do to help you?¡±

    Guo Dongyue remained silent and absorbed in his thoughts, then he spoke slowly. ¡°When I was in elementary school, my family kept two parrots.¡±

    Zhang Zian turned around and looked at Richard, and he didn¡¯t know what to do¡ªif Guo Dongyue wanted to borrow Richard, how was he going to say no?

    ¡°Not grey parrots.¡± Guo Dongyue seemed to have read Zhang Zian¡¯s mind. ¡°They were a pair of peach-faced lovebirds.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see.¡± Zhang Zian rested assured, but he felt guilty about the fact that he felt relieved. If Richard was just an ordinary grey parrot, he wouldn¡¯t mind lending it to Guo Dongyue, but Richard was not just an ordinary parrot.

    Peach-faced lovebirds were known for their fidelity and faithfulness to true love. And a couple of lovebirds were better when kept and raised together, otherwise one of them would end up in very low spirits.

    In urban areas, many people kept birds as pets, and among birds, parrots were quite popr.

    Zhang Zian was curious to know what happened to Guo Dongyue¡¯s parrots. ¡°Your parrots, have they died? Or have they flown away?¡±

    Guo Dongyue shook his head, ¡°No, they are not dead nor have they flown away. They were given to another family as a gift.¡±

    Many people impulsively decided to have pets, and when they did have pets, they found that they did not really like the pets, or their house was not suitable for pet keeping, so they decided to give them away as gifts. Such scenarios should not be advocated, but they were verymon.

    ¡°That pair of lovebirds were given by others to my mother as a gift, and my mother loved them so much, she often taught them how to talk. But¡­¡± he touched his throat gently, ¡°but something went wrong with her respiratory tract¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand how these two things were rted.

    Just then, someone walked into the pet shop at a brisk pace.

    ¡°Was it psittacosis or PBL?¡± said a familiar voice.

    It was Sun Xiaomeng. She hadn¡¯t changed her clothes; she was wearing a doctor¡¯s white gown, with her hands in her pockets, and a mask hung at one of her ears. She looked weary, and seemed like she was taking a walk away from the clinic.

    Guo Dongyue was surprised by her appearance, and he looked at Zhang Zian, waiting for his introduction.

    ¡°Wait a minute! What is psittacosis? And what the hell is PBL? Can you say something that us ordinary people can understand? And say it in Chinese!¡± Zhang Zian wanted to satisfy his curiosity first.

    ¡°You are a pet shop owner, yet you don¡¯t know about thismon knowledge?¡± Sun Xiaomeng sat down on the square head steel tube chair on which Guo Dongyue sat before. She pulled down her mask and put it into the pocket in her white gown, and murmured to herself, ¡°I¡¯m so exhausted.¡±

    ¡°Whatmon knowledge?¡± Zhang Zian tried very hard to recall, but he still couldn¡¯t remember if he had learned anything about psittacosis or PBL.

    Guo Dongyue silently sized up Sun Xiaomeng, and he was not nning to exin it to Zhang Zian either.

    Zhang Zian decided to find the answers by himself.

    He searched the three characters ¡°PBL¡± on his phone, thinking that they might be the abbreviations of some words. But there was nothing. He could tell that the results provided by the search engine were wrong.

    Sun Xiaomeng chuckled, ¡°Stop it. PBL is a professional medical term. It¡¯s hard to find it on ordinary search engines. It means ¡®pigeon-breeders¡¯ lung¡¯.¡±

    Guo Dongyue nodded slightly.

    ¡°Pigeon what?¡± Zhang Zian was still confused.

    ¡°Pigeon-breeders¡¯ lung, also known as bird-breeders¡¯ lung,¡± Sun Xiaomeng exined, ¡°It¡¯s easily understandable when written out: an allergic reaction in the human respiratory system resulted from the breeding of birds.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng couldn¡¯t help talking when the topic involved her professional area.

    No one stopped her, and she continued, ¡°Psittacosis is parrot fever, which is an epidemic pneumonia. This disease often urs at bird breeders¡¯ houses. Adults have a stronger immunity to it, while growing children have much higher possibility of getting infected. Though it is called parrot fever, actually both house pigeons and parrots might cause this pneumonia¡­¡±

    ¡°Quack!¡± Sun Xiaomeng was surprised by the bird sound.

    Richard interrupted her, ¡°Quack! Quack! Is it true?¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng had just done two procedures consecutively and she was so tired. That¡¯s why she came out for a walk, and decided to visit Zhang Zian¡¯s Pet Shop while she was nearby. She heard about Guo Dongyue¡¯s experience while she was outside the door, and since the topic involved her expertise, she wanted to show off what she knew. After entering the pet shop, she was too busy recalling her knowledge and exining the terms to Zhang Zian to notice that there was a new parrot in the pet shop, and that the parrot could speak very clearly, but in a frivolous tone.

    Sun Xiaomeng looked at Richard, who was jumping around at the cash register. She asked Zhang Zian with great surprise, ¡°Is this your parrot?¡±

    ¡°Kind of,¡± Zhang Zian answered cautiously. ¡°Just ignore it. This parrot just likes talking nonsense, let¡¯s talk about it after we hear you out.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± With all that said, Sun Xiaomeng kept staring at Richard, for it talked just like a human.

    Guo Dongyue had seen Richard do simr things before, so he was not surprised. He just raised his eyebrows without making anyment.

    ¡°What was I talking about?¡± She had clearly been influenced by Richard.

    ¡°Pigeons and parrots might cause pneumonia,¡± Zhang Zian reminded her.

    ¡°Right. So, was it psittacosis or PBL?¡± she asked Guo Dongyue, like a doctor would.

    Guo Dongyue nodded, and spoke for the first time after Sun Xiaomeng came in, ¡°It was psittacosis.¡±

    ¡°Speak Chinese! I don¡¯t understand a word you are talking about.¡±

    Zhang Zian was furious. Guo Dongyue was a designer who had studied abroad, and Sun Xiaomeng was an elite licensed veterinarian. Both of them understood English very well, but Zhang Zian¡¯s English was not good. Especially since he started working, he had almost forgotten the English he learned back in school. Speaking the word ¡°psittacosis¡± was like being tormented by a tongue twister, and he almost bit his tongue.

    Sun Xiaomeng couldn¡¯t help but nce at Richard again, ¡°Parrot fever¡­ When people spend a long time in close contact with their pet birds, especially pigeons and parrots, they might get affected¡ªthough the infection rate is not high. Healthy adults will be fine, only people with low immunity and teenagers and children are susceptible to infection. Bird feces might be a source of infection. Apart from that, because pigeons and parrots like moving up and down, they like pecking their chest feathers when they feel bored. When they do that,rge amounts of feather-dust invisible to naked eyes will be floating in the air. So, children should not be left with pet birds in enclosed space for long term.¡±

    Richard put its beak into its chest and started to peck its feathers, as if confirming Sun¡¯s words.

    Zhang Zian felt so embarrassed.

 Chapter 230: An Important Mission

    <h4>Chapter 230: An Important Mission</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Hearing Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s exnations, Zhang Zian now remembered that his parents never let him touch the parrots in the store. So, they had already known about PBL and psittacosis? It was too bad that he had no way to prove it.

    Sun Xiaomeng said, ¡°Well, you are a pet shop owner. I rmend you study more in your spare time. Things like that aremon sense in the industry.¡±

    What the heck? This was way more in-depth thanmon sense. Zhang Zian was unhappy.

    She looked at Richard, ¡°Where did you get this parrot? Are you selling parrots now in addition to cats and dogs? If a parent brought a parrot home and you didn¡¯t tell them the potential of getting PBL and psittacosis, they might sue you afterwards.¡±

    Zhang Zian had never thought about that. He said, ¡°I am not nning to sell parrots, at least for now. This parrot¡­ I got it forpany.¡±

    She was right though. Zhang Zian had just learned about PBL and psittacosis until today. He could bet that not many pet store owners knew about it. Honestly, some people wouldn¡¯t tell the customers even if they knew about the potential cause of disease. Who didn¡¯t want more business?!

    Compared to other pets, dogs and cats were a lot safer to humans. These days, the vination and deworming methods were all well-developed, so the diseases on cats and dogs weren¡¯t contagious to humans.

    Birds were far more dangerous. Many contagious bird diseases were also harmful to humans. Bird flus were the scariest ones that might cost people their lives. For example, psittacosis was sneaky, but also fatal.

    Looking at him, Sun Xiaomeng tried to figure out whether he was being serious. He was seamless when it came to pretending, which made it really hard for people to spot a lie.

    ¡°Never mind. I am trying to help here. Your store is smaller. I would say it can probably hold about ten medium-sized parrots or pigeons. When you close all the windows and doors, the PM 2.5 level is going to explode overnight. You will have an extremely polluted store.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Zhang Zian was shocked.

    ¡°What do you think?¡± She replied, ¡°Don¡¯t you see the breeders usually raise their birds on the porch or on top of the roof? Pigeons and parrots lose a lot of small feathers all day. If you inhale such particles all day, it could be really harmful to your lungs. Raising one or two parrots, is fine but keeping a bunch of pigeons could be a potential headache.¡±

    Guo Dongyue signed, ¡°It was too bad that neither I nor my mom knew about it. It was winter and all the doors and windows were shut. No wonder I got psittacosis.¡±

    ¡°No big words please!¡± Zhang Zian reminded again.

    ¡°When I got psittacosis, my mom gave away the two love birds,¡± Guo Dongyue said briefly. ¡°However, a few days ago, she asked me where Little Purple and Yellow Pea were. Those were the names of the two love birds, which I had already forgotten, yet she still remembered.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you buy her two that look the same?¡± Zhang Zian had a simple solution.

    Guo Dongyue sighed again, heavily, ¡°It is not as simple as it seems. In fact, before she gave them away, she had already trained them to speak.¡±

    Zhang Zian understood immediately. Love birds were best known for their beautiful appearance and cuddly demeanor with people, not their speaking. If someone was to train a lovebird to speak, he had to be really patient and persistent. Normally, no one would even bother doing so.

    ¡°So, you want me to help you find two love birds and teach them to talk?¡± Zhang Zian understood finally.

    ¡°Yes. Isn¡¯t this silly?¡± Guo Dongyue startedughing at himself.

    Sun Xiaomeng answered before Zhang Zian, ¡°No, it¡¯s not silly at all.¡±

    She was touched by Guo Dongyue¡¯s story, so she said to Zhang Zian, ¡°You should help him. You have nothing but time.¡±

    Zhang Zian was, in fact, thinking about how feasible it was to train two love birds. However, he was unpleased when Sun Xiaomeng said it before he could: ¡°It is easier said than done. Why don¡¯t you try it? It is not easy to teach a parrot to talk and it usually takes a long time¡­¡± He didn¡¯t bother to continue his words.

    Apparently, Guo Dongyue¡¯s mom couldn¡¯t wait that long. She might forget about them before they were trained.

    Zhang Zian was touched by Guo Dongyue¡¯s story as well. However, he knew that he was not an expert in this field and he didn¡¯t want to waste Guo¡¯s time if the result turned out badly.

    He didn¡¯t know how to train parrots and there was no time to learn. The only hope was on the apprehensive bird Richard. He wondered if Richard could apprehend other birds?

    Sun Xiaomeng really wanted to help Guo Dongyue, so she continue to try to persuade Zhang Zian, ¡°Don¡¯t you always brag that you are the best in the industry? Now is your time to shine!¡±

    Seeing that Zhang Zian was in an awkward spot, Guo Dongyue sighed, ¡°That¡¯s fine. I know I was asking for too much. Well, forget about it.¡±

    In fact, he thought Zhang Zian wouldugh at him once he told the story ¨C he would¡¯veughed at the person who tried to do the same thing as he did. No one knew how long his mom would remember the two love birds. She might forget about them the next day. Is it really worth it to try so hard on something like this?

    He had no choice. His mom could not remember him. She was sitting at home everyday and waiting for her never-returning young son.

    She always talked to herself, saying, ¡°Howe Dongyue is not home? Did he go to his friend¡¯s house?¡±

    Other than that, she often said, ¡°Howe Little Purple and Yellow Pea are so quiet? I tried so hard to train them¡­¡±

    Sometimes, she would remember that Dongyue¡¯s psittacosis disease and bowed her head down with tears, ¡°I am so sorry, son. I should not have kept the parrots.¡±

    His mom¡¯s words reminded him of the time when he was in the hospital and his mom kept murmuring this sentence. He had a high fever and was halfway to aa, but he could felt that his hand was tightly held by another hand. Sometimes, he could feel as if his mom¡¯s tears dropped on his hand.

    He knew his mom shouldn¡¯t have med herself. Not many people knew about psittacosis at all. She had the birds because of loneliness and her affection to them. She gave up that one and only hobby for her son. Yet her son left her behind for years to pursue his dreams.

 Chapter 231: The Perfect Dubbing

    <h4>Chapter 231: The Perfect Dubbing</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Even with the most current medical treatment, the damage to the brain caused by Alzheimer¡¯s disease was irreversible. Guo Dongyue knew that there was not much time left for his mother, and that she could not suffer any emotional blows. Even for just a moment, he wished his mother could enjoy happiness.

    While Guo Dongyue was silent and lost in thought, Zhang Zian stared at Richard and made all kinds of gestures, as if to say, ¡°You interrupt conversations when you shouldn¡¯t, but now that you should say something, you suddenly be silent?¡±

    Richard was bored jumping on the desk, so it pecked at the residue of the snacks that it missed before. Richard pretended that it did not see Zhang Zian¡¯s gestures. Instead, it kept looking at Sun Xiaomeng.

    ¡°Quack! Quack! Hey, beauty! Are you trying to seduce me with your uniform?¡± It began to speak dirty jokes again. Sun Xiaomeng looked at her own white gown, and stared at Zhang Zian angrily, ¡°What the hell have you taught this bird? Stop infecting this bird with your repulsive addiction!¡±

    Zhang Zian was absolutely innocent, but he couldn¡¯t defend himself, so he could only stare at Richard wrathfully.

    ¡°Right, I haven¡¯t introduced myself. My name is Sun Xiaomeng, and I¡¯m a veterinarian at a pet clinic nearby.¡± Sun Xiaomeng didn¡¯t expect that Zhang Zian would introduce her anymore, so she decided to introduce herself to Guo Dongyue.

    ¡°Guo Dongyue, designer.¡± Guo Dongyue used the simplest way to introduce himself with his poker face.

    ¡°I can see that.¡± Sun Xiaomeng had noticed his ponytail hairstyle and typical artistic temperament.

    Zhang Zian remembered the first time he met Guo Dongyue when Xiao Yan brought him to his pet shop. He knew that Guo Dongyue always had that poker face on when he met a stranger, as if that person owed him 200 Yuan.

    ¡°Quack! Quack! Nice to meet you! My name is Richard!¡± Richard fluttered its wings and flew tond on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder. Richard would never miss any fun, ¡°And this is my little brother, Jeff Zhang.¡±

    ¡°Stop the nonsense!¡± Zhang Zian turned around and cursed at it, ¡°And stop changing my name.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng was really surprised by this parrot¡¯s ability to speak just like a real human, ¡°You haven¡¯t told me where this parrot came from? And when did you teach it how to talk?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you that. Business secrets.¡± Zhang Zian thickened his skin and said, ¡°Actually, I bought this parrot long time ago, and I¡¯ve been teaching it how to talk secretly somewhere else, so that I could surprise you when it was ready.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng was speechless, but she understood that a person like Zhang Zian was capable of doing such boring things.

    ¡°When did you arrive? I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea for you to eavesdrop on our conversation.¡± Zhang Zian caught the timing to change the subject so that Sun Xiaomeng couldn¡¯t keep asking him questions. He also signaled to Guo Dongyue with his eyes, hoping Guo Dongyue could be on his side.

    It was easier to lie to anyone but Sun Xiaomeng. Her family had a pet breeding farm, and she was a veterinarian herself, so she was well-informed about professional pet-keeping knowledge. Zhang Zian must be very careful not to reveal too much information, otherwise she would know immediately he was lying.

    Sun Xiaomeng was distracted by him,¡±I¡¯m not eavesdropping on anybody! I just happened to walk by, okay?¡±

    ¡°Stop exining. To exin is to disguise. Anyways, why are you here today?¡± Zhang Zian continued distracting her by bringing up a new topic.

    ¡°I¡­ I came to y with Xinghai!¡± Sun Xiaomeng finally remembered why she came over to the pet shop. She was exhausted after performing two procedures consecutively, so she wanted to y with Xinghai to heal a bit. While outside the pet shop, she heard them talking about a topic involving her profession, so she stood there and listened to them for a while. Though she was not a doctor that treated human patients, she knew about themon diseases that humans and animals might have.

    She turned around and was so happy to find that Xinghai did not disappear as it had before; it was squatting on the floor at a distance, gazing at her with curiosity.

    ¡°Xinghai, do you still remember me?¡± She tried not to look too excited, and squatted down to pat on the floor, trying to attract Xinghai¡¯s attention.

    Xinghai looked fearful, as if it was going to turn around and run away.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be scared, I won¡¯te over, please don¡¯t run away.¡± She stepped back quickly and tried to look natural and rxed.

    Guo Dongyue was not interested in cats, and didn¡¯t know anything about the breeds of cats, so he just casually nced at Xinghai and turned away his head.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, you have trained this grey parrot so well that it can talk just like a real human. Could you please agree to my request?¡± Guo Dongyue stared at Richard who was standing on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder.

    Zhang Zian was moved by Guo Dongyue, and he was willing to give it a try. Besides, just like Sun Xiaomeng had said, he was not busy, so why not lend a hand? But he was not sure whether he could keep his promise to help him, so he said, ¡°Well¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, no problem. You have my word, but you must fully cooperate.¡±

    What?

    Zhang Zian was stupefied. He turned his head slowly and looked at Richard on his shoulder.

    Richard had perfectly imitated Zhang Zian¡¯s tone when saying that sentence, including his intonation, volume, and even his ent in speaking Mandarin. To Zhang Zian, it was exactly his voice.

    Richard stood on his shoulder, looking very serious.

    ¡°Wow, you agreed so quickly?¡± Sun Xiaomeng was surprised. She was squatting on the floor and she looked up to him, ¡°I thought you would be very difficult to deal with. At least I thought you would talk about what obstacles you will encounter and specify responsibilities.¡±

    Zhang Zian wanted to tell Sun Xiaomeng that she had read his mind. He was going to say those things, but that wicked Apprehensive Bird always gave him a hard time.

    Guo Dongyue was surprised, but was content to hear that ¡°Zhang Zian¡± agreed to help him so quickly. He knew how difficult it was to get this done. It took the grey parrot of that richdy three years or so to master over a hundred sentences, but it could only mechanically repeat what it had learned before. In contrast, this grey parrot of Zhang Zian could improvise what to say ording to different scenarios.

    ¡°Sure, I will fully cooperate with you!¡± Guo Dongyue gave his promise solemnly,¡±And don¡¯t you worry, you will have yourpensation.¡±

    Zhang Zian could not take back what he had said, otherwise he would be looked down upon by them. Besides, it was Richard who had promised Guo Dongyue. If it was just joking, he would punish it severely when they were gone!

    ¡°All right, I will try my best.¡± He bit the bullet and said, ¡°First¡­¡±

    ¡°First, you need to find a pair of parrots that look the same,¡± said Richard in Zhang Zian¡¯s voice.

    Guo Dongyue agreed with him. ¡°That makes sense. Actually, I¡¯ve tried to search at the dog market, but I haven¡¯t found those kinds of parrots.¡±

    ¡°Dog market?¡± Zhang Zian was confused. Why did he go to a dog market if he wanted to buy birds?

    ¡°You don¡¯t know what dog market is?¡± Sun Xiaomeng looked at him doubtfully, ¡°Are you not a native of Binhai city?¡±

    ¡°I am.¡± Said Zhang Zian.

    She didn¡¯t believe him, ¡°If you are a native, howe you don¡¯t know about it? Though it¡¯s called the dog market, you can buy all kinds of pets there.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see¡­ Actually, I was a good kid, and I seldom went anywhere besides home and school. Later, I went to a university in another city. So, it¡¯s normal that I don¡¯t know about that.¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    But Sun Xiaomeng had an expression on her face that said, ¡°You are lying!¡±

 Chapter 232: Raising A Parrot Legally

    <h4>Chapter 232: Raising A Parrot Legally</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sun Xiaomeng could not believe her ears. The ever-chatty Zhang Zian was a good kid?! It was true. He was a listening kid, a B student. He had never gotten into a fight or any trouble. He went home to do homework every day and was not very sociable with friends. He had only opened himself up a bit after going to college.

    As a kid who grew up in a pet shop, he could look at all the pets he wanted at home. Therefore, he had never heard about the Dog Market on the south side of the city. Sun Xiaomeng told him that the Dog Market was quite sizable and it was a primary location for pet shoppers.

    The Dog Market didn¡¯t only offer dogs. In fact, it offered all kinds of pets: flying pets, running pets, swimming pets¡­ There was also arge assortment of pet food and toys.

    Sun Xiaomeng said, ¡°The Dog Market is the first choice for a normal ie family when they want a pet because of the low cost. Only people who want a very good looking or healthy pet woulde to a pet shop.¡±

    Zhang Zian totally understood the difference between better-off families and the less fortunate.

    Maybe only 10% of the family would turn to a pet shop for a pet. Most people got their pets through more economical ways such as friends and adoption. Some even would just take a street cat or dog home.

    ¡°In my case,¡± Guo Dongyue said, ¡°I went there because most pet stores do not sell parrots. Even if a store does sell them, the choices in breeds avable are extremely limited.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Zhang Zian thought about it and agreed.

    Most people sold pets for a profit. Cats and dogs were great money makers and didn¡¯t require too much attention. Normal breeds of birds were cheap, but the expensive ones were also a difficult sale. Therefore, most pet shops didn¡¯t sell them. Since he had been running the pet shop, probably less than five people had ever inquired about birds.

    ¡°If you want a parrot, I have a suggestion,¡± Sun Xiaomeng patted her numb legs and stood up. She pointed north and said, ¡°If you go north on the highway about 20 miles from here, there is a bird breeding base. I forgot the name, but it is a big one. It is very popr among bird lovers. Not only locals, but also people from nearby cities go there. I heard they have arge selection of breeds, including some very rare and expensive ones. There are lots of parrots. You can try it out!¡±

    Hearing that she knew all the details, Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Do you know the owner?¡±

    ¡°Nope!¡± She waved, rmed, ¡°Don¡¯t even think about getting a discount from my connections. I simply overheard customers¡¯ conversations when they visited my clinic.¡±

    Zhang Zian was disappointed. He was going to have Sun Xiaomeng refer Guo Dongyue directly so he didn¡¯t have to go. However, she was smart enough to stay out of it.

    ¡°Really? I have never heard of a ce like that.¡± Guo Dongyue was surprised to find this out.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. The breeding base is only open to a small group of people. They generate business from word of mouth and returning customers. There are nomercials or anything like that in the market, so not many people know about it.¡± Sun Xiaomeng paused and then continued, ¡°There is another reason¡­ You know, many rare birds are on the list of animals that are going extinct, so the owner there keeps a low profile on purpose.¡±

    Oh! Zhang Zian nodded. Now he understood.

    Sun Xiaomeng pointed at Richard on his shoulder, ¡°Actually, it is illegal to keep this bird.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Richard opened up its mouth.

    ¡°Really?¡± Zhang Zian seemed to have an impression of such a regtion, but he wasn¡¯t sure. He only focused on cats and dogs and had never paid attention to regtions on keeping birds.

    Sun Xiaomeng counted her fingers, ¡°In China, individuals can only buy, sell and raise three breeds of parrots ¨C love birds, budgies, and Cockatiels. You have to apply for a permit for any other breed of parrot. Do you have a permit for this African grey parrot?¡±

    ¡°Well, no!¡± Zhang Zian said sadly to Richard, ¡°Goodbye, Richard! Between you and obeying thew, I choose to obey thew!¡±

    ¡°Squawk?!¡± Richard¡¯s eyes popped out, ¡°You¡¯re leaving me after taking advantage of me?¡±

    ¡°I never took advantage of you, okay?¡± Zhang Zianined.

    Looking at Zhang Zian talking to a bird, both Sun Xiaomeng and Guo Dongyue admired their rtionship. Although African grey parrots were one of the few breeds that couldmunicate with humans, not every grey parrot could talk like Richard. It was extremely rare to find and train a bird that talked that well. How lucky was Zhang Zian?!

    What a smart bird, yet Zhang Zian turned it into a creepy and dirty bird. What a pity!

    If Zhang Zian could hear what they were thinking about, he might explode immediately.

    Sun Xiaomeng couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. She knocked on the desk and interrupted the two. ¡°Now that you have a grey parrot, you need to get a permit. Not many people know about that bird, so you can get away with it, but it might turn into your enemy¡¯s weapon one day.¡±

    She was right. It might not be a big deal to many people but if someone reported him for real, he would be in trouble.

    ¡°How do I get a permit?¡± he asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know all the details. Maybe you need to prove the quality of the living conditions for the bird and prove that you know what you are doing? Maybe provide proof that you have ess to a vet? When you collect all the information, go to the local bureau of forestry to get one.¡± She emphasized, ¡°This is flexible. If you are only keeping it as a pet and not selling it, the permit should be easy.¡±

    Zhang Zian pointed at her and said, ¡°You are my vet!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Sun Xiaomeng stretched her back as she spoke.

    ¡°Okay. What do you want?¡± Zhang Zian knew that she wouldn¡¯t give him a proofing document for free. He was ready to seal the deal.

    ¡°Well, your two silly staff members were quite good,¡± she said.

    ¡°Okay. I see where you are going with this. When my store reopens, I will pay them to work at your clinic for a while. Deal?¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng put her thumb up, ¡°You got it!¡±

    ¡°Stop your BS! Get me the vet document I need,¡± Zhang Zian pushed.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t want to stay long. I came to see Gxy. Gxy, I am leaving! I will see you next time!¡± She waved at Gxy.

    Gxy tilted its head and thought, then raised its paw and waved back.

    ¡°Yeah! Gxy waved at me!¡± Sun Xiaomeng was excited and left.

 Chapter 233: English Idiot

    <h4>Chapter 233: English Idiot</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was the early morning of the next day.

    These days, the sun came upter andter. Though he didn¡¯t want to leave his bed and had been struggling for a while, Zhang Zian woke up on time. He sat on the edge of his bed, yawned, and put on his clothes slowly.

    In the dark bedroom, a pair of blue eyes suddenly lit up, gazing at him viciously.

    What the hell! Zhang Zian was almost scared to death and nearly yelled for help. What kind of monster was that?

    He looked carefully. It turned out to be Snowy Li, who looked fierce and tried to intimidate him. From its behavior and its look, Zhang Zian understood the message Snowy Li was trying to convey¡ª¡±You jerk! Don¡¯t make any noise. If you disrupt My Majesty in her sleep, I will have you castrated!¡±

    Last night, Snowy Li insisted on staying with Fina, even though Fina would not let it on her princess bed. Snowy Li ended up lying under the princess bed and kept Finapany.

    Zhang Zian was very reluctant to let Snowy Li into his bedroom because it was very dangerous! A lesbian cat that hated men with a passion and kept threatening to castrate him slept in the same bedroom as he¡­ Luckily, Fina was there too, so Snowy Li probably would not make its move while Fina was present.

    At that moment, Snowy Li was lying on a nket very close to Fina¡¯s princess bed and stared at Zhang Zian cautiously, like a faithful shepherd dog.

    He worried before whether Snowy Li would feel freezing, but looking at its snowy white long fur, which could hide eggs in it, he knew that his concern was unnecessary. Besides, Snowy Li was too passionate. It would be nice if it could cool down a little bit.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to cause any trouble, so he tiptoed into the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth.

    When he came out from the bathroom, Fina had just woken up. She stretched and pulled open the curtains of its princess bed.

    ¡°Your majesty! Aren¡¯t you going to sleep a little longer? I will make sure that no one will bother you while you are sleeping!¡± Snowy Li tried to curry favor with Fina and expressed its loyalty.

    ¡°That would be unnecessary. I don¡¯t want to be mocked by this ordinary person because of my snoozing.¡± Fina nced coldly at Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian thought to himself, ¡°Don¡¯t you usually go back to your bed to sleep a whole day after finishing your breakfast?¡±

    He wasn¡¯t stupid enough to let that spill out.

    Zhang Zian came downstairs. Gxy and Old Time Tea had already woken up. Richard was standing on the metal rail of the French ss door. Seeing that Zhang Zian was walking downstairs, Richard cleared its throat, and said,

    ¡°Gaga! Waking up is the second hardest thing in the morning!¡±

    Gxy and Old Time Tea were confused; they didn¡¯t understand the implication in this sentence.

    Zhang Zian pointed at Richard, ¡°You think I don¡¯t understand your dirty joke because it¡¯s in English?¡± Richard was not satisfied only presenting its skills in Chinese puns, so it showed off by also making puns in English now.

    Richard raised its wing and pointed at him, pretended it was surprised. ¡°Quack? Jeff, I thought you were an idiot when it came to English. Yesterday, you acted like you were an English idiot!¡±

    Zhang Zian defended himself, ¡°Hey, I passed College English Test Band 4! I¡¯m not an English idiot! My poor performance yesterday was because¡­ What was that word again?¡±

    ¡°Psittacosis,¡± said Richard easily.

    ¡°Right, that word is a tongue twister. Seriously, Guo Dongyue and Sun Xiaomeng didn¡¯t make this word up to make fun of me, right? They can¡¯t bully me because I don¡¯t study as much as they do!¡± he said indignantly.

    Richard covered its face with its wings: ¡°What a fool! Psittacosis is a wordposed of two roots ¡ª ¡®psitta¡¯ and ¡®cosis¡¯. ¡®Psitta¡¯ stands for ¡®parrot¡¯, and ¡®cosis¡¯ means ¡®lesion¡¯. Together, they mean ¡®parrot fever¡¯, which totally conforms to the rules of word coinage in English. So, there is no way this word is made up! Jeff, you are so ignorant, I¡¯m so embarrassed for you. Didn¡¯t you feel ashamed in front of Guo Dongyue and Sun Xiaomeng?¡±

    Zhang Zian screamed inside, ¡°How many Chinese people really know about this English word? You think every Chinese person has passed the Grade 8 Test for English Majors?¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯tpare me with them!¡± He tried to defend himself, ¡°Sun Xiaomeng is a veterinarian who reads English literature on a daily basis, while Guo Dongyue has studied abroad. I¡¯m just a pet shop owner. I learned English before, but I forgot most of it.¡±

    ¡°Quack! Quack! No need to belittle yourself! On a scale from 1 to 10, your English level is 1, and they are at level 10. It¡¯s no big deal.¡± Richard said in a in voice, and turned around to peck andb the feathers on its back.

    ¡°They are ten times better than me! Still not a reason to look down on myself?¡± Zhang Zian wanted to cry.

    Richard pulled off a short feather that had split at the end, and spit it onto the ground. ¡°Well, the maximum score is 100. From my perspective, you three are on the same level. Your English levels are just so poor, like rubbish.¡±

    ¡°Hey, you should put that in the garbage can,¡± Zhang Zianined while staring at the feather thatnded on the ground.

    ¡°Why? You need to sweep the floor every morning anyways.¡± Richard didn¡¯t give a damn. ¡°Jeff, you are too detail oriented, which will make it difficult for you to find a boyfriend.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need boyfriends! And you promised me to help me find multiple girlfriends in 3 months! If you can¡¯t keep your promise, you are doomed!¡± Zhang Zian threatened Richard.

    ¡°Quack! Quack! Never mind.¡± Richard changed the subject. ¡°Trust me and listen to my words, and you will see the benefits when the timees.¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t believe anything Richard said.

    He drove Richard away from the rail and opened the shutter door, letting fresh aire in.

    He wondered whether he was influenced by what Sun Xiaomeng had said yesterday, but he felt that since Richard arrived at his pet shop, the air in his shop had be quite dirty¡ªliterally and figuratively.

    It didn¡¯t matter if cats or dogs shed their fur, because they had long and soft fur. But the feather-dust that fell from parrots and pigeons were fine particles like PM2.5, which would float in the air and be inhaled into people¡¯s lungs. Of course, keeping one or two parrots would be fine; as long as frequent venttion was guaranteed, the damage would be minorpared to indoor smoking.

    Fina came down from the second floor at a slow pace, followed closely by Snowy Li.

    ¡°When will I have my breakfast?¡± Fina yawned and jumped to the highest rack on the cat tree. Fina sniffed, but there was no delicious smell of barbecue. Snowy Li struggled and jumped up to the second highest rack on the cat tree,ying satisfyingly beneath Fina¡¯s tail.

    ¡°You only care about eating and sleeping¡­¡± Zhang Zian lowered his voice and murmured to himself.

    He took out his wallet and counted the money in it.

    Uncle Li and Aunt Li epted online transfer, but they seemed to prefer cash, so he always paid them with cash.

    He took a hundred yuan from his wallet and walked to the cat tree. He unfolded the money and showed it to Fina. ¡°You see that? You probably don¡¯t know this, but there is a cat hidden in this bill!¡±

 Chapter 234: Repaying Momâ€™s Love

    <h4>Chapter 234: Repaying Mom¡¯s Love</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Fina slightly opened its eyes, nced at the 100 Yuan note indifferently and closed its eyes again, ¡°I don¡¯t think that is a cat.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought it would be interested in the story so he could show off his knowledge. Unexpectedly, Fina didn¡¯t buy it. He walked aside resentfully.

    Richard was interested, pping its wings andnding on his shoulder. It looked at the 100 Yuan note in his hand.

    ¡°Jeff, is this all you are longing for?¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Your goal in life. Is it all about RMB?¡± All of a sudden, the air turned extremely serious.

    He said firmly, ¡°No way! My small goal is to get a pretty and wealthy girl! My big goal is to contribute to our great country. I am willing to give all my time and my kids¡­ Of course, I have to find a girlfriend to make some children with first¡­¡±

    Old Time Tea, who was watching the morning news, started nodding, ¡°That¡¯s great!¡±

    Richard shook its head quickly. ¡°No, no, no, Jeff. You misunderstand me. I meant, RMB is nothing. You will make US dors following my lead.¡±

    ¡°US dors?¡± A beautiful green note came to Zhang Zian¡¯s mind. The US dor was the one and only currency the whole world was dying for.

    ¡°That is right. US dors! Bucks! Cash! Same thing! If you treat me right, I will assure you an abundant life!¡± Richard said confidently.

    Zhang Zian looked around, and murmured to Richard, ¡°Well¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Richard confirmed.

    ¡°Do you know what I wanted to ask?¡± He was surprised.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you want to ask if I can get you a white girl? Of course! Dors wille and so will white girls.¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. Although Richard was correct, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t expect it knowing what¡¯s in his mind.

    I am that easy to read? he thought. It seemed that everyone, Sun Xiaomeng and Richard especially, could read his mind¡­ How can I be friends with these people and animals?

    ¡°Good morning, Brother Store Manager!¡± A small kid ran in happily. It was Little Celery.

    Today, one of Little Celery¡¯s ponytails was sitting down by a quarter of an inch. No one would pay attention to such details like Zhang Zian did. Her face was pink from running and her little hands in knitted gloves were tightly grabbing the two straps of her backpack.

    ¡°Good morning, Little Celery. Were youte yesterday?¡± he asked

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Little Celery wrinkled her face and stuck out her tongue, ¡°Scary! I was almostte. As soon as I sat down at my desk, the teacher came in.¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯d better pay attention today! Xiao Ling and Ear will be here. You cane anytime you want, but you cannot bete for school, okay?¡± He acted like a big brother.

    ¡°Yes. I know!¡± she nodded heavily.

    ¡°Great! You are such a great girl! I trust you,¡± He bent down and said to her, ¡°Now, can you do me a favor?¡±

    ¡°Favor? What is it? I always help out at home!¡± She took off her gloves quickly and rolled her sleeves up, getting ready for some work.

    Zhang Zian picked up her gloves, a pair in dark green showing the fingers. It was a good thickness for this time of year. There was a line of small words at the wrist area. He looked at it carefully under the light and it read ¡°Cai Xiaoqin, ss 3, 2nd grade, Binhai No.1 Middle School Subsidiary Elementary School¡±. The words were so tiny, he had to pay special attention to read it. Any normal person would¡¯ve thought that it was a line of decorative pattern at a nce.

    ¡°Did your mom make these?¡± he said as he returned the gloves to her.

    ¡°Yup!¡± she replied shyly.

    What a nice mother! Zhang Zian sighed.

    ¡°Did your mom put your name on your other clothes?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yeah. Here, here and there¡­¡± Little Celery pointed at herself all over. Her mom stitched Little Celery¡¯s name and school on hidden areas such as inside the pocket or at the corner. He also noticed that she was wearing a Children¡¯s GPS watch.

    ¡°I told my mom there is no need to put my name on my clothes anymore, but mom was worried that I would get lost¡­¡± Looking down at her own feet, her face turned red, ¡°I am a grown-up! I won¡¯t get lost. My friends don¡¯t have their names on their clothes anymore. Only me! Some annoying boys call me ¡®Mommy¡¯s good baby¡¯¡­¡± She said reluctantly.

    Zhang Zian patted her head, ¡°Don¡¯t let them bother you. They will regretughing at you someday.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± She raised her head.

    ¡°Yes,¡± he said affirmatively.

    ¡°Little Celery, I will teach you a poem. Maybe you already know it, but I am sure you feel differently today.¡±

    Little Celery looked up to him and listened closely.

    Zhang Zian slowly recited,

    ¡°Needle and thread in doting mother¡¯s hand,

    Turn out garments for her son to roam thend.

    She puts in more stitches as he leaves,

    And frets that his homing may be moved back.

    Who says the tiny inch-tall de of grass,

    Can repay the warm sunshine of spring?¡±

    He knew nothing about broadcast and recitation, so honestly, he did a horrible job. He thought that Richard wouldugh at him; however, itnded on his shoulder and listened closely. It was so quiet in the store that it was kind of awkward.

    It was a short poem. It took less than one minute.

    After that, Zhang Zian tried to recall if he had made a mistake. If Little Celery found the mistake¡­ then it would be quite embarrassing. Fortunately, he did recite it correctly.

    Bowing her head down, Little Celery started rubbing the words on her gloves as she listened. After a while, she looked back up and the sunshine was on her face again.

    ¡°Brother Store Manager, you did great! Better than our teacher!¡± she said.

    ¡°Ha-ha, you are so nice! I know where I am with this but I appreciate your praise. Remember, I am most proud of my handsome face, not recitation.¡± Zhang Zian was embarrassed by Little Celery¡¯s praise but he decided not to show it. Instead, he made it into a joke.

    ¡°It was the best! Our teacher didn¡¯t put any emotions when she reads poems,¡± Little Celery exined.

    ¡°Really?¡± Zhang Zian said, rubbing his own chin, ¡°When I close my pet shop, I should get a teaching certificate. I have to teach high school where there are lots of pretty young girls¡­¡±

    ¡°Stop it!¡±

    A tall and skinny man with a ponytail was standing at the door. It was Guo Dongyue. He was looking at Zhang Zian with his hands in the pocket. They would be going to the bird breeding base to pick out some parrots today.

    Zhang Zian turned to him, looking at this man trying to repay his mom¡¯s love.

 Chapter 235: A Cry from Deep Inside the Soul

    <h4>Chapter 235: A Cry from Deep Inside the Soul</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Guo Dongyue was a stranger to Little Celery, so she immediately hid behind a disy showcase nearby, sizing him up secretly with her bright eyes.

    It was cool in the mornings, so Guo Dongyue wore a thin, high-cored sweater, a leather jacket, and a pair of leather gloves. Zhang Zian mocked him secretly; this man dressed in even more clothes than a pupil. Since practicing Wing Chun Kung Fu with Old Time Tea, Zhang Zian¡¯s body had be increasingly more fit. Under a weather like today, he only needed to wear a shirt or undershirt with a light jacket. Sometimes when he felt cold sitting on the couch, he would stand up and practice the Kung Fu moves taught by Old Time Tea a couple of times, and he would feel warm again.

    ¡°When did you arrive?¡± Zhang Zian asked bluntly.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been here for a while.¡± Guo Dongyue did note in; instead, he kept standing in front of the pet shop¡¯s door.

    Zhang Zian felt so awkward that he wanted to find a hole and hide himself in the ground. He wondered whether Guo Dongyue had seen him bragging about himself in front of a little girl. ¡°Why are you so creepy? You should have informed me as soon as you arrived. You can¡¯t just stand here and eavesdrop on me!¡± A stone-faced Zhang Zian med Guo Dongyue.

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t disturb you while you were reciting poems.¡± Guo Dongyue said with calm expression on his face.

    Zhang Zian was insistent that the sentence was sarcastic. He believed that though Guo Dongyue did not looked like he wasughing, this guy must be mocking him inside his heart.

    ¡°If you keep doing this, you will need topensate me for my mental damage,¡± Zhang Zian muttered.

    Guo Dongyue nced at Little Celery, who was hiding behind the disy showcase. ¡°Is this your daughter?¡±

    ¡°You think I have a daughter of this age? Come on, I don¡¯t even have a girlfriend!¡± Zhang Zian growled.

    Why would Uncle Li, Guo Dongyue and Sun Xiaomeng all think Little Celery was his daughter the first time they saw her? What if they told his future girlfriend and she also misunderstood him? So, he must rify that mistake loud and clear right now.

    Unfortunately, his roar was heard by the aunties who were passing by. They were on their way home after buying groceries at the morning market. Hearing Zhang Zian¡¯s cry from deep inside of his soul, they threw him flirtatious looks.

    Their gazes gave him goosebumps. Maybe next time he shouted, he should specify the age limits of his future girlfriends?

    ¡°I¡­ I am Little Celery,¡± she said sheepishly and raised a hand, as if she was answering a question in ssroom.

    ¡°My name is Guo Dongyue, Dong as in ¡®winter¡¯, and Yue as in ¡®mountain¡¯ in Chinese.¡± Guo Dongyue made his dull self-introduction in the same tone as when he introduced himself to Sun Xiaomeng and Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zianined about Guo Dongyue inside his heart, ¡°Can you stop making that poker face in front of a school girl?¡±

    Little Celery knew how to write ¡°Dong¡±, but ¡°Yue¡± was difficult. Zhang Zian saw she was confused, and he was happy that his name was simple.

    Little Celery became very cautious when there were strangers around. Zhang Zian helped out and talked to Guo Dongyue, ¡°Dude, can you help me with something? I see you are not busy. Why don¡¯t you go to that fruit store for me? When you see the bosses, tell them you are there for the barbecue ordered by my pet shop. They will know what to do.¡±

    Guo Dongyue was speechless.

    ¡°You see, I can only leave the shop after I have swept the floor and fed these cats. I wouldn¡¯t mind if you wanted to wait a bit longer.¡± Zhang Zian pointed at Fina and other cats that were waiting to be fed. In fact, he nned to ask Little Celery to look after his shop while he went to fetch the barbecue. But right now, he could ask Guo Dongyue to help him for free.

    Guo Dongyue quietly turned and headed to the fruit shop.

    ¡°If the meat is not ready, you can wait there for a while; there¡¯s no need to rush back here. By the way, can you bring some Shao-mai back for me too? I haven¡¯t had breakfast yet.¡± Zhang Zian reminded him loudly.

    Seeing that Guo Dongyue had gone, Little Celery finally rested assured. It was gettingte, so she opened her backpack, pulled out the zip-lock stic bags, and grabbed a handful of dried fruit to feed the little hamster and Lop Ear rabbit. Finally, she brought out a big red apple, ¡°Brother store manager, do you have knife?¡±

    ¡°Let me help you.¡± Zhang Zian took the apple from her and went to the kitchen on the second floor. He used the knife to cut it into several pieces, put it on the te and went downstairs.

    ¡°Wow! Thank you, Brother store manager!¡± Little Celery took the apple from him. She looked up and found that the grey parrot was on the disy showcase and staring at the apple.

    ¡°Do you want some?¡± She picked up a piece of apple and gestured at Richard.

    ¡°Quack! Quack! I do!¡± Richard fluttered its wings and flew down quickly to bite the apple.

    ¡°Ouch!¡±

    Richard acted too fast, and Little Celery was a little bit scared. She was afraid that her fingers might be pecked by Richard, so she quickly withdrew her hand.

    Zhang Zian angrily knocked on Richard¡¯s head, ¡°Are you starving to death or something? ¡±

    Richard¡¯s beak was strong. It used its ws to stabilize the apple on the desk, and pecked it into smaller pieces. And Richard finished eating the apples in no time. It kept staring greedily at the rest of the apple slices in the te.

    Its greedy look made Zhang Zian feel so embarrassed that he covered his face with his hands.

    ¡°Have you never eaten an apple before? Why are you so greedy?¡± heined.

    Richard nced at him disdainfully, ¡°Jeff, to be honest, the apples you brought back before were so tiny and not juicy, and they tasted so bad. Did you just go to the fruit peddlers whenever there was a big sale and buy up the apples that no one wants?¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless¡ªRichard had known the truth!

    Little Celery did not feel strange about the conversation between Zhang Zian and Richard, and gave it another apple slice with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s okay. We still have some apple slices.¡±

    ¡°Quack! Thank you! Little Celery, do you want to have a bird as your pet? A bird that can talk and y cute?¡± Richard became gentler this time, pecking at the apple slice at a slower speed. The apple was fresh and juicy, Little Celery must have carefully selected it.

    Damn! This arrogant Richard had been tamed by only two apple slices.

    Zhang Zian tried to knock its head again, but Richard dodged away quickly.

    ¡°My family doesn¡¯t allow me to have pets.¡± Little Celery gazed at Richard while it was eating the apple, and out of curiosity, she carefully stretched out her hand to touch its feathers.

    Richard did not move or hide. Instead, Richard not only allowed her to touch its feathers, but it also added, ¡°Do you want some feathers as souvenirs? They can be nice bookmarks.¡±

    Little Celery probably thought of the bloody scene of plucking feathers, and she retracted her hand fearfully and shook her head, ¡°No, thank you, you can keep them to yourself.¡±

    Zhang Zian consoled Little Celery, ¡°Don¡¯t mind this bird. It¡¯s notfortable to feel this bird¡¯s feathers because they are too stiff. You can go feel the furs of cats, dogs and rabbits. Their furs are so soft andfortable.¡±

    ¡°You are not allowed to keep pets? What a pity!¡± eximed Richard.

    ¡°Yes, my mom doesn¡¯t approve of me¡­¡± Little Celery looked a bit dismayed, but she cheered up, ¡°Perhaps I didn¡¯t behave well enough in the past, I will work harder to be a better child!¡±

    Richard finished eating the apple, ¡°Quack? Are you sure this is the reason?¡±

    Zhang Zian was also reflecting on the same question. When he met Little Celery for the first time, he assumed that her mother didn¡¯t allow her to keep pets because she worried that pets would distract Little Celery from her studies, but was that really the reason her mother said no to pets?

 Chapter 236: The Power of Habit

    <h4>Chapter 236: The Power of Habit</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Seeing that Zhang Zian¡¯s face froze, Little Celery asked curiously, ¡°Isn¡¯t that the case?¡±

    Although Richard didn¡¯t know how Zhang Zian and Little Celery met, it was very smart, so it sensed the embarrassment. Richard said as it was pping its wings, ¡°Squawk! Squawk! May I have more apples?¡±

    ¡°Stop it. You can¡¯t eat them all. We have to save some for Xiao Ling and Ear!¡± Zhang Zian understood the hint.

    Little Celery immediately shifted her focus andughed, ¡°That¡¯s fine. I will bring one more apple tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to,¡± Zhang Zian stopped her, ¡°We shouldn¡¯t spoil that bird.¡±

    ¡°Squawk! Squawk! What a mean guy! Jeff, you disappoint me!¡± Richard said as it jumped around.

    ¡°Well, you are better at disappointing people than me!¡± Zhang Zian said humbly.

    Little Celeryughed, and then she remembered something, ¡°Oh no! I am almostte again! I don¡¯t have time to talk to Xiao Ling and Ear! Brother Store Manager, I have to leave. Please feed Xiao Ling and Ear for me. I wille tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Sure. Watch out for cars!¡±

    Zhang Zian watched her leave the store and rxed.

    ¡°Jeff, I think you made a huge mistake on empiricism and dogmatism,¡± Richard said seriously.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so¡­¡± Although doubtful, Zhang Zian insisted, ¡°Maybe her mom was worried she wouldn¡¯t focus on her studies if she had a pet.¡±

    Was it true? Zhang Zian recalled all the limited conversations he had ever had with Little Celery. He could tell that she was a disciplined child. Her mom had to know that. It seemed that her mom was very detail-oriented because she always braided Little Celery¡¯s hair perfectly. Also, she was careful enough to put Little Celery¡¯s name on her clothes. She had to pay all her her attention and love to Little Celery.

    If this was the case, why wouldn¡¯t she let Little Celery have a pet?

    Was it because of money?

    Picking up the zip-lock bag Little Celery left behind, Zhang Zian found that there were various kind of nuts inside, including some rather expensive ones such as pecans and pistachios. Little Celery¡¯s clothes were also quite nice. In conclusion, he guessed it wasn¡¯t a money matter.

    Never mind, every family was different. He realized he would never figure out what was going on with her family, and it was none of his business anyways.

    Zhang Zian walked to the door, looked outside and found Guo Dongyue standing in front of Aunt Li¡¯s restaurant, waiting for the BBQ skewers.

    ¡°Gxy, Fina, Grandpa Tea, and Snowy Li, I am going out with the guy who was just here. We are going to a bird breeding base. Would you like toe with me or would you like to rest in my cell phone?¡± He asked for the pets¡¯ opinions.

    ¡°Squawk! Squawk! Jeff, why did you ask everyone but me?¡± Richard was pping its wings unhappily.

    ¡°You? You don¡¯t have a choice,¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to waste time with Richard, so he put it back to the game directly.

    Gxy was curious, ¡°A bird breeding base?¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah. In fact, most of the birds there are parrots,¡± he exined. ¡°I have never been there, so I am not sure what it looks like.¡±

    ¡°Is it crowded?¡± Gxy asked again.

    ¡°There will be some staff members there.¡± He was honest.

    ¡°Meow,¡± Gxy curled up its body, ¡°I hate strangers and crowded ces.¡±

    ¡°Okay, you can rest in the game. I will release you when Ie home, okay?¡± he said. He wasn¡¯t surprised at Gxy¡¯s choice.

    ¡°Meow,¡± Gxy sat down quietly, just like a good kid would. Zhang Zian put it back in his cell phone.

    Old Time Teaughed, ¡°I am not interested in birds. I will rest in the game.¡±

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, did you stay uptest night?¡± Looking at the sleepiness in Old Time Tea¡¯s face, Zhang Zian already knew the answer to his question.

    ¡°Ha-ha, I was watching a moviest night. I thought it would be done by midnight, but the movie was almost 4 hours long! I couldn¡¯t stop watching¡­¡± Old Time Tea was embarrassed.

    Zhang Zian understood, ¡°Movies are getting longer and longer these days. Staying upte is not good for you. You can watch movies anytime during the day.¡±

    ¡°I understand,¡± Old Time Tea nodded.

    He put Old Time Tea in the game and asked Fina and Snowy Li, ¡°How about you two?¡±

    Snowy Li answered without thinking, ¡°I want to sleep with my Queen.¡±

    Zhang Zian ignored Snowy Li and said to Fina, ¡°How about you take a nap in the game? A bird breeding base has to be noisy and dirty.¡±

    He was worried that Fina would hunt at the bird breeding base. That was what cats do. The birds there had to be too pricey for him to take a chance.

    Unfortunately, Fina jumped down from the cat tree,nded elegantly and said, ¡°I will go for a walk there.¡±

    Zhang Zian told Fina that it had put on weight, so it wanted to go out and walk around.

    ¡°I will go wherever my Queen goes!¡± Snowy Li was confirmed.

    Zhang Zian nodded, ¡°Okay. You guys may go, but keep in mind the breeding base is a new spot. Stay chill and polite.¡±

    Fina pulled a long face, ¡°I don¡¯t need you to teach me about etiquette. As my servant, you¡¯d better be nice.¡±

    Seeing that Fina was mad, Snowy Li showed rage to him too. Its ears stood up straight, opened its eyes wide and meowed in an angry high voice. Although Snowy Li was angry, it still looked stunning. Zhang Zian sighed that such beauty was wasted on it.

    As they were talking, Guo Dongyue came in with the disposable lunchbox in his hands and handed it to Zhang Zian. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t take it. Instead, he pointed at the cashier¡¯s desk, meaning that Guo Dongyue should put it down there. He went to get Fina and Snowy Li¡¯s bowls.

    ¡°Where is the parrot?¡± Guo Dongyue nced over the whole store and didn¡¯t see the bird. A few minutes ago, it kept chatting on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder. Now with it being gone, the store was extremely quiet.

    Zhang Zian felt the same way. Although Richard was loud and annoying, when he put Richard back in the cell phone, he felt empty. Maybe he was used to Richard¡¯spany by now. The power of habit was magnificent. He felt that Richard had be a part of the store even though it only arrived a few days ago.

 Chapter 237: Who am I?

    <h4>Chapter 237: Who am I?</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sometimes, in the quiet evenings, Zhang Zian would suffer from insomnia. He would lie in bed and gaze at the star rays transmitted by the window. He would turn around and look at Fina who was lying in its princess bed. Most of the time, Fina seemed to be sound asleep, but asionally it would open its green eyes and stare at him impatiently, then go back to sleep in another position.

    Though it was quiet at night, it was not veryte, so ordinary urban families had not gone to bed yet. If Zhang Zian listened carefully, he could hear the subtle sounds of the television from the first floor, which meant that Old Time Tea was still awake watching TV. It might be lying on the electric nket with its two front ws inteced in front of its chest, relishing ssic Wuxia movies.

    Gxy¡­ Though he didn¡¯t hear sounds from Gxy, he could feel its presence. It must be lying in the crib and traveling around the world in its dreams.

    When he had insomnia at night, he always thought about the meaning of his existence, like an ancient Greek philosopher¡ªWho was he to Gxy, Fina and Old Time Tea? What exactly did he mean to them?

    To Gxy, he felt like he was ying the role of a father, a brother, and a mentor all in one, trying his best to guide this timid and poor Elfin out of the shadows it had encountered in the past.

    As for Fina, he felt like he was its butler and a partner at the same time. He provided services for Fina relentlessly so that it could lead afortable life, and he could earn some money while serving Fina.

    And Old Time Tea was apassionate, wise, and respected senior to him.

    However, he felt most rxed when he was with Richard, when they could tell dirty jokes and make fun of each other. He didn¡¯t need to assume such roles as father, brother, mentor, butler, or student in front of Richard. He could be himself.

    So, Richard was like a toxic friend to him.

    Toxic friends were necessary in people¡¯s lives. They could make jokes about each other without worrying about hurting anyone¡¯s feelings, so their lives could be easy and happy.

    It was not easy to make jokes. Gxy, Old Time Tea and Fina seldom could understand his humor and his jokes. Only Richard and theizens watching Snowy¡¯s live broadcasts could get his jokes in no time, and then he could contently make further jokes with them.

    But he barely knew theizens in person. So, to some extent, Richard was his closest friend.

    Now that his closest friend was gone, who would understand his jokes?

    But he couldn¡¯t tell the truth to Guo Dongyue. He told Guo Dongyue, who was puzzled, ¡°That bird has flown outside to y. It will return when it is tired.¡±

    Guo Dongyue looked around the pet shop, shocked to hear this, ¡°You let it fly away?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± said Zhang Zian.

    Guo Dongyue was stupefied. He gazed at Zhang Zian¡¯s face and asked, ¡°Seriously? Aren¡¯t you afraid that it might be caught by others? Or it might not find its way back?¡±

    Zhang Zian answered calmly, ¡°If I am fortunate to have this pet in my life, it will be back ultimately. If not, I will just have to ept my fate.¡± He couldn¡¯t tell Guo Dongyue that Richard had been put back in his phone, so he made that answer up as disguise.

    Guo Dongyue was rather dubious about his story. Guo Dongyue thought Zhang Zian had put Richard on the second floor so that he didn¡¯t hear the bird¡¯s voice. Unless Zhang Zian had tied up its beak, there was no way that Richard would be silent for such a long time. Guo Dongyue found that this young pet shop owner in front of him was getting more mysterious. On one hand, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t seem to be rich as he was quite nervous when money was involved. On the other hand, he seemed very generous, daring to let that precious grey parrot leave the pet shop to have fun¡­

    Zhang Zian pulled the barbecue meat off the skewers and put them into Fina and Snowy Li¡¯s food bowls, then watched them devour the meat. He stored Old Time Tea¡¯s portion separately; he would heat up the meat in microwave for it when he came back.

    Guo Dongyue noticed that not only had Richard disappeared, but also that the ck and white kitten and the old cat wearing a bamboo hat were gone. Had those two cats also left the shop to take a walk outside? Probably. After all, if Zhang Zian dared to let his parrot outside, he definitely wouldn¡¯t mind if his cats went outside on their own either¡­

    Zhang Zian took out the bag of dumplings from the insted box, and gestured at Guo Dongyue, ¡°Have you eaten breakfast yet? If not, feel free to have some with me.¡±

    Guo Dongyue shook his head. He had had breakfast at home, and he didn¡¯t think the food sold at restaurants was clean.

    Guo Dongyue patiently waited until the two cats and Zhang Zian had finished eating. He looked at his watch and asked, ¡°When are we leaving?¡±

    Zhang Zian had a mouthful of dumpling that he hadn¡¯t swallowed, and he answered vaguely, ¡°Take it easy. We are leaving right away.¡± He wiped his mouth, picked up the padlock, and waved at Fina and Snowy Li.

    Guo Dongyue followed him and walked out of the shop. As Zhang Zian closed the door, he pointed to Fina and Snowy Li and asked, ¡°They areing too?¡±

    Zhang Zian answered firmly, ¡°Yes, I¡¯m taking them for a walk.¡±

    Guo Dongyue felt it was strange that Zhang Zian would bring cats to a bird breeding farm. When he went to the pet shop before, most times he was busy looking at Richard, and didn¡¯t pay much attention to the cats in the store. Now, he got the chance to observe the cats closely. And he felt that the cat with the golden fur was quite domineering from its appearance and its movements. It didn¡¯t look anything like other ordinary house cats, but it reminded him of the serval cats he saw in some very rich people¡¯s houses. As he looked closer, he found that this golden cat looked domineering because of its arrogant and proud attitude, which was different from the wild and unruly temperament of the serval cats.

    While the other cat with the snowy white fur looked quite beautiful and gentle, and it followed extremely closely behind the golden cat.

    Zhang Zian looked around, ¡°How did youe here? Did you drive?¡±

    ¡°No, I took a cab. I don¡¯t have a car,¡± Guo Dongyue replied. ¡°I travel a lot for business trips, so it¡¯s unnecessary for me to buy a car.¡±

    Zhang Zian remembered that it was Xiao Yan who gave Guo Dongyue a ride the first time he came to the pet shop. As it seemed from today, Guo Dongyue was truly a pragmatist, and was not the kind of person who would buy a car just for decoration.

    It was not easy to hail a taxi in the early morning. Finally, Guo Dongyue sessfully hailed a carpool, a pretty new Cruze, and the driver was a young woman whose nickname was Jamie, as shown on the app. Zhang Zian was a little worried that she might not agree to let Fina and Snowy Li to get into the car. Luckily, she seemed to be a cat lover, and she screamed excitedly the moment she saw Fina and Snowy Li.

    ¡°How beautiful those cats are!¡± She stuck her head out of the car window, ¡°Are they you guys¡¯ cats?¡±

    ¡°They are my cats.¡± Zhang Zian pointed to the sign of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, ¡°I am the owner of this pet shop. Can I bring them in the car with me?¡±

    ¡°Of course! Hop in! I often take my own cats for a ride,¡± she agreed quickly.

    Guo Dongyue sat in the passenger¡¯s seat, and Zhang Zian sat in the back with his two cats.

    Jamie started the car, and nced at Fina and Snowy Li from the rearview mirror from time to time.

    ¡°You are going to the Phoenix House, right?¡± she asked. ¡°Are you going to buy birds?¡±

    ¡°Phoenix House?¡± Zhang Zian had never heard of this name before.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the name of the ce you are heading to.¡± Her driving skills were quite good, and she was cheerful and talkative, ¡°It¡¯s quite far from here. I¡¯m on my way home, so I can give you a ride. My hometown is near the Phoenix House, so I know about it.¡±

 Chapter 238: Whistles

    <h4>Chapter 238: Whistles</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was a long way to the bird breeding base. The driver was talkative, so it wasn¡¯t too boring of a car ride.

    Guo Dongyue remained silent to strangers. He was a pragmatist, so he wasn¡¯t interested in talking to a driver that he would only meet with for a short while. He closed his eyes to rest as soon as he got in the car.

    Zhang Zian chatted with her for a bit and then finally asked the most important question: ¡°Do you know any of the staff members in Phoenix House? We want to get a bird and were wondering how to get a discount.¡±

    ¡°I am sorry. I don¡¯t know anyone,¡± she smiled with an ¡°I-am-sorry¡± face. ¡°I have been there once or twice. Some bird pooped on me every time I was there. I hate it.¡±

    Zhang Zian perked up when he heard that birds pooped on her. He realized something important: ¡°You mean, the birds¡¯ house is all open?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is all open,¡± she said excitedly. ¡°As soon as you walk in, tons of birds will fly towards you. It is extremely overwhelming. Everyone is shocked when they go for the first time.¡±

    ¡°Well, it looks like the owner really knows how to raise birds,¡± Zhang Zian praised from the bottom of his heart. He had never been to a birds¡¯ house before and he only knew the A-B-Cs. He knew from his parents¡¯ experience that an open birds¡¯ house was much more difficult to manage than raising the birds in a cage. The cost was also a lot higher. It looked like the owner was not only capable, but also knew what he was doing.

    ¡°Yeah. I heard many bird lovers go there.¡± She was paying attention to the road. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about it. I like cats more.¡±

    She adjusted the rearview mirror to look at Fina and Snowy Li as she spoke.

    Although it was the first time Snowy Li had been in a car, it soon got used to it. Every time the car turned, it pretended to lose bnce and leaned on Fina. Fina would push it away with one paw.

    ¡°Hey, your cats are cute. Do you have more?¡± Jamie was truly fond of the cats. ¡°I have three cats at home already, but I can¡¯t help myself when I see nice cats like that.¡±

    ¡°I am sorry. That¡¯s all I¡¯ve got.¡± Zhang Zian understood these cat lovers. He wasn¡¯t surprised, ¡°You have three cats at home? Are they expensive?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! They cost a lot. I am driving in my spare time to make some money for their cat food, ha-ha!¡± sheughed.

    ¡°You can buy cat food from my store; I will give you a nice discount.¡± Zhang Zian wouldn¡¯t let any business opportunity slip away.

    ¡°Thank you! I buy all my cat food from overseas. I am nervous about buying Chinese-made cat food. There are too many negative reports about it,¡± she rejected indirectly.

    Jamie¡¯s words reminded Zhang Zian of Zhao Qi. Zhao Qi was the same way. She didn¡¯t want to buy Chinese-made cat food due to its bad reputation, so she chose to purchase from overseas. However, buying cat food from overseas can be very risky because the cat food might be taken away at customs. Zhang Zian promised Zhang Qi that he would find some imported cat food for her. If he couldn¡¯t keep the promise, he was going to beughed at.

    Zhang Zian was deep in thought. Suddenly, a big shadow flew by, apanied by a long whistle. He looked out the window. A group of blue-gray pigeons flew around an old building, then headed out.

    ¡°A pigeon raiser¡­¡± He thought about the PBL that Sun Xiaomeng mentioned.

    Jamieughed, ¡°You are funny. If I hadn¡¯t seen the pigeons, I really wouldn¡¯t have been able to figure out what you were talking about.¡±

    Zhang Zianughed without further exnation.

    ¡°I hate having pigeons.¡± Her face didn¡¯t lie. ¡°Especially the people who put a whistle on the pigeon¡¯s leg. The noise is so annoying! They are dirty and smelly and bring mosquitos. When I was young, our neighbor raised pigeons and my parents always fought with them.¡±

    ¡°The city is not a good ce to raise pigeons,¡± Zhang Zian agreed. ¡°I mean, residential buildings are not good ces for raising pigeons. They bother people and spread bird diseases. However, it is good to raise pigeons in public parks.¡±

    ¡°Most people only care about themselves, not others,¡± she sighed.

    Another whistle came from one side of the sky to the other. Zhang Zian looked out the window again and saw that the pigeons were flying in the same direction as their car. The pigeons flying under the blue sky and white clouds formed a beautiful picture. The whistle was clear and crisp.

    Pigeons were only pretty to look at; they were too annoying to raise. Pigeons could bother the neighbors. The problem was that raising one pigeon wasn¡¯t as fun as raising a group of them. The more, the merrier.

    Zhang Zian casually searched for news about pigeons and found manyints online. There was even a report about a 4-year old girl that got PBL because of her neighbor¡¯s pigeons.

    The little girl started having symptoms when she was two years old. The doctors diagnosed that it was asthma and told the little girl¡¯s mom that it might be from chickens, ducks or pigeons.

    Zhang Zian remembered the psittacosis and PBL that Sun Xiaomeng mentioned. Now, he thought Sun Xiaomeng probably knew more than that doctor.

    The little girl¡¯s neighbor changed the roof into a pigeon raising base and had hundreds of pigeons. Every time pigeons flew by, their feathers came down like snow. Every household in that building, subsequently, had all sorts of feather residue and pigeon poop, which was smelly and dirty.

    In two years, the little girl struggled to live and was scared of pigeons. When the housingmittee requested that the pigeon owner remove the birds, he said he would get rid of them after the pigeon contest in April¡­

    Pet lovers and pet haters were sometimes two extremes. Some people were not born to hate pets. Instead, there were reasons. On the contrary, pet lovers, most of the time, overly spoiled their own pets and didn¡¯t care about others.

 Chapter 239: Phoenix House

    <h4>Chapter 239: Phoenix House</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After reading the news, Zhang Zian noticed that the news had been released in 2009, so it was a report written a long time ago. He closed the browser, and looked at the scene that passed by rapidly out the car window absentmindedly. The little girl was 4 years old at that time, so she had to be a young teenage girl now. Had she recovered from the pneumonia and asthma? Did she have any seque? Most importantly, had she conquered the shadow left by pigeons, and embraced her life courageously?

    He thought that could be possible. She was only four years old when it happened, and children tended to forget things easily. It¡¯s not a bad thing to be forgetful; sometimes, people needed to forget the memories that were horrible and terrifying to keep moving on.

    Zhang Zian looked at Guo Dongyue, who was sitting in the passenger¡¯s seat. He could only see the side of Guo Dongyue¡¯s face from the backseat. Eyes closed, stoned-faced, it was hard to tell what Guo Dongyue¡¯s feelings were at the moment. His mother was also forgetting things; no matter if they were good or bad things, she would forget them quickly and irreversibly.

    Wuuuu¡­

    The pigeons flew above their heads, whistling. Bathed in the rising sun, the flying birds made people long for freedom.

    ¡°So annoying!¡± Jamie whispered.

    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t mean you are annoying!¡± she apologized to Zhang Zian. ¡°Bird feces fell on my car again!¡± She pointed to a sticky lump that was white and green on the windshield.

    Zhang Zian smiled, ¡°Bad luck.¡±

    ¡°You bet. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on, but these pigeons seem to keep flying above our car and won¡¯t leave. Is it because you guys have something delicious with you?¡± she said jokingly.

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t have any food.¡± Zhang Zian patted his pockets to indicate he was innocent.

    ¡°Haha, maybe my new perfume has a miraculous effect?¡± she said cheerfully.

    To steer clear of any misunderstanding, she quickly pointed to a small bottle on the center console, ¡°I don¡¯t mean the perfume on my body, I mean the new perfume I put in this car.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Zhang Zian smiled.

    It seemed that the group of pigeons in the sky finally gave up chasing Jamie¡¯s car. After hovering for several minutes, they made a big turnaround. The melodious whistling faded away, and they flew in the direction they came from in the first ce.

    Zhang Zian turned around and looked at their trajectory until they fully disappeared from his vision.

    ¡°Right. Are there any pigeons in that Phoenix House?¡± He got back on track.

    She thought for a few seconds and gave an uncertain answer. ¡°I don¡¯t remember seeing pigeons there. I¡¯ve seen numerous parrots there, all kinds of parrots in all kinds of different colors. It¡¯s dizzy looking at them.¡±

    Guo Dongyue opened his eyes, ¡°Have you seen peach-faced lovebirds there?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± She quickly nced at Guo Dongyue, who hadn¡¯t spoken a single word after getting in the car. This man would be a handsome uncle when his age came, and his mncholy temperament should be very popr among girls. Why hadn¡¯t she noticed him earlier?

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m not familiar with the breeds of parrots, so I can¡¯t tell which ones are peach-faced lovebirds,¡± she apologized. He had figured out that it was this man who needed to go to Phoenix House, while the pet shop owner sitting in the back was either his friend or his helper.

    Guo Dongyue closed his eyes again.

    Jamie stuck out her tongue. She seemed to have understood why this handsome man was easily ignored by others. He was too cool. Handsome and cool male characters were popr in novels, and for some time she was obsessed with such characters, but in reality¡­such men were really not her type.

    ¡°Since you are going to buy birds, shouldn¡¯t you know more about the breeds than I do?¡± she said while looking forward, ¡°I used to drive customers to buy birds there, but I don¡¯t understand the professional terms they used.¡±

    ¡°Well ¡­ ¡­ I only knew a few.¡± Zhang Zian really didn¡¯t know much about parrots, so he couldn¡¯t answer for sure.

    She thought Zhang Zian was just being modest. After all, he ran a pet shop, so he should be very knowledgeable about pets.

    ¡°We¡¯re almost there,¡± she reminded them while gazing out the windshield. She gradually slowed the car, carefully checked the rearview mirror, reversed the steering wheel, and drove away from the main road.

    Zhang Zian stretched his neck to look forward. In front of him was arge, t building sparkling under the sun.

    It was about 30 km from downtown. There was no residential area, only a gas station, a small building materials wholesale market and a few rows of warehouses nearby. Looking further, there were arablends in winter break. At the end of the horizon, there were rolling hills, which looked very deste because it waste autumn: grass had withered and leaves had be yellow.

    As they approached, therge building became clearer. Its appearance was not too eye-catching: the main body looked like arge supermarket with rows of semi-cylindrical domes that enveloped it on top. It looked like a vegetable greenhouse in the middle of a farnd from the distance. The domes were made of aluminum alloyed frames with tempered ss, and they were beautiful and strong.

    ¡°This is the Phoenix House?¡± Zhang Zian wanted to confirm.

    Guo Dongyue opened his eyes, looking at the ss domes as a designer.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s written there,¡± the female driver pointed at the gate of the building.

    The fourrge Chinese characters ¡°feng ming niao she¡± were iid on the gate. Below the Chinese sign, there was a small line of English words ¡ª PHOENIX HOUSE.

    The Phoenix House was surrounded by evergreen shrubs, thus creating a green environment among the destion.

    When the car stopped at the gate of Phoenix House, Zhang Zian discovered that it was actually a lotrger than it looked. Since there were no otherrge buildings forparison, its size looked distorted.

    Zhang Zian and Guo Dongyue got out of the car and thanked Jamie.

    She waved at Fina and Snowy Li before driving away.

    They stood at the gate for a while, but no one came to greet them, so they had to go to the entrance on their own.

    The entrance was a push-pull ss door with a gauze curtainyer in the middle. They went further inside, only to find another door that looked exactly the same as the first one. When they opened the second door, extremely noisy sounds were heard, as if they had entered a vibrant rainforest!

    All kinds of bird sounds prated their eardrums from all directions!

    Hu-ra-ra!

    Birds of different colors flew past above their heads quickly.

    They were caught off guard and instinctively lowered their bodies. Zhang Zian also covered his head with his hands.

    Fina and Snowy Li were not scared at all. They threw contemptuous looks at Zhang Zian and Guo Dongyue, and then kept staring at the group of birds flying way over their heads.

    A staff member wearing a light blue uniform had spotted them, so he walked over to them quickly.

    ¡°Hello, what can I help you with?¡± Although he was asking Zhang Zian and Guo Dongyue, his eyes were fixed upon Fina and Snowy Li. It was unusual for people to bring cats to Phoenix House.

 Chapter 240: Rejected from Entry

    <h4>Chapter 240: Rejected from Entry</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was scared of the birds that suddenly flew by his head. He almost jumped, but then realized that it was nothing serious. Embarrassed, he rubbed his own head and looked at the staff member in front of him.

    The staff member was wearing a light blue uniform and cap. He was wearing stic shoe covers over his shoes and a badge on his chest. He took off his face mask to talk to Zhang Zian, leaving it hanging off one of his ears. He looked quite young, probably just freshly graduated from college.

    There was some bird poop on his shoe covers. Zhang Zian realized that the venttion in this birds¡¯ house was, in fact, great. He didn¡¯t smell any obvious bird poop. It was understandable. There were thousands of birds in the birds¡¯ house. If the venttion was not good, PM2.5 would¡¯ve gone up to a degree that is not suitable for humans to survive in.

    ¡°We are here to buy parrots. Do you have love birds?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    The staff member, who was looking at Fina and Snowy Li, now looked back up and nodded, ¡°Yup. There are different kinds of love birds. Which kind are you looking for?¡±

    Which one¡­ Zhang Zian and Guo Dongyue looked at each other, but no one coulde up with an answer. Guo Dongyue¡¯s mom never took pictures of the birds, so he wasn¡¯t sure which breed it was. This was the first time Zhang Zian had heard that there were various kinds of love birds. He thought birds were like cats in the fact that each breed only has a few kinds. From this staff member¡¯s words, it seemed that it was a lot more than that.

    ¡°How many kinds do you have?¡± Zhang Zian tried to get more information.

    The staff member was vague, ¡°Well, about 100.¡±

    Oh no!

    Not good!

    Over 100 kinds of love birds! It looked like there was some work ahead of them.

    He thought there might be around ten kinds, but didn¡¯t expect to have over 100 kinds.

    Looking at them, the staff member knew that they might be newbies when it came to raising birds. Phoenix House was a very professional birds¡¯ house. Due to the limitation of staffing, they were only open to high-end bird lovers and newbies were not wee because they didn¡¯t want to spend the time and effort to educate them. Also, newbies were not always willing to spend the money.

    ¡°Gentlemen, we have so many birds. Would you like to go home and think about it first?¡± The staff member was going to send them home.

    Zhang Zian understood what he meant, but he was not going to leave with empty hands. Otherwise, the taxi money would going down the drain¡­ although that was Guo Dongyue¡¯s money.

    ¡°Can we walk around?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    The staff member was annoyed. He nodded and said, ¡°Well, okay. You know, we only have limited staff so I can¡¯t walk around with you.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s okay. We will walk around on our own.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± the staff member sighed. He searched around in his pocket and found four disposable shoe covers for them, ¡°You guys need to wear these, otherwise your shoes will step in bird poop.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Zhang Zian and Guo Dongyue took the shoe covers. The shoe covers had to be customized because there was the Phoenix House logo on the side of each one.

    ¡°Your cats are not allowed in there.¡± The staff member pointed at Fina and Snowy Li and said, ¡°What if they eat our birds?¡±

    Zhang Zian understood the staff member¡¯s concern. Everyone knew that cats loved hunting birds. They were quick. If a catid its eyes on a bird, that bird would not have any hope of living.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. My cats don¡¯t eat raw meat. They won¡¯t eat your birds,¡± Zhang Zian assured.

    ¡°No. Our birds are too expensive to take this risk,¡± the staff member didn¡¯t agree.

    Fina didn¡¯t care about this staff member but opened its eyes widely to look at various kinds of birds flying around. Snowy Li walked around Fina closely. When a bird flew close to Fina, Snowy Li would scare the bird away. That was the staff member¡¯s real concern.

    Zhang Zian knew that bringing Fina along would get them in trouble. However, he would not agree to leave them outside at this point.

    Guo Dongyue had been very quiet the whole time. He suddenly said, ¡°Could you have your bosse over?¡±

    ¡°I am sorry. Our boss is in a meeting with someone,¡± the staff member rejected.

    It was a normal excuse. Zhang Zian could not tell if he was telling the truth or making up an excuse.

    ¡°I own a pet store. Look, we are both in the same industry. Why don¡¯t you let us in?¡± Zhang Zian tried to y the friend card.

    The friend card didn¡¯t work. The staff member tried to kick them out. ¡°I am sorry. Our boss is meeting with someone now. If you don¡¯t want to leave them outside, please show yourselves out.¡±

    Fina was angry. This was a huge humiliation for it. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that Fina promised Zhang Zian it would behave, it would kill a few birds to show its anger. Fina stared at the staff member with its round and green eyes. Snowy Li could feel Fina¡¯s anger so it got ready to fight for its Queen. As soon as Fina sent amand, Snowy Li would start the fight.

    Although the staff member had never had a cat, he clearly knew that both cats were angry. He was scared and stepped back vulnerably. He didn¡¯t understand why the cats had be so angry all of a sudden.

    Zhang Zian knew that Fina would keep its promise and behave, but who knew what Snowy Li would do?! He stepped in between the two so he could stop the fight in time.

    ¡°What is going on? What are you doing?¡±

    At this time, two people came out from the hallway behind the flowers. A middle-aged man in a suit walked over.

    The staff looked back and acted as if the man was his savior, ¡°Director L?, these two guys want to visit our birds¡¯ house. I told them they have to leave the cats outside but they don¡¯t want to¡­ Look at this cat. It looks angry. I am concerned about our birds being hurt.¡±

    L? Mingyi nodded, smiled and noted the situation.

    ¡°Are you the manager or boss?¡± Guo Dongyue asked directly.

    L? Mingyi nced at Fina and Snowy Li and said, ¡°I am the owner, L? Mingyi. And you are¡­?¡±

    Before he finished, a voice came up behind him,¡± Is that an ancient Egyptian cat?¡±

    Zhang Zian looked over and saw a normal looking middle-aged man. He immediately recognized it was Professor Wei Kang, whom he met in Binhai University when he captured the apprehensive bird.

 Chapter 241: Academic Significance

    <h4>Chapter 241: Academic Significance</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The moment he recognized Zhang Zian, Wei Kang instinctively looked at the two cats beside Zhang Zian. His heartbeat suddenly became extremely violent, and his fingers, which remained very still when producing specimens, began to slightly tremble. He ignored the cat that was obviously a Linqing Chausie, but kept staring at the golden one,paring it with modern Egyptian cats and the cats he had seen in ancient Egyptian murals.

    It was real! He was very sure that he was looking at an original Egyptian cat that was believed to have gone extinct a long time ago!

    This cat¡¯s size, fur, color, the fascinating lines in the shape of a scarab beetle on its forehead, and its squatting posture like it was looking down upon every creature from top of the world, made it very much the same as an original Egyptian cat. This original Egyptian cat must have been worshipped by numerous people in the past, and it must had traveled through two or three thousand years to be in the present time!

    He didn¡¯t care that others were looking at him surprisingly, and he threw away his demeanor as a professor. He trotted towards the cat, and couldn¡¯t wait to closely observe this living fossil of biological history.

    Boom!

    He just ran a few steps and crashed right into Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Professor Wei, long time no see. I never expected that we would meet here.¡± Zhang Zian greeted Wei Kang very politely, while using his body to block Fina. No matter how hard Wei Kang tried to get closer to Fina, he couldn¡¯t pass Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Yes, long time no see. Can we catch upter? I want to see your cat first.¡± Wei Kang¡¯s mind waspletely upied by the original Egyptian cat.

    ¡°No, no, let¡¯s talk first, because your friend wants to drive my cat out.¡± Zhang Zian pointed to L? Mingyi. Zhang Zian saw that Wei Kang and L? Mingyi hade out together, so he figured that the guest the staff member mentioned earlier was Wei Kang.

    ¡°What? Drive the cat out? No way, absolutely not!¡± Wei Kang was so nervous and excited that the veins on his head became visible.

    ¡°Excuse me.¡± L? Mingyi waspletely confused, and did not understand Professor Wei¡¯s sudden gaffe, so he made a dry cough. ¡°Professor Wei, what¡¯s going on? You two know each other? Can you introduce this young man to me?¡±

    L? Mingyi looked at Zhang Zian curiously and guessed the rtionship between Professor Wei and this young man¡ªit was unlikely they were teacher and student. From their interaction, it seemed that Zhang Zian¡¯s status was higher¡­

    ¡°My name is Zhang Zian, and I run a pet shop in Binhai City.¡± Zhang Zian introduced himself briefly.

    ¡°Oh. I am L? Mingyi, the boss here. Mr. Zhang, may I ask the purpose of your visit today?¡± said L? Mingyi. He nced at Guo Dongyue, who was beside Zhang Zian, but Guo Dongyue did not intend to introduce himself.

    ¡°Your staff member told you, we are here to buy birds.¡± Zhang Zian was still blocking Wei Kang, ¡°But he said we can¡¯t go in with our cats, and that we have to leave our cats outside.¡±

    L? Mingyi apologized, ¡°Mr. Zhang, I believe you know that cats eat birds. It¡¯s in their nature. If you bring the cats inside and any ident urs, you and I will both look bad and it will be hard to deal with the consequences. I guess your cats are rare and precious. How about this? I will ask my staff member to look after them outside, and I assure you of their safety¡­¡±

    L? Mingyi waved at the staff member who had informed him about Zhang Zian. In his opinion, how expensive could a cat really be? At most, one cat would cost no more than tens of thousands of Yuan. And he had assigned a person to look after the cats, so nothing bad would happen. Considering that Zhang Zian was an acquaintance of Professor Wei, L? Mingyi generously offered this option, otherwise, he would have never made such an arrangement.

    Wei Kang chimed in first before Zhang Zian expressed his dissent.

    ¡°No!¡± Wei Kang shouted excitedly, waving his arms to strengthen his imposing manner, ¡°The cats cannot be left outside! You will be held ountable if they are lost! Trust me, you can¡¯t afford that.¡±

    L? Mingyi was stunned, and he waved at his staff member, instructing him to stop. ¡°Professor Wei, they are just two cats. Why do you care about them so much? If you want, I can buy you a few cats that look the same as these¡­¡±

    ¡°Buy a few cats that look like them?¡± Wei Kang interrupted L? Mingyi. His chest rose and fell vigorously, and he roared almost hysterically, ¡°Do you know how precious these cats are? Buy a few that look the same? You can never buy them no matter how much money you have! ¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± L? Mingyi was surprised, and he re-examined these two cats that were ignored by him moments ago. He ran a bird breeding base, and was a bird enthusiast himself, so since birds and cats were ipatible, he did not like cats, and did not know the breeds of cats. He could see that the two cats in front of him were very beautiful, but he still couldn¡¯t understand why Professor Wei treasured them so much.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Wei Kang replied loudly, ¡°The values of all your birds together can¡¯tpare with the value of this cat!¡± He pointed to Fina, ¡°I¡¯m not talking about price, I¡¯m talking about value!¡±

    Fina happily epted Wei Kang¡¯s appraisal. In Fina¡¯s eyes, Wei Kang was stating the truth. The aggregated values of all the birds in the world could not rival with its value; in fact, the values of all the people in this world could not match its value. Seeing that Fina was being praised so highly, Snowy Li felt so honored, and it straightened its chest proudly.

    L? Mingyi was dubious. He knew that Wei Kang was a square-toed person who never joked and would not expose his feelings easily. It was the first time L? Mingyi saw Wei Kang lose his self-control. So, perceptually, he tended to believe Wei Kang¡¯s words.

    But rationally, he still held a skeptical attitude. Could a cat¡¯s value really triumph the total value of the tens of thousands of birds he had here? Many of his birds here were extremely rare and precious, and he got them for very high prices through a variety of legitimate or illegitimate channels. No matter how precious the cat was, it was merely a cat.

    Wei Kang had known L? Mingyi for a long time, and from the expression on his face, Wei Kang knew that L? Mingyi wasn¡¯t persuaded. ¡°Mr. L?, do you know what kind of cat this is?¡±

    ¡°I know nothing about cats.¡± L? Mingyi answered frankly.

    ¡°Even if you know about cats, you would not recognize this one.¡± Wei Kang sighed, ¡°This cat is an original Egyptian cat. In the academicmunity, the opinion is that it is a species that has been extinct for a long time. Do you see its significance now? As long as its genes are extracted, andpared with the genes of modern house cats and stray cats, a major question¡ªwhere house cats originate from¡ªthat has troubled the academicmunity for a long time can be solved. Are they from ancient Egypt, or the Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia, or somewhere else¡­.?¡±

    Zhang Zian was proud that his cat bore such significant meanings. But he was startled when hearing about gene extraction. This old man was thinking of using Fina for experiments! Though the reasons for experimenting sounded magnificent, he would never agree to use Fina for experiments.

    On the other hand, L? Mingyi was stunned hearing Wei Kang¡¯s solemn exnation. It didn¡¯t seem like Wei Kang was lying. Was the cat really so precious? He decided to be cautious and believed Wei Kang¡¯s word. Nowadays, the online media tended to adopt sensational headlines in their reports to attract more readers. What if they made such a title as ¡°Shocking! A Living Fossil with a Significance Comparable to the Peking Man¡¯s Skull was Lost in Front of the Gate of a Bird Breeding Base¡±? He would be miserable and would not be able to defend himself if that really happened.

 Chapter 242: The Designerâ€™s Insights

    <h4>Chapter 242: The Designer¡¯s Insights</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Wei Kang kept talking until he felt thirsty.

    L¨¹ Mingyi winked at the staff member and said quietly, ¡°Grab a few waters from my office.¡±

    The staff member was focused on the story, but he had to do what the boss told him to.

    L? Mingyi knew Wei Kang well enough. He never joked around, especially about things like that. It had to be true.

    The ancient Egyptian cat wasn¡¯t the most impressive thing to L? Mingyi, but how Zhang Zian could get a cat like that was more fascinating. It seemed like Zhang Zian was more than just an owner of a normal pet store. L? Mingyi was guessing that Zhang Zian had to have some sort of connection overseas, just like himself. L? Mingyi got some of the rare birds through under-the-table channels overseas.

    ¡°I am sorry, Mr. Zhang. It was my fault. Don¡¯t take it personally though because I didn¡¯t know your cat was that precious,¡± L? Mingyi reached out his hand to Zhang Zian. He decided it was smart to build a connection with this special guy who might help him in the future.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Zhang Zian shook his hand and pointed at Guo Dongyue standing next to him. ¡°Thi. is a famous architect in our city, Guo Dongyue.¡±

    ¡°Hello, Mr. Guo. I have heard about you, long ago,¡± L? Mingyi reached out his hand politely. In fact, L? Mingyu had never heard of Guo Dongyue but he just said that to be nice.

    Guo Dongyue didn¡¯t shake his hand. Instead, he pointed at the joint between the stainless-steel frame and the ss roof and said, ¡°There are structural problems right there. If you don¡¯t fix it, it will copse in strong wind.¡±

    L? Mingyi was surprised. He looked up to where Guo Dongyue was pointing, but didn¡¯t find any problem.

    ¡°Mr. Guo, are you joking? This bird house was designed by a famous design firm in our country.¡± L? Mingyi couldn¡¯t believe Guo Dongyue¡¯s words. This guy could really figure out problems just by looking up like that?

    Guo Dongyue was deep in thought. ¡°This design will hold up under any normal strong wind. However, the person who designed the bird house didn¡¯t consider an important factor ¨C There are typhoons that go through Binhai city. We don¡¯t get hit every year, but you will see there is one typhoon every three to five years. The typhoon may not hit your bird house directly. However, your bird house will copse if the typhoon goes by it.¡±

    He walked up to a wall and patted on several ces as if he was trying to feel the thickness of the wall.

    ¡°I observed from outside and found that your bird house was almostpletely enclosed. The frame is made of an aluminum alloy. It is a nice-looking design. My concern is that the weight of the building is not enough to hold it in ce. If my guess is correct, the designer might¡¯ve made a mistake on the calction of wind load. The wind load factor used was too small, which means he only considered fundamental wind pressure. The so-called fundamental wind pressure means the average speed wind travels in ten minutes. The designer might have missed the ripple effect from a typhoon which creates instant wind pressure.¡±

    Guo Dongyue lectured the group on a whole bunch of terms as he knocked on the beam made by aluminum alloy. He looked closely.

    ¡°The designer cared about the look more than anything. The supporting frames were snapped together. Such jointing method is especially bad for wind resistance. I¡¯d rmend changing the jointing method to screws. Of course, you don¡¯t have to change anything if you don¡¯t want, but it would be a gamble on how likely it is that a typhoon hits Binhai.¡±

    ¡°You are in a t field. When the typhoones, there is nothing to stop it. Your building has arge surface area¡­¡± Guo Dongyue shook his head, ¡°Never mind. You don¡¯t have to listen to me. I just got done with a project building an all-ss greenhouse, so I did some research. I almost made the same mistake myself. I just wanted to tell you about it. You don¡¯t have to listen.¡±

    Guo Dongyue¡¯s words made L? Mingyi worried. Looking up at the ss ceiling, he suddenly felt dizzy as if a typhoon wasing and the whole bird house would be pulled up in the swirling air.

    He quickly walked up to Guo Dongyue. He shook Guo¡¯s hand even though Guo didn¡¯t want to. ¡°Mr. Guo, I am sorry about just now. Please tell me more!¡±

    He wasn¡¯t sure if Guo Dongyue was right. However, as a businessman, he¡¯d rather be safe than sorry.

    ¡°Come here, you two. Let¡¯s chat in my office, please,¡± L? Mingyi happily invited them inside.

    ¡°May I bring my cats?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    L? Mingyi was embarrassed andughed, ¡°Mr. Zhang, please! I can¡¯t afford to get you another one if your cats get lost.¡±

    Zhang Zian was joking with L? Mingyi. He waved. ¡°That¡¯s fine. We are here to buy parrots today. No need to chat.¡±

    L? Mingyi thought that they were mad at him because of what happened. He regretted it and asked, ¡°What kind of parrots are you looking for? I will give it to you for free.¡±

    Immediately, Zhang Zian felt like he missed out on a big deal. It was too bad that he wasn¡¯t nning on getting a parrot. If he was going to pick one¡­ he would pick one that was the most expensive to take home. It was also clear that L? Mingyi wanted to be friends with Guo Dongyue and have him fix the problems of this building.

    On the other hand, Wei Kang didn¡¯t care about the problems of the building. All he wanted to do was to take pictures of Fina and get some of its genes to study in theb. Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t agree so he yed dumb in front of Wei Kang and stopped him from getting close to Fina. Snowy Li was also smart. It could tell from Zhang Zian¡¯s attitude that this Wei Kang might harm Fina. Snowy Li stayed right next to Fina to protect the Queen.

    Guo Dongyue was worried about his mom and didn¡¯t want to spend any more time with L? Mingyi. He simply said, ¡°It is easy to increase the building¡¯s wind resistance. You don¡¯t have to change much.¡±

    ¡°Really? How?¡± L? Mingyi was surprised. At first, he wasn¡¯t sure if Guo Dongyue¡¯s words were true or he was ying tricks. Also, he didn¡¯t want to spend the time, money and effort if the building needed a big fix¡­ however, if it was an easy fix, it would be great to just get it done.

    ¡°It is simple. You have so many open fields around you. You can put up some thick windbreakers around your building to protect it from the wind. The walls can be pretty and also help fight the wind. I also suggest recing the short trees with tall pine trees. Of course, you should consult the original designer on how to add the windbreakers. It can count as their after-sale service.¡±

    Upon hearing that, L? Mingyi felt a lot better.

 Chapter 243: Lovebirds

    <h4>Chapter 243: Lovebirds</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian waited until Guo Dongyue finished, and he reminded Guo Dongyue, ¡°You can talk about these thingster. It¡¯s not easy for us to make a trip here, so let¡¯s get our things done first.¡±

    Guo Dongyue was thinking the same thing. He just reminded L? Minyi out of a designer¡¯s professional ethics. After all, it would cause tragedy if such arge building copsed in a typhoon. Although Phoenix House was not his design, he must point out the problems when he saw them because it was the right thing to do.

    When he designed the ss garden house for the rich female, he specifically took his time to visit the local weather station to check thending history, wind scale, movement route and impact scope of typhoons. If he remembered correctly, over a decade ago, a strong typhoon passed near the city, causing tremendous losses. In his design, he put the ss garden house against the sea behind the rich female¡¯s vi, using the vi itself to block winds. In fact, many of these details might not be taken into ount by many designers. Even if buildings were damaged by typhoons, people can attribute the reasons to natural disasters. But Guo Dongyue was a perfectionist.

    ¡°In this case, I shall do what a good host should do and lead the way for you.¡± L? Mingyi said enthusiastically, ¡°I might not have the most breeds of birds nationwide, but there are at least hundreds of breeds, plus since I house them cage-free, even bird enthusiasts can¡¯t find what they want easily.¡±

    ¡°Director L?, your time is too precious. I can apany them on my own.¡± Wei Kang winked at L? Mingyi, indicating that he could guide them himself.

    ¡°Professor Wei, you are busy too¡­ ¡­¡± L? Mingyi hesitated.

    Wei Kang pursed his lips and looked at Fina. He was trying to cotton up with Zhang Zian; perhaps Zhang Zian would agree to his request when they became more familiar.

    L? Mingyi nodded understandingly, ¡°Then I¡¯ll leave it to you, Professor Wei.¡± Then he said to Zhang Zian and Guo Dongyue, ¡°My guests, since Professor Wei intends to apany you, I will step back from this tour. Professor Wei is my special consultant, if you need anything, feel free to tell him, he will arrange the assistance on my behalf.¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled, ¡°Director L?, thanks for your time. And don¡¯t worry about us, we will be fine.¡±

    ¡°See youter.¡± L? Mingyi bid farewell to them and walked quickly back to his office. He would make a few phone calls to inquire about the expertise of Guo Dongyue.

    After L? Mingyi had gone, Zhang Zian noticed that Wei Kang was trying to approach Fina. Zhang Zian stretched his arm to stop him, ¡°Professor Wei, you said you were going to keep uspany, don¡¯t you remember?¡±

    Wei Kang was reluctant to quit gazing at Fina, but he sighed, ¡°Okay, okay. Let me take you to tour around. What kind of parrots do you want? Director L? was telling the truth, we have too many types of parrots here. You will be dizzy if you search one by one.¡±

    Zhang Zian gestured that Guo Dongyue would answer the question.

    Guo Dongyue answered uncertainly, ¡°Probably lovebirds.¡±

    ¡°Can you be more specific?¡± Wei Kang asked and introduced more information, ¡°There are nine initial varieties of lovebirds, among which three varieties aremonly seen. And the three varieties are divided into two categories, masked lovebirds, and peach-faced lovebirds. There are over 30 sub-varieties of masked lovebirds, and peach-faced lovebirds are divided into 17 lines ording to the colors of their feathers. So you must at least ascertain whether you want masked or peach-faced lovebirds, and the next steps will be simpler.¡±

    Guo Dongyue frowned, ¡°What are masked lovebirds and what are peach-faced lovebirds?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s easy to distinguish¡ªmasked lovebirds have a circle of white feathers around the rims of their eyes, and those who don¡¯t have white circles around their eyes are peach-faced lovebirds.¡± Wei Kang pointed to a few parrots that flew past them, ¡°See them? Those are peach-faced lovebirds, the opaline lovebirds.¡±

    Zhang Zian and Guo Dongyue looked along the direction pointed by Wei Kang, and they saw a few small parrots with green feathers, white heads and necks, and yellow beaksnded on the leaves arranged artificially, and tweeted non-stop.

    ¡°Ah, their whole heads are white, probably not suitable to illustrate the differences between masked and peach-faced lovebirds.¡± Wei Kang said and looked around, ¡°Look at the blue and gold macaw parrot. It would be easier for you to understand.¡±

    The parrot he referred to had a light blue color; its neck was white and its forehead was golden. Just like Wei Kang had said, it had no white feather circles around its eyes, so it was a peach-faced lovebird.

    Guo Dongyue tried to remember what the lovebirds looked like in his memory. That pair of lovebirds didn¡¯t have white circles, so they should be peach-faced lovebirds.

    ¡°Professor Wei, I¡¯m looking for peach-faced lovebirds,¡± he said.

    Wei Kang nodded slowly, ¡°I¡¯d guess so. In our country, most families keep peach-faced lovebirds, while overseas families prefer masked lovebirds. I guess it¡¯s because we share different aesthetic standards.¡±

    Zhang Zian followed Wei Kang and looked around. He could learn about a lot of things from this expert, and he was also intrigued by another thing.

    ¡°Professor Wei, you keep these parrots out of the cages. Don¡¯t you worry that they might produce lots of hybrids?¡± He pointed to the flying parrots in all kinds of colors.

    This spectacr and wonderful scene had made him wonder since he entered the gate, and he finally caught the opportunity to say his doubt. If adult cats or dogs were kept free-range, they would definitely mate randomly and give birth to a variety of hybrids. Free-ranging would be a problem for parrots too then, right?

    Wei Kang seemed to have guessed that Zhang Zian would ask such a question, and he replied immediately, ¡°I heard that your shop only has cats and dogs, and you probably don¡¯t know much about parrots.¡±

    ¡°Temporarily, only cats and dogs.¡± Zhang Zian corrected him, pretending there would be more animals in the future.

    Wei Kang was surprised by his answer. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to derogate you. In fact, you and I specialize in different areas, and there¡¯s nothing wrong with the fact that your specialty lies in cats and dogs. Back to what we were saying earlier, parrots are different from cats and dogs. Generally, when there are more parrots of the same variety in the environment, they will choose to mate with the ones who share the same variety¡ªthough there are a few exceptions. When there are little or no parrots of the same variety in the environment, they will choose to mate with parrots of other varieties.

    ¡°Oh, that exins so much.¡±

    That was quite a strange property, which was unlike that of cats or dogs. Having learned something new, Zhang Zian tried to sum it all up in a simple and easy way, ¡°So, if I use cats as an example, it means that provided there are enough numbers of same types of cats, ck cats tend to mate with ck cats, and white cats tend to mate with white ones?¡±

    Wei Kang was dumbfounded by his analogy. ¡°Your example is vivid, and it makes sense. But birds are not cats. Birds are more¡­ fastidious.¡±

    Hearing that Wei Kang was appraising birds while belittling cats, Fina stared at him disgruntledly.

    Zhang Zian was just joking. But parrots seemed to be honor their principles when it came to mating behaviors.

    ¡°But I heard that, as their name implies, lovebirds are more difficult to make into couples than other parrots?¡± he asked.

    ¡°It is true.¡± Wei Kang nodded, ¡°So raising them cage-free can let them choose who they like, and they can mate freely.¡±

    Zhang Zian felt thatpared with other animals, parrots¡¯ attitudes towards rtionships were more simr to those of humans.

 Chapter 244: The Black-Collared Love Bird

    <h4>Chapter 244: The ck-Cored Love Bird</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian thought that the birds¡¯ house was truly an open space when he looked at it from the outside. Now that he had followed Professor Wei Kang on a tour, he knew that it was in fact separated into various parts. Different birds resided in various parts. Currently, they were not in the parrot zone.

    ¡°Professor Wei, please turn off the lights.¡±

    A boring yet deep voice was heard. The group looked around and found an African grey parrot, which looked a lot like Richard, standing on a dead branch. The bird was looking at them. Although alike, Richard looked way smarter than this bird. The voice was probably from this bird.

    Wei Kangughed and pointed at it, ¡°This is the naughtiest grey parrot here. It is very smart, so the staff named it ¡®Smartie¡¯. It learned to say ¡®turn off the lights¡¯ from the staff because they always say that.¡±

    ¡°Hello! Don¡¯t forget the face scan at work!¡± it then said again. Obviously, this was another sentence it learned from the staff.

    If Zhang Zian had never met Richard, he might be surprised to hear these words. Now that he knew there was better, he smiled politely and went with the crowd. The voice of this parrot was very different from a human¡¯s voice. Its voice was rough. People could only guess what it was talking about.

    ¡°His store has a much smarter parrot,¡± Guo Dongyue said suddenly.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Wei Kang was surprised.

    ¡°That parrot talks like a person,¡± Guo Dongyue continued.

    Wei Kang looked extremely interested. Zhang Zian was upset that Guo Dongyue told someone about Richard so he exined, ¡°No, no. My parrot is only a normal bird. He isn¡¯t that good.¡±

    Guo Dongyue didn¡¯t understand why Zhang Zian was being humble all of a sudden. This didn¡¯t sound like him at all.

    Zhang Zian knew that as soon as Wei Kang met Richard, he would definitely go nuts. How obsessed he was with Fina was the best example.

    Thinking about Fina. He turned around and found that Fina was walking elegantly right behind him. Fina was ncing around all the birds with pride as if touring its own territory.

    Snowy Li was walking right next to Fina. If a bird got close, Snowy Li would kick it quickly. It was great for the group because no bird could bother them as they walked around, unlike the story told by Jamie, the female driver.

    Guo Dongyue paid close attention to Wei Kang¡¯s narrations. He looked as Wei Kang pointed out different things and tried to search for the love birds that his mom used to have. Theyout of the birds¡¯ house was far more interesting to Zhang Zian. There was a bald tree every a few steps away. The ss ceiling was decorated with fake ivy so the whole birds¡¯ house looked like an outdoor space. Resting bars and boards for the birds were everywhere.

    ¡°Professor Wei, why are there so many bird cages here? Aren¡¯t the birds raised free-range?¡± Zhang Zian asked, pointing at the cages.

    Wei Kang said without thinking, ¡°The cages are a ce for them to sleep and breed so they can have some privacy.¡±

    Zhang Zian was about to put down his hand when a green parrotnded on his arm. Apparently, the parrot thought that his arm was a resting bar. Zhang Zian froze and didn¡¯t know what to do. Should he drive it away in case it pooped on him? He was wearing a nice new shirt that he didn¡¯t want to get ruined.

    ¡°Professor Wei¡­¡± he stopped and got Wei¡¯s attention.

    Looking back, Wei Kang was excited when he saw the bird, ¡°You are a lucky man! No wonder you can get an Ancient Egyptian cat from the street¡­ That is a rare ck-cored love bird. This breed primarily resides in southern Africa. This is the only one on record in the whole country. Director L? found it through his overseas connections. Also, this breed is very timid so they don¡¯t usually approach a stranger.¡±

    Zhang Zian realized this was a rare parrot, so he was interested in knowing more about it.

    The ck cored love bird was not good looking. It was a bitrger than a normal love bird. Most of its fur was bright green. Its mouth was dark gray and there was a ck line on the back of its neck. That was probably how it got its name.

    The ck cored love bird also looked at Zhang Zian curiously, jumping lightly on his arm and searching.

    Wei Kang said, ¡°It is looking for food.¡±

    Zhang Zian saw that the staff was feeding the birds and throwing grains on the ground. Many parrots had already eaten. Why didn¡¯t this one go?

    Wei Kang read his mind, so he exined, ¡°ck-cored love birds mostly eat figs and they only eat certain things, just like a panda only eats bamboo. If it ran out of fig, it could die in a few days.¡±

    Oh no! That was crazy! It was a good thing that it was a smaller bird. If it was as big as a panda and only ate fig, it could die out in no time.

    Zhang Zian said to it, ¡°Didn¡¯t your parents tell you not to be picky towards your food?¡±

    The ck-cored love bird didn¡¯t understand him the way Richard did. It lost interest in Zhang Zian. Instead, it started staring at the staff members who were feeding the birds.

    Wei Kang sighed, ¡°I am a consultant here. Director L? works with our college and provides funding for our research. In exchange, he brings in some rare breeds from overseas in the name of our college so that customs will not give him a hard time.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t say much but carefully looked at the ck-cored love bird on his arm. Honestly, he was curious why Wei Kang woulde here. He didn¡¯t look like he would work with businesses. Now that he exined it, Zhang Zian felt that everything started to make sense to him.

    The staff member grabbed three bottles of water and was carrying a small bamboo basket. ¡°Professor Wei, here you go. Have some water, please.¡±

    The ck-cored love bird yelled. It was a weird loud noise. It flew away from Zhang Zian¡¯s arm,nded on the edge of the bamboo basket and started eating from there.

    The noise was so scary that Zhang Zian almost wet his pants.

    ¡°Ha-ha. It makes annoying noises, not cute ones.¡± Wei Kang was used to the ck cored love bird¡¯s sound, so he was calm.

    Zhang Zian patted his ear and forced a smile, ¡°It was a hard hit to my eardrum.¡±

    There were fresh figs in the bamboo basket. The ck-cored love bird kept eating it. Yummy!

    While Zhang Zian and Wei Kang were talking about the ck-cored love bird, Guo Dongyue was not interested at all. Instead, he was looking hard for the love birds in his memory. However, it was a more difficult task than he expected because there were too many parrots in the birds¡¯ house.

    Suddenly, two parrots with green fur and red faces standing on a tall branch drew his attention.

    ¡°That¡¯s it! Look!¡± he yelled excitedly while pointing at them.

 Chapter 245: Red-headed Lovebirds

    <h4>Chapter 245: Red-headed Lovebirds</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Guo Dongyue was hiding his anxious feelings under his calm look because he was not sure whether he could find the peach-faced lovebirds that looked like the ones in his memory. He had gone to a few pet shops before. He had searched the Stars Pet Chain Supermarket in Xicheng District. He had also been to the biggest assembling center for pet trading in Binhai City¡ªthe Dog Market. But neither pet shops nor the pet supermarket sold parrots. Although there were lots of parrots in Dog Market, he couldn¡¯t find the ones that he wanted.

    He had also searched on emerce websites. But only themonly seen parrots were sold on the emerce websites, and seldom could rare parrots be found on them.

    Seeing that pair of parrots on the branch, he finally felt relieved, and his anxiety had disappeared right away.

    Hearing that Guo Dongyue had found his targets, Zhang Zian was also relieved. He stopped paying attention to the ck-cored lovebird, and looked up at the pair of parrots pointed out by Guo Dongyue. One of them turned around as if it felt shy being in the spotlight among people, so Zhang Zian got the chance to look at its whole body from front to back.

    The parrots had yellow and green feathers on their chests and stomachs, while the colors on their backs were darker. Most of their feathers on their backs were emerald, but there was an area above their tails where the feathers were a sky blue color. The most obvious difference between them lie in their faces and necks. One of them had a red face and neck, while the other one had an orange face and neck, both with beautiful silver-gray ws. They stayed close to each other; the red-faced parrot put its beak into the neck of its partner and helpedb its partner¡¯s feathers, while the orange-face parrot was using its beak to clean off the food residue left on its partner¡¯s beak. They were such an affectionate couple.

    Damn! Zhang Zian¡¯s first reaction was not even curious about their breed. Instead, he sighed emotionally that, nowadays, even parrots were giving a hard time to single people.

    Wei Kang looked up at the birds and said, ¡°No wonder you came to our ce to look for them! These parrots are not as rare as the ck-cored lovebird, but still, few people keep them as pets.¡±

    ¡°Are they also picky eaters?¡± Zhang Zian asked subconsciously.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s because a couple of red-headed lovebirds must be kept together, or else it¡¯s hard to keep them alive,¡± Wei Kang exined. ¡°These red-headed lovebirds are the most affectionate among lovebirds.¡± He pointed to one of them. ¡°The red-faced one is a male, while the orange-faced one is a female. Red-headed lovebirds are very particr about choosing their spouses. Basically, the courtship can only ur naturally by themselves, and it¡¯s hard to interfere with their mating behaviors artificially.¡±

    Guo Dongyue did not care about these details. He asked hastily, ¡°How much for this pair of parrots? I want to buy them.¡±

    Wei Kang hesitated for a moment and did not answer.

    Guo Dongyue became heavy-hearted immediately. Were they too expensive? Or were they not for sale?

    ¡°It¡¯s not about the money¡ªas Director L? said, if you really want them, we can give them to you for free,¡± Wei Kang said slowly. ¡°I just don¡¯t understand why you have to have this kind of parrot. Let me remind you, it¡¯s really hard to raise them, and few people keep them as pets. Besides¡­¡±

    Guo Dongyue didn¡¯t think that they would be hard to support. They were just parrots. Providing sufficient food and water on time should be enough, right?

    ¡°Besides what?¡±

    ¡°As you can see, they are so close to each other, it¡¯s like nothing in this world can separate them.¡± Wei Kang asked Guo Dongyue to observe more closely.

    ¡°So?¡± Guo Dongyue didn¡¯t understand what Wei Kang meant by this.

    ¡°So, unlike other kinds of parrots, they will not attach deep feelings towards their owner. Do you understand? They only care about each other, and their owner will always rank third. No matter how long you have raised them, they will only y with each other,¡± exined Wei Kang.

    Guo Dongyue still didn¡¯t think it would make much difference on his decision. He just wanted this pair of red-headed lovebirds to keep his motherpany. No matter how long, he hoped his mother could feel happy with the red-headed lovebirds by her side. As for what would happen to the birds in the future¡­ He didn¡¯t want to think too much about that right now.

    Zhang Zian raised his doubt, ¡°I remember you told me that, your mother named her parrots ¡®Little Purple¡¯ and ¡®Yellow Pea Cake¡¯. In my opinion, the female parrot looks quite like a Yellow Pea Cake, but the male parrot, I don¡¯t think it looks like anything purple.¡± He brought up that question because he worried that Guo Dongyue might buy the wrong parrots.

    Guo Dongyue simply answered, ¡°My mother has color weakness, so in her eyes, the blue feathers on its back be purple.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Zhang Zian felt a little bit awkward, since his concern was unnecessary.

    Wei Kang went over to an empty bird cage and twisted open the cap of his bottle of spring water. He drank a few sips to cool his throat, put the rest of the water into the water bowl in the bird cage, then turned around and walked some distance away.

    Soon after he left, the two red-headed lovebirds flew away from the branch at the same time. They fluttered their wings and flew into the birdcage one after the other, and started to drink the water in the water bowl.

    Wei Kang walked over and closed the gate of the bird cage. He picked up the cage and handed it over to Guo Dongyue.

    ¡°Here, take them. You can also have the cage.¡±

    Guo Dongyue was so happy and excited to take over the cage, gazing at the red-headed lovebirds as if they were treasures.

    ¡°Be careful, it¡¯s really hard to keep them alive,¡± Wei Kang reminded him again.

    Guo Dongyue was so excited that he didn¡¯t pay much attention to Wei Kang¡¯s warning. He just wanted to take them away with him right away, as if he was scared that Wei Kang and Director L? would regret suddenly.

    ¡°Is it because they are not suitable to be kept in a cage?¡± As a third party, Zhang Zian could remain calm and objective, so he didn¡¯t ignore Wei Kang¡¯s reminder.

    ¡°It¡¯s hard to tell.¡± Wei Kang shook his head. ¡°But that might be part of the reason. No animal evolves to live in cages, especially not birds born with wings to fly in the sky. Anyways, the survival rate of red-headed lovebirds raised by individuals is very low. Even in the superior cage-free environment provided by Phoenix House, with veterinarians specialized in birds, the survival rate for red-headed lovebirds is less than 50%. I wouldn¡¯t rmend other people to raise these parrots ¡­ But you must have your reasons for your insistence on keeping them. So, I will say no more.¡±

    Wei Kang was very serious. Zhang Zian believed that he was not exaggerating, and that red-headed lovebirds were indeed hard to support. He lost his confidence, because these parrots would be kept in his own pet shop, and Richard would try to teach them how to talk. If they died when residing in his pet shop, how was he going to face Guo Dongyue in the future?

    ¡°One more thing,¡± Wei Kang added. ¡°For red-headed lovebirds, if one passes away, the other one will be immersed in tremendous sorrow, and it won¡¯tst long either. So usually, a pair of red-headed lovebirds will die together.¡±

    Zhang Zian held profound respect to the red-headed lovebirds. Even humans, who redeemed themselves as the most intelligent of all creatures, were dwarfed by red-headed lovebirds in terms of the faithfulness and loyalty to love. They were indeed the most affectionate lovebirds.

    Seeing that Guo Dongyue was in a hurry to leave, Wei Kang did not persuade them to stay. He just tried to remind them of the matters that needed to be paid attention to in the red-headed lovebirds¡¯ dietary habits. Zhang Zian remembered the do¡¯s and don¡¯ts in his mind. Wei Kang was a specialist of animals, and he kept telling them to be careful. So, it should be true that red-headed lovebirds were very hard to raise.

    After making clear some other very important details, Wei Kang said goodbye to them at the gate.

 Chapter 246: The Famous Nature Magazine

    <h4>Chapter 246: The Famous Nature Magazine</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The inside and outside of the birds¡¯ house were twopletely different worlds.

    When they first entered the birds¡¯ house, Zhang Zian and Guo Dongyue were both annoyed by the noises. However, they quickly got used to the bird noises without noticing. After they left, the sudden quiet seemed especially silent.

    Another big difference outside the birds¡¯ house was the temperature. Zhang Zian shivered when he was hit by a cold breeze. He quickly put on his coat. The birds¡¯ house was warm. It was kept around 68 degrees Fahrenheit all year round, so it was a lot warmer than the outside. Going out into the cold after the warm birds¡¯ house could easily make someone sick.

    Guo Dongyue didn¡¯t care about himself at all. Instead he was more concerned that the red-headed love birds would get sick. So, he put his coat over the cage to protect them.

    Taking off the shoe covers, they disposed of them in the garbage can at the door. There was a lot of bird poop and grains that had stuck to the shoe covers, which was disgusting.

    The birds¡¯ house was in the suburbs, so there were not many cabs around. Guo Dongyue pulled out his cellphone and was about to search for a ride.

    ¡°Hey, I didn¡¯t know you guys were leaving.¡±

    L? Mingyi came out from the birds¡¯ house and invited them hospitably, ¡°It is almost noon. How about I take you both to lunch?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. We have other things to do.¡± Guo Dongyue rejected him directly because he was worried the birds would get sick if left outside for too long.

    A free lunch sounded appealing to Zhang Zian. However, he knew that Fina was hungry because it kept licking its lips. It might be a good idea to go home and feed the Queen before it got mad.

    ¡°That¡¯s too bad¡­ Let¡¯s take a rain check. We should get together when Ie into the city,¡± L? Mingyi wasn¡¯t insulted by the rejection. He had already made a few phone calls and found that Guo Dongyue¡¯s personality was different. Guo Dongyue was a great architect in his firm. No one would be surprised if he started his own firm anytime soon.

    Guo Dongyue was not interested in socializing, so he rejected again, ¡°Maybe someday, but I have been really busytely. Oh, these two birds¡­¡± He raised the cage and opened up his coat to show L? Ming Yi.

    A cold breeze got in the cage. The red-headed male love bird moved to block the wind for the female.

    L? Mingyi immediately identified the two red-headed love birds. They were rare, but not very expensive. So, he said generously, ¡°Well, I will give them to you as a gift, Mr. Guo.¡±

    ¡°I am going to borrow them from you. When¡­ I will return them,¡± Guo Dongyue put down his coat and said seriously, but with hesitation.

    L? Mingyi thought that Guo Dongyue was being polite so he insisted those birds were a small gift to start their friendship.

    On the other hand, Wei Kang would not give up trying to persuade Zhang Zian about his dedication to science.

    L? Mingyi came along to help. All they needed was a tiny bit of DNA from Fina. It shouldn¡¯t be such a big deal.

    Zhang Zian knew that this was a great opportunity to give back to society, but he was still not sure what he should do.

    ¡°Look at this.¡±

    Seeing is believing. Wei Kang knew that applied to most people. He took out his phone and opened up a webpage. All the English contents on the website gave Zhang Zian a headache, but he recognized it was the most famous website: nature.

    ¡°This is an article from Natural Magazine, published on June 19th, 2017. The author is the Eva-Maria Geigl Research Group from the University of Paris VII. Look at this picture.¡± Wei Kang scrolled down the page and erged a picture from the article.

    The picture was clear and clean. There was a woman sitting on a chair where a dark striped cat was eating a fish underneath. Zhang Zian knew that he should¡¯ve paid full attention to the cat, but he couldn¡¯t help but stare at the woman¡¯s smooth legs.

    ¡°This is an ancient mural from 3500 years ago.¡± Wei Kang pointed at the cat, ¡°Look carefully.¡±

    ¡°3500 years ago?¡±

    Zhang Zian was shocked and thought that he had misheard.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. 3500 years ago, which is 1500 B.C.,¡± Wei Kang said affirmatively. ¡°China was in the early stages of the Shang Dynasty at the time. Look, this is part of an ancient mural and it also serves as the most important evidence of cats that originated from Ancient Egypt. However, it is not a decisive evidence. Your cat shares a lot of simrity with the cat in the mural, and they are both very different than the ancient Egyptian cats today.¡±

    Zhang Zian could tell immediately that the cat in the picture waspletely different from modern Egyptian cats. Modern Egyptian cats mostly had spots all over them, but the cat in the picture looked the same as Fina, who had stripes.

    Wei Kang knew that Zhang Zian was an expert in this topic, so he didn¡¯t exin further on the differentiation. He simply exined, ¡°ording to this article published on June 19th, since the beginning, wild cats were trained to be house cats. Until the 14th century A.C., ancient Egyptian cats had striped furs, just like the one in the picture. From the 13th century A.C. onward, their furs gradually turned into spots. That¡¯s why ancient Egyptian cats had stripes while modern Egyptian cats have spots.¡±

    Wei Kang answered Zhang Zian¡¯s unasked questions. He was surprised how clearly Wei Kang could exin aplicated topic like that. Although the information might not be useful in daily life, maybe he could use it and pretend to be knowledgeable someday. Who knows?!

    ¡°Also, your cat has both stripes and spots, but mostly stripes with some spots. The cat in the picture has purely stripes and the modern Egyptian cats have purely spots. In other words, your cat was like the Archaeopteryx for cats. It was a very important transition in the evolution. I would call it a living fossil!¡± Wei Kang got more and more excited as he spoke.

    Wei Kang was not young. Zhang Zian was worried that he would have a heart attack from being so excited.

    Looking closely at the mural, Zhang Zian discovered another detail ¨C modern Egyptian cats had five different colors: silver, bronze, dark grey, ck, and blue/white. However, the cat on the mural looked golden, the same as Fina¡­ or he should say, Fina looked the same as the picture because the cat in the picture lived at least 1500 years before Fina.

    Not only was Zhang Zian curious, but Fina was too, so they both looked closely at the cat in the picture.

    Zhang Zian finally understood how important Fina was to science. Fina could end the hypotheses and arguments on where house cats originated. Also, if Wei Kang could publish an essay using real evidence from Fina, he could be the most popr scientist overnight.

    However, he could not agree without Fina¡¯s permission.

    ¡°Professor Wei, how about I think about it at home?¡± He pushed it back so he had time to discuss with Fina and then make a decision.

    Wei Kang sighed, ¡°That¡¯s fine. May I have your contact?¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡±

    Zhang Zian and Wei Kang exchanged contact information. Right then, Guo Dongyue¡¯s ride arrived. The group and their animals got in the car and headed back to Binhai City.

 Chapter 247: Lessons Learned from Previous Mistakes

    <h4>Chapter 247: Lessons Learned from Previous Mistakes</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Their carpool driver on the way back to the pet shop was a middle-aged man who looked rather calm. He was not as talkative as Jamie. He would answer their questions, but would not say anything else or initiate conversations. It¡¯s clear that he just wanted to drive quietly.

    Guo Dongyue put the bird cage between his legs, closed his eyes and didn¡¯t make a sound. He opened his eyes asionally to observe the status of the two red-headed lovebirds. He could tell that the lovebirds had not ustomed to the bumpy ride, for they were not as calm as they were when in the Phoenix House.

    ¡°Can you drive slower please?¡± Guo Dongyue reminded the driver.

    ¡°Meow meow! Drive faster!¡± Snowy Li was ying the same tricks it used earlier when they headed to the Phoenix House. It took advantage of the inertia when the car turned corners and tried to lean on Fina. Fina just used its ws to push away Snowy Li impatiently.

    Zhang Zian was about to take a nap when his phone rang. It was a text message sent from Wei Kang.

    [Wei Kang]: I have taught so many students, and many of them are older than you. I can see that you have concerns. I don¡¯t know what you are worrying about. Perhaps you might think that I want to take this opportunity to be famous, but I really just want to make some contributions to the academicmunity. If you agree to provide the genes of the original Egyptian cat, I assure that the first authorship of the essay will be yours.

    Zhang Zian did not reply the message right away; instead, he was thinking quietly.

    He remembered a piece of scientific news he had read before.

    In 1999, Doctor L. Lee Grismer published an essay about Chinese cave geckos. It was a rare species of gecko that inhabited Pingxiang, Guangxi Province, China. The scientist believed that by publishing that essay, the local government would pay attention to them and adopt better measures to protect these geckos.

    Unexpectedly, after Grismer¡¯s essay was published, these geckos with peculiar looks became popr rare treasures. The price of one Chinese cave gecko had been raised to USD $2,000 by international buyers. And in 1999, USD $2,000 could buy a lot of things in China.

    Driven by tremendous profits, the people¡¯s craze for Chinese cave geckos was unstoppable. Researchers soon found that the habitats of the geckos as mentioned in the essay ¡°looked like they had been bombed, and every rock had been rummaged searching for geckos¡±. Nowadays in Pingxiang, Guangxi Province, it was really hard to spot a Chinese cave gecko because of their excessive capture in the past.

    Zhang Zian thought about the man on the Wang Haige who wore a wind coat and pretended to know it all. That guy sold rare pets for profits. He also remembered the rich female mentioned by Guo Dongyue. She spentrge amounts of money just to build a ss garden house for an intelligent grey parrot¡­ Whether it was in China or overseas, rich people were rather fric about rare animals.

    Considering the tragic lesson learned from the Chinese cave geckos, if Wei Kang really wrote something like ¡°an original Egyptian cat has been found in Binhai City, and it can help determine the evolution process of house cats¡± in his essay, what would happen?

    The consequences would be unimaginable.

    But for sure, the doorsteps of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop would be trampled, and his entire shop would be crowded by ordinary people and government officials. To hold Fina in their possession, people would promise himrge amounts of money, or government officials would demand he hand Fina over to the country and give him a certificate for his merits¡­ What was worse was that some wicked people might think of horrible means to clear obstacles in order to get Fina.

    Right now, a fewizens had suspected that Fina might be an original Egyptian cat, but they were just guessing, and they would probably forget about it after a while¡­ However, If Wei Kang, a professor of Binhai University published an essay, the resulting situations would be uncontroble.

    Zhang Zian wanted to make his contributions to science, with the premise that his life would not be disturbed, and his safety would not be jeopardized. Obviously, if Wei Kang¡¯s essay was published, his quiet and tranquil life would be gone for good.

    How about asking Wei Kang not to expose where Fina was? That would also be an unrealistic option. A scientific essay must be precise, and the factors in the essay must be provable and repeatable; the authors could not just make up the essay from hearsay without evidence. After Wei Kang¡¯s essay was released, his colleagues in the academicmunity from home and abroad would definitely visit him, and ask him where the original Egyptian cat was found. And Wei Kang must answer their questions honestly, or his academic reputation would bepromised¡ªpeople should not underestimate scientists¡¯ persistence to chase and explore the truth.

    The tragedy that happened to Chinese cave geckos was not an isted incident; in fact, simr situations had urred several times. Every time scientists found out about a new species, the poption of the new species would be reduced significantly because of overcapture. Even if the habitats of the new species were not specified in the essay, as long as there were descriptions of their habits, people who set their minds on hunting them could specte the areas where they lived anyway.

    Zhang Zian turned his head to look at Fina. Fina was squatting on the spot beside him with its head turned to look at the view that disappeared quickly out the window. Fina raised its ws from time to time to push away the annoying Snowy Li. Snowy Li was very persistent and was not dismayed by these frustrations. It circled around Fina, trying every means from every angle to lick Fina¡¯s fur¡­

    Sometimes, when Snowy Li was between Fina and Zhang Zian, it would involuntarily lean against Zhang Zian due to being pushed by Fina. When such situations urred, Snowy Li would stare at Zhang Zian with its big blue eyes fiercely.

    Zhang Zian had to admit that it felt good to touch Snowy Li¡¯s long fur, and its angry look made it even more adorable. A cat lover would just keep touching its fur affectionately¡­

    After thinking seriously for a while, he decided to reply to Wei Kang.

    [Zhang Zian]: Professor Wei, it¡¯s not that I tend to decline people¡¯s requests, or that I have any doubt about your integrity, it¡¯s just that I am concerned about what will happen after the fact that Fina is an original Egyptian cat is exposed to the public. I am just an ordinary person, and I want to live like an ordinary person. I don¡¯t want to live surrounded by the media¡¯s spotlights. So I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t agree to your request¡­ Maybe one day I will say yes, but not right now.

    He pushed the send button, and he received Wei Kang¡¯s message in a quick moment.

    [Wei Kang]: I understand that my request was too abrupt, and that I haven¡¯t taken your feelings into consideration. You are right; if I were you, I probably wouldn¡¯t want to be the focus of media either. I will reflect upon my mistake, and I will try toe up with the perfect n that will work for everyone. Until then, I will not bring up a simr request to you.

    Zhang Zian felt relieved after reading the message. It seemed that Wei Kang was understanding and reasonable, unlike the mad scientists in the movies who would do anything at any cost for the sake of scientific research¡­

    Now that Wei Kang would not disturb him randomly, he felt quite rxed.

    In fact, all the excuses he used above were just his minor concerns. The most important reason he rejected Wei Kang was that he never treated Fina as a cat or a pet. Whether it was Gxy, Fina or Old Time Tea, he would respect their opinions. If they wanted to follow him to the Phoenix House, he would bring them. If they¡¯d rather go back into the game and sleep, he would not force them to do anything else.

    They were not pets, they were Elves who had transcended the boundaries of time and space. They had their own willpowers and longings ¡ª he understood that from Snowy Li¡¯s experience. They were thepanions of their owners, not the subordinates of their owners. They followed their owners because they liked them and identified with them, so, in return, their owners should also award them with candidness and respect.

    Hm?

    He noticed that the scene outside was a little strange. They were not on the same route as when they headed to the Phoenix House.

    ¡°Excuse me, are we on the right track?¡± he asked the driver.

    ¡°Yes, we are.¡± The driver didn¡¯t understand why he asked, and he checked his phone which was used as the navigator to make sure.

    ¡°We are going the right way.¡± Guo Dongyue opened his eyes and said, ¡°We are not heading back to the pet shop yet. I want to take these two parrots to my home first, to see how my mother will react to them, so that I can make sure what I¡¯m doing is not meaningless.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded his head, agreeing to Guo Dongyue. He felt that Guo Dongyue was really thoughtful, and that it was indeed necessary for his mother to see the parrots first.

 Chapter 248: Cosplay

    <h4>Chapter 248: Cosy</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The car slowed down and pulled over at a quiet old street in the south side of the city.

    Zhang Zian and his two cats jumped out of the car.

    Before China imed independence, the south side of Binhai City was the flourishing downtown area. Many of the foreign embassies and offices were set up there. Now, most of the buildings had turned into memorial halls or museums. The street where they stood was next to the old embassy street and it looked exactly the same as it had decades ago. London nes were nted alongside the road. The golden leaves were as big as a palm. Some of them were on the ground as bright as gold.

    Today was a nice day. It was cold and cloudy in the morning but it turned sunny at noon. The sunlight went through the branches andnded on the ground and the top of the car.

    ¡°What a nice day!¡± Zhang Zian murmured to himself, ¡°A good day for a walk.¡±

    He bent down and picked up a full leave on the ground, facing the leave to the sun and clearly saw the veins.

    There wasn¡¯t any tall building on both sides of the street. The tallest buildings were only three -story. Many of them were in western style. Some even had a private garden which looked like the houses in the US. A small fountain, A half-naked goddess status, beautifulndscaping, a nice swing, little angel status with wings on their back, etc.¡­ form an elegant picture.

    Guo Dongyue got out of the car with his bird cage. The driver drove away waving his hand.

    ¡°What are you looking at?¡± Guo Dongyue looked down at his feet when he found that Zhang Zian was looking at him.

    ¡°Nothing,¡± Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders.

    A second ago, upon seeing the beautiful buildings in front of him, Zhang Zian saw how the environment could influence a person. Guo Dongyue grew up in an elegant space, so he turned out to be an outstanding architect and designer. He grew up in a pet shop, so he was always interested in pets.

    The phrase ¡°the environment can form a person¡± was so true.

    It was noon. There weren¡¯t many pedestrians on the street. A few kids who looked like college students were taking pictures. The girls that were modeling were wearing cosy costumes with huge foam weapons in their hands. The girls were sometimes teasing, sometimes elegant.

    Zhang Zian thought that the ¡°photographers¡± looked familiar. They might be the same group that he met in Mt. Hidden Fog. It looked like they had finally found some girl models. The girls were¡­ he wished he could tell if they were pretty, but they were wearing too much makeup.

    It was a nice location for cosy photography. The whole street looked like a royal family¡¯s in the west.

    They were standing in front of a Gothic church. It was a small four-story church with a mixture of red bricks and wood design. There was a tall clock tower on each side of the building. A pure white cross was sitting on top of each clock tower. The church was solemn, dignified and old-fashioned.

    If you took a picture there, you could totally lie to people and say that you have been to Europe.

    Outside of the church, the photography group was having fun. There were not many pedestrians and no one was looking. The only problem was that the girls were wearing sexy clothing that was not suitable for winter. When a cold breeze came through, one girl sneezed and her snot shot straight into the expensive camera¡­

    The ¡°photographer¡± seemed quite green. They couldn¡¯t get any good angles or lighting after a long while. The two who were lifting the reflecting board were totally sore in their arms.

    ¡°There is my home,¡± Guo Dongyue said with one hand holding the cage and the other pointing down a smallne.

    Both walked towards thene, hearing the sound of falling leaves.

    ¡°Wait! Wait, please!¡±

    Zhang Zian looked back and saw a tall guy from the photography group about to cross the road. Seeing that Zhang Zian looked back, he waved and wanted them to wait.

    A big truck drove by with a truck load of leaves. After the truck was gone, the guy ran over and stopped in front of Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Umm, may I borrow your cat?¡± the tall guy said.

    ¡°What?¡± Zhang Zian was surprised. ¡°Borrow my cat?¡±

    ¡°Yup, our group was taking pictures and the cosy girls thought that your cat was very pretty, so we would like to borrow it.¡± The tall guy pointed at their group.

    They had stopped taking photos and were all looking in his direction. The cosy girls were wrapped in a thick coat and curled up together.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you already have everything you need for photo shooting?¡± he asked.

    The tall guy said, ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you get a cat ready?¡±

    The tall guy was speechless, ¡°We didn¡¯t n on that, but the cosy girls saw your cat and came up with the idea.¡±

    ¡°I am sorry, but I can¡¯t do that,¡± Zhang Zian was straightforward.

    ¡°Why?¡± the tall guy asked. He apparently hadn¡¯t expected rejection.

    ¡°It is none of my business that you want to make these girls happy,¡± Zhang Zian knew exactly what the tall guy wanted. This so-called photography group was in fact a tool to get girls. As a damn single guy, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t standing the idea of assisting other guys in getting girls.

    Honesty sometimes hurt the most.

    The tall guy rubbed his head and looked at his friends. Obviously, his friends didn¡¯t expect rejection either so they waved at him and rushed him to get the cats over.

    He pulled out his cell phone and asked Zhang Zian quietly, ¡°How about I rent it from you? Just for one day¡­ No¡­ How much is rent for half a day?¡±

    Now Zhang Zian was just speechless. That guy was trying everything he could to make the girls happy.

    ¡°I am sorry, but we are in a rush. I can¡¯t stay here with you.¡± He rejected the tall guy again not because he was jealous, but because he wanted to save the girls from this guy.

    ¡°Wait!¡± The tall guy stopped them again, ¡°You may not know. The photos we take here will be sent to our university¡¯s disy and they will be shown online.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand, ¡°So?¡±

    ¡°Think about it, if our pictures got a prize in this show, our cosy girls will be popr online. It will be an honor for your cats too.¡±

    Zhang Zian was again speechless. He didn¡¯t understand why the tall guy was so confident about his offer.

 Chapter 249: Never Lend My Wife or Cats

    <h4>Chapter 249: Never Lend My Wife or Cats</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to act like a snob, so he observed the students closely. Across the road stood some students from a photography club. Though they had single-lens reflex cameras, they didn¡¯t look like professional photographers. Zhang Zian could see that they were just shooting photos for fun.

    ¡°Are you sure cosy photos can win awards in the photographic exhibition at your school?¡± Zhang Zian doubted.

    ¡°Why not?¡± asked the tall guy.

    ¡°From my experience, the judges on a school-level photographic exhibition would be teachers or administrative staff, and I don¡¯t think they will give awards to cosy photos. Even if they agree to do so, there¡¯s no way the principal will agree.¡± Zhang Zian advised them as if he was a wise senior.

    ¡°What you said might be true, but we will try our best,¡± said the tall guy firmly.

    Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders, ¡°All right, good luck to you then. But leave my cats alone ¡ª they are out of your league.¡±

    Zhang Zian was about to turn around and leave when the tall guy became panicked. He made his move and stopped Zhang Zian once again.

    ¡°You can leave, but let your cats stay.¡±

    Zhang Zian was surprised. Was this guy going to rob him of his cats in broad daylight? But he was so slim and weak like a bamboo pole that even Little Celery could have beaten him down, not to mention Zhang Zian, who had been practicing Kung Fu with Old Time Tea. Zhang Zianughed, ¡°You got a problem?¡±

    ¡°No¡­¡± The tall schoolboy stepped back and looked at hispanions nervously. He begged Zhang Zian with bitter smile,¡±Help me out please, I will be very embarrassed if I go back with nothing.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, but I will never lend my wife nor my cats to anybody,¡± said Zhang Zian solemnly, like he was going to die as a martyr.

    Guo Dongyue was speechless upon hearing this, and heined about Zhang Zian inside his heart, ¡°You sound very decisive and dominating, but listen to what you just said. You need to actually have a wife before you can talk about the issue of lending.¡±

    The tall schoolboy didn¡¯t expect that Zhang Zian would turn him down so decisively.

    ¡°Now, excuse me.¡± Zhang Zian walked past the schoolboy, and continued walking towards the alley.

    Just then, someone pulled at the leg of his pants with great strength. Thanks to his improving reaction speed aftermencing Kung Fu training with Old Time Tea, he stopped walking in time. Otherwise, his pants might have been torn off.

    ¡°Hey, if you have something to say, say it to my face; there¡¯s no need to pull my pants!¡± said Zhang Zian. He turned around only to find that the tall schoolboy was three or four steps away from him. The schoolboy didn¡¯t follow him, and even if the boy was tall and had long arms, he could never have reached Zhang Zian to pull at his pants from that distance.

    Zhang Zian looked down, and his eyes met a pair of big blue eyes¡ªit was Snowy Li who had pulled his pants.

    ¡°Meow! Meow! I would like to y with them,¡± said Snowy Li excitedly. It licked its lips, and kept staring at the bare thighs of the schoolgirls in costumes.

    Of course, in the eyes of Guo Dongyue and the tall schoolboy, Snowy Li was just using its ws to hook Zhang Zian¡¯s pants, and made some ¡°meowing¡± sound.

    Zhang Zian found Snowy Li both funny and annoying. He said to himself, ¡°What a lecherous cat! Can¡¯t behave itself when seeing women!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with this cat?¡± The tall schoolboy squatted down and gazed at Snowy Li curiously, trying to reach out his hand to touch its head.

    ¡°Meow!¡± Snowy Li used its ws to scratch him.

    The tall schoolboy was scared and withdrew his hand. ¡°What a fierce cat.¡±

    ¡°It only appears fierce in front of men.¡± Zhang Zian said something that the tall schoolboy couldn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, we¡¯d better get going.¡± Guo Dongyue, who usually was calm, seemed a little bit impatient. After getting out of the taxi, he had been covering the bird cage with his jacket, and he only wore a woolen sweater. Luckily, it was in the middle of the day, and the sun was quite strong, so he didn¡¯t feel cold. But the red-headed lovebirds were tropical birds, so he was afraid that they might catch a cold.

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Zhang Zian nodded and said to Snowy Li, ¡°If you want to y, we cane back after we finish our business.¡±

    ¡°Pfft.¡± Snowy Li pursed its lips and took back its ws. It seemed that it had agreed.

    ¡°How long you will be shooting here?¡± Zhang Zian asked the tall guy.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± The tall guy looked at him and Snowy Li. ¡°We are going to have lunch now, but we might spend the whole afternoon here, and then after we finish shooting, we will go to the KTV tonight.¡±

    ¡°Okay. We need to get along and run some errands. After we finish our business, if you¡¯re still here, I can cooperate with you to take some photos.¡± Zhang Zian pointed to Snowy Li and said, ¡°But this cat only.¡± Then he pointed to Fina and said, ¡°Not that one.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± The tall guy was not satisfied with Zhang Zian¡¯s arrangement. ¡°But we¡¯d prefer that one. That cat seems more obedient, unlike this white cat, who looks so fierce¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you blind?¡± Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help butin. ¡°You think that cat is obedient?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it?¡± The tall guy was confused.

    In the schoolboy¡¯s eyes, the golden cat was much more obedient than the fierce-looking white cat.

    After Fina got out from the taxi, it didn¡¯t pay attention to the conversation between Zhang Zian and the tall guy. It just wandered leisurely above the gold, fallen leaves on the ground, and enjoyed the autumn wind when it blew through Its golden fur. Fina raised Its w, and caught the leaf of a phoenix tree that had flown in front of Its face. It did what Zhang Zian did before: It raised the leaf above Its head, and narrowed Its eyes to observe the leaf against the sun. It was Fina¡¯s very elegant and dignified temperament that had attracted the attention of the members of the photography club and the cosyers.

    Zhang Zian understood that Fina¡¯s performance could create confusion to people who saw It for the first time. But, undoubtedly, that perfect image would copse if they intended to get closer to Fina. From a distance, people would feel that Fina was just so perfect, with Its color, size, temperament, and manners¡­ Even Itszy movements and habit of narrowing Its eyes to observe people were fascinating. However, if people wanted to approach It, y with It, orb Its fur likebing the fur of an ordinary cat¡­that would be a mission impossible.

    Counting on Fina to stoop to cooperate with their photoshoot was just like hoping the sun would rise from the west.

    Xiao Yan oncemented that Fina was an arrogant and fragile cat. Nonsense! Fina was pure arrogance, never a fragile cat.

    Zhang Zian wasining inside his heart, but he didn¡¯t dare to say these things in front of Fina¡¯s face.

    ¡°Yes, yes, it is kind of an obedient cat,¡± Zhang Zian consented with the tall guy reluctantly, ¡°but it doesn¡¯t like being on intimate terms with humans. If you really want to shoot photos, I can let you take photos of this white cat¡­ final offer.¡±

    The tall guy felt Zhang Zian¡¯s pity, but he didn¡¯t want to give up. ¡°Can you let me try taking photos with the golden cat?¡±

    ¡°No way; don¡¯t even think about it.¡± Zhang Zian declined him for the sake of the boy¡¯s safety.

    ¡°Okay, I guess it would be nice to shoot photos with this white cat. I think it would look quite pretty.¡± The tall guy had to ept what he got. ¡°Add me on WeChat, and we will contact you after we finish lunch ande back¡­ Don¡¯t slip away and note back!¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t,¡± said Zhang Zian seriously. He took out his phone, and showed his QR code to the tall guy.

    The tall schoolboy thought that Zhang Zian was going to add him as a friend, but after scanning the code, he found that it was a QR code for making payment.

    ¡°What is that supposed to mean?¡± he said in dismay.

    Zhang Zian answered righteously, ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to rent my cat? You pay RMB 200 for the rental fee of one afternoon, plus a fee for the right to portrait. It¡¯s a great deal.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±ined the tall schoolboy. ¡°I have to pay a fee for the right to portrait? I¡¯m shooting photos for your cat, not you.¡±

    ¡°Take it or leave it.¡± Zhang Zian pretended like he was leaving.

    ¡°¡­ 100 Yuan,¡± bargained the schoolboy.

    ¡°150.¡±

    ¡°Deal.¡±

    They both got what they wanted. It was a win-win!

 Chapter 250: The Tall, Wealthy and Handsome Guy

    <h4>Chapter 250: The Tall, Wealthy and Handsome Guy</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Guo Dongyue couldn¡¯t believe that Zhang Zian and the tall guy could spend so much time negotiating for 50 Yuan. They finally agreed to a lease price of 150 Yuan.

    After the payment, the tall guy introduced himself. ¡°My name is Luo Qingyu, president of the photography group at Binhai University.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded and said, ¡°My Wechat ID is my name.¡±

    Luo Qingyue looked at his cellphone, ¡°Who is ¡®The Hottie¡¯?¡±

    ¡°It is me.¡± Zhang Zian pointed at himself. ¡°Okay. I will see youter. Of course, if you guys leave early, I am not going to refund you.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. We won¡¯t leave until we have some good photos,¡± Luo Qingyu promised, ¡°See youter!¡±

    He was about to cross the road and stopped after taking a few steps. He turned around to look at Zhang Zian confusedly, ¡°Have I seen you somewhere?¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head, ¡°Nope. You must be thinking of someone else. Also, the way you broke the ice wasn¡¯t cool.¡±

    ¡°No! I am sure I have met you before!¡± Luo Qingyu thought hard, ¡°Your face¡­¡±

    ¡°What about my face? Too handsome?¡± Zhang Zian rubbed his chin.

    ¡°I remember!¡± Luo Qingyu patted his own head and pointed at Zhang Zian, ¡°I met you at Mt. Hidden Fog. You were at the tea house with a pretty girl!¡±

    The point was that Zhang Zian was with a pretty girl.

    Zhang Zian knew he was talking about Snowy. He didn¡¯t want to exin, so he asked, ¡°So?¡±

    ¡°Are you the legendary tall, wealthy and handsome guy?¡± Luo Qingyu thought so because that tea house was out of normal people¡¯s reach. Zhang Zian had gone in, had tea and came out without looking broke. That was not what a normal person could do¡­ However, this didn¡¯t seem right because he had just spent thirty minutes arguing over 50 Yuan.

    ¡°Do I look like the legendary tall, wealthy and handsome guy?¡± Zhang Zian smiled and said, ¡°I am not. But together, we three can form a legendary tall, wealthy and handsome guy group.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Luo Qingyu was confused.

    Zhang Zian pointed at him and gestured up and down, ¡°You are tall.¡±

    Then he pointed at Guo Dongyue¡¯s luxurious coat, ¡°He is rich.¡±

    Finally, he pointed at his own face, ¡°I am handsome.¡±

    Both Luo Qingyu and Guo Dongyue were speechless.

    They both thought that they had never met such a thick-skinned guy like Zhang Zian¡­

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go. We are in a rush.¡± Zhang Zian walked away with Guo Dongyue. Fina followed behind them slowly because it loved the sun. After getting onto thene, there was barely any sun. Snowy Li was too interested in the cosy girls so it kept looking back as it followed the group.

    It was too bad that Luo Qingyu couldn¡¯t borrow the golden cat. However, he knew that the girls would be happy with the white cat. Honestly, the white cat may not look as elegant and ssy as the golden cat, but it was still very pretty. The snow-white long fur and the pink ears would win over the girls¡¯ hearts.

    Zhang Zian and Guo Dongyue proceeded onto thene. Thene was surrounded with older buildings that were built in the 80s or 90s. Some looked even older than that. They saw a London ne tree every so often, so there were lots of leavesying around on the ground.

    Some senior citizens brought chairs from inside their homes and were sitting on the roadside. Some were ying Chinese checkers and some were just chatting. From time to time, someone would yell from one of the buildings, ¡°Honey! Lunch is ready! Are youing?¡± An older gentleman would get up and leave the checkers game and the remaining guys would make fun of him saying things like, ¡°You are just too scared to lose!¡± or ¡°What a henpecked husband!¡±

    You could hear the noise of the kitchen where food was being prepared. The smell of food came out from the buildings. Zhang Zian¡¯s belly was growling. He looked down and saw that Fina¡¯s ear moved and it gave him a dirty look. Snowy Li was making faces at him.

    He rubbed his belly and thought to himself, ¡°Am I the only one who is hungry?! Why are you guys looking at me like that?¡±

    Guo Dongyue noticed that Zhang Zian was ncing at the old residential building, so he exined, ¡°My mom didn¡¯t want to move.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded.

    Old people loved old ces. Some people had lived there for most of their lives and were very familiar with the neighborhood. So, they werefortable there, although the buildings were dated and inconvenient. Most people wouldn¡¯t agree to move to a new ce at that age. Even if they agreed to move, they didn¡¯t do it for themselves, but for the convenience of staying with their kids.

    Guo Dongyue¡¯s mom had to be in the same boat. Although she was quiet, she had to have a few friends after living there all these years.

    ¡°There is an elementary school ahead,¡± Guo Dongyue pointed in a different direction and said. ¡°I went there when I was a little boy, but it is abandoned now.¡±

    A picture came to Zhang Zian¡¯s mind: Guo Dongyue¡¯s mom was holding his little hand. They both walked through the leaves towards the school. The little Guo Dongyue opened his eyes and looked at the magnificent buildings day after day¡­ Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t imagine how big of an influence these buildings had towards Guo Dongyue¡¯s profession as well as in his personal life. Using the poprnguage of today, it would be that ¡°the gear of life started from there.¡±

    Undoubtedly, Guo Dongyue chose to be an architect because of some reason. Zhang Zian thought that the reasons were thisne, the elegant atmosphere and the London nes.

    Zhang Zian knew that the most precious things to Guo Dongyue¡¯s mom and the other senior residents in the neighborhood were not only the environment, but also something deeper ¨C the memories of raising their kids, fun times with family and the romantic moments shared with their spouse.

    It was sad that such precious memories were fading from Guo Dongyue¡¯s mom¡¯s brain, little by little.

    Guo Dongyue was leading the way. Zhang Zian slowed down and started staring at this man with a cage in his hand. He could feel the loneliness and sadness from his shadow. He had a feeling that the birds or any other pets would bring color and happiness to his mom¡¯s life. She needed it.

 Chapter 251: Whiskers

    <h4>Chapter 251: Whiskers</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The alley was not long, and thanks to the picturesque scenery in it, though no one talked, they didn¡¯t feel bored.

    Zhang Zian saw a middle-aged man with whiskers holding a small camera trying to find the best angles to shoot a phoenix tree. Zhang Zian did not understand photography, but he felt that the middle-aged man was much more professional than those students of the photography club who just showed off their high-end equipment. He followed the angles of the middle-aged man¡¯s camera and looked up.

    Hm? Among the branches of the phoenix tree, shrouded by sparse yellow leaves, there was a grey-ck little squirrel, tilting its big tail and staring at Fina and Snowy Li vigntly. This squirrel was probably a family pet raised by a child that ran away for some reason or was released back into nature since it didn¡¯t seem to be afraid of people, but was afraid of cats.

    Fina raised its eyes and spent half a second to nce at the squirrel, then began to yawn boringly. Snowy Li wasn¡¯t interested in catching the squirrel either. With its short legs and long fur, Snowy Li might have difficulty climbing trees ¡ª its long fur would probably get caught on tree bark or branches in no time.

    The middle-aged whiskered man was focused on thepositions of his pictures and capturing the squirrel¡¯s movements and had not noticed Zhang Zian and Guo Dongyue passing by. His concentration and dedication was way better than that of the rookies from the photography club who spotted Zhang Zian with his cats from across the road.

    When they walked past the middle-aged man with whiskers, he finally noticed Zhang Zian¡¯s two cats. He froze for a moment, then quickly squatted down on the ground, flipped the screen of the camera 90 degrees upward, and included Zhang Zian, Guo Dongyue and the two cats in his lens at an angle parallel to the ground.

    He pressed the shutter quickly a few times, then stood up to observe the shots. Through the preview on the 3-inch LCD screen, he found that this unexpected photo had a perfect blurring effect, and with a little bit of photoshop, it could be a great photo ¡ª the people were in the back of the photo, while the cats were in the front, plus the photo was shot at a low angle, so the cats seemed very big and clear in the photo. The falling leaves around the cats were frozen in the photo. Better still, the white cat had turned its head and was looking at the camera. The lighting was also perfect, which was bright and soft.

    ¡°Okay, I can call it a day now.¡± The whiskered man turned off his camera, satisfied, stuffed it into his pocket, and walked away whistling like a little boy who had got a new toy.

    Zhang Zian and Guo Dongyue did not know what had happened behind their backs, nor did they know that they had inadvertently be the background for two cats. Though Snowy Li saw the man, it was not clear to it what the small ck block in that whiskered-man¡¯s hands was for, and because of its ingrained disgust towards men, it had no interest in finding out what the small ck block was for.

    When they had walked halfway through the alley, Zhang Zian could vaguely see the deserted kindergarten on the other side of the alley. There were only rusty slides, swings, and teeter-totters in the kindergarten. No people were seen, noughter was heard, and it might be demolished one day.

    ¡°This way.¡± Guo Dongyue pointed to the side of the kindergarten.

    A three-story residential building appeared in front of them; there were no other buildings nearby. If there was anything good about this ce, quietness might be counted as its only merit. Zhang Zian looked up and saw that the brick wall of this old residential building appeared ck and red due to its being exposed to wind and rain for years. Only a few green vines were still hanging on the wire mesh outside the first story and gently swayed in the wind. Most of the residents of the building probably had moved away, since the windows and doors on the balconies of many households had been removed, and he could see directly into the dark rooms.

    Just then, a middle-aged woman who seemed to be in her 40s walked out from the building, carrying garbage bags in her hands. She was probably going to throw out garbage. The moment she saw Guo Dongyue, she smiled immediately. ¡°Xiao Yue, you are back. Hurry, let¡¯s go inside. Your mom seems well today; she¡¯s preparing to cook.¡±

    Guo Dongyue frowned, ¡°Cook?¡±

    Zhang Zian understood why he was worried. Guo Dongyue was afraid that his mother might encounter danger while cooking, such as forgetting that she was boiling water, or that she was in the middle of cooking some dishes in the hot frying pan.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ve been watching out for her, she will be fine. Listen to your Aunt Bai, it¡¯s good for your mother to move around. Just like what people say, life lies in movement.¡±

    Guo Dongyue was not happy, but he still smiled, and introduced Zhang Zian and Aunt Bai to each other.

    ¡°Aunt Bai, this is my¡­friend, he¡¯s called Zhang Zian.¡± He said to Zhang Zian, ¡°This is my neighbor who lives upstairs, Aunt Bai. Since it¡¯s convenient that we live so close, I hire Aunt Bai to help take care of my mom.¡±

    He specifically stressed the ¡°hire¡± part.

    Zhang Zian was not a na?ve college student anymore, and he had understood the implied message in Guo Dongyue¡¯s words. It seemed that Guo Dongyue was not satisfied with Aunt Bai¡¯s caring for his mother, but for some reason, he had not told Aunt Bai.

    Zhang Zian recalled that Guo Dongyue had told him that his mother had be very moody after she got sick. One time, she thought the nanny was a burr and even called the police.

    ¡°Oh, a friend of Xiao Yue? That¡¯s pretty unusual.¡± Aunt Bai threw the garbage into the designated garbage can, smiled, approached Zhang Zian, and observed him.

    ¡°Xiao Yue has been a loner since he was a child, and he had few friends. Lucky for him, he¡¯s very talented. He can go study abroad and earn lots of money, so he can be particr when ites to choosing friends. You are called Zhang Zian, right? Are you his colleague or ssmate? ¡± asked Aunt Bai, who sounded quite friendly.

    ¡°I¡¯m not his colleague, nor his ssmate,¡± replied Zhang Zian, ¡°I¡¯m actually a pet shop owner.¡±

    ¡°Pet shop owner?¡± Aunt Bai¡¯s smile froze ¡ª how did an architecte to know a pet shop owner?

    ¡°Is it the kind of pet shop that I¡¯m thinking of?¡± she asked tentatively.

    Zhang Zian smiled, ¡°Most pet shops are about the same.¡±

    Aunt Bai gasped. She looked at Zhang Zian, then looked at Guo Dongyue. She still couldn¡¯t figure out why a famous architect would have befriended with a pet shop owner.

    Zhang Zian wanted to remind her not to gasp in such a cold weather, or she might get an upset stomach.

    ¡°Can I call you Xiao Zhang, since you are Xiao Yue¡¯s friend?¡± asked Aunt Bai, who was trying to be friendly with Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Sure, it¡¯s up to you.¡±

    If he was talking to someone his age, Zhang Zian would have certainly added, ¡°But I would prefer you to call me the Hottie Manager.¡± But he was talking to a middle-aged woman, and those words would definitely cause embarrassment and misunderstanding.

    Guo Dongyue coughed and said, ¡°Let ¡®s go into the house, it¡¯s cold outside.¡±

    ¡°Right, right. My bad. Come on, let¡¯s go inside.¡± Aunt Bai greeted them warmly, ¡°My elder sister-inw would be so happy to see guests visiting.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for hosting us,¡± said Zhang Zian politely.

    ¡°Hm? These two cats¡­¡± Aunt Bai finally noticed the presence of Fina and Snowy Li.

 Chapter 252: There Is No Choice

    <h4>Chapter 252: There Is No Choice</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Wow! These cats are so pretty!¡±

    Aunt Bai bent down, rubbing her thumb against her index finger quickly as if she was counting money, ¡°Mimi! Mimi!¡±

    Fina was annoyed and turned around as if it was saying, ¡°Shut up! Also, there is no money in your hand. I am not stupid!¡±

    Zhang Zian realized that the older generations liked to call cats ¡°Mimi.¡± He wasn¡¯t sure where that was from. Was it from a movie or TV show?

    ¡°Ha-ha, this cat is smart!¡± Aunt Bai took her hand back when Fina turned its back to her.

    Snowy Li started spitting at Aunt Bai inint.

    ¡°Now I believe that you own a pet store,¡± Aunt Bai smiled. ¡°If you didn¡¯t have a pet store, how could you find beautiful cats like that? Honestly, these are the prettiest cats that I have ever seen in my life, including all the street cats and my friends¡¯ cats. And they are wicked smart!¡±

    Zhang Zian was humble, ¡°That is ttering. I got them by coincidence.¡±

    ¡°Hey, are you selling these cats? My niece loves cats.¡± She looked at Fina and Snowy Li alternatively as if she was trying to pick one.

    ¡°These two are not for sale.¡± Zhang Zian would not turn down an interested customer, so he said, ¡°However, if you want to get a cat, you cane pick one at my store. I have many other cats.¡±

    ¡°Really? Are they as pretty as these two?¡± she asked longingly.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Zhang Zian paused and said in a low voice, ¡°You don¡¯t understand pets. For cats, personality is far more important. Look at these two. Yes, they are pretty, but they are also a pain in the neck. They are cold-hearted. Look for yourself.¡±

    This was the first time Aunt Bai had heard ament like that. She then looked at the cats closely¡­ It was true! The golden cat was prideful and cold, as if it was too good for anything. The white cat was a bit nicer, but it didn¡¯t seem to be interested in people. All it did was walk around the golden cat and try to get its attention.

    Zhang Zian continued, ¡°See? They are like two kings in your home. People who know about pets would not buy them because of their personalities. I have friendlier cats in the store. I can leave you my address so you cane take a look sometime.¡±

    ¡°Sure! Please leave your address! I will take my niece there to check it out. I will have to wait though, because I have to take care of Dongyue¡¯s mom these days. I don¡¯t have the time,¡± Aunt Bai said.

    ¡°That is fine. I will be there. You cer. My store is about to go through a renovation anyways. I will give you a nice discount.¡± Zhang Zian then asked, ¡°Oh, how old is your niece? Is she pretty?¡±

    Aunt Bai was speechless.

    Zhang Zian rified, ¡°I mean, you look really good for your age. There are not any wrinkles on your face. I bet it is a gic thing and was wondering if you niece looks like you.¡±

    Every woman loved to be praised about her beauty ¡ª Aunt Bai was no exception. Sheughed and rubbed her face, ¡°Yo, you are so sweet. You are right. Many people don¡¯t think I look like 52 years old. Honestly, I wouldn¡¯t be able to take care of Dongyue¡¯s mom if I wasn¡¯t healthy and strong enough.¡±

    Wow, Aunt Bai revealed more information than he really wanted to know.

    He turned around to look at Guo Dongyue. He didn¡¯t say anything back but sorrow showed on his face.

    Zhang Zian looked closer at Aunt Bai¡¯s face.

    He talked without really thinking a second ago, but now he understood what was going on.

    Aunt Bai was right. She looked really good for ady that was well past 50 years old. It might be gics, or she was really good at keeping up with herself. She looked at least 10 years younger.

    Zhang Zian thought about Guo Dongyue¡¯s mom and understood immediately.

    Guo Dongyue¡¯s mom could still recognize Aunt Bai, so she let Aunt Bai take care of her.

    In this old residential building¡­

    Aunt Bai had been an old neighbor for decades¡­

    She looked pretty much the same all these years¡­

    Although Guo Dongyue didn¡¯t like her, he couldn¡¯t do anything different. In his mom¡¯s mind, Aunt Bai was irreceable. She was someone she could trust. He could not be that person because he had changed dramatically in the way he looked since he was young.

    Zhang Zian sighed in his heart. On one hand, he sympathized with Guo Dongyue. On the other hand, although Aunt Bai was not perfect, she was better than nothing. Guo¡¯s mom really needed a person to take care of her. Frankly, Aunt Bai was no professional nurse so she didn¡¯t really care about how she did her job. All she cared about was making some easy extra money.

    Guo Dongyue nodded with aplicated expression. Zhang Zian knew his guess was correct. Guo Dongyue¡¯s mom used to be the nicestdy in the world. Since she got dementia, she turned suspicious and mean. Only old friends could give her a sense of security. Most of the original residents had moved out of the old building. Some new residents were only tenants. Excluding the guys and the olddies, there was not much of a choice ¨C Aunt Bai was one of the very few who met all the criteria.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get up there. We have been talking down here for a while. I worry about my mom.¡± He rushed them to go up.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! Let¡¯s go upstairs then,¡± Aunt Bai smiled, carelessly. She waved at Zhang Zian and then walked down the hallway.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Guo Dongyue followed with the cage in his hand.

    Zhang Zian was thest one. He snapped his fingers so Fina and Snowy Li would go with him.

    It was a dated residential building. The hallway was tiny. Arge appliance or piece of furniture could block the whole hallway. Zhang Zian followed Aunt Bai and Guo Dongyue and saw that kids¡¯ drawings were all over the walls.

    ¡°She lives upstairs.¡± Aunt Bai was in the front. As she walked up the staircase, she reminded, ¡°Watch your steps. The stairway is dark.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Thank you,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    The design of the old building was inconvenient for senior citizens, kids and pets to walk up and down because the stairs were built too high.

    Looking at the stairs, Snowy Li frowned, ¡°Meow! How annoying! Can¡¯t we go somewhere with elevators? My fur is going to get dirty now.¡±

 Chapter 253: The Unemployed Cat

    <h4>Chapter 253: The Unemployed Cat</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Aunt Bai and Guo Dongyue had gone upstairs, leaving Zhang Zian and his two cats behind.

    The steps were slightly higher than usual, but they weren¡¯t a problem for Fina. In fact, no steps would be obstacles for Fina. It raised its legs high,nded on step after step dexterously, and went upstairs quickly.

    Snowy Li, with its short legs, long fur, and poor athletic abilities, was having a big headache. It didn¡¯t want to make its fur dirty, but it didn¡¯t want to stay outside by itself either. Now that everyone had gone upstairs, Snowy Li became quite nervous, but it could do nothing.

    Zhang Zian was halfway up the stairs when he turned around and saw Snowy Li in vexation. He offered, ¡°You want me to carry you up there?¡±

    ¡°Pfft! Don¡¯t you touch me, you jerk!¡± spat Snowy Li decisively.

    ¡°All right, whatever.¡± Zhang Zian shrugged and went upstairs by himself.

    Snowy Li quickly asked Fina for help, ¡°Your Majesty, could you please help me out? The steps are too high, and I can¡¯t climb up there!¡±

    Fina looked down at the stairs and felt quite confused. They were just a few steps, what was so difficult about climbing up them? ¡°How exactly do you want me to help?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, I would like to stay on your back while you are climbing the stairs,¡± said Snowy Li sheepishly.

    Fina declined before Snowy Li finished its sentence, ¡°Nope. Think of another way.¡± Then Fina jumped gently upward another step, and disappeared from Snowy Li¡¯s vision in no time.

    ¡°Purr! Purr!¡± Snowy Li was so nervous that it was about to cry. There was so much dust on the steps. Even when it really made it up the stairs, its white fur would be grey fur¡­ What¡¯s worse, it would be so embarrassed if its fur was half white and half grey.

    Guo Dongyue¡¯s house was on the second floor. Aunt Bai took out the keys to open the door. After she pushed open the door and they were about to go inside, Zhang Zian arrived and held the door.

    ¡°Aunt Bai, do you have any empty boxes or baskets? Can I borrow one?¡±

    Aunt Bai stayed still, ¡°Yes, we have some, but you need them for¡­?¡±

    Zhang Zian pursed his lips and looked towards downstairs, ¡°It¡¯s my grumpy cat. It doesn¡¯t want me to hold it and bring it upstairs, and it will scratch me if I try to touch it. So, I¡¯m going to bring it up by putting it in the basket.¡±

    ¡°Wow, such an ill-tempered cat.¡± Hearing this, Aunt Bai gave up the idea of buying these two cats, ¡°Wait a minute, I¡¯m going to find one for you.¡±

    After the door was open, Guo Dongyue went in first, and Zhang Zian waited outside for half a minute before Aunt Bai came out holding a bamboo basket she used for buying groceries, ¡°How about this one? I¡¯m not sure whether it¡¯s big enough for your cat.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at the basket, ¡°Yes, I think it will be fine. My cat just looks big, when in fact, its fur takes up half of its size. So, this basket will work. Why don¡¯t you go into the house first, I¡¯ll be right back.¡±

    He went down the stairs quickly, only to find that Snowy Li was crying bitterly. Its big blue eyes were filled with tears, and its long fur was not tilted upwards like usual, but instead drooped in dismay.

    ¡°You jerk! Why do youe back? To mock me?¡± Snowy Li pretended to look fierce, but its fur was not tilted upwards, so its ears were not in the shape of a ne, which indicated that while it might look tough, it was fearful inside.

    Zhang Zian was amused by Snowy Li. It was so concerned about its reputation, even trying to look tough during this difficult time.

    He patted the bamboo basket and put it in front of Snowy Li.

    ¡°What do you want?¡± The ingrained curiosity of a cat made Snowy Li forgot about its grievance temporarily. Snowy Li looked inside the basket, only to find that it was empty.

    Zhang Zian pointed to the empty basket, ¡°Jump inside the basket, and I¡¯ll carry the basket to bring you upstairs, deal?¡±

    Snowy Li raised its head and stared at him surprisingly, as if trying to figure out his true purpose.

    ¡°Is this some kind of trap?¡± Snowy Li asked doubtfully. ¡°Are you trying to sell me after I go in there? Don¡¯t even think about that in your life!¡±

    Zhang Zian thought to himself, ¡°Though Lu Xun had said, ¡®I am always willing to think the worst of my fellow-countrymen¡¯, you don¡¯t have to always think the worst of every man!¡±

    He was about to leave Snowy Li there and go upstairs by himself. Suddenly, he stopped as if he had recalled something. He looked down at the steps.

    How did Snowy Li die in Chin Ping Mei?

    He froze.

    If he remembered it correctly, Snowy Li was dropped to death on steps by Xi Menqing.

    Dropped to death on steps¡­

    Though he didn¡¯t know what the steps were like in the novel, steps in the world might look very much the same.

    He turned his face casually, looked at Snowy Li from the corners of his eyes.

    Snowy Li was tightly pursing its lips, tilting its head to look at the autumn scenery outside the corridor, trying not to let its tears fall.

    That was why Snowy Li¡­

    Zhang Zian was confused before: he knew that Fina was germaphobic, but he didn¡¯t know that Snowy Li cared so much about cleanliness. When he met Snowy Li for the first time, it was hiding in the underground storage room of the Yuanhua Building, and it had fun ying there. That storage room was anything but clean ¡ª there was dust everywhere, with thick spider webs on every corner of the ceiling.

    Snowy Li was not afraid of its fur would get dirty¡ªthough it believed that was the reason. But in fact, it was the steps that Snowy Li hated.

    Zhang Zian withdrew his feet that were stepping upward. He snapped his fingers to attract Snowy Li¡¯s attention, ¡°Hey, are youing in or not? Fina is waiting for you upstairs.¡±

    Snowy Li nced at him quickly, but did not look straight forward to his eyes, ¡°Why are you still here?¡±

    ¡°Why would I leave you?¡± He felt a little bit guilty that he almost left without it.

    ¡°Because you are a jerk!¡± Snowy Li looked fierce, but was talking in a nasal voice. Though it was trying to cover its nasal voice, Zhang Zian had heard it.

    ¡°All right, if I go upstairs, where will you go?¡± Zhang Zian did not leave, instead, he squatted down, putting his shoulders against his knees, resting his chin on his hands and looked at Snowy Li.

    ¡°I have plenty ces to go!¡± Snowy Li was talking tough again, and to show that it was not bluffing, it started to go out from the corridor.

    ¡°You don¡¯t like Fina anymore?¡± Zhang Zian shouted from behind.

    Hearing the name of Fina, Snowy Li¡¯s movements froze for a moment. It didn¡¯t turn its head, and its fur was gently trembling, though there was no wind in the corridor.

    ¡°Yes, I do, and I will always like Fina. But My Majesty doesn¡¯t like me.¡± Its nasal voice got more severe.

    ¡°How do you know Fina doesn¡¯t like you?¡± asked Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Because¡­because¡­.¡± Snowy Li thought it would be an easy question to answer, because Fina could dislike anyone for no reason. But Snowy Li was reluctant to ept that. It was good looking and it was faithful to Fina, so who could be a better servant than it was? Why would Majesty Fina not like it?

    Zhang Zian chuckled, ¡°So you are not sure of the reasons either. You just made that judgement from your instincts, and now you are leaving Fina out of a momentary impulse.¡±

    ¡°So what? I will go wherever I want to go and no one can stop me.¡± Snowy Li was provoked by Zhang Zian¡¯s words and turned around its head suddenly, with tear stains on the corners of its eyes.

    ¡°Where exactly are you going?¡± Zhang Zian asked again, ¡°You¡¯ve got to have a destination, right? Or are you going to wander about like an unemployed cat?¡±

    Snowy Li could not keep a straight face anymore.

    ¡°Puff!¡±

    Snowy Li was amused by Zhang Zian, but then showed its teeth trying to look fierce.

    ¡°What the hell is an unemployed cat?¡±

 Chapter 254: In Search of True Love

    <h4>Chapter 254: In Search of True Love</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was close.

    If Zhang Zian hade down just a bitter, Snowy Li might¡¯ve been gone.

    Snowy Li was serious about it. It left its first owner. Maybe it was time for the second one? It knew that leaving Fina was going to break its heart, but it had no choice.

    Even now, her past owner¡¯s face would stille to Snowy Li¡¯s mind. The girl who Snowy Li thought shared the same interests. However, she ended up getting together with a man. Snowy Li thought about her, and how its heart was broken when it decided to leave her. It was still sad when it thought about how she and her man were happily together. There was no love left, only hatred.

    Why did she lie to me? Why?!

    Snowy Li wouldn¡¯t me her if she was honest about liking a man. The pain came from being cheated and lied to.

    In those days, she would sit in front of theputer with Snowy Li and look at pretty girls and cute cat¡¯s pictures. They discussed the girls and cats, ranked them, and separated the heavily edited pictures from the others¡­ The normal days were the most real and fun.

    At the time, Snowy Li thought that its owner liked girls. It had never thought that she was lying.

    Snowy Li wanted to know that she wanted to earn its trust. It also wanted to know whether she had been lying from the very beginning. Were all the fun times a lie?

    In fact, Snowy Li knew something was weird because when they wandered around on the street, she would talk about girls yet couldn¡¯t stop looking at guys¡­

    Snowy Li didn¡¯t want to believe that it was cheated. It rather believed that she was looking at them disgustedly, which was fine with Snowy Li.

    Until that day came¡­

    She told Snowy Li that she had to get a file from thepany and had to leave it at home. She knew how fake her face was. She didn¡¯t even dare to look into Snowy Li¡¯s eyes.

    Although smiling, Snowy Li was sad. It told her that it was going to sleep at home and didn¡¯t want to go back into the game.

    She hesitated but agreed. After giving Snowy Li a kiss, she left and shut the door.

    Snowy Li got up immediately. It went to the porch, jumped on the storage bin on the corner, the highest point of the whole porch, and stared at the ground. It was hoping that she didn¡¯t lie.

    After a minute, she came out. She was walking so fast, as if she was going to meet someone important or she was going to an important date. Every time when she left home, Snowy Li would see her off from the porch so it was aware of how she walked. After leaving the apartment building, she stopped a taxi and went the opposite way from herpany.

    Snowy Li thought that although she didn¡¯t go to work, she might not have gone on a date with a man¡­ however, Snowy Li couldn¡¯t think of another excuse for her to lie about.

    Nothing. Really.

    If she was going on a date with a girl, she would tell Snowy Li.

    The rage of being cheated filled Snowy Li¡¯s heart. It could not stand it. Therefore, it decided to leave her.

    It¡¯s only regret was that it left in such a rush that it didn¡¯t even get to ask her if all the fun times were a lie.

    Snowy Li¡¯s heart hurt so bad that it decided not to love anyone else¡­ until it met Fina.

    Fina was more beautiful than any other cat Snowy Li had seen in the pictures. It was elegant, prideful and perfect. It was fate! Snowy Li fell deeply in love with its Queen as soon as it saw Fina.

    However, Fina didn¡¯t love Snowy Li back. To Fina, Snowy Li was only a servant. The only difference between Snowy Li and Zhang Zian was that it was a cat and he was a human.

    There was no return on its love. Snowy Li was extremely frustrated.

    If so, maybe it is time to go!

    ¡°So, where are you going?¡± Zhang Zian asked again.

    Snowy Li was sick of the questions he asked again and again.

    ¡°I can go wherever I want to go! Shut up!¡± Snowy Li answered.

    There was an annoying smile on Zhang Zian¡¯s face. He smiled as if he could see what was on its mind.

    ¡°Are you going to the cosy girls?¡± He was right every time.

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Snowy Li raised its head and admitted. ¡°They like me. I will have fun there.¡±

    ¡°Is that all you are looking for?¡± His smile was even more annoying.

    ¡°I thought that you were in search of true love,¡± he said.

    That was hurtful! Snowy Li couldn¡¯t stand beingid bare. ¡°Yes! True love! That is what I long for!¡±

    ¡°Well, your true love is right next to you. Why do you want to leave?¡± he turned off his smile and asked seriously.

    Snowy Li¡¯s emotions were like riding on a roller coaster. ¡°Because my true love doesn¡¯t love me. My true love hates me!¡±

    ¡°Did you ask?¡± Zhang Zian continued questioning, ¡°Did you ask your true love this question?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ Do I need to ask? Everyone knows! Don¡¯t be silly!¡± Snowy Li was angry. It was not fair that Zhang Zian could stay with Queen Fina yet he didn¡¯t even care.

    Zhang Zian giggled, ¡°Ha-ha, don¡¯t you know that I have known Fina a lot longer than you?¡±

    So, what?!

    ¡°Don¡¯t show off shamelessly! It is not about how long you stay together!¡± Snowy Li said with jealousy.

    Zhang Zian said affirmatively, ¡°I don¡¯t know if Fina hates you, but I know that it doesn¡¯t show its emotions. If you decide to leave, I think you should at least talk to Fina.¡±

    He was not smart, but he started to get to know Fina¡¯s thoughts after getting along with her for such a long time.

    That was what Snowy Li was afraid of. Should it leave without saying goodbye? It would be guessing and regretting for the rest of its life. It was not brave and strong enough to find out. Maybe leaving Fina without knowing was the best choice. Hearing Fina say ¡°I hate you¡± would definitely kill Snowy Li.

    ¡°No need to talk.¡± Snowy Li shook its head sadly. ¡°I will leave. Please say goodbye to my Queen.¡±

    After saying so, it felt relieved. It slowly turned around and headed outside.

    ¡°Well, I won¡¯t tell her,¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s voice once again came up.

    ¡°What¡­¡± Snowy Li was mad for real. Men were idiots! He couldn¡¯t even pass on a message!

    ¡°You can tell Fina yourself.¡± Zhang Zian sounded indifferent. ¡°Otherwise, who cares!¡±

    ¡°What the f*ck! I will teach you a lesson today!¡± Snowy Li¡¯s fur all stood up and it was getting ready to attack Zhang Zian.

    At this time, Fina reached half of its body towards the downstairs and asked curiously, ¡°What are you guys doing down there?¡±

 Chapter 255: Three-legged Cat

    <h4>Chapter 255: Three-legged Cat</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The moment Snowy Li saw Fina, its arrogant attitude disappeared. Snowy Li was so panicked that it didn¡¯t know what to do. It was not sure when Fina had arrived, nor did it know whether Fina had heard its conversation with Zhang Zian. Recollecting what it had said a moment ago, Snowy Li was so embarrassed that it wanted to hide itself under the ground.

    Fina looked at Snowy Li and Zhang Zian and said,¡±What the hell are you doing out here and noting upstairs? And I had to trouble myself to look for you!¡±

    ¡°Your¡­ Your Majesty¡­¡± Snowy Li was so afraid that it couldn¡¯t raise its head to look at Fina or even finish its sentence.

    Zhang Zian covered for it, ¡°Snowy Li was afraid of getting its fur dirty, so it didn¡¯t want to go upstairs. You can¡¯t me it, for it was born with four short legs¡­¡±

    ¡°Shut up! You are the one born with four short legs!¡± Snowy Li cursed at Zhang Zian. Snowy Li knew that Zhang Zian was merely stating the fact that its legs were short, but it couldn¡¯t stand it when he said that in front of Fina. And Snowy Li was determined to punish him when it got the chance!

    Fina stared at Zhang Zian to see whether he was telling the truth, and then it noticed the bamboo basket on the ground, ¡°Then why aren¡¯t youing up, either? And what¡¯s this basket for?¡±

    Zhang Zian opened up his two hands innocently, ¡°I asked Snowy Li to stay inside and bring it upstairs, but it didn¡¯t believe me¡­ I don¡¯t know what to do.¡±

    Snowy Li nced at Fina withplicated feelings. It had asked Fina for help a moment ago. Though it didn¡¯t expect that Fina would really agree to let Snowy Li lean on its back while Fina climbed upstairs, Fina just left without it and didn¡¯t say anything to encourage orfort it. And Snowy Li felt so upset. Snowy Li felt like it meant nothing in Fina¡¯s heart, so it was thinking about leaving Fina.

    Fina looked at Snowy Li and asked seriously, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you agree to let him bring you up?¡±

    ¡°Because¡­ Because¡­¡± Snowy Li¡¯s ws were twisting nervously. It was using its ws to scratch all over its body, which was itchy as if bugs were crawling on it.

    Finally, Snowy Li made up its mind ¡ª it turned its head and said, ¡°Because I don¡¯t want to go upstairs! It looks nice outside, and I want to go out and y.¡±

    Snowy Li narrowed its eyes and kept staring outside, pretending to be enjoying the autumn scene¡­.

    Zhang Zian waited for Fina¡¯s reaction. After all, Fina was Snowy Li¡¯s master.

    Fina didn¡¯t hesitate. Instead, it went down the stairs briskly, ¡°In that case, I will also go out and y.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    Snowy Li was surprised, ¡°Your Majesty¡­ You want to go out and y with me?¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡± Fina didn¡¯t notice Snowy Li¡¯s astonishment, ¡°I don¡¯t like this building, it¡¯s deteriorated and everything seems like it¡¯s dying. The autumn scenery is great, so I¡¯d better go outside and enjoy it.¡±

    While Fina was talking, it didn¡¯t stop its movements. And soon, it had walked past Snowy Li and left the corridor. Bathed in the downy sunshine, Fina looked back at Snowy Li, ¡°Are youing or not?¡±

    Snowy Li felt so happy that its blue eyes were filled with a humid mist, as if tears were about to drop.

    ¡°Yes, yes, I¡¯ming. I¡¯ll follow you forever, Your Majesty.¡± Snowy Li kept abreast of Fina quickly, and hadpletely forgot about its tantrum a moment ago. It smiled at Fina. ¡°Your Majesty, it¡¯s windy today, and the corridor was so dirty. Do you want me to lick your fur?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, let¡¯s just walk around; there¡¯s no need to lick my fur.¡± Fina declined it as always.

    Snowy Li was a little bit disappointed. But it thought that if everything was faring as it wished for, it probably was in a dream.

    ¡°Then let me clear the way for you.¡± It ran in front of Fina, ¡°Your Majesty, this way please. It¡¯s too dirty that way, I¡¯ve spotted some rotten leaves.¡±

    Fina didn¡¯t need Snowy Li to clear its way at all. On the contrary, the clumsy Snowy Li almost tripped over rocks or got its fur hooked on tree branches because it kept turning around to look at Fina while walking. Snowy Li had a painful expression when injured by rocks or trees, but it just kept currying favor with Fina anyway.

    ¡°You guys, just stay around this area; don¡¯t go too far away.¡± Zhang Zian reminded them from behind.

    ¡°You jerk! We¡¯ll go away as far as we can!¡± Snowy Li rolled its eyes at him, ¡°Don¡¯t even bother us while we are enjoying our trip.¡±

    Zhang Zian was not worried about their safety. In fact, he was worried that some people who didn¡¯t know about these cats¡¯ temperaments might provoke the cats and get themselves hurt.

    They left the area and backtracked to the alley. Snowy Li looked left and right. On their right side was the road they took when they came to this building, while the left side was a road leading to the other side of the alley. ¡°Your Majesty, which way should we go?¡±

    Fina looked around from side to side, and noticed the deserted kindergarten at the end of the alley on their left side.

    ¡°That way,¡± said Fina. Fina was a little intrigued by the humans¡¯ kindergarten. Snowy Li was intended to go to the right side, for it wanted to see the Cosyers wearing full makeup and sexy clothes once again. But since Fina had given the order, Snowy Li was happy to oblige. It would follow Fina no matter where Fina went. Besides, when it left with that jerk Zhang Zianter, they would go back on that road anyway and it would see the Cosyers then.

    Snowy Li made up its mind and went to the left side.

    ¡°Your Majesty, I¡¯m clearing the way for you.¡±

    Thetter half of the alley looked more deste than the former half. No seniors were seen ying cards or chess; only a few stores that sold hardware, hot beverages, and groceries were seen on the sides of the road, and an old publicvatory was emitting an awfully foul smell.

    ¡°Yuck! So stinky!¡± Snowy Li raised its one of its ws and used its long fur to cover its nose, ¡°So¡­so stinky!¡±

    Snowy Li remembered that Fina¡¯s fur was not long, so it might be facing a rare opportunity that Fina would agree to let it touch Fina. Snowy Li quickly jumped besides Fina, ¡°Your Majesty, may I have the honor to cover your nose for you?¡±

    ¡°No need, walk past thevatory and we will get rid of the smell.¡± Fina estimated that the wind was blowing from the front direction, and as long as they went past thevatory, they wouldn¡¯t suffer with the stinky smell anymore. Fina ran fast with full force, and liberated itself from the smell in no time.

    Snowy Li tried to catch up with Fina, but it forgot one of its paws was still covering its nose, so it staggered and almost fell on the ground.

    A little boy wasing out from thevatory. He was hitching up his trousers while he pointed at Snowy Li, ¡°Dad, look, it¡¯s a three-legged cat!¡±

    ¡°Meow! Meow! Stinky boy, you are a three-legged cat!¡± Snowy Li spat towards the little boy. Since Fina had gone far away, Snowy Li decided to follow it instead of wasting time with the little boy.

    ¡°Your Majesty, wait for me.¡±

    The little boy giggled. He didn¡¯t understand what Snowy Li had said, he just felt it was a strange white cat that walked with three legs.

    His father came out of thevatory and patted on his head, ¡°What were you yelling about?¡±

    ¡°Dad! There was a white cat walking with three legs!¡± said the little boy excitedly. ¡°Is that what a three-legged cat looks like? Mom always says you are a three-legged cat!¡±

    ¡°Stop that nonsense! Hurry up, we need to go home for lunch!¡± The man¡¯s face was blushed in embarrassment, and he looked at Snowy Li.

    Wasn¡¯t that just an ordinary cat walking with four legs?

    He decided to educate his son at the dining-table when they got home. It was wrong to tell lies¡­

 Chapter 256: A Seesaw to Friendship

    <h4>Chapter 256: A Seesaw to Friendship</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As always, small talk couldn¡¯t bother Fina. Walking elegantly, it came to the gate of the kindergarten and looked in through the fence.

    It was a small school, a local kindergarten that serviced the neighborhood. When many of the residents moved out, the kindergarten soon closed due tock of students.

    The door was shut. Honestly, locks were not a problem for cats because they could easily jump through fences. Fina didn¡¯t bother because the iron fence looked exceptionally dirty. The green paint had chipped off for the most part and the bottom of the iron bars were full of brownish rust. On top of the rust, there was also sand and dust. If Fina jumped over the fence, it would get dirty for sure.

    Fina was a neat freak. It was not afraid of the fence or stairs. However, Fina cared too much about how its fur looked, so it wouldn¡¯t risk getting it dirty. All it wanted was to take a rxing walk.

    Snowy Li ran up from behind, its long fluffy hair like cotton candy.

    ¡°My Queen, I aming!¡±

    It caught up to Fina breathing heavily and looked inside the kindergarten because Fina was looking in there.

    ¡°My Queen, do you want to get in?¡± Snowy Li asked.

    Fina shook its head, ¡°Nope. I don¡¯t want to get dirty.¡±

    Snowy Li almost said out loud, ¡°Don¡¯t worry! I will lick you clean!¡±

    However, Snowy Li was smart enough to keep the words to itself. If it really told Fina, Fina might¡¯ve gotten mad and left.

    When Snowy Li lived in Yuanhua Building and directed other cats to steal, it got into the habit of searching for security bugs at any location. Looking up, it surprisingly found that the gate was only halfway shut, notpletely closed. It pushed the gate open with its paw.

    ¡°My Majesty, please!¡± Snowy Li said happily.

    Fina looked at it with surprise. Encouragingly, it nodded its head and stepped in.

    It was a small yard with weeds everywhere. It had been cold, so there were no mosquitos.

    ¡°My Majesty, do you want to y?¡± Snowy Li stood next to a seesaw, looking at Fina longingly.

    ¡°How?¡± Fina nced at the long board, confused.

    Seeing that Fina was interested, Snowy Li exined, ¡°My Majesty, you stay on one side and I am on the other side. We alternatively thrust against the ground with our legs and then we will go up and down.¡±

    At first, Fina was going to reject the idea. However, seeing how excited Snowy Li was and thinking about the conversation between Zhang Zian and Snowy Li, Fina realized it had been too harsh on Snowy Li. Fina agreed, ¡°Okay. We can y for a little bit.¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡± Snowy Li saw that the seesaw was too dirty, so it picked up some clean leaves and put them on Fina¡¯s side first, then its own side.

    Fina was happy. Zhang Zian was never that considerate, and he alwaysined that Fina was too picky.

    ¡°I am going to get on first. My Majesty, you are strong. You can jump up after I get on.¡± Snowy Li knew that it wouldn¡¯t make it up to the seat if it let Fina sit on the seesaw first.

    Snowy Li sat on one side of the seesaw. The other side was tilting up high.

    Fina jumped up and lightlynded on the other end.

    Their weight was about the same. Snowy Li¡¯s side tilted up as Fina jumped on.

    It was an exciting new experience to Fina, and although it couldn¡¯t really exin the reason, Fina felt like it started to have a connection with Snowy Li from the up and down of the seesaw.

    Screaming excitedly, Snowy Li passed its passion onto Fina through the seesaw. It was thrusting the ground harder and harder so the seesaw was going up and down faster and faster.

    It was noon. Most people were home eating lunch. No one was in thene at the time. Otherwise, people might be shocked to see the two cats having so much fun on a seesaw.

    Friendship was a special thing. It may build up through working together for a big goal, or simply by having fun on a seesaw.

    The kindergarten was once a ce full of warmth andughter. On the yground, there were slides, seesaws, and swings. Kids had fun there under teachers¡¯ supervision and gradually started building their most pure friendships.

    The kids would leave kindergarten someday and let life take them in different directions. However, Snowy Li already knew that Fina was its destiny. It would follow Fina forever.

    Snowy Li started to get dizzy and almost fell off the seesaw. Seeing that, Fina slowed down and the seesaw finally stopped.

    ¡°My Majesty! This is so much fun!¡± Snowy Li was thrilled that Fina agreed to get on the seesaw. Since Fina had considerately slowed down when Snowy Li felt dizzy, the pretty white cat was on top of the world.

    Fina had fun too. It didn¡¯t say so because it had to keep its pride in front of Snowy Li. Jumping down from the seat, it headed towards the ssroom with its tail whipping.

    Since the outside gate wasn¡¯t locked, Fina learned the trick. It pushed on the ssroom door and the door opened. Fina stepped back immediately as the door opened because a ton of dust fell down.

    Snowy Li came forward and waved its paw to clear the dust for Fina.

    The ssroom was dark, but this was not a problem for cats.

    By the time the dust had settled, Fina already had a good idea of what the ssroom looked like. Some small chairs and desks wereying around. Tons of colorful small toys were stacked in one corner, which were extremely dirty. An award form on which teachers put red stars to represent the award was on the wall. Some red stars had fallen down on the ground and the writing was vague after all this time.

    There was a thickyer of dust on the ground and papers everywhere. It looked like this kindergarten had been abandoned for a long while, and seldom did peoplee in.

    Looking at the dirty indoors, Snowy Li said to Fina, ¡°My Majesty, let¡¯s go back. It is dirty inside.¡±

    Fina nodded. There was no reason for them to go in.

    As they were about to leave, a breeze came through. Some papers were picked up by the wind and danced in the air. One flew straight at Fina¡¯s face. Fina was fast. It swatted down the paper with one paw. The paper was pinned on the ground.

    Fina noticed the paper was a page from a diary. There was a picture drawn in colorful crayons with a line of children¡¯s handwriting underneath.

    There was a little boy in the picture. A small circle represented his head. A few small short lines represented his hair and arge oval represented his body. Extending from the body, there were four long lines, which were the arms and legs.

    The picture was titled, ¡°My Mom¡±.

 Chapter 257: Breakdown

    <h4>Chapter 257: Breakdown</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Seeing that Fina and Snowy Li had gone far away, Zhang Zian picked up the bamboo basket and went back up to the second floor.

    Guo Dongyue and Aunt Bai had already entered the house. The door was half-closed, so Zhang Zian pushed it open and closed it after he entered the house.

    One of the design defects of old houses was that they had poor indoor lightning, Guo Dongyue¡¯s house was no exception. There were many things in his house, but they were organized well so the house looked clean. It seemed that Aunt Bai was diligent in keeping the house clean.

    The house was old, but the utilities liked electric appliances were quite new, probably brought by Guo Dongyue.

    Delicious scents of dishes could be smelled from the kitchen, and Guo Dongyue¡¯s anxious voice could also be heard from the kitchen.

    ¡°Mother, put down the scoop, let Aunt Bai handle it.¡±

    ¡°Yes, elder sister-inw, give it to me.¡±

    Zhang Zian walked over to the kitchen and observed them by standing beside the kitchen door.

    A pot of soup was boiling on the gas stove. Between Guo Dongyue and Aunt Bai stood an olddy with short hair and wearing an apron. Guo Dongyue and Aunt Bai kept persuading her to put down the long scoop. For a moment, the olddy¡¯s eyes looked like those of ordinary people, but in the next moment, she lookedpletely nk and confused.

    ¡°Yan Zi, who is this one? He looks quite familiar,¡± the olddy inquired Aunt Bai confusingly.

    ¡°Elder sister-inw, this is your son, Xiao Yue.¡± Aunt Bai took over the scoop from the oldy, and opened the lid of the pot to see whether the soup was ready, then put the scoop in the soup and stirred a little bit, and closed the lid again. She probably had repeated that answer numerous times.

    ¡°My son¡­¡± the olddy smiled and looked at Guo Dongyue. Her eyes lit up for a moment, and her lips slightly opened like she was going to say something. Guo Dongyue looked at her with great anticipation.

    But in the next second, the light in her eyes faded away. Her eyes were staring at the clock on the wall, as if Guo Dongyue was totally invisible to her, and she muttered, ¡°Why isn¡¯t Xiao Yue home? Has his teacher extended ss again?¡±

    That was one of the obvious syndromes of Alzheimer¡¯s disease. Unlike ordinary people, victims of Alzheimer¡¯s disease could not see things via the corners of their eyes. Everything was a blur beyond the focus of their vision. They could not even see things that were only a few centimeters away from the clock on the wall.

    Within only a few seconds, the look on Guo Dongyue¡¯s face had indicated that he had fallen from heaven to hell.

    Aunt Bai turned the fire smaller on the gas stove and put the scoop aside. She consoled him, ¡°The doctor has said this disease is irreversible. Don¡¯t be too sad, it happens to a lot of people.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes¡­¡± Guo Dongyue smiled bitterly, ¡°I guess you are right.¡±

    ¡°This is her destiny!¡± Aunt Bai crossed her arms on her stomach and said seriously, ¡°I know you young people probably don¡¯t believe in destiny, but people can¡¯t escape their destinies. Elder sister-inw is destined to suffer from this disease. But think about that, this disease doesn¡¯t hurt much, so she won¡¯t feel pain physically. Compared to other more horrible diseases, this one is actually not that bad.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought what she said made sense and was kind offorting. Alzheimer¡¯s disease was incurable, but the families and friends of the patients would have enough time to keep theirpany and say goodbye to them. From such aspects, it could be considered a merciful incurable disease¡­ But the damages it caused to people¡¯s souls were tremendous.

    Just then, Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother noticed Zhang Zian at the kitchen door. She was startled, and asked, ¡°And you are¡­?¡±

    Zhang Zian improvised his answer. ¡°I¡¯m Mr. Zhang, a teacher from school, I¡¯m here to visit Guo Dongyue¡¯s parents.¡±

    If Guo Dongyue was not familiar with Zhang Zian¡¯s personality, he probably would have fallen for that answer.

    His mother did fall for that. She said nervously, ¡°Is my son all right? Something wrong at school? Why isn¡¯t he home? It¡¯s sote.¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled calmly, ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s his turn to be on duty today, so he will be hometer.¡±

    ¡°Okay, thanks for informing me.¡± His mother finally felt relieved.

    Guo Dongyue and Aunt Bai were stupefied because they observed that Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother was really rxed. She didn¡¯t look like she had before; instead, she looked calm as if her peace of mind was restored.

    Guo Dongyue felt extremely surprised. Every time, he tried so hard to tell what was happening in reality to his mother, but it was torture for both for him and for his mother, and the effect was poorpared to the effect brought by Zhang Zian¡¯s white lie.

    Guo Dongyue reflected on his mistakes. Every day at noon, his mother would look at the clock frequently, asking why young Guo Dongyue had note back home. Why couldn¡¯t hee up with some white lies tofort her earlier?

    Aunt Bai was also reflecting to herself. She took care of Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother every day, and she had noticed that his mother would be restless every day at noon. At the beginning, she would tell her that Guo Dongyue had grown up and had his own job, and that she didn¡¯t need to wait for him toe back for lunch. But as days went by, Aunt Bai felt annoyed, and gradually ignored her vexation, or just made up some excuses casually to stop her asking.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, please have a seat.¡± Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother invited Zhang Zian into the living room warmly.

    Zhang Ziany acted like he was really a teacher, crossed his legs and sat on the sofa.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve met you before. Which subject do you teach?¡± asked Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother tentatively.

    Zhang Zian answered, ¡°I teach Chinese, and I¡¯m also the teacher in charge of Guo Dongyue¡¯s ss.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t Teacher Liu the teacher in charge of his ss? Is there a substitution?¡± Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother was surprised.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m a new one, Teacher Liu is taking a maternity leave.¡±

    ¡°Maternity leave?¡± His mother was surprised again, ¡°Teacher Liu is a man.¡±

    Zhang Zian adapted his answer based on the information. ¡°Yes, he is. And his wife is pregnant, so he¡¯s taking a maternity leave to keep his wifepany¡­ Enough about that, let¡¯s talk about your child.¡±

    Guo Dongyue waved at Aunt Bai indicating her to continue cooking, while he stayed in the living room quietly watching Zhang Zian talk to his mother. His mother looked quite well. She was focused and thinking clearly, speaking appropriatenguage, and her reactions to Zhang Zian¡¯s words were the reactions a normal person should have, and she didn¡¯t look like a patient of Alzheimer¡¯s disease at all at that moment.

    Guo Dongyue knew the reason why. She cared so much about his son¡¯s performance at school, so her remaining normal brain cells could function at maximum speed, like a bonfire that had been dimming gradually was rekindled by a sudden breeze of gentle wind. Unlike the bonfire that¡¯s burning was elerated by the wind, brain cells functioning at maximum speeds were clearly beneficial to his mother.

    Zhang Zian was not clear what Guo Dongyue was like when he was a middle school student, but it didn¡¯t matter. He just needed to keep appraising his son as she remembered, and every word he said made the wrinkles on Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother¡¯s eyes blossom like flowers.

    Sometimes, what Alzheimer¡¯s patients needed was not the truth, because truth would be forgotten soon; what they needed most was caring and happiness. Guo Dongyue was a man who was too serious. He couldn¡¯t do what Zhang Zian could do easily to make white lies. Because he was worried about his mother so much that he was always keeping in his face straight, sometimes he hated himself when he saw his stone-face in the mirror.

    Time flew by. His mother remained sober for so long today. Guo Dongyue was hoping that time could slow down and freeze at this moment¡­ if only it was him who was sitting in front of his mother and having that happy conversation.

    Zhang Zian diverted the topic and inquired Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother, ¡°I heard that you have two parrots in your house, right?¡±

    Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother smiled, ¡°Yes, Our parrots¡­ Our parrots¡­ Our parrots¡­¡±

    Her thought experienced a breakdown. She kept repeating the same words, like a clock whose hands were stuck at the same ce.

 Chapter 258: A Bird Lover

    <h4>Chapter 258: A Bird Lover</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The Alzheimer¡¯s disease once again attacked Guo¡¯s mom. She kept switching between two modes: being normal or being under the influence of the Alzheimer¡¯s disease.

    Frowning, Zhang Zian quickly came up with an idea. He winked at Guo Dongyue so Guo would bring over the parrots. He asked Guo¡¯s mom, ¡°Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake, right?¡±

    Guo¡¯s mom¡¯s eyes brightened, ¡°Yeah! Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake!¡± She looked around in search of the parrots and murmured to herself, ¡°Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake, howe you are not singing anymore?¡±

    Zhang Zian stood up, leaned over, andnded his hand on her shoulder, ¡°Wait. Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake areing soon.¡±

    Guo¡¯s mom looked up at Zhang Zian. She looked absent minded then refreshed. She smiled gently, ¡°Who are you looking for?¡±

    Although prepared, Zhang Zian was still shocked when he heard Guo¡¯s mom.

    He talked to Guo¡¯s mom for a short while and he was making things up during the conversation. Even though so, he still felt sad when he was forgotten by Guo¡¯s mom. He couldn¡¯t imagine how Guo Dongyue felt when his own mom forgot about him.

    ¡°I am a bird lover,¡± he kept making up stories, ¡°I heard that your parrots can talk so I would like to learn from you.¡±

    ¡°A bird¡­lover?¡± Guo¡¯s mom murmured. It was apletely new concept to her.

    ¡°Well, that means I love raising and training birds,¡± Zhang Zian exined simply.

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Guo¡¯s mom nodded politely, but this time she didn¡¯t seem to believe him.

    Zhang Zian pulled out his cellphone, clicked on the Pet Hunter game and showed her Richard who was in the pet bar.

    ¡°Look, this is my African gray parrot.¡±

    Guo¡¯s mom couldn¡¯t see. She tilted back her head, frowned but still couldn¡¯t see.

    Zhang Zian reminded her, ¡°Your reading sses are hanging over your neck.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± Guo¡¯s mom replied. She looked down slowly and was surprised to find that the reading sses were hanging right in front of her chest. She smiled happily and put on her sses.

    She could see the cellphone clearly.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. A gray parrot,¡± She was happily surprised and trusted Zhang Zian a bit more, ¡°Not many young kids like birds these days.¡±

    Zhang Zian put back his cellphone andughed, ¡°More and more young people love raising birds now.¡±

    In her memory, most bird lovers were senior citizens. Although now raising birds had became more popr among young people, cats and dogs were still more popr as pets.

    Guo Dongyue had been waiting for a little while at the door. He came in when Zhang Zian finished. It was amazing to him how quickly Zhang Zian could make up stories and how each story rolled like a charm.

    Guo¡¯s mom saw hime in, looked at him up and down, and opened her mouth as if she was going to say something yet couldn¡¯t say anything. Anxiety, impatience and frustration all showed on her face. She looked like she was going to burst into tears anytime. Even Zhang Zian was nervous about what was going to happen.

    At this time, the two red-headed love birds warbled, which attracted Guo¡¯s mom¡¯s attention.

    Looking at the birds inside the cage, she took off her reading sses and smiled.

    ¡°Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake! Oh! It¡¯s just you guys! I thought you flew away¡­ Dongyue¡­¡± She raised her head and saw her son who was only steps away from her. She smiled embarrassedly, ¡°Dongyue went to school. I don¡¯t want to disturb him¡­¡±

    Guo Dongyue¡¯s hands shook. The cage shook in his hands and he quickly held the cage steady.

    The long-hidden memories starteding back. When he was in middle school and was pressured by studies, he would be terribly upset. Sometimes if he didn¡¯t get a good grade, he would me it on the two parrots being too loud.

    Zhang Zian knew that Guo¡¯s mom was not clear-minded so it was important to exin everything to her, ¡°Are those red-headed love birds? They are very rare.¡±

    ¡°Yup. They are red-headed love birds,¡± She smiled happily, ¡°An old ssmate gave them to me. Not many people can tell¡­ You are really a bird¡­ bird¡­¡±

    ¡°A bird lover,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°A bird lover¡­ A bird lover¡­¡± Guo¡¯s mom repeated like a robot as if she wanted to remember it by heart.

    Zhang Zian and Guo Dongyue looked at each other and both felt at ease. It seemed that Guo¡¯s mom had had red-headed love birds before. It was a very rare breed and didn¡¯t live in Asia. The two love birds were the same color as the ones she used to have. If it was another breed, it would be difficult to find two identical ones.

    ¡°I heard you taught them how to talk? As far as I know, red-headed love birds are not easy to train. You must be good at this,¡± Zhang Zian was trying to lead her into a topic she wasfortable with.

    ¡°Ha-ha¡­ I am ttered. When Dongyue is not home, I am bored. These birds are the sunshine in my life,¡± she smiled. ¡°You may not know. My son is the best. I never had to worry about him¡­¡±

    She looked as if something was missing. Then she said quietly, ¡°I never had to worry about him¡­ I never had to worry about him¡­¡±

    Tears came up to Guo Dongyue¡¯s eyes. At this time, he totally understood how lonely his mom was. If he could go back to before, he¡¯d rather be less good and less independent. There might be more of a bond between him and his mom. Worrying about her own kid was also a kind of happiness to a mom.

    Zhang Zian manned up and once again led her back to their topic, ¡°What did you teach them? Can you tell me?¡±

    Guo¡¯s mom was distracted and she looked as if she was losing herself.

    Zhang Zian pointed at the cage and asked, ¡°Love birds, your love birds. What do they say?¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± Guo¡¯s mom turned from sad to excited, ¡°I taught them a poem!¡±

    Zhang Zian and Guo Dongyue was shocked. They asked at the same time, ¡°Which poem?¡±

    Guo¡¯s mom took a deep breath and got ready for her poem. However, as soon as she opened her mouth, she forgot what she was going to say. Her mouth opened and closed yet no poem came out.

    Not good.

    Zhang Zian and Guo Dongyue had an awful feeling.

    The next second, their feeling was proved right ¨C Guo¡¯s mom smiled and asked, ¡°Who are you looking for?¡±

 Chapter 259: Goddessâ€™s Messenger

    <h4>Chapter 259: Goddess¡¯s Messenger</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    They thought they were about to seed this time, but Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother experienced another breakdown, and all their efforts were in vain. Zhang Zian and Guo Dongyue felt so upset and desperate.

    What should they do? Try again from the beginning?

    They looked at each other, waiting for someone toe up with a solution. This thing was supposed to bepleted by Guo Dongyue, but he couldn¡¯t control his feelings when facing his own mother, so he could only hope Zhang Zian could help him out.

    Zhang Zian sighed, and felt like he had made a promise that was hard for him to keep. He knew too well that his sess moments ago was just sheer luck. Guo Dongyue¡¯s anticipation made him suffer with great pressure, and he couldn¡¯t bear to decline his request. On the other hand, Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother reminded him of his own mother. And if his mother was a victim of Alzheimer¡¯s disease, he would have hoped that others could extend their helping hands.

    So, he repeated his tricks to see if they would work again. He smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯m a bird enthusiast¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not asking you that.¡± Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother¡¯s smile froze and she stood up from the sofa and asked him seriously, ¡°I¡¯m asking, how did you get into my house? Who opened the door for you? Get out, or I will call the police!¡±

    Zhang Zian thought to himself, ¡°Why is she reacting differently every time, what should I do?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t! We are nice people.¡± He raised both his hands to show that he didn¡¯t mean to do anything evil.

    ¡°Nice people? What kind of nice people would break into others¡¯ apartments?¡± Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother raised her voice, ¡°Are you leaving or not? I will scream for help!¡±

    Aunt Bai heard the noise and hastily came out from the kitchen to stop her. ¡°My elder sister-inw, please don¡¯t scream, they are not strangers.¡±

    Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother stared at Aunt Bai for a few seconds before she recognized her, ¡°Yan Zi?¡±

    Aunt Bai smiled bitterly and nodded. ¡°In this building, only you will call me by that name.¡±

    ¡°Yan Zi, who are they? Your friends?¡± Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother pointed to Zhang Zian and Guo Dongyue. Aunt Bai was not as flexible as Zhang Zian, and she didn¡¯t know how to respond. Aunt Bai was nning to tell her that Guo Dongyue was her son and Zhang Zian was his friend, but then again, they would be trapped in an endless circle, where Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother would never believe that Guo Dongyue who was in front of her was her own son.

    She bit the bullet and said, ¡°Yes, they¡¯re my friends.¡±

    ¡°What do they do? Why are you bringing them into my house?¡± Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother kept asking.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Aunt Bai still didn¡¯t know how to respond. Seeing that Zhang Zian was pointing to the birdcage, she understood what he meant and said, ¡°Elder sister-inw, they¡¯re here to see your parrots.¡±

    ¡°My parrots?¡± Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother also noticed the birdcage, and before anyone knew what was happening, she had taken away the birdcage from Guo Dongyue, held it in her arms like her baby, and scolded them severely, ¡°How dare you steal my parrots? I¡¯m definitely calling the police.¡±

    None of them knew how to respond, all they could do was stand there awkwardly and look at each other¡­ The only option was to wait for her next round of breakdown. But when would that happen? Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother probably was too angry, so she fiercely criticized Guo Dongyue and Zhang Zian and cursed them. She really had mistaken them for thieves.

    Zhang Zian was thest one who entered the house, and he left the door unlocked. With a creaking sound, the door was pushed open gently, and a golden w stepped into the house, followed by another w. Fina came into the house with its poker face, carrying a few pieces of paper in its mouth.

    Zhang Zian was surprised to see Fina with paper in its mouth¡ªwhy on earth would the germophobic Fina do that? Those papers must be the purchasing certificates of the originally-issued stocks of some bigpanies!

    Fina¡¯s presence was so eye-catching that even Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother stopped her mor and looked at it surprisingly. After a few seconds, she said, ¡°Whose cat is that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s mine, I brought it here,¡± said Zhang Zian who was winking at Fina, as if asking what Fina was carrying in its mouth.

    Fina just ignored him.

    Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother got angrier: ¡°You brought a cat into my house? You want it to eat my parrots?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t bother to exin, because he knew it would be fruitless.

    He could only wait until she had lost this fragment of memory and started another conversation. It was like pushing the ¡°Save/Load¡± button when ying a game¡ªthough the analogy sounded funny, the reality was a true tragedy.

    ¡°Get out! Get your cats out of my house!¡± She held the birdcage more tightly. Because of her sharp noise, the two red-headed lovebirds were scared and retreated to the corner in the birdcage and stayed close to each other.

    Guo Dongyue closed his eyes painfully. His mother was an intellectual who was wise and polite, and would never say something so rude. Alzheimer¡¯s disease had changed her personality.

    Zhang Zian was afraid that the scene would get ugly. From his understanding of Fina, if someone yelled at its and told its to get out, Fina would definitely be furious. He was also intending to leave the house. And just in case, he stood between Fina and Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother, worrying that his cat might attack her out of rage.

    To his surprise, Fina didn¡¯t seem angry. It just opened its mouth calmly and let the papers fall onto the ground. And then it nced at Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother, swung its tail, and left the house like nothing happened.

    Zhang Zian bent down to pick up the papers, only to find that they were just some kid¡¯s doodles, which looked like picture diaries.

    The first picture showed a little boy who was holding a flower and running back home, and underneath the picture were scrawled some characters: Today is Mom¡¯s birthday.

    Zhang Zian flipped to the second picture, in a house, a woman in a dress was sitting by the table, holding that flower in her hand, and the words underneath the picture were: Mom is very happy, and she says I am a good boy.

    Probably because the kid was too little, a few misspellings were found.

    Zhang Zian flipped to the third picture, where the little boy was standing straight in front of the woman, and an oval dialogue box was drawn beside his mouth, Within the dialog box was a poem, ¡°Threads adeptly brandished by a loving mother, sewed into garments for a son so soon to depart¡­¡±

    The words under the picture were: Our teacher asked us to recite this poem when it¡¯s Mom¡¯s birthday. Happy birthday Mom!

    The lines drawn and words written by crayon had been blurred and could barely be recognized. Those were pictures drawn a long time ago.

    Zhang Zian watched the three pieces of paper several times and then gave them to Guo Dongyue, ¡°Was it this poem? When you were at the kindergarten on the street corner, did your teacher also ask you to read this poem to your mother at her birthday?¡±

    Guo Dongyue took over the paper and observed them a couple times. His lips were moving gently as he read the characters on the pictures silently. When he heard Zhang Zian read that poem to Little Celery at the pet shop, he felt like some memory buried deep inside his heart was touched upon. But the memory had been slept on for so long, like garments that were forgotten at the bottom of a closet. Even when he did retrieve the memory ultimately, like those garments, it would be full of wrinkles and could not recover what it looked like originally. When he was at the pet shop, he was in a rush to find the parrots, and he had no time to contemte the poem, so he missed the chance to recover his memory of this poem.

    Fortunately, the Goddess of Fate had given him a second chance, by sending the golden cat as its messenger to fetch the pictures for him. The doodles drawn by some kid at the kindergarten had helped him recollect his childhood memory, just like the wrinkle of the garments had been ironed t. Yes, he also recited that poem to his mother at her birthday. He remembered that he was little and didn¡¯t know there was anything special about that poem. He remembered that he felt shy reciting the poem in front of his mother. When he finished reciting that poem, his mother embraced him in her arms, but he pushed her away shyly and ran away from his mother.

    While Guo Dongyue was immersed in his memory, Zhang Zian had quietly left the house, and squatted on the passageway outside with Fina. They stared at the doodles drawn by children on the wall and neither of them talked.

    A momentter, Snowy Li¡¯s inpatient yelling came from downstairs, ¡°Meow! Meow! Your Majesty, is everything okay?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ming down.¡± Fina responded in the appropriate volume and then made its way downstairs.

    When it was about to step down, Zhang Zian spoke up, ¡°Sparkling things?¡±

    Fina didn¡¯t say anything; it kept walking down with its reserved manner.

    It was Fina Paris XIII, the guardian of the kingdom of Eternity. it didn¡¯t have to exin its mind to ordinary people.

 Chapter 260: The Picky Snowy Lionet

    <h4>Chapter 260: The Picky Snowy Li</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Looking at Fina who had disappeared at the corner of the hallway, Zhang Zian smiled. Fina was just being Fina. Holding his face with one hand, the smell of fooding out from the kitchen was making him hungry. Even though he wanted to get a free lunch here, when he thought about Guo¡¯s mom losing her memory during the meal, he decided he should leave.

    After a while, Guo Dongyue came out with the cage in his hand. It looked like the Alzheimer¡¯s disease had attacked his mom again. Otherwise, Guo Dongyue wouldn¡¯t have forcibly taken the cage away from her.

    Taking over the cage, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t look at Guo Dongyue. He understood that Guo had to be extremely sad at this time and didn¡¯t want to be stared at. Zhang Zian stood up and said, ¡°I am leaving.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much,¡± Guo Dongyue said. His voice was low and raucous.

    Zhang Zian turned around and waved at Guo, meaning that Guo didn¡¯t have to see him off.

    On the ground level, Snowy Li was trying to get Fina¡¯s attention. As always, Fina was cold. However, Zhang Zian felt that there was something between them two cats, but he just couldn¡¯t tell what that was yet.

    ¡°What is taking you so long?¡± Snowy Li was impatient and pushed him, ¡°Hurry up! I have to see the girls.¡±

    Honestly Zhang Zian wanted to see the girls too. The cosy girls were all wearing tons of makeup so he didn¡¯t really have high expectations on how pretty the cosy girls were. However, as a single guy, the word ¡°girls¡± always seemed extra attractive most of the time.

    ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s go¡­ Hey, are you guys hungry?¡± Carrying the cage, he walked in front of the cats and asked casually. The cage was not the same as the one they brought the parrots in. Guo Dongyue switched it to his old cageyered with a thick nket so the birds could stay warm.

    ¡°Meow, I am not hungry. I had a big breakfast this morning,¡± Snowy Li answered.

    Although Snowy Li was still arrogant, its attitude towards Zhang Zian seemed to change just a bit in a positive way. Maybe something identally increased its friendliness?

    Fina was also not hungry. Zhang Zian knew because Fina would¡¯ve beenining by now if it was hungry.

    After walking out of thene, he saw that the cosy girls were still there posing for photos. The photography group kept capturing their best moments.

    Zhang Zian nced at the time on his cellphone. It was almost 1 o¡¯clock. It looked like these ¡°photographers¡± had already had lunch, so they were refreshed and working hard. Of course, to show off in front of the girls was also another important reason. They got closer to the Church and the believers were looking at them unhappily. Some were even pointing fingers at them as if they were scolding. Well, that was understandable. The Church was a serious ce for believers to worship. Now these kids were using it as a background and the models were dressed overly exposed.

    Luo Qingyu, the president of the group, was the tallest and loudest person. Zhang Zian could see him from far away. Luo Qingyu rolled up some newspaper to use as microphones. He sometimes gave his opinions to the ¡°photographers¡± and sometimes showed the models how to pose. Sometimes he even said ¡°hi¡± to the believers going to church. Although it was a cool day, he was so busy running around that he was sweating all over.

    The other ¡°photographers¡± were a lot moreidback. They were flirting with the girls as they took pictures.

    Soon enough, Luo Qingyu also noticed Zhang Zian¡¯s presence because not many people would walk on the street with a cage in hand, followed by two cats.

    ¡°Hey! Hot¡­¡± Luo Qingyu took back what he was going to address Zhang Zian. Honestly, it was quite embarrassing to call him ¡°The Hottie¡± in front of everyone. Instead, he said, ¡°Hey dude! Come here. We are all waiting for you.¡±

    Holding the cage in his hand, Zhang Zian crossed the road with both cats. Snowy Li couldn¡¯t wait to hang out with the girls, so it was walking quickly in front. Zhang Zian kept reminding it to watch out for cars.

    When Zhang Zian got close, Luo Qingyuined immediately, ¡°What took you so long? Didn¡¯t you see the messages I sent you? I thought that you ran away with my money.¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t have to run away with 150 Yuan,¡± Zhang Zian said confidently.

    ¡°Not really. Because it was a small amount, you are more likely to run away because the police won¡¯t even set up a case for it,¡± Luo Qingyu replied seriously.

    Zhang Zian was speechless. So, this guy wasn¡¯t joking. He really thought that Zhang Zian was untrustworthy and ran away with 150 Yuan! Having a handsome face makes people not trust me? Zhang Zian thought to himself.

    ¡°Well. Great to see you here. Isn¡¯t there an English idiom that says, ¡°it¡¯s better to bete than never at all?¡± Luo Qingyu patted Zhang¡¯s shoulder. Luo Qingyu was tall, probably about 6 foot 3. He was skinny with long arms and legs. When he patted Zhang Zian, he felt as if Zhang Zian was subordinate.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t ready when Luo patted him. He quickly dodged it and said, ¡°It should be ¡®betterte than never¡¯. I learned English when I went to school!¡±

    Snowy Li ran towards the girls as they talked. It was ncing the girls as if picking one.

    ¡°Meow. What is this one about? This girl¡¯s boobs are too small, but she is trying too hard to push them up!¡±

    ¡°Meow! Oh no! Look at the hair on her leg! Is she a man?¡±

    ¡°Sh*t! Why did she put on so much perfume? Is she smelly?¡±

    Snowy Li was really mean. Looking at the girls, it was mocking them sarcastically. Zhang Zian was nervous, yet felt lucky that normal people couldn¡¯t understand it.

    Undoubtedly, Snowy Li was picky. Its original owner was Pan Jinlian, who was ady with unmatched beauty. Even monks would be attracted by her. She was not only stunning, but also talented. She was proficient at singing, cooking and needlework¡­ You name it. If she lived in today¡¯s world, she would probably turn into a celebrity or an inte star. She was almost perfect besides the fact that she was not morally eptable by the crowd.

    The cosy girls were young and active. Their look quite attractive because of the characters they dressed up as. Honestly, most of them were only normal looking under the makeup and costumes. No wonder Snowy Li wasn¡¯t happy with them.

    It was the first time that the cosy girls saw such a stunning cat. They all crowded around Snowy Li and wanted to hold it.

    ¡°Such a beautiful cat! So cute!¡±

    ¡°I know! Look at the long hair. It is like a big ball of fur!¡±

    ¡°I want to hold it. Let me hold it!¡±

    Although Snowy Li rejected the girls in its heart, its body was honest. The girls were taking turns holding it and it was all fun for Snowy Li.

 Chapter 261: Gap Moe

    <h4>Chapter 261: Gap Moe</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Lying in the girls¡¯ arms, Snowy Li kept using its paws to touch their breasts grantly. Frankly, if men tried to touch them, the girls would have been outrageous, but they really enjoyed it when being touched by Snowy Li¡¯s soft and tiny paws, and they hoped it could touch them more¡­

    They marveled at the ck line on the forehead of Snowy Li. At first, they thought it was dyed ck, but since most of them had had experience dyeing their hair, after closed observation, they found that the ck line waspletely natural, and they were amazed by it.

    Fina maintained its reserved manner as usual and stood there quietly. It didn¡¯t care much about Snowy Li¡¯s poprity¡ªFina didn¡¯t need intimate contact, in fact, it was disgusted by intimate contact. In Fina¡¯s eyes, its body could not be touched by just any random, ordinary people. Compared to those lovely girls, Fina was more interested in the solemn and divine church. It raised its head and gazed at the tall cross.

    The sky was clear, and the autumn air was crisp. A few grey pigeonsnded on the white cross and kept making a ¡°cooing¡± sound. The church and the pigeons were the perfect match at that moment. Even for people who didn¡¯t have any religious beliefs, when seeing such a scene, they would reach their peace of mind without any distractions. Perhaps they would go into the church and listen to the sermon.

    Luo Qingyu signed emotionally, ¡°The girls look 30% cuter when holding cats. Don¡¯t you think so?¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so,¡± Zhang Zian tly denied. ¡°No matter how cute the girls are, they are not mine¡­ But the cat is mine. Tell them to be gentle with my cat ¡ª if its fur gets dirty or any is pulled out, you¡¯ll need topensate me.¡±

    ¡°Why are you so stinky?¡± said Luo Qingyu with a heartache. The cat rental fee had been paid by himself, and not wanting his club members to underestimate his abilities, he was embarrassed to confess to them that the cat was borrowed by him.

    As the president of the photography club, Luo Qingyu¡¯s status was unstable, for he didn¡¯t be the president because of his outstanding photography techniques, but through making promises in his campaign that he would make the club develop better. He even boasted that he knew many cute girls and he would invite them to cooperate with the photography club. Since all of the members were male college students who longed to have more contact with girls, Luo Qingyu became the president of the club thanks to hormones.

    In fact, most of his promises were just bluffs. He was a bachelor himself back then, and no way would he know a lot of cute girls. It was partly true that he wanted to be the president of the photography club so that he could get dates easily¡ªmost girls would like to look pretty in photos, and show their beauty to more people. In the eyes of anyyperson, single-lens reflex cameras made a person look very professional. Plus, the title of ¡°President of Photography Club¡± made a few girls fall for Luo Qingyu.

    Actually, the Cosyers today were contacted by Luo Qingyu. They were nursing students from Binhai Medical College. After learning about Luo Qingyu¡¯s title and what he did, they agreed on a time and ce to shoot Cosy photos.

    Zhang Zian just wanted to finish the photo shoot and go home earlier. He couldn¡¯t stand it when those girls kept touching his cat so affectionately. Though the girls and Snowy Li enjoyed their intimate contact, he didn¡¯t feel good about it¡­

    ¡°Don¡¯t you have photos to shoot? Hurry up, I have other things to do,¡± he reminded Luo Qingyu.

    Luo Qingyu had a headache, ¡°You think I don¡¯t want to hurry up?¡±

    He pulled Zhang Zian a few steps back and whispered, ¡°The thing is, this is the very first time these girls have done Cosy, and they don¡¯t know how to pose or how to move. They even haven¡¯t watched the anime they are cosying today. Since they don¡¯t know about the personalities or the habits of the characters they are cosying, it is time-consuming to teach them.¡±

    From their garments that looked like armors and the giant weapons held in their hands, the girls probably were cosying characters from some fighting anime, which was probably demanded by the male Otakus from the photography club. For girls who watched anime, they probably preferred love stories or daily-life genres, so it was not surprising that they had not watched the designated anime.

    ¡°Aura! The most important thing is aura!¡± Luo Qingyu stressed, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how they dress or how they act, I can teach them those. After all, I¡¯ve watched that anime 30 times, so I know how every girl character looks or acts even with my eyes closed.¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute!¡± Zhang Zian could not pretend that he didn¡¯t hear that, ¡°You watch the anime 30 times?¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡± Luo Qingyu nodded proudly, ¡°After I go home tonight, I¡¯m going to change my clothes, take a shower, and watch it for the 31st time. I¡¯ve got Nutrition Express and instant noodles ready.¡±

    ¡°What the hell is Nutrition Express? And what exactly is the anime that you¡¯re watching?¡±

    Luo Qingyu raised his long, thin arm and pointed to a girl among the Cosyers, ¡°See that girl in the red costume?¡±

    The Cosyers were surrounding Snowy Li, trying to hold it in their arms. Among them, the most active one was a girl with long, straight ck hair. She was wearing a sailor suit with a necktie that wasmonly seen in anime. Her long ck hair was hanging down perpendicrly like a waterfall. Her short, ck skirt and over-the-knee stockings highlighted her snow-white skin. She probably had the most beautiful breasts and legs among those Cosyers. She was holding Snowy Li, giggling and hiding away from other girls, not letting them to touch it. Snowy Li narrowed its eyes, smiled wickedly, and touched her breasts with its paws.

    ¡°Yes, I can see her. She looks cute. What¡¯s her matter?¡± asked Zhang Zian.

    ¡°She is supposed to cosy a Tsundere character!¡± said Luo Qingyu exasperatedly. ¡°Tsundere, do you understand? She appears tough in front of everyone, while in fact she has a soft and fragile heart when she¡¯s alone. That¡¯s a tremendous gap moe!¡±

    He embraced himself, and closed his eyes enchantedly. His body was gently trembling like he was electrified, as if he was holding that imaginative animated character in his arms, and touched her affectionately¡­ He didn¡¯t care about the peculiar looks cast by his friends.

    When he opened his eyes, he found that Zhang Zian had stepped back far away from him.

    He asked curiously, ¡°Why are you getting away from me? Can¡¯t you feel that I was appraising her for her gap moe?¡±

    ¡°I only have two words for you ¨C super disgusting!¡±ined Zhang Zian.

    Luo Qingyu felt hurt, ¡°I am the active president of the photography club, I¡¯m not an Otaku who spends entire days in my dormitory.¡±

    But Zhang Zian had seen through it.

    ¡°Stop pretending!¡± he said coldly. ¡°Even if you are an Otaku, you should abide by the TPO principle!¡±

    ¡°What is the TPO principal?¡± asked Luo Qingyu confusingly.

    ¡°Time, ce, asion! Though it¡¯s a guideline for wearing clothes, it¡¯s also applicable to an Otaku like you.¡± Said Zhang Zian.

    The so-called super Otaku were the ones that exhibited their Otaku properties regardless of time, ce or asion.

 Chapter 262: The So-Called Tsundere

    <h4>Chapter 262: The So-Called Tsundere</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The photography group chose to shoot in front of a serious church. The believers were nice enough to not kick them out. Now Luo Qingyu startedining for no reason. Who knows when they would get kicked out?!

    Luo Qingyu rubbed his head and could not stand Zhang Zian¡¯sments. Soon enough, his forgot about the whole unpleasant conversation and said happily, ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about it right now. I am not like that.¡±

    ¡°Well, you don¡¯t have to be humble about this. Frankly, I have never seen someone nerdier than you!¡± Zhang Zian kept himself away from Luo Qingyu on purpose, ¡°Don¡¯te any closer! Nerdiness is contagious!¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s first cat-bathing customer, Lu Yiyun, was also nerdy looking. She left a pretty good impression on Zhang Zian, except for the fact that she was emotional¡­ It looked like nerdy Otakus were not always the same. Someone like Luo Qingyu might be an exception? Who knows?! Zhang Zian thought to himself.

    Seeing that Zhang Zian was not going to ept his preaching, Luo Qingyu sighed, ¡°Fine. You don¡¯t know what you are missing.¡±

    ¡°Well, I have missed many things in my life. I don¡¯t feel sorry about missing you preach at all. Please get going. I am on a tight schedule!¡± Zhang Zian pushed again.

    ¡°Okay! You are no fun!¡±

    Luo Qingyu ran over to the girls and dragged the tall girl out.

    ¡°What is it?!¡± The tall girl asked impatiently.

    Another girl took Snowy Li away when the tall girl was not paying attention, which made her sad. Snowy Li¡¯s fur was so soft, like a stuffed animal. When she was holding it in her arms, it meowed lightly and licked her face. So cute! Now that someone had taken it away from her, she started missing this cat already!

    ¡°We are here for photo shooting, not ying with cats! You are the leader among those cosy girls,¡± Luo Qingyu tried to convince her. ¡°Read youric book a few more times and get a hint of what your character is about. ying with cats is a waste of time.¡±

    The tall girlined, ¡°Didn¡¯t I do good in posing for the shoot? What do you want now?¡±

    ¡°Aura! Understand? Aura!¡± Luo Qingyu waved the rolled-up paper in his hand and started yelling, ¡°We want not only the appearance of the cosy characters, but also the heart and the soul! Only this way can we show a perfect cosy! I can¡¯t ask for more, but you at least have to show the essence of the disposition of the character!¡±

    Luo Qingyu was so loud that the tall girl¡¯s ear was hurting! She stepped back and said, ¡°I told you I can¡¯t do Tsundere characters! It was you who forced me into this. Now you are ming me? Guys are ridiculous! Why do you guys like Tsundere girls so much?! Stupid!¡±

    ¡°What?! Stupid? You just couldn¡¯t understand. A Tsundere girl is the most attractive¡­ well, never mind. You will never understand!¡± Yearning showed on Luo Qingyu¡¯s face, ¡°Come on! I am counting on you to represent this character I have a mad crush on!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care!¡± The tall girl said unhappily, ¡°I don¡¯t know what being Tsundere is. Why don¡¯t you find one for me so I can learn from her?¡±

    Luo Qingyu paused and forced a smile, ¡°A Tsundere girl in real life¡­ I have been searching high and low for her but couldn¡¯t find her!¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Zhang Zian, who still stood far away, said, ¡°Excuse me, I think I can show you what being Tsundere is.¡±

    ¡°Really? You know a Tsundere girl?¡± Luo Qingyu rushed to Zhang Zian and shook him like crazy, ¡°Hook me up with her! Hook me up with her!¡±

    Zhang Zian struggled to get his hands off, ¡°I don¡¯t have a Tsundere girl, but I have a Tsundere cat. Look!¡± Zhang Zian pointed at Fina.

    ¡°A Tsundere cat?!¡± Luo Qingyu and the tall girl were surprised to hear that and they both looked over.

    Fina slowly walked up the stairs at the church entrance. Raising its head and looking forward, it was ncing at the believers walking by and the cosy girls who were having fun. Fina was not cold, nor proud. It was like a leader standing up high and overlooking the people below as if it was saying, ¡°I don¡¯t mean anything bad but every one of you are garbage!¡±

    Luo Qingyu was excited, ¡°That¡¯s it! Did you see? That is what I want!¡± He hit the tall girl¡¯s shoulder so hard that she almost cried.

    ¡°Holy moly!¡± he sighed. ¡°I have always wondered what a Tsundere girl looks like, but I couldn¡¯t picture her¡­ Today I found a perfect representation on a cat!¡±

    He turned around and found the tall girl staying far away from him, ¡°Ying Ting, look! This is Tsundere in the real world! Learn from that cat!¡±

    The hit on her shoulder was really hurtful. The tall girl took a deep breath, stared at him with rage and began to pay attention to Fina.

    At first, Ting Ying didn¡¯t care about the so-called Tsundere and she didn¡¯t understand why guys loved it so much. If someone in the real world was like that, he had to be a lonely man. She looked at Fina up and down. It was only a normal cat, a very looking one¡­ A cat was a pet. How could it be Tsundere? Nonsense!

    However, the longer she looked at Fina, the more she was shocked to find out.

    Just like the stories in novels, she could feel Fina¡¯s aura! The odd thing was that Fina didn¡¯t really do anything. It was just standing there. Sometimes it half-closed its eyes. Sometimes it lightly touched its beard with its paw. But all and all, it showed a distinguished aura. Especially when it looked at you with its eyes half-closed, as if it could see through you.

    A saying came to Ting Ying¡¯s mind: it takes three generations of training to be elegant. Aura was something that formed over a long process. For example, if someone came from the less fortunate, he would still act like who he was even if he won the lottery. This cat had to be a special pet!

    She looked at Fina.

    Soon, she found something different about Fina.

 Chapter 263: Masterpiece

    <h4>Chapter 263: Masterpiece</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian squatted down and lifted up a corner of the cotton cloth covering the birdcage to check the status of the two red-headed lovebirds. Fina narrowed its eyes to look at him. When he rested assured that they were fine and put down the cotton cloth, he sensed that someone was looking at him, but when he raised his head, Fina turned away its gaze, pretending it was just looking around at the environment. Seeing that, Ting Ying felt enlightened, as if she had understood something that was inexplicable. Worrying that she would forget that feeling, she started to imitate Fina without thinking too much. She narrowed her eyes like Fina did, and she didn¡¯t look at people with her head straight as usual. Instead, she tilted her head by 45 degrees and looked askance at Luo Qingyu. When Luo Qingyu looked back at her, she straightened up her face and turned away shyly.

    Luo Qingyu was surprised, with his mouth slightly opened. What did he see in that moment? It was like the Tsundere character in the anime hade from the screen to real life!

    ¡°Just like that!¡± He threw away the rolls of newspaper he used as a microphone, took over the single-lens reflex camera from one club member, and shot a few photos quickly.

    He lowered his head to check out the photos on the LCD screen on the camera.

    On the screen, he saw that Ting Ying wasn¡¯t looking at the camera lens. She was gazing at something in the distance. Her cheeks were blushed, her mouth was opened a little bit, like she was whispering, ¡°I care about you very much, but I just don¡¯t look at you.¡±

    Better still, Fina was also in the back area of these photos. Ting Ying and Fina were looking in opposite directions, like they had some tacit agreement, and even their Tsundere expressions looked the same. They had made perfectpositions in these photos! Ting Ying was in the front, and looked taller and real, while Fina was in the back, and looked smaller and unreal.

    He was especially satisfied with one of the photos, where a little bit of the sky was seen on the upper right side, and pigeons were about to fly from the cross of the church, making the perfectposition even more perfect because the contrast of stillness and motion was added. As for the colors¡ªthe cat was golden, the sky was pure blue, the pigeons were white, the wall of the church was red, the steps were grey, the waterfall-like hair, skirt and stockings of Ting Ying were ck, and her breasts were absolutely shining¡­so the colors and shades were matched perfectly. It was a photo that was almost impossible to replicate. After adequate photoshop touch-up, it could be the masterpiece of his life as an amateur photographer!

    Luo Qingyu was so excited that his hands were shaking. He might know little about photography, and he might not be qualified enough to be considered a photographer, but he could tell what a good photo was. In the past, he was envious of the photos shot by someone else on the inte, and he imagined that someday he could also shoot an amazing picture and make a name for himself, and then lots of beautiful girls would beg him to take photos for them, or even invite him to take nude photos for them so that they could keep their young and beautiful bodies in their memories.

    Obviously, this was the picture he had been dreaming of, and the picture that could lead him to sess.

    He took a deep breath, trying to stabilize his shaking hands. The most important thing was to make more copies of this photo in case the SD card broke¡ªthough it didn¡¯t happen often, he had heard of such tragedies from time to time. Digital products were delicate, and once damaged, the photos in the SD card would probably be gone, and it would be difficult to recover those photos.

    He sent the photos via Wifi to his cell phone, stored them in the Cloud Drive, and felt relieved, finally.

    He raised his head and noticed that his club members were staring at him with strange looks.

    ¡°What?¡± he asked confusingly and touched his face. Nothing was on his face.

    He looked at Zhang Zian, who had retreated 20 meters away from him, and stared at him with concern.

    ¡°President Luo, your smile just now was so disgusting¡­¡± one of his ssmates and club members got emboldened and said.

    Luo Qingyu felt strange, ¡°Did I smile? Howe I didn¡¯t know that?¡±

    ¡°You did smile,¡± said the club member, and other club members nodded to agree with him, ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me, I happened to take photos of you. Would you like to take a look?¡±

    ¡°Show them to me.¡± Luo Qingyu went to take over another single-lens reflex camera from the club member and reviewed the pictures on the LCD screen.

    To be honest, that photo was shot in the perfect timing. In that photo, Luo Qingyu was focusing on the camera in his hand, and showing a very satisfied and creepy smile. With a little bit of photoshop, it could be a meme on the inte.

    Luo Qingyu raised the camera and was about to drop it on the ground.

    ¡°President, don¡¯t!¡± His club members tried to stop him. ¡°This camera was rented. If you want to drop it, spare the lens. The lens is much more expensive than the body.¡±

    The club members grabbed the camera from Luo Qingyu, and then saved his photo to their cell phones as Luo Qingyu had done a moment ago. And then they smiled satisfyingly, thinking about how they were going to use their primary skills of Photoshop to make more funny memes.

    Luo Qingyu¡¯s face froze upon seeing their smiles.

    ¡°Don¡¯t panic. It¡¯s not a big deal.¡± He consoled himself, ¡°When I be famous, I won¡¯t have to spend time with these losers. Lots of beautiful girls will want me, and these losers will cause no trouble for me.¡±

    As an Otaku, he forced himself to forget about these losers, and immersed himself in his imagination of what the sensation would be after he uploaded his masterpiece to the homepage of the photograph exhibition of the school¡­

    Seeing that Luo Qingyu was absent-minded, Ting Ying wanted to tease Fina. She was getting fonder of the cat. She even got to understand why the boys were obsessed with Tsundere girls. That attitude of ¡°I care about you, but I won¡¯t speak about it¡± was so adorable! And cats were indeed adorable creatures!

    She approached Fina, squatted down, smiled, and waved at it, ¡°Hey! Hi there, kitten, I¡¯m Ting Ying.¡±

    Ting Ying¡¯s Tsundere attitude was just imitation and performance, while Fina¡¯s Tsundere attitude was ingrained in its blood.

    Fina nced at her coldly, wagged its tail, turned its head and left.

    ¡°No, kitten, don¡¯t go!¡±

    Ting Ying felt anxious and upset, but Fina didn¡¯t even turn its head. It went straight towards Zhang Zian, and said to him in a in tone as usual, ¡°I¡¯m hungry.¡±

    Simple as that.

    Zhang Zian was reluctant to stop gazing at the bare thighs of the girls, so he sighed. He thought he could quietly appreciate the beautiful girls, but his good time was interrupted by this foodie who didn¡¯t care about romance.

    It was time to go back anyway. Though there was a cotton cloth on the birdcage to keep the red-headed lovebirds warm, spending too much time outside in the windy autumn was not good for their health.

    ¡°Hey, Snowy Li, we should go home, Fina is hungry,¡± he shouted towards Snowy Li, emphasizing that it was Fina that wanted to go home.

    Snowy Li touched the girl¡¯s body for thest time and got rid of their cuddles. It started to run towards Zhang Zian and Fina using its short legs.

    ¡°Meow, meow! I¡¯m so satisfied today!¡±

    Zhang Zian had grown used to this lustful cat. He stuck out his hand to stop a taxi and then they drove back to the pet shop.

    On their way back, he calcted the amount of time Luo Qingyu had rented his cat for, and refunded most of the 150 Yuan to him in the way of red envelope in WeChat.

 Chapter 264: Decoding and Encoding

    <h4>Chapter 264: Decoding and Encoding</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was the next day. As usual, Zhang Zian woke up before the rm went off. He turned off the rm and saw that Fina and Snowy Li were still sleeping. Slowly and lightly, he got off the bed and walked towards the door. Fina¡¯s eyelids moved as if it was having a dream or had heard Zhang Zian¡¯s steps. Snowy Li was sleeping deeply. Most cats were more alert than that.

    ¡°My Majesty, My Majesty¡­ Your hair is so smooth and nice. I will lick your hair for the rest of my life¡­ meow¡­¡± Snowy Li changed positions, tightly hugged the nket and licked the nket. It was drooling all over.

    Zhang Zian decided not to wake Snowy Li up. He would tell it the truth when it woke up.

    He washed off simply in the bathroom and quietly walked downstairs.

    Old Time Tea and Gxy slept a lot in the game yesterday, so they woke up early as well. Old Time Tea kept the TV down and was watching the morning news. Gxy was wandering around, bored. As soon as it heard Zhang Zian¡¯s steps, it ran over and said happily, ¡°Good morning, Zian! You are early today!¡±

    Zhang Zian stretched and said, ¡°Since I learned martial arts from Grandpa Tea, I fall asleep easily every night and never wake up during the night. It is great! Now, I can get out of bed easily. If it was before, I would¡¯ve stayed in bed and not want to get up.¡±

    ¡°Meow¡­ I don¡¯t understand, but you are the best!¡± Gxy said.

    If someone or another Elfin told him that, Zhang Zian would think that they were being sarcastic. However, when Gxy said it, it had to be true. He was proud of himself.

    Zhang Zian remembered that when he worked in the office, getting up in the morning was the most difficult thing in the world. However, he never felt tired at night. Therefore, he never went to bed before midnight. Since he had taken over the pet shop, he had been getting up and going to bed at a set time. Since Gxy¡¯s arrival, he stopped going to bedte. Since Fina¡¯s arrival, he stopped eating out a lot. Since Old Time Tea¡¯s arrival, he started exercising and had been sleeping very well.

    And Richard¡­

    Talking about the devil¡­

    pping its wings, Richardnded on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder and couldn¡¯t stop moaning. Zhang Zian tied up its beak so it couldn¡¯t bother other people and the cats in the morning.

    There was nothing but bitterness in Richard¡¯s eyes as if it was saying, ¡°Sh*t! Why did you tie up my beak?!¡±

    Zhang Zian raised three fingers and said, ¡°I have three requirements. If you agree to them all, I won¡¯t tie up your beak again.¡±

    Of course, Richard said yes because it wanted to be untied.

    ¡°First, as long as someone is still sleeping in this house, you have to be quiet. You have to keep it low when you talk.¡±

    Richard nodded.

    ¡°Second, when there are other people around, no swearing. You have seriously damaged my image.¡±

    Richard tilted its head meaning that it didn¡¯t agree. However, it finally nodded.

    ¡°Third,¡± Zhang Zian pointed at the cage in the disy cab, ¡°You promised to train those birds, so you have to take ountability. If you can¡¯t finish, then I will call you lying bird instead of apprehensive bird.¡±

    He was not positive that he could train the birds. It was a mission to bepleted in a short time frame. There was no way he could train the red-headed love birds. The only way he could get this done was to have Richard train them.

    Richard raised its head, looked at the cage with ease and patted its chest with one wing. It meant that it would be a piece of cake.

    Zhang Zian took the tie off Richard¡¯s beak.

    Richard shook its head and moved its tongue around. It was about to start preaching. Zhang Zian raised three fingers in front of its face so it swallowed back some dirty words and lowered its voice.

    ¡°Jeff, you are an idiot! I know much more than you could ever imagine!¡± Richard was even more arrogant than ever, ¡°Do you really understand what my name ¨C the apprehensive bird ¡ª means? Well, stupid as you are, I am not surprised if you don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡±

    Richard¡¯s words were hurtful. Zhang Zian fought back, ¡°At least I am smarter than you are. Your brain is only as big as a walnut. You can¡¯t tell me I am stupid!¡±

    ¡°Ha-ha! Look, if your theory is true, then elephants and whales should¡¯ve ruled the world by now,¡± Richard said scornfully. ¡°Never mind! I don¡¯t think you know this, but wisdom is aplicated thing. I don¡¯t think you¡¯d be able toprehend it even if I exined it. Let¡¯s put it this way: ¡®Apprehension¡¯ is, in fact, a form of decoding. The antonym of decoding is encoding. Humannguage, bird¡¯snguage, cat¡¯snguage, dog¡¯snguage, evenputernguage are all just coding. Language is a tool formunication but it is also a process of encoding and decoding. My exnation is straightforward enough. Can you understand?¡±

    Quite frankly, Zhang Zian had been talking since he was little, but he had never thought about it deeper. At this time, he could notpletely understand Richard¡¯s words, but it sounded right.

    Language was a tool formunication in the human world. However, not many people dug deeper to find out whatnguage really was. Everybody talked every day. From the first ¡°Good morning¡± to everyday conversation throughout the day,nguage was something everybody used. Even the most introverted person had to speak to others at some point. Sometimes, some people would even continue to speak in their dreams.

    Language was everywhere. It could be used to express love or hatred, tell the truth to the world or record history¡­ All was impossible withoutnguage. Civilization was based on the development ofnguage, which was as important as air, food and water. However, not many people would even notice its importance.

    It was toomon to use words tomunicate, so people neglected its true meaning.

    Zhang Zian rethought Richard¡¯s words and a question came up to his mind: ¡°So you are saying thatputernguage is no different than othernguages?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Richard replied without thinking. ¡°Computernguage is in fact simpler, more precise and more logical. The essence ofputernguage is no different than a normalnguage. The only difference is that the encoding and decoding for aputernguage ispleted in aputer; while for a normalnguage, the same process is finished in a human brain.¡±

 Chapter 265: You Can, You Up

    <h4>Chapter 265: You Can, You Up</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As the proverb goes: The apprehensive bird was never heard before simply because it was not understood.

    Until today, Zhang Zian thought apprehension only meant ¡°understandingnguages¡±. But now he learned that it was not just about ¡°understanding¡±, it was more about analyzing and decodingnguages.

    He had underestimated Richard. Decodingnguages was much superior and fancier than purely understandingnguages. Decodingnguages involved tracing back to the source and approaching the nature ofnguage.

    Hearing that Richard thought thenguages of humans, animals andputers were the same, Zhang Zian was rather surprised, but on second thought, he believed that it probably made sense.

    Putting animalnguages aside, humannguages were merely formed under finite rules by fixed pronunciations, which was the foundation of encoding and decoding, and in that sense, humannguages were no different thanputernguage in nature. If there was anything different between decoding and encoding, decoding would be more difficult¡ªif encoding was like building sand into a tower, then decoding would be a reversing engineering project such as disintegrating the tower back into grains of sand, which would require mastering of the exact shape and position of each grain of sand.

    ¡°So, you also know aboutputernguage?¡± Zhang Zian asked curiously. These things said by Richard, such as decoding and encoding, apparently were the professional terms from the field ofputer and electronicmunication. If Richard was an expert onputernguage, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have to run the pet shop anymore! He would threaten Richard and asked it to hack into the banking system and transfer 100 million Yuan to him.

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t. Thenguages in this world are as many as the stars in the sky. Instead of knowing a little bit about eachnguage, I think it is better to be an expert on thenguages that are more important and are used widely.¡± Richard had read Zhang Zian¡¯s mind and raised its w, ¡°Besides, even if I did knowputernguage, how would you expect me to click on the keyboard with these ws?¡±

    Obviously, Zhang Zian was thinking too much! He felt very disappointed, liked he had lost billions of money.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get back to business. You are so capable, so it will just be a piece of cake to you to teach these parrots to speak, right?¡± He went to the disy case and lifted the cloth on the birdcage.

    He hadn¡¯t unveiled the cotton cloth yet after returning to the pet shop yesterday, so that the two red-headed lovebirds could get used to the new environment slowly.

    Richard fluttered its wings and flew over to the birdcage, and observed the two creatures of its same kind.

    The red-headed lovebirds were much smaller than the grey parrot. Even if you put the two together, they were still smaller than Richard. They stayed close to each other, and observed the environment around them nervously.

    ¡°Pfft! A bloody couple!¡± Richard said disdainfully and went to the other side of the cage to size them up.

    Zhang Zian noticed that the red-headed lovebirds were so afraid of Richard that they always stayed as far away from it as possible¡ªwhen Richard flew to the left, they would hide on the right side; when Richard went to the right side, they would retreat to the left side. Of course, anyone would panic when put in a narrow, closed space facing a giant creature, not to mention a gigantic gap in their sizes.

    ¡°Hey, Richard, it seems that you have frightened them,¡± he reminded.

    Richard turned around and looked at him aggressively, ¡°You want toe and try?¡±

    Zhang Zianined to himself, what an arrogant b*tch bird, just because it could do something no one else could.

    The red-headed lovebirds were so frightened that they made some indescribable squeaking sounds. The male parrot, Little Purple, courageously stood before the female parrot, Yellow Pea Cake, protecting its spouse with its body.

    Zhang Zian figured they probably were screaming for help, saying something like, ¡°A bully is robbing my wife in the street!¡±

    And Richard did behave like a bully. It looked at Zhang Zian and demanded, ¡°Open the gate of the cage.¡±

    Zhang Zian felt sorry for the red-headed lovebirds. They were making those poor squeaking sounds towards him, and probably thought he was the only one who could rescue them.

    Gxy stopped ying. It opened its mouth slightly and looked at them curiously, ¡°Meow, meow! Zian, why are they wailing?¡±

    Zhang Zian said to Gxy, ¡°I don¡¯t know either. Why don¡¯t you go to the second floor to y? I will go upstairster.¡±

    Gxy nodded and trotted towards the second floor.

    Thepassionate Old Time Tea paused the morning news and looked at them. Silent for a moment, Old Time Tea figured it wasn¡¯t its business and went back to watch the public servants holding meetings. Though Richard seemed untrustworthy by its look, Old Time Tea believed it was not a bad bird that would be capable of inflicting cruel torture or ughter.

    ¡°I mean¡­ Can you be a little bit nicer?¡± Zhang Zian tried to persuade Richard, ¡°You know, they are new to this environment, and they are scared. If you keep threatening them¡­¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Richard became aggressive. ¡°If I scare them, what will happen to them? Will they be scared to death?¡±

    ¡°No¡­¡± Zhang Zian admitted, ¡°But¡­¡±

    ¡°Or you want to try to teach them instead?¡± Richard yed its master stroke, ¡°You can, you¡¯re up; you can¡¯t, shut up.¡±

    Zhang Zian shut up andined to himself. He usually said that sentence to others, and when that trick was used against him, the feeling really sucked¡­

    ¡°Of course, if you want to take things slow, I have no problem with that.¡± Richard said, ¡°How about that? Make up your mind.¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. He could wait, the red-headed lovebirds could wait, but Guo Dongyue¡¯s mom couldn¡¯t afford the waiting. Who knew when her disease would deteriorate further?

    ¡°I got it, just don¡¯t be too mean.¡± He opened the gate of the birdcage.

    The door was a little small for Richard. It had to bend a little bit, and tightened its wings close to its body to get through the gate. It stood at the gate so the red-headed lovebirds had no way to escape. Even if they did escape from the birdcage, they could not fly away from the pet shop, because the shutter door was closed.

    Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake were hiding in the corner, wailing even louder.

    Richard looked from left to right, and right to left for several times and said, ¡°I am Richard, and I will be your instructor and teacher from now on. What are your names? Tell me now!¡±

    ¡°They are called Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake. Little Purple has a more obvious blue color on its back.¡± Zhang Zian answered for them, because clearly the two parrots couldn¡¯t answer.

    ¡°I¡¯m not asking you.¡± Richard stared at him.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know how to teach the parrots, so he could only shut up. How exactly would Richard teach the parrots, he wanted to see.

    ¡°All right, you morons. Start by remembering who I am. If you can¡¯t remember my name, just call me Grey.¡± Richard opened its wings and showed them the silver-grey feathers all over its body.

    ¡°Grey,¡± it repeated, ¡°I am Grey.¡±

 Chapter 266: Needs Help

    <h4>Chapter 266: Needs Help</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian stared at the birdcage nervously, waiting to see how the situation was going to fare.

    Richard was confronting the two red-headed lovebirds in the cage ¡ª it wasn¡¯t urate to say they were being confronted, because Richard was just like a big devil from aic book that was bullying both of them¡­

    Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake wanted to escape from Richard. They pped their wings in the cage, trying to fly away, but Richard¡¯s huge body was blocking the cage door, and they simply had nowhere to go. During their attempt to flee, they crashed onto the cage, hit the grab bar, fell into the water basin and looked like two drowned rats. Zhang Zian was so sorry to see that at least a dozen feathers had fallen off. Failing to escape, they began to wail in more woeful and louder voices.

    Every time they cried, Richard responded with an even louder ¡°Quack¡± sound.

    ¡°What is happening?¡±

    Shortly after Gxy went onto the second floor, Fina came downstairs yawning. Having heard the whining, Fina looked at the three birds tossing about in the cage and asked doubtfully.

    Snowy Li followed closely behind Fina. Perhaps because in its dream, Snowy Li had licked Fina¡¯s fur, it seemed very excited. Although it hadn¡¯t figured out the situation either, it replied confidently, ¡°Your Majesty, it must be this dick who¡¯s pulling the strings!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s happening either,¡± Zhang Zian ignored Snowy Li and said to Fina. ¡°Richard seems to be training them to speak, but is it really necessary for it to be this way¡­?¡±

    Fina looked at the cage raptly for a while, and said, ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anything wrong with its method.¡±

    Zhang Zian doubted whether he had heard it right. Richard was making such loud noises in Fina¡¯s shrine, and Fina was actually not angry?

    Fina jumped easily onto the top rack of the cat tree. Without a clue, Fina said, ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯re just a mortal.¡± And then it closed its eyes and went back to sleep.

    Zhang Zian did not understand what she meant by that. Indeed, he was just a mortal, but why did that fact have anything to do with Richard¡¯s practice?

    Fina had been in contact with a lot of people in the past, and many of them were big shots whose names had been remembered for centuries. These so-called great men, no matter what they looked like, would definitely be hard-hearted, to others and to themselves, at important moments. They would give everything it took to achieve great aplishments. Fina reconfirmed that he was a soft-hearted mortal who was unable to remain silent and indifferent to the suffering of others.

    However, Fina did not detest him, even though he was only a mortal.

    Neither Fina nor Old Time Tea tried to interfere with Richard¡¯s teaching, so Zhang Zian started to question whether he had ignored something important.

    He temporarily put aside his sympathy for the two red-headed lovebirds, and carefully observed the interaction between Richard and them.

    Knowing that they could not escape, Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake gradually epted their destinies. They stood timidly with their ws grasping the grab bar, facing Richard like they were pupils being punished.

    Hm?

    Zhang Zian suddenly found that since Fina hade down onto the first floor, he no longer heard Richard¡¯s hoarse ¡°Quack, quack¡± sound. Instead, Richard¡¯s beak was swiftly opening and closing like it was still speaking.

    After a while, he finally realized that Richard was imitating the red-headed lovebirds¡¯ voices. And its imitation was so real that he couldn¡¯t tell the difference at all!

    He recalled that these red-headed lovebirds seldom tweeted, and since they were put in the cage covered with cotton cloth, they remained quiet almost all the time. Was Richard deliberately scaring them and forcing them to tweet so it could learn theirnguage?

    Zhang Zian did not understand thenguages of birds, but it seemed that Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake started to calm down, chirping with Richard in front of them, though clearly, they were still in disadvantageous positions.

    If Richard wanted to teach them how to speak, it needed to learn theirnguage first!

    A few more minutester, he noticed that Richard had be silent, and only Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake were still chirping. Richard was listening to them attentively, with its small ck eyes staring at them alternately.

    Zhang Zian was intrigued by them, but he couldn¡¯t understand a word. While they were talking lively, he felt bored. After standing there and waiting for a while, he turned back and walked towards the second floor.

    An American Shorthair was meowing and went past him, slipping into the kitchen with a swish. It was the cat that had ran away from Aunt Liu¡¯s house. Zhang Zian had been keeping it on the second floor, and hadn¡¯t sent it over to Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s clinic. Gxy¡¯s voice could be heard vaguely from the living room, ¡°Meow, quickly hide yourself, Gxy ising for you!¡±

    Zhang Zian walked into the living room and saw that Gxy was facing against the wall and counting down seriously.

    ¡°Gxy, you are ying hide and seek so early.¡±

    ¡°Meow, hide and seek is fun! Zian, you want to join us?¡± Gxy didn¡¯t want to cheat in game, so it turned around its head with its eyes closed.

    ¡°Perhapster. I need to tidy things up. Guo Dongyue wille over within two days to renovate the shop, so I¡¯m going to clean up this ce and throw away the useless things.¡±

    ¡°Meow, Gxy will start ying without Zian!¡± Gxy finally finished its countdown. It opened its eyes excitedly and began to search for the American Shorthair.

    ¡°Ah, wait a moment.¡± A question suddenly crossed his mind, and he stopped Gxy, ¡°Gxy¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Zian?¡± Gxy stopped and looked at him curiously.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know how to ask. What he was worrying about was whether this endeavor, ever close to ridiculousness, was meaningful and if it was toote.

    Guo Dongyue wanted to wake up past memories for his mother, so Zhang Zian decided to help him. However, after seeing Guo¡¯s mom¡¯s condition, Zhang Zian was frustrated and wondered if he was on a fool¡¯s errand.

    Gxyforted him as if it had read his mind, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Zian. Richard is amazing.¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled. He was not looking down on Richard. The Apprehensive Bird was quite powerful, but even if they had obtained temporary sess, their efforts would eventually be in vain with the deterioration of Guo¡¯s mother¡¯s disease.

    ¡°Gxy did not lie,¡± Gxy said seriously. ¡°Richard is great, but it needs the help of Zian.¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned for a moment. Then he asked, ¡°Needs my help? But I don¡¯t understand thenguages of birds, and Richard speaks Chinese better than I do¡­ Why does it need my help? Wait, Gxy, did you look into the future again?

    Squatting on the floor, Gxy lifted one w to cover its head embarrassingly, ¡°Meow, because the two birds were crying so miserably¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    He should have thought about that. He had a hunch that Gxy, with such a pure and wless soul, would not let Richard bully the two red-headed lovebirds and do nothing. That¡¯s why he asked Gxy to y on the second floor ¡ª he was worried that Gxy would use its ability.

    There was no harm in just peeping into the future, but he was worried that Gxy might change the future, and depending on the scope of the influence caused by the alteration, Gxy might hurt its own body.

    He stopped Gxy just now to ask it to look at the future. But he immediately realized that if it was a bad future, Gxy certainly would do something about it, so he held back. However, Gxy had already observed the future, even before he asked.

    Gxy opened up its w and revealed its silver-gray eyes. Gxy looked at him nervously, worried that it would be med.

    Zhang Zian gently sighed. He could only ept what had happened. Most importantly, he could not me Gxy for doing good things.

    ¡°Well, Gxy, what did you see?¡±

 Chapter 267: Crow Like a Cock and Snatch Like a Dog

    <h4>Chapter 267: Crow Like a Cock and Snatch Like a Dog</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian got up so early that only a little bit of twilight could be seen on the eastern sky. Looking out from the window of the living room on the second floor, he saw that only a few families had gotten up. It was unclear whether they were going to work, just getting back home from their night shifts, or had been reading all night.

    Gxy was lying under the twilighting in through the window. It put down its ws lightly, and its silver-grey eyes were just like the stars that remained in the sky.

    ¡°Meow, meow, Richard was not teaching them how to talk,¡± it said.

    ¡°Not teaching them how to talk?¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand. Richard was an expert onnguages. If Richard was not teaching them how to talk, what was it doing then?

    Gxy shook its head first and then nodded. ¡°Richard was teaching and was not teaching¡­ Meow, meow, I don¡¯t understand and I don¡¯t know how to make it clear. But Richard needs your help, and the doctor¡¯s help,¡± it said awkwardly.

    ¡°Doctor?¡± Zhang Zian was dumb. Didn¡¯t Gxy only know one doctor?

    ¡°You mean Sun Xiaomeng, who oftenes to our shop?¡± he confirmed with Gxy.

    Gxy nodded heavily, ¡°Meow, the white-gown doctor.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand but he took note of it. He didn¡¯t inquire about the issue further, because if he knew too much, he would be afraid of the future. For example, if he knew in advance that he would use his left foot to cross the threshold today, then he would be calcting his steps when approaching the threshold so that everything happened as nned¡ªand it was tiresome to live that way.

    He knew that Richard was in need of help ¡ª not just his help, but assistance from Sun Xiaomeng, and that was enough information for now.

    Plus, he also knew that Richard was not satisfied with only teaching the red-headed lovebirds to talk. It must also be preparing something big by itself, so it was better for him to pretend that he did not know anything about its n.

    As for Sun Xiaomeng¡­ It seemed that ever since Guo Dongyue mentioned psittacosis and pigeon-breeder¡¯s lung, she was somehow connected with them.

    ¡°Meow, meow, that¡¯s all I want to say for now,¡± said Gxy.

    ¡°Okay, I got it. You can go and y now.¡± Zhang Zian smiled wickedly, ¡°You want me to tell you where that cat is hiding?¡±

    ¡°Meow, meow! Gxy is not listening! Zhang Zian always cheats in games!¡± Gxy lied with its stomach on the floor, closed its eyes, and used its ws to cover its ears.

    ¡°Okay, I won¡¯t tell you.¡± Zhang Zian touched his nose and thought, since when did Gxy have the impression that he always cheated in games? He didn¡¯t cheat that many times¡­ He just peeked sometimes when ying hide-and-seek. Was that cheating? Of course not!

    ¡°Meow, meow!¡± Gxy opened one eye, made sure that Zhang Zian was not talking, and ran away quickly from the living room.

    Zhang Zian changed into sports clothes, practiced Kung Fu in the living room for a while, and didn¡¯t stop until he was drenched in sweat.

    He took a quick shower, dried his hair, put yesterday¡¯s clothes into the washing machine, and then went back downstairs.

    Fina opened its eyes. Zhang Zian said before it opened its mouth, ¡°Okay, I will go fetch your breakfastter.¡±

    Gxy and the American Shorthair were chasing each other up and down. Snowy Li was lying on the lower rack of the cat tree and stared affectionately at Fina¡¯s tail. The water in the pressing teapot had probably gone cold after an evening, and he would boil another bottle of water for Old Time Teater.

    ¡°Zian.¡± Old Time Tea waved its ws at him.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, what¡¯s the matter?¡± he ran to Old Time Tea quickly.

    Old Time Tea touched its whiskers, looked at Richard, and said, ¡°Zian, have you heard of the story, ¡®Crowing Like a Cock and Snatching Like a Dog¡¯?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought about it and said, ¡°Was it the story that, in ancient times, one rich aristocrat supported many bottom-feeders, and one bottom-feeder could crow like a cock, and another one was adept at drilling holes and snatching like a dog?¡±

    ¡°Yes, exactly,¡± Old Time Tea nodded happily. ¡°But in this case, thetter phrase can be changed into ¡®snatching like a cat¡¯.¡±

    Zhang Zian was confused, ¡°Grandpa Tea, I don¡¯t understand¡­¡±

    Old Time Tea smiled, struck out its w and pointed to Richard, who was in the birdcage: ¡°Crowing like a cock.¡± It moved its w and pointed to Snowy Li, who was gazing affectionately at Fina¡¯s tail: ¡°Snatching like a cat.¡±

    Zhang Zian finally understood and pointed at his own nose, ¡°I am the rich aristocrat?¡±

    He should never have brought that up, there was no way could he be considered rich!

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Old Time Tea coughed a bit and then said seriously, ¡°Well, the proverb means to derogate someone¡¯s small tricks nowadays. But skills cannot be categorized as superior and inferior. If the bottom-feeders who could crow like a cock and snatch like a dog didn¡¯t help Lord Mengchang when he was in danger, he would have died long time ago.¡±

    Zhang Zian understood that Old Time Tea was reminding him not to look down upon Richard and Snowy Li because he might need their skills someday.

    ¡°Understood, Grandpa Tea,¡± he replied respectfully.

    As the navigation elf had said before, the grading of an elf represented only the power of its belief. But just as everyone specialized in different areas, when it came to a specific area, an elf of a higher level was not necessarily stronger than the elf of a lower level. When the Apprehensive Bird appeared on the game radar, Zhang Zian indeed underestimated the bird, thinking that it was just an elf of the lowest level, and he didn¡¯t care whether or not he caught it. But his experiences these days made him feel very lucky that he had captured the Apprehensive Bird ¡ª otherwise he couldn¡¯t do anything to help Guo Dongyue.

    Old Time Tea was like a wise senior who would instruct him towards the appropriate timing.

    Zhang Zian had learned that Richard was capable ofnguages, but what about Snowy Li¡­?

    Fina was taking a nap on the highest rack of the cat tree, and its tail was swinging rhythmically with its breathing. Snowy Li was staring at Fina¡¯s tail affectionately, and licked its lips from time to time, as if it was trying very hard to suppress its desire to cuddle and kiss Fina.

    Zhang Zian thought that Snowy Li would probably be useless as long as it was with Fina. Snowy Li was good at stealing things, but he couldn¡¯t let it do something bad, right? Apart from snatching, what was Snowy Li also good at?

    Forget it. He decided to not think about it, and would wait to see what would happen in the future.

    If Lord Mengchang could afford to support a lot of bottom-feeders, then Zhang Zian could afford just a few pets. Even if Snowy Li could do nothing besides look cute and show its affection towards females, he would not treat it differently¡­The thing was, Snowy Li always treated him discriminately, calling him a jerk all day long¡­

    ¡°You jerk! What are you looking at? Stop looking at me, or I¡¯ll have you castrated.¡± Snowy Li noticed that he was staring at it and turned around to re at him, showing its ws to threaten him.

    Zhang Zian said mystically, ¡°Doesn¡¯t your mouth feel strange?¡±

    ¡°Feel strange?¡± Snowy Li pursed its lips to feel the taste on the tip of its tongue, and then the look on its face changed.

    ¡°Pfft! What is that?¡± Snowy Li felt so disgusted that its face wrinkled, ¡°What did you do to me while I was sleep?¡±

    ¡°Nothing, I did nothing. Let me tell you the truth ¡ª you were licking the nket when you were dreaming this morning.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­nket¡­¡± Snowy Li licked its lips, and some tiny furs were hanging on the barbs of its tongue. Judging from the smell, the furs were not those of a cat, but instead were full of the bitter taste of artificial fabric products.

    ¡°You jerk! You didn¡¯t wake me up! I will punish you one day!¡± It quickly jumped down from the cat tree and buried its head into the water bowl to clean its mouth.

    In the birdcage, Richard and the two red-headed lovebirds were silent.

    Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake stared at Richard alertly. They figured Richard was not intimidating them, and then they started tob each other¡¯s feathers with their beaks.

    Richard suddenly opened up its wings and used its original voice to say, ¡°Grey, I am Grey.¡±

    Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake stared at Richard for a while. Then, they used the raucous voices that were difficult to distinguish from whom the voices belonged to and said, ¡°Grey¡­¡±

 Chapter 268: As Lazy as I am

    <h4>Chapter 268: As Lazy as I am</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was really surprised to hear the two red-headed lovebirds say their first words so quickly. It wasn¡¯t that he was seeking a quick solution, it was just that time was not on their side.

    However, Richard seemed somewhat disappointed. It rolled its eyes, bowed its head, tightened its wings towards its body, and got out of the cage. It raised a w to shut the cage door.

    ¡°How is it going?¡± asked Zhang Zian with anticipation.

    ¡°Not very good.¡± Richard stretched its wings a bit. It wasn¡¯t easy for Richard to huddle in the cage with its size, for its head would hit the top of the cage if it jumped even a little.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it faring smoothly? They have learned to say ¡®grey¡¯ in such a short time.¡± Zhang Zian felt confused.

    Richard fluttered its wings impatiently. ¡°Put that topic aside. Go prepare breakfast and water for me. How am I going to work if I¡¯m thirsty and hungry?¡±

    ¡°Okay, wait just a moment.¡± Zhang Zian sighed, feeling he was a bit too impatient. He just wished he could solve the problem right away.

    Aftering back to the pet shop yesterday, he went to a supermarket nearby and bought fresh fruits and organic vegetables. He went to the kitchen on the second floor, cut the fruits and vegetables into small pieces and thin strips, and mixed them together. He sprinkled shelled melon seeds and peanuts atop the mixture, and made them look like sds before he poured them into the food bowl. Although they might not look good, they contained the nutrients necessary for birds.

    He carried the food bowl downstairs. Having not seen vegetables in a long time, Richard was so excited that its eyes turned green. It flew over and clung to the edge of the bowl with its ws, bowed its head and began to peck at the food.

    ¡°Quack! You, the heartless guy, are finally willing to buy vegetables! I have almost forgotten the taste of vegetables¡­¡±

    ¡°Just shut up! Howe even food cannot stop you from talking!¡± Zhang Zian put another small serving of the sd into the cage for the red-headed lovebirds, and added water into their basin.

    Zhang Zian pulled open the shutter door, and the autumn wind that had been blowing outside rushed in all at once. He took a deep breath and inhaled the fresh, cool air into his body, as if a spring that had just emerged from deep down in the earth was reaching every cell of his body. He feltpletely refreshed.

    Since Gxy liked moving around, Fina had a strong and healthy body, and Snowy Li was covered in thick fur, none of them felt cold. Though Old Time Tea was a little bit intolerant of the cold because of its advanced age, it was staying in the corner of the shop, lying on the electric nket, and wearing a jacket, so it didn¡¯t think the autumn wind was chilling. ¡°Ah-choo!¡± Richard sneezed andined, ¡°When can you install another door? I am a tropical bird; I will get a cold from these sudden changes in temperature.¡±

    ¡°In just a few days, we will have a new door.¡± Zhang Zianforted it perfunctorily.

    He left the pet shop, pulled down the shutter door but didn¡¯t lock it, then trotted towards the store recently purchased by Uncle Li and Aunt Li.

    There was not much change in the appearance of the store, which was previously a fruit store, with only the characters on the sign reced by ¡°Li¡¯s Snack Bar.¡±

    He pushed the door open and saw that the store had been basically cleaned up. Nine tables and their corresponding dining chairs were arranged in a square, awaiting the guests¡¯ visits.

    Aunt Li was wiping the tables with a rag, and seeing that Zhang Zian had arrived, she immediately greeted him with a smile. ¡°Master Zhang, your food has been prepared ¡ª it¡¯s on the counter.¡±

    ¡°OK. I see that you¡¯re busy, I¡¯ll get it myself.¡± Zhang Zi went to the counter and found the foam insted box. He looked towards the kitchen in the back, but he did not see Uncle Li there.

    ¡°Uncle Li is not here?¡± he asked casually.

    ¡°He went to the vegetable market to restock.¡± After wiping a table, Aunt Li would also check whether the napkin boxes, toothpick boxes, salt and pepper shakers, and vinegar bottles on the tables were full.

    It seemed liked they were ready to open for business. Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Aunt Li, when is the opening ceremony?¡±

    ¡°Today, and we are opening soon,¡± said Aunt Li cheerfully.

    ¡°Congrattions! You¡¯vee a long way.¡± Zhang Zian congratted her and secretly touched his own pocket¡ªhis wallet was not there, so he would have to give them a red envelope wishing them good luck another day. He thought their store was going to open a few dayster; he did not expect that they could get ready so fast.

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Finally, we can have our own store.¡± After finishing wiping a table, Aunt Li said bluntly, ¡°The sooner we open for business, the more money we can earn. Our n is to save enough money for a down payment to buy a house in this neighborhood.¡±

    Compared to them, Zhang Zian was rtivelyzy. He had no pressure and thus no motivation to earn money. He clearly knew that he was just getting by. But Aunt Li and Uncle Li, who were both over fifty years old, had to keep earning money diligently so their son could have a better life. People with faith were always respected, and Zhang Zian indeed respected Aunt Li, who was looking forward to a bright future, but at the same time, he was deeply repulsed by his ownziness¡­

    In fact, he also wanted to work hard for his son! But he did not even have a girlfriend right now! What could he do? Not to mention having a son, even getting married seemed like an unrealistic dream for him at this time! Thinking of this, he felt like this world was malicious towards the damn singles. Forget it, he decided to continue beingzy.

    What Aunt Li didn¡¯t know was that Zhang Zian had alreadypleted a huge psychological reversal in just an instant, and his sprouting ambition had withered¡­

    Though Aunt Li¡¯s dream sounded promising, Zhang Zian was still a little worried about her. There were too many small restaurants in the vicinity, and thepetition was fierce. Just like pet shops, newly opened restaurants were basically losing money at the beginning. Could Aunt Li and Uncle Li make it through?

    The most crucial factor for a restaurant was the quality of its food. Though people said that good wine needed no brush, in an information explosion era with customers overwhelmed by advertising campaigns of numerous restaurants, who knew whether the food here was delicious if the customers didn¡¯t know about ande to eat at this specific ce?

    When Zhang Zian had just inherited the pet shop, although he was very confident in the pets he had selected, no one came to visit his shop for a very long time and he almost closed the shop. If it were not for Gxy, he may have sold the pet shop in dismay, and gone back to work at thepany, where he could not bezy anymore.

    But after all, pet shops and restaurants were different¡ªpeople would always need to eat. And since it was their store¡¯s opening day, it would be inappropriate to say discouraging words. He could only wish them good luck in his heart.

    After saying goodbye to Aunt Li, he walked back to his pet shop with the foam insted box under his armpit. After walking a few steps, he saw a familiar little figure in front of him¡ªtwo asymmetrical braids, a pair of fluffy earmuffs, and a small red backpack¡ªit must be Little Celery.

    Just when Zhang Zian was about to say hello to her, a childish idea came across his mind. He was going to y a prank on her.

    He smiled wickedly, imagining the scene when his prank seeded. He stepped out to his full pace and walked on tiptoe, quickly catching up with Little Celery from behind her back. Just when he was about to frighten her, he found that something was wrong with her today. She was walking slowly with her head down, and didn¡¯t look anything like the little girl who was usually dynamic and full of energy.

    What happened?

 Chapter 269: Different Ways

    <h4>Chapter 269: Different Ways</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian changed his mind from making a prank. Instead, he slightly patted on Little Celery¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°Good morning, Little Celery.¡±

    Even so, Little Celery was startled. She jumped a little bit and yelled. Her eyes were erged in fear, and she turned around and looked alertly at the person behind her. She felt relieved after recognizing it was Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Brother store manager, you scared me,¡± she patted on her chest and said.

    ¡°Haha, you should see your face, it¡¯s so funny. You want to try again next time?¡± Zhang Zian was teasing her.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t!¡± Little Celery thought he was serious. She waved her arms and said anxiously, ¡°Brother store manager, you are an adult, you cannot bully children.¡±

    Zhang Zian felt superior because he was redeemed as an adult. In his pet shop, the elves usually didn¡¯t think very highly of him. And now, someone was looking up to him, so he felt proud of himself.

    ¡°All right. I was just joking.¡± He smiled, ¡°You seem to be very timid, are you not a fan of horror movies?¡±

    ¡°Horror movies are the worst!¡± Little Celery looked very frightened. ¡°There are some annoying boys at our school that use scenes from horror movies to scare us during recess.¡±

    Indeed, boys at Little Celery¡¯s age had nothing to fear ¡ª they might even dare to pull whiskers from a tiger. Zhang Zian remembered that when he was a child, people didn¡¯t have cell phones or other electronic devices from which to imitate scenes from horror movies to scare others, but some boys would catch caterpirs or beetles to scare girls. At that time, he was a well-behaved boy, so he would not participate in such pranks with the boys, but he was not brave enough to stand up for the girls.

    ¡°Really? Did you tell the teachers about that?¡± he asked.

    ¡°I told the teacher, and the teacher confiscated their phones and asked their parents to reim the phones. And then the boys called me a snitch,¡± said Little Celery in injured tones.

    Zhang Zian feltpassion for Little Celery and tried to console her, ¡°It¡¯s okay. You did the right thing. Who cares what the boys say!¡±

    That said, he knew that Little Celery had not yet reached the age where she wouldn¡¯t care what others thought of her. Even at his age, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have the mentality of a saint that could ignore others¡¯ments. So, his constion might only produce limited effects.

    But Little Celery nodded and smiled a little bit, ¡°That¡¯s what my mom said.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what mature adults will tell you. So, you don¡¯t have to care too much about what your childish ssmates say,¡± said Zhang Zian agreeably.

    ¡°Okay, I understand,¡± she nodded obediently.

    ¡°So, are youing to my shop to feed Xiao Ling and Er Duo today?¡± He was walking with the foam insted box tucked under his arm and asked her. He knew what the answer would be; he just asked because he had nothing else to say.

    ¡°Well¡­today¡­I don¡¯t think I can today¡­¡±

    Surprisingly, Little Celery declined the invitation. She lowered her head, kicking rocks and shuffling her feet while walking. Her tone sounded like she was both confused and embarrassed.

    What? That was the real problem? That was why she was sad?

    Zhang Zian became serious and asked her, ¡°What¡¯s going on? Did your mom not allow you toe to the shop?¡±

    If Little Celery¡¯s mom didn¡¯t want her toe to the shop, then no matter what the reason was or what her concern was, Zhang Zian would definitely respect her mother¡¯s decision. He didn¡¯t want Little Celery and her mother¡¯s rtionship to be affected because of Little Celery¡¯s fond of pets.

    ¡°It¡¯s not my mom¡­ It¡¯s¡­¡± she was hesitating whether she should tell him.

    ¡°Is there any reason you can¡¯t tell me?¡± hearing that it was not her mother that stopped her, Zhang Zian felt relieved. What would stop her from visiting the pet shop if her closest family member said yes?

    ¡°It¡¯s my ssmates¡­¡± She raised her face a little bit and said embarrassingly, ¡°I told my ssmates at school that Xiao Ling and Er Duo can talk. They didn¡¯t believe me and called me a fool.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t see thating. Children, especially innocent children like Little Celery, always wanted to share with everyone if they discovered something new. So, it was totally normal that she would tell her ssmates that Xiao Ling and Er Duo could talk. She didn¡¯t do anything wrong ¡ª if there was one thing that went wrong, it was that Zhang Zian didn¡¯t act as a thoughtful adult to remind her not to tell anyone about the hamster and the lop ear rabbit talking.

    Zhang Zian could not me Gxy because it liked doing good deeds; likewise, he could not me Little Celery because of her innocence. In the process during which children grew up, the behavior of the adults around them would influence the children¡¯s personalities in one way or another, for children were very good at observing and imitating other people. If parents and adults around them couldn¡¯t behave themselves, then it would be only a matter of time until the children would learn something bad or be sophisticated in bad advancements.

    Zhang Zian could not me Richard either. It was Zhang Zian who had told a small lie, and Richard just spoke on behalf of hamster and lop ear rabbit so that his lie coulde true. Did Richard do anything wrong? Of course not.

    Nobody had done anything wrong. Zhang Zian could only me himself because he hadn¡¯t been thoughtful enough. He hadn¡¯t even considered the possibility that Little Celery would tell someone else about her encounter with the hamster and lop ear rabbit. But even if he did remind Little Celery not to tell anyone, it would be a very difficult task for her, because kids liked talking. Besides, would she hide it from her mother?

    Little Celery lowered her head and stared at the tips of her shoes, as if she had made a mistake and was waiting to be punished.

    Zhang Zian noticed the two braids that swung rhythmically behind Little Celery¡¯s head. Her hair was meticulously braided by her mother, and maybe only people who truly cared about Little Celery would notice her braids. He believed that Little Celery¡¯s mother loved her wholeheartedly, and he would never do anything, no matter how small the possibility might be, that would influence the rtionship between Little Celery and her mother. That was the bottom line and the ultimate principle that he would hold on to.

    So, even if he went back to that day, he wouldn¡¯t tell Little Celery to hide the secret from her mother.

    Seeing that Zhang Zian had not spoken for a while, Little Celery raised her head secretly and looked at him, and then further lowered her head nervously. She had never seen her brother store manager looked so dismayed, so she was really terrified. She must have done something so horrible that her brother store manager, who was always so kind and friendly to her, would look so sad and angry. If brother store manager lost his temper, would he drive her away and not allow her to y with Xiao Ling and Er Duo anymore?

    Little Celery nervously rubbed her shoe tips. Her eyes filled with tears, her sight became blurred, and she might cry any minute.

    Zhang Zian was indeed very depressed, for he was faced with two opposite choices. One way was that he confessed that he had lied to her, and that her ssmates were right, hamster and lop ear rabbit could not talk, and he was joking with her before. That was a rather easy way. He could get out of the responsibility easily. Sure, he was just teasing the kid ¡ª was that not allowed?

    However, Little Celery might lose her trust in adults forever.

    Zhang Zian could only choose the other way, which was the difficult one.

 Chapter 270: A Plan to Play Pranks

    <h4>Chapter 270: A n to y Pranks</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian made his decision to temporarily abandon the easy way. He would try other ways to solve the problem, for he could not let his previous efforts go in vain.

    ¡°Little Celery, tell your Brother Store Manager the details. What happened exactly?¡± he squatted down and asked seriously.

    Little Celery looked up and found that her Brother Store Manager was smiling calmly as usual.

    She felt a little bit relieved, but still she asked cautiously, ¡°Brother Store Manager, you are not going to me me?¡±

    ¡°Why would I me you?¡± Zhang Zian asked her instead, ¡°You did not do anything wrong. Well, Little Celery, now tell me the details. What did your ssmates say about you?¡±

    After hearing Zhang Zian¡¯s words, Little Celery finally became less gloomy, the tears in her eyes gradually evaporated, and then she mumbled, ¡°After school yesterday, a few ssmates and I stayed to discuss what we should perform to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of our school¡­ and I proposed that we perform a fairy tale. ¡±

    ¡°What fairy tale? The Wizard of Oz?¡± Zhang Zian recalled that when he was a child, he seemed to have performed at a festival program for the school anniversary as well. He participated in the program of ¡°The Wizard of Oz¡± with his ss, and sessfully yed an important role in it¡ªa tree on the roadside.

    ¡°No, not The Wizard of Oz¡­ it¡¯s a fairy tale created by ourselves¡­¡± said Little Celery bashfully.

    Seeing Little Celery like that, Zhang Zian guessed the original fairy tale might be Little Celery¡¯s work, or at least she was involved in the creating process.

    ¡°That¡¯s nice. And then what happened?¡± He asked.

    Little Celery paused and continued, embarrassed, ¡°The fairy tale is about¡­ pets in a pet shop¡­ and all of them can speak and be friends of everyone¡­¡± Then, her face turned red.

    ¡°Oh, I see.¡± Zhang Zian said, as if thinking of something.

    ¡°Brother Store Manager, are you going tough at me?¡± Little Celery seemed very concerned about his opinion, and asked this very seriously.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯tugh at her, he just suddenly sighed emotionally¡ªall this time, he had not been aware of it, but he was living in the fairy tale world that children were dreaming of!

    In his small pet shop, his pets could talk, they could do things beyond people¡¯smon sense, they could help people, they could be friends of people, and they could maybe even develop deeper feelings towards people¡ªif his pet shop was not a fairy tale world, what ce could be?

    Every day, from morning to night, he had to serve Fina and Snow Li, prepare tea for Old Time Tea, y hide and seek with Gxy, and had to put up with Richard¡¯s endless and noisy babbling¡­ Although he did not tell others, he felt annoyed sometimes. However, still a lot of people envied him, and would be willing to give up everything in exchange for the life he was living.

    How desirable! Such a pet shop might only exist in the fairy tale.

    ¡°I¡¯m not going tough at you,¡± he replied to Little Celery just as seriously. ¡°A pet shop in a fairy tale¡­ sounds very interesting. I believe it will be a good show if you and your ssmates can organize the rehearsal and prepare for it.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Hearing that her idea was appraised by Zhang Zian, there were sparkles shining in Little Celery¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Yes,¡± he said. ¡°Your ssmates, they don¡¯t like this show?¡±

    ¡°Woo¡­¡± Little Celery was in low spirits again. ¡°Well, a few girls liked it at first, but the boys¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the boys? They didn¡¯t like your idea?¡± He guessed they didn¡¯t. Boys of that age probably didn¡¯t like fairy tales anymore ¡ª they preferred programs like Ultraman beating up little monsters.

    ¡°Um¡­¡± she nodded. ¡°One boy in our ss, Yi Le, was the first to say he didn¡¯t like it. He said it was too childish and that pets cannot speak. And then several other boys followed him. The girls who were on my side before stopped helping me out¡­ ¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute!¡± Zhang Zian interrupted her, ¡°Who¡¯s the boy you just said that took the lead?¡±

    Little Celery was startled for a moment, ¡°Yi Le. Our teacher said he is the naughtiest child in our ss¡­¡±

    Yi Le?

    Zhang Zian felt that this name was familiar. After carefully thinking back, he realized Yi Le was the brat who was almost hit by a car in front of his shop. That brat was a ssmate of Little Celery? Sure enough, old habits die hard! That brat lied to his mother and said Zhang Zian tried to hurt him, and now he was bullying Little Celery?

    ¡°So, have you confirmed what show you guys will y yet?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Not yet¡­ We just discussed it yesterday, and we did not make a final decision.¡± She whispered, ¡°Yi Le and the boys proposed to cosy the Arena of Valor, I didn¡¯t understand what they were talking about¡­¡±

    Damn! These brats just couldn¡¯t be satisfied with ying games online, which already drewints from adult yers, but now they were actually thinking of cosying an online game in front of the entire school during a ceremony? Someone must teach these brats a lesson now! Especially that Yi Le ¡ª he was the worst among them all!

    Zhang Zian had an idea and said to Little Celery, ¡°Little Celery, those boys said pets cannot speak, right? How about this? Take them to my pet shop after school someday. Let them listen in person whether pets can speak or not. If they hear the pets speak for themselves, they will not object to your show anymore, right?¡±

    ¡°Really? Can I really bring my ssmates over?¡± Little Celery asked incredulously. ¡°Won¡¯t you feel inconvenienced, Brother Store Manager?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I just feel pissed off that they questioned my shop. Ask them over, and let them know how powerful I am,¡± Zhang Zian said, confidently patting his chest. He decided he wanted to appear pretentious in front of a group of pupils.

    ¡°Great! I have always wanted to bring my ssmates to y at your pet shop, but I worry that Brother Store Manager will feel annoyed¡­¡± The gloominess hadpletely disappeared from her face. Little Celery muttered excitedly, considering which day would be better if she invited her ssmates over.

    ¡°Little Celery, it¡¯ste, you need to go to school now.¡± Zhang Zian looked at the time and reminded her, ¡°Feel free toe to my shop anytime, you and your ssmates.¡±

    Little Celery looked down at the electronic watch for children on her wrist, ¡°Ah, I¡¯m sote¡­ Brother Store Manager, I¡¯m leaving now, bye!¡±

    Little Celery once again be energetic and lively as she usually was. She waved at Zhang Zian, and then trotted away.

    Zhang Zian stood there holding the foam insted box, and watched her safely walk across the road before disappearing around the corner of the street. Then, he made his way back to the pet shop.

    ¡°What took you so long? I¡¯m starving to death!¡± Fina began toin the moment it saw him.

    Snowy Li immediately echoed, ¡°Jerks are just unreliable!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I met an acquaintance on my way back.¡± Zhang Zian was in a good mood, and replied to them perfunctorily, then pulled the meat off the skewers and into their food bowls. Tempted by the scents of the delicious barbecue, Fina and Snowy Li temporarily shut up and jumped down from the cat tree to begin their meals.

    Zhang Zian put the foam insted box to the side, and came before Richard.

    ¡°I have a n to y pranks on someone, are you interested?¡± he said inly.

    Richard was full and was jumping on the cashier¡¯s desk happily.

    With its little ck eyeballs rolling, it said, ¡°Of course! ying pranks is my favorite thing to do. ¡±

    They hit it off tacitly at that moment.

 Chapter 271: True Language

    <h4>Chapter 271: True Language</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When it came to making pranks, both Zhang Zian and Richard were very talented, especially Richard, so when it heard that Little Celery was mocked by others because of its patching up of Zhang Zian¡¯s lie, Richard felt really upset and angry. Zhang Zian told Richard about what happened with Yi Le and his mother, Gu Le, at the gate of the pet shop. He was just being nice and trying to help out, but that brat wronged him, and his mother, who didn¡¯t know the truth, believed her child¡¯s lie and thought that Zhang Zian was a bad man.

    ¡°Quack, quack! I agree, we have to teach this brat a lesson, or he will be a big troublemaker in the future,¡± said Richard, ¡°When I was at the hospital, there were always some kids who wanted to pull off my feathers, which was totally intolerable.¡±

    Richard and Zhang Zian discussed for a while, and determined the general n. As for the details, they would improvise solutions when problems urred. Anyways, they were determined to teach that brat a lesson.

    Teaching that kid a lesson was just a piece of cake. If that kid dared toe to the pet shop again, punishment would be waiting for him. Seeing that the two red-headed lovebirds had enjoyed the feast and looked good, he inquired Richard, ¡°Do you need my help in training them?¡±

    ¡°Quack, quack!¡± Richard raised its head surprisingly and stared at him, ¡°How did you know that I need help?¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled mystically but did not answer. Of course, he knew from Gxy that Richard was in need of help, but if he told Richard that, how could he continue to be a smarty-pants?

    Richard waited for a while with confusion as his answer, but Zhang Zian still didn¡¯t answer, so it said, ¡°Quack, quack! You seem to be getting smarter? Is that how the proverb goes, ¡®he who lies down with dogs must rise up with fleas?¡¯ Anyways, you will never rival my intelligence, no matter how smart you are. But I really do need someone to help me¡­¡±

    Richard turned around and looked at Fina, Snowy Li and Old Time Tea, ¡°A human¡¯s help is not enough ¡ª I¡¯ll even need to borrow the cats¡¯ ws for help.¡±

    ¡°What? You want them to help out too?¡± Zhang Zian was stunned and thought to himself, what¡¯s going on? Gxy had only mentioned that Richard needed his and Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s help. It hadn¡¯t said anything about the cats¡¯ help¡­Had the direction of the future been changed at some point?

    He was so nervous that his back began to sweat, even on this cold day.

    Richard said disdainfully, ¡°That was just an IQ test question, and you failed, just as I expected. Just when I thought you were getting smarter these days. That was a Japanese expression, directly tranted into Chinese as ¡®even want to borrow cats¡¯ hands¡¯, meaning that someone is very busy. You really think that I would let those three stupid¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s pinched Richard¡¯s beak before it could say the word ¡°cats¡±.

    ¡°Be careful, that your mouth will get you killed,¡± he warned Richard before releasing his hand.

    But Zhang Zian felt relieved. It seemed like the future hadn¡¯t been changed.

    Old Time Tea did not understand what they were talking about, but Richard¡¯s tone was clearly looking down upon the cats. The cat hummed coldly, picked up a green bird feather on the ground, curled its w around it and bounced it at Richard. The bird feather spun in the air and made a pale green trajectory, flying directly towards Richard¡¯s butt.

    ¡°Quack!¡±

    Richard had suffered this pain once. Seeing that the feather was about to hit its butt, Richard fluttered its wings and tried to jump upwards, and made a near escape. The green feather swept just beneath its butt, crashed on the wall, and then fell on the ground.

    ¡°Quack, quack! Why do you like fighting so much? Can¡¯t we just talk nicely? As the proverb goes, ¡®a gentleman uses his tongue, but not his fists¡¯.¡± Richard hid behind Zhang Zian and made its protest against Old Time Tea. Too bad ¡ª the protest had little effect.

    Old Time Tea acted like nothing had happened and drank its tea quietly.

    For the second time, Richard understood the fact that it was at the lowest level of the food chain of this pet shop, but luckily Zhang Zian was also at the bottom with it.

    ¡°You can also speak Japanese?¡± Richard¡¯s Japanese ent sounded authentic, so Zhang Zian asked curiously.

    ¡°Of course, Japanese is not aplicatednguage.¡± Richard was still frightened, and its reaction was a little bit slow, ¡°Why are you asking?¡±

    ¡°You know¡­¡± Zhang Zian winked and made signs towards it.

    ¡°Just watch your Japanese adult videos ¡ª what do you need trantion for?¡±

    Zhang Zian hastily pinched its beak again, ¡°Don¡¯t say it out loud in public¡­¡±

    Richard made some muffled sounds, and Zhang Zian released his hand.

    ¡°Pooh, pooh,¡± Richardined grouchily. ¡°Wow, so you know it¡¯s inappropriate¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian looked around and saw that Fina and Snowy Li were staring at him with ooks mixed with disdain, disgust and despise. Old Time Tea turned up the volume of the TV and pretended it didn¡¯t hear them. Gxy was ying hide and seek carefreely and chasing the American Shorthair.

    Zhang Zian looked at Richard seriously, ¡°Let¡¯s just get back to business. How do you want me to help?¡±

    Richard thought and said, ¡°Do you know what ¡®decoding¡¯ is?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought he for sure wasn¡¯t a dementia patient, so how could he not know that? So he answered right away, ¡°Did you just say D-E-C-O-D-I-N-G, decoding?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but decoding is the professional term of theputer and electronicmunication field, and there is a counterpart theory in linguistics,¡± said Richard, all high and mighty. ¡°The nature of dailymunication, whether it be in the human or animal world, is the delivery of information, which is aplished throughnguages. People use multiple linguistic means to encode, send, receive and decode information, so as to reach the goal of delivering information. Such linguistic means include, but are not limited to, voices, characters, gestures, images, andputer codes. Even for me, it¡¯s impossible to know all the linguistic means.¡±

    Richard paused, hopped to the water bowl, drank some water to wet its throat, and then continued, ¡°I need to teach these stupid parrots to speak. And speaking is ¡®spokennguage¡¯, which totally depends on voices to deliver information. It involves another professional term¡ªsegment. When we talk about ¡®segments¡¯, we are mostly talking about thenguages in the Indo-European Language Family. ¡®Segment¡¯ is also applicable to the Sino-Tibetan Language Family, but that¡¯s moreplicated. Do you know the Big Four Language Families?¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Forget it. What an ignorant moron.¡± Richard sighed, ¡°Leave these details aside, just listen to me carefully.¡±

    Zhang Zian focused like he was preparing for the college entrance exam. He opened his eyes wide and listened carefully, trying hard to digest this knowledge¡ªperhaps he could show off with it to look smart someday.

    ¡°Segment in linguistics is the counterpart to code inputer and electronicmunication. Code is the basic meaningful unit inputernguage, while segment is the basic unit in linguistics.¡± Richard got back to the business, ¡°Decoding and encoding inputernguage, when ites to linguistics, the corresponding expression bes the dividing and rbining of segments. Can you understand that?¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡± Zhang Zian answered honestly. He waspletely dumb.

    Richard had grown used to his stupidity and exined further, ¡°If you master the skills to divide and rbine segments, you can extrapte many words from one. For example, if you truly understand the words ¡®grey parrot¡¯ and ¡®green¡¯, you can coin a new word like ¡®green parrot¡¯. This is the fundamental distinction between ¡®repeating the words of others like a parrot¡¯ and true speaking.¡±

    Richard looked at Zhang Zian haughtily and seriously, ¡°And what I am going to teach them is true speaking.¡±

    ¡°Grey! Grey!¡± As if attesting for Richard, the red-headed lovebirds almost shouted at the same time.

 Chapter 272: Warmth in the Old Days

    <h4>Chapter 272: Warmth in the Old Days</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Upon hearing this deration from Richard, Zhang Zian was quite dumbfounded. He had been wondering why Richard cared so much about teaching the red-headed lovebirds to speak. It turns out that it was not just trying to help Guo Dongyue¡ªRichard was very much concerned with the expression ¡°repeating others¡¯ words like a parrot¡±, and it seemed to be taking this opportunity to prove that parrots can do more than just repeat words.

    Of course, Richard could have its ambition, which was worth encouraging. The problem was ¡ª did it have enough time? It was hard to predict the rate of Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother¡¯s condition, which could quickly deteriorate at any time.

    Time would wait for no man, and no bird.

    Richard seemed to have seen through his suspicions, and it said with confidence, ¡°Do you know about the rtionship betweennguage and memory?¡±

    ¡°That I do not know about. Language and memory are rted?¡± Hearing the word ¡°memory¡±, Zhang Zian¡¯s heart leapt, and he couldn¡¯t help but think of Guo¡¯s mom¡¯s conditions.

    ¡°Of course they are rted.¡± Richard raised its head and suddenly became a little bit sad, as if it was reminiscing on something that had happened long ago. ¡°The brain is the most wonderful organ in a creature¡¯s body and there are still many unsolved mysteries about brains. Patients suffering with Alzheimer¡¯s disease will lose their short-term memories at first, then their long-term memories, but why won¡¯t they forget about theirnguage abilities?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought carefully. Having a bit of a clue, he said, ¡°I thinknguage is a skill, just like riding a bike. Once you¡¯ve mastered such skills, you will never forget them, right?¡±

    ¡°No. In essence,nguage is also a kind of memory, but a more profound one than long-term memory.¡± Richard denied his conjecture, ¡°There is a positive corrtion between speaking andnguage memory¡ªthe more you speak and the more you hear others speak every day, the more yournguage memory will be strengthened ordingly¡ªwhich is whynguage memorysts longer than any other kind of memory, and why people will never lose theirnguage memory until they are dead¡ªunless they get aphasia. But it¡¯s not that they have forgotten their ability to speak, aphasiacs just have forgotten how to extractnguage from their brains¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was getting increasingly confused, ¡°What is your point?¡±

    ¡°Nothing. Those are just my feelings when I think of that elderly woman with Alzheimer¡¯s disease.¡± Richard was in a despondent mood and shook its head, ¡°Let¡¯s get back to talking about what you need to do.¡±

    ¡°OK, tell me, I¡¯m listening.¡±

    ¡°Judging from the current situation, the quickest way to train the birds to speak requires the cooperation of two people, say, you and I.¡± It pointed at Zhang Zian with its wings, and then pressed its wings on its own chest.

    Zhang Zian suppressed his urge to point out that Richard was a bird rather than a human. It didn¡¯t make sense to dwell on that.

    ¡°Specifically, what should I do?¡± he went on asking.

    ¡°Specifically, I will teach them some of the most basic vocabries, such as how to pronounce ¡®grey, green, red, bowl, pot, rice¡¯, and other words in Chinese. When the timees that they have grasped certain quantities of words, they will have to learn tobine those words by observing the interaction between you and me. For example, when seeing a red light, if they can say it correctly, as a reward, they can get food, otherwise the food goes to me. And then we exchange our roles and repeat the training several times. This is called the Model-Rival Method. ¡±

    Zhang Zian got the gist. It was simr to using conditioned reflexes to train ordinary animals, but was somewhat different.

    After careful consideration, he put forward a request, ¡°I understand that you¡¯re thoughtful, but I don¡¯t think this training can bepleted very soon. You have to promise me that if your training takes a long time, you should at least teach them to read that poem first.¡±

    Richard didn¡¯t mind at all and it agreed quickly, ¡°No problem, it really won¡¯t take a long time. Language learning is not a linear process, but it¡¯s something like an ¡®epiphany¡¯¡ªyou might spend one year, two years, or even ten to twenty years teaching an ordinary parrot to speak, and it will still be dumb. But as long as it speaks the first word, the first sentence, it will naturally master the ability to speak. Think about that, don¡¯t you humans learnnguage in the same way?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought about it, and found that what Richard said was actually true. Some infants could speak when they were less than one year old, while others didn¡¯t learn to speak until they were almost two years old. The former children were not necessarily cleverer than thetter, whose ¡®epiphanies¡¯ just happened to arrive a little bitter. When babies learn to say ¡°mommy¡±, soon they are able to say other words like ¡°daddy¡±, ¡°grandpa¡± and ¡°grandma¡±.

    Richard raised its wings and pointed to the birdcage. ¡°They have learned to say ¡®grey¡¯, which means they have been enlightened. It probably won¡¯t take long for them to grasp a lot ofmonly used terms. By then, not only can they read the poem, but also they can help the elderly woman live a normal life. ¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s thinking was stagnated for a few seconds before he realized what it meant by that. After returning from Guo Dongyue¡¯s ce, he told Richard what he had seen and heard in detail. He also mentioned that Aunt Bai was not very responsible for taking care of Guo¡¯s mom. If Aunt Bai remained careless, Guo¡¯s mom would be in danger sooner orter. Even though Guo Dongyue was not content with Aunt Bai, he could do nothing about it, for Guo¡¯s mom only recognized Aunt Bai, and if Aunt Bai was reced by another nanny, it¡¯s hard to tell what Guo¡¯s mom would do again out of suspicion and anxiety.

    When speaking his concerns about Richard¡¯s training method, Zhang Zian was just telling Richard what he really thought, and he felt ufortable if he didn¡¯t say it outloud. Who said that patients with Alzheimer¡¯s disease were not suffering with pain? He clearly felt the puzzlement and anguish from Guo¡¯s mom¡¯s face. Especially when she was looking at Guo Dongyue, it seemed as if every pore in her face was filled with despair, like she was sinking into a deep and dark abyss, desperately waving her hands, trying to grasp at anything.

    Though Zhang Zian spoke his mind inadvertently, Richard was listening carefully, and it thought of more aspects from these words. Richard was also faced with two ways: one was to simply teach the poem ¡± Hymn of the Traveler ¡± to the two red-headed lovebirds, and then its task had been fulfilled, and everyone was happy; the other way was to teach them how to really speak ¡ª not only could they justify for parrots¡¯ speaking abilities, but they could also help the poor elderly woman and be her life assistant.

    Not only did Guo¡¯s mom remember Aunt Bai, she also remembered Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake. She would never exclude the two birds from her life if they could truly speak.

    After convincing by Richard, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t control his excitement anymore. Guo¡¯s mom was so poor that everyone would feel sympathetic to her. Why not help her out if they had the ability to?

    He picked up his cellphone, trying to inform Guo Dongyue as soon as possible, but then he put his phone down again. It was unnecessary to inform him now, because the chance to seed was not one-hundred percent. Guo Dongyue had already suffered disappointments too many times. If this time, Zhang Zian gave him a very high expectation but he failed in the end, it would be a too huge of an emotional blow to Guo Dongyue.

    Richard looked at the red-headed lovebirds in the birdcage, and at that moment, it felt like it was looking at itself in the old days¡ªwhen it was the nervous and flinching African grey parrot that had just been brought into theboratory, where it had felt the warmth of humans, the warmth of family, the warmth of love.

    So, this time, Richard would not only give back the warmth, but also it would go further to make up for the regrets.

 Chapter 273: The New Nurse

    <h4>Chapter 273: The New Nurse</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Richard asked Zhang Zian to bring the birdcage to the second floor, open the gate of the cage and let the two red-headed lovebirds fly out from the cage. Because on the second floor, there was kitchen, living room, bedroom, storage room, and all kinds of daily supplies. Richard was nning to let them learn about the names of themonly-seen objects there.

    Before opening the gate, Richard first imitated the red-headed lovebirds¡¯ voices and said something to them, probably asking them not to escape, because there was no way out when all the windows were shut closed these cold days.

    Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake flew out from the cage hesitantly,nded on the sink in the kitchen and looked around nervously.

    ¡°Quack, quack!¡± Richard cleared its throat, raised its wing to point at the pot on the stove. When it was about to show them how to pronounce the word ¡°pot¡±, a meowing cat interrupted it.

    ¡°Meow!¡± The American Shorthair hiding behind the refrigerator stuck out its head. It had noticed the red-headed lovebirds, and made a light sound.

    Richard was startled, and it fluttered its wings and flew to the top of the cupboard.

    ¡°Quack! Quack! Get this cat away! I can see that it¡¯s up to no good from the way it looked at us.¡±

    Zhang Zian nearly forgot the fact that the American Shorthair was a cat. Though Fina, Snowy Li, Gxy and Old Time Tea were not bird-eaters, he was not quite certain about this American Shorthair. If it bit these two red-headed lovebirds to death or ate them, all his efforts would be in vain.

    He bent over and held up the American Shorthair, and was about to send it downstairs.

    ¡°Meow¡± Gxy happened toe upstairs, and seeing the American Shorthair was in Zhang Zian¡¯s arms, it immediately shouted, ¡°Got-cha!¡±

    ¡°Gxy is ying hide and seek with it?¡± asked Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Gxy nodded.

    ¡°We need to use the second floor; can you y hide and seek with it on the first floor?¡± Zhang Zian discussed with Gxy.

    Gxy agreed, ¡°Okay, I got it.¡±

    Zhang Zian picked up American Shorthair and Gxy and sent them down to the first floor, and reminded Gxy not to let American Shorthaire upstairs again. He went back upstairs after putting down American Shorthair.

    Richard flew down from the top of the cupboard and said with a lingering fear, ¡°Quack, quack! That was so close! These two idiots probably haven¡¯t seen cats before, since they were not afraid at all.¡±

    ¡°You are not afraid of Fina or Snowy Li, but you seem to be afraid of this ordinary cat?¡± Zhang Zian asked curiously.

    ¡°Of course, I am afraid of it. Those other four cats are stupid ¡ª at least they have the intelligence to understand my words,¡± said Richard, ¡°But when ites to these ordinary cats, they can¡¯t understand a word I say. So, I¡¯d better run for my life.¡±

    ¡°And that ck and white cat was ying hide-and-seek?¡± it asked.

    ¡°Yes, are you interested in that?¡± Zhang Zian just asked casually because he didn¡¯t think Richard would ever be interested in ying hide-and-seek.

    Just when Richard was opening its beak to talk, Zhang Zian¡¯s cell phone rang.

    It was Sun Xiaomeng who was calling. Zhang Zian gestured at Richard to stop talking, and then answered the call.

    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s the matter?¡± he asked directly.

    He guessed Sun Xiaomeng must have something urgent, or else she would never call him directly.

    ¡°Have you been telling everyone that your pets are in the care of my clinic?¡± Sun Xiaomeng sounded angry over the phone. ¡°Someone is buying pets here. You need toe over.¡±

    ¡°Okay, tell him to wait for a while, I wille over right away.¡± It was an opportunity for him to make money, so Zhang Zian was in high spirits and quickly said to Richard, ¡°Hold that thought of whatever it is you have to talk about, I need to go out now.¡±

    Richard regrettably swallowed its tongue back. Zhang Zian hastily went downstairs and didn¡¯t notice that.

    ¡°I need to go out for a while, and I¡¯ll be back soon.¡± he said to the other elves in the pet shop.

    Old Time Tea nodded to show it had heard him.

    Gxy raised its cat w and waved, ¡°Goodbye, Zian.¡±

    Fina half opened its eyes to nce at him, and then closes its eyes.

    Snowy Li replied with two words, ¡°Just leave.¡±

    He left the pet shop and pulled down the shutter door, locked it, and walked quicky towards Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s Spirit Curing Pet Clinic.

    Spirit Curing Pet Clinic and Amazing Fate Pet Shop were on the same street and were only a few hundred meters away. If he walked fast enough, he would be there in 10 minutes.

    Zhang Zian arrived at the clinic, pushed opened the door and entered.

    ¡°Wow, it¡¯s so warm in here!¡±

    There was no ss door in his pet shop, and the wind kept blowing in through the shutter door, so the indoor temperature was very much the same as the cold outdoor temperature; only the second floor was warmer. However, in the Spirit Curing Pet Clinic, there was an electric heater directly behind the gate, and the AC was on the heating mode. It was so warm that he felt a little bit hot with his coat on.

    Probably because it was in the morning, no customers were seen in the waiting area.

    Behind the cashier was sitting a youngdy that he had never met before. She was wearing a nurse uniform, and looked like she had just graduated from university. She was young and shy, and would probably appear nervous when facing strangers.

    What made him most angry was that Wang Qian and Li Kun were also there. They surrounded the cashier, cottoning up to the new nurse.

    Hearing that Zhang Zian had pushed the door open, the nurse raised her head, and Wang Qian and Li Kun also turned their heads.

    ¡°Hello, you are¡­¡± the nurse was about to ask, but she was interrupted by the two idiots.

    ¡°Master!¡±

    ¡°Master! Why are you here?¡±

    The nurse was startled and didn¡¯t understand why they addressed this man as ¡®master¡¯. Or was that actually his real name?

    Zhang Zian pointed at them angrily, ¡°I pay you guys to help out here, not to flirt with girls. I don¡¯t even have girls to talk to, but you guys get the chance to flirt ahead of me?¡±

    They exined hurriedly, ¡°Respected master! We are not flirting with girls! We are just taking a break from work! Please believe us!¡±

    Zhang Zian would not be fooled, ¡°Taking a break? You know what people say, it¡¯s never tired when men and women work together. Let me tell you, you are paid hourly, so if you have finished your work, get back to school!¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun didn¡¯t dare to talk back to their master. They lowered their heads, put on their jackets and ran away quickly. Before leaving the clinic, they waved their cell phones at the nurse, suggested that they would contact her through WeChatter.

    The moment they left, Sun Xiaomeng came over from the ward. She was wearing the white gown with a stethoscope on her neck and she frowned, ¡°What¡¯s going on? What was the noise about?¡±

    The nurse stood up and answered, ¡°It¡¯s this¡­¡± she pointed to Zhang Zian.

    Sun Xiaomeng had understood. She waved her hands and suggested the nurse say no more. She knew Zhang Zian too well; noises would follow wherever he went.

    ¡°You hired a new nurse?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Yes, let me introduce you guys. This is Zhang Zian. If you walk south 400 meters, you will see the Amazing Fate Pet Shop there, and he is the owner of that shop. And this is the new nurse hired by me, Long Xian.¡±

    ¡°Hello, my name is Long Xian. I¡¯ve heard Director Sun mention you.¡± She was a skinny girl and she talked very politely. She seemed like a well-behaved and sensible girl.

    ¡°I told you, don¡¯t call me Director Sun, just call me Sister Xiaomeng.¡± Sun Xiaomeng corrected her, and turned around to speak to Zhang Zian, ¡°She will graduate next summer, but she¡¯s not busy in her senior year. One of my junior schoolgirls introduced her to me, so she came to work for me. Let me warn you, don¡¯t you bully her.¡±

    And then she warned Long Xian, ¡°Don¡¯t be fooled by his good looks. He¡¯s full of cunning tricks ¡ª be careful not to fall into them.¡±

    Zhang Zian eximed like he had suffered tremendous grievance, ¡°What are you talking about? When have I bullied others? I am the one being bullied, all right?!¡±

 Chapter 274: Trick Succeeded

    <h4>Chapter 274: Trick Seeded</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Long Xian had heard about Zhang Zian from Sun Xiaomeng before ¡ª that his pet shop and Sister Xiaomeng¡¯s pet clinic would work together. She also heard something about Zhang Zian from Wang Qian and Li Kun who were working at the clinic. Curiously, when describing Zhang Zian, Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s narrative waspletely different from that of Wang Qian and Li Kun.

    In Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s narrative, Zhang Zian liked hoodwinking others, was stingy and unreliable, but also had excellent tricks in cat training. From Wang Qian and Li Kun¡¯s perspectives, who both raced to answer her questions, Zhang Zian was a rare and unique master hiding in this world, opening a pet shop to keep a low-profile¡­

    Long Xian, of course, tended to believe Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s words. Though Sun Xiaomeng was not much older than her, Sun Xiaomeng looked mature and prudent, and was a reliable senior sister. However, when she took Wang Qian and Li Kun¡¯s advice and searched on the inte, she really found the popr video where Zhang Zian was confronting with seven gangsters in ate night. So, she was at quite a loss, getting increasingly more curious about this person.

    When Sun Xiaomeng introduced that the person in front of her was Zhang Zian, Long Xian felt a bit disappointed. After all, he looked just like an ordinary guy. Maybe it was because she had unrealistically high expectations of him.

    Zhang Zian defended himself several times, trying to leave a good impression on the new nurse, but his intention seemed to have failed. Probably before he arrived, Wang Qian, Li Kun and Sun Xiaomeng had already told a lot of strange things about him to this new nurse.

    ¡°Where is the customer who want to buy pets?¡± he asked helplessly.

    ¡°Inside.¡± Sun Xiaomeng pursed her lips, ¡°You can go hoodwinking him, just leave me out of it.¡±

    ¡°What? How is that hoodwinking¡­¡± Zhang Zian looked at Long Xian and smiled embarrassingly, trying to rify the facts.

    Just then, his cellphone rang again.

    Hm? What¡¯s going on today? Usually no one but the mailman would call him, but he had received two phone calls just this morning¡­

    The caller ID belonged to Guo Dongyue.

    ¡°Hello?¡± He answered the phone.

    ¡°I¡¯ll bring the construction team overter.¡± said Guo Dongyue on the phone. ¡°Are you in the shop?¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡± just when Zhang Zian wanted to answer ¡°yes¡±, he immediately realized he was not there.

    ¡°I¡¯m in a pet clinic up north,¡± he changed his answer. ¡°When will you arrive at my shop?¡±

    ¡°Ten minutes or so.¡± Before replying, Guo Dongyue went into silence for a few seconds, estimating the speed of his vehicle and the mileage through the navigator.

    ¡°So soon?¡± Zhang Zian faced a dilemma.

    Guo Dongyue heard his hesitation from his tone, ¡°I cane another day if it¡¯s inconvenient for you.¡±

    ¡°No, no, no inconvenience.¡± Zhang Zian thought he must not change the day, who knew when the construction team would be avable again? The construction workers were paid on a daily basis. If his project was postponed, they would not just wait there and did nothing, certainly they would find other jobs, and it was hard to tell when they could finish with other projects.

    ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll be there soon,¡± said Guo Dongyue, ¡°Have someone open door for us.¡±

    ¡°Sure, bye.¡± Zhang Zian confirmed Guo Dongyue was not talking, and hung up the phone.

    He held his cell phone, feeling stumped.

    He could not turn away Guo Dongyue and his construction team today, and he must meet with the customer here at the clinic. If only he hadn¡¯t just sent away Wang Qian and Li Kun. He wondered whether it was toote to ask them toe back¡­

    Just when Zhang Zian was thinking hard about possible solutions, he turned around and saw that Sun Xiaomeng was in a leisurely state. She brewed a cup of hot coffee behind the cashier, picked up a pet magazine and skimmed at it while sitting on the chair in the waiting area, and instructing Long Xian what to do from time to time. As a new employee, Long Xian was not familiar with the routines in the clinic, but she was very serious about her work. That¡¯s why she could get along with Sun Xiaomeng. Long Xian was holding a pen and a notebook, writing down the words of Sun Xiaomeng one by one.

    ¡°Hey. I see that you are not very busy now, are you?¡± He walked over to Sun Xiaomeng and asked her brazenly.

    ¡°What do you want?¡± she looked up and asked warily.

    ¡°Guo Dongyue is taking people to my ce for renovation, but I need to meet that customer inside. I can¡¯t be in two ces at once, so¡­ can you please go to my shop and open the door for them? I locked the shutter door when I left.¡± He took out the keys and swayed them in front of her.

    ¡°None of my business!¡± Sun Xiaomeng refused bluntly. ¡°You really think I¡¯m not busy at all? Right now, I can rest for a little while because clients haven¡¯t shown up for their appointments. But usually, I have to stand all day, and my legs get so stiff that my knees can¡¯t even bend in the evening!¡±

    ¡°Life lies in movement, while sedentary people will get hemorrhoids easily. Just take a walk. It¡¯s not that far anyway. Wait there till they arrive, open the door for them and then you cane back.¡± Zhang Zian was patiently persuading her.

    ¡°In your dreams. Why can¡¯t you go back by yourself? It¡¯s only one customer here, so it¡¯s not that big a deal.¡± Already ustomed to his hoodwinking, Sun Xiaomeng was unpersuaded.

    Zhang Zian said with solemnity, ¡°Customer is king. If you miss one king, you may have missed the chance to earn tens of thousands of dors!¡±

    She simply lowered her head and ignored him.

    ¡°Gxy is still in the shop. I wonder if it feels lonely¡­ I should have brought it over¡­¡± said Zhang Zian as if murmuring to himself. Failing at his first trick, he now resorted to another one.

    Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s heart leapt with a flicker of interest. Pulling a few loose strands of hair behind her ears, she extended her hand to him, ¡°Give me the keys.¡±

    Zhang Zian stepped back instead and waved his hands, ¡°No, no. Forget it. I really think it¡¯s too troublesome for you. I should go back by myself¡­ as for the customer, who cares? More and more people wille visit my shop in the future¡­¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng became angry. She leaned forward and snatched the keys, drank her coffee, flung the pet magazine to the seat next her, and said to Long Xian, ¡°I¡¯m going out for a while. You take care of the clinic on your own. It the clients who have made appointments show up, call me and ask them to wait a minute.¡±

    Long Xian nodded, ¡°Okay, Sister Xiaomeng, understood.¡±

    Sun Xiaomengpletely ignored Zhang Zian. She buttoned up her white gown, put the keys in her pocket, pushed the door and left.

    Zhang Zian was delighted by his own wit. He turned around and saw that Long Xian was staring at him with a weird look. When his eyes met hers, she quickly lowered her head.

    ¡°What?¡± He touched his face and asked.

    ¡°No¡­ nothing¡­¡± Long Xian whispered and didn¡¯t dare to look up. She couldn¡¯t point out to him that his expression and tone were just so disgusting¡­

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t mind. He pointed to the ward and said, ¡°I¡¯ll go in then, the customer that wants to buy pets is in there, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± she said.

    Zhang Zian walked a few steps inside, stopped and looked back, ¡°By the way, let me kindly remind you¡ªthe two college students working here, Wang Qian and Li Kun, they have the most severe teenage syndromes, and there is no cure for their diseases. Trust no word said by them. If your trust them, you are fooled. I suggest you delete them from your WeChat contact book. For your own sake!¡±

 Chapter 275: Niche Dog

    <h4>Chapter 275: Niche Dog</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian reminded Long Xian of the two idiots¡¯ temperaments and didn¡¯t care whether she had understood or not. He just walked to the wards of the clinic. His pets were being taken care of by Sun Xiaomeng in the spare wards of her clinic temporarily. He walked a few steps, and he heard cats¡¯ meowing and dogs¡¯ barking.

    While walking towards the wards, he observed the sanitary and cleaning conditions here. He had to admit that, though Wang Qian and Li Kun wereplete idiots, they were diligent in keeping this ce clean. They weren¡¯tzy while helping out at the pet shop, and they were doing quite well here at the pet clinic. The sanitation and disinfection status was impable. There were no strange smells, except for the normal smell of disinfectant. No wonder Sun Xiaomeng had been asking them to work there for longer period¡­ Of course she would want that, she didn¡¯t need to pay them.

    Among the wards, one¡¯s door was open, Zhang Zian peeked inside and saw a middle-aged man in a suit sizing up the pets in the disy cases.

    Zhang Zian knocked on the door, and the middle-aged man turned around with an inquiring look.

    ¡°Excuse me, are you the customer who wants to buy a pet?¡± Zhang Zian walked into the ward.

    ¡°Yes, and you are?¡± asked the middle-aged men.

    Zhang Zian casually pointed to the disy cases, ¡°My name is Zhang Zian, and I am the owner of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop. These pets are mine; I¡¯m keeping them at this clinic temporarily. Have you been waiting a long time?¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± The man nodded and stuck his hand out towards Zhang Zian politely. ¡°Nice to meet you. No, I haven¡¯t been waiting long, just a couple of minutes, and I got the chance to look at the pets here.¡±

    This man made a good impression on Zhang Zian. The man dressed decently and was very polite. Most importantly, he had the gentle temperament of a schr.

    They shook hands and greeted each other.

    ¡°And what¡¯s your name?¡± asked Zhang Zian.

    The man took out a business card and handed it over to Zhang Zian, ¡°My name is Meng Li, and I am a teacher at Binhai University. Professor Wei Kang rmended this ce to me.¡±

    ¡°Professor Wei Kang¡­¡± Zhang Zian felt a little bit surprised, ¡°Are you also a biology professor?¡±

    Zhang Zian became alert and thought, was this man pretending to buy pets but in fact wasing for Fina?

    ¡°No, no. I¡¯m not from the biology department.¡± Meng Li rified, ¡°I just happen to know Professor Wei Kang. I want to buy a dog, but I didn¡¯t know where I should go, so I inquired my colleagues about it. Professor Wei Kang rmended your pet shop, and he knew that your shop is upgrading, so the pets are put here temporarily. I guess I might juste straight over to have a look.¡±

    ¡°Oh, no wonder.¡± Zhang Zian understood.

    Other customers who didn¡¯t know the truth would have felt weird that his pets were in Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s pet clinic, and wouldn¡¯t have waited patiently for his arrival. Meng Li was willing to wait there patiently because he believed in Wei Kang¡¯s rmendation.

    Nowadays, with advanced technology, people had multiple ways to obtain information, but rmendations among friends and colleagues were the most reliable channels, even for intellectuals.

    With the misunderstanding being rified, Zhang Zian let down his guard.

    ¡°Sorry that there are no seats here,¡± Zhang Zian said apologetically, ¡°What a bad host of this clinic, she didn¡¯t even prepare chairs seeing a customere in. I will criticize her severely when I see her. Do you want me to bring over a chair?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m fine,¡± Meng Li declined. ¡°I can just stand.¡±

    Zhang Zian was just making a polite gesture. He didn¡¯t really n on bringing the chairs.

    ¡°So, you said you were nning to buy a dog?¡± he got to the point.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Meng Li answered affirmatively and pointed to a disy case, ¡°I want the Cocker Spaniel.¡±

    So this man was visiting the clinic with preparation.

    There were two kinds of customers of pet shops. The first kind were those customers who barely knew anything about pets, and would decide what they wanted after they saw the pets. The other types of customers came with specific goals, usually looking formonly-seen breeds of cats or dogs like Husky, Samoyed, American Shorthair and Ragdoll. The disy cases were notbeled with the breeds of cats are dogs, and the Cocker Spaniel that Meng Li was pointing to was a rarely seen breed in China. He could not have recognized it by only one nce unless either he had prepared, or that he had seen it or raised such dogs before.

    Zhang Zian was quite surprised to see the Cocker Spaniel at the Pet¡¯s Home breeding base. This kind of dog was raisedmonly overseas, but few people in China purchased them. Sun Yinian probably had brought the dog in his breeding base because he wanted to haveprehensive breeds. Zhang Zian had been thinking for a while about this dog, and then decided to buy one and give it a try to see whether someone would appreciate this dog.

    Normally, if customers had designated their targets and were consented about the pets¡¯ appearance, it should be easily to close the deal, after negotiating the price. But Zhang Zian was in no hurry to close the deal. Instead, he asked a question that seemed officious, ¡°Have you ever raised a Cocker Spaniel before?¡±

    Meng Li shook his head slowly and said in a in tone, ¡°No, I haven¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Zhang Zian paused a while and asked, ¡°Do you mind me asking you why you want this kind of dog? Is it because you are a fan of niche things?¡±

    Niche songs, niche software, niche brands, niche novels¡­ if there were mainstream markets, there were niche markets. Some people were true fans of niche products ¡ª they did not go after the niche trends just to appear different than others ¡ª while other people just wanted to show off their unique personalities by using or buying niche things.

    Before Meng Li made his answer, Zhang Zian continued, ¡°Make no mistake, I don¡¯t mean to pry. It¡¯s just that it¡¯s a dog of niche breed, so when it bes sick, it¡¯s moreplicated to cure it. That¡¯s why I asked that question. The owner of this clinic can exin more clearly regarding that aspect.¡±

    Meng Li was a little bit confused and didn¡¯t know why Zhang Zian asked such a detailed question. After hearing his exnation, Meng Li felt relieved. He didn¡¯t feel offended, but he felt that Zhang Zian was very responsible. Professor Wei Kang¡¯s rmendation was trustworthy.

    ¡°Actually, I didn¡¯t raise one by myself, but when I studied in Ennd, my host family raised a Cocker Spaniel.¡± Meng Li looked at the Cocker Spaniel in the disy case and had that nostalgic look in his eyes.

    ¡°I was quite an introvert. My host family was very enthusiastic at first, but I couldn¡¯t blend in¡ªthe social atmosphere and the living habits were so different.¡± He sighed and then added seriously, ¡°And the food was just like crap, totally inedible. Not only me, but a lot of students from China hate the food there.¡±

    ¡°In that strange new environment, I could only focus on studying, and isted myself from any social life and entertainment.¡± He mocked at himself and smiled, ¡°The host family probably felt that I was not that aggregable, and their enthusiasm gradually declined¡ªthey still provided whatever I wanted, but they were not as enthusiastic as the beginning. Of course, I am the only one to me for that.¡±

    ¡°It was a very hard time for me, but I could tell no one else, because every student studying overseas basically experienced the same thing. And you can only me yourself if you can¡¯t fit into the environment. I cannot regret my decision to study abroad, I didn¡¯t even allow myself to have that idea¡ªbecause I worked so hard, and I defeated numerous people to finally get the chance to study abroad. I couldn¡¯t tell my parents either, I didn¡¯t want them to worry about me. The Cocker Spaniel at the host family¡¯s house was very close to me, and I felt my loneliness was alleviated with itspany.¡± He smiled, with his eyes looking into the distance.

    ¡°But in the end, you had to leave each other, right?¡± Zhang Zian said softly. He had figured out the ending of that story. Meng Li was here in China instead of staying in Ennd.

    ¡°Yes. Just like my name ¡®Li¡¯ means ¡®leave¡¯, I had to say goodbye to it,¡± said Meng Li.

 Chapter 276: All Alone in a Foreign Land

    <h4>Chapter 276: All Alone in a Foreign Land</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    During the period when he studied in Ennd, Meng Li felt the taste of loneliness.

    It was true that physically and biologically, he was not alone. During the days, he was at school with teachers and ssmates. In the evenings, his host family was very warm and considerate. But there was no ce better than home, his real home. Wandering about in a foreignnd, breathing the air of a foreign country, eating the food of a foreign country, and hearing thenguage of a foreign country all made Meng Li feel like a fish out of water.

    Before he left China, he was ambitious. He decided that afterpleting his academic program in Ennd, he would try his best to find a job there and would not return to China. Was there anything good about his home country? Food safety issues, air quality issues, and some persistently unresolved social chaos¡­ However, when he did go abroad, he began to miss the things that he once abhorred¡ªno matter how poor the air quality was, he was familiar with the air; no matter how severe the food safety concern was, at least the food was delicious; as for social chaos, why did it have anything to do with him?

    He wasn¡¯t the only one that was unable to adapt to the environment. Among his fellow ssmates that went to Ennd at the same time with him, several of them lost themselves because of sudden changes in the environment.

    His host family was very warm to him. Although he never found his way to blend in, he had to admit that the family was very warm and hospitable, and they did not treat him as an outsider. It¡¯s just that he shackled himself and always felt alienated, suspecting they were judging him with strange looks.

    There was a puppy at the host family. He didn¡¯t pay much attention at first, because pet keeping was somon among families abroad. In addition, he couldn¡¯t recognize the breed of the dog, for he never saw such a breed in China. After inquiring the host family, he learnt that its name was Julie, and it was a Cocker Spaniel.

    The host family was just so nice. They might have sensed that Meng Li was a little unhappy, and they assigned him a task¡ªtaking Julie for a walk outside twice a day, in the morning and in the evening.

    This task was easy but time-consuming. Cocker Spaniels were hounds, which were more active and energetic than ordinary breeds of dogs. Each walk took a long time, and he must shoulder the responsibility of picking up its feces.

    Meng Li had never raised a dog before. He was not expecting to get one, but he didn¡¯t reject the idea either. He just hated walking in the streets and suddenly stepping on dogs¡¯ feces. Only after living in the small town in Ennd did he know that, because of therge poption of dog-keepers, the situation of rampant spreading of dogs¡¯ feces in Ennd was not much better than in his home country.

    Julie looked just like this one in the showcase. They both had a pair ofrge, round brown eyes, and their clear-cut cheeks made them look like serious old philosophers when they were not barking. Meng Li often forgot that Julie was actually a young female dog; he always called it ¡°Old Chu¡±.

    Cocker Spaniels have very long fur, are very active and like burrowing. That¡¯s why when he took Julie out for a walk, its fur would be hooked by grass and thorns, and then it would sob painfully. When Meng Li helped untie its tangled furs, it would happily lick his hand in gratitude, and then it quickly forgot the pain and went on burrowing among the grass.

    At first, Meng Li only walked the dog near the host family, but gradually he went farther and farther, sometimes even going all the way to the outskirts of the town. As days went by, residents along the route started to recognize him and they would greet him. asionally, some people would catch up with him and walked their dogs with him.

    Days passed inly liked that and nothing memorable happened until the end of his studies. After graduation, he changed his mind and decided to return to his mothend, which was not perfect yet very familiar to him. The night before boarding the ne, the host family had a lively farewell party for him on thewn in their backyard, and many residents of the town, whom he knew or had never met before, came to attend the party.

    He prepared a lot of presents, hugged and thanked the family members one by one, and said goodbye to Julie. Julie probably didn¡¯t know that he was about to leave. It just bit the bottom of his trouser leg to drag him out, urging him that it was time to go out for a walk. He patted its head, pulled out the trouser leg from its mouth, and said goodbye to it in Chinese so that it wouldn¡¯t understand what he had said. Julie stopped badgering him, it just nced at him and then ran away to y with the other dogs brought by the guests.

    The next morning, he got up very early to catch his flight at an airport in a big city. He quietly dragged his luggage out of the house, took a taxi and left.

    With nothing in Ennd to be lingered upon wistfully, his mind was only upied by the expectation of returning home.

    Only when he went aboard, sat in the seat of the ne, and looked at the busy airport through the porthole did he have a trace of dismay. He was really leaving¡­

    The stewardesses were taking the final inspection before the departure and making notifications to remind passengers that the ne was about to take off, and cellphones should be turned off.

    Just then, his cellphone rang, and the passengers around him cast him side nces. One stewardess gave a friendly smile to him and reminded him to turn off his cellphone.

    Embarrassed, Meng Li hurriedly muted the ringtone. In fact, it was not the ringtone of iing calls, it was just his rm sound. Every day at this time, he would take Julie out for a walk¡ªsometimes he would forget the time if he was busy with homework. Even if he was just a few minuteste, Julie would be restless and running about in the house. The host or the hostess would knock on his door unreservedly to remind him toplete his task, probably because of the unique rigidness and punctuality of British people?

    He felt embarrassed when the scenario urred frequently, so he set an rm on his phone in case he forgot again. When the rm rang, as long as the weather was not extremely harsh outside, he would put aside his homework, change his clothes, take the leash,gather the tools to clean up feces, and go out on time. Julie would be waiting excitedly at the door. After it was tied to the leash, rather than saying he was taking it to a walk, it was more urate to say Julie was dragging him away from the house¡­

    Meng Li smiled at his surrounding passengers apologetically and canceled the daily ringing rm, because there was no need for it to ring again.

    His finger was ced on the power button. Just when he was about to press it to shut the phone down, he received a message from the host. There was a picture in the message, where Julie was squatting in front of his room, stretching out a paw on the door, and turning its head to look at the camera. Its eyes were full of confusion. The message was apanied by a brief sentence: It¡¯s still waiting for you to take it outside.

    The emotions he had been trying to suppress broke out at that moment. He recalled the long-term meticulous caring of the host family, the friendliness and warm-heartedness of the townspeople, and the times when he took Julie out for a walk every day. Suddenly, tears dropped down from his eyes.

    The passenger next to him thought he was sick, and hurriedly called the stewardess. He could only smile through tears, and said he was alright, just struck by his emotions that he was reluctant to leave.

    Meng Li had always thought he did not blend into the British life, when in fact, he was the only one who thought like that. Whether it was Julie or the host family, they had regarded him as a family member instead of a guest, and that¡¯s why they had been assigning him with some tasks.

    He suddenly felt regret. He was such a coward; he should have at least said goodbye to them in the morning.

    The stewardess reminded him repeatedly to shut off the device. Although he wanted to reply with something, he turned off the phone.

    The ne took off, leaving the country that was once strange to him but was now familiar, and heading to his mothend that he was once familiar with yet felt unfamiliar now¡­

    At that point, Zhang Zian heard Meng Li¡¯s cell phone ringing from his pocket.

    Meng Li pulled out his cell phone, and turned off the rm on the screen.

 Chapter 277: Genetic Disease

    <h4>Chapter 277: Gic Disease</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    From Meng Li¡¯s narrative, Zhang Zian understood that although Meng Li had never raised a Cocker Spaniel before, he had at least been in close contact with one for a long period of time. Meng Li was familiar with Cocker Spaniels¡¯ habits, he had affection towards them, and he wasn¡¯t making his decision to raise one because he wanted to appear different than other pet owners.

    Zhang Zian opened the disy case and held up the only Cocker Spaniel in his shop.

    It was an American Cocker Spaniel in three colors¡ªck, white and brown. It had distinguished features. Parts of its forehead and cheeks were in brown, while its nose, mouth, head, neck, and chest were in white, and the rest of the parts of its body were ck. It was covered with long fur, and its two big, long ears were drooping and covering the sides of its head. If a puppy of Cocker Spaniel was pure brown, it would be easily mistaken for a Labrador puppy, but this tri-color Cocker Spaniel was very unique. It was very lively and energetic. As soon as it left the disy case, it was struggling, trying to jump out from Zhang Zian¡¯s arms.

    At first, Zhang Zian worried that Meng Li was looking to buy an English Cocker Spaniel. But from his narrative, he knew that the host family in Ennd was raising an American Cocker Spaniel because the fur of an English Cocker Spaniel was shorter and would not be hooked by thorns or grass frequently.

    Zhang Zian put the Cocker Spaniel on the top of the disy case and pressed it gently so that it wouldn¡¯t run away so that Meng Li could observe it conveniently.

    ¡°You are looking for an American Cocker Spaniel like this one, right?¡± he tried to confirm with Meng Li.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the one I¡¯ve been looking for. How much is it?¡± Meng Li replied affirmatively and reached into his pocket for his wallet.

    Zhang Zian stopped him, ¡°Wait a minute. There are some things I must tell you in advance¡ªdo you know why this kind of dog is rarely seen in China?¡±

    Meng Li replied quickly, ¡°Because it needsrge amounts of exercise and needspany¡ªbut it¡¯s okay, I will try my best to keep itpany. And when I¡¯m busy, I can have the graduates I am tutoring walk it for me.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought to himself, those students didn¡¯t go to graduate school to walk dogs for you.

    He felt lucky that he didn¡¯t agree to Professor Wei Kang¡¯s request. If Professor Wei Kang were his tutor, would he also end up picking up dog sh*t every day?

    ¡°What you¡¯re saying is just a minor reason. It¡¯s true that Cocker Spaniels needrge amount of exercise, but so do other breeds of dogs.¡± Zhang Zian corrected him and lifted one side of the dog¡¯s ear and said to Meng Li, ¡°Come over to smell it.¡±

    Meng Li hesitated for a moment. He bent down and approached the dog to sniff at its ear.

    ¡°Is there some kind of smell?¡± he stood straight and said uncertainly.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhang Zian put down its ear, ¡°Because its ears are always drooping, its cochleae are very damp and are susceptible to strange smells and mites. A special ear cleaning liquid is needed for cleansing and disinfecting its ears oftentimes¡ªwhich means you have to do it once every two days or once every day. Many people are dissuaded from raising such dogs for this reason alone. Had you never cleaned ears for Julie when you were in Ennd?¡±

    Meng Li frowned and reflected, ¡°I¡¯ve seen people cleanse its ears several times, but I didn¡¯t know they need to be cleaned every day.¡±

    Meng Li exined further, ¡°I usually just took Julie for walks in the morning and in the evening. When it came to shower or for trimming fur, the host family was responsible for those¡­ But don¡¯t worry, I can have my graduates take such tasks, which can be added to their credits.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought to himself, graduates were so useful and even better than casual workers nowadays? Was Meng Li a victim of injustice while he was at graduate school and now seeking revenge when he had the chance at work?

    ¡°Apart from the above reasons, Cocker Spaniels have another rather serious potential hazard.¡± Said Zhang Zian, ¡°They have gic defects.¡±

    ¡°Gic defects?¡± Meng Li became quite serious, because even the ¡°omnipotent¡± graduates could not do anything about problems like that.

    ¡°The famous case about gic defects are those of Scottish Folds. It is well known that the bones in the hind limbs of Scottish Folds are susceptible to abnormal development.¡± Zhang Zian caressed the head of the Cocker Spaniel softly. It stuck out its tongue to lick his wrist. ¡°The gic defects of Cocker Spaniels lie in their eyes¡ªthey have higher chances of getting cataract than other breeds.¡±

    ¡°Cataracts¡­¡± Meng Li could not exin his feelings hearing this¡ªhe was worried but also was relieved. Comparing to the gic diseases in Scottish Folds¡¯ bones that were incurable, cataract did not seem like a severe disease.

    ¡°Yes, cataract.¡± Said Zhang Zian certainly, ¡°Many people cannot ept that after purchasing the pets, they will have to prepare another budget to cure diseases for them, especially when the chances are high that their pets will get the diseases. Removing cataracts is a small surgery to humans, but it is a major surgery to dogs. Dogs have bigger crystalline lenses than those of humans, and are more sensitive. Under poor hygiene situations, the operative incisions of the dogs will be infected, inmed, or ultimately lead to blindness. If you n to buy this Cocker Spaniel, you must take this possibility into consideration.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Meng Li didn¡¯t speak for a long time.

    Zhang Zian caressed the fur of the Cocker Spaniel and waited patiently for Meng Li¡¯s decision. In fact, though the possibility was high that Cocker Spaniels would get cataracts, it seemed like a lower possibilitypared to the 100% chance that Scottish Folds will get bone disease. Scottish Folds were very adorable, and even knowing that the cats would bring them pain and torture, people kept buying them, hoping their cats wouldn¡¯t have the disease. But Cocker Spaniels were not that lucky¡­

    When he saw the Cocker Spaniels at the Pet¡¯s Home breeding base, Zhang Zian thought that Sun Yinian was out of his mind to bring in such unpopr dogs¡­

    Meng Li didn¡¯t care about the money for curing the disease, he just worried whether it was curable and whether there would be any long-term effects.

    ¡°Will it definitely get the disease?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Not necessarily.¡± Zhang Zian gave his advice, ¡°This one is 4 months old. If you are worried, you cane back 2 monthster.¡±

    ¡°Why 2 months?¡± Meng Li asked. ¡°Is it because winter is suitable to perform cataract removal surgery?¡±

    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t mean that.¡± Zhang Zian exined, ¡°It can be ascertained whether a Cocker Spaniel will ever get cataracts when it¡¯s 6 months old. So, if you don¡¯t want to take the risk, you cane back in 2 months, and by then you will know whether it needs surgery or not.¡±

    Zhang Zian understood Meng Li¡¯s hesitation. No one wanted to buy a sick dog. Not only would people have to spend extra money, but they didn¡¯t feel well seeing their pets get sick. Cocker Spaniels had the possibility to have cataracts, of which the symptoms would show when it was 6 months old, and experienced veterinarians could make a definite diagnosis easily. If people really wanted to buy Cocker Spaniels and worried about their gic diseases, they could try to buy puppies over 6 months old.

    Meng Li was deeply astonished by Zhang Zian¡¯s honesty and understood further why Professor Wei Kang would rmend buying pets at his shop.

    ¡°If no one buys it when it is confirmed it will have cataracts two monthster, then how are you going to deal with it?¡± Meng Li asked tentatively.

    ¡°I will only sell it after its disease is cured,¡± Zhang Zian answered without hesitation. ¡°I will have the owner of this clinic to give me a discount on the surgery. When I bought it from the pet breeding base, I had prepared myself for its disease, and I also told the veterinarian here¡ªbecause that breeding base belongs to her family!¡±

 Chapter 278: Free Labor

    <h4>Chapter 278: Free Labor</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Thest time he went to the Pets¡¯ Home Breeding Base to purchase pets, Zhang Zian bought an American Cocker Spaniel. The only reason was that it was cheap. After importing the Cocker Spaniels to his breeding base, Sun Yinian found them hard to sell and could only sell them at cheap prices, basically equal to the cost prices. Zhang Zian did not mind taking the risks and bought one, and he had been prepared himself that, if no one came to purchase it within two months, he would have to take it for surgery, though he hadn¡¯t informed Sun Xiaomeng yet.

    In general, customers who bought small-sized dogs were attracted by their plenty of advantages, such as they didn¡¯t take much space, needed little exercise, would not shed a lot, and didn¡¯t cost much to raise them. However, Cocker Spaniels didn¡¯t possess any of these advantages of small-sized dogs. Instead, they were more like medium-sized dogs¡ªactive and energetic, with good appetites (their amounts of food intake was staggering), having severe fur loss due to their long furs, and they cost much more to raise¡­ Besides, they also had two very significant drawbacks: their ear canals were susceptible to mites and they may have inherited cataracts.

    Under these various factors, few people found Cocker Spaniels attractive. Only a person who had leisure time and was rich, responsible and caring would consider buying a Cocker Spaniel¡ªand of course, under the premise that such a person was not cheated or fooled by unscrupulous owners of pet shops or kennels.

    As long as the owner met the conditions of being rich, responsible, caring and having leisure time, then the clever, gentle and loyal Cocker Spaniel would be an excellent pet dog that would definitely bring great value to the owner in return.

    Zhang Zian stated the advantages and especially its shorings of the Cocker Spaniel frankly to Meng Li, so that Meng Li could decide whether he wanted to buy the dog or not. Even if he couldn¡¯t sell the dog temporarily, Zhang Zian decided to keep it in its own shop, and one day this little guy would meet the right owner. If that person didn¡¯t appear in the future, at least the customers visiting his pet shop could learn about the existence of such a rare dog breed.

    That¡¯s why Zhang Zian didn¡¯t care much if he could sell the dog or not¡ªafter all, he was just a damn single, so he didn¡¯t need to earn big money to support a whole family!

    Meng Li silently listened to Zhang Zian while he was introducing all aspects of Cocker Spaniels, and his admiration and respect for Zhang Zian grew even more. It was noteworthy that Cocker Spaniels only appealed to a very niche market, and before they met, Zhang Zian did not know that Meng Li want to buy a Cocker Spaniel, which meant that Zhang Zian had borne the characteristics of all dog breeds in mind, and was ready to talk about them at any time.

    As a serious schr, Meng Li could easily tell who was truly knowledgeable and who was merely ying trickery.

    When Zhang Zian paused, Meng Li asked again: ¡°I have only onest question, is there any way to prevent this gic disease?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Through sound prenatal and postnatal care, the possibility of morbidity can be reduced.¡± Zhang Zian gave an affirmative response. He stroked the long, soft furs of the Cocker Spaniel. ¡°Neither of its parents have cataracts, so it is less likely to have cataracts than other Cocker Spaniels. If you are still concerned, you can wait ande back in two months. ¡±

    He was positive about that because he personally observed the puppy¡¯s parents. Both of them were healthy Cocker Spaniels at the breeding base, and this was one of the reasons he was confident in this puppy and bought it from the breeding base.

    Meng Li said without hesitation, ¡°No need. Let¡¯s move on to the purchasing process. I want this dog.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Zhang Zian could not believe his ears.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Meng Li nodded. ¡°I went to other pet shops and couldn¡¯t find this kind of dog, the only one I¡¯m going to have. No matter where I get a Cocker Spaniel ultimately, I will have to face that it might have gic disease¡ªbut after conversing with you, I think it¡¯s best to buy from you.¡±

    Zhang Zian was a bit shy hearing this, but he was still very happy to close a deal.

    ¡°Do you need other stuffs? A dog house, cor, leash, food bowl, or water basin? Besides, the dog has long fur, so it¡¯s better to prepare a specialb, and the necessary ear cleansing solution, and most importantly a cage¡­ ¡± He spared no efforts in promoting the lucrative essential items for raising a dog.

    ¡°OK. I want all of them.¡± Meng Li waved his hand to stop Zhang Zian. He pulled out a credit card from his wallet, ¡°Do you take credit card?¡±

    ¡°This is not my shop, and I prefer online transfer. By the way, you need toe with me to my pet shop to get your invoices and pet sales agreement.¡±

    ¡°Are those important?¡± Meng Li did not know what the pet sales agreement was for.

    ¡°The invoices can be reimbursed, and the agreement serves as evidence in case of disputes,¡± Zhang Zian exined seriously, although he was not clear whether there werepanies or organizations that would reimburse pet purchasing invoices.. unless the organization was a zoo, but staff of a zoo would not buy pets from him anyway.

    ¡°Then there¡¯s no hurry for that. You can keep those documents for me. I will take the dog back regrly to do physical examinations, and will ask you for them sometime.¡± Meng Li also knew that pet industry was very chaotic, so the so-called agreement was nothing more than a piece of paper that basically had no binding. Even if something happened to the pets, the sellers would find excuses to shuffle off their responsibilities. So he went to Professor Wei Kang for his opinions, and now he was very satisfied with Professor Wei Kang¡¯s rmendation. Since Meng Li trusted Zhang Zian, he didn¡¯t care if there was any agreement.

    Zhang Zian thought about it, and decided he should uphold to his own principles. Even though customers might not need the documents, he should prepare and give them to them. It didn¡¯t matter whether the customers would throw away the agreements and invoices ¡ª Zhang Zian at least must go through the formal procedure.

    ¡°You¡¯ve bought plenty of pet supplies, and they are very heavy. I don¡¯t think you can take them with you right now¡­ How about this? I will send you the invoices and the agreement together with the supplies you bought. Please leave your address to receive delivery. And you will pay for the postage. All right?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Meng Li wrote his address on the back of his business card, ¡°Just mail it here.¡±

    Zhang Zian took over the business card and nced at it. It turned out the address was the faculty quarters of Binhai University, which was very close to the pet shop, so it seemed like a waste of money to mail it¡­

    He thought for a moment and said, ¡°There are customers that have boughtplete sets of pet products from my shop before, so I know the standard postage for mailing within the city is about 50 to 60 Yuan¡­ you can transfer me 50 Yuan now, and I¡¯ll deliver for you, so you don¡¯t have to pay the mailing servicepany. ¡±

    Meng Li didn¡¯t understand why he did that, Maybe it was troublesome to ask a mailing servicepany to deliver those pet supplies? So, he did not say anything, and transferred 50 Yuan to Zhang Zian.

    After confirming the receipt of money, Zhang Zian quickly sent a message to Wang Qian and Li Kun¡ª¡±If you guys are not busy,e to the clinic. Remember where the tricycle was borrowed fromst time? Find another one!¡±

    He thought, Although I might not have graduates working for me, I can use these freeborers!

    While Zhang Zian was talking with Meng Li within the clinic, Sun Xiaomeng was making her way quickly to the Amazing Fate Pet Shop in the autumn wind.

 Chapter 279: Sound in the Kitchen

    <h4>Chapter 279: Sound in the Kitchen</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After leaving from her clinic, Sun Xiaomeng had been walking for a while before she lowered her head and realized that she was only wearing the white gown outside, because she left hastily and forgot her coat. The wind was blowing hard and her white gown was stuck close on her body. It was so chilly that she felt like her whole body was being poked by numerous needles.

    She buttoned up the white gown, but it was useless, because white gown wasn¡¯t designed to shield off the cold.

    Should I go back and grab my coat?

    She hesitated for a few seconds. She turned around and found that she had walked over 50 meters away from her clinic, making it troublesome to go back and forth.

    Most importantly, the automotive part shops near her clinic were starting to open up shop. The bosses and employees wearing dirty uniforms were pulling up the shelter doors for their business today. Their stares made her ufortable, for she had heard them whisper behind her oftentimes. If she went back to the clinic to grab her coat, she would have to suffer even more ufortable staring.

    Forget it. She decided to walk faster, hoping she would feel warmer.

    The rising sunrays made her in ck hair look like the popr mix of xen and ret, and she seemed more fashionable.

    Unlike what she expected, she felt even colder, probably because she was walking against the wind.

    She recalled that when Zhang Zian entered the clinic, he took off his coat. He wore so little, only a jacket and a leisure shirt, and he didn¡¯t seem cold. Sun Xiaomeng wore a sweater inside her white gown, but she was really freezing.

    Suddenly, the sound of firecrackers was heard from the left side across the road, so she and other pedestrians stopped and looked in that direction.

    It was a small restaurant opening for business, and they were burning non-smoking electronic firecrackers. Sun Xiaomeng remember that that site had belonged to a fruit store before. She hadn¡¯t noticed it for a while, and as it turned out, the store had been transferred. It didn¡¯t matter anyway. She didn¡¯t like eating in small restaurants because she thought they had poor hygiene. She usually bought lunch boxes from supermarkets and reheated them in microwaves. Though lunch boxes were not necessarily delicious, at least they were clean.

    There were few customers at the new restaurant, which was understandable, because it was too early for meals.

    Sun Xiaomeng walked faster because she could see the Amazing Fate Pet Shop. She was dashing towards it so that she could escape from the cold wind.

    Just then, two vehicles stopped at the gate of the pet shop, and a few men got down from the vehicles. Among these men, she recognized one was Guo Dongyue, mainly from his iconic ponytail.

    Seeing that the shutter door of the pet shop was still closed, Guo Dongyue was confused. He walked towards the gate and saw it was indeed locked. He frowned and sensed that something was wrong. He took out his cellphone to make a call.

    ¡°Hey!¡± Sun Xiaomeng shouted.

    But the men were talking loudly and Guo Dongyue didn¡¯t hear her shouting, or he had heard it but wasn¡¯t sure she was talking to him.

    Sun Xiaomeng remembered that she didn¡¯t have Guo Dongyue¡¯s phone number, or else she could have called him. She trotted and shouted again, ¡°Hey, Guo Dongyue!¡±

    Guo Dongyue heard the shouting this time, and he looked where the sound came from and recognized her.

    She raised her hand and waved, hoping he could see the keys in her hand and would understand that she was going to open the door for him.

    Guo Dongyue understood. He put down his phone and said something to other men.

    They talked and then pulled out all kinds of renovation tools from the vehicles.

    Half a minuteter, Sun Xiaomeng finally arrived at the gate of the pet shop.

    ¡°Humph! Luckily I arrived in time.¡± Sun Xiaomeng exhaled, and her breath froze white in the air. She didn¡¯t feel free cold anymore because of her quick movements.

    Guo Dongyue looked behind her, ¡°Where is Zhang Zian?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s at my clinic. There¡¯s a customer there who wants to buy pets.¡± Sun Xiaomeng used the keys Zhang Zian gave her to unlock the door.

    As soon as the door was unlocked, the men came up and helped her pulled up the shutter door. They brought the tools inside the shop and looked around.

    Fina stood up from its rack on the cat tree and looked at these strangers majestically. Because Fina¡¯s tail had disappeared, Snowy Li also woke up from its infatuated state. Snowy Li turned around and saw the strangers were stinky men, so it said to Fina, ¡°Your Majesty, these are construction workers. We should go upstairs so that your fur doesn¡¯t get dirty from the dust.¡±

    Affirming that the men had no vicious intent, Fina jumped down from the cat tree, cast them a warning look, flicked its tail and went upstairs, with Snowy Li following it.

    Old Time Tea drank up the tea in its teacup, turned off the TV, put the teacup upside down to prevent dust from falling into the cup, and went upstairs too.

    The construction workers brought by Guo Dongyue felt very surprised that these cats acted like they understood what was going to happen and they just left the site by themselves. Having seen what Richard could do, Guo Dongyue didn¡¯t feel very surprised anymore.

    Sun Xiaomeng kept looking for Gxy as soon as she went into the pet shop. To her disappointment, Gxy was not on the first floor. Only an American Shorthair was sitting in the corner.

    ¡°Why is there an American Shorthair?¡± She felt very strange. The pets at Zhang Zian¡¯s shop should have been moved to her clinic temporarily, so what was the deal with this American Shorthair? Besides, all the pets for sale were babies, but this American Shorthair was fully grown. And judging from its appearance, it was not a cat from her family¡¯s breeding base.

    She went over and held up the American Shorthair and made a quick examination of its body¡ª it was quite healthy, with no symptoms of any injuries.

    ¡°They are making renovation here, let me bring you upstairs.¡± She held it in her arms and walked upstairs.

    It was the first time Sun Xiaomeng came to the second floor of the pet shop. When she was there, she looked around and wasn¡¯t sure where she should put the American Shorthair¡­

    ¡°Pot! Pot! Pot, bowl, basin!¡±

    ¡°Still can¡¯t remember? Pot, bowl, basin!¡±

    ¡°Poot¡­Boo¡­¡±

    What?

    Why was someone talking there?

    If she remembered correctly, Zhang Zian¡¯s parents had passed away, and she had never seen anyone other than Zhang Zian who lived in that shop. Were his rtives or friends visiting or staying overnight? That did not make sense. If his friends and rtives were there, why would he lock the door and ask her to open the door? And wouldn¡¯t it be dangerous if the shop was on fire while it was locked from outside?

    Could it be¡­ thieves?

    Unlikely. Thieves would have heard the sounds from downstairs.

    The sound came from the kitchen.

    The kitchen door was half closed. She hesitated, and could not decide whether she should go in and check.

    At that moment, Gxy showed up from somewhere. It turned around and looked at her as if implying something to her, and then it struck out its w and pushed open the kitchen door.

 Chapter 280: Yesterday Once More

    <h4>Chapter 280: Yesterday Once More</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Richard stared angrily at the two red-headed lovebirds. It couldn¡¯t understand why they were stupid¡ªthe words were very easy to pronounce, yet what they said was simply wrong. How could they just not get it?

    Richard felt a bit of regret for taking over this task impulsively, for now Richard had found this mission was a little more difficult than it had thought. Chinese was tooplicated and too difficult. It was way more difficult than learning the Indo-European Family Languages. Even if they pronounced the words in Chinese correctly, others were still unable to understand what they meant if the tone was wrong.

    Segments wereposed of phonemes and suprasegmental phonemes ¨C Phonemes were made up of vowels and consonants, which determined the basic pronunciation of a word, and could be applied to mostnguages in this world. When it came to suprasegmental phonemes, there were voice ent, nasal, intonation, phic change and rhythm, and many other aspects involved, and Chinese included indefinite changes of suprasegmental phonemes, making it anguage hard toprehend thoroughly.

    Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake lowered their heads in front of Richard and stood timidly, like pupils that had made mistakes.

    Seeing them like that, Richard couldn¡¯t bear to reprimand them anymore. After all, objectively speaking, their learning speed was very fast, much faster than Richard was back in the old days.

    Richard¡¯s memory was somewhat vague when recalling the old days, which were really long ago. At that time, it had not yet be an Elf because of the Strength of Faith. It was just an ordinary African grey parrot to be sold as a pet. It was no different from any other grey parrots. If it was because of anything, it was that Richard met her.

    She bought Richard from a pet shop.

    Yes, a pet shop. Its destiny was always somewhat rted to pet shops, thought Richard. It met her in a pet shop, and appeared in another pet shop after bing an Elf. Although the two pet shops were half a world away, it seemed like there was some sort of magic linking them.

    Richard didn¡¯t know how she chose it among all those parrots in the pet shop¡ªbecause of its breed? Size? Feather color? Or its eyes that Zhang Zian mentioned oftentimes? Unfortunately, it never got the chance to ask her, for it hadn¡¯t learnt how to ask.

    Richard had heard the word ¡°chemistry¡± for the first time from Zhang Zian. There were no exact corresponding words in English for what ¡°chemistry¡± meant in Chinese. At best, only phrases like ¡°the encounter of fate¡±, ¡°love at first sight, and ¡°fall into love¡± could deliver a simr meaning, yet thesebinations were too superficial, and could not be as exquisite and longsting as the word ¡°chemistry¡± in Chinese.

    Richard knew that it should not scare Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake, but if it did not do so, birds¡¯ instinct of activeness would make them unable to concentrate¡ªand concentration was the key to efficient learning.

    Richard still remembered its tension and fear when it left the pet shop and was brought into theb. Facing the strange woman in a white coat, Richard nervously spected, what she was going to do? To kill it? Or to eat it? It wanted to tell her that it was not tasty, its meat was hard to chew, its feathers were hard to pull, and it had too many bones¡­

    Although she tried hard to express her friendliness, Richard¡¯s brain was so chaotic that it could not understand her good will. Richard just felt more afraid and did not even dare to leave the cage. Although the cage imprisoned its freedom, it was also a shelter for Richard.

    What made Richard even more tense was that, there were not only it and her in theb, but also there was another parrot¡ªa parakeet named ¡°Merlin¡±. Though Merlin was smaller in size, it was rather hostile, staring at Richard as if it was an intruder and snatcher in its territory.

    Richard couldn¡¯t help butpare the parakeet Merlin with the cats in the pet shop now. In its opinion, the scariest cat in the shop was Fina, who would lose its temper easily. However, the way Fina looked at Richard was different than that of Merlin¡ªFina never regarded Richard as a threatening opponent.

    To calm Richard down, she brought water and food. But Richard was so overly nervous and scared that it didn¡¯t drink a drop of water or consume a single grain of rice¡­hunger, thirst, fear of a new environment and the strangers took turns in tormenting it.

    Fortunately, the very next day she had detected the reason¡ªparrots were also territorial creatures that needed their own space, especially when they arrived at a new environment. So, she brought Merlin the parakeet to another room, so that Richard could stay alone in a room, and sheforted Richard more gently.

    Richard, who gradually calmed down, had really felt her good will, within which herpassion and caring for it was absolutely true. She kept wiping the edges of its eyes, and repeatedly saying ¡°poor little thing¡±. She med herself¡ªbecause of her inexperience and improper handling, Richard was suffering from unexpected fears and anxieties.

    Seeing her like that, Richard gathered its courage, trying to tell her that, it was not her fault, and everything would get better. Richard didn¡¯t know where this sentence was heard from, perhaps was in the pet shop, or maybe somewhere else. Richard wanted to say this sentence to her, but it couldn¡¯t, because it didn¡¯t know how to speak back then. It could only muster its courage and go out of the cage, jumping onto her arm and bowing its head to touch her white coat, hoping to convey to her the message.

    She smiled with surprise, and her face became softened, as if she had seen a very precious gift. She held out her other hand, trying tob its disheveled feathers, but then she stopped, fearful of scaring it again.

    Richard wanted to prove it was not a coward, so it fluttered its wings, trying to fly. However, it forgot that the birdcage was right next to it, and one of its wings identally got stuck amongst the iron fence of the cage. In an instant, it had felt it was bleeding painfully. Richard was screaming, she was also screaming, and the other people who heard the screams rushed forward and hurriedly treated its injury and wrapped it up.

    That hurt, that really hurt. Even today, Richard still remembered that intense pain.

    Richard¡¯s first formal contact with her had a nice start, and had an extremely awful ending¡­

    The noise from downstairs woke Richard up from its memories. It shook its head, trying to get rid of these memories temporarily¡ªever since it became an Elf, forgetting the past seemed increasingly difficult. Every minute, every second when it was with her recurred to Richard so vividly, just like yesterday once more.

    Richard cheered up, raising a wing to point to the kitchen utensils, and said to Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake, ¡°Pot! Pot! Pot, bowl, basin!¡±

    Richard knew it was not smart, what it was doing right now, and that it was just a poor imitation of what she did in the past.

    The kitchen door was pushed open, and Richard thought it was Zhang Zian, so it immediately changed its serious expression to cheeky grinning and looked at the door. It would no longer be sad and weak anymore, for no one would look at it with gentle and caring eyes like she did.

    It was not Zhang Zian who¡¯s standing at the door, but was Sun Xiaomeng, holding the American Shorthair in her arms.

    Just like her, Sun Xiaomeng was also dressed in a white coat, with a pair of rational and intelligent eyes.

    Just like yesterday once more.

 Chapter 281: Poor Little Thing

    <h4>Chapter 281: Poor Little Thing</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Gx¡­¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng stretched out her hands towards Gxy, trying to stop it.

    Gxy smiled at her naughtily and ran away jauntily. Though Gxy was not walking very fast and she could see every step it took, Gxy was as elusive as a thin wisp of smoke.

    Sun Xiaomeng swore that Gxy was indeed smiling at her.

    Before she could stop Gxy, it had disappeared into a bedroom on the second floor.

    For some unknown reason, Sun Xiaomeng had a strange feeling ¡ªperhaps it was the intuition of a woman¡ªthat even if she went to chase after Gxy, she probably would not find it.

    Why would Gxy show up suddenly, and why would it help her push open the kitchen door, then leave? She had not figured it out, but she knew there must be some reason behind its behavior, because Gxy had never been so close to her.

    The moment the kitchen door was pushed open, the talking sound stopped.

    She didn¡¯t see Zhang Zian¡¯s rtives, nor did she find the thieves as she worried about in the kitchen, only three parrots were staring at her. She had met Richard once before, but at that time she only paid much attention to Gxy. As for the two red-headed lovebirds, they probably were the two birds that Zhang Zian and Guo Dongyue brought back from the Phoenix House. She heard Zhang Zian talk about them, but it was the first time she saw them.

    She scanned her eyes and confirmed that there were no other people in the small kitchen, so it was Richard and the two red-headed lovebirds that were talking a moment ago. She knew that Richard could speak, but as for the red-headed lovebirds¡­she didn¡¯t remember Zhang Zian telling her that the red-headed lovebirds could speak when he bought them from the Phoenix House, which meant¡­ Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s eyes met Richard¡¯s eyes.

    Thest time she saw this African grey parrot, her impression was that it was a bird that spoke flirty and disgusting things. Right now, Richard seemed like apletely different person¡­more urately, apletely different bird, that was staring at her with an affectionate and perplexed look.

    But within an instant, Richard turned back into that flirty bird, its transition so fast that Sun Xiaomeng doubted whether she had seen an illusion. Richard opened its wings and quacked, ¡°Hello there, beauty!¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng ignored that flirting tone, which was just like thest time she saw it. Instead, she noticed its open wings, and shouted before Richard closed them towards its body, ¡°Wait a second!¡±

    She took one step forward and Richard yelled, ¡°Cat! Cat!¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng was numb and realized that she was still holding up the American Shorthair which, was like a hand warmer and sofortable that she couldn¡¯t let it go. She understood the cat was a major threat to the three parrots, and if they were left in the same space, a tragedy would probably ur. But Richard seemed to be getting along with Gxy?

    Sun Xiaomeng lowered her head and looked at the ordinary American Shorthair in her arms. It looked no different than Gxy and other cats in the shop, but it didn¡¯t have that inexplicable intelligence of Gxy and other cats. She turned around and put the American Shorthair on the ground of the corridor, touched at its neck and said, ¡°Go and y with Gxy.¡± and then she walked back to the kitchen and left the door half-closed.

    The American Shorthair meowed confusingly, and didn¡¯t know what it should do.

    Gxy struck out its head from Zhang Zian¡¯s bedroom and waved its w at the American Shorthair, ¡°Come,e y hide-and-seek.¡±

    Seeing its ymate, the American Shorthair followed Gxy and disappeared behind the bedroom door.

    Richard obeyed Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s order, which was unusual, and waited there with its wings open, a difficult and awkward position for a bird.

    She walked over to Richard and said softly, ¡°Stay still.¡± As a doctor, she gently and carefully used her hands to pinch at its left wing.

    She poked Richard¡¯s feathers open on its left wing, and as she expected, there was an old scar there. If she was not an experienced veterinarian, she would never have noticed that its right and left wings were asymmetrical the moment Richard opened them¡ªthere was only one reason for that scar: Richard had been injured before, or it was suffering with an injury right now.

    ¡°Poor little thing.¡± Sun Xiaomeng used one finger to touch along the scar, ¡°It must feel very painful.¡±

    She could see that from the length and position of this scar, it was caused by the snapping, damage and falling of the blood-feathers, and Richard must have been bleeding a lot, for it was such a severe injury that a bird could have died instantly. Richard was lucky to survive and recover from the injury. It probably had received treatment in time and was taken care of meticulously.

    Being touched by her fingertips, Richard trembled like it was being shocked by electricity.

    ¡°Is it still hurting?¡±

    If pets seemed in pain, ordinary people would have withdrawn their hands, but as a professional veterinarian, Sun Xiaomeng pressed harder to check on the bone status on the wing. As it turned out, the injury had fully recovered. Then why would Richard shudder? Was the trauma in its heart had not been recovered yet?

    Richard didn¡¯t close its wings. It hid its head under the wing on the other side, not wanting anyone to see its look right now.

    ¡°Poor little thing.¡±

    Though the phrase had been spoken in differentnguages by different people, and the phonemes and hyper-phonemes werepletely different, Richard felt the phrase sounded the same to it, for the feelings contained within were equally sincere.

    Richard tried to pull back its wings from her hands, but its body had lost strength, as if her finger had a magic that made Richard want to rely on it.

    ¡°Pot¡­bowl¡­¡±

    The two red-headed lovebirds spoke up again, and Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s attention was diverted to them.

    She now understood that the conversation was from Richard and the red-headed lovebirds and Richard was teaching them to speak. It was not umon that when one parrot had learnt some words, it would teach the other parrots that lived with it. But it was rare that one parrot would intentionally teach others how to speak.

    She had some theory of suspicion and said to Richard, ¡°Richard, can you understand what I say?¡±

    Richard rolled its eyes, looked at her and nodded.

    Sun Xiaomeng was so surprised. Last time she saw it, she had suspected Richard might understand the humannguage. Right now, she could confirm that Richard indeed could understand the humannguages ande up with the correct reactions, which could only be achieved by very few parrots and primates, the chance of which was like one Einstein among all the human beings.

    As a professional veterinarian, Sun Xiaomeng didn¡¯t have much of a social life or any real hobbies. She liked reading extensively about professional academic reports and essays in her free time, which was the reason why Zhang Zian always teased her and called her a super schr. She quickly recollected what she had read before, thinking about how to test its intelligence level.

 Chapter 282: Hide and Seek Experiment

    <h4>Chapter 282: Hide and Seek Experiment</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sun Xiaomeng bit her lower lip, her eyes fixated on Richard.

    Despite her thinking hard to recall, she still couldn¡¯t remember a thing about any rted experiments. After all, she just read those reports and essays out of interest. Many of them were written in English, containing many terms in animal psychology and making the literature very hard toprehend, leaving only fragmented and not profound impressions in her mind.

    In addition, the noise from downstairs also made her unable to concentrate. Several times when she was about to think of something, her thinking was interrupted by a construction noise. She had the urge to rush downstairs and ask them to stop and continue their work after she had figured it out.

    The kitchen door was quietly pushed open again, and both Sun Xiaomeng and Richard looked at the door. She thought Zhang Zian was back, and she grew even more anxious. If he was back and began his stupid talking, she would never recall any experiment.

    Nobody was at the door, so her eyes looked down.

    Gxy was squatting at the door, looking smart, and its silver-grey eyes were gazing at Richard.

    ¡°Quack?¡± Richard felt Gxy had something to say to it, so it asked out loud.

    ¡°Meow, hide-and-seek!¡± After saying these few words, Gxy turned around quickly and ran away.

    From what Sun Xiaomeng heard, Gxy was just making some cute ¡°meowing¡± sounds.

    She increasingly felt that Gxy was very strange today because it actually was repeatedly approaching her.

    ¡°Quack? Hide-and-seek?¡± Richard repeated.

    As if a lightning had struck the permanent dark sky, Sun Xiaomeng suddenly remembered, it was hide-and-seek!

    ¡°Richard, you want to y hide-and-seek?¡± She turned to Richard.

    ¡°Quack?¡±

    Richard didn¡¯t understand what she meant. Richard wanted to say, ¡°I¡¯m not ying such a childish game. If you want to y, go y with the ck and white kitten. Leave me out of this,¡± but it could not say such things to Sun Xiaomeng.

    Since Sun Xiaomeng already knew that Richard could understand her words, and Richard didn¡¯t refuse, she believed that Richard had agreed acquiescently.

    She looked around. As a single person, Zhang Zian¡¯s kitchen was not too messy, but she was hoping it could be a little bit messier now.

    ¡°These might work.¡± She noticed a few ss spice jars on the shelves, each of which was the size of a child¡¯s fist, containing chicken essence, sesame oil, vinegar, salt and sugar, respectively. The five spice jars were of a set, and their sizes were exactly the same, with only the caps different in color, which were in red, yellow, green, blue and white, respectively.

    She said to Zhang Zian inside her heart, ¡°I¡¯m sorry for borrowing these without your permission, I will apologize to you when youe back¡±.

    Sun Xiaomeng put these five spice jars one by one in front of Richard.

    Richard thought she was asking it to identify the colors of the caps, which was a piece of cake for it. Richard answered even before she asked, ¡°Red, yellow, green, blue, and white.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng smiled, ¡°No, I¡¯m not asking you the colors of these caps¡­ but you are totally right, impressive. Now, pay attention to my words, how many jars are here in total?¡±

    ¡°Five.¡± Richard quickly responded. That was way too easy for it.

    She picked up a stainless-steel soup pot, turned it upside down and covered the red spice jar,pletely blocking it.

    ¡°How many are there now?¡±

    Richard hesitated, uncertain of whether it should count the one that was blocked.

    ¡°Five,¡± it answered.

    ¡°How many can you see?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Four.¡± This time it answered immediately.

    Hearing these two answers, Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s heart skipped a beat, and her palms were slightly sweating.

    This seemingly very easy experiment was used by Piaget, the most outstanding cognitive development theorist in the 20th century, to determine children¡¯s cognitive abilities. Inspired when using toys to y hide-and-seek with his son, he developed a thorough andplete theory, naming it ¡°the experiment of object permanence.¡±

    Simply put, the experiment began by cing an object in front of the subject, then blocking or covering the object, and then observing the subject¡¯s response. If the subject knew that the object did not disappear, that it was still there but was invisible to the subject, then the subject would be demonstrating that it already knew the meaning of ¡°existence¡±.

    Many times, the process of a scientific experiment was very simple. The difference between scientists and ordinary people was that scientists had the insight to interpret the experiment from a novel perspective. For example, by letting two iron balls hit the ground at the same time, Galileo had proved thew of free fall; by using a prism to split the sun ray into seven colors, Newton hadid the foundation for spectral analysis¡­

    Though the object was invisible to its eyes, Richard knew it was there, meaning that Richard¡¯s cognitive ability was at least equal to that of a one-year-old infant.

    Sun Xiaomeng would not look down on Richard anymore. She was not facing a pet bird, but an intelligent creature. The difference between Richard and other parrots was probably bigger than the difference between Einstein and average people.

    She took a deep breath, trying to maintain her calm expression so as not to make Richard feel any pressure, ¡°Well, be careful, I¡¯m going to level up the difficulty.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng half-lifted the soup pot, quietly hiding the red jar in her right palm, put down the soup pot again, and hid her right hand behind herself.

    ¡°Where¡¯s the red jar?¡± she asked Richard.

    Richard didn¡¯t see what she just did, so it replied, ¡°Under the pot.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng lifted open the pot with her left hand. It was empty.

    ¡°Quack?¡± Richard shouted in surprise, and understood what happened immediately, ¡°In your right hand.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng took out her right hand from behind her. Her right hand was empty as well.

    Richard thought for a moment, ¡°In your pocket.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng nodded, taking out the red jar from her white coat and cing it side by side with the other four jars.

    ¡°Congrattions, you¡¯re right.¡±

    ¡°Quack! So easy!¡±

    Richard was in a good mood by herpliment. It remembered that it seemed to have yed a simr game before. The forms were slightly different, but essentially, they were the same. Only then, Richard did not like such a game, because it was difficult to y, and Richard often encountered failure and frustration, so it was always in a bad mood. However, after bing an Elf, the game seemed so simple that it kept cursing itself in the past as an ¡°idiot¡± in its mind.

    Sun Xiaomeng smiled unnaturally. She could not urately describe her feelings at this moment. Richard¡¯s performance once again was beyond her understanding. Through this experiment, Richard had proved that its cognitive ability had at least reached the level of 2-year-old child, and the experimental process was rather easy for Richard, who passed quickly.

    She believed that Richard could still pass the further steps of the experiment. What would be its highest limit? Would it reach the recognition ability of a three-year-old child? Four? Five? Ten? Twelve years old?

    It can speak, think, and it possessed recognition ability. Apart from the appearance of a bird, did it have any essential difference from human beings?

    From what she remembered, there was only one parrot in the world that had passed the experiment, but it died young when its recognition ability had reached the level of a five-year-old child. The death of that grey parrot was considered to be a huge loss to the scientific and educationalmunities.

    Now, standing in front of her was a living intelligent parrot, which may even be more outstanding than the deceased one!

    She felt very sad. Howe Zhang Zian was so lucky as to have all the good stuffs?

    The kitchen door was pushed open again¡ªfrom the previous two experiences, she thought it was Gxy again. So, she lowered her eyes, trying to say hello to Gxy and asked it to stay. But she only saw a human¡¯s feet in casual shoes.

    Zhang Zian looked at her, and looked at Richard. He felt the atmosphere in the kitchen was a bit unusual.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± he asked.

 Chapter 283: Goodbye, Doctor

    <h4>Chapter 283: Goodbye, Doctor</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Upon seeing Meng Li leave the clinic with the Cocker Spaniel, Zhang Zian felt sorry for the graduate students that would need to walk the dog. Zhang Zian said goodbye to Long Xian, left the clinic and walked fast forward his pet shop. On his way back to the pet shop, he wondered what took Sun Xiaomeng so long. He just asked her to open door for Guo Dongyue. No matter how slow she walked, half an hour would be enough. And it¡¯s unlikely that she finally got the chance to y with Gxy as she always wanted to.

    On the first floor of his shop, a few renovation workers were there. He didn¡¯t see Guo Dongyue. He asked one person and knew that after telling them about the necessary details, Guo Dongyue had left in advance. They were following the construction graph, and nothing would go wrong.

    Zhang Zian pretended he was an expert on their work and stood there and watched them for a while. They seemed very concentrated, and he didn¡¯t see any ws, judging from his knowledge. Since Fina was not on the first floor, he took some bottles of Evian spring water to the workers, so that they wouldn¡¯t feel thirsty. He decided to buy beverages for themter.

    He went up to the second floor and saw Gxy sitting in the corridor with its head tilted, as if it was waiting for him toe back.

    ¡°I¡¯m back. Gxy, what are you doing?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Meow, ying hide-and seek!¡± said Gxy.

    ¡°You¡¯re ying hide-and-seek¡­¡± Zhang Zian felt confused, shouldn¡¯t it be either hiding or seeking in this game? How could Gxy just stand there and do nothing? Gxy had yed hide-and-seek many times, and except when it faced the wall to count down, it had never stood still during the game.

    Gxy shook its head, raised its w and pointed to the kitchen, ¡°Gxy is not ying hide-and-seek; Richard is ying-hide and-seek.¡±

    Richard?

    Zhang Zian remembered now. When he left the pet shop, Richard and the two red-headed lovebirds were still in the kitchen. He pushed open the kitchen door, only to find that Sun Xiaomeng was standing there with some spice jars and a stainless-steel soup pot on the kitchen sink. He noticed that Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s expression wasplicated, like she had been thinking about very difficult question, and probably had not got the answer that she wanted.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Are you ying house?¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng was speechless. When she was about to exin, her cell phone rang.

    ¡°Hello?¡± she answered the phone right away after seeing the phone number.

    ¡°Sister Xiaomeng, when will you be back? The client who has made an appointment is here,¡± Long Xian said on the other side of the phone.

    Sun Xiaomeng pinched between her eyebrows like she was having a headache. She was totally surprised by Richard and forgot about the appointment schedule of her client.

    ¡°I¡¯m heading back right away, please tell the client to wait a minute,¡± she said quickly.

    ¡°Okay, got it, I¡¯ll hang up then.¡± Long Xian hung up the phone.

    Though she cared a lot about Richard¡¯s injuries, she was not a scientist all in all. She was a veterinarian, and no matter how Richard¡¯s experience intrigued her, she needed to go back to her clinic and do her job.

    ¡°I just borrowed your kitchen tools, but not for ying. See youter.¡± She spoke briefly to Zhang Zian, but looked at Richard dearly and waved, ¡°Goodbye, Richard, I wille back to see you again.¡±

    Richard gazed at her affectionately, ¡°Goodbye, Doctor.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng was astonished and didn¡¯t say anything. She walked out of the kitchen and saw that Gxy was staring at her from the bedroom door far away.

    ¡°Goodbye, Gxy,¡± she smiled and waved.

    ¡°Meow, meow.¡±

    After Sun Xiaomeng left, Zhang Zian still couldn¡¯t figure out what had happened.

    ¡°Richard, why do you call her ¡®Doctor¡¯ now?¡± he asked curiously. ¡°Don¡¯t you always call her ¡®Beauty¡¯?¡±

    Richard remained silent, and after a few seconds, it fluttered its wings and yelled, ¡°Quack, quack! You moron! She is a doctor, isn¡¯t she? Don¡¯t you know what doctor means in English?¡±

    ¡°Yes, she is¡­¡± Zhang Zian still felt strange, mainly because Richard¡¯s attitude towards Sun Xiaomeng waspletely different.

    Even though he was an English idiot, he understood that ¡®doctor¡¯ could mean both ¡®physician¡¯ and ¡®PhD¡¯¡ªsince Richard really liked puns.

    However, He wondered if he had overthought it. Though he was not clear about Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s specific education level, she probably didn¡¯t possess a PhD degree. Most normal people received their PhD degrees when they were about to be 30 years old, and apparently Sun Xiaomeng wasn¡¯t that old¡­ She might be a genius that went to college before 18 years old, but she didn¡¯t look like a one¡­ Besides, if she really had a PhD degree, then she would have numerous ways to earn big money, so why would she degrade herself into opening a pet clinic?

    Therefore, there was no reason Richard would call Sun Xiaomeng ¡°Doctor¡± as in ¡°PhD¡±.

    He must have overthought Richard¡¯s word.

    ¡°What did you guys talk about?¡± Zhang Zian asked while putting the spice jars back on the storage rack.

    ¡°Quack, quack! She seemed to have doubts of my abilities and wanted to test me,¡± Richard said like it didn¡¯t give a damn¡ªwhich was how it usually acted.

    ¡°Oh. How did she test you?¡± he asked as he put the stainless-steel soup pot back in the cupboard.

    ¡°I think it was through ying hide-and-seek, which is not challenging to me at all!¡± Richard raised its eyes, ¡°You idiot, you forgot to close the cupboard door. What if mice go in there!¡±

    Zhang Zian did forget to close the cupboard door. His thinking was interrupted when he heard the words ¡°hide-and-seek¡±. So, the five spice jars were used for ying hide and seek? How?

    ¡°You didn¡¯t act too weird, right?¡± he alerted Richard, ¡°I¡¯ve told you before, if your behavior is too conspicuous, some people in ck uniforms might take you away and you will be sliced into samples for experiments! Do you know what slices look like? Have you seen slices of Peking Roast Duck before?¡±

    ¡°You idiot. Stop worrying about me so much. Just mind your own business,¡± Richard said impatiently and waved one of its wings outwards to drive him away. ¡°If you are done lecturing, just leave, I need to hurry up and teach these stupid birds to speak now.¡±

    What else could Zhang Zian do apart from warning it? He could not always bind Richard¡¯s beak and not let it talk.

    He left the kitchen and heard Richard¡¯s hoarse voice behind him.

    ¡°Pot! Bowl! Basin!¡±

    And then he heard the voices of the red-headed lovebirds.

    ¡°Per¡­Boo¡­Base¡­¡±

    Wrong pronunciations, incorrect tones, Richard still had a long way to go.

    Gxy was still sitting on the corridor, blinking its silver-grey eyes to look at him, seeming like it had never moved.

    Zhang Zian squatted down and asked it, ¡°Gxy, you told me that Richard needs Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s help, right?¡±

    Gxy nodded, ¡°Meow, yes.¡±

    ¡°So Sun Xiaomeng will not hurt it, right?¡± he asked the question which was his real concern.

    No matter how marvelous Gxy, Fina, and Old Time Tea were to him, other people just treated them as normal animals that were either very low-key or very cold. As for Richard, it was just like a time bomb that would cause big trouble someday. He worried that if Richard could not restrain itself from showing off its abilities in front of Sun Xiaomeng, she might generate the idea of turning Richard in to the country for experimentation¡ªand that would be a catastrophe.

    Gxy shook its head, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Zian. The Doctor won¡¯t hurt it.¡±

    ¡°Do you mean ¡®doctor¡¯ as in a ¡®physician¡¯ or as in a person with a ¡®PhD degree¡¯?¡± Zhang Zian knew that his question was strange, but he believed that Gxy could understand him. He still couldn¡¯t figure out what it meant when they addressed her as ¡°Doctor¡±.

    ¡°For Richard, Sun Xiaomeng is a ¡®doctor¡¯ doctor, but also a doctor with PhD degree.¡± Gxy said confidently. ¡°Don¡¯t you worry, Zian.¡±

    ¡°I hope I won¡¯t have to.¡± Zhang Zian believed in Gxy.

 Chapter 284: Difficult Business

    <h4>Chapter 284: Difficult Business</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Renovation was a very troublesome issue.

    Although Zhang Zian felt that Richard was somewhat abnormal, his mind was quickly upied by all kinds of problems caused by the renovation. He couldn¡¯t stay on the first floor anymore, which was noisy and dusty. The construction workers were carrying things back and forth, asking Zhang Zian from time to time what things were to be kept, and what could be discarded.

    This was Zhang Zian¡¯s first renovation experience. Thanks to Guo Dongyue, who had designed the specific n and details for him, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have to go through the process by himself anxiously.

    Although Guo Dongyue promised he would cover all costs, Zhang Zian felt he needed to do something too. At least he could prepare lunches for the workers.

    On the other hand, Fina keptining. It was so upset that she couldn¡¯t take a nap because of the construction noises. Snowy Li was discontented that all the renovation workers were men. Old Time Tea was fine ¡ª as long as it could watch TV, it didn¡¯t care where it was. Gxy was the only one that wasn¡¯t affected by the construction, as it was always ying hide-and-seek with the American Shorthair anyways.

    Richard had been teaching the two red-headed lovebirds to speak. In the eyes of Zhang Zian, they were making rapid progress, within only a few days, they had grasped the pronunciation of twenty or thirty Chinese characters, though the uracy of the pronunciation and the tone could be better¡ªbut what they had done was not easy, and he couldn¡¯t ask for more.

    These days, there were probably many clients visiting her clinic, or out of some other reasons, Sun Xiaomeng did note to his pet shop. Richard looked a little unhappy.

    When it was almost noon and Zhang Zian was busy instructing the construction workers, an electric tricycle parked in front of his pet shop.

    Uncle Li got off the tricycle, carrying several lunch boxes, and walked into the pet shop.

    ¡°Greetings, Uncle Li.¡± Zhang Zian quickly went over to help him carry the lunch boxes.

    He ordered the lunches for the construction workers from Uncle Li¡¯s store, and Uncle Li delivered them to him for free. Zhang Zian decided to eat together with them.

    The workers were quite satisfied with the quality of their lunches. Not only was the food delicious, but there was meat and vegetables, and the portions were generous, all of which were ideal for heavy manual workers like themselves. Several people gave thumbs-up signs to Uncle Li, and kept telling him the food was delicious. Listening to these sincerepliments, Uncle Li seemed very happy.

    ¡°Uncle Li, how¡¯s the business going in your restaurant these days?¡± Holding a lunch box, Zhang Zian asked casually while eating.

    Uncle Li was removing the BBQ skewers prepared for the pets from the cart. Hearing this, Uncle Li felt awkward to answer, and his face looked dismayed.

    Zhang Zian looked at Uncle Li¡¯s facial expression, and understood the business might not be very good, so he temporarily put down the chopsticks and asked, ¡°Not many customers?¡±

    ¡°Only a few.¡± Uncle Li sighed, confirming his conjecture.

    ¡°It will be alright. After all, it¡¯s a newly opened restaurant, and people don¡¯t yet know what the food in your restaurant tastes like,¡± Zhang Zian tried tofort him. ¡°More and more people will go to eat, and your store¡¯s reputation will build up gradually. And when that timees, the tables in your store will not be enough, for customers will have to line up waiting to be seated¡­¡±

    ¡°If only it could be that great.¡± Uncle Li managed to dredge up a smile. It was obvious that he did not quite believe his business was promising. ¡°To be honest, I have quarreled with my wife several times during these days after the store opened.¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°We¡¯ve been ming each other!¡± Uncle Li drew a deep sigh, ¡°Before opening the store, we were quite ambitious and confident about the food made by ourselves. Even though our store might not be extremely popr at first, we didn¡¯t expect there would be so few customers!¡±

    He counted with his fingers. ¡°Let me tell you. I have counted, in the past few days, only over a dozen of people havee to our store for eating every day. Forget about earning money, if things continue like this, we won¡¯t be able to afford the rent and the utility fees. I am so nervous that my mouth is inmed! If you didn¡¯te to order meals, Master Zhang, my wife and I would be bickering more severely!¡±

    Zhang Zian understood their anxiety. The worst scenario for a start-up was no patrons. He didn¡¯t need to pay for rent, had no family to provide support for, and utility fees only cost him a little. Even so, he struggled for a period when he took over the pet shop. Only people who had been through the same difficulty could understand the desperation where they were spending up their savings and were slow in making money.

    There were too many restaurants and fast food stores on this street, and thepetition was extremely fierce. Uncle Li and Aunt Li used to sell breakfast and BBQ skewers at a stand, so they were not impacted by thepetition. When they chose to open their own store, the pressure was real.

    When Zhang Zian decided to order lunches for the decoration workers, he immediately thought he should order from Uncle Li and Aunt Li. As expected, though it was obviously lunchtime when he went to their store, only two or three guests were eating in their store, and Aunt Li was in dismay, only forcing herself to smile upon seeing Zhang Zian¡¯s arrival.

    Probably because it had smelled the BBQ skewers, the hunger-struck Fina walked down from the second floor, closely followed by Snow Li, who looked affectionately at Fina. Old Time Tea did note down, because it preferred quietness and didn¡¯t want to be seen by strangers. Zhang Zian would prepare and send up its mealter.

    Fina put its head in its own food bowl and ate a mouthful of the barbecue, and then it looked up and said in amazement: ¡°Wow! Today¡¯s barbecue tastes good.¡±

    Snow Li also had a bite, and echoed with Fina, ¡°Meow, meow. Your Majesty, you are right! Today¡¯s barbecue is really delicious!¡±

    ¡°Ask him what kind of meat this is,¡± Fina said seriously to Zhang Zian.

    Since Uncle Li was also there, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t converse with Fina directly, so he also picked up a skewer and tasted the meat, but his taste buds seemed too insensitive than those of cats, and he really couldn¡¯t find out the difference. Perhaps the meat today was slightly more tender than before?

    ¡°Uncle Li, is the meat of today different than before?¡± he asked, trying to look normal.

    ¡°Yes, it is different.¡± Uncle Li had been staring at Zhang Zian, and upon seeing him taste the difference, Uncle Li was pleasantly relieved. ¡°In the past, we used the frozen chicken breast bought from supermarkets. Today¡¯s meat is really fresh, because it¡¯s from some free-range chickens that I asked someone to bring from our hometown. The free-range chickens were raised in the wild, and were fed with grains and live worms, so the quality of their meat is very different than the frozen meat! ¡±

    Zhang Zian felt like this was unfair to him. The chicken meat he usually ate was frozen meat from the supermarket, yet his cats were enjoying the meat of premium quality.

    Uncle Li chuckled, ¡°My wife said that Master Zhang¡¯s cats had spirituality and that they should not be eating the same kind of meat as normal cats, so she told me to butcher a few chickens and make them into barbecue meat. If your cats love eating these, then I¡¯ll ask my rtives send the chickens over from my hometown more often. ¡±

    ¡°That is not¡­¡± Zhang Zian just wanted to say ¡± that is not necessary¡±, and he felt something pulling on his trouser leg. He looked down, and it turned out to be Fina.

    ¡°He¡¯s right, I really should not eat the same kind of meat as ordinary cats.¡± Fina arrogantly held its head up and red at him coldly. ¡°I have long been in doubt. Howe these people can see my extraordinariness, and you still don¡¯t get it?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought to himself, ¡°If you want to eat this kind of chicken meat, just tell me! There¡¯s no need to exaggerate the issue!¡±

    Seeing that the golden cat was pulling Zhang Zian¡¯s trouser leg, Uncle Li cheerfully asked, ¡°Does this cat love eating the meat?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhang Zian had to say, ¡°Very. Please send them more in the future when you have the chance.¡±

    He sighed inside his heart. Now he was indebted to Uncle Li and Aunt Li again; how was he going to repay them?

 Chapter 285: Dog in Shorts

    <h4>Chapter 285: Dog in Shorts</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Spirit Curing Pet Clinic.

    Sun Xiaomeng was sitting alone in her office, contemting with her chin rested on her hands.

    In front of her, theputer screen was disying two documents: one was a PDF file in English about animal behaviorism, and the other one was a Word file where the cursor was blinking. It was the Chinese version of the PDF file which was tranted by a trantion software.

    On her right side, a pot of bracket nt on the windowsill was bathing in the soft autumn sunshine and growing healthily, bringing vigor to this quiet and simple office.

    Behind her was a customized bookshelf that almost covered the whole wall. The bookshelf was stuffed with all kinds of professional books. Voluminous books that were as thick as dictionaries were put on the bottom, regr academic books were ced on the top shelves where she could reach them by raising her hands, and in the prime position in the middle were thetest journals and magazines in Chinese and in English. If she was going to relocate her clinic in the future, it would take much effort to move this bookshelf alone.

    It was not urate to say that she was in contemtion: she was absent-minded. Her brain waspletely vacant, a status she enjoyed very much, because she could temporarily get away from her busy schedule in the clinic and her studies so that her brain could get a rest.

    Knock, knock!

    She was woken up from her vacant status by a knock on her office door.

    ¡°Come in.¡± She rubbed her palms and ced her warm palms on her cheeks so that her stiff face became softer.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun pushed the door open, but they didn¡¯te in. They just stood at the door and said, ¡°Sister Xiaomeng, we have cleaned everywhere else except your office. Would you like to check up our work?¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng didn¡¯t ask them to clean this office because her ¡°patients¡¯¡± medical records were ced on her desk, and she was afraid that they would mess them up. Besides, she was the only one who usually came in this office, so it was not dirty at all.

    ¡°No, I won¡¯t check. You can leave earlier if you have finished your work.¡± She trusted them and was satisfied with their work. Cleaning for a clinic was heavy work, but they had done it really well.

    In the beginning, Sun Xiaomeng was really disgusted by their stupid talking, and for a time, she really wanted to tell them not toe to her clinic anymore. Butter, she found that they were very responsible at work, and since they had experience working for a pet shop, they were also good at taking care of pets. Their stupid talking was dwarfed by their excellent work, so she gradually got used to their presence in her clinic.

    ¡°Okay, we are leaving then.¡± They said goodbye to Sun Xiaomeng and closed the door softly.

    They didn¡¯t leave the clinic right away. Instead, they went to the cashier and cozied up to Long Xian again. It was obvious that they quite liked the new nurse. Why? Probably because Long Xian was very patient and could tolerate their stupid talking, though in the eyes of Sun Xiaomeng, Long Xian was just being polite.

    After a while, their voices disappeared. They probably had left the clinic and went back to the university for sses.

    Knock, knock!

    Someone was knocking at the door again.

    ¡°Come in.¡±

    Long Xian pushed open the door and stuck in her head, ¡°Sister Xiaomeng, Wu Yue is here. I have brought her to the operating room.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll be there in a minute.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng checked the calendar on herputer, and pulled a medical records file from the cubbyholes on her desk. She put it under one arm, walked out of the office quickly, made a right turn and then arrived at the operating room.

    ¡°Hello, Doctor, I¡¯m here to trouble you again.¡±

    In the operating room was a middle-aged woman holding a flight case. She was dressed up elegantly, wearing a beige woolen coat that fit her well and a pale blue scarf that suited her temperament. She seemed well-educated from her behaviors and the way she talked.

    ¡°Madam Wu, you are punctual as always.¡± Sun Xiaomeng smiled at her cordially. Wu Yue was her long-term client, and she had been visiting her clinic every day recently.

    ¡°I am very sorry to trouble you every day,¡± said Wu Yue very politely.

    ¡°What are you talking about? I¡¯m just doing my job.¡± Sun Xiaomeng had a very good impression of Wu Yue, not only because of her temperament and the way she talked, but also because of her decision.

    Sun Xiaomeng looked out the window, ¡°It¡¯s a nice day today, but ording to the weather forecast, tomorrow will be windy with temperature drops. Please keep warm and don¡¯t catch a cold.¡±

    ¡°Really? Thanks for reminding me. I will put on more clothes tomorrow.¡± Wu Yue smiled gently.

    ¡°Also, please keep Little White warm,¡± Sun Xiaomeng reminded her.

    ¡°Yes, absolutely.¡± Wu Yue put the flight case in her hands on the ground and opened the case. She held up a Pekingese dog from the case.

    The Pekingese dog gazed at Sun Xiaomeng with its ck-and-white eyes open wide, sticking its tongue out fawningly towards Sun Xiaomeng. It seemed quite perky.

    ¡°Hello, Little White, how are you?¡± Sun Xiaomeng rubbed its chin and it barked twice. Little White enjoyed when she got close to it.

    Little White was a normal Pekingese dog that was wearing a pair of special shorts for dogs on its butt¡ªthis was quite normal, because many dog owners would put such shorts on their pets for many different reasons. For example, when the dogs were on their menstrual periods, or when the owners didn¡¯t want their dogs to be sterilized nor did they want their dogs to get pregnant, or when their dogs were sick¡­

    Sun Xiaomeng held up Little White to the operating table, and Wu Yue put her hands on its body and touched it softly to stop it from moving. Little White was lying with its stomach on the table without moving or barking. Little White was not like this the first time it was here ¨C it tried to run away a couple of times after seeing all the strange-looking tools and the cold stainless-steel operative instruments.

    Sun Xiaomeng opened the file and looked at Little White¡¯s case. Though she could almost recite what was in there, she read through the file seriously out of respect to Wu Yue.

    ¡°Is Little White¡¯s diet schedule and bowel movements normal?¡± She put on the disposable rubber gloves and started the regr inquiry as diagnosis.

    ¡°Yes, I totally follow the diet standard made by you,¡± answered Wu Yue earnestly. Sun Xiaomeng formted nutritional meals with ingredients precise to the unit of gram ording to Little White¡¯s age and weight. Little White seemed to be in good spirits recently, and it was probably due to Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s nutritional menu.

    ¡°Good to know.¡± Sun Xiaomeng took out a small shlight from the pocket of her white gown, turned it on and observed closely Little White¡¯s eyes, nose, and ear canals. She then pinched its chin to observe its tongue and throat.

    She nodded towards Wu Yue, indicating everything was normal.

    Sun Xiaomeng took off the dog shorts worn by Little White. There was medical cotton and medical gauze circling Little White¡¯s stomach and the binding was stabilized by medical tape. The furs around its stomach were shaved so short that its pink skin was visible. A bit of transparent stic tube was sticking out from beneath the cotton.

    Wu Yue turned away her head. She couldn¡¯t bear to see it like this.

    Sun Xiaomeng took out Vaseline from the medicine cab and applied it on the anal thermometer to test the body temperature of Little White.

    Since they had been meeting every day, Little White felt very close to Sun Xiaomeng and almost treated her as its second owner. Though it shuddered a bit, ity on the operating table still and didn¡¯t struggle or run away.

    Two minutester, Sun Xiaomeng pulled out the anal thermometer and looked at the temperature indicated on it.

    ¡°How is it?¡± Wu Yue asked anxiously.

    Sun Xiaomeng nodded towards Wu Yue again and smiled, ¡°Its body temperature is normal. Little White is in good condition.¡±

    Wu Yue exhaled one long breath, and rxed for the first time since they met.

 Chapter 286: Great Decision

    <h4>Chapter 286: Great Decision</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The examination for Little White hadn¡¯t ended. Sun Xiaomeng adeptly wore a stethoscope with one hand, pressing the chestpiece of the stethoscope with her other hand against Little White¡¯s small chest, looking down at the watch, and calcting Little White¡¯s heartbeat inside her head.

    ¡°Normal,¡± she nodded to Wu Yue, taking the stethoscope off of her ears and hanging it around her neck as before.

    Knock! Knock!

    Someone was knocking at the operating room door.

    Long Xian stuck her head in. With her eyes looking at Little White¡¯s body, she asked embarrassingly, ¡°Sister Xiaomeng, do you need my help?

    Actually, Sun Xiaomeng didn¡¯t need her help. Before Long Xian came to her clinic, she had grown ustomed to doing everything by herself, whether it was cleaning or treatment.

    However, since she had hired Long Xian as a nurse, why did she have to work so hard?

    On the other hand, Long Xian actually wanted to observe her practice. Because in the veterinary school, most of the diagnosis and treatment methods were targetingrge-sized livestock, such as pigs, cattle, horses, sheep and the like, while the proportion for cats and dogs was very small¡­ How should she put it? Just like in other professions, some of the veterinary courses were outdated. Therefore, for those who were determined to engage in the veterinary industry, internships and field observations were very important.

    ¡°Come in then.¡± Sun Xiaomeng waved at her.

    Long Xian stuck her tongue out, trotted into the operating room, wore rubber gloves, put her hands behind her back and stood like a well-behaved student behind Sun Xiaomeng, then nodded to greet Wu Yue.

    Sun Xiaomeng handed the medical record to her, and then pushed a pen into Long Xian¡¯s hand from her chest pocket, and read the data she just measured such as body temperature and heartbeat to her.

    Long Xian stayed focused and recorded the data in the medical record. asionally when she didn¡¯t hear clearly or encountered something she didn¡¯t understand, she would ask Sun Xiaomeng in a whisper.

    Sun Xiaomeng answered her questions very patiently.

    Wu Yue, who was watching on the side,ughed, ¡°Dr. Sun, you really look like a doctor now.¡±

    ¡°Oh? What did I look like before?¡± Sun Xiaomeng felt funny and asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, you just didn¡¯t look like a doctor before. Doctors are always followed by nurses.¡± Unable to exin clearly, Wu Yue came up with that answer.

    After Long Xian hadpleted recording the data, Sun Xiaomeng pulled out arge disposable syringe from the equipment cab, and leaned towards Little White. Long Xian quickly put down the medical record, and helped Sun Xiaomeng gently hold Little White still.

    Sun Xiaomeng aligned the syringe mouth with the port of the stic catheter, and inserted it into the stic catheter. When it reached the end, she twitched the piston rod backwards. As the rod moved backwards, the interior of the syringe was filled with yellowish-brown urine.

    Little White¡¯s bulging lower abdomen gradually became ttened, the anxiety in its eyes disappeared, and Long Xian could feel its tight muscles loosen up.

    Sun Xiaomeng put the syringe into the tray, took off the disposable gloves, and said to Long Xian, ¡°Go change gauzes for it.¡±

    Long Xian was happy to get a hands-on opportunity. She strictly followed what she learnt from school and Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s instructions, carefully avoided the stic catheter, put on new gauzes and cotton cloths for Little White, and then helped it wear its shorts again.

    Wu Yue held Little White dearly in her arms, stroking its body with her face, ¡°Good boy, Little White, you are so strong.¡±

    Long Xian put the used disposable gloves, gauzes, cotton cloths and syringes filled with urine on the tray, and carried it away from the operating room to handle it outside. Gazing at Little White, Sun Xiaomeng said sincerely, ¡°Little White is very lucky to have met an owner like you.¡±

    ¡°No. I¡¯m the lucky one. I¡¯m d I have met Little White,¡± said Wu Yue gently. She didn¡¯t feel she had done anything remarkable at all.

    She bent down and put Little White back to the flight case, closed the case door, picked it up and said, ¡°Dr. Sun, then I¡¯m leaving today, see you tomorrow.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng opened the door of the operating room, went out with Wu Yue, and once again reminded her, ¡°Tomorrow may see strong wind and lowered temperatures, do keep warm¡ªboth you and Little White. Especially you, Little White only has you, so you must take care of yourself, don¡¯t get sick.¡±

    ¡°Understood, Dr. Sun, thank you.¡± Wu Yue stopped at the door of the clinic, ¡°Dr. Sun, you can go back inside now, it¡¯s cold outside, and you are not wearing enough clothes¡ªyou must also take care of yourself, don¡¯t catch a cold.¡±

    ¡°All right, I know what to do. I mean, as least I am a doctor, though only a veterinarian.¡± Sun Xiaomeng smiled and helped her push the clinic door open, ¡°Take care.¡±

    Wu Yue waved to her, and walked quickly to the nearby bus station carrying the flight case.

    Sun Xiaomeng stood in front of the door and looked at Wu Yue for a while, then returned to the clinic.

    ¡°Sister Xiaomeng, what happened to the dog?¡± Long Xian asked curiously with her chin rested on her hands, which were ced on the cashier desk.

    Sun Xiaoyun exined briefly, ¡°dder cancer.¡±

    ¡°What? Can¡­ cancer?¡± Long Xian was surprised, her mouth half-open.

    Sun Xiaomeng nodded with a gloomy expression, suggesting Long Xian heard her right.

    ¡°That¡­¡± through the ss door, Long Xian looked at Wu Yue who was walking afar in the cold wind carrying the flight case.

    Sun Xiaomeng walked behind the cashier desk, and poured herself a cup of hot coffee, adding a lot of sugar.

    ¡°She¡¯s awesome, isn¡¯t she?¡± She held her coffee cup with both of her hands. Her hands got cold by the wind blowing on them when she opened the door, and the hot coffee could warm up her hands.

    Long Xian was moved. Her eyes became a bit moist, and she said in a nasal tone, ¡°She doesn¡¯t look particrly rich.¡±

    ¡°No, she¡¯s not, and that¡¯s why her decision is moremendable.¡± Sun Xiaomeng understood the feeling of Long Xian.

    ¡°Shees here every day?¡± Long Xian already knew the answer.

    ¡°Every day,¡± Sun Xiaomeng answered affirmatively, ¡°since the surgery was done.¡±

    She looked into the distance and said in a despondent mood, ¡°When she first came here, she said that there was something wrong with Little White, and that it seemed very painful, and she asked me to check up for it. After the examination, I told her that the situation was not good, and that Little White had cancer.¡±

    ¡°You know, in this case, and ording to customary practices, I gave her two options. One was to receive surgical treatment, and the other one was euthanasia.¡± Sun Xiaomeng dredged up with a smile and continued with studied casualness, ¡°Of course there was a third option, taking it home¡ªfrom my experience after opening this clinic, the number of the people who chose the third option were bigger than the former twobined! After all, that was the money-saving option!¡±

    ¡°I looked at her. She loved this dog so much that I thought she might choose euthanasia for it. But I was wrong. She said surgery even before I finished my sentence,¡± Sun Xiaomeng continued. She still remembered the extremely sad and determined expression on Wu Yue¡¯s face at that time.

    ¡°I should have been very happy hearing she had chosen to have surgery for the dog,¡± said Sun Xiaomeng with a self-deprecating humor. ¡°After all, surgery is more profitable than euthanasia, but at that time, I did not know what had happened to me, I just advised her not to have surgery because of the high risks. Even if the surgery was sessful, it would also face the risk of infection. Once infected, it would die. Besides, postoperative care is also very expensive¡­ ¡±

    ¡°But she still decided to have surgery, right?¡± Long Xian couldn¡¯t hold back her tears anymore; they were rolling down her face like pearls.

    Sun Xiaomeng wiped her eyes, ¡°Yes, she still decided to have surgery.¡±

 Chapter 287: To Stay or To Go

    <h4>Chapter 287: To Stay or To Go</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After opening her pet clinic, Sun Xiaomeng had diagnosed many cats and dogs that had incurable diseases, and most of the owners would just choose to take them home¡ªshe couldn¡¯t say they were wrong, because when humans had incurable diseases, their families might have decided to give up treatment, too.

    There were a few owners that would choose to let their pets have euthanasia and save them from the pain¡ªshe couldn¡¯t say they were wrong either, because surgeries did not necessarily seed, especially when the pets had various cancers. Even when the cancerous tissues had been cut off, the cancer cells might transfer to other organs of the pets¡¯ bodies at any time. Even for humans, they might not choose surgeries after they got cancer ¨C they would just resort to expectant treatment.

    Inparison, Wu Yue¡¯s decision to let Little White receive surgery seemed more rare and precious. Little White was not a dog of a rare breed, it was just an ordinary Pekingese dog. And Wu Yue was not an extremely rich pet owner, she was just an ordinary person.

    Sun Xiaomeng was afraid that Wu Yue might regret the decision she made in such a short time in the future. So, Sun Xiaomeng borated upon the details for her, including the risks of the surgery, the risk of getting infection, the risk ofplications, and how expensive the operation and post-operation caring would be.

    Wu Yue didn¡¯t say much, she just replied slowly and affirmatively. She chose surgery¡ªwhen the surgery was done, Little White had the chance to survive. Without surgery, death would be the only result for Little White. She didn¡¯t want Little White to die, and didn¡¯t even consider the option of mercy killing.

    In that instant, Sun Xiaomeng felt that Wu Yue did not treat Little White as her pet. Instead, she thought of it as one of her family members, apanion in her lifetime. Whenever Sun Xiaomeng saw pet owners like Wu Yue, she felt like she had been cured and had found meaning in her profession. It¡¯s just that there were few curing pet owners like Wu Yue.

    Most of the time, she would encounter pessimistic and mean pet owners who just abandoned their sick pets after they had been diagnosed with severe diseases.

    Hearing this, Long Xian asked, ¡°So, she will visit the clinic every day?¡±

    ¡°Yes, probably,¡± answered Sun Xiaomeng, ¡°At least she wille here every day until Little White has made it through the infection period after the surgery. After that, Wu Yue can pump out Little White¡¯s urine by herself.¡±

    ¡°I hope everything is going to be fine with Little White,¡± Long Xian prayed for it sincerely. ¡°Little White is lucky to have an owner that loves it so much.¡±

    ¡°I hope every pet can encounter an owner that truly loves them.¡± Sun Xiaomeng drank up the coffee and rinsed out her cup.

    ¡°When will the next reserved client arrive?¡± she asked.

    Long Xian checked on theputer, ¡°Three o¡¯clock.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng thought there was still some time, so she took her coat off from the hallstand and said to Long Xian, ¡°I¡¯m going out now and I¡¯ll be back by 3. During this period, if there are any walk-in customers, you¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll call you,¡± Long Xian answered before she could. ¡°Sister Xiaomeng, are you going to the Amazing Fate Pet Shop?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Sun Xiaomeng took off her white gown and put on her coat.

    ¡°Ooh¡ª¡± Long Xian dragged her voice on purpose.

    ¡°It¡¯s not what you are thinking.¡± Sun Xiaomeng smiled lightly and decided not to exin.

    Sun Xiaomeng flicked Long Xian¡¯s head, ¡°No napping. No cellphone ying. I will check up on you through the monitor anytime.¡±

    ¡°Understood, Sister Xiaomeng. Stop flicking my head. I¡¯m not as smart as you are, what if I be more stupid by your flicking?¡± Long Xian covered the spot where her head had been flicked and begged for mercy.

    Sun Xiaomeng left her clinic. She was wearing thick clothes today and wasn¡¯t afraid of the cold wind, but she still walked at a fast pace. In the past, she only thought Gxy was very unusual, but now her mind was totally upied by Richard. This African grey parrot had some kind of amazing attraction that drew her to solve the riddle.

    Just like Wu Yue didn¡¯t treat Little White as a pet dog, but as a family member, Sun Xiaomeng didn¡¯t treat Richard as a pet bird, but as an intelligent creature with the ability of logical thinking.

    Unlike Professor Wei Kang, she was just a veterinarian rather than a scientist or a university professor that was thinking of using Richard to make contribution for science. She just wanted to satisfy her own curiosity so badly that she even kept the secret to herself. Richard was an intelligent creature and she couldn¡¯t bear that people would treat it as another guinea pig or a specimen. As an intelligent creature, Richard had the right to stay wherever it wanted, instead of being taken away forcibly by anyone else. She could see the pet shop now, and Zhang Zian and Guo Dongyue were standing in front of the door, talking.

    ¡°Good afternoon.¡±

    She approached them and greeted them.

    Because of the loud noises from the construction, they had not noticed her arrival until she began talking.

    ¡°There are no clients in my pet clinic, so I just came out for a walk.¡± She made up a lie and did not tell them she came specifically for Richard.

    She nodded towards Guo Dongyue to greet him, and Guo Dongyue returned the greeting likewise.

    ¡°How are the red-headed lovebirds doing?¡± she asked the question that she knew Guo Dongyue would definitely care about.

    ¡°They¡¯re doing fine.¡± Zhang Zian stared at Sun Xiaomeng as if he had read her mind, ¡°But I assume you didn¡¯te here just to ask this question, right?¡±

    Blushing, Sun Xiaomeng apologized to Guo Dongyue and pulled Zhang Zian away.

    ¡°Why so mysterious?¡± he asked.

    Stone-faced, Sun Xiaomeng said seriously, ¡°What I¡¯m about to say is no joke, please listen to me carefully.¡±

    ¡°Okay go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Do you know how smart Richard is?¡± she asked.

    Zhang Zian thought about it, ¡°Very smart, I guess.¡±

    ¡°As smart as a human.¡± She stressed that and said, ¡°That¡¯s why I have a request.¡±

    ¡°Tell me about it, and I¡¯ll consider whether I will grant your request.¡± Zhang Zian replied calmly.

    Sun Xiaomeng said in a roundabout way, ¡°You know, your shop is under construction and it¡¯s messy and loud, so can you let Richard stay at my ce during this period?¡±

    ¡°Your ce?¡± Zhang Zian did not decline her request right away, instead he asked, ¡°Do you mean your home or your clinic?¡±

    ¡°My clinic. It¡¯s quieter and there are no cats threatening it,¡± she answered honestly, ¡°Though I¡¯m not there at night, Long Xian sleeps in the clinic in the evenings, so she can help take care of it.¡±

    ¡°Why Richard?¡± Zhang Zian looked straight into her eyes, ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me, and don¡¯t think I am an idiot.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng became speechless.

    ¡°Because Richard is so close to me,¡± she finally came up with a reason. ¡°And I like it very much.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s MY bird.¡± Said Zhang Zian.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not anyone¡¯s bird!¡± Sun Xiaomeng disagreed with him, ¡°It¡¯s an independent individual, an intelligent creature!¡±

    Zhang Zian waved his hands, ¡°I don¡¯t like fighting with you. You know what, you say Richard has intelligence, then let it make the decision¡ªto go with you, or to stay at my ce. How about that?¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Sun Xiaomeng could not believe he would agree so quickly.

    ¡°Really.¡± Zhang Zian seemed extremely serious today.

 Chapter 288: Coughing

    <h4>Chapter 288: Coughing</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Why did Zhang Zian dare to agree to Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s request? Firstly, with the limitations set by the game system, even if Richard wanted to leave, it couldn¡¯t leave randomly when the timing hadn¡¯te. Secondly, he always believed that forced love didn¡¯tst. Elves had their own wills and dignities, to stay or to go were their own decisions¡ªjust like he once asked Old Time Tea whether it wanted to leave, and just like Snowy Li decided to leave its previous owner¡ªno one can force them to make their decisions.

    Sun Xiaomeng followed him and went through the first floor. She noticed that these decoration workers brought by Guo Dongyue were extremely qualified. They paid special attention to dust prevention and reducing construction noise during their work, so the construction environment was not as bad as she imagined.

    Zhang Zian set up a curtain on thending on the stairs, which can more or less block the dust.

    ¡°Your ce is so cold, the temperature here is almost the same with that of outside, aren¡¯t you cold?¡± asked Sun Xiaomeng crossing her arms. She had found the problemst time she¡¯s here, she just forgot to talk about it. When she dropped byst time, she just felt the pet shop dry and cold, but a lot of water was required for the construction, and the shop was damp and cold today.

    Zhang Zian teased her, ¡°I¡¯m not cold anyway. You are too weak, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    He may have felt cold under his previous constitution, but after practicing Wing Chun Kung Fu with Old Time Tea, his physique got increasingly better. Though he still had a long way to go before reaching the level ofpleting shielding from harsh weathers as described in Wuxia novels, at least he was more cold-resistant than ordinary people.

    Sun Xiaomeng shook her head, reminding him like she reminded Wu Yue before, ¡°The weather forecast shows that tomorrow will see strong wind and decreased temperature. Be careful not to catch a cold.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, but I¡¯m fine.¡± said Zhang Zian totally unconcerned.

    They lifted open the curtain and went into the hallway on the second floor, all the doors of the rooms there were shut, and Zhang Zian pointed to the living room, ¡°Richard is here.¡±

    When the living room door was pushed open, they saw that Richard was standing on the windowsill looking in the distance.

    ¡°Good afternoon, Richard,¡± Sun Xiaomeng greeted it.

    Richard turned its head, and she could not see what it was like at the moment as it was standing in a backlit spot.

    ¡°Good afternoon, doctor. You changed your clothes today.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng lowered her head, ¡°Oh, you mean my white coat? It was cold outside today, and I would catch a cold if I only put it as my outerwear. Richard likes white coats?¡±

    Richard looked out the window again, ¡°No, doctor, it¡¯s not white coat that I like.¡±

    Zhang Zian quietly sat on the sofa without speaking.

    Sun Xiaomeng was bewildered, Richard¡¯s attitude seemed a bit aloof today, was it because she hadn¡¯te to visit it in the past few days, so it was angry with her?

    She slowly walked towards it, since Richard didn¡¯t object, she stood beside it, looking outside as Richard did.

    Richard was looking at the parcel of green field behind the pet shop, since it¡¯ste autumn, the green field was covered by a yellowish color with lots of nts gone withered, only the evergreen pines and cypresses still appeared green. A few sparrowsnded on the benches in the green field,peting to peck at the grass seeds and dried wild berries brought by the wind.

    ¡°Does Richard like birds?¡± She asked.

    Richard nodded. ¡°I¡¯m a bird, doctor.¡±

    ¡°I am a bird, so isn¡¯t it normal for me to like birds?¡± Sun Xiaomengprehended it this way.

    ¡°It sucks to be locked in the house, right? With the noise, dust, and the cats ¡­¡­ do you want to go out and y, changing the environment?¡± She asked tentatively.

    As Richard was trying to answer, suddenly a wildcat erupted from the hay near the bench like a streak of lightning, pinning an unfortunate sparrow under its paw and the other sparrows were screaming in panic and flew away. The wildcat lowered its head, and when it raised its head again, only a pool of blood and a few feathers were seen on the bench. The wildcat licked its lips, staring coldly at another groups of sparrows on the wall, jumped back to the grass and disappeared. The simple-minded sparrows forgot the horrifying scene soon.

    Sun Xiaomeng thought to herself, why did the coincidence ur at this timing?

    ¡°Doctor, you ¡­¡± Richard¡¯s face seemed like it wasughing, as if it was trying tofort her, but its words were interrupted by a series of coughing, ¡°Cough, cough, cough, cough¡­¡±

    Its coughing sounded a little bit like that of a child, but was shorter and sharper, with its chest moving up and down rapidly. Each time it coughed, its cluster of red tail feathers would be swinging up and down.

    It¡¯s not easy to distinguish a parrot¡¯s coughing and sneezing, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have much experience in raising parrots, and it¡¯s the first time he heard such sounds, he froze for a moment and asked, ¡°Is it coughing or sneezing?¡±

    Of course, he was asking the only veterinarian there.

    Sun Xiaomeng frowned, and said quite certainly, ¡°It¡¯s coughing, not sneezing.¡±

    ¡°Is it all right?¡± Zhang Zian stood up from the couch.

    ¡°Richard, are you OK?¡± Sun Xiaomeng leaned close to Richard and asked with concern.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, doctor, just ¡­ you know, too much dust,¡± Richard stopped coughing and said like nothing happened.

    Sun Xiaomeng turned to ask Zhang Zian, ¡°Has Richard coughed before?¡±

    ¡°Hm¡­¡­ probably no ¡­¡± Zhang Zian said uncertainly. These days he had been so busymunicating with the construction team about the matters of renovation that he had no time to think about other things. And Richard did not like anyone bother it when it was training the two red-headed lovebirds, unless Richard asked him to help out. So he really didn¡¯t know whether it had coughed before, today was the first time he heard it.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, doctor, don¡¯t worry, just choke by the dust.¡± Richard¡¯s voice was no different from usual, it can articte the words, and its voice was neither hoarse nor with nasal tone.

    Sun Xiaomeng was not contented with Zhang Zian¡¯s perfunctory answer, but Richard was right, there was too much dust because of the renovation, she was also choked by the dust and coughed a few times when she walked past the first floor.

    ¡°Your room is too cold.¡± She mentioned the issue again, ¡°Can¡¯t you make it warmer?¡±

    Zhang Zian really didn¡¯t feel cold, but he remembered that on one morning several days ago, Richard wasining about the coldness. He thought Richard was just joking around as usual, so he didn¡¯t mind itsint. As a matter of fact, its ce of origin was Africa, and it neither had long fur nor clothes to keep it warm, indeed Richard was the least cold-resistant resident of his pet shop.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go to the supermarket to buy electric heaterster.¡± he said.

    A few days ago, he tried to plug in the electric heater left by his parentsst winter, but it didn¡¯t work anymore. He had been thinking about buying a few new electric heaters for each room, but he was so busy these days, and forgot about it.

    ¡°No, noter, go buy them now.¡± Sun Xiaomengined, ¡°You might stand the coldness with your muscles, your pets can¡¯t.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought she was right. Why not ask his freebor to help him?

    He called Wang Qian and Li Kun and told them to go to the supermarket to buy electric heaters, which were of famous brands and had superb heating performance. Prices would not be a problem, he told them, for the heaters can be used for many years, and he would reimburse them when they came back.

    When Zhang Zian was making the phone call, Sun Xiaomeng asked Richard again, ¡°Are you really okay?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, doctor,¡± Richard insisted.

    When Zhang Zian hung up the phone, and Sun Xiaomeng also wanted to say something, her own cell phone also rang.

    ¡°Hello?¡± She answered the phone.

    ¡°Sister Xiaomeng, a client¡¯s dogleg has fracture ¡­ no, no, I didn¡¯t mean that, I mean the client¡¯s dog¡¯s leg has been fractured. It¡¯s urgent, please hurry ande back.¡± Long Xian said anxiously on the other said of the phone, with a male client¡¯s loudint in the background, ¡°What did you just say?!¡±

    ¡°OK, tell the client that I¡¯ll go back right away.¡± Sun Xiaomeng knew that Long Xian was still inexperienced, and would lose herposure when something unexpected happened. Long Xian still had to long way to go before she could take care of the clinic on her own.

 Chapter 289: The Painful Husky

    <h4>Chapter 289: The Painful Husky</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sun Xiaomeng worried that Long Xian might not be able to handle the client, so she had to set the thing about Richard aside and said to Zhang Zian, ¡°There¡¯s a client for emergency treatment, I must go now.¡±

    ¡°Okay, let me walk you out,¡± said Zhang Zian, ¡°I need to go down anyway.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng waved at Richard, ¡°Goodbye, Richard. Tomorrow will be windy, and the temperature will drop, so don¡¯t go out. If you don¡¯t feel well, do tell us.¡±

    ¡°Goodbye, Doctor. Take care of yourself too.¡± Richard gazed at her.

    Sun Xiaomeng felt heavy-hearted for some unknown reason, as if Richard¡¯s words were it saying goodbye to her. But she might have it. Richard could not be that smart, right?

    Zhang Zian opened the door for her, they left the living room and closed the door.

    ¡°Gxy?¡±

    Gxy was sitting in the corridor as if it was waiting for them. Sun Xiaomeng felt strange. Gxy was not on the first floor when she came in the shop. All the doors of the rooms on the second floor were closed when she arrived, and were still closed now, so how did Gxy appear in the corridor?

    The doorknobs of the rooms on the second floor were of the same type and needed to be opened by twisting them. Judging from Gxy¡¯s size, there was no way it could reach the doorknobs.

    Gxy looked beyond them and focused on the doorknob of the living room. It didn¡¯t say anything, it just raised its w and waved at Sun Xiaomeng.

    ¡°Oh, Gxy is so adorable.¡± Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s heart melted by Gxy¡¯s movement and her anxiety had been relieved.

    ¡°Goodbye, Gxy.¡± She also waved at Gxy.

    Zhang Zian reminded her to be ¡°friendly¡±: ¡°I think it¡¯s inappropriate for you to act cute at your age.¡±

    ¡°Leave me alone! If you keep talking to girls this way, you will get killed someday.¡± Sun Xiaomeng stared at him angrily, ¡°Goodbye! No need to escort me out.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng covered her nose and crossed the first floor that was filled with dust and noises. When she finally came outside, she deeply inhaled the fresh air. When she was about to head back to her clinic, she felt like someone was watching her.

    She raised her head and saw that in the living room, Richard was looking at her through the window facing the street. Its image was so unreal, almost like an illusion.

    ¡°Goodbye, Richard.¡± Sun Xiaomeng waved at it.

    Richard also lifted one of its wings and fluttered it at her.

    Sun Xiaomeng didn¡¯t feel veryfortable, as if a thorn was sticking in her heart. She had been hesitating in front of the door and then she got another phone call from Long Xian who urged her toe back quickly, so she had to speed up.

    On her way back to her clinic, she had been absent-minded. Luckily, she had walked this street many times, and was familiar with every detail on the road. She would go in the right direction even with her eyes closed. Her mind kept wandering off until she almost walked into a car that was parked in front of her clinic. She looked around and no one had noticed her. It was not umon that cars hit people, but when people hit a car, it would be considered a fraud. She didn¡¯t want to cause any misunderstanding.

    She looked at the car and was quite surprised.

    The car that was parked in front of her clinic was ate-model Te Electric Vehicle, which was rarely seen in a middle-sized city like Binhai City. The streamlined body of the car was as smooth as a mirror, and the reflection of her face on the car was a little bit distorted.

    Sun Xiaomeng thought to herself, could the owner not find a parking spot on the street and just parked casually? The fanciest car that had ever parked before her clinic was a BMW 3 series, but this vehicle was much fancier than that¡­ There were plenty of vacant parking spots on the street, so why would the driver happen to park in front of her clinic?

    She felt very lucky that she hadn¡¯t crashed into this fancy car when she walked over with her head down. Otherwise, all the money she had made this entire year probably could not cover the damage costs.

    As soon as she pushed the door open, she could feel the warmth inside her clinic. She had been at Zhang Zian¡¯s ce for only a short time, but she was frozen.

    Behind the cashier, Long Xian was standing there awkwardly, and her face was wrinkled because of her anxiety.

    A middle-aged man was standing in front of her and scolding her relentlessly.

    On the long bench of the waiting area, a fully-grown Husky was lying there. Hearing Sun Xiaomenge in the clinic, it raised its head and whimpered painfully.

    Long Xian felt relieved to see Sun Xiaomeng back to the clinic.

    ¡°Sister Xiaomeng! You¡¯re back!¡± Her eyes were filled with tears like her life had just been saved.

    The middle-aged man turned around, stared at Sun Xiaomeng and said bluntly, ¡°So you are the veterinarian here.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am. What happened?¡±

    She took off her coat, hung it on a hook, picked her white gown and put it on. Her whole temperament had changed¡ªshe had returned to being a professionaldy that appeared capable and experienced.

    She quickly sized up the middle-aged man in front of her. He looked sloppy with a moustache on his face. He was wearing an old flying jacket and a wrinkled pair of casual khaki pants. Sun Xiaomeng felt relieved and thought he probably wasn¡¯t the owner of the Te car outside; it must belong to some silver-spooned kid.

    Confronted by Sun Xiaomeng, the middle-aged man sounded less aggressive, but he still said indignantly, ¡°You should teach your nurse how to talk. She said my dogleg had a fracture. Wasn¡¯t she cursing me?¡±

    Long Xian said in a low voice with grievance, ¡°That was a mistake. I was nervous.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng tried to pacify his anger, ¡°Don¡¯t be angry. She¡¯s just young and doesn¡¯t know what to say when she is nervous. Please don¡¯t mind her, let¡¯s check on the injuries of your dog, all right?¡±

    Jin Er still felt very angry. Why did these coincidences keep urring where people said his ¡°dogleg¡± instead of ¡°the leg of his dog¡±.

    Snowy had done that before, and now this new nurse had too. He believed the coincidences happened after he raised this Husky.

    He suppressed his anger and brought Sun Xiaomeng beside his Husky and pointed to its front left leg, ¡°You see that? It¡¯s been hobbling, and every time it puts its left leg on the ground, it shrinks back as if in pain. Is it fractured?¡±

    ¡°I need to have an examination, help me hold it still.¡±

    Jin Er argued like he was insulted, ¡°It doesn¡¯t bite.¡±

    ¡°I know. Help me hold it still, or you can go visit another clinic,¡± said Sun Xiaomeng cautiously. Faced with a middle-torge-sized dog that was injured with no anesthesia, everyone should be more careful. Even if it was a Husky that seemed like it wouldn¡¯t hurt anyone, under extreme pain, it would start to bite hard.

    Dog owners often imed that their dogs didn¡¯t bite. However, dogs would bite when they were in pain, no matter how well-behaved they were normally.

    Jin Er wanted to grab his dog and walk away from the clinic, but his dog seemed to be really in pain. He could only listen to her order and held its body still.

    Sun Xiaomeng wore a pair of disposable rubber gloves and touched the dog¡¯s leg very gently. Even so, when her finger touched the muscle on the Husky¡¯s leg, it still felt so painful to it that it whimpered. It turned around and looked at her, but didn¡¯t struggle. Through palpation, she could tell that the wound was swelling, but didn¡¯t seem like a severe injury.

    ¡°Probably not a fracture, but a fissure fracture,¡± she concluded and said. ¡°If you are still worried, you¡¯ll need to take it for an x-ray image. Since I don¡¯t have an x-ray machine here, you need to go to arge hospital for pets.¡±

 Chapter 290: Dork

    <h4>Chapter 290: Dork</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    X-ray machines for pets were expensive, and there were no state subsidies for purchasing such machines. People must pay by themselves, and should bear the cost of subsequent maintenance. The service life of such X-ray machines depended on their frequency of usage, and usuallysted for only about five years, so it was impossible for general pet clinics to afford them, and clients could only bring their pets to take X-ray images atrge hospitals for pets.

    ¡°If your dog has a fracture, then it needs to have internal fixation and external fixation; while if it is a fissure fracture, your dog only needs to have external fixation. I think what it has is a fissure fracture, but I can¡¯t make such an assertion without seeing an X-ray image. If you are still worried, I suggest you take it to a hospital for treatment.¡±

    After telling every situation to this middle-aged man before her, Sun Xiaomeng waited for his decision.

    ¡°But¡­¡± Jin Er pouted, now in a bad mood, ¡°But it simply cannot move, it struggled fiercely when I held it, and it took me a great effort to bring it here¡­Can you give the treatment of fissure fracture to it? I¡¯ll bring it to a pet hospitalter.¡±

    ¡°OK.¡± Sun Xiaomeng agreed.

    She asked Long Xian to bring over the bone-setting liquid, and together they helped put a splint on the Husky¡¯s leg.

    Jin Er was squatting aside in distress. The feeling was worse than if he himself had a fissure fracture.

    ¡°Naughty boy, you just like teasing other dogs, now aren¡¯t you suffering the consequences? Won¡¯t you listen to me and behave well from now on?¡± he pointed to the Husky and scolded it.

    Sun Xiaomeng was busy putting on the splint, and she asked casually, ¡°How was this dog injured? Fortunately, the location of the injury is not in its femoral head, otherwise the situation would be trickier.¡±

    Jin Er signed, ¡°I took Good-for-Nothing to meet with my friends¡­¡±

    ¡°Good-for-Nothing?¡± Long Xian chimed in curiously.

    Jin Er poked the Husky¡¯s forehead with his finger, ¡°It¡¯s this foodie, who is alwayszy during training, and bes high-spirited only when there is food. Isn¡¯t it just a Good-for-Nothing?¡±

    With its front leg fixed by the splint, Good-for-Nothing probably had less pain. It tried to stand up, sticking out its tongue to lick the finger of Jin Er. Jin Er stopped it, ¡°Don¡¯t move! Just stay still!¡±

    Jin Er brought Good-for-Nothing to attend a party to show off his training results to his friends. He then continued, ¡°I wasn¡¯t the only one that brought a dog, though; other friends also brought their own. One person brought a Tibetan Mastiff that looked very fierce, and I told Good-for-Nothing several times not to provoke it, but it¡­¡±

    Jin Er was still angry with it, and poked its head with his index finger a few times. Good-for-Nothing didn¡¯t know its owner was angry; it thought he was just ying with it.

    ¡°The more I told it not to provoke the Tibetan Mastiff, the more it wanted to try. Was it looking for trouble or not? At first, it just moved about the Tibetan Mastiff at a distance, and barked at it asionally. The Tibetan Mastiff was trained quite well and was obedient; it just sat still and didn¡¯t move. But Good-for-Nothing just couldn¡¯t be content, and it even upscaled its mischief! When I didn¡¯t notice, it ran over to the Tibetan Mastiff and kicked it! Now the Tibetan Mastiff got really furious!¡±

    Jin Er pointed to Good-for-Nothing¡¯s nose and kept scolding it, while Good-for-Nothing just grinned cheekily.

    ¡°Poof!¡± Long Xian could picture the scenario: the Husky¡¯s action was an invitation to get beaten up.

    ¡°That Tibetan Mastiff jumped up and rushed over it, and the owner of the Tibetan Mastiff couldn¡¯t stop it at all. Good-for-Nothing was clever, it turned away and ran for its life. That Tibetan Mastiff¡¯s weight was at least twice of its, and if the Tibetan Mastiff really caught up with it and bit it hard, Good-for-Nothing would have been dead. Though my Good-for-Nothing might not be good at other stuffs, at least it¡¯s an ace in snatching and escaping. It ran so fast that the Tibetan Mastiff couldn¡¯t keep up, so it looked back and made a grimace face, and that¡¯s when the tragedy happened¡ªin front of it were some stairs, and it missed its footing and fell down the stairs¡­¡±

    Good-for-Nothing whimpered, as if saying it would pay attention next time.

    Jin Er flicked on its head angrily, ¡°Pay attention? You are just a dork who only cares about eating and will never learn! Next time? Who do you think you are?!¡±

    ¡°How high were the stairs?¡± Sun Xiaomeng asked while wrapping the bandage.

    ¡°More than a meter,¡± said Jin Er. ¡°Usually, it would be fine falling from that height, it was just that it was rushing at a very high speed. After falling down the stairs, it kept rolling for several meters on the ground before it stopped. When it stood up, this leg couldn¡¯t stand straight, and it couldn¡¯t run anymore. Thanks to my friends who pulled at the Tibetan Mastiff, otherwise this dork would have been dead.¡±

    Not until then did Sun Xiaomeng notice that there were multiple abrasions on the Husky¡¯s body, but fortunately they were not serious. After fixating the splint, she disinfected the wounds for it.

    ¡°Okay, let it get down on the floor for a walk.¡± She moved aside.

    As soon as Jin Er loosened his hands, Good-for-Nothing jumped down from the bench eagerly. At the beginning, it curled its injured leg, not daring to let itnd on the ground. After taking a few steps, nothing happened, and it joyfully clung onto Jin Er asking for food.

    Sun Xiaomeng observed its movements and said, ¡°Perhaps it indeed has a fissure fracture. I will give you some medicine. You can bring it over for check-up a few dayster.¡±

    Seeing that Good-for-Nothing had been restored to its liveliness, Jin Er believed what Sun Xiaomeng said might be the truth, ¡°OK, so we don¡¯t have to go to a pet hospital, right?¡±

    ¡°If you want to, for reassurance,¡± said Sun Xiaomeng while writing the prescription.

    She wrote quickly andpleted the prescription in no time, and asked Long Xian to fill the prescription to get medicine.

    Long Xian was not familiar with where the drugs were put, and she came back after a few minutes. She put the medicine together with the prescription on the cashier desk, inviting Jin Er to review.

    Jin Er picked up the bottles and read thebels: ¡°Joints Strengthening, Compound Vitamin, Calcium Tablet¡­¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng said, ¡°Mix the medicine within its meals, instructions and dosages are on the prescription¡­¡± she noticed that this Husky was too lively and active, and it couldn¡¯t¡¯ stay still for a moment. Right now, it was intrigued by the splint on its leg, lowering its head from time to time to lick and bite at it.

    ¡°Wait, Xiao Xian, go fetch an Elizabeth cor.¡± She instructed.

    Long Xian trotted to pick up an Elizabeth cor and handed it to Jin Er.

    ¡°Let it wear this for a few days to prevent it from biting.¡± Sun Xiaomeng suggested.

    ¡°How does this work?¡± Jin Er took over the Elizabethan cor and tried to figure it out. He had seen other people¡¯s cats and dogs wear such a thing, and always felt that it looked funny. Now, it was his dorky dog¡¯s turn to try it on.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it the shape of a bell mouth? Just put the smaller end on its head,¡± Sun Xiaomeng instructed him. ¡°Don¡¯t take it off even if your dog feels ufortable for a few days.¡±

    Jin Er tried to put the Elizabeth Cor on Good-for-Nothing¡¯s head, yet it had seen everything, and it knew that wearing this meant that its freedom would be limited, so it began to run far away.

    ¡°Good-for-Nothing,e here!¡± Jin Er shouted.

    No matter how loud he shouted, Good-for-Nothing just ignored him. It simply refused to wear the cor. When he chased it carrying the cor, it would immediately run away¡ªstrictly ying by the rule of ¡°when the enemy stays still, so do I; when the enemy tries to move, I will move in advance¡± in guerri warfare.

    Jin Er was so embarrassed and angry that his own dog was fooling him and making him run about in front of outsiders.

 Chapter 291: Ask for Help

    <h4>Chapter 291: Ask for Help</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Jin Er and Good-for-Nothing kept circling around the waiting area, which was amusing to Sun Xiaomeng and Long Xian. The Husky was running and winking in a grimace, probably exactly the same thing it did in front of the Tibetan Mastiff. Jin Er was chasing his dog while scolding it for being ungrateful and heartless, making him embarrassed in front of others.

    After chasing it for over 10 minutes, Jin Er still could not catch up with his Husky. He was so exhausted that he copsed on the chair in the waiting area and stopped chasing.

    Good-for-Nothing was also sitting on the ground and sticking its tongue out for a rest, but it was preparied to run at any time. It barked at its owner sometimes, as if trying to provoke him.

    Long Xian wasughing so hard, and Sun Xiaomeng was also smiling. It must be extremely tiresome to be the owner of this mischievous and quick-witted Husky. All that said, the owner didn¡¯t seem quite reliable. Maybe the proverb was true that ¡°like father, like son¡±. In this case, it was ¡°like owner, like dog.¡±

    Jin Er was desperate and he swung the Elizabeth cor towards Sun Xiaomeng, ¡°Can it not wear this stuff?¡±

    ¡°No way. If you don¡¯t want anything happen to its injured leg, you¡¯d better let your dog wear it.¡± replied Sun Xiaomeng.

    ¡°But you see, it runs away when I chase it.¡± Jin Er pointed to Good-for-Nothing, ¡°There¡¯s no way I can put this stuff on it, you want to try?¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng took over the Elizabeth cor and moved a little bit forward to Good-for-Nothing. Good-for-Nothing jumped away immediately, and stared at her with alert.

    She shrugged, indicating she had no solution either. This husky might look stupid, in fact, it was extremely smart.

    ¡°What should I do?¡± asked Jin Er.

    Jin Er, Sun Xiaomeng, and Long Xian looked at one another, and none of them coulde up with any idea.

    Even all of them chased and besieged the Husky, they probably wouldn¡¯t be able to put the Elizabeth cor on it.

    ¡°Forget it. If it doesn¡¯t want to wear this, just leave it be.¡± Jin Er gave uppletely. He stood up from the chair nning to leave.

    In a sh of inspiration, Sun Xiaomeng came up with an idea, ¡°Listen. I know this guy who is always up to something and has profound understanding about pets. Maybe he can ¡°fight fire with fire¡± and deal with this Husky. Wait here and I¡¯ll call him now.¡±

    She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Zhang Zian¡¯s phone number.

    Jin Er looked at her doubtfully. He didn¡¯t expect this guy she was calling could solve the question¡ªbut as the proverb goes, ¡°Two heads are better than one¡±, and if three people could not deal with the Husky, will a phone call make any difference? And what did she mean by saying ¡°fighting fire with fire¡±?

    ¡°Hello?¡± Zhang Zian answered the phone, ¡°Didn¡¯t you just leave? Why are you calling? Did you forget your wallet?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not that forgetful, alright? I¡¯m calling you to talk about something serious.¡± Said Sun Xiaomeng, ¡°I have a client here and his dog has a fracture. I have put splints on its leg, and to prevent it from biting the splints, it needs to wear an Elizabeth cor. But this dog refuses to wear the cor, and it runs away whenever we chase it. What should we do? Can youe over to help?¡±

    She was in a cold sweat after saying those sentences, because she almost said, ¡°the client¡¯s dogleg had a fracture¡±, but lucky for her, she made it clear and said ¡°his dog had a fracture¡±.

    Zhang Zian saidnguidly on the other side of the phone, ¡°I thought it was something serious. You want me toe over because of such a trifle?¡±

    Usually Sun Xiaomeng would have mocked him and hung up the phone, but now she was asking him for help, so she muste up with some insincere ttery to him, ¡°Don¡¯t you always im yourself to be the leader and the conscience of the pet industry? There¡¯s nothing you can¡¯t solve, and you can cure every difficult andplex disease easily. So pleasee over, the client is still waiting.¡±

    Zhang Zian was so content with her kowtowing, ¡°Wow. I am just like an experienced army-surgeon that specializes in curing dermatoses. All right, I¡¯lle over to your clinic then, getting some exercise on the way.¡±

    ¡°Make it quick, the client has been waiting for a long time!¡± Sun Xiaomeng urged him. She was familiar with Zhang Zian¡¯s slothfulness, and he wouldn¡¯te quickly if she didn¡¯t push him.

    ¡°I said I¡¯ll be there! Don¡¯t push me! See you then.¡± Zhang Zian hung up the phone impatiently.

    Jin Er was confused. Who could be so shameless and im himself as the leader and conscience of the pet industry? Didn¡¯t he know how to restrain his boastfulness?

    Long Xian knew whom Sun Xiaomeng was talking to. She opened her eyes wide open excitedly. She couldn¡¯t wait to see what would happen.

    Now that Zhang Zian was responsible for putting the Elizabeth cor on the Husky, Sun Xiaomeng felt relieved and said to Jin Er, ¡°Please wait for a while. He lives within walking distance, and will be here very soon.¡±

    Seeing that Sun Xiaomeng was very confident about this guy, Jin Er couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Who¡¯s this guy that you are asking for help?¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng told him honestly. She raised her arm and pointed, ¡°He¡¯s the owner of a pet shop not far south from here.¡±

    ¡°A pet shop owner?¡± Jin Er gently stroked the mustache on his chin.

    ¡°Yes, and he is quite famous around this area,¡± answered Long Xian quickly, ¡°So are the pets in his pet shop.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Jin Er was thinking inside the box, ¡°Is it because his pets are rare and precious?¡±

    ¡°No, no, no.¡± Long Xian waved her hands, ¡°The pets for sale in his shop are cats and dogs of ordinary breeds. But unlike the pets from other shops, the cats in his shop can do stunts¡ªby the way, he has been leaving his cats in the care of our clinic for a while, would you like to¡­¡±

    ¡°Xiao Xian!¡± Sun Xiaomeng frowned and interrupted her.

    Long Xian realized that she was over-talkative and shut up.

    Though Zhang Zian¡¯s pets were in the care of her clinic temporarily, Sun Xiaomeng would not sell or promote the sales of his pets¡ªshe thought those behaviors had exceeded her authority and she didn¡¯t want to meddle in his business. She would only notify Zhang Zian when there were potential clients wanting to buy pets. She knew that she didn¡¯t have Zhang Zian¡¯s talking skills and promotion tricks, so the clients might not listen to her.

    ¡°Cats that do stunts?¡± Jin Er was astonished. He recalled Snowy¡¯s Persian cat which could walk in a figure eight. Snowy seemed to have mentioned that it was a cat that could do stunts. Did she get the cat from that pet shop? He assumed someone gave her the cat as a gift to cozy up with Snowy¡¯s father. Clearly, he had been overthinking.

    Both Sun Xiaomeng and Long Xian remained silent, so he had to ask, ¡°When you say the cats can do stunts, do you mean they can walk in a figure eight?¡±

    ¡°What? You know about that?¡± Long Xian couldn¡¯t help it and started talking again. She nced at Sun Xiaomeng, who didn¡¯t seem to have the intention to stop her. And she continued, ¡°Walking in figure eights are their stunts. How do you know that?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Jin Er contemted and said, ¡°My neighbor bought a cat that can walk in a figure eight, and I thought it was the only one that knew such a stunt. So, there is more than one cat?¡±

    ¡°Of course! ALL of the cats in his shop can do stunts!¡± She emphasized ¡®all¡¯ and added, ¡°Because he¡¯s a cat trainer!¡±

    In fact, Long Xian had just told him hearsay about Zhang Zian that she had heard from Sun Xiaomeng, Wang Qian and Li Kun. She only met Zhang Zian for once, and did not have the chance to really see how marvelous his pets were.

    ¡°A cat trainer?¡± it was a novel word to Jin Er, ¡°He¡¯s good at training cats?¡±

    That exined why Snowy could buy a Persian cat that could do stunts at such a low price.

    ¡°Yes. If you don¡¯t believe me, ask him for yourselfter,¡± said Long Xian.

 Chapter 292: Invitation to Stepping into the Jar

    <h4>Chapter 292: Invitation to Stepping into the Jar</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After Good-for-Nothing was injured at his friend¡¯s party, Jin Er hurriedly left and searched for the nearest pet clinic from his friend¡¯s house on a map, and took it for treatment. He hesitated for a moment: should he bring Good-for-Nothing to this small clinic, or go to a pet hospital farther away?

    Binhai City was a medium-sized city that had only a fewrge pet hospitals, and none were nearby. Seeing that Good-for-Nothing was in extreme pain, and he didn¡¯t know how serious its injury was, he decided to take it for an examination at this clinic, and if things didn¡¯t work out well, he would bring it to a pet hospital then.

    Jin Er was a fan of novel things. Even though he had reached his middle-aged phase of life, he still maintained a strong curiosity, trying on new and interesting stuffs whenever there was any, and that brand-new electric Te sedan outside the door was his new toy. Hearing that a cat trainer wasing to the clinic to help, he immediately became interested. If what the veterinarian and nurse said about the cat trainer was true, his trip to this clinic would have been worthy.

    Thinking about this, he felt refreshed and became restless on the bench. He kept rubbing his hands and looked outside, like a child expecting his gifts. He murmured, ¡°Why hasn¡¯t the cat trainere yet?¡± Seeing him waiting so anxiously, Sun Xiaomeng and Long Xian looked at each other and smiled.

    Jin Er couldn¡¯t wait to figure out two things. One was whether the cat trainer was real, and the other was whether the cat trainer could handle his dog.

    Good-for-Nothing stared at him in confusion, why did he suddenly lose his interest in it? Something was wrong, was he ying cat and mouse with it? Good-for-Nothing had fallen for that once before: Jin Er ignored it deliberately, and when it approached him, seeking attention, he suddenly grabbed it. Good-for-Nothing sneered broadly¡ªHmph! I would not be fooled this time! Let¡¯s see who¡¯s more patient.

    Jin Er thought he had been waiting for a long time, during which period he also urged Sun Xiaomeng twice. In fact, no more than ten minutester, strange shouting was heard from outside, ¡°Damn! Which Tuhao¡¯s car is this?¡±

    Jin Er bounced up from the bench like a rocket and rushed to the door. He pushed opened the door and yelled, ¡°Where is the cat trainer? Who is the cat trainer?¡±

    Zhang Zian walked around the Te sedan, imagining that if he could have a car like that, he would definitely drive it to the entrance of Binhai University, buy a bottle of Nutrition Express and put it on top of his car¡­ Ah, wouldn¡¯t it be great that the female college students would flock to his car?

    He was startled by Jin Er¡¯s yelling and shivered. He thought, only a few acquaintances knew that he boasted himself as a cat trainer, and the voice was strange to him. Who could it be?

    His eyes met with those of Jin Er, and they said almost at the same time:

    ¡°Are you the cat trainer?¡±

    ¡°Is this your car?¡±

    Then, both of them replied in unison, ¡°Yes. So what?¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°¡­.¡±

    Jin Er ¡°¡­.¡±

    Damn it! How could this guy synchronize with my thinking so well? The two were thinking that at the same time too.

    Sun Xiaomeng also went out from the clinic. It was cold outside, so she wrapped her white coat tightly to her body andined, ¡°Juste in, what are you doing out here? It¡¯s so cold.¡±

    Zhang Zian touched the Te, and reluctantly followed them into the clinic.

    He saw the Husky that was hiding in the corner with a treacherous look, ¡°Is that the dog?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Here you go.¡± Sun Xiaomeng gave him the Elizabeth cor, ¡°There¡¯s no way we can handle it.¡±

    Zhang Zian tentatively walked a few steps towards Good-for-Nothing, who immediately walked away, alert.

    ¡°What¡¯s the name of this dog?¡± he asked Jin Er.

    Jin Er awkwardly said, ¡°Good-for-Nothing¡ªthis dork only cares about eating! And it is really greedy!¡±

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment and came up with an idea.

    ¡°Give me some jerky. You have jerky here, right?¡± he asked.

    Sun Xiaomeng said hesitantly, ¡°Yes, but what are you going to do? Use jerky to lead it over?¡±

    ¡°None of your business, just bring me the jerky,¡± Zhang Zian said confidently.

    Sun Xiaomeng fetched the jerky and handed it to him.

    Zhang Zian put the jerky on the ground, and then surrounded it by cing the wide-end of the Elizabeth cor in the shape of a bell mouth on the ground. He said to Sun Xiaomeng and Jin Er, ¡°Let¡¯s move away.¡±

    The three of them retreated to the door, leaving the Elizabeth cor that had surrounded the jerky in the center of the waiting area.

    Sun Xiaomeng had figured out Zhang Zian¡¯s intention, and she asked doubtfully, ¡°Will this work?¡±

    ¡°Rest assured, I¡¯m sure, at least 80% sure.¡± Zhang Zian said quite confidently. Since this Husky was dorky and greedy, there¡¯s no reason it would not swallow the bait.

    Long Xian was bent over behind the cashier desk, staring nervously at the scene and holding her breath.

    Good-for-Nothing sniffed, and its moist nasal mucosa was in constant contact with the air molecules. Its keen sense of smell, which was thousands of times more sensitive than that of humans, had smelled the jerky, which was its favorite, and it couldn¡¯t help but begin to drool.

    These stupid humans!

    It carefully observed the spots of the four human beings. Every one of them was very far away from it, and was far away from the jerky. At its speed, it could totally put the jerky into its mouth and run away.

    Just do it!

    It crouched, rushing to the jerky quickly like a thief. As for the strange thing that was ced upside-down, it could just ignore that, right?

    Good-for-Nothing walked around the Elizabeth cor several times, confirming that the four humans would note over to disrupt it, and it lowered its head into the Elizabeth cor to taste the jerky as it wished for. However, when it looked up, chewing the jerky in its mouth, the Elizabeth cor had been stuck onto its neck tightly.

    It looked around in bewilderment, as if saying, damn it, that¡¯s not how the story was supposed to end?

    Though Jin Er, who knew about his dog¡¯s stupidity, had prepared for this, he still felt quite embarrassed by it. How could it be so foolish to fall into such a simple trap¡­

    Zhang Zian had simply taken advantage of the features of the Elizabeth cor and the Husky¡¯s greediness. Other people couldn¡¯t think outside the box¡ª dogs can put on Elizabeth cors by themselves!

    After wearing the Elizabeth cor, Good-for-Nothing became despondent and looked at Jin Er with a grieving expression, whimpering at him as if saying, ¡°Excuse me? I trust you as a friend, yet you set up a trap to trick me?!¡±

    Out of unknown reasons, many dogs and cats hated Elizabeth cors very much, and would experience drastic temper changes after wearing them. It seemed like this was also true with this Husky.

    ¡°See? This is the invitation to stepping into the jar!¡± Zhang Zian said triumphantly.

    Others were rather speechless about his pretentious attitude, but they indeed had nothing to say about this.

    He aplished the task effortlessly. Though he just resorted to trickery, Sun Xiaomeng and others felt they had learned something from the tricks, especially Jin Er. he decided that if Good-for-Nothing dared to be mischievous again, he would use this approach to punish it.

    ¡°If there¡¯s nothing else, I¡¯m leaving now.¡± Zhang Zian excused himself, for there were so many things at home that he needed to deal with, Richard might need him to help train the two red-headed lovebirds, and Wang Qian and Li Kun probably had bought the electric heaters and would be at his shop soon.

    ¡°Please wait, I heard that you are a cat trainer. Can you show me how you train cats?¡± Jin Er stopped him, ¡°I will pay you.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that this person was very rich, but only put him off, ¡°No. My skills are handed down from my ancestors for generations, and they are top secret in my family. I must not let anyone else know. I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    What a pity! But Jin Er never forced others to do something they didn¡¯t want to do, so then he resorted to his second-best alternative. ¡°Then how about letting me see your cats? If they really can do stunts, I¡¯m willing to buy one.¡±

 Chapter 293: Emergency

    <h4>Chapter 293: Emergency</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Of course, Zhang Zian was happy to see someone that wanted to buy his cats. Jin Er seemed like a very rich person. He believed he would definitely close the deal, and that it had been worthy for him toe over to Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s clinic.

    ¡°All right, this way please. My cats are in the care of this clinic temporarily.¡± Zhang Zian lead Jin Er towards the ward.

    Since there were no other clients in the clinic, and Sun Xiaomeng didn¡¯t seem to oppose, Long Xian followed them to the ward.

    They had only walked a few steps before Zhang Zian¡¯s phone rang. He pulled out his phone, and saw that it was Li Kun who was calling.

    ¡°Hello? Have you bought the electric heaters yet?¡± he answered the phone.

    Li Kun sounded a little bit out of breath on that side of the phone.

    ¡°Yes, we have¡­ Master, where are you right now? Mr. Guo said you went to the pet clinic. Something is wrong with your grey parrot; will youe back and check on it?¡±

    ¡°Something¡¯s wrong? Wait a second.¡± Zhang Zian gestured Long Xian, implying her to lead Jin Er to see the cats. He went towards Sun Xiaomeng with his phone in his hand.

    Sun Xiaomeng was skimming through a magazine and looked at him confusingly.

    He put his phone on the speaker mode so that she could hear their conversation.

    ¡°Li Kun, be more specific, Sun Xiaomeng is also listening.¡±

    Li Kun swallowed his saliva and said, ¡°Elder Brother Wang Qian and I obeyed Master¡¯s order and bought electric heaters from the supermarket. We met Mr. Guo in front of the pet shop and he said that you were not in the shop. He told us that, before you left the shop, you told him to pass on to us that we should install the electric heaters in the bedroom and living room on the second floor.¡±

    ¡°Go on.¡± Zhang Zian looked at Sun Xiaomeng and pointed to her coat hanging on the rack, suggesting that she should put on her coat.

    Though Sun Xiaomeng was not clear what had happened, from Zhang Zian¡¯s dismayed expression, she knew that he was not joking this time. She took off her white gown silently and put on her coat. She looked outside and saw that it was dusk already. It gets cold in thete autumn, so she also put on a scarf.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t take off his coat when he came into the clinic, and seeing that Sun Xiaomeng was ready, he held his phone in one hand and pushed open the door with the other hand, signaling Sun Xiaomeng to follow him to go outside.

    In the meantime, Li Kun continued.

    ¡°Elder Brother Wang Qian and I carried the electric heaters upstairs and went into the living room. We found that African grey parrot which was always mean to us was slouching. We didn¡¯t speak to it¡ªthat bird always called us ¡®butt buddies¡¯, we just didn¡¯t want to talk with it¡­.¡±

    Zhang Zian and Sun Xiaomeng had left the clinic. He asked Sun Xiaomeng to hold his phone, and he turned around and ran back to the clinic to fetch her stethoscope. Parts of the stethoscope stuck out from the pocket of the white gown and was swaying in the air. He stuffed the stethoscope back into the pocket and put the white gown on his shoulder, trotting to catch up with Sun Xiaomeng.

    Li Kun probably had been spending too much time on forums that, instead of getting directly to the key points, he just talked freely and relentlessly on the phone. After returning from the clinic, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t feel he missed anything important¡­

    ¡°Elder Brother Wang Qian and I followed the instructions to install the electric heater, which began to heat up after plugging-in. When we were about to install the other electric heater in the bedroom, we heard a thump sound behind us, like something had fallen over. We turned around and saw that your grey parrot was lying on the desk.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng threw her car keys to Zhang Zian, indicating he should drive.

    She had understood what the phone call was about. She was worried inside, but as a professional veterinarian, she should appear calm no matter what circumstances arose. She pulled Zhang Zian¡¯s hand towards her, and said to the speaker on the phone, ¡°We are on our way, will be there soon. You guys need to observe what symptoms it has and report to me.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡±Li Kun sounded very embarrassed, ¡°We don¡¯t know anything¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care, just tell me what you see!¡± Sun Xiaomeng said bitterly. Indecisive people were the worst in crucial moments when life and death were at stake.

    They could hear Wang Qian and Li Kun passing the phone back and forth to each other.

    Zhang Zian recalled that he had asked the navigation elf before whether Elves would get sick, and the navigation Elf¡¯s answer was that they usually didn¡¯t get sick, but there were exceptions. Whether the Elves had really existed in history or were virtual Elves, as long as they had been captured by the yers, they would begin to exist in reality in real bodies, which meant they might get sick and might die. He didn¡¯t expect that such an exception was happening in front of him! He had been too careless!

    Wang Qian, who was more straightforward, took over the phone and said, ¡°Sister Xiaomeng, I checked, and the grey parrot seemed to have difficulty breathing, like something was pressing its chest.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng interrupted him, ¡°Was it having short, shallow and rapid respiration?¡±

    ¡°Yes, just like that!¡± Wang Qian gasped in admiration, ¡°Sister Xiaomeng, you can always describe them in a professional way.¡±

    ¡°Any other symptoms?¡± she held up Zhang Zian¡¯s phone and focused on asking questions.

    Zhang Zian held the steering wheel tightly and stared at the road and the vehicles in front of him. He had barely touched a steering wheel after he got his driving license on a summer vacation when he was at the university, so basically, he had forgotten the traffic rules or how to drive. He wasn¡¯t prepared at all when Sun Xiaomeng asked him to drive suddenly. He needed to be more careful and cautious, but during this trip, he also needed to pay attention to Sun Xiaomeng and Wang Qian¡¯s conversation, so he was sweating nervously.

    Since it was rush hour in the evening, there was a traffic jam, and many pedestrians and cyclists were crossing the road when they saw an opportunity. Zhang Zian was driving extremely slow, so slow that he wondered if they would be faster walking.

    ¡°Other symptoms? Let me see¡­¡± Wang Qian¡¯s sounded like he had muttered near the phone, and then his sound became far away, then closer to the phone again. ¡°I think it¡¯s running at the nose, is it a symptom?¡±

    ¡°A running nose?¡± Sun Xiaomeng frowned and rapidly rolled her eyeballs, ¡°Go check its eyelids. Are they swollen?¡±

    Wang Qian went over to check and came back to the phone, ¡°I think they are swollen, but I¡¯m not sure, because I didn¡¯t pay attention to what its eyelids looked like before¡­¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng interrupted him, ¡°We are here. Let¡¯s hang up.¡±

    They finally had arrived at the pet shop. Parking was not allowed on the street, and Zhang Zian turned the steering wheel, trying to drive the car into the small lot. Since he had poor driving skills, and it was not his car, he was not familiar with the functions of the car, so he tried a few times and still didn¡¯t seed. Sun Xiaomeng couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. ¡°Let me get out first.¡±

    The car had barely stopped still on the roadside before she jumped out from the car hastily and ran towards the pet shop.

    Without Sun Xiaomeng by his side, Zhang Zian was stress-free, and he finally drove the car onto the pavement after trying twice.

    Guo Dongyue was still directing the workers about the construction. Seeing Zhang Zian was back, he held a graph towards Zhang Zian, trying to inquire about hisments on a detail. Zhang Zian waved, ¡°Can you wait? Richard seems to be sick.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng rushed into the pet shop and ran towards the living room on the second floor.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were waiting inside, not knowing what they should do. They finally felt relieved when Sun Xiaomeng was there.

    ¡°Sister Xiaomeng, where is Master?¡±

    ¡°Behind me,¡± Sun Xiaomeng answered briefly.

    ¡°Oh.¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun carried the electric heater and said, ¡°Sister Xiaomeng, we are going to install the electric heater in the bedroom. Just tell us if you need help.¡±

    Without answering them, Sun Xiaomeng ran over to check Richard¡¯s conditions.

    Zhang Zian had alsoe up to the second floor. Just as Wang Qian had described, Richard was lying on the desk. It was breathing rapidly, sometimes its wings would twitch apanying its respiration, and its eyelids were half-closed feebly.

    ¡°How is it?¡± He observed Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s facial expression, and his heart was beating rapidly.

    Richard only coughed in the afternoon, but within only a few hours, Richard¡¯s disease was deteriorating so quickly that there was no way he could prepare to cope with it!

 Chapter 294: Critical Condition

    <h4>Chapter 294: Critical Condition</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Richard was lying on the desk with its head tilted and the feathers on its chest disheveled. It must have been pecking at them boringly at one moment and then suddenly fell over the next second. Its eyelids were semi-closed, and its small ck pupils that usually looked smart and sly were dull and lifeless now. Its eyes weren¡¯t focusing at any ce, its dark red tail feathers that were always perking upward pretentiously were drooping listlessly now¡­if its chest and abdomen weren¡¯t rising up and down rapidly with its wings twitching from time to time, Zhang Zian would have really thought it was dead.

    Even if Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know anything about the medical field, through hismon sense, he knew that Richard¡¯s conditions were very serious, which could be life-threatening. He could only gaze at Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s face in the hope of learning something from her expression.

    Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s face looked stern. It was well known that birds were very vulnerable among pets. They might appear well the previous day, but without any indication, they might die the next day. Since the bodynguage of birds was far less abundant than that of cats and dogs, even if they was ill, it was hard for their owners to perceive their illness.

    The sky was getting darker and the only light that was on in the living room was one low wattage atmospheremp for watching television. She looked up at the ceiling, ¡°It¡¯s too dark in here, turn on all the lights.¡±

    Zhang Zian suddenly became aware of his carelessness. He quickly turned on the ceilingmp, and switched his phone shlight on to help her with the lighting.

    After checking the symptoms of Richard, Sun Xiaomeng was about to further measure its vital signs and habitually put her hands into her pocket when her expression changed. ¡°My stethoscope¡­¡±

    She had been ustomed to waiting for clients in her well-equipped clinic, which could receive emergency clients, but generally there were few walk-in emergencies. She was so concerned about Richard that she was panicking, and not until now did she find that she had no equipment on herself.

    In the afternoon, when she heard Richard cough, she had been thinking about running a diagnosis for it, but left the idea behind since she didn¡¯t bring the stethoscope with her. She thought it wouldn¡¯t be toote if she went back to her clinic and brought the stethoscope over, but her n was dyed by Jin Er and his Husky that walked into her clinic, seeking treatment.

    Before she finished her sentence, Zhang Zian had thrown her white coat to her, ¡°There is a stethoscope in the pocket.¡±

    Having been trained by Old Time Tea for a long time now, Zhang Zian had more or less acquired its Kung Fu cultivation of Qi, which enabled him to keep hisposure and think clearly in emergency circumstances. That¡¯s why he had made his way back to the clinic¡ªone can¡¯t make bricks without straws, and since Richard could go nowhere, he must bring Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s regr diagnostic equipment to his pet shop.

    Sun Xiaomeng took over the stethoscope and put it on, cing the stethoscope chest piece onto Richard¡¯s chest, moving from side to side in small ranges and carefully listened to its internal respiratory conditions.

    Zhang Zian closed his mouth tightly, and didn¡¯t dare to speak or swallow his saliva in fear of interfering with her diagnosis.

    Its abnormally dull breathing sounds were conducted from the stethoscope. (Parrots¡¯ breathing should be kind of like a bellow, but also like a spring with lots of bubbles gurgling out of the earth, which were typical moist rales.) Combined with the phenomena that when pressing at Richard¡¯s chest, there seemed to be edema¡­

    Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s forehead was oozing sweat, so it looked like a crystal, shiny and lit by the cellphone. The electric heater in the living room was working properly, and the temperature in the room was rising. She didn¡¯t take off her coat when she came into the room, and she even was wearing a scarf. But most importantly, she had initially identified Richard¡¯s illness, and a terrible notion had struck her, making her a bit dizzy.

    She took off the stethoscope, raised her hand to stop Zhang Zian from asking questions, and pressed her forehead with her finger to help her sort things out.

    A few secondster, she appeared pale and gazed at Zhang Zian¡¯s face. Biting her lower lip and squeezing a few words through her teeth, she said, ¡°It may have acute aspergillosis.¡±

    Zhang Zian waspletely lost. Whether it was acute or chronic aspergillosis, he did not understand nor care about that. Instead, he asked eagerly, ¡°Is it curable?¡±

    That was the question that lots of pet owners would ask when their pets got sick, and Zhang Zian, who usually didn¡¯t follow the conventional path, was no exception. At that moment, Sun Xiaomeng felt that he was just an ordinary person with all kinds of emotions of ordinary people. She did not answer immediately because there was no easy answer to that question: no one could guarantee whether a serious illness was curable. What if she gave her word to cure the illness recklessly, yet failed in the end?

    She lowered her head to contemte for another few seconds, and pulled out her phone and dialed the number of Long Xian.

    ¡­

    After Sun Xiaomeng and Zhang Zian left in a hurry, Jin Er asked Long Xian with surprise, ¡°What¡¯s so urgent with the two of them? Why did they leave after taking a phone call without saying anything?¡±

    Long Xian shook her head, ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± Jin Er was confused, ¡°Aren¡¯t you the nurse here?¡±

    Although he could still see the cats with the cat trainer gone, he felt something was missing.

    ¡°I just got here, I¡¯m still an intern!¡± Long Xian felt she was wronged. ¡°Sister Xiaomeng is the boss here, and she doesn¡¯t need to inform me about everything in her life, does she?¡±

    Jin Er silently looked at this youngdy, who was about the same age of Snowy, and felt like he was bullying her, so he sighed, ¡°Well, just take me to see the cats that can do stunts. Come here, Good-for-Nothing!¡±

    Wearing the Elizabeth cor, Good-for-Nothing hadpletely lost its spirits, lying on the ground without any movement and ncing at its owners with desperate looks. Not only did it refuse to go to its owner, but it also turned itself over with its back on the ground, as if it was making a scene deliberately.

    Jin Er thought to himself, you are still embarrassing me!

    He knew what this dork was thinking: it was trying to gain his sympathy so that he would take Elizabeth cor off of it.

    No way would he take the Elizabeth cor off in the next few days, for he had tried so hard to put it on its neck. Besides, wearing that cor was for its own benefit, otherwise, judging from this Husky¡¯s extreme greediness, it wouldn¡¯t take long before this dork destroyed the splint on its leg.

    ¡°Okay, just leave it lying here, you take me inside to see the cats,¡± said Jin Er.

    Long Xian had heard about cats that could do stunts from Wang Qian and Li Kun. She had never seen such cats before. There were many cats and dogs that were sick in the clinic, and Sun Xiaomeng worried that Zhang Zian¡¯s pets would get cross-infected, so she forbade Long Xian to visit his pets. Sun Xiaomeng didn¡¯t enter the ward herself; she only asked Wang Qian and Li Kun to go in there for cleaning and disinfecting every day before the clinic opened. Today, Long Xian finally got the chance to see the cats, so she excitedly led Jin Er into the ward where Zhang Zian¡¯s pets were residing.

    Just when she opened the ward door, her cell phone rang.

    Seeing that it was Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s number, Long Xian knew something huge was happening! Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t be calling Long Xian after leaving the clinic for only a moment.

    ¡°Hello? Sister Xiaomeng, what¡¯s up?¡± she answered the phone.

    Sun Xiaomeng said briefly on the other side of the phone, ¡°Put everything aside. Prepare the following medicines from the drug cab at your fastest speed. I will immediately send Wang Qian and Li Kun over to take them!¡±

 Chapter 295: Knowledgeable about both Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine

    <h4>Chapter 295: Knowledgeable about both Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After the call got through to Long Xian, Sun Xiaomeng instructed her based on her memory, ¡°Prepare the following medicines which can be found in the drug cab in the clinic¡ªnystatin, copper sulfate solution, griseofulvin, ciprofloxacin, andpound vitamins.¡±

    Every time Sun Xiaomeng mentioned an item, Long Xian replied with ¡°uh-huh¡±, and when she finished speaking, Long Xian summed up quickly, ¡°Nystatin, copper sulfate solution, griseofulvin, ciprofloxacin, andpound vitamins, correct?¡±

    Long Xian was quite proud of her short-term memory, chuckling at the other side of the phone and waiting for Sun Xiaomeng¡¯spliment.

    However, Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s reaction was just a in ¡°uh-huh¡±, and then she continued with a torrent of medicines. ¡°We don¡¯t have the following ones in our clinic, so you have to go to the nearest Traditional Chinese Medicine chain pharmacy to buy them¡ª100g of dandelion, 50g of skullcap root, 50g of tycodon, 50g of pepperweed seeds, 50g of kuh-seng, and 25g of liquorice¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait¡­.¡± Long Xian was panicked, saying a string of ¡°wait¡±¡®s that made her almost bite her tongue. She didn¡¯t dare to boast herself anymore. ¡°Sister Xiaomeng, wait a moment please. Let me find a pen to write them down.¡±

    There was barely any Traditional Chinese Medicine teaching in veterinary school, and Long Xian didn¡¯t know a thing about these Chinese herbal medicines, among which some pronunciations and characters were strange to her. With the dosages and ratios of these Chinese herbal medicines involved, she must find a pen and paper to write them down, or else she would forget them in a blink of eye.

    While Sun Xiaomeng was waiting for Long Xian to grab a pen and paper, Zhang Zian went into the bedroom next door and saw that Wang Qian and Li Kun had just finished installing a new electric heater. Fina, Snowy Li and Old Time Tea were curiously surrounding the electric heater, feeling the heat radiating from it, and soon Fina¡¯s eyelids began to close¡­

    Zhang Zian looked around and didn¡¯t find Gxy. Only the American Shorthair that usually yed hide-and-seek with it was quietly lying and resting in the corner.

    His mind was upied by Richard¡¯s illness now, and there was no room in his brain for him to think about where Gxy was. He must prioritize the issues at hand. Besides, Gxy couldn¡¯t leave the pet shop by itself, so it must be in a room on the second floor or had gone down to the first floor.

    ¡°Master, what happened?¡± Noticing the gloomy face of Zhang Zian, Wang Qian and Li Kun wiped the dust off their hands, ready to help their Master out.

    ¡°You guys run to Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s clinic, where Long Xian will give you some medicines. Li Kun, youe back with those medicines first. And Wang Qian, you stand by in the clinic, because Long Xian will go elsewhere to buy the rest of the medicines, so when she buys them and gets back, you bring the medicines here.¡± Zhang Zian assigned tasks to them.

    Zhang Zian had made clear instructions, and Wang Qian and Li Kun had thoroughly understood.

    ¡°If you have understood everything, just go! Run!¡± Zhang Zian waved his hands.

    ¡°Yes, Master!¡±

    Without raising any doubts or saying anything, Wang Qian and Li Kun rushed downstairs.

    Zhang Zian went to the window and watched them both whirring towards the clinic until they were invisible in the dark night.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Fina opened its eyes and asked.

    ¡°Richard,¡± replied Zhang Zian. ¡°Richard is ill, severely.¡±

    Old Time Tea pondered and said, ¡°I just vaguely heard Dr. Sun mention several kinds of Chinese herbal medicines.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Grandpa Tea, I also heard her.¡± Zhang Zian listened carefully. Sun Xiaomeng was still in the living room talking with Long Xian on her telephone, repeating the dosages and types of Chinese herbal medicines to Long Xian. She hadn¡¯t assigned any tasks to him, so Zhang Zian stayed there and conversed with Old Time Tea.

    Old Time Tea nodded its appraisal at Sun Xiaomeng. ¡°Though Dr. Sun is still young, she is knowledgeable about both Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine ¡ª what a rare young talent she is! Traditional Chinese Medicine and martial arts are of the same origin¡ªmedical practitioners were the ones skilled with magic arts to heal people, while warriors possessed the techniques to exorcise demons and preserve the righteous ways! Since the old days, I have gained slight knowledge about pharmacology¡ª dandelion has the effects of eliminating carbuncle and reducing swelling, skullcap root has the effects of detoxifying and purging, tycodon can ease coughing and reduce swelling, pepperweed seeds can reopen the inhibited lung-energy and eliminate phlegm, kuh-seng acts as a diuretic and has insecticidal effects, andst but not least, licorice has a pain-killing effect and can reduce the poisonous side-effects of the other Chinese herbal medicines. She knows well about how every type of Chinese herbal medicine works and canbine them correctly, I believe the sky is the limit for her as a doctor!¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand a word said by Old Time Tea. He could only force a smile.

    But Snowy Li echoed Old Time Tea, ¡°This youngdy is quite nice. She¡¯s so cool, I bet she doesn¡¯t care about men. She¡¯s totally my type¡­¡±

    ¡°Stop!¡± Zhang Zian had to wake Snowy Li from its dangerous fantasy, ¡°Her family runs a pet breeding base. Be careful, she might take you there and use you as a breeding cat!¡±

    Snowy Li was so frightened that it shrunk its neck, ¡°No! I don¡¯t want to be a breeding cat!¡±

    ¡°By the way, did any of you see where Gxy went?¡± Zhang Zian had no time to continue this nonsense with it, so he turned around and confirmed again that Gxy was not in the room.

    ¡°Just a second ago it was here¡­¡± Old Time Tea looked around in surprise, ¡°It¡¯s gone in a blink of an eye¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Zhang Zian nodded. If even the most vignt Old Time Tea didn¡¯t notice the whereabouts of Gxy, then it wouldn¡¯t be necessary to ask Fina and Snowy Li.

    ¡°You guys get some rest, I will go out for a while.¡± He left the bedroom with the door ajar to maintain the indoor temperature. He didn¡¯t want another Elf to catch a cold or get sick, especially now.

    He looked for Gxy in other rooms on the second floor and still couldn¡¯t find it.

    ¡°Gxy,¡± said he in a light tone.

    No response.

    ¡°Gxy, are you here? This is not the time to y hide-and-seek,¡± he said again.

    Still no response.

    He walked down the stairs and saw that Guo Dongyue was directing the workers to seize the time to finish the renovation overnight. The first floor was so brightly lit by therge-watt vapormps that he could even see the corners clearly. He nced around the first floor, but Gxy was not there either.

    Guo Dongyue hollered, ¡°What happened to Richard?¡±

    The noise was too loud for them to have conversation. Zhang Zian shook his head, waved his hand and walked up to the second floor again. He did not know what happened to Richard either, or what would happen to it. He could only hope that Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s methods would work. And it was up to Guo Dongyue toprehend his gestures¡ªthat nothing serious happened to Richard, or that he didn¡¯t know.

    He had searched both the first floor and the second floor, could it be¡­

    Zhang Zian looked up at the ceiling, was Gxy at the roof?

    Going up to the roof was a piece of cake for Gxy with its ability. But why the roof? It was evening now, and it was so cold outside¡­

    Just when Zhang Zian was about to fetch thedder to climb to the roof, Sun Xiaomeng asked him to go into the living room.

    He could only temporarily put aside his concerns about finding Gxy, so he went over to her and asked, ¡°How¡¯s it going? Do you need my help?¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng had just finished the call with Long Xian, and she put out two fingers towards him and said, ¡°Two things. First, Richard¡¯s condition is merely my conjecture. Unless a pathological biopsy or open-heart examination has beenpleted, I can¡¯t make a definite diagnosis right now, and I can only give treatment to it assuming that what it has is acute aspergillosis.¡±

    She was saying these words as a doctor. Some things must be addressed clearly to the pet owner.

    Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s speaking style was usually concise and to the point, and right now she appeared even more resolute.

    Zhang Zian shuddered hearing the words ¡°biopsy¡± and ¡°open-heart¡±. He managed to nod, suggesting he had understood what she said.

    ¡°Aspergillosis has a very high mortality rate, and with my limited experience in dealing with this disease and insufficient equipment in my clinic, may I suggest you consider visiting arge pet hospital? There will be more experienced doctors with more equipment there,¡± she suggested.

    Zhang Zian shook his head and turned down her suggestion. Richard simply could not leave the pet shop. The fewrge pet hospitals in Binhai City were rather far away, and Richard¡¯s illness was deteriorating so rapidly that even if he could take it to a hospital to seek treatment, with the current traffic jam outside, and the possibility that they might need to wait in line before he could describe Richard¡¯s condition to a doctor there, he was just too worried that it would be toote for Richard¡­

 Chapter 296: Everyone Performs Their Own Duties

    <h4>Chapter 296: Everyone Performs Their Own Duties</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know how experienced Sun Xiaomeng was as a doctor, but since her prescription had won appraisal from Old Time Tea, whoplimented her saying that she was ¡°knowledgeable about both Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine¡±, he decided to trust her expertise. He used to tease her, calling her a super nerd who only knew about studying, but now, he was really grateful that she was a nerd.

    ¡°I will let you treat it. I trust you,¡± he said. He then nced at the delirious Richard and added, ¡°I think Richard also trusts you and is willing to let you cure it.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng liked Richard very much, and as a doctor ¡ª although only a veterinarian ¡ª she must shoulder her responsibility in this situation. She said decisively, ¡°Okay. I am going to use Western medicines to deal with its urgent syndromes, and will use Traditional Chinese Medicine for recuperating its body, trying to stabilize its condition as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°OK, I don¡¯t understand what you said, but I¡¯m at your service. Just tell me what I should do to help,¡± replied Zhang Zian decidedly.

    Do not suspect the man you use. Since he had chosen Sun Xiaomeng to treat Richard, he must provide her with full support.

    ¡°What I just said is the first thing I want you to know. The other thing is, aspergillus is contagious, so you must be careful not to let the two red-headed lovebirds get infected. They are smaller than Richard and have poorer immunity, so they would be in even more critical conditions if they got sick. You go transfer them to a separate room, and then go to the supermarket to buy a UV disinfectionmp, and put it into their room together with the electric heater,¡± said Sun Xiaomeng rapidly.

    Zhang Zian pped his forehead. He was so anxious and panicked that he almost forgot about those two birds!

    ¡°Got it.¡± He had just walked two steps before he stopped again, and said with puzzlement, ¡°Could it be that the two red-headed lovebirds brought the germs?¡±

    If it really was the red-headed lovebirds that had brought the germs, he would really consider putting them away. They were, after all, just pets, and if an Elf was dead because of them¡­

    He suddenly recalled Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother, specifically when the two red-headed lovebirds she raised had made Guo Dongyue sick with parrot fever; she sent them away out of remorse. Her feelings at that time must have been simr to Zhang Zian¡¯s current moods: that they were about to lose more precious things because of two pets¡­that bitterly remorseful feelings were just like numerous ants gnawing at their hearts.

    If Zhang Zian was able to take into ount such a possibility, Sun Xiaomeng, of course, had already thought of it.

    ¡°Probably not.¡± She shook her head slowly, ¡°I thought so at the beginning too, but unfortunately they are not the reason. Though I¡¯ve never been to the Phoenix House, judging from the breeding base of my family, I reckon that a pet breeding base of such arge size must have the most stringent control in disinfection and epidemic prevention, because if there was an outbreak of infectious disease, the consequences would be disastrous.¡±

    ¡°My estimation is that since each time Phoenix House introduces a group of birds from the outside, such birds will always be quarantined for a long time, and they will not be raised with the original birds in the base until they are confirmed not to be carrying germs, so it¡¯s unlikely that these two red-headed lovebirds are the infection source of Richard¡¯s disease.¡± Speaking here, her tone suddenly changed and she said with a stern expression, ¡°On the contrary, I think the aspergilli have been lurking and reproducing through fission in Richard¡¯s body, and they erupted as acute aspergillosis when Richard was weak because he caught a cold.¡±

    Richard was the one that brought the germs?

    But it was captured by him as soon as it appeared at Binhai University¡­ so it had been carrying the germs before it became an Elf? Only this exnation can make sense.

    Zhang Zian seemed to have thought of something, but he was not quite sure. Besides, now was not the time for him to think about these things.

    ¡°I see, a UV disinfectionmp, right? I¡¯ll go buy it right away.¡± He decided to temporarily put the distractions aside. It was imperative for him to help save Richard.

    ¡°Okay, make it quick. Wait, I still need an earthenware pot to decoct the Chinese herbal medicines. Do you have one here?¡± she pulled at his clothes.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°No, my family has always resorted to Western medicine.¡±

    ¡°Then also go to buy an earthenware pot for decocting the Chinese herbal medicines. I will need to boil quite a lot of Chinese herbal medicine for Richard, and at the same time prepare some portions to prevent the red-headed lovebirds from getting the disease.¡± she said.

    ¡°OK, I¡¯m going right now.¡±

    The supermarket was not far away, and UV disinfectionmps and earthenware pots were not hard to find, so Zhang Zian was confident that he woulde back very soon.

    ¡°Please take care of Richard for me.¡± He looked at Richard, who was unconscious, and walked downstairs.

    ¡­.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Holding a prescription paper, Long Xian scrambled to change into her clothes and her shoes. The prescription paper was written with the types and the dosages of the Chinese herbal medicines that Sun Xiaomeng had instructed her to purchase.

    Just when she had dressed up, Wang Qian and Li Kun pushed open the door breathlessly.

    ¡°Those are the medicines.¡± she said, pointing to the bottles and jars that she had prepared in advance at the cashier desk. ¡°Li Kun, go bring these to Sister Xiaomeng.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Li Kun put the bottles and jars one by one into the bag on his arm.

    ¡°What is this liquid?¡± he asked, shaking a clear-ss bottle for a few times under the light.

    Having put on a mask for going outdoors, Long Xian said vaguely, ¡°It¡¯s copper sulfate solution¡­¡±

    ¡°Damn it! Sulfuric acid?¡± Hands shivering, Li Kun almost threw the bottle!

    ¡°Copper sulfate! Not sulfuric acid! They are different colors, all right? Did you not learn chemistry in middle school?¡± Long Xian was so vexed that she pulled down the mask again, ¡°Stop asking questions! Just quickly bring these medicines to Sister Xiaomeng!¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, stop pushing me.¡± Li Kun knew he was wrong and didn¡¯t dare to quarrel with her anymore. After packing all the medicines into the carry bag, he said goodbye to them and left.

    Wang Qian stayed at the clinic by himself. He had always hung around with Li Kun, whether it was in their dormitory or elsewhere, they always acted in tandem. Now that he was suddenly left alone, he waspletely at loose ends.

    Long Xian was one year older than Wang Qian and Li Kun, and she clearly deemed herself as an elder sister to them. She instructed Wang Qian, ¡°I need to go out to buy Chinese herbal medicines now, so you stay here to look after the clinic. If there are any clients, tell them our business is temporarily suspended, and tell them toe another day, understand?¡±

    Wang Qian nodded obediently.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m leaving now.¡± Long Xian made a step outward and her tiptoes touched a soft thing.

    Looking down, she saw that Good-for-Nothing was lying on the ground, raising its head to gaze at her with eyes that were filled with intiveness.

    What was happening? Long Xian was quite puzzled, she remembered that Good-for-Nothing had not been lying there a moment ago. Did it deliberately roll over to touch her seeing that she was leaving?

    Now, she recalled that Good-for-Nothing¡¯s owner was still at the clinic. Jin Er was a client too after all. She couldn¡¯t just leave him there without proper etiquettes.

    ¡°Mr. Jin!¡± She ran back to the ward, ¡°Mr. Jin, I need to leave the clinic for a moment, could you please¡­¡±

    What she meant was that now that the person in charge of the clinic was leaving, shouldn¡¯t he as a client also leave on his own initiative? After all, if the owner was not home, guests shouldn¡¯t prolong their stay. What if something got lost? Whose responsibility was that?

    Through pping his hands, Jin Er had confirmed that all these cats, just like Snowy¡¯s Persian cat, knew the stunts¡ªwalking in a figure eight.

    ¡°What?¡± Completely focused on the cats, he didn¡¯t hear clearly what Long Xian was asking.

    ¡°I mean, I¡¯m going out for a while,¡± said Long Xian politely.

    Jin Er, with worldly freedom, immediately understood her implied meaning, and he looked at his watch. ¡°Well, it¡¯s really gettingte, and I am also hungry. All right, I will bring Good-for-Nothing for a check-up another day.¡±

    ¡°Okay. I am really sorry, but there is an emergency today.¡± Long Xian smiled and gestured for him to leave the ward.

    ¡°Come. Good-for-Nothing. Time to go home for dinner.¡± Said Jin Er to his Husky.

    Hearing it was going to have dinner, Good-for-Nothing managed to restore a little bit of its spirits and followed listlessly behind Jin Er.

    Long Xian gestured to Wang Qian with her eyes, signaling him to stay at the clinic until she came back, and then she and Jin Er walked out from the clinic.

    ¡°It¡¯s so cold!¡± She was wearing plenty of clothes, but as soon as she stepped out of the warm clinic, she sneezed due to the chilliness outside, so she quickly put on her mask.

    She heard from Sister Xiaomeng that there would be strong winds and lower temperatures tomorrow, and now the wind was indeed picking up. The autumn wind was getting increasingly stronger was blowing and scattering away the fallen leaves in the street, making it appear more bleak and deste.

    Jin Er zipped up his flight jacket, and opened the rear door of his car to let Good-for-Nothing climb in.

    ¡°Take care,¡± said Long Xian to Jin Er, ¡°I¡¯m going to take a taxi now.¡±

    Jin Er thought for a moment, and said, holding the car door open, ¡°You seem like you are in a hurry. Where are you going? I can give you a ride.¡±

 Chapter 297: Need For Speed

    <h4>Chapter 297: Need For Speed</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Long Xian¡¯s mother had warned her since her childhood that she was a girl and she must remain vignt when away from home¡ªnever go into a stranger¡¯s car, unless she was to take a taxi.

    Since she and Jin Er had only met once before, he was basically a stranger to her, and she was hesitating whether she should get in his car.

    Seeing that she was indecisive and worried, Jin Erughed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not a bad guy. Have you seen any bad guy that takes a Husky to do evil things?¡±

    The Husky had been lying in the back seat after getting in the car, and at that moment, it stood up and stuck its head out between the front seats, whimpering several times as if inviting her.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t trust me, then let¡¯s forget it. See youter.¡± Jin Er didn¡¯t want to force her. He went into the car by himself.

    Long Xian thought that he really didn¡¯t look like a bad guy, and his car seemed pretty fancy, so she changed her mind resolutely, ¡°Okay, okay, wait for me.¡±

    She hurriedly sat into the co-pilot seat. In front of her was a futuristic dashboard with a huge LCD panel, making her feel dizzy and overwhelmed.

    ¡°Where are we going?¡± Jin Er asked.

    ¡°Well, do you know how to get to Tianze Pharmacy?¡± She came to, still somewhat in astonishment.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ Wow!¡± Before she could finish her sentence, she was pressed into the seat by a sudden and powerful pushing force.

    Jin Er was holding the steering wheel as if nothing had happened, ¡°Sit tight.¡±

    ¡°You should have told me earlier!¡± Long Xianined, ¡°And don¡¯t drive too fast!¡±

    ¡°You can never drive very fast in the city. But besides, aren¡¯t you in a hurry?¡± Jin Er quickly nced at her, ¡°What is so urgent? Can you tell me about it?¡±

    ¡°Nothing with this needs to be kept confidential anyway¡­¡± Having nothing better to do, Long Xian briefly described what happened today. She didn¡¯t know much either, she just learnt from Sun Xiaomeng that a very valuable parrot in the pet shop was sick and its life was in jeopardy. And now, she must go to the pharmacy to fill a prescription of Chinese herbal medicine at the fastest speed.

    ¡°So, you are holding the prescription in your hand?¡± Jin Er listened attentively.

    Long Xian swayed the prescription paper and began her babbling, ¡°Yes! Sister Xiaomeng is so knowledgeable! Not only is she good at Western medicine, but she is able to give traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions at any time! I¡¯ve decided to stay by her side and learn from her! If I could learn diligently for a few years, perhaps I can open a pet clinic too¡­ ¡±

    ¡°Why is that parrot so precious?¡± Jin Er was not interested in her small dream, but he wondered why a cat trainer would give up the potential deal and get back home.

    ¡°I heard that it can speak!¡± Long Xian replied simply.

    ¡°It can speak?¡± Jin Er froze for a moment and couldn¡¯t help butugh, ¡± Isn¡¯t it true that all parrots can speak?¡±

    ¡°No! Who told you that all parrots can speak?¡± Long Xian retorted fiercely.

    Jin Er was speechless.

    In the beginning, he felt that Snowy and Long Xian were simr in some respects. But inparison, Snowy had a rtively milder temperament. Growing up in an extremely wealthy family, Snowy could be deemed as a truedy. Even if she didn¡¯t agree with others¡¯ opinions, Snowy would express her own mind tactfully or simply remained silent. Snowy was never as straightforward as Long Xian.

    ¡°There are only a few breeds of parrots that can speak, and they¡¯re only repeating what they have heard! But the parrot in the Amazing Fate Pet Shop is different. As I heard from Wang Qian, Li Kun and Sister Xiaomeng, the grey parrot named Richard is a rare individual that can truly understand what we are saying and even interact with us!¡±

    The fact that Richard did not belong to her and that she had never met Richard before did not prevent her from speaking of it proudly and mboyantly.

    ¡°No way! Is it really that impressive?¡± Jin Er couldn¡¯t believe it. But having seen cats that were able to do stunts, he wasn¡¯t sure whether Long Xian was exaggerating.

    ¡°It¡¯s true! That¡¯s why everyone is so worried that it is sick!¡± Long Xian pouted and stared at him fiercely. She held her arms across her chest and didn¡¯t want to talk to him again.

    ¡°Gee. Don¡¯t be angry with me. It was only a slip of the tongue. You are going to the Tianze Pharmacy to fill the prescription for this parrot, right? It¡¯s a matter of life and death. I get it now. I will speed up. Now, please sit tight.¡± Seeing there was a fleeting vacancy in front of him, Jin Er pressed on the elerator suddenly¡ªwithout an overwhelming roar of the engine, his electric vehicle with its powerful eleration function hadpleted the overtaking quietly within a blink of eye.

    Long Xian was so scared that she tightly closed her eyes, thinking that this car was crashing into the car before them at high speed.

    The feeling of sessful overtaking was always so good, especially when he was driving this electric vehicle with extraordinary elerating performance. After the overtaking, Jin Er got a better front view, but he frowned, for he had seen the red traffic light with warning.

    He sighed. It never felt good to jam on the brake after speeding up.

    ¡­

    Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

    Gxy was squatting on the edge of the roof, curiously looking at Guo Dongyue, who was instructing loudly at the workers to renovate the pet shop. All of them looked dirty from the dust.

    Guo Dongyue was very responsible, Since he and Zhang Zian had made their agreement, he would finish his work with the best quality. But hearing that Richard was sick, he grew more worried about that pair of red-headed lovebirds. He was afraid that Richard¡¯s syndromes might be contagious and affect them. Thinking that Sun Xiaomeng had already arrived, and that she was a veterinarian, Guo Dongyue tried hard to control his restlessness and concentrated on conducting the renovation. Nheless, he kept looking to the window on the second floor from time to time, hoping his concerns would note true.

    In fact, if he just looked one meter higher, he would see Gxy on the edge of the roof. However, he was on the brightly lit construction site, and Gxy was squatting on the dark roof, so it was normal that he did not notice Gxy. It was a moonless starry night; and the visibility of the roof was very low. The night wind was getting stronger and stronger, blowing away all the clouds in the sky.

    After watching Guo Dongyue for a while, Gxy looked up and noticed that Uncle Li and Aunt Li, who were always selling BBQ skewers across the road at this time, were not there anymore. Zhang Zian said they had moved into a store nearby, so that they wouldn¡¯t have to suffer from the harsh weathers anymore.

    Gxy trotted to along the north side of the roof, overlooking the Spirit Curing Pet Clinic. Just then, it saw that after talking briefly in front of a silver streamlined car, Jin Er and Long Xian both sat in the car.

    The silver car started at a very fast speed, merged into the traffic and disappeared.

    ¡°Not fast enough¡­¡± Gxy murmured.

    It slightly tilted its head, looking at the tall building within which people were moving about.

    The next second, Gxy had vanished from the roof.

 Chapter 298: Racing Legend of Akina Mountain

    <h4>Chapter 298: Racing Legend of Akina Mountain</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Binhai University.

    The central teaching building was 30 stories high.

    Each story of the teaching building was much higher than that of ordinary residential buildings, so the 30 stories of the teaching building were roughly equivalent to 40 stories of ordinary residential buildings. In this neighborhood, the teaching building was the highest and most prominent one, which could even be deemed as andmark construction.

    Although it was already evening, more than half of the offices and ssrooms in the central teaching building were still brightly lit, with people going in and out constantly. Some ssrooms were being used for teaching less important elective courses that were scheduled in the evening, while more ssrooms were used by students as study rooms. As the postgraduate entrance exam was approaching, after dinner, students were fighting with each other to upy more seats in rows for their ssmates or roommates.

    The terrace ssroom where Richard once appeared was not the same anymore.

    Tonight, the lecturer behind the podium was not the professor from the Chinesenguage department, but was a person familiar to Zhang Zian.

    In front of the students, Meng Li was giving his lecture eloquently, while his graduate assistant next to him looked desperate, because after helping his tutor with teaching sessions, he had to walk his tutor¡¯s dog for him. He must walk the dog every day in the morning, at noon and in the evening¡­so much so that he had been doubting the meaning of his life. He wascking sleep, and he even quit ying the Arena of Valor game that he was once obsessed with!

    That Cocker Spaniel was ridiculously lively and energetic! He didn¡¯t think he was the one walking the dog, but the dog had been walking him!

    He had to walk the dog three times a day, each time took him at least an hour to walk it into the sports field and within the campus, and he felt awkward that he had to carry stic bags to pick up its feces. In the past, his ssmates that hadn¡¯t passed the postgraduate entrance exam always envied him, and now they were not envious at all.

    Of course, walking the dog brought some benefits. For example, Meng Li had clearly promised that he wouldn¡¯t raise difficult questions to him when he was about to graduate; instead, if he performed well, Meng Li would rmend job opportunities to him. Besides, when he walked the dog in the morning, he would run into some girls who were jogging or doing some exercise, and though nothing happened, at least he had left good impressions on them.

    On the same floor, in the office of the School of Biology, while other teachers had left, Wei Kang was still there, holding a magnifying ss and looking carefully at the replicates of the ancient Egyptian murals.

    These were the daily routines in this huge central teaching building, and seemed like they would never change¡­

    The empty roof was the quietest ce in the entire teaching building. As a result of the incidents in which students jumped off the roof in the past, the passages to the roof werepletely blocked, and no one was allowed to go there, especially at nights, unless with the permission of the principal and the teaching director.

    The winds became stronger at taller ces. Though no one swept the dust on the roof, it was blown off by the strong winds.

    Within a blink of an eye, Gxy suddenly appeared on the vacant roof!

    It turned around and whispered, ¡°Well, this is where Gxy should be in the future.¡±

    Gxy saw the future the other day, at this time it should appear here, so here it was.

    From one side of the roof, the Hidden Fog Mountain could be seen, which looked like a dark monster lurking in the night.

    The central teaching building was high-lying, and though not as high as the Hidden Fog Mountain, its height stood out in this neighborhood of ??Binhai City, and it enabled people to overlook quite a vast area.

    Gxy trotted to the other side of the roof¡¯s edge. Eyes wide open, it saw that Amazing Fate Pet Shop had reduced to the size of a fingernail, and Guo Dongyue was like an ant that was hardly distinguishable.

    A silver, streamlined car was speeding from the direction of the pet shop. Like a flexible silver snake, it easily overtook cars and trucks, one after another, in front of it. However, there was one thing it could never pass¡ªthe red traffic light standing in the intersection of roads.

    Though there were no cars obstructing the silver sedan, it reluctantly decelerated, just like a boxer who had long-prepared a heavy punch missed the target, and instead of hitting on the opponent, the fist smashed towards the cold cement wall.

    With its silver-grey eyes wide open, Gxy concentrated on watching the sr-powered traffic lights.

    The rays from its eyes prated the metal covers, the colorful instive rubbers, the brassy metal conducting wires of the traffic light, andnded on microscopic particles invisible to humans¡¯ naked eyes.

    ording to the quantum free electron theory derived from the Schr?dinger equation, the movements of free electrons in metals must conform to thews of quantum mechanics and would be influenced by observers as well.

    Deviating from their original course of movement, a cluster of free electrons suddenly appeared at a ce they shouldn¡¯t be in at that moment! Other clusters of free electrons also had deviated from their intended route and vanished from where they should have been!

    Such situations were called ¡°sporadic faults¡± by engineers, and ¡°supernatural events¡± by fortune-tellers and monks.

    In short, the traffic light, which should not have turned green, became green in advance, and the traffic light of the other direction turned red at the same time.

    ¡°What the hell?¡± Jin Er¡¯s eyes became wide-opened.

    He was familiar with this road. If he remembered correctly, the red light shouldst a long time, and he was ready to hit the brakes. How did the light suddenly be green?

    His physical instinct reacted faster than his thinking, and instead of stepping on the brakes, he stepped on the elerator, and the electric sedan crossed the intersection like a streak of silver lightning.

    ¡°Wow!¡± Jin Er cheered excitedly, not looking at all like a middle-aged man in his forties. He nced in the rear-view mirror, and as soon as his car had crossed the intersection, the traffic light turned red again.

    ¡°What happened? Today is my lucky day?¡± he muttered to himself.

    Long Xian was too scared to open her eyes. She felt she had made a mistake to get into this crooked car, and that sooner orter, she would get herself killed.

    Binhai City was a medium-sized city, so the streets were not as long as those in big cities. Jin Er saw the next traffic light ahead; it was still red.

    Experienced drivers all knew that in the event of a red light, it was likely for them to encounter a session of red lights.

    Steadily controlling the steering wheel and stepping on the elerator, Jin Er hadpleted overtaking again and again, and was closer to the traffic light.

    With thest experience, he was in no hurry to apply the brake, instead, he was patiently staring at the traffic light. He wanted to see whether today was his lucky day.

    Unlike Snowy¡¯s father, Jiang Tianda, Jin Er was never a rule-abiding man, and in his opinion, rules were meant to be broken.

    The intersection was near at hand, and his car was running too fast, so even if he stepped on the brakes now, he couldn¡¯t make the car stop in time.

    As before, the red light turned green again!

    So did the third traffic light¡­

    And the fourth traffic light¡­

    They all turned green abruptly as he approached.

    Jin Er could scarcely believe what he had seen. His heart was pounding so fast. He was even confident to race with Takumi Fujiwara driving an AE86 or Michael Schumacher in his F1 racing car if they appeared in front of him right now!

    Binhai City was his Akina Mountain, and today was his lucky day!

 Chapter 299: Heaven is in his Favor

    <h4>Chapter 299: Heaven is in his Favor</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Tianze Pharmacy was designed to be vintage style, its wooden medicine cabs painted dark red standing against the wall.

    It was almost time to close the pharmacy for the night, and there were few customers in the store. The staff members in their old-fashioned robes finally felt relieved and showed rxing smiles, looking at the wall clock from time to time.

    Suddenly, a ssy sedan that was glowing resplendently under the street lights parked in front of the pharmacy. When the car door was opened, Jin Er was the first to jump out of the car. He stretched himself and howled at the night sky, ¡°Woooo!¡±

    Jin Er just felt really good, for he hadn¡¯t got the chance to race in a city for a long time. But today, he felt like he was speeding across the sky! Though lots of speeding tickets were waiting for him, he didn¡¯t care!

    The staff members of the pharmacy were shocked by him, wondering if this man was a lunatic or was transfiguring into a werewolf? Why did he howl suddenly? Since there was no moon in the sky, he couldn¡¯t be a werewolf shapeshifting. Lunatic seemed like the more usible exnation!

    Long Xian climbed out from the passenger¡¯s seat, dizzy. On her way to the pharmacy, her heart rate was not lower than 180 beats per minute, and she felt like she might die suddenly at any time.

    She held the prescription given by Sun Xiaomeng and pushed open the ss door of the pharmacy. She made her way and leaned on the counter and said, ¡°Give me¡­ prepare these medicines for me. Please hurry. A bird¡¯s precious life is at stake.¡±

    The pharmacy staff members were perplexed. What bird¡¯s life could be so precious? It was not hard for them to find out the medicines on the prescription, though. They quickly packed up the medicines, and after paying, Long Xian immediately left the store.

    Jin Er was smoking a cigarette and narrowing his eyes to reminisce upon the fascinating feelings he had when he was racing. He was not a regr smoker, but right now, only smoking could make his body¡¯s adrenaline temporarily subside.

    Seeing that Long Xian wasing out of the pharmacy, he immediately threw the half-smoked cigarette on the ground and stamped it out with his foot. He opened his car door, intending to sit back in the driver position.

    ¡°Wait.¡±

    A dark shadow flew towards him when Long Xian began to speak.

    Jin Er instinctively stretched out his hand to catch it, and it turned out to be the medicine package carried by Long Xian.

    ¡°Please bring these medicines to the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, and I¡¯ll take a taxi there.¡± With expressions of lingering fear and shock, Long Xian said, ¡°Taking a taxi only costs money, but taking your car will cost my life!¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ Okay¡­¡± Jin Er felt a little sad. Even the racing legend of Akina Mountain would have a more exciting experience if there was a group of teammates shouting ¡°Wow! He rocks!¡± behind him.

    Seeing that the crazy driver had left, Long Xian stroked her chest and felt relieved. She waved to stop a taxi, which would take her back to the Spirit Curing Pet Clinic. On the way, she sent a WeChat message to Wang Qian and told him that the ns had changed, so he didn¡¯t need to wait for her at the clinic anymore.

    Jin Er didn¡¯t take the same route as before, because that would be boring. Instead, he chose another route¡ªthe original route was closer to the Spirit Curing Pet Clinic at the north end of Zhonghua Road, while the new route he was taking now would take him closer to the Amazing Fate Pet Shop at the south end of Zhonghua Road.

    Besides, he also wanted to know whether his good luck would disappear if he left the same course.

    It was gettingter, and the pedestrians and vehicles on the road became fewer. His electric car was elerating steadily, and in the fully enclosed cab, no roaring of the engine nor the screaming of Long Xian in the passenger¡¯s seat could be heard, only the low-pitched sounds of tires and winds were heard.

    ¡°The ninth¡­¡± He stared at the traffic light that was getting nearer.

    The traffic light was red.

    Instead of slowing down, Jin Er continued to step on the elerator like he did on his way to the pharmacy. The scenes, vehicles and pedestrians on the sides of his car were quickly left behind. He only stared at the traffic light in front of him, like a bull staring at the red cloth.

    It was the same with the original course. The traffic light turned green in time as soon as he approached, and the traffic lights in charge of making left and right turns became red from green in advance after shing for three times.

    ¡°Whoosh!¡± The Te sedan had crossed the intersection. The spoiler caused rapid airflow, making the fallen leaves on the road dance up in the air, and they had not yet subsided when the taillights of the sedan disappeared in the dark night.

    The tenth¡­

    The eleventh¡­

    He had been through 16 green lights consecutively while approaching Zhonghua Road!

    The chances of encountering red and green traffic lights were equal, but the probability of running into a session of 16 green lights was¡­ Jin Er felt that he might have run out of all the good luck of his whole life.

    He nced at the medicine package in the passenger¡¯s seat, and then looked at the traffic sign marked ¡°1km to Zhonghua Road¡± before him.

    He didn¡¯t want to stop, he wanted to continue driving to see until what moment his good luck wouldst.

    As for these medicines, it wouldn¡¯t matter if they were delivered a little bitter, right? It was only a bird that had gotten sick.

    He could see the crossroads of the south end of Zhonghua Road now.

    Red light.

    Jin Er smiled contemptuously, in his eyes, the red lights were no different than the green lights.

    Because tonight, he was racing as if heaven was in his favor!

    Suddenly, he saw something was wrong.

    ¡°What the hell?¡±

    Jin Er¡¯s eyes were wide open, ¡°Why the traffic lights to every direction are red?¡±

    At the crossroads of the south end of Zhonghua Road, the traffic lights in the eastwards, westwards, southwards and northwards directions were all red, scary as if they were dripping blood.

    It seemed like that the traffic lights had been in red for a long time, for there were a few cars stopped behind the crosswalks of all four directions, blocking the crossroads. The drivers stretched their heads out from the windows and inquired to each other about the situation. They were as confused as Jin Er¡ªcan they run red lights if the traffic lights were not working? If not, would they be stuck there forever? Or should they detour?

    Jin Er could only apply the brake, or he would have knocked into the car behind the crosswalk.

    The adrenaline in his body was gradually subsiding, and he understood that his good luck of tonight hade to an end.

    Just as the speed of his car had slowed down to a normal range, the traffic lights in front of him turned green. The long-awaited drivers seemed to have been given permission, and they started their cars excitedly. The traffic jam, which had been blocking the crossroads for so long, was finally cleared.

    While the Te sedan was smoothly parking in front of the pet shop, Zhang Zian happened to be walking back to the shop from the other direction, carrying a UV disinfectionmp and an earthenware pot in his hands. He ran into Jin Er who had just opened the car door.

    ¡°Why are you here?¡± said Zhang Zian puzzlingly. He thought that Jin Er was here to see him train cats.

    Jin Er didn¡¯t want to exin. Since the passion had subsided, right now he just wanted to go home and get a good sleep, hoping to relive every moment of tonight in his dreams. He put the medicine package on the top of his car, patted to the top to signal Zhang Zian to take them, and then he climbed into the cab of his car.

    Seeing that those were the Chinese medicines in small packages as prescribed by Sun Xiaomeng, Zhang Zian grew more confused.

    There was no time for him to think more. He greeted Guo Dongyue, and then walked fast towards to the living room on the second floor.

    ¡°Did you get them?¡± asked Sun Xiaomeng bluntly the moment she saw him.

    ¡°Pot,mp, medicines!¡± Zhang Zian showed her the items, and suddenly he felt a little bit funny, because the pronunciations of those three words in Chinese were simr to ¡°Guo, Dong, Yue¡±, and sure enough, he knew he had been deeply influenced by Richard, who liked ying around with words!

    Please get better soon, Richard!

    When you get better, I promise together we can tell as many as dirty jokes as you like!

    Sun Xiaomeng did not understand why he was smiling, but making sure that everything he brought back was correct, she released a sigh of relief and said, ¡°Thank God you made it. Now it¡¯s time for me to prepare all these. Go get some rest, I will ask you to keep an eye on the fire while decocting the Chinese herbal medicinester.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought he was thest person that should take a rest right now, but there was really nothing he could do to help.

    He left the living room and went back to his bedroom, only to surprisingly find that Gxy was ying hide-and-seek with the American Shorthair.

    ¡°Hey, Gxy, where have you been?¡± he asked. ¡°Why couldn¡¯t I find you before?¡±

    Gxy stopped chasing, it tilted its head and said, ¡°Meow, Gxy was ying hide-and-seek! I hid myself just now!¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± said Zhang Zian with a smile, ¡°Gxy is getting increasingly better at ying hide and seek!¡±

 Chapter 300: The Unbearable Heaviness of Being

    <h4>Chapter 300: The Unbearable Heaviness of Being</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Pain.

    Its whole body was in smoldering pain.

    Especially in its lungs¡ªevery time it breathed, it felt like it was inhaling a vat of burning dust; every time it coughed, it felt like sparks were spurting out its throat.

    Its eyelids seemed to have be swollen, and as if there were lead blocks being attached upon them, it was difficult for Richard to open its eyes. It could only half-open its eyes and observe the world through its narrow visions.

    It heard some sounds buzzing near its ears. Sometimes, the sounds were so vague like they were from a far cry, but the next moment, they were roaring beside its ears, prating its brain like steel needles.

    Such painful feelings were familiar, for it had experienced them once. Since this time, its senses were more acute than before, it felt even more painful.

    Its consciousness ran into the state of confusion, as if it was back in theb again.

    ¡°Irene, please listen to me carefully. It¡¯s got aspergillosis, and you know how terrible this disease is.¡±

    ¡°My God! Are we going to lose it?¡±

    ¡°No, we will not lose it, at least not now.¡±

    ¡°What should we do?¡±

    ¡°We have a cure for aspergillosis, but it¡¯s designed forrge raptorial birds like hawks, so we must explore carefully until we find the right dosage for it. Listen, Irene, I¡¯ll do my best and then together let¡¯s pray to God to not to take it away!¡±

    ¡­

    ¡°Irene, I¡¯m sorry, but the drug therapy did not produce the effects I expected.¡±

    ¡°No! No!¡±

    ¡°Please calm down, Irene! We have not reached the point of despair. As your friend and as a veterinarian, I rmend performing a thoracotomy on it, to scrape off the aspergilli in its chest.¡±

    ¡°Thoracotomy? Are you kidding me! It¡¯s a bird weighing only one pound!¡±

    ¡°Listen, Irene, this is ourst resort. You don¡¯t want to lose it, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes, you are right. Are you going to operate on it, my friend?¡±

    ¡°No, I have contacted the best veterinarians in the country for it. They are all the experts in microsurgery treatment, and they will cure it. I promise!¡±

    ¡­

    ¡°Irene, I have good news for you¡ªthe operation was very sessful!¡±

    ¡°Great! I¡¯ve been waiting for your call¡­ I¡­¡±

    ¡°Irene, are you crying?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not¡­not crying. They have cleaned up the damn aspergilli, right? It will be fine, right? Please tell me it will!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Irene, their operation was very sessful, and soon it will be back by your side¡ªthere may be some side effects, but it will be all right.¡±

    ¡°Thank God!¡±

    ¡­

    ¡°Doctor¡­¡± murmured Richard.

    ¡°Richard, are you awake?¡±

    A hand was gently stroking its back. The hand was warm, with the special alkaline vor of a sterile soft soap.

    Dizzy.

    It struggled to open its heavy eyelids, trying to identify the person in front of it.

    Its vision was somewhat vague at first, and it really thought it was looking at the person in its memory¡ªregrettably, though the dispositions were simr, it was not the same person. Sun Xiaomeng had the same short hair as she did, had an Oriental face and looked younger than her, but the caring sparkling in their eyes was exactly the same.

    It turned its pupils, not as flexible as ever, but it could identify the furnishings around it¡ªit was not in ab, but in a verymon living room, located on the second floor of an ordinary pet shop.

    Richard didn¡¯t know for how long it had been unconscious, but it was dark outside the window. The construction noises downstairs had disappeared, probably because the workers worried about disturbing the residents in the neighborhood, and had stopped for the day.

    ¡°Doctor¡­¡± It staggered to stand up.

    Sun Xiaomeng buttressed it by letting it rest most of its weight on her hand. It was not until this moment that she found it was surprisingly light, its weight was even less than half the weight of a human brain. Its body was so delicate, yet its intelligence and wisdom wereparable to those of humans, so it was already a miracle of nature.

    And now, such a miracle was gradually fading away, as if nature was trying to fix a small mistake in the evolutionary chain.

    ¡°Don¡¯t move, Richard,e and take some medicine.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng extended two capsules to the bird¡¯s beak.

    ¡°What are these?¡± it asked.

    ¡°Do you really want to know? Well, I discarded the original medicines in the cold capsules and stuffed in the medicines prepared by myself, including nystatin, ciprofloxacin, andpound vitamins. Take them, you will feel better¡±

    Acute aspergillosis had a very high mortality rate because it took only about three hours from the onset of symptoms to death. If the disease urred at night, pets would have been dead before their owners could detect such an illness¡ªeven if some owners did find their pets sick, it would be toote to send them to see doctor, and that¡¯s why acute aspergillosis was so horrible.

    Richard was unfortunate, but it was also fortunate, for when the symptoms urred, Wang Qian and Li Kun were also in the living room, and they called Zhang Zian immediately and gained precious time for it. After that, whether it was Wang Qian and Li Kun¡¯s who were running errands back and forth, or Sun Xiaomeng who was decisive on diagnosis and giving prescription, or Jin Er who was speeding in his car, all of them were racing against its death, and it was really hard to tell whether they could defeat death in this round of racing.

    Richard stared at the two capsules for several seconds before it opened its beak to swallow them.

    ¡°Don¡¯t bite, just swallow them,¡± reminded Sun Xiaomeng.

    Richard listened to her and swallowed the two capsules.

    ¡°Great.¡± She exhaled in relief. She was worried that it would refuse to swallow the capsules because of its instincts as a bird, but it was so helpful that Richard can understand people¡¯s words so well.

    These tablets were made by Sun Xiaomeng. She borrowed the chopping board and rolling pin in Zhang Zian¡¯s house, carefully ground the tablets into powder, and then filled them into the cold capsules so that Richard could take them more easily. If she followed the conventional way by mixing the medicines into its food, the effect would appear slower, and she was afraid it would be toote for Richard.

    ¡°Here. Drink some water.¡± She fetched a porcin shot ss, which was used by Zhang Zian¡¯s father when he had an alcoholic drink, and such a ss can only contain 25ml of liquor.

    Right now, the shot ss was not filled with liquor, but with a clear liquid with a touch of blue.

    ¡°This is copper sulfate solution with 0.5% concentration level. It is poisonous, but it can cure your illness, which is called ¡®fighting poison with poison¡¯ in China.¡±

    Seeing that Richard was staring at the liquid, Sun Xiaomeng thought it didn¡¯t dare to drink it, so she exined to Richard.

    ¡°Doctor, I will drink it, but these will not save me.¡±

    Richard said inly, lowering its head to sip the copper sulfate solution in its mouth.

    It understood that the nightmares of the past had not beenpletely eradicated. Instead, they had been quietly gathering up. Last time, these medicines failed to save it, it was carried to a ce that was thousands of miles away to receive the microsurgery. This time, these medicines wouldn¡¯t be able to save it either. And it didn¡¯t think that such a simple pet shop would have the equipment required for performing a microsurgery.

    Unexpectedly, Sun Xiaomeng nodded, agreeing to what it said.

    ¡°You¡¯re right, these medicines alone won¡¯t save you.¡±

    Despite this, she was still filled with firm confidence. Even the prestigious veterinarians across the oceans were not as confident as she was when encountering aspergillosis. Richard was stunned and was moved by her great faith.

    She smiled and reached out one arm towards Richard, signaling it to stand up on her arm.

    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go out for a walk.¡±

 Chapter 301: Where I Should Go

    <h4>Chapter 301: Where I Should Go</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Richard stared at her arm for a while before jumping up on it. Because of the weakness in its ws, it staggered a bit, and Sun Xiaomeng quickly stretched out her other arm to stabilize it.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s go,¡± she said, raising her right arm so that Richard was on the same level as her own eyes.

    She took small steps forward, and opened the living room door with her left hand.

    ¡°Shhh!¡± She put her index finger up in front of her mouth, signaling Richard not to speak loudly.

    She pushed open the kitchen door and took it into the kitchen.

    Since the deaths of his parents, Zhang Zian scarcely used the gas stove, but right now, it had been turned on with light blue mes swaying upon it. A rugged earthenware pot was ced on the stove, gurgling with steams. Something unknown to Richard was boiling in the earthenware pot, exuding an extremely bitter smell that made Richard immediately turn away its head.

    The steel folding chair of the cashier downstairs had been moved here, Zhang Zian was sitting in the chair, with an arm leaning on the edge of the sink. He was taking a nap with his chin rested on his hand, drooling, and didn¡¯t notice that Sun Xiaomeng and Richard had appeared behind him. There was an rm clock beside his hand, which was running with tick-tock sounds incessantly.

    ¡°Do you know what¡¯s inside?¡± she pointed to the earthenware pot and whispered.

    Richard shook its head. No matter what was inside, it must be unsavory.

    ¡°There are Chinese herbal medicines inside,¡± she said, looking straight into its eyes. ¡°Western medicine alone cannot save you. But many unique things have been passed down by our ancestors, and Traditional Chinese Medicine is one of them.¡±

    ¡°They smell bitter,¡± said Richard hesitantly.

    ¡°Bitter medicine cures sickness.¡± Sun Xiaomeng smiled, ¡°This sentence is also passed down from our ancestors.¡±

    She nced over at the rm and whispered ¡°Shhh¡± towards Richard.

    Ding¡­ding¡­ding¡­

    The rm rang, and Zhang Zian almost fell from the chair. He wiped his saliva near his mouth and looked at the time, muttering, ¡°It¡¯s time to add water.¡±

    He used his right hand to pick up the kettle on the sink, padded his left palm with a cloth for insting from the heat, and opened the lid with his left hand.

    The steam erupted all at once, and Zhang Zian turned his head to avoid the st of the high-heated steam.

    Two or three secondster, the steam had cleared away. The water in the earthenware pot had been boiled for such a long time that it had almost gone, with only a lump of dark things visible, which were quite disgusting. Zhang Zian poured the water of the kettle into the earthenware pot, covered the lid, sit back in the chair, set another rm, and continued his nap by leaning on his arm.

    ¡°Decocting medicines is a meticulous job, which requires to be simmered slowly. When the next rm rings, you¡¯ll need to drink those medicines. Just imagine that you are eating some unptable wild fruits,¡± she whispered.

    ¡°Doctor, can these bitter things really cure the disease?¡± Richard remained skeptical, it had never tried such things in the West.

    She said solemnly, ¡°I promise.¡±

    Richard gazed at her eyes. It could tell that she was not joking orforting it. She had never hidden anything from it; she had even informed it in advance that copper sulfate solution was toxic.

    Just when Sun Xiaomeng opened the kitchen door again to take Richard away from there, she and Richard heard Zhang Zian talking behind them.

    ¡°Richard¡­¡±

    She turned around with Richard.

    Zhang Zian was still napping with his chin rested on his arm, with saliva drooling in the shape of thin and long threadsing from his mouth.

    ¡°Richard,e on, let¡¯s tell dirty jokes together¡­¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng couldn¡¯t help butugh, ¡°Look at this guy, even remembering to tell dirty jokes in his dreams!¡±

    She and Richard left the kitchen and entered Zhang Zian¡¯s bedroom.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were ying poker in chairs, and seeing that Sun Xiaomeng hade in the bedroom, they stood up straight quickly.

    ¡°Sister Xiaomeng, do you need us to help with anything?¡± they asked.

    Sun Xiaomeng shook her head, ¡°Nothing, I am taking Richard to walk around casually. You¡¯ve been running errands for the whole afternoon and the night, so you must be exhausted. Why not lie down and rest for a while?¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun looked at each other and answered in an awkward manner, ¡°Sister Xiaomeng, to be honest, we will fall asleep soundly the moment our heads hit the pillows, and nothing will wake us unless we¡¯ve slept for enough hours. We thought that you might need us to run errands, so we decided to keep watch overnight. We are incapable to share our Master¡¯s worries, the only thing we can do is to run some errands¡­¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng showed a thankful smile, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, there are no errands for you to run, take some rest for a while.¡±

    They nodded, however, from their expressions, they did not change their minds.

    ¡°How is Richard? Is it getting better? If anything happens to it, Master will be very upset.¡± They looked at the weary grey parrot and asked with concern.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯ll be all right,¡± she said. ¡°Go take some rest, don¡¯t get sick.¡±

    Richard remained silent.

    Sun Xiaomeng took Richard away from Zhang Zian¡¯s bedroom, and entered the bedroom of Zhang Zian¡¯s parents.

    The electric heater was ced near the bedside, and Fina was lying in the nket nearby when a drowsy feeling crept over it. Snowy Li was lying next to Fina, and it was carefully moving closer to Fina. For fear that Fina might find out its tricks, every time, Snowy Li just moved less than a centimeter.

    Startled by the door opening by Sun Xiaomeng, Fina opened its eyes and pushed away Snowy Li, who was pushed to roll away like a hairball on the ground. Too bad its cuteness didn¡¯t work at all on Fina.

    Snowy Li didn¡¯t stop rolling until it was at the feet of Sun Xiaomeng. It stood up, raised its face and stared at Richard with its watery blue eyes.

    Sun Xiaomeng worried that Snowy Li was going to hurt Richard, so she quickly put her left hand in front of Richard to block them.

    ¡°Meow! Real love only exists among the same sexes. Different sexes only produce offspring!¡± Snowy Li said to Richard, ¡°Buddy. Don¡¯t let me fight this war alone.¡±

    After saying this, Snowy Li ran back to Fina with its short legs.

    Of course, Sun Xiaomeng didn¡¯t understand what it said, she just heard a series of soft and gentle meowing sounds.

    Fina suddenly stood up, with icy-cold rays like swords shooting from its aquamarine eyes. It gazed at Richard, ¡°I remember you said that your loyalty to me is so true that even Heaven can verify for you. If you were not lying, Imand you to fight for me till the end like a real warrior.¡±

    When it finished speaking, Finaid down, closed its eyes and continued its nap.

    Sun Xiaomeng was a little frightened. She had always kept her distance from Fina because of Fina¡¯s fierce looks. She even thought that Fina would jump over to her, but fortunately it was a false rm.

    Old Time Tea was not with Fina and Snowy Li. It plugged in the electric nket in the corner, put its forepaws into its jacket sleeves, and sat in repose with its eyes closed.

    In front of Old Time Tea was a thermos bottle with a press button and two teacups. One cup was empty, of which at the bottom were a few tea leaves.

    With its eyes half-opened, Old Time Tea nced at Richard, put out one of its paws and pushed the empty teacup under the thermos bottle, pressed the button, and the hot water was flowing into the empty teacup.

    Green tea leaves were churning in the hot water, and the fragrance was dispersing.

    Old Time Tea pushed the cup of tea towards Richard.

    This time, Sun Xiaomeng understood that Old Time Tea was inviting Richard to drink tea. She always thought that the way that Old Time Tea dressed was very amusing and that maybe it was Zhang Zian¡¯s poor taste. Maybe Old Time Tea couldn¡¯t understand her words, but she still politely turned down the offer on behalf of Richard, ¡°It just drank medicine, and tea will reduce the effects of the medicine. It can¡¯t drink tea for the time being.¡±

    Old Time Tea narrowed its eyes as if it was smiling, and it lowered its head and drank its own cup of tea.

    Sun Xiaomeng left the bedroom with Richard, and whispered to it, ¡°Everyone seems to be looking forward to you getting better as soon as possible. Although I don¡¯t oftene to the pet shop often, I can feel it is cold and cheerless without you. ¡±

    Of course, for what Richard usually said a day was more than the words from all the other Elves put together in the pet shop.

    Sun Xiaomeng opened the door to the storage room, which was piled up with all kinds of things that didn¡¯t get used frequently and pet supplies for sale in the pet shop, and usually nobody came in the storage room. The lights were off in the storage room, with only light from the stars and streetmps came in through the windows.

    Richard stared in confusion at the interior, wondering why she had brought them here.

    She came to a small window in the corner, pointing afar through the ss and said, ¡°Look, that ce with the lights still on is my clinic. My newly hired nurse worries that I might need other medicines and has not slept yet.¡±

    Richard struggled with its heavy eyelids, trying to widen its eyes, looking at the vague light in that direction.

    A momentter, Sun Xiaomeng drew her arm inward, turning the bird to look at Richard in its eyes.

    ¡°Richard, many people are busy running for you, and everyone is very concerned about you, so please stay strong as response to everyone, okay?¡±

    Richard opened its beak but couldn¡¯t mutter a word. It was the first time in Richard¡¯s life that it felt its vocabry was poor, and it didn¡¯t know how to answer.

    There were no electric heaters in the storage room, so the temperature was rtively low. Sun Xiaomeng was afraid that it would catch a cold again, so she was intended to send it back to the warm living room. She estimated that it was about time that the medicines had been fully and properly decocted, so Richard could drink them after returning to the living room.

    As soon as she turned around, she saw that in the dimly lit room, there were a pair of silver-grey eyes.

    Sun Xiaomeng was surprised at first, but immediately she identified it was Gxy.

    Gxy somehow had quietly arrived behind them, squatting on the floor, raising its small peach face, and looking at them.

    ¡°Hi, Gxy, you are here! I couldn¡¯t find you before¡­ Gxy, are you also worried about Richard?¡± Since Richard was on her right arm, Sun Xiaomeng could only smile and wave her left hand.

    Only Gxy knew why Richard was hesitant. Richard didn¡¯t appear to have the courage to fight the disease because it didn¡¯t know where it should go, and whether it should return to its original owner. Richard¡¯s original owner was a rigorous and realistic scientist who would surely have doubts when seeing Richard resurrect from the dead. If its owner kept tracing down where it had been during these days, Richard worried that it might get Zhang Zian and others in troubles.

    Gxy blinked its silver-grey eyes, stared at Richard, and opened its mouth to say something, which to Sun Xiaomeng was just some meowing sounds.

    ¡°Richard, your future, is here!¡±

 Chapter 302: Away from My Love

    <h4>Chapter 302: Away from My Love</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Richard was special. Even among Elves, it was a special one. What made it special was that its original owner was still alive, and they once kept each otherpany and loved each other affectionately. So, Richard was facing a huge dilemma¡ªshould it go back? Should it return its original owner?

    When it was captured by Zhang Zian and brought to his pet shop, Richard had attempted to escape, trying to go back to its original owner. After finding its n unsessful, rather than gave up running away, it just temporarily put aside the idea. This was the modern society it was familiar with, and there were too many ways to deliver information, such as making phone calls. As long as it could find ways to make a phone call, she woulde to find it no matter from how far away.

    However, how to exin its return? Its death had been recognized by the modern society, so then how could it be exined, the miracle of its resurrection?

    Richard was not Jesus, nor did it want to be the Jesus of the birds¡ªthough that might give it unparalleled Strength of Faith and its status would be raised to a much higher level, the troubles that followed could be equally the same. The longer it spent time with Zhang Zian and other partners, the more it felt it was increasingly caught in a dilemma.

    ¡°Richard, your future, is here!¡±

    Hearing these words, Richard¡¯s head was filled with a tremendous roaring, and its heart was impacted by surging emotions.

    Richard used to think that in this pet shop, it was at the bottom of the food chain, and it was bullied by everyone. Even without regarding the special abilities of those cat elves, the fact that they were cats had put fear in it intrinsically. It had been desperately showing off for itself; even though its behaviors made it look like a buffoon, it didn¡¯t want to be taken lightly, because it represented birds in the pet shop, the one and only bird. It was the best back in theboratory, and it must be the best in the pet shop.

    However, it seemed that Richard had been overthinking, for whether it was Zhang Zian or other cat elves, none of them looked down upon it because of its lowest level. If not for this serious illness, Richard may still live in the illusion of self-pity.

    After finishing the sentence, Gxy walked away lightly.

    ¡°Richard, it¡¯s cold here, let¡¯s go back into the house,¡± said Sun Xiaomeng.

    They left the storage room, passed through Zhang Zian¡¯s parents¡¯ bedroom and Zhang Zian¡¯s bedroom. Richard knew that there were people behind the closed doors that cared for it, and it was not alone.

    Back to the living room, it jumped from the arm of Sun Xiaomeng.

    ¡°Doctor.¡±

    ¡°Yes? What¡¯s the matter?¡± she asked.

    ¡°I want to take the medicines, give me the medicines. I don¡¯t care if they are bitter or not,¡± said Richard in a hoarse voice.

    She smiled encouragingly. ¡°Richard is really brave. The medicines will be ready right away.¡±

    ¡°Will I be all right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I promise.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng left the living room, and went to the kitchen to fetch the medicines.

    Richard exhaustedly lied on the table with a clear mind.

    It had put down its obsession to excel over others, so why must itpare with the partners so as to see who was superior?

    Some of the things it could never understand or let go of because of its obsession had finally came around to it at this moment. Looking back, it felt so ridiculous.

    There were eight kinds of suffering in a human¡¯s life: suffering of birth, aging, sickness, death, erratic changes, being apart from loved ones, being together with despised ones, and not getting what one wants. These were also true in a bird¡¯s life.

    It had experienced birth, aging, sickness, and death, and had suffered from erratic changes. It had loved someone, it had pursued something, and it had resentment¡­it had experienced everything that humans and birds would experience. What else couldn¡¯t it let go of?

    If there was anything or anyone that Richard still couldn¡¯t let go of, it would be her. But it understood that it can¡¯t appear in front of her ever again, it couldn¡¯t disturb her calm life and put her into the controversy of gaining improper academic publicity. Not everyone would believe the miracles ofing back from death, and some people might doubt that it had been dead at all. Fabricating its death was nothing but drawing spotlights to herself, and she had been hiding it all this time. And when enough years had passed, she was going to announce the resurrection of it, because after all, grey parrots had very long life expectancies. If Richard did return to her, her already rough and rugged academic career would be thrown into a tremendous crisis.

    So, for her sake, it could no longer appear as its identity in the past.

    Because it loved her, it must leave her.

    It let go of everything in the past, for it was no longer Alex, but was truly Richard now!

    ¡°Nothing willst forever, and love is no exception.¡±

    ¡°My life is full of fears and dangers since my birth.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m worried and concerned for my love.¡±

    ¡°If I¡¯m away from my love, I will no longer be worried or concerned¡­¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng walked to the kitchen and saw that Zhang Zian was still snoozing on his arm, and a part of the ground was wet because of his drooling. She canceled the rm, quietly bypassed Zhang Zian, extinguished the gas stove, opened the lid with a cloth pad, poured the dark medicines into a small bowl prepared in advance, and left the kitchen with the bowl.

    ¡°Richard,e drink the medicines.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng walked into the living room. She didn¡¯t notice the strange look on Richard, but just put the medicine bowl in front of it.

    Richard lowered its head into the medicine bowl, and sipped off the viscous and bitter liquid.

    Just when Sun Xiaomeng was about to leave with the medicine bowl, she heard Richard call to her from behind, ¡°Doctor.¡±

    ¡°Yes? What¡¯s the matter?¡± She turned around and gazed at it.

    ¡°Will youe here tomorrow?¡± It seemed to ask that with deep meaning. This was also thest question it once asked before it died, and Irene replied, ¡°Yes, I wille here tomorrow.¡± And the next day, it was forever separated from her.

    Sun Xiaomeng smiled, ¡°No, Richard, because I¡¯m not leaving today.¡±

    She raised the bowl in her hands and showed it, ¡°I¡¯ll be right back, I¡¯m just going to do the dishes. Sleep peacefully, Richard, and I¡¯ll be here when you wake up.¡±

    Richard quietly closed its eyes and fell asleep.

    When it woke up the next morning, its pain had subsided, and the first thing that caught its eye was that Sun Xiaomeng was resting beside the table. She was sound asleep with a nket covering her, and a few unruly hairs at the edge of her forehead were rising up and down rhythmically with her even breathing.

    Zhang Zian was also in the living room, lying on the sofa dressed in his day clothes, and arms under the pillow. On his stomach was a book that had been ced upside down, of which the packaging bag was thrown on the ground randomly. A woman and a grey parrot were printed on the cover of the book.

    ¡°Turns out you are not aplete idiot,¡± whispered Richard.

    On the tea table, Zhang Zian¡¯s cell phone screen suddenly lit up automatically.

    [Navigation Elf]: Congrattions! The Apprehensive Bird¡¯s likability has been elevated to friendliness! Unlocking its real name!

    [Game Hints]: Pet Attributes

    [Known as]: Apprehensive Bird

    [Rarity]: Elite Level

    [Features]: The apprehensive birds were never heard before simply because they were not understood.

    [History Unlocked]:

    In 1977, animal psychologist Irene Pepperberg bought an African grey parrot, then only 13 months old, from an ordinary pet store, and named it Alex,mencing on a legendary experience.

    Alex¡¯s name was derived from the ¡°Avian Language Experiment¡± andter, its name was interpreted as the ¡°Avian Learning Experiment¡±. After many twists and turns, the experiment achieved unprecedented tremendous sess. The work between Irene and Alex had greatly expanded the boundaries of science, improved the status and life of parrots all over the world, and even made humans re-examine whether they were the only intelligent creatures on this.

    On the night of September 6, 2007, Alex perished suddenly in theboratory, and the cause of its death remained a mystery even until today.

    The news of its death swept the front pages of the mainstream media around the world in a short time, and Alex¡¯s death was considered to be a tragedy to the science and educationmunities, animal lovers and the whole world. People were also deeply astonished and moved by thest words it said before its death¡ª¡±You be good. I Love You.¡±

    Blessed with the Strength of Faith, Alex had be an Elf in this world, with the ability to master numerousnguages.

    [Unlocked real name]: Dr. Irene Pepperberg¡¯s love bird!

    ¡­

    Richard looked out of the window, the sky was clear, and another day had begun.

    Yesterday NOT once more.

 Chapter 303: Here She Comes Again

    <h4>Chapter 303: Here She Comes Again</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Several dayster.

    Zhang Zian was really perplexed. What happened exactly in the night when Richard was sick? Why did he wake up in the next morning only to find that Richard¡¯s real name had been unlocked? He had vaguely guessed Richard¡¯s identity, he was just not quite sure. The Navigation Elf said that if he could figure out the identity of one Elf, the likability of the Elf would be enhanced greatly. But that urred too abruptly, he didn¡¯t seem to have done anything special, and he was able to increase its likability to the friendly level?

    The most perplexing was that he may have fallen asleep on the sofa without covering up with a nket when he was going to stay up all night taking care of Richard. After getting up in the morning, he found he had a stuffy nose and was coughing, which seemed to be the symptoms of a cold that he would suffer from for a few days.

    Sun Xiaomeng came to the pet shop every day in the morning and in the evening to check Richard¡¯s body, and usually she just stayed in her clinic to work. Richard¡¯s condition had been stabilized, and full recovery was only a matter of time. Besides, there were appointments waiting for her at her pet clinic.

    There were medicines decocting on the gas stove. Richard still needed to take medicines for days until he was fully recovered.

    Zhang Zianined to Sun Xiaomeng that he had gotten a cold, but she simply replied that she was just a veterinarian, not a doctor. She didn¡¯t dare to give prescriptions to him randomly, but asked him to visit another doctor.

    Suddenly, Zhang Zian¡¯s position in this pet shop seemed to have fallen into the abyss.

    It was absolute retaliation!

    He only made some jokes about her, how can Sun Xiaomeng be so petty?

    Richard was slowly pecking at the dried fruits and vegetables prepared by Zhang Zian, and it seemed to have good appetite.

    ¡°Hey, what happened exactly at that night? I¡¯ve been asking you several times, and you never answered me. Does your friendly likability mean nothing?¡± he patiently asked Richard.

    About this issue, he had asked Richard several times, but Richard always avoided talking about it.

    After finishing the dried fruits, Richard drank some water, and stared at him with meaningful looks that made him feel nervous.

    ¡°Are you asking why my likeability towards you has been promoted to the friendly level?¡± asked Richard.

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± he answered.

    ¡°And that¡¯s why you are an idiot. What you should think about is, why did you catch a cold?¡± Richard seemed to give an irrelevant response.

    Zhang Zian asked confusedly, ¡°Is there a direct rtionship between these two issues?¡±

    ¡°Certainly,¡± said Richard assuredly, ¡°Have you not heard of a saying that a cold can be transmitted by kissing?¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    He sniffed and pointed to himself, ¡°I have a cold.¡±

    Then he pointed to Richard, ¡°And you have recovered from a cold.¡±

    Richard hopped a few small steps towards him with a dubious look, ¡°You still don¡¯t understand?¡±

    ¡°Damn it! Gay parrot, you stay away from me!¡±

    Zhang Zian retreated a few steps back, wiping his mouth while backing away, ¡°F**k! Did you¡­while I was asleep that night¡­did you¡­¡±

    ¡°Quack! I took your first kiss!¡± eximed Richard, pping its wings cheerfully.

    Zhang Zian was cursing it furiously inside his heart!

    ¡°I¡¯ve been saving my first kiss for more than two decades. How can it easily be taken away by a gay parrot?!¡± he roared in grief and indignation.

    ¡°Quack! It¡¯s toote, I¡¯ve already taken it, and you are mine now!¡± Richard pressed towards him closer, ¡°By the way, do you want to further enhance my likability? Let me give you some tips. Do you have soaps in your bathroom? Safeguard soaps will do¡­¡±

    ¡°Shut up! Shut up! ¡°Zhang Zian tightened his butt. What a malicious bird!

    ¡°You¡¯re so annoying!¡± Fina angrily opened its eyes and reprimanded them, ¡°Don¡¯t disturb me while I¡¯m sleeping!¡±

    Snowy Li immediately echoed maliciously, ¡°That¡¯s right! Your Majesty is right! If you want to disy your affections, go get a room in a hotel! What¡¯s the deal with you paying ¡®lip service¡¯ in front of us?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to a hotel with it! Besides, are you going to pay for the room rates?¡± Zhang Zian red at Snowy Li bitterly. There¡¯s no good for him to continue such nonsense with the gay bird and the lesbian cat, because they would certainly lead him to have increasingly dirtier conversations. Also, he wondered whether he had overthought it, he felt a bit awkward when the words ¡°lip service¡± came out from the mouth of Snowy Li.

    ¡°Forget it. I¡¯m going downstairs.¡±

    Zhang Zian came down to the first floor. Looking at the brand-new storefront, his bad mood because of losing his first kiss was swept away.

    Thanks to Guo Dongyue and the renovation workers¡¯mitment in these days, the decoration of his shop had been basicallypleted, with only some finishing touches that would take up to two days.

    Most of the workers had already left, leaving only one worker standing on a chair to wire the newly installed ceilingmp.

    Looking around the shop, he felt that it was just like Cindere had turned into a princess. There were few changes to the overallyout, but since Guo Dongyue had fully utilized the unused space, the entire shop appeared a lot more spacious¡ªfor example, the pet supplies and pet food had been previously randomly piled on the ground or stacked on the storage racks by Zhang Zian, but thanks to Guo Dongyue, who installed well-arranged wooden shelves on the wall, such things could be ced on the wall, thus freeing up the space on the ground.

    When decorating the shop, to solve the poor lighting issues, Guo Dongyue had also installed many hidden wall lights, enhancing the warm atmosphere for the shop with their soft rays of light.

    Most importantly, there were finally French ss doors in his shop¡ªone was at the entrance, and one was separating the front and back areas in between, and both of them were the automatically sliding type. Since the ss doors were installed, even Zhang Zian could feel the temperature inside the shop had increased by several degrees. A few days ago, strong winds swept through the city, with afterwinds continued blowing these days, the outdoor temperature plummeted. Winter wasing, and seeing the bleak streets outside where wind was blowing and leaves were flying, he felt lucky that he had these doors installed in time.

    The pets and disy cases that he moved to Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s clinic had also been moved back to the shop. Since the shop had became spacious, he felt it looked empty even when his pet and disy cases had returned. Gxy and the kittens hadrger spaces to y, but the puppies were still left inside the disy cases, looking outside eagerly.

    ¡°If you build it, they wille.¡±

    Zhang Zian was looking forward to his bright future. With such a ssy pet shop, he could definitely attract some fair-skinned, rich and gorgeousdies, right?

    Just when he was immersed in his fantasy while looking out into the distance, the automatic inductive door glided open, with a person rushing in from the outside.

    ¡°Zhang Zian! Hurry! Give me a red envelope, for I highly rmended your shop and am bringing you a customer! You should thank me!¡± Zhao Qi excitedly rushed into his shop carrying her bag, followed by a short young man that Zhang Zian had never met before.

    Zhang Zian looked at her, and silently sighed in his heart. Howe she was the first customer again?

    In his eyes, Zhao Qi was indeed fair-skinned, and as for her look¡­not too bad. But speaking of wealth, she waspletely a stingy person!

    What an unlucky year for him!

 Chapter 304: Vlogger

    <h4>Chapter 304: Vlogger</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Wow, your shop is decorated so nicely.¡± Zhao Qi was quite surprised by the new decoration style of his shop, ¡°If I didn¡¯t see you here, I would really have thought that I went into the wrong ce. You really spent heavily on this, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    He hadn¡¯t seen her for a long time, but Zhao Qi hadn¡¯t changed much. She still dressed stylishly. The arrival of winter enabled her to have more options when it came to dress collocation, and today she was wearing a light brown, knee-length, woolen overcoat outside her career suit to make her look more slender.

    Zhang Zian felt that he had seen this coat before. It was not that he saw her wear it, but it appeared in her ck Friday overseas shopping list on her Friends¡¯ Moments in WeChat a few days ago¡ªit had probably just been delivered to her, and she couldn¡¯t wait to wear it.

    He simply nced at Zhao Qi and ignored her, avoiding the hand she stretched out demanding a red envelope, and said to the little man behind her, ¡°Hello, I am Zhang Zian, the store manager here. How can I help you today?¡±

    ¡°Hey!¡± Zhao Qi chimed in, ¡°How can you be so ungrateful? I spent a long time persuading him toe over. Where¡¯s mymission?¡±

    ¡°Commission, right?¡± Zhang Zian picked up a can of cat food from the shelves and threw it to her, ¡°Here, yourmission.¡±

    ¡°Ouch!¡± Without any preparation, Zhao Qi scrambled to catch the can, nced at it and immediately threw it back, ¡°I don¡¯t want homemade brands! I¡¯ve just purchased plenty of cat food from overseas shopping websites for their ck Friday deals with my colleagues, and our cats will have enough to eat for some time!¡±

    ¡°Take it or leave it!¡± Zhang Zian put the canned food back on the shelves.

    The young man was curiously staring at the kittens that were ying and chasing each other in the shop, and was not at all intrigued by Zhang Zian and Zhao Qi¡¯s dialogue.

    Zhao Qi knew that Zhang Zian was as closed as a m, and had to give up her attempt. She coughed and introduced the man, ¡°This is my colleague from the Technical Department, Song Bai.¡±

    ¡°Really? From the Technical Department?¡± Zhang Zian thought for a moment. ¡°Together with that nerd, Liu San Lang, who has a Lolitaplex?¡±

    Song Bai stopped looking at the kittens and corrected him, ¡°We are both from the Technical Department, but we don¡¯t work together.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Zhang Zian nodded, pretending he had understood. To be honest, he didn¡¯t care what Song Bai did for his work, as long as he would buy something in his pet shop. That¡¯s right, money can have it all!

    ¡°By the way, how is Liu San Lang recently?¡± He asked Zhao Qi.

    Zhao Qi pouted with resentment, ¡°Don¡¯t ever mention it. Shi Shi has been spending all her time with him and the Labrador Retriever, and I think it¡¯s only a matter of time before she¡¯spletely disconnected from our previous bestie groups¡ªthis is all your fault! How can you fall for his lie that he was buying a dog for his younger sister? He doesn¡¯t have a sister at all, okay? I don¡¯t care, but you owe me a bestie!¡±

    ¡°How can I find a bestie for you¡­¡± Zhang Zian was really angry that he had believed Liu San Lang¡¯s tricks¡­but if he could choose again, he would still sell the dog to him, because after all, he had a pet shop to run, and only a fool would turn away business.

    Song Bai coughed gently, and Zhang Zian realized it was not the time for him to chat. He quickly apologized to the potential client today, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Mr. Song, right? What would you like to see today?¡±

    ¡°He is here to buy a cat.¡± Zhao Qi snapped quickly.

    Zhang Zian stared at her, meaning that, I was not asking you, please shut up.

    Song Bai was not tall, but appeared very energetic with his small face and short hair. He was wearing a motorcycle leather jacket, a pair of loose overalls that had a lot of pockets, a pair of mittens, with silver studs on his ears. It was obvious that he was one of the fashion-chasing, vigorous young people. What Zhang Zian particrly noticed was that one of his hands was holding a small digital camera, and it seemed to be recording the kittens ying around his shop.

    ¡°Uh, may I ask if you are recording?¡± Zhang Zian asked, pointing to his camera.

    Song Bai seemed to have taken it for granted that he could shoot videos there, ¡°Yes. Is recording forbidden in your shop?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Zhang Zian would like to answer that recording videos were also prohibited in his shop, just like in the Dragon and Phoenix Jewelry Shop, but out of what reason? It made sense that Dragon and Phoenix Jewelry Shop didn¡¯t allow filming for fear that itspetitors might giarize its jewelry designs, but why would a pet shop prohibit its customers from taking pictures of or filming at the pets?

    Seeing that Zhang Zian was undecided, Zhao Qi was afraid that they might have unpleasantries, and she quickly exined to Zhang Zian, ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand him, he did not mean anything else, he is a blogger, holding the camera to shoot is what happens in his daily life.¡±

    ¡°What? Blogger?¡± Zhang Zian was surprised for a moment, ¡°Like the bloggers on Weibo?¡±

    He seldom checked in his Weibo ount, but he knew that Weibo was a tform for picture sharing, and even videos. They were short videos that onlysted for ten seconds or so. But Song Bai seemed to have been filming since he entered the pet shop. And what the hell did ¡°shooting one¡¯s daily life¡± mean?

    ¡°No,¡± Zhao Qi waved her hand, ¡°He doesn¡¯t use Weibo, that stuff is out of date. He is a vlogger.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand what ¡°vlogger¡± meant either, he just got more confused.

    Zhao Qi asked, ¡°Have you not heard of vlogging?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Zhang Zian answered honestly.

    Zhao Qi instantly felt it was too bothered for her to exin, but ultimately, she tried to be patient, ¡°Well, I guess I have to start from the very beginning¡­vlogging is a very popr video blogging format in foreign countries, especially in the United States in recent years. Instead of writing down their daily lives with words, people record videos as blogging. People who like this type of blogging are known as vloggers, and Song Bai is one of them.¡±

    Song Bai nodded, agreeing to what she said.

    ¡°Very popr?¡± Zhang Zian was very good at capturing such key words.

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± said Zhao Qi.

    ¡°But I have never heard of it. Is it really that popr?¡± Zhang Zian doubted it.

    Zhao Qi further exined, ¡°It is very popr abroad, but only few people are vloggers in our country. I didn¡¯t learn about it until I met Song Bai¡ªI felt strange seeing him hold a camera to film at any time, on his way to work, on unch break, or on his way home. So I asked him about it.¡±

    ¡°Oh, now it makes sense.¡± Zhang Zian nodded in relief. Turned out it was popr abroad, no wonder he had never heard of it.

    Zhao Qi looked at him as he was a primitive man, ¡°I think you really need to find a proper job. You arepletely out of touch with the trends.¡±

    ¡°Wait a second!¡± Zhang Zian was displeased, ¡°I don¡¯t believe many people in China know what the so-called ¡®vlogger¡¯ is about. Besides, you didn¡¯t know that before either, so you are in no position to judge me!¡±

    Song Bai coughed again to interrupt their conversation, ¡°Can I shoot the pets or not?¡±

    Zhang Zian pondered for a moment. He wouldn¡¯t suffer any material loss from the video shooting, and he said in a very generous manner, ¡°Here are the rules of this pet shop. Customers can shoot videos only if they buy pets. No purchasing, no shooting.¡±

    Zhao Qi couldn¡¯t help butined, ¡°How pragmatic! Howe I have never heard of such rules?¡±

    ¡°Because these are the rules I just set out,¡± Zhang Zian stared at her in a defiant manner, ¡°This is my shop. I am the boss. You have a problem with that?¡±

    Zhao Qi knew that Zhang Zian was obsessed with money, but she couldn¡¯t embarrass herself in front of her colleagues, or else she might be looked down upon by them. Just when she was about to argue with Zhang Zian, Song Bai waved his hand and said, ¡°It¡¯s okay, I promise I will buy pets. Do I have your permission now?¡±

    Zhang Zian had been waiting for this sentence, and his anger was swept away by sheer joy, ¡°Customers are always right. Shoot anywhere you want!¡±

 Chapter 305: Three Forms of Unfilial Conduct

    <h4>Chapter 305: Three Forms of Unfilial Conduct</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Song Bai was not at all agitated because of Zhang Zian¡¯s obsession with money¡ªhe was indeed nning to buy a cat. And if he could also shoot some interesting things in the pet shop, his trip today would have been worth it.

    Compared to thework anchoring industry that had made numerous camgirls popr, vloggers were painstakingly keeping their business running. Few people knew about what vloggers did, and what¡¯s worse, vlogging simply couldn¡¯t make money, and their enthusiasm was fading away gradually. Fortunately, as a vlogger, Song Bai didn¡¯t need to worry much. Firstly, he had a stable job so that he didn¡¯t need to solely rely on the ies brought by vlogging; secondly, he targeted his vlog at the audience abroad, where there was still a possibility of making money¡ªwith the premise that his posts became suddenly popr.

    Rather than live streaming, vlog was a form of sharing recorded videos. Compared withwork anchors, vloggers were less interactive with their viewers. It¡¯s impossible for them to perform a program or show their talents after their viewers tipped them generously; besides, their videos required additional post-editing. As implied by its name, a vlog is a video diary or blog. It had gained poprity abroad but didn¡¯t appeal to the public in China yet¡ªwhere the vloggers spent much more energy thanwork anchors, yet only earned insignificantly small moneypared to the anchors; and only vloggers who had kept their passion had been insisting on recording videos. The situation was much better in foreign countries, where even though vloggers might not earn more thanwork anchors, at least they had roughly equal shares in the market.

    Song Bai had been vlogging since after he graduated from university, but he hadn¡¯t gained much poprity as of now. For every vlog posted on YouTube, on average he only attracted tens to hundreds of views. At present, he had just graduated from university, had a stable job, his family was quite wealthy, he had no girlfriend, and he didn¡¯t intend to find one for the time being. The main reason he had been insisting on his passion of vlogging was seizing the day while he can.

    The reason he suddenly wanted to buy a cat was that he had found his life too monotonous. Vlog was a video diary, and vlog viewers were attracted by someone else¡¯s interesting life¡ªif the viewers already had simple and repeated life, why would they bother to watch his monotonous life? Of course, some psychologists had analyzed the reason why vlog was so popr, partly because people were interested in spying on others¡¯ private life.

    When he revealed his idea of ??buying a pet in his Friends¡¯ Moment in WeChat, Zhao Qi immediately left him a message, rmending a pet shop to him and said that the cats in the pet shop can perform stunts.

    Song Bai was not particrly familiar with Zhao Qi, for they were inpletely different social circles, and they knew each other just because they were colleagues, and asionally had some brief conversations because she was curious about vlog, so he was quite surprised to hear from her.

    Initially he suspected Zhao Qi was a fake customermissioned by pet shops to persuading him into buying pets, but after inquiry in theirpany, he cleared his doubt. Everyone knew that Zhao Qi hadpletely be a cat enthusiast, which he had confirmed after having personal contact with Zhao Qi, who just kept bragging about her British Shorthair, Lan Lan, and how nice and well-behaved Lan Lan was. And she also strongly suggested that he should also buy a British Shorthair, as if it would be a big loss in his life if he didn¡¯t get one¡­

    Finally, she summed up with one sentence¡ª ¡°There are three forms of unfilial conducts, of which the worst is to have no cats.¡±

    Song Bai was speechless about her words. He thought, if Zhao Qi could transfer her enthusiasm and talent in persuading people to have cats to her sales work, she would have been the annual sales champion in theirpany¡­

    In a word, Zhao Qi was the one that had persuaded him to visit this pet shop. It was not an exaggeration to state that she was pulling and dragging him over, with her determination to turn more people in thepany into cat enthusiasts, which could be regarded as her revenge to her ¡°former¡± bestie, who was a dog lover.

    Besides, Song Bai was also very interested in stunt-performing cats, especially if the cats in this pet shop could perform stunts collectively. He wondered: if he could record such scenes where cats were doing stunts together, would his vlogs attract more views?

    Since entering the pet shop, the camera in his hand had been aiming at the kittens chasing each other. He only felt that these kittens were very lively and lovely, and there was nothing special about them.

    Zhang Zian said warmly, ¡°You want to buy a cat, correct? Which kind? Do you have any preference? Or should I rmend some to you?¡±

    Zhao Qi chimed in, ¡°Hey! When I used to buy a cat here, I don¡¯t remember you being so hospitable!¡±

    Zhang Zian replied confidently, ¡°Because at that time I was not sure whether you would buy it or not. You seemed to be a very picky customer, so why should I spend extra time on you?¡±

    Zhao Qi thought what he said was true, but she also had the impulses to punch him!

    She replied for Song Bai, ¡°He wants a British Shorthair, just get him a British Shorthair, but it can¡¯t be better than my Lan Lan!¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not buying British Shorthair.¡± Song Bai answered awkwardly. He felt that Zhao Qi was getting increasingly obsessed with recruiting more cat enthusiasts, and it was better for him to stay away from her.

    ¡°What? You clearly said you wanted that before¡­¡± Zhao Qi murmured discontentedly.

    Zhang Zian knew from his tone that he had a broad range of choices and asked, ¡°Then which kind do you have in mind? I might not haveplete breeds, but you can find most of themon breeds here.¡±

    Song Bai said a breed¡¯s name that surprised both Zhang Zian and Zhao Qi, ¡°I want a Dragon Li cat.¡±

    ¡°Dragon Li cats? Aren¡¯t they themonly seen cheap cats? You may just go pick one on the street! Listen to me, British Shorthairs¡­¡± Zhao Qi thought Song Bai waspletely insane to choose a Dragon Li over a British Shorthair!

    ¡°Stop! Dragon Li cats are not cheap cats, all right? How dare you im yourself a cat lover not knowing such facts?¡± Zhang Zian waved her away and asked her to step aside, ¡°Go away, I have business to do.¡±

    ¡°Do you really want a Dragon Li?¡± After the annoying Zhao Qi had left them alone, he asked Song Bai seriously.

    Song Bai had considered beforeing to the shop that the main audience of his vlog was people that lived abroad, and if there was any cat breed that was rtively rare in foreign countries, it would probably be the Dragon Li cat that originated in China. As for himself, he had no preference for any cats, as long as the price was not ridiculously expensive.

    ¡°Yes, I want a Dragon Li.¡± Song Bai nodded and confirmed, ¡°Manager, do you have any Dragon Li cats that can perform stunts?¡±

    ¡°You know what? I do have one! You came just in time ¡ª I have only one Dragon Li in my shop, and someone would have bought it if you cameter!¡± Zhang Zian excitedly rubbed his hands, ¡°Would you like to have a look? ¡±

    Most of his words were true. There was indeed a Dragon Li for sale in his pet shop. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t intend to purchase Dragon Li cats from the pet breeding base, because they were not quite popr among the public. People always thought Dragon Li cats were cheap, and unlike American Shorthair or British Shorthair that had fancier names, it was harder to sell Dragon Li cats. The one and only Dragon Li in his shop was a gift from Sun Yinian when Zhang Zian purchased other cats from his breeding base, and since it didn¡¯t cost him money, Zhang Zian epted the Dragon Li happily. He didn¡¯t expect that someone would really be buying it today.

    ¡°Of course, I would like to take a look¡­ But starting from now, I would like to officially start filming vlog for today. You both might appear on the camera, are you okay with that?¡± Song Bai raised the digital camera in his hand and asked.

    As a vlogger, especially in a country where vlog was not pervasively epted by the public, it was necessary to ask for permission before shooting. Song Bai had heard a lot of simr news in the vloggingmunity that some vlogger recorded videos without asking the people being filmed. As a result, people were agitated and refused to be filmed, and the urrence of fistfights were alsomonce.

    ¡°Yes,¡± said Zhao Qi naturally.

    But Zhang Zian raised his hand to stop Song Bai, ¡°Wait a minute.¡±

    ¡°What now?¡± Zhao Qi felt Zhang Zian was extremely dilly-dallying today.

    Zhang Zian went to the shelves for pet supplies, picked up a bristleb forbing the furs of shorthair cats,bed his hair into a slick-back, and said satisfactorily, ¡°Okay, you can shoot now.¡±

 Chapter 306: Looking Back in the Past

    <h4>Chapter 306: Looking Back in the Past</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Afterbing his hair, Zhang Zian also adjusted his cor and sleeves. He looked so refreshed, as if he was going to appear on TV.

    Zhao Qi was really embarrassed by him. Luckily, other than them, there was no one in the pet shop, or she would really have pretended that she didn¡¯t know this person.

    Song Bai unfastened a shoulder bag from his back, and pulled out a strange-looking thing from inside, which Zhang Zian had never seen before. It kind of looked like a selfie stick, but was much shorter, and much fancier.

    ¡°What is this?¡± asked Zhang Zian curiously.

    ¡°A handheld pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) device,¡± exined Song Bai, ¡°To enhance stability when capturing videos.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± Zhang Zian asked Zhao Qi, ¡°Have you seen it before?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Zhao Qi shook her head.

    ¡°Buddy, you are really professional,¡± admired Zhang Zian sincerely.

    The onlywork anchor he knew was Snowy, who usually held a mobile phone and a selfie stick to record videos. Compared to Song Bai, who was using a digital camera and a handheld PTZ, Snowy was just too much of an amateur. But the amount of tipping and rewards that Snowy received from her viewers during live broadcasts¡­Gee, what an envy of all!

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not.¡± said Song Bai modestly, ¡°These are verymon devices for vloggers.¡±

    Song Bai adeptly put his digital camera and handheld PTZ together. He raised his camera, lens aiming at himself, smiled and said, ¡°Hello, everyone!¡±

    ¡°Cut!¡± Zhang Zian drew a pausing gesture, ¡°Why are you speaking English?¡±

    ¡°Because I am going to upload the video to YouTube, which is essible to audiences all over the world, so of course I should speak English,¡± exined Song Bai.

    ¡°Well¡­ then¡­is it okay that I don¡¯t speak English?¡± Zhang Zian clearly showed that he was poor in English.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, I¡¯ll add English subtitles to our dialogues before the final rendering anyways,¡± said Song Bai. He paused, and then continued embarrassedly, ¡°But you¡¯d better not expect too much, because few people usually watch my vlogs.¡±

    Compared with live broadcasting, one of the advantages of vlogging was that vloggers could add subtitles to their videoster so that their content could transcend linguistic boundaries and people around the world could watch and understand the videos.

    Zhang Zian held up a young ck Dragon-Li among the kittens and brought it in front of Song Bai, ¡°You can start shooting now, just turn off the shlight.¡±

    The Dragon-Li kitten was very lively and energetic. It kept struggling and wriggling in Zhang Zian¡¯s arms, with its four small paws stroking forwards, like it was swimming. Its body bent like a bow, showing a good waist and abdomen strength. With its yellow-green eyes wide open, it was staring curiously at Song Bai¡¯s camera lens, sticking out a small forepaw and trying to touch it.

    Zhang Zian quickly pulled it back a little bit before its paw almost rubbed the lens.

    ¡°Is your camera all right?¡± he asked. Zhang Zian heard that camera lenses were very expensive. Some might even cost tens of thousands of RMB. If the cat really had left some scratches on the lens, how many Dragon-Li cats would he have to sell before he couldpensate for the damage?

    Song Bai was focusing on his LCD screen and didn¡¯t answer.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Are there any scratches?¡± Zhang Zian nervously went closer to have a look.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s okay, no scratches,¡± replied Song Bai. The scene where the kitten was trying to touch the camera, though, almost took Zhang Zian¡¯s breath away. It was actually very adorable when reviewed from the screen, as if the kitten was going to press the shutter to take a selfie. Song Bai decided to keep this scene at the time of editing, and might even use it as the cover photo of the current vlog.

    ¡°Good to know,¡± Zhang Zian calmed down. ¡°How do you like this Dragon-Li kitten?¡±

    As a vlogger, Song Bai was ustomed to observing the world through the camera lens and the LCD screen. Through the camera lens, he saw that the whole body of the Dragon Li kitten was ck, and only its chest, abdomen and four paws were in white.

    ¡°This is a Dragon-Li cat? Don¡¯t fool me! Though it looks nice, it obviously is just a cheap cat!¡± said Zhao Qi with astonishment.

    Zhang Zian answered disdainfully, ¡°Look at its fur color! Have you seen any cheap cats in such a color? Look carefully!¡±

    Zhao Qi and Song Bai listened to him and then looked at the kitten closely. Only then did they find that the body color of the cat was not pure ck, but instead, there were mackerel patterns in between that were hard to perceive¡ªits overall fur color was ck, and these patterns were also in ck, but of slightly different shades. These mackerel patterns were too dark, if the lighting in the shop hadn¡¯t been greatly improved by Guo Dongyue, they might not be able to distinguish such patterns in an indoor environment.

    ¡°This is a rare ck Dragon-Li cat.¡± Zhang Zian told them.

    It¡¯s true thatpared to Zhao Qi¡¯s pure-color British Shorthair, this Dragon Li appeared a little bit cheap. But honestly, Song Bai was an unconventional young man, who didn¡¯t care much about thedy-like British Shorthair cats. He even thought that Zhao Qi¡¯s British Shorthair was toozy. On the contrary, somehow the scene where the Dragon Li was attempting to touch the camera kept reying in his mind, and if he was not shooting video right now, he would really press the yback and immerse in that scene.

    ¡°Um¡­ I don¡¯t know, how¡¯s the condition of this cat?¡± asked Song Bai.

    Zhao Qi interrupted again, ¡°I think all the cats in his pet shop are well-conditioned, because he personally went to the pet breeding base to pick them. You know, my Lan Lan¡­¡±

    ¡°Stop! Can you stop talking about your British Shorthair for just one moment?!¡± Zhang Zian red at her, and said to Song Bai, ¡°There are not much criteria to judge the conditions of Dragon-Li. As long as Dragon-Li cats are lively and healthy, they are good.¡±

    ¡°What? I thought conditions are important when picking pets?¡± asked Song Bai confusingly.

    Zhang Zian sighed, ¡°You¡¯re right, but Dragon-Li cats are not in the catalog of purebred cats of CFA (The Cat Fanciers¡¯ Association), so there¡¯s no such standard to grade their conditions.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Zhao Qi questioned, ¡°I remember reading news that the breed of Dragon-Li was admitted by the CFA and that in the United States, a purebred Dragon-Li cat can be sold for thousands of dors¡­¡±

    ¡°Wrong.¡± Zhang Zian replied mercilessly, ¡°Indeed, the CFA once recognized the breed of Dragon-Li. But then CFA and China had a ¡®catfight¡¯, soter, Dragon-Li was removed from CFA¡¯s breed catalog. If you really like this Dragon-Li cat, you can buy it, but there¡¯s not much to know about its conditions.¡±

    Speaking of the catfight between China and CFA, it was really dramatic.

    Around 2012, there was a Great Wall Club in Beijing that specialized in breeding Dragon- Li cats. With its technology, talent and passion, after a period of hard work, the Great Wall Club finally had bred Dragon-Li cats that had reached rtively stable conditions, and they were sent to the United States to attend CFA certification.

    As the Great Wall Club had hoped, the CFA admitted Dragon-Li as a breed, which could have been a happy ending to everyone. But then the Great Wall Club and the CFA had some unexpected disputes that soured their rtionship. As for the cause of the dispute, there were all kinds of spections. The more reliable version was that the CFA had kept the Dragon-Li cats which were sent to them for certification instead of returning them to the Great Wall Club, who refused to suffer the loss quietly¡­

    Anyways, at the end of this drama, the Great Wall Club was dissolved, and the Dragon-Li was removed from the CFA. A triple-lose ending!

    It was the best shot for introducing Chinese Dragon-Li cats to the whole world, yet the chance slipped away.

 Chapter 307: New Stunts

    <h4>Chapter 307: New Stunts</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhao Qi and Song Bai were enthralled by the unexpected gossip of the past.

    After Zhang Zian finished speaking, they kept asking him questions, longing for more details.

    Zhang Zian gradually became impatient. He waved his hand and said, ¡°Not that I don¡¯t want to share with you, it¡¯s just that I really don¡¯t know much about it. I just happened to learn about the drama from my parents.¡±

    He heard about the issue on a summer night in the past, when he came back home from college for summer vacation. He and his parents went to the rooftop to enjoy the cool evening, and his parents were talking about some news, while he was ying his cell phone. He was engaging in their conversation only from time to time, so he had only heard limited contents of the news. Zhang Zian¡¯s parents also felt it was a pity that Dragon-Li cats were removed from the breed catalog of the CFA. Because once recognized by the CFA, there would be many benefits to Dragon-Li cats, such as promotion of status. Though CFA was only a non-governmental organization in the United States, there were no counterparts in China, and generally, the pet industry in China had been using the CFA standard.

    ¡°What a pity¡­ but why did the CFA refuse to return those cats to the Great Wall Club?¡± Zhao Qi¡¯s patriotism was inspired ¡ª she was indignant at the CFA and felt sorry for the Great Wall Club.

    Song Bai also thought that what the CFA did was imprable.

    Zhang Zian was rtively calmer, ¡°Don¡¯t judge too fast. What I said just now is only one version of many rumors, and it¡¯s hard to tell whether it is true. No one knows exactly what happened except the insiders. Besides, there must be reasons that CFA chose to keep those cats, perhaps there were some misunderstandings duringmunication¡­anyways, there¡¯s no going back now.¡±

    He put the ck Dragon-Li that he had been holding in his arms on the ground, stroked the back of its neck, and said to them, ¡°What I mean to let you know is that, the most important thing is that you like Dragon-Li cats, and there¡¯s no point in fixating on their conditions.¡±

    The ck Dragon-Li felt veryfortable being stroked by Zhang Zian, and it narrowed its eyes and uttered some ¡°purr, purr¡± sounds.

    Song Bai hated to see Dragon-Li cats miss the chance to make their names known internationally. He wanted to fight for them. Hands trembling slightly, an idea was sprouting in his head. Maybe to some extent, he could achieve something that the Great Wall Club failed to do¡ªintroduce Dragon-Li cats to the whole world!

    Perhaps this was not enough to make the CFA re-admit the Dragon-Li cats, but at least he could let more people in the world know about the existence of Dragon-Li cats, so that more people would begin to like such cats from China.

    But then he sighed again. His vlogs usually just attracted hundreds of views, so how was he going to make Dragon-Li cats popr?

    Zhao Qi and Zhang Zian didn¡¯t notice hisplicated thoughts at this time. They were teasing the ck Dragon-Li using their fingers. The ck Dragon Li was chasing their fingers lively, like a ck ball of fur rolling on the ground.

    ¡°Can you make it perform a stunt?¡± Song Bai hesitated for a long time, and finally made this request.

    ¡°Of course.¡± Zhang Zian stood up, and smiled mysteriously at Zhao Qi.

    Seeing his pretentious smile, Zhao Qi was reminded of what he had said before, and she suddenly had some hunch¡ª¡±Your cats have learned new stunts?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Even a pet shop should keep up with the times!¡±

    Zhang Zian was smirking loftily, like he had be the best in the world.

    After his pets were returned from the clinic, although he was still suffering from a cold, he insisted on working. He asked Fina to teach the kittens a set of new stunts with moreplicated and lengthy movements that would astonish everyone¡­too bad no one was going to award him banners and medals.

    ¡°The new stunts are way moreplicated than merely walking in figure eights.¡± Zhang Zian pulled out his cellphone and switched the screen to the music yer app, ¡°It¡¯s better when apanied by music.¡±

    ¡°Apanied by music?¡± said Song Bai, whose jaw was dropping. The kittens could also understand music?

    Eyes wide open, Zhao Qi excitedly urged Zhang Zian to start. Zhang Zian had promised her before that after the introduction of new stunts, he would teach them to her Lan Lan for free. But even if the new stunts were nothing special, she would not waste such a free teaching opportunity. She didn¡¯t care if Zhang Zian would call her a stingy person.

    Holding his camera, Song Bai was also looking forward to the new stunts. The views and influence of this vlog on YouTubepletely depended on how great the abilities of Zhang Zian cats were.

    ¡°The special effects will be more impressive if more cats perform together.¡± Zhang Zian put the ck Dragon-Li together with other kittens, and then pped his hands three times.

    Receiving the instructions that Fina had rehearsed with them before, the kittens immediately stopped ying. Squatting on the floor quietly, they raised their faces to look at him, just like a group of trained soldiers.

    ¡°Ah!!!¡± screamed Zhao Qi excitedly. She was melted by their cuteness.

    Indeed, for cat lovers, this scene alone was enough to melt their hearts¡ªdozens of cute eyes were gazing at them, because usually cats were too proud to nce at humans.

    Even Song Bai, who had not raised cats before, was moved by them. He held his camera and went to shoot next to Zhang Zian, focusing on the ck Dragon-Li among the kittens.

    Zhang Zian pped his hand again while starting the music yer.

    Apanied by drums, the music with strong beats started to be heard from the cell phone speaker, and the kittens immediately began to dance in unison!

    The prelude to the song sounded very familiar. Before Zhao Qi figured out what song it was, the kittens had been marking time with their paws to keep in sync with the drum beats.

    ¡°You are my dear, little apple¡­¡±

    ¡°Like the most beautiful cloud in the sky¡­¡±

    ¡°Springes here again and brings flowers all over the mountain¡­¡±

    ¡°I harvest the hopes that I nted¡­¡±

    Apanied by the extremely popr song ¡°Little Apple¡±, which was frequently used in public square dancing, the kittens were dancing in small steps with their cute little short legs. As the music fared, they would move forward, backward, shake their heads, nod their heads, jump a little bit, swing their bodies, raise their left front paws to wave in the air, and then raise their right front paws to touch their faces. After every two lyrics, they would also twist their waists to face another direction, as if a group of lovely children were dancing.

    ¡°You are my dear, little apple¡­¡±

    ¡°I can never love you enough¡­¡±

    ¡°Your blush warms up my heart¡­¡±

    ¡°You kindle the passion in my life¡­¡±

    The most surprising was that every move they took was precisely when the drum beat¡­the elements where the kittens waved their paws and touched their faces were also especially charming, like they were cleaning their faces. If the girl groups from Korea and Japan were acting cute while dancing, then the kittens were born to be cute!

    As the cheerful and brief song ended, the kittens also stopped dancing and stayed at the same spots when the music began, then raised their little faces to gaze at Zhang Zian.

    Zhao Qi was almost breathless, partly because of the cute kittens, partly because she was pissed off by Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Why?!¡± She shouted angrily, ¡°Zhang Zian! Why do you have to choose ¡®Little Apple¡¯?! Is there no other song in this world?!¡±

    ording to her understanding of Zhang Zian, this guy was definitely inspired by the aunties that were dancing to the song in public squares!

 Chapter 308: Will Go Viral

    <h4>Chapter 308: Will Go Viral</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In Zhao Qi¡¯s opinion, these kittens¡¯ dances were impable, whether in the aspects of rhythms or choreography¡ªwell, maybe not perfect, but those trivial ws were not worth mentioning to a cat lover. The only thing that made her crazy was the background music, somehow it had to be Little Apple? It was such a clich¨¦ and vulgar song!

    She strongly urged Zhang Zian to change the song!

    Zhang Zian said displeasingly, ¡°Little Apple is a bit vulgar, but at least with the strong beats, it¡¯s more efficient to teach the kittens, and people can¡¯t help but want to follow the moves. Do you want me to teach them Pavarotti¡¯s My Sun? That is surely ssic, but the question is, can the kittens master such a song?¡±

    Zhao Qi became quiet. After all, Zhang Zian was the one responsible for teaching the kittens, and there¡¯s nothing she can do about if even she was not satisfied with the music.

    Song Bai was stupefied by such a scene. He had seen Zhao Qi¡¯s Lan Lan walk in figure eights before, of which he thought that that alone was jaw-dropping, but this group of kittens dancing together was truly eye-opening and fascinating at a whole new level!

    His hands couldn¡¯t help but shake like he had Parkinson¡¯s disease. He really had found a treasure! At the same time, he was also d that he brought a handheld PTZ with him, otherwise the videos would be ruined because of his shaking hands¡­

    Song Bai was still very excited after the song was over.

    It will go viral! He had the hunch that this vlog would go viral on the inte!

    He had seen a lot of vlogs on YouTube, including a lot of videos where animals were performing. Though those animals were cute, none of them could rival Zhang Zian¡¯s kittens! One kitten dancing alone was already breathtaking, and when these kittens of different breeds and in diverse colors were dancing together, the scenes would make the viewers feel they were in heaven.

    Just when Song Bai was still immersed in his fantasy, Zhao Qi dropped her bomb. ¡°These kittens, I will buy them all!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Song Bai thought she really meant it, and said quickly, ¡°But I¡¯ve already booked that Dragon Li!¡±

    But Zhang Zian would never believe one word said by Zhao Qi. He rolled his eyes and said, ¡°All of them? Okay,e back in ten years you have enough savings! By the way, what is your credit limit now?¡±

    Zhao Qi was so fascinated by these adorable kittens that she even forgot she had spent heavily in the recent ck Friday shopping. She couldn¡¯t afford one kitten now, let alone buy all of them. Credit card bill day was approaching, she would probably have to borrow money from her parents and besties to pay the debt.

    She exasperatedly patted on her own hand, ¡°How can I never control my desire for shopping!¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at her indifferently. He knew that Zhao Qi was a thorough shopaholic, and even when her money went low, she could never subdue her craze for shopping.

    ¡°How about you?¡± He asked Song Bai, ¡°Is there anything I can help you with regarding this ck Dragon-Li or the vlog you are filming?¡±

    Song Bai realized Zhang Zian was implying that if he had no further questions, he should pay now.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m good.¡±

    Actually, Song Bai couldn¡¯t wait to leave the pet shop with the ck Dragon-Li. He decided that after returning to his ce, he would edit the video clips as soon as possible, then add subtitles, render and upload the final version to YouTube, which would take one or two days.

    ¡°How much?¡± asked he.

    Dragon-Li cats were very cheap, but considering that this ck Dragon Li can perform stunts, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t intend to sell it at a low price, because if the price was too low, people would rush to his shop asking for Dragon Li instead of other expensive breeds, and Fina would have to work harder in training the kittens¡­

    At first, he wanted to say ¡°2,000 RMB¡±, but seeing Zhao Qi who was also eyeing up the kitten, he changed his mind, ¡°3,000 RMB.¡±

    3,000 RMB seemed super expensive for buying an ordinary Dragon Li, but was a fair price if the kitten could dance.

    Song Bai nodded and said without hesitation, ¡°3,000 RMB, correct? Okay, I¡¯ll transfer the money to you.¡±

    Zhao Qi deplored greatly. If she hadn¡¯t bought the coat she was wearing, she would have spared 3,000 RMB which would have enabled her to buy this Dragon Li to keep her Lan Lan¡¯spany. Two cute kittens dancing to the music? How adorable!

    As usual, Zhang Zian also rmended some essential gadgets for cat-raising, such as cat carrier, to Song Bai. Without hesitation, Song Bai purchased all of them. He was neither a smoker nor a drinker, and his only interest was vlogging, so he had some money he could spend.

    After receiving the money transferred viawork, Zhang Zian drew up an invoice, filled in the pet sales agreement, and gave these documents along with the notes to novice cat-raisers to Song Bai. As for the pet supplies, they agreed that those would be delivered to Song Bai¡¯s ce.

    Song Bai was going to take the ck Dragon Li to leave, Zhang Zian stopped him again, ¡°Wait a minute. We haven¡¯tpleted the transfer of ownership ceremony.¡±

    ¡°The transfer of ownership?¡± Song Bai was perplexed.

    ¡°Yeah, you can try to give orders to this Dragon Li as I did before and see if it will listen to you,¡± said Zhang Zian calmly, ¡°Not everyone can order my cats to dance; they only recognize one owner. As of now, the Dragon Li still thinks I am the owner.¡±

    Zhao Qi knew that he was going to brag. She rolled her eyes towards him and went away to y with the kittens.

    Song Bai felt really incredible. It was the first time he heard cats recognize only one owner, wasn¡¯t that a dog¡¯s privilege?

    However, since Zhang Zian can teach them to dance, perhaps he had also taught them how to recognize a different owner?

    He put the ck Dragon Li on the ground, pped his hands like Zhang Zian did, but the Dragon Li simply ignored him. It meowed and tried to rush to other kittens, and Song Bai had to stop it with his hands.

    ¡°What¡­ what is going on?¡± Song Bai was very puzzled. He did exactly what Zhang Zian did to givemands, so why did the ck Dragon Li ignore him?

    ¡°Rx,¡± Zhang Zian smiled andforted Song Bai. Zhang Zian pped his hands three times, and the ck Dragon-Li suddenly squatted on the ground, waiting for his order.

    Making sure that the ck Dragon-Li was watching them, Zhang Zian patted twice on Song Bai¡¯s left shoulder.

    ¡°All right, now it¡¯s yours,¡± he said to Song Bai.

    ¡°It¡¯s done already?¡± Song Bai asked in doubt, not because the ritual was tooplicated, but rather that it was too simple.

    ¡°Yes, you can try again, I¡¯ll y the music.¡±

    Song Bai once again pped his hands for three times. Surprisingly, the ck Dragon-Li gazed at him attentively.

    He patted his hands again and Zhang Zian started the music yer. The ck Dragon Li began to dance to the drum beats as it was dancing with other kittens moments ago.

    ¡°Sh*t! Amazing!¡± Song Bai eximed, looking at Zhang Zian admirably, ¡°How did you do that?¡±

    Arms across his chest, Zhang Zian pointed to the camera, ¡°Are you still recording?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Song Bai nced at his camera, which was still working.

    ¡°Well, you can add the following subtitles to your vlog¡ª¡± Zhang Zian swung his hair, feeling good, ¡°My name is Zhang Zian, and my family has all been cat trainers since ancient China, and I am a cat trainer myself! To those gorgeous girls all around the world, you are wee to add me on WeChat! My WeChat ount is¡­¡±

    ¡°Excuse me¡­ sorry, the battery is dead.¡± Song Bai suddenly found that his camera screen went ck.

    Zhang Zian screamed inside his heart, ¡°Are you freaking kidding me?!¡±

    ¡°Ha ha ha!¡± Zhao Qiughed in schadenfreude.

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, usually there is a low battery indication, but it just went power off suddenly.¡± In fact, Song Bai was not surprised by this. Vloggers had to buy new cameras frequently. After all, they had to spend several hours shooting, and especially when shooting outdoors, their cameras would experience scratches and other damages. That¡¯s why vloggers didn¡¯t buy cameras with great functions, in their eyes, the minimum requirement was the normal focusing in shooting videos. And apparently, this battery couldn¡¯t work anymore.

    ¡°I have a spare battery here, you want to continue when I put it in my camera?¡± Song Bai asked apologetically.

    ¡°Forget it,¡± said Zhang Zian disappointedly, ¡°I was just joking around. No foreign girls wille to China to visit me anyway.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the problem.¡± Zhao Qi chimed in, ¡°How many foreigners do you think use WeChat?¡±

    In fact, Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t expecting much. Song Bai¡¯s vlogs only attracted limited number of views, and among those viewers, how many of them would be beautiful girls?

    ¡°See you then.¡± Song Bai lifted his cat carrier and said goodbye.

    Zhao Qi looked at the watch, and left the pet shop with him.

 Chapter 309: Absolute Foreigners

    <h4>Chapter 309: Absolute Foreigners</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After leaving the pet shop, Song Bai and Zhao Qi parted ways. Zhao Qi went to pick up her clothes at the dry cleaner¡¯s, while Song Bai called a taxi to take him home.

    ¡°Can you drive faster please?¡± said Song Bai to the taxi driver. He wanted to get back to his home as soon as possible so that he could start editing his video clips, as if he was a child who just got a new set of building blocks and couldn¡¯t wait to let his imagination fly.

    Through the rear mirror, the taxi driver noticed the cat carrier Song Bai was holding, and he chuckled, ¡°What did you buy? A cat or a dog?¡±

    ¡°A cat.¡± Song Bai was stunned, ¡°But how did you know I bought a pet?¡±

    ¡°Because I saw you walk out from the pet shop. It¡¯s quite famous around this neighborhood,¡± said the taxi driver, ¡°I mainly drive around this area and I¡¯ve seen many passengerse here to buy pets¡ªbut recently, few passengers have gone there. I wonder if the owner¡¯s business is running into difficulties?¡±

    ¡°It just finished renovation, and probably will reopen for business soon.¡± Song Bai repeated what he had heard from Zhao Qi.

    ¡°Oh, no wonder.¡± It seemed that the taxi driver was putting an end to this topic.

    Song Bai paused for a moment and asked tentatively, ¡°Excuse me¡­ Have you ever seen any foreignerse here to buy pets?¡±

    ¡°Foreigners?¡± recollected the taxi driver. ¡°No, though some passengers were foreigners. What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Oh, so you can speak English?¡± asked Song Bai.

    ¡°English¡­ No¡­I¡¯ve forgotten the English I learned back in high school,¡± smiled the taxi driver awkwardly. ¡°Besides, the passengers are not absolute foreigners.¡±

    Song Bai was perplexed, ¡°What do you mean they are not ¡®absolute foreigners¡¯? Are you saying they are of mixed-races? Or are they overseas Chinese?¡±

    ¡°What I mean is those passengers are the foreign students studying in Binhai University, and they can speak Chinese more or less. When I said hello to them in English, they asked me to speak Chinese and help them practice their Chinese.¡± the taxi driver smiled and rified the misunderstanding.

    ¡°Oh, I see¡­ So, have you ever given rides to passengers that were headed to the Amazing Fate Pet Shop?¡± asked Song Bai. Then he added, ¡°Whether they were absolute foreigners or not¡­¡±

    ¡°No, never, why?¡± said the taxi driver.

    ¡°Nothing, I just have a feeling that maybe there will be foreigners visiting the pet shop one day.¡± Song Bai had a hunch that the reputation of Amazing Fate Pet Shop would spread overseas. Even if it was not through his vlogs, someone else might help the cause; and when that time came, foreigners would rush to Zhang Zian¡¯s pet shop.

    ¡°Really?¡± The taxi driver clearly didn¡¯t believe in him. He thought Song Bai was just joking and he smiled cheerfully, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then I should learn English as soon as possible to attract more business!¡±

    Song Bai nodded, ¡°I think you should start learning it right away.¡±

    ¡°Are you serious?!¡± asked the taxi driver with astonishment.

    Song Bai simply smiled, ¡°Why not? Skills will never be burdens.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­¡± the taxi driver seemed to have been convinced and murmured softly.

    Song Bai¡¯s home was not very far, and soon the taxi had stopped at the entrance of the resident district. After paying the fare, he lifted the cat carrier and got out. ¡°Thank you, mister, remember to practice English when you have time.¡±

    The taxi driver waved his hand and drove his car away. Had he epted Song Bai¡¯s advice? No one knew.

    Song Bai was living in a very small apartment that he rented. There was only one bedroom, one living room, one bathroom, one kitchen and one balcony in the apartment, but was enough space for a bachelor.

    He opened the cat carrier, held up the ck Dragon-Li and put it on the ground.

    The ck Dragon-Li showed no fear of the strange environment. Instead, it was curiously looking around. It raised its head and looked at Song Bai as if knowing that he was the owner of this ce.

    Song Bai smiled and waved at it, ¡°Go y anywhere you like, except my bedroom.¡±

    ¡°Right, you need to have a name.¡± He touched his chin and thought for a moment. ¡± ck Dragon-Li¡­ How about ck Flower?¡±

    The ck Dragon Li replied with a ¡°meow¡±, and it seemed like it was fine with its new name. And then it trotted to explore the living room and the balcony.

    Song Bai put the equipment in his backpack in the living room, changed intofortable clothes, washed his face, put the clothes that he just took off into the washing machine and began to enjoy the rxation.

    Just then, the doorbell rang.

    ¡°Package delivery, is anyone home?¡±

    ¡°Coming.¡±

    Song Bai quickly went over to open the door.

    The courier, who was holding arge package, stuck out his head from behind and asked, ¡°Are you Song Bai?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I should pay the shipping fee, right?¡± Song Bai knew that inside the package were the pet supplies sent by Zhang Zian¡­

    ¡°Correct, please sign here.¡±

    The courier put down the package. Song Bai paid the shipping fee and signed as confirmation of receiving the package.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Song Bai watched the courier as he left.

    From the package, Song Bai first scrambled out the cat litter and cat litter box. He looked at the instructions for novice cat raisers printed by Zhang Zian to arrange the cat litter box. He went to find ck Flower and pointed to the box, ¡°Here, you need to pee and poop here. Okay?¡±

    ck Flower bowed to sniff the cat litter and stretched out its paws to touch the cat litter. It was the same cat litter used in Zhang Zian¡¯s pet shop, so ck Flower understood this was its toilet.

    Song Bai gently stroked the fur on ck Flower¡¯s back where its dark mackerel patterns were rising up and down rhythmically. It raised its eyes and looked at him in confusion and then continued ying with the cat litter. This kitten seemed to be fond of touching things, whether it was camera lens or cat litter. It was as curious as he was.

    ¡°Stay here, okay? I will y with youter when I finish my work,¡± he said to it gently.

    Song Bai stood up and headed to his bedroom. Just when he was about to close the door, he saw a ck shadow was retreating from the door in panic. ck Flower had been following him, trying to look in the bedroom, and was almost nipped by the door. Song Bai was startled by it. He had been used to living by himself and hadn¡¯t built up the habits a cat owner should have.

    ¡°What¡­ You want toe in here too?¡± Song Bai was hesitant. He turned around and looked at his bedroom.

    On his desk and shelf, there were several cameras, such as Canon G7xm2, Sony Rx100m4, and Panasonic 1¡Á10 which he brought out for shooting. In addition, there were twoputers. One was a Mac Pro for video editing and rendering, and another was aptop for study and entertainment, alongside with two sets of keyboards and mouses. Besides the keyboards stood a condenser microphone of Rode. On top of the shelf was a Joby octopus tripod PTZ, and a NAS for data backup. Apart from those, spare devices, spare batteries, USB drives, and SD cards were scattered all over on his desk. All of these were essential equipment for vloggers.

    If other geeks came to his messy bedroom, they would have felt they were in heaven.

    This was a typical room of a vlogger. Vloggers didn¡¯t care if they would be famous, but they must collect as much equipment as possible. Sometimes they even bought several products that had the same functions.

    Song Bai lived by himself, and generally no one would enter his bedroom except him. That¡¯s why he could put his equipment wherever he wanted. Each digital device was very expensive, and he didn¡¯t want ck Flower toe in in the first ce, worrying that it might be a troublemaker.

    ck Flower was squatting at the door. It raised its head to look at him and peek into the bedroom from time to time, as if saying, ¡°What¡¯s inside? Anything fun? Why can¡¯t I go in?¡±

    Song Bai stood at the door to prevent it from going into the bedroom. He pointed outside, ¡°Go y outside for a while, okay?¡±

    ck Flower tilted its head, meowed softly, and stretched one front paw to touch the door. It¡¯s clear yellow-green eyes were filled with confusion. It didn¡¯t understand what it had done to make ts owner turn it away.

    Gazed at by its innocent eyes, Song Bai felt really guilty, and he gave up his defense.

    ¡°Alright,e in. But you must behave. Don¡¯t touch anything, or I won¡¯t let youe in again,¡± Song Bai squatted down and warned it seriously.

    ck Flower meowed as its reply. It approached Song Bai, pushed his leg, and couldn¡¯t wait to go into the bedroom.

 Chapter 310: Over the Great Wall

    <h4>Chapter 310: Over the Great Wall</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Song Bai hesitated for a while, but he decided to trust ck Flower.

    He opened the door to his bedroom, ¡°Come in.¡±

    ck Flower walked into this room with curiosity. The room seemed a bit dark because the curtains had been drawn, but that didn¡¯t impact it very much.

    Song Bai sat into the chair in front of the desk, put on a pair of headphones and said, ¡°I¡¯m going to work now. Please be good.¡±

    As soon as he got home, he imported the video clips from his SD card into theputer. Seeing that the transmission had beenpleted, heunched Final Cut Pro and began to edit the videos he recorded today.

    Some vloggers tended to show their daily lives to the audience with little to no editing to their videos, but Song Bai preferred to make his content seem more coherent, so he edited every issue of his vlog painstakingly. He became increasingly adept at editing videos, and now he was focusing on the videos and the timeline slider on theputer screen.

    ck Flower walked around the room, which waspletely different from the pet shop. There was no smell it was familiar with to make it feel at ease. ck Flower raised its head to look at its new owner, who was sitting in front of aputer. His upper body was slightly tilted forwards, mouth opening a little bit, eyes swiftly moving from left to right, and he would swallow saliva from time to time.

    ¡°Meow¡± cried out ck Flower gently.

    Song Bai didn¡¯t hear it.

    ¡°Meow¡±

    This time Song Bai heard it, and lowered his head to look at it.

    ¡°ck Flower, go y by yourself, I have things to do,¡± answered Song Bai perfunctorily. He turned back to focus on theputer screen blinking with videos. In the dark room, the lights glowing on the screen were reflected on his face, which was changing into different colors constantly.

    ck Flower found a bit lonely that its owner didn¡¯t y with it.

    Back in the pet shop, ck Flower never felt lonely, for a group of kittens always kept itspany. They chased and yed with each other and rolled together on the ground. When their fur became dirty, they would lick each other¡¯s fur for each other. Whenever it was tired or thirsty, ck Flower would run to drink from the water bowls prepared for them in a corner. When they needed to pee or poop, the kittens would go to the other corner where there was cat litter, and there were two young men responsible for cleaning their litter. Its life in the pet shop was so free and happy!

    But the puppies were different. ck Flower thought those puppies were very sad, for they were always locked in the disy cases. They would stick their tongues out and look at the kittens eagerly as the kittens were ying happily outside. They didn¡¯t even have freedom when it came to peeing or pooping. There was nothing ck Flower could help them with; besides, it didn¡¯t want those puppies to upy their ces to y.

    Sometimes that special ck and white kitten would join their games. It would chase the kittens or ask the kittens to find it, and it was always the winner. ck Flower felt it was fun to y with, and every other kitten seemed to like the kitten in ck and white.

    At only rare moments, the proud and solemn Queen of the Cats would show up in front of them and teach them some movements they must remember. ck Flower, along with the other kittens, squatted on the ground and listened carefully to the Queen¡¯s instructions. It didn¡¯t know who the Queen was, but there was some voice inside its body that kept telling it that in front of it was the Queen, and it must obey the Queen¡¯s orders unconditionally.

    As for the owner of the pet shop¡­ he didn¡¯t leave much impression on ck Flower; rather, he seemed more like a servant to the Queen.

    The new owner was saying something into the microphone in anguage other than Chinese. It was anguage that ck Flower didn¡¯t understand at all but had heard the parrot in the pet shop spoke before. The new owner seemed very busy and had no time to y, so ck Flower decided to find fun for itself.

    ck Flower tilted its head and saw a strange thing in the corner of the bookshelf that it had never seen in the pet shop before.

    ck Flower ran over to the shelf, gave a push to the thing, and itnded on the ground.

    That was a slightly curved board with some skate wheels beneath it. With a simple push, it began to slide smoothly.

    ck Flower stepped onto the board. At first, it was hard to keep its bnce. ck Flower was frightened and jumped off the board.

    The board changed course slightly, bumped into the wall, bounced back, and stopped on the ground.

    ck Flower observed it for a while. Making sure the board would cause it no harm, it trotted closer to the board, and stretched out its paws to push the board.

    The board glided backwards because of the reaction, and when the board bypassed ck Flower, it jumped onto that again. The board slowed down with ck Flower on it. This time, ck Flower stood very stably for it had learned to use its tail to keep its bnce. However, the width of the room was limited, and the board was about to bump into the wall on the other side.

    ck Flower jumped off the board before crashing into the wall.

    Influenced by the reaction, the board changed course and was heading to the owner¡¯s feet.

    ck Flower tried to stop the board but there¡¯s no time for that. It worried that the owner would get angry for he didn¡¯t want to be disturbed.

    In the past, Song Bai¡¯s English was very poor, especially when speaking. If he had gained anything after bing a vlogger¡­apart from those bunches of digital devices and his proficiency in video editing, his biggest improvement would be his oral English. Although sometimes foreign audience members leftments toin about his English, at least he was much better than he used to be.

    He had just finished narrating for the video in English. Just when he was about to add subtitles, he felt something slightly hit his ankle.

    He lowered his head. Turned out it was his skateboard.

    Why was his skateboard here?

    ¡°Meow,¡± whispered ck Flower.

    It looked around restlessly, trying to find excuses for what it had done.

    ¡°Was it you?¡± asked Song Bai, ¡°Were you ying with the skateboard?¡±

    ¡°Meow¡­¡±

    Song Bai thought for a moment and pushed the skateboard towards ck Flower. He adjusted the course, so the board wouldn¡¯t rush directly towards ck Flower.

    ck Flower stared at the skateboard, and when the board approached it, it jumped onto the board agilely.

    The skateboard kept sliding with ck Flower on it, but the wall was waiting in front of them.

    ¡°Watch out¡­¡± shouted Song Bai, and then he saw ck Flower jumped off the skateboard before crashing into the wall.

    Song Bai was really surprised by ck Flower¡¯s cleverness and agility.

    Many vloggers liked skateboards to explore their cities and hunt for all kinds of interesting things for their videos, and so did Song Bai. He was too old to be a skateboarder, so he hadn¡¯t yed with his skateboard for a long time. Since the moment ck Flower tried to touch his camera lens, Song Bai had the feeling that they would hit it off, and now finding its unexpected talent of skateboarding, he was really delighted.

    He walked over to it, squatted down and touched its little head, ¡°ck Flower, sorry for not keeping youpany. Please wait a little while, and then we¡¯ll go out for skateboarding, okay?¡±

    ck Flower narrowed its eyes and meowed gently.

    ¡°Come here,¡± Song Bai tried to hold it.

    ck Flower didn¡¯t escape or struggle, it just let him hold it.

    Song Bai brought it back to his chair and put it on hisp. He pointed to the screen, ¡°Look, you are among the dancing kittens. Have you found yourself?¡±

    The videos in which the kittens were dancing together appeared so clear that every fur of the kittens could be seen, because the videos were recorded in 4K resolution. ck Flower was in the center among those kittens, dancing to the music beats.

    ck Flower was looking at the screen quietly; it didn¡¯t seem to have recognized itself on the screen.

    ¡°I¡¯m telling you, vlogging isn¡¯t just for fun, though my parents have been criticizing me for wasting my time,¡± said Song Bai while operating his mouse. He had never confided to anybody about these things, but he found this kitten very congenial, so he decided to temporarily be himself in front of it.

    ¡°Vloggers can make money, you know,¡± said Song Bai seriously. ¡°One day, if my videos be popr, YouTube will insert advertisements to my channel, and how much money I can make totally depends on the views of my videos. It is sad that if there were over 100,000 people subscribed to my channel, the ie I would make couldpletely support me for my life. When that timees, I will have more time to y with you. We can go skateboarding in every street and alley, shoot videos of all kinds of people, cuisine, interesting things¡­I can even buy more pets to keep youpany. Don¡¯t you like how that sounds?¡±

    ¡°Meow!¡± ck Flower stretched out its paw to push at his shoulder as if it was not satisfied with thest item he mentioned.

    ¡°Ha-ha. All right. No other kittens. Only you,¡± smiled Song Bai.

    ck Flower raised its head to gaze at him as if asking, ¡°Do you really mean it?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± Song Bai touched its head with his left hand, ¡°I don¡¯t think other kittens will be as congenial to me as you are.¡±

    The videos had been edited into one final version. He reviewed from beginning to the end and didn¡¯t find any ws. He set the cover picture as the one where ck Flower was stretching its paw to touch the camera lens, and was ready to upload the video.

    He found adder to cross over the Great Firewall to log into YouTube. This dder¡¯ was his VIP membership purchased at a VPN software, yet the upload speed was still very slow.

    For uploading the video, he needed to think of a name for this issue of vlog.

    ¡°What should we call it? ck Flower, any advice?¡± he raised ck Flower up in the air and looked into its eyes.

    ¡°Ha-ha, just kidding, I¡¯ve already thought of the name.¡±

    Song Bai put down ck Flower on hisps and tapped a string of English words on his keyboard.

    Over the Great Wall.

    There were a few implications of this name.

    First of all, he had to climb over the Great Firewall to log into YouTube.

    Secondly, he decided to do what the Great Wall Club failed to do. He was going to surpass the Great Wall Club and reintroduce Dragon-Li cats to audiences all over the world.

    When everything was ready, Song Bai clicked the upload button.

    ¡°Come, ck Flower, let¡¯s go outside for skateboarding! I might not be tall, but I¡¯m really good at this.¡± Song Bai put down ck Flower, tucked the skateboard under his arm, put on the safety helmet that he hadn¡¯t worn for a long time, and fixated a GoPro action camera on his helmet.

    He had generated the idea of his next issue of vlog already ¨C skateboarding with a kitten.

    After he and ck Flower left the apartment, his bedroom became quiet again. Only theputer screen was still on, with the upload progress bar climbing gradually to the finish line.

 Chapter 311: Quoting from Classics

    <h4>Chapter 311: Quoting from ssics</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhao Qi and Song Bai hade to Zhang Zian¡¯s pet shop after work. When they had left, it was almost dusk. Zhang Zian watched the workers renovate his shop for a while and went back to the second floor.

    He didn¡¯t expect too much that Song Bai¡¯s vlog could go viral on the inte, especially when there were millions of other videos on YouTube. What was most important to him was that he earned 3,000 RMB today. He could treat himself to some meat tomorrow.

    ¡°Master, as you required, we have moved the crib into your bedroom,¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun came out from the bedroom and reported to him.

    ¡°Thanks. We haven¡¯t reopened for business and there hasn¡¯t been much for you to do recently. You can call it a day now; you don¡¯t need to stay here for dinner. When we reopen for business, you¡¯ll have lots of things to do and I promise you will get a raise.¡± Zhang Zian nodded and urged them to leave.

    Wang Qian pledged his allegiance to Zhang Zian yet again, saying, ¡°Master, I¡¯m willing to do anything for you!¡±

    Zhang Zian had heard such words numerous times, and as usual, he decided to ignore them. Just when he was about to return to his bedroom, Li Kun stopped him.

    ¡°By the way, Master, there¡¯s something that I don¡¯t know whether or not I should tell you¡­¡± said Li Kun hesitantly. He was worried that his Master would look down on him for making a fuss.

    ¡°What is it? Tell me.¡± Seeing the strange look on Li Kun¡¯s face, Zhang Zian turned around to ask him.

    Li Kun winked at Wang Qian, who immediately understood what Li Kun was going to say.

    ¡°Master, the day you went out for a walk, a strange man stopped us on the street¡­¡± said Wang Qian.

    Zhang Zian seemed very surprised, ¡°What? What did he want? Your money? Or you young guys?¡±

    ¡°Master, no one will do that because we have no money or good looks.¡±

    Zhang Zian got even more confused. He didn¡¯t understand why anyone would stop these two stupid and poor college students. ¡°Then what did he want exactly? Was he a leaflet distributer? A DVD seller?¡±

    ¡°Master, no one sells DVD nowadays¡­¡± whispered Li Kun.

    Wang Qian continued seriously, ¡°Master, that person imed himself to be a pet shop owner. He offered us money if we told him about your cat training secrets¡­ Of course, we have no idea of any superior methods of animal training. Even if we had mastered such skills, we would never reveal that to anyone,¡± he solemnly swore to heaven.

    Zhang Zian became interested in this and asked earnestly, ¡°Which pet shop was that man from?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun looked at each other, ¡°That we didn¡¯t ask¡­¡±

    Li Kun covered his head with his arms and tried to recollect, ¡°That man¡¯sst name was¡­ Huang. Yes, Huang. His name was Huang Mingyu, correct?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the name,¡± Wang Qian backed him up. ¡°He dressed in a suit that seemed of fair price with a pair of leather shoes. He looked like any other ordinary real estate agent.¡±

    ¡°Oh, anything else?¡± asked Zhang Zian.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun tried very hard to recall but didn¡¯te up with any other useful information, and they had to reply honestly, ¡°No, nothing else¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was a bit disappointed.

    ¡°Master, it¡¯s all our fault, we let you down.¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun felt really embarrassed. If only they could have talked more with that man instead of turning him down right away, perhaps they would have gathered more information from him and would be praised by their Master today.

    ¡°Forget it, even if you asked him, he probably wouldn¡¯t have answered honestly.¡± Zhang Zian contemted for a while. It¡¯s not umon thatpanies would poach talents and business secrets from their rivals in the industry. He should have thought of the possibility that hispetitors were interested in his cat training secrets.

    ¡°Master, what should we do?¡± asked Li Kun.

    ¡°We do nothing. It will waste our energy to remain vignt all the time,¡± said Zhang Zian calmly. ¡°It rains when Heaven deems fit, mother remarries when she wants to¡ªjust let it be.¡±

    Anyways, he felt very lucky that Wang Qian and Li Kun, these two silly college students, wouldn¡¯t betray him because of money, otherwise he would be in serious trouble. It¡¯s always the worst to be stabbed in the back by allies.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun grew to admire their master even more. His calmness andposure under various situations were truly rare and couldn¡¯t be grasped by any ordinary people. As for that strange man, they shouldn¡¯t be worried about him anymore, for their Master didn¡¯t even bother to do anything about him.

    ¡°Master, see youter.¡± They said goodbye to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°See you.¡± Zhang Zian waved his hands. He left this thing behind and went into his bedroom.

    He believed that as long as the people he trusted didn¡¯t betray him, his secrets would be fine.

    As required by Zhang Zian, Guo Dongyue had knocked down the wall between the living room and Zhang Zian ¡®s bedroom and rearranged the furnishings on the second floor. Finally, Gxy, Old Time Tea and Richard could stay with him on the second floor instead of sleeping on the first floor with the kittens and puppies. However, new problems arose¡ªOld Time Tea stayed up veryte, Gxy got up very early, and Richard kept making noises all the time, so no one could sleep well. Sleepyhead Fina was on the brink of an outburst, and if Zhang Zian didn¡¯t solve the problems soon, the results could be very horrible.

    It was rtively easier to negotiate with Old Time Tea and Gxy, but Zhang Zian had to make rules for Richard and warn it time and again.

    ¡°First, no noises when others have fallen asleep. Second, no noises when someone is still asleep. Third, no pping your wings inside the bedroom,¡± he extended three fingers and said to Richard.

    ¡°I can understand the first two points. What the hell is thest one?¡± argued Richard angrily.

    ¡°ording to Sun Xiaomeng, parrots and pigeons always producerge amounts of feather dust from pping their wings, and will impact other creatures¡¯ health if they spend a long time together in indoor environment. So, try not to p your wings in the bedroom.¡± warned Zhang Zian seriously.

    ¡°Quack! Quack! How are you going to find a boyfriend if you are so detail-oriented?¡± said Richard indifferently.

    ¡°I¡¯m not finding boyfriends!¡± said Zhang Zian reluctantly, ¡°You will regret it when you have provoked Fina. Don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t warn you!¡±

    ¡°Forget this. What was that woman yelling about downstairs?¡± asked Richard with great interest.

    Zhang Zian almost forgot about what happened earlier. He only remembered that he had earned 3,000 RMB. He recalled, ¡°You mean Zhao Qi? She always likes making a fuss¡­well, I asked Fina to teach the kittens dancing and I chose a song as the background music. Zhao Qi got furious when she heard the song; she said it was too vulgar¡­¡±

    ¡°What song? y it for me,¡± said Richard.

    Zhang Zian pulled out his cell phone, entered the music yer, and yed Little Apple.

    ¡°You are my dear, little apple¡­¡±

    ¡°I will never love you enough¡­¡±

    When the song had finished, Zhang Zian closed the music yer and said indignantly, ¡°This is the song. It has clear and strong drum beats, which is suitable for teaching kittens to dance, but Zhao Qi said it was of poor taste! Come on, everyone loves listening to that song, who does she think she is?¡±

    Richard had been closing its eyes to listen to the music, it reopened its eyes and nodded, agreeing with him, ¡°This time, I have to admit that you, the idiot, are right.¡±

    ¡°What? What¡¯s going on?¡± In fact, Zhang Zian was not certain about the song. He tried so hard to defend his choice because he was afraid that the song was indeed a little bit vulgar. But Richard actually thought the song was not that bad?!

    Richard cleared its throat, ¡°At least the lyrics of the song are not vulgar. There is a phrase in English that says, ¡®the apple of someone¡¯s eye¡¯. I guess you idiot have never heard of it? Do you know what that means?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± answered Zhang Zian honestly. He thought about it and said tentatively, ¡°Apple of someone¡¯s eye? Meaning that the person loves eating apples?¡±

    He felt embarrassed simply answering with ¡°no¡±, so he tried to understand literally.

    ¡°Quack! Quack! I knew you didn¡¯t get it.¡± Head held high, Richard walked on the table presumptuously like an old pedant. ¡°Let me tell you, the meaning of this phrase is not that simple. What it means is ¡®something or someone that one cherishes above all others.¡¯ Here, ¡®apple¡¯ doesn¡¯t mean the fruit, but refers to pupils of human¡¯s eyes. It is said that this phrase can be dated back to King Alfred over a thousand years ago and became officialter in the King James Bible.¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help butin, why did a phrase need to have official meaning?

    Richard continued, ¡°So the lyrics, ¡®you are my dear, little apple; I can never love you enough¡¯, are not vulgar at all. In fact, the lyricists were quoting from the ssics in English culture. Whoever they are, at least their knowledge of English is much better than yours!¡±

    Zhang Zian acted like he didn¡¯t hear its mockery but put forward his objection, ¡°But it could just be a coincidence?!¡± He didn¡¯t believe the lyricists quoted from ssics.

    Richard ignored his objection, ¡°Anyway, if that man called Song Bai decides to trante the lyrics into English for foreign audience, Little Apple could be a suitable song, because audience from English-speaking countries can understand what apple means in this context. Especially for those cat lovers, when they see kittens dancing to a song with these lyrics, they can easily rte to their lives. ¡±

    ¡°Really¡­¡± Zhang Zian walked to the window and looked at the scene outside, ¡°That means I am a genius?!¡±

    ¡°How did youe up with such an absurd conclusion?¡± said Richard.

    ¡°You know, I just chose the song randomly, and it turned out to be perfect for the dancing kittens video! How genius am I!?¡± said Zhang Ziancently.

    Perhaps Song Bai¡¯s vlog did have the chance to be popr?

    Richard broke his illusion coldly, ¡°I don¡¯t know whether the lyricists wrote the lyrics down by chance, and I am sure that you just happened to choose that song, but¡­¡±

    ¡°But what?¡± Zhang Zian knew there would be a twist.

    Richard nced at Gxy, who was ying hide-and-seek with the American Shorthair, ¡°¡¯Apple¡¯ has stood for good luck and health in the West since ancient times. Perhaps there is good luck for you idiot after all.¡±

 Chapter 312: Teenage Syndromes

    <h4>Chapter 312: Teenage Syndromes</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Wang Qian and Li Kun left the pet shop together. The dusk in early winter was quite chilly, with the sun going down around the horizon.

    Li Kun put his hands close to his mouth to warm them with his warm breath, then tucked them back into his pockets. He looked at the setting sun in the west, tilted his head and said to Wang Qian, ¡°Tricks! Master is definitely ying tricks!¡±

    As his best friend, Wang Qian read his mind easily and he agreed, ¡°Getting a cold is Master¡¯s pretense. His enemies will assume he¡¯s weak right now and try to attack him, but Master will beat them up easily!¡±

    They looked at each other, smiled, and admired their cleverness.

    ¡°Come on, we should go back to school, there are sses after dinner,¡±ined Wang Qian. ¡°I mean, we are prestigious immortality cultivators, and going to ss is not cool at all¡­¡±

    ¡°Right¡­ That¡¯s why people say it¡¯s a painstaking course to cultivate immortality. Master must be using this task to test our willpowers.¡±

    They walked slowly towards Binhai University while imagining their bright futures of when they had be immortals and mastered all kinds of great abilities. Binhai University was not far from the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, so they decided to walk back to school to save some bus fares¡ªwhich usually cost 1 RMB, but heating was provided on the buses during winter, so the fares had increased to 2 RMB per person. If they could save 4 RMB every day, they would be very rich one day!

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were indeed gradually influenced by Zhang Zian, especially in the aspect of being stingy¡­

    They didn¡¯t care about the strange looks cast by the passersby, but kept talking loudly about the path towards immortality. They wondered if there was only one arduous path towards sess or if there were various shortcuts.

    Just then, a group of pupils wearing backpacks walked towards them.

    There were seven pupils in total, four boys and three girls. Apparently, they were divided into two subgroups, boys and girls, and there were about two meters between them with a hostile atmosphere.

    Among the four boys, one little boy talked in the loudest voice and was the most eye-catching one. He kept kicking the small rocks and empty cans down the street. If there was nothing to be kicked, he would stomp on the fallen leaves. Several times, the small rocks he kicked almost hit the passersby and the vehicles on the street.

    The other three boys were obviously his sidekicks, who kept praising his behaviors.

    Some pedestrians were really angry about such dangerous behaviors. But seeing that the perpetrators were some naughty brats, they knew it was fruitless to criticize them, so they just shook their heads and walked away. Nowadays, kids were spoiled by their parents, and if things didn¡¯t go their way, they would just scream and cry. What if their parents were nearby and saw their children crying? They would think the adults were bullying the kids!

    The tolerance and avoidance of the adults made Yi Le became more grant. He grimaced towards the girls and yelled, ¡°Cai Xiaoqin, where¡¯s the pet shop you talked about? How long until we get there? I need to go home to y the Arena of Valor, I have no time to wander around with you. Just admit you have lied, there¡¯s nothing to be ashamed of! I will forgive you because I am generous, and you are beautiful.¡¯¡±

    Little Celery was in the center of the three girls. She stuck out her head, frowned and pointed forwards, ¡°I didn¡¯t lie. We are almost there¡ªthe pets in that pet shop really can speak!¡±

    ¡°Hmph! I don¡¯t believe you! ¡®If you want to be a viin, you should prepare for your tragic ending.¡¯¡± Yi Le pouted and made signals towards other three little boys. They started booing Little Celery and said some awful things about her, calling her a liar and a snitch who reported her ssmates to the teachers while pretending to be a good student.

    Little Celery was on the brink of crying because of the grievances she was suffering. The other two girls were close to her, but they didn¡¯t believe what Little Celery said either.

    Yi Le observed that no one was on Little Celery¡¯s side and then he continued, ¡°¡®Sadness isn¡¯t the reason for crying, stupidity is.¡¯ As long as you tell the teacher that you don¡¯t want to y the show of pet shop in a wondend but want to be a Cosy character in the Arena of Valor, I will stop calling you juvenile. Perhaps if I¡¯m happy, I will give you the chance to y Daji.¡±

    The other three boys agreed, ¡°You¡¯ll regret it when it¡¯s toote.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not crying, and I¡¯m not Daji.¡± Little Celery struggled to hold back her tears. She heard that Daji was a bad woman and she argued with the boys.

    ¡°You are Daji!¡±

    ¡°You look just like Daji! Guys, look at her two little braids, don¡¯t they look just like Daji¡¯s fox ears?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Totally!¡±

    Little Celery couldn¡¯t win this fight alone against four boys. She touched her braids in grievance and wasn¡¯t able to speak another word.

    Another girl stood up for Little Celery, ¡°Stop bullying her!¡±

    ¡°Bullying? No.¡± Yi Le stared at her fiercely, ¡°What about when she reported us? Wasn¡¯t she bullying us? Sometimes, if you want to survive, you have tobat poison with poison. From my perspective, I am the good guy.¡±

    The girl was too scared to speak anymore.

    Another girl inquired Little Celery with confusion, ¡°Little Celery, why are these boys talking so strangely?¡±

    Little Celery also shook her head in confusion, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I think they have been talking like this since they mentioned cosying the Arena of Valor at the school founding anniversary, and there were a lot of words that I didn¡¯t understand¡­¡±

    The two girls pulled Little Celery further away from the boys, lowered their heads and said embarrassingly, ¡°Little Celery, please don¡¯t me us. They look so fierce, and we are too scared to provoke them¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, and Yi Le¡¯s mother is very fierce, too. Last time, when my mother came back from the parent-teacher conference, she told me that I should stay away from Yi Le because his mother would do anything to protect her son, no matter who was right or wrong¡­¡± said another girl in her mother¡¯s tone.

    Little Celery tightly bit her lips. She felt terrible that her friends didn¡¯t help her out¡­ But she was a strong kid, and her mother had been telling her to unite her ssmates. So, she held their hands and smiled, ¡°It¡¯s okay, because I didn¡¯t tell lies. And soon you will see that what I said is true.¡±

    ¡­

    When this group of pupils walked past them, Wang Qian elbowed Li Kun and said, ¡°Look at these pupils who already have teenage syndromes. They are even quoting the lines from the Arena of Valor. ¡±

    Li Kun agreed with him and deplored them, ¡°So young, yet so stupid. It¡¯s necessary to prevent kids from getting addicted to games! Someone must limit their times in ying games! Otherwise, this country is doomed.¡±

    ¡°Toote! In my opinion, these kids are hopeless!¡± signed Wang Qian

    ¡°By the way¡­¡± Li Kun turned around and looked at them, ¡°The pet shop that they mentioned, could it be the pet shop of our Master?¡±

    Wang Qian also stopped. Their Master¡¯s pet shop was the only one around this neighborhood¡­

    ¡°You just reminded me, the little girl that walked in the center, I think I have met her in Master¡¯s pet shop before. It seems like she has been bullied,¡± he said.

    Li Kun thought for a moment and said, ¡°Yep. Wait a moment. I need to text Master so that he can prepare for this.¡±

 Chapter 313: Getting into Trouble again

    <h4>Chapter 313: Getting into Trouble again</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After wiring the ceilingmp and testing it to make sure it worked, the renovation worker said goodbye to Zhang Zian. Zhang Zian invited him to stay for dinner, but he declined politely.

    Seeing the renovation worker leave, Zhang Zian decided to go to Aunt Li and Uncle Li¡¯s restaurant to order dinner. Suddenly, he received a message sent by Li Kun.

    Li Kun: Master, some pupils are walking towards your pet shop, and one of them is the girl who frequently visits your shop.

    Zhang Zian understood right away, Little Celery was bringing those brats over to his pet shop right now.

    Someone must teach these brats a lesson, especially that Yi Le, otherwise, they would get themselves into serious trouble sooner orter. Last time, if Gxy hadn¡¯t seen the future in advance, Yi Le would have been hit by a car when he crossed the road recklessly, and would have ruined two families.

    He replied briefly to Li Kun, asking him and Wang Qian to go back to school and not to worry about him. Then he ran back to the second floor of his pet shop.

    Seeing his empty hands, Fina asked unhappily, ¡°Where¡¯s my dinner?¡±

    ¡°What a foodie!¡± Zhang Zian warned her sincerely, ¡°You should move around more frequently. You are an Egyptian Mau, don¡¯t turn into Garfield.¡±

    ¡°What did you say?¡± Fina stood up immediately and red at him angrily.

    ¡°Quack! Quack! Youe back so soon! Is it because you miss me?¡± Richard wanted to p its wings, but seeing that Zhang Zian was staring at it, it gave up.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, do you still remember that one brat?¡± Zhang Zian went over to Old Time Tea and squatted down.

    Old Time Tea was focused on watching TV. It thought for a moment and recollected, ¡°You mean the child who almost got hit by a car?¡±

    ¡°Yep, exactly,¡± confirmed Zhang Zian.

    Old Time Tea stroke its whiskers and contemted, ¡°To feed without teaching is the parents¡¯ fault. To teach without severity is the teacher¡¯sziness. If no one teaches that kid a lesson, he will cause trouble to others in the future¡­Zian, are you going to teach him a lesson on behalf of his parents and teachers?¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t call it a teaching,¡± smiled Zhang Zian. ¡°But Grandpa Tea, you are right. That kid¡¯s behavior is way out of line, and I want to y pranks on him, at least to make him realize that he should show respect to others, that he can¡¯t do whatever he wants because he¡¯s a kid, and that he shouldn¡¯t expect to be forgiven when he makes mistakes.¡±

    ¡°That sounds nice¡­ Do you need my assistance?¡± asked Old Time Tea, narrowing its eyes.

    ¡°Of course, your help is what I need.¡±

    Among all the Elves, Zhang Zian trusted Old Time Tea the most. Compared with the innocent Gxy, proud Fina, and frivolous Richard, Old Time Tea made him feel the most reassured with its sophistication, wisdom andposure. But usually he didn¡¯t want to disturb Old Time Tea, for it was at an advanced age, and should be enjoying its life quietly.

    Then he looked at Fina, who turned him down without him asking, ¡°I¡¯m not a nanny and I have no interest in teaching children. You should also mind your own business.¡±

    Snowy Li, of course, was on the same side as Fina.

    ¡°You are wrong!¡± Zhang Zian corrected it, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t bother to care about him! But he¡¯s been bullying Little Celery, so it IS my business to teach him a lesson!¡±

    After arranging the funeral of his parents, Zhang Zian came back home feeling like a zombie, thinking about his future and the future of the pet shop. It was Little Celery who told him a lot of things about his own parents that he didn¡¯t know before. Later, he decided to stay here and inherit his parents¡¯ pet shop. Little Celery was the reason he decided to stay. And now, he was really grateful for Little Celery, because if it wasn¡¯t for her, how could he have be friends with so many Elves?

    When Fina appeared, he had gotten through the most difficult time of his life. Zhao Qi was the first customer who purchased a pet from his shop, but Little Celery was the first customer that entered his shop¡­ although she hadn¡¯t bought anything as of now.

    After hearing his exnation, Fina simply replied with a ¡°hum¡±, but appeared less fierce. Judging from herzy lying posture, she still didn¡¯t intend to help, but she didn¡¯t try to stop Zhang Zian from helping anymore.

    In fact, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t try to ask Fina for help in the first ce, because Richard alone would be enough to punish the brat. But it would be even better if Old Time Tea could lend its help.

    Zhang Zian looked at Richard who was yelling excitedly, ¡°I will never miss the chance to y pranks!¡±

    Gxy ran to him, raised its face and asked, ¡°Meow, do you need my help, Zian?¡±

    ¡°It would be even better if Gxy could help,¡± smiled Zhang Zian.

    Facing Old Time Tea and Richard, he read the instructions set by the game.

    ¡°Young Ye Wen¡¯s Foshan Wing Chun Kung Fu cat, invisible!¡±

    ¡°Dr. Irene Pepperberg¡¯s love bird, invisible!¡±

    ¡­

    Seeing the sign of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, Little Celery cheerfully pointed to the sign, ¡°This is the pet shop that I¡¯ve been talking about where the pets can speak. Don¡¯t be scared!¡±

    Yi Le stretched his neck and narrowed his eyes, trying to identify the sign pointed by Little Celery, but he could only identify the characters vaguely in the night.

    He had been spending a lot of time in ying games, so his vision became a little blurred. Sometimes he had difficulty seeing the characters in the ssroom¡ªof course, he didn¡¯t think it was his problem; it must be the teachers who had written the characters too small. So, he often raised his voice and said that, on behalf of all the students sitting in the back rows, he demanded the teachers to write the charactersrger. His reasons seemed justifiable, and the teachers could do nothing but do what he required. Other naughty boys in his ss admired him for it, so he became morecent. Even when he could indeed see the characters, he would pretend he couldn¡¯t so that he could embarrass even more teachers.

    Yi Le thought the pet shop looked familiar. His family had bought a car, that they shared with others, recently and his mom had been driving him to school. He hadn¡¯t walked on this street for quite a while.

    He tried hard to think of the time he had seen the pet shop, but it was in vain. He sneered, ¡°Let me tell you a secret, nothing can scare me!¡±

    As they got closer, the soft rays in the pet shop could be seen through the ss door.

    Yi Le had been thinking about the exciting fighting and chasing in the Arena of Valor. He needed to get home early so that he could use his dad¡¯s QQ ount to log into the game to get around the anti-addiction system designed for minors that yed the game. Suddenly, he stepped on a small rock, almost injuring his ankle, and he quickly grabbed onto the shoulder of a boy near him to prevent himself from falling.

    ¡°F**k! Get out of my way!¡± A little bit embarrassed, Yi Le angrily kicked at the small rock!

    His kick was so hard that the small rock headed directly towards the ss door of the pet shop.

    ¡°F**k! I¡¯m in trouble again! Run!¡± Yi Le assumed that the ss door would shatter into pieces and he escaped quickly. He must not be caught, otherwise the owner would tell his parents and teachers. His family would have topensate for the damage and he would be beaten by his parents. He turned around and yelled, ¡°Sorry for saying goodbye so soon¡­¡±

    The other boys were also scared and began to run away.

    After running a few steps, Yi Le felt something was wrong, why didn¡¯t he hear the noise of the ss shattering into pieces? He turned around and saw that the three girls were still there, looking at the storefront with their mouths open in astonishment.

    ¡°What the hell?¡± Yi Le murmured and told his boys to stop running.

    He walked back to the pet shop, his mouth open in shock too.

    The small rock was suspended in the air very close to the ss door, like a top spinning at high speed had been blocked by a soft and invisible wall.

    Zhang Zian walked out of the shop. Seeing that Grandpa Tea in its invisible state was holding the small rock, he said slowly, ¡°If there is anything iprehensible to me, it would be girls.¡±

    ¡­

    After sending the message to their Master, Wang Qian and Li Kun were still worried about him and decided to return to the pet shop. When they arrived, they happened to witness this scene where the small rock was suspended in the air.

    The two of them were so moved. Master, you have finally showed your abilities! But as such a powerful mage, why did you have to be so pretentious in front of a group of pupils?

 Chapter 314: Basic Wing Chun Kung Fu Wears Away Rock with Water

    <h4>Chapter 314: Basic Wing Chun Kung Fu Wears Away Rock with Water</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian should feel very lucky that Old Time Tea came out from the pet shop in time; otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have had the chance to show off in front of the pupils, and his newly installed ss door would have been shattered into pieces, so he and his pets would have had to suffer from the cold wind this winter, not to mention he had not fully recovered from his cold. If the ss door was really broken, how was he going to ask forpensation? After all, the society showed more tolerance towards the children.

    Seeing the small rock fly towards the ss door, Old Time Tea acted swiftly and caught it in the blink of an eye. It was really discontented about Yi Le¡¯s behavior. How could this boy run away after causing trouble and not shoulder his responsibilities? Young Ye Wen also got himself into trouble all the time, but never would he run away like a coward.

    To teach the brat a lesson, Old Time Tea showed off its abilities on purpose. Instead of simply holding up the small rock, it used the Chi Sau (clinging hand) method of Wing Chun to downgrade the momentum of the small rock from moving forwards into spinning right before its paw.

    Zhang Zian came out of the shop from behind Old Time Tea. Since Old Time Tea had solve the crisis, he got the chance to appear calm and formidable. He learned from Little Celery that these brats were addicted to ying the Arena of Valor, so he repeated a line that Zhang Liang says in the game.

    Through the corner of his eye, he nced at the rock spinning in front of Old Time Tea¡¯s paw. Marvelous, he thought, but didn¡¯t show his astonishment on his face.

    Old Time Tea whispered, in a volume only audible to Zhang Zian, ¡°Zian, look carefully of what I am doing, this is the Chi Sau method of Wing Chun Kung Fu that I am going to teach you. It¡¯s not aplicated technique, Chi Sau is the entry level method of Wing Chun Kung Fu, and I¡¯m just using it more flexibly. I¡¯ve watched a lot of martial arts movies, but the Chi Sau demonstrated in them are so disappointing. Rather than a fighting method as shown in the movies, Chi Sau is actually a skill to enhance flexibility, sense of bnce, and sense of direction of one¡¯s arm. If you can master such a technique, you will be able to see through your enemies¡¯ intentions and anticipate their movements.¡±

    Seeing that the pupils were still stupefied, Old Time Tea continued, ¡°Chi Sau stresses on the flowing of strength. Zian, look carefully at my elbow: is it stationary?¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t talk to an invisible cat in front of the pupils, so he just made a quick observation of its elbow and then nodded lightly.

    He had seen many NBA yers spin basketballs on their fingertips, and what Old Time Tea was doing right now was probably an enhanced version of that kind of movement. Before the rock stopped moving, Old Time Tea had added an external force to change the kinstate of it, yet Old Time Tea¡¯s elbow seemed very stable.

    ¡°This is it,¡± said Old Time Tea satisfyingly. ¡°Stabilize your elbow, move your palm and forearm as the timing and the momentum takes you, but always keep the strength of your palm and forearm in a state of flowing softness. Though both Wing Chun and Tai Chi empathize on using soft strength, they are different¡ªChi Sau of Wing Chun is simr to flowing water, while the clinging hand method of Tai Chi is more like cotton. In other words, Chi Sau of Wing Chun cultivates the flowing of strength, through which you can have a keen insight of the psychological changes of your enemies. Do you understand?¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded lightly to indicate he had understood how Chi Sau worked, though he couldn¡¯t do it himself. In front of the mighty Old Time Tea, he seemed so young and na?ve. If this was the ancient martial arts world, Old Time Tea would be Zhang Sanfeng, the founder of Tai Chi, who was teaching Tai Chi to Zhang Wuji in front of enemies¡­

    Although they had the samest name, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have the intelligence of Zhang Wuji who could apply what he had just learned immediately; he could only take Old Time Tea¡¯s credit due to its invisibility.

    Even so, the pupils appeared very astonished and frightened.

    A momentter, because of friction, the small rock gradually slowed down and stopped spinning in front of Old Time Tea¡¯s paw.

    Seeing that Zhang Zian had understood, Old Time Tea smiled delightfully. Paw turned upside down, the small rock fell on the ground.

    ¡­

    Yi Le rubbed his eyes, poked his ssmates beside him and stuttered, ¡°Did you¡­ Did you see that?¡±

    All the boys were equally surprised, ¡°Yes¡­ The rock was suspended in the air¡­¡±

    ¡°F**k! Could it be a ghost?¡± Yi Le was not sure what happened and kept cussing. His mom would pull his ears if he spoke such foulnguage at home, but he felt very cool cussing outside.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± The other boys were more perplexed than he was, and they were expecting that he would have some idea.

    Just then, Little Celery cheerfully ran over to Zhang Zian, ¡°Brother Store Manager, that was amazing! Was that magic? Can you do that again?¡±

    The other two girls looked at one another, and followed Little Celery curiously.

    ¡°Ha-ha!¡± said Zhang Zian satisfyingly, ¡°Your Brother Store Manager is very powerful. This is just a small trick that is not worth mentioning!¡±

    Little Celery and the other two girls were so envious of him. One of the girls also picked up the small rock and looked at it. It was just an ordinary small rock.

    ¡°Poof.¡± Seeing that his spotlight had been stolen, Yi Le pouted and said unpleasantly, ¡°So shameless to call yourself Brother Store Manager. You¡¯re old enough to be called an uncle¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was so angry that the veins became visible on his forehead. This brat was so intolerable! He would be forever 18, how could anyone think he was old enough to be an uncle?

    Yi Le narrowed his eyes that had be short-sighted because of ying games and sized up Zhang Zian carefully. He felt that Zhang Zian looked familiar; he must have seen him before¡­

    Suddenly Yi Le recalled that this was the man who had stopped him one day and was fooled by the pranks he made.

    Was¡­ Was this man going to revenge him?

    Yi Le was a little scared. His mother was not around today; what if this man tried to beat him up?

    Yi Le looked around. It was getting dark. They didn¡¯t go home directly after school; instead, they stayed at school with their teachers to discuss the show to be performed at the school founding anniversary. Rush hour had passed, and there were few pedestrians on the street. But he figured if he screamed for help, people would gather around. So, he summoned more courage to stay.

    ¡°I remember you! You stopped mest time! What do you want this time?¡± he pointed to Zhang Zian and yelled.

    Zhang Zian looked at him disdainfully, ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you, mama¡¯s boy. Why didn¡¯t your mom pick you up today? Doesn¡¯t she worry you might get lost?¡±

    Yi Le was aggravated ¡ª his face blushed, and he yelled, ¡°I am a man! I¡¯m not a mama¡¯s boy!¡±

    ¡°What a man, bullying on girls,¡± Zhang Zian pouted his lips and said. He turned to Little Celery and smiled gently, ¡°Are these two girls your ssmates? Are youing to visit my pet shop?¡±

    With the marvelous scene that had happened a moment ago, Little Celery became more emboldened. She pulled at the hands of her ssmates and introduced them, ¡°This is Sunny, and this is Chuan Chuan. They are both my good friends. This is the Brother Store Manager that I¡¯ve been talking about and his pets really can speak!¡±

    Sunny and Chuan Chuan nodded to greet Zhang Zian, and they said sheepishly, ¡°Hello, we are Little Celery¡¯s ssmates¡­ is what Little Celery said true?¡±

    ¡°Hello! Little Celery¡¯s friends are always wee to visit my shop, whether you buy pets or not. As for whether what she said is true or not, you cane in and see for yourselves,¡± said Zhang Zian mysteriously. He looked at Yi Le and said, ¡°Of course, cowards shouldn¡¯te in or they will wet their pants.¡±

    Yi Le and other three boys quickly lowered their heads to check their pants. None of their pants were wet, and they yelled loudly in embarrassment, ¡°Who said we don¡¯t dare to go in?! Nothing will scare us! ¡®You can only fly in the sky if you are fearless!''¡±

    Hearing this, Zhang Zian confirmed that these brats were hopelessly addicted to games. They were even quoting a line from the Arena of Valor to embolden themselves.

 Chapter 315: Conditions of Speaking

    <h4>Chapter 315: Conditions of Speaking</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Because of the loud noises and dust during renovation, Zhang Zian had been telling Little Celery not toe over the past few days. Today was the first time she saw the pet shop after its upgrade, Little Celery yelled surprisingly, ¡°Brother Store Manager, it¡¯s so beautiful!¡±

    Zhang Zian smiledcently, ¡°More beautiful than before?¡±

    ¡°Much more beautiful than before, it¡¯s so spacious and bright!¡± Little Celery raised her head and looked around, ¡°I can barely recognize it.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that Little Celery would not tell lies or ttery. If she said it was beautiful, she really meant it.

    ¡°By the way, have uncle and auntiee home yet? They would be so happy seeing this!¡± she mentioned unintentionally.

    Zhang Zian suddenly felt blue.

    The invisible Old Time Tea looked at him in concern and tried tofort him, but it was inconvenient for it to speak right now. If it suddenly muttered words, Little Celery and her ssmates would think a ghost was talking in the air and would be frightened.

    Zhang Zian had never told Little Celery about his parents¡¯ deaths. He just told her that they had gone to travel around the world. So, it wasn¡¯t strange that Little Celery would ask such a question. He didn¡¯t want to lie to Little Celery. He could see that she had been quite close to his parents and he was afraid that she would feel sad after learning the truth. When she became old enough to truly understand what ¡°death¡± was, he would tell her then.

    Little Celery observed his strange look and asked in confusion, ¡°Brother Store Manager, are you sick?¡±

    Zhang Zian drudged up a smile and sniffed, ¡°You got me. I¡¯ve caught a cold, I have been coughing and my nose is stuffy.¡±

    Little Celery answered quickly, ¡°Brother Store Manager, you can boil some water with brown sugar and ginger. Whenever I get a cold, my mom cooks this for me. I feel warm after drinking it and will recover the next day.¡±

    ¡°Okay, thank you, Little Celery.¡± Zhang Zian smiled. He remembered when he was little and he got a cold, his mother would also boil water with brown sugar and ginger. It seemed like this method really worked. He nned to cook someter today, hoping to recover from the cold sooner.

    It was the first time Sunny and Chuan Chuan hade to the pet shop, and they couldn¡¯t take their eyes away from the kittens ying around and the puppies inside the disy cases.

    Yi Le and the other three boys were standing at the door, frightened, stretching their heads to peek into the pet shop. The scene where the small rock was suspended in the air left a strong impression on them, making them worry about any possible supernatural forces inside the pet shop.

    In the end, it was Yi Le, their leader, who stepped in first. He looked around and sneered, ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be scared of!¡±

    He turned around and demanded his three followers, ¡°Come on in!¡±

    But the three boys stared at something behind him. Their faces turned pale, they began to yell and they ran away.

    Yi Le swallowed his saliva nervously, and turned his head around, his heart beating rapidly.

    A kitten in ck and white had appeared in front of him. Yi Le swore that a moment ago, it was not there! He didn¡¯t see it in any corner of the first floor! Where did ite from in a blink of an eye? This was so horrible!

    Yi Le finally understood why the three idiots ran away. They must have witnessed how it appeared. If he had seen that, he would run away too!

    Looking into its silver-grey eyes, Yi Le had remembered that he had seen it before. The special colors of its eyes were very impressive.

    ¡°What¡­ What do you want?¡± he stepped back and stared at it nervously. He didn¡¯t think this ck and white kitten could speak, he just asked this question intuitively out of anxiety.

    ¡°Meow, do you admit your mistakes?¡± Gxy suddenly spoke up.

    Suddenly, the pet shop became quiet. Whether it was Sunny who was chasing after the kittens, or Chuan Chuan who was sticking her tongue out like the puppies in the disy cases, or Little Celery who was talking about methods to cure a cold to Zhang Zian, all of them stopped talking and looked at Gxy.

    Only Zhang Zian could see Richard in its invisible state besides Gxy. That sentence was spoken by Richard, who had perfectly imitated Gxy¡¯s voice.

    Sunny and Chuan Chuan didn¡¯t believe pets could speak in the beginning, but after seeing the magic in front of the pet shop where the small rock was suspended in the air, they were uncertain and dubious. When they saw the adorable puppies and kittens in the pet shop, they had forgotten about the issue about them speaking. And now that the ck and white kitten had spoken, there was no reason for them to doubt Little Celery anymore.

    ¡°It¡¯s true¡­ The kitten was speaking!¡± Mouths covered, eyes wide open, they screamed in surprise.

    Finally proving herself, Little Celery restored her spirits and even her two braids appeared perkier. She said proudly, ¡°I told you the pets here can speak but you didn¡¯t believe me! Not only this kitten, but Xiao Ling and Er Duo can also speak¡­ Oh, right, Xiao Ling is a hamster, and Er Duo is a lop-ear rabbit, they are both my good friends! Let me introduce you to themter!¡±

    Sunny and Chuan Chuan felt embarrassed, and they apologized to Little Celery sincerely, ¡°Little Celery, sorry, it¡¯s our fault¡­ We shouldn¡¯t have suspected you¡­ Please forgive us¡­¡±

    Little Celery held up their hands generously, ¡°It¡¯s okay, there¡¯s no need to apologize, I just want you to believe me! Xiao Ling and Er Duo are my good friends, and you are also my good friends! We are all good friends!¡±

    Zhang Zian walked over to them and bent over, ¡°As friends, you should support each other, share fortunes together, meet challenges together, and help to mend the wrongdoings of one another. Understand?¡±

    The girls nodded in unison.

    The invisible Old Time Tea smiled kindly. It stroked its white whiskers and meditated about the benevolence it felt.

    ¡°He who loves others is constantly loved by them.¡±

    ¡°Love others as one loves himself. Extend humble love into great love by loving his hometown, country and people all around the world.¡±

    ¡°If everyone could be benevolent, a world of harmony and peace will be reached soon.¡±

    Zhang Zian was just interacting with and teaching the girls, but Old Time Tea was so moved and couldn¡¯t help expressing its sentiment.

    ¡°Oh, by the way,¡± Zhang Zian winked and smiled mysteriously, ¡°Let me tell you a little secret. Two conditions must be met before the pets in my shop can speak.¡±

    ¡°What are the conditions, Brother Store Manager?¡± Chuan Chuan also called him Brother Store Manager as Little Celery did, for she really adored the puppies. If they could speak, she would beg her parents to buy one for her.

    It was the first time Little Celery had heard that there were conditions for the pets to speak, and all three of them couldn¡¯t wait to hear the answers.

    Zhang Zian stretched out two fingers and said seriously, ¡°First, the pets can only speak inside this shop¡ª they won¡¯t speak elsewhere.¡±

    Before the little girls¡¯ disappointment showed up, Zhang Zian continued, ¡°Second, the pets will only speak in front of people they really like, and the people must be loving, responsible, brave and have a sense of justice. If one day, you lose your innocence as children and be terrible adults, you will never be able to hear them speak again.¡±

 Chapter 316: Magic of Languages

    <h4>Chapter 316: Magic of Languages</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    While Zhang Zian was patiently teaching the meaning of friendship to Little Celery and her two ssmates, Yi Le was shaking nervously in front of the ck and white kitten that could ¡°speak¡±.

    Gxy felt this was very interesting. It just needed to open its mouth, and Richard would speak on its behalf.

    Several days ago, when Richard and Zhang Zian discussed how to punish this brat, Richard had learned what happened that one fateful evening, so it had a thorough understanding of the personality of Yi Le.

    ¡°Quack¡­I mean, Meow, do you admit you¡¯re wrong?¡± said Richard in Gxy¡¯s voice.

    If he could admit his wrongdoings easily, Yi Le would not be considered a typical brat.

    ¡°What¡­ What have I done? I¡¯m not wrong!¡± argued Yi Le loudly.

    ¡°Do you know what would have happened if that man didn¡¯t stop you?¡± Richard¡¯s tone suddenly changed. The voice was still Gxy¡¯s, but the tone was totally different, like it was the voice Gxy would have when it grew up.

    ¡°What would have happened¡­¡± Yi Le rolled his eyes and recalled what happened that day¡ªtrying to seek his mother¡¯s attention, he intended to run across the road and hide behind the barbecue stand.

    ¡°Nothing would have happened!¡± he yelled. ¡°I was just crossing the road.¡±

    ¡°Crossing the road?¡± Richard sneered, ¡°You were just crossing the road? No, you were running across the road and didn¡¯t pay attention to the vehicles driving on the road. What would have happened is you would have been hit by a car, because the driver didn¡¯t have enough time brake. You were bleeding severely, blood would have been all over the ground¡­ Your mother would have been devastated. The driver in the car didn¡¯t make any mistake, but he would have to suffer mary losses and me himself, and his newly wedded wife would divorce him¡ªall these are the results of you crossing the road recklessly, and this man¡ª¡±

    In cooperation with Richard, Gxy raised a paw and pointed to Zhang Zian.

    Richard continued, ¡°He stopped you, he prevented that future from bing reality. But you were ungrateful, you vilified him as a bad guy¡­ If you are not wrong, then who can be wrong?¡±

    ¡°Nonsense! I don¡¯t believe anything you said!¡± For some unknown reason, Yi Le became scared, his heart raced, and he was so nervous that he couldn¡¯t even quote any lines from the games he yed.

    He vaguely believed that what the ck and white kitten said was true because those things were ying vividly in front of him. This was probably because of the phenomenon called ¡°d¨¦j¨¤ vu¡±: these scenes had really happened in a parallel universe, from where his mother¡¯s sadness had traveled across the boundaries of time and space and transmitted to his heart, making him feel an excruciating pain¡­

    ¡°You know what I said is true, you know that.¡± Gxy was just adorably staring at Yi Le, but Richard¡¯s words, with their tonal variations, possessed some kind of magic, leading him to deploy his own rich imagination and turn thenguage into vivid images.

    ¡°How did you know that? Who the hell are you?¡± His face turning pale, Yi Le was constantly retreating to stay away from Gxy.

    Using an ethereal and emotionless tone, Richard even used a technique to create echoes, as if it was trying a sinner in a majestic hall, ¡°I am the Prophet, I am the Herald, and I am the entity that transcends mortals. And now, I am going to forebode your future.¡±

    Arms covering his ears, Yi Le shook his head frantically, ¡°I¡¯m not listening! I¡¯m not listening!¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t listen to me, your most terrifying imaginations will be reality. If you listen to me, and do as I tell you to, you will be fine, and grow up to be an adult like every normal kid,¡± Richard solemnly warned him.

    A momentter, Yi Le put his shaking hands down, ¡°Go ahead, I¡¯m listening.¡±

    ¡°Your father has encountered great frustration at work today, and he¡¯s really upset and annoyed. Your mother will unintentionally provoke him, and they will quarrel. You know it¡¯s not the first time for them to have a fight, but today¡¯s quarrel will be very serious, involving some long-standing issues, such as your education, and the car they recently bought. And then your mother will smash tes to vent out her anger, while your father will smoke cigarettes one after another silently¡­ Their rtionship will break down today. Your mother will take you to live in a hotel, and divorce your father several dayster, and you will be a child without a father¡­¡±

    ¡°No¡­ No¡­ I don¡¯t want to live without my father¡­¡± Yi Le was almost crying.

    He knew all these were true¡ªit was not the first time his parents had fought, his mother would smash tes when bickering, and his father would smoke silently. This kitten knew all about these! Whenever they had a fight, he would hide in his room, wear his headphones, y the Arena of Valor, and imitate the words of every hero in it until the storm outside had subsided¡­

    Compared to his mother, who was stricter on him, he liked his father better, because his father would always y games with him on weekends, buy him Gundam models, and sneak out with him to have junk food prohibited by his mother¡­ Thinking that he might lose his father, he was so panicked that he almost had a breakdown.

    Besides, he once mocked and bullied a schoolmate whose parents got divorced, and soon, he was going to be the oneughed at.

    Richard paused for a moment and continued, ¡°You have the chance to stop all of this ¡ª when you leave this shop, you will go back home as fast as you can, and before they start fighting, you will offer a cup of tea to your father, and say, ¡®Dad, thanks for your hard work¡¯. Then you will go tell your mother that you are sorry, and confess to them every mistake you have ever made, and beg for their forgiveness.¡±

    Yi Le used the back of his hands to wipe away his tears. He sobbed and stuttered, ¡°I¡¯ve done a lot of mischievous behaviors and caused a lot of troubles¡­ They will not forgive me¡­¡±

    ¡°No, you are wrong. They will forgive you, because they are your father and mother. They love you and will not punish you for your honesty. Honesty always brings understanding.¡± Richard¡¯s tone suddenly became extremely gentle, as if the kindest teacher was instructing its student.

    ¡°Really? You are not lying to me, are you?¡± Yi Le looked at Gxy in tears, ¡°Will they really forgive me?¡±

    Richard said, undeniably, ¡°Yes, I know they will! Because I am the Prophet, I am the Herald, and I am the entity that transcends mortals.¡±

    A hope was kindling in Yi Le¡¯s heart. He looked at Gxy as if it was his life-saving straw, but Gxy just gazed at him with its innocent eyes.

    ¡°Now, what are you waiting for?¡± Richard suddenly raised its volume like a formidable general was givingmand on the battlefield, ¡°Run! Run! Run back home right now at your fastest speed! Run towards the setting sun!¡±

    Yi Le bounced up like a spring, and rushed out of the pet shop, sprinting home!

    ¡­

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want Little Celery and her ssmates to hear the previous conversation, so he let them go to the second floor to visit the hamster and the lop-ear rabbit while he had been observing Yi Le on the first floor.

    He walked over to Richard and said, ¡°Gxy only told you that when Yi Le was home today, his parents would have a fight. Where were the rest of the story from? How could you make the details sound so real?¡­ ¡±

    ¡°Quack! Quack! You got me!¡± Richard changed back to its original voice and fluttered its wings, ¡°The rest of the story was made up by me, with some linguistic techniques.¡±

    Zhang Zian had guessed so, he felt annoyed and amused at the same time, ¡°How can you tell lies so easily!¡±

    ¡°About that, you are as good as I am!¡± Richard answered back sarcastically, ¡°Anyway, I should go upstairs to dub for the hamster and the lop-ear rabbit¡­ I¡¯m telling you, I demand extra meals today!¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, I promise. But¡­ Do you think it will work?¡± Zhang Zian gazed at Yi Le¡¯s receding figure as he was running away.

    ¡°Of course it will work.¡± said Richard confidently, ¡°When a child expresses care to his parents and confesses his mistakes, they will absolutely eliminate any previous grudges¡­¡±

    ¡°Because of love,¡± said Richard significantly.

 Chapter 317: Confession

    <h4>Chapter 317: Confession</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Lingering around the horizon, the sun could be devoured by darkness at any time.

    Down a straight street, a small figure was running fast, whose shadow had been elongated by the setting sun.

    Yi Le had forgotten why he went to the pet shop in the first ce, he just kept running with only one idea in his head¡ªmaking it home before his parents started fighting. He must prevent his parents from separating!

    Bang!

    It was getting dark. He was short-sighted and running too fast. Yi Le identally stepped on an empty package bag, slipped, and fell on the ground. Luckily, he was wearing thick clothes for the winter, and although he felt pain, he wasn¡¯t injured. If his parents were there, he would cry aloud, seeking their attention, and asking them to grant his wishes when his parents consoled him. But today, he just bit his lip, stood up silently, dusted off his clothes, and kept limping towards his home.

    The pet shop was not far away from his home. After crossing the intersection and taking a shortcut through the alley, it would take over ten minutes to get home. By running, it would only take him less.

    He ran into the resident district and saw the new car, a joint venture brand, that his family had recently bought was parked in front of the building¡ªjust as expected, mom and dad had already gotten home. A pair of seniors that were taking a walk frowned disdainfully towards Yi Le ¡ª everyone knew that this kid was a brat, and even dogs detested him.

    Yi Le breathlessly climbed to the fifth floor where his home was. He pulled out the key to open the door. Exhausted and nervous, his failed to put it in the keyhole twice in a row. The door was opened finally with his third attempt.

    There was no time to pull the key from the door. He threw his backpack on the ground and rushed inside.

    His home was terrifyingly quiet.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m home!¡± he said loudly, worrying whether he was toote.

    ¡°You¡¯re back? Go wash your hands, it will be a while before dinner is ready.¡± His mother Gu Le stretched her head from the kitchen, wearing an apron.

    ¡°Where is Dad?¡± Yi Le looked around the living room and didn¡¯t see his dad, Tian Yi.

    Gu Le looked at the study room and pouted unpleasantly, ¡°He went straight into the study room when he got home, leaving me with all the chores. Why? We all have to go to work, and I make as much as money as he does. Why am I the only one responsible for the chores? You think I don¡¯t want to sit down and watch TV when I get home too¡­¡±

    She said this angrily and loudly, so that Tian Yi could hear her dissatisfaction.

    Yi Le waved his arms anxiously, ¡°Mom! Mom! Stop it! Dad works very hard¡­¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not stopping today!¡± Gu Le became increasingly angry. She threw away her apron and put her hands on her hips, ¡°He works hard? What about me? Is that what he¡¯s been telling you all the time? That your mom¡¯s work is super easy?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not like that¡­¡± Yi Le was so nervous that he was sweating. He regretted that he didn¡¯t ask for more information from that ck and white kitten, because now he didn¡¯t even know how to proceed.

    Just then, the door of the study room was pulled open. Tian Yi, who had heard the vaguemotion, stepped outside. With a dismayed look, he said in a sullen manner, ¡°What did you say?¡±

    ¡°I said¡ª¡± Gu Le was aggravated. She stared at him and was on the brink of losing her temper.

    Yi Le closed his eyes, summoned the courage and shouted, ¡°I have something to tell you!¡±

    His sudden shouting startled his parents so much that even their anger had disappeared. His parents looked at each other, baffled, trying to find answers from each other¡¯s eyes.

    After shouting, the anxiety and depression that Yi Le had suffered was vented out. With every breath he took, he grew more courageous.

    Now he believed in the ck and white kitten¡¯s wordspletely¡ªit had been right, his parents did get into a fight. If he dawdled on his way home as usual, it would have been toote for him to stop the fight from deteriorating.

    ¡°Yi Le, what do you want to say?¡± Tian Yi calmed down a bit and said in a normal tone.

    Gu Le didn¡¯t speak, but was looking at her son in concern.

    There was no backing out now. Yi Le knew that if he said he was just joking around, his parents would get furious and would escte their quarreling. Perhaps just like the ck and white kitten had said, they would address some long-existing problems, like the education of their son.

    He lowered his head, walked over to his father, pulled his father by his sleeves, led him over to sit down on the couch, and then went to pull his mother over to sit in front of his father.

    ¡°Wait a minute.¡± Yi Le went into the kitchen, grabbed some tea leaves from the can and put them into the tea cup used by his father, added boiled water, brought the cup into the living room, and put it on the table in front of his father.

    ¡°Dad, thanks for your hard work.¡± He stood up straight, and then bowed to his father.

    Tian Yi was indeed in a bad mood today. He thought he was the perfect candidate for the department manager position, but in the end, he didn¡¯t get it. He was so furious that he went back home and locked himself into the study room to write his resignation letter. And then he heard Gu Le¡¯s incessantining in the living room¡ªhe couldn¡¯t stand it anymore!

    He went out from the study room to argue with her. He must find a way out for all the grievances and anger he suffered today, and quarrelling with his wife was obviously the easiest solution.

    However, Yi Le¡¯s performance had vacated his messy thoughts. Just like the hardest and coldest ice cubes melt by the sun, Tian Yi was warmed up by his son.

    This was the first time his son had prepared tea for him, and the first time his son had greeted him properly when he came home. There was only one thought left inside his heart¡ªhis son had grown up! Inparison, whether or not he could get a promotion seemed less important. Even if he couldn¡¯t make it this time, he could fight for the next chance.

    On the other hand, though Gu Le was d to see her son¡¯s change, she was hurt that her son thought his father worked harder than she did. Had her sacrifice to this family beenpletely ignored?

    Yi Le went before her and bowed, ¡°Mom, I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°Sorry¡­ What are you sorry for? Another mischievous behavior? Has your teacher asked us to visit the school office again?¡± Gu Le became impatient. She offered a gift card of 500 RMB to his teacher for the Mid-Autumn Festival, but it had been returned, and now this brat was causing trouble again?

    Tian Yi, who was enjoying this happiness, was discontented by her attitude, so he said in a low voice, ¡°Why are you so impatient? Let the kid finish his words first.¡±

    Gu Le stared at him and suppressed her quick temper.

    Tian Yi pulled Yi Le to his side, made him sit down, and said softly, ¡°Yi Le, don¡¯t be afraid, just say what you want to say.¡±

    Encouraged by his father, Yi Le became braver. He shook his head, ¡°Teacher didn¡¯t ask you to the school office. But I really need to tell you some things, things you don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Tell us, mom and dad are listening, we will not interrupt you.¡± Tian Yi put his hand on Yi Le¡¯s shoulder.

    Yi Le kept his head very low and vented out all the naughty behaviors he had done. He got so emotional that his words were a little bit incoherent, but they wereprehensible in general. He confessed to a lot of things, including the pranks he yed and got away with, how he bullied his schoolmates and how others could do nothing about him¡­

    And thest thing was what happened that evening. He confessed his feelings at that time. He thought his mom didn¡¯t care enough about him, so he nned to run across the road to hide himself as punishment to his mother. When she couldn¡¯t find him and became desperate, he would appear from behind the barbecue stand. If she was worried about him, she would listen to anything he said afterwards¡ªthat was his original n, but he was stopped by the owner of a pet shop when he tried to cross the road. But he improvised another idea anyways ¡ª by vilifying that man as a bad guy, he won his mom¡¯s attention likewise.

    Hearing this, Tian Yi and Gu Le frowned. They were very busy working parents, but they had always assumed that they had spent enough time in educating Yi Le. Sometimes when their colleaguesined about their own naughty children, Tian Yi and Gu Le were shocked by their mischiefs ¡ª how would they have thought that their own child was the worst brat of all! Especially thest thing confessed by their son, that was so dangerous!

    ¡°I told you that you must walk on the sidewalk and wait for the green light to cross the road! Never run across the road! Why didn¡¯t you listen to me!¡± yelled Gu Le nervously.

    Tian Yi stopped her, ¡°Let¡¯se back to thister.¡±

    He turned to Yi Le, ¡°Yi Le, is this true? Which day exactly?¡±

    Shocked by too many things at once, Gu Le was suffering from a headache. She rubbed her forehead with her fingers and said, ¡°I told you about this before. Do you just ignore everything I say?¡±

    Tian Yi was not in the mood to argue about these details with her. He asked Yi Le again, ¡°Think about it, which day was this?¡±

    ¡°The day when mom¡¯s cell phone screen broke. She bought a new cell phone the next day and then you mentioned buying a car,¡± answered Yi Le in a low voice.

    Tian Yi remembered this. What Gu Le told him was that a strange man had stopped Yi Le on the street, she thought their son would encounter danger walking to school alone and insisted on buying a car. Tian Yi thought she was right, and though their family was not very rich, he agreed to buy a car. Who would have thought that this was not the truth? If that man hadn¡¯t stopped Yi Le in time, then judging from Yi Le¡¯s recklessness, the results would have been unimaginable¡­

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say¡­¡± he sighed to Gu Le. ¡°You used a guy without evidence. You will deter kind people from doing good deeds.¡±

    Gu Le knew she was wrong, but she answered defensively, ¡°If you were there, would you really trust a stranger?¡±

    ¡°At least I wouldn¡¯t me people without evidence¡­¡± Tian Yi shook his head and said decidedly, ¡°Let bygones be bygones. But now, we have to mend his mistakes. To all the schoolmates bullied by Yi Le, all three of us must go to their homes to apologize in person. As for the pet shop owner¡­ Let¡¯s go there together one weekend.¡±

    Gu Le bit her lip tightly. Although she would be embarrassed facing the pet shop owner again, she didn¡¯t put forward her objection.

    Yi Le observed their expressions and asked tentatively, ¡°Are you¡­ are you going to scold me?¡±

    ¡°We won¡¯t scold you. Problems can¡¯t be solved simply by scolding. We should shoulder responsibilities together.¡± Tian Yi held Yi Le¡¯s hands and said earnestly, ¡°Yi Le, you¡¯ve recognized your mistakes and you are willing to change, which means you¡¯re still a good boy. Mom and Dad are really happy and will correct the mistakes with you. If anything urs, you can always confide in us like today, okay?¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± Tears were falling from Yi Le¡¯s eyes.

    Gu Le went over to embrace her husband and her son.

 Chapter 318: No Offense

    <h4>Chapter 318: No Offense</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In the morning, the rm on the cell phone rang on time.

    Song Bai turned over, stretched his arm to fumble with his cell phone, and turned off the rm. Lying on his bed like a dead fish, he knew the rm would ring again ten minutester. Since he became a vlogger, he had turned himself into a geek who was crazy about digital products. Just like other geeks, Song Bai was a night owl who liked staying upte at night but struggled to wake up in the morning.

    Before the rm rang for the second time, his fingers hanging down on the edge of the bed had touched a furry thing.

    Startled, he opened his eyes suddenly, his heart skipping a beat. The scenes in the horror movies he had watched were ying in his head, and he was afraid he was going to be as helpless as the protagonists of these horror movies.

    He looked carefully at the furry thing. As it turned out, his fingers happened to be touching the back of ck Flower.

    ck Flower was still sleeping, its body all cuddled up. It opened its eyes for a moment and then closed them¡ªit was just a sleepyhead like Song Bai.

    A cat could afford to stay in bed all day long, but Song Bai couldn¡¯t. He had to go to work to support himself and pay the rent, so that he could use his limited savings to purchase new digital devices.

    He shut off his rm in advance, which was rare, and pressed the power button of theputer. He put on clothes, went to the kitchen, and drank a cup of cold water to refresh himself. When he came back to the bedroom, ck Flower was still sleeping in its cat bed.

    ck Flower was much more well-behaved than Song Bai had imagined. It liked skateboarding, had no interest in the digital products all over his room, and loved staying in its cat bed.

    Song Bai yawned and scratched his head, from where a lot of dandruff fell, but he ignored this.

    Theputer had finished starting up and had entered the desktop.

    He still had some time before he had to go to work. Song Bai found a dder¡± to cross over the Great Firewall, logged into YouTube, and assessed the background analysis tool to observe the number of subscribers to his vlog channel.

    ¡°2,726 subscribers, well¡­¡± he recalled, ¡°Increased by 74pared with yesterday¡­ not bad.¡±

    In fact, it was thergest increase range in one day since he began vlogging. However, the number of subscribers seemed to have some rtion with the name of the videos. He found that if the names of the videos were rted to recent hot topics, the increase range of that day would berger, so this indicator alone couldn¡¯t represent his channel¡¯s overall poprity.

    He opened histest vlog, Over the Great Wall, which had attracted 375 views, 77 likes and 28 dislikes as of now. Proportionally, more viewers had clicked on the likes and dislikes icons than usual.

    Generally, after watching one video, the audience would immediately be attracted by another video. Unless they really liked or hated that video, they wouldn¡¯t bother to click the like or dislike icons. On average, the number of likes and dislikes among the total views was less than 1/10, while the ratio of histest video¡¯s had approximately reached 1/3, which was abnormally high.

    Song Bai looked at the time stamp in the lower right corner of theputer screen It had only been 12 hours since his upload had finished, and the previous vlogs he issued usually attracted 200 to 300 views in 24 hours.

    Controlling his excitement, he scrolled down the webpage and read thements left by the audience.

    The topment was, ¡°Wow! Dope! Is this real? I think it¡¯s real?! Can someone tell me if it¡¯s real or not?¡±

    There were five replies beneath thatment.

    1.¡±Wake up!¡±

    2.¡±Obviously it¡¯s fake!¡±

    3.¡±Brains are a good thing, I hope you have one.¡±

    4. ¡°I think it¡¯s real. The part where the kittens were dancing seemed coherent, and I don¡¯t see any edit points in the process.¡±

    Regarding to the fourth reply, someone replied in a joking manner, ¡°Right, when I watch sexual videos, I also thought the actors¡¯ movements were coherent, and I couldn¡¯t find any edit points either. I only felt upset for not being as longsting as those guys.¡±

    As a man, Song Bai understood what this reply meant immediately and smiled.

    He scrolled down to read anotherment.

    The secondment was, ¡°No offense, but the creator of this videoes from China, and the video was also filmed in China, which makes me doubt the truthfulness of this video.¡±

    There were two replies under thatment.

    1. ¡°Dude, that¡¯s what I¡¯ve been talking about.¡±

    2. ¡°No offense, but you know what expression I hate the most? It¡¯s ¡®no offense¡¯!¡±

    Song Bai became extremely upset.

    He inhaled deeply and looked out the window, trying to calm down.

    To be honest, he was not surprised that the truthfulness of the video was questioned. If he hadn¡¯t seen it for himself, he wouldn¡¯t believe that a group of kittens could dance together to the drum beats either.

    He could handle normal questioning and doubts! In fact, almost every popr video on YouTube had been questioned about its truthfulness. People were doubtful of things they didn¡¯t see in person. That¡¯s fine. It happens.

    However, he was furious that whoever wrote thatment doubted his video just because he came from China.

    It was not the first time he had run into such a situation, and he thought he had be immune to such hostility. But his upset and frustration right now clearly suggested that he still couldn¡¯t remain calm when being treated like this.

    Obviously, those 28 dislikes were all from people doubting the authenticity of his video.

    This rude and unreasonablement had also provoked others. The second respondent couldn¡¯t stand such a presumptuous tone and used the ¡°no offense¡± format to reply sarcastically.

    Song Bai had also heard that a lot of high school students in the US really hated the sentence of ¡°No offense, but¡­¡±. Because whatever came after ¡°but¡± was clearly something offensive. Some people thought they were being polite by adding ¡°no offense¡±, but on the contrary, it was just really rude and impolite.

    ck Flower opened its eyes and crouched to yawn widely. It jumped off its bed, trotted to leave the bedroom, and went directly to the cat litter box in the bathroom. Song Bai had been worried about how he was going to teach ck Flower to use the cat litter box. It turned out that he didn¡¯t need to worry at all, ck Flower had been ustomed to a cat litter box and cat litter simr to that used in the pet shop, thus saving him a lot of time and energy to train it.

    Momentster, through diverting his attention, Song Bai¡¯s feelings had been adjusted, and he focused on thements.

    The thirdment was, ¡°Who was also attracted by the kitten on the cover?¡±

    1. ¡°I was. That ck kitten is so adorable. Touching the camera lens is so cute.¡±

    2. ¡°Me too! It¡¯s so cute that my heart melted! By the way, have you guys noticed that this ck kitten also appeared in the video? It was the third kitten in the second row. I¡¯ve watched the whole video several times. I was attracted by it the first time I watched the video, and my eyes were still fixated on this ck kitten when I watched the second and third time.¡±

    After using the cat litter box, ck Flower ran up to him, rubbed the trouser leg of his pants, and uttered ¡°meow meow¡± sounds. It raised its head to look at him, as if it was asking for breakfast.

    Song Bai bent down and touched its face with his finger, ¡°ck Flower, you¡¯ve already got fans abroad.¡±

    ck Flower didn¡¯t understand what he said. It tilted its head and stared at him discontentedly, as if saying, ¡°What is ¡®fans¡¯? Is it something I can eat?¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, I will prepare breakfast for you right away,¡± he smiled.

    Song Bai looked at the time again. Usually he could prepare breakfast for himselfter, but today he needed to prepare food for ck Flower for the whole day, so he had to turn off theputer earlier than usual. Today was the first day he was officially raising a cat. The first step was always the hardest, and he didn¡¯t want to be pressed for time.

    He made a quick breakfast by making fried rice from leftovers, adding an egg and sausage. When he was having breakfast, ck Flower was rubbing his trouser leg asking for food. He looked at the instructions of the automatic feeder, put cat food into it, poured fresh, cold water into the water basin, and said goodbye to ck Flower, asking it to take care of the apartment and stay out of trouble. He changed into nicer clothes and left the apartment.

    He was still feeling down when he arrived at thepany.

 Chapter 319: A Driver that Wasnâ€™t Driving

    <h4>Chapter 319: A Driver that Wasn¡¯t Driving</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Chin rested on one arm, Jiang Qianxue was operating the mouse with her other hand and browsing through web pages, feeling bored. Her Persian cat, Snow Ball, was lying on herp for a nap.

    She had been sitting in front of theputer for an hour and had skimmed several times through the cuisine and travel section of Wang Haige, but she still couldn¡¯t find any new ce worth visiting. This was quite normal, for Snowy had high requirements for the locations for her live broadcasting. .She wouldn¡¯t settle for any mediocre ces. Besides, Binhai City was not arge city where novel and interesting shops could keep springing up.

    Under the keyboard was a piece of paper written with a few lines of advice provided by theizens, among which many lines had been crossed off. This meant that Snowy had paid visits to these shops, but they had failed to meet her standards as live broadcasting sites. Theizens had been urging her for an update ¡ª anything would do, even cleaning Snow Ball¡¯s feces seemed viable to them.

    She released her hand from the mouse, and used her finger to help check the items listed on the paper, and stopped at a shop named ¡°Back to the Old Days¡±, which had also been suggested by theizens. She couldn¡¯t figure out what the shop consisted of at the beginning, but after a reminder by theizens, she realized it was a ce that specialized in selling second-hand goods, some of which were not avable on the market anymore, so the products in that shop were quite expensive.

    Honestly, that shop was the best choice as of now. Snowy knew that, but she just didn¡¯t have any interest in buying second-hand products. She had hosted a live broadcast in a used bookstore before, but used books and other second-hand goods were different in nature.

    Besides, staying at home was really boring, with her mother keepining about her. After struggling for quite a while, Snowy decided she should go visit the shop.

    ¡°Snow Ball, stay at home and be good, I need to go out now.¡± She picked up Snow Ball from herp and put it on the bed, then used her fists to beat at her thighs, which had be numb from Snow Ball¡¯s weight. Snow Ball had been gaining weight very quickly recently. It was not a kitten like it was when she bought it anymore, but instead was more like a fully-grown big cat.

    ¡°Meow!¡± Snow Ball approached her. It seemed like it wanted to go out too.

    ¡°Snow Ball, stay at home. Your fur will get dirty outside, and the pet shop hasn¡¯t reopened for business yet, so they can¡¯t give you a bath. Perhaps another day, okay?¡± Snowy affectionately touched Snow Ball¡¯s forehead.

    She put on a thick down jacket, a pair of gloves and plush hat to shield herself from the chilliness, brought her must-have cell phone and purse, and left the bedroom.

    Knowing that her father was not home, Snowy didn¡¯t need to sneak out anymore. She walked past her mother, who was making a phone call in the living room.

    ¡°Where are you going? It¡¯s so cold outside,¡± asked her mother, putting down the phone.

    ¡°Just going out for a walk. It¡¯s so boring staying at home.¡± Snowy waved to her mother, ¡°Mom, you should also go out for a walk. Don¡¯t just sit at home, go dancing with the neighbors or something.¡±

    ¡°Are you lecturing me?¡± HYer mother was annoyed and amused, ¡°You think I am still a wild child as you? You will get a cold easily if you go out in this weather! Let me tell you, if you are sick, don¡¯tin to me.¡±

    ¡°Rx, I won¡¯t get a cold. Look what I¡¯m wearing.¡± Snowy patted her down jacket, ¡°See youter, Mom.¡±

    Before her mother said another word, Snowy had pulled the door open and ran outside.

    ¡°You¡­ What a wild girl!¡± Her mother hit the table angrily and picked up the phone again, ¡°Hello, where were we?¡±

    Snowy hummed the melody she made for herself and walked jauntily towards the entrance of the vi district.

    Covering a spacious area, this luxury vi district was extremely quiet. The artificialke in the center of the district was filled with withered yellow leaves, making theke look like a field of wheat when the wind blew.

    Usually, she could run into a few seniors taking a walk in the district. But since winter had arrived, it seemed that everyone had been hiding inside their homes. Even when they needed to go out, they would choose to drive their fancy cars instead of walking. There were very few youths living in this district, not to mention youths the same age as Snowy. Most of the residents were middle-aged, such as her father. As for the presumptuous and bullying young people born with silver spoons in their mouths¡­perhaps they were in this district, but she had never met one before.

    Such mncholy was soon dispelled by Snowy¡¯s optimistic and cheerful characteristics. She knew that as long as she left the vi district and entered the real world outside, the scenes would not appear bleak, and she wouldn¡¯t feel lonely anymore.

    Besides, she didn¡¯t hate winter, because her birthday was in the winter. When her birthday approached, she would receive lots of gifts, and her parents would stop nagging her so that she could enjoy a few quiet days without theirints. It would be even better if it could snow! She would build rows of snowmen in front of her house like they were her exclusive guards, and she had been doing that every winter.

    Beep! Beep!

    Just when she was fully immersed in her thoughts, a car was sting the horn behind her. She turned around and saw a Mercedes-Benz limousine . Since there were few pedestrians on the street, she had been walking away from the sidewalk absentmindedly and had unintentionally blocked the way of the limousine.

    Snowy walked back on the sidewalk, and curiously stared at the ck rear window of the limousine, wondering which neighbor was inside¡ªthe license te number was strange to her, and she didn¡¯t remember ever seeing it in this district before. The tinted windows were perfect for keeping the privacy of the people inside. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn¡¯t see a thing in there.

    Although she had cleared the way, the Mercedes-Benz limousine didn¡¯t speed up; instead, it was moving slowly by her side.

    The car window winded down. Before she could see clearly who was inside, she heard barking, and then a dog stretched out its head, winking and making grimace face at her.

    ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t this Good-for-Nothing?¡± said Snowy surprisingly.

    She often saw Uncle Jin walk his dog in this neighborhood, so she was close to this Husky named Good-for-Nothing. Besides, there was only one Husky in this district, so she would never mistake it for other dogs.

    Snow Ball and Good-for-Nothing didn¡¯t get along well. They would fight every time they met. But usually, Snow Ball was the one chasing and punching Good-for-Nothing¡­ Don¡¯t be fooled by Good-for-Nothing¡¯srge size, it was actually a dork!

    A momentter, she pointed to Good-for-Nothing andughed, ¡°Good-for-Nothing, what the hell is on your neck?¡±

    A strange thing was surrounding the Husky¡¯s neck, as if a dog¡¯s head was sticking out from the middle of a sunflower. The Husky¡¯s appearance was already very stupid, and this thing made it look even more stupid!

    Good-for-Nothing extended its head out of the window to look around. That awful Persian cat was not around, but there was still a light smell of it somewhere. Just when it was about to cheer up, Snowy¡¯s words hit its sensitive nerves. It lowered its head and looked at her with grievance.

    Snowy felt so amused that she hadpletely ignored Good-for-Nothing¡¯s feelings.

    Afterughing for a while, she realized that, if Good-for-Nothing was in the car, then Uncle Jin should also be in the car.

    ¡°Is Uncle Jin in there?¡± she said to the dark car.

    An arm stretched out and pushed aside the head of Good-for-Nothing. Jin Er squeezed his head out of the car window and greeted her, ¡°Hello Snowy, just when I think you had forgotten me.¡±

    It was really funny that a man and his dog were putting their heads together and looking at her.

    ¡°Good morning, Uncle Jin.¡± Snowy politely greeted him, but then confusion arose.

    ¡°Uncle Jin, are you attending some serious matters today?¡± asked Snowy curiously.

    Jin Er startled, ¡°Why do you ask? Are you saying what I usually do is not serious enough?¡±

    ¡°Because you are not driving, It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve ever seen you in a passenger seat.¡± Snowy bit her lips and didn¡¯t answer his second question. The answer was self-evident. Her father, Jiang Qianda, had been saying that Jin Er was wasting his time in his habits, and that hispany would be doomed sooner orter, although Jin Er didn¡¯t worry about that at all.

    ¡°Oh, that¡­¡± Jin Er signed, ¡°It¡¯s a long story. Simply put, I was racing in my car in the city a few days ago, and then my driving license got suspended!¡±

 Chapter 320: Asking for Opinions

    <h4>Chapter 320: Asking for Opinions</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Though Jin Er was sighing, he didn¡¯t look upset. His expression was more like exhaustion after euphoric excitement. His face right now was like that of a Shiba Inu that had just had mating behaviors.

    Snowy didn¡¯t have a driving license, so she didn¡¯t understand how the penalty system worked; she just knew that Jin Er couldn¡¯t drive for a while.

    ¡°Uncle Jin, did you run a red light?¡± she asked confusingly.

    Jin Er¡¯s thoughts were wandering far away, ¡°Run a red light? No way, I have never run red lights in my life, I just¡­I just drove a little bit faster. Yes, just like that.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Snowy knew what speeding was, and she expostted with him, ¡°Uncle Jin, speeding is very dangerous. Even if you didn¡¯t hit humans, what if you crash with other things¡­¡±

    ¡°No, I drove fast for a reason, unlike those stupid young people speeding just for fun.¡± Jin Er justified himself, ¡°I was saving a life.¡±

    ¡°Saving a life? Were you sending a critically ill patient or an expectant mother to the hospital?¡± Snowy couldn¡¯t help but show respect for him. ¡°Uncle Jin, you are such a good person! If my dad says anything bad about you, I will definitely bring this up to him!¡±

    Jin Er waved his hands in panic and said awkwardly, ¡°Please don¡¯t! I can¡¯t afford to provoke your father¡­ Besides, I didn¡¯t do that to save a human¡¯s life, and if he also knows that, he willugh his head off!¡±

    Snowy was more confused. Her eyes were attracted to the Elizabeth Cor on the Husky¡¯s neck, and one horrible thought sprung up. She asked hesitantly, ¡°So you were speeding to save your dog¡¯s life?¡±

    ¡°Not exactly. Good-for-Nothing is a tough buddy. It will be fine as long as it doesn¡¯t get itself into trouble, but it did have something to do with my speeding. Good-for-Nothing,e, shake hands.¡± Jin Ermanded it.

    Good-for-Nothing stretched out its forepaws, almost rubbing on Jin Er¡¯s face. Luckily, Jin Er had a quick response and turned away his face in time, otherwise scratches would have been left on his face.

    Snowy saw that one of Good-for-Nothing¡¯s forepaws was covered with thick bandages, but it seemed that its movement was not affected.

    ¡°Did it hurt its leg?¡±

    Jin Er put Good-for-Nothing¡¯s forepaws back into the car, ¡°A small injury. Fissure fracture. It has recovered. Today I¡¯m going to take it to the clinic to take off the bandages and return this sunflower cor¡­ Good-for-Nothing wasn¡¯t the one that almost died, but a talking parrot in a pet shop.¡±

    Snowy blinked her eyes.

    Before she could ask a question, Jin Er continued, ¡°The pet shop where you bought your cat, the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, I went there a few days ago¡­ but didn¡¯t go in.¡±

    Snowy suddenly had interest in this. As awork anchor, her instincts told her that this could be a very interesting topic. She couldn¡¯t let go of this chance, and she hastened to ask, ¡°Uncle Jin, can you be more specific? What happened exactly that evening? And what about that talking parrot?¡±

    Jin Er drudged up a smile, ¡°It¡¯s a very long story, and I only know parts of it. Look at you, are you going somewhere? Or are you just walking around in this neighborhood?¡±

    She nodded, ¡°I¡¯m going to a second-hand store.¡±

    ¡°A second-hand store?¡± Jin Er was surprised. Had her father, Jiang Qianda, gone bankrupt or had cash flow be tense? He hadn¡¯t heard anyone talk about such a big news. If her father didn¡¯t run into any difficulties, why would Snowy visit a second-hand store?

    Snowy exined, ¡°It¡¯s not an ordinary second-hand store. Well, it¡¯s a distinctive store, where the items are rarely seen in daily life. Some of them are out-of-print or not avable in the market anymore.¡±

    Now it made sense to Jin Er, ¡°Is it kind of like an antique store?¡±

    ¡°Probably.¡± Snowy was not sure.

    The information about the second-hand store was provided by theizens. The items in the store were not strictly antiquated ¡ª some were out-of-print, some were products used by deceased celebrities¡ªwhich was the reason she didn¡¯t want to go there. She didn¡¯t want to bring things once used by dead people to her home. If her mother knew where these came from, she would definitely throw them out!

    ¡°Oh. Come in then, I¡¯ll give you a ride, and we can talk on our way there. It¡¯s quite embarrassing that you¡¯re standing outside in this cold weather while I¡¯m sitting in the car. Your dad will kill me if he sees me¡­¡± Jin Er guiltily extended his head to look around. Lucky for him, Snowy¡¯s fierce father was not around.

    The driver got out of the car, pulled open the car door on the other side for Snowy, and invited her to get in.

    Snow didn¡¯t hesitate. She bent over and went into the car.

    Inside the spacious limousine, the air conditioning was on heating mode. Snowy breathed out the chilliness, and took off her gloves and plush hat.

    Jin Er asked Snowy about the location of the second-hand store, and told the driver to go to her destination first.

    On their way there, from his point of view, he briefly narrated what happened that night. It was partly was what he had been through, and partly what he heard from Long Xian.

    Snowy was so intrigued by the talking parrot that she interrupted Jin Er several times during his bragging about his amazing racing experience that night. Jin Er was really upset ¡ª after all, he was talking about the experience that cost him 12 points on his driving license. Besides, he hadn¡¯t seen that parrot for himself, so he couldn¡¯t provide much information to Snowy.

    The only thing Jin Er was certain about was that the parrot was really precious, so precious that everyone in the pet shop and the pet clinic engaged in saving its life. Even himself as an outsider was willing to take part in the course to fight for its life against the pressing time.

    While asionally paying attention to Jin Er¡¯s legendary story about how he went straight through 16 green lights in one evening, Snowy pulled out her phone, essed the Weibo app, and posted a Weibo.

    ¡°Hello everyone, this is Snowy. Let me tell you something interesting! I just heard that there is an amazing talking parrot in the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, and it can speak a lot of words. Guys, how about I go there to host a live broadcast featuring the parrot?¡±

    Soon her die-hard fans replied.

    ¡°The pet shop of that swindler¡­ To be honest, I¡¯d rather you not go there. It¡¯s not safe for you with that person around. But I also want to watch your live broadcast! I¡¯m struggling.¡±

    ¡°Talking parrot¡­ My parrot can talk, too! Snowy, you want toe to my ce for a live broadcast? I will pay for everything! Meals, lodging, transportation¡­¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?! Bro on the abovement, you win!¡±

    ¡°You should go there, Snowy. I heard that pet shop has finished renovation. You can go to see how it¡¯s decorated. As long as you bring an anti-pervert electric shock machine or pepper spray with you, you will be fine.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a new fan, who is this swindler store manager you talked about? You guys seem to know him very well?¡±

    ¡°None of your business, you just need to remember that person¡¯s full name is ¡®Pervert-Pretentious-Swindler Store Manager.¡¯ ¡±

    ¡°Agreed to the abovement.¡±

    ¡­

    Snowy kept refreshing the webpage and was amused by the increasingments.

    Though most of her die-hard fans hated Zhang Zian and cursed at him, they also hoped Snowy could go there to host a live broadcast. They knew that the pet shop had cats that could walk in figure eights, so they were very curious about this ¡°amazing¡± talking parrot as described by Snowy. As for the new fans, they were a little bit perplexed, wondering who the hell this store manager was that was popr yet was hated by theizens at the same time¡­

 Chapter 321: Back to the Old Days

    <h4>Chapter 321: Back to the Old Days</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    While Jin Er was talking about the strange things that had happened that night, such as crossing 16 green lights consecutively and seeing four red lights in the same crossroad, Snowy had collected enough opinions from her fans and posted a new Weibo.

    ¡°Live broadcast notice.¡±

    ¡°Location: Amazing Fate Pet Shop.¡±

    ¡°Specific time: To be announced, will let everyone know before the broadcast.¡±

    ¡°Theme: The amazing parrot in the pet shop.¡±

    The Mercedes-Benz limousine slowly parked beside the road and Jin Er reminded her, ¡°Snowy, I think this is the second-hand store you are going to, correct?¡±

    She turned her eyes away from her cell phone screen, looked outside through the car window and saw a sign that said ¡°Back to the Old Days¡±.

    ¡°Yes, this is the ce. Thank you, Uncle Jin.¡±

    Snowy put on her gloves and plush hat again, got out of the car, and extended gratitude to Uncle Jin.

    Good-for-Nothing barked at her, as if saying: And me! Don¡¯t forget about me!

    She smiled and waved at Good-for-Nothing, ¡°Goodbye, Good-for-Nothing, when you take off your bandages and the cor on your neck, I will bring Snowball to y with you.¡±

    Hearing the name of Snowball, Good-for-Nothing trembled, probably because it had been defeated by Snowball too many times¡­

    ¡°Do you need me to wait for you?¡±

    Jin Er looked around. It was a spacious and bleak alley with few pedestrians. He worried that Snowy might run into danger if she was left there alone. He was the one who brought Snowy out of their neighborhood, and if something happened to her, he would get himself into trouble too. He wouldn¡¯t worry about the safety of other girls the same age of Snowy, but Snowy had only lived in afortable and safe environment and was well-protected by her parents, so he worried that she would be gullible and would easily fall into strangers¡¯ traps.

    ¡°I will be fine.¡± Snowy shook her head, ¡°Uncle Jin, you should take Good-for-Nothing for a check-up and bandage removal now. I will take care of myself.¡±

    ¡°Alright, if anything happens, call me.¡± Jin Er reminded her again.

    ¡°Understood. Don¡¯t worry about me, Uncle Jin,¡± Snowy smiled.

    Jin Er said goodbye to her and asked his driver to drive off.

    After they left, Snowy raised her head to observe this two-story store of antique design.

    The storefront had a redcquered gate set with brass studs. On the left and right side were two redcquered columns as wide as water buckets. Right above the gate was a que with yellow characters saying Back to the Old Days on a blue background. The imitation of the design found in ancient times was quite sessful¡ª the only w was that everything seemed too new. They hadn¡¯t suffered from harsh weather for decades, so the old-vintage element was missing. Apparently, this store had been built not long ago.

    The redcquered gate was open, and the store inside seemed a bit dark.

    ¡°Hello?¡± Snowy knocked on the gate, crossed over the high threshold and walked in.

    The store was extremely messy, with all kinds of strange-looking things scattered on the floor and hanging on the walls. All these things made her dizzy, yet also made her feel a bit creeped out.

    A lean old man dressed in a long robe of the ancient times gradually walked out from back of the store. He was holding a feather duster with a long handle, dusting off the items around him as he walked towards Snowy, with a carefree expression on his face.

    When he came closer, Snowy saw that he was a white-goateed, robust and hearty old man in his seventies, with his eyebrows and hair turning grey. He smiled and looked at Snowy, ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Hello, are you the owner of this store?¡± asked Snowy.

    The old man nodded slightly, ¡°Yes, I am the owner. What do you want, my guest? It¡¯s not a big store but there are some rare and interesting items here. Take a look. If you need anything, just tell me.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ Actually, I am an anchor.¡± said Snowy hesitantly. It was always troublesome for her to exin this term to seniors who didn¡¯t understand what an anchor was. They always mistook her as a television reporter.

    The old man replied, ¡°Anchor, that I¡¯ve heard of. Does that mean you host live broadcasts on the inte?¡±

    It was such a relief to Snowy. She didn¡¯t expect this old man to be quite fashionable that he knew what anchor was for, thus saving her a lot of energy to exin.

    ¡°Yes, but I¡¯m just an unheard-of anchor.¡± Snowy stuck out her tongue cheekily, ¡°May I ask if I can host a live broadcast in your store? It will be good for your business.¡±

    After entering the shop, Snowy didn¡¯t see any customers there, which meant that business must be very rough. It was possible that just like other antique stores, this store could sustain itself for years by selling only one item. But, as she observed, though the products were seldom seen in daily life, they were not old enough to be deemed as antiques, which were much more lucrative than simply being rare.

    The old man smiled and said, ¡°Thank you for your kindness. But I opened this store to have a serene ce for myself and all these stuffs. It¡¯s against my intention to attract a lot of customers.¡±

    What? Snowy was stupefied by his reply. A store owner who didn¡¯t want to attract more customers?

    ¡°You don¡¯t want to sell products to make money? How are you going to make money without customers?¡± she asked in astonishment.

    The old man stroked his goatee, narrowed his eyes and said calmly, ¡°Yes, everyone wants to make money. But, I think it¡¯s better to leave it to fate. Customers walk by my store one day and they suddenly decide toe in, and they find an item they really like. Isn¡¯t that nice?¡±

    Snowy sucked in a cold breath. In the past, she could never understand why someone opened a store yet didn¡¯t care about profits. After paying a visit to the Teahouse in Hidden Fog with Zhang Zian, she learned that there were people whose intentions of opening shops were not about money, but for adhering to their ideals, or simply passing time. In terms of wealth and taste, this simply dressed old man in front of her probably was another low profile Tuhao, who could be even better than Sister Ye, the owner of Teahouse in Hidden Fog!

    Even the name of the store, ¡°Back to the Old Days¡±, was more decorous and stylish than Teahouse in Hidden Fog. Whoever came up with the name Back to the Old Days must be a knowledgeable person. Besides, Teahouse in Hidden Fog was located deep in a mountain afar, while this store was located in a quiet alley in the city, which had embodied the spirit of ¡°I have built my cottage amongst the throng of men, and yet there is no noise of horse and of carriage¡± as described in an ancient Chinese poem.

    She couldn¡¯t help but wonder. Honestly, it was really rare to encounter one Tuhao, why had she seen so many Tuhaos recently? Was it because of the mutual attraction among rich people?

    But then she understood right away. The stores opened by Tuhaos were distinctive with special furnishings. The owners didn¡¯t care how much they spent, the collections in their stores were either the most expensive or the best, and they didn¡¯t care if someone would buy them or not. The reputations of such unique stores spread wide easily ¡ª when the citizens heard about these stores, they would mention them to Snowy, asking her to pay a visit and introduce the stores to them¡ªwhich exined why Snowy had a higher chance of meeting Tuhao.

    Though she had figured that out, she was in pain. This was the store where she was going to host the live broadcast, but the owner had clearly turned her down. However, a lot of her fans were waiting for her broadcast, she couldn¡¯t cancel on them¡­ Though they would understand, she couldn¡¯t do that to them.

    Snowy hesitated for a moment and decided to give up on this site. Amazing Fate Pet Shop would be her next stop.

    ¡°Sorry, I came here today for live broadcasting, I¡¯m not buying anything¡­ Sorry to disturb you.¡± She bowed slightly to the old man to extend her apology and intended to leave.

    As she turned around, she was so scared by something that she stepped back.

    In the corner of the gate, a creepy looking cat was squatting there.

 Chapter 322: Gayer-Anderson Cat

    <h4>Chapter 322: Gayer-Anderson Cat</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Because it was dark in the store, Snowy didn¡¯t really pay attention to her surroundings when she first came in. Only when her eyes had ustomed to the light did she find a strange looking cat squatting in the corner of the gate.

    This cat had a robust physique, and it was squatting there without moving. Probably because of the insufficient lights, the skin of its whole body seemed to be pure ck, yet some parts of its body were illuminating a faint golden color. It seemed like this cat was staring at her in the darkness.

    ¡°My young guest, are you alright?¡± The old man walked up from behind her and said in a clear loud voice, ¡°My apologies. I am going to deal with it in a few days. I would have never expected it to frighten you.¡±

    Snowy was indeed frightened by this weird-looking cat that appeared abruptly, so frightened that her face became pale. But when she looked carefully, she found that it was not a real cat, but only a statue, which was carved vividly and was mistaken by her as a real cat under the insufficient lights.

    ¡°Well¡­Can I have a look?¡± she pointed to the statue and asked curiously after calming down.

    ¡°Please feel free.¡± The old man walked closer and made a gesture of invitation, ¡°But I haven¡¯t dusted it for a long time, so be careful not to make your clothes dirty.¡±

    With the store owner¡¯s permission, Snowy emboldened herself, and walked towards the cat statue to observe it closely.

    It was ced by itself behind the dark corner of the redcquered gate. Compared to other items in the store, its position seemed unimportant, like it was loathed by its owner. However, from Snowy¡¯s subjective perspective, its stubborn and proud expression indicated that it didn¡¯t care about its situation of being cold-shouldered.

    When she got close enough, even with her limited knowledge of arts appreciation, she could see that this cat statue was full of exotic features that distinguished it from the styles of the statues in China. Though it was just a statue, its size was simr to that of a real cat, plus it was carved so vividly that it would be easily mistaken for a real cat under dark lights.

    Apart from a golden ring on its nose and golden earrings in its ears, the whole body of this cat statue was glowing in the color exclusive to bronze¡ªording to hermon sense, every statue made from bronze could be dated back a long time.

    She looked even closer. The bronze shade was not distributed evenly. Some parts appeared darker, while others were brighter. Its mottled appearance was caused either by being exposed to the forces of wind and rain for years, or was the effect of erosion after being buried underground for a long time.

    This cat had soft and feminine facial contours. It had such charming and lovely eyes that no one would ever mistake it for a male cat. The most eye-catching part on its face was the raised scarab carved on its forehead. Looking down on its chest was carved another,rger scarab with its wings opened,monly known as a dung beetle, yet Snowy wasn¡¯t disgusted by seeing it on a statue.

    There¡¯s a raised ne carved withplicated patterns on the neck of the cat statue¡­ Or was it a chaplet? In the middle of the ne was a namete of which the meaning was iprehensible to her.

    Snowy frowned and concentrated on the face of the cat statue. She had the feeling that she had seen such a face somewhere before, but she couldn¡¯t recall where at this moment, probably because the statuecked the fur and fur color of a real cat. After all, the statue had been carved and casted a long time ago. With the primitive techniques of that time, it was difficult to demonstrate these details.

    When her eyes once again met with the raised scarab on its forehead, Snowy couldn¡¯t help but utter a little cry of surprise.

    Wasn¡¯t this cat simr to the golden-fur cat in the Amazing Fate Pet Shop? That golden-fur cat also had scarab patterns on its forehead! Having figured this out, Snowy observed its face and posture again. The longer she looked at it, the more she felt that the cat statue looked like the golden-fur cat, though it was not as beautiful as the golden-fur cat was. But if the golden-fur cat¡¯s fur was trimmed very short, it would probably look exactly like this statue. Even their proud squatting postures were identical!

    The old man walked towards her from behind. Hearing her cry of surprise, he was astounded and asked, ¡°My young guest, are you fond of this cat statue?¡±

    Snowy nodded. The fear she had moments ago had vanished. She pointed to the face of the statue and said, ¡°It¡¯s very beautiful, with a charming disposition.¡±

    The old man stroked his goatee and smiled, ¡°You have good taste, my young guest.¡±

    Snowy was d to hear thepliment, but she wasn¡¯t sure why she was being praised.

    The old man put his feather duster against the wall, walked behind the gate and pushed the cat statue into the store. Not until then did Snowy find that the cat statue had been ced upon a tailored nk under which there were four wheels. No wonder the old man could push it so easily! It should be pointed out that the statue seemed like it waspletely made from bronze ¡ª if it was not hollow-cast, it must be a very heavy statue.

    Moving from the dark corner into normal lighting, the bronze color of this cat statue seemed more obvious, and all kinds of details could be observed easily. It turned out that the statue only appeared to be pure ck in insufficient lighting.

    ¡°My young guest, do you know the history of this cat statue?¡± The old man flicked the dust off his palms, and picked up the feather duster to clean the statue.

    Snowy thought about it and answered skillfully, ¡°It¡¯s from abroad?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is indeed from abroad.¡± The old man pped his hands andughed cheerfully, while Snowy felt awkward and drudged up a smile.

    When he finishedughing, the old man exhaled and said, ¡°I haven¡¯tughed this hard in a long time. It¡¯s really good to spend some time with young people.¡±

    ¡°Only stupid people would answer like that.¡± Snowy patted her head and said in a self-mocking manner, ¡°I¡¯m a lousy student, and there are a lot of upations I can¡¯t do well.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not stupid, you are just not worldly, which means you still have your innocence preserved.¡± The old man paused for a moment and used his hands to stroke the forehead of the statue, ¡°Speaking of its history, have you heard of the Gayer-Anderson Cat?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Snowy stopped her jokes but concentrated on the old man¡¯s words. It would be inappropriate if she didn¡¯t listen while a senior was talking about something serious.

    With his calm and peaceful expression, the old man said slowly, ¡°The original cat statue was excavated from Egypt. It was casted between 600 BC to 300 BC, donated by Lieutenant Gayer-Anderson to the British Museum, and was named after its donator, Gayer-Anderson. Apart from the original, there was a replica in the collection of The Gayer-Anderson Museum in Cairo. As for this one¡­¡±

    He contemted his wording, ¡°This one is also a replica, though the condition is not quite as good as the one in the Gayer-Anderson Museum, but I can say it¡¯s very close the original.¡±

    ¡°Wow! Impressive!¡± Snowy screamed in shock. She felt that this cat statue had a unique story, she just didn¡¯t expect its history would be so spectacr. Though it was just a replica, in her eyes, it could be deemed a true antique that was hardly essible by ordinary people.

    The old man pointed to something, which Snowy thought was a namete, on the chest of the cat statue. ¡°Do you know what this is?¡±

    ¡°Let me see.¡± Snowy walked closer to observe carefully.

    The old man patiently waited for her answer.

    Seconds passed, and Snowy was still at a loss. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I can¡¯t tell what it is. It kind of looks like a snake? Or maybe an eye?¡±

    The old man had expected that she wouldn¡¯t be able to recognize it and he slowly exined, ¡°It¡¯s normal that you can¡¯t recognize it because it¡¯s too rare. They say it¡¯s a wedjat-eye amulet, which represents the God of Light in ancient Egyptian myths. This amulet, along with the nose ring and earrings, are cast from silver and gold, replicating those of the original statue.

    Snowy was truly stupefied upon hearing this. This old man indeed was a low profile Tuhao ¡ª even a random item in his store was a replica of a statue of the God of Cats.

    The old man observed her expression, ¡°My young guest, if you are fond of this statue, how about making it yours?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Snowy was stunned, and then she looked at this statue again.

    She indeed quite liked it, but not to the extent of buying it. What¡¯s more, there were two reasons that deterred her from purchasing it. For one thing, this statue must be very expensive and she might not be able to afford it. If she spent too much money, her parents would know. For the other, there was no ce to put it, and if she brought it home, she wondered whether her mother would agree¡­although it looked beautiful, not everyone could appreciate its feminine beauty, such as her conventional and stubborn father¡­ What a headache!

    Uncle Jin probably would have interest in this statue, but considering Good-for-Nothing¡¯s fear of cats, she didn¡¯t think it was a good idea to gift it to him.

    Speaking of gifts¡­

    Snowy remembered that the Amazing Fate Pet Shop was about to reopen for business. She had been to the shop for several times, and Zhang Zian, who could be considered a friend, had helped her out. It would be inappropriate if she didn¡¯t bring any gift to the pet shop¡¯s reopening ceremony. This statue could be the perfect gift!

 Chapter 323: I Will Take Anything

    <h4>Chapter 323: I Will Take Anything</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Snowy was not certain as to how expensive this statue was. She estimated her total savings, which were abundant, including her pocket money, red envelopes received during Chinese Lunar New Year, and ie from being awork anchor. Besides, she didn¡¯t spend her money too frequently, so she was able to save a considerable amount of money. However, she didn¡¯t want to send too expensive of a gift, which Zhang Zian certainly would not ept. Though Zhang Zian seemed like a stingy person, he rejected the donations from theizensst time.

    ¡°Ah¡­ how much is this Cat Goddess statue? I can¡¯t afford it if it¡¯s too expensive¡­¡± she smiled and asked the old man, using bargaining techniques she was inexperienced in. She was afraid that the elder didn¡¯t believe her, so she quickly exined, ¡°I¡¯m just an unheard-of anchor, unlike the nationally popr anchors who can earn millions of RMB daily¡­¡±

    ¡°How much¡­¡±

    The old man seemed to have read her mind. He stuck out five fingers and smiled, ¡°This amount will do.¡±

    Solving such a riddle was a headache to Snowy. What did five fingers stand for exactly? She had no idea!

    ¡°Fifty thousand?¡± she asked tentatively, and if the old man answered RMB 500,000, she would have to give up and leave.

    ¡°That¡¯s too much. Five thousand.¡± The old man put his hand down, and chuckled, as if the expression on Snowy¡¯s face was very amusing.

    Snow uttered another cry in astonishment, ¡°Five thousand? You are not kidding, are you?¡±

    ¡°Do I look like I¡¯m joking?¡± The old man put his hands behind his back and his expression became serious, ¡°I am a business man. How can I make a price randomly?¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡± Snowy still felt incredible. If a small wooden ornament gifted to her father was imed to have cost tens of thousands of RMB, this statue was absolutely worth more than 5,000 RMB. Come on, that ornament was just a piece of wood; it was absurd that it was so ridiculously expensive. But this statue was different ¡ª with its extraordinary material, design and history, there was no reason that it was worth less than a piece of stupid wood, unless the old man was deliberately lying to her.

    Was he lying to her? Snowy secretly nced at him. Although liars would not tell everyone that they were liars, this old man really didn¡¯t look like one of them, neither from his appearance or by the way he spoke. Besides, what benefit would he gain from lying to her? For making only 5,000 RMB?

    The old man was aware that he must exin further, otherwise people might specte that he had intentions other than mary gains. The truth was, he had no other purpose ¡ª he just felt that this youngdy was agreeable. He liked giving away the items in his store to people he found amiable; in fact, he had gifted more valuable stuffs before.

    He smiled and said, ¡°Some time ago, a customer had interest in this statue and asked me to reserve for him. Later, he didn¡¯te to pick it up, and I had no way to contact him. Therefore, I am struggling about how to deal with it¡ªthrow it away? It¡¯s too pitiful for it deserves better than that. I figure that if someone finds it, it will be delivered to the scrap station and will be sold as a piece of scrap copper¡­keeping it at my store? My store is not a suitable ce for it either. So, my young guest, if you can buy it, you will help take off a great weight off my mind.¡±

    Snowy blinked. She was innocent, but not stupid. She carefully asked, ¡°From your narrative, you seem to loathe this statue?¡±

    She had sensed his detest before. Why was such a precious statue thrown in the corner behind the gate and covered with dust?

    Instead of answering her question directly, the old man walked to the gate and waved her over. ¡°My young guest,e out and have a look.¡±

    Snowy walked beside him and looked out.

    The old man lifted his hand, pointing to the wall opposite the alley, where a few stray cats were wandering and constantly looking in their direction, as if they wanted toe over but didn¡¯t dare to, as of they were nning to leave but were reluctant to. Snowy didn¡¯t understand why he asked her watch these.

    ¡°I¡¯m a cat lover,¡± he said regretfully. ¡°This statue was given to me by one of my students. He knew I loved cats and after painstaking efforts, he found this statue and gifted it to me. If you are questioning whether this statue was ill-gotten, I can assure you that it was not stolen or robbed from others.¡±

    ¡°Oh, are you a teacher?¡± asked Snowy. She felt the old man¡¯s cultured and refined mannerisms made him look like a schr. But even if he was a teacher, he must have retired a long time ago.

    ¡°I used to be, a long time ago.¡± He stood straight on his feet, looked into the distance, and said satisfyingly, ¡°With students all around the world.¡±

    Then he smiled in a self-mocking manner, ¡°But, a hero is silent about his past glories. Let¡¯s get back to this statue. My student gave me the Cat Goddess statue, of which its extraordinary origin made me delighted.¡±

    ¡°If you like it, why are you selling it?¡± Snowy grew more puzzled.

    The old man also seemed perplexed, ¡°I love cats. When I was in Beijing, not only did I raise my own cats, but I also couldn¡¯t help but feed the foraging stray cats. But ever since I moved to Binhai City, something weird would happen. No matter what food I used, those stray cats never dared to approach my store. After investigation, I found that the problemy in this Cat Goddess statue. As long as I took it away from my store, the stray cats woulde over. ¡±

    Snowy was fascinated by his narrative and didn¡¯t interrupt him.

    ¡°I have never believed in the existence of supernatural forces in my whole life. But the fact is here, and I have to believe it,¡± said the old man with a wry smile. ¡°I havee up with one corory¡ªthat items worshipping Gods, even replicas, are blessed with psychic powers.¡±

    Hearing the words ¡°psychic powers¡±, Snowy felt a chill run down her spine, and hid more of her face in her down jacket cor.

    The old man said, ¡°This is the reason I am eager to send it away¡ªI can¡¯t suppress its powers, and my store can¡¯t suppress it either. The powers of this Cat Goddess statue are too strong to be suppressed by my ordinary small store.¡±

    Snowy became hesitant upon hearing this. If this Cat Goddess statue was really as fascinating and weird as the old man had described, it would also cause the same troubles to the pet shop, wouldn¡¯t it? There were so many cats in the pet shop¡­ what if they were scared by this Cat Goddess statue, too? How was she going to be responsible for that? However, it was indeed a pity to give up the statue, which was so extraordinary yet at an affordable price.

    She couldn¡¯t make up her mind, so she came up with a convenient method. She said to the old man, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, in fact, I want to buy this statue to gift it to another. Can I discuss it with him before telling you my decision?¡±

    The old man smiled, ¡°Please feel free to do so.¡± Having said that, he picked up the feather duster again, and walked back into the store to sweep away the dust on the other items in a carefree and leisurely demeanor.

    Snowy sent a message to Zhang Zian.

    Snowy: Can I go to your shop to host a live broadcastter?

    Zhang Zian replied within seconds: If you allow me to insert advertisements.

    Snowy thought he was the same old stingy Zhang Zian who hadn¡¯t changed a bit at all.

    Snowy: I heard your shop will reopen for business soon. I¡¯ve bothered you several times, so I am going to bring you a gift. I¡¯m just not sure whether it is appropriate¡­

    Zhang Zian: What are you talking about? I will ept any gift. But let me make it clear, don¡¯t expect me to give you discounts on your future purchases, and don¡¯t expect me to offer you a gift in return.

    Snowyughed.

    Snowy: This gift is a little strange. The store owner said it has supernatural powers that influence cats the most. It seems that it frightens cats.

    Zhang Zian: Is it expensive?

    Snowy: ¡­kind of.

    Zhang Zian: Well, then bring it over! I will take anything! I don¡¯t believe I can¡¯t suppress it!

    Snowy: Okay, I¡¯ll be there with the gift in a while.

    She put away the phone, relieved, and trotted back to the store. She said to the old man, ¡°I¡¯m buying this Cat Goddess statue!¡±

 Chapter 324: Gift for Reopening Ceremony

    <h4>Chapter 324: Gift for Reopening Ceremony</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Holding his feather duster, the old man slowly came out from the store, ¡°My young guest, have you made your decision?¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡± Snowy nodded definitively, ¡°I am buying it!¡±

    The old man kindly reminded her, ¡°Although you said you are not buying it for yourself but for another person, let me remind you that the Cat Goddess Statue was buried with the Pharaoh and served as the guardian of the mausoleum. The Cat Goddess in the Egyptian myths was absolutely the symbol of Goodness and Guardianship, but the statue had been buried in the ground for a long time, just like other funeral objects. It had been carrying Yin energy more or less, so it¡¯s not suitable to ce it in one¡¯s home, and is especially unsuitable for the rooms of women and children.¡±

    He euphemistically warned her not to give the statue of the Cat Goddess to women and children. Even he could not handle the powers of the statue, let alone women and children with weaker auras.

    Snowy waved her hands and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the person to whom I¡¯m sending this gift is a man who doesn¡¯t care about Yin energy. In fact, he might feel d that the chilliness brought by the Yin energy can help him save costs in air conditioning.¡±

    The old man said, ¡°¡­ Well, in that case, the gift really suits him. Also, people who are fond of statues of the Cat Goddess are cat lovers, but as I observe, cats are afraid of this statue. Did you take this into consideration?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s none of my business,¡± Snowy smirked. In fact, she had sprung up an idea to y pranks on Zhang Zian. If the statue really caused troubles to his pet shop, it should be a big punishment for his saying, ¡°I will take anything¡±.

    The old man was at first startled by her answer, and then couldn¡¯t help butugh. ¡°Well, this statue is very heavy. You are a little girl, and I am an old man, so I am afraid neither of us can move it easily. I¡¯ll help you call a taxi.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    The old man walked out into the alley to stop a taxi on the street, trusting Snowy to the extent of leaving her alone in the store.

    Instead of walking around to touch the other items in the store, Snowy just stood where she was, and raised her head to observe them.

    A few minutester, a taxi drove into the alley and parked in front of the store, followed by the old man.

    The tall and strong driver got out of the car, and looked at the statue of Cat Goddess, ¡°All right, is this the thing?¡±

    ¡°Yes, please help us move it, with the board beneath it, to the trunk,¡± said the old man.

    The driver rolled up his sleeves and bent over to put his hands through the armpits of the statue. He whispered, ¡°Up!¡±

    The statue of the Cat Goddess seemed to be solid-cast from bronze and was extremely heavy. The driver held his breath, and exerted all his strength, so much so that he got red in the face and neck. He finally picked up the statue, carried it into the trunk, exhaled and closed the door of the trunk.

    Snowy transferred the money via her cell phone to the old man, who was quite familiar with thework transfer process just like young people nowadays.

    ¡°See youter!¡± Snowy got into the car and waved goodbye to the old man.

    The old man smiled and watched her leave before he returned to his store. He closed the door, and the already dark interior became even darker.

    ¡­

    Along the way, the driver was very curious about the statue of the Cat Goddess in his trunk, and kept asking Snowy whether it was an unearthed relic. Snowy knew that for her safety, she shouldn¡¯t tell him the true value of it, but she didn¡¯t want to lie either, so she just said it was a replica with little value.

    To prevent the driver from prying further information, she took out her cell phone and started the live broadcast.

    ¡°Hello, everyone, I am Snowy, wee to my live broadcast! Our slogan is: Having fun in Binhai City!¡± She smiled at the camera, then posed with a peace sign.

    ¡°Wow! Sister Snowy, you are finally here!¡±

    ¡°Snowy, say my name! Kiss me, hug me, hold me high!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a new fan, right? Even if you pay thousands of dors to Snowy, she won¡¯t say your name! Acting cute is useless, because after all, Snowy is the cutest!¡±

    ¡°Snowy, weren¡¯t you on the way to the store ¡®Back to the Old Days¡¯ before? You are not there yet? What happened?¡± A keen-eyed audience saw and pointed out that she was sitting in a taxi.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Snowy exined, ¡°Change of ns. I¡¯m going to visit the talking parrot at the Amazing Fate Pet Shop.¡±

    ¡°Why? Snowy, so there¡¯s only one broadcast today?¡±

    Snowy smiled and said: ¡°I¡¯m sorry everyone, but the owner of ¡®Back to the Old Days¡¯ didn¡¯t allow me to host any live broadcast there¡­What could I do?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t care! You should make up for that broadcast!¡± By no way would the audience agree to suffer the loss.

    Pestered by the audience, Snowy promised she would try to make up the scheduled live broadcast.

    The taxi arrived at the pet shop soon, and stopped roadside.

    Zhang Zian was sending the decoration workers away. Seeing Snowy was getting out from the taxi, he went to greet her.

    ¡°Yeah! Mr. Store Manager! Here Ie to disturb you again!¡± Snowy cheerfully raised one hand.

    In front of a beautiful girl who was ready to high-five, a normal person would be happy to oblige and would also scream ¡°yeah¡± excitedly. But Zhang Zian was not a normal person. His eyes were not looking at Snowy at all, but were looking into the taxi. ¡°Where is the gift?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Snowy lowered her hand embarrassedly.

    Her audience became furious!

    ¡°F**k! The pretentious store manager is getting way out of line!¡±

    ¡°That mother f****r!¡±

    ¡°The perverted manager is insane!¡±

    Snowy asked the driver to open the trunk, pointing to the statue glowing bronze and said, ¡°The gift is here, but it is very heavy!¡±

    Zhang Zian thought it was an ordinary gift, but seeing the vivid statue, he was surprised for a moment, and asked seriously, ¡°This is for me?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Snowy nodded, ¡°A gift for celebrating the reopening of your shop.¡±

    ¡°How much was this thing?¡± he asked.

    He had to make this matter clear. Though he was just joking that he would be d to ept anything, he didn¡¯t want to owe her a favor that cost her too much.

    Snowy thought for a moment and said, ¡°It¡¯s just a very cheap replica, the owner has given me a huge discount.¡± This was not a lie. When it came to the true value of the replica, 5,000 RMB would not be able to buy one leg of the cat statue.

    ¡°If it was not expensive, then I¡¯ll be d to take it.¡±

    Hearing that it was a replica, Zhang Zian felt relieved. ording to hismon sense, replicas shouldn¡¯t be very expensive.

    But it didn¡¯t ur to him that even replicas had different qualities. Unlike ordinary replicas, this statue of Cat Goddess was not produced on the process line.

    He took for granted that, since it was a replica, the nose ring and the earrings on the statue were probably just made from cheap copper.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, do you like this gift?¡± Snowy observed his face. She thought Zhang Zian would like such a gift, but she asked anyway, just in case.

    ¡°Yes, I like it very much,¡± said Zhang Zian, looking at the statue.

    Although he didn¡¯t know that the original statue was in the collection of the British Museum, at his first nce, the line and the design of the statue was exactly the same as that of the murals which Professor Wei Kang had shown him, so the statue was definitely rted to ancient Egypt. It didn¡¯t matter if he liked it or not, the most important thing was that Fina might like it.

    ¡°Wang Qian! Li Kun! Come out to move this thing!¡± He shouted towards his shop.

    ¡°Yes! Coming!¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun hurriedly ran out.

    ¡°Bring this in.¡± Zhang Zian pointed at the statue of Cat Goddess and said, ¡°Be careful, if you cause any damage to it, you will never get paid.¡±

    Although the old man had also attached a board beneath the statue, the sidewalk was not t, and Zhang Zian worried the statue would fall.

    ¡°Wait!¡± Snowy hurriedly pulled Zhang Zian by his sleeves and whispered, ¡°I heard that this statue has supernatural powers that might frighten cats. Mr. Store Manager, you should be careful¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t mind at all, ¡°Don¡¯t you worry. Even if the statue suddenly bes Sadako the ghost, I will catch her and make her my wife!¡±

    The audience from the live broadcast became speechless.

    ¡°Turning Sadako into your wife? Perverted manager, how horny are you?¡±

    ¡°I see the two morons again!¡±

    Ignoring thements, Wang Qian and Li Kun just kept moving the statue as their Master told them to. Even if it was the end of the world, their Master woulde up with solutions. A momentter, they had moved the statue into the pet shop.

 Chapter 325: Item from Ancient Times

    <h4>Chapter 325: Item from Ancient Times</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Recently, Fina was quite satisfied with her quiet and trouble-free days. She could enjoy meals on time and sleep soundly without being bothered by noisy birds. But sometimes she felt quite pathetic that she was contented so easily ¡ª after all, she oncey on the sacred throne of the Goddesses. In the current buzzwords, someone would doubt whether Fina was the real Fina Paris XIII.

    However, she didn¡¯t even bother to think about the reason she felt satisfied easily. She just wanted to use those times to take a nap, hoping to see her owner¡¯s face again while half-asleep.

    Today was another quiet day, Fina climbed on the highest rack of the cat tree and narrowed her eyes to take a nap. Since the pet shop had been refurbished, the cat tree set against the wall also had a new look. Each rack was not only made from a piece of wood, but a washable cotton pad was added on top, which made Fina feel veryfortable and warm when lying on it. There was also an inteyer of the cotton pad, ording to the man called Guo Dongyue, where a heating pad could be ced within it, so that Fina wouldn¡¯t feel cold on the freezing days.

    Fina admired such a careful man, feeling that he had the potential to be a good servant, unlike Zhang Zian, who made her very angry. Zhang Zian actually thought Guo Dongyue¡¯s improvement to the cat tree was unnecessary, because he was the one who had to wash the cotton pads in the end¡­he only shut up after Fina found him intolerable and showed him her ws.

    Fina looked outside through the window, where the cold winds were blowing and made everything extremely mncholy. Going outside was thest thing she wanted to do in such weather.

    Fina had never experienced such a cold winter, and she heard that the coldest time hadn¡¯t even arrived yet. But Fina was still looking forward to the snow. She had never seen what snow looked like before, but figured it could never be worse than rain.

    Fina yawned. As her dangling tail moved slightly, she felt as though some warm air was spraying around the end of her tail. If Fina guessed correctly, it was Snowy Li who had seized the opportunity to approach her tail, sniffing and sticking out its tongue like a dog. Fina swung her tail like she was getting rid of flies.

    Hearing some noises outside the shop, Fina slightly opened her eyes and nced at the situation. After saying something to a girl, Zhang Zian demanded Wang Qian and Li Kun, who Fina considered the servants of her servant, to go out and move things.

    She closed eyes forck of interest. Ever since buying a princess bed for Fina, Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t brought home any decent things that deserved her attention.

    The automatic ss door was really useful. Wang Qian and Li Kun were holding the heavy statue with four hands and without pushing the door, it had opened automatically. They didn¡¯t know where to put this extremely heavy statue, so they just put it behind the door to get out of the way.

    Gently putting it on the ground, the two of them were also very curious about this statue. Since their Master was still outside, they squatted down to observe it carefully and even pulled out their cellphones to take a few photos.

    Half-awake, Fina had heard the noises made by them but was toozy to open its eyes, until she sniffed the touch of a familiar smell that came from ancient times like she did.

    Fina suddenly opened her eyes, stood up on the rack of the cat tree with her tail turning tight, and saw the statue of the Cat Goddess.

    At the same time, Snowy Li, who was gazing at Fina¡¯s tail affectionately, was also aware of the appearance of the strange smell in the air. Not sure what it was exactly, Snowy Li just felt there was some source of disturbance permeating the pet shop that made it restless. Snowy Li was indeed a cat, but it was merely an imaginative Elfin rather than a real cat, so the influence by the statue upon it was rtively minor.

    Yet, Old Time Tea was different.

    As soon as the cat statue was moved into the shop, from its intuition as an experienced warrior, Old Time Tea had sensed some sort of existence that possessed the power of suppressing things, which even aroused Old Time Tea¡¯s warrior spirits to fight against it.

    While Wang Qian and Li Kun were squatting and observing the statue, Fina jumped in front of them, ncing at them with her fierce eyes and looking very serious. They were surprised by her sudden appearance, so they stood up and took a few steps back.

    Old Time Tea also arrived in front of the statue vigntly besides Fina, so that it and Fina could render assistance to one another if anything happened.

    Snowy Li didn¡¯t know what was going on, but as Fina¡¯s loyal servant, it also moved its four short legs and went to the statue.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun suddenly felt something was wrong. The kittens that were chasing and ying around the pet shop had all cuddled to one corner, fearfully watching the statue.

    After carefully looking at the statue for a moment, with its wisdom, Old Time Tea had seen that the statue was tied with Fina in numerous aspects, and it asked, ¡°Your Majesty, will this statue be dangerous?¡±

    Fina shook her head, ¡°Not for now. It¡¯s just a fake.¡±

    Although it was a fake, it was a very delicate and beautiful one, which could easily be mistaken for the real statue.

    In the time where Fina came from, there was not only the belief of the Cat Goddess, but there was also the worshipping of evil gods in the dark corners, and the very statue was one of the symbols of worshipping evil gods. This fake statue looked almost the same as the authentic statue of the Cat Goddess, with the biggest difference lying in the nose ring. The orthodox statue of the Cat Goddess could have earrings, but would never have a nose ring, for a nose ring was often associated with the image of hell and the devil.

    Of course, in terms of the power, purity and poprity of the Strength of Faith, the belief in the orthodox Cat Goddess prevailed over the worship of evil gods, which were after all sordid practices. Fina just didn¡¯t expect that these things could have endured such a long time and be preserved through generations.

    As Fina had learned, unlike in the East, where house cats were loved dearly by people, in Western history, house cats had been through a long period of darkness when they were regarded as the devil¡¯s advocate and were thrown into fire with notorious witches to be burned to death. The origin of such a rumor that house cats were linked to the devil lie in the worship of evil gods emerged in ancient Egypt.

    Fina was very puzzled. She had seen the authentic statue before, so she could tell the one in front of it was a counterfeit at first nce. However, no matter how simr the fake looked to the real one, the dispositions couldn¡¯t be imitated, so why did the fake statue still retain the scent of worshipping evil gods?

    Fina turned around and looked at the kittens in the corner. Having felt the evilness emanating from the statue, they were trembling and staring at the statue, frightened¡­

    Eyes wide open nervously, Old Time Tea looked at the statue and then turned to look at Fina. Even when confronting the Rainbow Fighters and the Qing Ren, it had never been so nervous before. But after all, it was facing an invisible opponent from ancient times that it had never fought before. If not for the mighty warrior spirits inside its body that were continuously withstanding the powers released by the statue, even Old Time Tea would have felt a little bit frightened.

    Fina got even closer, so close that her body almost touched the statue. She closed her eyes, and used her sense of smell to find out the source of the peculiar existence. This thing could only be done by Fina, because only Fina had oncee into contact with the evilness from ancient times.

    Her neck became stationary, and immediately Fina opened her eyes, staring at the golden nose ring, which emitted the most powerful source of evil in the statue. Fina struck out her w and pulled at the nose ring.

    Scratched by Fina¡¯s rather sharp nail, ayer of oxide was scraped off the surface of the nose ring, revealing the inneryer which still had a trace of oxidation, indicating that the real history of the nose ring was much longer than that of a modern replica.

    Fina and Old Time Tea looked at each other and understood at the same time. This statue was a fake, but the nose ring was real, probably poached by the creator of this statue from the grave of some evil god worshipper. Perhaps the creator did not know the meaning of the nose ring, using it only to make the replica resemble the original statue to the maximum extent. However, by merging the real nose ring into a fake statue, the evilness from ancient times had shown signs of reviving.

    Fina kept focusing on this ancient nose ring, the history of which may even be longer than Fina¡¯s existence. It was very precious, witnessing an era. Yet it was very evil, so evil that it must not continue to exist anymore.

    Although a little bit pitiful, Fina understood that there was only one way for this to be done. This task couldn¡¯t be aplished by Fina, whose ws were sharp, but not so sharp as to cut clean through iron as though it were mud.

    Fina cast a decisive look at Old Time Tea.

    Old Time Tea smiled calmly, ¡°At your service, Your Majesty.¡± Then, it stretched out its ws, intensified by the Strength of Faith.

    As it waved its ws, the nose ring fell from the statue.

 Chapter 326: Amazing Fate Hook Shop

    <h4>Chapter 326: Amazing Fate Hook Shop</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Strange as it may sound, but the moment the golden nose ring fell on the ground, the kittens in the shop behaved as if the shackles restraining them had been broken, and as if some sort of beast had disappeared, they soon became active again, ying with each other and rolling around.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun just stood there, dumbfounded. All they knew was that after the golden cat and the cat with the bamboo hat meowed at each other, the cat with the bamboo hat had pulled the nose ring off the statue.

    Before they understood what had happened, Zhang Zian hade into the shop, followed by Snowy. The first thing they saw was the nose ring lying on the ground, split in half.

    ¡°Ah!¡± Snowy uttered amentable loud scream. Anyone would have feel sorry if their recently bought gift was damaged so soon, not to mention that in her eyes, the golden nose ring had the effect of making the finishing touch on the Cat Goddess statue. She bent down, trying to pick up the nose ring to see if she could fix it.

    Her small hand was still far away from reaching the nose ring when she felt a cat¡¯s paw pressing heavily on it. She was startled and looked up, and her eyes met with that of Fina¡¯s cold ring. Snowy had always been a little scared of this golden cat, and she knew how horrible it would be if it were angry, so she just bitterly retracted her hand, gesturing to Zhang Zian with her eyes and asking him what to do.

    Zhang Zian was also shocked, not by the nose ring, but by the serious expressions of Fina and Old Time Tea who were gathered around the statue. Apparently, something incredible had just happened. He noticed that the truncation surface of the nose ring was so neat as if it had been cleaved by a knife or an axe. No ordinary knife could have done that, and the only one capable of striking such a blow in his pet shop was Old Time Tea, who was always calm and collected, and would never resort to its abilities impulsively. So, what happened exactly was not as simple as it looked.

    ¡°What happened?¡± He asked Wang Qian and Li Kun directly, ¡°I told you that if the statue was broken, you won¡¯t get paid anymore, didn¡¯t I?¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun almost knelt down to prove their innocence. They shouted to defend themselves, ¡°It was not us who did it! The statue was fine when we put it on the ground!¡±

    It was not their wages that they cared about, they just worried that what if their Master lost trust in them since they failed even such a trivial task?

    ¡°Then who did it?¡± asked Zhang Zian. In the face of outsiders, it was not convenient for him to ask Fina and Old Time Tea directly.

    The two of them briefly narrated what they had seen and heard, indicating they had no clue of the incident.

    Zhang Zian contemted for a moment, and he remembered that Snowy was still using her cell phone to host the live broadcast, and realizing that it was not a good time to delve further into the incident, he patted his thigh and said firmly, ¡°I know what happened!¡±

    Not only did Wang Qian, Li Kun and Snowy look at him, but Fina and Old Time Tea also gazed at him curiously to hear his conclusion.

    Zhang Zian pointed to the nose ring on the ground and said, ¡°It¡¯s an unbranded product with poor quality!¡±

    This reason was somewhat far-fetched, but no one could deny it either. After all, except Fina and Old Time Tea, no one had touched this nose ring and they couldn¡¯t tell whether it was firm or not.

    But Snowy was really upset that her gift was said to be an unbranded product.

    Zhang Zian immediatelyforted her, ¡°But the statue itself is still very good. It¡¯s even more pleasing without the nose ring, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    Following the leadership of Zhang Zian, Wang Qian and Li Kun agreed to everything he said. Even if Zhang Zian called white ck, they wouldn¡¯t raise any objections.

    Snowy tilted her head in confusion, ¡°Is it?¡±

    Snowy was not a strong-minded person, and she didn¡¯t know any profound knowledge of art appreciation. Being hoodwinked by Zhang Zian, she started to believe that the nose ring shouldn¡¯t have been on the statue at the first ce, and wearing a nose ring was against the principles of building a harmonious society as they were advocating nowadays.

    Fina silently nced at him, kicked the nose ring into the corner, and leaned forward and jumped onto the cat tree, followed by Snowy Li. Though Zhang Zian was just making nonsense, he was right about the fact that a Cat Goddess statue shouldn¡¯t be wearing a nose ring, only statues enshrined by evil god worshipers would wear nose rings.

    The audience in the live broadcast didn¡¯t understand what happened either, and they just kept discussing it.

    Anyhow, Zhang Zian was relieved that he had made up a reason to cover this event. He then asked Snowy, ¡°My shop hasn¡¯t officially reopened yet, so what is your broadcast about?¡±

    ¡°Ah, I almost forgot. I heard Mr. Store Manager has a magical talking parrot?¡± Snowy¡¯s curiosity quickly overwhelmed her doubt, and she asked eagerly.

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Zhang Zian also wanted to change the subject as soon as possible and shouted upstairs, ¡°Richard,e down to entertain your customers!¡±

    The audience couldn¡¯t help butugh!

    ¡°Are you kidding me? Is this the Amazing Fate Pet Shop or the Amazing Fate Hook Shop?! And who the hell is this virgin Richard?¡±

    ¡°Hello! Police department? I want to report a person involved in prostitution!¡±

    Before Zhang Zian finished his words, a grey shadow fluttered its wings and flew down from the second floor. Itnded on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder, and turned its ck pupils on Snowy to size her up.

    Zhang Zian proudly showed off, ¡°Surprise! Surprise!¡±

    ¡°Quack! Quack! I am Richard, who wants to be my first customer?! Big dick is wee!¡±

    Zhang Zian felt embarrassed and solemnly reprimanded it, ¡°Don¡¯t talk such nonsense in front of girls!¡±

    Richard got even more excited when it realized it was being watched by an audience. It ignored Zhang Zian¡¯s warnings and said aloud, ¡°When I say big, you say dick. Big! Dick!¡±

    Hearing this, the live broadcast audience immediately plunged into the quiet before the storm, followed by the eruption of an intense bullet screen!

    ¡°Not surprised at all! This parrot is definitely raised by the perverted store manager!¡±

    ¡°So, you really are a perverted manager!¡±

    ¡°But the manager only harassed girls before, this parrot seems to be harassing boys!¡±

    ¡°Horrible! The manager has revealed his special hobby! Snowy is safe for now!¡±

    ¡°This gay parrot really rocks! Its artiction and pronunciation are so good, like that of a human!¡±

    Snowy awkwardly turned away her face, only focusing her cellphone lens at Richard. She was so embarrassed that sweat was exuding from her forehead. She had never heard such foul words before, and she wondered why Zhang Zian had trained his parrot so dirty. There were so many normal words out there that he could have taught it!

    Although she didn¡¯t want to hear them, she couldn¡¯t help but keep listening, as if the door to a new world was opening¡­

    Before this crazy bird caused any trouble, Zhang Zian had to change the topic again. He coughed, ¡°Commercial time! Recently, the kittens in my shop have upgraded their stunts! Anyone interested in that?¡±

    Snowy turned her face towards him in astonishment. When the blush caused by bashfulness disappeared from her face, she asked, ¡°What? Mr. Store Manager, are you serious? They can upgrade their stunts?¡±

    asionally, Snowy¡¯s mother would invite other housewives from the vi district to their house to chat, drink tea and y mahjong. Sometimes, she would ask Snowy to lead Snow Ball to perform the figure eights. These rich housewives of businessmen or officials were very lonely, and many of them raised more than one particrly rare cat. Although Snow Ball was a verymon Persian cat, it made a hit in front of these housewives and made them envious.

    Her mother privately told her that it was important to retain good rtions with these rich housewives, whose pillow talks can sometimes even determine the sess or failure of a business.

    The only pity was that the figure eight was the only stunt Snow Ball had, and these housewives would have an aesthetic fatigue if they watched it performed too many times.

    It would be great if Snow Ball could learn new stunts!

 Chapter 327: A Returned Customer

    <h4>Chapter 327: A Returned Customer</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Snowy was not as heartless as she looked on the surface. She knew that her parents loved her very much ¡ª whether they nagged her or scolded her, they just hoped she would lead a happier life. Although she understood their intentions, she was not willing to follow the path designated by them¡ªbing ady, then marrying a well-to-do man or a self-made talented man, assisting her husband and bringing up their children as a housewife, leading an affluent life that was the envy of all¡­..

    But she was not ready to settle down. She wanted to experience more styles of life. Having not quite figured out the direction of her own future, she didn¡¯t want to make life-changing decisions, nor did she want others to decide her own fate for her.

    Snowy was guilty that she didn¡¯t listen to her parents. Therefore, when she heard from her mother that maintaining good rtions with the rich housewives would help her father¡¯s business, she started to pay attention to potential methods that could make them happy. Right now, as Zhang Zian told her that his kittens had learned new stunts, she was pleasantly surprised.

    Some of the audience members also had bought cats and dogs from the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, but many people nowadays didn¡¯t have time to raise cats, so they could only raise cats on the inte through pictures and videos. Now, they were more interested in watching the kittens that could perform stunts, because after all, they didn¡¯t need to pay for that.

    Zhang Zian was eager to seize this rare and free advertising opportunity. Every audience member from the live broadcast was a potential customer, and many of them could be Tuhaos.

    ¡°What is the new stunt this time, Mr. Store Manager? Is it simr to the figure eights?¡± Snowy asked this on behalf of the audience, but she also wanted to know the answer herself.

    Zhang Zian held his head high, and said with an expression that made others want to punch him, ¡°About the new stunt, everyone can make a guess. If anyone can get it right, you win!¡±

    The audience began their spections. Most of them guessed the new stunt would be new gaits such as turning around, rolling, shaking hands and bowing. Although some people had guessed it was dancing, and others said singing love songs, Zhang Zian would never admit he had lost.

    When everyone had expressed their conjectures, Zhang Zian made a ¡°quiet, please ¡± gesture.

    Thements floating on the bullet screens gradually decreased. The audience members, whether they were holding their cell phones or sitting in front of theirputers, were all attentively looking at Zhang Zian and his kittens to see the new stunt.

    Zhang Zian pped his hands three times. The kittens stopped their chasing and ying, and raised their heads to look at him together.

    ¡°Music!¡± shouted Richard.

    Zhang Zian pped his hands again and started the music yer at the same time. The strong drum beats of the song ¡°Little Apple¡± were heard from the speaker of the phone.

    ¡°You are my dear, little apple¡­¡±

    ¡°I can never love you enough¡­¡±

    The kittens started to dance to the drum beats with their short legs. Since dancing was more difficult than walking in figure eights, Zhang Zian would train the kittens every day, so right now, they were more adept in their stepspared to the day when they had performed in front of Song Bai. Now, they could raise their legs, swing their tails and wave their paws more urately and in unison.

    Snowy and the audience were stupefied by the kittens¡¯ adorable dancing, and they felt like their hearts were melting!

    Even when the music had stopped, Snowy and the audience were still immersed in that wonderful dance and weren¡¯t able toe to their senses.

    ¡°Who recorded the video just now? I¡¯m willing to transfer RMB 50 to you in WeChat if you forward it to me!¡± Someone broke the silence.

    ¡°I¡¯m dying! These adorable kittens are killing me!¡±

    ¡°Please forward the video to me!¡±

    ¡°Me too!¡±

    ¡°I am a poor student, can anyone that received the video forward it to me, please? God bless you!¡±

    ¡°So sad I didn¡¯t record it, or else I could¡¯ve been a billionaire!¡±

    ¡°I recorded it! Don¡¯t worry, everyone, leave your email addresses and I will send it to you! Free! No charge!¡±

    In an instant, countless email addresses of all sorts of colors, fonts and sizes, apanied by ¡°God bless you¡±, appeared and floated on the bullet screen, which was really dazzling. The well-intentioned audience member who told others to leave their email addresses was probably about to cry. There were hundreds of email addresses on the bullet screen, and instead of copying from his own address book, he could only input them by typing down the characters and numbers. Until what day could he finish such an onerous task?!

    Someone sighed emotionally, ¡°Looking at the density of thements on the bullet screen, I would have thought that someone was disseminating the resources of the videos of porn stars¡­¡±

    While other clever audience reminded, ¡°Hey! Are you guys are stupid or what? Wouldn¡¯t it be better if we asked the pretentious store manager to let the kittens perform again? Everyone can record the video this time, and we won¡¯t have to ask others to forward it! We can just praise him if he wants to show off!¡±

    ¡°Good idea! He won¡¯t suffer any losses from showing off himself!¡±

    Urged by the audience, Snowy, who also wanted to see the dance again, put forward the request to Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t mind doing it one or two more times, but he couldn¡¯t grant the request easily, or else people would just ask for it incessantly. So, he acted like he didn¡¯t want to start the show, and only reluctantly agreed after Snowy begged him for several times.

    This time, the audience was well-prepared. They remembered to turn on recording mode, and invited their friends and families to watch the dance together. Many of them even dragged their roommates or ssmates who were studying to enjoy the show in front of their cell phones orputers.

    The bright rhythm sounded again, and everyone was mesmerized by the dancing kittens.

    Since they had watched the dance for once, this time, the audience was not as shocked as they had been the first time, and they started to discuss the details of the kittens¡¯ dancing, arguing which movements were derived from which idol groups. The audience indicated that it was dizzying to look at these kittens and that each one of the kittens was just adorable. Just like Zhao Qi, some people even made great ambitions to richen themselves so that one day they could buy all these kittens¡­

    The responses of the audience were just as expected by Zhang Zian, who seized the timing and inserted his advertisement, ¡°My pet shop has a membership system. Be a member today, and you can enjoy a free opportunity to upgrade the stunts for your pets. More exciting stunts await! Don¡¯t miss this chance!¡±

    ¡°So sad. Even though I know I will be cheated by the swindler store manager, I think I will get myself a membership card!¡±

    ¡°Store manager, how much does it cost for me to be a member? Will there be any discounts since I am a fan of Snowy?¡±

    ¡°Stop dreaming! This store manager is notoriously stingy, he even wanted a free cup of water at a tea house¡­and you¡¯re expecting him to give you discounts? The chance that the sun will rise from the West would be higher¡­¡±

    Just when Zhang Zian was going to justify himself under these nders, the automatic ss door suddenly glided open and in walked a middle-aged woman that looked familiar to him. Zhang Zian swore that he had seen this woman before, he just couldn¡¯t remember when.

    Seeing that a customer was visiting his pet shop, Snowy went away to other side so that Zhang Zian could greet the customer. It was inappropriate for her to affect his business.

    ¡°Boss, here Ie again, do you remember me?¡± said Deng Jie with a smile.

    She was carrying a no-brand canvas bag and wearing a in old down jacket with ck trousers. There was no makeup on her face, and her simple dressing just made her another ordinary woman that no one could recognize easily amid the crowd.

    The ¡°again¡± word reminded Zhang Zian, he pointed at her, uttered an ¡°ah¡± cry, and he suddenly remembered.

    ¡°You have been here before, correct?¡± He rubbed his temples and tried to recall, ¡°I remember you came together with another auntie whosest name is Liu, right?¡±

    Deng Jie waved her hands embarrassedly, ¡°I have been here once, but by myself. I just happened to run into her in front of the shop.¡±

    Zhang Zian gradually remembered everything, and her appearance matched with his memory.

    Actually, Deng Jie was one of the five customers that visited his pet shop at the beginning¡ªLittle Celery, Zhao Qi, her, and another auntie called Liu Wenying. Zhang Zian remembered Liu Wenying because she was Zhao Qi¡¯s neighbor and had been to his shop twice. The first time she came with Zhao Qi to preserve their rights, and the second time she came with Deng Jie.

    At that time, Zhang Zian had sold only one cat, which was brought by Zhao Qi. The business seemed unsustainable and he might need to close the shop at any time, so every customer that entered his shop during that period had left him with a deeper impression. Deng Jie thought the cats were too expensive then. She hesitated for a long time, saying that she would discuss with her husband before making any decision, and then left but never came back.

    Going home to discuss with family was a verymon excuse. Zhang Zian had also used it before when he was thinking about buying expensive items but wanted to escape from the enthusiastic salespersons. Therefore, when he heard these words, he knew that Deng Jie would probably note again, and he wouldn¡¯t be able to close the deal. Although it was a pity, he couldn¡¯t do anything about it either, for he didn¡¯t want to attract customers by lowering prices. Since then, the appearance of Deng Jie slowly vanished in his mind, and didn¡¯t recur to him until today.

    So, why was she here again?

    Going from early autumn to early winter, she finally had finished the discussion with her husband thatsted more than two months?

 Chapter 328: Penny Wise, Pound Foolish

    <h4>Chapter 328: Penny Wise, Pound Foolish</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°I remember now! Yourst name is Deng, right? Wee!¡±

    Everyone that entered his shop should be regarded as a customer. Whether Deng Jie had bought pets in his shop or not, her visit to the shop was very precious, especially when the business was in tough times, so Zhang Zian greeted her with greater enthusiasm than usual.

    He looked at Wang Qian and Li Kun, gesturing them to greet the guest. Wang Qian moved a chair towards her, and Li Kun fetched a cleaning towel to wipe the chair, inviting Deng Jie to sit down and talk.

    After declining the invitation for a few times, Deng Jie sat down, feeling a little bit awkward.

    Zhang Zian initiated a small talk, ¡°It¡¯s quite cold outside, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Right, I¡¯ve inhaled so many chilly winds!¡± answered Deng Jie. The small talk had made her rx a little bit, and she began to gaze at the grey parrot on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder.

    It was the first time that Snowy had seen such arge parrot, and fearing that it might peck or scratch at her, she kept stepping back to avoid it. She was holding her cellphone in one hand, and Richard flew over andnded on that arm parallel to the ground, staring at the live broadcast screen curiously.

    The audience from the live broadcast also worried this parrot named Richard might hurt Snowy, but after a while, they found that it didn¡¯t move around aggressively, so their fear had turned into curiosity.

    So had Snowy. She focused the camera lens of her cellphone on Richard to record it closely.

    A few bird enthusiasts among the audience had recognized that this was an African grey parrot, and introduced some of its characteristics to other spectators.

    Seeing that things were going well with Snowy and Richard, Zhang Zian ended the greetings and got to the subject, ¡°Ms. Deng, what brings you here in such cold weather?¡±

    During the small talk, Deng Jie had been looking around to observe the pet shop after renovation, which was totally different than the first time she was here. In her memory, this pet shop used to be dark and old, which was reassuring to her, because it meant the things in this shop would not be ridiculously expensive or ssy. Deng Jie had never gone into those splendid high-end shopping malls, with items she couldn¡¯t afford from her first nce.

    If the interior design of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop before was as delicate and beautiful as it was right now, she probably wouldn¡¯t set foot in this ce.

    Besides, when she was herest time, there were only a few cats and dogs behind the disy cases, but now the number of the pets were over ten times more than that time, and the kittens were chasing each other and ying around in the shop, which was very pleasing to her eyes. From these scenes, she figured that Zhang Zian¡¯s business was getting better, and she couldn¡¯t help but regret her decision before.

    Hearing Zhang Zian¡¯s inquiry, she sighed, ¡°s! To be honest, I was defrauded. I should¡¯ve bought a pet here even though it¡¯s expensive.¡±

    ¡°Oh? What happened? Please be more specific,¡± asked Zhang Zian calmly.

    Deng Jie¡¯s narrative had clear logic; she must have prepared before. ¡°After I left your shop, I went to a few other pet shops, but I still couldn¡¯t make up my mind¡ªthe kittens and puppies in your shop were lively and energetic, but were pricey; while the pets in other shops were cheaper, they seemed listless. The staff there exined that the pets had just arrived in their shops and hadn¡¯t ustomed to the environment, and that they should be energetic in a few days¡­ I had no knowledge of pet raising, and I didn¡¯t dare to trust their words recklessly, so I thought I should bide my time and make a decision after seeing more pets.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that she was a customer sensitive to prices, and it was normal for her topare among different shops.She had probably been to more than three shops¡­

    ¡°And then I also inquired my colleagues and neighbors to see whose pets had given birth to kittens and puppies. What a pity, either other families had reserved the newborn pets, or they were descendants of too many different breeds¡­¡± as if justifying for herself, she added hastily, ¡°I didn¡¯t want to settle for any pet randomly, I want to be a responsible pet owner.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded to indicate he had understood, without making anyment. She wanted a purebred kitten or puppy other than a hybrid-bred, and didn¡¯t want to spend too much money on it. It was a very normal mentality for people who wanted to buy quality products at low prices, but how rare would the chance be¡­

    He had figured out the ending of her endeavor¡ªshe was penny wise and pound foolish.

    As he had expected, Deng Jie continued her narrative, ¡°Later, I heard someone rmend me visiting the dog market if I wanted to buy pets. The pets there are the offspring of home-raised pets, which are rtively cheaper with good conditions¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute.¡± Zhang Zian interrupted her. He thought for a moment and asked, ¡°Dog market? You mean the dog market in Nancheng District?¡±

    He had heard Guo Dongyue and Sun Xiaomeng mention before that there was arge-scale dog market in Nancheng District, which was the major distribution center for pet trading in Binhai City. Guo Dongyue went there to buy parrots, but didn¡¯t find the red-headed lovebirds that he needed. Hearing Deng Jie mention dog market right now, his interest in that was reviving.

    ¡°Yes, the one in the south side.¡± Deng Jie nodded as confirmation; ¡°There is only one dog market in Binhai City.¡±

    ¡°Oh. Please continue.¡±

    Deng Jie said, ¡°After hearing the rmendation, I discussed it with my husband, but he said that it was better I didn¡¯t go there for there were many swindlers there, and that if I really wanted to buy a pet, an expensive one could make me more reassured¡­¡± She sighed again, ¡°But I went to the dog market anyway, and I was deceived so miserably!¡±

    On the other hand, Richard¡¯s dirty jokes were creating a sensation among the audience of the live broadcast, and the people who had gotten its jokes wereughing very hard. But Snowy¡¯s face turned crimson from embarrassment, and she finally turned Richard away after objections put forward by some female audience members.

    Richard shouted very unpleasantly, ¡°I can go elsewhere anyway!¡± It stared at the camera lens and ridiculed the audience, ¡°None of you are qualified to be my rival!¡± And then it flew back onto Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder.

    Richard¡¯s performance in front of the audience was very impressive, but hadn¡¯t reached a level that would made them suspicious. All its dirty jokes weremonly heard, and it didn¡¯t disy any ability to have a logical conversation with the audience. So, even though the audience was envious of such a talking parrot, they wouldn¡¯t suspect its identity.

    Hearing Deng Jie was talking about the dog market, Snowy approached closer curiously while holding up her cellphone to continue the live broadcast. As a vigorous and curious person, she was familiar with the city, and of course she had heard of the dog market before ¡ª she just had never been there because she thought it wasn¡¯t distinctive enough, and she didn¡¯t understand a thing about the pet industry.

    Zhang Zian asked, ¡°How were you deceived in the dog market? Some merchant sold a pet of poor conditions to you?¡±

    ¡°Poor conditions?¡± Deng Jie drudged up a bitter smile and said in a self-mocking manner, ¡°I would rather it was a pet of poor conditions. At least I could take it as a lesson for my extravagant hope of buying a good pet at low cost. The problem is¡­ s! It¡¯s a long story!¡±

    She bit her teeth, clenching her fists so tightly that her knuckles turned white, and her pupils were sparkling with violent rage, like she was going to lunge over and bite somebody.

    ¡°No worries, take your time,¡± said Zhang Zian calmly.

    He now knew that Deng Jie was deceived severely in the dog market when buying a pet.

    In fact, looking at the statistics, including online and onsite transactions, in China, at least hundreds of thousands of people were deceived when buying pets every year, involving a total amount of billions of RMB. In particr, on a veryrge website for pet trading, among every ten sellers, there would be five swindlers and four agents for these swindlers. Deng Jie was just another unfortunate victim of the frauds, but no one could maintain calm when they themselves became the victims.

    Deng Jie took a few deep breaths, and didn¡¯t continue speaking until she had calmed herself down, ¡°In fact, at the beginning, I remained alert, thinking that I was going to look around instead of really buying one. After looking around for a while, and seeing that it was gettingte, I was about to go home to make dinner. But then I saw a stand surrounded by many people, and I went there out of curiosity. The owner of that stand was selling Japanese Shiba Inus, and there were six yellow puppies in the disy cases. I thought it was very expensive, but the owner said that they were the babies of the Shiba Inu in his home, and he couldn¡¯t afford to raise so many puppies, so he was selling them for only 3,000 RMB each!¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t helpughing, ¡°3,000 RMB for a Japanese Shiba Inu? You definitely fell into a trap! Let me tell you, do you know why Shiba Inus are expensive? Because they are rare! Shiba Inus have weak reproduction abilities, normally, a purebred Shiba Inu will give birth to no more than three puppies in one litter. When he said that his dog had given birth to six puppies in one litter, you should have known that it probably wasn¡¯t a Shiba Inu, well, at least not a purebred one!¡±

 Chapter 329: Avi Display Quality

    <h4>Chapter 329: Avi Disy Quality</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    There were two aspects that decided the prices of certain pets¡ªtheir poprity among the public and the supply/demand rtionship. In recent years, as the memes featuring Shiba Inus went viral on the inte, increasingly more Chinese people considered raising such an adorable dog of small to medium size.

    Shiba Inu was a breed that had a bright fur color and an attracting appearance. Its rtively small size indicated that it wouldn¡¯t be a threat to the elderly and children. It was gentle and independent, with a mysterious yet funny smile on its face oftentimes, and thanks to the favorable reputation of the movie A Tale of Mari and Three Puppies, Shiba Inus were gaining more poprity.

    Deng Jie had been to a lot of pet shops, and she knew that Shiba Inu was an expensive breed. Therefore, when she heard a purebred Shiba Inu cost only RMB 3,000, she decided to make her move. However, when people became greedy, they were vulnerable to frauds.

    ording to her, there were a lot of customers surrounding the stand, and two puppies had been sold, while a few other customers were expressing their intentions to purchase the puppies. She was panicked, thinking that she couldn¡¯t wait anymore, or else she would have had to pick from what was left behind, so she chose one puppy right away.

    Before she paid the seller, although she was aware that verbal promise had no binding effect, she inquired him whether it was a purebred Shiba Inu anyway. The seller patted on his chest as a guarantee, reassuring her that if she found it was not a purebred Shiba Inu, he would refund at any time.

    Just like that, Deng Jie joyfully brought the so-called ¡°purebred Shiba Inu¡± to her home. Her husband was also very happy, praising her for her wisdom in securing such a good deal. Neither of them doubted whether the puppy was purebred.

    Zhang Zian thought she had finished her narrative, but Deng Jie continued, ¡°To our surprise, the puppy looked lively at the beginning, but after only a few days, it suddenly got very sick, vomiting and suffering from diarrhea. It lost its appetite, keeping its mouth closed in front of meat. And it ofteny on the ground without moving a muscle, like it was dead¡­My husband and I became panicked, and we hurriedly brought it to visit a pet clinic near our home. After diagnosis, the veterinarian told us it had been infected with a canine parvovirus that had a high mortality rate, and that we should prepare for the worst. Besides, the veterinarian also told us that our puppy didn¡¯t seem like a Shiba Inu, but rather was a puppy of another breed!¡±

    Snowy felt sorry for Deng Jie¡¯s encounter, and the audience of her live broadcast were indignant about her misfortune.

    ¡°This must be a week dog!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard of weekdays and weekends, what does week dog mean?¡±

    Someone exined, ¡°Week dogs mean those sick dogs that can¡¯tst a week after bringing them home.¡±

    Other spectators started cursing, ¡°F**k those unscrupulous dog peddlers who deceive people with sick and hybrid week dogs!¡±

    Thesements floating on the screen didn¡¯t influence the conversation between Deng Jie and Zhang Zian. He asked, ¡°Did your puppy survive?¡±

    Deng Jie wiped the corners of her eyes and lowered her head in dismay, ¡°No. I spent a few thousand RMB buying the puppy and seeking treatment for it, but in the end, I got nothing¡­My husband also had a fight with me. He praised me for closing such a good deal before, and then heined that I was being penny wise and pound foolish¡­What was I thinking? I could¡¯ve bought a kitten or a puppy in your shop with that amount of money. If only I didn¡¯t buy that puppy¡­¡±

    ¡°Did you go to seekpensation from that dog dealer?¡± asked Zhang Zian.

    ¡°I did. But he asserted that I didn¡¯t buy any puppy from his stand, and that I was just a troublemaker sent by hispetitors¡­¡± Deng Jie¡¯s eyes turned red. To save money for her family, she had painstakingly searched for a suitable pet, yet in the end, she lost her money and her pet. Instead offorting her, her husbandined about her pettiness¡­It was impossible that she wasn¡¯t frustrated and sad, for she had cried in private several times.

    There was no way she could get a refund, for she had no invoice or agreement for buying the puppy. Without any proof attesting she had bought a pet in that stand, it was no use for her to call the police or file aint to the association of consumers. Besides, the association of consumers had always been aware of such chaotic phenomena in the dog market. As long as the transactions were not coerced, they wouldn¡¯t bother to interfere.

    Zhang Zian felt her encounter rted to his life. Growing up in his family¡¯s pet shop since he was little, he had heard about many frauds rted to pet purchasing from his parents. With the prosperity of the pet market, the frequencies of people being frauded were getting increasingly higher, yet there was no solution to stop such phenomena. It was a paradox for people who wanted to buy purebred pets yet were reluctant to pay the ordingly high prices. For those who were experts in pet raising or well-prepared for the potential circumstances in the dog market, they could take the risk and give the dog market a try; but basically, the ordinary public would be deceived.

    ¡°And you are here today, because¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand why Deng Jie told him about such things. Justining about her misfortune? Or gaining hispassion so as to bargainter? If it was thetter reason, Zhang Zian would not give her discounts. Though he felt sorry for her encounter, he still had a shop to run. Deng Jie suffered mary loss from that crooked dog dealer, but Zhang Zian had no obligation to make up for that.

    Deng Jie pulled out her cellphone, essed her photos and found one picture to show to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°I just happened to walk past your shop today, and I hope you can tell me whether this puppy was a Shiba Inu or not? I¡¯ve inquired a lot of people, most of them said it was, a few told me it was not, even veterinarians were not quite sure. You are an honest and knowledgeable pet shop owner, and I will trust your judgment so that I can officially have closure.¡±

    Snowy approached Zhang Zian, focusing the camera lens of her cell phone on Deng Jie¡¯s cell phone screen.

    Zhang Zian took Deng Jie¡¯s cell phone and looked over the picture several times. In the picture, the puppy appeared sick, lying on the ground listlessly with its dull eyes half-open. From the shooting angle, it did seem like a Shiba Inu.

    However, as a cheap present from China Tel by paying her phone bills, her cell phone didn¡¯t have a satisfactory function in taking pictures. In that picture, the colors were not reproduced precisely, and her hands were probably shaking when pressing the shutter, so it wasn¡¯t a particrly clear image. Zooming in the picture, there were only mosaics on the screen¡ªprofessionally speaking, it was an image with avi disy quality!

    Zhang Zian was silentlymenting his inexperience. He probably hadn¡¯t watched enough porn videos so right now he was unable to imagine what an image actually looked like being blocked by mosaics¡­

    Since he couldn¡¯t see the picture clearly through his naked eyes, it was even more difficult for the audience, who was looking at the picture via Snowy¡¯s camera lens. Everyone was making random guesses. Some said it was indeed a Shiba Inu, some said it was just a cheap dog, while another audience member said it was a mutant called Dogzi after being exposed to radiation!

    Zhang Zian returned the cell phone to Deng Jie and said with frustration, ¡°Look, it¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to help you, but this picture is too fuzzy for me to see it clearly, and I can¡¯t make my judgment assertively from only one angle. I don¡¯t think I would be showing you enough respect if I just made up my answer randomly.¡±

    Deng Jie sighed, took over her phone, put it back into her bag, and forced a smile, ¡°Forget it. It¡¯s not a big deal, I just suddenly had this idea when I happened to walk past your shop. After all, I raised it for a few days, so I really hope to figure out its true breed.¡±

    There was sadness in her smile. She stood up from the chair, ¡°Store manager, I¡¯m leaving now, sorry for taking up your precious time, you should get back to your business now¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian also stood up to say goodbye to her, but Snowy chimed in, ¡°Excuse me, when did your puppy die?¡±

    Deng Jie thought about it and said, ¡°It¡¯s been gone for about one month and a half.¡±

    Zhang Zian counted the time silently in his heart. It had been two months since she left his shop thest time, meaning that she at least went around to look at pets for another two weeks before buying the puppy. During this one month and a half, she had been inquiring others with this picture in her phone, so she still couldn¡¯t let go of what happened.

    ¡°If you are in no hurry, could you please wait here for a while? I¡¯m going to discuss something with the store manager.¡± said Snowy politely towards Deng Jie.

    Deng Jie wasn¡¯t sure what she wanted, but she felt the innocent and lovely Snowy was amicable, so she nodded as consent. She walked towards the disy cases and observed the puppies through the sses.

    Snowy pulled Zhang Zian to other side.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Zhang Zian in bewilderment.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, I have a request, please promise me you will grant it.¡± Putting her palms together devoutly, Snowy made her request seriously.

    Zhang Zian answered cautiously, ¡°Tell me what it is. As long as it¡¯s not about lending money, I will think about it.¡±

    Snowy said, ¡°I¡¯m not asking you to lend money. What I want to say is, will you host a live broadcast with me with the theme of visiting the dog market?¡±

 Chapter 330: Job Posting

    <h4>Chapter 330: Job Posting</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After hearing Deng Jie¡¯s statement, Snowy thought of an idea. She should go to the notorious dog market to host a live broadcast, revealing the dark corners there to numerous audience members, with the faint hope that she could help Deng Jie seekpensation. However, Snowy was also aware that it was fruitless if she went there all by herself, because she would probably be swindled too. She must go there with someone who had insight into the pet industry. And the only expert she was familiar with was Zhang Zian.

    In fact, she and Zhang Zian had co-hosted a live broadcast before. Their encounter in the Hidden Fog Mountain Tea House could be considered an unofficial cooperation, so Snowy was confident that he would agree to her proposal this time.

    The audience of Snowy¡¯s live broadcast was also very interested in this topic. Many people had been defrauded in the dog market, yet seldom were people able to see through the tricks at the scene. If there was ever a live broadcast in the dog market, the audience would have the chance to understand how their schemes worked. Their only concern was that this perverted store manager was going to apany Snowy, but considering that Zhang Zian might be homosexual in sexual orientation, the audience didn¡¯t really object the cooperation proposal anymore¡­

    Zhang Zian was thrown into contemtion. He still couldn¡¯t make up his mind.

    Since his shop had finished refurbishing, his priority should lie in reopening the shop to make money. To his greater concern-stopping someone from making money was unforgivable as murdering his parents! To this day, everyone was minding their own business without interfering with each other-Zhang Zian was conducting his decent business, while the unscrupulous peddlers were engaging in all kinds of frauds. If he had to meddle with their businesses and turned their means of livelihood unviable, he was afraid that they would take desperate measures against him if they were pushed to the wall¡­

    Among the numerous pet shops in Binhai City, there were plenty of pet experts who were way more experienced than Zhang Zian was, so howe no one ever bothered to interfere with the chaotic phenomena in the dog market? Because they knew better than to cause themselves troubles!

    As a man, he didn¡¯t care much about those dog peddlers. No matter how tough and difficult they might be, they would not be as intimidating as the Rainbow Fighters or Qing Ren. Besides, Old Time Tea was here, so if the dog peddlers ever dared to avenge him, it would beat their asses. However, Snowy was a girl who was always hosting live broadcasts in different ces by herself, and Zhang Zian worried that she might be the target of those who held grudges.

    Seeing that Zhang Zian was silent, Snowy thought he was concerned about his potential mary loss, so she said, ¡°Oh, right, Mr. Store Manager should not do this for free. Snowy will pay for yourmission!¡±

    [Wings of Magical Eagle] tipped two hairy crabs andmented, ¡°Here, donations. Snowy shouldn¡¯t pay for us if we want to watch the live broadcast.¡±

    [Sky is Like Water] tipped one hairy crab andmented, ¡°The dog market is very dirty, here¡¯s the money for Snowy¡¯sundry.¡±

    [Heaven 365] tipped three pieces of ham-and-nut mooncakes andmented, ¡°Tight budget recently, just showing my support.¡±

    [Lonely Illustrator] tipped one piece of ham-and-nut mooncake andmented, ¡°Fight, Snowy!¡±

    ¡­

    A lot of hairy crabs and ham-and-nut mooncakes were floating on the screen, but many die-hard fans of Snowy had noticed that usually the most active and generous audience member, [Binhai Native], wasn¡¯t doing anything right now.

    ¡°Where is the legendary-Tuhao [Binhai Native] who likes disseminating money?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t know,he¡¯s probably offline right now.¡±

    ¡°No way. I don¡¯t think he¡¯s ever missed any live broadcast¡­¡±

    ¡°It happens. He might have run into something urgent.¡±

    ¡­

    After contemting for a while, Zhang Zian figured he might be overthinking this. As long as he paid attention not to provoke the peddlers outright during the live broadcast, everything should be fine.

    He nodded, ¡°Okay, I agree. But I haven¡¯t decided on the time yet. And we must keep a low-profile when we go there, all right?¡±

    Snowy answered joyfully, ¡°Great, I¡¯m going to inform the auntie about this.¡±

    Deng Jie was absentmindedly looking at the puppies in the disy cases and was struck by sadness. If only she didn¡¯t make that wrong decision, one of these puppies would have been hers¡­

    ¡°Aunt Deng!¡± Snowy addressed her from behind.

    Deng Jie was brought back to reality and turned around, ¡°Yes? What¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°Here¡¯s the thing. Aunt Deng, after discussing with the store manager, to prevent people from falling into the traps, we are going to pay a visit to the dog market, are you interested in joining us? You can point out to us which stand you bought the sick puppy from.¡± Snowy inquired her opinion.

    ¡°Well¡­this is¡­¡± Deng Jie was rather surprised. Learning that they were whispering about her incident, she felt warm and couldn¡¯t mutter a word. When she entered this shop, she just wanted to vent out her regret and figure out the true breed of her puppy; she had never expected that Zhang Zian would n a visit to the dog market for her.

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry for troubling you¡­¡± she repented on her own error.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Don¡¯t mind it. You¡¯re not the only reason we want to go there.¡± Snowy smiled, ¡°When will you be avable?¡±

    Deng Jie thought about it, ¡°I¡¯m not sure right now¡­when will you be avable?¡±

    Snowy pointed at herself and then to Zhang Zian, ¡°We are both frencers, in other words, we are unemployed, so we are free to go at any time¡­how about this, inform us in advance when you are free?¡±

    ¡°Wait a second, I¡¯m not unemployed!¡± Zhang Zian interrupted her, ¡°I¡¯m an individual business owner as certified by the country and an honorable taxpayer. I vote in every election!¡±

    His words led to another wave of indignant condemnation among the audience members.

    Deng Jie smiled and nodded, ¡°Okay, please give me your contact information then.¡±

    Snowy and Deng Jie exchanged their contact information.

    Deng Jie felt much more relieved than earlier, thinking that her long-time trouble could be finally solved. Unwilling to upy any more of Zhang Zian¡¯s and Snowy¡¯s time, she said goodbye to them and left.

    Seeing that it was gettingte, Snowy looked to the camera lens and said, ¡°This is the end of today¡¯s live broadcast. If you like Snowy¡¯s live broadcast, please subscribe to my channel.¡±

    The audience kept begging and requesting Snowy, reluctant to see the show end.

    Zhang Zian seized the opportunity to chime in, ¡°Though I¡¯ve inserted advertisements before, can I also make a job posting?¡±

    ¡°What? Mr. Store Manager, are you nning to recruit new employees?¡± asked Snowy curiously.

    ¡°Yes, are you interested?¡± asked Zhang Zian in a joking manner.

    ¡°I can¡¯t, I will screw up.¡± Snowy hastily waved her hands.

    The audiences put forward their objections. No way could Snowy stay by this perverted Store Manager¡¯s side, or else they couldn¡¯t watch her live broadcasts anymore¡­

    Zhang Zian cleared his throat and looked at the camera lens seriously, ¡°My shop is recruiting a cashier and art designer. Females and males over 18 years old are wee to apply. There are no requirements of education level, and you can work as either a full-time or part-time employee. The qualified applicant should be adept in painting and know basicputer operation, pet enthusiasts are preferred. Once hired, the sry would be desirable. Three meals a day can be provided, but no amodation is avable, so it¡¯s better if the applicants live around this neighborhood.¡±

    He had expected that when his shop reopened, the business would be even better. But without a helper in his shop, Zhang Zian would have to stay in the shop the whole day and he would have no time to visit the dog market. As college students, Wang Qian and Li Kun didn¡¯t have enough time tomit to his business. Though they were good at cleaning and running errands, if these two morons were cashiers¡­they would lose every penny he had saved! Most importantly, the perfect applicant must demonstrate certain abilities in art designing so that he/she could operate the public ount of his pet shop on WeChat, so it was difficult to find such an employee.

    Though there were many pet lovers among the audiences, few of them would have interest in this position. Zhang Zian just wanted to seize this free opportunity to announce this posting ¨C he didn¡¯t expect he could actually find an applicant there. If it didn¡¯t work, he might need to issue a job posting on a website essible to people around the city.

    When Zhang Zian finished his words, Snowy turned the camera lens towards herself to say, ¡°Mr. Store Manager has put forward very specific requirements, and if anyone is interested in this position, feel free to apply. You will have the chance to y with the puppies and kittens on a daily basis! Thank you for your support and your love! The next location of my live broadcast will be the dog market in Nancheng District, time is TBA. Please subscribe to my Weibo and WeChat public ounts for any updates!¡±

    ¡°See you next time!¡±

    Finally, Snowy adorably bowed towards the audience and ended the live broadcast.

    ¡°Winter is better.¡± Snowy smiled to Zhang Zian, ¡°In the summertime, my phone would be burning hot after broadcasting for such a long time, but it¡¯s just lukewarm in winter.¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled to agree with her. He told Wang Qian and Li Kun to clean up the shop, and after that, they could return to their dormitory. He then said to Snowy, ¡°Let me show you out.¡±

    When they were outside the shop, Zhang Zian asked her seriously, ¡°Are you really nning to host a live broadcast in the dog market?¡±

    ¡°Yes. What¡¯s the matter?¡± asked Snowy confusingly, blinking her eyes.

    He was about to say something, but then he decided to hold it back. Maybe he was catastrophizing.

    ¡°Nothing, thanks for your statue. Take care.¡±

    ¡°See you. Bye!¡± Snowy stretched out her hand, stopped a taxi, and left the pet shop.

    Just when Zhang Zian was about to return his shop to check on the Cat Goddess statue, another taxi had parked in front of the entrance.

    ¡°Here you are.¡± He nodded to Guo Dongyue who was getting out from the taxi.

 Chapter 331: Not Publicly Displaying Affection

    <h4>Chapter 331: Not Publicly Disying Affection</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Guo Dongyue was here because Zhang Zian told thest decoration worker that left his shop to leave him a message: the training of the two red-headed lovebirds had beenpleted, and he could take them home at any time.

    Guo Dongyue felt incredible. The female Tuhao who invited him to build a ss greenhouse had also hired experts to train her parrots, but the trainingsted for quite a long time. Zhang Zian had only trained the red-headed lovebirds for merely over ten days and the task had already beenpleted? Guo Dongyue would never believe such speed was possible if it was done by other people, but he trusted Zhang Zian, especially after witnessing the magical speaking ability of his African grey parrot.

    ¡°Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake, they have learned to speak?¡± He tried to confirm with Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian pouted his lips towards his shop, ¡°Come inside to have a talk.¡±

    He led Guo Dongyue to the living room on the second floor. When the door was open, Guo Dongyue saw Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake standing in front of the grey parrot, as if they had been waiting for him toe.

    ¡°Close the door behind you!¡±

    A hoarse, vague yet audible voice sounded from Little Purple¡¯s beak.

    Guo Dongyue froze there.

    ¡°It¡­ what did it say?¡± He pointed to Little Purple with his hand. His fingers that were usually extremely steady during writing and painting were trembling slightly right now.

    ¡°It said, ¡®Close the door behind you.''¡± Zhang Zian closed the living room door.

    Was it a coincidence? It must be a coincidence! Guo Dongyue had never been so overwhelmed before. He stared at Little Purple, then turned around and looked at the door behind him, trying to make sense of the scene with his powerful logical thinking ability.

    Following Little Purple, Yellow Pea Cake tilted its head towards him, ¡°Hello, Huang Ying!¡±

    Oriole? Guo Dongyue was stunned. So, in its eyes, he was a bird?

    Richard hopped towards Yellow Pea Cake, raised a wing and patted its head, ¡°It¡¯s ¡®Wee, Huang Ying!¡±

    ¡°Huang Yin?¡± Yellow Pea Cake retreated a few steps back as if it were scared, uttering another inurate pronunciation. To protect its girlfriend, Little Purple jumped in front of Yellow Pea Cake to block Richard.

    ¡°It¡¯s ¡®Wee, Huan Ying¡¯!¡± yelled Richard angrily.

    ¡°Huan Ying!¡± Yellow Pea Cake finally pronounced it right.

    Guo Dongyue rubbed his eyes, as if he still couldn¡¯t believe what he had just seen.

    ¡°This¡­¡± he said, pointing to Richard and the two red-headed lovebirds. For a moment, he didn¡¯t know what to ask, though obviously he had a lot of questions.

    Zhang Zian said in a reserved manner, ¡°In fact, Richard and I trained these red-headed lovebirds together.¡±

    There were mainly two reasons for the aplishment ofpleting training in such a short period of time. Firstly, Richard¡¯s former owner had spent over thirty years summarizing a set of systematic training methods to teach birdnguages, and such methods had been applied to Richard, who was well-aware of the effectiveness of these methods. It could improve and refine them over time ording to its own feelings. Secondly, as a parrot itself, Richard had acquired thenguages of the two red-headed lovebirds. Instructing them in their ownnguages, the teaching process had been elerated.

    Even so, the training process was still very tiring. Since it had recovered from its illness, Richard had been working hard on this task, and it was hard to tell whether it was enjoying the process or was reminiscing on old times¡­

    ording to Richard, in thenguages ??of the two red-headed lovebirds, at least 60¡ª70% of their expressions were used to disy their love for each other, and disregarding a few meaningless modal particles, the expressions that were truly helpful for training and speaking took up only 20-30% or less.

    Zhang Zian felt very fortunate that he didn¡¯t understand their words. These lovey-dovey birds were hurting damn single like him!

    ¡°Please sit,¡± Little Purple said again.

    Most male creatures in nature relied on their own mour, such as bright feathers, loud voices, or even outright muscles and violence, to win the favor of the opposite sex. Therefore, most male creatures in nature had more distinctive characteristics in appearance and voice than their female counterparts. Simr phenomena existed in human society too, where males needed to show off what other males didn¡¯t have in order to attract the opposite sex.

    As a male red-headed lovebird, Little Purple usually needed to use its tweeting to express its affection, andpared to Yellow Pea Cake, it was more talented in learningnguage, and was able to learn faster, with more urate pronunciation.

    Seeing that Guo Dongyue didn¡¯t move, Little Purple repeated, ¡°Please sit.¡±

    Guo Dongyue didn¡¯te back to himself until Zhang Zian gave him a push. He sat onto the sofa.

    ¡°Please drink tea,¡± Yellow Pea Cake said again.

    Zhang Zian waved his hands and said, ¡°Skip this step, he¡¯s leaving soon.¡±

    Guo Dongyue stared at Zhang Zian speechlessly, thinking why would someone be sozy¡­

    Richard said a few words to the red-headed lovebirds in their voices. It seemed that Little Purple had understood. ¡°Please wait, our master will be here in a moment.¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Raise your arm and then stand up.¡±

    Guo Dongyue did as he was told. Richard flew onto his arm, followed by the two red-headed lovebirds side by side, as if they were sparrows on a wire.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the kitchen.¡±

    Zhang Zian gestured Guo Dongyue to go with him.

    In the kitchen, Zhang Zian turned on the gas stove, and then ced a kettle filled with cold water onto it.

    Staring at the orange mes, Little Purple yelled, ¡°The fire is still on! The fire is still on!¡±

    As if receiving instruction, Yellow Pea Cake yelled, ¡°Be careful! Very hot!¡±

    When visiting Guo Dongyue¡¯s housest time, Zhang Zian learned that Aunt Bai, who was hired to take care of Guo¡¯s mom, was not a very responsible person. Sometimes, when she went to throw out garbage, she would leave the gas stove on. Guo¡¯s mom didn¡¯t know she was a patient herself, and she insisted on doing everything by herself. Guo Dongyue worried that his mother would break down during cooking or boiling water, thus putting herself in danger. Therefore, Zhang Zian especially reminded Richard to teach the red-headed lovebirds to identify the orange mes so that they could give out warnings frequently.

    Guo Dongyue concentrated on looking at the two red-headed lovebirds on his arm. Not only would they apany his mother to divert her from boredom, but they would also be essential helpers in her life to remind her about her routines and avoid dangers.

    ¡°So? Are you satisfied with the result?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Yes! Very! Thank you!¡± Guo Dongyue thanked him sincerely, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you would be so considerate in helping my mother.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d that I live up to your expectations,¡± Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°I¡¯ve only just done some trivial little things. Richard is the one you should really be grateful for.¡±

    Richard fluttered its wings and flew back onto Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder from Guo Dongyue¡¯s arm. ¡°Quack! Aren¡¯t you expressing gratitude to me?¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Richard,¡± said Guo Dongyue somewhat awkwardly. He was not used to conversing with a parrot.

    Zhang Zian fetched him a bird cage, which was the one Guo Dongyue had brought here the first time, covered by a cotton cloth. He opened the cage door, and without giving anymand, the two red-headed lovebirds flew into the cage. Consuming the little amount of food in the food bowl and the water in the water basin, they flew onto the wooden rail in the cage, expressing their love towards each other again.

    Its throat moving a little bit, Little Purple suddenly spit out something round and greyish-white. It approached Yellow Pea Cake, and fed that to it, mouth-to-mouth. Yellow Pea Cake pleasantly opened its beak and swallowed the greyish-white ball. The two of them looked very intimate.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°This is the habit of a male lovebird. When food is insufficient, it would rather starve itself and will spit out the food that it swallowed, which was that grey-white stuff, and feed the female lovebird. Though it seemed like they were publicly disying affection, in fact, they were not! It¡¯s only a habit! Habit!¡±

    Guo Dongyue thought, whom was he exining to?

    ¡°Why did you only give them so little food?¡± He looked at the empty food bowl and asked in puzzlement. He felt sorry to see that the food was gone after only a few bites.

    Zhang Zian exined, ¡°Because you will need to take a taxi soon. It¡¯s better if they are not too full on a bumpy ride. When you are home, do not feed them today. Feed them tomorrow when they have adapted to the environment.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see.¡± Guo Dongyue understood.

    Zhang Zian solemnly reminded him, ¡°It¡¯s really difficult to raise red-headed lovebirds. You have to be extra careful¡­ since your mother raised two red-headed lovebirds for a long time, she should have experience in this, and seeing them will probably arouse parts of her memory.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s gettingte.I should go now.¡± Guo Dongyue closed the cage door and said goodbye, ¡°Thanks again!¡±

    Zhang Zian sent him downstairs, watched him leave and returned to his shop.

 Chapter 332: Mystery in History

    <h4>Chapter 332: Mystery in History</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Wang Qian and Li Kun cleaned up so quickly that when Zhang Zian returned to the shop, they had finished all the cleaning, so Zhang Zian told them to go back to the university early. When they left, the pet shop became quiet. Seeing that it waste, Zhang Zian pulled down the shutter door and locked it.

    He went to the corner, squatted down before the Cat Goddess statue, and observed it closely. The truncation surfaces of the split-in-half nose ring were glittering under the lights.

    Fina opened her eyes and jumped quietly from the cat tree. This action was so agile that Snowy Li, who was closing its eyes, immersed in its fantasy towards Fina, didn¡¯t notice that the tail in front of it had disappeared¡­

    Old Time Tea also walked over with its steady steps, its eyes staring at the statue with a very serious expression.

    Zhang Zian stretched out two fingers to flick at the statue, producing a firm and low-pitched sound. Undoubtedly, the statue was solid-cast, so his fingernails were in pain from the flick. In his eyes, this was a statue with a graceful posture and an antiquated and simple style, but he couldn¡¯t figure out why Fina and Old Time Tea would have such dramatic reactions against it.

    ¡°Fina, Grandpa Tea, what¡¯s wrong?¡± he asked while squatting.

    Old Time Tea indicated to Fina with its eyes, ¡°About this, I think it would be best if Your Majesty could exin to us. For I know little about this, and I hope to know more from Your Majesty¡¯s illustration.¡±

    Fina proudly squatted on the ground. Upon close observation, it was easy to find that Fina¡¯s posture was exactly the same as that of the statue. This fact was hardly noticeable unless they were ced side-by-side, for Fina¡¯s fur was too splendid and the statue¡¯s design was way too simple.

    ¡°Thousands of years ago in the cknd, in addition to the worship of the Cat Goddess, Bastet, there were a few people who had faith in the darkness. These people secretly worshipped another deity¡ªthe evil god visualized as a cat. It came from the underworld and had no name. Never having been recognized by the mainstream society, only those who had anger and hatred would worship it as a god.¡± Fina raised one of its paws and pointed to the statue, ¡°The only difference between that and Bastet lies in the nose ring. The statues worshipping Bastet will never have nose rings on them.¡±

    There¡¯s nothing new under the sun. Zhang Zian thought it was not an umon phenomena since ancient times. If some people believed in true gods, then there were others who followed false gods. If people were believing in Jesus, then others could decide to be disciples of Satan. Believing in evil gods was just a way for those people to rebel against then-current rulers and the society that they were not satisfied with.

    He picked up the split-in-half nose ring from the ground and looked carefully at it under the light, but couldn¡¯t see what was wrong with it.

    ¡°This is the thing rted to the evil god?¡±

    Fina nodded solemnly, ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate this nose ring, which has existed for thousands of years. It came into existence even before the times I once lived in. This is the very reason that it frightens the kittens.¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t believe you. This is truly incredible. A nose ring made thousands of years ago still possesses such great power? Don¡¯t tell me this nose ring is also blessed with the Strength of Faith¡­¡±

    Fina sneered coldly, ¡°You are just a mortal, what do you know about this?! The history of this nose ring is not that simple. During sacrificial services, over thousands of years, the blood and flesh of numerous livestock had been offered to it¡ªthe sacrificial rituals for worshipping evil gods had always been so bloody, and the fear in all of those livestock before they were ughtered was absorbed by this ring. Don¡¯t you see that this golden nose ring has a tinge of red color?¡±

    Hearing that the nose ring had been soaked in numerous bloods and fleshes, Zhang Zian felt a little bit disgusted and wanted to throw it away. But upon learning that it was made from gold, he clenched it even tighter¡­

    ¡°Anyways, that¡¯s all I know. Those evil god worshippers vanished a long time ago, and no one knows where the god they worshipped is now. There¡¯s nothing to be worried about.¡± After these words, Fina swung her tail proudly, jumped back onto the cat tree, closed her eyes, and took a nap.

    Old Time Tea nodded, ¡°It¡¯s very interesting to hear about these strange and weird stories in the West. Zian, you don¡¯t have to worry about anything. As Your Majesty Fina has said, evil can never prevail over good. These evil and crooked paths might gain their momentum rampantly for a period of time, but they will be doomed in the end. Good and evil will be rewarded ordingly ¡ª it¡¯s only a matter of time.¡±

    Finishing its words, Old Time Tea walked away slowly to the electric nket to watch TV and drink tea.

    Zhang Zian smiled and stood up, put the nose ring into his pocket, and moved his recliner to where it had been at the beginning. Hey there and yed on his cellphone.

    He still longed for more information after Fina¡¯s narrative. After all, Fina came from the ancient times, and she didn¡¯t know about the things that had happened in these two thousand years since its decease. Old Time Tea was born and raised in the East, so it had little knowledge of the myths and legends in the West. If he wanted to hear more about the story¡­

    Zhang Zian¡¯s finger, that had been sliding around on the screen, stopped moving. It happened to be pressed on the profile photo of Wei Kang.

    Struggling a little bit, he decided to click on Wei Kang¡¯s profile. He took a picture of the Cat Goddess statue and sent to Wei Kang, apanied with his question, ¡°Professor Wei, do you know the origin of this statue?¡±

    It was around dinner time now, so Zhang Zian thought Wei Kang would not reply soon. Just when he was going to look around at some of the gorgeous pictures of the buyers on Taobao, he received Wei Kang¡¯s message.

    Wei Kang: This is the Gayer-Anderson Cat; the original version is in the collection of the British Museum. This is a replica, right?

    Zhang Zian forgot to ask Snowy about the origin of this statue. Now he finally knew.

    He sent another message, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s very impressive that you can tell from a picture. Sorry to bother you, Professor Wei. Are you having dinner?¡±

    Wei Kang: No, I¡¯m still in school.

    Zhang Zian looked at his watch. It was already 7:30 p.m. What a diligent professor.

    He replied, ¡°Please go have dinner. You have plenty of time to conduct academic research, but it¡¯s not worth it if you get sick.¡±

    Wei Kang: Well, I will have dinner in a while¡­Wait! Where is the nose ring of the statue?

    Zhang Zian pulled out the split-in-half nose ring from his pocket, took a picture and sent it to Wei Kang.

    Zhang Zian: It idently broke off. Professor Wei, you are a knowledgeable person. May I ask if this statue represents the Cat Goddess?

    Wei Kang: Generally, people believe it is, but asionally doubts are heard.

    Zhang Zian: Why doubt it?

    Wei Kang: Very simple. There¡¯s only one so-called Cat Goddess statue in this world that wears a nose ring, so it¡¯s normal that people doubt the orthodoxy of it. There is another Cat Goddess figure in the British Museum, where the Cat Goddess has been personified with the head of a cat and the body of a female. It wears a splendid golden long dress and a tippet; its ears are pierced with earrings, but there is no ring through its nose. Besides this one, another Cat Goddess statue in the Walters Art Museum also has earrings but no nose ring.

    Zhang Zian felt marveled by Professor Wei¡¯s eruditeness. He was familiar with all kinds of allusions and was convinced because of his well-founded reasoning.

    ording to Fina¡¯s narrative, Zhang Zian thought about his wording and said cautiously, ¡°Professor Wei, I¡¯m just making a wild guess, if I am wrong please forgive me! Is it possible that¡­this statue doesn¡¯t stand for the orthodox Cat Goddess, but a pagan evil god?¡±

    After sending that message, he held his cellphone anxiously, waiting for Wei Kang¡¯s reply.

    He thought Wei Kang was going to scold him for his whimsical idea, but to his surprise, Wei Kang replied very quickly, ¡°This possibility cannot be ruled outpletely. It¡¯s not umon that cats are worshipped as evil gods throughout history, the most famous example is Baphomet. In Christianity, the legendary devil of Baphomet is secondary only to Satan, and it is said that Baphomet was secretly worshipped as a cat figure by the famous Knights Temr. Thousands of years ago, Jewish people were enved by the ancient Egyptians for quite a long time. And I believe you need no more introduction to the rtionship between the Jewish and the Bible?¡±

    Wei Kang¡¯s words were a little bit obscured. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand what he meant at the beginning, but after staring at the characters for a few minutes, there were two clues that linked a few key words together in his mind.

    The first clue: Ancient Egyptians¡ªJewish¡ªChristianity¡ªKnights Temr.

    The second clue: Cat Goddess Bastet¡ªpagan cat from underworld¡ªDevil Baphomet.

    Zhang Zian suddenly realized what was going on. Associated with the persecution by Christians towards witches and cats in the Middle Ages, the mystery in history was unravelling a little bit in front of him.

    It seemed that Wei Kang had deliberately left Zhang Zian some time to think about it. He continued texting momentster, ¡°Of course, how many of these things are rumors and how many are facts are still unknown. Unless people living during those times have resurrected and can tell the stories, no one really will ever know the truth¡ªincluding the story of this Cat Goddess statue.¡±

    Zhang Zian replied, ¡°I understand now, thank you, Professor Wei. Brilliant story!¡±

    And then he locked his cell phone screen, looked at the Cat Goddess statue alone in the corner, and uttered a gentle sigh.

    Whether it was an orthodox or pagan Cat Goddess, whether it was worshipped by numerous people or was soaked in blood and flesh, it didn¡¯t matter anymore, for everything would be lost to history in the end.

    As the poem goes: Of present or past, more or less¡ª¡ªO throw to gossip and jest.

 Chapter 333: Fortune Telling

    <h4>Chapter 333: Fortune Telling</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sitting in the taxi, Guo Dongyue held the birdcage like he was holding a baby, constantly urging the driver to speed up so that he could get home home immediately to show the red-headed lovebirds to his mother.

    When the taxi drove past Embassy Street, he could see that the church was still brightly lit up. A lot of church members who didn¡¯t have time during the day had to attend church services under the chilly winds in the evening. The church at night possessed a beauty different than in had in the day. If the church appeared solemn and awe-inspiring in the day, the atmosphere became mysterious and distant in the evening as if it were narrating the unpredictability of the divine providence.

    After the taxi turned right and drove into the old alley, the surrounding area became quiet suddenly, with few vehicles and pedestrians on the street. This old residential district might be demolished sooner orter¡ªthe neighbors were all looking forward to that day so that they could have abundantpensation and move into new houses, except Guo Dongyue.

    Once leaving this district ¡ª most importantly, once leaving the home that his mother was familiar with ¡ª her memory would be lost forever, never to be found, like the kite loosening from the string.

    However, demolition and relocation were irresistible trends which would never be dyed just because of him.

    While his thoughts were wandering around, the driver applied the brake and the taxi slowly parked at the entrance of the district.

    ¡°Can I just park here? It¡¯s difficult to turn around inside.¡± The taxi driver discussed with him.

    Guo Dongyue was hoping the driver could park in front of his home, but seeing the reluctance on the driver¡¯s face, he didn¡¯t insist. After all, the driver was probably thinking he could call it a day and get back home to his family.

    After paying the fare, Guo Dongyue held the birdcage and got out of the car. He covered the birdcage with his coat so as to shield off the increasingly chilly night winds for the parrots.

    Walking into the dark corridor, he coughed. The light still didn¡¯t turn on, probably because the voice-controlled switch had broken again.

    Using the shlight function on his cellphone, he walked carefully to avoid the sundries piled on the corridor, Once he arrived at his home on the second floor, he pulled out the key to open the door.

    Twopletely different voices were heard in the house. One source of the voice was from the soap opera where the mother-inw and daughter-inw were having a fight, while the other one was the Kunqu Opera from his mother¡¯s bedroom. The volume of the former one was much higher than thetter one.

    ¡°Oh, Dongyue, you¡¯re home tonight? I thought you wouldn¡¯te back today. You don¡¯t have toe back on such ate evening ¡ª your Aunt Bai is taking care of your mom, and everything will be fine¡­¡± said Aunt Bai, a little bit guiltily. She stood up from the couch and turned down the volume. Melon seed shells were everywhere, and would make creaking sounds when someone stepped on them.

    Without saying anything, Guo Dongyue just nodded to her and went into his mom¡¯s bedroom.

    His mother was sitting on the bed with her back to the door. On the table in front of her, there was an out-of-date radio where the beautiful voices of the famous Kunqu Opera artists wereing from.

    When he pushed the door and entered her bedroom, his mom didn¡¯t move an inch. He wondered whether his mother was listening to the Kunqu Opera, or if she just wanted to drown out the sounds of the soap opera from the living room.

    ¡°Mom, I¡¯m home¡­¡± he said, tentatively.

    Mom still had no response.

    He took the coat off the birdcage, lifted the cotton cloth that kept the birds warm, and put the birdcage in front of his mother.

    Just like the snow and ice were melting when spring arrived, his mother¡¯s dull face suddenly moved a bit, and then she smiled, ¡°Little Purple, Yellow Pea Cake, where have you been? I¡¯ve been looking for you for so long, so long¡­¡±

    She took the birdcage with both of her hands, without ncing at Guo Dongyue in front of her.

    Guo Dongyue felt a tinge of heartache. But seeing his mother smile, he was really happy.

    ¡°Little Purple, Yellow Pea Cake, you must be good, don¡¯t chirp. Dongyue is studying in the next room, you must not disturb him.¡± Mother was whispering to them.

    Little Purple tilted its head to look at her, and then looked at Guo Dongyue, and suddenly said, ¡°Please sit.¡±

    Yellow Pea Cake also said, ¡°Huang Yin.¡±

    Guo Dongyue just froze there.

    ¡°Please sit.¡±

    ¡°Huang Yin!¡±

    Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake took turns to repeat these words to him.

    Stiffly and slowly, his mother¡¯s neck moved towards him, and she raised her eyes to look at his face.

    Hope was rekindling in his heart, though he knew it was a faint hope. Mother had forgotten what he looked like right now, and she probably would ask harshly¡ªwho are you? Why did you break into my home?

    However, mother just smiled softly, ¡°Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake know you? Look at me, I seem to have forgotten a lot of things recently¡­please have a seat.¡±

    Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake didn¡¯t stop their repetitive speaking until Guo Dongyue had sat beside the bed.

    Mother was staring at his face curiously, ¡°Who are you? Why would Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake know you? I¡¯ve never brought them outside, so how would they know others?¡±

    Guo Dongyue hesitated again. Should he exin futilely that he was her son as usual? Or pretend to be someone else, as Zhang Zian did, to make her happy?

    Just then, Little Purple spoke up again, ¡°Dongyue, you¡¯ve grown up!¡±

    Yellow Pea Cake echoed, ¡°Grow up. Dong Yue.¡±

    Just like moments ago, Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake kept repeating these words. They were faithfully executing the speaking strategy as Richard had instructed them.

    Repetition. Time and again.

    Language was the most profound memory that wouldn¡¯t be forgotten till death, for words had been repeating numerous times on a daily basis.

    Mother stared at his face, ¡°Have I met you somewhere before? Do you know my child Dongyue?¡±

    Guo Dongyue nodded, ¡°Yes, I do. I watched him grow up. Do you want to hear about the things that will happen to him when he has grown up?¡±

    Mother smiled, ¡°You¡¯re a funny person. Dongyue is just a kid, how do you know what he will be like when he grows up?¡±

    ¡°I am a fortune-teller, and my predictions have always been precise. I see you are not busy, would you like to hear about it?¡± he said with a confident smile.

    Mother shook her head, ¡°I don¡¯t believe in fortune-telling, unless you can prove what you say is true.¡±

    Guo Dongyue knew she was not a superstitious person.

    ¡°Okay, then let me tell you something supposedly only you and Guo Dongyue know about.¡± He thought about it, ¡°Right, he will be an architect.¡±

    Mother was stunned, ¡°How do you know that the kid wants to be a designer?¡±

    ¡°Because I¡¯m good at fortune-telling.¡± He smiled, ¡°Do you remember that day when you and he finished buying groceries and it suddenly rained heavily? You went to the church to get shelter from the rain, and you looked at the dome of the church and said it was really beautiful. He said mischievously that when he grew up, he would build a big and beautiful house for you so that you wouldn¡¯t have to live in this small, dark and broken apartment anymore¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, I remember!¡± his mother said in an excited tone, ¡°But how do you know about that?¡±

    Guo Dongyue smiled and didn¡¯t answer to that question, ¡°I also know other thing. A thing you think only you know.¡±

    ¡°What is the thing only known by me?¡± she replied alertedly.

    Guo Dongyue pointed at the two red-headed lovebirds in the cage, ¡°I know that when Guo Dongyue is at school, you will teach them to speak, and I also know what you have been teaching them.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s impossible!¡± she shook her head resolutely, ¡°I don¡¯t believe you!¡±

    Guo Dongyue sobbed out, ¡°It¡¯s the poem Hymn of the Traveller. When Guo Dongyue was very little, he read the poem to you on your birthday. He has forgotten about that himself, but you¡¯ve always remembered that.¡±

    There wereplicated expressions on mother¡¯s face. Confusion, delight, and doubt¡­it seemed that she wanted to cry, but also wanted to smile.

    Hearing the key words of Hymn of the Traveller, Little Purple and Yellow Pea Cake had reactions instantly.

    ¡°Threads adeptly brandished by a loving mother, who sewed them into garments for her son so soon to depart.¡±

    ¡°Worrying that her son might not return in a short time, she sewed the threads densely.¡±

    ¡°Who dares to im that the son¡¯s fidelity as trivial as the green grass can repay the mother¡¯s love as great as the spring sun?¡±

    They recited the poem in unison with the most urate and clear pronunciations among the expressions they had learned. Even Yellow Pea Cake, who had always pronounced words incorrectly, could recite it very well. Obviously, they had practiced many times.

    Mother was constantly swallowing. Her hands clenched the bedsheets so tightly that they wrinkled from her grasping.

    ¡°Why would you know that? Why would you know that?¡±

    Guo Dongyue stood up, stretched out his arms to her and smiled, ¡°There¡¯s also one thing I know¡ªthat the house Dongyue builds for you is about to bepleted, but he worries that you might reluctant to leave the old house. Would you like to check on that?¡±

    Mother stared at his hands. She hesitated for a while before she extended her hands to hold his. She looked at him, ¡°I want to stay together with Dongyue, I will go where he goes.¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go.¡±

    Guo Dongyue supported her to stand up from the bed, and helped her put on her coat, scarf and hat. Mother held up the birdcage with her other hand.

    ¡°Is it far?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Not very,¡± smiled Guo Dongyue. ¡°There¡¯s a pet shop around that area, Dongyue has been spending much time there recently.¡±

    ¡°I like pets too, especially birds,¡± she said with expectation.

    He held his mother¡¯s hand to leave the bedroom and walked through the living room.

    Aunt Bai was eating dried melon seeds and looked at them with confusion, ¡°Where are you going at thiste hour?¡±

    Guo Dongyue said to her seriously, ¡°You can get off work now.¡±

 Chapter 334: YouTube Partnership

    <h4>Chapter 334: YouTube Partnership</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Ending a day¡¯s work, Song Bai dragged his fatigued body and returned home. Strangely enough, sitting a whole day in the office was even more exhausting than wandering around on the streets at weekends. When he was about to get off duty, he also declined his colleagues¡¯ invitations to KTV and other social gatherings. He wondered why they were still full of energy after a day¡¯s work. At the entrance of thepany, he ran into Zhao Qi, who used to be the most active participant in KTV singing, but had been rushing home to her kitten after work nowadays¡­of course, now he had also be a cat lover just like her.

    He had never been interested in the fellowship activities among the colleagues after work. Everyone was aware of the high mobility of employees in private enterprises. Tonight, some staff members might join the KTV singing, but tomorrow morning, they might throw their resignation letters into the boss¡¯s face¡­

    As for the social gatherings¡­ well, he heard that they had invited the staff from a hospital. He wondered who had organized this event today. Thinking that they could sit face-to-face with some adorable angels in white, the bachelors in hispany were very excited. Even those who already had girlfriends, like Liu Sang who was also in the Technical Department, were envious of the participants¡­ Song Bai was not a tall person and he had always felt himself inferior because of his height. Though his financial situation was getting by, he was not an extremely wealthy and attractive guy. Even though he went to the event, no girls would probablyy their eyes on him. The metal itself must be hard to be turned into iron, and he decided that he would consider finding a girlfriend after he had a notable career.

    Song Bai was not lonely. Time passed swiftly when he spent the whole evening in front of hisputer, particrly nowadays when ck Flower was apanying him.

    He pulled out the key to open the door, muttering ¡°freaking cold¡± and taking off his scarf and hat.

    As the sun went down earlier in winter, right now the apartment was dark, with the only source of dim light transmitted through the balcony window from the opposite apartment. He fumbled to turn on the lights.

    His skateboard was lying on the ground in the living room. People usually just gave balls of wool or scratching boards to their kittens. it was probably rare that a skateboard would be a cat¡¯s toy.

    Hearing the sounds, ck Flower ran from the bedroom and raised its head to look at him.

    ¡°ck Flower, do you feel cold in the house?¡± He took off his coat and hung it on the hallstand, putting on his slippers.

    It was a pity that ck Flower can¡¯t answer him.

    He bent down to hold ck Flower, went into the bedroom with it, closed the door and turned on the electric heater. Though he wasn¡¯t home the whole day, the bedroom didn¡¯t be messier. He was relieved that at least ck Flower didn¡¯t cause any troubles in his bedroom.

    Song Bai turned on theputer and put ck Flower on hisp, stroking the fur on its back with his hands gently. It suddenly urred to him that he didn¡¯t know whether ck Flower was afraid of water. How was it going to shower? He heard that a lot of cats was afraid of showering.

    About this matter, he inquired Zhao Qi about it before. She proudly imed that her Lan Lan was a very quiet and well-behaved cat that seldom went outside, so it was always very clean and only needed to take one shower every a few months. On the contrary, ck Flower was lively and energetic, and it loved exploring in his apartment. He also had taken it outside to y on the skateboard, so the problem of showering would dawn on him soon.

    After theputer finishedunching, he inputted his passwords and entered the desktop, essed the VPN software and logged into his homepage on YouTube.

    He prepared himself by taking a deep breath before he was courageous enough to look at thements under his vlog Over the Great Wall.

    Within only a few days, the number of views of this vlog had boosted from 357 on the second day to 43,831. Almost every time he refreshed the page, the number was increasing, sometimes by 2-3 views, sometimes by 4-5 views. Also, the numbers ofments, ¡°likes¡±, and ¡°dislikes¡± were soaring.

    No one would have thought thatst night, Song Bai had been frantically pressing on the F5 key for two hours to refresh the page constantly, joyfully witnessing the increase of the numbers on his screen¡­the views of this vlog had almost surpassed that of all his previous vlogs put together. What¡¯s more, driven by this vlog, the views of his prior vlogs were also increasing, for the audiences who yearned for more videos would search his channel, looking for more simr videos.

    If only ck Flower didn¡¯t jump out from his arms to go to the bathroom, he would have personally known what the buzzword ¡°F5 is broken¡± meant¡­

    Song Bai had heard that a lot of videos went viral overnight, and he believed that this vlog had the potential to go viral. But when it really happened, he still found it dreamy and incredible.

    When he came to himself, he found that his finger was unconsciously pressing on the F5. He quickly shook his head. He couldn¡¯t waste another two hours tonight. Last night, after pressing F5 for two hours, he forgot to do hisundry or take a shower, and was still tossing and turning on his bed and couldn¡¯t fall into sleep. When he got up this morning, he had gotten two dark circles like that of a panda.

    Just as he was ready to view thements, an e-mail from YouTube popped up in his mailbox.

    Song Bai thought it was just advertising mail at the beginning, but when he was going to delete it, he found that the format was different than that of any advertising mail.

    Clicking open the email, his body and his mind werepletely frozen. The hand holding the mouse stayed still while his palms were sweating nervously. He was still panic-struck, for he almost deleted this email¡­

    The subject of the email was very simple¡ªYour application has been approved. YouTube invites you to join YouTube Partnership.

    YouTube Partnership was the famous YouTube advertising incentive program. In other words, receiving this invitation meant that he could earn money through themercials yed on YouTube.

    Song Bai rubbed his eyes. His mouth was dry, and his heart was beating rapidly. This was what he had always wanted, and it even could be called his dream. But how was that possible? The threshold of the YouTube Partnership invitation was very high, and not everyone could make money from YouTube.

    ording to the rumors heard by Song Bai, YouTube Partnership had two prerequisites¡ªone was that the creator needed to upload at least one video a week, and the other one was that, the videos had to be viewed millions of times in total. He was able to meet the former one, but was far from meeting thetter prerequisite. But if the views could continue growing at this rate¡­it was only a matter of time before his vlogs were viewed millions of times. It seemed that YouTube was not that rigid.

    ¡°Will you ept this invitation?¡± Hell, yes!

    Song Bai had applied for the YouTube Partnership before, but every time, he had only received replies beginning with ¡°We regret to inform you that¡­¡±

    In the face of this letter of invitation, his previous frustration of rejection had vanished. Even though YouTube, the mean girl, had made mistakes before, he was going to forgive her now!

    Leaving thements aside, he first followed the steps in the link provided by the letter of invitation to change the ount settings, and whenever he encountered words that he was not sure about, he would carefully look up their meanings, for fear that something might go wrong. He was d that he didn¡¯t attend the KTV singing and social gathering tonight. If he went there, he would inevitably need to drink. And when he came home drunk, he might have idently deleted this email¡­

    Lying on hisp, ck Flower had felt the trembling of his thigh muscles. It raised its face worriedly, and uttered some meowing sounds, as if asking if he was sick.

    Song Bai restrained his excitement, holding it up with both hands over his head and smiling from ear to ear.

    ¡°ck Flower, we are going to be rich!¡±

 Chapter 335: Unexpected Competitor

    <h4>Chapter 335: Unexpected Competitor</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Song Bai was very excited. In his memory, he hadn¡¯t been this excited since he got admitted into university. He was so exhrated that he was thinking of dancing with ck Flower¡­ Forget it, he was certain that ck Flower would dance better than he. Besides, a man dancing to Little Apple, twisting his waist and raising his legs, would be too embarrassing.

    From now on, he could be considered a web celebrity.

    After finishing the process ording to the instructions, he had seen that there were manymercial-rted pages in the analytical tools provided by YouTube, where he could skim through such indicators as the time when his videos were watched, the number of views and his ie earned.

    Unlike the advertisements on the video websites in China that could be over 1 minute long, audiences could choose to watch only 5 seconds of themercials on YouTube before skipping them, so that targeted audiences could be selected more efficiently. Besides, themercials on YouTube were exquisitely-made with excellent creative ideas, so people usually just watched the wholemercials, disregarding the length of them. From this aspect, themercials on YouTube were of higher quality than the rubbish online gaming advertisements on the video websites in China.

    Although he was very excited, Song Bai knew that he still had a long way to go. If he wanted to earn enough money from YouTube to support himself, he shouldn¡¯t be satisfied with only a small amount of pocket money, but he needed to produce vlogs of high quality continuously.

    He needed to calm himself down, and the best way to cool one¡¯s mind was to read thements under the video.

    The most poprments involved the argument of the authenticity of the video. Some people were just having normal discussions, while others¡¯ments came with hostile connotations, and people holding different opinions were arguing feverishly. He noticed that a few ount names with Chinese characteristics had righteously denounced the ¡°no offense¡±ment, and a lot of foreign audiences had agreed with their refutations¡ªthe foreign audiences here meant they were from countries other than the USA. Audiences defending the creator of this video had indicated which countries they were from to show their support, and they even addressed the hegemonism of the United States.

    In fact, audience members who were defending the author of the video just said that where the video was shot could not be used as the sole indicator to determine the authenticity of the video. Their attitudes remained ambiguous¡ª after all, kittens dancing together was just too incredible.

    Except a few audience members who were delving into the truthfulness of the video, most audience members just deemed the video as entertainment and didn¡¯t care about whether it was true or not. For them, a happy mood after watching the video would be enough. So, thements left by these audiences were usually very amusing with the humor in English.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got a disease that is only curable by watching kittens dancing. If you don¡¯t keep uploading new videos, you will be responsible for my death.¡± ¨Cwas this kind of like a death threat?

    ¡°I love this video, but I don¡¯t understand Chinese nor English. Can somebody please add subtitles in Spanish? By the way, thisment ispleted by Google Trante.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for the vlogger¡¯s work. I was worrying that my boyfriend had no interest in learning Chinese, but after showing him this video, he had booked ne tickets to China¡­ though I cancelled them right away. Oh, by the way, I would love to watch this video several times, but right now I need to have a showdown with my boyfriend. I need to know who is more important to him? Me or the kittens?¡±¡ªit seemed that a fight was inevitable.

    ¡°This video is totally nonsense, but I like it!¡±

    ¡°So, where can we purchase these kittens?¡±

    ¡°Thanks for the brilliant video, the background music is also very good, I have rmended it to my friends.¡±

    ¡°Magical dancing, magical music, my body can¡¯t help but move with the kittens. I¡¯ve decided to imitate this dance with my friends on the streets in Mumbai as my gratitude to the vlogger.¡± ¨Cit seemed like this was an audience member from India.

    ¡°oooooooxxx!¡±¡ªthere were a lot ofints under thisment: Whatnguage is this? No one can read it! Since you know how to use YouTube, please learn how to use Google Trante.

    ¡°This song and the choreography is so attractive¡­ I think I¡¯m going to abandon Justin Bieber¡­¡±

    ¡°Okay, I swear to God that no other videos can beat this one.¡±

    ¡°Am I the only one who has noticed the puppies in the background? Poor little things are locked in the disy cases, I want to hug them¡­¡±¡ªthe tone sounded like it was from a middle-aged loving woman.

    Besides these, there were ubiquitous advertisements among some of thements. ¡°Great video, but if you want to earn money, please contact this address. I¡¯m a young girl from Las Vegas, I can do anything you want me to do, my number is xxx-xxx-xxx.¡±

    Some people replied with, ¡°Love this video, love the dancing kittens. I want to buy a kitten in the video, whichever is fine as long as it can dance. Money will not be a concern. Hope the kind vlogger can tell me the address to buy them.¡±

    As Song Bai counted, there were at least eight simrments, plus the replies to thesements. Many people were hoping to know where they could buy the dancing kittens.

    Of course, some people replied that the video was just for fun and advised others not to take it too seriously, for there were no such dancing kittens in this world. Even if the video was true, they would have to travel a long distance to buy them in China.

    The most annoying yet funny phenomenon was that, a lot of people couldn¡¯t tell whether the video was recorded in China or Korea, which was a typical issue among the Westerners.

    ¡°If it is in a pet shop, all the kittens are for sale, right? How much does one cost approximately? I will buy one next month even though I need to collect scraps to make more money.¡±

    Regarding thisment, someone replied with, ¡°This video has high disy quality, so I see the number on the invoice. The ck kitten that the vlogger bought cost him about 3,000 RMB, which is about 450 USD, taxes included.¡±

    ¡°That is incredibly cheap! Even taxes are included!¡±

    ¡°Wow! The cat owners must be very happy in China!¡±

    ¡°WTF? The price is only half of that of an iPhone? Please, I want to trade my iPhone, plus my girlfriend¡¯s iPhone, for a kitten.¡±

    Song Bai was going to take a hot shower and consider how to reply to thesements asking for an address. Just when he was about to leave theputer, he pressed the F5 key one more time, and noticed a newment.

    ¡°Hm?¡± Thisment drew all his attention and made him sit back on the chair again.

    It was written with, ¡°Yo, people arguing the truthfulness of this video can stop fighting. This video probably is true, because someone also uploaded a simr video. Although that video is not as clear or sophisticated as this one, and it has no subtitles, from the content, it was undoubtedly shot in the same pet shop. Anyone interested can check that out. Hope someone can provide trantion.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± The unexpected turn stunned Song Bai.

    Another vlogger had gone to shoot videos at Amazing Fate Pet Shop?

    He didn¡¯t sign any exclusive shooting agreement with Zhang Zian, so it was normal that other vloggers went to record videos there. But it had only been a few days since he left. Was it really a coincidence?

    It was probably just a misunderstanding¡ªhe tried tofort himself.

    Everyone was selfish, and so was Song Bai. Although he didn¡¯t think of keeping it a secret, he hoped others would find out this pet shopter.

    Inputting the key words provided in thement, he found the other video.

    The title of the video was very simple: Dancing Kittens in the Pet Shop.

    Song Bai calmed down himself to look at the profile of the person who uploaded this video. The profile section was empty, and there was only one video uploaded; apparently this was a neer.

    He clicked to y the video. When the pictures started moving, a clear and pleasing voice speaking standard Mandarin was heard.

    ¡°Hello, everyone! This is Snowy, wee to my live broadcast! Our slogan is: Having fun in Binhai City!¡±

    An adorable girl was making a peace sign on the screen. Even though she was behind the screen, her joyful tone and sweet smile were appealing to Song Bai.

    His heart sank.

    This was going to be bad!

    He recognized the background of the video by his first nce. It was the very Amazing Fate Pet Shop at the South End of Zhonghua Road!

    He swallowed nervously. He was well aware that if this girl was hispetitor, he would have no chance to win.

 Chapter 336: Blue Climax

    <h4>Chapter 336: Blue Climax</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    United States.

    Suburb of Los Angeles.

    Located in a desirable position, California was a perfect destination for traveling and living, because even in winter, there was still plenty of sunshine and the weather was gentle andfortable.

    Red-faced and bald, Tim Keller was a 6¡¯7¡¯¡¯ guy with broad shoulders, a solid chest and a thundering voice. He was an awe-inspiring wall by standing there and doing nothing. However, this giant, whom everyone would deem as a professional boxer, was showing his tender and gentle side.

    He carefully held a kitten against his chest like it was his baby and examined its conditions as if he were an expert. This was a 2-month-old bi-color Ragdoll kitten, of which most of its fur was milky white in color, with only its face, forehead, ears and tail a light chocte color. Its mouth and nose were as pink as the skin of a newborn baby, while its pale blue eyes were an almond shape and as clear and transparent as crystals. From the feedback of his fingers, he could tell that its muscles were flexible, and its fur was bright and smooth.

    ¡°Fantastic!¡± Tim muttered to himself.

    This Ragdoll kitten was in excellent condition, which could satisfy the client. When it was 3 months old, he could inform the client, who had been waiting so long, toe and pick it up.

    He put it down and used his fan-like giant hand to pick up a tinyb tob through its fur. His movements were so gentle, as if he was tending to a newborn baby.

    Tim Keller and his wife, Lauren, were both registered breeders under the CFA, and they were running Blue Climax the Cattery, the address of which was their home. Their cats had won several championships in tournaments, and their cattery was somewhat famous in California. Tim oversaw the daily operation of the ce, while his wife was responsible formunicating with clients and other catteries.

    Afterbing its fur, he loosened up and let it y freely inside the room.

    Tim nced at the room. There were over 10 Ragdoll kittens in total, the ages of which were 2 to 3 months old. Some of them had been reserved by clients, while the rest were still waiting for their potential owners¡ªit was not that clients weren¡¯t interested in them, in fact, the demands of kittens had surpassed the supplies in his cattery. It was just that he and his wife were very meticulous about the qualifications of the clients. The following clients were regarded as unqualified, including but not limited to: students, international students, unemployed persons, people at advanced ages, and people whose residences were too far away from California.

    The above-referenced reasons were just part of their client selection process. Even if the emails sent by clients were not sincere enough, or there were minor grammatical errors in the bodies of the emails, or the clients¡¯ ents sounded a little bit weird over the phone, Tim and his wife could use these as reasons to decline selling the pets. Yep, they were that capricious.

    The cattery breeders in the USA were headstrong and picky, but Tim and his wife were extraordinarily fastidious when it came to select qualified clients. In their minds, if people didn¡¯t have the ability to raise a cat long-term, for the sake of the kittens and humans, they¡¯d better notmence on the journey at all.

    Walking around the room, Tim spotted the problem very quickly. For fear of frightening the kittens, he went outside to the porch angrily, and shouted, ¡°Allen! Allen! Get the hell over here, boy!¡±

    When he shouted the second time, a young man, whose face was full of freckles, ran to him hastily, raising his eyes to look at Tim nervously. ¡°Yes, Sir?¡±

    Allen was half the age of Tim, and was about a head and a half shorter. Allen was so thin that he might be blown over by any strong wind. When they stood together, it was like a feather versus a heavyweight boxer.

    ¡°How many times have I told you! The number of cat litter boxes must be one more than the number of cats so that they won¡¯t start fighting! Who can tell me what the hell is contained inside the head above your neck? Is it s*** or other filthy things?!¡± Tim poked towards Allen¡¯s chest with his index finger, bringing his red face to Allen¡¯s and shouting at his maximum volume.

    ¡°Sorry, sir I¡¯m really sorry.¡± Allen¡¯s face turned pale. He lowered his head and stared at Tim¡¯s finger fearfully. Tim¡¯s finger almost poked at him, almost. It would be very painful if he was poked by this finger, as thick as a carrot. Tim¡¯s saliva had spat on his face, but he didn¡¯t dare to wipe it off.

    ¡°I¡¯m tired of you saying sorry!¡± Tim bit his teeth and restrained his furious intention to punch Allen against the wall. He turned around and pointed to the room where the Ragdoll kittens were ying. ¡°Go mend your mistake, immediately, now!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡± LLike he had been granted amnesty, Allen slipped away alongside the wall dejectedly.

    ¡°Stop!¡± Tim yelled behind him.

    Allen froze there, soaked in sweat, wondering what this fiend was going to talk about next.

    ¡°No mistakes again, understand?¡± Tim said in an unquestionable tone. Though the sentence was ended with a question mark, he wasn¡¯t asking Allen¡¯s opinion at all. ¡°Now, get back to work!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡± Allen swallowed some saliva and plunged into the room nervously.

    Tim was still very angry on the porch, His hands on his waist, he exhaled heavily and waved his fists to punch the wall so hard that the dust on the ceiling fell onto his bald head.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± he cursed, ¡°I must be out of my mind that I let this brat, who can¡¯t do anything right, stay here to work for me!¡±

    ¡°Tim, what¡¯s wrong?¡± his wife Lauren extended her head from the study room and looked at him worryingly. ¡°The doctor says that you must not lose your temper easily, it¡¯s not good for your heart. Do you forget that?¡±

    ¡°Sorry! Won¡¯t happen again.¡± It was Tim¡¯s turn to say sorry now, and his voice became very soft. In front of his wife, he turned from a behemoth to a kitten.

    He and his wife had been together for over two decades. They knew each other because of cats, the chemistry between them sparkled because of cats, andter they resigned from their jobs to run this cattery together. One can say that their whole lives were rted to cats.

    ¡°So, what happened exactly?¡± she asked again.

    ¡°It¡¯s that boy Allen.¡± He exined to his wife, ¡°I¡¯ve told him many times, and you¡¯ve also told him, that there must be one extra cat litter box than the total number of cats. This is about the professional image of our cattery, and I can never allow this beginner mistake to happen, or else the clients might get a bad impression when they visit our cattery. We set hide demands on our clients, and we must maintain such high standards on ourselves in front of the clients. But this stinky boy just won¡¯t listen, he just ignores everything I say. All he cares about is ying on his cell phone and flirting with girls on the inte¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just what all the young people do nowadays.¡± Lauren smiled tolerantly, ¡°When he is in a true rtionship, he will grow into a man.¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t like him when I was younger.¡± Tim insisted.

    Lauren made fun of him, ¡°Yes, you were as shy as a little girl waiting for me to invite you to prom.¡±

    ¡°Forget about those old memories.¡± After all these years, Tim was still very shy when talking about this. He waved his hand, ¡°Have you replied to all your emails? Go get some rest.¡±

    ¡°Speaking of this¡­¡± Lauren waved at him, ¡°Dear,e inside, to the study room.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Tim stood there without moving, ¡°Can Ie inter? I need to trim thewn out there.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d bettere inside right now ¡ª there¡¯s something you must see for yourself.¡± said Lauren mysteriously.

 Chapter 337: Strive for Cooperation

    <h4>Chapter 337: Strive for Cooperation</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Because of his wife¡¯s strange expression and insistence, Tim had to put aside the task ofwn trimming and followed her into the study room.

    Lauren¡¯sputer was disying the YouTube webpage. Tim knew that she liked watching interesting videos when she was free, and he thought she was going to show him another funny video this time¡ªbut it was more than just funny.

    ¡°Check this out.¡± Lauren pulled him to sit down with her and clicked the y icon.

    As the bright rhythm of Little Apple started ying, a group of kittens were dancing to the music.

    Eyes wide open, Tim stared at the screen incredibly, ¡°What is going on?¡±

    Lauren didn¡¯t answer him. When the song had finished ying, she reyed the video.

    ¡°What do you think?¡± she smiled and asked.

    ¡°Is this the trailer of a movie? Please tell me it isputer-generated special effect.¡± Tim was gazing at the picture, still dumbfounded.

    Lauren shook her head, ¡°I thought this was a rebined video from different clips at the beginning, but it seems that it¡¯s not, look at this.¡±

    She switched to another YouTube page and yed another video.

    The second videosted longer. Unlike the previous video, the leading role and camera-person of the second video was a ck-haired girl, and thetter video had no subtitles. But the point was that the kittens being recorded in the second video were the same group of kittens as in the former video, with only a ck kitten missing.

    When the second video had finished ying, Lauren said, ¡°The first video has indeed been edited, but from my perspective, the author only wanted to make the video appear morepact, while the second video has absolutely no traces of being edited.¡±

    ¡°So?¡± Tim forced a smile and shrugged, ¡°Are you saying that these kittens really can dance together? We¡¯ve been running a cattery for so many years, but I¡¯ve never heard of such weird things before.¡±

    ¡°Tim,¡± Lauren held his big hands and said gently, ¡°Always remain reverence for the things you don¡¯t know.¡±

    Tim¡¯s palms were broad and thick with rough surfaces, just like that of a bear. However, being held by her tiny hands, Tim didn¡¯t dare to move a bit.

    ¡°Even if it is indeed real, what are you going to do?¡± he said hesitantly and looked at the still picture on the screen again, ¡°What does it have anything to do with us? For God¡¯s sake, it¡¯s in China, half a world away.¡±

    Lauren smiled and said patiently, ¡°I am thinking, is it possible¡­ that we go to ask the owner of that pet shop how to teach the kittens to dance?¡±

    Tim frowned, ¡°China is enormous with so many people. Where are we going to find that owner?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that.¡± Lauren let go of his hands and stuffed a small piece of paper into his palm, ¡°I¡¯ve leftments to ask these two vloggers. The first vlogger answered in a somewhat disguised manner, but the second vlogger tells me this address without any hesitation.¡±

    Tim unfolded the small paper where the address was written in detail.

    Lauren continued, ¡°Besides, the second vlogger admits that he has no connection with the former vlogger, and that the video uploaded was not shot by him, but that he had recorded the live broadcast video hosted by a Chinese female anchor. He found that the video was very interesting and uploaded it to YouTube. He didn¡¯t expect that it would draw so much attention.¡±

    Tim looked at the address on the note for several times and raised his head, ¡°Honey, what do you mean¡­¡±

    ¡°What I mean is that, maybe it¡¯s time to visit China.¡± said Lauren with anticipation in her eyes, ¡°The country that has had civilization since ancient times with thousands of years of history. It has always been covered with ayer of a mysterious veil, and it¡¯s time for us to unveil it and to look at how she really is. Don¡¯t you want to see for yourself whether these dancing kittens exist or not?¡±

    Tim said with a bitter smile, ¡°Yes. But honey, if we go to China, what about our cattery? Many clients have made reservations to see the kittens. Are we going to cancel all these reservations? This is bad for our reputation.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t Allen here?¡± Lauren smiled, ¡°Put him in charge of the cattery.¡±

    ¡°Him?¡± Hearing this, Tim was even more astonished than seeing the kittens dance, ¡°Make him in charge? He will screw up everything!¡±

    ¡°No, I think he¡¯s a nice boy, he¡¯s just too afraid of you, so he makes mistakes whenever you are around. Give him a chance to learn how to be independent. Boys can only be men gradually if they are being pushed.¡± Lauren¡¯s tone was very gentle, but her words had unparalleled persuasive powers towards Tim.

    ¡°Okay, okay.¡± said Tim reluctantly, ¡°But have you thought that, let¡¯s suppose these two videos are both real, and that unknown pet shop owner does have ways to teach kittens to dance¡ª if I were him, I would keep it a secret and would never reveal anything to anyone even my mouth was pried open, do you see what I mean?¡±

    He was worried that their trip might be fruitless ?¡ª there was no reason that the pet shop owner in China would tell them the secret of kittens dancing.

    ¡°You¡¯re right, I¡¯ve thought of that.¡± Lauren pointed to the still image on the screen, ¡°But look at the kittens in his shop. What are the things that we have and he doesn¡¯t?¡±

    ¡°What we have, and he doesn¡¯t?¡± He was stunned. He began to look at the screen, following the direction pointed by his wife¡¯s finger.

    As a professional breeder operating a cattery for over a decade and attending CFA tournaments many times, Tim was experienced in sharp-sightedness. He had spotted that the kittens in the videos were of moremonly seen breeds, but no Ragdoll kittens¡ªthe very popr breed recently were seen in them. As for other breeds, such as Norwegian Forest Cat, Bengal Cat or Bombay Cat, none of them appeared in the videos.

    The shocking fact that kittens were dancing together had made Tim ignore these details. Reminded by his wife, he had understood what she meant¡ªthat the pet shop had no Ragdoll kittens, and the Ragdoll kittens of Blue Climax enjoyed a high reputation among the pet industry.

    ¡°Are you saying¡­¡±

    Although he understood what his wife meant, he felt pain just thinking of exchanging these Ragdoll kittens, which were the results of his painstaking cultivation for many years, as if he had to send his own kids to others.

    ¡°Dear, there¡¯s nothing free in this world, as you know.¡± Lauren advised him, ¡°We must ept the following facts¡ª that in this world, there¡¯s only one pet shop that has dancing kittens, but there are other pet shops than our catteries can provide Ragdoll kittens for. Although our cats are in good condition, they are not unique in the industry. If we don¡¯t make our move quickly, this rare opportunity will be taken away by others.¡±

    His wife was always right, whether it was when she decided to quit her job and run a cattery, or when she decided to breed Ragdoll kittens a long time ago. Though she didn¡¯t take part in the daily operation of the cattery, in the big picture, she was more far-sighted than others.

    Tim lowered his head. He knew she was right, but as a stubborn person, he couldn¡¯t make up his mind right away. He had never been abroad before, and thinking that the destination of his first trip abroad was going to be an unheard-of pet shop in an unknown city in China, he was not sure whether they could seed in this journey.

    Lauren stretched out her hands, held his face, looked into his eyes, ¡°Darling, after we got married, you still owe me a honeymoon tour, remember? Since we began running this cattery, we have had no time to go out for our vacation. Don¡¯t take it as a burden, just consider it as our honeymoon vacation, can you promise me that?¡±

    Tim looked at her eyes for quite a while. There were wrinkles in the corners of her eyes because of the passing of time, but this pair of eyes¡­ With God as his witness, this pair of eyes was as clear as they were on the day they met. No matter how time flew, her eyes were just as attractive as before.

    ¡°Okay, I promise you.¡± He smiled from ear to ear. He already knew that he could never say no to her.

    ¡°You go book the flight tickets online. As for me¡­¡± he stood up from the chair and looked at the yard under the bright sunshine through the window, ¡°I¡¯m going to trim the damnwn.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± Lauren smiled happily. In his eyes, she would always be a gorgeous youngdy.

    Tim was that kind of person who didn¡¯t make decisions hastily, but when he made up his mind, he would not hesitate anymore.

    He stepped out from the study room and yelled out to the porch, ¡°Allen! Come here, you stinky boy! I¡¯m going to punish you these days. If you are smart enough, you should quit and leave right now, otherwise, prepare yourself for days in hell.¡±

 Chapter 338: Over A Great Distance

    <h4>Chapter 338: Over A Great Distance</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After walking down the gangwaydder of the airne and setting foot on the concrete runway of the Pudong International Airport, Tim still felt that his legs were feeble.

    Lauren supported him with her hands. There was a glimmer of a smile on her face. Her giant husband had been nervously drawing crosses on his chest when they were up in the air and whispered, ¡°It¡¯s flying too high, please don¡¯t fall¡­¡± She had never known that he was so afraid of flying.

    ¡°Darling, take it easy. We¡¯ve arrived in China!¡± She consoled him, ¡°Look how beautiful and huge this airport is, and it¡¯s really new, too.¡±

    Tim raised his head and nced around at the airport. He was tall, so he could see further. Heined immediately, ¡°So many people¡­¡±

    The airport was crowded with mostly people with ck hair and yellow skin.

    ¡°Yes, what a busy airport,¡± Lauren agreed with him.

    ¡°So, we¡¯ve arrived at our destination? This is Binhai City?¡± Tim took the handle of the luggage from her.

    Holding a tourist guide in her hands, Lauren smiled. ¡°No, this is not Binhai, this is Shanghai. Though the names are simr, these are two different ces. In fact, there are two options if we start from here to go to Binhai. One is to transfer to another flight, and the other is to take the high-speed train. I have booked the tickets for the transfer flight, but, honey, are you alright? If you feel ufortable, I can cancel our reservations and we can take the high-speed train instead.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ no, I can still handle that.¡± Tim clenched his teeth and said, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be troublesome if we needed to buy tickets for a high-speed train that will depart shortly? Besides, we don¡¯t even understand any Chinese¡­¡±

    ¡°My dear, what you¡¯re saying is what I¡¯ve been worried about. I¡¯ve been wondering whether the pet shop owner can speak English. Should we hire an interpreter?¡± Lauren said worryingly. ¡°I¡¯ve leftments to the vloggers of the two videos on YouTube, inquiring them if they knew the phone number of that pet shop. If only we had contacted the owner before we came, we could know what kind of a person he is in general and if he can speak English. Unfortunately, before we boarded the ne, the first vlogger didn¡¯t reply to my message, and the second vlogger indicated that she was not sure¡­¡±

    They came to China to discuss cooperation with that mysterious pet shop owner, but how were they going to proceed if there was anguage barrier? Before they left the US, Lauren had thought about this matter, but hiring a professional business interpreter was too expensive, for they had to cover his/her round-trip ne tickets, meals, and amodation in China, so it was just not worth it. If the pet shop owner couldn¡¯t speak English, they could only try to find a qualified interpreter in Binhai City.

    ¡°Hey, honey, rx.¡± Tim pressed his giant palms gently on her shoulders, ¡°On our way here, I saw a lot of Chinese people who could speak English fluently, so the pet shop owner is probably able to do that too.¡±

    ¡°I hope so.¡± Lauren smiled and patted the backs of his hands. ¡°Compared with that, I¡¯m more concerned that our sudden visit will make him unpleasant and he turn a cold shoulder on us. But since we¡¯re here, even though we are facing immense dangers and difficulties in front of us, we have to take the risks and go forward! Now, let¡¯s go to wait in the departure hall.¡±

    ¡­

    Several hourster.

    The airport of Binhai City.

    Tim walked out of the airport holding two luggages in his hands. Lauren was only carrying a small backpack on her shoulders with a tourist guide in her hands. Sometimes she lowered her head to look at the guide, and sometimes she looked up at the signs on the entrance/exit areas of the airport.

    ¡°Dear, are you cold? It¡¯s so cold here.¡± Tim was so cold that he shivered. Still wearing the clothes he wore when he boarded in California, he felt freezing when arriving at Binhai City, where the temperature was over a dozen degrees lower than that in Los Angeles.

    It was unlucky for them that it was a cloudy day in Binhai City, and ording to the weather broadcast, today would probably witness the first light snow of this year. As soon as they left the waiting hall in the Binhai Airport, Tim felt that the air was damp and cold, which waspletely different from the dry,fortable and sunny weather in Los Angeles. As the wind blew, he felt so cold, as if he was naked.

    Wearing thicker clothes and a scarf, Lauren was more cold-resistant than her husband was. She consoled him, ¡°Just hang on for a couple of minutes ¡ª you¡¯ll be fine when we get in the taxi.¡±

    Just then, a taxi stopped in front of them. Tim and Lauren stuffed their luggages into the trunk and got into the taxi. Lauren handed a small piece of paper that was written with the address of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, that she had prepared in advance, to the driver.

    They had discussed on the ne that when they arrived, should they head to take a rest in the hotel to deal with jetg fatigue, or go to the pet shop directly? In the end, they decided to visit the pet shop first, otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t feel truly relieved even if they were taking a rest.

    The taxi driver was stunned after ncing at the paper.

    ¡°Pet shop?¡± he turned around and asked them.

    Previously, when he drove a passenger called Song Bai home, Song Bai had told him that, before long, there would be foreign passengers heading to the Amazing Fate Pet Shop. He didn¡¯t expect that this would happen so soon. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t ignore Song Bai¡¯s advice. When he got home after work, he asked his daughter in junior high to teach him some English words. Since then, he had been learning English every day with his daughter. Though the oues were not obvious because of the short period, at least he had remembered how to speak ¡°pet shop¡± in English.

    Tim and Lauren nodded in surprise, and answered in English, ¡°Yes, yes, can you speak English? Do you know where the Amazing Fate Pet Shop is?¡±

    They were speaking very fast, but the driver had heard ¡°Amazing Fate Pet Shop¡± clearly. He nodded with smile and said in English, ¡°I know this. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Tim and Lauren looked at each other and held their hands together. They didn¡¯t know how to feel about this.

    Lauren asked tentatively, ¡°This pet shop, is it very famous in Binhai City?¡±

    Hearing the word ¡°famous¡±, the driver didn¡¯t think too much, he just repeated what he practiced with his daughterst night, ¡°Very famous! Everybody knows that!¡±

    The couple grew more astonished. They thought it was just an unheard-of pet shop, as it turned out, it was known to all!

    If it was such a famous pet shop, perhaps the owner had already gotten Ragdoll kittens that happened to not to be appearing in the videos. If that was the case, their trip to China waspletely futile.

    Besides, they were thinking of using their well-conditioned Ragdoll kittens to gain them a morepetitive edge, but right now, it seemed that things were not going their way¡­

    The taxi was driving through the street and allies of Binhai City. Regardless of their unsettled minds, Tim and Lauren kept taking pictures through the windows with their cell phones tomemorate this trip. Since they hade a long way toe to China, they should make it a worthwhile journey. Even if they failed in establishing cooperation, they should at least have fun and enjoy themselves by tasting the authentic and famous Chinese food and visiting the historical cultural relics before going back to the US.

    Soon, the taxi slowly parked on the curb.

    ¡°Here we are!¡± the taxi driver turned around and said.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Lauren paid the fare with the RMB she had exchanged her USD for at the airport.

    ¡°Hope you can buy pets that you like.¡± The driver said this sentence in English. He asked his daughter to teach him this and had borne that in mind.

    Bitterness was rising insides their hearts. Tim and Lauren were not buying pets, they were here to promote their own pets.

    After getting out of the taxi, Lauren held up her phone,paring the two-story building in front of her with the screenshot from the videos stored in her cell phone. This was the ce.

    ¡°Darling, let¡¯s go inside.¡± Lauren held her husband by his arm. Fingers intertwined, they passed warmth and confidence to each other.

    Dragging their two luggages and holding hands, they walked through the door of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

    At this moment, the first light snow of winter started to fall from the sky.

 Chapter 339: Friends Visiting from Afar

    <h4>Chapter 339: Friends Visiting from Afar</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Damn my bad luck!¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at the sky and shouted exasperatedly.

    He had looked up several Chinese lunar calendars, all of which indicated that today was suitable for opening ceremonies. That was why he had been counting on today to reopen his pet shop. However, when he got up this morning and pulled open the curtains, he immediately threw those lunar calendars out his window! An olddy who was collecting trashed papers happened to walk past his pet shop, and she instantly picked them up as if she had found treasure.

    It was going to f****** snow today!

    He had gone through an entire pile of Chinese lunar calendars, yet forgot to pay attention to the weather forecast!

    An opening ceremony was intended to attract as many customers as possible. Who was going to visit his pet shop on a snowy day?!

    Whatever, the ceremony was dyed. He didn¡¯t inform many people to attend anyway, so he could choose another day, whatever one he deemed fit.

    ustomed to the cozy andfortable lifestyle he had grown into during the period where his pet shop was closed for renovation, he felt timid thinking of the busy days toe after the reopening. If he could hire a reliable employee soon, he could continue being a boss without doing anything.

    Every resident was doing what they normally did in his pet shop. Gxy was ying hide-and-seek, Fina was taking a nap, Old Time Tea was drinking tea, Snowy Li was disying its affection towards Fina, and the morous Richard was making noises all day long. So, Zhang Zian was thinking of doing what he usually did: lying on the recliner and daydreaming about a rich and morous girl that would fall in love with him¡­

    When he had just sat down on the recliner, the automatic door of the shop slid open and in came in a couple of customers whose bodies varied enormously in size.

    ncing at them, Zhang Zian was dumbfounded.

    If he was right, he was looking at two foreigners who had high-bridged noses, deep-set eyes and chiseled facial contours!

    The prophecy hade true! There were foreigners visiting his pet shop!

    The man on the left was extremely muscr with a bald head and red face. If he was 10 years younger, he would look exactly like Dwayne ¡°The Rock¡± Johnson. The woman on the right was rtively petite with fair skin and curly blonde hair. Though she was not young anymore, Zhang Zian could see that she must have been a beauty when she was younger¡ªbut that was not the point!

    As soon as Zhang Zian saw them, clich¨¦ plots from soap operas were ying in his mind. For example, these two were actually famouswyers that had been painstakingly searching for him. They came here to tell him that a rtive residing abroad, whom he had never met before, had deceased, leaving behind the legacy of a coastal European-style old castle and millions of dors in cash. Since the unlucky guy had no immediate rtives, Zhang Zian would be the one inheriting this huge fortune. From now on, he would be a winner who had it all¡­

    However, after looking at them more carefully, he put off this unrealistic idea, for they didn¡¯t look like famous attorneys at all, especially the big guy on the left, who seemed more like a man sent by a debt collection agency.

    Besides, why were they pulling two huge luggages? Zhang Zian swallowed nervously, and now his mind was upied by the bloody scenes in horror movies.

    Are they going to chop me into pieces and stuff me into the luggages? And then feed my flesh to dogs? Grandpa Tea, please do something¡ª though I¡¯ve been practicing Wing Chun for a while, there¡¯s no way I can rival with this big guy!

    He looked at Old Time Tea as if asking for help. But Old Time Tea just kept drinking tea and watching TV leisurely, and had no intention to help!

    After patting off the snow on her head and shoulders, Lauren stood on her tiptoes and helped pat off the snow on her husband¡¯s shoulders. She looked around the shop. Since she had watched the videos repetitively, she was familiar with theyout and disy of the pet shop, but Fina, sleeping on the cat tree, still drew her attention because of her powerful aura.

    She secretly elbowed her husband and whispered, ¡°Darling, look at the golden cat on that shelf.¡±

    Tim had been looking at the kittens that were running freely inside the shop and were ying happily. And then he noticed the cat litter boxes lining the wall. As he counted, the number of cat litter boxes equaled the number of kittens plus one, just like in his shop. The equation also applied to the food bowls and water basins.

    These had made good impressions on Tim. He was a professional who didn¡¯t bother to discuss withypersons. Though the overall qualifications of this pet shop owner were still unknown, at least he seemed much better than that moron Allen¡­

    Reminded by his wife, he looked at the top of the cat tree and saw the golden cat she had mentioned. And he and Fina happened to look at each other in the eyes.

    Fina usually didn¡¯t care about the customers, but she had sniffed their scents the moment these two entered the shop. Opening her eyes and seeing their appearances, which were different from that of Asians, she felt cordial. Ever since she appeared in this ancient country, Fina had been looking at the faces of Asians every day. Suddenly seeing two people from the West with high-bridged noses and deep-set eyes, Fina felt like she had returned long ago to the old days.

    Lauren wasn¡¯t in charge of the daily operation of Blue Climax, so her ability to recognize the breed of a cat was not as good as that of her husband. Tim often took their cats to attend tournaments of the CFA, and had seen hundreds of cat breeds during thepetitions.

    Tim could identify an ordinary cat easily, but he didn¡¯t say anything to his wife out of caution until he had stared at this golden cat for several seconds. ¡°It seems like it¡¯s an Egyptian Mau, but I¡¯m not quite sure¡­¡±

    Lauren held his hand to suggest he put aside this matter, for a young Chinese man, the pet shop owner, who had appeared in the videos was walking towards them.

    ¡°Ni hao!¡±

    This was the only Chinese expression Lauren knew. She learned this from a soap opera and hoped she could use it someday, and today, her wish came true¡­

    Zhang Zian was walking very slowly on purpose while contemting the intentions of these two people. Eliminating the rare possibilities of estatewyers and duns, logically, they were probably travelers visiting China¡ª that¡¯s why they were holding two luggages in their hands. But why were tourists visiting a pet shop? Were they going to buy a pet and take it home? They seemed exhausted. This was probably their first stop after getting off the ne, because they hadn¡¯t left their luggages at their hotel.

    Was it possible¡­ that they were just asking for directions?

    He looked at the cloudy gray sky outside. The snowkes were falling from the sky silently, and soon, the ground would be covered with ayer of frost.

    Maybe they were just seeking shelter from the snow. If that was the case, he didn¡¯t mind them taking a rest in his shop, so they could feel the hospitality of the Chinese.

    This was Zhang Zian¡¯s thought, but then he heard Fina sayzily, ¡°There are the scents of cats, many cats, on them.¡±

    After saying this sentence, Fina closed her eyes and kept on sleeping. A snowy day was suitable for sleeping, although Fina slept in all kinds of weather.

    To Lauren and Tim, Fina¡¯s talking sounded just like normal cat meowing.

    Zhang Zian stopped walking for a moment.

    If he remembered correctly, Fina had said this sentence before. A female cattery owner was going to spy in his pet shop, and Fina had sniffed the scents carried by her.

    So, it was not a coincidence that these two foreigners were in his pet shop. They were possibly professionals in the pet industry, whether they were cattery owners or pet shop owners. Their intentions were still unknown, if they were trying to pry information. That was a long way for them to go to pry business secrets¡­

    He almost burst outughing by the weird pronunciation of ¡°Ni hao¡± by this blondedy. He recalled how his English teachers in junior high and senior high had taught him, cleared his throat and said in English, ¡°Hello, how can I help you with?¡±

    Lauren and Tim pleasantly looked at each other in surprise. This pet shop owner could speak English more fluently than they had expected. It seemed like their concern before was unnecessary, for they could have normal interactions in English.

    ¡°Hello, my name is Lauren Keller, and this is my husband Tim. Nice to meet you! We run a cattery in the suburb of Los Angeles, and we are professional breeders. After watching the videos on YouTube, we are deeply attracted by the amazing dancing kittens, so we are making this special visit to your pet shop.¡±

    Lauren warmly extended her hand towards Zhang Zian. She knew that her husband¡¯s figure would frighten others easily, so she initiated the self-introduction.

    Zhang Zian waspletely lost!

    Overestimating his proficiency in English, Lauren was speaking too fast and included some ng. Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t spoken English for years, and all he had heard vaguely was that her name was Lauren and her husband was Tim.

    Helplessly, he turned around and yelled towards the second floor, ¡°Richard,e down and greet these clients!¡±

 Chapter 340: Good Teamwork

    <h4>Chapter 340: Good Teamwork</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As Zhang Zian called Richard by name, Lauren and Tim also looked at the second floor curiously. A grey shadow, apanied by quacking sounds, flew downstairs andnded on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder. When they looked closer, they found that it was a very smart-looking African grey parrot.

    Richard closed its wings to its body, turned its ck pupils and said, ¡°What do you want from me?¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at the two foreigners in front of him and said, ¡°Tell me what they are talking about.¡±

    Tim and Lauren were stunned. Although they didn¡¯t understand what this grey parrot had just said, apparently it was having a full conversation in Chinese with this young pet shop owner. They operated a cattery and had no knowledge of raising parrots, but this scene still astonished them.

    Richard looked at them and said, ¡°Quack! Two foreigners! No wonder you are asking for my help! Whatnguage are they speaking?¡±

    ¡°English.¡± Zhang Zian defended himself, ¡°Actually I can understand, but they were speaking too fast.¡±

    Richard stared at him disdainfully, ¡°Stop finding excuse for your ignorance! Ask them to repeat what they said before.¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled at them apologetically and said in English, ¡°Excuse me, can you say that again?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Lauren came back to herself from the astonishment and repeated what she had said before. This time, she slowed down a little bit, so Zhang Zian could capture more information even without Richard¡¯s help. He went forward and shook hands with them respectively.

    When he approached them, he found that Lauren wasn¡¯t short at all. She was actually much taller than most Chinese women ¡ª she just seemed petite when standing beside her husband. As for the big guy Tim¡­ Zhang Zian felt more and more intimidated as he walked closer, and he retreated to a safe distance after shaking hands with him.

    ¡°They¡¯ve watched the dancing kittens¡¯ videos, so they are here to visit your pet shop.¡± Richard summed up briefly.

    Visiting my pet shop¡­ Zhang Zian nced at their luggages. If they were just paying a visit, why were they bringing so many things with them?

    He was no fool. He knew that they were just being polite¡ªthey came all the way from Los Angeles, so they must have something to ask of him instead of simply paying a visit.

    When Zhang Zian was thinking of how to reply to them, Richard had spoken up in English, ¡°Quack! Quack! My name is Richard Jefferson, and this is Jeff Richardson, nice to meet you!¡±

    ¡°What the f**k!¡± Zhang Zian was about to flick it with his fingers angrily. ¡°Don¡¯t change myst name!¡±

    Richard dodged his attack quickly, ¡°(in Chinese) All right, all right. You are really hopeless. (in English) Sorry, that was a slip of the tongue! Let me reintroduce ourselves! My name is Richard Jefferson, and this is Jeff Zhang, nice to meet you! You can call me Richard, and call him Jeff!¡±

    He was fine being called Jeff Zhang¡­ So, Zhang Zian let go of the issue of how he was being addressed.

    Tim and Lauren¡¯s jaws were dropping. This parrot was speaking standard English, like the anchors from BBC, with urate and elegant pronunciations. If they were not looking at it, they would never have thought these words came from a parrot! To their great astonishment, this parrot could speak Chinese and English! How marvelous was that!

    Seeing their expressions, Zhang Zian sighed. He should have kept it low-profile. He said to them in English, ¡°Excuse me,¡± and went to the second floor with Richard.

    ¡°What? I was going to show them my English!¡±ined Richard.

    ¡°Right, but when you finish showing off, you¡¯ll be taken away to be dissected inbs.¡± Zhang Zian stared at it, ¡°What if they are spies from CIA, FBI, KGB or SCP?¡±

    Richard said, ¡°¡­I¡¯m not sure if they are from the first three organizations, but thest one is impossible!¡±

    ¡°Anyway, we must keep a low profile!¡± said Zhang Zian decisively.

    ¡°You just want to show off your English and keep me out of the spotlight, right?¡± Richard had read his mind.

    Zhang Zian threatened it by making a gesture pretending to beat it up, ¡°Damn you! You promised me to find me a girlfriend, so where is she?! Stop arguing with me!¡±

    ¡°Yes, it was my bad to undertake such a difficult task. I shall help you show off today.¡± Richard said reluctantly, ¡°What should we do?¡±

    Zhang Zian had made his decision. ¡°You go into the invisible state and stand on my shoulder. When you are about to talk, pinch my shoulder with your ws, and I will synchronize my lips with your words, as if I¡¯m the one talking.¡±

    Richard gave it a thought, ¡°I think it might work, but what am I going to say?¡±

    ¡°You need to improvise. Just ask them why they¡¯re here and what they want, and strive for the best interests for us.¡±

    ¡°¡­All right, but what ent should I use?¡± asked Richard.

    ¡°What ent?¡± asked Zhang Zian perplexedly.

    ¡°There are different ents in English, which ent do you want me to use?¡±

    Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t thought about this. ¡°Anything is fine¡­ What are theirs?¡±

    Tim and Lauren were walking around on the first floor of the pet shop, their eyes stopping on Fina frequently. They whispered in English from time to time, discussing the breed of this golden cat.

    Richard listened to them carefully for a while, ¡°Though they are speaking American English, the woman has some sort of rustic Australian ent, while the man has a Texas dialect from time to time.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re talking about. Just do as you see fit.¡± Zhang Zian waved at Richard, leaving it in charge of this matter. He then read the demand from the game, ¡°Dr. Irene Pepperberg¡¯s lovebird, invisible!¡±

    Richard entered the invisible state and was brought downstairs by Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Sorry for keeping you waiting for so long, I needed to handle some urgent issues.¡± Richard clenched Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder with its ws and imitated his tone.

    Zhang Zian felt pain from its clenching! Damn it! I didn¡¯t ask you to pinch me so hard! This is absolutely retaliation! I will punish you when I have time!

    Cursing Richard in his heart, he opened his mouth to synchronize with Richard¡¯s speaking.

    Tim and Lauren looked at each other in confusion. They didn¡¯t notice before that this pet shop owner was speaking English in a native London ent.

    Richard chose the British ent for Zhang Zian because it knew that many Americans were fond of, and some were even obsessed with, the London ent. Some Americans even mocked that their ent wasme. Using the British ent catered to Zhang Zian¡¯s pretentious personality.

    ¡°It¡¯s us who need to apologize for taking up your time without making an appointment,¡± Lauren said apologetically. ¡°We¡¯ve watched videos on YouTube showing the kittens in your shop dancing. We got so excited, but we couldn¡¯t find a contact number for you, so we had to pay a visit based on the address we got. Before we came here, we worried that we wouldn¡¯t be able tomunicate well because of differentnguages, but your English is well beyond our imagination¡­¡±

    Richard pinched Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder with its ws and talked recklessly, ¡°Quack¡­well, in fact, I lived abroad in Ennd for many years. During that period, I was granted a doctorate degree in English and Applied Linguistics from the University of Cambridge.¡±

    ¡°¡­A PhD from the University of Cambridge is running a pet shop? How fierce is thepetition in the pet industry in China?¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s cheeks ached from the lip synchronization and smiling. Although he was poor in speaking, he could understand parts of the conversation in English. He knew that Richard was ying pranks on him. This lie had gone too far!

    ¡°It¡¯s my honor to host guests from so far away. Please, sit down to talk.¡± Richard pinched at Zhang Zian again.

    Hearing the word ¡°sit¡±, Zhang Zian raised his arm to point at the chairs for customers in his pet shop. These were the bar stools brought by Guo Dongyue during renovation, and previously, there was only one broken four-legged steel chair in the shop.

    He looked at Tim¡¯s butt nervously, praying to God that the new chair wouldn¡¯t copse.

    Luckily, the chair just made a creaking sound. It survived the weight.

    Richard seemed to have misunderstood his gazing, and uttered some low-pitched secretughter.

 Chapter 341: Origin of the Name

    <h4>Chapter 341: Origin of the Name</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Hearing the strangeughter of Richard, Zhang Zian knew that his staring at Tim¡¯s butt had made this dirty parrot misunderstand the situation.

    Maybe Richard was not homosexual, but it definitely wanted to turn Zhang Zian into one¡ªhe could understand this thought process. If possible, he hoped all the men in the world were gay, so that he would face nopetition in going after women.

    Fortunately, when Zhang Zian was synchronizing Richard¡¯s speaking, he always forced some smiles, so the bitchyughter didn¡¯t make Tim and Lauren suspect.

    After sitting down on the chairs, Lauren spoke up instantly, ¡°Jeff¡­ it¡¯s Jeff, right? My husband and I came to China because we really want to see the kittens dance in person. This is very important to us. Can you make our wishe true?¡±

    She and her husband gazed at Zhang Zian¡¯s face, looking forward to his answer. If the kittens indeed could dance, it wouldy the foundation for discussing their cooperation in the future.

    In case Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand, Richard repeated the question clearly, ¡°So you want to see the kittens dance?¡±

    ¡°Yes, if that¡¯s fine with you.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded slightly, and Richard said, ¡°No problem, it¡¯s very easy.¡±

    Zhang Zian stood up and pped his hands three times towards the kittens.

    The kittens stopped ying immediately. They raised their heads in unison and looked at him.

    Tim and Lauren were astonished, as if cannonballs had bombed their hearts!

    Upon seeing this, they could be pretty sure that the kittens really could dance together!

    The couple looked at each other, trying to convey their excitement to one another.

    And then, whether it was the cooperation between human and kittens or the dancing movements of the kittens, every detail was exactly the same as in the videos¡­no, it was not precise to put it that way. In fact, watching the kittens dance in person was way more shocking than watching them in videos!

    Tim and Lauren were both cat lovers; otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t choose operating their cattery as their life¡¯s work or put high demands on the qualifications of their clients. Upon seeing this group of adorable kittens dancing together, their previous knowledge of cats had been totally subverted!

    They didn¡¯t know what to say or how to make sense of the scene. There was only one thougt in their heads¡ªwhat kind of sorcery was that?!

    When the music had finished, the kittens continued their ying, and Zhang Zian sat back down on the chair.

    Tim and Lauren kept apuding so hard that their palms turned red.

    ¡°Thanks for watching the performance. How did you like it?¡± asked Richard.

    ¡°Amazing! This is amazing! I can¡¯t believe it!¡± Lauren was so excited that her words sounded incoherent, ¡°Pardon us for forgetting ourselves, but this is the most fantastic thing we¡¯ve ever seen in our life! It¡¯s like a dream!¡±

    Tim, who was rough-and-ready, fumbled out every expression to indicate the meaning of shock in English!

    Hearing their sincerepliments, Zhang Zian was very happy inside, but he controlled his expression and remained cool.

    Though Lauren was very excited, she didn¡¯t forget her purpose of this trip. As the atmosphere seemed friendly, she raised her question at this time. ¡°Jeff, do you mind telling us how you aplish such a marvelous thing? We are very curious about this.¡±

    Since Zhang Zian was talking nonsense all the time, Richard decided to make up such nonsense in English for him, ¡°Because I am the inheritor of a very ancient and mysterious upation in China¡ªI am a cat trainer.¡±

    ¡°A cat trainer?¡± said Lauren and Tim at the same time.

    ¡°Yes, cat training is more than just teaching cats how to go to bathroom, it has been a family business since the ancient times. Nowadays, only a few people in China can master the techniques of cat training, and I am one of them. As for the specific methods¡­ Sorry, ording to the rules left by my ancestors, cat training is the top secret in our family that I can¡¯t reveal to anyone.¡± said Richard neither cringingly or arrogantly. After that, it added a sentence which Zhang Zian had been thinking about, ¡°So, to pass on the abilities of cat training, I really need to find a girlfriend¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian really wanted to apud it. Richard had read his mind! He almost believed in this story, that he was indeed a cat trainer, and that the reason he needed to find a girlfriend was so sublime: he was going to keep passing this ancient upation down to the next generations¡­

    Lauren and Tim were so confused. What did cat training have anything to do with finding a girlfriend?

    They had never been to China before, and their understanding of China waspletely from newspapers, TV and the inte, where there were many exaggerated and false descriptions. Influenced by media publicity and public opinions, their knowledge of China was lopsided and narrow. China, in their minds, was powerful and mysterious, yet in some respects, it was falling behind the time. This impression was intensified when hearing Zhang Zian¡¯s cat training art and his absolute obedience to ancestors¡¯ words.

    They had heard that there were many mysterious techniques inherited from ancient China, such as Qigong, Fengshui, the Five Elements, Kung Fu, acupuncture, and traditional Chinese medicine. Maybe cat training was one of these techniques, but was much rarer and more mysterious than others. At least Zhang Zian was not a sorcerer, and making kittens dance was not some kind of sorcery. They couldn¡¯t ept it if they must abandon their faith in God and sumb to ck Magic.

    They didn¡¯t expect that Zhang Zian would tell them his secrets easily. However, they were not giving up like this, otherwise their journey was all a waste.

    ¡°Jeff, please listen to me, I have a proposal which is beneficial to both you and us.¡± Lauren looked him in the eyes, ¡°Maybe we can try to build cooperation. I hope you can consider it seriously.¡±

    Neither Zhang Zian nor Richard was surprised by this proposal. After all, no benefits, no getting up early. Theirst names were Keller instead of Bethune, anding all the way to China, apart from witnessing the truth of kittens dancing, they must be up to something.

    ¡°Please go on, I¡¯m listening,¡± said Richard.

    Lauren and her husband exchanged nces and saw determination in each other¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°What I mean is that you have something we want, and we have something you want too,¡± said Lauren, pointing to the chasing kittens. ¡°Jeff, may I ask why you don¡¯t have Ragdoll kittens here? As far as we know, Ragdoll kittens are extensively popr around the world, and China must be no exception.¡±

    Upon hearing the word Ragdoll, Zhang Zian stopped his forced smile. His expression became serious, his muscles tightened all over his body, and his breathing rhythms became strange.

    Through its ws on his shoulder, Richard had sensed the changes in his breathing and muscles. It stopped talking. At this moment, it had better remain silent.

    Lauren had also noticed the slight change in his expression, She continued, ¡°Jeff, as the inheritor of the ancient cat training upation in China and a PhD from the University of Cambridge, you must be very clever. Can you guess why my husband and I name our cattery ¡®Blue Climax¡¯?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d love to hear about it,¡± said Richard.

    Lauren nodded mildly towards her husband, indicating that it was time.

    Tim unlocked the luggage, pulled out a thick folder and handed it to his wife. This was the thing they had prepared borately before they left, and they could finally show it to the pet shop owner.

    Lauren took over the folder, opened it and invited Zhang Zian to have a look. Inside the folder were the 12-inch close-up photos of Ragdoll kittens with clear details, which were photographed by a single lens reflex camera. Whether it was the equipment or the qualities of the photography, these photos were much better than the picture of the Shiba Inu puppy in avi disy quality captured by Deng Jie.

    These were also proving their sincerity to strive for cooperation. Instead of just taking pictures on their cell phones, the paper documents seemed more official and serious.

    At first sight, Zhang Zian held his breath when looking at the bi-color Ragdoll kitten in the picture.

    What a pair of beautiful blue eyes!

 Chapter 342: Reaching an Agreement

    <h4>Chapter 342: Reaching an Agreement</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    There was no doubt that the Ragdoll was the most popr breed in the market in recent years. Because of the stringent control of breeding, the market ess threshold was high, and the supply of Ragdoll kittens had always been falling short of the demands.

    Normally, a Ragdoll kitten cost RMB 20,000 in China, and the better-conditioned ones might cost over RMB 30,000, while people overseas could buy two Ragdoll kittens in equivalent conditions for the same price¡ªone couls see how Ragdoll kittens were extensively popr in China.

    Lauren was also aware of this. She was responsible formunicating with clients, and among the clients who sent emails applying for purchasing Ragdoll kittens, almost 40% were buyers from China, and another 20% were Chinese students living in America, who imed they were raising the kittens by themselves, but were actually purchasing them for others in China to pocket the price difference. To those sincere Chinese clients, she would borate upon the situations and decline them politely; if the clients had tough attitudes or had grammatical errors in their emails, she would just ignore thempletely.

    Learning from her clients and fellows in the pet industry, she knew why Chinese clients were fond of buying Ragdoll kittens from the catteries in America. Because Ragdoll kittens were very lucrative, the market management was very chaotic in China where numerous peddlers were selling Ragdoll kittens of poor quality to the public. Ragdoll kittens were rtively cheaper in America, and their conditions and purebred bloodlines were guaranteed. Even after adding the international shipping fee and payingmission to overseas shopping agents, it was still a worthy dealpared to buying them in China.

    Zhang Zian had be interested in Ragdoll kittens a long time ago. When his parents were still alive, he had heard them mention this name. Unfortunately, most of the professionals in the pet industry considered others aspetitors, and the catteries that had Ragdoll kittens had been protecting their breeding cats very well for fear of others stealing the cats from them.

    By looking at the picture, he had recognized that this was a Ragdoll kitten in premium conditions, which would cost at least RMB 30,000 in China and he probably had to wait one year before picking it up. If the owner wanted to pick up the kitten sooner, he must pay more money, which was the same as purchasing a luxury car imported from abroad with expedited shipping.

    He skimmed through these pictures one by one. On every page was featured a different Ragdoll cat. Some wererger, some were smaller, and some had won the championships in the tournament. They seemed to be riding high with ribbons on their bodies. The most impressive things were their eyes, which were different shades of blue. Some were lighter, while others were darker, but every pair of eyes was clear and breath-taking, No wonder this cattery was called ¡°Blue Climax¡±!

    At the end of the folder were enclosed clear andplete studbooks and the negative diagnostic reports of such infectious and gic diseases, such as HCM (Hypertrophic Cardio Myopathy), PKD (Polycystic Kidney Disease), FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus), and FELV (Feline Leukemia Virus). All of these documents were written in English and looked very standard, although Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand any technical terms¡­

    After browsing through the documents, he closed the folder, handed it back to Lauren and gave a big thumb¡¯s up. Richard cooperated with him and said, ¡°Fantastic cats!¡±

    Lauren and Tim were very confident in their own kittens, so they smiled and said, ¡°So, can we discuss the possibility of our cooperation?¡±

    Richard asked cautiously, ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Before the couple came here, they had prepared themselves for two possible results: One was that the pet shop owner was willing to share his cat training secrets with them. In that case, they would agree to his demands at whatever cost; if the pet shop owner was reluctant to share, they would have to settle for their second priority.

    Lauren came to the point decidedly, ¡°We would like to hire you to train cats for us, to teach our kittens to dance. In exchange, we will provide you with Ragdoll kittens for free, with only one condition: we want an exclusive agreement, which means you can¡¯t reach simr agreements with other catteries. This is a win-win deal, and I hope you can consider it carefully.¡±

    Richard didn¡¯t dare to make a decision on such a big issue. It said, ¡°Excuse me, I need to go upstairs for a while, Please feel free to walk around.¡±

    Zhang Zian understood what Richard meant and brought it to the second floor.

    Richard repeated the conversation to him.

    He thought about it for a moment and came up with a conclusion¡ªthis might work!

    Just as Lauren had said, this was a proposal beneficial to both sides. Blue Climax was selling cats in America, while Amazing Fate Pet Shop was selling cats in China. With the Pacific Ocean in between them, they were not interfering with each other¡¯s businesses, which perfectly adhered to the rules of ¡°befriending the far and attacking the near¡± left by his ancestors.

    In this deal, Blue Climax seemed to be on the slightly disadvantaged side, but the prices of dancing Ragdoll kittens might be several times higher than before, so they shouldn¡¯t be worried about their business.

    Instructing what Richard should pay attention to, Zhang Zian brought it back to the first floor.

    Lauren and Tim clenched their fists nervously, waiting for his reply.

    ¡°I agree to your proposal in general.¡± said Richard on behalf of Zhang Zian. Without waiting for their cheers, it added immediately, ¡°But I want to revise the condition regarding exclusiveness¡ªI can only promise you that I will not reach simr agreements with other catteries in America, but you have no rights to interfere with the catteries in other countries.¡±

    Lauren and Tim hesitated for a moment, but then they nodded to agree.

    Richard continued, ¡°Two more things. First, you should pay for the shipping fees of the cats. Second¡­ You should send over some high-quality cat food regrly, and I will cover the fees for that, agreed?¡±

    Zhang Zian had been thinking how he can find the supplier of imported cat food, now he can tackle that problem together.

    These two aspects were no proble to the Kellers. Since they were going to send several Ragdoll kittens to China in one time, the shipping fee wouldn¡¯t be very expensive for one kitten. Besides, Blue Climax had always had cooperation with cat food manufacturers, who sometimes would rent the championed cats from them to shootmercials, so they were able to obtain high-quality cat food with low prices from the manufacturers.

    After agreeing to the proposal in general, they started to discuss some detailed problems, for example, Lauren requested Zhang Zian to pay attention to the reviews of the qualifications of potential buyers of Ragdoll kittens, their cats must not be sold to clients who had poor or unstable living conditions, and Zhang Zian agreed to that. He also took pictures with his cell phone of the diagnostic reports of infectious and gic diseases provided by them. He sent those pictures to Sun Xiaomeng, asking her to see if there were any problems with the documents or whether they were falsified.

    As they reached a consensus with the details, the atmosphere became rxed, and they started to have conversations without too many concerns. Tim, who was quiet before suddenly asked, ¡°Jeff, how long does it take for you toplete training the cats?¡±

    Lauren also wanted to know the answer to this question.

    Richard answered vaguely, ¡°Not long, I only need a few days.¡±

    Lauren and Tim were dumbfounded. It only took him a few days to teach kittens to dance¡­???

    ¡°When will youe to America?¡± asked Tim.

    This was an easy sentence that Zhang Zian understood. He and Richard were stunned at the same time, ¡°To America?¡±

    ¡°Yes, too many forces need to be mobilized if we send a group of kittens back and forth, and it¡¯s not good for the kittens to change their environment frequently. The temperature difference between Los Angeles and Binhai City is significant, especially in this season,¡± said Lauren, who worriedly looked outside.

    Though it was not snowing heavily, there was no indication that the snow was going to stop soon. With the snowkes flying, the earth had been dyed a silvery-white.

    Zhang Zian admitted that what they said made sense. Transporting a group of kittens from America to the freezing Binhai City, after they had learned dancing, then back to the warm Los Angeles, would make the kittens susceptible to diseases due to such repetitive and drastic temperature changes. He hadn¡¯t thought about it before, but now, he realized that he must go to America to train the cats.

    Honestly, he wasn¡¯t averse to the idea, he was anticipating it. He had never gone abroad before. Staying in America for a few days would be an eye-opening experience for him.

    ¡°When do you think I should go there?¡± asked Richard.

    Lauren and Tim looked at each other and answered at the same time, ¡°The sooner the better!¡±

    ¡°Why the rush?¡± Richard wanted to figure it out.

    Lauren exined, ¡°It¡¯s going to be Thanksgiving soon, and afterwards will be Christmas and New Year¡¯s. A lot of kids must be looking forward to having dancing kittens as presents¡­We won¡¯t rush you if it takes you a long time to train the kittens, but since you can do that in only a few days, we hope you cane to the US sooner. And after the holiday season, you can go there once about every three months.¡±

    Zhang Zian gave it a thought and looked at his shoulder, signaling to Richard with his eyes.

    Richard put forward the question Zhang Zian and it had prepared in advance: ¡°Then when will you send over the Ragdoll kittens in the agreement?¡±

    The couple answered without hesitation, ¡°When you arrive in America, as long as the training was sessful, we will arrange the matters of delivering the Ragdoll kittens and cat food immediately.¡±

    Richard didn¡¯t think there was anything wrong in this. Seeing that Zhang Zian was in no intention to object, it answered for him, ¡°Fair enough, I agree to work with you.¡±

    Zhang Zian stood up and shook hands with them respectively. Richard said, ¡°Look forward to our cooperation.¡±

    Lauren and Tim finally felt relieved. Their exhaustion and worries all the way long had been paid off.

    Zhang Zian was looking forward to his trip to America. If he was lucky enough, he might run into some interesting elfin across the ocean!

 Chapter 343: Blooming Flower

    <h4>Chapter 343: Blooming Flower</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    For Chinese people who wanted to visit the United States, there was one obstacle facing them¡ªa visa. Especially for an unemployed person like Zhang Zian, the visa officer had every reason to doubt that he was going to overstay in the United States illegally and would not return to his home country again. Of course, Zhang Zian would not admit that he was unemployed, he would say that he was an individual business owner as certified by the country and an honored taxpayer, and a¡­

    Zhang Zian and Richard went to discuss on the second floor for a while, and then came back downstairs to confess to the difficulties he was encountering with Lauren and Tim. He could apply for the visa, but it was not up to him whether or not it would be approved.

    It was the first time that the Kellers had heard about such a situation, for it was rtively easy for Americans to apply for visas to China.

    Lauren put forward a suggestion, ¡°Jeff, how about this. On behalf of ¡®Blue Climax¡¯, let us invite you to participate in the CFA tournament on the United States?¡±

    Zhang Zian gave it a thought and nodded admirably. Richard cooperated with him and said, ¡°This sounds like a good idea!¡±

    That¡¯s the way it was. It was difficult for Chinese people who applied for the visas to America personally, but if they held the letters of invitations issued by the organizations from the United States, things would be much easier.

    However, to make this work, a prerequisite must be met. Zhang Zian¡¯s Amazing Fate Pet Shop must join the CFA first before the Blue Climax couldissue an invitation to him to attend the tournament.

    It was very easy to join the CFA, for it only cost dozens of dors.

    Whether he should really participate in the CFA tournament when he arrived in the United States¡­ He hadn¡¯t decided yet, but if the schedule allowed, it might be an eye-opening experience if he attended thepetition.

    After they had finished the negotiation, Tim went outside to call Allen, asking him to write a letter of invitation topete on behalf of Blue Climax as soon as possible and faxed it to him. On the other side of the phone, Allen was really confused, and Tim had to instruct him step by step. Hence, the pedestrians walking by on the snowy day couldsee that a muscr foreign man was shouting to his cell phone in front of the entrance of the pet shop¡­

    Lauren smiled apologetically towards Zhang Zian, indicating that her husband was a short-tempered person. Looking at the chasing kittens in the pet shop, she suddenly spoke up, ¡°Right, Jeff, why don¡¯t you have that kind of cat in the videos? What is it called again? Dragon Li, right? Are they sold out?¡±

    Zhang Zian could understand ¡°Dragon Li¡±, and ording to Lauren¡¯s expression and tone, he had figured out what she meant, and he nodded.

    ¡°Yes, Lauren, you are right, they have been sold out. Dragon Li is a very popr breed in our shop, just as popr as the Ragdoll kittens.¡± said Richard.

    Lauren sighed regretfully, ¡°What a pity¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s up, Lauren? If you need any help, feel free to tell me.¡± asked Richard.

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard about the history between CFA and Dragon Li, and I feel it¡¯s really pitiful. As you know, our cattery mainly breeds Ragdoll kittens, but recently my husband and I have found that we seem to have entered a period of stagnation, and it¡¯s hard to further promote their conditions since we strictly forbid inbreeding the Ragdoll kittens, so we are nning to expand the breeds of cats. Previously, we intended to raise Norwegian Forest Cats, but after watching the videos, we are also interested in Dragon Li,¡± exined Lauren.

    Hearing that she mentioned Dragon Li frequently, Zhang Zian understood that Song Bai¡¯s vlog probably influenced them. He signaled towards Richard, implying that he was about to grant their requests.

    ¡°No worries, since we are partners now, I am more than happy to offer you my help. I will see to the matters of Dragon Li,¡± said Richard.

    Just when Lauren was about to extend her gratitude, two men walked in the pet shop.

    Noticing Tim, who was talking to his phone, Wang Qian and Li Kun ran over to Zhang Zian and whispered suspiciously, ¡°Master, what¡¯s the matter with these two foreigners? Are the cultivators in America finally attacking you?¡±

    Ignoring their stupidments, Zhang Zian asked, ¡°How is your English?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­I barely passed CET-4, which enabled me to shout out simple support like ¡®you rock¡¯ in English if you¡¯re engaged in fighting¡­¡± said Wang Qian honestly.

    ¡°These two foreigners are a couple. The husband is called Tim, and the wife is called Lauren. They don¡¯t understand Chinese, so you guys need to take them to check in on the hotel, ande back when they are settled down,¡±manded Zhang Zian.

    ¡°What about the cleaning this morning?¡± asked Li Kun.

    ¡°There¡¯s no rush for that, just do what I told you. Besides, I need to go to America soon. I won¡¯t stay there for long, probably for only a few days. During this period, I will give the keys to my pet shop to you, and as usual, you wille to do some cleaning every morning and afternoon.¡± He must make this matter clear, otherwise when he went to America, no one would be taking care of the pets in his shop, and probably none of his pets would survive¡­

    ¡°What? Master, are you going to America?¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun were very surprised to hear this, ¡°Are you flying there?¡±

    ¡°Well, probably¡­¡± answered Zhang Zian carelessly. Although he and those two morons may understand ¡°flying¡± differently.

    Li Kun winked at Wang Qian, indicating that they should pay more attention to international news in recent days. If there was anything particrly unusual happening in America, their Master was probably behind it¡­ Wang Qian nodded to agree.

    When Tim ended his call and came in, Zhang Zian pointed to Wang Qian and Li Kun, and Richard dubbed for him, ¡°You must be exhausted from this trip. These two are my employees, they will take you to check in to your hotel, and we can discuss other detailster when you have gotten some rest.¡±

    Lauren and Tim were tired and sleepy. Their will powers were the only reason they hadn¡¯t copsed to this point. Strange to the environment and not being able to understand a lick of Chinese, they were very grateful for Zhang Zian¡¯s considerate arrangements.

    Zhang Zian brought out the spare umbres in his shop to them so that their clothes wouldn¡¯t get wet from the snow.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun could speak English fluently. Although some pronunciations were incorrect, they had grasped plenty of vocabry enabling them to have daily conversations with the Kellers. After saying goodbye to Zhang Zian, they led the couple outside, stopped a taxi, and headed to the hotel reserved by the couple.

    When they left, Zhang Zian received a reply from Sun Xiaomeng. Over half an hour had passed from when he sent her the message.

    Sun Xiaomeng: I was meeting a client. I have reviewed these photos. The diagnostic reports are real, all of them are issued by the legitimate authorities in America.

    Zhang Zian: They are real? I¡¯m so relieved.

    Sun Xiaomeng: I¡¯ve also seen the studbook of Ragdoll kittens. Are you buying cats? From America?

    Zhang Zian: I haven¡¯t finalized it yet. But I might need to visit America in these days. If anything happens to the pets in my shop, Wang Qian and Li Kun will go to ask for your help.

    Sun Xiaomeng: Wait a minute! If you are going to America, how about letting me take care of Richard and Gxy for you? Then you have nothing to worry about! It doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯te back at all!

    Zhang Zian: ¡­Nice try. I can finally go abroad, I will absolutely bring them with me so that they can have fun too.

    Sun Xiaomeng: Taking them abroad? Isn¡¯t that too troublesome?

    Zhang Zian: Nope. Anyway, stop targeting them, I¡¯ll be back in a few days.

    When he finished texting, he found that Richard was abnormally quiet, as if it was thinking something.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? Are you dumb?¡± He said jokingly, ¡°Too excited to talk when thinking of going abroad?¡±

    Instead of joking around as it always was, Richard asked, ¡°I will go to America with you, correct?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhang Zian felt it asked a silly question. What was he going to do if Richard, who helped him speak English, was not around?

    ¡°Then I want to take a ne too. Otherwise, don¡¯t me me if I say something you don¡¯t want to, such as disying your affection to the big guy Tim.¡± Richard threatened him seriously.

    It gathered its wings together, and when there was a small distance between the tips of its wings, ¡°Before your confession, your butthole is this big.¡±

    And then it furthered the distance, which was as wide as a fist, ¡°After your confession, your butthole will be this big!¡±

 Chapter 344: Showing Support

    <h4>Chapter 344: Showing Support</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian could do nothing but surrender to Richard¡¯s grant threat. He didn¡¯t want his butthole to turn from a daisy into a sunflower!

    ¡°I can take you on a ne, but you have to remain invisible the whole time or stay in the birdcage, otherwise the airlinepanies will not allow both of us to go aboard,¡± he said.

    ¡°Quack?¡± Richard was rather upset, ¡°Am I a prisoner? Or are you just ashamed of me?¡±

    ¡°¡­I don¡¯t mean by that, it¡¯s just the rules of the airlinepanies.¡±

    Richard said disdainfully, ¡°You think I¡¯ve never traveled by ne before? Let me tell you, you were just a toddler when I was able to be on a ne! I will not only travel by ne this time, I will also order the in-flight meals!¡±

    It was not against regtion when passengers brought pets on nes, it was just more troublesome, for veterinary inspection certificates must be issued to the pets. Besides, even though the certificates had been granted to the pets, the airlinepanies in China would not allow pets into the passenger cabins; while the airlinepanies overseas were more flexible as long as their owners had booked tickets for them in advance.

    Regarding the veterinary inspection certificate, he could ask Sun Xiaomeng for help.

    However¡­ Even though pets were allowed in passenger cabins, no airlinepany in the world would allow pets to move around in the cabins, for they might bring trouble and danger to the passengers.

    Richard would notpromise. Not only did it want to take a ne, but it wanted to have its own seat, or else Zhang Zian¡¯s butthole would suffer.

    Zhang Zian could only promise it so for the time being, and tried to think of other solutions to this conundrum.

    The principal mission of this journey to America was to train kittens for Blue Climax, so it wouldn¡¯t work if only Zhang Zian and Richard were to be there. Therefore, he approached Fina beside the cat tree and said fawningly,

    ¡°Fina, did you hear that? We are going to America soon. Aren¡¯t you excited for that?¡±

    The sleepy Fina opened her eyes, red at him, and turned him down right away, ¡°I¡¯m not going.¡±

    ¡°¡­Why?¡± Zhang Zian was surprised to be rejected.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? I don¡¯t want to go outside in such cold weather!¡± Fina cuddled up more tightly and stared at him, ¡°And what about the heating pads you said you bought online a few days ago? Why aren¡¯t they here yet?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ They will be here soon.¡± Zhang Zian would not admit that to save money, he didn¡¯t choose the express delivery method.

    The package containing the heating pads was probably still on its way in a bumpy delivery vehicle¡­ If he answered honestly, there would be blood shed on him! ording to the Chinese lunar calendar, today was suitable for ¡°fixing graves¡±, but he had no intention of building himself a grave today!

    ¡°How about¡­¡± suddenly inspired, he decided to solve the problem in a roundabout way. ¡°The city in the United States we are going to is very warm. Didn¡¯t you hear those two people just say that? Los Angeles is sunny and warm ¡ª don¡¯t you want to bask in the sunshine for a few days?¡±

    Fina was conflicted upon hearing this. There were no sunny days in Binhai City recently. Sometimes it was misty, sometimes it was cloudy and windy, and today, it was even snowing outside. Although Fina was curious about snow, it was sick of the cold.

    ¡°Really?¡± Fina stared at him in doubts, ¡°Do you realize the consequences if you lie to me?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll be castrated!¡± Snowy Li chimed in, ¡°Your Majesty, if you are cold, I can warm you up with my body.¡±

    Ignoring this disruptive Snowy Li, Zhang Zian guaranteed confidently, ¡°Rx, there are few cloudy days in Los Angeles a year, so the chance is rare for us to run into that! Besides, don¡¯t you want to inspect the living conditions of the kittens in America? You know, visiting the kittens inmunities, showing your support and kindness, consoling the kittens in difficult situations¡­ so that the kittens in America can feel the care from their superior!¡±

    Fina was a little bit confused, ¡°That makes sense¡­ But I feel something is wrong, like I¡¯ve heard these words before¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian stopped her quickly, ¡°You¡¯re overthinking! That¡¯s it, we¡¯ve settled this issue. Go back to sleep! I will inform you immediately when the heating pads arrive!¡±

    Fina struggled to keep thinking. Sleeping was more tempting, so she closed her eyes very soon.

    He could skip asking Snowy Li, for it would go wherever Fina went.

    Old Time Tea waved its paws at Zhang Zian. He trotted towards it, ¡°Grandpa Tea?¡±

    ¡°Zian, what you said earlier to Fina. I think I¡¯ve heard simr expressions before on the TV news?¡± said Old Time Tea perplexedly.

    Zhang Zian hushed Old Time Tea and looked at Fina nervously. Seeing that Fina had no response, he whispered, ¡°Grandpa Tea, you¡¯re right. You¡¯ve been teaching me to apply what I¡¯ve learned creatively, and I was just being creative! From my perspective, the kittens in America have rare opportunities to meet prestigious figures from China, so I bet they have been waiting for Fina to liberate them!¡±

    Old Time Tea forced a bitter smile. That¡¯s not what it meant by saying ¡°be creative¡±.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, you areing with me, aren¡¯t you?¡± he confirmed with Old Time Tea.

    Old Time Tea nodded, ¡°It is better to travel ten thousand miles than to read ten thousand books. While I¡¯m still able to walk, I might as well emte Lord Moshen and Lord Yuanfu who ¡®opened their eyes to look at the world¡¯ and travel abroad.¡±

    Zhang Zian said with his thumbs up, ¡°Grandpa Tea, you are so knowledgeable that you even steal thunder from the schrs of the past¡­but who are Lord Moshen and Lord Yuanfu? I have forgotten the history learned in school¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, Lord Moshen is Wei Yuan, the author of Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms; and Lord Yuanfu is Lin Zexu, who led the campaign to destruct opium at Humen,¡± exined Old Time Tea.

    Zhang Zian secretly marveled at Old Time Tea¡¯s wisdom.

    He came to the second floor and saw that the American Shorthair was chasing Gxy around the living room.

    ¡°Gxy,e here,¡± he greeted it.

    Gxy raised a paw towards the American Shorthair, pausing their game of hide-and-seek. It ran to Zhang Zian and raised its head.

    ¡°Meow, do you want to y hide-and-seek, Zian?¡± it asked with anticipation.

    ¡°Not now, I need to go out in a while. I will y with you when I¡¯m back. Gxy, are you interested in ying hide and seek in America?¡± Zhang Zian squatted down and said.

    ¡°America?¡± Gxy repeated nkly.

    Perhaps it didn¡¯t matter to it whether it yed hide-and-seek in China or in America.

    ¡°It would be fun! America is not as crowded as China, and it would be nice to y hide-and-seek in a different environment,¡± he smiled. It suddenly urred to him, ¡°Right, the night sky there is much purer than it is here, and you can see more stars!¡±

    Gxy was instantly intrigued and nodded heavily, ¡°Okay, Gxy wants to go there! Gxy wants to see the stars and y hide-and-seek!¡±

    ¡°Great, we will be off in a couple of days.¡±

    Zhang Zian stood up. Gxy continued ying hide-and-seek with the American Shorthair.

    Sometimes he would joke around with the elves, but he would never force them to go anywhere or do anything against their wills, because he respected them and treated them as intelligent pets.

    Since all the elves had agreed to take the trip, his priority right now was to apply for the visa to America. Without the visa, all efforts would be in vain.

    Zhang Zian thought about the people close to him and sent a message to Snowy. He told her that he needed to go abroad for a few days, and that during the period, if Deng Jie contacted her about visiting the dog market, she might have to postpone it until he came back to discuss more details.

    Snowy replied with an ¡°ok¡± gesture.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun rushed back to the pet shop and handed a document to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Master, the two foreigners received a document via the fax machine in the hotel, and asked us to bring it to you.¡±

    Zhang Zian skimmed through the paper written in English, where the title had two key words, ¡°Invitation¡± and ¡°CFA¡± written on the top. At the end was inscribed ¡°Blue Climax¡± and a scrawling signature.

    This probably was the letter of invitation to participate in the tournament of CFA, which was also the key to his visa to America.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun started to clean his pet shop. Zhang Zian essed the official website of CFA, filled out the application and paid the fee in USD¡­he felt like the CFA didn¡¯t do anything yet and had taken his money.

    ¡°I need to go out. When you finish cleaning, lock the shutter door and go back to school,¡± he instructed them.

 Chapter 345: Issuing Certificates

    <h4>Chapter 345: Issuing Certificates</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    While Wang Qian and Li Kun were diligently cleaning the pet shop, Zhang Zian went to the second floor to grab everything that could prove his identity and his fixed-assets, including his national ID card, passport, household registration, business license, property ownership certificate and fixed savings ounts. He winked at Richard, who knowingly flew to his shoulder.

    He left the pet shop with Richard, and stretched out his arm to stop a taxi.

    ¡°Binhai Bank.¡±

    Zhang Zian went to the bank to print out the operating statements of his pet shop in the most recent months and then headed to the U.S. Conste in Binhai City. He had tried his best, and he could only trust to luck whether he could pass the visa interview or not.

    Without the Letter of Invitation to participate in the CFA tournament sent by Lauren and Tim, he could only apply for the tourist visa. Since he had the invitation, he could have a better chance applying for the business visa, a category implying that the applicant was going to conduct business in America, boosting its GDP and increasing employment positions there, so it was a visa category rtively easier to be granted.

    Besides, Richard would be responsible formunicating with the visa officer, who would assume that Zhang Zian had no problem in speaking English.

    Thanks to the thorough documents he prepared, and the invitation letter he received as a pet shop operator from the professionals in the pet industry in the USA, the visa officer trusted that he was not nning to stay in America illegally and didn¡¯t torture him with many questions. He passed the interview sessfully.

    Walking out from the conste, Zhang Zian nced at the people in queue in the snowy day, waiting nervously for their interviews of tourist visas. He felt lucky that he had be a business elite¡­

    He wanted to inform this news to Lauren and Tim, but then he realized that they must be sleeping to deal with the jetg after they arrived in the hotel, so he couldn¡¯t disturb them at this time. He stopped another taxi and headed to Binhai University.

    Through deliberate consideration, he realized that to grant Richard¡¯s requests to let it be on a ne normally and even enjoy the meals provided by the flights, it must be granted a special identity¡ª proof that it was a creature bearing significant value to scientific research. Zhang Zian only knew one person who was qualified to issue such a certification¡ªProfessor Wei Kang.

    If he remembered correctly, the research institute where Professor Wei Kang served had cooperation with the Phoenix House. Phoenix House provided funds to researchers in the institute, and the institute issued certificates to the Phoenix House, enabling it to import into China some kinds of birds, of which the trading of were forbidden by the International Wildlife Protection Law, and to skip inspection at borders and ports.

    That was why Zhang Zian was heading to Binhai University for professor Wei Kang, who would definitely know how to provide simr certificates.

    Because of the bad weather, few vehicles or pedestrians were seen on the way, and without being stuck in any traffic jam, the taxi soon arrived at Binhai University.

    He paid the fare, stood at the entrance of the school, and texted Wei Kang.

    Zhang Zian: Professor Wei Kang, there¡¯s something I hope you can help me with, are you avable now?

    He and Wei Kang were at most acquaintances, who were not close enough to visit each other without giving advance notice. Besides, Wei Kang was probably giving a lecture or doing some experiment, so out of politeness and other reasons, he¡¯d better make an appointment.

    He kept looking around when waiting for Wei Kang¡¯s reply. Unfortunately, in such a cold snowy day, even the girls who were obsessed with wearing short skirts had put on long trousers, so there was nothing pleasing for his eyes to look at.

    He went out wearing a hoodie. Richard became visible again. It hid inside the hood to keep itself warm, stretching out only its head. Whenever a handsome guy walked by, it would frivolously whistle to him. And when he turned around, it would hide itself quickly into the hood, leaving Zhang Zian and the other guy looking at each other in consternation¡­

    Some tough guys would say, ¡°What are you looking at?!¡±

    Since Old Time Tea was not around, Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t courageous enough to answer with, ¡°What are you going to do about it?¡± He could only remain silent and look somewhere else¡­

    Fortunately, he didn¡¯t suffer for very long, because he received Wei Kang¡¯s reply soon.

    Wei Kang: Yes, I¡¯m in the office of the central academic building.

    On such a snowy day, few people were walking around campus. Even on the basketball court, which was usually was filled with young guys and hormones, there was only one short and thin boy practicing his shooting. Speaking of this, it urred to Zhang Zian that he had done something simr before. To gain the admirable screaming and affections of girls, he also went to practice on his own when everyone was taking a rest¡­though that was a motivational beginning, it didn¡¯t end very well, as he expected.

    After entering the central academic building, Richard didn¡¯t feel cold anymore. It jumped out from the hood, stood on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder, and looked at the students and teachers around it arrogantly.

    It was very rare to see a person walking around with a parrot, particrly when this parrot was big and perky, so it was normal to draw attention from a lot of people. Especially the female students and teachers, who looked at Richard and Zhang Zian and discussed with admiration in their tones. Some people even came up to Zhang Zian to ask him where he bought this parrot.

    Taking the elevator to the floor where Wei Kang¡¯s office was, Zhang Zian warned Richard before entering the office that it must keep low profile inside. They were just seeking a permit for animals that had scientific research value to take flights, and it must not show off itself to the extent that it would be dissected into samples for research inbs.

    After knocking on the door, he pushed it open and entered the office.

    Wei Kang didn¡¯t seem to have changed at all. He was wearing a ck jacket of outdated design and reading a voluminous academic book behind his desk, using his pen to make notes or highlight some pages from time to time. Zhang Zian was aware that he must not judge a man by his look, but Wei Kang just didn¡¯t care much about his wearing. It would be ridiculous if he thought Wei Kang, who was a professor at the University and a consultant to Phoenix House, was very poor.

    ¡°Professor Wei Kang, I¡¯m sorry to bother you suddenly. Are you busy?¡± Zhang Zian greeted him.

    ¡°No, not busy.¡± Wei Kang stood up and noticed Richard, ¡°Is this your parrot that is extremely clever?¡±

    When they encountered at Phoenix House, Wei Kang heard Guo Dongyue mention that there was a particrly intelligent parrot in Zhang Zian¡¯s shop, and he remembered it ever since. As a professor in biology and the consultant to Phoenix House, he recognized it was a fully-grown African Grey Parrot by first nce.

    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Richard.¡±

    Wei Kang was not surprised. He just kept examining it as a scientific researcher.

    ¡°Hey! Old man! Someone is greeting you!¡± Richard changed its tone and shouted disgruntledly.

    ¡°What?¡± Wei Kang was stunned. Why was this parrot reacting like this? Did Zhang Zian train it to do that?

    ¡°Can¡¯t you hear me?!¡±

    Zhang Zian put his fingers on his forehead speechlessly. Richardpletely ignored his warning moments ago and became arrogant again.

    ¡°This parrot can understand my words?¡± said Wei Kang incredibly.

    Zhang Zian said cautiously, ¡°A little bit¡­¡±

    ¡°I mean, can it prehend¡¯ my words?¡± Wei Kang emphasized.

    Richard couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. It fluttered its wings and yelled, ¡°Quack, quack! Old man! How dare you to look down on a bird!¡±

    Wei Kang froze there and stared at Richard dumbfoundedly. He wasn¡¯t offended by its insult at all.

    He had heard that some parrots could understand human¡¯snguages and could even have normal conversations with humans. As a scientific researcher, before witnessing it for himself, he would always remain skeptical. Nevertheless, the performance of this grey parrot in front of him made him believe that not only could it understand hisnguage, but it was also provoked by recognizing the doubts in his words.

    Zhang Zian seized the timing and said, ¡°Professor Wei, I¡¯m taking this parrot to America to let it take an intelligence test. But¡­ You know how troublesome it is for pets traveling by ne, so I emboldened myself here, hoping you could issue a certificate proving that it¡¯s not just a usual pet but it is a very important target for scientific research. Can you do that for me?¡±

    Wei Kang frowned, ¡°There are many institutes in China that can conduct intelligence testing on animals. Why do you have to go all the way to America? If you¡¯d like, I can rmend a ce to you, I have friends who work there.¡±

    ¡°No need. You know, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, and people always think that the organizations abroad are more authoritative.¡± Zhang Zian declined politely. Though it was just an excuse, it was also a fact. Winning ten major awards in China was not as sensational as winning one minor award overseas.

    Wei Kang sighed, ¡°All right. It¡¯s not difficult to issue the certificate, and the parrot is worthy of this qualification. But you must be extra careful on your way ¡ª such a precious parrot must not be hurt. You must bring it back whole and sound.¡±

    ¡°Trust me.¡± Zhang Zian thought about it and said, ¡°Can you also issue a certificate for my cat? I will also bring it to America.¡±

    He felt that because of his troubles recently, Fina was on the brink of bursting out of anger. If he didn¡¯t do something special to please her, there might be disaster for him soon¡­

    ¡°Okay¡­ but that original Egyptian Mau is extremely precious, and you must be very careful! Luckily you are going to America rather than Egypt, otherwise you wouldn¡¯t be able to bring it back at all.¡± Wei Kang shook his head bitterly. He sat back behind his desk and wrote two certificates for Zhang Zian, affixed with the stamp of Binhai University and his signature.

    Everything was ready. It was time for him to start off.

 Chapter 346: Across the Ocean

    <h4>Chapter 346: Across the Ocean</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Because of his fixed body clock, Zhang Zian had always gotten up before the rm rang, but today was an exception. His cell phone rang when it was still pitch ck and silent outside.

    He got to bed very earlyst night, but was too excited to fall asleep, and when he got up, he still felt very sleepy.

    But today, no one could afford to stay in bed, whether it was Zhang Zian or Fina, because the flight wouldn¡¯t wait for humans nor cats.

    Apart from him, the rm also woke the elves up. They opened their mouths and yawned in their own ways.

    ¡°Get up now, have a quick bite and we will leave.¡± Zhang Zian jumped off the bed.

    He had prepared everything he needed. Although he liked putting everything off until thest minute, he was better than packing things up right before catching a flight.

    The elves also began to prepare. They heard from him that today was going to be a very long journey, so they must feed themselves first. There were barbecue skewers deliveredst night in the refrigerator that would be made edible by heating them up in the microwave. Although Fina felt disgusted food that was not freshly made, she had to settle for that or she would be starving the entire trip. Zhang Zian had to have some food too, for he would be the only one carrying all the luggages. How was he going to do that without the energy provided by food?

    Everybody finished their breakfasts quickly and gradually trickled down to the first floor. Zhang Zian stayed on the second floor alone to conduct security checks by making sure all the windows, natural gas stoves, water pipes had been turned off. He would be leaving his pet shop for a few days; these protection measures were necessary.

    Gxy wasn¡¯t fond of crowded ces, while Old Time Tea and Snowy Li didn¡¯t have the certificates to prove their values for scientific research, which meant they were not able to ride on public transportation normally. Although they were able to travel in invisible states, considering Old Time Tea¡¯s advanced age, Zhang Zian advised it to stay in the phone for the time being, ande out when they had arrived in the United States. Old Time Tea agreed to this arrangement pleasantly. As for the troublemaker Snowy Li, no way could it be left outside.

    Putting Gxy, Old Time Tea and Snowy Li inside the game, Zhang Zian pulled open the shutter door.

    Silence reigned everywhere. It was always the darkest before dawn. The chilling wind was blowing, and there was some residue of the snow that had fallen two days ago in the shady corners of the walls. A few stars were still seen on the night sky, yet no one was seen walking on the streets.

    Zhang Zian exhaled smoky air, turned around and looked at his pet shop. After contemting for a few seconds, and making sure that he had attended to every detail, he turned off the electric switch. The shop became pitch-ck and nothing could be seen. Although he was only leaving for a few days, he had begun to miss it already.

    Richard had already hidden in his hood, cuddling itself for warmth. Fina was not aszy as she always was ¡ª she was pacing back and forth, striving to gain extra heat from the movement of its muscles.

    Zhang Zian pulled down the door and locked it.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    He put his hand on the handle of the luggage.

    This old luggage was the one he used when he rushed back from another city. He thought that after dealing with his parents¡¯ funerals and selling this pet shop, he would leave this ce with this luggage. However, it had been lying in the corner of the storage room till now.

    Fina did not move, but instead kept staring into the darkness.

    ¡°Ah-choo!¡± someone sneezed.

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± Zhang Zian subconsciously reached for his cell phone. Could it be the Rainbow Fighters who were seeking trouble with him again?

    Two men appeared from the darkness while blowing their noses. When they came closer, he recognized they were Wang Qian and Li Kun.

    ¡°Master! It¡¯s us!¡±

    Their faces appeared pale. They had obviously been waiting outside for quite a long time.

    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± asked Zhang Zian confusingly.

    ¡°We are here to see you off and help you!¡± exined Li Kun, while Wang Qian took over the luggage from Zhang Zian.

    ¡°You guys just have nothing better to do?! You think I¡¯m weak or something? Why would I need you to see me off¡­¡± Zhang Zian shook his head but didn¡¯t turn down their kindness, ¡°Go stop a taxi.¡±

    ¡°Ok!¡± answered Li Kun. ¡°Master, are you going to the airport or train station?¡±

    ¡°Train station.¡±

    The airlinepanies in China had ambiguous attitudes on the matter of whether pets were allowed in the passenger cabins. Since suchpanies normally observed the regtions, even with the scientific research certificates issued by Professor Wei Kang, Zhang Zian¡¯s pets still might not be permitted there. Instead of taking the risk to challenge their rules, he decided to take the high-speed train to Shanghai and take the international flight from United Airlines.

    Li Kun stopped a vacant taxi, and Wang Qian stuffed the luggage into the trunk. Three men and a cat got into the car at the same time, while Fina unreservedly upied the front seat, leaving the three of them crowded in the back row. Jumping out from the hood and seeing that three men were sitting in a row, Richard quacked excitedly, ¡°Three butt-buddies in a row!¡±

    Startled, the taxi driver almost drove his car onto the sidewalk!

    Zhang Zian turned around to look at the sign of Amazing Fate Pet Shop. He smiled.

    He might be alone when he returned from another city, but this time, when he left, he was not alone¡­

    ¡­

    At the entrance of the departure hall, Zhang Zian painstakingly tried to exin why he didn¡¯t carry a bird cage or a cat carrier to the security inspection officer and presented the certificates issued by Professor Wei Kang. After calling his supervisor for instructions and calling Binhai University for confirmation, the security officer finally and reluctantly allowed him to go into the hall.

    It was rtively easier getting aboard. It seemed that the flight attendants of United Airlines had greeted simr passengers before, for they didn¡¯t appear to be surprised by him. After checking the certificates presented by Zhang Zian, they allowed him to get on the ne.

    But the passengers were very astonished upon seeing him, especially the children, who were gazing enviously at Richard and Fina, and asking their own parents why this person could bring his pets on the ne. Some curious adults even came to inquire him too, but he just answered vaguely without giving any detailed exnation. After all, he had pulled some strings to let this happen.

    Luckily, when the ne was about to take off, and under the advice by the flight attendants, these curious passengers went back to their own seats.

    Zhang Zian happened to be arranged in a three-seat row. He sat in the middle, while Fina set inside close to the window and Richard close to the aisle.

    When the flight attendant walked by pulling a meal cart, Richard eximed excitedly, ¡°Fruit sd! Fruit sd!¡±

    Before this trip, Zhang Zian had fantasized that he would have a romantic rtionship with a young and beautiful blonde stewardess. However, the cruel world disillusioned him¡ªmaybe the young and beautiful blonde stewardesses indeed existed, but they were serving the first-ss cabin or business cabin rather than the economy cabin he was currently sitting in, for the stewardess pushing the cart was a middle-aged woman over 40 years old.

    This auntie was quite nice and was fond of Richard, this talking parrot. She looked at Zhang Zian and inquired him with her eyes.

    Zhang Zian nodded and said in English, ¡°Please give it a dish of fruit sd, thank you.¡±

    Humming pop songs from the 1990s, Richard pecked at the fruit sd leisurely as if it had been transported back to the times it and his previousdy owner had traveled by ne. At that time, she also ran into many troubles for taking it on the ne, and it was only allowed in the cabin after scientific research certificates had been granted to it. Therefore, Zhang Zian was not aplete idiot, for he had thought of such a method¡ªmaybe he was still not as good as her, but at least he was not a hopeless moron.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s cell phone had been turned off and put into his bag when he got on the ne, so he didn¡¯t know that the cell phone had automatically turned on and essed the game.

    [Game Hint]: Congrattions! The likability of your Apprehensive Bird has been promoted to the trust level, and it has gained the ability of freedom of actions!

    The message vanished in a blink of an eye, and the cell phone turned off quietly, as if nothing had happened.

    ¡­

    The ne was flying smoothly, and beneath it was the ocean that had no boundaries. Most of the passengers had fallen asleep, with only a few people concentrated on minding their own business. Some were doing work on theirptops, and some were reading newspaper or books. The cabin became very quiet. After finishing its meal, Richard started to feel drowsy.

    It was the first time that Zhang Zian had ever seen the Pacific Ocean. He was intrigued by it at the beginning, but the monotonous scenery had made him sleepy very soon.

    He had gotten up too early this morning. He yawned and was about to take a nap, but then he noticed that since getting on the ne, Fina had been extremely focused on looking outside through the porthole. However, nothing was outside except the clouds in the sky and the ocean below.

    Zhang Zian felt something was wrong. This was not the normal Fina who liked sleeping all the time ¡ª why was she fond of traveling by ne so much?

    Seeing that the passengers around him were sleeping, he said in a low voice, ¡°Aren¡¯t you sleepy? It¡¯s still a long way before we arrive in America. You can take a nap on the seat.¡±

    Fina turned her head to face him reluctantly. There was confusion in her green eyes, as she asked, ¡°When will we fly above the ck Land?¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart sank. He was not sleepy anymore.

    This was what she had been waiting for. Fina was hoping to see Egypt once again. The pyramids, the magnificent Sphinx, the expansive ck Land, the hometown she missed very much¡­

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know how to answer her, but Fina kept staring at him, waiting for his reply.

    Although the truth was cruel, he decided to tell her anyways. ¡°This ne won¡¯t fly above Egypt, for it is flying in another direction¡ªthe opposite direction. Don¡¯t wait anymore, for you won¡¯t be able to see it no matter how long you wait.¡±

    Fina kept looking at him for a while, as if she was wondering whether he was lying.

    Zhang Zian had never been afraid of looking at Fina in her eyes, but for some unknown reason, he couldn¡¯t look directly in her eyes right now. If possible, he wanted to pretend that he didn¡¯t see the disappointment in her eyes.

    Momentster, she replied with an ¡°oh¡±, quietlyid down on the seat and closed her eyes.

 Chapter 347: The Time I Thought Happiness Came So Naturally

    <h4>Chapter 347: The Time I Thought Happiness Came So Naturally</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was just over half an hour before the nended.

    The stylishdy with blonde hair and green eyes put out a smallb for her smooth blonde hair and the creaking static noises were heard. After putting herb into her handbag, she fumbled out a bunch of jars and bottles filled with cosmetic products and started to refine her makeup borately in front of her small mirror. Richard couldn¡¯t help but think that maybe her boyfriend¡ª or girlfriend! ¡ª was waiting for her at the Los Angeles International Airport?

    Not only her, but other passengers were preparing to get off the ne. Walking back and forth down the aisles, they were waiting in queue for the bathrooms. Sometimes, one or two brats wanted to pull at Richard¡¯s tail, but it dodged their grabbing hands flexibly.

    Not a fan of the scents of cosmetics or brats like Yi Le, Richard wanted to go to a quiet ce close to the porthole.

    Fina was taking a nap on her seat closest to the porthole, while Zhang Zian was sleeping with his mouth open in the middle seat. Richard decided to bully the weak one. It fluttered its wings andnded on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder, looking at the brown coastline beneath the skyline afar through the porthole.

    Suddenly, it noticed its own figure in the reflection of the porthole¡ªits whole body was covered with light grey feathers, and its dark red tail feathers appeared very perky.

    It looked at its body carefully, lowered its head, and used its beak tob through the disheveled feathers on its chest.

    ¡°Stop it.¡± Zhang Zian sensed its movement. Half asleep, he opened his eyes, wiped off his saliva, and muttered.

    Richard didn¡¯t bother to care about this man, who was always at the bottom of the food chain of the pet shop.

    It remembered the day when it looked in the mirror for the first time in its life.

    At that time, it hadn¡¯t acquired the intelligence to know that it was a ¡®parrot¡¯, nor did it have the concept of how a parrot looked like in its head. When it saw its figure in the mirror for the first time, it thought another creature had intruded its body. It was so scared that it shivered in the corner.

    ¡°Oh, darling, don¡¯t be afraid, it is you.¡± Wearing her white coat, she was amused by its response and held it tightly in her arms, whispering to it softly.

    ¡°Alex, look, this is you, you are a parrot.¡±

    With her tender words, it felt like it was not as frightened as before. It was being trained to identify colors, so it asked, ¡°What¡­ color?¡±

    ¡°Oh! Alex, you always surprise me! This is grey, look, your feathers are grey.¡±

    ¡°Come on, cutie pie, you¡¯ve got another name¡ª¡¯Grey¡¯!¡±

    That day was the first time it had looked in the mirror and it had remembered the color grey ever since. This gave it another nickname, ¡°Grey¡±, that she only addressed it with this when she was about to get angry.

    For example, when it sat on the ne with humans for the first time, it took away her shrimp sd, for it detested the stale fruit sd provided by the flight and declined to eat it. After several attempts at patient yet futile persuasion, she snapped, ¡°Damn it! Grey! You must eat that fruit!¡±

    It surrendered and finished the fruit sd sheepishly, not because of her angry tone, but because it noticed the worried and anxious looks that she cast on it.

    Although overripe apples give off very disgusting smells, they could supplement the vitamins necessary for its body. After its infection to aspergillus, she was increasingly concerned for its health.

    And Richard was not willing to see her eyes filled with any concern.

    ¡­

    ¡°Li¨£ng g¨¨ hu¨¢ngl¨ª m¨ªng cu¨¬li¨³, y¨¬ h¨¢ng b¨¢il¨´ sh¨¤ng q¨ªngti¨¡n¡ª¡±

    ¡°Two golden orioles sing amid the willows green; A flock of white egrets fly toward the blue sky¡ª¡±

    ¡°No, no, baby, not q¨ªngti¨¡n, it¡¯s q¨©ngti¨¡n. It¡¯s pronounced in the first tone, not the second tone!¡±

    In front of Richard¡¯s left side was a family of four. The Chinese mother had been correcting her mixed-race son¡¯s pronunciation numerous times.

    ¡°Mommy, I can recite too.¡± Her little daughter, who also had the facial features of a mixed-race was very active, ¡°Ch¨±n mi¨¢n b¨´ ju¨¦ xi¨£o, ch¨´ch¨´ w¨¦n z¨ª y¨£o¡­?¡±

    ¡°My God!¡± the mother, who was the only person with the facial features of a Chinese person, rested her fingers on her forehead, ¡°It¡¯s ¡®ch¨´ch¨´ w¨¦n t¨ª ni¨£o¡¯ . You are even more impressive than your brother!¡±

    The Chinese passengers around them burst into kindughter. Though some foreign passengers didn¡¯t understand what was going on, as joyfulness was contagious, they began to smile too.

    Richard also smiled ear to ear.

    As an Apprehensive Bird, it was familiar with ssic Chinese cultures and could recite any popr poem in ancient China. But speaking of how it began to be exposed to the cultured in the first ce, it was long time ago¡­

    That year, she brought it to Tucson, Arizona, a southern city in the United States, and they lived on a farm eight miles from downtown. On many mornings, they would drink coffee and wait for the sunrise on the balcony together¡­

    When the sun rose above the Lincoln Mountains, she and it would look at the peak of Saint Catalina Mountain basked in the sunshine. Marvelous by the beautiful sunglows invender and pink, she would gasp in admiration frequently, ¡°Dear Alex, look, how amazing nature is! You are all blessed by the creator!¡±

    The insightful Old Time Tea praised the young doctor in the pet clinic for her knowledge of both Chinese and Western cultures. In fact, she was resourceful too. After living on the farm for a while, her nativenguage probably didn¡¯t have enough expressions to let her disy her affections to the nature, she began to teach it Chinese idioms and poems such as ¡°y¨²n zh¨¥ng xi¨¢ w¨¨i¡± ¡ªThe rosy clouds are slowly rising¡ª and ¡°q¨¬ zh¨¥ng y¨²n m¨¨ng z¨¦¡± ¨CCloud and dream fall into the river.

    At that time, it was not able toprehend suchplicated expressions. What it did was just role imitation. Yet deep inside its heart, it still remembered the two poems that she recited the most¡ª ¡°sh¨¡n gu¨¡ng yu¨¨ ni¨£o x¨¬ng¡± ¨CMountain scene pleases the birds¨C and ¡°y¨¨ d¨« hu¨¢ng l¨ª y¨© li¨£ng sh¨¥ng¡± ¨COrioles are chirping around the leaves and branches.

    It didn¡¯t understand the meanings of these poems until it had be an elfin. And it was aware that how difficult it was for a foreigner like her toprehend the ssic literature of China. She often said that it was the pride of her life, and in fact, Richard was very proud of her.

    She meant the whole world to it.

    ¡°X-art¡­brazzers¡­kink¡­digital sin¡­ private¡­wicked¡­hey hey, foreign girls¡­I came, I saw, I conquered¡­¡± muttered Zhang Zian with a weird and disgusting smile on his face, it seemed like he was having some kind of happy dream.

    Richard came to itself from its reminiscencing and shuddered!

    Why was this idiot speaking English so fluently right now?!

    Luckily, he wasn¡¯t talking loudly. If other passengers had heard him, they would probably call the police right away!

    It disdainfully stared at Zhang Zian, whose saliva was drooping beside his mouth, and tried very hard with its wings to pull up the nket that was slipping down his body.

    This idiot thought that he was lucky to run into it at the ss of a Chinese professor randomly.

    Actually, it was attracted by the lecture.

    Though the old Professor Chen made students want to sleep when teaching modern Chinese, he had lectured the Ancient Chinese Literature vividly. In the previous session before Zhang Zian went in, he was introducing the poem collections of Nn Rongruo, a famous Ci poet in Qing Dynasty.

    ¡°We yed riddles and enjoyed the aroma of spilled tea; At the time I thought such happiness came so naturally¡­yet those happinesses cannot be repeated anymore¡­¡±

    It was stunned hearing the poem.

    ¡°Love¡± was aplicated word for it in its previous life. But on the night before it died, it somehow had grasped the meaning of it, and when saying goodbye to her, it said, ¡°I love you.¡±

    Even when turning into an elfin, ¡°love¡± was still an unfathomable feeling for it. What puzzled it was that, although the sky¡¯s the limit for an elfin, it still felt empty in a part deep inside its heart. Whenever it thought of her, it would be immersed in pain. They spent thirty years together. She taught it lessons, it apanied her, and she would lose her temper at it if she was angry¡­a sharp-eyed journalist from The Times once reported that Doctor and it were living together just like a couple.

    Although it could understand the poetry meanings of the expressions praising the harmonious and happy married life now, that life was buried in the past and could never be repeated again.

    ¡°If you love her, you should keep herpany, but you should also let her go.¡± It was aware what it should do, but couldn¡¯t figure out the reason of its painful feeling¡­the poems in the ss enlightened it. Because it could never stay by her again, it med itself for not being able to remember every detail in the thirty years they were together, and for not treasuring the happiness better.

    ¡°We yed riddles and enjoyed the aroma of spilled tea; At the time I thought such happiness came so naturally¡­¡±

    Gazing at the coast in the far distance, its eyes became blurred gradually. Among the clouds, it seemed that her tender face had appeared. Although her face was full of wrinkles, in its eyes, she was still the youngdy with charming smile thirty years ago.

    The furthest distance in the world is not between life and death. It¡¯s that when I stand in front of you, you don¡¯t know that I love you.

    The furthest distance in the world is not that you don¡¯t know that I love you, but when I am missing you so much, I can only conceal my feelings inside my heart.

    ¡­

    ¡°Attention, passengers. This is your captain speaking. We will be arriving at our destination, Los Angeles International Airport, in approximately 20 minutes. The local time is 11:00 a.m., the temperature is 9 degrees Celsius and it¡¯s breezy and raining lightly outside. For those passengers looking forward to the sunshine in California, you might be disappointed. The runway is slippery, please fasten your seatbelts for thending. Thank you for choosing us for your flight, we hope your mood. won¡¯t be influenced by the bad weather. Thank you!¡±

    The English announcement woke Zhang Zian from his dream. Noticing that Richard seemed to be absent-minded, he decided to make fun of it.

    ¡°Richard, what are you looking at? What¡¯s up there? Are you looking for a bird, like this one we are flying in?¡± he curled up his fingers, trying to flick it.

    ¡°You moron, it¡¯s just that some sand grains fell into my eyes.¡± It avoided his attack flexibly, rolled its eyes towards him, and jumped back into its own seat like a gentleman, ¡°Time fornding, fasten your seatbelt. Oh, good news, Los Angeles is raining.¡±

    Zhang Zian felt that a murderous stare was being cast on him from his left side.

 Chapter 348: Qi

    <h4>Chapter 348: Qi</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After getting off the ne, Zhang Zian first went to the bathroom in the airport, and turned Richard into the invisible state¡ªunless something unexpected arose, in the United States, Richard would always act in the invisible state.

    When they left the airport, the rain had stopped, yet the chilly wind was still blowing. Face-tightened, Fina kept its distance five meters away from Zhang Zian, losing its temper because of being cheated by him.

    Zhang Zian felt very helpless. He was not omnipotent; how could he predict the weather half a world away? Today just happened to be a rainy and windy day!

    As soon as he left the airport, Zhang Zian stretched his neck and looked around. Lauren and Tim, who hade back to the United States, said they were to pick him up here, and he had to find a way to find them. However, Los Angeles, after all, was an international metropolis. With peopleing and leaving the airport, it was still difficult to pinpoint particr people¡ªthat was not precisely the reason. In fact, it was mainly because Zhang Zian involuntarily kept staring at the blonde girls¡­Caucasian women indeed were slender and taller!

    ¡°Hey! Jeff!¡± Tim, the big guy, spotted him first and waved his arms.

    Zhang Zian also waved his hand.

    Since Richard had threatened him with Tim, he had always had a hard time looking at Tim directly¡­

    Beside Tim was standing a young white man of medium height with a baseball cap and freckles all over his face. He was holding a sign listlessly upon which written with Chinese characters: Zhang Liaoan.

    Liaoan?! Why not just change my whole name? Zhang Zian wondered which Chinese beginner had created this¡­

    Zhang Zian walked towards them with his luggage. Tim warmly introduced, ¡°Jeff, this is my employee, Allen. Allen, this is the fantastic Chinese cat trainer, Jeff¡­¡±

    Before he finished his introduction, he saw that Zhang Zian had taken out a pen, and added a stroke to the middle of the character ,¡±Liao¡±, on the sign, turning it into the first syble of his name, ¡°Zi¡±.

    ¡°Sorry for writing your name incorrectly.¡± Tim understood what had happened and said embarrassedly.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Allen, right? Hello.¡± Zhang Zian shook hands with Tim and Allen respectively.

    ¡°Jeff, you can stay in my house while you are in the United States. If you want to tour around, you can ask Allen to keep youpany,¡± said Tim.

    Allen nodded reluctantly towards Zhang Zian. Apparently, he was disgruntled by the task of being assigned to part from his regr responsibilities.

    Noticing Fina, Tim asked surprisingly, ¡°You brought your cat?¡±

    ¡°I hope she can have fun.¡± Richard said the answer which they had prepared in advance for Zhang Zian, ¡°I¡¯m invited to attend the CFA tournament, remember? I should at least bring a cat, so no one will suspect me.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Tim wanted to tell him that this cat was probably a hybrid Egyptian Mau, which might not gain any rewards in thepetition. In fact, it may not evenbe eligible for participation at all. But Tim held back these words.

    In his opinion, professionally, Zhang Zian¡¯s pet shop, which was best, top-notch store in the amateurmunity, couldn¡¯t rival with his cattery at all. If Zhang Zian didn¡¯t possess the mysterious and ancient cat training techniques, there would have been no way that Zhang Zian would have ever had contact with Tim¡¯s Blue Climax at all. Anyway, it would be beneficial for Zhang Zian to attend the CFA tournament to learn from the setbacks.

    ¡°Right, this is a gift.¡± Zhang Zian took an air box for pet from behind and handed it to Tim.

    Inside the air box was a ck Dragon Li kitten, which was from the same litter as the kitten bought by Song Bai, so their appearances and sizes were very simr, but this one was quieter.

    ¡°Wow! Thank you so much! You¡¯re so kind!¡± Tim took over the air box and looked at the kitten inside. ¡°Right, can it¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, it can dance,¡± replied Richard for of him.

    ¡°Great! I¡¯ve been struggling to choose a gift for my niecetely for Thanksgiving. Can I give it to her as a present? She would be very happy to get a dancing kitten!¡± Tim said excitedly.

    ¡°It¡¯s yours, you can transfer it to anyone,¡± said Richard.

    ¡°OK, thank you! Come on, let¡¯s go, my car is over there!¡±

    Tim¡¯s car was a minivan, the spacious American style with three rows of seats, which were enough to amodate seven or eight individuals.

    ¡°My home is a bit far from here, so if you¡¯re sleepy, you can nap for a while,¡± Tim said to Zhang Zian after the three of them got in the car. Tim and Allen sat in the front row, with Zhang Zian and Fina sitting in the middle row, and the luggage and Dragon Li in the back row.

    ¡°Thank you, I¡¯m fine.¡± Zhang Zian had slept on the ne. And after all, he was still young, so he didn¡¯t feel sleepy.

    The minivan started up and headed for the outskirts of Los Angeles.

    Allen turned his head curiously. ¡°Sir, what methods do you use to train cats? I know it¡¯s a secret, but can¡¯t you reveal any information about it?¡±

    ¡°Allen!¡± Tim wanted to stop him from snooping on the secrets of others.

    ¡°It¡¯s all right, you can call me Jeff,¡± said Richard. ¡°In fact, the secret lies in¡­ ¡®Qi¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Qi?¡± Tim and Allen repeated in unison.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Qi!¡± Richard said loudly, and Zhang Zian cooperated with it and looked pretentious.

    Tim and Allen were in awe of him!

    It was undeniable that most ordinary foreigners got to know China from the stereotypes depicted in movies. Many people even thought that every Chinese person could y table tennis very well and every Chinese person could fight Kung Fu. As for the more mysterious Yin and Yang, Feng Shui, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Qigong, they were kind of like sorcery in their eyes¡­

    He muste up with an exnation for the cat training, otherwise they wouldl get suspicious. Why not just say it was rted to Oriental Mysticism? Since most foreigners were religious, they might acknowledge such an exnation more or less. Look at the famous Batman series, where the protagonist even went to Tibet to learn fighting methods from a Master ¡­

    ¡°So, are you a Qigong Master?¡± Allen¡¯s half-heartedness had disappeared. Eyes wide open, he asked this cautiously.

    While driving, Tim gazed at Zhang Zian through the rear-view mirror. Obviously, he was interested in this question.

    ¡°Qigong Master¡­ well, kind of¡­¡± Richardughed mysteriously.

    Allen and Tim had recognized the contempt in his reply. They could not help but look at each other nkly. Was Jeff Zhang even better than a Qigong Master?

    ¡°Let me tell you the truth. I am the 72nd generation of the Ancient Tomb Sect of Zhongnan Mountain. You must not tell anyone about this secret!¡± Richard was initially just cooperating with Zhang Zian, but then it felt it would be very interesting to hoodwink these foreigners, and it gradually enjoyed the tricks.

    ¡°Oh, we understand! We will never reveal it!¡± Tim and Allen swallowed and promised this solemnly. Although they didn¡¯t understand what was Zhongnan Mountain or what was the Ancient Tomb Sect, they felt these words were magnificent and ssy, and they could not help but start to believe him.

    Tim intended to secretly tell his wife Lauren at night, and Allen intended to use this secret to flirt with girls.

    ¡°Jeff, when are you going to start training cats? Can you let me watch on the side? I promise you I won¡¯t say anything to anyone!¡± Allen asked respectfully.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m about to address this issue¡ªI will choose to train the cats in a field, where no one is allowed to watch.¡± Richard said in an unquestionable tone. Turning its pupils, it said, ¡°But if you are interested in Qi, I can give you some instructions.¡±

    Hearing this, Allen jumped up from his seat excitedly and his head bumped into the top! Regardless of the pain, he said incoherently, ¡°Jeff¡­ No¡­ Master Zhang! Are you really willing to teach me Qi?¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned. He didn¡¯t remember discussing this matter with Richard before, what did it want?

    Seeing Allen bite the bait, Richard immediately said, ¡°No problem, but there is a condition.¡±

    ¡°What condition? Master Zhang, I will agree to any condition!¡± said Allen.

    ¡°It¡¯s very simple, you have to prepare¡­ uh ¡­ at least 10 different nuts and bring them to me every day!¡± said Richard.

    Zhang Zian was very speechless. So, Richard was seeking its own profits!

 Chapter 349: Astonishing Techniques

    <h4>Chapter 349: Astonishing Techniques</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Early morning.

    The suburb of Los Angeles.

    The dawn had arrived in the East. Amidst the leaves and grass, there were yeseterday¡¯s raindrops.

    The home and cattery of the Keller¡¯s was a veryrge house of the American pastoral style, a ssic mixed structure of brick and wood. The outside of the house was painted white. Amp that was perennially lit up during nights were hanging on the porch, where two cane chairs for the owners to rest on were ced. On the wooden eaves, a U.S. g was waving to the morning breeze. Because of the arrival of Zhang Zian, Tim had also ced the Chinese g next to it.

    Zhang Zian was wearing a new gray Chinese tunic suit, of which the style and color were simr to that of Jet Li¡¯s in Legend of the Fist, and was bought online for RMB 200 before going abroad. Facing the rising sun, he sat cross-legged and breathed pretentiously¡ªsurprisingly, he did look like a Kung Fu Master!

    Whether it was Tim or Lauren, or the neighbors of nearbymunities that were passing by, all of them couldn¡¯t help but curiously size up this neer from China. Allen, who was hugging the porch pir like a monkey and looked at Zhang Zian with his heart itching, even ignored Tim, who reprimanded him and asked him to go back to work.

    Finally seeing the sun that she had long been waiting for, Fina was lying on the railings under the porch, basking in sunshinezily, and shaking her tail from time to time. The fur of her whole body was glittering like real gold.

    When Allen didn¡¯t notice, the invisible Richard secretly pecked at the nuts he had brought. Though thisd waszy at work, he kept his promise and really prepared 10 different kinds of nuts, which were delicious and made Richard joyful.

    As the sun rose, increasingly more pedestrians walked by. From time to time, when some people greeted Tim and Lauren, they would quietly inquire about who the Chinese man was and what he was doing. Tim and Lauren answered honestly that Zhang Zian was a Qigong Master from China and was here to help them train cats. As for what he was doing right now¡­they were told that he was gathering the quintessential Qi of the universe, and absorbing the essence of the sun and the moon.

    Zhang Zian opened his eyes slightly, and upon seeing that increasingly more foreigners were gathering to look at him, he suddenly jumped from the ground. From the previous,pletely motionless position, he went to the dynamic end of the spectrum and started to show the vigorous Wing Chun fighting methods!

    Tim, Lauren, Allen, and all the neighbors were stunned. Their jaws almost fell to the ground!

    If the breathing position before was a bit too mysterious and made them feel dubious about him, then this set of genuine Kung Fu actions immediately dismissed all their doubts!

    ¡°Kung Fu! Kung Fu!¡±

    The spectators burst into thunderous apuse! They kept whistling and cheering for him!

    The noises here broke the long-term serenity in themunity. Hearing the loud apuse and cheers and not knowing what¡¯s going on, neighbors who lived a bit far away and got up, put on their clothes, and came to join the crowd¡ªwatching the fun was in human nature, and foreigners were no exception.

    Zhang Zian was practicing on thewn of Tim and Lauren¡¯s home. Due to foreigners¡¯ strong notion of respecting private territory, all the onlookers were standing on the curb, and no matter how curious they were, no one stepped in on thewn, enabling Zhang Zian to move with enough space. ncing around with the corners of his eyes, he noticed that almost thirty or forty people had been gathered in a short period, including children and adults, among whom there were several young and beautiful girls.

    None of the foreigners present had seen this before! Their previous understanding of Kung Fu came from old movies and hearsay. Right now, a Kung Fu Master from China was showing them his skills for free. They were dazzled and nearly passed out from being overwhelmed with happiness! Office workers had forgotten to go to work, children had forgotten to go to school, joggers had stopped their running, and dog owners stopped walking their dogs. Everyone walking by had been attracted by Zhang Zian, and they invariably stopped to watch him. Quite a few people also raised their cell phones to record videos, sharing them to Twitter, Facebook and other social medias.

    Some of the foreigners dressed in sportswear for morning jogging didn¡¯t carry cell phones with them, but they were reluctant to miss the scene and went back home to fetch their cell phones! They were remorseful, feeling that they had let the chance of getting rich slip away!

    Fina was a bit annoyed by the incessant bravo and it stared at Zhang Zian disdainfully. Had he ever been so diligent in practicing before?

    Zhang Zian enjoyed the feeling of being pretentious in front of people, and he was showing the Kung Fu techniques meticulously as instructed by Old Time Tea.

    Exerting forces from both Yin and Yang. Conserving strength like a snake. Releasing energy like a cat. Facing the opponent like a rooster.

    Utilizing all of his four limbs flexibly. Oveing hardness with softness. umting strengths from stomping on the ground. Passing the energy to the waist. Exerting energy from the shoulders.

    He wasn¡¯t concerned that the spectators would steal his Kung Fu. If Kung Fu was that easy to learn, it would be worthless. By watching videos, at best, all they would be able to grasp would be the simr positions, for they had no ways to learn the nuances such as the most important mental cultivation methods and techniques to exert energy. Anyway, he would be staying in the United States for only a few days! He could be pretentious without worrying about any undesirable consequences!

    The foreigners were no fools. Comparing Zhang Zian¡¯s Kung Fu with those in old movies, they could tell who was better.

    Finishing a set of Wing Chun practice routines, Zhang Zian closed his fists to his sides and remained still. Without panting or showing obvious expressions, only a few sweats were seen on the tip of his nose. This made him appear to be a bit more like a Kung Fu Master. In real Kung Fu Masters¡¯ eyes, he might be an inexperienced beginner, who had grasped urate movement, but his fists possessed no strengths and his stance was not stable. However, ¡­his skills were enough to cheat theseypersons. How many Wing Chun Masters were there here?!

    He stood with his back towards the sun, gave his fist-palm salute to the crowd, and said in Chinese, ¡°The sun rises in the east, and I am the only one invincible!¡±

    The foreigners didn¡¯t understand what he said, which was why they felt he was incredibly fantastic!

    It would be awkward if he said an English sentence right after practicing Wing Chun.

    Apuse and cheers reached a climax, although the onlookers knew that the show had ended, they kept asking, ¡°Anymore?¡± ¡°Is it over?¡±

    Richard was full, it fluttered with its wings and flew back to Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder. It answered for him in English, ¡°Tomorrow, at the same ce, at the same time, I¡¯ll be waiting for you.¡±

    Talking about what they had just saw and heard, the crowd gradually dispersed.

    Allen came over like a monkey and almost knelt before Zhang Zian, ¡°Master Zhang, please ept me as a disciple. I would like to go to China with you and learn Kung Fu diligently!¡±

    Zhang Zian acted like he was pondering, while Richard used the same old trick and said, ¡°You need to show your sincerity. You know what? You must bring the nuts to me like today every day during my stay in the United States, in addition, prepare for me a grill and some fresh chicken breast.¡±

    Although Allen did not understand why Master Zhang asked for the grill and chicken breast, he did not dare to ask ¡ª he just agreed to do so immediately. As he passed under the eaves, he suddenly found that the nuts had disappeared, leaving only many shells on the ground. He looked around in confusion, wondering which person or animal had eaten the nuts secretly. Helplessly, he could only buy nuts from the supermarket again. If Master Zhang was angry because of this, it would be only Allen¡¯s loss.

    Tim and Lauren also came to Zhang Zian from the sidewalk, looking at him with admiration. In their eyes, this mysterious Chinese was a Master of Qigong, Kung Fu and Cat Training! He was so powerful! Their Ragdoll cats, breeding cats and kittens included, had all been extremely well-behaved since Zhang Zian¡¯s arrival, as if they were influenced by something. Perhaps it was the invisible ¡°Qi¡± sending from his body?

    ¡°Good morning, Jeff! Fantastic show!¡± Tim apuded. Among the crowd, his apuse was the loudest.

    ¡°We are so honored to have you here.¡± Lauren echoed with her husband and smiled. ¡°You should really look at the expressions on the neighbors¡¯ faces. Their eyes were so wide open, as if they were looking at God himself.¡±

    Zhang Zian was happy inside, but he put on his calm face to appear pretentious, ¡°Just a small trick that isn¡¯t worth mentioning. I hope you enjoyed it. I intend to begin training cats today, please do cooperate with me.¡±

    Tim and Lauren had regarded him as an immortal. They listened to everything he said without any doubts, and felt fortunate that they were able to invite such an otherworldly Master into their home¡­

 Chapter 350: Into the Wilderness

    <h4>Chapter 350: Into the Wilderness</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    On the matter of cat training, Zhang Zian put forward several requests to Tim and Lauren.

    First, no one could watch him training the cats, and he would only do this in an empty field. The Kellers should drive him to the field and pick him upter.

    Second, it took a few days before the training process would bepleted. The exact days might differ, so the Kellers should remain patient.

    Tim and Lauren gave him their word.

    That was why Zhang Zian chose to show his Kung Fu techniques earlier. Since he needed to be alone with their cats, if they were not assured, they probably wouldn¡¯t agree to his requests. Now that they believed he was a Qigong Master and Kung Fu Master, surely, he wouldn¡¯t steal the cats from them.

    After having breakfast with Tim and Lauren, Zhang Zian went with them to the room where the kittens were residing. He did not let Fina follow him into the room, otherwise the kittens would have behaved too abnormally. The couple had already been surprised enough today, and should more shocking events ur, they would be numb.

    Even so, the kittens still smelled the scent of Fina from Zhang Zian. They showed respect and obedience to him, and even gathered around him, waiting for his inspection.

    Although Zhang Zian had seen these kittens from photos, looking at them in person was apletely different experience. He crouched down to look closely at them one by one. With their short fur, these kittens were not as beautiful as fully-grown cats, but more of like adorable little fur balls.

    If facing fully-grown cats, Richard wouldn¡¯t dare toe too close to them. Since they were just a few kittens that had just been weaned off not long ago, Richard emboldened itself to stand on the shoulder of Zhang Zian and watched with him.

    Tim pointed to the kittens and introduced them one by one, pointing out which had been booked by customers, which were to be retained for participating inpetitions and which were to be kept as breeding cats. Zhang Zian could choose half of the rest of the kittens. Since they were both professional, Tim told him this honestly without any reservations.

    The most important feature of a Ragdoll kitten was its blue eyes. No matter how much a cat resembled a Ragdoll, if its eyes were not blue, it was not a Ragdoll. Themonly-seen Ragdoll cats were roughly divided into three kinds¡ª colorpoint, mitted and bi-color.

    Zhang Zian found that most of the Ragdoll kittens were the bi-color type; more precisely, they were called ¡°colorpoint plus white color¡± Ragdoll kittens, which were the most popr kind in China. The key difference between bi-color Ragdoll kittens and the other two patterns lied in the upside down white ¡°V¡± markings on their faces. While the other two kinds basically had dark-colored faces, they were not as aesthetically eye-pleasing as the bi-color Ragdoll kittens were.

    The emphasis of the breeding of bi-color Ragdoll kittens was to control the genes of white markings. The more symmetrical the white markings on their whole bodies were, the more popr they would be among the public. However, the CFApetition didn¡¯t attach much importance to this aspect. The white markings on the face of the Ragdoll kitten that Tim had saved for thepetition were asymmetrical. In ordinary people¡¯s eyes, it was far from satisfactory than the other Ragdoll kittens; however, in the eyes of experts, its bones, body shape and facial structure were more symmetrical than the others¡¯, indicating that it possessed more stable genes, which was more valuable in the CFApetition.

    Since Zhang Zian did not intend to participate in the CFApetition in China, he didn¡¯t think these indicators mattered. Rather than choosing the Ragdoll kittens fond by experts, he preferred selecting the consumer-friendly Ragdoll kittens with symmetrical white markings¡ªwinning the public¡¯s affection was more important! Who cared what the experts wanted?!

    Bi-color Ragdoll kittens were subdivided into two types: the seal point bi-color and blue bi-color. The differences were that the former had a slightly darker color and thetter had lighter colors. The former looked more spiritedly, and thetter appeared more lovable. There were also two bi-color Ragdoll kittens with lynx patterns here, as if they had lost poker games and their faces were painted with a few mustaches, adding a touch of yfulness to them. Normally, the prices of Ragdoll kittens with lynx patterns were slightly lower, which might be a good choice for clients with tighter budgets.

    Zhang Zian also asked about the prices of these Ragdoll kittens. Tim was outspoken and told him that the pet-level Ragdoll kittens cost below $1,000, and the better-conditioned,petition-level kittens cost between $1,300 to $1,400. The kitten he specified to be retained was going to attend advancedpetitions, and its price depended on how many championships it won when it grew up.

    After a simple currency conversion, Zhang Zian realized that the price of apetition-level kitten was less than £¤10,000, while the equivalent conditioned kitten would cost at least £¤30,000 in China, and he must wait a while before picking it up. He did not ask Tim how much he intended to sell a dancing Ragdoll kitten for. Because rich people were everywhere in China and the United States, no matter how high the price was, someone would buy it regardless.

    Tim directed Allen to bring a pet air box, put the kittens into the box, and then carried them to the cargo truck, which would be driven by Allen. Tim followed behind Allen by driving the minivan with Zhang Zian and Fina. Lauren stayed at home and watched the two vehicles left.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s request was very simple. He only needed a deste, uninhabited field. After passing through several simr ces, he finally selected a small mound that the cars could drive up to, and by standing on top of the mound, he could see afar.

    Allen and Tim unloaded the kittens from the truck, as well as the barbecue grill, fuel and chicken breasts in the ice bucket that Zhang Zian had specifically required. Besides these, Zhang Zian also prepared camping tools such as tents because he nned to spend the night here. Although Allen once again begged to stay and watch and promised to be tight-lipped, Zhang Zian firmly refused to give him this opportunity.

    Tim left the truck here and drove away with Allen in the minivan. Prior to his departure, he handed Zhang Zian a prepaid mobile phone so that he could contact the cattery if necessary.

    Determining that no one was around, Zhang Zian targeted an open space and released Gxy, Old Time Tea and Snowy Li.

    ¡°Meow!¡± Having rested sufficiently in the pet bar of the game, Gxy was energetic as soon as it came out. It looked around curiously, ¡°Zian, this is the United States?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Though it kind of looks like China¡­¡± Zhang Zian smiled mysteriously. ¡°You¡¯ll know in the evening.¡±

    Gxy looked at him, puzzled, but he did not intend to make any further exnation. He diverted the topic ¡ª ¡°It is spacious, and no one is here. Gxy can enjoy ying hide-and-seek! Wait untill I unpack these things, and together we will have fun!¡±

    ¡°Meow!¡± Gxy eagerly kept looking around for a reliable hiding ce.

    Old Time Tea stretched a bit, gazing at Los Angeles at the end of the horizon. Today was sunny with good visibility, and its hat shielded out the sunshine so that it could see clearly.

    ¡°Zian, this is the United States?¡± asked Old Time Tea.

    Zhang Zian fetched a camping chair, and invited Old Time Tea to sit on it. He replied, ¡°Yes, Grandpa Tea. When I finish my work, let¡¯s go to the city together and experience something new.¡±

    Old Time Tea nodded pleasantly, ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been thinking about.¡±

    Regardless of the dizziness and confusion because they had juste out from the game, Snowy Li still scrambled over to Fina, ¡°Your Majesty! I¡¯ve missed you so much! In this exotic and strange country, I urgently need you tofort my injured soul!¡±

    Finazily stretched out a paw and ced it against Snowy Li¡¯s forehead, forbidding it to touch her body.

    Snowy Li stroked forwards with its limbs. Unfortunately, its forepaws were much shorter than Fina¡¯s, so it was unable to get what it wanted.

    Looking at the instructions, Zhang Zian put up the tent, and then set up the grill to cook the chicken breasts. He boiled a kettle of water to make tea for Old Time Tea. As he worked, he said to Fina, ¡°Please teach these kittens to dance. If you finish earlier, we will have more time to y in the city. You are looking forward to having fun in the city, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Fina narrowed its eyes forck of interest. ¡°Nonsense. I¡¯m not interested in the big city at all! The weather is nice today. Cover me with the the nket, I¡¯m going to take a nap basking under the sun.¡±

    ¡°Do you want me to apply sun cream on you?¡± Zhang Zian could not help but say.

    ¡°What?¡± Fina did not understand.

    ¡°Nothing, I¡¯m just joking around.¡± Zhang Zian swallowed back hisint¡ªdo you think you are at a beach?

    Fina red at him coldly, ¡°I¡¯m warning you, stop fooling me, otherwise¡ª-¡±

    ¡°Castrated!¡± said Snowy Li who was craving for chaos.

    Zhang Zian confidently pointed to Los Angeles far away and said, ¡°Do not worry, there is a ce you absolutely will not be disappointed with! So, start working!¡±

 Chapter 351: Nightwish

    <h4>Chapter 351: Nightwish</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Due to being hoodwinked repetitively by Zhang Zian, Fina was not interested in his promise. She waszily teaching the kittens to dance without putting in much effort.

    Unlike thenguages of humans, thenguage of cats didn¡¯t possess abundant expressions that enabled Fina to make the kittens understand how to dance by only uttering a few meows. She had to demonstrate the movements by dancing in front of the kittens so that they could remember andprehend.

    Though the movements were exactly the same, they were interpreted by Fina and the kittens differently. The kittens clumsily tried to imitate every movement made by Fina, but frequently, their left legs tripped on their right legs, and they would stumble onto the ground like limbless fur balls. Their devastated looks made people feel bad for them and want to hold them up. As for Fina, one could tell how its dancing was by looking at the admiration in Snowy Li¡¯s eyes. It was so sexy and seductive!

    The dance movements of the kittens originated from the dancing of South Korean and Japanese girl groups, especially the South Korean girl groups, whose choreography always emphasized the waist and legs of the performers. With her slim and slender physique, Fina¡¯s limbs were long among cats, making Snowy Li inferior. The way cats walked were charming and fascinating. That was how the reputation of a ¡°catwalk¡± was born. If anyone had seen Fina¡¯s dancing, a new word¡ª¡±catdance¡± ¡ªmay be born.

    Zhang Zian had never set up a tent or grill before, and he seeded by reading the manuals and restarting several times. After igniting the fuel, he boiled the water, added the tea leaves he had brought from China, and brought it over to Old Time Tea. Old Time Tea was lyingfortably in a camping chair, narrowing its eyes to overlook a corner of the city of Los Angeles. From this small mound, the tall buildings could be seen vaguely.

    ¡°Zian, Los Angeles is so big!¡± The tone of Old Time Tea revealed a rarely disclosed surprise. ¡°Does thatrge group of buildings in the distance belong to Los Angeles? This is much bigger than Binhai City, and it is also much more prosperous!¡±

    ¡°Of course, Grandpa Tea,¡±ughed Zhang Zian, pouring tea for it. ¡°Binhai is only a medium-sized city in China; it can¡¯tpete with Los Angeles or other cosmopolitan cities. Just wait for nighttime. I heard that the night view of Los Angeles is also very beautiful. It is a city without darkness.¡±

    Old Time Tea nodded full of expectation, ¡°Then this journey will be worthwhile.¡±

    Richard fluttered its wings, flying around to tease the kittens. Though it was not flying high, it was as annoying as flies were. Zhang Zian warned it not tond on the barbecue grill. If it insisted, at least it should pluck out its own feathers first, otherwise it might not be delicious.

    Gxy was exploring the small mound. Due to the year-round warm climate in Los Angeles, even in the winter, there was very little rain and snow, so the bush on the mounds still appeared green and luxurious.

    Zhang Zian was never good at using the oven to grill meat at home, not to mention this was his first time using a barbecue grill in a field. As he hurried and scurried, his face was smeared by the smoke the grill emitted, and several pieces of chicken had already been burnt. When it was time to eat, Fina wasining and fussy as usual, while Zhang Zian, as always, was immune to her nagging.

    In the afternoon, the gentle sunshine made everyone drowsy. Zhang Zian lined up the tarpaulins and camping chairs that he brought. Everyone covered themselves in nkets and took a nap under the sun. He also put on a pair of blindfolding goggles to help him sleep even more soundly.

    Richard¡¯s fluttering wings and quacking awakened him. When he removed his goggles, he found that it was already sunset. He must had slept for two or three hours.

    It seemed that Fina hadpleted the task of training the kittens to dance, since the kittens were ying hide-and-seek with Gxy. Seeing that he had been awaken, Old Time Tea stretched out a paw and pointed to another hill far away, ¡°Zian, what is that ce?¡±

    There were several English letters erected on that small hill and they couldn¡¯t be seen clearly during the day. Because of the angle of the sun light, the letters were sparkling right now.

    ¡°It¡¯s the famous Hollywood sign, the center of the world¡¯s film industry,¡± exined Zhang Zian. ¡°Many of the movies you watch are actually produced there.¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡± said Old Time Tea with surprise, ¡°So, it is a ce full of Masters?¡±

    ¡°No, most of the performances of the Kung Fu Masters in the movies are made using stunts. If the actors really knew any small tricks of Kung Fu, that would be enough for them to boast for a lifetime.¡± Zhang Zian quietly whispered to Old Time Tea, ¡°But there are lot of interesting attractions that are worth visiting. I will take you there in a few days.¡±

    Seeing that Gxy and the kittens were running further away, Zhang Zian worried that they might encounter danger, because snakes might still be active even in the warm winter of Los Angeles. He rushed over to take care of them, preventing them from running into the dense bushes.

    The sun sets earlier in winter. After dinner, in almost the blink of an eye, night had fallen.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, look over there!¡± Zhang Zian pointed into the distance.

    When the evening lights were lit, Los Angeles was breathtakingly beautiful. It was a fantastic worldposed of luminous spots. There were several flowing rivers of light. Some were broader, some were narrower, some were brighter, and some were darker. All of them were meandering through different terrains, but in the end, all the rivers converged into the ocean of lights. The colorful neon lights were like numerous round pebbles immersed in and scoured by the rivers of lights. A certain area of the ocean of lights was brilliantly illuminated as if it was daytime there. That was downtown Los Angeles, where even an inch ofnd came at a premium. It seemed that over the ocean of lights, ayer of luminous mist shrouded it, so bright that it could even eclipse the stars.

    Old Time Tea, Snowy Li, Gxy, and even Fina were all attracted by this, but not everyone was. Because of the night blindness of parrots, Richard couldn¡¯t see anything clearly, and it was quacking annoyedly.

    ¡°Shining things ¡­¡±

    Fina was fascinated, and her grumpiness towards Zhang Zian during the day had vanished. Her pupils wide-open, the reflective films of her eyes gathered the glows and then re-emitted them twice as bright as before. Her pupils were so astonishingly green right now that even opals or tigers¡¯ eyes were dwarfed.

    Looking at Fina from its behind, her silhouette was almost identical to that of the statue of the Cat Goddess thrown in the corner of the pet shop.

    Gazing at Fina¡¯s profile face affectionately, Snowy Li forgot itself.

    ¡°Gxy, look at what¡¯s over our heads,¡± Zhang Zian gently urged it.

    Gxy raised its small face and eximed, ¡°Meow! So many stars!¡±

    Ever since they had enjoyed tea and admired flowers on the pet shop¡¯s roof, Zhang Zian had been thinking of taking Gxy to stargaze in the wilderness, but such a n had been dyed for several reasons. Although Binhai City was not a big city, they lived in the downtown area, where the light pollution was still very serious, and the air quality in winter was not very good.

    The dazzling Milky Way drooped near the horizon, as if a lightsaber was obliquely cutting through the hill erected with the Hollywoodndmark.

    Their location was not the best ce for stargazing, but the advantage was that no one was bothering them. Except in the direction of downtown Los Angeles, they could see in the other three directions of the night sky clearly.

    Gxy was running around excitedly at the top of the hill. Between the interior of the pet shop and the green field behind the shop, it had never experienced anything as spacious as this hill! Today, it could have a wonderful time here!

    The rays illuminating from Old Time Tea¡¯s brass eyes were as bright as those of Fina, but they were more stable and mature, unlike Fina¡¯s eyes that were breathtakingly beautiful. Gazing at the rivers of lights across Los Angeles, it slowly recited a poem: ¡°Stars rise over fields that spread far and wide. The river that is perpetually flowing reflects the moon and it shines. I¡¯ve been roaming without purpose ¡ª what does that say of me? I am no more than a gull with no fixed abode on earth, prowling in the sky.¡±

    Because of night blindness, Richard couldn¡¯t see anything and felt it was disadvantaged. It couldn¡¯t help but shout, ¡°Quack! What gull?! I¡¯m a parrot!¡±

    Its words made everybody smile, and diluted the mncholy implication contained in the poem.

    Zhang Zian looked up and suddenly his eyes brightened. He pointed to the sky and yelled, ¡°Look! It¡¯s a meteor!¡±

    Everyone looked up, and saw that a bright meteor with its long tail was streaking across the sky from west to east, and right now it was just over their heads. They turned their heads alongside the meteor¡¯s trajectory and were amazed by it. Even Richard was pretending to be able to see it.

    ¡°Make a wish! Hurry!¡± said Zhang Zian urgently.

    Everyone stared at the fleeting meteor silently. Near the City of Angels, everyone made their own wishes.

 Chapter 352: A Recent Incident

    <h4>Chapter 352: A Recent Incident</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Whether it was the pet shop in China or the cattery in the U.S, the operators needed to get up early, like hard-working bees. They had to ventte the room, do some cleaning, change the cat litter, and prepare for the clients¡¯ visits. Though a cat was a creature that had good hygiene, the smell of its feces could be very pungent. Imagine how strong the smells would be when dozens of cats were together!

    Tim had gotten up before dawn. He walked out of the bedroom on tiptoes so that he wouldn¡¯t wake up his wife. In the kitchen, he was frying eggs and toasting bread so that when his wife woke up, she could enjoy a hot breakfast. Through the window, the morning sunshine was casting light on his shoulders, softening the rough profile of this big guy.

    Ding!

    The toaster made a sizzling sound, and two pieces of bread that were adequately toasted bounced up.

    As Tim heard some noise approaching, he narrowed his eyes and looked up to survey the distance in the neighborhood.

    A van truck was turning from the corner. The body of the truck was marked with the words ¡°Blue Climax¡±.

    Putting aside everything, Tim quickly opened the door and ran towards the vehicle.

    ¡°Hey! Jeff!¡±

    He waved his hand towards the truck.

    Zhang Zian parked the truck on the sidewalk and got out, full of energy. His driver¡¯s license in China could be temporarily used in California, saving him a lot of trouble. He slept very earlyst night, for there was no television in the wilderness to keep him up, and thework signal was very poor. Without any entertainment, he could only go to sleep.

    ¡°Tim, good morning!¡± the invisible Richard on his shoulder responded to Tim¡¯s greeting.

    ¡°You¡¯re back in time. Come in and have some breakfast.¡± Although Tim was eager to know the condition of his kittens, he still managed not to inquire.

    Zhang Zian waved his hand, ¡°There¡¯s no hurry for breakfast. Come help me unload the kittens from the truck. Let the kittens go in first.¡±

    That was also what Tim intended to do. Pulling open the truck¡¯s rear door and seeing that all his kittens were safe and sound, he was finally relieved. He picked up two air boxes and went towards the house, followed by Zhang Zian, who also picked up two air boxes.

    ¡°How was it, Jeff? Did the training go well?¡± asked Tim casually.

    ¡°Very well. These cats are really smart, and they learn fast,¡± Richard replied, ¡°I think they¡¯ll be able to fully master the dancing in another two to three days. ¡±

    ¡°Really? My God! Jeff, are you serious?¡± Upon hearing this, Tim¡¯s heart pounded heavily. Although Zhang Zian had said the process would only take a few days from the beginning, such a rapid development was beyond his expectation.

    ¡°Of course, I¡¯m not joking.¡± Actually, Zhang Zian had already finished training the cats. He just extended the length so that these foreigners wouldn¡¯t be over-astonished. He could not stay in the United States for a long time, and therefore he did not teach the special instructions of the transfer of ownership to the kittens.

    Going back and forth to unload the air boxes, he and Tim soon moved all the kittens into the house.

    Lauren also got up at this time. She dressed up, went downstairs and enthusiastically said hello to Zhang Zian. Tim told her the good news that the training was faring well. She was also very pleasantly surprised because it meant the training could be aplished before Thanksgiving. They were going to throw a party in their own backyard on Thanksgiving Day, and would be inviting rtives toe and y. The dancing kittens would absolutely make a sensation.

    Tim and Lauren invited Zhang Zian to sit together to eat breakfast, and Zhang Zian didn¡¯t reject the invitation. Since all he ate yesterday was barbecue, his body was urgently craving carbohydrates. Gobbling bread, fried eggs, bacon and orange juice, he was very much missing the steamed buns, skewers, tea eggs, soy milk and fried dough sticks on Zhonghua Road¡­

    ¡°Excuse me, Tim, when is the CFA Tournament?¡± While eating, he moved his shoulders, indicating that Richard should confirm this matter.

    Since he was in the United States, in addition to visiting the famous attractions in Los Angeles, it would be nice if he could participate in the CFA Tournament. Although the CFA Tournament had been hosted in China, it had never been hosted in Binhai City. Now that the CFA had certified his pet shop, why not seize the opportunity to enrich his experience? Perhaps he could boast about it in front of others in the future!

    Since 2016, the CFA had officially separated China from other regions and had set a sole region for it ¡ª the China region ¡ª while the rest of the world, including the United States, belonged to the international region. The message was clear: the Chinese had gone too far and the rest of the worldined about them. Setting up their own region, the Chinese could entertain themselves.

    This incident was triggered by more gossip.

    Some famous catteries in China that specialized in breeding Ragdoll kittens had attained tremendous scores by counterfeiting fake licenses, bringing more cats to thepetition, and having the female cats give birth frequently in short periods. Their scores were so high that no catteries from other countries could rival with them. Under strong protests from other countries, the CFA made the resolute decision and cut China region off.

    Faking licenses was a traditional means of counterfeiting, and was simr to faking driving licenses. Bringing more cats to thepetition was a malicious abuse of CFA¡¯s rules¡ªthe higher the number of cats participating in the game, the higher scores the champion cat could get. Letting female cats conceive and give birth frequently were odious means. It was said that after the first litter, in less than two months, some female cats had given birth to their second litter. Such catteries just treated the female cats as birth machines, and they were severely punished by the CFA.

    Therefore, even with the premium-conditioned Ragdoll kittens provided by Blue Climax, Zhang Zian was not interested in participating in China¡¯s CFApetition, which waspletely a game designed for people who could exploitoopholes,e up with fraudulent methods, and be more ruthless to their cats. When the game was rted to their interests, many people could go very low. These so-called standard catteries, in private, were not as good as the Pets¡¯ Home Breeding Base.

    However, he was still interested in participating in the CFApetition in the United States. After all, here was still a purend for fairpetition.

    Tim stood up from the table and walked to the wall to check the hanging calendar, upon which some important days had been marked up.

    ¡°If you hadn¡¯t mentioned it, I would have forgotten¡ªthat¡¯s today.¡± Tim sat back and had thest bite of the omelette, ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Jeff? Did you want to attend the tournament?¡±

    ¡°Is it today?¡± Shocked, Zhang Zian was almost choked by the bread in his mouth. He quickly drank some orange juice to suppress his astonishment.

    Damn it! What went wrong? When in China, he asked Tim about this question, and Tim¡¯s answer was tomorrow. How could it suddenly change to today? Did the CFA change the schedulest minute?

    ¡°Wait a second, Tim, I remember you saying it was going to be held tomorrow. Howe it has changed to today?¡± Richard asked him.

    ¡°Sorry, my fault.¡± Tim apologized and waved his hand. ¡°When I flew to China from the United States, my mind was muddled, and I mistook the date, so I told you it would be held tomorrow.¡±

    Oh! Zhang Zian also thought for a few seconds before he understood. After flying over the international date change line, Tim was confused by the date? That made sense.

    He had always thought that thepetition would be held tomorrow. Fortunately, he had asked Richard to confirm today, or else he would have missed it.

    ¡°I remember the venue is not far from here?¡± asked Richard.

    ¡°Not very far, you can arrive there very quickly by driving. If you want to go, I can tell you the routes.¡± Said Tim. Hesitating for a moment, then he asked again: ¡°Jeff, are you going to take the golden cat to participate?¡±

    Seeing the strange look on Tim¡¯s face, Zhang Zian wondered what he had thought of. Richard replied for him, ¡°That¡¯s right, but just for fun, not thinking of winning any awards.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡± Tim and Lauren nced at each other.

    ¡°Is there a problem?¡± Richard asked, and Zhang Zian put up his puzzled expression.

    Tim said somewhat embarrassedly, ¡°Jeff, do you mind if I ask you something? If I¡¯m right, your cat is an Egyptian Mau?¡±

    ¡°It is indeed,¡± Zhang Zian nodded.

    Tim sighed, ¡°Then does it have a studbook? You know, cats without studbooks are not eligible for the CFA Tournament.¡±

    Zhang Zian was dumbfounded. He didn¡¯t have one of those for Fina!

    His awkward look had confirmed Tim¡¯s suspicions¡ªthat the cat was not a purebred Egyptian Mau, so it didn¡¯t possess a studbook.

 Chapter 353: A Match for House Cats

    <h4>Chapter 353: A Match for House Cats</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Just as the poem goes:

    ¡°Pay the toll if you want to go through the mountain road built by me;

    Pay the fare if you want to enjoy the shades under the tree nted by me.¡±

    It was also urately reflecting the status of variouspetitions in all sorts of industries at home and abroad, including, but not limited to, the pet industry and the CFA.

    If someone wanted to participate in the CFA Tournament, his cat must possess a studbook, proving that this cat had been registered with the CFA, a prerequisite to being eligible for thepetition.

    As the saying goes, the opportunities must not be given to outsiders. If an unregistered cat became the champion in the end, how would those registered cats and their owners feel? Who will pay the registration fees in the future?

    Reminded by Tim, Zhang Zian remembered that his cat must have a studbook before it could participate in the CFA Tournament. If he wanted to ce Fina in the game without the studbook, he might have to resort to fraudulent methods as the unscrupulous catteries¡¯ owners did. Even if he was willing to spend the money to make a fake-studbook before thepetition, Fina would never agree to this! Asking it to pretend it was the descendant of an ordinary cat?! The moment he mentioned this idea to her, he might be murdered by Fina immediately¡­

    He could only me himself for not considering everything thoroughly enough.

    Seeing his regret, Lauren was very sympathetic for him and asked her husband, ¡°So Jeff can only go to the CFA as an audience member?¡±

    Tim thought for a moment, ¡°If you want to participate in thepetition, there might be another option.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± asked Richard.

    Tim exined, ¡°In addition to the groups vying for the championship, the CFA also offers apetition for house cats that are not registered under it. In thatpetition, the cats don¡¯t need to present their studbooks, and there is no specific appearance standard. Cats of different breeds are put together, the referees will grade them based on their fitness status and performance, and both purebred cats and non-purebred cats can attend. Jeff, if you want, you may participate in this way.¡±

    ¡°Apetition for house cats?¡± Zhang Zian gave it a thought. He just wanted to participate in the game for fun, not for gaining fame or fortune. So it didn¡¯t matter to him which group Fina was put in or whether or not she could be the champion.

    He nodded in agreement.

    Tim was also relieved. He was very worried that this Qigong Master woulde up with unreasonable demands that he couldn¡¯t fulfill. At this critical moment, if the Master was pissed, the training of his Ragdoll kittens would be in vain¡­ he looked out the window and saw that Fina was outside by herself. She was lying on the railing under the eaves, basking under the sunzily.

    Tim had to admit that this cat was beautiful, very beautiful with its elegant gestures and it¡¯s pair of intoxicating green eyes¡ªbut it didn¡¯t conform to the standard of CFA on identifying as an Egyptian Mau. Modern Egyptian Mau cats had no mackerel patterns on their bodies, but this golden cat did, which presumably indicated that it was not purebred. In addition, silver Egyptian Mau cats were highly valued. As for a golden Egyptian Mau¡­ he had never met one before.

    Even if Zhang Zian got a studbook from somewhere and took this golden cat to the game, it would be impossible to get the championship, not even if the sun rose from the west. However, if it took part in the match for house cats, there was hope for it to be a winner.

    Since Zhang Zian had agreed with his proposal, Tim then said, ¡°In general, the cat owners will bring something, such as food bowls, water basins, litter boxes, or canned food that the cats like to eat, and gadgets such as cat teasers to help make the cats rx¡­ if you need anything, feel free to take stuff from our cattery.¡±

    Zhang Zian waved his hand to decline Tim¡¯s kindness, ¡°No need, just tell me how to get there.¡±

    Tim fetched a map, and marked out the route for Zhang Zian and gave him the map.

    ¡°Do you want me to drive you there? I have some acquaintances at the CFA who might help¡­¡± Tim reminded in an obscure way.

    He had participated in many races with his own cats and had befriended many staff members and even some of the CFA referees. Thepetition for house cats was only for entertainment, rather than vying to win. Many people just wanted to have fun and make friends. If Zhang Zian wanted to win the championship in thepetitoh for house cats, Tim would be able to provide some help. Besides, this golden cat itself also had the potential to be a champion.

    ¡°Thank you, but that would be unnecessary.¡± Richard said for Zhang Zian, knowing that he was disgusted by these trickeries.

    ¡°Well, take care then. You can take my car, I¡¯m not using it today.¡± Because of Zhang Zian¡¯s integrity, Tim was a bit embarrassed. He took out the key for his minivan and threw it to him.

    ¡°Thanks.¡± Zhang Zian caught the key, looked at the time, and decided to set off right away. Being new to the town and unfamiliar with the rules and procedures, earlier departure would buy him some time if anything unexpected urred on the road.

    He waved goodbye the Kellers. But when he opened the door to the house, he was startled greatly.

    Outside the house was arge crowd of foreigners, including driving adults, jogging youngsters, and bicycle-riding children. The moment they saw Zhang Zian, they immediately apuded, cheered, and whistled louder and louder!

    ¡°Kung Fu Master!¡±

    ¡°Kung Fu from China!¡±

    ¡°Master Zhang!¡±

    ¡°Ni hao Master!¡±

    What is happening? Perplexed, Zhang Zian quickly closed the door, and looked at the invisible Richard.

    ¡°Should we call the police, for the crowd is gathering illegally?¡± Richard asked thoughtfully.

    Tim walked to the kitchen window, looked out and smiled, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Jeff, did you forget? Yesterday you said that you would perform Kung Fu today! They are here for the show. I know most of them. They are all neighbors in the neighborhood¡­ My God! That¡¯s Victor! This old guy is over 90 years old, and he has been lying in bed for half a year, but now he is here with an oxygen tube stuck up his nose, sitting in a wheelchair and being pushed by his son¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian went to the window. On the edge of the crowd, there was an old man as skinny as a skeleton. His hair and beard had gonepletely white. He was wearing crumpled striped pajamas, with stic airway tubes stuck in his nostrils. He was sitting in a wheelchair which was attached with a small oxygen bottle behind it, and happily waving his hands and cheering like others!

    What the hell have I done?!

    Zhang Zian was worried that this old man might die any minute from over-excitement! If that was the case, was he responsible for his death??

    As it turned out, foreigners also liked watching the fun!

    ¡°Look! Allen is also there! Just when I wondered why this bastard iste again¡­¡± Tim cussed while putting on a jacket. ¡°I¡¯m going to pull him in.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at the crowd again and found Allen. In front of several youngdies, he was imitating the Kung Fu actions from movies and uttered some weird sounds. Apparently, thedies were not interested in his lousy parody. It was probably not the first time Allen had tried to y to the gallery like this.

    Tim opened the door and strode out, pointing at Allen¡¯s nose to scold him. Allen was so embarrassed that he kept his head down, and thedies moved away from him. Several people greeted Tim, as if they were asking when the Kung Fu Master woulde out to perform. Tim shrugged and raised his hand, pointing to the house, indicating that he was not sure either.

    Walking into the house with Tim like a prisoner, Allen yelled as soon as he saw Zhang Zian, ¡°Master Zhang! I thought you went back to China! Everyone is waiting for you to perform!¡±

    Tim cursed again, ¡°This is all your fault by inviting your entire gang here! I¡¯m warning you! If you arete again, you are fired! Now, get back to your work!¡±

    Allen¡¯s face had been sprayed by Tim¡¯s saliva. He embarrassedly wiped his face, and went to attend to the chores of the cattery.

    When he was gone, Tim said with worry, ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be so many people today. It¡¯s Allen who has been telling everyone about you¡­ Jeff, if you do not want to show up, I can go to tell them¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment, and decided to go out. If he kept hiding in this house, he would miss the CFApetition.

 Chapter 354: Exclusive Interview

    <h4>Chapter 354: Exclusive Interview</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian first went back to the bedroom to put on his gray Chinese tunic suit. In fact, such a tight and instic suit was not suitable for practice, during which process the crotch might be split open at any second. But he looked more handsome in this suit¡­he had seen clearly that there were several beautiful and young foreign girls among the crowd.

    He opened the door again. Having been prepared this time, he immediately disyed the fist-palm salute like a gentleman.

    Another round of cheers and apuse burst out. It was like this quiet neighborhood was enjoying Halloween again. Almost everyone raised their cell phones to take photos or record videos of him. Zhang Zian even noticed that there was a very professional reporter and a videographer.

    The television industry in the United States was well-developed. There were so many television stations that even individuals could apply for television licenses. Judging from the shabby looks of the reporter and the videographer, who didn¡¯t even have a special van with them, they probably were not from a national television station. Strategically, Zhang Zian disdained them; yet tactically, he still quietly straightened his suit¡­

    As soon as she saw him, the female reporter immediately extended her microphone to him. ¡°Hello, my name is Jane. I am a reporter from a local television station. I heard that you are a Kung Fu Master from China, is that correct? Can you ept our brief interview?¡± ¡±

    The female reporter was speaking very fast, but Zhang Zian was able to understand the gist of what she was saying. Although he had only been in the United States for a few days, he felt that his English proficiency had already improved greatly. After all, he was surrounded by English speakers, and such an immersive learning atmosphere was not replicable in China.

    For the first time in his life, Zhang Zian was being interviewed by a reporter, a female reporter, so he was somewhat clumsy and restless. However, he was not responsible for speaking to her. Richard was not nervous at all, for it had previously been interviewed many times.

    ¡°I am the Master. What do you want to ask? But please make it quick, I¡¯m in a hurry.¡± said Richard, and Zhang Zian synchronized himself with its speaking.

    Jane was relieved, ¡°OK, how long have you been in the United States? How do you feel about it?¡±

    She wore a grey professional suit. She was mediocre-looking, but was full of enthusiasm and vitality.

    ¡°A few days. The neighbors are very nice¡ª they are very warm and hospitable, and I enjoy the life here.¡± Richard responded very well.

    ¡°It is said that you practice Kung Fu here every morning, right? Will you practice it today?¡± Jane asked, her tone full of expectation. After all, she came here not only for the purpose of interviewing. If she could also record the Kung Fu practicing, it could help her gain appreciation from the boss of her television station¡ªfor no other peers in the industry were here currently. In other words, she had gotten an exclusive interview!

    Exclusive interview! What a rare opportunity.

    ¡°Of course,¡± said Richard affirmatively.

    Hearing this, the spectators, who were worried that the show wouldn¡¯t be performed, were finally relieved.

    ¡°Great, can we shoot the whole process? I notice that everyone is looking forward to your performance, so it must be brilliant!¡± said Jane.

    ¡°No, you¡¯ve got it wrong,¡± rectified Richard, imitating the pretentious tone of Zhang Zian, ¡°I¡¯m not practicing Kung Fu for entertainment. I¡¯m just following where my heart leads me to. Through mindful breathing, I can bnce the five elements in my body, and absorb the Qi of the universe for my own sake. Through practicing martial arts, I can achieve the realm where I have be an integral part of nature.¡±

    Jane could barely understand what he said, but at least she learned that the Kung Fu Master was powerful. As for whether what he said was true or not, she didn¡¯t care. She just wanted to attain a piece of big news.

    Since it was early in the morning, Zhang Zian figured that the CFA Tournament could not have started so early. So, he walked slowly to the center of thewn, closed his eyes, sat cross-legged, and breathed mindfully.

    Someone suddenly screamed, ¡°Look there! Look at thewn in front of the Master!¡±

    Following the sound, people looked at thewn. The videographer also adjusted the focus, aiming at a patch of green grass in front of Zhang Zian.

    Today¡¯s weather was very good, without a bit of wind, but as Zhang Zian¡¯s chest was heaving up and down, the patch ofwn seemed to be swaying back and forth¡ªwhen Zhang Zian inhaled, the grass waved towards him; and when he exhaled, the grass waved towards the opposite direction.

    The audience, including Jane, was stunned. In their eyes, it was Zhang Zian¡¯s breathing that had caused such an abnormal phenomenon. In fact, it was Richard, who was fanning its wings¡­

    ¡°Did you get it?¡± Jane asked the videographer nervously.

    The videographer replied with an ¡°OK¡± gesture.

    What the hell was that? Magic? Supernatural powers? Aliens? Jane whispered inside her heart. When she went to Chinatown, she had seen some Chinese people perform martial arts, and sometimes even saw the monks from China perform the Hard Qigong by throwing a needle to shatter ss, but no one could make the grass a few feet away sway by breathing alone¡­

    As the rising sunshine shone on the solemn face of Zhang Zian, and most importantly, with the people in his presence being in awe of him, he looked somewhat holy and pure.

    After breathing for a few minutes, Zhang Zian jumped up, and put out all his efforts to perform a set of Wing Chun fighting methods.

    Tim and Lauren also came out of the house, looking at their ownwn in distress¡ªwith Zhang Zian¡¯s steps and his twisting body punching, kicking, and poking fingers, a string of clear footprints had been left on thewn, and the snapped, broken leaves had been squashed into the mud. It seemed that mowing thewn a few days ago was a waste of effort¡­

    Finishing his practice, Zhang Zian retreated his fists to his sides and stood still. The apuse and cheering he received were several times louder than that of yesterday.

    It was gettingte. He waved to Jane and the crowd, indicating that was it for today.

    Richard said, ¡°Sorry,dies and gentlemen, I still have something to do. I need to go to the CFApetition. If I don¡¯t leave now, it will be toote.¡±

    Zhang Zian asked Fina toe over, and took her into Tim¡¯s minivan. He sat in the driver¡¯s seat and started the engine, and Fina leapt to the passenger¡¯s seat.

    The audience felt very regretful and they reluctantly dispersed. There were people asking Tim and Lauren whether the performance would continue tomorrow. The couple said they were not clear.

    ¡°Wait a minute!¡± Jane chased the vehicle, knocking on the window with her knuckles.

    Zhang Zian rolled down the window ss, ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°What did you say? CFA?¡± Jane curiously asked. She didn¡¯t raise cats and had no idea what CFA was. Seeing that the Kung Fu Master from China was driving away immediately, she had no time to look it up herself¡ª she could onlye over and ask him directly.

    Richard exined a little.

    Jane ¡®s pupils dted. With her keen intuition as a journalist, she thought this may be a good subject¡ªthe multiple identities of the Chinese Kung Fu master? It seemed that it was a topic worthy for a follow-up and for her to delve further into.

    ¡°Sir, do you mind if we go with you?¡± she asked. ¡°I am also very interested in this race, and I promise I will not disturb you.¡±

    Of course, she was not interested in the cat game, she just said that to win the favor of Zhang Zian, so that he would agree to let her interview him about the whole process. The magical performance of Zhang Zian just now was really eye-opening to her, so she also had a strong curiosity about the truth, wanting to know more about this mysterious Chinese man. She had made up her mind that she would drive to follow him regardless of whether Zhang Zian agreed or not. She must not miss this rare opportunity, or she would be med severely by the boss when she returned to the television station.

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment. He was fine with her following him. He was not sure whether CFA would agree to let her shoot, but it was not his business.

    He nodded in agreement and pointed to the map that Tim had given him. Richard said knowingly, ¡°Of course I don¡¯t mind. I¡¯m not familiar with the neighborhood, so if you can, please drive in front of me and I¡¯ll follow you. Just go to the ce marked on the map. ¡±

    Jane took over the map and nced at it, recognizing that the ¡°x¡± was a stadium in the neighboring county.

    ¡°No problem! Leave it up to me! I¡¯ll go get my car!¡±

    Jane took the map and went to whisper with the apanying videographer. The photographer, though somewhat dissatisfied with the extra work, was persuaded by her, at the cost of her buying lunch for him today.

 Chapter 355: Old Friends

    <h4>Chapter 355: Old Friends</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    With Jane and the videographer driving to lead him, Zhang Zian felt much more relieved. Tim did not install a GPS in this minivan, perhaps because the couple had been living here long enough that no GPS was necessary.

    Tim and Lauren didn¡¯t reside in downtown Los Angeles, but in a county of arge district. The CFA Tournament this time was being held in a nearby county, about half an hour away by driving.

    Along the way, Zhang Zian and Richard discussed possible conditions for the venue and negotiated countermeasures.

    In another car, the videographer was very suspicious about whether Jane¡¯s approach was correct; in his opinion, this fraudulent sorcerer Mr. Zhang must have been using some type of cloaking by arranging some props on thewn in advance. They shouldn¡¯t be wasting time on this matter¡ªto some extent, his guess was closer to the truth.

    Jane could not be sure, but she insisted on doing this, believing it was worth a try.

    Approaching the destination, Jane, who was driving, noticed that there were temporary signs on the roadsides, which were serving to point directions for CFA participants and spectators. Vehicles sprayed with various cat patterns were frequently passing her car. Some were pictures of real cats, some were of cartoon cats like Hello Kitty, and some cars were printed with phone numbers, advertising their own catteries.

    When they arrived at the stadium marked on the map, she saw that this ce had be the sea of cats. Cats of all kinds and of various colors¡ªalthough she couldn¡¯t tell the breeds of them ¡ª had been closed in cat cages, carried by their owners, and were brought into the stadium. Some catteries didn¡¯t attach much importance to winning, for they had sent only one or two people; while other catteries had sent a strong lineup, obviously ambitious for the championship.

    Many cat owners knew each other. Instead of bringing their cats into the stadium, they were standing near the entrance, greeting one another, talking about the news and gossiping about cats, exchanging experiences in cat raising. Of course, some people were just talking about the weather and election, like ordinary Americans were.

    Her car and Zhang Zian¡¯s car were parked in front of the gym. Several cattery owners recognized the vehicle that belonged to Blue Climax, and they came by to say hi.

    ¡°Hi, Tim, you¡¯rete today¡­¡±

    However, the only person that got out of the car was not their old friend Tim, but a strange Chinese man with ck hair and yellow skin.

    ¡°What¡­ Who are you? Why are you driving Tim¡¯s car?¡± Out of concern for their old friend, they inquired bluntly at Zhang Zian and even surrounded him to prevent him from escaping.

    Jane indicated the videographer to start shooting hurriedly. It would be best if they could start fighting. Whether Zhang Zian would defeat them or if he was the one being beaten up, it would be a piece of good news¡ªthe title for the former would be The Kung Fu Master Deserves His Reputation, while the title for thetter would be Exposing the Fake Kung Fu Master.

    These Americans were tall and muscr, and Zhang Zian, who was surrounded in the middle, seemed very poor and small.

    He maintained a calm look, and Richard said, ¡°It was Tim who let me drive his car. He and Lauren are staying at home and they are not going to participate in the race¡ªif you are his friends, you should know that the kittens in Blue Climax are not ready to participate.¡±

    They hesitated and looked at each other, but believed most of his words. Tim did tell them that he was not going to participate in this tournament, thinking that there were plenty of chances for him in the future. And the status of Blue Climax was just like the Chinese man had said.

    ¡°Sorry to have misunderstood you. I¡¯m Jack.¡±

    ¡°I am Simon.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Vincent.¡±

    ¡°Carl.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Jeff Zhang from China. I¡¯m a friend of Tim and Lauren, and I¡¯m living at their home temporarily.¡±

    They introduced themselves to Zhang Zian and shook hands with him one by one, and the tense atmosphere eased up. The dressing styles and even the tones of these people were very simr to that of Tim. Wearing scruffy id shirts, ck jeans and worker¡¯s boots, they seemed like they were in their forties and had straightforward characters. No wonder they and Tim were old friends.

    Jane pouted disappointingly, indicating for the videographer to put down the camera, for the shooting would be unnecessary right now.

    Zhang Zian knew that they were rude to him out of concern for their friend, so he didn¡¯t mind.

    Karl raised his baseball cap and asked tentatively, ¡°Tim did tell us that he did not intend to participate in thepetition, but he said he woulde to visit and gather with us, his old friends. Has he changed his mind?¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded, and Richard replied ording to the current situation, ¡°Thanksgiving is approaching, and as you know, the Kellers hold a party in their backyard every year, so he¡¯s too busy preparing for that toe to this. He and Lauren asked me to say hello to you on their behalf, and invite you to join the party.¡±

    He even knew such details of their lives, these friends of Tim had no doubts towards Zhang Zian anymore.

    ¡°Jeff, how did you get to know Tim? We didn¡¯t hear him mention he had met a friend from China,¡± asked Simon.

    Richard replied, ¡°Because when they went to China recently, they met me in China and invited me toe to the United States as a guest.¡±

    Vincent replied, ¡°Oh¡±, and said with a sense of pride in his tone, ¡°So you are here to visit the CFApetition? Wee! Be sure to go to my booth! I presume you have seen Tim¡¯s cats, but our cats are as good as his! ¡±

    ¡°Come on, Vincent, you won the least championships among usst year, stop embarrassing yourself in front of this friend from China!¡±

    ¡°What did you say! Last year I missed a few races because I was renovating my house. The results have nothing to do with my cats!¡±

    Vincent¡¯s words aroused theughter and sarcasm of other people, and he retorted bitterly.

    It seemed that although they were friends, they were secretlypeting with each other and strived to foster cats of better conditions. In this atmosphere of healthypetition, they were both supportive of each other and progressing together.

    ¡°Please go to my booth.¡±

    ¡°You must go to my booth!¡±

    All of them had enough confidence in their own cats and were inviting Zhang Zian toe to their booths. In a sense, this was also a part of the contest among them¡ªasking Zhang Zian, the fair third party, to judge whose cats were better, they even started quarrelling. Their voices were so loud that other participants and audience members started to look this way, thinking that they were fighting.

    ¡°Everyone! Please! Listen to me.¡± Richard interrupted them.

    They quieted down, looking at Zhang Zian and waiting for what he was going to say.

    ¡°Thank you very much for your invitation, but¡­ actually, I¡¯m not here to be in the audience¡ªI¡¯m here to attend the race.¡±

    After this remark, the smiles on their faces suddenly became stagnant. They heard that Zhang Zian came from China and instinctively thought that he was in the United States for fun, and hadn¡¯t thought of the possibility of his participation. They knew that there were catteries from China that often cheated in the races, so the CFA had cut off China from other regions, and now a cattery owner from China hade all the way here to participate in the United States¡¯petition?

    However, out of trust in Tim, though they were surprised, they had no exaggeration of words and actions.

    Richard went on exining, ¡°I run a pet shop in China, and because of this, I got to know Tim. It was a spur of the moment for me to join the race today, which had nothing to do with Tim. He just lent me the car.¡±

    Pet shop?

    They felt ridiculous. If it was a cattery from China, maybe they would pay more attention to him¡ª after all, the catteries in China used miraculous methods to win. But a pet shop owner at amateur level dared to participate in the CFApetition? Was he looking down on thepetence of the catteries in the United States?!

    Simon vaguely squeezed his eyes towards the other three friends, pretending to be serious and asked, ¡°Jeff, which cat breed have you brought? The Ragdoll?¡±

    Since Ragdoll cats were very popr, and nearly half of the cats participating in the CFApetition were Ragdolls, plus the fact that Tim was selling Ragdoll cats, and Zhang Zian knew Tim, Simon was pretty sure about his conjecture.

    Zhang Zian shrugged and looked sorry, ¡°No. Because my cat does not have a studbook, it can¡¯t vie for the championship. I¡¯m here to take it to thepetition for house cats, where any breed of cat can participate.¡±

    They finally could not help butugh. He was indeed an amateur,ing afar from China only to attend thepetition for house cats in the United States. Everyone knew that thepetition for house cats was only an entertainment and performancepetition, and even if his cat won in the end, it couldn¡¯t prove anything.

    ¡°Well, Jeff, where is your cat? Let¡¯s take a look at your cat. With our keen eyes, just by a nce, we can tell the chance it has in bing the winner in thepetition for house cats,¡± Karl said with a smile.

    Zhang Zian turned back to the car and said in Chinese, ¡°Fina, get out quickly!¡±

 Chapter 356: Entering the Venue

    <h4>Chapter 356: Entering the Venue</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Fina yawned and jumped out of the car with a gging interest, casting a casual look at Zhang Zian as if to say, What do you want from me?

    These old friends of Tim had been operating catteries from a few years to over a decade. When it came to judging the conditions of a cat, their recognition abilities were way more urate than Zhang Zian¡¯s. From their first nce at Fina, from the color of its eyes, its facial features and posture, they had recognized this was a rare Egyptian Mau, except by CFA standards, it probably was not a purebred one.

    What surprised them was that this Egyptian Mau was quite unruly, with sharp, fierce eyes and an aura warning that strangers must not approach it. One should know that the cats participating in the CFApetition were all specially selected. Not only were they all in excellent conditions, but more importantly, they were extremely gentle, so gentle that even if strangers ¨C say referees ¨C held them up, rubbed them and pinched them, they would not resist or scratch them with their paws. Otherwise, no matter how excellent their conditions were, they would be disqualified.

    This Egyptian Mau apparently was not willing to let anyone touch it easily. Its eyes had conveyed the message clearly¡ªWant to touch me? I dare you!

    If this was the case, let alone the championship race, even if it was in thepetition for house cats, it wouldn¡¯t be the winner. Because even in the match for house cats, there were referees who would touch it, pinch it, show a cat teaser in front of it to check whether it was healthy and gentle.

    While they were watching Fina, Zhang Zian looked at the other contestants passing by. The contestants were carrying cat cages containing a wide range of cats, most of them purebred blue blood cats. asionally there were hybrid cats to be put in thepetition for house cats. As Tim¡¯s old friends expected, all the participating cats were very gentle, lying quietly in their cat cages, so the horrors the cats disyed when seeing Fina were not perceived by the owners.

    When Zhang Zian was performing mindful breathing in the frontwn of Tim¡¯s house, there was no wind, and still now, there was no wind. The odor of Fina could not pass very far, and only the cats who had passed by them were affected.

    Simon, Vincent, Jack, and Carl nced at each other and shook their heads lightly. This cat had a serious personality problem. They were afraid that it wouldn¡¯t even win in thepetition for house cats.

    Just when they were trying to subtly remind Zhang Zian of this, they heard the stadium broadcast reminding participants to enter the venue quickly, for the game was about to begin. Unlike Zhang Zian, who was carefree, the four of them were ambitious to win every championship for each breed of cat, and their cats had been brought in to the venue by their family or assistants in advance, but they had to be present when the game started so that their own cats would feel more at ease.

    ¡°We¡¯re going in. Jeff, it¡¯s nice to meet you. Say hello to that bastard Tim and lovely Lauren for us, and tell them we¡¯ll be at their Thanksgiving party on time,¡± they said to Zhang Zian, shook hands with him again and patted him on the shoulder enthusiastically.

    ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll tell them,¡± said Richard.

    ¡°You should also go in as soon as possible. Although the requirements for thepetition for house cats are not strict, you still have to register,¡± they reminded him before entering the stadium.

    ¡°Well, folks, you can go in first. I¡¯ll apany him to registration.¡± Out of his friendship with Tim, Vincent stayed alone.

    ¡°Hurry up! If you cannot win a single championship this time, don¡¯t use this as an excuse!¡± the other three said in a joking manner.

    ¡°F**k off!¡± Vincentughed and cussed at them.

    With Vincent¡¯s help, Zhang Zian and Fina easily got the relevant issues of registration done. Vincent took him to the booth and left. Jane and the videographer also went into the venue sessfully, filming Zhang Zian all the way.

    Sitting in the booth, Zhang Zian curiously looked at the situation of the stadium. Fina was also very curious. Since she had been summoned from history, she had never seen so many cats.

    ¡°What? Why is my cat acting strange?¡±

    Hearing that someone was talking next to him, Zhang Zian turned around and saw a kind old Caucasiandy with reading sses, curly silver hair, simple clothes, and a walking stick in her hand looking at the cat she brought in puzzlement.

    Zhang Zian was surprised when he saw her cat, because he had never seen such a cat before.

    Growing up in a pet shop since childhood, Zhang Zian thought he had seen a lot of cats, except such extremely rare breeds as the Egyptian Mau. He had seen most cat breeds. But apparently, the cat in front of him was an exception.

    This was a slender, elegant cat with a delicate wedge-shaped face, towering triangr ears and charming, almond-shaped eyes that slightly turned upward. Though its body was slender, it was rather muscr with long limbs and a long, strong tail.

    In terms of body size, it highly resembled Fina, and was also simr to the statue of the Cat Goddess in Zhang Zian¡¯s shop.

    However, its eyes were amber in color. Except for its whitish chin, its whole body was covered with short chocte fur, and there were M-shaped lines on its forehead. These notable features had distinguished it from the Egyptian Mau.

    It was horrifyingly watching Fina. Its body was gripping the disy table of the booth tightly, and didn¡¯t dare to move a bit.

    Fina also noticed this. Because it thought this cat was somewhat simr to itself, not only by appearance, but also by demeanor, temperament and some inexplicable odor, Fina also looked at it with great interest.

    Zhang Zian coughed, putting his fist in front of his mouth, and whispered to Richard, ¡°Ask what is going on.¡±

    ¡°Hi, do you need help?¡± Richard raised its volume due to the loud noises in the stadium.

    The olddy probably had poor hearing. She didn¡¯t realize the man was talking to her until Richard asked the second time.

    ¡°Hi, hello, young man.¡± She kindly said hello.

    ¡°Call me Jeff. I¡¯ve noticed that you seem to be having trouble? Do you need help?¡± asked Richard.

    She extended her hands, trembling and full of wrinkles. ¡°Oh, that is so nice of you! My name is Catherine, but you can call me Cathy.¡±

    Zhang Zian stood up, leaned over and shook hands with her.

    ¡°Cathy, what happened to your cat? What went wrong?¡± asked Richard.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened either¡­¡± Cathy stroked her cat in puzzlement, ¡°My Wendy has always been a very lively, naughty kitten. I need to press it firmly so that it won¡¯t run off the stand ¡­ I do not know why, but since moments ago, it became like this, lying on its tummy motionlessly. I was worried that it got sick suddenly¡­ but this morning, I measured its temperature, and everything was normal¡­ ¡±

    Zhang Zian understood what was going on. Her cat did not get sick, it was simply scared by Fina. He walked over with confidence, ¡°Can I see it?¡±

    ¡°Of course, please,¡± said Cathy, wondering if the dark-haired young man was a veterinarian. If so, that would be great.

    Zhang Zian picked up Wendy, observed it from other angles, and then squeezed his eyes to Fina, meaning to say, Stop scaring it! Look what you have done to it?!

    It wasn¡¯t just Wendy. The cats in the other booths around Fina were showing varying degrees of abnormalities, throwing their owners into perplexment as they became anxious and discussed tactics with one another. These were the booths for house cats, and most of the cat owners were just ordinary cat lovers rather than professional breeders, so they were helpless upon encountering such abnormalities. Wendy¡¯s booth was closest to Fina, so it was impacted most severely.

    Fina scorned him contemptuously, meaning, Are you good at anything apart from showing off in front of the elderly and children?

    Zhang Zian indicated, Winning favors and respect from the elderly and children has always been my ultimate goal in my life.

    Nevertheless, Fina still released some kind of signal. It snorted softly at a frequency inaudible to humans¡¯ ears.

    Wendy and the nearby cats acted as if they had been granted with amnesty.

    Zhang Zian could feel the tight muscles of its whole body suddenly rx.

    He put it back on the stand. It no longer lied down. It had restored its stance, but still bowed its head to Fina.

 Chapter 357: Always Waiting

    <h4>Chapter 357: Always Waiting</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Cathy did not understand what had happened when Zhang Zian was holding Wendy, but she was d that Wendy was okay. She held it in her arms fondly andforted it softly.

    Zhang Zian went back to his seat. Just as he was trying to spot whether there were some hot girls in the venue, Fina pulled at his clothes.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± he said distressingly. ¡°This Chinese tunic suit has been worn only twice. Don¡¯t ruin it!¡±

    Fina sternly ordered him, ¡°Go ask about the story of that cat. I felt a familiar odor on it.¡±

    In fact, Zhang Zian was also a little bit curious about that cat. After all, it was a breed he had never seen before, and it didn¡¯t seem like a hybrid.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll go ask about it.¡±

    He covered his mouth with a fist to talk to Richard for a moment, left his seat again, and tried to be friendly with Cathy.

    ¡°Cathy, is Wendy all right?¡± asked Richard.

    Cathy smiled, ¡°It seemed a bit scared, but it is much better now. Thank you so much.¡±

    ¡°Mind if I ask you a question?¡± said Richard.

    ¡°Please, go ahead,¡± Cathy listened attentively.

    ¡°What breed of cat is Wendy? I mean, I¡¯ve never seen such a cat.¡± Zhang Zian looked at Wendy and gave a look indicating he was very interested in it.

    ¡°Oh,¡± said Cathy, raising her heavy reading sses with a loving smile in her eyes. ¡°Wendy is an Abyssinian cat. Have you heard about it?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s the first time that I have heard such a name.¡± Zhang Zian shook his head honestly.

    ¡°It¡¯s normal that you don¡¯t know. This breed is quite rare, few people raise them, and few catteries breed them.¡± Cathy said proudly, ¡°Young man, from what I hear, you are not speaking in an American ent. Are you Chinese? Or Korean?¡±

    ¡°Chinese,¡± said Richard.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I can never distinguish between the two countries.¡± Cathy apologized and smiled, ¡°I have never left the United States in my life.¡±

    ¡°It does not matter. Many Westerners cannot tell the difference,¡± Richard said. ¡°I run a pet shop in Binhai City, China, and I am here in the United States for study and exchange.¡±

    Upon hearing that he was a pet shop owner, Cathy did not look down on him, but very pleasantly extended her hand to him. ¡°Wow, turns out we are actually peers in the industry! Let me reintroduce myself, Catherine Donna Ryan. ¡±

    ¡°Jeff Chang,¡± Richard introduced him as usual.

    However, upon hearing her formal introduction, and the fact that she even told him her middle name, Zhang Zian said in English, ¡°My Chinese name is Zhang Zian.¡±

    ¡°Ah, well I¡¯m still going to call you Jeff. Chinese names are very hard for me to pronounce.¡± Cathy waved her hand happily, ¡°Jeff, you really are an eager learner. It is said that this breed of cat was first discovered in Abyssinia¡ªa ce known as Ethiopia nowadays ¡ªand was brought to Europe in the mid-1800s where artificial breeding began.¡±

    She sympathetically stroked Wendy, whose medium-length hairs were swaying like rippling wheats. At first, Zhang Zian thought Wendy¡¯s whole body was the same chocte color, but after observing it closely at this moment, he found out that it was not¡ªevery hair, from top to bottom, was divided into two or three ribbons, so although they all were chocte in color, the shades were different. As Cathy stroked it, its hair disyed beautiful and mysterious glows and shadows under the lights of the venue.

    While leisurely stroking her cat, Cathy continued, ¡°Abyssinian cats are very poor. Due to the misery and suffering caused by World War II and the spread of feline leukemia in Europe from the 1960s to the 1970s, this breed disappeared once. After reintroducing their ce of origin and breeding them back, the Abyssinian cats of present day were sessfully nurtured, but they were different from the original Abyssinian cats¡­ the situation was just like that of your Egyptian Mau.¡±

    ¡°Hm? Do you recognize it?¡± Zhang Zian looked a little surprised and nced back at Fina, seeing that she was staring attentively at Wendy as well.

    ¡°Of course,¡± the woman smiled, ¡°The Egyptian Mau is very rare, and I don¡¯t get to meet an Egyptian Mau in every tournament. But since I¡¯ve attended these tournaments many times, I¡¯ve met them once or twice.¡±

    ¡°My Wendy and your cat should have a very close bloodline,¡± she said. ¡°The origin of Abyssinian cats has always been a mystery, but they are generally believed to have evolved from the ancient Egyptian Mau¡ªdidn¡¯t you notice? It looks like a little lion¡ª maybe the Sphinx in Egypt was modeled off it! ¡±

    A very close bloodline¡­no wonder Fina had sensed a familiar odor on Wendy, who might be a coteral descendant of Fina, and had inherited more genes of the bloodline of an original Egyptian Mau than other breeds of cats did.

    Zhang Zian imagined and was fascinated by the migration and evolution of this breed of cat.

    A momentter, he covered his mouth with a fist and whispered a few words to Richard. Richard paraphrased his words, ¡°Cathy, I heard you¡¯ve been to many tournaments¡ªforgive me, but are you at the wrong booth today? Here is the ce for the house cats, shouldn¡¯t you go to the championships group with Wendy?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± sighed Cathy. Her silver hair was shivering lightly, ¡°I did not mistake my booth. For years, I¡¯ve been at the booth for house cats.¡±

    Even Richard was surprised. Without waiting for Zhang Zian¡¯s gesture, it asked, ¡°Why?¡±

    She looked sad. Silent for a moment, she forced a smile as she pointed to the CFA sign hanging on the wall. ¡°Because they do not recognize it. They only admit Abyssinian cats in primary colors like red, blue and fawn, while the chocte-colored Abyssinian cats are not allowed to participate in the championship group. ¡±

    As if feeling the pain of its owner, Wendy licked her finger and called out in a very soft voice.

    ¡°So, do youe to attend the match for house cats every year?¡± asked Richard.

    Cathy nodded, ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting. Waiting for the day they admit Wendy.¡±

    For some unknown reason, Zhang Zian was vexed and he suddenly felt hot in the venue. He pulled open his neckline. He missed the sunshine and fresh air outdoors.

    ¡°However, this is probably thest time I will participate.¡± Cathy suddenly chuckled loudly.

    ¡°Why?¡± Richard asked again.

    She patted her walking stick, and said in an open-mindedness that even Zhang Zian could tell she was faking it, ¡°Because I won¡¯t be able to walk very soon.¡±

    ¡°My husband died of lung cancer¡ªand I warned him so long ago that he should not smoke so much.¡± Sheughed mockingly in the air at someone who was not there.

    ¡°After his death, my friend presented me with an Abyssinian cat to relieve me from boredom, and from then on, I have been fond of this breed of cat, so much so that I even became an amateur breeder focused on breeding Abyssinian cats. Wendy is my favorite. She¡¯s the best of the Abyssinian cats that I have ever bred, and I thought it would be the first chocte-colored Abyssinian cat to be admitted by the CFA. What a pity¡­It seems that my wish can only be left to others who will help me achieve it.¡±

    She shook her head weakly, as if trying to break free from a thin cobweb.

    ¡°Who cares what they think? Whether they admit it or not, chocte-colored Abyssinian cats do exist,¡± muttered Zhang Zian softly. Richard was stunned and quickly transcribed his words into English.

    ¡°Fina, let¡¯s go.¡± He patted his clothes and stood up to greet Fina.

    Seeing the strange expression on his face, Fina didn¡¯t understand what happened, but still jumped from the stand.

    Cathy looked at him in astonishment, ¡°Are you leaving? Are you not attending thepetition?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter whether or not I attend such a ridiculous game. My name is Zhang Zian, I¡¯m a Chinese man, and I own a pet shop in Binhai City. Cathy, if you evere to China to travel, please allow me to try my best to host you.¡±

    Richard urately tranted his words.

    ¡°I still have something to do, I¡¯m leaving now. I wish you the best luck in the game.¡± Zhang Zian again shook her hand. He was using both hands, holding her one hand, with admiration and respect.

    After walking a few steps, he looked back and smiled. ¡°Cathy, you¡¯re the most beautifuldy I¡¯ve ever seen in America.¡±

    ¡°Really? Thanks!¡± Cathy held her face full of wrinkles and smiled happily like a child.

    ¡°Really. Goodbye.¡± He waved farewell to her.

    ¡­

    The patience of Jane and the videographer had almost been worn out. Seeing that Zhang Zian was leaving, Jane quickly caught up to him.

    ¡°Are you leaving?¡± She asked very dissatisfiedly.

    ¡°Um, I suddenly lost my interest in this game,¡± Zhang Zian replied decisively. ¡°Goodbye.¡±

    Looking at his back, the videographer bitterly said, ¡°I told you that this trip would be in vain! But you still need to buy me lunch, please remember that.¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡± Jane stomped angrily, ¡°Now I can only settle for the video where he was practicing Kung Fu.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t want this clip anymore?¡± asked the videographer.

    Jane asked exasperatedly, ¡°What¡¯s the use in keeping it? Let the audience watch him and an olddy chatting about the history of cats? We are a local news channel, not the f**king Discovery Channel!¡±

    The videographer shrugged. He did not dare to provoke her while she angry, and deleted the video.

    A clever man always knew when to shut up.

    ¡°What are you standing there waiting for? Let¡¯s go! Go to eat your damn lunch!¡± She lost her temper, turned her head, and walked away first.

    The videographer covered the lid of the camera lens and followed her, wondering what he was going to order for the lunch he didn¡¯t need to pay for.

    ¡­

    Zhang Zian left the stadium. At this moment, no one was seen at the parking lot, for every audience member or contestant had entered the stadium. He found Tim¡¯s minivan, got in the car, rolled down the window, and deeply inhaled some fresh air to relieve the annoyance in his chest.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What happened to my fellow cat?¡± Fina jumped into the passenger seat and asked with dissatisfaction and curiosity. She hated the feeling of being kept in the dark.

    Richardpletely rephrased to her everything Cathy said.

    The more Fina listened, the grimmer her face turned, and the fiercer her eyes became.

    ¡°We dignified felines do not need recognition from humans!¡± she snapped furiously.

    Zhang Zian started the engine, ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s go home.¡±

    At this moment, wind started to blow.

    A gust of strong wind suddenly arrived, swirled together Fina¡¯s stern scolding with its smell, and gushed into the stadium through the open gate.

    ¡­

    That day, when Jane returned to that small and broken local television station, she was chastised by her boss severely. Because just moments after she left to have lunch with the videographer, an incredible wonder had appeared in the stadium hosting the CFA Tournament.

    All the cats participating in thepetition broke free from the hands of their owners and referees, lied on the stands with horror, and faced the empty entrance of the stadium.

    Numerous cats were worshipping at the same time!

 Chapter 358: Heading to Hollywood

    <h4>Chapter 358: Heading to Hollywood</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Holding a tray with an egg sandwich and a ss of milk on it, Lauren knocked on the door of the guest room.

    ¡°Jeff, are you up?¡±

    After knocking, she listened to the movement of the room.

    Because her husband often attended the CFApetition, Lauren knew when the game usually ended, but yesterday, Zhang Zian came back way earlier than the end of the game and seemed to be in a somewhat bad mood. Coupled with the fact that he did not go downstairs to eat breakfast this morning, he was making her very worried.

    In fact, Zhang Zian had already woken up. He had been standing beside the window, looking the outside.

    Cathy was an olddy whom he admired very much. She persevered, persisted, and strived to achieve her goal step by step. However, her persistence and perseverance did not receive the award she deserved. It was very sad to think about that, especially for her advanced age. This was thest time she participated in the CFApetition. He wondered if she had won in thepetition for house cats, and whether her wish had been fulfilled?

    Zhang Zian looked down at his cellphone. There was some coverage on the inte about the CFA show yesterday, but almost every piece of news was about the abnormal phenomenon where hundreds of cats were worshiping together in the venue. Nobody even mentioned the winner of thepetition for house cats.

    Whether or not certain breeds of cats were recognized by the CFA made a huge difference in the economic benefits that breeders gained. This was also the case with the athletes in the Non-Olympic programs¡ª though they were equally diligent in their careers, the rewards they received were way less promising than that of the athletes in the Olympic games.

    Tim held a faucet to water thewn, and advised the neighbors who came to admire the Kung Fu Master to go home, telling them that the Master was not feeling well today and would stay in the house to rest.

    Hearing Lauren¡¯s knock on the door, Zhang Zian came to himself. He walked quickly to open the door, and Richard said for him, ¡°Coming.¡±

    ¡°Hey, Jeff, are you okay? Would you like some breakfast?¡± Lauren raised the tray and said with concern.

    ¡°Thanks! Just getting up, I got tired yesterday.¡± He took the tray, and Richard covered for him.

    Instead of leaving immediately, Lauren suggested, leaning against the door frame, ¡°Jeff, you cannot always keep yourself in your room. It¡¯s a rare chance for you to be the United States, you should go around and have fun in the city.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded while stuffing the sandwich into his mouth, and Richard vaguely asked, ¡°Any rmendations?¡±

    Lauren quickly thought and said, ¡°In Los Angeles, you must not miss Hollywood, and then go to Beverly Hills nearby for shopping, and then watch a basketball game at the Staples Stadium! Even though Kobe Bryant has retired, the games are still fantastic. Besides, don¡¯t miss Disnend¡­ Although a bachelor like you might feel awkward if you go there by yourself¡­ ¡±

    Zhang Zian almost choked! He would bet that Disnend was full of couples disying their affections!

    Lauren watched his expression, and smiled joyfully, ¡°If you want, I can go with you! I was very popr when I was young!¡±

    Zhang Zian could guess that Lauren was definitely a beauty when she was younger, but still waved his hand and rejected her offer, ¡°Never mind, I can go there myself.¡±

    ¡°Well, then I advise you to take a walk at Venice Beach. Perhaps you could meet some hot girls in bikinis!¡± she squeezed her eyes.

    Zhang Zian forced a smile in response to her friendly joking.

    Although Los Angeles was much warmer than Binhai City, the temperature here now was around 15 degrees Celsius during the day and even decreased to below 10 degrees Celsius at night. Last night¡¯s weather forecast even said that Mammoth Mountain, a ski resort in southern California, may have snowfalls, giving the local residents a white Thanksgiving ¡­what kind of hot girls would wear bikinis in this weather?

    However, he really intended to go out and have fun with Old Time Tea, Gxy, Fina and Richard.

    He would pass the beach this time, for none of the elves could swim and everyone hated to get covered with sand. Besides, the weather was chilly.

    Beverly Hills¡­ he could afford nothing in those luxury stores even if he sold himself.

    Staples Stadium was not an option, for the elves didn¡¯t understand the rules of ying basketball, watching ten strong guys fight to hold one ball¡­

    Disnend had always been crowded with people, and Gxy and other elves had never been exposed to Disney culture.

    Thinking it over again and again, only Hollywood was a suitable option, a ce Zhang Zian had intended to bring them to since the beginning.

    He wolfed down the sandwich and drank the milk. Lauren took the tray from his hand and smiled at him.

    ¡°I will train the cats first, and then go out for a walk, I will have lunch outside today,¡± e said.

    ¡°Okay, have a nice day.¡± Seeing that he had finally stopped frowning, Lauren rested assured and held the tray downstairs.

    Zhang Zian asked Fina toe over and took her downstairs. Fina was unhappy and walked very slowly behind him, hoping he had breakfast, but he didn¡¯t. Zhang Zian had to assure her that he would make barbecue for her in a while.

    Since Tim and Lauren were preparing for the Thanksgiving party, a grill had been set up in the backyard, and the meat in the fridge was readily avable, but how it tasted was unknown¡­

    They went to the room where the Ragdoll kittens were and closed the door after them. Zhang Zian began to sit down and y on his cell phone, while Fina continued to take a nap, pretending that they were diligently training the kittens.

    Dawdling there for probably more than an hour, after being repeatedly urged by Fina, Zhang Zian finally took her to leave the room. Greeting Tim, they went to the backyard to barbecue.

    After the picky Fina was full, he prepared a portion for Old Time Tea and put the barbecue in an insted container and returned to the front yard again.

    ¡°Hi, Tim, are you going to use your car today?¡± asked Richard.

    Tim was talking with the cat food manufacturer to discuss the matter of transporting cat food. Holding a cell phone with one hand, he pulled out the car key with the other hand and threw it to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    Zhang Zian wanted to tell Lauren too, but found that she was not there. She had probablyd gone shopping at the supermarket, since there were a bunch of items to buy for Thanksgiving, including gifts.

    He went to the garage to start Tim¡¯s minivan and released Gxy, Snowy Li and Old Time Tea in the car, handing the barbecue in the insted cab to Snowy Li and Old Time Tea. He said, ¡°Gxy, Snowy Li, and Old Time Tea, I¡¯m going to take you all to an interesting ce today, but cats and birds are not allowed there, so all of you guys, including Fina, must remain invisible to avoid troubles.¡±

    Richard had always been invisible, and Snowy Li and Old Time Tea were fine with the arrangement. Only Fina was peevish hearing this.

    ¡°No! I don¡¯t want to be invisible! Are you ashamed of me or something??¡± She unhappily pulled a long face.

    ¡°Meow! Then I don¡¯t want to be invisible either! I¡¯m on the side with Your Majesty!¡± Snowy Li said while chewing barbecue.

    Zhang Zian patiently advised her, ¡°Just bear it, I promise the ce is going to be very interesting. You will not regret this.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Fina looked at him suspiciously.

    It was normal that Fina didn¡¯t trust him. His credibility in its mind had been lower than the freezing point.

    ¡°Really, I promise.¡± said Zhang Zian, patting on his chest.

    ¡°Your Majesty¡­¡±

    Just when Snowy Li was going to say something, Zhang Zian threatened it, ¡°If you dare to say any nonsense, I¡¯ll leave you in the United States and let you stay with the cheap American cats.¡±

    ¡°Meow! Meow! I dare you! I don¡¯t want the cheap American cats; their body odors are so pungent!¡± Snowy Li was frightened and hurriedly said.

    ¡°Then just shut up!¡±

    When they had finished eating, Zhang Zian made them invisible one by one, and stepped on the gas pedal. The minivan left of the garage, and headed to Hollywood.

 Chapter 359: The Fifth Elfin

    <h4>Chapter 359: The Fifth Elfin</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Although Fina was muttering all sorts of reluctance, she still let Zhang Zian make her invisible. After all¡ªcuriosity killed the cat. She was curious about the ¡°interesting ce¡± promised by Zhang Zian.

    However, as soon as she arrived at the destination and got out of the car, she immediately pulled her already-long face even longer.

    ¡°This is the ce you were talking about?¡± She gazed back and forth at this mediocre street in front of it, wondering whether Zhang Zian was out of his mind.

    In terms of impression, this street was not much better than Zhonghua Road in Binhai City. It looked ragged and dirty, with palm trees sparsely nted on both sides of the street. The road was not spacious and could amodate only up to six vehicles. It looked nothing like an ¡°interesting ce¡±; very few luxury cars were seen.

    Old Time Tea and Gxy were not picky. They watched the pedestrians in oundish clothes with great interes.

    The biggest difference between here and elsewhere was that there were a lot of people in dramatic costumes like theatrical actors, while other pedestrians were trying to take photos with them.

    Zhang Zian locked the car and said, ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate this ce. This here is the center of Hollywood, the famous Walk of Fame, and the heart of the world¡¯s film industry. As for those in fancy dresses, they are street artists, and people are generally charged a fee to take photos with them. ¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Fina was even more upset. ¡°How much did you charge the college student who took photos of me before?¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that she was referring to Luo Qingyu from the photography club in Binhai University, whom he had contacted asionally. As he had heard, Luo Qingyu¡¯s photos had passed the primary selection of the school, and would represent Binhai University to participate in the photography exhibition of the city¡¯s education industry. From Luo Qingyu¡¯s tone, he sounded very confident.

    There were many tourists and it was extremely noisy here. People from all over the world were speaking differentnguages ??and with different ents, forming a melody where multiple nationalities were mingling together, just like what was indicated by the starting point of the Walk of Fame¡ªthe domed silver-cast sculptures of fourdies who were Caucasian, Latin American, African-American, and Chinese, respectively; Zhang Zian had never heard of this Chinese-American actress called Anna May Wong, though.

    ¡°Zian, what¡¯s this?¡± Old Time Tea looked down at the smooth sidewalk, lifted a paw and pointed at the big yellow star on the ground.

    Zhang Zian squatted down to touch the slightly cool pink terrazzo, which was framed by star-shaped bronze, and was engraved with an English name in the middle.

    ¡°Well, the so-called Walk of Fame is to honor celebrities with these stars. Whoever leaves e their names here must have made a huge contribution to the world¡¯s entertainment industry¡­¡±

    At this point, Zhang Zian heard someone was sneering disdainfully nearby. Yet the sound fleeted with no trace, so he couldn¡¯t capture the source.

    He looked up in astonishment and nced around. With peopleing and going, he couldn¡¯t tell who was sneering.

    ¡°What? Did you guys hear that?¡± asked he.

    ¡°Hear what?¡± asked Old Time Tea.

    Gxy was busy cautiously avoiding the pedestrians. Old Time Tea was listening attentively to his introduction. Fina was yawning and narrowing her eyes out of boredom, and Snowy Li was surrounding Fina trying to please it. It seemed that only Richard, who was standing on his shoulder had also heard the sneer, said, ¡°Did you mean that someone was sneering? I heard that too, I just don¡¯t know which wicked person did that¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, do not mind that, then. The person was probably not even sneering at us.¡± Zhang Zian tried not to care too much.

    He guessed he might be overthinking. With so many bustling tourists speaking a variety ofnguages ??and ents, someone had probably just made an exotic burp, which had been mistaken by him for a sneer.

    He pointed to the star-shaped terrazzo and continued introducing for Old Time Tea, ¡°The bronze disc under the English name represents the field of expertise of this man. You see, this star belongs to Michael Jackson, and the disc below is in the shape of a record, which means he was famous for singing ¡­ there is a piece of mosaic belongs to Kung Fu Superstar Jackie Chan, where the disc is engraved with a camera, indicating he is a film actor. You have watched his Kung Fu movies, haven¡¯t you? Unfortunately, there is some quality issue with that mosaic ¡ªthe edges have been tramped¡­¡±

    Old Time Tea stroke a whisker and nodded. It didn¡¯t seem particrly intrigued, ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve seen his movies¡­¡±

    It pondered for a moment, and said with hesitation, ¡°What about other Kung Fu actors? There are so many stars, is it only Jackie Chan who has left his name here?¡±

    Zhang Zian put out three fingers. ¡°Presently, only three Chinese people have their own stars on the Walk of Fame: Jackie Chan, and her¡ª¡± he turned around and pointed to the silver statue of the fourdies at the entrance of the Walk of Fame¡ª¡±the actress called Anna May Wong. As for the third person¡­¡±

    He smiled mysteriously and knew the name of the person, someone whom Old Time Tea really cared about.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, please allow me to hold some suspense here. You can see for yourselfter.¡±

    Zhang Zian led the elves to wander around the Walk of Fame, showing off his limited knowledge and introducing them the origins and rumors of each building. Sometimes, they stopped to watch the exciting hip-hop dancing and singing performances. They listened to the street artists y guitar, apuded, and supported them by giving some change from his pocket like cutting off his flesh.

    ¡°We are not going back to Tim¡¯s house at noon today. We have to wait until it is not so crowded, so we will have lunch here.¡± He pointed to a crowded South Korean barbecue store nearby. ¡°I heard that the barbecue here is good and is not expensive. It¡¯s too bad I can¡¯t use the coupons from China¡­ ¡±

    Fina had had a full meal in the morning, but at this moment, the delicious smell from the barbecue store had her mesmerized. During their stay in the United States, it was very difficult for Fina to endure the unptable barbecue prepared by Zhang Zian every day.

    They passed the Chinese Theater, which was the must-see attraction in Hollywood and was subsequently packed like sardines. From time to time, tourist buses stopped in front of it, worsening the crowded situation.

    At this moment, Zhang Zian¡¯s cell phone suddenly rang.

    He habitually pulled out the prepaid phone Tim had bought for him, and he had been using it all the time in the United States, thinking that either Tim or Lauren was looking for him. However, when he touched it to wake the screen, he found that this phone had no notification for calls or messages.

    Pulling out his own cell phone from his pocket, Zhang Zian was surprised to find that it was the ¡°Pet Hunter¡± game that had issued the notification.

    [Game Tip]: A rare pet is detected in your city. Whether to go capture it or not is the yer¡¯s own decision.

    [Game Tip]: The following is the information of the pet.

    [Pet Type]: Elfin.

    [Rarity]: Elite/Epic level.

    [Difficulty of Capture]: Uncertain.

    [Degree of Danger]: Low.

 Chapter 360: A Place Where Magic Happened

    <h4>Chapter 360: A ce Where Magic Happened</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Seeing that Zhang Zian was holding his cell phone with a strange look on his face, and not knowing what had happened, the elves stopped to look at him.

    ¡°Quack! Did Tim text you to confess his affection for you?¡± eximed Richard excitedly, ¡°Be careful with your butt!¡±

    ¡°Shut the f**k up!¡± cussed Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Zian, what happened?¡± asked Old Time Tea.

    ¡°An unknown elfin has appeared around this area,¡± he replied.

    Gxy happily shouted, ¡°Meow, a new partner! I hope it likes to y hide-and-seek!¡±

    Snowy Li was also excited. Just when it was trying to say that it hoped the elfin was a beautiful female cat, it noticed the grumpy Fina and quietly swallowed back its words.

    Old Time Tea was quite surprised; it looked around and said, ¡°This is a good thing. What are you waiting for?¡±

    ¡°The problem is that this area is too big. I don¡¯t know where to begin¡­¡± he sighed.

    Zhang Zian focused on the words disyed on the screen. Not counting Snowy Li, this would be the fifth elfin he had encountered.

    The aperture that represented the location of the elfin was around him and covered the Walk of Fame and the ces nearby. But the area was veryplex, covering too many buildings and tourists. The Chinese Theater alone was visited by tens of thousands of tourists every day. What¡¯s worse, the edge of the aperture had also covered a small area of Beverly Hills. How was he, an ordinary person, going to ess those celebrities¡¯ luxury mansions?

    He put down the phone and looked around, back and forth. Last time, the Apprehensive Bird appeared in Binhai University, and although the university campus covered a veryrge area, most of the campus area was easily essible. Even so, he still had to visit every corner of Binhai University before he found it. Obviously, it was unrealistic to visit every attraction of Hollywood in a short period of time.

    He must calm down. In such aplicated area, he couldn¡¯t afford to go to every ce.

    Fina first appeared in the jewelry store, because it used to possess a myriad of jewelries and liked shiny things.

    Richard first appeared in a Chinese ssroom because it was an Apprehensive Bird.

    Old Time Tea first appeared in the Teahouse in Hidden Fog, because it had felt that to some extent it was tied with the teahouse owner, Ms. Ye¡­

    Wait a minute. Ties..

    Zhang Zian wondered that since this elfin was appearing in the Hollywood area, did it have a connection with some celebrity? If that was the case, he knew a ce to go ¡ª a ce he had been thinking of visiting with the elves anyways, for it represented ties to some extent.

    Thinking of this, he decided to follow his original schedule and left everything to fate.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± he said to the elves.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to find the elfin?¡± asked Old Time Tea.

    Zhang Zian shook his head, ¡°Let¡¯s leave it to luck.¡±

    About a minuteter, at the corner of the street, they arrived at a building with a bright red sign, with a statue of a green fat guy at the entrance, and a family of three was happily taking photos with him.

    ¡°Zian, what¡¯s this ce?¡± Old Time Tea looked up at the sign, but unfortunately it didn¡¯t understand the letters above it.

    ¡°This is a wax museum, a very famous one,¡± said Zhang Zian.

    Richard fluttered its wings, ¡°Quack! It is a wax museum¡­ Quack! No, but the wax museum I remember is not like this¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian understood its doubt and replied, ¡°Because there are two wax museums. Not far from here is another one, which should be the one in your memory. This is the new one, and the waxworks within it are rtively more refined, so we don¡¯t need to go over there.¡±

    ¡°Wax museum?¡± Elves other than Richard had never heard of such a thing.

    ¡°In short, the wax museum disys figures made of wax, which are very delicate and so vivid that even some waxworks could be mistaken for real people. You will understand when you see them in a moment.¡± Zhang Zian bought a ticket. Since the elves were invisible, no one stopped him when he entered the museum.

    There were many wax museums around the world, and although waxworks elsewhere were not as good as they were here, they were basically the same. Unless people had nothing better to do with their money, visiting a wax museum once should be enough. Since it was not peak season, the tourists here were less in number at other well-known Hollywood attractions and the museum seemed empty.

    As soon as he entered the door, Zhang Zian lifted his cellphone excitedly!

    Old Time Tea was surprised, and it quickly asked, ¡°Zian, have you found that elfin already?¡±

    He took a few photos consecutively, and replied as if he had not gotten enough, ¡°No, but I finally saw the legendary Marilyn Monroe¡­¡±

    Old Time Tea didn¡¯t know what to say.

    Marilyn Monroe¡¯s wax figure was ced in the doorway. She had blond hair and was wearing a snow-white dress. Her smile was brilliant and appealing. No wonder she was extremely popr for a time.

    Zhang Zian had never watched a movie with Monroe in it, but had heard of this Hollywood goddess who was gossip-ridden and died mysteriously a long time ago. Today, seeing her wax figure was a feast to his eyes. Her figure was simply perfect¡­

    ¡°Hey! What are you doing!¡± He angrily rebuked at Snowy Li.

    Snowy Li had jumped on the side of Monroe, stretching its neck to look inside her breasts¡­

    ¡°Pfft! What are you angry about?¡± Snowy Li disdainfully curled its lips, ¡°I¡¯m just doing what you want to do!¡±

    Zhang Zian thought to himself, unfortunately it was speaking the truth, but he would never admit that!

    Old Time Tea stared at the statue of Johnny Depp and said in amazement, ¡°It is indeed like a real person! If not for the different smell, I would believe it is real¡­¡±

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, you are being modest again. Although it really looks like a real person, you can tell every nuance!¡± Zhang Zian said half-jokingly.

    Fina nced at the Monroe statue for a few times¡ªwhich was very rare for it, but it still didn¡¯t seem to be intrigued by this ce.

    Zhang Zian turned around and found that Gxy was hesitantly standing in the corner of the doorway and didn¡¯t dare toe this way.

    ¡°Gxy,e here. These are not real people, just wax figures,¡± he said.

    Wide-eyed, Gxy said, ¡°Meow ~ not real persons?¡±

    ¡°They are not real and are not going to hurt you. You cane closer. It¡¯s okay.¡± He wanted to raise and wave his hand towards it, but immediately put his hand down.

    The elves were in invisible states so that no other people can see them. It was fine that Zhang Zian talked to them, for people would think he was a person who liked talking to himself. But if he waved at something that didn¡¯t exist in others¡¯ eyes, people would think he was lunatic or that a supernatural event was happening.

    Gxy lifted a forepaw and put it down, and repeated such movements several times, as if something terrible in front of it was forbidding it to move forward. Zhang Zian looked at it, hoping to pass courage onto it.

    Eyes blinking, Gxy seemed to have made up its mind. It finally avoided the tourists carefully and came over.

    Zhang Zian suddenly realized that this would be a good opportunity for Gxy to reduce its fear of human beings through having contact with these wax figures.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be scared,¡± he encouraged it, ¡°You can touch them.¡±

    Gxy had also found that, albeit the simrity, these wax figures were not real people, for they had subtle differences from real people. They didn¡¯t have the breaths, smells and body temperatures of real humans¡­ but it all still felt a bit scary, because after all, they were too simr to real people

    It moved forward little by little. Two meters¡­ one meter¡­ half a meter¡­ until the wax figure was within its reach. It had never been so close to a ¡°human¡±.

    ¡°Well done, Gxy!¡±

    Gxy¡¯s four limbs were gently shaking. It pouted tightly, and strived to curb the urge to turn around to escape. It turned around and looked at Zhang Zian. Its eyes were full of anxiety.

    ¡°Meow¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian tightly clenched his fists and emboldened it, ¡°Come on! Gxy! A bit closer! They are not real, keep telling yourself that they are not real, and will not hurt you! I am right here, cheering for you!¡±

    Gxy slowly nodded and repeatedly whispered, ¡°Meow¡­ they are not real, they will not hurt Gxy¡­¡±

    It gently lifted a front paw, retreated several times, and probed several times, until it finally touched Monroe¡¯s right-hand finger that was pointing downwards.

    At this moment, a ssic still was popping up in Zhang Zian¡¯s mind¡ªthe scene where E.T.¡¯s finger was touching the finger of the little boy.

    Hollywood was indeed a ce where magic happened!

 Chapter 361: Kung Fu Superstar

    <h4>Chapter 361: Kung Fu Superstar</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In many cases, after breaking the seemingly most difficult boundaries, things afterwards would be a lot easier.

    However, the boundary that Gxy was facing was extremely hard to be pierced, for it was converged by the powerful imagination of countless scientists and science enthusiasts. But it didn¡¯t matter ¡ª as dripping water can wear through a stone, even if the obstacle was as thick as a concrete wall, it would be prated someday.

    If there was anythingparable to the scientists¡¯ rigorous imaginations, it must have been the fanciful and wild imaginations of Hollywood filmmakers.

    The moment Gxy¡¯s paw touched Monroe¡¯s fingertip, it shrank back as if it had received an electric shock. After waiting a moment, it found that there was still no danger at all. The wax figure was motionless. Even the eyshes were still! And there was no sign that the figure was about to move. The figure would not suddenly lunge over it, catch it and force it back into the ck box.

    It whispered repeatedly the words Zhang Zian taught it, and once again stretched out its forepaw¡ªmuch more firmly than before. It touched the finger of Monroe for the second time. Compared with the first time, the contact time was much longer, followed by the third time, the fourth time¡­ until finally, it could touch her finger for a long time without loosening up.

    Zhang Zian knew that time was tight, for the fifth elfin could disappear at any moment, but he still was waiting patiently, waiting for Gxy to move forward one step further, waiting for it to conquer its inner demon.

    ¡°Meow! Zian, Gxy has touched it!¡± Gxy looked a bit exhausted after all this anxiety, but still was very excited.

    ¡°Well done, Gxy!¡± Zhang Zian encouraged it and thoughtfully reminded it, ¡°Think back to what you just felt and remember that feeling.¡±

    Gxy nodded, and focused on recollecting.

    Wax figures didn¡¯t have the breathing, smells, temperatures, nces, movements, nor other aspects of real people. But touching the wax figures was at least a good start for Gxy.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, there are many interesting things inside,¡± he said to everyone.

    As they continued to walk inside the wax museum, they walked past the wax figures of one after another of superstars. Especially as they passed by the wax figure of Lady Gaga, he wanted to rest his arm on her shoulders to take some photos as other tourists did. But he also wanted to keep his cool in front of the elves, and he gave up the idea¡­

    As for other, more normal wax figures, he could do whatever he wanted. Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t recognize all the celebrities here, especially the female celebrities, for they all looked very beautiful but were not as easily distinguishable as the male stars, unless the actresses happened to feature in the movies he had seen.

    When visiting the wax figures from Gone with the Wind, he wanted to kick rk Gable away and sit down on that chair and be gazed at by that beauty.

    When passing the section for Forrest Gump, he tried to pull away the chocte box in Forrest¡¯s hands.

    He jumped into the Hitchcock tub, sticking out his tongue and rolling his eyes, pretending to be the victim of a murder.

    He boarded the boxing ring of Rocky, stretching out his arms like a crane in front of the Boxing King. He felt like the way Stallone stared at him was exceptionally reluctant¡­Before leaving, he also knocked on the gold belt, hoping that he could also be No. 1 in the future.

    He crossed his legs to sit in President Obama¡¯s chair, tried to steal the ball from Beckham, and imagined that he was a cksmith that Kobe Bryant encountered when Kobe was training in Los Angeles at 4 a.m.

    He imitated Elvis¡¯s dancing moves, wondering if he should add Elvis¡¯s moves the next time he upgraded the kitten¡¯s stunts¡­

    Finally, when no one noticed him, he also quietly posed in a Wing Chun fighting posture.

    He was still wearing that Chinese tunic suit today, and because of his diligent training under the supervision of Old Time Tea daily, he could maintain a single posture for a long time.

    As he expected, in a moment, some of the new visitorsing in the museum behind him were fooled.

    The family of three, a couple with their boy, about ten years old, were taking pictures with the green Shrek outside. They took turns to take photos enjoyably with every wax figure they passed by, so they were walking very slowly. At this moment, they happened to catch up with Zhang Zian.

    The little boy noticed Zhang Zian, who was disguised as a wax figure, right away. He rushed excitedly over and yelled at his parents, ¡°Take a picture for me! Take a picture for me!¡±

    His parents hade here before, but this time they specially brought their son. Right now, they were suspiciously staring at Zhang Zian¡¯s face, asking each other who this this new star was, because hadn¡¯t seen him thest time they were here. Looking at his posture, could he be another Chinese Kung Fu Superstar? Why didn¡¯t he have any expression on his face?

    The son was shouting aloud, urging his parents to take pictures of him.

    At this moment, Zhang Zian suddenly made a loud noise and a grimaced face. The little boy was so scared, like he had seen a ghost. He ran back behind his parents, staring at Zhang Zian gingerly.

    The little boy¡¯s parents were first surprised, thenughed and gave two thumbs up to Zhang Zian, praising him for his vivid impersonation! All the other wax figures were designed to look like real persons, yet he, a real person, could be mistaken for a wax figure!

    It was fair to say that Zhang Zian was the one who had most fun here, turning Old Time Tea and Fina speechless.

    Old Time Tea suddenly made a sound, walked quickly to a wax figure, and stared at it concentratedly.

    Zhang Zian temporarily stopped ying. He followed Old Time Tea, looking at the wax figure of Bruce Lee with it.

    He knew that Old Time Tea might have no interest in the wax figure of Jackie Chan, but the wax figure of Bruce Lee would definitely stir up feelings. Therefore, he had nned to visit the wax museum before flying to the United States.

    Bruce Lee was wearing his ssic yellow tights and yellow Kung Fu shoes, putting on a posture of Jeet Kune Do. Dark-haired and handsome, he was staring forward with a piercing gaze. This was his iconic posture when he was alive.

    Zhang Zian could see that Old Time Tea¡¯s eyes were shing, as if it was meditating, reminiscing, and was feeling sorry for something. He knew that Old Time Tea had watched Bruce Lee¡¯s movies on television. Every time when Old Time Tea watched movies overnight, the next day Zhang Zian could always find Bruce Lee¡¯s movies in the broadcast records and knew that it had watched the movies more than once.

    Old Time Tea never told him about this, and Zhang Zian just pretended that he didn¡¯t know.

    Why did Old Time Tea watch Bruce Lee¡¯s movies repeatedly? To bring back its memory of Ye Wen from this Kung Fu Superstar? Zhang Zian did not know. The grudge between Bruce Lee and Ye Wen wereplicated, plus with his rtionship with Old Time Tea, he was in no position to tell who was right and who was wrong.

    However, he knew that Old Time Tea would really like to see Bruce Lee from a closer distance.

    Bruce Lee died young, so it was impossible for Old Time Tea to meet him in person. But fortunately, this wax figure was so vivid that it had almost perfectly restored the appearance of Bruce Lee himself, and the effect was many times better than that from the old movies in poor disy qualities. Although Bruce Lee¡¯s overbearing aura could not be reproduced, at least it had made up for Old Time Tea¡¯s regret more or less.

    This was its bond.

 Chapter 362: A Momentary Tenderness

    <h4>Chapter 362: A Momentary Tenderness</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The family of three did not get angry. They chatted with Zhang Zian, asking him to take a few photos of the whole family, and left. They may have had doubts in their hearts. Why did this Chinese man stand in front of Bruce Lee¡¯s wax figure for such a long time? Was it really because all Chinese people have a Kung Fuplex?

    Old Time Tea had been staring intently at Bruce Lee¡¯s wax figure without blinking for a long time before moving its eyes away. It sighed deeply and said, ¡°Zian, enough, thank you.¡±

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, we are not in a hurry, you can watch it longer.¡± Zhang Zian said sincerely.

    Old Time Tea shook its head and said, ¡°Time is passing quickly.¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s keep exploring around.¡± Zhang Zian did not force it. Unlike Gxy, Old Time Tea was mature enough and experienced, so its inner problems could only be solved on its own.

    They didn¡¯t go very far, and Fina, who had been grumpy all the time, was shocked and gazed at a gorgeous wax figure in front of her.

    Her reaction was also expected by Zhang Zian, because it was the figure of Cleopatra yed by Elizabeth Taylor.

    Fina once said that she was ugly. Whether she really meant that was unknown¡ªZhang Zian was more inclined to believe that Fina just didn¡¯t like others to pretend to be her previous owner.

    However, the aesthetic conceptions of the modern and the ancient times were surely different. Besides, during thest two thousand years, the appearances of people had also been changing due to the continuous mixing of races. The real Cleopatra VII was of Greek descent, while Elizabeth Taylor possessed a quarter of Indian ancestry, so it was normal that Fina disliked her look.

    Despite the above factors, at a cost of 44 million U.S. dors, and taking into ount the factor of intion, this monumental movie, with the highest investment amount in the film industry, was impable in terms of background investigation. It collected all the materials on ancient Egypt that were avable, except Cleopatra herself, and all other aspects were very close to the true ancient Egypt.

    Elizabeth Taylor, or Cleopatra VII, was dressed in a fitted ck robe, and was leaning against a soft, red velvet couch, gazing forward and smiling. Her posture was very feminine, showing a beautiful S-shaped curve, and the golden arm rings, bracelets and braid pendants added to her luxury and elegance.

    Behind her was a scene of a starry night 2,000 years ago. The luxurious royal t-bottomed boats were sailing in the Nile, while the soldiers and ves were busy serving Her Majesty.

    Farther away, a bright moon was shining.

    The white pyramids were standing silently in the moonlight. Whether it was the moon or the pyramids, they hadn¡¯t changed for thousands of years.

    What was she looking at?

    Overlooking the vast sacred kingdom like the pharaohs?

    Waiting for the victorious return of Caesar or Anthony, like a wife?

    Looking forward to her children growing up, like a mother?

    Facing her death with an open mind, like a prophet?

    Or was she looking at the Bubastis Shrine far away, missing the Bastet who was alone deep inside the pce?

    Seeing Fina¡¯s strange expression, Old Time Tea was puzzled and wanted to ask it some questions, but was stopped by Zhang Zian. Snowy Li wanted to approach Fina too, but it was also deterred by him. This was the first time he had stopped Old Time Tea from speaking, because now was not the time for inquiries, and Fina¡¯s temper was not as good as Old Time Tea¡¯s. At this time, Fina must not want to be disturbed by anyone or anything, not even Old Time Tea or Snowy Li.

    Fina froze there, and she was even more hesitant than Gxy had been moments ago. Eyes wide open, she looked directly the figure¡¯s gaze, her mouth moving silently, as if she was saying and asking something.

    This was another reason Zhang Zian chose to visit the wax museum where there was not only the wax figure of Bruce Lee, but also presented the figure of Cleopatra¡ªeven if it was just an actress ying Cleopatra.

    On the ne, when Fina asked him when they would be flying over the ck Land, he started to pay attention. If they were not able to go to Egypt for the time being, perhaps Elizabeth Taylor¡¯s wax figure could give her a little bit of constion.

    Different from Gxy, Fina had a strong will and did not need Zhang Zian¡¯s encouragement. After a brief trance, she recognized that this was not the figure of the real Cleopatra, but instead was an actress she had seen before.

    She walked very slowly and carefully toward her, as if in fear of waking up from this dream if she moved too much or too quickly.

    Zhang Zian heard footsteps and talking behind him. He turned around and saw that a young couple wasing in this direction, holding cameras in their hands. It seemed like they were about to take pictures with Cleopatra.

    He quickly approached them with a smile, ¡°Hello! I am themissioner sent by the Amazing Fate Pet Shop. Could you please lend me a lighter?¡±

    Zhang Zian said these words in Chinese deliberately. The foreign couple didn¡¯t understand a word he said.

    The young couple made gestures, pointing to their ears and waving their hands, indicating that they didn¡¯t understand Chinese.

    Still, Zhang Zian continued to y dumb. He took out a tourist map and showed it to them, pointing around on the map casually, pretending to be asking for directions. He just would not let them pass.

    The young couple were polite and nice, and even though they did not understand what Zhang Zian was saying, they still tried their best to show the directions for him. Sometimes Zhang Zian opened his eyes widely, acting like he had understood; sometimes he frowned, indicating that he was still puzzled. He thought to himself that it was a pity that no director or producer had found his talent in acting, or else he might have been an Oscar winner nowadays¡­

    While he was besieging them, he also secretly nced at Fina. He saw that Fina had walked up to the soft couch, looking up at Cleopatra¡¯s wax figure, with tears sparkling in her green eyes.

    Zhang Zian was apologizing to the couple inside his heart. He tried so hard to keep them from moving forward, not just for Fina¡¯s sake, but also out of concern for their safety. Who knew what Fina might do out of fury?

    Old Time Tea and Snowy Li also seemed to have an understanding of what was going on. They were staring nervously at the touristsing and going, in fear that someone insensitive mighte and disturb Fina.

    A few secondster, Fina jumped gently up to the soft couch and looked even closer at the wax figure.

    From the perspective of Zhang Zian, he suddenly felt that something was missing from the hand resting on the side of Cleopatra¡¯s body. It would be even better if a wax figure of a cat was ced there.

    Fina squatted and looked at her for a while, then closed her eyes andy on the couch in front of her. She knew that the Cleopatra was fake: that she did not breathe, had no smell, had no temperature, and that her face was different from her real owner. Yet except for the above, everything else was the same.

    She really hoped that the figure could suddenly start to move, gently cing a hand on her and say, ¡°Fina, you have been waiting for me for so long. From now on, we will be together forever.¡±

    Fina knew that this was just a wishful thinking. The real Cleopatra, along with the immortal sacred kingdom, had vanished over 2,000 years ago. Not even a mummy of her was left behind.

    After a momentary tenderness, she opened her eyes, which no longer had tears in them, and once again became the usual Fina.

    Cold-faced, she jumped off the soft couch, stared at Zhang Zian and said contemptuously, ¡°Stop ying your tricks! You are embarrassing me!¡±

    Zhang Zian also could not hold on any longer. If he kept badgering the couple, they might call the police. He moved away so that the couple could finally take pictures with the wax figure of Cleopatra.

    When the couple left, with inexplicable questions in their minds, the area around Cleopatra¡¯s wax figure became empty again.

    ¡°Do you want to stay longer?¡± asked Zhang Zian, pointing at the wax figure.

    Fina swung her tail and turned away.

    ¡°Am I silly? Why would I want to stay longer? She¡¯s just a wax figure,¡± she said indifferently, ¡°And an ugly one at that.¡±

 Chapter 363: Never Lost Herself

    <h4>Chapter 363: Never Lost Herself</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Fina was walking away so fast, as if she was afraid that if she slowed down, she would be lingering on that momentary tenderness, although that wax figure was just a fake Cleopatra. With her pride, Fina would never allow herself to reveal her inner vulnerability to a substitute of her real owner.

    Snowy Li was closely and quietly following Fina. It found itself growing increasingly fonder of Fina, because Fina liked another Queen Her Majesty¡­ luckily for Snowy Li, that Queen Her Majesty was deceased and was no longer a threat to it. And then¡­ it wrinkled its nose and fiercely stared at Zhang Zian. After taking this stinky man out of the picture, Fina would be all its own.

    Zhang Zian was walking leisurely behind the elvins and looked around from time to time, exining the identities and origins of the wax figures that he knew about to Old Time Tea, Gxy and Richard.

    asionally, heid his eyes on Fina, who was pretending to be strong. He had never expected that he could rece Cleopatra VII, thest Pharaoh of Egypt, with any other legendary life. Even if she was just an ordinary woman, in the mind of Fina, she was irreceable.

    There were many vivid wax figures of stars from the entertainment, sports, and political industries in the wax museum. If a person had never visited a wax museum before, it would be worth buying a ticket and seeing those figures. For Zhang Zian, this was just a fresh experience, and he would feel bored if he visited a the second time¡­ unless he was to apany his girlfriend.

    Every few minutes, he would look at his cell phone. The aperture representing the unknown elfin was still there, shrouding a circr area centered on the Walk of Fame. The elfin had not been moving nor had it disappeared. It was right here, but was difficult to find.

    The area was toorge and was so crowded. However, anxiety would do him no good. He tried to remain patient and trusted to his luck on capturing this elfin.

    ¡­

    ¡°Mom, mom, who is this person? She is so pretty!¡±

    A blonde girl, around seven or eight years old, was pulling her mother by the hand, eyes gleaming when she saw a very beautiful and graceful wax figure. She pointed to the wax figure and dragged her mother there.

    The mother also had blonde hair, but the shade was darker than that of her daughter. She was in her thirties, and her facial outline was somewhat simr to her daughter¡¯s. From her temperament, she seemed like a housewife. She fondly let her baby girl drag her there, watching the ground tentatively for fear that her daughter might stumble on stairs or other things because of her overexcitement.

    When they arrived in front of the wax figure, her daughter released her hand and folded her little arms over the small table in front of her, watching the wax figure intoxicatedly, ¡°Mom, she is so beautiful, just like an angel!¡±

    The mother looked up and smiled heartedly. When she was young, she also thought the celebrity that this wax figure modeled was an angel¡­perhaps she still believed she was an angel, but the image of her had been hidden at the bottom of the mother¡¯s heart, for she had been reced by another little angel¡ªher daughter.

    ¡°Baby, her name is Audrey Hepburn.¡±

    The wax figure of Audrey Hepburn was modeled from her ssic posture in Breakfast at Tiffany¡¯s. She wore a tight ck mini dress, and her elbows, adorned with ck dress gloves, were ced elegantly on the table. Her slender neck was surrounded by a Tiffany pearl ne, and her brown hair, set in a bun, had a matching tiara hairpin.

    ck was the color that made people look thin, and this fitting ck dress had thoroughly presented her slender stature.

    A silver coffee pot and ceramic coffee cups were ced on the dining table. A red rose was inserted in the vase beside her right elbow. If there was anything missing from the movie scene, it would be a long, tobo rod in Hepburn¡¯s hand. Perhaps the wax figure maker didn¡¯t want to encourage smoking?

    The little girl could not see enough from the front. She also went behind the wax figure, watching the vaguely visible scap in perfect shapes, thinking that this woman was so perfect in every aspect.

    Exploring the wax museum with her mother for a long time, she had seen many female celebrities. A few of them had left deep impressions on her, such as Marilyn Monroe, whose smile was as bright as sunshine, Vivien Leigh, who had the essences of beauties from ancient times, and Elizabeth Taylor, who had a pair of mysterious purple eyes¡­ She admired these beautiful women, but only this statue of Audrey Hepburn was she sincerely fond of. It made her feel cordial. Whether it was Audrey Hepburn¡¯s posture or her expression, she didn¡¯t have that same sense of alienation like other female celebrities had. She looked just like a big sister living upstairs, inviting the little girl off to have breakfast together.

    The little girl¡¯s mother was also gazing at the wax figure of Audrey Hepburn. When she first saw the face of Audrey Hepburn from the photograph, she was just as amazed and mesmerized as her daughter, admiring that such a perfect woman indeed existed in this world, and that as a woman herself, she wasn¡¯t bitterly jealous of Hepburn.

    Since then, Audrey Hepburn had be her angel. She was crazy about collecting all photos, videos and materials of Audrey Hepburn, imitating her ent, learning her moves, and naively believing that she would be the second Audrey Hepburn if she had absorbed everything¡­ Yet the reality was ruthless and cruel. As she grew up day by day, her dream of bing the next Audrey Hepburn became more unrealistic. She gradually understood that this woman was unique, and no one could be like her.

    ¡°Mom! Is she an awesome actress?¡± The daughter was running around the wax figure but returned to pull at her mother¡¯s hand to ask this question.

    The mother gently stroked her daughter¡¯s hair, and said softly, ¡°She had excellent acting skills and received numerous awards. Even in the golden age of Hollywood, she stood out among numerous female stars. But she was more than an actress. Most importantly, she was a person of integrity that never lost herself, even in the materialistic and dissipated Hollywood.¡±

    ¡­

    It didn¡¯t know when and how it appeared, but since regained its consciousness, the elfin was in this strange shop with many wax figures¡ªwith only a slight sniff, it knew that these were not real people, for they didn¡¯t have the smells of real people. Their human-like appearances couldn¡¯t fool it.

    Some tourists walked by, pointing at the wax figures excitedly and taking turns to take group photos.

    After standing still for a while, it confirmed that these tourists could not see it, as if it was a ghost¡­ or perhaps they were the ghosts¡ªit hoped thetter situation was true.

    It aimlessly patrolled around the shop, gazing at the faces, expressions, and postures of each wax figure, interpreting their bodynguages, and understanding what they were trying to convey to the viewers at the instant when time stood still.

    It moved its ears, keenly capturing every word in the air.

 Chapter 364: Angel in this World

    <h4>Chapter 364: Angel in this World</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Lean, help me take a picture!¡±

    ¡°Dad, I want to go to the bathroom!¡±

    ¡°Look, it¡¯s the Terminator! Schwarzenegger¡¯s Terminator!¡±

    ¡°Gxy,e on!¡±

    ¡°Mom, mom, who is this person? She¡¯s so pretty!¡±

    ¡°My dear. I¡¯m so sorry! I should not have said that Halle Berry is more beautiful than you¡­¡±

    It moved forward step by step, carefully avoiding the touristsing and going, moving around the wax figures like a ghost.

    The sounds from all directions were converging in its ears and echoing in its mind.

    Lean?

    Schwarzenegger?

    Terminator?

    Gxy?

    Halle Berry?

    Who were they? Their names were alien to it.

    It felt a bit of a headache. It shook its head, but the pain still vaguely existed.

    Right! It suddenly remembered a more important thing, and could not help but freeze there.

    Who am I?

    And what is my name?

    It stared nkly and looked around, watching the passing tourists, hoping that they would stop to tell it the answer¡­ but no, no one stopped ¡ª everyone¡¯s eyes were lingering on the wax figures of celebrities. No one lowered their heads to look at it.

    Head down, it walked aimlessly forward, not knowing where it came from and where to go.

    ¡°Mom! Is she an awesome actress?¡±

    When it looked up, it found itself approaching a mother and her daughter, who were pointing at a wax figure excitedly.

    The little girl¡¯s mother watched at the wax figure and said, ¡°She was an excellent actress and received numerous awards¡­ but first and foremost, she was a person of integrity. She had never lost herself in the luxurious and materialistic Hollywood.¡±

    Numerous awards? Hearing this, it sneered lightly. How dare she? This ignorant woman must have never seen someone who was trulypetent!

    The little girl¡¯s mother seemed to have heard this sneer. Stunned for a moment, she looked around, but did not find the source of the sound.

    ¡°Mom, what happened? What are you looking for?¡± The little girl looked up with confusion at her mother.

    She shook her head. Maybe she had misheard something?

    ¡°Audrey Hepburn was not the most beautiful actress in Hollywood, nor was she the one with the best acting skills, but she was a person of integrity with a good heart. She was sympathetic for the weak. She liked children and small animals, she adopted deer and a few puppies, and she even appeared in a movie with her dog called Famous. In her older age, she devoted herself to public welfare with the greatest enthusiasm. As a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador to free children younger than you from starvation, she tirelessly visited various impoverished areas in Africa¡­ ¡±

    The sleeping memory had been revived in her mind. She seemed to have returned to her adolescence, when she was crazy about collecting the materials of Audrey Hepburn. She put her hands on her daughter¡¯s shoulders, enumerating the deeds of Audrey Hepburn smoothly, as if they were her family treasures.

    Her daughter listened attentively, and her eyes brightened.

    In this era, when the private lives and moralities of celebrities were bing increasingly corrupt, Audrey Hepburn was undoubtedly a decent and honorable celebrity of Hollywood and was worth being remembered forever.

    She said affectionately, ¡°When Audrey Hepburn was old and dying, her son asked if she had anything to say, and she replied, ¡®No, I have no regrets¡­ I just do not understand why so many children are suffering?''¡±

    ¡°Mom! She must be an angel!¡± The little girl¡¯s eyes were full of tears.

    ¡°Yes, baby, she was an angel who was left in this world by God, and after she hadpleted her missions, she re-entered the Father¡¯s arms.¡± She crouched down and embraced her daughter from behind. Together, they gazed at this wax figure that had frozen the most beautiful moment of the angel.

    She had nted an idea in her daughter¡¯s mind. For her daughter, who was about to enter adolescence, the influence of an idol was strong. If possible, she hoped her daughter could set a goal to be a person like Audrey Hepburn, as she had done when she was young. Perhaps when they came back home from this trip, she can share with her daughter the images and information she had collected of Audrey Hepburn.

    She did not know that, in addition to her daughter, there was an elfin invisible to her also listening carefully to her narrative.

    ¡­

    When the mother and the daughter had left, the elfin started to gaze at Audrey Hepburn¡¯s smile. Her smile was very sincere and rxing, as if she had finished a very important job, and finally she could sit back and have a good rest. She was about to eat a cookie, drink a cup of hot coffee, smell the intoxicating flowers, and wait quietly for the arrival of her true love.

    Was she an angel?

    It envied her very much. She knew who she was in her own heart, knew her own missions andpleted them, and had never lost herself in this dazzling world with myriad temptations.

    If possible, it also wanted to spend its life without regrets, like she had.

    It also wanted to be an angel!

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    It moved its ears and turned around, noticing that a kitten was looking at it.

    The kitten had ck and white fur, and had a pair of fantastic silver-grey eyes. The kitten¡¯s movement and tones were very adorable. Keeping a safe distance from it, the kitten didn¡¯t feel a bit threatened.

    It must have been overly focused on the wax figure so it didn¡¯t notice when the kitten had arrived.

    Huh? This kitten can see me?

    It was very surprised. Obviously not even humans could see it, so why could this kitten?

    No, no!

    It carefully observed the ck and white kitten. Although the kitten¡¯s eyes were looking this way, the kitten¡¯s pupils did not focus on its body. It quickly read the bodynguage of the kitten. The kitten probably had sniffed its smell, but could not see its shape.

    ¡°Hello, I am Gxy, do you want to y hide-and-seek? It¡¯s great fun!¡± Gxy squatted on the ground, lifting a friendly forepaw to greet it.

    It was shocked again!

    Why can I understand a kitten¡¯snguage?

    Have I be a cat? This is impossible!

    Its heart was inexplicably anxious, and it felt its whole body was burning. It stuck out its tongue to gasp.

    ¡°Are you ufortable?¡± asked Gxy, tilting its head.

    It opened its mouth and said painfully, ¡°I¡­ I¡­ I cannot remember¡­ Can you tell me¡­¡±

    When it raised its eyes, and made eye-contact with Gxy, everything around it had experienced a strange twist!

    Darkness had arrived!

    What happened? Who turned the lights off?

    It suddenly panicked. Why did someone turn off the lights?

    No! It was not that someone had turned off the lights, for the darkness it was facing was abysmal!

    Was it a power outage?

    No! Even in the event of a power outage, there should be rays of the sun, the moon, and the stars. Someone would light a candle and a steammp to illuminate the room, but at this moment, its surroundings were absolutely dark. There was no light at all, as if the whole world was swallowed up by darkness.

    Its body was trembling. It was very scared. After a while, it decided to flee the immense darkness.

    It raised a forepaw and moved forward carefully. It wouldnd its paw firmly on the ground before taking the next step.

    As its paw touched cold metal, it was more perplexed. What the hell was this ce? Why use metal to build a house? Was the owner incredibly rich?

    Forget it. I need to get out here.

    One step, two steps, three steps ¡­

    Just a few steps away, its front paw encountered an obstacle¡ªcold, hard, and unbreakable, just like the floor below it.

    It moved its forepaw up and down, left to right, trying to figure out the ranges of the obstacles, and then bypassed it or jumped over it. It was very confident in its jumping ability.

    However, the obstacles in front of it had no obvious boundaries. It seemed that the obstacles were molded with the floor with such integrity that not even a tiny seam existed!

    Its pupils were drastically contracting, and panic upied its heart!

    It tried its left side.The result was exactly the same. Within only a few steps, a metal wall had appeared, blocking the way.

    The right side¡­ the same!

    Behind it¡­ still so!

    It repeatedly tried each direction, and even leaped to the top with full force. Yet it bumped into the metal ceiling, worsening its headache.

    This is a trap! I am trapped! It clearly confirmed this fact.

    Which bastard did this?

    If it found out who did this, it swore to God that it would make the person pay for this!

    But before that, let me get myself out of this terrible ce!

    ¡°Help! Help! Someone please help me! I¡¯m locked up!¡± It shouted for help, and the voice was unusually dull in a small space.

    No one answered, but¡­

    ¡°Meow?¡±

    Wait!

    It seemed to have heard a voice. If it was correct, the meowing belonged to that ck and white kitten.

    ¡°Meow, who are you? How did you get in here?¡± There was a very slight and weak sound in the dark.

    It swallowed and eagerly said, ¡°Have you forgotten? We met moments ago, didn¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°Meow, I have never seen you, I¡¯ve never left this ck box¡­¡±

    ¡°No! We met each other, just now! Just in that room full of wax figures, surrounded by many tourists moving around! You also told me you were called Gxy, and you invited me to y hide-and-seek!¡± It shouted like a drowning man who had grabbed a life-saving straw.

    ¡°Meow¡­ Gxy? My name is Gxy?¡± The ck and white kitten¡¯s voice was full of confusion.

    Anger reced its fear. It exhausted all its strength to growl, ¡°Are you kidding me! You did this to me, didn¡¯t you? What do you want from me? Release me from this ce!¡±

    It started to move around recklessly in the ck box. It didn¡¯t care whether it would get hurt anymore. It must escape this hell!

    ¡°Meow! Don¡¯t move!¡± The ck and white kitten seemed to be warning it.

    But it was toote. It seemed to have identally knocked something over.

    A faint smell of bitter almond was diffusing.

    The next moment, it died with the ck and white kitten in the ck box. No bones remained.

 Chapter 365: Dawn

    <h4>Chapter 365: Dawn</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Teacher, why can observation affect the result? Sorry, teacher¡­ Am I too stupid and not suitable for learning quantum physics?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You are not stupid. Quantum theory can by no means beprehended by ordinary people. Not that observation can impact the result, but both results exist at the same time. Only when you begin to observe it can you know what happened actually. Imagine Schr?dinger¡¯s ssic thought experiment, where a cat was kept in an absolutely sealed ck box, in which a poisoned bottle, controlled by a radioactive switch, filled with highly toxic cyanide, was cedter. The rate of decay of the radioactive material was uncertain, and you never knew when the switch would be triggered, so before you opened the ck box and observed it, you had to realize the cat may either be still alive or could be dead, right?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ I seem to have understood that, but teacher, why use a cat to do this experiment? Wasn¡¯t it cruel?¡±

    ¡°No one has actually done this experiment¡­ no one probably has. This is just a thought experiment, and that cat only exists in our imagination, so it¡¯s not a cruel experiment. Besides, Schr?dinger¡¯s cat is a better name than Schr?dinger¡¯s cockroach, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Haha, teacher, you¡¯re right. I¡¯ll try to think again.¡±

    ¡°Well, take your time. Imagine as much time as you want.¡±

    ¡­

    Its ears moved a little bit. It woke up.

    Outside, some inexplicable and vague dialogues were drifting through, as if in its proximity, but it seemed like they were from a very far distance. Before it was about to yell for help, outside quieted down swiftly.

    What is this ce?

    There was the familiar coldness of metal beneath its body.

    Wait! Am I not dead?

    It shuddered for a moment and remembered what hadhappened! It was locked in an indestructible metal ck box, with a strange ck and white kitten. Then¡­ it seemed to have identally knocked over a bottle.

    Bottle? What¡¯s in the bottle?

    The bottle seemed to contain something extremely horrible, even more terrifying than the devils of hell!

    The bottle was knocked over by it, and the hint of bitter almond was still lingering in its head. Headache, nausea, feeling oppressed, teeth clenched, convulsions all over its body, and unconsciousness before it entered the eternal darkness¡­

    No, this must be a dream, this must be a nightmare! As soon as I open my eyes, the dream will be over, and I will return to the wax museum and squat in front of the wax figure of that angel.

    Contrary to what it hoped for; when it opened its eyes, it was still surrounded by abysmal darkness.

    It had never been so freaked out before. What the hell was going on? These strange metal walls, the terrible darkness, the memory that it seemed to have died once and then revived¡­

    It stood up, urgently wanting to do something. It couldn¡¯t just lie there and do nothing!

    ¡°Meow! Don¡¯t move!¡±

    It heard the sound again, and its body froze automatically. Not long ago, it seemed as if something had been identally knocked over, and then the smell of bitter almond had diffused¡­

    ¡°I won¡¯t move,¡± it said. After struggling, it stabilized its body like waxwork, ¡°Can you tell me what¡¯s going on? Am I in a dream? If I bite myself hard, will I wake up?¡±

    ¡°Meow? I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on either. I¡¯ve been here since I was born.¡±

    ¡°Since you were born?¡± Itughed miserably, ¡°No kidding, no one is born here! Where are your parents? Your siblings? Your owner? Did your owner lock you here?¡±

    ¡°Meow, I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve never seen my parents, brothers, or sisters. I¡¯ve been here since I remember¡­ what do you mean by owner?¡±

    It was tongue-tied by the question. ¡°Owner¡­ is someone who gives you delicious food, provides you with a warm ce to sleep, and ys with you¡­ Oh, I know! You must have provoked your owner, so he locked you here to make you learn a lesson!¡±

    ¡°Meow¡­ is that right?¡± The voice of ck and white kitten was full of confusion and uncertainty.

    It seemed to have found a viable way to get out of here, and it eximed excitedly, ¡°Yes! This must be the truth! I once bit my boss, and my owner put me in a dark room to punish me¡­ your owner, what¡¯s his name? He¡¯s got to have a name, right? Can you tell me? ¡±

    ¡°Meow¡­ name .. I heard the name most frequently referred by people is Schr?dinger. Is he my owner?¡±

    ¡°Probably¡­Hey! The owner of ck and white kitten! Hey! Schr?dinger! Where are you? You were wrong! I¡¯m not your cat! You can punish your cat! But I have not made a mistake, do not punish me! Please, please! Let me get out!¡± It shouted aloud and almost cried out.

    It shouted countless times, but no one responded. It didn¡¯t stop to gasp until its throat waspletely sore and couldn¡¯t utter a sound.

    ¡°Meow, name¡­ I also want a name,¡± said the ck and white kitten in the darkness.

    It swallowed saliva to lubricate its throat, and said hoarsely, ¡°I told you. You do have a name. You called yourself Gxy, and I met you in the wax museum. You asked me to y hide-and-seek, and then I somehow ended up in this ce¡­ ¡±

    ¡°Meow, Gxy¡­ is this my name?¡±

    ¡°Probably.¡± It sarcastically said, ¡°Your name Gxy means ¡®the ocean of stars¡¯. It¡¯s the universe, isn¡¯t it? Well, the universe is way bigger than this ce!¡±

    ck and white kitten said, ¡°Meow, then I shall call myself Gxy¡­ What is hide -and-seek? Is it fun?¡±

    It sneered and said coldly, ¡°It¡¯s a game where one person hides himself and the other person goes to find him. I don¡¯t think it is very fun¡­ but you seemed to like it very much at that time.¡±

    ¡°Meow, Gxy wants to y hide-and-seek!¡± The ck and white kitten¡¯s tone was full of anticipation.

    ¡°Forget it. Just think about ying it when you can leave this ce. Besides, ying hide and seek here, what if that bottle is knocked over again?¡± it said coldly. It had been so frightened by that bottle. ying hide-and-seek in this narrow ck box? Leave me alone, I don¡¯t want to die again¡­

    Wait!

    Die again?

    It was dumbfounded.

    How many times have I died here?

    Why could I think of such terrible words as ¡°die again¡± so easily¡­

    Why was the bottle so familiar when I touched it? I can almost sketch the shape of the bottle in my heart. Have I identally knocked it over many times?

    It seemed that the bottle could appear anywhere. No matter how hard I tried to avoid it, I would encounter it and knock it over eventually. Even if I didn¡¯t touch it, it would automatically fall¡­

    So, this was the truth¡­ then, how many times had I been resurrected?

    It sank into contemtion. With its mindpletely overwhelmed by these problems, it was not desperately longing for an escape¡­

    ¡°Meow, it¡¯s okay. When you get used to death, it won¡¯t be so painful¡­ Gxy wants to y hide-and-seek!¡±

    It woke up from its contemtion and shouted exasperatedly, ¡°Kill me! Just kill me! Don¡¯t bring me back from death again! Have mercy! I don¡¯t want to live without dignity anymore!¡±

    No matter how hard it shouted, no response was heard.

    ¡°Meow, what is a wax museum?¡±

    It didn¡¯t answer, and the ck and white kitten kept asking.

    Fed up with its asking, it had to say, ¡°It is arge room full of wax figures for people to look at. I don¡¯t know much, but that¡¯s the ce I met you.¡±

    ¡°Meow, sounds fun, but Gxy has never left here¡­¡±

    It thought for a moment, ¡°Maybe you¡¯ll leave in the future. You looked so happy and carefree at that time¡ªdon¡¯t tell me I mistook you for someone else. I¡¯m pretty sure that was you, my nose can smell everything correctly.¡±

    ¡°Meow, will Gxy be very happy?¡±

    It went silent, seriously recalling the short moment it had met the ck and white kitten.

    Thinking of the ck and white kitten, and the wax museum, it also remembered the wax figure of the angel, whose smile was so pure, and whosest words were so selfless¡­

    It was sure that it couldn¡¯t hold on in this ck box perennially like the ck and white kitten did.

    The ck and white kitten could survive here not because it was gifted, but because it had been here since it was born and had gotten used to loneliness. But it couldn¡¯t be like the ck and white kitten. It had seen the big world outside. It could not bear the loneliness, and before long it would probably gopletely crazy here.

    Even only for once, it wanted to be an angel. At least then it would have no regret before losing its mind.

    It suddenly calmed down. It had never been so calm before.

    ¡°You will be very happy.¡± It imagined itself as an angel and said softly, ¡°Cats are probably not allowed in that wax museum, and I didn¡¯t see other people carrying cats there. You must have been taken there secretly¡ªindicating that in the future, you will meet a new owner who loves you. He will give you delicious food, let you sleep in a warm bed, y hide-and-seek with you, and to make you happy, he will secretly bring you into the wax museum¡­ So, you must hang on, no matter how much pain you are in. Stay strong and wait for the arrival of happy days. Don¡¯t fall into the darkness before dawn!¡±

    Upon finishing these sentences, it suddenly felt very rxed, and its body seemed to have be weightless, so that even life and death were no longer important.

    Helping others made it so happy.

    ¡°Meow! Meow!¡± the ck and white kitten seemed to have believed its words, and was meowing happily.

    If its words could help the ck and white kitten stay strong in the endless reincarnation, then it probably hadpleted its mission. It could now rx, eat a cookie, smell the flowers, spin around at the feet of the angel, wag its tail towards her, and ask her to stroke its head¡­

    After it imagined such a beautiful picture, it quietlyy on the cold metal floor, waiting for its next death.

    It had epted its fate of death open-mindedly. Yet in the next moment, it was dawn that was ushered in.

 Chapter 366: Reincarnated Dog

    <h4>Chapter 366: Reincarnated Dog</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    They had almost walked to the end of the wax museum, but there was still no trace of the unknown elfin. Luckily, everyone seemed to have had fun today. Zhang Zian was wondering where to goter. Should he go to that Korean barbecue store for lunch, or go somewhere else and see if he would encounter the elfin?

    Zhang Zian was absent-minded while moving forward. He saw Gxy turn a corner a few seconds ago, and he and Old Time Tea followed it, while Fina and Snowy Li were behind them.

    The first thing that caught his eye was Audrey Hepburn¡¯s wax figure¡ªZhang Zian hadn¡¯t seen her movies, but she was too famous to be mistaken for anyone else. And Gxy was squatting next to the wax figure.

    ¡°Gxy, what are you doing?¡± he asked curiously.

    Gxy raised a forepaw, like it was greeting someone. But there was nothing in front of it.

    It turned back and said happily, ¡°Meow, Gxy is inviting this elfin to y hide-and-seek with me!¡±

    Zhang Zian froze for a moment, and then quickly pulled out his cell phone from his pocket. He was so excited that he almost threw his phone!

    He raised his cell phone and looked through the game¡¯s capturing interface. In front of Gxy, a dog was lying on the ground listlessly. It was an elfin only visible via the game.

    At the same time, a hint popped from the game.

    [Game Tip]: Target Confirmed: Reincarnated Dog.

    Reincarnated dog?

    Zhang Zian frowned. What a weird name.

    That was a fully grown German Shepherd. Its physique was well-proportioned and of medium size, its teeth were neat and white, and its hair was supple and shiny. Apparently, it was a very healthy dog. Contrary to its fitness, its ck eyes were dull, as if it had experienced some terrible things.

    As it turned out, the elfin was in the wax museum! It was Zhang Zian¡¯s sheer luck to find it!

    But what was wrong with it? It was feeble, and its muscles spasmed from time to time, as if it had just finished running marathon or was recovering from a serious illness¡­

    Zhang Zian was a bit hesitant. The Reincarnated Dog seemed unguarded and easy to be captured¡­ but could it really be that easy? It took him a long time to sessfully capture Fina, Old Time Tea and Richard.

    ¡°Wait a minute.¡± It lifted a front paw.

    Told you it wouldn¡¯t be that easy!

    Zhang Zian asked cautiously, ¡°What do you want?¡±

    It took a lot of effort for it to stand up and look at Gxy, ¡°I want to say a few words to Gxy.¡±

    ¡°What? You know Gxy?¡± Zhang Zian was shocked, for its tone didn¡¯t sound like it knew Gxy.

    He could have used this opportunity to press the ¡°capture¡± button, but he would like to hear what it wanted to say to Gxy.

    It pondered for a moment and said, ¡°I also want to know the answer to that question.¡±

    Zhang Zian asked for Gxy¡¯s opinion, ¡°Gxy, this dog wants to speak with you. Are you okay with that?¡±

    ¡°Meow, yes!¡± Gxy nodded.

    ¡°Please go ahead.¡± said Zhang Zian, who also gestured Old Time Tea with his eyes to be more alert, for the dog looked very strange.

    It cleared its throat and said to Gxy solemnly, ¡°Gxy, do you know me?¡±

    Gxy tilted its head, ¡°Meow, I do!¡±

    ¡°When did you know me?¡± it asked urgently.

    Gxy replied in puzzlement, ¡°Meow, Just now!¡±

    The Reincarnated Dog was stunned. It lowered its head, thought for a moment, then asked, ¡°You have never seen me before? Never heard my voice? Never sensed my smell?¡±

    Gxy nodded, ¡°Meow. Gxy meets you for the first time.¡±

    The Reincarnated Dog suddenly threw Gxy a very strange question, ¡°Gxy, have you been alone all the whole time in the ck box?¡±

    Gxy¡¯s expression changed, and it stepped back a little like it was scared.

    ¡°What exactly would you like to ask?¡± Zhang Zian was annoyed. He thought this dog might have malicious purposes. He looked at Old Time Tea, indicating that it should prepare to fight the dog at any moment.

    It raised a forepaw to stop them from approaching, ¡°Please forgive me, but this question is very important to me.¡±

    Old Time Tea looked at Zhang Zian, as if asking him what to do.

    Zhang Zian was struggling. This dog sounded serious, and hadn¡¯t shown any intention to attack, but he didn¡¯t want Gxy to recollect the memories in the ck box¡­ What should he do? He was in a dilemma.

    Gxy gently nodded and whispered, ¡°Only Gxy.¡±

    Hearing this, the Reincarnated Dog almost copsed onto the ground, but its look seemed more rxing.

    ¡°I see¡­ I see¡­¡± It whispered to itself and suddenly chuckled, ¡°Great! If all I had experienced was true, I would bang my head into a wall and kill myself. I would rather be dead than go back to that hellish ck box¡­¡±

    It was pretty sure that everything that it went through in the ck box was not an illusion nor a dream. Those feelings were real, it vowed with its own nose. The light vor of bitter almond was still lingering in its mind, and would probably haunt it for the rest of its life. It was hard for anyone to believe it, but within only a few seconds in the real world, it had spent countless days and nights with a kitten in a ck box and had endured endless reincarnations¡­

    Zhang Zian and Old Time Tea looked at each other. Was this dog a lunatic? What was the nonsense it murmured about?

    Everyone knew that in the ck box was Schr?dinger¡¯s cat, but how could a dog run into that ck box?

    He thought carefully. He believed in Gxy. If Gxy said it had never met this dog, it must be telling the truth.

    If the dog wasn¡¯t lying either, and it had indeed met Gxy in a ck box¡­ in one way or another, things should be very interesting.

    The Reincarnated Dog seemed to have figured out something. It trotted towards Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Take me away,¡± it said unexpectedly.

    It was so straightforward, making Zhang Zian feel somewhat guilty.

    ¡°What do you need me to do?¡± he asked.

    It lowered its head and thought for a minute, ¡°I have something that I want to figure out, but it¡¯s none of your business.¡±

    Zhang Zian shrugged, ¡°Then why do you want to go with me?¡±

    It looked up and gazed at him. ¡°Because I saw a vague future. I can only find the answers to the things I want to know if I go with you.¡±

    Zhang Zian went silent for a long time before he raised his cellphone and aimed at it.

    ¡°Then pleasee in here.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead,¡± it said.

    Zhang Zian pressed the ¡°capture¡± button. With a light clicking sound, the Reincarnated Dog disappeared.

    [Navigation Elfin]: Congrattions, you got a new pet!

    [Game Tip]: Captured! Reincarnated Dog!

 Chapter 367: Bakeneko

    <h4>Chapter 367: Bakeneko</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The guest room of the Kellers¡¯ was simply furnished with a twin-sized bed, a sofa, a set of rattan table and chairs, an old TV and a small interior bathroom. But everything had been cleaned up neatly.

    Zhang Zian was lying in bed, bored, ying on his cellphone and reviewing the pet bars of the game.

    Initially, the game provided pet bars for five elves. With Snowy Li, he had six elves in total. Although Fina and Richard were not in the game for now, four slots of the pet bars had been upied by Old Time Tea, Gxy, Snowy Li, and Reincarnated Dog.

    If he encountered any special circumstances when all the elves needed to return in the game, the slots would not be enough.

    The two extra free pet bars that he had acquired from capturing Fina became handy now.

    He dragged the free pet bars to the pet bars for elves, and clicked to activate.

    [Game Tip]: Confirm activation? Once activated, this is irreversible.

    He clicked ¡°confirm¡±.

    [Game Tip]: Congrattions! Your pet bars have been expanded to host seven elves. Capture more elves to fill the slots!

    He smiled softly. Like it was really that easy to catch an elfin¡­

    To capture Fina in the jewelry shop, he had to try with so many jewelries and shiny things before he finally won her affection.

    What happened in the Teahouse in Hidden Fog was even more thrilling. He didn¡¯t leave an impression on Old Time Tea because he was willing to spend money generously, but because of his courtesy and the fact that he offered three cups of tea to it in respect. That¡¯s why Old Time Tea decided to leave Ms. Ye of the teahouse, who was rted to Ye Wen, and left the mountain with Zhang Zian.

    When he wanted to capture Richard in the Chinese teaching ssroom, he was embarrassed publicly, so that Richard realized that he was a funny guy who knew how to joke.

    Because of the tortuous experience capturing the previous elves, Zhang Zian felt anxious with catching the Reincarnated Dog so easily. Something was strange¡­

    Was it because he was bing more handsome and charming that he could win any elfin¡¯s affection without any efforts?!

    The Reincarnated Dog¡¯s behaviors were even more puzzling. It imed it knew Gxy, and that it could fuzzily see the future¡­ What a lunatic!

    Gxy could see the future because it was blessed with the Strength of Faith. Having experienced innumerable reincarnations in the ck box through the quantum superposition states of life and death, it could see the quantum superposition state of the infinite future.

    If the Reincarnated Dog had not experienced a simr situation, then how was it possible that it could see the future?

    Zhang Zian shook his head, deciding not to think of this question but to instead look at the attributes of this Reincarnated Dog instead.

    When he entered the pet bar of the Reincarnated Dog, he found that the German Shepherd was meditating about some conundrum, like a philosopher, with its mouth slightly open and eyes looking up to the sky. Its expression was amusing.

    He clicked on Reincarnated Dog.

    [Game Tip]: Pet Attributes

    [Known As]: Reincarnated Dog

    [Rarity]: Elite/Epic Level

    [Features]: Everything the Reincarnated Dog experienced is real!

    [Origin]: Locked

    [Real name]: Locked

    Zhang Zian stared at the screen and unconsciously whispered, ¡°What does that mean?¡±

    ¡°Quack! What are you looking at on your cell phone? Are you looking at King Billy secretly?¡± After eating the nuts prepared by Allen, Richard fluttered its wings and flew towards him.

    ¡°Damn it! I¡¯m not watching King Billy! Wait a minute! I don¡¯t even know who King Billy is!¡± Zhang Zian was thinking problems seriously, but was disturbed by this dirty parrot.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so shy! Let¡¯s watch together! Volume up, headphones down!¡± Richard continued its badgering.

    Zhang Zian reluctantly showed his cell phone towards it, ¡°I was thinking about the matters on this new elfin, all right?¡±

    ¡°Boring!¡± Richard nced at the screen, ¡°It¡¯s just a dog! Dogs are everywhere, but there¡¯s no parrot in this world as smart as me!¡±

    ¡°Well! You always say that you are so smart, so let me test you today. If you cannot answer me, stop showing off in front of me!¡± Zhang Zian sat up straight and said provocatively.

    ¡°Quack! Go ahead and ask me! I will only need to exert 1% of my intelligence to dazzle you idiot!¡± Richard confidently straightened its chest, ¡°I can even tell you where to download all the resources of GVs!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to know that!¡± Zhang Zian really wanted to cry. What if it told him anyway, and then he couldn¡¯t suppress his curiosity and went to download and watch the GVs? If he became homosexual, all the girls in this world would be sad.

    ¡°What a buzzkill! What do you want to ask?¡± Richard pecked at the feathers of its chest in disappointment.

    Zhang Zian showed it his cell phone, ¡°What do you think the meaning of ¡®Reincarnated Dog¡¯ may be?¡±

    ¡°Reincarnated Dog?¡± repeated Richard.

    ¡°Yes, can you think of anything rted to the name of Reincarnated Dog?¡± Zhang Zian asked, ¡°To be honest, the appearance of this dog makes me feel a little awkward, so I want to figure out. Just tell me anything you can think of.¡±

    Richard temporarily put King Billy aside, concentrating on the words ¡°Reincarnated Dog¡± and jumped back and forth on the table like a person pacing while in thought.

    ¡°Well, the name of Reincarnated Dog reminds me of a legend in Japan.¡± After a moment, it stopped pacing.

    Zhang Zian asked excitedly, ¡°Tell me! What legend?¡±

    Richard cleared its throat and said like a pretentious schr, ¡°You idiot have probably never heard of ¡®Bakeneko, right?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± answered Zhang Zian honestly.

    When hearing the sensitive word ¡°cat¡±, Fina, who was napping, slightly opened her eyes and turned her ears towards this direction.

    Richard cautiously flew behind Zhang Zian to stay away from Fina and continued, ¡°The so-called Bakeneko is a monster in the Japanese legend. ording to rumors, a Bakeneko was at first a normal cat, but as it grew older, its body became stronger, and its face and body became more like that of humans. It eventually acquired the supernatural power to perceive the feelings of humans¡¯ hearts. Just like other monsters, there are good Bakeneko and bad Bakeneko. A good Bakeneko is sweet and docile, and likes to approach humans and snuggle around them in the shape of a young girl; while an evil Bakeneko is violent and inclines to hurt humans easily¡­¡±

    Fina snorted coldly, ¡°Cats be humans? Nonsense!¡±

    Richard smiled meekly, ¡°Your Majesty, please don¡¯t me me, I just narrated the rumors as I heard to this idiot¡­¡±

    ¡°The ability to perceive the feelings of humans¡¯ hearts¡­¡± After listening to Richard¡¯s story, Zhang Zian felt enlightened and gazed at the feature description of the Reincarnated Dog again¡ªeverything the Reincarnated Dog experienced is real!

    Although he was notpletely sure, the name ¡°Reincarnated Dog¡± was probably somewhat associated with the legend of ¡®Bakeneko¡¯.

    However, Zhang Zian was more interested in another question, ¡°You were saying that a Bakeneko is gentle and loves to be surrounded by human beings?¡±

    ¡°Quack! Yes, what happened?¡± Richard did not know why he was interested in this.

    Zhang Zian excitedly opened the browser on his phone, ¡°I¡¯m going to book a flight ticket to Japan! Perhaps I can capture an elfin like the Bakeneko!¡±

    ¡°Stop dreaming! It¡¯s just a legend, you idiot!¡± said Richard sarcastically, ¡°Just consider downloading some GVs!¡±

 Chapter 368: Returning Home

    <h4>Chapter 368: Returning Home</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After hearing the ¡°Bakeneko¡± legend, Zhang Zian thought he had some understanding of the Reincarnated Dog and some vague spections. Though there were still many doubts, he was less concerned now. Since this was not his ¡°home¡±, he couldn¡¯t release the Reincarnated Dog. The details could only be studied slowly after returning home.

    Staying in the bedroom the whole time might make Lauren worried, so he asked Richard to go downstairs with him.

    After visiting the wax museum yesterday, he took the elves to the Korean barbecue restaurant on the Walk of Fame. Since it was the afternoon, the always-crowded restaurant finally had some vacant seats for Zhang Zian, so that he could take the invisible elves to sit in a secluded corner. He ordered three barbecues without any spices. Fina, Old Time Tea and Snowy Li all enjoyed the lunch very much and kept praising the chef¡¯s cooking skills. But when Zhang Zian looked at the money he needed to pay at check-out, he really wanted to cry¡­

    Tomorrow was Thanksgiving, the day he intended to return home. Snowy sent him a message that Deng Jie would be avable on theing weekend to go with them to the dog market.

    Los Angeles was a ce full of so many attractions that even if he had one more month here, he wouldn¡¯t be able to explore every corner. So, he decided it was time for him to return to China and run his business again.

    When he came downstairs, he saw that Tim was moving a table to the backyard, so he rushed over to help him.

    ¡°Hi, good morning! Jeff, did you sleep well yesterday?¡± said Tim.

    ¡°Good morning! Yes, I slept very well,¡± Richard said for Zhang Zian. ¡°Tim, actually¡­ today is thest day for me to train cats.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Tim was stunned. He was hesitant to ask something, but did not ask.

    ¡°Rest assured, I canplete the training today. I¡¯ve already booked the ne ticket for tomorrow.¡± said Richard.

    ¡°Do you have to go so soon?¡± Tim frowned, ¡°At least stay for tomorrow. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I¡¯d like to introduce you to everyone.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but there¡¯s something at home that I need to deal with. Anyway, I wille to the United States in the future and our paths will cross again.¡±

    Zhang Zian was thinking about the attractions he didn¡¯t get the chance to visit this time, such as Beverly Hills, Staples Stadium, Disnend, and Venice Beach. He would find another time to visit them in the future, and perhaps he would be apanied by more elves at that time.

    As for Thanksgiving, he wasn¡¯t interested in this festival, and didn¡¯t think it was necessary for him to meet the rtives and friends of the Kellers.

    Hearing that Zhang Zian had business at home, Tim stopped urging him to stay. Together they lifted the long table into the backyard. Lauren went to the supermarket to get groceries again. Since a lot of people would being to the party tomorrow, she must prepare enough food.

    ¡°About the thing you asked mest time.¡± Tim patted his head as if something just urred to him, ¡°I asked a few close friends, andthey said that the CFA may admit chocte-colored Abyssinian cats soon. ¡±

    ¡°Really? Great!¡±

    Zhang Zian was sincerely pleased. Cathy¡¯s insistence had finally moved the CFA. Imagine how happy she would be if she heard this news!

    ¡°Jeff, are you raising Abyssinian cats in China? Why are you so concerned about this? These cats are rare, and I didn¡¯t see one when I went to your storest time,¡± said Tim, who had observed Zhang Zian¡¯s expression curiously.

    Zhang Zian smiled and came up with an excuse, ¡°No, a friend of mine raises them.¡±

    He was not going to participate in the CFA game for the time being, whether it was in the China region or international regions, so he might not meet Cathy again. But he heartily congratted her, for her insistence had finally paid off.

    ¡­

    The next day.

    Just as the day Zhang Zian arrived here, today, it was drizzling outside, and the temperature had dropped.

    Fina was reluctant to leave sunny Los Angeles, but she missed her princess bed more than she would ever admit.

    Richard was even more excited because it had to act as Zhang Zian¡¯s mouthpiece in the United States, and it hardly had any opportunities to speak for itself. After returning to China, it would quack incessantly.

    After having breakfast in the morning, Zhang Zian bid farewell to Lauren, heartily expressing his gratitude for their care during their stay in the United States, and declined Tim¡¯s proposal to drive him to the airport. He decided to take a taxi to the airport by himself¡ªmaking Tim very puzzled and thought he was too polite.

    Tim hadn¡¯t known Zhang Zian very well. If not for a special reason, Zhang Zian would never choose taking a taxi over a free trip.

    His journey was truly rewarding. Not only had he settled the issue of imported cat food, but also, he had found a new elfin, and the kittens he selected from Blue Climax would alsoe back to China with him. However, due to the very existence of the kittens, he couldn¡¯t let Tim go to the airport with him.

    He dragged his suitcase, waved good-bye to the Kellers and got into a taxi. At this moment, Allen, who was alwayste for work, finally arrived.

    Instead of heading directly to the Los Angeles International Airport, Zhang Zian asked the driver to stop when they passed a public restroom. He asked the driver to wait for him for a few minutes, and carried the cat cage into the public restroom. In the restroom, he put the five kittens into the pet bars for real pets provided by the ¡°Pet Hunter¡± game to avoid the pet quarantine inspection when entering the airport in China.

    He was somewhat regretting it now. If only he could assign one free pet bar to real-life pets instead of allocating both free pet bars to elves yesterday, he could bring six Ragdoll kittens back to China now¡­ anyhow, he understood that elves were more important than ordinary pets.

    Ports of entry across China had different policies regarding pet importing, and the execution of the policies were even more chaotic.

    Pudong International Airport required that pets entering the country must ept a seven-day period of quarantine, and Capital International Airport required 30 days, which was insane. Although the implementation might not be so strict, it was unfortunate for pet owners and pets because they couldn¡¯t expect that the staff at airports would take good care of the pets.

    If your pets died during quarantine? Deaths only showed that the pets were already sick before the quarantine.

    Some pets also went missing during quarantine¡­ some airport staff members were probably pet lovers, and after taking care of them for 30 days, they took the pets home with them.

    The above were cases for pets who possessed quarantine certificates. Without quarantine certificates, the pets might be euthanized directly.

    Pets were not required to be put in quarantine when entering from Jinmen Airport. The problem was that there were too few international flights to Jinmen. Most international flights wouldnd in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.

    After Zhang Zian entered the restroom, he pushed open every stall to confirm that there were no other people there. Then he took a mop and held it against the door, released the kittens from the cat cage and putting them into Pet Hunter.

    The taxi driver was a bit confused after seeing that Zhang Zian went into the restroom with a cat cage but exited without one. But for his own safety, he decided not to snoop around other people¡¯s business¡­

    Zhang Zian was satisfied with the convenient feature provided by the game. When he went to other countries and encountered interesting pets in the future, he could put them in the game and bring them home.

    He could not help but think of Professor Wei Kang from Binhai University.

    Wei Kang had helped Zhang Zian on several asions, including proving the scientific research values of Fina and Richard this time. Zhang Zian had been about thinking how to repay him for his kindness, but sending Fina to him for research was uneptable.

    Wei Kang once said that his former student¡ªthe pretentious man in a trench coat ¡ª entrusted him to find an original Egyptian Mau for him in Egypt. But Wei Kang felt that it would be tricky business, not only because there was nowhere to find one, but even if he did find one in the end, such a precious cat certainly could not be easily taken out of Egypt.

    With the ¡°Pet Hunter¡± game, everything would be very convenient¡­

 Chapter 369: Ten Years After Its Death

    <h4>Chapter 369: Ten Years After Its Death</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    On the return trip to China, Fina took the initiative to request to go to sleep in the game. Since she knew the flight would not fly over Egypt, she would not waste time waiting anymore. Besides, the airne seat was ufortable, and the bumping during taking off andnding was a bit frightening.

    Zhang Zian was so happy because this helped him save money. Apart from himself, he only needed to buy one extra ticket for Richard.

    On the flight to the United States, Richard¡¯s seat was close to the aisle. This time, it was clever enough to demand that it should sit by the window and Zhang Zian would sit beside it.

    Once on the ne, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the stewardesses were good-looking, young, and slender. He wondered if it was the Thanksgivingpliments from United Airlines¡­ he kept gazing at the stewardesses after he boarded the ne.

    Jumping to its own seat, Richard looked out through the porthole at the misty Los Angeles International Airport.

    Plenty of silver-grey giant birds were parked on the runway, and from time to time, there were nes taking off ornding. The airport shuttle buses carrying travelers were driving among various terminals. Even on this rainy day, the thirdrgest airport in the United States was still very busy.

    The surrounding passengers were talking ??in variousnguages whether the rainy day would affect the normal take-off of this flight, but so far, no broadcast of dyed departure had been received from the captain.

    Richard felt bored. Zhang Zian had made great progress in his spoken English during the trip to the United States, and was able to engage in ordinary conversations without its help. And he didn¡¯t need to speak at all right now, for his eyes were busier than the airport shuttle buses.

    If Richard knew this would be the case, it would also have required taking a nap in the game so that when they arrived home, Richard would have the energy to disturb Zhang Zian while he was sleeping.

    ¡­

    She was sitting on a seat next to a window, quietly waiting for the ne¡¯s take-off. To her right-hand side was sitting a rude middle-aged man, looking at her from time to time with a discerning and shrewd gaze, as if sizing up something for sale¡ªa gaze that reminded her of her ex-husband. She was certain that at some point after the ne took off, he would certainly find an opportunity to approach her and talk to her.

    So, she took theptop out of her suitcase, opened it, and put it on herp,unching a document and acting like she was very busy. She had no ns to start her next romantic rtionship, at least not for now.

    The document was a roughlypleted speech. She just needed to improve some of the details.

    In recent years, she had be ustomed to writing such speeches for raising funds for the Alex Foundation, having been doing so even more frequently than writing her academic reports. On the contents of her speeches, some people could understand, but others couldn¡¯t, and the usation of her being too radical was heard oftentimes. Even nowadays, some people thought that Alex was just another joke, a parrot version of the horse named ¡°Clever Hans¡±, relying on unintended cues from others to answer questions. Some people even said that her insights into the animals¡¯ brains were ungrounded.

    Yes, there was no evidence to support her insights because the only ¡°proof¡± had left the world forever.

    There were several other excellent African grey parrots in her institute, but none of them were as good as Alex. Alex was a genius¡ªshe was increasingly sure of that after it was gone.

    With Alex¡¯s deeds, she gained her fame, the funds for herboratories had increased, and the hardships she encountered many years ago were tackled. Back in those days, she, Alex, and two other parrots were stuffed in a small room less than 6 square meters wide. Alex had left behind so many legacies, but it wasn¡¯t able to enjoy these anymore.

    She turned her head slightly, staring at her face reflected by the porthole. She wore a grey-ck suit with a turtleneck sweater inside. Today¡¯s Los Angeles was a bit cold, and she was older, with more wrinkles on her face than a decade ago, and her skin had be bby.

    It had been ten years since Alex died, and she still couldn¡¯t let it go.

    Why did you choose grey parrots?

    Many people had asked her this question, so she had to put the answer to this sentence in the first paragraphs of her speeches.

    African grey parrots were one of the most popr pets. As early as 4,000 years ago, they had been depicted as pets in the murals in ancient Egypt. Among all pets, African grey parrots could learn and articte humannguages most easily.

    Staring at the hazy Los Angeles International Airport, she could not help but recall her first encounter with Alex. She met it at a pet shop near Chicago O¡¯Hare International Airport when it was one year old and was crouching with eight other birds in a cage waiting to be adopted. She chose it. A one in nine probability.

    Not far from the runway parked a huge Boeing 787 passenger aircraft. Such a gigantic thing was generally flying international routes. She could not help but guess where the ne would fly to. Russia? China? Australia? Or another distant country? The airport passenger stairs had been withdrawn and the cabin doors had been closed. The 787 was listening to the instructions from the control tower, and would take off at any moment to vacate the runway.

    The broadcast from the captain sounded in the cabin:

    ¡°This ne will soon take off, and now the cabin crew is carrying out safety inspections. Please sit back and fasten your seatbelts, put your tray table and seat back in the upright position. Please make sure your belongings are correctly ced in the overhead luggage racks and under your seats. This is apletely non-smoking flight, please do not smoke during the journey.¡±

    She pouted, closing theptop lid and holding it in her arms. It seemed like the ne she was in would take off ahead of the 787.

    Shortly after, the aircraft started to shake lightly. It taxied slowly and gradually elerated, surpassing the 787 parked on the runway from behind.

    The instant the two aircrafts were side by side, her eyes seemed to capture a familiar grey color from one of the cabin windows of the 787. She quickly turned around, trying to keep the hint of grey in her line of sight longer.

    Because of the misty rainy day and the distance between them, she couldn¡¯t see it clearly, but she was sure that it was an African grey parrot. After all, she was so familiar with their body shapes.

    A grey parrot was in the passenger cabin with its owner!

    If she was right, its owner was probably a scientist like her. And just like she had done many years ago, he had conquered so many difficulties and had applied for a scientific research certificate for it, so that it could apany her without having to be kept in a cage¡ªshe felt lucky for it, because its owner loved it and was very concerned about its feelings.

    For a moment, she could not help but wonder if it was Alex, but then sheughed at herself, shook her head and dispelled this crazy idea from her mind. She must have been missing Alex so much that she sprung such an unrealistic idea.

    It had been 10 years since Alex died on September 6, 2007¡­

    With another round of light vibrations, the head of the ne rose. The ne had taken off from the runway and was embraced by the sky.

    The 787 on the ground was getting smaller and smaller. It seemed to have started to taxi on the runway and was about to take off.

    She turned her body forward in her seat and was relieved.

    It had been ten years. It was time for her to let go.

    This might be herst speech, because she wanted to retire. She no longer worried about the fact that no one would carry on the legacy of Alex. Looking at the scientist in the Boeing 787, he was traveling with a grey parrot for research purposes, right? It must be a very intelligent one, probably as excellent as Alex, so intelligent that a scientific research certificate had been granted to it, allowing it to stay in the passenger cabin. Its owner must also be outstanding, probably better than she, because she never took Alex out of the country.

    She was overjoyed seeing that other people and parrots were progressing on the achievements she and Alex had aplished.

    She was looking forward to seeing the grey parrot on television one day and the whole world would be surprised by it and then cheer for it. She sincerely hoped it would stay healthy and go further than Alex.

    The cabin broadcast sounded again:

    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, we¡¯ve left Los Angeles for Chicago. We have prepared lunch for you on this trip, and we will let you know when the meal is ready.¡±

    She had decided that after leaving the Chicago Airport, she would go to check whether the pet shop a few decades ago was still there. If the pet shop was still open, she would select another grey parrot. This time, it would not be for scientific research, but to spend the rest of her life with after her retirement.

    She smiled, full of anticipation.

    ¡­

    The stewardesses had sat back in their seats, forcing Zhang Zian to stop gazing at them.

    He nced at Richard, reminding it, ¡°The ne is about to take off¡ªI heard the English right? So, sit down quickly! Is there something wrong with your neck? Why are you looking at the sky?¡±

    Richard blinked quickly and said calmly, ¡°Nothing. Sand grains in my eyes again.¡±

 Chapter 370: Famous

    <h4>Chapter 370: Famous</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Just like that day a few months ago, Zhang Zian dragged his luggage from a taxi and stood in front of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop. A notice paper was attached to the shutter door just likest time, but the content of the notice was not that the shop would be temporarily closed ¡ª the shop would be re-opened soon.

    Because of the long journey, he was fatigued, and he yawned. He shuddered as the chilliness crawled into his cor. Within only a few days, the temperature of Binhai City had declined even more, making him miss the Los Angeles he had just left.

    He tore off the paper, unlocked and pulled up the shutter door, and opened the ss door inside. He took a deep breath. There was no strange smell in the shop. It seemed like Wang Qian and Li Kun did clean up the shop as he had instructed.

    The kittens in the shop heard the noise and surrounded him at the door. Their voices sounded energetic, so they were probably not starving. And the water in basins was very clear.

    Zhang Zian pulled down the shutter door. It was gettingte, so he wouldn¡¯t open the shop for business today.

    After opening his luggage, he copsed on the recliner and didn¡¯t feel like moving at all. An initial flight over ten hours long, a lot of waiting and an additional transfer flight had almost consumed all his energy. Richard flew onto the table, exhausted. It stood there and took a nap.

    But Zhang Zian thought he should first release the five Ragdoll kittens and the elves from the game.

    He turned on the electric heater, and then went to boil water. When the room had warmed up, he released the five Ragdoll kittens. They had arrived in a whole new environment, andpared to Los Angeles, it was damp and cold here, and a lot of unfamiliar, strange kittens were looking at them. They were a bit scared, curling together and whimpering.

    Zhang Zian looked at each one about their status. They were quite healthy, and should adapt to the environment in one or two days.

    Then, he released Gxy, Old Time Tea, Fina, and Snowy Li from the game. Having slept in the game for a long time, the four of them seemed vigorous.

    ¡°Meow! We¡¯re home!¡± Seeing it was in its familiar pet shop, Gxy went to y with the kittens immediately.

    Fina sniffed and was satisfied that the shop had not been invaded by strange cats during the time it was gone. It gently jumped on the cat tree and continued napping peacefully. Snowy Li followed it.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, your tea.¡± Zhang Zian handed it the freshly-brewed tea.

    Old Time Tea narrowed its eyes cozily, ¡°Thank you, Zian.¡±

    There was nothing morefortable than having a cup of hot tea after a tiresome journey.

    Finally, he targeted an empty space in the pet shop and released the Reincarnated Dog.

    Putting away the phone, he found that a fully-grown German shepherd appeared there. It calmly inhaled a few breaths, trying to remember the smell of every elfin, kitten, and puppy.

    Fina opened its eyes, and two green raysnded on the Reincarnated Dog. Although Old Time Tea seemed like it was drinking tea, with its state of mind, it didn¡¯t need to cast a look on the dog anymore.

    Zhang Zian introduced himself, ¡°We¡¯ve met before, but didn¡¯t have time to introduce ourselves¡ªmy name is Zhang Zian, and this here is my pet shop.¡±

    He also introduced the other elves, ¡°This is Fina, this is Old Time Tea, this is Snowy Li, and this is Richard. You know Gxy, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Reincarnated Dog nodded, ¡°I am pleased to meet everyone, I would also like to introduce myself, but unfortunately, I forget who I am¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was shocked. He could not help but look at Old Time Tea secretly. He remembered that when Old Time Tea arrived, it also imed to have forgotten its name, but Old Time Tea apparently just did not want to mention its previous name. Was this the same case with the Reincarnated Dog?

    However, the confusion in the eyes of the Reincarnated Dog indicated that it probably wasn¡¯t lying.

    ¡°Then what do we call you? You should have a name, right? Otherwise, it will be inconvenient for us tomunicate,¡± said Zhang Zian.

    It pondered for a moment, and said uncertainly, ¡°Then¡­ how about calling me Famous?¡±

    ¡°Famous?¡± Zhang Zian was not sure why it wanted such a name.

    ¡°Yes,¡± it answered absent-mindedly.

    ¡°Famous, can I ask you a question?¡± Zhang Zian discussed with it.

    Famous stuck out its tongue and licked its lips, ¡°Wait a minute, do you have any wine here?¡±

    ¡°Wine? Uh¡­ I think so. Do you want to drink wine?¡± Zhang Zian was surprised. What was going on? Was this dog a drunkard?

    ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but I¡¯m a bit thirsty and I don¡¯t want to drink water¡­Do you have whiskey?¡± Famous licked its tongue faster and faster, as if it had a craving for alcohol.

    ¡°Would you like a bottle of ¡¯82 Lafite?¡± said Zhang Zian sarcastically.

    Famous seemed to have believed his words, ¡°An 1882 Lafite?¡±

    ¡°How can I afford a bottle of 1882 Lafite?!¡± Zhang Zian stopped joking, ¡°To be honest, I don¡¯t have Lafite of any year or whiskey. I only have 2012 Great Wall Dry Red Wine and Red Star Erguotou. Would you like some?¡±

    ¡°That will do.¡± It was a bit regretful, but Famous answered happily.

    ¡°Wait a second.¡± Zhang Zian had to go upstairs and rummaged through the wine cab in his parents¡¯ bedroom.

    In the past, when his father was alive, his father enjoyed drinking Erguotou alone. When family and rtives gathered for dinner on holidays, Zhang Zian would also drink a bit with his father, while his mother who seldom drank would sip a bit dry red wine.

    He remembered there were a few bottles of wine remaining in the cab. He opened the cab. There they were.

    Carrying a bottle of dry red wine and a bottle of Erguotou downstairs, he was now deeply suspicious of the dog¡¯s nationality. Was it from Russia, where the people, as rumor had it, would even drink alcohol-based body wash when they craved alcohol?

    ¡°Here. A 2012 Great Wall Dry Red Wine and Erguotou, which would you like to drink first?¡± Zhang Zian put two bottles of wine in front of it.

    Famous carefully observed the two bottles. It sniffed close to the stoppers, and turned to look out of the window. ¡°Night hasn¡¯te yet, so I¡¯ll drink the dry red wine first. The degree seems to be lower.¡±

    Did it mean it would drink Erguotou at night?! Zhang Zian muttered to himself inside his heart. He opened the cork stopper with a corkscrew, brought it a tall ss, and was about to pour wine into the ss.

    ¡°Wait a second!¡± Famous reached over a forepaw, blocking his hand.

    ¡°What now?!¡± asked Zhang Zian somewhat impatiently.

    Although saliva had been drooling from its mouth because of the bouquet, Famous insisted, ¡°There is dust around the bottle mouth. Please use a napkin to wipe the bottle. Otherwise the taste will bepromised.¡±

    Does it really think I am a bartender?!ined Zhang Zian in his heart.

    He had to fetch a disposable napkin and cleaned the area around the bottle mouth in front of it.

    ¡°Put your hand on the lower areas of the bottle, so that the heat of your palm won¡¯t affect the temperature and quality of the wine as easily,¡± instructed Famous.

    It was just a bottle of 2012 Great Wall Dry Red Wine that cost a few dozen RMB! Do you really think it¡¯s an 1882 Lafite?ined Zhang Zian secretly.

    At this time, he could see the difference between it and Old Time Tea. Old Time Tea was not picky at all, whether it was the tea leaves, tea sets or the technique used to brew tea. Old Time Tea would settle for any kind of tea. But this Reincarnated Dog was as hypercritical as an aristocrat!

    As it demanded, Zhang Zian held the bottom of the bottle, and poured the dark red liquid into the ss. He could smell the not-so-high-end bouquet of the wine.

    Famous took a deep breath and reveled in the bouquet. Then it shouted when one-third of the ss was full, ¡°Stop!¡±

    ¡°I will take care of the rest of the steps.¡±

    After letting the ss stay still for a while, it extended a front paw, put the wine ss between its toes, and shook the ss so that the bouquet of the wine could fully dissipate. Through the thin ss, it was carefully looking at the color of the wine. Then it put the ss in front of its nose and inhaled deeply. Its postures were standard, professional, and natural. It didn¡¯t seem like it was pretending.

    Finally, it stuck its tongue into the ss, rolled the wine up into its mouth and tasted the vor delicately.

    ¡°¡­ This wine is just so-so,¡± it concluded.

    ¡°It¡¯s not high-end wine!¡± Zhang Zian was really dumbfounded, ¡°What do you expect from a 2012 dry red wine made in China?!¡±

    He had been thinking that when he had a job and had saved some money, he would buy a bottle of genuine 82 Lafite¡ªa 1982 Lafite, of course¡ª for his parents at New Year¡¯s, so that his parents, who hadn¡¯t enjoyed much good wine in their lives, could have a taste of the top-notch foreign brand of wine. Unfortunately, ¡­

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll have to settle for this wine. What was your question again?¡± Famous licked another mouthful of wine. Its flexible tongue didn¡¯t miss any drop of the red liquid.

    Zhang Zian was interrupted by it and almost had forgotten what he wanted to ask. He tried very hard to finally remember it.

    ¡°You said you can see the future?¡± He asked the question he was most concerned about.

    ¡°Just a little bit.¡± Famous shook its head. ¡°And it¡¯s so vague. I saw that I would go with you, so I chose to go with you.¡±

    ¡°You said you knew Gxy? In a ck box?¡± Zhang Zian looked at Gxy, who was ying hide and seek with the kittens at a distance, and he asked this lowering his voice.

    ¡°Yes, though I don¡¯t understand what¡¯s going on.¡± Famous put down the empty wine ss, indicating that Zhang Zian should pour more wine to one-third of the capacity of the cup.

    ¡°I went into the ck box, where I got to know Gxy, and spent a long time with it. We lived together, and we died together¡ªit sounded like a dream, but I knew it was not a dream. Aftering out of the ck box, I¡­ could see some vague and transient future.¡± Although Famous loved drinking, it was not a heavy drinker, for it was talking coherently.

    Zhang Zian gasped with surprise. That made sense why Famous could also see the future.

    ¡°You chose to follow me because you want to understand something. Can you tell me what it is?¡± he asked again after digesting its words for a moment.

    Famous raised its eyes, which were a little bit red from of drinking. ¡°I want to know who I am¡­ In addition, I want to be an angel.¡±

    ¡°An angel?¡± Zhang Zian thought he heard it wrong. That was an ambitious goal!

    ¡°Yes, an angel,¡± Famous looked into the distance, ¡°An angel like her, spending my life without regret.¡±

    ¡°I hope you can seed,¡± said Zhang Zian without any anticipation. He had never heard of an angel who was an alcoholic.

    Famous said confidently, ¡°I will. Also, I want to eat steak, medium-well, when I drink red wine next time.¡±

    Another fastidious elfin! Zhang Zian was annoyed.

 Chapter 371: Lygophobia

    <h4>Chapter 371: Lygophobia</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When going to bed in the evening, Zhang Zian asked Famous to sleep with everyone else in the bedroom. It agreed and walked beside Gxy¡¯s crib, requesting to sleep there. Since Gxy had no objection, Zhang Zian fetched a nket for it.

    However, after Zhang Zian went to bed and turned off the lights, Famous shouted in horror and fear. Its hysterical screaming had startled the drowsy Zhang Zian and other elves. Fortunately, it was about eight o¡¯clock in the evening and it was not yet time for the neighbors to fall asleep. Otherwise, someone would havee toin about the disturbing noises¡­

    Famous was still haunted by fear and wouldn¡¯t agree to turn off the lights. But with the lights on, Zhang Zian and the other elves couldn¡¯t sleep well. Finally, with a nket in its teeth, it went to the living room, which had been connected to the bedroom, and found a corner where Zhang Zian had put a small night light. It slept there with the light on.

    Because of the jetg and surprise by Famous, Zhang Zian turned and tossed restlessly in his bed for quite a while, and grew increasingly believing in its narrative.

    Famous was apparently extremely afraid of darkness, but even before the lights were turned off, it must have known nothing of this fact, or it would have demanded to keep the lights on at the very beginning. What did this indicate? That its suddenly-appearing lygophobia had something to do with its ount of where it endured endless reincarnations in the abysmal ck box.

    Gxy was not afraid of darkness because it had been in darkness forever and had never seen light, since it was born from humans¡¯ fantasies. But Famous was different. It had seen light previously, so it was frightened of darkness¡ªno, it was probably not the darkness that it feared, but the bottle in the darkness.

    Zhang Zian asked himself, if he was in that same environment¡ª where his any tiny movement might trigger a deadly switch to make him die in agony¡­ ¡ªand was resurrected again, he probably would suffer from lygophobia too, unless he just lost his mindpletely.

    Just like this, at the cost of being afraid of darkness, Famous got some of Gxy¡¯s capabilities¡ªlooking into the future. The scope and strength of Famous¡¯s capacity was unclear. It could probably only foresee a limited future, and couldn¡¯t interfere with the future. Even so, what it could do was very impressive.

    If he pulled a man casually from the street and told him, ¡°I can let you see the future for the next five seconds, but the price being afraid of the dark,¡± perhaps 9 out of 10 people would agree to this¡­

    Since Famous¡¯s body was much stronger than and its capability was weaker than Gxy, if Zhang Zian was correct, Famous was able to use its ability more frequently.

    Lying in bed, Zhang Zian looked at the dim light in the corner of the living room, and then nced at Fina, Old Time Tea, Richard and Snowy Li. Apparently, none of them had fallen asleep after being shocked by Famous. Fina also red back at him fiercely with her green eyes.

    If Famous could get part of Gxy¡¯s abilities, was it also able to¡­

    He repeatedly thought about its feature in his mind¡ª ¡°Everything the Reincarnated Dog experienced is real¡±, and fell asleep¡­

    To deal with the jetg, he got in bed at eight in the evening and didn¡¯t get up until seven o¡¯clock the next morning. Yet, he still felt a bit tired. With the consent of Old Time Tea, the teaching of Wing Chun Kung Fu was suspended for a day.

    When he got up, the elves were all awake. Gxy was ying hide-and-seek with the American Shorthair, Fina and Snowy Li were lying cozily, Old Time Tea was watching the morning news in the corner on the first floor, and Richard¡­ Richard seemed abnormally quiet today. No, it had been so quiet since they boarded the ne yesterday. Zhang Zian wondered if it really got cervical spondylosis. Should he call Sun Xiaomeng toe over and check up on it?

    Famous apparently did not sleep wellst night. It was staring nkly and it must feel bad knowing that it was suffering from lygophobia. Fortunately, unlike nocturnal cats, as a dog, it wasn¡¯t influenced as much. It just needed to get used to sleeping with the lights on.

    After washing his face and rinsing his mouth out, Zhang Zian went downstairs. He opened the shutter door and saw three people waiting there¡ªtwo adults and one child.

    Tian Yi and Gu Le had been waiting for a while, and they checked the time frequently. Although it was the weekend, they couldn¡¯t wait too long here, because they also needed to apologize to other parents. If Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t opened the door at that moment, they may have had to leave. They asked nearby neighbors about the hours, who said the pet shop was usually open very early. The owner probably hadn¡¯t returned from other ces?

    ¡°Hello,¡± Tian Yi said with a smile, ¡°Are you the boss here?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ yes, that¡¯s right.¡± Zhang Zian had just gotten up and wasn¡¯t fully awake. He recognized little Yi Le, and the middle-aged woman behind him also looked familiar. What were they doing here? Sending a message?

    His head down, little Yi Le was standing sheepishly near his father. With a pair of new sses on his nose, he seemed less naughty and more mature.

    Gu Le was looking somewhere else and avoiding eye-contact, and her face was full of an embarrassing expression.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I heard from my child that some time ago, you stopped him from running across the street. Thank you so much, or else something terrible would have happened¡­¡±

    Tian Yi patted Yi Le on his back. Yi Le lowered his head and apologized, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it was my mistake.¡±

    Hearing the familiar voice, Old Time Tea came from the back of the shop and watched from the side.

    Gu Le coughed and apologized, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, store manager. I was in a bad mood that day and used you randomly. This is so embarrassing.¡±

    Tian Yi handed him the gift box. ¡°Store manager, I was also wronged by my boss. I know how it feels to be wronged by others. As a token of our apology, this is our gift, and we hope you can ept it.¡±

    Zhang Zian immediately waved his hand, ¡°I can¡¯t ept the gift.¡±

    Tian Yi smiled bitterly, ¡°Are you still mad? In fact, we came here a few days ago, but your shop was closed, and your neighbor said that you were traveling abroad. That¡¯s why we are here again today.¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not mad,¡± Zhang Zian shook his head.

    He walked in front of Yi Le, bowed down and asked, ¡°Yi Le, do you truly realize your mistakes?¡±

    Gu Le wanted to chime in and answer for her kid, but was stopped by Tian Yi.

    Yi Le nodded, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I made mistakes.¡±

    ¡°About what?¡± Zhang Zian asked again.

    ¡°I should not have crossed the road recklessly, and I should not have made a lie and framed you¡­¡± Whispered Yi Le.

    Zhang Zian stood up and patted his shoulder, ¡°Well, you are still a good boy since you have recognized your mistakes, so I forgive you.¡±

    Tian Yi and Gu Le were relieved. Tian Yi handed again the gift box, ¡°Store manager, please ept our gift¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian again rejected, ¡°I¡¯m not epting it. If you really want to apologize, I have a request.¡±

    Tian Yi and Gu Le were surprised, wondering what Zhang Zian wanted.

    ¡°Please, go ahead. We will try our best to meet your request,¡± Tian Yi smiled.

    ¡°It is not a request for you.¡± Zhang Zian looked at Yi Le again, ¡°Would you please give your full support to the program of your ssmate, Cai Xiaoqin, for the school founding anniversary?¡±

    Yi Le looked up at him through the sses lenses, ¡°The show of a pet shop in fairnd?¡±

    ¡°Yes, can you promise me with this request? I know you are very influential among the boys in your ss, right?¡± said Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Not influential anymore¡­¡± Yi Le was embarrassed and turned to look somewhere else, ¡°Okay. Now that I don¡¯t y Arena of Valor anymore.¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled, ¡°Thank you. By the way, don¡¯t tell Cai Xiaoqin about what happened today. This secret lies between us men, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Yi Le nodded heavily, and then had to push the sses back up his nose. He was not ustomed to wearing sses.

    ¡°Well, I will not ept the gift, you can take it back.¡± Zhang Zian firmly said to Tian Yi.

    ¡°Please¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Let¡¯s not mention again what happened in the past. You guys still have things to do, right? Don¡¯t spend too much time here, just do what you have to do.¡±

    Zhang Zian noted that in addition to the gift box Tian Yi handed to him, Gu Le was also carrying a few other boxes. Maybe they were going to apologize to other parents, whose children were once bullied by Yi Le.

    Tian Yi sighed, ¡°Then we should go now. But we will visit you in the future. If my colleagues want to buy pets, I will rmend your ce to them.¡±

    Gu Le also said, ¡°Yes! I also have a lot of female colleagues who are fond of kittens and puppies. I will mention your store to them oftentimes!¡±

    Zhang Zianughed, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ ¡± Yi Le raised his hand, ¡°I¡­ will also tell my ssmates.¡±

    ¡°Well, thanks, Yi Le.¡± Zhang Zian rubbed on Yi Le¡¯s head, making him even more shy.

    Tian Yi pulled up Yi Le¡¯s hand, ¡°See youter. Yi Le, say goodbye to uncle.¡±

    Yi Le turned his eyes and said what he had heard from Little Celery, ¡°Goodbye, Brother Store Manager.¡±

    Zhang Zian was very happy. He smiled and waved his hand, ¡°Goodbye,e and y if you have time, and bring your friends.¡±

    Upon seeing the family of three leave, Zhang Zian thought it was just like his childhood, when his parents held him by his hands and walked on this old Zhonghua Road.

    Old Time Tea nodded to him with delight.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, let me brew tea for you.¡± Zhang Zian was in such a good mood.

 Chapter 372: New Employee

    <h4>Chapter 372: New Employee</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian went back to the shop, wondering what should be done today.

    Since Tim¡¯s cat food,shipped from the United States, was expected to arrive today, he would not be able to travel far from the shop, and could only stroll around the neighborhood, like buying groceries from the supermarket.

    Fina was staring at him, reminding him that it was time for him to fetch breakfast.

    Zhang Zian reluctantly put on the jacket. He needed to trouble Uncle Li to prepare breakfast again.

    The business was still rough in Uncle Li¡¯s restaurant, for only a few people were having breakfast there, which was even worse than the times Uncle Li was selling dim sum on a cart. He asked Uncle Li for help, and Uncle Li, though in dismay, agreed to help him in no time.

    When Zhang Zian returned to his shop holding a foam instion box, he found a girl wandering around in front of the entrance.

    She wore a knee-length down jacket, a pair of wool gloves, and a red scarf, looking around nervously like an underground worker. The fringe on her forehead was so long that it covered her eyes, and her scarf was pulled up so high that it had blocked her chin. With a pair of big, thick sses too, almost her entire face had been concealedpletely, a look perfect for robbing a bank.

    ¡°Uh, who are you looking for?¡± asked Zhang Zian.

    She hurriedly pulled down the scarf, revealing a small part of her face and exhaling white breath, ¡°Mr. Store Manager, I¡­ I want¡­ to work here.¡±

    The girl seemed very nervous. Stuttering and hands crossed, her face blushed.

    Zhang Zian frowned and looked at her face, ¡°You are¡­What¡¯s your name again? Sorry that I can¡¯t remember.¡±

    ¡°Lu Yiyun,¡± she said.

    The girl who came was Lu Yiyun.

    Recently, Lu Yiyun¡¯s illustration work was getting better and better, and her life became well-off,pared to living short of money when she had just entered the illustration industry. Even her cat, Jasmine, had gained some weight¡ªwhen she took it for a bath at this pet shop, Zhang Zian said that Jasmine may be a descendant of Chinchi, but now she increasingly suspected that it was an Orange Tabby. It was said that almost every Orange Tabby was fat¡­

    However, despite having more money and purchasing better digital equipment and supplies, she horrifically found another problem¡ªSince she practically did notmunicate with others in real life, after six months of living alone, she was so nervous around others that she stuttered when she talked to people.

    Lu Yiyun was not content with drawing illustrations for others all the time. She knew that it was not a promising career. Her ultimate goal was to be a cartoonist. Although this job had not been epted by the Chinese public for now, and she still had a long way to go before bing a cartoonist, she was striving towards her goal step by step. However, another problem arose when she submitted her works toic websites or magazines. The editors often replied: the painting is excellent, but the topics and characters are mundane, and the dialogues are stiff and banal. Hope you can improve on these aspects.

    She was only good at drawing and couldn¡¯t write very well, plus with the fact that she seldommunicated with people in the real world, she was always at a loss when writing a conversation. She knew this was her drawback, but she didn¡¯t know how to change the situation.

    When she learned from Snowy¡¯s live broadcast that the Amazing Fate Pet Shop was recruiting an art designer, she thought she might give it a try. The apartment she rented was located in a nearby neighborhood of Amazing Fate Pet Shop, so it was convenient for her to work there. Most importantly, she had met Zhang Zian twice, so talking with him would be easier than withplete strangers.

    As a super indoor otaku girl, she was frightened of the outside world and of talking with people. So, going out to work was a huge ordeal for her. In fact, she had intended to visit the shop a few days ago, but lost her courage when she was about to leave her house.

    She hated her cowardice and knew that if she went on like this, she would slowly decay in this narrow rental house until she waspletely separated from the society and was forgotten by all¡­ She could not help but think of the news that she had read online. Some loners had died from sudden illnesses and were not noticed by their neighbors until the corpses gave off rotten odors¡­ She didn¡¯t want to end up like this! She was fed up with being judged by her neighbors, and thest thing she wanted was to be talked about by them when she died.

    Today, she finally decided to go out of her home.

    She had never worked in apany before, but she knew she must nail the interview before she was offered a job.

    Along the way here, her mind was filled with all kinds of questions, such as how to act if she was rejected in the interview, or if the store manager had already recruited someone else¡­ she had been thinking of going back home, like a startled cub retreating to itsir. Luckily, her rental house was close to the pet shop, and she arrived there soon.

    When talking to Zhang Zian, she was sweating nervously. She had told herself she must not stutter, but it clearly didn¡¯t work out as she expected.

    Fortunately, Zhang Zian did not seem very concerned about it. He said casually, ¡°You want to work here? Come on in, it¡¯s cold outside.¡±

    He pulled open the shutter door, ¡°Please.¡±

    Lu Yiyun followed him into the shop, and found that the interior waspletely different than it had been before. It was recently refurbished, and there were more kittens and puppies, plus a seemingly fiercerge German Shepherd.

    Zhang Zian turned around and saw that she was scared while staring at Famous. Heforted her, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, it doesn¡¯t bite, it¡¯s an angel.¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡± Lu Yiyun was shocked, ¡°An angel?¡±

    In an instant, her anxiety had been reced by surprise!

    Upon hearing the words of Zhang Zian, Famous straightened its chest, squatted on the ground proudly and barked twice.

    It was saying, ¡°Yes, I want to be an angel!¡±

    Lu Yiyun nced at it a few more times and found that unlike the German Shepherd in her hometown that liked barking and biting indiscriminately, this one was well-behaved, and she could rest assured, knowing that Zhang Zian was indeed such a good pet shop owner that he had trained this dog so well!

    Zhang Zian pointed at the brand-new cash register and said, ¡°You will be working here, collecting money when customers buy something, and updating the WeChat public ount of the shop from time to time. That¡¯s it. Oh, I remember your calligraphy is excellent. You can also draw, right?¡±

    Lu Yiyun pulled a USB from her pocket. ¡°I bring my previous works.¡±

    At the checkout counter was a desktopputer bought online by Zhang Zian, who indicated that she could operate theputer on her own.

    Sheunched theputer, and when it entered desktop mode, she inserted the USB disk to the interface, and essed the slide show mode of the image viewer.

    ¡°Are these all painted by you?¡± Zhang Zian was surprised, because the pictures on the screen that made him dizzy were so fascinating and seemed to be drawn by a professional artist.

    Lu Yiyun did not speak. She just pointed to her signature at the lower right corner of each image.

    ¡°Uh¡­ honestly, you are overqualified for the job here¡­¡± Zhang Zian told her the truth, ¡°You won¡¯t settle if I pay you less¡­ but if I pay you ording to your level, I will be losing money, for I don¡¯t need such an excellent art designer¡­¡±

    ¡°It does not matter.¡± Lu Yiyun shook her head. She didn¡¯t expect toe here to earn much money, she just needed to have more contact with real people in real life, ¡°Just pay me a normal wage as other employees. But I have only one condition¡­¡±

    ¡°What condition?¡± asked Zhang Zian.

    ¡°When there are no customers here, I would like to¡­ draw some pictures here, can I?¡± she asked in a low voice.

    ¡°Of course! When you are free, you can do anything you like.¡± Zhang Zian felt that the condition was so simple, and he agreed without hesitation.

    ¡°Then¡­ I have passed the interview?¡± she asked nervously.

    Zhang Zian felt that he was lucky to find such a talent and quickly said, ¡°Yes.¡±

    Lu Yiyun got what she wanted and was also relieved, ¡°When do I need toe to work?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Zhang Zian thought for a moment, ¡°I want to re-open the shop within a few days. Why don¡¯t youe over tomorrow morning? I will tell you the prices and usages of some products, and then teach you how to handle membership cards for clients.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± she bowed gently, as if Zhang Zian was already her boss.

    ¡°Go home. Come back tomorrow.¡± Zhang Zian remembered something and raised his hand, pointing at her hair, ¡°Yes, why don¡¯t you go to the barber shop to have a haircut, your hair is covering your eyes¡­ Of course, this is notpulsory. Forget it if you don¡¯t want to.¡±

    She froze there. Using her finger to roll up the fringe on her forehead, she found it was indeed too long.

    ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll go back and cut it myself,¡± she said. ¡°Oh, I need to bring over some drawing tools, like a tablet. Can I?¡±

    ¡°Of course, you don¡¯t have to ask my permission for these details. I should have prepared tools for my staff in advance, but I don¡¯t know how to paint and I¡¯m afraid I might buy the wrong tools.¡±

    Zhang Zian felt that she was a little strange, but it didn¡¯t matter, for he was also a weirdo in the eyes of others. Wang Qian and Li Kun were also weirdos, and even Snowy was a weirdo. That¡¯s why people said birds of a feather flocked together.

    Anyways, he finally had a full-time employee, who was quite perfect¡ªshe looked mature and wasn¡¯t a bbermouth, and had excellent drawing skills. Besides, when he had to run errands outside, he didn¡¯t have to close the shop anymore.

    When renovating the shop, to prevent the pets from running outside, Guo Dongyue specifically installed an automatic door between the cashier area and the shop interior. Lu Yiyun would be working and painting in the cashier area, and wouldn¡¯t disturb him when hemunicated with the elves.

    Zhang Zian sent a message to Snowy, ¡°I¡¯m back at the shop. I¡¯m avable any minute.¡±

    Snowy: ¡°Ok, I will immediately contact Sister Deng Jie.¡±

 Chapter 373: Firm Opposition

    <h4>Chapter 373: Firm Opposition</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°It¡¯s cloudy again¡­¡±

    Lying against the window, Snowy looked outside.

    When she got up in the morning, she noticed that clouds in the sky had been gradually umting. At this time, arge piece of cloud, lead in color, had covered the entire sky. Without opening the window, she could tell it was cold outside.

    Perhaps it was a coincidence, but the weather was bad before Zhang Zian went abroad. It was cloudy, snowy, and windy. As soon as he went abroad, the weather turned nice immediately, and for several days, Binhai City was sunny. And then the weather worsened again since she had received the message of his return.

    Snowy smiled. It seemed that even the sky despised him¡­

    She sat back in front of theputer, typing quickly to reply to thements left byizens on her Weibo and WeChat public ounts, and then posted a brief new post: ¡°Live broadcast notice: The broadcast in the dog market that everyone has been waiting for will shoot today, please check in to my channel on time! But the weather conditions are bad today, so if it snows suddenly, the schedule might change. Please see the update in Snowy¡¯s Weibo should there be any changes!¡±

    Closing theputer, she put on thick clothes. For those who were brand-sensitive, they could recognize that all the clothes on her body were from international luxury brands, but the styles were rtively simple and low-profiled. These were all new collections bought by her mother when traveling abroad. As for those one-piece dresses and evening dresses, they she had locked them all in her closet.

    She picked up her Persian cat, Snowball, from her bed and fondly rubbed its forehead with hers, ¡°Snowball, take care and wait for me toe back. Ouch, you are so heavy!¡±

    Snowball softly purred in her arms a few times.

    Putting Snowball back on the bed, she picked up her phone and selfie stick, and left her bedroom briskly. But when she reached the stairs, her heart sank. Holding the stair handrail, she was hesitant.

    Damn! She forgot today was Sunday. No matter how busy her father was usually, he would try to stay at home on Sunday.

    Jiang Tianda was sitting on a couch and carefully reading a newspaper. He liked reading the important national and local government newspapers and periodicals such as People¡¯s Daily, Reference News, and Binhai Daily. Although Snowy didn¡¯t think these newspapers were interesting at all, ording to her father, these newspapers often subtly revealed some clues of the reform by the delicate changes in tone or wording. Whoever could notice these nuances in advance could stand on the forefront of the next era.

    Snowy was not interested in what newspaper he was reading. She just wanted to sneak out.

    Unfortunately, her father seemed particrly vignt today. She had stepped on just one stair before he put down the newspaper, nced at her clothes and his face became gloomy.

    ¡°Are you going to host a live broadcast again?¡± he asked sullenly.

    Bad luck! Why am I so unlucky today! I tried to be quiet, howe he heard me?! said Snowy in her heart.

    Her mother, who was baking tarts, had heard the sound and stuck her head out from the kitchen and said unhappily, ¡°The weather is bad today. Don¡¯t go out!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. I wille back if it snows.¡± Snowy said sheepishly to her mother. As for her father¡­ well, she just considered his silence to be acquiescence.

    Mother helplessly shook her head, ¡°How do I have such a wild daughter¡­¡±

    Strangely, today, her father did not stop her unreasonably. Instead, he asked, ¡°Where are you going to host the live broadcast?¡±

    Snowy blinked, wondering if there was a trap in his words.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to the dog market to see the puppies,¡± she said casually.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you already have a cat? You want to raise a dog, too?¡± her mother chimed in.

    Snowy rified, ¡°No, I¡¯m just going to y with them.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t believe you¡­ you will buy one eventually. Let me tell you, you must train the puppy yourself. If it barks and poops in the house, I will send it away.¡± Mother warned her.

    Snowy waved her hands repeatedly, ¡°Trust me. I¡¯m not buying one.¡±

    She had hosted live broadcasts several times in Zhang Zian¡¯s pet shop, and got to know that the time and energy one should spend in raising a dog was several times more than raising a cat. She didn¡¯t have the patience required for that.

    ¡°You can¡¯t go,¡± said her father firmly.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m going!¡± her father¡¯s tough attitude had provoked the rebellish side of Snowy, and she shouted aloud.

    Father and daughter stared at each other for a while. Jiang Tian¡¯s attitude softened a bit, and he eased his tone, ¡°You can go to somewhere else, but not the dog market.¡±

    Snowy didn¡¯t believe his words, ¡°You just won¡¯t let me go any ce I want to go!¡±

    Father shook his head. ¡°I won¡¯t stop you if you want to go to other ces. But the dog market is not an option.¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡± asked Snowy unyieldingly. She thought her father¡¯s attitude was a bit weird today, but why?

    Mother frowned. She did not want to let Snowy go out at all because it might snow today. But she couldn¡¯t understand why her husband was so determined to prevent her daughter from going to the dog market today. She remained silent, went to the kitchen to pause the oven from baking, and leaned against the door to hear their conversation.

    Father said seriously with rigid expression, ¡°Whether it is a restaurant, teahouse, old bookstore or a pet shop, at least the owners arew-abiding and have business licenses, and the customers there are decent and well-educated.¡±

    Listening to these, Snowy got more perplexed. How did her father find out where she had been to? But right now, she had no time to figure out that. She was thinking about how to convince her parents so that she could arrive at the dog market on time. She didn¡¯t want to ke out on her audience.

    ¡°As for the dog market¡­ Do you know what the dog market is? The dog market is in a remote urban-rural fringe zone of the Nancheng District with little and chaotic city administration. There are all kinds of nefarious people, swindlers, thieves, robbers, and abductors¡­ You might be safe if you only want to see the ce. But what if a young girl like you hosted a live broadcast with your phone and then you touched some unspoken rule under the surface of the industry? Who do you think you are? A vignte?¡±

    Her father was getting increasingly more outrageous, and finally threw the newspaper onto the ground. Snowy was so scared. She had never seen her father so angry before!

 Chapter 374: Safety Guarantee

    <h4>Chapter 374: Safety Guarantee</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Snowy grew up under the meticulous care of her parents. Though her mother was tough outside, she knew her mom loved her very much. Her father may straighten his face sometimes, but he had never scolded her severely. Today was the first time he had thrown a thing in front of her, even if it was just a newspaper.

    Snowy was startled at first, and then her eyes filled with tears. She was just going to the dog market instead of some other extremely dangerous ces. She didn¡¯t understand why her dad was so furious.

    Her mom, Shi Rong, was also shocked, and she regretted watching silently instead of intervening. It was a heartache to see her own daughter sad. She rushed over, embraced Snowy in her arms and red at her husband. ¡°What are you doing?! Can¡¯t you just talk? What¡¯s this throwing and yelling about?! Jiang Tianda, you can¡¯t scare me!¡±

    In fact, Jiang Tianda was also regretting not being able to control his temper, but he was too embarrassed to say sorry¡­ more importantly, if he softened his attitude, his daughter would definitely go to the dog market to do the live broadcast. What if someone hurt his baby girl?

    As for the situations of the dog market, although he had somewhat exaggerated them, he was basically stating the facts.

    Had anyone¡¯s belongings been stolen? Yes!

    Had anyone¡¯s handbags and mobile phones been robbed off? Yes!

    Had children been abducted, never to be found again? Yes!

    Did people fight there? Yes!

    Were there any surveince camera? No!

    As for the swindlers, they were ubiquitous in a market without city administration.

    Located in an urban-rural fringe zone, the dog market had a dense poption, high turnover, and chaotic public security. It was a ce where decent people were reluctant to set foot in.

    The previous locations Snowy chose for her live broadcast were in the city, and the farthest she went was just Hidden Fog Mountain, so Jiang Tianda hadn¡¯t worried too much. But he could never let his baby girl take any risk to set foot in that filthy dog market.

    Taking a few deep breaths, Jiang Tianda picked up the newspaper from the ground and said calmly and resolutely, ¡°I should not have lost my temper. But you just can¡¯t go to the dog market! That¡¯s it!¡±

    Although Shi Rong was very dissatisfied with her husband¡¯s tone and attitude, she was more concerned for her daughter than anything else. She agreed with her husband and whispered to her daughter in her arms, ¡°Snowy, listen to your dad for once. Don¡¯t go to the dog market. Stay at home, will you? I have baked your favorite egg tarts.¡±

    Snowy did not understand. She was just trying to do the right thing, exposing the conscienceless dog peddlers so that people like Deng Jie wouldn¡¯t fall for their traps again. Why were her parents so strongly against that?

    She wiped her eyes, kept silent for a moment, and pushed away her mother gently, ¡°Dad, Mom, I know you care about me, but I¡¯ve grown up, I¡¯m no longer a kid. I know what is right and what is wrong. ¡±

    With a pause, she looked straight in her father¡¯s eyes, and said in a likewise calm and determined tone, ¡°I want to do the right thing.¡±

    Her voice was not loud, but was very persuasive.

    Jiang Tianda and Shi Rong looked at each other astoundingly, wondering since when their daughter had grown such a strong sense of justice. In their minds, their daughter was still a wild girl goofing off all day.

    ¡°Besides, I¡¯m not going there by myself. The manager of the pet shop where I bought Snow ball will go with me¡­ Do you know? He¡¯s by no means an ordinary person. He is amazing. He once beat up seven criminals by himself in total darkness!¡±

    To prove her words, Snowy picked up the tablet which her mom used for watching soap operas on the tea table, found the video and showed it to them.

    On the event that happened at the pet shop that night, Jiang Tianda had heard a bit about it, while Shi Rong had no knowledge of it. Staring at the video where Zhang Zian had easily defeated seven criminals, who were thrown out of the pet shop andy unconscious on the ground, her mom and her dad were dumbfounded.

    ¡°This video must be fake!¡± doubted Shi Rong. She felt it was an incredible scene from a movie.

    ¡°It¡¯s true, many people can prove it, and some people have even begged him to ept them as disciples!¡± Snowy pulled her mother¡¯s hand and begged her, ¡°Mom, please rest assured, no one can hurt your daughter if this man apanies me. Please! Let me go there!¡±

    Shi Rong looked at her husband for a decision, ¡°What do you think?¡±

    Jiang Tianda knew this video was true. He had recognized Zhang Zian and the pet shop. Although he was reluctant to believe that the obnoxious and pretentious store manager was a Wing Chun Kung Fu Master, the facts were there.

    He pondered for a moment and put forward a very unexpected condition, ¡°If you must go there, call this guy and ask him to guarantee your safety for me.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Snowy talked back recalcitrantly, ¡°How can you ask a person unrted to you to guarantee that?!¡±

    Jiang Tianda interrupted her and said withoutpromise, ¡°No discussion! If he is really that powerful as shown in the video, then protecting a girl is only a piece of cake for him. If he can¡¯t promise, then he was just bluffing!¡±

    Snowy looked at her mother seeking for help, but Shi Rong remained silent.

    ¡°Well¡­ I will try. I¡¯m not sure if he will agree¡­¡± Snowy pulled out her phone hesitantly.

    ¡°If he doesn¡¯t agree, you can¡¯t go!¡± Jiang Tianda was determined.

    Snowy bit her lips and hesitated for a while. Then, she dialed the phone number of Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Hello? Mr. Store Manager, this is Snowy¡­! What are you doing right now¡­¡± her phone was grabbed by her father before she was able to finish her introduction.

    Cold-faced, Jiang Tianda turned on the speaker of the phone, ¡°Hey! This is Snowy¡¯s father, are you the owner of Amazing Fate Pet Shop?¡±

    Zhang Zian was startled, ¡°Yes. Hello.¡±

    ¡°My daughter said she is going to host a live broadcast in the dog market with you. Do you realize it will possibly cause troubles?¡±

    Zhang Zian went silent for a few seconds and said, ¡°I know. I told her not to go.¡±

    ¡°But she insists on going there,¡± said Jiang Tianda. ¡°As her father, I want to know if you can guarantee the safety of her trip. If not, tell her yourself and let herpletely dispel the idea.¡±

    There was silence for a moment. Zhang Zian said, ¡°Okay, let me talk to Snowy¡­¡±

    Jiang Tianda was relieved. It seemed like Zhang Zian was going to talk her out of the idea.

    ¡°We are on speaker mode. Just go ahead.¡± Jiang Tianda looked at Snowy.

    Snowy was biting her lower lip. She felt ufortable and embarrassed for involving Zhang Zian into this.

    Suddenly, a few loud barking sounds were heard over the phone.

    ¡°Woof! Woof!¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ ah? Oh, okay¡­¡±

    After talking to someone, Zhang Zian seemed to have changed his mind, ¡°Well, I promise you, I will guarantee the safety of Snowy.¡±

    ¡°Great! Great!¡±

    Snowy couldn¡¯t help but shout and jump for joy!

    ¡°You must keep your word!¡± She stared at her father and said, ¡°No cheating!¡±

    Jiang Tianda and Shi Rong looked at each other in puzzlement, wondering who had changed the store manager¡¯s mind.

    ¡°All right, you can go, but you must take care of yourself.¡± Jiang Tianda sighed, hung up the phone, and gave the phone back to Snowy.

    Snowy promised him immediately, as if in fear of her parents might regret it at any time. She grabbed her phone and ran out the door quickly.

    ¡°Why did you let her go? What if she encounters danger?¡± asked Shi Rong in concern.

    Jiang Tianda waved his hand, indicating that she should stay quiet for a minute. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed the number of his neighbor.

    ¡°Hello? Jin Er? It¡¯s me, Old Jiang! Don¡¯t you dare hang up on me! I have something serious to talk to you about!¡± Jiang Tianda lost his demeanor as a president of a bigpany.

    Jin Er smiled bitterly, ¡°Old Jiang, stop teasing me! How on Earth would you need my help? Is it an excuse to fool me and punch me?¡±

    ¡°Bull***t! You are full of dog fur, and I don¡¯t want to get my hands dirty!¡± After the trash talk, Jiang Tianda went back to his point, ¡°You are familiar with securitypanies, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Jin Er was surprised, ¡°You know I am in the jewelry industry, so I am close to the bosses of securitypanies. What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°Well, Snowy is going to host a live broadcast in the dog market in Nancheng District. Can you help me find a capable bodyguard to follow her secretly, only to help her out if she can¡¯t get rid of trouble herself?¡±

    Jiang Tianda seldom asked others to do him any favors, and he especially didn¡¯t want help from Jin Er. But considering it was an emergency and Jin Er¡¯s rapport with securitypanies, he had to do so.

    Jin Er agreed without hesitation, ¡°Old Jiang, leave it to me, I like Snowy very much, and I won¡¯t let anything happen to her. I¡¯m calling the CEO of one securitypany now, and I¡¯ll ask him to send over his own top-notch bodyguard, a retired instructor from the national SWAT team!¡±

    Jiang Tianda was finally relieved hearing this, ¡°Thank you. Snowy is on her way to the Amazing Fate Pet Shop. Let¡¯s have dinner sometime, my treat.¡±

    ¡°Forget it. You stingy man might ask me to pay for my own dinner after I go,¡± said Jin Er in a joking manner. ¡°Later.¡±

    After hanging up the phone, Jin Er patted Good-for-Nothing lying beside him and said emotionally, ¡°Look at those parents who have to worry for their children all the time! It¡¯s better to be single! Don¡¯t you think so, Good-for-Nothing?¡±

    With a big drumstick in its mouth, Good-for-Nothing just whimpered nkly.

    ¡°Pfft! What a foodie! Can¡¯t you just put more energy into training?¡± said Jin Er exasperatedly and pointed to Good-for-Nothing¡¯s nose as a warning, ¡°If you don¡¯t behave in training, I will send you to the pet shop one day. The pet shop owner is an expert in cat training, perhaps he can train dogs, too?¡±

 Chapter 375: Desire for Freedom

    <h4>Chapter 375: Desire for Freedom</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian put down the phone and looked at the excited Famous, ¡°Are you drunk? You don¡¯t even know what¡¯s going on and asked me to promise her¡­¡±

    Using its toes to hold a wine ss, Famous drank up thest drop of wine and put down the ss, ¡°In short, that girl might run into trouble, right?¡±

    Zhang Zian put his hands on his waist, ¡°So?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going to help her because I want to be an angel who can make everyone happy,¡± said Famous solemnly.

    Zhang Zian treated Snowy as a friend, that¡¯s why he was hesitant to give his word to her father about guaranteeing her safety. He wasn¡¯t sure whether he was able to do that. Everyone thought he was a Wing Chun Master, but he was not! He had only been practicing for a few days! He was good at making the standard postures, but his level wasn¡¯t enough when it came to real fighting!

    He hadn¡¯t been to the dog market before, but he was sure that if they exposed the swindlers¡¯ frauds, those desperate crooks will be very furious!

    Of course, he can bring Old Time Tea there. But Old Time Tea was a cat, if it had beaten up the peddlers in the dog market by itself¡­imagine the terrible consequences afterwards. Absolutely not!

    ¡°You don¡¯t understand. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to help Snowy preserve justice, it¡¯s just that I¡¯m not strong enough. Wouldn¡¯t I be a fool if I can¡¯t live up to her and her father¡¯s expectations?¡± Zhang Zian shrugged helplessly.

    ¡°Quack! Do you still think you¡¯re not an idiot?¡± Richard shouted while pecking at the feather on its chest.

    Famous said with confidence, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you are an idiot. Everything will be fine if I, an angel, am present.¡±

    Zhang Zian seriously thought that this dog was drunk.

    ¡°Do you want to go to the dog market with me?¡± he asked.

    Famous nodded seriously, ¡°Of course, because I am an angel.¡±

    Zhang Zian pointed to the door, ¡°Alright. If you can walk out of this shop, I will admit that you are an angel.¡±

    Richard fluttered its wings and flew to Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder, it said to Famous without sympathy, ¡°Forget it. So, you are also an idiot. Let me tell you, don¡¯t even try. Don¡¯t you get it? You can¡¯t leave this shop for the time being.¡±

    Zhang Zian turned his head and stared at Richard¡ªweren¡¯t you also trying to leave when you were here at the beginning? You are in no position to tell others what to do.

    Famous walked to the entrance. Bang! Its nose hit an invisible wall and saliva was all over it face. It almost knocked its teeth out.

    It was surprised for a moment. Wiping the saliva off its face, it carefully looked forward, and then sniffed. It was certain through its nose and its eyes that there should be no obstacles in front of it, but why couldn¡¯t it go outside?

    Famous was unwilling to give up. It reached out its forepaw tentatively, and touched a solid wall. It moved its paw horizontally, finding that this invisible wall seemed to have sealed the entire entrance of the pet shop.

    Its heart sank. This was such a familiar situation.

    Head down to ponder for a moment, Famous retreated a few steps, made a running start, and then leapt high¡­

    Bang!

    It hit the wall so hard this time! Its whole body was stuck on the air wall in a ridiculously amusing way, and then slipped down¡­

    Seeing this, Old Time Tea smiled, and Fina scoffed, while Snowy Li wasughing aloud and patting on the cat tree, ¡°Meow! Meow! Men really are fools!¡±

    Richard fluttered its wings and grinned, ¡°You¡¯re an idiot! Why did you try so hard?¡±

    Hands covering his face, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t watch it anymore. What a silly dog!

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± he asked with concern. Famous had hit the wall so hard that even Zhang Zian felt its pain.

    Dizzy, Famous struggled to pick itself up from the ground, shook its head and stared at the front. It took Famous a while before it could see the world in front of it clearly¡­

    Although it was in pain, Famous was muscr and robust, and wasn¡¯t injured from the sh. It had gotten used to such crashes numerous times in the ck box when it tried to leap over the endless darkness, but failed every time.

    It had be ustomed to simr pain and disappointment.

    Zhang Zian went out through the door easily with Richard on his shoulder, and then came back, and then went out, and back¡­ he demonstrated several times so that Famous could understand.

    ¡°You can¡¯t leave this shop right now,¡± he exined to it. ¡°This is a setting of the game, which has summoned you from the void to reality, that neither you nor I can modify. Why not stay in the shop for the time being? We can help Snowyter¡­ ¡±

    He picked up the phone and was ready to call Snowy.

    ¡°Wait!¡± said Famous solemnly, holding up a forepaw, ¡°Give me some time.¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned. He put the phone down, wondering what it wanted to do.

    Famous stood at the door and closed its eyes.

    Darkness. It was back to darkness.

    The shop was so simr to the ck box. Though it was warm and bright in the pet shop, just like the ck box, the game was confining its freedom.

    In its imagination, it had returned to the ck box again, reviewing what happened before the dawn came.

    ¡­

    It was in the abysmal darkness.

    ¡°Meow, do you mean it? After leaving this ce, Gxy will encounter a new owner?¡± asked the ck and white kitten with anticipation.

    Famous gasped weakly and replied, ¡°Yes, you will, but you must leave here first.¡±

    ¡°Meow, Gxy wants to go out!¡±

    ¡°I want to too, but I can¡¯t¡­¡± it said despondently, ¡°I don¡¯t know how you got out earlier than I, but I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll be stuck here all my life ¡­¡±

    ¡°Meow¡­ woo¡­¡±

    Famous moved its ears. Gxy¡¯s movements seemed somewhat strange.

    It was futile for Famous to try to see in the darkness. But why was Gxy on its left side when it ¡°meow¡±ed, and then the sound of ¡°woo¡± came from its right?

    That was so scary!

    ¡°Gxy, what are you doing?¡± it asked anxiously. Fear sprung up in its heart again.

    ¡°Meow, Gxy wants to go out!¡±

    Famous advised Gxy, ¡°Stop trying, it¡¯s useless. I¡¯m bigger than you, and I can jump higher than you, but even I can¡¯t get out, let alone you.¡±

    ¡°Meow, Gxy wants to go out!¡±

    Regardless of what Famous said, Gxy had always repeated this sentence.

    And just like that, they didn¡¯t know how long it had been, and how many times they had gone through reincarnation.

    When Famous woke up, the pain of cyanide poisoning remained in its body.

    It had probably experienced death once again. Famous thought calmly, as Gxy had said, it would feel less pain if it got used to death.

    What?

    Famous moved its ears. Why was Gxy so quiet? Did it finally give up?

    ¡°Hey! Gxy, are you tired?¡± it asked in the darkness.

    No response.

    ¡°Gxy?¡± It reckoned that Gxy was asleep. It raised its volume and asked again.

    Still no response.

    ¡°Gxy!¡± It trembled, shouting with its loudest voice possible.

    It had never been so scared since it was pulled into this inexplicable ck box. No matter how painful it was, it was not alone. Gxy was always there. It had been used to Gxy¡¯spany.

    However, where was Gxy right now?

    Famous¡¯s first thought was that Gxy was dead, thoroughly, and would not resurrect anymore.

    It did not feel sad. Jealousy struck it madly. It was jealous of Gxy, who finally had escaped from the endless reincarnations, even if it meant it waspletely dead.

    It carefully explored the ck box, in which it didn¡¯t know how many times it had overturned the poison bottle. But still, it had never found Gxy¡¯s body in the ck box.

    Another possibility emerged in his mind¡ªhad Gxy really seeded? Had Gxy escaped from here?

    From thinking of this possibility, it trembled with excitement.

    If Gxy could escape, maybe it could, too!

    What special thing did Gxy do before it escaped?

    It carefully recalled that Gxy just kept saying ¡°Gxy wants to go out¡±.

    ¡°Meow¡­ No. Famous wants to go out!¡±

    It tried to imitate Gxy, but it couldn¡¯t say the word ¡°meow¡±.

    After numerous reincarnations, Famous finally found the secret of Gxy. Therefore, whenever it had an uncontroble desire for freedom in its heart, it seemed that it was able to move itself a very short distance randomly around itself¡ªa distance shorter than its leap.

    What was the use of such a short range? It was far from being able to escape the ck box like Gxy.

    ¡­

    Famous opened its eyes again. It was embraced by the bright light in the pet shop now.

    It turned back and watched Gxy who was busy ying hide and seek with the American Shorthair in the pet shop. This Gxy, probably not exactly the same Gxy that Famous knew of. This Gxy, who had always been alone in the ck box, wasn¡¯t the Gxy in Famous¡¯s mind.

    As Famous realized, what it experienced by itself in the ck box probably did not exist in the reality, but existed in the imagination, a virtual cognition derived from a fragment of Gxy¡¯s memory.

    But why did this matter to it? Even the ck box and Gxy were nothing but humans¡¯ imaginations. As long as its mind was strong enough, it could distort reality.

    Famous had experienced numerous reincarnations in the ck box, and though not as many as Gxy, it still had plenty of time to think and learn something.

    ¡°Gxy, please let me borrow your power.¡± It looked at Gxy and murmured to itself.

    Famous retreated again, this time retreating a very long distance.

    Zhang Zian instantly understood what it wanted to do.

    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t!¡± He tried to stop it from doing something stupid. With such a long distance to start running, it would injure itself instead of merely suffering from a headache.

    However, it was toote. Famous had begun a full sprint, running towards the invisible air wall.

    ¡°Famous wants to be an angel!¡± it roared, exhausting all its strength.

    Desire.

    It temporarily abandoned everything. Because of its experience in the ck box, it even could ignore its own life and safety. The only thought in its heart was its desire for freedom!

    Zhang Zian covered his face with his hands.

    Richard hid its face into its wings and couldn¡¯t bear to see the tragedy that would happen next.

    Old Time Tea, Fina and Snowy Li were all dumbfounded by what Famous was going to do, and only Gxy was still ying.

    Famous did not hit any obstacle. It teleported a small distance in the air, and appeared outside the shop door,nding firmly on the ground.

    Zhang Zian and Richard looked at each other, shouting one sentence in unison: ¡°What the f**k!¡±

 Chapter 376: My Angel

    <h4>Chapter 376: My Angel</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Snowy did not encounter Uncle Jin and Good-for-Nothing in the vi area, probably because they thought it was going to snow and stayed home. Ever since taking off the Elizabeth cor, Good-for-Nothing had be energetic and naughty again, but it still it wasn¡¯t able to defeat her cat Snow ball.

    Getting in a taxi and heading to the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, she logged on her Weibo, confirming to the audience that her program would be broadcasted as nned.

    The audience was very interested in this live broadcast. The previous locations that Snowy chose for her programs were mostly indoor areas. Even though she had been to the Hidden Fog Mountain, her ultimate destination was a teahouse there. This time, the broadcast will be shot in the outdoor dog market and unlike those expensive shops, ordinary people could rte to the experience in dog market. Besides, with a professional in the pet industry apanying Snowy, the audience could learn something about the industry from the expert.

    Even before the start of the live broadcast, plenty of audience members had been waiting on Snowy¡¯s channel to discuss the live broadcast with enthusiasm.

    In the living room of their vi, Shi Rong was eating the freshly-baked egg tarts while waiting for the live broadcast on a tablet PC. Jiang Tianda, though pretending to be angry, shut himself in his study, quietly waiting for the show on his phone.

    The taxi arrived at the Amazing Fate Pet Shop soon. Snowy paid the fare and got out. Seeing that Deng Jie was walking from the bus station, she stood there to wait for her.

    ¡°Sister Deng,¡± she waved her hand.

    Deng Jie was wearing a gray and pink long down jacket with a mask on her face, carrying a handbag that had no brand. She also saw Snowy, taking off the mask while speeding up.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, am Ite?¡± she said apologetically. ¡°It¡¯s a cloudy Sunday, so I overslept.¡±

    ¡°No, I also just arrived,¡± said Snowy.

    Deng Jie nced at Snowy¡¯s clothes, and said with concern, ¡°Snowy, the dog market is dirty, messy and crowded. You¡¯d better not wear such nice, new clothes¡­ you see, I deliberately dressed in old clothes today¡­¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Snowy didn¡¯t care. ¡°I can wash them if they are dirty. Let¡¯s go inside to meet the Store Manage. I¡¯m not sure whether he¡¯s ready or not.¡±

    ¡°¡­ All right.¡± Deng Jie did not say anything about her clothes anymore.

    ¡°Hello! Mr. Store Manager, here Ie!¡±

    Snowy hopped through the door first, and Deng Jie then followed her into the pet shop. They saw that Zhang Zian was squatting on the ground with Richard standing on his shoulder. Both he and Richard seemed to be gazing nkly with strange expressions, as if they were dealing with constipation¡­

    In front of Zhang Zian was squatting a very perky German Shepherd. Hearing that someone had entered the door, it turned around and looked at the entrance.

    Mouth half-open, Zhang Zian stared at Snowy half-heartedly for a while before he recognized her, ¡°Oh, Snowy, what are you doing today?¡±

    ¡°What? Mr. Store Manager, are you alright? Didn¡¯t you agree to go to the dog market with me today? We spoke on the phone moments ago!¡± Snowy said, worrying about him.

    ¡°Oh, yes, I remember now.¡± Zhang Zian came to his senses.

    He and Richard were wrong. Famous actually did it! Famous had broken through the invisible obstacles set by the game and went out from the pet shop. It repeateding in and going out several times¡ªit seemed that as long as Famous seeded once, the confinement on it wouldn¡¯t work anymore, and Famous didn¡¯t need to go out via teleportation.

    In the Yuanhua Building, when they encountered Snowy Li, Gxy once broke through the confinement. He thought Gxy was the only elfin that had ability of quantum superposition state¡ª since when did such a power became so universal?

    Not only Zhang Zian, but Old Time Tea, Fina and Snowy Li were all surprised, especially Richard, who felt inferior in front of the newly arrived guy and was really dejected.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, every time Ie to your store, I see some new pets. Is this dog recently arrived? It seems fierce, does it bite? ¡°After entering the shop, because she was afraid of Famous, Snowy didn¡¯t dare to go any further inside.

    Famous¡¯s body was about the same size as Good-for-Nothing, but from Good-for-Nothing¡¯s dorky look, it was a harmless animal; Famous was like a dog that had served the army or policemonly seen in movies, and would lunge over people and bite them once it receivedmands from their owners.

    ¡°You said this dog¡­ It¡¯s fine, it doesn¡¯t bite, you don¡¯t have to be afraid.¡± Zhang Zianforted her, ¡°It¡¯s called Famous, and its nickname is¡­ Angel.¡±

    ¡°What? Angel?¡±

    Snowy was full of questions. Howe a dog had both a name and a nickname, and the nickname was Angel?

    ¡°Yes, and Angel will go with us to the dog market,¡± said Zhang Zian.

    Snowy pped her hands ad if she had understood, ¡°No wonder you dared to assure my dad of my safety! This dog will help fend off trouble¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian still wasn¡¯t fully recovered from the shock caused by Famous. He greeted Deng Jie, ¡°Greetings, Sister Deng.¡±

    ¡°Thank you both for arranging this trip for my matter.¡± Deng Jie smiled both apologetically and gratefully.

    ¡°It¡¯s all right, I¡¯ve heard of the situations in the dog market already, so I can take this opportunity to see it for myself.¡± Zhang Zian reminded her, ¡°But please be aware that with my limited knowledge of the industry, I¡¯m not sure whether you can get what you want from this trip. Please don¡¯t set your expectations too high.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t say that. I¡¯m very grateful that you woulde with me at all,¡± said Deng Jie sincerely.

    Snowy took out the cell phone and asked, ¡°Mr. Store Manager, can I start the live broadcast now?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhang Zian agreed.

    She started the live broadcast app and said happily to the camera, ¡°Hello everyone! I am Snowy, wee to my live broadcast! Our slogan is¡ªHaving fun in Binhai City!¡±

    A lot of viewers had been waiting on her channel, and some audience members that were watching the live broadcasts of other anchors immediately switched to hers as soon as they received the notification that Snowy was on air.

    Since it was a cloudy Sunday morning and could snow at any time, many audience members had stayed at home to watch Snowy¡¯s program.

    ¡°Wow! Snowy is so cute today!¡±

    ¡°Snowy! Marry me!¡±

    Because of Snowy¡¯s natural, innocent, and unpretentious style in broadcasting, plus her cool attitude that she wouldn¡¯t fawn on her audience for tips, not only was she popr among male audiences, but also plenty of female audiences had be her big fans.

    ¡°I really want to abduct Snowy and dress her as a doll!¡± There were simr pervertedments.

    ¡°It would be better if the camera could remove the Non-yer Character!¡±

    Zhang Zian had already essed the live broadcast app, and he immediately struck back.

    [Hottie Store Manager]: ¡°Damn you! You are an NPC!¡±

    ¡°Wow! It¡¯s the perverted Store Manager!¡±

    ¡°Hey, pervert! I have a question: how do you feel bing a protagonist today?¡±

    [Hottie Store Manager]: ¡°I am the f**king protagonist all the time!¡±

    Snowy chuckled. Zhang Zian was like a buffoon ¡ª as soon as he was in her program, everyone would find him amusing andughed.

    At this moment, the automatic sensor door glided to the side, and a girl walked in.

    Zhang Zian put down his cell phone and introduced her to Snowy. ¡°This is my newly hired employee. Her name is Lu Yiyun, and her painting is amazing. Right, she is also a big fan of yours!¡±

    Lu Yiyun cut her fringe a little shorter. She did not recognize Snowy from behind, and thought she was an ordinary customer. Just when she was trying to hide quietly behind theputer screen on the cashier, she was called out by Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Hey! Where are you going? Isn¡¯t she your idol?¡±

    ¡°Woo¡­¡± Lu Yiyun froze there embarrassedly, and her face blushed as if she had a fever.

    Snowy walked over and reached out to her, ¡°Hello, I am Snowy, do you also watch my live broadcast?¡±

    Lu Yiyun was staring at Snowy¡¯s hand, hesitant to hold it.

    ¡°She¡¯s waiting for you to shake hands. You can¡¯t keep her raising her hand like this, can you?¡± Zhang Zian urged her.

    ¡°Hello, I¡­ my name is Lu Yiyun, I am your fan¡­ I¡¯ve recorded every program of yours and I¡¯ve watched them each several times¡­¡± She whispered to introduce herself. Wiping off the cold sweat on her palms on her clothes, she finally took the hand of Snowy.

    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s awesome! Thank you!¡± Snowy felt Lu Yiyun¡¯s hand was cold and asked with concern, ¡°I¡¯ll call you Xiao Yun, okay? Are you cold?¡±

    ¡°No¡­ no, I¡¯m not cold¡­¡± Lu Yiyun quickly withdrew her hand and lowered her head.

    She had wanted to meet Snowy for a long time. It would be better if she and Snowy could be friends. Together, they would go shopping, enjoy gourmet food, and try out clothes in clothing stores¡­ but she knew that her personality waspletely different than Snowy. Snowy was always so cheerful, happy, and sweet, and was loved by everyone. On the other hand, people deemed her a gloomy introverted person, so that even her parents didn¡¯t like her. How could a person like herself became a friend of Snowy?

    Snowy was her angel!

    She was satisfied being able to meet Snowy in person and shake hands with her.

    Struck by happy dizziness, Lu Yiyun felt like she was going to pass out. What a wise decision for her to work at this pet shop! She put her hand behind her, thinking that she might not wash it for a long time now.

    Zhang Zian did not know that she had been through suchplex psychological activities. He waited patiently till she and Snowy finished shaking hands, and asked them toe to the storage racks.

    ¡°You came at the perfect time. I¡¯m going to insert amercial here¡ªthese are the newly arrived imported cat food, selling to the members of this shop at prices lower than purchasing online from overseas websites.¡±

    Zhang Zian pointed at the rows of imported cat food on the shelves. The franchise certificates of the cat foodpanies were also hanging by the side. These were the favors from Tim and his Blue Climax.

    ¡°From now on, stop calling me an unemployed person, nor am I a self-employed guy, but I am the CEO of a Sino-US joint venture!¡± he said proudly to the camera.

 Chapter 377: Questions about Imported Cat Food

    <h4>Chapter 377: Questions about Imported Cat Food</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian called Snowy over to the storage shelves to, of course, justifiably advertise for his shop. He called Lu Yiyun over too, to teach her how to answer questions for customers when he needed to go out.

    Snowy focused the camera on her phone at him, while Lu Yiyun listened carefully.

    Most of the audience members of Snowy¡¯s live broadcast were rich, and a lot of them were raising cats and dogs. Some of the audience members had recognized the cat food brand at first nce.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been buying this cat food for a long time ¡ª why is it so cheap here? It¡¯s even cheaper than buying from the overseas websites! Is it fake?¡±

    ¡°Damn! The price is simr to what I bought in the supermarkets in the United States!¡±

    Zhang Zian nced at thements on his cell phone and exined, ¡°Because this is a premium discounted price for major clients offered by the cat food manufacturer, a number that retail prices at supermarkets can¡¯tpare with. Besides, the cat food was shipped from the duty-free Oregon in the United States via express service to the Hong Kong free trade port, exempt from the 17% value added tax, and then was transshipped to Binhai City. Throughout the entire process, I only needed to pay the freight and a small amount of tariff. Here is aplete package of manufacturer authorization documents, customs clearance materials and import approval notice. If you have any questions, you cane check at any time.¡±

    He put the relevant documents and materials in front of Snowy¡¯s camera and let her film them.

    ¡°My baby girl¡¯s food is about to be consumedpletely. I will visit your shop in a day or two. If you are not bluffing, then I¡¯ll buy some.¡±

    ¡°Cat lovers in Binhai City are so lucky. Howe we don¡¯t have such a pet shop in our city? We have to secretly buy overseas, and risk being confiscated by customs¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was so pleased with himself. He did not forget to emphasize, ¡°The store¡¯s cat food is not for public sale, it¡¯s only for the internal welfare of our members. So, if you want this imported cat food, be our members quickly! The first 1,000 members may also receive the Hottie Store Manager¡¯s autograph!¡±

    Although the audience was condemning Zhang Zian, and many people even imed that Zhang Zian¡¯s signatures would be fed to dogs, the cat food had attracted a lot of cat lovers. Buying cat food overseas was too risky ¡ª unlike clothing or electronic products, without import approvals, once seized by the Customs and Excise Department, the cat food would be destroyed rather than requiring travelers to pay the required taxes.

    Because of Zhang Zian¡¯s imported cheap cat food, those cat raisers with limited budgets that had been feeding their cats domestic-brand cat food could upgrade to imported food without spending too much extra money. It¡¯s uncertain whether there was a huge difference between domestic and imported cat food, but at least the imported brand was more reassuring. As for those cat owners who had been buying food directly from overseas, purchasing from Zhang Zian¡¯s ce would save them energy and money.

    Some inexperienced cat owners raised their questions, ¡°May I ask which brand is better?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand cat food at all, I just buy randomly¡­¡±

    ¡°Hottie Store Manager, can you rmend some brands, in addition to the brand you sell here¡­¡±

    A lot of simr questions popped up in the live broadcast room, and many experienced cat owners answered actively. There were many different opinions.

    Zhang Zian picked up ab and knocked at a can of cat food, as if drawing everyone¡¯s attention. He cleared his throat and said, ¡°Please quiet down! To answer the question raised by the person that just called me ¡®Hottie Store Manager¡¯, I can tell you how to select suitable cat food, but I won¡¯t rmend other brands here.¡±

    The audience went quiet. After all, Zhang Zian was a professional, and was more informed than ordinary cat raisers.

    Zhang Zian picked up a bag of cat food, showing the side written with the ingredients to Snowy, and said, ¡°We all know that cats eat meat, and that they can¡¯t secrete much amse. Nowadays, many cat food brands im their products are grain-free. However, we must first make it clear that grain-free is not the same as starch-free, and every cat food contains starch, because inside the meat is muscle fibers that have no adhesive capacity. To make granr cat food, it is necessary to add starch to stick it all together.¡±

    He added, ¡°All the cat food brands that im to be starch-free are confusing these concepts and misleading customers. The difference lies in which kind of starch and how much starch is contained within. The lower, the better. Generally, cat food that contain <15% of starch is safe.¡±

    ¡°Grain-free cat food is divided into two categories¡ªpure grain-free cat food and gluten-free cat food. The former really does not contain any cereals because the binder it uses is potatoes! Pay attention! As in nt taxonomy, a potato is not a grain, but still it contains starch! This is a clever use of the two concepts. As to thetter category, someone might be asking, what is ¡®gluten¡¯? Gluten is the outer covering of cereals. Why is gluten-free cat food popr? Because the gluten in cereals and nt protein in gluten can cause soft stool or diarrhea in some cats.¡±

    However, no matter how Zhang Zian exhaustively exined, the audience indicated that they still didn¡¯t understand his long lecture. They insisted that he skip the proving process to show the conclusions, or simply rmend cat food brands.

    How can¡¯t they have the slightest patience? Zhang Zian thought to himself.

    ¡°Well, you want the conclusions, right? When different brands have simr forms and prices, look at the list of ingredients and avoid those containing wheat, barley, rye, or oats. Those containing potatoes, green beans, and rice are still viable options. If possible, it would be the best if owners had time to buy meat and prepare food for their cats by themselves. Over!¡±

    Since the audience were asking for conclusions, he had to give his.

    ¡°What the f**k? No way! I just checked my cat¡¯s food and it was made with oats! Isn¡¯t oat a good thing?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear the Store Manager? Oats are good for people, but not for cats, for they have the chance to cause diarrhea!¡±

    The audience members that were raising cats went to check their cat food. Some were lucky that the brands they chose didn¡¯t contain oats, while others cussed the manufacturers.

    It was good to eat freeze-dried or staple food every day, but not everyone could afford such food, and it could cause teeth problems to cats.

    Homemade cat food was not bad, but was time-consuming andborious. Young people were toozy to cook for themselves. It was unrealistic to expect them to prepare cat food.

    Zhang Zian finally stressed again, ¡°Of course, the most economical way is to be members of my shop. You can buy our imported cat food at low prices, and there is absolutely no problem with them.¡±

    Snowy and Lu Yiyun were listening to him very carefully because they were both cat raisers. Lu Yiyun also wrote down his points in a small notebook, so that when asked by customers, she could answer correctly. Only Deng Jie seemed to be a bit bored of the process. Zhang Zian looked at her. Seeing that he had basically finished introducing the issues of cat food, he suggested to Snowy, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Snowy agreed.

    ¡°Xiao Yun, while we are gone, take care of the shop, all right?¡± Zhang Zian confirmed with Lu Yiyun.

    Lu Yiyun hesitated for a moment, and nodded in the end.

    ¡°Well, if you have any questions, you can call me at any time.¡± Zhang Zian was worried and then instructed her with a few extra words. Then, he sent a message to Wang Qian and Li Kun, asking them toe over to the shop to help if they were free. After all, it was Lu Yiyun¡¯s first day at the shop, so she must feel nervous.

    Deng Jie had taken the initiative to go outside to call a taxi. Zhang Zian and Snowy decided to visit the dog market for her, so she couldn¡¯t let them pay the fare!

    Since the dog market was crowded, Gxy certainly wouldn¡¯t follow Zhang Zian. Fina and Snowy Li would be disgusted by such a messy and filthy ce, so both had decided to stay in the shop. Old Time Tea didn¡¯t mind going with him, but Zhang Zian thought that even if it went to the dog market in the invisible state, it wouldn¡¯t be good to show itself if they were engaged in fighting, so it was better for it to stay in the warm shop, drink tea, and watch TV.

    Richard had always liked to watch the fun, so without waiting for him to ask, it had jumped into his hood.

    Famous had decided to apany him from the beginning.

    After they got in the taxi and drove away from the pet shop, a muscr male who was standing by the side of the road, seemingly waiting for someone, promptly stopped another taxi and told the driver to follow the one in front of them.

    After getting in the car, he sent a message: I have kept up with the target. I ensure that I willplete the mission and will not let the target get hurt.

 Chapter 378: First Visit to Dog Market

    <h4>Chapter 378: First Visit to Dog Market</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Tie Ning, with a buzz cut, a standard proportioned physique, and a straight back, was wearing a long woolen ck trench coat with his hands in the pockets. He did not wear a hat, so his ears had turned red from exposure to the chilliness.

    The taxi driver could not expect that such a seemingly mediocre passenger was a former coach of freebat in the National Armed Police, had won the champion of freebat in the 75kg group in the National Military Contest, and had rendered several meritorious services of ss II and ss III. After retirement from military services, he was hired by a securitypany with a promising sry to be the exclusive bodyguard to the CEO and be the chief martial arts instructor for thepany.

    In fact, if he had a choice, Tie Ning did not want to leave the armed police forces that had trained him. However, he came from a poor family in a remote mountainous area in western Sichuan. He had to support his younger siblings, especially his youngest brother who had just been admitted into university and was majoring in medicine, which had very high tuition fees. Relying solely on the sry and allowances from the armed forces was inadequate.

    After entering the securitypany, and freeing himself from the arduous routine training of the armed police force, he was actually unustomed to the leisure days. His tasks were to give brief directions to other coaches in thepany every morning, and then they would train the ordinary security guards. When the CEO left thepany, he should apany him by his side, and was responsible for taking the CEO to work and then to his home. That was all.

    The CEO appreciated him very much. On the day he signed the contract, the CEO gave him an apartment to live in, and assigned a car to him. More than six months since he started his career in thepany, he hadn¡¯t encountered any challenge, and making money seemed so easy.

    But Tie Ning knew that as a bodyguard, he should remain alert even on the calm days, so that in case of an emergency, he could fend off bullets with his body for his boss to repay his appreciation. Therefore, he kept disciplined and maintained his physical energy andbatting skills after his retirement from the military.

    He received the phone call from the CEO, and was surprised by the fact that this time, he was to secretly protect a young girl who did live broadcasts, and to help her out when she got into any troubles, and that he must not reveal his identity. The CEO made it very clear on the phone that protecting the girl¡¯s personal safety was the most important task, so he could beat the gangsters harshly, as long as they survived. Even if something happened to Tie Ning, the CEO guaranteed that the three important bosses in Binhai City would bail him out.

    After receiving the task, Tie Ning quickly rushed to the Amazing Fate Pet Shop. He did not see Snowy go into the store, but when Snowy came out, throughparison with the photos on his phone, he confirmed that she was the target he needed to protect.

    He couldn¡¯t help but think that this girl was the same age as his younger brothers and sisters, but their social statuses were so different. This girl didn¡¯t need to go to school or work ¡ª she could do whatever she wanted every day, and even if she might cause troubles, there was someone protecting her secretly¡­

    However, Tie Ning was rtively new to the bodyguard industry, and when undertaking this task, he forgot to ask¡ªdid he need to protect Snowy¡¯spanions as well?

    He was sitting in the passenger seat of the taxi, and staring at the two heads in the rear row of the taxi in front of him¡­ No, there were three heads, belonging to a middle-aged woman, a young man, and a dog, respectively¡ªand then another head appeared from the young man¡¯s hood. It was a grey parrot.

    If Snowy was fine, but herpanions had troubles, what should he do?

    Tie Ning was in a very contradictory state of mind. Because of the years of education he received in the armed police force, he was unable to stand idly by as the lives of ordinary people were at risk. However, the CEO had stressed that his intervention should be thest resort. It was said that the young man beside Snowy was a martial arts master.

    Martial arts master?

    Tie Ning smiled silently.

    These so-called martial arts masters maybe just won a few times unimportant championships of martial arts routines, right? These people could only make some standard postures, and couldn¡¯tpare with Tie Ning¡¯s wrestlingbat skills that aimed to fight real enemies and make the opponents unable to strike back. Should Snowy and herpanions encounter troubles, it was inevitable that Tie Ning would intervene.

    After driving across nearly half of Binhai City, the taxicabs arrived at the dog market in the Nancheng District.

    Tie Ning¡¯s hometown was in western Sichuan, and he had been in Binhai for only six months. There were many dialects he couldn¡¯t understand, and he had never been to the dog market before.

    Seeing that Snowy and herpanions had gotten out of the taxi, he let his taxi driver park on the roadside and put the receipt for the ride into his pocket, waiting to reimburse it when he got back to thepany.

    Snowy was carrying her cell phone stably. She turned around slowly, so that the audience could have a peek into the city¡¯srgest distribution center for pets.

    This area of ??Nancheng District was surrounded by low-rise and old two-story houses or bungalows. Vendors who sold various kinds of pets were on their respective stands. Bicycles, electric vehicles, tricycles, and pedestrians wereing and going in between. The ground was full of dust. Every time the wind blew, dust and sand would fly around in the air.

    Deng Jie put her mask back on and kindly handed a new spare mask to Snowy. But Snowy worried that if she wore a mask, the audience would not be able to hear her clearly, so she smiled and declined gracefully.

    Zhang Zian looked up. It was almost noon, and the sky was cloudier than before. It would probably snowter.

    This was just the edge of the dog market, and it was already so crowded and lively.

    By ncing around casually, he saw that some vendors were selling cold-water fish, squirrels, rabbits, parrots, mynas, and magpies. There were many onlookers haggling with the vendors from time to time.

    He patted Snowy¡¯s shoulder and pointed to a street vendor selling dyed chicks. He said emotionally, ¡°I remember when I was in primary school, some vendors sold these in front of the school. I can¡¯t believe someone is still selling them right now.¡±

    There were about thirty or forty furry chicks packed into the basket. Each of them had beautiful orange fluff, and they were all cheeping with their mouths open. Several primary school senior students with their parents were surrounding the basket of chicks and pointing with great interest, while the street vendor was stroking the chicks by hand from time to time and tried to persuade the children and their parents to buy a few.

    The prices of chicks were very cheap, RMB 2.5 for one and RMB 6 for three, equivalent to the price of a snack or a beverage.

    The pupils were hesitant, worrying that the chicks would be difficult to keep alive. The vendor guaranteed that they were very easy to raise and that they only needed to eat millet.

    Compared to the expensive dogs and cats, the parents were willing to buy their kids such cheap pets. Just a few minutes after Zhang Zian disembarked from the car, several chicks had been purchased.

    It was the first time that Snowy had ever seen anyone selling chicks, and she yelled with surprise, ¡°Wow! So cute!¡±

    ¡°Yes, they are cute. But they can¡¯t survive long.¡± Zhang Zianughed helplessly, ¡°When I was a kid, I bought two chicks with my pocket money, but they were dead the next day, and I was sad for a while. Look, these chicks have beautiful bright colors, but their feathers are actually dyed¡ªthe down of a newly born chickling should be a pale yellow instead of such bright saffron yellow!¡±

    ¡°What? Dyed?¡± Snowy¡¯s exuberance was halted hearing this.

    ¡°Yeah. The vendors put a bunch of chicks in containers like stic basins or stic buckets, and then dump industrial dyes into the containers. To achieve even and longsting renderings, these dyes are often hot, and the vendors will keep stirring. When the dyeing process ispleted, the chicks will be poured out from the containers and basked in the sun. And then they be dyed chicks like these,¡± exined Zhang Zian.

    Snowy frowned, ¡°They are so poor!¡±

    She looked again at the vendor selling chicks. Eyes shing, she seemed to be thinking about something.

    A few secondster, she asked again, ¡°Can the dyes be washed off?¡±

    Zhang Zian had guessed what she was thinking, and he dispelled her thought, ¡°Don¡¯t intend to buy these chicks, for their days are numbered. Toxicity has long invaded their internal organs, and tomorrow, at best the day after tomorrow, they will die, and you can¡¯t save them. The vendors use the toxic industrial dyes, the cheapest ones, and they have to wear thick rubber gloves and gas masks when they dye these chicks.¡±

    ¡°How brutal!¡± Snowy fiercely stared at the street vendor smuggling to earn money.

    The vendor thought Snowy was trying to buy chicks, and he waved to her, signaling her to go over.

    Th4 group of parents and their children left joyfully with the dyed chicks they had just bought. Soon, other rounds of parents and children arrived at the dog market. They were also attracted to the cheap, bright-colored chicks.

    Deng Jie shook her head and tried to persuade Snowy, ¡°Don¡¯t be mad, young girl. Think about that. Even if these chicks were not hatched, they would be eaten as eggs. They have gained more days in this worlding out of their egg shells¡­ ¡±

    Snowy knew what Deng Jie said was correct. But she still felt something was wrong with the practice.

    Zhang Zian said slowly, ¡°There is a sentence that makes sense: No business, no harm.¡±

    Although the price of each chick was cheap, with so many people visiting the dog market every day, it was estimated that such a street vendor could sell at least a hundred chicks a day, and with the profit of near 2 RMB gained by one chickling, the vendor can earn around 200 RMB a day. Though it was a wicked business, it was easier than cleaning tes in restaurants.

    Most of the parents that bought chicks for their kids were financially underprivileged, and they may understand that these chicks would not live long. However, they could make their children happy with so little money spent. When the chicks died, they could also justifiably refuse to buy their children other pets. What would be the harm in buying some chicks?

    Their kids would be hurt, and would feel sad for the dead chicks. Unfortunately they didn¡¯t know that it was not their fault, but the toxins that made it so that these chicks would certainly die soon.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go and look inside.¡± Zhang Zian moved first.

    Famous followed behind him.

    Richard hid in his hood, grieving for the poor chicks.

 Chapter 379: Identify Kittens Through Teeth

    <h4>Chapter 379: Identify Kittens Through Teeth</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Theizens started to share their own simr experiences when they saw the scene. As it turned out, a lot of people had encountered vendors who sold dyed chicks at the entrances to primary schools or junior high schools.

    Because the dyed chicks were indeed very cheap, many people bought them and brought them home, but without exception, the chicks died within three days. Basically, they were too weak to consume any food the second day, and their bodies turned cold and stiff on the third day. Perhaps this had happened ten or twenty years ago, but everyone who had ever bought the chicks still remembered the sadness of keeping the chicks in their hands as they died.

    What followed was the denunciation against the vendors, and even some indignant spectators suggested initiating a cyber manhunt on him, finding out where he lived and then sshing paint on his home at night, just like what he did to the chicks!

    Surrounded by all kinds of pets, Snowy was dizzy, and she would consult with Zhang Zian when she saw some pets she didn¡¯t know the names of.

    Deng Jie had been impressed with therge size of the dog market when she visited in the past. Right now, she was looking around, trying to find the dog vendor who lied to her. However, the dog market was toorge and there were so many people moving around. She couldn¡¯t find the vendor at the moment.

    Famous looked like amon German Shepherd, which was not surprising in the dog market and therefore did not attract too much attention. It calmly followed behind Zhang Zian, and asionally paid attention to the movements of Snowy.

    This would have been a good opportunity for Richard to show off its capabilities, but the weather was so cold that it shrank in Zhang Zian¡¯s hood with its small head stretching out, looking at other parrots curiously andpassionately.

    Zhang Zian used to know almost nothing about parrots, but after paying a trip to Phoenix House, he gained some knowledge about them more or less. Along the way, he saw several vendors selling parrots, basically limited to Green Budgies and Cockatiels, the two mostmon and the cheapest breeds, with the prices ranging from dozens of RMB to two hundred RMB. No wonder Guo Dongyue couldnn¡¯t find the red-headed lovebirds that he wanted at this ce¡­

    The issues about parrots wereplicated. With parrots of identical shapes but with different fur colors, such as Green Budgies and Skyblue Budgies, the price gap could be asrge as one hundred times. He wondered if someone had thought of dyeing the Green Budgies into Skyblue Budgies¡­

    Zhang Zian walked and discussed with Deng Jie about how she was frauded before. Snowy, who was walking in front of them, suddenly stopped and waved back to him. ¡°Mr. Store Manager,e here. There are kittens for sale.¡±

    Zhang Zian walked over briskly.

    In front of Snowy, there were several iron cages of different sizes, with one or two kittens in each cage.

    On the outskirts of the dog market were those peddlers selling dyed chicks,mon goldfish, and rabbits that were cheap and could easily be sold every several minutes. When they walked closer to the core of the dog market, the prices of the pets got higher, and the customers became more cautious, considering and observing in front of the stands for a long time.

    There was one young man and two young girls squatting in front of the cat selling stand, staring at the kittens in the iron cages. It seemed that they were fond of the kittens very much.

    Seeing Snowy, the vendor greeted her passionately, ¡°Hey, beauty! Do you like American Shorthairs? These are bred in my home, they are very clever! Would you like to buy one?¡±

    Snowy squatted beside the two young girls, focusing her camera at the kittens in the cages, observing with great interests. Another youth saw the live broadcast on Snowy¡¯s cellphone and raised his eyebrows. Just when he was about to say something, he saw Zhang Zian who was behind her, and swallowed by his words.

    ¡°Boss, are these American Shorthairs?¡± asked Snowy.

    The kittens in the cage were very lovely. They had round eyes, ck tiger stripes, and their white paws looked like they were wearing white gloves. They were opening their pink mouths and meowing, looking at Snowy from across the cage.

    Though the vendor couldn¡¯t recognize the international brands of Snowy¡¯s clothes, he had recognized thetest Apple mobile phone in her hand and the Nike shoes on her feet. Together with her exquisite small face and delicate skin, he could tell that Snowy came from a rich family. He probably thought that such a rich girl might be stupid, so he treated her differently than the other two girls.

    Without Snowy asking, he took the initiative to open one of the cages and took out the most beautiful kitten, and handed put it in her arms. The girls beside Snowy were very envious, but there was nothing they can do. One of them wanted to leave, but was halted by the other, meaning that if Snowy didn¡¯t buy it, then they could have it.

    ¡°Come, touch it!¡± He said cheerfully, ¡°This is an authentic American Shorthair and it¡¯spletely different than the cheap cats outside. It is extremely well-behaved and clever¡ªit¡¯s imported from the United States! With its excellent conditions, it might be priced over RMB 4,000 in a pet shop!¡±

    Holding this kitten in her arms, Snowy felt this kitten was really adorable with its big eyes and pink mouth, as if it was asking her to kiss it. It she hade to this stand without knowing about the scams, she might buy it in no time¡­

    Seeing Snowy liking the kitten so much, the vendor chuckled, ¡°I¡¯m not a regr vendor here, I have to sell the kittens because there were too many at my home and I can¡¯t afford to raise them all! I feel bad sending them away! If you like this one, you will only pay RMB 3,000! You can also have the cage!¡±

    Zhang Zian and Deng Jie looked at each other. The vendor¡¯s rhetoric was very simr to the one who deceived Deng Jie into buying a puppy. Both imed that they couldn¡¯t afford so many house pets and had to sell some.

    Though Snowy loved the kitten, she did not forget the purpose of the trip. She also knew that the dog market was full of dirty businesses, but with Zhang Zian behind her, she was not afraid to be cheated anyway. She learned to haggle with the vendor like others, ¡°Boss, RMB 3,000 is a little expensive, can it be cheaper?¡±

    The vendor pondered for a moment and said like he was in a lot of pain, ¡°If you are sincere in buying it, fine, RMB 2,500! Final offer!¡±

    He nced around alertly and said in a low voice, ¡°But don¡¯t tell anyone that you bought it at RMB 2,500, or else other peddlers will use me of selling the kittens too cheap and affecting their businesses. I¡¯m telling you, I don¡¯t expect I can earn much from these, I just hope these kittens can find good owners.¡±

    Snowy nodded. She had gone to Zhang Zian¡¯s pet shop several times, and gained some knowledge of American Shorthairs. She felt something was wrong. The kitten in her arms was too small and too light, only half the size of the kittens that were four to six months old in Zhang Zian¡¯s pet shop.

    ¡°Boss, how old is this kitten? I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t raise it well if it¡¯s too little.¡± she asked.

    ¡°Six months. Rest assured, it¡¯s very easy to raise this kitten, you just need to feed it some cat food. If you buy it, I can give you two packets of cat food, which would cost over RMB 100 at a pet shop, for free.¡± The vendor exined patiently, creating the illusion that the customer will benefit from the good deal.

    Snowy remembered Zhang Zian mentioned that she should not buy a kitten that wasn¡¯t old enough to wean, for it was hard for it to survive without its mother. And because ofcking sufficient social training imparted from its mother, it might have some bad habits. Snowy put her gloved left hand and waved it before the kitten¡¯s mouth, and the seemingly well-behaved kitten opened its mouth and bit it. Thanks to the glove, she wasn¡¯t injured, nor did she feel the pain.

    ¡°Boss, why is your kitten biting?¡± she straightened her face and asked seriously.

    The vendorughed, ¡°It¡¯s because you put your hand beside its mouth. It thought it was a fur ball! Rx, when it grows older and familiarizes with you, it won¡¯t bite you anymore, no matter how you stroke it or tease it.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡± Snowy was full of questions. She hadn¡¯t heard Zhang Zian talked about such issues, so she couldn¡¯t tell whether the vendor was lying. She turned around, looking at Zhang Zian as if asking for his help.

    Zhang Zian had remained silent for a long time, trying to figure out how many lies the vendor had prepared. Now that Snowy couldn¡¯t handle the vendor anymore, he had to intervene.

    ¡°Let me see.¡± He took the kitten from Snowy.

    After a few nces, he understood what was going on, and he deliberately said, ¡°Boss, you kitten is less than six months old, right?¡±

    The vendor had noticed Zhang Zian long time ago, but he was not sure whether Zhang Zian was with Snowy, and hadn¡¯t greeted him. He responded indifferently, ¡°Almost.¡±

    ¡°No, you kitten is three months old at most, probably less than three months old, for it has not started changing its milk teeth.¡± He hugged the kitten, gently poked open its lips, and let Snowy aim the camera at its teeth.

    ¡°These are not milk teeth, they are permanent teeth.¡± The vendor frowned at the young man next to him and insisted, ¡°Do you know anything about cats at all? If not, put it down and stop talking. I have a business to run.¡±

    Zhang Zian ignored him and exined to Snowy, ¡°The kittens usually start changing teeth at three or four months of age and milk teeth will bepletely reced by permanent teeth when they are six months old. The gums will be swollen during teeth recement. You see, the gums are still normal, indicating that it¡¯s less than three months old.¡±

    ¡°And it was separated from its mom at such a young age¡­¡± said Snowy painfully. Thinking that she was still living with her mother at this age, her heart ached even more since this kitten less than three months old was forced to leave its mom¡­

    ¡°More crucially,¡± Zhang Zian shook his head, ¡°This is not an American Shorthair at all, it¡¯s a Dragon Li.¡±

    Hearing his remark, the vendor¡¯s expression changed greatly. The two young girls were also shocked, and then began to whisper. It seemed that they were inclined to believe Zhang Zian¡¯s words. Moments ago, they wanted to leave the stand because they were treated differently than Snowy, and now, they decided to stay and figure out what happened.

    As if losing interest, the silent young man went away and took out his cell phone. After verifying his identity, he essed the WeChat Group Chat for Dog Market Trading and sent a message.

    ¡°Everyone, attention! Stop talking nonsense now. Someone is making troubles.¡±

 Chapter 380: Profiteers Everywhere

    <h4>Chapter 380: Profiteers Everywhere</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Before the young man sent that message, the conversation style of the Dog Market Trading WeChat Group Chat was as follows.

    Liu XX: ¡°Little Monk, how is your business today? Just now I saw a fool leave with a hybrid, how much did you earn from that?

    Little Monk Panic: ¡°Brother Liu, stop teasing me! I only sold one in so many days! But you already sold at least two Pomeranians just this morning, correct?¡±

    Three-year-old Oni: ¡°You guys should buy me dinner! I haven¡¯t sold anything today!¡±

    Golden Autumn for Business: ¡°Yo, Three-year-old! Everyone knows that you earn high profit when selling only one pet, so stop acting like you are very poor! The weather is bad today, I won¡¯t go to my stand. Hope to hear good news from you!¡±

    ¡­

    But after the young man sent the warning message, the conversation style changed drastically.

    Liu XX: ¡°What the f**k! Who is seeking troubles? Staff from the Trade and Industry Bureau or the Tax Bureau? Three-year-old, did you not hand in our dues?¡±

    Three-year-old Oni: ¡°I¡¯m innocent! I¡¯ve handed in ourplete dues! Don¡¯t me me!¡±

    Red Dragon: ¡°The man is not from Trade and Industry Bureau or the Tax Bureau. I think he is one of our own.¡±

    Little Monk Panic: ¡°What? Who could be so stupid? I know most of the owners of the kennels in Binhai City, and I don¡¯t think they would do such things¡­¡±

    Red Dragon: ¡°It is not yet clear, I¡¯m just letting you guys know.¡±

    Golden Autumn for Business: ¡°Thanks, Brother Dragon. If he really disturbs our business, show him what we will do!¡±

    Red Dragon: ¡°Let me make it clear. We set up this group chat to unite the brothers in the dog market. We are in this together. No one can conduct business on his own. Do you understand?¡±

    Everyone responded: ¡°Yes, Brother Dragon! Trust us!¡±

    ¡­

    Holding the Dragon Li that was disguised by the vendor as an American Shorthair, Zhang Zian said to Snowy, ¡°From body shape, a Dragon Li and American Shorthair are very much alike. And the fur color of some Dragon Li, like this one, can also be simr to that of an American Shorthair. This kitten is indeed in good condition. It is clever, energetic, and seems quite healthy. But it is a Dragon Li, the price of which is only one tenth of an American Shorthair.¡±

    The vendor said exasperatedly, ¡°Nonsense! Put my kitten down!¡±

    Snowy targeted her camera at this vendor to shoot his embarrassment.

    ¡°Hey! Stop shooting me!¡± The vendor quickly covered his face.

    Zhang Zian put the kitten down, and pulled at Snowy, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    He did not think it was necessary to quarrel with these street vendors because there were so many profiteers in the dog market. It was more important to educate the tens of thousands of viewers in Snowy¡¯s live broadcast about thesemon frauds so that they wouldn¡¯t fall for the same traps when selecting pets.

    Snowy looked at the kitten, then caught up with Zhang Zian. She asked, ¡°Mr. Store Manager, how did you distinguish a Dragon Li from an American Shorthair?¡±

    In addition to cursing out the unscrupulous vendors, the audience also wanted to know the answer to this question.

    As Zhang Zian walked, he exined, ¡°The method of distinguishing them by the patterns on their bodies as described on the inte is unreliable, for the patterns on some Dragon Li that share the pedigree with American Shorthairs are almost identical to the patterns on authentic American Shorthairs. Therefore, we must not only look at their fur color and facial features, but also observe their shapes and bones. For example, look at their tails. From the root to tip, the tail of a Dragon Li gets slimmer gradually, while the tail of an American Shorthair gets finer dramatically. Another difference lies in the shape of their heads. The head of an American Shorthair is an oval shape, and takes up arger proportion of its whole body, simr to the 1:6 proportion of an ordinary person. The head of a Dragon Li is smaller and hexagonal in shape, and the proportion of the head to whole body is 1:9, like a supermodel.¡±

    Snowy was still somewhat confused.

    Zhang Zianforted her, ¡°You can¡¯t distinguish between them because you haven¡¯t met as many cats as I have. In the pet industry, I need to observe different kinds of cats and dogs every day, so I can tell differences easily, otherwise I would suffer great loss if I was tricked by those peddlers.¡±

    Snowy nodded, agreeing to his words.

    She thought of another question and asked, ¡°Mr. Store Manager, the kitten bit my hand just now. Was it because it was separated from its mother too soon andcked social education?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± said Zhang Zian approvingly, ¡°When kittens are born, a normal mother cat would teach them how to live with humans, and this education includes teaching them not to bite people. If kittens bite, it is either because they are separated too early form their mother, or the mother cat is unable to teach them for some reason¡ªfor instance, if the mother cat is used as a breeding machine and has to give birth to kittens litter after litter so frequently that the mother cat copses physically and mentally.¡±

    ¡°So poor¡­¡± Snowy looked back at the stand. She found that the two young girls were following them and whispering.

    Some audience members raised a question. ¡°Hottie Store Manager, my kitten is always biting. Not only does it bite me, but it also bites my guests. Can this habit be corrected?¡±

    Snowy repeated this question to Zhang Zian.

    He immediately replied, ¡°Sure. If it bites you, you bite it back.¡±

    Snowy and the audience were stunned, thinking that he was joking.

    Zhang Zianughed, ¡°It¡¯s not a joke. Do you know how mother cats educate their kittens? When kittens bite their mothers while drinking milk or ying, the mothers will bite their kittens back and let them know that it hurts to be bitten. After repeating this several times, the kittens will no longer bite¡ªthis is social education, tooth for a tooth. If you don¡¯t think you can bite them, you can shout and scare them when they bite, so that they can form conditional reflexes.¡±

    Snowy patted her head, ¡°That is so informative!¡±

    The audience alsomented, ¡°Yes! Yes! Very informative!¡±

    Someone sent out a long, emotionalment, ¡± I got my kitten as soon as it was born in my neighbor¡¯s home. It used to bite, and then I scolded it and beat it. Now, it doesn¡¯t bite anymore, but it is so afraid of me. Every time I call it, it runs away¡­ if only I knew there were other ways to correct its habits.¡±

    Manyizens were criticizing him for beating the kitten, saying that he should be more patient in educating it.

    Zhang Zian shook his head and said, ¡°Actually you don¡¯t need to hit it when the kitten bites. But it alienates from you not because you hit it.¡±

    The person that issued thement asked for his advice.

    Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Did you also call its name when you were scolding it and beating it?¡±

    ¡°Right! That¡¯s it! How do you know that?¡± asked the audience.

    Zhang Zian said with confidence, ¡°When a pet, whether it is a cat or a dog, makes a mistake, especially a severe mistake like biting people, it must be punished. But there are certain skills when ites to punishing them. You must punish them right away when theymit the mistake. If you bring the event up several hourster, the pet has already forgotten what the issue is about.¡±

    He paused for a moment, and added, ¡°Plus, there¡¯s amon mistake among novice pet raisers, which is yelling the pets¡¯ names while scolding them. This is absolutely wrong because the pets will associate their names with mistakes, and whenever they hear their owners call their names, they will think they have made mistakes again and will try to run away. The correct way is to call their names when awarding or feeding them, and do not shout their names when punishing them.¡±

    Not only Snowy and the audience in her live broadcast program, but also the two young girls behind them were nodding when they heard what Zhang Zian said. Many people had made simr mistakes without knowing them. Right now, they finally figured out why their pets would alienate from them.

    There was no love without reason, and there was no hatred without reason.

    None of the cats and dogs in Zhang Zian¡¯s pet shop bit people, so he had never exined these issues to the audience. Taking advantage of visiting the dog market today, he could show them how the pets behaved differently based on the social education they had received.

    Snowy felt this trip was really rewarding. Not only did she have fun, but she had also learned some things she had never thought about before.

    While absent-mindedly listening to Zhang Zian¡¯s exnation, Deng Jie was searching for the peddler that lied to her and sold her a fake Shiba Inust time. She quietly pulled at Zhang Zian¡¯s sleeves and gestured, ¡°Mr. Store Manager, that stand is selling Pomeranians, and I almost brought one homest time I was here. Could you please go there and see whether they are real Pomeranians? I¡¯ve been so regretful, thinking that if I chose a Pomeranian over a Shiba Inu, could I avoid the tragedy of being frauded?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought this was unlikely because, as far as he could see, this dog market was full of profiteers with few decent business persons.

    ¡°OK, no problem, let¡¯s go and see if these Pomeranians are real.¡±

    He greeted Snowy. The three of them changed direction, heading to the stand selling Pomeranians.

 Chapter 381: Testing in Public

    <h4>Chapter 381: Testing in Public</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Shi Rong originally watched the live broadcast out of concern for her daughter, but gradually was attracted by the content of the live broadcast. When Zhang Zian talked about judging the age of a kitten ording to its teeth, she went upstairs to hold Snowball and look carefully, pulling open its lips. She had never known that a kitten¡¯s milk teeth were so long, but the two rows of its front teeth were also very adorable.

    While watching the live broadcast, Jiang Tianda kept checking the time. Although his daughter was unharmed for now, he still hoped that the broadcast ended as soon as possible.

    In the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, Lu Yiyun helped a customer register for a membership card, though she made several mistakes during the process. When it was finished, the customer kindly asked her if she felt very hot, and that¡¯s when she realized that she was sweating on such a cold day. It felt nicemunicating with people, a skill she thought she had already forgotten. When the customer left, she did not draw for the time being, but instead focused on the live broadcast on her mobile phone.

    As instructed by Zhang Zian, Wang Qian and Li Kun did not leave after cleaning, but were staying in the shop holding their cell phones to postments on the forum¡­

    Famous sometimes lowered its head and sometimes looked up, sniffing the intricate smells of the ground and in the air. There were many people and pets in the dog market with thousands of smells, but it still was able to distinguish two special smells among these scents.

    It stopped for a moment, turned around and looked in two different directions. Two men had been following them for a while, and the wind brought their smells to its moist nostrils. They were not together. One man was wearing a long ck trench coat, and his body was exuding the smell of sweat and talcum powder. Maybe he was a man who frequently exercised and perspired a lot. The other man was wearing a leather jacket of poor quality, with the scents of irritant chemicals on his body. The two disguised themselves as ordinary customers, and considered themselves done well in the camouge. But they couldn¡¯t fool Famous.

    Famous did not know why the two men were following them, but it would figure out before anyone else, because it had a pair of insightful, angelical eyes.

    Zhang Zian, Snowy, and Deng Jie walked to the stand selling Pomeranians.

    The vendor, whose ID ount was ¡°Liu XX¡± in the Dog Market Trading WeChat Group Chat, had already noticed them. Via the photos sent by ¡°Red Dragon¡±, he recognized that the three people were the ones seeking troubles today, and he grew more vignt.

    Nevertheless, Liu XX was not too worried, because among the three of them, only Zhang Zian looked suspicious. The other two were nothing more than a na?ve young girl and a seemingly sophisticated middle-aged woman. He rubbed on his Pomeranians, secretly observed his palm and was relieved. The job was adequately done today, and he did not believe this young man could see through his scams. As he heard, they just came from a stand selling cats, so this young man was probably not familiar with dogs.

    ¡°Wow, are these Pomeranians?¡± Snowy squatted beside the stand and curiously looked at the Pomeranians in the cage. ¡°They are so cute, like fat little foxes!¡±

    A few Pomeranians in the cage were stretching out their tongues and gazing at the pedestrians walking by, as if searching for people who would take them home and be their owners.

    ¡°Good taste, beauty! Pomeranians are domesticated from German Spitz. They are easy to raise, are good ymates, and are not expensive. Would you like to pick one?¡± said Liu XX calmly.

    Prior to their arrival, there was already a customer, a middle-aged woman like Deng Jie, dressed in rustic clothes, selecting Pomeranians. Holding a reddish-brown Pomeranian in her hands, she looked quite content with the puppy.

    ¡°Let her pick first. I¡¯m just looking.¡± Snowy smiled.

    Deng Jie pulled at Zhang Zian, and whispered to him, ¡°This vendor didn¡¯t say that his Pomeranians were raised by himself, that¡¯s why I didn¡¯t buy one from himst time¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, then did he mention where these dogse from?¡± asked Zhang Zian.

    ¡°He said he picked the good-looking ones from other vendors in the dog market,¡± Deng Jie replied. ¡°I thought these puppies were really nice. They were lively and energetic, the colors of their furs were adorable, and they were not pricey. I almost bought onest time, but then I thought, maybe the Shiba Inu was ssier¡­¡± In the end, her face blushed in embarrassment.

    Zhang Zian nodded and said, ¡°You really should have bought a puppy here.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Deng Jie regretted her decisionst time even more. ¡°That there are no problems with the Pomeranians here?¡±

    ¡°No, I mean, if you bought a Pomeranian herest time, you would suffer less financial loss.¡± Zhang Zian pulled out a small cardboard box from his pocket, which he took from Sun Xiaomeng before he came here.

    ¡°Look at this.¡± He showed Deng Jie the cardboard box.

    ¡°What is this?¡± Deng Jie took the box in puzzlement and looked at it in her hands.

    The cardboard box was very light with a concise style. Half of it was white and half was in green. All the words on the front and back sides were in English, so she couldn¡¯t recognize them. She shook her hands. Judging by the slight sounds, most of the box was empty.

    Snowy also noticed this, holding her phone shooting at the cardboard box.

    The street vendor Liu XX also wanted to have a look, but he didn¡¯t know what the English words on the box meant either.

    Zhang Zian opened the box, pulled out two stic sheets of paper, and solemnly introduced to Deng Jie and the audience, ¡°If you want to buy dogs, whether from the dog market, or from kennels or pet shops, you¡¯d better carry this with you. This is a test paper kit imported from South Korea for testing Canine Distemper Virus, CDV, and Parvovirus. Before you decide to pay for the dogs that you have chosen, use this to test on them.¡±

    Hearing that this was the paper for testing CDV and Parvovirus, Liu XX¡¯s face immediately became pale.

    The middle-aged woman who was preparing to pay had put the wallet back in her purse and was listening to Zhang Zian.

    The two young girls following them approached closer.

    ¡°This thing is not expensive, a box only costs twenty or thirty RMB. Compared to the financial loss and troubles caused by buying sick dogs, this money really is nothing.¡± Zhang Zian introduced, ¡°However, one box can only test one dog, so only use it on the dog you that you intend to buy. Don¡¯t waste money on testing too many dogs.¡±

    He said to the middle-aged woman next to him, ¡°Elder sister, I won¡¯t charge you for this box of test paper. Do you want to test this Pomeranian that you have selected for free?¡±

    Hearing that it was a free test, she handed him the Pomeranian in her arms and smiled, ¡°OK, thank you!¡±

    Liu XX suddenly stood up, and said rudely, ¡°Put my dog ??down! I forbid you from testing my dog! My dog ??is not sick. If you won¡¯t buy it, leave!¡±

    ¡°If your dog is not sick, what harm would a test cause? If you don¡¯t dare to let it undergo a test, it means you are hiding something!¡± Snowy could not help but retorted.

    Liu XX froze there. He secretly nced at Red Dragon not far away. The young man in a leather jacket whose ID name was ¡°Red Dragon¡± in the WeChat Group Chat nodded towards him, indicating him to remain calm.

    ¡°Well! Go ahead! Test it! But let me tell you, if the result shows there¡¯s nothing wrong with my dog, you have topensate for my reputational damage!¡± yelled Liu XX.

    ¡°OK, no problem.¡± Zhang Zian knew from Liu XX¡¯s expression that he was right. If nothing wrong can be tested, there were many ways for the cheeky Zhang Zian to shirk his responsibility.

    He poured two disposable cotton swabs from the cardboard box and tore off the sealed packages. He asked the middle-aged women to hold the Pomeranian, and then inserted one cotton swab into its butthole and one into its nostril for samplings. When the colors on the cotton swabs changed, he pulled them out.

    Next, he put the two pigmented cotton swabs in two bottles of dilutions, of which the caps were different colors to distinguish between. One bottle was for the testing of CDV and the other was for testing Parvovirus.

    He stirred the cotton swabs in the dilutions for a few strokes. He asked Snowy to help hold the dilution test tubes. He tore off the packages on the test paper, and took out two sets of test paperboards and pipettes.

    Finally, he used the pipettes to suck up the dilutions, and dripped them on two test papers. Now, he just needed to wait for the results.

    Liu XX was anxiously staring at Zhang Zian¡¯s operation. He was thinking of ndering Zhang Zian for changing the cotton swabs in the process, but then he saw that Snowy was holding her cellphone and recording the test process, so he had to swallow the words back.

    All the people present were attentively looking at the test paperboards in Zhang Zian¡¯s hands. Although they were not sure what kind of symptoms would indicate that the dog was sick, they were marveled by the two tiny test paperboards.

    Zhang Zian looked at his watch. About six or seven minutester, he showed the test paperboards in front of Snowy¡¯s camera.

    He gave the conclusions, ¡°On the test paper for CDV, both C line and T line have emerged, proving that the puppy has a strong positive reaction to CDV. The same results also appear on the test paper for Parvovirus. This Pomeranian has contracted both CDV and Parvovirus. I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t survive very long.¡±

    The middle-aged woman immediately put the Pomeranian down, shook her head and said, ¡°No, no, no. I won¡¯t buy a sick dog. I was almost deceived!¡±

    Deng Jie couldn¡¯t make sense of the results of the test paper, ¡°You say that the dog is sick, but I think it is energetic and doesn¡¯t seem like it¡¯s ill¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s easy, because the dog must have eaten painkillers.¡± Zhang Zian put the test paperboards, test tubes, pipettes, and cotton swabs back into the cardboard box, ready to throw it in a dustbin.

    Snowy felt sympathy for the puppy, ¡°Are CDV and Parvovirus incurable? Should we take it to Dr. Sun and ask her to treat it?¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head decisively, ¡°It¡¯s useless. This Pomeranian is doomed.¡±

    He pointed to the reddish-brown fur of the Pomeranian and said, ¡°It is impossible for such a young Pomeranian to have this reddish-brown color. It must have been dyed with industrial dyes, just like those dyed chicklings. The toxicity has intruded its internal organs, and even if it doesn¡¯t suffer from CDV and Parvovirus, it will die in just a few days. Once the effects of painkillers stop working, it will be overwhelmed with extreme pain.¡±

 Chapter 382: Distant Relatives

    <h4>Chapter 382: Distant Rtives</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    There were various types of colors of Pomeranians. The mainstream colors were generally white, ck, brown, reddish-brown, cream, and mottled. Cream and mottled colored Pomeranians were not very popr.

    If Zhang Zian was right, this Pomeranian was originally a cream or mottled color, and after the street vendor bought it at a low price, it was dyed into the more popr reddish-brown color.

    In general, the young people in the city preferred white Pomeranians, while reddish-brown Pomeranians were more popr near the urban-rural junctional areas because reddish-brown was easier to recognize. Under strict distinctions, the target audiences in dog markets, pet shops, catteries and kennels would be somewhat different.

    Unlike other breeds of dogs, before they reached one year old, real reddish-brown Pomeranians were covered by ayer of graynugo. When they gradually grew up, thisyer ofnugo would fade away and the beautiful reddish-brown furs would grow out, just like how the ugly duckling sublimated into a white swan.

    There were no reddish-brown Pomeranians in Zhang Zian¡¯s shop, and as far as he knew, many pet stores and kennels did not have them, because customers didn¡¯t believe in them¡ªI asked for a reddish-brown Pomeranian, why did you give me a grey one? Even after patiently exining to the customers, and assuring them the puppies would be the reddish-brown color after a few months, no one would believe them. Nowadays, ¡°integrity¡± meant nothing at all.

    Anyway, since exnation didn¡¯t work, Zhang Zian just stopped selling them. Why bother?

    The Pomeranian in front of him was no more than three or four months old and already had reddish-brown furs all over its body. If the possibility of a gic mutation was eliminated, then it was dyed this color.

    The process of dyeing a Pomeranian was slightly different than dyeing chicks. The vendors needed to dye the Pomeranians¡¯ furs holding brushes that had been dipped in dyes, a process that contained some technicality. Of course, no way would they use any high-end dyes. They probably just used cheap and abundant potent industrial coloring agents.

    Hearing this, the middle-aged woman who had just held the Pomeranian rubbed her palms on her trousers.

    No one could imagine that such a lively and energetic Pomeranian was suffering from diseases and toxicity inside. If not for the plenty of painkillers that it consumed to suppress the pain, it probably would have been convulsing on the ground a long time ago.

    Zhang Zian sighed, ¡°Unlike the chicks, puppies are sold at a slower rate. Such dyed puppies are only put on the stands for sale on weekends when more people are visiting the dog market. We just happen to have seen them.¡±

    The middle-aged woman was still scared, thinking that if not for Zhang Zian, she might have brought this sick puppy home. Not only would she have suffered from financial losses, but she would also have been sad when the puppy soon died.

    Deng Jie was also very upset. Whether she ended up buying a Shiba Inu or a Pomeranian, she couldn¡¯t have avoided being deceived in the end. The dog market was full of wicked businesses.

    Liu XX was so anxious and angry that his face and neck turned red, and he kept cursing at the middle-aged woman and Zhang Zian. If he had sold this Pomeranian, he could have earned over a thousand yuan. Since he couldn¡¯t sell it, which cost him a few hundred yuan when he bought it from another stand, he had suffered a loss around 2,000 yuan in total! And it might snow any minute, so probably very few customers would remain in the dog market in the afternoon. How could he stay calm??

    The middle-aged woman was by no means a duck soup. Hearing that Liu XX was cussing her, she began to curse back, and then the quarrel kept escting with all kinds of filthynguage. Zhang Zian was not interested in their sparring. He patted on Snowy¡¯s shoulder, and then gestured to Deng Jie. The three of them left quietly among the chaos.

    ¡°Today has been really eye-opening for me.¡± Deng Jie shook her head and smiled bitterly, ¡°I¡¯d rather have no pets than to buy one at the dog market again.¡±

    ¡°No need to generalize one or two events to the whole dog market. There are certainly decent vendors here, and people who bring the offspring of their own pets to sell, just not too many. If you have limited knowledge about pets, I would suggest you buy at regr pet-selling ces. You know, the prices might be higher there, but at least you can rest assured.¡± Zhang Zian pointed at a stand selling pigeons not far away from them, ¡°Test papers for CDV and Parvovirus are easily essible on the inte, but the test paper for parrot fever is rarely found. So be more careful when selecting birds as pets.¡±

    They had been at the dog market for around an hour, but had only covered a small part of it. There were a lot of stands that they passed by but didn¡¯t stop to look at, such as stands selling cold-water fish, tropical fish, and all kinds of birds, rodents, and turtles. These were the pets that Zhang Zian not familiar with, so he couldn¡¯t judge them hastily.

    Snowy suddenly shouted in surprise, pointing to the front, ¡°Mr. Store Manager, look! Is that stand selling leopards?¡±

    Zhang Zian nced at the stand and smiled, ¡°Impossible. Though this cecks city administration, the vendors know better than to sell leopards in public. Those are Bengal cats. You want to go and have a look?¡±

    ¡°Great! Mr. Store Manager, you don¡¯t have Bengal cats in your shop, right? The cat called Fina is not a Bengal cat, correct?¡± asked Snowy.

    ¡°No, she isn¡¯t. Bengal cats are rare, and I have not heard of any pet shop or cattery in Binhai city selling them,¡± Zhang Zian said with reservation. After all, he did not know much about other pet stores, and he doubted whether those were really Bengal cats.

    Seeing that Zhang Zian and hispanions were walking towards his stand, the street vendor whose ID name was ¡°Three-year-old Oni¡± in the WeChat Group for Dog Market Trading, but was called by others as ¡°Lao San¡±, felt a headachee on. He knew that Liu XX¡¯s scams had been revealed and he failed to sell a dyed Pomeranian. Probably numerous people on the inte had learned about what he had done. How was Liu XX going to carry on his business in the dog market?

    However, Lao San was also known for selling his pets at high prices. He was confident in the Bengal cats that he was selling. He decided to ignore Zhang Zian and hispanions, focusing on the heir of a wealthy family in front of him.

    As they approached, Zhang Zian saw a young man in sunsses picking Bengal cats. The young man was about 20 years old, with a sparse beard on his chin. Dressed in clothes of famous brands, he was ying with a bunch of keys in his fingers. There was the striking logo of BMW on the keychain.

    ¡°Boss, how much is this Bengal cat?¡± he asked, pointing to the most beautiful Bengal cat in the cage.

    Lao San stretched out five fingers, ¡°Fifty thousand yuan.¡±

    The young man pondered a moment and did not say anything. But Snowy eximed, ¡°So expensive!¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡± The young man heard this voice was familiar. He looked back, eyes falling on Snowy¡¯s face.

    ¡°Are you¡­ Snowy?¡± he asked with uncertainty.

    Snowy was surprised for a moment, staring nkly at his face. She didn¡¯t expect to run into an acquaintance at this ce. She felt this man in front her was familiar, but she couldn¡¯t remember where they had met before.

    Zhang Zian casually asked, ¡°Your fan?¡±

    Snowy was kind of a famous local anchor, so it was normal for her to be recognized on the streets. Zhang Zian was not surprised that someone had spotted her.

    The young man took his sunsses off and pointed at his nose and said, ¡°You don¡¯t remember me? I¡¯m Lin Qi, we met once two or three years ago.¡±

    ¡°Ah! I remember now! You are Brother Qi!¡± After being reminded, Snowy remembered who he was. Lin Qi could be considered one of her distant rtives. They met a few years ago at a family gathering in a hotel. ording to seniority, she should call him brother. Since there were few contacts between the Jiang family and Lin family, she knew little about this brother.

    ¡°Snowy, long time no see! You haven¡¯t changed a bit! How are you? How are your parents?¡± after ncing at Zhang Zian and Deng Jie, Lin Qi greeted Snowy.

    ¡°Thanks for asking, they are well!¡± Snowy was a little anxious. She did not want to interrupt the live broadcast, nor did she want to reveal her identity. She always felt that once the fact that she was an heir to a wealthy family was revealed, estrangement would ur between her and the audience.

    ¡°Tut, I heard that your dad¡¯s business is expanding, but nothing canpare with health, right?¡± Lin Qi put on his sunsses again.

    Zhang Zian realized that this was just an acquaintance of Snowy, probably her rtive. It was inconvenient for him to say anything right now, so he walked to the iron cages to see the Bengal cats inside. The audience was also wondering who this Brother Qi was and what his rtionship with Snowy was.

    Snowy was sweating anxiously, trying to figure out how to change the topic as soon as possible.

    ¡°Brother Qi, are you here to buy a pet in the dog market?¡± she suddenly got an idea.

    Lin Qi nodded, pointing to the Bengal cats in the cage, ¡°I heard that this stand sells Bengal cats, so I¡¯m here to check them out. If suitable, I¡¯m intending to buy one. How about you? Are you buying a pet, too? What a coincidence that we meet here.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯m not buying, just casually looking¡­¡± she answered vaguely. She then nced at Zhang Zian and Deng Jie, and quickly introduced them, ¡°Ah, yes, I almost forgot. This is Sister Deng Jie, and this is Zhang Zian, who is the owner of a pet shop. If you want to buy a Bengal cat, why don¡¯t you ask him for advice? You know, to steer away from traps.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± hearing that Zhang Zian was a pet shop owner, Lin Qi thought he had been hired by Snowy to pick a pet for her.

    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Lin Qi, and Snowy is my distant rtive, a younger sister.¡± He extended his hand out to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Hello, I am Zhang Zian, and just as Snowy said, I run a pet shop.¡± Zhang Zian shook hands with him.

    Street vendor Lao San felt unlucky today. Howe one of them was rted to this rich young man?! It seemed that he might not be able to close this deal today¡­

    Fearing Lin Qi might say more about her, Snowy quickly said, ¡°Brother Qi, are you going to buy a Bengal cat here? It is so expensive!¡±

    Lin Qi nodded and said, ¡°Yep. But I asked my friends, and they said that this is the only ce selling Bengal cats in Binhai City¡­ and the Bengal cats in other cities are also expensive.¡±

    ¡°What are the merits of the cats? They are really expensive!¡± asked Snowy.

    ¡°Because of their good looks, isn¡¯t it? And few people raise them.¡± Lin Qi shrugged.

    Zhang Zian had a pretty good first impression of Lin Qi. Though he looked like a wealthy heir with unconventional appearance, he wasn¡¯t as arrogant and domineering as the wealthy heirs in the rumors.

 Chapter 383: A Windfall

    <h4>Chapter 383: A Windfall</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help butugh when he heard the vendor¡¯s quoted price.

    Because of their unique, wild and beautiful looks, Bengal cats were sought after by some people. A few years ago, they were really expensive, but recently, due to the increase in the number of Bengal cats being bred in Northeastern China, the price had dropped. Lao San charged 50,000 yuan for one Bengal cat. Who was he trying to fool?

    However, this fully-grown Bengal cat was indeed in good condition. On its golden fur were distributedrge patches of horizontal markings. Its jujube pit-like pupils looked sharp and piercing. Its tail seemed strong and powerful, with annr patterns extending to the tip. Its nasal areas were not as exquisite as other ordinary house cats, but there was a protuberance on the left and right side, and had stiff whiskers like wild, ferocious beasts.

    ¡°Brother Qi, why are you thinking of buying a Bengal cat? I don¡¯t remember you liking to raise small animals¡­¡± Snowy asked Lin Qi.

    Lin Qi scratched his head, and said embarrassingly, ¡°Well¡­ actually, one of my friends raises a serval, and that cat looks really good. It is big and beautiful and wild, unlike those ordinary cats. We are envious of him¡­ so I thought I should raise a cat and make others envy me too¡­since he raises a serval, I intend to raise a Bengal cat. I can¡¯t raise the same breed as his. And then I heard the Bengal cats here are quite nice, so here I am.¡±

    Zhang Zian understood that Lin Qi wanted to buy a cat out of rivalry.

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Snowy turned back to ask Zhang Zian, ¡°Mr. Store Manager, can you help my Brother Qi determine whether this Bengal cat is worth that much?¡±

    Lin Qi frowned. In fact, he wanted to buy this cat because the price quoted by the street vendor was rtively high. The serval that his friend bought was imported from the United States for over 200,000 yuan. If he bought a cat too cheap, he would feel like it couldn¡¯tpare with that.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t understand this rich young man¡¯s psychology. He just honestly said, ¡°This Bengal cat is in excellent condition¡­ But it is not worth the price. I would say it costs at most 20,000 yuan. In fact, regardless of its condition, I do not rmend buying it. If a Bengal cat doesn¡¯t possess a studbook, it means it is probably the first or second generation of wild Bengal cats, and will be hard to tame.¡±

    ¡°Cut the nonsense!¡± snapped the street vendor Lao San, ¡°Are you blind? My Bengal cats are so obedient and well-behaved!¡±

    Snowy also thought that this Bengal cat was obedient. Though it looked very wild, it had been quietly lying in the iron cage, asionally uttering a short, sharp cry, which waspletely different than the meowing of ordinary cats.

    Lin Qi shrugged, ¡°A wilder cat is just what I¡¯ve been looking for.¡±

    Zhang Zianughed, ¡°Wilder¡­ hey, Snowy, have you been scratched by your Snow ball?¡±

    Snowy tilted her head and thought for a moment. ¡°I have been scratched once, but I didn¡¯t bleed ¡ª only a red print was left on me.¡±

    ¡°A Persian cat has a gentle character and limited strength, so you will be fine if it scratches you. But if you are scratched by this Bengal cat, I am afraid your skin will be torn open.¡± said Zhang Zian. His parents¡¯ hands and wrists were covered with many scratches. They would wear special rubber gloves when bathing cats. But they didn¡¯t wear gloves all the time, so inevitably they were scratched by cats.

    The paws of a Bengal cat were much more forceful than that of a house cat.

    ¡°My cat won¡¯t scratch people. I assure you. Look how tender it is. Why would you think it scratches?¡± In order to prove what he said was true, Lao San picked up a thin iron bar and knocked at the cage a few times. The Bengal cat inside was frightened, but it only moved a little bit, cried out a few times, and didn¡¯t struggle radically.

    Lin Qi turned around and looked at Zhang Zian, seeing how he was going to cope with this.

    Zhang Zian silently thought for a moment, and said, ¡°There are two possibilities. First, this Bengal cat is really tender; the second possibility is that it has taken sedative drugs like sleeping pills. I can¡¯t tell which is the case for the time being. If thetter is true, when the efficacy has passed, it will reveal its true nature.¡±

    ¡°Sleeping pills?¡± Snowy cried in surprise.

    ¡°Yes, if the vendors here can feed Pomeranians painkillers, of course they can feed Bengal cats sleeping pills.¡± Zhang Zian said these with leeway. ¡°But as I said earlier, I¡¯m not 100% certain.¡±

    Bengal cats were the most important cats that needed to have studbooks. This was so they could prove that in their lineage, at least four generations of Bengal cats had been crossbred with house cats. This is because the bloodline of the wild Bengal needed to be decreased to less than 1/8 before they could be domesticated pet cats. Some Bengal cats, which came from a line that had only been crossbred one to three generations, although they looked very beautiful, would cause trouble if people bought them home.

    Even Bengal cats that had be pets had the disadvantages of being too lively and liking scratchingpared to other pet cats. It was basically hopeless to expect them to lie obediently on their owners¡¯ knees and let the owners stroke them.

    This Bengal cat in front of Zhang Zian was abnormally obedient. That was why he was in doubt.

    ¡°My Bengal cat did not eat sleeping pills! Who are you to talk about such nonsense!¡± the vendor Lao San retorted irritably.

    Hearing this, Lin Qi, who had decided to buy the Bengal cat, became hesitant. After all, he just wanted to buy the cat to appear pretentious in front of his friends, but it would not be worthwhile if he got hurt.

    ¡°Is there any other handsome looking cat? It only has to be as good looking as a Bengal cat or a serval.¡± He asked Zhang Zian, ¡°It¡¯s okay with me even it¡¯s expensive. Money is not a problem.¡±

    ¡°If money is not a problem¡­ then I have a suggestion ¡ª you can go to buy an Ashera cat. That breed is absolutely rare and looks incredibly handsome, much fancier than a Bengal cat, and should be able to meet your requirements,¡± replied Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Ashera cat?¡±

    Neither Snowy nor Lin Qi had heard of such a strange name, and even the angry Lao San stopped cursing and listened to him.

    ¡°Ashera cat is a newly nurtured cat breed, and it has not yet be recognized by any cat association. I am afraid that it will not be recognized in the future. This kind of cat isrge and heavy, and it looks just like a small leopard. If you want to catch attention at a party in front of your friends, and money is not an issue, go buy an Ashera cat,¡± introduced Zhang Zian.

    Lin Qi suddenly was intrigued by this and asked quickly, ¡°How can I buy one? Which ces are selling them?¡±

    ¡°I heard that a U.S. petpany is selling them, but the supply is limited, so it¡¯s probably not very easy to find one¡­¡± Zhang Zian suddenly got an idea. ¡°I happen to have friends in the pet industry in the United States. Do you want me to inquire them about this?¡±

    He was thinking of Tim and Lauren. Since they ran a professional cattery, they had probably heard of this cat breed.

    Lin Qi was overjoyed. ¡°That¡¯s great! If you can help me buy one, I am willing to paymission. Money is not a problem!¡±

    He came from a wealthy family, but he wasn¡¯t well-informed on the channels of buying cats or different breeds of cats. That was why he was going to buy a Bengal Cat on his own in the dog market. Now that he had a better goal, he simply gave up this Bengal Cat that had no studbook.

    ¡°Let¡¯s make it clear. The price of an Ashera cat is higher than a serval, so it would cost at least 200,000 yuan. If you are sure you want to buy one, you must pay a deposit first, otherwise if I painstakingly ask my friends for this favor and get one Ashera cat from the United States that you don¡¯t end up buying, I will suffer a major loss.¡± Zhang Zian confirmed with him again.

    He found himself still underestimating the fanatical pursuit of rare animals by the heirs to rich families. No wonder the pretentious man in trench coat offered hundreds of thousands of yuan to buy an original Egyptian Mau.

    ¡°No problem,¡± Lin Qi promised, ¡°Since you know Snowy, I believe you. As long as you are sure that I can buy one, I will immediately transfer the total payment to you.¡±

    ¡°Okay, deal!¡± Zhang Zian was so d. He didn¡¯t expect that by visiting the dog market, he would actually close a deal.

    If this business could be done smoothly, he might purchase some rare pets from overseas and sell them to other rich heirs from wealthy families.

    Petpanies in the United States had advanced gic technologies. In recent years, several new cat breeds had indeed been developed. In addition to Ashera cat, there was also the more famous Savannah Cat. Both breeds were very expensive, so expensive that no ordinary people could afford them or raise them. They were the toys of rich people.

    And China was home to so many rich people!

 Chapter 384: The Incredible Brother Zhang

    <h4>Chapter 384: The Incredible Brother Zhang</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Hey? Mr. Store Manager, do you actually have friends in the U.S.? I¡¯ve never heard you mention them before.¡± asked Snowy, surprised.

    Zhang Zian answered casually, ¡°You think I achieved nothing during my trip to the U.S.? Let me tell you, I have established a firm cooperation with the professionals in the pet industry there. As long as I shoot a message to my friends, whether you want an Ashera cat or other breeds, they can help you get one easily.¡±

    The audience members in the live broadcast room all knew he was being pretentious, but Lin Qi didn¡¯t know that. He happily exchanged contact information with Zhang Zian and curiously asked, ¡°Mr. Zhang, my friend who raises the serval doesn¡¯t dare to bring it out in public. He just shows the cat among our friends. As I heard, he hasn¡¯t handled the required documents, so that serval is still a wild animal that can¡¯t be raised in private. Hence, if someone sees him with the serval and then call the police, he might be in trouble, is that true?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s true,¡± Zhang Zian replied affirmatively. ¡°Serval cats are wild animals. To raise them in private, the owners must obtain a Wildlife Domestication and Breeding License, which is probably the document he referred to.¡±

    Lin Qi pouted awkwardly, then asked, ¡°Well, if I buy an Ashera cat, do I also need to get a permit before I can take it out?¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that an heir to a wealthy family like Lin Qi was fond of showing off in front of others.

    ¡°No, you don¡¯t have to.¡± He exined, ¡°Ashera cat is a new species of artificial breeding rather than a wild animal, and because its name doesn¡¯t appear in any relevant conventions on wildlife home and abroad, it doesn¡¯t need that document. There is no problem even if you take it out, although I do not advise you to do this, for it may scare others.¡±

    Lin Qi excitedly pped his hands, ¡°Great! Then my friend will envy me very much!¡±

    He looked at the watch, ¡°It¡¯s almost noon now, when are you guys leaving? It¡¯s a rare chance for us to meet, shall we go to have lunch together? My treat! I have so many things to ask Brother Zhang for advice.¡±

    Hearing that Zhang Zian was so familiar with rare pets, Lin Qi intended to befriend him, so he even changed the way to address Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian looked at Deng Jie, and politely refused him, ¡°To be honest, we still have something to do today, so we will stay here longer. If you are in a hurry, you can leave first.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not in a hurry. I have nothing to do. If you do not mind, I¡¯ll go with you, and on the way learn more knowledge about pets¡­ What are you doing here anyway? You are not buying pets, are you?¡± Lin Qi came closer as if they had known each other very well.

    Since Deng Jie had no objection, Zhang Zian replied, ¡°We are here to help Sister Deng look for the vendor who lied to her and sold her a sick Shiba Inu.¡±

    ¡°OK, then I shalle with you! Throughout my entire life, I¡¯ve always hated those swindlers the most!¡± said Lin Qi indignantly.

    If we hadn¡¯te in time, you would have been cheated at that stand¡­ said Zhang Zian in his heart.

    Deng Jie and Zhang Zian were walking in front of him, while Snowy was pulling Lin Qi¡¯s hand behind, and she quietly told him, ¡°Brother Qi, you must help me keep my secret, do not mention my dad and my family before them!¡±

    All Lin Qi was thinking of right now was the scene when he held an Ashera cat in front of his rich friends, so he just nodded to promise Snowy absent-mindedly. He smiled proudly thinking that the serval cat of his friend might be so scared that it might wet itself when it saw his Ashera cat.

    When Zhang Zian and hispanions left, the street vendor Lao San was furious! Not only had Zhang Zian destroyed his business, but he had stolen his customer too! Lao San couldn¡¯t tolerate this!

    He picked up his cell phone and opened the Dog Market Trading Group Chat.

    Three-year-old Oni: ¡°Brother Red Dragon! Someone stole my customer! We must teach them some lessons! If theye here every weekend, how are we going to conduct our business?¡±

    The profiteers in the group responded by crying out how much money they had lost today¡­

    Red Dragon: ¡°Don¡¯t worry! Lao San, do you know where they are going next?¡±

    Three-year-old Oni, ¡°I heard that they are going to find a vendor selling Shiba Inu.¡±

    Red Dragon: ¡°A stand selling Shiba Inu? F**k! It must be the stand of ck Mole! Everyone, put down the things on your hand, and gather at ck Mole¡¯s stand!¡±

    ¡­

    It was almost noon and everyone was tired and thirsty, but Deng Jie still had not found the dog dealer that cheated herst time. She said to Zhang Zian apologetically, ¡°Mr. Store Manager, should we give up? I¡¯m so sorry for taking your morning¡­I guess that person isn¡¯t doing business today.¡±

    Snowy did not want to give up halfway, so she advised her, ¡°Sister Deng, let¡¯s continue. If we can¡¯t find him in half an hour, then we will leave.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought what Deng Jie said made sense. The dog dealer may not be out doing business today; after all, the weather was not good.

    ¡°Let¡¯s walk around for another half an hour as Snowy said. We have almost reached the end of the market anyway,¡± he said.

    After reserving seats in a restaurant, Lin Qi put down his phone and said, ¡°Everyone! Pleasee with me to have lunch when you are done. My treat! And we can get to know each other better.¡±

    Deng Jie thought she might not havemon interests with these young people and might make lunch very awkward. She quickly rejected, ¡°No, no, please go without me. My husband is waiting for me to prepare lunch¡­¡±

    Just then, a fierce quarrel broke out not far away from them.

    They looked at one another, sped up, and walked in the direction where the sounds came from.

    A momentter, they came to the scene of the dispute. A lot of people were surrounding the area, most of them customers selecting pets at the dog market. A few were vendors from nearby stands.

    The quarrel was between a man in his 60s and a dark-skinned young man. The old man was so angry that his face and neck turned red, pointing at the young man and using him of being viinous. While the young man was sneering and saying something indifferently, with a few men on his side helping him booing the old man.

    The old man looked very pitiful, for all his hair and beard had gone gray, and he was being ridiculed by these young men. He was shivering, with the veins on his forehead protruding. Something might happen to him if he remained so furious¡­

    Seeing the young man at first nce, Deng Jie raised her hand, excitedly pointing at him. ¡°It is him! That¡¯s the vendor who deceived me!¡±

    Snowy immediately turned the phone camera, aiming at that person.

    Zhang Zian confirmed with her, ¡°Sister Deng, are you sure?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Absolutely!¡± said Deng Jie, gritting her teeth.

    Zhang Zian slightly frowned. These people were way out of line. How could they bully an elderly like this?

    Old Time Tea had been instructing him that a warrior must honor justice and preserve justice if he saw someone in need of help. He must do something now.

    ¡°You guys stay here, I will go over to have a look,¡± he turned around and advised Snowy.

    Before Snowy answered, he had resolutely walked through the crowd and went directly to the scene of the incident.

    Famous quietly followed behind him.

    His gaze was blocked by the crowd before him, but now he could see clearly that beside the old man¡¯s feety a small Shiba Inu who was lying there with its eyes closed. Except for its chest and abdomen that were slightly rising and falling, it almost had no sign of life.

    Ignoring the surprised looks cast by everyone, Zhang Zian came to the side of the old man, looked down at the dog and asked, ¡°Grandpa, what is going on? Can you tell me?¡±

    Besieged by these unscrupulous dog dealers, with no one on his side, the old man was so angry and sad.

    The sudden appearance of Zhang Zian surprised him. From the dressing and tone of this young man, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t seem like he was on the dog dealers side. As if seeing a savior, he pulled at Zhang Zian¡¯s arms andined tearfully, ¡°Young man, Please help me! These people sold me a sick dog and lied to me that it was a Shiba Inu. Now they refuse to admit it! How can they be so unscrupulous?!¡±

    ¡°Hey, who the hell are you? Go away and mind your own f**king business!¡± the street vendor, whose nickname was ck Mole, pointed at Zhang Zian and threatened him.

    Zhang Zian ignored him. He patted the old man¡¯s shoulder andforted, ¡°Grandpa, take a deep breath. Then tell me what happened from the beginning.¡±

    Perhaps Zhang Zian¡¯s calmness and attitude had affected the old man. He took a few deep breaths, felt better, and then stated his experience.

    The old man was called Wei Ping. Because his grandson¡¯s birthday was approaching, and his grandson had been moring for a dog, he came to the dog market, intending to buy a dog as his precious grandson¡¯s birthday present.

    The rest was simr to Deng Jie¡¯s experience. Wei Ping had selected the ¡°Japanese Shiba Inu¡± at this stand, and after haggling with the vendor, he bought one Shiba Inu at a price of 3,500 RMB. He thought he had gotten a good deal, and gifted the Shiba Inu to his grandson. His grandson was really happy and started to y with this dog. However, the good days didn¡¯tst very long. A few dayster, this dog became listless and lost its appetite. And finally, it was ill. His grandson cried so sadly. Wei Ping brought the dog to a pet clinic where it was diagnosed with CDV and Parvovirus, and would die soon.

    At the same time, there was another person with a Shiba Inu visiting the veterinarian. The man looked at Wei Ping¡¯s dog, and kindly told him that he might have been fooled, and said the dog was not a Shiba Inu. It was a dog that had some simrities with Shiba Inu, but the man wasn¡¯t sure which breed it was exactly.

    Wei Ping was outraged. That was why he brought the dog to the dog market, asking ck Mole to refund his money.

    Of course, ck Mole was unwilling to refund, insisting that it was Wei Ping who couldn¡¯t raise the dog well. And then the two of them started fighting.

    Rate

 Chapter 385: Life and Death

    <h4>Chapter 385: Life and Death</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian understood that Wei Ping was deceived because he wanted to save some money. If anyone intended to buy a Shiba Inu at the price of 3,500 RMB, then he must have a very close rtionship with the person selling it.

    ¡°My dog ??had no illness! Don¡¯t try to frame me!¡± ck Mole had nothing to fear, ¡°You brought the dog back to your home and it got sick, what does that have to do with me? All my dogs are healthy here!¡±

    Wei Ping¡¯s lips were shivering with anger, ¡°You wicked profiteer! Aren¡¯t you afraid of karma?¡±

    ck Mole deliberately provoked him andughed, ¡°Nope, because I¡¯m doing just fine! I have bought a house from selling dogs, and then I¡¯m going to buy a car. I¡¯ve earned so much money because I¡¯m capable. Are you jealous of me? Look at you, you are so old and still wearing simple clothes, holding a sick dog, trying to frame me? Is it because no one in your family is supporting you? If you want to have money for lunch, just tell me, I¡¯m buying today¡¯s lunch for you.¡±

    Then, he took out two one-hundred-yuan bills from his pocket and waved them in front of Wei Ping¡¯s face. ¡°How about it? Take the dog away and find a ce to bury it, and then go get lunch. If the money is not enough, I can give you more.¡±

    For fear that Wei Ping was about to pass out because of extreme anger, Zhang Zian chimed in, ¡°Grandpa Wei, do you have any proof that you bought the dog from him?¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Wei Ping stomped, ¡°It¡¯s not the 3,500 RMB that I care about, I just can¡¯t take the insult that I was deceived by this young person! My grandson even jested that I was old and losing my mind¡­ ¡±

    Zhang Zian had guessed that no proof existed. However, without an invoice or pet selling agreement, there was no way he could seekpensation for Wei Ping couldn¡¯t prove that this dog was bought from ck Mole.

    ¡°Grandpa Wei, don¡¯t take it so hard, just consider that you have lost that money.¡± Zhang Zian suggested, ¡°Anyway, this dog is not a real Shiba Inu. If you are willing to pay, go find a regr pet shop or kennel to buy a real Shiba Inu for your grandson, and say that you have found someone to cure the dog¡¯s diseases, and your grandson will certainly admire you. ¡±

    ording to Wei Ping¡¯s age and his description, Zhang Zian guessed that his grandson might still be very young and would forget about this matter soonparing to losing 3,500 RMB, it was more important that Wei Ping¡¯s grandson could change the impression that his grandpa had turned into an old fool.

    ¡°What? This is not a real Shiba Inu? How much is a real Shiba Inu?¡± asked Wei Ping. When he was in the pet clinic, he heard another man say that the dog might not be a real Shiba Inu. At that time, he still had suspicion. Now that he heard an unrted stranger say the same thing, he was bing more certain.

    ¡°Hey! You! Stop talking nonsense! My Shiba Inu dogs are absolutely real! Do you have any proof that they are fake? Let me tell you, if you have no proof, I will use you for ndering me!¡± screamed ck Mole.

    He was not afraid to quarrel with Wei Ping here because Wei Ping could not prove that the dog was bought from him and there was no way to prove that the dog was ill before Wei Ping purchased it. There were so many cases of ckmailing conducted by the elderly and people had be more vignt. Mere talking without showing evidence could not gain sympathy from others.

    The crowd had been silent because they couldn¡¯t tell who was lying.

    Zhang Zian nodded, ¡°OK, just you wait, I¡¯ll show you the evidence.¡±

    He first said to Wei Ping, ¡°Grandpa Wei, please remember not to get things on the cheap anymore, or else you will suffer from loss again. This kind of Shiba Inu is originated from Japan, but even in Japan, the average-conditioned Shiba Inu dogs are sold at about 15,000 RMB. Although China¡¯s consumption level is not that high, the Shiba Inu of typical fur-colors cost basically not less than 8,000 yuan. If the price is lower than this, unless you know the seller very well or the seller is in a hurry to find new owner for the pet because he can¡¯t afford to raise it himself, there may be problems with the Shiba Inu.¡±

    Wei Ping became speechless. This price had exceeded the budget he set up in his mind. Coupled with the 3,500 RMB that he had lost, he felt pained that he would spend over 10,000 RMB to buy a dog for his grandson¡­ but the young man was right. He was more worried that his grandson despised him for being stingy. He was about to be 70-years-old, how many years did he have left in this world? His grandson was the apple of his eyes, and he really didn¡¯t want his grandson to alienate him.

    Zhang Zian looked at the continuously changing expressions on Wei Ping¡¯s face, and knew that he was actually still very concerned about money, and then he said, ¡°How about this? When the thing is done here, I will rmend to you a pet shop, where you can find healthy real Shiba Inu. Anyone referred by me, the owner will offer discounted prices. If you trust me, you can go there and have a look.¡±

    At this time, Red Dragon, Lao San, and Liu XX had also arrived. Hearing that Zhang Zian was stealing customers from them, they were so outraged they almost blew up!

    Wei Ping nodded and said, ¡°OK, I will go check the pet shop out after I bury this dog. Though it has only been in my family for a few days, I can¡¯t let it die with its corpse outside. Or else someone might pick it up and eat its flesh¡­ ¡±

    He squatted, stroking the dying fake-Shiba Inu, wiping the corners of his eyes and sighing.

    Famous had been staring at the dying creature since it went into the center of the crowd.

    The dying dog¡¯s acute but increasingly weak breathing had blown two rows of shallow ditches out of the dust on the ground.

    Saliva with white foam was drooling off its tongue, forming a small mud puddle besides its mouth.

    Its four limbs were twitching from time to time, as if it were a drowning person who was trying to catch straws on the shore.

    Its gradually opaque pupils, reflecting the images of the world and Famous, were full of longing and dismay¡­

    It was dying. Famous clearly realized that.

    Famous had died numerous times in the virtual awareness, and it knew how painful it was to die. But since Famous died in a ck box that waspletely dark and had no mirror, it didn¡¯t know what it was like before its deaths. Was it just as miserable as the dog in front of it? Or worse?

    ¡°Help me, I do not want to die¡­¡± The dog in front it seemed to be calling for help.

    No, this was the voice of Famous itself. This was the sentence it had been repeating for its entire life, yet no one had ever responded to it.

    But at least this time, Famous wanted to respond to the creature of its own kind, unwilling to let it sink into the abysmal dark world as lonely as it had.

    ¡°Do not worry, you¡¯ll live in my heart.¡± Famous stared in its eyes and said seriously, ¡°As long as I¡¯m alive, you are alive.¡±

    It seemed to have understand the words of Famous. Its mouth opened a little bit, as if it was smiling, and was bidding farewell to this world. Suddenly, sharp rays burst from its turbid eyes, and its pupils became as pure and transparent as when it was born. It looked at Famous in the eyes for a moment¡­ and then, its eyes dimmed forever.

    Wei Ping¡¯s palms had been slightly rising up and down with its breathing, but after a long, excessive expiration of the dog, his palms never rose again.

    He patted it and shoved it. No response.

    ¡°Doggy? Doggy?¡± He increased his efforts to pat it. He also bowed down, approaching his ears to its mouth, trying to listen to its breath.

    Its eyes were still open. But there was no life in them anymore.

    Famous took two steps forwards to Doggy, but Zhang Zian stopped it.

    ¡°Don¡¯t go near it. Its diseases are contagious,¡± said Zhang Zian.

    When he heard that Famous talked to the dog, though he did not understand what that meant, he knew that before the dog died, it certainly had some kind ofmunication with Famous, so he had been paying attention to Famous¡¯s movements. Noticing that Famous tried to approach the dog, he quickly stopped it. Famous probably hadn¡¯t been vinated, if it came into contact with the sick dog, it was likely to be contracted with CDV and Parvovirus, and that would be very troublesome.

    Famous stopped and looked up at Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Please help me close its eyes,¡± it said. Its words, in the ears of others, were just a few barking sounds.

    Zhang Zian nodded, pulling out a tissue from his pocket onto his palm, and then closed the eyelids of the dead dog.

    Wei Ping asked, feeling lost, ¡°Is it dead?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s dead,¡± replied Zhang Zian calmly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    Wei Ping did not say anything.

    After a moment, he squatted on the ground, put his hands under the dog, and held up its dead body.

    This was a dog of average size and was not very heavy when it was alive. But Wei Ping thought its weight right now was twice as much as when it was alive.

    He held it and walked to the tricycle that he rode here and put its corpse into the trunk, covering its body with the nket it had been covered with these past few days. In the eyes of other persons, it seemed like it was sleeping.

    The crowd was still silent, but the looks they cast on this old man had changed.

    ck Mole felt itchy, as if numerous ants were crawling on his body when the crowd was looking at him.

    ¡°What are you looking at?¡± Heughed, face in pale, ¡°The old man is just acting like he is poor, how can you fall for his lie so easily? I can pretend to be miserable too! And I assure you, my acting is even better than his¡­¡±

    One of the gazes made him feel particrly ufortable. He turned his head to find the source of this gaze¡ªit was from Famous.

    He swore that it was the first time he had seen this German Shepherd, but why were the dog¡¯s eyes so full of anger and hatred? And the gaze was a bit familiar. He saw such a gaze from the fake-Shiba Inu that had died just now.

    The German Shepherd was like a vengeful angel.

 Chapter 386: The Truth Has Come to Light

    <h4>Chapter 386: The Truth Has Come to Light</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Famous had learned the desire for freedom from Gxy.

    From Doggy who just died, Famous realized its grievance and humiliation.

    Before it died, Famous read in its heart that it had been suffering since birth. It was taken away from its mother too soon, and it had to fight for the leftovers with other dogs. When it grew slightlyrger, Doggy and many other dogs were crammed into narrow iron cages, loaded into trucks that were covered with canvas and started their long journey southward.

    The truck was open and the weather was freezing. The canvas was so thin that the wind kept blowing in. It crowded with itspanions to keep warm, struggling through innumerable long, cold nights in the stinkypartment full of the smells of excrement and vomit. Gradually, one dog began to get seriously sick. Whether it was a cold or another disease, the illness quietly spread among peers. Almost every morning when Doggy woke up, there would bepanions who had already closed their eyes forever.

    The driver and the man in charge of the truck were grumpy. Their eyes were reddened due to chronic sleep deprivation. The dogs were beaten or scolded when they were upset. When the two men remembered to feed them, they would prepare something for the dogs to eat. And when they forgot, the dogs were starving. Every morning, they counted the number of dogs, opened the cages, and dragged the dead dogs out, and god knew what they did with them. Doggy did not see them carrying shovels, nor would they waste their precious free time digging holes to bury the dead dogs.

    Just like this, Doggy and itspanions travelled all the way to the south, passing severalrge and small cities, where somepanions were removed from the truck. The truck was getting empty until it reached Binhai City, where it and other survivors were bought by ck Mole. The driver and the person in charge received money, and then drove the truck back up north to ship the next truck of dogs.

    The few days after Wei Ping brought it home were the happiest in its life, so happy that it thought it was in paradise.

    Unfortunately, the good times were too short. It got sick.

    The Little Master was holding it, crying. Wei Ping was anxious and worried about it.

    When it first contracted the illness, Doggy knew it would die soon, because the symptoms of the disease were exactly the same as its deadpanions in the truck, and no one could escape death.

    However, it did not regreting to the south. Wei Ping and the Little Master loved it dearly. Even though the time they spent together was short, it was extremely happy.

    Therefore, when Wei Ping was being humiliated by ck Mole in public, Doggy struggled several times to get up and guard Wei Ping, trying to bark at ck Mole with its sharp teeth¡­ Unfortunately, it was too weak to get up.

    But Famous could help it with this.

    When Wei Ping ced Doggy¡¯s corpse in the tricycle and turned around, he found that the German Shepherd brought by Zhang Zian was squatting in front of him, guarding him like a sentinel, barking and revealing its sharp teeth.

    Wei Ping was stunned. Though Doggy and the German Shepherd were different breeds, the posture of the German Shepherd right now made it look just like his Doggy from behind.

    Doggy was no longer alone.

    When Doggy was snuggling in its mother¡¯s arms to drink milk, Famous was looking at it;

    When Doggy was kicked and abused by the breeders, Famous encouraged it to stay strong;

    When Doggy was in the bumpy truck, Famous was with it the whole time;

    When Doggy was ying with Wei Ping and the Little Master, Famous also joined their game;

    When Doggy was dying, Famous opened its mind and epted Doggy¡¯s memories¡­

    Doggy finally had found its peace of mind and could close its eyes forever. It had spent its life without regret.

    ¡­

    As a dog trader dealing with dogs all day, ck Mole was familiar with dogs¡¯ temperaments. He nced into the eyes of Famous and heard its barking. This dog was quiet before, howe it became so mad so suddenly¡­ as if it may lunge at me at any time and tear me apart?!

    ¡°This¡­ is this your dog? You need to control your dog¡­¡± he pointed to Famous and asked Zhang Zian.

    ck Mole did not dare to nce at Famous anymore, for fear of further provoking it.

    Zhang Zian calmly smiled, ¡°Do you have evidence? How can you tell it is my dog?¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡± ck Mole was speechless.

    Zhang Zian turned his eyes and looked at Famous, who was protecting Wei Ping with its body. Although its eyes were full of anger, the wrath still could not conceal the rays of its deeper and sublime ideals. From its gaze, Zhang Zian seemed to have seen the eyes of Audrey Hepburn that were looking forward to loving and beauty.

    He was not worried that Famous would bite ck Mole, because it was never a vengeful angel, but a guardian angel.

    It used to guard Gxy and was now guarding Wei Ping.

    Zhang Zian slowly walked to the cages, which contained a few medium-sized dogs who looked very simr to the dead Doggy, simr to a Shiba Inu. With their slightly triangr eyes, except for a few parts like their white chins, chests, and above their eyebrows, most of their bodies were covered with khaki fur. Their tails were curly, and when they opened their mouths, it seemed like they were smiling¡­

    For anyyperson, they would be susceptible to these dogs¡¯ appearance, thinking that these were real Shiba Inus.

    ¡°You think everyone is a fool? That no one, except you, would know what the breed these dogs are?¡± Zhang Zian circled around the cages for a few times and observed for a moment, and then turned to speak to ck Mole.

    ¡°Nonsense! Tell me then, if they are not Shiba Inus, what are they? If you can¡¯t get it right, don¡¯t me me for cursing you to death,¡± ck Mole mored, not afraid of the possible consequences.

    ¡°Who also wants to know?¡± Zhang Zian looked at the crowd.

    A lot of people nodded, and some replied aloud, ¡°We want to know!¡±

    Deng Jie was clutching her bag straps tightly, staring at Zhang Zian¡¯s lips, lest she missed any word from him. The disease and death of her puppy had been guing her for months, and her trauma may be healed at any next moment.

    Lin Qi was excitedly widening his eyes. He would like to use this opportunity to know whether Zhang Zian really was knowledgeable about pets.

    Snowy was holding her cell phone high to avoid her camera being blocked by the people in front of her. Her heart was full of a sense of aplishment and happiness. Helping so many people to recognize thesemon scams, she felt that her live broadcast was meaningful after all.

    Tie Ning was standing on the outside of the crowd, with his falcon-like eyes looking around. Most of the people¡¯s attentions were all drawn to the center of the incident. He only he noticed a few people maliciously whispering.

    Along the way, he saw Zhang Zian expose the scams of the unscrupulous merchants so as to prevent customers from being fooled again¡­pared to the securitypany¡¯s CEO, Zhang Zian and hispanions deserved his protection more.

    Tie Ning quietly put on the peep-fingered boxing gloves.

    His fists were itchy, as if longing for the pleasure of fighting in the freebat ring. He had forgotten his boss¡¯s admonition¡ª right now, his mind was repeatedly ying the admonition of the Armed Police Force: that people¡¯s lives and property security cannot be vited!

    Obviously, those unscrupulous profiteers had been excluded from the ¡°people¡± category and were automatically ssified by Tie Ning as ¡°ss enemies.¡±

    He also had forgotten the boss¡¯s kind reminder¡ªthat a Martial Arts Master was apanying Snowy!

    Or, he simply did not believe that Zhang Zian was a remarkable Martial Arts Master.

    Back in Snowy¡¯s home, Shi Rong and Jiang Tianda were so nervous. Their hearts were pounding so fast, as if they were about to jump out of their throats.

    Zhang Zian looked at Wei Ping, and nodded to Deng Jie on the outskirt of the crowd. He needed to tell them the truth.

    He said in a loud voice to the public, ¡°These dogs are not real Shiba Inus, but Guangxi rural dogs! Guangxi rural dogs resemble Shiba Inus, but their ears are not as tall and upstanding as those of Shiba Inus. Their ears have been tied so as to pretend they are Shiba Inus. The tape must have been removed before these dogs were brought to the dog market. If you don¡¯t believe me, you can take a closer look and see if you can find traces of the straps behind their ears!¡±

 Chapter 387: Anticipate Opponentsâ€™ Intentions

    <h4>Chapter 387: Anticipate Opponents¡¯ Intentions</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Guangxi rural dogs were a very economical dog breed with local characteristics, generally distributed in the remote mountainous areas of the Guangdong and Guangxi Provinces. In many aspects, they were as good as Shiba Inu, with some conditions even better than Shiba Inu. Even with that said, they shouldn¡¯t be sold as Shiba Inu, for the price of Shiba Inu were ten times that of Guangxi rural dogs, let alone sick ones.

    The majority of onlookers had no idea what Guangxi rural dogs were. It was normal that they hadn¡¯t ever heard of this dog breed since its name contained the word ¡°rural¡±.

    Several people ran over to the cage side to see the ears of the Guangxi rural dogs, and found traces of tape, a method to make their ears stand as tall as those of Shiba Inu.

    And then they returned to the crowd.

    ¡°Is that right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it, their ears were strapped before.¡±

    The customers were here to buy pets, and no one wanted to be cheated. Hearing that the profiteers really had deceived them, they suddenly were indignant and cussed the profiteers aloud. A small number of people who had bought ¡°Shiba Inu¡± from the dog market headed back home in panic, trying to figure out whether their pets were Shiba Inu or Guangxi rural dogs¡­

    Zhang Zian felt it was fortunate that in order to chase higher profits, ck Mole had only shipped the Guangxi rural dogs from other ces in bulk, and he hadn¡¯t mated the Shiba Inu with Guangxi rural dogs yet, for the hybrid descendants may look so much like Shiba Inu that they could even fool experts¡­ however, Zhang Zian doubted that a profiteer like ck Mole in the dog market had the patience to cultivate such a hybrid.

    He looked out to Deng Jie, who was standing on the verge of the crowd. Her cheeks, tight all the time, had been smoothed down and she was staring at her low-cost mobile phone, a gift from telpany for paying her phone bills. She was probably saying goodbye to her dead puppy.

    Zhang Zian also felt relieved that he hadpleted the mission of visiting the dog market. There was no need for him to stay here now. As for these profiteers¡­ they would always exist somewhere.

    ¡°Grandpa Wei, let¡¯s go. After we leave, I¡¯ll tell you where the pet shop is, and the owner there will give you a discount.¡± He turned to greet Wei Ping.

    Wei Ping felt really bad.

    The old man sighed, ¡°Well, let¡¯s go. I will note back to the dog market again.¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute! You f**ked up our businesses and now want to just leave?!¡±

    Just when Zhang Zian was about to leave, he heard someone yell at him from behind.

    Red Dragon, Lao San, ck Mole, Little Monk, Liu XX, and several other unscrupulous profiteers couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. They jumped out and besieged Zhang Zian. They had suffered from losses because of Zhang Zian today, and above all, customers would be more cautious from now on, meaning that they would suffer from potential losses in the future. Since their businesses were doomed in Binhai City, they had decided to move to other cities and continue their swindling there. But first, they must make Zhang Zian pay for his behavior.

    Zhang Zian had expected that the trip to the dog market would not be easy, but he just sneered calmly, ¡°What do you want?¡±

    ¡°What do you think you are doing? Compensate us twice as much as the losses we¡¯ve suffered today, or let us beat the hell out of you! Your choice!¡± Red Dragon called out on behalf of the other unscrupulous merchants.

    Wei Ping was so scared that he almost copsed into his tricycle. When he was quarreling with ck Mole before, he did not expect there were so many people hiding and did not expect them to really hit him. In retrospect, he was so stricken by fear, for he might die if these people beat him.

    Deng Jie was so scared that her face turned pale. She pulled at Snowy, panicked. ¡°Girl, run! Don¡¯t fight!¡±

    Snowy was a little nervous and somewhat excited, but was absolutely not afraid, because she believed that Zhang Zian was a martial arts master and that fighting these seven or eight people was merely a warm up for him. She didn¡¯t get the chance to see Zhang Zian when he beat up seven robbers that pitch-ck night, and now, she would finally get the chance to witness his Kung Fu in daylight and in person!

    Lin Qi was intimidated by the chaos and wanted to leave with the ordinary customers. But he turned around and saw that Snowy remained here and was very calm. He asked her with confusion, ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid?¡±

    ¡°No. Don¡¯t worry, Brother Qi, Mr. Store Manager is a martial arts master. Just wait and see what he can do.¡± Snowy said with confidence.

    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m not afraid, I¡¯m just worried about you¡­¡± Lin Qi¡¯s face was blushed. ¡°Martial arts Master? Are you serious?¡±

    Shi Rong and Jiang Tianda were holding a tablet and a cell phone, respectively. They were so restless, and they had no confidence in Zhang Zian. They only counted on Tie Ning, the bodyguard from the Armed Police Force.

    Tie Ning had quietly arrived among the crowd during the disarray. Seeing the number of the vendors, he was not sure he could defeat them by himself.

    Zhang Zian was standing in ce indifferently. There was no way to escape now.

    He had only one regret. He should have put on his Chinese tunic jacket to make him more look like a Kung Fu Master¡­

    He touched his stomach, ¡°I¡¯m hungry now¡­ Well, why don¡¯t you alle and get me; I am in a hurry!¡±

    ck Mole hated him so much. Gritting his teeth and noticing that no one was watching, he came behind Zhang Zian. He aimed at his waist and was ready to kick hard!

    ck Mole kept all his movements silent. He was confident that he would seed in attacking Zhang Zian!

    Tie Ning was surprised. ck Mole was trying to hurt Zhang Zian from the back!

    He was ustomed to direct confrontation on the freebat stage, but he had no experience fighting in a dog market. He had to shout at Zhang Zian, ¡°Watch out behind you!¡±

    Tie Ning thought he was the first and only one who was going to warn Zhang Zian, but in fact he was not. Two seconds before he yelled, even before the shoe sole of ck Mole left the ground, there were several barks of a dog. But dog barking in the dog market was so normal that no one doubted anything.

    When ck Mole moved behind Zhang Zian and raised his sole, Famous said calmly, ¡°Move two steps left and move your right elbow behind you.¡±

    The bizarre scene began.

    The moment ck Mole¡¯s sole left the ground, Zhang Zian moved two steps towards his left, as if he had foreseen ck Mole¡¯s movements. He squared away and ced his right elbow towards his back, a ssic Wing Chun fighting method.

    ck Mole was stunned. His kick missed Zhang Zian¡¯s bodypletely. Because he put so much strength into this kick, he couldn¡¯t stop his body from moving forward, and his chest was about to m into Zhang Zian¡¯s right elbow!

    In the eyes of others, Zhang Zian had only casually put himself into a certain posture, and it was ck Mole who was hitting himself onto Zhang Zian¡¯s elbow¡­

    ck Mole was hit so badly. He felt like his stomach had been turned inside out!

    His originally dark face suddenly became as pale as a dead man. He stumbled a few steps back, copsed on the ground on his back, sat up and vomited.

    ¡°What?¡±

    Just when Tie Ning thought Zhang Zian was in trouble and was ready to help him, he was shocked by this amazing scene.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± He opened his mouth, speechless, but his mind was reying something that happened ten years ago.

    At that time, he had just joined the freebat team of the Armed Police Force, where the higher authorities hired a senior from the locals to exin to them some knowledge about martial arts. As the elder said, authentic martial arts didn¡¯t acquire many fighting methods. As long as one could anticipate the intentions of his opponents, he would be invincible. But this only existed in the theory of martial arts ¡ª no one could actually achieve the highest level¡­

    The so-called anticipation of the intentions of one¡¯s opponents was nothing more than observing the opponents¡¯ eyes and subtle movements to determine the directions and angles of the opponents¡¯ attacks, but from his stance, it was impossible for Zhang Zian to see ck Mole¡¯s movements, yet he had perfectly predicted his enemy¡¯s intention and avoided the attack!

    Was this echolocation as described in martial arts novels? This was freaking amazing!

    Almost at the same time when ck Mole attacked Zhang Zian from behind, Red Dragon also rushed him from the front, raising his fist to aim at Zhang Zian¡¯s chin.

    Before Red Dragon struck his blow, Famous had seen what was going to happen.

    ¡°Bow down, and extend your right fist to the front,¡± it said.

    As before, Zhang Zian made poses in advance. He bowed his head, and punched to his front without thinking.

    While Red Dragon¡¯s fist was still on its way, Red Dragon had noticed that Zhang Zian¡¯s face had disappeared from his sight. Just then, he felt his lower abdomen get hit hard, which almost broke his intestines.

    His knees gave way, and he fell onto the ground, covering his stomach.

    Zhang Zian was a bit nervous at the beginning, worrying that his cooperation with Famous might not run well. But then his attacks were getting increasingly smooth and vigorous. The only pity was that it was not a pretty girl that was giving him directions, but a German Shepherd instead¡­

    Lao San, Little Monk, and Liu XX were all defeated by Zhang Zian and fell on the ground. Seeing that they were losing, other profiteers began to escape!

    In less than a minute, all the profiteers were lying on the ground.

    Zhang Zian pretentiously dusted his clothes off and maintained hisposure, as if the fighting was a piece of cake for him.

    The crowd was silent at first, and then burst into loud apuse and exmation!

    ¡°F**k! That was amazing!¡±

    ¡°What the f**k! Who is this man? He is so f**king fantastic!¡±

    Since it was now safe outside, Richard got excited. It had been holding back its feces for a long time, and it suddenly flew out from Zhang Zian¡¯s hood and fluttered its wings. Like dropping bombs in the air, it targeted its white feces on the faces of the profiteers lying on the ground. Because a few profiteers were still whining with their mouths open, some white feces flew into their mouths¡­

    ¡°Quack! Facial! Facial!¡±

    It had always wanted to do this, and finally it got what it wanted today!

 Chapter 388: When All is Said and Done

    <h4>Chapter 388: When All is Said and Done</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Richard scattered its feces, dry and wet, on each face of the profiteers that were lying on the ground!

    After solving its physiology problem, it excitedly tried to fly back into Zhang Zian¡¯s hood for warmth, but Zhang Zian threw a tissue onto its face.

    ¡°Quack! What are you doing? You want to give me a facial too?!¡± it whimpered with the tissue covering its face. Only Zhang Zian, who was closest to it, could hear what it said.

    ¡°Take this tissue first and rub your buttocks clean, or don¡¯t try to fly back to my hat!¡± Zhang Zian scolded it.

    You dirty bird! Don¡¯t you think I know the word ¡°facial¡± has subtle multiple meanings!

    From then on, Richard¡¯s white feces, along with the word ¡°facial¡±, became so dirty that Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t look straight at them anymore!

    Richard grabbed the tissue with its ws andnded on a nearby simple timber set. While expressing its strong dissatisfaction against Zhang Zian, it rubbed its buttocks on the tissue ¡­

    Famous paced towards ck Mole, staring at him coldly.

    ck Mole was lying on his side with his mouth vomiting white foam. Ignoring the differences between a man and a dog, his posture was very simr to the Guangxi rural doggy that died just moments ago.

    He looked in horror at Famous, who was approaching him, and struggled to stay away from it, for its eyes were like those of the Guangxi rural doggy that had just died.

    Famous stared at him for a while, then lost interest.

    For the rest of his life, this pair of eyes full of anger and hatred would remain with him until he decayed alone.

    Stupefied, Tie Ning stared at Zhang Zian. If taking down ck Mole alone was a sheer luck, then Zhang Zian was really impressive for he had also beaten the following vendors one by one. It didn¡¯t seem like Zhang Zian¡¯s actions were powerful, but he had ways to anticipate the directions of his opponents and they had no ways to hide.

    If Tie Ning had not followed Zhang Zian all the way, he would have thought these people were making a movie, otherwise how could Zhang Zian be so skillful? It was like his opponents were ying the roles of protagonists deliberately by hitting themselves on the fists, elbows, knees, and feet of Zhang Zian¡­

    There could only be one exnation for these: Zhang Zian had gained insight into the ways and angles of the uing attacks of his enemies, and then he made responses in advance.

    He was a martial arts master indeed!

    Though Tie Ning didn¡¯t engage in the fight, cold sweat was dripping from his body.

    He quietly took off his mitt gloves, secretly admiring the low-profiled Kung Fu Master! Fortunately, he did not fight, or else he would have just embarrassed himself in front of Zhang Zian. He decided to be humble and participate in more rigorous training.

    Lin Qi was also dumbfounded upon seeing that Zhang Zian defeated seven or eight enemies effortlessly. Moments ago, he thought Zhang Zian was just a knowledgeable pet shop manager but now, he almost worshipped him as a god! By virtue of his skills, as long as Zhang Zian agreed to the invitation, he could even perform at the CCTV Spring Festival G!

    Lin Qi quickly picked up the phone, dialed a number and cancelled the previously booked Chinese seafood restaurant, and made a reservation at the only Michelin three-star restaurant in Binhai City!

    Snowy had known that Zhang Zian was a martial arts master, so she was not surprised. Instead, she was happy and excited to have witnessed his fighting in person.

    The audience in the live broadcast also marveled at this perverted Store Manager.

    Before today, few people believed that Zhang Zian was a martial arts master ¡ªafter all, another nickname for Zhang Zian was ¡°fraudster manager¡±¡ª but today, he actually dispelled all doubts!

    Shi Rong and Jiang Tianda stared at their tablets and mobile phones, and then looked at each other. Imagine that they thought it was too absurd to let Zhang Zian to assure their daughter¡¯s safety before agreeing Snowy to visit the dog market1

    Zhang Zian stood in the middle of the scene, with the crowd surrounding him and casting surprised or envious gazes on him. No matter how thick-skinned he was, he felt embarrassed being the spotlight among so many people. In fact, he had justid out some fighting postures, and his actualbat capability was almost zero. Today¡¯s victory was based on Famous¡¯s ability to foresee the short-term future.

    He looked at Famous and worried that using its ability so often would cause it difort, but Famous was breathing steadily, and apparently was much stronger physically than Gxy.

    But what to do next?

    He scratched his head and nced at the profiteers who had fallen to the ground.

    Zhang Zian believed that he fought them out of self-defense. But could he just leave? Should he wait for the police?

    Snowy¡¯s phone vibrated suddenly.

    It was her mother¡¯s call.

    ¡°Hello?¡± she whispered after connecting the call, ¡°What are you doing? I¡¯m broadcasting! Oh, yes, I¡¯m fine. I¡¯ll be hometer.¡±

    Shi Rong said at the other end of the phone, ¡°I watched the live broadcast. Just leave that ce. I will let your dad handle the rest of the issues. Also, apologize to the manager for your dad, for his arrogant and unreasonable attitudes towards him.¡±

    Snowy said lightly, ¡°Do not worry, Mr. Store Manager is not a stingy person¡­¡±

    ¡°Just apologize and get back home!¡± Shi Rong urged her impatiently. Though Snowy was safe as of now, as a mother, Shi Rong was still concerned for her daughter.

    ¡°Okay, I got it,¡± Snowy reluctantly agreed and hung up the phone.

    It was nearly noon, and most of the onlookers had left, with only a few exceptions remaining here, like an audience waiting for bonus scenes after the ending subtitles in a movie theater.

    Snowy ran to Zhang Zian and praised him with a thumbs-up, ¡°Mr. Store Manager, you are amazing!¡±

    ¡°Just so-so.¡± Zhang Zian pointed at her cell phone, ¡°Are you still recording?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Mr. Store Manager has something to say?¡± she looked at him.

    Zhang Zian cleared his throat and said, ¡°Just as I said, those who looked down on me and provoked me have been defeated! Are you afraid of me now?!¡±

    Just when the audience had decided to give him a little respect, they were exasperated by his pretentious mockery!

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, I apologize for my dad. He was too rude when he called you before¡­¡± Snowy apologized sincerely.

    Zhang Zian said generously, ¡°It does not matter.¡±

    ¡°And¡­ um¡­¡± Snowy said hesitantly, ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here, if you do not mind.¡±

    ¡°Can we just leave now?¡± Zhang Zian asked confusedly.

    Today was Sunday, and all the seats in the only Michelin three-starred restaurant in Binhai had been booked up. Lin Qi was making phone calls to his rich friends, to see if they could get him some seats.

    Snowy secretly pointed at him and whispered to Zhang Zian, ¡°Brother Qi said he will handle the follow-up issues, and let us be at ease.¡±

    She rarely told lies, so her face right now was a little blushed. But she did not want to expose her own identity as a girl from a wealthy family, which might make her friends and audience estrange her.

    Zhang Zian thought Lin Qi was returning his favor for promising him to get an Ashera Cat. To be honest, he was hungry, and so was Richard, who had been yelling to have lunch. He didn¡¯t want to wait here any longer.

    ¡°OK.¡± He nodded and said to Deng Jie and Wei Ping, ¡°Sister Deng, Grandpa Wei, there is nothing for us to do now and we can go. Someone will take care of the rest.¡±

    Deng Jie walked with admiration, ¡°Manager Zhang, you are really powerful¡­¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not.¡± Zhang Zian waved his hands and said, ¡°It¡¯s not worth mentioning. Sister Deng, do you have anything else that we can help you with?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, thank you so much today, for giving me a closure¡­¡± Deng Jie sighed softly, ¡°I¡¯ve learned my lessons. I should not take up any more of your time. See you. Let me buy you dinner someday.¡±

    Lin Qi finally finished his phone calls. Seeing that Deng Jie was leaving, he invited her for lunch. Since Deng Jie still declined, he stopped insisting.

    Wei Ping also repeatedly expressed his gratitude towards Zhang Zian. Zhang Zian left his pet store address to him. He then left to find a ce in the suburbs to bury the dead little doggy.

    Lin Qi warmly invited Zhang Zian and Snowy to go to the Michelin three-starred restaurant for dinner, but Zhang Zian declined, thinking that he owed Lin Qi a favor just now. Besides, Famous and Richard were certainly not allowed to enter such an upscale restaurant.

    Lin Qi was upset. But since Zhang Zian didn¡¯t agree, he had to leave by himself.

    ¡°Snowy, are you going home? I¡¯ll escort you to leave the dog market.¡± Zhang Zian asked Snowy. Since he promised her father to protect her safely in the dog market, they could not part ways here.

    Snowy thought for a moment. Although her mother urged her to go home, she wanted to hang around for a while longer. ¡°No, I¡¯m going back to the pet shop with you, as there are a few audience members still asking questions about pets.¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s go.¡± Zhang Zian nced at the few unscrupulous merchants who were still lying on the ground, waved to Famous and Richard, and left the dog market.

 Chapter 389: Help Issue Certificate

    <h4>Chapter 389: Help Issue Certificate</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°So cold!¡±

    Zhang Zian got up and shivered. He opened the curtains to look outside. It had finally snowed.

    There would always be the strange phenomenon on a snowy morning that the ground was brighter than the sky.

    He pulled the curtains back down and went back to bed. With today¡¯s weather, no normal people would probablye to his pet shop, so he could postpone the reopening for a few more days, enabling the shy and timid Lu Yiyun to familiarize herself with the situations in the shop.

    Then, he and Gxy looked at each other.

    Gxy was lying in its crib. It raised a forepaw and waved to him before it silently whispered, ¡°Meow, Zian, good morning!¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled and waved at it. ¡°Gxy, good morning!¡±

    Gxy jumped out of the crib and trotted to the door. With its two front paws alternately pulling at it, the door opened a narrow gap that allowed it to pass through, and then it went out, probably to go downstairs to see if there were other kittens awake, so that they could y hide and seek together.

    Zhang Zian wished every elfin could be as easy-going as Gxy.

    Sitting up for a while with only a sweatshirt on, he felt like his arms were frozen. Although he felt he was getting near his goal of bing invincible in this world recently, he hadn¡¯t reached the level of ¡°resistant to both the intense heat of summer and freezing coldness in winter¡±¡ª Old Time Tea wasn¡¯t there yet, let alone him.

    To avoid catching a cold, he tried to pick up his coat from the pillow, but found that the coat he neatly folded at bedtime was inexplicably bulged and something seemed to be moving beneath it¡­

    Was it a mouse?

    When he thought of the word, he felt nauseous. Did a mouse climb into my bed?

    No way?!

    This house was full of cats. With Fina and Old Time Tea guarding, which mouse would be so daring as to invade his house? Was it some kind of mouse elfin?

    His right hand picked up a trantion of Rare Pet Illustrations from the bedside. This book was a hardcover version, which was full of coated papers and color pages, and was thick, heavy and expensive. He bought it online afterparing prices between different stores. One good thing about this book was that it could be used as a brick, a valuable weapon when travelling outsides.

    Zhang Zian was very satisfied with this book, which could knock out a human being, not to mention a mouse.

    He raised Rare Pet Illustrations high and stretched out his left hand to grab the corner of the coat. Suddenly, he pulled the book to the side and changed his mind. He wanted to take the damned mouse to Fina.

    As it turned out, beneath the coat was not a mouse, but Richard, who was asleep in an ugly posture with its legs twitching and kicking sometimes. Fortunately, he had stopped his right hand, otherwise this book might have beat the s**t out of Richard!

    Zhang Zian was disgusted thinking of the scene where Richard¡¯s white feces was flying around in the air yesterday. He put the book on the bedside table, and threw the coat back on Richard. He couldn¡¯t wear this coat today. He would wash it together with other clothes.

    Before he went to bedst night, he remembered Richard was squatting on the clotheslines in the room. Why did it go under his clothes in the middle of the night? Fortunately, it did not get into his bed¡­

    Most residential buildings in Binhai City had no supply heating ¡ª this applied to Zhang Zian¡¯s pet shop. When the weather was bad in winter, such as yesterday and today, the washed clothes would be dried by the electric heaters in the room. Richard often squatted on the clotheslines to sleep, which was the general sleeping posture of most birds. But apparently this grey parrot could also fall asleep by lying on its back.

    However, today¡¯s bedroom was really colder than usual, probably because of the snow that fell at midnight.

    All the other elves were still asleep, but their sleep was not as deep as that of human beings, so even the slightest sound of Zhang Zian getting up and putting clothes on made their ears move.

    Fina was lying in her princess bed, covered by a small nket. A slight breeze entered through the gap of the door opened by Gxy, blowing the drapes up and down like a tide. She opened her eyes when Zhang Zian walked out of bedroom, then closed them again apathetically.

    With its long fur, Snowy Li didn¡¯t feel cold at all. It was lying next to the princess bed, and its body was like a pure white plush pillow, but Zhang Zian didn¡¯t dare to pick it up, or it would definitely kill him.

    Old Time Tea was sleeping on the electric nket, with the heating turned up to the maximum. It was sound asleep with stable breathing.

    As the shadows of light changed a bit in the bedroom, Famous also woke up. Seeing that it was getting bright outside, Famous lifted a paw to turn off the night light. Zhang Zian praised its power-saving mannerisms. Since the amount of food Famous ate was almost equivalent to the sum of Fina and Snowy Li, and Famous needed to have medium-well steak with red wine, Zhang Zian was pained that raising Famous cost him so much money.

    When he was dressed and had finished washing his face and brushing his teeth, he went downstairs with Famous, and he closed the bedroom door to prevent the heat from escaping from his bedroom, which might save some money in electricity bills.

    The venttor on the ceiling was buzzing, and most of the kittens and puppies downstairs had woken up, meowing and barking. With the increase in the number of pets in the shop, the venttor had to be open for 24 hours now, otherwise it was difficult to eliminate the smell of the excrements.

    Gxy was chasing a fewrger kittens and having fun.

    He walked to the front of the shop, opened the shutter door, and the cold wind blew in with the snowkes. He shivered again and shut the door to the outside, looking out through the ss.

    Today was Monday, with a lot of people going to work and to school. The ground was slippery, covered with ice and snow, so everyone was driving very carefully.

    Zhang Zian went back upstairs and put on another coat, a pair of gloves and a hat. He also went into the storage room to find a broom and a shovel that hadn¡¯t been used for a long time to clean the snow in front of his gate.

    The cat litter in the store could wait for Wang Qian and Li Kun toe and clean it up. But the snow at the gate must be cleared up immediately, otherwise if pedestrians passed by and fell because of the snow, he would have to assume responsibility.

    Outside, the air was wet and cold, and snow was still falling. Zhang Zian exhaled a white breath, and began to clear away the snow.

    One shovel¡­ two shovels¡­ three shovels¡­

    With the muscle contractions and extensions, a lot of heat had been generated, and his body was slowly warming up. He progressed by cleaning the entrance and then the roadside. When he encountered the solid ice that couldn¡¯t be cleaned by the broom, he would resort to the shovel, until he thoroughly cleaned the ice and snow.

    He gasped and looked up at the grey sky with his hands resting on the shovel. There was no sign that the snow would stop any soon, so he might need to continue removing the snowter.

    Zhang Zian was going to go inside and put his broom and shovel at the doorway when just then, a short car horn was heard behind him.

    Looking back, it was Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s car, stopping slowly by the roadside.

    He stuck the shovel into the snow pile and trotted towards her.

    Sun Xiaomeng rolled down the window and handed him something from the passenger¡¯s seat.

    ¡°The immunization certificate you asked for,¡± she said.

    ¡°Thank you so much!¡± Zhang Zian took off the gloves and grabbed the paper. It was the immunization certificate for Famous with its photo on it. The photo was taken by Zhang Zian and sent over to Sun Xiaomeng before she stuck the photo on the certificate.

    Sun Xiaomeng was also wearing thick clothes today. The air conditioning was still on in the car, but the thermal energy was escaping quickly via the opened window.

    ¡°Why do you want this? To get a dog raising license?¡± She stared at Zhang Zian and asked curiously.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± he folded the paper and pushed it into his pocket. ¡°Obviously.¡±

    ¡°No, I mean¡­ I¡¯ve never heard of a pet shop that needs to get a dog raising license¡­ is it necessary?¡± she rubbed her hands together and asked. To drive safely, she did not wear gloves.

    Zhang Zian shrugged. ¡°I have no choice. The business license of trading canines is hanging on the wall in the shop, so it¡¯s inconvenient to carry it with me¡­ a dog raising license is more reassuring if some officials ask for such a document.¡±

    ¡°This German Shepherd is thetest pet you bought?¡± she raised her chin and asked.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right! My friend couldn¡¯t afford it, so I brought it to my shop.¡± Zhang Zian came up with an excuse calmly, trying to fudge the origin of Famous.

    She frowned and said, ¡°Why do you have so many strange friends?¡±

    ¡°Anyway¡­ thanks a lot. I owe you for this, and I will repay your favor someday.¡± Zhang Zian waved to stop her from delving further.

    ¡°A favor¡­¡± Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s eyes fell on the snow that he had just shoveled, and looked at the clean gate that had been swept by him, ¡°How about today? I think you did a good job in cleaning the snow, how about cleaning the snow in front of my clinic?¡±

    Zhang Zian reluctantly sighed, ¡°Well, I¡¯ll go in a moment, since there are probably no clients today.¡±

    ¡°Then hurry up. I¡¯m leaving now ¡ª a client has made appointment of this morning.¡± Sun Xiaomeng drew up the window.

    ¡°The weather is not good, perhaps your client won¡¯t make it on time.¡± Zhang Zian waved his hand and said, ¡°Drive slowly.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng drove her car off. Zhang Zian looked again at this health certificate, confirming that there was no problem with it.

    Binhai City had rtively loose regtions on raisingrge and medium-sized dogs, unlike in somerge cities where only dogs under a certain shoulder height were eligible to be issued with dog raising licenses.

    With the immunization certificate, he could go apply for a dog raising license in the police station nearby. Ever since he captured Famous, he had been thinking about this matter. He just didn¡¯t expect that Famous could leave the pet shop freely so soon, and he was taken aback.

 Chapter 390: Joint Enforcement

    <h4>Chapter 390: Joint Enforcement</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian shook off the snow on his body and went back to the shop, where he found that the elves went upstairs.

    Old Time Tea had just turned on the television. It was lying on the electric nket with its forepaws tucked into the sleeves of its vest, watching the morning news as usual.

    Zhang Zian put the certificates of immunization of Famous into the cashier¡¯s drawer, nning to visit the local police station today. Since it was snowy today, few people might go there, so he wouldn¡¯t have to wait in any lines.

    Fina jumped from the cat tree, yawning. Instead ofnding on the ground, she patted the pad on a tier with her paw and stared at Zhang Zian unhappily, ¡°Where is the heating pad?¡±

    ¡°Here.¡± Zhang Zian really hated Guo Dongyue for adding this design. He put a heating pad into the mezzanine.

    ¡°Zian.¡± Old Time Tea greeted him.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on, Grandpa Tea? I will immediately boil tea for you.¡± He walked quickly and thought Old Time Tea was thirsty.

    ¡°There¡¯s no hurry to prepare tea. There is something you have to look at.¡± Old Time Tea gestured to the television screen.

    Zhang Zian had no interest in television news, which was nothing more than people who held meetings yesterday, traveled to some ces today, and would listen to the feelings of the local people tomorrow. But since it was Old Time Tea who told him to look at the news, he patiently crouched down.

    The television set was ced on a low table, almost parallel with the sight of Old Time Tea, making it easy for Old Time Tea to watch, but was strenuous for Zhang Zian, so he needed to squat down.

    Old Time Tea was watching the local news channel, where the anchors looked less attractive than the anchors on CCTV, but the news she was announcing had attracted Zhang Zian¡¯s attention.

    ¡°News from this local news channel. After receiving reports from enthusiastic residents, themercial, urban management, taxation, consumer association, public security and other departments conducted a jointw enforcement against the dog market in Nancheng District in our city yesterday, focusing on the rectification of undocumented businesses and eliminating prevailing phenomena like frauds and fights. Each member unit dispatched fivew enforcement officers, totaling over 20 people, and were divided into two groups to enter from the north and south entrance to the dog market. They conducted a thorough remediation to the chaos that has existed in the dog market for a long time. Please watch the detailed coverage.¡±

    The picture on the screen switched from the hostess to the dog market.

    A group of officers dressed in uniforms of different departments got out of vehiclesbeled ¡°Joint Enforcement¡± and were directed by a person who seemed to be in the highest position. They blocked the north and south entrances to the dog market, set up warning lines, and ordinary customers could only exit the market. After entering the dog market, the two groups of officers did not run like headless flies ¡ª apparently, they had prepared for this mission, for they seized the vendor who sold dyed chicklings and his vehicle near the entrance in no time.

    There were numerous undocumented businesses in the dog market, and many vendors were operating without licenses.

    The panic-stricken vendors in the dog market reacted differently. The smart ones just left their belongings behind and pretended they were ordinary consumers and escaped¡­ while some unlucky others were caught by thew enforcement officers.

    The video footage had probably been edited. Soon, the detained vendors bowed their heads down and lined up in front of arge van, while their electric tricycles were hung on a trailer. Larger vehicles that could not be taken away were locked temporarily. The iron cages that shut the pets were moved into a truck.

    Zhang Zian recognized a few of the vendors, including Red Dragon, ck Mole, Lao San, and Liu XX in the queue that he had beaten up.

    Finally, the apanying reporters interviewed the person in charge of the enforcement action, an official from the Consumer Association. He was asked whether this operation had reached the scheduled goal.

    The person in charge said that this operation was only just the beginning of a process that wouldst a whole week. All departments would further strengthen the management of the dog market in theing days and carry out random inspections from time to time so as to clean up the blind angles. All departments would practically eradicate the chaos in the dog market, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the people.

    The picture switched back to the hostess again. She smiled and said,

    ¡°In response to residents¡¯ reports, various departments conducted long-term preparations for the jointw enforcement, and the officers had been investigating the dog market in civilian clothes, taking arge amount of evidence through unannounced visits. Eventually, they struck with heavy blows yesterday and finally ended the longsting chaos in the dog market! During the operation, eight sets of tricycles and tworge vehicles were confiscated, and the vendors were fined a total of over 20,000 Yuan¡­ ¡±

    At the same time as her broadcast, the small screen behind her was ying videos of the so-called ¡°unannounced visits by officers.¡±

    In order to not interfere with the hostess¡¯s speaking, or for some other unknown reason, the video was silent.

    Zhang Zian had found this video familiar, and he actually found himself in it. He thought he looked magnificent¡­ and asionally there were one or twoments left by audience members that hadn¡¯t been wiped off.

    The hostess quickly moved onto the next news story.

    ¡°Next up:st night, it snowed in the city. At six o¡¯clock this morning, the Municipal Meteorological Bureau issued an icy road yellow alert. ording to the emergency snow removal n, more than 1,500 sanitation workers and allrge-scale snow removal equipment on standby was fully put into removing the snow on the roads¡­ ¡±

    Famous was watching the news side by side with him.

    Zhang Zian felt embarrassed, unsure how to exin this situation to it, so he simply said nothing.

    He would like to know who the ¡°enthusiastic residents¡± were and whether they received any bonuses from reporting to the news channel. If there was any bonus, he might have missed his chance to be rich, for he didn¡¯t report these clues to the news station.

    They went to the dog market yesterday morning and left at noon. Obviously, thesew enforcement officers went in the afternoon. Regarding the usual efficiency of government agencies, this speed was remarkable!

    He remembered Lin Qi ¡ª that guy seemed to be an heir to a rich family and had promised that he would follow through with the matter before leaving. Was it true that Lin Qi¡¯s family was so powerful that they could influence the government?

    In any case, this was a good thing after all. In the foreseeable days toe, the profiteers in the dog market probably would have rough times, and customers like Deng Jie and Wei Ping wouldn¡¯t be deceived as easily. Most importantly ¡ª no sale, no harm, and those innocent pets would suffer less. This trip to the dog market had been worth it.

    ¡°Zian, you did a good job,¡± Old Time Tea praised him.

    ¡°I just did some insignificant work that isn¡¯t worth mentioning. Grandpa Tea, wait here and I will go boil some water for your tea.¡± Zhang Zian smiled, stood up, and went to the kitchen upstairs to boil tea.

    Yesterday had passed, and he should live in the moment.

    Famous turned to look at his back.

    Instead of looking at the television picture, it had been staring at Zhang Zian¡¯s face and reading his bodynguage from his pupil contractions and changes in facial muscles.

    During the news broadcast, his heart had shed with many emotions one by one, such as surprise, mockery, confusion, and relief. The one that was iprehensible to it was the relief at the end.

    Why, after all his efforts and credit had been imed by others, was he still able to demonstrate such relief?

    It couldn¡¯t understand.

    Old Time Tea pressed the remote control and turned off the TV. It stretched and said to itself, ¡°When you don¡¯t care about what others think, you will see who you really are. When you abandon obsession, your true self will be revealed.¡±

    Famous seemed to have been moved by the words of Old Time Tea. Ever since it appeared in the wax museum, it had forgotten who it was and was deeply troubled by this matter. It had the vague feeling that its true identity was covered by heavy things, that in front of it was endless nkness, just like the pile of snow shoved together by Zhang Zian.

    It stared at the shovel in the snow pile, hoping to have one such shovel clear the mystery in its heart.

 Chapter 391: A Heavy Mental Burden

    <h4>Chapter 391: A Heavy Mental Burden</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After boiling a pot of hot water to brew tea for Old Time Tea, Zhang Zian put his coat back on. He carried a big broom and a shovel and headed over to the clinic of Sun Xiaomeng, intending to fetch the pets¡¯ breakfast from Uncle Li¡¯s shop on his way back.

    At this time, most of the shops on the street had not opened their doors yet, so few people were sweeping the snow in front of their shops. He struggled to move forward in the deep snow, breathing in the bitter cold air, and watched themuters rush to work with pity.

    When he arrived at the pet clinic, he looked inside, and did not see Sun Xiaomeng. She was probably in the treatment room. Long Xian behind the duty counter saw him, poured a cup of hot cocoa, and came over to him.

    ¡°Manager Zhang.¡± Long Xian gave him the cocoa, ¡°I heard Sister Xiaomeng say that you were going to help us remove the snow! Please drink this cup of cocoa to warm up first.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Zhang Zian put the broom and shovel aside, and epted the cup of hot cocoa to drink.

    When the sweet, hot, viscous liquid flowed into his stomach from his esophagus, he instantly felt the chilled air being pushed out of his body.

    ¡°So sweet! So sweet!¡± He finished the drink, wiped his mouth, and handed the cup back to her.

    ¡°Hey! I have one thing inmon with Sister Xiaomeng ¡ª we both have a sweet tooth! Manager Zhang, do you prefer salty or sweet food?¡± Long Xian asked curiously.

    Zhang Zian answered earnestly, ¡°To be honest, as long as it is free, I don¡¯t really mind if it is sweet or salty.¡±

    Long Xian was speechless.

    Since she wore very little, she couldn¡¯t bear the chilliness outside anymore.

    ¡°I¡¯m going inside now¡­ Thank you, Manager Zhang.¡± She trotted back into the clinic, but then stuck her head out again. ¡°Manager Zhang, I also heard that you hired a new employee in your shop?¡±

    ¡°Yes, she is called Lu Yiyun, and her drawing skills are amazing, almost at a professional level. Whenever you are free, you cane and meet her. You two are simr in age, so you guys should havemon topics to talk about,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°In this terrible weather, I see few clients are visiting the clinic, so I guess you¡¯ve had some free time recently.¡±

    ¡°Well, I would like to meet her.¡± Long Xian smiled and headed back to the counter.

    There was only a small area in front of the pet clinic, and Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s car took up a lot of that space, so Zhang Zian swept the snow to the driveway, and finished very quickly. He was leaving with his broom and shovel, and noticed that a straw mat was ced in front of the clinic, presumably to allow customers to rub their dirty shoes off before entering the gate, thus relieving the cleaning pressure on the clinic.

    He kept this detail in his mind, nning to go back to his storeroom to see if there was a simr mat.

    Uncle Li¡¯s small restaurant had no customers at all this morning. The interior of the store was lit with pale lights, and Aunt Li was sitting there ying a piece of wiping cloth, bored, with Zhang Zian¡¯s foam insted box beside her hand.

    ¡°It¡¯s freaking cold outside,¡± he pushed the door open.

    ¡°Master Zhang is here,¡± said Aunt Li. She smiled and stood up. ¡°It is cold and snowy, but the coldest time hasn¡¯t arrived yet.¡±

    Zhang Zian came here several times a day, so he picked up the foam insted box casually andforted her euphemistically, ¡°Business is rough everywhere in this terrible weather, I¡¯m sure everything will get better when the weather bes warmer¡­ just stay warm and go home early today.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Although Aunt Li promised him with a smile, Zhang Zian guessed that they would remain here till ten o¡¯clock in the evening as usual.

    Heading back to his pet shop, stepping on ice and snow along the way, he saw Lu Yiyun was standing outside the door waiting.

    She trotted towards Zhang Zian, trying to take the foam insted box from him, but because of her clumsiness, her feet stepped on a piece of ice and almost slipped. Zhang Zian threw away his broom and shovel to grab her.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m so stupid¡­¡± she repeatedly apologized.

    ¡°It¡¯s all right. Please don¡¯t run with ice and snow on the road. Why are you waiting outside?¡± he asked.

    She said timidly, ¡°The door is closed¡­¡±

    ¡°I pulled down the shutter door when I left but did not lock it. You are the only regr employee in the store right now, so don¡¯t be so uptight,¡± said Zhang Zian. Putting the foam insted box in her hands, he pulled open the shutter door.

    ¡°Well¡­ okay¡­¡± Lu Yiyun said nervously.

    Zhang Zian estimated that with her character, next time if he was not inside, she would still be waiting outside.

    ¡°The Spirit Curing Pet Clinic has a new nurse called Long Xian, who is also the same age as you. You can hang out with her sometime and get to know each other.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­ okay¡­¡± She became more nervous realizing that she would have to know and deal with strangers.

    The two entered the store one by one, taking off their coats and hanging them on the rack. Zhang Zian noticed that she was carrying a waterproof bag simr to aptop bag.

    ¡°What is that?¡± he asked curiously.

    Still feeling embarrassed about the incident where she almost fell down at the gate, Lu Yiyun was stunned for a moment before she understood what he was referring to.

    ¡°Oh, this? This is my digitizer for drawing¡­¡± She held the waterproof bag to her chest and carefully peered into Zhang Zian¡¯s face. ¡°I feel like there might be few customers today and I would like to take some time to paint¡­ May I?¡±

    ¡°Sure, I have already said this, but you can do whatever you want when you are free,¡± Zhang Zian replied without hesitation.

    Lu Yiyun rxed a bit, and gratefully bowed, ¡°Well, thank you, Mr. Manager¡­¡±

    She continued, ¡°Ah, I¡¯ll first update illustrations for the pet shop¡¯s public WeChat ount, and then I¡¯ll draw my personal pictures¡­¡± For fear that Zhang Zian might misunderstand her, she hastily added thisst part.

    ¡°OK, no problem, feel free to do so, don¡¯t be so nervous,¡± he said.

    Since he had created a public WeChat ount for the pet shop, he had not yet published an article, and he knew he can¡¯t just write something like ¡°Today I caught an elfin, and I¡¯m so happy¡± or ¡°Yesterday I saw a beautiful woman but failed to hit on her¡±.

    Lu Yiyun put the waterproof bag on the checkout counter, and pulled out a ckboard the same size as aptop screen along with an assorted pen.

    ¡°This is a digitizer tablet?¡± Zhang Zian had heard about this thing, but it was the first time he¡¯d ever seen a real one.

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Lu Yiyun skillfully connected the digitizer tablet to her desktopputer.

    ¡°Can I watch you draw?¡±

    Zhang Zian was very interested in this professional artist¡¯s painting process. There might be no customers today anyway, and he had plenty of free time.

    Since bing a professional painter, Lu Yiyun had never let others watch her while she was painting, except her cat Jasmine. She was very nervous, but she did not dare to say ¡°no¡±, so she bit the bullet and agreed.

    Zhang Zian first gave the BBQ skewers to the elves, then ran to the storage room to find a worn mat. He put it at the doorway, and then moved a chair to sit next to the cashier to watch Lu Yiyun paint.

    She picked up the drawing pen, but did not start drawing.

    ¡°Mr. Manager, what do you want me to draw?¡± she asked for instructions.

    Zhang Zian also had no idea, so he said jokingly, ¡°Draw me?! I want to look handsome!¡±

    Lu Yiyun was holding the pen, the tip slightly shivering due to her tension. She previously had painted all kinds of anime characters, and she hadn¡¯t sketched real-life figures for a long time, not to mention that she was facing an adult man that she was not particrly familiar with¡­ Suffering from an extreme mental burden, she did not dare to look directly at him, and this made it even more impossible for her to draw¡­

    As time went by, Zhang Zian¡¯s patience wore down gradually.

    When he felt bored, in the blizzard, a taxi stopped slowly by the roadside.

 Chapter 392: An Unexpected Guest

    <h4>Chapter 392: An Unexpected Guest</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian had been waiting a while, but Lu Yiyun still did not start drawing him. He did not know if all professional-level artists had to deliberate for such a long time before the actual creation happened, but he was getting a bit impatient.

    Just then, through the window, he saw a person standing outside the door, with his head rising and lowering from time to time, as if confirming something. Because of the temperature difference indoors and outdoors, there was a misty condensation on the ss door, and Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t see the man clearly. He thought the man was about to ask for directions, so he informed Lu Yiyun, got up and went to help him.

    Before he could walk out, the man outside the door had rubbed his soles on the mat and walked into the shop.

    At first nce, Zhang Zian was shocked, for the man was a middle-aged foreign gentleman wearing an upscale woolen trench coat, a business suit, a silk tie, and a pair of metal-framed sses. His brown hair had beenbed meticulously, and he was carrying a Rimova briefcase made of metal with abination lock on it.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s first instinct was that this foreigner must havee to the wrong ce. His destination must be Embassy Street, but an unscrupulous taxi driver had taken him to Zhonghua Road¡­ judging from his attire, this foreigner apparently should be an elite from Wall Street or Lujiazui.

    Patting the snowkes off his shoulders, the man looked around at the interior of the shop. His eyes stayed on the face of Lu Yiyun a moment, and finally fell on Zhang Zian.

    Although unlikely, Zhang Zian still looked at Lu Yiyun, as if asking if the man was looking for her.

    Lu Yiyun shook her head vigorously. She lowered her head, and peeped at the guest through the corners of her eyes.

    Zhang Zian coughed and intended to ask Richard toe downstairs to greet the guest, but the he heard the man speak in rudimentary, yetprehensible Chinese, ¡°Hello, may I ask if this is the Amazing Fate Pet Shop?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ yes, who are you looking for?¡± Zhang Zian was surprised¡ªa foreigner who could speak Chinese? He either had been living in China for some time, or he was truly an elite.

    The man smiled courteously. He put down his briefcase, and pulled out a business card from his pocket.

    ¡°My name is Roger Adams, and I work for Baker & Murphy Associates. I¡¯m looking for Zhang Zian, whose English name is Jeff Zhang.¡±

    Zhang Zian took over the business card. Unfortunately, all the words on it were written in English. He repeatedly flipped it and observed it, and he got increasingly excited!

    ¡°So, you are awyer?¡± he asked in a quavering voice.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Adams nodded.

    Holy s**t! Awyer is really looking for me?!

    Zhang Zian was bursting with joy! Had his dream finallye true? One of his rtives who he had never met before passed away abroad, and because the rtive had no other immediate family members, he had left Zhang Zian, a distant rtive far away in China, a European-style old castle by the sea and arge amount of property. From now on, he would be transformed into a tall, rich, and handsome guy, a winner that all the beautiful girls in the world craved for!

    He patted his chest and said, ¡°I am Zhang Zian, and my English name is Jeff Zhang. Trust me, I¡¯m the person you are looking for. By the way, where is the old castle? Ennd? Irnd? Spain? I do not mind where it is at all!¡±

    Adams was confused, ¡°What castle?¡±

    ¡°You know, I had a rtive who passed away abroad, and now you are executing his will, am I right? These are plots in television dramas and novels that I used to think were contrived and dramatic, but now I do believe in them!¡±

    Zhang Zian rubbed his hands together excitedly, wondering in which bank he would deposit his hundreds of millions of pounds or dors in cash? Would the bank send a long-legged gorgeousmissioner to serve him?

    ¡°Um¡­¡± Adams stared at him rather surprised. ¡°How did you know that, Mr. Zhang?¡±

    Huh?

    Zhang Zian was really shocked. He was joking around just now, but looking at the elitewyer¡¯s serious look, it seemed that thewyer was not joking.

    He thought carefully. His parents did not seem to have any rtives living abroad. And the probability that a rtive who he had never met before would leave him a huge amount of legacy was smaller than winning the lottery¡­

    ¡°Am I really going to inherit a legacy?¡± he confirmed with thewyer.

    He nced at the elves in the shop, except Richard, who was still asleep upstairs and Gxy, who was ying hide-and-seek. Old Time Tea, Fina, Snowy Li and Famous were all focused on him, as if they had vaguely felt that today would be an extraordinary day.

    Zhang Zian had mixed feelings in his heart. He was pleased with the windfall, but was anxious about the heritage of his dubious background. He was also curious and looking forward to the amount of the heritage, as well as worrying about whether the sudden legacy wouldpletely change his and the elves¡¯ lives¡­

    Even Lu Yiyun was staring at him and Adams. She wondered that if Zhang Zian inherited arge sum of money, would this pet shop be closed forever?

    Adams said cautiously, ¡°Before answering this question, let me first look at Mr. Zhang¡¯s valid ID, driver¡¯s license or passport. I need to confirm Mr. Zhang¡¯s identity before I can further borate on this matter.¡±

    ¡°No problem. Here.¡± Zhang Zian took out his wallet, found his ID card and driver¡¯s license and handed it to him. ¡°Do you need me to show you my passport?¡±

    Adams took the ID card and driver¡¯s license, and carefullypared the photos with Zhang Zian¡¯s face, then handed them back to him and said, ¡°If you don¡¯t mind.¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute.¡± Zhang Zian gestered to Lu Yiyun, asking her to keep an eye on this person. After all, anyone could print business cards ¡ª what if this man was pretending to be an elite but turned out to be a thief?

    Lu Yiyun¡¯s bitter expression showed that she was not ready to handle this responsibility.

    Zhang Zian quickly went upstairs, went to his bedroom, and tried to find his passport in the drawers of the bedside table.

    Richard was awakened by his movement. It jumped out from his coat and looked at him sleepily, ¡°Quack! What are you looking for? Condoms? I¡¯ve searched your room, but didn¡¯t find any¡ªbesides, you don¡¯t need condoms.¡±

    Zhang Zian answered without looking at it, ¡°What the f**k, I¡¯m not looking for condoms¡­ and what do you mean I don¡¯t need condoms? Let me tell you, if I want to use them, I can find someone at any minute!¡±

    Richardbed its chest feathers and said disdainfully, ¡°A stubborn pimp!¡±

    While they were speaking, Zhang Zian found his passport.

    ¡°Why the passport? Are you going abroad again? Where? Ethiopia or Azerbaijan?¡± Richard fluttered its wings and flew onto his shoulder, staring at the passport in his hand.

    ¡°Why would I go to those remote and sparsely popted ces?!¡± Zhang Zian angrily said, ¡°There is a U.S. attorney downstairs. It seems that I have inherited a legacy and he must see my ID card, driver¡¯s license, and passport¡­it¡¯s really troublesome.¡±

    ¡°Quack? Legacy? No kidding¡­ who could you inherit a legacy from?¡± Richard didn¡¯t believe him.

    Even Zhang Zian himself was not certain whether the man downstairs was ying a prank on him or not¡­

    Zhang Zian came downstairs with Richard.

    Adams had taken his coat off and ced it on the rack. He was standing there still, with his eyes observing the furnishings and pets. Seeing that Zhang Zian came downstairs with a grey parrot standing on his shoulder, he couldn¡¯t help but smile.

    ¡°Here, my passport.¡± Zhang Zian handed him the passport.

    Adams opened the passport, ncing roughly at his photos, and focused on his times of entry and exit to the United States, confirming that Zhang Zian was the person he was looking for.

    When Adams was flipping through the passport, Gxy stopped chasing the American Shorthair and turned to him, ¡°Meow, Zian, don¡¯t be sad.¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned.

    ¡°Thanks,¡± Adams handed the passport back to him.

    Adams had identified Zhang Zian. He took a deep breath and said, ¡°Mr. Zhang, do you know Catherine Donna Ryan?¡±

    The image of the American olddy that he met at the CFApetition immediately came to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°What happened?¡± His heart tensed up.

    Adams solemnly said, ¡°I am sorry to inform you that Catherine Donna Ryan has died a few days ago and I am the executor of her will.¡±

 Chapter 393: A Precious Legacy

    <h4>Chapter 393: A Precious Legacy</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian felt dizzy, as if the shop¡¯s lights had dimmed, and Lu Yiyun and Adams were far away from him. Everything around him was progressing in slow motion. He could see that Adams¡¯s mouth was opening and closing, he just couldn¡¯t hear what he was saying¡­

    It was not the first time he had received the sad news of the deaths of his rtives and friends, but he still could not ept the news calmly.

    In just a few days in the United States, Zhang Zian performed martial arts, went camping in the wilderness, visited Hollywood, and captured an elfin. His life there was colorful. But the person who had left the deepest impression on him was an Americandy. She called him Jeff, and told him to call her Cathy.

    Cathy was an ordinary olddy, but what she did was extraordinary. For decades, she had been participating with her cats in the CFA game for house cats, just hoping that the CFA would admit chocte-colored Abyssinian cats one day.

    Zhang Zian clearly remembered that she had said that was probably thest time she could participate in thepetition because she would not be able to walk soon.

    After leaving the venue, he still remembered her. He had inquired about who had won thepetition for house cats, but unfortunately, he did not find any information. He also asked Tim to inquire about relevant news for him. The good news was that the CFA might soon recognize chocte-colored Abyssinian cats.

    He was sincerely happy for Cathy. Not only had her persistence finally moved the CFA, but it had also touched him.

    At thepetition, he had told her that if she ever came to China in the future, be sure to visit Binhai City, and that he would be a good host.

    However, it was the sad news of her death that had arrived instead¡­

    He still remembered their encounter, but she was in heaven now.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang?¡±

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager?¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder felt a sharp pain ¡ª it was Richard¡¯s ws pinching his skin.

    He suddenly came back to himself. The lights in the shop had lit up again. Lu Yiyun and Adams were not far away, but were looking at him worriedly.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± He shook his head and nced over at Richard on his shoulder.

    Adams said in a very professional tone, ¡°Mr. Zhang, if you are not feeling well, I cane and visit another time.¡± As a solicitor specializing in probate, he was familiar with simr situations and knew that in the event of unexpected news, people were more fragile than he could imagine.

    ¡°No,¡± Zhang Zian waved his hands. ¡°I suddenly remembered something¡­ I¡¯m fine. Please continue.¡±

    Adams lifted the briefcase from the ground, and made his way to the cashier¡¯s desk. ¡°May I?¡±

    ¡°Please,¡± Zhang Zian nodded.

    Lu Yiyun quickly put her digitizer tablet on her knees, making room on the desk.

    Adams put the briefcase on the desk, entered the password, and removed several documents from the now-open briefcase.

    ¡°Actually, Ms. Ryan suddenly contacted me a few days ago and asked for a change in her will¡­¡± He was about to continue, but was interrupted by Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Wait a minute, she¡­¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s lips were wriggling, but he could not find the right words to express his thoughts.

    The experienced Adams knew what he meant, and answered before Zhang Zian could finish his sentence. ¡°Ms. Ryan died of natural causes in her sleep, serenely and painlessly. She was living alone, and the next day when her neighbors did not see her go out with her cats, they were very worried about her, and called the police.¡±

    Adams was speaking Chinese, and although the pronunciations were a little strange, Lu Yiyun could understand him. Hearing the description about Ms. Ryan, who passed away with no one, Lu Yiyun gripped her drawing pen tightly.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m sorry to interrupt you. Please continue.¡± Zhang Zian felt slightly better.

    ¡°I went to Ms. Ryan¡¯s house and notarized her will.¡± Adams handed several documents to Zhang Zian. ¡°Here¡¯s a copy of her will and the Power of Attorney.¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t understand them, and I can¡¯t process them right now. Please just tell me what they are about.¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± Adams didn¡¯t insist. He said, ¡°In Ms. Ryan¡¯s most recently revised will, she donated all her possessions to the Matthew Davis Cancer Research Foundation for research on lung cancer, and she left her cats to you.¡±

    Zhang Zian was surprised again. He repeated, ¡°Her cats?¡±

    ¡°Yes. As of now, Ms. Ryan had a total of eight cats and she designated you to take care of them.¡± Adams took a few photos out of the briefcase, ¡°Please take a look at them.¡±

    Zhang Zian took over the photos, and was shocked to recognize the first one as Wendy, Cathy¡¯s favorite, the one he saw in the arena of the CFApetition. The second cat, the third cat¡­ all the way until the eighth cat were all chocte-colored Abyssinian cats of different sizes and diverse postures.

    He shuffled through the pictures repeatedly, his hands shaking gently. He understood that Cathy¡¯s most cherished legacy was not money, but the Abyssinian cats she had carefully nurtured.

    At some point, Fina jumped off the cat tree and came up beside him, staring at the pictures of these Abyssinian cats.

    Adams observed Zhang Zian¡¯s expression and whispered, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I should have sent you awyer¡¯s letter in advance to inform you so that you could prepare for this news. However¡­ Ms. Ryan only knew the pronunciation of your Chinese name, and that you had a pet shop in Binhai City, China. She didn¡¯t know your phone number or exact address, so I spent a lot of time trying to find you.¡±

    In the United States, it was not umon to specify who would inherit one¡¯s pets in his/her will, and Adams had handled dozens of simr wills. It was the first time Adams had met a testator who gave her pets to a stranger half a world away.

    Fortunately, Adams was very optimistic about China¡¯s prospects in the 21st century, and had learned some Chinese years ago.

    He flew from the warm and bright Los Angeles to the cold and damp Binhai City. When he arrived, he first went to the Trade and Industry Bureau, checked all the local pet shops registered under it, and thenpared the pronunciations of the owners¡¯ names to the name of Zhang Zian, and finally determined the location of Amazing Fate Pet Shop. He arrived today early in the morning but suffered from the rainy and snowy weather¡­ Despite these hardships, he uttered noints. Instead, because of the professionalism he had disyed, he was considerate about Zhang Zian¡¯s mood and feelings, and was willing to visit another day.

    Zhang Zian thanked him sincerely, ¡°Thank you. You must be exhausted.¡±

    ¡°This is my job,¡± Adams smiled. ¡°Well, Mr. Zhang, do you have any questions?¡±

    ¡°Why me?¡± Zhang Zian could not figure out why Cathy left such a precious legacy to him.

    Adams slightly nodded. ¡°I also asked Ms. Ryan this question, and her answer was because you said she was very beautiful.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Zhang Zian was stunned.

    ¡°That¡¯s it,¡± Adams replied affirmatively, his gazending on the unheated skewers and steak in the foam insted box. ¡°Ms. Ryan had no other rtives, and I guess she probably thought you would take good care of her cats¡ªaftering to your shop, I can understand why she thought that way.¡±

    Zhang Zian went silent.

    ¡°Any other questions?¡± Adams asked again.

    Zhang Zian shook his head, ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Well, Mr. Zhang Zian, are you willing to ept the will of Ms. Catherine Donna Ryan?¡± asked Adams.

    ¡°I¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was choked with sobs.

    Only he could truly understand Cathy. She gave him the cats, not because he praised her as beautiful, not because she felt he could take care of them, but because she hoped he could follow her path, and lead the Abyssinian cats towards rejuvenation and glory.

    It was an extremely heavy but utmost glorious hope, one that was full of Cathy¡¯s trust.

    ¡°Why are you still hesitating?¡± cried Fina sharply.

    Old Time Tea said in a deep voice, ¡°Zian, you are called upon to uphold righteousness!¡±

    Zhang Zian bit his lips, nodded, and said to Adams, ¡°I ept it!¡±

 Chapter 394: Farewell

    <h4>Chapter 394: Farewell</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The moment Zhang Zian decided to ept the legacy, it was equivalent to him taking over Cathy¡¯sst wish.

    Upon hearing Zhang Zian¡¯s agreement to ept the will, Adams¡¯s face showed a relieved smile. His trip to this icy and snowy city half a world away was worth it.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, you gave your verbal agreement just now, but we still have a formal process to go through. Because I did not know your specific address and phone number before, nor did I know if you would inherit this particr will, I did not bring the eight cats with me. They are currently in the pet care center, and after you have signed these documents, I will arrange for air transport immediately,¡± he said.

    Adams pulled out a small video camera and tripod from his briefcase and exined to Zhang Zian, ¡°Theplete signing process is required to be recorded for notarization. Is that okay?¡±

    Zhang Zian felt that this Americanwyer was very professional. Apparently it was not the first time he had dealt with rted matters. Adams¡¯s inquiry was only out of politeness, or he just wanted to remind Zhang Zian that he must not refuse the video shooting, otherwise it would be a gesture to reject the legacy.

    ¡°Yes, of course, please,¡± said Zhang Zian. ¡°Need anything?¡±

    Adams looked around the store, ¡°Preferably an empty table and two chairs that allow us to sit face to face.¡±

    With aputer screen, a card reader, tutorials for novice pet raisers, and a few other things on it, the cashier desk did not fit Adams¡¯s requirements.

    ¡°Pleasee upstairs.¡± Zhang Zian led him to the living room upstairs.

    ¡°Is it okay here?¡± he pointed to the couch and the coffee table.

    ¡°This is fine,¡± replied Adams.

    Adams put down the briefcase, put up the tripod and set up the camera, and asked Zhang Zian to sit on the couch. He then adjusted the focal length, and made sure that there was no problem with the microphone.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, the parrot on your shoulder¡­¡± he pointed to Richard with a wry smile. ¡°Could it please leave for the time being?¡±

    Without waiting for Zhang Zian to speak up, Richard had fluttered its wings andnded on the de of the ceiling fan, looking down at them haughtily.

    ¡°Wow, what a clever parrot! Can it understand me?¡± Adams opened his mouth wide in surprise. This was the first time he had forgotten himself after he set foot in this pet shop.

    ¡°Quack! I can also talk, you moron! Close your mouth, or beware of bird feces dropping into your mouth!¡± Richard felt bored, lowered its head, and pecked its chest feathers.

    Adams quickly closed his mouth, as if worrying that Richard would actually attack his mouth with its excrement.

    ¡°Fantastic! Mr. Zhang, how did you train this parrot?¡± he asked, pouting his lips.

    ¡°Well, long story¡­ it¡¯s a troublesome process. And of course, it is a somewhat talented bird.¡± Zhang Zian red at Richard, warning it to stay inconspicuous.

    ¡°I guess so.¡± Adams believed him. After reminding Zhang Zian, he began recording.

    He spread the documents on the coffee table, exined to Zhang Zian the meaning of each document, and then instructed him where to put his signatures. Because the will involved the transnational inheritance of eight cats, during the transport process, Adams had to ensure that the eight cats would not die identally, otherwise it would affect the implementation of the will and the credibility of hisw firm. This made the process moreplicated than any ordinary session of property.

    Adams exined the documents in detail, and that Zhang Zian could ask him anything should he not understand something.

    At first, Zhang Zian was still worried about whether the eight cats would encounter any problems during the transport, such as quarantine problems at immigration control, and even nned to remind Adams to avoid the routes bounded to Capital International Airport.

    However, he did not realize that Adams apparently had done his homework well beforeing to China. Adams was more knowledgeable in terms of legal tax minimization and avoiding quarantines than Zhang Zian was. Clients really liked such awyer, because apparently Adams had prioritized the interests of his clients. As long as they paid him enough money, they could sit back, rx, and leave everything to Adams.

    Wicked capitalism¡­

    After answering all questions raised by Zhang Zian, Adams confirmed that there were no further objections. Adams then pointed to where Zhang Zian should sign for confirmation. In addition, Zhang Zian signed a power of attorney document to authorize Adams to handle the shipment of these cats.

    After everything was settled, about half an hour had passed.

    Adams stopped recording and exchanged contact information with Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Ah, I almost forgot.¡± He removed a thick pile of documents that were neatly bound from his briefcase, ¡°These are for you.¡±

    ¡°What are these?¡± Zhang Zian took the documents, but he couldn¡¯t understand the English on them.

    ¡°Well¡­ I do not quite understand them, but they should be the pedigrees of the eight cats, which I found when sorting out Ms. Ryan¡¯s possessions. I thought I should give them to you with the cats,¡± Adams shrugged. ¡°Of course, if you find the documents useless, you can handle them yourself.¡±

    Zhang Zian was surprised. These were indispensable in the normal breeding process of cats¡ªfrom a smaller aspect, with these documents, the inbreeding of the breeding cats could be avoided; from arger aspect, these could further optimize the lineage of the Abyssinian cats, so that they could give birth to better generations in the future.

    These documents had been Cathy¡¯s breeding diary for over a decade, recording her experiences and lessons. Once the CFA admitted chocte-colored Abyssinian cats, he could apply for proof of a studbook for them.

    He flipped through these handwritten documents, imagining Cathy holding the pen and writing this information over countless lonely nights.

    ¡°Thank you¡­ these are very useful,¡± he said. ¡°Thank you for bringing them to me.¡±

    ¡°If there¡¯s nothing else, I¡¯ll just say goodbye.¡± Adams shook hands with Zhang Zian, and looked up to Richard again, ¡°Hi, little guy, goodbye!¡±

    Richard was napping while standing on the de, and did not answer him.

    Adams put the video recorder, the tripod, and the signed documents one by one in his briefcase. Zhang Zian nced at him. He noticed that at the bottom of the briefcase, there was a photo of a woman with beautiful silver hair in the corner.

    ¡°Is that a photo of Cathy?¡± asked Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Ah, did you mean this? Yes, because you met Ms. Ryan only once and I was afraid you might have forgotten her, I took one of her pictures.¡± Adams took a photo from under the files. ¡°Do you want to keep it?¡±

    ¡°May I?¡±

    ¡°Sure, it¡¯s yours.¡± He handed the picture to Zhang Zian.

    In the photo, Cathy was sitting on thewn of her own yard, holding Wendy in her arms, and was surrounded by the seven other Abyssinian cats. She was facing the camera and had a very brilliant smile.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Zhang Zian could not remember how many times he had expressed his gratitude to Adams. The attentivewyer had thought of almost every detail and gave Zhang Zian some sce.

    He found an old photo frame, wiped the dust off it, and put the photo of Cathy into the photo frame. Adams packed up the briefcase while watching him.

    ¡°Sorry to keep you waiting,¡± said Zhang Zian.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Adams smiled.

    Zhang Zian took the picture frame, and gestured, ¡°I¡¯ll send you out.¡±

    Together they went downstairs. Zhang Zian looked around and finally chose a shelf behind the couch, putting the photo frame on top of the shelf. From here, Cathy in heaven would always be able to see her cats ying in the shop, and she would always be very happy.

    Zhang Zian sent Adams out of the shop, watched him g a taxi and disappear at the corner of the street, and then returned to the shop.

    He sat back in the chair next to the cash register, but he was surprised to notice that Lu Yiyun was still concentrated on painting as if she had forgotten everything around her, that only the drawing board and the screen existed in her eyes.

    On theputer screen, a view of Zhang Zian¡¯s back in the snow gradually became clearer, but unfortunately he was not handsome at all.

 Chapter 395: The Domineering Guard

    <h4>Chapter 395: The Domineering Guard</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After snowing for nearly a day, the weather finally cleared up.

    ¡°Brother Store Manager! Brother Store Manager!¡±

    With her unique voice and voice mutations, Little Celery excitedly ran into the store. She looked back and noticed the mat outside the door, went back outside to rub the mud off her soles, and ran into the shop again.

    Mud was everywhere on the streets, and every passing vehicle was covered with mud spots. Probably the happiest people on this snowy day were the car wash shop owners. The situation on the sidewalk was not much better, with the young girls walking very slowly, frowning to avoid the running Little Celery, for fear of the mud from her shoes sshing on their clothes.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Little Celery?¡± Zhang Zian asked unhurriedly.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± She noticed that Zhang Zian was strenuously lifting a strange statue. ¡°Wow, what is this?¡±

    ¡°This is a statue of the Cat Goddess.¡± Zhang Zian took a few steps back and bent down to push the statue, made of bronze, cautiously to the doorway into his recently refurbished shop, and was relieved. ¡°It¡¯s really heavy.¡±

    Since Snowy had given him the statue of the Cat Goddess, Zhang Zian had thrown it around the corners of the store for months and didn¡¯t remember its very existence until the store was tidied up this morning.

    No matter what, it was an exquisite piece of art. Most importantly, this was a gift bought by Snowy, and he couldn¡¯t just throw it away. Considering that selling it may not bring him much money, he decided to utilize it properly.

    After much contemtion, he thought it was more appropriate to put it in front of the store, facing outside like a gatekeeper.

    At the entrances to other people¡¯s stores, a bronze bull was ced there so as to bring booming business, but strangely enough, Zhang Zian decided to ce a bronze cat there instead. However, in the eyes of experts who were knowledgeable about the cat goddess, the origin of the cat statue was way more impressive than any ordinary bronze bull.

    Besides, it made more sense to ce a bronze cat rather than a bronze bull in front of a pet shop, didn¡¯t it?

    Little Celery crouched down, curiously looking at this vivid statue, and then raised her face and asked Zhang Zian, ¡°Brother Store Manager, where is the Cat Goddess from?¡±

    ¡°It is an Egyptian cat goddess. Have you heard of it?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± she shook her head. Her two pigtails were pointing in the directions of 10 and 3 o¡¯clock, indicating that it was Tuesday today.

    ¡°Anyway, you just need to know that it is very powerful, and as domineering as me!¡± Zhang Zian did not intend to exin this to her in detail ¡ª after all, things like faith and worship were too difficult for her to understand at this age.

    ¡°What?¡± Little Celery said with a look of admiration, ¡°Brother Store Manager, you are amazing! You can even bring an Egyptian cat goddess to your shop!¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s just a statue!¡± Zhang Zian felt awkward. ¡°Little Celery, why didn¡¯t youe over yesterday? Because it¡¯s difficult to walk on a snowy day?¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh!¡± she nodded. ¡°Yesterday morning, our teacher said in the group chat that school was closed, so we didn¡¯t need to go, and she asked us to inform each other.¡±

    ¡°Tut, children nowadays are so lucky. When I was in school, even when the sky was raining knives, we still needed to go to school¡­¡± Zhang Zian angrily said. ¡°Gosh, I¡¯m so old now!¡±

    ¡°Brother Store Manager is still very young!¡± Little Celery said very seriously. ¡°Younger than my mother!¡±

    ¡°Haha, of course! Your Brother Store Manager will be 18 years old forever!¡± Zhang Zianughed, ¡°Little Celery, why are you here today?¡±

    ¡°Ah! I almost forgot! Brother Store Manager, I¡¯m here to tell you some good news!¡± said Little Celery. ¡°The teacher has agreed that my program will represent our ss in the performance in front of the whole school!¡±

    ¡°Oh? Nice!¡± Although he had expected this was the good news, Zhang Zian pretended to be surprised and smiled happily, ¡°Is this the show about the fairy tale pet shop?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but the show name has changed to ¡®Magical Pet Shop¡¯ because our teacher said this name is more attractive,¡± Little Celery made lively gestures while she spoke. ¡°Yi Le acted very strange. He suddenly approached me before the vote, and said that he wouldn¡¯t fight against me anymore, and with several other boys, they raised their hands to support me in the voting¡­ Brother Store Manager, do you know what happened?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Zhang Zian shook his head, ¡°Presumably, he probably felt that your program was more interesting. Let me tell you, boys this age change very quickly. They might like one thing today, and change their minds tomorrow¡­¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡± she winked.

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Little Celery, don¡¯t mind them, just rehearse your show.¡±

    Little Celery nodded, ¡°Well, I will work hard!¡±

    ¡°But do not let the rehearsals affect your learning,¡± Zhang Zian reminded her. ¡°Learning should always be your priority.¡±

    For children this age, maybe ying was the most important thing, but taking into ount the national conditions of China, Little Celery couldn¡¯t be left behind at the starting line.

    ¡°I know! Brother Store Manager, I¡¯m going to y with Xiao Ling and Er Duo!¡± Little Celery ran a few steps, stopped, and asked him, ¡°Brother Store Manager¡­ are you usually very busy?¡±

    Zhang Zian shrugged and asked, ¡°Look at me, do you think I look like a busy person?¡±

    ¡°No, you look like you have much spare time,¡± Little Celery responded honestly.

    Although this was the truth, Zhang Zian was still very sad!

    ¡°Why do you ask?¡± he said.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Little Celery was a bit shy, ¡°The school-founding celebration, would you like toe and see it?¡±

    ¡°Celebration¡­¡± Zhang Zian thought for a moment, ¡°I would love to see Little Celery perform, but¡­ is it true that only parents are allowed in the school?¡±

    ¡°You can go in on the celebration day!¡± She looked at him expectantly.

    ¡°Well, no problem then! I will not miss your show,¡± Zhang Zianughed.

    With Lu Yiyun helping him, he could leave the shop for half a day.

    Just at that moment, Lu Yiyun arrived.

    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Store Manager.¡± Lu Yiyun greeted him, and noticed the statue of the Cat Goddess squatting proudly near the cashier¡¯s desk, ¡°Um? What is this¡­¡±

    ¡°A statue of the Cat Goddess.¡± Zhang Zian felt a bit of a headache. What if everyone that came in the shop asks the same question? Should I write a note next to it?

    ¡°Oh.¡± Lu Yiyun stopped asking. She intended to search about it onler.

    She dropped her drawing board from her shoulders and connected it to theputer as she did yesterday.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, about updating the WeChat public ount¡­¡±

    ¡°What about it?¡±

    When it came to the public ount, Zhang Zian¡¯s headache worsened. Although he had opened a public ount, he really didn¡¯t know what to publish on it. Yesterday he had intended to discuss it with Lu Yiyun, but was interrupted by Adams¡¯s sudden visit.

    She said swiftly, ¡°How about I draw a few Abyssinian cats?¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡± Zhang Zian was startled, ¡°Go on.¡±

    Encouraged by him, she said bravely, ¡°After going homest night, I thought that since few people in China know about the Abyssinian cat, I intend to draw the cats and tell everyone that this shop will introduce this rare cat breed in a few days. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ this is a good idea!¡± Zhang Zian thought for a moment when she touched her chin.

    The eight Abyssinian cats were purebred and in excellent condition. Any one of them was good enough to serve as a breeding cat, except that they were all the chocte color unrecognized by the CFA.

    He did not intend to sell them, but it was always good to promote them, and Cathy would have liked to make her cats known to more people.

    ¡°Just do it,¡± he decided.

    ¡°But I do not know what they are like¡­¡± Lu Yiyun spoke haltingly.

    Yesterday after Adams left, Lu Yiyun asked Zhang Zian about his trip to America curiously, and he told her everything that had happened at the CFApetition without reservation. After she went back to her rental house that night, she tossed and turned restlessly in bed. She was impressed and touched by Adams¡¯s professionalism, Cathy¡¯s persistence, and Zhang Zian¡¯s sadness, and she suddenly had a very strong desire to share what she had heard with others in the form of pictures.

    In the middle of the night, she walked out of bed, turned on theputer, picked up the digitizer tablet, and tried to draw the things in her heart.

    However, she soon encountered obstacles that prevented her from drawing. She didn¡¯t know what the cat named Wendy looked like.

    Lu Yiyun knew the appearances of Zhang Zian and Fina, and through the photo in the photo frame also got to know Cathy¡¯s look, but she hadn¡¯t encountered Wendy, who was ying such an important role.

    However, due to her shyness, she did not intend to tell Zhang Zian about her thoughts at the time being. Instead, she wanted to draw the pictures privately. Therefore, she asked about Wendy¡¯s look obscurely, with the pretense of updating the WeChat public ount.

    ¡°Oh, right, wait here.¡± Zhang Zian made a trip upstairs and fetched the photos of the eight cats Adams left behind for her.

    ¡°Which is Wendy?¡± she asked.

    ¡°The most beautiful one,¡± Zhang Zian pointed at it.

    ¡°Ah¡­ it is really beautiful, like an elegant fairy!¡± Lu Yiyun stared intently at Wendy¡¯s photo, her fingers gently sliding along the curves of its body.

    She looked up to see the statue of the Cat Goddess. It seemed that Wendy resembled this statue a lot, but Fina looked almost identical to the statue.

    ¡°I will draw it as soon as possible and return the photos to you.¡± She took over the pictures carefully.

    Seeing that she liked the photos so much, Zhang Zian generously said, ¡°You can keep them if you¡¯d like ¡ª the cats will arrive in a few days anyway.¡±

    ¡°Brother Store Manager¡­¡± Little Celery ran out and saw Lu Yiyun sitting behind the cashier desk. She asked in surprise, ¡°Big Sister, who are you?¡±

    Lu Yiyun was not afraid of children. She smiled and waved her hands, ¡°Hello, I am the new cashier here, and my name is Lu Yiyun.¡±

    ¡°Hello, Sister Yiyun!¡± said Little Celery. ¡°Brother Store Manager, Sister Yiyun, I have to go to school now, bye!¡±

    ¡°Bye! Don¡¯t run too fast on the road, and watch out for cars,¡± Zhang Zian reminded her.

    When Little Celery left, he thought of a serious problem. He forgot to ask on which day the celebration of her school was!

 Chapter 396: International Calls

    <h4>Chapter 396: International Calls</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Soon, Wang Qian and Li Kun also arrived and conducted their routine cleanings, but they had already seen the statue of the Cat Goddess before, so they were not surprised.

    Zhang Zian had more free time since Lu Yiyun was here, and he even asked her to sort out the storage racks. Just when he was about to go upstairs to practice Kung Fu, his phone suddenly rang. It was a Skype phone call from Tim.

    He went back to the second floor and turned on the phone speaker, asking Richard toe over and help.

    ¡°Hey Jeff! How¡¯s it goingtely? It should be morning in China, right? So, I should say good morning.¡± Tim¡¯s voice came from the handset and Lauren¡¯s voice could also be vaguely heard in the background. ¡°Lauren says hello too.¡±

    ¡°Hi, Tim! Say hello to Lauren for me,¡± said Richard.

    Tim was a typical American that liked getting straight to the point, and after the chit chat, he got right to the topic.

    ¡°Listen to me, didn¡¯t you ask me about the chocte-colored Abyssinian cats a while ago?¡± said Tim with great interest.

    ¡°Yeah, what¡¯s going on?¡± Richard and Zhang Zian nced at each other, thinking of Cathy at the same time.

    ¡°Today I just got the news.¡± Tim emphasized, ¡°Tomorrow, the tomorrow in the United States¡ªI will not confuse the dates anymore ¡ª the CFA will officially announce the confirmation of chocte-colored Abyssinian cats. If everything goes well, you will soon find the information on the CFA homepage!¡±

    Zhang Zian had mixed feelings hearing the news. If Cathy was still alive, she would be so d to hear the news.

    ¡°Thanks, Tim, thank you for telling me,¡± said Richard. Zhang Zian also expressed his gratitude to Tim and Lauren. At that time, he had just mentioned the matter to them randomly. However, they had kept the issue in their minds and informed him immediately after receiving an update.

    ¡°Jeff,st time you said you have a friend that breeds chocte-colored Abyssinian cats, right? You can tell your friend about this good news, and he will certainly treat you to a grand banquet! There have been few breeders nurturing chocte-colored Abyssinian cats, and once this variety is recognized by the CFA, the value of the cats will increase tenfold!¡±

    ¡°Once the chocte-colored Abyssinian cats are recognized, they should first be ced to race in the Open ss of the CFApetition. When they get four championship ribbons in the Open ss, they can participate in the Champion ss! Jeff, your friend who has long been breeding chocte Abyssinian cats will have a huge advantage, basically having secured the championship! Do you know what this means? Your friend will lead in thepetition, and this advantage willst for at least ten years! ¡±

    Tim spoke excitedly over the phone for a while, and then noticed there was no response from the other side.

    ¡°Jeff? Are you still listening? Is the damnwork broken?¡± he cursed in a low voice.

    Zhang Zian was still silent, while Richard said, ¡°Yes, Tim, I¡¯m listening.¡±

    ¡°Jeff, do tell your friend to treat you to a banquet!¡± Timughed heartily over the phone.

    Zhang Zian could barely smile.

    ¡°Tim, could you please do me a favor?¡± Richard knew that Zhang Zian did not want to continue talking about this, so it diverted the topic.

    ¡°Go ahead, as long as I can help,¡± said Tim.

    Richard went along with Zhang Zian to the dog market, so it knew what Zhang Zian wanted to ask about. ¡°I would like you to help me find information about Ashera cats. I heard that they are sold exclusively by a petpany in the U.S., correct?¡±

    ¡°Ashera?¡± Tim said over the phone. ¡°Just wait.¡±

    He exchanged a few words with Lauren, and picked up the phone again.

    ¡°Jeff, I¡¯ve heard of that cat breed, and I¡¯ve seen it once. It¡¯s a very wild-looking, but with a rtively mellow character. It is arge-sized cat that is loyal to the owner and most crucially¡ªit is expensive, like, VERY expensive!¡±

    Richard said, ¡°I know it is expensive, but as you know, there are many rich people in China that don¡¯t care about price, and the situation now is that a friend found me and said that he wanted to buy one. But I do not know where to buy one and how to transport it, so I have to ask if you can contact that petpany and buy me one if possible.¡±

    Tim said with less certainty, ¡°Well, I can try.¡±

    Richard was well aware that money made the mare go. Even among friends, money was a good stimtion, so it mentioned a very attractive condition, ¡°Tim, listen to me, I know this issue is a bit troublesome, but my friend is very rich. He will pay the full amount of payment in advance and the correspondingmission. And if this deal is secured, there will be more rich people asking for big wild cats in the future.¡±

    Tim smiled over the phone. ¡°Yeah, these things are also true with the Beverly Hills celebrities and Hollywood stars in the United States, and the oil tycoons and upstarts in the Middle East and Russia. Many rich people like big wild cats ¡ª some people just raise tigers and leopards as pets, while others, who are less crazy, will buy thisrge-sized breed which is a hybrid of the serval, Bengal cat, and ordinary house cat.¡±

    ¡°The baffling mentality of the upstarts, right?¡± Richard quipped.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right! In my opinion, this wild cat is not suitable for being a pet at home, I mean, how can itpare with Ragdoll kittens? Jeff, I really want to say a few more words, but my wife is telling me to go to bed now. Nice talking to you today, and I will help you find out about an Ashera cat. Wait for my news, bye!¡±

    ¡°Bye!¡±

    Tim hung up the phone.

    Zhang Zian sat on the couch, pondering Tim¡¯s words.

    He believed that Tim would try his best to help him about the Ashera cats.

    As for the chocte-colored Abyssinian cats¡­

    As Tim put it, the cats that Cathy left behind had a huge first-mover advantage, as long as the CFA treated them fairly with Abyssinian cats of other colors in the show. If Cathy was still alive, she would be so happy and honored to participate in the CFA Champion ss.

    However, Cathy¡¯s experience in the CFA had left a bad impression on Zhang Zian, who did not want to step into the CFA stadium again, nor did he want to waste time frequently travelling between China and the United States¡­

    It seemed that there was only one and the best solution to let the world know about the chocte-colored Abyssinian cats. Tim should carry one to participate in the CFApetition. With Tim¡¯s experience, it would be more convenient for him to handle the relevant issues about the studbooks of chocte-colored Abyssinian cats. He believed that Tim would not refuse this request ¡ª after all, Tim often participated in the CFA tournaments with his own kittens.

    Thinking of this, Zhang Zian found out Adams¡¯s phone number from the address book. He hesitated a bit, but eventually dialed the number. It was almostte at night in the U.S. Though not in business hours, out of professionalism, Adams would certainly pick up the phone.

    As expected, Adams answered the moment the phone rang.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, what happened?¡± Omitting greetings and courtesy, Adams asked directly. He was probably dealing with jetg, so his voice was a bit tired, but he immediately awakened.

    Zhang Zian also eliminated the chit chat or his apology, he just stated his intentions directly¡ªhe wanted to leave an Abyssinian cat in the United States to be kept by a friend for some time. Because of the urgency of the matter, he feared that the cats had already been put on the flight, so he had to bother him in the middle of the night.

    He heard the squeaking sounds made by Adams, who was getting out of bed.

    ¡°Wait, I¡¯ll check right now.¡± Adams said concisely.

    After a moment, Adams replied, ¡°Mr. Zhang, you¡¯re lucky. If your call had arrived just a few minutester, they would have been on the ne already. So which cat do you n to leave here?¡±

    The eight cats all had different names, and Zhang Zian was sure that he didn¡¯t want to leave Wendy there. He thought for a moment before choosing an eight-month-old kitten appropriate to attend the show. ¡°Be!¡±

 Chapter 397: Airport Pickup

    <h4>Chapter 397: Airport Pickup</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Jinmen International Airport.

    It was the first time Zhang Zian had ever been in Jinmen. He had heard of the long history of this ancient and famous municipality before, and had always wanted to visit, but unfortunately, he had no time to go sightseeing or taste the local snacks today ¡ª he was here for airport pickup.

    Assuming the flight encountered no dys, the seven Abyssinian cats were expected to arrive here today.

    Because there were no direct flights between the United States and Binhai City, the flight had to be transferred at an airport somewhere.

    Due to the frigid weather, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t afford to let the seven cats wait a few hours on the tarmac. If bad weather caused any flight dys, the cats might even have to wait a day or two. After consulting with Adams, Zhang Zian decided to transport them to Jinmen Airport, where the quarantine inspection was the most loose, and then he would pick them up himself.

    Today was not good for sightseeing. The frost, which urred exclusively in the northern regions of China in autumn and winter, had enveloped the city. Although there was not much fog in the airport, Zhang Zian learned from the rolling electronic signs that several flights had been dyed. He was very worried about whether the flight containing the seven Abyssinian cats had sessfullynded.

    A uniformed employee of a shippingpany approached him with a loaded cart, upon which was ced arge wooden box. The wooden box was sorge it could almost contain a hippopotamus. Zhang Zian did not pay attention to this person at first, because he thought it was unnecessary to ce seven cats into such a huge wooden box.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang Zian?¡± the shippingpany employee pushed his cap up and asked.

    Zhang Zian was surprised, ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Please show me the bill ofding,¡± said the staff member.

    Zhang Zian took out the bill ofding and handed it to the staff member, his eyes looking at the big wooden box. He whispered to himself. What¡¯s wrong with Adams? Why did he use such a big box?

    While the employee was checking the bill ofding, Zhang Zian circled around the big wooden box a few times, and then found on side of the box the eye-catching sign of the United States Department of Agriculture, thebel ¡°living animals¡± in English, as well as vertical arrows indicating the box should be ced upright. Obviously, this was a USDA-approved air transport wooden box, which was avable in many pet stores and pet carrierpanies in the United States, but Zhang Zian had never seen such a huge one.

    At the top of the flight box was a sheet bearing the telephone number and address of the pet consignmentpany entrusted by Adams and the name and telephone number of the consignee, Zhang Zian. Photos of the seven Abyssinian cats were also attached to the sheet in a row.

    After the staff from the shippingpany verified Zhang Zian¡¯s bill ofding, he opened therge wooden box from a side.

    Therge wooden box¡¯s safety door was snapped and not locked, presumably to let the airline employees help the animals get out easily in case of an emergency¡ªof course, objectively speaking, this method also increased the risk of pets escaping or going missing.

    To be honest, Zhang Zian had received empty parcels shipped by domestic transportationpanies before, so he was really nervous that when the big wooden box was opened, it would be empty inside. Even if he refused to sign and immediately contacted Adams, he was afraid that he would never find the seven Abyssinian cats again¡­

    As the safety door opened, Zhang Zian kept staring firmly inside, holding his breath.

    ¡°Meow¡­?¡±

    Seven chocte-colored kittens were nestled together, their fourteen eyes turning to look at the source of light at the same time.

    Zhang Zian was relieved!

    Now he understood the benefits of arge wooden box. There was plenty of space inside, especially for the lively and active Abyssinian cats, and enough space had been provided for them to move about. In addition, the wooden box also had a fixed wooden basin filled with water and food, as well as a cat litter box¡ªof course, there was only one wooden basin and one cat litter box, since it was impossible to prepare a set for each cat.

    Perhaps due to the bumpy journey or that a few of them were naughty, the floor of the wooden box was covered with water stains, cat litter and food debris, in addition to the inevitable smell of feces and urine. Given that they had crossed half a world, the situation right now was actually impable.

    To prevent them from identally escaping, the shippingpany employee did not fully open the safety door. He was standing together with Zhang Zian at the door, carefully examining the seven cats.

    ¡°One, two, three¡­ all seven cats have survived,¡± he counted. ¡°Sir, are you satisfied with our service?¡±

    Zhang Zian put his arm into the wooden box and dipped his finger in the water. It was cold.

    This was what he was worrying about ¨C that the drinking water might freeze if the outdoor temperature at night at the Jinmen Airport was lower than in Binhai City. But this had nothing to do with the quality of service of the pet carrierpany.

    ¡°Very satisfied,¡± said Zhang Zian honestly.

    ¡°Please sign here.¡±

    Zhang Zian signed his name on the receipt handed over by the other party.

    Just as Zhang Zian was signing and filling in the date, the staff member of the shippingpany noticed the air boxes that Zhang Zian brought, and then asked in a puzzled way, ¡°Sir, are you going to use those?¡±

    No wonder he was puzzled, because Zhang Zian had only brought two portable air boxes. It would be hard to stuff the seven cats in them, and the cats would barely have any space to turn around in the boxes.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhang Zian did not intend to exin more. He handed the documents back to the staff member, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Zhang Zian was the recipient of these cats, so if the staff member was not satisfied, there was nothing he could do. The staff took the documents and shook his head, as if feeling sorry for the fates of these cats. Presumably he was thinking that Zhang Zian did not cherish them.

    Putting the seven cats into two air boxes, Zhang Zian picked them up, thanked the staff member again and left.

    He went into a stall of a restroom in the airport, and as he did before, he put five cats into the game on his phone, and the remaining two were ced in the two air boxes. There were seven cats before he entered the restroom, and two in the boxes when he came out, but fortunately with numerous travelersing and going to the airport, no one noticed these details.

    Although he really wanted to y around in Jinmen, today was not the right time.

    He had already booked the ticket for the high-speed train in advance, so he immediately took a taxi to the train station. It was very warm on the train, and after several hours of a bumpy ride, he finally returned to Binhai City.

    When he was back at the pet shop, it was already nine o¡¯clock in the evening. Lu Yiyun had been looking after the shop alone all day, and had left work. Wang Qian and Li Kun also had finished their cleaning jobs and left. The shop was empty currently.

    After he entered the shop, he pulled the shutter door down and locked it.

    Fina smelled the new cats, jumped off of the cat tree and stared at the two Abyssinian cats in the air boxes. One cat was Wendy, that she had seen in the CFA venue.

    Zhang Zian targeted the empty space, releasing the other five cats one by one.

    The seven cats had experienced almost an entire weary day, and some of them were listless. However, upon seeing Fina, they immediately surrendered to their knees and dared not to move.

    Running about for an entire day, Zhang Zian copsed, exhausted, like a sack of mud on the couch.

    Fina had been indignant since she found out about what happened to the chocte-colored Abyssinian cats in the CFA arena. Why did cats need the recognition from humans? Therefore, though Fina waszy usually, she mustered her energy to help them. Not only would this urge Zhang Zian to ept them from Cathy¡¯s will, but it would make them popr, thus proving that those stupid humans were wrong!

    A very important reason that Fina was so furious was that Abyssinian cats had close lineage to her, second only to the modern Egyptian Mau. Fina regarded them not only as her subordinates, but also her close rtives. Just like Fina, Abyssinian cats loved jumping to tall ces, were light and graceful, had sweet voices, and hated being picked up by people, unless the persons were very close to them.

    ¡°Is the music ready?¡± Fina turned and stared at Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Yes, but do you really want to do this?¡± Zhang Zian took out his cell phone, essed the music yer, and then opened the music library.

    ¡°A promise must be kept,¡± she said proudly.

    ¡°All right.¡± Zhang Zian did not want to discourage or provoke her.

    He knew that Fina wanted to teach them a special dance, of which theplexity of the choreography and the gracefulness of the moves had surpassed the previous dances. It was an ace card prepared by Fina, tailored to the Abyssinian cats, and was not easily grasped by ordinary cats.

    Abyssinian cats had a very popr nickname¡ªthe ¡°ballet cats¡±, because of their elegance. These cats had incredible motor capability and jumping abilities. They could jump as high as Ashera cats that were many timesrger than them in size.

    ¡°Which ones are the most beautiful, ording to the stupid standards set by humans?¡± inquired Fina, with contempt and disdain.

    Zhang Zian straightened up from the couch and selected four Abyssinian cats, including Wendy, taking into ount their conditions, genders, ages and sizes. The remaining three cats would be served as breeding cats, ording to the studbooks recorded by Cathy.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± asked Fina.

    Zhang Zian nodded.

    ¡°What are you waiting for? Let¡¯s go!¡± said Fina impatiently.

    ¡°Music!¡± Richard shouted while fluttering its wings.

    Zhang Zian clicked the ¡°y¡± icon, and the piano music of Dance of the Little Swans started to flow inside the shop.

 Chapter 398: Learning Without Thinking is Labor in Vain

    <h4>Chapter 398: Learning Without Thinking is Labor in Vain</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    During the day, the snow slowly melted at an invisible speed; at night, the melted snow condensed into ice. Such a cycle wouldst throughout the winter.

    In northern China, there was a custom called ¡°cat winter¡±, and Zhang Zian felt like he was spending the winter just like a cat, while today, the real cat, Fina, was sleeping particrly longer than usual, for she instructed the four Abyssinian cats to dance ballet until midnight and she had exhausted herself.

    Even the Abyssinian cats, known for their agile movements and graceful gaits, had a hard time learning the choreography arranged by Zhang Zian and Fina, which was more difficult than the previous figure eight.

    During the teaching period, Zhang Zian and Fina had several disputes about the choreography. Of course, the disagreements eventually ended with the victory of Fina. This by no means indicated Zhang Zian¡¯s weakness, but he was unable to find grounds upon which to reason with Fina: when Fina said the cats could do such actions, the cats actually seeded, and when she opposed the ideas, the cats failed to perform the movements¡­

    The four Abyssinian cats were also miserable. They had just gone through a long, bumpy journey and they now had to learn the difficult dancing steps. They were all tired and were sleeping with the other three Abyssinian cats on the second floor today.

    Zhang Zian was lying in the recliner, holding up and carefully studying the studbook left by Cathy. Richard was standing on his shoulder. If he encountered words he did not understand, Zhang Zian would ask Richard to exin to him. Despite being ridiculed by Richard, Zhang Zian had to resort to it, for it was way more useful than the Oxford Advanced Learner¡¯s Dictionary, and it always exined the meanings of words in the form of dirty jokes¡­

    The studbook left by Cathy was more like a breeding manual. Not only were there detailed descriptions of previous breeding situations, but Cathy had also recorded the posture and fur color of each kitten when they were born, as well as Cathy¡¯s outlook for the future. Cathy had written down every thought on Abyssinian cats in this diary.

    Since Cathy had started the diary over a decade ago, the front parts of the manual had be somewhat yellowed, and the writing was clear and beautiful. But when Zhang Zian flipped to thetter parts, the writing was a bit scrawled, with confused and contradictory thoughts, as if Cathy had the premonition that her days were numbered, so she was eager to convert all her ideas into words.

    Despite this, there was no doubt about the value of this handbook, presumably the most precious source for breeding chocte-colored Abyssinian cats. Zhang Zian cherished the manual very much, so he made a copy out of the original, kept the original version safe, and started to write down his doubts on the duplicate.

    Knowledge was always insufficient when in need. Cathy must have some knowledge of gics, of which Zhang Zian was ignorant. He had already forgotten all the biology he learned in middle school. When he encountered some expressions that he was not sure about, he had no choice but to text Sun Xiaomeng, the only expert he knew. Although Professor Wei Kang was also erudite, his emphasis was on theoretical aspects.

    The more Zhang Zian asked, the more doubts Sun Xiaomeng had, because a pet shop owner didn¡¯t need this sort of knowledge, and for some questions, she even needed to look up information before she could provide exact answers.

    In this regard, Zhang Zian just exined that he intended to systematically learn about cat breeding, since he was not very busy these days. No wonder Sun Xiaomeng suspected him, for she had never thought of him as a ¡°studious¡± person.

    Zhang Zian once considered putting these cats into Sun Yinian¡¯s Pets¡¯ Home Breeding Base, but then he decided to give up on this idea. Sun Yinian had no enterprising spirits. He would protect the cats well, but he would not be dedicated to breeding more Abyssinian cats. And in that case, Cathy¡¯s efforts would be wasted, and sooner orter, other breeders would catch up in this area. In addition, though Sun Yinian was a man of integrity, his employees might not be. Under the temptation of money, they might even steal and sell the Abyssinian cats.

    So, even if Zhang Zian did not understand this breeding manual, he could only bite the bullet and read the book many times, hoping that he could figure out all the implications someday.

    He had always thought that male cats that had been chosen for breeding purposes should be those that won in the cat show, but as it turned out, breeder cats were not equal to show cats. Only after reading this manual did he understand that many purebred male cats did not participate inpetitions, and that he only needed to take into ount of the male cats¡¯ health statuses and bloodlines when it came to selecting breed cats. In fact, the kittens of show cats were often not as good as those of breed cats.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, I have already finished painting. Do you want to have a look?¡±

    While he was reading the manual, Lu Yiyun sent him a message.

    There was a soundproof automatic sensor door between the cashier desk Zhang Zian, and she did not want to talk aloud, so she often sent messages to Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian put down the breeding manual and stretched. He felt tired after reading for such a long time. He went to the cashier desk, and Lu Yiyun turned theputer screen towards him, uneasily waiting for his evaluation.

    On the screen, there were seven vividly-painted Abyssinian cats in diverse postures. Although they were all chocte in color, she had urately grasped the characteristics of each one.

    ¡°Fantastic!¡± eximed Zhang Zian.

    Abyssinian cats were very cute, and Lu Yiyun was also best at painting cute girls in manga. It was not because she loved drawing them, but that drawing cute girls were the mostmon requests she received in her illustration work. She seemed to have applied the techniques of drawing manga in portraying the seven cats, by slightly exaggerating their eyes, adjusting their head and body proportions, and adding anthropomorphic and cute movements to the cats, making them look cuter as long as their images were not distorted.

    Zhang Zian increasingly felt that he was lucky to have hired Lu Yiyun. For this painting alone, if he had asked a professional artist to draw it, it might have cost him over 1,000 Yuan.

    In addition, he noticed that she had also added an exquisite watermark signature, indicating the name of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop and her pseudonym, Xinyun, to the bottom of the painting to prevent theft from unscrupulous people.

    Lu Yiyun was relieved upon seeing that her boss was satisfied with her work. Fortunately, she had painted her cat Jasmine before, so she had experience in drawing cats, otherwise it was unlikely for her to finish drawing so soon.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, should I put this painting on our shop¡¯s WeChat public ount? What should we call it?¡± she whispered.

    Zhang Zian had always suffered from headaches when he needed to name something. It took him a long time before he came up with a name for Gxy.

    ¡°What do you think?¡± he shirked the responsibility to Lu Yiyun.

    Lu Yiyun thought for a moment and proposed, ¡°How about¡­ ¡®Abyssinian cats¡ªthe mysterious ancient elves¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± he decided, ¡°That¡¯s it.¡±

    Lu Yiyun nodded and began editing the article for the public ount, introducing the characteristics of Abyssinian cats, emphasizing that they were thetest members in the CFA family, and finally promoting that this shop had introduced this rare cat breed, and customers were wee to buy them.

    ¡°Do not write ¡®buy,''¡± Zhang Zian pointed out. ¡°These cats are not for sale for the time being. Change the word to ¡®visit¡¯.¡±

    Lu Yiyun modified as he instructed, and let him review the whole thing. Determining that there was no omission or wording issue, she then published the first article in the pet shop¡¯s WeChat public ount.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s mind had been drifting away. Looking at the shops across the road, he was thinking about the issue of a delivery room for breeding the cats.

 Chapter 399: Qin Jing

    <h4>Chapter 399: Qin Jing</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When visiting the dog marketst time, Zhang Zian had given a lot of pet-raising knowledge to the audience, and at the end of the live broadcast, when he and Snowy were on their way back to the pet shop, he took the opportunity to promote the WeChat public ount of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, advertising that there would be regr updates in the ount about the knowledge of pet purchasing and raising, and that anyone could follow the ount for more information.

    The effect was obvious. After the live broadcast ended, the number of followers reached over 1,000 at once, but since there was no content published on the ount, the number of followers had slowly slipped to around seven or eight hundred. Some of these followers just wanted to ridicule him, while others were genuinely interested in buying pets or they had been raising pets and wanted to know more about their pets.

    After Lu Yiyun issued the first article in the public ount introducing the Abyssinian cats, plenty of responses were received.

    Many people, especially young men and women in their mid-twenties, were all keenly interested in these mysterious ancient elves. They left messages, asking for the prices or if they could go to the pet shop to see for themselves. Young people were fond of making statements about their personalities, and raising this kind of unique pet was the best eye-catching way to distinguish themselves from others.

    As for the older consumers, they had rtively more concerns. They were not sure whether this cat was suitable for being kept at home, and because they did not know the price, most of them had assumed the wait-and-see attitude.

    It was both unexpected yet reasonable that Abyssinian cats were so popr. There were too few people breeding such cats, and Abyssinian cats did not necessarily exist in big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. In addition, the breeding ability of this kind of cat was rtively low, and it could give birth to a few kittens in one litter. When something was rare, it became precious, just like Shiba Inu.

    Zhang Zian let Lu Yiyun replied to the customers for him, saying that other cat breeds could be purchased on-site, and that appointments must be made to purchase Abyssinian cats. Pickup of Abyssinian kittens would be avable three monthster, and he also solemnly reminded them how expensive the kittens would be.

    When it came to vie for poprity, the directpetitor to Abyssinian cats were Ragdoll kittens. But Abyssinian was only a niche cat breed targeted at a limited audience, so it could neverpare to Ragdoll kittens that were enjoying extreme poprity among the public. People who were interested in high-end cats were generally well off, and the price was no longer the primary constraint.

    As for when to visit the Abyssinian cats¡­

    Zhang Zian had postponed the formal reopening of the shop several times and had decided to not dy it any longer. Taking advantage of this good news, he had scheduled to hold the reopening ceremony the uing Saturday, offeringrge discounts to customers who visited that day.

    Although the business was running regrly these days, he had always wanted to choose a good day to officially mark the restart of the shop. With the Abyssinian cats and Ragdoll kittens that he had newly obtained, it was the perfect time for him to create a piece of big news, turning him into a blockbuster in Binhai City!

    The followers left messages, indicating that they would absolutely visit the shop on this Saturday.

    However, Zhang Zian did not expect that not only ordinary consumers, but also professionals in the pet industry were interested in Abyssinian cats.

    ¡­

    Qin Jing got out of a taxi and stood in front of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop. He looked around for a moment.

    One morning about two months earlier, she had tried to spy out secrets from this pet shop because she heard that there were kittens that could walk in figure eights here, but her identity was exposed immediately when the shop owner saw her.

    After the field trip, she dropped her concerns because the dogs and cats sold at this pet shop were ofmonly-seen types, while her cattery specialized in high-end Ragdoll kittens and Scottish folds, so the operating routes werepletely different. No matter how popr that pet shop was, it would never be a threat to the existence of her business. It was unlikely for people who had decided to purchase Ragdoll kittens to change their minds and choose a British Shorthair that could walk in a figure eight.

    Yesterday, however, she heard from rumors told by her industry peers that the pet shop had introduced rare Abyssinian cats, the chocte-colored ones that had just been admitted and included by the CFA.

    Ragdoll kittens were popr indeed, but thepetition was also very fierce, for a variety of regr catteries and some breeding bases in the gray zone had been reproducing Ragdoll kittens perpetually for a long time. Under this intensepetitive pressure, the price of Ragdoll kittens had shown a downward trend, especially in the breeding bases in the gray zone. A non-purebred Ragdoll kitten could be bought for around 6,000 Yuan. And due to the inherent gic diseases of the Scottish fold, the trading of this cat breed had encountered increasingly more pressure.

    Although Qin Jing¡¯s Ragdoll kittens were still popr, she had to think about the future. She started to seriously ponder about whether she could get a share in the market of Abyssinian cats.

    She searched everywhere, looking for catteries and breeding bases home and abroad that had Abyssinian cats. She even sent emails to catteries abroad seeking cooperation, but as expected, she received no responses, for she had nothing to offer. And there were almost no chocte-colored Abyssinian cats in China¡ªexcept at the Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

    So, after a month or two, she once again stood in front of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

    Qin Qing was staring at the shop sign with mixed feelings, hoping that the shop owner had forgotten that they had met before.

    When the ss door outside slid open, she noticed that the interior of the shop had been redecorated, and the shop was separated into two parts by a second ss door. She nced around, and from her experience, she immediately determined that the front part was for selling pet supplies and pet food, and the back part was for selling pets.

    There was a checkout counter on her right-hand side, and a girl¡¯s head was sticking out from behind the screen of theputer. The girl timidly whispered, ¡°May I ask what you want to buy?¡±

    Qin Jing remembered she hadn¡¯t seen the girl thest time she was here; maybe she was a new employee. Qin Jing smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯m not buying anything. I¡¯m looking for your boss.¡±

    Lu Yiyun blinked behind the thick myopia lenses, as if recollecting what she should say under such a situation. Then she said in a low voice, ¡°What¡­ what for?¡±

    Qin Jing couldn¡¯t understand why the shop owner had hired such a girl that had low social skills as a cashier. To turn customers away? She began to feel that this girl may be the owner¡¯s rtive from the countryside, or maybe his girlfriend. Anyway, if this girl were in her store, she would only have some cleaning job.

    Qin Jing tried to be patient and said cheerfully, ¡°I want to talk to the boss, is he here?¡±

    ¡°Oh, the boss is inside. I¡¯ll call him out for you.¡± Lu Yiyun picked up her phone.

    ¡°No need, I can go in, thank you.¡±

    Qin Jing walked inside. When she passed a strange statue made of bronze, she paused.

    She did not know that this was the statue of the Egyptian Cat Goddess, but felt it was extraordinary. There was no time for her to dwell on the details. It is only a statue, she thought.

    Although Qin Jing had declined, Lu Yiyun still sent a message to Zhang Zian, telling him that a strange woman was looking for him.

    Zhang Zian was lying in the recliner, repeatedly reading the breeding manual left by Cathy. He had looked up the words that he didn¡¯t understand and marked them up in Chinese. However, he still felt drowsy and fell asleep several times. The photocopied version of the manual fell on the ground, and he picked it up.

    After receiving the message sent by Lu Yiyun, he froze for a moment, having no idea who the strange woman was that she was referring to. When he got up from the recliner, he saw Qin Jing walk in.

    Fina, who was napping on the cat tree, heard the footsteps of high heels, and smelled the odors of diverse cosmetics and many cats. She opened her eyes and looked coldly at Qin Jing. She already knew that ordinary people in this day and age would never carry such strong smells of several cats, so this woman must be Zhang Zian¡¯s peer in the industry ¡ª in other words, apetitor, contending for money against him.

 Chapter 400: A Long Pedigree

    <h4>Chapter 400: A Long Pedigree</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Qin Jing crossed the second automatic sensor door. The store¡¯s interior decoration style did not intrigue her ¡ª instead, her attention was drawn to the seven Abyssinian cats ying with each other. The seven cats were older andrger than the other kittens in the store, which were probably about three-months-old and of other breeds. Under the lights, the Abyssinian cats were emitting mysterious and radiant lusters from their smooth, chocte-colored furs. It was like pure silk, which made them unusually eye-catching.

    Ordinary customers might prefer younger kittens, for they were more adorable, but Qin Jing was not an ordinary customer, and she immediately recognized the potential of these cats¡ªthey were all age-appropriate breeding cats that were healthy and energetic.

    Running a cattery herself, Qin Jing was very experienced in cat breeding. Even though it was winter, the reproductive abilities of the cats were unaffected. For the cats kept outdoors, they only had two mating periods, one in the spring and one in the autumn. But for cats kept indoors, as long as the temperature was suitable, the cats were ready to mate all year round. That¡¯s to say, instead of waiting until spring arrived, the seven cats could immediately start mating, and depending on the number of the female cats, within a few months, a legion of Abyssinian kittens would be produced.

    Before she came, she had wondered if there really were Abyssinian cats in the pet shop, and whether their conditions were above her standards, but all her doubts disappeared when she saw the seven cats. They were ying in the shop, showing excellent athletic ability. They were easily jumping to the meter-high showcases or the top tier of the cat tree, and no other cats could keep up with their paces¡­ except for one ck and white kitten.

    The only thing that was unclear now was the pedigree of these cats.

    Qin Jing silently calcted the capital she could use, excluding her fixed assets. The price of a breeding cat was at least four or five times higher than a pet cat, not to mention that among the extremely rare Abyssinian cats, the price gap would be even greater. She did not know what conditions the owner of the pet shop would put forward, but the best option for her was to barter, exchanging one product for another¡­

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t think she was an ordinary customer, for she had been carefully observing his cats since she came in. He felt like he had met her before ¡ª he just couldn¡¯t remember when¡­

    Just as he was pondering, he heard Fina say coldly, ¡°This woman has been here before, and I remember the smells on her.¡±

    Although Fina was not fond of Zhang Zian¡¯s peers in the pet industry, she could still tolerate the woman for now. After all, there were also fellow professionals like Tim and Lauren living in far-flung ces that had no immediate threats to the pet shop¡¯s small ie. Although she didn¡¯t feel that this woman was from a distant country, she decided to listen to her intentions.

    Zhang Zian suddenly remembered that she had been in the shop one morning. After looking around for a while, she had left. He had suspected she was a professional in the pet industry back then. But why was she here now?

    He cleared his throat and said, ¡°Hello, we are meeting once again.¡±

    Qin Jing was surprised. ¡°You remember me?¡±

    ¡°Of course, I remember you came once before.¡± Zhang Zian had no intention to stand up from the recliner and greet her. ¡°If I¡¯m right, you are also in the pet industry, aren¡¯t you? Running a cattery or pet shop?¡±

    Qin Jing was a bit embarrassed, but it was not bad to be recognized, for the process of mutual probing had been eliminated. She took out a business card from her pocket and walked over to hand it to him, smiled and said, ¡°Hello, my name is Qin Jing and I am the owner of Jing Jing Cattery.¡±

    Zhang Zian took the business card and casually looked at it. Seeing that Jing Jing Cattery was mainly selling Ragdoll cats and Scottish fold cats, he put it aside and said, ¡°My name is Zhang Zian, and I¡¯m the boss here. Please feel free to take a seat.¡±

    Qin Jing was not surprised that Zhang Zian was giving her the cold shoulder. After all, she did visit his shopst time trying to spy out his business secrets. She would be upset if herpetitors tried to steal secrets from her cattery, too.

    She apologized first. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Boss Zhang. Last time I came to your store, I did not indicate my identity. It¡¯s my fault, please forgive me. ¡±

    ¡°It does not matter,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°Boss Qin, what brings you here this time?¡±

    ¡°I want to talk to you about a possible coboration.¡± said Qin Jing outspokenly.

    ¡°Oh? Please continue. How are we going to cooperate?¡± Zhang Zian was somewhat interested. Tim and Lauren had also negotiated a coboration with him and in the end, it was a win-win oue. Therefore, if Qin Jing could really put forward some constructive suggestions, he would also carefully consider them.

    ¡°I am very interested in your Abyssinian cats. May I ask what their pedigree is? How many generations can you trace them back to?¡±

    As soon as Qin Jing raised this issue, Zhang Zian realized that she was very professional, because this was the biggest barrier in front of Abyssinian cat breeders.

    Instead of answering her directly, he tore a page out of the photocopied version of the manual and handed it to her. On this page, Cathy had recorded each cat¡¯s origin in great detail.

    At first nce, Qin Jing¡¯s eyes were firmly attracted to it, and she immediately gasped!

    If she counted correctly, the pedigree of these seven¡­ no, eight Abyssinian cats could go back as far as fifteen generations! The shortest pedigree of one cat could be traced back ten generations!

    Among all shorthair cats, the CFA had set up the most demanding requirements for the reproductive rights of Abyssinian cats!

    The CFA required Abyssinian cats to have a bloodline of at least eight generations so that they could identify their reproductive rights. In contrast, a bloodline of four generations were required for British and American Shorthair cats, and even three generations would do for the ¡°white-gloved¡± American Shorthair.

    If the Abyssinian cats gave birth to one litter of kittens annually, it would take eight years before the requirement was met; if they produced two litters annually, still, it would take four years¡­ few breeders in China were willing to take these risks since they wanted to make quick money, and who knew what the market demand would be like four yearster?

    Under this context, tracing the bloodline for 15 generations was simply incredible!

    Anyone who had started breeding chocte-colored Abyssinian cats 15 years ago either could predict the future or had a genuine attachment to the cats.

    To Qin Jing¡¯s pleasant surprise, the pedigree of these eight cats had no crossovers within the three generations. In other words, none of them were close rtives to each other, so each male cat could mate with the female cats freely!

    In addition, she noticed that the pedigree page in her hand was a photocopied version, and that the original version was handwritten in English with elegance, meaning that these Abyssinian cats were imported from somece abroad.

    She could not figure out why someone would transfer so many breeding cats all at once?

    Qin Qing made up her mind to facilitate this cooperation at all costs.

    She counted several times, confirming that there were only seven Abyssinian cats in the store. Where was the eighth cat?

    She put down the copy sheet in her hand and calmly said, ¡°I would like Mr. Zhang to transfer these Abyssinian cats to me¡ªeven just a few of them.¡±

    Zhang Zian was dumbfounded. Do you think I¡¯m stupid or something? Why should I transfer them to you?? he thought.

    Even if these cats were not the legacy of Cathy, he could not easily give up the exclusive opportunity to make money.

    Qin Jing was confident that she had ways to convince Zhang Zian. Last time, she found that there were no Ragdoll kittens in his shop, so she said, ¡°Boss Zhang, listen to me, I can exchange my Ragdoll kittens for your Abyssinian cats. Everyone in Binhai City knows that my Ragdoll kittens are¡­¡±

    Before she could finish boasting, she heard the golden cat on the cat treezily meow, as if issuing some kind of order. Then, five bicolored Ragdoll kittens appeared from behind Zhang Zian¡¯s recliner. They were all obediently squatting on the ground and looking at her with eyes as blue as the sea.

    Qin Jing was so exasperated that she wanted to curse!

 Chapter 401: Scottish Fold Cats

    <h4>Chapter 401: Scottish Fold Cats</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Qin Jing was really pissed off. Since when did this pet shop have Ragdoll kittens?! And the kittens were in excellent condition ¡ª they were probably equivalent to the Ragdoll kittens in her cattery, which were top-notch in Binhai City. Their fur colors and body shapes were brilliant, and those eyes! How were their eyes so blue and mesmerizing?

    Zhang Zian smiled, ¡°Boss Qin, what did you say? I¡¯m sorry, I did not hear you clearly, can you say that again?¡±

    Qin Jing stared at the sinister smile on his face, reckoning that he was getting revenge on her for spying out his business secretsst time!

    She wanted to lose her temper, but she couldn¡¯t afford to do that. She was negotiating for cooperation today, and right now she was lying in the hands of Zhang Zian, so she could only find ways to remedy the situation.

    ¡°Wait a minute, if you are not interested in Ragdoll kittens, how about the Scottish fold cats in my cattery? You don¡¯t have Scottish folds, right? Do you want to think about it?¡± The confidence she had beforeing to the pet shop had disappeared. She was basically promoting her cats in any way possible.

    Since Zhang Zian already possessed premium-condition Ragdoll kittens, then she would have to find another way¡ªher Scottish fold cats. This time, she carefully looked around, making sure there were no Scottish fold cats hiding in any corner of the shop.

    ¡°Scottish fold cats?¡± Zhang Zian once again nced at Qin Jing¡¯s business card.

    Qin Jing took out her cell phone, finding photos of her Scottish fold cats to show him.

    ¡°Look how cute and how good they are! If you agree, I can exchange my Scottish fold breeding cats for your Abyssinian cats¡­ and I will give you more money on top of it,¡± she bit her teeth and said.

    Zhang Zian carefully looked at the pictures on her phone. There were a few furry Scottish fold kittens with their ears bent forward, making their small faces look even rounder. There were a few vertical stripes on their foreheads, and clearly visible were dark tiger spots on their grey fur. They may look less lively than other cats, but were more adorable, making people want to stroke their faces dearly.

    ¡°Very good indeed,¡± Zhang Zian admitted.

    Seeing that there was still hope, Qin Jing was about to talk about further details. ¡°So¡­¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, I don¡¯t intend to introduce Scottish fold kittens to my shop,¡± Zhang Zian rejected bluntly.

    Qin Jing asked quickly, ¡°Is it because of their gic diseases? We are both in the pet industry, so you should know that through appropriate pairing, the morbidity of osteochondrodyssia can be reduced significantly¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian interrupted her exnation. ¡°I know. I refuse your offer, not because of the gic disease that gues Scottish folds, but rather because the disease is incurable.¡±

    His gaze swept around the shop, falling on a cocker spaniel in a disy case that resembled the one Meng Li had bought. Cocker spaniels also had a high morbidity rate from hereditary cataracts, so their situation was very simr to the Scottish folds¡¯, but the difference was that cataracts could be cured by surgery, while Scottish folds¡¯ osteochondrodyssia could not. Once the symptoms of the disease began to appear, the trend was irreversible and the Scottish fold cat would definitely die from this.

    Zhang Zian sold cocker spaniel dogs, but he would remind the customers in advance that cocker spaniel dogs had the possibility of suffering from cataracts, and if they were concerned, they could wait to buy them until the dogs turned six months old. If symptoms didn¡¯t show up by then, it would be very unlikely for the disease to appearter in its life. Osteochondrodyssia in Scottish folds was like a bomb. You knew it would explode, you just were not sure when exactly it would.

    Almost all purebred cats and dogs had been more or less subjected to human intervention during their evolution. Some species encountered less intervention due to their long history, such as modern Egyptian Mau cats and Abyssinian cats. Other breeds, such as the new breeds cultivated by human beings, were almostpletely produced ording to human¡¯s aesthetic point of views, with the typical example being the Scottish fold.

    Qin Jing was still trying to persuade Zhang Zian. She cited many examples, indicating that there was a very low incidence of osteochondrodyssia in her Scottish fold cats. Through follow-up visits to her customers, she found that there had been only one incident out of over a dozen of cats within two years.

    Zhang Zian was not moved by this, since he did not know whether it was true that she actually had set up a follow-up visit system. She might be a responsible cattery owner, but he would not change his mind.

    ¡°Boss Qin, if nothing else, please see yourself out.¡±

    He ordered her to leave.

    Qin Jing came here full of enthusiasm, but Zhang Zian had poured ice cold water on her. She pitifully looked at the Abyssinian cats ying freely inside the shop, shook her head and whispered at Zhang Zian in her heart, ¡°Pig head.¡±

    Zhang Zian had already gone back to lying on his recliner and continued to read the breeding manual Cathy had left behind.

    Qin Jing stomped out. When she passed the cashier desk, Lu Yiyun, who had beenpletely immersed in painting, said lightly without raising her head, ¡°We look forward to your next visit¡­¡±

    ¡°Never!¡± Qin Jing said angrily.

    Lu Yiyun shivered so fiercely that she drew a crooked line on the board. She looked at Qin Jing¡¯s back as the woman stormed out, unsure as to why she was so furious.

    Peace and quiet was restored to the pet shop.

    While pretending to look at the manual, Zhang Zian knew that Fina would not restrain her exuberant curiosity and woulde to ask him about the exchange sooner orter.

    Sure enough, Fina jumped off from the cat tree and walked over to him. She asked, ¡°Tell me, what¡¯s the matter with the Scottish fold?¡±

    He sighed and exined, ¡°Actually, Scottish folds were a variant of the British Shorthair. It was normal for British Shorthair cats to have developed a deformity caused by gic defects during breeding. But because people deemed these deformed ears as cute, they started to consolidate this pattern and bred cats with obvious gic defects, which became the present-day Scottish fold. Once the disease urs, it will lead to severe limb deformities and arthritis, and the disease is incurable. Scottish fold cats will suffer from pain until their death, or until they have been abandoned by their owners before that¡­¡±

    Fina¡¯s expression became cold. She turned and looked at the door, but Qin Jing¡¯s figure had disappeared.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me earlier when that woman was here?¡± she said, repressing her anger.

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°She¡¯s not the one who initiated the trend, and it would have been no use if you scratched her harshly because thousands of people sell Scottish fold cats. But do you know why she came to seek cooperation with me?¡±

    Fina did not answer ¡ª she was waiting for Zhang Zian to give her a satisfactory exnation.

    ¡°As increasingly more people realized that it is cruel to breed such cats, the Cat Association in Europe removed the Scottish fold from its cat breed categories a long time ago. Right now, only the United States and China are still breeding such cats. Over time, there will be more people who will choose to reject this kind of cat. Qin Jing must have been aware that it¡¯s going to be increasingly difficult to sell Scottish fold cats, and with the intensepetition in the Ragdoll kitten market too, she wanted to get Abyssinian cats from me.¡± Zhang Zian tried to analyze the psychological activities of Qin Jing, and his guess was very urate.

    Fina¡¯s face smoothed out slightly. Swinging her tail, she leapt back on the cat tree, looking outside nkly.

    ¡°Zian.¡± Old Time Tea turned down the volume of the TV with the remote control.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Grandpa Tea? Has the tea vor be light? Should I change the tea?¡± Zhang Zian stood up from the recliner, intending to put new tea leaves in the teapot, and re-brew the tea. In the wintertime, the hot water became cold quickly, even in a thermos bottle, so he had to frequently change the water.

    ¡°No.¡± Old Time Tea was gently stroking its whiskers. It seemed to be thinking about something happened a long time ago.

    Zhang Zian dared not disturb it. He stood there, waiting for it to speak up.

    After a long while, Old Time Tea said, ¡°I feel sorry hearing about what happened to the Scottish fold cats¡­ but there is something I don¡¯t understand, and I hope you may enlighten me about it, Zian. A long time ago, I came across a cat in a jungle and I have never forgotten about it since. Since you are not busy today, I figured that I could share that experience with you.¡±

 Chapter 402: The Secret History of Lop-Eared Cats

    <h4>Chapter 402: The Secret History of Lop-Eared Cats</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was surprised and ttered by Old Time Tea¡¯s solemnity. He had no idea what Old Time Tea was going to ask of him. Was it something to do with science?

    Heughed, ¡°Grandpa Tea, no need to be so polite. Just ask me anything, and I¡¯ll see if I know the answers.¡±

    Old Time Tea pondered and said, ¡°From what you said, I gathered that Scottish fold cats originated in foreign countries, then were introduced into China, right?¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°Yeah, it is said that this kind of cat was identally cultivated by breeders from a small European country.¡±

    ¡°Do you know in what month and what year exactly?¡± asked Old Time Tea.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Zhang Zian was not a cat history expert. He picked up his phone to do a quick web search before replying, ¡°In 1961, more than half a century ago.¡±

    ¡°That is not right.¡± Old Time Tea shook its head in doubt, ¡°I clearly saw a lop-eared cat before that time¡­¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Zhang Zian was stunned. ¡°Grandpa Tea, when you say ¡®before¡¯, are you referring to the end of the 19th century?¡±

    He had met Old Time Tea in the Hidden Fog Mountain, where there were many dense woods. He initially thought that Old Time Tea had encountered the lop-eared cat in the forests of Hidden Fog Mountain. Now it seemed that this was not the case.

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Old Time Tea was even more confused. ¡°I was at my prime age when I met the cat, and I¡¯m confident that I was right. But you say that this cat breed has only been around since 1961¡­ This is so strange¡­¡±

    ¡°What did the cat look like? Was it the same as the Scottish fold?¡± Zhang Zian asked for more details.

    Old Time Tea shook its head. ¡°No, not the same. This cat had longer white fur, kind of like Snowy Li. Its body was more slender, and its tail was more robust than that of a Scottish fold.¡±

    Snowy Li was taking a nap. Upon hearing its name, it opened its sleepy eyes, and shouted, ¡°What are you doing? Why did you call me?¡±

    Zhang Zian and Old Time Tea ignored it. He sat back in the recliner, contemting this issue.

    He was sure that Scottish fold cats had only been around since 1961.

    However, Old Time Tea could not be wrong either. It wouldn¡¯t have said anything if it was not certain.

    The problem was this: how could Old Time Tea have seen a lop-eared cat before 1961?

    As time passed, Old Time Tea stopped watching TV, and Fina stopped her napping. Both were curiously staring at Zhang Zian¡¯s face.

    Snow-white fur¡­ lop-eared cats¡­ Scottish fold cats¡­ 1961¡­ the end of the 19th century¡­

    He arranged andbined the few key words together, searching hard for clues. After a long time, he shouted, ¡°Ah! I know now!¡± Zhang Zian pped his thigh and stood up. ¡°Grandpa Tea, I know what the cat you saw was!¡±

    ¡°Oh? Do tell me, Zian!¡± said Old Time Tea with surprise.

    Zhang Zian swallowed some saliva excitedly, and organized his words, ¡°I used to read rumors about this, but I didn¡¯t take it seriously at that time, and now I recall since you mentioned it¡­ ¡±

    Fina interrupted him impatiently, ¡°Cut the nonsense!¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­¡± Zhang Zian thought this was a chance for him to show off his knowledge, but snapped at by Fina, he had to omit the words he wanted to say, and got straight to the point. ¡°Grandpa Tea, what you saw was not a Scottish fold cat, but an ancient Chinese lop-eared cat, whose English name was Sumxu. No specimens of Sumxu have ever been found ¡ª in fact, its very existence was controversial, for it was most recently spotted before the liberation in China¡­¡±

    Old Time Tea stroked its whiskers and asked with confusion, ¡°Before the liberation¡­ do you mean before 1949? This could be the case ¡ª the timing is right.¡±

    Fina made a grumpy face. ¡°An ancient cat? Howe I have never heard of such a cat? Did you just make that up? Should I remind you of the consequences if you lie to me?¡±

    ¡°Castrated! Castrated!¡± As soon as this topic was brought up, Snowy Li was inexplicably excited.

    Zhang Zian exined to Fina, ¡°Although it was an ancient cat, it appeared muchter than your era. Take it easy, I will exin it to you slowly.¡±

    Zhang Ziany back on the recliner, telling the legends he had heard to Old Time Tea, Fina, and the other elves.

    The Chinese lop-eared cats were discovered and recorded by Western missionaries in the 17th century. In their writings, this kind of cat was described as having white fur and droopy ears, and was very popr among Chinesedies. Even in China at the time, lop-eared cats were umon, and only a small number of them were circted through the upper ss.

    Some people doubted whether this type of cat existed because no record of them had ever been found in local Chinese literature. Others supposed that the lop-eared cat was not a cat, but a creature simr to a mink, or a hybrid of a mink and a cat. No conclusion had been reached so far. A considerable number of Europeans were interested in this peculiar cat, and even offered a reward at the European cat show, hoping that someone would bring a Chinese lop-eared cat. Unfortunately, no one had ever taken that bounty.

    Chinese lop-eared cats werest covered by the media in 1938, and since then, the mainstream opinion was that even if this cat breed had really existed, it was now extinct.

    Fina¡¯s curiosity was aroused, and she kept urging Zhang Zian to continue, but that was all he knew.

    Old Time Tea exhaled a long breath, ¡°Oh, so the cat I saw was indeed a lop-eared cat¡­?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ Grandpa Tea, the name ¡®lop-eared cat¡¯ was created by Western missionaries, and it¡¯s unknown what it was called locally in China, probably a homonym of Sumxu. In addition, ording to the missionaries¡¯ records, although the Sumxu¡¯s ears were droopy, the reasons for that were different from Scottish fold cats. Scottish fold cats¡¯ ears droop because of a gic mutation, while Sumxu¡¯s ears droop due to their long-term domestication and the loss of ear function, which made their ears degenerate gradually. Scottish fold cats and Sumxu represent two different directions of evolution,¡± Zhang Zian corrected it.

    As for what evolution was, Zhang Zian inevitably had to painstakingly exin this to Fina and Old Time Tea, though they could barely understand.

    He got thirsty, and opened up a bottle of Evian spring water as a reward for himself. Fina red at him without saying anything.

    After drinking, he wiped his mouth and curiously asked Old Time Tea, ¡°Grandpa Tea, so you have met this kind of lop-eared cat?¡±

    Old Time Tea slowly nodded. ¡°I think so. Only once did I see such a cat in the jungle at the junction of the Guangdong and Guangxi Provinces, and I was deeply surprised. I knew nothing about the origin of a creature that looked like a mixture of a cat and something else. It couldn¡¯t understand themon catnguage either. I think it indeed may have been a Sumxu.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought bitterly, Grandpa Tea, you should have caught that cat and brought it to Europe in exchange for a reward. You could have hid the huge gold and silver prize in a secret ce, and I could go dig up the treasure right now¡­

    With Old Time Tea¡¯s testimony, this kind of lop-eared cat probably existed, but may have gone extinct during the wars of the early 20th century. It¡¯s hard to say whether it was a cat or a mink. Zhang Zian was inclined to believe that it was a mink. As Old Time Tea said, it did not understand themon catnguage.

    He did not quite believe that this animal was a descendant of cats and minks. Lions and tigers could give birth to ligers, and horses and donkeys could make mules. But what was the deal with cats and minks? What about the reproductive istion factors?

    Fina sneered, ¡°If I were there, I would have been able to tell whether it was a cat or not at first nce.¡±

    Zhang Zian did not argue with her because what she said was true.

    It was no use regretting a mysterious creature that had gone extinct so long ago that not a single specimen had been left behind.

    He stood up with a teapot. ¡°Grandpa Tea, I¡¯ll go prepare some more tea for you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Zian.¡± Old Time Tea smiled and was relieved that the doubts in its mind had been cleared up.

 Chapter 403: Reunion

    <h4>Chapter 403: Reunion</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Last night, Zhang Zian looked at the stars and recalled from an old almanac that these stars determined that today would be an auspicious day.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun came earlier than usual to help Zhang Zian prepare for the official reopening of the pet shop. Lu Yiyun also helped wipe down the cash register and ss doors until they were spotless.

    Previously, Zhang Zian had always thought that this was his parents¡¯ shop, but this subconscious thought began to changze as the shop was refurbished¡ªit would be his shop from today on, and he must be dedicated to running the business, for better or for worse.

    As he stood proudly in front of the shop, he heard Fina said something coldly that cut his heart ¡ª¡±Don¡¯t be stupid. This is my sacred pce, and you¡¯re just a s**t cleaner.¡±

    Zhang Zian was in tears!

    Turns out this was still not his shop!

    Generally, shop owners would want to make their opening ceremonies a boisterous asion by inviting performers to y drums or lighting a string of firecrackers. Zhang Zian was no exception, but he felt these traditional methods to be a bit vulgar. Another reason was that Binhai City forbade firecrackers, and he did not want to be fined. Electronic firecrackers were viable, but they were just so boring.

    Several people had shown up. They were members of the regr audience of Snowy¡¯s live broadcast, and were very interested in the Abyssinian cats. Today was Saturday ¡ª they didn¡¯t need to go to work or school and the weather was not bad ¡ª so they decided to visit the shop early.

    The first few guests were very extroverted, and they approached Zhang Zian to say hello. Zhang Zian had never actually met these people before ¡ª only through introducing their online ID names did he realize that they were the spectators of Snowy¡¯s live broadcast. They often ridiculed him, but now, they were more polite in person.

    ¡°Yeah! Good morning, Mr. Store Manager! Here I am for the fun!¡±

    Snowy came out from the taxi and greeted Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Oh yeah, it¡¯s Snowy!¡±

    ¡°Little Sister Snowy is here!¡±

    The audience members abandoned Zhang Zian and rushed towards Snowy,peting to converse and take photos with Snowy.

    ¡°Snowy, I am a die-hard fan of yours. When I became your fan, there were less than a hundred people in your live broadcast channel!¡±

    ¡°What?! I am Snowy¡¯s biggest fan. When I became her fan, there were less than five people in her live broadcast channel!¡±

    ¡°F**k off, you two. I am the ultimate fan because when I became her fan, she hadn¡¯t even started live broadcasting yet¡­¡±

    The fans were excited because they hadn¡¯t expected that today they would meet Snowy in person. Although they had never missed a single one of Snowy¡¯s programs, it was the first time they had ever seen Snowy in real life, and they all encircled her and expressed their love and admiration to her, saying that they would continue supporting her forever. Some of them also took off their jackets, asking Snowy to sign them¡­

    Snowy smiled and tried her best to grant her fans¡¯ requests. She autographed the jackets, made poses to take photos with her fans, and didn¡¯t have the haughty attitude of a celebrity at all. Whenever someone introduced his or her own ID name, she could always quickly remember that ID name¡¯s deeds, such as the things it had said that were especially funny, or the advice provided by it was good, and so on.

    The fans were even more surprised because they thought Snowy was cold and detached. After all, she always turned down generous tippers during her live broadcast. But she had remembered the IDs of her ordinary fans¡­

    As young people of the information age in the spirit of sharing, they started to spread the news that Snowy was in the Amazing Fate Pet Shop to Weibo and WeChat. Although Snowy had been to this shop several times before, for fear of interfering with her live broadcast, the fans had never visited the shop while she was here. Since Snowy hadn¡¯t issued a live broadcast notice in advance today, she probably was just visiting the pet shop as an ordinary customer.

    The fans had built a separate WeChat group chat as a support group for Snowy. As soon as this news came out, the group exploded. Everyone said that they would change their clothes ande immediately, asking the fans in the shop to stall her and not to let her leave too soon.

    Zhang Zian was standing alone on the side. This was so embarrassing for him!

    But what could he do? Snowy was an inte celebrity and he was just a pet shop owner¡­

    Even Lu Yiyun had put aside her work and ran outside to Snowy, asking her for an autograph.

    Only Wang Qian and Li Kun continued working diligently as two old oxen¡­ these nerds were bound to die alone!

    Most of Snowy¡¯s fans were polite. After getting their photos and autographs, they would keep their distance and would not badger Snowy incessantly.

    She finally got through the crowd and came to greet Zhang Zian. ¡°Mr. Store Manager, you don¡¯t seem very happy. Why?¡±

    Zhang Zian said with a straight face, ¡°Because you have stolen my spotlight.¡±

    ¡°Ah ha! Mr. Store Manager, you are so funny. You are not ming me for my unannounced visit, right?¡± Snowy smiled.

    Zhang Zian also smiled, ¡°Of course not, just a bit surprised.¡±

    ¡°In fact, I am also very interested in Abyssinian cats. Mr. Store Manager, you have done an excellent job keeping this information confidential. I only learned about it through your shop¡¯s public ount¡­¡± said Snowy. And then as if remembering something important, she handed a high-end snack box to Zhang Zian. ¡°Here, a gift from my mother that she brought back from abroad.¡±

    Zhang Zian would never want to refuse gifts. He dly took the snack box, and also reminded Snowy, ¡°I ept the gift, but the Abyssinian cats are not for sale for the time being.¡±

    ¡°It does not matter, I just want to check them out¡­ I heard that Abyssinian cats are lively? I think I prefer quiet cats like Snowball,¡± Snowy smiled.

    While Zhang Zian was greeting Snowy, he felt some pat his shoulder.

    ¡°Hey, Mr. Store Manager! Talking with a cute girl, are you?¡±

    He looked back and saw that the person that had patted him on the shoulder was Zhao Qi, followed by her neighbor Liu Wenying. Liu Wenying was holding her month-old daughter in her arms, smiling and nodding at him.

    ¡°Yo, it¡¯s you! How unusual.¡± Zhang Zian shouted in towards the shop, ¡°Wang Qian, bring a chair out!¡±

    ¡°Yes! Coming!¡± Wang Qian answered at the top of his lungs.

    Zhang Zian apologized to Liu Wenying, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, the shop is being cleaned and dust is everywhere ¡ª why don¡¯t you sit outside for a while?¡±

    Liu Wenying quickly refuted, ¡°I¡¯m fine, I¡¯m not tired.¡±

    Zhao Qi snapped, ¡°Hey, where¡¯s my chair?¡±

    Zhang Zian rolled his eyes at her, ¡°Are you sick, pregnant, or holding a child? What do you need a chair for?¡±

    Zhao Qi was still the same stingy person.

    Wang Qian brought a chair out, and asked Liu Wenying to sit down. Although Liu Wenying declined, she was really tired, and the muscles on her arms were getting sore. There was a lot of ice and snow on the street, and for fear that her daughter Yue Yue might fall over, she had been holding her since they left the bus station. If not for Zhao Qi who had helped hold her daughter for a while, she might have copsed by now.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, I heard that there will be huge discounts today, right? For what? Will there be discounts on the imported cat food?¡± Zhao Qi impatiently brought up this issue. This was the reason she gave up the opportunity to stay in bed this Saturday morning.

    Zhao Qi¡¯s cat, Lan Lan, was about to finish the rest of the cat food that she had bought from overseas. She happened to learn from Zhang Zian¡¯s WeChat Moments update that he had gotten genuine, imported cat food and that there were discounted prices on today¡¯s opening ceremony. So, she asked her neighbor Liu Wenying to visit the shop with her.

    As for Liu Wenying, she had been handmaking cat food for the Siamese cat in her family, so she didn¡¯t need to buy any cat food, but her friend was interested. Since it was Saturday and she had nothing to do, she had intended to take her daughter to a zoo. A pet shop was much like a zoo, anding here not only had helped a friend, but also had saved her ticket money¡­

    So, she and Zhao Qi hit it off, arriving here on the early morning on Saturday.

 Chapter 404: Old Acquaintances

    <h4>Chapter 404: Old Acquaintances</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Liu Wenying was sitting in a chair with her daughter Yue Yue on herp. Fortunately, it was sunny and windless today, so she didn¡¯t feel cold sitting outdoors. The lively and lovely Yue Yue stirred up yfulness in Snowy, who approached her and teased her.

    Zhang Zian knew that Zhao Qi was absolutely here for the discounted imported cat food. It seemed that she had overspent on ck Friday and limited funds remained.

    He said calmly, ¡°Do not worry, it is absolutely for sale. I do not earn a penny from the cat food.¡±

    ¡°Very good, finally you¡¯ve proved you have a little bit of conscience!¡± Zhao Qi said with delight.

    ¡°¡­I have a great conscience!¡±

    During their conversation, they heard Liu Wenying say in surprise, ¡°Oh, well if it isn¡¯t Sister Deng! What brings you here? So nice to see you!¡±

    Zhang Zian turned around and found that Deng Jie was here too.

    Deng Jie and Liu Wenying were acquaintances who also knew Snowy. They said hello to each other, and Deng Jie pointed to Snowy and smiled, ¡°I also heard from this girl that there will be big discounts at this pet shop today, so I¡¯m here to see some puppies and kittens. If suitable, I¡¯m going to buy one.¡±

    ¡°What? You haven¡¯t bought a pet yet?¡± Liu Wenying was surprised, ¡°It¡¯s been months since you said you wanted to buy one¡­¡±

    She and Deng Jie met each other at the Amazing Fate Pet Shop to look at pets a few months ago. She thought Deng Jie must have bought a pet by now, but she hadn¡¯t. What was wrong?

    Deng Jie sighed, restating her experience of being cheated in the dog market, and how Zhang Zian and Snowy apanied her to the dog market to seek the truth. Liu Wenying and Zhao Qi were left speechless upon hearing what happened to her.

    Liu Wenying suggested, ¡°Deng Jie, just let it go. A fall into a pit, a gain in your wit. In fact, from the beginning, I thought the cats here were very expensive, but over the past few months, the cat has be a member of our family. I like it, my daughter likes it, and even my husband, who has a straight face all day long, asionally ys with it, so I think it¡¯s worth it, despite it being a bit pricey.¡±

    Deng Jie nodded repeatedly, ¡°I know. Before I came here, I also talked to my husband, in case I buy a pet today.¡±

    As the sun rose, increasingly more people arrived at the pet shop.

    Suddenly someone shouted, ¡°Wang Haige Group 1! Gather here!¡±

    ¡°Wang Haige Group 2! Anyone here yet? Gather here?¡±

    Zhang Zian recognized several familiar faces¡ªthe nice and optimistic Lea, the filial Xiao Niu, the damn single Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff, and Gu Tianle who had been buying stocks but kept losing money, and the couple, Fried Mushroom and Outman¡­ all of them had bought pets from his shop, and had paid attention to the relevant information from the pet shop. Through the forums on Wang Haige, Weibo, and other channels, they had learned the news that the pet shop would reopen today, so they decided to form visiting groups. This time, however, they were not here to buy pets, but instead to exchange ideas of pet rearing and to share their memories from when they bought the pets.

    A delivery cart from a flower shop parked by the roadside. The delivery man was annoyed seeing so many people bustle about the entrance. He nced at the delivery note and shouted, ¡°Zhang Zian, is Zhang Zian here?¡±

    Zhang Zian answered with confusion, ¡°I am Zhang Zian.¡±

    ¡°Your flower baskets, please sign here.¡± The delivery man handed him the delivery note and pulled the flower baskets from the cart.

    ¡°Wait a second!¡± Zhang Zian immediately stopped him, ¡°I did not book any flower baskets! You have the wrong address, don¡¯t you?¡±

    The man shrugged, ¡°How could I mess up both the address and name at the same time? Maybe someone else sent them for you?¡±

    And then he pulled another flower basket from the cart.

    Zhang Zian noticed a small card stuck in the bouquet. He reached out and looked at it, reading, ¡°Congrattions on your grand opening! I wish you a good start! I¡¯m currently out of town, so I can¡¯t be there today. I hope you can ept my gifts.¡±

    The sender was Xiao Yan.

    It was not until now did Zhang Zian know the flower baskets were sent by Xiao Yan. She had been busy tending to her beauty salon business and befriending wives of rich businessmen or bureaucrats, so it was normal that she couldn¡¯t make it to his opening ceremony. He also heard that she was going to open a branch somewhere else, perhaps that was why she was out of town.

    He did not inform the news of the opening ceremony to Xiao Yan, nor did he tell anyone specifically ¡ª he had only mentioned it in the shop¡¯s WeChat public ount. He did not expect to see so many people here, and that so many people cared about him¡­

    He reread at the card a few times. The delivery man had grown impatient and urged him, ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Are you signing the note or not? If you don¡¯t want them, I can take them back. But no matter what, you cannot get a refund.¡±

    ¡°Of course I want them!¡± Zhang Zian put the card into his pocket, pointing to the storefront and said, ¡°Move them over there, please.¡±

    The delivery man deftly moved the baskets into position and rearranged the bouquets, disheveled from the bumpy car ride. He took the delivery note signed by Zhang Zian and left.

    Other people that had not heard the dialogue between Zhang Zian and the delivery man thought that the flower baskets were ordered by Zhang Zian, and ridiculed him for finally being generous for once.

    Just when Zhang Zian was going to greet the guests, a private car parked at the roadside.

    The car window rolled down and the gentlemanly-looking Meng Li stretched his head out and curiously asked, ¡°Manager Zhang, what¡¯s the asion with so many people around?¡±

    In the passenger¡¯s seat was a cocker spaniel that barked twice spiritedly towards Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Teacher Meng, my shop has finished a renovation, and it¡¯s the reopening ceremony today.¡± Zhang Zian did not know whether Meng Li was a professor or lecturer in the university, or an administrative staff, so it was safe to call him ¡°teacher¡±.

    ¡°Are you taking the dog out to y?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Meng Li fondly stroked the head of the cocker spaniel and replied: ¡°No, I¡¯m taking it to the clinic for routine examination of its eyes. I was passing by and noticed that your shop was surrounded by people, so I wanted to say hello and ask what¡¯s going on.¡±

    Since his cocker spaniel was less than six months old and still in the time period of high incidence of hereditary cataracts, he took it to the clinic for an examination every two to three weeks.

    ¡°Oh, then you should go now, I¡¯m fine here.¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Meng Li looked at his watch, ¡°I should, for the appointment time is approaching. I shouldn¡¯t keep the doctor waiting. I cane backter when the examination is finished.¡±

    ¡°Just go ahead, don¡¯t mind me,¡± Zhang Zian advised.

    ¡°It¡¯s the weekend and I have nothing to do. It will be nice to bring it back to its original home.¡± Meng Li waved his hand, ¡°See youter.¡±

    He rolled up the window and headed to the clinic.

    The cocker spaniely back in the chair and kept looking back, as if it still remembered Zhang Zian. As Meng Li said, this was its original home.

    Zhang Zian was very happy for it. With such an earnest and responsible owner, it should be very happy for the rest of its life.

    ¡°Hey! You! Look over here!¡±

    Zhang Zian heard a very rude greeting from behind. He turned around in puzzlement, thinking that it was someone seeking trouble with him.

    Click!

    What greeted him was a dazzling sh and the crisp sound of a shutter, making him temporarily blind and unable to open his eyes.

    ¡°Tut, a fuzzy image. The photo quality still needs to be improved.¡± Luo Qingyu was carrying a SLR and murmuring to himself. Behind him were several other members of his photography club, and all of them were holding different kinds of cameras and shooting the girls present.

    ¡°Why are you here?¡± Zhang Zian rubbed his nearly-blind eyes and asked.

    ¡°As president of the photography club, I was taking my members around to take pictures on the streets. Seeing that a lot of people were gathered here, we decided toe and check it out.¡± With acent look, Luo Qingyu lifted the Nikon D850 in his hands and showed it off to Zhang Zian, ¡°The photo I took at the church entrancest time won the photographic exhibition award at our school, and the prize was this brand new SLR that will surely significantly improve my photography skills. I¡¯m bound to be an international photography master in the future!¡±

 Chapter 405: An Unexpected Visit

    <h4>Chapter 405: An Unexpected Visit</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was speechless looking at these photography club members shamelessly asking the girls in the store to pose for their cameras.

    Even if Zhang Zian was not a photographer himself, he knew that instead of making a scene, photographers usually just went out on the streets and captured fleeting highlights. Instead, these people were basically raiding his shop!

    With a selfcent look on his face, Luo Qingyu waved the SLR camera in Zhang Zian¡¯s face, boasting about his marvelous photographing techniques and how his photo had won over the hearts of the judges at his school¡­

    Zhang Zian was fed up with hearing him talk about himself so much. Just when he was about to find an excuse to leave, he suddenly heard an intense argument break out.

    His heart tightened, unsure of what happened. Today was the reopening ceremony of his shop, and thest thing he wanted was any trouble whatsoever, so he hurriedly walked through the crowd to find the source of the bickering. Luo Qingyu followed him.

    When he arrived at the scene, Zhang Zian saw that Snowy was standing confused, surrounded by several members of the photography club quarreling with each other.

    Snowy¡¯s fans obviously had misunderstood the photographers. A few young male fans were standing in front of Snowy to protect her.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Zhang Zian asked Snowy.

    ¡°Well¡­ Mr. Store Manager, I do not know either,¡± Snowy said nkly. ¡°They said they would like to take a few pictures of me. I agreed, and they ended up quarreling.¡±

    Zhang Zian frowned, looking back at Luo Qingyu as ifining about the members he had brought with him.

    Luo Qingyu scratched his head awkwardly, pretending not to see what was happening in front of him.

    Zhang Zian realized that Luo Qingyu was a president that had no real power, and that none of the members of his photography club cared to listen to his words.

    Desperate, he had to walk over to hear what they were bickering about.

    Three young men were holding different types of cameras, pointing to their LCD screens and desperately trying to prove which one of them had photographed Snowy the most beautifully.

    ¡°You said my photo was too yellow? Guess what, as an Asian, her skin should be yellow! What¡¯s the matter with that?¡± One of the boys was holding a Sony camera, showing the camera screen to the crowd. Eyes full of firm belief, he said seriously with righteousness, ¡°And I can photoshop it anyway!¡±

    Another boy was holding a Canon camera with a faint smile on his face. He said pointedly, ¡°Photoshop it? Just admit you made a technical problem and underexposed it! I don¡¯t even need to edit my photo. Girls love my pictures directly from my screen! Look how rosy Snowy¡¯s face is! How can you dare to let her look at your photo?¡±

    The former member immediately blocked his camera screen as if he suddenly lost his confidence. ¡°I don¡¯t care what you say¡­ I just won¡¯t let you look at my screen!¡±

    The third person said disdainfully, ¡°Shame on you! Do you even know what exposuretitude is?¡± He raised the Nikon camera in his hands and proudly said, ¡°You keep repeating ¡®delighting you always¡¯, the slogan of Canon, and you are always praising how impressive Sony is, but do you know that most established photographers in this world have chosen Nikon? With a century¡¯smitment in producing cameras, Nikon lenses are the best! Our president won thepetition because he also used a Nikon!¡±

    Zhang Zian speechlessly red at Luo Qingyu. Are all your members relying only on the equipment? he thought.

    Luo Qingyu knew very well that these members had joined the club only to flirt with girls, and none of them had grasped photographic skills at all.

    ¡°Well¡­ they just like to quarrel with each other like that. They will stop naturally when they are tired¡­ I think¡­¡± he said awkwardly.

    Zhang Zian said coldly, ¡°They must stop, or they will scare away my guests.¡±

    ¡°They won¡¯t listen to me.¡± Luo Qingyu smiled, ¡°There were a few junior girls that intended to join the photography club, but were scared away by their fighting.¡±

    Zhang Zian was so angry that he wanted to kick him in the ass. If they are so disobedient, why would you bring them ces to cause other people trouble?!

    ¡°Hey, what are you doing here and why are so many people gathering?¡±

    An unfriendly yet familiar voice was heard from behind. Zhang Zian wondered who it could be.

    He looked back and saw that a police vehicle had parked on the roadside. Sheng Ke grabbed a hat from the passenger seat, put it on, and stepped towards the crowd with big strides.

    Seeing that a police officer had arrived, the three quarrelling members closed their mouths immediately, pretending they were not fighting.

    ¡°Captain Sheng, what brings you here?¡± Zhang Zian was surprised to see him and whispered, ¡°Did someone call the police?¡±

    He knew that Sheng Ke was so busy that he even worked on weekends, so it was unlikely for Captain Sheng to have had the time to learn about his pet shop¡¯s opening ceremony. The bickering had probably gotten so loud that some neighbors had called the police.

    Sheng Ke asked seriously, ¡°What for? Is there anything I should know?¡±

    Zhang Zian, relieved, said that he was just joking. Even if someone had called the police, it wouldn¡¯t require Captain Sheng to handle such a minor issue.

    ¡°Captain Sheng, are you here for my opening ceremony today?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Of course,¡± Sheng Ke red at the three people who were fighting over their equipment, ¡°Wait here, I have to fetch something from my vehicle.¡±

    Everyone in the pet shop stopped talking at once, wondering what was happening that required a police officer.

    Captain Sheng took a rolled-up red cloth with sticks and yellow tassels on it out from the vehicle and solemnly handed it to Zhang Zian, ¡°Open it.¡±

    As instructed, Zhang Zian unfolded the cloth. He was stunned.

    This was a banner, on which was embroidered in golden characters, ¡°Police and people work together to build a harmonious society¡± on the red cloth, under which was inscribed ¡°A gift from the Police Station of Binhai City¡±, as well as the date of the creation of the pennant.

    As president of the photography club, Luo Qingyu instinctively felt that he should capture this moment of the banner being given to Zhang Zian. He looked at the LCD screen to review the shot. If he sold this photo to the press, how much money could he earn from this?

    ¡°This¡­¡± Zhang Zian asked Captain Sheng, ¡°Is this for me?¡±

    Captain Sheng solemnly said, ¡°Yes. A while ago, you assisted the police in solving a long-termplicated case, and on behalf of the police force, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to you by presenting you with this banner! I hope that you can continue working with the police force to maintain social order and build a harmonious society. ¡±

    An uproar broke up in the crowd.

    ¡°When did the perverted Store Manager help solve a case for the police?¡±

    ¡°I have never heard of it¡­ I can¡¯t believe the pretentious Store Manager kept it so low-key!¡±

    ¡°Is this a real police officer?¡±

    ¡°Nonsense! Did you not see he got out from an official police vehicle?¡±

    Everyone was curious about what case Zhang Zian had solved.

    Captain Sheng whispered to Zhang Zian, ¡°Sorry for sending it a bitte. That case was somewhat bizarre, and I had difficulty reporting it to my superiors¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian helped find a series of lost properties that had been stolen in the downtown area, but the suspects had never been caught, so the superiors in the police station hadints. After Captain Sheng repeatedly promised that such a case would not happen again, the superiors thus reluctantly agreed to close the case. After that, Sheng Ke immediatelymissioned a manufacturer to make the pennant and hadn¡¯t had time to deliver it to Zhang Zian until today.

 Chapter 406: Scalper

    <h4>Chapter 406: Scalper</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian actually wanted toin. Howe other people received bonuses when they helped solve police cases, but all he got was a banner? What¡¯s the use of a banner anyway?

    The people waiting outside the store all booed him. ¡°Go hang up the banner then, what are you waiting for? A police officer arranged a special trip to give it to you¡­¡±

    At this time, Wang Qian ran out from the store and whispered to Zhang Zian, ¡°The shop has been cleaned up.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded, raising his voice tell everyone, ¡°Well, sorry to keep you guys waiting so long, please enter the store!¡±

    People had long been impatient, and hearing that permission had been given, they started to pour into the shop. Sheng Ke frowned, for fear of a stampede. Fortunately, Wang Qian and Li Kun stood at the entrance maintaining order, and nothing bad happened.

    ¡°Captain Sheng, let¡¯s go in too. After you.¡±

    Zhang Zian made a ¡°please¡± gesture to Sheng Ke, and they both went inside.

    Zhao Qi headed directly towards the shelves of imported cat food once she entered the shop. She carefully observed the manufacturer¡¯s authorization documents, customs clearance materials and import approval ced next to the shelves. All materials seemed very formal with a lot of signatures and stamps on them. As a long-term office worker that had handled a lot of simr documents and materials, she quickly recognized that these were all genuine.

    Looking at the price, she could not believe that the cat food was 20% cheaper than those sold on overseas shopping websites!

    Since it was opening ceremony today, she could also receive another 20% discount, but she must say the code ¡°Hottie Store Manager¡± to redeem the discount at the checkout.

    Many people were here for the imported cat food. Though they cursed the unscrupulous Zhang Zian for setting up such a shameless code, they obediently said ¡°Hottie Store Manager¡± when bringing the cat food to the checkout.

    Zhang Zian was delighted to hear so many people call him a ¡°Hottie Store Manager¡±!

    He ordered Li Kun to find a hook in the utility room and attach it to the wall of the shop. Then he hung up the pennant gifted by Sheng Ke. At least the wall was not empty anymore.

    ¡°Hey! Why do you mean you won¡¯t sell it to me? What¡¯s the purchase limit for?¡±

    ¡°Well, Mr. Store Manager said¡­¡±

    Someone at the checkout desk was arguing loudly with Lu Yiyun. Hearing that her voice was bing increasingly thin and weak, Zhang Zian feared that she was being bullied and rushed over to check out the situation.

    There was a fat man in ck clothes holding several barrels of imported cat food in his arms with a few barrels ced on the register, asking Lu Yiyun to checkout his items. Lu Yiyun kept shaking her head, indicating that he couldn¡¯t buy so many barrels.

    She saw Zhang Ziane over, and as if seeing a savior, she stood up in tears, ¡°Mr. Store Manager¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian told her to sit down and said to the man, ¡°I am the manager here, what¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°You are the manager?¡± The fat man looked at him and said rudely, ¡°I want to buy your products. Why can¡¯t you sell them to me?¡±

    Zhang Zian calmly said, ¡°Because the imported cat food is for the benefit of only the members of this shop, and you can¡¯t find cat food at this price anywhere else.¡±

    The fat man frowned, thought for a moment, and asked, ¡°Alright, how can I be a member? Pay you ten Yuan?¡±

    ¡°Ten Yuan for membership? You think this is an Inte cafe?¡± Zhang Zian bluntly replied. It¡¯s a one-time payment of 1,000 Yuan to be a member.¡±

    ¡°1,000 Yuan?!¡± The fat man was about to lose his temper, but after carefully pondering, he calmed down and said, ¡°OK, deal. I¡¯ll pay the 1,000 Yuan. Just give me a membership card.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew the intentions of this fat man, and he added, ¡°Each member can only buy two barrels of cat food a month.¡±

    ¡°Why? I have many cats in my house, can¡¯t I buy more barrels?¡± the fat man argued.

    Zhang Zian calmly said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but these are the provisions of this shop in order to prevent some people from buying the cat food at a low price and reselling it to gain profits. Your cooperation is highly appreciated. Please understand that two barrels of cat food are enough for three to four fully-grown cats for a month.¡±

    Other customers around the cashier desk all cast strange looks at this man who turned out to be a scalper. After all, no one liked scalpers.

    The fat man¡¯s face was flushed. He heavily threw the cat food in his arms onto the cashier¡¯s desk. ¡°F**k! I¡¯m not buying, all right? You are a fool who doesn¡¯t know how to make money!¡±

    He lost his temper, turned his head, and stormed out of the shop.

    Due to the continued postponement of the opening ceremony, Zhang Zian had had plenty of time to consider all details. He had thought in advance that the cheap imported cat food might attract scalpers, so he added the purchase restriction.

    He for sure wanted to sell more cat food to make more money, but he did not do it. This cat food arrived in Hong Kong by express mail and was then transferred to maind China. If the quantity becamerger, the cat food could only go through the formal channels of importation and the price would go up, while its attractiveness to the customers would plummet.

    Lu Yiyun nodded to him gratefully, She sat down again, and continued handling the checkout of cat food for other customers.

    ¡°It¡¯s not easy to conduct business.¡± Sheng Ke sighed behind him.

    Zhang Zian smiled and said, ¡°There are difficulties in every upation. Captain Sheng, pleasee inside and have a seat.¡±

    Sheng Ke paced forward while looking around. ¡°Your shop is really well decorated! It¡¯s so different from thest time I saw it¡­ Hey, a bronze statue of a cat! What is it for? Do you also have a dog statue?¡±

    He stopped and stared at the statue of the Cat Goddess.

    ¡°It guards my shop. I haven¡¯t thought about getting a dog statue yet,¡± said Zhang Zian.

    Many customers were also interested in this cat statue. Zhang Zian had set up a namete next to the statue, detailing its origin and indicating that it was a perfect, out-of-print replicate of the Gayer-Anderson Cat in the British Museum, and that it was a gift from Snowy for the shop¡¯s opening ceremony.

    Girls held their cell phones high, pouted, and made peace signs to take selfies with the cat goddess statue before posting them to their WeChat Moments to show off.

    Many boys also raised their cell phones or cameras to take photos with the statue, especially the three men who were arguing whose equipment was the best just moments ago.

    Despite therge number of customers purchasing cat food in the pet products area, even more people were gathering behind the second ss door. Everyone was attracted to the seven Abyssinian cats that were rare and difficult to find at other pet shops.

    ¡°Wow! Look at their ears, they are so big! And their faces are so small! They are so adorable!¡±

    ¡°Yes, especially their eyes! They are so full of spirituality, and their bodies are almost exactly the same as the statue there ¡ª they really do look like ancient elves!¡±

    Everyone raised their phones trying to take pictures of the Abyssinian cats. Wang Qian and Li Kun reminded them that pictures were allowed, but they must not use sh, which were harmful to the cats¡¯ eyes.

    Snowy also took a few photos of these cats. She wanted to show them to her mother when she got home.

    Liu Wenying and her daughter Yue Yue were ying with a few kittens in the corner.

    ¡°I should have brought some gifts for you. I¡¯m so embarrasseding here empty handed¡­¡± Sheng Ke looked around at the lively store and said with regret.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, Captain Sheng. It¡¯s my honor to have you here. Besides, you have brought me the banner.¡± Zhang Zian answered him casually while paying attention to what was happening in his shop.

    ¡°I heard that you showed your impressive Kung Fu again at the dog market a few days ago!¡± Sheng Ke praised him heartily, ¡°Especially keeping yourposure under pressure, that is quite something!¡±

    ¡°It was because my opponents were too weak,¡± Zhang Zian said modestly.

    Sheng Ke really wanted to invite Zhang Zian, the Kung Fu Master, to instruct the police officers at the police station when he was avable, but for fear of affecting his business, Sheng Ke felt too awkward to bring up this issue to him.

    And then he suddenly noticed that Famous had been lying quietly in the corner of the shop.

 Chapter 407: Sheng Keâ€™s Notice

    <h4>Chapter 407: Sheng Ke¡¯s Notice</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Famous saw Sheng Ke at the same time. It stood up from its lying position and slowly approached him.

    ¡°Tut, what a nice German Shepherd. Mr. Zhang, is this your dog?¡± Sheng Ke squatted, carefully observing Famous. He felt that this German Shepherd was very good. It was very quiet while standing still, its eyes were bright and shiny, and it seemed to be even more well-trained than the police dogs in the police force.

    ¡°Yes, Captain Sheng. Do you like German Shepherds?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°German Shepherds are good friends of the police. They have yed indispensable roles in searching for suspicious objects and arresting suspects.¡± Sheng Ke continued emotionally, ¡°Unfortunately, most of the German Shepherds in our police force have been taken away recently, affecting even our normal work.¡±

    Zhang Zian was even more confused. Why would the police dogs of a police force be taken away? What had happened?

    Only rare and high-level asions such as the Olympic Games or the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit required mobilizing police dogs from surrounding cities to increase security clearance at target locations. The problem was that Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t heard that any big events like the Olympic Games were going to be hosted in China anytime soon¡­

    Though he was curious, he did not dare ask Captain Sheng, for fear that something confidential was involved. He was an ordinary person, and he intended to remain one.

    Sheng Ke had been in the police force for many years, and was experienced in interpreting people¡¯s expressions. Heughed, ¡°Mr. Zhang, rx, it¡¯s not what you think. Do you know the Tie Dun Film and Television Center?¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°Yes, I do. A lot of detective films and dramas were produced by them, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Well, the Tie Dun Film and Television Center is about to produce a movie, and Binhai Studio has been selected as the filming location. This movie is to promote the main political rhetoric of China, and the higher authorities require us to cooperate fully. Whether it is personnel, capital, or dogs that they want, we must provide the best we have,¡± Sheng Ke exined.

    ¡°Wait a minute!¡± Zhang Zian could not help but interrupt him, ¡°What do they need the dogs for?¡±

    Sheng Ke gave a wry smile. ¡°Because the protagonists of this movie are dogs. As for the content of the film¡­ well, it seems that it will focus on guard dogs being domesticated and trained by frontier guards. The film will show how brave and smart the dogs are and how they have defied all kinds of hardships and dangers. It will portray their excellent performances in de-mining, anti-narcotics and anti-transnational crimes, thus bing indispensable capable assistants to border guard officers.¡±

    ¡°Oh, no wonder so many police dogs have been mobilized!¡± Zhang Zian finally understood.

    ¡°Yes. Right now, the movie is being prepared to film. All the necessary funds and equipment are in ce, and the actors have also been finalized. The most important thing right now is choosing a dog from the auditions to y the leading role. That¡¯s why all the dogs at our police station are gone ¨C they are to attend the audition.¡± When mentioning the matter, Sheng Ke¡¯s voice was full of objection, but this was an order from his superiors, so he could do nothing but obey them, no matter how angry he was. With their dogs being mobilized to attend auditions, the police officers were forced to work overtime to bridge the gap.

    ¡°Do you know what the most interesting thing is?¡± he asked bitterly.

    ¡°Nope.¡± Zhang Zian shook his head.

    Sheng Ke smacked his lips and said, ¡°Have you heard about the popr film Wolf Warrior recently?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I have heard of it, but unfortunately I have not had time to watch it yet.¡± Zhang Zian did not know why he mentioned this.

    ¡°Well, the filmmakers decided to steal their spotlight and named the film Dog Warrior,¡± Sheng Keughed.

    Hah!

    Zhang Zian also could not help butugh. Wolf Warrior was not about wolves, but Dog Warrior was actually going to feature dogs!

    ¡°Well,¡± Sheng Ke stood up, ¡°Today is your shop¡¯s opening ceremony, so you must be very busy. I shouldn¡¯t take up any more of your time. I will visit another day to bring you a gift.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew Sheng Ke was also very busy. Today was Saturday, and instead of staying at home with his wife and children, he was delivering the pennant to him on behalf of the police station. Therefore, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t insist on asking him to stay, but was going to send him away.

    Just then, Zhang Zian felt something pull at the leg of his trousers.

    He looked down and found that it was a paw pulling him.

    Famous was staring at him with piercing eyes and said, ¡°I want to be in the movie. Let me try.¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned for a moment. He then whispered to it, ¡°You want to audition for the Dog Warrior movie?¡±

    Famous nodded, ¡°Can you help me arrange it?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Zhang Zian looked away. He saw that Sheng Ke was standing near the cash register, looking at the pennant that he had brought.

    ¡°You heard him. There will be so many dogs in that audition vying for a limited number of roles in the movie, so even if you participate, you may not be selected¡­¡± he said softly.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Famous¡¯s tone was mild yet firm, and its eyes were sparkling with inexplicable determination. ¡°I have the confidence to win, as long as I have the opportunity to participate in the audition.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at it and wondered why it was saying these words so seriously.

    Famous said solemnly, ¡°I do not know why, but when I heard the word ¡®movie¡¯, my whole body became restless, and I was immediately struck by remorse, guilt and anxiety. It seems that I have done awful things before, and I need to try hard to forget them so that I won¡¯t be sad anymore¡­¡±

    It looked nkly at the ceiling. ¡°I have to do it, I have to change. I have to make up for those awful things¡­ Only then can I be an angel.¡±

    Zhang Zian went silent for a moment. He waved at Famous, gesturing it toe with him.

    ¡°Captain Sheng, can I talk to you about something?¡± he walked up next to Sheng Ke, smiled and said.

    ¡°Oh, what happened? Tell me.¡± Sheng Ke was surprised. Zhang Zian had helped him solve a difficult case, and it was reasonable for him to grant what Zhang Zian wanted. But he was somewhat worried that Zhang Zian woulde up with an issue that went against his principles.

    Zhang Zian moved aside, indicating for Famous toe forward.

    ¡°About that movie¡­ I want my dog ??to have a try. Captain Sheng, can you please introduce it to the audition crew?¡± he said cheekily.

    ¡°You want to take your dog to the audition?¡± Sheng Ke was surprised.

    ¡°Yes, are there any special requirements for it?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Sheng Ke hesitated for a moment. ¡°I heard that the dogs in the audition must be excellent in aspects such as appearance,prehension, courage, obedience and execution.¡±

    ¡°No problem!¡± Zhang Zian patted his chest confidently.

    ¡°In addition¡­¡± Sheng Ke pondered.

    Zhang Zian saw the difficult look on Sheng Ke¡¯s face and asked, ¡°Does this make any inconveniences for you?¡±

    To be honest, he did not want to force Sheng Ke. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that Famous so adamantly requested this, he would have given up. He thought Sheng Ke was worried that Famous would steal the show from the police dogs on his team.

    ¡°No, you are overthinking,¡± Sheng Ke shook his head and said. ¡°I would rather your dog take away the role, so that all the police dogs cane back to the police force. Actually, I was worried that your dog might get injured. If you insist on auditioning, you must prepare for this possibility.¡±

    Zhang Zian was puzzled, ¡°Injury? Why would it get hurt during an audition?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but several police dogs were injured to varying degrees when they came back from the audition, and it¡¯s a heartache for the police officers to see their dogs hurt¡­¡± Sheng Ke sighed.

    Zhang Zian looked at Famous, asking for its opinion.

    ¡°I¡¯m going,¡± said Famous firmly.

    Since it had already made up its mind, Zhang Zian said to Sheng Ke, ¡°It¡¯s okay, my dog ??is very clever and it will not be injured easily. Trust me, Captain Sheng.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Sheng Ke promised him, ¡°I¡¯ll help you inquire about the audition. Wait for my notice.¡±

 Chapter 408: Buying

    <h4>Chapter 408: Buying</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Even after Sheng Ke had left, Famous was still squatting in front of the store, looking in the direction where the police vehicle had driven away, resurgent rays sparkling in its pupils.

    Since arriving at the pet shop, Famous had been somewhat unhappy. It often squatted in the corner alone, its tongue out while it thought of something. Sometimes, it would close its eyes painfully, and even in the middle of the night, it would suddenly wake up, shivering. Zhang Zian did not know what it was thinking, but if it had somehow entered the ck box Gxy was once in, perhaps its body had escaped from the box, but its heart was still trapped in the box and was enduring endless reincarnation nightmares.

    Unlike Richard, who was annoying when it first arrived at the pet shop, Famous had so many things to think about, such as where it came from and where it should go. It wanted to be an angel, it wanted to make up for mistakes from the past, and it wanted to live a life with no regret. But before that, it needed to know who it was.

    Famous was muscr and strong. With it squatting at the entrance of the shop, some girls were too frightened toe in, and they begged Zhang Zian to take it away. Even some boys were a bit afraid of it.

    Before Zhang Zian could ask, Famous had returned to its corner andy down.

    Famous was not a loner. Eyes wide open, it was gazing at the customers¡¯ smiles, interpreting their bodynguage, and trying to understand their lives from their words and movements. Everyone was unique. Everyone had a distinctive experience. Whether they were rich or poor, whether they were happy or in pain, their experiences had shaped their different personalities, and their personalities had determined their destinies. As long as Famous looked into their eyes, it could look through their dull or tortuous lives.

    With its head tilted, it cast a look at Zhang Zian. What would this person¡¯s life be like?

    The Abyssinian cats were extremely popr. Even though Zhang Zian had repeatedly stressed that the kittens wouldn¡¯t be born for at least another three months and would only be avable for pickup six months after that, there were still several customers expressing their strong desires to preorder the kittens now. These customers had been raising their own cats at home, but they were just so fond of the adorable Abyssinian cats that looked like ancient elves. Especially when they heard that Abyssinian cats had rtively low reproductive abilities, they wanted to reserve one for themselves in case all the kittens were bought by others.

    People loved Abyssinian cats for they were rare to be seen, but the poprity of Ragdoll kittens had endured the test of time, and this held true today. The shop¡¯s five Ragdoll kittens were no less popr than the Abyssinian cats because Ragdoll kittens did not require a reservation. Just pay, and you could bring one home immediately; no waiting!

    A girl said crisply, ¡°I have been to a lot of catteries, and the bicolored Ragdoll kittens have always been in short supply. To acquire bicolored Ragdoll kittens in such excellent condition, you must make a reservation and then wait in line for pickup, normally for a year or so. Some even take a couple of years. If you don¡¯t want to wait that long, you can only choose from other varieties of Ragdolls.¡±

    It was well known that the price for bicolored Ragdoll kittens was very expensive, so the general psychology of the public was that since Ragdoll kittens cost at least 20,000 Yuan, why not spend more to buy a more desirable variety? Obviously, bicolored Ragdoll kittens were the most popr type because of their blue eyes¡­

    A young man came here with his girlfriend, who was addicted to cats, and he remembered some of the cat selecting tips he had seen online and asked cautiously, ¡°Manager, do these Ragdoll kittens have studbooks?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± Zhang Zian knew someone would ask such a question, so he pulled out the studbooks given to him from Tim and showed them to the client. As a professional breeder running a cattery, Tim would not omit these sorts of simple details.

    Though Abyssinian cats and Ragdoll kittens were very popr, other breeds of cats were not forgotten. Even though the body shapes and fur colors were different, every cat was a cat to love.

    Some people asked Zhang Zian if every cat in the store could dance. Zhang Zian made it clear that all the cats currently being sold in the shop, regardless of their breed, from Dragon Li to Ragdoll kittens, could perform the same movements.

    Next, of course, was time for a routine performance. A lot of Snowy¡¯s die-hard fans, who were temporarily unable to raise cats for a variety of reasons, were here today for the live performance of the cats in the shop.

    After the crowd put forward strong requests, Zhang Zian pped his hands three times at the kittens.

    The kittens in the store, hearing the sign that Fina had trained them to react to, all moved toward Zhang Zian, aligning themselves like the well-trained soldiers.

    Most of the people at present were from the audience of Snowy¡¯s live broadcast, so they had seen such a scene before and were able to maintain theirposures. But for those who had never seen this before, they could not believe their eyes.

    A bigger surprise was awaiting them. Zhang Zian took out his cell phone, and the music of Little Apple began.

    As the music flowed out of the cell phone, the kittens began dancing to the beat by wiggling their tails, shaking and nodding their heads, and raising and swinging their paws. Obviously, these were only ordinary movements, but since they were being performed by kittens, these moves seemed outstandingly attractive, and even some customers who were picking out dogs had stopped ying with the puppies and came to watch the kittens dance, both surprised and appalled.

    There were a few young men and women who usually only listened to elegant music like Tchaikovsky and felt disturbed by the music of Madonna. To these people, songs like Little Apple had always been so disliked that even when they briefly heard the song on the streets, they would frown. But right now, they seemed to be intoxicated by the actions of the kittens. By the ecstatic looks on their faces, it would have seemed to anyone else that they had heard the sound of heaven.

    After the song ended, several customers who were serious cat-aholics remained silent for a long time before they were awakened by the apuse and screams of other customers.

    There was only one thought in their minds ¡ª buying these kittens!

    ¡°I want this one!¡±

    ¡°This one is mine! No one can take it away from me!¡±

    Some people even held their favorite kittens in their arms to dere their ownership and take precautions against others.

    Customers who had intended to buy dogs, while astonished by the kittens, had not changed their minds, because the fun brought by the interaction between dogs and people was much greater than from cats.

    A few customers who could not wait to buy the Abyssinian cats found that the seven Abyssinian cats did not dance with the rest of the kittens just now and asked, ¡°May I ask why the Abyssinian cats were not dancing?¡±

    Zhang Zian calmlyughed, ¡°Actually, I have prepared a different set of dance movements for the Abyssinian cats. Anyone interested?¡±

 Chapter 409: Four Little Swans

    <h4>Chapter 409: Four Little Swans</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As soon as Zhang Zian said that a different dance had been prepared for the Abyssinian cats, someone immediately questioned, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say earlier that all of your cats, regardless of breed, dance the same movements?¡±

    Zhang Zian had expected such a question, and he immediately replied, ¡°First of all, I only said that the cats currently being sold share the same movements, and Abyssinian cats are not currently on sale. Second of all, some dance moves are soplicated that only a few breeds of cats, such as Abyssinian cats, can master them. ¡±

    His words aroused a great curiosity in everyone. What kind of dance moves could Abyssinian cats perform that other cats could not?

    ¡°Mr. Manager, please show us ¡ª we all want to see!¡± With her hands crossed, Snowy was urged by everyone to beg Zhang Zian to show the dance. In fact, she was very curious herself too.

    Zhang Zian deliberately pretended that he was put in a dilemma. After ¡°thinking¡± for a while, he granted the request reluctantly. ¡°Well, I guess I can show you the performance, but this set of dance moves is very difficult, and the training time has not been sufficiently long enough yet, so please do forgive us if there are any ws in the dance.¡±

    The choreography was too difficult? Everyone looked at each other. In their opinion, teaching the kittens to dance to the song of Little Apple was already a mission that seemed impossible. What could possibly be more difficult than that? Many people were restlessly scratching their heads and couldn¡¯t wait to see the show!

    Zhang Zian picked up the remote that controlled the lights inside the shop, telling the customers, ¡°In order to create an atmosphere, I will turn off some of the interior lights, so watch your own belongings.¡±

    Looking around and hearing no objection from the crowd, he turned off all the lights on the ceiling except for the one right above the Abyssinian cats. With the soft light radiating straight downwards, a bright circr area was formed. For this, he really needed to thank Guo Dongyue, who had improved the indoor lighting situation greatly and thus contributed to the dance performance¡¯s overall magnificence.

    Sunshine was weaker in the winter than in the summer, and the Amazing Fate Pet Shop was an old house with an outdated structure, so the natural lighting was poor. After the lights were turned off, the room was suddenly dimmed, creating an atmosphere like that of a theater.

    People were holding their breaths. Eyes wide open in the dark room, they were waiting excitedly to see Zhang Zian¡¯s tricks.

    Zhang Zian pped his hands three times, and four of the seven Abyssinian cats immediately started to walk elegantly into the lighted area. Standing side by side, they looked up at Zhang Zian.

    The gentle light created shades on their smooth furs. The viewers had the illusion that with every slight change in angle, their furs seemed to shift colors. In fact, this was because every hair of an Abyssinian cat was, from the tip to the end, divided into two or three different colors, which appeared even more mysterious when they were illuminated.

    Because the light was directly targeted on their bodies, the shading highlighted their facial features. Their amber eyes reflected the light, making them seem like they were gazing at the audience fiercely.

    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen!¡±

    Zhang Zian spoke the predetermined code words while pressing y on the music yer on his phone.

    Four Abyssinian cats lifted their right forepaws and ced them on the shoulders of their neighboringpanions while looking to their lefts in unison.

    Apanied by lively and cheerful eighth notes, the orchestra started to y a well-known duet.

    ¡°Meow meow meow meow meow meow, meow meow meow meow meow meow meow¡­¡±

    What Zhang Zian was ying was not the original version of the song, but a karaoke version sang by Fina!

    Since the choreography of Four Little Swans was veryplicated for cats, the four Abyssinian cats had experienced serious setbacks during the rehearsals. They couldn¡¯t remember the sequence of the dance moves, so Zhang Zian came up with this idea to add Fina¡¯s instructions in the song to remind them of the steps. Of course, to ordinary people, all they heard were the sounds of Fina meowing.

    At the moment they heard the first note, the four Abyssinian cats turned into four chocte-colored little swans, making graceful postures and dancing on the dance floor.

    Putting their cat paws on theirpanions¡¯ shoulders was just an imitation of humans¡¯ famous ballet gestures, but they were not human beings, obviously. Standing on their tiptoes, they were dancing to the beats elegantly together. They kicked their legs side to side in unison, and then as if they were figure skating, they started to sideslip while quickly crossing their two forepaws.

    ¡°Meow meow meow meow meow meow, meow meow meow meow meow meow meow¡­¡±

    Not only were their limbs moving, but they would also bow and raise their heads from time to time, just like real ballerinas. When they bowed their heads, it seemed that they were looking at their reflections in the center of theke andmenting themselves; when they looked up, it seemed that their eyes were filled with longing for the sky far away, as if the sky was their home!

    Every time they leaped andnded on the floor, they were like swans creating ripples in the center of ake as smooth as ss.

    Although they could not hold hands like human ballerinas, Abyssinian cats had a unique way to make up for this shoring: their dexterous tails. While they danced, they wiggled their tails, drawing circles in the air as they moved.

    ¡°Meow meow meow meow meow meow, meow meow meow meow meow meow meow¡­¡±

    When they stood on their tiptoes, their legs became slenderer, and the vertical rays of light created aplex effect that dazzled the audience, as if there were countless long legs swinging in front of their eyes. Far lighter than the lightest of human dancers, it seemed that the Abyssinian cats were gliding on the dance floor without touching the floor at all. Coupled with Fina¡¯s unique singing voice, for cat lovers, the stage effects of this performance were irresistible!

    Several girls were already in tears, covering their mouths tightly with their hands, for fear that their excited screams might disturb the fantastic dance.

    Many people hoped that this moment could be frozen forever, but the short dance ultimately had toe to an end. When thest meow was heard, the four Abyssinian cats bowed, bending their forepaws and lying on the ground while blinking adorably to the audience.

    Due to the delusional song of Little Apple, people did not hold high expectations for Zhang Zian¡¯s choice of music, and were also skeptical of this so-called difficult dance he imed. With higher expectations came greater disappointment, and vice versa! Just when everyone had deemed that Zhang Zian was a man with the poorest taste, he chose the extraordinarily elegant Four Little Swans, apanied by the perfect choreography and singing voice, thus refreshing everyone¡¯s impressions of him!

 Chapter 410: Struggle to Make a Choice

    <h4>Chapter 410: Struggle to Make a Choice</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Even though the song had ended, the customers continued to stare at the center of the stage, mesmerized.. Although the four Abyssinian cats had bowed and left the stage, the audience still seemed to be immersed in the melody of Four Little Swans, the dancing of the Abyssinian cats, and Fina¡¯s singing voice, and were unable to bring themselves back to reality for a long time.

    They didn¡¯t wake from the dreamy performance until Zhang Zian used the remote control to turn the lights back on. They apuded, cheered, and screamed so loud that they almost raised the roof. Napping on the second floor, Richard was startled, and it shouted, ¡°War! Fire! Everyone run! Quack!¡± But its voice was quickly swallowed by the thundering apuse.

    Everyone apuded and pped their hands. Some people ran over to Zhang Zian to remind him of the tradition that as long as the apuse was loud and longsting enough, the performers shoulde out and perform an encore.

    However, Zhang Zian ignored these requests. He knew that encores usually urred in concerts, and never had he seen ballerinas return to the stage to perform again after the curtain closed. Did the audience think it was that easy to dance on their tiptoes?

    Some new customers suspected that they must have seen fake cats, asking Zhang Zian how he had taught the cats to dance.

    Zhang Zian stuck to his previous rhetoric, saying that his family had been cat trainers since ancient times, and that he must not reveal his cat training secrets to outsiders. But even as a cat trainer, teaching Abyssinian cats was also a very difficult task, which required arduous, long-term efforts.

    The customers were so envious of him. A few very pretty girls also begged him to ept them as apprentices and teach them how to train cats. Although Zhang Zian wanted to ept them, he pretended that he didn¡¯t care and turned them down. After all, there was nothing much he could teach them¡­

    Returning customers and Snowy¡¯s fans understood that it was impossible for Zhang Zian to reveal his secrets to them. If he epted apprentices, once they had mastered his secrets, the teacher would suffer enormous losses in his business.

    ¡°Manager, how much is an Abyssinian cat? Just tell me, and over the next six months, I will save enough money to buy one!¡± Several girls asked the same question, while their boyfriends felt the imminent crisis threatening their wallets, ring at Zhang Zian as if he was a thief.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t given much thought to the pricing yet. ¡°Presently, my estimate is that each will cost no less than 40,000 Yuan.¡±

    ¡°40,000 Yuan?! So expensive!¡±

    ¡°Too expensive!¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°40,000 Yuan is not that expensive. You see, even the price of a top tier Ragdoll kitten ranges from 20,000 to 30,000 Yuan, let alone an Abyssinian cat that is able to reproduce. Look, these seven cats are all age-appropriate breeding cats, but Abyssinian cats have low reproductive abilities, so after six months, probably only six or seven kittens, or even fewer, will be born. If anyone wants an Abyssinian kitten, you¡¯d better book one soon, or others will have imed them all.¡±

    Everyone knew that things became precious when they were scarce, but 40,000 Yuan was a huge sum of money that needed to be carefully considered. After all, with this amount of money, several iPhone Xs could be bought¡­

    Liu Wenying was holding her little daughter Yue Yue in her arms, and Yue Yue kept on mumbling, ¡°Abby¡­ Abby¡­¡±, yearning for an Abyssinian cat.

    She had to bring Yue Yue over to the puppies to divert her attention. A ballet-dancing Abyssinian cat was not a pet she could afford, and her husband would never agree to buy one.

    Zhang Zian cleared his throat. ¡°There is just one more thing I need to rify ¡ª these Abyssinian cats are not mine. I just train them.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± The customers were surprised, and they curiously asked, ¡°To whom do they belong to then? Are they from another cattery?¡±

    ¡°Will these cats be taken away after you finish training them?¡±

    Zhang Zian nced at the photo of Cathy, who was smiling splendidly in the picture, as if she had also witnessed the wonderful ballet show and was happy that her cats were so popr among people.

    He replied, ¡°These cats will remain here and will not be taken away for any reason. They belong to one of my friends, whose name I won¡¯t reveal, but don¡¯t you worry, she had entrusted me to take care of these cats, and as long as I agree, she would have no objection.¡±

    Everyone was relieved upon hearing this. Though few people could afford to spend so much money on a cat, as long as these cats remained here, they coulde and see them whenever they had the time.

    Zhao Qi was holding two barrels of imported cat food and was waiting at the register for Liu Wenying and Yue Yue. She had also watched the Abyssinian cats¡¯ performance, and she wondered whether she would be able to save up 40,000 Yuan before ck Friday next year. But she also worried about if a lively Abyssinian cat could get along with her demure,dy-like Lan Lan¡­

    What was most annoying was that few people had recorded the wonderful dance. Even though a few customers had recorded the show on their cell phones, the effects were disappointing due to the poor angles they chose. In short, there was no collection value from these videos, and Zhang Zian refused to let the Abyssinian cats dance again.

    Zhang Zian advised, ¡°Everyone, please don¡¯t just eye the Abyssinian cats. The other breeds of cats and dogs in our shop are also very good. Take a look at them and perhaps you¡¯ll find your favorite one.¡±

    Abyssinian cats could learn ballet thanks to their excellent motor abilities and light bodies, but they were not necessarily better than other breeds of cats. Each kind of cat and dog had their own special characteristics.

    The customers gradually dispersed and went to seek their favorite breed of cat or dog.

    ncing around the store, Zhang Zian looked to see if any customer needed help. Today, the pet shop was bustling with the most customers it had ever had, and noises were heard throughout the entire store. Fina, Snowy Li, Old Time Tea, Gxy and Richard all went to the second floor, for they didn¡¯t like such lively asions.

    However, such liveliness would probably only ur today because of the discounts offered during the opening ceremony. Everything would return to normal tomorrow. Foreseeably, the shop would see a slump in the days toe, for a lot of customers had bought their pets and pet supplies today.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun understood some pet knowledge from their working experience in the pet shop, so they could asionally answer a few of the customers¡¯ questions. In addition, they were also busy maintaining order within the store. If a customer bought too many things, they would help move their purchases into taxis, and would return to the store to help the next customers once the taxi had left.

    Lu Yiyun had no free time at all to draw today, for she was busy opening membership cards and handling checkouts for all the clients. Fortunately, she had already gotten familiar with the process a few days ago ¡ª Zhang Zian, Wang Qian and Li Kun had yed the role of customers, simting scenarios of customers shopping and checking out to help her learn in advance and practice what might happen at checkout when real customers showed up. Otherwise, she definitely would have made mistakes on such a busy day like today.

    Seeing that Wang Qian, Li Kun and Lu Yiyun temporarily didn¡¯t need help, Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes fell on Deng Jie. Among every person he knew, Deng Jie was the one who struggled the most when it came to making a choice. If it wasn¡¯t because she had bought a sick dog for petty gains before, Zhang Zian was afraid that she wouldn¡¯t be able to decide which pet to buy today.

    Deng Jie was carrying a handbag without a brand logo. Her eyes lingered in front of the showcases. She had a couple of puppies in mind, but when she noticed the prices, she hesitated. If there was anything she had decided in thest few months, it was that she had decided to buy a dog instead of a cat. Although the sick puppy had only been in her family for a few days, she had felt that the pleasure of raising a dog was bigger than what a cat could bring. As long as she held some treats out to lure the dog, it would obediently run to her, unlike cats that liked ignoring people¡­

    Seeing that she was struggling to make a choice, Zhang Zian intended to help her out.

 Chapter 411: A Puppy That Needs Little Walking Outdoors

    <h4>Chapter 411: A Puppy That Needs Little Walking Outdoors</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    While they waited to enter the store, Deng Jie and Liu Wenying had engaged in small talk and teased Yue Yue from time to time. Liu Wenying had learned that Deng Jie and her husband did not have any children, so she especially liked little kids and pets. After entering the store, Deng Jie had watched the Abyssinian cats perform ballet for a little while, but for most of the time, she had been in front of the puppy disy cases, struggling to make up her mind. She knew that a ballet-dancing Abyssinian cat was very nice, but she knew she could never afford one, so she hadn¡¯t even considered it since the very beginning.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t the only one that had noticed Deng Jie¡¯s indecisiveness ¡ª Snowy had, too. After the ballet performance ended, Snowy ran up to her and wanted to help. Since Snowy knew very little about pets, she could barelye up with an idea.

    Zhang Zian approached her, ¡°Sister Deng, which one do you like?¡±

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, thank god you are here! Sister Deng wants to pick out a dog, but she can¡¯t decide which one, and I don¡¯t know how to help her¡­¡± Snowy helplessly turned to him for help.

    Deng Jie smiled awkwardly and said, ¡°Only because I have a limited budget. If I had enough money, I would buy every pet here and open a zoo of my own! How wonderful would that be!¡±

    ¡°Okay, but don¡¯t forget to hire a few professional cleaners when you open your zoo,¡± said Zhang Zian, pointing to his nose.

    The three of themughed.

    Upon hearing theughter, Liu Wenying picked Yue Yue up and came to them. ¡°Sister Deng, have you picked one yet? Come on, select a puppy and then let¡¯s go have lunch together. Don¡¯t go home and make lunch, just tell your husband to order take-out today. Let¡¯s go have some fun! You see, me and Yue Yue will not go home until evening.¡±

    Deng Jie hesitated for a moment before she agreed. But first, she must choose her favorite pet, otherwise lunch would be dinner¡­

    As the conversation between the women came to an end, Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Sister Deng, you are certain that you want to buy a dog, right?¡±

    Deng Jie nodded, ¡°Yes. A puppy will follow me around all day long, so that I won¡¯t feel lonely.¡±

    ¡°A puppy?¡± Zhang Zian keenly captured this keyword.

    ¡°Yes. The previous fake Shiba Inu was still too big for my house ¡ª there wasn¡¯t much room for it to move around¡­¡± Deng Jie said, ¡°I¡¯ve been considering buying a puppy since then, if the price is suitable.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment, then asked, ¡°Which floor do you live on?¡±

    ¡°The sixth floor.¡±

    ¡°Is there an elevator?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± she shook her head. ¡°I have been thinking that after I buy a dog, I will take it out for a walk in our neighborhood every day, but¡­¡± she said with a wry smile, ¡°I used to need to climb up and down the stairs twice a day when I was working. But having the Shiba Inu, I had to take it for a walk in the morning and evening, which meant I had to climb those stairs two extra times. Maybe it¡¯s because I¡¯m getting older, but after a few days, in the middle of the night, I started to get back aches and cramps in my legs. My husband just sat on the couch reading the newspaper and didn¡¯t want to walk the dog. What is there to read in the newspaper that¡¯s so interesting? He sat there all day long.¡±

    She became agitated. ¡°I quarreled with him about this. And then he said that I am the one who bought the dog, so I was responsible for walking it. That man¡­¡±

    Feeling that the topic was about to turn intoining about her husband, Liu Wenying quickly interrupted her, ¡°Indeed it is troublesome to walk the dog outside. There is an elevator in my apartment building, but thinking about going back and forth to let it outside¡­ it is really troublesome. That¡¯s why I decided to buy a cat in the end.¡±

    Deng Jie sighed, ¡°Later, that dog got ill, and I took it out no more. Otherwise, I might be the one who got sick¡­¡±

    ¡°In other words, you want to raise a puppy that needs little walking outdoors,¡± Zhang Zian rified.

    There were still many old residential areas throughout China. Arge number of those residential buildings were designed without elevators. It was inconvenient for residents living on upper floors to raise pets, especially dogs that needed daily walks outside. If the dogs were not taken out for walk, they would be frustrated. Having nowhere else to let out their energy, they would create disturbances in the houses.

    Many high-rise tenants did not fully consider these difficulties before buying dogs and at the same time had overestimated their enthusiasm for keeping dogs as pets. They took the dogs back home with confidence and decided to treat them well. However, after the feeling of novelty had passed and they grew tired of walking the dogs, just like Deng Jie and her husband, the dog owners would shirk off the responsibilities, and abandon the dogs or give them away in the end.

    Should there be energetic children in the family, the dog owners could let their children walk the dogs. However, in the case of Deng Jie, there were only her husband and herself at home, and neither of the middle-aged couple could stand the extra few trips a day. Luckily, it was winter now. If they were to climb those stairs in the summer, they would be drenched in sweat very quickly.

    Deng Jie nodded heavily, ¡°Yes, do you have such a puppy?¡±

    ¡°You can think about this Pekingese,¡± said Zhang Zian, pointing to a pure white Pekingese in the disy case. ¡°Pekingese dogs aremonly seen, which have also proved their adaptability. In fact, among all breeds of dogs, Pekingese require the least amount of exercise, and you can teach it to use a puppy potty patch at home.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s a potty patch?¡± Deng Jie asked in surprise. ¡°I only know that cats have litter boxes.This is the first time that I¡¯ve heard about a potty patch.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ the purpose of bringing dogs outside is to get rid of their excess energy through exercise, and letting them relieve themselves at the same time.¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°Wang Qian! Bring a potty patch here!¡± he cried out.

    Wang Qian soon fetched arge fenced potty patch.

    The structure of the patch was very simple, and it was also very cheap. It was surrounded by three stic fences, and in the middle there was a stic grid, where the dog¡¯s feces could drop through.

    ¡°How do you use this thing?¡± Deng Jie asked curiously.

    Zhang Zian put the potty patch on the ground, opened the disy case to take the Pekingese out, put it on the stic grid, and exined to Deng Jie, ¡°In the beginning, you need to pay more attention to it, especially in the ten minutes after a meal or drinking water. You put the puppy on the patch, and don¡¯t let it out until it has finished urinating or pooping. When ites out, give it some treats as rewards. Repeat this several times, and it will form a habit and will learn how to use the patch by itself. Your husband likes reading the newspaper, so your home must have a lot of wasted newspaper, right?¡±

    ¡°A lot! Various types of newspaper!¡± Deng Jie said bitterly.

    ¡°Then you can ce a fewyers of newspaper beneath the grid. When the puppy finishes its business, you can fold up the topyer or two of newspaper and throw them into the garbage bag, and bring the garbage downstairs the next morning. It is convenient, and there will be no foul smell in your house,¡± said Zhang Zian while making gestures.

    Deng Jie thought this was a very good idea, relieving her from the extra drudgery of climbing the stairs daily.

    Liu Wenying said, ¡°Then the potty patch is not only more convenient than the litter box, but it also helps save money?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, but the potty patch only works for certain dogs, such as the Pekingese, which require very little exercise. Even a chihuahua, smaller than a Pekingese, requires outdoor exercise once or twice a day,¡± reminded Zhang Zian.

    In fact, the potty patch was not only for high-rise tenants without elevators like Deng Jie, but also for numerous otaku who didn¡¯t want to leave their homes. Pekingese dogs were one of the only choices if they really wanted to raise dogs in such a building.

    ¡°Let me talk about the Pekingese itself.¡± Zhang Zian picked up the Pekingese and told Deng Jie to look closely. ¡°Although there are many Pekingese outside on the streets, most of them are hybrids, and purebred Pekingese dogs are not somon.¡±

    The most important feature of a Pekingese was that the tip of its nose was almost at the same level of its eyes. Its big, damp, round eyes made it look very lively. On the other hand, it had long, soft fur that needed to bebed every day or two, or the fur would be very tangled. But the frequency of its bathing was very low ¡ª it only needed to be bathed once a month, especially when it was kept indoors.

    Deng Jie gently hugged the Pekingese in her arms. The little Pekingese stared at her, sticking out its tongue from time to time to lick its little nose.

    ¡°You are living in a rtively oldmunity, and there are asional burries, right?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Yes, thieves visit our district frequently and a lot of people have lost their belongings!¡± Deng Jie said with abhorrence. ¡°If I had enough money, I would have moved away a long time ago.¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Although a Pekingese is small in size, it is a very good watchdog and has great vignce against strangers. If a thief tries to invade your room from a window or a door, before you notice, it will bark loudly enough to scare off the thief,pletely different from a Samoyed or Husky that would smile at strangers.¡±

    There were several old districts around the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, and he had heard many times that thieves were scared off by small dogs like Pekingese or chihuahua, whilerge dogs turned out to often be useless.

    Deng Jie was touched. Why wouldn¡¯t she buy a puppy that could relieve herself and her husband from boredom, would be taken good care of at home, and could also safeguard her property?

    Liu Wenying also persuaded her, ¡°Sister Deng, hesitate no more! This Pekingese is perfect for your family! If I didn¡¯t already have a Siamese cat, I might also consider buying this Pekingese!¡±

    Deng Jie finally made up her mind. ¡°Okay! I¡¯ll take it!¡±

 Chapter 412: Having Lunch Together

    <h4>Chapter 412: Having Lunch Together</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When Deng Jie first intended to buy a pet, she had inquired her friends, colleagues, and rtives. Everyone rmended different pets based on their own experiences. There was nothing wrong with these suggestions, it¡¯s just that they hadn¡¯t taken into ount Deng Jie¡¯s actual situation.

    There was no universal principle, nor was there any pet that could meet the needs of absolutely everyone ¡ª not even the ever-popr Ragdoll kittens. Selecting a pet should be based on one¡¯s own preferences and situations, instead of following others¡¯ choices recklessly. If a person bought a pet that was not his or her favorite, then the trouble it brought would outweigh the fun, and it would be abandoned or given away by the owner in the end.

    Although Pekingese was amonly seen breed, it was very suitable for Deng Jie, so Zhang Zian decisively rmended this dog to her. Besides, Pekingese dogs were very healthy, so little money would need to be spent on medical treatment. If Deng Jie still hesitated, there was nothing he could help her with. After being urged by Liu Wenying, Deng Jie finally decided to buy the pure white Pekingese. When this matter was finally settled, she was relieved atst.

    In addition, she also bought the potty patch and other essential items for raising a dog. Although she did not intend to frequently bring the Pekingese downstairs to walk it in the neighborhood, she bought a leash just in case after being convinced by Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian exined that the leash could be used in ces other than just the outdoors. When teaching the dog to develop the good habit of using the potty patch, the Pekingese could be tied to it until it finished its business. If the Pekingese relieved itself somewhere in the house other than in the puppy patch, she could also tie it beside the patch as punishment.

    After all items were bought and the payment transfer waspleted, Deng Jie lovingly held the Pekingese in her arms. Finally, she had bought a healthy dog.

    Having been running around the shop the whole morning, Yue Yue was getting hungry and began to cause trouble. As lunch time was approaching, Liu Wenying invited Deng Jie to have lunch with her. She asked Deng Jie to leave the Pekingese in Zhang Zian¡¯s shop ande backter to pick it up after the lunch. Deng Jie joyfully agreed.

    When discussing where to eat, Zhang Zian rmended Uncle Li¡¯s store to them, saying that the food there was not only cheaper, but more sanitary than other restaurants, and that he had always bought food from there. When eating at restaurants with her daughter, cleanliness was the biggest concern for Liu Wenying, so she decided to check that ce out.

    Out of courtesy, they also invited Snowy to join them, but Snowy smiled and declined.

    Snowy did not despise small restaurants ¡ª she used to find small, interesting restaurants as her live broadcast locations and had tasted so much delicious food in such ces. She just was simply not interested in the topics that these women discussed at the dining table. Most importantly, she felt that the two ¡°enthusiastic¡± middle-aged women would certainly mention arranging blind dates for her¡­ and she had been annoyed by such a topic from her parents at home enough already.

    Zhao Qi wasn¡¯t interested either. Carrying two barrels of cat food, she found an excuse to leave and left quickly.

    Liu Wenying also bought two barrels of imported cat food for her friend. She decided to leave them in Zhang Zian¡¯s shop ande back to bring them home after lunch.

    It was nearly noon. Some customers had chosen their pets, while others hadn¡¯t decided yet and would need to go home and think about it. Gradually, the crowd began to disperse, one person after another.

    Luo Qingyu and the members of his photography club believed that they had gotten a lot of good photos today, nning to photoshop them when they were back at schoolter. Some of the cheeky members even asked Snowy to pose in front of them, but of course, she rejected them. The members had no malicious purposes, they just wanted to learn how topose portrait pictures featuring a pretty girl, but Snowy was not interested in modeling.

    Lea, Xiao Niu, Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff, and Gu Tianle already had pets, so they were here today to join the lively asion andmunicate with each other offline. They also had agreed to have lunch together, so after saying goodbye to Zhang Zian, they left the shop to go eat. Although they did not buy anything, at least the poprity of the pet shop increased on the Wang Haige forum thanks to their discussion.

    Lea seemed to have lost some weight. She was thinner than before, and with the makeup she applied today, she looked gorgeous. Xiao Niu was working very hard yet earned little, but at least his family members were well, and he did not want anything besides his pet, who made him happy. Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff had found a girl he liked, and was trying to win her heart. The stocks that Gu Tianle had invested in were expected to soar soon, so he was in good mood. The rtionship between Fried Mushroom and Outman was getting even better¡­ seeing them leave withughter on their faces and talking with each other, Zhang Zian was inexplicably envious of them.

    His small shop was growing gradually, and the customers who had bought pets here were on the right tracks of their lives. Zhang Zian felt so happy, as if the sunshine in winter had shone directly on him and warmed his body.

    Snowy¡¯s mother called her and urged her toe home quickly for lunch. Her mother¡¯s voice was so loud that even standing next to Snowy, Zhang Zian could hear her clearly. Snowy grimaced, waved goodbye to him, and hurriedly stopped a taxi.

    After standing in the doorway for a while, Zhang Zian went back into the store.

    Running all around the shop the whole morning, Wang Qian and Li Kun were exhausted. The number of words Lu Yiyun said just today was more than the sum of all the words she had spoken in the past six monthsbined, and her mind was numb. Towards the end, she could only answer the customers¡¯ questions mechanically by relying on her conditioned reflexes.

    Considering that another round of customers mighte over in the afternoon, Zhang Zian asked Wang Qian and Li Kun to stay here for lunch. He called Uncle Li and ordered a few takeout boxes from his restaurant.

    When their lunches were delivered, the rest of the customers smelled the scents of their meals and their stomachs began to grumble. They all left one after another, and the shop was quiet again. Zhang Zian invited Lu Yiyun to eat with them several times, but Lu Yiyun was still very shy and had her lunch alone at the cashier¡¯s desk ¡ª this was the first time she had eaten outside her home in at least six weeks, so for her, eating here was a great improvement.

    While eating, Wang Qian and Li Kun excitedly talked about the customers from the morning. They also knew the clients from the Wang Haige forum, so they had learned a lot of new gossip from there.

    Zhang Zian was absent-mindedly listening to them while putting the food into his mouth.

    During the meal, his cell phone rang.

    Seeing that it was Sheng Ke, he immediately answered the phone.

    Since they had just met that morning, Sheng Ke omitted the greeting and said directly, ¡°Mr. Zhang, I have an inquiry for you¡ªif you want to attend the audition, go Binhai Studio at 9:00 a.m. the day after tomorrow. I¡¯ll be there waiting for you.¡±

 Chapter 413: A Bird Flying in the Strong Wind

    <h4>Chapter 413: A Bird Flying in the Strong Wind</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The craze brought by the reopening ceremonysted throughout the entire weekend, and almost half of the pets in the shop had been purchased by customers. On Sunday, many more customers came and wanted to see the Abyssinian Cats dance.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun opened the Wang Haige forum in their cell phones and showed Zhang Zian that the keywords ¡°Amazing Fate Pet Shop¡± and ¡°Abyssinian cats¡± were trending in the pet area. Numerous curiousizens had asked where this pet shop was and wanted to see the kittens dance for themselves.

    The keywords weren¡¯t just trending on the forum, however ¡ª they were also trending on Weibo. Not only were the residents in Binhai City interested, but people living in nearby cities were also intrigued by the pet shop and the dancing cats. Some people even imed that despite the distance, they would drive to Binhai City and visit the pet shop to have an eye-opening adventure.

    The fever had faded by the end of the weekend. After all, most of the people who were interested in high-end pets were young office workers, and no matter how much they were into pets, they must go back to work to support themselves.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were exhausted after the busy weekend. Zhang Zian decided to give them a day off on Monday so that they could have a good rest and recharge their batteries to prepare for another high-volume rush the next weekend.

    It was now Monday morning.

    Sheng Ke had agreed to meet him at Binhai Studio today. Zhang Zian knew that Sheng Ke was very busy, and he wondered why he would choose to meet on Monday, a day on which he should be extra busy.

    In any case, he got up early as usual¡ªhe was awakened up by the chilliness, precisely speaking.

    The good weather from the weekend hade and gone. When he opened his eyes in the darkness, he heard a whining sound outside the windows, like a strong wind was blowing. Amazing Fate Pet Shop was an old-fashioned structure built twenty years ago, and there were noticeable gaps under the windows. Every time there was wind whistling outside, some wind would pour in. Right now, the curtains were undting, and the chilly air was blowing against his face.

    When he didn¡¯t see Richard on the clothesline, he knew that it was absolutely sleeping under his clothes. He didn¡¯t bother to scold it anymore¡ª it was useless. Richard was so brazen that it would only respond with foulnguage. He just wished it had wiped its buttocks before going in¡­ He was wearing a sweater today, and the sweater was neither easy to wash nor easy to dry, and it was troublesome to rub off bird droppings.

    Zhang Zian sat up from the bed to put on his clothes. He picked up the sweater. There it was Richard, lying on its back, its wings twitching from time to time. He sniffed the sweater, and fortunately he did not smell the stench of bird droppings, otherwise he would have opened the window and thrown Richard out, letting it experience being a bird flying in the strong wind¡­

    Fina, Snowy Li and Old Time Tea were still sound asleep. Gxy had woken up as he sat up, winking at him with its silver-gray eyes and silently saying. ¡°Good morning¡± before it pulled open the door and went downstairs. Famous was also awake, lying under the nket and nkly watching the dim night light.

    When it heard Zhang Zian wake up, Famous stood up and shook its fur, looking at him with anticipation. From the moment Famous heard that it was going to audition today, it had been restless. It stopped drinking its favorite red wine and lost it appetite, just like a soldier heading to the battlefield.

    Zhang Zian nodded at it, meaning that it should rest reassured ¡ª the original n remained unchanged. Even if it was windy today, he would take it to the audition. Famous, after all, was a dog, and constantly being indoors was not good for it. It needed to run around in the space outside to vent out its excessive energy, otherwise it would be upset. Of course, Zhang Zian knew that there were other things causing its dismay too, so whether it would pass the audition today or not, it was time to take Famous out for a walk.

    Since he gave Wang Qian and Li Kun a day off, Zhang Zian had to go downstairs to clean the cat litter and dog feces by himself. Fortunately, half of the pets had been sold, so it was a lot easier to clean the shop. When he had just roughly finished cleaning, all the other elves had woken up and came downstairs.

    Before he realized it, Richard had fluttered its wings andnded on his shoulder, ¡°Quack! Do you want to hear me recite a poem to start the day?¡±

    Zhang Zian immediately denied it, ¡°Nope.¡±

    Richard stared at him speechlessly. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to keep the conversation going.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m in no mood to talk to you. You are just going to insert some dirty jokes in the poem, aren¡¯t you?¡± Zhang Zian angrily picked up a rag and threw to cover its head, ¡°Go to work! Take this piece of rag to wipe the cashier desk and disy cases.¡±

    ¡°Quack! This is not fair! Why don¡¯t you ask thosezy cats to work?¡± Richard tried to get out of the rag and mumbled.

    ¡°Because they do not talk nonsense.¡± Zhang Zian uttered the truth, ¡°You are the noisiest one!¡±

    ¡°Okay, fine. Since the first day I came here, I have known that you prefer cats to birds. You idiot, one day you will pay for your snobbish attitude!¡± Richard shouted.

    ¡°Why are you saying?¡± Famous heard its threat and ran over, waiting for Richard to give it an exnation.

    Richard peeked at Famous¡¯s fangs and red tongue and decided it would be better to shut up and wipe off the desk¡­

    Zhang Zian almostughed his a** off! He knew from the very beginning that Richard would bring scourge to itself because of its loquaciousness.

    Richard flew to the cashier desk, clutching the rag to wipe the desk barely clean.

    Zhang Zian did not expect it to do a good job cleaning, and Lu Yiyun would wipe the desk again anyway. She was a girl who liked good hygiene, and every night before going home, she would clean the desk, and she would wipe the desk down again the next morning, even cleaning the gaps between the keys with a small piece of rag.

    Fina yawned and came down from the second floor. She jumped onto her exclusive tier of the cat tree and continued napping. Sometimes, Zhang Zian wondered why it even bothered toe downstairs instead of just sleeping upstairs¡­ Snowy Li came down after Fina. Among all the residents in his pet shop, Snowy Li probably had the best cold-resistant ability.

    Old Time Tea was still lying with its forepaws folding into its chest in front of the TV, watching the news enjoyingly.

    While listening to the weather forecast, Zhang Zian heard the host estimate the decrease in temperatures. The highest temperature during the day would drop below 5 degrees Celsius, and the nighttime lowest temperature will drop to -10 degrees Celsius. Soon, the water will start to freeze.

    Zhang Zian intended to take Famous with him to the audition today. On such a cold and windy day, Fina absolutely was unwilling to go out, for its fur would be disheveled by the wind. If Fina didn¡¯t go, it was certain that Snowy Li wouldn¡¯t go either. Gxy was afraid of people, so it can¡¯t go. And it¡¯s unnecessary for Old Time Tea to go with him. So, why not just let them stay warm at home?

    When he pulled open the shutter door, he saw that Lu Yiyun had been waiting outside, stamping her feet to fight against the chilliness.

    ¡°Come in quickly. It¡¯s freezing outside, isn¡¯t it?¡± Zhang Zian quickly pushed open the ss door to let her in.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that bad¡­¡± Lu Yiyun pretended to be strong despite the fact that her face was extremely pale. Since she hadn¡¯t taken off her coat long after entering the pet shop, Zhang Zian could tell that she was really cold.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be here so early, there are no customers yet anyway.¡± Zhang Zian said, ¡°You could have arrived half an hourter.¡±

    Lu Yiyun shook her head, ¡°It¡¯s okay, I like toe here early to draw.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just afraid you will catch a cold! I¡¯m warning you, I won¡¯t grant your request off easily!¡± Zhang Zian warned her in a joking manner.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, are you going to Binhai Studio today?¡± After a moment, a little redness finally restored to her face.

    ¡°Yes, in such a bloody bad weather.¡± Zhang Zian looked outside, and saw that all the passers-by were struggling to walk in the chilliness, their faces looking pale.

    ¡°In other words, am I going to have to be here all alone today?¡± she whispered.

    Zhang Zian looked at her, ¡°Are you scared?¡±

    ¡°No¡­¡± Lu Yiyun¡¯s face clearly indicated that she was frightened, but it was him she feared. ¡°Mr. Store Manager, I want to¡­¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Zhang Zian thought she had something particrly difficult for her to speak of.

    She muttered, ¡°Today I¡¯m here alone. IfI want to bring my cat with me sometimes, can I?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ this is what you want to say?¡± Zhang Zian was dumbfounded yet relieved, ¡°Of course you can, there are so many cats here.¡±

    ¡°Great! In fact, I have brought¡­¡± Lu Yiyun was carrying a backpack today, she turned around, opened the bag a little bit. A small beige head stuck out. It was her hybrid cat Jasmine.

    She bowed and apologized, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I took it with me without letting you know in advance¡­ Jasmine, say hello to the manager.¡±

    Jasmine seemed to be as timid and shy as its owner. After muttering a weak meowing sound, it withdrew its head into the bag, revealing only a pair of eyes.

    After seeing the kittens in the shop dance, Lu Yiyun hoped that Zhang Zian could teach her Jasmine to dance¡ªeven if it couldn¡¯t master ballet, even ordinary dance moves would do.

    In her mind, it was difficult to teach kittens to dance. She even said she was willing to give up this month¡¯s wages, as long as Jasmine can learn dancing.

    Zhang Zian agreed to such a trivial request. For him, Lu Yiyun was a rare, talented, and indispensable artist for publishing content on his shop¡¯s WeChat public ount. As long as she was willing to stay here and work for him, He would even try to teach Jasmine ballet, let alone simple dance moves.

    Having his word, Lu Yiyun finally smiled with relief.

 Chapter 414: A Biting Dog

    <h4>Chapter 414: A Biting Dog</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After eating his breakfast, he had to wait for the elves in the store to finish their meals. Zhang Zian was ready to go out.

    Although Richard wanted like toe along, Zhang Zian figured that an audition was a very serious matter, and those shakers and movers in the film and television industry must be tough guys who might be annoyed by Richard¡¯s nonsense and then disqualify or give a low score to Famous. In the end, he decided to leave Richard at home.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun would note today, and Lu Yiyun believed that she was going to be alone in the shop. In fact, she was not alone, for there were a few elves here with her, so Zhang Zian was not worried about that. Even if her clumsiness caused customer dissatisfaction, without such an employee, Zhang Zian could only lock the door today, and there would be no customers at all.

    Before going out, Zhang Zian took a brush to run through Famous¡¯s fur andb fleas off of it, making Famous look more spirited ¡ª it was very important to impress the judges at the audition. Famous was very obedient. It not only remained still during the brushing, but also specifically asked Zhang Zian tob through the furs on its head and face with a smaller brush.

    ¡°If you still want to go to the audition, there¡¯s something I need to tell you,¡± he said gravely,bing its fur.

    Famous gazed at him.

    ¡°Because of the dog raising regtions in Binhai City, for the safety of pedestrians, arge-sized dog must be leashed when going out in public, otherwise it will lead to unnecessary trouble, so¡­¡±

    It wasn¡¯t that Zhang Zian was worried that Famous would bite people. Famous was an elfin, not just an ordinary German Shepherd. He was afraid that someone would report him if Famous was seen outdoors without a leash. After all, a person in a high position was liable to be attacked. With his pet shop gaining momentum recently, it was easy to arouse jealousy from hispetitors.

    Famous looked at the colorful leashes in the pet supplies exhibition area. ¡°Those things?¡±

    ¡°Yes, just for show,¡± he exined, a little bit nervous. He wondered if Famous would be upset by this.

    Fortunately, there were no cat raising regtions in Binhai City yet. If anyone tried to put a leash on Fina, it would be aplete tragedy for that person¡­ As for Old Time Tea, it would definitely fight against anyone who touched it with its Wing Chun Kung Fu.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Unexpectedly, Famous agreed quickly.

    From the pet supplies area, Zhang Zian carefully selected a ck leather cor and a light gray nylon leash. A ck leather cor would be hard to differentiate from Famous¡¯s ck neck, thus protecting its pride.

    ¡°How about these?¡± He ced the cor and the leash in front of Famous, asking for its advice.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Famous looked up and stretched its neck so that Zhang Zian could put the cor on.

    The cor could be fastened too tight ¡ª a gap at least two fingers wide must be left between the cor and the neck, otherwise the dog will be ufortable and it could suffocate.

    The set actually looked quite good on Famous. The ck cor and the silver buckle made it look even more mighty.

    For fear that Famous was ufortable, Zhang Zianforted it, ¡°It¡¯s okay. When you retrieve your origin and remember your real name, you can go out in the invisible state, so you will no longer have to wear these.¡±

    Famous contemted for a moment, shook its head and said, ¡°It does not matter, I feel like I have worn a cor before, and there is a very familiar and cordial feeling from wearing the cor. So be it.¡±

    Zhang Zian carefully observed the fur on its neck. It seemed that there were indeed traces of being pressed there before, probably from wearing a cor.

    When he had gotten everything ready, Zhang Zian brought the dog raising license with him too, just in case. He said goodbye to Lu Yiyun, telling her about some precautions, and told her to call him should anything happen. Lu Yiyun waspletely immersed in painting, and without looking at him, she just nodded lightly a few times. He wondered if she had listened to what he just said.

    Pulling open the ss door, the cold air poured in. Fina was awakened from her nap, angrily ring at him with denouncement. Richard¡¯s feathers fluttered because of the wind, and it almost fell off the bar¡­ Before they lost their tempers, Zhang Zian quickly left with Famous, and then closed the door.

    It was damn cold outside. Zhang Zian tightened up his clothes, stretched out his hand and stopped a taxi.

    Worrying about being bitten by the dog and that the dog¡¯s feces would ruin his car, the driver was reluctant to take Zhang Zian¡¯s order. Zhang Zian tried his best to persuade him, guaranteeing that Famous would not bite and that he would shorten the leash all the way. If it ruined his taxi, Zhang Zian was willing to pay for the loss, He even told him that he was the owner of this pet shop, so if he didn¡¯t keep his word, the driver could alwayse back and find him here. The driver finally agreed to let them in.

    After getting in the taxi and hearing that Zhang Zian was destined for Binhai Studio, the driver¡¯s face brightened a little. Because Binhai Studio was located on the outskirts of the city and there were no direct bus routes there, he could earn a lot of money going back and forth to that area.

    ¡°So, you are taking your dog to the audition?¡± the driver stared at Famous in the rearview mirror.

    Zhang Zian was surprised, ¡°Mister, do you know about the audition?¡±

    ¡°Of course. Drivers exchange information all the time. I remember some people told me that recently they have been taking lots of German Shepherds to Binhai Studio. Some German Shepherds are raised privately, some are from kennels or pet shops like yours, and some are raised by the government¡­ with so many dogs being sent over there, they are probably all aiming for the audition¡­¡±

    Seeing that Famous was really very quiet, did not bark, and did not reveal its teeth to look scary like ordinary German Shepherds, the driver was somewhat relieved.

    ¡°So there are many dogs attending the audition?¡± Zhang Zian felt that the chance of Famous getting selected was slim.

    The driver chuckled to himself, ¡°Everyone goes there with the same purpose, right? When a dog is selected to star in the movie, the sry naturally belongs to the dog owner. Not to mention that when the movie bes popr, all kinds ofmercials will line up seeking endorsements. The dog owner can lie in bed while making money!¡±

    This was indeed the truth, Zhang Zian thought. No wonder people were flocking to the audition ¡ª thepetition was presumably unprecedentedly fierce.

    The driver added, ¡°I was reluctant to drive you because I heard that a driver was bitten by a German Shepherd yesterday, and what¡¯s most infuriating was that the dog owner took off and ran away with his dog without paying the fare orpensating the driver¡­ as drivers, we just want to earn some modest fares from these trips, yet that driver was not only bitten by a dog, but also had to get a rabies vine from his own expenses. It¡¯s just not worth it!¡±

    Zhang Zian frowned. What a wicked dog owner!

    ¡°My driver friend called the police and has mobilized the drivers of the city to catch the man!¡± The driver shook his head and sighed. ¡°But I don¡¯t think it¡¯s possible. Where would we find him in such a big city?¡±

    There was nothing Zhang Zian could do, either. Every German Shepherd looked almost the same, and it was really hard to identify one from the other.

 Chapter 415: An Overnight Sensation

    <h4>Chapter 415: An Overnight Sensation</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    upying arge area, Binhai Studio was located in the suburbs where pavilions,kes, forests and even some wild animals were visible everywhere. The project of Binhai Studio had gained support from the current administration, and as a measure to boost the development of local tourism and film-rted industries, consecutive green lights had been given to the project from the beginning of its construction. Since it was built to attract tourists from other film and television bases across the country, the rent here was also cheaper, sessfully drawing a lot of film crews to this area, and the crew of Dog Warrior was one of them.

    When Zhang Zian went to college, the trace of Binhai Studio was barely seen, and it had been built up before he realized it.

    The driver told him a lot of gossip about Binhai Studio on the way, and constantly cursed the German Shepherd that had bitten his friend and its unscrupulous owner, with a hint of jealousy. It seemed that if he had his own German Shepherd, he might bring it to the audition to give it a try himself. If he seeded, thepensation he earned from the movie would be equal to so many years of his sry from driving a taxi. Not to mention the benefits from the subsequentmercials.

    Soon, the taxi arrived at the periphery of Binhai Studio. Zhang Zian paid the full fare, and got out of the car with Famous.

    Just then, another person who was dejectedly holding a German Shepherd intended to leave and got into the same taxi. It seemed that his audition hadn¡¯t gone well.

    The German Shepherd he was holding was a female dog that was very interested in Famous. It tried to pull away from its owner and run to Famous. The owner dragged the leash with full force to pull it back to the taxi.

    ¡°Hey, buddy, was the audition difficult?¡± Zhang Zian tried to talk to him. It was better if he could get some inside information and prepare for the audition.

    However, this person was depressed and obviously did not want to speak. He shut the door, told the driver a name of a ce, and the driver drove away with him.

    Zhang Zian felt confident in Famous¡¯s skills to initiate conversations. He knew that in the taxi, it must have been very difficult for Famous to keep its mouth closed, which was against its own nature, so as not to scare the driver¡ªalso further illustrating that Famous was very reasonable, unlike Fina who always deemed herself the best in the world.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang! Over here!¡±

    Before he had time to carefully look at this new film and television base, Zhang Zian heard Sheng Ke beckon to him from afar.

    ¡°Coming!¡±

    Zhang Zian trotted towards him with Famous.

    As only the main body hadpleted construction, and the surrounding facilities had not yet been finished, the periphery of Binhai Studio was surrounded by wilderness, with only some wilted hay beneath the snow. The wind was particrly strong here.

    Sheng Ke was curled up in the police vehicle. He wore a police uniform with a green military greatcoat outside, the standard outfit for extras in film and television bases. When he got out from the vehicle, he immediately went numb from the freezing chilliness.

    His lips were frozen purple. Every time he opened his mouth, the cold wind poured into his stomach. He struggled to point to a gray courtyard in front of him, meaning that they should go and talk in there.

    The two of them ran into the yard with the dog. With a wall shielding off the wind, they felt a little warmer.

    Zhang Zian noticed that in the yard was stuck a piece of cardboard, which was rocking back and forth and would blow away at any time. On the cardboard was written the ce, phone number for registration, and the deadline for the audition for the cast of Dog Warrior.

    He was shocked. Damn! The deadline was yesterday! Was this trip going to be in vain?

    ¡°Captain Sheng, look at this¡­¡± He pointed at the deadline and asked Sheng Ke to look.

    Sheng Ke waved his hand, ¡°As far as I know, they have not picked the right dog, so the audition is still on. I¡¯ll lead you in, it will be fine.¡±

    Zhang Zian was assured to some extent. He was not worried that Famous wouldn¡¯t be selected ¡ª what he was concerned about was that this trip would turn out to bepletely futile, which would make Famous very disappointed.

    ¡°Captain Sheng, you must be very busy at work, how do you have the time toe with me today?¡± he asked, pulling the leash of Famous.

    Sheng Ke took him further inside the yard and said seriously, ¡°Today I¡¯m here to retrieve the police dogs of our team, and soon go to¡­ well, there is an internal action immediately, which require police dogs to be there.¡± He almost idently leaked secrets. Fortunately, he stopped talking in time.

    Zhang Zian knew better than to dwell on this issue. He asked, ¡°Why are your superiors so keen on participating in the film? For the pay?¡±

    Sheng Ke reluctantly shook his head, ¡°What are you talking about? Although the police force is not particrly abundant in funds, we are not that desperate for money. The main reason¡­ is to hope that in the closing credits of the film, the words ¡®Police dogs in this movie were provided by the Criminal Police Unit of Binhai City¡¯ can be shown, along with the names of the police dogs.¡±

    Sheng Ke tossed a ¡°you know¡± look to Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian suddenly realized that for Sheng Ke¡¯s superiors, it was not the remuneration that they cared about ¡ª the money would be confiscated by the government anyway ¡ª but the closing credits, which would add luster to their performance and achievement.

    He thought for a moment and wondered, ¡°As far as I know, animal actors in Chinese movies are not usually mentioned specifically at the end of the films.¡±

    Growing up in a pet shop since childhood, Zhang Zian had always loved watching animal-rted movies. He remembered that the Chinese movie industry did not value animal characters very much, unlike in the movie and TV industries of Western countries, where the names of animal actors would appear directly in the list of closing credits. Therefore, there were no famous animal actors in the Chinese film industry. Even if an animal had a stunning performance in a movie, people did not know its name.

    For example, in the BBC version of Sherlock Holmes, in the episode Sign of Four, a dog named Toddy who helped Sherlock Holmes got its name shown in the closing credits. Not only had its name, Toddy, been shown, but also the name of the dog trainer, Ben Woodgate, could be found easily as well.

    Sheng Ke had expected such a question, and he immediately replied, ¡°It is said that this film will be different, in which it is learning from the humanistic care from the western film industry. Not only the dog¡¯s name will appear, but the name of the trainer and where the doges from will also appear in the titles and endings of the film. So, not only my superiors, but also somerades in our police dog training base are very keen on this matter¡­¡±

    Atst, he sighed.

    Zhang Zian could rte to his sense of helplessness. At the end of the day, what people pursued was nothing more than fame and fortune.

    He understood why so many pet shop and kennel owners were crazy about the audition. Imagine what it would be like if words, ¡°The starring role of this film is provided by the Amazing Fate Pet Shop in Binhai City¡± appeared in the closing credits of the film?

    It would be an overnight sensation!

    Without costing a penny, the kennel and pet shop owner would make its business known by audiences both home and abroad¡­

    For fear that Zhang Zian might have unrealistic expectations, Sheng Ke added, ¡°Of course, you must realize that even for new human actors, the remuneration is not very high, let alone a dog¡­ so the sry might not be very much.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. What matters is the process of participation.¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled. Although it seemed that Famous was confident in its own strength, Zhang Zian understood that in China, being talented did not necessarily guarantee a role in a film, and there were plenty of hidden rules when it came to deciding the cast.

    The two of them talked and smiled and walked into a small two-story building in the courtyard.

    As soon as they walked in, someone who looked like an employee stopped them, nced at them, and asked, ¡°Are you here for the audition? Do you have appointment?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Sheng Ke replied. ¡°Myst name is Sheng, this is my friend, whose surname is Zhang, and this dog is called Famous, from the Amazing Fate Pet Shop.¡±

    ¡°Wait, let me check.¡±

    The employee picked up the walkie-talkie and whispered a few words, and then he raised his hand and said, ¡°Please go in, hurry up.¡±

    Sheng Ke did not hurry to go inside, but handed a high-grade imported cigarette to the employee and smiled, ¡°As I have heard, they have not yet selected a satisfactory dog?¡±

    Because he was wearing a military greatcoat, the employee could not see the insignia on his shoulder and was unaware of his police rank. The employee just thought he was an ordinary police officer, and he took the cigarette bluntly.

    Sheng Ke also took out a cigarette and put it into his mouth, lighting the cigarettes for himself and the employee with a lighter.

    The staff took a deep breath, and then choked and coughed repeatedly, ¡°This cigarette is freaking strong!¡±

    He puffed twice and replied, ¡°No, the director has not yet selected a satisfying dog. That¡¯s why we have prolonged the audition.¡±

    Puffing the cigarette, Sheng Ke felt like his body was warming up a little bit. He winked at Zhang Zian, meaning to say, ¡°Told you¡±.

    The employee breathed out a bunch of smoke rings, then said, ¡°However, I heard that today is thest day, and the producers have been pushing us so that there is no way we can prolong the audition any more. The funds, equipment, and actors are already in ce, we can¡¯t afford to consume our days on this matter. The crew will have to spend more than ten million RMB of the budget every day we prolong the auditions.¡±

    Putting the cigarette in his fingers, the staff pointed to Sheng Ke and Zhang Zian, ¡°You are thest group to attend the audition.¡±

    Zhang Zian felt lucky that he hade here today. If he hade anyter, this trip would have been in vain.

    The staffined about a lot of grievances that had umted in his heart. ¡°And those actors, even those unknown performers, have been yelling that they have tight schedules and urging the director to start shooting the film¡­ F**k! What schedules do they have? They are just attention seekers! Who do they think they are?!¡±

    Zhang Zian and Sheng Ke exchanged looks. This was a mixed blessing. The good news was that the director seemed to be an insistent and responsible person who could withstand pressure from actors and producers just to choose a satisfactory dog; but the bad news was that after auditioning so many dogs, still not one had been selected yet. Did that mean the director had surprisingly high standards for the dog he wanted? Coupled with the rumors that a lot of dogs that had participated in the audition had gotten injured, Zhang Zian worried about Famous.

    ¡°What if a non-satisfactory dog is chosen in the end?¡± Zhang Zian could not help but ask.

    The staff smoked thest puff of the cigarette and stepped out the burning ash, ¡°Then maybe we¡¯ll have to select one from the dogs avable now. Come on, let¡¯s go in ¡ª we shouldn¡¯t keep the director waiting.¡±

    Sheng Ke also stepped out his cigarette, and lead Zhang Zian into the audition hall.

 Chapter 416: The Director

    <h4>Chapter 416: The Director</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Please go home and wait for our notice!¡± said the assistant.

    Leading with his German Shepherd, a man asked hopefully, ¡°How was it? Did it pass? My dog ??is well-behaved, and it looks very good on camera. Even if it isn¡¯t be chosen to y a leading role, it should be able to y a supporting role, right? You need more than one dog to shoot a movie¡­ ¡±

    The assistant patiently repeated what he had just said and asked the man to go back and wait for the notice.

    Persuaded by the assistant, the man took his dog and walked to the door. Just then, the capricious man let go of the leash in his hand and ran back to the director, frantically kneeling in front of Feng Xuan, crying, and begging him, ¡°Director! Director Feng, I grew up watching your movies, I beg you to give me this chance! I just lost my job, and I have arge family to support. If I don¡¯t get this role, my family will starve to death! ¡±

    Feng Xuan was wearing a very expensive suit, but the suit was stained with soot and dust everywhere, plus with the numerous folds, the suit looked like it had been purchased from street stall. He rubbed his temples exhaustedly and did not bother to lift his head. He did not even want to say anything to the man in front of him. This person¡¯s performance was actually quite good, but today, the audition was about dogs.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t do this. You are embarrassing everyone. Please go home and wait for our notice, if your dog passes the audition, we will call to inform you,¡± said the assistant, ncing at the security guards on the side.

    The two guards forcibly pulled the man from the ground, one on either side.

    The man wiped away the tears he had just squeezed out. He still did not give up. He said, ¡°What if I am taking a bath or sleeping when you call, and do not answer the phone?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll call you over and over again until you pick up, and if you have not picked up, we¡¯ll be at your ce to find you. Haven¡¯t you left a lot of contact information, including your address? Please rest assured,¡± persuaded the assistant.

    Such things were toomon in the audition process. Women would behave in a pettishly charming manner, while men would sell their tragedies. Even the young assistant had grown familiar with these scenes, not to mention the well-experienced Feng Xuan, who had already be immune to such dramas.

    Everyone knew about the high sries of showbiz, so it was not strange that so many people were desperate to get even a supporting role in the movie, not to mention today¡¯s audition was to choose the protagonist, although the protagonist was not human.

    The security guards were also unlucky. They dared to pull at the man, but did not dare to pull at his dog. Who knew whether this dog would let strangers pull at its leash? Some dogs had been trained to only recognize their owners, and would bite anyone other than their owner that tried to touch them. During the audition process, there had been two or three security guards bitten by dogs. Fortunately, the crew was generous and covered the cost of the damages, otherwise no one would be willing to do this job.

    ¡°Take your dog, too,¡± reminded the assistant.

    ¡°Well, remember to call me, do not forget¡­¡± the man implored the director over and over again, and finally led the dog and left.

    ¡°Next!¡± The assistant went outside and shouted down the corridor, then went back inside again.

    ¡°How many are left?¡± Feng Xuan repeatedly flipped through a stack of pictures of various dogs ¡ª these were the candidates selected from the auditions. Although none of them could make himpletely satisfied, if no dog could be selected from the auditions today, he could only choose the best avable.

    The assistant looked at the tablet in his hand and replied, ¡°There is only one that has made appointment.¡±

    Most of Feng Xuan¡¯s previous films were about wars, and asionally some were about police and gangsters. He could be considered a senior director, who hadn¡¯t created specifically blockbuster movies, but none of his movies had received particrly bad reviews. This was closely rted to his principle of refusing to produce movies of poor quality and withstanding the pressure from all interested parties who tried to put people in the movies¡ªin any case, he must personally select the protagonists and the important supporting roles. Regardless of how powerful their influential friends were, those people could only y unimportant and small roles in his movies.

    His stubborn and tough gestures had offended a lot of people and he had not received appropriate films for a while, until the script for Dog Warrior was handed to him.

    He had read the script several times, and felt that the script was quite good. The plot was very inspirational and very touching, and because one of the producers was the Tie Dun Film and Television Center, the film would pass the censorship system smoothly and probably would be a blockbuster movie after it was released. Despite all this, he was not prepared to take over the film. The reason was very simple: the protagonist of the film and many of the important supporting roles were dogs.

    Feng Xuan had never shot any animal-themed films. The most animal-rted scene in any of his movies was the scene where Japanese soldiers used big yellow dogs to invade Chinese viges¡­ How he was supposed to make animals understand his intentions and interpret the plot of the movie, he had no clue at all.

    Though cinematographic skills and special effects could solve part of these problems, in the end they were not a permanent cure, just like how idols and young actors couldn¡¯t deliver the same emotions as veteran performers did. Experienced actors could vaguely release a specific meaning through a simple gaze or a slight movement,municating with the audience via the screen.

    Feng Xuan was over fifty years old, and he had two regrets in his movie career. One was that he hadn¡¯t filmed a blockbuster movie, and the other was that he had never cooperated with big-name, award-winning actors from the Western countries. He wondered what it was like to work with those actors.

    After reading the script for the first time, he had thrown it aside randomly. Because he was busy, he did not immediately return to the script, and then forgot about it.

    The next day, his wife saw the script when she was cleaning the house. She was thinking of bringing it to her husband, but then she became so immersed in reading it that she even forgot to prepare lunch. She loved animals like kittens and puppies, but she had stopped raising pets since the death of their previous Labrador. Before going to sleep that night, she handed the script to Feng Xuan, persuading him to take over the film, saying that even if it did not be popr, it would be a rare experience for him, and it was better for him to undertake the project than to let this excellent script be destroyed by other directors.

    Feng Xuan was moved by his wife¡¯s words. Coupled with the fact that he had no films to work on at the moment and the fact that it was boring to stay idly at home, the next day, he called the producers and agreed to take the film.

    Since he had promised to shoot the film, he thought he should do his best, and soon he began to contact the screenwriters to discuss making changes and adjustments to the script. His wife, a loyal fan of the story, also gave him a lot of advice. After the script had been finalized, theplicated work of pulling funds, selecting actors, and organizing a shooting team came one after another. However, he was ustomed to the shooting process. Using his own old team as the major crew, and having some young attractive actors and actresses jammed in by various influential friends, the staff was soon in ce.

    The obstacles lied in choosing dogs. The protagonist of the film and several important supporting roles were dogs. Where was he to begin? At the beginning, he asked the police dog training base of Binhai City for help. The training base was very cooperative, and almost brought all the police dogs over to audition. But Feng Xuan felt that these police dogs were trained to be too obedient. They were stiff andcked spirituality.

    So, he decided to conduct an audition facing the public. He must be serious about casting the protagonist.

    His wife not only liked kittens and puppies, but also liked to watch foreign animal films. It was she who had advised Feng Xuan to make the names of the animal actors and the trainers appear in the closing credits of the film. She said that there were many capable brains in society, and that doing this could attract truly capable trainers and talented dogs.

    Of course, the film itself required using police dogs, so only German Shepherds, the most representative breed of police dogs, were allowed to participate in the auditions. Since so many people were attracted to this, the audition became chaotic. During the few days when the crew began to rent the courtyard, barking sounds were heard frequently everywhere, and due to some dogs being poorly trained, a few people had gotten bit.

    Right now, Feng Xuan was regretting his decision to conduct auditions, and he even regretted taking over the film. But it was toote ¡ª he could only bite the bullet and do it now.

    Sitting next to Feng Xuan and co-presiding over the audition was Nie Yuan, director of the Tie Dun Film and Television Center, and one of the producers.

    Nie Yuan quite impatiently advised him, ¡°Lao Feng, there¡¯s no time to dilly-dally, I think these dogs are all about the same. I can¡¯t see many differences among them, just choose one.¡±

    Feng Xuan understood that Nie Yuan was trying to protect the producer¡¯s interests. If he prolonged the audition further, not only would a funding gap ur, but morale may even ck, and it wouldn¡¯t be surprising if the project came to a premature end. If producers suffered huge losses, Feng Xuan would be put on their cklist, and he would never get the chance to work on theatrical films with big-budget productions ¡ª he would be destined to only shoot Webisodes or indie movie like rookie directors¡­

    In the face of realistic pressure, he could only choose topromise.

    Feng Xuan reluctantly sighed, putting the stack of resumes down, ¡°Seems like it¡¯s the only way.¡±

    Upon hearing the obstinate Feng Xuan finally give in, Nie Yuan instantly stood up and happily said, ¡°Director Feng,e on! Let¡¯s go to have lunch, someone is treating us!¡±

    Feng Xuan looked at the watch and said, ¡°It¡¯s so early and far from lunchtime¡­ who is buying? Where are we going to eat?¡±

    Nie Yuan squeezed his eyes and grimaced, ¡°The public rtions department of Stars Pet Chain Supermarket. We are going to the most upscale restaurant in Binhai City.¡±

    Feng Xuan immediately frowned, waved and said, ¡°Director Nie, how many times have I told you? I will not let their dog be the protagonist just because they promised to sponsor the film. I want to be responsible for my movie. No, I¡¯m not going, you go yourself.¡±

    Nie Yuan urged him, ¡°Director Feng, haven¡¯t the auditions ended? Since you have to choose one dog as a protagonist, why not¡­¡±

    ¡°There is one more dog auditioning, isn¡¯t there?¡± Feng Xuan asked, looking at the assistant again, ¡°Why not let ite in?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯ll go take a look.¡± The assistant wondered if the dog owner had ked out on them.

    Just when the assistant had opened the door, he almost bumped into two men walking in from outside.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry we¡¯rete,¡± Sheng Ke smiled.

 Chapter 417: The Audition

    <h4>Chapter 417: The Audition</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian followed Sheng Ke into the room, and felt like he had entered a courtroom with two serious looking judges sitting in the middle, a few security guards in uniform standing on the side, and an assistant that seemed to be attending to legal matters.

    The assistant nced at his tablet and asked, ¡°Is the candidate from the Amazing Fate Pet Shop?¡±

    Nie Yuan recognized Sheng Ke, for he had seen him bring police dogs from the police force to the auditions several times. He smiled happily and approached Sheng Ke to greet him, ¡°Captain Sheng, what brings you here today? And who is¡­¡±

    Sheng Ke shook hands with him and introduced, ¡°This is my friend. I¡¯m taking him here to audition.¡±

    Zhang Zian introduced himself, ¡°I¡¯m Zhang Zian, and this is my dog, Famous.¡±

    As he spoke, he brought out the resume he had prepared for Famous. He used to write a lot of resumes for himself when applying for jobs, but it was the first time he had ever written a resume for a dog. There was a photo of Famous attached to the resume, and except for its gender, everything, including its date of birth, he had made up. In the column of honors, there was arge and embarrassing nk space, just like on Zhang Zian¡¯s own resume¡­

    Since Zhang Zian was escorted by Sheng Ke, Nie Yuan assumed that he had some internal rtion with the police force and did not dare to underestimate him. He warmly shook hands with Zhang Zian andughed, ¡°Great, you are thest one to audition. It is said that a finale must be a good show, and I am looking forward to seeing your wonderful performance.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I almost forgot to introduce you. This is the director of Dog Warrior. He is the famous Director Feng, a famous senior film artist. You must have seen movies directed by him before,¡± Nie Yuan introduced.

    This was a strange name to Zhang Zian, but Feng Xuan¡¯s face looked really familiar. He probably had seen him on television once or twice, and just didn¡¯t remember his name.

    Sheng Ke immediately responded enthusiastically, ¡°Oh, you are the famous Director Feng! Your reputation precedes you! I¡¯ve watched several of your movies! They are fantastic!¡±

    Feng Xuan did not get up, he just hummed lightly in response. He could tell that what Sheng Ke said was only out of hypocritical courtesy, so he didn¡¯t bother to continue the topic, but the expression of the young man next to Sheng Ke indicated that he genuinely didn¡¯t know who he was¡­

    The assistant took over the resume and handed it to Feng Xuan. Feng Xuan roughly looked at the resume that showed no exceptional achievements and was inevitably disappointed. He put it on the table, and looked at Famous behind Zhang Zian.

    Every German Shepherd looked alike, and Feng Xuan was just checking it as routine. But at first nce, he had noticed something different in Famous.

    Since entering the room and without waiting for orders from Zhang Zian, Famous had been quietly squatting on the ground with its mouth shut tight, neither revealing its teeth nor sticking out its tongue, unlike all the other dogs that had looked around curiously when they came in. And it was even more obedient than the well trained police dogs.

    Specifically, its eyes were totally different from those of the other dogs that had auditioned. Feng Xuan was unable to describe its eyes urately, but it seemed that there was a determined will in its eyes, and its gaze was calm and confident without any hint of threat.

    Feng Xuan had heard that when faced with unfamiliar dogs, it was best not to look directly into their eyes, for it was easy to provoke them this way and might cause them to attack, but no matter how long he stared at this German Shepherd in front of him, its gaze did not change.

    Looking at Famous, he suddenly realized¡ªwasn¡¯t this just like a performance from an experienced actor? It was as if it was releasing goodwill to the audience through its eyes and saying, ¡°Do not be afraid, I will not hurt you.¡±

    No, how was this possible? It was only an ordinary German Shepherd who had achieved few honors in its resume and had never been in a movie. Feng Xuan guessed that he was so desperate to choose the right dog for the movie that he was hallucinating that this dog could perform as a human actor did. Perhaps this was just a dog with a quiet temperament?

    ¡°Director Feng?¡± The assistant noticed Feng Xuan¡¯s strange expression. Thinking that he was ufortable, he came to pat his shoulder worriedly.

    ¡°What?¡± Feng Xuan shuddered and came back to himself.

    The assistant whispered and reminded, ¡°Director Feng, should we start the audition now?¡±

    ¡°Oh, right.¡± Feng Xuan wiped his face, took out the score sheet, and began to test Famous with the usual test methods.

    ¡°Please tell your dog to stand up.¡± He picked up the pen and said to Zhang Zian.

    Without waiting for amand from Zhang Zian, Famous stood up by itself, looking very energetic. Its fur, that had just beenbed through before leaving the pet shop that morning, was smoothly covering its well-developed muscles. Its legs were straight and steady, with its ears tilting about 30 degrees in Feng Xuan¡¯s direction, as if waiting for his instructions.

    Not only was Feng Xuan startled, but Nie Yuan and his assistant were too. They had seen many dogs these past few days, but they had never seen a dog that was able to obey orders from people other than their owners¡­ No, there was another dog previously that listened to strangers¡¯ instructions, but as it turned out, its owner had been quietly issuing signals to the dog, and pretended that it was listening to the instructions of strangers. Soon, the facade was exposed, for the dog had been looking at its owner every second.

    However, Famous was different. It was staring at Feng Xuan instead of Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Your dog can understand my words?¡± Feng Xuan couldn¡¯t believe it, and he asked Zhang Zian, ¡°Please answer this question truthfully, this is also a part of the audition.¡±

    Zhang Zian did not know whether he should be honest with him, he thought for a moment, and decided to withhold some information. He cautiously replied, ¡°It can understand somemon instructions.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s not easy either¡­ can I try?¡± Feng Xuan asked.

    ¡°Yes, but the instructions should be as brief as possible, not tooplicated.¡± Zhang Zian nodded and retreated.

    Feng Xuan tentatively said, ¡°Turn around?¡±

    Famous did not move.

    Feng Xuan was slightly disappointed. It seemed that this dog was just so-so. What it manifested before perhaps was only coincidence.

    Famous barked at Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Please try not to be ambiguous in the instructions,¡± exined Zhang Zian, ¡°If you want to make it circle around, please say ¡®circle around¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Well, circle around then,¡± Feng Xuan said with no expectations.

    Famous immediately executed the order, circling around and returning back to its original ce.

    Feng Xuan wondered if Zhang Zian thought he was an idiot.

    He thought for a moment and then said, ¡°Shake hands.¡±

    Famous trotted to the front of the desk, raising its forelimbs and standing upright, extending its right front paw to Feng Xuan.

    Feng Xuan opened his mouth in surprise. He moved his shoulder, trying to shake hands with it, but then Famous retreated its right front paw.

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    He froze, but just when he was about to ask Zhang Zian, he saw Famous extend its left front paw instead.

    Not until this moment did Zhang Zian and Sheng Ke notice that Feng Xuan was holding the pen with his left hand¡ªhe was left-handed.

 Chapter 418: Great Performance

    <h4>Chapter 418: Great Performance</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Just as Feng Xuan was watching Famous, Famous began watching him too. Famous realized that it might just be a coincidence that Feng Xuan had extended his left hand to take its resume, perhaps it was because his left side was closer to the assistant. So, it took this detail into its heart, and when Feng Xuan picked up a pen with his left hand, Famous was finally sure that he was left-handed.

    Although many left-handed people were ustomed to using their right hands for handshakes, most of them were still morefortable with their left hands. Therefore, Famous decided to deliberately extend its right forepaw first, withdraw it, and re-extend its left forepaw. Wasn¡¯t this how an audition worked? Demonstrating how different it was from other dogs, showing that it was stronger than any other dog, and impressing all the directors and producers with full force and defeating itspetitors was its goal.

    At other times, Famous could be modest and reserved, but at that moment in the audition, it had to use this unique talent to win the hearts of all the judges.

    Famous couldn¡¯t tell why it knew this. But when it entered the room, it seemed as if some familiar feelings had returned to its body. Maybe it had participated in auditions before¡­ but now was not the time to think about such matters. It was staring at Feng Xuan, engrossed, and waited for the next instruction.

    Among all the people present in the room, only his assistant knew that Feng Xuan was left-handed. As a new acquaintance, Nie Yuan did not know about this, not to mention Zhang Zian who had just walked in, so it was impossible for Zhang Zian to have prompted Famous secretly.

    Nie Yuan said with astonishment, ¡°What an amazing dog, it actually knew that I was left-handed¡­ Mr. Zhang, how did you train it? Does it have a unique talent?¡±

    Before Zhang Zian could speak, he heard Sheng Ke chime in, ¡°Director Nie, you are so funny. If it did not have some real skills, would I have dared to bring it here so brazenly?¡±

    Nie Yuan became even more surprised. He asked curiously, ¡°What kind of unique talent does it have exactly?¡±

    Sheng Ke smiled, ¡°That I can¡¯t tell you, because after all, his business relies on that. But what I can tell you is that not only is he a dog trainer, but also a famous cat trainer in Binhai City! The cats in his shop can dance to music ¡ª they can dance better than I ¡ª and don¡¯t be fooled by his fragile look. He is a real Kung Fu Master ¡ª even our police officers were impressed by his fighting methods! How about that, Director Nie, can you imagine?¡±

    When Famous got the limelight, it meant that Zhang Zian had also drawn attention to himself, which also indicated that as the referrer, Sheng Ke could also share the glory. Two days ago, when Zhang Zian asked him about the audition, Sheng Ke did not expect much because after all, Zhang Zian was a cat trainer and not a dog trainer, so he might have no advantage participating in the audition, but out of the purpose of returning Zhang Zian¡¯s favor, Sheng Ke helped him register for the audition. To his surprise, Famous was a blockbuster, shocking everyone in the room.

    Sheng Ke was constantly boasting about Zhang Zian¡¯s abilities, with the implication that since the crew was satisfied with this dog, they should quickly return all the dogs belonging to his police force¡­

    Feng Xuan mechanically shook hands with Famous while staring into its eyes and listening to Sheng Ke tout Zhang Zian. Then, he began to re-examine this young man in front of him. Not only had he done a superb job in training this dog, but he could also train cats, and also was a genuine martial arts master? If what Sheng Ke said was all true, then this young man was really incredible¡­

    The other resumes on the table seemed so ridiculous now ¨C the so-called glories of the past could not fully reflect the true abilities of the dogs and their owners at the present time.

    He remembered what his wife said, that there were a lot of brilliant talents hidden among ordinary people.

    ¡°What¡¯s your name again? It¡¯s Zhang Zian, right?¡± Feng Xuan¡¯s interest in Famous was partially transferred to Zhang Zian, with his tone bing more friendly and not as indifferent as when Zhang Zian had juste in.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°I run a pet shop in Binhai City.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so what Captain Sheng said is true? You can not only train cats and dogs, but are also a martial arts master?¡± Feng Xuan asked with interest.

    Zhang Zian bit the bullet and replied, ¡°Well¡­ it¡¯s true that I can train cats and dogs, but as for Kung Fu¡­ although I am fortunate enough to have a prestigious teacher to guide me, I have mediocre talents and I have numerous trivial things to attend to. I have only grasped a few moves, and I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m not qualified enough to im myself to be a martial arts master¡­¡±

    He had to admit that he could train cats and dogs; otherwise, there were too many aspects that were simply unexinable. As for Kung Fu, he was also telling the truth ¡ª without help from Famous, he was probably only slightly stronger than ordinary people.

    ¡°May I ask who your respected teacher is?¡± Nie Yuan said in an impromptu manner. ¡°Our Tie Dun Film and Television Center has connections with many famous martial arts specialists. Tell me, maybe I know your teacher, too.¡±

    How shameless! Of course you don¡¯t know him!

    Zhang Zian was secretlyining about him in his heart, but then he vaguely said, ¡°My Kung Fu teacher has admonished me again and again not to disclose his name. He doesn¡¯t want anyone to disturb his life, so I am afraid I cannot tell you.¡±

    ¡°This¡­¡± Nie Yuan was displeased, thinking that Sheng Ke had exaggerated a bit in his touting. Everyone in the martial arts circle paid particr attention to the session of teaching from a master to his disciples. If Zhang Zian did not dare to say his master¡¯s name, perhaps his was just a farmer in a vige iming to be Kung Fu Master. There were a lot of such people ¡­

    ¡°Well, Director Nie, brilliant talents are hidden among people. If he is unwilling to reveal his identity, you shouldn¡¯t force him,¡± Feng Xuan interrupted Nie Yuan¡¯s questioning, and spoke up for Zhang Zian.

    Feng Xuan found Sheng Ke¡¯s words somewhat credible, because after re-examination of Zhang Zian, he found that the young man was standing upright and firm, but not as rigid as a soldier. Chest up, eyes brimming with a radiating vigor, he walked briskly like the wind. Emanating energy from head to toe, he vaguely had the demeanor of a great master. Even if this young man didn¡¯t know Kung Fu, at least he had exercised his body well, which was very rare among young people nowadays.

    These details could be captured by Feng Xuan, but Nie Yuan didn¡¯t notice them. After all, Nie Yuan was a middle-level leader in the Tie Dun Film and Television Center who was responsible for administrative work like fundraising and sponsorships. It would be unrealistic to expect him, who was only asionally assigned to supervise film crews, to make such observations.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, we are supposed to to test some other simple instructions as well, but your dog is so good that it can probably skip this step¡­¡± Feng Xuan said, ¡°But I really want to know if it can do some moreplicated actions?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Feng Xuan looked at Famous, ¡°For example, ying dead.¡±

    Everyone except for Zhang Zian was staring at Famous, but it did not move.

    ¡°y dead.¡± Feng Xuan aggravated his tone and said again.

    Zhang Zian understood why Famous did not move. Feng Xuan¡¯s expression was not precise enough, so it couldn¡¯t implement the order.

    ¡°Director Feng, there are many kinds of ying dead,¡± he reminded. ¡°For example, shot to death, death by old age, hit by a car. You just said, ¡®y dead¡¯ vaguely ¡ª do you expect my dog to show every type?¡±

    Sheng Ke anxiously red at Zhang Zian. I¡¯ve bragged enough for you, stop boasting about yourself before the bubble bursts! thought Sheng Ke.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Feng Xuan wondered if this dog could actually perform different kinds of death.

    He thought for a moment, and decided to give it a try.

    Since Zhang Zian had mentioned death by gunshot, age, and car crash, then the dog had probably learned these beforehand. Feng Xuan would say a method that Zhang Zian did not mention.

    He stared at Famous and said, ¡°Die of illness.¡±

    Upon hearing his instruction, Famous¡¯s body shuddered. It bent its limbs slowly, lowering its head, weakly panting while lying on the ground.

    Was this its performance of death? Although it was not bad, it was much stronger than other dogs¡¯, but its ying dead was not as stunning as its handshake¡­ Feng Xuan felt disappointed again.

    However, this was only the beginning.

    ¡°Woo¡­¡±

    A low, deste whimper came from the throat of Famous. As if it could no longer support its body, its posture changed from lying on its belly to lying on its side on the ground, exposing its stomach.

    From the frequency of the rise and fall of its stomach, people could clearly feel its breathing was getting increasingly rapid and brief.

    Famous¡¯s mouth was slightly open, and its tongue had drooped onto the ground, with white foam flowing out alongside its tongue.

    Its eyes were half-closed and its body was no longer moving. Only its limbs twitched asionally, and it would sweep its tail from time to time to show that it had not quite died yet.

    Its eyes, looking at Feng Xuan, had gradually lost their sparkle. Mouth opening and closing, it seemed like it was expressing its attachment to this world.

    The room was surprisingly quiet. Everyone held their breath and watched the performance of Famous unbelievably. Nie Yuan even quietly pulled at Zhang Zian and whispered, ¡°Is it really sick?¡±

    Suddenly, Famous¡¯s eyes opened wide, its pupils emanating a breathtaking glory, and then it stopped breathing, and the glow dimmed and faded away¡­

    Famous had really stopped breathing. Its stomach was no longer undting, and even the dust near its nostrils was motionless.

    Zhang Zian looked at it as he had looked at Puppy on that day in the dog market. The dying of the Guangxi rural dog, including the look in its eyes, had been thoroughly recreated by Famous¡­ Zhang Zian suddenly felt that the look in the eyes of Famous was strange. This had gone beyond the scope of a ¡°performance¡± ¡ª he could almost say that Famous had been possessed by that Guangxi rural dog¡­

    Famous¡¯s performance was too real. Nie Yuan was somewhat panicked. With goose bumps all over his body, he pulled the assistant over and said, ¡°Is it really dead? Go check if it is dead. Touch its nose, see if it is breathing.¡±

    The assistant, who was dumbfounded, remained motionless even Nie Yuan had made hismand, as if he was afraid to interfere with this great performance.

    Was this even a dog? Even a person could not perform so vividly!

    Completely touched by this unparalleled acting, Feng Xuan thought about when his own Labrador died. Unknowingly, tears were falling from the corners of his eyes.

    Zhang Zian squatted down toplete the final step in the death performance. He closed its eyelids for Famous.

 Chapter 419: Harsh Test

    <h4>Chapter 419: Harsh Test</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian stood up from the side of Famous and asked, ¡°May I ask if the performance is over?¡±

    Feng Xuan came to himself and hurriedly said, ¡°It¡¯s over.¡±

    Hearing this sentence, Famous quickly stood up from the ground, opening its mouth and gasping. Holding a long breath to y dead just now, its body had beencking oxygen.

    Feng Xuan, Nie Yuan, Sheng Ke, the assistant, as well as the security guards present, were all silently focusing on Famous and Zhang Zian. They did not know what words can be used to express their feelings at this moment. The performance of this dog was f**king fantastic! How can he train the dog so well?!

    Zhang Zian could not forget the scene he saw just now. He doubted whether or not it was an illusion. Why were the eyes of Famous so simr to that of the dead Guangxi rural dog?

    After a long time, Feng Xuan controlled his extremelyplex moods, exhaled a long sigh and said, ¡°Well, I think this step of the test can stop here ¡­ what¡¯s your opinion, Director Nie?¡±

    Nominally, Feng Xuan and Nie Yuan were jointly presiding over the audition, so Feng Xuan should respect Nie Yuan in front of others.

    ¡°I have nothing to say, Director Feng, you have the final say on this.¡± Nie Yuan wiped the cold sweat on his forehead. He felt creepy about the vivid performance by Famous.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s move on to the back yard, where thest step in the audition will take ce, but it¡¯s extremely hard, your dog might even be injured in the test.¡± Feng Xuan stood up and tidied up his crumpled suit and said to Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian was anxious and he looked fearfully at Famous, while Famous just fearlessly responded, as if it was saying, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s no problem.¡±

    ¡°You know, we named this movie Dog Warrior, because it is a movie that features the guard dogs domesticated by frontier guards, and it is about these dogs¡¯ brave performance in mine clearance, fighting against drug trafficking and transnational crimes. So in the movie, there are inevitably scenes like battling with the enemies, car chasing, encountering danger in the wilderness, crossing through minefields etc. And in these scenes, a lot of fireworks and explosion effects will be used¡­¡± Feng Xuan said, ¡°So we must make sure that as the leading roles of the movie, the dogs must have the courage andposure instead of running away under the circumstance of mes and loud noises, do you understand?¡±

    Zhang Zian understood now why the crew preferred the police dogs. As it turned out, police dogs had taken part in real-life enforcement actions and that they were more determined and courageous than the ordinary German Shepherd. Even so, the crew still did not pick the dogs that made them happy, indicating that the test that followed will be enormously harsh.

    ¡°I see.¡± He nodded.

    Feng Xuan said approvingly, ¡°Among the dogs participating in the audition, usually only one in ten can make it to the final step. Your dog is the best one I have ever seen, I hope it can smoothly reach the finishing point.¡±

    The assistant handed over a piece of paper to Zhang Zian, ¡°Please sign this disimer.¡±

    Zhang Zian slightly nced at the paper. It was nothing more than saying that he had volunteered to participate in the test, and that he understood the test may be dangerous, and injury or even death may ur, and the crew did not bear any responsibility.

    In the face of the matter of life and death, he hesitated for a moment, reading out every word on the paper in a low voice. Others might think this was his reading habit, in fact, he was reading it to Famous.

    Without any hesitation, Famous loudly barked as its agreement.

    Zhang Zian bit his teeth, undersigned with his name and the date, and returned it to the assistant.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s go.¡± Feng Xuan said with satisfaction.

    The assistant fetched two green military greatcoats that were in the same style of the coat on Sheng Ke to Feng Xuan and Nie Yuan. They put on the greatcoats, waved at Zhang Zian and left first.

    Sheng Ke began to worry for Zhang Zian. Walking with him behind the judges, he pulled Zhang Zian and whispered, ¡°Are you sure? Don¡¯t push it too hard. This dog is so intelligent, if it were my dog, I would be reluctant to let it risk its own life¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head. He did not want this, but Famous insisted on doing so, he can only respect its wish. In a sense, he can understand Famous. He cannot imagine what it was like if his life in the past had be a nk, forgetting who he was, who his parents were, where he came from and where to go. It must be very painful not knowing anything about itself, perhaps it was even doubting the meaning of living its life. So no matter what, Famous was determined to find out who it was.

    They walked out from the back door of the small building and came to the spacious backyard. Surrounded by a tall wall, the backyard seemed like a prison.

    Entering the backyard, they heard several dogs barking.

    Beside the wall was a row of iron cages, containing more than a dozen of German Shepherd, with their barking echoing in the courtyard.

    ¡°Captain Sheng!¡± Someone shouted Sheng Ke¡¯s name and waved to him.

    Sheng Ke trotted towards them, ¡°Xiao Liu, Xiao Wang, are you still here?¡±

    Xiao Liu and Xiao Wang were also wearing the police uniforms and a military greatcoat on the outside. Probably they had been waiting here in the freezing weather for a long time, they were having running roses. They rubbed their hands and said, ¡°Yeah, the pyrotechnician says it is not easy to set up a scene and let¡¯s wait for thest dog to test together.¡±

    Sheng Ke felt sorry for his two subordinates and those police dogs closed in the iron cages suffering from cold. He quickly handed two cigarettes to them, let them smoke and warm up their bodies.

    Feng Xuan pointed at the cages closing more than a dozen of German Shepherd and said, ¡°You have heard of the movie Wolf Totem, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, the one based on the novel, right? The original novel and the movie were quite popr for some time, and I have watched it.¡± Zhang Zian responded.

    Feng Xuan nodded, ¡°In order to shoot the movie Wolf Totem, the crew set up a training base in Huairou, Beijing, and found hundreds of young wolves from across the country, and then hired trainers to train them. The training took up to a year and a half to allow the wolfs to adapt to the presence of cameras before shooting the movie. Among the hundreds of young wolves, 20 or so rtively understanding wolves were picked as the main actors, of which one or two gifted wolves became the protagonists.¡±

    ¡°So, these German Shepherd are ¡­¡± Zhang Zian felt he had understood something.

    ¡°Yes, these German Shepherd are the selected main actors, as to who can be the protagonist, depending on their ownprehensive performance.¡± Feng Xuan sighed, ¡°Our budgets are far tighter than the Wolf Totem crew, yet our shooting schedule is shorter than theirs, there is no way for us to train for a year and a half as they did, nor do we have money to build a training base, so people might suspect that our crew is eager for quick sess and instant benefits¡­but dogs are easier essible than wolves, in order to make the film a sess, we can only hope to find gifted dogs.¡±

    Saying this, he nced at Famous.

    Famous silently looked at over a dozenpetitors in the cages.

 Chapter 420: Pyrotechnician

    <h4>Chapter 420: Pyrotechnician</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Most of the films that Feng Xuan used to make were about the Anti-Japanese War, as well as a few urban police versus gangster films, but he had never shot films featuring animals.

    Since he decided to take over the film, he had to shoot it well, so he sent his assistant to collect some good movies and dramas about animals in recent years, and one of them was the movie of Wolf Totem, which was also his important reference source.

    The wolf was an animal that cannot be tamed¡ªthe theme of Wolf Totem was nonsense. Wolves were the most easily tamable animals and had been domesticated by different ethnic groups around the world as early as 15,000 years ago, or else where did so many different kinds of dogse from? Compared to the desert wildcats that were tamed by the Egyptians between 5,000 and 10,000 years ago, the domestication of wolves was much easier.

    Dogs and wolves had many simrities, for example, they were both gregarious animals, and within their social groups there were a strict hierarchy system, and both animals had high IQ and so on and so forth. Living in groups represented that they knew how to cooperate with each other to hunt and fend off their enemies; the hierarchy system allowed them to obey the powerhouse; their high IQ made them easier to understand the orders from humans¡­all of which had be the bases for their easy domestication.

    Feng Xuan had not only watched the film of Wolf Totem for several times, but also through his friends in the film and television industry he had attained the materials behind the scene to conduct a thorough and systematic analysis of the shooting of the film.

    During the analysis, he paid attention to one person in particr. This man was called Andrew Simpson, a professional wolf trainer from Britain, who had yed an indispensable role in the filming of the Wolf Totem.

    Feng Xuan again checked at Andrew Simpson¡¯s resume, which was really incredible!

    Not only was he a professional wolf trainer hired by the Wolf Totem crew, but also he had taken his wolves to the filming of Game of Thrones and The Revenant. Even in the movie of Operating Mekong, the eye-catching police dog Xiao Tian was instructed and trained by him.

    In the early stage of preparing for the movie Dog Warrior, Feng Xuan also considered calling Mr. Simpson to train police dogs for the crew, however, there were two problems preventing him from doing so¡ªfirst of all, the schedule issue. Andrew Simpson was currently in another crew and was not avable. Secondly, asking him to train the dogs will take some time, and the shooting cycle for Dog Warrior was already very short, and there was no extra tutoring time, so Feng Xuan was more inclined to find a dog that was able to put into work instantly.

    Feng Xuan once again looked at Famous. He had held great expectations on this dog because of its impable abilities in understanding, execution and acting. The perfect performance of ying dead was so natural that it almost seemed like it was truly dead. Even Nie Yuan had nothing to say¡ªthe better the dog¡¯s acting skills were, the lesser money will be spent on post-editing and special effects, thus saving money for the producers.

    The only thing that Feng Xuan wasn¡¯t sure was the gut of this dog. No matter how outstanding its acting skill was, if it fled when seeing mes and hearing explosion, it cannot be the protagonist of this action movie. Of course, it can y in the warm hearted family films. Ifter he heard any director intend to shoot family drama with dogs, he would certainly strongly rmend Famous.

    Feng Xuan¡¯s eyes fell on Zhang Zian.

    Compared to Famous, he was actually more interested in Zhang Zian who was able to train Famous so well. After all, if he can train Famous, it meant he can train more dogs. He silently looked at the back of this young man, with inexplicable thoughts emerging in his mind¡ªthis young man can not only train dogs but also cats, if he was willing to pursue long-term development in the film and television industry, the sky will be his limit!

    He sincerely hoped that Zhang Zian would be the Andrew Simpson of his crew and also be China¡¯s Andrew Simpson.

    ¡°Director Feng, should we start now?¡± The assistant walked beside him and whispered.

    ¡°Hm.¡± Feng Xuan answered. He turned around and looked around, but did not find the person he was looking for.

    ¡°Guan Biao! Where is Guan Biao?¡± He asked, frowning.

    ¡°Perhaps in the restroom?¡± The assistant did not see Guan Biao either, and he quickly shouted, ¡°Guan Biao! Master Guan! Where are you?¡±

    Only when the assistant shouted the third time did he see Guan Biao appear from a corner taking shelter from the wind.

    ¡°Coming!¡± Guan Biao ran over with his face glowing.

    At nearly forty years old, Guan Biao had a beer belly, but his movements were quite flexible. He used to work in mine sting, and due to an idental opportunity, he got to know Feng Xuan. He can be regarded as one of the regr team member of Feng Xuan. Whenever there were explosive scenes in the movies, Feng Xuan will always call him, and there¡¯s no exception this time.

    Having said that, Feng Xuan did not really like Guan Biao, because he waszy and was covetous of small gains, and especially because he would drink too much on asion. As a pyrotechnician, overdrinking was an unbearable behavior. Luckily, he did not drink during filming, although Feng Xuan did not like him, he still took Guan Biao with him.

    In fact, Feng Xuan had no choice. Pyroteching was a high-risk upation that earned little money yet was apanied by great danger. Fewer and fewer young people in China were willing to engage in this upation, many crews were even hiring pyrotechnics from the United States with high sry. At least Guan Biao was more reliable than other pyrotechnicians he did not know of.

    ¡°Master Guan, what are you doing? You keep the participants waiting here.¡± Feng Xuan said severely, feeling embarrassed after he heard the dialogue between Sheng Ke and the two young police officers.

    ¡°Director Feng, don¡¯t me me!¡± Guan Biao argued, ¡°The Studio has the regtions that if we need to use the sting, burning, me spurting and other props, we must report to the Studio three days in advance. I made the report at 11 a.m. And it¡¯s not 11 a.m. yet, is it? I was just taking shelter from the wind.¡±

    What Guan Biao said seemed reasonable and Feng Xuan can¡¯t refute him. He had to hold back the other reproaches and told him, ¡°Then go quickly prepare the set. It¡¯s almost 11 a.m. These are thest group of dogs in the audition. When this is finished, you can rest for a few days. ¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± Guan Biao swung his beer belly around and ran away, carrying out the final preparations before the sting.

    At this moment, Feng Xuan noticed that another person came out from the corner where Guan Biao was previously hiding. He knew this man, Yuan Fei, who was the chief dog trainer sent by the Star Group.

    With a cigarette between his fingers, Yuan Fei leisurely walked back to cage No.1, inadvertently looking at Feng Xuan¡¯s way, and then turned away his gaze. Inside cage No.1 was Neptune, the German Shepherd sent by the Star Group. Neptune was tall and mighty, purebred, and had disyed extremely highprehensive quality, and before the emergence of Famous, Neptune was the most promising candidate for the protagonist in the eyes of Feng Xuan and Nie Yuan.

    An ufortable feeling grasped Feng Xuan. What were Guan Biao and Yuan Fei talking about in that secluded corner? What had they done?

 Chapter 421: Crossing Fire

    <h4>Chapter 421: Crossing Fire</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    While Guan Biao, the pyrotechnician, was setting up the sting devices, Zhang Zian and Famous paid close attention to the situations at the venue. Covering a veryrge area, the backyard was almost equivalent to more than half of a football field in size. The ground appeared uneven, with weeds, mounds, rocks distributing everywhere. There were also huge bomb craters and puddles within them, with thin ice floating on top. It looked just like a simted battlefield.

    Close to the edge of the venue, there was a camera-shooting dedicated lift, on which a cameraman-looking guy was on standby status holding a camera and with a staff member standing under the lift to assist him. Zhang Zian thought this was what Feng Xuan was talking about, allowing dogs to adapt to the presence of cameras and videographers.

    The walls of the backyard were posted with green stickers, about the height of an adult man¡¯s chest.

    ¡°That¡¯s the green screen.¡± Feng Xuan introduced, ¡°You probably have heard about it, and although we are not really shooting movie right now, we still have to use it in order to simte the scene more realistically.¡±

    Zhang Zian had heard about it, but it¡¯s the first time he has seen the green screen.

    Feng Xuan called Sheng Ke and his two police officers toe over, pointing to the center of the venue and said, ¡°Can you see this marked out passage?¡±

    With Sheng Ke and his subordinates, Zhang Zian looked at the way and noticed the location Feng Xuan was referring to. There were twones marked out by green paint, with about one and a half meters distance in between, that were meandering to the end of the courtyard wall.

    ¡°All you have to do is to get your dogs to run down the passage, and when they¡¯re running, there will be fireworks and mini-sting around them, and through a hidden broadcast device, they will also hear loud noise of explosion. But they will be safe as long as they do not run outside the passageway.¡± Feng Xuan paused and added, ¡°Of course, if you feel it¡¯s too dangerous, it does not matter if you quit now.¡±

    Shing Ke pulled his two subordinates aside, whispering to ask them if they were sure about this, if not, they were fine to abstain. Xiao Liu and Xiao Wang were actually quite confident. Their dogs were well-trained, and they should have no problem running straight to the end.

    Zhang Zian did not ask Famous. It had heard what they were talking about, since it made no objection, it was also very confident. However, he saw some people standing beside the iron cages in the courtyard and watching towards this way.

    He felt embarrassed to disturb Feng Xuan, instead pulling the assistant who was almost at the same age with him and asked, ¡°Are those people also attending the audition? Why don¡¯t theye over?¡±

    The assistant nodded and said, ¡°Their audition has ended, they are here today waiting for the results.¡±

    He nced at the tablet he was carrying with and introduced them in turn, ¡°The dog in cage No.1 is Neptune from Star Group, and the trainer is Yuan Fei; and the dog in cage No.2 is ck Knife from Vientiane Pet Shop, and the trainer is Huang Mingyu; the dog in cage No. 3 is¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian recognized a familiar name¡ªnot the Star Group, but Huang Mingyu. He could not help but be surprised for a moment, keeping him from hearing to the rest of the words. He remembered that this man had tried to poach Wang Qian and Li Kun from him, asking them to steal the secret of cat training from him. Luckily, they rejected Huang Mingyu. Just like enemies that were bound to meet on a narrow road, they were running into each other again.

    The two German Shepherds sent from the police dog team of Binhai City were called Red Dragon and Prince. They were going to participate in today¡¯s test with Famous.

    A staff member brought a chair and asked Feng Xuan, who was over fifty years old, to sit down. Nie Yuan was standing beside him.

    Guan Biao breathlessly ran over, holding a remote detonator, he said, ¡°Director Feng, I havepleted theyout. The test can start at any moment.¡±

    ¡°Okay, are you all ready?¡± Feng Xuan looked at Zhang Zian and the two police officers in turn. ¡°If you are ready, take your dogs to the starting point and wait for my instruction.¡±

    ¡°Ready!¡± The two police officers answered in a loud voice. They led Red Dragon and Prince to the starting point and squatted down. Just like in the usual training, they gently reminded their dogs, pointing to the finish line, then took off the leashes on their necks.

    ¡°I¡¯m ready too,¡± said Zhang Zian, who also arrived at the starting point with Famous. Without saying anything, he untied the leash just as the two police officers did.

    At this time Feng Xuan noticed one thing, that Zhang Zian had never held the leash in his hand particrly tightly from beginning to end. In other words, Famous was just wearing the cor and leash for show.

    Guan Biao made a OK gesture to Director Feng.

    The cameraman on the lift also made a OK gesture.

    Director Feng boomed, ¡°Three-two-one ¡­Action!¡±

    Before Xiao Liu, Xiao Wang and Zhang Zian had even realized what was going on, Famous had dashed out like an arrow! Not until then did the two police officerse to their senses and hurriedly pat on the back of Red Dragon and Prince. Receiving the signals from their owners, Red Dragon and Prince also rushed out, but were already falling behind on Famous¡¯ trail for the length of at least three bodies!

    Although no one had ever said that the first dog reaching the end would be the protagonist, at least Famous had proved that its reaction was faster, and it can understand themand, without its owner¡¯s interventions.

    ¡°Come on, Red Dragon! Come on!¡±

    ¡°Prince, go, catch up with it!¡±

    Falling behind at the starting line, the two officers were holding grudges. They put their hands together around their mouths, shouting to encourage their dogs¡ªno one said this was not allowed.

    Red Dragon and Prince had proved themselves to be the excellent ones from the police dog team, not only did they have a high degree of obedience, but also they had been training diligently on a daily basis. In terms of physical fitness alone, it seemed that they were better than Famous. After dashing, the gap between them and Famous had been gradually narrowing down to the length of just two bodies!

    Zhang Zian did not yell anything, he was just silently watching the back of Famous from behind.

    In this situation, Sheng Ke was embarrassed. He was the superior of the two police officers, and Zhang Zian was his friend, so it was inappropriate for him to cheer for either side. Although he did not want the police dogs to participate in filming, he didn¡¯t want them to lose to an unfamiliar dog¡­so he had to squat down, without helping either side.

    On the other side of the venue, Yuan Fei and Huang Mingyu were also closely watching the three dogs. Their dogs were also vying for the protagonist, so they certainly hoped that these three dogs failed to pass this test.

    Hiss¡­hiss¡­

    Guan Biao pressed the button,unching the smoking device hidden among the venue. Blowing by the wind, the blue and white smoke had quickly blurred the figures of the three dogs.

    Although this was a simted battlefield, it¡¯s not a genuine battlefield after all. The smoke looked powerful, but in fact it was not choking, bringing no significant impact on the three dogs, who were still rushing straight towards the end.

    Seeing their dogs were about to catch up with Famous, the two police officers shouted even harder, almost breaking their vocal cords..

    However, their voices were immediately overwhelmed by the huge noise as if a tsunami were erupting!

    ¡°Whoosh¡ªboom!¡±

    ¡°Boom!¡±

    Huge sounds of explosion, which were simting the sounds of cannonballs falling through the air and exploding on the ground, were so close as if the noises were heard from near their ears. The earth was shaking, the dogs seemed to be put in the real battlefield.

    Although the two police dogs were well-trained and had also participated in several rounds of rounding up operations, they were, after all, police dogs rather than military dogs, and few military dogs had even been actually ced in real battlefields. The huge explosion had shaken their minds, and they had significantly slowed down, no longer dashing towards as if their feet were not touching the ground. Instead, they were repeatedly switching between running and walking, and they even asionally stopped, looking back as if to seek help from their owners.

    In the cold wind, the two police officers were so anxious that they were drenched in sweat, itching to hold their dogs to run forward.

    On the other hand, Famous had also slowed down and stopped dashing. It seemed like Famous was also disturbed by the explosion. However, it did not look back, nor did it pause. It just continued moving forward.

    There¡¯s confusion in its eyes and it was not focusing on anything, it just ran forward mechanically. There¡¯s only one goal left in its mind for the time being¡ªrushing to the end to win this role.

    However, the hazy smoke, the tremor of the earth, the hoarse and exhausted shouting¡­all these had vaguely brought back some memory to it. Something very far yet friendly.

    It was not afraid of the smoke and the loud noises, on the contrary, it seemed to be back where it should be, with the blood all over its body afire with passion!

 Chapter 422: Foreshadowing Crisis

    <h4>Chapter 422: Foreshadowing Crisis</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Crossing the center of the venue, Famous was in the leading position with Red Dragon and Prince falling behind with more than four-bodies in length, and the gap seemed to be increasing. The crew was manipting the lift, and the videographer zoomed in the camera and take close-up shots of the three dogs alternately.

    Feng Xuan was sitting in a chair, and the assistant gave him the tablet where the images were transmitted to the screen in real time, allowing Feng Xuan to observe the status of the three dogs.

    The actions and expressions of Red Dragon and Prince had shown that they were struggling, only being able to run a bit forward after they looked back at their owners, as if gaining some sort of strength from them. At least, they were still going forward. In this aspect alone, they were stronger than average dogs, proving themselves to be the elite police dogs selected by the police force.

    Instead of focusing intently on the front, Famous seemed to be shaking its head slightly and looking around, as if seeking for or defending against something.

    Seeing that their own dogs were falling further behind and may stop running at any time, Xiao Liu and Xiao Wang used their wit toe up with a solution.

    ¡°Red Dragon! Red Dragon! Come on!¡±

    ¡°Prince! Prince! Come on!¡±

    Instead of cheering for their own dog solely, the two men cheered for the two dogs in unison, their voices were much louderbined, so loud that even all of the noise from the venue couldn¡¯tpletely overwhelm theirs.

    Red Dragon and Prince suddenly became energetic, as if injected with a stimnt, they started to bark and rush forward with full force, and almost in the blink of an eye, they had shortened the distance between them and Famous!

    Guan Biao narrowed his eyes to estimate the speed of the three running dogs. His meaty fingers on the remote detonator moved away from the ¡°sound¡± and ¡°smoke¡± buttons to a series of ¡°sting¡± buttons.

    Battlefield.

    Famous had forgotten that it was auditioning, but felt like it had returned to the smoke-filled battlefield, implementing an important search and rescue or message delivering mission alone during the intense fight against the enemy. It seemed very familiar with the ruthless battlefield.

    Speed was not important on the battlefield; it was survival that mattered. Whoever made it to the end was the victor.

    As Famous ran, it observed the mounds, puddles, rocks, and bomb craters in front of and around it. Theseplex terrains possibly contained hidden traps, and an enemy sniper may emerge at any time to end its life with a shot.

    Famous heard paws rubbing on the surface of the ground and breathing, and even heard grass snapped and pebbles kicked off. It knew that two creatures of its same kind were behind it trying to catch up with it.

    It looked back and barked, trying to remind them if they kept running at full speed, they would not be able to avoid danger if any, and they couldn¡¯t elerate to escape. However, they did not seem to understand it, nor did they care at all, shortening the distance to half a body, and appearing on the left side of it.

    Two police dogs had run past two-thirds of the venue, shortening the distance fromgging behind three-bodies length at the beginning to now almost running alongside with Famous. The finish line was far in sight, but with this trend, it was only a matter of time before they surpassed Famous.

    The two police officers were overwhelmed with excitement. Even Sheng Ke, who was squatting on the floor, stood up and could not help but join in their cry.

    ¡°A little faster! Red Dragon!¡±

    ¡°Try harder! Prince!¡±

    The cheer from the three of them was filled with passion.

    ¡°Slow down!¡± said Famous, ¡°Take it slow!¡±

    Red Dragon and Prince ignored them, running faster and faster in their owners¡¯ apuse.

    For the first time after setting out from the start point, Famousgged behind. In the eyes of others, this seemed to be the indication that Famous had insufficient stamina.

    As it continued moving forward a few steps, Famous¡¯s eyelids suddenly jumped a bit, and the corners of its eyes seemed to catch some unusual movements.

    Suddenly, a puddle on its right front side shed for a fleeting moment, and the calm surface of the water floating with thin ice cracked, and the three dogs had no time to dodge and the turbid muddy water sshed all over them.

    The cold muddy water stagnated their hot bodies. Immediately, a pile of rocks in front of the left side exploded without warning. Countless sharp pebbles were sttering in all directions like stray bullets!

    Famous, who had always been wary of the surroundings, knew that they had fallen into a trap when it was sshed with muddy water, sensing something was going wrong, it rolled away and escaped these pebbles in the nick of time. Unluckily, Red Dragon and Prince had almost suffered from the full impact from the pebbles, being covered with bruises all over their bodies, they fell on the ground feebly¡­

    ¡­

    There it is! Famous knew that its ability that it had learned from Gxy appeared again. Foreshadowing crisis¡ªthat¡¯s what Famous named such an ability.

    To be exact, this capability had not been taught by Gxy, but was what Famous had perceived from the numerous times of reincarnation.

    In the ck box a bottle full of hypertoxic cyanide was ced.

    After the first few deaths, Famous thought it had remembered the location of the bottle, to avoid being identally killed again and again by knocking over the bottle. It soon found out, in horror, that the bottle seemed to appear randomly anywhere in the ck box. The bottle appeared instantly when it was resurrected, and was immediately knocked over again. This realization pped it hard in the face.

    The spection had also been confirmed by Gxy. It¡¯s important to keep in mind that it was extremely rare for Gxy to knock over the bottle, unless it ran recklessly in the ck box like a headless fly, dreaming of ying hide-and-seek with its new owner.

    ¡°Gxy, tell me honestly, can you see things in the darkness?¡± After a resurrection, Famous asked Gxy. It desperately wanted to find an answer proving that it was not true and that it was indeed as good as Gxy, but it was only because a cat¡¯s eyes can see things more clearly in the dark.

    ¡°Meow, Gxy cannot see in the darkness where nothing can be seen,¡± Gxy replied.

    Famous also knew that no matter how sensitive a cat¡¯s eyes were, in the darkness where there was no light, nothing could be seen. Seriously speaking, Famous had a better sense of smell which was not affected by darkness, so its advantages were greater. In this case, was it the proof that it was stupider than Gxy? Stupider than this na?ve Gxy?! That¡¯s so humiliating!

    ¡°Meow, Famous, would you like to y hide-and-seek with Gxy?¡± Gxy begged it.

    Dejected, Famous was not in the mood to y hide-and-seek, but then it asked another question, ¡°Gxy, if you can¡¯t see, then how can you escape the bottle of poison?¡±

    Gxy thought for a moment, ¡°Meow. Gxy can¡¯t see it, but I can feel it. y hide-and-seek with me, okay?¡±

    Can¡¯t see it, but feel it? What the hell was that! Did this guy have a sixth sense or what? Famous was caught contemting, during which time it did not know for how many times it had knocked over the poison bottle.

    It was not good at thinking. It had no clue at all if had headache from pondering. So, it decided not to think, but tried to learn from and imitate Gxy, feeling the unknown in the darkness.

    It died countless times ever since, and finally it had a little bit of ¡°feeling¡±¡ªthat in the fleeting moment before it knocked over the poison bottle, it seemed as if it could foreshadow what was going to happen.

    From birth to death, after being resurrected numerous times, and before it eventually left the ck box, the length of its ¡°crisis omening¡± also extended gradually, so that it could even stop its actions in a timely manner before knocking over the bottle, just like Gxy did and avoid death. But only temporarily, because it quickly recognized another sad fact that even neither it nor Gxy had touched the bottle. The poison bottle would topple over for some unknown reason.

    Gxy clearly had stronger ability in foreshadowing crisis than Famous did. Gxy could even predict when the poison bottle would topple over. This was undeniable since the time Gxy stayed in the ck box was several times longer than Famous, and the number of deaths that Gxy experienced was also several times more than Famous. However, Famous believed that it was no less than Gxy, and that one day, it would certainly be able to master the ultimate version of the ability of foreshadowing crisis.

    ¡­

    ¡°A little faster! Red Dragon!¡±

    ¡°Try harder! Prince!¡±

    The nose tips of Red Dragon and Prince had surpassed that of Famous, and the two police dogs were running faster and faster with their owners¡¯ apuse.

    Famous knew there would be two consecutive pitfalls not far from the front, and it was toote for it to speak. Even if it did, they would not listen to it. Therefore, Famous turned its waist and suddenly changed its direction, lunging into Red Dragon! Almost at the same time, Guan Biao pressed the continuous detonation button.

    Caught off guard, Red Dragon was pushed sideways down by Famous, knocking Prince down by the way.

    Two well-trained police dogs stood up one-by-one, shaking off the dust from their bodies. They revealed their fangs with fury and roared at Famous, ready to rush towards it and bite at any time.

    The two police officers were also furious. They suddenly turned around, grabbing Zhang Zian by his cor!

    Sheng Ke hurriedly went over to stop them.

    Feng Xuan could not help but frown, feeling very disappointed in his heart.

    Just in the blink of an eye, the puddle and rock in front of the three dogs suddenly exploded, with the explosion power spreading to a very wide range, even a few drops of sewage was sshed into the face of the cameraman and the camera lens.

    Almost everyone, including the two police officers and Sheng Ke, were shocked. Weren¡¯t they told that as long as the dogs stayed within the passage marked with green paint, they would be safe?

    Feng Xuan stood up from the chair and shouted at Guan Biao sternly, ¡°What is going on?!¡±

    What a pity! Guan Biao thought secretly. But he said embarrassedly, ¡°I idently put more explosives¡­¡±

    Feng Xuan burst with anger. Carelessness was his only exnation for such a dangerous ident?!

    ¡°idently?! If you hurt a human, are you going to expect me to apologize to his family with the reason of being merely careless?¡± he solemnly used Guan Biao, not only because of the ident, but also because of Guan Biao¡¯s casual attitude.

    ¡°Director Feng, don¡¯t be angry, they are not humans, they are only a few dogs, so I was negligent and did not calcte the number of explosives correctly.¡± Guan Biao smiled indifferently. ¡°Next time I will be more careful.¡±

    Feng Xuan frowned. Just when he was about to severely punish Guan Biao and dismiss him from the crew, Nie Yuan quietly pulled at him.

    Nie Yuan whispered and reminded him, ¡°Forget it, Director Feng. If you expel him, where are you going to find a pyrotechnician in the short time, considering that we are already behind our filming schedule? Let¡¯s spare him this time, what do you think?¡±

 Chapter 423: Protagonist Finalized

    <h4>Chapter 423: Protagonist Finalized</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In 1984, when Michael Jackson was shooting amercial, many parts of his head and face were burned by fireworks that exploded prematurely.

    In April 2008, an ident happened while the TV series My Chief and My Regiment was shooting an explosion scene in Tengchong County, Yunnan Province, killing one pyrotechnician and injuring two other pyrotechnicians.

    In 2010, an ident took ce, hurting entertainers Selina Jen and Yu Haoming while they were shooting a st scene, causing multiple burns all over their bodies.

    On April 28, 2014, in the scenic area of Liaoxi-Shenyang Campaign in Fushun City, Liaoning Province, as the pyrotechnicians prepared the gunpowder explosions for film and television purposes, with magnesium powder and potassium perchlorate, an explosion urred. Seven people were killed.

    ¡­

    Feng Xuan had shot a lot of anti-war films, and almost every film had arge number of explosions. Each time he would exhort the crew repeatedly, for fear that simr idents would happen. Fortunately, God bless, there were no no idental casualties from fireworks or explosions so far. Otherwise, he really wouldn¡¯t know how to exin it to the families of the victims. Should such a case really happen, he could only quit the film industry and ask himself.

    He knew that some directors, in their quest for factuality, would even hide the position of the detonator from the actors so that the actors would not pay much attention to its position. But he would not do that.

    Feng Xuan was very mad at Guan Biao. This time, his explosives had almost injured the dogs, and next time, he might wound humans. However, there was nothing Feng Xuan could do about Guan Biao, because it was hard to find a pyrotechnician. If Guan Biao was expelled from the crew, the entire shooting progress would be affected.

    Lack of patience in small matters leads to the disruption of great ns.

    Thinking of this, Feng Xuan forcibly suppressed his anger and said to Guan Biao word-by-word, ¡°Just this once. Never again.¡±

    Nie Yuan was busy smoothing things over. Since Feng Yuan hadpromised, he also pretended to criticize Guan Biao. ¡°Master Guan, did you hear what Director Feng said?! Pyrotechnicians must not be sloppy with their work! You must be extremely careful! If such an incident happens again, I won¡¯t be able to protect you anymore. Come on! Apologize to Director Feng and these people!¡±

    Having people to back him up, Guan Biao had nothing to fear. He grinned cheekily and said, ¡°Heh heh! Director Feng, I understand now. I will be careful next time.¡± Then he waved at Zhang Zian and others and said, ¡°Guys, I¡¯m sorry, my mistake! But anyway, your dogs are okay, it should be no big deal.¡±

    The two police officers were irritated by his apology. If it was not Sheng Ke who had halted them. They wanted to run towards Guan Biao and beat the s**t out of him. To them, Red Dragon and Prince were more than just dogs. After living, eating, training, ying, and carrying out missions with them for several years, their rtionship with Red Dragon and Prince was even closer than that of their real brothers.

    Sheng Ke, after all, was more experienced than them. He couldn¡¯t let his subordinates engage in conflict with the crew here. This movie was produced by the Tie Dun Film and Television Center, and was fully supported by the superiors of the police department of Binhai City. If they really fought with the crew, he was afraid that Xiao Liu and Xiao Wang would probably be expelled from the police force because of disobedience.

    Zhang Zian was quietly watching Guan Biao. He remembered what Sheng Ke had told him, that some dogs were wounded after returning from the audition. He felt that things were not that simple, and this was not the first time such incidents had urred. He did not believe Guan Biao¡¯s words and did not ept his apology, but he did not have any evidence.

    Famous also did not believe Guan Biao. As the smoke gradually cleared up from the venue, Famous began to observe the pyrotechnician from afar and read his bodynguage. Every little movement of his head indicated that he was lying.

    Just then, Famous felt that something was rubbing on its side. It looked back and found that it was Red Dragon and Prince together. Lowering their bodies and bowing their heads, they whimpered as if they were apologizing. They were not ordinary dogs. After performing tasks frequently with police officers, they knew that they had faced tremendous danger moments ago, and it was Famous who had saved them. As gregarious creatures, dogs had the nature to be subordinated to the strong ones. And in their eyes, Famous was far superior.

    Zhang Zian ignored Guan Biao and asked Feng Xuan instead, ¡°Director Feng, should the test be continued?¡±

    ¡°No need.¡± Feng Xuan¡¯s good mood had beenpletely destroyed by Guan Biao. ¡°All three dogs have passed the test. As to which dog should be the protagonist¡­¡±

    At this time, Feng Xuan saw that Famous was trotting back towards them, followed by the other two dogs who had no longer intended topete against it. From time to time, Famous nced back at them, as if checking on their running postures and whether they had been injured in the st.

    Was this the so-called charisma of a leader?

    Feng Xuan finally made up his mind, and he loudly said to the public, ¡°I¡¯m announcing that Famous, the German Shepherd from the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, will be the protagonist of Dog Warrior!¡±

    The two police officers had expected that this would be the result, but they held no longer hostility against Zhang Zian or Famous. After all, it was Famous who had saved their dogs. They came to apologize to Zhang Zian for their rudeness, then sincerely congratted him.

    Yuan Fei and Huang Mingyu couldn¡¯t conceal the disappointment in their eyes.

    For Huang Mingyu, he could let it go if he lost to Yuan Fei. After all, Neptune was the most excellent German Shepherd selected from the Star Group. But he couldn¡¯t ept the fact that he had lost to Zhang Zian.

    Yuen Fei was even more pissed off. His fists were trembling. Hispany had held high hopes on him for this audition, plus that his own resume was impable. Having served as a trainer in several TV series, he thought he would definitely win the role this time, but as it turned out, he had lost to a nobody. He fiercely stared at Guan Biao. Although Guan Biao dared to talk back to Feng Xuan, in the face of Yuan Fei, Guan Biao could only turn away his face, guilty.

    Others did not notice the interaction between Guan Biao and Yuan Fei, but Famous and Sheng Ke had noticed it. While the two police officers were expressing their congrattions to Zhang Zian, Sheng Ke had been paying attention to Guan Biao¡¯s demeanor and actions. Serving on the criminal police team for years, Sheng Ke had instinctively realized that the bombing was not an ident.

    Sheng Ke quietly took out his cell phone, dialed the internal telephone of the police station, lowered his voice and said, ¡°It¡¯s me, Sheng Ke. Help me investigate a person, Guan Biao, the pyrotechnician of the Dog Warrior crew. Find out everything about him.¡± After giving the order, he hung up the phone, feigning carelessness.

    Two police officers surrounded Zhang Zian, curiously asking him how he had trained the dog so that it was able to predict danger. Out of courtesy, but without sincerity, Zhang Zian made up some story, showing off and stunning them.

    Some of the candidates from other pet shops or kennels came to congratte Zhang Zian, while others were disheartened and wanted to go home.

    The assistant hurriedly stopped them and said loudly, ¡°Don¡¯t leave! In addition to the protagonist, the cast also needs several supporting roles. The supporting roles also have many scenes in the movie. If you are willing to stay, the crew will sign a formal performance contract with you!¡±

    Those who had intended to leave decided to stay. It would be nice to y a supporting role. Though their names might not appear with the title of the movie as the protagonist¡¯s would, at least their name would be shown on the closing credits. It¡¯s better than nothing, right?

    Feng Xuan approached Zhang Zian, patted him on the shoulder and said, ¡°Young man, good for you!¡±

    ¡°I just have good luck.¡± Zhang Zian answered humbly. He actually had not done much.

    Feng Xuan squatted down and touched Famous¡¯s head. ¡°Well done, Famous. You are a hero!¡±

    Standing up straight, Famous barked twice, then shut up again.

    Only Zhang Zian could understand what Famous said, ¡°I am not a hero¡ªthere is no hero on the battlefield. I want to be an angel.¡±

    Feng Xuan chuckled, stood up and said, ¡°Young man, are you running a pet shop?¡±

    ¡°Yes, the Amazing Fate Pet Shop in Dongcheng District,¡± replied Zhang Zian.

    ¡°You are not very busy, are you?¡± Feng Xuan thoughtfully asked again.

    ¡°Well, not very busy. On the weekends we may be busier, but usually there are not too many customers, and my employees take care of the shop for me,¡± Zhang Zian answered honestly.

    ¡°Well, I would like to formally invite you to join the crew of Dog Warrior and be the chief trainer of the crew. What do you think?¡± Feng Xuan smiled.

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Zhang Zian was shocked. This invitation was so sudden that he did not have the time for the slightest preparation. He instinctively asked, ¡°Will I get paid?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± said Feng Xuan affirmatively. ¡°Daily settlement. You¡¯ll get 1,000 yuan a day. The specific price can be discussed. In addition, the crew will take care of your meals and provide transport. During the shooting, you, and your dog of course, will be covered under personal ident injury insurance.¡±

    Damn! 1,000 yuan a day, and meals were included?! Zhang Zian was suddenly excited. This was truly a windfall for him! The movie industry was really lucrative! Not only could he make money from the regr operation of his pet shop, but he could also earn extra money here! What a delight!

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m willing to do it!¡± Zhang Zian replied without hesitation. ¡°But what does a chief dog trainer usually do?¡±

    Feng Xuan was surprised. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be the one telling me?¡±

    Zhang Zian resorted to his wit and covered up for himself, ¡°I mean, I¡¯ve never worked in a film crew before. I don¡¯t know what a trainer on the crew usually does!¡±

    ¡°Oh, in fact, nothing special. You are mainly responsible formunicating with the crew, and providing guidance when shooting. After all, we are moviemakers and we know nothing about dogs,¡± Feng Xuan exined.

    ¡°Ok! Ok! No problem!¡± Zhang Zian patted his chest and said. He could even earn money while lying down!

    At this time, the two police officers ran towards him with their dogs. ¡°Brother Zhang, we would like to request you do us a favor.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

    Xiao Liu and Xiao Wang seemed embarrassed. ¡°Here is the case. We have just reported the situation to our superiors, and the superiors asked us to return to the police force and leave the dogs here. But we don¡¯t trust anyone to take care of them.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew what they meant. Because of the ident, they were not assured of the safety of their dogs with the crew, but they must obey orders, so they wanted to ask Zhang Zian to take care of Red Dragon and Prince during the filming.

    He thought for a moment then promised them, ¡°Leave them to me. I will try my best to take care of them.¡±

    Red Dragon and Prince bowed to Famous solemnly, as if regarding Famous as their leader.

 Chapter 424: A Dangerous Scene

    <h4>Chapter 424: A Dangerous Scene</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Master! I heard that you are going to be in a movie?¡± Back to the pet shop, when Wang Qian and Li Kun heard that Zhang Zian had passed the audition and signed a performance contract with the crew, they kept asking questions curiously, even Lu Yiyun could not help but stretch her ears. Whenever there was the slightest news, Lu Yiyun would worry that Zhang Zian would close the pet shop for good.

    ¡°It¡¯s not me, it¡¯s Famous that¡¯s going to be in the movie; I just provide guidance,¡± said Zhang Zian while eating the lunch that he had bought on the way back to the pet shop. Famous was chewing the medium well steak with a ss of dry red wine.

    ¡°Providing guidance?¡± Li Kun was shocked, ¡°Is that a Xian Xia film they are shooting?¡±

    ¡°Nonsense! What Xian Xia film?! It¡¯s an animal film about the police dogs that fight heroically in the border areas.¡± Zhang Zian put down the chopsticks, opened the script sent by Feng Xuan after the contract was signed. ¡°Including their deeds such as crossing through minefields,bating against drug trafficking, smuggling, poaching and other transnational crimes.¡±

    This script had just been delivered to him and Zhang Zian did not have time to read it carefully. But as an official member of the crew, even if his responsibility was rtively simple, at least he should find time to read the script, especially taking a closer look at the dog-rted scenes so as to see whether the dogs would encounter any danger so he coulde up with precautionary measures in advance. Since he would get paid, he must eliminate the potential disasters for the crew.

    Wang Qian looked at the cover of the script. ¡°Oh, the director is Feng Xuan.¡±

    ¡°Do you know him?¡± Zhang Zian put some food into his mouth.

    ¡°No, but my dad is a die-hard fan of Feng Xuan, and he watched every anti-war movie that Feng Xuan made.¡± Wang Qian thought for a moment and said, ¡°Can you help me get a signature of Feng Xuan? My dad¡¯s birthday ising up, and I have no idea what gift I should give him. If possible, could you please get an autographed picture of Feng Xuan for my dad?¡±

    ¡°No problem, a piece of cake.¡± Zhang Zian promised him confidently. ¡°I am now an indispensable figure in the crew. It¡¯s unknown whether the earth will keep spinning without me, but the crew definitely can¡¯t move without me!¡±

    Famous looked up at him, and then continued eating the steak.

    ¡°Master, who is the leading actress of this movie? Perhaps one of the beautiful and famous actresses?¡± Li Kun was very interested in this matter. If the answer was affirmative, he also wanted to get a signature.

    Zhang Zian regretfully wiped his mouth. ¡°At the beginning I thought so, but after I read the script I learned that this is a purely male movie. Not to mention, even the dogs are all male!¡±

    Wang Qian asked tentatively, ¡°Master, if there are female dogs selected, what are you going to do?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to do anything!¡± Zhang Zian red at him.

    ¡°Oh,¡± replied Wang Qian, who clearly did not believe him.

    ¡°Are there any idols or young hunks in this movie?¡± Asked Li Kun again.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Zhang Zian replied casually. Pointing to his nose, he said, ¡°You are looking at him!¡±

    ¡°I mean, other than you? Who is the leading actor?¡±

    ¡°Why do you want to know?¡±

    Li Kun¡¯s obsession on this issue caused Zhang Zian to be alert, also arousing Richard¡¯s interest. When Zhang Zian did not notice, Richard flew down from the bar and stretched its neck to urately snatch an American grape in his lunchbox. Zhang Zian wanted to stop it, but it was toote, and he could only stare at Richard angrily.

    ¡°Quack! Do you have sexual interests in the young hunks?¡± It swallowed the grape and stared at Li Kun.

    ¡°No!¡± Li Kun felt ashamed, ¡°My mother is interested in them!¡±

    Zhang Zian turned over the script and said, ¡°The protagonist of this movie is a dog called ¡®Lightning¡¯, which Famous is going to y. And Lin Feng will be the owner of Lightning. I guess he can barely be deemed as the leading actor.¡±

    ¡°Lin Feng, although he is not so famous, my mother seems to like this actor. Master, can you also get an autographed photo of him?¡± Li Kun begged him.

    Zhang Zian nodded, but also was deeply worried about the harmony in Li Kun¡¯s family.

    He finished the rest of the meal quickly and asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you to take the day off? Why are you here?¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun naturally replied, ¡°We have nothing better to do anyway. We will only be ying games if we stay in the dorm.¡±

    ¡°Well, Mr. Store Manager,¡± Lu Yiyun whispered, ¡°I would like to ask¡­¡±

    ¡°Do you also want a signature?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°No, I would like to ask¡­will you have to stay with the crew for a while?¡± she asked with trepidation. Although she had only been working in the store for a few days, she had already seen many strange customers who put forward all sorts of bizarre questions and harsh demands, making her dumbfounded. When Zhang Zian was in the store, he could easily solve the problems for her. When he was not there, she could ask the customers to wait for him toe back. However, if he was absent from the pet shop for a long time, she really didn¡¯t know how she was going to handle the situations.

    ¡°That¡¯s not the case.¡± Zhang Zian raised the script. ¡°I will only go with the crew whenever I am needed. I won¡¯t be stationed with the crew. Although this is a movie with dogs as the main characters, there are still many scenes involving human actors. Considering their tight schedule, the priority will be given to shoot their scenes.¡±

    He continued, ¡°In addition, let me use Famous¡¯s role Lightning as an example. At the beginning of the story, the lead male role yed by Lin Feng picked up a puppy and named it Lightning. They yed with each other and grew up together, so the puppy was yed by another dog. When shooting this part, Famous and I don¡¯t have to be there. No matter how ipetent the crew might be, they don¡¯t need me to direct them on how to y with puppies, right? So as a chief dog trainer, I will have a daily settlement, and be paid based on the days that I spend in the crew.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Lu Yiyun was somewhat relieved.

    Not everyone knew that, but when shooting a film, the script was not filmed chronologically. The script was divided into different scenes and shot ording to the scenes, also considering the actors¡¯ schedules, which was a more efficient and economical way to shoot. Lu Yiyun did not know this, because she had always drawn herics chronologically from scratch.

    Zhang Zian did not need to go with the crew every day, he just needed to be present whenever Famous and the other fully-grown dogs were shooting scenes. Other times he could stay in the pet shop, and asionally Feng Xuan would solve some problems over the inte or telephone.

    Having finished their cleaning work, Wang Qian and Li Kun left the pet shop. Since there were no customers in the afternoon, Lu Yiyun was quietly sitting behind the cashier to concentrate on painting, with her cat Jasmine lying on herp. asionally, Jasmine would timidly nce at Fina across the ss door. Due to Lu Yiyun¡¯s low presence, the shop was particrly quiet. So quiet that Zhang Zian thought that he was the only person in the pet shop. After he had finished his meal, hey on the recliner and read the script carefully.

    With neither a sense of literature nor a good imagination, the script was far less interesting than novels and movies, and he was drowsy reading it. Tired after lunch, Zhang Zian yawned while trying to raise his spirits.

    Since there were no female actresses nor sex scenes in this movie, he just nced over the dialogue between the humans, only focusing on the scenes yed by Famous and other dogs.

    After turning a few pages randomly, his gaze fell on the plot of encountering danger in the wilderness. Although not explicitly stated, the background of Dog Warrior should be near the borders of western China, where the expansive desert, teau, and unmanned areas provided natural soil for the development of transnational criminal activities. As technology developed, criminals could easily ess more advanced equipment and high-tech criminal tools, such as the cell phone signal jammer and the like, which has hurt Zhang Zian before.

    In this scene, a brigade of border police officers were sneak attacked by armed criminals. Although the enemy was repelled, the brigade also suffered heavy losses. Several officers were wounded and could not move. However,munications equipment and vehicles were destroyed by the criminals, leaving the police officers unable to get in touch with the garrison headquarters.

    The weather was cold and it was snowing heavily. Lacking supplies, the border police officers were trapped in the no man¡¯snd in the desert. The area of no man¡¯snd was toorge. Even if the headquarters sent an aircraft to search and rescue them, it would be hard to locate them in a short time. If they remained in the extreme conditions, they would definitely die. When the headquarters found them, they may have starved or froze to death.

    The border police officers were carrying out the task with Lightning and several other police dogs. In despair, they decided to resort to the police dogs for help. The dogs needed to cross arge, dangerous, no man¡¯snd, enduring hunger and thirst, travelling through mined areas, escaping from poachers¡¯ bullets, and breaking away from the besiege by ferocious beasts and eventually, head back to the headquarters.

    When they arrived at the headquarters, these police dogs were covered with wounds all over their bodies and were dying. They fell on the ground in front of the armed police on duty. From their cors, people found the letters asking for help, along with the location coordinates, written by the border police officers trapped in the desert.

    This was a very touching scene and was the dramatic climax of the movie. The headquarters not only sent helicopters to rescue the trapped officers and soldiers, but also ordered the rescue of these meritorious police dogs at all costs.

    Of course, as a movie promoting the mainstream political rhetoric of China, the story came with a standard happy ending. Not only had the trapped officers and soldiers been promptly rescued, but the dogs were also saved. After recovering from their injuries, these dogs would all bemended, their fame spread wildly, and people sent regards to them. They would appear on television, inte, and be the victors who had it all.

    Putting aside other questions, Zhang Zian noticed the words ¡°besieged by ferocious beasts.¡± He turned the script back and forth several times without missing out any word, but still couldn¡¯t find the specific description about the beast. Maybe the writer had not figured it out or had deliberately omitted it in the script.

    Ferocious beasts sieging the dogs on the western border¡­ After thinking hard, Zhang Zian could only think of the only kind of beast skilled in sieging.

    How to shoot this scene? He couldn¡¯t help but whisper to himself.

 Chapter 425: Nightmare

    <h4>Chapter 425: Nightmare</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian dreamt that he was in a snowy teau. The sky was gloomy, the chilly wind was sharp as a knife, and he was surrounded by white snow. Beside him were a few people whose silhouettes were fuzzy. They seemed to have lost consciousness, and only he was awake, wrapped tightly by the overwhelming loneliness. He held the steel gun tightly to his chest and would not throw it away, even as he shivered in the coldness.

    There was something moving around him, he looked down and found that it was Famous. It was lying alongside those figures, as if trying to warm them up with its own body.

    The snow kept falling, piling thicker and thicker on the ground. It seemed that in this world, only two creatures, he and Famous, were alive.

    Suddenly, Famous¡¯s ears moved. Sitting up from the lying position, its eyes stared at the snow-covered distant ce.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Famous?¡± Zhang Zian asked and stretched his ears like Famous. He did not hear any sound, but the wind and snow had brought some smell, like the rancidity emitted from some beasts.

    His heart was racing. Holding his steel gun firmly on the snow wall built by hisrades in defense of the enemy¡¯s attacks, he starred in the direction of the wind.

    Pairs of ghost-fire like green eyes appeared one-by-one in the blizzard. The dark sky had sketched their muscr bodies. They silently stopped beyond the firing range of the steel gun, besieging him in the distance in the shape of a fan. Without taking the risk of attacking, they just needed to trap those humans and wait for them to all freeze to death¡ªa perfect hunting n. Their leader must have been as cunning as a fox.

    His heart was pounding faster, and he nced back at his injuredrades. In the face of being besieged by the beasts, he could not withstand it for long by himself. All of them were doomed to be devoured by these beasts.

    ¡°Famous, run! Only you can escape from this,¡± he said to Famous.

    Famous looked at him, then shook its head. Suddenly it jumped on the snow wall, roaring at the distant beasts as if trying to provoke them! T

    he beasts were aggravated. No matter how organized they were, they were beasts after all.

    ¡°What are you doing, Famous?¡± He asked in astonishment.

    Famous looked back at him. Its eyes were so pure and calm, without any fear of death.

    ¡°Famous wants to be an angel,¡± Famous said.

    Before he could stop it, Famous had jumped off the snow wall, running and barking in the other direction.

    Just like iron sand attracted by a ma, the formations of the beasts became chaotic and messy. Driven by their instincts, innumerable beasts chased after Famous.

    ¡°Famous!¡± He yelled.

    ¡­

    ¡°Fa¡­ Achoo!¡± Zhang Zian loudly sneezed and sat up from the bed suddenly.

    The sky was not yetpletely bright, and the elves in the bedroom were awakened by his sneezing. Eyes of various colors were silently watching him, but fortunately, there had been no ghostfire-like green eyes in his nightmare. Fina¡¯s eyes were green, but were shiny like emeralds,pletely different from the ghostfire-like green eyes.

    He looked down. He was sitting on his own bed, without a steel gun in his arms. But where was his quilt?

    Looking to the side, he found that the quilt had been pulled off and was covering Richard. It seemed that it was not enough for Richard to take his clothes. Where the hell did a bird have so much strength?!

    No wonder he had had this strange dream in the snow, and no wonder he was frozen; he had suffered from the coldness the whole night¡­

    Zhang Zian really wanted to throw Richard out of the window, but it would certainly imitate a girl¡¯s voice and shout for help. Not only could he not punish it, but he would cause trouble for himself as well!

    ¡°I had a nightmare.¡± Heughed innocently at the elves. ¡°Don¡¯t me me. me Richard. It took my quilt away.¡±

    He looked to the location where Famous was lying, and their eyes met. For some unknown reason, Zhang Zian felt that Famous knew that he had just had a nightmare, and it was conveying a reassuring message to him with its deep ck eyes.

    He touched the pajamas on his chest. They were drenched in sweat. He must change clothes now or else it might worsen his cold. Bedside him there was a clean pair of spare pajamas. In order to prevent them from being soiled by Richard, he had stuffed it under the pillow. He reached out and pulled out his pajamas. A pamphlet on the pillow fell to the ground. It was the script of Dog Warrior.

    What you read is what you dream. He must have been engrossed in the script, causing him to have such a nightmare.

    The drowsiness of the elves was scared away by his sneezing. Since the sky was brightening up, they got up gradually.

    After practicing Kung Fu for a while, Zhang Zian cleaned the store a little and went to fetch breakfast for the elves. Time was passing quickly.

    Lu Yiyun still came to work early, much earlier than when Zhang Zian had specified. She was carrying a digital drawing board and a shoulder bag, which contained her cat Jasmine.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, you don¡¯t look very well. Did you not sleep wellst night?¡± She ced the drawing board on the cashier¡¯s desk, turned her head, and noticed the strangeness on his face.

    Zhang Zian was stunned, he could not help but reach out and touch his face. ¡°Is it so obvious? I had a nightmare this morning.¡±

    ¡°You look paler than usual,¡± she said. In fear that he did not believe her, she pointed at her thick sses. ¡°Although I am myopic, I am sensitive to colors.¡±

    This exnation was so convincing that Zhang Zian had to believe her. He had seen some of Lu Yiyun¡¯s work. As a professional artist, she had a very urate grasp of colors and always colored her work just right. When she was in the shop, she only drew an outline. She would color the pictures only after she returned to her apartment, using the professional graphics monitor, which was more upscale than the normal monitor in Zhang Zian¡¯s shop. She said that his monitor was simply ¡°hard on the eyes.¡± But Zhang Zian was not to me for this. Who would buy a professional graphics monitor for theputer used at the cash register in the store?

    Lu Yiyun took Jasmine out of the bag, and Zhang Zian handed her a food bowl. ¡°Did Jasmine have breakfast yet? Here are some skewers with no salt. Eat them while they are still warm.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­this¡­this is too much,¡± she muttered.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. This is part of your employee benefits. You don¡¯t have to prepare breakfast for Jasmine at home, just bring it here. There is always excess barbecue here anyway.¡± Before she could decline, Zhang Zian put the bowl down and left.

    Jasmine smelled the vor of barbecue, broke free from Li Yiyun¡¯s arms, walked to the edge of the bowl, sniffed, then gobbled up the meat.

    ¡°Is it delicious?¡± Lu Yiyun stroked Jasmine¡¯s neck, smiling happily. Jasmine feltforted by her touch. It narrowed its eyes and meowed.

    When it finished the barbecue, Lu Yiyun went to clean the food bowl. A police vehicle parked in front of the shop.

    With a grim expression on his face, Sheng Ke took a kraft paper portfolio bag from the passenger¡¯s seat and trotted into the shop. There was no file number on the cover but there was a surname scribbled on it¡ª¡±Guan¡±.

 Chapter 426: Undercover

    <h4>Chapter 426: Undercover</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian, who was going to dump the trash outside, happened to run into Sheng Ke. He asked with surprise, ¡°Captain Sheng, what are you doing here so early?¡±

    Sheng Ke¡¯s body exuded the smell of cigarettes all the time. Putting the kraft paper folder under his armpit, he looked at Zhang Zian with his sharp eyes. ¡°Did you not sleep wellst night?¡±

    Damn it! Zhang Zian almost burst into tears. Are there words written on my face?! ¡°I had a nightmare in the early morning,¡± he replied truthfully.

    ¡°Oh, no wonder.¡± Sheng Ke noticed that Lu Yiyun had returned after washing the food basin, so he whispered, ¡°I need to speak to you, alone.¡±

    Zhang Zian was shocked again. He guessed that Sheng Ke must had to say something important or something private. It would be inconvenient if Lu Yiyun was present and heard their conversation, so he said, ¡°Please go upstairs.¡±

    ¡°Xiao Yun, I will go upstairs to speak with the captain. Take care of the shop. Call me if something happens,¡± he told Lu Yiyun.

    Lu Yiyun nodded, then sat down to draw her pictures. She had no interest in the privacy or gossip of others.

    Sheng Ke nced at theputer screen and eximed, ¡°Your drawing is really good!¡±

    They went to the living room on the second floor. Zhang Zian asked Sheng Ke to sit down on the couch as he went to pour tea.

    ¡°Don¡¯t bother, I¡¯ll leave after a few words.¡± Sheng Ke waved his hand. He looked around, making sure there was no one else in the room. ¡°Just close the door.¡±

    Zhang Zian was unnerved by Sheng Ke¡¯s mysteriousness. He reflected on what he had done, even the things that he had done in his childhood like stealing a bird¡¯s egg and poking honeb. He wondered if he had been too pretentious recently, and that the police couldn¡¯t stand him anymore and finally decided to punish him for the sake of the people. He closed the door, anxiously sitting opposite Sheng Ke.

    Sheng Ke removed the kraft paper bag under his arm and threw it on the coffee table between the two of them. ¡°Take a look at this.¡±

    Seeing there was only the character ¡°Guan¡± on the portfolio, Zhang Zian did not understand what it meant. He pulled out a stack of documents and saw a photo of a person not wearing a hat on the first page. He realized that ¡°Guan¡± referred to Guan Biao.

    ¡°This is?¡± he asked in wonder.

    Sheng Ke untied his cor as if it was suffocating him. He said, ¡°Manager Zhang, about yesterday¡¯s explosion ident, what do you think?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought and said cautiously, ¡°I think¡­it didn¡¯t seem like an ident.¡±

    ¡°It was definitely not an ident. Some police dogs who auditioned were injured. At the time, I thought it was an ident, but from what I saw yesterday, there was something strange!¡± Sheng Ke grit his teeth.

    Zhang Zian had long been skeptical of this. He looked down at Guan Biao¡¯s photo. ¡°Are you saying that this person deliberately used the explosion to injure the police dogs?¡±

    ¡°Very likely.¡± Sheng Ke¡¯s tone was unfriendly.

    ¡°No way! Isn¡¯t it a criminal offense to wound police dogs?! Shouldn¡¯t he be punished for assaulting the police?¡± Zhang Zian asked in disbelief. ¡°How dare he?!¡±

    Zhang Zian did not understand thew, but frommon sense, he knew harming police dogs was not a trivial issue, right? Therefore, although he had suspected Guan Biao, he was not sure without evidence. If this was true, then Guan Biao was extremely audacious!

    ¡°Here is the problem.¡± Sheng Ke sighed. ¡°Domesticws and regtions are not perfect in this area, and there are many loopholes. I¡¯ll exin it to you.¡± Having organized his wording in advance, Sheng Ke methodically exined the difficulties of this incident to Zhang Zian.

    First, assaulting police was not specified under the Chinese Criminal Law. In the Criminal Law Amendment 9, passed in 2015, by adding a paragraph saying, ¡°A criminal that strikes a violent attack on a policeman who is performing his duties in ordance with thew shall be punished severely ording to the provisions of the first paragraph.¡± The crime of assaulting a police officer was included in the crime of disrupting public service.

    Second, Article 227 of the Criminal Law defined the crime of disrupting public service as follows, ¡°By using violent and threatening methods to impede the staff of state origins from performing their duties ording tow, such criminals shall be fined, put under public surveince, under criminal detention, or sentenced to not more than three years of fixed-term imprisonment.¡±

    Sheng Ke continued helplessly, ¡°Despite these provisions, a police dog is neither a human nor a police officer, nor a staff of state origins. From a legal sense, a police dog is a thing, and its legal nature is no difference from a police vehicle or a baton, so none of these legal provisions apply to them.¡±

    Zhang Zian realized this was a very difficult matter. If ordinary dogs were injured, the owner could ask the other party forpensation, but if police dogs were injured, there was not much to be done. As aw enforcement officer, what Sheng Ke said must have been true. And precisely because he was aw enforcement officer, although he was angry, he must act ording tow.

    ¡°Is there any other way?¡± Zhang Zian believed that Sheng Ke did not visit him just toin about this issue.

    ¡°Not unless there is a fuss about the crime of ¡®intentionally damaging property¡¯. But there is a prerequisite, the word ¡®intentionally¡¯.¡± Sheng Ke emphasized, ¡°It¡¯s useless if there is no evidence to prove it was intentional.¡±

    Zhang Zian had more or less figured out Sheng Ke¡¯s intention. ¡°Captain Sheng, are you saying¡­¡±

    At this point, Sheng Ke became hesitant. He was not sure whether it was a right to involve a civilian like Zhang Zian in this issue. However, if not for his desperation, Sheng Ke would never havee here so early in the morning.

    ¡°There is no way for me or the any other officer to go on the movie set to find evidence, but you are different. Mr. Zhang, you are the chief dog trainer of the crew and have the opportunity to monitor Guan Biao¡¯s every move.¡±

    Zhang Zian gasped with surprise. Is he asking me to be an informant and go undercover?

    Sheng Ke knew that he was being pushy. He added, ¡°After the audition yesterday, Xiao Liu, Xiao Wang, and I reported the situation to the higher authorities, but the superiors required us to return to the police station and leave the dogs with the crew. Do you understand? Dog Warrior is a key project supported by Binhai Studio and our superiors, who have strictly instructed us to fully cooperate with the filming. For their political agenda, if a few dogs are injured, let alone if the dogs die, they won¡¯t care a bit. If I could find another way to solve the problem, I would never brazenlye to you and ask for your help. But in the absence of conclusive evidence, we cannot act rashly.¡±

    Seeing that Zhang Zian was still silent, Sheng Ke sighed. ¡°After the audition yesterday, I went to the police dog unit to visit a few injured dogs. Though the police dogs suffered from minor injuries to varying degrees, and are blemished by scars, after recuperating for some time, they should be able to recover and will be able to carry out tasks in the future. Myrades in the police dog unit are extremely distressed. They were holding the injured police dogs and crying until their eyes were swollen. Thoserades had not even blinked when being cut by knives, but here they were crying so pitifully.¡±

    Blemished by scars? Perhaps this was the purpose, to give the dogs scars? Zhang Zian thought. Scars were only a small injury and would not wound the dogs significantly, but obviously dogs with scars couldn¡¯t be the protagonist of the movie.

    He did not hastily promise Sheng Ke, not because he did not want to help, but because he had never been an informant or gone undercover before. He was clueless about how to monitor Guan Biao, and thought that it might be counterproductive if Guan Biao noticed what he was doing. However, when he heard the words, ¡°blemished by scars,¡± Zhang Zian felt differently.

    Except for the fact that they did not possess studbooks, the German Shepherds on the police force were in fact much better than the German Shepherds in ordinary pet shops and kennels. Because the German Shepherds on the police force were purebred dogs introduced from Germany, they cost over 10,000 euros for each. Apart from Famous, an elfin born by the Strength of Faith, the well-trained police dogs with excellent pedigrees would have been the strongest contenders for the protagonist. Their very existence must have threatened the opportunities for other people¡¯s¡¯ dogs, so they couldn¡¯t wait to damage the police dogs¡¯ faces. Who would be the biggest beneficiary now that the police dogs had been scared?

    At this moment, Zhang Zian finally decided and said, ¡°Captain Sheng, I promise you, but let me be clear in advance. Just because I promise to help doesn¡¯t mean that I can I can get it done. If I cannot find evidence by the time filming is over, please don¡¯t me me.¡±

    Whether it was teaching Guo Dongyue¡¯s parrots to speak or this, Zhang Zian left some leeway for himself when he made themitment. After trying his best to help, he did not want to end up with themining.

    These words were what Sheng Ke had been waiting for. He said gratefully, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mr. Zhang. I believe in your ability! If there is anyone can get this done, it must be you! Even if you fail, the police force will still be thankful and would never me you! Especially myrades in the police dog unit. If you can help them with this, I promise you that they will treat you as their own brother! If you need helpter, don¡¯t hesitate to call!¡±

    Sheng Ke was speaking with passion, but Zhang Zian just smiled. There was nothing he needed from the police dog unit. He decided to take on the mission for three reasons. First, taking care of Sheng Ke¡¯s reputation. Second, Guan Biao had clearly targeted Famous yesterday, so revenge was a must now. Third, he felt that Famous would certainly be willing to take on this task. Judging from when it jumped over Red Dragon and Prince to save them yesterday, Famous wanted to be an angel of justice and goodness.

    ¡°It¡¯s gettingte. I nned toe here before work, so I must immediately return to the police force now. See youter.¡± Sheng Ke looked at the watch, stood up and put on his cap.

    Zhang Zian wanted to hand the kraft paper folder back to him, but Sheng Ke rejected. ¡°You don¡¯t need to give it back to me. This is Guan Biao¡¯s file. Look closely, maybe it¡¯ll be useful. We don¡¯t have much time, and I can¡¯t openly investigate him. This is all I can get for now.¡± Sheng Ke also told him, ¡°This must be kept confidential. Only you and I know about this. Don¡¯t tell anyone so as not to arouse his suspicions.¡±

    ¡°Rest assured, Captain Sheng, I understand. I will certainly be tight-lipped, and I won¡¯t disclose anything to outsiders.¡± Zhang Zian understood the stakes involved in the matter, but the elves in his shop certainly did not fall in the range of ¡°outsiders¡±. He dropped the file and said, ¡°I¡¯ll take you downstairs.¡±

    Having released a burden, Sheng Ke¡¯s mood became cheerful. He did not doubt Zhang Zian¡¯s ability, he just needed to wait for Zhang Zian to be sessful, then he and his colleagues would throw a celebration party for him.

    Zhang Zian was not in a very good mood, now feeling the heavy weight of responsibility on his shoulders.

 Chapter 427: Lie to Me

    <h4>Chapter 427: Lie to Me</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After Sheng Ke left, Zhang Zian took the portfolio downstairs, half-lying on the recliner as he read the documents in the file.

    As he expected, after the heavy increase in business over the weekend, there were fewer customers these days, so he had a lot of free time. Lu Yiyun was quietly drawing in the outer area of the shop. From Zhang Zian¡¯s position, he could clearly see that she was bing increasingly focused on her pictures, and her head was almost touching the digital drawing board. Whenever this happened, Zhang Zian would pick up the phone and send her a message, reminding her to lift her head up.

    He felt that this girl would surely be someone big in the future. Anyone who could be engrossed andmitted to something would surely aplish something in their relevant. It was only a matter of time and opportunity before this achievement urred.

    Inside the file, the photo of Guan Biao must have been taken years ago when he was younger and there was less fat on his face. Guan Biao was from the adjacent province. He was currently 39 years old, unmarried, and he had dropped out of highschool.

    He grew up at the foot of a mining hill in a vige where most men were miners. Guan Biao¡¯s father and uncle had been miners. Later, his father died in a mining ident, and his uncle had been injured and became disabled, thus breaking the pirs in his family. Guan Biao then took over his father¡¯s position the mine, since he did not like school anyway. His academic performance had been poor. He had only been good at one course and neglected other sses. He was only good at chemistry, where he often got perfect scores on the tests.

    At that time, Guan Biao was still underage. probably He had probably lied about his age to take his father¡¯s job as a miner. But this wasmon in the countryside and remote areas, even nowadays.

    After entering the mine, even as a high school dropout, he was actually the most educated in the mine. The mine leader did not arrange him to go down into the mine. Instead, he was told to study explosions from an almost-retired old master in the mine. Because of his knowledge of chemistry, he quickly mastered most of the skills from the old master, and even showed the potential to exceed his teacher. After all, the old master¡¯s knowledge was based on experience without theoretical basis. However, during his study, he also developed the habit of excessive drinking from the old master.

    In the mine, drinking was not a problem. If he did not drink, those rough miners would have thought that he wasn¡¯t a real man. So whenever they were free, they always asked Guan Biao to join them. Besides, the old master had worked in the mine for many years and had never been involved in incidents caused by sting operation. All the idents were caused by the copse of mine, water seepage, or gas explosion, which had nothing to do with the old master. However, as the saying goes, no one can avoid wet shoes if he is always walking along the riverside.

    One time, when the old master led Guan Biao to arrange an explosion, an ident happened. The mine¡¯s records did not borate on the ident, but there were few detailed records of mine idents during that time. All they knew was that in that ident, more explosives had been added than usual. Three people, including the old master, died. But Guan Biao was unharmed.

    Coincidently, Feng Xuan took his crew to shoot a movie near the mine, and the pyrotechnician fell ill. Guan Biao, who was watching the shooting volunteered, and Feng Xuan let him try an explosion scene with no people involved. It was a huge sess and the scene was finished well. From that point, Guan Biao left the mine to follow Feng Xuan shoot a few films. Slowly, he gained some fame, and he helped to create some movies or TV series. He had caused any idents, at least no idents on record.

    At that time, there was no qualification certificate in the pyrotechnic industry, although a certificate became a requirementter. Guan Biao sessfully became certified thanks to his knowledge in chemistry. So, he was fairly appreciated in the pyrotechnic industry. Every year, he could take over 3 or 4 films or TV series, so he probably lived afortable lifestyle.

    Zhang Zian flipped to thetter pages which included a variety of movies and TV shows that Guan Biao had participated in. He had never heard of most of them. Perhaps they had been released and were put into archives after filming. Even on the inte, Zhang Zian was unable to find any relevant information. But it was not surprising, considering that most movies and TV shows in China faced the same fate each year. Movies made by Feng Xuan had never be blockbusters, but at least all of his movie had been released normally. In this aspect, he might be considered as one of the best directors.

    Zhang Zian was engrossed in reading. Without him realizing, Famous had walked next to him and was looking at the photo of Guan Biao with him.

    ¡°This guy was lying,¡± Famous said concisely.

    ¡°Oh, how do you know that?¡± Zhang Zian sat up from the recliner and asked earnestly.

    When in the store, Famous could safely stretch out its tongue without worrying it might frighten others. It said, ¡°Hisnguage told me so.¡±

    Zhang Zian did not understand. He and Famous had been together at the audition and they had heard everything Guan Biao said, but he did not hear anything that proved he was lying.

    Hearing the word nguage¡±, the bored Richard became interested. It flew down from the bar andnded on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder. With a sarcastic tone, it said, ¡°Quack! How unexpected! Showing off in front of anguage expert! Come on, tell me, whatnguage are you talking about?¡±

    Famous nced at it and said, ¡°Bodynguage.¡±

    Richard was speechless.

    Zhang Zian was amused. ¡°Richard, aren¡¯t you the Apprehensive Bird? You must also understand bodynguage, right?¡±

    ¡°So boring! If you exin things with your mouth, why do you need to use bodynguage? It¡¯s unnecessary!¡± Richard shouted unhappily.

    With its good temper, Famous shook its head and said, ¡°Bodynguage is not meant to speak, but rather to express. Bodynguage can serve as a substitute when meaning cannot bemunicated through words.¡±

    ¡°Quack! On what asion can meanings not be conveyed by words?¡± Richard said unconvincingly.

    Famous looked at Old Time Tea and asked, ¡°Do movies have sounds in this era?¡±

    The question was so strange. Zhang Zian replied, ¡°Of course movies have sounds. There were silent movies, but those are long gone.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± said Famous. It was somewhat disappointed. ¡°Then bodynguage is probably useless¡­¡±

    ¡°No! That¡¯s not true!¡± Inspired by Famous, Zhang Zian thought for a while and said, ¡°Of course bodynguage is useful. I watched an American TV series called Lie to Me, where the protagonist could determine whether the other person is lying by observing human facial expressions and body movements. Although there is hyperbole within the drama, it is not a mirage. There is a rted theoretical basis called ¡®micro-expressions,¡¯ as I recall. Humans have seven basic expressions, including surprise, contempt, disgust, fear, anger, sadness, and joy. These aremon to all mankind, transcending linguistic and national boundaries. Whether a person is a cannibal from the Amazon or the U.S. President, they all have these seven basic expressions. By interpreting the permutations andbinations of these expressions, you can determine whether a person is lying. Famous, I think the principle of your judgment is exactly the same as this.¡±

    Zhang Zian was a fan of this drama series, but because of the poor ratings, it had been canceled by the evil television station in the U.S. Though it sounded simple, micro-expressions were veryplicated. Only with highly specialized knowledge and through arge number of case studies could a person understand a thing or two about this field. Schrs specialized in micro-expressions were even hired by the FBI to as consultants to help solve cases. Reading micro-expressions was partly how an experienced police officer could tell by one nce if a suspect was lying.

    Famous nodded. ¡°Maybe, but I do not know the principle. As if I have an instinct, I just know that the guy was lying. As an actor, he had poor acting skills.¡±

    Zhang Zian could not help butugh. ¡°That person is not an actor, he¡¯s just a pyrotechnician responsible for producing explosion-rted effects on the set, including bombing from warnes, and the scenes where people are shot and are bleeding.¡±

    He thought a while and decided to tell everything Sheng Ke had told him to the elves. He had promised not to reveal the matter to outsiders, but the elves were not outsiders anyway¡­

    While watching the movements of Lu Yiyun outside, Zhang Zian described the audition and the Sheng Ke¡¯s narrative chronologically to the elves.

    ¡°Why are you always so nosy?¡± When he finished speaking, Fina, who seemed to have been napping, became the first elfin to speak up and me him in a hostile tone. ¡°A movie with your participation will certainly be a lousy one, even lousier than that Cleopatra movie! It is your duty to return home early to serve me!¡±

    Zhang Zianined silently in his heart. Can¡¯t you just name another movie? You know, 99.9% of the movies are much worse than Cleopatra¡­

    ¡°Zian, it sounds like a bit dangerous.¡± Old Time Tea also said with concern.

    He quickly rified, ¡°I am not in danger. If anyone is in danger, it¡¯s Famous.¡±

    Famous said calmly, ¡°It¡¯s okay. If I do not participate in the film, then Red Dragon, Prince, and other dogs may be in danger. I cannot watch them be hurt or die. Or else, when I am truly dead, I am sure I will regret it.¡± It looked up, as if watching a woman who did not exist in the shop, but was smiling brightly at it.

 Chapter 428: Coercion

    <h4>Chapter 428: Coercion</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Let¡¯s call it a day!¡±

    ¡°Damn it! Finally! I¡¯m exhausted. I want to go home and take a bath¡­¡±

    ¡°I want to go home and drink! Damn it! The wind machine made me have a runny nose. I wish the wind was that strong a few days ago¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey, did you hear that Lin Feng had an affair with some woman a while ago and now his wife is divorcing him,¡± someone lowered his voice and said.

    ¡°Oh, from my perspective, he should not have married in the first ce. What man does not cheat on his woman? Why do you think so many celebrities are not married yet? Because they are afraid of the divorce!¡±

    ¡°Stop talking like that! Aren¡¯t you afraid of causing trouble for yourself by talking too much?!¡±

    ¡­

    Afterpleting a day of filming, the crew members gossiped and walked past the dorm where Guan Biao was residing.

    The table in front of Guan Biao had tons of peanuts and a bag of brined food. He was watching a variety show on a 24-inch TV. He pulled a very tasty chicken foot from the bag, threw into his mouth, and started chewing. He heard the voices of other crew members as they passed his door.

    The entire room was lit with the pale light of the LEDmp. There were piles of circuits, wires, and other unknown gadgets in the corner. The metallic contacts were shining with an icy cold luster, and the brown copper wires exposed from the insting rubber were twisted like some ferocious-looking paws. In addition, there were some different colored liquid, from dark red to light yellow, inrge and small ss bottles with nobels on them. Who knew what these liquids were.

    ¡°Pooh!¡± when there was nothing left of the chicken foot for him to chew on, Guan Biao spit it on the ground casually. He held up a small ss, which was full of Red Star Erguotou, raised his head and drank it all. With the spicy liquid gliding down his esophagus, his forehead produced ayer of sweat.

    Today there were no sting scenes, so Guan Biao did not have to work. He could stay warm and cozy in his dorm watching TV, drinking, and relishing the brined food. What afortable day.

    The voices of the rest crew members gradually faded away until they finally disappeared. They were gossiping without worrying about being overheard by Lin Feng. Because, unlike them, who were living in the dorms provided by the studio, those stars were living in a ssy hotel in Binhai City, and had shuttle buses to pick them up every day.

    Guan Biao¡¯s residence was far away from the crew members¡¯ quarters. Because he was a pyrotechnician, and a pyrotechnician represented danger, no one was willing to live near him. In fact, no one was willing toe by for a visit. With all the wires and unidentified liquids all around the room, no one wanted to cause trouble for themselves. Who knew whether these things would suddenly explode?

    After eating a duck neck, the phone he threw on the table suddenly rang. He used his greasy palm to grab the phone and saw that Yuan Fei was calling him. His tipsiness from alcohol almostpletely disappeared. He hastily tried to answer the phone, but his fingers were covered with oil, making him unable to unlock the screen. The phone was still ringing, like a summoning call from hell.

    After wiping his hands on his clothes, Guan Biao sessfully answered the call.

    ¡°Hello? Brother Yuan?¡± His voice was a little bit hoarse due to the spicy white alcohol. He strenuously swallowed some saliva.

    Yuan Fei said impatiently on the other end of the phone, ¡°What took you so long to answer the phone? Did you fall in the toilet?¡±

    ¡°No, just¡­I was just sleeping.¡± Putting his phone to his ear, Guan Biao covered the cap of the Red Star Erguotou to hide the fact that he was drinking, but he identally burped from all the alcohol he drank.

    Yuan Fei went silent for a while. ¡°You failed your mission.¡± Guan Biao knew what he was referring to and he hurriedly justified, ¡°No, no, I did not! My calctions should be precise. Who could have expected that the three dogs fought in the middle of the venue. I¡¯m not to me.¡±

    ¡°No need for excuses. Basically, you did not fulfill my request, and Neptune¡¯s role as the protagonist was given to another dog. What are you going to do? You must take responsibility,¡± Yuan Fei said unreasonably.

    ¡°How?¡± Guan Biao asked in terror.

    ¡°Think about it with your pig brain. If that dog called Famous was identally injured while shooting, wouldn¡¯t it be possible that another dog would be cast as the lead?¡± Yuan Fei reminded him subtly.

    Guan Biao nced at the brined pig brain wrapped in a piece of paper and suddenly felt nauseated.

    ¡°Brother Yuan, let me ask you. Is hurting police dogs really not against thew?¡± Guan Biao asked guiltily.

    Yuan Fei replied impatiently, ¡°How many times have I told you that this is the answer from the legal department of ourpany: so long as no one can prove that it was intentional, it¡¯s not an offense to harm police dogs. At the very least, it¡¯s impossible to use the allegation of harming police dogs to sue you. It¡¯s hard to say what will happen in the future, but at this stage, there is no relevant legal provision to support such a charge. As you know, there are more than 40wyers in our legal department, and most of them have studied abroad and thoroughly know the legal provisions. If they say it won¡¯t work that way, it definitely won¡¯t. Now that we are in a society governed byw and some people might take pictures and post on Weibo, I figure the police will not dare make a scene. You will be just fine if you leave no evidence that can be held against you.¡±

    When he heard that, Guan Biao was temporarily relieved. ¡°Well, all right then. Honestly, I was really scared seeing those police officers around.¡±

    If Yuan Fei had not clearly told him that he would bear no consequences, Guan Biao would not have hurt the dogs. But after the first time came the second time. Finding that nothing had happened to him, he became increasingly audacious. However, what had happened on thest day of the audition was so weird. If the three dogs had taken two more steps, they would have been injured, and could not have been cast as the lead. But during that critical moment, the dog called Famous pounced on the other two dogs and knocked them over. He failed on the eve of theplete sess.

    ¡°The two young men were not ordinary police officers, but police dog handlers responsible for carrying out tasks with police dogs. They have neither the brains nor the power to solve the case. So stop worrying so much!¡± Yuan Fei scolded him.

    ¡°Brother Yuan, I want to stop. It¡¯s a terrible feeling to be afraid every day. I have nightmares all night long, dreaming that those police dogs will take revenge on me. They tore me into pieces, and I was bleeding heavily and badly mutted. I¡¯m so scared that I can¡¯t not sleep. I have to drink alcohol to fall asleep,¡± Guan Biao begged him.

    Yuan Fei sneered on the other end of the phone, ¡°You did not kill those police dogs. They just suffered from some minor injuries. Why would they take revenge on you? If you are worried, you should be worried about your dead master that mighte to seek revenge, shouldn¡¯t you?¡±

    Guan Biao¡¯s face became pale hearing this. He waspletely sober now. He quickly covered his cellphone and listened for movement outside the door. He said in a low voice, ¡°Brother Yuan, I beg you to forgive me. I do not know how you found about this, but that was really just an ident.¡±

    Yuan Fei coldly interrupted his plea, ¡°It¡¯s not up to you or me to say whether it was an ident. If you don¡¯t want this to leak this out and be sent to jail for manughter, do exactly as I tell you. In the next sting scene, I want to see Famous and the other two police dogs hurt. And you must not leave any evidence, do you understand?¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay. I¡¯ll do it.¡± With his unfavorable past in the hands of Yuan Fei, Guan Biao reluctantly agreed. ¡°But this is really thest time, Brother Yuan. You must keep your word. Will you leave me alone after this?¡±

    ¡°Nonsense! Just do your job and cut the jibber jabber!¡± Yuan Fei replied impatiently. ¡°As for whether this is thest time, we are both in the showbiz, and our paths will cross again someday. Haha, when that timees, I will ask for your help again, big brother!¡± Guan Biao still wanted to beg, but Yuan Fei had decisively hung up the phone, leaving only the monotonous beeps of the cellphone.

    ¡°It truly was an ident,¡± he said to himself in tears, but no one listened to his exnation. He unscrewed the lid of Erguotou, poured himself a ss and drank it.

 Chapter 429: Start Working

    <h4>Chapter 429: Start Working</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian received notice from the crew that today there would be scenes with fully-grown dogs in them, and he needed to be there to guide the crew.

    To be honest, upon the moment of receiving the notice, he was quite excited. After all, this was his first official appearance on the crew, even though it was a crew with all males and there was no one for him to anticipate having a romantic rtionship with.

    Early that morning, he instructed Lu Yiyun to give him a call if she encountered any difficult customers, then he lead Famous and left the shop.

    He took a taxi to Binhai Studios. When he arrived, Zhang Zian went straight to the previous white and gray courtyard which was being rented by the crew of Dog Warrior as a work area. Some scenes would be shot here.

    At the gate of the courtyard was a shelter with a canopy, but no one was on guard in the sentry post because it was not yet time to film. On the door of the courtyard hung a sign that read: Xin¡¯an City Police Dog Training Base.

    Xin¡¯an City was a fictional city on the western border in the Dog Warrior movie. Some of the scenes that included Lightning, who would be yed by Famous, and other young police dogs would ur here. After shooting the storyline, the crew would capture the outdoor scenes of the western snownd, which was the setting in Binhai Studio, and post-production, the crew wouldbine the scenes to create the real snow-coveredndscape on the western border.

    ¡°Brother Zhang!¡±

    Someone called to Zhang Zian. He looked in the direction of the sound. It was Xiao Liu who was at the audition with him a few days ago.

    Xiao Liu was wearing a police uniform, holding Red Dragon and Prince, and waiting for Zhang Zian. He and Xiao Wang were worried about the safety of their dogs if they simply left them here, so he preferred toe here when the shooting began and leave with them when the shooting ended for the day. But since they had no ess to the crew, Xiao Liu met up with Zhang Zian here and handed the two police dogs over to him.

    He handed the leashes to Zhang Zian and said, ¡°Brother Zhang, please take care of Red Dragon and Prince!¡±

    He thought their beloved dogs could be in danger from the film crew. Whether the danger came from the filming itself or was from the intentional inflict of someone, it would deeply upset him if either of the dogs got hurt.

    During the filming of movies, even human actors could be unexpectedly injured, and news such as a celebrity falling off a horse was heard frequently, not to mention that it was almost inevitable for animal actors in a crew to get hurt. In some foreign animal films, there would be notices at the beginning or end that specifically stated, ¡°No animals were injured in the filming process,¡± and this gesture could be deemed as the ultimate humanistic concern for animals. But the crew of Dog Warrior was not able to do this, because even during the auditions, some dogs had gotten injured.

    ¡°Rest assured, I will try my best to take care of them,¡± Zhang Zianforted him. ¡°From today forward, they will need to be on set almost every day. So that you don¡¯t need to run back and forth, I will take them back to my pet shop after filming each day, and I won¡¯t let them suffer any grievances.¡±

    Xiao Liu nodded, ¡°Well, I believe you, Brother Zhang, because Captain Sheng told me about you. Well, I¡¯m going back to the base now.¡±

    He turned to look back at Red Dragon and Prince after every step, as if he would never see them again.

    After Xiao Liu got in a taxi and disappeared from view, Zhang Zian held the three German Shepherds and went into the courtyard.

    Red Dragon and Prince were very obedient to Famous, and they did everything as Famous did. Although they were three fully-grown dogs, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t feel it was difficult at all to pull them.

    There were peopleing and going in the courtyard. Some of them looked very familiar to Zhang Zian ¡ª they were probably crew members. Zhang Zian looked around to find someone to check him in.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, over here!¡± Feng Xuan¡¯s assistant saw him from far away and called him over.

    Zhang Zian led Famous and walked towards him.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, have you read the script for what is being filmed today?¡± The assistant instructed him to follow him to the backyard as he spoke.

    ¡°Of course, I¡¯ve read it several times! I can even recite it. Today we will shoot the scenes where Lightning is being trained in the training base, right?¡± Zhang Zian confirmed with him.

    ¡°Yes, today¡¯s scenes are not difficult, Mr. Zhang. Although this is your first time participating in a film, you should be fine¡­ Oh, and this is your pass. You must wear it from now on.¡± The assistant handed him a name tag with his photo and his position in the crew on it.

    Zhang Zian put the name tag on his chest.

    When they came to the backyard, Zhang Zian found that it waspletely different from the day of the audition. When he first came here, it was bumpy with puddles and craters everywhere. Now, all the holes had been filled and the venue was ttened. There were a lot of dog training props such as bars, low walls, concrete pipes, bnce beams, and rings of mes that had not yet been ignited on the ground.

    There were already a dozen dogs waiting there, each led by a different dog trainer.

    Feng Xuan was sitting in a soft chair. In front of him was a small coffee table with a monitor on it. He was holding a loudspeaker to instruct several actors how to act in the movie.

    There were several cameras in the venue that were controlled by different videographers who were going to shoot from multiple angles.

    As for other staff members responsible for the lights, setting, and sound effects, they were all in ce, ready to shoot.

    Zhang Zian looked around and did not see Guan Biao. After all, there were no explosion scenes today, so Guan Biao probably did not need toe in.

    The assistant motioned him to the other direction and said, ¡°The director is busy. Let me take you to see the leading actor, Lin Feng, and let your dog be familiar with him to avoid idents during shooting.¡±

    He probably feared that Famous would bite Lin Feng in the filming process, but Zhang Zian did not worry about this. However, since Li Kun wanted to get an autographed picture of Lin Feng to gift to his mother, he might take this opportunity to get one for him.

    The assistant led him to the temporary dressing trailers and smiled, ¡°Fortunately, this is an all-male crew, so the makeup is much simpler. If there was a big-name actress in this film, the makeup process alone would take up to three hours.¡±

    There were two dressing trailers, arge one and a small one. Therge one was shared publicly, and the small one was used exclusively by the few stars in the movie.

    The assistant knocked on the door and did not open the door until he heard someone yell from inside, ¡°Pleasee in!¡±

    The dressing shed was very warm from the electric heater. An actor around 30 years old was sitting in front of the mirror, and a female make-up artist was applying products to his face. The two of them were conversing and smiled from time to time.

    ¡°Brother Lin, let me introduce you to Zhang Zian. He is the chief dog trainer hired by the crew, and this is his dog Famous, who will y the fully-grown Lightning in the movie. The other two dogs are Lightning¡¯s costars,¡± the assistant introduced passionately.

    ¡°Hello! Wee to the crew! Sorry, I¡¯m in the process of applying makeup, so I can¡¯t really shake hands with you.¡± Lin Feng did not have the pretentious attitude of a movie star. He was sizing up Zhang Zian and Famous through the cosmetic mirror.

    ¡°Hello, my name is Zhang Zian, and I¡¯m the new dog trainer.¡± Zhang Zian casually looked around the dressing trailer. It was messy and smelled of various cosmetics. There were some stic heads wearing wigs, and the makeup artists would practice different makeup styles on their faces.

    After measuring for a moment, Lin Feng curiously asked, ¡°I heard what happened on that day of your audition. That was rmingly dangerous¡­ hey, let me ask you, how did your dog find the abnormality? The news has spread throughout the crew.¡±

    The assistant was also curious, waiting for Zhang Zian¡¯s answer.

    Zhang Zian expected that someone in the crew would have doubts, so he gave the answer he had prepared in advance: ¡°You have heard that in subways, airports and concerts, there are special dogs to search for dangerous explosives. And my Famous has been trained to search for explosives. It smelled the explosives and detected the danger.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that amazing?¡± The female makeup artist paused what she was doing and began to look at Famous with interest, ¡°How did the training work?¡±

    ¡°Sorry, that¡¯s a business secret,¡± replied Zhang Zian. ¡°I will starve before I reveal it.¡±

    Famous was obediently squatting on the ground, as were Red Dragon and Prince.

    When taking this movie opportunity, Lin Feng was concerned about being bit by dogs, but seeing that these three dogs were not aggressive, his mind was more or less at ease.

    ¡°This dog won¡¯t bite people, right?¡± he asked in a half-joking manner.

    ¡°In the filming process, if it is required to bite something, it will bite. Apart from that, it will not bite people, please rest assured.¡± Zhang Zian found that this minor celebrity was very approachable, and he also rxed.

 Chapter 430: Charlotteâ€™s Troubles

    <h4>Chapter 430: Charlotte¡¯s Troubles</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Lin Feng was wearing a prim and stiff police uniform just like the ones Xiao Liu and Xiao Wang were wearing, but he deserved to be called a star for he seemed a bit more handsome in uniform than ordinary police officers were. In addition to the fact that he had more distinct facial features, he was taller and wearing makeup, so Lin Feng¡¯s skin was smoother, unlike the skin of real police officers who were exposed to the sun and rain. One could easily tell that he was an actor by the first nce.

    Since he would be wearing a police capter on, his hair didn¡¯t need to be styled, so the makeup artist¡¯s work was easy.

    ¡°So, Xiao Zhang, you run a pet shop, right? Is it very fun? You can y with the pets all day long, and you can touch them and hold them as you want. A fun and easy job it must be!¡± The female makeup artist said with admiration on her face.

    The makeup artist checked over Lin Feng¡¯s face for thest time, indicating that his makeup was finished, and that he could stand up.

    She was a little older than Zhang Zian and amiably called him Xiao Zhang.

    Her impression was also amon misunderstanding of the work of a pet shop, and Zhang Zian replied, ¡°Well, it¡¯s okay, it¡¯s not as fun and easy as you would imagine. My hands cramp from cleaning the pets¡¯ excrements, and I be extremely parched after talking to customers after an entire day, yet I can only close a few deals¡­ but at least it is better than routine office work.¡±

    Lin Feng looked into the mirror to put on the police cap properly, and said to him jokingly, ¡°Count your blessings! People spend money to raise pets, but you can make money from raising pets! Stopining!¡±

    ¡°Exactly!¡± The makeup artist echoed him.

    Zhang Zian smiled, ¡°If you are envious, you can also raise pets that bring you money.¡±

    Not only were Lin Feng and the makeup artist interested now, but even the assistant next to them was curious. They all asked together, ¡°What kind of pets can make money?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t tell us to raise chickens and ducks and then sell the eggs¡­¡± said the makeup artist.

    Lin Feng guessed, ¡°Certainly you are talking about turtles¡­ wait a minute, they are not pets, right?¡±

    Zhang Zian replied solemnly, ¡°You can raise mosquitoes. Not only do they cost you nothing, but they can also give you mosquito bites.¡±

    Silence.

    Then everyone burst intoughter!

    They couldn¡¯t hold back theughter any longer. Lin Feng and the assistantughed helplessly until they were nearly convulsing. The female makeup artist was squatting on the ground, clutching her stomach, and couldn¡¯t find the strength to stand up.

    ¡°Ha ha! Raising mosquitoes for mosquito bites¡­ Xiao Zhang, you are so funny¡­¡±

    ¡°Speaking of this, I hate shooting outdoor scenes in summer the most. Every year, mosquitoes give me dozens of bites. I wouldn¡¯t even have to act anymore, I can just lie down and earn money!¡±

    Someone knocked on the door of the dressing trailer before it was pushed open. Feng Xuan stretched his head in and asked wondrously, ¡°What are you allughing about? I can hear you from far away.¡±

    In addition to Feng Xuan, there were several other actors and crew members curiously stretching their heads around the doorframe to inquire about the matter.

    The makeup artist was a regr member of Feng Xuan¡¯s crew and had followed him around to shoot several films. She took Feng Xuan by hand, vividly describing Zhang Zian¡¯s joke, which brought another round ofughter.

    With only one joke, Zhang Zian had left a deep and good impression on the crew members, who spread this joke to every member of the crew. Soon, everyone in the crew knew his joke.

    At first, Feng Xuan was somewhat worried that it would take Zhang Zian, who had never participated in filmmaking, some time to integrate into the crew. From the current situation, his concern was unnecessary. With his unique sense of humor, Zhang Zian had blended in the crew and won the likes of a lot of people.

    Many people in the crew had pets at home, and everyone else who, for the time being, couldn¡¯t raise pets, liked kittens and puppies. They learned that the chief dog trainer was also a pet shop owner, so they came to ask him about any and all pet-rted things.

    The female makeup artist wiped away her tears ofughter and smiled, ¡°I am raising a Sphynx cat, which I found at a pet shop when I went abroad with a crew to shoot a film. Many people don¡¯t like the appearance of this kind of cat, but I like it, so I bought it.¡±

    ¡°A Sphynx cat¡­¡± Zhang Zian nodded, ¡°The appearance of this cat breed is indeed unique.¡±

    Sphynx cats, also known as Canadian hairless cats, were the products of gic mutations, just like the Scottish Fold. Except for a very small part that was covered with sparse fluff, there was no fur anywhere else on their bodies. And there were many folds on their skin, very much like bulldogs, but they were not as fat as bulldogs.

    The cuteness of a cat had very much to do with its soft hair. A big reason that people liked cats was that it was veryforting to stroke their fur, bringing pleasure to both the cats and humans. Whether they were long-haired or short-haired cats, they had their loyal fans¡ª it felt good stroking long hair, and it was easier to clean short hair.

    But how about a hairless cat? Whether at home or abroad, very few people could ept hairless cats.

    Sphynx cats had big eyes, big ears, slender tails, wrinkled skin, and very little hair. They looked like aliens from another when they were staring at you.

    Since it was not yet time to shoot, a lot of people were squeezing into the shed. All of them were attracted here by the loudughter.

    The female makeup artist fetched a chair for Feng Xuan and asked him to sit down. She pulled out her cell phone and showed everyone pictures of her Sphynx cat and said excitedly, ¡°Although it has no hair, it is especially gentle. I particrly like holding it in my arms and putting makeup on it. I will apply foundation, eyeshadow, and blush on it, making it look like a beautiful little princess. And I will wipe it clean afterwards ¡ª this wouldn¡¯t be possible if it were a cat with hair.¡±

    Her cell phone was being passed around. Most people still couldn¡¯t ept the appearance of this cat but had restrained their opinions out of courtesy. The female makeup artist apparently was used to people¡¯s strange expressions when they saw her cat, so she did not mind.

    When the cell phone was passed to Zhang Zian, he saw a photo album with hundreds of pictures of the hairless cat, to which various makeup looks had been applied and it showed astonished, angry, or amused expressions. Zhang Zian could not help butugh. It was a perfect match between the female makeup artist and the hairless cat. If she were raising a long-haired or short-haired cat, it would have been very troublesome to bathe the cat every time she applied makeup. But he also felt sad for her future children, for he guessed that they won¡¯t be able to escape from her makeup clutches ¡­

    One of the pictures was a snapshot where the hairless cat, wearing makeup, was passing by a full-length mirror. It was stunned when it saw its image in the mirror, so it raised a paw to cover its face¡ªit could barely recognize itself. In the corner of the mirror reflected the image of the makeup artist holding her cell phone with a mischievous smile on her face.

    This was the case for Sphynx cats. People who were fond of them loved them deeply, and people who hated them loathed them terribly. The attitudes about them werepletely prized.

    However, this cat breed was very rare, and it was seldom seen in China. Zhang Zian was not optimistic about the sales prospects of this cat breed in China, so he did not intend to introduce it to his shop. Since Sphynx cats had no hair to resist the cold and keep themselves warm, they were very sensitive to temperature changes, and it was more suitable for them to live in ces with little changes in temperature over the course of the four seasons. In a ce like Binhai City where the summer was excruciatingly hot, and winter was extremely freezing, it was already difficult for humans to live, not to mention these fragile hairless cats ¡­

    Hairless cats were only suitable to be kept in an indoor environment. Of course, there were some advantages to having hairless cats. For example, they were seldom inflicted by ringworms or fleas.

    Zhang Zian handed the phone back to the female makeup artist. She took the phone and smiled, ¡°Xiao Zhang, you just mentioned mosquitoes. Do you know what I call this cat?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea.¡± Zhang Zian shook his head. Other people also had no idea.

    ¡°Ha-ha, I named it Charlotte. Do you understand what this means?¡± she shrewdly winked and smiled.

    Charlotte?

    Everybody tried to figure out what the name stood for. Even Feng Xuan joined in the fun and guessed a few times. She kept shaking her head, denying all their guesses.

    ¡°Don¡¯t waste your energy. None of you will get it,¡± sheughed provocatively. ¡°The name is very profound.¡±

    Her words aroused a greater interest in everyone, and no one was willing to give up that easily.

    Zhang Zian did not give his answer recklessly. He was pondering, trying to think in her perspective. Since she asked it that way, the name ¡°Charlotte¡± was certainly rted to a certain characteristic of the hairless cat. What was it?

    He outlined the appearance of the hairless cat in his mind, and its rted features emerged one by one.

    After a moment, inspiration shed in his mind, and he smiled/ ¡°I know the answer.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Tell me then. If you really guess right, I¡¯ll give you free makeup and dress you up as a cute girl, and I¡¯ll make sure that no one can tell you are a man,¡± she teased him.

    Zhang Zian looked at her and said, ¡°Thank you, but I don¡¯t need the makeup. However, I do think I have figured out the answer. When ites to Charlotte, it will certainly make people think of the movie Charlotte¡¯s Troubles.¡±

    Apart from him, a lot of people had vaguely guessed that there may have been a link between the cat¡¯s name and the name of this very popr movie, but they could not figure out what the link was.

    ¡°Go on,¡± she said.

    ¡°The hairless cat is very upset by the summer, and you named it Charlotte because it faces troubles in the summer, right?¡±

    ¡°Then tell me what bothers it in the summer?¡± she pursued asking him.

    ¡°It¡¯s very simple. Because it has no hair, it is very annoyed when faced with mosquitoes in the summer and it helplessly receives many mosquito bites,¡± Zhang Zian gave the correct answer.

    Upon hearing this remark, everyone suddenly realized that the meaning of the name was ¡°the troubles of summer¡±,pletely fitting to the characteristics of a hairless cat.

    The female makeup artist was surprised by Zhang Zian yet admired him. Only a few of her besties knew where the name of her cat stemmed from. And whenever she revealed the answer, her friends wouldugh so hard. No one had ever guessed it right. However, it was really eye-opening that Zhang Zian was able to get it in such a short time! If he did not have profound understanding of pets, how could he have gotten it right?

    The conversation had started with mosquitoes and was back to mosquitoes again.

 Chapter 431: Hidden Dangers in Summer

    <h4>Chapter 431: Hidden Dangers in Summer</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Right, I was busy putting on makeup and I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Xu Junyu, I¡¯m the makeup artist in the crew. Nice to meet you,¡± the makeup artist introduced herself.

    Zhang Zian shook hands with her. After the handshake, he felt that there was some cosmetic powder that had a pleasing scent on his hand. This woman was somewhat like a Sphinx, he thought, who also liked to ask others to guess riddles. Although she would not devour humans if they gave the wrong answer, her reward was not attractive either. Why the hell would she want to dress him up as a girl?!

    After joking for a while, Xu Junyu said, ¡°Actually, Charlotte was not the name I gave it in the beginning. It was summer. I lived on the first floor and there were many flowers and nts around. In the evening, after I turned on the lights, mosquitoes flew into my house through the tiniest gaps, and my cat received a lot of ¡®red packets¡¯. It couldn¡¯t stand the itchiness and went to scratch its skin everywhere. It rubbed itself too hard that it cut its skin. I was so distressed looking at the ¡®red packets¡¯ all over its body that I renamed it ¡®Charlotte¡¯ (meaning troubles in summer). Guys, take my advice, if you want to keep Sphynx cats, you¡¯d better live on the top floor or somewhere where there are no mosquitoes.¡±

    ¡°Poor thing. What did you do about the mosquitoes?¡± asked one of the girls responsible for the odds and ends in the crew.

    Xu Junyu shrugged. ¡°What could I do? I just lit some mosquito repellent incense. Even if the mosquitoes did not bite Charlotte, they would bite me.¡±

    Zhang Zian interrupted her, ¡°Wait a minute, you lit mosquito repellent incense in the summer?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but I just bought it this year. It¡¯s only been a summer.¡± Seeing the strange expression on Zhang Zian¡¯s face, she asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with mosquito repellent incense?¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head and said, ¡°If you are raising a cat, you¡¯d better not use mosquito repellent incense.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± she humbly asked for advice.

    ¡°The main ingredient in mosquito repellent incense is the the mosquito repellent permethrin. Is harmless to humans and dogs, because once humans and dogs inhale such this substance, their livers can dispose of the chemical. But the livers of cats do not have the metabolizing ability to get rid of the mosquito repellent permethrin. If the substance umte in their bodies over a long period of time, it will cause irreversible damage to cats and may even lead to death in severe cases,¡± Zhang Zian exined patiently. ¡°Of course, bigger cats will have a stronger resistance to it, and rtively speaking, kittens are more vulnerable.¡±

    It was the first time the people present had heard such a statement. They began to talk about it with each other.

    ¡°Really? Mosquito repellent incense is really harmful to cats?¡± Xu Junyu could not believe her ears.

    Zhang Zian replied affirmatively, ¡°Absolutely. This is not a baseless rumor, but is supported by science. People who have cats at home better not use mosquito repellent incense unless there¡¯s no other choice. If you cannot stand the mosquito bites, you can light the incense at home, close the doors and windows, take your cat outside for one or two hours, and then return when the mosquitoes indoor have been killed, but you have to open the windows to get rid of the incense. Of course, don¡¯t open the window screen.¡±

    Ordinary cats were not afraid of mosquitoes, but hairless cats were put in a very bad position. Without the incense, they could barely stand mosquito bites. With the incense, they would be poisoned.

    ¡°What should I do? I used the mosquito repellent incense for half a summer. Will something bad happen to my Charlotte?¡± She believed Zhang Zian was not lying so she quickly asked him. She was so anxious that she almost cried.

    Many people, including Lin Feng and Feng Xuan, tried tofort her but their efforts seemed to be in vain.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much, although the mosquito incense is toxic to cats, the toxicity is rted to the dose, and different kinds of incense contain various concentrations of permethrin. Your cat was fine back then, indicating that it had a strong tolerance against the chemical, and that the toxicity umted in its body was not enough to cause any symptoms. So long as you pay more attention and use the incense in a certain way, nothing serious will happen to it.¡±

    She suddenly said, ¡°Right! What I used was the mosquito repellent incense for babies. Do you think that¡¯s why my cat is fine?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s somewhat rted. There is low concentration of permethrin in the mosquito repellent incense for babies. So the repellent effect is rtively lower.¡± Zhang Zian nodded.

    She was somewhat relieved. She patted her chest and whispered, ¡°I¡¯m so freaked out. I thought I almost identally killed my Charlotte.¡±

    ¡°In fact, mosquito repellent incense is not particrly dangerous. What is even more dangerous is insecticide. If insecticide is sprayed on cats, it may cause the cat to fall into aa or die right away. A family with a cat should discard the pesticide right away in order to prevent this.¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Among the people present, the female makeup artist was not the only one raising cats, and everyone was startled by what Zhang Zian said. Who could have thought that mosquito repellent incense and pesticide, essential items for summer, were actually the natural enemies to cats?

    ¡°No wonder. I remember once when I lit mosquito repellent incense at home, my cat became listless and drowsy as if it could never get enough sleep. I thought it was sick and took it to a pet clinic, but the doctor found nothing wrong. In retrospect, was it because of the incense?¡± Someone asked.

    Zhang Zian nodded, ¡°Yes, that should be the case. But an experienced veterinarian should have asked you about the incense. After all, cats cannot talk.¡±

    ¡°No, the veterinarian checked it casually without asking me anything, and then he told me nothing was wrong, that the cat food was not good. So he just promoted a few cans of cat food to me,¡± the man said angrily.

    ¡°Maybe he was a quack that didn¡¯t have a license to practice medicine. Try a different clinic next time,¡± Zhang Zian advised him with sympathy.

    ¡°One time, my cat had diarrhea for days. I thought it was because it ate bad food or caught cold. But now I recall, I lit the mosquito repellent incense at the time. Could it because of that?¡± asked another man.

    ¡°Maybe.¡± Zhang Zian guessed, ¡°Did you take your cat to a pet hospital or a clinic?¡±

    ¡°I did, but the treatment was based on ordinary diarrhea. Although my cat was cured, I guess the root cause was still there. If only I had known sooner.¡± That man was both angry and felt sorry for his cat.

    Knowing her cat faced no imminent danger, Xu Junyu felt somewhat at ease, but a new problem arrived. When others finished asking, she asked Zhang Zian, ¡°Xiao Zhang, let me ask you, ording to what you said, I should neither use mosquito repellent incense nor pesticide. What should I do when there are mosquitoes in the summer? Don¡¯t tell me I should move! I¡¯m still paying my mortgage, I can¡¯t afford to move to a new ce!¡±

    Someone suggested her keeping the air conditioning on in the summer. Mosquitoes won¡¯t bite if the air conditioning is on. Xu Junyu just shook her head, smiled, and did not answer. Her answer was a little embarrassing to say in public. To prevent herself from catching a cold, she couldn¡¯t turn on the air conditioning during her menstrual period, and she must endure the heat no matter how hot the summer was. How was she going to survive the mosquito bites then?

 Chapter 432: Effective Methods to Repel Mosquitoes

    <h4>Chapter 432: Effective Methods to Repel Mosquitoes</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Using air conditioning to repel mosquitoes was a stupid way to deal with them, and it was unnecessary to use the AC in early summer or early autumn. Besides, the AC should not always be turned on. People should open windows for venttion from time to time, or else the indoor air quality would be poor for their health.

    In addition, Sphynx cats were rather special because they had no hair to cover their bodies, and unlike bulldogs, they did not have abundant fat to keep them warm during the cold. They were very sensitive to changes in the temperature, and if they were directly exposed to the cold air from the AC, they would catch a cold and get diarrhea easily.

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment and suggested, ¡°Then you can get a few flower pots and nt some catnip indoors. Catnip naturally repels mosquitoes, and it causes no harm to cats or humans. However, cats also like eating catnip and are easily addicted to it, so you should nt the catnip somewhere where the cat can¡¯t reach it, or else it will have been gnawed awaypletely by your cat before the catnip can repel any mosquitos!¡±

    ¡°Really? That¡¯s a good idea!¡± Xu Junyu was overjoyed upon hearing this. Not only did catnip possess a mosquito repellent effect, but it could add a touch of greenery indoors. So, why not?

    ¡°Yes, catnip has a variety of effects. In addition to repelling mosquitoes, you can also make cat toys from them. Grind dried catnip into a powder and put it in a bag. Cats will y with it all night. If you can¡¯t y with your cat, you can use the toy to attract its attention so that it won¡¯t disturb you for the time being,¡± said Zhang Zian. ¡°Of course, some cats are immune to catnip, so you can try other nts too.¡±

    ¡°Xiao Zhang, you are so resourceful! I wish I had known you earlier!¡± Xu Junyu regretted they hadn¡¯t met sooner. ¡°By the way, what is your WeChat ount? Add me, I will ask you for advice if there are any problems with my Charlotte.¡±

    Zhang Zian was so delighted that things were going exactly as he wanted. Not only had he exchanged WeChat ounts with a few people, but he had even promoted the public ount of his pet shop. His painstaking exnation was not futile. These people were in the showbiz industry, and though they were less influential than the top movie stars, they could still spread news quickly and widely. He had witnessed just how lucrative the showbiz industry was.

    ¡°There¡¯s also another effective method,¡± he grasped the opportunity and said. ¡°As you know, a lot of cats like catching mosquitoes and bugs. If there are too many mosquitoes in your house for one cat to get them all, you can raise one or two more cats. I assure you that the mosquitoes will bepletely gone. If you are interested, you cane to my pet shop to buy cats. I give good, honest prices for my customers!¡±

    The crowd was speechless, but was not averse to his obvious advertisement. Not only did cats like to catch fish and mice, but they liked to catch a variety of insects, too. Many cat owners might have experienced their cats suddenly extending their paws and then dropping the dead bodies of some insects. Although some owners would feel nauseated by it, this was the way cats expressed their affection for their owners¡ªby sharing their prey with them. In addition, thanks to their agility, cats were also very good at capturing mosquitoes. When a mosquitonded on a wall, before a person could fetch a swatter, a cat may have already killed the mosquito, driven by its hunting nature.

    In addition to cats, many people present, especially the men, also liked dogs. When they were little, what man was not envious of other people¡¯s dogs? When Zhang Zian was speaking, they noticed that Famous was quietly squatting without barking, sniffing, or running around. Even when some people took out some snacks to lure it, Famous did not make the slightest movement. It was just like a taciturn soldier as good as the two police dogs next to it.

    Feng Xuan¡¯s cell phone rang, the dressing room was too noisy, so he squeezed through the crowd and went outside to answer the phone. When he hung up the phone, he noticed that it was almost time to shoot, so he pped his hands and said, ¡°Stop ying around. Everyone please take your ce. We will start today¡¯s shooting immediately.¡± As the person in charge of the crew, he was d that everyone was getting along, but they couldn¡¯t dy the shooting.

    Within the blink of an eye, the crowd scattered at a speed faster than they had congregated, and then there was only Lin Feng, Xu Junyu, Zhang Zian, Feng Xuan, and the three dogs left in the shed.

    Feng Xuan nced at them and asked, ¡°Have you read the script yet? Let me exin it to you.¡± He was not talking about the story that was about to be filmed today, but rather he was focusing on what kind of emotions would be expressed through the story. The main content to be filmed was the training scenes. During the training, the leading role yed by Lin Feng would ce strict requirements on Lightning, yed by Famous. Lin Feng would not only train Famous by the montra, ¡°more sweat in usual time, less bleeding in the wartime¡±, but also would disy his caring and tender love for it during their training intervals by secretly buying extra meat for it with his own money.

    Feng Xuan was originally addressing Lin Feng and Zhang Zian, but as he spoke, he found that Famous was more concentrated than anyone. Its eyes stared at him as if scared it would miss a sentence. In contrast, though Lin Feng did not have the pretentious attitude of a star, he was obviously somewhat absent minded. Was it because he had sufficient confidence in his acting skills, or was he affected by his recent scandal?

    Lin Feng was not a superstar, nor could he take a firm stand as an A-list star. He barelynded somewhere in between the A-list and B-list. After all, the real protagonist of this movie was a dog, and from the outset, the policy of the crew was that they would rather spend money on the setting and special effects than hire big stars. The crew couldn¡¯t afford A-list stars. Even if they could, the stars were not willing toe. However, nowadays even the C-list stars dared to be pretentious, so Lin Feng¡¯s attitude was pretty good.

    Nevertheless, in his heart, Feng Xuan somewhat distained Lin Feng. Because you are not focused enough in shooting films and are vulnerable to external influences, you can never be an A-list star. Your self-righteous attitude makes you less than a dog.

    Zhang Zian was just listening casually. His tasks were to make the three dogs obey orders and cooperate with training and filming. As for how to make Famous disy affection for Lin Feng in the film, he didn¡¯t need to worry about that.

    A bystander could see through everything. Zhang Zian noticed that the script in Feng Xuan¡¯s hands was very worn, so that the edges of the pages started to curl up. And between the lines, there were more handwritten notes that Feng Xuan wrote when he studied the script. In contrast, Lin Feng¡¯s script was much cleaner and tidier.

    Xu Junyu had done her job, but she also needed to be with the crew during the filming to re-apply makeup to the main characters. Since she did not listen to Feng Xuan¡¯s exnation, she was just gently stroking the backs of Famous and the other two dogs. She felt good touching them.

    When the exnation was about to be wrapped up, the assistant ran in and whispered, ¡°Director Feng, we are ready. We can start filming at any moment.¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s go, we shouldn¡¯t keep everyone waiting for a long time.¡± Feng Xuan greeted the others and reminded Zhang Zian, ¡°Xiao Zhang, you are the neer to the crew, but don¡¯t be nervous, try to rx. I¡¯m confident in your abilities.¡±

 Chapter 433: Feng Xuanâ€™s Strict Requirements

    <h4>Chapter 433: Feng Xuan¡¯s Strict Requirements</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Since a long time ago, Feng Xuan had been well-known for his taking good care of the neers. Otherwise, Guan Biao wouldn¡¯t have blended into the film and television industry so easily. Right now, he wasforting Zhang Zian, telling him not to be nervous, but to just treat filming as an everyday thing.

    Zhang Zian really was not that nervous. He wasn¡¯t going to perform, and he didn¡¯t rely on this job to support him. Even if he did screw up and was dismissed from the crew, it would not be a big deal for him.

    While they were talking, they arrived at the shooting site. Most of the work for filming scenes in the backyard had been properly arranged by the deputy director, who was standing and talking with the production director, Nie Yuan. They were waiting for Feng Xuan. Since it was not the first day of filming, everyone seemed to be getting along well with each other, and the staff members were walking around methodically.

    Feng Xuan sat on his exclusive chair. In front of him was a small coffee table with a copy of the script, a storyboard derived from the script, a walkie-talkie, a loudspeaker, and a monitor. On one side of the table was a pair of headphones for monitoring. In addition to these, the coffee table also had a thermos bottle made of aluminum alloy. It was unknown whether the bottle was filled with tea or coffee. Zhang Zian wondered if Feng Xuan had learned this habit from Christopher Nn.

    Looking around and not seeing any chair for him, Zhang Zian had to stand with several other people beside Feng Xuan, and pretended to look at the monitor.

    Zhang Zian felt that the busiest and most tired people in the crew should be the lighting technicians and their assistants, who were holdingmps and reflectors to enhance the brightness of the filming venue.

    Feng Xuan instructed Zhang Zian to bring Famous in. After he did that, Zhang Zian assumed that his task was done. Just when he was about to leave, Feng Xuan told him not to move. In addition to Zhang Zian and Famous, the cinematographer, lighting technician, art designer, and Lin Feng were all called into the acting area by Feng Xuan, who would personally walk Famous and Lin Feng through their role.

    The first shot of the fully-grown Lighting was the scene when Lightning saw Lin Feng walk into the police dog training base. It would rush towards him from afar, and Lin Feng would timely open his arms. Lightning would jump into Lin Feng¡¯s arms and lick his face affectionately. Before this scene, Lighting had always been a puppy on camera, so at this time, the main camera would adopt the low height tracking method to film Famous as it ran, to emphasize its strength and beauty as a full grown dog.

    Walking through the actors¡¯ roles, also as known as blocking, was conducted by a director who would lead the actors in the certain scene to roughly interpret the story so that the actors have a basic idea about what was to happen. In the past, movies were shot by film cameras, coupled with a tight budget, so neither the director nor the producers could afford to waste the films. They would make sure everyone present knew exactly what to do before they actually started shooting. Although movies nowadays were made with digital cameras, and they didn¡¯t need to consider the issue of the number of films, the filmmakers from the older generation still retained the habit of blocking. So did Feng Xuan. Having practiced this habit for many years, he wasn¡¯t able to change even if he wanted to. He was the soul of the crew, so everyone must follow his habits.

    In fact, in addition to saving films and time, blocking could also save shooting time and money, especially in some difficult and spectacr scenes, such as sting scenes, or car chases that required the road to be blocked off. Several blocking practices and rehearsals must be conducted before the formal shooting of such scenes.

    Feng Xuan asked Lin Feng to stand still. He led Zhang Zian and Famous to the starting point and said, ¡°Wait for my instruction, and you tell Famous to run the route so the videographer will have a rough understanding of its running speed. During the real filming, the camera can keep up with it.¡± Feng Xuan stepped back a bit to observe the venue through the monitor. When he felt it was almost ready, he shouted, ¡°Run!¡±

    Without waiting for the instruction from Zhang Zian, Famous set off, but its speed was slower than in the audition, and it also leapt higher as it ran so that its posture was more beautiful and that the camera could track it more easily. This was exactly what Feng Xuan wanted to tell Zhang Zian. Feng Xuan could not help but be amazed by Famous. It was as if it had read his mind. After running to the designated position, Famous returned to the starting point, waiting for the next instruction.

    Feng Xuan was very satisfied with Famous¡¯s impable performance, but he found that there was a trace of fear on Lin Feng¡¯s face. After all, it was frightening when a fully-grown dog was about to lunge into him.

    Feng Xuan went to the camera position and instructed the camera operator in detail to slightly change the position of the camera, and to remind him about ascending and descending the track, even including the matter of the focal length of the lens. ording to his request, the camera assistant marked the changes of the movement of the camera.

    Due to the excellent performance of Famous, the blocking went well. And then it was time to adjust the lighting.

    In this scene, there was only one line. Lin Feng held Famous in his arms. He was in tears as he said excitedly, ¡°Lightning, I miss you so much!¡±

    The recording assistant helped Lin Feng put on a wireless microphone. The art designer and camera operator were coordinating the clean-up of the venue ording to the track that was just confirmed. The cinematographer and the lightning technician were discussing the issues of lighting and supplementary lighting.

    Seeing that everyone was super busy except him, Zhang Zian was a bit embarrassed, and he tried to find something to do. He saw that Xu Junyu was smiling and waving at him, indicating for him to go to her.

    Leaving Famous, Zhang Zian excitedly walked over to her and asked, ¡°Do you have anything for me to do?¡±

    ¡°No, I think you seem restless because you are idle. So, I decided to call you over to give you a few tips. Just consider it me repaying your favor,¡± Xu Junyu said calmly as if she was an older sister with more life wisdom.

    Zhang Zian was puzzled. ¡°Instruct about what?¡±

    Xu Junyu raised her chin towards the busy crew members and said, ¡°You are embarrassed because they are busy and you are not, so you are trying to act busy too, right?¡±

    Zhang Zian was shocked that she could tell. ¡°How did you know?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Oh, how did you know why I named my cat Charlotte? Because you know the habits of Sphynx cats. Likewise, I understand how a crew works, so I can figure out what you are thinking.¡± She said confidently, ¡°Neers, such as yourself, often worry about others saying that they are cking off, so they want to find something to do. But as a result, get in the way of the normal work of others. I was just like you when I started with the crew. I saw an actor whose hair was messed up by the wind, and I passionately rushed into the acting area to reapply makeup for him. I blocked the camera, so I was severely scolded by the deputy director. Hence, if the director or deputy director asks you to do something, just do it. If there¡¯s nothing for you to do, just feel at ease and watch from the side. As for how much you can learn from observing, that depends on your own ability.¡±

    ¡°Well, okay, I see.¡± Zhang Zian humbly epted her instructions.

    ¡°You see, unlike you, your dog is veryposed and squatting quietly.¡± Sheughed. Famous was quietly sitting at the starting point. Though people wereing and going around it, it remained calm.

    The deputy director gestured at Xu Junyu. She nodded at Zhang Zian, picked up a cosmetic bag, trotted into the acting area, and deftly reapplied makeup for Lin Feng.

    This was the first time Zhang Zian caught a glimpse of theplexity and professionalism in filming. To shoot such a simple scene, it took dozens of people such a long time and great effort before the formal shooting started. The process was not as easy as he had imagined.

    After checking several times and confirming there was no problem, Feng Xuan finally sat back in his director¡¯s chair. He picked up the loudspeaker and said, ¡°Attention all divisions! Lighting, art design, green screen! Get ready! Act six, scene one. 3¡­2¡­1¡­action!¡±

    To avoid making Famous seem too intelligent, Zhang Zian stood at a position near the finishing point that was not on camera, in order to give signals to Famous. In the eyes of the others, they would think that Famous behaved ording to hismand.

    As the ¡°action¡± was shouted, and after Zhang Zian waved at it, Famous rushed towards forward as it had before. The camera closely followed it at a low position to shoot its close-up image. Through the monitor in front of him, Feng Xuan could see that Famous used every muscle as it ran,pletely disying its strength and beauty. The look in its eyes that was full of the attachment to its owner made it seem especially marvelous.

    Famous¡¯s running speed was almost exactly the same as in the rehearsal, so the cinematographer smoothly controlled the camera, and was looking at the world from its perspective.

    Carrying an army green package, Lin Feng appeared at the entrance of the police dog training base. He saw Famous running to him, so he put the package down, and knelt on the ground. He opened his arms and shouted, ¡°Lightning, I miss you so much!¡±

    Before Famous really lunged into his arms, Feng Xuan shouted, ¡°Cut!¡± Lin Feng looked at him confused, not sure what went wrong in this scene.

    Feng Xuan picked up the loudspeaker and shouted, ¡°Lin Feng, your action was wrong! Don¡¯t just put down the package. Bang! you should throw it on the ground to show your joy as you¡¯re about to be reunited with Lightning. Again!¡±

    Zhang Zian made a gesture, and Famous obediently returned to the starting point.

    ¡°3¡­2¡­1¡­action!¡±

    ¡°Cut! Lin Feng, you knelt too slowly! Act six, scene one again!

    ¡°Cut! Lighting division, what happened to the light? Too dazzling! Again!

    ¡°Cut! Dressing division, arrange Lin Feng¡¯s clothes! Again!¡±

    ¡­

    ¡°Pass! Take a rest for 10 minutes, prepare for the next scene!¡± Hearing the long-awaited sentence, people were relieved to be able to rx their aching arms and legs.

    Such a simple scene was filmed six times before Feng Xuan was finally satisfied. Famous¡¯s performance was impable. Its running speed was the same in every retake.

    Apart from the crew members, there were also other dogs that served important supporting roles who had their owners present. Watching Famous¡¯s performance, especially its cooperation with Zhang Zian, unless some owners held prejudice against them, all the dog owners felt that if their dogs were going to y this scene, they certainly could not meet the strict requirements of Feng Xuan.

    ¡°How do you feel?¡± Xu Junyuughed.

    ¡°Tired! So tired!¡± Zhang Zian shook his head.

 Chapter 434: Getting Lunchboxes

    <h4>Chapter 434: Getting Lunchboxes</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Throughout the whole morning, only three scenes were filmed. Zhang Zian experienced how dull and boring the filming process was. As it turned out, those brilliant scenes on the screen were made by these short takes. Actors and the script were like separate atoms of hydrogen and oxygen, and the director was the key electric spark that added them together to make an explosive chemical reaction.

    All that said, Zhang Zian still felt very bored, especially when Feng Xuan shouted ¡°Cut!¡± He felt inexplicable discouraged, as if a w had urred when a sand castle was about to be built, or as if a customer had asked him questions for an hour and didn¡¯t buy anything in the end.

    Famous was full of energy and did not show the slightest impatience. Zhang Zian knew that it must be very tired, because it had run back and forth six times just shooting the first scene. Added with the rehearsals, it had run almost ten times, but every time, it had meticulously met the director¡¯s orders and requirements.

    When the third scene was finished shooting, it was already 1 o¡¯clock in the afternoon, and Feng Xuan finally decided to take a lunch break. ¡°Come and get your lunchboxes!¡±

    Hearing these words, Zhang Zian, who almost fell asleep while he was standing, finally woke up. He was aware that he was so hungry that his stomach was singing. To make some space in his stomach for the free lunchbox, he barely ate anything that morning.

    Having been busy for the whole morning, the rest of the crew members were all tired and hungry. They put down their things at hand and quickly rushed to get their lunchboxes. It was just like the cafeteria in a high school during lunchtime.

    ¡°Famous!¡± Zhang Zian waved to Famous, asking it toe to him. When Famous approached, he asked, ¡°How are you, are you hungry?¡±

    It shook its head slightly. ¡°I¡¯m not hungry.¡±

    ¡°How are you not hungry? I can barely stand the hunger even though I was just standing here all morning, but you ran so much, you must definitely be hungry. You wait here, take a break, and I¡¯ll get you a lunchbox. You¡¯ve worked so hard, you deserve to have an extra chicken leg.¡± Zhang Zian smiled.

    Perhaps because it heard ¡°chicken leg,¡± Famous unconsciously licked its lips andid down to rest.

    In the morning, there were no scenes involving Red Dragon or Prince. They were did not need to be on lease either. They had been behaving very well and did not bark. They went to Famous and lied on the ground.

    The crew members were sopetitive to get their lunchboxes. Zhang Zian was nervous, wondering if the number of lunchboxes was not enough. He did not dare to dy it any longer. He struggled to squeeze into the crowd and said to the guy responsible for giving out lunchboxes, ¡°Four lunchboxes with extra meat!¡±

    However, the guy handed him only one lunchbox, without raising his head, he said, ¡°One lunchbox per person. No getting on on behalf of others. What do you need so many lunchboxes for? Is it your first day on the crew? Get out of here! You are obstructing others!¡±

    Zhang Zian did not leave. He asked, ¡°Are you sure I can¡¯t take lunchboxes for others? Then I¡¯ll have to let my dogs ?e and get lunch themselves.¡±

    Someone next to the lunchbox guy whispered a few words to him. The lunchbox guy looked up at Zhang Zian. ¡°A dog trainer? Why didn¡¯t you tell me earlier? You want four, right? Here! Take them and get out quickly!¡± He stacked three lunchboxes and handed them to Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian was a little bit annoyed. No business owners dared to treat their customers with such an attitude. I¡¯m just a dog trainer? Well, you are just a guy handing out lunch to the crew. Who do you think you are to be so cocky? But then he thought to himself, No need to be angry with this guy, I should feed myself first.

    Holding four lunchboxes, Zhang Zian squeezed out from the crowd and went back to the three dogs. Smelling the scent of the meal, they all came forward and circled around the lunchboxes.

    Zhang Zian opened his lunchbox. He was disappointed. The meal was so shabby! In the square lunchbox, half of it was rice, while the other half was scrambled eggs with tomatoes, Moo Shu pork, and saut¨¦ed cabbage with vinegar sauce. The lunch standard must not exceed ten yuan! And where was the chicken leg as promised? Most importantly, the meal was already cold! It was cold! He thought he was just unlucky, but then he opened the other three boxes. The food was all the same.

    Zhang Zian had not eaten cold meals in a long time. Having such a cold meal in winter, he couldn¡¯t help butin to himself, Why can¡¯t they serve the meal as soon as the lunchboxes arrived? When they finished shooting, the meal was already cold!

    But then he looked at the other people. Whether it was director Feng Xuan or the leading actor Lin Feng, they were eating the same kind of lunch as him. The only difference was that their lunchboxes had been delivered to them, and they could have lunch while sitting. Zhang Zian and the rest of the crew members had to get their lunchboxes in person and could only squat as they ate their meal.

    ¡°What should I do, Famous? This meal is cold. Should I find a way to heat it up?¡± Zhang Zian said, looking up at the windows of the two-story building, wondering if he could find a microwave. Probably not. If there was one, every member of the cew was probably in line to use it.

    Staring down at the cold lunch, Famous did not say anything. It sniffed the food and started to eat. Reluctant as they may be, Red Dragon and Prince were too hungry and began to eat the food just like Famous.

    Zhang Zian sighed, separated the disposable chopsticks, picked up a piece of ugly scrambled egg, frowned, and put it into his mouth. It was a little salty. He quickly put a bit of cold rice into his mouth. He kept chewing and did not swallow them until they were warmed up by his mouth. Even so, he felt the food was cold and hard in his stomach, as if he had swallowed a bunch of small stones.

    ¡°Eating alone?¡± A pair ofdy¡¯s high-top shoes and gray trousers appeared in the corner of his eye. The sound was somewhat familiar. With rice on his mouth, Zhang Zian looked up. It was the makeup artist Xu Junyu.

    While she was eating and talking with the other makeup artists, she noticed that Zhang Zian was lonely and pathetic squatting in one corner all by himself. She decided toe over and speak with him.

    ¡°I¡¯m not alone.¡± Zhang Zian wiped the rice from his mouth. He pointed to Famous and the other two dogs. ¡°They are here with me.¡±

    Holding a pair of chopsticks and her half eaten lunchbox, she curiously asked, ¡°Why don¡¯t you eat with the other dog trainers? You should havemon topics to talk about, right? Don¡¯t you feel lonely eating by yourself? You shouldmunicate with others more frequently now that you have joined the crew.¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled. Instead of answering directly, he just said, ¡°Two of a trade can never agree.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± She could rte to that. ¡°Do you mind if I have lunch with you?¡±

    ¡°Suit yourself.¡± Zhang Zian moved aside to give her room. She also squatted down, but she ate rather elegantly.

    Zhang Zian noticed that she was not using the disposable chopsticks with wood splinters on them, but was using a pair of delicate bamboo chopsticks that she probably brought with her.

    ¡°Right, I would like to ask, are all the lunchboxes in the crew¡­¡± he asked, pointing to the lunchboxes. He wondered, if the movie industry was so lucrative, then why was the crew reluctant to serve better quality lunch?

    ¡°Garbage?¡± She smiled, picked up a mouthful of saut¨¦ed cabbage with vinegar sauce, and ate it. ¡°Not all of them. Do you see that guy handing out the lunchboxes? He is said to be rted to the production director Nie Yuan. And because of that, he was arranged to be responsible for meals during filming. Now, this is a very lucrative job. The lunch standard should be 25 yuan per person. By providing lunch of lower standard, the money he saves ends up in his pockets. He earns more than you and me every day.¡±

    Having been with many film crews, Xu Junyu was used to such things that she never felt likeining. In general, films shot by privatepanies had more nepotism, but even in the crews such as Dog Warrior, which had support from the government, simr events were inevitable.

    Xu Junyu intended toin a bit more, revealing some insider secrets of the industry to him as his predecessor, but she was stunned as she saw that Zhang Zian did not eat the Moo Shu pork in his lunchbox. Instead he put it into Famous¡¯s lunchbox.

    Famous looked up at him. It stuck out a forepaw, blocking his chopsticks.

    ¡°I¡¯m not hungry. You¡¯ve been tired all morning, you should eat more.¡± Zhang Zian smiled. A human¡¯s hand was after all more flexible than a dog¡¯s paw. His chopsticks went past Famous¡¯s forepaw and put the meat in its lunchbox. ¡°And the pork is fat, I don¡¯t like eating fatty meat.¡±

    Famous looked at his eyes. It could tell that he was lying. A very clumsy lie. He could fool others, but he could never fool Famous. His bodynguage was clearly saying that he was hungry and wanted to eat meat. But Famous did not hate this lie. Famous liked it and felt moved by it. It removed its forepaw, bowed its head, and ate the Moo Shu pork. There were only a few slices of meat, but they were surprisingly delicious.

    Xu Junyu looked at the other dog trainers from afar. They were also having lunch with their German Shepherds. Everyone¡¯s food was the same, but no one gave the meat in their lunchboxes to their dogs as Zhang Zian had. She even saw that someone had taken meat from their dog¡¯s box, eating the meat nonchntly, turning a blind eye to the begrudging look of their dog.

    Suddenly, she realized why Zhang Zian did not eat with other dog trainers. It was not only because of what he had said, ¡°two of a trade can never agree,¡± but also because he was apletely different kind of person from them. In the morning, she told others that she envied this new chief dog trainer. She wondered how his dog was so obedient. Now, she believed she had found the answer.

    She used her exquisite bamboo chopsticks to pick out the Moo Shu pork from her lunchbox as Zhang Zian had, and put it into Red Dragon and Prince¡¯s lunchboxes.

    Unlike Famous, Red Dragon and Prince did not hesitate to ept the meat. However, after eating the meat, they were obviously more intimate with Xu Junyu, even sticking out their tongues to lick her palms.

    ¡°I¡¯m trying to lose weight, so I don¡¯t want to eat meat,¡± she smiled and said in response to Zhang Zian¡¯s curious gaze.

 Chapter 435: Delicious Salty Food

    <h4>Chapter 435: Delicious Salty Food</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian reluctantly ate the food in the lunchbox. The cold and hard rice was difficult for him to swallow, and he felt ufortable when it reached his stomach. After finishing the meal, and under Xu Junyu¡¯s instructions, he put the lunchboxes, along with Xu Junyu¡¯s lunchbox, into a stic bag and went to throw them into the recycling bin. Xu Junyu went to wash her chopsticks after thanking Zhang Zian for his help.

    When he returned, Xu Junyu was also back. She carried a small rectangr hard stic box with her. After rinsing the chopsticks, she ced them into the box.

    ¡°Is there a deli nearby?¡± Zhang Zian asked. Famous and the two police dogs had not eaten enough. If there was a deli nearby, he intended to buy something for them.

    ¡°No.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Didn¡¯t you see it when you came here? The studio is surrounded by wilderness, and the facilities have not yet been set up. Besides, providing lunch and dinner is an important ie-generating means for the studio, so no takeout food is allowed here.¡±

    Holding the chopsticks box, she pointed to the actors in the center of the venue. ¡°Although these celebrities usually lead extravagant lives, they still need to be approachable to the crew, and can¡¯t ask for privileged treatment. They just eat what we eat.¡±

    Zhang Zian understood her meaning. She was advising him not to seek special treatment. If the entire crew was eating rubbish and he got himself a gourmet meal, he would easily make others resent him.

    The deputy director called Xu Junyu over to discuss the issue of makeup. There must be differences on the leading actor Lin Feng¡¯s face to reflect the changes in his age.

    Since the shooting in the afternoon had not begun yet, Zhang Zian had nothing to do. He took out his cell phone and sent messages to Sun Xiaomeng.

    Zhang Zian: ¡°Do you have time? I want to ask you about something.¡±

    About ten minutester.

    Sun Xiaomeng: ¡°One-hundred-yuan consulting fee for each piece of advice.¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°Why don¡¯t you go rob a bank? Seriously, do you know what the police dogs usually eat every day?¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng: ¡°Yep. A ssmate of mine became a veterinarian at a police dog training base after graduation, and we often chat to exchange experience.¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t understand the psychosphere of the schrs. He sent another message to her: ¡°Well, can you help me identify if there will be a problem if police dogs eat this?¡± He took a picture of the lunchbox and sent the image to her.

    There would be no problem if ordinary dogs ate the food, but he worried that police dogs were more delicate, and might suffer from diarrhea and the like. Xiao Liu and Xiao Wang had asked him to take care of their dogs, and he had confidently promised them he would. If the police dogs fell ill in his hands, he would be too embarrassed to face their owners.

    After a while, Sun Xiaomeng replied: ¡°Isn¡¯t this a lunchbox? The amount of food is less than usual, but the police dogs will be fine eating it.¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t believe this: ¡°Really?¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng: ¡°Of course. Wait a second.¡±

    Zhang Zian waited for a while before Sun Xiaomeng sent him a picture.

    Sun Xiaomeng: ¡°This is a paper from Agriculture and Technology, Issue 19, 2016. I asked my ssmate to send it to me. The paper is about how to raise police dogs, and don¡¯t think it¡¯s a very hard job to do.¡±

    Zhang Zian zoomed in on the picture to read carefully. There were generally two kinds of foods for police dogs: the homemade type, and the mass produced type. The mass produced type was pellet feed, which was nutritionally bnced, easy to use and store, but due to the dishonesty of some manufacturers, the quality of pellet feed couldn¡¯t be guaranteed. The other type was the homemade feed¡ªmixed vegetables and meat for the police dogs. Although the lunchbox was shabby, seriously speaking, it was quite nutritionally bnced with cabbage, cucumber, garlic, meat, eggs, and tomatoes in it.

    Sun Xiaomeng said the amount of food was less than usual, because this paper mentioned that the full grown police dogs had more daily activity, and they needed to consume 2 to 3 kilograms of rice per day. But the rice in that lunchbox was no more than 0.6 kg. Zhang Zian estimated that the two police dogs and Famous were only half full.

    Zhang Zian: ¡°Well, I got it. Thanks.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng: ¡°I don¡¯t care about you saying thanks. Save it. Just send me red packets.¡±

    Zhang Zian decided to pretend that he had not read this message and then put the phone back into his pocket.

    The lunch was slightly salty, but it should not be an issue. Unlike cats, dogs must consume salt. Simr to human beings, dogs would suffer from hair loss and be susceptible to fatigue if their salt intake was insufficient. Fully grown, medium sized dogs such as German Shepherds must consume at least half a gram of salt daily. In fact, all dog food being sold in the market was salty. Don¡¯t ask him how he knew about this¡­

    The afternoon was busier than the morning. In addition to Famous, the other two police dogs also debuted as the supporting roles in the training scenes. The police dogs only listened to their owners, and Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t unable tomand them. Fortunately, Famous could tell them what to do. Though they were not as good as Famous at performing, at least they made no big mistakes.

    By evening, all three dogs were hungry, and even Famous couldn¡¯t run as fast as before. No evening scenes needed to be filmed that day. Feng Xuan looked at the sky and decided to call it a day.

    Zhang Zian had been pondering during his break in the afternoon about how to make the dogs eat enough food, which would be best if it was hot. Even for his own sake, he did not want to eat cold food. As for the harmony in the crew, he didn¡¯t give a damn about that!

    ¡°Xiao Zhang! What are you thinking about? We are getting off work, you want to join us for dinner? It¡¯s Director Feng¡¯s treat today. He¡¯s going to throw a weing party for the new staff,¡± Xu Junyu said to him. Zhang Zian noticed that most people did not leave, happily waiting for the free dinner.

    At this time, Feng Xuan also came towards him and smiled. ¡°Zhang,e on, join us. You¡¯ve done very well today, and shooting is going much smoother than I expected. I was very worried before if these dogs would obey, but it seems that my worry waspletely unnecessary. If possible, I really hope you can train the other dogs.¡± Feng Xuan was referring to the German Shepherds led by other dog trainers. These dogs hadn¡¯t behaved very well in the afternoon. They barked and ran around in the venue sometimes, disrupting shooting several times.

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment and asked, ¡°What about these dogs?¡±

    Feng Xuan pointed to the standing iron cages not far from him. ¡°Simple, put them in the cages and take them after dinner. Dogs are certainly not allowed in the restaurant.¡±

    ¡°Well, I have some things to do tonight. Let¡¯s get togetherter when we have time.¡± Feng Xuan¡¯s answer was almost what Zhang Zian had expected, so he politely refused. He knew that this sort of weing party would certainly be very lively. After dinner, they may also want to go to KTV, so the party wouldst at least three hours. The temperature dropped very quickly at night. That coupled with the blowing wind, he could not bear to let Famous and the two police dogs freeze in the cages for a few hours.

    Feng Xuan said another few words, but Zhang Zian insisted that he had things to do. Xu Junyu had roughly guessed why he did not want to go. She did not say anything.

 Chapter 436: Relishing A Feast

    <h4>Chapter 436: Relishing A Feast</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Wearing a mask and a coat, and carrying a digital drawing board, Lu Yiyun left her apartment. She stepped on the crisp snow, lowered her head, and passed by the office workers and students on the road, heading straight for the Amazing Fate Pet Shop in the morning. The regr work schedule had made her feel a little bit more confident, so that she no longer felt like a loser who stayed in her room all day long. When she arrived and opened the door to the pet shop, the shop was filled with some sort of delicious scent.

    ¡°Wow, it smells so good. Mr. Store Manager, what are you cooking?¡± she could not help but swallow her saliva and ask curiously. People generally had a light breakfast in the morning, but such a tempting aroma was rarely found.

    ¡°I just made some stewed beef with potato. Do you want some?¡± asked Zhang Zian. Wearing an old apron, he was putting the beef into double-decker lunchboxes. After he came back from the Studiost night, he made a trip to the supermarket, bought several bags of beef brisket and potatoes, and went to Uncle Li¡¯s restaurant to ask him how to cook stewed beef with potato. He brazenly took some spices such as pepper, aniseed, and cinnamon back to his ce. After he got up this morning, he simmered the ingredients ording to Uncle Li¡¯s method, because it would be easier for a rookie cook like him to control the heat. He just turned off the heat before Lu Yiyun came in.

    ¡°Stewed beef? Mr. Store Manager, aren¡¯t you shooting a movie? Doesn¡¯t the studio provide meals for you?¡± Lu Yiyun put down the digital drawing board and tried to divert her attention. After all, it was embarrassing to ask for free meal in the morning.

    She seldom ate stewed beef with potato because it was time-consuming to prepare. She was the kind of person who would be engrossed in her painting and did not have the time to prepare foods that took a long time to cook. But that didn¡¯t mean she did not like to eat it.

    ¡°It does. But the meals are poor quality; there is barely any meat. I feel just as hungry after I eat.¡± Zhang Zian neatly arranged the pieces of beef and potato in therger part of the double-decker lunchboxes. He picked up a few small bags and stuffed them into the smalleryer.

    ¡°What¡¯s that? Sauce?¡± She asked curiously.

    ¡°Nope. Those are inedible.¡± Zhang Zian threw a bag to her.

    She hastily grabbed the bag and took a closer look. It said: ¡°food-specific heating package, do not eat¡± on the bag.

    ¡°I bought arge bag of those from an outdoor equipment store nearby. They should be enough for several days. The lunch time in the studio is unstable, andpletely depends on the director¡¯s mood. The food in the lunchbox yesterday was cold, and I felt very ufortable eating it,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    Due to the freezing weather in winter, food quickly became cold. The beef was hot in the pot and was already lukewarm in the lunchboxes. Zhang Zian thought that the beef in a heavy insted lunchbox might go cold at one or two o¡¯clock in the afternoon, so he decided to use an ordinary lunchbox and solve the temperature problem with the heating packages. When it was time for lunch, he could just pour some water into the loweryer of the lunchbox, and he could eat the warm stewed beef with potato in a matter of minutes.

    ¡°Superb, Mr. Store Manager! How did you think of this?!¡± Lu Yiyun said with admiration.

    ¡°I thought of this because I tried self-heating bentos before. Putting the vor of that bento aside, I could actually eat hot food.¡± Zhang Zian had stewed arge pot of beef with potato. When the four lunchboxes were filled, there was still a lot left in the pot.

    When the aroma of the stew began to drift from the pot, Famous and the two police dogs were restless. Famous could still maintain itsposure, and although the two well-trained police dogs did not behave rudely, their frequent nces towards the kitchen upstairs exined everything. However, when Zhang Zian carried the pot and went downstairs, it was Snowy Li who approached him first.

    ¡°Meow~ meow! I want to eat beef!¡± It said bluntly, ¡°Do you know how hard it is for me to miss beef every day?¡± While speaking, it jumped up to the pot as if it was going to devour all the beef. Unfortunately, it had short limbs and poor motor skills. No matter how hard it tried to jump, it couldn¡¯t get past Zhang Zian¡¯s knees.

    ¡°Meow~ meow! Why are you holding the pot so high? Do you believe me when I say I¡¯m going to break your knee?¡± Snowy Li angrily threatened him. However, its appearance was too sweet, and its anger possessed a unique mor that didn¡¯t make it scary at all.

    ¡°There is salt in the stewed beef that cats can¡¯t eat. There is still some uncooked raw beef brisket left for you. Do you want some?¡± Zhang Zian easily ignored its threat.

    ¡°Raw beef brisket?¡± Snowy Li¡¯s saliva was pouring relentlessly like a flood. In the descriptions in Chin Ping Mei, Snowy Li¡¯s favorite food was raw beef, but after it came to the pet shop, it had been eating chicken breast and fish as Fina did. It was so ravenous when it heard there was raw beef.

    ¡°Where is it? Where¡¯s the raw beef brisket?¡± it croaked and asked,pletely ignoring its image.

    ¡°Upstairs. If you wait here obediently, I¡¯ll give it to you in a while, otherwise¡­¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s threat was more effective. Although Snowy Li was anxiously scratching its body, it did not dare to act rashly.

    He had bought more raw beef brisket than usual this time. Not only did he need to stew the beef for Famous and the two police dogs, but he saved the rest of the raw beef brisket for the cats. It was better for cats to eat raw beef on a regr basis, since raw beef replenished amino acids, enhanced physical fitness and muscles, making the cats¡¯ fur shinier and glistening.

    However, not all cats can eat raw beef. The bowel functions of kittens under three months old are underdeveloped, so they better not eat raw beef. High-quality cat food or cooked chicken breast is more suitable for them.

    Some cats naturally had sensitive stomachs, so they weren¡¯t fond of raw meat. It was assumed that this was the case with Fina, who didn¡¯t give a damn about raw meat, not even if the raw meat was dangling next to its mouth.

    As for why Old Time Tea didn¡¯t eat raw meat, it was because it considered eating raw animal meat an hical barbaric behavior. As a cat of integrity in the country of decorum, it would certainly avoid such a practice.

    The biggest concern of eating raw beef was parasites, so the beef brisket Zhang Zian bought this time was notpletely fresh, but the refrigerated beef brisket from the supermarket. After being refrigerated at minus 20 Celsius degrees for more than 72 hours, the threat of parasites could be minimized, but periodic deworming was still a requirement regardless.

    Zhang Zian only intended to feed the raw beef to Snowy Li and the seven Abyssinian Cats, but not the other kittens. Firstly, raw beef was not suitable for the kittens in the shop that were around three months old. Secondly, though the probability of raw beef carrying parasites was very low, it couldn¡¯t bepletely ruled out. If the kittens ate raw meat and were infected with parasites, then purchased by customers, he would get into serious trouble if the customers suspected him as a swindler.

    When Zhang Zian was cing beef in the lunchboxes, Snowy Li kept pacing around him, but it did not dare to make noise.

    He checked the lunchboxes again, fastened the lids of the lunchboxes, then turned them over to see if they would leak. Confirming that there was no problem, he ced the four lunchboxes into his backpack, which he would carry with him to the set.

    ¡°Go and get your chopsticks,¡± he urged Lu Yiyun who was still stunned and frozen in ce.

    She was startled. She quickly shook her head and refused, ¡°No, it would be rude.¡±

    ¡°If you keep stalling, the beef will be cold and not taste good.¡± Zhang Zian knew she was too shy toply, so he prepared a full bowl of beef for her. ¡°I will put this pot here, and Wang Qian and Li Kun can have the remaining beef if theye. If you don¡¯t eat it now, nothing will be left for you after they finish eating.¡±

    Lu Yiyun remembered how Wang Qian and Li Kun gobbled up food, so she could not help but swallow her saliva and say awkwardly, ¡°Then¡­then I¡¯ll eat a little bit¡­¡±

    At this point, the beef was not too hot nor too cold¡ªthe temperature was just about right. The texture of the beef was so soft after being stewed in the pressure cooker that it almost melted the moment Lu Yiyun put it into her mouth. Coupled with the bnced mix of spices prepared by Uncle Li, even as a rookie cook, Zhang Zian had produced a master-level vor. The potatoes that were cut into small pieces had fully absorbed the essence of the beef broth. The potatoes were a bit hot, but with every piece she ate, she couldfortably exhale a puff of hot air.

    Lu Yiyun had eaten nd cereal as breakfast. She was usually a light eater, but she had just finished a whole bowl of stewed beef with potato and burped like a child. Beads of sweat had emerged from the tip of her nose.

    ¡°This is so delicious! Mr. Store Manager, your culinary skill is awesome!¡± She put down her chopsticks and wiped her mouth with a paper towel, praising Zhang Zian heartily. The only regret was that although the stew was not salty, it would be better if she could also have a bowl of white rice.

    ¡°Do you want more? There is enough in the pot.¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°No, no, I¡¯m full. I don¡¯t think I need to have lunch.¡± She waved her hands in panic and blushed. She took Jasmine out of her bag and shyly use it to block her face.

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re wee to eat if you want more.¡± Zhang Zian nced at Jasmine and added, ¡°Make your cat have some raw beef today. It¡¯s good for its body.¡±

    ¡°What? Raw beef?¡± Lu Yiyun was stunned. She had never thought of feeding her cat raw meat.

    Zhang Zian did not exin further for the time being, nor did he begin to eat his meal. He filled three bowls of beef for Famous and the two police dog, then ced the bowls on the ground.

    ¡°Famous, Red Dragon, Prince! Come and eat your food! I looked at the script, you have hard work for today¡¯s shooting. You won¡¯t be able to make it if you don¡¯t fill up your stomachs!¡± he waved towards the three German Shepherds.

    Famous took the lead and came to him. It used to eat medium-well steak, and stewed beef with tomato, but it had never tried the Oriental-style stewed beef with potato. It bowed down to sniff the beef and tried to taste it. The soft and waxy muscle fibers and nt starch immediately conquered its tongue.

    Red Dragon and Prince were hesitating behind Famous. After eating a few mouthfuls, Famous turned around and whispered to them. They immediately came together to enjoy the feast.

    Only now did Zhang Zian hold up his own bowl to savor the product of hisbor. ¡°Damn it! It¡¯s so delicious! Should I change my career and be a chef?¡±

 Chapter 437: Compromise

    <h4>Chapter 437: Compromise</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The stewed beef with potato satisfied everyone. After licking clean their own bowls, Famous and the two police dogs kept staring at the pot on the table. Zhang Zian had taught others how to tell whether their dogs were full to avoid overeating, so he certainly would not make a simr mistake. Besides, the filming for that day required a great amount of exercise, so eating too much and exercising afterwards would be bad for the dogs¡¯ bowels and stomachs.

    Snowy Li had been waiting impatiently for a long time. It had tried everything from threatening to begging Zhang Zian just to get what it wanted. Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. He asked Lu Yiyun to help him washed the bowls, and he went upstairs to fetch the raw beef brisket.

    After buying a bag of raw beef brisketst night, he divided it in two portions, leaving half in the fridge for the next meal, and the other half thawing outside. Most of the thawed beef brisket had been stewed, with a small amount of raw beef saved for the cats.

    The raw beef brisket he bought was toorge, and it would be better for the cats if it was diced. He was not good at using knives, so the beef cubes he cut were of different sizes. He put the beef cubes into two bowls.

    When he came downstairs, Snowy Li couldn¡¯t wait any longer and went to greet him. Noticing that Lu Yiyun was still washing bowls in the pet washing area, Zhang Zian bent over to put the smaller bowl on the ground and teased Snowy Li, ¡°Here you go. Remember to be grateful. Say a few words quietly in your mind, such as ¡®Thank God, he gave us food and made us alive, Amen!¡¯¡±

    He ced a copy of Xinhua Dictionary underneath the bowl, so that the bowl was at a good level to prevent Snowy Li¡¯s long hair from getting messy, thus letting Zhang Zian avoid having to clean itter.

    ¡°Bah! You wish! You are just my servant, and I loathe you because you are a man!¡± Snowy Li spit. It suddenly saw the bigger bowl of beef, and it asked greedily, ¡°What¡¯s that big bowl of beef for? Why don¡¯t you give it to me?!¡±

    ¡°Can you eat that much? This is for other cats.¡± Zhang Zian rolled his eyes at it. Then he evenly divided the beef in the big bowl into smaller bowls and waved towards the seven Abyssinian cats.

    ¡°Tut!¡± Snowy Li grunted in dissatisfaction. But then it lowered its head into its bowl and started to gobble up the beef. Zhang Zian was intrigued by this. He did not know that Snowy Li liked eating raw beef so much. If he wanted it to do something in the future, perhaps he could use raw beef to lure it ¡­

    The seven Abyssinian cats had adapted to the life in the pet shop, and he had prepared to give them a boost of nutrition so that several of them could give birth to the next generation at the right time. Currently, they were forcibly bound by Fina¡¯s order that they were not allowed to practice ¡°intermarriage,¡± otherwise when different sexes were being raised together, they would have copted long time ago.

    When Lu Yiyun returned after washing the dishes, Zhang Zian asked her about the situation yesterday. It was lucky that everything was fine, with no troubles or difficult customers. Because he was outside, he hadn¡¯t seen Little Celery much. ording to Lu Yiyun, Little Celery came every day, but was a little disappointed not seeing Zhang Zian around.

    Zhang Zian promised Little Celery that he would go to see her program at her school¡¯s founding anniversary. But he was busy recently, for he had unexpectedly begun to participate in shooting Dog Warrior. He hoped that the day of her school¡¯s founding anniversary was not soon.

    After using the skewers sent by Uncle Li to satisfy Fina and Old Time Tea, then leaving a bowl of dried fruits and nuts for Richard, who was still sleeping, Zhang Zian felt that everything was ready. He led Famous and two police dogs out the door.

    It was very difficult to get into a taxi when holding one dog, not to mention three. Some drivers would rather run the risk of gettingints and reject him as a passenger than to let him in their car, making Zhang Zian feel very helpless.

    Waiting for a long time in the cold, without a single taxi stopping, Zhang Zian began to seriously consider whether or not he should borrow the car from Sun Xiaomeng. But he would needed the car for the whole day, which would certainly affect her schedule if she needed to use her car, so he was a bit embarrassed to ask her.

    At this moment, a police car marked with the logo of the police dog unit of Binhai City pulled up beside him. The door opened. Liu jumped out from the car and shouted, ¡°Brother Zhang, I¡¯m here to pick you up.¡±

    Seeing its owner, Red Dragon immediately ran over to him with great joy. Zhang Zian was caught off guard and the leash fell from his hand, indicating the strong explosive power of a German Shepherd.

    ¡°Red Dragon! How are you? I miss you so much!¡± Liu held Red Dragon tightly and shed tears excitedly. One day apart seems like three years. This sentence is also applicable to police dogs and their handlers.

    Zhang Zian suddenly realized that the scene at this moment was very simr to the scene they filmed yesterday¡ªthe reunion scene where Lin Feng met Lightning after many days apart. Although Lin Feng was considered a minor celebrity, his acting was exaggerated and falsepared to Xiao Liu¡¯s genuine feelings. No wonder Feng Xuan was not satisfied with his performance.

    Red Dragon was whimpering as if it had been wronged. It rubbed its head on Liu¡¯s shoulder, sticking out its tongue out to lick Xiao Liu¡¯s face, as if telling its owner that it missed him too.

    Seeing this scene, Zhang Zian thought that this movie might as well not use celebrities, but invite a real police officer with his police dog to star in the film. Maybe the film would be much better than using celebrities. Of course, this was just his opinion. The producers needed to consider the risks and rewards. The risk was too great letting an ordinary police dog handler, who had no big-screen experience, be the protagonist. Besides, the appearance of an average police officer was not satisfactory¡ªif he was not handsome enough, he may not be able to attract female fans. In addition, Xiao Liu had never received any professional acting training. Although he could show his genuine feelings now, it would be different if he was facing a camera.

    Liu and Red Dragon cuddled for a while. Prince was looking around, as if searching for its owner, Wang.

    ¡°Liu, why are you here early in the morning? Don¡¯t you need to work?¡± Zhang Zian asked in wonder.

    Liu stood up and shyly said, ¡°Wang and I both miss Red Dragon and Prince, and we did not sleep wellst night. We discussed and decided to use the time before work to drive you to the studio and visit Red Dragon and Prince. Because Red Dragon and Prince are not around, Wang and I have much free time since we don¡¯t need to go out to carry out missions. So we can cover for each other. I sneak out from our brigade to pick you up today, and tomorrow it¡¯s his turn.¡±

    Zhang Zian had been stressed by the transportation issue, but the appearance of Xiao Liu had helped him solve the problem for the time being. He still reminded them to be more careful and not to be caught by their superiors.

    Speaking of this, Liu was very dissatisfied with their superiors. He said that ording to the regtions, police dogs and their handlers could not be separated, and the police dogs must not be left outside the police dog unit overnight. He couldn¡¯t defy the executive orders from the superiors, so he can onlypromise. The superiors also realized that their executive orders were unjustifiable, so they just turned a blind eye to Liu and Wang sneaking out, as long as they returned in time for work.

 Chapter 438: Anecdotes about Police Dogs

    <h4>Chapter 438: Anecdotes about Police Dogs</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Apart from the safety concerns, another reason that the superiors did not allow police dogs to stay outside the police dog unit overnight was probably because they were worried that the precious genes of these expensive purebred German Shepherds, which cost about 30,000 to 50,000 yuan per dog, would be gifted to the public for free.

    Zhang Zian was very sympathetic to the police dogs and their owners, but there was nothing he could do to help. After all, this was an internal matter in the police dog unit. As an outsider, he had no right to interfere. Often, administrative orders often outweighed regtions.

    Liu squatted and patted on Prince¡¯s back tofort it. ¡°Prince, your owner wille to visit you tomorrow, don¡¯t worry.¡± He also pointed to Zhang Zian and said, ¡°Listen to Brother Zhang¡¯smands. Finish the shooting as early as possible and return to your owner.¡± Prince nodded like it had understood his words. Liu said the same words to Red Dragon.

    After that, Liu touched his face. He put his hand to his nose and sniffed. He asked in confusion, ¡°Why is there the smell of beef?¡±

    Red Dragon happily shook its tail, and Zhang Zian replied on behalf of it, ¡°It just ate stewed beef with potato. Is that all right?¡±

    ¡°Wow!¡± Liu enviously patted Red Dragon¡¯s neck. ¡°Amazing! Your food is better than mine!¡±

    Speaking of this, Zhang Zian inquired about the issue of dog food. Liu validated the words of Sun Xiaomeng¡ªthat when in the police dog unit, the police dogs mainly ate homemade feed, which was nutritionally bnced and cheap, and that they only ate finished grain feed when going out to perform tasks.

    The quality of average finished pellet feed could not be guaranteed, while the high-end feed was unaffordable. The budget allocated to the police dog unit was limited each year, and no manufacturers wanted to bid to work with the police dogs when the profit was too low. Budget makers had slow or no reaction to the fluctuations of market price, and the budget remained the same every year.

    Austerity must be practiced considering the tight budget, and priority was given to ensure food for police dogs, who ate even better than humans. Besides, the dog trainers also used their own money to secretly buy extra chicken legs to feed their dogs, which was also forbidden. Though the rules were rigid and harsh, humans were flexible and had feelings. Liu couldn¡¯t stop when he startedining. He knew that Zhang Zian was someone that Sheng Ke trusted, so he confided in him honestly.

    Famous could understand most of their words. Even if there were some strange nouns, it could usually guess the meaning. It rubbed Red Dragon and Prince to show its sympathy. Red Dragon and Prince bowed their heads and whimpered, as if talking about the injustice and grievances their owners suffered from.

    After a while, Liu looked at the watch and said, ¡°Brother Zhang, it¡¯s gettingte, let¡¯s get in the car. I will need to return to the unit after dropping you off.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Zhang Zian and three German Shepherd got in the car one by one.

    While driving on the road, Liu shared some anecdotes about the police dogs, which Zhang Zian had never heard before, and was fascinated by.

    Liu said, ¡°Zhang, do you know why we sent the police dogs in groups to the audition?¡± Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t really thought about this before. He spected and said, ¡°Is it because if all the dogs went to the audition at the same time, there would be no dogs avable for the police dog unit if they were needed?¡±

    Liu shook his head. ¡°That was partly why, but that¡¯s not the main reason. Most of the dogs in the police dog brigade are German Shepherds, but there are factions among these German Shepherds. Some are close friends, and some see others as enemies. There ispetition among these factions. This is the case with the police dogs. As for us, the police dog handlers, although we don¡¯t see each other as friends or enemies, some are closer to each other, while the rest are somewhat estranged.¡±

    ¡°Oh, then you and Wang went to the audition together because you were friends?¡± Zhang Zian thought he understood a bit.

    ¡°We came from the same vige.¡± Xiao Liu exined, ¡°Red Dragon and Prince are friends. If they were not, problems would ur when they carry out tasks together. Once a dispute arises among the police dogs, they¡¯ll fight until there¡¯s an oue. The loser will lie on the ground, revealing their vulnerable belly in surrender.¡±

    Zhang Zian understood that dogs were gregarious animals, whose internal hierarchy was very strict, and that the weak would surrender to the strong. It seemed that their instincts couldn¡¯t be destroyed by the stringent training in the police dog training base.

    Liu nced affectionately at Red Dragon and said, ¡°Don¡¯t think they are just dogs. They have a sense of pride and honor, like us police officers. If their enemies are taken out to perform duties, and they¡¯re left in the training base, they will be restless all day long, barking and running around in the kennel, even losing their appetite.¡±

    Speaking of this, Liuughed. ¡°Zhang, you know what? Red Dragon and Prince¡¯s neighbors in the kennel, the other two German Shepherds, were restless and couldn¡¯t sleep because Red Dragon and Prince were gone for a whole day. Their trainersforted them for a long time before they fell asleep. This morning, they all had dark circles! Haha!¡± It was obvious that although Liu was distressed and anxious because Red Dragon and Prince were not around him, he also felt happy and proud for them, as if watching his own children majke something of themselves.

    ¡°Oh, right!¡± Liu patted his head. ¡°I¡¯m just sharing some anecdotes, I almost forgot about the serious matter!¡± He breathed a sigh of relief and said, ¡°Lucky that I remembered, otherwise there might be grave consequences!¡±

    ¡°What serious matter?¡± Zhang Zian was surprised and listened attentively. He thought that Liu was only here to visit Red Dragon and Prince. What was he going to say?

    ¡°Zhang, police dogs are usually very gentle, and will not attack unless they are provoked. That¡¯s why Wang and I are confident with you taking care of them. But there is one thing you must pay attention to during filming!¡± Liu gulped. ¡°In the face of suspicious circumstances, they will suddenly be extremely fierce, effectively deterring criminals!¡±

    ¡°What are the suspicious circumstances when shooting a movie?¡± Zhang Zian was even more confused.

    Liu said nervously, ¡°They have received anti-riot training and they can recognize what guns look like. Once they see a guns, even without themand from their owner, they will rush towards the gunman and bite their hand, refusing to open their mouth! We are worried that if someone in the crew takes out a prop gun¡­¡±

    Holy s**t! Zhang Zian was covered with sweat after hearing this! He turned to look at the red tongues and white fangs of Red Dragon and Prince. The bite force of a German Shepherd was about 100 kg. If bitten by their fangs, there might be holes on one¡¯s hands, and even the carpal bones may be crushed!

    After two days of feeding them, Red Dragon and Prince had grown more familiar with Zhang Zian. They were sticking out their red tongues, tilting their heads, and looking at Zhang Zian who was covered in cold sweat.

    ¡°Thanks for reminding me, Liu, before something bad happens.¡± Zhang Zian was so frightened. He remembered that many guns were used in the script. Whether it was international criminals or poachers, these people would confront or fight the border guards and police officers, so scenes with guns were inevitable. During the filming, if someone took out a prop gun, and Red Dragon and Prince ran over and bit him out of their conditioned reflexes, who was going to shoulder the responsibility?

    Liu said, ¡°Not long ago, a handler in our unit took his police dog out for a routine duty. When patrolling a remote neighborhood at midnight, he saw a suspicious shadow climbing out of a window from a house, and carrying a bag. The police officer felt something was strange, so he led the police dog to stop the figure, and interrogate him. That person was probably guilty, and he aimed a gun at the police officer. Without orders from the handler, the dog leapt towards that man and bit his hand. The police officer rushed to get over the gun, which turned out to be fake.¡±

    Tut! Zhang Zian felt sorry for that man. How painful was the bite?

    ¡°Later, the man was escorted to the police station. After interrogation, as it turned out, he was a thief, regrlymitting burries or even robberies in various surrounding urban and rural areas. Bold and cautious, he had never been caught. Even when he woke up the homeowners whilemitting a burry in the middle of the night, he just needed to take out his fake gun. The homeowners would be too scared to call the police. He had never expected that he would be stopped by a police dog.¡± Although Liu had not apprehended the thief himself, he felt honored talking about it.

 Chapter 439: Eavesdropping

    <h4>Chapter 439: Eavesdropping</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Police dogs, no matter how intelligent and obedient they were, and no matter how much their trainers were fond of them, at the end of the day, they acted based on their conditioned reflexes. They couldn¡¯t distinguish between training and actualbat. Once the conditions they encountered in training urred, they would attack human beings.

    ording to Xiao Liu, not only did the anti-riot dogs and guard dogs, such as Red Dragon and Prince, receive training to snatch guns, but they also had been trained to grab knives. They would spontaneously lunge at someone to bite their wrist if they pointed a knife at their owner. Although police dogs were required to obey the rule of ¡°biting without causing injury¡± during training, meaning they could bite one¡¯s wrist to stop them from moving but not causing any harm, no one could guarantee that the police dogs would not hurt humans in an unpredictable violent situation.Liu solemnly reminded Zhang Zian, who also nned to seriously bear this matter in mind.

    After arriving at the studio, Xiao Liu reluctantly bid farewell to Red Dragon. He agreed to meet it in two days, then drove away and left.

    Zhang Zian went into the small gray and white courtyard which served as the temporary shooting site, and searched for the director Feng Xuan. Zhang Zian looked around and couldn¡¯t find him. He asked a few people who also shook their heads and said that they didn¡¯t know.

    Before shooting began, everyone was very busy making sure nothing was wrong with the parts they were responsible for. It would be very unpleasant if the director or deputy director publicly scolded them. Zhang Zian was embarrassed to disturb the crew members, so he had no choice but to continue looking on his own.

    Just then, the leash in his hand tightened up. Famous took a few steps forward and sniffed at the ground. It turned back and said, ¡°I smell the scent of the director, and it seems quite recent.¡±

    ¡°Well, take me to him.¡± Zhang Zian was overjoyed. He remembered that dogs were very good at looking for people. In general, a dog must sniff the personal belonging of the target beforehand so that it can remember the target¡¯s smell, but Famous had already remembered the smell of Feng Xuan. It could distinguish his unique odor from theplicated and mixed smells in this small building.

    Lowering its head, Famous led the way. It paused every few steps. Due to frequently apanying Famous, they walked on the left side of Zhang Zian, and they also sniffed the way Famous did.

    Zhang Zian was led by Famous to the second floor, where a variety of equipment had been temporarily ced there by the crew, and most of the rooms were locked. Following the smell of Feng Xuan, Famous hade to the end of the corridor where there was a small door leading to the rooftop. It looked back at Zhang Zian. The meaning in its eyes was Feng Xuan was beyond the door.

    Zhang Zian wondered what could Feng Xuan be doing on the rooftop? This building was too low. Even if he jumped, he would not die.

    He opened the door. Behind the door were narrow steps that rose gradually. After turning a corner, the rooftop appeared. Standing on the edge of the rooftop, Feng Xuan was talking while holding his cell phone.

    Famous and the two police dogs did not bark, so Feng Xuan did not detect their arrival. He said on the phone, ¡°Lao Yu, considering our years of friendship, are you really not going to help me out this time? Don¡¯t tell me how poor you are, I am not borrowing money from you! Your movie has arge production and brilliant scenes, there must be many pyrotechnicians in your crew, right? How many? Ten? Twenty? I¡¯m not asking for much, just send me two pyrotechnicians and I will pay their wages. What do you think? I¡¯m being brazen asking you about this. Can you please grant my request?¡±

    Just when Zhang Zian was about to approach Feng Xuan, he overheard this dialogue and paused. Although it was inappropriate to listen to others¡¯ conversation on the phone behind their back, this matter had something to do with him, so he could not help but listen. Besides, he was sort of an informant for the police.

    It¡¯s unknown what the person on the other end of the phone had said, but a crafty smile appeared on Feng Xuan¡¯s face. He said in a mockingly pitiful tone, ¡°What? You can give me one pyrotechnician at most? All right, I¡¯ll settle for one. Lao Yu, you are too stingy. You owe me. You should buy me a meal next time we meet. Tell him toe to Binhai City and report to me as soon as possible. Talkter.¡±

    The older, the wiser, thought Zhang Zian. By deliberately asking for two, Feng Xuan had given himself some leverage. As they bargained, the other person felt like he owed Feng Xuan something¡­

    Feng Xuan hung up the phone. He turned around and saw that Zhang Zian was holding the three dogs, standing at the entrance to the rooftop. His expression froze.

    ¡°Director Feng, I have something to discuss with you. I didn¡¯t mean to eavesdrop on you,¡± Zhang Zian quickly exined.

    Feng Xuan slightly pondered a moment and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Zhang Zian told what Liu had said, reminding him that he should be extra careful shooting scenes involving knives and guns. Feng Xuan was shocked, he nodded and said, ¡°Well, this is indeed very important in shooting the relevant scenes. I will use the montage method to divide the scenes.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­Director Feng, you go on with your business, I will go downstairs to prepare.¡± Zhang Zian was a bit awkward standing there, so he tried to find an excuse to escape.

    ¡°Wait, did you hear me just now?¡± Feng Xuan stopped him.

    Zhang Zian bit the bullet and said, ¡°I really didn¡¯t mean to¡­¡±

    ¡°It does not matter if you heard, in a few days, everyone will know.¡± Feng Xuan¡¯s tone was very calm. ¡°In fact, I have been talking to the directors I know, asking them to lend me the pyrotechnicians in their crew. Since there was almost an ident during the audition, I decided to rece Guan Biao. I will not allow any pyrotechnic mistakes. But please help me keep it confidential for the time being. It¡¯ll take a few days for the new pyrotechnician to get here, and we must rely on Guan Biao in the meantime.¡±

    ¡°Got it, I won¡¯t reveal it to anyone,¡± Zhang Zian assured him.

    Feng Xuan said, ¡°Let¡¯s go downstairs together. Did you read today¡¯s script?¡±

    ¡°Yes. We¡¯re going to shoot the scenes about capturing the runaway robber, right?¡± Zhang Zian confirmed. Today¡¯s scenes was about the daily training of the police dogs, but there was a certain degree of danger. A Hummer was parked on the roadside, the door was closed, and only the windows were open. Famous would sprint from a few meters away and leap into the window, then bite the right hand of the robber that was holding the steering wheel. If Famous did not master the strength and speed correctly, it was likely that Famous would hit its head.

    This was one of the day-to-day training subjects in the police dog training brigade, and it should be effortless if it were done by Red Dragon and Prince, but Feng Xuan was worried if Famous would be able to do it.

    ¡°Rest assured, Director Feng, I think there will be no problem.¡± Zhang Zian was not sure, but he believed in Famous. After reading the script, he went home and discussed the plot with Famous. Famous was confident it could make it.

    It was not only Famous that Feng Xuan needed to worry about, but the scene was equally as dangerous for the actor who yed the robber. The actor had to wear a thick protective suit under his clothes in case that Famous bit him with excessive strength and hurt him.

    They went to the filming location one by one. Famous suddenly signalled for Zhang Zian look to the right. Zhang Zian slightly turned his head and saw that Guan Biao wasing out from a room. He yawned while walking, lifting his clothes to scratch his belly. He was carrying a small bucket of alcohol in his hands. Due to long-term drinking, his face was red.

    It recurred to Zhang Zian that in addition to arresting the robber, they would also film the dogs training, jumping through rings of mes. Pyrotechnicians were responsible for all scenes involving fire, so Guan Biao came to work today. On one side of the venue was a series of rings that had not yet be ignited. The bucket of alcohol carried by Guan Biao was for this purpose.

    It was not hard for a dog to jump through a ring of fire, and even a dog in a circus could do this, which was to help dogs ovee their fear of fire. It was not an issue for Famous. The only concern was whether or not Guan Biao would use this opportunity to y some dirty tricks. But Zhang Zian thought this would be unlikely, because all the dogs must line up for the drill, and there was no way to control the props in order to deliberately hurt a specific dog. Fortunately, this person would be dismissed from the crew in a matter of days.

    Just to be sure, Zhang Zian took Famous and the two police dogs to the steel rings before Guan Biao arrived, and checked them up one by one. He set his mind at ease when he realized the rings were pretty strong, and that Guan Biao should not be able to pull any tricks.

 Chapter 440: The Different Stewed Beef with Potato

    <h4>Chapter 440: The Different Stewed Beef with Potato</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Okay! That¡¯s it for this morning! Go to have lunch, everybody!¡± Feng Xuan said in satisfaction. The filming for this morning went rather smoothly. In the scene where they captured the robber, Famous had delivered a perfect performance. It fearlessly and perfectly leapt through the Hummer¡¯s window, and bit the wrist of the actor who yed the robber. Its expression was very fierce, but it merely bit the actor lightly without hurting him. This scene was quite difficult, but it only took one shot. Both Feng Xuan and the actor praised Famous highly.

    During shooting the scene of jumping through the rings of fire, due to its fear of the mes and the smell of alcohol, a German Shepherd from other pet shop did not leap high enough and knocked over the steel ring. The ming steel ring hit its body and burned a little bit of its hair. It was so painful that it kept whining, but fortunately the fire did not hurt its flesh or bones. However, that dog had to be removed, and the scene had to be refilmed. Because of this, the owners of other dogs realized the danger of filming. It¡¯s not that easy to gain fame.

    ¡°Come and get your lunchbox!¡± It was time for lunch. All the crew members rushed to the guy responsible for handing out lunchboxes as soon as he called. Zhang Zian was no exception. Although he brought his own lunch, in the spirit of not wasting free food, he went to take four lunchboxes just like yesterday.

    He found a secluded corner, opened the lowerpartment of his four double-decker lunchboxes that he brought from home, filled them with fresh water, and covered them again. There would be a chemical reaction between the water and the heating agent, and he could eat the warm stewed beef with potato after just a few minutes.

    While waiting, he looked at the contents of today¡¯s lunch provided for the crew. The food was still as cold as yesterday¡¯s. In addition to the rice, the side dishes were cucumber with scrambled eggs, fried spinach, and a few thin, nearly-transparent slices of Sichuan-style stewed pork. Zhang Zian felt that this was even worse than yesterday¡¯s lunch. If yesterday¡¯s lunch was about ten yuan, then the maximum value of today¡¯s lunch would be eight.

    The stewed beef with potato was heated up in no time. He opened the topponent of the lunchboxes. Hie began to drool when he smelled the aroma. He put the cold rice alongside with the side dishes into his own lunchboxes so that the rice could fully absorb the beef soup and its calories.

    Famous and the two police dogs couldn¡¯t wait any longer. As soon as Zhang Zian put the lunchboxes on the ground, they lowered their heads and gobbled up the delicious food. Zhang Zian also mixed his own share of stewed beef with potato with the rice provided by the crew. He broke apart the disposable chopsticks and began to eat.

    However, he really had underestimated the dogs¡¯ sense of smell. Not too long after, the rest of the dogs in the yard had sniffed the aromatic beef, and they kept barking in Zhang¡¯s Zian direction. The barking attracted some people¡¯s attention, especially since the dogs were all barking in the same direction.

    Xu Junyu was eating by herself today. She heard the barking and saw that Zhang Zian was crouching like a thief in the corner, facing the wall. She wondered what he was doing. She held her lunch and walked over to him.

    ¡°Xiao Zhang, what are you doing?¡± she asked Zhang Zian from behind.

    Zhang Zian turned around, his face was still stained with beef soup and rice grains. He calmly said, ¡°I¡¯m having lunch. What else could I be doing?¡±

    Xu Junyu saw the steaming lunchbox in his hand, as well as the stewed beef with potato in it. She was surprised. ¡°You brought your own food?¡±

    He took it for granted and replied, ¡°Yes, how could we be full only eating these lunchboxes? If my dogs don¡¯t have enough food, they won¡¯t have the energy to participate in the filming.¡±

    Xu Junyu smiled bitterly. ¡°That¡¯s not the issue. It¡¯s typical in the crew that we share joy and hardships together, from the director to the celebrities to the members of the crew, everyone eats the same meal. Look, even Feng Xuan and Lin Feng are having the same food as everyone else.¡±

    ¡°The spirit of sharing joy and hardships doesn¡¯t need to be reflected like this.¡± Zhang Zian did not think he was wrong.

    ¡°However, you will turn the rest of the crew against you,¡± Xu Junyu kindly reminded him.

    It was at this moment that a young man rushed up next to Zhang Zian. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Who told you to bring your own meal?¡± The person who was speaking was the guy giving out lunch. He noticed that something strange was going on, and seeing that Zhang Zian was holding his own lunchbox from far away, he ran over to raise the difficult question to Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian sized him up a bit and asked him instead, ¡°Who said that no one could bring their own meals?¡±

    ¡°I did.¡± The guy pointed to his nose and arrogantly said, ¡°You know who I am? Let me tell you, I am the hospitality manager for the crew, and I handle meals, beverages, and bathrooms! When I say no, it means no!¡± He would never allow Zhang Zian to win, otherwise everyone would bring their own meals, and he would be embarrassed.

    Xu Junyu quietly tugged on Zhang Zian, suggesting that he not quarrel with this guy, but to admit his mistake. It would do him no good if he got into a fight.

    Zhang Zian had read the crew¡¯s functional arrangements, and in the production division, the positions included production director, field producer, hospitality manager, outreach producer, finance manager, stage manager, and logistics manager. The hospitality manager had a lot of power and huge benefits. For those ck-hearted and ruthless people, if they became the hospitality manager in a movie with a medium-sized investment, they could gain tens of thousands of yuan to hundreds of thousands of yuan. Where did the moneye from? It was, of course, from the budget allocated to all the crew members. The production director Nie Yuan had arranged for his rtive to have this position, and justified his decision as ¡°training the young man.¡± What a grant practice of nepotism this was.

    Most of the crew members knew about this, but no one was willing to offend Nie Yuan since they wanted to pursue a long-term career in the movie industry. Besides, the money that Nie Yuan put into his own pockets was from public funding, not their own money. The result was merely that they had poor quality lunch. They could endure it.

    But Zhang Zian was different, he did not intend to stay in the movie industry. Even if he did, he wanted to rely on his own abilities instead of remaining silent in the face of injustice. However, he had to resort to strategy in this battle. There was no need to confront this guy head on. It would be the best if he could make use of a third party to get rid of the guy.

    He deliberately produced a timid expression, and said in a startled tone, ¡°You are the hospitality manager?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you just realized?¡± said the cocky guy, who thought that Zhang Zian was really frightened. His arms crossed on his chest, he raised his head. He said in an insufferably arrogant tone, ¡°Let me tell you, Nie Yuan is my uncle. If you are smart, quickly say you are sorry and promise that you will never bring your own meal again, then I will let it pass for today.¡±

    Zhang Zian said in a low voice, ¡°Well, I understand, but since I brought my own meal today, could you please let me finish it? I don¡¯t want to waste it¡­¡± Famous and the two police dogs had gobbled up the food in no time, and they were currently lying to digest the food. Zhang Zian had finished half of his stewed beef with potato, but there was another unopened lunchbox next to him.

    The luncbox guy felt a flicker of interest when he smelled the aroma of the stewed beef with potato. ¡°No! I¡¯m confiscating it!¡± He grabbed the lunchbox from Zhang Zian. He touched the bottom of the lunchbox and found that it was still warm.

    Red Dragon and Prince hade to see Zhang Zian as sort of their owner. When they saw that his belongings had been taken, they stood up instantly, revealing their fangs and barking at the lunchbox guy.

    ¡°Hey! Hold your dogs, quickly!¡± The guy was so scared that his face was pale. He retreated backwards. ¡°If they dare bite me, I will sue you!¡±

    Zhang Zian pulled Red Dragon and Prince back, then bowed down and apologized, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I will manage them.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s more like it!¡± Though the guy appeared tough, he was a coward inside. He dared not to stay any longer. He quickly left with the lunchbox.

    Just as Xu Junyu was trying tofort Zhang Zian, she saw that he couldn¡¯t restrain hisughter anymore. He had his hands on his belly,ughing happily, as if his trick had worked.

    ¡°What happened? What did you do?¡± She asked curiously.

    ¡°No need to ask, you will see soon,¡± Zhang Zian said mysteriously.

    ¡­

    Holding the unopened lunchbox, the lunchbox guy went to find Nie Yuan. Before he got to Nie Yuan, he shouted, ¡°Uncle! Uncle! I¡¯m bringing you delicious food!¡± Nie Yuan and Feng Xuan, as well as some key figures in the crew, were discussing the progress of the outdoor scenes in the northwestern region. None of them had eaten lunch yet. Nie Yuan frowned and said, ¡°What delicious food?¡±

    The lunchbox guy wanted to take this opportunity to get in Nie Yuan¡¯s good graces. He smiled cheekily, as if he was offering a treasure. ¡°Uncle, I¡¯ve brought you stewed beef with potato, it¡¯s still warm. You¡¯ve worked hard, please enjoy it while it¡¯s warm!¡± The others present congratted Nie Yuan for his having such a filial and considerate nephew.

    Nie Yuan felt proud and said smilingly, ¡°Okay. It¡¯s so nice of you to think of me.¡±

    ¡°Here, Director Feng, let¡¯s find out how my nephew¡¯s culinary skills are.¡± He took over the lunchbox, which was still warm, and proudly invited Feng Xuan to taste.

    Feng Xuan waved his hand. ¡°No, your nephew gave this to you, you should eat it yourself.¡±

    ¡°Hey, Director Feng, you¡¯re wee to have some, we are all family.¡± Nie Yuan smiled and opened the lunchbox.

    ¡°Wow! What is that smell! It¡¯s so stinky!¡±

    ¡°Puke!¡±

    A disgusting and extremely foul smell exuded from the lunchbox. Everyone covered their noses and felt nauseous. Some people even began to retch. Inside the lunchbox, there was no stewed beef with potato, but dog droppings in three different shades of brown, still steaming.

    A note was ced on the sh*t, which read, ¡°Starting from me, every dog owner should prepare to walk their dogs in a civilized manner.¡±

    Covering their noses, people stared at Nie Yuan and his nephew. They wanted tough but did not dare to.

    ¡°This¡­this is¡­this was stewed beef with potato before¡­¡± the lunchbox guy also covered his nose and said in astonishment.

    ¡°What the f**king hell this is?!¡± Nie Yuan was furious. Was he trying to make a fool of him in public! Scandal spread quickly in the film and television industry. He knew that this incident would soon be a joke throughout the entire industry.

    He picked up the lunchbox and threw it over to his nephew. Caught off guard, the nephew was covered with dog droppings all over his face and body.

    ¡°Uncle, you¡­ugh!¡±

    His face pale with anger, Nie Yuan shouted, ¡°Out! Get out! I don¡¯t want to see you again! And don¡¯t you call me uncle anymore!¡±

    ¡­..

    On the other side of the yard, Zhang Zian said seriously to Xu Junyu, ¡°Dogs will want to defecate 10 minutes after a meal. As a civilized dog owner, please bring a container to pick up their droppings.¡±

 Chapter 441: Understudy

    <h4>Chapter 441: Understudy</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian had just wanted to use the dogs¡¯ droppings to disgust the lunchbox guy. Who would have thought that because the guy had been scared by Red Dragon and Prince, he did not open the lid in front of Zhang Zian, but took the lunchbox to try to impress Nie Yuan, thus causing a disturbance that became known to the entire crew.

    Due to hisck of experience, Zhang Zian was not prepared adequately. When he arrived, he found that he could only let the three German Shepherds pee and poop on the ground, which was not what a qualified or civilized dog owner should do. So he decided to bring a tool kit for shoveling feces and a lunchbox to hold them. What choice did he have? The smell of the feces could easily drift out if they were put in a stic bag. And he had other lunchboxes and drinking water in his backpack, so it would be very disgusting if his backpack smelled like dog droppings.

    This lunchbox had great sealing function. He had tested it when he put the stewed beef with potato in it for the first time. Even if it was turned upside down, the soup would not seep through, and no smell came out. It looked just like the other lunchboxes but only with a piece of tape on the bottom. That¡¯s why the lunchbox guy thought that this lunchbox also had stewed beef with potato, so he didn¡¯t bother to open the lid, and just ran away with it. After this incident, the lunchbox guy who was the hospitality manager was fired and a new hospitality producer was found for the crew.

    The very next day, the quality of the lunch for the crew was far better. After making a fool of himself in public, Nie Yuan became more low-key and did not try and influence who was chosen as the hospitality manager. When the crew members met Zhang Zian, they often gave him a tacit smile. Even Lin Feng praised him during lunch, ¡°The lunch is much more delicious than before.¡±

    Another day of filming was over. Although there were some errors, at least the shooting progress had not been dyed.

    In the evening, after Feng Xuan called it a day, everyone swiftly packed up their own equipment. In small groups, some people went back to the dorms to rx, while others went to experience Binhai City¡¯s colorful nightlife.

    Holding Famous and the other two German Shepherds, Zhang Zian was leisurely walking towards the Studio¡¯s entrance. Before he reached the door, someone stopped him, ¡°Zhang! Zhang! Wait!¡±

    He looked back and found that it was Feng Xuan who called him. Feng Xuan and his assistant were walking hurriedly towards Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Director Feng, what¡¯s the matter?¡± Zhang Zian turned around to greet them, wondering if the director was going to talk about the incident with the lunchbox guy.

    After shooting all day and shouting on set, Feng Xuan¡¯s voice was a bit hoarse, but he seemed rather energetic. ¡°Zhang, are you in a rush to go home? There is something I want to tell you,¡± Feng Xuan said.

    Zhang Zian let Red Dragon and Prince sit down, and then he replied, ¡°No. I have nothing to do. Go ahead, Director Feng, I¡¯m listening.¡±

    Feng Xuan lowered his head to observe Famous and the two police dogs. He praised Zhang Zian, ¡°Zhang, you really have helped a lot with your excellent dog training skills. Shooting has been going much smoother than I expected; over one tenth of all the scenes have been filmed.¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled and did not answer. He continued listening. He knew Feng Xuan, who had rushed to stop him, definitely had more to say than to merely praise him.

    Feng Xuan added, ¡°It is because we havepleted one tenth of the film that makes me worried. Will Famous be injured while doing some dangerous moves? If that¡¯s the case, we¡¯ll need to rece the lead quickly, which will be a serious blow to the filming progress. Funding is already very tight.¡±

    Zhang Zian was startled. In fact, he was also a bit worried. When watching the crew shoot some dangerous scenes over the past few days, he had feared that Famous might be identally injured.

    ¡°Do you remember the dog that was injured yesterday while crossing through the ring of fire? I was wondering what to do if it were Famous who was injured!¡± Feng Xuan admitted frankly, ¡°The degree of danger of many subsequent shots is ten times more than the fire ring drill. The crew cannot guarantee that Famous will not be injured, and will not be able to withstand the loss of money or time needed to rece the lead if Famous is injured.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhang Zian wondered about Feng Xuan¡¯s intentions, but he had no clue.

    Feng Xuan and his assistant nced at each other. Feng Xuan said, ¡°My point is that we need to find an understudy for Famous. When ites to dangerous moves, Famous doesn¡¯t have to do them. The understudy will do them.¡±

    Understudy? Zhang Zian¡¯s mind suddenly thought of Famous¡¯smonly known name¡ªthe Reincarnated Dog. Before he figured out its meaning, he felt the leash in his hand tighten. Famous ran forward two steps and started barking.

    After nightfall, in addition to the Dog Warrior crew, crews shooting other films and TV dramas had also gradually stopped for the day. The Studio that was noisy during the day had slowly quieted down, so Famous¡¯s barking sounded particrly harsh.

    Feng Xuan and his assistant were frightened by the frantic Famous, and they could not help but retreat a few steps. Red Dragon and Prince were shocked, they stood up nervously. Zhang Zian instinctively tightened his grip on Famous¡¯s leash. ¡°Famous! Famous! Stop barking!¡±

    Famous was roaring with all its strength, ¡°No understudy! No understudy! I don¡¯t want an understudy!¡± Famous had been very obedient and quiet in the crew, quieter than other dogs, unless it was required to bark, but it never made a sound before. But it was going mad right now. Feng Xuan was very surprised by the tremendous difference from its usual behavior.

    His face pale, the assistant was pulling Feng Xuan in the arm, trying to drag him backwards. Fortunately, Famous was just barking, and it showed no intent to jump over and bite him. Over 50-years-old, Feng Xuan had seen it all and done it all. After the initial stage of panic, he calmed down soon and asked Zhang Zian, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    Zhang Zian was rather confused. He did not understand why Famous reacted so strongly to the word ¡°understudy.¡± He wrapped the leash around his hand, and crouched down to hug famous¡¯s neck and head. He lowered his voice to say into its ear, ¡°Famous, calm down! Famous! You will ruin your acting career if you don¡¯t stop!¡±

    He didn¡¯t know which sentence had touched Famous¡¯s heart, but Zhang Zian felt the muscles all over its body shudder. It stopped barking, turned around and looked at him. Its eyes were full of sadness, and it whispered, ¡°Famous doesn¡¯t want an understudy.¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, no understudy then,¡± said Zhang Zian, whispering. ¡°Listen to me, Famous, take some deep breaths and calm down. I¡¯ll tell the director.¡± The chest and abdomen of Famous were rising and falling violently. It was wheezing, which was the noise when air and the vocal cords were producing friction. Its body was about to copse, and it was facing the danger of hyperventting.

    Hyperventting was the psychological reaction caused by acute anxiety. The rapid breathing would lead to an excessive reduction of carbon dioxide in the body, causing respiratory alkalosis, numbness in the hands and feet, and convulsions in the limbs in severe cases.

    After Famous calmed down a bit and its breathing became more stable, Zhang Zian stood up and said to Feng Xuan, ¡°Director Feng, can you please not use an understudy?¡±

    Although Zhang Zian had deliberately lowered his voice to whisper to Famous, Feng Xuan had still overheard him since they were not far apart. Feng Xuan frowned, and asked in puzzlement, ¡°What do you mean? Are you saying that Famous suddenly said it does not want an understudy?¡±

    In this crucial moment, an excellent idea popped into Zhang Zian¡¯s mind. Quoting Liu¡¯s words, he exined, ¡°Like police dogs, Famous has a strong sense of honor and pride, and it does not want to be reced by another dog. Director Feng, can we not use an understudy?¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± replied Feng Xuan. But he still insisted, ¡°Understudies are necessary, even human actors use understudies to do some dangerous moves. The crew cannot to rece the lead. The understudy is not to rece Famous. Famous is an irreceably good actor.¡±

    Zhang Zian understood that what Feng Xuan had said was absolutely right. As the soul of the crew, the director must always carry the whole crew on his shoulders, oveing all difficulties and obstacles to move forward. If the lead was identally injured during filming, production would probably be halted. However, on the other hand, he knew that Famous really didn¡¯t need an understudy. It could predict danger and avoid danger in time, but he couldn¡¯t exined this to Feng Xuan.

    Feng Xuan looked at his watch and said, ¡°It¡¯ste. Just go home andfort Famous. In a day or two, you will go to the Binhai City Police Dog Training Base with me. I heard that a group of retired police dogs are on sale, but I know nothing about dogs. I need you toe and advise me, then select a few dogs to be Famous¡¯s understudy.¡±

    Zhang Zian was startled when he heard this. Binhai City Police Dog Training Base? Retired police dogs?

 Chapter 442: The Unexpected Answer

    <h4>Chapter 442: The Unexpected Answer</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Understudies were divided into several types¡ªminor-scene, martial arts, nude, lightning, and stunt understudies, etc. Among them, martial arts and stunt understudies shared certainmonalities, and were often deemed the same. The understudy Feng Xuan referred to would rece Famous in some dangerous shots.

    Although the special effects in the film industry were improving rapidly, understudies would not disappear for the foreseeable future, and would remain an indispensable and important part of most films. They were hidden behind the scenes, and their names will not appear in the credits. Their sry was trivialpared to celebrities¡¯, but they often risked injury or death. Flowers and apuse belonged to the stars, while the understudies were only responsible for bleeding and sweating.

    As for why they should choose retired police dogs as understudies, Feng Xuan believed that, although this movie was strongly supported by the Tie Dun Television and Film Center, and the Binhai City Police Force, injuring police dogs would result in negative consequences; however, if they chose ordinary German Shepherds from some pet shop, the quality of these dogs would be a far cry from that of the police dogs¡¯.

    It was a goodpromise to choose police dogs that had been retired from the police dog training base. These ¡°police dogs¡± were retired during training, and were unlike real police dogs. But in terms of individual quality and obedience, they were much stronger than average dogs, so Feng Xuan made up his mind to buy these retired police dogs, who would serve as Famous¡¯s understudy and other important supporting roles. In other words, the understudies would take the danger away from the other dogs.

    Zhang Zian had been thinking about this matter all night long and barely got any sleep. Lying in bed, looking through the dim light of the nightmp, he had been staring at the ceiling and was lost in thought. He heard Famous was also tossing and turning, as if it were in the middle of a nightmare. It whimpered and sobbed from time to time.

    He could more or less guess what Famous was thinking¡ªit wanted to be an angel, and it was unwilling to see its peers be wounded or die for it. Apart from that, could there be a deeper reason? He did not know. Maybe he would find out when Famous came to realize its true identity.

    After getting up in the morning, Zhang Zian first made the beef and potato, then practiced boxing, and cleaned up the store a little bit as usual.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, why do you have dark circles? Did you not sleep wellst night?¡± Lu Yiyun was still very observative. The moment she entered the store, she noticed Zhang Zian with dark circles around his eyes.

    ¡°Yes, mild insomnia.¡± Zhang Zian did not intend to exin more. For whatever reason, he did suffer from insomnia.

    Although the quality of lunch provided by the crew had improved a lot, it was meant for human beings, and the meat was too little for dogs. So, Zhang Zian still prepared stewed beef with potato for the three German Shepherds, but the amount was less than before.

    While putting dices of potato and beef brisket into the lunchboxes, Zhang Zian asked Lu Yiyun how things had been in the store the past few days. The answer was everything was normal. There were several customers who wanted to see the Abyssinian cats do ballet, but because Zhang Zian was absent, Lu Yiyun could not direct the cats. But her cat Jasmine, after being taught by Fina, had learned how to dance. Even if its dancing was not as good as the Abyssinian cats, at least the customers could be entertained, and their trip to the pet shop had not beenpletely in vain.

    After getting up, Famous appeared to be so down that it did not even finish its breakfast, the rest of which was snatched and eaten by Red Dragon and Prince. Zhang Zian knew that Famous was still resisting having an understudy, but Zhang Zian did not have a valid reason to stop Feng Xuan.

    When the other elves in the shop also finished breakfast, in order to pass the time, Zhang Zian yed hide-and-seek with Gxy for a while. Then he stood at the door and chatted with Lu Yiyun about painting, looking outside the store from time to time. After a while, a police car marked with ¡°Binhai City Police Dog Unit¡± stopped at the door. He said goodbye to Lu Yiyun, and led Famous and the two dogs outside.

    Yesterday, it was Wang who picked him up, and today it was Liu again. The moment it left the shop, as if it had felt the presence of its owner, Red Dragon lunged in the direction of the police car. Liu came out from the car and intimately hugged Red Dragon.

    Zhang Zian praised Red Dragon¡¯s excellent performance during shooting, making Liu so happy that he hugged Red Dragon cheerfully with excitement. How Liu wished that he could be in the crew so that he could personally witness Red Dragonplete a series of difficult training moves.

    On the way to Binhai Studio, after some small talk, Zhang Zian suddenly changed the subject, ¡°Liu, I want to ask you something.¡±

    Staring at the road in front of him, Liu casually said, ¡°What happened, Zhang? We are so familiar with each other now, you can ask me anything. Oh, yes, I¡¯m single.¡±

    ¡°What are you thinking about? I¡¯m not introducing you to girls! Even I don¡¯t have a girlfriend myself!¡± said Zhang Zian. It is said that one out of every five male adults in China was doomed to be a bachelor. But wasn¡¯t the probability slightly higher for Zhang Zian to run into some singles?

    ¡°Haha, Zhang, I¡¯m kidding. I don¡¯t think any girl is willing toy an eye on us dog trainers. We earn so little, not to mention we always smell like dog urine, which can never wash off. Girls just avoid us when they see us!¡± In a good mood, Liuughed heartily. ¡°I¡¯ll stop joking now. Zhang, what did you want to ask?¡±

    ¡°Well, I would like to ask, do you what happens to dogs that fail to pass training? What happens to them in the end?¡± Zhang Zian asked with a serious expression.

    The smile on Liu¡¯s face suddenly froze. He became silent with no answer.

    ¡°Why, you can¡¯t say?¡± Zhang Zian was surprised. This was not a private affair, and it stood to reason that there should be no unspeakable implication in the answer.

    ¡°No, nor that, it¡¯s just that¡­Zhang, why are you thinking about this?¡± Liu¡¯s tone was somewhat abstruse.

    ¡°Oh, here is the case, the director fears that Famous, Red Dragon, and other dogs might be identally hurt while filming, and he would like to go to the police dog training base to buy a couple of retired dogs as their understudies. What do you think?¡± Zhang Zian told him frankly, carefully observing Liu expression as he spoke. He had prepared himself that Liu would get angry once he heard this. He felt that since Liu was so fond of police dogs, he would be fiercely opposed to this idea.

    Famous, who had been listless, raised its head and looked at Liu¡¯s face from the backseat when it heard ¡°understudy.¡±

    However, to Zhang Zian¡¯s surprise, Liu suddenly became emotional. He blurted out, ¡°Zhang, please be sure to convince the director to try and buy a few more!¡±

    Huh? Zhang Zian was shocked. He exchanged a curious nce with Famous. Famous gently shook its head, meaning that Liu was not lying¡ªhe really meant it when he said he hoped the crew could buy a few more dogs.

    ¡°Why?¡± Zhang Zian could not get the answer from Famous, so he had to ask Liu directly.

    Biting his lower lip, Liu said with a straight face, ¡°Zhang, you know what? Police dogs, even the retired ones, are not allowed to enter in the market in ordance with the provisions.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded, ¡°This I can understand.¡± Police dogs were breeds imported from abroad at high prices, and it was too much of a loss for the police force if the dogs became avable in the market.

    ¡°However, the training base has been secretly selling retired dogs, because if we don¡¯t, in ordance with the regtions, they will be ughtered!¡± Liu said painfully.

    ¡°What?¡± Zhang Zian was astounded! Famous was trembling! One man and one dog were stunned and speechless.

    Liu slightly slowed down. He wiped the corners of his eyes and continued, ¡°There are a lot of dogs that fail to meet the standards during training. They cannot be police dogs, and it¡¯s impossible for the base to keep raising them for nothing, so we have to think of a way to ¡®dispose¡¯ of them.¡±

    Goosebumps were all over his body when Zhang Zian heard the two cold words ¡°dispose of.¡±

    Liu sobbed and said, ¡°To tell you the truth, Zhang, the money we get from selling those dogs could subsidize funding for the base. The rest of the dogs can eat better and lead a better life. Most importantly, whether those dogs are bought as a child¡¯s ymate or as a doorkeeper, at least they can continue living. Even if they are bought to be understudies for a movie, it¡¯s better than imminent death!¡±

    The hazy morning light cast into the car window, but Zhang Zian felt chills all over his body.

 Chapter 443: Getting Benefits

    <h4>Chapter 443: Getting Benefits</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Weaving through the early morning traffic, the police car was heading to Binhai Studio. When Zhang Zian heard the news from Liu, he was surprised that the dogs retired from the police dog training base could actually end up being ughtered. However, after thinking carefully, he was puzzled. Why would the base make such a cruel decision? Just to prevent the genes of police dogs from being easily essible? He asked Liu about this issue.

    Liu had been upset about this matter for a long time. Right now, he gradually calmed himself down. He denied Zhang Zian¡¯s guess and said, ¡°This is only a very minor reason. It¡¯s a long story. German Shepherds are not the only breed for police dogs. There are also Labradors, Springer Spaniels, Malinois, Rottweilers, etc. Different types of dogs have their own strengths. Some are good at tracking blood, others are good at guarding and anti-rioting, and some are good for finding narcotics. Their natures are also different. Some have a gentle nature, while others are more ferocious¡­¡±

    As a pet shop owner, Zhang Zian knew the detailed characteristics of these dogs, but he did not interrupt Liu, letting him continue.

    Liu exined, ¡°The reason why the base decides to ughter retired dogs is firstly, to prevent the outflow of genes; secondly, to reduce the burden on the base; thirdly, and the most importantly, rtively ferocious breeds such as German Shepherds and Rottweilers, although they were eliminated during training, they had received professional biting training and only listened to themands of their owners. Whoever their target is, they will not loosen up their grip once they bite the target. Once these dogs go into the public and are exploited by bad people, it¡¯s likely that they will threaten the safety of people¡¯s lives and property.¡±

    It was not until then did Zhang Zian realize that, unreasonable as it may sound, the decision of the base to ughter the dogs made sense. A knife bears no harm itself, whether it will hurts people depends entirely on who¡¯s holding the knife. This was also the case with ferocious dogs. Having been trained professionally, they were more violent than ordinary dogs. If they were used by bad guys to deal with ordinary people or the police, the consequences would be unimaginable.

    Liu added, ¡°Of course, we understand this. Zhang, although we like police dogs, we know that human lives are more valuable, and we will not put the life of police dogs above humans. Although we secretly sell the dogs, we only dare to sell meek dog breeds such as Labradors or Springer Spaniels. As forrge dogs as Malinois, German Shepherds, and Rottweiler, we can¡¯t sell them recklessly unless we know the buyers very well. Also, it¡¯s not easy to sell theserge dogs. Raisingrge and unmanageable dogs has been banned in many big cities nowadays.¡±

    Zhang Zian did not continue to ask about the fate of theserge and unmanageable dogs that were hard to sell. The answer was very obvious.

    In this respect, the decision of the police dog training base, who would rather ughter the dogs rather than sell them to the public, seemed justifiable because a human life was greater than everything else. The likelihood of violence inrge-sized dogs that had received professional biting training was unimaginable to ordinary people, and these dogs could not fall into the hands of dangerous criminals.

    He turned his head to look at Famous, who was silent, keeping its head down. Famous was facing a dilemma. It didn¡¯t want an understudy who may be injured or even die for it. But if it refused using an understudy, then those dogs were destined to die; if it agreed to an understudy, it might actually save those dogs.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t imagine the pain Famous was experiencing. It must have felt like being torn apart. But he couldn¡¯t make a decision for it either.

    ¡°Liu, what is the standard for elimination?¡± He remembered a question. ¡°Normally, there is no big difference among German Shepherds, right? Why can some German Shepherds pass while others are retired?¡±

    Liu said, ¡°No, there are huge differences. Just like with the intelligence of humans, the intelligence and personalities also vary widely among the same kind of dog. Some dogs are clever, and they respond very excitedly to stimtion. They can master the subjects of obedience¡ªsitting, lying, standing, apanying, holding objects in mouths, etc. in about 20 days. On the contrary, some dogs fail to grasp these things after more than two months, so they can only be eliminated. Many new trainers me themselves for their poor teaching, and are unable to move on from the failure.¡±

    Zhang Zian understood that it must be very upsetting for a novice trainer to see that a dog that they had trained for more than two months was eliminated in the end.

    Before they knew it, they had arrived at the Binhai Studio. Before Zhang Zian got out of the car, Liu once again begged him, ¡°Zhang, please tell the director, if possible, please buy a few more dogs. Although they didn¡¯t be police dogs, they were still trained for two months. None of us can bear to watch them die. It may not be a bad idea even if they be understudies.¡±

    Instead of giving a conclusive answer, Zhang Zian just said, ¡°Okay, I understand.¡± He took Famous and the two police dogs out of the car. Standing at the spacious gate of the Studio, he watched Liu drive away.

    ¡°How¡¯s that, Famous? You still don¡¯t want to have an understudy?¡± He squatted, looking squarely in Famous¡¯s eyes.

    Famous was silent. It was wondering all sorts of things. What would its angel¡ªthe angel who had liked children and animals, who had traveled all over Africa and devoted herself to phnthropy, who, before she died, was still concerned about the hungry children¡ªdecide to do? It made its decision.

    ¡°I want the understudies,¡± it said sinctly. ¡°But I will not let them put themselves in danger for me.¡±

    Zhang Zian realized that it wanted the director to buy the dogs, but did not want to put the dogs in any danger. It would fight for the chance to do the dangerous stunts in front of camera. Buying those dogs was just a way to keep them alive.

    ¡°OK, I got it, but do you know what you¡¯re doing, Famous?¡± He watched it with concern. ¡°You should know that not all dangers can be avoided. For example, it¡¯s like if you could predict that the Earth would explode in five seconds, you still couldn¡¯t change it. You understand?¡± He feared that it had too much confidence in itself and considered itself capable of escaping all danger. However, after all, Famous was not Gxy.

    ¡°I see. I do not regret it,¡± Famous stated firmly.

    Zhang Zian nodded and didn¡¯t add anything more. He had always felt that Famous was very mature, like an adult who usually remainedposed and was asionally passionate, but who rarely lost his mind due to their impulsiveness.

    When he entered the studio, he found Feng Xuan. Carrying a thermos, Feng Xuanmanded the set designers to set up the props and sets to be used in today¡¯s shooting. He corrected them asionally until the set designers¡¯ work was identical to what he saw in his imagination.

    ¡°Director Feng, do you have some time? I want to tell you something,¡± Zhang Zian greeted him.

    Feng Xuan told him to wait for a moment. After telling the set designers to continue working themselves, saying that he woulde back to checkter, Feng Xuan waved to Zhang Zian, and the two of them went to a secluded corner.

    ¡°Is this about the understudies?¡± Feng Xuan¡¯s guess was urate. ¡°I went back home to consider it yesterday. I also discussed with my wife a bit. If you and Famous insist on not using understudies¡­¡±

    Before going to bedst night, Feng Xuan wore pajamas and leaned on the head of his bed. As usual, he told his wife about the shooting for that day; what funny things had urred, and who had made what mistakes, and the like. When he told her about the lunchbox guy who gave a lunchbox full of dog droppings to Nie Yuan, his wifeughed so hard that she was almost convulsing on the bed. And when he talked about Famous and Zhang Zian, who did not seem to want an understudy, his wife seriously thought for a while. She also disapproved of using an understudy. Clearly, the performance level of those dogs was nowhere close to Famous¡¯s, and dogs were not humans. Human understudies understood the risks they would face, and they took on those risks based on their own discretion in exchange forpensation. But the stand-in dogs would be very poor.

    Convinced by his wife, Feng Xuan intended to listen to Zhang Zian that day. If Zhang Zian still insisted on not using understudies, then Feng Xuan wouldn¡¯t force him. The 1986 version of Journey to the West had be a ssic even though three different actors had yed Monk Xuanzang. If Famous was injured and exited the film midway, he woulde up with another solution.

    ¡°No!¡± Zhang Zian quickly interrupted him, ¡°I also thought about it, and I¡¯ve decided it¡¯s better to have understudies! Not only for Famous, but also for Red Dragon, Prince and the other important supporting roles, it would be best if each of them could have one or two understudies!¡±

    Feng Xuan looked at him, speechless. Overnight, their stances seemed to have beenpletely reversed.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Feng Xuan asked, puzzled. Although the funding for the crew was tight, it was only rtively limitedpared to other crews. He had a sufficient budget to buy a few dogs, but was doubtful about Zhang Zian¡¯s sudden change in attitude¡­

    ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°Director Feng, inform me if you n to go to the police dog training base, I will apany you to pick out the dogs!¡± His thought was, since everyone could benefit from buying dogs from the police dog training base, why should he waste this opportunity? This was a movie about dogs, why not take some dogs from the base to the crew and help them survive?

 Chapter 444: Outdoor Location

    <h4>Chapter 444: Outdoor Location</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sitting on a long stone, of which half was buried in the ground, and with a yellow Setaria dangling from his mouth, Guan Biao was humming outdated pop songs and looking at this spacious outdoor location boringly. The shooting progress had exceeded one-fifth, and nothing had gone wrong so far. The film had been progressing in a steady and orderly manner. ording to this trend, it seemed like the film would be aplished as scheduled.

    ording to the script, the part in the police dog training base hade to an end, and Lightning, yed by Famous, had officially be a member of the police dog team. Led by the protagonist Lin Feng, they came to the Northwest border area to rece a group of armed border police officers, carrying out the tasks of cracking down transnational crimes. As important supporting roles, several other dogs would apany their owners ande along.

    With so many people in the crew and limited funds, it was impossible to take everyone to the real Northwest frontier to shoot with the genuine scenery there. As early as the start of shooting the film, a team had gone to the Northwest to capture the scenery there, while most of the crew stayed in the Studio to shoot scenes. In the end, the shots taken by both teams would be edited and synthesized into the movie. Having worked in the movie industry for over two decades, Guan Biao was more familiar with these routines than general members of the crew.

    Guan Biao was at the outdoor location provided by the Studio, which covered a great stretch of wilderness located on the outskirts of Binhai City. Most of the exciting and soul-stirring shots would bepleted here.

    He came to arrange the setting with the art designers in the crew a few days in advance before shooting began. This was where the first fight in the script took ce. A group of armed thugs from Russia would attempt to cross the border, but encountered the border guards. When they fought, injuries and fatalities urred on both sides. During the impasse, the armed police officers released the police dogs who quietly struck the enemies by surprise. The police dogs suddenly became the aggressors by biting the enemies¡¯ wrists, refusing to let go. The enemies were disarmed. The police officers took the opportunity tounch a surprise attack and destroy the enemies in one fell swoop. If this battle were in other war films, it would be regarded as a child¡¯s y, but in this film, it was one of the big climaxes.

    The setting was almostplete. The art designers had made full use of the deste topography here, and theyout made this ce look no different from the Northwest border.

    Guan Biao narrowed his eyes and looked up at the sky. The sky was overcast, with a light breeze. It would be best if it snowed, because in the script, it was snowy in these scenes.

    A few young people on the art designers team were arranging tumbleweeds. There was a scene in Feng Xuan¡¯s script when the enemies and the police officers were watching eachother in the deathly silence. Blown by the breeze, tumbleweeds started to roll on the desert, and just like a fuse, they triggered the fierce fighting. Feng Xuan liked this scene very much. He felt it had the beauty of the gunfights in old Western movies, so he required that the art designers must arrange the tumbleweeds properly.

    Guan Biao stared at them, but his thoughts had drifted away to other irrelevant things. Yuan Fei gave him another call yesterday, scolding him, and telling him not to postpone the n anymore. Over one-fifth of the filming had beenpleted, if he kept hesitating, it would be difficult to rece the lead.

    Guan Biao had secretly cursed Yuan Fei a hundred times, but he had promised Yuan Fei that he would do this. He was really afraid that Yuan Fei would expose his past and let the families of those victims in the mine sue him on charges of manughter, then make him pay a hugepensation fee. Even if he was lucky enough to be acquitted, no crew would be willing to hire him as a pyrotechnician. He wasn¡¯t young anymore, and he hadn¡¯t saved much money because of hisziness. What else could he do other than be a pyrotechnician?

    Since the close call in the audition, the dog trainers hired by the crew all became cautious with him, especially that kid named Zhang Zian. Whenever Zhang Zian was present in the crew, he would always watch Guan Biao closely, as if he were a thief. It had been very tricky for Guan Biao to make any moves under his watch.

    However, he was a pyrotechnician with over 20 years of experience. As long as he wanted to y some dirty tricks, there was always a chance for him. The difficulty lied in how to make it look like an ident. He still had no clue.

    ¡°Are these real guns or fake guns?¡±

    Guan Biao¡¯s thoughts were interrupted. He was slightly annoyed. He came back to reality and saw that the new lunchbox guy in the crew was squatting in front of a row of guns, looking at them curiously. This new guy was here to rece the previous one that had made mistakes. He was only responsible for handing out lunch, not in charge of any other matters.

    ¡°Both real and fake.¡± Guan Biao spitted out the Setaria from his mouth. ¡°They used to be real guns, but were altered after being used by real troops. But if you change them back and load them with real bullets, they can still be used as real guns.¡±

    ¡°Wow!¡± the neer eximed loudly. ¡°Can I touch them?¡±

    ¡°Suit yourself.¡±

    The lunchbox guy looked at the guns, and selected one seemingly formidable assault rifle. He carefully picked it up in his hands and observed it like a treasure. ¡°Master Guan, are there any bullets in this gun?¡± he asked nervously.

    Guan Biaoughed. ¡°Of course not. If there were, how could I let you pick it up so carelessly?¡±

    ¡°Great! This is my cell phone, can you take some pictures of me holding the gun? I wanted to be a soldier before, but I didn¡¯t make it. Consider the pictures as a way to make up for my regret.¡± The lunchbox guy took out his cell phone and sincerely begged Guan Biao.

    ¡°Okay,¡± Guan Biao agreed. He had nothing to do anyway.

    ¡°Thank you!¡± The lunchbox guy unlocked his cell phone and handed it to him. Holding the gun like a real soldier, he made several poses, and despite the dirt, he even lied on the ground to imitate a prone position.

    Guan Biao casually snapped some pictures for him, and then threw the phone back to the guy. Guan Biao patted his butt and stood up. ¡°Hey, stop ying with the guns! When are we having lunch? I¡¯m hungry!¡±

    Having satisfied his craving to hold a gun, the lunchbox guy excitedly said, ¡°Soon. I¡¯ll go get the lunchboxes right away. What do you want to eat?¡±

    Guan Biao rolled his eyes and red at him. ¡°What do you have?¡±

    The lunchbox guy essed the WeChat ount the Studio¡¯s food orders, then exined, ¡°Our crew orders the 25-yuan Combo provided by the Studio, including three types: Combo A, B, and C. Thebo varies everyday, and we can choose whatever we want. Master Guan, why don¡¯t you choose thebo for today?¡±

    Guan Biao took his cell phone and looked at the photos of the three types ofbos in the WeChat ount. The former 10-yuan lunchbox was the cheapest avable in the Studio. The 25-yuan lunchbox contained much more food. Eachbo had four dishes, including two meat courses, two-vegetarian courses, and one soup. They could choose one can of c or orange juice as beverage. And there were also apples and bananas after the meal. With his meaty fingers sliding on the screen, Guan Biao was browsing carelessly. Suddenly his eyes focused on one of the dishes. He was silent for a long time.

    The lunchbox guy thought he was struggling to make up his mind in the face of abundant choices. Instead of urging Guan Biao, he lowered his head to y with the prop gun in his hand. His fingers moved across the gun and felt its cold metal texture. He pulled out the rifle bolt and the chamber, then inserted it back in ce again. The more he touched the gun, the more he grew to like it. How he wished he could get a few real bullets to fire the gun!

    ¡°Let¡¯s choose Combo B.¡± Guan Biao quietly returned the cell phone to him. ¡°Hurry up! the rest of the crew will arrive soon, and we start shooting after lunch. If shooting is dyed, the director will reprimand you harshly!¡±

    If it were someone familiar with Guan Biao, he or she would find it very strange hearing these words from Guan Biao since he was always dilly-dallying, and didn¡¯t start working unless he was repeatedly urged by the director and producers. Why was he so active today? As a pyrotechnician, Guan Biao was paid daily. If the shooting was extended one day, he could get paid for one more day. Wouldn¡¯t it be better for him if the shooting progress was dyed?

    ¡°Okay, okay, I will go get lunch immediately!¡± The new guy did not know this about Guan Biao. He reluctantly put down the prop gun, and tried to negotiate repeatedly with Guan Biao, ¡°When the shooting is over this afternoon, can you let me y with the guns again?¡±

    ¡°Okay, just go! Stop the jibber-jabber!¡± Guan Biao impatiently urged him.

    The lunchbox guy excitedly ran away, driving the minivan dedicated for lunchbox delivery away from the outdoor location.

    Standing there and thinking for a moment, Guan Biao pulled out his cellphone and searched on the inte, confirmed that he had remembered it correctly. He nced around. The art designers were still busy arranging the setting, and no one was paying attention to him for the time being.

    He walked into thepartment of the small truck that the crew had assigned to him, and rummaged through some ordinary stuff that was avable online and in drugstores. As a pyrotechnician, it was even easier for him to get ahold of this stuffs.

    He gently rubbed the contents in his hand, and the chemical forms that he had learned in the ssroom a few years ago once again emerged in his mind.

    It is true that knowledge can change destiny.

 Chapter 445: Dark Cuisine

    <h4>Chapter 445: Dark Cuisine</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Two buses and several cars drove one after another to the outdoor location designated by the Dog Warrior crew. The door opened. When the other people had gotten out, Zhang Zian took Famous and the two police dogs out of the car.

    After thest sequence of training scenes were shot in the small gray courtyard of the Studio in this morning, most of the crew members had been transferred here to begin shooting the next sequence of shots. The equipment that wouldn¡¯t be used for shooting these scenes would be deliveredter.

    Feng Xuan pped in front of the crew. When the crowd became quiet, he encouraged them, ¡°Well done, everyone. Starting this afternoon, the film will enter a new stage, a more difficult stage. I hope everyone can try their best to make progress together, and I hope the senior crew members can help the new staff. Let¡¯s work hard to sessfullyplete the film!¡±

    Everyone apuded.

    Feng Xuan nced around. ¡°Good! Now, let¡¯s all perform our duties and get everything set up. I will go check on your work after lunch, then we will begin shooting! Dismissed!¡±

    Most of the staff in the crew were experienced and knew what to do. They scattered immediately and went to their own positions. The lighting group went to arrange the lights, the extras went back to the buses, waiting for makeup. A few minor celebrities, including Lin Feng, remained in the car. Feng Xuan went to discuss the cement of the cameras with the cinematographers. Only a few neers, such as Zhang Zian, were befuddled and didn¡¯t know what to do. However, he remembered Xu Junyu¡¯s advice¡ªif he didn¡¯t know what he should do, he should do nothing rather than disturb everyone else¡¯s work. So, holding the three German Shepherds, he found a stone in the shape of a millstone and sat down, watching others, busy with their work.

    He had read today¡¯s script many times. Comparing what he had read to theyout of the outdoor location, he had learned which parts of the scenes would ur today. In the script, the enemies and the border control police officers would have a gunfight from behind two piles of stones. The police dogs woulde out from the side, then creep through the weeds to ambush the enemies. Feng Xuan was telling the art designers to rearrange the positions of the two piles of stones because there were a few stones blocking the camera, making the camera unable to get the best angle.

    As he watched, Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes locked in on one person¡ªGuan Biao. He was sitting on another stone two or three hundred meters away. He was leisurely bowing his head to y on his mobile phone with very rxed facial expression.

    Guan Biao hade before most of them, and Zhang Zian was a bit worried that he would y some dirty tricks. However, after carefully studying the script, Zhang Zian felt that there was no chance for Guan Biao to do anything bad because there were no sting scene in today¡¯s scenes. At best, there would be the bursting of blood packs hidden under the actors¡¯ clothes after being shot, which were irrelevant to dogs.

    What made Zhang Zian even more worried were the scenes where Famous, along with several other dogs, crossed through the minefields a few dayster. But by then, the new pyrotechnician should have already reced Guan Biao. Currently, only Guan Biao was in the dark.

    Guan Biao had not moved for a while, so Zhang Zian also took out his own cell phone. Above the checkout counter in his pet shop, a surveince camera had been installed. Through the mobile app, he could view the situation near the storefront, and could hear what was happening through the microphone. He saw that Lu Yiyun was engaged in painting. Whenever there were customers, she would chat with them a little bit, deftly handling checkout and membership cards, and answer any frequently asked questions raised by the customers. After the customers left, she would continue painting.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were also in the shop to help. They couldn¡¯t be seen from the checkout counter, but asionally, he could see them carrying things for the customers, and passing through the checkout.

    After a while, Uncle Li delivered the lunchboxes for the three employees, and left them on the checkout counter. He left after saying a few words to Lu Yiyun. Lu Yiyun gestured for Wang Qian and Li Kun, and the two of them took their lunch into the room to eat. Zhang Zian felt assured that everything was running normally in the pet shop.

    Lu Yiyun looked up at theputer screen, then clicked the mouse a few times. A new article was shared on the official WeChat ount of the pet shop. Zhang Zian¡¯s cell phone immediately received the notification about the update.

    She exined in the article that because the manager was assisting Binhai Studio in shooting a movie, he would be rtively busy for a while. She hoped that the customers who wanted to watch the kittens dance would remain patient. Their dreams woulde true when the manager had more free time. Also, the customers were encouraged to subscribe to the official ount.

    A lot of thements under the article were from the audience of Snowy¡¯s live broadcast. They joked and asked if the gay store manager had finally decided to make pornography. If not, why would he have disappeared from the shop exactly while a gay porn star was visiting China? And then a lot of people replied, saying that the store manager must have bent over to sacrifice his a**hole and the like.

    Just when Zhang Zian wanted to leave a message to rify his reputation, his phone received a WeChat message. When he opened it, he found that it was sent by Luo Qingyu, the president of the photography club of Binhai University.

    Luo Qingyu: ¡°I learnt from the official ount that you are helping shooting a film in a crew? Which crew is that?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment. It seemed there was no need for him to keep this matter confidential, so he immediately replied: ¡°The Dog Warrior crew. We are currently shooting in the wilderness.¡±

    Luo Qingyu: ¡°Any famous stars?¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°No, the most famous star is Lin Feng.¡±

    Luo Qingyu: ¡°Oh, it¡¯s him. Does the crew need more photographers? I would like to try. I don¡¯t mind being an assistant to the photographers or working without pay. I want to work in the film and television industry in the future.¡±

    Zhang Zian wanted to dampen Luo Qingyu¡¯s whimsical idea. This is a standard film crew, why would itck photographers? After he typed a few words, he heard the new lunchbox guy shout, ¡°Come and get your food!¡±

    It was more important to get the lunch first, or else the food would get cold. Putting Luo Qingyu¡¯s message aside, he nced at Guan Biao, who remained still in ce. Zhang Zian went to fetch four lunchboxes.

    The food in the lunchbox was much better than before, but he still had prepared the right amount of stewed beef with potato for the three German Shepherds to eat.

    ¡°Zhang, what are you doing? How about we eat together?¡±

    Zhang Zian had just heated up the meal. He looked up and found that director Feng Xuan was smiling, holding a bento, and standing in front of him.

    ¡°Nothing, Director Feng, please sit.¡± Zhang Zian offered his position to the director.

    ¡°No, you sit down, I brought a campstool.¡± As if performing a magic trcik, Feng Xuan brought a folding campstool from behind. He unfolded it and put in on the ground. ¡°Let¡¯s eat while we discuss matters about shooting this afternoon.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that Feng Xuan would not havee to eat with him for no reason. Feng Xuan kept himself busy each day at lunchtime. Carrying his food, he would walk around, sometimes checking on the status of props and setting, sometimesmunicating with the crew or actors. This may be his unique way to strengthen the cohesion within the crew.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s spection was correct; this was exactly Feng Xuan¡¯s thought. While shooting, Feng Xuan was very strict and did not tolerate any ws. He would scold anyone who made mistakes. But during breaks, he was very nice, and even apologized and encouraged the people whom he had scolded. This was the so-called carrot-and-stick approach.

    The sky became dark early these days, and there was limited time for shooting in the afternoon. Feng Xuan needed to discuss some details of Famous and the police dogs creeping forward through the grass on desert to attack the enemies by surprise.

    While talking, Feng Xuan suddenly noticed Zhang Zian had picked out all the onions from the Kung Pao Chicken. He was a bit upset. He felt his mouth was parched and his tongue scorched from talking too much, yet Zhang Zian was not listening to him carefully. Using his chopsticks, Feng Xuan pointed to the onions Zhang Zian had picked out and reprimanded him as a senior, ¡°You are a big boy now. How can you still be such a picky eater? Onions are good for yout. They have anti-bacterial, anti-cancer, and anti-flu effects. It¡¯s beneficial for you to eat onions in such cold weather. It would be very troublesome if you catch a cold.¡±

    Zhang Zian quickly exined, ¡°I¡¯m not a picky eater, it¡¯s the dogs that can¡¯t eat onions. I never expected that there would be onions in the Kung Pao Chicken, so I picked out the onions before letting them have this dish.¡±

    Feng Xuan was startled. He had never heard that dogs couldn¡¯t eat onions. It was his wife who was responsible for feeding their Labrador. He had no idea what things a dog could or couldn¡¯t eat. So he asked, ¡°Dogs can¡¯t eat onions?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Onions contain disulfide, which is good for the human body, but is poisonous for dogs. If a dog consumes onions, it will cause an acute hemolysis reaction, which may lead to hematuria, and arge amount of hematuria may cause death,¡± replied Zhang Zian.

    It was not until then did Feng Xuan realize that he had misunderstood Zhang Zian. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry, continue picking then. Should we tell this to other dog trainers? In case their dogs eat onions identally.¡± It was Feng Xuan¡¯s utmost concern that the other dogs that served as supporting roles in the movie would not suffer any ident injury.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°You can remind them, but I think they should already know.¡±

    Feng Xuan was not quite sure. Carrying his own lunchbox into the venue and walking around, he found that several other dog trainers were indeed picking out the onions from their lunches, while cursing the stupid chef for making such a dark cuisine by adding onions to the Kung Pao Chicken.

    After circling around the venue, he returned next to Zhang Zian, and said to him with a look of admiration, ¡°You¡¯re right, they picked out all the onions.¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°It¡¯s normal. If they didn¡¯t know such a thing, what kind of dog trainers would they be?¡±

    Feng Xuan recalled that Zhang Zian had once said that cats could not be in the presence of mosquito repellent incenses and insecticides. Now, he also learned that dogs couldn¡¯t eat onions. He could not help but say emotionally, ¡°It¡¯s really troublesome to raise cats and dogs. There are so many things to pay attention to.¡±

    Zhang Zian agreed, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s why cats and dogs may be discarded by their owners if the troubles of raising them outweigh the fun of having them aspanions.¡±

    Having been working with the crew for many years, Feng Xuan was a fast eater. He finished his meal in a few quick bites. He drank a few mouthfuls of theplimentary orange juice, and said to Zhang Zian, ¡°I¡¯ll go tell the new lunchbox guy so that he¡¯s more careful when ites to lunch selection. He¡¯ll need to consult with you before ordering food, just in case anything goes wrong.¡±

    ¡°OK, leave your empty lunchbox here. I will throw it away with mine,¡± Zhang Zian agreed.

    Watching as Feng Xuan left hurriedly, Zhang Zian felt that it really wasn¡¯t easy to be a director since he must micromanage every detail of the crew. Perhaps life wouldn¡¯t be so hard for a more famous director, right?

 Chapter 446: Wrong Script

    <h4>Chapter 446: Wrong Script</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°3, 2, 1¡­action!¡± As Feng Xuan shouted themand, several bundles of tumbleweeds were blown by the wind machine slowly across the desert. Loud gunshots were heard.

    ¡°Get down! Look for cover!¡± the team leader shouted, not caring for his own safety.

    In the face of a sudden attack by armed criminals from beyond the border, a squad of border control armed police officers remainedposed under threat. They listened to themand of the squad leader and swiftly dropped to the ground, looking for cover. Upon receiving their owners¡¯ order, a few dogs bought by these officers also lied down.

    ¡°Eagle! Eagle! This is Eaglet, we are under attack, the enemy¡¯s identity is unknown, their firepower is strong, request for support!¡± the officer hid behind a rock, picked up the walkie-talkie, and requested support from the higher authorities. He kept adjusting the knob, yet only the rustling noise of the electrostatic was heard. ¡°Squad leader! The radio has been interfered with and we can¡¯t get in touch with the superiors!¡± the officer shouted with all his might.

    The squad leader was surprised. They had been tracking a group of unidentified suspicious people to this deserted ce. Communications were disturbed, the supplies they were carrying were insufficient, and their vehicles had been disabled by the enemies. The odds would be stacked against them should the situation continue this way.

    ¡°Keep contacting them!¡± the squad leadermanded, unable to think of a solution.

    ¡°Yes!¡± The officer immediately executed themand, ¡°Eagle! Eagle! This is Eaglet, we are under attack¡­¡±

    ¡°Squad leader! Gao Mao has been shot!¡± someone shouted.

    An officer was shot in the shoulder, and the blood pack under his uniform burst, squirting and spraying blood on the ground, covering a thinyer of snow. He quivered twice, turned over and fell to the ground. Hisrades immediately went to him and held him in their arms.

    A piercing cold struck the heart of the squad leader. ¡°Medic!¡± he shouted.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Carrying medical aid boxes, the medic of the armed police, whose uniform bore the red cross logo on the shoulder, hunched and rushed towards the injured officer. He tore the cloth on the officer¡¯s shoulder to see the injury, and deftly applied local anesthesia. He took out the shrapnel with tweezers, then disinfected and bandaged the wounds.

    The number of the enemies was at least twice as many as the armed police. With the absence of heavy weaponry on both sides, the armed police, with fewer people, had been suppressed by the firepower of the enemies. One officer after another was injured and forced to stop fighting. The situation continued to deteriorate.

    ¡°Squad leader! What are we going to do?¡± The protagonist yed by Lin Feng rolled on the ground and lied next to the squad leader, asking for instructions.

    The squad leader was biting his lip. His face was smeared with ash, snowkes, and the dirt stirred up by bullets. His ck and white eyes were full of fury and anxiety. This was his squad, he was responsible for the life of the entire squad.

    The word eback¡± constantly popped into his mouth, but he repeatedly gulped it down. They were disadvantaged in terms of the number of people, their vehicles were broken, and some officers were hurt. How could they make aeback? They¡¯d be killed if they tried to make aeback, but they¡¯d also die if they continued to be trapped there! It was even more impossible to retreat. With wounded soldiers, the enemies would soon catch up!

    ¡°Squad leader, I have an idea!¡± Lin Feng said as he crouched behind the pile of stones and fired a few shots at the other side.

    ¡°Save the bullets!¡± ordered the squad leader to the whole squad. He reckoned that they did not have much ammunition left. He loudly asked Lin Feng, ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Let Lightning and the other dogs sneak out from the side andunch a surprise attack, then we coordinate with them and charge forward. This is the only way for us to survive!¡± Lin Feng firmly said as he gestured with his hands.

    His idea was very bold. The squad leader was hesitant. ¡°Will it work?¡±

    ¡°It will work! It must work!¡± Lin Feng wiped his face. ¡°Squad leader, we cannot afford to wait! We are in the inferior position in terms of people and firepower, our only advantage is that we have these police dogs with us!¡±

    Kacha Kacha! The sound of the empty cartridge came. Shots were fired.

    ¡°Who else has a bullet? I¡¯m out of bullets!¡± someone shouted.

    ¡°Here! Take mine!¡± the wounded officer who could still move threw him a magazine.

    With the precious bullets, the rifle spit the slender mes again, but it couldn¡¯t hold on for too much longer. In the face of such a critical situation, the squad leader was so anxious that his face turned red. He waved to Lin Feng and issued an order! ¡°F**k those motherf**kers!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Lin Feng threw himself next to Famous and the two police dogs, and brought them to the side of the battlefield. He ordered them to creep forward and carry out the sneak attack.

    ¡°Squad leader! I need cover!¡± Lin Feng shouted.

    The squad leader shouted, ¡°Attention, everyone! Smoke bombs!¡±

    All non-wounded soldiers temporarily stopped shooting. They pulled out the smoke bombs they¡¯d been carrying, exhausting all efforts to throw the bombs forward! A few smoke bombs drew beautiful parabs in the air and fell close to the enemy¡¯s position. The hissing white smoke soon blocked the view of both sides. The armed police officers, who had nearly run out of ammunition and food supplies, had finally gained some breathing room. Using this opportunity, they collected the remaining ammunition for redistribution. At this time, Lin Feng also ordered the three German Shepherds, ¡°Go!¡±

    Famous, Red Dragon, and Prince jumped out from the piles of stones, and with the aid of the smoke bombs and tumbleweeds, they quietly snuck over to the enemies.

    Outside the set, directors, producers, and the crew were all attentively watching this scene. The cinematographers were using the cameras to follow the three dogs and shoot close-up images.

    Pushed by the gentle breeze, the billowing smoke enveloped Famous and the other two dogs. In the wild grass, Famous and the two police dogs lowered their bodies to trot forward, but when they came to the open area with no wild grass, they would creep forward.

    Blown away by the wind, the smoke gradually became sparse. At themand of the squad leader, the armed police threw smoke bombs again. Another few smoke bombsnded in the center of the battlefield. The remnants of the first round of smoke hadn¡¯t been diffusedpletely, merging with the smoke of the second round round of smoke bombs. The smoke had blurred their field of vision, and Famous and the two police dogs were practically crossing a field covered with dense fog.

    Intense movement made Famous breathless. Its physical strength was draining at an exceptionally fast speed, and its body felt exceptionally heavy. Suddenly, the scenery in front of it looked as though it was behind ayer of ss. It strenuously squeezed its eyes but to no avail.

    ¡°Famous!¡± It seemed to have heard Zhang Zian calling its name and it was a little anxious. No! you¡¯ve got my name wrong! I¡¯m Lightning now, not Famous! The director will certainly me you if we have to reshoot this scene!

    Wait a minute. Zhang Zian was not an actor, why was he shouting? Wasn¡¯t he interfering with the shoot? Famous was a bit confused, it looked sideways. The smoke was too thick to see Zhang Zian. His voice seemed to havee from heaven.

    Thump! A strange noise came from behind it. The sound of Red Dragon who had been following it was gone, and Prince seemed to have been left far behind. What happened? Were they so tired after having run a short distance? This was totally inconsistent with their usual tough performance. Should itplete the task, or turn around to check on the safety of itsrades?

    Famous hesitated for a moment and decided to look back. It stopped and turned around, only to find that Red Dragon had copsed in the wild grass, and that Prince was also faltering.

    Why? The script wasn¡¯t like this¡­

 Chapter 447: Breaking Bad

    <h4>Chapter 447: Breaking Bad</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Red Dragon! Prince! What are you doing?¡± whispered Famous.

    Red Dragon was lying in the grass unresponsive, and Prince¡¯s body was shaking like a fallen leaf in the wind, about to copse.

    No! The script was not like this. In the sequence of shots about the sneak attack, only the bravery of the three police dogs should¡¯ve been highlighted. There was no need toplicate the story.

    Famous was extremely confused. Had the script been quietly changed and it was not aware? Or were Red Dragon and Prince improvising? Famous was unable to decide. It bowed its head and rubbed Red Dragon using its nose, then stuck out its forepaw to push it. With difficulty, Red Dragon opened its eyes and looked at Famous, but immediately closed them. Its breathing was weak, and it was foaming at the mouth. If it were acting, then Famous would¡¯ve looked at Red Dragon with admiration, however, this didn¡¯t seem like a performance. Red Dragon was clenching its teeth, and the white foam gushing from the gaps of its teeth was slightly yellow. Unless it had eaten some yellow dye in advance, it was not possible that it was acting.

    As Famous was thinking, it hadn¡¯t realized that its own thinking speed had started tog. It was at that moment that it heard another thump. Prince also fell to the ground. Famous quickly ran over to check. Prince seemed exactly the same as Red Dragon. Both were critically ill with shallow breathing.

    Something was wrong! What had happened?! Famous was startled and realized this was bad! Why didn¡¯t it detect the crisis in advance? Was it because it could only see the future within a few seconds of it happening? When it had detected the danger, it had already started. It remembered Zhang Zian¡¯s words¡ªnot all dangers can be avoided in time¡ªbut it was toote.

    As its forelimbs weakened, Famous could no longer support its own body. It slumped to the ground andid sideways in the weeds. In front of its nostrils, there was a growing yellow setaria. Swaying from its breath, the setaria swung like a pendulum. As if there was some hypnotic effect, Famous felt increasingly sleepy¡­ This time, it was not auditioning, nor was it acting. Its pupils were mirroring the hovering smoke. It seemed to have seen such a scene before.

    Yes, there was problem with the smoke! Distant memories reappeared in its mind. Famous was certain that it had undergone simr situations in the meat grinder-like real battlefield. Some people had also released gas bombs and massacred hundreds of people in just a few minutes¡­

    ¡°Famous¡­Famous¡­¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s voice seemed to be getting closer and closer. There was the sound of urgent footsteps. Among the misty smoke and fog, the silhouettes of people appeared.

    ¡°Don¡¯te¡­the smoke is toxic¡­¡± It tried to respond to Zhang Zian and wanted to remind him, but its throat was scorching hot, and its vocal cords only uttered muffled and horse hissing sounds. It couldn¡¯t produce a meaningful andplete sentence. ¡°Don¡¯te here¡­¡± It drifted in and out of consciousness. Its mouth opening and closed, repeating this one sentence.

    Famous knew who had done this. It was the pyrotechnician Guan Biao! Releasing toxic smoke to put all the people present in danger? Could he be such a lunatic? Was he out of his mind? Attempting such a thing, did Guan Biao really think he could escape the legal consequences and the condemnation from the public? Things were not that simple. Something had gone wrong, something that they had ignored¡­

    However, Famous had no strength to think anymore. Its mouth stopped moving. A hexagonal snowke fell from the sky and naughtily kissed it on its eye, which had lost all vigor¡­

    ¡­

    As its eyelids felt the coolness, Famous suddenly woke up! It had fallen asleep on the ground. Nothing in its surrounding had changed that much from before. The crew members were busy making final preparations for the shoot in the afternoon. Having finished applying their makeup, the leading actor and supporting actors were in ce on the battlefield, and so were a few foreign actors who were going to y the foreign criminals. The prop guns had been assigned to the actors.

    Red Dragon and Prince were lying quietly next to it, and their eyes were brimming with vigor. Before falling asleep, they had been led by Feng Xuan through the route several times, and they were already familiar on what to do. Feng Xuan was leading the cinematographers and their assistants to adjust the positions of the cameras and the track of the lenses.

    Zhang Zian was ying with his cell phone. He tilted his head and looked at it. ¡°You¡¯re awake, Famous. I told you I would wake you up a few minutester.¡±

    Famous stood up. Its legs and feet were feeble from the nightmare it just had. A thin nket, on which Zhang Zian had previously been sitting on, slipped from its back.

    ¡°You may as well wake up. It¡¯s snowing now, it¡¯s a little bit chilly.¡± Zhang Zian leaned over to pick up the nket and put it under his butt.

    Famous looked up at the sky. At that moment, a piece of hexagonal snowke fell on the tip of its nose and immediately melted. As it felt the coolness, it became sober. ¡°How long have I slept?¡± Its voice was hoarse.

    Zhang Zian nced at the phone. ¡°Not long, just a few minutes, no more than 10. Don¡¯t worry, you missed nothing.¡±

    ¡°What about Guan Biao? Where is Guan Biao?¡± it asked urgently.

    ¡°Over there.¡± Zhang Zian raised his hand to point to a few foreign extras with prominent noses and deep-set eyes who would be ying the armed criminals from outside the border in this scene. Standing in front of the extras, Guan Biao put sma bags into their clothes, connected the hand-held detonators, and finally ced the thin aluminum tes between the sma bags and the actors¡¯ bodies. The thin aluminum tes were used to absorb the impact, otherwise people would be in a lot of pain, or could even be injured from the small explosions that ruptured the clothes and sma bags.

    Zhang Zian had been observing Guan Biao. After making sure that Guan Biao wasn¡¯t doing anything abnormal, Zhang Zian was relieved.

    ¡°No!¡± Famous stared at the back of Guan Biao. ¡°He did something dirty. I saw it¡­the smoke, it¡¯s the toxic smoke! During the shoot, Red Dragon, Prince, and I¡­we all died¡­¡±

    ¡°Toxic smoke?¡± Zhang Zian was surprised. ¡°No way?! With so many people present, he wouldn¡¯t dare to use toxic smoke? How do you know, Famous?¡± No wonder Zhang Zian didn¡¯t believe it. Even Famous couldn¡¯t believe itself. No matter what, there was no way Guan Biao would use toxic smoke.

    ¡°I just had a dream, but I¡¯m not sure if it was a sign. Maybe it was just a dream¡­¡± it said hesitantly, increasingly doubting its dream.

    One dreams at night what one thinks in the day. Perhaps it was because Famous had a preconceived notion about ??Guan Biao, believing he was a man up to no good, conjuring this unrealistic dream.

    Zhang Zian knew that with its ability to detect danger, Famous could predict a crisis a few seconds prior to the actual event. Nevertheless, there was at least ten minutes before the actual shoot. If Famous¡¯s dream really was an omen, it had urred too far before the actual event was supposed to happen. However, he did not ignore its words. What if this was indeed an omen? What if Famous and the two police dogs really died after the shooting began? One can only live once, and there¡¯s no room for mistakes when ites to life and death.

    ¡°Should I go to talk with the director and ask him to postpone the shoot and double-check the safety measures?¡± Zhang Zian suggested.

    ¡°Forget it,¡± said Famous, shaking its head. ¡°It¡¯s probably just a nightmare, and I¡¯ll be on guard when shooting.¡± Unless there was a specific reason, or force majeure, postponing the shoot was not a trivial matter. The dy was at the expense everyone¡¯s time. The director was unlikely to agree to such a request, and he would only think that Zhang Zian was being paranoid.

    Having said that, Zhang Zian¡¯s thoughts were still fluctuating, and he couldn¡¯t set his mind at ease. But at this time, Luo Qingyu was still bothering him by constantly sending messages to harass him. He was upset by the message notifications.

    Luo Qingyu begged Zhang Zian to rmend him to the director. Luo Qingyu said that in addition to taking unique pictures, he was very good at shooting videos. He was responsible for shooting the sports meetings and the like at school, and his videos had received unanimous praise from the school leaders. Apart from that, he also had participated in the Campus Cinematography Competition, but hadn¡¯t ced well because the script sucked. He himself was very knowledgeable about cinematography.

    Zhang Zian temporarily blocked the message notifications from Luo Qingyu. After thinking for a moment, he asked, ¡°Famous, where did the smokee from? The smoke bombs?¡± He remembered that the smoke bombs in the crew were just simple props that couldn¡¯tpare to real smoke bombs. The props could only produce a limited amount of smoke to let the cinematographers take close-up shots. The props were unable to fill the air with thick fog and smoke.

    ¡°It¡¯s not the smoke bombs, it was from somece farther.¡± Famous identified the direction and gestured, ¡°It was from behind the enemies, and then blown over this way by the wind.¡±

    The piles of stones where the enemies would be hiding was located in the northwest part, while the position of the armed police officers was located in the southeast. A light breeze wasing from the northwest, and the smoke¡¯s trajectory would pass through the several foreign extras. If it was toxic smoke, wouldn¡¯t these foreigners be the first ones to die?

    Zhang Zian still did not dare to be careless. ¡°Do you still remember the general location from where the smoke began? Take me so I can have a look.¡±

    ¡°I probably remember¡­¡± Hesitantly, Famous led him behind the enemies. A few foreigners that had finished applying makeup were yelling something at Zhang Zian and Famous. Zhang Zian ignored them, carefully observing the actions of Famous.

    Putting its nose close to the ground to sniff around, Famous found a suspicious position soon. There were several t stones, each one the size of a human palm, randomly stacked together. They couldn¡¯t tell whether the stones had been stacked by men or were like that naturally.

    ¡°Here it is,¡± said Famous affirmatively. ¡°There is something beneath the stones.¡±

    Zhang Zian squatted down to remove the stones. A round yellow and white cake the size of a sesame seed cake was ced on a metal tray beneath the stones. ¡°What is this?¡± He couldn¡¯t recognize this thing.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Famous, who had never seen this thing either. ¡°But I can smell that this thing is beneath the stones at several other locations.¡±

    ¡°Actors in ce! Actors in ce!¡± yelled the assistant to the director. ¡°Shooting will begin immediately!¡±

    Famous could not think of anything. It looked at the set from afar and found that everyone was in ce except itself. ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s go back.¡±

    The several foreign extras gestured at them, urging them to leave quickly.

    Zhang Zian leaned over to observe the small round cake. The small round cake was seemingly very soft, and was densely embedded with many khaki colored particles. He did not dare to act rashly. He took out his cell phone and photographed the cake from several angles, and then sent the images to Luo Qingyu. ¡°Let me test you. Didn¡¯t you say you were familiar with shooting movies. Do you know what this is?¡±

    Luo Qingyu almost replied instantly. ¡°Is this a written test or an interview? Too easy, this is a smoke cake used to generate smoke and fog when shooting movies. Apart from being used in producing movies, smoke cake is often used in portrait photography. When taking pictures of girls, if you pinch a small piece of the smoke cake and ignite it with a lighter, you can create a smokey effect, adding dimension to the photos. However, when used indoors, only a small piece of the smoke cake is needed. It¡¯s unnecessary to use a whole one, which will be like suffocating. It¡¯ll be troublesome if the neighbors think the room is on fire and call the fire department. How about it? Has my answer earned full credit?¡±

    To prove himself, Luo Qingyu also sent photos of several girls, including ambiguous private photos. There were also outdoor cosy photos where the girls were cosying the characters in Xian Xia Anime or games. All these photos had a smoke, creating a hazy, artistic concept, and an ethereal ¡°otherworldly temperament.¡±

    Smoke cake? Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes lingered on the pictures of the girls for two seconds. The qualities of these photos were high, so were the girls in the pictures. He didn¡¯t believe they were taken by Luo Qingyu. They had probably been taken by someone else and were being used by Luo Qingyu.

    He thought for a moment and sent another message: ¡°Is the smoke cake poisonous?¡±

    Luo Qingyu replied: ¡°Poisonous? How could it be poisonous? Of course, it must be toxic if you eat it. After all, the mainponents of a smoke cake are sulfur and sawdust, which are inedible. Besides, what are the particles on your smoke cake? There are no such particles on ordinary smoke cakes. Was it made by the film crew?¡±

    Sulfur and sawdust? Zhang Zian seemed to have vaguely realized something.

    Luo Qingyu was still sending messages endlessly. ¡°How is it? Did I pass the written test? When will you let me report for duty with the crew? I have more photos with women wearing less clothes in them, would you like to take a look?¡±

    Tempting as it sounded, Zhang Zian ignored Luo Qingyu for the time being. He pinched a small yellow particle, put it under his nose, and inhaled deeply. A unique and faint foul smell poured into his nasal cavities. It couldn¡¯t be wrong! These small particles were sulfur!

    Zhang Zian dusted the dirt from his trousers and stood up, looking at the noisy foreign extras. He finally figured it out. This was a rather well-designed trap. The mainponents of the smoke cake were already sulfur and sawdust. Guan Biao had added extra sulfur.

    Burning in the air, sulfur can produce sulfur dioxide, which is colorless and has a molecr weight of 64, which is much heavier than oxygen and nitrogen. Sulfur dioxide deposits near the ground and has no effect on people. However, dogs that crawl forward will inhale much of the sulfur dioxide, which willbine with hemoglobin after entering the bloodstream, then be carried to each organ by the blood.

    If a human inhales sulfur dioxide, harmful as it is, there are no life-threatening effects in the short term. But dogs are different. After inhaling, the sulfur dioxide will produce disulfide within their bodies, causing an acute haemolysis reaction. The effect is equivalent to eating onions.

    Zhang Zian thought of the onions he just picked out at lunch, and understood that this was a double trap. Whether it was the onions or the smoke cake, the ultimate goal was to make excessive disulfide within Famous and the two police dogs¡¯ bodies.

    The most intelligent part was that this trap only worked on dogs. Because people would not be poisoned by smoke, and after the smoke cake burned out, the evidence would be obliviated ordingly. It would be toote when Famous and the two police dogs began to excrete bloody urine the very next day. Although the damage was unlikely to be fatal, they definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to continue to participate in the film.

    A little bit impatient from the wait, all the crew members were looking around for Zhang Zian and Famous. Guan Biao looked in his direction guiltily, and his eyes met of Zhang Zian¡¯s from afar, and then Guan Biao¡¯s whole body trembled.

    Zhang Zian sneered. You did well in chemistry in high school, right? What a coincidence. Me too. And I¡¯m also a loyal audience member of Breaking Bad. He picked up the phone and called Sheng Ke. The first thing he said was, ¡°Captain Sheng, I found the evidence you want. Pleasee here immediately. As aw-abiding citizen, I want to report a case to you.¡±

    Sheng Ke was profoundly surprised, and he immediately asked, ¡°Where are you? I¡¯ll go there now.¡±

    Zhang Zian told him where the outdoor location was, and then hung up the phone.

    Feng Xuan was the one who found him first. Followed by his assistant and the deputy director, Feng Xuan angrily said, ¡°Zhang, why are you dawdling here? Do you know that everyone is waiting for you and Famous?!¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°Director Feng, I¡¯m sorry, but I am afraid everyone will have to wait for a while, and maybe today¡¯s shoot will even be canceled.¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡± Feng Xuan was stunned. ¡°What happened? Something¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°Some things indeed. Yes, Director Feng, I think you should give the new pyrotechnician a call and urge him toe here and report for duty quickly.¡±

 Chapter 448: Pet Delivery

    <h4>Chapter 448: Pet Delivery</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was a quiet early morning. The sound of breathing echoed from the bedroom of the pet store on the second floor. Some were slow and long, some were deep and soft, and some were funny.

    Zhang Zian woke up ording his biological clock. He stretched his body and didn¡¯t get up, but changed positions andid on his side. But he couldn¡¯t go back to sleep.

    He didn¡¯t have to get up early to prepare stewed beef for the police dogs that day, so he could stay in bed for a while, but he still had to get up not toote considering it was a weekend. There would be more customers, including those who traveled from far away. The filming process was not over, and he did not have a day off, the reason why he was in the store today was because the crew needed to be reorganized after what had happened the day before. The people in charge, including the director Feng Xuan, had been asked by the police to temporarily suspend shooting.

    Zhang Zian took his phone out from under his pillow and took a look at the crew¡¯s WeChat group. The rumors were everywhere sincest night, and someone even said that Guan Biao was sent to the National Security Agency for being involved in terrorist affairs. Seeing these ridiculous guesses and rumors, all Zhang Zian could do wasugh

    Yesterday, after Sheng Ke came with his men, they arrested Guan Biao for ¡°deliberately damaging public property¡± while ¡°endangering public safety¡± as he had tried to release sulfur dioxide to damage public property, which was considered poisonous. It was a really big deal. The crew wouldn¡¯t have days off if not for this.

    Guan Biao was taken away soundlessly, his face as white as ash. He didn¡¯t rebel as he probably realized that they already knew his n. He was a smart guy after all. In reduce his sentence, he confessed everything, and even told on Yuan Fei, saying he had been threatened and instigated by Yuan Fei. Yuan Fei had been caughtter¡­

    The leaders of the crew, including the director Feng Xuan and the producer Nie Yuan who helped the police fill out the police report. Another reason why the crew had some times off was because the pyrotechnician had been arrested, and a new one was needed to continue shooting. When shooting resumed in two days, the work would be that much more in order to make up for the time they had lost.

    Although Nie Yuan tried his best to work on dispelling the rumor, the media sensed something was up. The paparazzi was at door of the Studio. Once the crew members appeared, they would offer a great amount of money for current gossip, and that was why there had been some biased pieces of news on Weibo and Wechat Official ounts Feed recently. However, Zhang Zian, the man who was really involved, had not interviewed, and it was a shame.

    To be fair, Guan Biao shouldn¡¯t have failed. His n was almost perfect. Zhang Zian revealed Guan Biao¡¯s plot because of the weird dream Famous had had. Later, Zhang Zian and Famous realized that the reason why Famous knew what would happen was not because it had the ability to predict danger, but because it had suspected Guan Biao from the very first beginning. Plus, it smelled sulfur in its dream. Famous therefore had some unconscious feeling that something was wrong.

    The reason he came to this conclusion was because Famous¡¯s dream didn¡¯t reflect reality. That is to say, for example, even though Guan Biao had put extra sulfur in the smoke cake, it couldn¡¯t make Famous and the other two police dogs died, and this was also not what Guan Biao wanted.

    But anyway, the crew would be more stable now, and could continue working on the film. Red Dragon and Prince were sent to their owners for several days¡¯ reunion, and would be sent back when the shooting started up again.

    As he couldn¡¯t sleep anyway, Zhang Zian got up. Richard was under a small nket, snoring with its mouth open. It sometimes kicked its legs, and sometimes made noises. Since Zhang Zian had found it a nket, it seldom grabbed the quilt anymore. This guy knew nothing about etiquette, and did all the ¡°don¡¯t¡±s. If it had teeth, it would definitely grind them while it sleep. Every time it happened, Zhang Zian pped it without a second thought.

    Gxy shook its ears. After it heard the sound of Zhang Zian getting dressed, it got up from its cot, blinking its eyes curiously at him.

    Zhang Zian waved to Gxy, smiling, and then blindfolded his eyes. These days, he went to work so early that he didn¡¯t have time to y hide and seek with it, but today they could have fun.

    Gxy shook its tail happily, jumped off of the cot, ran to the bedroom door, used its front paws to open the door, and went downstairs to warm up with the American Shorthair cat and Wendy.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have the energy toin about it. Gxy was a master of hide-and-seek. It could win easily, even without warming up. But as a shameless grown-up, he had some tricks up his sleeve¡ªpeaking during the countdown.

    Behind the sheer curtain, Fina opened one of its glittering green eyes. It looked at him with interest, and soon closed its eyes. After a while, it opened its eyes again, this time it was two eyes, looking at him confused. It seemed like it was asking, why are you still here?

    Zhang Zian sat next to the bed, raised his shoulders and hands, stuck his tongue out, and widened his eyes, meaning that he wouldn¡¯t have to work that day, and could stay in the store. He wasn¡¯t sure if Fina could understand his facial expression or not.

    Fina stared at him for a long time, finally seeming to understand his expression. It turned around and turned its back to him.

    Old Time tea was still asleep, with a little smile on its face.

    Zhang Zian wore his slippers and went to bathroom. Snowy Li heard the sound, and suddenly got up from the nket. Once he came out from the bathroom, it followed him and crept to the kitchen.

    He was about to drink a ss of water when Snowy Li grabbed his pajama pants. ¡°Meow! Mama want the raw beef sirloin!¡±

    Zhang Zian had to free one of his hands to hold up his pants and get rid of Snowy Li, otherwise his pants would be pulled down.

    ¡°I had so much stuff to do yesterday, and forgot to buy you beef sirloin. But it won¡¯t hurt you to not eat it for just one day, right?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care! Mama wants it every single day! Otherwise I will take off your pants and castrate you!¡± Snowy Li pulled on his pajamas with more strength, and showed her paws with a threatening look.

    ¡°Come on! If you castrate me, who will buy you sirloin?¡± Zhang Zian sincerely thought he had bad luck meeting this hooligan cat! Why was there never a female human hooligan who wanted to take his pants off?

    Snowy Li thought about it and found it reasonable. It loosened its paws. ¡°Anyways, you have to buy me raw beef sirloin by noon. Otherwise, don¡¯t me me for being rude to you!¡±

    ¡°How dare you threaten me?¡± Zhang Zian finally made his pants safe, and said resignedly, ¡°Do you know what ¡®neet¡¯ is?¡±

    ¡°Neet?¡± Snowy Li blinked repeatedly, confused.

    ¡°¡®Neet¡¯ refers to those who stay at home and do nothing, neither studying nor working. In other words, it means a loser, understand? I will call you neet cat from now on.¡± Zhang Zian gave it a new nickname without its permission.

    ¡°Pfffft!¡± Snowy Li squinted, and its mouth twitched. ¡°I am not jobless! My job is to serve Her Majesty! Besides, neet cat doesn¡¯t sound good. Call me neet meow!¡±

    Damn it! It was not apliment! Thiszy cat has been given a nickname, and she doesn¡¯t think it¡¯s a shame, but feels honored? Doesn¡¯t she know anything about the Eight Honors and Eight Shames? Zhang Zian said to himself silently, and went downstairs. He was cleaning the store while watching Gina and Snowy Li go downstairs one by one, and jump on their own cat trees.

    ¡°Eh? Why did youe down so early today? Usually youe here only when you smell roast meat, don¡¯t you?¡± he asked as he swept.

    Fina red him with an annoying look. ¡°I go downstairs whenever I want, and it¡¯s none of your business!¡±

    ¡°Alright, you are the boss.¡± Zhang Zian kept sweeping the floor and left the topic there. After he done the sweeping, he practiced boxing with Old Time Tea to warm up. He went upstairs and downstairs, yed hide and seek with Gxy for a while, then opened the automatic rolling door of the shop, and poured himself a cup of hot tea. When he was just about to lie down in the lounge, his phone suddenly rang.

    It was still early, before 8 o¡¯clock. He hadn¡¯t expected anyone to call. An unknown number showed on the phone screen. Zhang Zian picked it up and said, ¡°Hello?¡±

    ¡°Hi, is this Zhang Zian from Amazing Fate Pet Shop?¡± A women asked in a polite manner. She sounded professional.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. Who is this?¡± Zhang Zian asked back.

    The woman replied, ¡°This is Feichong Delivery Company¡¯s VIP service line. Feichong Delivery Company is a globalized pet deliverypany. One of your pets will be with you today in Binhai City. Please have someone stay at home and wait for the package. I¡¯ll have to confirm your home address with you, are you avable at the moment?¡±

    ¡°One of my pets?¡± Zhang Zian was confused at first, then he remembered. ¡°Is it an Ashera cat?¡± A few days ago, Tim called him and told him that he had reserved an Anshera cat, and that it would arrive shortly in China. Zhang Zian was worried at the time as he had never seen this kind of cat before, and knew nothing about them. He should¡¯ve gotten it by himself, but he was busy with work and couldn¡¯t get a day off, so he had nned to ask Lu Yiyun to get it for him. To his surprise, he had been dismissed from the crew for one day, and now the cat was on its way to him and would arrive today. Now everything was settled.

    It seemed that the person checked the details. Her voice broke, then she said, ¡°Hmm¡­yeah, it¡¯s an Ashera cat. The sender bought expensive delivery insurance, so our VIP line will be with you and provide you with the tracking number. I¡¯ll have to check your address, please.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Zhang Zian told her the address of the pet store.

    After checking, the person said, ¡°Okay, the address you provided is the same as what¡¯s written on the delivery sheet. Your cats will be delivered to you as soon as they get to Binhai. Please feel free to call us if you have any questions. There will be VIP customer service for you.¡±

    As Ashera cat are very expensive, the top brand pet delivery firm was hired to prevent any trouble during the overseas delivery as the seller was worried. Of course, the delivery fee was covered with the price, and was charged to the buyer. Tim told Zhang Zian before, and Zhang Zian asked Lin Qi for his opionion. Li Qi¡¯s answer was simply to transfer money to Zhang Zian. Tuhao could be headstrong and do whatever they wanted.

 Chapter 449: Owing a Favor

    <h4>Chapter 449: Owing a Favor</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Just after Zhang Zian hung up the phone, Lu Yiyun rubbed off the dirt and snow on her soles on the mat outside, pushed open the door, and came in with the digital drawing board under her arm. After entering, she sniffed. ¡°Good morning, Mr. Store Manager¡­hmm? Why isn¡¯t there the scent of stewed beef with potato today?¡±

    Zhang Zian had to remind her, ¡°You are working for a pet shop, not a restaurant. The crew is on vacation, so I don¡¯t have to be there. I¡¯ll be staying in the pet shop for the next two days.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s great.¡± Hearing this, Lu Yiyun felt relieved. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t be able to handle the situation on the weekends. She didn¡¯t care why Zhang Zian didn¡¯t go with the crew. She took Jasmine out of her backpack and let it y inside the shop, then she started cleaning the checkout counter as usual.

    Zhang Zian dialed the number of Lin Qi to inform him that his cat was here, but no one answered the phone. It¡¯s impossible for such an heir of a rich family like Lin Qi to get up so early on the weekend, thought Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Right, Xiao Yun, a rare cat will be delivered here today.¡± He put down the phone and intended to call Lin Qi again before lunch.

    ¡°What cat?¡± Asked Lu Yiyun curiously while wiping the keyboard and mouse with paper towels.

    ¡°An Ashera cat ordered from abroad by a very rich client. It will probably be delivered in a little while.¡±

    ¡°Ashera cat?¡± It was the first time she had heard such a name.

    ¡°Yes. It is said to be a veryrge cat, kind of an artificial species. I¡¯ve never seen it either. By the way, please go publish a message on the official ount, saying that if anyone is interested in the cat, they shoulde by and see it soon. Since it¡¯s being purchased, after hees to pick it up, they won¡¯t be able to see it again,¡± Zhang Zian instructed.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Lu Yiyun opened theputer. Because this was a messageposed of text, she edited it and posted it.

    Zhang Zian was nning to give Wang Qian and Li Kun a day off. After hearing this news, they also expressed their desire toe to the pet shop and see the rare cat.

    While they were speaking, the shadow of a person appeared at the door. A tall, slender boy carrying a yellow and green National Geographic photography bag over his shoulder slowly pushed open the door and came in. Instead of closing the door behind him, he held the door hospitably. ¡°Here,e in, this is the ce I¡¯m talking about.¡±

    The chilling wind in the early morning gushed into the outer area of the pet shop. Lu Yiyun zipped up her cor. Fortunately, there was an automatic door inside the shop which could effectively prevent the precious heat from escaping.

    Zhang Zian wondered who was here so early. As he looked carefully, he saw it was Luo Qingyu from the photography club of Binhai University. Luo Qingyu was followed by a youngdy who was 20-years-old or so, with light makeup, and a pretty good disposition.

    Suddenly, Zhang Zian felt that this girl seemed a little bit familiar, but he couldn¡¯t remember where he had seen her before. While he was contemting, she took off her hat and swung her hair just like a shampoomercial. Her long and ck hair hung down like a waterfall.

    He remembered now. He met Luo Qingyu for the first time in front of the church near Guo Dongyue¡¯s house. At that time, his photography club was taking cosy photos featuring a few girls. This girl with long, ck, and straight hair was one of the more outstanding ones, and took a photo with Fina. It was this very picture that made Luo Qingyu win the major prize of the photography exhibition in his school. Honestly, that photo had nothing to do with Luo Qingyu talent¡ªhe had just been lucky that day.

    Zhang Zian approached them and said to Luo Qingyu, ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    Luo Qingyu smiled and said a few words to the girl with long, ck, and straight hair. Then he pulled Zhang Zian to the side and lowered his voice, ¡°Mr. Store Manager, you¡¯ve owe me a favor, right?¡±

    Zhang Zian frowned. He didn¡¯t like being in debt, marily or in another sense. If he was in debt, he would keep it in mind until he paid it off. But as far as he knew, he had never owed Luo Qingyu a favor. So, he asked instead, ¡°Since when have I owed you a favor?¡±

    ¡°Tut! Don¡¯t try to deny it! I¡¯ve spent some time in the photographymunity, and I am very well-informed!¡± said Luo Qingyu, as if he was hinting something. He turned back and nced at the girl.

    ¡°Quit the riddle. Just tell me what it is.¡± Zhang Zian became very impatient with Luo Qingyu¡¯s nagging.

    Luo Qingyu said eloquently, ¡°All right, let me get straight to the point! I heard that something happened to your Dog Warrior crew yesterday, that a pyrotechnician was suspected of using poison. Later, I remembered that you had asked me about the smoke cake, and then I associated the incident with the yellow particles on the smoke cake. I found a junior male ssmate in our photography club from the Chemistry department, and had him looked at them. He said that they seemed to be sulfur particles that would produce a lot of sulfur dioxide after ignition. So, I guessed it must¡¯ve been you who revealed what happened, but I helped you with that. How dare you say you don¡¯t owe me a favor?!¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. Luo Qingyu indeed had had something to do with Zhang Zian¡¯s exposing Guan Biao¡¯s trap, but his help was far from being considered a huge favor, right? Even if he hadn¡¯t asked Luo Qingyu for help, other people in the crew probably could have recognized the smoke cake, though the process might¡¯ve been more troublesome.

    ¡°All right, I¡¯ve owe you a small favor.¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to fight over this issue and he asked directly, ¡°So?¡±

    Luo Qingyu secretly pointed to the girl with long, ck, and straight hair, ¡°She¡¯s a ssmate from our school, pretty good right?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s fine.¡± Zhang Zian nodded.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know which department she¡¯s from or her real name. I only know that her ID on the school forum is Ting Ying. That¡¯s how I found her and invited her to take those cosy photosst time,¡± exined Luo Qingyu. ¡°The photos received wide acim, so I wanted to ask her to take more photos, but she wasn¡¯t very interested. She said she was just bored and wanted to have some funst time. Her avatar on her BBS was a cat, so I figured she was fond of cats. I asked her if she was raising a cat, and she said no. And then I asked her if she wanted to, and she said yes, but she didn¡¯t know where was the best ce to buy one¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Zhang Zian had more or less figured out the purpose behind their visit.

    ¡°Hehe!¡± Luo Qingyu¡¯s smile was very disgusting. ¡°I told her that I know a pet shop owner who she could absolutely trust and even get a discount from. You know what to do!¡±

    Zhang Zian was annoyed and amused by him. You just want to win her favor at my expense!

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, you¡¯ll have to show due respect for our feelings since we are here so early on the weekend. I know your cats are rtively expensive, so even after the discount, you can still earn a profit. What do you think?¡± Luo Qingyu softened his tone. ¡°Besides, you must have gotten a reward from reporting that pyrotechnician, right?¡±

    ¡°No. Not a penny.¡± Zhang Zian acknowledged that he was the one who reported the pyrotechnician. He thought that Luo Qingyu had made some contribution to that matter, so he said generously, ¡°All right then, I can give you 20% off, but only once. If you bring a girl here and ask for a discount next time, I will kick you out!¡±

    Luo Qingyu was so delighted when he heard this. He turned around and said, ¡°Ting Ying! Come here, tell Mr. Store Manager what kind of cat you want!¡±

 Chapter 450: Getting the Casket and Returning the Pearl

    <h4>Chapter 450: Getting the Casket and Returning the Pearl</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Upon entering the shop, Ting Ying nced around casually. The first thing that caught her eye was the cat god sculpture¡ªit was hard not to notice, as it was simply there, squatting next to the second automatic door, almost like a guardian staring indifferently at the passers-by.

    She got close to it, squatted down, and read the card in front of the sculpture, which told the history of this cat god. She didn¡¯t know why, but this sculpture reminded her of the golden cat she had once seen in the church door. She couldn¡¯t get the cat out of her mind since then.

    ¡°Can a take a photo of the cat god sculpture?¡± She asked.

    No one responded.

    She then asked again. Lu Yiyun answered without raising her head, ¡°Whatever.¡±

    Ting Ying took out her phone and took a selfie with the cat god sculpture, then posted it on her WeChat moments. She noticed that Luo Qingyu was still talking to other people. Feeling bored, she wandered outside. She had thought Lu Yiyun was just sitting behind the cashier and ying games with her head down, but then she saw her pen moving quickly, and took a longer look out of curiosity.

    ¡°Wow! You are a great artist!¡± Ting Ying said in awe.

    Lu Yiyun¡¯s nose was itchy, which made her want to sneeze, so she rubbed it. She found a long ck hair just under her nose. Hearing what Ting Ying said, she blushed a bit. Although she had heard thepliment from her customers a lot recently, she was still not used to it.

    ¡°Huh? Are you drawing aic series on Weibo? Your name is Yun Xin, right?¡± Ting Ying was looking at the bottom right hand side of the screen and recognized Lu Yiyun¡¯s signature.

    Lu Yiyun was shocked. ¡°You know about it?¡±

    ¡°Of course, I am a loyal subscriber!¡± Ting Ying said excitedly. ¡°Why did it stop? Has it been moved to another website or something?¡±

    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t continue painting because no one saw it.¡± Lu Yiyun then shook her head, seeming upset.

    ¡°But I do! I really like your painting style, and I am kicking myself for missing the final part!¡± Ting Ying said, pointing to herself.

    Lu Yiyun was delighted. She had not expected to meet a fan here, but she was not used to expressing her feelings. It took her a long time before she finally said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡±

    ¡°No worries. So are you still up to drawing otherics?¡± Ting Ying asked seriously as she put her arm on the counter.

    Lu Yiyun hesitated, then said quietly, ¡°There will probably be one published soon¡­¡± She had drawn a short story about Zhang Zian, Kathy, and an Abyssinian cat before, and was pretty satisfied with it. She was thinking about making a longer one based on this short story.

    ¡°Wow! That¡¯s great! I sometimes cosy characters from stories I like. When youric bes a hit, what do you say I cosy the character in it?¡± Ting Ying asked.

    ¡°Oh¡­okay.¡± Lu Yiyun nodded.

    ¡°Then, it¡¯s a deal!¡± Ting Ying pped, then stood up. ¡°I¡¯ll leave you to painting.¡±

    Although it had only been a short exchange, it had felt like a shot of adrenaline for Lu Yiyun, and had brought her a strong sense of pleasure. Someone had read herics and liked them. It felt so good to be liked and supported!

    At the same time, Luo Qingyu waved and asked Ting Ying toe close, saying, ¡°You remember him? We met in the church before the cosy.¡±

    Ting Ying took a look at Zhang Zian and shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t remember.¡± Luo Qingyu said perfunctorily, ¡°It¡¯s okay, he is just an average guy, and it is normal to not remember him.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re an average guy!¡± That was thest thing Zhang Zian wanted to hear. How could you describe such a handsome man as average? He pushed Luo Qingyu aside and introduced himself, ¡°I¡¯m the shop owner, Zhang. Are you here to buy cats?¡±

    Luo Qingyu came close again, and said to Ting Ying, ¡°Whatever you want, just tell him. He promised to give you discount. His cats might be more expensive than those in other ces, but I can assure you that one, the lineage is pure, and two, they can dance!¡±

    ¡°They can dance?¡± Ting Ying was shocked and thought she had misheard.

    ¡°It¡¯s true. If you don¡¯t believe it, the shopkeeper can show you, right?¡± Luo Qingyu tired to persuade Zhang Zian, and secretly took out his camera from his shoulder bag.

    Last time, during the opening, Luo Qingyu was so shocked by the dancing cats that he forgot to take photos. Especially when the four Abyssinian cats were dancing ballet, the lights were all turned off, and he was told by Wang Qian and Li Kun that using sh was forbidden. Besides, he wasn¡¯t good at shooting, therefore, all the pictures he took were blurry and messed up. This time, he wanted to seize the opportunity as Ting Ying was here, and take some pictures.

    However Zhang Zian already knew what he was thinking. He ignored him but asked Ting Ying, ¡°What kind of cats are you looking for? Any special requests? You can tell me and I¡¯ll help you.¡±

    ¡°Umm, the cats here really can dance?¡± Ting Ying was still thinking about this.

    Zhang Zian slightly nodded. ¡°Yes, every cat here can dance. But dancing is more like a bonus thing. Don¡¯t buy a cat only for its dancing talent. Otherwise, you will feel weary and bored once the initial excitement wears away, just like ¡®getting the casket and returning the pearl.¡¯*(see footnote) You should really think about the original reason why you wanted to buy a cat, and your own needs.¡±

    Ting Ying was a little bit confused. Apparently, the biggest selling point for the seller was the dancing talent of the cats. If the seller was anyone else, he would definitely sell that point and brag about it. However this shopkeeper didn¡¯t take advantage of this fact. On the contrary, he even advised her not to ¡°get the casket and return the pearl.¡± She thought about his words, and realized it was really a good metaphor¡ªthe cats were the pearl, and the dancing skill just embellished the value of these cats. It would be totally wrong if you buy the ¡°pearl¡± when you actually wanted ¡°basket.¡± And because of this, she had a good first impression of the shop owner and started to trust him.

    Luo Qingyu, on the other hand, didn¡¯t understand the meaning of Zhang Zian¡¯s words. All he wanted was to take pictures. He was very disappointed when he heard Zhang Zian, so he kept mumbling, while Zhang Zian just ignored him.

    ¡°Hmm, I am not really sure for now. Would it be alright if I just look around?¡± Ting Ying looked at the kittens that were ying inside.

    ¡°Sure.¡± Zhang Zian answered immediately. Just looking around was a good thing. What if she found something she liked?

    Ting Ying walked a few steps and suddenly felt an unusual gaze on her. She was too concentrated on the kittens on the floor and didn¡¯t notice other things. She raised her head and saw Fina on the cat tree. Wow! It was exactly the golden cat she had met at the church door!

    Ting Ying walked excitedly towards Fina and waved to it. ¡°Hi! How are you, kitty?¡±

    Fina looked at her because it thought she seemed familiar, but it hated being called as ¡°kitty¡±, so it closed its eyes and started napping.

    Ting Ying knew about its Tsundere*. She didn¡¯t feel she was left out, but liked it even more. It would be nice to have it as her own cat, but without doubt, it was not for sale. She could tell without asking.

    She looked at Fina for a while. The longer she looked at it, the more she liked it. She had to turn her head around, otherwise she could not help herself from touching it.

    There were plenty of kittens in the store, running and ying, rushing beside her feet. There were several kittens friendly with one another, cuddling in a circle, and lovingly licking each others fur.

    She heard something above her head. When she raised her head, she made eye contact with some pairs of eyes. On the dark brown wooden shelf, there were a few cats squatting in a line. The strong bodies, the cute face, and the chocte brown hair were shining under the light, mysteriously. The eyes in particr looked like they had seen a lot of things throughout history. She didn¡¯t know it was an Abyssinian cat. It was just this scene that triggered her memory and reminded her of something, something that used to touch her soul.

    Ting Ying turned around and gazed at Zhang Zian, then asked quietly, ¡°Store manager, may I ask how you taught them to dance?¡±

    ¡°Because I am a cat trainer,¡± Zhang Zian responded naturally.

    Cat trainer? All of a sudden Ting Ying¡¯s heart wrenched. She asked immediately, ¡°You also understand the cat¡¯snguage?¡±

    What? This word ¡°also¡± made Zhang Zian shocked.

    Note:1. In the period of Spring and Autumn, a jewelry dealer from Chu state was trading pearls in Zheng state. To make his pearls more popr, he put them in small caskets made of precious wood and luxuriously decorated these caskets with perfume and gemstones. A person was very fond of these exquisite and beautiful caskets and bought one. After paying the money, he opened the casket, took the pearl out and gave it back to the dealer. He then left with the casket only. This term ¡°getting the casket and returning the pearl¡± is used to describe people who attach more importance to the appearance than the inner beauty or the quality.

    2.Tsundere (¥Ä¥ó¥Ç¥ì, pronounced [ts?nde?e]) is a Japanese term for a character development process that describes a person who is initially cold and even hostile towards another person before gradually showing a warmer side over time.

 Chapter 451: I Want a Cat

    <h4>Chapter 451: I Want a Cat</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Haha!¡± Luo Qingyu¡¯sughter broke the silence in the shop.¡±What? Thenguage of cats? You mean, like, meowing?¡±

    Ting Ying felt embarrassed by hisughter, and she waved her hands. ¡°Forget it, I¡¯m just joking¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know why Ting Ying had asked such a question. After pondering for a moment, he answered cautiously, ¡°I can understand some. Since I am a cat trainer, of course I need to understand what the cats are thinking and what they want, catering to their needs so that they can cooperate with my training. So, I am a cat trainer, also a cat whisperer at the same time.¡±

    Luo Qingyu had an indifferent expression. ¡°Are you serious? Then, can you tell me what the cat that scurried by my foot was saying?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t answer Luo Qingyu because he was not a customer, and it would be a pure waste of time to respond to him.

    Ting Ying¡¯s face had a flicker of excitement. Her emotions were surging, and she could barely restrain herself. The rims of her eyes were red, and she was about to cry.

    ¡°Finally¡­I¡¯ve finally found¡­¡± she mumbled to herself. Since she saw that bizarre statue of the cat god after entering through the door, she found that this pet shop was brimming with an inexplicable fantastical atmosphere. With the fully-grown cats resembled the forest elves on the cat tree and storage rack staring at her, with the energetic kittens ying around in the shop, with this pet shop owner iming to be a cat trainer, knowledgeable in thenguage of cats¡­everything seemed to resemble a fantasy movie.

    Studying at Binhai University, Ting Ying was an adult now, and reasonably, she should have passed the age when she was fond of fantasizing and dreaming. But how she wished that this was true, how she wished that this pet shop owner was indeed a cat whisperer, and that the kittens in the shop possessed magical powers. As for herself¡­how nice it would be if she could live her childhood again, and once more be that carefree princess. This had been her frequent fantasy ever since she watched the movie Nine Lives.

    I want a cat. Ting Ying had been touched by this movie the first time she watched it. Later, she bought the blu-ray version of it and watched it over and over on the television. Every time she watched it, her sleeves were drenched by her tears.

    The little girl in the movie was so much like her years ago. Both lived in a big house, had a loving mother, and a father who was too busy managing thepany to remember her birthday. Both wanted a cat as their birthday present.

    Ting Ying¡¯s father had been busy all year round, always away from home. After returning home briefly, he would have to leave very soon. Her mother always said that daddy was earning money to support them so that they could live in the big house and lead an affluent life. That¡¯s what her father had said too. He always said that this would be hisst project, and that afterpleting this project he could retire. Then he would go nowhere, but stay at home everyday and y with Little Ting Ying. Nevertheless, there was always another project waiting for him.

    Just like the little girl in the movie, Little Ting Ying was very lonely in her childhood. For fear of forgetting what her father looked like, she could look for images of her father in family videos, anticipating what it would be like when her family returned on her birthday. Although her father always forgot her birthday, her mother would remind him. On her birthday, no matter how busy her father was, he would squeeze out a day from his schedule to spend time with her. Sometimes he would even take a ne back home¡­

    One time, aftering home, her father looked seriously into her eyes and told her that this was truly hisst project, which would give him a sufficient amount of money for the rest of his life and her mommy¡¯s life. It would cover all the tuition fees if she went to college, graduate school, and even a doctoral program. He said that he would never leave her again. Little Ting Ying believed him.

    ¡°The project will be finished before your birthday this year, and I will get back in time to celebrate your birthday.¡± Her father held her high in the air. ¡°My little princess, what do you want for your birthday present this year?¡±

    Smiling from ear to ear, Little Ting Ying said happily, ¡°I want a cat. A fluffy and beautiful cat that I canfortably hold in my arms!¡±

    Father smiled. ¡°Okay, when I¡¯m back, I will bring a cat that will absolutely make my little princess satisfied!¡±

    After her father left, she started to count the days on the calendar, and looked forward to her birthday. Even in her dreams, she dreamt that everyday was her birthday, and as soon as she woke up in the morning, she could see her father¡¯s smiling face and a kitten lying beside her. A fluffy and beautiful cat that she couldfortably hold in her arms, just as she had wished for.

    The little girl in the movie was very lucky. Her father was very lucky. Before the incident urred, he happened to walk into a magical pet shop, and encountered a mysterious owner who imed to be a cat whisperer. Her father bought a cat that possessed nine lives and had already lost seven of them. By consuming another life of itself, this cat helped save the precious life of her father.

    Little Ting Ying was not that lucky. On the day of her birthday, her father didn¡¯t bring a cat home. It was the grievous news of an engineering ident that arrived¡­

    In some sense, her father had fulfilled his promise. Though an ident urred in hisst project, he had earned enough money, including his previous savings and thepensation from the ident, to cover the tuition for Little Ting Ying¡¯s college, graduate school, and doctoral program. It would also support Ting Ying¡¯s mother for the rest of her life. But they were willing to exchange everything for his life. Since then, Ting Ying stopped celebrating her birthday, which was also the anniversary of her father¡¯s death.

    She knew that the movie was fictitious, and that the story was false, but how nice would it be if it were real¡­ Perhaps, in a secluded corner somewhere in the city, there was indeed a pet shop full of magic. Inside the shop, there would be a bizarre cat god statue, the pet shop owner would im to be a cat whisperer, and his words would be full of philosophy. The cats in his shop could take away sorrow and bad luck, bringing happiness and joy to people.

    Ting Ying was fond of cats, but she had never bought one. Because she had always been in pursuit of such a cat, every year on her birthday, she wandered about every corner in the city, seeking for such a pet shop, which was unlikely to be exist in reality. She thought that in this shop, she might encounter her father, who would be smiling and walking towards her with a fluffy and pretty cat which he would put into her arms.

    Today, she had found it. Her father did not appear, but such a pet shop indeed existed!

    Impulsively, she shouted so loudly that she could be heard by her father in Heaven, ¡°I want a fluffy, very beautiful cat I canfortably hold in my arms!¡±

    Her voice was too loud. In the outer area of the pet shop, Lu Yiyun¡¯s fingers quivered, making her mess up. Confused, she raised her head and looked at her adorable reader through the ss.

    Luo Qingyu was so scared that he retreated a few steps, and his back hit the wall. He wondered if she had gone mad. He had had a crush on this girl with long ck hair. That was why he had been asking to take pictures of her, hoping that he would one day have a romantic rtionship with her. But now, he just hoped that this girl, who was seemingly suffering from some delusion or intermittent insanity, wouldn¡¯t pester him¡­

    Startled from its sleep, Fina red at this girl who had disturbed its dream.

    The sophisticated Old Time Tea had recognized the sorrow and yearning in her voice. It was the scar hidden in her heart for over a decade. Old Time Tea could not help but sigh for the various sorrows and hardships in this world.

    Richard quacked and flew up, thinking that the pet shop was on fire or had been broken into by thieves. When it found nothing had happened, Richard noticed a yellowish white sticky lump on the nket. Did the noise scare the s*** out of it? Resting its chin on its wings, it contemted seriously. To avoid being outcasted by Zhang Zian from the pet shop in the winter, who was going to be its scapegoat?

    After opening its eyes to nce around, Snowy Li closed its eyes again. It muttered, ¡°Raw beef brisket, raw beef brisket¡­¡±

    Gxy, who was ying hide-and-seek with the American Shorthair, stopped and looked at Ting Ying. It blinked its silver-gray eyes and looked back at the stairwell connecting the first floor with the second floor.

    After working hard for several days, Famous finally recovered. Just then, it was walking slowly from the second floor. It stopped at the stairwell and gazed into the eyes of Ting Ying.

    Zhang Zian furrowed his brows. He didn¡¯t understand what Ting Ying meant when she said she wanted a fluffy, very beautiful cat that she couldfortably hold in her arms. This request was too broad, and many cats could meet that requirement.

    However, Ting Ying had no intentions on specifying. She was just gazing at him in anticipation. Her mouth was slightly moving, as if she was praying that Zhang Zian was just like the pet shop owner in the movie, who possessed exceptional magic powers.

    Zhang Zian felt helpless. He had offered suggestions to many customers, but this customer was the most difficult one, and it seemed like he only had one chance. If he couldn¡¯t get it right, she would leave disappointed. No wonder Lu Yiyun frequentlyined to him about customers who raised bizarre and outrageous requests. If all the requests were as abnormal as this one, he might as well close his business soon.

    In arge house where wet tissues were everywhere on the floor, Ting Ying was lying on the couch. Face resting on her shoulders, she was crying incessantly. The blu-ray DVD machine was working, and a movie was ying on the TV screen. Crying while watching the movie, she didn¡¯t notice that a strange German Shepherd had quietly appeared on the side of the couch. Famous apanied her to watch this movie, and then disappeared just as quietly as it had appeared.

    Famous exited her mind and gently called Fina.

    Fina looked at it with confusion. Famous called it again.

    Fina didn¡¯t understand what was going on, and it didn¡¯t like the feeling of being kept in the dark. But Famous had promised that it would exin the situation to it afterwards. Fina called a kitten to the corner and issued an order to it. The very kitten trotted toward Ting Ying and wrapped around her shin.

    Ting Ying lowered her head to look at it. Her eyes suddenly filled with a dreamy and glowing aura. This cat was exactly the same as the one in the movie, but was younger.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, could you tell me how you knew that?¡± she asked.

    Zhang Zian was still bewildered. He knew nothing. He only heard that Famous asked Fina to let a kitten in the shop snuggle against Ting Ying¡¯s shin. But he did know one thing¡ªthat this was a great opportunity for him to show off. So, he said, ¡°I didn¡¯t. It¡¯s this kitten that has chosen you.¡±

    Ting Ying finally smiled genuinely. It was the smile of when a dreames true.

 Chapter 452: The Model Father

    <h4>Chapter 452: The Model Father</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Ting Ying squatted down and held the cat in her arms. The kitty was three months old and its fur, face, and body were not fully grown yet, or even as pretty as what was in the movies, but it still felt nice to hold.

    ¡°Excuse me, could you tell me what kind of cat this is?¡± She asked quietly, gently touching its soft fur.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t quite understand her situation, but he was very knowledgeable about the types of cats he was selling, so he answered, ¡°This is a Siberian Forest cat. You can call it a Xisen.¡±

    ¡°You mean it came all the way from freezing Siberia? No wonder its fur is so long,¡± she said, finally understanding.

    Luo Qingyu took out his camera and was about to take pictures, but he put it down. ¡°Wait, a Xisen? Isn¡¯t it a Ragdoll? I haven¡¯t read that much about it, but don¡¯t lie to me! I¡¯ve seen a Ragdoll before!¡± Based on appearance, they did look alike. They both had blue eyes, simr hair color, and body shape. Standing next to the other five Ragdoll babies, the Siberian Forest cat looked like their sibling.

    ¡°Of course it¡¯s a Xisen! This cat is rare in China, and not many people have them, but you can¡¯t mix it up with a Ragdoll. Xisens have a longer history than Ragdolls. Their fur is also longer and thicker. If you can¡¯t tell from their looks, you can touch one and figure it out,¡± Zhang Zian corrected her.

    Ting Ying used her finger to hold a strand of its hair, slowly straightening it, just as she did with her own hair, and awed quietly. ¡°Its so long!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s kitten fur, their hair will grow longer when they mature,¡± Zhang Zian said seriously. ¡°One of the reasons why this kind of cat is so rare in our country is because their hair is too long for the summer. After all, their hometown is freezing cold Siberia, and they couldn¡¯t survive there with short fur. However, in most areas of China, it¡¯s not that cold in the winter, yet it is really hot in the summer. So if you are nning on buying this cat, you have to make sure the temperature inside is not any higher than 27 degrees, and even then, under 20 degrees would be best. Otherwise, the cat could have a heatstroke.¡±

    Luo Qingyu was surprised. ¡°What a sensitive cat! Ting Ying, you really have to pay attention to it! Under 20 degrees in summer, that means you have to turn on the air conditioner all day long. Summer in Binhai is so hot for so long, you¡¯ll have to pay a huge electricity bill¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s really true,¡± Zhang Zian admitted. He never hid the the negative sides of his pet breeds, but he cursed Luo Qingyu silently. That fancy, trendy camera he was carrying was a prize from a photographypetition, not one he had bought himself, and you could tell he was a loser just from what he was saying. . .

    ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Ting Ying shook her head. Her father had left her enough money, and although he was not an upstart, he could still afford her a decent life. And besides, she would be working after graduation. Having a cat wouldn¡¯t be a problem¡ªespecially when this cat was not a normal cat, it was a cat living in a magical pet store, a cat raised by a store manager who could speak thenguage of cats. She believed this pet would bring her good luck, and she hoped her father¡¯s heart was invested in the cat, just like the movie had promised. She knew it was a superstition, but so what?

    ¡°Have you made up your mind about taking this one?¡± Zhang Zian studied her facial expressions, and noticed that she had already started treating this cat as her own.

    ¡°Hm, I¡¯ve decided.¡± She held it carefully. The Siberian cat nestled in her arms meekly.

    Seeing that Ting Ying wanted to leave, Luo Qingyu said anxiously, ¡°Wait a second! Ting Ying, don¡¯t you remember? The cats here can dance. I¡¯m telling you, if you don¡¯t ask the store manager to teach you his methods as an owner, you won¡¯t be able tomand the cat to dance!¡±

    All of these protests were just excuses for him to take pictures of the cats dancing, so that he could post it to Weibo and possibly hook up with some girls who loved cats.

    ¡°I¡¯m good,¡± Ting Ying said carefreely. ¡°I won¡¯t buy the cat for its dancing talent, I just want it to live with me, safe and sound. Also,¡± she smiled mysteriously at Zhang Zian, ¡°if I lose the cat, I hope it can find its way back here.¡±

    She suddenly remembered the movie Nine Lives, where Mr. Fuzzypants only had two lives left at the beginning of the movie, which meant it had helped seven people escape from their deaths before. Then it came back to the mysterious store manager and waited for another lost and confused soul. She believed this cat would do the same thing.

    Zhang Zian was a bit confused seeing her smile, but pretended he understood and smiled along.

    Luo Qingyu was more confused, and didn¡¯t know why either of them were smiling, so he started to doubt their intelligence.

    ¡°Oh, right, shouldn¡¯t there be cat bowls, a litter box, and a cat carrier?¡± Ting Ying asked happily, thinking about the scenes in the movie.

    ¡°Oh, right, I was thinking about asking you¡­¡± Usually Zhang Zian was the one who asked questions to his customers, but this unusual customer did everything differently. At that moment, Zhang Zian felt off and didn¡¯t know how to act. To hide his awkwardness, he walked to the outer room and pointed to all the kinds of different cat bowls on the shelf and asked, ¡°What kind do you prefer?¡±

    There were various types of cat bowls: bowls made of fine china with cat and fish patterns, shining aluminum alloy bowls, simple and durable stic bowls, tempered ss bowls, etc. They all satisfied different types of customers with different needs. The one Fina used was made of aluminum alloy because she preferred shiny things.

    ¡°I like this one.¡± Luo Qingyu grabbed a tempered ss bowl and looked for the right angle to take a picture.

    Zhang Zian snatched it from his hands and said, ¡°Don¡¯t touch it if you are not buying it.¡±

    Luo Qingyu said, ¡°Who said I¡¯m not buying it?¡±

    ¡°Show me the money then.¡± Zhang Zian stretched out his hand.

    Luo Qingyu didn¡¯t have a cat, and it was an expensive bowl. He didn¡¯t want to spend his money for no reason, so he asked Ting Ying, ¡°This is a nice bowl and it¡¯s very pretty, would you let me buy this for you?¡±

    Ting Ying ignored him, searching the shelves with her eyes. She stood on her tiptoes and picked out a pink china bowl. This bowl was dusty and had been there for a long time. ¡°This one.¡± She decided on it without any hesitation.

    Zhang Zian had seen Deng Jie¡¯s Decidophobia, and saw other customers who just didn¡¯t look around and would randomly buy the cheapest cat bowl. He didn¡¯t know what Ting Ying¡¯s standards were, or why she chose it this fast.

    ¡°Oh and the cat carrier! I also need a cat carrier. Do you have any knitted cat carriers?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought about it and responded, ¡°Um, yeah I do have one, but it¡¯s made of willow, is that alright? It might be expensive, seeing as it is handmade.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a problem, that¡¯s the one I want. Cat carriers made of willow have good venttion, right?¡± Ting Ying said, squinting her eyes.

    ¡°Give me a second, I¡¯ll get it for you.¡± Normally, his customers wouldn¡¯t ask for a cat carrier made from willow branches because they were not only heavy, but expensive. Zhang Zian ran to the storage upstairs and rummaged through it. He found one unsold willow cat carrier from his inventory, and speedily dusted it with a rag.

    When he was passing by the bedroom, he noticed that Richard seemed to be hiding something, but he was too busy to care, and went back downstairs with the cat carrier.

    ¡°Sorry to have kept you waiting. Is this okay?¡± He showed her the cat carrier from different angles.

    ¡°Yes, I like it a lot.¡± Ting Ying opened the lid and put the little kitty inside it. The kitty seemed to like this cat carrier very much, and itid on the soft cushionfortably as soon as it made contact with it.

    She studied it through the willow handrills, and suddenly she remembered something. She asked keenly, ¡°I almost forgot, is this cat a boy or a girl?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a boy. Do you want a boy or a girl?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Luo Qingyu started to persuade her, ¡°Choose a female cat. Male cats are wild and mess around. Once they are in heat, they¡¯ll pee everywhere, while the female cats are meeker, plus they can give birth to kittens. How cute kittens are, just like a bunch of fuzzy balls. If you can¡¯t take care of all them, you can even give me some.¡± What he was saying was true, and Zhang Zian didn¡¯t argue with him. He just waited for Ting Ying¡¯s decision.

    Ting Ying said, ¡°Oh¡± and hesitated. She wanted a male cat, just like Mr. Fuzzypants from the movie, but Luo Qingyu¡¯s words somehow convinced her. How happy would she be if she were surrounded by a bunch of fuzzy little kittens¡­

    ¡°Has it been sterilized?¡± She looked down and wanted to check its private parts, but its fur was too long for her to see anything.

    ¡°He hasn¡¯t. He was too young to be sterilized before, as it would have affected his growing. Being sterilized has its advantages and disadvantages, but in general, being sterilized has more advantages than not. If you want to do it, you can take it to the pet hospital when it reaches a proper age.¡± Zhang Zian took a printed sheet from the cashier¡¯s desk and gave it to her. ¡°Here is some more information on sterilization.¡±

    ¡°No, I won¡¯t need it for now. I¡¯m still deciding whether to sterilize it or not.¡± She waved her hand and refused the paper. ¡°Maybe when it grows up, I¡¯ll take it to get sterilized, when it finds a wife and has babies.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to push her, so he put the information sheet back, and said, ¡°Something that not many people are aware of is that male Siberian cats are quite special, and they are good fathers. After the female cats give birth to kittens, the male cats help them take care of the babies. This behavior is very uniquepared to other cat breeds.¡±

    ¡°Oh, is this true?¡± Ting Ying asked surprised.

    ¡°Of course it¡¯s true. Unlike other kinds of cats, leaving their babies after intercourse, male Siberian cats are the model father in the cat family,¡± Zhang Zian said with confidence. ¡°In fact, this is the most special characteristic Siberian Forest cats havepared to other breeds. Maybe it¡¯s because the weather in Siberia is so cold. If you only rely on the female cats, the new born babies would have a very little chance to survive. It¡¯s a shame that sterilization has be a mainstream thing, and the most special characteristic of Siberian forest cats has gradually been forgotten¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great, so you¡¯re a model father.¡± Ting Ying put her hand inside the cat carrier and petted its back, murmuring and thinking about the phrase ¡°model father¡±. Although her father was always busy and left her suddenly, he really loved her and always wanted to be a model father. ¡°It must¡¯ve been destiny that brought me here to this shop,¡± she murmured.

    Luo Qingyu felt like had been treated unfairly. ¡°Excuse me? I¡¯m the one who brought you here!¡±

    The cat feltforted by her touch and meowed quietly in response to her.

    ¡°Oh you¡¯re right, it¡¯s my birthday today,¡± said Ting Ying.

    Zhang Zian was too surprised to respond, but still mumbled without thinking, ¡°Happy birthday.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said back, tears falling down her face.

 Chapter 453: Guest Shows up

    <h4>Chapter 453: Guest Shows up</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The way Ting Ying was talking and behaving seemed strange, and both Zhang Zian and Luo Qingyu felt a little awkward dealing with her. Luckily, she had chosen what she wanted quickly and went to go check out.

    She bought a lot of different things. Zhang Zian wanted to ask her whether she needed express delivery, but she asked first. ¡°Mr. Store Manager, do you have shopping bags here?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Zhang Zian shook his head.

    ¡°Really? What a shame.¡± In the movie Nine Lives, shopping bags printed with the name Purrkins Pet Shop were provided to its customers.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know why it was such a shame. What¡¯s the use of them? He thought, Nowadays everyone is advocating for environmental protection, and stic bags pollute the environment¡­

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, I have a suggestion,¡± she advised seriously. ¡°You should find someone on the inte to customize paper tote bags for you and give them to your customers for free. When customers buy a certain number of items, they can put their products in the bag and carry it home. This is what a lot of prominent small stores do. It doesn¡¯t cost much, but it¡¯s an effective way to promote your store. For example, wouldn¡¯t it be nice to print the name, address, and logo of your shop on the front, and a huge QR code on the back of the tote bag? When customers carry the bags on the street, they¡¯re practically advertising for you.¡±

    D*mn it! What an excellent idea! Zhang Zian surprisingly eximed to himself. He was also annoyed that he hadn¡¯t thought of the idea before on his own. Especially the idea of printing a QR code on the back of the bag. There¡¯s always somebody who can¡¯t help but scan it. How many free advertising opportunities he had missed? How many times he had let the chance of bing a billionaire slip by?

    Ting Ying pointed to Lu Yiyun who was burying her head into her drawing. ¡°This is just my advice, as for the specific design of the front of the tote bag, you should absolutely invite Yun to finish it. She is such a good artist, and she also has beautiful handwriting. I¡¯m sure she can design an extraordinary original tote bag.¡±

    Zhang Zian excitedly made a decision, ¡°Your suggestion is just wonderful! My previous n was to give you 20% off, but I will give you 25% off now!¡±

    Luo Qingyu couldn¡¯t help but chime in, ¡°Just give her 30% off. Why only 25% off?¡±

    ¡°I will suffer too much loss if I give her 30% off.¡± Zhang Zian rolled his eyes at Luo Qingyu.

    Ting Ying was much happier than he was. To some extent, she felt like she had be a part of this pet shop. Through the advertising, more people would be able to find happiness here. It was also the exact reason that she immediately said yes when Zhang Zian asked her if she wanted to be a member of the pet shop. She left her contact information and made an agreement with Zhang Zian that when the tote bags were made, she would be the first one to receive a free tote bag.

    Lu Yiyun raised her head confusingly when she heard her name mentioned in their conversation. She didn¡¯t know what they were talking about, but they looked at her from time to time. She was a bit shy, and she quickly helped Ting Ying handle the membership card and checkout procedure.

    At that time, a van parked beside the sidewalk. A courier wearing a cap and a uniform took out the waybill to check it carefully, and then looked at the sign of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop. After confirming that this was the correct ce, he jumped off the van and quickly walked into the store.

    In order to show that he still existed, and to make Zhang Zian owe him another favor, the morous Luo Qingyu suggested various poor ideas, but all his ideas were rejected by Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Is Mr. Zhang Zian here?¡± the courier asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s me.¡± Zhang Zian took two steps toward the courier. He didn¡¯t recognize the uniform of the courierpany.

    The courier straightened his cap and nced at Zhang Zian, then said in a business-like tone, ¡°Because it is a valuable item, please show me some ID.¡±

    Zhang Zian took out his wallet and presented his driver¡¯s license.

    Luo Qingyu temporarily closed his mouth. He was somewhat curious about the so-called ¡°valuable item.¡± Could it be an intable doll imported from Japan? he thought.

    The courier confirmed Zhang Zian¡¯s identity and said, ¡°Please wait, I¡¯ll bring in the goods.¡±

    ¡°Let me help you.¡± Zhang Zian knew that it must be the Ashera cat, so he followed the courier outside. The courier thanked, unlocked thepartment, and pulled open the door.

    Just as Zhang Zian expected, what greeted him was an aviation wooden box approved by the United States Department of Agriculture. Although he knew there was only one cat in the box, the box was not much smaller than the box loaded with seven Abyssinian cats.

    He did not go to Jinmen Airport to pick up the box this time. Firstly, his schedule did not allow him to do so. Secondly, he dared not recklessly pick it up because there were so many unknown details about the Ashera cat. What if it bit him when he put his hand into the box to pick it up? He also couldn¡¯t put it in his phone since the shipping employee was there. He helped the courier, and together they carried the wooden box into the store.

    Seeing such a big box, to which a waybill and photo was solemnly attached, as well as the symbol of the United States Department of Agriculture on it, both Ting Ying and Luo Qingyu were curious about what on earth was inside the box.

    The courier opened the box and said, ¡°Please check it.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked inside and found a white stic cage. In the dark box, a vigorous, leopard-like beast was staring straight at him. Its eyes were light green and exuded a wild luster. Each of its temples had an arc-shaped ck line, and it looked much like a cloud leopard.

    ¡°Holy s**t! What the hell is this thing?!¡± Luo Qingyu took a peak from the side and eximed, but also instinctively lifted his camera to take pictures. Zhang Zian saw that the camera¡¯s sh was on, so he quickly pushed Luo Qingyu aside.

    ¡°Wow! What is this? A cheetah?¡± After only one nce, Ting Ying was so scared that she took a few steps back and was too afraid to look at it again.

    Although this was also the first time that Zhang Zian saw this new type of cat, he had done enough homework in advance. After careful observation, he confirmed that it was indeed the Ashera cat that he ordered.

    After Zhang Zian signed to acknowledge that the cat had been delivered, the courier was relieved and helped him open the wooden box, exposing the Ashera cat to the lights in the store.

    From the dark wooden box to the bright room, the Ashera cat couldn¡¯t adjust to the sudden change in environment, and its expression seemed hesitant and timid. Swinging its tworge ears disproportionate to the size of its head, it carefully observed its new environment. It uttered a cry simr to that of a baby, which was not quite the same as other house cats.

    This cry was so peculiar that even Lu Yiyun, who was focused on her painting, shuddered. Looking away from the screen, she stared incredulously at this Ashera cat, and asked in a trembling voice, ¡°Mr. Store Manager, is this the Ashera cat? It looks so fierce!¡± Her Jasmine was lying on herp and nervously watching the uninvited guest.

    ¡°Ashera cat?¡± It was the first time Luo Qingyu and Ting Ying had heard this term.

    Just as Zhang Zian started to exin, he saw that Fina, who had also been disturbed by the peculiar cry, had jumped off of the cat tree and appeared beside the automatic sensor door, looking the wild Ashera cat in its eyes.

 Chapter 454: A Needle Versus a Thorn

    <h4>Chapter 454: A Needle Versus a Thorn</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Fina looked simr to Ashera cats because both had blonde fur with ck spots, but Fina¡¯s hair was shinier and easily recognized.

    Usually when people saw Fina, they thought it looked dangerous and wild, but next to the Ashera cat, everyone would think it looked much more tame and cute.

    Ting Ying kindly waved her hand at Fina and told it nervously, ¡°Kitten, don¡¯t get too close, that cat is dangerous!¡±

    Luo Qingyu, on the other hand, tried to convince it to get closer. ¡°Go, go, go! You can do it! Beat the s**t out of it!¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at the Ashera cat with surprise because the way it was looking at Fina was so nonchnt, unlike the other cats who usually would shake in fear when they even smelled Fina.

    Snowy Li and Gxy weren¡¯t afraid of Fina because they saw it as an elfin instead of a real cat. Old Time Tea wasn¡¯t afraid of Fina because it had the spiritual power of necessary violence, which he used in events of injustice. This Ashera cat, however, was not an elfin, so why wasn¡¯t it afraid of Fina?

    Zhang Zian thought hard about it and decided on one possibility. Ashera cats¡¯ gics mostly came from their wild ancestors like marbled cats or leopards, not domestic cats. Because of this, it likely wasn¡¯t aware of Fina¡¯s true power.

    Fina was also very confused, staring at the Ashera cat. To it, this strange animal seemed like a cat yet still did notpletely feel like a real cat. Its presence felt so strange, and this unfamiliarity made her ufortable.

    The Ashera cat apparently hated to be stared at and shouted again, sending out a threatening message that sounded simr to a screaming baby. Although the background of this cat was different and very feral, it could still feel the dangerous threatsing from the golden cat in front of it, like any other cats natural instincts.

    ¡°How dare you!¡± Fina was furious.

    Fina was the protector of the Ptolemaic dynasty and the king in the Beisite Pce in Bubastis. But before that, it would always be a noble warrior whomanded over other cat warriors to protect the barns of Ancient Egyptians from mice, and to protect Ancient Egyptians families from the invasion of poisonous snakes and other poisonous insects. Its warrior pride made these disrespectful threats from the strange cat even more uneptable.

    Lu Yiyun and the others listened to Fina roar back with a high pitched tone in response to the Ashera cats¡¯ defiance. At the same time they watched it stick up its fur all over its body, arch its back, and reveal its ws and pointed ears. Fina¡¯s body grew double in size to face its opponent and was ready to fight.

    Seeing these two cats staring each other down, ready to start fighting at any moment, Ting Ying and Luo Qingyu quickly hid behind the cashiers desk so they wouldn¡¯t get hurt. It would be an unpredictable fight, like a needle versus a thorn.

    ¡°Sir, please stop them, please don¡¯t let them fight!¡± Ting Ying had faith that Zhang Zian could stop the fight because he was the only one who could speak the cats¡¯nguage.

    Luo Qingyu changed his camera mode from photo to video. Even though he was scared, he couldn¡¯t miss this opportunity. He would get hundreds of thumbs up if he posted this video on Weibo.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what to do. He wasn¡¯t afraid of a fight going down between Fina and the Ashera cat, because after all the Ashera cat was still in its cage. He was just worried about the situation¡ª It wouldn¡¯t be likely to work if he asked Fina to put up with the other cat, but the good thing was that this Ashera cat wouldn¡¯t be staying in the shop for much longer.

    At that moment, his phone suddenly rang. He took it out and saw that it was Lin Qi. After he picked up the phone, Lin Qi said with a tired voice, ¡°Hey, Manager Zhang, why did you call me so early?¡±

    Zhang Zian responded directly, ¡°Your Ashera cat is here,e and pick it up now!¡±

    Lin Qi obviously had just woke up and wasn¡¯t fully awake yet. It took him awhile to understand what had happened and he said, ¡°What? My cat¡¯s already there? That¡¯s awesome¡­¡±

    He hadn¡¯t finished his sentence when the Ashera cat started moving anxiously in his cage, seeming unhappy about how intimidating Fina was acting. It roared back at it, sounding like a high pitched baby crying.

    ¡°What was that sound?¡± Lin Qi got so scared that he finally woke up on the other side of the line. He dropped his phone out of his hand and he picked it up in a hurry saying, ¡°Manager Zhang are you watching Thai thrillers? Turn down the volume please! My heart can¡¯t handle that sort of scary thing¡­¡±

    ¡°Sorry, but I don¡¯t watch Thai thrillers. That was actually your Ashera cat.¡± Zhang Zian told him the harsh truth.

    ¡°Huh? Manager Zhang you¡¯re kidding, aren¡¯t you? Cats only make nice meowing sounds, right?¡± Lin Qi sounded desperate. The scream had freaked him out!

    Thrillers were thest kind of film Lin Qi would ever watch, especially Thai thrillers. After watching one, he spent the whole night awake with the lights on. The reason he bought an Ashera cat was so he could show it off to his friends, and he definitely couldn¡¯t do that while he was freaked out and terrified.

    Zhang Zian was nearly speechless. ¡°Mr. Lin, who do you think you are? Ashera cats are not even close to being normal domestic cats, and that was just the way they normally meow. Listen to me, you¡¯d better get up and hurry over here. This cat looks mostly cute if you look at it quickly, but that is the real meowing though.¡±

    ¡°Real¡­really? Are you sure? Are you lying to me?¡± Lin Qi said trembling, sounding like he had found his savior.

    Ting Ying and Luo Qingyu looked at Zhang Zian without saying a word. Was this cat actually cute? You could say it was pretty, as it had its own unique wild beauty, but cute? It had nothing to do with cuteness. The store manager was an expert at lying!

    Zhang Zian said calmly, ¡°Of course it¡¯s true. Come on over here, take your cat with you, and you can show him off to your friends. Also, this cat can¡¯t be refunded or returned within seven days, I¡¯m just letting you know.¡± Before Lin Qi could respond, Zhang Zian hung up.

    Zhang Zian wouldn¡¯t back down in this cat sale. The fees had been paid for, the cat had been ordered, and returns weren¡¯t allowed even if you no longer wanted it.

    The strange sounding from the Ashera cat caught the attention of Fina and the other elfins, even though there was an automatic ss door between them.

    Old Time Tea¡¯s beard trembled slightly as he smelled the scent of the wild cating from the door. Was it a beast or something? it thought to himself. Can Zhang Zian handle this on his own? I¡¯d better go and check it out. It jumped out of its electronic heated nket, straightened its hat and its clothes, and quickly walked out into the outer room.

    Sensing the tension filled atmosphere between the Ashera cat and Fina, Old Time Tea was absolutely shocked ¡ª this cat seemed ferocious. But no matter how aggressive it was, even if it was ten times more aggressive than average, it was a piece of cake for Old Time Tea. It just doubted that Fina could handle a fight against it. Fina¡¯s pride wouldn¡¯t allow itself to ask for help from Old Time Tea.

    Knowing this, Old Time Tea walked to the side and hid itself in the shadow of the cat god sculpture. It waited to see if things would go wrong, and if it did, it would be able to jump in and do something.

    Richard was shocked when it heard the Ashera cat¡¯s roar from the second floor, and he was scared to imagine what it could possibly be. It flew downstairs in a hurry, pped its wings and shouted, ¡°What was that sound? I¡¯m scared, I¡¯m scared!¡±

    It flew around in a circle and noticed that everyone was in the outer room. It started to go in, but changed its mind as soon as it saw the Ashera cat, and instead flew to the highest point in the shop and waited¡ª it was 100 percent sure that once the cat came out of its cage, it would be the first one the cat would attack!

    Ever since Snowy Li had tasted raw beef, it couldn¡¯t stop imagining it. Like the character in The Plum in the Golden Vase, it loved the taste of raw beef even though it had never tasted beef sirloin before. Once it tried it for the first time, it was immediately obsessed with the idea of eating it. It closed its eyes and chanted to himself, ¡°Raw beef¡­raw beef¡­mama wants raw beef¡­¡±

    The sharp sounds from the Ashera cat didn¡¯t wake it up from its daydream. It was in the middle of its beef sirloin eating fantasy when someone gently shook its body to reality.

    Snowy Li unwillingly opened its eyes, angrily wondering who dare shook him out of his dream. If it was Zhang Zian, it would kill him.

    However, it was Gxy, staring at it with its grey eyes. It said seriously, ¡°Fina is about to get attacked outside.¡±

 Chapter 455: The Tactful Snowy Lionet

    <h4>Chapter 455: The Tactful Snowy Li</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After making sure that there weren¡¯t any problems with the delivery, the carrier left quickly. It was a winter weekend, and customers were arrivingter than they usually did on the weekends in the fall. But as the sun gradually rose, more and more customers were getting curious to check out the stories being told about the pet shop.

    Whether they were genuinely interested in buying pets or simply wanted to see dancing kittens, all of the customers were amazed at what they saw in the store. Everyone was chatting excitedly with one another saying, ¡°Is that a cat or a tiny leopard? Mr. Store Manager, are you also smuggling in wild animals?¡±

    ¡°Are these two cats about to fight?¡±

    Encouraged by the crowd of people, Luo Qingyu suddenly thought of a good idea. ¡°Come on everyone, ce your bets! Who¡¯s betting on the golden cat? Who¡¯s betting on the cat in the cage? Anyone?¡±

    Unfortunately, no one responded to him.

    Being surrounded by more and more customers, the Ashera cat in the cage looked increasingly restless and anxious. Zhang Zian was getting a headache over the steadily growing dilemma when Wang Qian and Li Kun arrived.

    ¡°D*mn it! Master, is this the Ashera cat? It looks way more lethal in real life than it does in pictures!¡± eximed both Wang Qian and Li Kun.

    As soon as he saw them Zhang Zian said, ¡°You came at the perfect time. Go ahead and help maintain the store by telling the customers what to do. Stop them from surrounding the entrance and blocking the way in.¡±

    Among the customers, a lot of the girls were scared of the Ashera cat and tried to avoid getting too close to it. They led them to the inner area to be with the puppies and kittens. Although some of the boys that were with these girls were very interested in the Ashera cat, when it actually came down to choosing between the cat and the girls, they wisely chose the girls and went into the inner area with them. Only a few people were left out in the outer area and most of them were men or a few tomboys who were particrly bold.

    Under the pressure of too many questions, Zhang Zian started to exin, ¡°This is a rarely seen Ashera cat, a breed that has recently been gically created. It was ordered for a customer from my shop and it has just been delivered today. Feel free to look at it and take pictures, but please make sure to turn off the sh and keep your voices down.¡±

    Before he had spoken, many people had already taken pictures of the cat and posted their photos on Weibo and Moments in WeChat. ¡°An Ashera cat hase to Binhai City.¡± This news was spreading like wildfire.

    Another couple of people asked about the price of this type of cat. Zhang Zian told them the rough estimate and it immediately shut down any intentions they had to buy one. The customers there were shocked by the price, but they also knew that there were always extremely rich people out there who were willing to spend money on it.

    Snowy Li pounced out from the inner area of the shop looking like a jumping ball of white fur, and out of breath it yelled, ¡°Your majesty! Your majesty! Who dares to go against your authority! Is it Zhang Zian? I¡¯m really going to hurt him for you¡­¡±

    It came to a sudden halt at Fina¡¯s side. Seeing the fierce looking Ashera cat on the opposite end, it said, ¡°Hmm? Is this the one? Your majesty, rx and let me punish it for you!¡±

    Snowy Li was about to rush over to the cage.

    With a stern face, Fina raised a forepaw and stopped it by saying, ¡°Stand down! You are no match for it!¡±

    Grinning cheekily, Snowy Li said, ¡°Your majesty, I¡¯m not going to fight against it. You should know better because as the proverb goes: You must outwit your opponent that is stronger than you, while confronting your enemy directly who is weaker than you. Without moving a finger, I promise that I¡¯ll punish this feral cat who has offended you and make it docile and obedient.¡±

    Not only did Zhang Zian not believe it, but even Fina and Old Time Tea didn¡¯t believe what it was saying as well. Snowy Li was physically weak and had exceptionally poor reflexes. How was it going to handle going against this dangerous looking Ashera cat?

    Everywhere it went, girls would look at Snowy Li with admiration¡ªthis white cat was just too beautiful. Its fur was soft and long, and its small, delicate face was adorable. And unlike ordinary white cats, it had an eye catching ck line on the middle of its forehead, making it look even more lovely.

    Seeing the cute white cat and the unique looking golden cat stand together and exchange a few meows to each other convinced all of the customers to stand on their side in the fight. They didn¡¯t want to see them to get hurt.

    ¡°Your majesty, there¡¯s no need for you to deal with this wild cat directly. If your delicate hands are even dirtied, it wouldn¡¯t be worth the sacrifice, even if it had died a hundred times! Your majesty, rest assured! Watch what I can do!¡± Without saying another word, Snowy Li lifted its short legs and rushed over to the cage.

    The Ashera cat was immediately on guard as it hunched and positioned itself before striking its attack.

    However, Snowy Li had no ns to actually attack the Ashera cat. It ran up to the side of the cage and put on seductive facade by leaningzily on the railings. Using its ws to pluck the railings like ying the pipa, a Chinese lute,, it opened its little pink mouth and gently sang a song from Chin Ping Mei.

    Although the crowd didn¡¯t understand what the white cat was singing, they saw that its eyes were as bright as a beautiful woman¡¯s, and that its actions were simr to a naive young girl calling over her lover. Its soft and sultry meowing sounds were so persuasive that everyone there was mesmerized by it. The room became so quiet that one could hear the sound of a needle falling to the ground.

    D*mn it! Zhang Zian almost knelt down to the ground!

    Snowy Li had unexpectedly wielded the powers of Pan Jin Lian by fiddling with the railings of the cage like it was ying the pipa. The tune was melodious and was sung with an irresistible enticement. Its coyness and lingering charm was incredibly seductive.

    Watching this unfold, Zhang Zian knew that the Ashera cat was going to lose. Throughout ancient history, countless heroes had be prisoners of love, and not to mention that it was not a hero but was simply a cat. An Ashera cat was an artificial species from the cross breeding of wild cats, such as serval and bengal cats, and house cats. This meant that it would also be sexually interested in domestic cats.

    Sure enough, the Ashera cat that confronted Fina moments ago was now half-lying in its cage. It narrowed its eyesfortably and stared at Snowy Li. It smiled from asion and uttered some humming sounds from its throat. Apparently, it had sessfully been entranced by Snowy Li¡¯s act and its fighting levels had fallen from 100 points to 5 points.

    Zhang Zian now understood why Snowy Li was able to make some stray cats willing to steal things for it. As it turned out, it was solely because Snowy Li had seduced them! Well, this strategy had always worked well in the past¡­ The only question he had was why had no one ever tried to seduce him? He thought about this issue seriously.

    Old Time Tea shook its head and went back inside the other room to continue watching TV. Although it felt disgraced by Snowy Li¡¯s strategy of using its beauty to seduce others, from another perspective there was nothing wrong with bringing down their enemies with wisdom rather than violence.

    When the song was finished, the fierce defensiveness the Ashera cat had waspletely gone. Eyes staring upwards and saliva drooling from its mouth, it seemed that the Ashera cat had already entered the stage of post-seduction mncholy.

    Snowy Li gleefully ran back to Fina¡¯s side, seeking praise for its achievement.

    ¡°Your majesty! Your majesty! How was I? I¡¯ve lived up to your expectations! I¡¯m not trying to brag, but against me, even the strongest steel will melt and be weak enough to wrap around my finger.¡±

 Chapter 456: The Disappeared Chausie

    <h4>Chapter 456: The Disappeared Chausie</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Snowy Li easily beat the Ashera cat. It ran back and sat down in front of Fina, wagging its head and seeming proud. ¡°I want a kiss and a hug¡± was written all over its face.

    All the customers who were watching gave loud shouts of approval. After seeing Snowy Li¡¯s adorableness, they all just wanted to pick it up and shower it with hugs and kisses as soon as possible.

    It was an umon victory. Fina had witnessed everything and despised Snowy Li for doing it. It would never do such a shameful thing itself. But knowing that Snowy Li was just trying to help, it reached out one of its front paws and patted its forehead to show some encouragement.

    ¡°Wow! I¡¯m so happy! Your Majesty, please pat me again! Your Majesty, please pat me again!¡± Snowy Li softened its body like it had melted and happily rolled itself along the floor with its four legs kicked up, begging for Fina to pet it again. Fina looked at it seriously. ¡°Hurry and get up! You¡¯re acting so rude, rolling around in public! Mind your manners as a cat!¡±

    ¡°Sorry, I know.¡± Snowy Li knew it was acting over the moon before hand and got up quickly. It meekely squatted next to Fina¡¯s side. This was the first time that Fina had touched it, and it was so excited that it had put raw beef sirloin out of its focus for the moment. All it wanted was to impress Fina and get more attention¡­

    The customers there finally understood what had happened after watching the proud Snowy Li and the soft Ashera cat who was lying inside the cage, acting like a totally different cat from before. They couldn¡¯t believe what they had seen.

    ¡°D*mn! This white cat just meowed a little and it beat the lethal Ashera cat?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, how did it do that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal. Did you forget that the store manager can even teach kittens how to dance? So, how could dealing with an Ashera cat be that difficult?¡±

    Everybody had their own opinions, each one very diverse.

    ¡°That white cat is so adorable! I really want to hold it in my arms and pet it!¡± Even the tomboy had the cute desires of a girly girl. She looked at Snowy Li and admired it.

    Hearing that, Snowy Li took a look at her, and soon turned its head in disgust. ¡°Pfft! I don¡¯t like you, I like girly girls.¡±

    Someone asked, ¡°What kind of cat is that white cat? Is it a Persian cat?¡±

    Next to the guy, someone answered patronizingly, ¡°That¡¯s a Chausie. I have a white cat like this at home. I have pictures of it on my phone, do you want to see them?¡±

    Another guyughed and said, ¡°What you have at your house is definitely different from this white cat. This is a real Chausie. Or, at least it mostly likely is. Your cat must be a Persian cat or just an in white cat.¡±

    Zhang Zian noticed that this guy said things with confidence, and assuming he was determined and professional, he couldn¡¯t help but look in his direction. The guy was tall and strong, had a loud voice, and seemed to be in his forties. He looked weary from travelling, and was wearing a grey-ck padded jacket, holding a bundle of keys. He seemed like he came from up north, although he was not as tall as Tim. However, his cute white cat cartoon keychain on his keys made him look less masculine.

    The one who spoke before was not pleased and exined, ¡°You haven¡¯t even seen my cat, how do you know it¡¯s different from this one?¡±

    The tall man said confidently, ¡°I can tell without looking. Let me ask you ¡ª is your cat¡¯s fur about 15 centimeters long?¡± He then took his car keys to his left hand and drew out a distance with his right thumb and forefinger. ¡°15 centimeters, like this long. Is it about this length?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­well, I haven¡¯t measured it¡­¡± The first guy looked at the 15 centimeter length and didn¡¯t know what else to say.

    The tall guyughed. ¡°ording to their history, the Chausies¡¯ tails are called ¡°mes from a Kylin¡¯s tail¡±. This means that the fur on its tail must be strong and thick like mes, and just like the tail of the Kylins in ancient Chinese wall paintings. 15 centimeters in length is the minimum standard.¡±

    They looked at the Snowy Li¡¯s tail. The fur on it was so long and thick, it did resemble mes.

    The first guy no longer wanted to show off his pictures and forced a smile. He put his phone back in his pocket, knowing that what he had at home was definitely not a Chausie, and it would be a shame for him to falsely show off in front of a bunch of people.

    The tall guy continued, ¡°Chausie cats are a mixed species from ancient Persian cats and Chinese domestic cats, also known as the offspring of Turkish Angoras and Chinese cats. They look alike and aremonly mistaken by people, but it is actually easy to identify these three kinds of cats. First,Chausie and Persian cats both have twoyers of fur, one is the baseyer and the other is the outer coat. Next, unlike Turkish Angora¡¯s extremely big ears, Chausie cats have tiny ears. Finally, Chausie cats¡¯ faces look like silver foxes¡¯ as their noses face down, while Persian cats¡¯ short noses are facing up. Once you remember these three features, you can check down the list and identify whether the cat is a Chausie, a Persian cat or a Turkish Angora.¡±

    In his pet shop, Zhang Zian was also selling pure white Persian cats. People observed them and made theirparisons. The all awed at the fact that what this guy said was true. Not only were the customers all agreeing, but Zhang Zian was also nodding at his statements. Who was this guy with so much knowledge about cats? Did they share the same profession?

    The guy changed his tone and sadly said, ¡°Chausies date back to the Song Dynasty and were mostly popr in the Ming Dynasty. Their poption count was on the decline during the Qing Dynasty. There are only a few left existing in the current Chinese calendar. Up until now, Chausie purebreed records showed that they were nearly extinct and it is very rare to see them.¡±

    He pointed at Snowy Li. ¡°This cat might be one of thest few alive Chausie cats. Folks, please look at the ck line on its forehead which looks like ck coal in the snow. Some random white cat might possibly have some ck spots on its forehead as well, but it could never be as clear and pure as this one. This cat here is one out of ten thousand, even within the Chausie poption. The purest Chausie cats have fur that¡¯s long enough to touch the floor, but the ones alive nowadays have fur nowhere near as long. If we were back in the ancient times, this cat would surely be sent to the pce as a gift to the emperor.¡±

    These words were just to inform the others, but Zhang Zian already knew that he was trying to exin the origins of Snowy Lis.

    Snowy Lis were written about in Chin Ping Mei, a book imed to be from the Song Dynasty, but was actually from the Ming Dynasty. It detailed the daily lives in the Ming Dynasty, and many of its sections had be important references for history schrs. There were over ten books addressing this topic. Under the author Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng¡¯s writing, everything that happened during the Ming Dynasty was recorded. Therefore it is reasonable to believe that, although Snowy Lis are magical elfins, its ancestry was from the popr Chausie cat from the Ming Dynasty.

    It was a shame that after that time period many wars began in China causing people to lose the urge to protect traditional animal breeds. The pure breed Chausie cats were dying out, just like the Chinese Pedant cats, who only exist in history.

 Chapter 457: Association of the Pet Exchange Promotion

    <h4>Chapter 457: Association of the Pet Exchange Promotion</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Turning part of their attention from the Ashera cat to Snowy Li, the crowd looked back and forth at the two cats.

    While quietly listening to the man¡¯s eloquent way of speaking, Zhang Zian was also wondering who this person could be and what his purpose was.

    Finishing up, the guy said, ¡°If you want to raise a cat, you don¡¯t have to adopt purebred species only. The characteristics and appearances of purebred cats are more consistent, but the life of each cat carries their own meaning. But all right everybody, old habits die hard and it seems that I¡¯ve been talking too much in front of the real expert. Please don¡¯t mind me and feel free to purchase whatever pets you want.¡±

    Although the crowd wanted more information, the man had already stopped talking, and they were too embarrassed to ask him to continue. Led by Wang Qian and Li Kun, they either came into the store to choose pets or waited for the dancing kitten performance. Only a few people were still watching the Ashera cat and Snowy Li by the entrance.

    Smiling apologetically, the man walked up towards Zhang Zian and introduced himself. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re the owner of this shop, right? I¡¯m Wu Mingzhen, President of the Association of Pet Exchange Promotion in Changqiao City.¡± He handed over his business card while speaking.

    Zhang Zian took the business card and nced at it. Changqiao City was the provincial capital of the neighboring province and its economy was more developed than Binhai City. Changqiao Port was also a famous deepwater port on the east coast of China with a very prosperous import and export trade. However, Zhang Zian had never heard of anything about the Association of Pet Exchange Promotion from there.

    As if reading his mind, Wu Mingzhen exined, ¡°It¡¯s normal that you¡¯ve never heard of us before, our association is just a local non-profit group started by some pet lovers to encourage awork ofmunication. Normally, we organize some free exhibitions and fun science activities to teach pet rted information to students and adults. We also have projects that we coborated on with some non-governmental organizations abroad.¡±

    Zhang Zian simply introduced himself, ¡°My name is Zhang Zian, and I¡¯m the owner of this store.¡±

    ¡°I know. Mr. Zhang, you¡¯re a celebrity within our association, and we¡¯ve heard a lot about you.¡± Wu Mingzhen smiled. ¡°To be honest, at the beginning, we were skeptical of the rumors and waited to see proof for ourselves. After some videos spread on the inte, other groups sent us inquiries, wanting to know whether it was true that the kittens in your shop could dance and if you could host exhibitions abroad.¡±

    ¡°Host exhibitions abroad?¡± Zhang Zian was surprised. He had never considered this before.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Wu Mingzhen said with certainty. ¡°There are already many groups from the United States, Canada, France, Denmark, South Korea, Japan and other countries that have shown great interest in your cats, which also brings huge economic benefits. For example, cat lovers are everywhere within the younger generation in Japan. ording to the research from the Japan Pet Food Association, from 2012 to 2016 the number of pet dogs in Japan has decreased from 11.53 million to 9.87 million, while the number of pet cats has increased from 9.53 million to 9.84 million, and pet cats have already outnumbered pet dogs in 2017. As you know, Japan has been in a long term economic downturn, but even so the wholesale prices of kittens have being getting higher, rising from 124,000 yen per kitten in 2013 to 210,000 yen per kitten in 2017. The price of a cat that is rare breed can easily reach over one million yen! And this is just the wholesale price that I¡¯m talking about.¡±

    Zhang Zian would be lying if he said he waspletely uninterested in this huge potential market.

    He also knew that the younger generation in Japan believed in the concept that ¡°cuteness is everything¡±, which may be one of the main reasons for the decrease in the number of pet dogs and the increase in the number of pet cats. After all, dogs were still inferior to cats when it came to levels of affection and adorableness. But he still knew to be doubtful in the face of a miraculous good fortune. As the saying goes, someone who is unexinably generous must be hiding evil intentions.

    Seeing a flicker of suspicion on Zhang Zian¡¯s face, Wu Mingzheng stressed that, ¡°We are a non-profit organization whose main goal is to encouragemunication and give society a better understanding of pets. As for the main members of the association, they have day jobs and other financial resources. They don¡¯t expect to make money from this. We created the association simply because we like pets, nothing more.¡±

    Because of Wu Mingzheng¡¯s honesty, Zhang Zian temporarily got rid of his doubts, but still carefully rejected him. ¡°Thank you, President Wu, for your kindness, but my shop is just getting back on track, and I have so many things to take care of already. I don¡¯t think I have the energy to spare for nning cat or dog shows abroad. But if you keep receiving inquiries from other countries, you can tell them my address. And if theye to China, they¡¯re always wee to visit my shop.¡±

    Wu Mingzhen nced around and saw that there was only one cashier, Lu Yiyun, and two helpers, Wang Qian and Li Kun, in the shop. Compared to the number of customers, the staff size seemed really small. As the owner of the store, it must be difficult for Zhang Zian to have time to leave his shop at all.

    He nodded regretfully. ¡°Well, it¡¯s no problem. Soon, there will be many touristsing from other countries to visit your store and buy pets.¡±

    Zhang Zian was very happy at this news. Did that mean he¡¯d finally able to meet a bunch of cute foreign girls?

    ¡°I came here empty handed today.¡± Wu Mingzhen spread his hands wide. ¡°But since I¡¯m already in your famous shop, how can I go back with nothing? I want to keep in contact with you, but I also would like to buy a dancing kitten. What do you think, Manager Zhang?¡±

    ¡°Of course, we should keep more in contact.¡± Zhang Zian guessed that Wu Mingzhen still wanted to see whether it was true that his kittens could dance. From their conversation, he could tell that although Wu Mingzhen was not officially a professional within the pet industry, he could still be considered as some sort of pet expert. It would save Zhang Zian a lot of time by doing business with these people.

    After watching the earlier events, Ting Ying carried her woven cat carrier and went to say goodbye to Zhang Zian and Lu Yiyun. The shameless Luo Qingyu chose to stay behind because he had met a few beautiful girls in the shop. Showing off his digital camera in front of them, he hoped that one of them would ask him to take pictures. He would be thrilled to have pictures with all of them.

    Wu Mingzhen told Zhang Zian to deal with the other customers first, and he would keep casually walking around the store. Having travelled all the way from another city, he wanted to know everything about the shop before going back home.

    Not too long after, a Bentley pulled up in front of the store, catching many of the customers¡¯ attention. Zhang Zian also noticed it. These rich people change their cars as often as they change their clothes. Thest time he saw Lin Qi, he was driving a BMW i8, and today he had already reced it with a new Bentley.

    Lin Qi hurriedly got out of his car and went into the store. The first thing he saw was the Ashera cat in the cage.

    ¡°D*mn! It¡¯s huge!¡± He stood in front of the cage looking shocked.

    ¡°This type of cat is one of thergest in the world,¡± said Zhang Zian, looking at him sympathetically. ¡°But don¡¯t worry, you¡¯re wealthy enough to support its big appetite without going broke.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not the problem!¡± Lin Qi was so upset that he was stomping his feet in a fit. ¡°The problem is that its meow is really creepy. I¡¯ll pee my pants if I hear it crying in the middle of the night.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have an answer for this problem. He tried tofort Lin Qi and said, ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it.¡± But what he was actually thinking was, Who told you to be so impractical and buy such a special cat? Just ept it and own up!

    ¡°Does this cat bite?¡± Lin Qi tentatively reached his hand towards the cage and saw that it had no desire to bite him.

    ¡°Probably not,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°Since thepany allowed me to sell this cat as a pet, they must have made sure that it would not intentionally bite. Otherwise any money spent on buying this cat would be wasted.¡±

    Zhang Zian was pretty sure of this. Although the cat did try to confront Fina, it was only because Fina was another cat, and they were simply fighting over their territories. This was just the nature of all felines and also ured when ordinary house cats met.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s good.¡± Palms sweating, Lin Qi managed a smile, but still did not dare to open the cage.

    Seeing his timid expression, Zhang Zian opened the cage himself. ¡°Move out of the way and watch me.¡±

    As if being pardoned, Lin Qi quickly moved to the side.

    ¡°Careful, manager!¡± The crowd of spectators also stepped back, out of the fear that the cat would violently start attacking when it was out of its cage.

    Their cautious and fearful looks made even Zhang Zian, who was confident before, be a bit frightened, but he still bravely opened the cage. Carefully pulling its leash, he led the Ashera cat out.

    Despite its lethal appearance and scary meow, the Ashera cat seemed to have a fairly docile personality. Led by Zhang Zian, it anxiously looked around.

    ¡°See, everything is okay, right? It¡¯s a bit nervous being surrounded by so many people, but it will be fine after you take it home. Don¡¯t be afraid, just treat it like an ordinary cat.¡± Zhang Zian handed the leash over to Lin Qi.

    Lin Qi wasn¡¯tpletely reassured. He asked, ¡°Can I keep this leash around its neck all the time?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d better not.¡± said Zhang Zian shaking his head. ¡°Cats don¡¯t like to wear cors all the time. And don¡¯t act nervous, because animals can detect your emotions and you¡¯ll only project your own anxiety onto it.¡±

    Lin Qi smiled bitterly. Since he had already bought such a special cat, he now had to show it off in front of his friends. As for the future, he would see if anyone was willing to take the cat off his hands. He could handle everything, except for the terrifying sounds the cat made.

    After Lin Qi drove away, Wu Mingzhen went to Zhang Zian and said emotionally, ¡°I heard that only the biggest celebrities across the world raised huge animals like lions, tigers, leopards, and the like. And that only the very wealthy raised such bizarre cat breeds. From my perspective, their behaviors are very different from people¡¯s original reasons for keeping pets. Can this Ashera cat really make this young man happy?¡±

    Zhang Zian agreed with him. But he had no interest in trying to understand rich peoples¡¯ world or actions. He invited Wu Mingzhen in. ¡°President Wu, pleasee in. What kind of cats do you want to see?¡±

    Wu Mingzhe smiled. ¡°Any of them who can dance will do. But Mr. Zhang, I really want to know about your purebred Linqing Chausie. Where did you find it? I¡¯ve always thought they were extinct.¡±

    Zhang Zian calmly replied, ¡°I found it on the streets. In fact, I am one of the best Beastmaster hunters.¡±

 Chapter 458: Three Good Things About the kitten

    <h4>Chapter 458: Three Good Things About the kitten</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It didn¡¯t matter if it was Professor Wei Kang or Wu Mingzhen who asked about the origin of Fina or Snowy Li, Zhang Zian used the same excuse: he picked them up on the street. Zhang Zian, knowing they would know that he was lying, which might give them a bad first impression, insisted on saying this because he couldn¡¯t handle more questions.

    Wu Mingzhen was 90 percent in disbelief and the other 10 percent was all suspicion. There was news about rare cat breeds being found on the streets and parks because they were either abandoned by their owners for some reason, or snuck out of their houses by themselves. Someone was even lucky enough to find a Ragdoll.

    Of course, the pedigree Prionailurus Bengalensis is more valuable, but not many people know about it. People tend to mistake it for a Persian cat or a normal white cat. If you came across an owner who had no knowledge about it, it was possible that he or she would abandon it just because its hair was too long tob; which is why you couldn¡¯t tell if Zhang Zian was lying.

    So, he smiled. ¡°Manager Zhang, you must be really lucky to have picked up these nearly extinct cats randomly on the street.¡±

    ¡°I always have good luck.¡± Zhang Zian smiled along, not wanting to continue this topic.

    They came into the inner room and saw many customers choosing their pets. Wu Mingzhen was not in a hurry. He nced around, very rxed, and would asionally share his experiences of choosing and keeping cats with Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian learned a lot bymunicating with this cat professional. It takes time to gain knowledge. He had just started the pet store business and was still unfamiliar with some rted facts even though he bought various books to keep himself updated. Zhang Zian¡¯s knowledge on pets mostly came from the west, while Wu Mingzhen was a master in the Chinese pet field. The twoplemented each other.

    ¡°Store manager!¡± While they were talking, a 20ish year olddy with sses said hi to them, looking hesitant. Her boyfriend was sitting next to her, like a loyal dog, talking to her in a low voice.

    ¡°Can I help you?¡± Zhang Zian waved to Wang Qian and Li Kun, a signal that he would handle this. Wu Mingzhen who was a step behind him, walked in a slow pace.

    Thedy with the sses waited for Zhang Zian toe to her, then pointed at a British shorthair and asked, ¡°Store manager, are all your cats this old?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhang Zian asked back.

    Her boyfriend answered for her, ¡°Manager, we want a small kitten, preferably 1 month old. All the cats you have here are about 3 or 4 months old, right? We¡¯re worried that cats at that age won¡¯t bond when we take it home.¡±

    It was not the first time Zhang Zian had heard that. He exined in a calm manner, ¡°The youngest kittens we have here are around 3 months old, and that¡¯s the youngest. One month old kittens would be better off staying with their mothers because the habit of getting along with humans isn¡¯t taught by the mother cats.¡±

    ¡°What if it doesn¡¯t bond?¡± er boyfriend continued to ask.

    Zhang Zian replied, ¡°Whether a cat does or does not bond depends on congenital factors, such as its kind and breed, its socialized education, sterilization and the way their owners treat them. Age doesn¡¯t matter that much. If it¡¯s under 6 months old, it shouldn¡¯t affect their ability to bond with their owners.¡±

    Hearing this, Wu Mingzhen slightly nodded in agreement.

    ¡°Never mind!¡± the girl with sses said impatiently, holding her boyfriend by the corner of his coat. ¡°h, h¡­Just say no if you don¡¯t have it. What¡¯s the point of giving me a lecture? You just want to find an excuse! You don¡¯t have it? Fine, we will find it in another store. There are plenty of pet stores, yours is not the only one. They have kittens that are one or two months old. You think you are unique and special? Let¡¯s go!¡± She turned around to leave angrily.

    Thisdy had so much strength that her boyfriend almost fell down when she pulled him. He stood straight up and spoke to Zhang Zian, looking embarrassed, ¡°We came here because we were attracted by its fame. We intended to buy a kitten and didn¡¯t know all the cats here were half grown up. We prefer to have a pet as a baby to have the fun of pretending. I¡¯m sorry, but we will check the other stores.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded his head, not showing any reconcilement, ¡°As you wish.¡±

    He had done his job and gave the lecture, but they didn¡¯t listen so there was nothing more he could do. His cool attitude made the ssdy even more mad. She gave a grunt and said coldly, ¡°Don¡¯t be so proud, I don¡¯t think this ce is as good as what people are saying.¡±

    There was a crowd of people next to them seeing this, doubting Zhang Zian in silence. It was easier to build a bond with a cat at a young age ¡ª this thought seemed right, plus kittens were cuter.

    ¡°Hehe, that¡¯s not correct.¡± All of a sudden, Wu Mingzhen walked inside. He did it on purpose to draw people¡¯s attention with a loud voice.

    Zhang Zian could tell he was knowledgeable when they were discussing Prionailurus Bengalensis and its history, so he kept his mouth shut and expected a lecture from Wu¡¯s mouth.

    Wu Mingzhen waited for crowd to quiet, then said slowly, ¡°Just now, Manager Zhang exined some things from the Western world¡¯s point of view, which I know nothing about. Now I would like to say something based on our Chinese experiences with cats. Ladies and gentlemen, have you heard of The ssic of Cats Appreciation?¡±

    The ssic of Cats Appreciation? Everyone was confused. It was the first time that they heard of this thing.

    Wu Mingzhenughed and said, ¡°The first line in The ssic of Cats Appreciation is ¡®Pick a cat aged 200 days, its hair is shiny and feels smooth.¡¯ You are all smart people, I assume this sentence doesn¡¯t need further exnation, right? You need to choose a cat that has aged enough, which means it is at its best 120 days after birth, so 4 months. Of course, what we have now is better than the old days, and we raise the cats in a scientific way with a healthy, nutritious diet, so it is normal for it to be one month younger. To me, the 3 and 4 month old cats that Manager Zhang sells here are perfect. If it was any younger, that would cause problems.¡±

    This was new to the crowd. Thedy with sses stopped and frowned, ¡°You didn¡¯t make that up, did you?¡±

    ¡°Why would I lie about the existence about The ssic of Cats Appreciation?¡± Wu Mingzhen sneered and continued taking, ¡°The second line in The ssic of Cats Appreciation is ¡®Choose a cat neither after February 2nd nor before the 14th of July.¡¯ What does this mean? These days here refer to days on the lunar calendar, and so it means that you shouldn¡¯t pick cats born before the lunar February 2nd or cats after the lunar 14th of July. It has something to do with the mating season and estrous cycles, but it has more to do with superstitious beliefs. February 2nd is the Dragon Head Raising Festival and July 15th is the Ghost Festival. Cats who are born in this period are believed to be able to protect their owners and houses, and they can benefit the owner and his or her family.¡±

    He then added, ¡°Surely, it¡¯s mainly superstition as we don¡¯t believe in it now and can¡¯t apply it to our lives. As for a cat¡¯s mating cycle, we have the technology now to make the indoor temperature stable enough so they can mate any time during the year.¡±

    More customers came in and listened curiously about how ancient people selected and appreciated cats.

    Fina and Snowy Li were already back in their own cat trees. They were interested by what he was saying, so they stopped their nap and listened carefully, as if he were telling a story.

    Although Wu Mingzhen had emphasized it was superstition, it was better to believe it than ignore it. Many people memorized it. They were going to buy cats anyway, so it wouldn¡¯t hurt to buy one ording to The ssic of Cats Appreciation, right?

    Wu Mingzhen looked at the crowd with his fiery eyes, pointed at all these kittens in the store and said, ¡°These cats are all around 3 or 4 months old, so they were born before the lunar 14th of July. They are the best choice to keep you and your family safe and sound ording to The ssic of Cats Appreciation. What are you hesitating for? Don¡¯t just pass by and miss this opportunity.¡±

    Thest sentence was funnypared to what he said before. People smiled.

    After his speech, those customers who nned to do some window shopping, all decided to make a purchase.

    Thedy with sses was in a dilemma. She saw herself as an atheist, though sometimes she believed in supernatural things and would y Bi Xian (pen deity) and Die Xian (dish deity) at the dorms. What Wu Mingzhen said convinced her, but as she had already shown intent to leave, she would lose her face if she stayed.

    The cats here in the Amazing Fate Pet Shop were more expensive than in the other pet shops. She only came here with her boyfriend because of its fame and was determined not to buy a cat here. After she heard about The ssic of Cats Appreciation introduced by Wu Mingzhen, she gave it some thought and figured if she left to go to other pet shops, chances were she would buy a cat born after July 14th, and it wouldn¡¯t be that lucky.

    Wu Mingzhen and some of his friends built the Association of Pet Exchange promotion aiming to poprize the basic knowledge of choosing pets. Zhang Zian only sold kittens over 3 months old, so he met a standard of Wu Mingzhen¡¯s not every pet shop could. Most of them just sell the kittens once they reach 1 month old to get money.

    He seized the chance and continued exining, ¡°So what are the disadvantages of buying young kittens? It is written in The ssic of Cats Appreciation, ¡®Feeble cats are formed after they leave mom too soon, causing eye discharge in the first 12 days.¡¯ Which means, kittens that leave their mothers at an early stage tend to fail in fully developing. This leads to weakness and illness when they grow up. It is not a good thing. Kittens that are 1 or 2 months look cuter, but whether it¡¯s for their own health or their owners¡¯, it is better not to buy a cat that is too small and young.¡±

    All the customers heard that and were no longer doubtful, Whether it was Zhang Zian¡¯s Western pet theory or The ssic of Cats Appreciation taught by Wu Mingzhen, they were all against purchasing young kittens. If two books said the same thing, it couldn¡¯t be wrong.

    Thinking of this, the customers were now all determined to buy their pets here as they could seize the opportunity to buy kittens that were born before the lunar calendar¡¯s July 14th!

 Chapter 459: The Classic of Cats Appreciation

    <h4>Chapter 459: The ssic of Cats Appreciation</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The ssic of Cats Appreciation exined by Wu Mingzhen had attracted the attention of many people. It had even significantly elevated the enthusiasm of the customers on purchasing pets. After a while, there were two customers who decided to buy pets. The girl wearing sses was so embarrassed that she blushed and felt like she had be the negative example. She had learned that her old belief was incorrect. She shouldn¡¯t choose a kitten that was less than three months old. She regretted that she did not ept Zhang Zian¡¯s exnation.

    Seeing the looks of mockery and ridicule that many people were giving the girl, her boyfriend tried to divert the topic quickly. ¡°We understood the first half of your sentence, that a kitten shouldn¡¯t leave its mother too soon, or it will suffer from poor health in the future. What does thetter part of your sentence mean?¡±

    ¡°Yes, tell us the meaning of the second part of your sentence!¡± the customers echoed after him.

    Having only exined the meaning of the first half of the sentence, Wu Mingzhen neglected thetter half of the sentence, which made a lot of people with OCD feel as though there was a pain in their neck.

    Before he had a chance to answer, another girl with short hair chimed in, ¡°Mr. Store Manager, I am a loyal audience of Snowy¡¯s live broadcast channel, and I¡¯ve watched a few programs with you on them. For the sake of Snowy, could you please tell me if my kitten will get sick? I had it at home before it turned one month old. ording to The ssic of Cats Appreciation, does that mean it will be afflicted with diseases when it grows up? Is there any way to make its body healthy?¡± The trepidation and anxiety on her face clearly indicated that she was very concerned about her kitten.

    Wu Mingzhen nced at Zhang Zian, smiled, and did not answer.

    Zhang Zian understood that Wu Mingzhen intended to test him, but he did not know about ¡°Calotes Versicolor.¡± Just when he was about to excuse himself to go to the bathroom, so that he could Google it or ask Sun Xiaomeng for help, he heard Old Time Tea say to him, ¡°No worries, Zian, just restate my words to them.¡±

    After hearing this, Zhang Zian was instantly confident. Pretending he was calm, he repeated the words of Old Time Tea word by word: ¡°The ancients believed that frequent eye discharge in cats was an indication of their birth defects and weak physique. In order to replenish their nutrition and extend their lives, they should eat Calotes Versicolor, also known as an Oriental Garden Lizard, which can be found in the southern regions. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that Calotes Versicolor has the effect of relieving rheumatic pains, invigorating blood cirction, nourishing and strengthening bodies. Since the Calotes Versicolor can make cats stronger and healthier, it is often used as a medicine. This kind of lizard also has a another name, ¡®ginseng for cats,¡¯ because, for cats, it is as nutritious as ginseng.¡±

    Zhang Zian absolutely believed in the authority of Old Time Tea¡¯s words. After he finished speaking, he stood there perkily and enjoyed the gazes of admiration from the crowd. Of course, there was also Fina¡¯s look of contempt among the crowd, but he chose to ignore it for the time being.

    Not only were the other people enchanted by his words, but Wu Mingzhen was also filled with deep respect for Zhang Zian. He knew about Calotes Versicolor, but he didn¡¯t know that it also had the reputation of ¡°ginseng for cats,¡± so he couldn¡¯t help but improve his initial impression of Zhang Zian. Did this young man called Zhang Zian just keep his own counsel and pretend he knew nothing about The ssic of Cats Appreciation to test me? Wu Mingzhen thought.

    With that exnation, Zhang Zian had answered the questions raised by two people at the same time, but he also drew more questions.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, where can I find Calotes Versicolor? Is it expensive?¡± said the girl with short hair anxiously. ¡°My kitten probably left its mother too early. It¡¯s not energetic enough and it¡¯s lifeless all day long. I want to buy some Calotes Versicolor to try to revitalize it.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no rush. Your kitten is too small. Even if you get Calotes Versicolor, it won¡¯t be able to consume it. As for where you can get Calotes Versicolor, you can ask the local lizard breeders, or search for dried Calotes Versicolor online.¡± said Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, aren¡¯t you running a pet shop? Why don¡¯t you sell some reptiles, including the Calotes Versicolor?¡± someone suggested.

    Zhang Zianughed, ¡°Even if I did sell reptiles, I wouldn¡¯t want them to end up being the snacks of cats.¡±

    ¡°Is it really effective to eat Calotes Versicolor?¡± another person raised a doubt.

    ¡°Well,¡± Zhang Zian asked him instead, ¡°is it effective to eat ginseng?¡±

    ¡°I think so, why else would it be so expensive?¡± said that person.

    ¡°Since Calotes Versicolor has the reputation of ¡®ginseng for cats¡¯, it should be effective. Of course, as dietetic therapy, it won¡¯t be effective very soon. Besides, cats don¡¯t necessarily have to eat Calotes Versicolor. It should be sufficient for cats if they are provided with a bnced nutrition, an appropriate amount of raw meat, and a regr health examination. As for yournguished kitten, you can take it to a pet hospital for an examination, which will be better than reckless diet therapy,¡± Zhang Zian advised the girl with short hair.

    The girl with short hair kept nodding. ¡°I see. I¡¯m apanying my friends to select cats today. I will take it for examination when I go back.¡±

    The customers all felt they had learned a lot. Whether it was the words of Zhang Zian or Wu Mingzhen, it was a novelty that they had never heard before.

    The boyfriend of the girl wearing sses pulled her aside and advised her in a low voice, ¡°It seems that there is nothing wrong in raising a kitten when it turns three or four months old. Let¡¯s just buy one here and stop checking out other ces.¡±

    She had already been nning to do so. To prevent further humiliating herself, she pretended to be persuaded by her boyfriend and reluctantly agreed.

    Wu Mingzhen went towards Zhang Zian and asked curiously, ¡°Manager Zhang, why didn¡¯t you say before that you also knew about The ssic of Cats Appreciation?¡±

    Zhang Zian winked at him. He didn¡¯t tell him until the two of them came to a rtively quiet corner of the shop. ¡°President Wu, cats born between February 2nd and July 14th of the traditional Chinese calendar are more capable of protecting their owners and their houses ¡ª this can be said by you, but not by me. Otherwise, how would I sell cats in the future?¡±

    Wu Mingzhen smiled and thought this indeed made sense. Pet shop owners needed to sell cats all year round, they couldn¡¯t just open business for half a year and close the other six months. Although he liked pets, he did not sell pets, so he didn¡¯t put much thought into this aspect.

    In fact, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t quite believe in this saying, but some people did. In ancient China, everything was divided into Yin and Yang. There was a particr attention that had been paid to the harmony between Yin and Yang. In the eyes of the ancients, cats were an animal inclined to the spectrum of Yin, and cats born between February 2nd and July 14th carried more Yang energy to bnce their Yin attributes. If cats were born after the Day of the Dead, it was believed that they would carry too much Yin energy and would be unlucky. The customers, even those who didn¡¯t believe in this saying, chose the cats born between February 2nd and July 14th for the sake of good luck.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun didn¡¯t care about such a concern. They walked around and persuaded the customers, ¡°Don¡¯t hesitate, just buy! If you miss this opportunity, you will need to wait six more months!¡±

 Chapter 460: Knitting Wool Ball

    <h4>Chapter 460: Knitting Wool Ball</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    While Zhang Zian and Wu Mingzhen were talking, some customers came up to them, wanting to know more about The ssic of Cats Appreciation. They wished for the two men to help them pick some smart cats based on the book.

    Wu Mingzhen knew that Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to show off his knowledge, so he cleared his throat and rified seriously, ¡°The ssic of Cats Appreciation talked of a history where people chose cats based on two things: having a strong, healthy body and the ability to catch mice. Nowadays, no one buys cats to catch mice, so the standard in The ssic of Cats Appreciation does not apply to our needs anymore. You can read it as a reference, but it is not necessary to take it as a guide. If you want to have a nice cat, you¡¯d better find a cat professor who knows well about the west pet scientific system, like Manager Zhang.¡±

    Some customers were not here for cats, those who wanted to buy dogs asked curiously, ¡°Excuse me, you¡¯ve talked about The ssic of Cats Appreciation, does there happen to be a book like The ssic of Dogs Appreciation or something?¡±

    Wu Mingzhen replied immediately, ¡°There is, but the ancient people kept dogs mainly for guarding their houses and hunting, so The ssic of Dogs Appreciatio doesn¡¯t apply to our lives. They believed that dogs born in winter were the best as there was a saying ¡®dogs born in winter are the smartest,¡¯ which was opposite from cats. It may have been because cats were considered Yin, while dogs were Yang. It is written in the literary sketchbooks of Tang Dynasty, You Yang Za Zu, that cats¡¯ noses are always cold except for on Summer Solstice so they belong to Yin. However, I¡¯ve never touched a cat¡¯s nose on Summer Solstice, and thest time I touched my cat, it scratched me so I don¡¯t know if this is true.¡±

    His words made peopleugh. No matter how meek a cat may seem, it¡¯s dangerous to bother it when it wants time alone.

    Wu Mingzhen wanted to test Zhang Zian, but it turned out the joke was on him. Not only did Zhang Zian know about the origins of Calotes Versicolor, but he also told them about its unusual name, ¡°cat¡¯s ginseng.¡± Even Wu Mingzhen had not heard of that before.

    This time he aimed to save face, so he changed the topic and asked Zhang Zian again, smiling, ¡°Just now we were talking about Yin and Yang. Do you know anything about the Five Elements?¡±

    Zhang Zian tried his best to keep calm and cleared his throat, recalling all the things he knew about the Five Elements, except that he had never read anything on it before, so how would he know?

    When he was thinking of words to say, Old Time Tea helped him again andughed. ¡°Zian, don¡¯t panic, let me tell you.¡±

    Zhang Zian retold what Old Time Tea told him. ¡°ording to Wu Xing Zuan Yi, cats belong to the Fire element. They like to y, but hate the rain and getting wet, and they are also easy to scare. Cats and tigers are originally from Yinm and cats belong to the Fire Element, that¡¯s why they are active at night. Cats are regarded in the Fire Element and, while Water and Fire are natural enemies, they are afraid of water and being wet so they hate to shower.¡±

    The crowd suddenly understood and got a feeling that ¡°listening to you saves me reading for 10 years.¡±

    Cats were considered the Yin in Yin and Yang, and the Fire in the Five Elements, so they hated to take showers and liked doing activities at night. Wu Mingzhen could tell that Zhang Zian was being humble before and deliberately tried to hide his knowledge about The ssic of Cats Appreciation. However, he just came off as stupid.

    After the support of Old Time Tea, Zhang Zian was pretty confident and felt like he was the king of the world. Before he couldugh out loud, thedy with sses came up to him and apologized, ¡°I¡¯m sorry manager, I shouldn¡¯t have been rude before. I still want to buy cats here.¡±

    She and her boyfriend visited several pet shops and homes that were rmended online. All of them bragged about their pets and wanted to persuade her to buy a cat 1 or 2 months old, saying that bigger cats were either unhealthy or not good looking. Those words from one single shop didn¡¯t bother her, but two other shops said the same thing so she had been brainwashed. It wasn¡¯t until now that she finally understood that sellers say things for their own benefits. Those pet shops and pet homes were real cheaters.

    She and her boyfriend didn¡¯t know about Yin and Yang or the Five Elements, but they thought it was really something. After hearing Zhang Zian speak from his real knowledge of cats, she knew the other store managers couldn¡¯t be as good as this one. After giving it a second thought, she apologized to Zhang Zian and decided to buy a cat at the store.

    She believed in supernatural things. She was a fan of astrology and the divine, liked ying Bi Xian (pen deity) and Die Xian (dish deity.) She already decided to buy cats here after she heard about the fact that cats born after the lunarder¡¯s July 14th could protect their owners and houses, as cats sold in the other shops were all around 1 or 2 months old.

    Of course Zhang Zian forgave her and replied, ¡°Ignorance is not to me. Just pick a cat you fancy.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. Which cat was born before July 14th?¡± She asked. She did not want to apologize, but she did it so Zhang Zian would choose a cat for her.

    ¡°What kind do you want?¡± Zhang Zian asked back.

    ¡°Umm¡­¡± She discussed with her boyfriend for a while, and after checking their bank ount, said shyly, ¡°One not too expensive, just an average cat. As for the breed, we prefer the lively kind. Do you have any suggestions?¡±

    Besides the Abyssinian cats and Ragdoll, all the pets in the shop were selected from Pets¡¯ Home by Zhang Zian. He knew every cat¡¯s and dog¡¯s birth date. He thought about it and then suggested, ¡°I have two American Shorthair cats and a Siamese cat that may meet your standards, but I rmend the American Shorthair.¡±

    A middle-aged guy next to them, who seemed to like Siamese cats asked in surprise, ¡°Manager, does that mean American Shorthairs are better than Siamese cats?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that, don¡¯t misunderstand me.¡± Zhang Zian shook his head, pointed at the couple¡¯s clothes and said, ¡°They¡¯re not suitable for Siamese cats.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Why?¡± Perplexed thedy with sses as she and her boyfriend looked down to check themselves. They were not as wealthy as Tuhao, but they were wearing decent clothes, so why did Zhang Zian say they were not suitable to raise a Siamese cat?

    Zhang Zianughed. ¡°Look at you. Turtleneck sweaters, wool scarves, wool gloves, wool hats, and wool coats. Both of you.¡± Just like he said, thedy with sses and her boyfriend were wearing couple¡¯s wool clothes, except for their trousers and shoes. They looked pretty warm for the winter.

    ¡°What now?¡± She and her boyfriend were more confused.

    Luo Qingyu walked in the shop, unable to find a girl who was willing to take pictures. When he walked back, he idently heard what Zhang Zian was saying and couldn¡¯t help interrupting, ¡°That¡¯s right, why? Manager Zhang, just because you are single doesn¡¯t mean there¡¯s something wrong with couple clothes.¡±

    ¡°Go away if you are not buying anything! Don¡¯t mess around here!¡± Zhang Zian was hurt. Indeed, he couldn¡¯t stand couples acting sweet, but this was not the reason he didn¡¯t suggest a Siamese cat for them.

    After some trash talk, he exined with a serious look, ¡°Siamese cats are needy. Apart from that, they love tearing wool things apart. All cats love ying with wool balls, Siamese cats in particr. They don¡¯t just like sucking it, they like biting it as well. If you n to take a Siamese cat back home, you have to really think about it. You need to keep a lookout, otherwise all your wool clothes will be in trouble. American Shorthairs don¡¯t have this kind of problem, so they areparatively a safe choice for you.¡±

    The ssesdy and her boyfriend werepletely shocked. ¡°These things happen?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely.¡± Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°In general, Siamese cats have a thing for wool more so than other cats.¡±

    Although Wu Mingzhen fancied pets and knew a lot of them, it was the first time for him to hear about the Siamese cats¡¯ peculiarity, so he listened very carefully.

    Seeing the crowd¡¯s doubt, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t exin more as he knew actions spoke louder than words. Since Fina was here, he kept all the cats in the store open to feeding. In case they felt bored, he provided a lot of toys for them, but he didn¡¯t have any wool balls. He then asked Wang Qian to grab three knitted wool balls from the storage upstairs and gave one to a British Shorthair, a American Shorthair and a Siamese cat each, to show the audience.

    All the kittens saw the toys and jumped towards the balls at the same time. They chased the wool balls excitedly, sometimesying on the floor and holding the balls in their arms like lions ying with balls made of silk, kicking their legs in every direction. It was cuteness overload.

    ¡°Wow! They are so adorable!¡± Thedy in sses looked at them happily as she took out her phone and opened her camera. Each cat was so cute in their own way, she couldn¡¯t take her eyes off any of them. She took pictures of each cat the whole time and didn¡¯t let up on anyone.

    Wu Mingzhen and thedy¡¯s boyfriend were calmpared to her, and they realized something. All three cats loved the knitted wool balls, but the strange thing was that while the British Shorthair liked to hold the wool ball in its arms to quietly lick and y, the American Shorthair preferred chasing and tapping the wool ball. The same went for the Siamese cat, except instead of tapping and swatting, it often scratched and bit it. The small, knitted wool balls told the difference between the three cats¡¯ characteristics.

    If you left them alone, they could have yed with the knitted wool ball all afternoon. The other kittens also showed interest in the wool balls and wanted to y as well.

    Zhang Zian bent over to get the wool balls while the three kittens all looked at him, still wanting to y. The Siamese cat even stood up like a puppy and grabbed his shins with its front paws, begging for the wool ball.

    Thedy with sses couldn¡¯t bear watching this and said on behalf of the kittens, ¡°Let them y with the wool ball for a while.¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head and refused. ¡°It is not a good habit for them to have, ying with wool balls as long as they want. When they can¡¯t find the ball, chances are they will y with your wool sweater. Besides, when they are ying with the balls, you probably won¡¯t watch them the whole time, so if they bit and idently swallowed the wool, it could cause intestinal issues or even death.¡±

 Chapter 461: Showtime

    <h4>Chapter 461: Showtime</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian took the matter so seriously that everyone understood he was not joking.

    ¡°Apart from balls of yarn, there are a lot of other toys for cats. Some people will be mad at their cats when their sweaters have been scratched and torn. This bad habit actually originated from ignorance because cats don¡¯t understand the difference between sweaters and balls of yarn. So, you¡¯d better not let them y with balls of yarn when you first get them. As for the Siamese cats, their addiction to balls of yarn seem to be in their genes and it¡¯s impossible to change that.¡± Speaking of this, Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Do you have carpets at your home?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± the girl wearing sses pointed to herself and then to her boyfriend, ¡°my home does, but his home doesn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°I hope yours are not too expensive, otherwise, I¡¯m afraid your carpets will be ruined within a few days if you raise a Siamese cat,¡± Zhang Zian advised her sincerely.

    The girl with sses and her boyfriend were brought to their senses. Zhang Zian advised them to choose an American Shorthair because they had too much wool on them.

    A lot of young girls wore plush and fluffy clothes in autumn and winter. For example, this girl with sses wore boots with a circle of wool at the top. In the eyes of a Siamese cat, these clothes were potential toys.

    A middle-aged man next to her heard the conversation and asked, ¡°I don¡¯t have carpets at my home, and I don¡¯t think I have too many clothes made of wool. I should be fine keeping a Siamese cat, right?¡± He was wearing a pair of casual trousers, a thick shirt, and a leather jacket. He seemed very stylish, and the interior design of his home probably was the same.

    ¡°No problem.¡± Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°Just add extra fiber to its food to satisfy the Siamese cat¡¯s addiction.¡±

    The girl with sses discussed with her boyfriend and carefully observed the American Shorthair. They found that its appearance was very adorable, and that it had a lively character. Its price was within their budget range, and it was born before July 14th of the Chinese traditional calendar. So, they decided this was the cat they were going to buy!

    The middle-aged man also quickly chose a Siamese cat, and specifically asked for a gift package with a few colorful, silk ribbons outside the cat bag. It was probably a gift for a child. The energetic and lively Siamese cat was indeed suitable for children.

    Normally, his pet shop, at best, sold one or two cats or dogs in a day. But within a short time after opening for business today, four pets had been sold, making Zhang Zian very satisfied.

    A lot of customers who had not bought anything kept staring at him. He knew very well that they were waiting for the kittens to dance. Although these customers didn¡¯t have the desire to buy anything for the time being, they could, at the very least, help promote his pet shop, so Zhang Zian would not neglect their needs.

    Wu Mingzhen was also hoping to see the kittens dance. He had watched them dance in videos, but he had to see them dance in person to convince himself. Otherwise, he would be suspected of deceiving foreign friends for the sake of promotion. Trust was very valuable, especially in themunication among different countries.

    ¡°Alright everyone, please move aside and make an open space.¡± Zhang Zian indicated to Wang Qian and Li Kun to help clear the venue. Finally, it was time for the kittens to dance. Luo Qingyu was so excited that his hands holding the camera began to shake. Zhang Zian wondered if the steadyshot function of the camera would even be useful. The customers moved to the side and left a round, vacant space in the middle.

    Zhang Zian pped his hands three times and the kittens that were ying around quieted down instantly, and raised their heads to look at him in unison. He pressed the button on his cell phone to y the music. As the passionate prelude began from the speaker, the kittens started to walk to the sounds of the rhythmic drum beats.

    ¡°You are my dear little apple¡­

    ¡°Just like the most beautiful cloud in the sky¡­¡±

    After the brief prelude, the widely popr song, Little Apple, started to y.

    As if receiving orders, the kittens adorably performed the joyous dance steps by moving forward, backward, kicking their legs, shaking their tails, raising their paws to wipe their faces, and wiggling their waists. The pet shop was still the same, yet the pets performing this song were different.

    Zhang Zian still remembered the first group of kittens that performed Little Apple. Some of them had already left the pet shop for their new and warm homes. The new kittens he bought from the breeding base also had learned to dance after being instructed by Fina. However, because of their short practice time, the newly-arrived kittens stumbled in the performance. asionally, they forgot the movements or couldn¡¯t keep up with the rest, so they¡¯d stand there miserably observing theirpanions, until they were ready to resume.

    The audiences did not loath these newly-arrived kittens because of their poor performance, instead they felt these kittens were rather adorable because they tried their best, just like children who were slow in thought. The audience gave the warmest apuse to these newly-arrived kittens.

    The girl with sses was once a fan of girl groups from Japan and South Korea, so she immediately recognized that the dance steps of the kittens were from the ssic music videos of those girl groups. After gaining the approval from Zhang Zian, she excitedly ran into the venue and led the dance, trying to amp up the atmosphere.

    The tall and strong man from Northern China pped his hands the most fervently among all the customers, so much so that his palms became red. Wu Mingzhen couldn¡¯t conceal his exhration. There¡¯s only one thought left in his mind: how was he going to introduce these kittens internationally so that more people could enjoy their performance?

    After the song of Little Apple finished, the whistles and warm apusested for a while. Just when Wu Mingzhen was going to extend his congrattions and admiration to Zhang Zian, Luo Qingyu pulled him from behind.

    ¡°No rush. A truly, brilliant performance is awaiting.¡± Luo Qingyu slyly winked at him.

    ¡°Oh? Even more brilliant than this?¡± asked Wu Mingzhen with astonishment.

    Luo Qingyu stared at the venue without blinking. ¡°Just you wait and see.¡± Before he even finished speaking, most of the lights in the shop dimmed, leaving only a few spotlights illuminating the center area vertically. In the radius of the lighting, four pairs of eyes brightened up with shining rays.

    Some customers who knew what was going on held their breath. When the unknowing customers were about to ask, their mouths were covered by the people next to them.

    As if their feet didn¡¯t touch the ground, four Abyssinian cats glided into the venue like four chocte-colored forest elves. Wendy looked steadily forward, while the other three cats turned their heads sideways. There was only silence in the shop, as if this was a ce for praying.

    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen! It¡¯s showtime!¡± Zhang Zian issued the order.

    When the KTV version of Four Little Swans sang by Fina started to y, the four Abyssinian cats became four little swans and faithfully performed the choreography Fina taught them. Rather than simply imitating the movements of human beings, they fully exerted the agility and dexterity of cats in order to interpret the artistic concept of this piece of world-famous music in a unique way.

    When Little Apple finished, the girl with sses did not leave the venue because she wanted to enjoy the feeling of all eyes on her, so she smiled and waited for the next song. But when she realized the next song was Four Little Swans, she was so astonished that she gave up in the face of difficulty.

    No matter how amateur the dance steps of the kittens were, the performance of the four fully-grown Abyssinian cats was absolutely professional!

    The brain of Wu Mingzhen was numb. Was Zhang Zian the legendary cat trainer?

 Chapter 462: The Adventure of Lu Yiyun

    <h4>Chapter 462: The Adventure of Lu Yiyun</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The long weekend had passed.

    After two days of good sleep, Zhang Zian got up early Monday morning, cleaned the shop and prepared lunch¡ª stewed beef with potatoes¡ªfor Famous and the other two police dogs.

    Last night, he was told officially that all the crew members had toe back to work on Monday morning, except for him. He would be choosing stunt dogs in the police dog training base in Binhai with Director Feng Xuan, sparing these dogs from death.

    Usually, the police dog training base was closed to the public. Zhang Zian had never been there before. He was excited to find out what was in there.

    Lu Yiyun was early, as usual. The moment she stepped in the shop, she smelled the beef. She heard that Zhang Zian was leaving the store to go with the crew, and suddenly felt insecure, worried that she was not capable of handling all the customers.

    Zhang Zian encouraged her to rx, to just do what she could, and that there was no pressure. There were more customers nowadayspared to when he had just inherited the shop. Sometimes, customers would ask weird questions or had special needs that he himself couldn¡¯t handle, let alone the newer Lu Yiyun.

    Someone honked while they were talking, so Zhang Zian looked to the direction it came from and saw, not to his surprise, Liu. He kept talking to Lu Yiyun, and then took Famous with him to Liu¡¯s car.

    The store was quiet after Zhang Zian left. Compared to the weekend when customers flowed in the shop, Lu Yiyun preferred the quietness of Monday mornings. With Jasmine on herp, she turned on theputer andid her painting pens on the cashier table, and nned to paint some before the first customer came.

    When Zhang Zian fed raw beef sirloin to Snowy Li, he also gave some to Jasmine. Jasmine was so full that it yawned and huddled itself up. It got used to thinking of its owner¡¯sp as its second home.

    Before Lu Yiyun started painting, she yed with the cat for a while. She touched the hair on Jasmine¡¯s back and neck gently. Although she didn¡¯t know why, she felt it became stronger, and its hair was smoother and silkier after it had eaten the raw beef sirloin for several days. She said to herself, ¡°Let me touch it for three more minutes, no more than that.¡±

    Time passes quickly when you y with cats. By the time you realize that you¡¯ve had fun, time has passed quicker than you thought.

    What a beautiful scene in the quiet pet store of the paintingdy and her cat. Suddenly, a scream broke it!

    ¡°Help! Help!¡±

    Lu Yiyun was freaked out. Her hands trembled and idently touched Jasmine¡¯s hair. It meowed, ran out of herp and into the inner room, where the sound came from.

    ¡°Jasmine! Jasmine! Come back! Don¡¯t run!¡±

    The sudden scream scared Lu Yiyun. She had no clue what happened or why someone shouted for help. Was it the television that Zhang Zian forgot to turn off before he left?

    Jasmine disappeared suddenly.

    Jasmine was lost, so Lu Yiyun looked around and outside the shop. Pedestrians and cars were passing by, but no one wanted toe inside the shop. She regretted that she usually prayed for less customers, because she wished that someone coulde in and help her.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun weren¡¯t supposed toe at this time. They were college students who stayed upte and got upte. Unless there were emergencies, they usually came after 10 in the morning. There were plenty of things they needed to do, such as clean the cat litter and walk the puppies to the desert grasnd through the new back door.

    What should I do? Should I call the police? She gripped her phone, her palm was sweating.

    Without moving, she decided not to call the police as she knew nothing about dealing with policemen. What if the policemen came and found it was false rm? She didn¡¯t know the personal phone number of the policeman who often came to the shop, Sheng Ke.

    ¡°Jasmine! Jasmine!¡± she shouted again, but Jasmine didn¡¯te back.

    The room went quiet. Lu Yiyun gathered her courage and walked towards the inner room.

    Everything was normal as usual. The ck-and-white kitten was chasing the Abyssinian cats, the golden cat and the white cat were sleeping in their cat trees, and the other kittens and puppies all looked natural.

    She could hear a TV in the corner. She knew there was a small TV over there, and that there was always an old cat with a hat thatid there, watching TV, which was a special thing about this shop. Whoever saw this thought it was cute and funny. People thought it didn¡¯t understand the things on TV, that it was just pretending to watch.

    Lu Yiyun stood on her tiptoes and walked towards it. Old Time Tea slightly turned around to look at her. She didn¡¯t know why, but she felt its kind, warm eyes on her, just like the old grandpa in her hometown.

    It grinned, like it was smiling at her. Then it moved aside to make space for her, and waved its paw in the air, like it was inviting her to watch the TV.

    The middle of the old heating nket had a few tea-colored cat hairs.

    Lu Yiyun was not sure if she understood its meaning. Did this cat actually ask her to join it and watch TV?

    There was a movie on the TV that she had watched before, Yip Man 3. Of course, she didn¡¯t see it in the movie theaters as she didn¡¯t have a friend she could go to cinema with. She didn¡¯t even know how to open the door to the movies.

    She waved her hands to show she didn¡¯t want to watch, then she gestured and asked, ¡°My cat, Jasmine. It¡¯s big and yellow. Do you know where it is?¡± Lu Yiyun thought she was so dumb. Why would she talk seriously to a cat?

    The tea-colored old cat seemed to understand what she was saying and moved back to its original spot with shame, concentrating on looking at the television. It even shook its head when some great stuff popped up on the TV, like it could actually understand.

    Really? It could really watch TV? Lu Yiyun thought about it. If Zhang Zian could teach kittens to dance, what¡¯s so surprising about him being able to teach a cat to watch TV? But what was the point of teaching it this?

    She didn¡¯t get the answer from this tea-colored old cat, so she walked to the cat tree and looked at the golden cat nervously. The sun shone through the windows and reflected on it. The tops of its hair was glowing and shining, like it was made of gold.

    This cat seemed difficult. She saw it threaten Zhang Zian several times, and Zhang Zian gave up every time. That was why she was a bit scared of it every time she came into the shop.

    The golden cat noticed her gaze, opened its eyes and looked at her with its green eyes that were clear as ice, and as sharp as a gun.

    Lu Yiyun was so frightened that she moved backwards to put some distance between them and asked, ¡°My cat, Jasmine. It¡¯s big and yellow. Do you know where it is?¡± She felt her hands shaking. This cat¡¯s gaze was so intimidating. She couldn¡¯t imagine how Zhang Zian managed to put up with it. No wonder it was simr to that Ashera cat, which looked like a leopard.

    The golden cat just took one look at her and then lost interest. It yawnedzily and closed its eyes, not even bothering to meow.

    There were some cats meowing from down below. The white cat red at her, licked their lips with that little pink tongue, and meowed three more times.

    Lu Yiyun found this facial expression familiar. This was exactly the expression it would give to Zhang Zian for raw beef sirloin every morning. Although, Zhang Zian always looked awkward because, for some reason, he was always holding up his pants. Every morning, she had to look around shyly.

    ¡°I don¡¯t live here. I don¡¯t have raw beef sirloin.¡± She waved again. The white cat seemed disappointed, so it closed its eyes and started napping like the golden cat.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she looked down and apologized. She was confused herself. Why would she apologize so sincerely when she didn¡¯t do anything wrong?

    She walked around the room and searched everywhere, but couldn¡¯t find Jasmine. Not on the shelves, under the lounge, behind the cat bowls, nor in the bathroom, she searched everywhere and still couldn¡¯t find Jasmine. When she passed the sofa, she stared at it for a long time and forced herself not to lie down on it. She thought the store manager whoid on it was so cool. He could handle all different kinds of customers. She wanted to be a person exactly like him, calm and natural when meeting strangers. Maybe this sofa was magical and you got some skills and pointers when youid on it, or even some strange way to open the shop.

    She shook her head and stopped this daydream. She read too many virtual novels. The most important thing at the moment was to find Jasmine.

    ¡°Jasmine! Jasmine!¡± Lu Yiyun shouted again, but still, Jasmine didn¡¯t show up.

    ¡°Help! Help!¡± She heard the sound again. Although she had been prepared for the sound, Lu Yiyun was still shocked. This time, she clearly heard that the sound came from upstairs, from the second floor where Zhang Zian lived. It sounded like a young woman.

    Her legs were slightly shaking. Bad things were on her mind. Did the store manager kidnapped a youngdy and bring her here? Nowadays, there were so much news online everywhere. Was the store manager this kind of guy?

    No way! No way! Lu Yiyun couldn¡¯t believe what she was thinking. The store manager couldn¡¯t be this kind of person. It was not because she blindly trusted Zhang Zian¡ªit was because she felt psycho killers wouldn¡¯t be nice to pets. She trusted her eyes and instincts.

    So, what about the sound?

    She hesitated when she saw that the ck-and-white kitten was squatting down two or three meters from her, looking at her with its silver-grey eyes.

    Before she went to the pet shop to wash Jasmine, Lu Yiyun never saw or heard of cats with silver-grey eyes. Every time she looked at it, she was surprised. It felt like this cat came from the ACG world, from another world where the line between real and virtual was blurred.

    There were plenty of customers, but not many of them had seen it. It often just disappeared when there were customers, and hid itself somewhere. It must be good at hiding. But when Lu Yiyun was the only one in the shop, it never hid.

    ¡°Do you know where my Jasmine is?¡± she questioned hopelessly.

    The ck and white cat tilted its head to one side, seeming like it understood her words, and pointed one of its front paws at the stairs to the second floor while meowing.

    ¡°It¡¯s upstairs?¡± Lu Yiyun guessed the answer herself. Jasmine couldn¡¯t have run out of the shop. Since she had looked through the first floor, it must have been on the second floor. But the crying for help made her scared.

    The ck and white kitten nodded.

    ¡°You can understand me?¡± she asked in surprise. Whether it was the tea-colored old cat, the golden cat, the white cat, or this ck and white kitten, they all gave her a weird feeling that they were not cats, but were more like humans. If they were characters inics books, they would be a sophisticated butler, the proud eldest daughter, the loyal maid who always wore a white dress, and the young, yet mysterious child.

    Then what was Zhang Zian? A young man who idently went into the castle? That sounded like a role for the male leading character inics.

    The young painter was daydreaming again.

    The ck and white cat didn¡¯t respond, just walked towards the stairs and then waved back at her.

    ¡°You mean, I go upstairs with you? This is not appropriate. After all, that is the private bedroom of the manager.¡± She was hesitant.

    It winked its silver-grey eyes and waved to her again.

    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll apologize to him when hees back,¡± Lu Yinyin whispered to herself. She followed the ck and white kitten and went stairs step by step to the second floor. ¡°Hmm, is anyone there?¡± she plucked up the courage and asked in a quiet voice. She actually hoped that no one would answer.

    ¡°Help! Help! Help me get down!¡±

    Most rooms on the second floor were closed, except for one door that was slightly open. The sound came out of this room.

    Weird, where is that ck-and-white kitten? She followed it all the way to the second floor and it had disappeared.

    Lu Yiyun gazed at this door, feeling like this was a trap. Jasmine must havee inside this room and been trapped. Since she was already here, whether it was for the crying youngdy or for Jasmine, she couldn¡¯t go back. The knot in her gut tightened.

    It was a normal living room with a blotchy, old sofa, a half-painted old tea table, a carpet with unclear patterns, and a retro television. There was a ball-shaped chandelier falling from the ceiling with a string holding a grey parrot. It was upside down, looking at Lu Yiyun with its ck little eyes, shouting, ¡°What are you waiting for, you worker? Put me down! And get this goddamn cat off me!¡±

    ¡°. . .¡±

    The grey parrot pped its wings like the ticking of the clock. The string was not long. It held the leg of the parrot so it was hanging upside down and couldn¡¯t fly away. Jasmine was squatting under the grey parrot, raising its head to look at it, sometimes licking its tongue and trying to catch it. The grey parrot was very frightened even though there was a long distance between them.

    ¡°What happened to you? Why did you hang yourself?¡± This scene was so weird, but Lu Yiyun couldn¡¯t help asking. She knew this grey parrot could speak and liked speaking. Many customers were amused by its talent.

    ¡°Ah? Why would I hang myself up? What¡¯s wrong with me?¡± It shouted in anger, ¡°It was Zhang Zian, that idiot, who hung me up!¡±

    ¡°He wouldn¡¯t do it to you for no reason. Did you do something bad?¡± Lu Yiyun asked.

    ¡°Something bad?¡± it screamed. ¡°I just identally pooped on the sheet! Zhang Zian is a small man! He hung me up just for this. No wonder he can¡¯t find a girlfriend!¡±

    ¡°. . .¡± Eww!

    ¡°Is this your cat? Get it away from me! It¡¯s after me!¡± the grey parrot kept shouting.

    Lu Yiyun never met a guy who asked for a favor so rudely.

    ¡°This is Jasmine,¡± she said.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care if it¡¯s jasmine or lily, just get it away from me as soon as possible!¡± it screamed. ¡°Or I will be cat s***, what a loss for human civilization!¡±

    ¡°Jasmine,e here,¡± she said to Jasmine.

    Jasmine looked at Lu Yiyun unwillingly, but then ran back to her, meowing.

    She held Jasmine and put it outside the door, then closed the door, so she could think of what to do with this parrot. Zhang Zian had put it up there to punish it, so if she took it down, would he be upset?

    ¡°What are you waiting for? Put me down now! There is a pair of scissors on the tea table over there!¡± The grey parrot pped its wings and tried to fly, but soon it ran out of strength and went back to hanging upside down.

    ¡°Were you imitating ady¡¯s sound for help just now?¡± Lu Yiyun asked it.

    It seemed to be proud of itself and replied loudly, ¡°Who else could do that? Did it sound real?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, very real,¡± she admitted, nodding.

    ¡°There you go. Now get me down, will you?¡± It stared at her.

    ¡°Give me a second.¡± Lu Yiyun took out her phone. ¡°Let me call the manager first and ask him.¡±

    ¡°No!¡± The grey parrot wanted to stop her. ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t!¡±

    Before she dialed the number, her phone rang. Zhang Zian was calling. ¡°Hello?¡± She picked up the phone.

    ¡°Hello? Lu Yiyun, please go to the second floor and release the grey parrot in the living room. I forgot to take it down before I left,¡± Zhang Zian said over the phone.

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m on the second floor. I heard its voice so I came up,¡± she exined.

    Zhang Zian paused, like he was thinking of something, then asked, ¡°Did it curse me?¡±

    ¡°No!¡± The grey parrot shouted, signlling Lu Yiyun with its eyes.

    Lu Yiyun answered honestly, ¡°It called you an idiot.¡±

    ¡°Oh, then leave it hanging for 15 more minutes,¡± Zhang Zian decided. ¡°What else did it say?¡±

    ¡°He said ¡®no wonder you don¡¯t have a girlfriend.''¡±

    ¡°Another 15 minutes!¡±

    The grey parrot shouted sadly and angrily, ¡°You are heartless! You are cruel! You are not reasonable! Put me down!¡±

    ¡°Then that¡¯s it. I still have things to do. I will see you tonight.¡± Zhang Zian ignored its swearing and hung up the phone.

    Lu Yiyun calmed down and checked the time, then put her phone back in her pocket. ¡°The manager said 30 more minutes of hanging. I¡¯m counting it down now,¡± she said.

    The grey parrot shouted, ¡°You are an idiot, too! Don¡¯t you have your own brain? I thought you were here to help me! Would youmit suicide if he told you to do so?¡±

    ¡°Of course not.¡± She shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m not a fool.¡±

    At that moment, someone passed the road outside the shop. The grey parrot seized the opportunity and screamed with a youngdy¡¯s voice, ¡°Help! Help!¡±

    The passerby heard it and stopped.

    Lu Yiyun heard people discussing, ¡°I heard someone screaming for help, should I call the police?¡±

    ¡°I think I heard that too.¡±

    She walked to the window and opened it, saying to the passersby downstairs, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. There is no need to call the police. It¡¯s just me watching a horror film.¡±

    The passersby looked at her and walked away.

    The grey parrot screamed with all its strength, ¡°Ga! Ga! You stupid human beings! You are all idiots!¡±

    ¡°I suggest you save your strength. There are still 29 minutes left,¡± Lu Yiyun suggested seriously.

    If she had to choose a role for the parrot in theics, then it would be something like the farmhand, who always got into trouble. She sat on the corner of the sofa and put her hand on her chin, counting silently and immersing herself in her daydreams aboutics.

 Chapter 463: Police Dog Training Base

    <h4>Chapter 463: Police Dog Training Base</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    At the entrance to the police dog training base, Liu drove away. Zhang Zian had just hung up the phone when Richard¡¯s wailing stopped abruptly.

    ¡°Did something happen in your store?¡± asked Feng Xuan with concern.

    ¡°Just a small issue. My employee is handling it.¡± Zhang Zian downyed the matter. ¡°Director Feng, let¡¯s go in.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± Feng Xuan nodded.

    Besides Feng Xuan and Zhang Zian, Feng Xuan¡¯s personal assistant and several staff came to help. A truck was also rented to deliver dogs. Of course, Famous was also there.

    Surrounded by a big gate and tall walls, with police officers on guard at the entrance, the police dog training base was closed to visitors. From the entrance, they could vaguely hear barking from further inside the base, probably the police dogs that were training in the morning. There was a sign hanging on the gate that read: Police Dog Training Brigade of SWAT Division of Binhai City Public Security Bureau.

    A short and stout, middle-aged police officer hurriedly walked out of the gate and extended his hand enthusiastically to Feng Xuan. ¡°Oh, my! It¡¯s Director Feng Xuan! Thank you for visiting! Our superiors have already notified us that you would being over. I didn¡¯t expect to see you here so early. Have you been waiting a long time?¡±

    Feng Xuan shook hands with him, ¡°We just arrived. How should I address you?¡±

    ¡°Han Gui. Just call me Old Han.¡± Old Han warmly greeted the others. ¡°Come in, everyone.¡±

    They followed Old Han and walked inside.

    Despite the asional barking, the base was very quiet with a sense of solemnity that seemed exclusive to soldiers or the armed police force. Even though there were police officers passing by, they stared directly in front of them and walked briskly, upholding the strict regtion that states ¡°two people should walk side by side, while three or more people should walk in line.¡± By contrast, thesemon people in their casual clothes seemed rather entric.

    The interior of the base was covered with green nts. There were tall, evergreen pines and cypresses on both sides of the passageway, and several small, brick-red buildings that were hidden among the forest.

    While he was walking, Old Han briefly went over the locations of the canteen, office building, training field, dormitories and the like to them. He wanted to lead them to the reception area so they could rest and have a cup of tea, but Feng Xuan politely declined.

    Feng Xuan said, ¡°Don¡¯t bother, just take us directly to the kennel and we will leave as soon as we finish picking the dogs. You seem quite busy here and we shouldn¡¯t take too much of your time.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve traveled all this way to visit us, why not stay longer? I¡¯ve already instructed the canteen to prepare lunch for you,¡± said Old Han eagerly.

    Feng Xuan checked the time and figured that after selecting the dogs, it would be time for lunch. He pondered for a while and said, ¡°Okay, we can stay here for lunch, but don¡¯t prepare any special meals for us. We will eat what you eat.¡±

    ¡°But you are our guests.¡± Old Han wanted to persuade him, but Feng Xuan was determined.

    The kennel alone upied apound in the base. Surrounded by an iron fence, its appearance seemed rathermonce. Three two-story buildings built in the shape of a triangle were painted deep blue, with a touch of light blue on the higher areas, making the buildings look simple and neat. The police officers on duty in the kennel also got the news in advance and were standing outside to greet them.

    ¡°Where are the retired dogs?¡± Feng Xuan asked.

    ¡°This way please.¡± Old Han exchanged a few words with the police officers on duty and then led them into the small building on their left side.

    ¡°Bark!¡±

    ¡°Bark!¡±

    The dogs in the small building had probably smelled Famous, so they kept barking so loud that the sounds were almost deafening.

    There weren¡¯t many rooms in the two-story building, but each room was veryrge. The walls and floors of each room were covered by shiny tiles. With mops and brooms hanging behind the doors, the rooms were filled with the faint smell of disinfectant water, of which Zhang Zian was familiar.

    Seven or eightrge stainless-steel cages lined in the room, and every steel cage was almost as tall as a human. Separated down the middle, each steel cage could fit tworge dogs. There were wheels under the steel cages, simr to the hospital beds, that enable them to be pushed.

    Currently, there were probably ten German Shepherds living in these cages. All of them were fully-grown, and their size and fur color almost the same as Famous. Their differences could only be seen only in the details in their appearances.

    ¡°Holy s**t! Look at this!¡± It was rare for the assistant to use foulnguage in front of Feng Xuan. Pointing to the first cage beside the door, he said with surprise, ¡°Look at the fences. They¡¯ve been bitten so badly!¡±

    Zhang Zian went to take a closer look and saw that the stainless-steel fences were covered with tooth marks as wide as an adult man¡¯s thumb. The bumpy and horrifying surfaces of the fences made them look like roasted corns that had almost been gnawed awaypletely.

    It was clear that these German Shepherds were fierce. Even though their shape was simr to Famous, if youpared them, Famous¡¯ temperament was obviously gentler.

    ¡°This one is called ¡®Big Teeth¡¯. It is excellent at biting, but poor at following orders. Once it bites something, it refuses to loosen up. No matter how much we train it, it can¡¯t change,¡± said a police officer. The German Shepherd in the cage revealed its white teeth, provocatively watching Famous.

    ¡°What¡¯s the criteria for selecting police dogs?¡± Feng Xuan asked.

    Old Han gestured for the police officer to reply. With his chin up and chest out, the police officer recited aloud, ¡°ording to the working rules of police dog breeding, the following five criteria should be met for the selection of police dogs: good neural types, courage, good physical fitness, the ability to hold things in their mouth, and the ability to follow orders.¡±

    ¡°So,¡± Feng Xuan asked, ¡°in other words, the dogs here are performing poorly in one or more aspects?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± said Old Han.

    Feng Xuan pondered for a moment and asked Zhang Zian, ¡°It¡¯s not good if we choose dogs with poor obedience skills to shoot our movie, right?¡±

    Since Zhang Zian had promised Famous and Liu that he would buy as many dogs as possible, he bit the bullet and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Director Feng. I don¡¯t think they have a problem.¡±

    Old Han frowned slightly. He was an experienced and prudent man who couldn¡¯t agree with Zhang Zian¡¯s perspective without giving it serious thought. He was worried that the eliminated dogs would cause problems during the movie shoot. Feng Xuan seemed to trust Zhang Zian very much, so Old Han asked him, ¡°Director Feng, who is this?¡±

    ¡°Oh, this is the chief dog trainer of our crew, Zhang Zian. He has a pet shop in the city.¡± Feng Xuan introduced and then pointed to Famous, ¡°This is his dog, Famous, who he trained himself, and it is the protagonist of the film.¡±

    Old Han was so surprised that he reexamined Famous. ¡°I heard that this is the dog that beat Red Dragon and Prince, right? Even though Red Dragon and Prince are the stars of our base and ranked at the top in every test.¡±

    No wonder he was suspicious of Famous. There was another set of criteria for the details of the appearance of police dogs inside the base. As a man who had seen countless German Shepherds, Old Han had very sharp eyes. To him, Famous was a very ordinary dog. He couldn¡¯t believe that Famous was able to beat Red Dragon and Prince.

 Chapter 464: Degeneration

    <h4>Chapter 464: Degeneration</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Old Han didn¡¯t believe that Zhang Zian trained dogs better than them or that Famous was better than Red Dragon and Prince. Was Zhang Zian just really lucky?

    At that moment, the door of the room was opened to reveal a guy, who looked to be in his 40¡¯s, pushing a stainless steel trolley inside the room. He had a unshaved beard and oily face, and was wearing a yellow apron with ck rain boots. There was also a stainless steel tray on the trolley with some nice smelling dishes inside.

    ¡°Excuse me,¡± he murmured to all the people inside.

    ¡°This is Old Yang from our kitchen. Everyone make some room for him,¡± Old Han simply introduced Old Yang and made way for him before reminding the others, ¡°Director Feng, be careful with the food and do not let them touch your clothes.¡±

    Old Yang pushed the dining trolley down the line of cages. He stopped at each cage and pulled on a drawer to take out the food basin. Then, using a stainless steel spoon, he¡¯d scoop the food out and onto the food basin. When he finished, he put the basin back and pushed the drawer closed. The whole process was just like what you saw with criminals on TV.

    ¡°Stop barking.¡± He looked at Big Teeth. ¡°What are you yelling for?¡± His voice wasn¡¯t loud, but it was enough for Big Teeth to stop barking.

    Zhang Zian got close and saw the food in the basin was rice with vegetables and only a few meat slices. The vegetables were rotten, and the rice was not fresh either. The amount of food was not enough for mature German Shepherds.

    Without asking, he could understand why they did this. The German Shepherds showed mercy when they fed them. They needed to use the budget for other police dogs, healthier ones. It was, after all, a police dog training base, not a charity institution.

    Old Yang pushed the trolley to thest of the cages and fed every German Shepherd with the same, average food. He then used the spoon to hit the bucket and yelled, ¡°Eat. Eat it until there¡¯s nothing on your te. You don¡¯t have many meals left.¡±

    Although the German Shepherds were old and retired, they had been strictly trained to not eat until they received the order. They started eating after they heard Old Yang¡¯s words. Suddenly, the room was full of eating and grinding noises.

    Old Yang nced at them and noticed that every dog was eating, so he pushed the trolley out the way.

    When he passed Zhang Zian, he looked at Famous and couldn¡¯t take his eyes off it. He held his breath and asked, ¡°Where did you get the dog?¡±

    Old Yang didn¡¯t ask anyone particr. Zhang Zian hesitated. He wasn¡¯t sure if he should answer him since Feng Xuan was the guy in charge and it was usually him or Old Han who dealt with questions.

    Old Han frowned, worrying Old Yang asked questions too casually and it might give the impression of their group being undisciplined. He waved his hands anxiously. ¡°Old Yang, do your job and mind your own business!¡±

    Old Yang rolled his eyes and yelled back, ¡°I was just asking, what¡¯s wrong with that?¡±

    Feng Xuan, afraid that they might argue, interrupted softly, ¡°This is a dog from our crew, called Famous. It¡¯s the lead character.¡±

    ¡°Of course he is.¡± Old Yang twisted his mouth, looking like he was sorry for the dog, and left with his trolley.

    His words came out of nowhere and made others curious. Feng Xuan walked forward and blocked the food trolley. ¡°Old Yang, you seem to have a problem with this dog. What do you mean? Just say it.¡±

    Old Han worried that Old Yang might say something that upset his guests, so he red at him, a signal for him to shut up and leave.

    However, Old Yang didn¡¯t feel it and said naturally, ¡°There¡¯s not a problem. It¡¯s just that I haven¡¯t seen a good dog like this in years so I looked at it for a second. I don¡¯t know when I will be able to see a good dog again.¡±

    Now, Old Han wanted to say something. To him, Famous¡¯ appearance was average, far from the appearances of the top police dogs here in the training base. Did Old Yang just say things to humiliate them?

    ¡°Wait! Old Yang, exin yourself! Don¡¯t confuse our guests!¡± Old Han scolded.

    Feng Xuan took out his cigarettes and asked curiously, ¡°Old Yang, tell me the good things about this dog.¡±

    Based on appearance, Feng Xuan thought Red Dragon and Prince looked tougher and stronger, but Famous was a better performer. Overall, that was why they chose Famous as the lead role.

    Old Yang took a cigarette andughed, ¡°Yo, a fancy cigarette!¡±

    Feng Xuan gave the rest of the cigarettes to him. ¡°Old Yang, take all of them, if you want!¡±

    Before Old Han could stop him, Old Yang took it happily. He put the cigarettes in the pocket of his oily apron and smiled, ¡°What do you think is the difference between Famous and Big Teeth?¡± Everyone here would agree that Big Teeth looked stronger, more intimidating.

    ¡°You think Big Teeth is more threatening?¡± Old Yangughed, ¡°You¡¯re wrong. I have been in the base for over 20 years and I¡¯ve seen dozens of dogs, even retired dogs. Every ten years, we will import a group of German Shepherds and they look just like this one, not like a dog but like a wolf.¡± He pointed at Famous.

    ¡°They got worse after the third generation, their big heads and strong bones made them all slow runners. We had to import more dogs from Germany, and repeat this cycle again and again.¡± Old Yang said.

    Zhang Zian had heard about this before and asked, ¡°You mean, the German Shepherds are degenerating?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, they are degenerating. They are not as good as their ancestors, the wolf.¡± Old Yang lit a cigarette, ¡°Personally, I think the recent import is worse than the one before, maybe the German Shepherds in Germany are also degenerating.¡±

    He said sadly, ¡°After 10 years, we may not be able to see German Shepherds as police dogs anymore.¡±

    Zhang Zian had also heard this before, that German Shepherds all over the world are degenerating, even in Germany. The issue was especially worse in China, where German Shepherds were degenerating because of mating and training issues.

    Old Yang pointed at Big Teeth and said, ¡°Our selection process requires dogs with square head and thick bones because they look more intimidating and threatening to criminals. But how can they threaten criminals when they are too goddamn heavy to even run?¡±

    ¡°Old Yang, mind yournguage! You can¡¯t judge our n or our boss like that.¡± Old Han yelled at him seriously.

    Old Yang chuckled while he smoked his cigarette.

    Zhang Zian and Feng Xuan thought about Famous¡¯ performance at the audition. In the final round, Famous didn¡¯t try its best to run, instead it saved the energy for fighting. Though it didn¡¯t look as strong as Red Dragon or Prince. It was lighter and livelier.

    ¡°Does this dog belong to you?¡± Old Yang nced at Zhang Zian. He could tell it was his dog when Zhang Zian said things about the degeneration of German Shepherds.

    Zhang Zian nodded.

    ¡°Take good care of it. You can¡¯t even find a good dog like this in Germany. It¡¯s very expensive!¡± Old Yang put out his cigarette and pushed the trolley outside. ¡°Excuse me! Excuse me!¡±

    When his voice disappeared in the corridor, the room went back to silence.

    No one spoke. All of them were looking at Famous. Maybe it was what Old Yang just said, but now they thought Famous looked different. It was no longer an ordinary German Shepherd, but something noble and elegant.

    Looking at these dogs tagged with ¡°German Shepherds¡±, there was sadness in Famous eyes.

    ¡°Um¡­¡± Old Han forced a smile. ¡°Old Yang doesn¡¯t know how to speak properly to people, I hope you weren¡¯t offended¡±

    Feng Xuan sighed, then asked, ¡°What does Old Yang do? Does he just work in the kitchen?¡±

    ¡°Not really. He used to be a trainer long time ago, but then he was dismissed for being misbehavior and insubordination. The top showed him mercy and let him work in the kitchen.¡± Old Han answered.

    ¡°I think he is something at training dogs. These dogs listen to him.¡± Feng Xuan looked at Zhang Zian. ¡°Zhang, what do you think?¡±

    Zhang Zian was silent as he thought, Why bother asking for my opinions? I¡¯m not Yuan Fang or Doctor Waston.

    He thought about what Feng Xuan meant and said carefully, ¡°Your Majesty¡­ oh no. Director Feng, we need someone to take care of the dogs we bought. I suggest we ask the boss if we can have Old Yang to help us for few days?¡±

    ¡°I think that sounds good.¡± Feng Xuan nodded, then turned to Old Han. ¡°What do you say, Old Han?¡±

    ¡°This¡­¡± Old Han hesitated. He remembered that their boss said they would do whatever they could to support this film. They would definitely say yes. He¡¯d better do this as a favor so he replied, ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll n this. I will talk to Old Yang and ask him to be on board.¡±

    Feng Xuan smiled and looked at his assistant, who then ran to Old Yang.

    After a while, Old Yang came back, looking confused. ¡°What? What do you want from me?¡±

    Old Han said seriously, ¡°Old Yang, we want you to join the crew and be in charge of the dogs¡¯ eating and living habits. This is the famous director, Feng Xuan. You will work under him, so you do what he asks you to do, understand?¡±

    Old Yang seemed unwilling until Feng Xuan leaned over and whispered something in his ear that made him happily agree. He probably told Old Yang that it was okay to smoke whenever he wanted or something like that.

    ¡°Copy that! I will do my job!¡± he saluted.

 Chapter 465: Be with You for the Long Run

    <h4>Chapter 465: Be with You for the Long Run</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The German Shepherds, most of which were rejects, looked very aggressive. Feng Xuan was quickly losing faith in them, especially when he discovered that some of the dogs had been gotten rid of for having poor obedience. When he learned that they listened to Old Yang¡¯smands and that Old Yang had been a dog trainer before, he came up with the idea of ??asking him for help.

    Old Yang went back to the dorm to change his clothes. To Zhang Zian, Feng Xuan said, ¡°How many dogs do you think we should we buy? Do you want to pick them out?¡±

    Zhang Zian told him, ¡°I think the more, the better. Why don¡¯t we just buy all of them? We still have several big events to be filmed, don¡¯t we? That includes the farewell party before the police officers head back to the frontier, as well as the award ceremony at the end. A lot of dogs will need to be there at the same time for those scenes. From what I count, I don¡¯t think the number of dogs we have now will be enough.¡±

    Feng Xuan nodded. He¡¯d nned to temporarily borrow some dogs from the police dog unit for these shots. However, because a lot of time had already been wasted because of the incident caused by the pyrotechnician Guan Biao, it would be a hassle to go through the loaning procedure again. He¡¯d better solve the problem here and now.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do this. Comrade Old Han, we¡¯d like to buy all of these dogs,¡± he said. Old Han agreed without much deliberation. These dogs were useless to him if they stayed anyways.

    The leader of the base thought that these dogs could be donated to the crew for no cost, but Feng Xuan insisted on paying him some money.

    Old Yang came back after he finished changing clothes. Together with Feng Xuan and his assistant, the crew staff, and a few police officers, they loaded the caged German Shepherds into the truck. The cages would be returned back to the base after the dogs were delivered to the crew. There were wheels at the bottom of the stainless steel cages, so it was easy to transport them.

    Because they couldn¡¯t take any more of Old Han¡¯s repeated invitations, Feng Xuan, Zhang Zian, and Famous went to the base cafeteria for lunch, which had ordinary home cooking. During their meal, other police officers and dog trainers, who were eating there, secretly nced at them, especially at Famous. They whispered to each other asionally.

    Abandoning his previous scornful attitude, Old Han attentively asked Zhang Zian if he would like a beer. When Zhang Zian politely declined, he asked casually where he had gotten Famous from.

    Zhang Zian had anticipated such a question when Old Han persuaded him to drink. Old Han must have changed his mind after listening to Old Yang. So, just as he told Professor Wei Kang and President Wu Mingzhen before, no matter what anyone asked him, he replied that he had found Famous on the streets. Famous¡¯ origins could be easily traced from any other answer.

    Famous was obviously not a German Shepherd from the current time period. Comparing it to the German Shepherds in this era, Famous was closer to their ancestors, the wolf. Zhang Zian once heard that in order to deal with the overall decline in German Shepherds, some researchers from the Police Dog Research Institute were even trying to mate German Shepherds with wolves so that their offspring could resemble their ancestors more closely. Otherwise, it would only be a matter of years before German Shepherds werepletely taken out from the police force and reced by other more suitable breeds.

    After their quick lunch, Old Han sent them to the base gates. The crew¡¯s vehicle was ready. Everyone was waiting for Zhang Zian and Feng Xuan.

    Old Han politely said a few more words to Feng Xuan. If Feng Xuan encountered any difficulties in the shoot, he should feel free toe to the base for help, and the base would eagerly lend a helping hand. Feng Xuan casually epted his offer.

    Then, Old Han returned to the base. Zhang Zian was about to get in the vehicle with Feng Xuan, but noticed that Famous was staring at the gates. He followed its gaze and looked in the same direction.

    A figure slowly walked out from the base. The spotty shadows from the trees and the blocked view from the automatic gate made the person¡¯s facial features a bit fuzzy. Zhang Zian could only tell that it was a skinny young man wearing casual clothing. He was carrying a big backpack, disproportionate to his body, making him look too heavy on the top.

    The training base was not open to the public. The people that Zhang Zian met inside the base, whether they were wearing casual clothes or police uniforms, walked and moved vigorously and resolutely, carrying a neat sense of authority that was exclusive to those in the army or police force. However, this figure was moving very leisurely, as if he was strolling with a loved one through the woods. Zhang Zian calcted the time that Old Han used to say goodbye to them. The tree lined road was not a very long, but this person still hadn¡¯t reached the end after walking for twenty minutes.

    There was no lover or child, but only an adult German Shepherd walking beside him. The German Shepherd was carrying a huge travel bag in its mouth, as if it was also apprehensive about something, and it walked very slowly. It stopped to look back from time to time, like it was going to take the luggage and turn around at any given moment.

    Despite how slowly they had travelled, the road had finallye to an end.

    The human figure stopped outside of the gates. With one more step, he would go beyond the sliding tracks of the automatic gate, which was under the watch of an on duty armed police officer. If he took another step, he would leave the base, but he stopped right there.

    His face looked red from the long exposure under the sun. Zhang Zian could still tell that he was a young man in his twenties, with thick eyebrows and short spiky hair.

    Seeing him finally stoppletely, the German Shepherd was so happy that it turned around and tried to walk back with the luggage still in its mouth. He tried to grab the luggage from the dog. ¡°Here we are Storm,¡± he said in his mellow, out of town ent. ¡°Give me my luggage and go back.¡±

    The German Shepherd named Storm suddenly went crazy, dragging the luggage inside. Caught off guard, the man, startled by Storm, staggered a few steps towards the base.

    ¡°Let go! Storm! Let go!¡± he ordered loudly, bending over like a game of tug of war. He shifted his center of gravity backwards to steady himself and continued to fight over the luggage with Storm.

    Storm didn¡¯t listen to his orders at all. With its sharp teeth tightly holding onto the straps of the luggage, it refused to let go no matter how loud he shouted.

    The man¡¯s strength was losing to the dog¡¯s. He was dragged back inside the base inch by inch, at a snail¡¯s pace. This German Shepherd, however, seemed to have been even more motivated and it kept pulling harder. The muscles all over its body were tightening up.

    ¡°Let go! Storm! The baggage straps are going to snap!¡± he cried.

    Like a statue, the on duty police officer was staring straight ahead, clearly ignoring the scene unfolding right before his eyes.

    As he predicted, with a loud snap, the nylon luggage straps could no longer handle the opposing forces and ripped down the middle. Having no time to catch himself, he swayed a few steps towards the direction of the gate and fell onto the ground.

    He ced his hands on the ground trying to get up, but his palms felt something cold. He looked down and saw that his hands were on the sliding tracks of the gate. He was back at the starting point of the tug of war.

    As if victorious, Storm walked briskly into the base, taking a few steps with the luggage still in its mouth. It looked back at him every few steps, as if urging him to keep up.

    The distance between the man and the dog gotrger andrger. He didn¡¯t bother keeping up with it, or even standing up. He quietly sat on the ground, watching it walk away calmly. He took off his huge backpack and threw it onto the ground in front of him. Gently, he said, ¡°I¡¯m leaving, Storm. Even if you take all of my luggage, I have to leave.¡±

    Just before, no matter how hard he tried tomand it, Storm refused to let go of the bag. Hearing this sentence, Storm involuntarily opened its mouth like it had lost all its willpower. After hearing his lifeless voice, the luggage was dropped to the ground in a cloud of dust.

    Since Zhang Zian and Feng Xuan still hadn¡¯t gotten in the vehicle, Feng Xuan¡¯s assistant ran over and asked him, ¡°Director Feng, are we still waiting for others?¡±

    ¡°Wait a second,¡± said Feng Xuan, waving his hands. ¡°Wait a second.¡±

    Probably because he wanted to smoke another cigarette, Old Yang, who had changed into a crumpled police uniform, jumped out from the truck¡¯s passenger seat and approached Zhang Zian and Feng Xuan, narrowing his eyes to look to the gate.

    ¡°It¡¯s Cui Yi. It¡¯s this kid¡¯s turn to retire from the service now. Several years have passed since he first arrived here. At the beginning, he wept because he missed home so bad.¡±

    Leaning on the door of the truck, Old Yang lit up a a high quality cigarette that Feng Xuan gave him and acted like this was nothing out of the ordinary.

    Staring at each other from a distance of about 20 meters, it seemed like the guy and the dog were trying to beat one another through a battle of patience and willpower. At the quiet gates of the police dog training base, no one was talking. Only the whistling from the wind through the pine trees could be heard.

    Cui Yi unzipped his huge backpack and took out a bag of tightly packed roast chicken. He ripped open the package, took out a drumstick, and waved the drumstick in front of Storm.

    Storm hesitated for a moment but did note closer, as if it was afraid that the luggage it was guarding would disappear without a trace.

    ¡°I won¡¯t secretly run away.¡± Cui Yi smiled, throwing his big backpack farther away.

    Turning around in circles with its tongue hanging out, Storm seemed to be stuck in a dilemma and didn¡¯t know if it should trust him or not.

    ¡°Come and eat it. This is thest time I¡¯ll feed you.¡± He shook the drumstick again.

    Storm cautiously stepped forward. It stopped to check whether the luggage was still there every couple of steps. It took Storm awhile before it reached Cui Yi. Storm bent down and sniffed the drumstick. With only one bite, it tore off half the meat from the drumstick. It swallowed down the chicken in a few chews.

    Cui Yi held the drumstick and turned it to the other side. With another bite, Storm finished the rest of it. He fumbled a few times, trying to get something from his pocket, and took out a tissue. He wrapped up the chicken bone, and ripped off another drumstick from the chicken. ¡°Eat slowly. There¡¯s still plenty of meat.¡±

    After feeding it two drumsticks, he tore off pieces of the chicken breast and put them in his palm for Storm to eat. Storm used its tongue to roll the chicken breast into its mouth, leaving warm licks on his palm.

    Soon, all the meat that could be torn off from the roast chicken was eaten. Cui Yi didn¡¯t dare feed the parts with bones to it, out of the fear that the bones would get stuck in its throat.

    He wiped his hands clean with a paper towel and put his arm around Storm¡¯s neck like they were good buddies.

    ¡°Storm, I¡¯m leaving. The new trainer, Li Yongping, is a good man. You have to cooperate with him. You can¡¯t throw tantrums with him like you did when I first came. You have to act good, carry out more assignments, and strive to get good behavior awards. You little b*stard, this is the scar you left on me from that first time, and it¡¯s stuck on me for my whole life.¡± He rolled up his left sleeve, exposing a circr scar on his left arm. It was a bite mark. It was unbelievable how painful this scar looked. The blood must have been gushing from his arm in streams when it happened.

    ¡°I¡¯ve hit you and scolded you while training, and you¡¯ve bitten me. We¡¯re even. But if you even dare to bully the new trainer and don¡¯t listen to his orders, I won¡¯t forgive you! Do you understand?¡±

    Storm moaned, bowed, and licked his scar.

    ¡°Do you realize your mistake? Good. When carrying out tasks, you must protect Li Yongping and yourself. And then you must retire in a healthy condition.When you retire, I will submit an application to the superiors of the organization to adopt you. It¡¯s said that police dogs that have performed worthy services are easier for people to adopt.¡±

    Cui Yi didn¡¯t seem like a person who couldn¡¯t make up his mind. But he seemed to have endless advice to give to Storm, instructing it with all sorts of details from daily life to training to executing tasks. He was afraid that Storm might cause trouble after he left. Afterwards, he choked with sobs, and his thoughts became disorganized again, even after trying to get his attitude straight the previous night.

    Storm had never seen him like this. Restlessly, it turned its head to look at his backpack, nning to drag him back into the base. But being hugged tightly by Cui Yi¡¯s strong arm, it was unable to move, and it was also scared to resist him.

    At that moment, another young man in a police uniform walked from the base. Without approaching them, he kept watch on them from afar. This was probably the new trainer, Li Yongping.

    Cui Yi forcibly wiped his eyes and gestured to Li Yongping.

    Li Yongping slowly walked towards him. He walked out of the base, sticking out his hand to call a taxi.

    ¡°Storm, I need to leave now, or I may not make the train. You go back with Li Yongping, and remember what I said, do you understand?¡± Cui Yi took off the cor from the backpack, the one that Storm had always used, and put it around its neck. He attached it with a leash, indicating for Li Yongping toe over and hold it.

    The straps from the luggage were still torn off. Li Yongping picked up the bag and put it under his arm, carrying it over to Cui Yi.

    Cui Yi solemnly handed the leash to Li Yongping. ¡°Please take care of Storm from now on.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take good care of it!¡± Li Yongping nodded fiercely and handed him the luggage.

    Cui Yi looked at him, gritted his teeth, and said, ¡°I believe in you. I have to leave now. Goodbye!¡±

    ¡°Take care! Have a nice trip!¡± Li Yongping said.

    Cui Yi bent down and patted Storm on the head for thest time. He firmly turned around, lifted his legs, and walked across the gate tracks. After this final step, he was no longer part of the police dog training base.

    The instant his footnded heavily on the other side of the tracks, Li Yongping, who was holding Storm, and the on-duty police officer who had remained motionless as a statue, gave a solemn salute towards his back simultaneously .

    Cui Yi did not look back. But Zhang Zian could see that he was already in tears. He stuffed hisrge backpack and the luggage into the trunk of a taxi, opened the door, and sat down.

    Suddenly, Storm started barking violently, and it rushed out, dragging its leash behind it. Li Yongping didn¡¯t seem to have held the leash very tightly, nor did he seem to have the intentions of catching up with Storm.

    Storm rushed to the side of the taxi and stood up, with its two front paws against the window. It watched Cui Yi nkly. Except for the times when Cui Yi went to his hometown for festivals, they had never been separated from each other when leaving the base. It seemed like Storm was asking, Why aren¡¯t you taking me with you?

    Tears bursting from his eyes, Cui Yi opened the door and hugged Storm tightly. ¡°Storm! Storm!¡± He muttered its name repeatedly, unable to say anything else.

    Famous, Zhang Zian, and the others were all quietly watching.

    After a long time, the taxi driver started growing a bit impatient. He wanted to urge Cui Yi to hurry up, but didn¡¯t dare to actually do so.

    ¡°F**k!¡± Old Yang threw his cigarette butt on the ground and stamped it out. He strode towards Cui Yi and patted him in the shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s time to go.¡±

    ¡°Master Yang¡­¡± Cui Yi opened his eyes that were foggy with tears. He looked up and recognized who it was.

    Old Yang pulled out a crumpled handkerchief and handed it to him. ¡°Wipe off your tears.¡±

    Blushing, Cui Yi took the handkerchief and casually wiped his face, and then gave it back. ¡°Thank you, Master Yang, this is so embarrassing¡­¡±

    Old Yang put the handkerchief back into his pocket, and said in an unbothered way, ¡°I¡¯ve seen many simr embarrassing situations before.¡±

    ¡°Get in the car.¡± Old Yang urged him, ¡°The train won¡¯t wait for you.¡±

    ¡°Sit!¡± Cui Yi pressed Storm and gave his final order to it.

    Storm obediently sat on the ground.

    Cui Yi went back into the car, shut the door, and said to the driver, ¡°To the train station please, thank you.¡±

    As light smoke emitted from the exhaust pipe, the driver turned on the taxi, stepped on the elerator, and gradually sped up the car.

    Storm was stunned for a moment, and then started to chase after the taxi.

    Sticking his head out from the rear window, Cui Yi waved and shouted, ¡°Storm! Go back! I¡¯ll pick you up when you retire!¡±

    Storm didn¡¯t stop. It kept chasing after him, desperately trying to catch up with the taxi. But the taxi was getting increasingly farther and farther away. The taxi started going faster, and as its physical strength was being drained rapidly, Storm ran slower and slower. When the taxi disappeared at the end of the horizon, Storm finally stopped and sat on the ground, staring hopelessly into the distance.

    Unknowingly, Old Yang hade next to it. He reached over to pick up the leash, and gently pulled. ¡°Let¡¯s go Storm, let¡¯s go back.¡±

    Storm looked up at Old Yang and whimpered. Led by Old Yang, it returned to the base. It turned its head every few steps, as if hoping that its owner would change his mind ande back.

    ¡°Stop looking. He won¡¯te back no matter how many times you look.¡± Old Yang pulled the leash harder with hand. ¡°Even if that kid has the audacity toe back, I¡¯ll just kick him into the car again.¡±

    Storm seemed to have understood his words and sadly lowered its head.

    ¡°You heard what he said before. If you behave well and perform good service, you still have a chance to be together once you retire.¡± Old Yang said, ¡°But if you dare lose your temper and behave poorly, you won¡¯t be able to see him ever again. Don¡¯t worry, a few years will pass by in a blink of an eye. When I first met him, he was just a young kid and you were just a puppy! So many years have passed¡­¡±

    While talking, he took Storm back through the gates. In the presence of the on duty police officer, he put the leash into Li Yongping¡¯s hand and severely reprimanded him. ¡°What were you thinking? How could you let the dog take over like that? Do you want to end up in the kitchen like me?¡±

    Li Yongping lowered his head.

    ¡°Uneptable!¡± Old Yang cursed at him. ¡°Go back inside, quickly!¡±

    Li Yongping saluted him and took Storm, who kept looking outside, to return back to the base.

    Old Yang walked back to the truck and said snappily, ¡°Let¡¯s go, the show¡¯s over!¡±

 Chapter 466: Let the Right One in

    <h4>Chapter 466: Let the Right One in</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The squad and the ten retired German Shepherds got on the bus and went back to the filming location.

    After they got off, Feng Xuan and his assistant were called by the crew members. It seemed that something had happened. Old Yang yelled and instructed the crew members to take the dog cages from the vehicle.

    These stainless steel cages were property of the police dog training base and they had to be returned. The crew also had gotten some average iron cages ready, and though they were not as shiny and stable as the stainless steel ones, they could still be used during the shoot.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have much to do, so he squatted down and watched Old Yang busily do things.

    ¡°Where¡¯s the water? I¡¯ll take anything drinkable,¡± Old Yang asked, walking around and setting things up.

    ¡°There¡¯s a water dispenser over there.¡± Zhang Zian pointed to it. He knew Old Yang wanted to feed the dogs so he stood up and said, ¡°I¡¯ll go with you and we can carry a bucket of water back together.¡±

    ¡°Hey, that would be great. I¡¯m just worried about where we can find the water.¡± Old Yang touched his head and looked out, murmuring, ¡°There are so many people in the crew. This whole ce is the shooting location?¡±

    Zhang Zian signaled for Famous to catch up. ¡°Yeah, these are all the shooting locations provided by Binhai Studio. Since we have explosion scenes sometimes, we needed a deserted location. Besides, we need to clear the ce and make it open to staff only anyways.

    As there were ten dogs waiting to be fed, arge amount of water was needed. Zhang Zian had to carry the whole container of drinking water back with Old Yang.

    Old Yang opened the water and brought over stainless steel food bowls, then had Zhang Zian tip over the bucket. The two worked together to pour water into every bowl and then put them back into the steel cages.

    These dogs hadn¡¯t been drinking water after their meals and had been on the road for a long time, so they were very thirsty. They immediately started to drink as soon as the water was in front of them.

    Zhang Zian was still thinking about the sad scene that had happened back at the base, so he took the opportunity to ask, ¡°Old Yang, all those police dogs¡ªI mean the real police dogs, not the retired ones¡ªwhat will happen to them once they actually retire?¡±

    Old Yang was busy with his hands, but started talking. He first confirmed Sheng Ke¡¯s words. The official police dogs were in the system, separate from the policemen themselves. Their system was more like the gun and police car inventory, where they all had their own numbers. They couldn¡¯t be shared with the public, even they were damaged or aged. This also applied to the police dogs.

    Unless the dogs were injured or sick, the police dogs technically had to work for eight years before they retired. After they retired, they would usually have three choices. The first one was stay where they were. They could also go to policemen or trainers as pets, which was what Cui Yi was aiming for. Thest option was for any dog lover to adopt them after signing a contract.

    Zhang Zian heard the three options and thought they were pretty decent. The police dogs worked for their society for half their lives, then could finally rest in good health. At least they didn¡¯t have to be abandoned.

    ¡°Difficult! Difficult! Difficult!¡± Old Yang shook his head and repeated to himself.

    ¡°Speaking of the second n, there are some trainers and policemen who love dogs and are willing to adopt them when the dogs retire, but when you think about it, the policemen are on the same basic level as us. We can feed ourselves and a dog with our sry, but we have to get married right? What if our wives say no to these dogs? Also, more and more big cities are against owningrge dogs, and the trainers and policemen can¡¯t do anything about that.

    ¡°Apart from that, being adopted by the public can still be difficult. Though retired police dogs are old, they are still more dangerous than an average dog. If a random guy wants to adopt one, he has to go through a huge pile of paperwork and needs a decent sry. Besides, they would need a signed insurance from the police members. All of this prevents a lot of people from doing so.

    ¡°Staying where they already are may be the main choice for retired police dogs¡­¡± Old Yang was silent for a bit then continued speaking, ¡°Generally speaking, the adopters don¡¯t have much time, money, or energy for the retired dogs. They usually assign or outsource them to others.¡±

    ¡°Assign to whom?¡± Zhang Zian asked curiously.

    ¡°To anyone who has an open nursing home for police dogs. I¡¯m not sure.¡± Old Yang didn¡¯t really know either.

    Zhang Zian nodded to show he understood, and stopped asking questions. After all, Old Yang was just a former trainer from the base who now just cooked for dogs. You couldn¡¯t expect too much from him.

    Just at that time, the assistant came over, breathing heavily. ¡°Brother Zhang, Director Feng asked for you. He said there was something important that he wanted to discuss with you. Oh, Director Feng also asked for you, Old Yang.¡±

    Zhang Zian figured that it might be the thing that made Feng Xuan leave before, but he didn¡¯t know for sure what it was. He asked Old Yang and walked towards Feng Xuan¡¯s temporary office together with the assistant.

    ¡°What is that?¡± On the road, Zhang Zian noticed something unusual and stopped walking. There were many unfamiliar workers that he didn¡¯t know who had joined the crew. They were wearing the light reflecting uniforms and safety helmets, all gathered around in a circle working on a chain link fence.

    The steel was about two and half meters above the ground and looked thicker than a usual fence. It seemed very strong. At every distance, there was a shining stainless steel pir, which was buried deeply underground and connected to the chain link fence.

    Just when Zhang Zian was wondering what the purpose of this fence was, he saw a worker carrying a bright yellow sign under his arm and put it up on the fence chest high. There was a lighting symbol on the sign and it read, Danger! High voltage!

    Holy hell! This was an electric fence? Zhang Zian and Old Yang were both surprised. They looked at each other, wondering what was happening. They somehow could tell it had to do with whatever Feng Xuan had wanted to tell them.

    Right before the electric wireting, the workers were setting up an outer wire fence as well. Thisting was rtively simple and rudimentary. Its height was about an average grown man¡¯s, and the wire was thin, fixed on the ground with wood nks. The outer wireting had been given a sign that said, Electric wireting inside, don¡¯t get close!

    Apparently, the thin outer wireting was to prevent people from getting close and the inner one¡­probably was made to prevent things from running away. For both the inner and the outer chain link fence, there was only one exit.

    By the door on the thin wireting, there were a bunch of steel cages in a row, which looked twice the size of the cages used for the German Shepherds. They were all empty for now.

    Seeing this, Zhang Zian and Old Yang weren¡¯t the only ones feeling confused and worried. Many of the crew members were all concerned and talking at a distance. They could hear all kinds of guessing and spection going on and on.

 Chapter 467: Beasts

    <h4>Chapter 467: Beasts</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The conference room and the dorm near the outdoor shooting range were temporarily built stic houses with poor sealing jobs. When there was strong wind outside, there was a small wind inside. Even when they were indoors, people wore coats or jackets to keep warm.

    Feng Xuan¡¯s assistant knocked on the door and came in, leading Zhang Zian and Old Yang into the room. Famous followed behind them.

    ¡°Director Feng, here they are,¡± the assistant said before he left.

    The heat was on in the room, but due to the frequenting and going of personnel, it wasn¡¯t quite warm. Feng Xuan was still wearing the same green military coat he wore when he visited the police dog training base, and was sitting across a middle-aged man in a dark, blue jacket.

    ¡°Zhang, Old Yang. Let me introduce you to Xu Gang, the outreach producer.¡± Feng Xuan continued the introductions, ¡°This is Zhang Zian, the chief dog trainer hired by our crew, and the owner of the dog who ys Lightning. This is Master Yang who is temporarily transferred from the police dog training base. He has spent more than twenty years at the base and has prior dog training experience.¡±

    Xu Gang looked sleepy, beaten by the weather, and his hair seemed like it hadn¡¯t been washed for a few days, but he managed to get up with an effort and shake hands with Zhang Zian and Old Yang.

    ¡°Hello, just call me Gang Zi.¡± Xu Gang¡¯s tone was very straightforward, like a person who didn¡¯t pay much attention to trivial formalities. He said to Zhang Zian, ¡°Zhang, we¡¯ve never met before, but I¡¯ve heard good things. Your Famous is very impressive. I was worried that the shooting process would not go smoothly if the protagonist was yed by another dog. Everyone in the film industry knows that the hardest objects to shoot are animals and children. Especially animals because of their disobedience.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Zhang Zian said honestly, ¡°I¡¯m not talented. Famous is just intelligent.¡±

    Xu Gang thought Zhang Zian was being humble, so heughed.

    Feng Xuan said from the side, ¡°Zhang, before you joined the crew, Gang Zi went to the Western region with the outdoor scenery team, which is why you¡¯ve never met.¡±

    Xu Gang nodded and said, ¡°The title ¡®outreach producer¡¯ sounds fancy, but I¡¯m just doing odd jobs. I went to the west this time to find props.¡±

    He nced at Feng Xuan and said meaningfully, ¡°Fortunately, apart from getting tanner, I found the props we need.¡±

    Zhang Zian was intrigued, what props needed to be found in the west?

    ¡°Well done, Gang Zi,¡± Feng Xuan encouraged him, ¡°Go to the hotel to rest, ande back to report for duty after you¡¯ve had enough sleep.¡±

    Xu Gang said with a bitter smile, ¡°You don¡¯t need to tell me twice, I do need a good rest. The altitude sickness almost killed me.¡±

    Feng Xuan joked a little more with Xu Gang before he stopped smiling and said to Zhang Zian seriously, ¡°Zhang, have you read the script yet?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhang Zian immediately replied.

    Feng Xuan asked him this question everyday, and he always gave the same answer.

    Zhang Zian had read the script many times. When he first got the script, he read it in its entirety several times.Now, he read the parts that were to be filmed each day before shooting. He could almost recite every word of the script.

    Feng Xuan smiled, ¡°Then, do you have any questions about the script?¡±

    ¡°Questions¡­¡± Zhang Zian repeated the word, quickly turned the pages of the script in his mind. The scriptnded on one of the pages he¡¯d written a big question mark.

    ¡°Ah! The power grid outside, is it¡­¡± he started.

    When he read the script for the first time, he had some questions. Some were about the performance and some about the plot. Even if he had doubts about the performance and the story, he was not qualified to voice his doubts. He knew that he was just a dog trainer with little say over things that didn¡¯t concern him.

    After Zhang Zian started participating in the film, these questions had been answered one by one. Some things that didn¡¯t seem reasonable in the script were actually the results of the eye-candy actors that were hired by higher ups, or results of thepromising choices made because of insufficient funds or technology.

    In addition to the questions about performance and plot, there was one question that had been bugging him from the beginning. The script mentioned that in the climax of the movie, Lightning, yed by Famous, along with several other police dogs, would need to cross the minefields of the snowy teau, dodge bullets from poachers, and escape the siege of ferocious beasts before they could sessfully return to the garrison headquarters to get help. Everything seemed fine except for the fact that the script didn¡¯t mention what the ¡°ferocious beasts¡± were.

    Of course, because of the word ¡°siege,¡± Zhang Zian assumed that the beasts were wolves, since the wolf was almost the best beast that excelled in cooperating to hunt for prey. Plus, wolves were indeed distributed in the Western region. So, he held back the doubt in his heart and did not ask Feng Xuan.

    It¡¯s not umon for wolves to take part in filming. Whether it was in Wolf Totem or Game of Thrones, wolves and wolf trainers could always be found. There was no wolf trainer in their crew, so Zhang Zian assumed that Feng Xuan would make the German Shepherds act as wild wolves, which was not a problem.

    However, when he heard Feng Xuan and thought about the question with the power grid outside, Zhang Zian started to suspect his idea. If German Shepherds were to y wolves, there was no need to prepare on such a grand scale. So, was Feng Xuan intending to shoot the film with real wolves? Then, where was the wolf trainer? Would Feng Xuan ask him, a dog trainer, to serve as the wolf trainer?

    He didn¡¯t really have the skills to tame wolves. If he entered the wolf pack, the only result would be bing the manure of the wolves. It¡¯s not worth taking such a risk with his wage of 1,000 Yuan per day.

    Feng Xuan slowly nodded, ¡°That¡¯s right, the power grid outside is used to prevent the beasts from escaping. Do you have any idea as to what kind of beasts?¡±

    ¡°Wolves?¡± Zhang Zian assumed.

    ¡°No. Try again.¡± Feng Xuan and Xu Gang looked at each other, smiling.

    ¡°Not wolves? Then, I don¡¯t know what they are,¡± Zhang Zian said confused. He felt inexplicably agitated and had no interest to y this guessing game.

    ¡°Huh,¡± Old Yang asked, ¡°can I guess? Are there any prizes?¡±

    Feng Xuan knew what he wanted as the prize, so heughed, ¡°Well, Old Yang, if you can get it right, I will give you a carton of cigarettes.¡±

    ¡°A carton of cigarettes? Let me guess,¡± Old Yang said with confidence, ¡°If not wolves, the beasts must be Tibetan Mastiffs.¡±

    Tibetan Mastiffs? Dogs?

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart suddenly tightened. He remembered those empty iron cages, of which the sizes were more than twice the size of the cages containing the German Shepherds. There¡¯s no need for such cages if the beasts were wolves. Were they really Tibetan Mastiffs?

    Feng Xuan and Xu Gang simultaneously pped their hands, and the former one apuded, ¡°Old Yang, you¡¯ve got it! Gang Zi brought back a group of Tibetan Mastiffs from his trip to the west.¡±

 Chapter 468: Tibetan Mastiff

    <h4>Chapter 468: Tibetan Mastiff</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    There was an old saying, a Tibetan Mastiff can beat three tigers, three Tibetan Mastiffs can sink an aircraft carrier, five Tibetan Mastiffs can kill God, and five Tibetan Mastiffs can create a new era.

    Although this saying was mocking those who bragged about Tibetan Mastiffs, the Tibetan Mastiff was, without a doubt, one of the most ferocious dogs.

    The beast in the script was a Tibetan Mastiff?

    Tibetan Mastiffs belong to the dog family and they are a social animal. Their specialty though, made it rare for people to have a bunch of them at home except those Tibetan Mastiff bases. This made many people, including Zhang Zian think that Tibetan Mastiffs are solitary animals.

    Usually, you wouldn¡¯t raise a group of Tibetan Mastiffs together because they fight each other to death.

    Liu told Zhang Zian before, even though the German Shepherds were police dogs, they could still getpetitive. If they liked each other, they were brothers and sisters, if they didn¡¯t, then they were enemies. That was why you never let German Shepherds who hate each other work or even train together because they would fight.

    Thepetition among Tibetan Mastiffs was even more fierce than thepetition among German Shepherds.

    Old Yang was thinking, while Zhang Zian was confused.

    Feng Xuan nodded to Xu Gang. Xu Gang took out aptop from his backpack, then linked it to the projector and closed the curtains.

    ¡°You won¡¯t benefit from just words. Just look at this video clip and you will understand. This video was shot by Gang Zi in No Man¡¯s Land in the west. It hasn¡¯t be cut or anything. It is new to me as well. Let¡¯s watch it together.¡± Feng Xuan said, ¡°Gang Zi, you made the video, you do the presentation if you don¡¯t mind.¡±

    Feng Xuan signaled for Zhang Zian and Old Yang to find a ce to sit. Xu Gang stood next to the projection screen and got ready to start.

    The video started ying.

    Zhang Zian stared at the video and felt disappointed. He thought this was actually a joke and Xu Gang might show them a newly released western film. He didn¡¯t expect it to really be a video shot in the west!

    Xu Gang was not a professional photographer, the shots weren¡¯t steady and it was obvious the video was made with his own camera, but you could tell it was shot near a Zang temple.

    At first, there were no Tibetan Mastiffs in the video, there was only the blue sky, so deep and far away. You could practically feel the sunshine and the heavy breath of the videomaker.

    The lens panned down and focused on a Zang temple located on a mountain.

    The focus was not the temple, but the two people in the crowd. One of them wore the traditional Zang clothes, while the other was a tourist wearing a red jacket. They were squatting down and ¡­ pooping.

    Zhang Zian was speechless as he looked at Xu Gang. It was so weird to take videos of people pooping, he couldn¡¯t have done something else? What was his goal, to portray the city better? If he insisted to record that, he could have done better than shooting two men. You could almost smell the poop through the screen.

    Xu Gang waved his hands to calm them.

    The two people finished their business and were about to stand up, holding their pants. You could tell from their facial expressions that they were happily talking to each other.

    All of a sudden, the tourist looked like he had been scared and ran away, still holding his pants.

    A giant brown Tibetan Mastiff suddenly ran from the corner of the screen and frightened Zhang Zian. It was just like the jump scares at the movies. He worried he might see some bloody scenes next. However, this Tibetan Mastiff didn¡¯t aim for the tourist or the local Zang, it was running to their shit. It rushed forwards and smelled it, then opened its mouth and swallowed it without hesitation!

    The local Zang seemed indifferent about this scene and slowly walked towards the temple.

    The focus had changed. The photographer was in the door of the temple and recording from above. The mountain was not high, there was a long stonemade slope from the foot of the mountain to the top. On the stairs, there were at least ten massive Tibetan Mastiffs, some were lying, some were walking, and some having a rest under the sun.

    The Zangs were brave enough to walk through them, while the tourists were too scared to keep walking.

    A few brave tourists tried to throw food from a distance to the Tibetan Mastiffs. They immediately started fighting for the food, pushing each other and baring their sharp teeth. There was blood everywhere and they were growling loudly, just for this tiny amount of food. One of the tourists who threw the snacks,ughed happily and took out his camera to catch the moment. Other tourists took photos as well.

    It wasn¡¯t just the tourists, some Zang people were also feeding them.

    Zhang Zian shook his head while watching. Hepared it to tourists feeding monkeys their own food at some tourist site. If you fed them more, they would get used to it and think ¡°Humans have food with them all the time.¡± If tourists forgot to bring food or were not willing to feed them¡­the monkeys weren¡¯t just going to let them go.

    If these wild Tibetan Mastiffs had the same subconscious, things were going to get really bad.

    There were some Tibetan Mastiffs, not only on the stone stairs, but around the solemn hall as well. One of them even gazed at the camera with a cold look. The camera person¡¯s breath became heavier, and it was not because of a fear of heights.

    Xu Gang paused the video and used theser pointer to point at that unfriendly Tibetan Mastiff on the screen, exining to them, ¡°I¡¯m sure you guys have heard of the economic copse of Tibetan Mastiffs. A Tibetan Mastiff used to cost over 10 million yuan, now it is like they have be worthless stray dogs. The economy of Tibetan Mastiffs used to keep a great amount of Tibetan Mastiffs in the Zang area. After the copse, the owners of Tibetan Mastiff farms lost all their money and the Tibetan Mastiffs became stray dogs. Just as you can see from the video, there were at least a thousand Tibetan Mastiffs near this temple.¡±

    ¡°The Tibetan Mastiff used to be called God Dog in the snow mountain, but are now considered disasters. They wander any temples, roads, cities and viges theye across. They eat everything they can eat. Now, they hunt livestock, rare animals, and even attack human beings. Local elder people and children are afraid to go out alone. If they have to go out, they carry stones or bats with them in case an attack happens. When I was recording, I heard people being bitten and kids dying.¡±

    Zhang Zian and Old Yang held their fists and listened sadly.

    Famous stood up and red at the Tibetan Mastiff who was only a bit bigger than him.

 Chapter 469: Nine Dogs and One Mastiff

    <h4>Chapter 469: Nine Dogs and One Mastiff</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The term ¡°Tibetan Mastiff¡± did not mean a specific type of dog, but referred to therge mastiff dogs living in the Tibetan teau. As long as it had arge body covered with fur, it could be called a Tibetan Mastiff. There was no purebred Tibetan Mastiff. And it was only a matter of time before the economic copse befell the dogs without any standard to judge their conditions.

    Zhang Zian held his breath and stared at the projection screen without blinking.

    He had heard a bit about the economic copse of the Tibetan Mastiff, but it was too far from his own life that he hadn¡¯t paid any attention to it. At this moment, it was only through watching the unedited video that he had truly understood the nightmare.

    The appetites of Tibetan Mastiffs were toorge and there was too little food on the teau, so they had always been hungry. Whether it was feces or the food thrown away by tourists, the Tibetan Mastiffs would eat anything to feed themselves. Since they were driven by hunger, they could do anything.

    Xu Gang continued exining when the screen disyed another scene.

    ¡°What you see now is the dog ??shelter that was jointly funded and built by the local government and the temple in order to alleviate this danger. A total of five shelters have been built, taking in about 5,000 stray dogs. However, there are still many Tibetan Mastiffs roaming and mating, increasing the number of Tibetan Mastiffs. In order to fill their stomachs, they have been seen attacking livestock with wolves. They should have been protecting livestock from the attack of wolves, and now they seem to be in alliance with wolves.¡±

    In a vast area surrounded by barbed wire, hundreds of stray dogs were wandering around, and most of them were Tibetan Mastiffs. At the end of the field was a small, shabby building with two peasant-looking people inside. They used shovels to mix the foodposed of hignd barley flour and ground meat. After mixing the food, the two people banged their shovels on the floor, apparently sending a signal that food was ready because numerous dogs immediately gathered,peting for the innutritious food.

    The food was gone very soon. They looked up to the small building, but the duo had left, which meant that lunch time was over and the next meal would be served tomorrow.

    ¡°An adult Tibetan Mastiff can only be full after eating 1,500g to 2,000g of cooked beef everyday. But here, thousands of Tibetan Mastiffs can only fill their stomachs with hundreds of grams of flour everyday. Even so, the monthly expenditure on food paid by the local temple is around 20,000 to 30,000 Yuan. It¡¯s unknown how long the shelter can hold up.¡±

    Zhang Zian noticed a problem. It stands to reason that with so little to eat every day, these Tibetan Mastiffs should have been skinny, but obviously the Tibetan Mastiffs in the video were still as strong as cows.

    A thin, yellow Tibetan Mastiff, who had not grabbed any food, was still hovering near the troughs to try to find some leftover food. It was too hungry and too upied by searching for food that it wasn¡¯t aware of the approaching crisis.

    Suddenly, a huge ck shadow swooped down, opened its fierce-looking mouth, and bit the back of the yellow Tibetan Mastiff¡¯s neck. The wild nature of the yellow Tibetan Mastiff was provoked. It roared loudly and turned its head to bite its attacker. The ck Tibetan Mastiff and yellow Tibetan Mastiff started to wrestle.

    The yellow Tibetan Mastiff was a lot bigger than a normal dog, but its attacker¡¯s body was even bigger, almost like abination of a lion and a bear. The attacker was overwhelmingly superior in strength. After the initial fighting back, the yellow Tibetan Mastiff had gradually lost its momentum.

    The neck hair of the yellow Tibetan Mastiff was dyed red by the blood. The smell of blood made the ck Tibetan Mastiff even more ferocious. Twisting its strong neck, it shook its head abruptly and threw the yellow Tibetan Mastiff more than two meters away.

    With a muffled sound, the yellow Tibetan Mastiff fell to the ground and, after twitching a few times, stopped moving.

    While the two were fighting, the other Tibetan Mastiffs were too afraid to get closer and were watching timidly from afar.

    The ck Tibetan Mastiff walked over like a noble emperor. It used its forepaws to pull on the yellow Tibetan Mastiff a few times. After receiving no response, it immediately lowered its head and began to gnaw at its body.

    There were a few Tibetan Mastiffs coveting the meat, and were brave enough to try to get a slice. The ck Tibetan Mastiff raised its bloody mouth and let out a deafening roar. Those bold Tibetan Mastiffs were so scared that they ran away with their tails between their legs.

    It was not until this moment did people see the true face of the ck Tibetan Mastiff. It was actually a ck and tan Tibetan Mastiff, with its body ck and its legs and chin yellow. At this moment, the yellow color on its chin had been stained by the blood of its fallen creature. Thick, dense hair covered its entire body, and its long hair made it look as mighty as a lion. The effects of long-term cannibalism made its original ck eyes, slightly red.

    Zhang Zian was watching, horrified, so much so that his hands and feet turned cold.

    He remembered an old saying that had been around since ancient times, one Mastiff would arise from nine dogs. In other words, when a few young Mastiffs were ced in a cer with only a small amount of food, they would have to kill and eat each other in order to survive. In the end, the surviving Mastiff would be the one with the most ferocious temperament.

    Didn¡¯t the stray dog ??shelter look like an oversized cer?

    The ck-and-tan Tibetan Mastiff that had fought its way out of thousands of Tibetan Mastiffs must be the Mastiff King!

    No wonder. The number of Tibetan Mastiffs in the shelter was obviously less than 1,000 because there was a formed hierarchy of the strong bullying the weak. Even when dogs starved to death, no one dared fish their corpses out from the shelter, so they became food for other Mastiffs.

    The video ended there.

    Zhang Zian could not help, but immediately raise the question in his heart, ¡°Director Feng, are you going to let Famous and the police dogs escape the siege of these Tibetan Mastiffs?¡±

    ¡°Yes, listen to me first.¡± Feng Xuan raised his hand to remind him not to worry. He could understand Zhang Zian¡¯s feelings. It¡¯s very dangerous to shoot this part of the script, and no one was willing to risk their own dogs.

    Feng Xuan stood up, pacing slowly and thinking his words through, and said earnestly, ¡°Maybe you guys would say that I¡¯m old-fashioned, but I think that movies should do more than just entertain, they should talk about social issues. I¡¯ve never made vulgar movies, although those kind of movies are more likely to do well, but there are already too many people making them. I shoot the Anti-Japanese War movies because I don¡¯t want young people to forget their history. I make police and gangster movies because I want to support social integrity. Simrly, I make this film-¡±

    He pointed to the Mastiff King on the screen and went to say, ¡°In hopes that society pays attention to the beasts that are wandering around, attacking humans and animals in the Tibetan areas. To let more people know how much damage these beasts have caused to the Tibetan people and the local ecological environment. If anyone can offer help, whether it be by donating money or other objects, then me making this movie will have more meaning.¡±

    Zhang Zian was full of displeasure. When it came to making the movie more thrilling, Feng Xuan did not consider the safety of the police dogs. But after hearing Feng Xuan¡¯s noble remarks, Zhang Zian could not utter a word.

    Xu Gang took over and said, ¡°Statistics say that 180 people are bitten by stray dogs in the Tibetan areas and that¡¯s not even counting the people who have not been included in the statistics. The actual data may be more than double. Besides, the danger of wandering Tibetan Mastiffs is not as simple as attacking humans and animals. They also transmit hydatid disease to humans. In some areas, one in eight people have been infected with hydatid disease, also known as Bug Cancer. It is extremely difficult to cure and has an extremely high mortality rate.¡±

    Xu Gang turned off the video and ced a few pictures on the projector.

    ¡°These are the children infected with hydatid disease. The main reason for the widespread hydatid disease is canine excrement polluting the water sources. Obviously, the local disinfection of potable water is not as good as it is in the ind.¡±

    Several young boys and girls were lying on hospital beds. Pale and emaciated, they were looking at the camera with dull expressions. It was heartbreaking to nce at.

    ¡°Why not just ughter the stray dogs?¡±

    Old Yang who had been silent suddenly asked a brutal question.

    ¡°Unfortunately, that is not an option. How I wish it could be that simple.¡± Xu Gang shook his head regretfully. ¡°This is the most troubling issue, though stray dogs have caused a great deal of harm locally, killing them is forbidden by the Tibetans. We have to respect the local customs and not kill them. We can only build shelters like this one to raise them in captivity and then sterilize them. It is a race between the reproduction rate of the stray dogs and the speed of our actions.¡±

    Feng Xuan sighed, ¡°I know shooting this scene is very dangerous, and we will provide the best safety measures we can afford. We have built a power grid, a barbed wire fence, and asked the new pyrotechnician to bring anesthetic rifles. However, we can¡¯t 100% guarantee safety of Famous and other dogs. That¡¯s why I asked you to pick the German Shepherds eliminated from the police dog training base, so they could be the stand-ins for Famous and the other police dogs for this scene. What do you think?¡±

    He looked at Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes, speaking in a civil tone.

    Everyone looked at Zhang Zian, while he scratched his head depressingly, unable to make a decision.

    There was no need for Feng Xuan to ask him, Feng Xuan could have shot this scene. He asked for Zhang Zian¡¯s opinion of because he respected him.

    There¡¯s nothing wrong with Feng Xuan¡¯s idea. These retired German Shepherds were going to die in the first ce. If their deaths were able to bring awareness to the society of the rampant Tibetan Mastiffs, thus improving the situation, then they would die for a good cause. Besides, there was no guarantee they would die during the scene.

    The only problem was that Famous would not agree to let other dogs take the risks.

    Since he was a child, making ethical choices between ¡°individual¡± and ¡°society¡± gave Zhang Zian the biggest headache. If he had nothing to do with the matter, he would certainly say, ¡°No need to think further! Of course, we should sacrifice individuals for the greater good of society!¡±

    However, he was unable to speak so easily when he was actually involved.

    After racking his brain, he stood up, shook his head, and walked towards the door, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Director Feng, I¡­¡±

    He took one step before the leg of his trousers was pulled.

    He looked down and found that it was Famous biting his trousers.

    ¡°Famous wants to be an angel,¡± it said, with its pupils shining.

 Chapter 470: Capture the Ringleader First in Order to Capture All His Followers

    <h4>Chapter 470: Capture the Ringleader First in Order to Capture All His Followers</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Seeing Zhang Zian leave, Fen Xuan thought they just disagreed on shooting methods, but Zhang Zian said, ¡°Sorry, Director Feng. I need to think about it.¡±

    ¡°Sure. The electrified wire is still under construction and the shooting will happenter. Please feel free to tell us if you have any suggestions.¡± Feng Xuan said, feeling rxed.

    Zhang Zian thought about it and asked, ¡°Can we use CGI in this scene? It¡¯s really popr right now.¡±

    ¡°That would be difficult,¡± Feng Xuan shook his head, ¡°We have a limited budget and can¡¯t do CGI. It wouldn¡¯t just be making one Tibetan Mastiff, but a group of them. Even though we have enough money, our skills are not qualified enough, so we¡¯ll beughed at by the audience. If they make fun of us, what we are doing bes meaningless.¡±

    Feng Xuan had a point. Zhang Zian thought about the CGI scenes he¡¯d seen in movies. Even though it cost a lot, the monsters still looked fake andme, like in City C. It couldn¡¯t evenpare to Jurassic Park, which was made 20 years ago.

    The scene with giant Tibetan Mastiffs running around would take more than 20 years to CGI as it was really hard to make their hair look real.

    Xu Gang¡¯s phone rang. While he answered it, Zhang Zian took the opportunity to leave when Xu Gang called him, ¡°Wait a second! These Tibetan Mastiffs are already here, let¡¯s look at them together.¡±

    Zhang Zian was interested. He only saw Tibetan Mastiffs on TV or in pictures, never one in the flesh, so he seized this opportunity and left the conference room with Fen Xuan and Xu Gang.

    Cars were honking.

    Several trunks made their way to the shooting area. The trunks stopped in front of the nk cages outside the wireting. The staff pushed out 20 smaller steel cages out of the trunks. There was one adult Tibetan Mastiff locked in each cage.

    When they pulled out thest cage, Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes widened as he noticed one of the Tibetan Mastiffs inside the cage was the King Tibetan Mastiff, the leader in the video.

    Zhang Zian could feel its intimidating aura even though he was a few meters away. It looked like a male lion and was shaped like a massive bear. Its shoulders were half as tall as a grown-up man and its weight seemed to be over 100 kg.

    This Tibetan Mastiff yawned and stretched while it shook its hair. You could practically feel its wildness. It looked at the crowd indifferently with its slightly red eyes.

    Even though it was locked in a strong steel cage, Zhang Zian was so scared that he shuddered and felt as though he had been shocked from his tailbone to his neck. Every cell inside his body was screaming for help, warning him to get away from this wild animal.

    It was not just him, some people had turned pale and some unconsciously took a step back.

    Compared to this King Tibetan Mastiff, Famous looked like a baby. The King Tibetan Mastiff only nced at Famous for a second before turning its head. It was not interested in the little dog because it looked like it could be crushed to dust within seconds.

    Maybe it was the wolf gene in it, or the responsibility it had, but Famous didn¡¯t take a step back, it just calmly looked at the giant animal.

    The 10 German shepherds stood not far away from the cages. They seemed to smell the danger and started barking together, especially Big Teeth, the biggest and strongest one among them. It shouted and bit the steel cage, looking ready for a fight.

    The 20 Tibetan Mastiffs were all motivated to start fighting and barked back. They were much louder than the German Shepherds and their members outnumbered. Suddenly, this ce was full of earsplitting barks.

    Woof!

    The King Tibetan Mastiff was annoyed by the barking, so it picked its head up and barked.

    The sound made all the dogs quiet. Big Teeth was still barking but it was obviously quieter than before and only to save face.

    Zhang Zian was the one who stood closest to the King Tibetan Mastiff. His ears were tingling, like they were still barking in his ears.

    The young girls in the crew were so scared that they cried.

    Famous shuttered a bit, then stood up back.

    Xu Gang sighed, walking over to them as he said, ¡°These Tibetan Mastiffs were delivered from the Zang area and fed normal dog food, hoping to help with their wildness, but it seemed it didn¡¯t work at all.¡±

    ¡°It worked to some extent.¡±

    Old Yang didn¡¯t talk much, but every time he did, it raised people¡¯s interest.

    ¡°Oh? What do you mean?¡± Xu Gang asked.

    Old Yang looked at the massive Tibetan Mastiff and frowned, ¡°You know how I could tell the beasts were Tibetan Mastiffs?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea. I thought you got it right by ident.¡± Feng Xuan asked curiously, ¡°Didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not that lucky. I knew it because¡­¡± Old Yang looked at the sky and tried to remember. ¡°A few years ago, all the police dog training bases over the nation tried to use another kind of dog to rece German Shepherds as a solution to the degeneration. Some bases let German Shepherds mate with wolves, while some bases imported Chinese Kunming dogs. Our base came up with a trick, to introduce some baby Tibetan Mastiffs to the base. It was experimental. The top asked a group of trainers to raise them, to see if they could qualify to be police dogs.¡±

    ¡°Then what happened?¡± they asked.

    Old Yang shrugged his shoulders. ¡°Of course, it didn¡¯t work. Tibetan Mastiffs lived in teau for so long they didn¡¯t have enemies. They are stupid and don¡¯t care about what is happening around them. They couldn¡¯t learn because they were so ferocious. The top gave up after the first try and went back to importing German Shepherds from Germany.¡±

    ¡°They gave up?¡± Zhang Zian focused on this word, ¡°Gave up, what do you mean gave up?¡±

    ¡°It means they were killed,¡± Old Yang said. ¡°Not only did they kill them, they dissected the dead bodies in hopes of getting some information on how they were different from other dogs.¡±

    ¡°So, what¡¯s the difference?¡± Zhang Zian asked again.

    Old Yang replied, ¡°I overheard, so I can¡¯t be sure that the information is correct. Their lungs are bigger than normal dogs and that¡¯s why they are able to run in the teau. However, when they came here, their lungs became a burden because it affected their energy and endurance.¡±

    Oh. Zhang Zian nodded. Now, the saying ¡°tigers have dogs beat when they are in the in¡± made sense. Although these Tibetan Mastiffs were kings in the teau, their skills were limited when theye to in ground. Either way, they were difficult to deal with.

    Old Yang sighed, ¡°German Shepherds are excellent dogs and they are not afraid of gunshots, but they were silent after hearing King Tibetan Mastiff bark. You can tell the King Tibetan Mastiff really is something. Zhang, you have to think about it before you make a decision.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t think it was him who needed to think about it, it was Famous.

    Famous stared seriously at the King Tibetan Mastiff. Even though that ear splitting sound shocked it, it didn¡¯t back off. It was thinking very hard about what could it do to beat this horrible beast.

    It saw theplete video and got an idea of how brutal this King Tibetan Mastiff could be. If Famous was bit, it could hardly get away. To be honest, Famous knew it might have chance if it got away from the teeth, but running away and hiding was not a solution. If the King Tibetan Mastiff let it go and ran to Red Dragon, Prince or the any of the other German shepherds, could they get away? Or would they fight back?

    The most important thing to remember was that the King Tibetan Mastiff was not the only enemy, there were another 19 Tibetan Mastiffs watching them. Once one German Shepherd fell, they would all be doomed to death.

    ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve got an idea. It may ensure the German Shepherds¡¯ safety, to some degree.¡± Old Yang said to them.

    Zhang Zian was delighted. ¡°Master Yang, what is it? Tell us!¡±

    Old Yang nodded seriously, ¡°It is simple. Basically, you have to shoot the horse first before you shoot the man. Capture the ringleader first in order to capture all of its followers! If you get this King Tibetan Mastiff under control, the rest will be easy to deal with.¡±

    Zhang Zian was concentrating so hard before, that he forgot how to think. Now, after the Old Yang¡¯s hint, he came to realize a solution.

    The Tibetan Mastiffs, even the wildest and the most vicious one, are still dogs. As long as it is a dog, there would be a hierarchy in the dog pack.

    If there was a wolf king in the wolfpack, a dog king in the dog pack, surely there will be a Tibetan Mastiff King in the Tibetan Mastiff pack.

    Thinking about it this way, the presence of the King Tibetan Mastiff was a good thing. If the Tibetan Mastiffs were solitary, it would give them more trouble.

    As long as they beat the King Tibetan Mastiff, or rece it, the other Tibetan Mastiffs would not be a problem.

    ¡°Old Yang, how can we deal with the King Tibetan Mastiff? Do you have any ideas?¡± Zhang Zian asked anxiously. Famous was also listening.

    This King Tibetan Mastiff was too ferocious. Old Yang had some ideas, but he wasn¡¯t sure if they would work.

    He raised his arm, pointed at Big Teeth and said, ¡°Big Teeth is the strongest of the German Shepherds. I guess we could give it a shot and let it fight the King Tibetan Mastiff, but the chances of it winning are small. They are not equals, the King Tibetan Mastiff¡¯s hair is so thick, one bite may not even hurt its skin.¡±

    It was the only solution they could think of.

 Chapter 471: Proving Strength

    <h4>Chapter 471: Proving Strength</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The sky was dark and the street lights were lit.

    Today, it was Liu¡¯s turn to pick up Zhang Zian. He was in a good mood,ughing and talking during the drive. However, he could tell that something was bothering Zhang Zian, whose expression seemed gloomy.

    Liu was not sure what Zhang Zian was upset about, but he couldn¡¯t ask him bluntly, so he had think of jokes to try to ease the mood.

    When the car arrived at the pet shop, Zhang Zian took off with Famous. Just when Xiao Liu was about to leave, Zhang Zian knocked on the window.

    ¡°Liu, are you busy today? I have something I want to discuss with you. If you aren¡¯t in a rush, why don¡¯t you stay for dinner?¡± Zhang Zian invited him.

    Zhang Zian had invited him over before, but he had always declined because he didn¡¯t¡¯ want to disturb Zhang Zian. Since Zhang Zian looked very worried today, Liu hesitated for a moment and said smiling, ¡°I¡¯d love to apany you, Zhang.¡±

    ¡°Yiyun, are you still here?¡± Zhang Zian knocked on the cashier¡¯s desk, startling Lu Yiyun who had been focused on painting.

    ¡°Oh my god! It¡¯s sote!¡± Lu Yiyun began to pack up her things in a hurry and told Zhang Zian all the important things that happened in the store today. Nothing important actually happened, she just made a fuss over them.

    ¡°You won¡¯t get paid for overtime, but dinner is on me.¡± Zhang Zian made a phone call and ordered food for the three of them. He had intended to order beer, but considering that Xiao Liu needed to driveter, he forgot about the idea.

    This was the first time Liu came into the pet shop. He was dazzled by the variety of cats and dogs, and array of food basins on the shelves in the shop.

    A momentter, Uncle Li delivered the food and left in a hurry.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, I¡¯m leaving now. See you tomorrow! Thank you for your dinner!¡± Lu Yiyun put on her coat and scarf, wrapping herself like a bear that was going into hibernation. She left staggeringly with her food in her hand. Jasmine stuck its head out from her backpack and yawnedzily.

    ¡°Liu,e eat the food while it¡¯s still hot.¡±

    Zhang Zian and Liu quietly filled their stomachs.

    After dinner, Zhang Zian put down his chopsticks. Liu knew he had something to say, so he listened carefully.

    Zhang Zian sighed and told Liu everything he saw and heard today, including Feng Xuan¡¯s intentions, the harm that Tibetan Mastiffs have caused in the Tibetan areas, and Old Yang¡¯s proposed idea. He also showed Liu some screenshots he took of the video.

    The more Liu listened, the more excited he grew. When Zhang Zian finished talking, he suddenly stood up and shouted, ¡°Zhang, let¡¯s do this! Even if Big Teeth can¡¯t fulfill the task, I¡¯ll let Red Dragon shoot the scene! Should Red Dragon fail, I¡¯ll let Prince do it!¡±

    Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you worried that Red Dragon will get hurt?¡±

    Liu gritted his teeth and said, ¡°I am worried! I am so worried that I feel like I might die! But since we are the people¡¯s police, the safety of people¡¯s lives and property must be the top priority. If, as Director Feng suggests, this movie can spark society¡¯s concern about the issue of Tibetan Mastiffs and can stop the suffering of the people in the west, we should be willing to take part in this good cause even if Red Dragon and Prince die in the process. Wang might not be here, but I can speak for him!¡±

    Ever since he watched Cui Yi and Storm say goodbye at the gate of the base, Zhang Zian had never been more certain of the affection the dog trainers had for their police dogs. They loved their dogs so much, but for the safety of the people, they were willing to let their dogs risk their lives.

    Zhang Zian nodded, ¡°I see. I believe you.¡±

    Liu rubbed his hands, itching for a fight. ¡°Besides, Red Dragon is very capable. It always ced first in all of our bite training exercises I don¡¯t believe it will lose to a stray dog from the west!¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled silently. Liu had confidence in his dog, and Red Dragon was indeed tough and strong, but that Mastiff King arose from a mountain of corpses. It possessed a murderous look that the police dogs didn¡¯t have. The confidence Liu had was based on the fact that he hadn¡¯t personally seen the Mastiff King.

    Police dogs were trained to target human beings. Their goals were to bite the wrists, arms, and legs of humans so that their target¡¯s movements were restrained and were harmed without lethal consequences. However, when the Mastiff King opened its mouth, it would attack its target in the back of the neck. Once bitten by the Mastiff King, there was no chance of the rival fighting back. Even if by the time the pyrotechnician shot the Mastiff King with an anesthetic, the police dogs would have been severely wounded .

    ¡°Zhang, is that why you are unhappy? It¡¯s okay. Wang and I can take a vacation. Just tell me what day you need to deal with that stray dog and we will ask for that day off. You take us into the crew, and we will direct Red Dragon and Prince on our own. I guarantee you that they will bite that stray dog!¡± Liu patted his chest to ensure Zhang Zian.

    ¡°OK,¡± Zhang Zian agreed, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you in advance.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s gettingte, Zhang. I should go and let you rest. I will discuss with Xiao Wang and think of tactics for those days! I guarantee you that stray dog will be bitten so badly that it will beg its papa for mercy!¡± Liu said goodbye to him.

    Zhang Zianughed, ¡°I don¡¯t want a dog to be my son!¡±

    Zhang Zian sent Liu outside and watched him drive away. Then he returned to the shop, pulled down the shutter door, and ended the business day.

    ¡°Famous, what¡¯s your decision?¡±

    Zhang Zian stood in front of Famous, squatted down and looked at its eyes.

    Famous said firmly, ¡°Don¡¯t let Red Dragon or Prince or Big Teeth do it. Let me deal with that Mastiff King.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure? It¡¯s very dangerous.¡± Zhang Zian confirmed. ¡°Are you sure this is really necessary for the movie?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure!¡± said Famous, ¡°This is not about the movie. As Liu said, we are doing this for the people in Tibet. For the many children suffering from hydatid disease, or chased and bitten by stray dogs on their way to school.¡±

    It knew this was dangerous, but it knew in its heart that it had to do this.

    Did Audrey Hepburn feel the same way when she decided to go to Africa to help the starving children? She was willing to burn herself to light up the darkness.

    It was not afraid of death, it had experienced countless deaths in the ck box. The most important thing was, whether it could die with no regret in its heart.

    Zhang Zian sighed and did not say anything. He wanted to help the people in the west, but he did not want to make Famous fight a hopeless battle and sacrifice itself.

    ¡°Famous, until you prove that you can definitely beat the Mastiff King, I will not let you do this.¡±

    Famous nced at him deeply and said, ¡°I will prove it to you.¡±

 Chapter 472: When You Find the Inner Peace

    <h4>Chapter 472: When You Find the Inner Peace</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    An Early morning.

    Sunrise was gettingte. It was still dark outside.

    Whoosh!

    One fist broke through the air. It went fast and straight, and stopped smooth and clean. This fist itself reflected peace.

    Suddenly, whoosh! Boom! Pa!

    The squatting position was calm and steady. The movement as quick as light, the kicking as swift as wind.

    Zhang Zian wore a normal sports outfit, practiced conscientiously, started today¡¯s Chinese box session.

    This was already bing routine in the pet shop every morning and everyone was used to it. By everyone, it meant the elfins in the shop.

    Old Time Tea was lying by the window, seeming not to care about Zhang Zian¡¯s boxing session. It looked out of the window, enjoying the morning. People who got up early were walking fast to their destinations, their breaths visible in the cold air. The city started to wake up.

    It was sitting on a soft cushion, next to a cup of freshly made tea. The steam flew in the air, spreading the smell of tea throughout the room.

    For Famous, the smell of the tea wasn¡¯t faint, it was strong. He had lived in the shop for quite a long time now and he could tell from the smell, how much tea leaves were in the cup.

    Gxy was ying with the American Shorthair, running up and down the stairs. They were having a good time. Sometimes the Abyssinian cat, Wendy, would join them.

    Famous admired how Gxy could y so freely. It admired, but not envied because Gxy deserved this. He had died multiple times and it deserved to have fun, the world owed it a happy childhood.

    Famous also felt sorry for Gxy as they stayed in the ck box for so long, so Gxy never said yes to ying hide and seek. Gxy¡¯s fear of death didn¡¯t make the game fun. Of course, the time in the ck box was different and it was just a thing of the past. After Famous hacked and copied the memory, the real world became confusing.

    So should it join game of hide and seek now? Famous still wasn¡¯t up for that. It can y games any time, but right now, it had more important things to consider.

    Fina and Snowy Li went downstairs to take a nap before Zhang Zian started to practice boxing. They didn¡¯t like the flying dust and noise that came with boxing and they found it boring.

    Someone was banging on the bathroom door and you can hear Richard yelling, ¡°I¡¯m done, let me out!¡±

    Earlier, Zhang Zian got up and put the sleeping Richard into the bathroom and locked the door, so it wouldn¡¯t be ablee out until after it was done. But, just like thest two days, Zhang Zian forgot about the grey parrot when he started boxing.

    Famous walked to the door and unlocked it with its front paws, then pushed the door open.

    Richard pped its wings and out came an ugly smell.

    ¡°Thanks, bro! Thank you for letting me out!¡± It showed appreciation bynding on Famous¡¯s back. ¡°That heartless Zhang Zian, I think he¡¯s sadistic!¡±

    Famous shook its body, it didn¡¯t want Richardnding on it. The smell reminded it that the grey parrot just finished pooping, but didn¡¯t clean itself.

    Richard didn¡¯t care at all. It flew to a pillow and made itselffortable in the nket, lying on one side with its wings covering its ears, and continued sleeping.

    Whether it was ying, teaching or sleeping, it seemed like everyone was doing their own thing. Famous was the only one doing nothing. It was sleepy, but it couldn¡¯t sleep. The Tibetan Mastiff business kept it awake.

    ¡°Stop!¡±

    Old Time Tea suddenly yelled.

    Zhang Zian stopped. He kept the position he was in before Old Time Tea told him to stop. His feet were firmly on the ground, his left hand posed like he was ying the Chinese Lute while the right hand was in front of him.

    Old Time Tea turned around. Its eyes reflecting the morning sun, shining like a diamond.

    It said slowly, ¡°The ¡®Palm Above the Neck Kill¡¯ emphasized on ¡®above.¡¯ What you did was ¡®chop,¡¯ you used too much strength. This move seems sharp, but you don¡¯t need too much strength. The magical thing about this move is that you use the strength of your enemy and make it yours. Then, when they lose bnce, you use your right hand to hang onto their necks without giving them a chance to breathe or fight back.¡±

    Zhang Zian remained his position, thought about its words then nodded and replied, ¡°I understand.¡±

    After that, he repeated the finishing pose and went back to the ¡°Palm Above the Neck Kill.¡±

    Famous gazed at his movement. This time, his right hand moved slightly different. It was softer than before, the right palm slightly bent instead of sharply bent. Even to eyes of an outsider like Famous, it could see the peace in his fist.

    After this, he stopped, thinking about the angle and strength of the position and kept it in his mind, then he tried it again. This time he did better, making it smooth and natural.

    Old Time Tea touched its beard and smiled.

    Famous found it strange that Old Time Tea didn¡¯t look at Zhang Zian, instead focusing on the hot tea the whole time. It seemed as if the tea held was whole other world. How did it know when Zhang Zian made mistakes?

    It looked up and checked the wall clock. It was still early so they wouldn¡¯t bete for today¡¯s shooting.

    There was a pot on the kitchen oven, the light blue fire licking the bottom. The pot was boiling, and the smell of stewed beef with potato filled the room.

    The windows were pretty wide. They were bay windows, big enough for men to sit. It was obvious the former owner kept some flowers on the window sill as there were circle marks from the vases that were kept in the same position for years, and cleaning it did nothing.

    Famous jumped to the windows and sat next to the cup of tea.

    Old Time Tea didn¡¯t mind at all. The windows were big enough anyway.

    Famous looked out, its nose idently touched the ss. So cold!

    ¡°Old Time Tea, how did you know he made mistakes?¡± it asked curiously.

    Old Time Tea didn¡¯t answer, but smiled and pointed at the cup between them.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a tea person.¡± Famous shook its head.

    Old Time Tea slightly closed its eyes like it was sleeping.

    Whoosh! Whoosh! Dong!

    Zhang Zian kept practicing. The whoosh sound was him swinging his fists and the dong sound was him stomping on the floor.

    Famous was a little drowsy. Itid down and put its chin on its front leg.

    Dong!

    Zhang Zian stepped on the floor again, then turned around and moved his fists in the opposite direction.

    There seemed to be something shaking in Famous¡¯ vision.

    It raised its head and pulled itself up, but didn¡¯t see anything moving. Besides Zhang Zian, everything inside the room waspletely still.

    Maybe it was a mistake.

    Itid down again, left everything behind and nned to take a nap to save some energy for today¡¯s shooting.

    Dong!

    With Zhang Zian¡¯s stomp, something trembled again in its vision.

    This time it saw it clearly!

    Suddenly, Famous was not sleepy anymore, its eyes widening at the tea cup in surprise.

    It was the tea leaves that shook.

    Every step Zhang Zian took, would make the tea cup shake. If Famous put its head down at picked a different angle, it couldn¡¯t see cup.

    Was this the thing that Old Time Tea wanted it to see?

    After it noticed this, it started noticing more details.

    The steam from the cup should have been moving straight, but it was disturbed by Zhang Zian¡¯s moves. With the air moving, the steam¡¯s directions kept changing, like a candle in the wind. The harder and faster he moved his fists, the more the steam moved as well.

    Famous focused on Zhang Zian¡¯s movement and how it was mirrored by the steam and rippling water, as if there was a small guy dancing above the tea cup.

    He understood now that Old Time Tea was looking at the cup to check to see if Zhang Zian was doing the moves correctly, to see if his steps were steady and stable.

    Famous smiled with pleasure. Just when it was about to share its realization with Old Time Tea, Zhang Zian finished his morning session. The tea stopped rippling and reflected the brown eyes of Old Time Tea.

    All of a sudden, Famous made eye contact with Old Time Tea through the tea¡¯s reflection.

    The space around them started to twist. There was a huge whirlpool in the tea. Before Famous could react, it was curled in the whirlpool!

    The whole world was spinning. The darkness came.

    Famous¡¯s heart was beating fast, was it going back to that ck box, to the endless darkness again?

    Come on. This time it was prepared and wouldn¡¯t be as bad as thest time.

    Famous temporarily lost consciousness. When it opened its eyes again, it found itself in a strange ce. It was neither in the window of the second floor of the pet shop, nor the ck box he stayed in with Gxy.

    Around it was a thick forest, bugs were beeping and the moon was in the sky.

    A young guy was wandering the forest. He wore long clothes and a hat, but it was difficult to see his face.

    When he walked to a empty spot, he stopped, and turned back slowly.

    At this moment, Famous noticed there was a Dragon Li behind him, squatting in the distance, gazing at him.

    ¡°A Cha, are you sure you¡¯re noting with me to Xiangjiang?¡± the young man asked.

 Chapter 473: Weird Cat

    <h4>Chapter 473: Weird Cat</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Under the moonlight, the jungle was flooded with the color of silver.

    The air was slightly cool. It seemed to be autumn.

    As if they were ordered by someone, the buzzing sounds of insects stopped at once. It was so quiet, like the night before a storm.

    Famous looked around nkly.

    Strange environment. Strange air. Strange person. Strange cat. Where the hell am I this time?! thought Famous.

    However, this ce was still much better than the ck box, at least there was no imminent danger here, right?

    Famous let out a sigh of relief. Maybe a bit too loud it realized as it heard the young man shout, ¡°What thief is eavesdropping? If you mean no harm, show yourself!¡±

    Before he stopped talking, the young man lifted his leg and kicked a pebble.

    Flying at a high speed, the pebble sounded like a harsh whistle and flew as straight as an arrow toward the bush where Famous was hiding.

    Famous was terrified. They were more than ten meters apart, but this young man could hear its breathing?

    It was not afraid of death, but it didn¡¯t want to die without knowing what happened.

    The pebble was flying too fast, there was no time for Famous to dodge it. If it hit a crucial organ, the impact would be like getting hit by a bullet. Even if it didn¡¯t die, it would be severely injured.

    Famous closed its eyes, waiting to die.

    Of course, it could dodge the pebble through by teleporting a small distance, but the teleportation would only make a louder noise. Seeing numerous pebbles under the young man¡¯s feet, Famous was desperate.

    To its surprise, the pebble only swept past it at a high speed. Its ear felt the pain of the fierce wind and the pebble hit another bush behind it.

    What happened? Was it a mistake the young man made?

    Famous opened its eyes in horror. It would have loved to exhale in relief, but didn¡¯t dare.

    The bush behind it shook and something came out.

    Famous was surprised again. No wonder the pebble didn¡¯t hit Famous, it wasn¡¯t the target. The pebble was for something behind it.

    What was it? Was it a beast that had been quietly waiting for an opportunity to attack?

    At the thought of beast, the appearance of that Mastiff King emerged in Famous¡¯s mind.

    It turned back carefully, trying to get a look at what it was under the dim moonlight.

    There was no beast, but there was a little white animal who was scared by the pebble and came out of the bush. Just like Famous, it had barely recovered from the shock.

    The young man sneered in a self-deprecating way. His voice was especially loud in the silent jungle.

    ¡°A kitten, a cute one. I¡¯ve been so paranoid recently. I almost killed a creature for no reason.¡±

    Huh? That was a cat?

    Famous had been living in the pet shop for a long time, so it was familiar with the looks of most cats. For example, it was able to recognize that the cat next to the young man was a Dragon Li.

    However, was this white animal a cat?

    After a closer look, Famous found that the little creature had a lovely face, a pair of smart eyes, and its body was covered with long, soft hair. Its figure, however, was slender than a cat¡¯s, and it looked more like a mix between a cat and a mink.

    The young man also had a chance to see the animal clearly. He couldn¡¯t help, but frown and mutter to himself, ¡°This cat is so strange, its ears are drooping. I¡¯ve never seen such a cat before in my whole life. Could it be some kind of a demon?¡±

    Famous looked at the animal again. The cat-like creature had a pair ofrge ears. To Famous¡¯ surprise, the pair of ears were actually bending forward.

    Wait, Famous seemed to have heard of this animal before, but from whom?

    Famous immediately remembered, it heard about this animal from Old Time Tea on the day a woman operating a cat store came to visit the pet shop. Zhang Zian, Gxy, Fina, Snowy Li, and Richard were all present.

    When the woman left, everyone heard Old Time Tea say it saw a cat covered with white fur all over its body and a pair of drooping ears among the Guangdong-Guangxi jungle a long time ago, but it wasn¡¯t sure of the breed. Zhang Zian guessed that the cat could be a Chinese lop-eared cat that had long been extinct and regretted that Old Time Tea didn¡¯t catch one and take it to a cat show in Europe to win a reward. He could have been very rich now.

    Could it be a coincidence?

    Was Famous in the Guangdong-Guangxi jungle right now?

    If that creature was the Chinese lop-eared cat that Old Time Tea had seen, then the silent Dragon Li cat was¡­

    Famous held its breath and looked at the dark brown Dragon Li with ck stripes.

    Famous was not sure if this was one of Old Time Tea¡¯s memories. In its memory, Old Time Tea had always been wearing a bamboo hat and a mandarin jacket. It¡¯s unclear what the body features of Old Time Tea looked like, and this Dragon Li was very young.

    As for its smell¡­ Unfortunately, the wind was blowing from behind Famous, so it was unable to catch the scent of the Dragon Li.

    Nevertheless, that Dragon Li seemed to have smelled Famous. Its brass pupils cast suspicion towards the bush where it was hiding and met the dark eyes of Famous.

    Shh!

    If you are Old Time Tea, remember that we once lied on the windowsill together. Please, don¡¯t say anything! Famous muttered silently to itself.

    Famous didn¡¯t want to be spotted by this young and fit man, unless it wanted a series of pebbles flying towards it like hail.

    Although a bamboo hat was covering his face, Famous could tell from his voice that the young man seemed to be a few years younger than Zhang Zian. Yet, it was terrifying to think that the young man, who had already disyed outstanding Kung Fu skills, was about to kill a creature. Perhaps he made that harsh move because he assumed that whoever was eavesdropping was his enemy.

    It¡¯s unknown whether the Dragon Li had read Famous¡¯s mind, but the Dragon Li didn¡¯t expose its presence. Ignoring Famous, the Dragon Li stared at the lop-eared cat who was equally too scared to move.

    The young man let his guard down and muttered to himself with hands behind him, ¡°As the old saying goes, ¡®when a country is about to perish, inevitably demons will be born.¡¯ This cat looks so weird. Is it an anomaly sent from Heaven, indicating that the fall of China is inevitable?¡±

    Nonsense!

    Famous thought, You are overthinking! This is just a cat. It has nothing to do with anomalies descending from Heaven! Don¡¯t believe in hearsay! Read more books!

    Most importantly, Famous hoped this young man wouldn¡¯t get the idea of enforcing justice and ying the ¡°demon¡± on behalf of Heaven. If he walked this way, he would definitely know of Famous¡¯s presence.

    The lop-eared cat finally came back to its senses and with its muscr hind legs, stomped on the ground, jumping back into the dense bush to disappear.

    Famous regretfully looked at the wavering bush. If Zhang Zian was here, he would follow the lop-eared cat and not give up until it was caught.

 Chapter 474: Youth

    <h4>Chapter 474: Youth</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Famous felt sorry for the young man because he just lost one hundred million Yuan.

    It was literally one hundred million Yuan if it was truly thest of its kind alive. One hundred million Yuan wouldn¡¯t be understandable, but it¡¯d probably be sent to the government.

    Even if this young man caught a Dragon Li, it wouldn¡¯t mean anything as this wasn¡¯t the real world or a real timeline, it was just a period of time in Old Time Tea¡¯s memory.

    It had been in one of Gxy¡¯s memory before, and now in Old Time Tea¡¯s memory. Despite knowing that, it couldn¡¯t rx. It had to be careful not to be noticed by the young man or he might take Famous as a something supernatural and kill it.

    Gxy¡¯s world was weird and unreal, if you died, you coulde back to life. Old Time Tea¡¯s world felt so real, if you died here, Famous didn¡¯t know what might happen. It was better not to try.

    It held its breath and tried to ignore the mosquitos. It barely moved its eyes and nose to keep from being bit.

    Luckily, the young man¡¯s defenses seemed to be down.

    ¡°A Cha, it¡¯s mid-autumn again.¡± He looked at the round moon. ¡°My dad arranged for me to go to Xiangjiang to study. I heard there is a tea house opening on Willington Street. We can go there together every morning, have a cup of tea, some snacks. We can have the Osmanthus tea and roasted pork feet and steamed spareribs in lotus leaves as a snack. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.¡±

    The Dragon Li was silent.

    When he was looking at the sky, Famous saw his face clearly. Not to its surprise, the man was very young, he even didn¡¯t have a beard. He looked younger than Zhang Zian.

    ¡°A Cha, do you want to drink Osmanthus tea with me? We have Osmanthus tea together every mid-autumn, we¡¯ll just change locations this year. What¡¯s the difference?¡±

    The young man waited a while and then walked forward, looking back to wait for it. The Dragon Li stayed there and didn¡¯t show any wish to walk with him.

    This scene reminded Famous of the police dog training base, when Cui Yi said goodbye to Storm. The scenes were simr, but the pets responded totally different. Were dogs more attached to their owners than cats?

    The young man sighed, turned away, and pushed the shrub. Suddenly, the horizon was broadened and cleared. A coastal city could be seen at the end of the level in. The city wasn¡¯t as developed as some towns in Binhai, but it was fine in this timeline.

    Famous realized that it was at the top of a hill. It saw that the young man was carrying a bag and wore a hat, ready for travel.

    The young man looked at the city in the distance and said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to leave my hometown for Xiangjiang, but I have to listen to my father. There¡¯s a war going on and the society is a mess. My sister married a businessman who left her for money. My father is worried about her so I have to go to Xiangjiang, to take care of her and study.¡±

    This sentence sounded normal, but as Famous looked at his eyes, it knew he was lying.

    ¡°The world is changing, people are suffering. It¡¯s the right time for man to stand up and do something! Our country was invaded by other countries. Our homnd has been torn apart. The government is useless. People who have faith should serve and fight back! As the saying goes, ¡®ck and white, good and bad, they stand side by side,¡¯ how could a grown man hide and not fight back?¡±

    Someone said this loudly.

    What? Was there someone else here?

    It couldn¡¯t be. If there was someone else, the young man would¡¯ve noticed.

    Famous turned around in surprise and realized it wasn¡¯t another person who talked, it was the Dragon Li.

    The Dragon Li¡¯s eyes looked like a full moon, staring straight at the young man. It suddenly looked like a giant person and the softness of the cat disappeared. Famous could feel its strong soul.

    What was going on?

    Famous was shocked. Old Time Tea shouldn¡¯t have been able to speak at that time.

    The young guy smiled gently, ¡°A Cha, you finally talked. After I told you that I was leaving for Xiangjiang, you haven¡¯t ate, drink, slept or talked for days. I thought you were ill or something. Come with me to Xiangjiang. There¡¯s delicious food and interesting things to do. Let¡¯s go and have some fun, broaden our horizons, like we used to do. Let¡¯s be famous in Xiangjiang, what do you think?¡±

    He sounded like he didn¡¯t hear what Old Time Tea said. It was like he just heard the noise, but not the words.

    Famous thought about it and understood. This was not the real thing that happened, but how Old Time Tea¡¯s wanted it to happen. Old Time Tea wanted to persuade the young man to stay and fight for their homnd, rather than hide in Xiangjiang with the excuse of study, but it couldn¡¯t talk back then. When Old Time Tea became elfin, it dreamed of this night over and over again.

    Memory isn¡¯t objective, it fades and changes. Memory turns into what we think we remember. It saves the details we want to remember and adds things that doesn¡¯t exist.

    The Dragon Li headed down sadly, gazing at the ground in front of it, then raised its head. It was disappointed, but it wouldn¡¯t give up.

    ¡°You have grown up, but are still a child inside. If you go there, you will lose yourself,¡± it said seriously.

    The young man didn¡¯t hear what it said, asked again, ¡°A Cha, are you sure you¡¯re noting with me?¡±

    The Dragon Li knew he wouldn¡¯t change mind, no matter how hard it tried to dy him, soit kept silent.

    Famous looked at it with heartache, as it knew how it would end. Just like Zhang Zian, this man was facing the dilemma of choosing between his own happiness or doing something for the society, and he chose himself.

    ¡°Fine.¡±

    The young man looking sad, sighed, ¡°I won¡¯t be in Xiangjiang long. I¡¯lle back after things be peaceful. A Cha, when Ie back, will you still be here waiting for me? Right here, under the moonlight.¡±

    The Dragon Li didn¡¯t nodded nor shake its head.

    Not getting the answer he wanted, the young man turned slowly and said softly, ¡°No matter how far we sent each other, we have to separate here. Thanks for sending me so far. Bye, A Cha. Take care.¡±

    He walked down the hill, slowly towards the far away city.

    He focused his attention on his ears, hoping to hear the sound of running behind him. He didn¡¯t want to go with regrets.

    The Dragon Li gazed at his back. It changed positions from squatting to standing up and raised its front paw, keeping it in the air. It held back the thought of chasing after him. It slowly put its paw down, staring at his back until it disappeared in the moonlight.

    It looked sad and wanted to cry, but it held back its tears. Its body trembled and its eyes were not as bright as they used to be. Its hair lost its shine.,

    Why didn¡¯t you chase him? Wasn¡¯t he your owner?

    Famous was confused. If it was Storm at the training base, it would have chase its owner. It didn¡¯t matter where its owner was going, if its owner was angel or demon, it would chase him to the end of the world.

    With this memory, Famous finally solved a puzzle it has always been curious about, something Zhang Zian didn¡¯t even know.

    Gxy¡¯s real name was ¡°Schr?dinger¡¯s quantum cat.¡±

    Fina¡¯s real name was ¡°Cleopatra VII¡¯s golden cat.¡±

    Snowy Li¡¯s real name was ¡°Pan Jinlian¡¯s lesbian cat.¡±

    Richard¡¯s real name was ¡°Irene Pepperberg¡¯s lovebird.¡±

    Old Time Tea was different.

    Old Time Tea¡¯s real name was ¡°The young Ye Wen¡¯s Foshan Wing Chun cat.¡±

    When he was 18, they separated due to different life goals.

    Then, what was my real name? Famous thought.

 Chapter 475: One Hundred Years of Solitude

    <h4>Chapter 475: One Hundred Years of Solitude</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    While Famous was lost in thought, it heard the rustling sound of the grass being trampled on. It looked up and found that the Dragon Li had turned around and was about to leave the mountaintop in the opposite direction. Famous jumped from the bush and said, ¡°Old Time Tea, wait a minute! ¡±

    The Dragon Li turned back in astonishment, revealing its sharp ws instantaneously and going into a defensive stance. It asked cautiously, ¡°I¡¯ve heard many people learn to bark, but I¡¯ve never heard any animal speak thenguage of humans. What kind of demon are you?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you talking like a human too? Did you know that you just cursed yourself in that sentence?¡± asked Famous helplessly.

    ¡°What?¡± It was not until this moment that the Dragon Li realized that it was speaking thenguage of humans. ¡°This ¡­ why?¡±

    ¡°Old Time Tea, forget about the trivialities.¡± Famous walked over. ¡°Where are we?¡±

    The Dragon Li still had its guard up. It asked with puzzlement, ¡°Do you know me?¡±

    ¡°Of course, we lied together on a windowsill not too long ago.¡± Famous waved its tail to bat the mosquitoes away. It urged Old Time Tea, ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here, the mosquitos have almost drained my blood. I wonder how you can even remember mosquitoes so clearly.¡±

    ¡°No, first, how do you know me?¡± The Dragon Li retreated a few steps. It really thought Famous was some kind of demon.

    Famous sighed, ¡°Long story. Can we go somewhere else? In addition, it¡¯s really awkward when you don¡¯t call yourself ¡®old.''¡±

    ¡°Old? I¡¯m in my prime, why would I want to make myself older?¡± The Dragon Li was more puzzled.

    Famous had spent time with Gxy in the ck box. But unlike Gxy, Old Time Tea was not that gullible, and Famous was not good at lying. After thinking for a moment, Famous decided to tell the truth in order to win Old Time Tea¡¯s trust.

    ¡°Old Time Tea, my name is Famous. I am not a demon. I¡¯m from the future, and for some reason, I¡¯ve entered a memory of yours. Do you understand?¡± Famous exined.

    ¡°The future?¡± Old Time Tea¡¯s whisker lifted upward. ¡°Boy, do you think I¡¯m ignorant?¡±

    Famous had never seen Old Time Tea so angry before, but it¡¯s heard that Old Time Tea could be very intimidating. So, it quickly said, ¡°No, Old Time Tea, listen to me. In the future, the peace and prosperity that you wish for has be true, to some extent. A war hasn¡¯t broken out in many years.¡±

    Obviously, Famous made the right choice. It lowered its paws and stared at Famous suspiciously. ¡°Is what you said true?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± Oh, how Famous wished it could have watched the news more frequently with Old Time Tea so that its words could be more convincing. Luckily, it was aware of some historical events. ¡°This period of this country being divided up by warlords and foreign invaders will end in a few decades. When that timees, the reunification of China will ur. Even Hong Kong, the ce that person is heading, will be a part of this country again.¡±

    ¡°Nonsense. Do you have any evidence? If you don¡¯t, then you leave me no choice!¡± Old Time Tea did not trust words easily.

    Evidence¡­

    Famous tried to think of something that could be used as evidence.

    ¡°Yes. The white cat just now. You don¡¯t know what type of cat that is, right?¡± Famous asked with confidence.

    ¡°I don¡¯t. Do you?¡± Old Time Tea asked.

    ¡°I do because someone told you and me that the cat was a Chinese lop-eared cat, whose English name is Sumxu,¡± said Famous. It lowered its head and indicated Old Time Tea to look at its neck. ¡°Look at this namete. It¡¯s written with the name of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, which is our home in the future.¡±

    Famous¡¯ neck was tied with a ck leather cor, almost like the color of its neck hair, so it was difficult to even tell there was a cor on its neck in the darkness. Zhang Zian exined to Famous that inpliance with the regtions of Binhai City, it must be tied with a cor and a leash when it went outside. Famous did not hate the feeling of wearing a cor so it wore the cor all the time except when shooting the movie.

    There was a metal namete on the front of the cor, with Amazing Fate Pet Shop and Zhang Zian¡¯s phone number written on it. This was because some of the staff on set still couldn¡¯t tell the difference between the German Shepherds.

    Famous did not expect the cor and namete to follow it into the memory, but it had been a great help. Otherwise, it really didn¡¯t know how to gain Old Time Tea¡¯s trust.

    Old Time Tea gazed at the namete. After the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, there were two characters it couldn¡¯t recognize, because they were simplified Chinese characters, rather than the traditional Chinese characters. With vignce, it approached Famous and extended one of its paws, scratching the namete a few times.

    To its surprise, the characters on the namete were not written in ink, because they did not smear under its paw. Since the surface of the namete was smooth, the characters were not inscripted either.

    ¡°How were these characters put on the namete?¡± it asked curiously.

    Zhang Zian had exined this to a customer. What was it? It took Famous a long time before it finally remembered, ¡°They were carved by aser!¡±

    ¡°Laser?¡±

    Old Time Tea seemed to believe Famous¡¯ words since there was no need for Famous to go to all that trouble all for a lie.

    ¡°Yes,ser. It is a magical technology of the future!¡± Famous seized the opportunity because it was the only evidence to prove that the technology that made this namete did not exist in this current era. Though the knowledge Old Time Tea possessed was limited to this era, it was not stupid. As long as it could think logically, it could be convinced.

    Old Time Tea touched the namete with its paw, observing its front and back. The exquisite and fine namete was not made of copper or iron. It had never seen a material like this before.

    Old Time Tea pondered for a while, retreated its paw and let its guard down. ¡°So you really are from the future?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely.¡±

    ¡°How many years into the future?¡±

    ¡°Could you tell me what year we¡¯re currently in?¡± Famous was trying to answer, but it realized it didn¡¯t know what year they were in.

    ¡°The year of Ding Si.¡± Old Time Tea replied.

    Famous didn¡¯t know what it was talking about.

    Old Time Tea noticed the nk expression of Famous, so it said, ¡°The sixth year of the Republic of China.¡±

    Famous was still confused.

    ¡°The ninth year of Emperor Xuantong.¡± Old Time Tea said a reign title that it loathed deeply.

    Famous still didn¡¯t understand.

    Old Time Tea pondered and replied with a gradually poprized saying from the West at the time, ¡°1917.¡±

    Famous was stunned at first and then sighed. This couldn¡¯t be a coincidence.

    ¡°I¡¯m from 100 years in the future,¡± it said.

 Chapter 476: Hold Back Your Trick

    <h4>Chapter 476: Hold Back Your Trick</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Famous looked up at the starry sky. It was clearer than in the future as you can even see the milky way. No light pollution, no fog or haze.

    ¡°100 years,¡± Old Time Tea murmured, ¡°no way, a cat can¡¯t live that long. I can¡¯t still be alive in 100 years.¡±

    Famous exined, ¡°You won¡¯t be a cat anymore at that time, you will be an elfin, like half god. You will be called from history. I guess it worked for me as well except I lost my memories. ording to Zhang Zian, those who we¡¯ll be callinge from the future or a more civilized space.¡±

    ¡°A more civilized space?¡± Old Time Tea replied, ¡°Like Germany or Great Britain? I heard they n to work together and invade other countries. Our country has dered war on them. They are nning something, I¡¯m sure!¡±

    ¡°No! No, that¡¯s not even close!¡± Famous was speechless. ¡°What Zhang Zian said was civilization, which refers to things outside our, and it has nothing to do with Germany or Great Britain!¡±

    Old Time Tea seemed to understand, though it still had some questions. It dropped this for now and showed interest in something else. ¡°The Zhang Zian you keep mentioning, who is he?¡±

    ¡°He is our owner. He has a pet shop that sells cats and dogs, and we live in his shop,¡± Famous said.

    ¡°It can¡¯t be true!¡± Old Time Tea looked angry. ¡°Who you think I am? I¡¯m not a fickle guy. I will never take another owner!¡±

    Famous saw that Old Time Tea was about to lose its temper. Old Time Tea wasn¡¯t a nice guy in either time, so Famous continued, ¡°He isn¡¯t really your owner, more like a student of yours. Every morning, you drink hot tea and watch him box, correcting him if he does something wrong. After the boxing session, you lie on a heating nket and watch TV. Don¡¯t ask me what TV is, it¡¯s hard to exin. It¡¯s something very interesting, with it, you don¡¯t need to go out to know what is happening in the world.¡±

    ¡°My student?¡± Old Time Tea looked shocked, ¡°I watched Jiwen practice and dabbled, but actually being a teacher?¡±

    ¡°Old Time Tea, you are being humble. Your ability not onlyes from within, but you are blessed with faith.¡± Famous rolled its eyes and thought of more evidence. ¡°Before I came to this time, you had just corrected Zhang Zian when he was boxing. As I remember, it was something called Palm Above Neck Kill. You said he was chopping, and the magical thing about the move was that you use enemy¡¯s strength and make it yours. Then, when they lose bnce, you could use your right hand to hang onto their necks without giving them a chance to breathe or fight back.¡±

    Old Time Tea waspletely shocked hearing this, even more shocked than when he heard that Famous came from the future. It kept asking, ¡°Tell me, how do you know about the secret trick of Wing Chun Kung Fu?¡±

    Old Time Tea believed what Famous said about ¡°Palm Above Neck Kill.¡±

    Chen Huashun took Ye Wen as his student. Not many people noticed that when Chen Huashun was teaching students, there was a tea colored Dragon Li squatting next to the wall. When Chen Huashun asked Ye Wen to practice by himself and went to correct other students, the Dragon Li would follow him.

    Chen Huashun was not only a Kung Fu master, but also an excellent doctor with a clinic. As time went by, the Dragon Li not only knew about Kung Fu, but also learned about saving people¡¯s lives.

    After observation, Old Time Tea found it strange at first that Chen Huashun taught people in different ways. It should be that every student learns differently, but 90 percent of the students learned the same way, while the other 10 percent of students was different.

    It took some time to understand that the teacher told students ¡°cats teaching tigers, hold back your trick.¡± The teacher was afraid that if the students were better than others, they would lose their jobs in the future, so they had to hide some of their tricks, even if the student was smart and talented as Ye Wen.

    ¡°Hold back your trick¡± wasn¡¯t something you had to keep doing. To some extent, it tested the loyalty of the students. The teacher did that in case the students betrayed them in the future or used the skills to do bad things to society. If they did, the teacher would be to me.

    Some students graduated and forgot about their teachers, while other students woulde back to see their teachers on festivals. Thetter studs were the ones a teacher liked and wanted. They didn¡¯t speak out, but they kept their words in their mind and heart.

    After several years, when the student passed the final test, the teacher would teach him thest skill he held back before and this student would be the inheritor of Kung Fu.

    Of course, some teachers died before he could teach thest trick to their students, so the trick would disappear.

    Besides martial arts, the tradition of ¡°hold back your tricks¡± was evident in medical skills, casting and mechanical technology. idents happen and many skills just disappear from the history.

    The young Dragon Li didn¡¯t just observe Chen Huashun¡¯s students practice, but also watched Chen Huashun practice.

    The reasons why Old Time Tea didn¡¯t want to go to Xiangjiang were not only the reasons that mentioned before, but because it knew that Ye Wen hadn¡¯t mastered the Wing Chun Kung Fu due to Chen Huashun passing away. He would feel frustrated if he went to Xiangjiang. It really wanted to tell him about what it saw so that Ye Wen could master Wing Chun Kung Fu, but he couldn¡¯t speak back then.

    In reality, the student who inherited Chen Huashun¡¯s Wing Chun Kung Fu was not any of the 16 students, but this obscure tea colored Dragon Li.

 Chapter 477: Upholding Justice

    <h4>Chapter 477: Upholding Justice</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Famous was not good at exining, and exining without thought could cause issues. Even it couldn¡¯t understand what it was talking about. Besides, its exnation may not make sense because history was a foregone conclusion.

    Just when Famous was about to say something, Old Time Tea had a twinkle in its eyes and gestured to Famous to shut up.

    Has the young mane back? If so, I should leave as soon as possible, Famous thought.

    After it quieted down, Famous vaguely heard a faint call for help from the foot of the other side of the mountain.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Famous asked.

    Old Time Tea said briefly, ¡°It may be a robbery, I need to look!¡± Before it finished its sentence, it had been running towards the foot of the mountain.

    Famous was stunned and felt like something bad was going to happen. Old Time Tea should have already left the mountain and encountered the robbery, but it was dyed because of Famous¡¯ presence. Even though this timeline was not real, and this has already happened, Famous did not want to bring Old Time Tea more tragedy.

    Swish! Swish!

    Old Time Tea pushed aside weeds, dodged rocks, and leapt down the rugged mountain. It was anxious because the cry for help was getting weaker, apparently someone was caught in an extremely dangerous situation.

    As a region that emphasized martial arts, Foshan was home to many martial arts masters. However, due to the current social turmoil, a lot of people were on the edge of starvation, and many of them were bandits. In addition to the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, Foshan was a free town and the local government had limited power, so it became a secret base for many underground groups, such as the ¡°Heaven and Earth Society¡± and the ¡°Hung League.¡± Although these organizations promoted ¡°righteousness,¡± it was inevitable that there were some members up to no good.

    The call for help at the foot of the mountain was sharp and thin, clearly the cry was from a woman. Once she was grabbed by the robbers, the consequences would be disastrous.

    This unnamed mountain was covered with trees and bushes. It was mid-autumn and the weeds were as tall as half a human, so Old Time Tea was careful to avoid vipers and scorpions hidden among the weeds. Old Time Tea knew that it should focus on saving the person, but all of the strange things the dog said just kept running through its mind.

    Suddenly, a ck shadow blocked the moonlight andnded in front of it.

    ¡°Old Time Tea! Jump onto my back!¡± Famous turned its head and shouted, ¡°Let me carry you down the mountain. It¡¯s faster this way!¡±

    Old Time Tea was not yet an elfin, it was just an ordinary cat who wasn¡¯t good at running long-distances. In this respect, Famous was a lot stronger than Old Time Tea. Plus, Famous was taller, so it had the advantage of seeing more while running.

    After a momentary hesitation, Old Time Tea leapt onto the back of Famous, raising its paw to point. ¡°That way!¡±

    There was no time for Old Time Tea to stick to etiquette when it came to rescuing people.

    A rather peculiar scene appeared. On the mountain pass under the moonlight, a big German Shepherd was running with a Dragon Li cat on its back. Using one paw to hold onto the hair of the dog, the Dragon Li was using its other paw to direct the dog.

    Old Time Tea was surprised to find that Famous seemed to have excellent jumping abilities. Even while carrying Old Time Tea, it could still leap over weeds and rocks, andnd smoothly on the ground. The rugged way down the mountain was like a smooth road for Famous.

    Whenever Famous went to jump, Old Time Tea could feel the muscles contract all over Famous¡¯s body, especially the muscles in its two hind legs. When Famous leapt to the highest point, Old Time Tea felt like it was riding on mist and clouds.

    The cry for help became very weak. Both Old Time Tea and Famous could hear a young woman sobbing. Since they were just a cat and a dog, they had to remain calm and observe the situation before making a move. Old Time Tea quietly leapt from Famous¡¯ back, swiftly climbed a tree to sit on the branches, and looked forward.

    The moonlight gave them good visibility. Just about twenty meters in front of the old tree, three masked men with knives were surrounding a disheveled young woman. Wearing a ck robe, the young woman was leaning against arge rock, with her hand on her ankle. Her facial expression was distorted with pain, but she was looking at the three bandits with horror. Her voice had be hoarse from the screaming.

    ¡°Hey, girl, why are you running? We are not evil spirits. Look at you, your ankle is sprained because you ran too fast! Come on, take off your shoes and socks, let me give you a nice foot rub,¡± the leader of the three men said, wielding his steel knife.

    ¡°I¡¯m begging you, let me go! If you want money, I have some on me. If it¡¯s not enough, you can follow me home and I can give you some. I won¡¯t report you as long as you don¡¯t touch me.¡± The woman fumbled a few coins from her clothes, put them in her palm and begged.

    ¡°We want your money and you! Why don¡¯t you be our wife ? When weunch an uprising, we will be the emperors of a new dynasty and you will be the empress! Ha-ha!¡±

    The three masked men took turns teasing the poor woman, looking at her with evil and lustful eyes. They assumed that no one woulde to rescue her in the wilderness in the middle of the night. Just like a game of cat-and-mouse, they were enjoying her fear. They nned to rape her until they tired of the game. Even if there were some bold passerby who wanted to save her, the bandits could easily scare them off with the knives in their hands.

    Old Time Tea was furious. It had the intention to rescue the woman, but felt powerless. If Ye Wen were here, it would be so easy for the two of them to punish these bandits.

    One of the masked men looked at the sky and said, ¡°Brother, it iste. I think we should stop ying. As the saying goes, every minute of the wedding night is precious.¡±

    The leader probably had enough of the game. Putting his steel knife back in its sheath, he rolled up his sleeves and said, ¡°Brothers, keep a lookout for me! The girl is mine!¡±

    ¡°Big Brother, be gentle. Don¡¯t make her half-dead like the girlst time, or elsewe won¡¯t have any fun,¡± another masked manughed.

    Hearing this, the woman clenched her cor in horror and used thest of her strength to cry for help, ¡°Help! Someone help me!¡±

    Her voice was harsh in the silent night. Startled, a few owls in the nearby trees flew away.

    ¡°Girl, stop yelling. You made a poor choice running into a isted mountain. No one wille to rescue you even scream!¡± The leader unbuttoned his belt slowly. He thought of this woman as his prey who had no chance of escaping.

    There was no time for Old Time Tea to hesitate. It leapt to another tree nearby, roared, and pounced on the neck of the leader.

    The leader was startled by the fierce howling, and felt something furry pounce on his neck.

    There was a mass grave near this unnamed mountain, where ghost fire emerged at night, and no one dare approached. The local parents always used a variety of stories about zombies attacking to scare their children, so that their children wouldn¡¯t run around at night.

    As a local resident, the leader also heard of these stories growing up. He was not afraid of people or the police, but he was scared of ghosts and all kinds of supernatural things. When he heard the howling and felt something on his neck, he was so scared that he almost s**t himself. The first reaction in his mind was that a white-haired zombie came from the mass grave.

    ¡°Brothers, save me! It¡¯s the white-haired zombie! The white-haired zombie is attacking me!¡± he shouted.

    Old Time Tea knew too well that these bandits deserved to die for their outrageous behavior, so it attacked the leader ruthlessly. After biting his neck, it stuck out its ws and scratched him in the face.

    The bandit felt his face being scratched by ws as sharp as steel hooks. ¡°My eyes! My eyes!¡± he cried. The white moonlight turned red in his eyes.

    The other two bandits were shocked and tried to escape. However, they had clearly seen that the thing lying on their big brother¡¯s neck was not a white-haired zombie, but a Dragon Li cat, which was only slightlyrger than an average Dragon Li.

    One of the brothers waved his steel knife and shouted, ¡°Brother, don¡¯t be scared! It¡¯s not a white-haired zombie, it¡¯s a wildcat. Let me get rid of it for you, brother!¡±

    The third brother quickly reminded him, ¡°Brother, be careful not to cut our big brother!¡±

    The leader was blind in one eye, while the other eye was stained red by his own blood. He pulled out his knife and waved it like a mad man. The two brothers tried to save him, but there was no way for them to get close to him.

    ¡°Brother! It¡¯s a cat on your back, not a zombie!¡±

    ¡°Brother! Don¡¯t move, we are trying to save you!¡±

    After their continuous shouting, their big brother finally understood.

    When the leader heard that it was a wildcat that had blinded him, the fear in his heart had turned into anger. He stood still and extended his arm towards his back, trying to grab Old Time Tea and throw it on a stone to kill it. Fortunately, Old Time Tea dodged his grabbing. It leapt from his neck to the area between his legs and scratched his crotch.

    Closing his legs, the bandit was no longer able to clutch his knife. He knelt, covered his crotch, and let out a fierce scream. Panic-stricken, the two brothers couldn¡¯t help, but whisper about how their big brother was screaming like a woman.

    However, as the leader knelt, the second brother took the opportunity to wave his knife towards Old Time Tea.

    While the woman was watching this bizarre scene, her sleeve was pulled by something.

    She tilted her head to see a big German Shepherd biting her cuff and dragging her to the side.

 Chapter 478: Let the Girl Go

    <h4>Chapter 478: Let the Girl Go</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When Famous first came to the pet shop, it was told that Old Time Tea was a good fighter, but hadn¡¯t got the chance to witness it firsthand. After seeing how Old Time Tea was rushing, it thought it¡¯d have the chance to see it today.

    Famous knew Old Time Tea was skilled enough to beat the leader of the gang as well as the other two brothers. But, on second thought, Old Time Tea wasn¡¯t elfin yet, it was just a Dragon Li that happened to know Kung Fu.

    Famous didn¡¯t know the whole story.

    Foshan was a ce famous for its military art. It didn¡¯t matter if they were children or senior citizens, all kinds of people knew something about Kung Fu. Plenty of Kung Fu masters were hiding in the crowds, so even though they were robbers, they had learned Kung Fu professionally. They probably sawpetitions all the time so that they could steal the skills. Plus, they were all strong men with knives, they weren¡¯t like the seven Rainbow Fighters who broke into the pet shop.

    One of the brothers seized an opportunity to wave his knife to frighten Old Time Tea and saved his big brother.

    Old Time Tea saw the knife moving towards it and knew it had to protect itself, so it ran andnded in a stone.

    The big brother was nervous, but he forgot about the pain in his eyes and, holding the knife in one hand, screamed, ¡°Brothers, let¡¯s chop this stupid cat into pieces!¡±

    Famous could tell that something wasn¡¯t right. It didn¡¯t know how Old Time Tea had originally saved thisdy. Maybe it Old Time Tea arrived earlier and didn¡¯t have to face these three robbers head-to-head, or maybe Old Time Tea took the girl to safety. Now, since Famous was involved, the events of the memory changed and Old Time Tea was at a disadvantage fighting them all at once.

    After sizing up the fight, Famous decided to save the girl first. Old Time Tea might not win the fight, but it could run.

    Thedy was frightened and caught up in Old Time Tea fighting with three robbers, and forgot to run away. She kept staring at them until Famous bit her sleeve and dragged her aside.

    She was scared all over again, thinking it was a wolf that bit her. Just when she was about to scream, Famous put one of its front paws on her hand and shook its head, telling her to stay quiet.

    She was smart. Through the moonlight, she saw Famous¡¯s friendly expression, knew it wasn¡¯t a wolf and calmed down. When she realized it was the perfect time to run away and she had stayed to watch them fight, she wanted to p herself.

    She knew she twisted her left ankle when she was running because it ached when she moved, but she pulled herself up and ignored the pain while she looked around carefully. When she was running from the robbers, she ran here without knowing where she was going. She forgot which way she came through so she didn¡¯t know where to go.

    Famous smelled the ground and found the way she came from. It ran forwards before turning around, telling her to follow. Every step she took was painful, so she walked slowly.

    Old Time Tea was dodging their knives when it saw Famous lead the girl away. Now that thedy was safe, it nned to take these men in another direction.

    The third brother seemed to be the smartest, or maybe he was just horniest because he didn¡¯t forget about thedy. When he turned around and saw that thedy was gone, he anxiously shouted, ¡°Brothers, the chick ran!¡±

    When the eldest brother heard, he cursed, waved his knife and shouted, ¡°She hurt her feet, she can¡¯t get far. Run and get her back!¡±

    They gave up fighting. Old Time Tea and went after the youngdy. Old Time Tea would have to chase after them again.

    Not to their surprise, they caught up to the youngdy quickly. The second brother grabbed thedy with his left hand. ¡°Stop running! You want to run away? It won¡¯t be that easy!¡±

    The youngdy screamed, not expecting her enemies to catch up to her so soon. There was no way to hide.

    ¡°Let the girl go!¡± Famous shouted out loud. Using what it had learned from Red Dragon and Prince, it jumped and bit the waist of the second brother.

    ¡°Ah!¡± The second brother¡¯s left side of his waist was bleeding. He swung his knife at Famous¡¯ neck.

    Danger! Famous could see himself getting stabbed, so it opened its mouth and turned around. The knife didn¡¯t hurt it, instead it fell to the floor, sparkling.

    The youngdy had felt hopeful, now she was in danger again. The forest was to dark, she was so worried that she¡¯d fal.

    Old Time Tea caught up to them and made eye-contact with Famous, knowing they couldn¡¯t run away this time. The only choice they had was to fight back. Side by Side, they stood next to each other, ready to fight back.

    The eldest and second brother were hurt, and since they believed in the supernatural, they thought these two animals were ghosts from the tombs,e to kill them.

    Time was passing, the sun started rising from the east. These thieves couldn¡¯t do anything during the day, so they had to hurry up. They shouted at the same time, and the injured eldest and second brother waved their knives and rushed Old Time Tea, while the third one was in charge of Famous.

    Old Time Tea was a flexible cat; it always found a way to fight back.

    Famous had never fought before. Even though the third brother was its only enemy, it had trouble dealing with him. It could defend itself, but didn¡¯t know how to fight back. It hesitated and missed its opportunity to hurt him. After some time, the third brother gained courage and grew stronger at fighting.

    In the forest before dawn, one cat and one dog was fighting a group of robbers, and it was a tie.

    The third brother was smart, he waved his knife and backed Famous into a corner between rocks. Famous¡¯ danger radar could only predict danger a few seconds prior, so it was in a dilemma before it could realize.

    ¡°You are not going to escape this time!¡± the third brother yelled, raising his knife.

    It was only then that Famous realized how much danger it was in. They were blocked by the stones and surrounded by enemies. It could try to escape, but their knives were too close. It remembered Zhang Zian¡¯s words, ¡°The danger radar wasn¡¯t perfect. If you were about to die, the radar wouldn¡¯t be able to save you.¡±

    Famous gave up and closed its eyes, waiting for death. It wasn¡¯t afraid of death, it just regretted that it couldn¡¯t save the girl.

    When Old Time Tea saw this, it got nervous. It had only known Famous for a little while, but it was intrigued by its stories from the future. It wanted to hear more about the pet shop and the future world, and the kind of man Zhang Zian was. Old Time Tea wanted to save Famous, but it was trapped by the two brothers.

    The eldest and second brother threw their fists and knew that once the third brother was done with the dog, they would be deal with the cat together.

    Whooosh! Suddenly, a gunshot echoed throughout the forest.

    ¡°Over there! She is over there!¡± There were a bunch of people at the end of the forest with hoes, sticks, knives and spears. The man in front was holding a revolver, with smokeing out of it.

    The youngdy turned around and burst into tears, shouting, ¡°Dad! Dad! I¡¯m here!¡±

    The third brother¡¯s body trembled, suddenly losing all its strength. His chest felt warm, so he touched it and realized he was bleeding. He screamed, threw the steel knife away and fell to the ground.

    Apparently, the youngdy was from a rich family. When her father found out that her guard had been killed and she was missing, he called a group of people to searching for her immediately.

    The eldest and second brother knew that their youngest brother was dying. They were outnumbered, by people who were armed; running was their only choice if they didn¡¯t want to die.

    The second brother supported his big brother¡¯s shoulder and tried to sneak into the forest to hide, but his ankle hurt. He turned around and there was that Dragon Li, followed by the wolfhound. With the dog here, they knew there was no way out.

    In the blink of an eye, the group had surrounded them.

    The middle aged man holding the revolver shouted, ¡°Surrender, or I will kill you.¡±

    ¡°We surrender! We surrender!¡±

    Bang! Bang! The knives dropped.

    ¡°Get them!¡± the middle aged man shouted and his mob rushed to tie up the bandits.

 Chapter 479: Being Grateful

    <h4>Chapter 479: Being Grateful</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After tying up the robbers, the local residents began to beat them.

    To rescue his daughter and deal with the aftermath, the middle-aged man brought a group of constables, maids, and a butler. Before he even issued themand, the maids had gone to take care of his daughter. The butler went to the third brother, squatted down and touched his nose, only to find that this person was dead.

    ¡°My Lord, this one is dead. How should we deal with these two bandits? Take them to the police or¡­¡± the butler asked the middle-aged man.

    The middle-aged man waved his hands and said in a deep voice, ¡°Forget it. Let¡¯s not disturb the police. This is about my daughter¡¯s reputation, let¡¯s deal with it privately.¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± the butler understood. He retreated and dealt with the robbers.

    The police¡¯s power had always been weak in the Foshan area, where squires, like the middle-aged man, were the main force that maintained social order and security. The two bandits would be tortured, killed, and buried in a pit.

    ¡°Dad!¡± Wearing the clothes brought by her maids, the young woman ran to the middle-aged squire, pointed to Old Time Tea and Famous and said, ¡°The cat and dog saved me. If they were not here, I¡¯m afraid I might have¡­¡± She started sobbing before she finished her words.

    The middle-aged squire nodded slightly, and he had a lot to say to his daughter, but this wasn¡¯t the time nor the ce for him to speak of these things. ¡°I see. You go back home with the servants. I will handle this.¡±

    The young woman sat on a soft couch and her servants carried her, leaving the mountain. She frequently looked back, reluctantly waving goodbye to Old Time Tea and Famous.

    Old Time Tea and Famous had fell back from the scene. When they saw that the young woman was safe, they were about to turn around and leave. Before they could, the middle-aged squire cleared his throat, saluted, and said, ¡°My name is Wu Mancheng, may I ask who is the owner of this cat and dog? I can¡¯t thank you enough for saving my daughter, Wu Ning, and her reputation. Could you please show yourself so that I can extend my gratitude in person?¡±

    He witnessed Old Time Tea and Famous bravely save his beloved daughter, so he assumed that the cat and dog had been trained by a recluse, otherwise it¡¯d impossible for them to be so intelligent. Even so, the cat and dog were so amazing. Could this recluse be immortal?

    Wu Mancheng asked several times, but no one answered.

    After torturing the bandits and searching the surrounding environment, the constables made sure that no other criminals were hiding, so they asked Wu Mancheng whether they should head back to the town.

    Wu Mancheng pondered, since his helper refused to show up, he didn¡¯t want to insist anymore. When he was about to issue the order to leave, he saw something twinkle under the rising sun. While the others waited, and he approached Old Time Tea and Famous by himself. When he went closer, he was worried that their trainer was watching, so he apologized before cautiously bowing down and stared at the namete on Famous¡¯ neck.

    ¡°Amazing Fate Pet Shop.¡± He read the characters from right to left and found that two of the characters seemed strange, but familiar. He didn¡¯t know what the string of Arabic numerals under those characters meant.

    ¡°Could this be the name of my benefactor?¡±

    Famous didn¡¯t know how to answer because there was no so-called benefactor.

    Wu Mancheng thought for a long time, and finally, decided to go back home tofort his daughter. He also had to get statements from the two bandits and warn the servants not to talk about this incident to anyone.

    Before entering the mountain, he promised himself that he would not return to town until he had found his daughter, so he brought a lot of food and water with him. Now, he ordered his people to leave the food and water. He called for the mystery person several times more and, when he was certain that the trainer had no intention of showing up, led the men and went home.

    After fighting criminals for half the night, Old Time Tea and Famous were tired, thirsty, and hungry. When the people left, they ate the roast chicken, smoked fish, and beef. After eating the food, they both became very sleepy. They found a ce that protected them from the wind and fell asleep. They slept for most of the day, and when they were awakened by loud noises, it was already sunset.

    ¡°Old Time Tea, wake up! Someone ising!¡± Sounds traveled faster under the ground than in the air, and since Famous put its ears against the ground to sleep, it was able to realize sooner than Old Time Tea that some people were walking up the mountain.

    Old Time Tea slept in the tree, and when Famous woke it up, it saw those people. It swiftly climbed to the top of the tree and observed every move the people made.

    These people, led by the butler who came here in the morning, appeared to be craftsmen judging from their clothes and the fact that they were carrying all kinds of materials like timber, bricks, hammers and nails. The group of people stopped in the area where they saved Wu Ning.

    When the butler saw that a lot of the food they left, especially the meat and smoked fish, was consumed, he knew that Wu Mancheng¡¯s spection was correct. He instructed the servants to get rid of the leftovers and leave new food.

    The craftsmen began working. They were skilled workers hired by Wu Mancheng. Among them were masons, carpenters, oil painters, and so on. They had ovee all sorts of obstacles to bring the construction materials to the mountain because the roads were too difficult for vehicles or horses to travel through. Following the directions of their employer, they performed their own tasks, such as checking the terrain of the mountain, identifying their location, and gathering wood to build a house.

    For several consecutive days, these craftsmen worked in the mountain. A building that faced south soon began to take shape and looked magnificent in the wilderness.

    Old Time Tea and Famous looked at them with confusion, wondering what this building was for. The building had no yard, so it didn¡¯t seem like it was built for living purposes. Besides, this deste mountain wasn¡¯t really a good ce for humans to live.

    The butler left fresh meals every day. Even if the butler didn¡¯te here himself, he would ask someone else to deliver the food. The simple meals were for the craftsmen, while the food with lots of meat were for Old Time Tea and Famous.

    Old Time Tea and Famous lived a veryfortable life, their stomachs full every day. Lying in the distance to watch the artisans work, they took turns to guess why these people were building such a house.

    Wu Mancheng and his daughter, Wu Ning, never came back. They must be dealing with a lot of problems, publicly and privately. Besides, Old Time Tea and Famous did not expect anything for saving Wu Ning, so they didn¡¯t mind.

    A few dayster, the house waspleted and the artisans left. Before leaving, the butler bowed and bid farewell to Old Time Tea and Famous from afar.

    Having long been tortured by their curiosity, Old Time Tea and Famous rushed towards the house to see what the house was for and what was inside.

    When they came closer to the house, they looked up to see a brand new gue hanging in the front that read, Temple for the Righteous Cat and Chivalrous Dog.

 Chapter 480: Propagate the Doctrine and Impart Professional Knowledge

    <h4>Chapter 480: Propagate the Doctrine and Impart Professional Knowledge</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Famous understood the purpose of the house when it saw the sign Temple for the Righteous Cat and Chivalrous Dog. In the real history, Old Time Tea must had saved Wu Ning by itself so there shouldn¡¯t have been ¡°Chivalrous Dog¡± part. Wu Hancheng and Wu Ning made this temple to thank Old Time Tea for its help.

    The memory of Old Time Tea changed due Famous showing up.

    This temple was not big, but it had everything. The pirs were covered in Wutong oil, so shiny that you could see your reflection. The roof was covered with ss tiles. Although its size was only a little bigger than the master bedroom in the pet shop, it was really somethingpared to everything else in this s***hole. People didn¡¯t normally build a house to show gratitude.

    For Old Time Tea and Famous, the temple was nice. At least they had a ce to stay. Mosquitos in this mountain were brutal at night.

    The light inside the temple was dim, for humans, not for Old Time Tea and Famous.

    Theyout of the temple was pretty simple. There was a table covered with a yellow tablecloth and on it, there were smoked fish, steamed pork, and roasted duck.

    Three tablets sat next to each other behind the table. The middle one said ¡°My rescuer¡¯s, Amazing Fate Pet Shop, ce,¡± along with Zhang Zian¡¯s phone number.

    The other two tablets, from left to right, said My Rescuer¡¯s, the Righteous Cat, ce and My Rescuer¡¯s, the Chivalrous Dog, ce.

    Old Time Tea didn¡¯t know how to react, while Famous didn¡¯t care about it. Famous raised one of its paws, pointing at the roasted duck. ¡°Is that for us?¡±

    ¡°I think so.¡± Old Time Tea figured this must be from the Wu family.

    Famous was so hungry, it didn¡¯t care what Old Time Tea thought and just grabbed the roast duck from the table.

    In front of the table, there were three yellow futons for visitors, though Old Time Tea doubted there would be any visitors. In front of the futons, there was a china made furnace, with three lit pieces of sandalwood. The green smoke came out slowly up.

    Famous sat on the futon and happily ate the roasted duck.

    Old Time Tea grabbed the smoked fish, and after taking the fishbone out, ate it slowly.

    There were sculptures of a cat and a dog. Famous looked at them while it was eating. The two sculptures were wearing robes, and they were standing on their back paws with their front paws in front of them like they were shaking hands. They looked super weird, like they had human bodies, but a dog¡¯s head and a cat¡¯s head.

    Old Time Tea and Famous didn¡¯t like the smell of sandalwood, so they put it out and went to sleep in their own futons.

    It was much colder in this memory than in modern society. Famous was grateful to have this temple to stay warm. It didn¡¯t know how long it had to stay in Old Time Tea¡¯s memory. This world was too real. It didn¡¯t want to freeze to death.

    As night approached, nocturnal animals became active and wild animals started howling in the distance. Famous and Old Time Tea could hear some small animals fight for the fishbone and duck bone that Old Time Tea and Famous threw out. Some bold animals even tried to steal the steamed pork head, but were scared off by Old Time Tea¡¯s meow.

    ¡°Brother Famous, tell me more about the pet shop.¡± Old Time Tea wasn¡¯t used to going to sleep early, so it turned over on the futon. Its eyes shining in the dark.

    The days they had nothing to do, Famous told Old Time Tea about the pet shop. Some stories of its own experiences, some were news it heard from others. Old Time Tea was intrigued by the interesting new world and wanted to go there.

    Famous was drowsy. ¡°Don¡¯t call me Brother Famous, it¡¯s just Famous. What do you want to know?¡±

    ¡°What kind of person is Zhang Zian?¡± Old Time Tea was curious about this guy who, in one hundred years, would be his disciple.

    Famous thought about it and felt it was hard to describe someone in just few sentences, so it just said, ¡°All the pets in the shop agree that he is a petty loser without a girlfriend.¡±

    This only Old Time Tea intrigued more. If Famous described him as a saint, then everything would make sense. However, from what Famous had said, it couldn¡¯t find a reason that it would take him as a disciple. There must be another reason for it to do that. It¡¯d like to believed that it wouldn¡¯t just randomly pick someone as a student, even when it got older.

    Before it could ask another question, it heard Famous snoring.

    Old Time Tea turned around again, thinking about the beautiful future ahead and finally fell asleep.

    ¡­

    The next morning, sunlight fell on Famous¡¯ eyelids through the gap of doors. It shook its head and woke up.

    After a while, Old Time Tea woke up as well, and stretched.

    The steamed pork head was too big for them to eat, but they shared and left plenty. They didn¡¯t like the taste, but they didn¡¯t want to starve, especially Old Time Tea as it didn¡¯t want to go out and eat raw meat.

    They pushed the door open. It was a nice, sunny day. Dewdrops sparkled on the grass.

    It was Old Time Tea¡¯s routine to exercise every morning. It used to run in the forest, but when the people were building the temple, they made an open area in front of the temple, whitewashed it and added some secret liquid to repel grass and insects. Ever since then, Old Time Tea exercised here.

    Famous went to the forest to freshen up, then squatted on the stairs of the temple to take in the sun and watch Old Time Tea jumping around. To it, it looked like Old Time Tea was just ying.

    About 10 minutester, Old Time Tea suddenly stopped and meowed. It raised its paw and observed it carefully.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Old Time Tea? Did you twist your arm?¡± Famous asked. ¡°Zhang Zian does warm ups every day before he starts boxing, he said it prevents injuries.¡±

    ¡°Nah,¡± Old Time Tea shook its head, seeming unsure, ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s just an illusion, but I feel stronger and faster than usual.¡±

    Famous thought about it and guessed, ¡°Is it because the food we ate is better than food from the forest? What did you usually eat, Old Time Tea?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s because of that.¡± Old Time Tea walked towards Famous. ¡°Brother Famous, go run or jump to see if you feel different.¡±

    Famous ran a circle then jumped and said with its tongue out, ¡°No, I don¡¯t feel any different. Are you sleeping too much? Isn¡¯t feeling different sometimes a normal thing? We aren¡¯t robots.¡±

    Actually, it ran slower than usual because it ate too much yesterday and its stomach still didn¡¯t feel well.

    Old Time Tea inhaled deeply, doubted if it was feeling wrong. It then left the question and asked: ¡°Brother Famous, what are robots?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    It wasn¡¯t in the mood to exin things.

    ¡­

    They spent a couple of days like this.

    Every noon, the Wu family would send someone to the mountain, carrying a tray of all kinds of food wrapped with oily paper, such as smoked fish, smoked duck, smoked sausage, roasted duck, spiced beef, pork leg, roasted chicken, etc. One day, they even sent them a roastedmb. This ce was close to the sea so they had all kinds of smoked fish.

    The Wu family treated them better than just rescuers. They got to know Old Time Tea and Famous¡¯ preferred foods and stopped sending things they didn¡¯t like, such as pork head.

    They spent rxing time. As Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t there to control its diet, Famous ate anything it wanted until it was too full to walk. It became so fat that its hair started to get oily. At first it was happy about it, but as time went by, it felt wrong. Old Time Tea ran faster as it controlled its eating, but Famous ran slower everyday. It breathed heavy even it was just running the few steps to the forest to pee.

    This had to stop. Famous remembered it was still in a memory, and if they came across robbers again, its fat wouldn¡¯t help. Sooner orter, it would be killed by someone and cooked into a dog dish.

    This morning, after they woke up, Old Time Tea went to the open area. It didn¡¯t start working out immediately, instead, it stared at its paws. Famous was full again, squatting on the stairs, digesting under the sunzily.

    ¡°Old Time Tea, why don¡¯t you run?¡± Famous asked. It had be a habit to see Old Time Tea running in circles around the open space.

    Old Time Tea didn¡¯t answer, but stood up like a man and started punching the air, quick and hard.

    Famous thought it looked familiar, then it remembered. ¡°Is this Japanese-style punching?¡±

    In the pet shop, it watched Zhang Zian box every morning. He always started with Japanese-style punching. It was so familiar to Famous it was able to recognize the position despite the differences between Zhang Zian and Old Time Tea.

    Old Time Tea returned to its starting position and nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but, recently, I feel I have so much energy and power. I¡¯m lighter than before, more flexible. I thought I could try Wing Chun Kung Fu I learned from Chen Huashun since I have nothing to do.¡±

    Famous was speechless. It remembered the day they were fighting with those criminals. Old Time Tea fought back with its experiences and flexibility, it didn¡¯t have a system. So Old Time Tea had never tried Wing Chun Kung Fu?

    Old Time Tea memorized Chen Huashun¡¯s positions, but it never really practiced. The body structure of a cat was different than the body structure of a man, you couldn¡¯t just copy what you saw.

    After the temple was built, Old Time Tea didn¡¯t just feel like it was getting stronger and more energetic, its mind also got clearer. Things it didn¡¯t understand before, it understood now.

    It thought it could try to change men¡¯s Wing Chun Kung Fu to cats¡¯ Wing Chun Kung Fu. Even if it didn¡¯t work in the end, it didn¡¯t matter. Just like it said, it had plenty of time.

    ¡°Old Time Tea, if you want to practice, I could help you with that,¡± Famous suggested.

    ¡°Oh? Brother Famous, you know about Wing Chun Kung Fu?¡± Old Time Tea asked in surprise.

    ¡°Not really. I¡¯ve already told you. I sit next to you when you are guiding Zhang Zian through his boxing session. Maybe I can help you?¡± Famous wasn¡¯t so sure.

    ¡°That would be great!¡± Old Time Tea nodded excitedly. ¡°Thank you, Brother Famous.¡±

    Famous said quickly, ¡°Don¡¯t. It¡¯s not a big deal. I¡¯m just repeating what you¡¯ve said.¡±

    The next day, Old Time Tea changed its daily routine from running around and jumping in the trees to practicing Wing Chun Kung Fu. Famous helped a lot by quoting future Old Time Tea. Some things didn¡¯t apply to cats, but the main concepts were simr.

    As time went by, the weather got colder and Old Time Tea made progress in Wing Chun Kung Fu. Whenever it felt stuck, it would go through Famous¡¯ instructions sentence by sentence.

    Old Time Tea injured itself trying to do some of the hard tricks. Luckily it had some knowledge about traditional Chinese medicine, so it went to the forest to find some useful herbs. If it ate the herbs or put them in the wound, it would recover soon.

    Famous worried it was getting toozy, so it stopped pigging out and started exercising from time to time. After a while, it returned to its normal. Slowly, it noticed that it was getting stronger and was able to run to the roof without panting. So, it changed its observing spot from the stairs to the roof as he could tan better there.

    ¡­

    Another day had passed.

    Famous went to the roof, dragging a futon with its mouth, looking at Old Time Tea practicing Wing Chun Kung Fu.

    When Old Time Tea finished, it asked curiously, ¡°Old Time Tea, you¡¯ve been practicing just a few days and you¡¯re already better than Zhang Zian, who¡¯s practiced for months. Why is that? Is it because he is too stupid?¡±

    Old Time Tea looked at Famous. It touched its whiskers and smiled when it responded, ¡°That¡¯s not true. It is because our body structures are different. If you want to know, you shoulde down and see.¡±

    Famous jumped off of the roof and went into the temple with Old Time Tea.

    The furnace was now used as a water container since they didn¡¯t like the smell of sandalwood.

    The body of the furnace was big, but the neck was really thin and small. Old Time Tea asked Famous to watch as it jumped on the furnace, easily got inside, and got back out.

    Famous was totally speechless. It couldn¡¯t get into the furnace no matter how hard it tried. If it got inside, it wouldn¡¯t be able to get out. If someone lit the furnace, it would have been cooked for sure.

    Old Time Tea exined with a smile, ¡°A cat¡¯s corbone and shoulder des are flexible. We are born with the skill to shrink our bones. We learn Wing Chun Kung Fu quickly because it requires flexibility.¡±

    No wonder Old Time Tea made such great progress in just a few days.

    Old Time Tea kept silent, then said, ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking. I think of you, Famous, as my dearest friend. I want to teach you some tricks so you can protect yourself, but Wing Chun Kung Fu isn¡¯t suitable for dogs.¡±

    It was not that Old Time Tea didn¡¯t want to teach Famous, but dogs couldn¡¯t learn Wing Chun Kung Fu. It was disappointed, but said, ¡°It¡¯s okay, Old Time Tea. I have danger radar, I can protect myself.¡±

    Old Time Teaughed, ¡°You¡¯re wrong! That day, I saw you, you were flexible, but you escaped and missed your best shot. I¡¯ve thought about some tricks that might suit you.¡±

    ¡°What tricks?¡± Famous listened carefully.

    Old Time Tea said, ¡°A long time ago, there was a famous martial arts master named Huang who challenged Chen Huashun. They made a deal that whoever won two out of three rounds, was the winner. Chen Huashun used his Bridge Hand and Butterfly Palm moves and beat Huang, making Wing Chun Kung Fu popr. In this circumstance, there was no need for the final round, but master Huang performed three kicks to save face, then left. Chen Huashun was impressed by the kicks and couldn¡¯t stop thinking about it. He studied the kicking, wanting to copy it. Even though it was just a glimpse, he saw the general move, but didn¡¯t know the theory. Before he passed away, I able to see him practice for thest time and I memorized it. After watching you these past few days, I¡¯ve realized that your legs are very powerful. I think you could learn the kicks.¡±

    After the story, Old Time Tea paused and then said softly, ¡°However, the three kicks must be the essence of some Kung Fu, it is powerful itself, but it is not systemized, Do you want to learn?¡±

    Famous was intrigued. It knew about the power of Wing Chun Kung Fu, but even if the kick wasn¡¯t as systemized or powerful as Wing Chun Kung Fu, it could defend itself once it mastered it, right?

    Then Famous asked, ¡°What¡¯s the name of the kick?¡±

    Old Time Tea nodded. ¡°Chen Huashun didn¡¯t know the original name of the kick, but since it was fast and strong, we¡¯ll name it the Foshan Invisible Kick.¡±

 Chapter 481: Enter the Mountain to Visit

    <h4>Chapter 481: Enter the Mountain to Visit</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Famous thought the name of the kicking technique sounded familiar. Since it had nothing better to do, it wanted to practice the technique with Old Time Tea.

    In the following days, they lived a very fulfilling life. While Old Time Tea was practicing, Famous, basking in the sun on the rooftop, restated the experience that Old Time Tea would gain one hundred yearster. While Famous practiced the leg technique, Old Time Tea instructed it from nearby. Whenever difficulties urred, they discussed it with each other.

    Ever since Famous carried Old Time Tea down the mountain, Old Time Tea had been aware of Famous¡¯ strength of and came up with the idea of teaching it the Foshan Invisible Kick. However, Old Time Tea didn¡¯t know Famous that well back then, so it took a long time to make an official decision.

    Martial arts focused on leg training and how to exert strength from the legs. Not because kicking was better than punching. On the contrary, some martial arts masters stressed that one should not readily kick because it would give their opponent a big opportunity to attack them.

    Kicking, especially the high kick and side kick, often came with risks, and was a one-time deal. If the kicking did not cause enough damage to your enemy, it was too easy for your enemy to take advantage of your unstable equilibrium to counterattack.

    Human beings had two legs, while dogs had four legs, so it¡¯s easier for dogs to keep their bnce. Besides, Famous had impressive leg strength, so Old Time Tea was very optimistic about it mastering the leg technique.

    Famous was a beginner in learning martial arts, but because the leg technique contained only three movements, it was okay for Famous to practice it intensively. Famous improved rapidly, and within a few days, it was able to fight Old Time Tea for a little bit. Of course, it lost to Old Time Tea quickly because the kicking was the only technique it had mastered.

    Martial arts was never learned from routines or practices, but from actualbat. Since Old Time Tea and Famous had begun to fight each other, they both made progress faster. Not only had they gained more experience from their own practices, but they also had a deeper understanding of each other¡¯s level of Kung Fu.

    Everyday, after sunrise and before sunset, Old Time Tea and Famous practiced martial arts in the open area. On windy or rainy days, they would stay in the temple to have evaluations so that they gained feedback.

    Famous could feel its strength improving, but had no idea how far up its level had gone.

    ¡­

    On this day, the weather was good, and it was probably the warmest day before winter arrived. Famous was lying on the rooftop and Old Time Tea was practicing in the open space. Having told Old Time Tea all the insights of Kung Fu it had previously heard, Famous was looking around bored.

    ¡°Old Time Tea! Someone ising to the mountain!¡± it shouted downwards.

    Old Time Tea continued practicing moves and casually asked, ¡°Is it the person who delivers the food?¡±

    Everyday at noon, the Wu family would send a person to the mountain to deliver food. If the weather wasn¡¯t good that day, the person arrivedter, but the routine had never changed.

    ¡°No, usually it¡¯s one person whoes to deliver food. Today, it¡¯s a group of people.¡± Famous nervously watched the visitors from a distance. It seemed that they were heading to the temple.

    As the saying goes, ¡°never mistake a clear view for a short distance.¡± There were many obstacles on the rugged mountain paths, so it would take them a long time before they could make it to the temple.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Old Time Tea became suspicious. It stopped practicing and leapt onto the roof.

    As a cat, Old Time Tea had poor eyesight during the day. Even though Old Time Tea realized that its body was undergoing some changes and its eyesight had also improved, it could only see vague figures.

    Who could these people be?

    For their own safety and for the time being, they left the temple and retreated to the edge of the forest to wait patiently. If those people were up to no good, at least they had an easy escape route.

    When the people got closer, Famous noticed that among these people, there was Wu Ning, the woman they saved, riding a tall horse. Although Famous saved her at night and forgot some of her facial features, it would never forget her scent. It could also smell gun powder, presumably some people in the crowd carrying guns. It was still unclear whether the guns were for self-defense or hunting.

    The people stopped at the entrance to the shrine. There were six people in total, including Wu Ning. A person who appeared to be a servant knocked on the door and received no response. After a while, he asked Wu Ning for instructions, and then he pushed the door open and entered the shrine. He came out and shook his head to Wu Ning, telling her that the temple was empty.

    ¡°Old Time Tea, those people seem to be looking for us. Wu Ning is with them.¡± Famous knew that Old Time Tea¡¯s eyesight was not very good during the day, so it asked, ¡°Should we go and take a look?¡±

    After a short discussion, they both agreed that the people were not dangerous. If these people wanted to kill them, they would have just put poison in their food.

    So, Old Time Tea and Famous ran towards the group.

    After a narrow escape that night, Wu Ning was kept at home for many days because her parents feared that she would be in danger, or that aplices of the bandits would seek retaliation. She was not allowed to go outside until the bandits confessed that there was no one else. Now, if she wanted to go out, she had to be apanied by bodyguards and maids. As for the two bandits, they had quietly vanished from the world.

    Wu Ning had long been thinking ofing here to thank Old Time Tea and Famous in person. If not for their chivalrous behavior, the consequences would have been disastrous. While she was resting at home, her foot injuries had healed.

    Her father, Wu Mancheng, was a squire, and sent Wu Ning to study at an old-style private school when she was a child. He did not bind her feet, so Wu Ning had more physical strength than most women her age. Otherwise, she would have been seized by those ouws very quickly that night.

    She was somewhat disappointed when the servant told her that shrine was empty. The scene of Old Time Tea and Famous valiantly fighting for her left an impression on her. She also had a strong interest in their owner. What kind of person trained pets so well?

    The servant in charge of delivering meals reported that he asionally saw the cat and dog fight each other. At first, he thought they were brawling, but after a closer look, he realized that their movements were like martial arts.

    Wu Ning¡¯s mother opposed her decision toe to the mountain, but her father approved of her idea to extend gratitude in person. Perhaps she would get to know the mysterious owner of the cat and dog.

    It¡¯s not easy to arrange a trip to the mountain, but since the cat and the dog were not here, she couldn¡¯t keep waiting. She ordered the servants to put more food on the table and was ready to head back home.

    ¡°My Lady! There¡¯s a cat and a dog over there. Are they who you¡¯re looking for?¡± a maid yelled, raising her hand to point to the edge of the woods.

    Wu Ning was pleasantly surprised and jumped off her horse. Instead of using the traditional greeting gesture of folding her hands, she bowed, which was new Western etiquette. ¡°Greetings, my two saviors. My name is Wu Ning.¡±

 Chapter 482: Classic Culture

    <h4>Chapter 482: ssic Culture</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    For the convenience of climbing the mountain, Wu Ning wore a white suit and white leather shoes with a gray vest and a red tie. She also wore a big soft hat. She looked brave riding a big, ck horse. If Wu Ning were a man, he would definitely be popr among girls. In fact, she had received a lot of attention from other girls during the trip to the mountain.

    Famous didn¡¯t recognize her by her looks, so it didn¡¯t matter what she was wearing.

    Old Time Tea and Famous came close to her, but did not know what to say as she didn¡¯t understand theirnguage.

    Wu Ning waved her hand and her servant brought over gifts.

    She gestured to the presents and smiles, ¡°I wanted to say sorry for leaving without saying anything the other night. I am so sorry for being so impolite. Today, I came for two things, one is to express my gratitude. Secondly, I wished meet your owner, do you mind introducing me to him?¡±

    Old Time Tea didn¡¯t say anything while Famous shook its head, which meant they didn¡¯t have an owner. It knew that people in this time were kind of superstitious and were more likely to ept things beyond their imagination.

    Wu Ning was shocked, and she was pretty sure that the dog and cat were familiar with the humannguage as they could understand what she said. But she wasn¡¯t sure about their response. She didn¡¯t know whether the head shake meant that they didn¡¯t have an owner or that they didn¡¯t want to introduce her to their owner, so she asked, ¡°Your owner doesn¡¯t want to see me?¡±

    Famous shook its head again.

    ¡°So, you don¡¯t have an owner?¡±

    This time Famous nodded its head and then shook it, meaning it had an owner who was not around.

    ¡°Winter ising. Living in the deep mountain could be difficult. You two saved my life, would it be possible for you toe to my ce and be my guests?¡± She guessed what Famous was trying to say, so she invited them to her house.

    Famous and Old Time Tea shook their heads at the same time. They didn¡¯t want to leave this ce. Famous had be used to practicing Kung Fu here and thought if it continued practicing here, it could beat that King Tibetan Mastiff when it went back to the real world. As for Old Time Tea, its reasons were moreplicated.

    Wu Ning knew they wouldn¡¯t change their minds so she didn¡¯t ask again. She thought it was a pity so she asked, ¡°Is there anything else I could do?¡±

    Wu Ning gave them an abundance of fish and meat every day, so Famous didn¡¯t have more requests. Old Time Tea thought for a while and walked to the temple, turning back to wave at her.

    At first, the servants thought seeing the young madam talking seriously with a dog and cat was ridiculous. After seeing Famous and Old Time Tea understand the humannguage, they were pretty impressed and thought they might be some kind of immortal animals.

    Wu Ning walked inside the temple with Old Time Tea.

    Old Time Tea pointed its w at the two statues and patted the lower hem of the gown.

    Wu Ning was so smart that she guessed what Old Time Tea was trying to say.

    ¡°You want this outfit?¡±

    Old Time Tea nodded and touched its head with its w.

    Wu Ning touched her head without thinking.

    ¡°You want a hat, too?¡±

    Old Time Tea nodded again.

    ¡°What kind of hat do you want? Something like this?¡± She took off her hat, revealing her beautiful hair, and handed it to Old Time Tea.

    Old Time Tea shook its head, not knowing how to express itself.

    ¡°Why are you holding my bamboo hat in your mouth?¡± Wu Ning asked.

    ¡°Don¡¯t chase it. The dog has saved our young madam¡¯s life. Just leave it alone,¡± one of the servants said.

    The servants were rxing in the sun when it suddenly became noisy. Wu Ning was confused and just when she was about to go see what had happened, she saw Famous holding the bamboo hat in its the mouth. Then Famous opened its mouth and threw the hat next to Wu Ning¡¯s feet.

    Wu Ning picked up the bamboo hat, looked at them and asked, ¡°Do you want a hat like this one?¡±

    They nodded at the same time.

    Old Time Tea looked at Famous confused, not knowing how it got its point.

    Wu Ning was relieved. She finally knew what Old Time Tea wanted. Then she asked Famous, ¡°What about you? Would you like the same outfit, the whole look?¡±

    Famous shook its head like a rattle. He didn¡¯t think nudity was shameful. Wearing clothes can be troublesome as it had to be careful with branches in the forest and cautious not to tear the pants up when it practiced kicking. Well, the robe was crotch free, but it still didn¡¯t feel like wearing it.

    ¡°Ok, wait a second.¡±

    Wu Ning called her servants and asked them to measure Old Time Tea.

    ¡°I am wearing a man¡¯s suit, but I learned to sew clothes when I was little. I will sew your clothes myself, and look for the best craftsman to knit your hat. You don¡¯t have to worry about it!¡±

    The sun was about to go down. A servant came to remind her that it was time to leave the mountain. The sun went down quickly during winter. It was not safe for a beautiful, young girl to travel through such a deste mountain even though she had her bodyguard. Her parents told her that she muste home before sunset, otherwise they wouldn¡¯t let her go out anymore.

    Wu Ning didn¡¯t want to say goodbye, but she couldn¡¯t disobey her parents¡¯ order. So she said with her hands in fists in front of her chest, ¡°My saviors, I have to go now. I¡¯ll see youter.¡±

    Old Time Tea stood up like a man, putting its ws together, imitating the way she said goodbye. It pointed at the presents and made a pushing gesture, asking her to take the gifts.

    Wu Ning respected the two animals even more. The cat in particr was so civilized, just like a man. She decided to tell her parents about what happened today when she went back.

    Old Time Tea and Famous walked her out and didn¡¯te back to the temple until she disappeared.

    A few dayster, a servant carried two bags to the mountain, one of the bags held fish and meat, as usual. In the other bag, there was a tailored long, grey gown and a tiny bamboo hat for Old Time Tea, exactly the same as the one Old Time Tea wore in the real world.

    When helping Old Time Tea put on its long gown, Famous noticed another detail. Inside the sleeve was a sentence sewed in red that read, ¡°I really appreciate you saving my life. This was just a way to pay you back.¡±

    Inside the bamboo hat, there was a tiny warrior made of bamboo.

    Famous couldn¡¯t help being lost in memories. Do the gown and bamboo hat have these words in the real world?

 Chapter 483: A Thrilling Night Deep in the Mountains

    <h4>Chapter 483: A Thrilling Night Deep in the Mountains</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Mom! Mom!¡±

    A piercing cry broke the evening silence of the mountains.

    A guy in his thirties, who seemed like a farmer based on his clothes, was holding a boy under the age of ten in his arms. He was running among the thorns and vines, followed by a peasant woman, who looked to be about the same age as the farmer.

    As they ran away, they looked back in horror, as if something terrible was chasing them. Not far behind them, bushes were swinging violently and a pair of green eyes were vaguely visible.

    ¡°I can¡¯t run anymore¡­Just leave with Hu Wa.¡±

    The woman was so tired that she was out of breath, clinging to a tree and no longer able to take another step. In a blink of an eye, she was more than ten meters behind her husband.

    ¡°Keep up!¡±

    Her husband did farm work everyday, and even though he was holding their child, his physical strength was much better than hers. He stomped anxiously, ¡°The wolves are catching up!¡±

    Their hometown suffered from famine and floods. As a result, the family of three fled with their fellow countrymen to this region. They heard that under Britain¡¯s rule, Hong Kong was not affected by the war, so they had been seeking opportunities to sneak into Hong Kong. They just wanted to arrive in Hong Kong as soon as possible, so they ran day and night, but ended up running into these remote mountains and getting attacked by a pack of wolves. Panic-stricken, they were separated from their fellow countrymen, who suffered the fate of the wolves.

    It was a bad harvest year. The bloodthirsty wolves probably came from the Western regions, attacking people when they were close to starving.

    ¡°Leave with our child! I¡¯ll catch up after some rest.¡±

    The face of the peasant woman was smeared with tears. She knew her husband¡¯s temper all too well. If she stopped running, then her husband would definitely stop running, and the three of them were bound to die here. That¡¯s why she said she would catch upter, it was an excuse to make her husband keep running.

    ¡°What are you talking about? You silly woman, keep up with me!¡± Her husband was not that gullible. He knew his wife was only able to run this far because they didn¡¯t stop to take breaks. If she stopped, he was afraid that she wouldn¡¯t be able to run any longer.

    ¡°Mom! I want my mom!¡±

    Less than ten years old, Hu Wa was crying and reaching for his mother. Due to malnutrition, Hu Wa appeared to be thinner than most children of the same age. His arms as thin as twigs were stressful to look at. Luckily, that meant he was lighter, otherwise his father would not be able to run so far carrying him.

    What the mother hated most was the thought of being separated from her child.

    Instead of running to her husband and her child, she gritted her teeth and pushed herself away from the tree and into the path beside her. She exhausted herst effort to run and shouted, ¡°Chen Tiedan! You must take Hu Wa to Hong Kong. If something bad happens to him, I wille back and haunt you.¡±

    Chen Tiedan froze for a second before he realized what was going on. She was bringing the wolves her way, in hopes that he would survive with their child.

    Silly woman! You have been stupid your whole life, why are you being smart today?

    Chen Tiedan thumped his chest and stomped. He grit his teeth to hold back his tears.

    Seeing his mother disappear in the woods, Hu Wa wanted to call her, but his father covered his mouth.

    With tears in his eyes, Chen Tiedan couldn¡¯t see anything clearly. He turned around, pushed branches aside, and ran ahead staggeringly.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    He hadn¡¯t run very far when he heard his wife¡¯s cry.

    Chen Tiedan closed his eyes tightly, thinking that he was about to hear his wife¡¯s wailing before she was torn apart by the wolves.

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    ¡°Bark!¡±

    He froze for a moment. Whose cat and dog were those? The cat may be a wildcat, what about the dog? Was it a wild dog?

    ¡°Ow-woo!¡±

    He heard a whining, as if someone was injured. A simr sound was often heard when his neighbor¡¯s German Shepherd was kicked in the stomach.

    He looked back terrifyingly, staring in the direction his wife ran. The branches of that area were rustling violently, as if there were beasts fighting there.

    Chen Tiedan knew the odds were against his wife, but he hadn¡¯tpletely lost hope because themotion was quite unusual. Before his fellow countrymen died, they all let out a harsh wail. Why was his wife so quiet?

    When he was lost in thought, Hu Wa broke free from his arms and ran back. He wiped his tears and shouted, ¡°Mom! Mom! Where are you?¡±

    ¡°You bastard! Stop! I will beat you when I catch you!¡±

    Chen Tiedan was so furious, he began to chase his son right away. Hu Wa was an only child, and he remembered his wife¡¯s words, that he must take Hu Wa to Hong Kong and settle down there. He would return to this ce to collect his wife¡¯s remains, if any.

    He strode fast to chase his son. When he was about to catch Hu Wa, a bush in front of them suddenly split down the middle and a fierce-looking wolf jumped out.

    Chen Tiedan was shocked. He subconsciously threw himself to Hu Wa, using his own body to protect his child. He clenched his teeth, waiting for the great pain that was sure toe. Even if they were going to die, he couldn¡¯t let his child die before him.

    The wolf opened its mouth and revealed its white fangs. It was going to bite Chen Tiedan in the neck.

    At this moment, a shadow as swift as lightning jumped out from the woods, raised its leg, and kicked the wolf in the shoulder.

    The kick was so strong that the wolf, that probably weighed around 50 kg, rolled several times in the air before it hit a tree and fell to the ground.

    Chen Tiedan rubbed his eyes, staring incredibly at their savior. It was a big German Shepherd he had never seen before.

    Famous nced at them. After confirming that they were not hurt, it immediately ran back to where Old Time Tea was fighting the wolves. Tough and muscr by nature, these wolves were very difficult to defeat.

    However, even if they were ten times as vicious, they wouldn¡¯t easily win when Old Time Tea and Famous were working together.

    Chen Tiedan picked up Hu Wa and was about to continue running when he heard a familiar voice, ¡°Hu Wa. My husband. Where are you?¡±

    He thought his wife had been killed by the wolves. He was so surprised to hear her voice and he shouted, ¡°My wife! We¡¯re here!¡±

    His wife followed his voice and ran to him. Her face and body scratched by tree branches, but she had no major injuries.

    Chen Tiedan thought he was in a dream, so he pinched his thigh and asked, ¡°What is going on? Are we in hell?¡±

    ¡°Mom!¡± Hu Wa didn¡¯t care if this was a dream or not, he plunged into her arms and cried.

    Tightly hugging Hu Wa, the wife smiled tearfully, ¡°What are you talking about? Your ancestors must have heard my prayer! I was almost eaten by the wolves, when a cat and dog saved me!¡±

    ¡°Dog? Was it a big German Shepherd?¡± asked Chen Tiedan.

    His wife nodded vigorously, ¡°And a cat.¡±

    ¡°That dog had just saved me and Hu Wa. Where did theye from? They are so marvelous,¡± Chen Tiedan eximed.

    The three of them hugged, and their hearts filled with joy. They also knew that they should not stay here any longer, they had to find a safe ce to stay for the night.

    But they were unfamiliar with this ce and had no idea which way was safe.

    Darkness surrounded them. The cries of night owls could be heard from afar. They were so scared that even the slightest sound startled them.

    A bush moved and all three of their faces paled. Chen Tiedan extended his arms to protect his wife and child.

    Old Time Tea and Famous jumped out from the bush. His wife pulled her husband down so she could whisper, ¡°That¡¯s the cat and dog that saved me.¡±

    Chen Tiedan didn¡¯t know what to say, he was worried that this cat and dog were monsters who drove away wolves just so they could eat them.

    Seeing the family safe and sound, Famous said to Old Time Tea, ¡°I will go drive the wolves farther away.¡±

    When it finished speaking, it plunged into the woods again to drive the wolves deep into the mountains so that they wouldn¡¯t disturb the humans living nearby.

    Old Time Tea nodded. It lifted a paw and waved at Chen Tiedan so that he would follow.

    Chen Tiedan¡¯s palms were full of sweat, he had no other choice, but to follow Old Time Tea while holding his wife and his child.

    Old Time Tea was familiar with the mountain and it led them. Chen Tiedan and his family suddenly saw a light and left the woods. They had arrived at the edge of an open space in the mountain. There was a building in this open space. It was the Temple for the Righteous Cat and Chivalrous Dog.

    There was no light on in the temple. Chen Tiedan was illiterate, but with the moonlight, he could see the statues on the left and right side of the temple and understood what this building was. This must be a shrine someone built for the cat and dog. It didn¡¯t seem like this was the first time they had saved people.

    ¡°Mom, I¡¯m hungry.¡± Hu Wa noticed the meat on the table and was drooling.

    They had been begging for food on their way here and hadn¡¯t seen such a meal in a while.

    ¡°Come on, we are not hungry.¡± His mother quicklyforted him.

    It¡¯s a lie, of course because their stomachs began to sing when they smelled the food.

    Old Time Tea jumped onto the table and pushed a te of braised pig¡¯s trotters to them, but they just stood still and didn¡¯t dare to move or eat.

    Old Time Tea picked up thergest trotter and put it in front of Hu Wa.

    Hu Wa was so hungry. Before his parents could stop him, he picked up the trotter and began to chew, his face quickly smeared with oil.

    Old Time Tea jumped back to the table and pushed the te with trotters again.

    Chen Tiedan and his wife looked at each other, timidly picked up two small pig¡¯s trotters and took a bite. Since Old Time Tea had no reaction, they finally let go and dared to continue eating the meat.

    Old Time Tea sighed slightly. It was yearning for the peace and prosperity that Famous described.

 Chapter 484: Today, I Know Who I Am

    <h4>Chapter 484: Today, I Know Who I Am</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Famous jumped over a tree. Under the moonlight, it could see the whole forest.

    Some branches were shaking, caused by the escaping wolf packs.

    It followed their smell to make sure no wolves went rogue, otherwise they could do a lot of harm to the people.

    Famous finallynded on high ground when the wolves escaped the mountain.

    It looked at the moon. The moon was so big, so round, and so close. It could even saw the surface of the moon.

    ¡°Aww!¡±

    Its wild nature awoke and it howled at the moon to release its inner-self.

    It had been in this world for a year now. It was mid-autumn again.

    During the year, it never left the mountain. It ate in the mountain, slept in the mountain. Gradually, it felt less like a dog and more like a wolf. It howled to the moon so many times.

    In the daytime, it practiced martial arts with Old Time Tea. At night, they took turns on patrol to help people, like the Chen family they saved today. Famous found them first and howled to Old Time Tea for help.

    After having some fun, Famous returned.

    When it got back to the house, the Chen family was already asleep. It could hear their breath. The food on the altar was almost finished.

    Old Time Tea was waiting at the door when it asked ¡°Did you get rid of them?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re all gone.¡± Famous was a bit tired.

    ¡°Thank you so much.¡± Old Time Tea smiled and said, ¡°There¡¯s some leftover beef, you can finish it.¡±

    ¡°Nah, let the Chen family have it tomorrow. They need it more than I do.¡± Famous didn¡¯t move, he knew that Old Time Tea didn¡¯t eat at all. If it could stand the hungry, so could Famous.

    Old Time Tea sat on the sofa. Its original n was to let the Chen family sleep on the sofa, but they were too afraid to sleep on it.

    ¡°Tell me about the pet shop again,¡± Old Time Tea said, looking at the forest.

    Famous was almost asleep. ¡°I¡¯ve already told you. There is nothing more to say, unless you want me to make things up.¡±

    ¡°I really want to go and see that world,¡± Old Time Tea said. ¡°I still have 100 years to go. No, 99 years. When will this troubled time end?¡±

    Famous kept silent.

    Old Time Tea looked at Famous and said, ¡°You said before the world we see now is not real, just a world built up in a memory, so why does it feel so real? The grass, the trees, the mountains, the water. I can see them, I can touch them, yet you told me that they are not real.¡±

    Famous shook its head. ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but you don¡¯t need to think about it. These things are real, but unreal at the same time. It all happened and existed before, they live in your memories, including these people.¡± It looked at the Chen family. Old Time Tea must have saved them once in the real world.

    After a moment of silence, Old Time Tea suddenly said, ¡°You will leave this ce one day, right? Leave my memory world and return to the real world.¡±

    Famous felt something, so he looked at Old Time Tea, but it did not look back.

    There was a sad atmosphere among them.

    Famous could not imagine how Old Time Tea could live in the deep mountain alone for so many years. It must have been so lonely.

    Then out of nowhere, he said, ¡°No, I¡¯m not leaving and you are not leaving.¡±

    Old Time Tea trembled a bit, looked at Famous and said, ¡°Why? Don¡¯t you want to go back to your world? That world is peaceful and people are waiting for you¡±.

    ¡°You misunderstood me, Old Time Tea. This is not your memory world, it is my memory world,¡± Famous said with certainty.

    Old Time Tea was confused.

    It took a long time for Famous to understand as well.

    ¡°Indeed, this ce was your memory world, originally. However, when we met each other at the pet shop, your memory was copied into mine. The real you, the real Old Time Tea was not affected. He could be drinking tea, teaching Zhang Zian right now. Everything that happened after we met, happened in my mind¡±.

    Famous pointed at its own head and smiled.

    ¡°I will never leave. As long as I want to, I could enter this world freely because this is my memory world. Why should I leave?¡±

    Famous came to this conclusion after thinking a long time.

    This world was built on Old Time Tea¡¯s memory, but Famous created everything that happened after.

    The reason why it said all this was to assure Old Time Tea so that it would stop worrying. It wouldn¡¯t have to feel lonely because Famous was going to be here with it until the end of this world.

    It didn¡¯t want to say all this because it was embarrassed.

    In Famous¡¯ heart, there was a world for Famous and Gxy and there was a world for Famous and Old Time Tea. There might be more worlds in the future.

    Famous hadn¡¯t yet found a way to travel through these worlds, but it will one day. It still had plenty of time.

    Until then, it build a real and unreal Amazing Fate Pet Shop based on its memory. In this world, people will live happily, and it will be a time of national peace where Old Time Tea had never lived before.

    Famous could not tell whether Old Time Tea understood it or not. Old Time Tea stopped feeling sad and felt delighted again.

    Old Time Tea got up from the sofa and walked outside. It howled at the moon.

    The Chen family woke up because of the howling. They quickly went back to sleep after they saw Famous lying beside them. They were so tired after the traveling. Now that they weren¡¯t hungry anymore and finally had time to rest., they would leave for Xiangjiang tomorrow.

    They only heard a sound of meowing, but to Famous, it was, ¡°Today, I know who I am!¡±

 Chapter 485: Time to Wake Up

    <h4>Chapter 485: Time to Wake Up</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Famous!¡±

    Famous vaguely heard somebody calling its name. It was tired after fighting the wolvesst night so it wanted to keep sleeping since it had nothing to do when it woke up.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Old Time Tea? Why don¡¯t you call me Brother Famous anymore? Have you finally changed what you call me? After I¡¯ve been telling you for so long?¡± it murmured without opening its eyes.

    ¡°We have to go, Famous, or we¡¯ll dy today¡¯s shooting.¡±

    Famous moved its ears. There¡¯s something wrong with its voice.

    It suddenly opened its eyes and saw that Old Time Tea was sitting across from it with an ambiguous smile. Old Time Tea wasying on the windowsill, not the yellow futon in the shrine.

    There was an empty teacup between it and Old Time Tea.

    Famous stood up suddenly, shook its head and looked around nkly.

    It was not in the shrine, it was on the second floor of the pet shop.

    The room smelled like elves. Famous could hear Gxy and the American Shorthair ying hide and seek downstairs. Snowy Li was still whispering about a ¡°raw beef brisket,¡± and the noisy Richard was teasing the elves and other pets.

    Zhang Zian was dressed nicely. He had taken off his sportswear and put on his outdoor clothes. Carrying the backpack he usually took to set, he checked the time on his cellphone and waited for Famous.

    ¡°Where am I?¡± Famous didn¡¯t know what was real and what was a memory.

    ¡°Where are you?¡± Zhang Zian was confused by the strange question. ¡°You¡¯re home. You didn¡¯t sleep wellst night, but you fell asleep just now. I didn¡¯t want to wake you, but if we don¡¯t leave now, we¡¯ll dy today¡¯s shooting.¡±

    ¡°Home¡­¡±

    Famous thought about this meaningful term.

    It pondered for a moment, then looked at Old Time Tea.

    The Old Time Tea in front of it was older, calmer, and gentler than the brave and tough Old Time Tea from the memory. Logically, Famous knew that this was the same Old Time Tea. The only difference was that this Old Time Teacked theradery of fighting side by side with Famous.

    Old Time Tea watched it and asked, ¡°Famous, were you talking in your dream? I¡¯ve never called you Brother Famous before. I may have, if I knew you ten years ago.¡±

    Famous felt a sense of loss. It missed the way the other Old Time Tea called it ¡°Brother Famous.¡±

    However, the Old Time Tea from the memory wouldn¡¯t go anywhere because it would always stay in Famous¡¯ heart. When Famous experienced new adventures in the real world, it will return to that world and tell Old Time Tea.

    ¡°I just had a dream. A long dream.¡± It smiled casually and jumped off the windowsill. ¡°I¡¯ll you about it when I have time.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought to himself. Famous took a nap for a few minutes, and woke up with apletely different mindset, as if it had matured in a blink of an eye. Its tone was also different, almost old-fashioned.

    He did not have time to ask Famous what happened, so he just went downstairs with Famous.

    Famous looked at theyout in the pet shop, its eyes sweeping over Gxy, Fina, Snowy Li, Richard and Lu Yiyun. Although only a few minutes had passed in the real world, a whole year had passed in the spiritual world. The sudden shift from wilderness to civilization reminded Famous of how fast time flies.

    Liu drove a police car and parked it in front of the pet shop. As soon as he saw Zhang Ziane out, he immediately greeted him excitedly, ¡°Zhang, today is the day for test shooting, right? Wang and I have been training more with Red Dragon and Prince, especially for biting. I guarantee that bulls**t Mastiff King will be bitten so badly that its own mother won¡¯t even recognize it!¡±

    Wang was sitting in the passenger seat, while Red Dragon and Prince were sitting in the back. Today, they had taken a leave from the base to go to the shooting location to assist, but mainly to beat the Mastiff King. Zhang Zian had informed Feng Xuan about the test shooting in advance.

    Red Dragon and Prince were close friends with Famous. Although, when they saw Famous today, they stood alert in the backseat because they did not recognize it. They did not settle down until they had sniffed Famous.

    The two police officers were confident, but Zhang Zian was very worried.

    When they arrived at the location, Zhang Zian found it very strange that there were very few staff members outside. Even the security guards were not doing their jobs, they were staring at their phones.

    ¡°Hello, may I ask if there is any shooting today? Where is everyone?¡± Zhang Zian asked a security officer.

    The security officer knew him since there weren¡¯t many people on the crew with dogsing and going, so he said, ¡°Zhang, don¡¯t you know? Master Old Yang is making Big Teeth fight the Mastiff King! Everyone has gone inside to watch the fun. I would have joined them, but I have to watch the door. Hey, I wasn¡¯t finished! ¡±

    Before he could finish, Famous jumped through the gate, followed by Zhang Zian and the two police officers.

    Since he had to wait for Famous to wake up, Zhang Zian was a bitte today. The shooting didn¡¯t normally start at this time. Usually, the actors were in the middle of getting their makeup done, the director was giving the actors somest-minute notes on a scene, and the designers were working on the set. That¡¯s why he wasn¡¯t in a hurry today. Who¡¯d have thought that Master Old Yang would let Big Teeth fight the Mastiff King without consulting him?

    Famous didn¡¯t know why it suddenly moved, perhaps it wanted to be an hero, or perhaps it was impacted by Old Time Tea¡¯s chivalry. It just knew that it wasn¡¯t possible for Big Teeth to defeat the Mastiff King. If it didn¡¯t stop the fight in time, Famous worried that Big Teeth would get hurt, or worse.

    When Famous ran, Red Dragon and Prince followed, breaking free from Liu and Wang. The three dogs ran towards the power grid, one after another.

    There were a lot of people surrounding the power grid. Fortunately, Feng Xuan had set up ayer of barbed wire outside the power grid just in case someone was pushed onto the power grid.

    Feng Xuan and Old Yang were standing at the entrance of the power grid with grave expressions.

    There was no camera, but the pyrotechnician was standing on the lift. Holding an tranquilizer gun up to his face, one of eye closed, the other looking through the scope.

    Inside the power grid was silent. Zhang Zian and the two police officers were blocked by people, so they couldn¡¯t see if the battle between Big Teeth and Mastiff King was over.

    Famous and the two police dogs were extremely fast, leaving Zhang Zian and the two police officers far behind. The two police dogs stopped when they approached the barbed wire, while Famous ran faster. Famous jumped over the barbed wire andnded in the power grid.

    The crowd was in uproar!

    ¡°Which dog is that? It jumped so high! It¡¯s practically a flying dog!¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t recognize it? That¡¯s the dog that ys Lightning!¡±

    ¡°No! Why did Lightning jump in there? If it¡¯s hurt, we¡¯ll have to rece it!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay if it¡¯s slightly injured, what I¡¯m afraid is that¡­¡±

    Feng Xuan and Old Yang were astonished. They had been concentrating on the interior of the venue, that neither of them expected Famous to be able to jump over the power grid. Feng Xuan was so shocked that he almost had a heart attack!

    It was Old Yang¡¯s idea to let Big Teeth challenge the Mastiff King. He weighed his options repeatedly and decided that Big Teeth was the best choice to take the risk. Big Teeth was just a retired German Shepherd, it was less important than Famous and the two police dogs. If Big Teeth failed, there was no need for Famous and the two police dogs to try.

    Feng Xuan agreed with his opinion. For Big Teeth¡¯s safety, he let the pyrotechnician prepare. If Big Teeth was defeated, the pyrotechnician would instantly shoot the Mastiff King with a tranquilizing dart.

    The pyrotechnician was a former military engineer with sniper training. However, he was not a sharpshooter who had never missed a target, so it would be difficult for him to shoot a moving dog. If the first shot didn¡¯t hit the Mastiff King, then Big Teeth would be in danger. Judging from the bloodthirstiness of the Mastiff King, it would be difficult for Big Teeth to fight off an attack until the second tranquilizing dart was ced in the gun.

    Of course, it would be a happy ending if Big Teeth defeated the Mastiff King.

    The pyrotechnician asked for Feng Xuan¡¯s instructions through a headset, ¡°Director Feng, how should I deal with this situation? Should I shoot the Mastiff King first?¡±

    The Mastiff King was so fierce that no one dared to enter the area inside the power grid when it was conscious.

    At this moment, Zhang Zian and the two police officers arrived out of breath.

    Feng Xuan quickly said to Zhang Zian, ¡°Tell Famous to get out of there!¡±

    There nothing Zhang Zian could do because Famous chose to go in there to rescue Big Teeth. Even if he issued an order, he was afraid Famous wouldn¡¯te out.

    Liu and Wang took the two police dogs and proposed, ¡°Should we let Red Dragon and Prince in? So that the three of them can fight the Mastiff King together?¡±

    Old Yang cursed, ¡°Nonsense! Do you think this is just a fight? It¡¯s a test of leadership, just like how monkeys in the mountains fight to be Monkey King. Have you ever seen a Monkey King chosen through because of a group fight?¡±

    He raised his hand and everyone looked to where he was pointing. All the other Tibetan Mastiffs locked in their cages were focusing on the area inside ??the power grid, obviously very concerned about the oue of this battle.

    Having been in the police dog training base for more than two decades, Old Yang was very familiar with canine habits. It was important to win in a one-on-one fight. Even if they won in a group fight, it was difficult to convince others that they were indeed the kings.

    Everyone kept voicing their own suggestions. For Famous and Big Teeth¡¯s safety, Feng Xuan made the decision to knock the Mastiff King out with the tranquilizing dart.

    Just then, a deafening roar burst throughout the venue.

 Chapter 486: Defeat

    <h4>Chapter 486: Defeat</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Famous jumped into the fighting ground. Big Teeth was having a standoff with the Tibetan Mastiff King. Actually, Big Teeth was provoking the Mastiff King by barking at it.

    If it was another dog, they would bark at each other or even fight each other. However, this Mastiff King was extraordinary. It didn¡¯t care about Big Teeth, it didn¡¯t even look at it. Its red eyes were staring at the pyrotechnician, knowing that the he was the biggest threat. Mastiff King was so strangely calm, it scared the people watching the fight.

    Byparing Big Teeth and Mastiff King, Liu and Wang finally realized how big the Tibetan Mastiff was.

    Big Teeth had a big head and strong muscles. It was really big among the German Shepherds. It was more prestigious than Red Dragon and Prince. However, whenparing Big Teeth to the Mastiff King, it was likeparing a lightweight boxer with a heavyweight boxer.

    Famous showed its jumping skills bynding on the fighting ground. Big Teeth just looked at it and, after deciding that Famous wasn¡¯t a threat, turned back to provoke Mastiff King.

    However, Mastiff King sensed something strange in Famous and inspected it thoroughly.

    Maybe Mastiff King was tired of Big Teeth because it turned to roar at Big Teeth. The crowd was scared. The sound was like thunder.

    Big Teeth was shaking a bit. It was the first time that it showed weakness.

    Famous didn¡¯t think the situation looked good. Old Time Tea once told Famous that showing weakness before a fight is lethal.

    Feng Xuan asked the pyrotechnician to give the signal to start the fight.

    Right after the pyrotechnician put his finger on the trigger, Mastiff King rushed towards Big Teeth. It seemed like the Mastiff King wanted to finish Big Teeth before dealing with Famous.

    Swoosh!

    A sleeping dart flew past the Mastiff King and hit the ground.

    The pyrotechnician quickly loaded the second tranquilizing dart, but it was toote, Big Teeth and Mastiff King was already wrestling.

    Big Teeth was well trained. Since it was facing a bigger opponent, it went on the defense instead of offense. Instead of getting bit, Big Teeth did some damage to Mastiff King. It was an even match.

    Soon, there were many scars on the Mastiff King¡¯s body and it was covered in blood.

    Feng Xuan told the pyrotechnician not to fire the second dart, to just wait and see.

    The crowd was cheering for Big Teeth. Apparently, people liked to side with the underdog.

    Famous sensed something different. The fur on the Mastiff King was too thick, like armour. It didn¡¯t matter how great Big Teeth¡¯s bite was, the damage it did was only superficial. When the Mastiff King noticed the blood, it got more aggressive.

    In a boxing match, 100 jabs from a lightweight fighter, would do little to no damage to a heavyweight fighter. However, one hit from a heavyweight fighter can finish off, or even kill, a lightweight fighter.

    Big Teeth dodged the Mastiff King¡¯s deadly hit at just the right time. However, Mastiff King tried again and knocked Big Teeth off its feet.

    Big Teeth had a concussion. It struggled to stand up, but it was too weak.

    If this was a fight for leadership among the dogpacks, then the result was clear. The fight should be over. However, Mastiff King didn¡¯t see Big Teeth as an opponent, it saw it as prey. Mastiff King went for Big Teeth¡¯s throat, getting ready to final bite.

    The girls in the crowd were too scared to watch, so they screamed and covered their faces.

    Suddenly, a ck figure came out of nowhere and kicked the Mastiff King on the shoulder.

    There was no way for the Mastiff King to dodge the kick, so it fell to the ground.

    Everything happened in a matter of seconds. The crowd was speechless.

    It was Famous that kicked the Mastiff King. Famousnded in front of the Mastiff King, looking so peaceful and calm.

    The Mastiff King was furious. It rolled itself on the ground and howled, jumping towards Famous.

    ¡°Should I shoot now?¡± the pyrotechnician asked.

    Before Feng Xuan could respond, he saw Famous jumping towards Mastiff King. Two figures fought together, one ck and one yellow. Shooting right now would be a risk, one that put Famous in danger.

    Even though Zhang Zian was always with Famous, he was still surprised to find out how strong Famous had be.

    Famous kicked the Mastiff King¡¯s side again. Its organs were damaged, and blood was running from its mouth.

    It was to everyone¡¯s surprise that Famous had such leg strength.

    The other Tibetan Mastiffs were all scared. It seemed like they were witnessing a new leader rising.

    Famous didn¡¯t chase the Mastiff King down to continue the fight. It stood still, calm and quiet, like a true master. If Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know any better, he would say that it was Old Time Tea fighting, not Famous.

    Famous raised one of its ws to the Mastiff King, taunting it to continue the battle.

    The Mastiff King was pissed off, finding this action more humiliating than Big Teeth¡¯s barks.

    The Tibetan Mastiff was the kind of dog that never had met a worthy opponent before because they lived in the teau all alone. They were confident about every fight, they didn¡¯t know how to be humble.

    The Mastiff King ran towards Famous, howling.

    Famous fought the wolfpacks in the mountain with Old Time Tea before, so it had enough experience to not be scared of the Mastiff King.

    Famous found the Mastiff King¡¯s weakness. It was too big, like a tank, and it made its movements slow.

    Famous evaded the Mastiff King¡¯s attack, leaning back to hit the back of its knee.

    The Mastiff King was too tall to stay bnced, so it fell on the ground.

    The pyrotechnician dropped the tranquilizer gun. He could tell that the fight. Famous was too strong for the Mastiff King to beat.

    The Mastiff King stood up and stared at Famous, breathing heavily. Its lungs, which was used to the teau now, became its burden. This fight made it exhausted.

    The Mastiff King howled at the sky again, but it was not as intimidating as before.

    This was its third howl. As the old Chinese story went, the leader wanted to encourage his soldiers, so he beat the drums for them. The very first drumming cheers them up, the second weakens them, while the third absolutely drains them.

    Its eyes turned redder due to the high blood pressure. It rushed Famous.

    Famous was tired of fighting, so it didn¡¯t try to evade, instead it jumped and kicked the Mastiff King¡¯s head. The Mastiff King fell on the electric.

    The Mastiff King bounced back, fell to the ground, and didn¡¯t get up again.

 Chapter 487: Guarantee Allocation

    <h4>Chapter 487: Guarantee Allocation</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The thunderous apuse began.

    It was the first time the crew members¡ªincluding Old Yang, who knew a lot about German Shepherds¡ªhad ever seen a dog fight using their legs.

    The crowd enthusiastically pped and cheered for Famous. Many people had recorded the fight and were ready to upload the videos online. Feng Xuan thought that the fight could be included as a behind-the-scenes feature for the movie.

    Famous didn¡¯t think it was a big deal just because the Tibetan Mastiff was big in size. The Tibetan Mastiff was worse than the wolves in the mountains when it came down to its brutality.

    Seeing their Mastiff King fall to the ground, the other Tibetan Mastiffs in were restless their iron cages. Their mayhem made the retired German Shepherds restless. The whole location was filled with barking,bined with the noises of the crowd.

    Famous tilted its head and howled towards the sky, ¡°Ow-woo!¡±

    A hush fell over the crowd. The German Shepherds and the Tibetan Mastiffs and didn¡¯t dare to make a sound as they all looked at Famous in awe.

    The crowd was shocked by its howl. A few nosey people ran towards Zhang Zian and asked him, ¡°Zhang, is Famous a dog or a wolf? Why did it howl like a wolf?¡±

    I¡¯m just as confused as you are, Zhang Zian said in his head. He didn¡¯t know how to answer, but Old Yang was very pleased and said, ¡°You know nothing! Only the best German Shepherds could inherit the characteristics of their ancestors, the wolves.¡±

    Someone refuted, ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me, Master Yang. My friend sells German Shepherds, and he says that the reverted gene is reflected in the long-haired German Shepherd, Famous is a short-haired German Shepherd¡±

    Old Yang chuckled, ¡°You only know part of the truth. The police dog training base introduces a number of German Shepherds as male breeders from Germany at high prices every several years. These male breeders are better than the German Shepherds at your friend¡¯s kennel. Among all the descendants of these breeders, one out of every four German Shepherds is long-haired or medium-haired. Are you saying that these male breeders have a bad bloodline? This is the very proof that their bloodline is closer to their ancestors. German Shepherds who serve as police dogs have different requirements than those kept as pets.¡±

    Zhang Zian had also heard that short-haired German Shepherds would produce long-haired German Shepherds that no one wanted as pets. They were, however, good breeders because they had inherited the purebred gene from their ancestors. Another feature of the long-haired German Shepherd, the two ck spots on its tongue.

    Famous neither had long hair nor ck spots on its tongue. Its skull and body were almost half the size of Red Dragon¡¯s and Prince¡¯s, so Famous didn¡¯t expect to win any dog shows. ording to Old Yang, who had witnessed the degeneration of German Shepherds, Famous was one of thest remaining German Shepherd worth tens of thousands of euros.

    That person who refuted Old Yang a moment ago was quick-witted. He immediately turned to Zhang Zian and whispered, ¡°Zhang, is your Famous still single?¡±

    Zhang Zian was furious. Pointing to himself, he said, ¡°I am single. Will the crew find a woman to be my wife?¡±

    The person was speechless.

    The Mastiff King was kicked four times and electrocuted by the power grid, but it was still conscious. It just couldn¡¯t stand up for the time being. When it looked at Famous, there was a flicker of fear in its eyes.

    Famous jumped out of the power grid and walked to the front of the iron cages that held the rest of the Tibetan Mastiffs.

    The Tibetan Mastiffs, who were nothing, but fierce since the moment they arrived, were bowing their heads. One or two of them even lied on the ground, exposing their most bellies to show their submission.

    ¡°This ¡­is it done? Will the dogs¡¯ safety be ensured now?¡± Feng Xuan asked Old Yang and Zhang Zian.

    Old Yang nodded his head. ¡°Yes. Rest assured, dogs have a strict hierarchy system, nobody defies it. Unless some dog ??has the confidence to challenge Famous, it shouldn¡¯t change.¡±

    ording to Old Yang, everyone watched when a litter of puppies was born in the police dog training base. Puppies from the same litter had already started topete for leadership.

    There was no difference in gender, until a male pup surpassed the others and became the staff¡¯s focus.

    When the cubs grew up, an experienced trainer would be able to recognize which one was the leader because it was first in line when entering and exiting the kennel. Thest dog was the one with the lowest position in the dog group. If a dog tried to disrupt the order, it would be scolded or attacked by the leader.

    No matter how impressive the Tibetan Mastiffs were, they were still dogs.

    Other people chatted with Old Yang enthusiastically, praising Famous. Liu and Wang also admired Famous, as they finally became aware of the difference between it and their dogs.

    Zhang Zian walked around the power grid and to the Mastiff King. He bent down to observe the beast through the barbed wire. It tried to stand several times, but its injuries and twitching muscles prevented it from doing so.

    Smelling Famous on Zhang Zian, it nced at him with resentment and disgust before turning its head.

    Zhang Zian was not here to enjoy the loser¡¯s misery, he was just pondering.

    During the Tibetan Mastiff¡¯s popr period, a well-known proverb had been circting, in China, a rich man needed to marry a beautiful woman, own a Lamborghini, a luxury vi, a purebred horse, and thergest, fiercest Tibetan Mastiff.

    This Mastiff King was undoubtedly thergest and fiercest of the Tibetan Mastiffs.

    Now that the Tibetan Mastiff had been beat, where was his wife and Lamborghini?

    Feng Xuan had some concerns at the beginning, but the shooting went smoothly, especially the scene where the group of Tibetan Mastiffs attacked the police dogs. If the Tibetan Mastiffs revealed a sliver of their wild nature, Famous would put them in their ce.

    This was the most difficult scene to film in the whole movie, but miraculously, it took only three takes before Feng Xuan was satisfied. Not only did it save the money for making special effects, but it had also fully demonstrated the scary images of these beasts that wandered the Western border, attacking humans and other animals. As for whether this scene can make people aware of the problem, Feng Xuan could only hope for the best and let fate do the rest.

 Chapter 488: Humanistic Care

    <h4>Chapter 488: Humanistic Care</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After shooting all day, the sky darkened. Feng Xuan called it a day and asked the crew members to carry the equipment back to the storage room. He thought of where he wanted to have dinner, and whether he wanted to do karaoke or call some girls.

    Liu and Wang were waiting at the door of the shooting base. It was pretty cold, and Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to keep them waiting so he was about to leave when Feng Xuan called him.

    ¡°Zhang, are you busy? Come with me. I have something that I want to discuss with you,¡± Feng Xuan said in a tone that you couldn¡¯t say no to. ¡°Let¡¯s call Old Yang.¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t refuse so he texted Liu and Wang and told them to wait.

    He called Old Yang and walked into Feng Xuan¡¯s conference room, surprised to see the producer there. Famous came inside as well, andid on the floor.

    Xu Gang shook hands with Zhang Zian and Old Yang and then said sincerely, ¡°Thank you so much, both of you! Today¡¯s shooting was amazing. I can¡¯t imagine how I would¡¯ve dealt with the Tibetan Mastiffs if you were not here. Honestly, when we were delivered the Tibetan Mastiffs, I was nervous they might hurt someone.¡±

    Old Yang seemed indifferent and said something random. Then he saw a carton of cigarettes on the table, unopened. He immediately put it under his armpit, knowing it was a present from Feng Xuan.

    Feng Xuan, delighted, drank his hot cocoa.

    Zhang Zian was ttered by what Xu Gang said because he didn¡¯t feel like he did anything. Famous did all the work. It was like it was apletely different dog yesterday.

    They sat down.

    Feng Xuan put his mug down to say something nice before moving onto the main topic.

    He said, ¡°Zhang, Old Yang, Gang Zi, you all did a great job and I appreciate it. After today¡¯s shooting, we¡¯re almost finished, there are just a few scenes for us to work on. I¡¯m sure it will go smoothly as Famous and the other two police dogs are really smart.¡±

    Old Yang smoked happily, while Zhang Zian listened carefully.

    ¡°The reason why I called you in today is because I wanted to discuss the dogs¡¯ retirement issue. This includes Famous, Red Dragon, Prince and the other German Shepherds as well as the Tibetan Mastiffs.¡± Feng Xuan looked at each of them and asked, ¡°Thoughts?¡±

    Xu Gang had already thought of some ns so he broke silence air first, ¡°I¡¯ll start. Before we delivered the Tibetan Mastiffs, we made a deal with the monks in the Zang temples that we would never hurt these dogs. So, I suggest we send them back to the stray dog¡¯s homes as there¡¯s no other suitable ce for them to stay.¡±

    Old Yang blew out the cigarette smoke and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s the only thing we can do. When the Yushu earthquake happened in 2010, some of the police dogs were sent to help search for people stuck under the ruins.¡±

    The others listened without interrupting.

    Old Yang ashed his cigarette and continued. ¡°You know, usually there will be a an outbreak of disease after a big disaster, especially for a serious earthquake like this one. Yushu is the original ce of the Himyan Marmot, and the earthquake made more marmotse out of their holes. Himyan Marmots have two big front teeth, and look fluffy and cute. Even though they clean themselves, they are covered with diseases.¡±

    He paused and exhaled before continuing. ¡°There were plenty of mice in Yushu as no one kept cats as pets. After the earthquake, the mice were everywhere. They were not afraid of humans and always traveled in groups. The local government immediately made a decision to exterminate them, not caring if they were marmots or mice. The decision was withdrawn by the locals who thought of marmots as saints and fed them every day even though they were suffering from hunger.

    Others agreed this situation was simr to what they were dealing with now. It was obvious that killing the Tibetan Mastiffs was the easiest solution, but they couldn¡¯t because it was inhuman and against local customs. If they did it, people would be unhappy, and it could cause an uprising.

    Xu Gang was intrigued. ¡°Then, what happened?¡±

    Old Yang shrugged his shoulders and said, ¡°In that circumstance, they had no choice, but to kill the saint.¡±

    They understood, but knew it couldn¡¯t be applied to this situation. The Yushu earthquake was a natural disaster, what they were dealing with was not.

    No one else had any ideas, so they decided with Xu Gang to send the Tibetan Mastiffs back, after sterilization, to the stray dog nursing homes in Zang .

    It was time to talk about the retired German Shepherds.

    The German Shepherds were bought as stand-ins. Even though they were useless for the time being, they couldn¡¯t go back to the training base as they would be put down. So what should they do?

    Some people in the crew wanted to adopt one or two German Shepherds, but when they heard they needed insurance from the police, they thought it was too troublesome and backed off.

    Everyone was silence.

    Famous patted Zhang Zian¡¯s shoes with it paw. Zhang Zian coughed and said seriously, ¡°Director Feng, there¡¯s one thing I want to say.¡±

    Feng Xuan replied, ¡°Please, go ahead.¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°There aren¡¯t many movies with animals as the main character, but there are many movies and TV series that star animals.¡±

    Feng Xuan nodded.

    ¡°I¡¯ve seen a lot Western animal movies and there¡¯s usually a statement at the end of the movie saying, ¡®No animals were harmed during the making of this movie.¡¯ Our film can¡¯t do this because some dogs were injured and we n to sterilize the Tibetan Mastiffs. They were harmed to some extent, we can¡¯t lie. Our statement could say something like, ¡®All the animals in the movie have found good homes.''¡±

    Zhang Zian finished eloquently.

    He was pressuring Feng Xuan so he wouldn¡¯t treat the German Shepherds like the Tibetan Mastiffs. These German Shepherds would be too much of a burden for normal people to adopt, so they¡¯ll end up euthanized. They contributed their lives, they deserved better.

    Feng Xuan was impressed by Zhang Zian because his wife said a simr thing to him once before bed, although it was said with different intentions.

    As a movie fan, his wife told him ¡°your movie¡¯s sess depends on the way you treat your animals.¡±

    She used the movie Peacock, as an example.

    In the movie, there was a scary scene where the mom poisoned a goose and choked it so that it wouldn¡¯t spit it out. She was choking it while the goose was kicking its legs.

    At the end of the movie, nothing was said about the goose. Critics raised questions when the movie was taken to an international film festival. The producer had to exin that the goose was not poisoned, just put under, and that it didn¡¯t die. Then the film was nominated for awards.

    However, the goose looked like it was in so much pain, it couldn¡¯t have been faked. You could tell when you saw the scene, that it was definitely poisoned. There may have been more geese that died for the scene.

    Feng Xuan¡¯s wife told him this to remind him that if he wanted his movie, Dog Warrior, to win some awards in international film festivals, it was essential to treat the animal actors carefully.

    Zhang Zian and Feng Xuan¡¯s wife were on the same page. If they wanted Dog Warrior to be a hit, they had to have a statement that said, ¡®All the animals in the film are have found good homes¡¯ and used the humanistic care to avoid questions.

    First, his wife, and now, the exclusive trainer. Feng Xuan realized the importance the issue and took it seriously after these two suggestions.

    The Tibetan Mastiffs were borrowed temporarily, as long as they were sterilized and sent back to the stray dog nursing homes in Zang, it would be fine. What about the German Shepherds?

    They discussed for a while. Old Yang put out his cigarette and coughed. ¡°I¡¯ve got an idea.¡±

    The rest of them stopped talking and listened to him carefully.

    ¡°What about sending the German Shepherds to police dog nursing homes?¡± Old Yang suggested.

    Zhang Zian asked Old Yang about the retirement issue. Old Yang mentioned police dog nursing homes, but didn¡¯t say any details.

    Feng Xuan, Xu Gang and Zhang Zian weren¡¯t sure about the police dog nursing homes and whether it¡¯d be a suitable ce for the dogs. Old Yang wasn¡¯t sure either as he had never been there before.

    They discussed a while longer, but couldn¡¯t think of another way, so they decided to send Zhang Zian and Old Yang to the police dog nursing homes to see what they were like.

 Chapter 489: Imagined Landscape

    <h4>Chapter 489: Imagined Landscape</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Zhang, today was really an eye-opening experience! See youter!¡±

    Liu and Wang parked the car in front of the pet shop and waved goodbye to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Come in for dinner. I¡¯m just about to order food, I can order some for you.¡± Zhang Zian invited them.

    ¡°No, thank you. We asked for the day off, there are a lot of chores for us to do when we go back tonight,¡± Liu said.

    Zhang Zian knew what he said was true, so he didn¡¯t insist on dinner. ¡°Well, have a safe trip and drive slowly.¡±

    After watching them drive away, Zhang Zian and Famous went into the pet shop.

    ¡°Home, sweet, home.¡±

    Zhang Zian patted the cashier desk to greet Lu Yiyun, who was focused on painting. He made a phone call and ordered two servings of food, one of which was for Lu Yiyun.

    Famous looked up and saw that everything in the pet shop was the same as usual. The energetic Gxy was ying hide and seek. Fina was taking a nap on the highest branch of the cat tree, its tail waving in the air. Snowy Li was mesmerizingly staring at Fina¡¯s tail and murmuring ¡°raw beef brisket.¡± Old Time Tea was watching TV on the electric nket in the corner, while Richard wasmanding Old Time Tea to change the channel.

    Lu Yiyun rapidly put on her jacket. After ordering dinner, Zhang Zian asked her about her day. It seemed that everything went smoothly.

    Famous was more tired than usual because not only did it fight the Mastiff King, but it also ran back and forth several times in the scene where the wandering group of Tibetan Mastiffs chase the police dogs. It would really like to find a ce to rest before supper. Since it had nothing to do, it walked over to the TV, wondering what Old Time Tea was watching.

    It was a martial arts movie set in the ancient times. When the energetic music, a handsome, young man jumped and kicked his enemies with fierce leg techniques.

    Old Time Tea was fascinated by the movie, its eyes twinkling. Whenever a kick was executed properly, Old Time Tea apuded the man. How it wished it could engage in the fight too.

    ¡°Change the channel! This horrible movie is so fake. Why do you like watching it? I want to see the freaks of the United States. No! America¡¯s Got Talent!¡± Richard hated martial arts movies. It pped its wings, trying to grab the remote from Old Time Tea. It always failed.

    With its eyes on the TV screen, Old Time Tea could make Richard exhausted by moving the remote from its left paw to its right paw, and then from right to left.

    Famous felt bad for Richard because even if the parrot practiced for thirty years, it may not ever be able to grab something from Old Time Tea¡¯s paws.

    ¡°Old Time Tea, howe you chose a different movie?¡± it asked.

    Famous and Zhang Zian knew that Old Time Tea¡¯s favorite movies were the ones with Ye Wen. Whether the movies were old or new, it watched the movies of Ye Wen multiple times. Its second favorite movies were those starring Bruce Lee. The protagonist of the movie currently on the TV was neither Ye Wen nor Bruce Lee.

    When the martial arts sequence ended, Old Time Tea looked away from the screen and said pleasantly, ¡°It¡¯s a bit boring watching the same movies all the time. It¡¯s not bad switch things up asionally. This series is about a martial arts master named Huang in the Foshan region. Although this man is not quite the same as the man I remember, the martial arts scenes are so amazing that they kind of make up for the inconsistency in storytelling.¡±

    Famous remembered that a few days ago, Old Time Tea was watching the first installment of this series. Back then, Famous was worried about the Mastiff King matter, so it didn¡¯t pay enough attention to know what the movie was about.

    Old Time Tea thoughtfully nced at Famous¡¯s legs and smiled while it said, ¡°Famous, have you been on any adventures recently?¡±

    Famous was stunned and asked in wonder, ¡°How did you know?¡±

    ¡°I may be old, but I can still see. I can see that your posture is different yesterday. You¡¯re striding powerfully, in a way that can only be obtained after years of diligent practice. This change is inexplicable unless you¡¯ve had adventures like the protagonists in the martial arts movies,¡± Old Time Tea stared at it andughed. ¡°You¡¯ve either here or on set, and you¡¯re never in these two ces alone. Is there a secret martial arts manual hidden in somewhere in this shop?¡±

    Famous went silent for a moment, then it nodded and said, ¡°Indeed, this is true. A secret martial arts manual is hidden in somewhere in this shop.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± It was Old Time Tea¡¯s turn to be surprised. It couldn¡¯t tell whether Famous was joking or telling the truth. Based onmon sense, Famous should be joking. Then, how did that exin the changes in Famous¡¯s posture?

    Old Time Tea had not been to the set, so it didn¡¯t know about the jaw-dropping events of Famous¡¯s day. It just detected something had happened to cause a change in Famous¡¯s posture. Such a posture required diligent practice, it couldn¡¯t be attained overnight, so Old Time Tea was exceptionally confused.

    Famous did not answer, instead asked, ¡°Old Time Tea, have you heard of the Foshan Invisible Kick?¡±

    Old Time Tea inadvertently looked at the TV and said, ¡°Not only have I heard of it, but I also know how to use it. However, due to my body restrictions as a cat, I can¡¯t practice it more. The Foshan Invisible Kick was the ultimate weapon of Master Huang, but only three moves of this technique were passed on, to me coincidentally. I heard that you and Zian were having some difficulties while filming and I intended to teach you the Foshan Invisible Kick. However, teaching would be too slow to be helpful because you have to practice it for at least a year and half before you can see results. ¡±

    Famous knew that Old Time Tea wasn¡¯t lying. The Old Time Tea in the memory said something simr, that any kind of profound martial arts could only be achieved through persistent training. Even if the Old Time Tea in real life did teach Famous the three moves of the technique, it¡¯d be totally useless because Famous neither had the time nor the ce to practice.

    ¡°What are you guys talking about?¡±

    While they were talking, the food had been delivered. Zhang Zian sent Lu Yiyun home, pulled down the shutters, and couldn¡¯t help, but approach them when he heard them talking about martial arts.

    Richard chimed in, ¡°We are talking about if we should change the channel now.¡±

    Zhang Zian automatically ignored it.

    Famous felt it was time to tell them. ¡°I want to tell you something. It¡¯s very strange. Actually, I don¡¯t know what it is exactly. I¡¯m not sure if it really happened or if it was just my imagination.¡±

    Since Famous sounded serious, Zhang Zian listened to attentively. He had been wondering about Famous¡¯s magical performance today, but considering its mood, he held back his questions.

    Old Time Tea paused the movie on the TV and hid the remote in its arms so that Richard couldn¡¯t touch it. Old Time Tea also listened attentively because it felt like whatever Famous was going to say would answer the questions in its head.

    Famous looked at Gxy who was ying hide and seek with Wendy and said, ¡°This is a very long story that starts with Gxy.¡±

    Then Famous robotically described its strange experiences that started ever since it appeared in the wax museum, its experiences that involved entering the memories of Gxy and Old Time Tea.

    Zhang Zian forgot to eat his dinner. He became more or less aware of what Famous saying, feeling like he was watching a movie.

    Old Time Tea was enchanted by Famous¡¯s story.

    Richard, who asked for the remote control at the beginning, gradually listened to the story. Fina opened its eyes and listened with curiosity.

    After it finished, Famous felt thirsty. It went to drink some water in its basin and walked back. ¡°What do you think? Was I dreaming?¡±

    It desperately needed some advice because it was confused and couldn¡¯t tell which world was more real.

    Both Zhang Zian and Old Time Tea were pondering. They didn¡¯t want to speak until they finished thinking. Famous¡¯s experiences were indeed strange, but they could exin everything that had happened recently, including the fact that Famous acted like Old Time Tea and defeated the Mastiff King so easily. The fact that, just like Gxy, Famous also overcame its space issues.

    Richard spoke up the instant it thought of something, ¡°Quack! You idiots, I already know what happened!¡±

    ¡°Oh, tell me then,¡± said Famous skeptically.

    Richard raised its head arrogantly. ¡°You guys have been talking about ¡®the inner world of Gxy¡¯ and ¡®the memory node of Old Time Tea.¡¯ Those terms are lengthy and inefficient. Have you ever heard of the Japanese term, Imagined Landscape?¡±

    Zhang Zian and the other elves all shook their heads.

    Richard was even more arrogant. ¡°That¡¯s what I thought! None of you ignorant idiots would know about this! The Imagined Landscape refers to andscape of memories that emerges in one¡¯s mind. It¡¯s not 100% loyal to reality. Some things that are impossible in reality, are allowed in the Imagined Landscape! Can you think of anything? That¡¯s right, Gxy¡¯s ck box! The ck box does not exist in reality, but in Gxy¡¯s Imagined Landscape. This term can urately describe what happened to Famous.¡±

    Although Richard¡¯s tone was pretentious as usual, Zhang Zian remembered Famous¡¯s characteristics as described in the Pet Hunter game, ¡°Everything the Reincarnated Dog experiences in its heart is real.¡± Did the description refer to Famous¡¯s Imagined Landscape?

    Famous learned how to predict the future from Gxy, learned martial arts from Old Time Tea. If Famous could learn something new every time it saw the Imagined Landscape of an elfin, then Famous would possess incredible skills.

    The most important thing was that Famous didn¡¯t need to learn these things in real life. It could have all the time in the world to practice the skills in its Imagined Landscape. Was the Imagined Landscape just like the ¡°Room of Spirit and Time¡± in Dragon Ball Z?

 Chapter 490: 1918

    <h4>Chapter 490: 1918</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was an exaggeration to say that Famous was invincible. Its abilities were a simplified version of Gxy and Old Time Tea¡¯s abilities. Although Famous had learned to predict the future from Gxy, it couldn¡¯t choose the future like Gxy; though Famous had learned martial arts from Old Time Tea, it didn¡¯t have as strong of a body as Old Time Tea had. Even so, Famous was still incredible.

    There was still an question left unanswered, why had Famous forgotten its name and identity?

    The Zhang Zian ordered had turned cold. He went upstairs to heat up the food.

    The pet shop was very warm. Famous was relieved after confiding in Zhang Zian and other elves. Old Time Tea continued watching TV. Richard tried to grab the remote from Old Time Tea. Fina yawned and continued sleeping.

    Famous lied down, watching the TV screen.

    After a while, Famous¡¯s eyelids were drooping. Its eyes finally closed after struggling for a while.

    ¡­

    ¡°Famous?¡±

    Just when Famous fell asleep, someone woke it up.

    ¡°Is it time for dinner?¡± Famous looked up, thinking it was Zhang Zian calling it for dinner.

    ¡°Famous, are you hungry?¡±

    When Famous what was in front of it, it stood up, its drowsiness instantly vanishing.

    Old Time Tea, the young Old Time Tea who wore a hat and a gray jacket, stood in front of Famous with a smile and said, ¡°Famous, you¡¯re getting bigger, you need to eat more. I¡¯m fine if I don¡¯t eat for a whole day, but you are different. You should have eaten some beefst night.¡±

    Famous shook its head, looking around.

    It was not in the Amazing Fate Pet Shop. Famous had once againe to the Temple for the Righteous Cat and Chivalrous Dog in the wild mountain.

    After one night¡¯s sleep, the Chen family already seemed more energetic. The three of them were kneeling on a futon, holding sandalwood to worship the memorial tablets on the altar, asking the Righteous Cat and Chivalrous Dog to continue blessing them for the rest of their journey.

    The Chen family stuffed the remaining half of beef and roastedmb¡¯s head into a dirty bag. Of course, they do so until they had the Old Time Tea¡¯s approval.

    Famous asked abruptly, ¡°Old Time Tea, where did I gost night?¡±

    Old Time Tea didn¡¯t know what Famous was talking about. It replied, ¡°Famous, why do you ask? You didn¡¯t go anywhere. You¡¯ve been sleeping on the futon all night. Famous, are you saying that you leave this shrine without my noticing?¡±

    It was impossible for Famous to leave without alerting Old Time Tea, who was extremely vignt at night. Famous must have stayed in the temple all night.

    Famous was stunned for a moment.

    Old Time Tea watched Famous and asked with concern, ¡°What happened to you, Famous? Are you still sleepy or are you suffering from an injury?¡±

    ¡°Forget it, I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m just sleepy.¡± Famous shook its head and sighed.

    Old Time Teaforted it. ¡°Maybe you¡¯re hungry. When the food is delivered today, you can start eating without me.¡±

    It¡¯s not because I¡¯m hungry, Famous thought bitterly.

    After dedicating the incenses to the altar, the Chen family stood up and bowed to Famous and Old Time Tea, showing their appreciation for saving their livesst night.

    Old Time Tea looked up at the sky and waved them in a direction, indicating that they should start their journey as soon as possible.

    Chen Tiedian and his wife sincerely expressed their gratitude. Holding their child, Hu Wa¡¯s, the three of them left the temple.

    As soon as they left, Old Time Tea blew out the incenses since neither Old Time Tea nor Famous liked the aroma.

    Around noon, another group of people entered the mountain.

    This time, Famous remained calm. Famous and Old Time Tea already knew that it was probably Wu Ninging to visit them again.

    As the group of people approached the temple, Famous and Old Time Tea saw Wu Ning wearing men¡¯s clothing and was riding a tall horse.

    Famous and Old Time Tea were looking forward to her arrival.

    During the year, Wu Ning would go to the mountain every two or three months to visit her saviors.

    The days in the mountain were very boring. Apart from sleeping, eating, and practicing martial arts, Famous and Old Time Tea had nothing to do. The story of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop had been finished long time ago, and the opportunity to preserve justice didn¡¯t ur every day.

    Fortunately, when Wu Ning came to the mountain, she often carried newspapers and read the news to Famous and Old Time Tea. Famous and Old Time Tea would listen to her carefully so that they understood what was happening outside the mountain.

    Her servants had followed her into the mountain several times. Before Wu Ning issued anymands, her servants had begun to perform their duties. Someone was bringing the horses to the river to drink, someone was cleaning up the dust and cobwebs in the temple, while the others were recing the worn futons with new ones.

    Famous and Old Time Tea didn¡¯t eat yesterday, so they were very hungry. As soon as the servants put the food down, they began to eat.

    While they were eating, a maid ced a lime-green garden stool on the floor. Carrying a few newspapers and magazines, Wu Ning sat on the garden stool and read the news aloud.

    ¡°You know what? There is a new amazing writer,¡± She said excitedly, ¡°I¡¯ll read you something they wrote!¡±

    She opened a monthly magazine and read, ¡°Everything requires careful consideration if one is to understand it. In ancient times, people often ate humans, but I don¡¯t know much about it. I tried to look it up, but my history book is out of order and scrawled all over each page were the words: ¡®Virtue and Morality.¡¯ Since I couldn¡¯t sleep, I read for half the night, until the words began to blur, the whole book filled with just two words, ¡®Eat people.''¡±

    After she finished reading, Wu Ning put down the magazine. Stretching her neck, she smiled. ¡°You probably can¡¯t understand what these words mean. The first time I read this paragraph, it sent chills down my spine and I couldn¡¯t get warm, even when I wrapped myself in a thick cotton quilt. Luckily, my father is not the person in the book. ¡±

    Famous did not understand any of it, all it was wondering was why the roast chicken was overcooked. Old Time Tea nodded thoughtfully.

    Wu Ning did not notice Old Time Tea¡¯s reaction. She just stared at the distant mountains and murmured, ¡°Although my father is not like the person in the book, he doesn¡¯t want me to read these newspapers. I want to discuss these words with other people, but I have no one to talk to. I can only talk to you.¡±

    Old Time Tea looked at her sympathetically.

    ¡°I almost forgot.¡± She picked up a copy of the newspaper, Shen Bao, and said, ¡°Germany just announced its surrender. The war has ended, with China as the winner. The Beiyang Government had a grand military parade in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. I heard that it was lovely. I wanted to see it with my own eyes, but it was too far away. ¡±

    Famous was almost choked on a chicken bone, coughing a few times.

    Famous looked at the headline on the Shen Bao. It was the year that had caught Famous¡¯s attention.

    1918.

    An inexplicable feeling suddenly emerged in Famous¡¯s heart. This number seemed to have a special meaning to Famous.

    Famous turned to look to the west, not knowing what it was looking for.

    After talking about the news, Wu Ning said something about herself, secrets that she had never told anyone before.

    As the sun set, the servants urged her to go home. She said goodbye to Famous and Old Time Tea and reluctantly left.

    Silence had returned to the Temple for the Righteous Cat and Chivalrous Dog.

    Famous tilted its head and said to Old Time Tea, ¡°Old Time Tea, I have a new story. Do you want to hear it?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the story about?¡± Old Time Tea was immediately intrigued.

    Lying on the futon, Famous said, ¡°It¡¯s a very long story about how to make a movie. You¡¯d better lie down to hear it.¡±

 Chapter 491: The Problem of Providing for the Aged

    <h4>Chapter 491: The Problem of Providing for the Aged</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Famous! Wake up!¡±

    Famous yawned, shook its head and stood up.

    The Imagined Landscape was still clear in its mind, but it had gradually be ustomed to switching between reality and its Imagined Landscape.

    It was troublesome for Famous to exin to Old Time Tea the process of making a movie. It exhausted its patience before Old Time Tea could understand what the positions of director, producer, and cinematographer meant. In its Imagined Landscape, Famous kept telling the same story, of how the food guy in the Dog Warrior crew gave a box of dog feces to the production director, from the dusk till it fell asleep. When it woke up, it had returned to the Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

    Zhang Zian remembered that when Famous was new to the pet shop, it usually woke up the moment he woke up. Nowadays, it slept deeper and longer. He wanted to let it sleep longer since filming was tiresome. Today, he needed to visit the police dog nursing home with Old Yang, and Famous had already told him that it wanted to check it out with them. So, he could only let Famous sleep a while longer before they had to leave.

    The set didn¡¯t need the police dogs today. The scenes were about the hardships faced by border control police officers who were trapped in the snowy teau, and how they supported each other after the police dogs ran back to headquarters for help. Hence, why Zhang Zian and Famous did not need to report to the set today.

    After breakfast, Lu Yiyun came in to work. Zhang Zian gave her the instructions for the day before he heard a car horn.

    It was Old Yang¡¯s turn to pick up Zhang Zian. He drove a car provided by the crew. He leaned against the car, narrowing his eyes to look at the pet shop while he smoked.

    Zhang Zian had been ready a long time ago. He led Famous out the shop.

    ¡°Nice shop, how¡¯s business?¡± Not yet finished with his cigarette, Old Yang did not want to drive right now.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Just means to an end. I have more freedom than if I worked for apany.¡± Zhang Zianughed.

    ¡°Good for you! When I retire, would you hire me?¡± Old Yang said half-jokingly.

    Zhang Zian, going along with the joke, said, ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll hire you! Don¡¯t you want to enjoy retirement, though?¡±

    Old Yang threw his cigarette butt on the ground and stomped on it to put it out. ¡°I don¡¯t like idle days, and I don¡¯t really get along with other people. Isn¡¯t there a saying, ¡®the more humans I see, the more affection I have for dogs?¡¯ After I retire, I think it¡¯s best for me to stay in a dog-rted job. I don¡¯t care about the money. If I can¡¯t find such a job, I¡¯ll consider opening a nursing home for retired police dogs. Let¡¯s get in the car, it¡¯s cold.¡±

    Zhang Zian made Famous sit in the back seat while he sat in the front.

    Old Yang started to drive towards the edge of the city.

    ¡°Master Yang, is it true that all police dog nursing homes are privately owned?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Old Yang watched the road and slowly replied, ¡°As far as I know, all are privately owned. I haven¡¯t heard of a police dog nursing home that is run by the government, at least not in Binhai City.¡±

    Old Yang further exined, ¡°Military dogs and police dogs are not the same thing. After retirement, there are only two paths for the military dogs. One is to stay in an exclusive military dog nursing home, and the other is to be adopted conditionally because military dogs only serve the army. Police dogs¡¯ circumstances are moreplicated because they are frequently recruited by departments other than the guard system. Theoretically, the departments in which the police dogs serve are supposed to be responsible for the dogs¡¯ retirement benefits. However, there are difficulties in the actual operation of such a policy because some departments do not have the ability or are not willing to provide for the retired police dogs. This is how the privately-run police dog nursing homese in handy. ¡±

    ¡°So, anyone can run a police dog nursing home?¡± Zhang Zian asked. Famous listened carefully from the back seat.

    ¡°No. The nursing homes are usually run by former police dog handlers, or trainers like me, who care about the dogs. It¡¯s hard for ordinary people to open a nursing home even if they want to. It¡¯s even more difficult than adopting police dogs.¡±

    The police dog nursing home they were heading to was located in the countryside.

    Old Yang said, ¡°Zhang, what you said about filmmakers in Western countries having humanistic concern for animals, may be true. I¡¯m telling you, Westerners treat their military dogs and police dogs poorly.¡±

    ¡°Master Yang, please borate. I don¡¯t really know about these things.¡± Zhang Zian inquired.

    Since he was bored, Old Yang said, ¡°There are internal publications in our police dog training base that address the training methods of military dogs and police dogs in the Western countries. I can¡¯t tell you what they say, but I can tell you is that these publications address the issue of providing for the aged police dogs and military dogs in the West. I remember from 2013 to 2016, the British Ministry of Defense had euthanised 231 dogs, some of which were less than 8 years old. Of course, most of the dogs were sick or injured, and some dogs were too old. However, there were 45 adult dogs, that were neither sick nor injured, euthanized on the grounds that they were ¡°unable to perform their duties to the required level.¡± The sentence is very awkward, but I remember it very clearly.¡±

    Zhang Zian went silent.

    He already felt sorry for the retired German Shepherds that were executed by the Binhai City police dog training base. However, there were much worse situations that he didn¡¯t even know about. He thought that the British loved their dogs, but they got rid of military dogs like they were worn out shoes.

    ¡°You think only the British do such things? Military dogs in the United States have to be euthanized once they reach the age of ten. The United States Congress signed the bill in 2000 that allowed ordinary people to adopt military dogs after they witnessed retired police dogs getting along with ordinary people.¡± Old Yang pouted and continued, ¡°Of course, there are also positive examples, like in Israel where the system of ¡®one soldier, one dog¡¯ is implemented. When soldiers retire from the army, their dogs are also released from military service at the same time.¡±

    Zhang Zian understood that the question of how to provide for retired military dogs and police dogs was a problem throughout the world. These dogs had been trained so fiercely that it could be dangerous for the public to have ess. However, due to the limited funds, some armies couldn¡¯t afford to continue providing for retired dogs, so for their own convenience, they euthanized the dogs. In the regard of providing for the retired military dogs and police dogs, China might not be the best, but at least it was not the worst.

    The scenery outside the car had changed from high-rise buildings to two-story vis, which proved that they hade to the countryside of Binhai City.

    ¡°Here is the Changle Vige. I have to ask locals for directions, since the ce is so remote, it¡¯s not on the GPS,¡± said Old Yang. He rolled down the window to ask an elderly person, ¡°Excuse me. Could you point me in the direction of the nursing home?¡±

    The man had poor hearing, so after Old Yang asked a second time, he pointed and said, ¡°That way.¡±

    Old Yang thanked him and drove in the direction the man pointed. Unfortunately, they arrived at a nursing home for the elderly instead of a nursing home for police dogs. A bunch of white-haired elderly men and women were sitting on stools in rows, basking in the sun and flirting with one another.

    Apart from watching the public disy of affection, they gained nothing from asking the local. They continued asking a few other people, repeatedly stressing that they were going to the police dog nursing home. Eventually, a young man pointed them in the right direction.

    After many twists and turns, they came to the foot of a hill.

    Therge iron gate was closed. A te that said ¡°Nursing Home¡± hung above the iron gate. Beside the words, there was a cartoon of a German Shepherd, indicating that this was the nursing home for dogs.

    There was arge area enclosed by a low wall made out of stic boards. This wall was so low, almost the height of an adult man, it couldn¡¯t prevent thieves from climbing over. On the other hand, no thief would steal from a police dog nursing home.

    Zhang Zian looked at the closed gate and asked worriedly, ¡°Is there anyone here?¡±

    Old Yang was not sure either. ¡°Let¡¯s get out and take a look.¡±

 Chapter 492: Dignity

    <h4>Chapter 492: Dignity</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian took Famous out the car. Old Yang turned off the engine before he got out the car as well. The two of them looked around.

    This ce was so remote, there wasn¡¯t anyone to talk to.

    While they were consideringing back another day, Famous heard some voicesing from the hill and it barked twice, indicating that someone wasing.

    Zhang Zian cupped his hands above his eyes and looked to the distance. A short figure holding a German Shepherd appeared. It looked that this person had juste back from walking the dog.

    As the figure approached, Zhang Zian saw that it was an elderly man in his fifties or sixties. Most of this man¡¯s short hair had turned white, but he seemed quite healthy.

    The German Shepherd that the man was holding was at least 12 years old. Its teeth were rotting and it was walking with difficulty. When this German Shepherd looked at Famous, there was no desire ofpetition, only depression in its eyes.

    Old Yang winked at Zhang Zian, guessing that this person was probably the owner of this police dog nursing home.

    Zhang Zian thought so as well.

    Old Yang¡¯s age looked like he was closer to the man¡¯s age, so it was better for Old Yang to speak. Old Yang went up to the man and asked him, ¡°Excuse me, are you the owner of this police dog nursing home?¡±

    The man nced at Old Yang and shook his head, ¡°That dog is still very young. It¡¯s too early for it to be sent here.¡±

    He didn¡¯t deny that he was the owner of the police dog nursing home.

    Old Yang chuckled and said, ¡°We aren¡¯t sending this dog here. We¡¯re here to look around because we want to send a group of police dogs to your ce. Here¡¯s my ID.¡±

    Old Yang handed his work permit of the police dog training base to the man.

    Zhang Zian felt embarrassed. He knew that Old Yang was just a cook in the police dog training base, what if his work permit alone couldn¡¯t prove that he was responsible for the police dogs.

    Sure enough, the man looked at the work permit and grew even more doubtful. He gave the work permit back to Old Yang and asked, ¡°Are they police dogs? If they are, why don¡¯t you go through the formal procedures? My nursing home only takes in retired police dogs, I will not ept other dogs.¡±

    ¡°This ¡­ because ¡­that¡­¡± Old Yang stuttered. ¡°They¡¯re the dogs eliminated from training, they¡¯re not police dogs exactly.¡±

    The man frowned, did not speak.

    Zhang Zian took a letter from his pocket and handed it to the man. ¡°This is a letter from the Binhai Criminal Police Unit.¡±

    The man was a little surprised. He re-examined Zhang Zian and took the letter.

    Sheng Ke wrote the letter and stamped it with the official seal of Binhai Criminal Police Unit. No one would bother to forge such a letter.

    While this person was reading the letter, Old Yang looked at Zhang Zian and seemed to say, Why didn¡¯t you take the letter out sooner? I was so embarrassed!

    Zhang Zian remained calm. Because I wanted to show off.

    After reading the letter, the man gave the letter back to Zhang Zian and said, ¡°Come in.¡±

    He unlocked and opened the gate.

    Since this ce was so remote, and out of fear that the car would be stolen, Old Yang drove the car into the yard.

    With training props like walls, bridges, high-jump stands, and rings of fire, this yard was practically a mini-version of the police dog training base. However, after a second look, Zhang Zian noticed that the props were smaller than the props they had. Old Yang noticed this as well.

    Zhang Zian did not understand why the retired police dogs still had to train.

    There were two rows of white-gray bungalows in the yard. An electric tricycle with fresh vegetables in its basket was parked in front of the houses.

    Perhaps the dogs had heard the gate open because they started barking.

    One row of bungalows served as a kennel, while the other row was for people.

    The man locked the gate, brought the German Shepherd into the kennel, then greeted Zhang Zian and Old Yang, ¡°Come inside.¡±

    Zhang Zian and Old Yang followed him into the house, butter realized that Famous didn¡¯te with them.

    Famous stayed outdoors, thoughtfully staring in the direction of the kennel.

    ¡°Let it y outside. The gate is closed, no one cane in to steal it,¡± said the man.

    Zhang Zian nodded. He wasn¡¯t afraid that Famous would get lost.

    A heater hung on the wall inside the house. Perhaps it was natural gas that was being burned, the house was very warm. Zhang Zian and Old Yang took off their coats and hung them on the coat rack.

    ¡°Feel free to sit down,¡± said the man. He then went to boil water for tea.

    The furniture was simple, only some old tables and chairs. The only entertainment was a 32-inch TV.

    After a moment, the man came back with arge iron teapot and three tea cups.

    ¡°Please enjoy a cup of tea, warm yourselves up.¡± He poured a cup of tea for Zhang Zian and Old Yang, then introduced himself, ¡°My name is Fu Tao, I own the nursing home.¡±

    Zhang Zian and Old Yang introduced themselves and stated the intention of this trip. They wanted to find a ce for a group of German Shepherds that had worked in the movie, Dog Warrior. Even though the German Shepherds weren¡¯t official police dogs, they had received training and had nowhere to go after filming. They couldn¡¯t return to the base, and it¡¯d be difficult for them to be adopted by ordinary people.

    There was more than one police dog nursing home in Binhai City, but Zhang Zian and Old Yang wanted to work with this one. If Fu Tao declined their request, they¡¯d continue their search.

    Feng Xuan had promised that part of the budget of the Dog Warrior would be devoted to finding a home for the German Shepherds. The crew would pay for the living expenses until the dogs died of natural causes so that caring for the German Shepherds wouldn¡¯t be a burden for the nursing home.

    Honestly, Feng Xuan had allotted a considerable amount of money for the German Shepherds. To prevent someone from taking in the dogs just for the money, Zhang Zian and Old Yang deliberately told Fu Tao a modest price. If Fu Tao epted the offer, they¡¯d go into further detail.

    Fu Tao pondered for a moment, and sighed. ¡°I understand the situation in general. I was also a police dog trainer in the Binhai Municipal Police Bureau, and I cared for the police dogs. I opened this nursing home for the German Shepherd that I had been training. Later, some of my colleagues sent their dogs to me, saying that they would feel reassured if I kept their dogs. Not that they weren¡¯t willing to keep their dogs, but they couldn¡¯t due to limitations. My colleaguese here to see their oldrades on holidays and stop by to support my business.¡±

    Zhang Zian and Old Yang nodded, waiting for Fu Tao to continue speaking. The situations Fu Tao described, were verymon. The police officers wanted to keep the retired police dogs, but their families wouldn¡¯t agree or where they lived didn¡¯t allow the raising of police dogs.

    Fu Tao gestured to his surroundings. ¡°You¡¯ve seen that I¡¯m a loner here. Even though I want to raise your German Shepherds, I¡¯m afraid that I can¡¯t. There are already a dozen retired police dogs I need to take care of¡­¡±

    He didn¡¯t finish his sentence, but his meaning was obvious.

    Zhang Zian put aside the matter for the time being. He had been thinking of something this whole time, so he asked, ¡°You just went to walk the dog, right? Why don¡¯t you walk more dogs at the same time? Do you walk on dog at a time?¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were usually in charge of walking the puppies in Zhang Zian¡¯s pet shop. They took all of the puppies and walked them on a green field behind his pet shop. How taxing would it be to walk every puppy, one by one?

    Fu Tao said with certainty, ¡°Yes. I walk one dog at a time.¡±

    ¡°Are you are afraid that they¡¯ll fight each other if you walk them together?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought of what Liu had said, that these police dogs were sopetitive that they wouldn¡¯t be able to perform tasks together unless they were rted or friends.

    ¡°No. They too old to fight each other.¡± Fu Tao smiled and said inly, ¡°How should I put this? Unlike pets in a shop, these police dogs have been ustomed to living and training with their owners. So, even though they¡¯re old, they¡¯re still proud, and I want them keep that pride. ¡±

    These words touched Zhang Zian. He looked at Old Yang, and both of them thought that Fu Tao was the right person for the job.

 Chapter 493: A Psalm of Life

    <h4>Chapter 493: A Psalm of Life</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    There were two rows of bungalows, one for people and one for dogs. Zhang Zian and Old Yang followed Fu Tao into one row, while Famous walked alone to the other. Famous didn¡¯t know why it was doing this. It just had a weird feeling.

    After Fu Tao brought that old German Shepherd into the kennel, he closed the door, but didn¡¯t lock it. He probably thought that he only needed to lock the gate out in the yard. Since no one woulde here to steal, the lock was merely a precaution to scare off kids.

    Famous pushed open the kennel door and was greeted by a surge of warm air. There was a space heater hanging on the wall, making the temperature suitable for dogs.

    Famous could tell that this building was designed to be a kennel from the beginning, as the interior was divided into many sections. There was a dog in each section, and most of them were German Shepherds.

    The sanitation was mediocrepared to that of the pet shop. In the courtyard, Famous could only smell one person, Fu Tao. It must be extremely difficult for him to manage over a dozen old German Shepherds alone, so it made sense that he wasn¡¯t able to clean the kennel regrly. Fu Tao was also in his fifties or sixties, in a few years, other might need to start taking care of him.

    ¡°Woo!¡±

    The German Shepherd who had just walked around the hill, wasying on a nket in Cage 1. Exhausted, it briefly raised its eyes to look at Famous, envying its youth and strength.

    The kennel seemed to fade a bit.

    Famous was familiar with this feeling.

    Gxy and Old Time Tea could forcibly pull Famous into their Imagined Landscapes because they were powerful enough and their Imagined Landscapes were strong enough. These ordinary cats and dogs couldn¡¯t do this. They didn¡¯t have the intelligence, and their memories were fragmented. In their Imagined Landscapes, Famous was just a non-existent observer.

    Fu Tao had always been this German Shepherd¡¯s owner, he established this nursing home for it.

    It was very happy to be with its owner for such a long time, and it wanted nothing else.

    Famous passed Cage 1 and walked in front of Cage 2.

    Inside Cage 2 was another beautiful German Shepherd, about nine years old. Standing in the cage, it looked quite spirited. It was smaller than Famous because it was a female dog. It curiously nced at Famous and lost interest very soon, so it turned its head and looked out the window, as if waiting for something.

    Nine years wasn¡¯t considered old for police dogs, but it meant these dogs just passed the prime of their lives. Although, some police dogs were still in service when they were ten or eleven years old.

    The female German Shepherd was a verymon police dog.

    It had four siblings, and it was neither the strongest nor the weakest one. It had a happy and carefree childhood. After growing up, it taken away from its brothers and sisters. When they first got separated, it was sad, but it felt more relieved because it couldn¡¯t stand fighting its siblings for their mother¡¯s love anymore. All it wished was to have someone who would love it, and it alone.

    Its was owned by a female trainer in the police dog training base. Female trainers were rtively umon in a police dog training base. Its owner named it Luo Luo and hoped that she would grow to be a gracefuldy.

    Luo Luo ate, trained and yed with her, the two of them practically inseparable. Those were the happiest days of its life. Though the training was tiresome, Luo Luo always praised. If it did a good job, it could eat ham and chicken. So, it became increasingly diligent in its training, hoping to gain more love from her.

    However, it was too good tost. Though Luo Luo passed her training and became an official police dog, its grades weren¡¯t the best. This was quite normal. After all, police dogs like Red Dragon and Prince, that passed all their training, were rare. Such situations were simr in human society, most people were standard students with average grades. They graduated from ordinary colleges, and went on to do regr work. Luo Luo was an ordinary police dog.

    Luo Luo¡¯s owner was a regr person, with regr emotions. When she was happy, she would hold Luo Luo tightly in her arms, and when she was angry, she would scold it. She also had a small secret, she had a boyfriend back in her hometown. It¡¯s a secret only known by Luo Luo. When she was alone with it, she would take out the photos of her boyfriend and tell Luo Luo what an excellent person he was. asionally, she would call him in private, and said that she would someday introduce Luo Luo to her boyfriend.

    Famous remembered Wu Ning, who existed in its Imagined Landscape. Wu Ning was somewhat simr to Luo Luo¡¯s trainer. She would also tell Famous and Old Time Tea how handsome the young guys she met in the streets were. She would imagine the faces and voices of authors in Shen Daily and New Youth, wondering if the authors were male or female, and what kind of life they were leading.

    Luo Luo thought that the good days wouldst forever. One day, her owner bought a lot of food, and told Luo Luo that her boyfriend had proposed to her, so she was leaving the base and returning her home. Luo Luo was sincerely happy for her.

    It wasn¡¯t too painful when they said goodbye because she repeatedly promised Luo Luo that when it retired, she would take it home and she, her boyfriend, and Luo Luo would y together.

    Luo Luo watched her leave.

    However, both Luo Luo and its trainer had forgotten something, Luo Luo was young and had a long time before it could retire.

    Luo Luo was sent to the police force and handed over to a police officer. Although its new owner also treated it very well, it could never forget its previous owner.

    She came to visit Luo Luo several times. They were joyful at every reunion. She repeatedly promised that she woulde pick it up on the day of its retirement.

    When it saw her for thest time, she was pregnant and having trouble bending over. She held Luo Luo¡¯s head to her belly and let it listen to her baby¡¯s heartbeat.

    That was the sound of life.

    After listening to it, Luo Luo looked at her stomach in awe, as if it was a holy object.

    Later, when Luo Luo¡¯s second owner transferred out of the police force, it got its third owner. The young Luo Luo slowly aged.

    Its first owner never came again.

    When out on missions, Luo Luo couldn¡¯t help buty eyes on the young women holding children, trying to find her among numerous people.

    Luo Luo had never been particrly good at training. When it got older, it often ranked inst ce.

    Luo Luo¡¯s third owner was not sure what it was thinking. After considering its age, its owner lightened its training intensity and reduced the number of missions it should take. It was for Luo Luo¡¯s sake, but it also lost the opportunity to search for her in the streets.

    Later, the Olympic Games were held in Luo Luo¡¯s city. To ensure the people¡¯s safety, nearly half of the police dogs were forced to retire, and Luo Luo, who had not reached the age of retirement, was included in the list.

    No one adopted Luo Luo because the city it lived in did not allow people to raise German Shepherds in private. However, its third owner happened to know Fu Tao and sent it here.

    Famous knew from Luo Luo¡¯s eyes that it hadn¡¯t given up hope. It kept staring out the window, and stood up whenever there were strange noisesing from the courtyard. It was waiting for her toe pick it up.

    Nearly a year had passed. Luo Luo was aging every day, waiting.

    Maybe her husband did not like dogs, maybe she was busy taking care of her children, maybe her trip was dyed. There were too many possibilities. Maybe she had forgotten about it.

    Famous remembered Cui Yi and Storm, separating at the gate at the police dog training base. Would Cui Yi fulfill his promise to take Storm home?

    Life had many twists and turns, a lot of which, humans couldn¡¯t control. It¡¯s hard to predict what the future would look like.

    Famous arrived at Cage 3.

    The German Shepherd in Cage 3 was old. It was at least 14 years old, its teeth were rotting, and it looked like it may pass on at any moment.

    It left half of its food in the bowl. Losing its appetite was a bad sign.

    Famous tentatively approached it and looked through the cage. It moved its nose, but did not open its eyes. Even the instinct of protecting its food had disappeared.

    The dog food inside the bowl¡ªsome vegetables and meatballs¡ªwas soggy, the soft textures perfect for its teeth.

    The German Shepherd in Cage 4 was the youngest, at about eight years old.

    Famous was startled to see that half of its back right leg was gone, but below its knee was a prosthetic.

    The technology of the prosthetic was mediocre, a knock-off version of the legitimate product. The prosthetic was handmade and stuck to the knee with tape and bands, the curved stainless steel serving as a brace.

    It vigntly watched at Famous and barked.

    When their eyes met, Famous saw its past.

    Its owner gave it a foreign name, X.

    Just like Luo Luo, X was not from the Binhai City Police Dog Training Base. X was from the border of Guangdong and Guangxi, it was a border defense police dog.

    It was born and raised in the Southwest Police Dog Training Base, and received outstanding grades. When X graduated with honors, it was assigned to the border armed police, which had the most rigid requirements for police dogs.

    Lightning, the character Famous yed in the movie, was a border defense police dog. Famous didn¡¯t know what an actual border defense police dog looked like, it just acted how the script instructed.

    The climate of the subtropical rainforest was unimaginably harsh, especially in the rainy season. The air was hot and humid. X could barely run a few steps before running out of breath.

    The mission that X took was the most dangerous it ever had, part of the anti-narcotics task force. Not only were the foreign criminals armed with handguns, but they also had grenades and automatic rifles, so X had to wear a k jacket for dogs.

    During training, X fainted several times from a heat stroke. After being put on an intravenous drip for a few days, it resumed the rigorous training.

    It was so humid, its skin was red and tender from being under the k jacket for so long. X also got eczema, so ts skin was swollen and inmed on top of its mosquito bites.

    After almost each task, ayer of X¡¯s skin would peel off, so its hair was ugly and patchy.

    X¡¯s owner felt bad seeing it like this, so he took it to the doctor frequently. He bought Chinese herbal medicine and applied it to the parts of X¡¯s body that were rough and inmed.

    In its memory, Famous saw almost all the police dogs in the border police force suffering from the heat. German Shepherds were not suited to live in the subtropical rainforest. However, they engaged inbat in the border areas for generations to preserve the peace and tranquility.

    Near the garrison of the border defense police force, there was a hill where a police dog cemetery was set up by the guards.

    Through X¡¯s memory, Famous saw its owner take it to the cemetery.

    It was a cloudy weekend. Almost all the police officers that were not on duty that day, arrived at the cemetery to attend the funeral of a mine-clearing dog who had died during a mission.

    There were dozens of tombstones in the cemetery. Held by its owner, X saw on a tombstone, The Tomb of the Police Dog, Zai Zai. It also said that Zai Zai was a German Shepherd and that it Served for the Public Cause in the 528 Project.

    The tombstone was clean. There was a beige dandelion growing from beneath the tombstone and when the breeze blew, the white pappi flew in all directions.

    The grave was dug, prepared for the dog that was to be buried today. The tombstone read, The Tomb of the Police Dog, Mi Xiu. It said that Mi Xiu was a Labrador Retriever and that it Served for the Public Cause in the Mine-clearing Mission.

    The owner of the dog ced a small urn into the grave, crying. The armed police officers shoveled dirt into the grave until it was filled.

    ¡°Salute!¡±

    In the solemn atmosphere, the executive officer issued an order, and the armed police officers stood upright to salute.

    These armed police officers weren¡¯t very good at expressing their feelings, but the salute was their way of showing how they would miss their deceasedpanion.

    The casualty rate of police dogs in the southwest border areas were rmingly high due to the harsh climate and brutality of their enemies, only a few police dogs were able to retire normally. One day, the misfortune finally befell X.

    It was in a major anti-narcotics task force that the public didn¡¯t know about. Almost all the police officers joined the task force to catch the foreign criminals.

    The criminals would not surrender easily, resulting in a fierce battle that broke out in the jungle.

    During the battle, a grenade was thrown near X¡¯s owner, its owner unaware of the danger. Having previously received training in explosives, X instinctively rushed to its owner and pushed him aside.

    The grenade exploded. X lost a leg, but its owner only suffered minor injuries.

    At the recognition ceremony, X was rewarded for its admirable deeds, just like Lighting did in the script, but it retired afterwards because it couldn¡¯t continue with missions.

    Both Luo Luo and Storm retired when their owners did and waited for their owners to pick them up, but X had retired before its owner.

    X¡¯s owner was a resident of Binhai City. He brought X back to his hometown and ced it in Fu Tao¡¯s police dog nursing home. He woulde back for X when he retired from the police force.

    Famous believed that X¡¯s owner would absolutelye back to pick it up because they wererades who had shared a near-death experience, nothing could keep them apart. Besides, Binhai City had no regtions that forbid raising German Shepherds. Famous felt bad, it believed X would do a better job portraying Lightning.

    X¡¯s prosthetic was made by a carpenter Fu Tao hired.

    In spite of its disability, its injuries, and its ugly hair, X still maintained its vignce and pride. X had the right to feel proud, its crude prosthetic was as dazzling as a medal.

    Though it had left the frontline, it was still a warrior.

    Squatting on the ground, Famous raised its right paw to salute X.

 Chapter 494: PTSD

    <h4>Chapter 494: PTSD</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Walking from cage to cage, the police dogs¡¯ memory barriers werepletely open to Famous.

    There was no doubt that X had strong willpower. No matter how many times it fainted from a heat stroke, no matter how many injuries it had, X¡¯s state of mind wasn¡¯t affected. X deserved to be praised as a ¡°Dog Warrior.¡±

    However, the German Shepherd in Cage 5 wasn¡¯t so tough.

    Famous walked to Cage 5. To Famous¡¯s surprise, it found that the German Shepherd was shivering in the corner, using its two front paws to cover its ears, and staring at Famous in horror.

    Is this really a police dog? thought Famous.

    Famous¡¯s was doubtful. It had seen a lot of police dogs, some were tough, like X, and some were gentle, like Luo Luo. Even so, Luo Luo wasn¡¯t as scared of Famous as the dog in Cage 5. However, Famous had heard that when Gxy arrived at the pet shop, it was simr to this police dog.

    The police dog in Cage 5 was Zhan Tian.

    With its tall and muscr shape, Zhan Tian seemed more domineering than Big Teeth. Zhan Tian had also trained, just like X.

    Zhan Tian was astonishingly young, it seemed to be even younger than X, not yet seven years old. In addition, Zhan Tian was not suffering from any physical injury.

    Famous grew increasingly perplexed. A police with its experience, strength, andck of injuries should¡¯ve at least been seven years old. Why had Zhan Tian been sent to a police dog nursing home so young?

    Normally, Zhan Tian would be dispatched to the border areas to be border defense police dog or an police dog in the hintend so that it could arrest criminals and perform good deeds.

    In fact, with its excellent pedigree and mighty appearance, Zhan Tian had been favored since birth. People thought that it would be the best police dog of its generation, the domineering, Zhan Tian, which literally meant fighting against nature.

    Zhan Tian was clever and brave, its grades were top-notch, and it was stronger than X. Finally, Zhan Tian was assigned to a special anti-terrorism police unit.

    In the new era, terrorism reced border conflicts and became the greatest threat to national security. Zhan Tian should have performed well in the anti-terrorism police unit.

    Zhan Tian had been rigorously trained, but the training of the anti-terrorism police unit was more intense, more professional, and specifically optimized for anti-terrorism in cities.

    From Zhan Tian¡¯s fragmented memory, Famous saw that it had used many interesting gadgets, such as a high-tech vest for police dogs. The vest, equipped with a camera and microphone that captured real-time images and sounds, could wirelessly transmit photos and videos to a hand-held device as far as 1 kilometer away. Even in urban areas, the distance the wireless transmission could reach was about 200 meters.

    The camera was waterproof, had night-vision, and it could be operated in all types of weathers. With a tiny speaker near the police dog¡¯s head, trainermands could be issued remotely.

    The manufacturer of the vest did not want to make the extra weight affect the police dog¡¯s flexibility, so the built-in battery guaranteed half an hour of working time, which was sufficient for the anti-terrorism tasks.

    There were more high-tech equipment, like this vest, and each one was custom-made for the police dogs for a steep price. Looking at the prices of the gadgets, Famous knew that only the best police dogs were allowed to join the anti-terrorism special unit.

    Zhan Tian was not just strong, but also very clever. It had grasped the function of the high-tech gadgets in no time. Every police officer in the anti-terrorism special unit agreed that Zhan Tian would be the best police dog in the unit.

    As the training reached an end, the police officers used the actualbats against terrorists, both at home and abroad, to train the police dogs.

    One day, something happened to Zhan Tian. The ident didn¡¯t cause any physical injuries.

    Training Test: Combat Against Terrorists in Urban Streets.

    Training Intensity: Quasi-Live Ammunition.

    In this simtion, Zhan Tian followed a small group of SWAT police officers and entered an old building that had been upied by terrorists. They started to search for the terrorists floor-by-floor and room-by-room.

    Zhan Tian¡¯s sense of smell yed a significant role, it led the team and found the room where the terrorists were hiding.

    ording to intelligence, the terrorists were armed with guns. Strategically, the police officers had to throw a sh bomb into the room before going in to subdue the terrorists.

    All the weapons, were fake and there were rubber bullets in the guns so it wouldn¡¯t harm anyone. However, the sh bomb thrown into the room was genuine.

    When the sh bomb exploded, its loud noise and bright light could temporarily deafen and blind the people in the room.

    That¡¯s where the problem lied. The SWAT team knew to turn their heads and open their mouths to avoid the strong light and impact of sound waves.

    Zhan Tian didn¡¯t know about the precautions. It was a dog whose hearing was 16 times more sensitive than that of humans.

    When the SWAT team threw the sh bomb and barged into the room, the courageous Zhan Tian was eager to enter the room, to fight the criminals. Although it was halted by a police officer near the door, the sh bomb still affected Zhan Tian.

    This is where Zhan Tian¡¯s memory got a bit hazy. There was a white light, and its ears were buzzing. In the intense white light, the figures of the SWAT team were ovepping and moving in slow motion.

    Zhan Tian did very well at the beginning of the simtion, but its performance near the end was way below its usual standard. The SWAT police officers and instructors didn¡¯t take this matter seriously because they thought that Zhan Tian performed well enough in the usual training session. They believed that Zhan Tian was just exhausted.

    Zhan Tian was sent to rest for a few days. However, in another simtion, several dayster, Zhan Tian made a huge mistake.

    In this simtion, Zhan Tian barked in horror as soon as it saw a sh bomb in a police officer¡¯s hand, exposing the position of the SWAT team to the criminals. As a result, the SWAT team failed to rescue the hostages and every police officer was killed.

    From that day on, Zhan Tian was rebuffed by everyone, including its trainer.

    Nevertheless, due to Zhan Tian¡¯s excellent performance prior to the ident, the instructors in the police force did notpletely abandon Zhan Tian. They let Zhan Tian rest for a longer period, and then tried to make Zhan Tian useful by involving it in the simple training sessions.

    However, the extended rest failed to bring Zhan Tian back to normal. Instead, its performance was getting worse. It often stopped suddenly when running and suspiciously looked around. Every time it heard gunshots, it ran to the corner and shivered. Zhan Tian had turned into the joke of the anti-terrorism police unit.

    Zhan Tian was ultimately abandoned by everyone, even its owner.

    The leader of the anti-terrorism police unit approved Zhan Tian¡¯s advanced retirement. No one adopted it because no one wanted to adopt a coward.

    After many twists and turns, the once-praised Zhan Tian was thrown away to the police dog nursing home and started to live in istion in Cage 5. Whenever strangers came close to its cage, Zhan Tian would cower in the corner and shudder.

    Although Zhan Tian¡¯s body was intact, its heart was broken.

    Famous looked at Zhan Tian.

    In a sense, Zhan Tian was just like X. Zhan Tian also a guard dog defending its homnd, forced to retire because of wounds. X bravely rescued its owner and was hit by a bullet, andter treated with honor and respect. Zhan Tian didn¡¯t suffer from a physical injury, but it was treated so badly.

    This was so unfair.

    Most retired police dogs still had feelings for their owners, but Zhan Tian didn¡¯t. Its owner had abandoned it and it had epted the fact.

    Famous could not bear to let this poor police dog continue being scared. Famous left it alone and went to Cage 6.

    Just then, the footsteps of a few people sounded from in front of the kennel. Famous could tell it was Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian and Old Yang thought that Fu Tao could be the right person to take care of the German Shepherds. Before they made a decision, Zhang Zian and Old Yang wanted to inspect the kennel to see how clean it was and how dogs were treated.

    So, Fu Tao led them to the kennel.

    Zhang Zian was relieved to see Famous. ¡°Famous, you came to the kennel by yourself? I¡¯ve been looking for you everywhere.¡±

    Fu Tao gently said, ¡°I told you not to worry about it. It wouldn¡¯t run outside when the gate is closed.¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled shyly. Old Yang defended him. ¡°If I had such a dog, I would also be nervous. The whole crew thinks of this dog as a treasure.¡±

    Fu Tao whispered in disdain, ¡°So cocky. You don¡¯t think my nursing home has dogs that have been participated in movies?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought Fu Tao¡¯s temper was like a child¡¯s, so he didn¡¯t mind his remark. He and Old Yang walked from Cage 1 to Cage 4. Since they didn¡¯t have Famous¡¯s ability, the dogs in the cages all looked normal to them. They stopped in front of Cage 4 and observed X longer than the others because of its proud look and its disabled hind leg.

    When they came to Cage 5, Famous barked at Zhang Zian, ¡°Something¡¯s wrong with it.¡±

    Zhang Zian and Old Yang had also noticed that the German Shepherd in Cage 5 was extremely timid and very afraid of strangers. Was it really a police dog?

    The first thing that urred to Zhang Zian¡¯s mind was whether this dog had been subjected to Fu Tao¡¯s abuse. Generally, only dogs that had been severely abused would be so horrified of people.

    If Fu Tao was actually a dog abuser in private, Zhang Zian and Old Yang couldn¡¯t send the German Shepherds here.

    However, after careful observation, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t think that dog had been abused as the dog was very healthy and had no visible scars on its body.

    Famous softly exined, ¡°It¡¯s been like this since it encountered some terrible things in training.¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned. He couldn¡¯t figure out what the terrible things were. This police dog wasn¡¯t sick or injured. What could be worse than illnesses or wounds?

    Old Yang couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Excuse me, what¡¯s wrong with this dog?¡±

    Fu Tao frowned and said, ¡°This dog¡­ In fact, I don¡¯t quite understand what happened to it. I heard people say that this dog was so cowardly that it was almost scared to death in training. No one wants to adopt it, so I took it out of pity.¡±

    As if understanding his words, Zhan Tian lowered its head and whimpered.

    As a former trainer, Old Yang disliked gutless dogs the most. He could tolerate stupid dogs, but not gutless dogs. He immediately lost interest in Zhan Tian.

    Famous shook its head and denied, ¡°It is not a coward. It¡¯s just sick¡­in its heart.¡±

    Old Yang and Fu Tao couldn¡¯t understand Famous, but Zhang Zian could and he was more puzzled. When he saw that Fu Tao was about to leave, he stopped Fu Tao and asked, ¡°Master Fu, can you borate on how this dog was scared?¡±

    Fu Tao impatiently replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know the specific situation. All I know is that this dog became suddenly a coward.¡±

    Famous whispered, ¡°It was a sh bomb. This dog saw a sh bomb explod.¡±

    sh bomb?

    Zhang Zian was doubtful. sh bombs were a non-lethal weapon, could a sh bomb really have such a big impact on this dog?

    Old Yang was asking Fu Tao some questions about the routine training and raising of the police dogs. Zhang Zian took the opportunity to pull out his cell phone and send a message to Sun Xiaomeng.

    Zhang Zian: ¡°Question: If a police dog saw a sh bomb explode at close range, would it be so frightened that it became sick afterwards?¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng did not reply.

    Zhang Zian sent 50 Yuan to her.

    Sun Xiaomeng: ¡°Generally, police dogs would be fine, but there are exceptions.¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°How is it possible? Would police dogs be cowardly? This is a police dog I¡¯m talking about!¡±

    Since Sun Xiaomeng did not reply for a while, Zhang Zian sent her another 100 Yuan along with a message: ¡°Please, tell me all the information I need in one message.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng: ¡°Such cases are rare in China, but they are often heard among military dogs of the U.S. troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.¡±

    Zhang Zian wondered why the matter had anything to do with the U.S. military.

    Sun Xiaomeng: ¡°Dogs, like people, have emotions and feelings. Of course, they¡¯d be frightened of certain things. Humans and dogs can suffer from certain mental illnesses, such as PTSD.¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°PTSD? What does that mean?¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng: ¡°PTSD is post-traumatic stress disorder. It often urs in soldiers returning from the battle. With a deep fear of the brutal battlefield, most patients with PTSD cannot continue to live their daily lives normally. PTSD manifests itself as stress, nightmares, abnormal behaviors, etc. In the United States, there have been many cases of killings by veterans returning from battle, and all these veterans are the typical PTSD patient. It¡¯s not just people that suffer from PTSD, dogs can also suffer from PTSD after looking at a sudden strong light or hearing loud noises.¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°So, the police dog I referred to may suffer from PTSD because it saw a sh bomb explosion at close range?¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng: ¡°It¡¯s possible.¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°What are the specific symptoms of PTSD?¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng: ¡°Records show that, due to frequent threats of car bombs on the battlefield, military dogs returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have be very sensitive. They resist going into cars, hide from people, and refuse to enter any room. If they were forcibly taken into a room, they¡¯d hide under a bed or other furniture, and they¡¯re especially frightened of bearded men. Would you call these veteran dogs, cowards?¡±

    Zhang Zian took his eyes of his phone¡¯s screen and looked at the police dog shuddering in the corner of its cage. ording to the symptoms, this police dog was probably suffering from PTSD.

    He sent a message to ask: ¡°Is PTSD curable?¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng didn¡¯t reply for a long time. Just when Zhang Zian was about to send her more money, she suddenly replied.

    Sun Xiaomeng: ¡°Unfortunately, it¡¯s very difficult to cure PTSD in human beings. I¡¯ve heard that the veterinary hospitals in the U.S. military are implementing a PTSD treatment n for military dogs. Though the military dogs may not fully recover, they¡¯d be able to carry out simple tasks and live a normal life after leaving the army. However, since China is not involved in any external war, there¡¯s no relevant study of the treatment of PTSD so far.¡±

    Zhang Zian had been squatting, so that he could show Famous the phone screen and narrate his conversation with Sun Xiaomeng to Famous in a low voice.

    For some reason, Zhang Zian associated PTSD with Famous. He pretended that he was tired of squatting so he could stand and quickly send a message to Sun Xiaomeng.

    Zhang Zian: ¡°Does PTSD only ur to veterans who return from battle?¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng: ¡°No, anyone who¡¯s been traumatized by any cruel or terrifying scene¡ª war, abuse, murder, car ident and so on¡ª can suffer from PTSD.¡±

    Zhang Zian asked: ¡°Can PTSD make people lose their memory?¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng: ¡°Of course, memory loss is an instinctive reaction of humans to protect themselves, a sort of coping mechanism.¡±

    Zhang Zian thoughtfully looked down at Famous and asked her: ¡°What about dogs? If a dog suffers from PTSD, is it possible that they¡¯ve lost their memory?¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng: ¡°How can you know if a dog is an amnesiac?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t reply to her. He locked the screen, ced his phone in his pocket, and pretended nothing had happened.

 Chapter 495: Take You Home

    <h4>Chapter 495: Take You Home</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian understood that the police dog in Cage 5 suffered from PTSD, a type of mental illness.

    Due to the long-standing disregard and prejudice against mental illnesses in China, even ordinary people would receive strange looks if they went to a therapist, as if they were patients with contagious diseases. No one pays attention to a dog¡¯s mental health. Whether it was SWAT, Fu Tao, or Old Yang, they all believed that this dog was a coward. These former police officers despised gutless humans and dogs.

    PTSD and cowardice were not the same thing. The former was a disease, while thetter was a personality trait.

    X¡¯s deeds were well known so no one would think that it was a gutless dog. However, X¡¯s training mainly took ce in jungles. If it had received the urban anti-terrorism training and suffered the same explosion that Zhan Tian did, X¡¯s performance wouldn¡¯t be much better than Zhan Tian¡¯s.

    Dogs were so intelligent that they were able to perceive the emotions of human beings. The neglect and disgust it felt, amplified Zhan Tian¡¯s mental trauma.

    The veterinarian in SWAT may have been aware of this, but apparently there¡¯s no value in treating Zhan Tian because it¡¯s basically impossible for a patient with PTSD to fully recover. Zhan Tian¡¯s reputation had been smeared, as if it was a time bomb that may explode at any moment, no one let Zhan Tian participate in the realbat against terrorists. So, it was inevitable that Zhan Tian was removed from SWAT.

    After learning the whole story, Famous looked at Zhan Tian across the cage with a heavy heart. Famous waspassionate towards Zhan Tian because it was afflicted by simr conditions.

    Old Yang and Fu Tao¡¯s conversation finished. When they realized that Zhang Zian was far behind them, they told him to catch up.

    Zhang Zian put the matter of the police dog in Cage 5 behind. Just when he was about to catch up to them, Famous bit the leg of his pants.

    He was startled, and then he told Old Yang to wait a moment. He squatted down and whispered, ¡°What happened, Famous?¡±

    Famous looked at him with its shiny eyes and said in a low voice, ¡°Can we bring Zhan Tian back to the pet shop?¡±

    ¡°Is that the police dog¡¯s name? Zhan Tian?¡± Zhang Zian was surprised by its proposal. ¡°Why should we bring it to the pet shop?¡±

    Famous suggested it impulsively. When Zhang Zian questioned it, it was a little confused itself. Why should we bring Zhan Tian to the pet shop?

    Is there anything special in the pet shop that could help Zhan Tian?

    It thought for a moment, and finally grasped the fleeting idea in its mind. When it first saw Zhan Tian, it hadpared the cowering police dog to Gxy.

    ¡°We can try to cure Zhan Tian,¡± it said.

    ¡°Cure Zhan Tian?¡± Zhang Zian was not sure what Famous was saying. ¡°Do you mean we should take it to Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s clinic?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Famous said, ¡°I mean, you can cure it like you cured Gxy.¡±

    Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t really thought about this. He remembered that Gxy also had PTSD. ording to Sun Xiaomeng, abuse was one of the catalysts of PTSD.

    At first, Gxy was so afraid of people, now it was slowly improving. He believed that Gxy would one day get back to normal.

    Zhang Zian looked at Famous. It was concerned about Zhan Tian and Gxy, but what it didn¡¯t realize was that it had lost its memory because it was suffering from PTSD as well.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s bring Zhan Tian home.¡± He quickly decided. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to Fu Tao about it.¡±

    Fu Tao was surprised by Zhang Zian¡¯s request. ¡°You want to adopt Zhan Tian?¡±

    Old Yang was also surprised. He and Zhang Zian arranged this trip to send dogs here, why would Zhang Zian go through all this trouble to adopt a dog from the nursing home? If he wanted to raise another German Shepherd, why not pick one of the ten retired German Shepherds? Why would he want this cowardly dog?

    Zhang Zian did not intend to exin himself in detail. He smiled casually and said, ¡°As a professional in the pet industry, I pay attention to the chemistry between humans and animals. I like this dog, so I want to adopt it. Master Fu, is there any paperwork?¡±

    Fu Tao felt something was off, but he didn¡¯t know what. He froze for a moment before he said, ¡°Since you got the letter from the police force, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem for you to find a guarantor, right?¡±

    ¡°No problem,¡± said Zhang Zian with confidence.

    ¡°Well, you can take it then. Just send me the signed documents.¡± Fu Tao readily agreed. He and Old Yang did not like the gutless dog. Since Zhang Zian was willing to take this dog from him, why not let him? Besides, his burden would be relieved a bit.

    He untied a string of keys from his belt and opened Cage 5. ¡°Zhan Tian, you can leave with this man.¡±

    Instead of walking out its cage, Zhan Tian just cuddled up into a ball.

    Fu Tao looked helplessly at Zhang Zian, meaning to say, Look how scared this dog is, are you sure you want it?

    Fu Tao wanted to go inside the cage to pull Zhan Tian out, but Famous had already gone inside. It whispered in Zhan Tian¡¯s ear, then rubbed Zhan Tian with its head.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what Famous said to Zhan Tian, but Zhan Tian stood up from the corner and left the cage after Famous.

    Zhan Tian was so obedient, it was like a puppet. Zhang Zian tied it to a leash.

    Fu Tao and Old Yang were walking in the front. Holding Zhan Tian, Zhang Zian walked behind them with Famous by his side.

    ¡°Famous, what did you say to Zhan Tian?¡± Zhang Zian asked it in a low voice.

    ¡°I said, ¡®let¡¯s go home,''¡± said Famous calmly.

    It¡¯s that simple?

    Zhang Zian scratched his head, quite puzzled.

    While they were walking together, Old Yang asked Fu Tao for some details.

    Famous passed a few cages, some were empty and some had police dogs. Although their appearances were simr, every police dog had their own unique story.

    Inside Cage 9 was a German Shepherd that looked to be around eleven years old. It had stood up with anticipation when Fu Tao and Old Yang walked passed its cage, thinking that it was feeding time.

    Fu Tao rubbed its head and smiled. ¡°Are you hungry again? I¡¯ll cook for youter.¡±

    Both Zhang Zian and Old Yang noticed that this police dog was limping, as if there was an old wound on its front leg, but they didn¡¯t think much of it. X was injured more severely than this dog, but maybe this dog was also hurt while on a mission.

    When Famous saw its eyes, it was dumbstruck and stopped walking immediately.

 Chapter 496: Movie Dream

    <h4>Chapter 496: Movie Dream</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The German Shepherd in Cage 9 was Babe, who was also a police dog.

    Fu Tao rubbed Babe¡¯s neck and said proudly to Zhang Zian and Old Yang, ¡°Don¡¯t think you have the only dog who¡¯s made a movie. I don¡¯t care about your dog! See? This dog has also made movies.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t quite believe him. How had a dog that had filmed movies end up at this nursing home?

    ¡°Really?¡± He thought that Fu Tao was joking. ¡°What movies?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m telling the truth! Why would I lie to you? The movies are called¡­they are called¡­¡±

    Fu Tao was embarrassed. He patted his head and said, ¡°My poor memory, I can¡¯t remember the names of the movies. It really has filmed movies, I¡¯m not lying!¡±

    Famous saw Babe¡¯s memory and knew Fu Tao was telling the truth, Babe really had filmed movies before.

    Babe was a ordinary police dog. Apart from maintaining public security and capturing thieves, it had no other special experiences.

    It should have spent the rest of its life modestly and then safely retire.

    However, one day, the police force where Babe was serving was notified to take the police dogs to an audition and to assist a film crew.

    Unlike the Dog Warrior¡¯s crew, this crew had selected the lead dog, while the police dogs would y supporting roles.

    Babe¡¯s audition wasn¡¯t particrly outstanding, and its owner didn¡¯t think that it would be selected for a supporting role. Surprisingly, Babe was selected, not for a supporting role. Since Babe¡¯s appearance highly resembled the protagonist, it would be the stunt double for the protagonist in some of the more dangerous shots.

    Famous didn¡¯t know why Babe¡¯s owner agreed to the arrangement. Whether it was because he was pressured by his superiors or some unknown reason, he agreed and let Babe join the crew.

    The director and other personnel of this crew treated the dogs with a far worse attitude than the Dog Warrior¡¯s crew. The movie was filmed in the summer and sometimes they encountered copious amounts of rain. When it rained, people went to find shelter and forgot about the dogs, locked in their cages, getting drenched.

    The German Shepherd selected as the protagonist was not a police dog. Rumor had it that this dog was raised by a rtive of the producer of the movie. Because his rtive wanted to make his dog be popr, the producer invested in this movie. Therefore, the protagonist was treated as an emperor in the crew and could eat beef every meal, while the police dogs could only eat the ordinary lunchboxes or dog ??food.

    Babe¡¯s owner may not want to keep earning the low wages in the police force. Instead, he was aspired to enter the lucrative entertainment industry. With this wonderful opportunity, after he entered the crew, he kept selling himself to the celebrities and was fully obedient to the director¡¯s requests without any hesitation. In order to curry favor with the producer, he frequently belittled Babe and appraised the protagonist in front of the producer. Even in some dangerous scenes, he volunteered to let Babe shoot the scenes.

    Babe knew nothing about its owner¡¯s intentions. As usual, it faithfully carried out its owner¡¯s orders. Whether it was required to climb a mountain or swim in the sea, or jump into bushes full of thorns and ants, or escape from a room that was on fire, Babepleted the tasks as instructed, and all it wanted was the appraisal from its owner.

    One day, the crew needed to shoot a dangerous scene. To disy the protagonist¡¯s courage and vigorousness, it must jump over a cliff. As the significant protagonist, it certainly couldn¡¯t take the risks by itself. Hence, the task was entrusted to Babe.

    To make the scene appear as vivid as possible, the crew found an actual cliff where two mountains were more than four meters apart. Between these mountains was an unfathomable abyss.

    Of course, the crew had provided the most basic protection measures.

    A safety had been ced below the cliff. However, to prevent the safety from appearing in the camera, the safety was ced about five meters below the cliff.

    Babe flinched for the first time when shooting this scene.

    Led by its owner, Babe went to the edge of the cliff. Looking at the abyss below, Babe was so scared that it kept retreating backwards. It looked at its owner as if it was begging. It whimpered and didn¡¯t want to jump over the cliff.

    It was a sunny day in midsummer. Everyone was enduring the scorching heat under the sun. The director, who was wearing a straw hat and sitting under a parasol, urged Babe to jump impatiently. Next to the director, someone was fanning him to cool him down.

    The German Shepherd that was selected as the protagonist was lying under the shade next to the director. To disperse the heat in its body, it stuck out its tongue. It looked at everything that was happening around it indifferently.

    Everyone in the crew was waiting for Babe to jump over the cliff. Babe¡¯s owner, whose police uniform was drenched in sweat, scolded Babe and forced it to jump.

    Babe¡¯s body temperature increased under the sun, but there were no umbres or fans to cool it down.

    Babe was aware that it had to jump over the cliff. If it failed, its owner would be very angry, so it obeyed and no longer tried to escape.

    When the director ordered, the scene began.

    Each time it ran to the edge of the cliff, Babe stopped to look at its owner, as if it was begging him to change his mind and spare it from doing the task.

    ¡°Can your dog jump over the cliff, or not? If it can¡¯t, we¡¯ll rece it with another dog. Stop wasting everyone¡¯s time!¡± The director snapped and threw his script to the floor.

    Babe¡¯s owner was ashamed and annoyed. He strode furiously to Babe and kicked it.

    Babe rolled on the ground. It was in so much pain, but it did not dare defy its owner.

    ¡°This is yourst chance. If you fail to jump over the cliff, I¡¯m not your owner anymore,¡± its owner said coldly.

    Babe didn¡¯t understand him, but could tell from his facial expressions that something bad was happening. Babe had never seen its owner so angry before. Babe couldn¡¯t think straight due to the stress and the heat.

    Babe sumbed to its fate. Obeying its owner trumped surviving.

    The scene started once again.

    This time, Babe didn¡¯t stop on the edge of the cliff. All it saw was its owner, standing on the other side with open arms. As long as Babe made the jump, Babe would be forgiven.

    Babe jumped, creating a graceful arc in the air, and was about tond on the other side.

    Seeing that the scene was about to finish, the crew members were relieved.

    However, due to the powerful winds, the seemingly stable rocks on the other side of the cliff had loosened. Impacted by Babe¡¯snding, the rocks suddenly copsed!

    To everyone¡¯s surprise, several rocks fell off the cliff.

    Babe had notnded steadily on the cliff. It stumbled and its back legs hung in the air. Unable to muster any strength, its two front legs were clinging to the stones.

    To make sure he wouldn¡¯t appear on camera, its owner was standing five meters away from the cliff. When he realized that Babe was in danger, he tried to walk towards it so he could pull it from the edge.

    ¡°Don¡¯t move!¡±

    The director stood up from his chair and shouted, ¡°Who told you to move? Did I say ¡®cut?''¡±

    Babe¡¯s owner was stunned. His absolute obedience to the director stopped him from rushing to Babe.

    The director excitedly picked up the walkie-talkie and asked the cinematographer, ¡°Did you get that? What a pleasant surprise!¡±

    The cinematographer made an ¡°okay¡± gesture from afar. The director, now satisfied, sat back in his chair and shouted, ¡°Cut!¡±

    Babe¡¯s owner ran to the edge of the cliff and went to pull Babe from the edge, but he was toote. Babe was tired of holding onto the cliff.

    If he arrived sooner, he would¡¯ve been able to pull Babe from the edge.

    Babe fell.

    In Babe¡¯s memory, all it saw was the blue sky, as if it was swimming in the air. Its owner¡¯s hand moved farther and farther away from Babe. Babe¡¯s fall was as graceful as a slow-motion video.

    Babe wasn¡¯t scared, it was happy because it had seen its owner¡¯s concern.

    My owner has finally forgiven me, thought Babe.

    Babended in the. One of its front leg was broken because Babe hit a rock on the way down. The bone pierced through its skin.

    Babe¡¯s whining echoed through the mountains.

    The most ironic thing, no one benefited from this movie.

    There was more than one police dog and police dog trainer in the crew. Someone reported the behavior of Babe¡¯s owner to the police force. As the evidence was against him, Babe¡¯s owner was expelled from the police force for neglecting his duties.

    Each year, 90% of the movies filmed in China fail to be released in theaters, and this movie became one of them.

    The producer¡¯s investment and desire to make his rtive¡¯s German Shepherd a star went down the drain.

    After Babe recovered from its injury, its front leg was permanently disabled. It remained in the police force and was taken care of by a new owner. From then on, it only carried out simple tasks, such as patrolling, until the day of its retirement. It was then sent to this police dog nursing home.

    However, Babe still missed its previous owner. It had forgotten that he had ever kicked it, all it remembered was the genuine concern in his eyes when it fell.

    Just like Luo Luo, Babe was waiting for its owner toe and take it away.

    After his dream of making a movie was crushed, Babe¡¯s former owner was expelled from the police force and disappeared. Babe never saw him again.

    If there was still a glimmer of hope for Luo Luo, then Babe¡¯s waiting was futile.

    Famous burst into tears without thinking.

 Chapter 497: Bring You Home

    <h4>Chapter 497: Bring You Home</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    These were police dogs currently living in the nursing home. Fu Tao and Old Yang began to talk about some of the details, such as handing the dogs over, purchasing dog food and fresh ingredients in advance, the number of cages that needed to be prepared, and so on. Only Zhang Zian noticed that Famous suddenly whimpered.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Famous? Do you not feel well?¡± He asked anxiously, ¡°Are you tired?¡±

    Famous shook its head.

    It suddenly remembered the events of the past few days. Feng Xuan had showed Zhang Zian the dangers of the Tibetan Mastiffs through videos and hoped that Zhang Zian would assist in filming the movie. However, to truly represent the brutality of the Tibetan Mastiffs, the police dogs risked getting injured while shooting. To shoot the scene, Feng Xuan had prepared a power grid and tranquilizer guns. Feng Xuan¡¯s movie had moreprehensive protection measurespared to the movie where Babe served as a stunt double. Even so, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t intend to shoot the scene. He only agreed because Famous had asked him to stay in the crew.

    If it had to choose between the needs of an individual and the needs of society, Famous thought it should choose the needs of society because it wanted to be an angel. It also wanted to make society aware of the children in the Tibetan area suffering from the hydatid disease.

    Now it was just really happy to have an owner who ced its safety first.

    ¡°Thanks,¡± it said chokingly.

    Zhang Zian was rather confused. ¡°What are you thanking me for?¡±

    ¡°Nothing, I just wanted to say it.¡± Famous raised its right paw to wipe the tears from the corner of its eyes.

    ¡°Um¡­all right.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that Famous must be exhausted from the movie making. It not only worked diligently to excel the director¡¯s expectations, but it also had to take care of the young actors with exceptionally poor acting skills. It¡¯d be rather awkward if a dog outdid the humans.

    Fortunately, most of the scenes in the movie had been shot, leaving only a few to reshoot. Famous could take a rest now.

    Zhang Zian walked over to interrupt Fu Tao and Old Yang, asking them, ¡°Should we call it a day? I¡¯m really tired. Let¡¯s arrange a day to discuss the rest of the details.¡±

    Fu Tao nced at him and reluctantly said, ¡°Young people nowadays, they are so weak that they can¡¯t even bear the slightest exhaustion. They should go to the army while they¡¯re still young and acquaint themselves with hardships. When I was young, I could run ten kilometers, carry weights while running, finish a meat bun of four kilograms in one bite, and still be energetic.¡±

    People around Fu Tao¡¯s age liked to mention their deeds at the prime of their life. Besides, operating a police dog nursing home by himself in the remote countryside, didn¡¯t give Fu Tao many chances to talk to people. Hence why, at this moment, he was talking about himself endlessly.

    Old Yang winked at Zhang Zian and said, ¡°Okay, we¡¯re almost finished talking. Let¡¯s go back today.¡±

    He was quite satisfied with this ce. Despite the fact that there were few staff members, there weren¡¯t any drawbacks. Fu Tao was also a former police dog trainer who had his own understanding, though outdated, of raising police dogs.

    Fu Tao wanted to keep them for lunch and continue talking, but they politely declined. Since they insisted on leaving, he went to open the door for them.

    Old Yang went ahead to start the car.

    Zhan Tian followed Zhang Zian. It was obvious that Zhan Tian was attached to this ce, it had spent a good period of time here. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t force it to leave, instead giving it enough time to remember everything here.

    When Fu Tao made it to the door, barks came from the kennel, quick and desperate.

    The three people froze for a moment because police dogs wouldn¡¯t easily bark unless in a dire situation.

    However, judging from the sound, the cry was from one dog only, and the rest of the dogs were all quiet.

    They couldn¡¯t tell which dog barked, but it was obvious to Famous that the dog barking was Luo Luo.

    Just then, someone knocked on the door.

    Fu Tao shouted, ¡°Who is it?¡± He pulled thetch and opened the door.

    There stood an ordinary looking woman, wearing a short, beige jacket. It was hard to judge her age as she looked to be clinging to her youth, but there were also some shallow wrinkles on the corners of her eyes.

    In her arms, there was a girl with pigtails, around two or three years old. Fearing the strange people, the girl hid her face in the arms of the woman. Just like the woman, the girl was wearing a short, beige jacket of the same style, but in a slightlyrger size. The girl probably grew quickly so therger jacket was bought, this way the girl could wear it for a longer time.

    A family wagon was parked outside the door, and a man sat in the driver¡¯s seat, looking in this direction with concern.

    The woman smiled. Her keen eyes looked at Fu Tao, Old Yang and Zhang Zian, quickly ncing over Famous and Zhan Tian, so as to have aplete grasp of the situation.

    ¡°Is this a police dog nursing home?¡± she asked gently.

    Fu Tao nodded with vignce because he thought this woman was rather unusual. ¡°Yes. My name is Fu Tao, I own the ce. Are you looking for someone?¡±

    ¡°I have something, that¡­¡± She just wanted to exin why she was there, when she heard barking from the kennel.

    At first, she was stunned. She thought for a moment, and then her eyes shed with surprise.

    ¡°Luo Luo! Is that you?¡± she shouted.

    The barking became more urgent. Luo Luo, who was locked in Cage 2, ced its head in the gap of two iron bars, desperately trying to squeeze out the cage. The gap was only big enough to let a newborn puppy through, so pulled its head back and began to bite the iron bars, trying to snap the railings.

    Fu Tao blocked the woman, who wanted to squeeze through the door.

    She was holding a child so Fu Tao didn¡¯t dare touch her, but he still extended his arms to block her and said with a cold face, ¡°This is a private territory. You can¡¯t trespass.¡±

    Watching the situation, the man in the car quickly turned off the engine and got out the car.

    Zhang Zian and Old Yang sensed something going on. They were in no hurry to leave so they watched from the side.

    The woman calmed down, waved at the man to indicate that there was no need for him toe over, and then smiled apologetically. ¡°You have a retired police dog named Luo Luo, right? I¡¯m its previous trainer, and I¡¯m here to pick it up.¡±

    Neither Zhang Zian nor Old Yang knew about the police dog in Cage 2. They didn¡¯t even know that its name was Luo Luo.

    Fu Tao didn¡¯t know much about the dog. He only knew that Luo Luo was amon police dog, nothing more.

    Only Famous, who had read the memory of Luo Luo, recognized the owner. Although her face had aged and she was a bit fatter, there was no doubt that she was Luo Luo¡¯s trainer.

    Famous was happy for Luo Luo, whose many years of waiting had finally paid off.

    Fu Tao was skeptical. All the police dogs were sent here because no one adopted them. If the woman really wanted to adopt her dog, why didn¡¯t she do so earlier?

    In order to prove herself, the woman put down the child, took a document out of her bag, and handed it to Fu Tao.

    The little girl hugged the woman¡¯s leg, nervously gazing at the training equipment in the yard.

    The file was folded, so Fu Tao unfolded it and found that it was an application report.

    Respected leaders,

    Hello!

    I, Xiao Yuhong, from Changqiao city, was enlisted in the armed forces in December 2008, served in the Shanghai Police Dog Training Base as a sergeant, and retired from active service in 2013. I came to the police dog training base in 2010, and Luo Luo was the first puppy that I trained. I named it Luo Luo in hopes that it would grow into a graceful and friendly police dog. I was with it for about three years, eating and ying together. I treated it as my closestrade. After I retired, I often thought about Luo Luo and wanted to bring it home, but it was too young to retire back then. Iter married and gave birth to a girl. Having to take care of my newborn daughter and adapt to my new job and life, I did not have time to pick Luo Luo up. Now that my life has stabilized, and my daughter is in kindergarten, I don¡¯t have to worry too much about her. Luo Luo is almost 9 years old, equivalent to the human retirement age of sixty. I¡¯m therefore applying to the organization, hoping the leaders allow me to adopt Luo Luo, so that I can apany it, take care of it, and let it rx for the rest of its life.

    Sincerely!

    Applicant: Xiao Yuhong

    Previous ID No. in the Armed Forces: xxxxxxxxx

    Date: October 2017

    At the bottom of the report, was the signature and official seal of the Shanghai Police Dog Training Base. In addition, there was a small footnote that read: Luo Luo has retired from the police force in advance, so the applicant must go to the police force in Shanghai to inquire about the whereabouts of Luo Luo after its retirement.

    Xiao Yuhong sighed and said guiltily, ¡°I submitted the application report to the base when I realized it was almost time for Luo Luo to retire. I didn¡¯t expect Luo Luo to retire in advance. After I heard the news, I was worried that it was adopted by someone else or that it was homeless. I went to the Shanghai police force to inquire about its location several times, but no one provided me with a definite answer. Fortunately, I happened to encounter an acquaintance, who helped me check and told me that Luo Luo was sent here, so I immediately came over. ¡±

    She pointed to the man leaning against the car. ¡°That¡¯s my husband.¡±

    The man nodded at Fu Tao.

    Needless to say, the little girl hugging her thighs was her daughter.

    Fu Tao carefully read the application report again and confirmed that the seal below wasn¡¯t forged. No one would forge an official seal to adopt an old retired police dog.

    He handed the application report back to her and said, ¡°Please,e in. Luo Luo has been waiting for you for a long time.¡±

    Xiao Yuhong¡¯s eyes were filled with tears.

 Chapter 498: A Homage to Youth

    <h4>Chapter 498: A Homage to Youth</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Xiao Yuhong¡¯s tears fell on her daughter¡¯s face. Her daughter raised her hand and tried to wipe away her mom¡¯s tears. The little girl asked in a small voice, ¡°Mom, why are you crying?¡±

    ¡°No reason, baby. I¡¯m just happy.¡± Xiao Yuhong squatted down, picked her daughter up and said, ¡°We¡¯re going to have a new member in our family. Aren¡¯t you happy about that?¡±

    The little girl blinked, not understanding what her mother meant.

    Xiao Yuhong waited in the yard with her daughter. She kept ncing at Famous and Zhan Tian, maybe she was afraid that they would lunge over and hurt her daughter.

    Famous simply sat down to show that it wasn¡¯t hostile, while Zhan Tian hid itself underneath a car.

    After seeing the dogs¡¯s gestures, Xiao Yuhong rxed.

    Fu Tao walked into the kennel, to Cage 2, and opened the cage with a key.

    Luo Luo, who had always been very obedient, was restless in its cage. Luo Luo was so familiar with Xiao Yuhong¡¯s footsteps that it knew she was here the moment she got out of the car.

    ¡°No need to rush! I know you¡¯ve been waiting a long time. Just a few more minutes, all right?¡±

    Luo Luo couldn¡¯t wait to go outside. When the cage opened, it was held back by Fu Tao and was soon tied to a leash. Knowing that Xiao Yuhong was with her daughter in the yard, it¡¯d be problematic if Luo Luo rushed to Xiao Yuhong excitedly and frightened the little girl.

    Luo Luo proudly walked past the cages of the other police dogs. Luo Luo had always been normal, except for today.

    Xiao Yuhong recognized Luo Luo the moment she saw it.

    Luo Luo was a bit older, and its hair no longer looked like it did when it was young, but its eyes were still the same ones she remembered.

    It didn¡¯t matter. Xiao Yuhong was older too.

    ¡°Luo Luo!¡± Xiao Yuhong hollered.

    Before she came, she had worried that Luo Luo might not recognize her. Her worries were unnecessary. If Fu Tao wasn¡¯t desperately holding it, Luo Luo would have rushed over to Xiao Yuhong the moment it saw her face.

    ¡°Luo Luo! Sit!¡± Xiao Yuhongmanded for the first time in forever.

    Luo Luo sat down on the ground obediently, looking at Xiao Yuhong and her daughter with a confused expression on its face.

    Xiao Yuhong¡¯s husband nervously looked at them from afar. Although Xiao Yuhong repeatedly assured him that Luo Luo was very gentle and obedient, Luo Luo was an adult German Shepherd, and their daughter was so petite and fragile. If Luo Luo bit their daughter, the little girl would be traumatized.

    Xiao Yuhong bent down and gently stroked Luo Luo¡¯s neck, forehead, and chin. Luo Luo stuck out its tongue to lick Xiao Yuhong¡¯s hand.

    Luo Luo was still the same dog she remembered. Everything was the same as before, as if not a day had gone by since they separated.

    She put her daughter down, took her daughter¡¯s hand, and said softly, ¡°This is the dog Mom raised. Its name is Luo Luo. Come, say hello.¡±

    Her daughter was a little scared to face the big dog, but she was also very curious. Hiding behind her mother, the little girl stuck out half her head.

    ¡°Luo Luo, this is your little sister. You can¡¯t bully her.¡± Xiao Yuhong pulled Luo Luo into one arm and her daughter into her other arm.

    ¡°Come on, touch it. Luo Luo is very nice, it won¡¯t bite you.¡± She encouraged her daughter.

    Her daughter was brave enough to reach out and gently touch Luo Luo¡¯s neck, then quickly retracted her hand. After confirming that Luo Luo was indeed friendly, she was no longer afraid.

    Most children liked animals, Xiao Yuhong¡¯s daughter was no exception. Besides, she had shown her daughter many photographs of Luo Luo before, so the little girl had be familiar with Luo Luo, the extra member of their family, a long time ago.

    Soon, her daughter happily yed with Luo Luo, and even climbed on its back as if she were riding a big horse. She patted it and said in a small voice, ¡°Luo Luo, giddyup.¡±

    Xiao Yuhong worried that the old dog couldn¡¯t stand the weight of her daughter, so she didn¡¯t ask it to stand up. When Luo Luo gazed at her, it had the same look of determination that it had in training.

    ¡°Well, Luo Luo, get up!¡± Xiao Yuhong had read the mind of her old friend.

    Luo Luo hunched over and stood up. The little girl clung to its neck, and cheered.

    ¡°Mom! Mom! I¡¯m riding a big horse!¡±

    Carrying the little girl on its back, Luo Luo steadily walked around the yard twice. Xiao Yuhong walked alongside them to keep her daughter from falling.

    ¡°Well done, Luo Luo! Well done!¡± she praised Luo Luo as she had done many times before.

    The rejuvenated Luo Luo didn¡¯t seem like a 9-year-old dog at all, it felt like it was in its prime of its life.

    Xiao Yuhong also seemed to have recovered her lost youth, and was as joyous as a teenage girl.

    She looked up at the various training equipment disyed across the yard and suddenly had an idea.

    ¡°Baby, get down. You can y with Luo Luo when we¡¯re home.¡± She took her daughter off Luo Luo, and her daughter was upset.

    Xiao Yuhong turned her head and smiled at Fu Tao. ¡°May I borrow some of your equipment?¡±

    ¡°Suit yourself.¡± Fu Tao knew what she was going to do.

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    Xiao Yuhong untied Luo Luo¡¯s leash and stood in front of it. ¡°Morning training session has begun! Listen to mymands!¡±

    Luo Luo¡¯s ears perked up, and it was full of energy.

    It was rare to see theplete set of equipment in the police dog training base. Since there were so many props in this nursing home, Xiao Yuhong wanted to train with Luo Luo one thest time.

    When it left this ce, Luo Luo would no longer be a retired police dog, it¡¯d be part of a family.

    ¡°Run!¡±

    She pointed to a bnce bridge.

    Luo Luo rushed, leapt to the bnce bridge, and walked over the bridge smoothly.

    ¡°Well done, Luo Luo!!¡±

    Xiao Yuhong ran with Luo Luo. After giving birth, her physical strength was worse than before. Luckily, she was wearing sports shoes today, otherwise she wouldn¡¯t be able to run.

    ¡°Jump!¡±

    She pointed to a high jump stand.

    Luo Luo gracefully jumped over the high jump stand.

    ¡°Good job, Luo Luo! Good job!¡±

    As soon as she entered the yard, she noticed that the equipment here was smaller than the standard equipment in the police dog training base. The props allowed these retired police dogs to relive their glory days.

    Xiao Yuhong took Luo Luo toplete the training on the barrier walls, crawling frames, and cable-stayed bridges. She could tell from Luo Luo¡¯s performance that the owner must have been involving the police dogs in some kind of training so that they wouldn¡¯t get depressed.

    The little girl gaped at her mother because she had never seen her mother act so heroic.

    Xiao Yuhong was already out of breath. As they gradually used all the props in the yard, their training wasing to an end.

    Luo Luo sat down in front of Xiao Yuhong, sticking out its tongue and panting.

    Xiao Yuhong bit her lips and then she said loudly, ¡°Training¡¯s over! Dismissed!¡±

    Her voice was very loud with a bittersweet tone, as if she was bidding farewell to her youth.

    Zhang Zian, Old Yang, Fu Tao, and Xiao Yuhong¡¯s husband all began to p.

    ¡°Mom, you are amazing!¡± her daughter yelled happily.

 Chapter 499: Book a Whole Screening Room

    <h4>Chapter 499: Book a Whole Screening Room</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Early morning.

    In the seren apartment, Zhang Zian was still asleep.

    ¡°Ring, ring, ring! Ring, ring, ring!¡±

    The phone beside his beside suddenly rang loudly, waking Zhang Zian and all the elves in the room.

    ¡°Damn it! What idiot disturbed my beautiful dream?¡± Richard grumbled from underneath the nket. It stretched out a w, trying to grab the phone and reject the call.

    Zhang Zian dreamt that he overslept, and it was his boss calling to fire him. He didn¡¯t remember he wasn¡¯t an office worker until he became entirely conscious.

    Who would call him, a self-employed person, this early in the morning?

    He pushed aside Richard¡¯s w to pick up his cellphone and saw that the caller was Feng Xuan.

    What happened?

    Dog Warrior officially wrapped yesterday, and since he no longer needed to report to set today, he was trying to catch up on some sleep. It was getting colder outside, so it made getting out of bed increasingly difficult.

    Did Feng Xuan want to reshoot some scenes? It was a possibility.

    Fina was annoyed that the noise woke it up, its green eyes looked like it was wanted to kill somebody.

    Zhang Zian silently apologized. To not disturb everyone, he left his bedroom to answer the call. ¡°Hey, Director Feng?¡±

    ¡°Hey, Zhang! Did I wake you?¡±

    Feng Xuan¡¯s voice was slightly hoarse. He probably stayed uptest night. As filming came to an end, Feng Xuan became busier. He often stayed upte to review the scenes that had been filmed, to see if there was anything wrong. Once the staff left the set, it was hard to gather them again, so he needed to try to avoid reshooting scenes.

    Zhang Zian nced at the time and replied, ¡°No, I was about to get up. What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Feng Xuan cleared his throat. ¡°Zhang, here¡¯s the thing. I edited the moviest night, and I need someone to watch the rough cut.¡±

    Zhang Zian just woke up, so his brain was a bit sluggish. He didn¡¯t understand what Feng Xuan was saying.

    Feng Xuan added, ¡°You¡¯re the chief dog trainer. Although you were on set for most of the dog rted scenes, what you saw on set is quite different from what you see on the monitor. I¡¯d like you to see the rough cut and tell me your thoughts. Are you avable?¡±

    Oh, that¡¯s what Feng Xuan meant.

    Zhang Zian understood and said, ¡°Yes, I¡¯m avable. I have a lot of free time every day. Where¡¯s the hard drive?¡±

    Feng Xuan was confused. ¡°What hard drive?¡±

    ¡°Ha ha! Director Feng, don¡¯t y dumb. The hard drive for the movie. It must take up arge of storage, right? How are you going to send it to me?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Feng Xuan cleared his throat, ¡°No, Zhang, you¡¯ve misunderstood. The footage and the rough cut are the property of the crew, it has to be kept confidential. If you agree to do this, you must go to a designated location to watch.¡±

    Zhang Zian was embarrassed by the misunderstanding.

    ¡°Okay. When and where?¡± He asked.

    Feng Xuan said, ¡°The crew has booked a VIP screening room at the Binhai Golden Cinema, and assigned crew members will go there in groups. As for the time¡­ ¡±

    Feng Xuan checked his schedule, the sound of pages turning could be heard over the phone.

    After a while, Feng Xuan said, ¡°The time depends on whether or not you mind if it¡¯s noisy. If you don¡¯t, you can go see the movie tonight at 6 o¡¯clock with Gang Zi and several other crew members. With a few people watching together, you can brainstorm some ideas.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t immediately decide. He asked, ¡°What about the other time?¡±

    ¡°The quietest slot would be today at 8 o¡¯clock because no one wants to get up early. Currently, no one has selected this slot. Zhang, if you choose this slot, the whole screening room will be yours.¡± Feng Xuan chuckled. ¡°You can bring your girlfriend to watch the movie. She¡¯ll certainly be pleased. Even though you¡¯ll have the room to yourselves, it¡¯s a public space, so for the reputation of our crew, don¡¯t do anything inappropriate.¡±

    Damn it! thought Zhang Zian.

    Feng Xuan¡¯s coaxing had hurt.

    He¡¯d like to do something inappropriate, but he had to have a girlfriend first!

    However¡­

    Zhang Zian thought it over, and believed this to be a good opportunity.

    He¡¯s always wanted to bring the elves to see a movie. Watching a movie at home on the TV was very different from watching a movie in the theater. He was never able to because theaters wouldn¡¯t admit animals, and it¡¯d be an unpleasant moviegoing experience for him and the elves if he were to bring them in secretly. What about Gxy? Its fear of humans wouldn¡¯t let it go to a theater where there was a lot of people.

    If he took advantage of this opportunity, the elves would be able to enjoy watching a movie in a theater. Though it was a rough cut and it didn¡¯t have special effects, they could book an entire screening room for free, what else could they ask for?

    Thinking of the elves, Zhang Zian said, ¡°Director Feng, I¡¯ll take the 8 o¡¯clock slot. What do I need to do?¡±

    ¡°Bring your driver¡¯s license. When you arrive, show your ID to the staff and they¡¯ll guide you to the VIP auditorium,¡± Feng Xuan told him. ¡°Try to get there as early as possible. The rough cut is long, if you¡¯rete, you won¡¯t be able to finish it before lunch.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at the time on his phone again. ¡°Thank you, Director Feng. I¡¯ll leave as soon as possible.¡±

    Feng Xuan exhorted him, ¡°Watch the film from the perspectives of a general audience member and a professional. If you think something¡¯s off, especially the dog¡¯s eyes or movements, tell me.¡±

    The rest of the crew members were unfamiliar with dogs, and Old Yang had returned to police dog training base, so this task could only be given to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Director Feng. If I anyments, I¡¯ll write them down, organize them and send them to you,¡± Zhang Zian responded.

    Feng Xuan said a few words, then hung up the phone.

    They had talked on the phone for a long time. Still in pajamas, Zhang Zian shivered in the hallway that wasn¡¯t heated. He quickly returned to the bedroom.

    Some elves, like Fina, tried to go back to sleep after the phone rang, while other elves, like Gxy, had jumped off the crib.

    Zhang Zian turned on the light and shouted, ¡°Everybody get up!¡±

 Chapter 500: Movie Mate

    <h4>Chapter 500: Movie Mate</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian wouldn¡¯t usually turn on the light in the bedroom after getting up because some of the elves still slept.

    He was asking for trouble by shouting. The pillow on the princess bed flew towards his face. Fortunately, he dodged the attack.

    ¡°What the hell? You¡¯ve ruined my dream! I¡¯ve never gotten up so early.¡± Fina red at Zhang Zian. Fina was the elfin that liked sleeping all day long.

    Fina wasn¡¯t lying. It was the first elf to go to sleep every night and thest elfin to wake up every morning.

    Snowy Li yawned, rubbed its eyes, and gloated, ¡°Your Majesty, he woke you up on purpose. He should be castrated!¡±

    Old Time Tea also woke up. Putting on its bamboo hat, it curiously asked, ¡°Zian, what happened?¡±

    Gxy raised its head and looked at him. ¡°Meow! Zian, you look energetic today!¡±

    Do I usually look dead? Zhang Zian wondered. Maybe, he said to himself.

    ¡°Gxy, you¡¯re also very energetic, just like you are every morning!¡± he said softly.

    Gxy nodded vigorously. ¡°Meow! I got up early to y hide and seek.¡±

    ¡°Well, today¡¯s game of hide and seek has to be postponed until the afternoon. Get up quickly. I¡¯m taking everyone to see a movie.¡± Zhang Zian paused and lifted his hand to point at Famous. ¡°Not just any movie. It¡¯s Famous¡¯s movie, the movie I worked on.¡±

    Famous woke up, but hadn¡¯t said a word. After returning from the police dog nursing home, it seemed lifeless and was always staring off into the distance. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what Famous was thinking, and he had been nning to find an opportunity to ease its mind. Going to the movie theaters seemed like a great opportunity.

    Famous stunned, looked up from the nket.

    ¡°Oh?¡±ughed Old Time Tea. ¡°I should enjoy this movie. Where are we seeing it? On the TV?¡±

    ¡°No, due to restrictions, we have to go to the movie theater. Old Time Tea, you¡¯ve seen many movies on TV, but those are all old movies. Today, we¡¯re seeing a new movie that hasn¡¯t been released yet anywhere and is only essible to us.¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    ¡°Meow! Theater? What¡¯s a movie theater?¡± Gxy asked, blinking its silver-gray eyes.

    ¡°A movie theater is¡­is¡­¡± Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t really exin what a movie theater was. ¡°A ce where you can see movies?¡±

    Gxy was still confused.

    ¡°The movie theater can take you to another life. The huge screen will make you feel like you¡¯re in the world of the movie. When a train in the movie drives towards you, you may think that it¡¯s a real train heading towards you.¡± Famous slowly said, ¡°The people who go see movies are well-dressed and will discuss the plots for a long afterwards.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked down at his pajamas. Nowadays, moviegoers that dressed up to go to the movies were rare, right?

    ¡°You can also eat snacks while watching the movie. Snacks that are already delicious will be even more delicious when you watch a movie.¡± Famous added, ¡°Like popcorn, also known as the ¡®movie mate.¡¯ Although, most movie theaters won¡¯t allow you to bring popcorn from home.¡±

    ¡°Snacks¡­¡± Fina licked its lips. ¡°Is little dried fish considered a snack?¡±

    Famous hesitated and said uncertainly, ¡°I think so, but theaters don¡¯t sell dried fish.¡±

    ¡°What? They don¡¯t sell dried fish? What¡¯s wrong with them? Is that discrimination against cats?¡± Fina groaned.

    ¡°Movies are prepared for humans, after all. Not a lot of people like to eat dried fish.¡± Famous answered seriously.

    Fina snorted in disdain. ¡°I don¡¯t think popcorn is delicious. It¡¯s junk food.¡±

    Famous shook its head. ¡°Eating popcorn isn¡¯t just about enjoying the taste. If a young man and a youngdy share a bucket of popcorn, they often identally touch each other¡¯s hands when they reach for popcorn, sparking something between them. The dimly lit theater has always been a great ce for dates.¡±

    Zhang Zian was sad because he didn¡¯t have a girlfriend to hold hands with. He noticed that Famous was knowledgeable about theaters, although some of its information was outdated.

    ¡°What about raw beef brisket? Does the movie theater sell raw beef brisket as a snack?¡± Snowy Li asked with interest.

    Famous answered the bizarre question, ¡°I don¡¯t think raw beef brisket is a snack anywhere.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯M NOT GOING! I¡¯ll have nothing but my own saliva to eat. I¡¯m not going to suffer!¡± Fina said furiously.

    ¡°Meow! Your majesty, if you¡¯re not going, neither am I!¡± Snowy Li rolled its eyes and said, ¡°If all of you go see the movie, I can stay alone with Fina in the shop.¡±

    Zhang Zian coughed and said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. The theater is open exclusively to us today. We should be able to bring our own snacks, whether it¡¯s raw beef brisket or dried fish. Bring whatever you want.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t sure if they could bring snacks with them, but since the theater was going to be empty, it should be okay.

    Zhang Zian rarely allowed Fina to eat dried fish because all it did was eat and sleep all day. Fina had already consumed roasted chicken, if it ate dried fish, it would turn into a fat meatball!

    ¡°In that case, I¡¯lle with you. The theater will be more brilliant with my arrival.¡± Fina said proudly.

    Zhang Zian was ustomed to Fina¡¯s arrogance.

    ¡°Meow! Will there be other humans?¡± Gxy asked worriedly.

    ¡°No.¡± Zhang Zian assured it. ¡°Only us. We can even y hide and seek among the chairs.¡±

    ¡°Meow! Gxy is going to the movie theaters! Gxy is going to see a movie!¡± Gxy danced with joy.

    It was needless to say that Old Time Tea would be d to go to the theater with them. Although it was old, Old Time Tea was curious about anything new.

    Richard appeared from underneath the nket and rubbed its sleepy eyes. ¡°Hey! What are you talking about? Watching a movie? Where was the movie made? Has the movie starring Billy Herrington finally been released in China?¡±

    Zhang Zian corrected it. ¡°It¡¯s Famous¡¯s movie. It isn¡¯t the type of movie you usually watch, and it has nothing to do with Billy Herrington! You won¡¯t ever be able to see his movies in theaters.¡±

    ¡°Oh! What a bummer! Anyway, I¡¯lle with you, just in case you don¡¯t understand the lines in foreignnguages!¡± Richard was condescending as usual. ¡°Can you prepare dried fruit for me?¡±

    ¡°You were listening, weren¡¯t you? Why did you pretend you didn¡¯t hear anything?¡± Zhang Zian knew that Richard mentioned the porn star on purpose.

    Richard didn¡¯t blush, it simplynded on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°Don¡¯t be so prude! I haven¡¯t left the house in a long time, and I long to see beautiful faces outside.¡±

    Since he didn¡¯t have much time and had to prepare snacks for the elves, Zhang Zian shooed Richard away and went downstairs.

    Snowy Li quietly followed him. Once they were in the hallway, Snowy Li grabbed Zhang Zian¡¯s pajama and whispered, ¡°Put my raw beef brisket and Fina¡¯s little dried fish in the same bucket. I want to ignite my love with Fina! Do you hear me? If you don¡¯t do what I told you, I¡¯ll castrate you!¡±

    Are you sure these two things will go well together? Zhang Zian wondered.

    He went downstairs, hastily cleaned up the shop and opened the shop door. He started packing various snacks into his backpack¡ªlittle dried fish, raw beef brisket cut into small pieces, dried fruit, and a sk filled with hot tea for Old Time Tea.

    Zhang Zian forgot to ask Famous what it wanted to eat, but it wasn¡¯t a picky eater so he prepared beef jerky for it.

    Soon, Lu Yiyun came in.

    She was surprised to see Zhang Zian putting food into his backpack.

    She ced her drawing board on the counter and asked curiously, ¡°Mr. Store Manager, haven¡¯t you finished shooting the movie?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but I still need to go out today.¡± He said casually, ¡°I¡¯ll be back before noon. Please take care of my shop in the morning.¡±

    ¡°Oh, all right.¡± Lu Yiyun calmed down. With Zhang Zian in the shop, she wouldn¡¯t have to deal with customers herself.

    Everything was ready. Zhang Zian put the elves into his cell phone and left for the movie theater.

 Chapter 501: I Am the Protagonist

    <h4>Chapter 501: I Am the Protagonist</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Binhai Golden Cinema was the most upscale and luxurious movie theater in the city, and of course, its movie tickets were the most expensive. To be honest, Zhang Zian had never been there, which had nothing to do with the price of the movie tickets and had everything to do with the fact that he didn¡¯t have a girlfriend!

    It¡¯s a very sad thing, an adult man going to the movies alone, with only his right hand to hold his left hand.

    Since it was rush hour, the buses would be overcrowded and slow. To get to the theater on time, Zhang Zian chose a taxi. Rush hour also meant that there would be very few moviegoers in the theater at this time.

    The taxi arrived at the theater, which was near the downtown area of the city. Zhang Zian got out the car and saw the magnificent theater in front of him. Arge TV screen overhead was disyed the screening information about the movies that had been released.

    When he went into the lobby, apart from the staff, there were only a few people here, many were young couples. If they were watching movies at 8 o¡¯clock in the morning on a weekday, these couples were probably college students.

    After presenting his ID card to the employee at the front desk, Zhang Zian was taken to VIP Theater 1.

    In a VIP theater, the audience could customize the movies they wanted to screen, and even bring their own movies. Theoretically, even pornography could be watched in a VIP theater, but Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t going to tell Richard that.

    At the moment, the movie queued to be watched in VIP Theater 1 was the rough cut of Dog Warrior.

    There was another staff member waiting for Zhang Zian in the theater. When he saw Zhang Zian, he pointed out several important issues and asked Zhang Zian to sign a confidentiality agreement. After that, the staff left the room, and hung a sign that read, Do Not Disturb, on the outside door handle.

    The movie hadn¡¯t started yet, and the theater lights were still on. Zhang Zian took the time to look at the furniture, amazed by theyout of the room.

    There was total of two rows and five seats in the theater, two seats in the front row and three in the back row. Unlike the seats in the general screening rooms, the VIP seats were made of high-end leather sofas that formed to the body of humans.

    Sitting on the sofa, Zhang Zian could easily grab the snacks and beverages from the coffee table next to him. The snacks, which included popcorn, were gifts from the theater. However, the snacks contained too much sugar, salt and calories to be suitable for pets. In fact, even people shouldn¡¯t eat too many of these snacks.

    He locked the door to the theater to ensure that no one would disturb them. He looked around and found no surveince cameras, so he took out his cell phone and released the elves, one by one.

    ¡°Quack?¡± Without a warning for leaving the cellphone, Richard dropped like a rock. Fortunately, it pped its wings and flew upwards just as its head nearly hit the ground. It swiftly circled the theater.

    ¡°This is the movie theater? It¡¯s so small!¡± Richard eximed with dissatisfaction. ¡°Where is everybody? Why only you are here?¡±

    ¡°I told you. this is the VIP room. It¡¯s very expensive, the tickets probably costs hundreds of Yuan,¡± Zhang Zian exined. A five-seat room was a medium-sized VIP room, so the price certainly couldn¡¯t have been cheap.

    Fina looked around and bounced on one of the sofas. It stepped back and forth between the cushions, and then lied down on its stomach as if it was satisfied with the seat.

    Zhang Zian nervously looked at Fina, in fear that it would request to rece its princess bed with a leather sofa.

    ¡°This is a soft seat, but not asfortable as my bed.¡± Fina narrowed its eyes and yawned. ¡°Why hasn¡¯t the movie started yet?¡±

    Snowy Li leapt to the same sofa, squeezed itself next to Fina, and smiled cheekily. ¡°Your Majesty, my body is softer than the sofa. Would you like to sit on my back? I¡¯m more than happy to be your cushion.¡±

    Zhang Zian hoped that he¡¯d meet a girl as infatuated with him as Snowy Li was with Fina.

    Old Time Tea went to the other sofa, pressing on the sofa with its paw. Itughed. ¡°This chair is soft, but not very warm.¡±

    ¡°Because the sofa isn¡¯t heated.¡± Zhang Zian put the sk filled with hot tea on the coffee table in front of Old Time Tea, so that it could drink tea at any time.

    Whenever it came to a new ce, Gxy was always excited and curious to explore the environment in preparation ying hide and seek. It ran around the theater and said suddenly, just like Columbus had discovered the New World, ¡°Meow! Zian, there¡¯s a bathroom here!¡±

    ¡°Is there?¡± Zhang Zian followed it and found that there was a hidden door in the theater that led to a bathroom. Without leaving the theater, the audience would be able to solve their dder problems here.

    The bathroom waspact, but there was a toilet, sink, hand dryer, and a bathtub!

    ¡°Gxy, sit back. The movie is about to begin,¡± Zhang Zian said, looking at the time.

    Gxy obediently sat back on the sofa.

    Fina, Snowy Li and Old Time Tea sat in the two seats in the front row; Gxy and Zhang Zian sat in the sofas in the back row, with Richard standing on the back of the sofa where Zhang Zian sat. Everyone purposely left the seat in the middle empty.

    Famous shook its head nkly, trying to find its spot. Though it had seen the vacant spot, it didn¡¯t think that seat belong to it.

    Famous was thest elf to arrive at the pet shop. It felt inferior to the other elves in terms of strength or poprity¡ªGxy was adorable, Snowy Li was beautiful, Fina could make money, Old Time Tea was an excellent Wing Chun Master, and even Richard was quite noticeable. But, what about itself? What did Famous have?

    Famous wanted to lie down in a corner and quietly watch the movie.

    Zhang Zian patted the empty sofa next to him andughed. ¡°Famous, what are you waiting for? Come here to sit down, you¡¯re the star of today. How can the film start when the star hasn¡¯t sat down?¡±

    Star?

    Famous was shocked. I¡¯m the star of today?

    Indeed, Famous was the star of the movie, but it had never considered itself a star in real life. Whenever it acted, Famous would forget itself and tried its best to bring the character to life.

    Ever since Famous met Babe, a German Shepherd who performed the dangerous stunts for the protagonist of a movie, it felt very ufortable.

    Inexplicably, Famous felt annoyed by the use of stunt doubles. Why did the other dog deserve to be the protagonist if it just let the stunt double take the risks for it? Every time Famous thought of stunt doubles, its head would ache painfully, as if it had vaguely touched upon a memory that it didn¡¯t want to recall.

    No! No! I have nothing to do with stunt doubles! I¡¯ve never asked for stunt doubles, and I¡¯ve never let any other dog take risks for me!

    Famous shook its head, not willing to continue thinking about such issues, as if something sad might happen to it if it didn¡¯t stop thinking.

    They were at the movies to have fun. Famous didn¡¯t want to be a buzzkill.

    Famous walked to the middle seat in the back row. It hesitated a moment and jumped onto the sofa. The stretchiness of the leather seat made Famous feel like it was lying on a cloud.

    Zhang Zian prepared snacks for everyone. As it had wished for, Snowy Li got to share a snack bucket, which contained dried fish and raw beef brisket, with Fina.

    When everything was ready, the movie started to y.

    The overhead lights gradually dimmed, but did not turn offpletely. The lights looked like stars in the night sky.

    Arge title, Dog Warrior, appeared on the screen.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    The elves eximed one after another. Even Old Time Tea, who was usually calm andposed, opened its mouth in astonishment. Fina, who had always been pretentious, seemed frightened.

    It was the elves¡¯s first time seeing a big screen. They really felt like they were entering the world on the screen.

    Although this movie was just a rough cut without special effects, what mattered most to the elves and Zhang Zian was that the protagonist of the film was Famous, an elfin they were familiar with.

    At the beginning of the film, the protagonist, Lightning, was born. The main storyline unfolded as Lightning grew up, trained, and went on missions. The movie portrayed thepanionship between Lightning and its owner, and its friendship with other police dogs. In the end, Lightning was dispatched to the Western border to carry out the important task to track down foreign criminals.

    During the movie, the elves looked at Famous from time to time with incredulous looks on their faces. Were these thrilling and fascinating scenes really performed by the quiet Famous?

    Every day, Famous and Zhang Zian left the pet shop very early and came back veryte at night. No matter how tired it was when it came back, Famous had neverined. Everyone thought it starred in an art film or a film suitable to watch by the whole family. They thought all it needed to do was to look around and look cute. However, it turned out Famous was the protagonist of an exciting and intensemercial blockbuster!

    Zhang Zian also felt incredible. He obviously had seen these shots while making the movie, but after Feng Xuan edited them, the intense storyline left him breathless.

    Zhang Zian and the elves paid close attention to the screen whenever Famous appeared. Feng Xuan had trusted him to take notes if he found something wrong with the movie. Famous showed its joy when it was happy, it whimpered when it was serious, it roared when it was angry, and disyed its attachment to its owner upon separation. In other words, Famous¡¯s performance was perfect and had a strong connection to the audience, making them worry for the protagonist.

    The best proof of how wonderful the plot was that the elves had forgotten to eat their snacks. At the climax of the movie, their eyes never left the screen because they didn¡¯t want to miss a detail.

    Since the movie was a long rough cut, it was divided into two sets.

    At intermission, the lights on the ceiling turned back on, and everyone was relieved from the tension of the film.

    ¡°I need to go to the bathroom,¡± said Famous, jumping out of its seat.

 Chapter 502: Unbearable Memories

    <h4>Chapter 502: Unbearable Memories</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The intermission didn¡¯tst long, but there was enough time for the audience to go to the bathroom or walk around, so that they could continue watching the second half of the movie more energetically.

    When the lights in the theater turned on, everyone felt as if they were drawn from another world. They were reluctant to leave that world and longing to return to it as soon as possible.

    Everyone was so concentrated on watching the movie, they had forgotten to eat their snacks or drink beverages, so no one, except Famous, wanted to go to the bathroom.

    ¡°The restroom is right over there. Come back quickly.¡± Zhang Zian pointed at the bathroom.

    Old Time Tea sipped a mouthful of tea and said sincerely, ¡°Famous, you¡¯re fantastic! I¡¯ve watched numerous movies, and I can tell you that your acting can bepared to prestigious actors!¡±

    Snowy Li sniffed and nodded its head vigorously. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right! I even cried when I saw the scene where Lightning reunited with its owner. Though I am a cat, for the first time, being a dog seems really cool.¡±

    ¡°Your performance is only a little bit worse than mine! If you put in more effort, you could be my rival someday!¡± Richard said arrogantly, pping its wings.

    It was impossible for the proud Fina to praise Famous publicly. Fina leapt to the back of the sofa and looked at Zhang Zian, impatiently urging him. ¡°Why did the movie pause? When will the second half begin?¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at the time and replied, ¡°It¡¯ll start again in ten minutes.¡±

    ¡°Bah! Humans have weird customs!¡± Fina was upset. It put its paws into the bucket to pick up several dried fish.

    ¡°Meow! Famous, your acting is awesome!¡± Gxy blinked its silver-grey eyes and looked at Famous with admiration.

    Without saying anything, Famous walked into the bathroom and closed the door. The walls and doors of the theater was nearly soundproofed, and everyone¡¯s voice faded.

    Famous didn¡¯t go to the toilet. It stood still for a while, put its ear on the door, and held its breath to hear the voices outside.

    It¡¯s nice to be praised, but Famous wanted to know whether everyone was really admiring it, or they just praised it out of courtesy, so it wanted to hear what everyone said behind its back.

    Instead of chatting, the elves started to seriously discuss the plot of the movie and predicted the storyline in the second half of the movie.

    Fina¡¯s cold voice and Richard¡¯s harsh voice were the loudest, followed by Snowy Li¡¯s soft voice. Old Time Tea¡¯s voice was slightly hoarse. Though Old Time Tea spoke asionally, its remarks were insightful and relevant to the plot of the movie.

    Zhang Zian, who already knew where the storyline was headed, did not participate in the discussion. He used the short break to y hide and seek with Gxy.

    Famous was a bit disappointed. During the movie, Zhang Zian was very serious, asionally writing something on his book. He hadn¡¯t said anything about Famous. Famous wanted to hear Zhang Zian¡¯s evaluation the most.

    Maybe he¡¯s saving hisments until the movie is over? Famousforted itself.

    Zhang Zian thought Famous had been staying in the bathroom for an unusually long time, so he shouted, ¡°Famous, have you finished yet? The second half of the movie is about to start!¡±

    ¡°Coming!¡± answered Famous in a panic.

    Famous knew that it was inappropriate to eavesdrop on others. If it returned to its seat without pooping, someone would surely be suspicious. Besides Zhang Zian, Gxy and Richard, the other elves had sharp senses of smell and could easily tell if Famous had actually used the bathroom.

    If anyone asked, ¡°Famous, what did you do in the bathroom, did you eavesdrop on us?¡± How could it respond? Famous cherished its friendship with everyone, it didn¡¯t want to ruin it.

    It couldn¡¯t pee, no matter how hard it squeezed its dder.

    In desperation, Famous nced around the bathroom. When it saw the washbasin, it had an idea.

    Right! I can pretend to be sleepy and say I came in here to wash my face!

    Famous stood up, leaned its upper body against the washbasin, and ced its two front paws under the faucet.

    Clear water trickled from the automatic faucet. It wet the soles of its paws, closed its eyes, and wiped its face. The cool, refreshing water cleansed Famous¡¯s distracting thoughts from its mind.

    This way, no one would doubt it, right?

    Famous was satisfied. It shook off the drops of water from its head like an ordinary dog, and opened its eyes.

    There was arge mirror above the washbasin.

    The mirror was covered tiny drops of water, and they were slowly rolling down.

    Famous saw itself in the mirror. A well-proportioned German Shepherd with a pair of wet, ck, eyes in the mirror was looking back at Famous.

    Suddenly, a wave of vertigo hit Famous. Its brain was drowsy, as if something was about to break through its memory.

    Everything except the mirror¡ªthe washbasin, the urinal, the toilet, the hand dryer, the ceilingmp¡ª began to distort. , A huge whirlpool appeared at the center of Famous¡¯s image in the mirror, and was about to engulf everything.

    This feeling¡­

    Famous¡¯s heart was pounding violently. It was extremely familiar with this feeling. It was the same feeling that Famous felt before it entered Gxy and Old Time Tea¡¯s Imagined Landscape.

    Am I entering someone¡¯s Imagined Landscape again?

    But why? There¡¯s no other elf in front of me!

    Before Famous had any time to ponder the situation or prepare itself, darkness had arrived in the blink of an eye.

    Famous temporarily lost consciousness.

    It was unclear how long Famous had been passed out before it woke up.

    Wherever it was, was very dark. Famous was neither in Gxy¡¯s ck box nor was it at Old Time Tea¡¯s unnamed mountain. This ce was filled with the odor of dog urine. Such an odor could also be smelled in the pet shop in the early morning as well as in the police dog nursing home, but the odor in this ce was much more intense.

    When Famous heard a lot of gasping, it realized that there was more than one dog around it.

    Where am I?

    Whose Imagined Landscape is this?

    Famous was flustered and didn¡¯t know why. It wanted to leave this world as soon as possible because it seemed like something terrible was going to happen.

    Bang!

    A door opened, and sunlight entered through the doorway. The air was as fresh as the air in Old Time Tea¡¯s era.

    A middle-aged man¡ªwho was chewing tobo, and wearing jeans and riding boots¡ª appeared at the door. He held a whip in his hand andid eyes on Famous.

    ¡°Come out! Come out, all of you! Time to select stunt doubles!¡± he shouted.

 Chapter 503: Eleven Feet and Nine Inches

    <h4>Chapter 503: Eleven Feet and Nine Inches</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The middle-aged man in front of the door was Caucasian and short, and he had a tan mustache. He was obviously a man of authority, at least to these dogs.

    Before Famous understood what was happening, a few young men burst into the room, and pushed a lot of cages out of the room. The sounds of the wheels and the barking started fading away.

    One of the men walked towards Famous. When Famous moved back, its body hit cold iron bars. It wasn¡¯t until then that Famous realized that it was locked in an iron cage, no different from the other dogs.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Famous shouted, ¡°Let me out! Let me out!¡±

    Famous was a dog, but it considered itself to be more than just a dog, and it shouldn¡¯t be treated violently like this.

    However, these people couldn¡¯t understand it. From their perspective, Famous was no different from the other dogs barking out of fear. The young man who was pushing Famous¡¯s cage snapped at it. ¡°Shut your mouth! What are you barking at? You think we¡¯re going to ughter you? You¡¯re such a fool!¡±

    Several rows of cages were pushed into an open field, a German Shepherd in each cage. With its cage ced in the middle, Famous looked around and soon discovered something weird. There were about twenty male German Shepherds here that were simr in size and age, but there was no female German Shepherd here.

    Was this a coincidence?

    What was with that middle-aged man who shouted about the selection of stunt doubles?

    ¡°Is that all? All the dogs are here?¡± the middle-aged man inquired.

    ¡°Yes, boss,¡± replied one of the subordinates, ¡°they are all here. Per your request, these dogs were bought by us locally and from the neighboring states.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± The middle-aged man nodded with satisfaction.

    The dogs barking upset him, so he held his whip and snapped it. A shallow dent appeared on the ground. The sharp noise and power of the whip silenced all the dogs in the field.

    He raised his whip and pointed it toward arge tree not far away. He threatened, ¡°You bastards, you better behave wellter. Whoever dares to cause trouble, I¡¯ll hang it upside down from that tree, whip it 20 times, and then peel its skin.¡±

    When he spoke, his facial expressions were fierce and serious, even if the other dogs didn¡¯t understand him, they could at least feel his murderous tone. When the dogs saw the reddish-brown color of the soil under that tree, they knew what he said was more than an empty threat.

    Just then, a bizarre looking ck coupe drove from afar at a slow speed. The wheels of the car raised a lot of dust, like the beginning a small sandstorm.

    Famous thought that the vintage car traveling on a bumpy road may fall apart.

    The car stopped. When the dust settled, a man dressed in a suit and a pair of round sses got out of the car. He had two small patches of moustache on his upper lip. He wore a bowler hat, his shirt was clean and white, and he had slender fingers. From his appearance, Famous could tell that he was a man who took pride in wealth and honor.

    The arrogant and domineering middle-aged man quickly spat the tobo out of his mouth. He put on a friendly face and ran towards the man, extending his hand, ¡°Mr. Charles! I am Roger Leslie, you can call me Roger. Wee to my farm.¡±

    Charles turned a blind eye to Roger¡¯s hand. He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his sses.

    Roger timidly withdrew his hand. To cover up the awkwardness, he struggled to keep a smile. He noticed the car and his eyes suddenly lit up as he eximed, ¡°My God! Mr. Charles, forgive me, but your car is so beautiful! It¡¯s thetest Model T Coupe of Ford, right? I saw themercial for this car posted on a theater wall when I went into the city. What¡¯s the slogan for that ad? ¡®The Doctor and His Car!¡¯ So, this is the Doctor Coupe, right? The car appeared in Chaplin¡¯s movies. Only doctors,wyers, actors, and top executives, like you, can possess such an excellent car!¡±

    Roger ttered Mr. Charles incessantly. He cautiously touched the warm engine hood. The shiny paint job made the hood smoother than the skin of the most beautiful woman in the countryside, though it was now covered with a thinyer of dust. He dreamed of owning a car like this, which would surely attract numerous women. When his dream dide true, he could date a different woman every day.

    Roger circled around the car, as if looking at a precious work of art. ¡°Wow! I heard that it has a revolutionary load of batteries and electrical ignition system, that the engine can even work in the worst weather? Driving it must feel like riding the wildest woman.¡±

    His spit when he talked about the car. If he could own a car like this, his whole life would have been worth it.

    Hearing his respect and admiration of this car, Roger¡¯s workers came forward to see the car out of curiosity. One of them wanted to reach out and touch the car, but Roger punched him and scolded him, ¡°F**K! How dare you touch this car?¡±

    After rubbing his sses, Charles turned to look at the several rows of cages and said impatiently, ¡°Save your bulls**t. I¡¯m not listening to you rave about my car in this awful ce! Are these the dogs I asked for? Let¡¯s finish up here. I¡¯m already sick of the dirty countryside.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Roger quickly agreed. ¡°Mr. Charles, all these dogs were selected based on the photos you sent me. Don¡¯t they all look alike?¡±

    Charles said with a straight face, ¡°Look alike? Buddy, I need more than that! There are about eighty thousand dogs that look alike all over our country. Our star can jump over a bar that is 11 feet and 9 inches high, that¡¯s how it became a star. Do you understand?¡±

    Roger was stunned, ¡°11 feet and 9 inches? My God, that¡¯s so high¡­¡±

    Charles grunted. ¡°Of course, I am not expecting these wild dogs from the countryside to be as excellent as our big star, but their jumping ability should at least be close to that, otherwise how can they be the stunt double?¡±

    ¡°Close¡­uh, of course. Mr. Charles, I¡¯m sure that one of these dogs can jump close to that height.¡± Roger¡¯s head was sweating. He didn¡¯t know which dog could jump that high.

    Roger was azy guy who cared about nothing, but eating and gambling. He was in a great amount of debt. When he heard that a moviepany in Hollywood was trying to find stunt doubles for a well-known dog, he thought it might be a good opportunity to earn money, He bodly invited Mr. Charles, the senior executive of the moviepany, toe to his farm.

    Prior to the meeting with Charles, Roger sent his employees and his neighbors¡¯s children to search for German Shepherds that looked like the star, promising them abundant rewards. Around 20 German Shepherds were found, but he wasn¡¯t sure if there was a dog that could jump almost 11 feet high.

    ¡°What are you waiting for? Get started!¡± Charles frowned, looked at the soles of his shoes in disgust, and prayed that he didn¡¯t step on chicken manure or dog poop.

    Roger shouted at his workers, ¡°Did you hear him? Go, go, go! Bring the dogs over so that Mr. Charles can see them!¡±

    The workers quickly set up a simple bar about 11 feet high, and opened each cage one by one. They pulled out the dogs, and let them line up to jump over the bar. If a dog couldn¡¯t or didn¡¯t want to jump, it¡¯d be kicked hard by studded boots. The German Shepherds whined, but they couldn¡¯t escape with the chains tied to their necks. If any dog dare show its fangs, Roger would whip it.

    So far, no dogs seeded in jumping over the bar, and there were few dogs left. Roger kept rubbing his forehead. He had spent thest of his savings to buy these dogs. If all of them were rejected, his only choice would be to sell the farm and be a beggar in the city.

    Soon, it was Famous¡¯s turn.

    A young man opened Famous¡¯s cage and grabbed its cor to pull it out.

    The cage was exceptionally small. Famous thought of rebelling, but when it saw the revolvers under Roger¡¯s arms and the calluses on his hand from holding the gun, Famous immediately gave up on the thought. Even Old Time Tea, who was a magnificent martial arts master, didn¡¯t dare say that it wasn¡¯t afraid of bullets.

    Roger looked like a quick shooter, or he would have been beaten to death for his bad manners a long time ago.

    Famous was held in front of the bar. The young man released his hand. Roger pointed to the bar and said, ¡°Jump over it! Understand? You fool! If you don¡¯t want to be kicked or whipped, you¡¯d better jump over!¡±

    During his time living with Old Time Tea, Famous had learned a piece of advice. A wise man knows how to withdraw himself from a bad situation. Famous had no alternative but to jump over the bar, otherwise it¡¯d suffer.

    Charles was stunned at the first nce at Famous. He thoughtfully stroked his mustache and sized it up. This dog looked almost identical to the star of the movie. They had the same shape, body color, and were the same age. However, their eyes weren¡¯t the same.This dog¡¯s eyes were very strange. He had never seen a dog with such eyes. How could he put it? Its eyes were almost like the eyes of a human.

    Ha!

    Since Famous refused to jump, Roger snapped his whip and shouted, ¡°You idiot! What are you waiting for? Jump! If you don¡¯t jump, I¡¯ll whip you to death!¡±

    Famous looked up at the bar. Without running, it just slightly bent its knees to lower its body and jumped up like a spring!

    Famous jumped over the bar as if it was flying above the mists and clouds. In fact, during the jump, there was space left between Famous and the bar. So, Famous could jump even higher than it did.

    Famousnded on the ground stably. Everyone was silent.

 Chapter 504: Friday the Thirteenth

    <h4>Chapter 504: Friday the Thirteenth</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Famous could jump even higher than the bar because it used to be an impressive jumper. After practicing with Old Time Tea in the mountain for a year, Famous had mastered the skills of exerting its force.

    Roger was overjoyed. ¡°My God! Did you see that? The dog jumped over the bar! It really jumped over the bar!¡±

    Roger¡¯s employees couldn¡¯t believe their own eyes, either. This dog was amazing. It could jump so high without running in advance.

    Roger ran towards Charles and said eagerly, ¡°Mr. Charles, did you see that? Does this dog meet your requirements? To be honest, I traveled to several states nearby before I found this dog. If it wasn¡¯t for your request, I couldn¡¯t bear to sell it.¡±

    Roger believed that such a rare dog should sell at a high price, especially if the buyer was an important man from a prestigious filmpany.

    Charles ignored Roger and walked up to Famous, kneeling to look at it at close range. He confirmed that this dog looked just like the star of his movie. Even without makeup, this dog could be mistaken for the star. They were both German Shepherds from excellent pedigrees.

    ¡°What is its name?¡± he asked Roger, turning his head.

    ¡°Err¡­ name¡­ what¡¯s its name¡­¡± Roger red anxiously at his employees, but no one knew the dog¡¯s name. He shrugged helplessly.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you just say that you found this dog? You should know its name, shouldn¡¯t you?¡± Charles looked at him coldly.

    ¡°This¡­this¡­¡± Roger swallowed embarrassingly and replied nervously, ¡°It¡­ its name is R?hm. Yes, its name is R?hm!¡±

    ¡°Is it?¡± Charles came from the big city filled with lies. How could he not see through Roger¡¯s trick? He said to Famous, ¡°R?hm, are you R?hm?¡±

    Famous shook its head. ¡°That¡¯s not my name. My name is¡­ My name is¡­¡±

    Charles couldn¡¯t understand it, but he could see that the dog shook its head. He was stunned again.

    Charles¡¯s eyes fell on Famous¡¯s ck leather cor. There was a shiny metal namete that reflected the sun when it shook its head. There seemed to be some kind of writing on the namete.

    ¡°Come on, buddy. Let me see what¡¯s written on it.¡± He reached out and pinched the metal namete, carefully reading the words.

    Charles frowned deeply. What did the words on the metal namete mean? He couldn¡¯t understand the strange texts in square shapes, but he did recognize a string of Arabic numbers next to the words.

    ¡°1323¡­¡± he whispered. ¡°What¡¯s this? Your name? Which country is your owner from? Why are you named after a string of numbers?¡±

    Famous had no way to exin to him that the string of numbers was actually Zhang Zian¡¯s phone number, or that the few Chinese characters meant the ¡°Amazing Fate Pet Shop.¡±

    Charles saw that Famous didn¡¯t shake its head this time, so he patted its head and stood up. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll call you 13 because this number starts with 13, and you also rank at the 13th ce.¡±

    Ranking? What ranking? Famous looked up at him nkly.

    Charlesughed. ¡°Do you know why I chose you? Because you look just like our star, and you also have excellent athletic ability. I¡¯ll take you back and you¡¯ll serve as the stunt double. To guarantee our star¡¯s safety, we¡¯ve already prepared twelve stunt doubles, and you¡¯ll be stunt double No.13. Of course, I know that 13 isn¡¯t a very favorable number and today is Friday, but¡­I¡¯ll call you 13 anyway.¡±

    Stunt double?

    As soon as Famous heard this word, its heart contracted drastically, its blood went cold, and it almost fell to the ground.

    Charles misunderstood Famous¡¯s reactions andughed. ¡°You¡¯re very excited and honored, aren¡¯t you? You must know that our star is the most famous dog in the world nowadays. It should be an utmost glory for you to be its stunt double, which is an opportunity that most dogs long for, but can¡¯t get.¡±

    Roger rubbed his hands and said with an insincere smile, ¡°Mr. Charles, can we talk about the price now?¡±

    Charles took out a check from his pocket and threw it to Roger without looking at him. ¡°Take it.¡±

    Roger rushed to catch the check and his eyes widened in surprise. The price on the check was even higher than he had imagined, it should be enough to pay off his debts.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be an stunt double!¡± Famous roared violently. It wanted to escape. Even if it couldn¡¯t escape from this terrible world, it wanted to get away from this ce.

    Bang! The moment Famous took one step forward, a bullet was shot into the earth near its feet. This was a warning shot.

    ¡°You bastard, you want to run?¡± Roger said, gritting his teeth. He had two revolvers in his hands, smoke rising from one of his guns. He had deemed Famous as his jackpot. How could he allow Famous to run away?

    Roger fired at Famous at such a quick speed that Famous didn¡¯t even see the bulleting. Famous knew that it was impossible for it to escape. Even if it could use its ability of predicting danger to escape the first shot, it wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge the rest of the bullets.

    Just like Old Time Tea¡¯s Imagined Landscape, this world was extremely simr to reality. If it died in this world, would its true self die as well? Famous wasn¡¯t sure, so it didn¡¯t want to take the risk.

    Charles sighed. ¡°Don¡¯t try to run away. It¡¯s better to be a stunt double for the movie than to live with this guy, at least you won¡¯t starve when you¡¯re with me.¡±

    Roger rolled his eyes. He had already witnessed Charles¡¯s generosity, the man spent money like water. If he could also enter the entertainment industry, he¡¯d be rich! What did he need his farm for?

    ¡°Mr. Charles! I have a proposal.¡± Fearing that Charles might leave at any moment, Roger quickly said, ¡°You see, this dog is so disobedient, and it always tries to escape. Why don¡¯t you take me with you as well? As long as I¡¯m there, it can¡¯t run away!¡±

    ¡°You?¡± Charles looked at him suspiciously. ¡°What can you do?¡±

    ¡°I train dogs!¡± Roger pulled his whip out, waved the whip and said fiercely, ¡°My knack is to whipping dogs until they be obedient. With all due respect, decent people like you can¡¯t do this kind of thing with your own hands because your white shirt will get dirty. It¡¯s a perfect job for a hillbilly like me.¡±

    Charles thought for a moment and thought that he should let Roger try. He had nothing to lose anyway. ¡°OK, bring 13 to the set tomorrow.¡±

 Chapter 505: Confronting the Devil Inside

    <h4>Chapter 505: Confronting the Devil Inside</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°It really is a big city!¡±

    It was really an eye-opener for Roger, who had rarely visited the city, when he saw the smooth asphalt pavements, the beautiful cars that drove on the road, the magnificent vis, and most importantly, thedies dressed in fine attire.

    He was wearing a dirty suit, which was his deceased father¡¯s that he had found from his suitcase. The suit seemed a little tight on him, but it could effectively hide his guns that he hid in his underarm pockets, so as not to scare off the distinguished people in the city. Thedies in town were so pretty that Roger¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t move fast enough to look at all of them.

    ¡°I¡¯m warning you, don¡¯t even think of running away. You¡¯re my jackpot, and whether I ride prettydies depends on your performance,¡± Roger warned Famous.

    He stood in front of the moviepany, moved his crumpled bow tie to the front, and said to the concierge in his most polite tone, ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Roger! Roger Leslie from the Leslie Farm. I have an appointment with Mr. Charles.¡±

    The concierge looked at him coldly, and despite Roger¡¯s self-righteousness, he couldn¡¯t hide the tasteless tone of a redneck.

    ¡°Go on up. Mr. Charles is in Room 301, and don¡¯t let your dog sh*t in the corridor, or I will make you eat it until there is nothing left! In this building, a dog is valued way more than you are!¡± the concierge said with no facial expression.

    Roger cleared his throat and took Famous upstairs. On the way, he kept looking at the female stenographers who passed by him, and he struggled to hold back the urge to grab their butts. He didn¡¯t understand how modern society could tolerate beautiful girls working in the same office with men. How about the men working with the pretty girls? They must not be real men if they could resist their urges.

    He stood in front of Room 301, knocked heavily on the door three times.

    ¡°Come in,¡± said a sweet female voice.

    As if being driven by the voice, Roger opened the door and saw a gorgeous, blondedy sitting behind a desk. She smiled and said to him, ¡°You¡¯re Mr. Leslie, right? Mr. Charles is waiting for you inside.¡±

    As it turned out, Room 301 was a suite, and thedy working at the outer area of the suite was the full-time secretary of Mr. Charles. She wore a standard suit with the hemline of her dress six inches from her feet and a pair of stockings that came down to her shins, revealing her smooth legs that made Roger almost forget himself. Before Roger came in, she was reading an issue of The New Yorker magazine that was turned to the page of a fashion column written by ¡°Lipstick¡±¡ªabout how to seek sensual pleasure at night.

    Roger took off his hat like a gentleman and flirted with thedy cheekily. ¡°Beautiful, just call me Roger. I have an idea. Are you avable tonight? Can I take you out to dinner?¡±

    The secretary kept her polite smile but declined him, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mr. Leslie. I have an appointment tonight.¡±

    What a bummer! Roger grumbled to himself and pushed open the door to the inner room.

    The decor of this office was very luxurious, and the room was as spacious as a pce. The cashmere rug from Turkey perfectly absorbed the sound of footsteps, the corners of the stylish office desks were covered by brass, and therge paintings of thepany¡¯s founders were hanging on the walls.

    Charles was talking to another man in a polite tone, which waspletely different from the tone that he used to talk to Roger yesterday.

    ¡°Good day, Mr. Charles,¡± Roger said respectfully. ¡°I¡¯m here.¡±

    Charles turned around and looked at Famous. He ignored Roger and said to the other man, ¡°Mr. Duncan, look at this dog, don¡¯t you think it highly resembles your dog?¡±

    At this time, both Famous and Roger noticed that there was another dog in the office. That dog was sitting on a high-back chair with a table covered in white cloth in front of it. A man dressed like a chef took a te of grilled steak from a dining-cart and ced it on the table.

    ¡°Enjoy, sir,¡± the chef said respectfully to the dog. He then lowered his head and pushed his dining-cart out of the room.

    In addition to the steak, there was a ss of red wine on the table. A fragrant rose was ced in a porcin vase from China, and a set of silverware¡ªmade by the manufacturer Robbe Berking¡ªwas neatly ced on both sides of the te.

    The German Shepherd that seemed like a dog, but behaved like a human, nced at Roger and Famous arrogantly, then buried its face into the dinner te. It turned a blind eye to the silver-ted cutlery and gnawed on the steak directly with its mouth.

    Famous stared nkly at this dog who was enjoying the extravagant life, while Roger was coveting the wine.

    Charles red at Roger warningly. ¡°Our star likes to drink a few sses asionally. You¡¯ve seen nothing, do you understand?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I see nothing. Rest assured, sir.¡± Roger swallowed his saliva. He knew that Charles was asking him not to reveal the wine drinking issue to anyone. Even as a country bumpkin, Roger knew that the Prohibition Decree enacted by Congress had put hundreds of thousands of people in prison. He knew that this dog was very famous, but he couldn¡¯t expect that a senior director would take the risk of breaking thew to satisfy its appetite.

    The concierge told Roger that people in this building were valued less than dogs. He initially thought it was a joke, but as it turned out, the concierge was telling the truth. So, if Famous indeed sh*t in the corridor, Roger could really be forced to eat it.

    The man named Duncan looked handsome. He held a lit pipe and leisurely paced before Famous, scrutinizing it with contempt. He then said, ¡°Is this the dog named 13? Well, Mr. Charles, you¡¯re right. This dog indeed f**king looks like mine, but that¡¯s all. How can itpare to my dog?¡±

    Charles quipped, ¡°I hope not, or else Jack¡¯s legs will hurt again.¡±

    The two of them tacitly smiled at each other.

    Roger was quite perplexed. He didn¡¯t know that they were referring to the incident when the bad-tempered dog on that table bit Jack Warner. Despite being bitten, the boss still honored the dog as his ancestor because it had rescued thepany from the brink of bankruptcy.

    It wasn¡¯t until this moment that Duncan inadvertently looked at Roger and casually asked, ¡°You¡¯re 13¡¯s owner?¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir. My name is Roger, Roger Leslie, and I¡¯m d to be at your service.¡± Roger bowed slightly.

    Duncan poked his finger at Roger¡¯s chest and said, ¡°I don¡¯t give a f**k about your name. You stand here only because of your dog. The only thing you and your dog have to do is to stop my dog from taking some dangerous shots. You also better keep your mouth shut about this. If I hear any rumors that those scenes aren¡¯t performed by my dog, you can wait for the summons from the court!¡±

    Roger retreated from Duncan¡¯s poke. He was furious. As a quick gunman, no one dared to offend him in the countryside, so he had never been humiliated like this. Since he was making money, he had to control his anger.

    Charles handed over a piece of paper, patted Roger on his shoulder and casually said, ¡°Sign this.¡±

    ¡°This¡­ what is it?¡± Roger was basically semiliterate. This piece of paper was full of many words he couldn¡¯t recognize, so it was strenuous for him to read the paper.

    ¡°Confidentiality agreement,¡± Charles said, ¡°like Mr. Duncan said, we¡¯re all civilized people. We must use legal documents to make sure that you won¡¯t say something that should not be said. If you have concerns, you can hire awyer to help you decide.¡±

    Roger certainly couldn¡¯t afford awyer. He hesitated on whether he should sign the document. Obviously, he¡¯d have to get out here if he didn¡¯t sign the document, after all, Charles only wanted 13.

    Charles smiled and said, ¡°Mr. Leslie, right? 13 is an excellent dog, but it¡¯s at best a stunt dog. You¡¯d better not deem it or you as indispensable. You should know that I collected a few dogs from other ces yesterday. Currently, our star has 18 stunt doubles, so we don¡¯t care if your dog joins us or not. If you don¡¯t want to sign the document, return the checks and get out with your dog!¡±

    Roger¡¯s face was pale. He had cashed in the checks he received yesterday to pay back his gambling debt, and he spent the rest of the money on two prostitutes in the countryside. Today, he was once again penniless. How was he going to pay back the checks?

    ¡°Well, sir, I¡¯ll sign it. To be honest, this hostility between us is uncalled for. I¡¯ve always been a tight-lipped guy. I won¡¯t say a word about this matter even there¡¯s a gun to my head¡± he muttered and scribbled his name on the confidentiality agreement.

    As they talked, Famous kept staring at the German Shepherd enjoying the delicious steak on the table. It kept eating even though it was full, and its belly was round. It stuck out its tongue from time to time and drank the wine.

    This German Shepherd looked very simr to Famous, from its fur color to body size. If they stood together, they¡¯d almost be indistinguishable from each other.

    Famous¡¯s heart was full of sadness. It had been vaguely aware of something, but it refused to remember.

    Everything was a lie! Everything!

    Famous used to think that it was a famous German Shepherd, but actually, it was not.

    Let me go. Let me leave this world. Enough is enough!

    This world was so lonely without Gxy or Old Time Tea. Famous had no friends that could listen to the affliction in its heart.

    Famous¡¯s heart was torn apart. It didn¡¯t want to know about its identity anymore. All it wanted was to return to the VIP theater in Binhai Golden Cinema and watch the second half of the movie with everybody. After that, Famous would return to the pet shop to sleep and forget everything. After it woke up, it¡¯d quietly lie down in a corner to watch the adorable Gxy, the sleepy Fina, the lovestruck Snowy Li, the bitchy Richard, as well as the tea-tasting Old Time Tea.

    The most important thing was that Famous wanted to hear Zhang Zian say those words again¡ª¡±Famous, today you¡¯re the star.¡±

    Even for only one day, Famous wanted to be a star.

 Chapter 506: Only the Paranoid Survive

    <h4>Chapter 506: Only the Paranoid Survive</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Roger signed the confidentiality agreement, and Charles paid him a part of his sry in advance as a dog trainer. Roger greedily counted the money, and then carefully stuffed the money into his pocket.

    Duncan lovingly caressed the neck of the German Shepherd, looking at the dog tenderly as if he was watching his lover or his children. ¡°Just eat more, my dear, eat more,¡± he said.

    Charles pointed at the door and ordered Roger to leave, ¡°You can go now. There will be a new movie shooting tomorrow, bring your dog and report to the crew then.¡±

    Roger took a second look at the steak and wine on the table and begged cheekily, ¡°Mr. Charles, it¡¯s noon now. I want to have lunch before I go. Is that okay? As a new employee of thepany, I should be entitled to get a free lunch, right?¡±

    Charles looked at Roger in disgust and shouted to the kitchen a momentter, ¡°Prepare lunch for our guests!¡±

    Roger rushed to the table, sitting opposite the German Shepherd, and said happily, ¡°I¡¯ll also have a steak with onions and a ss of red wine! The steak can be cooked very rare. I like it bloody!¡±

    What? What did he just say?

    A sensitive nerve of Famous was struck by their conversation, and it couldn¡¯t help but raise its tearful eyes. Famous had been watching the German Shepherd, but had never paid attention to the food on its dinner te.

    It wasn¡¯t until then that Famous discovered that the te contained a fried steak with onions, brolis, and mushrooms. The top quality steak was cooked perfectly. With every bite, the steak would exude a rich aroma of butter that¡¯d make anyone drool. The problem lied with the onions, the main ingredient in frying the steak.

    Famous didn¡¯t know about onions until the former pyrotechnician, Guan Biao, of the Dog Warrior crew tried to feed onions to the dogs. Later, Zhang Zian told Famous that onions were toxic to dogs because the disulfides in onions would cause red blood cells to rupture.

    Charles ignored Roger, but told Duncan ingratiatingly, ¡°Mr. Duncan, we have changed chefs recently. The best dish is the fried steak with onions. Does your dog enjoy it?¡±

    Duncan nodded satisfactorily and said approvingly, ¡°It enjoys the dish very much.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great.¡± Charles smiled. ¡°ording to the chef, onions and red wine are a perfect match. Red wine not only removes the unpleasant odor of onions, but also retains the spicy aroma of onions. The scent of grapes and the unique vor of onions blend together with the carefully prepared steak. This dish is the best taste in the world. If your dog likes it, I¡¯ll have the kitchen prepare it for it every day.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Duncan nodded. ¡°Thank you, Mr. Charles. You¡¯re very thoughtful.¡±

    The chef¡¯s culinary skill was excellent, and Duncan¡¯s dog really liked to eat the dish. The dog had almost finished the onions, steak, and red wine, but not the broli.

    ¡°Don¡¯t eat! Don¡¯t eat! Don¡¯t eat the onions!¡± Famous suddenly roared wildly, wanting to stop the German Shepherd from eating the dish. Although the dog would seem fine for a while, the disulfides would quietly enter its body, ready to ughter its red blood cells, which could harm its bone marrow. Obviously, people of this era hadn¡¯t realized the harm of onions to dogs. That was why they were offering the best food they could afford to this German Shepherd, the big star.

    The toxicity of onions was rted to the quantity consumed. With itsrge size, this German Shepherd probably would be fine if it only ate the onions today. However, if it continued eating onions day after day, the disulfides would umte in its body and once the dog¡¯s urine turned bloody, this era¡¯s poor medical treatment couldn¡¯t save it.

    Famous¡¯s loud, violent barking made Duncan frown in disgust. ¡°What a peasant this dog is. Even if it looks simr, it can never be as civilized as our star who never barks.¡± Charles smiled. ¡°13 is probably coveting the dish and would like to eat a few bites of the steak. Its behavior is understandable. What dog doesn¡¯t like to eat meat?

    ¡°It¡¯s impossible for 13 to eat steak,¡± Duncan murmured coldly. ¡°How can a stunt double be treated like the star?¡±

    ¡°Yes, exactly.¡± Charles agreed. He turned back and yelled at Roger, ¡°Did I pay you to do nothing? Make your dog shut up!¡±

    Roger jumped up from his chair and strode towards Famous rapidly. He threatened Famous ferociously, ¡°Shut up! Stop barking! If you bark again, I¡¯ll peel off your skin!¡±

    Famous still tried to stop the German shepherd, but it had already eaten all the onions and left the table. The star was lying on the carpetzily to digest the food in its stomach. Famous knew that its dissuasion was futile because no one could understand its words, and it couldn¡¯t change history.

    Since Famous no longer barked, Roger returned to the table.

    At that moment, the chef pushed the dining cart over. Charles walked to the dining cart and lifted two tes from it. He put one te in front of Roger and the other in front of Famous.

    ¡°As a stunt double, you only deserve to eat this,¡± said Charles. There was a ham cheese sandwich on each of the two tes.

    Roger stared at his own sandwich. Although he felt humiliated, he was starving. He picked up the sandwich and stuffed it into his mouth. After a few bites, he noticed that there was still some broli and broth left on the German Shepherd¡¯s te. Ignoring Duncan and Charles¡¯s disdainful looks, he took the te and dipped his sandwich in the broth, then swallowed the bread with relish.

    Famous looked at its sandwich. What a measly and shabby lunchpared to the fried steak with onions, but at least its food was not poisonous. Famous lowered its head and swallowed the sandwich.

    Among all the elves in the pet shop, the strong-minded and resolute Old Time Tea was the elf that Famous admired the most. Old Time Tea never flinched at anything. Even if everyone disapproved of its decision, even if it lost its own life in the process, Old Time Tea would do what it considered correct.

    Famous had escaped before. In order to escape its nightmarish memory, Famous would rather forget everything. However, it decided not to escape anymore. It wanted to live in this world, to witness everything, and to face the devil inside its heart. If Famous didn¡¯t defeat the devil, it could not be an angel.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, you need to understand your position.¡± Charles and Duncan smiled at each other, thinking that Famous had sumbed to its fate.

    Duncan looked at his watch and said goodbye to Charles, ¡°I leave now. There are a lot of b*tches waiting for my dog to mate with them. I can¡¯t remember how many puppies it has reproduced.¡±

    Charles sent Duncan and his dog out. Before the door closed, Duncan¡¯s dog burped loudly. The aroma of onions flowing from its mouth.

 Chapter 507: Human Comedy

    <h4>Chapter 507: Human Comedy</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    This era¡¯s filming process had no essential difference from that of 100 yearster, but thetter may be more refined and more professional.

    On its second day, Famous was taken to the studio to film a movie.

    It didn¡¯t know which film it was currently attending. As one of 18 stunt doubles, Famous didn¡¯t have to be told about these things. Roger, who was its temporary owner, didn¡¯t care either. His gaze was always greedily pursuing beautiful girls. As long as he could get his money, he¡¯d let Famous do anything, no matter how dangerous it would be.

    As for the dog, the distinguished celebrity dog, nobody in the studio really liked it, except perhaps its owner.

    The sry of the star dog was eight times more than the leading actors. It took apany car to the studio each time. It wore a radiant diamond ne on its neck. When the crew members ate their simple lunch, the star enjoyed a steak.

    The red wine wouldn¡¯t be prepared for the dog in public ces. After all, there was the Prohibition Decree.

    In addition, the te where the steak sat was made of silver.

    Everything the star dog did was to remind every human in the studio that they weren¡¯t as good.

    No one dare questioned its intentions in the studio, after all, even thepany owner suffered in silence when the dog bit him.

    The Dog Warrior studio may have many disappointments, but there was equality. Everyone in the crew, from the human stars to the dogs, would eat the same lunch.

    Of course, this was not the star dog¡¯s fault, it was merely a dog. It was the fault of the humans who knelt in front of it and put it on a pedestal.

    When shooting dangerous scenes, this dog wouldn¡¯t take the risks. Instead, one dog of the 18 stunt doubles would be randomly selected to perform the scenes. For example, an unlucky dog ??would be chosen to fight a big ck bear today.

    There was a real ck bear kept in a cage. The bear anxiously walked in the cage, sometimes issuing a dull growl. It came from a circus, and a trainer had said that it wouldn¡¯t cause any trouble. Still, no one dared to let the star dog fight the bear. If the star dog, who would take the role?

    ¡°9! Let stunt double 9 try,¡± the director cried.

    There was no power grid or anesthetic guns on set, or theputer effects that would appear 100 yearster. The only security protection was the trainer¡¯s promise that the bear was safe.

    Stunt double 9 was pulled out by a staff member, but when it approached the bear, it nervously ran away as soon as the leash loosened up. There was no way 9 would film the scene where a German Shepherd fought against a bear to protect its young owner.

    ¡°17! Try 17!¡± The director designated another unlucky dog.

    17 was the opposite of 9. When it faced the ck bear, it was too aggressive. As soon as the leash loosened, 17 growled and rushed forward to bite the bear. As a result, the bear extended its w from the cage and pped 17 in the head. 17 was instantly knocked to the ground, its skin on its head was torn and badly bruised.

    The smell of blood provoked the ck bear, and it became increasingly irritable in the cage. Even the trainer didn¡¯t know how to calm it down. Compared to this violent bear, fighting the so-called Mastiff King was practically a piece of cake.

    Everyone present thought that there was no way toplete the shot today. They might need to find another dog to try tomorrow when the bear calmed down.

    However, the director didn¡¯t intend to give up. Previously, he had worried that the bear wasn¡¯t wild enough for the effect that he wanted. The angered ck bear was what he wished for.

    ¡°Go on!¡± the director announced, ¡°Bring another dog!¡±

    ¡°Which one, sir?¡± the staff asked.

    The director¡¯s eyes nced at the row of German Shepherds. ¡°Which one¡­¡±

    ¡°Woof!¡±

    Famous barked suddenly because that the odds were against the rest of the dogs, who might be injured or killed by the bear.

    The director said thoughtfully, ¡°Ah? Is this the newly-arrived dog, 13? I heard that this dog is somewhat capable, and I want to keep it for a crucial moment, but since it¡¯s so active, let it try now.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m at your service at any time.¡± Roger didn¡¯t want to let Famous fight this fierce ck bear, in fear that he¡¯d be dismissed from the studio if Famous was injured. Since the director had requested, Roger had to pull out Famous.

    Famous stood steadily in front of the ck bear¡¯s cage. Instead of barking or running away, it just calmly watched the ck bear.

    The director found Famous¡¯s performance impressive. He pped. ¡°Good boy! So courageous! Let 13 do this scene! Get ready to shoot!¡±

    Famous and the ck bear were brought to the temporarily-built enclosure in the woods to ensure the safety of the staff members.

    When the director issued the order, the ck bear¡¯s leash was released. The infuriated bear immediately snarled and rushed toward Famous. Famous could be wounded or killed by the bear.

    In this scene, Famous didn¡¯t need to defeat the ck bear, it just needed to make the bear retreat. Famous relied on its flexibility and deceptive movements to dodge the bear¡¯s attacks. Meanwhile, it was barking constantly to intimidate the bear. asionally, Famous kicked up dust and pebbles to blur the bear¡¯s vision.

    The bear¡¯s fury and physical strength faded away gradually. Not only had it not caused harm to the clever dog, but it also might lose this fight, so it turned around and withdrew.

    ¡°Wow, this dog is awesome!¡± The director apuded excitedly. This scene, which would have been so difficult to shoot, had been done in one take, to everyone¡¯s surprise.

    ¡°How awesome could it be? It¡¯s nothing more than a stunt double, if my dog was in this scene, it would¡¯ve done a better job than this stunt double,¡± Duncan, sitting on the sidelines to watch the battle, said disdainfully. His dog was lying beside his feet, and for some reason, it seemed lifeless.

    ¡°Yes, Mr. Duncan. You¡¯re right!¡± The director knew his own words were inappropriate, so he quickly smiled. ¡°Mr. Duncan, after the ck bear is driven away, the next shot is the dog who ys the protagonist and the little boy hugging. Should this shot be¡­ ¡±

    Duncan proudly stood up. ¡°Of course, this shot should be yed by my dog, no other dog can outperform it in showing this kind of delicate emotion. Come on, buddy, it¡¯s our turn to y.¡±

    His dog stood up tremblingly. The dog walked only a few steps and then fell to the ground feebly.

    ¡°Doctor! Where¡¯s the doctor? Bring the doctor over!¡± Duncan freaked out and pushed his dog. His dog struggled for a few times to stand up, but couldn¡¯t.

    The director was also panicked. ¡°Go get the doctor! Go get Mr. Charles! Go get the boss!¡±

    The studio suddenly became chaotic.

    The doctor hadn¡¯t arrived yet. As a former soldier, Duncan was strong enough to bring his dog into his car. He stepped hard on the gas pedal and rushed towards the hospital.

    In the midst of chaos, Famous watched everything, its memory was recovering.

    Even though Duncan arrived at the hospital in time, his effort was futile. The veterinary science in this era was very basic and there was no way to find out why the dog was sick. The doctors tried everything, but it was useless.

    Famous closed its eyes.

    The people and things around Famous appeared and then disappeared rapidly, like a movie in fast-forward.

    Famous opened its eyes and it was at a different location. Famous was in its own Imagined Landscape, the master of its own world.

    Famous had once again returned to Charles¡¯s luxurious office, except that this time, Roger wasn¡¯t there.

    Apart from Famous, only Charles and Duncan were in the office, frowning and sighing as if doomsday had arrived.

    ¡°It¡¯s over.¡± Duncan shook his head. ¡°Everything is over.¡±

    He stood up and walked outward staggeringly.

    ¡°Wait!¡± Charles jumped up to grab Duncan by his shoulders. ¡°It¡¯s over? Don¡¯t be silly! How can it end like this? You can choose to leave now, but how about the money of the investors? How do I exin this to the boss? ¡±

    ¡°Do you think I want to quit? What else can I do?¡± Duncan had already burst into tears. The big man was covering his face and crying aloud, ¡°It has gone forever ¡­ There is no other dog in this world that has its superb acting skills¡­¡±

    ¡°Well ¡­ I don¡¯t think so,¡± said Charles meaningfully.

    Duncan felt offended and said angrily, ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Since his dog¡¯s passing, Duncan felt that Charles¡¯s attitude towards him had subtly changed. Charles was less respectful of him and was asionally arrogant. Duncan found it difficult to ept this shift in attitude. Duncan had forgotten one thing, in this building, dogs were more valuable than humans, including Charles and himself.

    Charles pointed to Famous, who was sitting beside him. ¡°Don¡¯t you think 13 looks pretty much like your dog?¡±

    ¡°It does. So what?¡± Duncan said in a very angry tone.

    Charles said slowly, ¡°13 is a lot like your dog, and ording to the director, its acting skills are also excellent, so I have an idea.¡±

    Duncan was not a fool. He had guessed what Charles wanted to say. ¡°You ¡­ you ¡­¡± He pointed at Charles incredulously.

    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that. I have no other choice.¡± Charles shook his head. ¡°Mr. Duncan, this is an issue of expediency, but it can reduce the loss for both of us. If we are talking about human actors, there will be many potential troubles, but 13 is just a dog and it¡¯ll never reveal this matter. Only you and I know about this. As long as we keep our mouths shut, who¡¯d find out?¡±

    Duncan¡¯s facial expressions kept changing, and it was obvious that there was a fierce struggle taking ce in his mind.

    Charles further advised, ¡°Mr. Duncan, you see, this is a very simple matter without any risk. Have you already earned enough money? I heard that you recently bought a piece ofnd, which is currently being constructed into a vi. Do you still have enough money to spend?¡±

    His tone was gentle, but threatening. If this matter couldn¡¯t be properly solved, not only would Charles lose his senior executive position, but the prospects of thepany, which had just been on the right track, would be gloomy.

    Like all the upstarts in the United States, Duncan didn¡¯t know how to save money, nor did he have ns to. He had never imagined that his dog would have a sudden ident. He had spent all his money, including the advance payment for the movie, on his vi and luxury goods. Such a lifestyle would have been fine because once the movie waspleted, there would be tons of opportunities for him to make money with his dog. Who could have expected that his dog would die so abruptly?

    Duncan felt a sense of loss. It wasn¡¯t until then did he realize that everything he had gained was merely because he was fortunate enough to pick up a dog on the battlefield. He was nothing without the dog.

    Thinking of this, he slumped on the couch and said faintly, ¡°Mr. Charles, tell me. What are you going to do?¡±

    Charles was relieved to see that Duncan was willing to cooperate because Duncan would y an indispensable role in this scheme. Duncan had always been together with his dog. No one would doubt the authenticity of the dog if it was seen around Duncan.

    ¡°13 looks much like your dog, so we don¡¯t have to worry about its appearance. The key is to develop its habits to make it behave simrly to your dog,¡± Charles said, pping several times.

    Suddenly, Famous thought it was Zhang Zian who was pping. If it were in his pet shop, then four Abyssinian cats would have appeared and started to dance. However, in this office, it was a polite chef who had appeared. He pushed a diner cart and respectfully ced the carefully prepared fried steak with onions on the table, poured the mellow wine into the ss, and exited the office silently.

    Charles walked towards Famous, bowed in front of it, and said with a smile, ¡°Big star, your lunch is ready. Please, enjoy.¡±

    Duncan looked at this funny and absurd scene. He waspletely confused.

    Famous did not move, so Charles secretly gestured at Duncan, indicating that he shoulde over too.

    Duncan bit the bullet and feigned a smile. He said to Famous in a gentle tone as if he were talking to his lover or children, ¡°Come, dear,e eat your lunch.¡±

    If Famous was a person, its whole body would surely be covered with goosebumps.

    Famous had decided not to escape anymore. No matter what might happen, Famous would courageously cooperate with these two clowns and perform in this Human Comedy until the end.

    After all, Famous was the star of today.

    Hence, it jumped onto the dining chair and started enjoying its lunch.

    The medium-well steak was sulent and delicious. The top-notch red wine was sweet and refreshing. Strangely enough, what Famous missed more was the stewed beef with potatoes and the Red Star Erguotou in the pet shop. Although the beef was just an ordinary item purchased from the supermarket, the potatoes were too hard for it to chew sometimes, and the Erguotou made it feel like its throat was burnt by fire, Famous felt that the food in the pet shop was more delicious than the food here.

    Famous seemed to have understood that it wasn¡¯t the food that it cared about. What mattered to it most was whom it ate the food with.

    The pet shop was shabby, but it had something that this office would never have.

    Famous finished the steak and red wine, the broli and mushrooms, leaving only the onions.

    Charles stroked the mustache on his upper lip and said to Duncan with a smile, ¡°It seems that our star has changed its taste and does not like eating onions.¡±

    ¡°Then tell our chef to use a different recipe next time, and not to put onions in the dish.¡± Duncan said indignantly. He had be more skillful in ying his role.

    Charles echoed him, ¡°Yes, all the requirements of our star should be met for the sake of filming this movie.¡±

    Famous wanted tough and cry at the same time. These two individuals had delivered Oscar-winning performances.

    ¡°Put that thing on our star! It¡¯ll look more handsome wearing that!¡± Charles winked at Duncan, who painfully pulled out a glittering diamond ne from his pocket.

    Duncan reached over to untie the leather cor on Famous¡¯s neck to put the diamond ne on it. As soon as his hand touched the leather cor, Famous barked violently.

    ¡°Don¡¯t touch it!¡±

    Duncan was shocked. With his hand shaking, the diamond ne fell to the ground. The string was broken, and dozens of bright diamonds ttered onto the entire carpet.

    Famous eased up its tone. ¡°Don¡¯t touch it. You don¡¯t deserve to touch this.¡±

    Famous knew that in the real history, they must have put that diamond ne on its neck and it was disguised as another dog. However, in its Imagined Landscape, Famous hoped to remain true to itself.

    Nevertheless, Charles had misunderstood Famous¡¯s intention. He presumptuously pointed to his nose, thinking that Famous had smelled the scent of another dog on the ne, so it didn¡¯t want to wear it.

    ¡°It seems that our star loves new things and hates old items,¡± Charles said with a smile.

    Duncan knew what he meant and immediately picked up the topic, ¡°The style of this ne is too old, and the diamonds are not pure enough, not to mention that this ne is not exquisite enough for our big star. I¡¯ll call the manufacture in Switzend immediately and order a new ne for our star.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Charles nodded. He added as if he had suddenly remembered something, ¡°The exclusive car for our star has been driven for a year. It¡¯s time for a new car. I¡¯ll immediately inform the Fordpany.¡±

    ¡°Also,¡± Duncan frowned, lowering his voice, ¡°What about that guy? What¡¯s his name? Roger or R?hm? If he wants his dog back¡­¡±

    Charlesughed with determination, ¡°Thepany expresses its deepest regret for the idental death of his dog during the filming process. Although it¡¯s only an insignificant stunt double, thepany will still grant him a sum of pension out of morality, and then the corpse of the dog will be given to him for burial. ¡±

    Duncan opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he held back his tongue.

    Famous didn¡¯t listen to them. Its eyes were drawn to the starry diamonds on the carpet.

    Each diamond was reflecting Famous¡¯s images, who had yed diverse characters in numerous movies.

    Famous suddenlyughed and roared towards the sky, ¡°s! I finally know who I am today!¡±

 Chapter 508: The One Who Experienced Metempsychosis in the Imagined Landscape

    <h4>Chapter 508: The One Who Experienced Metempsychosis in the Imagined Landscape</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Famous?

    ¡°Famous, are you inside?¡±

    Numerous angr diamonds gradually blurred, and when they became clear again, they had turned into countless teardrop shaped drops of water on the mirror. Zhang Zian knocked on the door to the bathroom and kept calling Famous¡¯s name.

    Famous was summoned back to reality. It suddenly came back. It had almost lost itself in its maze of memory again. Having sessfully yed certain roles in movies, Famous had won the audience¡¯s heartfelt affection and felt a great sense of aplishment. Famous was obsessed and enjoyed such a feeling. Since Famous had to y so many fictional characters in movies and be another dog in real life, it had gradually lost itself, forgetting its identity, and why it even existed.

    ¡°Coming!¡± Famous cried, looking at itself in the mirror for thest time. In that moment Famous thought that it was looking at a different dog. It shivered. Maybe to other people, that dog was a superstar, but that dog was a nightmare to Famous.

    ¡°Famous, are you okay? You¡¯ve been in the bathroom for a long time, and the second half of the movie is beginning immediately,¡± said Zhang Zian with concern from outside the door.

    After a moment of turmoil, Famous calmed itself down. It had already gotten its memory back and decided not to run away. Famous smiled at itself in the mirror and said softly, ¡°Goodbye, brother.¡±

    The dog in the mirror also smiled at Famous and said clearly, ¡°Goodbye.¡±

    The longsting nightmare that had been haunting Famous finally ended.

    Famous jumped off the sink and opened the bathroom door. Water drops were still on its head and neck.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, I just washed my face,¡± it exined lightly.

    Since Famous was safe and sound, Zhang Zian smiled sheepishly. ¡°I know. But just now, I suddenly felt a little flustered, as if you had gone some ce far away. This feeling was quite strange. If I didn¡¯te to see if you were safe, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to ease my mind.¡±

    Famous was silent for a few seconds and denied it. ¡°No, I¡¯ve been here the entire time. I never left. I just¡­couldn¡¯t find a towel after washing my face.¡±

    ¡°Oh, it doesn¡¯t look like there is a towel in here. You can use the hand dryer. Would you like to dry your fur under the dryer?¡± said Zhang Zian, pointing to it in the bathroom.

    Famous shook its head. ¡°No, I¡¯m fine.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid of catching a cold?¡± Zhang Zian still felt it would be safer for Famous to blow dry its fur now that winter had arrived.

    Famous ran to the leather sofa, and answered without turning its head. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. We¡¯re staying indoors for a while to see the second half of the movie anyways.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at the bathroom again and closed the door.

    As Famous and Zhang Zian returned to their seats one after another, Richard fluttered its wings and cried, ¡°Told you! It was only sh*ting in the bathroom, where else could it have went? And you insisted on checking it out! Did you want to watch? You¡¯re so perverted!¡±

    Damn it! You b*tchy bird! I don¡¯t have a rope with me today, but I¡¯ll hang you when we get back to the pet shop, thought Zhang Zian.

    Fina also said scornfully, ¡°Even though you¡¯re a man, you¡¯re even more foolishly sentimental than a woman is.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, if he wants to be a woman, I can help him there.¡± Snowy Li evilly looked at Zhang Zian¡¯s pants.

    Just when Zhang Zian was about to sternly stop their crazy ideas, the lights in the screening room were dimmed, and the second half of the movie began. The elves all stared at the screen attentively. Now, nobody would listen to whatever he was going to say. He had no choice but to bite his tongue, sit on the sofa, and wait for the second half of the movie to finish. Famous also jumped into its seat andid down quietly. The leather sofa was soft and expensive, but was iparable to the sofa in that luxurious office.

    As a prelude to the main plot, the first half of the movie had moved slowly. But when the second half of the movie began with a military vehicle carrying a troop of armed policemen and police dogs towards the wild western border of China, the atmosphere and scores suddenly changed. The plot finally reached its climax. When the border guards were trapped in the snowy teau with a scarce amount food, and had no way tomunicate with the outside world outside of dispatching the police dogs to trek through the snow for aid, even the elves in the cinema felt the tension of the movie.

    The police dogs ran through the wilderness covered in snow and ice. Famous was in the front, while Red Dragon and Prince were running behind it on its left and right side. The three dogs formed the shape of an arrow. The sun was half set and crimson. It was sinking below the horizon on the western teau. Darkness and despair were about to cover everything.

    The camera zoomed in on the three police dogs, and even the reflection of the sunset could be seen in their eyes. Through this scene, the audience could clearly feel the firmness and perseverance in Famous¡¯s eyes, while the look in the eyes of the other two police dogs were rather ordinary.

    Later, the tension overwhelmed the audience in the scenes where the police dogs had to cross the dangerous minefield and then were ambushed by the lethal Tibetan Mastiffs.

    Time always passed very quickly when watching a good movie.

    The police dogs finally arrived at the headquarters of the garrison. After giving the precious help letters from the trapped police officers to the sentinels, the police dogs copsed onto the ground. The trapped police officers were rescued in time. The police dogs received the highest level of recognition at the assembly hall. First ss Merit was given to the police dogs collectively, while Lightning, the police dog yed by Famous, also received Second ss Merit individually.

    Three police dogs sat side by side on the stage. The moment the camera light shed to take pictures of the dogs, the movie ended. A lot of behind the scene footage, along with the closing credits continued to y on the screen. The lights were still dimmed, and the elves were enjoying all of the funny bloopers.

    Famous was also still watching the screen, looking for its own name. However, Famous didn¡¯t see its name in the closing credits. It was silently dejected. It looked at Zhang Zian and said, ¡°The director said that our names would be in the closing credits.¡±

    Zhang Zian responded to its gaze and nodded. ¡°He did.¡±

    ¡°But no, neither of our names were on the screen,¡± Famous pointed out.

    ¡°Because I asked Director Feng not to put your name there, at least for now,¡± Zhang Zian exined calmly. ¡°There is still a while before the film is officially released. I want to wait for you to recover your memory, then we can put your real name in the credits.¡±

    Famous murmured, ¡°My real name¡­¡±

    ¡°I know that ¡®Famous¡¯ is the name that you have given yourself temporarily. But you want your real name to appear in front of a national audience, don¡¯t you? So, I asked Director Feng to wait, and he agreed. In any case, the film needs to go through several stages, like post production, reviewing, and scheduling before its release. You don¡¯t need to worry. You¡¯ll have enough time to remember your real name.¡±

    Famous lowered its head and said in a deep, husky voice, ¡°Famous, or any other name, is just a term to address me. It doesn¡¯t matter which of my names actually appears on screen.¡±

    ¡°No! It does matter!¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s sounded especially serious. ¡°This is the movie you¡¯ve yed in. I was practically useless at the studio, but you were different. I know that you¡¯ve been performing diligently on the set withoutint and have even risked your own life. Although I have limited abilities to appreciate the arts, it seems to me that this is a great movie that will not only be likely to seed in the box office, but is also carrying a heavy social responsibility. It¡¯s a movie that can be a ssic. You, the star of the film, have the right to leave your name¡ªyour real name¡ªin the history of film.¡±

    ¡°My real name¡­my real name¡­¡± Famous was incredibly emotional by that point. It had worked in many films. However, in the closing credits of those movies, it was always the name of the other dog that had appeared on the screen. It would be the first time Famous used its own name for a movie.

    Famous¡¯s name had a very important meaning to itself. Names had nothing to do with fame or fortune, but it represented Famous¡¯s very existence. From now on, Famous was no longer one of the eighteen understudies, it was no longer number 13, and it could finally use its real name proudly.

    ¡°Yes, your real name,¡± Zhang Zian asked gently, ¡°Famous, have you remembered your real name?¡±

    Famous raised its head. It was so d that it washed its face before. The water drops would cover up its tears perfectly.

    ¡°I have. My name is Famous,¡± it said, with a lump in its throat.

    Zhang Zian was surprised. Previously, he thought that he had figured out Famous¡¯s real name because there were few well known dogs with excellent acting skills in film history. And among those dogs, there were even fewer German Shepherds. So, it was very easy to guess Famous¡¯s identity. However, when Famous said that its real name was Famous, Zhang Zian could not help but doubt his own intelligence.

    Just as he was about to ask further questions, in the corner of his eye, he noticed that the closing credits on the screen had almost reached the end. He held back his questions and kindly reminded it, ¡°Famous, you should go ahead for the curtain call.¡±

    Famous nodded, jumped off the sofa, and went to the front of the screen. The entire movie finished and the ceiling lights turned back on. Famous bowed deeply in front of everyone. ¡°I am Famous, thank you for watching my movie!¡±

    Although the elves didn¡¯t understand why Famous wanted to emphasize its name, they were impressed by Famous¡¯s excellent performance in the movie, and they all spontaneously gave it a round of apuse. Technically, the elves were either pping their paws or pping their wings. Zhang Zian¡¯s actual pping was the loudest among all of the apuse.

    ¡°Oh! Famous, you¡¯ve done a great job. There¡¯s nothing more I can teach you!¡± yelled Richard.

    Fina nodded reservedly, ¡°You¡¯re really good. In my opinion, your performance haspletely surpassed that of the old woman¡¯s from Cleopatra.¡±

    D*mn! Aren¡¯t you afraid that Elizabeth Taylor fans will send you death threats? Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help butin to himself.

    ¡°Meow! Because I was busy watching your movie, I forgot to eat my snacks! Just y the movie again, okay?¡± Snowy Li said annoyed. It had nned to ignite sparks of love with Fina by sharing snacks from the same food container. Since it had forgotten to eat the snacks, it had missed a great opportunity!

    ¡°Forget it. There are others who will watch the movie in this room this afternoon. If you want to watch it again, wait until the official release date of the movie.¡± Zhang Zian brushed off Snowy Li¡¯s idea.

    ¡°Man! What a bummer!¡± Snowy Li red at him.

    Stroking its whiskers, Old Time Tea smiled and said, ¡°I agree with what everyone has said. Famous, you¡¯re very good at acting. Not only have you brought a fictitious character to life, but you have also preserved the national interests of our country. Although you are rtively unknown right now, you will soon slowly be more popr. I¡¯m looking forward to the day when you¡¯re a big shot locally and abroad.¡±

    ¡°Meow! Famous, your performance was excellent!¡± Gxy looked at Famous with its silver-grey eyes. ¡°And you acting skills will only get increasingly better in the future!¡±

    When all the elves had expressed their thoughts, Zhang Zian stood up from his seat and bowed to Famous deeply. ¡°This is the best movie I have ever seen. Thank you, Famous, for letting us have the privilege of watching it.¡±

    Famous gazed at him and said a momentter, ¡°No, it¡¯s me who should thank all of you. Thank you for letting me know who I am again.¡±

    Richard flew over andnded on Famous¡¯s back and said, ¡°Yes, next time you have a new movie to shoot, remember to bring me with you. I also want to be in a movie! After you be a big star, you can ask the crew to obey all of your requests, can¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Meow! I also want to be in a movie, a romance movie with Fina!¡± Snowy Li also rushed over to consult with Famous about the details of filming a movie. The most important thing was how they were to shoot the sex scenes¡­

    Everyone circled around Famous, whom they deeply respected, and kept asking it all kinds of questions. Just when Zhang Zian was about to say that no one would watch sex scenes with cats, his cellphone suddenly rang.

    [Navigation Elfin]: Congrattions! The likability of the Reincarnated Dog has been promoted to the friendly level! Unlocking its real name!

    [Game Tips]: Pet Properties

    [Known As]: Reincarnated Dog

    [Rarity]: Elite/Epic Level

    [Characteristics]: Everything the Reincarnated Dog experiences in its heart is real.

    [Unlock Origin]:

    It was an ordinary German Shepherd that had no name and its family background was a mystery. identally, it was selected as one of the eighteen understudies of Rin Tin Tin, a big star in film history. Because of its incredible talent and its simr looks to Rin Tin Tin, this dog reced Rin Tin Tin in shooting most of the thrilling and popr scenes, including but not limited to fighting against the dangerous ck bears and leaping over cliffs.

    Because it was the 13th understudy that had been selected, people called it 13 on the set. However, its real name remained unknown throughout history. 13 not only yed a lot of roles in movies, but it even sessfully yed another dog most of its life. 13 almost became an Oscar winner, which was the highest glory for human filmmakers.

    It had yed countless roles, but it had also lost itself. People thought that the dog they saw on the screen was Rin Tin Tin and gave their apuse and flowers to Rin Tin Tin without hesitation. But actually, it was probably 13 that these people were infatuated with.

    Under the blessing of the Strength of Faith, 13 had be an elfin in this world, possessing the ability to gain insight into the minds of others and to enter the world of Imagined Landscape of other elves.

    [Unlock Real Name]: The Stand-in Dog for Rin Tin Tin!

    Zhang Zian was so shocked that his jaw almost dropped to the ground. It turned out that his guess was wrong. Famous was not Rin Tin Tin, but was one of its understudies. Famous was not Rin Tin Tin, but was even better than Rin Tin Tin¡ªFamous dared to perform the scenes that the other was to afraid to do, and it even yed Rin Tin Tin in real life!

    After a moment¡¯s thought, he finally realized why it was Famous instead of Rin Tin Tin who had turned into an elfin.

    Imagine this: if all the martial arts moves of a movie star were done by his understudy in the movie, who should be the one to receive the praise? The movie star or his understudy?

    He put his phone back in his pocket and looked at Famous who felt embarrassed being surrounded by the other elves. Zhang Zian smiled in silence. He had no intention to take Famous out of the spotlight. When the movie was officially released, Famous would definitely be a big star. It would be surrounded by crowds of reporters and fans, and it would enjoy the troubles also brought by fame. Famous could learn how to deal with those troubles in the future. Fame was what Famous deserved.

    Everyone enjoyed the movie that day very much. As soon as they returned to the pet shop, they began to enthusiastically discuss what movie they should watch the next time.

    Famous sat down next to Zhang Zian¡¯s recliner, watching everyone discuss passionately, feeling more rxed than ever. Although theyout of the pet shop was simple, Famous did not miss that luxurious and spacious office or the materialistic and dissipated Hollywood.

    Famous had finally reached its inner peace, because this pet shop was its home, and these elves and Zhang Zian were its friends and family. Could there be anything morefortable than being with its family?

    Gradually, Famous, who was at ease, fell asleep.

    ¡°Famous, are you tired?¡± Famous opened its eyes and saw Old Time Tea¡¯s friendly smile.

    ¡°No. I just took a nap.¡± Famous shook its head.

    Famous sat side by side with Old Time Tea on the door steps to the Temple for the Righteous Cat and the Chivalrous Dog, looking at the jungle and the intense colors of the setting sun among the mist of dusk.

    ¡°Old Time Tea, please continue telling your story. What did you just talk about?¡± Famous said.

    Old Time Tea tilted its head to look at Famous and smiled, ¡°I was talking about the story of Recing the Prince with a Palm Civet, which was a famous legendary tale that supposedly happened in the Song Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, his Concubine Liu conspired with a eunuch to rece the infant born to Concubine Li with a Skinned Palm Civet cat. Liu ndered Li for giving birth to a monster and Li was banished to the Cold Pce to live in solitude. After the death of Zhenzong, Emperor Renzong came into to power. Justice Bao Zheng handled the wronged fate of Li and cleared her name.¡±

    Famous said emotionally, ¡°I would also like to tell you a story, Old Time Tea. It is also a story about recing something stealthily. But unlike your story, mine will take ce in the United States, which is in the other hemisphere, probably a few yearster. Would you like to hear my story?¡±

    ¡°I have been hoping to hear it,¡± Old Time Tea said, stroking its whiskers. ¡°Famous, before you tell your story, I would like to ask you one question. Your eyes were dull as if covered by dust before, but now, your eyes are as clear and pure as the eyes of a newborn child¡¯s. Is it because you have recovered your memory?¡± Old Time Tea had alertly captured the difference in Famous¡¯ expression.

    Famous alsoughed. Sure enough, Old Time Tea¡¯s sharp eyes would never not notice anything. ¡°Yes, I have. And that¡¯s the story I wanted to tell you.¡±

    Old Time Tea nodded happily, ¡°Well, in that case, let me share with you some words that will benefit both of us. Do good deeds without asking for rewards. And never forget why you embarked on your journey, and that our mission will always be aplished eventually.¡±

    Just as Famous was about to thank Old Time Tea, it heard a soft meowinging from behind it.

 Chapter 509: A Class on Animal Raising

    <h4>Chapter 509: A ss on Animal Raising</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The evening came earlier during the winter. The sun had fallen below the horizon when Zhang Zian woke up from his nap on the recliner.

    There were fewer customers during the weekdays and the pet shop was very quiet. Old Time Tea was watching TV, with the volume turned down low. Lu Yiyun was drawing in the outer area of the shop. Fina was sleeping with a twitching tail. Snowy Li was napping too and mumbling horrifying things in her sleep like, ¡°castrate it and cut it into small pieces and serve it as a cold dish.¡± Even the usually energetic Gxy was asleep. As for Richard¡­ Zhang Zian woke up and realized that the b*tchy bird was still hung upside down on the second floor. Famous was sound asleep next to his recliner. After all, it had been exhausted up until recently, and deserved to take a good rest.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun didn¡¯te in that day. Just like any college student, they were frantically makingst minute efforts to study before their final exams. They would be free after that, as long as they passed all of the exams. Zhang Zian wondered exactly how many subjects they¡¯d be able to pass, especially considering the fact that Wang Qian and Li Kun were addicted to browsing the inte and cultivating their skills¡­

    In the blink of an eye, it was already the end of December. Christmas and New Year¡¯s were both just around the corner. These two holidays should have nothing to do with Zhang Zian, since he was a bachelor, right?

    Wrong! They did have something to do with him!

    A bright idea urred to Zhang Zian. On Christmas Eve and on Christmas, the prices of all the pets and pet supplies in his shop would be temporarily increased by 20%. All of the men in love would be willing to pay any price for their lovers. The men wanted to give them everything they wanted during the holidays. It was a brilliant way to increase the profits of his pet shop and to take advantage of those couples at the same time. He thought this was an excellent approach, so he wanted to share it with someone. He looked around and saw that everyone was still sleeping, and gave up.

    The retired police dog, Zhan Tian, was ??curled up in the corner of the shop. It looked up whenever it heard the slightest sound, as if it needed to be ready to escape at any moment. Zhang Zian nced at it and wondered what he could do to make it feel calmer. Since he had nothing better to do at the time, he sent a message and the consultation fees to Sun Xiaomeng, asking her how to treat animals suffering from PTSD.

    Reluctant as he may be, Zhang Zian knew that he should pay the consultation fees for Sun Xiaomeng. The pets in his shop were more expensive than other pet stores because Zhang Zian had the confidence and knowledge to pick out the right pets for his customers. Hence, the prices of his pets reflected his abundant levels of pet rted knowledge. In the same sense, Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s knowledge shouldn¡¯t be taken for free.

    Sun Xiaomeng thankfully epted the consultation fees and said that the answer was very simple. Research on animal PTSD in China had just started, and there weren¡¯t many medicines suitable for animals. However, another treatment method was simply exercising with their owners. For both humans and animals, exercise was the best mind soothing medicine. While exercising, animals could rebuild their dependence and trust in human beings.

    Exercise¡­ Zhang Zian stared at his phone and considered it. In this case, hide and seek would be considered a type of exercise. He had chose to y hide and seek with Gxy before, which was in line with the treatment of PTSD. While ying, Gxy had rebuilt its reliance and trust in human beings, and then unlocked its real name. Zhang Zian was so lucky!

    The room grew colder as the sun went down. If Zhang Zian kept lying on the recliner, he might catch a cold. He rubbed his tired eyes and set aside the breeding manual that Kathy had left. He was quite energetic around noon, but he became drowsy after looking over the pedigree graph. It was as incredibly dense and he unawarely started falling asleep.

    He turned up the heater, stretched, and stood up from the recliner. Then he headed outside for some fresh air. When he pushed open the door, the cold air filled the the room. Lu Yiyun looked up at him, then bent back down to continue sketching. Jasmine was lying on herp, providing warmth to her like a heating pad.

    It¡¯s wasn¡¯t rush hour yet and there were only a few pedestrians and vehicles on the street. Several students carrying backpacks had left school early and were speedily passing by the front of his shop.

    The clothes Zhang Zian had on were thin. As he shivered in the cold wind, his drowsiness vanished instantly. Just as he was about to go back into his shop and warm himself up, he heard a snappy voice shout, ¡°Wow! It¡¯s Mr. Store Manager! Long time no see!¡± He looked back. As it turned out, the voice belonged to Little Celery.

    Little Celery was wearing an orange down jacket, and under the setting sun, her face was rosy. She looked at Zhang Zian with surprise and greeted him from a distance.

    ¡°Little Celery, long time no see.¡± He waved his hand at her with a smile. ¡°Are sses over?¡±

    Little Celery was walking home with another young girl. Walking hand in hand, it seemed like they were close friends.

    That short-haired girl was wearing a pair of sses. Lips pressed tightly together, she seemed like a serious model student. Somehow, this little girl reminded Zhang Zian of Sun Xiaomeng. It was probably because they both had the unexinable temperament of a dedicated student.

    Little Celery grabbed the girl and ran towards Zhang Zian. The girl suspiciously and attentively watched Zhang Zian, as if he were a dangerous stranger. To be honest, Zhang Zian was quite offended by her expression.

    ¡°Good evening, Mr. Store Manager!¡± Little Celery stopped in front of the pet shop and greeted Zhang Zian. It had been a while since theyst saw each other and yet she was just as vibrant and lively as before.

    ¡°Good evening, Little Celery. Is this your ssmate?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Um, she¡¯s a new transfer student at our school. Her name¡¯s Wang Yaning. She¡¯s an excellent student and she¡¯s already be our ss biology representative! It happened as soon as she transferred!¡± said Little Celery speaking quickly. Her voice was brisk.

    ¡°Hi, Wang Yaning. My name is Zhang Zian, and I¡¯m the owner of this pet shop.¡± Zhang Zian tried to act friendly towards her.

    Wang Yaning, a child, pushed up her sses and seriously asked him, ¡°Do you have Lolitaplex?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely not!¡± Zhang Zian was shocked by her bold question. He wondered where this bright student had heard of such a term at her young age.

    ¡°Sure. I don¡¯t believe you,¡± said Wang Yaning coldly. ¡°I¡¯ll be watching you. And I¡¯ll call the police immediately if I see you doing anything inappropriate.¡± She took a cell phone from out of her pocket. She had already dialed the three numbers of 911 and all she needed to do now was to press the ¡°call¡± button.

    This little girl¡¯s threat intimated Zhang Zian.

    Little Celery winked. She was also still confused, so she asked, ¡°What is Lolitaplex?¡±

    ¡°Little Celery, that you don¡¯t need to know.¡± Zhang Zian quickly changed the topic. ¡°Are you passing by my shop on your way home?¡±

    The innocent Little Celery was indeed na?ve. Having already forgotten the question she just asked, she said with her two pigtails moving in the wind, ¡°No, I brought Yaning here on purpose today.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? Well, let¡¯s go inside and talk since it¡¯s so cold outside.¡± Zhang Zian pointed to his shop and tried to stay away from Wang Yaning as much as possible. She was like a ticking time bomb to him.

    ¡°Great! Come on, Yaning, I¡¯ll introduce you to Xiao Ling and Er Duo!¡± Little Celery pulled Wang Yaning through the door and entered the shop.

    Wang Yaning hesitated at first. But as soon she saw Lu Yiyun, who was silently drawing behind the cash register, she calmed down a bit, and walked alertly behind Little Celery.

    After the two little girls entered his shop, Zhang Zian looked around self-consciously, praying that no one took Wang Yaning¡¯s words seriously. Otherwise, his reputation as a good man would be ruined. Fortunately, there were only a few people still on the road close by.

    Despite being misunderstood by Wang Yaning, on the other hand, it was actually a good thing that she was that way. Little Celery was too na?ve and the people in society were overlyplicated. Zhang Zian was worried about her getting cheated. Apanied by the extremely watchful Wang Yaning, Little Celery would be much safer.

    He followed them into the shop. After saying hello to Lu Yiyun, Little Celery went into the inner area of the store. In front of the hamster and the lop-eared rabbit showcases, Little Celery was talking excitedly to Wang Yaning.

    When Zhang Zian had gone to shoot the movie at Binhai Studio, he had to to leave the shop early every morning, and Little Celery was only able to meet Lu Yiyun. With her cheerful and outgoing personality, Little Celery slowly became very close to Lu Yiyun.

    No matter how vignt she was, Wang Yaning was still just a little girl. It was the first time she had ever visited this store. She opened her mouth in surprise when she first saw the kittens that were chasing each other around, and the puppies with big shiny eyes in the disy cases. Without thinking, she¡¯d put down her phone. She was enchanted by the pet shop.

    Little Celery introduced her to the hamster and the lop-eared rabbit, telling her how lovely they were and how they could talk.

    As their ss biology representative and as a good student, Wang Yaning certainly did not believe that the hamster and the rabbit could talk. But she was smart enough not to challenge her friend and just listened quietly.

    Zhang Zian was squatting beside the electric heater to warm his hands without interrupting their conversation. He walked slowly towards them until Little Celery waved him over. Wang Yaning¡¯s stare was as sharp as a knife. Zhang Zian stopped automatically when he reached a safe distance from her. He asked, ¡°What happened, Little Celery?¡±

    Little Celery joyfully said, ¡°Mr. Store Manager, our ssmates would like to keep some of the hamsters and rabbits!¡±

    ¡°Hamsters and rabbits? Why?¡± Zhang Zian asked, confused.

    ¡°Um¡­um¡­¡± Little Celery blushed and couldn¡¯t say the reason clearly. She turned to her friend Wang Yaning for help. ¡°Yaning, please tell him!¡±

    Wang Yaning cleared her throat and seriously said, ¡°ording to the overall nning of the Municipal Board of Education, our school is going to experimentally set up a hobby club of animal breeding and a ss on animal raising next semester. We are currently seeking student and parent opinions to see what kind of animals everyone wants to get. Some people said that we should keep chicken and ducks, while others said that we should raise dogs and cats, and ssmate Cai Xiaoqin said that¡­ ¡±

    ¡°Just call me Little Celery! That¡¯s what all my friends call me!¡± Little Celery interrupted.

    Wang Yaning was not used to this and she said, ¡°ssmate Little Celery¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian could not help butugh. He wondered where Wang Yaning had learned to be so professional and meticulous.

    Wang Yaning red at him and continued, ¡°ssmate Little Celery wants to raise hamsters and rabbits, and has strongly rmended your pet shop, so here we are. But it seems that the majority of your pets are cats and dogs, and that you only have one hamster and one rabbit?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s Xiao Ling and Er Duo!¡± Little Celery corrected her.

    Wang Yaning hesitated a moment and then changed her wording. ¡°The only hamster and rabbit you have are Xiao Ling and Er Duo?¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s why you¡¯re here ¡­¡± Zhang Zian understood their intentions. ¡°Although I mostly have cats and dogs, I can get some hamsters and rabbits for you if you want.¡± He didn¡¯t know whether the hamsters and rabbits at the Pets¡¯ Home Breeding Base had been sold out, but he could help them find some if they wanted him to.

    ¡°We haven¡¯t decided what animals to raise, nor will we necessarily buy the pets from you.¡± Wang Yaning stressed, ¡°We¡¯re just here to browse.¡±

    ¡°What do you think we should raise, Mr. Store Manager?¡± Little Celery asked him, hoping that his answer would be hamsters and rabbits.

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment, and then replied just as Little Celery expected. ¡°If those are your options, I suggest you raise hamsters and rabbits.¡± Before he hardly finished speaking, he noticed Fina¡¯s stinging re, but didn¡¯t mind it because he thought it was amusing.

    Little Celery was cheerful about gaining Zhang Zian¡¯s support, but Wang Yaning frowned and asked, ¡°Why?¡±

    Zhang Zian had tried to have a say on the Municipal Board of Education. The policy enacted by the Municipal Board of Education was to encourage children get close to, understand, and love nature, as well as enhance their sense of responsibility in the process of taking care of small animals. However, there was the default knowledge that keeping small animals wouldn¡¯t interfere too much with the children¡¯s studies. Otherwise, the resistance from their parents would be a problem.

    Zhang Zian exined, ¡°There are many reasons. For example, cats and dogs are not suited to be raised by many people. They only listen to the orders from their owners and prefer to be kept at home. There are also security issues.¡±

    There were very few cat owners who had never been scratched by their cats, and dog owners were asionally bitten by their dogs. However, parents would be furious if the publicly owned cats and dogs at school had scratched or wounded their children.

    Little Celery did not understand what he meant, but Wang Yaning seemed to have understood and said, ¡°What about chicken and ducks?¡±

    ¡°Chicken and ducks are also unsuitable because they¡¯re so noisy and will disturb the peace and quiet of the school. Inparison, rabbits have no vocal cords and hamsters only have small voices, so rabbits and hamsters will not irritate the other students or teachers.¡± Zhang Zian asked her instead, ¡°Are you just raising the animals, or will you also help them reproduce?¡±

    ¡°Yes, we will.¡± Wang Yaning nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate us!¡±

    ¡°Well, in that case, you shouldn¡¯t raise chicken or ducks, because they are¡ª¡±

    ¡°Oviparous animals?¡± Wang Yaning chimed in.

    Zhang Zian admired this little girl. She deserved to be the biology representative of her ss. He remembered that when he was in primary school, all he knew was that chicken and ducks were animals thatid eggs. He was so embarrassed.

    ¡°Yes, and oviparous animals are not as convenient as viviparous mammals when ites to reproduction. Do you understand?¡± he asked.

    ¡°I said don¡¯t underestimate me!¡± Wang Yaning frowned. ¡°In fact, I also think we should raise hamsters and rabbits, but I haven¡¯t decided what kinds we should choose.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought that if she kept frowning so frequently, she would have wrinkles on her forehead very soon.

    ¡°In that case, I can give you some advice,¡± he said.

 Chapter 510: Holding A Rabbit

    <h4>Chapter 510: Holding A Rabbit</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Just when Zhang Zian was feeling kind enough to share his knowledge of hamsters to Little Celery and Wang Yaning, Wang Yaning raised her hand and said with a straight face, ¡°You don¡¯t need to tell me. I did my homework before I came here. For example, this hamster is a Winter White hamster, correct?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s called Xiao Ling,¡± Little Celery reminded Wang Yaning again.

    Xiao Ling, or the Winter White hamster, was covered with white fur all over its small and soft body, but also had shallow ck stripes on its back. It was holding corn chips to nibble on. Little Celery was holding it carefully in her hands and gently stroked its soft fur. It was less than ten centimeters in length and looked almost the same size as her hand.

    Zhang Zian was a little surprised. It seemed that Wang Yaning wore sses because of all her hard work. At least she hadn¡¯t be nearsighted from ying too many video games like Yi Le had.

    ¡°Yes, Xiao Ling is indeed a Winter White hamster. This kind of hamster is docile and very suitable for children to raise,¡± he exined.

    Wang Yaning looked at the lop-eared rabbit in the disy cab and said, ¡°I prefer rabbits.¡±

    ¡°Since you like rabbits, would you like to hold it?¡± Zhang Zian suggested. In fact, ever since Wang Yaning entered the pet shop, apart from watching the puppies and kittens, she spent most of her time gazing at the lop-eared rabbit. Like the lop-eared cats, the rabbit¡¯s drooping ears often won the favor of girls more than any other type of rabbit.

    Wang Yaning showed a flicker of interest, but she still shook her head and said, ¡°No need. ¡®It can be only appreciated distantly but not touched greedily!''¡±

    Zhang Zian was reaffirmed that this little girl really was a diligent student who was likely born into a well educated family. At such a young age, Wang Yaning was able to urately quote the famous sayings from the essay On the Love of Lotus.

    Little Celery didn¡¯t care as much as her. She dropped the hamster, picked up the lop-eared rabbit from the disy case and forced it into Wang Yaning arms. ¡°Yaning, just hold it, it¡¯s so soft! Here, hold it!¡±

    Wang Yaning¡¯s tiny face that had always seemed so serious finally revealed a panicked look. She dropped the cell phone that she was holding tightly in her hand, still trying to be ready to call the police if necessary. She took over the rabbit and cupped her hands underneath its belly.

    ¡°How is it? Is it very soft?¡± asked Little Celery expectantly.

    ¡°Soft ¡­ it¡¯s very soft ¡­¡± Wang Yaning felt stiff all over her body, like she was holding a huge marshmallow that could melt any minute.

    Although this was a smaller lop-eared rabbit, it was still muchrger than a hamster and was more difficult for a primary school girl to hold. The lop-eared rabbit seemed to have felt the trembling of her fingers and it too became tense and nervous. Its small head was looking left and right, its body struggling to wriggle away.

    Zhang Zian was afraid that the rabbit would fall and he stepped closer to Wang Yaning and told her, ¡°You¡¯re holding it the wrong way.¡±

    Wang Yaning¡¯s manner as a serious schr hadpletely vanished. She also noticed that the lop-eared rabbit seemed to want to run away from her embrace. Keeping her bnce awkwardly, she asked anxiously, ¡°How should I hold it?¡±

    Zhang Zian gestured at Little Celery with his gaze. ¡°Little Celery, you teach her.¡±

    Little Celery took the lop-eared rabbit from her friend¡¯s hands and said, ¡°You should hold it like you¡¯re holding a baby, or you can hold it this way.¡± She put an arm close to her chest and let the lop-eared rabbit rest on that entire forearm. That way, her arm and her torso formed a solid tform together. She ced her other hand gently on the back of the rabbit and stroked its hair. ¡°Er Duo, don¡¯t be afraid. She¡¯s my good friend and your friend too.¡±

    Little Celery was holding it very firmly, and the lop-eared rabbit slowly calmed down, no longer struggling to escape.

    Wang Yaning was surprised and looked at Little Celery with admiration. The information she had read before didn¡¯t teach her how to hold a rabbit.

    Little Celery smiled and said shyly, ¡°This is the way that Mr. Store Manager taught me. I didn¡¯t know how to hold it at the beginning either and I almost dropped it.¡±

    ¡°Come on, Yaning, you try.¡± Little Celery motioned for her friend to take over the lop-eared rabbit.

    ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t¡­¡± Wang Yaning felt ufortable.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Just copy my method. You¡¯re so smart, you can do this!¡± said Little Celery who forcibly put the lop-eared rabbit into Wang Yaning¡¯s arms.

    This time, Wang Yaning mastered the method of rabbit holding. The lop-eared rabbit was actually quieter than before and allowed Wang Yaning to pet its fur.

    ¡°It¡¯s really soft.¡± Wang Yaning smiled happily. Finally, her facial expression didn¡¯t seem so serious.

    Little Celery was also very happy. ¡°So, should we raise rabbits and hamsters in our ss? The same rabbits and hamsters that look like Er Duo and Xiao Ling.¡±

    Before Wang Yaning had the time to clearly state her opinion, Zhang Zian reminded them, ¡°Little Celery, in fact, this is still a young rabbit. When it bes six months old and reaches its maturity stage, it may not be so gentle and adorable like it is right now. It will sometimes be violent and aggressive. At that age, the rabbits will fight each other and even bite and ruin things. After all, digging holes is in their nature. If you raise rabbits, be sure to prepare for their changes. Otherwise, when your ssmates find that the rabbits are not so docile or cute anymore, they may abuse the rabbits or even abandon them.¡±

    What he did not mention was that the aggressive behavior of rabbits after sexual maturity could be partially improved through sterilization. However, since Little Celery and her ssmates still needed to learn about animal breeding, the rabbits must not be sterilized.

    Little Celery seemed to understand and nodded, and Wang Yaning listened very closely.

    Since he had brought up this topic, Zhang Zian decided to tell them more so that Wang Yaning, this young and brilliant student, would not look down upon him.

    ¡°Do you know the saying ¡®mad as a March hare¡¯? It means that rabbits will be crazy in the early spring and fight for courtship. Although domestic rabbits are not as crazy as wild rabbits in this respect, it is hard to change their nature. Your ss is setting up a ss on animal breeding next semester, so I¡¯d suggest you start raising rabbits next year. That way, you¡¯ll have one full year to get along with the rabbits and understand their habits. If you buy young rabbits to start raising them now, you¡¯ll have to deal with their agitation and restlessness this uing March.¡±

    He changed the topic and said, ¡°Do you know that there is Easter in the West? The rabbit is a symbol of Easter. The adults there say that rabbits hatch from Easter eggs. This of course is nonsense. After all, rabbits are viviparous mammals. However, to make their children happy, adults usually buy bunnies and pretend that the bunnies hatched from the eggs. So, around Easter in April, bunnies in foreign pet shops tend to be particrly popr. But this phenomenon brings up another problem. Many children are not prepared for rabbit rearing. They soon discover that the mature rabbits are very aggressive in the spring. After Easter, the rabbits will experience a particrly high rate of abandonment. If you go for a walk casually in parks or residential areas, you can sometimes catch an abandoned rabbit.¡±

    In addition, it was also likely to see girls abroad dressed as bunnies, wearing tights and fiss on the streets. He certainly could not tell this to the little girls!

 Chapter 511: Purebred and Hybrid

    <h4>Chapter 511: Purebred and Hybrid</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Little Celery and Wang Yaning were mesmerized by the story about the rtionship between rabbits and Easter that Zhang Zian told.

    ¡°Those poor rabbits,¡± Little Celery murmured. She felt very sympathetic to the rabbits who had been abandoned after Easter.

    Zhang Zian echoed her sentiments. ¡°Yes, the rabbits are very unfortunate to be abandoned, so you should make the appropriate mental preparation before raising any pet. Rabbits are also creatures that have emotions, not just plush toys that don¡¯t have feelings. If you raise them well, rabbits can enjoy a long lifetime. After you graduate from primary school, they¡¯ll be kept by your junior schoolmates. Don¡¯t you think there is a great sense of aplishment in doing that?¡±

    Wang Yaning nodded. ¡°So we shouldn¡¯t buy the baby rabbits until the new semester begins, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± said Zhang Zian, pointing to the lop-eared rabbit in her arms. ¡°Er Duo will grow up slowly, and it will also experience a violent period. When that timees, promise me that you won¡¯t be mad at it, Little Celery. Whether it is ill-tempered or gentle, Er Duo is still the same pet.¡±

    Little Celery shook her head, ¡°No, I won¡¯t. Er Duo is my good friend!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s nice,¡± Zhang Zianughed. ¡°I believe you, Little Celery.¡±

    ¡°Yaning will help me take care of it, right Yaning?¡± Little Celery looked at her friend anxiously.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Yaning hesitated a bit, and then nodded to agree.

    ¡°But the school has asked us to put forward a breeding proposal and wants us to try raising some animals. Then, we¡¯re supposed to turn in what we¡¯ve learned from the trial before the beginning of the new semester.¡± Yaning pointed out their dilemma. ¡°The school will then make aprehensive assessment and decide what animals to raise.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡± Zhang Zian thought for a moment. ¡°In that case, I suggest you raise hamsters first. Since they¡¯re both rodents, hamsters and rabbits share certain characteristics. If you want, I can help you get some more of them.¡±

    ¡°No need!¡± Wang Yaning sternly refused. ¡°I heard that pets sold in pet shops are purebred, and purebred animals have poor health conditions and gic diseases. We don¡¯t want purebred animals, we just want to keep the healthy ones!¡±

    What a tempermental girl! thought Zhang Zian.

    Wang Yaning¡¯s voice was sharp and firm. Lu Yiyun, who had just finished drawing a fairly satisfactory illustration in the outer room of the shop,was stretching and briefly heard Wang Yaning speaking. Lu Yiyun held Jasmine and ran into the inner room, and quickly said, ¡°Mr. Store Manager, some customers have also said the same thing before! Theyined how pricy the purebred pets were and about all of their drawbacks.¡±

    Lu Yiyuning in made Little Celery and Wang Yaning nervous. They shouted and asked Lu Yiyun to stay away from them, scared that Jasmine in her arms would harm the hamster or the lop-eared rabbit. Little Celery quickly put the hamster back into the cage and closed its door. There were also a bunch of kittens ying on the floor, but adult cats like Jasmine were especially lethal to rodents, including hamsters.

    However, Jasmine was not interested in the hamster or the lop-eared rabbit. In Fina¡¯s presence, Jasmine did not dare act recklessly.

    Lu Yiyun realized that barging in was too rash. Jasmine usually walked around the pet shop and never caused any trouble, but the two little girls didn¡¯t know that.

    Zhang Zian also quicklyforted them and told them not to panic, because Jasmine would not hurt the hamster or the rabbit.

    When the momentary chaos was over, Lu Yiyun apologized to them seriously, and then repeated what she¡¯d said before.

    Zhang Zian had also heard the sameints many times before. Some people had said that the pets in his pet shop were expensive and that purebred pets had many disadvantages. Under normal circumstances, he would just ignore them. Regardless of the reasoning behind suchints, these customers generally refused to buy anything from his shop, so he didn¡¯t bother wasting his energy by trying to exin to them.

    But since Wang Yaning had brought it up in front of him, he had to provide some rification. Otherwise, these two children would look down upon him. And Lu Yiyun also wanted to know, so that she could better deal with annoying customers.

    ¡°The pros and cons of purebred pets should always be analyzed on a case-by-case basis.¡± Zhang Zian cleared his throat and exined, ¡°There are indeed some purebred pets that are less healthy than hybrid pets, but in most cases, there is no conclusive data that proves that the lifespans of purebred pets are shorted than hybrid pets. On the contrary, because purebred pets are more expensive, people tend to take care of them more carefully, so that they can have a longer life expectancy. As for hamsters¡­¡±

    He deliberately put them in suspense. ¡°Do you think purebred or hybrid hamsters are better? Or are they pretty much the same?¡±

    ¡°Hybrid ones are better!¡± Wang Yaning answered confidently.

    ¡°I think they¡¯re pretty much the same?¡± Lu Yiyun guessed.

    Little Celery simply had no idea what they were talking about.

    ¡°Hamsters are a typical counterexample,¡± Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°Purebred hamsters are healthier than hybrid hamsters. The purer their bloodlines are, the healthier they are.¡±

    ¡°Really? Do you have any evidence to support what you¡¯re saying?¡± Wang Yaning did notpletely believe him. She pushed up her sses and her face was full of doubt, as if Zhang Zian was some sort of greedy store owner who liked to deceive children.

    Zhang Zian had dealt with countless strange customers before, so answering this little girl¡¯s question was a piece of cake. He replied confidently, ¡°Hamsters have the recessive gene of diabetes. The purer the hamsters¡¯ bloodlines are, the lower the disease rates are. And hybrid hamsters have exceptionally high disease rates. Do you know the species Cream Colored Pudding hamsters?¡±

    Little Celery shook her head, but Wang Yaning nodded, ¡°I¡¯ve seen one on the Inte, they¡¯re very cute!¡±

    ¡°Cute as they may be, you¡¯d better not buy a Pudding hamster.¡± Zhang Zian kindly reminded her, ¡°Pudding hamsters look purebred, but most of them are not, and they have a high risk of suffering from diabetes. People often me the diabetes on theirziness andrge appetites, but they¡¯re innocent! In short, if you¡¯re going to raise hamsters at home or in school, it would be better for you to raise ordinary Djungarian hamsters or Winter White hamsters like Xiao Ling. Remember to raise purebred hamsters only.¡±

    Wang Yaning no longer had anything to say.

    Lu Yiyun also secretly remembered the information, as it could be useful for her if she needed to refute customer remarks in the future.

    Little Celery asked worriedly, ¡°Will Xiao Ling have diabetes? Is diabetes life threatening?¡±

    Zhang Zianforted her, ¡°Diabetes is not terrible, but it is a bit troublesome. Xiao Ling is a purebred Winter White hamster, so gically speaking the probability of it contracting diabetes is rtively low. As long as it maintains a healthy and reasonable diet, and exercises diligently, its chances can be further lowered. In fact, its lifespan depends on exercise, which is also true for humans and other animals.¡±

    He nced at Zhan Tian who was lying in the corner.

    ¡°However, even if Xiao Ling unfortunately suffers from diabetes, Little Celery won¡¯t abandon it, right?¡± He asked though he already knew the answer.

    ¡°I will not abandon my friends!¡± said Little Celery, clenching her fists.

    Zhang Zianughed. ¡°That¡¯s good, I believe you, Little Celery. You¡¯ve rarely ever caught a cold, have you? Because you like sports so much and everytime I see you, you¡¯re always running to and from school.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never caught a cold because I like eating celery. My mother says that celery helps keep a cold away!¡± Little Celery chuckled.

 Chapter 512: Dogs Pulling A Sleigh

    <h4>Chapter 512: Dogs Pulling A Sleigh</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian told his suggestions to Little Celery and Wang Yaning. As for their final decision, it wasn¡¯t any of his business. After all, letting children take responsibility for their own actions was a necessary part of growing up.

    Little Celery and Wang Yaning discussed for a bit longer. Little Celery was strongly in favor of Zhang Zian¡¯s advice. In her opinion, Mr. Store Manager understood pets the the best. Wang Yaning couldn¡¯t make any reasonable objections. They finally decided that they were going to tell their school that they would try raising Djungarian hamsters and lop-eared rabbits for their animal raising ss.

    Wang Yaning, as the student representative of biology in her ss, was also responsible for writing up the reasonings for their decision in their report. However, she had gathered enough information from Zhang Zian and was confident that she couldplete a well grounded report.

    After they finished talking, Zhang Zian suddenly remembered something and quickly asked, ¡°Little Celery, when is the anniversary of your school¡¯s founding? I haven¡¯t missed it, have I?¡±

    He¡¯d promised Little Celery that he¡¯d go see her performance at the celebration of the school¡¯s establishment. However, he had been so busy shooting the movietely he¡¯d almost forgotten about his promise. He didn¡¯t want to be the type of person who couldn¡¯t keep promises to children.

    Little Celery was absolutely delighted at the fact that hamsters and lop-eared rabbits were chosen as the breeding animals for their ss. However, after Zhang Zian asked her his question, she visibly became dejected. She whispered, ¡°The celebration will be on December 24th, in the afternoon.¡±

    Huh? It was on Christmas Eve?

    Zhang Zian was relieved. Fortunately, he hadn¡¯t missed it.

    But why was Little Celery so unhappy? Was she having trouble at the rehearsals?

    ¡°Little Celery, what¡¯s wrong? What¡¯s going on?¡± he asked with concern.

    Little Celery lowered her head and remained silent, but Wang Yaning confirmed Zhang Zian¡¯s worries. ¡°I didn¡¯t participate in the program¡¯s rehearsals because I had transferred schools too recently, but I heard that the boys in our ss don¡¯t want to be reindeers.¡±

    ¡°Reindeers? What reindeers?¡± Zhang Zian was confused.

    Wang Ning exined angrily, ¡°It¡¯s Christmas Eve on December 24th, right? So, at the end of the show, reindeers pull Santa us on the sleigh and give away adorable kittens and puppies as Christmas gifts to everyone. But nobody wants to be a reindeer because they have to wear reindeer costumes and pull a sleigh! I think that the boys should take the roles. But they¡¯re all too embarrassed and are scared to perform. Little Celery said that she¡¯s going to be a reindeer! These boys are so awful, they almost made Little Celery cry at the ss meeting!¡±

    This time, it was Zhang Zian¡¯s turn to frown. That kind of physical work should definitely be done by boys. However, their reactions were also understandable, because boys at that age were very self-conscious and were afraid of making a fool of themselves. After they performed as reindeers, other cruel boys would probably make of them and give them mean nicknames. They¡¯d be embarrassed for the rest of primary school.

    For the types of programs that were rehearsed and performed by students, it was inappropriate for adults to participate. If the boys were too scared to perform, there were only female students left to take the roles.

    The idea to put on the Pet Shop in A Fairy Tale came from Little Celery, and she had bravely faced the problem by volunteering to be a reindeer. However, from Wang Yaning¡¯s description, the person who had to be a reindeer would also have to kneel on the ground and pull a sleigh. The sleigh would also have a ssmate ying Santa sitting on it, along with other stage props. Would the tiny Little Celery be able to pull so much weight at once?

    Zhang Zian remembered Yi Le, the boy who still owed him a favor. Should he ask Yi Le to y as a reindeer? No, not a good idea. Yi Le definitely wouldn¡¯t agree to it and Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to force him.

    As he was trying to think of a solution, he felt something gently tug the bottom of his pant leg. He looked down and saw Famous.

    He didn¡¯t know exactly when Famous had woken up, but it was clear that he¡¯d heard Zhang Zian¡¯s and Wang Yaning¡¯s conversation.

    ¡°Zian, ask them if dogs can pull the sleigh.¡± Famous looked up at him with its shiny eyes.

    Dogs pulling the sleigh?

    Zhang Zian understood what it meant immediately.

    Indeed, by tradition, it was reindeers who pulled Santa us¡¯ sleigh. However, for the scene in the Pet Shop in A Fairy Tale, wouldn¡¯t it be more appropriate if dogs were pulling the sleigh? After all, reindeers could almost be considered as a pet.

    Zhang Zian secretly nodded at Famous to support its idea. He said to Little Celery and Wang Yaning, ¡°I have a solution. You can talk it through and see if it will work.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s your solution? Don¡¯t tell me that you want to y a reindeer? No, it doesn¡¯t work that way. This is a student activity that doesn¡¯t allow adults to participate. If you¡¯re in the y, then other parents will also want to help. And then, the purpose of this activity will be ruined.¡± Before Zhang Zian had the time to exin, Wang Yaning was already waving her hands, dismissing his idea.

    Little Celery raised her head curiously. ¡°What solution?¡±

    Zhang Zian pointed at Famous. ¡°How about using dogs instead of reindeers? You know that Eskimos use dogs to pull sleighs, right? In that case, Little Celery, you don¡¯t have to be a reindeer anymore.¡±

    Little Celery and Wang Yaning looked at Famous at the same time. When the big dog approached them, they both felt a little frightened. However, after looking at it closely, they could tell that it was very friendly¡ªunlike other dogs who would growl and sh their sharp teeth at them.

    ¡°Dogs pulling the sleigh?¡± Wang Yaning thought about it. After a quickparison, she realized that using dogs to pull the sleigh was definitely more appropriate, but she continued to be doubtful. ¡°I think that it could be a good idea, but can this dog be obedient? Will it pause and go as bymand?¡±

    ¡°Of course it can.¡± Zhang Zian waspletely confident. Famous was not an ordinary dog. He winked at Famous and then said to Wang Yaning, ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me, just try. See if it will listen to you.¡±

    Wang Yaning clearly didn¡¯t believe him. She worried that even if this dog was trained, it would only listen tomands from its owner. How could it obeymands from anyone else?

    Still, she tested it out. Pointing at the direction of the door, she said, ¡°Go.¡±

    Famous moved straight ahead

    ¡°Stop.¡±

    Famous obediently stopped.

    ¡°That¡¯s amazing!¡± Wang Yaning was astonished. She pushed up her sses that were falling down her nose.

    Zhang Zian smiled, ¡°So, will this solution work?¡±

    Wang Yaning tried again. Whether it was to move forward, backward, or turn around, Famous fulfilled themands perfectly.

    ¡°I think it will.¡± She nodded. ¡°That¡¯s it. Little Celery, we¡¯ll let the teacher know tomorrow. If she agrees, then let¡¯s do it.¡±

    ¡°Will your teacher say no?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Probably not. She doesn¡¯t like to get in the middle of our whole process. I think she¡¯ll only remind us to be safe.¡± Wang Yaning was very confident.

    The dismay on Little Celery¡¯s face was gone. She said happily, ¡°Great! Thank you, Mr. Store Manager!¡±

    Zhang Zian pointed at Famous and said, ¡°This has nothing to do with me. It¡¯s this dog that¡¯s helping you. Little Celery, you should thank it. It¡¯s name is Famous and it¡¯s a German Shepherd.¡±

    Little Celery respectfully bowed down to it. ¡°Thank you, Famous, for your smart thinking.¡±

    A sh of genuine happiness flickered in Famous¡¯ eyes. For it, there was nothing more fulfilling and joyful than helping children.

 Chapter 513: Funny Games

    <h4>Chapter 513: Funny Games</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The very next morning, Zhang Zian woke up, drew the window curtains, and looked outside at the good weather. It was sunny, and the strong winds from yesterday had stopped. It was a nice day for him to go on a walk.

    Last night after Little Celery and Wang Yaning left, Famous had another idea¡ªto let Zhan Tian pull the sleigh with it. This would look much better.

    Zhang Zian thought this was a good idea. Dogs had a profound understanding of humanity, and for such a traumatized dog like Zhan Tian, nothing could be healthier for it than apuse and cheers. People supporting it would significantly help with rebuilding its confidence.

    The only problem was if he would be able to train Zhan Tian enough in these next few days, so that it would listen to all of his orders. After all, Zhan Tian wasn¡¯t an elfin.

    After he finished the cleaning routine in the morning, Uncle Li delivered breakfast for the elves. Inside the insted box were barbecue skewers and fried steak for Famous. Zhang Zian put the fried steak into Famous¡¯ food bowl, and then fetched a half empty bottle of Great Wall dry red wine. He poured Famous a ss of his own.

    Famous watched the red liquid flow into its cup. Its extremely keen sense of smell made it realize that the quality of this wine was no match for the red wine from its imaginedndscape. Still, it licked its tongue into the cup and sipped the wine eagerly.

    Fina opened its eyes slightly and saw Zhang Zian putting on a jacket. It asked unhappily, ¡°Where are you going?¡±

    Zhang Zian pointed to the back of his shop. ¡°The weather is nice today, so I¡¯m nning on bringing Zhan Tian to the green field for training. Did you want toe with us andy in the sun?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m already able toy in the sun from the shop, so why would I want to go out?¡± Fina asked.

    ¡°Because the air outside feels fresh. It¡¯s even better than the air in here.¡± Zhang Zian advised, ¡°It¡¯s boring to stay inside for such a long time. You should go out for a walk, or you¡¯ll start getting fatter from doing nothing but eating and sleeping in the store. ¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Fina was furious. ¡°I¡¯m not getting fatter!¡±

    Old Time Tea was shocked by Zhang Zian¡¯s dangerous remarks, so it quickly chimed in, ¡°The morning time is the best time of the day, and I think it¡¯d be nice for us to go out on a walk. It¡¯ll help us digest our breakfast.¡±

    Fina respected Old Time Tea so it just shut its mouth and angrily stared at Zhang Zian. Besides, Gxy was also looking forward to ying hide and seek in the field.

    As for Snow Li, it had always followed in Fina¡¯s footsteps, and it would follow it wherever it went.

    Needless to say, Richard, who loved energetic outings, would be joining them as well.

    After Lu Yiyun came into work, Zhang Zian told her to give him a call if anything happened, and that he would be back in a matter of minutes to take care of it. Then, he took Zhan Tian and the elves, and exited the pet shop from the back door, heading to the green field.

    The field looked deste. The branches and leaves from the pine and cypress trees were covered in ice and snow. The dead grass wilted on the ground. The wild cats that had been wandering around in the fall were gone. Wang Qian and Li Kun walked all the puppies from the pet shop in this field almost everyday, except when the weather was bad.

    Before leaving, Zhang Zian had dug out an old baseball and a pair of baseball gloves from the storage room. When he was a child, his father would take him to the park to y with himl. When he was a na?ve and stupid teenager, he made a goal to throw a sinking fastball¡ªof course he had never seeded. ying baseball well required both talent and intense training, and he had neither.

    But today, the baseball was not for himself, but to train Zhan Tian.

    He spread a waterproof tarp over the stone bench so Fina and Snowy Li weren¡¯t cold lying down. Old Time Tea jumped to the top of the wall to see if there were any people nearby.

    ¡°Zhan Tian.¡± Zhang Zian took off Zhan Tian¡¯s leash and squatted down. He ced the baseball down in front of it. ¡°Would you like to y fetch with me?¡±

    Zhan Tian stared at the baseball, came closer, and carefully sniffed it. Zhang Zian could tell that it was curious.

    ¡°I¡¯ll throw it, can you bring it back to me?¡± He tossed the baseball in his hand, caught it, tossed it, and caught it again. Zhan Tian nodded along with his movements.

    Zhan Zian¡¯s goal for this game was to rebuild Zhan Tian¡¯s trust and reliance on people.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m going to throw it now.¡± He stretched his wrists out before he made his throw.

    When he threw the ball for the first time, he moved slowly so that Zhan Tian could see clearly what he what he was doing. He only threw the ball a short distance, so it didn¡¯t roll too far away.

    The baseball flew in a beautiful arc across the blue sky. After itnded on the ground, it bounced a few times and rolled forward.

    Zhan Tian was still watching the baseball, hesitant to move.

    Famous barked at Zhan Tian twice. Trying to set an example from its own actions, Famous ran over to pick up the ball and then brought it back to Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t give up or act impatient. He threw the ball again.

    This time, the front leg of Zhan Tian stepped forward a bit, but then it moved it back.

    Famous also had a great deal of patience. Again, it demonstrated for Zhan Tian how to retrieve the ball.

    When the baseball was thrown for the third time, Zhan Tian finally trotted forward, fetched the ball, and brought it back to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Good boy, Zhan Tian!¡± Zhang Zian gently rubbed its head and pulled out some beef jerky from his pocket. He put the beef jerky in his palm and fed it to Zhan Tian.

    He purposely didn¡¯t feed Zhan Tian breakfast before training it this morning.

    Zhan Tian quickly stuck out its tongue and put the beef jerky in its mouth. Now that it understood how the reward system worked, it looked at Zhang Zian expectantly.

    After that, Zhang Zian continued throwing the ball, and each time the distance would get longer and more challenging than the time before. Sometimes the ballnded underneath the stone bench, and sometimes it fell far away in the grass. Zhan Tian learned to ovee certain obstacles before retrieving the ball.

    Every time Zhan Tian returned with the baseball, it would receive praise from Zhang Zian and more of the delicious beef jerky. It became more and more lively and involved in the game.

    Zhang Zian was generous with his praise to Zhan Tian. In the police dog nursing home, he once watched Xiao Yuhong trained Luo Luo, and he was actively imitating her tone and actions. Just like Luo Luo, Zhan Tian had also received basic police dog training, and it was so clever that it had adapted to Zhang Zian¡¯s training methods in no time. No wonder it had once been the best candidate in the dog SWAT team.

    Little Celery¡¯s school anniversary celebration was right around the corner. Zhang Zian had to train Zhan Tian perfectly before it could pull the sleigh alongside Famous in Little Celery¡¯s performance. Gxy looked around and didn¡¯t see the wild cats who yed hide and seek with it before, and it felt a little disappointed.

    ¡°Gxy, do you want to y hide and seek?¡±

    Gxy looked back. It was Famous who asked it the question.

    ¡°Meow! I do!¡± Gxy said happily.

    Famous asked, ¡°Alright, who¡¯s going to be the one hiding?¡±

    Famous had been looking forward to this day for a while. It should have yed hide and seek with Gxy a long time ago.

 Chapter 514: The Plan for the School Founding Anniversary

    <h4>Chapter 514: The n for the School Founding Anniversary</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian had never spent Christmas Eve abroad, but he knew how Christmas Eve worked in China. It was nothing more than a easy profit opportunity for business owners, a suffering day for men¡¯s wallets, and a night when all the hotel rooms were booked. So, when Zhang Zian saw Uncle Li wearing a Christmas hat as he wasing through the entrance of the store, he was astonished.

    Uncle Li noticed Zhang Zian¡¯s strange look and took off his Christmas hat embarrassedly. He exined, ¡°My wife forced me to wear it. She says that it¡¯ll get people¡¯s attention and help sales.¡±

    He nodded. To avoid disrupting the peace between Uncle Li and Aunt Li, he didn¡¯t say anything about it. It was true that wearing a Christmas hat was eye-catching, but it didn¡¯t necessarily guarantee more sales.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you decorate your store? Even I have a stic Christmas tree with lights by the doorway to my little old restaurant.¡± Uncle Li put down the lunch boxes and looked around at Zhang Zian¡¯s store.

    Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°Actually, I was still thinking about decorating my shop for Christmas. But these days I¡¯ve been so busy, I forgot all about it. I woke up this morning and checked the date on my phone and just found out that it was Christmas Eve today.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nice to be busy.¡± Uncle Li nodded. ¡°That shows that your business is doing good.¡±

    The Amazing Fate Pet Shop looked no different than usual, which made it stand out among the strong festive spirits of Christmas. At the end of the day, it was only because Zhang Zian was toozy to put up Christmas decorations. He wasn¡¯t sure if he would have more customers than usuale into his shop on Christmas Eve. The answer was likely not. It was quitemon for parents abroad to buy kittens and puppies for their children as Christmas gifts. But in China, Christmas was a holiday for young men and women. It was rare for anyone to bring cats or dogs with them to their hotel rooms. Zhang Zian was feeling pessimistic about his Christmas sales. He might as well concentrate on collecting more lucky money from red packets in WeChat groups.

    Lu Yiyun, who had been immersing herself in her paintings, finally was taking a break. Sitting behind the checkout counter with her cat Jasmine, she was watching the live broadcast of Snowy on her phone. She smiled warmly as she watched.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun went out for lunch with their ssmates that day, and they woulde back into the shop that afternoon. Because of this, Zhang Zian only ordered two lunch boxes for himself and Lu Yiyun.

    ¡°Yiyun, I¡¯ll need to go out this afternoon. You can get off work early after lunch.¡± He put her lunch box on the cashier¡¯s desk.

    Lu Yiyun absent-mindedly nodded a few times while still staring at her phone screen. Then she realized what he had said. ¡°What? I can get off work at noon?¡± she asked nkly.

    Zhang Zian, carrying his lunch box, exined, ¡°I¡¯m going to help Little Celery in the afternoon. Famous and Zhan Tian are going to help pull the sleigh for her.¡±

    ¡°Then there won¡¯t be anyone watching the shop in the afternoon, right?¡± Lu Yiyun knew that Zhang Zian was going out today. She was there when they discussed the ns the other day.

    ¡°It¡¯s Christmas Eve anyways. I¡¯m sure that no one wants toe buy pets. You can go home early,¡± said Zhang Zian, who was pretending to be generous.

    Lu Yiyun simply shook her head and refused. ¡°No, it would be better for me to stay here. This ce is warmer than my house. If I go home, I¡¯ll need to turn on the heater and it¡¯ll cost me money. The apartment that I¡¯m renting uses electricity that¡¯s formercial purposes.¡±

    The problem is that I¡¯m also usingmercial electricity here! Zhang Zian thought.

    The Amazing Fate Pet Shop was a property for bothmercial and residential usages facing the street. He would be stressed for days every time he paid the electricity and water bills.

    As ast resort, he had to tell Lu Yiyun the truth. ¡°Actually, I¡¯m nning on bringing some kittens and puppies to Little Celery¡¯s school celebration. At the end of her performance, she¡¯ll appear on stage dressed as Santa us riding on a sleigh pulled by the dogs, and she¡¯ll present the kittens and puppies as gifts to her ssmates. Initially, she nned on using her own stuffed animals as gifts. I thought that the performance might not be as good if she used fake stuffed animals, especially considering that many boys might hate them. But real kittens and puppies are different.¡±

    Impressed by his idea, Lu Yiyun praised him. ¡°That¡¯s a brilliant idea! Mr. Store Manager, how¡¯d you think of that? Now, Little Celery¡¯s show is more likely to get a good ranking among all the other programs in the celebration!¡±

    One could only imagine how excited the audience would get when Santa pulled out a bunch of real animals from the big gift bag.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s just a good idea that came to me idently. Besides from being smart, I have no other talents.¡± Though Zhang Zian was acting modestly, he was quite ttered by Lu Yiyun¡¯s appreciation.

    Lu Yiyun was long used to him bragging, but then she asked, ¡°Are you really going to give your puppies and kittens to Little Celery¡¯s ssmates?¡±

    ¡°How would that be possible?¡± Zhang Zian asked, feeling insulted. ¡°Of course I¡¯ll retrieve them after the show is over! How am I supposed to earn money if I give them away for free?¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s answer was just as Lu Yiyun expected. If he really was going to give those puppies and kittens away for free, Lu Yiyun would wonder if the world was ending.

    ¡°But even so, it¡¯ll be a little annoying trying to get them back, right? Mr. Store Manager, you¡¯re a cat trainer, so you can easily order the kittens not to run around. But what about the puppies?¡± Lu Yiyun was asking a reasonable question.

    Since Zhang Zian was nning on closing the store that afternoon, he would be bringing arger number of puppies and kittens to the school, even if it affected his own business. Lu Yiyun imagined that when Santa gave away the kittens and puppies on the stage, they would surely run around, and it would be incredibly difficult to get them all back. If Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t careful enough, he might lose a lot of his pets. If one of his pets got lost, Zhang Zian would have to turn the school upside down trying to find it.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s why I nned on bringing Wang Qian and Li Kun with me, to let them help me from behind the stage.¡± Zhang Zian had already considered this problem.

    Lu Yiyun lowered her head and ate several spoonfuls of rice. On her phone screen, Snowy was frowning and forcing herself to eat some local dish that didn¡¯t look appetizing.

    She hesitated before carefully making her request. ¡°Well, Mr. Store Manager, I¡¯d also like to go with you and see if I can help.¡±

    Lu Yiyun basically spent all of her time either at home or at the pet shop everyday. She hadn¡¯t visited any other ces for a long time. It was Christmas Eve today, so she didn¡¯t have to take any orders and decided to give herself the day off. But what could she actually do on the holiday? The pet shop would be closed in the afternoon, and the live broadcast of Snowy would be ending very soon. For the rest of the day, she would just go home and lie down in her bed, reading aic book or watching TV. The holidays were no different from her usual days.

    But, she¡¯d been trying to change her ways, even for just a little bit. Although there were a lot of interesting ces to go in Binhai City, if she went to those ces by herself, she would only feel lonelier. Since Zhang Zian, Wang Qian, and Li Kun were going to Little Celery¡¯s primary school for the celebration, she wanted to go with them and cure her boredom. She also liked Little Celery a lot, so she figured she might as well go and support the kid.

    Of course, Zhang Zian was d that Lu Yiyun was willing to go with him. With one more person helping him, the probability of him losing his kittens and puppies would be even smaller.

    ¡°You have no other ns today?¡± He wanted to double-check with her.

    ¡°Nope.¡± Lu Yiyun shook her head.

    ¡°Well then, we¡¯ll lock up the doors and head out when Wang Qian and Li Kun arrive!¡±

 Chapter 515: Having a Girlfriend So Soon?

    <h4>Chapter 515: Having a Girlfriend So Soon?</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was eating lunch while sitting on his recliner. He asionally checked on the time.

    Lu Yiyun finished her meal quickly by the cashier¡¯s desk in the outer room. She was really looking forward to this new and exciting trip.

    The Zhonghua Road Primary School that Little Celery attended was actually Zhang Zian¡¯s old school as well. All the kids from that neighborhood went to study there. But he hadn¡¯t visited his primary school since he had graduated, and the campus must look much different than it did in his memory.

    Since his shop was close by the school, he and Lu Yiyun would arrive on time even if they left a little bitter. What he was worried about was the possibility that Wang Qian and Li Kun would drink too much at their party and wouldn¡¯t show up at the shop on time. If that happened, he would have to makest minute ns with Lu Yiyun. They alone couldn¡¯t manage to bring that many kittens and puppies to the school.

    ¡°Let me ask you a question. Why do you think I should go with you?¡± Rxing on the cat tree, Fina peered down at him.

    Zhang Zian wiped his mouth and replied with a prenned answer. ¡°To show off cats¡¯ abilities, of course. Think about it. A lot of people, including students and their family members, will be there at the school celebration.¡±

    He put down the lunch box and used his fingers to demonstrate the numbers. ¡°Nowadays, children are treasured like jewels by their family members. One child will bring at least one parent to their school, and in some cases, kids will even bring all of their family members. Do you know how many people will be there at the school? Don¡¯t you think this is a good chance for you and the other kittens to disy the skillful nature of cats?¡±

    Fina frowned and seriously considered what he was saying.

    He had to get Fina to the school, otherwise the situation there would be too messy. If Fina was there, at least he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about the kittens getting lost.

    ¡°I¡¯m bringing both puppies and kittens to the school. You don¡¯t want to see the dogs steal the spotlight from cats, do you?¡± He knew that Fina was very concerned about the reputation of cats, and he used these possibilities as bait to persuade it.

    Fina epted the bait. It mused, ¡°In that case, it really is a good opportunity. Imagine that, you¡¯re nothing more than an ordinary human, but you¡¯re still considerate of us, the highly acimed cats¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian said shamelessly, ¡°Of course! I¡¯m a selfless man who cares about the world.¡±

    ¡°Bulls**t!¡± Snowy Li spat. Then it said to Fina, ¡°Your Majesty, let me go with you!¡±

    ¡°This is none of your business!¡± Zhang Zian rejected its request. ¡°Just stay here in the pet shop!¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m going! Or I¡¯ll castrate you while you¡¯re asleep!¡± Snowy Li threatened him.

    Richard fluttered its wings and flew onto his shoulder, ¡°Quack! I¡¯m going with you, too!¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what to say for a moment.

    ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s all go together. The school is just walking distance away anyways.¡± He said decisively, ¡°Grandpa Tea and Gxy,e with us.¡±

    ¡°Meow! Isn¡¯t there going to be a lot of people at the primary school?¡± Gxy was ying hide and seek with Wendy. When it heard the conversation between Zhang Zian and Fina, it knew that arge amount of students and parents would be showing up at the anniversary celebration that day.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, we¡¯re considered as staff members since we¡¯re there to provide props. We¡¯ll probably have ess to the back stage. Little Celery and her ssmates are performing thest show in the celebration, so there won¡¯t be as many people backstage by that time,¡± exined Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Meow! Gxy wants to go!¡± said Gxy eagerly.

    When Richard showed up at Binhai University, Old Time Tea followed Zhang Zian and went to the university as well. Sure enough, it wanted to have a look at a primary school this time too. But Old Time Tea had to travel in its invisible state, otherwise its appearance would be even more noticeable than Uncle Li¡¯s Christmas costume.

    While he was making the agreements with the elves, the door to the shop opened. Wang Qian and Li Kun rushed in, one after another, with flushed faces. Apparently, they did drink at the party.

    ¡°Sir we¡¯rete! Please reprimand us!¡±

    ¡°No, you¡¯re not. You¡¯re here just in time. How¡¯d your final exams go?¡± Zhang Zian asked casually, making Old Time Tea invisible.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun cried bitterly, ¡°Sir, please don¡¯t bring up such a sensitive topic! We can only hope that we didn¡¯t fail every subject!¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled, but scolded them, ¡°Of course you flunked your exams, you never focus on studying! Forget it, just help me pack. Wait a minute, are you still sober?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely! The only reason we drank a little alcohol was because our ssmates were encouraging us to drink at the party!¡± They swore to Zhang Zian that they were sober. However, their breaths still smelled like alcohol. Even if they weren¡¯t drunk, they must have drank a decent amount of liquor.

    As long as they could still walk, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t care whether they were drunk or not. He immediately began assigning tasks to them. ¡°Well, Wang Qian, you can go outside to bring in some carriers. Li Kun, you go to that tricycle-renting ce and borrow a tricycle.¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun set out to take care of their responsibilities.

    Lu Yiyun turned off theputer at the cashier desk and helped Wang Qian and Zhang Zian put puppies and kittens into the carriers.

    When Li Kun returned on a tricycle, they worked together to load the cages onto it. After the tricycle was loaded, Li Kun would ride it to the school. Wang Qian was also carrying two carriers in his hands. By principle, Zhang Zian wanted to bring as many puppies and kittens as possible to give the school a more impressive show. Lu Yiyun also brought Jasmine with her to support Zhang Zian¡¯s n.

    Zhang Zian put leashes on Famous and Zhan Tian, who would be the main act. All of the kittens and puppies were merely frosting on the cake.

    For the past several mornings, he had been ying games with Zhan Tian in the green field behind his shop. Zhan Tian had be much closer to him. Despite this, he wasn¡¯t sure if it would still be obedient while pulling the sled. All he could do was cross his fingers and hope for the best.

    When everything was ready, Zhang Zian pulled down the metal shutter and locked the door. On it, he posted a note that read: Dear customers, pleasee back tomorrow. The shop owner has a girlfriend and they¡¯ve headed out on a Christmas Eve date.

    Wang Qian widened his hazy and drunk eyes. He asked, ¡°Sir¡­do you think anyone will actually believe that?¡±

    Li Kun, who was usually very cautious, echoed his concern. ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s right. Sir¡­it would be impossible for you to find a girlfriend. Absolutely impossible!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a bad lie! It only confirms that you don¡¯t have a girlfriend!¡±

    ¡°You think you¡¯re being clever, but you¡¯re only lying to yourself!¡±

    The two of them took turns speaking. Lu Yiyun wanted tough, but didn¡¯t dare do so. She had to turn around and pretend to cough a few times.

    Zhang Zian eximed, ¡°And you told me that you guys didn¡¯t drink that much? This is your f**king alcohol speaking!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true, we didn¡¯t drink that much!¡± said Wang Qian desperately.

    ¡°Yeah and we could only tell you the truth after drinking!¡± Li Kun knew he was in trouble. He tried to defend himself, but he only made himself look worse.

    Zhang Zian remained calm and decided that he should not lower himself to the same level as these two drunkards. He was certain that some customers would believe what he wrote in the note, and that tomorrow, someone would ask him whether his girlfriend was beautiful or not.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go! We¡¯re heading to the Zhonghua Road Primary School!¡± he pointed in its direction confidently.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun praised him at the same time ¡°To our great Master, who has always bullied the weak and feared the tough!¡±

 Chapter 516: The Final Rehearsal

    <h4>Chapter 516: The Final Rehearsal</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The Amazing Fate Pet Shop was located on a street with many other shops and was close to Binhai University. Everyone knew how easy it was to make money from the young college couples. In order to get more customers on Christmas and New Year¡¯s, all the shops had put up a lot of lights and decorations to get people¡¯s attention. Throughout the year, there were only a few days were even the stingiest of men would be sure treat his girlfriend well. Christmas was one of those rare days.

    Many businesses had set up signs in front of their entrances. They yed advertisements outside, repeatedly iming that the business owners were going to have huge discounts. However, Zhang Zian, who lived on the street, looked at the signs and realized that the so-called Christmas prices after the discounts were even higher than usual.

    Today was the weekend. There were many young couples wandering up and down the road,ughing and talking together. The girls either carried shopping bags and looked through different shops, or were carefully eating a bunch of snacks. Their boyfriends were busy trying to make them happy.

    When Zhang Zian and his assistants, along with his dogs and cats, walked onto the street, they drew a lot of attention from the pedestrians.

    As their leader, Li Kun was riding the tricycle and asking the pedestrians to move out of the way. The tricycle was filled with the carriers that held the kittens and puppies. The arrogant Fina walked proudly behind Li Kun. The beautiful and adorable Snowy Li was circling around Fina. Famous and Zhan Tian, the two dogs that were being pulled by Zhang Zian, were tough and strong like honorable guards. Richard, who was hiding in Zhang Zian¡¯s down jacket hood, looked up from time to time. He whistled at the handsome guys that walked by and then hid itself back in the hood. In its invisible state, Old Time Tea was walking with them from the side. Gxy was a meter or two behind them, quietly observing the people walking by.

    They were attracting too much attention on the road. The young couples that were originally minding their own businesses cast curious looks at Zhang Zian and his assistants. Lu Yiyun was so shy that she almost buried her entire face into her scarf trying to hide, and looked down while she walked.

    ¡°Sir, you¡¯re handsome, do you want to buy some flowers?¡±

    As one of the standard signs of Christmas, they inevitably ran into girls selling flowers on the sides of the road. Within just a few hundred meters, Zhang Zian had seen four or five girls enthusiastically selling roses. Li Kun, whose breath still smelled like alcohol, turned them down.

    ¡°Meow! Is anyone selling catnip? I want to give Fina some!¡± Snowy Li yelled decisively. Zhang Zian was ufortable answering it in front of the crowd, so he only gave it a look.

    The more they moved forward, the denser traffic became. It grew more difficult for them to get through. Many cars and electric bikes were taking kids in the same direction. Zhang Zian often had to watch out for vehicles, but he also knew that they were almost there.

    Most children were fascinated by kittens and puppies. Sitting in the back of the bikes, they all turned their heads and stared at the animals. All the kids sitting in cars had their face pressed against the window. Even some parents couldn¡¯t help but look at the pets.

    The entrance to the school hadn¡¯t changed much. The que with the school¡¯s name on it had been exposed to wind and rain for decades, but still looked the same. The only difference was that the electric gate had been reced with an ordinary iron gate. A red banner hung by the entrance and read: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Zhonghua Road Primary School.

    So it was the celebration of their 50th anniversary. No wonder the celebration was sorge and exciting.

    When Zhang Zian attended the primary school, he also went to a celebration of the school¡¯s founding, but the ceremony was very simple then. All off the students gathered in the assembly hall, the principal gave a speech, and the deputy principal added some remarks. Then, the dean agreed with what the two leaders had just said and emphasized a few other points. Afterwards, it was the teachers¡¯ representatives and students¡¯ representatives turn to speak. Various awards were issued, and finally the principal made some conclusions and described the wonderful future the school had ahead of it. Three hourster, when the students were sick of sitting down for so long, the ceremony sessfully concluded with a sense of solidarity and progress.

    Inparison, the children seemed much happier now.

    Since it was the founding celebration that day, Zhonghua Road Primary School was open to the public. However, Zhang Zian was stopped by a security guard at the front entrance. The security guard thought that Zhang Zian was going into the school to set up stands and sell pets, and refused to let him pass no matter what he said.

    More and more students and parents stopped to stare at them. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what to do. Lu Yiyun touched him lightly and pointed in the direction of the campus. He looked up and saw Wang Yaninging out of the school and looking around.

    ¡°Wang Yaning, over here!¡± He waved her over.

    Wang Yaning also saw them. She ran over quickly to exin the situation to the security guard.

    For safety¡¯s sake, the security guard called Wang Yaning and Little Celery¡¯s ss director to verify the situation before letting Zhang Zian into the school.

    ¡°Little Celery and the other students are at the final rehearsal, so I came to pick you up.¡± Wang Yaning simply exined the situation. Looking at the kittens, puppies, and elves that Zhang Zian had brought, she asked, ¡°Why did you bring all of these kittens and puppies with you?¡±

    Zhang Zian suggested, ¡°Let¡¯s go inside to talk. We¡¯re blocking the traffic. Please lead the way. I forgot how to get to the assembly hall.¡±

    Wang Yaning led the way. Zhang Zian told her his idea. After she heard it, Wang Yaning was happily surprised. Her ssmate¡¯s performance would certainly be much better if real kittens and puppies reced the stuffed animals. Now, they would probably get a much better ranking in the school celebration.

    However, she was also worried that since the puppies and kittens had never attended a rehearsal before, they might cause problems during the performance.

    Zhang Zian assured her that these puppies and kittens were all carefully chosen and very obedient.

    ¡°The assembly hall is in front of us, and Little Celery and our ssmates are over there.¡± Wang Yaning pointed to them.

    The grand assembly hall seemed to have been renovated. It was not quite the same as the assembly hall from Zhang Zian¡¯s memory. In the open space next to the assembly hall, students dressed in animal costumes were diligently rehearsing.

    Zhang Zian did not recognize which one was Little Celery at first. After Wang Yaning pointed her out for him, he saw that Little Celery was ying Santa. She was wearing a red, fur-lined Santa costume with a pair of boots. She had white eyebrows and a white beard glued onto her face, and she was sitting on a wooden sleigh with wheels, carrying a huge cloth bag. To be honest, she looked almost exactly like Santa us.

    There were both boys and girls participating in the performance, and at such a young age, their acting skills were certainly notparable to professional actors. However, they were still very serious. No matter who said the wrong line, the others would always correct them together. The students who made the mistakes were also very anxious, and they would practice their lines repeatedly until they had fully remembered them.

    Without any teacher guidance, the students had written the script all on their own. It was a rather immature y, but it was entertaining.

    Zhang Zian remembered that in the film industry, actors would repeatedly count from one to seven on the set, waiting for the voice actors to call for them. Even the actors who yed the protagonists didn¡¯t always say their lines correctly. They would try and defend themselves, saying that they were ¡°improvising.¡±

    Children would always grow up eventually, but Zhang Zian hoped they would keep their innocence for a little longer.

 Chapter 517: When Christmas Comes to Town

    <h4>Chapter 517: When Christmas Comes to Town</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Wang Yaning wanted to call over Little Celery and her ssmates but Zhang Zian stopped them. He didn¡¯t say hi to Little Celery until they paused their rehearsals. ¡°Little Celery! We¡¯re ready to help you!¡±

    Lu Yiyun also smiled and waved at Little Celery. ¡°Little Celery, I¡¯m here to help you with your show!¡±

    Little Celery ran towards them excitedly. Her small face was flushed from the cold weather, but she still was quite energetic.

    Besides Little Celery, another young boy with sses also came up to them. It was Yi Le, who was known for being a brat. In the performance, he would be ying as a customer at the pet shop.

    The other students didn¡¯t know why Zhang Zian was there so they didn¡¯te over. Still, their eyes were glued to Zhang Zian¡¯s pets and elves.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, what are you doing with all of those animals?¡± Little Celery was curious about the kittens and puppies that were on the tricycle.

    Before Zhang Zian had the chance to answer, Wang Yaning told her about Zhang Zian¡¯s new n. Her eyes lit up and Little Celery quickly turned around to get her ssmates to join the conversation.

    Yi Le, who was impressed by Gxy before, was in awe of the kitten¡¯s silver-gray eyes. He was overly cautious in front of Gxy, as if it were the principal of his school.

    ¡°We were going to rehearse the final part of our show, but we stopped to take a break because the dog wasn¡¯t here to pull the sleigh. Should we rehearse our show from the beginning now?¡± Yi Le suggested.

    All the students agreed and went back to rehearsing with much dedication.

    Toply with their rehearsal, Zhang Zian tied Famous and Zhan Tian¡¯s leashes to the sleigh. Just like there was a leading dog in an Eskimos sleigh-pulling team, he deliberately made Famous¡¯s leash a little bit longer than Zhan Tian¡¯s, so that Famous would be in the leading position while pulling the sleigh.

    He wasn¡¯t going to take out the puppies and kittens yet, or else there wouldn¡¯t be any surprises left for the performance.

    He nervously watched Zhan Tian, scared that it might mess up in the performance, and ruin the children¡¯s hard work.

    Fortunately, however, Famous yed the leading dog well and followed Little Celery¡¯s instructions as she sat down in the sleigh. Zhan Tian, who was behind them, only needed to follow Famous¡¯s footsteps.

    The rehearsal was more sessful this time because the kids corrected some of the mistakes they¡¯d made before. In the end, Little Celery¡¯s scene where she entered the stage and got in the sleigh was perfected.

    Before the few people watching could apud, Wang Yaning¡¯s cell phone suddenly rang. She answered the phone and said a few words, then hung up. She said in panic, ¡°That was a call from our teacher. She said that the ss in front of us cancelled their performance. Our ss should be on stage ahead of schedule. Let¡¯s go, everyone!¡±

    The children who were just celebrating their sessful rehearsal immediately got nervous, their faces looking panicked.

    Zhang Zian took on the role of the calm adult andforted them. ¡°Don¡¯t worry! You¡¯ve practiced enough, and all you need to do on stage is perform as you usually do. I know you can do it!¡±

    However, his words weren¡¯t convincing enough because the children still felt anxious.

    ¡°You know what? I¡¯m a professional from the entertainment industry. When I say you can do this, you know I mean it!¡± Zhang Zian knew that what the children needed the most at that moment was confidence. He pulled out his employee card from the Dog Warrior crew and the Binhai Studio pass from his pocket and showed both of them to the kids.

    ¡°See? I¡¯ve worked in a movie shooting crew, and in my opinion, your performance is almost as good as professional actors,¡± he put his hand on his heart to reassure them.

    ¡°Wow! Sir, you¡¯ve really worked in a movie set?¡± A young boy asked in surprise.

    ¡°Of course I have, I¡¯ll show you pictures of me when I was in the crew.¡± Zhang Zian showed them the pictures from his phone.

    A sharp-eyed kid pointed to a group photo with Zhang Zian and Feng Xuan in it. ¡°I¡¯ve seen that person on TV. He¡¯s a really famous director!¡±

    Another kid also pointed to a picture of Famous and Lin Feng. ¡°Isn¡¯t that Lin Feng? My mom is a huge fan of him!¡±

    ¡°Do you believe me now? I¡¯m not lying, your performance is really fantastic. As long as you can bravely face the audience and perform naturally on stage, you can defintely get a good ranking!¡±

    The children became more confident from his motivating words.

    There wan¡¯t much time left. Wang Yaning urged them again to head backstage, before they were counted as absent from the performance.

    Zhang Zian and several other people followed the children into the assembly hall and went backstage. Since they had already put on their costumes, Little Celery and her ssmates had saved themselves the trouble of changing clothes in the dressing room. They went directly behind the curtains and were ready to go on stage.

    The program right before them was over. The moderator, who was also a student, introduced the next program with his childish voice. ¡°The next show is The Pet Shop in a Fairy Tale. Actors, pleasee on stage!¡±

    ¡°Come on, everyone!¡± Zhang Zian whispered to Little Celery and her ssmates as encouragement.

    Several children started to enter the stage. Santa us, yed by Little Celery, wouldn¡¯t appear on stage until thest scene. There was still some time for Zhang Zian to get ready. Following Wang Qian¡¯s actions, Li Kun and Lu Yiyun helped moved the carriers backstage. Little Celery stretched out the cloth bag while Zhang Zian ce the kittens and puppies one by one inside of it. Though it was a bit crowded in the bag, the kittens and puppies only needed to be in there for a short time.

    Since Fina was there, the kittens all closed their mouths tightly without making a sound. The puppies cried out asionally, but their voices werepletely hidden by the actor¡¯s lines, and the audience¡¯sughter and apuse.

    Backstage, there were also a few teachers and administrative staff members who were shocked after seeing Zhang Zian bring in so many animals. Little Celery¡¯s teacher had probably informed them about their ns in advance, and as surprised as they may be, they didn¡¯t say anything or interfere with Zhang Zian¡¯s preparations.

    While putting the animals into the bag, Zhang Zian took some time to observe what was happening on stage. All the children were performing well. It was inevitable for them to get nervous at the beginning, but they gradually got used to the stage, the lights, and the audience. They soon began to do as excellently as they did in rehearsals.

    In front of the stage, almost every seat in the assembly hall was filled. The leaders of the school were sitting in the front row, followed by the teachers, students, and their parents. In the space between the stage and the front row, the young performers who had already finished their performances were sitting on the ground, focused on the watching current y.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, all the pets we brought are here.¡± Lu Yiyun whispered, ¡°Wang Qian and Li Kun went to the main entrance of the assembly hall, and they¡¯ll coordinate with you when it¡¯s time.¡±

    Zhang Zian made a gesture to acknowledge that he had heard her clearly.

    Wang Yaning didn¡¯t participate in the show, but she had watched all the rehearsals, so she was familiar with the entire y. It was almost time for Little Celery to enter the stage, so she reminded her. ¡°Little Celery, get ready, it¡¯s your turn to go on stage.¡±

    Little Celery self-consiously touched the beard and eyebrows that she had glued on by herself, scared that they would suddenly fall off. This was her anxiety thinking.

    ¡°Little Celery,¡± said Zhang Zian.

    She turned around.

    ¡°Do you see who¡¯s here with me?¡± As if performing a magic trick, he brought out two cages from behind him, which held the hamster and the lop-eared rabbit from his pet shop.

    ¡°It¡¯s Xiao Ling and Er Duo!¡± Little Celery was pleasantly surprised. ¡°You brought them with you, Mr. Store Manager!¡±

    ¡°Yes, because they¡¯re your friends, and they secretly told me that they also wanted to see you perform, so I brought them here.¡± Zhang Zianughed, ¡°Don¡¯t you let them down!¡±

    Just then, Richard, who had been hiding in his hood, said in a soft and low voice, ¡°Little Celery, I¡¯m Er Duo. Good luck in your show!¡±

    Hardly before it finished saying that, Richard had said in another voice, ¡°I¡¯m Xiao Ling, and I¡¯m here to cheer for you, Little Celery!¡±

    Little Celery clenched her hands excitedly. ¡°Thank you, Xiao Ling and Er Duo. I¡¯ll try my best!¡±

    Wang Yaning was confused. She clearly saw that Zhang Zian¡¯s mouth wasn¡¯t moving, but there were defintely two childish voicesing from him.Were the hamster and the lop-eared rabbit really talking?

    Before she could understand what was going on, Little Celery pulled the leashes and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Following their order, Famous and Zhan Tian immediately got up and moved. With Little Celery and a dozen puppies and kittens on the sleigh, it was difficult for Famous and Zhan Tian to pull all their weight. Their leashes were instantly stretched straight. Still, they managed to pull the sleigh and sessfully enter the stage.

    When they saw the two German Shepherds pull the sleigh ande on the stage, the audience, including the school leaders, immediately eximed in surprise. At the same time, they grew worried that the German Shepherds might bite the children.

    Their worries were for nothing, because Famous and Zhan Tian behaved very obediently and showed no signs of hurting anyone.

    Zhan Tian was a bit scared of the stage lights. Fortunately, Zhang Zian¡¯s training from the past few days was effective enough that it listened to Famous. It had done a great job at being the leading dog, and swiftly calmed Zhang Tian down.

    ¡°It¡¯s showtime.¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°Quack! Let me show what I can do!¡±

    Richard jumped out of Zhang Zian¡¯s hood, fluttered its wings, andnded on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder. It took on a voice simr to a famous child star¡¯s from a Western country. Then, it stretched its neck and loudly sang the theme song When Christmas Comes to Town, from the movie The Pr Express.

    ¡°La¡­

    ¡°I¡¯m wishing on a star and trying to believe,

    ¡°That even though it¡¯s far, he¡¯ll find me on Christmas Eve.

    ¡°I guess that Santa is busy, because he has nevere around,

    ¡°I think of him when Christmases to town.

    ¡°The best time of the year, when everyonees home, it¡¯s hard to be alone,

    ¡°Putting up the Christmas tree, with friends whoe around,

    ¡°It¡¯s so much fun when Christmases to town.

    ¡°Presents for the children, wrapped in red and green,

    ¡°All the things I¡¯ve heard about but never really seen.

    ¡°No one will be sleeping on the night of Christmas Eve, hoping Santa¡¯s on his way,

    ¡°When Santa¡¯s sleigh bells ring, I listen all around, the herald angels sing,

    ¡°I never hear a sound; And all the dreams of children, once lost will all be found,

    ¡°That¡¯s all I want when Christmases to town.¡±

    Richard¡¯s singing voice was melodious and beautiful, like the sounds of nature or the voice of a professional singer. The audience was mesmerzied by its singing, and they couldn¡¯t help but look around the curtains, trying to figure out who was singing so beautifully from behind the stage.

    Even Little Celery¡¯s ssmates were shocked¡ªthis was not part of their rehearsals, but the song had perfectly fitted in with the plot of their y.

    Famous and Zhan Tian steadily pulled the sleigh and ran around the stage a few times. Along with Richard¡¯s singing, Little Celery also untied the cloth bag. One after another, the puppies and kittens emerged from the bag and happily jumped off the stage, running towards to the audienc, meowing or barking.

    The assembly hall performance had sesfully reached its climax!

 Chapter 518: The Best Performance

    <h4>Chapter 518: The Best Performance</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Ever since Zhonghua Road Primary School was founded, the anniversary celebration had never been as joyful. Kittens and puppies were jumping out of Santa¡¯s bag and running towards the audience. The school leaders, teachers, and student parents attending the celebration were shocked and amazed.

    The students near the stage didn¡¯t care about the rules. They yelled and reached out their hands to the lovely kittens and puppies. Even the students who weren¡¯t that fond of pets were affected by the performance, and waved to the cats and dogs running past them. Had it not been for the authority of the head teachers, the students would have stood up to hold the animals. Despite their strong impulses to do so, they didn¡¯t leave their seats. The celebration was cheerful but not chaotic.

    The school leaders were enjoying themselves, and had good things to say about their performance.

    The kittens were instructed by Fina to only run in the aisles between the seats and not actually into them. If someone wanted to hold them, they were smart enough to not do so.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun entered through the front door of the hall, and waited at the end of the aisles to put the kittens back into the carriers.

    The puppies took a bit more work. Some ran towards the actors on the stage, while some ran into the audience and were picked up by the students and teachers. Lu Yiyun was secretly filming everything from behind the curtains with her cell phone, so that she could ask for the puppies back after the celebration.

    Famous and Zhan Tian circled the stage a few times with the sled. The bag was empty, and all the kittens and puppies were released. Santa us, yed by Little Celery, jumped off the sled and joined the curtain call with the other young actors. Famous and Zhan Tian returned behind the stage with the sled. Everything was going as nned.

    Now, Little Celery and her friends could finally breathe and rx. They stood in a row and held each others hands. They could feel the warm heat in each other¡¯s palms. Their foreheads were shiny with sweat, but everybody still had on big smiles.

    ¡°We would like to thank all of the teachers and students for watching our ss performance!¡±

    They held hands, and bowed simultaneously towards the audience.

    Almost the entire audience, including the school leaders, stood up to apud them. The hall was filled with cheers, one wave after another. Little Celery and her friends had to do curtain call several times.

    Parents usually filmed their own children¡¯s performance. Many people had filmed their ending scene, and some regretted not recording it. But it didn¡¯t matter. The video would soon spread around and be shared in different parents¡¯ Wechat groups.

    Wang Yaning and a few of the teachers were amazed from behind the stage. They were the only ones who saw the grey parrot sing. It sang clearly and urately with an amazing voice, much better than most professional human singers.

    Now it was cold. Richard hid back into the hoodie immediately after singing.

    ¡°This parrot¡­can sing?¡± Wang Yaning could hardly believe it. She stared at Zhang Zian¡¯s jacket, with a gaze so fierce, it almost burned a hole through the hood.

    ¡°Yes, of course. I taught him how to. It took a long time.¡± Zhang Zian calmly boasted.

    Everybody knew that parrots could talk. Some of them could sing, but most of their singing was terribly off-key. Nobody had ever seen a parrot that could sing so beautifully. Wang Yaning and the teachers looked jealous. With such an intelligent parrot around, the owner surely never felt lonely.

    As the host returned to the stage, the apuse gradually eased, and Little Celery¡¯s crew finally went behind the curtains after a few rounds of curtain call. They surrounded Zhang Zian cheerfully, and asked about the kittens, puppies, and singing parrot. He couldn¡¯t answer so many questions by himself. Luckily, Little Celery helped him exin.

    In front of the stage, the teachers and school leaders were voting for the best performance of the school anniversary celebration. Even if the best performance was rigged and chosen early, all of the adults there clearly knew that the Fairy Tale Pet Shop performance by Little Celery¡¯s ss made all the other programs seem dull. If they gave the award publicly to another ss, everybody would have been furious.

    Soon enough, the host announced the results of thepetition. The dean, assistant principal, and principal awarded the winning sses in the order of third ce, second ce, and first ce.

    The third and second ce winners stepped off the stage. The first ce winner was about to be revealed. They held their breath and stared at the host, waiting for him to speak. The host finally announced their ss number and invited the principal to give them their award. They were all thrilled and hugged each other in tears. The arguments while writing the script, the prop preparation chores, the sweat from rehearsals, along with the fights and disagreements within the cast, all disappeared in that moment, as they tearfully embraced each other.

    Little Celery never imagined they would be first ce, among all the otherpeting sses. It put a bright smile on their head teacher¡¯s face, as the other teachers congratted him. Xiao Yile sticked out his tongue secretly, d that they didn¡¯t ept his initial proposal to cosy as the Arena of Valor.

    They returned to the stage in a line, epted the trophy and certificate from the principal, and took a group picture to remember this beautiful and memorable moment.

    As the stage light shone upon them and the numerous crowd members looked at them, with shes sparkling from the audience¡¯s cameras, they felt a sense of group happiness and honor that they had never felt before. They knew now more than ever that they were a team, and couldn¡¯t have aplished this without all of them.

    At the same time, they felt bad that the true hero behind the scenes wasn¡¯t invited onto the stage, or in the group picture. Without Zhang Zian and his pets, their performance would have received an ordinary ranking. It was his idea and animals that magically turned something ordinary into something special.

    After the group picture, the host asked them to say a few words. They hadn¡¯t prepared for this, so their speech was messy and unorganized. It made the audienceugh, as this was a true reflection of their childlike innocence.

    Their time had run out. When the host finally signaled them to leave the stage, they wildly ran back behind the curtains to say thank you to Zhang Zian. However, Zhang Zian was no longer there. Only Wang Yaning was waiting backstage.

    Having seen them searching, Wang Yaning could guess what they wanted to do. She pointed outside. ¡°He left with the pets, and asked me to tell you not to wait up for him. You deserve this. Enjoy the moment.¡±

 Chapter 519: Jingle Bells

    <h4>Chapter 519: Jingle Bells</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Standing on the third floor of an old and deserted school building with his arms resting on the windowsill, Zhang Zian watched the entrance of the assembly hall from a distance.

    When the night time came and the 50th anniversary of the school founding was over, the students and their family members rushed out the assembly hall in a flood. Little Celery and her ssmates were still in the spotlight and were surrounded by people who were curious about their performance. They had been looking around for someone since they left the hall, but couldn¡¯t find the person because the area was too crowded.

    Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Lu Yiyun were talking to several parents by the entrance of the abandoned school building.

    Their disy had actually brought in a huge profit¡ªwhen Wang Qian and Li Kun went to retrieve the puppies and kittens from the students and their parents, most of the parents had to convince their kids to give the pets back to their owners. Some children refused to give up the puppy or kitten that they were holding. Since it was Christmas, their wealthy parents generously decided to simply buy the puppies or kittens as a New Year gift for their children.

    By this point, Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Lu Yiyun were epting money transfers from the parents and writing down their mailing addresses. As for the other requirements, such as invoices and the pet sale agreement, they would just mail these documents to themter.

    Zhang Zian let them handle these transactions and climbed to the third floor of the building by himself.

    The ssroom behind him was the one he had when he was in sixth grade.

    Famous was squatting next to him, watching Little Celery and her ssmates by the entrance of the assembly hall. Famous knew why Zhang Zian had decided to leave early. For today, Little Celery and her ssmates were the stars, and he didn¡¯t want to steal their spotlight.

    The kids would always remember that day, and the feeling the had when the stage lights shined on them. They would remember the feeling of being a star. This experience would definitely have a positive impact on their future, for decades toe.

    Several bright stars were shining in the sky. Famous looked up and saw that the amount of visible stars here were much less than the stars it could see from Hollywood or on the top of that unnamed mountain. However, the stars¡¯ locations hadn¡¯t changed in over 100 years.

    As the cold air chilled its body, Famous opened its mouth and exhaled a cloud of white air. It said both to itself and to Zhang Zian, ¡°I¡¯ve yed countless roles in movies and I¡¯ve received numerous awards¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian looked ahead while quietly listening to Famous. He didn¡¯t think that Famous was trying to brag about itself, it was only telling the truth.

    ¡°But the performance I gave today was my best one.¡± Famous finished the second half of its sentence.

    Before pulling the sleigh away from the stage, Famous nced back and looked at the audience. He saw countless pairs of shining eyes as bright as the stars in the sky staring back at him, and the innocent smiles of children. This scene would be engraved in its head forever.

    Famous suddenly realized what Old Time Tea meant by telling it about the beginner¡¯s mind. As a performer, the beginner¡¯s mind should not be focused on earning fame or fortune, but on bringing happiness and joy to people, especially children. There was nothing more precious than making children happy.

    ¡°I think so too,¡± said Zhang Zian. ¡°This time, you acted as yourself in the show. Of course it would be your best performance.¡±

    Famous once again looked up at the night sky. There was no longer any regret left in its heart.

    Has Audrey Hepburn, the angelic and kind woman from the corrupt world of Hollywood, be a star in the night sky? Had she watched everything Famous had done?

    Famous once hoped that it was actually her dog, her own Mr. Famous. It now knew that it was never her dog. But it didn¡¯t matter, because Famous¡¯s performance skills were not below hers, and it would be able to fulfill herst wish, which was to be an angel and bring happiness and joy to more children.

    As the sky became darker, the crowd in front of the assembly hall slowly dispersed. Parents and their kids left the school one after another, and before long the janitors woulde and close the campus for the evening.

    Zhang Zian left the window and went into the ssroom behind him.

    He¡¯d heard some parents say that this abandoned building might get demolished during the winter break, so this would be hisst chance to see his old childhood ssroom.

    On the ckboard, there were big and bold letters written in chalk, that read Congrattions on graduating!

    There were signatures and messages left by many different children in the nk spaces around the message. They¡¯d promised each other to return for a ss reunion after graduating.

    The desks and chairs were still neatly arranged, as if just tomorrow there would be a new group of students sitting there, ready for ss.

    Sitting on the podium, Fina was curiously spinning an old globe with its paw. After spinning in circles, it finally stopped andnded on the vast continent of Africa.

    Snowy Li was also on the podium, flipping through a damaged book without a cover.

    Gxy was shuffling through the desks, as if it was ying hide and seek with another invisible yer.

    Zhang Zian went to a seat in thest row near the window. He wiped off the dust from the chair before sitting down and tilted his head to stare in the direction of the podium. He was familiar with this ce. He had been there many times before and had spent his lengthy yet impermanent childhood in this school.

    The invisible Old Time Tea jumped on the desk and smiled. ¡°Zian, I wish I could see what you were like in primary school.¡±

    ¡°I was probably like Yi Le, naughty and mischievous,¡± Zhang Zian smiled. He¡¯d forgotten most of the things that had happened in primary school.

    Although the ssroom was run down, Richard could at least take a break from the wind. It stretched its head from Zhang Zian¡¯s hood and yelled, ¡°Quack! Do you want me to give you a physical hygiene ss?

    ¡°If you¡¯re willing to give a lecture, you can stay here on your own.We¡¯re leaving now. It¡¯s still Christmas today, so there should be a lot of beautiful women walking around.¡± Zhang Zian stood up.

    ¡°Unfortunately, they all have boyfriends already,¡± Richard timely responded.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Can you please just shut up for a moment?¡±

    Richard regrettably said, ¡°No, I can¡¯t. I¡¯ll die if can¡¯t speak my mind.¡±

    ¡°Are we leaving?¡± Fina looked away from the globe and nced at him. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about something that I wanted to ask you.¡±

    ¡°Oh? What is it, why the earth is round?¡± Zhang Zian asked curiously.

    Fina suddenly frowned and angrily growled, ¡°Don¡¯t treat me like an idiot!¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± he shrugged. ¡°What were you thinking?¡±

    Fina solemnly said, ¡°Santa us and I were both born around two thousand years ago. Why are there so many people celebrating his birthday and not mine?¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± Zhang Zian tried to organize his thoughts. ¡°This doesn¡¯t prove anything at all. All I can say is that¡­the truth is often only in the hands of a few men.¡±

    For some reason, Fina was happy with this answer. It hummed and jumped off the podium, walking directly to the ssroom door.

    ¡°What day is your birthday?¡± Zhang Zian had never asked Fina this question.

    Fina paused and said without turning its head, ¡°I was born so long ago. I forgot the exact date.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, wait for me!¡± Snowy Li also jumped from the podium and tried to keep up with Fina on its short legs.

    ¡°Gxy,e on, let¡¯s go home,¡± said Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    Gxy had a good time that day. It excitedly left the ssroom behind Zhang Zian and Old Time Tea.

    Zhang Zian and the elves went downstairs one by one. The parents who had bought pets had already left with their children. Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Lu Yiyun were waiting for him at the entrance of the school building while rubbing their hands in the cold, trying to warm up their bodies.

    ¡°Sir! We sold two cats and two dogs today! It¡¯s so easy to make money off of children!¡± Wang Qian eximed. After working all afternoon, he and Li Kun were no longer affected by the alcohol they had drank.

    ¡°Oh? That¡¯s impressive!¡± Zhang Zian was pleasantly surprise., ¡°Did you increase the price by 20%?¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were confused. ¡°¡­What?¡±

    Zhang Zian exined, ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you a few days ago that we were going to take advantage of Christmas and increase the original prices of all the animals? Or did you forget?¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun said simultaneously, ¡°We thought you were joking!¡±

    Zhang Zian was amused by their embarrassment. ¡°Of course I was joking! Did you think I was being serious? Forget it, let¡¯s leave this ce before we catch a cold! Today¡¯s business was good, and we deserve to enjoy the rest of Christmas. If you stay in the store for dinner, I¡¯ll order four buckets of food for us from KFC.¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were relieved. It was difficult for them to read the true intentions of their boss.

    Lu Yiyun was shocked, and she quickly said, ¡°You¡¯re making four orders? I can¡¯t even finish one bucket on my own!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, you can eat it for breakfast tomorrow if you can¡¯t finish the whole thing tonight. Even though eating fried food is not good for you in the morning, wasting food is even worse, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    When the carriers had been neatly stacked onto the tricycle, Zhang Zian waved his hand, and said, ¡°Please lead the way!¡±

    Li Kun was riding the tricycle, while Wang Qian and Lu Yiyun followed behind him.

    Even farther behind, Zhang Zian was pulling Famous and Zhan Tian, and walking with the other elves.

    The streets outside the school were decorated with bright lights and colors that stood out in night. There were sweet couples publicly expressing their affection all over thee. The air was filled with romance.

    Snow fell on Zhang Zian¡¯s face and made him feel even colder. It looked like it would be a white Christmas that year.

    Someone among them started to sing, and then others joined and hummed along.

    ¡°Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way!

    ¡°Oh, what fun it is to ride, in a one-horse open sleigh.

    ¡°Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh,

    ¡°Over the fields we go,ughing all the way,

    ¡°Bells on bob-tail ring, making spirits bright,

    ¡°What fun it is to ride and sing, a sleighing song tonight.¡±

    The people walking by gave them strange looks. But neither Zhang Zian, Wang Qian, or Li Kun cared what others thought about them. Lu Yiyun hid her face behind her scarf.

    There were some people who pped their hands or hummed together with them, but no one had noticed that among the singing voices of humans, there were also some peculiar voices of animals.

    ¡°Woof!¡±

    ¡°Quack!¡±

    ¡°Meow!¡±

 Chapter 520: Dog Trapping

    <h4>Chapter 520: Dog Trapping</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Boom! Bang!

    Zhang Zian was woken up earlier than usual.

    Although fireworks were banned in Binhai City, they were allowed in remote neighborhoods and counties. The noise travelled arge distance in the quiet morning. It must have been a huge firework¡­

    Fireworks with a 10 inch shell were as powerful as a bomb. One all on its own could be heard from over half the city.

    Today was January 1st, the beginning of a new year.

    Zhang Zian was exhausted from hisck of sleep. He looked at his phone, and silently added up how many red packets he¡¯d missed from countless Wechat groups since midnight. He felt like he¡¯d lost a fortune, and soon became wide awake.

    When his parents ran the pet shop, they would close the store for a few days during major holidays like New Year¡¯s. This way, they could take young Zian to the park or on a short trip in the area. But now, he was all alone and had nowhere to go even if he did close the shop. He might as well keep the business open and running. He still gave the day off to Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Lu Yiyun, and asked them not toe in that day.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun had finished their finals. They should be spending time with their families during the holidays, and then getting ready to go back to school to prepare for more exams.

    Lu Yiyun had some rough patches with her family in the past. But blood was thicker than water. The holidays were all about spending time with family, so she might as well message them and try to fix things.

    Since he couldn¡¯t fall back sleep, he figured that he might as well get up.

    He sat up quietly, got dressed, and looked around the room.

    The fireworks had even briefly woken up the elfins. But it was early, and it was stillpletely dark outside. Even the energetic Gxy went back to sleep, not to mention the sleepy Fina, who wouldn¡¯t wake up even if the sky fell down. Old Time Tea¡¯s was asleep, taking long and steady breaths. Its breathing was as steady as a radio clock¡¯s.

    ¡°Meow¡­nom¡­raw beef brisket¡­¡± Besides from talking in its sleep, Snowy Li developed another bad habit of having dreams about eating. Zian almost wanted to shove a cockroach into its mouth.

    Farther away, Famous was asleep in a corner. The dim light from the nightmp was the only lighting in the room. Famous had been sleeping better these days and woke up less often in the night. Weirdly enough, it also developed a bad habit of kicking its leg while it was sleeping. Who knows what it was trying to kick at.

    Zhang Zian went to the bathroom and then sneaked out of his bedroom.

    By the ss door, Zhan Tian alertly lifted its head. When it saw that it was only Zhang Zian, itid back down in peace.

    Zhan Tian was without a doubt a previous top police dog candidate. It was much more alert than Famous, and responded to the slightest sound before anyone else.

    Zhang Zian rolled up the metal door shutter, and waved it over. ¡°Zhan Tian,e and y with me outside.¡±

    Zhan Tian walked over obediently. He put on its leash and they left the shop.

    It was very early in the morning and still dark outside. The streetmps were on, with only a few people walking around. Wind was blowing through the area and there was the slight smell of gunpowder. Zhang Zian walked with Zhan Tian down the street, and reached Uncle Li¡¯s restaurant before he even realized it.

    The lights were turned on early in the restaurant. Through the window, he could see the old couple working. There were no customers yet, but the restaurant owners had to get up early and prepare the food before the customers arrived.

    He pushed the door open and said, ¡°Uncle and Aunt, happy new year!¡±

    Uncle Li and Aunt Li were mixing dough. They were surprised to hear his voice, and lifted their heads. ¡°Oh! Master Zhang, happy new year! Happy new year!¡±

    They knew that Zhang Zian had been busytely. He hadn¡¯t visited their restaurant in a long time.

    ¡°I got up early today and had nothing to do. So I decided to pay you guys a visit.¡± Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°One bowl of wonton soup for me, please. And one for him as well, arge one with all meat filling.¡±

    He sat down on a chair and tapped Zhan Tian¡¯s head. ¡°Sit.¡±

    Zhan Tian sat next to him dutifully.

    ¡°Wow! This dog is so well-trained, it actually sits down when it¡¯s told to. It¡¯s much more obedient than the dogs in the countryside.¡± Aunt Li enviously looked at Zhan Tian. ¡°We had a big dog back home, but then it was trapped by somebody.¡±

    ¡°Trapped?¡± Zhang Zian had just woken up, and hadn¡¯t washed his face so he wouldn¡¯t wake up the sleeping elfins. His brain was working slowly, and couldn¡¯t understand the words she was saying.

    Aunt Li drew a circle in the air. ¡°It¡¯s a wooden rod, with an iron circle on one end, used to trap dogs. There used to be dog trappers in the city too, since city dogs are so expensive and well fed. But there are too many security cameras in the city, so the trappers moved to the countryside. They usuallye in groups of two or three. One drives a motorcycle, with another person on the backseat. If they see a dog roaming on the road, they trap it and run away! They put the dog¡¯s neck into the iron circle, and quickly speed up the motorcycle. Most dogs choke and faint. Some stronger dogs won¡¯t pass out, but they¡¯re too weak to struggle after being choked¡­¡±

    Aunt Li thought about the dog that got stolen in her hometown, and took a deep sigh. It was an ordinary type of dog from the countryside, not an expensive breed. But, they had raised since it was a puppy. Any owner would have been attached to it and heartbroken over it being trapped and taken.

    Zhang Zian suddenly understood. He¡¯d heard about dog trapping, but he¡¯d never seen it happen himself. Maybe it happened less often in the city, but not in the countryside. Especially now, as most young people moved to the city to work, leaving the old and sick in the countryside, easy to be taken advantage of.

    ¡°What do they do with the trapped dogs?¡± He asked.

    Aunt Li shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. But I heard that the trappers bring the dogs back to their homes and sell the expensive dogs. The cheap breeds are sold to dog meat restaurants, so my dog¡­¡± She sighed sorrowfully.

    Nobody would want to buy her ordinary dog. It probably ended up at a dog meat restaurant.

    Zhang Zian also sighed. If it had been sold again, there was at least chance to get it back. But if it had been sold to a dog meat restaurant¡­

    At that moment, Uncle Li served the hot wonton soup and scolded her. ¡°This is the first day of the new year, with our special guest Master Zhang. Why are you upsetting him? Go back to the kitchen to help! I¡¯m swamped over here!¡±

    Aunt Li was a tough woman. She widened her eyes and said, ¡°I¡¯ll say whatever I want. It¡¯s none of your business! How do you know what Master Zhang wants to hear?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want them to argue, and tried to make peace. ¡°It¡¯s okay, really. I liked the story and learned something new.¡±

    ¡°You old decrepit man, you hear that?¡± Aunt Li¡¯s eyes were even wider after getting support.

    The couple was always arguing. They were both used to it, and couldn¡¯t hurt the other¡¯s feelings.

    Uncle Li put the wontons on Zhang Zian¡¯s table and smiled. ¡°Help yourself, Master Zhang, and don¡¯t listen to this old woman. Our old dog was probably not trapped. It might have gotten lost. One morning, the gate was open in our yard, and the dog was resting in the sun near it. I was making pickles close by. Then this woman called me from inside the house. I went in the house for a few minutes and then the dog was missing when I came back out.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s my fault then?¡± Aunt Li was furious. ¡°I called you for something. You knew there were dog trappers around. Why didn¡¯t you close the gate beforeing inside the house?¡±

    Uncle Li yelled, ¡°How could I think that far ahead? You were rushing me to get inside, and kept calling me even after I answered you. I thought you fell and hit your head, so I hurried inside to see what was wrong, without even washing my hands. It turned out to be nothing important, and we lost the dog because of it.¡±

    Before they started arguing again, Zhang Zian interrupted their conversation. ¡°You¡¯re right, Uncle Li. The dog wasn¡¯t on a leash, right? It might have gotten lost. Maybe a car drove by, and it followed out of curiosity.¡±

    He knew he wasn¡¯t being that convincing, but it was better than saying nothing.

    Uncle Li nodded and continued. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that old dogs are spiritual beings. Our dog was very old. Maybe it knew that it didn¡¯t have that much time left, so it left us to die in a quiet ce. It¡¯s possible that it wasn¡¯t trapped!¡±

    He emphasized over and over that it might not have been kidnapped. He didn¡¯t want to give up on what little hope he had. It surely wouldn¡¯t have lived after being trapped. But if it got lost, it at least had the chance to die a natural death.

    This showed how much Uncle Li loved their dog, so much that he couldn¡¯t bear to imagine it suffering a terrible death.

    Aunt Li mumbled. Just as she was about to respond, she heard the water boiling in the kitchen, and told Zhang Zian in a hurry, ¡°Master Zhang, since your dog is so well trained, you must be even more cautious of dog trappers.¡±

    Then she ran into the kitchen to pour the hot water in a thermos.

    ¡°This old woman makes a fuss everyday, don¡¯t take her seriously, Master Zhang.¡± Uncle Li stared at her from behind and turned to smile at Zhang Zian.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I really don¡¯t mind.¡± Zhang Zianughed. ¡°Uncle Li, I¡¯m all good here. Go on ahead if you¡¯re busy. I can take care of myself.¡±

    ¡°Okay, enjoy your food.¡± There were a lot of things to take care of in the morning. Uncle Li left politely and went back to the kitchen.

    Zhang Zian scooped up a wonton and some soup with his spoon, and then put it into his mouth. It was the perfect temperature. He added some chili powder and pepper, and looked around. It was too early, and no other customers had arrived yet. He put the disposable bowl with the meat wontons on the floor, and called Zhan Tian over for breakfast. If another customer was eating next to him, he wouldn¡¯t have done this because he wouldn¡¯t have wanted to upset them.

    After a bowl of hot wonton soup, his nose was shiny with sweat, and his whole body was warm.

    Zhan Tian also finished its food. It liked it a lot, and even drank most of the soup.

    Zhang Zian left money on the table, shouted towards the kitchen, and then left the restaurant with Zhan Tian.

    It took them about 20 minutes to finish breakfast. The day was brighter, and more pedestrians were in the streets.

    He walked around for a while with Zhan Tian. A streetmp turned off as he passed by a utility pole, and then he noticed a piece of paper.

    Normally, he wouldn¡¯t have paid attention to this. They were usually scam advertisements about magical alternative therapies for skin diseases, or rich women looking for surrogates. But he had a lot of free time this morning, so he stopped to take a look. It was taped to the pole, moving gently in the morning winds.

    Lost Dog:

    Around 16:40 on December 30th, I was walking my dog near the the Family Housing Facility of Binhai University. My white Samoyed saw a stray cat and chased after it, then suddenly disappeared after turning a corner around a residential building, and is nowhere to be found.

    Its name is Tuan Tuan, female, only 3 years old, around half a meter tall and 1.1 meters long. It chews on the left side of its mouth, so its left teeth are slightly worn down.

    Tuan Tuan is our family¡¯s joy. My parents are so sad and haven¡¯t been able to sleep for days. If someone is kind enough to get Tuan Tuan back, I¡¯ll pay 10,000 Yuan as a token of my appreciation. You have my word.

    If someone stole it because of its beauty, please kindly return it. We won¡¯t fight you, and we¡¯re willing to pay the same price. If you¡¯re also a dog lover, I¡¯ll buy you a purebred Samoyed.

    Tuan Tuan is not a purebred Samoyed. It¡¯s not worth that much money.

    Tuan Tuan¡¯s picture was listed below the writing. Zhang Zian recognized right away, that just as the owner said, the Samoyed was beautiful, but not purebred.

    There was telephone number at the end, along with a side note: Dear sanitation workers, please keep this flyer here for a few days. I¡¯ll take it down myself. Thanks!

    Zhang Zian stopped to carefully read it again. He could feel the love and anxiety in the owner¡¯s words. A purebred Samoyed may cost a few thousand yuan, but the owner was willing to pay 10,000 yuan to get a non-purebred one back. If he meant what he said, this family really loved the dog and didn¡¯t want to lose it like this.

    In general, ads for lost cats and dogs weremon in the city. Zhang Zian had seen several different ones before. The silly sledding dog breeds especially, because they weren¡¯t cautious around strangers and would follow anyone who called it. It was easy to lose them. Also, many people walking their dogs didn¡¯t use a leash. If a dog got distracted, it could run away so fast that it would be impossible to follow, just like what had happened in this ad.

    Maybe Uncle and Aunt Li were right. Zhang Zian suddenly became paranoid. Could this Samoyed have been trapped?

    He read the ad again, and noticed the words ¡°suddenly disappeared¡±. The owner must have thought it was suspicious to describe it this way.

    Or maybe he was just thinking too much. Perhaps this dog was simply lost.

    Zhan Tian sniffed around the pole. Zhang Zian pulled on its leash. ¡°Come on, Zhan Tian. Let¡¯s go home.¡±

 Chapter 521: Gang

    <h4>Chapter 521: Gang</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian opened the shutter door and went back to his pet shop with Zhan Tian.

    The elves had woken up. Lying on the cat tree, Fina unpleasantly asked the empty-handed Zhang Zian, ¡°Where is my breakfast? Did you just go out and feed yourself?¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute. I went out too early and the breakfast at the restaurant hadn¡¯t been prepared yet.¡± To avoid listening to its nagging, Zhang Zian did not take off his coat, but picked up his big broomstick and shovel and went out again to clear the snow and ice in front of the store.

    Today, Wang Qian and Li Kun would note over, so all the cleaning work would be done alone by Zhang Zian. It was customary for a pet shop, even if it was closed for holidays, to rece the cat litter, clean the dog feces, and disinfect the indoor environment as usual. When all these heavy chores were finished, why not simply open the door to make money?

    The traffic on the sidewalk at the entrance to his shop was quite heavy. During the day, the snow was stepped on so much that it had slightly melted, but then the melted snow would be frozen by night. In many cases, it wasn¡¯t enough to simply sweep the snow with the broomstick. Zhang Zian also had to use the shovel to smash and crush the ice.

    Zhang Zian had worked hard to clean the ice and snow, not because he wanted to be a model citizen, but because he would not be able to afford thepensation in case an elderly person slipped and fell in front of his shop.

    Just then, a slender figure passed by him and went into his pet shop where there currently were no customers.

    A customer has arrived so early on the first day of the New Year? Is it a good start? Zhang Zian wondered.

    However, before he had time to be happy about it, that silhouette had pushed the door and left the shop. In total, that person had only spent less than ten seconds in his shop. Zhang Zian saw that a girl wearing a white short down jacket and a pair of blue jeans was quickly headed to the north.

    Probably she had taken the wrong way?

    He did not mind, because it was normal for people to find the wrong ce asionally. He continued shoveling the snow and removing the ice.

    After a while, he carried his big broomstick and shovel and returned to his shop. Then he cleared away the cat litter and dog feces as usual. He was about to take the excrements outside so that the sanitation workers could help throw them away. When he passed through the cashier desk, he seemed to notice something out of the corner of his eye, so he returned to the desk.

    Behind theputer screen at the cashier desk, a piece of paper was attached there. He peeled it off and saw that it was a notice about a lost dog, which was exactly the same as the notice he saw on the pole.

    In that case, the girl who just entered the shop was the owner of the dog? But why did she post the notice in my pet shop? Is she so desperate that she thinks that I have stolen her dog and will resell it to my customers?

    Zhang Zian carried the garbage bags out of his shop and piled them at the designated garbage-collection ce. Just then, a car horn red, and Sun Xiaomeng parked her car at the roadside.

    ¡°Hey! Happy New Year!¡± Zhang Zian raised his hand to say hello.

    Sun Xiaomeng rolled down her car window. She was not looking at his face, but was staring at the paper in his hand. ¡°Happy New Year! What is that about?¡±

    ¡°This? It¡¯s a notice about a lost dog posted by someone. It¡¯s posted in my pet shop! How ridiculous is that?¡± Zhang Zian held the paper for her to see.

    Sun Xiaomeng took over the paper and frowned. ¡°It hasn¡¯t been found yet.¡±

    From her tone, it seemed that Sun Xiaomeng had known about this matter. Out of curiosity, Zhang Zian asked, ¡°The notice has also been posted in your pet clinic?¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng pointed to the phone number on the notice and said, ¡°She is a regr client in my clinic. She often takes her dog to my clinic for vination and physical examination etc. ¡­ The sterilization operation of Tuan Tuan is also performed in my clinic. I feel bad to see her looking around desperately for her dog.¡±

    ¡°Oh, no wonder you know this matter.¡±

    It turned out that the owner of the lost dog was an acquaintance of Sun Xiaomeng. Zhang Zian understood why the girl would post the notice in Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s pet clinic.

    ¡°Recently, it seems like a lot of dogs are lost. Among those dogs thate to my clinic for regr medical examinations, two or three dogs are lost.¡± She handed the notice back to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°That many?¡± Zhang Zian was deeply surprised. Her clinic was quite small, but there were two or three dogs that had been lost in such a short time. The number of lost dogs might be big if the trend had been expanded to the nearby urban areas.

    He thought for a moment, and reiterated Aunt Li¡¯s words to her about dog trapping, and asked, ¡°Do you think it¡¯s possible? But I¡¯ve heard that few dogs have been trapped and stolen in the city.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng seriously contemted for a moment, and answered, ¡°There are very few dog-trappers in the city. But you see, it is not long before the Spring Festival, and many people need money at this time of the year, so perhaps they have generated the crooked idea of profiting from dog trapping. Under the cold weather, a lot of people wear masks when they go out, and these dog-trappers will be fine even if the surveince cameras capture their images, so it¡¯s natural for someone to take the risk. These stolen dogs were worth a fortune, whether they were sold to dog meat restaurants or for resale in the market.¡±

    Zhang Zian gazed toward the pedestrians. Just as Sun Xiaomeng said, at least five out of ten pedestrians wore masks. It would be very strange to wear masks in the summer, but not in the winter, especially nowadays that many people wore masks to prevent fog and haze.

    ¡°I think it is more profitable to return the dogs to their owners.¡± He pointed to the 10,000 Yuan reward written on the notice andughed.

    ¡°The dog-trappers will not be so stupid to take the risk to return the dogs. Who knows if they will receive the reward or get brutally beaten up?¡±

    Joking aside, Zhang Zian also knew that no one would do such silly things.

    ¡°It¡¯s New Year¡¯s Day today. Your clinic is still open for business?¡± he asked.

    She said with regret, ¡°I have been intending to rest for today ¡­ You should be free today, right? The girl who posted this notice should be waiting for me in the clinic, and she would like to ask me for advice. Why note together with me? You have plenty of clever ideas rted to pets. Consider it doing a good deed by helping her out.¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Do I look like I have much free time?¡±

    ¡°You do!¡± She answered concisely.

    It¡¯s true that Zhang Zian had nothing much to do today. Besides, he was quite curious about the lost dogs. So, he pulled down the shutter door, locked it and sat in the passenger seat. Then he went to the pet clinic with Sun Xiaomeng.

    The girl in the white down jacket and blue jeans was indeed waiting in front of the clinic. Hands in her pocket, she kept looking around, perhaps was waiting for the arrival of Sun Xiaomeng, or was hoping to see her own dog.

    ¡°Sister Xiaomeng!¡±

    The girl quickly approached Sun Xiaomeng as she got out of the car. Then the girl noticed Zhang Zian who also got out. She felt this man seemed a bit familiar to her.

    While fumbling the key to open the door, Sun Xiaomeng introduced them. ¡°This is Ning Lan, my client and my friend. This is Zhang Xian. You just went to his pet shop to post the notice. Did you not see him?¡±

    Ning Lan remembered now. She was perplexed when the pet shop was open but there was no staff inside. She had mistaken Zhang Zian as a street cleaner worker then.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I barely sleptst night, and my brain is messy. I did not notice you at your shop,¡± she said regretfully to Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian knew that what she said was true when he noticed the obvious dark circles around her eyes. She must have been exhausted while searching for her dog.

    ¡°It¡¯s all right. I was shoveling the snow, and you had no idea that I was the owner of the shop¡­ but I want to ask you why you posted a notice about your lost dog in my pet shop?¡± He asked curiously.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± She was very embarrassed. She nced at Sun Xiaomeng, and stuttered, ¡°I think, in case someone has picked up my dog, it ??may have been sold to a pet shop¡­ I also went to post notices in other pet shops, but the owners there didn¡¯t allow me to. And there was no one in your shop, so I wanted to see if my dog was there. I know my behavior was inappropriate, so I ran away quickly after attaching a notice in your shop.¡±

    ¡°I remember your dog is three years old, and none of the dogs in my shop have reached that age,¡± said Zhang Zian to prove innocence for himself.

    Sun Xiaomeng pushed open the clinic door. ¡°It¡¯s freezing outside. Let¡¯s get in and talk.¡±

    Ning Lan and Zhang Zian followed her into the clinic one after another, and he immediately saw an identical notice posted at the checkout counter.

    The nurse, Long Xian was not around. She was probably on a vacation.

    Sun Xiaomeng invited them into her office, turned on the electric heater, took off her coat, and said to Ning Lan, ¡°Tell him all the details about your dog. He is quite resourceful in this regard, and he might be able to help. Don¡¯t think he is merely a pet shop owner. He has even helped the Captain of Criminal Police Unit of our city solve a case.¡±

    Zhang Zian pondered for a long time, but still, he couldn¡¯t figure out if Sun Xiaomeng had praised him or derided him.

    Ning Lan suddenly looked up to him, and hope was rekindled in her heart. Since her dog, Tuan Tuan, was lost, her parents had been sighing and crying all day long. She was worried that her parents might get sick if they couldn¡¯t get over the grief. She had been frantically searching around for a few days, but she had no clue at all.

    She cleared her throat and described the whole incident from the beginning.

    Ning Lan¡¯s parents were retired lecturers from Binhai University. Ning Lan herself was a graduate student at Binhai University. Instead of living at the dormitory, she lived at her home. She took Tuan Tuan out for a walk every day in the morning and at dusk around the Family Housing Facility of Binhai University and nothing had ever happened before. Tuan Tuan was a hybrid Samoyed that was fond of people. Be it the elderly or the children, Tuan Tuan would never bite or bark at them. The elderly and the children in the Family Housing Facility liked the dog very much. Later, she stopped tying a leash to Tuan Tuan, because she felt sorry for Tuan Tuan being pulled by a leash.

    That day, she walked her dog as usual. Winter vacation had begun. She was walking around with Tuan Tuan while discussing on WeChat with her ssmates about the holiday ns and arrangements. Then a stray cat bypassed them. Excited, Tuan Tuan chased after the stray cat. Ning Lan stressed that Tuan Tuan was purely doing it for fun and absolutely had no intention to hurt the stray cat.

    Zhang Zian remembered the process when he went to capture Richard at Binhai University. There were indeed many stray cats near the campus, and these stray cats were not afraid of people at all because the students and staff always fed them.

    Ning Lan said that Tuan Tuan had also pursued cats before, but it had never seeded in catching them because cats were too sneaky and flexible. When Tuan Tuan lost track of its target, it would either run back to her or stay still and wait for her to find it. She was halfway through typing a message when Tuan Tuan began to chase that stray cat, so she called it absentmindedly and let ite back. She sent the message and saw that Tuan Tuan, who had already lost track of the stray cat, was waiting for her toe over to the corner of a building.

    Ning Lan walked towards the building slowly and looked down at her phone from time to time, waiting for the responses from her ssmates.

    Ning Lan recalled that Tuan Tuan was supposed to be waiting for her around the corner, but after a moment, it seemed to be attracted by something so it then turned to look and then walked around to the other side of the corner.

    Ning Lan called it twice at that time, yet still she did not think something bad would happen. But she quickened her steps anyway. However, when she reached the corner, Tuan Tuan had disappeared without leaving behind a trace.

    She was a little bit nervous, but she thought Tuan Tuan might just have hidden behind the garbage bin or have entered the corridor of the building. After she had searched that area repeatedly and still couldn¡¯t find Tuan Tuan, she becamepletely freaked out.

    She searched for Tuan Tuan for half an hour. The sky was getting darker. Ning Lan called home, hoping that Tuan Tuan had returned home itself. Her mother answered the phone and said that Tuan Tuan was not home yet.

    ¡°Is Tuan Tuan not with you?¡± asked her mother with surprise.

    ¡°I should have remained calm.¡± Ning Lan sighed while covering her face, ¡°I should have told my parents that Tuan Tuan will stay at my friend¡¯s home for a few days. At least they won¡¯t be so sad if I tell them in this way.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng patted her shoulder tofort her. ¡°Tuan Tuan may not necessarily have encountered something bad. It¡¯s no use to regret now. Please tell us the rest of the incident.¡±

    Ning Lan wiped her eyes and continued with her nasal tone.

    After learning that Tuan Tuan was lost, her parents who had rarely scolded her reprimanded her severely and asked her why she had to y with her phone while walking the dog. She knew her behavior was unjustifiable, and her parents were angry at the time, so she didn¡¯t dare to talk back. After scolding her, her parents put on clothes, took shlights, and went out to help her find Tuan Tuan.

    It was very cold that day, and they kept searching for Tuan Tuan until eight o¡¯clock in the evening. They had searched every corner around the Family Housing Facility. Their faces were pale, and their throats were hoarse. But still, they couldn¡¯t find Tuan Tuan.

    It was not until then that the idea that Tuan Tuan may never be found urred to them for the first time.

    Her parents finally agreed to return home for the time being after Ning Lan persuaded them repeatedly. Her parents were the retired teaching staff at Binhai University, so they had many acquaintances in the Family Housing Facility. They kept making phone calls to their acquaintances to ask them to help find Tuan Tuan. As for Ning Lan, she issued posts on Weibo, WeChat Moment, and printed out the notice about her lost dog, and began to post the notice everywhere the next morning.

    Her parents stayed at home to wait for phone calls. asionally, someone called and reported that they had seen a dog simr to Tuan Tuan. But after detailed description, her parents realized that it was not Tuan Tuan. Suffering from disappointment time and again, her mother who had already had a heart condition needed to rest in bed due to physical difort.

    Two days had passed and there was still no news of Tuan Tuan. The probability of finding it was getting lower and lower. Ning Lan had med herself for her negligence numerous times, and she had tried to tell her parents that if Tuan Tuan could not be found in the end, she would buy another dog for them. But they refused, all they wanted was Tuan Tuan. In fact, even if she bought another dog, she was still concerned about the safety of Tuan Tuan.

    ¡°Have you watched the surveince videos from the security guards?¡± Zhang Zian interjected.

    ¡°I have, but the Family Housing Facility is in a rtively old district. Although some surveince cameras have been installed recently, there are a lot of blind angles.¡± Ning Lan exined.

    She finished telling about the incident and started to sob.

    Sun Xiaomengforted Ning Lan, took out her cell phone and said, ¡°Guys, look at these.¡±

    Zhang Zian and Ning Lan came over to look at her phone. On the screen, there was a text message sentst night from one of Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s customers whose surname was Li. The content of the message was: Dr. Sun, my dog Furry is lost. From the surveince footage, it seems that someone has stolen my Furry. If you encounter a dog that look like my Furry, be sure to contact me as soon as possible.

    And then there was another message sent by a customer whose surname was Qian. This message was sent around 6 o¡¯clock this morning, which was less than two hours ago. The message read: Dr. Sun, my dog Kiddo is lost and I¡¯m looking for it. I have to cancel my appointment this morning, sorry for any inconvenience.

    Zhang Zian gasped. It seemed like a gang of dog-trappers were stealing dogs in the neighboring areas¡­

 Chapter 522: Danger

    <h4>Chapter 522: Danger</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    To be cautious, Zhang Zian asked Sun Xiaomeng to text back Qian and Li and ask them for details on how they lost their dogs. They replied to the texts soon after.

    Afterpiling the information, the three of them identified a pattern. All the dogs were lost in Dongcheng District, near the Family Housing Facilities of the university, the hospital and the state-owned enterprise. These facilities were old and were under-equipped with surveince cameras. There were many dead ends and the security guards were sloppy with their jobs which left them vulnerable to intrusion.

    Among them, Mr. Li imed that although the surveince did not record the dog trapping, it recorded a suspicious vehicle. He sent over the screenshot from the surveince video.

    The three events happened either in the early morning or in thete evening. It could not have been a coincidence. The surveince video was not clear in the dim light of dusk and dawn. Mr. Li¡¯s video screenshot was very blurry, in which only a sliding door of an MPV car was identifiable. As the car drove, the door was ajar and notpletely closed. Apart from this, no other sign could rte this vehicle to the lost dogs. But to use this screenshot as the only evidence was obviously far-fetched.

    Mr. Liined in the texts that he reported the surveince video to the police in his district, but the police would not ept the case. They advised him to look further near his home because they thought the dog might have gone astray.

    Zhang Zian could understand it. The police had a lot to deal with at the end of the year. Even a lost person¡¯s case could only be established after 24 hours, not to mention a dog. Besides, there was no evidence.

    The surveince camera was too high to capture the face of the MPV driver. The te number was captured, but blurry.

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment, then called Sheng Ke. It was New Year¡¯s Day holiday, and he didn¡¯t want to interrupt Sheng Ke¡¯s day off, so he called his office number. If nobody answered, he would wait another day or two.

    Surprisingly, Sheng Ke answered the phone within a second. Zhang Zian briefly exined the case. Sheng Ke asked him to send the picture to a designated email, then wait for a call back.

    It did not take long for Sheng Ke to call back. The technical department processed the picture and identified the te number, but unfortunately, it was a falsified number which did not match the vehicle. In other words, the owner of the MPV could not be found.

    Sheng Ke sounded busy over the phone, and had constantly been interrupted by subordinates¡¯ issues to deal with. Despite this, he promised to notify the police to keep an eye on the te number and vehicle model. He specified that he didn¡¯t do it for the sake of Zhang Zian. Falsifying a te number was illegal anyway.

    Zhang Zian put the phone on speaker so that Ning Lan and Sun Xiaomeng could also hear the conversation. Ning Lan was eager to find the dog, but felt sorry for Sheng Ke when she heard that he had to work during the New Year¡¯s holiday. She signaled Zhang Zian to drop this matter.

    He gave a brief apology and thanks, then hung up the phone.

    Ning Lan sighed and said, ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll look for it myself. Thank you, Mr. Zhang. I¡¯m grateful for what you have done so far. Please don¡¯t interrupt his office hour with our business. Caption Sheng must have a lot more urgent matters to deal with.¡±

    She was a sensible person, and did not take advantage of the fact that Zhang Zian had a police captain friend.

    Things had reached a dead end. The trappers were clearly well prepared and even used a falsified te. Zhang Zian and Sun Xiaomeng could not help any further even if they wanted to.

    Ning Lan looked at the time and stood up. ¡°Sister Xiaomeng¡­thank you. I¡¯m leaving now. It¡¯s New Year¡¯s day and you should take a break. I have a date with my ssmates at the gate of Binhai University. We¡¯ll look for the dog together today. The more people, the better.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I couldn¡¯t help much.¡± Sun Xiaomeng stood up and walked her out.

    Ning Lan thanked Zhang Xian. ¡°Thank you for your help, Mr. Zhang. Although Tuan Tuan is irreceable, if it¡¯s truly lost, I¡¯ll surely buy another dog from you.¡±

    As soon as she said goodbye, Zang Zian suddenly remembered that the elfins at home were waiting for breakfast. He prepared to leave as well.

    ¡°You are wee. I¡¯ll leave too.¡±

    After leaving Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s clinic, Ning Lan went to meet her ssmates. Zhang Zian dropped by Uncle Li¡¯s restaurant, and returned to the pet shop with a styrofoam cooler.

    While the elfins were eating breakfast, Zhang Zian turned on theputer at the cashier station, logged into the public ount of Wechat, and sent a group message.

    The Spring Festival ising soon. There have been a few dog trafficking eventstely in the Dongcheng District. Please be careful when you walk a dog. Make sure to use a leash, and never let the dog out of your sight.

    A momentter, more than onement confirmed that their neighbors had lost their dogs in the recent days, and most of them were in the urban vige.

    A few others cursed the dog thieves to bump into ghosts at night.

    A few minutester, Snowy re posted the message on her Weibo page, reminding people to keep their dogs safe.

    Although the store was open today, there were barely any customers. Most people were either resting or visiting rtives during the long-awaited, 3-day break. Most nearby stores were closed.

    Zhang Zian continued to read the Abyssinian cat breeding book left by Kathy, but found it hard to stay focused.

    He put down the book, dressed himself again, grabbed the baseball and baseball gloves, and prepared to y the daily game in the green field. The weather was not great, but it was cloudy and cold. So he didn¡¯t take the elfins with him.

    After locking the shutter door, he left from the back door with Zhan Tian.

    The back door of the pet shop was facing a quiet alley, leading to the green field on the right. Around the green field were some old residential buildings waiting for demolition. The old residential buildings were not well insted and were cold in winters. Not many people lived there. They were mostly the old and the sick.

    The green field was empty and cold as usual, without anyone in it.

    Zhang Zian yed with Zhan Tian for a while. Zhan Tian was apparently getting more excitable than before, responding faster to orders and executing them faster. It did not mean that the Special Forces were not good at training dogs. They had other more important things to do, and wouldn¡¯tpromise their daily training and assignments for training a dog. Zhan Tian was excellent, but so where the other candidate dogs, plus the numerous new ones that arrived each year.

    Zhang Zian knew well that Zhan Tian was unlikely to get back to its peak state. It was good enough to give him a normal life.

    ¡°Zhan Tian, fetch!¡±

    He threw the baseball to Zhan Tian to fetch, rewarded it with beef jerky, and so forth. He threw harder and harder, and the ball wasnding further and further. But Zhan Tian was able to fetch it each time.

    Zoom¡­

    He threw the baseball again, except it was not very urate this time. The baseball hit the fence, then bounced towards the alley at the exit of the green field.

    Zhan Tian chased after it with excitement. It made a turn, then disappeared into the alley. Zhang Zian did not notice that. He looked at his cellphone when Zhan Tian returned earlier. It was gettingte and decided that he should head back soon. He had not yet started the daily boxing ss, nor yed hide-and-seek with Gxy but he waited for a while longer, yet Zhan Tian did not return.

    He threw quite hard just now, and the baseball flew far away. But even after this, Zhan Tian should have returned. Did the ball get stuck somewhere Zhan Tian could not reach? It was possible. Sometimes the ball got stuck in the branches, and he had to climb adder to get it.

    He waited awhile longer, but Zhan Tian still not return.

    Zhang Zian had a bad feeling in his heart. He shouted, ¡°Zhan Tian,e back!¡±

    Usually, as soon as he shouted, Zhan Tian would have returned to him, with or without the baseball. As he shouted, Zhan Tian growled in the alley with rage. At the same time, a motor sound came from the alley.

    Damn!

    Zhang Zian felt anxious, as if a million mas were running over his heart and left a million holes.

    Can I be unlucky enough to encounter this?

    He ran towards the exit with so much regret that he wanted to p his own face. This old residential area was about to be demolished, with no surveince nor securities. It was the perfect crime scene for the dog-trappers! How could he be so careless to ignore that? And he was reminding others not to let their dogs out of their sight? He failed so miserably at this. A big p in his face!

    If Zhan Tian had been trapped. How could he answer Fu Tao from the police dog nursing home the next time he asked him ¡°How is Zhan Tiantely?¡±

    Zhang Zian was stronger than before. He ran out of the green field and entered the alley.

    A dark shadow shed in front of him, and he almost ran into something. He was covered in cold sweat, and quickly dodged to the side. As he looked carefully, it was Zhan Tian.

    ¡°Zhan Tian, are you OK?¡± He was thrilled with excitement that Zhan Tian was back and no longer had to worry. There was something wrong with Zhan Tian. It barked restlessly towards the other end of the alley, as if it had seen an enemy.

    Zhang Zian looked over, and saw an MPV disappearing at the end of the alley in smoke. It looked like the vehicle in Mr. Li¡¯s video. Subconsciously, he took out his phone to film the te number, but then he realized that it was a falsified te and filming would have been in vain.

    ¡°It¡¯s OK, Zhan Tian. It¡¯s OK.¡±

    He held Zhan Tian, trying to calm it down.

    As he looked closely, the hair in Zhan Tian¡¯s neck seemed to have been scraped by something against the direction of growth, and the skin under the hair was reddish.

    Zhan Tian furiously barked a few more times towards the vanishing MPV, then stopped reluctantly.

    ¡°Zhan Tian, let¡¯s go home.¡±

    Zhang Zian put the leash on Zhan Tian in terror. They just walked a few steps, and Zhan Tian was distracted by a soft object on the ground. It sniffed and sniffed, unwilling to leave.

    Zhang Zian was certain that this thing was not there earlier. It must have been left by the dog-trappers.

    He picked it up and pinched it. It looked like a ball of rice, or some dessert made with glutinous rice. It was made with an unknown substance but it was soft with a nice smell.

    He drew a picture of what happened just now.

    The group of trappers drove into the alley, slowed down, or stopped with the engine on, and searched for a victim dog. Then they saw Zhan Tian run out of the field to fetch the baseball. They thought it was an ordinary German Shepard, so they threw bait towards it as they did with most dogs. The dogs chased after it because the bait was probably irresistible to them. Then they trapped the dog. Using this method, they caught it every time.

    But Zhan Tian was no ordinary dog. Despite the early retirement, it was still one of the best police dogs, and would not ept food from strangers. It had always been alert, and the bait did not work. But those people were obsessed with money, and didn¡¯t want to let go of this beautiful, purebred German Shepherd. It would cost a lot of money. They drove up, trying to trap Zhan Tian anyway. But it was smart enough to get away, and barked horrendously to alert Zhang Zian.

    The thieves were nervous, and elerated the car to flee the scene. After hurrying over, all Zhang Zian saw was the exhaust from the vehicle.

    It was a pity for Zhang Zian. If Zhan Tian had not been hurt by the re, it might have been brave and chased and bitten them. Had they stopped those dog-trappers, they would have done the world a favor.

    ¡°Come on, Zhan Tian. Let¡¯s go home.¡± He put the bait in his pocket, and wanted to return to the pet shop through the back door. But Zhan Tian stopped at the door, staring in the direction of where the MPV disappeared. He tugged a few times, but Zhan Tian would not move. Zhan Zian frowned, and lowered his body to Zhan Tian. ¡°Zhan Tian, do you remember their smell?¡±

    Zhan Tian turned its head and barked loudly. Then it continued to stare in the direction that the trappers went. He knew what Zhan Tian meant. It wanted to chase them.

    As one of the best police dogs, Zhan Tian must have received professional scent recognition training, and must have graduated with good grades. Otherwise, it would not have entered the Special Forces.

    Honestly speaking, Zhang Zian was pissed off by these people. They were bold enough to trap his dog. He remained calm despite the anger. He was thinking about two things; first, was Zhan Tian able to trace them by the odor; second, could he turn those trappers over to the police after he traced them.

    He was more concerned with the second thought. Since they were a group, there should be at least three people, or even more. That was a lot of people for him and a dog. He was good at Wing Chun Kung fu, butcked battlefield experience. If the enemies had knives or bricks, he and Zhan Tian would be in danger. A wise man should not put himself in unnecessary danger. He didn¡¯t suffer actual loss, and should not risk himself impulsively.

    It was inappropriate to ask for Sheng Ke¡¯s help as well. It was uncertain whether Zhan Tian was able to trace them yet. If Sheng Ke came over with a group to help and ended up with nothing, it would look bad.

    Old Time Tea could nail it for sure, but it may draw too much attention in bright daylight, so he better not.

    A decision must be made as soon as possible, before the enemy¡¯s odor disappeared.

    After realizing this, he asked Zhan Tian to wait by the door. He stuck his head inside the room and called, ¡°Famous,e out with me.¡±

    Famous was snoozing next to the reclining chair in boredom. It followed Zhang Zian outside after hearing how serious he sounded.

    Fina and Old Time Tea watched him in confusion. He had little time to exin. ¡°I¡¯ll tell youter after Ie back. Lunch may bete today.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Fina was about to exin when Zhang Zian shut the back door.

    He took out the phone and texted Sun Xiaomeng to ask for Ning Lan¡¯s number.

    ¡°Hi, is that Ning Lan? This is Zhang Zian, manager of Amazing Fate Pet Shop.¡± He dialed the number.

    ¡°Oh, hi.¡± Ning Lan was obviously surprised. ¡°Mr. Zhang, what¡¯s the matter? Did you find my Tuan Tuan?¡±

    Her voice was full of expectation.

    ¡°No, but I may have a lead. Are you looking near Binhai University with your friends?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Well, yes.¡±

    ¡°How many are you?¡±

    ¡°One, two, three¡­ten including myself.¡± She replied. Others could be heard in the speaker.

    That was a lot of people. Ning Lan seemed popr in ss. Zhang Zian spected that most of the ten were guys.

    ¡°OK. Pleasee over as soon as possible. I¡¯ll meet you at the intersection of Zhonghua Road. I saw the vehicle just now.¡± He said.

    Ning Lan was excited with happiness, and replied, ¡°OK, we¡¯ll be there right away!¡±

    After hanging up the phone, Zhang Zian patted the eager Zhan Tian. ¡°Zhan Tian, now it¡¯s your show time!¡±

 Chapter 523: Tracking

    <h4>Chapter 523: Tracking</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    While walking, Zhang Zian briefly exined the incident that had just happened to Famous and then made it smell the ball of soft and fragrant bait.

    Famous couldn¡¯t tell the ingredients of the bait, but it confirmed Zhang Zian¡¯s spection that this thing had a strange aroma that was very appealing to dogs.

    When they walked out of the alley, Zhan Tian lowered its head and sniffed around on the ground. There was no wind today, but the air quality was poor with light pollution. The disgusting odor of automobile exhaust could be vaguely smelled in the air, which was the main reason Zhang Zian did not want to take the elves outside to y . However, the weather today had created a good atmosphere for Zhan Tian¡¯s tracking.

    At almost the same time as when Zhang Zian arrived at the junction of Zhonghua Road, Ning Lan and a group of young men and women arrived there in three taxis.

    Ning Lan jumped out of the car, and anxiously asked, ¡°Manager Zhang, you saw the car in the video, right? Which way did it drive to?¡±

    Zhang Zian pointed to Zhan Tian. ¡°I was in the alley when I saw the car, and then it drove away. My dog ??is tracking the smell of those people.¡±

    Ning Lan and her ssmates were surprised and focused their eyes on Zhan Tian.

    ¡°Is this dog reliable?¡± More than one person whispered their doubts.

    Ning Lan had told her ssmates about the identity of Zhang Zian in the taxi. Someone replied, ¡°I don¡¯t think so. This is not a movie. How can a random dog from a pet shop be used as a police dog?¡±

    Someone even jokingly sneered. ¡°Will it just lead us to the Qing-Feng Steamed Dumpling Shop? We might as well eat lunch there! I did not eat breakfast¡­I¡¯m really a bit hungry now.¡±

    This joke was a bit frivolous, however, this was not the time for making jokes. Ning Lan red unhappily at the guy.

    Their reactions were just as Zhang Zian had expected. It was not their dogs that were missing so why would they be so anxious? In other words, most of Ning Lan¡¯s ssmates, whether out of sentiment toward a schoolfellow, friendship, or affection; they were here only because they cared about Ning Lan instead of Ning Lan¡¯s dog.

    Zhang Zian did not refute these doubts because he was also uncertain if Zhan Tian would be able to track down the gang of the dog-trappers. Most importantly, he was not doing this for Ning Lan. Instead, he thought it might be a good opportunity to rebuild Zhan Tian¡¯s confidence.

    Famous also bowed and sniffed. However, it had never received the professional training of odor identification and tracking. The odor environment in the city was tooplicated. After trying several times, it gave up and shook its head gently.

    Odor recognition was a skill that required natural talent. Even when two dogs of the same breed received the same odor identification training, their grades could bepletely different. In this regard, Zhan Tian was undoubtedly an outstanding police dog, as evidenced by the fact that it was once selected into the SWAT team.

    Zhang Zian held the leash behind Zhan Tian while it led the way and focused on sniffing the smell. Zhan Tian walked faster in the straight streets, but when it came to such traffic arteries as crossroads, it would take Zhan Tian more than ten minutes to sniff the roads in all directions before it finally chose to pursue one of the directions.

    Ning Lan was extremely anxious but did not dare to urge Zhan Tian. After all, she had been very grateful to Zhang Zian who was willing to help her.

    Walking inrge groups with two dogs, Zhang Zian, Ning Lan, and her ssmates were quite eye-catching.

    Near a crossroads, they encountered an unexpected episode.

    ¡°Comrade, please wait a moment.¡±

    At first, Zhang Zian ignored the voice, because he didn¡¯t think the person was talking to him. He didn¡¯t stop until the person repeated the sentence. He looked up and saw a traffic police officer wearing a winter uniform with a fur cor on a parked police motorcycle on the roadside. The police officer took off his sunsses, walked to Zhang Zian quickly and said politely, ¡°Comrade, please show me your dog-raising license.¡±

    Zhang Zian was so perplexed. Since when were the traffic police in charge of the matter of raising dogs? But he vaguely remembered that yesterday¡¯s local news did mention that the city government had decided to clean up the city by controlling wild dogs during the holiday season.

    Ning Lan was very nervous. Although it was unclear if Zhang Zian¡¯s dogs could track down the smell of the gang, this was her only option for the time being. It would be very troublesome if these two German Shepherds were detained because Zhang Zian didn¡¯t possess the dog-raising license.

    So, she took two steps forward, hoping the police officer could make an exception this time. But Zhang Zian waved to her and indicated that she didn¡¯t need to do so. He pulled out a dog-raising license and an immunization card from his pocket and handed them to the traffic police officer.

    ¡°This is its document,¡± he pointed to Famous.

    After confirming the validation of the documents, the police officer handed them back to Zhang Zian and politely asked, ¡°Comrade, please also show me the license of the other dog.¡±

    ¡°It is a retired police dog. So, I don¡¯t have a dog-raising license for it,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    Ning Lan and her ssmates were shocked. This German Shepherd that had been leading the way and tracking the smell of the gang for them was actually a retired police dog? But judging from its age, it was not very old. Howe it had retired from the police so early?

    Some people also doubted whether Zhang Zian had made that up for the inspection.

    The traffic police officer apparently did not believe Zhang Zian¡¯s answer. Instead, he asked, ¡°Please show me its police dog certificate then.¡±

    ¡°That one I have.¡± Zhang Zian took out the police dog certificate for Zhan Tian and handed it to him.

    The police dog certificate of Zhan Tian was given to him by Fu Tao, who was the owner of a police dog nursing home. Zhang Zian had carried the certificate with him all the time in case there was any inspection, and it indeed hade in handy today.

    The police dog certificate was issued by the Binhai Police Dog Training Base and could be used in Binhai City as well as in the adjacent provinces. On the certificate, there was a printed photo of Zhan Tian, as well as its birthday, breed, chip serial number, certificate serial number and other information, which was essible on the inte.

    When the traffic police officer saw the name of the SWAT team on the certificate, he could not help but hold his breath.

    He handed the police dog certificate back to Zhang Zian and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry to disturb you, thank you for your cooperation.¡±

    The traffic police officer saluted and left on his police motorcycle.

    Ning Lan¡¯s ssmates were astonished. ¡°Wow! Is this really a police dog?¡±

    They kept asking Zhang Zian. ¡°Where did you get a retired police dog? I also want to raise one.¡±

    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t waste time here any longer. If you want to know, I can tell you on the way.¡± Zhang Zian gestured to Zhan Tian to continue tracking. He briefly introduced the story of Zhan Tian to Ning Lan and her ssmates on the way.

    Ning Lan¡¯s ssmates were very envious of Zhang Zian because it was difficult for ordinary people to adopt retired police dogs, especially such a young one. In addition, they had greatly increased their confidence in Zhan Tian and believed that it would be able to track down the gang of dog-trappers.

    Zhan Tian led them on circuitous routes and they got farther away from the city. A lot of people were tired, but they held on. In the end, they had arrived at the outskirt of the city where arge area of ??old neighborhoods appeared in front of them.

    Many of the people present had recognized this area, including Zhang Zian and Ning Lan.

    Huh? Wasn¡¯t this the urban vige of Binhai City?

 Chapter 524: Urban Village

    <h4>Chapter 524: Urban Vige</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    A lot of cities had urban viges, including Binhai City.

    An urban vige started out as an ordinary vige near the city. As the city expanded, the vige became part of the city, but was never demolished and rebuilt for some reason. It became a unique scenery on its own, and could not blend in with the tall buildings around them.

    Ning Lan¡¯s ssmates were grad students in Binhai University, and were familiar with this urban vige. A lot of student couples in Binhai University did not live on the campus residence, but rented their own ce in the urban vige. Most houses in the vige were built by the vigers and were three-story buildings with simple furniture and cheap rent. It was popr among the student couples.

    The problem with an urban vige was evident. It was chaotic!

    Most residents of the urban vige were tenants that moved often. The security was loose, and many tenants lost their wallets or phones all the time. Fights and conflicts were often reported. Underground brothels were everywhere which were a natural hotbed of crimes.

    Upon arrival, Zhan Tian stormed into the urban vige without hesitation. Zhang Zian knew well that the dog-trappers were very likely to be hiding here. The urban vige was indeed the perfect hiding ce for them.

    Hotels that were sloppily built by the vigers were everywhere in the urban city, forming abyrinth. Many hospitable vigers came up to greet potential guests. ¡°Are you looking to rent? Our hotel is cheaper than the others. Monthly payment with one-month deposit. Would you like to take a look inside?¡±

    There were all kinds of odors in the urban vige. Zhan Tian had to sniff more carefully. Zhang Zian reminded the others to pay attention to the surroundings.

    Ning Lan¡¯s friends became nervous. It was one thing to help her look for the dog, but facing a gang of criminals was something else. A few girls were afraid, but were too shy to leave. The guys were emboldening each other. ¡°What are we afraid of? We are so many, plus two dogs! Good always defeats evil!¡±

    Zhan Tian led them to an ordinary yard. The gate was shut, and it was quiet inside. It sniffed around near the gate, then sat down and looked at Zhang Zian silently, as if it was telling him something with the eyes.

    ¡°Is it here?¡± He bent down and asked quietly.

    Zhan Tian watched him in silence.

    This was the difference between a police dog and a house dog. When something unusual was spotted, a house dog would bark right away, but a trained police dog would be unusually quiet, in order not to scare the enemy.

    Famous lifted its head and sniffed, then said in a low voice, ¡°There is a smell of many dogs in the yard. Some of it smells¡­rotten.¡±

    Zhang Ziwan was 100% certain that this was the base of the dog-trappers. Some of the trapped dogs may be dead already, and were about to be sold to dog meat restaurants. As for why the living dogs were silent¡­he was not sure.

    He was thinking about the next move. Should he call Sheng Ke? Then he suddenly noticed a few vigers were peeping at them from a distance, and typing on their phone.

    Damn! The urban vigers probably knew that they were running a shady business. To cope with the sudden inspections from the government, they had secret WeChat groups in order to stay connected and alert each other. As soon as the outsiders arrived, including Zhang Zian, they were fighting against countless invisible soldiers everywhere.

    Soon, a hustling sound came from the yard, as if someone was packing up in a hurry.

    Zhang Zian made an immediate decision and told Ning Lan, ¡°Call the police, and tell them someone is selling illegal drugs here.¡± Before Ning Lan could respond, he clenched his fist and knocked on the door. ¡°Open the door! Open the door!¡±

    As he yelled, Zhan Tian barked with him. The sound became more chaotic in the yard with the noise of tables and chairs being knocked over.

    Zhang Zian assigned tasks to two students. ¡°You guys detour to the back. One take the left and the other take the right. Go see if there are back doors or side doors in the yard, thene back to tell me.¡±

    They took the order and hurried off. Soon they came back and reported. ¡°This is the only door.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. The people inside could not run away.

    Suddenly, the bolt clicked and the door was pulled open. A young man wearing a mask shouted to Zhang Zian angrily. ¡°Hey, what are you knocking for? Who are you looking for?¡±

    Zhang Zian replied calmly, ¡°Our dog is lost. We are looking for it.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have dogs here!¡±

    The young man wanted to close the door after answering impatiently. But Zhang Zian held the door.

    ¡°What you do want? Trouble?¡± The young man¡¯s face changed. He rolled up his sleeves, ready for a fight.

    ¡°Woof! Woof!¡± Zhan Tian growled and showed its teeth.

    The young man saw the yellow dog teeth, and chickened out.

    During this moment, through the door slit, Zhang Zian saw an MPV parked in the yard. It was the same vehicle in the video, and the same one he saw in the valley at the back of his pet shop.

    ¡°It is here!¡± He tilted his head to tell Ning Lan. ¡°Let¡¯s go inside and see!¡±

    Ning Lan saw it too. She was very anxious to find her dog, so she followed Zhang Zian inside the yard. The young man wanted to stop them, but he couldn¡¯t stop so many people alone, and was brushed to the side.

    They forced themselves into the yard with Zhang Zian. Two young men came out of the room, both wearing masks, with a shady look in their eyes. They were clearly not good people.

    ¡°What you do want? To steal or rob?¡± They forgot that they were thieves and robbers themselves, and yelled rudely with their hands on their waists. ¡°Let me tell you. If you don¡¯t leave, we¡¯ll call the police!¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡± Zhang Zian responded. ¡°If you don¡¯t, I¡¯ll call them for you. Give the trapped dogs back!¡±

    ¡°Dogs? What dogs? We don¡¯t have dogs here!¡± The three men would not admit it.

    Zhang Zian pointed at the MPV. ¡°Then open the trunk of this vehicle, and let us take a look.¡±

    ¡°Why? Who do you think you are? Police? Do you have a warrant?¡± They protected the vehicle nervously, as if there was some horrible secret inside the vehicle.

    Zhang Zian was not in a hurry. Ning Lan already called the police. All he needed to do was to hold them off until the police arrived.

    A crowd of people had already gathered outside the yard. Some were the urban vigers, and some were tenants. They were all watching the drama.

    The dog trappers knew that it would be bad for themselves to be held off. One of them got into the driver¡¯s seat of the MPV and started the engine. The other two also went inside the car.

    ¡°Get the f*ck off! I¡¯m driving off. If you don¡¯t go away, I¡¯ll run you over!¡± The driver rolled down the window, stuck out his head and cursed.

    They were not bluffing, and started to back out the vehicle. The MPV was backing up toward Zhang Zian and others. They knew what would happen if their shady business was exposed, and couldn¡¯t wait to get away.

    If Zhang Zian and the rest did not move away, they could have been rolled under the wheels. These lunatic dog-trappers were capable of anything. This was just a rented ce, and the te was falsified. They had nothing to fear. They would be hard to catch once they got away.

    The students rebuked them furiously, but had to move to the side, as did Zhang Zian. As soon as he moved away, the MPV tried to hurry off. Zhan Tian leaped into the front window with precision, bit the driver¡¯s wrist, and pulled it abruptly to the side.

    Zhan Tian¡¯s bite was urate, but didn¡¯t hurt him. The teeth merely pierced through the cuff of the driver¡¯s winter coat.

    The driver was shocked and infuriated. The MPV driver lost control as he battled against Zhan Tian for the steering wheel. The car banged into the yard wall. The engine cover was distorted, broken and had smokeing from it.

    ¡°Zhan Tian!¡±

    Zhang Zian was worried about Zhan Tian¡¯s injury. He hurried over to pull it out of the window. Zhan Tian¡¯s forehead was injured by the steering wheel during the impact, and blood ran down its cheek. But its eyes were excited. The injury didn¡¯t seem too bad.

    The three dog-trappers had their sh*t bumped out. They pulled open the door, and wobbled out of the car.

    ¡°Tuan Tuan!¡±

    Right away, Ning Lan saw her Samoyed lying in the car. She jumped over, and screamed in terror.

 Chapter 525: Ear Tag

    <h4>Chapter 525: Ear Tag</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Thepartment of the MPV was smelly and was filled with the foul odor of dog excrement. There were at least four or five dogs lying on the floor of thepartment, and their forelimbs and hind legs were tied by nylon straps. There were also muzzles on their mouths to prevent them from barking or biting.

    The white hair of Tuan Tuan, Ning Lan¡¯s Samoyed, had turned gray and dirty. It was extremely weak. If it was found one dayter, it would have been dead. Seeing the face of its owner, Tuan Tuan struggled to raise its head but then fell weakly to the ground.

    Zhang Zian noticed that this vehicle had been crudely modified. An iron buckle covered with a leather handle was installed on the floor, probably for the criminals to stabilize themselves and to avoid being dragged out of the vehicle when they trapped therge-sized dogs.

    Ning Lan cried and rushed into thepartment. She held Tuan Tuan in her arms and tried to untie its straps and muzzle with her trembling hands. But it¡¯s impossible to untie the nylon straps once they were fastened. There was a small-sized versatile Swiss army knife on Zhang Zian¡¯s key chain, and he used it to help her cut the straps and the rope of the muzzle.

    The trio of dog-trappers were not wearing seat belts when the collision happened. They were dizzy, and they couldn¡¯t get up from the ground for the time being due to the impact. Zhang Zian saw there were extra nylon straps in the vehicle, so he asked the students to tie up the trio with their hands behind their backs to prevent them from hurting others violently.

    More than one person had recorded the process with their cell phone. It was evident that the trio of dog-trappers absconded after they tried to hit people. The trio would not be able to deny it.

    It was narrow inside the car. Ning Lan¡¯s two rtively strong male ssmates helped Ning Lan take Tuan Tuan from the car. While sobbing, she called her parents and told them that Tuan Tuan had been found, but it was in poor condition and needed to receive treatment as soon as possible.

    Zhang Zian also picked up his phone and called Sun Xiaomeng to tell her what happened just now. He noticed that several other dogs were still lying inside the car and were dying. He took pictures of these dogs and sent them to Sun Xiaomeng, so that two of her customers whosest names were Li and Qian, respectively, coulde and retrieve their dogs.

    When Ning Lan and Zhang Zian hung up the phone, Sun Xiaomeng called Ning Lan to tell her some necessary first-aid measures, and said that she wasing this way immediately with customer Li and customer Qian.

    Although someone had called the police, just to be sure, Zhang Zian made a phone call to Sheng Ke, and briefed him about the situation here. He asked him to inform the patrol officers around this area.

    While he was on the phone, Zhan Tian seemed to have found something because it quietly jumped into thepartment and rubbed a dog that was lying on the ground with its nose.

    This was also a German Shepherd but seemed very old because its teeth had been severely worn out. With eyes half-closed, it was lying in thepartment and was critically ill.

    ¡°Woof!¡±

    Zhan Tian jumped out of the car. It shook its tail as it went next to Zhang Xian who was in the middle of a phone call. It kept barking at and circling around Zhang Zian, as if trying to remind him of some things. Zhang Zian noted the abnormal behavior of Zhan Tian, so he asked Sheng Ke to stay on the line because a new situation may be arising.

    ¡°What¡¯s up, Zhan Tian?¡± he asked.

    Zhan Tian looked at him, and then looked back at the German Shepherd that was lying in thepartment.

    Zhang Zian silently asked Famous with his eyes about the matter. Famous jumped into the car to observe the dying German Shepherd. Famous shook its head and indicated that it had no idea what¡¯s going on.

    Zhan Tian grew more anxious. It opened its mouth and bit the leg of the trousers of Zhang Zian and pulled him to the car.

    He got into thepartment and crouched down to check the German Shepherd. Although it was still unclear what Zhan Tian had found, Zhang Zian cut off the straps and muzzle on the German Shepherd to make it feel better.

    Zhan Tian whimpered, stretched out a fore paw to pull the ear of this German Shepherd.

    Zhang Zian pinched its ear and felt that he had touched something. As he pushed aside the short hair on its ear, a long list of numbers was exposed.

    ¡°Is this an ¡­ ear tag?¡±

    Dogs with ear tags were rarely seen. Usually only breeding dogs, show dogs, and police dogs wore ear tags.

    This German Shepherd was of mediocre condition and didn¡¯t seem like a breeding dog or a show dog. Was it also a retired police dog?

    Zhang Zian took a picture of this string of numbers that began with 156, and then sent the image to Fu Tao for confirmation. Fu Tao was the owner of a police dog nursing home.

    Fu Tao quickly replied and confirmed his spection. He exined that before 2012, all the police dogs in China were marked with ear tags, which served as the ID card of the police dogs. However, since the piercing of ear tags was simr to the pain of getting a tattoo, in the years after 2012, chips that were embedded in the neck of the police dogs had gradually reced the ear tags. Hence, police dogs with ear tags were of advanced age now.

    Zhang Zian asked Zhan Tian, ¡°Do you know this police dog? Is it your friend¡­or your family?¡±

    Zhan Tian was not able to answer him. Zhan Tian whined and pulled the dying police dog with its mouth, trying to help it stand up.

    Zhang Zian had always thought that Zhan Tian brought them to this ce because it had tracked down the smell of the gang of the dog-trappers. But maybe he was wrong. Perhaps it was tracking down the smell of its old friend or its family.

    He learned from Old Yang and Fu Tao that individuals could apply for the adoption of a retired police dog. Although the threshold was rtively high, it was indeed viable. That¡¯s why he was able to adopt Zhan Tian.

    Since he was able to adopt a retired police dog, it meant that there were other people who had seeded in adopting police dogs. This German Shepherd might have already been adopted by an individual, and when its owner took it outside for a walk, it was trapped and stolen by the gang. Zhan Tian was almost trapped by the criminals. Luckily, Zhan Tian was still young and agile, otherwise, it would have been lying in thepartment with this aged German Shepherd.

    Zhang Zian picked up his phone and asked, ¡°Captain Sheng, are you still there?¡±

    ¡°Yes. What did you just find out?¡± Sheng Ke asked over the phone.

    ¡°A retired police dog has been found with these dogs.¡± Zhang Zian paused for a moment and added, ¡°This police dog is in a bad state and may die very soon. I¡¯m going to take a picture of the serial number of its ear tag and send it to you. Could you please check out who has adopted it and inform its owner toe over?¡±

    Sheng Ke went silent for a moment and said in a deep voice, ¡°All right. Thank you.¡±

    Zhang Zian hung up the phone, photographed the ear tag number and sent it to Sheng Ke¡¯s personal WeChat ount. Ordinary people had no ess to the internal files of police dogs, so this task could only be carried out by Captain Sheng.

    Ning Lan¡¯s ssmates posted what they had recorded or photographed to all kinds of social media and caused an uproar very soon.

    Within only a few minutes, Zhang Zian heard sirens ring from afar. Several police vehicles with shing rm lights drove into the urban vige and parked in front of the courtyard.

    A few police officers stepped down from the vehicles, pulled up to the cordon and advised the onlookers and tenants to leave. The chief police officer among the squad raised his voice and asked, ¡°Who called the police?¡±

    ¡°I did,¡± Zhang Zian came forward bravely. Ning Lan only called the police at his behest, of course, he should be the one to assume the responsibility.

    ¡°We have heard of the general situation from Captain Sheng. Please tell us about the ident in detail, and we will take dictation.¡± The chief police officer said.

 Chapter 526: Disposal of the Stolen Goods

    <h4>Chapter 526: Disposal of the Stolen Goods</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian told the detailed story to the 110 police, from Zhan Tian almost being trapped, to the dog-trappers¡¯ attempt to escape and to how they ended up hitting the yard wall. He also showed them Zhan Tian¡¯s police dog certificate and the bait used by the dog-trappers.

    He was not sure what was in the bait, but it definitely contained an anesthetic. It would be appropriate to use them of selling a dangerous illegal substance.

    In the end, he emphasized that one of the trapped dogs was a retired police dog. This immediately caught the attention of the police.

    Shortly after the case reporting was finished, Sun Xiaomeng arrived along with a few others in a taxi. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know those people, but they might be Mr. Qian and Mr. Li¡¯s family or friends. The police instructed them to stay out of the police cordon. They were only allowed inside after Zhang Zian exined it to the head police.

    Sun Xiaomeng brought a first aid box with pet first aid medicine and equipment. She ran to Ning Lan and was about the bend down to check on Tuan Tuan. Zhang Zian called to her. ¡°Come check on this dog first.¡± He waved to her, while he pointed to the retired police dog under his feet.

    Sun Xiaomeng had no idea why the German Shepherd was so important to him, but she knew that he must have a reason for it. She asked Ning Lan to wait a moment, and went to examine the German Shepherd with a stethoscope.

    From the expression on her face, the German Shepherd was not doing well. It was too old for the shock. After a while, she took off the stethoscope and shook her head. There was nothing she could do to bring the dog back. But she suggested transferring it to a general veterinary hospital. They were better equipped, and might make a miracle happen.

    Sheng Ke called again to inform Zhang Zian that they found the owner of the police dog. It was a retired policeman visiting rtives in another city. His kids lost the German Shepherd while walking it, but didn¡¯t tell him for fear of worrying him. He was hurrying back after he received the news. Zhang Zian told him about Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s diagnosis. After getting his consent, the 110 police sent a police car to take his German Shepherd to the closest vet hospital.

    Several police searched the house, and found a few more dogs, all of which were dead, including Mr. Qian¡¯s lost dog. Mr. Qian was furious and resentful. He jumped towards the three dog-trappers to beat them up, and was stopped by the police.

    Mr. Li searched inside and out of the house, but couldn¡¯t find his dog. As he was getting worried, the police questioned the three trappers. They were caught red-handed, and had to confess to the crime. They imed that after they trapped the dogs, the dead ones were sold to the restaurants nearby for meat, and the living ones were sold to the dog market. The dogs in the car were about to be shipped to the dog market. If the market refused to take them, they would have been sent to the dog meat restaurant to be ughtered. They had already sold two batches earlier.

    As for Mr. Li¡¯s dog, they remembered that it was sent to the dog market with thest batch, but they were not sure if it had been sold already.

    Dog market again¡­ Zhang Zian was shocked at how unbelievable the dog market was. Not only the sick and dying dogs, but they even epted the stolen dogs without any questions.

    The police had a discussion. To avoid further loss of the public¡¯s dogs, they decided to take one of the three trappers to the dog market to retrieve the stolen dogs. The other two trappers were taken to the police station to wait for trial.

    Mr. Li drove here. Anxious to get his dog back, he invited Zhang Zian into his car and drove to the dog market with the police.

    Zhang Zian had been to the dog market. He knew that it was an under-regted ce. Despite that it got a little better after some regtion, the dog peddlers were sneaky, and frequently changed ces after their transactions. Following his suggestion, the police did not turn on the siren, in order not to draw their attention.

    Soon, they arrived at the crowded dog market. They parked the cars outside, and walked on foot.

    The dog trapper suspect was handcuffed. For humanitarian reasons, they put clothes over the handcuffs, so that he wouldn¡¯t be easily identified as a criminal by others. He was obedient to the instructions of the police, in order to alleviate his charges.

    He led the way in silence, in the front, with his head down. When they approached a dog peddler¡¯s stand, he pointed at it in a distance.

    Today was the New Year¡¯s day, and most people were free. The business was good in the dog market. The stand was surrounded by quite a few customers, searching for a pet dog that could find favor in their eyes.

    Zhang Zian and the others were about to go over, when they saw an elderlydy stop her bicycle at the stand, as if she had seen something. She suddenly dropped her bike, pointed at a Shih Tzu in a cage, and spoke in excitement. ¡°This is my dog. This is my lost dog! Where did you steal it? Give it back to me, now!¡±

    The peddler rolled his eyes, and replied rudely, ¡°Your dog? What proof do you have? All my dogs are purchased from a dog farm, how can it be yours? Go away! Make a scene elsewhere. I have a business to run here!¡±

    The Shih Tzu recognized its owner. It started jumping up and down in the cage, and barked wildly.

    ¡°This is my dog. Its name is Furry. Look, it recognized me! Furry! Furry!¡± The elderlydy called the Shih Tzu by its name, and stretched out her hands to open the cage.

    ¡°Stop! Are you trying to steal my dog or what?¡± The peddler¡¯s face turned, and threw his body in front of the cage. ¡°How do you prove that this is your dog? Do you have a dog-raising license?¡±

    ¡°That¡­¡± Thedy could not refute. Like many people, she did not get a dog-raising license for her Shih Tzu, nor had she vinated it. It was taken from a friend, not bought from an official dog kennel or pet shop. There was no receipt, nor any other documentation to prove that it was her dog.

    The peddler was a good observer of attitude. He eased his tone and said, ¡°The ugly truth is, my dogs didn¡¯te from nowhere. If you want it, you pay for it. If not, then don¡¯t get in the way of my business.¡±

    ¡°How much do you want?¡± Thedy asked with anxiety.

    The peddler stuck out five fingers. ¡°This much if you really want it. Not a cent less.¡±

    ¡°Five hundred?¡± Thedy was shocked. ¡°This is my dog. How could you charge me so much?¡±

    The peddler was a jerk. He replied with azy voice, ¡°This is the price. Take it or leave it. If you don¡¯t take it, then don¡¯t regret it if somebody else buys it!¡±

    The elderdy felt helpless, and asked for help from other people. ¡°This is really my dog! Hear about this. He stole my dog then sells it to me. Have you seen anything like this?¡±

    The other customers didn¡¯t know the truth, and could not tell who was lying. Some left for other stands, and some stayed to watch the drama.

    The Shih Tzu was about one year old. It was adorable with decent purity. In formal pet shops, it would cost at least 1500 Yuan, and even more with a studbook.

    One of the bystanders, who could have been either the peddler¡¯s aplice or a real customer, spoke. ¡°I¡¯ll take this Shih Tzu. Is it 500?¡±

    The peddler smiled. ¡°Yes, 500 it is.¡±

    That man took out five 100-Yuan bills out of his wallet right away. ¡°This is a nice dog. I¡¯ll give it to my daughter as a gift. Is it healthy?¡±

    ¡°I can assure you! If it¡¯s not,e back to me any time, and I¡¯ll give you a full refund!¡± The peddler promised graciously.

    Having seen that a deal was about to be made, and Furry would soon be somebody else¡¯s dog, thedy stopped them in a hurry. ¡°Fine! 500 it is! I¡¯ll take it, Okay? I¡¯ll buy it now!¡±

    The peddler turned serious. ¡°Sorry, this dog is taken. If you want it, you have to pay more!¡±

    The elderdy regretted it so much that she was about to cry. She kept calling Furry by its name. It was sad to see this.

    The police stopped being observers. They separated the crowd, pointed at the peddler and asked, ¡°Did you sell the dogs to this person?¡±

    The suspect nodded without a word.

    ¡°You are suspected of disposing stolen goods. Please follow us to the police station for investigation.¡± the police told the peddler. Their voices were friendly, but their faces were as cold as frost.

    After seeing the police, the peddler panicked and argued like an ass in a lion¡¯s skin. ¡°What do you want? What are you arresting me for? I don¡¯t know this person! I have the right to remain silent. Right? I have the right to remain silent!¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t helpughing in his heart. Did this dude watch too many TVB series?

    Mr. Li also found his dog in a cage. He was relieved to see it safe and sound.

    At the same time, the inspectors in charge of the dog market arrived after hearing the news, and loaded all the dogs in the stand into a van back to the police station, as instructed by the police.

    The elderlydy stood still and watched everything. She could not believe her own eyes.

    The police exined the situation to her with patience, and asked for her phone number and address. They assured her that her dog would be returned to her after the investigation was finished.

    ¡°Well done, Zhan Tian.¡± Zhang Zian rubbed Zhan Tian¡¯s head. ¡°Well done!¡±

 Chapter 527: The Ethereal Elfin

    <h4>Chapter 527: The Ethereal Elfin</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After getting up in the morning, Zhang Zian routinely cleaned up the store. While sweeping the floor, he heard the newscaster¡¯s standard Mandarin from the TV where Old Time Tea was sitting in front of.

    ¡°Recently, after receiving a tip from an enthusiastic citizen, the Public Security Bureau of Binhai City has brought a gang of dog-trappers who weremitting crimes near Dongcheng District to justice. Let¡¯s look at the detailed report brought by our journalist at the scene.¡±

    Zhang Zian carried his broomstick and stood beside Old Time Tea and watched the TV newscast with it.

    On the television screen, the three dog-trapper suspects were lined up in handcuffs and squatted desperately in the corner. In the room on the floor, there were the corpses of several dead dogs, along with the tools that were used to trap dogs.

    A police officer was being interviewed by the journalist and gave a briefing on the usage of these tools and the process of the criminals¡¯ dog-trapping methods.

    The picture on the TV screen changed and the journalist had arrived at the dog market. The voice over illustrated that these stolen dogs were mainly resold to the dog meat restaurants or the dog market. People were advised to be more cautious when selecting dogs to buy and not to choose stolen dogs. They warned the public to purchase pet dogs from the regr pet shops or kennels. Otherwise, if they bought a stolen dog, it would have to be impounded.

    The camera switched back to the newsroom. The female announcer reminded the audience. ¡°The Spring Festival is around the corner and many thieves have recently been and will continue tomit crimes. We hope everyone can take care of their own belongings, including their cats and dogs. When going out, please be sure to tie a leash to your pet and never let your pet leave your sight and be careful not to allow your pet to eat things off the ground. Let¡¯s look at the next piece of news¡­¡±

    After a while, Ning Lan sent a selfie with her dog Tuan Tuan to Zhang Zian.

    Lying in a bed in the pet clinic with a bottle of medical drip hanging above its right forelimb, Tuan Tuan seemed much better than yesterday. Ning Lan was sitting beside the bed and ced her hand on Tuan Tuan¡¯s right forelimb to prevent it from moving around. She also looked much better than yesterday. Her dark circles had disappeared. She was smiling with relief and made the ¡°V¡± pose with her hand towards the camera.

    She was very grateful to Zhang Zian for helping her find Tuan Tuan, and just as she had promised in her notice, she intended to transfer 10,000 Yuan to Zhang Zian as her appreciation for his help.

    Zhang Zian wanted to receive the 10,000 Yuan, but he also knew that the credit should go to the police dog, Zhan Tian. So, he suggested that Ning Lan keep the money to herself, but when she had time, she could invite her ssmates to work as volunteers in Fu Tao¡¯s police dog nursing home to help Fu Tao take care of the retired police dogs there.

    He felt that if Zhan Tian could speak, it would certainly agree with his solution. Though Zhan Tian was mistakenly considered to be a gutless dog in the police dog nursing home, its affection for other police dogs was sincere. That was why it could track down the smell of that retired German Shepherd stolen by the gang of dog-trappers.

    The 10,000 Yuan could be used to cover the meals and travelling expenses for Ning Lan and her ssmates. After all, volunteering at a police dog nursing home in the countryside was tiresome and challenging. If her ssmates had to spend their own money to volunteer, probably no one would be willing to go. Lying in bed ying on their cellphones was much morefortable.

    If an arranged trip to the police dog nursing home cost 1,000 Yuan, then the 10,000 Yuan was enough for Ning Lan and her ssmates to volunteer ten times.

    Ning Lan asked him the address of the police dog nursing home and without hesitation, agreed to volunteer.

    Zhang Zian believed she would do it, but still kindly reminded her to be more careful. That ce was too remote, and she shouldn¡¯t go there withoutpanions.

    As for that German Shepherd they found in the criminals¡¯ vehicle yesterday, it was a pity that it died at a pet hospitalst night. But its owner was by its side before it died and probably died in peace.

    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Store Manager.¡± Lu Yiyun came to work as usual. Though she rested at home yesterday, she seemed more listless than usual. Perhaps she had stayed up all night to watch TV.

    ¡°Master, I heard that yesterday you showed your great power again by pushing a truck into a wall. Is that true?¡± A momentter, Wang Qian and Li Kun excitedly rushed into the shop and talked about the rumor they had heard.

    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Zhang Zian impatiently threw the broomstick to them. ¡°Start working! And when will you take your make-up final exams?¡±

    They took over the brooms and said cheekily, ¡°Hey, about ten dayster ¡­ but you rest assured, Master. Our teacher has underlined the key knowledge for us, and we¡¯ve heard that the inspection in the make-up exams will be less strict. You know we can do it!¡±

    ¡°Come, taste these, they are brought by our rtives from our hometown.¡± They took out the local delicacy of their hometown from bags and gave them to Zhang Zian and Lu Yiyun.

    Zhang Zian took the delicacies and asked them, ¡°Will you return to your hometown during the Spring Festival?¡±

    Lu Yiyun curiously opened the package, pinched a piece of the local delicacy and put it into her mouth. She thought that Zhang Zian was asking her, so she waved her hand and replied, ¡°I won¡¯t.¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun actually did not want to go back to their hometown, but they had to because their parents wanted them to.

    Zhang Zian counted the number of pets in his shop. Considering that Wang Qian and Li Kun would be out of town during the Spring Festival, he decided not to purchase more pets from the pet breeding base for the time being, otherwise, he would not be able to take care of so many pets by himself. He also wanted to enjoy the Spring Festival in a more rxed state.

    While joking and talking, Wang Qian and Li Kun were deftly cleaning up the cat litter and dog feces.

    Zhang Zian found the bottle of disinfectant had run out, so he went back to the storage room on the second floor to get a new bottle. Just then, the phone in his pocket suddenly rang. He took out his phone to have a look. It turned out to be the elfin detection information from the game of Pet Hunter.

    [Game Tips]: A rare pet has been detected in your city. Whether to go to capture the pet is the yer¡¯s own decision.

    [Game Tips]: The following is the information of the pet.

    [Pet Type]: Elfin.

    [Rarity]: Elite level.

    [Capture difficulty]: Extremely difficult.

    [Risk Level]: low.

    Zhang Zian stared nkly at the ¡°difficult¡± on his cellphone screen.

    Extremely difficult to capture?

    [Navigation Elfin]: Attention, yers. This elfin is an ethereal elfin that is extremely difficult to capture. Besides, its Strength of Faith is constantly fading away. It is estimated that this elfin only exists for a very short time. Whether to capture this elfin is up to the discretion of the yers.

    Zhang Zian was even more surprised. When he went to capture other elves before, the Navigation Elfin had never given such a solemn tip. If he remembered correctly, this was the second time the Navigation Elfin used ¡°ethereal¡± to describe the existence of an elfin. The first time was for Gxy.

    He inexplicably felt that this elfin might share some simrities with Gxy. The ¡°capture difficulty¡± of Gxy was ¡°uncapturable¡±, while this elfin was ¡°extremely difficult to capture¡±. Why would an elfin of a merely elite level be so difficult to capture?

 Chapter 528: Hidden Hints

    <h4>Chapter 528: Hidden Hints</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The navigation elfin didn¡¯t usually give opinions about the yer¡¯s elfin captures, but this time was an exception. Judging from its tone, it didn¡¯t rmend that the yer try blindly. Maybe the elfin only existed for a short time and was hard to capture, which resulted in an abnormally low possibility of a sessful capture.

    But Zhang Zian did not have a formal job and had lots of free time to kill. He had nothing better to do and besides there were very few customers during the New Year¡¯s break. Regardless, he decided to give it a try and thought it would be a nice walk anyway. Although he didn¡¯t know this elfin very well, he developed an unexinable sympathy for it. Just like Old Time Tea, the ¡°Strength of Faith¡± that kept it alive was fading away quickly. Soon its existence would be endangered. Wasn¡¯t it sympathetic?

    He turned around, and surprisingly found Gxy standing outside the storage room staring at him with its silver grey eyes, as if it had something thing to tell him.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on, Gxy? Do you want to y hide-and-seek?¡± He waited for a few seconds, but Gxy neither responded nor moved so he asked again.

    Gxy shook its head. ¡°Meow¡­Gxy wants to y hide-and-seek. But Gxy can wait because Zian has something more important to do!¡±

    Zhang Zian paused for a moment. Something more important¡­what did that mean? Was Gxy referring to capturing the elfin?

    He grew more interested in that elfin. What was it like? Why did Gxy take it so seriously?

    ¡°OK. I¡¯ll be back soon, and we will y hide-and-seek with Gxy after Ie back.¡±

    Time was precious. He nodded without further words, grabbed a fresh bottle of disinfectant from the storage room, then walked downstairs at a fast pace.

    When he was halfway on the stairs, he suddenly had an odd feeling in his heart. Wait a minute, why did Gxy specify those words? Even if Gxy didn¡¯te here, he was nning to capture the elfin anyway. The sudden appearance of Gxy dyed him for a few seconds. He turned his head and stared at him between the stair railings, straight into its eyes.

    Gxy didn¡¯t move and stared back at him the whole time. When he turned around, Gxy blinked at him three times, then turned its body to face the outer wall of the room as if it were repenting while facing the wall.

    Zhang Zian was stunned.

    Regarding the new elfin, he felt that Gxy must know something and came over to tell him. But what did that mean?

    At that moment, Wendy the Abyssinian cat squeezed through its side, and Gxy chased it with excitement. ¡°Meow¡­hide-and-seek¡­Gxy will be the ghost.¡±

    In the blink of an eye, Gxy disappeared into the living room following Wendy¡¯s steps. Apparently, Gxy had finished what it wanted to say.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s brain was so confused. It was as if he stumbled upon an English passage in which he didn¡¯t know half of the words.

    Just let it be. In the end things would mend. He stopped pondering because he couldn¡¯t find the answer. The elfin could disappear any moment, and he had no time to lose.

    He hurried off the stairs, threw the disinfectant to Wang Qian, then instructed him while putting on his jacket. ¡°I have to go out for something. As soon as you finish cleaning, just go back to school and prepare for your exams.¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun could see the anxiety between his eyebrows, then agreed without asking. But they didn¡¯t understand why the Master was in such as hurry as if he couldn¡¯t wait to find a bathroom. Was there no water upstairs, and he had to look for a bathroom outside?

    ¡°Mr. Manager, are youing back for lunch? Shall I order one for you?¡± Lu Yiyun asked immediately when he was about to leave.

    Zhang Zian spoke to himself for a second. He wasn¡¯t sure how long it was going to take. ¡°No, thanks. Just order your own lunch, and order whatever you like. I have to go now.¡±

    He pushed the door open as he spoke, and didn¡¯t even zip his winter jacket.

    He was in such a hurry, that Wang Qian, Li Kun and Lu Yiyun looked at each other in confusion, and felt worried about him. They thought his rtive or friend suddenly fell ill or had an ident, and he had to go look after them.

    Zhang Zian left the shop, opened up the e-map inside the game, zoomed it to the right proportion, and found the icon indicating the elfin¡¯s location. It was near the east of Binhai City, on the border the of city and the suburb, not far from the pet shop.

    He lifted his arm and stopped a taxi. He pointed to a direction and asked the drive to be faster.

    It was still New Year¡¯s holiday with very light traffic. The taxi drove fast, and the surrounding scenery moved quickly backwards.

    Dongcheng District was an educational area of Binhai City, in which a few higher education institutions were located, including Binhai University. There were countless high schools and elementary schools, and the academic atmosphere was intense. But Zhang Zian stared at the blinking icon on the phone screen, and couldn¡¯t figure out what could be there.

    As he only pointed out a rough direction, it was not easy for the driver. He kept asking him about the exact location as he drove.

    Zhang Zian handed out his phone, pointed at the screen and asked, ¡°Sir, in this area¡­are there anyndmarks or buildings?¡±

    The driver quickly nced at it andughed. ¡°What kind of navigation app you are using? This is a lousy app. You¡¯ll end up in a ditch following its direction¡­you should get a new navigation app!¡±

    Zhang Zianughed with embarrassment, and asked the driver the same question.

    ¡°Over there¡­there¡¯s nothing special. Most people visit two ces: one is Dongfeng Park, the other is Binhai City Library. Those heading to the Dongfeng Park are mostly seniors. The ticket is free for senior citizen card holders. They dance and practice Tai-Chi there. Most young people visit the library, and I often pick up students and teachers to go there at the gate of Binhai University.¡± The driver looked at him and added, ¡°Of course, many young couples visit Dongfeng Park in spring-time. But now it¡¯s winter.¡±

    The park and the library?

    ¡°Are these two ces far from each other?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    The driver replied, ¡°No, they are next to each other¡­ within walking distance. Some people take breaks from the reading, and walk in the park.¡±

    Zhang Zian had visited Dongfeng Park in high school, but he barely remembered anything. He had only visited the Binhai City Library once in primary school, and only remembered the poor lighting, and that it was an old and crowded ce. Not many people were borrowing books there.

    ¡°Sir, Dongfeng Park¡­is it only a park? Are there any historical relics? Or is it rted to a famous person? Either from China or other countries?¡± He asked.

    The driver didn¡¯t expect this question, and answered with uncertainty. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of it. It¡¯s just a park, I guess?¡±

    The car was going fast. They were getting closer to the blinking icon as they spoke.

    ¡°How is it? Have you decided where to go?¡± The driver was getting impatient. ¡°Or anywhere will do?¡±

    If this was a gamble for one of the two ces, Zhang Zian decided to bet on the Binhai City Library.

    ¡°The library.¡± He said.

    ¡°All right. I¡¯ll make a turn in front then.¡± The driver observed the road, then turned the steering wheel at the next intersection to the right.

    A big park appeared at one side of the road. Even in winter, the evergreens in the park were thriving. Through the branches, there were senior citizens who wore red and white and practiced Tai-Chi, and olddies who danced Yangko with pink handkerchiefs. A few couples were cuddling and walking among the Wintersweet shrubs.

    An artificial pond in theke was frozen, with a tall sign standing next to it that said ¡°No Skating¡±.

    Zhang Zian widened his eyes, and attentively observed the Dongfeng Park traveling quickly backwards. He did not expect to spot the elfin in this moment, but at least he might find something unusual¡­but unfortunately, nothing.

    This was amon park that could be found everywhere. There was nothing cultural. Apart from itsrge area, he could not find a reason why this elfin should appear in the park.

    The library was a more likely ce. He remembered the snowy li. That cat with the twisted sexual orientation was a cat from the book. Was this elfin today an animal recorded in a book as well?

    ¡°Here we are, right in front.¡± The driver pointed with his chin.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t move his neck, and didn¡¯t look forward. He only turned his head once Dongfeng Park waspletely out of sight, trying to prove himself wrong until thest minute.

    The taxi stopped slowly by the street. After stepping out of the car, Zhang Zian froze in astonishment.

    Binhai City Library had clearly been renovated. It was no longer the small and old library from his childhood. It was bigger than he could imagine!

 Chapter 529: Binhai City Library

    <h4>Chapter 529: Binhai City Library</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The taxi driver saw the strange expression on Zhang Xian¡¯s face and thought that they had arrived at the wrong ce. He asked, ¡°What happened? Is this not your destination?¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded stiffly, took out his wallet and paid the fare. ¡°Sir, can you tell me when the library was refurbished? I remember that the library didn¡¯t look like this before, right?¡±

    The driver gave the change to Zhang Zian and replied, ¡°I heard that the new leader of the city has demolished the old library, and this is the new one that was built at the end ofst year.¡±

    Zhang Zian took the change, said thanks to the driver and got out of the car. After the taxi drove away, he observed this newlypleted library in detail.

    The t and wide library of the post-modern architectural design style seemed like a copsed bookshelf on the ground. Its window panes in diverse sizes looked like books that had been turned open. The open gate was as though it was inviting visitors to enter the ocean of books and swim in it.

    Outside the library was a small fountain za with a circle of benches for people to rest in the square. Several pigeons were jumping in the square and pecking at the bread crumbs and other food that people were feeding to them. Although it was winter, the water columns of the fountain still pushed to the sky, and a fewmon goldfish were leisurely swimming in the pool.

    The environment was refreshing and helped rx the tension in people.

    But Zhang Zian did not have time to appreciate the scenery. He took out his cell phone and looked at it. The library was indeed located within the range of the light circle. Perhaps it was his illusion, but he had a vague feeling that the light circle was dimmer than before, like a fire of life that was gradually going out.

    He had observed the street from the taxi. There were basically only two major structures on this street; one was the Dongfeng Park and the other was the library. However, both ces were veryrge, and it would take a long time for him to search Dongfeng Park alone thoroughly. Hence, he could only choose to go to one ce. He hoped that the elfin was indeed in the library as the game had suggested.

    He held his phone as he walked around the peripheral wall of the library and confirmed that the elfin was not outside, and that he came to the entrance of the library.

    The entrance to the library was made up of a pair of tall, auto-sensing ss doors that also looked like an open book. There were brass metal ques hanging on both sides of the doors which were engraved with two sentences like couplets in ck and bold characters. ¡°Diligence is the path through the mountain of books,¡± and ¡°Industriousness is the boat across the endless sea of study.¡±

    From time to time, some people walked in and out of the library, ranging from teenagers to the white-haired elderly. Some people were holding new books that exuded the fragrance of ink, while others were empty-handed but seemed very satisfied. Some neers like Zhang Zian looked in awe at this mountain of books.

    The library seemed to be surrounded by a mysterious power that made everyone tread lightly for fear of disturbing the serenity of it.

    ¡°Manager Zhang?¡±

    While Zhang Zian hesitated, a familiar voice came from behind.

    Zhang Zian looked back. Standing behind him was a gentle, middle-aged man. Since his mind was upied by how to find the elfin, he froze for a moment before he realized who this person was.

    ¡°Teacher Meng?¡±

    The middle-aged man was Meng Li, who had bought a Cocker Spaniel from Zhang Xian. He was a teacher at Binhai University, but Zhang Zian was not sure what discipline Meng Li had taught.

    Meng Li was wearing a long ck woolen coat that almost touched his knees. Inside the wool coat was a shirt and a cashmere vest. There were two thick books under his armpit. He gently approached Zhang Zian and asked, ¡°Manager Zhang, what a coincidence to run into you here. Are you also borrowing books?¡±

    It felt nice for Zhang Zian to encounter an acquaintance. Though he was not here to borrow books, he cheekily admitted, ¡°Yes, as the saying goes, books are thedder of human progress. It¡¯s never toote for me to learn even if I am just a pet shop owner.¡±

    Meng Li did not know that Zhang Zian was talking nonsense, so he said pleasantly, ¡°Manager Zhang, don¡¯t look down on yourself like that. It¡¯s hard for anyone to reach the top-level of one specific industry. In the era of knowledge explosion, we, especially as teachers, must learn constantly, otherwise we will fall behind the times soon.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded absentmindedly, and his eyes fell on the books under the arm of Meng Li. He asked, ¡°Teacher Meng, are you here to return books personally? Why not ask your graduate students to help you?¡±

    If Zhang Zian remembered correctly, Meng Li liked to make his graduate students do chores for him, such as walking his dog.

    ¡°The borrowing time of these two books is about to expire soon. I will return the books first and then borrow other books and will read in the library for a while. Manager Zhang, do you feel the same way as I do, that reading in the library reminds you of the days at school? Because you don¡¯t have to think of anything else, just immerse yourself in the ocean of knowledge.¡± Meng Li handed the books under his arm to Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian did not understand and was not interested in the spiritual world of the schr. But when Meng Li handed over the book, he nced at it out of courtesy.

    ¡°D ¡­ d ¡­d ¡­dio¡­¡± He stared intently at the title of the book, stumbled for a long time like a jammed old-fashioned cassette recorder, but still couldn¡¯t spell that wordpletely.

    This book was written in English entirely. It was preserved very well and almost seemed like a new one. There was a bar codebeled by the library on the side of the book. The title of this book was very long, and Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t understand over half of the words in the title. Beneath this book, there was another thicker English book with a longer title.

    ¡°Oh, this is the Approximation of the Diophantus on the Linear Algebraic Groups, a subject that I am interested in recently.¡± Meng Li could not bear to hear Zhang Zian¡¯s stutter anymore, and he rescued Zhang Zian from embarrassment.

    Scratching his head, Zhang Zian defended himself. ¡°In fact, I have been studying gic engineering recently, and my English level has slightly declined. I will pick up learning English if I have time.¡±

    ¡°Oh, Manager Zhang is interested in gic engineering?¡± Meng Li found his words dubious.

    Zhang Zian nodded solemnly, ¡°Yes. Mainly focusing on modern gics.¡±

    The study of the pedigree of Abyssinian cats should be included in the realm of modern gics, right?

    Meng Li was a devoted and serious schr and had no idea that Zhang Zian was hoodwinking him. Meng Li started to believe the words of Zhang Zian and praised him. ¡°Manager Zhang, you are so diligent. No wonder youe to the library on the morning of the New Year¡¯s Day.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you are very diligent yourself.¡± The bubble of his hard-working image would certainly have exploded if the conversation continued, so Zhang Zian quickly changed the topic. ¡°By the way, how¡¯s the eyes of your Cocker Spaniel?¡±

    Zhang Zian had forgotten whether the dog he sold to Meng Li was a British Cocker Spaniel or an American Cocker Spaniel. But regardless of their breeds, Cocker Spaniels had potential health hazards with their eyes. British Cocker Spaniels were prone to suffer from progressive retinal atrophy, while American Cocker Spaniels were prone to suffer from hereditary cataracts.

    Meng Li replied with a smile, ¡°Thanks for asking. Its eyes are fine for the moment and there is no sign of illness. I have always been taking it to undertake regr physical examinations. Even if I don¡¯t have time, I will let my graduate students take it there.¡±

    How omnipotent your graduate students are! Zhang Zian pouted and said to himself. Are they graduate students or your housekeepers?

    ¡°That¡¯s great to hear¡­ I used to go to other libraries, and this is my first time here¡­what should I pay attention to?¡± Zhang Zian pointed to the entrance to the library behind him.

    ¡°It¡¯s simr to other libraries. If you are here for the first time, you should go to the service desk to apply for a library card. Let¡¯s go, I will lead you there¡­ I need to return my books anyway.¡± Meng Li said enthusiastically.

    ¡°Thank you for taking out your precious time to help me! Let¡¯s go in, it¡¯s quite cold outside.¡± said Zhang Zian.

    As if remembering something, Meng Li pointed to Zhang Zian¡¯s cell phone and said, ¡°In principle, phones are not allowed in the reading room. If you must use it, you should keep it in silent mode, or the staff might ask you to leave.¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Well, it is impossible for me not to use my cell phone, I will mute it now.¡±

    He set his phone to silent mode, and entered the library after Meng Li.

 Chapter 530: Navigating the Mountain of Books

    <h4>Chapter 530: Navigating the Mountain of Books</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    At the entrance of the library, the left side was for depositing your bags, as no bags or backpacks were allowed in the library. The right side was a map of the library. Facing the entrance was an information desk.

    As numerous temperate sses were installed in the outer wall, the lighting was excellent inside the library. Looking up at the ceiling, the library had an atrium structure, spiraling up like a tower.

    Meng Li pointed at the map, and introduced to Zhang Zian, ¡°Counting the ancient books, the renovated Binhai City Library holds more than 2 million books, and the number is growing. It¡¯s the biggest library in our province, and one of the biggest in the country. The library has one floor underground, and five floors above ground. The underground floor is used to preserve ancient copies, with controlled temperature and humidity. It¡¯s not open for public. You need certain credentials and reference letters to be allowed inside.¡±

    Zhang Zian was troubled after hearing this. Evidently, the Hall of the Ancient Books was where the elfin was most likely to appear. Maybe one of the books was written by the ex-owner of the elfin, or the elfin was first mentioned in one of the books, or some book was rted to the elfin in some way¡­but there was nothing he could do. He had neither the credentials nor a reference letter. Entering the Hall of the Ancient Books was as hard as going to the moon. Not to mention that cellphones were definitely not allowed inside.

    ¡°Can I visit the other floors freely?¡± He asked.

    Meng Li nodded. ¡°The other floors are fine. We are standing on the first floor, with bag deposit, information desk, cafe, lecture room and the youth library. You can get a library card and other services at the information desk. The youth library is only open to teenagers and children under 16.¡±

    Fine. He could enter neither the Hall of the Ancient Books, nor the youth library. He had to say goodbye to elfins such as Doraemon and Mashimaro.

    Meng Li continued: ¡°The second floor is the area of Chinese books, including arts and science books, as well as reference books and literature. It¡¯s also divided into the reading area and borrowing area. The third floor is simr, except that the books are mostly in foreignnguages, either original or photocopied.¡±

    ¡°Above that, the fourth floor is the area for Chinese and foreignnguage newspapers and publications. You can also view the micro documents. The fifth floor is a digitalized reading area, where you can view the e-books andmunicate with other readers.¡±

    As Meng Li exined on the side, Zhang Zian held his phone and scanned the first floor with the hunting interface of the game. The hall on the first floor was spacious and easy to see through. The elfin was not found either near the information desk nor the bag check. The cafe was isted with a ss screen, with several groups of young people reading while drinking coffee. They were using the ce as a cheaper Starbucks. Zhang Zian believed that the elfin would not appear in such a non-academic ce as a cafe.

    As for the lecture hall and the youth library, one was closed, and he couldn¡¯t enter the other. There was nothing he could do about it.

    Neither of them were carrying a bag. Meng Li helped him get a free library¡¯s card, then asked, ¡°Which floor is Manager Zhang heading?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my first time here. I¡¯d like to take a look around first, then decide what books to borrow.¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s real intention was not borrowing books. ¡°Mr. Meng, please go ahead if you have other things to do. I won¡¯t hold you up any longer.¡±

    Meng Li shook hands and said, ¡°No worries, Manager Zhang. I¡¯ll return some books first, then head to the foreign book reading area on the third floor. If you have any questions,e look for me on the third floor any time, or ask the information desk.¡±

    ¡°OK. Thank you, Mr. Meng.¡±

    Meng Li went on the third floor himself. Zhang Zian came to the Chinese book area on the second floor. After just one look, he was astonished. He didn¡¯t visualize until this moment what 2 million books looked like.

    This was indeed a mountain of books! On the second floor, rows of bookshelves were lined up in order, like soldiers in a ceremonial guard team. Each bookshelf measured about two meters tall and was divided into six levels. The shelves were filled with colorful books of various thickness.

    The reading area in the middle was surrounded by rows of shelves. The readers of all ages were sitting in chairs and reading books attentively. Some people brought theirptops or tablets, taking notes while reading and studying.

    The library was extremely quiet, and only slight keyboard and chair sounds could be heard. The visitors of the library were well-educated book-lovers. They were concerned about disturbing others.

    Except that there were not as many readers as he had imagined, perhaps due to the new year¡¯s holiday. There were only one or two readers at each desk. Counting those searching for books among the shelves, there were no more than 50 readers in total on the second floor.

    Since leaving the university, Zhang Zian had not stepped into a library, nor studied without utilitarian purposes for a long time. He envied those people. They took time to read in a library in such a restless world today.

    The library that had cost so much money to build did not get enough attention in return. The leaders of Binhai City government would have been disappointed if they saw this. However, they couldn¡¯t do anything about it. As e-books were growing more popr, paper books were inevitably getting less popr and gradually dying.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s mind clicked at this thought. The paper books were gradually dying¡­ He thought of the elfin with fading Strength of Faith. Its appearance in the library may have a lot to do with paper books.

    There was no time to think too much. He shook his head, raised the phone, and opened the hunting interface of the game to search around. The scarcity of readers was doing him a favor. It made elfin search easier. He lifted the phone, and searched from the entrance, to the shelves of each row.

    Each row of shelves looked alike except the numbering. The books on the shelves were simr too. The eyes got tired easily after staring at them for a long time. Zhang Zian was afraid of missing a row. He took down the shelf number as he walked past them.

    The readers searching for books among the shelves thought that the filming Zhang Zian was either doing an online broadcast or some novel profession, such as a vlogger. There were too many of those these days. Nobody talked to him.

    There were a lot of shelves, but it only took 20 minutes to finish the search if he followed a specific order. Zhang Zian came back to the starting point after making a huge circle, finding nothing.

    This elfin was extremely difficult to capture, and he didn¡¯t expect to find it easily. So he didn¡¯t feel frustrated. He tried to avoid thinking about the possibility of the elfin being in the Hall of Ancient Books or the youth library. Otherwise he would lose faith.

    If he had enough time, he would surely find a way into the Hall of Ancient Books or the youth library. But the problem was¡­

    Zhang Zian switched the game to the e-map interface. The icon was darker than before. He sighed, then climbed up the foreign book area on the third floor.

 Chapter 531: Doing Good Deeds Without Asking for Reward

    <h4>Chapter 531: Doing Good Deeds Without Asking for Reward</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As soon as Zhang Zian came to the third floor, he saw the back of Meng Li in the central reading area.

    The library was as warm as spring. Meng Li took off his woolen coat, folded it neatly, and put it beside him. Leaningfortably against the back of a chair, he was reading a book in a foreignnguage about the poprization of science.

    With fewer readers on the third floor, it was much quieter than on the second floor. After all, there were few readers who could read books in foreignnguages ??without any obstacles.

    Zhang Zian did not disturb Meng Li. He continued doing what he did on the second floor, by holding his cell phone to search every corner on the third floor. Still, there was no trace of the elfin.

    He would be lying if he said he was not dejected at all. His previous assumption was that the elfin was most likely to be found in the Hall of the Ancient Books, followed by the Hall of the Books in Chinese, and the Hall of the Books in Foreign Languages. The fourth floor and fifth floor, which he hadn¡¯t been to, was the Newspaper and Periodicals Reading Room and the Digital Reading and Exchange Area, respectively. Could the elfin appear in those two ces?

    He had left the pet shop so hastily that he didn¡¯t even drink any water. Coupled with the anxiety in his heart, Zhang Zian felt thirsty at this moment.

    Drinking fountains and paper cups were provided on each floor in the library, and readers had ess to them freely. Zhang Zian went to pour himself a cup of water. Leaning against the wall, he pondered as he drank the water.

    His gaze fell on the row of a shelf that was nearest to him. There was a book at the edge of the fourth level of the shelf.

    ¡°Modern gics ¡­¡±

    He could basically understand the English title of this book. It was called Modern Gics: An Analysis from Gene to Surface.

    Zhang Zian pretentiously told Meng Li that he was currently studying modern gics. Even if he was not able to capture the elfin this time, he could not allow Meng Li to look down on him. Hence, he squeezed the empty paper cup and threw it into the trash can, and then walked to the shelf and pulled out that book. cing that book under his armpit, he turned around and went to the fourth floor.

    There were less than five readers on the fourth floor. In this era of information explosion, apart from researchers majoring in modern history orpiling the local chronicles, who else woulde all the way to read the outdated newspapers and periodicals in the public library?

    Elves maye from books, but nevere from newspapers and magazines, because newspapers and magazines were fast moving consumer goods which did not possess the innate conditions to be circted widely in the long run.

    Having said that, Zhang Zian should never ignore the slightest possibility. He patiently searched for the elfin among rows of shelves. As expected, nothing was found, and his valuable time was wasted.

    He doubted himself at this moment. Had he omitted some rows of shelves on the second or third floor? But it was impossible for him to neglect any row, because he was searching strictly ording to the index number of the shelves.

    However, the elfin may be constantly moving among the bookshelves.

    If that was the case, it was practically impossible for him to capture the elfin. He was not good at ying hide-and-seek.

    The only floor he hadn¡¯t visited was the fifth floor ¡­ the Digital Reading and Exchange Area. The readers could read electronic books andmunicate with each other on the fifth floor.

    The electronic books avable to readers on the fifth floor were converted from the physical books from the second to the fourth floor. Readers tended to find the books they wanted to read on the fifth floor, and then went to retrieve the physical books downstairs. If the physical books had been borrowed by others, the readers could also read the sample chapters of the electronic versions of the books on the fifth floor.

    However, there was no reason why the elfin would appear on the fifth floor, right?

    In any case, Zhang Zian came to the fifth floor to finish his quest.

    The fifth floor of the library was more like aputerb at a school or an inte caf¨¦. Unlike the rows of bookshelves on the other four floors, rows ofputers were neatly arranged in the central area, while the positions in front of the wall were surrounded by several pieces of futuristic,rge-screen, digital terminal equipment with touch function.

    What was beyond Zhang Zian¡¯s expectation was that the number of readers on the fifth floor were more than the number of readers on the second through the fourth floor in total. And most of the readers on this floor were young people in their twenties or thirties.

    In addition to young people, there were a few elderly people on the fifth floor. They were all sitting in front of the digital terminals and touching the screens to conveniently browse the e-books and the electronic version of the newspaper of the day. The screens of the digital terminals were sorge that they could read the text on the newspaper clearly without wearing reading sses.

    Without bookshelves, Zhang Zian could see the fifth floor more clearly. He raised his cell phone and nced around, then his heart sank immediately. What the f**k was going on? There was no trace of the elfin on the fifth floor either!

    He was inevitably anxious and restless due to his fruitless quest. Standing there, he was wondering if there was any ce he had neglected. Of course, he couldn¡¯t get into such ces as the offices for library staff, women¡¯s bathrooms, and the rooftop, so those ces didn¡¯t count. Other than that, he had searched every floor. Could this elfin really be in the Hall of the Ancient Books?

    Just then, his shoulder was patted gently. ¡°Young man?¡±

    Zhang Zian was suddenly brought back to reality from contemtion. He looked back and saw that an old man on crutches was standing behind him. The elderly man, who was in his seventies or eighties, seemed very kind. His hair had gone gray but wasbed neatly. His clothes were of old style but very clean. Judging from his appearance, he must be a decent elderly.

    ¡°Grandpa, what¡¯s the matter?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Young man, do you have time? Can you do me a favor by teaching me how to read books on thisputer?¡± The old man smiled and said, ¡°Everyone seems busy reading and only you are standing, so I emboldened myself to ask you. You can ignore me if you are busy.¡±

    Zhang Zian had noticed the old man while he was searching for the elfin on the fifth floor. Unlike other elderly people who were operating the digital terminals in front of the wall, or the young people who were reading e-books in front ofputers, this old man was standing and looking around nkly. Zhang Zian thought he was looking for someone.

    On the entire fifth floor, only Zhang Zian and this old man were standing. No wonder he would ask Zhang Zian for help.

    Normally, teaching the elderly to read onputers was very easy; but currently, Zhang Zian¡¯s time was extremely valuable because the elfin may disappear at any minute. It¡¯s self-evident that thetter matter was more important, and Zhang Zian had sufficient reason to refuse to help the old man.

    However, the old man¡¯s humble tone and earnest eyesight prevented Zhang Zian from decisively rejecting him. Before he had asked Zhang Zian for help, he must have hesitated for a long time and had been turned down by many people.

    Even if he went downstairs to continue searching for the elfin, he may have eventually found it in the Hall of the Ancient Books. Zhang Zian believed that he would inevitably feel uneasy if he refused the request of the elderly right now.

    He remembered the story of the world of the imaginedndscape as told by Famous, as well as the earnest inculcation from Old Time Tea¡­¡± Doing good deeds without asking for reward; never forget why you embarked on your journey, and your mission can be aplished eventually.¡±

    So, Zhang Zian dropped his obsession of capturing the elfin.

 Chapter 532: Pi

    <h4>Chapter 532: Pi</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The old man saw Zhang Zian hesitate. He thought he was going to be politely refused, so he turned around to get help.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s hesitation disappeared and he smiled. ¡°Sure, I have time now. Let¡¯s find a seat. Where would you like to sit?¡±

    ¡°Anywhere will do!¡± The old man was thrilled. He looked around to find a seat as quickly as he could, just in case Zhang Zian changed his mind.

    Once Zhang Zian made up his mind, he wouldn¡¯t change it. He put his phone in his pocket and pointed at an empty table in the corner. ¡°How about over there? There are two freeputers next to each other.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± The old man slowly followed Zhang Zian to the corner with his cane.

    Zhang Zian pulled out the chair for him. They took their seats, with aputer in front of both of them.

    ¡°Uncle, I¡¯m just wondering. Why don¡¯t you use the touch screen terminals like the other senior citizens? Isn¡¯t it more convenient?¡± Zhang Zian asked while moving the mouse to wake theputer up.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m that old. I want to spend time with young people, and use what they use.¡± The old man leaned his cane against the desk andughed. ¡°I practiced typing for this reason. I bought some primary school textbooks and learned Pinyin. I know how to surf the inte, but theputers here seem different.¡±

    The old man introduced himself. Hisst name was Zhou. His wife passed away long ago, and his children and grandchildren worked in different cities and didn¡¯t visit often. He learned new things to kill time.

    Zhang Zian realized how much he hated being old. He started calling him ¡°Mr. Zhou,¡± which he preferred to ¡°Uncle¡± as it made him feel younger.

    After logging in, Zhang Zian realized something was wrong. The operating system in theputers wasn¡¯t Windows nor Mac OS, but a massively customized special system with simplified functions. There was no Resource Manager or Control Panel or Inte Explorer or chatting tools. It was connected to a localwork, so the Inte wasn¡¯t avable.

    Theputers were All-in-Oneputers like Mac, fixated on the desks. There was nothing in the back, no USB or Thunderbolt ports. There were only the power and cable ports along with PS/2 ports for the keyboard and mouse. There wasn¡¯t even a ce to plug earphones in.

    It would take time for young people to get used to theputer, let alone Mr. Zhou.

    Equipping the library with this type ofputer effectively blocked viruses and prevented illegal transmissions of e-books. The library also had easy-to-use touch screen terminals for the elderly, but some elderly hated to feel old.

    Zhang Zian opened a customized reading software and worked on it for a while before teaching Mr. Zhou to search for books by category and other things like changing the background color and adjusting the font size.

    ¡°Young man, what are they doing over there?¡± Mr. Zhou pointed to the front.

    Zhang Zian noticed it, too. People on the fifth floor weren¡¯t reading, they were typing, as if they were chatting online. Surely, they couldn¡¯t log into QQ here, so what were they typing?

    ¡°Wait a moment, Mr. Zhou. I¡¯ll have a look.¡±

    He walked behind the row of young people and observed, an idea forming in his mind.

    The fifth floor was a digitalized reading andmunication area, where people could talk in a chatroom. Readers could rmend books to others or ask others about a book they were searching for.

    The readers that visited during the holidays were well-educated, so the chatroom was friendly. There was always help for those who needed it, and even if no one was able to help, they made others feel wee.

    It was fair to say that this was a smart investment for the library. Setting up a chatroom not only relieved the help desk of some work, it fostered passion and friendship among readers.

    Zhang Zian returned to his seat and opened the chatroom for Mr. Zhou, so that he couldmunicate with others.

    Mr. Zhou was enjoying himself. Even though he typed slowly with one finger, he attentivelymented on books. When other readers sought help, he always did what he could to help, but most people got help from others before he could finish typing.

    ¡°Mr. Zhou, I need to leave for a moment. If you have questions, I¡¯ll answer them when I return.¡± Zhang Zian took out his phone to search for the elfin onest time.

    ¡°Okay. Thank you.¡± Mr. Zhou nodded, eyes glued to the screen. If he was 40 years younger, Mr. Zhou might have been addicted to the Inte.

    On game map, the icon indicating the elfin¡¯s location was darker. It would disappear soon.

    As soon as Zhang Zian stood, he heard Mr. Zhou mumblie, ¡°Why does this kid always disturb people?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Zhang Zian thought Mr. Zhou had another question, then bent down behind him to look at the screen.

    ¡°Look at this kid, always typing ridiculous stuff. Nobody knows what he¡¯s up to.¡± Mr. Zhou said, pointing at the screen.

    Most people in the chatroom used nicknames, but Mr. Zhou called everybody ¡°kid.¡±

    Everybody in the chatroom was friendly, with the exception of one person. He was the bad egg.

    [Pancake]: I¡¯ve been obsessed with The Silk Road by Bill Porter. Any other rmendations?

    [Jackdaw]: That book is a travel log at best, just worth skimming through. If you want something serious, I rmend the book by Peter Frankopan with the same name.

    [Coco]: I¡¯ve been watching you guys talk, and I rmend Valerie Hansen¡¯s The Silk Road: A New History. I just returned it, so it should be in Section B1 on the second floor.

    [3.1415926]:3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679

    [Jackdaw]: Hey, Pi, if you¡¯re a child, please go to the youth library on the first floor. Don¡¯t interrupt our conversation, okay?

    [Blue Flower]: Yes, you¡¯ve been disturbing in the chatroom since this morning. Many poeple left because of you.

    [3.1415926]:3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679

    [A Liu]: What¡¯s wrong with you? What¡¯s the purpose of typing numbers? You want to show off that you know the first 100 digits of Pi? I could do that since primary school! If you want to impress people, go answer questions on Zhihu.¡±

    [Pancake]: There isn¡¯t an administrator in the chatroom, otherwise I¡¯d ask for him to get kicked out.

    [3.1415926]:3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679

    [Coco]: I just stood up and looked. There are no kids on the fifth floor.

    [Jackdaw]: It¡¯d be worse if he¡¯s an adult. I¡¯ve never seen such a b*tchy adult!

    Zhang Zian stood behind Mr. Zhou and observed for a while. No matter what others were talking about in the chatroom, the mysterious user always typed the first 100 digits of Pi. Regardless of whether the other readers asked nicely or rebuked furiously, he never talked back, just kept typing the same numbers.

    The readers were all well-educated and polite, they wouldn¡¯t have used such words had they not been annoyed. The problem was that there wasn¡¯t an administrator in the chatroom, so they could get as angry as they wanted, but there was nothing they could do about this person.

    Mr. Zhou frowned. ¡°I think it¡¯s a kid. A naughty kid, naughtier than my grandchildren. He needs to be disciplined!¡±

    Zhang Zian stood up, and looked around the hall of the fifth floor once again. He was focused on finding the elfin earlier, and only took a brief nce around. He didn¡¯t pay attention to the age, gender, or appearance of the readers, as none of them could¡¯ve been the elfin he was searching for.

    There were about 200 PCs in the reading area of the fifth floor, and less than half of them had someone in front of the screens. Although the readers appeared close in the chatroom, they were spread everywhere in reality. Very few people sat next to each other, unless they were friends in real life.

    As Zhang Zian nced around the room, a young girl in another corner stood up and nced around. They met each other eyes, then she smiled and sat down. She might be Coco in the chatroom.

    As Coco said, there were no children on the fifth floor, and the youngest people here were at least 18 years old. They appeared serious, and didn¡¯t seem to be ying a prank.

    As for the senior citizens reading on the touch screen terminal, they didn¡¯t seem to have the chatroom function, so it probably wasn¡¯t them.

    This just got weird.

 Chapter 533: Speculation Over the Identity

    <h4>Chapter 533: Spection Over the Identity</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The prankster appeared in the chatroom this morning. Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help but suspect that the prankster had something to do with the elfin that also appeared this morning.

    The fifth floor¡¯sputer system was only essible on this floor, so the prankster had to be here.

    Unlike the other readers, Zhang Zian¡¯s mood wasn¡¯t affected by the prankster, instead, he felt a little excited.

    He told Mr. Zhou to keep reading while he wandered the aisles with his phone. This time, he focused on whether the seats in front of theputers were empty or not.

    Zhang Zian tried to be discreet, but since he was holding his phone and looked like he was recording, everywhere he went, readers gave him annoyed looks. If it weren¡¯t for the prankster still typing in the chatroom, Zhang Zian probably would¡¯ve been mistaken for the hooligan.

    Zhang Zian ignored the looks because he didn¡¯t care how people perceived him. With his excellent patience, he walked around the floor again, but he couldn¡¯t find the elfin.

    Was the elfin so subtle that the capture interface of the game couldn¡¯t see it? Or was it constantly moving around?

    Every time he walked past aputer with a vacant seat in front of it, Zhang Zian would try to see or hear the keys moving. Unfortunately, the library equipped theputers with shallow keyboards, so the movements and sounds were minimal. Even if he stood beside the typist, he would barely be able to hear any noise.

    After walking around theputers several times, Zhang Zian returned to Mr. Zhou who was happily reading. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the girl whose chatroom ID was Coco stand up and wave at him.

    He had walked past Coco twice. Coco seemed like a stylish girl whose hair was dyed blue. From her appearance, it was hard to imagine that she was the type of girl who liked reading.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to miss any possibility of finding the elfin, so he walked swiftly towards her.

    ¡°Hey, you seem like you¡¯re looking for someone. Are you looking for Pi?¡± Coco whispered when he was close to her.

    Zhang Zian nodded and replied in a low voice, ¡°Everyone¡¯s extremely annoyed with Pi, so I thought it was time to kick him out of the chatroom.¡±

    ¡°Oh, are you staff?¡± asked Coco curiously.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m just a reader who wanted to help,¡± said Zhang Zian calmly.

    Coco believed him, so she said with admiration, ¡°There are several readers I¡¯ve met at this library, and we¡¯ll say hello to each other, but we don¡¯t know each other¡¯s real names. I¡¯ve never seen you before. Are you new?¡±

    Zhang Zian answered, ¡°Yes. It¡¯s my first day. I think the library¡¯s atmosphere is great, so we shouldn¡¯t let the ck sheep ruin the fun. Do you have any clue who it could be?¡±

    Coco thought before she said, ¡°I arrived very early this morning because I wanted to read the whole day. I was among the first group of readers who came in. There was probably less than ten readers on the floor.¡±

    ¡°Pi was already here?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Coco nodded. ¡°Yes. At first, no one was talking in the chatroom. I greeted everyone casually in the chatroom, and subsequently, Pi typed a string of digits. I thought it was a joke, so I ignored him, closed the chatroom, and continued reading. When people started showing up, I noticed several familiar faces, so I reopened the chatroom and saw everyone condemning Pi.¡±

    Zhang Zian realized that the prankster was here when the library opened this morning, which was exactly the same time when the game detected the elfin.

    ¡°Everybody was just watching? No one tried to find him?¡± he asked.

    Coco smiled. ¡°How should I put it? Frequent readers of the library are really nice. Even the readers who talk fiercely in the chatroom, would try to reason with Pi in real life if they found him. There are over a hundred readers on the floor, but less than 50 readers have been talking in the chatroom. If we check everybody, we might disturb those who are just reading. Then what¡¯s the difference between us and the prankster? I think we¡¯d only worsen the issue.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought what Coco said made sense. Most of the readers were shy, so no one was willing to catch the prankster.

    ¡°Of course, we¡¯ve done something.¡± Coco continued. ¡°Several readers went to the service desk and told the staff about the situation, asked them to find Pi and kick him out of the chatroom, but it didn¡¯t work. The on-duty staff said that tech support is on vacation because it¡¯s New Year¡¯s Day, and the library¡¯s system can¡¯t be essed from outside the building, so remote administration isn¡¯t possible.¡±

    New Year¡¯s Day. The istedputer system. The friendly readers.

    The prankster had utilized all the advantages. No matter how annoyed the readers felt, there was nothing they could do.

    Zhang Zian was 99% certain that the prankster was the elfin he was looking for.

    What kind of elfin could it be? What did it mean by typing the digits of Pi repeatedly? Was it just for fun? The elfin¡¯s life was about to end, could it afford to y tricks?

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t think the elfin was joking, it was like it was asking for help.

    ¡°Sorry, that¡¯s all I know,¡± said Coco apologetically, ¡°I don¡¯t think we can help you, but if you do find Pi, please don¡¯t be too hard on him.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll handle the matter properly.¡±

    Zhang Zian thanked Coco and walked back to his seat. Heunched the chatting software and gave himself a nickname, The Hottie.

    After entering the chatroom, he waited patiently. When the elfin typed the digits of Pi again, he immediately typed a response.

    [The Hottie]: 3.1415926, what do you want?

    Zhang Zian typed in English because he thought the elfin may not be from China.

    [Blue Flower]: I¡¯ve never seen this nickname before. Neer?

    [A Liu]: Look at the nickname. Another prankster?

    [Jackdaw]: It¡¯s useless. Do you think he¡¯ll reply to you if you speak to him in English? He¡¯s like a robot who can only type the first 100 digits of Pi. He¡¯s doing this on purpose!

    [Coco]: English! How did I never think of that? He replied to my greeting, maybe he can only read English. Everybody, please calm down and let the neer try!

    The chatroom quieted down temporarily. Several users didn¡¯t think English was a good method, but they were still waiting for a response.

    Several secondster, the situation changed.

    [3.1415926]:3.1415926589w7932384626h433832e795r02884197e16939937i51s058209m749445923078y1640628620b8998o628o0348242117k0679

    Zhang Zian and the other users nkly stared at the string of familiar numbers on the screen. After a while, they realized that there were English words hidden within the numbers.

    [Coco]: W-h-e-r-e i-s m-y b-o-k? Sorry! It¡¯s ¡®book.¡¯ There¡¯s another ¡®o.¡¯ I¡¯m dizzy.

    Where is my book?

    The users in the chatroom felt embarrassed. So, the prankster could only respond to questions in English? Why didn¡¯t they think of it earlier? Was this person a foreigner? Or a Chinese person who didn¡¯t understand Chinese?

    All of a sudden, a ton of questions in English filled the chatroom.

    ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°Where are you sitting?¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you type in English to start with?¡±

    ¡°Why do you type the first 100 numbers of Pi?¡±

    The prankster kept silent.

    [Coco]: Everyone, please be quiet, all right? We can¡¯t get the answer we want if we bombard him. Let the neer ask.

    Staring at the screen, Zhang Zian contemted.

    The earlier ¡°like a robot¡± statement inspired Zhang Zian. Obviously, the readers regarded the elfin as a ¡°human¡± that behaved like a robot.

    Zhang Zian assumed that the elfin couldn¡¯t appear because its Strength of Faith was too weak. At that moment, a well-known experiment came to Zhang Zian¡¯s mind, so he made a vague spection about the elfin¡¯s identity.

    The AlphaGo in the Chinese Room? Are we confronting artificial intelligence that¡¯s moving in cyberspace?

 Chapter 534: Chinese Room and Turing Test

    <h4>Chapter 534: Chinese Room and Turing Test</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The Chinese Room was an experiment proposed by American philosopher, John Searle, in 1980. A person who only spoke English was locked in a room, with only a small window tomunicate with the outside world. Anymunication would be written, but he had a Chinese dictionary with him. Notes written in Chinese would be sent into the room through the window, and the person in the room was able to trante and respond using the dictionary. Even though he didn¡¯t understand Chinese, he was able to convince outsiders that he knew Chinese well because he used the dictionary.

    Searle used this experiment to pass the Turing Test. No existing AIs could surpass the restrictions of the Chinese Room test. To the person asking the questions, theputer responded as if it were intelligent, while in reality it had no idea what was going on.

    The Turing Test was an experiment constructed by n Turing in 1950, in which an evaluator and two yers were separated, and could only type tomunicate. If the evaluator couldn¡¯t tell which yer was human and which yer was a machine, the machine passed, deemed as having human-like intelligence.

    This elfin was able make the readers think that it was a person who yed the prank. If it were indeed an AI, it passed the Turing Test.

    Was passing the Turing Test sufficient for an AI? Searle¡¯s experiment proved it wasn¡¯t.

    The discourse between the two experiments was enough to write a thick book, but Zhang Zian had only heard a little of it.

    Why did it have to be Chinese Room? Why not Portuguese Room? Or German Room? The reason was that most westerners believed Chinese was the most difficultnguage and couldn¡¯t be mastered by humans.

    The Chinese Room experiment wasn¡¯t as well-known as Schr?dinger¡¯s cat, but everyone in the AI andputer science field knew about it.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s spection lingered in his mind for a moment, then he rejected the idea. It was too far-fetched.

    First of all, the experiment had nothing to do with animals.

    Secondly, ¡°AlphaDog¡± was a nickname for the superputer AlphaGo used by Chinese people. As ¡°Dog¡± had the same pronunciation as ¡°Go,¡± the name became viral somehow. However, AlphaGo was not a dog.

    Lastly, even if there were a dog named ¡°Alpha¡± that became an elfin, AI was developing rapidly these days, with lots of money and technology being invested. Everybody was optimistic about the prospect of AI in the 21st century. The AlphaDog¡¯s Strength of Faith should be growing. How did it fade rapidly?

    Considering everything, Zhang Zian thought that his spection was wrong. The elfin couldn¡¯t have been an AI elfin.

    He took out his phone and opened the game interface. If one of the elfins in the game was an AI, it had to be the Navigation Elfin.

    AlphaGo didn¡¯t qualify as an elfin. It was nothing more than a prototype AI, it wasn¡¯t bada** enough.

    ¡°Navigation Elfin, are you there?¡± he whispered. He unmuted the phone and turned the volume extremely low.

    [Navigation Elfin]: At your service.

    ¡°Are you an AI?¡±

    [Navigation Elfin]: I¡¯m your Navigation Elfin.

    When Zhang Zian first downloaded the game, he thought the Navigation Elfin was a 24 hour customer service agent, so it was safe to say that the Navigation Elfin passed the Turing Test with flying colors.

    Mr. Zhou was reading when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Zhang Zian speaking to his phone. He reminded him, ¡°Young man, cell phones aren¡¯t allowed.¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled and locked the screen. ¡°I got it.¡±

    His eyes fell back to theputer screen and asked another question in English.

    [The Hottie]: What book is it?

    The chatroom didn¡¯t have a private chatting option, so all conversations were disyed for all to see.

    Soon, the elfin replied in English, with an answer hidden between the numbers. It was hard and tiresome to read.

    [3.1415926]: My book. I want my book.

    [The Hottie]: Is it an important book?

    [3.1415926]: Without the book, I¡¯ll disappear from this world.

    Zhang Zian was relieved. It appeared that the book was the key to capturing the elfin.

    The others didn¡¯t feel the same way. To them, this person just wanted attention, or maybe even a donation. They were all book lovers, but even so, they¡¯d never say that they¡¯d die without books.

    Zhang Zian understood the difference between ¡°disappearing¡± and ¡°dying,¡± but the others didn¡¯t.

    Some thought the pranker was suffering from a psychological disorder, so girls like Coco developed sympathy.

    [Coco]: What¡¯s the name of the book? We can help you look for it.

    [3.1415926]: It has no name.

    [Coco]: No name? You at least know what the book is about, right?

    For the bookworms who spent all day in the library, finding a book was their area of expertise, not even the librarians could do a better job. Coco and the others were confident. As long as the pranker revealed the content of the book, they¡¯d be able to narrow it down and find the book.

    Zhang Zian knew that he wasn¡¯t as good as them in this area, so he watched silently.

    [3.1415926]: Life. The universe. Everything.

    [Coco]: Ha! I¡¯ve read that book! Why did you say it didn¡¯t have a name? Is it the third volume of The Hitchhiker¡¯s Guide to the Gxy by Dous Adams? I¡¯ll get it for you!

    Many of the other readers have read this ssic science fiction book. Some of them left their seats and searched with Coco, passing Zhang Zian. Some headed to the second floor for the Chinese version, and some went to the third floor to look for the version in English. They weren¡¯t normally so enthusiastic and quick. This time, though, they wanted to know the prankster¡¯s identity.

    If it ims that it¡¯ll die without the book, it¡¯ll have toe and get it, right? Zhang Zian didn¡¯t move from his chair, just continued with his thinking.

    He knew that it wasn¡¯t as easy as it seemed, otherwise this elfin wouldn¡¯t have been ¡°extremely difficult¡± to hunt.

 Chapter 535: Life, the Universe and Everything

    <h4>Chapter 535: Life, the Universe and Everything</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    A few regr readers were quite familiar with theyout. A few momentster, they returned to the floor with the different versions of the same book, Life, the Universe and Everything, the third installment of Dous Adams¡¯ The Hitchhiker¡¯s Guide to the Gxy. There were versions in Chinese and English, as well as in othernguages, the year of publication different for each version.

    Zhang Zian had also read this book before, but he never knew that this book had so many versions.

    They found an empty table to ce the books. All of the diverse editions covered the whole table, it looked magnificent. Other readers, that had no idea what they were doing, gave them inquiring looks.

    The helpers returned to their seats and started typing in English.

    [Coco]: We found the book you wanted. We put every version avable in the library on the table near the top of the stairs of the fifth floor. Come and get it.

    Everyone, including Zhang Zian, looked at the table, waiting to see what would happen. Although Zhang Zian believed that it wouldn¡¯t be so simple, he was concerned that one of the books might suddenly disappear, which would be a supernatural incident.

    As time went by, the library was so quiet that it was almost suffocating. All the readers on the floor were sitting in their seats. No one stood up.

    [3.1415926]: That¡¯s not my book.

    How was that possible? This was obviously the right book! How could Pi act so shamelessly?

    [Coco]: How¡¯s that not the book? Are you looking for a specific version of the book? I¡¯ve heard that some people are very picky.

    [3.1415926]: My book has no name.

    [The Hottie]: Your book has no name, but it¡¯s about life, the universe and everything?

    [3.1415926]: Yes, can you find my book?

    [Jackdaw]: I¡¯m sorry, we won¡¯t help you anymore. Go find it yourself!

    [Pancake]: How can you take advantage of our kindness and y pranks on us? I¡¯m so disappointed in you.

    [Coco]: Guys, don¡¯t be discouraged! Let¡¯s try again!

    [Blue Flower]: I¡¯m not familiar with science fiction, but I¡¯d like to keep watching the fun.

    Some of the messages were in Chinese, while others were in English. All of their tones were filled with annoyance and sarcasm. When their condemnation came to an end, Zhang Zian continued typing.

    [The Hottie]: I forgot to ask you before. You said that you wanted to find your book. Am I right to say that this book isn¡¯t a book provided by the library, but by yourself?

    [3.1415926]: Yes. It¡¯s the book that appeared with me in this world.

    [The Hottie]: This book is about life, the universe and everything. Do you mean that the content of the book is veryplicated?

    [3.1415926]: Yes, can you find my book?

    Zhang Zian understood now. The elfin was probably dependent on the book. The elfin was currently in its iplete form, that¡¯s why it had no physical body. It must have the book so that it could transform into itsplete form.

    He also understood why the capture difficulty of the elfin was extremely high, his task was to find an all-epassing book that had no name and wasn¡¯t registered in a library that contained more than two million books.

    Just like finding a needle in a haystack, right? A f**king timed haystack, how ridiculous!

    The other readers didn¡¯t understand the dialogue between Zhang Zian and the elfin because the library didn¡¯t allow readers to bring their own backpacks or books into the building.

    The elfin was asking for help, for its own survival.

    Zhang Zian once again opened the game¡¯s map. The light circle that indicated the elfin¡¯s location was very faint, it could disappear at any moment.

    [The Hottie]: I¡¯m not sure if I can find it, but I¡¯ll try my best.

    [3.1415926]: Thank you.

    Zhang Zian stood up. Coco rushed towards him and whispered, ¡°You really want to look for an unknown book?¡±

    ¡°I have to find it,¡± replied Zhang Zian.

    He didn¡¯t have time to exin, and hiding his true intention was also a waste of time. He waved his hand and went downstairs, leaving Coco to stand there alone. Other readers kept discussing in the chatroom, wanting to see the ending of the farce.

    Zhang Zian went down to the fourth floor, slowing down as he reached thending.

    Although he seemed confident, he had no idea how to find the book.

    He didn¡¯t know the size, binding,yout, content, or ssification of the book. Where should he start?

    Suddenly, he had a thought. The book appeared in this world with the elfin, which meant that it was a book summoned from the void of Pet Hunter. Just like elfins were invisible to ordinary people, this book also couldn¡¯t be seen, but he could see the book through the game¡¯s capture interface.

    The bookshelves on the fourth floor were full of newspapers and magazines, so it was easy for Zhang Zian to see if a book was ced on a shelf.

    He searched the whole floor and didn¡¯t find any book. If the book could be found on the fourth floor, this task wouldn¡¯t have been considered extremely difficult.

    Zhang Zian went down to the third floor. He felt that he had entered the game¡¯s hell mode.

    He reluctantly looked at the bookshelves in the Hall of Books in Foreign Languages on the third floor, which meant that he had to carefully check each shelf. There were six levels in each shelf, dozens of books on each level, and the book could be hidden between two books.

    To find the book, he had to aim his phone at one area of the bookshelf, observe it through the game¡¯s capture interface, and then observe it with his own eyes. He needed to find the book that was visible to the game, but not to his eyes.

    This task was extremely difficult, but not impossible. All it would take was time, which Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have.

    If he stood too close to a bookshelf, the camera on his phone could only capture a limited area. If he stood too far, he¡¯d easily miss something. He tried several times and finally found the best distance between him and the bookshelf, where all the six levels could be seen on the screen of his phone, and he¡¯d be able to scan level by level.

    The bookshelf was very long. Zhang Zian switched between his eyes and the game¡¯s capture interface over a dozen times for each shelf because there were books on both sides.

    To avoid missing anything, eachparison took about 20 seconds, switching between his phone and the bookshelf that was farther away.

    The books on the shelves varied in color. The titles of the books were written in foreignnguages. Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes burned after staring at the cursive script for so long. Even so, he told himself to keep looking.

    However, when he thought of the hundreds of bookshelves on the third floor that he hadn¡¯t yet inspected, along with the bookshelves on the second floor, he knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to locate the book in time to prevent the elfin from disappearing.

    After holding his phone in the same position for a long time, his arms ached. Lucky for him, his arms had be strong after practicing Wing Chun with Old Time Tea. If he was as weak as before, his arms would¡¯ve cramped up in less than a few minutes.

    When he came from the fifth floor, he took the book Modern Gics: An Analysis from Gene to the Surface with him, pretending to be an ordinary reader looking for a book. Now, the book had be a burden, and his pretense seemed meaningless.

    He was about to stuff the book in a vacant spot on a shelf when someone spoke.

    ¡°Manager Zhang, are you still looking for books?¡±

    Zhang Zian turned his head and found Meng Li standing next to him with two books in his hands.

    Meng Li noticed the book in Zhang Zian¡¯s hand and believed that Zhang Zian was learning about modern gics.

    ¡°Manager Zhang, you finished reading such a thick monograph in English?¡± Meng Li asked.

    Zhang Zian said pretentiously, ¡°I¡¯ve only skimmed it. The content is too simple, it doesn¡¯t satisfy my needs. I want to find a book that has more insight.¡±

    Meng Liughed. ¡°I¡¯m afraid you can only read the papers for more insight.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to spend more time on the subject, so he asked, ¡°Are you also looking for books?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve found them. These two books are about mathematical ultrafiltration and finding the solution to the infinite element Diophantine Equation.¡± Meng Li raised the two books in his hand.

    Zhang Zian smiled, as if he understood what Meng Li was talking about.

    Meng Li looked at the sky. ¡°It¡¯s almost noon. I need to return to the school. Are you staying?¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°Yes. I haven¡¯t found the book I¡¯m looking for.¡±

    ¡°Oh. Is the book also about modern gics?¡± Meng Li asked casually.

    ¡°Well, no. It¡¯s a book about life, the universe, and everything,¡± Zhang Zian said with a bitter smile, ready to be ridiculed.

    However, Meng Li didn¡¯tugh at him. Instead, he seemed surprised and asked, ¡°Your hobbies are widespread. Apart from modern gics, do you also like studying math?¡±

 Chapter 536: Book of Elfins

    <h4>Chapter 536: Book of Elfins</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Math had always been Zhang Zian¡¯s worst subject. He felt a bit lost as Meng Li¡¯s question came from nowhere. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Meng Li looked at his watch, and said in a hurry, ¡°If you want to look for a book about life, universe, and everything, maybe try to search in the reference book section. If that kind of book exists, it should be ssified as a reference book. I need to go. See you soon!¡±

    Before Zhang Zian could respond, Meng Li waved and hurried off with his books.

    ¡°Wait! Why reference books?¡±

    By the time Zhang Zian finally processed the information, and hurried off to the second floor to ask for an exnation, Meng Li was already at the check-out counter, then disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving Zhang Zian lost.

    Meng Li spoke with a certainty. Although how life, the universe, and everything could be considered as a reference books, he didn¡¯t know, but he didn¡¯t have time for a random search. The reference section seemed to be his only option.

    The books on the second and third floors were split into four categories: social science, science and technology, reference, and literature. If the search was narrowed down to reference books only, it would reduce search time by three-fourths.

    After careful thinking, Zhang Zian realized something. Both the second and the third floor had reference sections. Should Zhang Zian search the second floor or the third? Or both? Meng Li left in such a hurry that Zhang Zian had no time to ask.

    He stood on the stairs between the second and third floor. He stood in the way of the readers passing by.

    Should he go to the second floor or the third?

    He took out his phone and looked. The icon indicating the elfin¡¯s location on the map was already very faint. Judging from his search speed just now, he could only choose one of the two floors.

    He couldn¡¯t hesitate any longer. Zhang Zian decided to bet on the second floor, since it was the Chinese book area, and the search might go faster. Maybe he¡¯d have enough time to search the third floor after he finished.

    As he took his first step, he suddenly remembered the moment when the elfin first appeared. Gxy blinked at him three times. He had no idea what it meant, and Gxy didn¡¯t exin it.

    Was that Gxy¡¯s way of hinting to search the reference section on the third floor?

    Maybe he interpreted it wrong, maybe Gxy didn¡¯t mean anything.

    Since he was clueless, he gambled that Gxy had given him a clue. He stopped hesitating, returned to the third floor, and went straight to the reference section.

    The search was narrowed down by half.

    Reference books had a variety of sub-categories: dictionaries, encyclopedias, manuals, graphs, tables, maps, etc. Zhang Zian had never searched in the reference section on the third floor before, and sighed at the countless books.

    He bet that Gxy¡¯s blinks had special meaning. If so, what would be Gxy¡¯s meaning of facing the wall afterwards?

    Wait, which direction did the wall face on the outside? East or west?

    Coincidentally, the bookshelf in the reference section faced east and west Once Zhang Zian figured it out, he turned west and saw the east side of the shelf.

    The search was narrowed down by another half.

    He lifted his head to a simr angle as Gxy, and raised his phone horizontally. He saw the fifth and sixth levels of the shelf.

    The search was narrowed down by a third.

    If he had correctly interpreted Meng Li¡¯s reminder and Gxy¡¯s hints, the search was narrowed down to 1/48 of what it was in the beginning.

    Zhang Zian lifted the phone over his head, and searched row by row.

    One shelf, two shelves, three shelves.

    Nothing, nothing, nothing!

    The fewer shelves that were left, the more anxious he grew. Was his interpretation wrong?

    Interactive Oxford Picture Dictionary. Cambridge Advanced Learner¡¯s Dictionary. Collins English Dictionary. The New Oxford Illustrated English-Chinse Dictionary. Dionario de Real Academia Espanol. Macmin English Dictionary. Thick dictionaries appeared in the screen, then disappeared.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s arm grew sore. As he switched hands, he noticed a slight discrepancy between the phone screen and reality.

    His heart was pounding. He quickly aimed the phone back where it was earlier, and saw a crimson book between Dionario de Real Academia Espanol and Macmin English Dictionary through the game interface. The spine of the book was bare.

    When he moved the phone, the crimson book disappeared. When he moved the phone back, the crimson book was there.

    That¡¯s the book!

    Zhang Zian tried to remain calm. He held his phone in one hand, while he raised his other hand towards it.

    When he hunted Fina, Old Time Tea, Richard and Famous, he never touched the elfins. After the capture, the elfins existed physically in reality, but during the hunt, they existed between the virtual and real world. He couldn¡¯t imagine how they¡¯d feel if he touched them then.

    Now, he was about to touch a book from the virtual world.

    He pinched the spine, but didn¡¯t feel a temperature. Despite this fact, it felt like a regr book, with the same texture and thickness.

    He took the book off the shelf.

    Just as the elfin described, the book had no name. The cover had shiny metal lining on the edge, and was heavy. He couldn¡¯t tell whether the book was new or old, but the texture was pleasant.

    If Zhang Zian was being himself, he would¡¯ve read the book to find out if the book really talked about life, the universe, and everything. He also wanted to know why Meng Li was so certain that it was ssified as a reference book. However, he had no time, so he grabbed the book and ran towards the fifth floor.

    Some readers pointed at the signs on the wall with a displeased look: ¡°No shouting, running, spitting or littering.¡± Zhang Zian ignored them.

    He returned to hisputer in one breath, and typed as fast as he could in the chatroom.

    [The Hottie]: 3.1415926, I found your book. I¡¯m standing here, with your book in my hand!

    He pushed the keyboard away, lifted the Book of Elfin as high as an Olympic torch, and prayed that he still had time.

 Chapter 537: Mission Accomplished

    <h4>Chapter 537: Mission Aplished</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When they saw Zhang Zian in the chatroom, the readers, who had been annoyed by the prankster, thought that he had actually found a book about life, so they moved their chairs and turned back to stare at him. However, they were immediately disappointed.

    Zhang Zian thought he was holding the book gracefully, but in the readers¡¯ eyes, he looked stupid. The readers saw no book in Zhang Zian¡¯s hand, which reminded them of the famous tale, The Emperor¡¯s New Clothes.

    [Jackdaw]: Is he kidding me?

    [Pancake]: If he is, then he¡¯s hrious because I actuallyughed out loud.

    [Coco]: Hm¡­ Maybe he means that the invisible book is better than the physical book?

    Zhang Zian kept holding the book for a few more seconds so that everyone on the fifth floor could see it clearly, and then lowered the book below his waist. Although it was still unclear what kind of animal the elfin could be, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t think it¡¯d be a giraffe. If he held the book too high, it¡¯d probably be out of the elfin¡¯s reach. He thought that since this book appeared with the elfin, they¡¯d also disappear together. Since the book still existed in this world, the elfin should also still be here.

    Holding the book in his left hand, Zhang Zian raised his cell phone with his right hand to nce around. Still, he didn¡¯t see anything. A few secondster, just as he was starting to worry, the book in his hand was suddenly pulled. He quickly pointed his cell phone at his left hand and a game reminder popped up.

    [Game Revtion]: Target Confirmation ¨C Molecr Monkey!

    Zhang Zian widened his eyes and saw nothing at first. After a second, he noticed that there was a outline of a body in the air. First its head, torso, and limbs, and finally, a pair of brown eyes formed. The elfin looked like a kid sitting on a table. Its hand was holding one end of the book, while Zhang Zian¡¯s hand was holding the other, giving him enough time to observe it.

    When its body appearedpletely, Zhang Zian was surprised to find out that this was a baby rhesus monkey, also known as a Macaque Monkey. Rhesus monkeys inhabited South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Southern China. This rhesus monkey was covered in yellow fluff of varying shades, and there were a few shallow wrinkles on its light pink face. Its short tail was hanging down under the table. It seemed frightened and restless, but also looked grateful and excited.

    Then, a pair of old-fashioned pince-nez sses appeared on the monkey¡¯s nose. The two thin lenses connected by a strip of brass metal. The monkey looked at Zhang Zian and then looked at the book. It was using its other hand to draw circles on the table. It seemed as if it was pleading Zhang Zian to give it the book back.

    Zhang Zian wondered about the book. He didn¡¯t want the book, but he wanted to see if the book was really all-epassing. However, the book was crucial to the survival of the Molecr Monkey, so Zhang Zian should return the book.

    So, he released his hand. The Molecr Monkey held the book tightly in its arms and grinned, as if it had won a treasure. In the meantime, Zhang Zian finally pressed the ¡°capture¡± button on his phone¡¯s screen.

    [Game Tips]: Captured! Molecr Monkey!

    A rhesus monkey wearing a pair of pince-nez sses and holding a book appeared in the pet¡¯s column. It wasn¡¯t until this moment that Zhang Zian noticed the weird nickname of the elfin, the Molecr Monkey. He had captured the Quantum Cat and the Molecr Monkey. What would the next elfin be? The Atomic Pig?

    Zhang Zian could finally rx. He unbuttoned the top of his shirt, feeling weak all over as if he had just recovered from a severe illness. He clicked on the image of the Molecr Monkey on his phone, and the game prompts popped up.

    [Game Tips]: Pet Attributes

    [Known As]: Molecr Monkey

    [Rarity]: Elite Level

    [Features]: My life is limited, but the book is infinite.

    [Origin]: Locked

    [Real name]: Locked

    My life is limited, but the book is infinite. What does it mean? thought Zhang Zian.

    There were so many mysteries about the monkey that couldn¡¯t be solved right now. The only thing Zhang Zian knew was that this weird book was of vital importance to the Molecr Monkey.

    Other readers couldn¡¯t see the book in Zhang Zian¡¯s hand, nor could they see the Molecr Monkey. They were speechless because, to them, Zhang Zian had been performing a dumb show by himself the whole time.

    Zhang Zian started to feel hungry, so he checked the time. It was after 12 o¡¯clock. He sat down to type.

    [The Hottie]: Well, I¡¯ve asked the prankster to leave the chatroom. Everybody can concentrate on reading without disturbance now.

    [Jackdaw]: Where¡¯s the prankster? We didn¡¯t see anyone go downstairs.

    [The Hottie]: He¡¯s gone. Bye, everyone!

    Zhang Zian quit the chatroom and shut down theputer.

    Mr. Zhou was still sitting next to him, focusing on reading e-books.

    ¡°Mr. Zhou, I¡¯m leaving. Is there anything you don¡¯t understand?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Uh? You¡¯re leaving so early?¡± Mr. Zhou was surprised.

    Zhang Zian let Mr. Zhou check the time on his phone and reminded Mr. Zhou, ¡°It¡¯s after 12 o¡¯clock. Mr. Zhou, you should go to lunch too. Healthes first. If you want to continue reading books, you cane backter.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s already noon? Time really flies when I¡¯m immersed in books¡­¡± Mr. Zhou said, ¡°Well, I¡¯ll go to lunch too. Will youe backter?

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t a true reader. Since he achieved his goal, he wouldn¡¯te back. ¡°I have something to doter, so I won¡¯te back to the library.¡±

    ¡°What a pity. Thank you very much for teaching me how to use theputer.¡± Mr. Zhou said sincerely.

    Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°No, Mr. Zhou, I should thank you.¡±

    ¡°Thank me? Why?¡± Mr. Zhou was stunned.

    ¡°Because you let me know that people who do good deeds are rewarded.¡± Zhang Zian knew that if he hadn¡¯t helped Mr. Zhou, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to capture the elfin.

    ¡°I¡¯m leaving. See you.¡±

    He waved to the puzzled Mr. Zhou and left the library. With Zhang Zian gone, Mr. Zhou wanted to leave as well, but then he saw something on the table. He carefully picked up a short hair from the table. Under the sun, he could tell that it was a yellow hair.

    After he went out the gate, Zhang Zian turned around and looked back at the library. On both sides of the tall ss doors, the metal ques were shining brightly under the midday sun. The couplets on the two ques were particrly eye-catching, Diligence is a path through a mountain of books and Industriousness is a boat sailing across the endless sea of study.

 Chapter 538: A Teenager

    <h4>Chapter 538: A Teenager</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian ate lunch outside. It waste in the afternoon when he returned to the shop.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun went back to school to prepare for exams. Lu Yiyun was asleep on her arm. Maybe she stayed uptest night to catch up onics.

    There were no customers, so Zhang Zian didn¡¯t wake her, and went inside quietly.

    ¡°Quack! Why did you leave so early this morning? Why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡± Richard pped its wings andnded on his shoulder. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you since I woke up.¡±

    Zhang Zian left in a hurry this morning. Wang Qian and Li Kun were cleaning the inside room back then. He had no time to tell the elfins why he was leaving.

    He didn¡¯t hurry to exin. Instead, he thanked Gxy, who was ying hide and seek. ¡°Gxy, thank you.¡±

    Wendy and an American shorthair were running in opposite directions. Gxy hesitated on which one to chase after first, and tilted its head towards Zhang Zian. ¡°Meow? Why did you say thank you?¡±

    ¡°Without your hints, I couldn¡¯t have caught the elfin.¡± Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°Weren¡¯t you giving me hints?¡±

    Wendy appeared in the pet¡¯s shower room and meowed. Gxy chased after it instantly. ¡°Meow¡±

    Okay. I¡¯ll take that as a yes then.

    ¡°Quack! Another elfin? You just love to remember the new and forget the old. You waste my time, my mind, and my money!¡± Richardined loudly.

    Old Time Tea turned off the TV and asked, ¡°Zian, who¡¯s the new elfin? Let¡¯s meet it.¡±

    Fina swung its tail and said in azy tone, ¡°I guess we have a new member of our feline family. Congrattions.¡±

    ¡°I hope it¡¯s female.¡± Snowy Li added. ¡°It better not fight me for raw beef sirloin!¡±

    Famous woke up and yawned. It shook its head to get rid of the sleepiness, then looked at Zhang Zian curiously.

    ¡°The new elfin is neither a cat nor dog.¡± Zhang Zian uttered.

    ¡°It¡¯s a bird, then?¡± Richard interrupted him.

    ¡°It¡¯s not a bird either, it¡¯s a monkey.¡± Zhang Zian spoke, seeing that Lu Yiyun was still sleeping. He pointed at the empty space in front of him with his phone and pressed the ¡°release¡± button.

    Molecr Monkey sat on the floor, holding the crimson book in its arms. It nced nervously around the shop as well as the other elfins.

    ¡°Quack? The monkey is wearing sses? It looks educated. I bet it¡¯s smarter than you.¡± Richard looked sideways at Zhang Zian, andnded in front of Molecr Monkey, keeping a safe distance. It spoke in a mischievous tone, ¡°Come, little monkey, smile for me!¡±

    Molecr Monkey raised the nameless book in front of him as a shield. Its two brown eyes were full of spirit, as if they could talk.

    ¡°Smile! You won¡¯t get pregnant from smiling.¡± Richard always picked on the weak. At first, it worried that this Molecr Monkey might be wild. After all, Monkeys were birds¡¯ enemies in the wilderness. Since the Molecr Monkey was young and appeared weak, Richard became bold and hopped closer.

    Molecr Monkey squeaked and stepped back out of fear.

    ¡°Stop! Can¡¯t you see it¡¯s scared?¡± Zhang Zian brushed Richard aside with his hand. He bent down and spoke to Molecr Monkey gently, ¡°Hello, my name is Zhang Zian. This is my pet shop. Could you please tell me your name?¡±

    ¡°This is my pce, I¡¯m the princess!¡± Fina said with displeasure.

    Molecr Monkey looked at Zhang Zian, then at Fina, seeming a bit confused.

    ¡°My name is Zhang Zian, what¡¯s yours?¡± Zhang Zian pointed at it.

    ¡°Eeek!¡± Molecr Monkey scratched its head.

    Old Time Tea drew a deep breath, and spoke with astonishment, ¡°Zian, this monkey can¡¯t talk?¡±

    Zhang Zian noticed the same thing. Even Gxy, the least talkative, was able to say ¡°don¡¯t touch me¡± when it first arrived at the pet shop. The monkey was obviously scared, but still couldn¡¯t speak.

    ¡°Quack! A mute elfin? That¡¯s weak! I take my words back. You¡¯re smarter than it.¡± Richard flew to Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder. ¡°But since it¡¯s here, it should have a name, right? Otherwise it¡¯ll be too inconvenient.¡±

    The mischievous parrot finally said something meaningful. Zhang Zian also agreed that it should be given a name, so he asked for everybody¡¯s opinion, ¡°What name should we give it?¡±

    ¡°Quack! I go first because of my big d*ck!¡± Richard was expecting him to ask this, so it went first. ¡°I have a good name, perfect for it!¡±

    Zhang Zian stared at Richard with skepticism. ¡°Is it another dirty name like Jeff Richardson or Richard Jefferson?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m serious.¡± Richard said, ¡°How about Stephen Chow Chimp?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid that Stephen Chow¡¯s fans will beat the crap out of you?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Richard said, ¡°Take it easy, idiot. Let me finish first. This has nothing to do with Stephen Chow himself, all right?¡±

    ¡°Then exin yourself. If you don¡¯t make sense, I¡¯ll beat the crap out of you on behalf of Stephen Chow¡¯s fans.¡± Zhang Zian replied, crossing his arms.

    ¡°First of all, it¡¯s a chimpanzee. So ¡®Chimp¡¯ is self-exnatory.¡± Richard started.

    Zhang Zian interrupted it, ¡°No! It¡¯s not a chimpanzee, it¡¯s a monkey.¡±

    ¡°Quack! What difference does it make? In my eyes, chimps, monkeys and humans are the same thing.¡± Richard rolled its eyes.

    ¡°Then, why is the family name ¡®Chow¡¯? Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s a coincidence.¡± If Richard didn¡¯t make sense, Zhang Zian would hang it for two hours.

    Richard blinked its eyes, and spoke like a philosopher, ¡°I think this monkey¡¯s intelligence is primitive. It mighte from Choukoutien, so the family name should be Chow.¡±

    Zhang Zian frowned at Richard. ¡°How dare you speak ill of Beijing residents. Apologize to the capital residents, now!¡±

    ¡°Quack!¡± Richard flew away after its joke,nded on a high shelf, and calmly groomed the feathers on its chest.

    Zhang Zian searched for the feather duster, but couldn¡¯t find it. He had to let Richard go for now.

    Could the parrot be right? Could the Molecr Monkey havee from Choukoutien? No, how could it be?

    Zhang Zian wondered in horror, If Molecr Monkey really came from Choukoutien, it would be horrifying. He¡¯d have to call it ¡°ancestor¡± out of respect.

    Molecr Monkey couldn¡¯t talk, but it appeared to have understood the conversation between Zhang Zian and Richard. It knew that Richard was only joking and wouldn¡¯t really hurt it. It smiled innocently, appearing much more rxed.

    ¡°Zian, it is indeed more convenient if it has a name. Didn¡¯t you name Gxy? Give this one a name, too.¡± Famous suggested.

    Old Time Tea agreed with Famous, ¡°Yes, Zian, you should name it.¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled bitterly. He was the worst at naming things. Last time, he lost billions of brain cells before he finally found a satisfactory name for Gxy. However, Gxy could speak and express its opinions, and told Zhang Zian that it preferred significant names. The Molecr Monkey couldn¡¯t talk. How could he give it a proper name?

    Names were important. He didn¡¯t want to be careless in naming the Molecr Monkey.

    ¡°What suggestions do you have? You, shut up!¡± Zhang Zian nced around at the elfins, stopping at Richard, who was ready to make trouble.

    ¡°Meow! I think it should be called ¡®Monkey in the Book¡¯!¡± Snowy Li spoke.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t satisfied. ¡°Is this ording to your general naming rules? It¡¯s not a monkey in a book, and that doesn¡¯t count as a name!¡±

    Fina yawned, closed it eyes, and went back to sleep. It demonstrated its attitude with the action, it had no interest in such boring matters.

    Old Time Tea thought for a moment, and smiled. ¡°How about ¡®Wukong¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Ha! Now Old Time Tea is joking around? It didn¡¯t jump out of a rock.¡± Zhang Zian spread his hands in disappointment. ¡°At least this is a normal name.¡±

    ¡°Zian, where did you find it?¡± Famous asked.

    ¡°The library,¡± Zhang Zian replied, then told the story of what happened today.

    ¡°So its characteristics are ¡®My life has an end, but books are endless¡¯?¡± Famous asked.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    Famous thought some more, then proposed, ¡°How about ¡®Endless¡¯?¡±

    Endless.

    This was a proper name. It sounded like a hero¡¯s name in a Kung Fu novel, heroic and bada**.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Molecr Monkey shook its head violently.

    ¡°You don¡¯t like this name?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Molecr Monkey shook its head.

    ¡°Fine. Let me think again.¡±

    All the efins, except Fina, had expressed their opinions. They couldn¡¯t think of a proper name.

    As Zhang Zian was thinking, Gxy came close while chasing Wendy. ¡°Meow! Zian, it has a name!¡±

    He was stunned, trying to think of how the Molecr Monkey could already have a name.

    Gxy ran away before he could ask.

    Right!

    Zhang Zian suddenly realized something. He forgot that the Molecr Monkey did have a name, a name given by itself.

    Then he smiled. ¡°Let¡¯s do this again. My name is Zhang Zian. Hello, Pi!¡±

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Molecr Monkey scratched its head in excitement, and its eyes were glistening.

    Zhang Zian knew he got it right. Its name was indeed Pi, teenager Pi.

 Chapter 539: The Blessing of Being Single

    <h4>Chapter 539: The Blessing of Being Single</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The New Year¡¯s Day holiday was over.

    The sun had not yet risen. In front of his shop, Zhang Zian was standing against the chilly wind in the early morning. Cupping his hands by cing the roots of his palms together, he then drew his hands slowly to the right of his waist. He squared away his legs and stood steadily as if he was nting himself to the earth.

    He took a deep breath and felt the flow oftent energy inside his body. He brought the infinite energy of the universe to every corner of his body, and then gathered all the energy and concentrated it between his cupped hands.

    His palms suddenly became scorching hot, as if he was holding a miniature nuclear reactor, and if he did not exhaust all his strength to control it, the nuclear reactor might explode at any minute.

    Zhang Zian was practicing the Kamehameha, also known as the ¡°Turtle Destruction Wave¡±, a signature energy attack in the Dragon Ball series. He was so delighted, because he believed that this time, he was going to sessfully shoot out a streaming, powerful beam of energy as in the anime series!

    So, he focused on his front, and uttered the word of Kamehameha slowly!

    ¡°Ka¡ª¡±

    ¡°Me¡ª¡±

    ¡°Ha¡ª¡±

    ¡°Me¡ª¡±

    ¡°Ha¡ª¡±

    As he uttered thest ¡°Ha¡ª¡±, he thrust forward the nuclear reactor in his palms with his full effort!

    In his imagination; his pet shop, the street, and the entire Binhai City would be burned into ashes by such a powerful st. The atmosphericyer would be ripped open and a terrible hole would appear. Dust, gravel, boulders and buildings would be drawn into the infinite empty space; and a scar as deep as several hundred meters would be seen from the surface of the earth; and everyone in this world would be in awe of him.

    However, nothing happened in reality.

    There was no wind at all. Not even a leaf of the lobr red, sandalwood potted-nt that he ced two meters away from him was shaking.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    He maintained his posture to contemte his attempt.

    ¡°Master, you ¡­ what are you doing?¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun, who were both carrying a pancake, appeared. They wiped the sauce on their mouths and stared with astonishment at Zhang Zian¡¯s bizarre posture.

    For fear that his gathered energy would be interfered with by moving around; Zhang Zian stood still, nced at them, and said solemnly, ¡°It is said that if we remain single, we can ultimately master the Kamehameha. So, I will try this attack every year around the New Year¡¯s Day.¡±

    ¡°Hm¡­ Really?¡±

    Ordinary people certainly did not believe Zhang Zian¡¯s words, but Wang Qian and Li Kun, who were really stupid, found his words somewhat credible.

    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s true! Being single is a very valuable asset!¡± Zhang Zian said affirmatively.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun thrillingly stuffed the pancakes into their mouths; ran next to Zhang Zian, and awkwardly imitated Zhang Zian¡¯s posture.

    ¡°You are standing too high! Square away your legs with a wider stance!¡±

    ¡°Your fingers must exert power; like you are clinging to a cliff. If you don¡¯t hold on tight, you will fall off the cliff!¡±

    Zhang Zian solemnly instructed the two of them.

    ¡°Have you felt the scorching heat in your palms?¡± asked Zhang Zian.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun concentrated and vaguely felt the heat in their palms.

    Finally, when they correctly mimicked the essential movements of the Kamehameha, Zhang Zian pped his hands and said, ¡°All right, listen to me! Ka¡ª¡±

    ¡°Me¡ª¡±

    ¡°Ha¡ª¡±

    ¡°Me¡ª¡±

    ¡°Ha¡ª¡±

    Apanied by the encouraging watchword of the Kamehameha, the three of them thrust their hands forward in unison!

    Of course, still, nothing happened.

    It was a weekday today, and the office workers who were on their way to work were astonished by this peculiar scene in front of the pet shop. Some pedestrians thought this might be a sort of performance art and they even took some pictures with their phones.

    Fortunately, Zhang Zian, Wang Qian and Li Kun didn¡¯t care how the pedestrians perceived them. They enjoyed trying Kamehameha repeatedly.

    ¡°Ha¡ª¡±

    ¡°Ha¡ª¡±

    ¡°Ha¡ª¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Store Manager. What are you doing?¡± Lu Yiyun stared nkly at the three of them in the front of the shop. Her cat, Jasmine, stuck its head out from her backpack and meowed.

    ¡°We are practicing,¡± Wang Qian answered straightforwardly.

    ¡°What are you practicing?¡± She asked again.

    ¡°Kamehameha!¡± Wang Qian replied.

    Lu Yiyun became silent. She went into the shop quietly.

    After a while, the three of them gave up for the time being and squatted in the storefront to rest. When they rested well enough, Wang Qian and Li Kun went into the shop to start cleaning. Just as Zhang Zian was about to go in, he heard someone shout from afar. ¡°Good morning, Brother Store Manager!

    He turned around and found that it was Little Celery.

    ¡°Good morning, Little Celery! High-five! Yay!¡± said Zhang Zian.

    Though she had no idea what they were celebrating, Little Celery jumped up happily and high-fived with Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Brother Store Manager, why did you leave so early the other day? Our ss program won the school¡¯s best performance award! We also received prizes!¡± Little Celery said with excitement.

    ¡°Oh, what prizes?¡± Zhang Zian asked. ¡°yStations?¡±

    ¡°No, stationeries and school bags,¡± said Little Celery.

    ¡°When will your winter vacation start?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Well ¡­ about two weekster¡­¡± Little Celery thought for a moment and said.

    ¡°Then you are about to take final exams, right?¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡±

    Zhang Zian encouraged her. ¡°Study hard for your exams and strive for good grades! After that, you can enjoy your holiday!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± Little Celery nodded vigorously. ¡°I will go to school after I see Xiao Ling and Er Duo!¡±

    ¡°All right, go ahead, but don¡¯t spend too much time ying with them.¡± Zhang Zian reminded her.

    As soon as Little Celery entered the shop, a car parked on the roadside. Sun Xiaomeng knocked on the car window. It seemed like she wanted to say something to Zhang Zian. Zhang Zian trotted towards her and Sun Xiaomeng rolled down the window as he approached.

    ¡°About the gang of dog-trappers several days ago; I heard from my customers, Mr. Qian and Mr. Li, that they have joined a WeChat group established by the people whose dogs were stolen in this incident. Some dogs were sold to other cities; a few dogs have been found by the police and have been returned to their owners, but most of the dogs are¡­ ¡± She said, sighing.

    The bait used by the dog-trappers contained illegal drugs that were detrimental to the central nervous system of the dogs, thus slowing down the dog¡¯s reaction time. When the dog-trappers used ropes to capture the dogs by their necks, they might have been suffocated during the struggle. Probably, one third of the stolen dogs were already dead before they were re-sold to other cities or the dog meat restaurants. When eating the dog meat, the customers might have unknowingly absorbed the drugs from these dead dogs into their own bodies¡­

    The task of retrieving the stolen dogs was carried out jointly by the police and the industrial andmercial authorities. On the one hand, the task was to arrest the suspects and retrieve the lost dogs. On the other hand, the authorities were also responsible for punishing those restaurants that epted dog meat from unknown sources, as well as tracking down the drug dealers who had sold the illegal drugs to the gang of dog-trappers.

    The authenticity of these things narrated by Sun Xiaomeng remained unknown, because she had heard them from her customers, Mr. Qian, and Mr. Li.

    Sun Xiaomeng finally said, ¡°Mr. Li has retrieved his dog. He was too excited that day and forgot to thank you. He asks me, on his behalf, to express his gratitude to you. As for Mr. Qian, I heard that when you found the hideout of the criminals that day, his dog was dead already, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I think so.¡± Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°He almost hit the gang of dog-trappers at the time.¡±

    ¡°Here is the thing. He asked me about the address of your shop, and he wille to buy a dog in a few days.¡± Sun Xiaomeng smiled and said, ¡°You see, you are being rewarded for your good deeds. I should head back to my clinic now; a client has made an appointment for this time slot. Bye!¡±

    ¡°Bye!¡±

    Zhang Zian watched as she drove away. A thought once again urred to him: Just doing good deeds without asking for reward.

 Chapter 540: Online Shopping

    <h4>Chapter 540: Online Shopping</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Gong!¡±

    ¡°Gong!¡±

    After returning to the store, Zhang Zian found Wang Qian and Li Kun cking at work, and firing Kamehameha at each other with mops and brooms. He reminded them, ¡°I¡¯m going upstairs first. Don¡¯t forget to bring the Red Sandalwood inside.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master! Gong!¡±

    ¡°Damn! Master, he sneak attacks me! Gong! Gong!¡±

    They were fighting like two kids who would never grow up.

    Speechless, Zhang Zian shook his head. He almost wanted to say that he didn¡¯t know these two guys. Despite that he just had an ¡°adolescent delusional disorder¡± episode just then, he did it only once a year to celebrate his single years.

    Lu Yiyun was cleaning up near the cashier, wiping down the shelves with wet clothes and wearing rubber gloves.

    Little Celery was standing next to the disy cab, as she whispered constantly to Lop-Eared Rabbit and the hamsters.

    Zhang Zian looked around and didn¡¯t notice anything wrong. He turned back to the bedroom on the second floor.

    ¡°What are you doing, making such a noise at this hour in the morning?¡± Fina yawned in its princess bed, and stared at him with a long face.

    ¡°Getting some exercise.¡± Zhang Zian lied calmly. ¡°I¡¯ve been practicing Qi-Gong with Old Time Teately. I asionally miss the good old, broadcast gymnastics.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t hear any music, just sounds of ¡®gong, gong gong¡¯.¡± Fina ruthlessly exposed his lies.

    ¡°Your Majesty! In my humble opinion, if certain males are not castrated in time, they make noises like that.¡± Snowy Li extended its sharp ws and scratched the air.

    Although it made sense, Zhang Zian still felt an imaginary pain in his balls. ¡°Gong¡± and ¡°male¡± had the same pronunciations but they were not the same words.

    Gxy passed by while chasing after American Short Hair. Zhang Zian suddenly understood something when he saw it: Gxy didn¡¯t want to see the pet shop being destroyed by Kamehameha, therefore it chose the alternate reality in which it was unable to use Kamehameha. Yes, this must have been the truth.

    He finally looked at Molecr Monkey Pi in the corner. It woke up early, but didn¡¯t move in its corner. It was holding the crimson nameless book in its arms, looking at everybody and everything in the room, then it opened up the crimson nameless book and started reading. After it lifted his head again, its eyes seemed somehow different¡­

    Whether if it was an illusion or not, he always felt that when Pi first saw the other elfin, its eyes were distant and aloof. But after reading the nameless book for a while, its eyes became rxed and the guard was off, as if it knew them well enough, that they weren¡¯t bad and wouldn¡¯t hurt it.

    Zhang Zian grew more curious about the nameless book. But he knew that he had not earned enough trust from Pi yet, and Pi might not let him read its most treasured nameless book. Therefore, he didn¡¯t ask Pi. He thought about pretending to be passing by and taking a sneak peek into the book. But Pi was always hiding in a corner. He never had a chance to do so.

    Pi slept in a single chair in the bedroomst night. Zhang Zian put a nket on the chair, but even so, it was still hard to sleep on. There were no extra beds in the bedroom, and the other room was cold, but Pi didn¡¯tin. It obediently slept where Zhang Zian asked it to sleep.

    Zhang Zian had noticed since yesterday that Pi seemed to be an imaginative elfin, as it didn¡¯t eat and didn¡¯t seem hungry. Although it was an imaginative elfin, it took the form of a monkey and kept some behaviors of a monkey. For instance, it was not used to sleeping in beds or on the floor, and loved climbing and scratching its head, etc.

    He thought about it. There were basket hammock chairs sold online, which felt like sitting in a swing. Pi should like it, because sleeping in it would feel as safe and cozy as if sleeping in a tree.

    ¡°Pi, it¡¯s dark in the bedroom, and bad for your eyes if read for too long. If you feel like reading, you can go to the living room.¡± After a while, he noticed that Pi was still reading. Then he reminded it and pointed the way to the living room.¡¡Pi had a pair of pince-nez sses on its nose. Maybe it had bad eyesight because of too much reading.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi nodded, scratched its neck, smiled at him, then walked towards the living room with the book under one arm. It walked like a regr monkey, supporting its body with the free arm on the floor, and lifted the tail high to keep bnce.

    Zhang Zian stared at its back as it walked away and felt troubled. This elfin didn¡¯t eat or talk. It was hard to find out what it liked.

    How could I increase its likability?

    ¡°Quack! Shall I teach it to talk?¡± Richard flew off the pillow with a kick, then fluttered its wings andnded on rail. ¡°You idiot, you don¡¯t doubt that I am a good teacher, do you?¡±

    ¡°Cut it. You can teach a parrot to talk, but not a different species!¡± Zhang Zian knew that Richard was referring to teaching the Red-headed lovebird to talk. It did a good job, but Red-headed love bird was the same species as Richard.

    If he was right, Pi should be an imaginative elfin, and not a real animal. If such an elfin didn¡¯t talk when it first appeared, it was unlikely to learn to talk.

    ¡°Geez. You look down upon me.¡± Richard mumbled withints, and preened the messy feather in its chest.

    Zhang Zian pointed at the toilet. ¡°Go, hurry to the toilet, and don¡¯t sh*t in the room. Otherwise, I¡¯ll hang you again!¡±

    ¡°Geez. Idiot!¡±

    Richard flew into the bathroom, and Zhang Zian had to follow it to close the door.

    Without Richard, the room suddenly became quiet.

    There was nothing else to do, so Zhang Zian decided to make the order now for the basket hammock chair and then he would ask the supplier to ship it earlier.

    Then he came to the living room, and took out theptop that had not been used for a long time.

    It was easier to order on the smartphone but he had not decided on the model yet, and was not sure about the size and looks. In addition, he needed to check out the review from other customers. It was easier to do these on aputer.

    Pi was reading quietly at a desk next to the window. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to disturb it. He sat on the old couch, put theptop on the coffee table, and booted the system.

    Thisptop had not been used in years, and was not fast in start-up or power off, but he didn¡¯t intend to get a new one. He didn¡¯t use it much anyway so it would have been an unnecessary expense.

    Zhang Zian visited the online shopping website, typed the words ¡°basket hammock chair¡± in the search bar, then clicked on ¡°search¡±. A variety of hammock chairs appeared on the screen.

    Which one should he choose? He was making a carefulparison.

    After hearing the keyboard sound, Pi turned its head quietly and stared at theputer screen.

 Chapter 541: Neighborhood Committee

    <h4>Chapter 541: Neighborhood Committee</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian had seen a basket hammock chair at someone else¡¯s home before. He felt that the chair seemed quite cozy when he saw a couple sitting in there and flirting, or when he saw a child reading a book or ying on an iPad in there. Since he had neither a girlfriend nor a child, he forgot about the basket hammock chair very quickly.

    Since there was no suitable bed for ¦Ð, Zhang Zian remembered that the basket hammock chair might be a good choice for ¦Ð, so he came up with the idea to shop for a one online. This thing would be expensive in a brick-and-mortar store, while shopping for it online would be more convenient and there would be more styles to choose from.

    The biggest advantage of shopping in a brick-and-mortar store was that ¦Ð could try out a chair to see if it fits. Let alone that ¦Ð couldn¡¯t leave the pet shop, but even if it could, going outside would cause troubles.

    When Richard came to the pet shop, Zhang Zian entrusted Sun Xiaomeng to help him gain an artificial breeding license; a permit for individuals to raise wildlife in private. Although the rhesus monkey was also a wild animal, China forbade individuals to provide for primates in private ¡ª unless the primates were the wife and children of such individuals.

    Primates such as monkeys and orangutans were close rtives of humans, and the viruses carried in these primates were transmittable to humans. For example, monkeys would basically be fine when carrying a type of virus called Herpes B, but once this virus was transmitted to humans, the fatality rate among the patients could be as high as 80%.

    Simrly, the viruses carried by humans could also infect monkeys and orangutans. For instance, themon flu in human beings could be fatal to monkeys and orangutans. In addition, monkeys may also carry the rabies virus, but individuals could not take the risk of breaching thew by taking them to the regr hospitals to inject the rabies vine into monkeys.

    Juvenile monkeys and orangutans were very cute, but they could be violent and aggressive after they reached the stage of sexual maturity, all of which were the reasons why China prohibited individuals from raising primates.

    ¦Ð was actually not an animal, nor was it a primate. It was an elfin that had assumed the appearance of a monkey. But Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t exin this matter to others. Therefore, to avoid unnecessary troubles, he¡¯d better not bring ¦Ð outside, and it would be impossible for him to take ¦Ð to a furniture store to try a basket hammock chair.

    Richard had almost died of atent virus in its body because Richard was a genuine animal that actually existed. However, as an imaginative elfin, ¦Ð would not carry any virus in its body, so Zhang Zian didn¡¯t need to worry that ¦Ð would transmit any virus to the customers of his pet shop.

    He moved the mouse and browsed the most popr basket hammock chairs on the emerce websites. After he had the general idea of the size, style, and color of the basket hammock chair that he wanted, he scrolled down to read thements of other buyers, thus eliminating the products that had obvious quality issues.

    Afterparing the basket hammock chairs of several shops, Zhang Zian finally picked one rtively expensive basket hammock chair with good quality from a shop and ced the order. When he finally ced the order, half an hour had passed since he opened theputer.

    Looking at the chair that costed over 1,000 Yuan, he resolutely clicked the mouse toplete the payment and then closed the web page quickly before he regretted what he had done.

    He stretched himself and was about to stand up. When he turned his head, he found out that ¦Ð was leaning on the arm of the sofa and staring intently at theputer screen. Its brown, round eyes were full of curiosity. The lenses of its sses were reflecting the images on theputer screen. It was still holding its nameless book.

    ¡°¦Ð, do you want to y on theputer?¡± Zhang Zian pointed to theputer on the coffee table.

    ¦Ð probably had known what aputer was and how to use it. After all, it had typed in the chat room to ask the readers in the library for help.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    It hesitated, but did not move forward. It grabbed its chest and scratched its neck. Zhang Zian could see that it was eager to y on theputer, but perhaps it was shy or for what other reason, it didn¡¯te forward.

    ¦Ð was really acting like a monkey; a juvenile monkey. It was as innocent and adorable as a human child, but oftentimes, its big round eyes were shing with the spark of wisdom. Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help but wonder what ¦Ð was thinking in its mind.

    ¡°Are you afraid that you might damage it?¡± He guessed, smiling at it. ¡°It¡¯s okay. This is a worthless oldputer, and I have nothing important stored in it. It¡¯s fine even if it¡¯s broken.¡±

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Its left hand was holding the nameless book tightly, and its right hand was opening and closing. Then, ¦Ð moved a small step forward.

    Is ¦Ð afraid that I or someone else will snatch the book from it? That¡¯s why it dares not to put down the book? Because it is hard for it to hold the book while ying theputer.

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment, stood up from the couch, and said, ¡°Ah, I just remember that I need to do some chores downstairs. I don¡¯t think Wang Qian and Li Kun can finish their work without me¡­¦Ð, you stay here on your own for a while, I¡¯ll go downstairs.¡±

    He quickly left the living room and closed the door, leaving only a small crevice between the wall and the door. He trod heavily downstairs. When he saw that Wang Qian and Li Kun had almost finished cleaning the shop, he told them to return to school and prepare for their make-up final exams. He gave a few words of instruction to Lu Yiyun, and then turned around and trod lightly back to the second floor.

    Through the crack of the door, Zhang Zian saw that ¦Ð was staring at theputer screen as if it was an extremely attractive item. ¦Ð looked around the room. Zhang Zian was not there, and the other elves were downstairs. There was only ¦Ð itself in the entire room. It became rxed and cautiously sat on the sofa, cing the scarlet colored, nameless book beside theputer.

    Just then, the talking sounds of the middle-aged women of the neighborhoodmittee came from the alley behind the shop.

    ¦Ð was so scared that it shivered. It swiftly held the nameless book in its arms, and then hid behind the sofa, trembling with trepidation.

    Zhang Zian secretlyined about the noises. He recognized that one of the voices from the alley belonged to Grandma Gu, the leader of the neighborhoodmittee of this street.

    To sessfully collect the sanitation fees, management fees, public maintenance fees and waste disposal fees from the businesses on this street, the middle-aged women of the neighborhoodmittee had trained themselves to talk in loud voices. Zhang Zian¡¯s Amazing Fate Pet Shop and Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s Spirit Curing Pet Clinic were the businesses that Grandma Gu had paid close attention to. In addition to the usual fees, Grandma Gu also collected the animal quarantine fees and urban road upation fees from them.

    At the beginning of the new year, Grandma Gu was leading other middle-aged women of the neighborhoodmittee to collect fees from the business owners on this street, striving to exceed the target they had set for this quarter.

    It is estimated that Grandma Gu would arrive at the entrance of his shop to collect fees soon. Zhang Zian had to go back downstairs to deal with her. As soon as he arrived at the first floor, Grandma Gu, wearing a red armband, came in the shop. Grandma Gu was in her sixties and was full of energy. She walked swiftly and handled her work neatly. She could practically be deemed as the big boss of Zhonghua Road.

    ¡°Hey, Zian, your shop looks really nice ¡­¡± Grandma Gu observed the shop with a smile. She was wearing a green down vest, and a pair of reading sses tied by a string that swayed in front of her chest.

    ¡°Thank you! Grandma Gu, you look so healthy and young!¡± Zhang Zian curried favor with her. ¡°Are you collecting the sanitation fee today?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Grandma Gu looked at Lu Yiyun who was drawing pictures. ¡°Zian, you have hired a helper? You should have done so a long time ago! When I came here to collect fees before, your shop was often closed because you were not here.¡±

    Zhang Zian would not tell her that he was avoiding her because the business in his shop was bleak at that time.

    But today, he had no way to hide. He obediently took out his wallet and said, ¡°Grandma Gu, how much should I pay for this quarter?¡±

    ¡°452.8 Yuan.¡±

    ¡°The price has increased again?!¡± Zhang Zianined.

    ¡°We are collecting fees ording to the regtions. When the higher authorities adjust the standard of fee-collecting, we must conform to the changes,¡± said Grandma Gu.

    Comining aside, Zhang Zian would pay the fee in full amount.

    The neighborhoodmittee did not ept money transfers, so Zhang Zian had to pay in cash. When he saw the cash in his wallet was not enough, he asked Lu Yiyun to take money from the counter and handed it to Grandma Gu.

    Grandma Gu gave him a receipt and asked him to take the receipt to the neighborhoodmittee for his invoice in a few days.

    ¡°Oh, almost forgot. Zian, fill this form out and hand it to me when you go to the neighborhoodmittee to get your invoice.¡± Grandma Gu handed him a form.

    ¡°What is this?¡± Zhang Zian was nervous, for fear that it was a new fee.

    ¡°Your business is doing quite well. I heard that your shop is also very famous online, correct?¡± Grandma Gu put on her reading sses and asked while counting the money.

    ¡°Uh ¡­ just so-so,¡± Zhang Zian answered cautiously. He dared to brag in front of anyone except Grandma Gu.

    He did not know whether Grandma Gu¡¯s question was a trap. What if she asked him to pay more fees after he admitted that he was a sort of celebrity?

    ¡°Here is the thing. Afterprehensive deliberation in our neighborhoodmittee, we have decided to rmend you run for the title of the May Day Model Worker in Dongcheng District, so you have to fill this form.¡± Grandma Gu confirmed that the amount of money was correct, and then ced the money neatly into her pocket. She looked around, and lowered her voice. ¡°Zian, it¡¯s okay for you to embellish your performance in the form, because this is what everybody does! If you can receive the title of the May Day Model Worker, you can make our neighborhoodmittee look good!¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see ¡­¡± Zhang Zian did not like to participate in such troublesome events that had no economic interests. However, he couldn¡¯t turn down the request of Grandma Gu.

    ¡°Well, see you then. I need to collect fees from other shops.¡± Grandma Gu left satisfied.

    The moment she left the pet shop, Zhang Zian chased her from behind.

    ¡°Wait! Grandma Gu!¡±

    ¡°Zian, what happened?¡± Grandma Gu immediately stopped.

    Zhang Zian pointed to the form. ¡°Grandma Gu, did you make a mistake? This is a form to elect the Woman Pacesetter for the International Women¡¯s Day¡­¡±

    ¡°Ouch! Look at me! What an old fool I am!¡± Grandma Gu patted her thigh and took out another form from her bag and handed it to Zhang Xian. ¡°Here! This one should be the form about the May Day Model Worker.¡±

    Zhang Zian checked to confirm that this was the right form.

    When Grandma Gu left, Zhang Zian quickly threw the form and the receipt aside, once again returned to the second floor, and quietly looked into the living room through the crack of the door. Grandma Gu¡¯s voice was too loud. It seemed that while she was speaking with Zhang Zian, ¦Ð had been hiding behind the couch the whole time. Unlike Gxy, ¦Ð was not afraid of people. It was just frightened that someone might take away its nameless book. Even when it slept at night, ¦Ð would hold this book tightly.

    As Grandma Gu¡¯s voice faded away, ¦Ð raised its head and listened. Silence had been restored to the pet shop, with the meowing of kittens, barking of puppies, along with the quacking of Richarding from downstairs asionally.

    ¦Ð timidly sat back on the couch, but only a small part of its buttocks was ced on the couch, as if it may escape at any minute. It put the book down again, stared at theptop¡¯s screen with its big eyes, and gradually showed the look of perplexity.

    Damn!

    Zhang Zian suddenly remembered that ¦Ð did not understand Chinese. The operating system of hisputer was in Chinese and was different from the operating system at the Binhai City Library.

    Should I go in to help it?

    He hesitated.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    ¦Ð blinked, opened the nameless book, and turned the pages, like it was looking for something. After a while, it stopped and held out its finger at somewhere on a certain page. Staring intently at that page, its finger was moving slowly with its gaze, just like a human being who was learning how to use some type of electrical appliance by studying a reference book. Zhang Zian was increasingly curious about the content written in the book.

    ¦Ð carefully studied for a few minutes, and flipped to another page to continue researching, and then closed the book. On its pink little face, confusion had disappeared, leaving only eager joy. Holding the mouse with its right hand, ¦Ð opened the browser that was closed by Zhang Zian. Zhang Zian set the browser¡¯s home page to a search engine. Staring at the shing cursor in the search bar, ¦Ð gently ced its ten fingers on the keyboard.

 Chapter 542: Come, Drink the Water Of The Ganges River

    <h4>Chapter 542: Come, Drink the Water Of The Ganges River</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    All keyboards in the world were simr. Even the special keyboards in the libraries had an almost identicalyout as thisptop. Pi stared at the keyboard for a while, and soon pressed the first key. Zhang Zian peeped through the door. He couldn¡¯t see the exact key that Pi had pressed, but it should be one of the number keys above the 26 alphabets. There were no additional number keys on theptop, so even if Zhang Zian could not see, he had a good guess of what Pi was typing: it must be the Pi. Why was Pi typing the Pi? Was it for rxing in the same way that humans y games to rx? If he remembered correctly, there was a word number restriction in the search toolbar of the default search engine on the explorer¡¯s home page. It could not type indefinitely.

    Soon, Pi opened its mouth in surprise with its eyes fixed on the screen. It was pressing on a certain number of the keyboard repeatedly, but could not enter it.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    After a few failed attempts, it held its head with both hands in frustration, and pulled the short fur on its head with the fingers, like a high school student troubled by difficult math problems.

    Zhang Zian thought about it, tiptoed quietly downstairs, then went back upstairs with heavier-than-usual steps. He wanted Pi to hear his steps so that it wouldn¡¯t be scared. He opened the door of the living room, walked in while stretching himself, as if he didn¡¯t know anything, then said to himself out loud, ¡°Finally finished all the work. I¡¯m exhausted¡­¡±

    Pi had moved away from theputer and sat on the couch next to it. It pretended to be reading, but forgot to close the browser before leaving. Zhang Zian sat back in front of theputer, stared at the screen, then pretended to be surprised. ¡°Well, I remember closing the browser before I left¡­¡± He was right. In the search bar of the engine, there was indeed a long string of Pi.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi acted like a child who did something wrong. It lowered its head, and covered its face with its hands, waiting for Zhang Zian¡¯s criticism.

    ¡°Did Pi open the browser? How smart is Pi! None of the other elfins know how to use theputer, but Pi.¡± Zhang Zian praised it, to its surprise.

    ¡°Eeek?¡±

    Pi put down its hands, and gazed at him without moving.

    ¡°I mean it. Do you see that African grey parrot who ims to know everynguage? It can¡¯t even use the mouse, not to mention typing the first 100 digits of Pi with uracy.¡± He spoke ill of Richard behind its back. In fact, he didn¡¯t know if the first 100 digits that Pi typed out was urate. But it didn¡¯t matter, as long as it could boost its confidence.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi turned cheerful. It held the book with one hand, and beat its chest with the other hand. Zhang Zian thought carefully about its meaning, and probed. ¡°Does Pi mean that you can type more than the first 100 digits?¡±

    ¡°Eeek!¡± Pi nodded hard.

    ¡°Well¡­how many digits can Pi type?¡± He asked curiously. ¡°200?¡±

    Pi shook its head, and spread its arms t.

    Does this mean¡­more than 200 digits?

    ¡°500 then?¡±

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi still shook its head with pride, and extended its arms as much as it could, like the stretching move of the broadcast gymnastics.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Zhang Zian tried another guess. ¡°1000?¡±

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi¡¯s movement was even more exaggerated, clearly asking him to guess bigger. Zhang Zian started sweating because this was hard to believe. He didn¡¯t know what the maximum number of digits was that a human could remember of Pi. He could not imagine how it was possible to recite this irrational number. Then he guessed. ¡°10,000?¡±

    ¡°Eeek! Hehe!¡±

    Pi seemed anxious, and moved even faster, as if his guess was still too small.

    ¡°Fine¡­¡± Zhang Zian decided to add more than 10 fold each time to save time. Since Pi looked so confident, he would name a huge number. ¡°10 million?¡± He uttered this number with uncertainty. He was afraid of hurting Pi¡¯s self-esteem if the number was too big. Humans could not recite such a number anyway, as it was over the physical limit of a human brain. Even if some could recite 10 digits per second and spend 8 hours a day reciting, it would take a month to finish the 10 million digits.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi still shook its head, and lifted its arms while hopping, suggesting to guess bigger.

    Zhang Zian: ¡°¡­¡±

    Even if he trusted Pi, right now, he started doubting if Pi was as fond of bragging as he was. Theptop was still on so he searched in the search engine, that up to this date, Pi calcted up to 60 trillion digits. No matter how smartass Pi was, it could not possibly recite 60 trillion digits, could it?

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi saw his doubt. It beat its chest anxiously, then waved the nameless book in its hand.

    ¡°Does this mean that you can¡¯t do it yourself, but with the help of the book, you can do it?¡±

    Zhang Zian had a good idea about Pi¡¯s expressions and movements. He could make proper guesses. Pi was a young monkey after all, as naive and understandable as a human child.

    Pi nodded.

    ¡°OK, I¡¯ll guess bigger.¡± Zhang Zian would rather choose to believe. Pi was the only elfin so far with a gold finger, which referred to the crimson nameless book.

    Pi nodded expectantly.

    ¡°1000 trillion?¡±

    This was hisst guess. Even if he got it wrong, he was not going to keep guessing, as he didn¡¯t know a bigger unit of numbers. He didn¡¯t want to embarrass himself.¡¡For an instant, Pi¡¯s expression did not change. Just when Zhang Zian thought he had the right guess, Pi grinned and shook its head.

    Zhang Zian raised both arms: ¡°I surrender. I can¡¯t do it. Just tell me the answer, Pi.¡±

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi scratched its head and kept gesturing, as if it was unable to express what was in its heart. In the end, it made a fist with the free hand, then loosened it, as if it held on tight to something, then slowly let it go.

    What did this mean? Zhang Zian was totally lost. He was not a signnguage expert after all, and Pi¡¯s gestures was not standard signnguage.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi jumped off the couch, held the nameless book with one hand, then supported itself with the other hand on the floor, and ran to the storage room. After a while, it limped back on both feet like a human, with a bag of cat litter in its arms.

    Zhang Zian had no idea what it was up to. He watched silently.

    Pi tore open the bag of cat litter, and poured some on the desk. It took a handful of cat litter, then let it slip out of its palm and showed Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian was more confused. He was asking how many digits could Pi recite. What was it doing with the cat litter?

    Pi saw that Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand. It took another handful of cat litter, and let it slip slowly out of its hand.

    Zhang Zian seemed to have seen simr gestures in movies and animations, as if someone grabbed a handful of sand, and let it slip through the fingers. Wind blew it everywhere.

    Wait a minute!

    Zhang Zian suddenly realized something, as if his mind was suddenly enlightened by a sh of lightning! He remembered it now. There was indeed a number rted to ¡°sand¡±! Except that number was big enough to make people dispair¡­

    ¡°Is it as numerous as the sand in Ganges?¡±

    As he spoke, he was shaking uncontrobly, with goosebumps all over his body. The number of sand in Ganges was a Buddhist expression. It was a dual metaphor: if each grain of sand at the banks of Ganges represented a Ganges, Ganges number was the product after multiplying the number of grains of Ganges sand. It was hard to describe urately how astronomical this number was. It could be deemed as countless.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi finally nodded. It danced with the nameless book in the air and felt thrilled that Zhang Zian finally got it right. This also meant that it was able to write the Pi digits indefinitely till the end of time, and longer than the life of the universe. Pi was able to write as long as the irrational Pi number was!

    Zhang Zian had a mixed feeling in his heart. On one hand, he was deeply amazed. On the other hand, his doubt would not go away as this number was too unbelievable. Did Pi really understand how astronomical the Ganges sand number was? The biggest doubt was ¡ª what was the purpose of this?

    Generally speaking, in most calctions during high school and university, Pi could be remembered as 3.14. Even in industrial calctions, 10 digits would suffice. In scientific calctions with higher precision, only a few hundred digits were needed. What was the use of going on indefinitely with uracy?

    A person who could recite over 10,000 digits of Pi could apply for a Guinness World Record, be famous and popr on the inte, or pick up girls in parties, or even publish a book on how to improve memory and make money out of it. But what was the purpose for an elfin? To impress other elfins?

    Both humans and elfins did things for a reason and a purpose. It must be economical as well. Apparently, reciting Pi until infinity was the cheapest way to impress others, because nobody would know if you were right or not.

    But Pi didn¡¯t think so. It was deeply proud about it. It held the nameless book, ¡°eeeked,¡± and danced around the living room cheerfully.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes fell on the book. The answer must be in that book. Even Pi itself admitted that without that book, it was not able to recite the Pi till infinity. This was a book about life, universe and everything. If this was true, then Pi must be in it. Further guessing was useless. When he earned enough trust from Pi, he would certainly ask Pi to let him read the book. If the book could tell him when he would find a girlfriend, that would be the best. He looked at the time. It was time to make tea for Old Time Tea.

    ¡°Pi, wait a minute, I¡¯ll be right back.¡± He walked into the kitchen as he spoke. He filled the kettle with cold water from the tap, and ced it on the gas stove. Right now, he only wanted to drink this bowl of Ganges water to cool himself off.

 Chapter 543: The Correct Posture

    <h4>Chapter 543: The Correct Posture</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian prepared a pot of tea and carried it downstairs to give it to Old Time Tea.

    After the New Year¡¯s Day holiday, the pet shop seemed a bit quiet, which was normal. Students were currently preparing for the final exams. Office workers were striving for the annual bonus. Retired people were reluctant to go out in such cold weather.

    However, when the Lunar New Year arrived, the situation of his shop would be better because the children would receive a lot of lucky money from their parents and rtives. Since Zhang Zian went to visit Little Celery¡¯s school, he had a strong feeling that, as a pet shop owner, it was easiest for him to earn money from children.

    Lu Yiyun had begun to draw. Recently, she seemed somewhat mysterious and was very sensitive about her paintings. Whenever Zhang Zian walked past the cashier desk, she would quickly switch the interface of theputer screen. Zhang Zian could not help but wonder if she was drawing erotic anime drawings for those nerdy guys just to earn more money.

    Old Time Tea and Richard were watching TV. After feeding themselves, Fina and Snowy Li were sleeping on the cat tree. Even Famous was asleep. The most vignt creature in the pet shop was Zhan Tian, who was squatting side by side with the statue of the Cat Goddess at the outer room of the pet shop like a gatekeeper.

    Since she knew that Zhan Tian was a veteran police dog, Lu Yiyun felt very safe with Zhan Tian in the shop. When Zhang Zian walked past, Zhan Tian stood up and looked at him with anticipation. ¡°We will y outside after a while,¡± Zhang Zian said to Zhan Tian, so Zhan Tian squatted on the floor again.

    Zhang Zian poured the tea into Old Time Tea¡¯s thermal jug.

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    As he was carrying the empty teapot to go back to the kitchen upstairs, he heard Gxy¡¯s meowing from behind. He turned around. Blinking its silver-gray eyes at him, Gxy said, ¡°Meow! Zian, is Pi all right?¡±

    Zhang Zianughed. ¡°Pi is fine. It just told me a very incredible thing.¡±

    ¡°Meow! Pi is amazing!¡± Gxy said solemnly and seriously.

    ¡°By the way,¡± Zhang Zian lowered his voice and asked, ¡°Gxy, do you know about the book of Pi?¡±

    Gxy nodded. ¡°Meow! Gxy has seen the book before.¡±

    ¡°That book ¡­ is it really about life, the universe and everything?¡± he asked Gxy.

    Gxy answered without hesitation, ¡°Meow! Yes! That is a very powerful book! It is the most powerful book on Earth!¡±

    Holy s**t!

    Zhang Zian was shocked. The most powerful book on Earth?

    He already knew that this book was all-epassing, but it was still quite incredible that Gxy acknowledged that this book was the most powerful book on Earth. Gxy tilted its head and thought for a moment. It added, ¡°Meow! It may not be the most powerful book on others.¡±

    Well, things on others have nothing to do with me. Thought Zhang Zian.

    He carried the water kettle and went back upstairs.

    Pi was sitting in front of theputer, typing the digits of Pi in the browser¡¯s search bar repeatedly. When it saw Zhang Zian approach, Pi was just a little shy, but did not dodge or shun as before.

    ¡°Pi, this search engine has a maximum length limit. If you want to type more digits of Pi, I¡¯ll install a word processing software for you.¡± Zhang Zian proposed.

    Pi did not seem to understand Zhang Zian¡¯s words. Behind its pince-nez sses, its brown eyes blinked. Pi opened its book. A momentter, it happily closed the book and moved away from theputer.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Well, Zhang Zian guessed that Pi was asking him to install the software.

    Zhang Zian found the official version of Microsoft Office that he bought a long time ago. He inserted the CD-ROM into the disk drive. After the lengthy read process, the word processing kit of Microsoft Office was correctly installed onto theputer. Heunched Microsoft Word and a new, nk document appeared on the screen. Zhang Zian pressed the keys and typed 3.1415926 in the document, and then moved himself to another sofa, and invited Pi to sit back in front of theputer to continue typing.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi excitedly put the book on the coffee table, ced its hands on the keyboard to press the different number keys.

    The nameless book was between Pi and Zhang Xian. If he reached out, he could touch the book. However, he resisted his curiosity and tried his best not to look at that book. Instead, he focused on watching Pi while it was typing the digits of Pi¡ªwhich was boring and made him dizzy. However, since Pi could put down its book, it meant that Pi had started to trust Zhang Zian, right?

    After a while, Zhang Zian noticed that Pi¡¯s typing posture was not quite right, like that of Mr. Zhou whom Zhang Zian had met in the library. Mr. Zhou used only one finger to type. Pi was slightly better than Mr. Zhou by using its two index fingers to type, which was of low efficiency. That¡¯s why Pi had been typing so slowly.

    ¡°Pi, your typing posture is incorrect,¡± he reminded it.

    ¡°Eeek?¡±

    Pi paused typing. It looked at him with puzzlement.

    ¡°Let me show you the correct posture.¡± He sought the approval of Pi.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi moved aside. Zhang Zian sat back in front of theputer, cing his ten fingers on the keyboard. ¡°Pi, you see, my two index fingers are on the two keys, ¡®F¡¯ and ¡®J¡¯. There is a small bulge on each of the two keys so that your index finger can feel the bulge.¡±

    He patiently presented Pi with the correct typing postures, exining the areas controlled by each finger, and how to move its fingers correctly.

    ¡°Eeek?¡±

    After the demo waspleted, Pi imitated Zhang Zian¡¯s posture and tried the correct methods on its own. However, it did not type very well. Its knuckles were not as flexible as that of human beings. Its fingers kept intertwining with each other, and soon, Pi became restless.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi scratched its head and gave up learning the correct posture. It resumed typing with only two fingers.

    Zhang Zian decisively held its hand. ¡°Pi, don¡¯t give up just because it is difficult. If you do not develop a habit of typing with the correct pose, and persist on typing with two fingers, your fingers will be prone to suffer from a variety of knuckle diseases.¡±

    He was not aware of the capacity of this document of Microsoft Word, but he guessed it could contain several millions of digits of Pi. If Pi continued typing with its incorrect posture, it would only be a matter of time before it suffered from knuckle diseases.

    ¡°Eeek?¡±

    Pi looked at him with doubt.

    ¡°You can go check your book, which should have contained the correct typing posture.¡± Zhang Zian said, pointing to the nameless book.

    Pi listened to his words. It opened its book and turned the pages. After a moment, it put down its book and lowered its head uneasily.

    ¡°Eeek.¡±It uttered this sound like it was apologizing.

 Chapter 544: Difficult Chinese

    <h4>Chapter 544: Difficult Chinese</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In the morning, Zhang Zian opened his eyes and nced around the bedroom as usual. The elfins were sleeping. He turned over and had nned to get more sleep. It was early, and dark and cold outside. A strong wind was blowing.

    But after lying for a while, he fully woke up. Something was wrong. After careful thinking, it seemed that Pi was missing.

    He sat up in bed, and searched carefully with the nightmp of Famous. The chair given to Pi as a temporary bed was empty. Pi was gone.

    Did it go to the bathroom?

    Zhang Zian turned his head, but didn¡¯t see any light beneath the bathroom door. So it was not in the bathroom. He hit his head. Pi was an imaginative elfin, why would it need a bathroom? He must have been confused after sleeping.

    Tap, Tap, Tap!

    A slight keyboard tapping sound came from the living room. Zhang Zian put on a jacket, passed by the sleeping and kicking Famous, walked over quietly, and saw the back of Pi.

    It sat on the floor in front of the coffee table. The light from theptop screen drew out its fuzzy shape. The nameless book was next to theptop.

    Pi was short. It was notfortable after using theputer on the couch for a long time, so it crossed its legs and sat on the floor. Luckily, there was a carpet near the coffee table and the floor was not too cold.

    A new Word document was created on theputer, with lines and lines of numbers. Needless to say, it was good old Pi. Mixed in with the numbers were some meaningless English letters. Maybe it was practicing how to type.

    The pince-nez was clipped on its nose, and the light from the screen was reflected on the thin lenses. Looking from one side, the lenses seemed to be without power, as there were no circles of the prescription lenses.

    Pi was a slow typist. Sometimes it couldn¡¯t remember the location of a certain key, and its finger stayed above the keyboard for a long time. Even so, it didn¡¯t use two fingers to make the typing easier. In order not to disturb the elfins¡¯ sleep, Pi was gentle in every movement on purpose.

    After hearing Zhang Zian¡¯s footsteps, it turned its head and grinned at him silently.

    Zhang Zian pointed at the desk, then picked up theptop and put it on the desk. He then adjusted the chair to the maximum height, and added a cushion. He asked Pi to sit in the swivel chair, then took another chair next to it for himself.

    The height was perfect. Pi was sitting in itfortably. It pointed at the screen to show something to Zhang Zian. It typed in English: ¡°I want to learn Chinese.¡±

    This line of English words were typed among a string of numbers. Yetpared to the time at the library, the numbers were much fewer. Although it was still awkward to read, it was less tiresome for the eyes.

    Learning Chinese?

    Zhang Zian stopped for a moment, extended his arms, and replied by typing in English: ¡°Why?¡±

    Pi clearly wanted to learn to type in Chinese. It was much harder than speaking and reading Chinese. For a westerner, switching from an alphabetical Indo-Europeannguage to a pictograph Sino-Tibetannguage was extremely difficult to do.

    Pi typed on the screen: ¡°Because Chinese is everywhere.¡±

    It pointed to the functional buttons in Word, then at the variety of books on the desk. Both the words on the buttons and on the book ridges were Chinese, with very few in English.

    If Pi wanted to live a long time in the pet shop, or in China, it would be very difficult and inconvenient if it didn¡¯t know Chinese at all.

    Zhang Zian nodded and typed: ¡°I get it. How do you n to learn? Can you learn from your book?¡±

    Pi shook its head and typed: ¡°There is no Chinese in the book.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought the book contained everything in the world. He was surprised to find out about this.

    Pi noticed Zhang Zian¡¯s confusion, then typed: ¡°The book is full of knowledge.¡±

    All right. He finally knew something about this book. It was a book about life, universe and everything. But maybe it was written in English without any Chinese. So Pi couldn¡¯t use it as a textbook for Chinese.

    Zhang Zian thought about it and typed: ¡°You don¡¯t know Chinese, but you can understand me talking?¡±

    Pi responded: ¡°I know Pinyin. I can hear.¡±

    What the heck? The book had Pinyin but no Chinese characters?

    Zhang Zian encouraged it: ¡°If you know Pinyin, it will be fast to learn Chinese. I can help you.¡±

    Pi cheered up and typed: ¡°Thank you. The book taught about how to learn Chinese fast.¡±

    Next, Zhang Zian found a lot of free Chinese lessons online, and asked Pi to study with the videos.

    Pi was very focused when studying. It could stare at the screen and sit in front of theputer for hours, while referring to the nameless book with the videos. Zhang Zian had to remind it to get up and move around. Only then it would stand up.

    After the pet shop business, Zhang Zian yed hide-and-seek with Gxy, finished the daily training with Zhan Tian and Famous in the green field, and spent most of the remaining time with Pi, offering help. For instance, choosing an easy-to-use Chinese input software for it was how he helped.

    Maybe because it knew Pinyin already, or the learning methods in the nameless book were very effective, or the Chinese input software was intelligent, that a sentence could be urately entered by typing the first letter of each word. Or maybe it was because Pi was an elfin born of Strength of Faith. It was impossible to predict it withmon sense. Anyway, Pi was learning Chinese extremely fast and progressing at a miraculous speed. It was able to type some simple Chinese sentences within a day. By the second day, it was able to express itself in Chinese, although there were numbers and wrong characters mixed in the sentences, and some grammatical errors that would make peopleugh. But it was making solid progress.

    The grammatical issues were hard to solve, as the Chinese grammar was tooplicated. When the same word was ced in different ces within a sentence, the meaning of the entire sentence could bepletely different. Also, identical sentences could havepletely different meanings depending on the context.

    Zhang Zian found some old newspapers for Pi and asked it to type out the news from them. The newspaper wording was very formal, clear and coherent. After mastering the writtennguage, it would not be too hard to study the spokennguage then.

    Pi was tireless once it started studying. It could not leave the pet shop, and Zhang Zian was the only person it had contact with. Unfortunately, Zhang Zian often needed to tend to the customers during the day, and could not stay around it all the time.

    When learning anguage, the most important thing was to immerse oneself in thenguage through the daily conversations and interactions. Unlike the other elfins, Pi could not speak, and nobody else was able tomunicate with it except Zhang Zian. Pi¡¯s progress in learning Chinese soon hit a bottleneck. For the same reason, Pi felt lonely, and often appeared low-spirited.

    Zhang Zian noticed the same. But he couldn¡¯t duplicate himself. He had to handle the customers as well the elfins, which didn¡¯t leave him much time with Pi.

    He wanted to find a way to make Pi less lonely.

 Chapter 545: Life Is Finite While Knowledge Is Infinite

    <h4>Chapter 545: Life Is Finite While Knowledge Is Infinite</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Another morning.

    Other elves, including Richard who rarely got up early in the morning, had gone downstairs. Zhang Zian was cleaning the shop downstairs with Wang Qian and Li Kun. Everything was moving along and orderly as usual.

    Pi briefly took off the pince-nez sses on its nose, rubbed its eyes, and put the sses back on its nose. It jumped from the swivel chair to the table and then jumped onto the windowsill. Next to theptop, there was a crumpled old newspaper. A Microsoft Word document was disyed on theptop¡¯s screen, and the cursor was shing at the end of the content. Except for asional typos and inexplicable numbers, the content of the document was almost identical to the front-page headline of the old newspaper.

    Pi ced its forehead against the window ss and stared nkly at the pedestrians that were passing by the pet shop. Most of the pedestrians were in a hurry, walking in silence. Some people were walking together and talking with each other, while some passers-by were talking on their phones. Without exception, they were speaking Chinese.

    When it looked farther away, Pi could see an old neighborhood across the street.

    Lu Yiyun lived in that neighborhood. Pi had checked before. It even knew Lu Yiyun¡¯s apartment number. It also knew that her cat was called Jasmine, who was abandoned by its previous owner.

    Yes, Pi knew about the life of Lu Yiyun.

    Pi¡¯s untitled book contained everything. The book had recorded every detail, whether it was known or unknown to other people, about Lu Yiyun¡¯s life. She was a good girl before, and then in the eyes of her parents, she transformed into a rebellious girl who didn¡¯t like studying but cared about painting. She had drawn several illustrations, and currently, she was trying to publish aic strip on social media. Yes, every detail of her life had been written in the book.

    There was nothing special about Lu Yiyun, and Zhang Zian was just an ordinary person. However, Zhang Zian¡¯s life had also been recorded in detail in this book. Zhang Zian sessfully downloaded the Pet Hunter game before the ¡°limited download time¡± expired. Later, he luckily encountered Gxy and won the trust of Gxy. Afterward, he captured Fina, Old Time Tea, Richard, Snowy Li, and Famous one by one. Not a single aspect of Zhang Zian¡¯s life was omitted, even all his thoughts had been recorded in the book.

    Not only the life of Lu Yiyun and Zhang Zian could be found in the book, in fact, the life of every pedestrian that was walking in front of the pet shop had been written in the untitled book. As long as Pi took some time to read the book, it would find out about the lives of these people.

    Not only the deeds of these living people had been recorded in the book, theoretically, the deeds of their parents, grandparents, and ancestors could be found in the book.

    Not only the evolution of human beings, but the evolution of all the creatures on earth had been written in this book.

    In fact, everything in the entire universe, including things of the past, present, and future, had been faithfully recorded in this book.

    While knowledge is infinite, life is finite. No one, not even Pi, could grasp all the knowledge in the universe. Although, Pi could find out about the life of the people passing in front of the pet shop from the book, it had no intention of wasting its own time to learn about the life of these strangers.

    Though no one had told it before, from the book, Pi knew that Gxy had experienced endless reincarnations in the ck box; Pi knew about Fina¡¯s heart-wrenching departure from Cleopatra VII; Pi knew that the righteous Old Time Tea had helped preserve justice in the jungles and mountains; Pi knew about Richard¡¯s mncholy because Richard couldn¡¯t meet its previous owner Dr. Irene Maxine Pepperberg; Pi knew that Famous was creating the new history in its world of the imaginedndscape¡­

    Because Pi was interested in them and wanted to know about them, it went to look up their lives in the book.

    Even for Pi, looking up the untitled book was an extremely difficult task, so it only opened the book when necessary or when it was interested in something or someone.

    The untitled book was not omnipotent. The book only recorded everything in English. For example, Zhang Zian had written aposition about his mother in primary school. Pi could find the English trantion of each sentence of thisposition, but it could never know what Chinese characters had been used in thisposition.

    Theoretically, the untitled book also recorded the things of the present and the future. But the texts responsible for recording the things of the present and the future were changing constantly and were difficult to interpret due to their uncertainty. Only the texts that recorded history were fixated because history is a foregone conclusion.

    ¡°Pi, what are you doing?¡±

    Zhang Zian appeared at the door to the living room. He knocked on the door beforeing in, so that he won¡¯t startle Pi.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi grinned at him, pointing out the window.

    ¡°Looking at the scenery?¡±

    Zhang Zian also went to the window and looked outside with it.

    ¡°Looking outside is good for your eyes, especially when you have spent some time in front of theputer.¡± He pointed to his own eyes and said, ¡°Too bad it is winter now and most of the leaves are gone. A little greenery would be even better for your eyes.¡±

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi happily waved its hand. It jumped from the windowsill to the table, and then to the swivel chair. Pi typed something in the Word document: It¡¯s okay. If winteres, can spring be far behind?

    Zhang Zian frowned and thought, ¡°This sentence is said by whom?¡±

    Pi typed: Shelley.

    Zhang Zian suddenly realized, ¡°Yes, he is a British poet, right? Pi, you are so resourceful! Although Richard can also quote from the ssics, it always changes some words to create dirty jokes.¡±

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi typed: Richard is very funny.

    ¡°It is, I guess¡­by the way, Pi, you are a skilled typist now!¡± Zhang Zian noticed that Pi could almost type smoothly without looking at the keyboard.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi, embarrassed, scratched its head.

    Just when Zhang Zian was about to continueplimenting Pi, his phone suddenly rang. He didn¡¯t recognize the caller¡¯s number.

    Zhang Zian answered the phone. The caller was a courier who asked if Zhang Zian was at home.

    Zhang Zian said he was at home, and then hung up the phone.

    ¡°Pi, I bought you an interesting gift, and you don¡¯t have to sleep on this chair anymore.¡± He smiled, ¡°It will be deliveredter.¡±

    ¡°Eeek?¡±

    Pi looked at Zhang Zian¡¯s single bed and looked at Fina¡¯s princess bed and Gxy¡¯s crib.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not a bed. These beds are probably not suitable for you. What I bought for you is a basket hammock chair. Do you know what a basket hammock chair is?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Eeek.¡±

    Pi shook its head. The information about basket hammock chairs was avable in the untitled book. But for some reason, Pi didn¡¯t want to look up the untitled book. It would rather be pleasantly surprisedter.

    Just then, a delivery tricycle parked in front of the store. Zhang Zian asked Wang Qian and Li Kun to help move the huge box upstairs, and then they were sent downstairs to do something else.

    Zhang Zian opened the box and took out all the stuff inside.

    Pi gazed at him curiously.

    It was very easy for a strong person to assemble the basket hammock chair by fixating the base and then by hanging the basket upon the base. Zhang Zian quicklypleted the instation process, and then ced theplimentary cushion from the online shop onto the chair.

    ¡°Look! What do you think? You can try sitting on it,¡± he said.

    ¡°Eeek?¡±

    Pi had never seen this thing before. It looked at Zhang Zian nervously.

    ¡°Go on. It¡¯s just like sitting on a swing,¡± said Zhang Zian.

    Pi carefully walked to the basket hammock chair and touched the chair with its hand. The chair was made of real wood and vines. The cushion was thick and soft. It¡¯s obvious that this basket hammock chair was of upscale quality.

    Pi put the untitled book on the cushion, and then it jumped into the chair itself. The basket hammock chair began to swing gently back and forth. Pi felt that it was lying in clouds.

    ¡°Eeek!¡± ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi was so excited that it rolled several times in the chair just like an innocent child. Apparently, Pi liked this gift very much.

    ¡°Pi, where do you want to put it?¡± Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Either the bedroom or the living room is fine.¡±

    Without hesitation, Pi pointed to the area next to the desk. It was close to the window and had better day lighting.

    ¡°Well, can youe down from the chair? I¡¯ll move it over for you.¡±

    Zhang Zian exerted his full strength to push the basket hammock chair next to the window.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi was so delighted. It jumped into the basket hammock chair and then jumped onto the table, to the swivel chair, and back to the basket hammock chair again.

    ¡°Pi, there is another gift for you.¡± Zhang Zianughed.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi stopped ying. It looked at him with anticipation.

    Zhang Zian took out a tablet PC and opened a reading App, where he had downloaded some e-books.

    ¡°Pi, you are learning Chinese, aren¡¯t you? These are the Four Great ssical Novels of Chinese Literature, I hope you will like them. It must be very cozy to read books sitting in this basket hammock chair!¡±

    He handed the tablet PC to Pi. Pi curiously held the tablet PC in its hand.

    Zhang Zian knew that there was no Chinese in the untitled book, so Pi certainly had never read the Four Great ssical Novels in Chinese. If he had no time to apany Pi, these novels could help drive the loneliness away from it.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi gazed attentively at the words on the screen with astonishment. It was immediately attracted to the magical story.

 Chapter 546: The Power Of Reading

    <h4>Chapter 546: The Power Of Reading</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Pi was fond of reading Chinese books. At first, it was not very used to them. But the Chinesenguage had a magical power, in which each word was formed by special rules, and each word¡¯s form had a special meaning. This was fascinating to Pi. Take the word ¡°mountain¡± (É½) for example, by looking at this character, the peaks of the mountain seemed visible.

    It followed Zhang Zian¡¯s suggestions to sit straight in front of theputer and type for a while, then sit on the window sill to look into the distance and observe the busy pedestrians. After a few minutes, as the eyes were adjusted and rxed, it sat in the basket hammock chair and read books on the tablet, then repeated the cycle. Pi enjoyed the routine.

    Maybe Pi was already used to searching for information in theplex records of the nameless book. It was able to read extremely fast and not only was it able to understand everything, it was able to remember them. Each time Zhang Zian came upstairs to check on it, he found it reading a different book.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi typed its exnation: ¡°I¡¯ve read the English versions of these books. That¡¯s why I read fast.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded in acknowledgment.

    The books that he transferred into the tablet for it were the electronic versions of the old and contemporary ssics, most of which had been tranted into English and introduced to western readers. It was normal that Pi had read them before.

    Pi enjoyed any type of books. Novels, traveling journals, essays, poetry, science, biography¡­it enjoyed all of them. To satisfy his growing appetite for books, Zhang Zian retrieved the books he read in his childhood from the storage room, and borrowed some more from Wang Qian and Li Kun. He stacked the books next to the basket hammock chair so that it could ess them any time.

    Pi was gentle with the paper books. It handled them with care, and was careful when flipping the pages, yet these didn¡¯t slow down the reading.

    Soon, Pi finished reading all the paper books in Zhang Zian¡¯s house and those he borrowed elsewhere.

    Apart from the daily business of the pet shop, Zhang Zian had an additional task of browsing the online shopping website for discounted books. He would buy some every time there was a promotion.

    ¡°Master, this is heavy! You are receiving a lot of courierstely.¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun walked into the shop with two heavy boxes, and ced them next to Zhang Zian¡¯s reclining chair.

    ¡°Yes. I bought some books.¡±

    Zhang Zian removed the packaging with a knife. It was book series and journals. The journals were fromst year, so the price was good. Pi was not picky about the publication dates anyway.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun looked at the Abyssinian cat breeding book next to Zhang Zian, and asked in confusion, ¡°Master, you¡¯ve been buying so many books, but we¡¯ve never seen you reading them¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian rolled his eyes at them. ¡°Do I have to let you see me reading? Can¡¯t I buy books for other use? Cut the crap. Go back and prepare for your exams!¡±

    He didn¡¯t tell anyone else about Pi¡¯s arrival for now, especially Wang Qian and Li Kun. These two idiots had big mouths and liked bragging everywhere.

    ¡°Yes, Master!¡± They spit the tongues and ran back to school.

    After they left, Zhang Zian carried the books and journals to the second floor.

    ¡°Pi, new books again.¡±

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi jumped out of the basket hammock chair, and came up expectantly to look at the books. Before Zhang Zian had finished stacking the books, it took one of them and started reading greedily, nourishing itself with knowledge.

    After seeing how happy it was, Zhang Zian felt both d and troubled.

    A mound of books had risen next to the basket hammock chair. His old books, borrowed books, recently purchased books and journals were stacked into four peaks of a mountain. The tallest one was the same height as a person, and the smallest one was as high as the waist.

    Zhang Zian could not find the books as fast as Pi was reading them. The books would reach the ceiling in a few days.

    Paper books were more expensive and less frequent in discount. Storage was also less convenient. Books and journals were consumables to Pi, and had little long-term

    storage value. After all, it owned a nameless book containing everything. Reading Chinese books was only to appreciate the beauty and depth of thenguage.

    When not reading, Pi appeared lonely, bored and mncholic. It knew that it could not go downstairs and show up in front of other people, which might bring trouble to Zhang Zian. Even if it did go downstairs, there was nothing to do and it could notmunicate with the other elfins. It might as well stay upstairs to type. But typing all day became boring too. So it often sat idly on the window sill.

    Zhang Zian was worried about Pi, and so did Old Time Tea, the traditional Chinese medicine expert. Old Time Tea said that long-term mncholy was not healthy, and Pi would fall sick if it continued this way. In modern medical terms, Old Time Tea meant depression. When someone was alone and low-spirited for a long time without interaction with the outside world, it could end up having depression.

    Humans were social animals, and so were monkeys. Pi might be the same, who behaved like a monkey. But Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t possibly get a troop of monkeys to y with it.

    Many studies suggested that negative mood had a negative impact on health, and may cause a variety of acute and chronic diseases, such as gastric ulcer, endocrine disorders, hair loss, etc. He did notice a lot of short yellow hairs while sweeping the floortely.

    Since paper books were not enough for Pi¡¯s reading appetite, after much thinking, he decided to seek help from the omnipotent inte.

    ¡°Pi, would you like to try online novels?¡± He suggested to Pi.

    ¡°Eeek?¡±

    Pi was reading in the basket chair, and was distracted by his question.

    Zhang Zian exined, ¡°Online novels are a new form of reading as the inte grew popr. They are pretty much like the e-books, except that they were created to be shared on the inte.¡±

    ¡°Eeek?¡±

    Pi put down its book and typed on theptop: ¡°Are they fun to read?¡±

    ¡°Some of them are, and some are not. Online novels have a lot of genres, and are many in number. You can always find the ones you like.¡± Zhang Zian answered honestly. In fact, he had not read many online novels. He didn¡¯t sound very confident.

    Leaving literary and artistic quality aside, the biggest advantage of online novels was its volume and number. Before he could find a better solution, they could at least gratify Pi¡¯s reading appetite, and chase away the mncholy and boredom.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi nodded and typed: ¡°I want to try some.¡±

    ¡°Good. I¡¯m downloading online reading apps for you.¡±

    Zhang Zian took away the tablet, downloaded multiple popr online reading apps in the App Store, registered ounts for Pi, then taught it how to search for books.

    Pi took back the tablet happily, and dived into the ocean of online novels.

 Chapter 547: All Is Fair In War

    <h4>Chapter 547: All Is Fair In War</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°ording to your situation, I suggest you raise a British Shorthair,¡± Zhang Zian said to a customer who was hesitating about buying a cat.

    ¡°OK, let me consider.¡± The customer had not decided yet.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Zhang Zian was startled, and he looked back to the stairwell to the second floor. He saw Pi extend its little head and beckon to him quietly, and then immediately withdrew its head.

    ¡°What is that sound?¡± The customer looked around and wondered. ¡°Mr. Store Manager, do you have other pets besides cats, dogs, and birds?¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t. It is the old stairs that creak when they are stepped upon.¡± Zhang Zian made up an excuse. ¡°Feel free to look at the pets here, and if you have any problems, you can ask the cashier for help. Now excuse me, I need to go upstairs.¡±

    After he finished the words, he quickly went back upstairs.

    Recoiling in fear, Pi was waiting for him in front of the living room.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Pi? Did something happen? Are you feeling ufortable?¡±

    He asked a series of questions.

    Prior to this, Pi had never gone downstairs to find him. That was why he worried that something had happened to Pi. His greatest concern was that Pi may fall ill. He didn¡¯t know how to cure an Imaginative Elfin. Even if he could find a way to cure it, others would know about the fact that he was raising a monkey.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi pointed to the tabletputer anxiously, but it didn¡¯t look like it was sick.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand what it was trying to say. ¡°Go type on the desktopputer.¡±

    They entered the living room together. Pi jumped onto the swivel chair and typed in the Word document: I have tried several books, and only parts of the books could be read.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand anything at first. He looked at the tabletputer, and he immediately rxed andughed. ¡°Because the following chapters are only essible until I have recharged my ount. And I haven¡¯t, of course you can¡¯t read them.¡±

    Puzzled, Pi typed: Recharge?

    ¡°Yes, although web novels are not written on paper as the physical books are; just like rice,puters, drinking water, and clothes, they are also the products of thebor of others. Readers need to pay for most of the rtively exciting web novels. If the authors could not get paid for theirbor, who would sit on theputer every night? Who does not know that ying games or watching movies is morefortable than writing novels?¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    Pi typed: Is it very expensive to recharge?

    Zhang Zian said to himself that the price of reading online novels was indeed inexpensive, but the reading speed of Pi was too fast¡­ However, he did not want Pi to have a psychological burden. So, he said casually, ¡°As a pastime, reading online novels is very cheap, at least it is much cheaper than looking for a girlfriend¡­ Pi, in which app do you mainly read online novels? I¡¯ll put some money in that app.¡±

    Pi was pointing at an icon on the screen of the tabletputer.

    ¡°Well, let me see how I can recharge my ount in it.¡± Zhang Zian took over the tabletputer, deliberately avoiding the eyes of Pi, and estimating how much money should be put in the app ording to the reading speed of Pi. Finally, he made up his mind and added 1,000 Yuan into his ount.

    ¡°Well, Pi, you can choose whatever books you like.¡± He handed the tablet back to it.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi took over the tablet and tried to open the previously locked chapters. Sure enough, it could read those chapters now. It immediately sat on the wicker hanging chair and enjoyed reading the novels.

    Intimidated by the rapid reading speed of Pi, Zhang Zian felt sorry for his wallet. Pi really liked online novels so much that it actually went downstairs to find him for help.

    Despite spending 1,000 Yuan on the reading app, Zhang Zian felt the money was well spent. Because Pi could read online novels from now on, it would not have such a great demand on physical novels, thus saving him a lot of time. He could devote more of his time to the day-to-day operations of his pet shop.

    The only thing he was not sure of, was reading online novels a senseless measure for Pi? There were numerous online novels that even Pi could not finish reading in the foreseeable future. Would Pi increasingly iste itself?

    For the time being, he could not think of any other way. He had no choice but to let time tell him how Pi would turn out.

    ¡­

    Pi gradually let its guard down in the pet shop. It no longer kept holding the untitled book all the time. When it was reading in the wicker hanging chair, it would casually put the untitled book next to theptop on the desk.

    Staring at the screen of the tablet intently, it was reading a wonderful part of a novel. It had just finished reading a chapter and swiped the screen gently with its finger as the page jumped to the next chapter.

    ¡°Pi, don¡¯t spend all your time reading books; get up and move around.¡±

    Pi looked up and saw that Zhang Zian hade to the wicker hanging chair and was looking at it with worry.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    It waved its hand, suggesting that it would rest after finishing the current chapter. And then it lowered its head and continued reading.

    ¡°Pi!¡±

    Pi felt that Zhang Zian¡¯s tone sounded unusual. It looked up nkly, as if asking him what was going on.

    Zhang Zian said seriously, ¡°Pi, you have been reading books for five consecutive hours, and you need to get up and move. Otherwise, you may be subject to some health issues. I¡¯m ying hide-and-seek with Gxy. Do you want to join us?¡±

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    Gxy appeared from behind him, staring at Pi with its silver-gray eyes.

    ¡°Meow! Pi,e and y hide-and-seek together?¡±

    Pi looked alternately at both of them. Their expressions were very serious. Their eyes were full of fear and anxiety. They were clearly worried about Pi.

    ¡°Eeek?¡±

    Pi stretched out a palm. It was asking if it had been reading for five hours.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°Yes, when I got up in the morning, I discovered that you were reading. At that time, it was before 7 o¡¯clock. Now it is 12 o¡¯clock noon. I have just finished lunch and you haven¡¯t moved for at least five hours.¡±

    ¡°Eeek.¡±

    Pi put down the tablet and jumped off the chair. Suddenly, it staggered and almost lost its bnce.

    Zhang Zian rushed to support it. ¡°Pi, are you okay?¡±

    After reading books in the same posture for a long time, Pi found that the joints all over its body were stiff, especially the joints of its neck. Every time Pi moved its neck, it would creak like a rusted bearing. Its legs were already numb and couldn¡¯t move freely.

    ¡°Eeek¡­¡±

    Leaning its whole body against Zhang Zian, Pi put out a finger and wrote words in his palm: I¡¯m fine. I will recover after taking a rest.

    Zhang Zian looked at the frail Pi and could not help secretly regretting his choice. Why did he let Pi read online novels? Since Pi had nothing else to do, it would be fascinated by books. If Pi finished reading the limited number of physical books, it could take a rest. However, there were too many online novels. That was why it kept reading one book after another without resting.

    He helped Pi into the wicker hanging chair to let it lie down and rest. He and Gxy stood next to it to guard it.

    ¡°Eeek.¡±

    Pi turned its head inwards, covering its face with its hands.

    Zhang Zian guessed that it was saying ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡±. So, heforted it, ¡°There is nothing to be sorry for, Pi, you just need to pay attention to the time you spend in reading.¡±

    Pi nodded.

    After a while, the numbness in its legs vanished, and Pi jumped up from the wicker hanging chair despite Zhang Zian¡¯s concern.

    ¡°Eeek?¡±

    It repeatedly raised its hands to cover its eyes and then removed its hands.

    ¡°Pi, do you want to y hide-and-seek with us?¡± Zhang Zian guessed its meaning.

    Pi nodded, looking at Zhang Zian with uncertainty. ¡°Eeek?¡±

    ¡°Of course, you are wee to join us at any time.¡± Zhang Zianughed. ¡°Right, Gxy?¡±

    ¡°Meow! Wee!¡± Gxy said happily. ¡°Let¡¯s y hide-and-seek together!¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute, I¡¯m going to ask Famous to y with us. That guy has been sleeping all day long. It¡¯s time for it to wake up.¡± Zhang Zian rushed downstairs.

    After a while, he returned to the second floor with the sleepy Famous and asked, ¡°Who is going to be the seeker? Let¡¯s decide by ying rock-paper-scissors! Ready? Rock, paper, scissors!¡±

    Before anyone had time to refuse, he had arbitrarily decided that the seeker would be selected through rock-paper-scissors.

    ¡°Meow! Paper!¡±

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± said Famous.

    As a result, both Zhang Zian and Pi formed scissors with their hands, while Famous and Gxy formed paper with their hands.

    ¡°Wow, ha-ha. Either of you will be the seeker!¡± Zhang Zian smirked.

    Famous stared at its ws helplessly. ¡°You¡¯re cheating! Gxy and I can only form the shape of paper with our hands¡­¡±

    ¡°That I don¡¯t care!¡± Zhang Zian scoffed. ¡°Anyway, which one of you will be the seeker? I don¡¯t think you two can decide by ying rock-paper-scissors. Would you like to flip a coin?¡±

    He magically pulled out a coin and bounced it into the air. The coin fell back into his palm and was covered by his other hand.

    ¡°Heads or tails? Who will guess first?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Meow! Heads!¡± Gxy answered first.

    Famous was even more speechless. Isn¡¯t it obvious that I will lose to Gxy when ites to guessing heads or tails? The probability of me winning is simply zero!

    Zhang Zian looked at Famous mischievously and asked, ¡°Famous, so you will choose tails?¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t choose either side. I admit defeat.¡± Famous sighed. ¡°Forget it, I¡¯ll be the seeker. Why are you bullying me today?¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about? We were not bullying you! You lost in the rock-paper-scissors!¡± Zhang Zianughed. ¡°Just go to count¡ªright, you must not use your sense of smell to seek us, you will be cheating if you do!¡±

    ¡°You are in no position to use others of cheating!¡± Famous reluctantly found a corner. Facing the wall, it closed its eyes and said, ¡°1,2,3,4¡­¡±

    Gxy first sought a ce to hide. Zhang Zian squeezed its eyes to Pi and gestured that they should hide in different ces.

    Pi had seen Zhang Zian and Gxy y hide-and-seek before, but it was the first time that Pi personally participated in this game. It had been staying in the living room almost all the time and was not familiar with other rooms. Since it did not know where to hide, it finally hid itself under the desk.

    After counting to 100, Famous opened its eyes and looked around. If Famous could use its sense of smell, it would be very easy for Famous to find the hiders. Even if its sense of smell was not allowed in this game, Famous just needed to spend more time to find them. After all, the pet shop was not a veryrge space.

    Famous had a bright idea. It yelled, ¡°Stop hiding, I saw you!¡±

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Since Pi was ying hide-and-seek for the first time, it didn¡¯t know that Famous was ying tricks. Believing that Famous had really spotted it, Pi got panicked and got out from the desk. Bang! It moved too fast and its head mmed into the desk.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi was in so much pain that it fell and sat on the ground, grabbing its head and sobbing.

    The desk swayed twice, and the untitled book at the corner of the desk fell to the floor and spread out.

 Chapter 548: The Limit Of Hide-and-Seek

    <h4>Chapter 548: The Limit Of Hide-and-Seek</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Famous just woke up. Its head was still sleepy and could not tell imagination from reality very well. It didn¡¯t realize that Pi was so gullible to fall right into the trap and hit its head. Famous became anxious and shouted, ¡°Hey! Stop hiding, the two of you! Pi just hit its head!¡±

    It called out twice loudly, but nobody responded. Famous was speechless. It guessed that maybe Zhang Zian thought it was trying to trick him out.

    ¡°Hey! I surrender, OK? Stop hiding!¡±

    It called again, but still no answer.

    This is forcing me to use my ultimate skill¡­ Famous had no other choice. It sniffed hard, and inhaled the scent in the air into its nostrils. The scent flew over the 2 billion olfactory cells in the nasal mucosa, forming a scent map in the room. Scents from different sources had different colors and their paths crossed with one another. It wasplicated, but not chaotic.

    Its scent tracking ability outdoors was not as good as the professionally trained Zhan Tian. But searching for someone indoors was a piece of cake.

    ¡°Wait a minute, Pi, I¡¯ll look for that idiot.¡±

    Famousforted the whimpering Pi, then followed the scent map out of the living room, into the kitchen upstairs.

    Kitchen?

    Famous doubted its own nose. The kitchen was small and too open for anyone to hide in but Zhang Zian¡¯s fresh scent did lead it near there.

    Did Zhang Ziane here, leave a trace on purpose, then get out? No way. First of all, that dude was not that smart. Secondly, he could not have done this, as his scent entered the kitchen without exiting it. Unless he was able to eliminate his own scent in an instant, he must still be inside the kitchen.

    Famous searched the garbage first. It didn¡¯t understand why garbage first, but its gut feeling told itself that it was a good match with Zhang Zian. A human being could not possibly hide in a tiny garbage bin, even if Zhang Zian tore himself into pieces.

    Famous finished searching the garbage, then opened the cabs one by one. There were all kinds of food in the cab, such as rice, flour and oil. A living human being would not fit into any of them.

    That was weird. It lifted its head and stared at the exhaust hood. Did Zhang Zian squeeze into the hood and climb outside along the chimney? Was he Santa us? Famous shook its head. Maybe it caught a cold and the nose was not fully functional. It should search somewhere else. It turned around to leave, and stopped in front of the fridge. Although Zhang Zian would not have hidden here even if his head was kicked by a donkey, it opened the fridge anyway.

    As soon as the fridge door opened, Zhang Zian¡¯s face almost turned blue in the cold. He sniffed and rebuked unwillingly. ¡°Famous, you are cheating. You agreed not to sniff! You found by sniffing, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    Famous waspletely speechless. How far could you go to y hide-and-seek? In other words, Zhang Zian¡¯s passion and level in the hide-and-seek game was already beyond its level ofprehension¡­

    The ss separators in the fridge were removed by Zhang Zian ahead of time. The fresh vegetables and fruits needing refrigeration were moved to the rooftop, in the name of ¡°saving power¡±. He spent so much time emptying the fridge, just to y hide-and-seek?

    Famous asked seriously, ¡°If I didn¡¯t find you, were you nning to hide in the fridge forever?¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡± Zhang Zian answered with equal seriousness. ¡°This is a game of dignity!¡±

    ¡°You are ying a game with your whole life¡­¡± Famous felt that he should no longer be called a human. Maybe one day he would turn into an elfin too.

    ¡°Don¡¯t think so much. Just admit it, you found me by sniffing, didn¡¯t you¡­. Ah choo!¡± Zhang Zian sneezed loudly.

    Famous hid on the side, secretlyining about why its ¡°crisis prediction ability¡± did not work in time.

    Instead of answering, it asked, ¡°I was calling you just now, didn¡¯t you hear me?¡±

    ¡°I heard it. But I know you were tricking me, so I¡¯m not falling for that!¡± Zhang Zian was filled with mysterious confidence, and his nose was running¡­

    Famous was almost speechless, but, answered, ¡°It¡¯s true, that I wanted to trick Pi out. But it hit its head whileing out from under the desk. It seems to be in pain. Hurry and go check on it.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Zhang Zian was still doubtful.

    ¡°I have already found you. The game is over. Why should I trick you at this point?¡± Famous almost wanted to close the fridge door.

    ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll check on it.¡±

    Then Zhang Zian crawled out of the fridge.

    ¡°OK. I¡¯m just wondering¡­¡± Famous said behind him. ¡°You are not going to hide in the freezing chamber of the fridge next time, are you?¡±

    Zhang Zian was surprised. ¡°How do you know where I was nning to hide next time?¡±

    Famous sighed. ¡°Whatever. Don¡¯t ask me to join your hide-and-seek next time. I don¡¯t want to see anyone getting killed for it¡­¡±

    As they talked, Zhang Zian and Famous returned to the living room.

    ¡°Pi, are you OK? Did you hit your head? Let me see.¡± He asked immediately after he saw Pi sitting on the ground, covering its head with its hand.

    He saw the nameless book open on the floor with the corner of his eyes. He had a sudden urge in his heart, but checking on Pi was more urgent.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi loosened its hand in tears. Zhang Zian looked into the short hair on his head. It was a little reddish, but not too bad. The desk was not very heavy.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, just rub it. Don¡¯t get tricked so easily by Famous next time.¡± He smiled.

    Famous interrupted him. ¡°No, don¡¯t ask me to join your hide-and-seek next time. Let me sleep in peace!¡±

    ¡°Gxy! Come out! The game is over and you win!¡± Zhang Zian shouted, while rubbing Pi¡¯s head.

    ¡°Meow! Gxy won! Gxy won!¡±

    Gxy came out of the corridor after hearing Zian. It seemed to be hiding in the storage room.

    ¡°Meow. Pi, does it hurt?¡± It ran to Pi and asked in concern.

    ¡°Eeek.¡±

    Pi shook its head. It didn¡¯t hurt anymore.

    ¡°Look. Can you not be so serious with the hide-and-seek game?¡± Famous suggested.

    Zhang Zian replied firmly. ¡°Absolutely not. The great leader once taught us, that we must be serious with everything!¡±

    ¡°Could you be serious with other things.. such as looking for a girlfriend?¡± Famous answered impatiently. These words stabbed Zhang Zian where it hurt the most.

    ¡°You hurt my feelings, old friend!¡±

    As they were debating, Gxy went around the table, lowered its head and gazed at the open nameless book. It eximed, ¡°Meow. This is such an interesting book!¡±

 Chapter 549: Interesting Story

    <h4>Chapter 549: Interesting Story</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Reminded by Gxy, Zhang Zian remembered the matter of that book. Having no time to bicker with Famous, he quickly extended his neck and secretly nced at the untitled book.

    Pi did not seem to mind everyone looking at the content of the untitled book. Instead, it proudly gestured to Gxy and yelled, ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Unexpectedly but reasonably, Zhang Zian saw that the untitled book was nk. It was a wordless book. Although he had thought of this possibility before, he was still discouraged.

    But if it was nk, why did Gxy appear to be able to read this untitled book?

    Lying before the untitled book, Gxy was staring intently at the book with its eyes that were shing with silver-gray light. While reading the book, Gxy praised, ¡°Meow! It¡¯s so interesting!¡±

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi pointed at the nk page and let Gxy look at it. Gxy nodded, as if there was a wonderful paragraph on that page.

    Zhang Zian wondered if he was looking at the book from the wrong angle. He walked over and looked at the page from above, but it was still nk.

    ¡°Famous, can you see the words on the book?¡± He turned to ask Famous.

    Famous looked down and said with a look of embarrassment, ¡°Is there any word in this book? Isn¡¯t it nk?¡±

    Zhang Zian really wanted to embrace Famous, because he was not the only one who could not see the words in the book. However, Famous blinked and said, ¡°It seems like there are indeed words in the book. But they are too vague, and I can¡¯t see them clearly¡­¡±

    Damn it!

    Could those words only be viewed by the elves? But why did the words seem so vague to Famous?

    ¡°Is there any word in the book, Gxy?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Meow! There are so many words! It¡¯s a fantastic story!¡± Gxy nodded excitedly.

    ¡°Are those words clear?¡± he asked again.

    Gxy nodded again. ¡°Very clear!¡±

    Famous started to doubt itself. Why did the words seem so vague to its eyes?

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi flipped the page and pointed to another seemingly nk page and made Gxy look at it.

    ¡°Meow! This is even better!¡± Gxy eximed again and read the book with relish.

    Zhang Zian was really irritated by the feeling that others could see something that he could not. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that Zhang Zian trusted Gxy, he would have definitely thought that Pi united with Gxy to trick him deliberately.

    Pi flipped the pages swiftly and pointed to those pages for Gxy, who eximed continuously at every new page. Zhang Zian and Famous watched them helplessly.

    Soon, Zhang Zian discovered a bizarre thing. The thicknesses of the pages of the left and right side of the book that was spread out on the floor had not changed. No matter how many pages Pi had turned, the pages on the right side of the book would not decrease, and the pages on the left side would not increase either.

    Pi was indeed turning pages rather than performing magic. From the look of Gxy, the stories on each page were different.

    The number of pages in the untitled book seemed to be infinite.

    To be honest, Zhang Zian had expected that this book contained an infinite number of pages, otherwise, the untitled book would not be a book about life, the universe, and everything else.

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    Just when Pi was about to turn a page, Gxy suddenly extended a paw, and pressed the current page.

    ¡°Eeek?¡±

    Pi revealed a puzzled expression, staring at Gxy nkly. It did not know why Gxy suddenly stopped it from turning pages.

    ¡°Meow! Gxy likes this story the most,¡± Gxy said solemnly.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi nodded pleasantly, patted its chest, and gestured that it also liked the story.

    ¡°What story?¡± Zhang Zian asked shyly.

    Famous, who was also curious about the story, had almost buried its head into the book, but the words in the book were too vague for Famous.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi pointed at Zhang Zian and grinned.

    Perplexed, Zhang Zian touched his face. ¡°Is there something on my face?¡±

    ¡°Meow! Zian, you have read this story!¡± Gxy did not seem to be joking.

    Have I read this story? I have read so many stories since childhood. How do I know which story you are referring to? thought Zhang Zian. However, Gxy had no intention of exining further.

    ¡°Meow!¡± Gxy tilted its head and said to Pi, ¡°Pi, write it out!¡±

    ¡°Eeek?¡±

    Pi was stunned, pointing at its own chest.

    ¡°Meow! Pi, you have read many books, haven¡¯t you?¡± Gxy said. ¡°You have read more books than anyone of us.¡±

    Pi nodded bashfully.

    Gxy added, ¡°Meow! Pi, aren¡¯t you practicing typing in Chinese?¡±

    Gxy looked at the newspaper that Pi used as a temte for typing. ¡°Pi, rather than repeating the stories of someone else, why don¡¯t you type this story? Gxy wants to read this story. Meow!¡±

    Pi lowered its head hesitantly. Its empty hand was drawing circles nervously on the floor.

    ¡°Meow! Pi, Gxy believes that you can do it!¡±

    Gxy continued encouraging Pi, and it tilted its head to consult Zhang Zian¡¯s opinion. ¡°Zian, don¡¯t you think so?¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t understand what they were saying. He just managed tough, ¡°Well¡­ I think so, too. I really want to read this story.¡±

    His words were not entirely false. After all, the dialogue between Gxy and Pi had roused his interest. He really wanted to read the story that had fascinated Gxy and Pi.

    ¡°Meow! Famous, what about you?¡± Gxy asked Famous.

    Famous also nodded curiously, ¡°Pi, I will support you.¡±

    ¡°Meow! Pi, have you heard it? Everyone will support you. Fina, Snowy Li, Old Time Tea, and Richard will certainly support you. Everyone wants to read this story!¡±

    Gxy seldom said such a long sentence, which had shown the importance that Gxy attached to this matter.

    ¡°Eeek?¡±

    Pi looked at Gxy, Zhang Zian, and Famous, and then pointed to itself, meaning: Can I do it?

    ¡°Meow! Sure, you can!¡± Gxy nodded vigorously.

    Zhang Zian also echoed, ¡°Yes, Pi, if you don¡¯t try it, how can you know that you can¡¯t? You may or may not seed. But if you don¡¯t try it, you will never know the answer.¡±

    Pi bowed its head. When it lifted its head again, there seemed to be more implication contained in its eyes.

    It jumped on the swivel chair and typed in the Word document: I want to write a novel.

    Zhang Zian was slightly surprised, but he immediately said, ¡°Sure, go ahead.¡±

    Pi typed: It is an online novel.

    Zhang Ian smiled with excitement. ¡°Writing an online novel¡­ Let me tell you what kind of online novels will be easily popr. You can write such a story: In the Handsome Continent, the handsome guys are the best. The Hottie Zhang Zian identallynded on the Handsome Continent, and then he beat all the specially privileged people and won the hearts of the beautiful girls¡­¡±

    Before Zhang Zian finished his words, Pi firmly waved its hand and interrupted him. It erased the draft in the Word document and solemnly typed a few words¡ªPet King¡ªas the title.

 Chapter 550: â€œPet Kingâ€

    <h4>Chapter 550: ¡°Pet King¡±</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    After typing the title, Pi danced around with excitement, and high-fived Gxy to celebrate this great achievement.

    ¡°Wait a minute!¡± Zhang Zian could not ignore this. ¡°Pi, do you want to write a novel about pets?¡±

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi nodded. It pointed at him, at Gxy, then at itself, and typed: ¡°A novel about pets, pet shop and everybody.¡±

    Zhang Zian frowned slightly after hearing this, feeling worried about the future of this novel. He had not read many online novels, but his gut feeling was telling him that nobody would be interested in such a novel. For pet owners, they were so busy cuddling their cats and walking their dogs, how could they have time to read a novel about pets? For those who don¡¯t own pets, they were either not interested in pets or even hated pets, not to mention reading a book about pets. The most likely potential readers were those who didn¡¯t have time to own pets, but liked pets and wanted to own them remotely in a ¡°cloud¡±. But how many of them could there be?

    Most online novels were about travelling back in time throughout history or another world, practicing Kongfu, writing poetry, being cool and kicking butts; or about being raised from the dead and returning to a city, then making monkey with prophetic knowledge and dating a few or dozens of women at the same time¡­He had never heard of a popr online novel about a pet shop.

    Pi wanted to kill time by writing a novel. He was happy about this. But for a novel with so few potential readers, it may lose confidence after finding out nobody was reading it. It may fall into deeper self-istion.

    He knew all this, but he didn¡¯t want to kill Pi¡¯s enthusiasm at this moment. He smiled reluctantly. ¡°OK. Will I be in it? Then write me as a handsome man.¡±

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi grinned and typed: ¡°This is hard¡­¡±

    Zhang Xian said, ¡°I was just kidding. But, Pi, when is the beginning of the story? Now?¡±

    ¡°Eeek.¡±

    Pi nodded and typed: ¡°Fromst year, when you just returned to this city.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought about it. Maybe a good story can be written about it, such as writing him as a hero with hundreds of years of experience, but met his ¡°Waterloo¡± and died, then was brought back to life. This may interest the readers and meet their expectations. He smiled. ¡°OK. I¡¯ll tell you my story beforeing to the pet shop¡­ Do you know Wang Qian and Li Kun, the two guys working part-time in the shop? They always believed that I was a big hero during the time of Jindan. In fact, this is true¡­¡±

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi waved its hands and interrupted him. It showed him the nameless book, and typed: ¡°No. Everything that happened in the past can be found in the book.¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°I¡¯m just an ordinary Joe in real life. Can¡¯t you gratify me in the novel?¡±

    Famous interrupted him as well. ¡°Everything in the past? Does it include my stories in the Imagined Landscape?¡±

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi nodded.

    Famous said, ¡°Can¡¯t I have any privacy? I gotta pay attention to my image in the Imagined Landscape.¡±

    ¡°Which website will you publish your work? I mean, there are a lot of online novel websites. Where do you want to publish? There is a saying that goes: the worst that could happen to a man is getting into a wrong profession; while the worst that could happen to a woman is marrying the wrong husband. The websites have different styles. This is a book for a small poption of readers. If you pick the wrong website, you may have even fewer readers¡­¡± Zhang Zian reminded it tactfully.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi swiped the tablet screen to unlock it. Then it opened up a reading app and showed it to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Oh, Qidian Web novel, that¡¯s the site I used earlier for online reading¡­¡± Zhang Zian nodded. He didn¡¯t know the online novel websites very well and could not have offered more help. But he heard that this was one of the biggest literature websites. It might be a good choice for Pi.

    Pi tapped on a menu button: ¡°Bing a writer¡±, then showed it to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°A photo ID is needed?¡± Zhang Zian took a nce, and thought this wasplicated.

    ¡°Eeek.¡±

    Pi typed: ¡°I¡¯m a residential alien. I don¡¯t have an ID.¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s face twitched. He didn¡¯t know where it learned the words ¡°residential alien¡±¡­but it was appropriately used.

    ¡°That is to say¡­you need my ID?¡± He pointed at his nose and asked.

    Pi nodded.

    Fine. He was the only one with an ID in the pet shop. Although uploading his ID was not a safe move, he was an ordinary Joe after all. Not many hackers were targeting him. The inte was a free space. If all publications were anonymous, it could cause big problems. The dark web developers might blend in and advertise their illegal business.

    Zhang Zian took a picture of his ID photo, and uploaded it ording to the website instructions. After identity verification, he finally created a new book and uploaded new chapters with his ount.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi typed the title of the first chapter eagerly: Amazing Fate Pet Shop. Then it entered the text: On the magnificent East Coast of the mothend, there was a quiet coastal city called Binhai City. It was beautiful, with arge economy and a slow pace of life. Binhai had an absence ofrge industrial enterprises, making it a suitable ce to live a peaceful life¡­

    ¡°Wait a minute!¡±

    Zhang Zian found a big mistake, and asked Pi to pause, in case the mistake grew bigger.

    ¡°Eeek?¡±

    Pi gestured to inquire.

    ¡°What the heck is Binhai City?¡± Zhang Zian pointed out the mistake. ¡°Pi, did you make a mistake? This is not Binhai City, and there is no such a city in China.¡±

    ¡°Eeek.¡±

    Pi pointed at the website instructions for authors to show Zhang Zian.

    He stretched his neck, gazed at the screen and read. ¡°In order to avoid unnecessaryplications caused by real information in your work, we suggest the that authors avoid using real information in your writing, such as geographic locations, celebrity names, well-knownpanies, etc¡­. What the heck is this?¡±

    That was why. No wonder Pi used ¡°Binhai City¡± to rece the real name of the city. He thought Pi was making a mistake.

    ¡°But this city name is too sloppy. You¡¯d better make a note, in case the readersin about it.¡± Zhang Zian reminded it.

    Pi nodded bitterly and continued: ¡°In this city with a sloppy name, there was a small, unknown pet shop.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded with satisfaction. But the next sentence made him uneasy again!

    ¡°Who is Zhang Zian? Why haven¡¯t I heard of this guy?¡± He asked.

    Pi pointed at him, meaning ¡°you¡±, then at the website instructions on ¡°celebrity names¡±.

    Fine¡­I¡¯m a celebrity at the end of the day. I was about to be myself and win the heart of a thousand girls¡­Zhang Zian was speechless. But to avoid breaking the website¡¯s rule by using a real name, he had to ept this weird alias.

    ¡°How about you, Gxy and Famous? And Fina, Old Time Tea, Richard, and Snowy Li? Will they have aliases too?¡± He asked.

    Pi typed: ¡°No. We are not humans, so we can keep our names.¡±

    After typing, it deleted this extra sentence.

    This cheered Famous up. ¡°Great! I always wanted to keep my real name, not using an alias nor bing a substitute of another dog.¡±

    This is unfair¡­ Dogs have more rights than men these days? Zhang Zian was a little upset in his heart.

    After writing for a while, Pi was stuck, and could not tap any more keys on the keyboard. It scratched its head, read the nameless book for a few minutes, then resumed typing.

    Pi was a slow typist. Before this, it was typing out newspapers, following a temte. Chinese was not its mother tongue. It had to design a plot, sketch the Chinese words in its head, then type them out.

    If it were someone else with the same typing speed, Zhang Zian would not have watched on the side. But Pi was the one typing, and the story was about himself. He watched with great patience, going downstairs asionally for business.

    As the words jumped from of Pi¡¯s keyboard onto theptop screen, Zhang Zian¡¯s memory gradually came back. He relived the unforgettable days with Pi¡¯s words.

    The detail that Pi described were things that he never told anybody else. He had even forgotten some of them himself. He lived everything in first person, but Pi recorded from an objective, third-person perspective, just like an invisible camera floating around him, recording every tiny detail.

    ¡°I absolutely didn¡¯t have dark eye circles.¡± He pointed out.

    Pi typed ¡°Yes¡± with certainty, then deleted it. It waved the nameless book, suggesting the nameless book¡¯s record could never be wrong.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know how to defend himself. He knew that he may have dark eye circles then after a few sleepless nights in the hospital, and being exhausted with the funeral. He might have very dark eye circles, but he couldn¡¯t see it himself.

    After the debut of Little Celery in Pi¡¯s writing, heughed and said: ¡°If Wang Yaning reads this novel, my obsession with young girls would be made known¡­ Oh, Pi, apart from the names and locations, is everything else real?¡±

    Pi thought about it and typed: ¡°70% real and 30% unreal, just like ¡®Romance of the Three Kingdoms¡¯.¡±

    Zhang Zianughed silently. Pi certainly read the four masterpieces.

    After finishing the first chapter, with a 2079 word count, Pi uploaded it with satisfaction.

    ¡°Take a break, Pi.¡± suggested Zhang Zian. Two to three hours had passed since Pi started writing this chapter.

    Pi jumped off the chair obediently to stretch itself. But it was worried about the fate of this novel. The beginning was so ordinary. Would someone read it?

 Chapter 551: Support

    <h4>Chapter 551: Support</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In the early morning, it was still dark. Zhang Zian was still the first one to wake up in the pet shop. To expand the space, the walls between the bedroom and the living room had been removed in thest renovation. From his single bed, he could see the basket hammock chair and the desk. Sitting up in bed, he found that Pi had not yet woken up. It was still crouching like a baby and sleeping in the basket hammock chair. Its pince-nez was ced on the desk. It only took off its sses when it was asleep.

    When it was wearing the sses, Pi appeared to be somewhat precocious, and Zhang Zian often ignored its age. Without the sses on its nose, Pi was clearly a young monkey. If it was a wild monkey, it may have just left its mother¡¯s back at this age and would have been trying to explore this strange and unknown world.

    The single bed creaked gently with Zhang Zian¡¯s movements. Several elves were startled, but then they continued to sleep. Only Gxy and Pi blinked and sat up, probably because they were both imaginative elves and they did not need too much sleep. As for Snowy Li, theoretically, this cat was also an imaginative elfin. But Zhang Zian suspected that something must have gone wrong, because Snowy Li kept sleeping all day long.

    Pi jumped out of the hanging basket, put on its pince-nez, sat in the swivel chair, and opened theptop eagerly.

    After uploading the first chapter of a new novel, the author must face the review of the website regarding the new book. The review editor would check whether the content of the first chapter had the tendency for viting the regtions, such as forwarding the articles from the forums of the underworld gangs or publishing some contents that would incite people tomit crimes. But Pi¡¯s novel did not vite these two aspects, so there should be no problem in passing the review.

    Zhang Zian knew that after turning off the lightsst night, Pi had been staying up till veryte. He heard that it was tossing and turning restlessly and rubbing the nkets in the basket hammock chair from time to time. It must have been waiting anxiously for the results of the review.

    When the oldputer finally opened, Pi entered its user-name and password into the tform for writers on the Chinese version of the Qidian Website. Sure enough, a short message sent by the website immediately popped up on the tform¡ªPet King has passed the review; we wish you enjoy your writing!

    Zhang Zian also gave Pi a thumbs-up to encourage it. Anyhow, he hoped Pi could be happy.

    Zhang Zian dressed up and got out of bed, but in the blink of an eye, Pi¡¯s face had turned gloomy. It was staring at the screen with its mouth half open. Zhang Zian did not know what had happened. He stepped lightly forward and drew a question mark on the desk with his finger to ask Pi.

    The screen disyed the ¡°work management section¡± of the website. From this section, he could see some simple data of the novels and the pen name of the writers. At present, there was only one book under the pseudonym of Pi. And that very book was Pet King. Pi pointed at one column of the data for Zhang Zian to see.

    Add to Library: 2

    This number indicated that only two readers had noticed this book and put it in their library after the first chapter was published. One of the readers was Pi itself, and the other reader would probably be the review editor.

    Zhang Zian understood why Pi was suddenly frustrated. To be honest, this result was what he had expected, so he typed on theputer to encourage it: It doesn¡¯t matter. Web novels usually have millions of words, if you are the readers, would you read the novel that only has one chapter? Keep going! Perseverance prevails!

    His encouragement worked to some extent. Pi dredged up a smile and typed: Okay.

    It was not convenient to write directly on the website. Pi took a deep breath and tried to forget about the fact that only two people had put its novel into their library. It opened the Word document and started writing the second chapter.

    Seeing Pi like this, Zhang Zian was even more worried about it.

    Zhang Zian was not sure whether it was wise for him to encourage Pi to abandon the popr genre and choose to write the niche genre instead. When parents knew that their kids were taking a wrong path or heading toward a dead end, should they encourage their kids to continue bravely regardless of the potentially harsh obstacles, or should they persuade their children to change their paths?

    Zhang Zian did not know what the parents in the foreign countries would do, but most parents in China would choose thetter method wisely, hoping to build an easy path leading to ¡°happiness¡± for their children. They hoped that their children would walk straight on this path without taking a wrong way or suffering any kind of harm.

    If Fina or Old Time Tea encountered such a setback, they would not mind at all. Their arrogance and strength had equipped them with unparalleled confidence. They did not ept interference from anyone, not even the interference from their owners.

    Even if they failed, they would smile, lick their wounds, and move on. However, Pi was different from them. Pi was an introverted and sensitive elfin who was not good atmunicating with other elves, and was barely a powerful elfin. Could it withstand the pain of failure?

    When he got up in the morning, Zhang Zian usually went downstairs to clean up the shop and start the routine operation of the day. However, today was a rare exception. He stood still behind Pi for a long time, weighing the pros and cons repeatedly and could not make up his mind.

    Pi turned its head in confusion. It typed to ask: What¡¯s wrong?

    Zhang Zian pretended to smile with ease, bent down and wrote the character of ¡°people¡± (ÈË) on the desk with his fingers, and then typed: Did you see that? The Chinese character of ¡°people¡± means that people support each other. Pi, I want to tell you something. No matter what kind of novel you write, we will always stand behind you to support you.

    Pi turned to look at Zhang Zian. It silently grinned and clenched its fist.

    Under the light of the disy screen, its face was filled with excitement.

    Normally, after waking up, Gxy would also go downstairs and y hide-and-seek with Wendy and other kittens. But today, Gxy also stayed on the second floor. It jumped to the desk, waved its front paws to Pi, and expressed its support.

    Pi smiled happily and typed: Thank you.

    As if gaining some sort of intangible power, Pi kept its body upright and continued to type in the typing posture and method that Zhang Zian had instructed it. It was still typing at a very low speed.

    Zhang Zian silently watched the back of Pi. When he typed those words, he had made a decision in his heart. Taking the wrong way was not necessarily a bad thing. The experience of taking the detour routes would be a valuable asset for the children. When they faced junctions the next time, the kids may be able to recognize the detour and choose the right path. Parents could not stay with their children forever. They would eventually have to let their kids go on alone. All that parents could do was to watch the children¡¯s backs in silence just like Zhang Zian was watching the back of Pi. And then when their kids ran into major setbacks on the wrong path, parents would help wrap the wounds so that the kids could prepare for the next journey.

    Under the glimmering rays of the morning sun, he turned slightly and looked at the ck and white portraits of histe parents on the chest of drawers. They were smiling at him. They had never interfered in the path he had chosen, nor had they asked him to inherit the pet shop. The bones recovered from fracture would be thicker and sturdier; the hearts that were injured would be stronger. His parents must have felt this way before.

    However, standing behind Pi did not mean that he wanted to be a pure spectator. There were so many things he could do to better support Pi.

 Chapter 552: Numerator and Denominator

    <h4>Chapter 552: Numerator and Denominator</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The Wang Haige Forum had a literature section, which was divided into two subsections: discussions on paper books and online publications. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t usually visit these two sections. But today he was lying in the reclining chair, browsing the forum on his phone.

    As he clicked the online publication discussion area, a post attracted his attention.

    [Seven Kill]: I¡¯m a new author. Questions for you: how many more ¡°favorites¡± should I gain per chapter to be considered eptable?

    There were all kinds of answers below the post. Some of them were joking, some were serious.

    [Old City]: It depends on the website. I¡¯m writing a fantasy on Qidian. I got 20 more favorites on the first day the book was cleared for publication, then 11 on the second day, and 20 more favorites each day after Day 3. So far I wrote 28,000 words, and had 140 favorites.

    [Academy]: Impressive! Let us know the book name!

    [Fan Wujiu]: I think you are here to show off.

    [Tian Haoyu]: You get favorites with so few words? Is this a scam? Why did I only get 40 favorites after writing 50,000 words?

    Zhang Zian was more confused after reading this. Was this the difference between the big names and small names? But some are not doing so well. Pi just wrote 2000 words, so it should get at least 40 favorites by 50,000 words, shouldn¡¯t it? At least, it would not be the worst.

    Some statistic nerds talked about the fundamentals below the post.

    [Akmond]: Qidian is the biggest website of the business, and it¡¯s a hard for newbies to get ahead. Today is my day off, and I have nothing else to do. So let me spend time to tell you how hard it is to be a writer at Qidian. I just checked the Qidian Library. Only counting new books under 300,000 words, there are 18,000 of them that were updated in 3 days! Only 2000 of them had a signed contract. The odds of getting a contract is 1/9.

    [Seven Kill]: This hard? This makes my newbie heart as cold as ice¡­

    [Akmond]: Hard? No, this is only the beginning. After signing a contract, Qidian starts promoting your book to let more people read it. But is signing a contract enough? Not at all. After that, your book will be on the promotion list along with other new books. There are about 5-6 rounds of promotion for new books, and in each round, only 4 books out of 10 will qualify for the next promotion. Only 0.4% of all books can defeat the others and make it to the Power Ranking list. 2000 times 0.004 equals 8, which means, among the 18,000 books, only 8 of them can rise above all and be released on the shelf. While the remaining 99.99% of books are left in the ocean of books without readers.

    [Youth of Wind]: As a newbie who has not published yet, I¡¯m so discouraged!

    [Akmond]: Hehe, paid lease is only the beginning. You must have 3000 readers willing to pay for your book, then your book can enter the Power Ranking. Do you know the percentage of that? Only 3 or 4 books among the 8 can enter the Power Ranking!

    [Akmond]: Now let¡¯s sum up. If you just published a book, here is your future: if you aim at getting a contract, then your chance is 1/9; if your goal is the Power Ranking, your chance is 1/2250; if you want your novel to be tagged as Rmended and be remembered forever by Qidian, then your odds are 1/5000. When you write at Qidian, you have 1/5000 chance to be the numerator, and 4999/5000 chance to be the denominator! A general builds his sess on ten thousand bleaching bones. This is an appropriate description!

    Some people expressed their doubt below the post.

    [Smile]: Are there that many? 18,000 people entering the online writing business at the same time?

    [Akmond]: Of course, you¡¯ll be surprised. ording to official statistics, there are 1.4 billion people, and there are 60 million online writing! 60 million! Crowds and crowds of people are entering the online writing business. You have a better chance to seed by being an extra in Binhai Studio, being picked by a director passing and make you the next Wang Baoqiang¡­ You may get injured by being an extra on set. Online writing is much easier, and all you need to do is be literate and able to type. But 99.99% of people end up being the denominator.

    Despite this [Akmond] was telling the brutal truth, the crowd of people who replied to the post were shocked at the statistics and cried out in despair. [Akmond] also gained a ¡°Pro¡± title for his knowledge in the online writing industry. He quickly added that he was also one of the denominators, except that he failed enough times to know how to fail with swagger¡­

    Zhang Zian wanted to correct him. It was not 18,000 people, but 17,999 people plus 1 monkey. But he didn¡¯t do it, as he was not in the mood to ridicule.

    He remembered the days of bringing Famous to Binhai Studio for movies. Each day he saw many people wearing green military coats gather at the entrance of the studio and surround every production team that entered and exited, being picked and chosen like truckloads of cheap cabbage. Those chosen by production teams were happy to make a daily sry of 50 Yuan, while those who weren¡¯t picked were disappointed, and left

    like an ebbing tide, shivering in the cold wind, waiting for the next production team to arrive.

    Back then he was thinking that it was so hard to be an extra on the set. They persevered with their movie star dreams, hoping to be the next Wang Baoqiang. Butpared to them, [Akmond] seemed right, that online writers also walked the same difficult path of fiercepetition, fighting hard to be the few numerators.

    There was a lot going on with the online writing section of Wang Haige Forum. There were a lot of posts, and it seemed that there were posts and replies every minute. Apart from the posts that discussed online writing as the one above, some posts werements on certain novels, either good or bad. There was something strange going on: if someone posted negativements, then the following posts were all of simr negativements with very few exceptions. But if the post was positive, then there would be replies questioning if the author of the post was part of the paid Inte Water Army, or disguising him/herself as an ordinary reader to rmend his/her own work.

    Inte Water Army was a phrase that Zhang Zian once heard from Zhao Qi. Each time Zhao Qi visited the pet shop to buy imported cat food, she asked for a discount for doing him a favor, iming that if she didn¡¯t help him fight the water army hired by Stars supermarket in Wang Haige Forum, his pet shop would have been out of business. He had always doubted this matter. Were there really inte water armies lurking in the Forum?

    But these had nothing to do with him for now, nor with Pi. He decided to get Pi started with a small goal, which was getting a contract with the website and bing the 1/9. Others could be done after. ording to the posts, if they got a contract, the website would promote their work, and make the novel visible to more readers.

    But how could they get a contract?

 Chapter 553: Being A Bookworm For A Decade

    <h4>Chapter 553: Being A Bookworm For A Decade</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    There were few customers in the pet shop in the morning. After cleaning up the shop, ying hide-and-seek with Gxy, and training Zhan Tian on the green field, Zhang Zian had been reading posts on the forum. Time always passed very fast when he surfed the inte. Nearly an hour had passed after he had browsed the posts on the first and second page of the forum.

    The Spring Festival was approaching. Now was the busiest period before the Spring Festival. Students were taking the final exams. The office workers were fighting for the annual bonus, secretly nning whether they should hop to anotherpany after the Lunar New Year. There were few pedestrians on the road. Some elderly people were happily pushing carts to buy groceries for the Lunar New Year because when the Spring Festival arrived, many businesses would close their shops. After running their shops diligently for a year, the business owners also needed to take a rest during the festival.

    Zhang Zian did not need to visit friends and rtives during the Chinese New Year, so he would not need to go shopping for groceries. During the Spring Festival, his pet shop would operate as usual, and he would strive to sell more pets to children since they would receive lucky money from their parents and rtives. He looked at the time and was thinking of going upstairs to remind Pi to rest for a while. At that moment, a car stopped in front of the entrance to his shop.

    This was a brand-new BMW sedan with a bright, shiny body. It seemed that it was a vehicle that was registered not long ago. Zhang Zian had never seen this car before.

    Through the window ss, he saw two stylishly dressed girls sitting in the car. Normally, Zhang Zian would look at these attractive girls for a little bit longer. But since he knew these two girls, he could not do that. Speaking of the devil. He was just talking about them. He whispered to himself.

    The two stylish girls were Zhao Qi and Shi Shi. Liu Sang was responsible for driving. In addition to the three of them, there was a medium-sized Labrador sitting in the back seat. It was the one that Liu Sang bought from Zhang Zian¡¯s pet shop. It¡¯s funny that this Labrador was wearing a red sweater, which made it look awkward.

    Zhang Zian knew that the three of them worked for the samepany, and that Liu Sang was courting Shi Shi on a regr basis. Why did theye to the pet shop together during this work day?

    Liu Sang got out of the car and enthusiastically opened the car door for Shi Shi in the back seat. Shi Shi looked at her cell phone from time to time and did not get out of the car. Zhao Qi, who was sitting on the other side of the back seat, got out of the car with her own pet carrier.

    Anyhow, they were Zhang Zian¡¯s acquaintances. Zhang Zian put his cell phone back into his pocket and walked out of the pet shop to greet them.

    ¡°Hey, Sang, is this your new car? Not bad.¡±

    Liu Sang carefully closed the door to the driver¡¯s seat. He smiled proudly and said, ¡°Yes, the car was just delivered to me before New Year¡¯s Day. It only has a few hundred kilometers on it.¡±

    Zhang Zian approached and looked at the car. He was aplete amateur to the car industry and asked, ¡°How much was this car?¡±

    Liu Sang¡¯s face twitched momentarily. He quietly extended his three fingers, and said in pain, ¡°It cost me nearly 300,000 Yuan in total. I borrowed some money and applied for a loan¡­¡±

    Unlike houses, cars were not a rigid demand. Zhang Zian felt it was unworthy to borrow money to buy a car, so he asked, ¡°Why not buy a car cheaper than this?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Liu Sang said with bitterness and whispered, ¡°Actually, I did not intend to buy a car. After all, unlike such big cities as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, it was quite convenient to take a taxi or get a ride in Binhai City. Besides, when the air quality is poor, the city only allows vehicles on the streets with even-numbered license tes to alternate with odd-numbered vehicles. But currently, I am pursuing Shi Shi, hoping that she will be my girlfriend. It is more convenient to have a car of my own, so I can take her to many ces. At first, I wanted to buy a domestic brand car, which was rtively affordable. Nowadays, the domestically produced cars are not as bad as they were before. But then I wondered if she would look down on me if I bought a domestically produced car. In the end, I firmly made up my mind and bought this imported car¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was rather speechless. He thought to himself. You have gone too far beyond your means to impress her. If your girlfriend despises you because you drive a domestically produced car, does she like you or does she like your money?

    However, Zhang Zian was not that close to Liu Sang. Since Liu Sang had already bought the car, Zhang Zian was in no position to judge him. All Zhang Zian could say to Liu Sang was that, he should make good use of the car. Even if Liu Sang could not develop a romantic rtionship with Shi Shi, at least he could impress another girl with this car¡­

    Liu Sang whispered as if defending himself, ¡°Shi Shi did not tell me her preference explicitly, but I noticed that she had been reading those online novels such as The Overbearing CEO Fell in Love with Me¡­so¡­¡±

    Well, that¡¯s how it happened. Zhang Zian could somewhat understand Liu Sang¡¯s concern. Love was unreasonable. Liu Sang liked Shi Shi, who liked those types of guys that were rich and bossy. What could Liu Sang do? Although Liu Sang could not be a CEO in the foreseeable future, buying an imported car to please the girl he liked had proven his economic capabilities.

    ¡°What Overbearing CEO Fell in Love with Me?¡± Shi Shi, although in the car, seemed to have heard thest sentence they were talking about. She looked at her mobile phone and said, ¡°Who would read that old-fashioned book? I was clearly reading the book called You are Better than the Billionaire CEO¡¯s!¡±

    Zhang Zian would normally dismiss the topic with a smile. But today, he nced at the phone of Shi Shi and found that she was also using the app of Qidian to read web novels.

    ¡°You are reading books on Qidian?¡± he asked curiously.

    ¡°Of course! I am a senior VIP on Qidian and I have been a bookworm of the web novels for a decade!¡± Shi Shi got out of the car very proudly and the Labrador followed her and got out of the car too.

    ¡°Wow!¡± Zhang Zian looked at her with admiration.

    He learned from the Wang Haige Forum that the readers on Qidian were ssified hierarchically. Those who read few books and spent little money on the website were ordinary members. As the users read more books and spent more money, they would be the senior members, and then the primary VIPs, and the top ranking title would be the senior VIPs. On the Zhihu Forum, the most pretentious forum in China, there was a discussion thread called ¡°How did I feel when I became a senior VIP at Qidian¡±, and as thements in that discussion thread described, the status of the senior VIP at Qidian was as fancy as the King of Diamonds at QQ.

    ¡°Humph!¡± Shi Shi felt so proud that her chin was almost lifted to the sky.

    ¡°She really is a senior VIP at Qidian, but I have to remind you, that she gained that status by reading all kinds of romantic novels involving the overbearing CEOs¡­¡± Zhao Qi came to them with the air box in her hand. Her cat, Lan Lan was gazing at Zhang Zian in the air box.

    ¡°Qi Qi! You betrayed me again!¡± Shi Shi was so angry that she blushed, ¡°Are you still my good friend or not?¡±

    ¡°Was I not talking about the fact?¡± Zhao Qi continued. ¡°Let me figure it out. Suppose that your im of being a bookworm for a decade is true. You are 25 years old this year, which means that you have been reading those romantic novels involving the overbearing CEO¡¯s from the age of 15! I do hope that a bossy CEO would appear from nowhere and make you his girlfriend so that you would not waste your time daydreaming anymore. Of course, it would be the best if that CEO would love you at the beginning and abandon you in the end. Otherwise, I would not be able to remain calm¡­¡±

    ¡°My¡­my birthday has not arrived this year. I am currently 24 years old, all right?!¡± Shi Shi was very unruly in front of Liu Sang, but in the face of her bestie Zhao Qi, she would never truly lose her temper.

    ¡°Besides, I only read those romantic novels about the overbearing CEO¡¯s asionally. I read ordinary novels most of the time, and I also read the foreign novels in paperback¡­¡± Lacking confidence, Shi Shi justified herself to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Come on, stop the pretense!¡± Zhao Qi scorned. ¡°The so-called foreign novels in paperback that you read are Fifty Shades of Grey, aren¡¯t they? They are nothing more than the darker versions of those novels about the overbearing CEO¡¯s written in English!¡±

    ¡°Hey! Qi Qi, you said too much!¡± Shi Shi was upset.

    Zhang Zian did not care about the genres that Shi Shi liked. What he cared about was the preference of the readers on Qidian. And as a bookworm for a decade on Qidian, Shi Shi should have some understanding of the preferences of the readers of web novels. So, he tentatively asked, ¡°Shi Shi, as a reader, are you interested in reading a web novel about a pet shop?¡±

    ¡°What? Pet shop?¡± Shi Shi stared at Zhang Zian incredulously like she was looking at a fool. ¡°Are you crazy? Who will read a web novel about a pet shop? What¡¯s to write about a pet shop? Cleaning the feces of pets all day long? If people want to raise cats or dogs, they need to cleanse the feces of their pets. Why would they read about the situations in a pet shop? Am I right, Xiao La?¡±

    Xiao La barked a few times, as if responding to her.

    Although what you said makes sense, why am I so unhappy? Zhang Zian said to himself.

    ¡°Because restricted by some objective conditions, some people who want to raise dogs or cats can¡¯t raise pets in real life. If I remember correctly, this Labrador is not yours, it was bought by Sang.¡± Zhang Zian pointed out this fact.

    Yes, he remembered that Liu Sang bought this Labrador to attract Shi Shi¡¯s attention, and Liu Sang really seeded because Shi Shi quite liked the puppy. But the apartment Shi Shi rented did not allow her to raise pets.

    Due to the limitations of certain conditions and the doubts that they could take care of the pets till death set them apart, a lot of people had chosen to watch cats or dogs on the inte by appreciating the photos and videos of cats and dogs uploaded by others on forums and Weibo every day. Zhang Zian was in favor of the cautious attitude of these people. Watching cats or dogs on the inte was far better than those people who bought pets recklessly and sent away or deserted the pets when they realized that they were unfit to raise pets. Could those people who appreciated pets on the inte turn into pet novel readers? Even if only one of ten thousandths of those people became readers, that would be enough.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Shi Shi stuttered suddenly, but then she said stubbornly, ¡°What you said may be true, but how can you let these people who raise pets on the inte know about this novel?¡±

    Zhang Zian admitted that she was right. This was the most crucial issue.

    ¡°Yes, which novel is this? Tell me the title. As a bookworm for a decade, I can identify whether there is a future for this novel.¡± Shi Shi boasted boldly.

    Zhao Qi also asked curiously, ¡°Zhang Zian, are you writing a novel about a pet shop?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not.¡± Zhang Zian replied. That¡¯s not a lie. It was Pi who was writing a novel.

    ¡°Actually, I think you can write a novel. Anyway, you have nothing to do in your pet shop, right?!¡± said Zhao Qi, ¡°What if it bes a popr novel?¡±

    Zhang Zian quickly waved his hands to change the topic, ¡°Forget it, I know myself, I don¡¯t have what it takes to be a writer¡­ By the way, why are you here?¡±

 Chapter 554: Pet Boarding

    <h4>Chapter 554: Pet Boarding</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhao Qi and Shi Shi could not stop talking, and didn¡¯t remember their real business until Zhang Zian reminded them.

    Then Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Plus, isn¡¯t today a working day? You have jobs, unlike me. Why did you skip work ande to my pet shop?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not with them, just giving them a ride.¡± Zhao Qi rified. ¡°I¡¯m nning on using my vacation days along with the Spring Festival holidays, and travel abroad.¡±

    ¡°Travelling abroad¡­did you pay off your credit card debt?¡± Zhang Zian asked with doubt.

    Zhao Qi was typical of the type of people who had nothing left by the end of each month, and could never improve during the next month. Every time she swore to herself not to buy anything irrational, she still lost control every time she saw bags, clothes and shoes of famous brands on sale. Every time she shared her credit card bill on Wechat Moments, sheined that she could only afford to eat dirt the following month.

    Zhao Qi blushed. ¡°I¡¯m taking a trip abroad with my parents.¡±

    Oh, she meant her parents were paying for it. No wonder¡­

    But she still didn¡¯t exin why she came to the pet shop.

    Zhao Qi lifted the travel suitcase in her hands and said, ¡°It would be fine for 2 or 3 days, but I¡¯ll be out of the country for around 10 days, and nobody is taking care of my Lan Lan. I thought about it, and have to ask a favor of you, Manager Zhang. Will you take care of it for me?¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s face grew serious: ¡°I don¡¯t offer boarding services here! I suggest you look for someone else.¡±

    Many pet shops specifically offered pet boarding service, targeting young customers going on short-term trips abroad or to other cities. They charged by the day or the month, and some by the year. But Zhang Zian¡¯s shop was short-staffed, so he didn¡¯t intend to make this extra money.

    Opposite to the previous unrelenting attitude while arguing with her friend, Zhao Qi begged with her palms together: ¡°There¡¯s nothing else I can do. I can¡¯t find any reliable friend, and the few pet shops I asked are all full. They told me that pet boarding service must be reserved one or two months in advance, and there isn¡¯t any ce left now¡­¡±

    Shi Shi interrupted. ¡°So I told you that I could take care of Lan Lan for a few days!¡±

    Zhao Qi rolled her eyes. ¡°You are the reliable friend I was talking about!¡±

    In recent years, more and more people were taking vacations abroad during Spring Festival or National Day long holidays, and a lot of them were pet owners. It was possible to bring the pets abroad with them, but not practical in reality. Not everybody was willing to go through the trouble of taking the pets on the flight, so they opted to boarding services in pet shops. It was more convenient and the cost was reasonable.

    Zhao Qi did not have pets before. This was her first Spring Festival after she had Lan Lan, and she didn¡¯t know that boarding service was so hard to find during this time, which caught her off guard. The departure date was getting near. Travelling abroad with parents was a rare asion, plus she didn¡¯t have to pay for it. She didn¡¯t want to give up such an opportunity, but how could she leave Lan Lan alone at home for ten days?

    She inquired at a few major pet shops, and all the boarding ces were taken. She didn¡¯t trust the smaller shops, so Zhang Zian became a good option.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to get involved with boarding services. Apart from being short-staffed, another reason was theplications in this service. If the pets fell sick or died during the boarding, a lot of disputes could ur.

    He had heard about a pet shop offering boarding services. One of the dogs suddenly fell ill during the boarding, and eventually died after being sent to the vet hospital. The dog owner came over after getting the notice, and insisted to me the shop owner¡¯sck of care. In the end, the medical bill was not paid, and the pet shop had to refund 20% of the boarding service fee, whilepensating a dog of the same breed to the owner. The dog owner was not happy either, as the new dog was not the same one as the old beloved dog.

    Zhao Qi didn¡¯t give up, and begged relentlessly, until Zhang Zian could not say no anymore. For her sake as the first customer of the pet shop, he drafted a boarding service agreement, specified the obligations and made her sign. Only after that, he took Lan Lan for a 10-day boarding.

    After finishing the business with Zhao Qi, he asked what Shi Shi and Liu Sang were up to. If they wanted to show off a new imported car, he didn¡¯t have time for it.

    Shi Shi took the Labrador, and Liu Sang exined: ¡°No. I¡¯m nning to stay in my hometown for a few days before the Spring Festival, but it¡¯s inconvenient for me to take the dog. Xiao La has a minor cold, and I was going to take it to the vet clinic in the north and keep it there for a few days during my absence. The timing is perfect¡­¡±

    ¡°You are hitting two birds with one stone¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian noticed a red sweater the Labrador was wearing at the beginning. It looked funny.

    As they spoke, the Labrador coughed as if it was choked by water.

    Shi Shi heard their conversation, then put down her phone and said seriously, ¡°Oh right, Manager Zhang, since you took Qi Qi¡¯s cat, would you take Xiao La as well? I bought Xiao La from you, and I trust your ce more than the vet clinics¡­I always feel it¡¯s a dirty ce over there. If Xiao La is left there alone, it might be bullied or get infected by other dogs, or get raped by an overheated Toy Poodle president¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey! Watch yourself! A girl who talks about ¡®rape¡¯ in public all day. I¡¯m embarrassed to admit that I know you¡­¡± Zhao Qi pinched Shi Shi¡¯s face in rage.

    ¡°Ouch! It hurts! Qi Qi, you are ruining my make-up!¡± Shi Shi shouted loudly.

    Zhao Qi exined to Zhang Zian while pinching Shi Shi¡¯s face. ¡°You may not have read many novels about overheating presidents. They usually begin with a girl being raped by a bossy president. This girl here has read too many of these. Each time she sees a Toy Poodle in the street, her eyes be bright and she keeps murmuring ¡®Toy Poodle President¡¯. You can pretend that you didn¡¯t hear!¡±

    Zhang Zian watched the interactions of the two girls speechlessly. This was an eye-opener!

    He looked at Liu Sang with concern, and couldn¡¯t figure out how he fell love with Shi Shi. This task was harder than his search of the nameless book from the mountains of books in Binhai City Library¡­

    Shi Shi¡¯s face was pinched red, with tears in her eyes. She was shorter than Zhao Qi, and her arms were too short to push Zhao Qi away. Being unable to fight back, she begged: ¡°Qi Qi! Qi Qi! I only said ¡®rape¡¯ once, but you said it three times!¡±

    Zhao Qi suddenly realized her own inappropriate words. She smiled with embarrassment and defended herself. ¡°I was repeating your words. It doesn¡¯t count!¡±

    Shi Shi finally escaped from Zhao Qi, and quickly ran towards Liu Sang and hid behind him. She rubbed her face with weepy eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t take this Labrador.¡± Zhang Zian refused them with a cough.

 Chapter 555: Kennel Cough

    <h4>Chapter 555: Kennel Cough</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Shi Shi thought that since Zhang Zian had epted Zhao Qi¡¯s cat, it would not be a problem for him to ept her dog. But when Zhang Zian turned her down, she asked in surprise, ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because it is ill. Its illness must be cured first.¡± Zhang Zian answered very simply and firmly, ¡°My pet shop doesn¡¯t provide pet boarding services for sick pets. Even if you go to other stores, those pet shop owners won¡¯t ept it either.¡±

    ¡°It just caught a cold! A cold!¡± Shi Shi stressed, lifting the Labrador from the ground. ¡°You see, Xiao La is only coughing and sneezing a little. It¡¯s actually very healthy! And we have already fed the cold medicine to it. It will recover in two days.¡±

    ¡°Cold medicine? You mean the cold medicine for human beings?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Shi Shi blinked and looked at Zhang Zian as if he had asked an unnecessary question. ¡°Of course, it was a very high-grade imported cold medicine that I would take when I caught a cold.¡±

    ¡°Dogs can¡¯t take cold medicine for human beings. Before any abnormal reaction urs to your dog, I suggest you take it to the pet clinic for a checkup as soon as possible.¡± Zhang Zian said solemnly.

    ¡°What? Why?¡± asked Shi Shi.

    ¡°Because cold medicine for human beings may contain ingredients harmful to dogs.¡± Zhang Zian exined patiently, ¡°Of course, not all cold medicines contain such ingredients. To say the least, even if the ingredients of your medicine are harmless to your dog, do you know the dosage of the medicine it should take? The dosage for the pet is based on the pet¡¯s weight¡ªhow many micrograms or milligrams of the medicine it should take are based on per kilogram of its body weight. A pet should not simply take one or two pills at a time like a human does. Did you calcte the dosage when you gave the medicine to your dog?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Shi Shi stuttered, ¡°I was a liberal arts student¡­¡±

    ¡°It does not matter whether you were a student who majored in liberal arts or science!¡± Zhang Zianined, pointing at the red sweater that the Labrador was wearing. ¡°What is the matter with this sweater?¡±

    ¡°I bought it for Xiao La! The weather is cold!¡± She replied with confidence.

    ¡°Did you put the sweater on it before or after it caught a cold?¡± Zhang Zian asked again.

    Shi Shi ced her fingers onto her forehead and contemted, ¡°Well¡­let me think¡­before it caught a cold?¡±

    ¡°Well, if I¡¯m right, perhaps it caught a cold precisely because you put the sweater on it!¡± Zhang Zian said with certainty.

    ¡°Why? She asked with indignation. This was the third time she asked why. The weather worsened several days ago, I was afraid that it would catch a cold, so I bought the sweater for it!¡±

    Zhang Zian exined, ¡°Because the medium-sized andrge-sized dogs don¡¯t need to wear extra clothes, their hair and muscles can generate enough heat for them. We¡¯re not in the freezing Siberia. When you walked your dog outdoors, the thick sweater on it had prevented the heat generated during exercise from leaving its body. When you returned home, you undressed it and ity its hot belly on the chilly floor. That may be the reason your dog caught a cold.¡±

    Not convinced by Zhang Zian¡¯s exnation, Shi Shi said, ¡°But I see a lot of people put all sorts of beautiful clothes on their pets¡­Besides, the Dragon Li cat in your shop is wearing a Mandarin jacket and a bamboo hat!¡±

    Her voice was a bit sharp. Hearing Shi Shi mention itself, Old Time Tea moved its ears and looked out the door.

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    Regarding the situation of Old Time Tea, in fact, what Shi Shi said was right. When winter arrived, Zhang Zian often saw people put thick clothing, such as vests, sweaters, hats, scarves, and shoes on their pets. The pets were dressed as human beings, because their owners worried that they might catch a cold.

    Zhao Qi said hesitantly, ¡°In fact, I also want to buy clothes for my Lan Lan¡­Is it wrong to let pets wear clothes?¡±

    ¡°It depends. Cats generally stay at home and they rarely go out, and very few cats will lie directly on the ground, so cats don¡¯t need to wear clothes. As for the Dragon Li in my shop, it wears clothes because it is at an advanced age.¡± To make his exnation more thorough, Zhang Zian added, ¡°Unless we are talking about the Sphinx cats, who basically have no hair and need to wear clothes in the winter.¡±

    Zhang Zian saw a group of photos uploaded by Xu Junyu, the makeup artist of the Dog Warrior crew, in her WeChat Moments a few days ago. In those photos, Xu Junyu showed that she had made a piece of clothing for her Sphinx cat. Zhang Zian gave those photos a thumb-up. Because Sphinx cats indeed needed to wear clothes in winter, so did some bulldogs, but most young, strong cats did not need clothes in winter.

    Cats were very sensitive animals that relied on their hair to perceive the air flow. Putting on clothes may cause sensory disorders with some cats, and they would act like they were drunk.

    As for the Siberian Forest Cats, Norwegian Forest Cats, Ragdoll Cats, Persian Cats, and other long-haired cats, it was unnecessary to put clothes on them. Even if people were frozen to death, these cats would not die.

    ¡°Besides, most of the dressed-up dogs you see on the street are small-sized dogs like Teddy or Chihuahua, right?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Perplexed, Shi Shi nodded.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Small-sized dogs may need to wear clothes in winter because they have specificrger surface areas and the heat emits from their bodies quickly, so they need clothes to keep warm. While therge-sized and medium-sized dogs have smaller specific surface areas and their bodies have better capabilities to keep themselves warm,¡± Zhang Zian pointed to Shi Shi¡¯s Labrador. ¡°Do you think your Labrador is a small-sized dog?¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute. The surface area of a small-sized dog is supposed to be smaller than that of arge-sized or medium-sized dog, isn¡¯t it?¡± In fact, she had missed the ¡°specific¡± in that term. Perhaps she had heard it, but she ignored it because she did not understand what the term meant.

    ¡°It¡¯s the specific surface area! The specific surface area is the ratio of surface area to volume! Take a sphere for example, the smaller the radius, therger the specific surface area; therger the radius, the smaller the specific surface area. The same principle applies to dogs.¡± Zhang Zianboriously imparted some knowledge of mathematics to her.

    ¡°Oh,¡± Shi Shi nodded, not fully understanding the principle. ¡°I¡¯m a liberal arts student¡­¡±

    ¡°¡±Don¡¯t use liberal arts as an excuse. Liberal arts students should also havemon sense!¡± Zhang Zian doubted that she had forgotten about the math she learned in school long time ago.

    Shi Shi said audaciously with self-confidence, ¡°But I just can¡¯t understand it! If you write a novel, you can write these things in your novel. I guess many people don¡¯t understand these concepts.¡±

    ¡°I said that I was not writing a novel¡­But then again, this dog has caught a cold. If you don¡¯t understand how to cure a cold for a dog, don¡¯t try to help it recklessly. You¡¯d better send it to a pet clinic.¡± Zhang Zian brought the topic back to Shi Shi¡¯s dog.

    ¡°I¡¯m worried that Xiao La will be infected with other diseases if it were sent to a pet clinic¡­¡± Shi Shi could not make up her mind. ¡°Manager Zhang, you are so resourceful, can you please cure my Xiao La?¡±

    ¡°No. First of all, I am not a licensed veterinarian and I have no qualifications to practice medicine. Secondly, I do not dare let your dog into my shop. I am afraid that its cold will be transmitted to my dogs ??in the shop!¡±

    To be cautious, Zhang Zian had been talking with them outside in the chilly wind and had not invited them into the shop. What he feared was that this Labrador¡¯s cold would be transmitted to other puppies.

    ¡°How could it be? My Xiao La does not have the flu! It has just caught amon cold!¡± Shi Shi said self-righteously.

    Liu Sang thought for a moment and echoed with Shi Shi. ¡°I remember that the pet sales agreement specified that the dogs in your shop had been injected with flu shots. They would still get the flu?¡±

    Zhang Zian exined, ¡°There are many kinds of influenza, and the flu viruses often mutate. The vines they received are only to prevent some respiratory infectious diseases. In addition, the flu and themon cold are difficult to distinguish from their symptoms. Even themon cold is also divided into the contagious and non-contagiousmon cold. I am not an expert in this regard. When one of my dogs catches a cold, it would also be isted from other dogs, and then I would quickly send it to a pet clinic.¡±

    A-choo! While Zhang Zian was speaking, the Labrador sneezed again and lowered its head listlessly. It was obvious that Shi Shi¡¯s Labrador was not as lively as other Labrador dogs.

    Zhang Zian pointed out specifically. ¡°The canine respiratory infectious disease is highly contagious. If one dog is sick, it should be sent for treatment as soon as possible. Otherwise, it is easy to infect other dogs living together. Therefore, the canine respiratory infectious disease is also called the ¡®Kennel Cough¡¯, which means that if a dog has contracted the disease, all the dogs in the kennel will be infected very soon. Not only that, if you walk a sick dog outside and encounter someone else¡¯s dogs on the street, the disease may transmit to more dogs.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I understand now. Sang, let¡¯s send Xiao La to a pet clinic now.¡± Shi Shi finally had nothing else to say to Zhang Zian, who had firmly rejected to ept her dog.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Liu Sang was obedient to Shi Shi¡¯s words.

    ¡°One more thing¡­when your dog is well, don¡¯t put clothes on it anymore. When it¡¯s snowing, you can make your dog wear a raincoat to prevent the snow from wetting its hair. If you don¡¯t know where you can buy a raincoat suitable for dogs, you can buy it from my shop. And try to keep your room as dry as possible because a humid environment is more likely to harbor bacteria. Try ventting the indoors more frequently, which can effectively help both human beings and dogs avoid catching a cold.

    Zhang Zian gave them advice as the after-sales service. After all, this Labrador was bought from his pet shop.

    Liu Sang nodded frequently and kept Zhang Zian¡¯s suggestion firmly in mind.

    Shi Shi had already picked up Xiao La and got into the car. Zhao Qi had given the air box with Lan Lan in it to Zhang Zian and got into the car, nning to get a free ride back home.

    Liu Sang had not gotten into the car yet. He scratched his head and said awkwardly, ¡°Manager Zhang, actually I still have another thing.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? I will not lend money to you!¡± Zhang Zian refused him vigntly.

    ¡°I¡¯m not borrowing money! It¡¯s that our Xiao La is a bit naughty,¡± Liu Sang said helplessly. ¡°It likes to bark for no reason. Our neighbors have filedints to the property management team several times. asionally, it also urinates and defecates in our home or on the corridor¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian frowned. ¡°You didn¡¯t train it not to bark or relieve itself everywhere? Didn¡¯t I tell you that unlike raising a cat, you must train your dog?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­but each time I tried to be harsh on Xiao La, Shi Shi would defend it and say that I was a crazy man who abused dogs. That was why Xiao La has be like this¡­¡± Liu Sang smiled bitterly. ¡°Manager Zhang, can you help me change its bad habits? I will pay you.¡±

    Zhang Zian pondered and said, ¡°Let¡¯s talk about that after your dog has recovered from the cold.¡±

 Chapter 556: Strength of Faith

    <h4>Chapter 556: Strength of Faith</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Tic!

    Early in the morning, Zhang Zian heard a gentle noise in his sleep. He opened his eyes slightly, and saw theptop being booted up on the desk. Pi was holding its legs and was curled up in the chair. It opened its mouth and yawned, as the reflection of the Windows start up image shed on the lenses of its pince-nez.

    Ever since Pi started online writing, it woke up early every morning before Zhang Zian, and always hurried to check on website data as soon as it got up.

    Zhang Zian put on some clothes, sat up, then got off the bed quietly and stood behind Pi. Pi looked back at him and squeezed out a smile, with an anxious and expectant look. It entered the username and password to enter the author¡¯s page. As soon as it saw the number of favorites, the expectation and anxiety turned into disappointment.

    Pi had already written over 20,000 words, but only got 9 favorites, 0 rmendation and 20+ views. The worst was, there was still no sign of a contract. Zhang Zian patted its shoulder and asked it to calm down, rx, and not to overthink.

    Pi nodded reluctantly. It opened a Word file and typed: ¡°It¡¯s OK. If nobody reads it after I finish it, I can at least read it to all of us.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded with a smile, but thought otherwise in his heart. How could it be Okay? He saw how Pi had been writing. It sat in front of theptop from dawn to dusk. If he didn¡¯t go upstairs to remind it, it would not stand up for a break. It stared at the screen all day and referred to the nameless book from time to time, searching for past histories from the book, making them into stories and writing them down, following a proportion of 70% real vs. 30% unreal.

    He always believed that hard work deserved some payoff. If Pi only wrote to pass the time, it would be fine. But it didn¡¯t. It was writing with great seriousness, trying to show people the stories of the pet shop.

    Zhang Zian bent down and typed: ¡°Pi, I did some research. Qidian has different numbers of books in each category. You are writing a modern category novel, which has the most number of books. Maybe the editors haven¡¯t even gotten to it yet. Don¡¯t give up. Carry on!¡±

    Pi nodded again and typed gently: ¡°I will carry on.¡±

    It was not just saying it. It jumped off the chair, wobbled into the bathroom, took off the sses, and washed its face with a handful of cold water to clear its head.

    In the bathroom, Zhang Zian prepared separate towels for each elfin, with different colors and patterns. Everybody was only using their own except Richard. Gxy¡¯s towel was dark blue, Fina¡¯s was gold, Old Time Tea¡¯s was dark brown, Snowy Li¡¯s was white, Richard¡¯s was grey, Famous¡¯ was yellow, and Pi¡¯s towel hadic style numbers embroidered on them. They were easily distinguishable.

    Pi wiped its face with its own towel, returned to the chair, sat straight, and typed in Word with strokes of growing skillfulness: Chapter 15 The Observer of Destiny.

    Despite the sleepiness, Zhang Zian did not lie down again, since he was up already. He was thinking about Pi¡¯s novel anyway, and could not have fallen asleep even if he hadid down. He saw Pi writing with its entire focus, then he decided not to bother it and walked out of the bedroom door. Gxy also woke up, and snuck out behind him.

    ¡°Gxy, are you going to y hide-and-seek?¡± He closed the bedroom door and asked gently.

    ¡°Meow¡­ Is Zian joining me?¡± Gxy paused.

    ¡°Maybeter. I need to clean up the bathroom first.¡± Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°Go ahead, Gxy.¡±

    For a moment, he wanted to ask Gxy about the future of Pi¡¯s novel. But he didn¡¯t do it. If he knew everything about the future, what fun was left in life? Just like what Forrest Gump said,¡± Life is like a box of choctes. You never knew what you¡¯re gonna get.¡±

    But Gxy seemed to have guessed his mind. ¡°Meow¡­ Zian, Pi doesn¡¯t need the help of Gxy. It needs the help of everybody!¡±

    The help of everybody?

    Zhang Zian thought that Gxy was referring to Fina, Old Time Tea and Richard. He was stunned.

    Gxy seemed to have switched the subject and asked, ¡°Meow¡­ Zian, do you enjoy your life?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I think I enjoy it.¡± Zhang Zian admitted.

    ¡°Compared to the days before returning to Binhai City?¡±

    ¡°Much more fun than those days!¡±

    Before returning to Binhai City, Zhang Zian was amon office worker with a routine 9 to 5 schedule. Life was t and uneventful. But upon his return to Binhai City, he was mistakenly identified and worshiped as a martial arts master, participated in a cat show abroad and was part of a film. This was beyond his imagination in the old days.

    ¡°Meow¡­ Pi is writing about your life, with an artistic touch.¡±

    Zhang Zian finally got Gxy¡¯s point after the detoured conversation. His life was interesting, so a novel recording his life would not be too boring to the interest of readers. Not to mention that he had the group of elfins such as Gxy, Fina, Old Time Tea, Snowy Li, Famous, and Pi in his life, although the readers had not met them yet.

    ¡°OK. Thank you, Gxy.¡± Zhang Zian smiled.

    As Gxy was about to turn downstairs, it spoke again as if this just came to its mind. ¡°Meow¡­ Zian, Pi¡¯s Strength of Faith is fading.¡±

    His heart sank as he heard these words. He knew this ever since Pi first appeared as an elfin. But he thought it was caused by the separation between Pi and the nameless book. Since Pi had reimed the nameless book, the Strength of Faith should stabilize. Or could he be wrong?

    Zhang Zian spoke about his concern.

    ¡°Meow¡­ Pi is Pi, and the nameless book is the nameless book. Zian, Pi doesn¡¯t have much time left. It needs to regain the Strength of Faith.¡± After speaking this, Gxy quickly ran downstairs to y with Wendy and American short hair, who just got up.

    Gxy¡¯s words sounded familiar, like ¡°the Chinese team doesn¡¯t have much time left.¡± Usually when this line was spoken, the Chinese team ended up in a disaster.

    So here was the thing. The nameless book and Pi were two different sets of faith systems, which meant that the nameless book and Pi probably came from two separate thought experiments which happened toplement each other. But they didn¡¯t share the same Strength of Faith.

    He remembered that the Navigation Elfin once told him that if the Strength of Faith was too weak to support an elfin¡¯s physical form, the elfin would disappear. Old Time Tea¡¯s Strength of Faith was also fading, but very slowly. The Strength of Faith of Pi was already in danger since Gxy specifically warned him about it. Pi was an Elite Elfin, the weakest kind of elfins in strength. If nothing was done about it, it would be very bad.

    After thinking about this, Zhang Zian suddenly had a strange idea in his mind: if the fading of Strength of Faith could cause the elfin to disappear, what would happen if the Strength of Faith kept umting?

 Chapter 557: The Morning Runner

    <h4>Chapter 557: The Morning Runner</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian thought about Pi¡¯s things while he was absentmindedly cleaning the shop. He had formed the habit of cleaning the shop every morning. Even if he was absent-minded, his body would automatically do what he should do like a robot.

    He took the garbage bags containing food waste from the kitchen on the second floor, opened the shutter door, pushed the door to go out, and then piled the garbage bags to the designated location on the side of the road. When the sanitation workers arrived at this area, they would load these bags into the garbage truck.

    It was foggy this morning and the morning air was extremely cold. Zhang Zian, who was wearing only a woolen sweater, looked around and found that the visibility was poor. Colorful glows surrounded the light bulbs of the streetlights. After standing outside for a while, Zhang Zian¡¯s hair became a little damp. He felt so cold that he kept shivering.

    Hiss¡­hiss¡­hiss

    While Zhang Zian was throwing the rubbish, a figure rolled up in a whirlwind, broke the morning fog, and walked past him with a brisk pace. The steady, rhythmic breath of that person sounded like a well-functioning clock and gave Zhang Zian a sense of security.

    Zhang Zian tilted his head to look at that person. The corner of his eye only caught a touch of green, which was the reflective strip on the side of that person¡¯s sneakers. When he looked again, he saw the back of that tall, long-haired girl with a ponytail. She was wearing a hairband, a pair of warm earmuffs, a loose jersey, and a pair of tight warm pants. Her legs were slender, and she was pacing at a stable rate.

    Most of the people who exercised in the morning were the elderly people, and young people were rtively rare. After all, young people were either busy working, studying, or ying games. In autumn, Zhang Zian often encountered young people doing morning exercises. However, few young people could continue running in the morning during the cold days. It was not the first time that Zhang Zian met this girl, who seemed to have run past his pet shop the other day. At that time, Zhang Zian was busy in his shop and barely caught a glimpse of the passing beauty. He was not sure whether the girl he met today was the same girl from the other day. All he could remember was that the fluorescent green on the sneakers was the same.

    Those who were not ustomed to running would pant and drag their leaden feet when they suddenly began running. But this girl was running extremely rhythmically. She was either a long-distance runner or a professional athlete. The vitality within her body emanated into the air along with her every step. Just watching the girl made Zhang Zian want to run with her.

    In the blink of an eye, the running girl had disappeared on the other side of the street in the morning fog. And the sounds of her steps faded away.

    It was good to meet such a young girl full of vitality in the morning. Zhang Zian¡¯s mood seemed to be brightened up by her. He puffed some hot air into his palms, rubbed his hands and trod back to his shop.

    He looked at his cell phone and saw that he had received a message sent by Sun Xiaomeng. She said that the Labrador sent to her clinic by Liu Sang and Shi Shi had been examined and observed all night. She could basically determine that the dog had caught a non-contagiousmon cold that was caused by the sudden changes of temperature. As for the cold medicine that Shi Shi fed to the Labrador without permission, it was the cold medicine for children and was not particrly harmful to dogs. The physical condition of the Labrador had somewhat improved this morning and it should recover from the cold within two or three days.

    In addition, she also said that her client Mr. Qian may visit Zhang Zian¡¯s pet shop to buy a dog one of these days. She hoped that Zhang Zian could give some discounts to Mr. Qian, considering that he was sad due to the death of his previous dog that was stolen by criminals.

    He had not received this information before he left the shop to throw out the garbage, and did not see Sun Xiaomeng driving on the street, which meant that she probably stayed at the pet clinicst night.

    At this moment, a horn was heard outside of the door. With the fog lights shing, a cargo truck rushed out of the dense fog and slowly stopped at the side of the road.

    It was wet and cold outside. Zhang Zian grabbed a coat and went out.

    The side of the truck was printed with the characters and logo of the ¡°Pets¡¯ Home Breeding Base.¡± Sun Yinian, wearing a cap, and carrying two iron cages, jumped from the passenger seat.

    ¡°Here. These are the hamsters that you want. I¡¯m giving you all the hamsters that I have.¡±

    At the sight of Zhang Zian, Sun Yinian handed him the cages. One cage contained Djungarian hamsters, while the other cage contained winter white hamsters. The cages were divided into many smallerpartments, and eachpartment contained one hamster. If not separated, the hamsters would fight each other.

    Zhang Zian knew that Little Celery¡¯s ss wanted to raise hamsters during the winter vacation, and then they would raise rabbits after the new semester started. He told Sun Yinian in advance and asked if the hamsters and rabbits in the Pets¡¯ Home Breeding Base were sold out. If there were still some hamsters and rabbits in the breeding base, he hoped Sun Yinian could leave some for him so that he could give them away to people.

    ¡°I can send someone to pick them up. You don¡¯t have to deliver them specifically for me so early in the morning,¡± said Zhang Zian with embarrassment as he took over the cages . The wholesale price of these two cages of hamsters was not worth much. He had nned to ask Wang Qian to take the bus and pick up the hamsters from the breeding base. He had not expected that Sun Yinian would personally deliver the hamsters for him, which have saved him some trouble.

    Sun Yinian patted his truck, pointed to the north, and said, ¡°I¡¯m not specifically delivering the hamsters to you. We are delivering pets to other pet stores today. Besides, my daughter did note homest night, and my wife told me to check up on her. Since her pet clinic and your pet shop are on the same street, I stopped by your shop on my way there. I am leaving now.¡±

    ¡°This fog is dense. Please drive slowly on the road.¡± Zhang Zian reminded him.

    ¡°I know.¡± Sun Yinian sat back on the seat of the truck.

    The truck moved and soon disappeared into the fog in the north.

    Zhang Zian carried the two cages of hamsters back to his shop, wondering if Little Celery had finished her final exams. She was probably busy with the exams and had note over to his shop thesest few days.

    The elves woke up and came to the first floor one after another.

    Old Time Tea switched on the electric nket, turned on the television with the remote control to watch the morning news, where the announcer¡¯s report on the fog alert and traffic conditions could vaguely be heard.

    Fina liked the strong sunshine and hated the dense fog which would wet its hair. It looked out the door andzily jumped on the cat tree, having no interest in going out.

    Richardined of the chilliness and flew wobbly from the second floor. Itnded on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder, yawned and yelled sleepily, ¡°Quack! ¡®Birdy, she¡¯s not a bird; Hazy, she¡¯s not a haze. Shees at midnight hour; She goes with starry rays. Shees like vernal dreams that cannot stay; She goes like morning clouds that melt away.¡¯ Jeff, what did you realize from this poem?¡±

    Zhang Zian red at it, ¡°I realized that you haven¡¯t woken up!¡±

    ¡°Quack!¡± Richard looked around. ¡°Jeff, the monkey has been here for several days. Why is it always staying on the second floor? Are you bullying it?¡±

    ¡°You think I am like you? I wouldn¡¯t bully anyone! Pi is writing a novel. Don¡¯t you go to disturb it.¡± Zhang Zian was busy packing up things and warned this gray parrot who was a troublemaker.

    ¡°Quack? Write a novel? A monkey wants to write a novel? I¡¯mughing my teeth off!¡± Richard shouted.

    ¡°You don¡¯t even have teeth; how can youugh your teeth off?¡± Zhang Zian bluntly pointed out Richard¡¯s faulty wording. ¡°In addition, Pi is really writing a novel. A novel about the pet shop, about me and you guys.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. I can testify.¡± Famous walked down the stairs and squatted beside Zhang Zian¡¯s recliner.

    Fina sharply captured Zhang Zian¡¯s sentence. ¡°What? Do you mean that even I am included in the novel?¡±

    ¡°Yes, ording to Pi¡¯s n, everyone will be written in the novel. And everything that has happened in the pet shop from the autumn to the present.¡± exined Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Have I debuted in the novel?¡± Fina asked with interest.

    ¡°Not yet. At the moment, only Gxy is written in the novel. You have to wait for a while.¡± he replied.

    Fina snorted dismissively. ¡°I must be the most popr character in the novel.¡±

    ¡°Quack! That means I must wait longer than Fina? Can I discuss with the monkey and ask it to introduce me in advance? Does it ept sex deals?¡± Richard asked a series of stupid questions.

    ¡°This will not work, let¡¯s not interfere with the creation of Pi, let it write ording to its own ideas.¡± Zhang Zian thought for a moment and added, ¡°When it almost finishes the novel and when I am free, I¡¯ll read the story to everyone.¡±

    As he was speaking, the ss door was pushed open. Lu Yiyun, struck by moisture and chilliness, went into the shop.

    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Store Manager. The fog was so dense outside that I almost lost my way!¡± she said as she took off her hat. She took Jasmine out of her backpack and let it y in the shop.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you living in amunity across the street? If you still got lost, you had no sense of direction at all¡­¡± Zhang Zian ridiculed her.

    After a while, Wang Qian and Li Kun came to the store one after another and yelled, ¡°Master! We¡¯ve passed the made-up exams! Wow! We can finally have fun! By the way, Master, is the dense fog a strategy set up by you?¡±

    ¡°You are always having fun, aren¡¯t you? Just go to work! Cut the nonsense!¡± Zhang Zian threw the brooms to them.

    The four of them performed their own duties cleaning up the shop before opening the shop and chatting with each other from time to time.

    ¡°Good morning, Brother Store Manager!¡±

    With a clear, childish voice, Little Celery burst into the shop.

    ¡°Hey, Little Celery, long time no see.¡± Zhang Zian set aside his work and smiled. ¡°Have you finished your final exams?¡±

    Little Celery was still carrying the schoolbag that she normally carried, but judging from her movements, the schoolbag was obviously very light today. There seemed to be no books or anything in it.

    ¡°Uh-huh!¡± She nodded. ¡°I went back to school today, and the winter vacation will officially begin tomorrow!¡±

    ¡°Ha-ha! Little Celery, our winter vacation has also begun. Let¡¯s have fun together!¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun were beaming with joy. They were carefree after passing the make-up exams.

    ¡°What the hell are you talking about?!¡± Zhang Zian red at them and picked up the two cages contained with hamsters and handed them to Little Celery. ¡°Little Celery, take these hamsters to your school and raise them with your ssmates. I was worried about how I could deliver them to you¡­¡±

    ¡°Wow! So many hamsters!¡±

    The eyes of Little Celery suddenly brightened up.

    ¡°Oh, how much are these hamsters, Brother Store Manager?¡± as if she suddenly remembered something. Little Celery took out her wallet from her pocket. ¡°My mother wouldn¡¯t let me take anything from someone else for free¡­¡±

    ¡°No need. These hamsters were sent to me by others. I transferred them to your school, not to you personally, so you don¡¯t have to pay me.¡± Zhang Zian said generously.

    ¡°Well¡­ then I would like to thank you on behalf of my ssmates!¡± Little Celery picked up the two cages with excitement. Eyes glowing, she kept observing the cages.

    Zhang Zian intended to remind her of the precautions of keeping the hamsters, but then he thought it would be better to let the kids find the problems and solve the problems on their own, which could better help them improve.

 Chapter 558: Mutual Flattering

    <h4>Chapter 558: Mutual ttering</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Oh! What a dense fog!¡±

    Snowy drew the curtains open, saw the dense fog outside, and sighed. Her parents would certainly keep her inside because of so much fog. The weather had been bad this winter, with a lot of strong wind and rain. She had to cancel a few nned live broadcasts and disappoint the inte fans. Although this was not her fault, but rather the restriction of outdoor live broadcasts, and the fans were not ming her, she still felt bad about it.

    Sheid t on the bed in pajamas, and lifted Snowball, her Persian cat, out of boredom.

    ¡°Wow! Snowball, you are so heavy, and getting heavier. I can barely lift you!¡±

    Shi Rong, Snowy¡¯s mother, was a full-time housewife and had nothing else to do at home. She liked cooking and was a good cook. Shi Rong was feeding Snowball with fancy food from expensive supermarkets. Snowball was fat with shiny coat, which was almost as shiny as Snowy Li in the Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

    Snowball was twice the size as when it first arrived, weighing almost 5 kilos, making the arms tired after lifting it for a while.

    It was very obedient and domicile, and never fought back no matter how Snowy yed with it, just like a big warm fuzzy toy.

    ¡°Snowy, did you get up? Get downstairs for breakfast!¡±

    Her mother called from downstairs.

    ¡°I¡¯m up! Will go down in a moment!¡±

    Snowy responded and put Snowball down. ¡°Come, Snowball, let¡¯s go downstairs for breakfast.¡±

    Snowball meowed and followed her downstairs.

    Her father Jiang Tianda was taking a rare day off today, but was still wearing suit and shirt, ready to go out anytime. He already finished breakfast, and was reading the newspaper attentively, while sitting on the leather couch with his legs crossed.

    A western-style breakfast was served today, with bread, fruits, sd, milk and orange juice on the table.

    The mother was seated and spreading strawberry jam on Snowy¡¯s toast. Snowball¡¯s breakfast was also served in its own te.

    Snowy was eating her breakfast without much interest, thinking about what to do today. Poor families had few visitors even if they lived downtown, while rich families always had a lot of visitors even if they lived on a remote mountain. A rich family like the Jiang¡¯s usually had a lot of gift exchanges around the end of the year, and it was a headache to choose the gifts. Cheap gifts may make themselves look bad, while expensive gifts might bring trouble to the receiver. The parents were discussing this on and off. Snowy had no interest in such matters and was not listening. She was thinking about where to visit during the Spring Festival.

    ¡°Snowy?¡±

    ¡°Snowy?¡±

    Her mother had to call her twice to get her attention. She looked at her mother, looking lost. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Did you hear me when I talked to you?¡± Her mother frowned.

    ¡°I did¡­ But then I forgot about it after you called me. Just repeat it!¡± Snowy was bold enough to defend herself.

    Her mother didn¡¯t know what to do with her. She sighed and repeated her words. ¡°Snowy, your Aunt Zhou and cousin Vivi areing today. It¡¯s almost Spring Festival. I¡¯ll go to the hair salon with your Aunt Zhou. Are youing with us?¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Snowy shook her head with resolution. ¡°My hair is too short for a haircut. Why would I follow you to the hair salon? It¡¯s a waste of time!¡±

    ¡°Your hair is too short, like a tomboy. Most boys like girls with long hair. Wasn¡¯t there a popr Weibo posting about ¡®until your hair reaches your waist¡¯¡­ Even if yours doesn¡¯t reach your waist, it should at least cover your neck!¡± Her mother had been persuading her many times. ¡°You want to save time by keeping your hair short. What do you do with your extra time anyway? Horsing around?¡±

    Snowy picked up Snowball and covered her face with it. She grinned. ¡°Why should I care if boys like it or not? Snowball has long hair. They should love it!¡±

    Jiang Tiandained with a loud grunt, and flipped the newspaper hard. Snowy pretended that she didn¡¯t hear anything.

    ¡°You damn girl! Can you talk nicely?¡±

    Snowy¡¯s answer was annoying, but her mother was not surprised. Even if she knew her daughter wouldn¡¯t listen, she said it anyway. Maybe one day her daughter would suddenly change. Who knows?

    ¡°Fine if you don¡¯t want to go. But you have to stay home with your cousin Vivi. She finally made a trip. You young people can always find amon topic.¡± Her mother sighed and added, ¡°I¡¯m warning you one more time. You can¡¯t go anywhere today! It¡¯s foggy outside and the air quality is bad.¡±

    ¡°Erh! So boring!¡± Snowy put her head on the desk out of boredom.

    Snowy was the only daughter, and Aunt Zhou was not her real aunt. But a big family like hers always had some cousins, aunts and rtively, and nobody knew where they came from. She had met cousin Vivi a few times, and remembered her as a gentle, well-educated, typical daughter of a high-ss family. She would have been the ideal daughter to her mom. Maybe she brought Vivi here to be a good influence to Snowy. She really put some thought into this!

    ¡°Also, clean up your room soon. It¡¯s too messy. And fold up your bed cover.¡±

    After the breakfast, Snowy took Snowball back to her room upstairs to stay away from her mother¡¯s nagging.

    She looked outside the window, and the fog was not going away. She turned on theputer, then browsed the Weibo and forum aimlessly, not knowing what she was looking for. She was only killing time. It was almost Spring Festival, and even the news was boring, with nothing but festive messages. More importantly, no new stores would open before the Spring Festival. They usually opened after the holidays. Now she had no topic for her live broadcast business.

    Ding Dong!

    The doorbell rang at the gate downstairs.

    Snowy listened, thinking it should be Aunt Zhou and cousin Vivi. She looked at her messy bedroom, and wanted to give up the cleaning. It was toote anyway, so just let it be. Her mother greeted another middle-aged woman in the guest room downstairs, withughter from time to time. Snowy prayed in her mind. Go, just go. The hair salons are busy before the Spring Festival, and you¡¯ll have to wait there¡­After you are gone, I¡¯ll have a chance to sneak out!

    Footsteps came from the stairs, and it was from more than one person. Snowy suddenly felt tense, and closed herptop screen, thinking that her fear came true. The bedroom door was knocked on twice as a warning, then it was opened.

    Her mother looked at the messy room and stared at her angrily. Then she faked a smile, and dragged a young girl inside. ¡°Vivi,e on in. Do you remember your younger Cousin Snowy? She just got up and her room is so messy¡­Vivi, y with Snowy today. I¡¯ll go out with your momter.¡±

    Behind her mother, a young girl slightly older than Snowy came inside. She had long hair over the shoulders, wearing a warm-colored wool coat and chamois leather long boots. Her face looked gentle and nice, a typical cute sweet girl. Even Snowy liked her.

    ¡°Watch your steps, Aunt Shi.¡± Vivi spoke politely.

    ¡°You girls have fun and don¡¯t fight.¡± Mother stared at Snowy again as a warning, then closed the door for them with a smile, and left.

    Snowy had only met Vivi a few times and didn¡¯t know her quite well. But she was an extrovert and sociable. She greeted warmly. ¡°Hello! We haven¡¯t seen each other for just a few months, and Vivi, you are looking more beautiful. Your figure looks great! Come on, take a seat. My room is messy. Hope you don¡¯t mind.¡±

    ¡°Snowy, you are cuter and cuter. Aunt Shi is so blessed.¡±

    Vivi smiled and took a few steps forward. She looked around the room, and found the only chair upied by Snowy. She had to sit on the bed.

    ¡°Haha, let¡¯s stop ttering each other. It gives me goosebumps¡­Vivi, just sit on the bed. Make yourself at home. But I don¡¯t have much to y with here. I don¡¯t even have fuzzy toys or cushions.¡± Snowy smiled frankly. ¡°But I can y video games with you, if you want.¡±

    Vivi also realized that Snowy¡¯s room was very simple, without any small decorations and toys that most girls liked. She had a few game stations though. The room was big and empty.

    She walked to the bedside, and lifted up the drooping bed cover which was almost touching the floor. She made some space to sit on, but found a white long hair cat under the bed cover. It swung its tail, stared at her and meowed, as if it was saying, ¡°Why are you moving my cover?¡±

    ¡°Ah! It¡¯s a cat.¡±

    Vivi was startled and yelled. She dropped the cover in her hands, and stepped backwards with pale face.

    Snowy blinked, not knowing why she reacted so dramatically. Wasn¡¯t it just a cat? Shouldn¡¯t a girl love cats and pat them? Why was she reacting as if she had seen a rat or cockroach?

    As a matter of fact, Snowy didn¡¯t understand why girls faint at the sight of rats and cockroaches. Her first reaction would be kicking them away or stomp them to death. No wonder her mother called her a tomboy¡­

    Vivi stepped all the way to the door, and stopped after her back hit the door frame. She pointed at Snowball with shaky hands. ¡°It¡¯s a cat¡­there¡¯s a cat here¡­¡±

    ¡°Right, it¡¯s a cat. Its name is Snowball.¡± Snowy introduced to Vivi. ¡°It¡¯s a Persian cat.¡± She observed Vivi¡¯s expression, and asked curiously, ¡°Don¡¯t you like cats, Vivi?¡±

    ¡°I¡­I do.¡± Vivi nodded reluctantly. Her face suggested otherwise.

    Snowy held Snowball in her arms. ¡°If you like cats, why are you hiding so far? Snowball is friendly, it neither bites nor scratches, like a big fuzzy toy. You can sleep with it to keep warm. Would you like to pat it?¡±

    Vivi was almost crying. She said with a bitter face: ¡°I like cats and always want to pat them when I see one. But¡­but I¡¯m allergic to cats, and will sneeze as soon as I touch them, for days. Even if I don¡¯t touch them¡­Ah Choo!¡±

    She covered her nose, and sneezed.

 Chapter 559: Allergic Reactions

    <h4>Chapter 559: Allergic Reactions</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Snowy was deeply sympathetic toward Vivi, who could not touch cats because of allergies. Vivi¡¯s situation was probably like a fat girl who had made up her mind to lose weight but was struggling in front of a cup of delicious Sundae.

    ¡°What should I do?¡± Snowy scratched her head. ¡°Should I bring Snowball to another room?¡±

    ¡°No, no need. I¡¯ll just wear a mask¡­¡± Vivi rubbed her nose and pulled out an anti-smog mask from her pocket. ¡°I will be fine if I repress my urge to touch it¡­¡±

    No matter how casual Snowy was, she could not bear to see her guest wear a mask at her home because of her cat. She said decisively, ¡°Let me put my cat away!¡±

    ¡°Sorry to trouble you¡­¡± Since Snowy insisted, Vivi hid in the corner of the bedroom to clear the way. Vivi gazed at Snowball in Snowy¡¯s arms with an eager expression.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. You are allergic to cats. This is the only solution.¡± Snowy took Snowball out of the bedroom and saw that her mother had left with Aunt Zhou. Her father was still reading newspapers on the sofa.

    Upon hearing the sounds, Jiang Tianda looked up at her and said, ¡°Want to go out again? No way!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going out!¡± Snowy twitched her nose and made a grimace.

    She took Snowball to the guest room, put it on the bed, stroked it on the back and said, ¡°Snowball, that girl is allergic to you, so you need to stay here for a while. I will hold you back in my room after she¡¯s gone.¡±

    Snowball meowed and didn¡¯t understand what had happened. Snowy waved at it, closed the door to the guest room and returned to her bedroom.

    ¡°Vivi, are you feeling better? Do you want me to get some medicine for you, the medicine for rhinitis?¡± she asked with concern.

    Standing in front of Snowy¡¯s desk, Vivi was rubbing her nose while enviously looking at a photo of Snowy and Snowball. She smiled bitterly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m okay. I will be well a whileter as long as there is no cat present¡­¡±

    ¡°Vivi, when did you find yourself allergic to cats?¡± said Snowy, who sat back in her chair.

    Vivi recalled, ¡°A few years ago. Someone sent me a cat and I liked it very much. Just like you hold Snowball, I had been holding my cat in my arms all day long. As a result, I had serious allergic reactions. I didn¡¯t want to believe I was allergic to cats at first. After screening the allergens at the hospital, it was determined that I was allergic to cats. I was dead inside when I heard about this¡­¡±

    ¡°How serious could your allergic reactions be? Were you exaggerating?¡± Snowy was stunned.

    ¡°That is the case. I was not exaggerating,¡± Vivi said with certainty. ¡°When I started sneezing, I thought I had caught a cold. I ate all kinds of cold medicines, but they didn¡¯t work. I insisted on staying with my cat for a few days and the cat became familiar with me. And then I was reluctant to leave it¡­¡±

    ¡°What happened to that cat?¡± Snowy cared about the fate of the cat.

    Vivi said with regret, ¡°I had to give it away.¡±

    ¡°s!¡± Snowy sighed sorrowfully.

    Silence prevailed in the room. Vivi and Snowy had different personalities and hobbies. Snowy was not familiar with the entertainment industry or the celebrities, while Vivi was an amateur at games. Their conversations were awkward and ufortable.

    ¡°By the way, in addition to ying games, what do you like to do in your free time?¡± Vivi changed the subject.

    ¡°Live broadcast, outdoor live broadcast.¡± Snowy did not hide this hobby. She did not think hosting live broadcast was shameful.

    ¡°Outdoor live broadcast¡­is it interesting? Do you need to travel abroad to host the live broadcast?¡± Vivi had some interest in this topic. But she had confused the concept of live broadcast with traveling.

    ¡°Err, no, I basically host live broadcast locally. I would look for some delicious food and fun ces in Binhai City and then broadcast them toizens,¡± Snowy simply exined.

    ¡°Is there any delicious food or fun ces in Binhai City? How do I not know that?¡± Vivi asked in confusion.

    ¡°Yeah!¡± Snowy said with certainty. ¡°But you must go and discover yourself.¡±

    Since they had nothing better to do, and to prove her own words, Snowy turned on herptop, found the video footage of her previous live broadcast programs, and pointed out some interesting ces in Binhai City to Vivi.

    ¡°Wow, you went to a pet shop to host live broadcast before?¡± Vivi was surprised to learn that Snowy had hosted live broadcast in a pet shop. For Vivi, a girl allergic to cats, a pet shop was basically a forbiddennd.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve been there more than once.¡±

    Snowy happily opened the videos of the pet shop and showed Vivi.

    ¡°Wow! Really? The kittens in this shop can actually dance?¡± staring at the screen, Vivi asked incredulously. She saw that in the video, many kittens were dancing neatly in a queue. If it weren¡¯t for the sounds and figure of Snowy in the video, Vivi would really think they were the special effects in a movie.

    ¡°Of course they are real. Snowball can dance, too. Do you want to watch it dance?¡± Snowy asked.

    Vivi hesitated for a while, and finally refused very painfully. ¡°No need to¡­I¡¯m sorry, Snowy. If I see a kitten dance in front of me, I definitely would want to hold it up regardless of my allergies¡­¡±

    At the sight of Vivi¡¯s struggle, Snowy stuck out her tongue and was d that she was not allergic to cats.

    ¡°Vivi, are you allergic to dogs?¡± Snowy changed the subject.

    ¡°Dogs? Well¡­ I don¡¯t seem to be allergic to dogs, but I don¡¯t feel much about dogs¡­¡± Vivi said helplessly, ¡°I still prefer cats¡­¡±

    This was tough.

    Snowy was very sympathetic for Vivi, who liked cats so much but was allergic to them.

    When this topic was over, the room became silent again.

    Snowy was very anxious. She peeked at the watch. Only less than half an hour had passed. She didn¡¯t know when her mother and Aunt Zhou would be back from the hair salon. Maybe they would have lunch outside and visit other ces in the afternoon. Was she going to chat with Vivi awkwardly for the whole day?

    ¡°Vivi, do you want to go out and y?¡± Snowy asked tentatively.

    ¡°Going out ¡­ there is fog outside¡­¡± Vivi looked out of the room worriedly.

    ¡°It does not matter. We just need to put on masks.¡± Snowy actively persuaded Vivi.

    ¡°Where are we going? My mother won¡¯t let me go to those dubious ces.¡± Vivi said hesitantly.

    Snowy rolled her eyes and suggested, ¡°How about going to the pet shop? You want to go there too, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°No! No! Absolutely not!¡± Vivi waved her hands and refused in horror.

    Snowy held Vivi¡¯s hands, ¡°Listen to me. Vivi, since you like cats so much, it¡¯s bad for you if you repress your desire for too long. Let¡¯s go watch the cats in the pet shop. Rest assured, I will prevent you from stroking the cats. We will wear masks and look at the cats without touching them. What do you think?¡±

    Snowy was just looking for some excuses to go out to y. If Vivi agreed to her suggestion, Snowy would have confidence to ask for her father¡¯s permission.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Vivi thought a little bit and nodded, ¡°Okay then.¡±

    Snowy found that she really had underestimated the extent to which Vivi liked cats.

 Chapter 560: Sneaking Out

    <h4>Chapter 560: Sneaking Out</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Wait for me.¡±

    The n was made. Snowy notified Vivi, then used the official Weibo and Wechat ounts to send out ast-minute live broadcast notification. ¡°Hello, everyone. It¡¯s very foggy today. Is everyone staying home? Today, Snowy will take a mysterious pretty girl to visit the pet shop. Stay tuned!¡±

    Her diehard fans, curious about the mystery girl, quicklymented their guesses on who it might be. Snowy had never done a live broadcast with someone else. The mysterious pretty girl must be very close with Snowy.

    Vivi tried to stop her anxiety. ¡°Snowy, don¡¯t say ¡®pretty girl¡¯. They¡¯llugh. Plus, if my mom sees¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Vivi. You can wear a mask for the broadcast, nobody will recognize you.¡± Snowy was confident. She quickly responded to some fans¡¯ questions, reminded Vivi about something, then packed up to leave.

    Snowy was still in pajamas and needed to change, so Vivi exited the room.

    Jiang Tianda was sitting on the couch, reading a biography. He lifted his head, saw it was Vivi, and he asked politely, ¡°Vivi, what¡¯s wrong? Did you and Snowy have an argumnent?¡±

    ¡°No, Uncle Jiang. I need to buy some makeup, lipsticks and other things. Can I take Snowy with me? I need someone to help me pick the color.¡± Vivi said nervously, licking her lips. Snowy imed that if she didn¡¯t use this excuse, her father would never let them out.

    ¡°Makeup?¡± Jiang Tianda was surprised. Snowy barely put anything on her face except the most basic moisturizer, and somehow Vivi was able to convince her to buy makeup? Was she a good influence?

    ¡°Yes. The outlet downtown has some new arrivals. I want to check them out.¡± Vivi spoke haltingly.

    Jiang Tianda believed her and agreed, ¡°Okay, you girls go ahead. Are youing back for lunch?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not sure yet,¡± Vivi replied.

    ¡°Fine. It¡¯s foggy. Be careful on the road.¡± Jiang Tianda stood up from the couch. Since he no longer needed to guard the door, he intended to head back to the study and work on thepany¡¯s business. It was busy at the end of year.

    ¡°Okay,¡± Vivi agreed.

    Snowy dressed and opened the bedroom door. She left the door open so that Snowball could roam around the house. She took Vivi¡¯s arm naturally. ¡°Vivi, sorry for the wait. Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Jiang Tianda looked at them with suspicion. He still couldn¡¯t believe that Snowy would go shopping for makeup. After careful inspection, when he didn¡¯t see Snowy carrying a selfie stick, his doubt dissipated. Maybe Snowy had finally reached the age of paying attention to her looks.

    Snowy stayed calm, and walked with Vivi as if they were close. They walked past Jiang Tianda¡¯s line of sight, stopping to change their shoes and put on masks, then went out into the fog.

    ¡°Is it nice to trick your dad like this?¡± Vivi felt bad for lying to Uncle Jiang.

    ¡°No worries! My dad is a workaholic. He¡¯ll never find out that we didn¡¯t go to the outlet, nor does he know anything about makeup. We¡¯ll buy lipstick from a random store on our way back. It¡¯ll be fine!¡± Snowy spoke with much ease.

    Vivi was about to speak when Snowy interrupted her. ¡°Vivi, wait for me here.¡± Snowy didn¡¯t exin further. She let go of her hands and ran past the house.

    A momentter, Snowy reappeared in the fog with a short stick. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Snowy, where did you go?¡± Vivi asked curiously.

    Snowy swung the new hand-held cradle head, and smirked. ¡°I threw the stabilizer out the window, and had to pick it up. I always outsmart my parents. It¡¯s like I¡¯m an undercover spy!¡±

    Vivi was speechless, but Snowy asked her to hurry up.

    The vi area around the house was quiet. Snowy and Vivi approached ake, hearing a few barks. Then, a fully grown Husky suddenly jumped out of the fog, with its tongue out, and dashed towards them.

    ¡°Ah! A dog!¡± Vivi screamed. She saw the big dog and thought it was aggressive, which frightened her.

    Snowy didn¡¯t care. She lifted one foot and yelled, ¡°Stop! Good-For-Nothing! Stop running! Where¡¯s Uncle Jin?¡±

    The Husky was Jin Er¡¯s. It tried to stop gracefully, but the road was damp and slippery from the ice. It slipped,nding on its back, and winked while it rolled towards them.

    Vivi¡¯s terror turned into sympathy. She suspected that the dog¡¯s IQ was low.

    Snowy had seen it before, and stopped it with her lifted foot.

    Good-For-Nothing struggled to stand, and shook its hair like a handsome guy out of a shampoomercial. It circled Snowy, sniffing her.

    ¡°Stop sniffing. Snowball didn¡¯t follow me.¡± Snowy put her foot down, and introduced to Vivi. ¡°Don¡¯t be scared. This Husky is Good-For-Nothing. Like its name suggests, it can¡¯t even fight a cat, while my Snowball can beat two of them!¡±

    Vivi was speechless. It must suck to be this dog.

    ¡°Is it hurt?¡± She asked in concern after realizing that Good-For-Nothing had quite a slip.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. It has tough skin and enough muscle to endure a few slips.¡± Snowy smiled.

    ¡°Good-For-Nothing, where¡¯s your master?¡± Snowy looked around, but didn¡¯t see Jin Er.

    Good-For-Nothing turned towards Jin Er¡¯s house, and walked two steps.

    ¡°Not home? Or inside?¡± Snowy gestured with her hands. ¡°Maybe he¡¯s inside. It¡¯s foggy, the air quality is bad. Good-For-Nothing, don¡¯t roam around outside. Go home! We have things to do and don¡¯t have time to y with you. Go!¡±

    After being shooed, Good-For-Nothing realized that she wasn¡¯t nning to y with it, and that the yful cat didn¡¯t follow her today. It felt lonely as it whimpered and left with its tail down.

    Snowy thought that if Good-For-Nothing lived in an ordinary home instead of a well-guarded vi, it¡¯d have been sent to a dog meat restaurant if it was caught ying outside without it master. If it lived somewhere else, it wouldn¡¯t have been so stupid!

 Chapter 561: New Interpretation of the Evolution Theory

    <h4>Chapter 561: New Interpretation of the Evolution Theory</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After cleaning up the shop, Zhang Zian rested on the recliner for a while. Zhan Tian came and licked his leg, because he would usually take it to y at the green field at this time. Zhang Zian waved his hand and pointed to the thick fog outside. ¡°The air quality is poor. Wait and see if the fog will dissipateter.¡±

    Although Zhan Tian could not talk like the elves did, after staying at the pet shop for a while, it could understand that Zhang Zian had no intention to bring it out for the time being. Therefore, it squatted down and quietly waited.

    Having passed their make-up exams, Wang Qian and Li Kun did not need to return to school. They were leisurely sitting together, ying games on their phones and mocking each other from time to time. Lu Yiyun was concentrated on painting at the checkout counter, while Jasmine was squatting on herp.

    ¡°Eeek.¡±

    Pi cautiously exposed half of its body from the stairwell and waved at Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian quietly stood up from the chair and gestured at Wang Qian and Li Kun to look after the store. But these two dorks, who were immersing themselves in the game world, replied absentmindedly. Luckily, there were no customers at the shop. People were reluctant to go out on a foggy day.

    He went upstairs and asked, ¡°What happened, Pi?¡±

    Pi excitedly pulled his hand and led him to theputer. The disy screen showed that Pi¡¯s writer ount had just received a short message from the website: ¡°The editor has followed your work. Please keep up on the good work.¡±

    Zhang Zian read this message several times and said tentatively, ¡°Does this mean that the editor has already seen your novel and thought that it¡¯s not bad? And the editor hopes that you do not give up but keep up the good work?¡±

    ¡°Eeek!¡± Pi nodded excitedly, indicating that it felt so too.

    ¡°Great! Pi, I know you can do it!¡± Zhang Zian was sincerely happy for it. If he wasn¡¯t a bad cook, and Pi did not eat, he really would like to prepare a nice meal to celebrate.

    Pi was not frustrated anymore. It became full of energy and continued to write new chapters in the Word document. Since the elves had already gotten up, it did not need to type lightly on the keyboard. Its joy could be heard from its loud typing sounds.

    Zhang Zian stood behind Pi. He took out his mobile phone and opened the Wang Haige Forum to search for the answer to one question. Someone had raised a simr question in the Forum previously: ¡°When a novel is followed by an editor, will the website offer to sign a contract with the writer?¡± From their own experiences, the people who replied in that discussion thread basically agreed that the answer was yes. Some people said that an invitation to sign the contract was sent to them after the editor started to follow their novels after only a few minutes, while others received the invitation a few dayster. But almost all of them had signed the contracts sessfully. When he read thesements, Zhang Zian felt so relieved that even his breathing eased up.

    ¡°Manager, customers are here!¡± Just as Zhang Zian was about to read other posts, to see if there was an instance where an editor followed a novel but did not offer them a contract, he heard Li Kun shout downstairs.

    In those days, when he needed to leave the shop to shoot a film, Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Lu Yiyun could deal with the ordinary customers. They wouldn¡¯t specifically call him unless they had encountered some difficulty.

    ¡°Pi, go on writing. I¡¯ll go downstairs and see what¡¯s the matter.¡± He quickly walked downstairs.

    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Store Manager. Here I am!¡± With a mask hanging on her ear, Snowy was standing at the outer area of the pet shop and chatting with Lu Yiyun.

    Standing next to Snowy was a taller girl. Since she had not removed the anti-smog mask from her face, Zhang Zian could not see this girl¡¯s appearance clearly. She was looking at theyout of the shop and there seemed to be fear in her eyes.

    Zhang Zian was perplexed. My shop is not a dangerous ce that will devour her. Why is she so scared? It seems like she is trembling and will try to escape at any moment.

    Lu Yiyun, who was usually very quiet, was so excited to see Snowy that she had be talkative. As an enthusiastic fangirl, Lu Yiyun expressed her thanks to Snowy and told Snowy that she thought Snowy¡¯s several recent programs were awesome, and that she liked them a lot.

    ¡°Good morning, Snowy,¡± Zhang Zian said hello.

    ¡°So sorry to bother you without making an appointment!¡± Snowy apologized first and then asked him for his opinion, ¡°This is Vivi, she is my rtive. She has never yed in a pet store before, so I would like to show her your pet shop and host a live broadcast at the same time. Are you okay with this?¡±

    ¡°Yes, do as you please.¡±

    Snowy had hosted live broadcasts in Zhang Zian¡¯s pet shop several times, and they were familiar with each other. Besides, her programs could also promote Zhang Zian¡¯s business. Why would Zhang Zian reject her request?

    ¡°Okay.¡± With the permission of Zhang Zian, Snowy removed her mask, put it into her pocket, and then checked her appearance with the front camera of her cell phone.

    Vivi did not take off her mask. She stared nkly at the kittens in the store, and each of them was very adorable. She would¡¯ve liked to take all of them home. However, she knew that it was impossible. Even if she did buy the kittens impulsively, she would have to send them away due to her serious allergies within a few days.

    ¡°Hello everyone, I¡¯m Snowy. Wee to my live broadcast! Our slogan is: Eat, Drink, and Be Merry at Binhai City!¡±

    Snowy adjusted her attitude and entered the live broadcast app. She started the new live broadcast with enthusiasm and vitality. Snowy¡¯s hardcore fans, who had received the notification of her new live broadcast a long time ago, immediately went to her channel. The number of audience members increased rapidly. Snowy¡¯s cell phone screen had almost beenpletely blocked by a variety of virtual gifts andments from the audience.

    ¡°Wow, Snowy, I miss you so much! The pumpkin pie you rmendedst time was so delicious! I bought a pie for my boyfriend who never ate pumpkin before. He enjoyed it very much, and said that he would like to eat it again!¡±

    ¡°Get out! Stop publicly showing your affections!¡±

    ¡°Snowy, when will you check which massage parlors are better for these otakus? LOL!¡±

    Some people who found thements distracting hid thements and noticed that a strange girl was standing side by side with Snowy. Though that girl was wearing a mask, judging from her delicate facial outline, she seemed to be a rather beautiful girl.

    ¡°Snowy, tell us about this girl!¡±

    Snowy pointed to Vivi and said, ¡°This beauty is our special guest today. You can call her Vivi.¡±

    ¡°Beauty, take off your mask!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t believe it! I don¡¯t believe it! It must be a boy who looks very cute! Snowy, do you have a boyfriend now?¡±

    ¡°Maybe he is a beautiful boy with a big penis!¡±

    Vivi was dazzled by all thements that continuously popped up on the screen. She had no idea how to cope with theseizens. In the warm pet shop, she was so nervous that she almost began to sweat.

    At that critical moment, Snowy rescued Vivi from embarrassment. ¡°Vivi is wearing a mask because she is allergic to cats. She can¡¯t take off her mask in the pet shop. I tried so hard to bring her over to the pet shop!¡±

    Someone immediately responded to Snowy¡¯s remark, ¡°I have nevermented in your programs, Snowy, but I am also allergic to cats. I am very ufortable every time you are livestreaming in the pet shop.¡±

    ¡°Same as above. I¡¯m also allergic to cats. I was going to skip your program today, but I found that this beautiful girl shares the same problem as me. Is this an act of God? Let¡¯s shake hands!¡±

    ¡°You are going to hold this girl¡¯s hand and bring her home?¡±

    ¡°If she refuses, are you going to knock her out and drag her home?¡±

    ¡°Hello! You guys are digressing from the subject! I¡¯m not allergic to cats, but I¡¯m allergic to dogs! Every time I went out and ran into people walking dogs, I had to get far away from them. Gradually, I did not go out anymore, and I have be a glorious and fat otaku.¡±

    ¡°What an unexpected ending!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you know the true reason you have be a fat otaku? Don¡¯t me everything on dogs!¡±

    Vivi had never watched a live broadcast, nor had she personally appeared on a live broadcast. Thements of variousizens seemed extraordinarily novel to her, and without her knowing, the anxiety she had felt when she had stepped into the pet shop had dissipated significantly.

    Snowy focused the phone¡¯s camera at Vivi, ¡°Vivi, say something to everyone.¡±

    Vivi waved her hand. ¡°Hi, everyone, I¡¯m Vivi. I¡¯m very happy toe to the pet shop with Snowy to host a live broadcast for everyone. I hope you can support Snowy. Thank you!¡±

    ¡°Wow, what a nice voice! Both her looks and voice are pleasant to the eye and ear. I¡¯m in love with this girl!¡±

    ¡°F**k off! Vivi is mine!¡±

    ¡°Sorry! The subscriber you dialed is already married!¡±

    From the interaction between the two girls and theizens, Zhang Zian basically figured out that the new girl was allergic to cats. No wonder she had been standing in the doorway and refused to go inside¡­

    Fina opened her eyes on the cat tree and said unhappily, ¡°There are people in this world who are allergic to cats? Are they the products of evolutionary failure?¡±

    With outsiders present at the pet shop, it was inconvenient for Zhang Zian to speak to Fina. He just stared at her speechlessly.

    Fina knew that he couldn¡¯t talk to her for the time being, so it became increasingly arrogant. ¡°What? Don¡¯t underestimate me! I have heard of the evolutionary theory on television. The theory is nothing more than saying that there have been two kinds of human beings in this world since ancient times. One kind of human being was not allergic to cats, while the other kind was allergic to cats. Thetter kind refused to be guarded by cats. Hence, rodents devoured all their food, and then they went extinct. The rest of the human beings in this world are not allergic to cats. This is the so-called survival of the fittest, right?¡±

    Snowy Li seized the opportunity and echoed Fina, ¡°Meow! Your Majesty, you are brilliant and powerful! Your bright theory is enlightening and refreshing to me! Although this girl is very good-looking, as a human allergic to cats, she bears no value to the continued survival of humans!¡±

    Only those ustomed to the existence of cats could survive? What the hell was that? Zhang Zian tried hard to stop his facial muscles from twitching, and he nced at Wang Qian and Li Kun who were ying games on their cell phones. He wanted to find someone to help him provide the correct interpretation of Darwin¡¯s evolutionary theory.

    ¡­

    In the vi of the Jiang family that was neither too close nor too far from the Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

    Jiang Tianda was sitting in the study with the unfinished documents that he had no time to deal with. Instead, he was staring at his cell phone screen very angrily.

    ¡°What a wicked girl! She told me she was going out to buy lipstick. Then, what is she doing at the pet shop?! I must be a fool to believe that she has changed!¡± He was extremely furious. But his greatest disappointment was that Vivi, this quiet and gentle girl, was hosting the live broadcast with Snowy. Snowy was clearly a bad influence on Vivi!

    He picked up his cell phone and was about to call Snowy and ask her toe back home. But if he did that, Snowy would probably lose her temper, and then her mother would surely me him for his negligence of duty. So, he changed his mind and pretended that he was not aware of his daughter¡¯s lie. He put his legs on top of the desk and watched the live broadcast with a peaceful mind.

 Chapter 562: The Father and Son Who Lost Their Dog

    <h4>Chapter 562: The Father and Son Who Lost Their Dog</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Fina¡¯s speech about evolution was a joke, but it was reasonable to some extent. Wild cats were domesticated to catch rats and protect the grains, so that more people could be fed. In the old times, people were power and poption was the productive force. The side with the bigger poption usually won wars. If a country couldn¡¯t have cats, it¡¯d be inevitably conquered by another country that could.

    Richard was searching for food in the kitchen upstairs. After hearing the noise, it pped its wings and flew downstairs to see what was going on. Itnded in front of Vivi, and nced at her with a thievish look. ¡°Quack! Are you allergic to big d*cks?¡±

    ¡°Damn! The sexual harassment parrot again!¡±

    ¡°Those are the eyes of a pervert!¡±

    ¡°Look, that¡¯s the bird of a sexual harassing manager. Like owner, like bird!¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned. ¡°Damn! I¡¯m being attacked before I even say a word?¡±

    Vivi¡¯s eyes widened in astonishment. The grey parrot could speak so fluently and clearly? Although, its words weren¡¯t child friendly.

    Snowyughed. ¡°How about that, Vivi? Isn¡¯t the parrot impressive? I was startled the first time I met it. It talks just like a human.¡±

    Vivi nodded in amazement. She had heard that parrots could talk, but not like this.

    Snowy seemed carefree andidback. However, she cared a lot about her fans in the live broadcast. In order to not disappoint them, she¡¯d visit new stores before hosting a live broadcast there and would only start the broadcast after confirming that the store was worthwhile. She always nned the broadcast ahead of time, always prepared her speech and thought of ways to keep the fans interested, to avoid awkward silence.

    However, she didn¡¯t visit this pet shop in advance. Judging from the heated debate in the online forums, she sensed that this pet shop might be very special. She turned out to be right.

    Today¡¯s broadcast was without a n, everything was to be improvised. The biggest problem was that it was her first visit to the pet shop, and the fans were familiar with it. Vivi wasn¡¯t interested in dogs, and she was allergic to cats. How could she make the broadcast captivating?

    As she was worrying, the door opened and a man in his forties walked in. With an untrimmed beard and a winter coat, he looked like the type of man who was too upied taking care of family to care for themselves. A boy, around 10 years old, stood next to the man, wearing the same winter coat. The boy seemed sad, and looked right at the puppies in the disy cab.

    The middle-aged man ignored Wang Qian and Li Kun, who were ying games on their phones, nced at Snowy and Vivi, then looked at Zhang Zian and asked, ¡°Are you Manager Zhang?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought he looked familiar, but couldn¡¯t remember where he had met him before, and replied, ¡°Yes, and you are¡­¡±

    ¡°Myst name is Qian. I¡¯m Qian Bowen. We met in the urban vige a few days ago. I found out from Vet Sun that you found my lost dog,¡± Qian Bowen exined.

    It came back to Zhang Zian¡¯s mind then. He found the dog trappers¡¯ home in the urban vige with Zhan Tian on New Year¡¯s Day. He asked Ning Lan to call the police, and notified Sun Xiaomeng toe for the dying dogs. He also called the owners of the lost dogs to im them.

    After Qian Bowen arrived, he found out that his dog was already dead. He was about to beat up the dog trappers out of anger, but was stopped by the police and some college students.

    It was chaotic, so Zhang Zian didn¡¯t pay much attention to Qian Bowen¡¯s face. He only took a quick look, leaving him with a hazy impression.

    Thanks to Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s heads-up, he understood immediately what Qian Bowen came for. He must be here to pick a dog with his son, to rece the dog that died.

    ¡°Vet Sun rmended the dogs at your shop, so I¡¯m here with my son.¡± Qian Bowen patted his son¡¯s back. ¡°This is my son, his nickname is Small Monkey.¡±

    ¡°Hello, Uncle Zhang,¡± Small Monkey uttered with his head down.

    Zhang Zian smiled, thinking that it was a cute nickname. He responded, ¡°Hello, Small Monkey.¡±

    Qian Bowen nced at the disys in the shops, and the kittens ying all over the floor. He said, ¡°My previous dog, Kiddo, was a gift. It had knee problems and Vet Sun had been treating it. After Kiddo, I asked her where I could buy another dog. She rmended your shop, saying that your dogs are healthy and the vinations are up to date. So, here I am. Also, I forgot to thank you in person. Thank you for finding those damn dog trappers.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that Vet Sun¡¯s ttery was for business. His dogs were purchased from Sun¡¯s breeding kennel. He nodded without revealing anything on his face. ¡°You¡¯re very kind. It¡¯s a shame that I arrived toote to save your dog.¡±

    Qian Bowen shook his head regretfully. ¡°No, it¡¯s not your fault. We¡¯re just thankful that you found it for us. I was working overtime that day, and my son didn¡¯t use a leash when he walked the dog. It ended up being trapped. I wasn¡¯t nning on getting another dog, but my son has been begging me to buy a new one.¡±

    Small Monkey¡¯s head bowed even lower. He said defiantly, ¡°You¡¯re so cheap. Can¡¯t I buy it with my own pocket money?¡±

    Qian Bowen may have argued with his son at home earlier. He scolded. ¡°You brat¡­¡±

    ¡°Small Monkey, it¡¯s not a question of who pays for the dog,¡± Zhang Zian interrupted him. ¡°It¡¯s a question of responsibility. Whoever pays for it, must take good care of it after its taken home. It can¡¯t be lost due to carelessness. If you didn¡¯t forget to use a leashst time, Kiddo wouldn¡¯t have been trapped so easily. Right?¡±

    Small Monkey pouted, not saying a word.

    Qian Bowen nodded in agreement. ¡°Manager Zhang, you¡¯re absolutely right! He doesn¡¯t get it no matter how hard I try to exin to him. That¡¯s the reason that I don¡¯t want to buy a dog for him. It¡¯s not about the money.¡±

    Zhang Zian added, ¡°When you take it outside, even it¡¯s just for a few minutes, you must use a leash. You can¡¯t ditch the leash so that the dog isfortable. This isn¡¯t just for your dog, but also for the safety of others.¡±

    Small Monkey uttered in a low voice, ¡°I get it. I¡¯ll use a leash in the future.¡±

 Chapter 563: The Disturbing Dog

    <h4>Chapter 563: The Disturbing Dog</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When the conversation between Zhang Zian and the newly-arrived customers ended, Snowy asked them politely, ¡°I¡¯m hosting a live broadcast. Do you mind appearing on on camera?¡±

    From the moment the new customers entered the pet shop, Snowy had been avoiding filming their faces. She only aimed the camera at their bodies.

    Qian Bowen was startled. Since he had never watched a live broadcast before and did not know what it was, he was hesitant. However, his son, Small Money, responded quickly without hesitation, ¡°It¡¯s okay, film us! Big sister, are you livestreaming the Chicken Dinner (alias of yer Unknown¡¯s Battlegrounds)?¡±

    Qian Bowen flicked his son on the forehead. ¡°What chicken?! This is not a restaurant!¡±

    Covering his head, Small Money red at his dad andined, ¡°The uneducated are terrible! Chicken Dinner is the most popr game nowadays, don¡¯t you understand?¡±

    Qian Bowen raised his hand and scared his son. ¡°How dare you say that I am uneducated! You want me to beat you?¡±

    Snowy smiled and exined, ¡°We just want to capture the process of customers selecting pets.¡±

    ¡°Oh, let¡¯s do it. I have never done anything bad, so I have nothing to be afraid of.¡± Qian Bowen still didn¡¯t fully understand Snowy¡¯s intentions, but he agreed anyway.

    Zhang Zian asked, ¡°What kind of dog do you n to buy?¡±

    Qian Bowen pushed his son. ¡°He is asking you! What kind of dog do you want? The same breed as our previous dog? Or another breed? Let¡¯s try another type of dog. The previous one was really quarrelsome.¡±

    Small Money was obviously upset. He said sullenly, ¡°I want a dog that looks just like Kiddo! I am willing to buy a new dog with my own lucky money! Not a big deal!¡±

    It seemed that this kid gained his nickname, Small Money, because he kept bragging about his lucky money. Zhang Zian was curious how much lucky money this kid had? Judging from the clothes of the father and his son, they came from an the working ss family.

    Qian Bowen was very helpless. He sent his son to the disy case to watch the dogs. Then he took Zhang Zian to the side and vented his grievances in a low voice, ¡°Seriously, when we lost our dog Kiddo a few days ago, apart from feeling sorry for the dog, I felt kind of at ease¡­ I could even say that I felt relieved, because that dog was so noisy and it was barking all the time.¡±

    ording to Qian Bowen, he worked in a factory and was responsible for operating the assembly line. He worked three shifts a day and often needed to work at night. He was tired and sleepy after the night shift. After returning home, all he wanted was to sleep for, but the dog was always barking at home. It was so noisy that he had a headache and he couldn¡¯t sleep well at all. One time, he almost caused an ident because of his drowsiness.

    Not only that, but even when he was on the shift, he still needed to sleep at night. Yet, the dog was still very rowdy at night. It would stay quiet for a while if Qian Bowen fed a bit of a snack to it. Butter, it continued barking and did not quiet down until after midnight.

    Qian Bowen sighed. ¡°Since we raised this dog, the experience was almost the same as having a second child. Every night when it barked, we would go to look at it and tell it not to bark. Don¡¯t be fooled by its small size! It¡¯s especially good at barking! Because of this, our neighbors upstairs and downstairs came to us more than once. Some neighbors were students who would need to take the high school or college entrance examinations this summer, so they must rest well at night¡­We got along quite well with our neighbors originally, but since raising this dog, our neighbors rolled their eyes at us every time we met. Someone even warned us that they would call the police should the dog bark again¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian frowned. From Qian Bowen¡¯s description, he understood the seriousness of the problem.

    Snowy and Vivi frowned, too. Since Snowy and Vivi lived in single-family homes, they did not need to worry about if their neighbors minded if they have pets. They had never thought that keeping pets could bring such big trouble.

    Setting aside other small troubles for the moment, the two issues alone¡ªthat Qian Bowen nearly caused an ident due to his dog¡¯s barking affecting his sleep; and the dog¡¯s barking had interfered with the examinee¡¯s rest¡ªwere enough to decide that this family should not have a dog.

    ¡°I know.¡± Qian Bowen noticed that Zhang Zian, Snowy and Vivi were about to say something, so he waved his hand and said, ¡°I know that under such circumstances, we really should not continue raising the dog. In fact, even if the dog had not been lost, I had intended to give it away quietly, and then tell my son that the dog was lost. But I felt quite sad when we did lose our dog. After all, my son and I had been raising that dog since it was a puppy¡­¡±

    Snowy chimed in weakly, ¡°I think raising cats might be a good option. Cats are quiet and obedient, and they will not bother other people¡­¡±

    Vivi was allergic to cats but she still nodded.

    Thements of theizens in the live broadcast were fiercer¡ªWhy did some people in hate pets? It was because some families were obviously not well suited to keep pets, but they raised pets anyway, causing trouble for people around them. Hence, many people began to hate pets.

    Fortunately, Qian Bowen could not see thesements. Otherwise, he would argue with theizens.

    ¡°But our family members don¡¯t like cats. This kid loves dogs. After our previous dog went missing, my son has been very upset. He is even more annoying than the dog¡­ I wanted to take him here to buy a new dog. It would be the best if this new dog won¡¯t bark at all¡­¡± Qian Bowen smiled in a self-mocking way. ¡°I know that this is not possible. What kind of dog would not bark?¡±

    Snowy aimed her camera at Zhang Zian to see how he was going to respond.

    Zhang Zian said calmly, ¡°Many neighborhoods have the warning alerts dogs and their owners should not disturb other people. As increasingly more families have begun to raise dogs, simr issues have also urred. But the situation in your family is more serious. Generally speaking, the bigger a dog is, the more it doesn¡¯t like to bark because it does not need to use its barking to threaten its enemies. On the contrary, the smaller a dog is, the more it likes to bark. And its barking would be sharp and loud and very piercing. If I¡¯m not mistaken, the dog you kept before was not a big dog, was it?¡±

    Qian Bowen nodded. ¡°It was not a big dog, nor was it a small dog like a Chihuahua¡­ What kind was it? Look at my poor memory, I have forgotten¡­¡±

    ¡°Dad! It was this kind!¡± Small Money yelled, pointing to a disy window.

    Qian Bowen looked at that cab. ¡°Yes, it was that kind of dog!¡±

    An energetic puppy was standing in the disy case. Its two big ears lopped softly and covered both sides of its face. Its head, ears, neck, and the upper parts of its limbs were covered with chestnut-colored hair. The hair on its back was blue-ck. The rest of its body was pure white. Its pair of big eyes were smart and full of vitality. The white and inverted letter ¡°V¡± pattern on its face was a feature of this dog breed.

    Zhang Zian nced at the dog and immediately understood that Qian Bowen¡¯s words were true, so he said, ¡°No wonder, this is a Beagle. And this breed of dog indeed likes to bark a lot.¡±

    As if attesting to Zhang Zian¡¯s words, this Beagle puppy barked loudly. Its voice was full of energy, which did not match its petite figure at all.

    Apart from those big and violent dogs, Beagles were the least suitable dog breed for novice dog breeders. Although Beagles seemed adorable and amiable, they were extremely lively and loved barking very loudly. People who raised dogs for the first time would find it difficult to deal with a Beagle. They would be busy cleaning up the mess caused by Beagle.

    ¡°Strange.¡± Qian Bowen watched the Beagle in front of the disy case and muttered to himself, ¡°This dog is obviously simr to my dog Kiddo, but it does not bark as frequently as Kiddo did. It has barked once or twice¡­¡±

    Small Money guessed straightforwardly, ¡°This dog is probably a female dog, so it does not like to bark¡­ Our Kiddo was a male dog!¡±

    ¡°Is that true?¡± Qian Bowen was skeptical.

    Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Did someone give that Beagle to you?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, my friend sent it to me,¡± Qian Bowen said. ¡°Looking back, I guess he couldn¡¯t stand the dog¡¯s barking, so he gave it to me¡­¡±

    The Beagle called Kiddo was so misfortunate. Because it liked barking, it had encountered two owners at a young age. And it almost was sent to a third home. Finally, it was stolen by criminals and died.

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment and said unexpectedly, ¡°I advise you to raise another breed. This kind of dog is not suitable for novices. If you insist on raising a Beagle, you will repeat your mistakes easily.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Qian Bowen frowned. His previous nightmarish experience made him agree with Zhang Zian¡¯s judgment sincerely. But the problem was that his son liked the Beagle. Since the death of Kiddo, he and his son had argued several times at home about whether they should raise a dog and which kind of dog to raise. He failed to talk to his wife and his son out of raising another Beagle dog. Because he had raised a dog, Qian Bowen had been alienated by his neighbors. Also, if it meant he would be estranged from his wife, raising a dog would not be worth it¡­

    ¡°No! No! No! I just want Kiddo!¡± Small Money hugged his knees, squatted on the ground, and sobbed. While wiping his tears, he whimpered, ¡°Kiddo was so poor¡­¡±

    Qian Bowen had no choice but to discuss with Zhang Zian. ¡°Manager Zhang, Dr. Sun rmended your pet shop to me and said that you are very good at training pets. The Beagles at your shop don¡¯t bark very frequently. Is it because you have trained them? If this is the case, I think there is no problem.¡±

    Zhang Zian realized that Qian Bowen and his son were determined to buy a Beagle. Even if he did not sell a Beagle to them, they might buy one from another pet shop or kennel.

    ¡°No. On the contrary, I haven¡¯t trained the Beagles in my shop. Apart from walking them outside every day, I don¡¯t normally y with them. My employees and I won¡¯t pay too much attention to them,¡± he replied truthfully.

    Qian Bowen asked in disbelief, ¡°Why? I know that it is necessary to train dogs. It¡¯s really a headache for us to train Kiddo not to bark. Why do the untrained Beagles bark less than the trained ones?¡±

    Snowy was also curious. She had hosted the live broadcast at the pet shop several times, and she clearly remembered that Zhang Zian had stressed to many customers who bought dogs that, unlike raising cats, dogs must be trained. The dogs that had not received training were useless¡­ Why was Zhang Zian¡¯s argumentpletely different today?

    ¡°This is because¡­¡± Just as Zhang Zian was about to answer, the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of a touch of fluorescent green from the ss door from the corner of his eye. The ss doors to his shop glided open. A sporty girl with a ponytail ran into the shop.

    ¡°Snoopy!¡± gazing at the Beagle, she eximed in surprise.

 Chapter 564: How to Train a Dog

    <h4>Chapter 564: How to Train a Dog</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Snoopy, the famous cartoon character, was a beagle. Although Snoopy didn¡¯t look like a beagle in neither shape nor color, a lot of fans were able to recognize what breed Snoopy really was.

    The girl that just entered, who was clearly a Snoopy fan, screamed with excitement.

    A kid like Small Monkey, who had never seen the cartoon nor the animation about Snoopy, would have no idea why this girl was screaming about. He didn¡¯t stop crying, wanting to take the beagle home.

    Zhang Zian recognized the girl as the runner who passed in front of the pet shop in the mornings. She was tall and wore a sports hoodie with tight pants and a professional sports mask covering most of her face. Her hoodie covered her forehead, and since she was wearing sunsses, it wasn¡¯t possible to see her face.

    She realized her inappropriate reaction, and bowed to apologize to everyone. ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I was so excited to see Snoopy. Forgive me!¡±

    Even though she screamed, an apology seemed too much. It wasn¡¯t necessary. The girl¡¯s courtesy seemed extensive, even a little upsetting.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Are you here to get a pet?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Ah, yes, I¡¯d like to take a look. I love Snoopy!¡± She gestured and continued bowing slightly.

    Usually courtesy was wee, but hers made others feel awkward. Nobody talked this way. Zhang Zian asked tentatively, ¡°Where are you from?¡±

    The girl took off her sunsses and mask, and answered, ¡°My name is Masanori Suzuhara, I¡¯m an international student from Japan. I heard Profession Wu Mingzhen¡¯s speech and knew that there was a well-known pet shop in Binhai City. I¡¯ve always wanted to visit it. I studied Chinese, so I applied to be an exchange student at Binhai University. I¡¯m staying in China for one semester.¡±

    What?

    Zhang Zian, Snowy and the others were surprised. She was a student from Japan. No wonder nobody had seen her before.

    ¡°You speak Mandarin very well,¡± heplimented, ¡°I couldn¡¯t even tell that you weren¡¯t Chinese.¡±

    ¡°Yes, excellent Mandarin!¡± Snowy agreed.

    ¡°Thanks,¡± Masanori Suzuhara said respectfully.

    ¡°I¡¯m Zhang Zian, the manager of the shop. I saw you jogging in the morning a few days ago. Why did you wait until today toe in?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Sheughed. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure if this was the right ce. Plus, I didn¡¯t want to disturb you. I saw other customers in the shop today, which gave me the courage toe in.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought to himself, You¡¯re jogging too early. Why would there be customers at that hour?

    What was more surprising, was that Masanori Suzuhara heard about Amazing Fate Pet Shop from Wu Mingzhen¡¯s speech.

    Wu Mingzhen was the chief of Changqiao City Association of Pet Exchange Promotion, he visited the shop once. He knew a lot about pets and did extensive studies on ancient books, such as The ssic of Cats Appreciation. Ever since the one visit, he¡¯s talked to Zhang Zian a few times online. They had learned a lot from each other.

    Before leaving, he said that he¡¯d promote Zhang Zian overseas, and even invited Zhang Zian for overseas exhibitions. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t take it seriously, thinking that it was nothing more than courteous behavior. He didn¡¯t expect that foreign customers, like this girl, would be attracted to the store.

    Qian Bowen¡¯s description of his former dog stirred up a heated debate among the followers of the live broadcast. Theypletely ignored the Japanese girl that came in.

    ¡°A person like him shouldn¡¯t own a dog at all!¡±

    ¡°A Samoyed would be fine. My Samoyed doesn¡¯t bark, I thought it was mute when I first brought it home.¡±

    ¡°Beagles love barking. My uncle had a beagle and the barking drove him nuts. I¡¯m not exaggerating when I say that it almost gave him a heart attack!¡±

    ¡°Actually, I have a solution. You can use a small gadget to stop the dog from barking!¡±

    ¡°What small gadget?¡±

    ¡°Do you know about the shock cor? It¡¯s amazing! You put it on your dog, and if it barks, you shock it. You can adjust the intensity of the shock. It can be used as far as a few hundred meters, so you don¡¯t need to use a leash to walk your dog anymore.¡±

    ¡°Is it really that magical?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not lying. A few dog owners near me use it, and it works!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve tried shock cor. It senses the vibration of the vocal cords, then sends out a shock. It¡¯s not as magical as you described, but it¡¯s useful to some extent.¡±

    After seeing the online followers¡¯ discussion, Snowy asked curiously, ¡°Mr. Manager, what¡¯s a shock cor? They say it stops dogs from barking. Is that true?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Snowy¡¯s words caught Qian Bowen¡¯s attention. He thought a shock cor would be convenient to have. If it really worked, he¡¯d get one even if it was expensive. If the dog barked at night, he wouldn¡¯t need to get out of bed to shut the dog up.

    His former beagle was beaten, yelled at, and even starved when it barked, but no punishment was useful, and only made it bark more. If the shock cor was effective, it¡¯d solve a huge problem.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t! Poor Snoopy!¡± Masanori Suzuhara threw herself in front of the disy cab in panic, worrying that Zhang Zian would really put a shock cor on the beagle. She repeated with a sad face, ¡°Poor Snoopy.¡±

    Zhang Zian noticed her unusual reaction, and the fact that she kept saying ¡°poor Snoopy¡± instead of ¡°poor dog.¡± Maybe she used to own a beagle?

    Qian Bowen interrupted Zian¡¯s thoughts, and inquired sincerely, ¡°Manager Zhang, do you sell shock cors? Do they really work?¡±

    The barking drove him insane, he couldn¡¯t take it any longer. This unconventional solution was hisst resort to save him.

    Zhang Zian shook his head,forted Masanori Suzuhara, and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t sell shock cors, nor will I put one on any of the dogs in my shop. It¡¯s an evil tool, an honorable man like me wouldn¡¯t sink so low.¡±

    Masanori Suzuhara was relieved. The followers of the broadcast were heartbroken to see this innocent girl being fooled right in front of their eyes. They begged Snowy to expose Zhang Zian as an imposter and pervert.

    Zhang Zian exined to Qian Bowen, ¡°I¡¯ve heard about shock cors. Whether it can stop the dog from barking, to be honest, depends on the dog. The cor might work, but it¡¯s not as magical as people im. It¡¯s a tool for training and shouldn¡¯t be abused. If you use the cor in ce of a leash, to shock it if it runs too far, it¡¯s considered abuse. You must understand that the shocks may backfire and have a different oue than you expected. It could run away out of fear instead ofing back.¡±

    Some online followers approved Zhang Zian¡¯s reasoning. ¡°I agree with the manager. I don¡¯t approve of shock cors.¡±

    Zhang Zian pointed at Zhan Tian and said, ¡°A wise training method would be to follow the examples of police dog trainers. They use both encouragement and punishment. Do you think a police dog is trained with just a shock cor? No. It¡¯s a shortcut taken byzy trainers.¡±

    Qian Bowen smiled bitterly. ¡°Manager Zhang, I don¡¯t expect my dog to be a police dog, and I¡¯m not good at training. I¡¯ll be happy if it just stops barking. Can you do something about that?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you just ask me, if the beagles in my shop bark less without training?¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    This was a question that had been puzzling Qian Bowen for a while. Why didn¡¯t his training work? Why did his dog bark more than the ones in the pet shop?

    Snowy and Vivi listened attentively.

    Zhang Zian lifted his chin, silently telling them to observe Small Monkey, who was sitting on the floor and acting like a brat.

    ¡°Dogs are like kids. The more affectionate a dog is, the more attention it wants from its owner. It¡¯d spend all day next to the owner, ying. This is unrealistic as we have to work and can¡¯t be with the dog all day, which disappoints the dog. The dog doesn¡¯t understand why it can¡¯t be with its owner all the time. How can it get more attention? The simplest way is to bark.¡±

    Qian Bowen, Snowy and Vivi seemed to understand, but notpletely.

    Zhang Zian continued, ¡°Most dogs are very smart. After arriving in a new home, they test the owners to establish their behavior. So, if you take a new dog home and it barks, you shouldn¡¯t punish it, nor reward it. Let it bark. Eventually, it¡¯ll grasp the fact that barking doesn¡¯t get attention. It¡¯s just a waste of energy.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it like kids?¡± He smiled. ¡°Kids cry and act like brats to get attention and sympathy from adults. This is how they negotiate. If adults yield to them and give them what they want, they realize subconsciously that, by crying, they can get anything they want.¡±

    Qian Bowen, Snowy, Vivi and the online followers learned a good lesson. Qian Bowen was wrong. As soon as Kiddo barked, he quickly went to feed it, or yell at it. To an affectionate beagle, punishment was better than being ignored. If barking summoned the owner, it¡¯d bark constantly to get more attention, and it was sessful.

    Small Monkey heard Zhang Zian, and wiped his tears.

    Zhang Zian pointed at Zhan Tian once again to demonstrate. ¡°I train this retired police dog out every morning. Before you guys entered the shop, it rubbed against my legs, telling me that it wanted to go outside. I told it that since it¡¯s foggy outside, we had to stay inside for now. Itid down quietly, understanding that I wouldn¡¯t change my mind. Barking and acting foolish won¡¯t get it anywhere.¡±

    He pointed at the puppies in the disy cab. ¡°When the puppies arrived, they were barking a lot, especially the beagles. They bark as soon as the others do, and louder than the others. I didn¡¯t pay them any attention. They could bark as much as they wanted. Apart from the daily feeding, cleaning and walking, I ignore them even when they bark their lungs out. You don¡¯t need to worry that they¡¯re barking because they¡¯re sick. When they¡¯re sick, they¡¯re sluggish and don¡¯t have enough strength to bark.¡±

    Qian Bowen looked at his son thoughtfully. Did Zhang Zian teach him how to train just a dog? No. Zhang Zian was teaching him how to educate his child.

    If Zhang Zian was right, this was the case for the Labrador of Shi Shi and Liu Sang. They gave it too much attention as soon as it started barking.

    He stood in front of Snowy¡¯s camera, and spoke to the followers of the broadcast, ¡°I¡¯ve heard in the past that cats are like concubines, the more the better. But dogs are like sons, the quality is more important than quantity. Dogs must be trained. Training doesn¡¯t only refer to routine training sessions. Ignoring it is an important training method. If you don¡¯t want your dog to annoy the neighbors, you need to learn to ignore it when it barks, to only y with it and feed it after it quiets down.¡±

    ¡°Do you understand?¡± He smiled at Qian Bowen. ¡°If you train it appropriately, you don¡¯t need tools like the shock cor.¡±

    Qian Bowen grabbed Zhang Zian¡¯s hands and babbled in excitement, ¡°Manager Zhang, thank you so much! I¡­I used to¡­no¡­I just¡­I regret it so much!¡±

    He racked his brain to think of ways to train his dog, but everything had backfired. Now that he understood everything, he regained some of the confidence he lost.

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°I can only teach you theory. It¡¯s harder to actually do. You need to coordinate with your family, and tell everybody, including guests, to ignore the beagle when it barks. If anyone responds to the barking, it¡¯ll encourage the dog and it¡¯ll bark even more. I still don¡¯t rmend beagles. It¡¯d be better if you lived alone, but you have a wife and child.¡±

    Beagles were a special breed. It was too affectionate, and would rather be punished to gain attention than be ignored. Men were usually tough enough to resist, but women and kids were likely to cave to the barking, which would undo all previous training. If a bad habit was formed, it was difficult to change.

    Qian Bowen was hesitant again. He was confident not to repeat his mistakes, but what about his wife and child? He knew how much they spoiled the dog. Even if Kiddo was fed before lunch, they fed it again as soon as it jumped on their legs.

    ¡°I want Kiddo! Dad! Shall we get a Kiddo?¡± Small Monkey jumped up from the floor, and asked his father.

    ¡°Did you hear your uncle just now? It¡¯s tricky to raise this type of dog. You can¡¯t respond when it barks, and can only feed it and y with it after it stops barking. Can you do that?¡± Qian Bowen asked.

    ¡°I can, I promise!¡± Small Monkey answered without hesitation.

    Even Snowy and Vivi could tell that Small Monkey¡¯s answer was hasty. He¡¯d forget about it as soon as the dog was home.

    Qian Bowen knew that his son was temperamental, but he still had hope. Maybe the beagle didn¡¯t bark as much as his previous dog. Was it worth a try?

    The online followers advised him not to take the kid¡¯s promise seriously. He¡¯d regret buying the beagle. Too bad he couldn¡¯t see the screen.

    ¡°It¡¯s a tough breed to train. Maybe you should try another breed.¡± Snowy suggested.

    Small Monkey saw that things weren¡¯t going his way. He opened his mouth, wiped his eyes and cried, ¡°No! I want Kiddo! If you don¡¯t get it, I¡¯ll leave and buy it with my own money!¡±

    This trick usually worked. His parents gave him anything as soon as he started to cry and yell. However, this time, nobody stopped him.

    Small Monkey peeked between his fingers, and saw his father asking Zhang Zian questions about dogs. Snowy was introducing cat breeds to Vivi, while Masanori Suzuhara was gazing at the beagle, as if she was thinking of something. Nobody paid attention to him.

    What happened? Why didn¡¯t his trick work? He stopped crying.

    Qian Bowen saw that he stopped crying, then turned around and smiled. ¡°Buy it with your own money. But didn¡¯t you n to use that money for the Nintendo Switch? You can¡¯t get the console if you buy the dog.¡±

    Small Monkey was stunned. His father seemed serious.

    The Switch appeared in his head. He¡¯d still need to buy games after the console, and there wouldn¡¯t be much money left.

    Dog or Switch, that was the question.

 Chapter 565: Masanori Suzuhara In the Lab

    <h4>Chapter 565: Masanori Suzuhara In the Lab</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian quietly stood aside and watched the confrontation between Qian Bowen and his son with a smile. Although Qian Bowen failed to train his previous dog to be obedient, he still had the opportunity to correct his son¡¯s bad habits. He must not grant his son¡¯s requests easily every time this kid cried or screamed.

    Raising a dog was like raising a son. Conversely, raising a son was like raising a dog.

    This family was not suitable for raising Beagles. As theizens said, if Qian Bowen and his son insisted on raising a Beagle, this decision would benefit no one.

    Of course, even if Small Money really wanted to buy a dog with his own lucky money, Zhang Zian would not sell a dog to him because Small Money was a minor with limited legal capacity. The transaction of pets involved more than payments and delivery, Zhang Zian and his customers must also sign the pet sale agreement and go through other formalities. The pet sale agreement would be invalid if a minor signed upon it. Zhang Zian would not allow such a silly thing to happen.

    The same was true for Snowy. Instead of asking for rewards, she often reminded her under-age audiences on her live broadcast channel, Weibo, and WeChat public ount not to reward her using their parents¡¯ money. Snowy¡¯s behaviors made her audience like her even more.

    Small Money struggled for a long time. On a weighing scale in his mind, Nintendo Switch was ced on one end, while a Beagle was sitting on the other end. Which could bring more happiness to him?

    Slowly, the bnce tilted in the direction of Switch. Obviously, the weight of Switch in his heart was heavier.

    ¡°Then¡­then¡­I won¡¯t buy it today¡­Anyway, Lunar New Year ising. I wille back to buy a dog with this year¡¯s lucky money! Even if you don¡¯t buy it for me, I will buy it myself!¡± said Small Money.

    ¡°OK, whatever you want. If you want toe again, I will apany you.¡± Qian Bowenughed.

    Qian Bowen looked at the time. It was almost time for him to leave. He had to work night shifts tonight, so he had to eat early at noon and go to bed hurriedly after lunch. Now he had to go buy food and cook lunch at home. So, he said goodbye to Zhang Zian, ¡°Manager Zhang, thank you so much today. Thanks to you, I have learned that there is so much information about raising dogs. And I have never met such a conscientious shop owner like you who would actually persuade his customers not to buy pets ¡­ But you can rest assured, I will buy a dog from your shop eventually¡ªwhen my son grows up a bit, or when we decide to raise a less troublesome dog. I will definitelye to buy a dog from your ce when I am ready to raise a dog again.¡±

    Zhang Zian was also very distressed. But he felt that if this family bought a Beagle, they would eithere back to return the dog within a few days, or a hot and new topic would appear on Weibo a whileter¡ª¡±An unscrupulous pet shop owner sold a dog to a customer, causing the customer to encounter major operational idents on the assembly line¡± ¡­ In that case, it would be better for Zhang Zian not to sell the dog to them.

    ¡°Boy, let¡¯s go home.¡± Qian Bowen said to his son.

    Small Money yearningly looked at the Beagle a few more times, and then left with his father dejectedly. Before leaving, he told Zhang Zian, ¡°Manager, remember to leave this dog for me. When I get my lucky money, I wille and buy it.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about that when youe back.¡± Zhang Zian said casually.

    When the noisy father and his son left, the store finally quieted down a bit.

    Although he had said a lot of words, he failed to close the deal. Zhang Zian picked up a cup of tea that he prepared in advance and drank it, moistening his throat and reducing his internal heat.

    Vivi felt that this trip to the pet shop was worthwhile because she seemed to have learned a lot of things. Although it was a pity that she could not be surrounded by a lot of cats¡­She looked around the shop andid eyes on Masanori Suzuhara. Vivi felt that there was something wrong with this Japanese girl, then she quietly poked Snowy.

    Snowy was interacting with theizens but reminded by Vivi, Snowy noticed that Masanori Suzuhara was crying in front of a disy cab that contained a Beagle.

    ¡°Hello, Miss Suzuhara, are you ufortable?¡± The warm-hearted Snowy approached Masanori Suzuhara and asked her with concern.

    ¡°Ah, no, I am not feeling unwell. I just¡­have recalled something in the past.¡± Masanori Suzuhara quickly rubbed her tearful eyes and dredged up a smile.

    ¡°Wipe your tears away, or the tear stains will hurt your skin in this cold weather.¡± Snowy thoughtfully handed Suzuhara a paper towel. Suzuhara repeatedly thanked Snowy, took the paper towel and wiped away her tears.

    ¡°Manager, excuse me, can I buy this Beagle?¡± Masanori Suzuhara asked Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian was stunned and said to himself. Was today Beagle Day? Why does everyone want to raise a Beagle today?

    ¡°You can¡­ but did you hear my conversation with other customers just now? The Beagle has a cute appearance, but it is difficult to raise this breed of dog. If you want to buy it because it¡¯s cute, then I advise you¡­¡± he said euphemistically.

    Masanori Suzuhara rified, ¡°No, it¡¯s not like that! I like Snoopy very much. I like Beagles. They are very poor¡­¡±

    ¡°Do you know the characteristics of this breed of dog?¡± Zhang Zian intended to test her to see if she truly understood Beagles.

    ¡°I do. Snoopy loves barking, ying, and being close to human beings. I spent more than two years with Beagles¡­¡± As she spoke, she looked increasingly in dismay.

    Masanori Suzuhara was a student of a medical school. Because of her outstanding academic achievement, her professors selected her to be an assistant in aboratory, where she encountered Beagles for the first time. Since she was the youngest student, she was basically responsible for the trivialities, and her main task was to look after the Beagles in theb.

    There was a Beagle that was more than one year old in theboratory. It highly resembled the Beagle in Zhang Zian¡¯s pet shop. They looked almost exactly the same. The professors and the senior students in theb all called that Beagle Snoopy, so she also called it Snoopy.

    Just like Masanori Suzuhara, Snoopy was also a neer to theboratory. Its lively and cheerful personality immediately won her favor.

    Every morning, she was always the first one to arrive at theboratory to prepare the experimental equipment for her professors and the senior students. After that, she would run with Snoopy. There were two treadmills in theb, one was for people and the other one was for dogs. She and Snoopy ran on the treadmills together and she would record its breathing, heartbeat, body temperature and other data before and after running. asionally, she would draw blood from Snoopy and then analyze its feces and urine¡­She had naively assumed that the aforementioned had covered all the aspects of the experiment.

    Seeing Masanori Suzuhara be too close to Snoopy, those senior students had repeatedly and subtly reminded her not to. They suggested that if she likes dogs, she might as well raise a pet dog. However, she did not agree with them, and then she continued ying with Snoopy every day.

    One day, when she came to theb in the morning, she couldn¡¯t find Snoopy. In desperation, she notified the security staff in theboratory right away, asking them to help her find Snoopy. At that moment, she vaguely heard the familiar and prating barking from further inside theb. It was Snoopy¡¯s cry.

    Masanori Suzuhara followed the sound and found that Snoopy was locked in a sealed experimental apparatus. It was curling up inside the instrument and was foaming at the mouth. When Snoopy heard her footsteps, it raised its head and looked at her through the clear ss as if asking for help. Then, it staggered forward, cing its nose against the ss. Whimpering, its eyes were full of pain.

    What¡¯s going on?

    She was stunned.

    Why is Snoopy here?

    The senior students who arrivedter regretfully told her that this was the fate of Snoopy. Likeb rats, the Beagles in theboratory were also for experiments.

    It was not until then did she truly understand Beagles.

    Among all dog breeds, Beagles were basically the healthiest ones with the least gic diseases. Meanwhile, their sizes were moderate, they were docile and easy to control. The most important thing was that Beagles loved being close to human beings. Even if people beat them or tortured them with the painful experiments, they would not hold any grudge or resentment against human beings. Even after being abused by human beings for thousands of times, Beagles would still treat human beings as their first love.

    In addition, the purebred Beagles were not expensive, and they were gically stable, so they were especially suitable for the researches of pharmacology, toxicology, cyclic physiology, and surgery. It was also convenient for differentboratories in all ces topare the data they had gained through Beagles. Among all experimental dogs in the world, Beagles had ounted for 98%. Thousands of Beagles were sacrificed for the advancement of human medicine every year.

    The longer lifespan of human beings was achieved at the expense of Beagles. But Beagles¡¯ hardships were more than that. Despite the official prohibitions in many countries, a few cosmeticspanies and lifestyle-productspany still secretly used Beagles to test the toxicity of their products.

    Throughout the day, Masanori Suzuhara shed tears while watching Snoopy as it was injected with a certain dosage of toxic agent in the experimental device. She observed and recorded its toxic reactions, and then injected the antidote to Snoopy to observe and record its reactions as Snoopy gradually returned to normal. In the end, she drew blood from Snoopy and examined its urine every hour, analyzing the toxin residue in its body to obtain such valuable data as the metabolic rate of the toxin¡­ She couldn¡¯t bear to look at Snoopy anymore, but those senior students needed her to stay there because her presence could soothe and calm Snoopy.

    She told herself repeatedly. This was for the advancement of human medicine. This was to save more people¡¯s lives.

    Rationally, there was no essential difference between experimenting with a rat and experimenting with a Beagle. But emotionally, it was very difficult for her to ept that Snoopy was used in the experiment.

    When the endless experiment was finally over, led by the professors, those senior students eagerly devoted themselves to analyzing the data, looking forward to thepletion and publication of a new paper of high-quality. Snoopy dragged its tired body out of the experimental apparatus, smiled at Masanori Suzuhara as if nothing had happened and ran to her cheerfully. It fell halfway and struggled to get up again. Masanori Suzuhara could even see the muscles twitching in Snoopy¡¯s legs.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Snoopy, I¡¯m sorry!¡± She held it in her arms and apologized repeatedly.

    Snoopy stuck out its warm tongue and licked the tears from her face. It had forgotten all the displeasure, simply because it was happy to be embraced by its owner.

    The days after the first experiment went back to normal.

    She was still the first one who came to theb every morning. She fed Snoopy, ran with it, keeping track of such data as breathing, heartbeat, and body temperature. She asionally drew the blood of Snoopy and tested its feces and urine, but she was more careful and gentler than before. Just like the Japanese society, theboratory was rigidly stratified. As the youngest student in theb, she did not know when the next experiment would be held, and no one had told her that. Hence, she could only make the best use of her time to make Snoopy happy.

    The second experiment came faster than she expected.

    Almost immediately after Snoopy had recovered its health, it was forced to undergo another experiment. This time, Snoopy was to test a new drug that was in the developmental process. This new drug had broad market prospects, but it was still rather immature, for it would sting the stomach strongly and may cause vomiting.

    Snoopy needed to swallow certain doses of pills this time, and then through blood drawing and urine tests, the students would analyze the concentration of the pills in its blood as well as the rate of metabolism to excrete theponent of the pills from its body.

    However, ording to the information, the pills were likely to cause vomiting if Snoopy ate them. If Snoopy spat out the pills, the experiment failed. Hence, Masanori Suzuhara who had always been responsible for the trivialities in theb was required to participate in the experiment. The professors arranged her to hold Snoopy in her arms, pressing tightly of its mouth to keep it from spewing the pills, until the pills had dissolved in its stomach.

    How cruel this task was!

    When she heard the professors¡¯ words, Masanori Suzuhara felt that ice water was sttering on her head.

    But she had no way to stop the experiment. Whether or not she would participate, this experiment would be carried out. If she did not press Snoopy¡¯s mouth, other senior students would.

    So, she decided that she would do it, at least she would be gentler to Snoopy.

    She could have left this matter to others by taking a day off. She could leave theb ande back when the experiment was over. In that way, not only could she escape the suffering in her mind, but she could appear in front of Snoopy as a savior. She could hold Snoopy gently in her arms to appease it, so that Snoopy would think that the others were bad people, and she was the only good person.

    But she did not leave. She hoped that Snoopy would recognize her true self. She would not mind even if Snoopy would hate her.

    The experiment began.

    At the professor¡¯s request, she stuffed the powder into capsules and mixed them with Snoopy¡¯s favorite snacks.

    Snoopy happily ate the snacks without any doubts.

    When it finished eating, Masanori Suzuhara sat on a chair and patted her thigh.

    It was very sunny that day, making everyone drowsy.

    Snoopy jumped onto herp, lied down, and basked in the sunfortably. It opened its mouth and yawned. Drowsiness emerged in its eyes.

    She stroked Snoopy¡¯s back gently, and quietly estimated the melting speed of the capsules. As she figured the capsules had almost melted, she pressed Snoopy¡¯s mouth by cing one hand on its upper lip and the other on its lower lip.

    Snoopy thought that she was going to y a new game with it. It widened its eyes excitedly and sat up. But Masanori Suzuhara lowered her upper body and mped Snoopy with her legs to keep it from moving.

    ¡°Woof!¡±

    Snoopy whimpered abruptly. Its body was wriggling violently, and its throat was bulging. She could even feel the scorching hot between Snoopy¡¯s stomach and its throat.

    ¡°Snoopy! Pull yourself together! Snoopy! It will be over in just a moment!¡±

    She held it tightly, pressing its mouth to prevent it from spewing the medicines. But she did not dare to look into its eyes. She closed her eyes and said the same thing repeatedly.

    As the rapid breathing with the smell of medicine puffed onto her face, Snoopy was struggling increasingly violently. She never knew that there was so much power in Snoopy¡¯s tiny body that she had to use all her efforts to restrain it.

    She did not dare to loosen up. Once she let it go, the experiment would fail, which meant that Snoopy had to go through the nightmare once again.

    She did not know how much time had passed, perhaps a few minutes, maybe an hour. Snoopy¡¯s struggle was getting weaker and its breathing was less rapid.

    The powder had beenpletely absorbed by Snoopy¡¯s stomach and the vomiting reaction had disappeared.

    She also reduced her pressing strength on Snoopy. Only then did she realize that she was sweating all over.

    She felt cold on her thighs and smelled some peculiar odor.

    She looked down and found that Snoopy had urinated on herb coat during the struggle.

    Snoopy looked at her guiltily as if it had done something wrong.

    The senior students encouraged her and told her to go home to rest, then they took Snoopy away from her to test its blood and urine.

    She sat dumbly in her seat without moving.

    Snoopy no longer appeared in front of her on this day.

    Though she suffered from insomnia that night, she was still the first one to arrive at theb the next morning. She was ready to bear Snoopy¡¯s hateful re against her.

    As soon as Snoopy saw her, it barked with excitement and ran to her feet, shaking its tail and tried to y with her. It acted like this every morning in the past and nothing had changed.

    ¡°Hate me! Bite me! Snoopy! I have done such cruel things to you. Why don¡¯t you hate me or bite me!¡± Masanori Suzuhara shouted at Snoopy. But when she ced her wrist near its mouth, it did not bite her. Instead, it stuck out its tongue to lick her wrist.

    She felt weak all over and slumped onto the cold floor of theboratory as if she was confessing her sins.

    Snoopy put its front paw on herp and wriggled its body nervously, wondering why she was so sad.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry! Snoopy! I¡¯m sorry!¡±

    Knowing that her apology was useless, she apologized to Snoopy repeatedly.

    Snoopy didn¡¯t want to hear her apologize. It just wanted to start ying with her earlier.

    Prior to that day, Masanori Suzuhara had no intention of ??going abroad. She was preparing to attend graduate school in Japan. She had calcted the time, upon her graduation from graduate school, Snoopy would almost be seven years old. And theoretically, the seven-year-old Beagles could retire from theb.

    However, few Beagles could survive the experiments day after day and reach the retirement age. Snoopy was no exception.

    Another experiment.

    She had be ustomed to Snoopy¡¯s recovery from the experiments. To reward Snoopy, she bought its favorite snack the next morning. But when she came to theb, she found that its bed was empty.

    The senior students told her that Snoopy did not survive this experiment. Its corpse had been sent to the mountain behind the school and was buried there. In that mountain, there was a monument built for the animals deceased in the experiments.

    Masanori Suzuhara had forgotten how she reacted when she heard the news. When she came to herself, she was standing and sobbing in front of the solemn monument. Around her, the bamboos and the grass were whirling.

    The work of theboratory could not be interrupted. A new Beagle was sent to theb. Everyone also called it Snoopy.

    It was not until then did she realize that there would always be a Snoopy in theb.

    Soon, that semester was over. When the new semester began, a cute girl who was a junior schoolmate joined theb. Masanori Suzuhara was promoted to be a reliable senior. It was the junior sister-in-learning¡¯s turn to take care of Snoopy and attend other trivial matters.

    Masanori Suzuhara applied to be an exchange student at Binhai University. She needed a semester to adjust her mood.

    Before going abroad, as a reliable senior, she advised her lovely and younger schoolmate, ¡°If you want to keep a dog, you might as well raise a pet dog.¡±

    The junior did not take Masanori Suzuhara¡¯s words seriously, and then she continued to y happily with Snoopy.

    Masanori Suzuhara looked at the junior with a smile and said no more, she called a taxi to the airport, and boarded a flight to China¡­

    Masanori Suzuhara finished her own story. The pet shop was silent. Only the sobbing of Snowy and Vivi could be heard.

 Chapter 566: Life for Life Expectancy

    <h4>Chapter 566: Life for Life Expectancy</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian understood why Masanori Suzuhara kept saying poor Snoopy over and over again. She was referring to the beagles that died for the sake of medicine inbs all over the world.

    In herb, there was always a dog named Snoopy. After the previous one died, a new beagle would be given the same name and the same fate.

    Zhang Zian had heard about the wide use of beagles inbs and medical facilities in various countries. He didn¡¯t feel much about it. After hearing Masanori Suzuhara¡¯s story though, he felt sympathetic for the beagles. Like he told Qian Bowen, these dogs were too affectionate, and would rather get punished from barking than not get any attention. Because they were overly affectionate, they stayed attached to the owners even after being tortured in experiments.

    ¡°Poor Snoopy indeed.¡± Snowy and Vivi felt the same emotions, and were able to understand how Masanori Suzuhara was feeling.

    The online followers stopped joking andughing, and sighed for the beagles stuck in thebs.

    Some followers owned beagles, and said that they would give more food to their beagles tonight, as a token of appreciation for the millions of beagles that died from medical research.

    Lu Yiyun, who was focusing on painting earlier, raised her head at the losses. She heard Snowy and Vivi snorting their noses, but didn¡¯t know who did it.

    Masanori Suzuhara took out her phone and showed everybody her old pictures.

    She was wearing apletely different outfit in theb, as opposed to the sporty outfit she was in now.

    In the selfie, Masanori Suzuhara was wearing a blue uniform that looked like surgery scrubs, and holding an adorable beagle in her arms. As she had said, the beagle looked much like the one in Zhang Zian¡¯s shop.

    Snoopy¡¯s eyes were big and round, without any sadness or pain in them, only happiness from being with its owner.

    Another photo was taken at the mountain behind Masanori Suzuhara¡¯s school. In the center of the photo was a monument that her school had built in memory of the animals that died in thebs. The monument was solemn and respectful, with Japanese engravings in the front. Zhang Zian was only able to recognize a few Chinese characters on it. There were flowers and offeringsying on the grass in front of the monument as well. Many students and elders were in formal clothing, praying seriously with their closed eyes and palms together.

    A faint smile appeared on Masanori Suzuhara¡¯s face. ¡°Statistics from the US Department of Health and Public Services show that animal experiments have increased the average human life expectancy by 23.5 years, and the number is still growing. April 24th of each year is ¡®National Lab Animal Day¡¯. On this day, all the teachers and students in ourbs gather in front of the monument, to thank and remember the animals that sacrificed themselves to increase the life expectancy of humans, including Snoopy.¡±

    Her eyes grew distant, as if she was staring at something far away. ¡°Every time I get sick and need to take medicine, I feel grateful. These tiny tablets were developed through the lives of thousands of Snoopys. I¡¯m attending Binhai University next semester. But at the end of April, when it¡¯s warm and blooming, I¡¯m heading back to Japan to visit Snoopy.¡±

    ¡°I want to go there too,¡± Snowy said enviously.

    Masanori Suzuhara bowed down at a 90 degree angle towards Zhang Zian, and asked him sincerely, ¡°Please sell this beagle to me. I will take great care of it. I¡¯ll also take it to the monument, and introduce it to Snoopy.¡±

    Zhang Zian had never been bowed to by a girl like this before. He didn¡¯t know what to do, despite the fact that he was usually an unabashed guy.

    This was the only beagle in his shop. Should he sell it to her, or keep it for Small Monkey?

    Well, this was a no-brainer.

    ¡°All right. It¡¯s yours,¡± he replied.

    He didn¡¯t need to give her any additional advice. She had been taking care of beagles in theb for a long time, and might be even more experienced than he was.

    ¡°Thank you! Thank you so much!¡±

    She gave so many thanks, that if someone didn¡¯t know the story, they¡¯d think that Zhang Zian had given the dog to her for free. Zhang Zian was embarrassed from getting so much public appreciation.

    He opened the disy cab, took out the beagle, and handed it to Masanori Suzuhara. He then asked Lu Yiyun to print out a copy of the pet sales agreement.

    Snowy and Vivi went over to pinch its paws and rub its big ears. The beagle was definitely affectionate. It looked at the three girls one by one, wondering which one was its new owner.

    Zhang Zian felt dejected. He also wanted to experience the feeling of being surrounded and cuddled by a bunch of girls.

    ¡°What¡¯ll its name be?¡± asked Snowy, gently pushing on the beagle¡¯s nose.

    ¡°I want to call it Snoopy.¡± Masanori Suzuhara smiled.

    This response was not a surprise to anyone there.

    Vivi figured that thisdy didn¡¯t care much about cats. But after hearing Masanori Suzuhara¡¯s story, and seeing such an adorable beagle, she herself started bing interested in dogs.

    ¡°Mr. Manager, do you have another beagle? I want one too!¡± She looked at Snoopy in Masanori Suzuhara¡¯s arms enviously, and asked Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian was certain that today was a beagle day. He missed two billion potential earnings since he had only one beagle in his shop!

    Trying to be responsible, he asked, ¡°Have you had a dog before?¡±

    ¡°No¡­¡± Vivi answered honestly.

    ¡°I suggest that you don¡¯t buy one then.¡± Zhang Zian tried to persuade her.

    He could tell that this girl was quiet and came from a well off family. She seemed to be an indoor person, and not very athletic. A beagle needed arge amount of exercise, otherwise it would be a monster that could tear the house down.

    Vivi sighed. She had asked impulsively. After listening to Qian Bowen, she knew that she couldn¡¯t handle a beagle. She would prefer a cat if possible.

    Snowy read her mind and grabbed her hands. She told her to cheer up, then asked Zhang Zian, ¡°Mr. Manager, you know a lot about pets. Is a cat allergy treatable? Are there any secret treatments?¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. ¡°Do you think I¡¯m some sort of Chinese medicine doctor?¡±

    Snowy stuck out her tongue, and told Vivi regrettfully, ¡°Vivi, let¡¯s get fuzzy cat toy on our way home, shall we?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I already have a lot of fuzzy cat toys!¡± Vivi replied back looking disappointed.

    Zhang Zian cleared his throat. ¡°Well, a cat allergy doesn¡¯t really stop you from owning a cat.¡±

    ¡°What? Really?¡± Snowy and Vivi asked in unison.

    Vivi thought Zhang Zian was misunderstanding something, and asked, ¡°Are you talking about owning a cat in a stic ball? I have a really bad cat allergy and I can¡¯t even touch them.¡±

    Zhang Zianughed. ¡°I know you¡¯re allergic to cats. But not all cats are allergenic.¡±

    ¡°Really? There are non-allergenic cats?¡± Vivi asked doubtfully. If this was true, she¡¯d suffered too many days as a cat-lover without being able to pet one.

    Zhang Zian responded with certainty. ¡°Of course there are. Apart from regr cats, there are hypoallergenic and non-allergenic cats. Do you know what parts of cats cause allergies? You¡¯re not allergic to their fur, but to a certain protein in cats¡¯ saliva, urine, and dander. Cats like licking their fur. They lick themselves and other cats. While licking, the allergenic protein ends up all over their fur, which is what makes you react when you touch them.¡±

    After exining this, he nced at Snowy Li.

    Snowy Li had been focused on a raw beef sirloin for some time, and suddenly realized that it hadn¡¯t licked Fina in awhile. It meowed towards Fina and stuck out its tiny tongue. Fina felt its warm breath on the tip of its tail and swiftly swung it to the other side. Snowy Li¡¯s tongue licked nothing but air.

    Snowy and Vivi nodded, without actually understanding eveything he said.

    ¡°What are hypoallergenic and non-allergenic cats?¡± Vivi didn¡¯t really want to hear his theories. She only cared about what type of cats she could own.

    Zhang Zian replied, ¡°Hypoallergenic cats are cats that cause very mild allergic symptoms. Everybody¡¯s different, and there isn¡¯t a cat that doesn¡¯t cause allergies at all, in theory. The so-called non-allergenic cats are the ones that are least likely to cause allergic reactions, so that they appear to be non-allergenic.¡±

    ¡°What cats are non-allergenic?¡± Vivi asked anxiously.

    Zhang Zian thought to himself and considered his answer for a while. Then he replied, ¡°As far as I know, there are only three types of non-allergenic cats. The first type is special, which are the Sphynx cats. They¡¯re hairless cats with barely any hair on its body. So they can¡¯t lick their fur or get the allergenic proteins on themselves. You won¡¯t be allergic if you just touch it. But if it licks you, or if you¡¯re exposed to its urine, you¡¯ll still react.¡±

    Neither Vivi nor Snowy had seen a Sphynx cat before. They searched for pictures of it on a cell phone, and immediately frowned. ¡°This cat is so ugly! It looks just like an alien creature. Even if I really wanted a cat, I don¡¯t want one that looks like that! It¡¯ll scare me in the middle of the night. Mr. Manager, what about the other two types?¡¯

    Zhang Zian anticipated this reaction. Most people had a hard time epting the looks of a Sphynx cat. Not many girls had the same taste as Xu Junyu, the make-up artist from the Dog Warrior production crew.

    One of the biggest joys of owning a cat was petting them. If a cat had no fur, how could you pet them?

    ¡°Even if you wanted a cat like that, I don¡¯t have one in my shop.¡± Zhang Zian shrugged. ¡°One of the other two breeds is the Ashera cat. Snowy, don¡¯t you know a guy named Lin Qi? He has an Ashera cat, which is non-allergenic. If you want one, I can get one for you.¡±

    ¡°Lin Qi?¡±

    Vivi was a distant rtive of Snowy. She knew Lin Qi as well, but didn¡¯t know that he had a cat.

    Snowy shook her head towards her mysteriously, suggesting for her not to consider having such a cat. As far as Snowy knew, Lin Qi had been suffering from insomnia because of his Ashera cat.

    Vivi couldn¡¯t figure out her reasoning. She wanted to ask Snowy more about it, after leaving the shop.

    ¡°Well, what¡¯s thest non-allergenic cat breed?¡± She asked, hanging onto herst hope.

    Zhang Zian pointed to a corner in the shop and said, ¡°It¡¯s the Siberian Forest cat.¡±

 Chapter 567: The Pleasure of Being A Cat Enthusiast

    <h4>Chapter 567: The Pleasure of Being A Cat Enthusiast</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The Siberian Forest cat was a very expensive cat breed, which was not much cheaper than the Ragdoll cat. Customers interested in the cats of this price range would usually choose a Ragdoll instead of a Siberian. Otherwise, when these customers showed off their Siberian cats on social media, other people would misunderstand them as being unable to afford Ragdoll cats, which would be very embarrassing. Buying cats was like buying cars, the buyers were always worried how the people around them perceived their choices. Some people would always say, ¡°Oh, why not buy that brand/breed at this price¡­¡± Although the buyers may not mind, it was quite nauseating to hear suchments all the time.

    The poprity of the Siberian cats in China was probably less than one percent of that of the Ragdoll cats. The situation was not much better in foreign countries. The sales volume of the Siberian cats was rtively low, and it was a typical niche cat breed. Since Zhang Zian operated the pet shop, he had only sold one Siberian cat till now.

    However, Siberian cats possessed a characteristic that most cat breeds did not have. Their saliva contained very little sensitized protein, allowing human beings who were allergic to cats to stroke cats without worrying about allergic reactions.

    Following Zhang Zian¡¯s sight, Vivi saw a kitten ying with the Ragdoll cats in the corner. This kitten¡¯s hair was longer than the short-haired cat, making it look like a walking hairball. Whether it was its body size or appearance, it resembled a Ragdoll cat. At first nce, she even thought that it was a Ragdoll.

    She was pleasantly surprised and couldn¡¯t believe her ears¡ªCould she really raise such a cute cat?

    ¡°Of course, you could.¡± Zhang Zian replied affirmatively. ¡°Have you watched the movie Nine Lives? It is said that the director of this movie was allergic to cats. That was why he could only select a Siberian cat, the breed that he was not allergic to, as the protagonist.¡±

    ¡°Vivi, that¡¯s great!¡± Snowy was also very happy for Vivi.

    Beforeing to the pet shop, neither of them had thought that there was any cat that carried no allergen at all. This was really a pleasant surprise!

    Zhang Zian then added, ¡°If your allergic reactions are mild, there are actually some cats with low level of allergens to choose from, such as Siamese cats, Balinese cats, Devon Rex cats and the like. But from your description, your allergic reactions are rather serious, so for your own sake, you¡¯d better select a Siberian cat. You will definitely not be allergic to the Siberian cat.¡±

    When he finished speaking, he picked up the Siberian kitten from the corner and walked to Vivi.

    Vivi was concerned about her allergies, but also worried that she couldn¡¯t help but want to hug the cats when she saw them. Therefore, she had been hovering near the door since entering the store and could not go inside.

    She eagerly looked at the Siberian kitten that was gradually approaching her. She was touched by its adorable appearance. It wriggled its body and looked around, trying to escape from Zhang Zian¡¯s hands and continued ying with other kittens.

    Zhang Zian came to Vivi and said, ¡°You can touch it. See if you are allergic to it.¡±

    Vivi lifted one hand but she did not dare to extend her hand. Her previous allergic reactions made her extremely fearful and she worried that she would immediately have allergies if she touched it. Zhang Zian was just a pet shop owner, not a famous doctor. Even if a well-known doctor was standing in front of her and telling her to touch the cat without worries, she may also hesitate.

    However, this Siberian kitten was just so adorable and energetic. It big, blue, and innocent eyes made people unconsciously show love and tenderness towards it.

    Snowy encouraged Vivi from the side, ¡°Vivi, touch it! Don¡¯t you like cats very much? Haven¡¯t you been longing to raise a cat since a long time ago? Now, there is an opportunity in front of you!¡±

    That was true. Vivi had been wishing to raise a cat for a long time. There were various kinds of plush toys in the shape of cats on her bed in her bedroom. When she went out, she was so envious of other people who had real cats. And then when she returned home, she would plunge into the ocean of cat dolls, imagining them as real cats, holding them tightly, burying her nose into their hair¡­

    Unfortunately, they were just dolls and did not have the body temperature of real cats. Vivi could only smell the odor of fiber products. Most importantly, dolls could not move, meow, or look at her with their lively big eyes¡­No matter how rich her imagination was, she could not convince herself that those dolls were real cats. And dolls were unable to satisfy her longing to stroke real cats.

    Now, the opportunity to end those situations was in front of Vivi. If this Siberian kitten indeed did not carry any allergen as Zhang Zian said, then she could sweep all the cat dolls into a rubbish bin.

    Hence, Vivi emboldened herself, extended her finger to tickle the Siberian kitten on its chin.

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    As if enjoying the tickle, the Siberian kitten narrowed its eyes and looked at her.

    These were the characteristics a real cat should have. It was furry, it could meow, it had body temperature, and it could interact with human beings.

    Suppressing her excitement, Vivi nervously stared at her finger that had just touched the cat¡¯s hair for a while. If she had allergic reactions, she would start to sneeze and have a runny nose. Her fingertip would start to redden and be itchy, and such conditions would spread to her fingers, her entire palm, and even her wrist. Eventually, her body would be itchy. In severe cases, there would be a thickly dotted red rash all over her body¡­

    Both Snowy and Vivi stared at Vivi¡¯s fingertip as if there were invisible sacred objects there.

    As the minutes ticked away, nothing happened.

    ¡°Wow!¡± Vivi hugged Snowy and cheered. Vivi almost cried with excitement.

    Having realized her long-cherished wish, Vivi could not wait to dere this good news to the whole world.

    Theizens watching the live broadcast were terrified. They only saw the screen shaking violently and heard the screaming. They thought that Zhang Zian had finally aggravated his sexual harassment to girls from verbal harassment to behavioral harassment. They all shouted that they were going to call the police.

    There were also someizens who were more restrained and pragmatic.

    ¡°Prior to this, I really had no idea that there were cats that did not carry allergens. Now that I have learnt this fact, I could tell others and show off in the future.¡±

    ¡°Even so, there is no need for her to be so excited. She is just going to raise a cat¡­¡±

    ¡°I can only say that you don¡¯t understand the world of cat enthusiasts! I have a friend who is also allergic to cats, though her allergic reactions are not as severe as Vivi¡¯s, she insists on keeping a British Shorthair cat. To raise her British Shorthair, my friend takes anti-allergic drugs, gets the desensitization injection, her air purifier is operating 24/7, and she uses a vacuum cleaner to suck the cat hair all over her house¡­I feel exhausted looking at her! Yes, she is allergic to cats. But so what? She is so joyful that she posts pictures of her cat on Weibo and WeChat Moment happily every day!¡±

    ¡°Tut, I can only say that if you are not a cat person, you can¡¯t understand the pleasure of being a cat enthusiast¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m going to tell her that a Siberian cat is a good choice for her. At least she does not have to be so tired if she raises a Siberian cat¡­ But even if she knows it, she will certainly not give up her British Shorthair cat. I guess in the end, she will raise two cats together¡­¡±

    Snowy asked Zhang Zian with admiration, ¡°Mr. Store Manager, how did you know about the non-sensitized cats and low-sensitized cats?¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled, and replied pretentiously as usual, ¡°Because I am a pet shop owner. I would be so useless if I don¡¯t know about these things.¡±

    Viviughed and jumped repeatedly. She was extremely happy and had finally vented her longsting mncholy.

    She stretched out both her hands to the Siberian kitten. ¡°I want to hold it.¡±

    ¡°Sure, here you are.¡± Zhang Zian was already tired holding the kitten. He ced the Siberian kitten to Vivi¡¯s hands and taught her how to hold it.

    As if gaining a treasure, Vivi carefully held the kitten in her arms. She poked its forehead, tickled its ears, and stroked its soft tail, and was reluctant to let it go.

 Chapter 568: Talents in Unthinkable Areas

    <h4>Chapter 568: Talents in Unthinkable Areas</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    While Vivi held the Siberian kitten, Masanori Suzuhara was choosing a bowl, cage, cor, and leash for Snoopy. The old Snoopy got all of these supplies from theb, but this Snoopy belonged to her. She enjoyed being a dog owner and shopping for pet supplies. One problem she was facing was getting a dog-raising license due to its foreign identity, but she was confident to get it done.

    Lu Yiyun gave her a shopping bag, which was customized and ordered online per Ting Ying¡¯s suggestion. The light-brown paper bag looked ssy with the Amazing Fate Pet Shop¡¯s name, address, and telephone written on the front. The other side of the bag had a big QR code.

    Masanori Suzuhara put all her items into the shopping bag, and soon filled up two bags. She also needed an air box for the pet.

    Zhang Zian suggested eagerly, ¡°Don¡¯t you need pet shampoo? One of the drawbacks of having a beagle is the smell. It needs to be bathed often, and human shampoo is not suitable for dogs.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I know that,¡± Masanori Suzuhara answered with her head down. She nced around the store and asked hesitantly, ¡°Well, can I wash the dog in the shop?¡±

    ¡°Yes, you can.¡± Zhang Zian signaled for her to follow. He brought her to the pet showers and said, ¡°Here are the showers, but as we¡¯re short-staffed, customers have to wash the pets on their own.¡±

    It sounded legitimate, but so far only cat owners brought their cats here for a bath. Even if dog owners came, they left after realizing that they had to wash the dogs on their own.

    Most cats hate getting wet, and cats weren¡¯t as obedient or affectionate as dogs, so forcing cats into a shower usually ended in both the cat and the owner getting hurt. However, customers could easily wash their hydrophobic cats because of Fina, so they were willing to pay to wash them on their own.

    But, what about dogs?

    Firstly, none of the elfins could control a regr dog. Second, dogs weren¡¯t afraid of water so it was easier to wash them. Most dog owners washed their dogs in the shop out of convenience, but if they had to pay to do it themselves, they¡¯d rather wash the dogs at home. Who would throw away money like that?

    The shower was for all pets, but it was mostly used for cats as nobody paid to wash the dogs.

    If the Amazing Fate Pet Shop intended to start a dog washing service, it would need to hire extra people. Wang Qian and Li Kun only worked part-time, and they never stayed all day. Hiring people was a hassle. Who knew if the new employee would be reliable and honest?

    So, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t intend to start dog washing, but it didn¡¯t stop him from ying cool.

    He showed Masanori Suzuhara how to use the shower as if he were serious. Masanori Suzuhara looked surprised, she was a foreigner, not a fool. Who¡¯d pay to wash their own dog?

    ¡°Do I have to wash it myself?¡± she asked for confirmation.

    ¡°Well, since our shop is short-staffed, you¡¯ll have to rely on yourself for now. Our great leader Mao once told us to rely on our own hands to get food and clothing,¡± Zhang Zian uttered.

    Masanori Suzuhara realized that he misunderstood her and rified: ¡°No, that¡¯s not what I meant. Have you heard of a ¡®dog washer¡¯?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t believe his ears.

    He¡¯s heard of a washing machine, but not of a dog washer.

    Masanori Suzuhara put down Snoopy, and exined, ¡°In Japan, we have a type of dog washer. All you need to do is put your dog inside and insert some coins. The machine sprays the dog with bubbles, rinses it off with warm water, and then dries the dog with warm air. It takes about half an hour, and the doges out fresh and clean. It also prevents the dog from getting a cold during the wash.¡±

    There was such a magical gadget? Zhang Zian¡¯s world view changed once again.

    All he could say was that the Japanese were using their talents in unthinkable areas.

    Snowy fell into a trance. She couldn¡¯t imagine what a dog washer looked like, and envisioned a dog rolling in a washing machine.

    ¡°Since it¡¯s called a dog washer, does that mean that it can¡¯t wash cats?¡± Snowy asked with curiosity.

    Since winter started, Snowball bathed less often because the shower room was too hot with the door closed, but too cold with the door open. Her mother didn¡¯t want her to take Snowball over for a bath, fearing that her hands would get frostbite after getting wet and being blown on by the wind.

    ¡°In theory,¡± Masanori Suzuhara replied, ¡°but dogs are obedient and calm in the shower. Cats hate water so they always jump in the machine, leaving scratchmarks, so very few people use the machine to wash cats.¡±

    Zhang Zian and Snowy thought of a possibility at the same time.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, you can buy two washers, one for cats, and one for dogs,¡± Snowy suggested.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Zhang Zian agreed, thinking it feasible.

    Try to imagine this, two washers side by side, one for dogs and one for cats. The owners sitting and chatting, and the shop offering them drinks. After half an hour, the washer door would open. Cats and dogs would jump out of the machines, clean and fresh. The owners would take their pets and say goodbye. It¡¯d be so ssy.

    With such a novel gadget, people would surely be willing to pay to try it out. They¡¯d probably get away with the fact that it¡¯d more expensive than manual washing.

    Zhang Zian roughly calcted in his head. The shower time was half an hour. If he consideredmercial water and power consumption, plus the cost of the machine and the maintenance fees, he may not make much money. However, it was a new service and grabbed people¡¯s attention. It¡¯d bring a lot of customers into the shop.

    The qyestion was, where could he buy the washer?

    He picked up his phone and resorted to the omnipotent Taobao.

    You could find tanks, aircraft carriers, and even star destroyers with free shipping on Taobao. After numerous searches, he couldn¡¯t find the dog washer Masanori Suzuhara described.

    Running out of options, he asked Masanori Suzuhara, ¡°Miss Suzuhara, do you know where I can buy those dog washers?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Masanori Suzuhara thought about it and answered regretfully, ¡°all I know is the machines are sold in Japan. Whether they¡¯re sold in other countries, I¡¯m not sure.¡±

    Zhang Zian scratched his head. If he couldn¡¯t find the washer on Taobao, would he have to buy them from Japan? He didn¡¯t know Japan at all. Where could he find it? Plus, they might not even sell it to him.

    Wasn¡¯t there a Japanese girl standing in front of him?

    He spoke boldly, ¡°Miss Suzuhara, I¡¯d like to find out whichpany in Japan sells this magical dog washer. Could you please help me with the search when you have some time? If you could give me thepany¡¯s name, website or email, that¡¯d be great. Of course, a phone number would be best.¡±

    Since he didn¡¯t know Japanese and couldn¡¯t write in Japanese, it¡¯d be best if they called him. Then, he could ask Richard to talk to them for him. If they sent an email, he¡¯d have to rely on Google Trantor.

    To his surprised, Masanori Suzuhara answered without hesitation, ¡°No problem. This is easy. My medical school has been coordinating with a biomedicalpany that makes dog washers. I can contact them for you.¡±

    Zhang Zian was thrilled. It¡¯d be awesome if Masanori Suzuhara could help him since she was from Japan and was a medical student. If she reached out to thatpany, they might even offer a discount.

    He said politely, ¡°Thank you so much. It won¡¯t be too much trouble for you? I won¡¯t charge you for this beagle. It¡¯ll be my token of appreciation for your help.¡±

    Yu Yiyun was about to print the receipt and the pet sales agreement. She stopped after hearing Zhang Zian.

    The online followers knew what kind of person Zhang Zian was, and sted with tons of bullet screen.

    ¡°Mr. Stingy suddenly being generous? Is this the same shop manager that I knew?¡±

    ¡°Being generous without a cause, he must be after something!¡±

    ¡°If he didn¡¯t need help from this Japanese girl, would Mr. Stingy still be generous?¡±

    ¡°Well said!¡±

    Zhang Zianpletely ignored the bullet screens. He had nothing to lose anyway.

    ¡°No! No! How could I ept?¡± Masanori Suzuhara declined. It might be a hassle for Zhang Zian, but a small task for her. She only needed to connect with her contacts.

    In addition, she was grateful that Zhang Zian kept the only beagle in the shop for her. This beagle resembled Snoopy a lot, they seemed toe from the same litter. After she saw that Small Monkey also wanted this beagle, she had secretly given up hope. However, Zhang Zian chose to sell it to her instead of Small Monkey. How could she not pay for it?

    Zhang Zian needed a favor from her. They went back and forth. In the end, to make the receipt easier, Zhang Zian told Lu Yiyun to charge her one dor and gave her the pet sales agreement. The pet supplies that she picked were also offered as gifts.

    Masanori Suzuhara thanked him repeatedly, promising to take good care of this beagle personally. She would contact theb seniors as soon as she got back to the international student residence.

 Chapter 569: Return Home After Having A Blast

    <h4>Chapter 569: Return Home After Having A st</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Vivi was holding the Siberian kitten fondly and she could hardly bear to put it down. But when Vivi saw that the experienced Masanori Suzuhara had picked many pet supplies, she felt that she should also buy some. She did not know what kind of pet supplies she should buy, so she asked Snowy to help her.

    After selecting the necessary pet supplies, Snowy and Vivi brought the Siberian kitten along with the pet supplies to the checkout counter. However, because they had bought too many items, the two of them could not carry all the items by themselves. Zhang Zian considerately offered to deliver the items for them, but they should pay for the shipping fees.

    Masanori Suzuhara put Snoopy into the air box and said goodbye to everyone. She put on a mask and a pair of goggles. Carrying two shopping bags in one hand, and carrying the air box in her other hand, she left the pet shop and disappeared into the fog with a brisk pace.

    Zhang Zian instructed Vivi on how she could make her kitten dance. Vivi was already very happy to be able to raise a cat. She almost fainted for she was overjoyed to hear that the kitten she bought could dance. She repeated Zhang Zian¡¯s method, and sure enough, the Siberian kitten started to dance in front of her. A lot of audiences who did not live in Binhai City tuned in today¡¯s livestream because they wanted to see the kittens at Zhang Zian¡¯s shop dance. Since Vivi loved her kitten dearly, she made it stop after dancing to only one song, making the audiences feel a bit disappointed.

    Snowy looked at the time. It was almost time for her to end the live broadcast.

    The things Snowy had learnt from this live broadcast were far beyond her expectations. Not only had she heard an interesting story, increased her knowledge, but she had helped Vivi solve her allergies to cats that had been guing her for years. This trip to the pet shop was worthwhile.

    Zhang Zian looked at the bathroom again and wondered how he should ce the automatic dog washing machines if he could get some. In fact, it would be better and more eye-catching if the machines were ced outside the store inte spring, summer and early autumn. Because during those times, dogs would not feel cold bathing in the outdoors. Many customers had reflected that the bathroom was too hot and suffocating in summer. And in other times, he would move the washing machines into the bathroom.

    Snowy bowed to her audiences, which was her iconic behavior to end her livestream, ¡°This is the end of this outdoor live broadcast presented by Snowy. Please follow my live broadcast channel, and I will publish the time and ce of my next program on my Weibo and WeChat ount. If you guys have any good suggestions, feel free to tell me. See you next time!¡±

    Snowy turned off the live broadcast app and felt relieved. It was not easy to maintain an energetic look in front of the audiences for a long time.

    It was almost noon. The fog had dissipated a lot. She whispered with Vivi and they both decided that it was time for them to go home.

    They hailed a taxi. After saying goodbye to Zhang Zian, they left the pet shop with the air box and returned to the vi district.

    Since the taxi had no permit to enter the vi district, it was parked at the entrance of the neighborhood. The moment Snowy and Vivi got off the taxi, a luxury car stopped beside them.

    At the sight of the car, Snowy groaned painfully. When the car window rolled down, she saw her mother¡¯s stern face.

    ¡°You wicked girl. I told you not to go out. Why did you have to go out? Do you know how many pollutants are in the dense fog? When you are old and you cough all day long, you¡¯ll regret that you did not listen to me! And why did you have to go out with Vivi? Don¡¯t you know that car idents would ur easily in the foggy weather?¡±

    Snowy¡¯s mother scolded Snowy furiously by saying the above words repeatedly. She med Snowy for going outdoor with Vivi in the bad weather, for fear that her crazy and wild daughter would be a bad influence to such a good girl like Vivi.

    Snowy was ustomed to her mother¡¯s reproach so she didn¡¯t take the scolding seriously. She even smiled carelessly and praised the nice hairstyles of her mother and Aunt Zhou, saying that the new haircuts had made both of them seem five years younger. In her mother¡¯s words, Snowy had no sense of shame at all.

    Aunt Zhou felt awkward hearing their conversation, so she hurriedly changed the subject. She noticed that her daughter was holding a stic box in her hand. She asked, ¡°Vivi, what are you carrying?¡±

    Vivi happily turned the front of the air box to her mother, ¡°It is a kitten I just bought from a pet shop. Isn¡¯t it beautiful?¡±

    ¡°Ah!¡± Aunt Zhou was so stunned that she bounced from the seat and her head hit the roof of the car. Without attending to the pain in her head, she opened the car door, approached Vivi and tried to grab the air box from Vivi.

    ¡°Vivi, are you crazy? Don¡¯t you know that you¡¯re allergic to cats? How dare you buy a cat? Have you forgotten how many days you spent in the hospital thest time you raised a cat? I was heartbroken seeing you suffered like that!¡± Aunt Zhou was so anxious that she flushed. She wanted to grab the air box from Vivi to throw it away.

    Snowy¡¯s mother, Shi Rong, was shocked. Her daughter must have taken Vivi to that pet shop! Shi Rong always knew that her daughter was a troublemaker, but the trouble she made today was too severe! Knowing that Vivi was allergic to cats, how could Snowy take her to buy a cat? She must punish this wicked girl harshly this time!

    Vivi kept the air box behind her and smiled, ¡°Mom, I¡¯m fine! I¡¯m not allergic to this cat! Don¡¯t you see, I have no allergic reactions currently!¡±

    Vivi took off her gloves and mask. Aunt Zhou could see that there was no sign of redness on her slim fingers.

    ¡°This ¡­what is going on?¡± Aunt Zhou was stunned. A few years ago, Vivi had serious allergic reactions to cats and she was hospitalized for a long time. The rash all over Vivi¡¯s body disappeared after she had taken all kinds of anti-allergic drugs. Since then, her family turned pale at the mere mention of cats.

    Vivi and Snowy took turns to exin to Aunt Zhou and Shi Rong why Vivi was not allergic to the Siberian cats. Snowy¡¯s voice was as crisp as an oriole, while Vivi¡¯s voice was gentle and soft like water. Both their voices were pleasing to the ears.

    It was the first time for Aunt Zhou and Shi Rong to hear that there were cats that people were not allergic to.

    Vivi took the Siberian kitten from the air box and held it lovingly in her arms. Her skin did not be red or itchy. She did not sneeze or have a running nose.

    Aunt Zhou was finallypletely relieved. Her concerns were reced by joy, because her daughter who loved cats so much had realized her hope today. But Aunt Zhou admonished Vivi that she should not get too close with other cat breeds apart from the Siberian cats.

    Vivi indicated that she had understood.

    It was not easy for Vivi toe into Snowy¡¯s home. Since Vivi was allergic to Snowy¡¯s Persian cat, and she was eager to settle down her own kitten at home, she had no intention to enter the vi district. Hence, Vivi said goodbye to Snowy.

    Snowy had a st today and agreed with Vivi that they would hang out together next time. Shi Rong poked Snowy in the face and warned her not to get carried away. She had not punished Snowy for sneaking out today.

    Snowy stuck out her tongue, frowned and looked at Vivi helplessly. Vivi smiled and embraced her to say goodbye.

 Chapter 570: Relaying Messages

    <h4>Chapter 570: Rying Messages</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Masanori Suzuhara usually contacted her ssmates and seniors in Japan using Line, but she¡¯d started using Wechat aftering to China. School hadn¡¯t started yet, and she only had a few Wechat contacts, including the counselor and Zhang Zian.

    She went back to the international student¡¯s residence, and set up a cozy spot for Snoopy. Pets weren¡¯t forbidden in the residence, but otherwise she would have to rent a room outside. Rent in China was cheaper than Japan and there was no need to pay unnecessary money. Still, she wanted to get to know more Chinese friends during her limited days in the country.

    Although she¡¯d taken care of former Snoopy in theb for a long time, technically this was still her first time owning a pet of her own. She didn¡¯t know that beagles often annoyed the neighbors and she started to grow anxious after remembering the conversation between Zhang Zian and Qian Bowen.

    This Snoopy was well trained by Zhang Zian at the pet shop, and only barked once or twice since it had arrived at the residence. She remembered Zhang Zian¡¯s advice and resisted the urge to look back at it. She stared at her phone, and didn¡¯t even turn her head when it barked.

    She received lots of Line greetings from herb seniors, asking her how she was doing in China, what it was like around her, and if she was being mistreated by anyone.

    Masanori Suzuhara read the messages and smiled. Beforeing here, all she knew about China was through TV news and costume dramas, which easily could have exaggerated the way things actually were. The seniors¡¯ worries were understandable.

    Snoopy barked two more times, but she continued to ignore it. After that, it stopped barking, and sniffed around the room the explore the new territory.

    Masanori Suzuhara had been paying attention to its movements, and felt reassured after seeing that it had finally stopped barking. The former Snoopys were kept in ab that had good sound instion, and even then, nobody was there during the night time. Nobody cared how much they barked. But the residence was different.

    She responded to all of the greetings from her seniors, and tried her best to rify their misunderstandings about China, telling them not to worry as she tried to adapt to her new life.

    In addition, some of her close girl friends were asking her if she¡¯d been eating properly, and if she could ever get used to the food in China. They told her to take more local products from Japan with her the next time she travelled back.

    The most frequently asked question, from either her seniors or ssmates, was asking why she hadn¡¯t updated Twitter in such a long time, and if she had run into any difficulties or trouble.

    Regarding this subject, she just told them it was a long story. She wanted toin, but she wasn¡¯t able to actually say anything.

    After answering all of the greetings, she asked her seniors about the biomedical devicepany that had been cooperating with theb, along with inquires about their contact information.

    The seniors did some research and sent her thepany¡¯s information.

    Her phone vibrated. The delivery man had arrived at the international students¡¯ residence, and was calling for her to pick up her stuff. The cage she ordered from the pet shop had arrived.

    Masanori Suzuhara put aside her other business, picked up the cage downstairs, paid for the courier, and then started to set up a cozy space for Snoopy. She was following Zhang Zian¡¯s advice. It was necessary to use a cage before Snoopy was fully trained.

    She put an old nket in the cage, and put anotheryer of waterproof cloth on top, in case Snoopy peed or pooped while inside. The old nket was actually only a few days old.

    After that, she put a pair of old gloves on top of the old nket. ording to Zhang Zian, when she was not in the room, it would be better to let Snoopy keep on smelling her. It would calm the dog down, so it wouldn¡¯t panically bark for its missing owner.

    The shopping bag from the pet shop was on the table, and the QR code was too ring to be ignored. She took out another item from the bag. It was thest resort to stop the beagle from barking; a dog mask. The dog couldn¡¯t open its mouth once it was on, thus preventing it from making any noise. However, she didn¡¯t want to use this unless she had to.

    The dog mask was much different from a shock cor. It was defensive, practical, and useful.

    When Zhang Zian rmended the dog mask to Masanori Suzuhara, he took the time to educate her about the reality of China.

    When walking a dog outside, no matter how friendly the dog was, if it was not as obedient as a police dog, it would always be better to use a mask. Apart from preventing bad situations of biting and barking, the mask could also prevent the dog from eating unknown food. Every year, many dogs died from poisoning after eating random food from outside.

    If some person hated either the dog or the owner, they could ce poisonous bait in their residential areas. The dog would die as soon as it consumed it, leaving no time for medical aid. If a regr dog had not been fully trained to resist this type of food, it was necessary to put on a mask when it went outside, before something terrible happened.

    She was horrified after hearing this, and immediately agreed to buy the mask.

    After entering the cage, Snoopy barked a few more times. Maybe it didn¡¯t want to be locked up. But Masanori Suzuhara ignored it, opened herptop, and started writing out an email using the contact information provided by her seniors. The email address they gave her was not an officialpany address, but the personal email of a business manager whom the seniors knew very well and often had drinks with.

    The seniors asked her what her purpose was when they provided her the contact information. She replied that she had received a favor from a pet shop owner in China, and was trying to do something to return the favor.

    She stated her identity and intentions in the email, hoping that the recipient would make an exception. After all, thispany had only been selling their automatic dog washers in Japan, and not in other countries. Transportation was a major issue. An automatic dog washer was heavy and bulky, much bigger thanmon washing machines used in households.

    After sending the email, Masanori Suzuhara saw that Snoopy had already quieted down, and was staring at her while lying down in the cage. Its eyes looked a bit sad.

    ¡°Good job, Snoopy,¡± she said, praising it.

    She let it out of its cage, and sat down on the cold floor with it, as part of her old habits. She trained it to sit, squat, and lie down with some treats.

    Snoopy immediately got excited, and yed with her happily. However, it wasn¡¯t responding to her training demands. Beagles were often too lively and difficult to train, as they were not obedient. Still, she knew that some beagles were trained as police dogs to detect drugs.

    ¡°Woof!¡±

    Snoopy jumped to grab the food out of her hands, and barked with disappointment after failing to do so.

    Masanori Suzuhara quickly stood up from the ground and went back to her seat. She noticed that a new email had arrived.

    The business manager replied to her email, saying that thepany was not nning on expanding the automatic dog washer business in China just yet. But, thepany was going to bring a machine to China to participate in a home technology exhibition. If they didn¡¯t mind, thepany would consider leaving the washer behind, the one that was going to be used as a sample for the disy. It would spare them the trouble of shipping it back to Japan. However, they needed to discuss the further details of the n and they also couldn¡¯t offer free warranty services.

    After seeing that its owner was ignoring it, Snoopy heistantly came over, circled her chair a few times around, sniffed her feet, and then stood up to put its two front paws on her leg, asking her to y.

    Masanori Suzuhara was trying to focus on the email. She had to let Snoopy know that barking meant punishment, which included barking from being ignored and being without food or y. She¡¯d heard about the trouble that Qian Bowen had encountered with his beagle. She must pay close attention, in order not to repeat the same mistakes and to avoid annoying others.

    She read the email twice, thought about it, and then texted Zhang Zian. She was only the messenger responsible for rying the message to Zhang Zian. Zhang Zian had to make the final decision, and see if he was willing to ept a sample automatic dog washer from the exhibition.

    Snoopy barked two more times and scratched her leg to get her attention. But it was only disappointed. The owner was acting like a wooden statue, focused on her work, and not responding to its behavior.

    Zhang Zian replied quicker than she had expected.

    He texted her back and said, he knew about the challenges from shipping, and didn¡¯t mind if it was a disy sample from the exhibition. He was willing to buy it at the price of a new machine. As for the warranty, it was a shame, but he couldn¡¯t really do anything about it. Thepany didn¡¯t have a branch in China, and he understood their reasoning. If the machine broke while using, he was willing to pay for the repairs himself.

    Masanori Suzuhara incorporated Zhang Zian¡¯s reply in her email, and sent it back to the business manager.

    Snoopyid down by her feet sadly, and looked up at her from time to time. It seemed to have epted the fact that she did not like to be disturbed while working, and had to wait for her to finish.

    After it had calmed down, Masanori Suzuhara leaned over, ced it on herp, andbed its hair with a small brush. She said gently, ¡°Snoopy, don¡¯t bark, and don¡¯t annoy other people. Otherwise, I wont y with you.¡±

    Despite the fact that it was named Snoopy, it was actually a female dog. Female beagles were quieter than the males. The one that Qian Bowen had owned was male, and barked more for that reason.

    Snoopyid on herpfortably and let her brush its hair. It didn¡¯t bark at all.

    The business manager replied to her email again, saying that they appreciated the amodation of their Chinese counterparts. He also brought along some good news. Since the voltage in Japan was 110V, notpatible with the voltage in China, to ensure a sessful demonstration in the exhibition, thepany would bring a special voltage converter to China and give it to them with the machine for free after the exhibtion.

    Masanori Suzuhara tapped her forehead, and thanked them for being so considerate. She hadn¡¯t thought of this issue before. If they had gotten the automatic dog washer, but couldn¡¯t use it because of its different voltage, she would have been so embarrased.

    She informed Zhang Zian of thetest news, and sessfully fufilled her role as messenger.

    ¡°Great job, Snoopy. You¡¯re being really good,¡± she said to it gently.

 Chapter 571: Signing A Contract

    <h4>Chapter 571: Signing A Contract</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian received a message from Masanori Suzuhara and was finally relieved.

    He could figure out how difficult this matter was because the automatic dog washing machinepany had no business in China. And unlike a smart toilet seat or a rice cook, an individual could not bring an automatic dog washing machine from Japan to China¡­Money was not the problem, but the transportation and shipping fees were the issues here. If not because thatpany happened to have brought some automatic dog washing machines to China to participate in the show, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t even get samples from the show. The details of the voltage differences in China and Japan mentioned by Masanori Suzuhara were also very good. He hadn¡¯t visited Japan before, so he did not know that the standard voltage in Japan was different from that of China. When the machines were delivered to his shop, it would be tragic if he directly inserted the plugs into the power sockets.

    When thepany agreed to sell the automatic dog washing machines to Zhang Zian, the next step was to talk about some details. Zhang Zian would try his best to close the deal. After all, this was the seller¡¯s market, and as the buyer, Zhang Zian must pay for the shipping fees in China.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi stuck its head out of the stairwell and gestured to him.

    There was no customer in the shop currently. Lu Yiyun was drawing. Wang Qian and Li Kun were ying games on their mobile phones in various positions. The elves were either watching TV, ying, or taking a nap. Zhang Zian followed Pi and went to the second floor.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Pi?¡±

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi excitedly pulled the lower hem of his sweater and pointed to the living room, motioning him to go there and look.

    Theptop on the desk was open, and the screen was disying the tform for the authors on the Qidian Chinese website. A new short message sent from the website was disyed on the center of the webpage. ¡°Greetings, author. Your work has passed the review and has reached the standard to sign a contract. Please wait patiently for the editor in charge to contact you. At that time, please indicate the title of your book and your name.¡±

    The QQ number of the editor in charge was also given at the end of the short message.

    ¡°It means that you can sign a contract with Qidian regarding your novel? Great, Pi! I know you can do it!¡± Zhang Zian said excitedly.

    Pi was also overjoyed, jumping up and down in the room, dancing, and shouting, just like an ordinary monkey.

    ¡°It¡¯s not easy¡­¡± This was the second thing that had happened to Zhang Zian today that deserved celebrating. He looked at the ecstatic Pi and was sincerely happy for it.

    Since Pi began writing the novel, it had risen earlier than the roosters and slept muchter than the dogs. Every morning when Zhang Zian woke up, he could see the vague fluorescent light from theputer screen. And every night, after everyone had gone to bed, he could asionally hear the slight page turning sounds and Pi scratching its hair in the living room. He knew that Pi must have encountered some problems and had been struggling on how to write the plots in the novel.

    The novel was notpletely fictitious, but Pi did not copy its life in the pet shop into its novel either. Instead, it would choose and modify some aspects from real life, and even adjust the timelines of certain events to better serve the plots in its novel. Writing the novel would be very easy if Pi just copied everything from its real life. But in that case, no one would read its novel because it was not a novel but a diary.

    Every day from the morning, while other elves were eating, Pi was thinking about the plots; while other elves were ying, Pi was typing; while other elves were taking a nap, Pi was looking up information in the untitled book. Even in the dead of night, when it was about to rest in the basket hammock chair, if it suddenly had a good idea, it would immediately get up and record the plot briefly in its document in case it would forget the next day.

    The harder Pi worked, the more Zhang Zian worried that its efforts and diligence would not be rewarded. The rate of authors signing contracts with Qidian website was 1/9. Now that Pi had received the message to sign a contract, which meant that it had defeated the other eight authors. How could he not be happy for it?

    ¡°Eeek?¡±

    Pi pointed at the QQ number at the end of the short message, not knowing what the number meant. For these minor issues, Pi tended to ask Zhang Zian directly rather than looking them up in the untitled book.

    ¡°Oh, QQ is an instant messaging tool. You need tomunicate with the editor in charge via this. Come, let me teach you how to use it.¡±

    He sat next to Pi to exin how to use QQ to add friends and chat with them.

    Pi learnt how to use QQ in no time. It entered the QQ number of the editor in charge, and then clicked to add him as a friend.

    A momentter, an icon with the avatar of a bald monk appeared in Pi¡¯s QQ contact list.

    Pi typed in the QQ chat box: Greetings, editor in charge, I am the author of Pet King, nice to meet you.

    It was the first time for Pi to chat with people, a stranger even, on QQ, so it chose its words cautiously. After sending the message, it asked Zhang Zian by gesturing: Will he find out that I am a monkey?

    ¡°No,¡± Zhang Zianughed, ¡°How could he find out? There was a witty remark before ¨C ¡®You never know if you¡¯re chatting with a person or a dog on the Inte.¡¯ And certainly, the editor could not tell whether he is chatting with a human or a monkey¡­What¡¯s going on, are you worried about people finding out that you are a monkey?¡±

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi typed: It will be very troublesome if they know, right?

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Zhang Zian admitted that there would be a sensation if people knew that Pet King was a novel written by a monkey.

    After a while, the bald monk sent a smile emoji.

    ¡°Eeek?¡±

    Pi scratched its head, not understanding what this expression meant.

    Zhang Zian exined, ¡°This means that he has received your message. Pi, don¡¯t worry. I heard that the editors are very busy because each editor is in charge of hundreds of authors. You just need to set your mind at rest and continue writing your book.¡±

    Pi repeatedly nodded, and then looked at the interface of QQ for a few more times. After confirming that the other party did not speak again, it minimized the QQ interface.

    ¡°By the way, Pi, how many readers have added your novel to their libraries now?¡± Zhang Zian asked. This number indicated how many people were reading Pi¡¯s novels.

    Pi suddenly became dejected. It opened the work management section of the website to let Zhang Zian see.

    At a nce of the number, Zhang Zian who was quite happy before became extremely upset.

    Add to Library: 27

    Pi had been uploading more than 50,000 words on the website, and it had written about 20 chapters, but only 27 people were reading its novel, which meant that on average, the novel could attract one reader per chapter. Besides, these readers might have only read the beginning of the book and added it to their library but have not read thetest chapters.

    As evidence, there was noment in thement section.

    Zhang Zian could not think of any useful words tofort Pi. All he could do was pat it on the back to encourage it. In the past, he even scorned people when he saw at the Wang Haige Forum that 40 readers had added some novel to their libraries when 50,000 words of that novel had been uploaded, because he believed that when Pi had written so many words, over 40 readers would definitely have put Pi¡¯s novel in their libraries. Nevertheless, the reality had smacked him ruthlessly in the face.

    ording to the instructions from the website, Zhang Zian used his ID to help Pi fill out the contract.

    Now, he needed to go out, print the contract and mail it.

 Chapter 572: Pregnancy

    <h4>Chapter 572: Pregnancy</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian went downstairs with the USB drive containing the contract. There was a printer by the register of Amazing Fate Pet Shop, but he didn¡¯t want Lu Yiyun to think he was writing a novel. So he headed to a printing store further away, and handed over the May Day Model Worker Evaluation Form to the residents¡¯mittee. Grandma Gu from themittee had been nagging him about this matter. She¡¯de for the form herself if he dyed any further.

    ¡°Stop!¡± As he was passing the cat tree, Fina woke up from a nap, opened its eyes and called him.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Zhang Zian was confused. Fina¡¯s tone wasn¡¯t friendly. He hadn¡¯t offended her recently, and it had been eating and sleeping well. He hadn¡¯t called it fat in quite a while.

    ¡°Meow! When Your Majesty tells you to stop, you stop. If I hear any more of your nonsense, I¡¯ll castrate you!¡± Snowy Li waved its paws to intimidate him.

    Fina tilted its head and narrowed its eyes at the Abyssinian cats jumping up and down the disy cab. ¡°What are you going to do with them?¡±

    ¡°What to do with what?¡± Zhang Zian was focused on Pi¡¯s affair, and couldn¡¯t figure out what it was referring to.

    Fina¡¯s face went cold. ¡°Haven¡¯t you noticed that a few of the cats are growing fat?¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. ¡°As if I knocked them up?¡± He looked at them carefully, but couldn¡¯t tell which cats looked different.

    ¡°They need a quiet room to give birth,¡± Fina spoke slowly.

    Zhang Zian had briefly studied the breeding book Kathy left, then tentatively followed Kathy¡¯s n to let a few Abyssinian cats mate. In order not to bother the other cats, the mating took ce in the storage room upstairs. He didn¡¯t know how the mating process turned out. With the hassles of Pi¡¯s novel, he totally forgot about it. ording to Fina, the mating might¡¯ve been sessful?

    He walked over and picked up a female Abyssinian cat. After careful examination, he still couldn¡¯t see anything different with its belly. The others were the same. However, if he carefully petted them with his hands, he could feel a small bump.

    The gestation period of cats was two months, and the change in figure wasn¡¯t obvious under their fur. A lot of careless owners only found out about the pregnancy after the cat gave birth to kittens.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Lu Yiyun finished drawing a picture and rubbed her eyes. After seeing Zhang Zian¡¯s serious face, she thought the cat he was holding was sick.

    ¡°This cat is pregnant,¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    ¡°What? Howe I didn¡¯t notice?¡± Lu Yiyun circled around the counter in surprise, and stared at the cat¡¯s belly up close.

    ¡°I¡¯m a professional,¡± He answered brazenly. He put down the cat to let it be with the other cats. He called Wang Qian and Li Kun over and asked them to pay special attention to these female Abyssinian cats during feeding, to make sure they were well fed. Generally speaking, it¡¯d be better to separate the pregnant cats from the others, in case the fighting caused them to miscarry, and they needed a quiet ce to give birth.

    There were a lot of pets in the shop, and there were more to be shipped from Pets¡¯ Home Breeding Base after the Chinese New Year. The storage room upstairs and his parents¡¯ bedroom were rtively quiet. The storage room was full and cluttered, and he didn¡¯t want to use his parents¡¯ room. This was bing problematic.

    After Zhang Zian finished instructing others, he walked out with the USB drive, made a few copies of the contract in the printing store, then handed them to the courier headed to the Qidian office building located in Shanghai. He was a little embarrassed when he printed them out, and felt a weird look from the printing boy, as if he were saying, ¡°I guess anyone can write novels these days?¡±

    After finishing the contract, he went straight to the residents¡¯mittee.¡¡ The Spring Festival wasing soon, so it was festive at the residents¡¯mittee. With her loud voice, Grandma Gu was overseeing the others put up decorations.

    ¡°Grandma Gu, here you are, the evaluation form.¡± He was ready to face the great demon, and handed over the finished form. He smiled. ¡°I¡¯ve been busy and almost forgot about this. Sorry for the inconvenience.¡±

    Grandma Gu stared at him, put on her reading sses, read the form to confirm that everything was fine, then folded it and put it in her pocket. She waved her hands, a signal for him to leave and stay out of her way.

    ¡°Right, Grandma Gu, I¡¯m just wondering, is there a store for rent on our street? It would be best if it¡¯s not far from my shop.¡± He asked.

    ¡°Rent?¡± Grandma Gu lowered her head and looked at him from above her reading sses. She asked him in confusion, ¡°Zian, are you nning to quit?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not quitting. I¡¯m wondering if there are other stores for rent because I¡¯d like to take over one,¡± he exined.

    Grandma Gu nced at him with surprise. ¡°Take over a store?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I want to expand. My shop isn¡¯t big enough,¡± Zhang Zian spoke seriously. There were more and more pets and elfins in the shop, the ce was getting crowded. While searching for a delivery room for the Abyssinian cats, he made the decision to expand his shop. This wasn¡¯t an easy decision. In fact, he had been considering this for a long time, whether he should be content with what he had, or expand using his umted wealth.

    When he first took over the pet shop, he had neither money, help, nor experience. All he had was knowledge about animals that he subconsciously absorbed from his parents. If he imed to be confident back then, it was total bullsh*t. He had nothing to rely on, so he had to be extra careful in the beginning, taking each step with great caution.

    Back then, he was only confident enough to sell cats and dogs, as those were the most popr pets, and he had to spend his limited funds and energy wisely.

    Things were different now.

    Zhang Zian was in a different position than when he first returned to Binhai City. He had acquired a lot of knowledge about animals through the inte and books, dealing with all sorts of customers, and employing a few wed but dependable helpers. He saved some money by being thrifty and being called stingy. Most importantly, he had a few elfins with amazing power.

    After careful consideration, he decided to take a chance and expand his business. This time, it¡¯d be more than just cats and dogs. He wanted to introduce pets in greater variety and number to the store, including some less popr but rare pets. All of this would require more space. Since the Abyssinian cats were pregnant and a dog washer was about to be purchased, he had to take over a new store.

 Chapter 573: New Goal

    <h4>Chapter 573: New Goal</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When Zhang Zian returned to Binhai City to take over the pet shop, he set two small goals. The first was to gain a foothold in the pet industry. The second was to save some money and renovate the shop. Fortunately, these two small goals had been achieved.

    Now he wanted to set a third small target, which was to introduce more pets to his shop, especially those rare pets that ordinary people barely could see, and to let his pet shop be known by more people.

    The Amazing Fate Pet Shop was no longer a barely known shop. Its fame had gradually spread, even had travelled far away across the sea, and reached Japan and the United States. Increasingly more people had been aware that there was such a distinctive pet shop in Binhai City.

    He could have chosen to maintain the status quo. He could make a living by continuously operating the shop in the current way.

    However, many customers attracted to his pet shop by its reputation went home disappointed, because the shop did not have the pets they wanted, making Zhang Zian feel that he had lost millions of dors!

    Therefore, Zhang Zian drew lessons from these painful experiences and decided to expand his business.

    Of course, he had to take risks for the expansion. Even if he lost money in his business, Zhang Zian thought that it would not be a big deal for him to be an office worker at apany again.

    He could either rent a property or take over the ownership of a shop transferred by its previous owner. Each option had its own advantages and disadvantages. The only criterion here was that the new branch had to be closer to the main store. Since both the house prices and rental fees were at a low level around the Spring Festival, Zhang Zian did not want to dy anymore.

    The middle-aged and elderly women of the neighborhoodmittee wandered about the streets to collect protection fees (Wrong, they were collecting management fees) all day long¡­They should be better informed of the news about the real estate around this neighborhood. Besides, they usually gathered at the neighborhoodmittee to gossip, so they were always the first ones to learn about any signs of trouble in the streets. So, Zhang Zian inquired Grandma Gu about the situations.

    At first, Grandma Gu did not believe that Zhang Zian could expand his business. Having lived in this street for her whole life, she had previously witnessed how Zhang Zian¡¯s parents operated the pet shop diligently day after day. In the end, after paying off the mortgage, they did not make much money. Now, Zhang Zian was nning to expand after taking over his parents¡¯ shop for less than six months? Was he trying to run before he could walk?

    ¡°Forget it, Zian. You went to college at another city for a few years, now that you have finally returned to your hometown, you should conduct your business step by step instead of pursuing your foolish ideas. Listen to me, just operate your small shop in a down-to-earth manner, save some money to buy a car. Within a few years, I will introduce you to a girl that you absolutely will be satisfied with, you will get married and live well with her, and then your wife will give birth to a pretty girl or a big fat boy. If you could also win the title of the May Day Model Worker of Dongcheng District, your life would have been worth it¡­¡± Grandma Gu admonished him sincerely.

    Grandma Gu babbled self-righteously without stop. Zhang Zian was dumbfounded and did not know what to say.

    From the perspective of the older generation, what Grandma Gu said was correct. And many young people were indeed in pursuit of a steady lifestyle with their spouses and children.

    But Zhang Zian did not think so. He expanded his business not entirely for making money. He had seen many rare and bizarre pets from such books like the Illustrated Handbooks of Rare Pets, and he often felt that it was not particrly enjoyable to simply look at them on books. If he could introduce these pets into his shop, even if they were not for sale but merely for disy, they could bring great satisfaction to him.

    ¡°There are three forms of unfilial conducts, of which the worst is to have no children. Zian, you are getting older. After the Spring Festival this year, you will be one year older, but you don¡¯t even have a girlfriend. I am so concerned about you¡­¡±

    As the boss of the neighborhoodmittee, Grandma Gu was particrly talkative, and her voice was loud. Zhang Zian quickly prevented her from continuing the subject. He smiled, ¡°Grandma Gu, I have something to attend to. Could you please tell me if there¡¯s any shop for rental or transfer nearby?¡±

    ¡°s! Kid, why are you so disobedient? My words are for your own good¡­¡± Grandma Gu shook her head sadly and sighed, ¡°When ites to transfer¡­ Hey, it seems that the owner of the store next to your shop is transferring his property. Perhaps you can go ask him? But I still advise you that you should think twice before doing something¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was startled. The store next to his? Zhang Zian also knew the owner of that store, but he had never heard that the owner was going to transfer his store.

    ¡°Grandma Gu, are you sure? I live next door. Howe I have never heard about Xie Tao transferring his store?¡± he asked skeptically.

    ¡°Hey! You don¡¯t believe me? Would I lie to you?¡± Grandma Gu said unhappily. ¡°I went to your shop to collect the sanitation fees and management fees for this quarter a few days ago, and I went to Xie Tao¡¯s shop on the way. But he refused the pay the fees, saying that he was nning to transfer his store, and that I should collect the fees from whoever would buy his shop¡­Don¡¯t you think his words were infuriating? You see, Zian, the business owners of the whole street had paid the fees, except for Xie Tao. How could he be so stubborn? How am I going to persuade the others to pay the fees in the future?¡±

    ¡°Got it. Thanks, Grandma Gu!¡±

    Before Grandma Gu finished her words, Zhang Zian dashed away.

    People around Grandma Gu¡¯s age always liked to admonish the young people with the attitude of mentors. Apparently, the seniors believed that the salt they had eaten were worth more than the meals the young people had eaten, and that the young people were going to get burnt if they ignored the advice of the elderly. However, the elderly had no idea that they had fallen behind the times. The typical example was that the neighborhoodmittee only epted cash as the payment method for sanitation fees.

    Grandma Gu¡¯s words were indeed for Zhang Zian¡¯s sake, but the thoughts of the older generation could only be safeguarding his heritage without being enterprising. In this ever-changing era, many things were like sailing a boat against the current; if the boat did not forge ahead, it would be driven back. If Grandma Gu were to decide, she would definitely not go to all that trouble to introduce the automatic dog washing machines like Zhang Zian would do. For Zhang Zian, it was a now or never opportunity to buy those machines.

    Since he was not rted to Grandma Gu, Zhang Zian did not bother to listen to her nagging or exin to her about anything. He trotted away from the neighborhoodmittee.

    The south side of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop was next to a shoe store. The history of the shoe store was even longer than that of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop. It seemed that the shoe store had been operating since the 1980s. If it could continue operating for another decade, it would be an old-established shop that had been existing for half a century. Rounding the years, it could even be considered as a century-old shop. Zhang Zian had never imagined that the shoe store would be transferred.

    Lu Yiyun saw that Zhang Zian had returned from the neighborhoodmittee, but he didn¡¯t enter the pet shop. Instead, he went to the store next door. Lu Yiyun blinked puzzledly, because Zhang Zian rarely visited his neighbors.

    Zhang Zian arrived at the entrance to the shoe store, which he was so familiar with. When he was a child, the new shoes of his whole family members were basically bought from this store on the Spring Festival and other festivals, so his family usually got along well with the owner of the shoe store. The shoes of that store were of mediocre quality. His parents bought shoes from this store mainly to help their neighbor¡¯s business, and that it would be easier for them to rece their shoes if any quality issues urred.

    The dark red sign was written with the golden characters¡ª¡±Zhonghua Road Shoe Store¡±. The old shop front had not changed for at least over a decade. Theyout of the shoe store was almost the same as that of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, but the area of the shoe store wasrger. The first floor was for conducting business, while the second floor was for the residential and warehouse purposes.

    Because the ss of the French door had not been rubbed for a long time, it looked very dirty. Like a natural protection color, the ss prevented Zhang Zian from seeing anything in the store from the outside. However, because the door was not locked, the owner should be inside the store.

    Zhang Zian carefully looked around the entrance and didn¡¯t see any ¡°transfer¡± sign. So, he had to push open the door to see what was happening.

    ¡°Wee, feel free to look around.¡±

    There was no customer in the shop. Only a man, who was the owner of the shop, turned his back to the door and squatted on the floor to organize some shoe boxes.

    The man called Xie Tao was a few years older than Zhang Zian. They had known each other from an early age, and Xie Tao could be seen as an elder brother to Zhang Zian.

    There were many types of shoes in the store¡¯s shelves, ranging from the slippers that were worth a few Yuan to the shoes from the famous domestic brands that were worth hundreds of Yuan. But the shoes were a bit old-fashioned, and most of them were the popr styles ofst year or even two years ago.

    ¡°Brother, it¡¯s me.¡±

    Xie Tao turned his head, ¡°Hey! Aren¡¯t you Zian? Come in quickly. What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled and didn¡¯t know how to speak. It would be easier if the seller was a stranger, but how could Zhang Zian ask an acquaintance directly whether he was selling his store?

    ¡°Tao, you have rarely opened your door for business recently, have you?¡± Zhang Zian found an excuse to begin the small talk.

    Since he returned to Binhai City to take over his parents¡¯ pet shop, the pet shop would operate as usual regardless of the weather conditions and whether there were customers in the shop. On the contrary, the shoe store next to his pet shop was closed frequently.

    ¡°The business has not been good, and I cannot make money from operating my store. Nowadays, everyone is shopping shoes online.¡± Xie Tao patted the dust on his hands, stood up, kicked a shoe box aside, and smiled helplessly. ¡°And my mind is not here. By the way, I got married a while ago.¡±

    ¡°Tao, how could you not tell me about such a big event? Did you regard me as an outsider? I would love to attend your wedding banquet if I received the news.¡± Zhang Zian said with regret.

    Xie Tao scratched his head and said hesitantly, ¡°My wedding banquet was held on a day after you returned to the city. I wanted to invite you, but¡­ After discussion, we decided not to disturb you.¡±

    Zhang Zian froze for a moment before he realized what Xie Tao meant. The day when Xie Tao had his wedding was just the time during which Zhang Zian was preparing the funerals for his parents, so Zhang Zian was not invited. Xie Tao had expected that Zhang Zian certainly did not have the mood to attend his wedding. Even if Xie Tao invited him, Zhang Zian would not attend. So, Xie Tao did not inform Zhang Zian and just left him alone.

    Zhang Zian nodded to indicate that he had understood Xie Tao¡¯s intention. ¡°At least let me offer you a present to celebrate your wedding. Where is your wife from?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to do that.¡± Xie Tao shook his head. ¡°Shees from another city and we got married because she had been pregnant back then. This is very popr nowadays, right? Having a shotgun marriage? After the wedding banquet, we went on our honeymoon trip. Later, our child was born, and my wife spent a month at her mother¡¯s house after the childbirth for physical recuperation. I felt so tiredmuting between two cities. And since I couldn¡¯t make much money from the shoe store, I simply rested for a while. When I reopened the store, I found that the business in the store was even worse because a lot of regr customers had disappeared.¡±

    Zhang Zian empathized with Xie Tao. In the past, the business of the pet shop had been tepid under the management of his parents, but at least they could maintain the operation normally. Afterwards, his parents ran into idents and the shop was closed. However, when the pet shop was reopened, the regr customers had gone¡­though there were few regr customers to the pet shop, the influence caused by shutting down the business was tangible.

    At the same time, Zhang Zian also knew why this shoe store was always closed. As it turned out, Xie Tao¡¯s spouse was from another city and they had gone through a series of important events of their life such as te honeymoon and childbirth. It seemed that the rumor he heard from Grandma Gu about the transfer of the shoe store may not be groundless.

 Chapter 574: Gift of Congratulations

    <h4>Chapter 574: Gift of Congrattions</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Xie Tao was not particrly talkative, but because he¡¯d known Zhang Zian since childhood and they were pretty familiar with each other, they could easily speak their mind. After stating a topic, he could go on continuously, mostly aboutining how hard it was to do business.

    Most of hisints weremon challenges faced by small business owners, such as restocking pressures, low funding turnovers, rapidly changing trends and fashions, picky customers, online business-crushing stores, increasing sanitation fees from Grandma Gu, etc. These were nothing new. But Zhang Zian had faced all these problems before, and his were even worse. The difference was that Zhang Zian persevered through them, but Xie Tao was filled with negative energy andined all the time.

    They¡¯d known each other since childhood, and had went down different paths after growing up, which had made them less close. Zhang Zian acknowledged hisints, but he didn¡¯t agree with his attitude. He didn¡¯t say anything back, and just listened and asionallymented.

    As they talked, Xie Tao suddenly realized that he was doing most of the talking, which made him seem impolite. He abruptly changed the topic and smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll stop talking about myself. How are you doing? I passed by your pet shop this morning, and your business seems fine. A few people were looking at pets in the store, and most them were young girls.¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled as well. ¡°Brother Tao, didn¡¯t you watch the news from a few months ago? There was a picture going viral on Wechat Moments. An online business website published a PPT on consumers¡¯ investment and market value. In terms of market value, it was young girls>kids>young women>elders>dog>men. Then somebody online added ¡®cat¡¯ in front of young girls, which made it cats> young girls>kids>young women>elders>dog>men¡­¡±

    It was better to spend money on dogs over men, and cats over women. This was a sound conclusion.

    ¡°Ha! Yes, yes, I¡¯ve seen this! You just reminded me of it!¡± Xie Tao tapped his head as if he was having a sudden epiphany. ¡°I get it. You mean that it¡¯s harder to make money from men than from young girls? It¡¯s true. You gotta find the right business targets! I¡¯m not good at this. I¡¯m not business material. I¡¯m afraid that the shop that my parents left me is going to copse under my managment.¡±

    Zhang Zian gave him some suggestions. ¡°Brother Tao, how about getting more women¡¯s shoes? And reading some women¡¯s fashion magazines to pick up on trends. Maybe that¡¯ll work.¡±

    Although he came to take over the shop, they were old acquaintances and had grew up together. He still wanted to help Xie Tao out if he could. Even if he couldn¡¯t take over his store, he could always try his luck with another one.

    After hearing this, Xie Tao waved his hands and smiled bitterly. ¡°Zian, I appreciate your good intentions, but no, I¡¯m done with it. I¡¯m not good at this, and I don¡¯t have the skills for sales. I always let the customers shop around by themselves, and I¡¯ll only look for their size for them if they feel like trying it on. If customers ask me what material the sole and the upper part is, all I know is the most basic cloth, leather, rubber, and mesh. I can¡¯t answer anything else.¡±

    Zhang Zian secretly shook his head. No wonder the business was declining, from the way Xie Tao was doing business. He himself didn¡¯t know much about pets in the beginning, but he¡¯d bought lots of books to cram with, so that he could answer the customer¡¯s difficult questions. Fina could teach kittens to dance, but not all customers came in to buy dancing kittens. Like the girl Vivi, if he never learned from his studying that Siberian Forest cats were non-allergenic, he would have missed a good sale.

    ¡°Well, you can keep learning more about it,¡± he continued to persuade him.

    Xie Tao shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t have the time, nor the focus to read. I¡¯m not like you. I never enjoyed reading since I was a kid, and it gives me headaches. It¡¯s over. I don¡¯t want to continue anyways. After finding a way to sell all the shoes I have in stock, I¡¯ll head home for the Spring Festival with my wife and kid.¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart was pained, and he asked, ¡°Brother Tao, what are you going to do with your store?¡±

    Xie Tao was silent for a while, and answered without much certainty. ¡°I¡¯ll sell it if I can. If not, I¡¯ll rent it out. Even renting is a source of ie, and will be better than how things are going on now. I¡¯m just wasting my energy here.¡±

    Zhang Zian hesitated for a moment and finally asked, ¡°Brother Tao, I¡¯m curious. How much are you nning to sell it for?¡±

    Xie Tao was stunned. ¡°What? You want to sell yours too? Your shop is doing pretty well. Why are you selling it?¡±

    He¡¯d clearly misunderstood Zhang Zian¡¯s question.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not. Actually, I¡¯m nning on expanding. I¡¯ll buy it if your price is decent.¡± Zhang Zian answered honestly and then watched Xie Tao¡¯s face nervously. They were store neighbors, right next to the other. One was doing badly and was forced to close, while the other was doing well and needed to expand. Their drastic differences could easily lead Xie Tao to aversion and resistance.

    Xie Tao¡¯s face remained still. Just as Zhang Zian was beginning to worry, the other suddenlyughed in relief. ¡°That¡¯s great! I was just about to advertise it to a real estate broker. If you want to buy it, it¡¯ll save me a huge broker fee. It works out for both of us.¡±

    Zhang Zian heard his sincerity, and didn¡¯t think he seemed jealous at all. He asked in relief, ¡°Brother Tao, don¡¯t you think that it¡¯s a pity to sell the store though?¡±

    ¡°Not at all. How could it be? People have to change to survive. I¡¯m not a nostalgic person. Why would I keep enduring through this if I know that I¡¯m not the right person for business? Don¡¯t you agree?¡± Xie Tao continued on with ease. ¡°I¡¯m needed more by my kid and wife. After selling the store, I¡¯ll buy a bigger house for them, and I won¡¯t live in Binhai City anymore. Maybe I¡¯lle back for a drink with you, sometimes in the future.¡±

    Zhang Zian tried to suppress his excitement and nodded. ¡°Sure, Brother Tao, it¡¯ll be my treat. This is big news. Are you going to discuss it with you wife?¡±

    ¡°I mentioned it to her earlier, and she agreed.¡± Xie Tao smiled. ¡°Our baby is a newborn and we need money. Baby form costs about 1000-2000 Yuan per month. I can¡¯t make money with this shoe store, I¡¯m just losing it. It¡¯s better to sell it and make a profit. How much is nostalgia really worth? Zian, you¡¯re not married yet. Once you do get married and have kids, you¡¯ll understand.¡±

    ¡°Maybe so,¡± confessed Zhang Zian. After all, he¡¯d never experienced any of that.

    Since both Xie Tao and his wife agreed to sell, he expected everything to go smoothly, as long as they agreed on the price. The building prices in Binhai City had been rising, but gradually stabilizing, without any unusual rises or falls. They both had an idea on how much this building was worth.

    The best time for the property market was during September and October, while around the Spring Festival was the slowest time. Xie Tao was eager to sell and knew Zhang Zian well, so he didn¡¯t give him a hard time on price. He even offered a discount, and they quickly reached an agreement.

    After the deal the settled, both parties felt relieved. Xie Tao informed his wife about the deal through Wechat, and vouched for Zhang Zian¡¯s credibility. His wife was reasonable in response and let himself make the final decision.

    As Xie Tao was discussing with his wife, Zhang Zian walked around the store. He knocked on the walls and made a rough evaluation, thinking that the store would need some renovation. His funding would be tight, and he might have to get a loan from the bank. After years of hard work, he was back to round one.

    Thest renovation the shoe store had was dated around at least 20 years ago. That was fine. Still, the walls were thin, with bad instion for sound and heat. Plus, there were a lot of cracks between the walls and the floor, which needed to be repainted and reinforced.

    If he were to use this store as a delivery room, he would have to put all the non-sterilized adult cats inside of it. If the sound instion was bad, the meowing at night would be very annoying to the neighbors and it could bring in a lot ofints. Even more, all the cracks needed to be filled and it needed pest control. Without it, it could be infested with flees.

    ¡°Okay!¡± Xie Tao excitedly put his phone back into his pocket, and gestured happily at Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Was your wife okay with it?¡± asked Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Xie Tao nced around the store in contemtion. ¡°Zian, this is your store from now on. You have to work hard, and not follow my example. I¡¯d like to pass by this store the next time I visit Binhai City. I hope you wouldn¡¯t sell it to somebody else by then.¡±

    ¡°No problem, I won¡¯t, Brother Tao.¡± Zhang Zian spoke with confidence.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll count on your word.¡± Xie Tao pointed at the store next door. ¡°I trust you too. When I passed by your shop, I saw that you hired someone?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Sometimes I have to go out and make purchases, and I can¡¯t do everything by myself,¡± replied Zhang Zian. ¡°I want to be open for business everyday, so I had to hire someone to watch it while I¡¯m gone.¡±

    Xie Tao smiled grimly. ¡°You know how to do business, and you¡¯ll surely do better and better. I¡¯ll head back soon. I¡¯lle back another day and pack away all the shoes that I can¡¯t sell. Then, I¡¯ll clean up the room upstairs, so that I can quickly make some room for you.¡±

    After seeing that he was about to leave, Zhang Zian suddenly remembered something and quickly said, ¡°Brother Tao, wait a minute.¡±

    He went back to his shop hurriedly, picked up a British Shorthair kitten and a carrier, ignored Lu Yiyun¡¯s questioning, and headed back to the shoe store next door.

    He said, ¡°Brother Tao, I have a pet shop, and I have nothing else but pets. This kitten is for you and your wife, as my bted wedding gift. Please take it.¡±

    Xie Tao was astonished. ¡°Brother, this is too kind of you. How can I ept this? Even for a wedding, just a red packet with 300-500 Yuan would be enough.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. If your wife had not got pregnant yet, I wouldn¡¯t give you a cat, in case of toxosmosis. But since she has already given birth, it¡¯ll be fine to have one.¡±

    As Zhang Zian spoke, he put the British Shorthair kitten into the carrier and handed it over.

    ¡°Wow, what a beautiful kitten! How much is it? I can¡¯t take it if it¡¯s too expensive.¡± Xie Tao held the box, and looked at the kitten carefully through the cage door.

    ¡°It¡¯s not expensive, it¡¯s just a regr cat.¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t give him time to say no, and waved his hands at him. ¡°Say hi to your wife for me after you get back!¡±

    ¡°Alright, sure,¡± responded Xie Tao distractedly. His attention waspletely entranced by the cute kitten.

 Chapter 575: We Are the Champions

    <h4>Chapter 575: We Are the Champions</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In the morning, Zhang Zian went out to throw out the garbage. He saw arge truck and an ordinary van slowly stopping at the door of the store next to his pet shop. The name of the movingpany was written on the bodies of the two vehicles.

    As the door of the van was opened, several uniformed movers came out of the van one after another. Xie Tao also got out, unlocked the door to his shoe store, and directed the movers to go inside his store to move his things.

    ¡°Tao, are you moving now? There¡¯s no rush. You could move after selling your shoes here.¡± Zhang Zian approached Xie Tao and looked at his store filled with various kinds of shoes. Before Xie Tao had time to sell them, the shoes had been packed into cloth bags and were about to be taken away.

    Xie Tao smiled and was about to say something to Zhang Zian. The corner of his eye saw the workers lift the refrigerator out of the store, so Xie Tao hurriedly reminded them, ¡°Oh, be careful with that refrigerator! Be careful! Don¡¯t bump it on the door!¡±

    The refrigerator, the TV, the microwave oven, and the kitchen supplies¡­ The movers moved things out of the store like hard-working ants. They were well-trained and extra careful handling therge items and valuables, but Xie Tao was still not quite at ease so he had to remind them from time to time, for fear that his belongings would be scratched or smashed. In fact, these items had been ced in his store for several years, and they would be worth little in the second-hand market.

    At the interval of reminding the workers, Xie Tao told Zhang Zian, ¡°What difference does it make moving out earlier orter? These shoes cannot be sold out anyway. I might as well find a bustling intersection to set up a stand to handle them. Zian, do you find these things useful? If you do, you can keep them.¡± He was referring to various kinds of electrical appliances.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Tao, you can move them away.¡± Zhang Zian said truthfully. Whether Xie Tao was being polite or really intended to leave those electrical appliances to him, Zhang Zian did not need them because he did not buy this building to live. Even if these electrical appliances remained in the store, he would hire other people to move them away.

    ¡°By the way, Zian, my wife really likes the cat you sent her. She uploaded the pictures of the cat in her WeChat Moment, and many people said that the cat was expensive. Thank you so much.¡± Xie Tao took out a shopping bag from the van and handed it to Zhang Zian. ¡°This is a rice cake made by my wife. She specially asked me to bring it to you.¡±

    Zhang Zian took it over, ¡°It must be very delicious. Please thank her for me.¡±

    ¡°Sure. Why don¡¯t you return to your shop to go on with your chores? I will notify you once I have moved all my things out. It is too dusty outside.¡±

    Because Xie Tao did not stay in his store often, both the furniture and the electrical appliances were covered with thick dust. Since they stood and talked in the downwind, they choked whenever the wind blew.

    ¡°OK, I¡¯m going back to my shop then. Since I have not eaten breakfast, I can take the opportunity to taste the rice cake.¡± Zhang Zian carried the rice cake and went back to his pet shop.

    Observing the few pregnant Abyssinian cats had be his daily task. After all, this was the first time he had experienced the breeding of cats. As the bellies of the cats grew bigger day by day, Zhang Zian¡¯s heart had an inexplicable sense of achievement¡­ Many customers heard that his pet shop had chocte-colored Abyssinian cats and came to inquire about the prices of the cats, hoping to order the Abyssinian kittens that would be born.

    Cathy¡¯s picture had always been standing on a cab. Her eyes were looking at the direction of the Abyssinian cats, as if she was also expecting the births of the kittens.

    Lu Yiyun took pictures of the pregnant Abyssinian cats every day and uploaded them to the WeChat public ount of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop so that the followers could witness the breeding and the births of the kittens. Some of the followers who had already ced deposits would pick up the kittens after they were born. Therefore, just like the expectant mothers and fathers, these people paid close attention to the daily nutrition and health of the female cats by checking in the public ount every day.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, should I print this photo?¡±

    Lu Yiyun asked while pointing at a high-resolution photo on theputer screen.

    This picture was sent by Tim yesterday at midnight and was received by Lu Yiyun this morning. In this picture was Be, the chocte-colored Abyssinian cat that Zhang Zian selected and asked Tim to take to attend the CFA (Cat Fanciers¡¯ Association) Show. Among the eight Abyssinian cats, Be did not possess the most outstanding condition, but its age was the most appropriate, so Zhang Zian chose to leave it in the United States.

    Even though Be was a cat with an ordinary condition, since Cathy had started to breed chocte-colored Abyssinian cats long before other people had, Be had such huge advantages in the CFA Show that no other cat could rival with it.

    In the photo, Be was being held by Tim and facing the camera. A person who looked like a judge was holding a purple ribbon, indicating that Be had won the title of the Best Champion of Breed and gained the corresponding points.

    The CFA Shows were a points-based annual tournament. When Be scored more than 200 points in total, it could apply to CFA for the Super Champion title, which was the highest honor a cat could get, and was equal to the Nobel Prize or the Olympic gold medal of human beings.

    Zhang Zian nodded, ¡°I asked Wang Qian and Li Kun to buy some photographic papers on their way here. Let¡¯s print the photo out and find a ce to paste them.¡±

    ¡°I think we should go to a photo shop to print out arge poster. This is what many catteries do. They will solemnly stick therge posters to the doors of their catteries, even if their cats have only been awarded with the ck or white ribbons¡­¡± Lu Yiyun suggested. ¡°Our printer can only print small photos.¡±

    ¡°No hurry. We have plenty of chances in the future.¡± Zhang Zian was not in a hurry to promote the chocte-colored Abyssinian cats in his shops. Since the kittens had not yet been born, no matter how much effort he put in the promotion, he could not sell them to the customers.

    As he was talking, a brand-new and the cheapest BMW car, parked in front of his pet shop.

    Liu Sang got off the car hurriedly with a medium-sized Labrador and went in the shop.

    ¡°Manager Zhang, Xiao La¡¯s cold has been cured, please take care of it for the time being. This guy is so wild, and it keeps making trouble at home. I don¡¯t know how to control it. Please help me train it!¡± Liu Sang bowed and said.

    Since he had agreed in advance, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t say anything more, and he took over Xiao La¡¯s leash.

    ¡°Then I am leaving for work now. Just give me a call to tell me when I should pick it up.¡± Liu Sang was relieved as if he had thrown away a burning hot potato from his hands.

    ¡°Woof!¡± Xiao La barked twice, wiggling to look around in a yful manner, trying to get rid of the leash to tease Zhan Tian, Famous and many kittens in the shop.

    Xiao La was sold by Zhang Zian to Liu Sang, but back then at the shop, Xiao La was very obedient. Since Liu Sang and Shi Shi indulged it and had no methods to train it, Xiao La had be so naughty like a brat that had nothing to fear.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t rush to train it. Instead, he led it to the storage room on the second floor, and locked it inside to let it calm down from its excitement. It was counterproductive to train the overexcited dogs.

    Across the door of the storage room, he heard Xiao La barking and knocking the door with its front paw. But he ignored it and decided to let it stay there alone for half an hour.

 Chapter 576: The Moon and Sixpence

    <h4>Chapter 576: The Moon and Sixpence</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Woof woof!¡±

    Xiao La¡¯s bark could barely be heard.

    The Amazing Fate Pet Shop had considered the soundproofing issue during its past renovation. Both the walls and the doors were thick. Even if Xiao La barked its lungs out in the storage room, it wouldn¡¯t bother the other pets.

    Zhang Zian put Xie Tao¡¯s rice cake in the fridge, and wondered how he should cook it. Should he boil, fry, or stir-fry? The problem was, he could not do any of that.

    Aftering out of the kitchen, he looked casually in the living room. He was expecting to see Pi typing in front of theputer, but the chair was empty.

    That was rare. Did Pi get up to stretch without being reminded to do so?

    Zhang Zian was happy that Pi finally learned to take care of its body. As he turned around to go downstairs, he suddenly heard keyboard tappinging from the desk.

    What was going on?

    He stopped. Pi wasn¡¯t sitting in front of theputer, so where did the typing sounde from? Was there a ghost fond of typing?

    ¡°Pi? Are you there?¡± He asked, and stuck his head inside the door.

    ¡°Eek?¡± Pi was sitting straight in the chair, and looked around at him in confusion.

    Zhang Zian frowned. He felt that something was wrong. He didn¡¯t see this before.

    He didn¡¯t open up the curtain this morning when he woke up. The lighting in the living room was a bit dim, but even so, he should¡¯ve seen it, shouldn¡¯t he?

    He walked into the living room and opened the curtains, to let light into the room.

    Pi followed him with its eyes, its confusion not diminished.

    ¡°Pi, have you been sitting here, typing all this time?¡± Zhang Zian asked, trying to maintain a gentle smile.

    ¡°Eek!¡± Pi nodded.

    ¡°You never left the chair?¡± He asked again.

    ¡°Eek.¡± Pi shook its head.

    That was weird. Did he really not see it?

    Zhang Zian¡¯s doubt grew. Everything else in the room was clearly visible, except Pi.

    ¡°Eek?¡± Pi blinked its eyes, asking him what happened.

    ¡°Nothing. Something¡¯s wrong with my eyes,¡± he answered halfheartedly. To avoid Pi asking more questions, he switched topics. ¡°Pi, how¡¯s your novel going? Are you getting more favorites after signing the contract?¡±

    Pi didn¡¯t answer him. It looked down at the keyboard with a sad face, and drew circles on the desk with its fingers.

    The answer was obvious from its bodynguage. Zhang Zian sighed.

    Pi had already published over 40 chapters, nearly 90,000 words, but there were only 50 favorites.

    He returned to Qidian¡¯s home page, and clicked on a random novel. Most chapters had an average of 30,000 favorites. Even the worst one had 10,000 favorites. The signed novels had hundreds of favorites. Qidian readers were numerous. Why nobody was reading this one? Was the topic unpopr?

    Tap tap!

    Pi¡¯s fingers moved over the keyboard. It was a fast typer, but it seemed to have weights attached to its fingers because they struggled to move.

    After a while, it slowly typed, ¡°Writing novels may not suit me.¡±

    After seeing these words, Zhang Zian¡¯s heart filled with sadness. He knew better than anyone how much effort Pi was investing, yet there were no results. It reminded him of when he first took over the pet shop. He sat in the shop alone everyday, looking at the the pedestrians walking past. His old colleagues were posting about their great lives in Wechat Moments, which made him question his choice. Was it a mistake to inherit the pet shop? Am I in the wrong business? Why am I wasting my youth and my day, sitting here alone?

    Now, Pi was facing the same difficult situation.

    ¡°Would you like to talk to the editor?¡± He was trying to help.

    Pi logged into QQ and clicked on the bald monk avatar to show him its chat history with the chief editor.

    The most recent message was from yesterday, which meant that Pi had been down for at least a day. Zhang Zian secretly med himself for not noticing it earlier.

    Pi asked: ¡°If nobody is reading my novel, should I continue writing?¡±

    The chief editor¡¯s answer was simple: ¡°Keep writing.¡±

    Zhang Zian browsed the online novel discussions in Wang Haige Forum, and realized that some novels were barely known in the beginning. They only became popr because the authors kept writing until they were promoted by the website. Those instances were rare, but everybody loved discussing them.

    Then, he encouraged Pi, ¡°I don¡¯t think you should quit so easily. Even if you want to quit, at least wait until it gets promoted by the website. It¡¯s written in the contract that the novel gets at least one promotion, and further promotions will depend on performance.¡±

    Pi grew silent and typed: ¡°I¡¯m tired. I don¡¯t want to write any more.¡± It pushed the keyboard away, took off the Pince-nez, and looked out of the window.

    Pi¡¯s maturity often made Zhang Zian forget about the fact that it was still a young monkey. While most monkeys its age were ying without worry, it was sitting alone in front of theputer, trying to write.

    Its body wasn¡¯t tired, its heart was.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart was heavy and troubled.

    Stop writing then. Delete the Word file and turn off theputer. I¡¯ll get Gxy and Famous and we¡¯ll y hide and seek. He was about to utter these words, but he didn¡¯t.

    It was easy to quit, it was harder to keep going.

    Studying is too hard, I quit. Losing weight is too tiring, I quit. Work is too much, I quit. Office politics is too dark, I quit. Business is too humiliating and I have to pretend to be nice all the time, I quit. Life is too hard, I quit.

    If we quit each time we have a setback, we¡¯d be left with nothing.

    Zhang Zian took a few deep breaths, and exhaled the frustration out his chest. He reached for the keyboard and typed: ¡°Only a few people in the world achieve their dreams. Our life is simple. We¡¯re not ambitious. If we have any pride, it¡¯s when we harvest with our hands.¡±

    ¡°Pi, do you know where these words are from?¡±

    Pi nced at the screen and put the Pince-nez back on. It looked into the nameless book and typed: ¡°The Moon and Sixpence.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡± Zhang Zian forced himself to smile. ¡°Pi, have you read this novel?¡±

    Pi shook its head.

    ¡°The novel is about an ordinary man. He had a beautiful wife and healthy children, and lived a seemingly happy life. One day, he became so obsessed with art that he abandoned his family, and headed to a deste ind to paint. If this were a popr story, he¡¯d have became famous, earned lots of money, and married a beautiful woman. Sadly, he was known as a ¡®genius,¡¯ but died in the most tragic way.¡±

    Zhang Zian retold the plot of The Moon and Sixpence. However, he had read it a long time ago, so he had a fuzzy memory. He remembered the famous quote, though, and often encouraged himself with it.

    Whether it was at school or at work, he was an average guy, neither better nor worse than others. He envied top students and sessful people because he knew that he¡¯d never be them. Since geniuses were rare, and only a few people achieved their dreams, others were destined to live ordinary lives. He was just a normal guy with no talent. He didn¡¯t need to be ashamed, he just had to ept it.

    When he read the novel, he couldn¡¯t understand the hero¡¯s choice to abandon his perfect family for art. It wasn¡¯t until after meeting Lu Yiyun and Pi, that he started to understand why. Lu Yiyun would paint even if it meant renouncing her family, and Pi would rather write than have fun, because they liked it. Others didn¡¯t understand why they¡¯d let something they liked consume their life. But that made them happy.

    The world should be big enough to amodate all the different values.

    An ordinary guy like him could ept being ordinary, but should also understand that there were some people, like Lu Yiyun, Pi, and the hero in The Moon and Sixpence, that couldn¡¯t. They jumped out of a high tower with the aspiration to reach the moon. They either flew, or fell to the ground.

    To sum up the hero in The Moon and Sixpence with the fewest words, ¡°My life has an end, but paintings don¡¯t.¡±

    Pi listened carefully, as if drawn into the story, the fate of the hero resonating with it.

    Zhang Zian spoke slowly, ¡°Did the hero in the story regret what he did? I think the sentence mentioned before was the hero¡¯s epiphany. I don¡¯t want to lie and tell you that your novel will surely seed. Your novel might fail, as most novels will fail. But Pi, think about this. Why are you writing this novel? Are you doing this for money and fame? What was your intention?¡±

    Pi¡¯s mouth half opened. It thought quietly, then typed: ¡°I like this story, and would like others to see this story.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded in affirmation. ¡°That¡¯s right. Pi, you¡¯ve already done it!¡±

    ¡°Eek?¡± Pi blinked in confusion, and pointed at the 50 on the screen that meant only 50 people saw it.

    ¡°No, you shouldn¡¯t think this way. You should think that there are 50 people that you¡¯ve already told this story to. Those 50 people, aren¡¯t they the ¡®others¡¯ you mentioned?¡± Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°That¡¯s a huge sess. Keep going. Your story will be liked by more people.¡±

    Pi gazed at the 50 on the screen, as if this number had some kind of magic.

    Zhang Zian took out his phone, opened up the Qidian app, searched for Pi¡¯s novel, and added it to his library. The number of favorites went up to 51.

    ¡°Pi, I¡¯m your reader too,¡± he spoke seriously, ¡°I want to see the end of the story because the hero in the novel is kind of like me. He¡¯s not as handsome as me, but I¡¯d like to see what happens to him. Pi, look into my eyes, I like your novel.¡±

    Pi¡¯s eyes moved from the screen to Zhang Zian¡¯s face. It saw sincerity in his eyes.

    Richard, who was doing nothing earlier, and suddenly pped its wings into the living room. ¡°Quack! I like your novel, too. But Pi, you¡¯re such a slow writer, and each chapter is so short. I¡¯ve been waiting so long and I still haven¡¯t appeared! If I knew how to type, I¡¯d teach you the meaning of being big and long!¡±

    ¡°Meow! Gxy likes your novel, too!¡± Gxy followed Richard, along with the other elfins.

    ¡°I heard you want to quit writing? You¡¯re quitting just when I appeared? Why? Are you mad at me? If you want to challenge me, just do it!¡± Fina spoke with pride.

    Pi was scared of Fina.

    Did Richard hear them talking and tell everybody? The big-mouth parrot had always been a troublemaker, but this time, it actually helped.

    ¡°Hehe, Pi, Zian¡¯s right. You only get a happy ending if you remember your intentions. Besides, I¡¯m curious to find out how I¡¯ll appear. I¡¯ve been thinking so much about thistely that I can¡¯t even focus on TV.¡± Old Time Tea smiled.

    ¡°Meow, if I don¡¯t see a happy ending between me and My Majesty, I¡¯ll castrate Zhang Zian!¡± Snowy Li licked its paws, its ws were fiercely shining.

    Zhang Zian wanted to ask why he¡¯d be castrated if it was Pi¡¯s story?

    ¡°Pi, you have to use my real name!¡± Famous reminded it, ¡°I don¡¯t want to make another debut under someone else¡¯s name.¡±

    Pi¡¯s eyes glistened, ncing over everyone.

    Zhang Zian put the keyboard in front of it. ¡°Pi, do you know why the novel¡¯s title was The Moon and Sixpence? Someone joked with the author, that when people look up at the moon, they often forget about the sixpence under their feet. These 57 readers are the sixpence under your feet. We¡¯re a little group, but we¡¯re there. When you¡¯re sad that the moon is too far, don¡¯t ignore us because you think we¡¯re trivial. You¡¯ll always have us. Would you hang in there a bit longer, for the sake of your 57 readers?¡±

    With everyone looking at it, Pi hesitated briefly, then nodded.

 Chapter 577: Reward You A Bowl of Dog Food

    <h4>Chapter 577: Reward You A Bowl of Dog Food</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s eat first.¡±

    Zhang Zian ced arge te of fried rice cake on the table. He took a whiff and was satisfied by the scent of the dish. The ingredients included eggs, sausages, onions, cabbage, carrots, etc. The rice cake was easy to fry and was nutritious, and it could be served as either a course or a main food.

    He took four bowls and one tray and pulled the fried rice cake into the bowls. Among the four bowls, three bowls contained the same amount of rice cake, while the other one bowl contained a little less rice cake. He was going to take the bowls downstairs and let Wang Qian, Li Kun and Lu Yiyun taste the rice cake. And the bowl that contained a little less rice cake would be given to Lu Yiyun.

    ¡°Woof!¡±

    A dog extended its head from the edge of the table. It was Xiao La who had just been released from the storage room. Its two front paws were resting on the legs of the table and it was drooling at the fried rice cake.

    ¡°Xiao La! Go down, Xiao La! Your meal is on the ground.¡±

    Zhang Zian pointed to the floor, where there was a food bowl that contained the dog food for Xiao La.

    Xiao La turned to look at the dog food, apparentlycking interest in the dog food. And then it continued to hold the table.

    At the sight of this situation, Zhang Zian knew that Liu Sang and Shi Shi must have been feeding their own food to Xiao La usually. That was why Xiao La did not like dog food but liked to stay beside the dining table to eat human food.

    Maybe he had wronged Liu Sang, because Liu Sang had asked Zhang Zian how to train a dog. However, he often spent time with Shi Shi, who had definitely indulged Xiao La and allowed it to do whatever it wanted.

    The biggest obstacle of dog training was the inconsistency between the dog owners¡¯mands and their attitudes, which would confuse their dogs. This was the very reason Zhang Zian did not rmend Qian Bowen¡¯s family to raise a Beagle. Beagles were notoriously difficult to train. If any one of the three family members in Qian Bowen¡¯s family became soft-hearted during the training of the Beagle, their previous efforts to train the dog would thus go down the drain.

    ¡°Woof!¡±

    Xiao La kept staring at the fried rice cake.

    Zhang Zian had already pointed out the position of its food to Xiao La. The right thing to do at this moment was to ignore Xiao La. If it refused to eat the dog food, it would be hungry; and when it was extremely starving, it would naturally eat its dog food. When he kept training it in this way for a few times, the dog¡¯s habits would be altered.

    Eating dog food on the ground or eating human food on the table was not only a matter of food, but also the matter of status and rank within the family. If dogs ate meals on the table, it meant that the dogs were on an equal footing with the human beings. And dogs would regard human beings as their friends rather than their owners. Even the police officers who went through thick and thin together with the police dogs would not allow the police dogs to eat meals on the table. Therefore, training a dog must start from training it how to take its meals.

    In addition, unless the food was specifically prepared for dogs, there were too many taboos for dogs in human food. For example, the onions in the fried rice cake were detrimental to dogs.

    Zhang Zian turned a blind eye to Xiao La that was begging to eat the rice cake. After taking three bowls of rice cake to the three people downstairs, he then returned to sit at the table and taste his cooking. Not bad, he thought. Perhaps he could consider bing a cook in the future.

    In the past, his parents required him not to watch his mobile phone or watch TV while taking a meal. However, today¡¯s situation was rather special. He was holding his mobile phone to quickly browse the other novels at Qidian. He wanted to learn about the secrets of sess from other novels, such as how the introductions and the beginnings of the novels were written, and how the plots were unfolded etc. By the way, he would also look at thement sections of other books.

    Thement sections of the new books of the new authors, who had roughly uploaded the same number of chapters as Pi had, were also empty and deserted. asionally, there were a fewments advertising for other books. However, thement section of Pi¡¯s novel waspletely empty which did not even contain any advertisement.

    Should he try and learn how to advertise for Pi¡¯s novel? How effective could those advertisements be?

    Zhang Zian ignored Xiao La who was pacing around agitatedly beneath the table and craving for the rice cake. He picked up a piece of fried rice cake and put it into his mouth. As he swiped his cell phone screen with his finger, the webpage switched to the app of the Wang Haige Forum, and unexpectedly, he had clicked and entered the web novel exchange section of the forum.

    Although arge bowl of chicken soup for the soul had made Pi eliminate its idea of giving up writing the novel, Zhang Zian knew that the problem had not been fixedpletely. One day, Pi would be upset and doubt its capacity again because no one read its novel.

    In addition, he was very worried because he saw Pi reappear after its disappearance. Had his eyes deceived himself?

    When he just took over the pet shop and was equally frustrated because no customers visited his shop, it was the appearance of Gxy that had reversed his destiny. Gxy risked injury and copsed the future of a certain time into reality by letting the first customer enter his pet shop. For Zhang Zian who had been doubting himself, Gxy¡¯s help had made him realize that the tough business he faced was not because he was ipetent, but because his shop had no fame back then.

    Now, he decided to do something. Even if he did not have Gxy¡¯s ability, he wanted to try his best to help Pi, just like Gxy had helped him.

    Perhaps because the students had gradually started their winter vacation, the web novel exchange section was quite lively today.

    Some people had raised simr questions at the forum.

    [Dot]: No one reads the novel I have written, what should I do? Should I advertise in thement sections of other books?

    Someone responded underneath.

    [Beast]: I also want to ask this question.

    [Little Husky]: I advise you not to waste time on advertising. From my personal experience, advertising is useless. Just concentrate on writing your book, and when you have uploaded enough chapters, the website will rmend you. Even the worst type of rmendation is more useful than advertising for a week.

    [Dot]: The problem is my book has never been rmended after signing the contract.

    [Little Husky]: There are too many books while there are only a few books that can be rmended at a time. Be patient and wait. You must keep calm to write books.

    [Skin God]: In fact, you cannot make generalizations on this issue. It is useless to advertise in thement sections of other books, but it is still useful to advertise on the reading lists.

    [Puppet]: Yes. In the past, four or five new readers would add my book to their libraries every day. Since my book has been included in a reading list, followed by over 2,000 people, twenty to thirty new readers would add my book to their libraries every day.

    There was no follow-up reply to the post for the time being. The feeling was just like a video abruptly ending when the pornographic film actress was about to unsp thest button on her clothes.

    What the hell was the reading list?

    Zhang Zian read the post again from the beginning and thought that the reading list was worth studying.

    He had finished all the rice cake. Although the bowl was notrge, rice cake was not easy to digest, and his stomach should be full for a while.

    He deliberately put his empty bowl in front of Xiao La, letting it know that he had finished all his food.

    Xiao La whimpered ruefully, looked at the empty bowl, and then looked at the dog food on the ground. In its mind, it was struggling on whether it should eat the dog food.

    Zhang Zian got up and cleaned his bowl. While he was cleaning, Wang Qian shouted from downstairs, ¡°Master! Come down! Customers are here, and we can¡¯t handle them!¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun had been working in the pet shop for a while, and they should have learnt a lot of things by spending time with Zhang Zian. Coupled with the scrupulous Lu Yiyun, the three of them could easily handle ordinary customers. And the customers they could not cope with were generally those customers with more special requirements.

    ¡°Coming! Wait a minute.¡±

    Zhang Zian shouted towards downstairs.

    He put down the bowl and pointed to the dog food on the ground, indicating Xiao La had no choice but to eat its dog food.

    When he arrived on the first floor hurriedly, he saw two men standing in front of the shop. He knew one of them was Lin Qi, but he had never met the other person. But judging from the two luxury cars parked outside the shop, this person was probably also from a wealthy family.

 Chapter 578: Winning with Virtue

    <h4>Chapter 578: Winning with Virtue</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°What are you two up to?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Lin Qi was standing in the outer room, ying with all sorts of pet bowls on the shelf while talking with his friend. After seeing Zhang Zian, before doing anything else, he pulled him to the side and said with a bitter expression, ¡°Manager Zhang, the Ashera cat that you sold mest time is such an a**hole!¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡± asked Zhang Zian in confusion.

    ¡°The cat makes such creepy sounds at night, and it looks mean. Nobody dares to spend the night with it. Now, it¡¯s staying in the vi by itself. It used to be a vacation vi for our family, but now it belongs to that cat,¡±ined Lin Qi. ¡°Oh, right. Snowy told me that you have a way to keep dogs quiet. Do you know how to keep cats quiet as well?¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t really help you. Dogs are trainable, but cats are very difficult to train.¡±

    ¡°But aren¡¯t you a cat trainer?¡± Lin Qi didn¡¯t give up asking for help.

    ¡°That cat is an artificial created species with too much wild nature in it. It doesn¡¯t really count as a regr domestic cat. In fact, it¡¯s more closely rted to wild cats,¡± exined Zhang Zian seriously. The actual reason was that the Ashera cat¡¯s species was too distant from the domestic cat, and thus Fina couldn¡¯t control it.

    Lin Qi was speechless.

    He looked around and didn¡¯t see anyone else. He lowered his voice even more and said, ¡°Manager Zhang. . . if I secretly release the cat, will it be better off?¡±

    Zhang Zian replied, ¡°You better not. That isn¡¯t releasing, but killing. That cat was raised since it was a kitten, and I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s lost its hunting instincts a long time ago. If you release it, it¡¯ll starve to death. Don¡¯t be scared. That cat looks mean and sounds creepy, but it¡¯s actually quite cute.¡±

    ¡°Where exactly is its cuteness?¡± Lin Qi was almost in tears.

    Zhang Zian added, ¡°Besides, if you release it and other people see it, they might call the police.¡±

    ¡°Call the police?¡± Lin Qi was stunned.

    Zhang Zian recalled the story. ¡°Don¡¯t you remember the news? In 2016, a serval was released in the Suhang area. Someone saw it searching for food in a residential area, and the witness thought it was a cheetah that ran away from the zoo, so they called the police in fear. It made the local residents nervous. After hunting it down, the serval from the African prairies was finally captured by the invincible urban management team. If you release the Ashera cat, would you want to make the same issue in Binhai City? If they find out that you released it, don¡¯t rat me out and tell them that I sold it to you.¡±

    Lin Qi¡¯s face was frozen, as if something was stuck in his throat. He said worriedly, ¡°Manager Zhang, let¡¯s talk in private.¡±

    He waved at his friend, who was about the same age as him. He was wearing famous brands and looked quite fashionable. He looked just as worried as Lin Qi. After hearing Zhang Zian¡¯s advice, he looked even more concerned.

    Zhang Zian wondered what Lin Qi was up to, being so shady. He followed him to a corner of the shop to avoid the other customers picking pets in the store.

    ¡°Manager Zhang, this is a good friend of mine, Gao Zhuo.¡± Lin Qi introduced his friend.

    ¡°Hi, Manager Zhang, I¡¯ve heard about you for a while!¡± Gao Zhuo appeared to be very polite. He took out a pack of premium cigarettes out of his pocket, and handed one to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°No, thanks. I don¡¯t smoke.¡± Zhang Zian politely declined. ¡°Let¡¯s get straight to business and cut the back-and-forth. You don¡¯t have to say that you¡¯ve heard about me already. I¡¯m not that famous at all!¡±

    ¡°No, no, no! Manager Zhang, you¡¯re too modest! We¡¯ve been to a few pet shops and cat kennels, and they all rmended your ce. Then I talked to my friend, and it turns out that he strongly rmended your ce as well. If this isn¡¯t considered being famous, then I don¡¯t know what famous is.¡± Gao Zhuo didn¡¯t seem to be faking his admiration and curiosity.

    This was weird.

    Zhang Zian knew well that everyone in the same line of business werepetitors, and everyone hoped they could be the only pet store owner in Binhai City, or even the entire world. Why would the other pet shops and cat kennels rmend his ce to Gao Zhuo unanimously? Could this be the so-called ¡°winning by virtue¡±?

    Lin Qi also spoke for his friend. ¡°Yes, Manager Zhang, don¡¯t be so modest. Your quality service is well known throughout Binhai City. Who doesn¡¯t know the famous cat trainer? The only shame is that this shop is a bit small.¡±

    Zhang Zian interrupted him. ¡°Cut the crap. What do you want?¡±

    Lin Qi and Gao Zhuo looked at each other and exchanged a few signals with their eyes. They both wanted the other to go first.

    Gao Zhuo¡¯s gaze was firmer. Lin Qi had met Zhang Zian a few times already, and had bought a cat from him. He should start first.

    Lin Qi couldn¡¯t fight back anymore, and finally said, ¡°Manager Zhang, we first met each other in the dog market, didn¡¯t we?¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°Correct.¡±

    Lin Qi continued. ¡°I told you back then, that because a good friend of mine had a serval, I wanted that leopard cat in the dog market.¡±

    He pointed at Gao Zhuo. ¡°He is that good friend of mine.¡±

    Zhang Zian paused, and nced at Gao Zhuo once again. ¡°You have a serval at home?¡±

    Gao Zhuo was a tall guy, almost as tall as Luo Qingyu from the photography club of Binhai University, except that he wasn¡¯t as skinny as him.

    ¡°Yeah, I pulled some strings to get one.¡± Gao Zhuo admitted. ¡°I heard that a lot of rich people had them in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. So, I wanted to follow their trend and get one too.¡±

    ¡°So?¡± Zhang Zian still couldn¡¯t understand how this was rted to himself.

    In China, it was illegal to own servals, unless you had a wildlife breeding license. A lot of rich people owned servals in secret, and they wouldn¡¯t get caught as long as nobody ratted them out. For rich people, it wasn¡¯t hard to get a license by pulling strings. As least, it wasn¡¯t as hard as actually getting a serval.

    ¡°When I bought this serval, it was tiny and adorable, just like a regr kitten, and it wasn¡¯t mean. My families liked it. When I have guests over, we¡¯re all willing to take it out and show it off to the guests. Many of them are amazed, and ask us if it¡¯s a cheetah cub.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. Servals resembled cheetahs, and those unfamiliar with animals could confuse the two of them. But with some simple knowledge, servals and cheetahs were distinguishable by the ears. Serval ears were big and perky, and cheetah ears were small and round. The physical characteristics of cheetahs were suited for running fast, and big ears were disadvantageous with regards to aerodynamics. Servals were less wild and extreme than cheetahs. They needed bigger ears to better hear the sounds from their surroundings, in order to avoid predators.

    However, serval kittens had smaller ears, which made it harder to distinguish them from cheetahs.

    Lin Qi supported his im. ¡°It¡¯s true. The first time I visited his ce, I thought it was a cheetah too.¡±

    Zhang Zian listened quietly. These two guys definitely didn¡¯t make the trip here to discuss how adorable serval kittens were.

    ¡°But the good days didn¡¯tst,¡± said Gao Zhuo sadly. ¡°Maybe it was too well-fed. That serval grew so fast, like in the blink of an eye.¡±

    ¡°Wild animals grow into maturity quickly. This is determined by their genes. The harsh environment of the wilderness doesn¡¯t allow them to take too much time growing up,¡± said Zhang Zian.

    ¡°I watched a lot of movies about animals when I was little, ones about humans and wild animals such as lions, tigers, etc. If they¡¯re raised from cubs, they¡¯ll still be very attached to the owners after they¡¯ve grown up. I figured servals were the same¡­¡± Gao Zhuo said.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help butughing. ¡°You misunderstood. Those are just movies, and mostly for kids. Movies don¡¯t specifically remind you that the actors are zoologists with a deep knowledge of wildlife behavior, and kids should not imitate them. Even if lions and tigers are raised by humans from when they were cubs, they¡¯re still wild beasts, and smart people shouldn¡¯t annoy them when they¡¯re hungry or in heat. For those who keep wild beasts as pets, they¡¯d have to of been dead for a long time now.¡±

    Gao Zhuo sighed and said regretfully, ¡°I know better now, but it¡¯s toote. You just said that the serval in Suhang area was released. I actually almost released my serval. Since a while ago, it stopped being obedient and pees everywhere in the house. Sometimes it stares at people and screams, especially at night. The sound is so creepy. Now, when I have guests over, I don¡¯t dare show it to them anymore, in case it frightens them and causes trouble.¡±

    Lin Qi looked at his old friend with an empathetic look. He tapped him without speaking.

    ¡°It¡¯s in heat.¡± Zhang Zian made a simple conclusion.

    Making sounds and peeing everywhere were the most obvious signs of being in heat, because they were trying to attract partners for mating.

    Gao Zhuo swallowed nervously. ¡°It would be fine if that was all. Just let it make sounds and go pee. I have plenty of rooms and a full-time house cleaner. That¡¯s enough to take care of a serval. But the problem is¡­¡±

    After saying this, his voice became more jerky. He looked at Lin Qi with shifty eyes.

    Lin Qi hurried him. ¡°Since you¡¯re here, don¡¯t bother hiding it anymore. Just tell the whole story, and see if Manager Zhang can figure something out to help you.¡±

    ¡°Fine.¡± After a few more rounds of hesitation, Gao Zhuo finally made up his mind and said, ¡°I have more than one pet at home. There¡¯s a Pomeranian besides from the serval. The Pomeranian was my mom¡¯s, and it was kept somewhere else. It was brought here recently and then one day, the serval killed the Pomeranian.¡±

    Lin Qi had already heard the story earlier, but he still got a chill after hearing it again.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know how to respond after hearing this.

    He understood why Gao Zhuo was so hesitant, as if he was suffering from constipation.

    This was a big deal. Today the serval killed a Pomeranian, and tomorrow it could kill somebody else. Even if it didn¡¯t, it was still scary to think about, as if he was staying with a ticking time bomb that could go off at any time.

 Chapter 579: Serval

    <h4>Chapter 579: Serval</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Gao Zhuoined incessantly about the Serval he raised at home.

    One morning, after he got up, he poured a bowl of dog food in the kitchen. Usually, after it smelled the odor, the Pomeranian would quicklye to eat the food. But that day, when he had finished breakfast, the Pomeranian did not appear.

    He looked for the Pomeranian everywhere in the vi and shouted its name, but no matter how hard he shouted, the Pomeranian did not respond.

    His vi was veryrge, which contained many rooms and a basement. He had been searching in the vi for over ten minutes, but still he couldn¡¯t find the Pomeranian.

    He was somewhat puzzled and thought that the Pomeranian must have sneaked out of the vi when he didn¡¯t notice. But then he found another problem. The Serval had disappeared, too.

    Since the Serval started screaming and urinating recklessly, Gao Zhuo had tied it to a leash at night to keep everyone safe. But when he went to the cat room, he found that the nylon rope had snapped, and the Serval was gone.

    He looked at the nylon rope and saw that the cut line was rough. It seemed that the rope was not cut off by a sharp knife but was snapped by biting.

    Since the rope was broken and the Pomeranian was missing, Gao Zhuo had an ominous hunch. He ran outside to call in the security guard and the two of them searched for the cats together.

    When they arrived at the rooftop, they found a string of dark red blood stains on the floor.

    The security guard also felt that something bad had happened, and he discussed with Gao Zhuo whether they should call the police.

    At that moment, they heard a sound behind them. When they turned around, they found that the Serval was walking towards them, with the corpse of the Pomeranian in its mouth. And then the Serval ced the dog¡¯s body at the foot of Gao Zhuo like it was showing off its achievement¡­

    Gao Zhuo and the security guard were so scared that they almost fainted and fell to the ground. Fortunately, the Serval did not be aggressive to them. After cing down the body of the Pomeranian, it squatted down quietly and yawnedzily, while its teeth were still stained with blood.

    This Pomeranian was raised by Gao Zhuo¡¯s mother for several years. Luckily, she was not at home on that day. Otherwise, if she saw such a scene, Gao Zhuo worried that she couldn¡¯t stand the shock.

    After Gao Zhuo calmed down, he told the security guard to dispose of the body of Pomeranian. He must not tell his mother how her dog had died. He would tell her that the Pomeranian got lost. On the other hand, he quickly found an iron chain to curb the Serval cat.

    How should he deal with this Serval? He didn¡¯t know what to do, and he quickly went to discuss with his several good friends. His good friends were basically from wealthy families and they hade up with bad ideas. Some people said that Gao Zhuo should release the Serval, some said that the Serval should be strangled to death, while others said that it was normal that a cat fought a dog, and he could just maintain the status quo. They also said that if Gao Zhuo had recorded their fighting process and uploaded the video to Weibo, perhaps the video could be popr¡­

    It was definitely uneptable to remain the status quo. And since Gao Zhuo had been raising the Serval for such a long time, he was reluctant to strangle it to death. Releasing the Serval was a viable option, but he had not figured out where the Serval should be released to.

    Since he could not decide for the time being, Gao Zhuo had to keep raising the Serval. However, there was a new problem that followed. As a wild animal, the Serval had a strong body odor. Previously, the Serval took a bath every once in a while. However, after that incident, no one, who knew what had happened, dared to bathe it, for fear that the Serval might bite them if it lost its temper.

    Currently, the Serval was confined by an iron chain at Gao Zhuo¡¯s home every day. Because it had not bathed for a long time, it reeked, and its temper was getting more violent.

    At this point, Gao Zhuo said to Zhang Zian, ¡°Manager Zhang, I heard that no matter how wild a cat is, when ites to your shop, it will be as obedient as arge-sized doll. Can you please help it take a bath? It is so smelly¡­ I have visited several pet shops in Binhai City, and all those pet shops owners said that they were unable to wash it, and they unanimously rmended your ce.¡±

    Damn it! Zhang Zian said to himself. I knew this would happen! What the ancients said were correct. People of the same trade were enemies!

    Those pet shop owners did not praise Zhang Zian sincerely. They just wanted to see him embarrass himself!

    ¡°You mean¡­you have brought your Serval here?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Yes, of course. It is in my car. Wait a minute.¡± Gao Zhuo called on Lin Qi and they ran outside the shop and carefully took arge wooden box out of the car trunk.

    As it was bumpy on the road, a shrilling cat meowing was heard from the wooden box.

    The customers who were selecting pets in the shop were startled and they cast bewildered and dreaded looks at the wooden box.

    Not only the customers, but also the kittens in the store were frightened and huddled into the corner. The sensitive Abyssinian cats jumped to the top of the container and looked down anxiously.

    Fina, who was napping, sat up abruptly. It was very familiar with this kind of cry. Fina had heard this kind of cry repeatedly on the African continent two thousand years ago, and it knew that this animal was a very tough opponent. With all of its body hair standing on end, and its ears erect, Fina red at the wooden box sternly.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun, who were sitting side by side and ying mobile games together, and Lu Yiyun, who was helping a customer check out, were all scared by this scream. As their hands trembled, Wang Qian and Li Kun made a mistake in the game and they werembasted by their teammates. Because her mind was swayed by the cry, Lu Yiyun pressed an extra zero on the keyboard of theputer at the checkout counter. Fortunately, she did not click the OK button.

    Zhang Zian just asked the question casually. Before he had time to stop Gao Zhuo, he had moved the wooden box inside the shop.

    This wooden box was nearly one meter long, about half a meter wide and almost half a meter high.

    ¡°Manager Zhang, the cat is inside. I am worried that it is not very good if too many people see it, so I put it in a box.¡± Gao Zhuo said while panting.

    Zhang Zian said to himself. Luckily, you still have somemon sense, otherwise some customers may have called the police.

    The customers were very interested in the meowing sounds in the wooden box. They pretended that they were selecting pets, but in fact, they were looking at the wooden box and secretly wondering what kind of cat¡­or feline was in the box.

    Since there were too many people in his pet shop, Zhang Zian figured that if the box was opened here and if some customers called the police, it would be very embarrassing. So, he winked at Gao Zhuo and Lin Qi and asked them to move the box to the shoe store next door.

    Zhang Zian had seen a picture of a Serval before, but he had never seen one in real life. He was very curious and intended to take a good look at Gao Zhuo¡¯s Serval. As for how to bathe this Serval, Zhang Zian would decide whether to undertake this task after he had seen it. After all, he had not promised Gao Zhuo that he would bathe it.

    Gao Zhuo and Lin Qi looked at each other and felt that Zhang Zian was unbelievable. Why should they take the Serval to the shoe store? To put small shoes on it?

    Xie Tao and the movers worked so quickly that basically everything of Xie Tao¡¯s had been removed from the shoe store. Although the transfer procedure had not yet beenpleted, the keys to the shoe store had been left to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Come in.¡± He unlocked the door and let Lin Qi and Gao Zhuoe inside the store with the wooden box.

    On the first floor of the shoe store, there were only several empty rows of shelves and many empty shoe boxes. On the ground, there were piles of hard paper balls that were used to fixate the shapes of shoes. There was still some faint smell of shoe polish.

    ¡°Manager Zhang, this store¡­ is yours?¡± Lin Qi and Gao Zhuo put down the wooden box and looked at the messy interior of the store.

    ¡°Uh-huh. It was just transferred to me. I¡¯m going to expand my business.¡± Zhang Zian answered truthfully.

    ¡°You should have done so long time ago!¡± Lin Qi patted on his thigh. ¡°When I came to your pet shop to pick up my Ashera catst time, I thought your shop was too small and was not good enough for you, a cat trainer. This store looks a lot bigger than yours, but I think that you should get a bigger one. I think a store with the area of about a thousand square meters would be enough.¡±

    ¡°A thousand square meters? Am I going to open a supermarket? If I don¡¯t have enough money, will you pay for me?¡± Zhang Zian said snappily.

    Lin Qi came from a wealthy family, but he was not rich enough to give money to others to buy a house. He smiled and didn¡¯t bring up the subject anymore.

    Several nosey customers gathered outside the shoe store, trying to see what was inside the wooden box. Just when Zhang Zian was about to close the door, he saw Fina had arrived at the shoe store with stern expression on its face.

    Since Fina was here, of course, Snowy Li was here, too. It kept meowing while walking behind Fina¡¯s tail with its short legs.

    When Fina and Snowy Li had entered the store, Zhang Zian closed the door and locked it.

    The ss of the French door of the shoe store was so dirty that the customers couldn¡¯t see anything from the outside through the ss.

    Before Zhang Zian said anything, Gao Zhuo had opened the wooden box. There was an iron cage inside the wooden box, and a nearly fully-grown Serval was standing restlessly in the iron cage.

    The body of the Serval was a pale yellow with irregr ck spots. At first nce, it looked like a cheetah, but it was much smaller than a cheetah, and its tail was not as thick and strong as that of a cheetah. Tightening its small face that was out of proportion to its body size, the Serval was gazing at Fina while its iconic big ears were swaying vigntly like radars to capture the talking sounds of Zhang Zian and other people. There was an area with ck skin and white spots, like a patch of adhesive ster, behind each of its ear.

    An important reason that house cats looked cute was because they had big faces and big eyes. But the Serval¡¯s face was so small, almost the size of the palm of a child, and its eyes were not so round and charming as the eyes of the house cats.

    ¡°Awoo!¡±

    Annoyed by Fina¡¯s gaze, the Serval opened its mouth and screamed, revealing its bright red tongue and its sharp fangs. Comparing to house cats, the Serval¡¯s voice was closer to the voices of wild felines.

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    In the face of its old rival on the African continent, Fina also shouted back. But apparently, Fina¡¯s volume was not as loud as that of the Serval, who had natural advantages over Fina.

    Frightened, Lin Qi said, ¡°Good heavens! Its teeth are terrifyingly sharp!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you underestimate the Serval. Its bite force is 17 kilograms, which is equivalent to half that of the cheetah. Since its bite force is concentrated on its fangs, it¡¯smon that the Serval can bite and snap the thin nylon topes. In contrast, human beings have a bite force of 45 kilograms, but the bite force is from the back teeth of human beings. As measured by the pressure per unit area, the bite force of human beings is far inferior to that of the Serval.¡± Zhang Zian introduced.

    Lin Qi stuck out his tongue, ¡°With one bite, the Serval could leave four bloody holes on its opponent. No wonder it could kill the Pomeranian.¡±

    Zhang Zian sneered, ¡°Killing a Pomeranian is a piece of cake for the Serval. The wild Serval cats in Africa can catch birds on the trees, capture fish in the water, and can dig holes to trap mice. Even therge and medium-sized mammals such as antelopes are in their menus.¡±

    ¡°They are so fierce!¡± Lin Qi said. And then he looked at Gao Zhuo with admiration. How daring of you to keep such a wild beast at home?

    Gao Zhuo shrugged helplessly. He had made terrible mistakes by not knowing the features of the Serval.

 Chapter 580: Bodies Not for Sale

    <h4>Chapter 580: Bodies Not for Sale</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The serval had a red leather cor around its neck, attached to a thin metal chain. As it walked around inside the narrow cage, the chain rubbed against the iron cage with a loud sound, giving people goosebumps.

    Gao Zhuo asked, ¡°Manager Zhang, you know how strong the smell is. I haven¡¯t washed it since it killed the Pomeranian, and the entire vi is filled with its stench. You¡¯re capable of a lot of things. Can you give it a bath? I¡¯m willing to pay more.¡±

    Since the wooden crate was opened, a strong urine smell had spread across the entire store. The source of the smell was this serval. Wild animals usually had heavier odors. The cat was in heat and peeing everywhere, so the urine smell was very strong. Plus, it hadn¡¯t been bathed for a long time, making the odor as insufferable as a chemical spill. Gao Zhuo and Lin Qi both covered their noses. Zhang Zian only frowned, as he was used to the odor from cleaning cat litter everyday.

    Cat urine was used to divide territories. However, in Fina¡¯s eyes, this entire ce was its territory and no intruders were allowed. The strong smell of urine warned Fina about the dangerous intruder. Without the iron cage, Fina might have already jumped at the serval.

    Zhang Zian solemnly refused. ¡°Cat washing is considered self-service in our store. We only offer the space, and then the customers have to do it themselves. In other words, our bodies are not for sale.¡±

    Gao Zhuoined. ¡°How dare you! Manager Zhang, since you know about servals so well, please help me!¡±

    ¡°No, no, listen to me.¡± Zhang Zian interrupted him. ¡°You said earlier, that after the serval killed the Pomeranian, it took the Pomeranian¡¯s body to your feet?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Gao Zhuo couldn¡¯t figure out why he was asking about this.

    Zhang Zian pondered for a while, and then asked, ¡°Does it eat raw food or cooked food?¡±

    ¡°Cooked. It never ate raw food.¡± Gao Zhuo replied, ¡°Before, I had wanted to prepare raw bones and meat for it because of information from the inte. I¡¯m d I haven¡¯t done it yet.¡±

    ¡°It only killed the Pomeranian? Did it eat it?¡± Zhang Zian asked again.

    ¡°No! Absolute not! It just killed it. There wasn¡¯t that much blood, otherwise I would of had to get rid of it no matter what!¡± Gao Zhuo spoke with resolution, and his face turned white.

    Zhang Zian roughly went over the process in which the serval killed the Pomeranian. In fact, it didn¡¯t bite the Pomeranian to death, but must have strangled the Pomeranian by choking its throat, like a cheetah hunting its prey.

    ¡°This proves that it¡¯s quite attached to you, trusts you, and likes you. That¡¯s why it handed the prey over,¡± he exined. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You can wash it now, just as you washed it in the past.¡±

    Gao Zhuo waved his hands violently. ¡°No, no way. The past is past. It was adorable in the past and not terrifying like this. Now, it screams for no reason, and almost makes me pee my pants.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because it¡¯s in heat.¡± Zhang Zian emphasized again. ¡°If you want it to be as calm as before, you can try getting it sterilized by a vet.¡±

    Gao Zhuo sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve been to other pet shops, and the owners told me the same thing, to sterilize it through a vet. But¡­this¡­I¡¯ve asked a few vets, and none of them were willing to do it. As for the reason¡­you know.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t being explicit, and Lin Qi didn¡¯t understand what he was saying. But Zhang Zian got it.

    Servals were a species protected by trade treaties. They were equivalent to National ss II Protected Species, and were not allowed to be owned by individuals. Vets were not allowed to operate on servals without authorization. Otherwise, if they were reported, they could lose their vet license. No serious vet was willing to risk losing their job and decade-long education for this, which could cost their entire career.

    Things didn¡¯t go well for Gao Zhuo in the other pet shops and animal clinics. Zhang Zian was hisst resort. No matter what, a shower was needed to wash off its disgusting odor. Otherwise, nobody could stand to stay in the room with it.

    No matter how hard he tried to persuade him, Zhang Zian would not agree, and told him to wash it himself.

    ¡°Ah woo!¡±

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    The rivalry between the serval and Fina had escted. Both cats saw the other as an opponent. They stared at each other and their growls became louder and louder. Their ws were extended, reflecting the bright light from the tiles on the floor.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s phone suddenly rang. The caller disy was Wang Qian.

    After the phone was answered, Wang Qian asked anxiously, ¡°Master, where are you? The kittens in the shop are being weird, and they¡¯re all running around wildly in panic, like flies without heads.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that something like this might go wrong. The cats¡¯ hearing was sensitive. Maybe the kittens heard the hostile growls from Fina and were bing anxious.

    After responding half-heartedly, he hung up and was ready to send the guests away.

    ¡°Meow meow meow! Why is Your Majesty so furious? I heard that being angry gives you wrinkles.¡± Snowy Li was as calm as usual. The serval¡¯s growls didn¡¯t seem to affect it at all.

    ¡°This wild creature dares to provoke me. If I surrender, how does it make felines look?¡± Fina didn¡¯t move its re, and was still staring at the serval fiercely.

    Snowy Li squinted at the serval with its flirty eyes, and smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t be angry, Your Majesty! This is just a wild creature, why should Your Majesty bother? Since Your Majesty wants to teach it a lesson, I¡¯d love to offer my humble help!¡±

    ¡°You?¡±

    It was no wonder Fina doubted it. Snowy Li didn¡¯t look like a fighter at all. With its short legs, it may not even be able to reach Zhang Zian¡¯s knees when it jumped from the ground.

    ¡°Your Majesty, wisdom is the best weapon. Disabling the enemy without fighting is the wisest strategy. For such a wild creature, why would Your Majesty bother to handle it yourself? I¡¯m not the best, but taking care of this one is a piece of cake.¡± Snowy Li was full of confidence.

    ¡°You, the one standing on the side. Take the wild cat out.¡± It ordered Zhang Zian with a bossy tone.

    Zhang Zian heard its conversation with Fina. He actually wanted to warn Snowy Li. This serval was nothing like the bluffing Ashera catst time. This was a real beast.

    Snowy Li didn¡¯t care, and nagged him to hurry up and stop being hesitant like a girl.

    Fina nodded at Zhang Zian, suggesting for him to obey it. It was ready to show the serval what it was capable of anyway, but couldn¡¯t do it if they were separated by the cage.

    Zhang Zian braced himself and spoke to Gao Zhuo. ¡°Open the cage.¡±

    Gao Zhuo was stunned. He looked around once again. ¡°Manager Zhang, are you going to bathe it here?¡±

    ¡°Mind your own business. Open it as I told you.¡±

    ¡°Fine, but be careful then!¡±

    Gao Zhuo threw the key to Zhang Zian, and hid himself far away with Lin Qi.

    The closer he got to the cage, the stronger the serval¡¯s odor became.

    With an unsettled heart, Zhang Zian opened the lock with a loud click, grabbed the iron chain around the serval¡¯s neck, and pulled it out.

 Chapter 581: Farewell, Balls

    <h4>Chapter 581: Farewell, Balls</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As soon as the serval was pulled out of its cage by Zhang Zian, it immediately started to yell provocatively at Fina. If Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t holding the chain tightly, the serval would have already pounced on Fina.

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    Snowy Li¡¯s flirtatious voice sounded from the side, causing the serval to shift its attention.

    As the serval looked at Snowy Li again, Snowy Lizily stretched itself out. Its bright eyes were as beautiful as a woman¡¯s and its fur was charming. Snowy Li opened its small pink mouth and sang a song by Pan Jinlian, from the novel Chin Ping Mei.

    ¡°I was toozy to dress up, and I just loosely bound my glowing ck hair with a golden hair pin. I asked my maidservant, Mei Xiang, to open the closet and fetch me a set of simple but elegant clothes for me. I dress up like Hsi Shih the beauty and walk out my bedroom. Mei Xiang, you and I roll up the curtain, and light an incense for the night¡­¡±

    The serval probably didn¡¯t understand what this song meant, but it waspletely mesmerized by Snowy Li and it was staring nkly at it. It seemed like the serval had been sexually aroused by Snowy Li.

    There was a new type of cat called a Savannah cat, which was as equally famous as the Ashera cat. The Savannah cat was the offspring of a serval and a house cat, which had proved that serval cats and house cats had sexual interests in each other, and could mate with the other.

    This serval was in its estrus cycle, and there was a long-haired, soft-voiced, and fragile white cat in front of it. How could the serval miss a great opportunity to mate with the white cat?

    Gao Zhuo and Lin Qi hid behind the shelves and looked at the two cats from afar. Good for you, Manager Zhang, said Gao Zhuo to himself. I took my cat here, hoping you would bathe it. Are you going to use my serval¡¯s sperm to produce kittens or what?

    Zhang Zian had no idea what Snowy Li¡¯s intentions were. All he knew was that the thin iron chain in his hands was getting increasingly tighter, and was almost stretched into a straight line. The serval was so horny that it was about to pounce on Snowy Li and mate with it. If Zhang Zian didn¡¯t use all his strength to hold tightly onto the chain, the serval would have put Snowy Li beneath it.

    Since there were other people around, it was inconvenient for Zhang Zian to talk with Snowy Li directly. He desperately winked at Snowy Li, indicating it to stop singing that song and seducing the serval. Nevertheless, Snowy Li vigorously kept on singing. With its clear and melodious voice and its graceful posture, Snowy Li twisted its waist, wriggled its tail, and walked in front of the serval. The serval was as aroused as a prisoner who had just been released from prison.

    Fina didn¡¯t know what Snowy Li wanted to do either, but it would never allow itself to witness the nasty thing take ce in public. Fina tightened its muscles all over its body and bent down, with its ears spread out like the wings of a ne. It was ready to throw itself at the serval and attack at any moment.

    While still humming the song softly, Snowy Li slowly walked closer to the serval.

    Several times the serval tried to pounce on Snowy Li and mate with it, but it was averted by Zhang Zian.

    The serval restlessly wriggled its body, trying to break away from the iron chain. But unlike a nylon rope, the iron chain could not be easily broken.

    Since its owner was also present, the serval didn¡¯t mind that it was stopped once or twice, but after Zhang Zian repeatedly took away its opportunity to mate with the white cat, the serval lost its temper. Instead of trying to pounce on Snowy Li, the serval turned around to face Zhang Zian. Revealing its fangs, it looked thoroughly ferocious. It bowed down and was about to pounce on Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zianined to himself about his own suffering. In his head, he¡¯d cursed Snowy Li numerous times. He must have lost his mind to believe in its bullsh*t and agree to this dangerous chore.

    The thin iron chain was only about two meters long, and the serval could reach him with only one jump.

    Although Zhang Zian was extremely nervous, he knew that he must not turn around and run. Whether it be in speed or flexibility, humans were inferior to serval cats. He would be in danger if he turned his back to the serval.

    He tried topose himself. He exhaled, tightened his stomach, and stood up straight. He looked at the serval attentively, concentrated all his strength to his fists, and raised the hand that wasn¡¯t holding the iron chain to protect such vital spots as his chest and throat.

    Fina hummed threateningly. Just as Fina was about to attack, it saw that Snowy Li had secretly reached the back of the serval.

    The serval hadpletely let its guard down around Snowy Li. In its mind, Snowy Li was only like amb to be ughtered. Therefore, although the serval could tell that Snowy Li was approaching it, it took no precautions against it, and had all its attention on Zhang Zian and Fina.

    In the blink of an eye and to everyone¡¯s surprise, as the bright light shed in its eyes, Snowy Li, who looked like a delicate girl just moments ago, extended its sharp ws and stabbed the serval between its hind legs at a lightning speed.

    ¡°Awwoo!¡±

    The serval¡¯s eyes widened instantly, and its pupils looked like they had almost popped out of its sockets. It soon let out a gut-wrenching cry.

    Zhang Zian was in front of the serval and was shocked by this situation. He wasn¡¯t sure he even knew what had happened.

    Snowy Li extended its ws quickly, but it withdrew its ws even faster. Within a second, it had already pulled back its ws and went back to Fina¡¯s side, leaving a trail of dripping blood stains on the floor. The blood was particrly eye-catching against the white tiles.

    What happened? Was Snowy Li injured?

    ¡°D*mn it! What is that?¡± Lin Qi pointed at the floor and shouted.

    Gao Zhuo rubbed his eyes and said uncertainly, ¡°It looks like¡­¡±

    ¡°Meow!¡± Snowy Li smiled proudly. ¡°Congrattions! From this moment on, there is one less male creature in the world.¡±

    Some blood streaks remained on its ws. Snowy Li shook its paws out in disdain.

    ¡°Awwoo! Awwoo!¡±

    The serval cried repeatedly. Its pain was so great that it twitched and rolled around on the ground like it was suffering from an electric shock, with blood flowing endlessly from its crotch.

    Perhaps it was just a psychological effect, but Zhang Zian felt that the serval¡¯s cry was sharper than before.

    Zhang Zian looked at the ground and saw two fresh, hot, and bloody¡­balls.

    When the three men present could clearly see what the two things were, they couldn¡¯t help but tighten their own crotches, and subconsciously reach out to protect their own parts.

    ¡°Meow! Do you think that everything I say is a joke?¡± Snowy Li red at Zhang Zian usingly. ¡°Well, from now on, you¡¯d better listen to what I say. Otherwise, get ready to say goodbye to your balls!¡±

    Zhang Zian vaguely imagined the pain in his balls.

    After Snowy Li was captured, Zhang Zian read Chin Ping Mei and knew that in that book, Snowy Li had the habit of pouncing and grabbing. He didn¡¯t know exactly what items Snowy Li liked to pounce and grab. From the current situation, it seemed to specifically target male balls?

    The balls on male creatures had always been the biggest weakness of their bodies. Even if they were as strong as steel and protected by armor, once their balls were attacked, they would instantly be weak. This majestic-looking serval was no exception. After its balls were sliced off, it was in so much pain that it jumped up and down, as if performing acrobatics, with puddles of blood stained on the ground.

    Out of fear that under its severe pain the serval would start violently attacking people, Zhang Zian pulled on the iron chain and forcibly dragged it back into the iron cage, and then locked the door. He then felt relieved.

    Trembling, Gao Zhuo and Lin Qi approached Zhang Zian while looking back and forth at the bleeding balls on the ground, Snowy Li, and the serval whose crotch was wounded.

    Zhang Zian was deeply sorry for Gao Zhuo. He¡¯d brought his cat here for only a shower, but ended up having it lose its balls. Still, he quickly dodged his responsibility and exined, ¡°That was a fight between two animals and it has nothing to do with me.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t afraid that Gao Zhuo would call the police or contact the consumer association. If he did, Gao Zhuo would have to first exin how he¡¯d even gotten the serval.

    Gao Zhuo had no intention of calling the police. He looked worriedly at the serval twitching in the cage and asked, ¡°Manager Zhang, is it going to die?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°This is equivalent to sterilizing the cat. The sterilization operation on a male cat is simply to cut off its two balls, which is much easier than the female cats¡¯ operation, and the incision on the male cat is also much smaller.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s been bleeding¡­¡± Gao Zhuo was still worried about it. ¡°Should I hire a vet to stitch up its wound?¡±

    As soon as he spoke, Gao Zhuo denied this idea, ¡°No, no, finding a vet would cause problems. No!¡±

    Zhang Zian carefully observed the condition of the serval and furtherforted Gao Zhuo. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. There are two types of sterilization procedures for male cats. One is to stitch up the wounds and the other is not to. Nowadays, to make the cat owners feel at ease, the pet clinics usually stitch up the wounds, but it doesn¡¯t matter if the wounds aren¡¯t sutured. Because the incisions are very small, the wounds can heal on their own. Especially in the winter, because the weather helps the wounds heal naturally.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡± Gao Zhuo was still skeptical and was worried that Zhang Zian was deceiving him.

    To back up his argument, Zhang Zian took out his cell phone and sent a message to Sun Xiaomeng, asking about the sutures of the incisions on male cats during the sterilization operation. She responded quickly. Indeed, as he had said, as long as the incision was small, it didn¡¯t need to be stitched up, and the male cat could wear a cone around its neck to prevent it from scratching the wound.

    From his observation, Snowy Li had precisely cut open the outer soft skin of the serval, grabbed its balls, and then ¡°plucked up the evil by the roots¡±. Snowy Li¡¯s approach was as precise as a surgical operation and had left a very small incision on the serval. The bleeding had now slowed down, and it would stoppletely after a while.

    After reading Zhang Zian¡¯s WeChat conversation, Gao Zhuo was finally relieved. He had intended to take his serval here for a shower, and under a strangebination of circumstances his serval had been sterilized.

    Lin Qi admired Zhang Zian and praised him. ¡°Manager Zhang, your cat is so amazing that it can perform an entire sterilization operation. Are you trying to develop a new business?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what kind of expression he should make. He would prefer if Snowy Li didn¡¯t have such a skill. It was simply too dangerous.

    Gao Zhuo joined Lin Qi, ¡°Yeah, Manager Zhang, you can think about it! I¡¯ve heard that there are people in neighboring cities who have also raised servals or other cats, and don¡¯t know where to sterilize their cats. Should I refer them to your shop?¡±

    As they spoke, they both hid behind Zhang Zian to stay as far away from Snowy Li as possible. They also kept their hands on their crotches, which was a funny scene to look at.

    ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to give business to Snowy Li. If it formed the habit of cutting balls, it would be very dangerous. Maybe it would cut off his own balls one day.

    As the dilemma was over, Gao Zhuo and Lin Qi said their goodbyes. Zhang Zian reminded Gao Zhuo that the wound of his serval must not get wet for a while, and that it should also wear a cone. He pointed to the balls on the floor and asked, ¡°These things¡­are you going to take them home as souvenirs?¡±

    Gao Zhuo and Lin Qi desperately shook their heads no.

    Snowy Li eximed delightedly, ¡°Meow! Just leave them here, I want to eat baked balls this evening! I¡¯ll add cumin powder to them!¡±

 Chapter 582: Bedtime Rock and Roll

    <h4>Chapter 582: Bedtime Rock and Roll</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Bedtime! Bedtime! I¡¯m turning the lights off!¡±

    At 10 pm, when most people were enjoying their nightlife, Zhang Zian was putting the elfins to bed. To get up early every day, they had to sleep early as well. Otherwise, they were drowsy during the day, and couldn¡¯t do anything properly.

    ¡°Meow, meow, meow! Where¡¯s myte night snack? Where are my roasted balls?¡± Snowy Li scratched at his pants and yelled non-stop.

    ¡°There¡¯s note snack. Who¡¯s eating ate snack anyways? Don¡¯t you think you¡¯re fat enough?¡± Zhang Zian refused, using a random reason. He couldn¡¯t allow Snowy Li to develop a habit of eating roasted balls. Besides, how should he even roast them? Put two fresh eggs in a bowl, send them to Uncle and Aunt Li, and ask them to roast them? No way.

    ¡°Hmph!¡± Snowy Li pouted unhappily. It noticed the phone in Zhang Zian¡¯s hand and asked, ¡°What are you looking for? What the heck is jockstrap underwear?¡±

    He was browsing an online shopping site on his phone, and was in the middle of the ¡°jockstrap underwear¡± search results page. There were all sorts of underwear with reinforced crotches showing up on the page.

    Zhang Zian was unwilling to admit that it had traumatized him. He exined hesitantly, ¡°Because my old underwear is worn out. I need new ones.¡±

    Snowy Li didn¡¯t believe him at all, and carelessly asked, ¡°Is that so? Answer me, are you a noble man or a hypocrite?¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned and didn¡¯t know why it was asking this. He thought about it and answered, ¡°Of course I¡¯m noble.

    ¡°Then haven¡¯t you heard of this expression: noble men expose their balls, while hypocrites hide their junk?¡± Snowy Li spoke with seriousness. ¡°If you are noble, then you should show your balls.¡±

    Zhang Zian was nearly speechless. ¡°Do you think I¡¯m a self-exposing maniac? I¡¯d be caught by the police!¡±

    ¡°Stop the nonsense and go to bed. Are you always sleepy during the day time? Why are you so hyper at night?¡± He pulled at his pants, struggling to escape from Snowy Li¡¯s ws.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sleepy!¡± Snowy Li was full of energy. ¡°Oh right. How much did that guy pay you for surgery?¡±

    ¡°A thousand,¡± replied Zhang Zian honestly. Gao Zhuo paid for the surgery generously, in order to thank him for the sterilization surgerying out of nowhere.

    ¡°Hm, he¡¯s smart.¡± Snowy Li sucked on its lips and threatened him. ¡°I made this money for My Majesty. Don¡¯t you dare confiscate it, or I¡¯ll castrate you!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not confiscating it,¡± said Zhang Zian withoutplete certainty. He knew now that Snowy Li was not joking. Maybe one day it would do it for real.

    Fina was just as energetic. The two cats had enough sleep during the day, and were always hyper at night. It walked around the room, going back and forth.

    ¡°Quack! This is a good deal. Why didn¡¯t you tell me and let me join the party?¡± Richard fluttered its wings andnded on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t turn off the lights. I¡¯m not in bed yet.¡±

    Like most parrots, Richard had night blindness, and couldn¡¯t see anything when the lights were off. It would fly blindly and spread bird feathers in every corner.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t tell you for your own good. That serval is a famous bird hunter. Do you want to turn into cat crap?¡± He squinted at it. ¡°Go to bed now. I¡¯m turning the lights off.¡±

    ¡°Quack! Some!¡± Richardined and flew to its bed. It went under the nket and tossed its body around a few times to find afortable position.

    Old Time Tea watched TV all day and was sleepy. It yawned, took of its bamboo hat, and fell asleep on the nket before everybody else. Soon, its breathing became smooth and even.

    Famous was energetic too. It had been sleeping during the day, and had a hard time falling asleep at night. It walked towards Zhang Zian and asked, ¡°Any news about the movietely?¡±

    Of course, it was referring to the move Dog Warrior.

    Ever since Zhang Zian told it that a lot of movies in China could not make it to the theater each year for all sorts of reasons, Famous had became very concerned with the post-filming production and censorship issues. To some extent, each year, the movies that could make it to the theatre with a sessful box office was just a fraction of all the movies produced.

    ording to news from Feng Xuan, Zhang Zian informed it that the post-filming production of the movie had been going well. As there were not many special effects, both the budget and the progress were ahead of schedule. He also received thetest news. To promote the movie before it was shown in Maind, it would be sent to Europe topete in a film festival. If it won an award in the European film festival, the movie would surely draw more attention.

    Feng Xuan also said that if it won an award at the festival, Zhang Zian would head to Europe for the award along with Famous.

    Of course, nobody could know if it would actually win. There were manypetitors, and Chinese films were naturally disadvantaged due to thenguage. The future might be bright, but the road leading to it was surely difficult.

    After hearing the good news, Famous finallyid down in peace, closed its eyes, and looked forward to the day when the movie would finally arrived at the theater. Its name would be debuted to audiences all over the world.

    Gxy, who had always been energetic during the day, yawned andid in the crib as if it had not gotten enough sleep. It blinked and looked at the starry sky outside the window. The moon was big that night, which made the stars look less bright.

    ¡°Meow! Good night, everyone,¡± it said.

    ¡°Good night, Gxy.¡±

    As Zhang Zian spoke, he walked towards the desk, and asked Pi, ¡°Pi, are you going to sleep?¡±

    ¡°Eek.¡±

    Pi gestured with its hands, then pointed at the word count in the Word file, suggesting that it had not finished the daily update for that day yet, and would sleep after it finished writing.

    Zhang Zian knew that due to the high number of new books, a minimum of 4000 words was needed each day in order to get the rmendation from the website. This was what the chief editor meant when it told Pi to keep updating. He didn¡¯t say anything else, but asked, ¡°Using theputer without any lights on is bad for the eyes. Should I keep a light on for you?¡±

    Pi shook its head and pointed at everybody else in bed, meaning that they couldn¡¯t sleep well with the light on.

    Zhang Zian hesitated a little, then nodded. He reminded him, ¡°Pi, go to bed as soon as you finish writing.¡±

    He didn¡¯t close the curtains in order to get some light from the streetmps outside. He woke up each day before sunrise anyway, and it wouldn¡¯t make much of a difference whether the curtains were closed or open.

    Pi grinned and typed, ¡°Good night.¡±

    ¡°Pi, good night to you too.¡± Zhang Zian smiled, then walked over to the light switch in the room. After confirming that everyone hadid down, he turned off the switch.

    The room was dark and quiet.

    After a short while, Zhang Zian suddenly sat up from bed and yelled, ¡°Who¡¯s poking me with their ws?¡±

    ¡°Tut!¡±

    Snowy Li¡¯s careless sound came from the darkness. ¡°Why are you covering your crotch as you sleep?¡±

 Chapter 583: The Night at the Pet Shop

    <h4>Chapter 583: The Night at the Pet Shop</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The fluorescent light of theputer was shining upon Pi¡¯s face, and its clip-on sses were glowing from the metal, made of an unknown material.

    It lightly pressed on the keys one after another on the keyboard, out of fear of disturbing the other¡¯s rest. Since its typing speed couldn¡¯t keep up with the speed of its thinking, the progress of its writing had inevitably been slowed down. But it had no other choice.

    In the dead of night, even the fan sound from theptop was particrly harsh. From time to time, Pi tilted its head to look around the bedroom and see if it had disturbed Zhang Zian or the other elves.

    After Zhang Zian and Snowy Li finished their argument, silence returned to the room. Because of its night blindness, Richard, who had always been nosey, couldn¡¯t participate in their conversation.

    Old Time Tea always slept soundly, like it could stay asleep even if Mount Tai were to copse over its head.

    Gxy looked at Pi once and closed its eyes again, lying in the crib safely and covered by the soft moonlight.

    Pi and Fina looked each other in the eyes but quickly looked away.

    Fina, who had slept enough during the day, didn¡¯t feel drowsy at all in the evening, and its majestic green eyes were ncing around the room.

    Famous was still awake. Turning and tossing restlessly on its nket, it was still looking forward to the grand premiere of the movie. A small night light at its spot provided a little dim light for it.

    After arriving at the pet shop, Pi had gradually be ustomed to such evenings. Almost every night before going to sleep, a certain elfin, usually Snowy Li or Richard, would make a scene, as if it were some kind of ritual before sleeping.

    Pi tried to ignore Fina¡¯s awe-inspiring gaze and focused on the screen in front of it, thinking about the following storyline of its novel.

    After a while, the lower right corner of the screen indicated that it was 11 pm.

    Pi suddenly felt relieved. Firstly, it had almost finished writing that day¡¯s chapters. And secondly, Fina¡¯s gaze was finally gone.

    Snowy Li started to smack its lips. Old Time Tea snored from time to time. Famous kicked like it was having a nightmare, but it didn¡¯t wake up.

    From this time on, the night had truly overtaken the pet shop.

    As the only awake elfin on the second floor, Pi was extremely pleased.

    It yawned, took off its clip-on sses and rubbed its aching and sore eyes before putting the sses back on its nose. The words on the screen looked the same because the sses did not actually have any degrees. It wore the sses just to clearly read the words in the untitled book.

    In fact, Pi didn¡¯t want to stay upte, but for some reason, in the dead of night, its thinking was always exceptionally smoother, and the plots that baffled it during the day made sense to it during the night. As a famous saying goes, inspiration was just like a ghost; they both liked haunting in the night.

    When Pi yawned for the second time, it finished writing that day¡¯s chapters and uploaded them.

    When uploading the new chapters, it was inevitable for Pi to see the number of people who had added the novel to their libraries. 58 people had. The excitement of being immersed in its past stories was suddenly wiped away, after seeing such a number.

    Some authors liked to write something andmunicate with the readers at the end of the chapters, but Pi had never done so because it didn¡¯t know if anyone was actually reading its novel. Although 58 readers had added the novel to their libraries, Pi felt that these people hadn¡¯t really read it. The emptyment section was the most obvious proof.

    It moved the mouse to the ¡°Publish¡± button but didn¡¯t press it yet. As if it had suddenly thought of something, Pi wrote in the ¡°Message from Author¡± section at the end of a chapter: I don¡¯t know if anyone is reading this novel. Can anyone who has read this message please say something in thement section?

    After writing the message, it pressed the ¡°Publish¡± button quickly, as if it would regret its decision if it hesitated.

    Would anyone say anything tomorrow?

    It didn¡¯t hold any hope for this. It felt like its heart had be a cold stone and was constantly falling into an endless void.

    Pi closed the Word document, turned off theputer, removed its sses, and ced it on the untitled book. Then, it jumped onto the hammock chair.

    Although it had tried to move as quiet as possible, the chair still squeaked lightly, and slightly swayed back and forth. That was how the chair was designed.

    Pi held its breath nervously, cocked its ears, and listened to the sounds of the room.

    Old Time Tea¡¯s snoring paused a little bit and resumed, while the sleep of other elves seemed not to have been affected.

    Pi felt relieved. Finally, it could go to sleep, and it wished it could at least have sweet dreams.

    However, reality was not what it expected.

    As soon as it closed its eyes, the Word document and the stories that it had written earlier appeared before its eyes. The events that took ce before it arrived at the pet shop projected in its mind, one by one.

    How interesting!

    Eyes still closed, it smiled. How nice if I coulde here a little earlier.

    After a while, about at 11:30 or so, Pi, who had not yet fallen asleep, suddenly heard some slight rubbing sounds from the bedroom.

    Was Snowy Li teasing Zhang Zian again? No matter what, it was toote at this point. If they were too loud and woke Fina up, Fina would surely be furious.

    Pi opened its eyes to look around the room. To its surprise, what it saw was not Snowy Li¡¯s blue eyes, but was the light from Zhang Zian¡¯s cell phone screen.

    Was he not asleep sote in the night? Or was he just looking at the time?

    He did look at the time and then turned his neck as if looking to in the direction of the desk. Pi quickly leaned its head back into the hammock chair.

    After a moment, it quietly stuck its head back out and saw that Zhang Zian was still holding his cell phone. His cell phone screen had be the main light source in the room, so he probably didn¡¯t notice that Pi was watching him in the darkness.

    Zhang Zian had not fallen back asleep after lying down. On one hand, he was guarding himself against an attack from Snowy Li. On the other hand, he wanted to go to sleep only after Pi had fallen asleep. When he heard that the sound of theputer fan disappeared, he wanted to go to sleep, but his drowsiness had already vanished. After staying in bed for a while, he picked up his cell phone.

    He opened up the Qidian app and found some novels with 100,000 to 200,000 words, ones with better performance on the website, and quickly began to browse the beginning parts of those books.

    Honestly, he could barely immerse himself into the stories, ones where the storylines were too straightforward and had no logic. Maybe he¡¯d passed the age of reading for these kinds of books, but he knew that if he wanted progress and sess, he must focus on learning the merits from others rather than criticizing other people¡¯s defects. Therefore, he tried his best to keep reading the books with patience and perseverance.

    The room was quiet, except for the breathing of the elves all around. This made Zhang Zian feel at ease.

    His drowsiness came back while he was reading these books. Several times, he unknowingly started to fall asleep, and his hand that was holding the phone lowered down. Then, he would wake up abruptly and continue reading.

    The time passed slowly, and it was past one in the night.

    He knew that he should go to sleep now, or he else he would be very sleepy during the day tomorrow. He repeatedly told himself that he would go to sleep after reading the next book. However, he kept reading one after the other.

    He only browsed the first 100,000 words, which were the first 40 or 50 chapters of each novel, at a very rapid speed. He didn¡¯t need to interpret the plots of the books, he was just looking for the best parts among the choices of words and sentences.

    Compared to the text, he actually preferred reading the messages from the authors. Whether they were expressing gratitude orining, these messages documented the thoughts of the authors in the process of their writing. Although he had never met the authors whose novels didn¡¯t do well on the website, he particrly empathized with them.

    After reading another book, he was extremely sleepy. When he looked at the time on his mobile phone, it was already past two in the morning and he was only four hours away from getting up. He would be exhausted during the day. Should he go to sleep then?

    But there was only one book left in his library. He hesitated for half a second and decided to sleep after reading this final book. It was probably his OCD causing himself trouble.

    This was an urban novel named Diplomats of the Underworld. The tags of the novel were hrious, rebirth, and ghosts. Honestly speaking, this novel had nothing inmon with the book written by Pi. But it was published half a month earlier than Pi¡¯s novel and had currently uploaded less than 200,000 words, but nearly 10,000 readers had added it into their libraries. It must have some perks making it so attractive.

    Since there was only one book left, he motivated himself to stay focused and opened the novel.

    The plot of the novel was roughly about the protagonist being reborn for some reason. Not only had he been reborn, but he had also gained an extra system in his head that enabled him tomunicate with ghosts. The system assigned him to kill the evil spirits and wicked people, and he would be rewarded with equipment if he fulfilled his tasks.

    The novel¡¯s word choices and expressions were somewhat awkward and there were many typos, but at least it wasn¡¯t boring. He read the novel chapter by chapter, and when it was nearly three in the morning, he¡¯d already read 50 chapters and about 100,000 words. Normally, he would have switched and read the next novel by the time he¡¯d reached these many words. However, this was the only novel left in his library, so he decided to read ten more chapters. Besides, he hadn¡¯t found the highlights of the novel yet. If it had no great parts, how did it be sessful?

    If he still couldn¡¯t find any highlights after reading ten more chapters, he would go to sleep. He decided that he could stay up no longer.

    When he read Chapter 57, the finger that had been swiping the screen to turn pages abruptly froze.

    At the end of Chapter 57, the authorined that he¡¯d been writing the novel for a month, but the performance of his book wasn¡¯t good. One part among the writing had deeply touched Zhang Zian.

    I¡¯ve been preparing this book for a long time. Having no sense of shame at all, I want to say that I have been hoping to rock the web novelmunity with this novel. I feel so upset that my novel has not gained any recognition or opportunities.

    Zhang Zian could feel the author¡¯s resentment from this. Meanwhile, he still was curious. When the author wrote Chapter 57 of this novel, its performance was doing poorly, but currently, it was doing quite well. What had happened during this period?

    He continued reading the book.

    The answer was revealed two chapterster.

    At the end of Chapter 59, the author wrote this:

    I¡¯m not sure how to say it, but my mood has been on a rollercoaster the whole day. To be exact, this began early in the morning yesterday. After talking with Morning Gori Star in thement section, he included my novel in his reading list. Since he has so many friends, there are many people who follow his reading list. More readers have begun to notice my books. Thanks to those who have included my novel in their reading lists.

    What was going on?

    Zhang Zian had a flicker of interest. This was the second time he saw the term reading list. The first time he saw it was on the Wang Haige Forum. At that time, someone responded to a post and said that it was useless to advertise in thement section, but it was useful to advertise in reading lists.

    The situation of the novel had gotten better after only two chapters?

    He wasn¡¯t in the mood to read plots he wasn¡¯t interested in. He quickly scrolled to theter parts of the novel. In Chapter 84, he saw that 5,000 readers had put this novel into their libraries, while at Chapter 59, that number was less than 1,000.

    Things had changed tremendously in only 25 chapters.

    That was how it happened then. Reading lists could really turn something bad to good and make more people notice their novel. However, if the authors of novels wanted the creators of reading lists to notice their novels and include them in the reading lists, the authors must advertise their books in reading lists first.

    What exactly was a reading list and why was it so powerful?

    So the person named Morning Gori Star was probably a creator of a reading list?

    Zhang Zian¡¯s brain was weakened by extreme drowsiness. He stared at the dark ceiling and thought for a while, but he had no clue in the end. It would be better for him to think about the matter when he woke up in the morning.

    Scared that he would forget about it when he woke up, he added a bookmark to Chapter 59. After that, he put his cell phone under his pillow, closed his eyes, and quickly fell asleep.

    After the light of the mobile phone¡¯s screen went out, the room was once again filled with darkness. The only light source was the dim night light near Famous.

    Zhang Zian had been very careful while reading the books, thinking that he¡¯d better not make any noises to disturb the sleep of the elves. Still, some elves had woken up once and a certain elfin had never slept.

    For a few hours, Pi watched him in the dark. Unlike Gxy, Fina, Old Time Tea or Snowy Li, its eyes did not glow in the dark because it did not have tapetum lucidum behind its retinas. But it also wasn¡¯t as blind as Richard in the dark. No one had noticed its open eyes.

    From the side of the hammock chair, Pi exposed half of its head and saw that the glows of several pairs of eyes appeared and disappeared. Zhang Zian¡¯s brow furrowed and stretched in front of his cell phone screen, and the moonlight quietly changed its angle as time passed.

    It¡¯s time to sleep. Many times, Pi wanted to remind Zhang Zian to go to sleep. You have to get up so early in the morning, and then you need to carry out the heavy cleaning work, apply for loans from the bank, discuss the decoration of the shoe store with the construction team, and deal with all kinds of difficult customers. If you don¡¯t sleep well, you¡¯ll be very sleepy.

    But Pi didn¡¯t tell Zhang Zian this because it couldn¡¯t speak. Since theputer was turned off, it couldn¡¯t type either. But the most important reason that it did not remind Zhang Zian was because it needed to bite on its wrist to stop from crying out loud.

    Why?

    Why not just tell me to give up? Isn¡¯t that simpler?

    There are so many more important things than my novel that you need to attend to. For example, Gxy is still afraid of human beings, Fina is keeping its thoughts to itself, Old Time Tea is getting old, Snowy Li always likes to pull pranks on you, Richard doesn¡¯t want to love anymore, and Famous is still stuck in another world.

    Why did you spend time on my novel that is bound to fail?

    Why¡­did you spend time on me?

    Pi¡¯s canine teeth had already left four deep teeth marks on its arm. It pulled back its head and pulled up the nket to cover itself, crouching in the chair like a baby in the arms of its mother.

    As the chair slightly squeaked, several pairs of eyes opened and glowed. Then, the glows went out as the cat elves closed their eyes.

    The dead of night.

 Chapter 584: Dogs Jumping on Guests

    <h4>Chapter 584: Dogs Jumping on Guests</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian wanted to get more sleep, but his circadian clock woke him up at the exact hour, as usual.

    He had all sorts of weird dreams that night, as if he hadn¡¯t slept at all, and woke up in the a blink of eye.

    His head was aching, and he really wanted to sleep in a little bit longer. But he couldn¡¯t today, because he had so many things to do. At the very least, he needed to open up the shutter door before Lu Yiyun arrived to work. Otherwise, she would freeze outside waiting.

    As he was getting dressed, he looked over at the desk. To his surprise, he didn¡¯t see Pi getting up early to type. Usually, it woke up before everybody else did. It was good for it to get upte every once in a while and catch up on some sleep.

    He finished getting dressed, left the bedroom, and went to the storage room.

    Xiao La wasying in there dejectedly. It stood up from the floor immediately after seeing himing in, as if it wanted to bark, but it ended up just licking its lips. The lesson it learned these days made it realize that as soon as it barked, it would be ignored and kept in solitary.

    Zhang Zian took Xiao La downstairs, turned on the light, and let it roam around. He started working while observing its actions.

    Xiao La stared at the kittens who had just woken up. Then, it walked a few steps away from Zhang Zian, yawned, andid down in an open spot.

    Soon, Lu Yiyun pushed the door open, letting in some cold air.

    Xiao La was familiar with this girl, and immediately ran happily towards her. It stood up, grabbed at her long winter jacket with its two front paws, and stuck out its tongue as a warm greeting. It reacted the same way as it did each time Liu Sang had visitors over at his house.

    After entering the warm and humid room from the cold outside, Lu Yiyun¡¯s sses became foggy and she couldn¡¯t see anything. Something suddenly jumped towards her, making her fall back and hit the door. She screamed out of fear and raised up her arms. Her heart was almost beating out of her chest! Jasmine bumped around in her backpack, meowing unhappily.

    Xiao La thought that she was ying by kissing, hugging, and raising high, the way that Shi Shi used to y with it. It became even more excited. If it were taller, it would certainly be licking her face.

    ¡°Xiao La,e back!¡± Zhang Zian yelled.

    It turned its head and looked at him, but didn¡¯t move. It was still leaning on Lu Yiyun¡¯s winter jacket.

    As the fog on her sses went away, she finally saw that it was only Xiao La in front of her, and her hearbeat returned back to normal.

    Besides from barking and stealing human food from under the table, untrained dogs also liked jumping on people. It wasn¡¯t a big deal with small dogs. But when fully grown medium orrge dogs jumped, it could be problematic and dangerous.

    Xiao La wasn¡¯t fully grown yet, but already weighted 20 kilos. With a thrust from running, it was enough to get a small child or an elderly person onto the floor. If there wasn¡¯t a ss door behind her, Lu Yiyun could have fallen on the ground in surprise.

    It would have been bad if it jumped on an elderly person. They had brittle bones, and it would have cost Zhang Zian a fortune topensate their fall.

    Lu Yiyin was about to pat Xiao La¡¯s head and ask it to y somewhere else. Zhang Zian stopped her in time and yelled, ¡°Ignore it!¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s voice was loud. Her hands stopped where they were in the air.

    ¡°Ignore it, and do whatever you were nning to do, as if you never saw it.¡± Zhang Zian eased his tone. ¡°If you pat its head, you¡¯re encouraging it to jump on people. It would be annoying if it developed bad habits.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Lu Yiyun understood now. She was used to indulging her own pet Jasmine, but she didn¡¯t realize that dogs were different from cats.

    She acted as if she didn¡¯t notice. She turned her body to get away from Xiao La¡¯s front paws, sat in the chair behind the cashier¡¯s desk, and took out Jasmine from her backpack.

    Xiao La eagerly followed her, but Lu Yiyun just kept cleaning the desk and monitor, as if she didn¡¯t notice it at all.

    It circled around her, but didn¡¯t get any attention from her. It whimpered in disappointment, then sadlyid down in its previous spot.

    After a while, Wang Qian and Li Kun arrived. After finishing the cleaning duties for Zhang Zian, they took the puppies to the green field to run freely, as was the routine. Zhang Zian asked them to take Zhan Tian and Xiao La with them. He was the one who usually did this, but today he had a full schedule and couldn¡¯t spare the time.

    As they spoke, two vans stopped in front of the shop. Renovation workers in hard hats and blue uniforms started toe out of the vehicles.

    ¡°Are you Mr. Zhang?¡± asked the leading worker.

    Zhang Zian greeted them outside. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m Zhang, Mr. Guo¡¯s friend. Did he refer you here? Come this way, please.¡±

    The workers were referred by Guo Dong Yue, who wanted toe there in person, but Zhang Zian had politely turned him down. He didn¡¯t intend to turn the shoe store into a really fancy ce, and it only needed basic renovation. Inviting Guo Dong Yue over would be overkill. His initial n was to do some basic maintenance, reinforcement, soundproofing, and instion. The second floor could be separated into a breeding and delivery room. As for the first floor, he didn¡¯t have a n for it yet. He would leave it empty for now.

    Zhang Zian led them into the shoe store, exined his ideas in detail, and listened to their professional advice. They reached an agreement as the conversation progressed.

    While they were speaking, he casually look around and saw a small figure running past the store with a huge bookbag.

    Isn¡¯t that Little Celery? Why is she running that quickly?

    Little Celery should have been on her winter holiday by now. However, she was nning an experiment about raising hamsters during the break with Wang Yaning and some other students. An experiment report would need to be submitted to her school before the end of the holiday, so that the school could decide ordingly which animals to keep in the new semester.

    She hurried off towards school, and didn¡¯t notice Zhang Zian standing in the shoe store. He was busy talking to the renovation workers, and didn¡¯t have time to stop and greet her.

    Did she have to meet her teacher, or she was having issues with the hamsters?

    He could only guess.

    When Zhang Zian gave Little Celery the hamsters, he intentionally didn¡¯t instruct her how to take care of them. It was good practice for kids to let them discover and take care of issues on their own. It seemed like she had already encountered problems and he hoped that she could handle it well.

    After he finished discussing with the workers, Little Celery was already out of sight.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have anymore time to think about her. He grabbed a taxi, went straight to the bank for a loan, and then headed to the city¡¯s Real Estate Bureau. He¡¯d made an appointment with Xie Tao and wanted toplete the transfer soon, so that he would have one less thing to worry about. Xie Tao wanted to get the money faster as well, and buy a new house during the Spring Festival, while the housing market was low.

 Chapter 585: Comments

    <h4>Chapter 585: Comments</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After attending the shoe store renovation meeting all morning, Zhang Zian came back to the pet shop around lunch time.

    ¡°Meow! I want to eat baked balls!¡±

    As soon as he walked through the door, Snowy Li clung onto his pants.

    ¡°Wow! Mr. Store Manager, that white cat likes you so much!¡± Lu Yiyun was eating her take-out. When she looked up, she happened to witness the scene and have a huge misunderstanding.

    It was inconvenient for Zhang Zian to say anything to Snowy Li in front of her. He only red at it and lowered his hands to protect his crotch.

    Though he was able to teach dogs not to pounce on people, there was nothing he could do to stop Snowy Li, who liked to attack people¡¯s crotches.

    Lu Yiyun handed him his take-out. ¡°Wang Qian and Li Kun left earlier. They said that their rtives wereing to visit them today.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded to indicate that he knew about this. Since there were fewer customers around the time of the Spring Festival, they could leave earlier than usual.

    He took his food into the inner area of the pet shop and saw that other elves had already finished eating. They were napping and digesting their food. Even Gxy was yawning.

    After taking a look at the stomachs of the female Abyssinian cats, he estimated that the the kittens¡¯ due date would probably be after the Lantern Festival. At that time, the renovation of the shoe store would be almost finished, and the cats could move to their new home.

    Zhan Tian and Xiao La, the two dogs who had been ying outside, were quietly lying down on the ground. Judging from their round stomachs, they seemed to be very full.

    As he looked around the room, he was satisfied that everything seemed normal. Just as he was about to sit on the recliner and slowly eat his food, he suddenly remembered that he hadn¡¯t seen Pi that day. He took his food and went to the second floor.

    Huh?

    He was stunned as soon as he walked into the living room because theptop wasn¡¯t turned on, and Pi wasn¡¯t there typing in front of the desk.

    Had his vision blurred again?

    He used all his strength to blink. Even after that, his sight was the same.

    Maybe Pi was washing its face?

    ¡°Pi, you¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian strolled to the edge of the desk and was about to call Pi, but it wasn¡¯t in the bathroom. Instead, it was still curled up in the hammock chair, just as it was when he got up that morning.

    Pi struggled to open its eyes, managed a small smile, lifted its arm, and waved. It said weakly, ¡°Eeek.¡±

    ¡°Pi, what¡¯s wrong with you? Are you sick? Did you catch a cold?¡±

    Zhang Zian was shocked to see Pi like this. He put the food down on the desk and reached out to touch its forehead.

    Since Richard got sick, he¡¯d been paying close attention to the room temperature. The room temperature now wasn¡¯t cold, and with the electric heater on at its maximum capacity, Pi shouldn¡¯t have been able to catch a cold in such normal circumstances.

    Pi¡¯s forehead wasn¡¯t hot, it was just a little warmer than his own forehead, which was normal, because the rhesus monkey¡¯s body temperature was two or three degrees higher than humans.

    ¡°Eeek.¡±

    Pi shook its head and turned to look at the desk.

    There was his food, aptop, Pi¡¯s untitled book, and its clip-on sses on the desk.

    Although it was unlikely, Zhang Zian asked tentatively, ¡°Pi, are you hungry? Would you like something to eat?¡±

    Pi still shook its head no.

    It was an imaginative elfin who lived on the Strength of Faith and didn¡¯t need to eat.

    ¡°You want your book?¡± Zhang Zian tried guessing again.

    Pi¡¯s untitled book was almost inseparable from it. Before, it had always held its book like a treasure when it wasn¡¯t typing. Since it had recently let its guard down around Zhang Zian and the other elves, Pi and its book were not as inseparable as before.

    cing its hands on the chair, Pi struggled to sit up and jumped out of the chair. Its knees became weak and it almost fell onto the ground.

    Zhang Zian quickly helped it up.

    ¡°Pi, if you¡¯re ufortable, you should lie down and rest,¡± he advised.

    ¡°Eeek.¡±

    Pi shook its head gently and firmly. cing its hands on the chair in front of the desk, it wanted to sit down. But since its arms were weak as well, it tried and failed several times.

    Zhang Zian knew that it wanted to type andmunicate with him. He had to hold Pi onto the chair. He fetched a pillow and ced it behind Pi¡¯s back to support its body.

    Beep.

    With a slight buzz, Pi pressed the on/off button on theputer.

    As theputer turned on, Pi opened a Word document and typed slowly, I haven¡¯t written any chapters today.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t stand to see Pi like this and once again advised it. ¡°Pi, you¡¯re ufortable, you can take a day off. Since you started writing your book, you¡¯ve been uploading chapters endlessly for 30 days. It is okay to take a day off sometimes, right? Even office workers can take it easy on weekends.¡±

    Pi knew that he was being sincere. It hesitated a bit, minimized the Word document, opened the browser, and went to the author tform on the Qidian website.

    Add to Library: 60

    Zhang Zian also saw this number. He wanted tofort Pi, but didn¡¯t know what to say. He had already told it all the advice he knew, and he couldn¡¯te up with any more words of wisdom.

    Pi bit its lip, clicked the mouse, and entered thement section of its book.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    ¡°What the hell!¡± Both of them eximed at the same time.

    Pi, who was depressed before, widened its glowing eyes.

    Thement section had always been empty before. However, there were threements there today.

    [Future Online Games]: I¡¯m reading it. Keep up the good work!

    [Jinhua Qiying]: This book is well-written, and I enjoy reading it very much. I¡¯ve been reading it all the time!

    [Hemu Xuanlin]: I¡¯m reading it.

    Not only had these three readers whom Zhang Zian and Pi had never met before postedments, they also patronaged Pi from one to five Yuan and its book had been rmended with several more votes.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? What¡­is this¡­ what happened?¡±

    Zhang Zian, who was usually eloquent when speaking to any kind of customer, was so shocked that his words wereing out incoherent.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi joyfully opened thest chapter it had uploaded yesterday and pointed at the message from the author it had published.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if anyone is reading this novel. Can anyone who has read this message please say something in thement section?¡± Zhang Zian read this sentence twice and finally realized what was going on. ¡°So, these three people saw the message you left at the end of the chapter, and they specifically responded to you?¡±

    ¡°Eeek!¡± Pi nodded excitedly.

    ¡°Great! I told you that someone has been reading your novel!¡±

    Zhang Zian was also very excited, and he waved his fist in the air.

    He paced back and forth. Leaving everything else behind in his mind, these threements werepletely upying his thoughts.

    ¡°Pi, I think you should thank these three readers,¡± he said as he stopped pacing.

    ¡°Eeek?¡±

    The delighted Pi scratched its head and responded to Zhang Zian with a questioning gesture, which meant, How do I thank them?

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment and suggested, ¡°You¡¯re writing about Snowy¡¯s live broadcast, aren¡¯t you? How about making these three IDs appear during Snowy¡¯s program? It wouldn¡¯t affect the plot, but it could express your gratitude to them.¡±

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Pi nodded heavily and patted its chest to indicate that it would have no problem doing this.

    It suddenly became motivated, as if it now had infinite energy in its body. It switched back to the Word document and started writing today¡¯s chapters. From its rapid typing speed, Zhang Zian could feel its excitement.

    Zhang Zian moved a chair to sit next to Pi. He picked up his lunchbox and ate his lunch while watching it type.

 Chapter 586: Donâ€™t Forget Me

    <h4>Chapter 586: Don¡¯t Forget Me</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was quiet after lunch time. The wind stopped blowing and the smell of sunshine was intoxicating.

    There weren¡¯t any customers in the store, and most of the pets and elfins were still resting and digesting their food.

    Lu Yiyun held a pen in her hand, as she mentally struggled.

    She just started posting aic series on Weibo about a pet shop. Zhang Zian was certainly the basis of the main character. For now on though, the plot would be about the daily lives of the animals in the pet shop.

    After thinking for a while, she felt that a lot of potential content could be made based on the store. She¡¯d been listening to Zhang Zian as he exined all of his of pet knowledge to customers, and she thought it could be used in herics.

    Except that she had to decide if she should go for BL, Boy¡¯s Love?

    BL or couples, these were the two demons fighting in her heart.

    This wasn¡¯t only a matter of the story, but also to the style of heric.

    As a female otaku obsessed with the ACG world, Lu Yiyun had been inevitably exposed to BL and ACGs. Sometimes she had assignments where she had to draw pictures for BL novels. This came to her naturally, as she was nning the plot of heric.

    A regr rtionship was not an option. No way, having a boring rtionship was worse than not having a rtionship at all.

    She gave some further thought. If it were BL, would Zhang Zian be a top or a bottom?

    Slowly, she forgot the fact that Zhang Zian was only the basis of the character. She was thinking of him as Zhang Zian himself.

    As Lu Yiyun was deciding, Zhang Zian meanwhile had no idea about the crisis and was awaiting his bottom.

    He was watching Pi type upstairs, and threw the take-out box aside after he finished eating. He hadn¡¯t moved in one hour, and neither had Pi.

    ¡°Pi, it¡¯s time for a break,¡± he reminded, looking at his watch.

    ¡°Eek.¡±

    Pi nodded halfheartedly, without stopping his typing.

    It typed then deleted, After I finish this paragraph.

    It was like this all the time, and would only stop after finishing a story. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t get it. ording to Pi, it was afraid of interrupting its train of thought, since it was hard to get back on track afterwards.

    Pi didn¡¯t know that Zhang Zian yed the game skillfully, and reminded it to take a break 5 to 10 minutes ahead of each time.

    ¡°Eek.¡±

    Pi finally stopped and stretched out. Zhang Zian helped it jump off the desk chair, then took it to lie down in its hammock chair.

    ¡°Pi, take a good rest. You¡¯d better close your eyes, and stop thinking about the story¡¯s plot.¡±

    Zhang Zian grabbed the empty take-out box and stood up to throw it out in the kitchen. Pi grabbed at his clothes as he took a step away.

    ¡°Eek.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Pi?¡± He stopped and asked.

    Pi stayed still and pointed at the desk.

    It just left theputer, so it shouldn¡¯t need it again. So¡­

    ¡°You want to hold your book?¡± Zhang Zian guessed.

    Pi shook its head.

    There was only one possibility left. He took up Pi¡¯s sses and handed them over. It wasn¡¯t wearing sses while writing, which was out of the ordinary. The sses had stayed on top of the book.

    Pi took the sses, then waved at him, asking for him toe closer.

    Zhang Zian had no idea what it was up to, but he still bent down, thinking that it might want to show him something.

    As he got closer, Pi took the sses and put it on his nose.

    ¡°Eek!¡±

    It pped its hands, andughed.

    Zhang Zian had never worn sses before, not even sunsses. He felt a bit nervous as Pi pushed the sses towards him with its furry hands. He wasn¡¯t afraid of Pi, but he¡¯d heard that myopic sses or reading sses could make people with normal eyesight feel dizzy.

    It turned out that he was just overthinking. As he¡¯d guessed before, the sses had no prescription. The lenses were clear, and there didn¡¯t seem to be any special about it. The world looked the same as before, no gods or ghosts, which made him slightly disappointed.

    He was worried that the sses might not hold and would fall off any moment. He put his palm under his chin to catch them when they fell. But after a while, the sses were still firmly on his nose.

    ¡°What, do I look funny in sses?¡±

    After seeing Piughing happily, he thought that it was because he looked funny wearing them.

    ¡°Eek.¡±

    Pi shook its head. Itsughter didn¡¯t stop.

    He walked into the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror. He looked more mature and educated.

    Its construction was very simple. It was short, with a thin metal rod connecting the two oval lenses. The material of the metal was unknown. It was bronze and looked old, with antique designs on it. The lenses were thin, attached to two pieces of metal that supported the nose, and it was the same color as the rod.

    The sses felt light, as if it had no weight.

    Some clip-on sses were attached to a chain or strap to fix it on clothes, to prevent them from slipping, but this one wasn¡¯t.

    Zhang Zian tried to lower and shake his head. These sses shouldn¡¯t have been able to stay on his nose like this. But strangely, they didn¡¯t slip off at all.

    He walked out the bathroom andughed. ¡°These sses are interesting.¡± As he spoke, he started to take them off and give them back to Pi.

    ¡°Eek.¡±

    Pi quickly waved its hands to stop him, then pointed at the desk.

    Without a doubt, this time it had to mean the book.

    Zhang Zian picked up the book and gave it to Pi.

    Pi didn¡¯t take it, but pointed at Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes, then at the book.

    ¡°You¡­want me to read it?¡± His heart warmed as he spoke.

    Pi nodded.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t as curious about the untitled book as he was before. He¡¯d read it once, but it was all nk. Gxy said there were many interesting stories in the book, but Famous could only see blurry words.

    He followed Pi¡¯s suggestion and opened up the book. He turned to a random page and lowered his head to read.

    What was going on?

    With only one nce, his palms and back immediately got sweaty. The book was no longer nk, but filled with countless English characters, so many that it made him dizzy.

    He turned to the next page, and it was the same. Countless letters filled the page.

    The next page, then the next. They were all like that.

    Each page of the book was full of English letters, without punctuation, empty lines, or paragraphs. There wasn¡¯t even a single space.

    Was this a book?

    If this was a book, how was he supposed to read it?

    It would be fine it that was the only issue. Old Chinese literature had no punctuation either, and the reader had to interpret the punctuation themselves. The problem was these letters were meaningless! He knew every single one of them, but they didn¡¯t make words when they were connected. He searched the whole page, but couldn¡¯t find a single word that he knew, except the letter ¡°a¡±, which was also a word on its own.

    Did he not know enough words?

    Or was this not English at all?

    Zhang Zian flipped through one page after another, until his eyes started hurting. He stopped at a random page, and finally found an English word that he knew: shop.

    There were countless ¡°z''¡± before ¡°shop¡±, followed by ¡°shopa¡±, then ¡°shopaa¡±, ¡°shopaaa¡± and ¡°shopaaaa¡±. For as long as he kept flipping, ¡°shop¡± was followed by countless ¡°a¡±.

    He closed his eyes and the book to give his eyes a break. After a few moments, he opened up the book again.

    This time, he found another word that he knew: y.

    ¡°y¡± was preceded by countless ¡°z¡±, followed by ¡°ya¡±, ¡°yaa¡±, ¡°yaaa¡±, and ¡°yaaaa¡±. The pages after were filled by numerous ¡°a¡±.

    He closed the book then opened it again.

    Sometimes, after repeating the cycle a few times, the same letter would appear, such as ¡°c¡±, ¡°f¡±, or ¡°t¡±.

    What did it feel like to read a page filled with the same letter over and over again? Now he knew.

    At the same time, he noticed something else. He could turn to a random page of the book, but as long as he continued flipping the page, the pages on both sides neither increased or decreased, as if he could keep turning the page until the end of time.

    He tried to skip pages, and turned two, three, or four pages at a time, but no matter how he turned the pages, new pages appeared after, and old pages disappeared from before. The bnce was precisely maintained. The thickness on both sides stayed the same as the way book was initially opened, unless you closed the book and opened it again.

    This was an infinite book.

    This was not a book that a human could read.

    He could feel the blood flow leaving his head. His face must be as pale as a ghost right now. He closed the book and shut his eyes. He couldn¡¯t read any longer. After reading for a short while, his head felt like it was going to explode and his eyes were aching. The lunch he ate not long ago was churning in his stomach, and he felt like he was about to throw up.

    ¡°Eek?¡±

    Pi sounded panicked. One of its furry little hands grabbed his own hand and started shaking it.

    The nausea was slowly going away. Zhang Zian opened his eyes, a cold sweat covering his forehead.

    Pi stared at him nervously, and gestured to ask him how he was doing.

    ¡°Pi, I¡¯m fine.¡± He smiled reluctantly, took off the sses, and handed it back to Pi along with the untitled book. ¡°This is such a magical book. Thanks for letting me see it. My curiosity is satisfied.¡±

    Again, Pi didn¡¯t take them. It stretched its hand, and pushed the book and sses back to him, then pointed at his chest.

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±

    This time, Zhang Zian could no longer guess what it was trying to say. Was Pi asking him to keep reading? His life would be in danger if he kept on reading.

    Pi seemed to have had enough rest. It raised its arms to let Zhang Zian put it to the chair. Then it typed in a Word file, If I¡¯m not around anymore, you can keep the book and sses.

    He was astonished as he read these words. His heart ached with sadness.

    Pi and its book were from two separate faiths. Even if Pi disappeared, the nameless book would still exist. It might have a premonition that its days were numbered, and the Strength of Faith was not strong enough to maintain its existence. That¡¯s why it wanted to leave its most cherished possession to him.

    This was a book about life, the universe, and everything else. He used to be incredibly curious about the book and wanted to read it so badly. But after reading it today, he wished that he hadn¡¯t.

    ¡°Pi, what nonsense are you talking?¡± He tried to hold back the sadness in his heart, and smiled. ¡°How can you not be around anymore? Don¡¯t you want to go out and travel? Don¡¯t forget that there are 60 readers online, waiting to read your book and follow your story. Plus me and the other elfins. We all want to know what happens to us in your story.¡±

    He tried to change the subject by ying dumb.

    Pi looked at him emotionally, then typed: If I¡¯m not around anymore, help me write the story. I don¡¯t want to disappoint the readers.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s smile slowly froze. He could tell that Pi was serious.

    ¡°No.¡± He slowly shook his head and declined. ¡°This is your story, and you have to finish it. I¡¯ve never been good at Chinese ever since I was young, and my writing was often read in front of the ss as bad examples, not to mention me trying to write novels. If I¡¯m the one writing the novel, the readers will be more disappointed.¡±

    He could not allow Pi to give up hope and lose its morale, especially as it was developing ideas of passing on its possessions. In movies, a lot of the die-hardmunist believers were only willing to die after making thest payment of theirmunist party membership fee¡­

    Pi pointed at the nameless book and the sses, then typed, It¡¯s easy to write novels. If you don¡¯t know something, just look it up from the book.¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his hands. ¡°No way. I was about to talk about this. I read it for a while with the sses, and it almost made me vomit. 99.99% of the content in the book is just meaningless clutters of letters. The time I spend finding out what one plus one is with the book is enough to get myself a PhD in mathematics.¡±

    He thought earlier that it was easy for Pi to write a novel, and all it needed to do was to look in the book for anything it didn¡¯t know about. Now he realized that he was very wrong. It was harder to get information from that book than it was retrieving a needle from the ocean.

    As for the book, even if his life was in danger, even if Pi told him there were pictures of naked women in it, he would not take a second look into it.

    ¡°Pi, stop your wild thoughts.¡± He encouraged it and diverted the subject. ¡°So, did you finish your new chapter? Upload it if you did. I¡¯m sure the three readers would be thrilled to see their names in the novel.¡±

    After seeing that he wouldn¡¯t ept the book and clip-on sses, Pi nodded in disappointment, and opened the author¡¯s page on the website, ready to upload new chapters.

    A new message popped up. What was that?

    Zhang Zian bent down closer to the screen, to read it with Pi.

    ¡°Hello, this is to inform you that your story Pet King will be promoted on Sunday afternoon into the popr urban category. Please keep updating. Pi, your novel is getting promoted by the website!¡± He excitedly pressed on Pi¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°Eek.¡±

    Pi smiled. It was happy too, but not as happy as Zhang Zian. It had been disappointed too many times for it to hope again.

    ¡°I think we should start working on it.¡± Zhang Zian rubbed his hands together, eagerly thinking about how he could turn things around for Pi through this rare opportunity.

    His cell phone rang then. It was a text from Sun Xiaomeng, asking him to drop by her clinic to discuss something.

    ¡°Pi, I have to head out for some business. I¡¯ll be back soon. Go on with your next chapter,¡± he said in a hurry.

    Pi grabbed him and typed, If I don¡¯t exist anymore, please don¡¯t forget me.

    Zhang Zian stood still for some time, then nodded in silence.

 Chapter 587: Revenge Succeeded

    <h4>Chapter 587: Revenge Seeded</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian quickly went downstairs and nned to visit Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s clinic to see what she was doing. He also wanted to refresh himself by taking a walk outside, now that his brain had been filled with endless English letters.

    Passing the checkout counter, he casually said, ¡°I¡¯m going out. I¡¯ll be back in a minute.¡±

    When he spoke, he didn¡¯t look at Lu Yiyun because she was always immersed in painting when there weren¡¯t any customers in the store.

    As he walked past the checkout counter, he suddenly felt a strange looke from behind him, and he stopped walking to look back at Lu Yiyun.

    She was staring at his butt.

    ¡°Is there a stain on my trousers?¡± Zhang Zian patted his behind, wondering if the chair he had sat on up on the second floor was dirty and had stained his pants.

    ¡°No, no! Nothing! Nothing!¡± Panicked, Lu Yiyun came back to senses and hid her head into her digital drawing board, pretending to draw.

    Zhang Zian thought her expression was off, but he couldn¡¯t tell why. Having no time to think about this issue, he rushed out the door.

    After he left, Lu Yiyun patted her chest and felt relieved.

    ¡°He almost found out,¡± she muttered to herself, now that she was alone in the store.

    ¡°Quack! What did he find out?¡±

    A voice suddenly sounded from above her head.

    ¡°Ah!¡± She screamed and looked up. It turned out that the talking grey parrot hadnded on the shelf above her head and was staring at her painting on theputer screen.

    On the screen, she had drawn a handsome young man. The style of the young man was like themon heartthrob from Japanese manga, but the outline of his face resembled Zhang Zian¡¯s to some extent.

    The young man in the painting was handsome indeed, but for some reason, he seemed to look a little gay.

    ¡°No¡­ nothing¡­¡± Lu Yiyun couldn¡¯t help but want to conceal her intentions, even if the one who asked her a question was just a bird.

    ¡°Quack! What a handsome guy. Yiyun, is he your dream lover?¡± Richard flew to the desk, looking closer at the character sketch on the screen.

    ¡°No, he¡¯s the protagonist of myic,¡± she replied.

    ¡°The protagonist of aic¡­¡± Richard squinted and opened its beak, revealing a narrow arc. ¡°What¡¯s his name?¡±

    ¡°Well, I haven¡¯t thought about that yet.¡±

    Lu Yiyun was so bad at naming her characters. Every time she needed to name a character in heric book, she would have to search for names desperately on the inte.

    ¡°Quack! In that case, I think I can tell you a good name.¡± Richard¡¯s smile carried a dangerous implication. ¡°Would you like to hear it?¡±

    She nodded. ¡°What¡¯s the name?¡±

    Richard solemnly said, ¡°Nowadays, everything is in line with international standards, especiallyics. Becauseics are image-based and only have a small number of words, they¡¯re easier to understand for people of differentnguages.¡±

    Lu Yiyun gaped in surprise. She thought that this gray parrot was intelligent and its words were making a lot sense, so she listened to it more attentively. This was indeed the case withics. By simply tranting the dialogue between characters, a Japanese manga could be easily understood by Chinese, American, and German readers, and vice versa.

    Seeing her falling into its trap, Richard continued. ¡°Now, there are many people whoe to China to study and travel. For instance, the exchange student Masanori Suzuhara who was here a few days ago. If you want to make youric¡¯s audience bigger, you should give a Chinese-Western name to the protagonist, so that the readers abroad can better immerse themselves in the story.¡±

    Lu Yiyun nodded vigorously. ¡°What would be a better name then?¡±

    Richard was about to reveal its real intentions. It excitedly fluttered its wings and cried, ¡°Quack! How about Billy Zhang?¡± (Trantor¡¯s note: Billy Herrington is an American pornographic film actor.)

    Billy Zhang?

    Lu Yiyun thought that this name sounded a bit familiar, but she couldn¡¯t remember where she had heard it from.

    ¡°Oh? How do you know hisst name is Zhang?¡±

    She suddenly realized that she¡¯d never told Richard that she nned on using thest name Zhang for the protagonist. How did Richard figure it out?

    ¡°Quack! Don¡¯t mind the minor details!¡± Richard carefully observed the styling of the young man, shook its head, and changed the subject. ¡°This styling isn¡¯t going to work.¡±

    ¡°Why? What¡¯s wrong with it?¡± Lu Yiyun felt a little upset from Richard rejecting her design.

    Richard raised one wing and pointed at the screen, ¡°You¡¯ve done a good job with painting, but this style is too Japanese and slender, which is reallymon on the inte, but isn¡¯t easily recognizable.¡±

    Lu Yiyun stared thoughtfully at the screen and re-examined her sketch objectively. Indeed, as the grey parrot said, the protagonist¡¯s styling was handsome, and had been painstakingly designed by her. However, this Japanese girly styling was extremely rampant on the inte, and her design was simply more elegant than others, but it had no distinctive features to make it recognizable.

    ¡°Then, what styling would be better?¡± she humbly asked for advice.

    Her mind was immersed in theic world and she¡¯d forgotten that she was talking to a parrot. Since she often talked to her cat Jasmine at home, Zhang Zian often talked with the cats, dogs, and parrots in the pet shop, and Little Celery often talked with the hamster and lop-eared rabbit, she didn¡¯t feel like talking to animals was unusual.

    Richard rolled its ck eyes and said slyly, ¡°Why not paint him as a muscr guy? A muscr guy with a good-looking face? What do you think?¡±

    Lu Yiyun immeditaely became inspired!

    Right! Another identity of Zhang Zian¡¯s was a prestigious Master of Wing Chun Kung Fu. She heard that he practiced boxing almost every day. Under his ordinary clothes, he definitely had huge hidden muscles!

    With the protagonist¡¯s beautiful face and over-developed muscles, he could rip his shirt apart from time to time. The contradiction in his looks and personality would easily leave asting impression on the readers!

    As for why the protagonist would have to tear up his clothes in a pet shop, Lu Yiyun figured that she could worry about itter.

    Her thoughts were upied with images of an attractive and muscr guy ripping up his clothes and she¡¯d forgotten to focus on why the gray parrot hade up with this idea in the first ce.

    ¡°It seems very reasonable,¡± she said nodding. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Even though this meant that she had to recreate the protagonist, she felt like it was worth it.

    ¡°Quack! You¡¯re wee. If you have any issues, feel free to ask me for help.¡± Having sessfully gotten revenge on Zhang Zian, Richard happily fluttered its wings and flew away. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll leave you to it.¡±

    Itnded on the shelf above the doorway. ¡°Just concentrate on drawing and don¡¯t worry about anything else. If that idiot Zhang Zian returns, I¡¯ll let you know.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡±

    Lu Yiyun gratefully picked up her pencil and started working on the protagonist¡¯s design. Without her realizing, the decision between no couples or boy love for heric had also faded from her mind.

 Chapter 588: Pet Boarding

    <h4>Chapter 588: Pet Boarding</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian quickly walked towards the Spirit Curing Pet Clinic against the cold wind,pletely unaware of the trick Richard had set up.

    He was thinking about what he could do for Pi with its uing promotion opportunity.

    As an elfin born with the Strength of Faith, it could survive with enough of the Strength of Faith, right?

    On the road, he passed by the Uncle Li¡¯s small diner and took a quick nce inside. There were no customers inside. Uncle Li and Aunt Li were sitting on opposite sides of a table, and were discussing something with dejected expressions.

    A car was parked outside of the Spirit Curing Pet Clinic. He¡¯d seen it somewhere before.

    ¡°Wee.¡±

    As he pushed open the ss door, he saw Long Xian standing in the nurses station, using theputer as part of her cashier duties. When she saw that it was Zhang Zian, she smiled and greeted him. ¡°It¡¯s you, Manager Zhang. Just a moment, Xiaomeng is doing a health examination on a dog.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at the time and asked, ¡°How much longer will the examination take?¡±

    Some exams took longer than others. He didn¡¯t want to waste his time waiting. They weren¡¯t far from each other anyways. He rathere backter if the wait was too long.

    ¡°It¡¯s just a regr exam. It should be done soon.¡± Long Xian pointed at the chairs in the waiting area. ¡°Would you like to take a seat?¡±

    ¡°No, thanks. I¡¯ll walk around.¡±

    Zhang Zian had enough rest in his own shop and wasn¡¯t tired.

    They were business partners. Long Xian didn¡¯t stop him, and continued her own business.

    He wandered into the treatment room. He hadn¡¯t been there for a while, and the clinic had gotten a lot of new machines that he couldn¡¯t name. Medical equipment was always expensive, and those machines probably had cost a lot of money. Maybe all of their profits went into this equipment. They had no other option. Without all the equipment they needed, they wouldn¡¯t be able to perform many of the exams and operations, and their customers would opt to go to bigger vet hospitals.

    Zhang Zian heard Sun Xiaomeng speaking, as she was exining the results of the examination to a client. The client was facing the door with his back to him, and he couldn¡¯t see his face.

    A Cocker Spaniel was lying on the examination table, looking around with its iconic floppy ears.

    After seeing Zhang Zian, it paused as if it recognized him, then barked.

    Sun Xiaomeng stopped her speech, and turned to look at him, as did the other guy.

    ¡°There you are. Just a moment, I¡¯ll be done very soon.¡± She nodded at Zhang Zian.

    The other guy said in surprise, ¡°Manager Zhang, what a coincidence.¡±

    After seeing the Cocker Spaniel and the car parked outside, Zhang Zian had a good guess on who this person was. It was Meng Li, who he met in Binhai City Library not to long ago.

    ¡°Hi, Professor Meng. You don¡¯t have sses today? And are you taking your dog here for exams?¡± he greeted.

    Meng Li replied, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s already winter holidays. The results are good. It¡¯s already six months old, without signs of cataract onset. I¡¯m relieved.¡±

    ¡°Congrattions. If there aren¡¯t signs within 6 months, the chances of having cataracts in the future is very low.¡± Zhang Zian congratted him. ¡°You guys should continue your conversation without me. I¡¯ll take a seat outside.

    He gave up the idea of leaving and returned to the waiting area. After sitting down, he started ying with his phone.

    As the results were good, Meng Li soon came out with the Cocker Spaniel in his arms. Sun Xiaomeng followed him, wearing ab coat and a stethoscope dangling around her neck.

    Meng Li went by himself to the nurse station to pay with Long Xian. Sun Xiaomeng walked towards Zhang Zian and said, ¡°I asked you toe over for a favor.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± Zhang Zian put his phone away.

    Sun Xiaomeng said reluctantly, ¡°Do you know how I have a lot of abandoned pets in my clinic?¡±

    Zhang Zian knew about this, and had seen all of them the first time he visited this clinic.

    Sometimes after their pets got sick, their owners didn¡¯t wanted them to die, but weren¡¯t willing to pay too much for them either. They would take them to the clinic for treatment, but never showed up again after paying for the first day¡¯s treatment. This was de facto abandonment.

    But for Sun Xiaomeng this still happened, despite the fact that an agreement was signed with the pet owner from the beginning saying that if the pet was not imed within a month, it would be deemed abandoned by the clinic, and the clinic was free to dispose of the pets. However, in reality, they had to wait much more than a month. What if after a month or two, the owners suddenly regretted their decision and wanted their pets back?

    There was only her and Long Xian, both two frail girls, in the clinic. They couldn¡¯t even afford to hire a security guard. They¡¯d be in big trouble if they ever encountered a bad-tempered owner.

    As for the abandoned pets, most of them were not expensive breeds. They were usually ordinary mutts and mixed breed cats. They couldn¡¯t be worth much money even if they were sold after a month, and nobody would even want to pay for them.

    They were fed and taken care of in the clinic for a long time, which added to the cost of running the clinic.

    Sun Xiaomeng exined her intentions. Her clinic was closing during the Spring Festival holidays, and both her and Long Xian were heading to their hometowns. Nobody would be working in the clinic to take care of these pets. She wanted to temporarily keep them in Zhang Zian¡¯s shop, and get them back after the holidays.

    This was nothing too big for him. Plus, she¡¯d taken care of Zhang Zian¡¯s pets in the past. He dly agreed.

    ¡°I¡¯ll ask Wang Qian and Li Kun to pick them up tomorrow with the tricycle,¡± he said.

    ¡°Okay. Thank you so much.¡± Sun Xiaomeng was relieved. After hectic work for almost half a year, she could finally rx in her hometown during Spring Festival holidays.

    Meng Li had finished paying, and was about to leave with the Cocker Spaniel after nodding to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Wait a moment, Professor Meng.¡± Zhang Zian quickly stood up to stop him. He then asked Sun Xiaomeng, ¡°Do you have anything else?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Sun Xiaomeng shook her head. ¡°Go ahead with your business.¡±

    Zhang Zian signaled to Meng Li. ¡°Let¡¯s head out together.¡±

    Meng Li guessed that he wanted something from him, but he didn¡¯t know what. Maybe it was about the Cocker Spaniel. After all, when he bought the dog, Zhang Zian reminded him that Cocker Spaniels were prone to hereditary cataract.

    They left the pet clinic together.

    It was getting dark earlier during the winter. It was almost dusk then. The sun was hanging around the horizon gently, and the cold wind was blowing stronger and stronger.

    ¡°Professor Meng, do you have a moment? I¡¯d like to talk in private because I needed your expertise on something,¡± asked Zhang Zian.

    Meng Li nodded. ¡°I¡¯m avable. Manager Zhang, you¡¯re ttering me. I can help you with a question, but I may not exactly have the expertise.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. Let¡¯s sit down somewhere.¡±

    It was too cold to stand outside, and Zhang Zian¡¯s questions could take some time to discuss. He looked around, and saw that a lot of stores were already closed for the Spring Festival. The only ce to sit was in the Uncle Li¡¯s little diner.

    Zhang Zian led the way, and they entered the diner.

    After taking seats, he directly asked, ¡°Professor Meng, the other day, in the library, when I mentioned the book about life, universe, and everything, how did you know that I should look for it in the reference book section?¡±

 Chapter 589: Hyperwebster

    <h4>Chapter 589: Hyperwebster</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    There were no other customers in the restaurant. Sighing in despair, Uncle Li and his wife were sitting opposite each other and discussing the restaurant¡¯s revenues. They were very confident when buying the diner, but they never expected that the business wouldn¡¯t improve much since then, because it was difficult to attract customers from the other restaurants around them.

    Seeing Zhang Zian and another customer walk in, Uncle Li and his wife quickly greeted them.

    Since it wasn¡¯t meal time yet, Zhang Zian only ordered two cups of orange juice.

    After the orange juice was served, Uncle Li and his wife left them alone.

    If Zhang Zian had never ran into Meng Li at the library and received help from him that day, it would have been impossible for Zhang Zian to ever locate the untitled book. Meng Li had left the library before Zhang Zian, who had been wondering about this question ever since that time. Today, he¡¯d ran into Meng Li again. He wouldn¡¯t miss another opportunity to find out the answer.

    Meng Li didn¡¯t have a deep impression of that day. When Zhang Zian reminded him, he remembered and said, ¡°Oh, that was the subject you were referring to. Manager Zhang, are you really studying mathematics?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m slightly interested in it,¡± Zhang Zian said vaguely. ¡°How did you know that the book was hidden in the reference book section?¡±

    ¡°Hidden in the reference book section?¡± Stunned, Meng Li corrected him. ¡°No, no, you¡¯re misunderstood. I mean, assuming that there was such a book about life, the universe, and everything, it should be ced in the reference book section. It was merely my assumption. A book like that doesn¡¯t truly exist, right? Or have you really found such a book?¡±

    ¡°No, I haven¡¯t. It was just the slip of the tongue.¡± Zhang Zian tried to cover up his previous question. ¡°Is there anything special about the origin of the book? How did you decide that it would be in the reference section?¡±

    Meng Li smiled confidently. ¡°Assuming there is such a book, not only could I conclude that it would be in the reference book section, but I could also determine that it would be ced on a bookshelf with various dictionaries.¡±

    Holy crap! Zhang Zian was shocked.

    That was f**king amazing!

    Meng Li obviously had left the library before Zhang Zian that day, but it seemed like he had witnessed Zhang Zian finding the untitled book next to a pile of English dictionaries.

    Zhang Zian became increasingly curious. Knowing that Meng Li was holding him in suspense, Zhang Zian said calmly, ¡°Mr. Meng, are you able to know things without fortune telling?¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t have that kind of ability.¡± Meng Li stopped smiling and said seriously, ¡°Have you heard of Hyperwebster?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Startled, Zhang Zian racked his brain to search for the term in his memory, but nothing came up.

    Meng Li exined, ¡°Hyperwebster is a thought experiment proposed by the famous mathematician and science fiction novelist Dr. Ian Stewart. This thought experiment means that, assuming that such a dictionary exists, and that the dictionary consists of 26 English letters, starting with A, ending with an infinite number of Z, like this¡ª¡±

    To demonstrate, Meng Li pulled out a napkin,id it out on the table, and wrote on it with a pen he had:

    A, AA, AAA, AAAA¡­

    AB, ABA, ABAA, ABAAA¡­

    AC, ACA, ACAA, ACAAA¡­

    ¡­

    Z, ZA, ZAA, ZAAA¡­

    ZB, ZBA, ZBAA, ZBAAA¡­

    ¡­

    ZZ, ZZZ, ZZZZ, ZZZZZ¡­

    Zhang Zian was perplexed, but he saw that the sequence of these letters seemed to be simr to what he¡¯d seen previously in that untitled book.

    Meng Li pushed the napkin to Zhang Zian and put the pen down. He asked, ¡°You know what this means? This means that the Hyperwebster contains all the possiblebinations of English letters. Whether they¡¯re English words that exist now, or new words that will be coined in the next hundred or thousand yearster, they¡¯re already included in the Hyperwebster. For example, ¡®zidecuz¡¯. This isn¡¯t a word, and it isn¡¯t currently included in any dictionary. If someone were to write this word, it would definitely be thought of as a misspelling. But maybe a year in the future, the word will be given some sort of meaning from people. At that time, people would be surprised to find that this word has already been included in the Hyperwebster, assuming that such a dictionary does exist.¡±

    Meng Li drank a few mouthfuls of orange juice to wet his throat, giving Zhang Zian time to process what he¡¯d said.

    Zhang Zian stared at the strange letterbinations on the napkin and tried to keep up with Meng Li¡¯s exnation.

    Meng Li added, ¡°Not only that, but because this dictionary includes all possible English words, these words may also constitute all possible entries. Theoretically, the answers to all the unsolved mysteries in history, and everyone and everything in this world, can be found in this dictionary. These entries may further form all possible passages, from the first poorly-writtenposition by an English writer from just a corner of the world, to The Deration of Independence, the English version of Dream of the Red Chamber, theplete works of Shakespeare, the Encyclopedia Britannica, all the English books collected in the US Library of Congress, and all of the great articles written by an unborn writer. All of this is inside of this dictionary.¡±

    At this, Meng Li changed his tone and smiled rxingly. ¡°Well, at this point, you should be able to understand that the content of this dictionary is infinite. It has a beginning, but no end. The number of the letters inside the dictionary is more than all the atoms in the universe, because the total number of atoms in the universe is limited, while the letters in the dictionary are infinite. This book can only stay in people¡¯s imagination, it can never appear in the real world. Even if you exhausted all the time and atoms in the universe, you wouldn¡¯t be able to finish writing this dictionary.¡±

    ¡°My life is finite, but the book is infinite.¡± Zhang Zian whispered to himself.

    ¡°What?¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s voice was so low that Meng Li didn¡¯t hear him clearly.

    ¡°No, nothing.¡± Zhang Zian waved his hand. ¡°I¡¯m just a bit shocked.¡±

    Meng Li nodded and picked up his cup of orange juice, ¡°It¡¯s normal. The Hyperwebster is a thought experiment that few people know about except for those in the mathematicsmunity. It is not as well-known as the Schrodinger¡¯s cat, which the public takes great pleasure in talking about. So, when you told me then that you were looking for a book about life, the universe, and everything, I immediately thought of the Hyperwebster. In fact, I was joking with you back then. Afterwards, I worried that I hadmitted a huge sin by misleading you to find the wrong book. By the way, what on earth was the book you wanted to find that day?¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°It was actually a science fiction novel¡ªthe third installment of The Hitchhiker¡¯s Guide to the Gxy written by Dous Adams, and the title of the book was called Life, the Universe, and Everything.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± Meng Li realized. ¡°I rarely read science fiction. No wonder I hadn¡¯t heard about it. What a shame!¡±

 Chapter 590: Infinity

    <h4>Chapter 590: Infinity</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The Cocker Spaniel that Meng Li brought over was well trained, and didn¡¯t bark or wander around everywhere. Ity quietly on the floor, sniffed, blinked its big eyes, and stared at the kitchen of the small restaurant, where the aroma of cooked food wasing from.

    Zhang Zian took a few sips of his orange juice, then thought silently about the letters on the napkin.

    Since they were talking about science fiction, he remembered a fiction story he¡¯d read in the past. He asked, ¡°Professor Meng, I¡¯m wondering if you¡¯ve read a short fantasy story, called the Book of Sand?¡±

    ¡°Book of Sand?¡±

    This time, it was Meng Li¡¯s turn to feel shocked. He was bending over tob out his Cocker Spaniel¡¯s fur. Cocker Spaniels had naturally curly long fur, which easily tangled and needed frequentbing. Otherwise, they would look sleazy. Besides from studying, his graduate students had another assignment tob the dog¡¯s hair, which made them joke that they were working at a cotton mill.

    Meng Li thought for a while and was certain that this name was unfamiliar. He hadn¡¯t read it.

    ¡°Like I said, I rarely read science fiction. Most of the books I read are about math. You have to keep learning these days, otherwise you¡¯ll get outdated very easily.¡± He smiled. ¡°Is this Book of Sand an interesting read?¡±

    ¡°No, despite the fact that it¡¯s called Book of Sand, it¡¯s not an actual book, but a short fantasy story with only 2000 words. The author is the Argentinean writer, Jorge Luis Borges. This is his most recognized work,¡± exined Zhang Zian. He¡¯d read the story a long time ago, but he still remembered it because it was so mind-blowing.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Meng Li was slightly interested. ¡°In math, brevity is beauty. A story of 2000 words is somehow this author¡¯s most recognized work? It must be deep in thought and artistic. What is it about?¡±

    Zhang Zian recalled this science fiction story and began retelling it.

    In the beginning of Book of Sand, the hero was an ordinary man living in an ordinary house. One day, a stranger visited him with a suitcase. The stranger was selling the Bible, but the man was not interested, as he already owned a few Bibles. Then the stranger took out another book. It wasn¡¯t a Bible, but the cover read The Holy Book.

    After flipping open The Holy Book, the protagonist found that the page numbers were odd. They weren¡¯t in sequential order, butpletely random. Most importantly, the page number of the book was endless, and he could never find the beginning nor the end. New pages always appeared out of nowhere, and the book had pictures like a dictionary.

    The stranger said that he bought this book from a vige. The salesperson called it The Book of Sand, as it was endless like sand.

    It was a very strange book, but the stranger was willing to sell it to the man at a rtively low price. In fact, he¡¯d wanted to get rid of it for a long time.

    After getting this book, that man also became its ve. He stopped going out, for he loved the book so much that he couldn¡¯t step away from it. He studied it all day and night, because of his obsessive interest in it. He could no longer sleep. And even if he did sleep, he dreamed about it all the time.

    Like the stranger, the man suddenly realized that his life would bepletely ruined if he continued on this way. So he decided to get rid of this nightmare just as the stranger did.

    After getting this far, Zhang Zian suddenly started acting mysterious and asked, ¡°Can you guess how the hero got rid of the book?¡±

    Meng Li waspleted drawn in by this odd story. He stoppedbing the Cocker Spaniel¡¯s fur and took a guess. ¡°Did he sell it to somebody else, like the stranger did?¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°He did something smarter. He hid it like a tree in the forest. When nobody was watching, he hid the book on a bookshelf of a national library with 0.9 million books, and tried not to remember which shelf it was. He never even visited the street where the library was.¡±

    Meng Li knocked on the table with excitement. ¡°Great idea! If he did so, this Book of Sand could no longer be found, unless some extremely unlucky guy picked it up, with a chance of 1 out of 0.9 million!¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled bitterly. This extremely unlucky is sitting right in front of you, and offered you a ss of orange juice.

    He remembered that when Pi first arrived at the pet shop, it would make a gesture of slipping sand out of its hand. Back then, he thought that it was referring to the sand of Ganges river. Could he be wrong?

    ¡°So is the story is over?¡± Meng Li was looking forward to hearing more.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°It¡¯s finishes with an open ending. Professor, is this Book of Sand simr to The Hyperwebster Dictionary?¡±

    Meng Li said, ¡°Indeed. But the Hyperwebster is more rigorous, and it does have a beginning.¡±

    Zhang Zian agreed on this. The Hyperwebster was a theory of science, but the Book of Sand was a fantasy of literature. They shared some simrities only in certain aspects.

    ¡°Either the Hyperwebster or the Book of Sand, if they do exist, would be very precious. Aren¡¯t they? They would be the most impressive books on Earth. Or if there are other civilizations in the universe, could theye up with better books?¡± he asked.

    He remembered that Gxy once said the nameless book was the most impressive book on the earth, but not in the universe.

    Meng Li asked, ¡°Impressive? Of course. Except that both books have limitations, which is because they¡¯re written in English, and are limited to the 26 letters. Some ideas can¡¯t be expressed by just 26 English letters. If some civilization in the universe has a moreprehensive linguistic system, they could theorize a better version of the Hyperwebster.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. This confirmed Gxy¡¯s remark.

    ¡°If you got a copy of the Book of Sand, or the Hyperwebster, what would you do?¡± He tentatively asked again.

    Meng Li was drinking his orange juice. He stopped after hearing these words.

    ¡°Get a copy? Neither of these two book are supposed to exist in real life. How would I get a copy?¡± He pushed the question back with a scientist¡¯s rationality.

    ¡°In theory, let¡¯s suppose you had one.¡± Zhang Zian rified.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Meng Li thought about it. ¡°If I got the Book of Sand, I might read it. If I would end up getting obsessed over it like the man from the story¡­I¡¯m not sure, maybe. A lot of people crave knowledge, after all. But if I got the Hyperwebster, well, it¡¯s hard to say. The words might be in random order. I wouldn¡¯t be able to read even if I try. Perhaps I would give it to the government.¡±

    He was half joking.

    ¡°This is my other question.¡± Zhang Zian ignored his joke. ¡°If the words in the Hyperwebster are in random order, how can you know that it contains all knowledge and all of the great writings?¡±

    Meng Li murmured, ¡°This is theoretical. Theories are theories, after all. They never consider the obstacles of actually reading it.¡±

    Zhang Zian continued. ¡°Have you heard this quote: My life has an end, but knowledge is endless?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I may be a mathematician, but I know this famous quote.¡± Meng Li smiled. ¡°It means that, our lives are limited, but knowledge is limitless. How is this rted to our discussion about the Hyperwebster and the Book of Sand?¡±

    ¡°It is, in fact, very much rted.¡± Zhang Zian spoke firmly. ¡°Professor Meng, do you know the second half of this quote?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Meng Li had no idea.

    The first half of this quote was well-known, but the second half was often ignored. A lot of famous quotes were like this. People only took the parts that they needed, and twisted the original meanings. Such as the quote: When your parents are still around, you travel too far. It was often used to teach people to treat their parents properly. However, in the original text of Confucius, the second half was: If you travel, you must have a n.

    ¡°The second half is: Chasing the endless with the limited is dangerous!¡± Zhang Zian answered his own question.

    Meng Li considered the second half of the quote, andpared it to the first half. Then he said with uncertainty, ¡°I¡¯m not an expert in ancient literature. The second half means pursuing unlimited knowledge with my limited life is doomed to fail?¡±

    ¡°Correct.¡±

    ¡°Our ancestor¡¯s words still make sense today,¡± eximed Meng Li.

    ¡°I agree,¡± said Zhang Zian half-heartedly. This was all his self-reflection. He understood something, more or less.

    That untitled book, whether it was the Hyperwebster or the Book of Sand, or some other imaginary book of another civilization in the universe, was endless. But human beings were still limited. Pursuing the neverending with the limited was destined to fail. Therefore, nobody could read the nameless book on their own. As he flipped open the nameless book in attempt to understand it, he was making this mistake.

    The man from the Book of Sand, out of his thirst for knowledge, was making the same mistake as well. He didn¡¯t realize that knowledge was without bounds, but his time was limited.

    It really was true. My life has an end, but knowledge is endless. Chasing the endless with the limited is dangerous!

    Unless¡­

    Meng Li realized this at the same time. ¡°A limited person cannot read an endless book, unless there are endless numbers of people. If an infinite number of people are reading the Hyperwebster at the same time, and each person is extracting meaningful words and connect them into lines and articles, then they are pursuing infinity with infinity.¡±

    ¡°But how can there be infinite numbers of people? It¡¯s still meaningless.¡± He shook his head and sighed.

    No, it is meaningful, said Zhang Zian silently to himself.

    He understood why Gxy could read the nameless book. It had been through an infinite number of reincarnations, and had the infinity feature.

    Famous was going through reincarnations with Gxy in the Imagined World, and touched the border of infinity. That was why it could see blurry words.

    Pi could read it, as it must have also possessed the infinite feature.

    One could only understand the nameless book by pursuing infinity with infinity.

 Chapter 591: Triple Win

    <h4>Chapter 591: Triple Win</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was getting dark and the lights were turned on.

    Meng Li looked at his watch and said, ¡°Manager Zhang, do you have anything else you wanted to talk about? If you don¡¯t, I should say goodbye now. I have to pack up tonight.¡±

    Zhang Zian came back from his contemtion. Shocked by the fact that he had took up so much of Meng Li¡¯s time, he quickly stood up and said, ¡°No, I don¡¯t. Mr. Meng, are you going somewhere?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going back to my hometown, and Ie back after the Spring Festival.¡± Meng Li adjusted his clothes and stood up.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°I see. Thank you so much for answering so many of my questions today.¡±

    ¡°Not at all. I¡¯ve learned a lot from talking with you, and it was a worthwhile visit,¡± Meng Li said sincerely. ¡°Bye!¡±

    He took his Cocker Spaniel, waved to Zhang Zian, and left the diner.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t leave just yet. He wanted to leave when the skewers and lunchboxes were ready, so that Uncle Li wouldn¡¯t have to deliver the food to his pet shop.

    He was a bit bewildered. A momentter, he remembered that there was still one more thing that he¡¯d forgotten to ask Meng Li. What do those books have to do with 3.1415926? Why did Pi the elfin particrly like typing those specific digits?

    Uncle Li came over with a to go box. Just when Zhang Zian was about to take the box, Uncle Li smiled and sat across from him, as if he was going to say something.

    ¡°Master Zhang, there¡¯s something I want to discuss with you,¡± muttered Uncle Li.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Please feel free to ask me anything,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    After hesitating several times, Uncle Li said hesitantly, ¡°The business of our diner hasn¡¯t improved much since it was opened. I¡¯ve talked with my wife and we¡¯ve decided to change things. As the saying goes, any circumstance hitting a limit will begin to change, and change will in turn lead to development.¡±

    Zhang Zian agreed with this. Although he believed that food quality and cleanliness should be the top priorities of a restaurant, if there was nothing special about the restaurant, it would be difficult for the owners to make a breakthrough.

    ¡°We¡¯ve heard that people in the big cities are opening cat cafes and their business is quite good, so we figured perhaps we could put a few cats in our own restaurant? Master Zhang, you¡¯re a pet expert, do you think this method is an option?¡± Uncle Li¡¯s tone was full of anxiety. Obviously, he had been suffering from poor business for a long time.

    Zhang Zian had also heard about cat cafes. Not only did they exist in the big cities, but they were also in Binhai City. They mainly attracted young people who couldn¡¯t keep cats at home for whatever reason. Since customers could eat, drink, read, and y board games etc., they usually spent a long time in the cafes. The point was, while doing those things, the customers could also y with cats, so cat cafes were popr with many people.

    However, cat cafes had many internal problems. There were two major points. One was that the management wasn¡¯t standardized, and the other was the hygiene and health issues.

    The unstandardized management was reflected in the fact that customers could feed the cats food that wasn¡¯t suitable for them, or the cats wouldn¡¯t get enough rest because of the cafe¡¯s long business hours. A cat was an animal that spent more time sleeping than awake and it usually slept from 15 to 16 hours a day.

    As for the hygiene and health issues, customers would require a clean, sanitary, and odorless indoor environment, and the cat litter boxes should be separated from the business area. These were the most basic requirements. After all, a cat cafe was a business in the food industry.

    After thinking for a moment, Zhang Zian felt that Uncle Li¡¯s idea had a certain degree of feasibility.

    Unlike a cat cafe that operated for more than ten hours a day, Uncle Li¡¯s diner was only open to the public during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The business hours in total were at most six or seven hours a day. At other times, Uncle Li and his wife were either busy preparing in the kitchen or going to buy groceries from the market. Therefore, enough resting hours for the cats was guaranteed.

    As for feeding cats the wrong food, this problem urred mainly because some customers didn¡¯t know about the food that cats could or couldn¡¯t eat. Such behavior could be regted by certain efforts.

    Zhang Zian replied, ¡°I think it is possible. You¡¯d just need to pay attention to certain details.¡±

    Receiving Zhang Zian¡¯s approval, Uncle Li felt relieved, and smiled. ¡°That¡¯s great! We¡¯re only resorting to this method because we have no other options. Master Zhang, please offer us guidance and advice on what we need to do.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, don¡¯t worry.¡± Zhang Zian waved and modestly answered.

    Thinking that Uncle Li had already finished speaking, Zhang Zian was about to get up and leave.

    ¡°One more thing,¡± Uncle Li said with a smile. ¡°Could you help us find a few cats that are not too expensive? We don¡¯t understand pets at all, and we¡¯re not sure which breeds would be best for our business.¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Let me think. The cats in cat cafes are basically all adult cats, while the cats in my pet shop are mostly kittens. Well¡ª¡±

    Suddenly, he remembered the cats in Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s pet clinic. Those cats were brought to the clinic for treatment because of their illnesses, but their owners never picked them up after recovery, resulting in de facto abandonment. Sun Xiaomeng was having a headache wondering what to do with those cats. Raising the cats on her own? It was both costly and energy-consuming for her. Selling them? Those cats weren¡¯t worth much and their owners mighte to her clinic to pick them up one day. Throwing them away? She certainly refused to do that.

    For those cats, their best option was to be adopted by someone. But the customers who went to Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s pet clinic already had pets at home and they generally would not want to adopt extra pets.

    As the owner of a regr pet clinic, Sun Xiaomeng couldn¡¯t allow those cats to wander freely throughout the clinic. They usually could only stay in their cages and would be released from the cages at night, when the clinic was closed.

    Those cats were basically adult cats, whose diseases had been cured and had no health issues. Could they be kept in Uncle Li¡¯s restaurant? This way, the burden on Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s clinic could be removed, Uncle Li¡¯s business could be improved, and the cats could also be adopted by the customers in Uncle Li¡¯s diner. Wasn¡¯t this method a triple win?

    It was true that because of the separate interests of the three parties involved, the specific details needed to be carefully nned, such as discussing the standards and conditions of adopting the cats. But without a doubt, this approach was possible.

    With that thought, Zhang Zian said confidently, ¡°Uncle Li, leave this matter to me. You don¡¯t need to spend money on buying cats. I¡¯ll send you over a group of good cats. You just need to refurbish the interior of your building, purchase some cat supplies and food, and then cut the cats¡¯ nails and bathe them regrly. I¡¯ll handle the other things for you.¡±

    Uncle Li opened his mouth in surprise. ¡°Would it be too much work for you?¡±

    Zhang Zianughed. ¡°Rest assured, it would be very troublesome for you, but it¡¯ll be a breeze for me. I¡¯ll go discuss with the other people about the specific details. I¡¯ll contact you when an agreement has been settled.¡±

    He looked at the time. As it was veryte, he didn¡¯t exin any further, but only told Uncle Li to wait for his news. Holding the to go box, he left the diner.

 Chapter 592: Eternal Life

    <h4>Chapter 592: Eternal Life</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As he reached the shop entrance, Zhang Zian saw a dark shadow sh by the door from the inside, as if Richard flew away in a panic as soon as it saw him.

    After entering the store, he took a quick nce at Lu Yiyun. She had a weird look on her face. She had shifty eyes and her head was bowed low, like she was trying to hide something.

    He had too many things to think about, and didn¡¯t have the time to deal with her weird behavior. Maybe she was trying to decide whether or not to go back home for the Spring Festival.

    Once inside, he fed the roasted meat to the hungry elfins, who were on the verge of an outrage.

    Fina and Snowy Li couldn¡¯t wait any longer and immediately feasted on their meal. These two had barely moved all day, but somehow still had a huge appetite.

    Old Time Tea¡¯s table manners were much more civilized. It took of its bamboo hat, wiped its paws with the wet wipes that Zhang Zian had gotten out, and slowly started eating.

    Richard also fluttered its wings and asked for food. Zhang Zian fed it nuts and chopped vegetables. It babbled on about Billy as it ate. It looked like even food couldn¡¯t stop it from talking.

    He took out his phone so he could talk to Sun Xiaomeng about keeping the cats in the diner. Old Time Tea swallowed a mouthful of roasted meat and asked, ¡°Zian, did you buy anything for the festival? The prices will go up on everything the closer it gets to the Spring Festival.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing I need to buy. It¡¯s better to buy fresh vegetables anyways, as needed. It¡¯s okay if it costs a little bit more.¡± He smiled.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you need firecrackers and fireworks? I always feel like the festival spirit in Binhai City is disappointing. It¡¯s never festive here.¡± Old Time Tea sadly spoke as it looked through the ss door.

    This was the first Spring Festival the elfins had in the pet shop, including Old Time Tea. It was expected that the other elfins were less interested in the traditional Chinese New Year. But for Old Time Tea, who had a strong sense of tradition, it felt like it was missing out on the traditional festival experience.

    Zhang Zian had also celebrated festive New Years in his childhood. But as fireworks were gradually bing banned in major cities, and as people had a growing variety of entertainment activities in their lives, the traditional Spring Festival was getting less popr. Old Time Tea was not the only one that sensed the fading festivity levels. Zhang Zian and many others felt the same way.

    But there was nothing they could do about it. This was the price of passing time and advancement.

    Zhang Zian exined why firecrackers were banned, which was mostly because of the effects on air quality and injuries caused by fireworks.

    Old Time Tea grunted ¡°Oh¡±, and expressed its understanding while stroking its beard. Sorrow was written all over its face. It murmured, ¡°Another year ended with the sound of firecrackers, and the spring breeze is bringing warmth to the air.¡±

    After the Spring Festival, Old Time Tea will have gained another year to its age. It was probably expressing its sentiments on its youth, which was gone forever.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want it to stay sad, and smiled. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Old Time Tea. The firecrackers are only banned in the city. We can still head to the suburbs during the Spring Festival. They haven¡¯t banned firecrackers over there.¡±

    Old Time Tea smiled too. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯m just contemting. Zian, go on ahead with your business. Pi isn¡¯t doing so well, so you should spend more time with it.¡±

    As it finished talking, it continued on with its dinner and TV.

    Zhang Zian wanted to say something tofort Old Time Tea, but couldn¡¯t manage to utter a word each time he opened his mouth. He knew that life and death would eventually happen to everybody. However, were the elfins bound by same things, as creatures born with the Strength of Faith?

    He took another nce at Fina and Snowy Li, who were still devouring the roasted meat. Snowy Li noticed his gaze, and stared at him fiercely while tilting its head, pieces of meat sticking to its nose.

    Fina and Snowy Li were still in their prime years. But one day, they would age as well, just like Old Time Tea.

    He went upstairs, and saw that the lights were off in the living room. Pi¡¯s face was reflected on the monitor screen. It had put on the clip-on sses again, and was typing slowly. It was either in a bad mood, or having trouble writing the story.

    ¡°Pi, why don¡¯t you turn the lights on? It¡¯s bad for your eyes to use theputer in the dark.¡±

    He turned the lights on and drew open the curtains.

    The titleless book was open, ced by theputer. A page fluttered in the breeze as Zhang Zian drew open the curtains, making him think of a line of a poem from the past: The breeze knew no words. But why did it make the pages turn?

    In front of the book, he was the breeze that knew no words.

    ¡°Eek.¡± Pi scratched its head as if it suddenly realized something. It appeared to have forgotten about its surroundings, as it was too focused.

    ¡°Pi, get up and take a break. You can continue writing after getting some rest.¡± Zhang Zian pointed at the basket hammock.

    Pi nodded, as Zhang Zian took it ito the hammock.

    Although it wasn¡¯t the first time that he¡¯d held it, Zhang Zian felt that it was too light, like a baby, small and fragile.

    ¡°Eek?¡±

    Pi made a gesture to ask where he had went just now.

    ¡°I went to Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s pet clinic. You know it. Then I talked a bit with a math professor,¡± replied Zhang Zian. Pi had never met Sun Xiaomeng before. But since it knew everything about the past, it knew everything about Sun Xiaomeng.

    Pi blinked, as if it was interested in the word math.

    Zhang Zian picked up the untitled book. He wasn¡¯t wearing the sses, and the pages were nk. He casually flipped through it, and switched to a more rxed topic. ¡°Let me ask you a question.¡±

    ¡°Eek?¡± Pi tilted its head in confusion.

    ¡°This is a book about life, the universe, and everything else.¡± Zhang Zian handed the book to it, then asked half jokingly, ¡°Since it¡¯s about life, why did it never talk about how to extend one¡¯s life, or how to have an eternal life? You may not know this, but I¡¯m afraid to die. So many emperors in ancient China have sought after the elixir of life, but why have none of them found it yet?¡±

    Pi picked up the book, flipped the pages carefully, and then shook its head.

    The answer was what Zhang Zian expected. There wasn¡¯t any proof of the elixir of life. If everybody could be immortal, the Earth¡¯s poption would explode.

    ¡°How about elfins? Can elfins¡¯ lives be extended?¡± he asked casually.

    Pi picked up the book again and flipped through it. This time it took a longer time. It scratched it head and frowned, as if it was encountering a difficult puzzle.

    It didn¡¯t immediately deny the possibility, which gave Zhang Zian a little hope. If there wasn¡¯t any hope, he could only ept the fact that Old Time Tea was getting older. But now, with a slight chance, he cared about it even more, and was afraid of getting disappointed.

    After another moment, Pi finally put the book down, and nodded yes with a serious expression.

    ¡°Oh? Really? An elfin¡¯s life can be extended?¡± Zhang Zian quickly got excited. ¡°How do you extend it?¡±

    Pi pointed at theptop, asking for Zhang Zian to bring it over.

    It typed, The time has note yet. The future is still undetermined.

    Zhang Zian thought about these words back and forth. Although the time hadn¡¯te yet, it was definitely good to know that life could be extended. It was like the difference between zero and one.

    ¡°Extendable by how much? Two years? Three?¡± he asked again, trying not to be too hopeful.

    Pi typed, Indefinitely.

 Chapter 593: Advertising

    <h4>Chapter 593: Advertising</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was busy the whole day and now it was almost time for him to go to bed.

    Zhang Zian had been exhausted throughout the day, but now that he knew the elves¡¯ lives could be extended, his tiredness vanishedpletely. However, he hadn¡¯t told the news to Old Time Tea or the other elves yet. As Pi had said, it wasn¡¯t the right time. If he hastily told the news to everyone, they would be too expectful. The reality might be too disappointing. For that reason, they might as well not know about it in the first ce.

    Even if the lifetime of the elves really could be extended infinitely, the elves had to go through an extremely difficult process to do so. Judging from Pi¡¯s stern expression as it read the untitled book, Zhang Zian figured that this may be his biggest challenge and trial since he downloaded the Pet Hunter game.

    Although he couldn¡¯t understand the untitled book, whether it was the Hyperwebster Dictionary, The Book of Sand, or a fantasy book from another civilization in the universe, he was still very grateful for it. Without it, he wouldn¡¯t have found out about such reassuring and hopeful news.

    The elves had fallen asleep, one after the other. Before going to sleep, Richard had been very active that night, as if everything put him in a good mood. Zhang Zian had to hang it upside down to calm it down.

    When everyone was in bed, Pi was still sitting in front of theputer, typing away.

    ¡°Pi, did the noise bother you?¡± Zhang Zian came over and asked. He knew how annoying Richard and Snowy Li were.

    Pi shook its head no.

    ¡°Well, we¡¯re all going to bed now. Please go to sleep as soon as you finish writing.¡± Zhang Zian brought over a small deskmp. Themp light was turned away from the bedroom, so it wouldn¡¯t affect anyone¡¯s sleeping.

    He didn¡¯t n on telling Pi what he was doingter, because he wasn¡¯t sure whether he would be sessful or not. He didn¡¯t want Pi to be disappointed after giving it so much hope.

    Pi grinned and nodded.

    Zhang Zian nced at the elves again. After confirming that each elfin was in its correct ce, he turned off the ceiling light.

    With the light from the deskmp and his own nightlight, heid on his bed and stared at the ceiling, listening to Pi type. He thought about the elves¡¯ lives for a while, and then thought about the situation of Uncle Li¡¯s diner. He tried to allow all of his thoughts to upy his mind and keep himself from falling asleep.

    About an hourter he heard a click, and the fan noise from theptop disappeared. Pi turned off the deskmp and the room grew darker. It climbed into the basket hammock chair to go to sleep.

    Zhang Zian kept his eyes open for a while, and almost fell asleep. He pinched his thighs to keep himself awake.

    He looked up and guessed that Pi had already fallen asleep. Then, he grabbed his cell phone by his pillow and opened the Qidian app.

    That day, as he watched Pi write, he had secretly browsed the Inte on his cell phone, trying to find out what the amazing reading lists were.

    After he finished researching, he knew that reading lists were an important supplement to the Official Rmendation Spots from the Qidian website. A reading list was created by an individual, who would list his or her favorite books and the reasons why they would rmended those books on their list. If other readers agreed with the owner¡¯s suggestions, they would start following the creator of the list. The reading list owners were simr to bloggers who reviewed digital products on video websites, and the digital products rmended by bloggers tended to receive more attention. Some reading list owners even had tens of thousands of followers.

    After careful searching, Zhang Zian discovered that the reading list owners were roughly divided into two categories. One type introduced and reviewed each book in great length, while the other kind of reading list owners introduced each book with only one sentence. The former type attracted much more followers than thetter. After all, through the detailed evaluations and introductions, the readers could tell that the reading list owners had put in a lot of work into every book.

    That day, he had mentally noted the reading list owners¡¯ IDs who wrote long book reviews and then went to thement sections of their lists. He first ruled out the most popr reading list owners, because in theirment sections, numerous authors or authors who pretended to be readers were promoting their own books. Those reading list owners wouldn¡¯t be able to read all the books being rmended to them, even if they tried to read 24 hours a day.

    As for the reading list owners that attracted fewer followers, theirment sections were basically empty. It wouldn¡¯t be helpful for Zhang Zian to advertise Pi¡¯s novel in those lists.

    After more research, he targeted a reading list owner who had the tenth most followers. The ID name of the reading list owner was Morning Gori Star, who was mentioned by the author of Diplomats of the Underworld.

    Morning Gori Star had written down his requirements about posting advertisements in hisment: Do not copy and paste your ads. I will promote urban novels that have no or only one female protagonist.

    Zhang Zian felt relieved when he read these requirements. He was extremely popr with women, and many cute girls were desperately hoping to be his girlfriend. Pi had just hidden this fact while writing the novel based on the life in Zhang Zian¡¯s pet shop. Therefore, Pi¡¯s novel had managed to meet Morning Gori Star¡¯s requirements.

    Advertising was like sending resumes to hiring managers. The key points of the novel must be written as concisely as possible. What was the highlight of Pi¡¯s novel? It certainly wasn¡¯t that the protagonist didn¡¯t have a girlfriend!

    He typed on his phone: Can I promote my own book? The title of the book is Pet King. The protagonist, who is the owner of a pet shop, downloads a game that can capture elves. Together with the elves, he witnesses the growth of the pet shop. There is no female protagonist in this book.

    He thought it over and added ¡°Currently¡± in front of the sentence, ¡°There is no female protagonist in this book.¡± Then, he satisfyingly clicked the ¡°Send¡± button.

    After sending the message, Zhang Zian repeatedly refreshed thement section and anxiously waited for a reply from the reading list owner, just like a job seeker who was constantly refreshing emails and nervously waiting for replies after sending out his resume. Zhang Zian had read the books rmended by Morning Gori Star, and all the books were well-written. Perhaps Morning Gori Star wouldn¡¯t think Pi¡¯s novel was good enough. However, Zhang Zian hoped that Morning Gori Star, who had read countless books, could at least tell him why Pi¡¯s novel failed to be rmended by him. In that case, Zhang Zian could help Pi revise the novel. Zhang Zian was acting like a job seeker who was close to starving to death and desperately needed a job, whatever the job was, to feed himself.

    Since it was nearly one o¡¯clock in the morning, the owner had probably gone to bed already. Watching hisment drowning in otherments from authors promoting their own books, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help but sigh in dismay.

    Perhaps he sighed too loud, because Zhang Zian heard a squeaking sounde from the hammock chair. It sounded like Pi had turned over.

    He locked his phone screen and waited a little longer. He didn¡¯t unlock his phone until there wasn¡¯t any more soundsing from the chair.

    What should he do?

    He was very sleepy. Should he wait till the reading list owner woke up and try advertising again?

    No, he shouldn¡¯t wait. Tomorrow, Pi would receive its first Minor Rmendation Spot. If its novel failed to be ranked in the top three or top four spots, it might never have a chance to receive a rmendation again.

    With that thought, he decided to advertise on another reading list. Advertising was just like begging, and as long as he could swallow his pride now, he would gradually be thick-skinned.

    This time, he lowered his expectations by moving his attention from the reading list owners with tens of thousands of followers to ones with hundreds of followers, hoping that some of them hadn¡¯t fallen asleep yet.

    Zhang Zian noticed that there was one whose ID was Yang Chenkong. In his reading list, Yang Chenkong wrote reviews with thousands of words for each book and offered many thoughtful insights. However, Yang Chenkong only had a mere 3,000 followers. Would it really be useful to advertise in this list?

    Zhang Zian desperately went to thement section. To his surprise, he saw that this reading list owner was still online, discussing his opinions with his friends about a certain book.

    Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t read the book that they were talking about. However, from reading their conversation, Zhang Zian felt as if he had read it and learned about its sesses and failures. From observing, Zhang Zian could tell that Yang Chenkong was very professional.

    For some reason, thement section of his reading list was nk and had no advertisements. Zhang Zian chuckled to himself. He could take advantage of this rare opportunity to advertise.

    There were some basic rules of advertising for all reading lists. Unlike like people who put advertisements in bathrooms, book-promoting advertisements couldn¡¯t be randomly posted. Each reading list owner had different requirements for advertisements. For example, Morning Gori Star had explicitly stated that he would only rmend novels with no or one female protagonist. Yang Chenkong, however, had a wide range of book choices. Except for supernatural novels, Yang Chenkong basically read every genre.

    However, the most difficult thing was that the list owner didn¡¯t specify which book genres he would rmend, and Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know how to cater to his preferences. After thinking about it for a while, Zhang Zian rewrote the message that he had sent to Morning Gori Star. He deleted the sentence ¡°Currently, there is no female protagonist in this book.¡± He added, ¡°Feel free to read the sample chapters, but don¡¯t me me if you¡¯re poisoned (Trantor¡¯s Note: Read and Poison sound the same in Chinese),¡± hoping that his self-deprecating tone would draw Yang Chenkong¡¯s attention.

    After clicking ¡°Send¡±, he was too tired to repeatedly refresh thement section as he did before. It was almost half past one in the morning, and he would need to get up early that day.

    Putting down his cell phone, Zhang Ziany down t on the bed. Soon, he was half-awake and half-asleep, and he wouldpletely fall asleep at any moment.

    In the darkness, Pi had been watching him the whole time. It had barely moved, except to slightly change its posture after its legs started to get numb.

    Pi had always known about Zhang Zian¡¯s actions. It could tell from Zhang Zian¡¯s exhaustion.

    Since Zhang Zian was so tired, it wouldn¡¯t matter if he did these thingster, right?

    Pi opened its mouth and silently imitated the shape of someone saying ¡°thank you.¡±

    What?

    Zhang Zian thought he heard something. It seemed like someone was talking to him. He barely could open his eyes. His drowsiness was as heavy as a mountain, pressing down on his eyelids.

    He looked around and found nothing out of the ordinary. He unlocked his phone screen and saw that it was past two in the morning.

    Since he hadn¡¯t logged out from the Qidian app yet, he clicked open Yang Chenkong¡¯sment section, the second reading list owner he advertised on that night, hoping to find Yang Chenkong¡¯s review on Pi¡¯s novel. However, he found no review, and saw that the advertisement he had posted was gone.

    No wonder thement section was so empty. As it turned out, Yang Chenkong deleted all of the advertisements in hisment section. Zhang Zian¡¯s efforts were again all in vain.

    He couldn¡¯t keep his eyes open anymore. He shoved his cell phone under his pillow and fell asleep.

 Chapter 594: A Huge Misunderstanding

    <h4>Chapter 594: A Huge Misunderstanding</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In the ruins of a destroyed city, a frightening zombie reached out its bony arm, and jumped at him with its rotting smell.

    He wanted so badly to hide, but he couldn¡¯t move his body. He watched the skeleton covered in rotten flesh get closer and closer, and then it pressed down on his face, piercing his skin with its sharp fingers.

    ¡°Ah!¡± he screamed, waking up from his dream.

    A grey shadow shed in front him. His cheek still hurt from the attack, and suddenly he smelled bird poop.

    ¡°Richard! Come over here, you bastard!¡±

    He figured out what happened. Richard must have stepped on his face and jumped over him, scraping his nose with its wings covered in bird droppings. That was why he had that stinking nightmare.

    ¡°Quack!¡± Richard fluttered its wings and flew further away. ¡°Why are you waking up sote today? Eventer than I do. I¡¯m punishing you a little so that it won¡¯t happen again!¡±

    Zhang Zian lifted his head and saw that it was already bright outside. The hazy morning light shone through the curtains and onto his face.

    He was suddenly covered in cold sweat. What time was it then? Why did he wake up sote that day?

    He looked around. All the elfins were already up except for Pi. Even Fina and Snowy Li had headed downstairs.

    Bang bang bang!

    A knock on the shutter door came from downstairs. Then, his phone started vibrating. It was a call from Lu Yiyun.

    ¡°Hello? Mr. Manager? Are you outside?¡± she asked over the phone.

    ¡°No, I got upte. I¡¯ll answer the door right away! Just a moment!¡± he whispered, trying not to wake Pi up.

    But Pi was already awake. It rubbed its eyes, and sat up in its chair.

    ¡°Pi, get some more sleep. It¡¯s still early.¡± He spoke hurriedly as he got dressed. He took a quick a nce at it, and noticed that Pi¡¯s eyes were brighter than they were yesterday, and that it seemed to be in good mood. He wasn¡¯t sure if it was an act or not.

    ¡°Eek.¡± Pi shook its head, and jumped off the basket hammock. Zhang Zian was about to help it, but itnded steadily and didn¡¯t need his help.

    What was going on?

    Zhang Zian scratched his messy hair, and was confused. Without realizing it, he¡¯d already forgotten about what had happenedst night, as he was no longer so hopeful. He didn¡¯t expect any miracles to happen.

    Anyways, it was good that Pi was finally bing more energetic. He needed to go downstairs and open the door for Lu Yiyun quickly, in case she got sick from standing outside for too long.

    He finished getting dressed and bumped into Famous, who had just walked out of the bathroom. He casually asked, ¡°Famous, why is it so quiet this morning? Why didn¡¯t any of you wake me up?¡±

    Famous was chewing on its toothbrush, and vaguely answered, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I was the second tost one to wake up before you. Everybody seems quiet today. I don¡¯t know why, but it¡¯s impressive.¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    He looked at the time. It was only half an hourter than usual, but it was still early. Mostmuters wouldn¡¯t get up this early, except for the poor ones from major cities who had to spend three hours riding the metro to get to work.

    He picked up his phone, went downstairs, and opened the shutter door for Lu Yiyun. Since he had just gotten up, his body was still used to the heat from his warm nket. The cold wind flooded in from the outside. He opened his mouth and let out a sneeze.

    ¡°Mr. Manager, did you catch a cold?¡± Lu Yiyun asked with concern as she untied her scarf. ¡°Do you want to head back upstairs and rest? I can take care of the shop with Wang Qian and Li Kun.¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m fine.¡± Zhang Zian rubbed his nose. ¡°I just got upte.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Lu Yiyun said doubtfully. After all, she had never seen Zhang Zian get up sote before.

    ¡°Right. I have an extra assignment for you today.¡± Zhang Zian looked around and didn¡¯t see anyone else. He quietly slipped two colorful flyers into her hands.

    His discreet behavior alerted Lu Yiyun. She looked at the flyers, and her face turned as red as an apple. She threw them on the floor as if she had been shocked. ¡°What¡ªwhat is this Mr. Manager? What do you want me to do exactly?¡±

    At that moment, Wang Qian and Li Kun pushed open the door, each holding a pancake in one of their hands.

    Wang Qian walked in front of them, and his footnded on one of the posters, leaving half a shoe print on it.

    He bent down and carefully picked up the paper, and then stared at the scantily d young girl on the cover.

    ¡°M¡­Master, what¡­what are you nning? Is¡­is this benefits for the employees?¡± He asked in shock.

    Li Kun was chewing on a piece of pancake. He picked up the other flyer, squinted his eyes and read the words out loud from the back. ¡°Hot girls¡­School girls¡­Mature officedy¡­Stranger¡¯s wife¡­Call 138¡­¡±

    Wang Qian also flipped over the other poster and read it out loud. ¡°Supreme Leisure Center, 24 hour door-to-door service, Essential oil back massage. Thai-style massage¡­Chinese massage¡­Cupping, Scrape therapy, Abdominal treatment?¡±

    Bam!

    Bam!

    The tes in their hands fell onto the floor, one after the other. They stared at Zhang Zian and could hardly believe it. ¡°Master, are you¡­are you nning on changing your career?¡±

    Lu Yiyun held Jasmine and hid behind the two guys. She fearfully looked at Zhang Zian, and spoke with a shaky voice. ¡°Mr. Manager, I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re like this.¡±

    Zhang Zian coughed and cleared his throat. ¡°What are you thinking? Yiyun, I¡¯m asking you to design a little poster in reference to this. The title will be ¡®Li¡¯s Supreme Snack Bar for Cat Fanciers¡¯, and you can take care of the rest of its content. It has to be attention-grabbing, and stir up curiosity after reading it, so that people wille to the restaurant to find out more.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± The other three all opened their mouths wide with shock.

    Zhang Zian briefly exined his ns on using the cats in Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s clinic to help Uncle Li¡¯s snack bar business. It would be a triple win.

    However, advertising was absolutely necessary. Otherwise, who would know about the restaurant changes, and that they could eat while ying with cats?

    After careful thinking, he decided that posting flyers was the most cost-effective and efficient way. Then, he had peeled off two small posters from the utility pole to ask Lu Yiyun to make a design using those examples. He wasn¡¯t transitioning from a pet shop to a massage business.

    ¡°That¡¯s why! Master, you¡¯re a great game yer, and even the gods approve of your strategy!¡± After understanding everything, Wang Qian used the opportunity for ttery.

    ¡°Bullsh*t!¡± Li Kun rebuked. ¡°Master is a god!¡±

    ¡°Right, right! Kun is absolutely right!¡± Wang Qian followed Li Kun¡¯s advice and changed his stance immediately.

    Zhang Zian grunted, ¡°Don¡¯t just stand here and talk nonsense. After Yiyun finishes the flyer design, the two of you are in charge of putting them up.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun looked at each other and grumbled.

 Chapter 595: Kept Kittens

    <h4>Chapter 595: Kept Kittens</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian continued to talk nonstop about his great idea, which had impressed Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Lu Yiyun. They couldn¡¯t believe that Zhang Zian hade up with it himself.

    Indeed, as Zhang Zian said, the n was a publicity gimmick and also inexpensive, which had been proved by the rampant women seeking advertisements on electricity poles. It was just that the method was slightly inappropriate.

    While Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Lu Yiyun were being brainwashed by Zhang Zian, a car slowly parked near the sidewalk.

    It was Sun Xiaomeng. Zhang Zian motioned for Wang Qian and Li Kun to go outside with him.

    ¡°Why did you ask me to drop by your shop on my way to work?¡± Sun Xiaomeng asked in confusion, rolling down her car window.

    Zhang Zian had nned to tell her his idea through WeChat yesterday, but then he figured it would be too much to exin over messages. It would be easier for her to understand if Zhang Zian told her in person. Ignoring the fact that he was going to use the colored small flyers to advertise, he only told Sun Xiaomeng that the cats in her clinic could be brought to Uncle Li¡¯s snack bar. If any customers adopted those cats, it would be a triple win situation.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun, who were standing behind Zhang Zian, revealed secretive smiles. Sun Xiaomeng looked at them suspiciously and wondered if Zhang Zian was nning anything bad or unexpected.

    However, Zhang Zian¡¯s n was very convincing. Sun Xiaomeng considered it carefully and decided it was possible. Under the proper guidance, her clinic, Uncle Li¡¯s snack bar, and the customers in the snack bar, could create a moralistic cycle in which the homeless cats in her clinic would be able to find new owners. Although it could only help the cats who had been abandoned by their former owners, at least the deserted dogs wouldn¡¯t have be crowded in with the cats in the clinic anymore. Besides, cats ounted for most of the deserted pets in her clinic. Compared to cat owners, dog owners might usually develop deeper affections with their dogs, making them more reluctant to abandon them.

    ¡°So? What do you think?¡± asked Zhang Zian.

    Sun Xiaomeng nodded. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s try your idea out. Since I¡¯m going back to my hometown for the Spring Festival, you can have sole discretion over the matter. We¡¯ll discuss more based on the results from the trial period.¡±

    After getting her approval, Zhang Zian let Wang Qian and Li Kun borrow a tricycle, and they headed over to the clinic to get the cats.

    Before long, the two of them returned on tricycle and were loaded with seven cats.

    Sun Xiaomeng also sent copies of the cats¡¯ medical records. They contained each one¡¯s name, gender, and age, among other information. The medical records were enough to prove that they had fully recovered from their illnesses and no longer had any health concerns.

    Among the seven cats, there was a purebred Siamese cat, a purebred American Shorthair, two not-so-pure British Shorthairs, a white cat, a ck cat, and a Calico cat. They were all adult cats over one year old. They were lined up in cages in the shop and the crowd carefully watched over them.

    Zhang Zian asked Wang Qian and Li Kun not to return the tricycle just yet, because they still had to deliver the cats over to Uncle Li¡¯s restaurantter.

    Zhang Zian assigned tasks to Lu Yiyun. ¡°Come on Yiyun, take some pictures of them, and then use Photoshop to make them look as beautiful as possible. The edited photos will be printed out on the front of the small flyers.¡±

    Even though she now knew Zhang Zian¡¯s intentions, Lu Yiyun still reluctantly pinched the two colored small cards. She felt sick as she looked at the two scantily dressed young women on the front sides of the two posters.

    Strangely enough, Lu Yiyun didn¡¯t feel disgusted when she looked at the immodestly dressed girls inics. In fact, she liked them a lot. However, she couldn¡¯t ept real people dressed that way. Maybe it was the strong sexual innuendos from the text next to the pictures that made her feel sick, because she didn¡¯t feel this way when she saw girls in bikinis on the beach.

    She picked up her cell phone and used the best angles to take a few pictures of the cats. She uploaded the pictures to theputer, opened Photoshop, and selected the appropriate size based on the two cards in her hands. This type of work was a piece of cake for her, and she finished working on it quickly.

    ¡°What should be written next to the pictures?¡± she asked.

    Zhang Zian rubbed his chin for a while and decided to slightly change the wording on the two flyers. They became ¡°British Shorthair Girl¡±, ¡°Mature American Shorthair¡±, ¡°Exotic Siamese¡±, ¡°Chinese-Style Hair-Stroking¡±, ¡°Thai-Style Chin-Rubbing¡± and others of the like. He told her that the text had be written in pink and flowy fonts, which would wind down along the curves of the cats¡¯ bodies.

    ¡°Oh right, make sure to put the pictures of the ck cat and the white cat on it. Next to their photos, write ¡®Kept Kittens¡¯ and ¡®Having A Satisfying Threesome with the ck and the White,''¡± added Zhang Zian.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun grew deeply concerned as their Master became more shameless.

    ¡°All right,¡± Lu Yiyun bit the bullet and added the requested text, based on what he had told her. She showed him the sample picture through print preview. ¡°How about now?¡±

    Zhang Zian carefully looked at the sample picture and nodded in satisfaction. ¡°You should also write the address and telephone number of the restaurant on the posters. Then, find someone on the inte who can put double-sided tape on them. You two are responsible for putting up the cards.¡±

    He pointed at Wang Qian and Li Kun to assign their tasks to them. ¡°Stick the cards on the electricity poles at the nearby crossroads and other highly popted ces. Right, you should also paste them on your campus, because students are the targeted audience. But you¡¯d better do that at night, in case there are police officers prohibiting pornography and illegal publications during the day.¡±

    ¡°Master, if we were arrested, would you bail us out?¡± they asked with a grim face.

    Zhang Zian stoutly denied them. ¡°How would that ever happen? I would immediately cut ties with you both!¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun felt like weeping but didn¡¯t let out a single tear.

    Lu Yiyun went online and searched for a merchant that could produce small ads with double-sided adhesive tape. Then, she sent the sample picture to the merchant, asking him to create the flyers and then to mail them back to her as soon as possible.

    The merchant, who was also deeply shocked by the unbelievably shameless sample flyer, repeatedly asked Lu Yiyun if this was a joke before taking her order.

    ¡°How many copies should I make?¡± asked Lu Yiyun. ¡°The merchant¡¯s minimum requirement is 200 copies.¡±

    Zhang Zian waved his hand and generously said, ¡°Make 2,000 copies! They¡¯re not expensive anyway.¡±

    2,000 copies!

    Wang Qian and Li Kun wanted to cry but held back their emotions. How long would it take them to finish putting up so many copies of such tiny flyers?!

    ¡°Don¡¯t we need to talk it over with Uncle Li first?¡± Lu Yiyun asked worriedly.

    ¡°No need. As the saying goes, a mess is best cleaned up with a broom, and a severe disease is best cured with strong medicine. Without resorting to unusual means, how would we turn Uncle Li¡¯s failing restaurant into a profitable one?¡± Zhang Zian knew that Uncle Li¡¯s business must have been doing very poorly. That was why Uncle Li had swallowed his pride and asked Zhang Zian for help.

    This was a clever method and it would certainly attract a lot of people into the restaurant. Even if only 1/10 of those people bought food from Uncle Li¡¯s restaurant, his business would still improve greatly.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun rode the tricycle and dropped off the seven cats, along with some pet supplies and cat food, at Uncle Li¡¯s.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Zhang Zian looked back. Pi, who seemed rather excited, was peering its head out from the stairwell, vigorously waving at him

 Chapter 596: Game Changer

    <h4>Chapter 596: Game Changer</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Pi, what happened?¡± asked Zhang Zian as he followed it upstairs.

    Pi could barely wait to grab his hand and pull him towards the desk.

    ¡°Eek eek! Eek eek!¡± Pi was jumping up and down with excitement. Zhang Zian had never seen it so excited before. Its strength was recovered, with even more energy than when it had first arrived at the pet shop.

    ¡°Easy, easy! Don¡¯t hurt yourself!¡± Zhang Zian quickly reminded it, scared that it might fall over in such eagerness.

    Pi pointed at the screen, to the website¡¯s work management page. The number of Favorites was at a shocking 735.

    ¡°What?¡± Zhang Zian rubbed his eyes, thinking that maybe he read the wrong number. But after another look, the number was still 735.

    ¡°Is there a glitch in the website? Sometimes programmers like to y pranks near the end of year. They could have gotten a new job and decided to fool around with the website. Their boss will give them a hard time for doing this.¡± He was trying to find a reasonable exnation for the unbelievable urance in front of him.

    He did advertise in the Libraryst night so that Pi could get more readers. But getting 600 more Favorites overnight was too wild. Instead of a miracle, he¡¯d rather believe that the website was glitching.

    ¡°Refresh the page,¡± he suggested.

    Pi obeyed and refreshed it.

    The number of Favorites: 741.

    Another refresh.

    The number of Favorites: 749.

    The number increased with almost every refresh.

    ¡°Eek eek! Eek eek!¡±

    Pi joyfully clicked the mouse, and kept repeatedly refreshing the page.

    Zhang Zian stared at the growing number with tion, not thinking about anything else. If he was in a dream, he hoped that he would never wake up.

    ¡°Pi, check out thements. If there are really this many real readers, they¡¯ll surely have left somements,¡± he said. Although he was also thrilled, he had to remain calm, just in case it turned out to be fake.

    Pi listened to him and clicked through thement section. Zhang Zian was surprised to see that the section was filled withments, mostly with words of encouragement.

    [Fantasy Night 1]: Not bad. I read all of it in one sitting, mostly interested in the stories about hunting pets. They all have their good parts though, and the descriptions about pets are well written (although I don¡¯t know if they¡¯re correct). But for reading, the feeling is the most important thing. I¡¯m caught up.

    [virtualhai]: It¡¯s excellent. I just started it today. Haven¡¯t seen such nice stories in a long time~

    [Drowning by books]: Author~ Four rmendation votes are yours from now on. Will not stop until you go viral.

    [I am the sparking light]: Author, please check out the rmendationments for your book, written in the other libraries. It¡¯s quite useful.

    [tn134]: Keep it up. You¡¯re rmended by the Library. I¡¯m hopeful for you!

    Before today, there were only threements in thement section. Now, there was at least a dozen, and new ones kept getting posted.

    It wasn¡¯t only thements and Favorites, but also the numbers of clicks and rmendation votes. They were growing at an incredible rate, almost exponentially!

    After reading the variousments, Zhang Zian thought that it couldn¡¯t be a dream, because dreams could never be this beautiful.

    Now, he could finally see that the advertisement he posted the other night had worked. Pi¡¯s novel was now liked by a variety of list creators, and was added to their libraries.

    But he didn¡¯t n on telling anyone about it, because there wasn¡¯t any reason to. Pi was the author of the novel. All he had done himself was some trivial advertising, just like when he advertised for Uncle Li.

    ¡°Do you see that? Everybody loves your book. Congrats! Don¡¯t ever say that you¡¯re not meant to be a writer,¡± he said while looking straight into Pi¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Eek eek! Eek eek!¡±

    Pi grabbed tightly onto his arms and cried like a baby. Its tears ran down its face like pearls falling from a broken ne.

    ¡°Stop crying, Pi, you should be happy now!¡± Heforted it by tapping its shoulder, and handed it a tissue. Even in its worst moments, Pi didn¡¯t cry. But now, when things were getting better, it decided to cry.

    He could understand its emotions. This was simr to when Zhao Qi first walked into his pet shop. After being lonely and hiding his feelings for so long, the sun finally came out. Pi started writing on a whim, but gradually it had invested all of its time and energy into it, and had even stopped reading Chinese books. Now that it was finally paying off, how could it not be thrilled?

    Pi took the tissue, wiped its tears, and nodded. Still, tears streamed down its face uncontrobly.

    Zhang Zian stopped trying tofort it, and let it cry as much as it wanted to. It would be best if it could let out all of the negative energy it had been building up for so long, and then allow it to move on in relief.

    Lu Yiyun called for him a few times from downstairs. She wanted to ask him about the business registration. He asked her to deal with it herself, saying that he was busy. He felt like Pi needed him more in that moment.

    After a while, Pi finally stopped crying. Its eyes were puffy, but it still was smiling.

    ¡°Eek.¡± It pointed at ament for him to look at.

    [Aroma in Dreams]: I like the imagination of the Schr?dinger¡¯s cat, so cute and adorable. I like Maneki-neko too, so silly and cute. Hope to see more adorable cats in the future.

    Zhang Zianughed. ¡°This person thinks that Gxy is only fictional. Gxy would cry if it read this.¡±

    ¡°Eek?¡±

    Pi stared at him expectantly, and typed in a Word file, Everybody likes cats. Will anyone like me?

    Zhang Zian paused and suddenly came to a realization. He said, ¡°Of course, someone will like you for sure! It¡¯s just that you haven¡¯t appeared yet. After your appearance, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll have lots of fans! Not just you, but Old Time Tea, Richard, Snowy Li, and Famous too. All of them will be liked, I promise!¡±

    Really? But I¡¯m not as cute as a cat, or as impressive as a dog. And I can¡¯t talk like a parrot, Pi typed, destely drooping its head.

    It wanted to be liked, but it dared not wish for it, because it wasn¡¯t sure why exactly people would want to like it.

    ¡°Of course I mean it.¡± Zhang Zian encouraged it. ¡°Pi, don¡¯t look down on yourself. Maybe you aren¡¯t as cute as a cat, or as impressive as a dog, and can¡¯t talk like a parrot. Because you aren¡¯t a cat, dog, or parrot. You¡¯re Pi, and you¡¯re unique. You don¡¯t need topare yourself with them. You have a pair of crafty hands, and an intelligent brain. You can even use aputer and write novels. None of them have these talents. Keep your head up.¡±

    Pi lifted its head slowly, and gazed into Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Pi, can you promise me? Don¡¯t hang your head down anymore. Face the world with your head up, like Fina and Old Time Tea, would you?¡± He spoke seriously.

    Pi bit its lips and vigorously nodded its head.

 Chapter 597: The Imperial Kitchen

    <h4>Chapter 597: The Imperial Kitchen</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Pi was no longer depressed. It vigorously kept refreshing the Qidian website¡¯s author tform. Pi giggled as it watched the number of readers who¡¯d added its novel to their libraries skyrocket. Although Zhang Zian was also very happy for Pi, he reminded it not to keep refreshing the page and to instead start writing the new chapters for that day. The earlier Pi finished writing, the earlier it could go to bed in the evening. It shouldn¡¯t stay upte every night.

    Pi nodded. It switched the page back to the Word document and wrote a few words. However, it couldn¡¯t help but go back and refresh the website again.

    Seeing Pi act like this, Zhang Zianughed and shook his head. This was just like when he¡¯d gotten paid for the first time. He couldn¡¯t help but repeatedly check how much money was in his bank ount and think about how he should spend it.

    He didn¡¯t stop it from refreshing the page anymore. Pi would cool down once it got used to such poprity.

    His cell phone rang. It was Lu Yiyun, asking him to go downstairs and greet his guests.

    He nced outside through the window on the second floor and saw that Liu Sang¡¯s BMW was parked outside the shop.

    ¡°I¡¯m going out now, but I¡¯ll be backter,¡± Zhang Zian said to Pi. He grabbed Xiao La, the Labrador, from the storage room and went downstairs.

    ¡°How¡¯s Xiao La doing?¡± Liu Sang asked as soon as he saw Zhang Zian. It was Zhang Zian who¡¯d called Liu Sang to tell him that Xiao La had already been trained.

    Zhang Zian motioned for Xiao La to sit down. ¡°I think it¡¯s pretty much well-trained and you can bring it home now. But you can¡¯t spoil it anymore. Otherwise, it¡¯ll quickly be just as naughty and disobedient as it was before. Just like the old saying goes, it¡¯s easy for the frugal to be extravagant, but it¡¯s incredibly difficult to reverse the process.¡±

    ¡°Is this really Xiao La? It¡¯s not another dog?¡±

    Liu Sang couldn¡¯t believe that this obedient dog in front of him was his own demonic and troublemaking Xiao La.

    Sticking out its tongue and sitting on the floor, Xiao La didn¡¯t bark or run around. Although its eyes showed that it recognized its owner, it didn¡¯t happily throw itself into Liu Sang¡¯s arms and lick him as it did before. If it weren¡¯t wearing the Elizabeth cor given to it from Shi Shi, he wouldn¡¯t be certain that this dog was actually Xiao La.

    ¡°Manager Zhang, how did you do it? This is amazing!¡± Liu Sang rubbed Xiao La¡¯s head. It narrowed its eyes with delight but didn¡¯t loudly bark as before.

    ¡°Actually, the secret to training dogs is very simple. As long as themands and restrictions are strictly enforced, and the criteria for rewards and punishments are perfectly clear, any dog owner can train their dogs well. Although pet dogs may not be as skilled as police dogs, at least well-trained pet dogs won¡¯t bother or harm other people,¡± he told Liu Sang truthfully. But he also knew it was easier said than done. People who liked dogs but didn¡¯t have training experience would easily give up on their own rules for puppies who wiggled their tails to beg for food. Unknowingly, the dogs would start to train the humans instead.

    Liu Sang mentally noted everything Zhang Zian said. After he got back home, no matter what Shi Shi said, they wouldn¡¯t spoil Xiao La anymore. They couldn¡¯t stand their neighbor¡¯sints, and Liu Sang could get sued one day if Xiao La jumped on an elderly person or child.

    Liu Sang asked Zhang Zian to give him another novice dog trainer guide because he¡¯d lost his previous copy. Then, he paid the full dog training fee amount and left with Xiao La.

    ¡°Manager Zhang, the renovations are almost finished. Come and check it out.¡±

    Not long after Liu Sang left, another person had knocked on the door. It was the head of the construction team, who was responsible for the renovation of the shoe store.

    The construction team had been working diligently these days. The workers wanted to deliver a satisfying product before they got their payment and went home to enjoy the Spring Festival. Both the construction progress and the renovation quality were impressive.

    Zhang Zian followed the man into the shoe store next door. Now, the shoe store could be a new branch of his pet store.

    Besides from the brand new tiles, beigetex-painted walls, and brown skirting boards, there was nothing else on the first floor. It looked clean and bright, and had good natural lighting. He couldn¡¯t decide what he would do with the first floor for the time being, but he told the renovation workers to install more electricity outlets on the walls, in case he needed to use them in the future. Recently, with the increasing number of electric appliances and the few plug outlets he had on pet store walls, he had to use many cord extensions, and itpromised theyout of his store.

    He followed the person in charge to the second floor. Previously, the second floor of the shoe store had also been a living area like it was in his pet shop. Based on Zhang Zian¡¯s requirements, the second floor of the shoe store had now been transformed into smallerpartments with soundproof materials and pest control measures. This way, the Abyssinian cats would have a dark and quiet environment to give birth to their kittens. The interior doors were custom-made. With wide-angle ss windows that were installed on each door, people could clearly see what was happening inside without having to enter the rooms. They wouldn¡¯t have to disturb the female cats inbor.

    On the second floor, besides the delivery and nursery room, there were still half of the rooms of which he hadn¡¯t decided what to do with. They might be used as a warehouse.

    After careful examination, he felt satisfied with the construction team¡¯s quality, who had been introduced by Guo Dongyue.

    The only thing that made Zhang Zian worry was the decoration materials. Because the Abyssinian cats would move into the shoe store almost immediately after the renovation waspleted, there was no time for venttion. The person responsible for this patted Zhang Zian¡¯s chest to assure him that there wouldn¡¯t be any problems. Before handing over thepleted project, the construction team would show him the inspection report from the authorities. In the report, the formaldehyde, ammonia, benzene, and other harmful gases wouldn¡¯t ever go beyond the given standards. If Zhang Zian had any doubts about the inspection report, he could request another inspection from a third party. If any problems urred, the construction team would fix the project free of charge.

    Zhang Zian was relieved after he got this guarantee. No matter what, the health conditions of the Abyssinian cats must be taken care of. He exchanged a few more words with the construction leader. After getting an expected date ofpletion, Zhang Zian left the shoe store.

    As soon as he entered the door to the pet shop, Zhang Zian saw Richard flutter its wings and fly from Lu Yiyun¡¯s shoulder to a higher spot, as if it had done something wrong.

    ¡°Richard, go y if you have nothing else to do. Don¡¯t disturb Yiyun while she¡¯s drawing,¡± warned Zhang Zian.

    ¡°It¡¯s all right, Richard is being very helpful with my drawings!¡± Lu Yiyun hurriedly rified. ¡°Mr. Manager, don¡¯t me it. It¡¯s helped me through a lot of interesting plots!¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at Richard suspiciously. He didn¡¯t believe that this wicked bird would do a good deed with good intentions. Was it ying a prank on Lu Yiyun?

    Richard calmlybed its feathers with its beak. ¡°Quack! What are you looking at? You may be a bad person, but I¡¯m a noble bird!¡±

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t in the mood to bicker with it. He might as well just hang Richard upside down that night.

    When he entered the inner area of the pet shop, he saw that Fina was yawningzily. He said, ¡°Fina,e visit somewhere with me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going,¡± refused Fina decisively.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you at least want to know where the ce is?¡± he asked helplessly.

    ¡°Why would I want to know? Nowhere else is as warm as my Sacred Pce.¡± Fina slowly looked outside. ¡°In such cold weather, do you want me to freeze to death and then try to take my treasures? By the way, you should change the heating pad in this cushion.¡±

    ¡°Meow! Your Majesty, you¡¯re absolutely right! This bad man is up to no good, you mustn¡¯t fall into his traps! ¡± said Snowy Li. ¡°Your Majesty, if you¡¯re feeling cold, I can warm you up with my body!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll change itter. And actually, I wanted to talk about a problem regarding your Imperial Kitchen.¡± Zhang Zian casually made up an excuse.

    Fina, who was about to yawn for a second time, blinked and showed a flicker of interest. ¡°My Imperial Kitchen?¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that the mboyant Fina would be interested in this subject. In Fina¡¯s perspective, every ce in the world belonged to cats, and every human being was the cats¡¯ servant. Since the pet shop was Fina¡¯s Sacred Pce, there had to be a matching Imperial Kitchen.

    ¡°Of course!¡± he said seriously. ¡°Don¡¯t you know that the grilled chicken breast that you eat everyday is sent from your Imperial Kitchen?¡±

    Fina tilted its head and thought about this. Indeed, all it did everyday was eat and sleep. It had never paid attention to Uncle Li¡¯s existence. For Fina, Uncle Li was a mere mortal man. It would have never of thought that the man was actually the master chef who prepared its food.

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re right,¡± Fina wouldn¡¯t deny that it had an Imperial Kitchen. The more humans that served it, the better. It nodded reservedly. ¡°What about my Imperial Kitchen?¡±

    ¡°Here¡¯s the thing,¡± Zhang Zian cleared his throat and began to talk nonsense with a serious expression, something at which he excelled at. ¡°Because of the recent economic downturn in the Great Cat Sacred Kingdom, the business of your Imperial Kitchen isn¡¯t doing very good.¡±

    ¡°Wait! The Great Cat Sacred Kingdom?¡± Fina¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. It didn¡¯t look sleepy anymore.

    ¡°Yes, we¡¯re currently in the Great Cat Sacred Kingdom. The Sacred Pce and the Great Cat Sacred Kingdom exists all because of you.¡± Zhang Zian spared no efforts in order to tter Fina.

    Fina was delighted by such tteries, but it immediately frowned. ¡°My Imperial Kitchen only needs to serve me. Why is it also serving food to the public?¡±

    ¡°To better serve you, the Imperial Kitchen has tried not to use the budget of the Sacred Pce. The master chefs have decided to operate independently and to take on responsibility for their own profits and losses,¡± exined Zhang Zian.

    When Fina heard that it didn¡¯t need to use its own money, it said happily, ¡°That¡¯s very nice!¡±

    Zhang Zian continued deceiving Fina. ¡°But, recently, as they told me, their business has been slow, and they¡¯ve lost money. So, I figured that there are two solutions to help them. The first one is that this Sacred Pce offers them money to recoup their loss.¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Fina resolutely refused. It roughly said. ¡°My treasures belong to me, and no one can take them away!¡±

    Zhang Zian had expected Fina¡¯s reaction and he put forward his real purpose. ¡°The second option is that you go visit the Imperial Kitchen in person and find out what their problems are, and then help the chefs make better profits. The chefs will be forever grateful to you and will never forget your kindness. In ancient China, such a journey is when ¡®the emperor personally led his soldiers in a military operation¡¯ or ¡®the emperor traveled incognito¡¯, which is especially popr in TV dramas.¡±

    Fina proudly raised its head. ¡°That¡¯s for sure. I can solve any problem.¡±

    Zhang Zian chuckled to himself. That book friend¡¯sment had been really urate. Fina wascent and self-righteous, and truly believed that it owned the entire world.

    ¡°Should we set off now?¡± he asked Fina.

    ¡°Well, since I haven¡¯t been to the Imperial Kitchen yet, this is a good chance for me to look at it.¡± Fina arrogantly jumped off the cat tree.

    ¡°Meow! Your Majesty, I¡¯ll follow you!¡± Snowy Li chased after Fina.

    Zhang Zian asked Lu Yiyun to take care of the shop and then headed out with Fina and Snowy Li.

    When he walked outside the store, he looked back and saw that Richard had flown back to the cash register, wearing a disgusting smile. Something Richard said made Lu Yiyun flush, but instead of showing aversion, she was nodding in agreeance.

    ¡°Hey! It¡¯s so cold!¡± Getting blown by the cold wind, Fina immediately shuddered andined. ¡°Why is this ce so cold? Where¡¯s my carriage?¡±

    Snowy Li approached Fina cheekily. ¡°Meow! Your Majesty, you can ride on my back and use me as a cushion. I guarantee that I can provide you with more heat than a heating pad!¡±

    ¡°Forget about it. The Imperial Kitchen is in walking distance,¡± said Zhang Zian quickly. Indeed, Uncle Li¡¯s restaurant was only a couple of hundred meters away.

    Snowy Li walked up ahead to block the wind for Fina. With its long fur that could hide eggs, Snowy Li wasn¡¯t afraid of the chill. However, Zhang Zian thought that Snowy Li might get ufortable in the summer.

    Both Fina and Snowy Li were attractive. Fina seemed mighty while Snowy Li looked lovely, and they were extremely eye-catching as they walked down the road. A few young girls gathered around them, trying to stroke their fur. Intimated by Snowy Li¡¯s threatening expressions, the girls dared not to get too close to them. Even so, they took out their cell phones and tried to take pictures of the two cats. Unfortunately, Fina and Snowy Li refused to cooperate, and they turned their faces somewhere else.

    The girls refused to give up. Following Zhang Zian and the two cats, they arrived at Uncle Li¡¯s restaurant.

    The tricycle was parked by the door. After delivering the cats, Wang Qian and Li Kun stayed to help Uncle Li refurbish.

    Before, the dining tables in the restaurant had been evenly distributed throughout the dining area, just like any ordinary restaurant. Since it was going to be changed into a cat cafe, the tables couldn¡¯t be ced that way any longer. There had to be some room for the cats to wander around. The number of tables needed to decrease. Since the restaurant had opened, not once had the customerspletely upied all of the dining tables at the same time. What was the use of having so many tables?

    Zhang Zian pushed open the door and entered the building after Fina and Snowy Li. The other young girls hesitated slightly. It was an ordinary restaurant, so they eventually just followed Zhang Zian inside.

    Uncle Li walked over to Zhang Zian with a new sign and unsurely asked, ¡°Master Zhang, are we really using this name?¡±

    ording to Zhang Zian, the featureless name of ¡°Li¡¯s Snack Bar¡± had to be changed to the unusual, fancy, and cool name, ¡°Li¡¯s Supreme Snack Bar for Cat Fanciers,¡± which made the conventional Uncle Li and Aunt Li feel uneasy.

    ¡°Rest assured. The name of a business is very important. When people see this name, they¡¯ll be curious enough toe in and check it out.¡± Zhang Zian said this to cheer them up.

    At the sight of this unusual sign, the young girls curiously asked, ¡°How does this Snack Bar for Cat Fanciers work?¡±

    Zhang Zian winked at Uncle Li. Told you! It¡¯s already attracting customers!

 Chapter 598: The Shocked Neighbor

    <h4>Chapter 598: The Shocked Neighbor</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The group of girls followed them into the restaurant out of curiosity, and sat down at a random table. They looked like students on holiday with nothing to do but roam the streets with each other. They settled in since they were already there, and wanted to find out how the cats were fancied in the so-called Supreme Snack Bar for Cat Fanciers. The diner looked normal, and shouldn¡¯t have been very expensive. This made them feelfortable.

    Uncle Li hesitated and froze with the newly printed menu in his hands. Zhang Zian took the menu from him, and handed it to the girls. They flipped open the thin menu, and were shocked by the food items.

    ¡°What¡ªwhat kind of dishes are these?¡±

    The menu had several categories, such as Stir-fries, Combos, Specialties, Healthy Soups, and Exquisite Carbs. Each item was corrted with a cat. For example, the ¡°Supreme Cat Fancier¡¯s Combo for Two¡± came with a handful of small dried fish, while the Combo for Four came with two handfuls of small dried fish. The ¡°Cat Teaser¡¯s Stir-fried Beef Brisket¡± came with a cat teaser wand, to be returned at the end of the meal.

    The ¡°Pineapple Seafood Cat¡¯s Fried Rice¡± came with a catnip toy. The ¡°Cat¡¯s Ribbonfish Bibimbap with Sauce¡± came with a Whack-a-Mole box. The ¡°Cat¡¯s Favorite Sweet and Sour Pork Loin¡± came with aser pen. The ¡°Cat¡¯s Beloved Beef Casserole¡± came with a cat ping pong scratch pad.

    Most of the Stir-fries and Combos above 30 RMB came with various amounts of small dried fish or other cat toys. The dried fish was cheap, and the cat toys must be returned before leaving. They didn¡¯t reallye with the meal for free. Most importantly, the prices of the dishes were raised by about 10%. Uncle Li worried that nobody would be willing to pay these prices. To him, only dumb people would pay this much.

    But Zhang Zian was confident. In most cat caf¨¦s, the cheapest coffee cost around 50 RMB. These dishes were cheap inparison.

    ¡°Are these two cats for cat fanciers?¡± one of the girls pointed at Fina and Snowy Li and asked on behalf of the others.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s the other cats. You can¡¯t afford to fancy these two.¡± Zhang Zian told the truth, although it was harsh.

    The girls discussed together and then quickly made a decision. They ordered a Supreme Cat Fancier¡¯s Combo for Two with fried rice. They took pictures of the menu and shared it in WeChat Moments.

    Uncle Li was shocked and immediately headed to the kitchen to prepare the food. Zhang Zian also walked into the storage room in the back, along with Fina and Snowy Li. It was empty and had been transformed into a cat residence. The seven cats from the clinic were being kept in a cage. They crouched on the floor humbly as soon as they saw Fina, as if they were rabbits facing a tiger.

    Fina said unhappily, ¡°Why is my Imperial Kitchen so shabby? And with so few cats? Who do you think I am?¡±

    ¡°Meow, meow, meow! I smell raw beef sirloin.¡± Snowy Li drooled as it stared into the kitchen.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were still there organizing. Zhang Zian sent them back to watch over the shop.

    He told Fina, ¡°You¡¯re right, the Imperial Kitchen isn¡¯t doing well with business. As their neighbor, I¡¯m shocked. If this goes on any longer, it will cease to exist! That¡¯s why I brought a few cats over and am asking for your help to train them, so that you can boost the power and name of your Cat Kingdom!¡±

    Fina agreed. ¡°If this goes on any longer, it will cease to exist. You read my mind. It¡¯s impressive that an ordinary guy like you can speak words of wisdom like this.¡±

    ¡°Hehe.¡± Zhang Zian smirked. ¡°I may seemzy all the time, but in fact, I¡¯m a hard working servant of your Cat Kingdom, in spite of all the criticism.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Fina didn¡¯t quite believe him, based on his usual behavior.

    ¡°Of course really!¡± Zhang Zian pretended to be hurt.

    ¡°Stop it! Your words are more flowery than your songs. Would you like to offer the flower from your butt as well?¡± Snowy Li refused to drink its kool aid. ¡°You¡¯re a hypocrite with flowery words!¡±

    Zhang Zian automatically ignored Snowy Li.

    Fina nced at the other seven grown cats, and shook its head. ¡°They¡¯re too old. Learning to dance is hard for them.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. You don¡¯t have to teach them to dance, just teach them to act cute,¡± he said.

    ¡°y cute?¡± Fina widened its eyes as if it felt insulted. ¡°The citizens of my Cat Kingdom are fighters. Why should we act cute towards human beings?¡±

    He didn¡¯t know why it was suddenly upset, and doubtfully asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t dancing ying cute as well?¡±

    ¡°Of course not! Dancing makes the body swifter in order to fight better. It¡¯s not just dancing. It¡¯s battle exercise!¡± Fina was full of reasoning.

    ¡°Fine. You must be right since you¡¯re so loud.¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know how to respond, so he yed along.

    He picked up the cat toys for the customers from the storage room, such as the wooden Whack-a-Mole,ser pen, the cat teaser wand, etc. Then he exined seriously, ¡°These aren¡¯t toys. They¡¯re training tools to make the cats faster and swifter. That way, they can fight better.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Fina was still doubtful.

    ¡°Of course. You can ask them to get up first, and then I¡¯ll show you.¡± Zhang Zian pointed at the seven cats in the cage.

    Fina grunted, and they stood up from their crouching position. But they were still nervous.

    Zhang Zian opened the cage to let them out and turned on theser pen, moving it quickly across the floor. Some of the cats were attracted by the moving light, and stretched out their paws to catch the red dot. After realizing that Fina wouldn¡¯t stop them, all of them jumped towards the dot, which was driving them crazy. If the red dotnded on one of them, they jumped on each other, forming a ball of fur.

    ¡°Okay, it¡¯s really a training tool for response and swiftness.¡± Fina believed him. In fact, the red dot was driving it crazy too. After seeing the other cats¡¯ failed attempts at catching it, Fina almost wanted to do it itself. It had to resist the urge in order to look like a queen.

    A few other cats weren¡¯t interested in theser pen, or they were simply afraid of Fina and didn¡¯t join the game with the others.

    Zhang Zian took out the Ping Pong scratch pad. The structure was simple. It was just a cylinder, braided with thick cords with openings at both ends, and a few ping pong balls inside. Each ping pong ball had a small opening to slip a few metal balls inside, then was sealed with tape. They made sounds as they rolled around and attracted the cats¡¯ attention.

    He shook the Ping Pong scratch pad, and the metal ball sound made a few cats curious. One of the cat gave up the red dot it was chasing, and walked towards Zhang Zian to stare at the scratch pad.

    Zhang Zian ced the scratch pad on the floor. All of the cats crowded around it, and put their paws into the side openings of the cylinder to move the ping pong balls. They were having a great time.

 Chapter 599: Another Bowl, Please

    <h4>Chapter 599: Another Bowl, Please</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Cats had different preferences. Some cats liked the red dot from theser pointer, some liked the cat scratch board, some liked ying the Whack-A-Mole game, and some liked the cat teaser wand. Even the catnip failed to win the favor from all of the cats.

    After picking up each toy and ying with the cats, Zhang Zian found out that each cat liked a different toy. He could better distinguish the cats now so that they wouldn¡¯t surround one customer at the same time. He exined to Fina in a far-fetched manner that the toys were for improving the cats¡¯ reaction speed and agility. Fina believed him. It was a bit difficult for him to exin the use of catnip, so he simply said the catnip was to rx the cat after training.

    ¡°Then what do you need me for?¡± asked Fina in confusion.

    ¡°What you need to do is very simple. Let the cats y with the toys only. Don¡¯t let them approach the customers, or let the customers hold them. If any of the customers try to hold them, tell the cats to swiftly dodge them,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    He knew that out of health concerns, many cat cafes required their customers to wash their hands and put on shoe covers after entering the cafes. If customers touched the cats with their dirty hands, the cats would get dirty too and be vulnerable to bacterial infection. In order to allow Uncle Li and his wife enjoy the Spring Festival, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t tell them about these details just yet. Uncle Li¡¯s restaurant just needed to attract more customers at this stage. If there were too many rules in the store, the customers could get upset. That¡¯s why it would be better for now if the cats didn¡¯t approach the customers.

    In addition, whether it was at other cat cafes or at Uncle Li¡¯s, the biggest enemy they faced were disobedient kids, who often liked to pull the cats¡¯ tails and grab their necks. It would be an issue if the cats got angry and bit any of the misbehaving kids.

    Zhang Zian asked Fina to set rules for the cats, asking them to stay away from the customers, especially the bad children. If the customers didn¡¯t know that cats were deliberately hiding from them, they¡¯d just think that the cats were scared of humans they weren¡¯t familiar with. In that case, the customers would visit Uncle Li¡¯s snack bar often, trying to gain the cats¡¯ affections. As the saying goes, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

    Other rules set for the cats were that, if customers fed any food to them, the cats would only eat the small dried fish. They must also not run outside the store or into the kitchen. If the cats obediently stayed inside the dining area, naturally there would be humans there striving to serve them.

    The customers could only look at the cats, not touch them. That was why Zhang Zian renamed the restaurant as ¡°Li¡¯s Supreme Snack Bar for Cat Fanciers¡± rather than ¡°Cat-Stroking Snack Bar.¡± If he used the words cat-stroking, he would¡¯ve been deceiving the customers.

    If any customers really wanted to pet the cats they could adopt them. Theoretically, these cats still belonged to the Spirit Curing Pet Clinic, and Sun Xiaomeng had the responsibility to examine the potential adopter¡¯s qualifications. Therefore, there was no need for Zhang Zian, Uncle Li, or Aunt Li to worry about this issue.

    Fina quicklypleted instructing the seven cats. Aunt Li served food to the customers, along with some small dried fish and cat toys that were provided to the customers for free.

    ¡°Where are the cats? We want to see the cats!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, we¡¯re here for the cats! Where are they?¡±

    The girls weren¡¯t in a hurry to eat. Instead, they urgently required to see the cats that they fancied.

    Zhang Zian pouted towards the dining area. Fina understood what he meant and lifted its paw. The seven cats lined up and entered the dining area.

    ¡°Wow! Cats! So many cats! They¡¯re in line!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen cats in a queue!¡±

    The girls yelled in surprise. Having no intention to eat their meals, they picked up the dried fish, cat teaser wands, andser pointers to attract the cats over.

    Having received instructions from Fina, the cats kept the maximum safety distance from the customers and only interacted with the customers beyond their reach. Once some customers put the dried fish or cat toys back to their sides, instead of chasing the fish or the toys, the cats would run to y with another customer.

    Since the cats with innocent and shiny eyes didn¡¯te up to them, some soft-hearted girls threw the small dried fish in their hands to the cats, causing two or three cats to fight against each other.

    ¡°Don¡¯t fight! Don¡¯t fight! There¡¯s more!¡± The girls threw more dried fish to the cats again. When the cats finished eating the fish in no time, they gazed at the girls with their innocent eyes, and the girls threw more fish to them once again.

    After repeating this several times, all the small dried fish in the stic bowls had been used up.

    ¡°Sir! Another bowl of small dried fish, please!¡±

    ¡°Two bowls!¡±

    Uncle Li didn¡¯t know what to say.

    Aunt Li said with distress, ¡°Look at these girls. They¡¯re so slim! They should eat first before the food gets cold! They can y with the cats after eating their food!¡±

    Zhang Zian interjected quickly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, our dried fish is not for sale. Pleasee back next time.¡±

    ¡°Why not? Can I order anotherbo then? A free bowl of dried fishes with one order, right?¡± yelled one girl reluctantly.

    Faced with this bargaining customer, Zhang Zian looked into Uncle Li¡¯s eyes for advice.

    Uncle Li gently shook his head, because the girl hadn¡¯t taken a bite of the Supreme Combo for Two that she¡¯d ordered with the others. Besides, onebo from his restaurant contained arge amount of food, and might not have been finished by a normal-sized girl. If she ordered anotherbo, it would be a waste of food. There were still countless people in the world who were starving, and he couldn¡¯t watch the customers waste food in order for him to make money.

    Zhang Zian admired Uncle Li so much. Other restaurant owners wouldn¡¯t care about their customers wasting food, only about making money. Although Uncle Li and Aunt Li weren¡¯t rich, they¡¯d never chased after profits by betraying their moral principles, and they¡¯d always purchased fresh goods from the food market and used famous brands of seasonings.

    ¡°What? Can¡¯t I ce another order?¡± The girl frowned.

    ¡°How about this?¡± Zhang Zian asked Uncle Li. ¡°How much do you charge for an extra bowl of rice?¡±

    ¡°One Yuan a bowl,¡± Uncle Li replied truthfully. ¡°It¡¯s a big bowl of rice. The small bowl costs 0.5 Yuan.¡±

    ¡°How about charging 10 Yuan for adding a bowl of dried fish?¡± Zhang Zian put forward apromise. ¡°The girls won¡¯t waste food, and you can earn money.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Uncle Li couldn¡¯t believe his ears. The small dried fish was practically free at the fish market by the ocean. Uncle Li was very familiar with the fishmonger, and every time Uncle Li bought fish from him he would give arge amount of small dried fish to Uncle Li for free. Now, was he actually going to sell a small bowl of dried fish for 10 Yuan, which was 10 times more expensive than rice was for humans? Uncle Li felt too embarrassed to ask the customer to pay that price.

    Noticing Uncle Li¡¯s embarrassment, Zhang Zian said to the girls, ¡°10 Yuan for a bowl of small dried fish. Unlike other cat cafes where the cats live only on the dried fish that customers feed them, our cats have had lunch already, and they¡¯ll be full after eating a few fish. The opportunities to feed them are limited. They won¡¯t eat the food other customers feed them if they¡¯re full after eating your fish.¡±

    ¡°I want another bowl of dried fish!¡±

    ¡°Me too!¡±

    Before he even finished his exnation, the girls had scrambled to raise their hands and ask for extra small dried fish.

 Chapter 600: Kneading

    <h4>Chapter 600: Kneading</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    For business reasons, some cat cafes didn¡¯t feed their cats themselves and waited for the customers to do so for them. This gave the cats a better appetite and made the customers feel more satisfied. The cats in the snack bar were fed till they were about 80% full, and then ate the dried fish as snacks. They would stop eating after they were full. Zhang Zian was telling the girls the truth.

    After having fun feeding the cats, it was also fun to start battles of intelligence against the smart and swift cats. The girls tried to lure the cats over with the dried fish and the cat toys, so they could hold them in the arms and y with them. But the cats always kept a safe distance, failing all of their attempts.

    It was like ying with a w crane. The girls stared at the cute dolls in the machine, trying to grab one by controlling the machine arm. When they almost seed, the dolls fell back down. Unwilling to give up, they put in another coin and tried again until they won. Many girls ended up putting in a lot of money into the machine. Or at least their boyfriend¡¯s money.

    After a quarter or so, the girls had barely touched their food. They spent the entire time ying with the cats.

    Zhang Zian observed them carefully. He wasn¡¯t mesmerized by their beauty, but was only seeing if anyone was reacting unusually. Ever since Snowy and Vivi came in and did a live broadcast, he always paid special attention to customers with pet allergies, and also told Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Lu Yiyun to do the same.

    He waved at Uncle Li, and they both headed into the kitchen. Fina and Snowy Li followed them.

    ¡°Uncle Li, you should make a sign and hang it by the entrance, where everybody can see. The sign should warn people who are allergic to cats to be careful, and to enter at their own risk,¡± he said.

    It was normal to find cats in a pet shop, but not in a restaurant. If a customer allergic to cats didn¡¯t notice the name and walked in without thinking, they could end up having severe allergic reactions. It would be a lot of trouble. They could get sued.

    Uncle Li always followed reasonable advice, and nodded in return.

    Some people liked cats and some didn¡¯t. Even some cat lovers might not like watching others y with cats while they were eating. Some customers might think it wasn¡¯t sanitary to keep cats in a restaurant. Deciding to be a cat fancier¡¯s restaurant meant saying goodbye to customers who weren¡¯t fond of cats. Zhang Zian exined this clearly to Uncle Li. iIt was impossible to make everybody happy at the same time.

    While they were talking, Fina and Snowy Li were checking out the kitchen.

    In the kitchen, there were a lot of shiny stainless steel appliances, stoves, fans, and utensils, all catching Fina¡¯s attention. It jumped onto the counter, and saw dough inside a stainless steel pot, giving off the sour smell of yeast.

    Snowy Li also tried to jump up, but failed horribly. It couldn¡¯t jump half the height of a table with its poor motor skills. It tried to climb up the table legs by using its four short legs, but still couldn¡¯t do it.

    Aunt Li collected the customer¡¯s dishes and headed back to the kitchen. She saw Fina curiously snooping around the rising dough, and noticed that its nose was almost touching it. Afraid of the dough getting ruined and dying the food service to the customers, she wanted to take the dough pot away from it.

    Fina lifted a paw and hit the dough, staring back at her unhappily.

    Zhang Zian finished talking to Uncle Li. He realized that Fina had never seen rising dough before. The curiosity that cats were born with caused it to be deeply curious.

    Uncle Liughed and said, ¡°It¡¯s fine. Let it y with it if it likes it. Don¡¯t we have plenty of flour?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not trying to stop it from ying. It¡¯s a shame to throw away half-risen dough though,¡± replied Aunt Li with pity. She hesitantly loosened her hands.

    The dough was prepared in order to make hot pies. The Li¡¯s hot pies with pork and cabbage filling was a specialty. It had thin crust and a lot of filling, and exuded oil after each bite. They were delicious. The restaurant usually made them inrge batches. The dough was heavy, weighing almost 1.5 kilos, and took up almost the entire pot.

    Fina scratched some of the flour sticking to the pot wall with its w, sniffed it with the nose, and found the yeast smell interesting. It jumped right into dough pot, leaving clear w prints on the yellow tinted dough.

    It wasfortable to step on dough as it was neither soft or hard. It was like stepping on sand that was wet from the ocean water. It also had a peculiar sour yeast smell that made it hungry.

    After seeing the dough taken up by Fina, Aunt Li sighed and washed her hands. She took another new stainless steel dough pot, and added flour and yeast into it. Then, she poured water into it from a water jar in one hand and stirred with her other hand. She made dough every day and was very familiar with the process. She also knew the perfect ratio of flour and water. Soon, new dough gradually took shape in her hands. She put down the water jar, and made the dough neat and clean by flipping, pressing, and kneading with her strong hands.

    ¡°Aunt Li is a pro!¡± eximed Zhang Zian. Each time he tried making dough, it was a mess. He either added too much water or too little. He eventually gave up, and ended up buying dumplings and hot pies from other ces.

    ¡°Heh. I¡¯m no expert, I¡¯m just messing around!¡± Aunt Li was a modest woman.

    While she was kneading the dough, Fina watched her movements. As she moved with dexterity and rhythm, it couldn¡¯t help but imitate her, and kneaded the dough with its two front paws. It seemed to enjoy it.

    Uncle Li pointed at Fina and chuckled. ¡°Is this kneading? I¡¯ve heard about it, but it¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen it.¡±

    Fina froze with big eyes. It yelled, ¡°Kn¡ªkneading? Nonsense! I¡¯d never do such a childish thing!¡±

    Kneading was typical cat behavior. It started when kittens would knead their mother¡¯s breasts to get more milk. Even after they were fully grown, many cats continued with the same behavior, and kneaded soft objects with their front paws. Sometimes they even sniffed with their noses or bit the object slightly while purring through their throats. Kneading was a reflex of pure enjoyment.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t think Fina was kneading. It was merely imitating Aunt Li¡¯s kneading movements. Uncle Li had misinterpreted it.

    ¡°Meow meow meow? Your Majesty, whose breast are you kneading? Come knead mine!¡± Snowy Li was running around faster under the table.

    Fina was still interested in the dough. But now, in order to prove its innocence, it grunted and jumped out of the dough pot, and scraped off the flour against the table. It intentionally looked away, and mumbled, ¡°I¡¯m telling you, I don¡¯t knead breasts.¡±

 Chapter 601: Correcting Mistakes

    <h4>Chapter 601: Correcting Mistakes</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Uncle Li couldn¡¯t understand what Fina and Snowy Li were saying. He just thought that Fina¡¯s movements were interesting, so he told everyone that he knew cats could knead. When Fina stopped pressing on the dough, Uncle Li wished that he¡¯d recorded it on his cell phone.

    Zhang Zian walked to the sink and saw several deep paw prints on the dough. He decided that this was a good opportunity to tter Uncle Li, and he immediately beckoned for Uncle Li toe over.

    ¡°Uncle Li, look at this.¡± Zhang Zian pointed to the paw prints on the dough. ¡°Your store has a new name now. Do you want a new logo too? How about using a paw print as your logo? When the dough hardens, get a mold and print the paw print next to ¡®Li¡¯s Supreme Snack Bar for Cat Fanciers.''¡±

    Uncle Li was surprised. He thought that a sign would be enough for his small business, and a logo seemed unnecessary. However, since he felt like it was impolite to refuse Zhang Zian¡¯s idea, Uncle Li nodded to agree with him.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t think the logo was unnecessary. Apart from adding a paw print to the sign, he also suggested that Uncle Li and Aunt Li print the paw print on their aprons or wearing a badge in the shape of one. If they took care of those things, Fina would train the cats from time to time, which would be significantly helpful for Uncle Li and Aunt Li.

    Fina was obviously very satisfied by Zhang Zian¡¯s suggestions. Since this ce was its Imperial Kitchen, it was good for Fina to leave its mark there.

    Fina jumped off the table and majestically observed the kitchen, as if it was inspecting its own territory. Snowy Li also followed closely behind.

    Zhang Zian lowered his voice and pointed to the dough. He said to Uncle Li, ¡°Don¡¯t use paw prints from other cats. You must use the paw print from this dough for your logo.¡±

    If Fina found out that the paw print on the logo wasn¡¯t the one it created, it would be furious.

    Uncle Li nodded.

    Zhang Zian said goodbye to Uncle Li, and took Fina and Snowy Li out of the kitchen.

    The young girls in the dining area were still happily teasing the cats and taking selfies. They hadn¡¯t eaten much of the food they ordered. The girls had spent a long time in the restaurant, and Zhang Zian predicted that if their business was to keep improving, the future customers might need to wait in line to be seated.

    ¡°I wish I could hold those two cats,¡± sighed the young girl admiringly, pointing at the arrogant Fina and Snowy Li as they walked past her.

    ¡°Yeah! They¡¯re so adorable!¡± The other girls echoed in agreeance.

    ¡°What kind of training have these two cats been through? How can they walk so obediently behind him?¡± Some of the girls wondered out loud.

    Zhang Zian ignored them and left. He brought Fina and Snowy Li back to the pet shop along with everybodies lunch.

    Staring at theputer screen too intently, Richard didn¡¯t notice Zhang Zain¡¯s arrival until he had already entered the door. It screamed and pped its wings to fly away from the desk. Lu Yiyun switched the page on theputer, as if she was deliberately hiding something. She said, ¡°The cards are already printed. The manufacturer said that the cards will be shipped today.¡±

    ¡°Okay. When the cards arrive, tell Wang Qian and Li Kun to put them up,¡± said Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Meow! I¡¯m exhausted! I want to eat! I want to sleep!¡± Snowy Li jumped onto the cat tree and desperatelyid down.

    Fina leapt to the top rack of the cat tree andid down to rx in the sun.

    Zhang Zian passed out the food to the elves and pets. He took his own lunch and went up to the second floor to check on Pi.

    Pi was still sitting in front of theputer, typing. Whenever it encountered any problems, it would read the untitled book for reference.

    ¡°Pi, how many words have you written?¡± he asked with concern.

    ¡°Eeek¡­¡±

    Pi lowered its head and covered its face in embarrassment. It had been too excited to concentrate. Its writing speed was much slower than usual and it had only written a few hundred words.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Stand up and get some exercise.¡± Zhang Zian understood its situations andforted it.

    Pi nodded.

    ¡°By the way, when will your novel be rmended by the Qidian website?¡± he asked.

    Pi held up two fingers.

    ¡°2 o¡¯clock?¡± Zhang Zian looked at the time. There was still about an hour until then.

    Pi jumped off the chair and walked around the living room to stretch.

    Zhang Zian sat down and opened the author tform on the Qidian website. He saw that nearly 1,000 readers had added Pi¡¯s novel into their libraries, and some readers were constantly leaving encouraging messages for Pi and voting to rmend its novel. He noticed that there was a new message in good faith.

    [Dumplings]: This novel is well-written, though there are some typos at the beginning of the book that are distracting for the readers. It would be nice if the author fixed these errors.

    Is that so?

    Since Zhang Zian had actually experienced the scenes Pi wrote, he originally read through the novel quickly and didn¡¯t pay too much attention to the typos. Now that he was reminded by the reader, Zhang Zian thought that he should take this suggestion seriously.

    He switched to the Word document that Pi had been using to write its novel and started to reread it word by word from the beginning.

    Soon, he found that there were indeed a lot of typos, especially at the start of the book. Maybe Pi wasn¡¯t quite used to typing in Chinese back then.

    In addition to typos, Pi also typed a number every few hundred words.

    ¡°3¡­1¡­4¡­1¡­5¡­9¡­2¡­6¡­¡±

    If the numbers were put together, they would form pi. Readers bothered by these unexinable numbers might think that they possessed some profound implication. Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t figured out the meanings of these numbers. The only person who might understand them was Meng Li, who¡¯d returned back to his hometown for the Lunar New Year. Since Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t particrly familiar with Meng Li and didn¡¯t have his phone number, he thought it would be awkward if he contacted him.

    Maybe some readers gave up on reading Pi¡¯s novel because of the typos and the random numbers.

    Pi walked around the room a few times and then went back to theputer to continue writing.

    ¡°Wait a minute, Pi. You didn¡¯t sleep wellst night, did you? Go take a nap while I use theputer,¡± he said.

    Pi looked up and thought for a moment. It remembered that theputer had always been Zhang Zian¡¯s, and Pi had only been borrowing it.

    Pi grew upset and felt guilty for hogging Zhang Zian¡¯sputer for so long.

    ¡°Eeek.¡± Pi tiredly nodded and jumped into the basket hammock chair.

    ¡°Sleep for a while,¡± Zhang Zian urged. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you still have half a day to write.¡±

    Lying in the chair, Pi closed its eyes. To block out the strong rays of noon sunlight, it pulled up the nket to cover its head.

    Though Pi was very sleepy, it couldn¡¯t fall asleep because of all its excitement. It was thinking about everyment, both encouragement and critique, left from its novel¡¯s readers.

    After lying there for a while, it opened its eyes and quietly moved the nket away from its face to see if Zhang Zian had finished using theputer. If he had, Pi wanted to continue writing its novel. In the past, Pi didn¡¯t have a fixed schedule to upload thepleted chapters. It just uploaded whenever it had finished writing its chapters. Since some readers had asked about the specific time that the new chapters would be released everyday, Pi tried to upload its work more routinely.

    Before, Pi felt hopeless when its novel had no readers. Now that its novel had attracted arge group of readers, Pi was even more anxious because it was afraid that it would fail these readers¡¯ expectations.

    Since Zhang Zian was still using theputer, Pi grew a bit worried.

    The hammock chair was very close to the desk. Pi could see that Zhang Zian was closely reading the chapters that it had already uploaded to the Qidian website.

    Pi blinked in confusion, wondering what he was doing.

    Too busy carefully examining every word and sentence, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t notice Pi¡¯s gaze from beneath the nket. He was silently reading Pi¡¯s novel to correct the typos, modifying some awkward sentences, and making some too-formal dialogues sound more colloquial.

    Fixing the typos was tedious work. Pi had written about 110,000 words. Zhang Zian needed to fix these 110,000 words before Pi¡¯s novel was rmended by the website, so that the novel would leave a better first impression on its new readers. This task might not have been the most important thing to focus on. After all, most people read web novels quickly and wouldn¡¯t notice the changes. However, currently, it was the only thing that Zhang Zian could do for Pi.

    Pi finally realized what he was doing. As if the anxiety in its heart had been blown away by a gentle breeze, Pi suddenly felt calm.

    When almost no one read its novel, Pi uploaded the chapters right away after it finished writing them without reviewing them for mistakes. Previously, some readers had mentioned the typos in its novel, but Pi ignored anyments that affected its good mood.

    Now, Zhang Zian was helping it correct its mistakes.

    Zhang Zian started to be more anxious. He wished he would have thought of fixing the typos in Pi¡¯s novel earlier. Soon, it would be two o¡¯clock in the afternoon and Pi¡¯s novel would be officially rmended by the Qidian website. Zhang Zian tried his best to focus on every sentence as he read theputer screen.

    As the sun moved silently across the sky, the shadow that the desk cast on the floor slowly became longer.

    ¡°Hoo!¡±

    Zhang Zian felt relieved. He rubbed his face as he leaned against the back of his chair in exhaustion. He nced at the time. He¡¯d finally finished going over the typos and rewriting the awkward sentences in all of the chapters around 2:10 p.m.

    He went back to the website¡¯s homepage, entered the section for Modern Novels, and found the title Pet King in the Popr Category, along with a concise introduction. ¡°Catch a few magical pets as partners.¡±

    If Zhang Zian was right, Pi was onlypeting with other new authors rather than the other already popr writers for the attention of new readers. Pi should be ready to pass the first round of tests.

    Pi gently moved beneath the nket.

    ¡°Pi, did you fall asleep? Get up quickly! Your novel is being rmended by the website.¡± Zhang Zian yawned, but was still excited.

    ¡°Eeek.¡±

    Pi lifted the nket and sat up. Putting its two palms together, Pi ced its hands next to one ear and signalled that it had slept very well.

 Chapter 602: Raiding the Ladiesâ€™ Residence at Night

    <h4>Chapter 602: Raiding the Ladies¡¯ Residence at Night</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After 10 in the evening, there were fewer pedestrians on the streets. Two figures left the pet shop quietly. The door closed loudly, and the lights on the first floor of the pet shop turned off, but the lights in the room upstairs were still on.

    It was a cold night, but the two figures were strong guys who didn¡¯t need much cover. It was Binhai City, after all, not Northeast China nor ska. They wore knitted hats over their foreheads, gloves, winter jackets, and masks that covered everything, but their sneaky eyes. They each had a stack of colorful stickers under their arms.

    The two guys were Wang Qian and Li Kun, sent by Zhang Zian to post sticker ads. They didn¡¯t dare posting them during the day, in case they got caught by police.

    ¡°Bro, where shall we start?¡± Wang Qian, who wasn¡¯t good at using his brain, asked.

    Li Kun thought for a second and said, ¡°Master made it clear to post them in schools. We can¡¯t sneak into elementary schools without being seen as perverts. It¡¯s tough to get into high schools, too. Let¡¯s post them in our university. We could walk along the road going west, post them around campus, thene back from the east, make a full circle.¡±

    Wang Qian agreed with the genius n. However, neither of them thought of a reason why they should go back to the pet shop. Why not head straight home?

    They were both Otakus in the past. Apart from asional night outings with friends, they barely went outside at night alone. Dongcheng District was an old urban area with lots of schools and universities. Night life wasn¡¯t as colorful as downtown, especially during the Spring Festival when mostte night shops were closed for business. Only a few stores were still open, which made their outing convenient.

    Bam! Bam! Bam!

    As they walked, they posted the stickers on sidewalks, utility poles, door steps and public bathrooms. The key to posting ads was keeping a low profile. Otherwise, the ads might be peeled off by those who didn¡¯t like them.

    Two thousand ads was a lot, they wouldn¡¯t use all of them if they only posted them in the streets. They walked into the familiar Binhai University, passing the main ssroom building, where the lights were still on. They slowed their pace, as they were about to embrace the biggest challenge of the mission, the girls¡¯ dormitory.

    Why the girls¡¯ dormitory instead of the men¡¯s? Obviously because guys were upied with games all day and ate at the cheap school cafeteria to save money. They¡¯d rather eat ramen noodles than spending time and money to eat outside. Although, they thought to post a few ads in the boys¡¯ dorm, just in case some guys noticed the ads.

    To guys, the girls¡¯ dorm was a forbidden city, as inessible as the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain or the Lop Nor desert. Before any guy even entered the building, the doorwoman was alerted each time a guy passed by.

    Speaking of doorwomen, theirbat level t in Binhai City was probably next to Master Zhang Zian. They had strong arms and loud voices, and nobody could escape them. The doorwomen could spread the scandal across the city, ruining their reputation.

    They had to obey the Master¡¯s order. Zhang Zian clearly instructed them to post more ads near the girls¡¯ dorm, since university girls were the demographic of the snack bar. A cheap yet fancy snack bar should attract girls who loved cats, but weren¡¯t allowed to keep them in the dorms.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun gasped at the girls¡¯ dorm. Most girls had gone home for the holiday, only a few of them stayed to prepare for grad school exams or part-time jobs. The lights were on in the doorwomen¡¯s room, and a few chubby figures were visible through the windows.

    ¡°Bro, what should we do?¡± Wang Qian grabbed Li Kun, and squatted in the dark shadow away from the streetmps.

    Li Kun scratched his head. Hand-to-handbat wasn¡¯t an option, so they had to be creative. He saw a bike shed near the building, with bicycles and motorcycles parked there. There was even a few colorful bikes from the bike sharing program. The shed blocked the streetmp, casting a shadow underneath.

    Li Kun suddenly had an idea, and said, ¡°Bro, how about posting the ads on the bikes? The girls will see them when they use their bikes. The shed is a good cover, so we won¡¯t be spotted easily.¡±

    They agreed, then bent down, snuck under the bike shed, and started posting from oppposite ends, meeting in the middle.

    They posted the ads between the handlebars on the regr bikes. For the shared bikes, they posted them on top of the QR codes, so that the users couldn¡¯t ignore them.

    It was too dark under the shed. As Wang Qian was working, his pants were caught by the back of a bike, making the bike fall on its side. Despite his effort to catch it, it hit the bike next to it, and made a loud noise.

    ¡°Bike thief!¡±

    A loud cry came from the doorwomen¡¯s room, as loud as gunshots. Immediately, a few sturdy figures came out of the building. They heard the noise from the bike shed and formed two teams to cover both sides. The team work was impressive.

    Crap!

    Wang Qian and Li Kun panicked. There was nothing, but open space around the bike shed, no ce to hide. If they were mistaken for bike thieves, nothing could prove their innocence.

    As they were about to be captured, a rustling sound came from the woods at the other side of the building, as if somebody was running away.

    ¡°Over there!¡±

    The doorwomen heard the sound, and dashed towards the other side. One of them said loudly, ¡°Some of us should go back to the building to protect the girls, just in case they were distracting us to sneak in!¡± They were clearly experienced in fighting off horny boys.

    Two doorwomen ran back to the building, while the others chased after the rustling sound. Despite their age, they were fast and vanished in a second.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun hesitated. Did someone save them, or was it a coincidence?

    Nheless, they weren¡¯t stupid enough to wait for the doorwomen toe back. They snuck out of the chaos.

    After they had left, the doorwomen returned to the building in disappointment after a fruitless hunt. None of them noticed a small shadow wearing a bamboo hat suddenly jumping off a branch to fade into the darkness, leaving the branch swinging in the wind.

 Chapter 603: Motorcycle Riders

    <h4>Chapter 603: Motorcycle Riders</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Like the frightened fish that narrowly escaped the, Wang Qian and Li Kun escaped Binhai University. They were almost scared to death by the doorwomen of the girl¡¯s dormitory. Out of breath, they leaned against the wall of the building.

    ¡°Wang Qian, who was the passing deity that saved us?¡± Li Kun asked, hands resting on his knees.

    ¡°I know as much as you do.¡± Wang Qian shook his head. ¡°Luckily, we¡¯re still alive. We can¡¯t tell Master about this incident.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± Li Kun nodded. If Master Zhang Zian knew how humiliating they looked right now, he¡¯d hate them.

    Wang Qian counted the cards in his hands. ¡°I still have over 300 cards. How many do you have?¡±

    ¡°Over 200,¡± Li Kun answered. ¡°If we go to other ces, we¡¯ll be able to finish.¡±

    Wang Qian¡¯s stomach sang. ¡°I¡¯m hungry after all that running. Are you hungry?¡± Wang Qian said, rubbing his stomach.

    ¡°Yes. Do you want to buy something at the night market nearby?¡± Li Kun wasn¡¯t hungry, but he thought he should eat something to suppress his shock.

    The catering business near the school always prospered. Every night, peddlers would push their carts to sell snacks there. The hygienic conditions of the snacks were unclear, but they were cheap.

    When Wang Qian and Li Kun yed online games with their roommates, the rule was that whoever became a liability in the game must go to the market to buy snacks for the whole dorm. Both Wang Qian and Li Kun had be quite familiar with the market.

    Tonight, the market seemed much more deserted than usual, perhaps because most of the students left campus for the break. There were only a few carts in the alley. Under the bright lights, several college students were eating snacks.

    When Wang Qian and Li Kun arrived, they felt relieved. Despite the curious gaze of onlookers, they overtly stuck the cards on walls and telephone poles.

    When they walked by a stand selling Mtang, the spicy aromas stopped them. They sat down, selecting their favorite vegetables and meat.

    The vendor removed the ingredients Wang Qian and Li Kun selected from the bamboo sticks and put them into the boiling hot soup. The different ingredients floating around in the soup made Wang Qian and Li Kun drool.

    Once the Mtang was ready, the stand owner served arge bowl for each of them. The green vegetables, the pink crab sticks and sausages, the white quail eggs and fish balls, the yellow tofu, and the translucent vermicelli in the soup looked very appetizing.

    Silently, Wang Qian and Li Kun broke apart the chopsticks apart, stirred the bowls a few times to dissipate the heat, and started to eat.

    Suddenly, the roar of a motorcycle was heard from not far away. A sharp female voice cried instantly, ¡°Catch the bag robber!¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun shuddered, thinking that the doorwomen had caught up with them. The vermicelli that had almost reached their mouths dropped back into their bowls, and the soup almost sshed on their clothes.

    When they looked back, they saw a ck motorcycle rushing by. The two riders, in ck leather jackets, ck leather pants and ck helmets, almost blended into the dark night. The rider sitting in the back was carrying a designer handbag, going through the items in the bag.

    As ordinary people, Wang Qian and Li Kun didn¡¯t react. The motorcycle was going too fast, not leaving enough time for them to react. They just watched as the motorcycle drove past. Even if they had realized what was going on, what could they do?

    In the blink of an eye, a short, stick-like object flew past them, and swiftly made its way into the front spokes of the motorcycle.

    Only Wang Qian and Li Kun had witnessed the short stick. A strange idea popped into their minds. Is this a coincidence? Who else could judge the speed of the motorcycle urately enough to insert a stick into the front spokes?

    The two riders felt the front wheel lock, but the rear wheel was still rushing forward. As a result, like a slow-motion scene in a movie, the entire motorcycle turned upside-down. Bam! The motorcycle crashed into a telephone pole. Screaming, the two riders fell to the ground and rolled in front of Wang Qian and Li Kun.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun, holding chopsticks in one hand and a bowl in the other, were shocked by the sudden situation.

    The several stand owners were silent. They stopped working and looked over. However, no one wanted to get involved. Since the stand owners needed to conduct business in this alley everyday, they didn¡¯t want to get into trouble.

    The girls closest to the scene withdrew quietly, while those far away picked up their cell phones to call the police. Several boys wanted to help, but were deterred by their girlfriends, who thought that the riders were dangerous.

    The two motorcycle riders rubbed their lower backs and stood up. If not for the thick protective gear on their elbows and knees, they would have been injured badly.

    What to do?

    Wang Qian and Li Kun looked at each other, hoping one of them woulde up with an idea.

    Though Wang Qian and Li Kun wanted to be brave, they couldn¡¯t help worrying that the two motorcycle riders might have weapons with them. Doing the right thing wasn¡¯t worth sacrificing their lives. Wang Qian and Li Kun had tried so hard to be apprentices of Master Zhang Zian, and a glorious career was waiting for them.

    The girl whose bag was robbed ran towards the ident, shouting, ¡°Can someone help? Stop them!¡±

    The riders picked up the designer bag and passed by Wang Qian and Li Kun on their way to lift their motorcycle.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun still hadn¡¯t decided on what to do. However, someone else had decided for them.

    They saw two more stick-like objects fly through the air.

    Pa! Pa!

    The two sticks stabbed the robbers¡¯ armpits. They groaned, fell to their knees, and rubbed their armpits. Their painful expressions could be seen through their helmets.

    The sticks fell to the ground. Wang Qian and Li Kun, who were near the riders, saw the objects clearly, one branch split into two pieces, and then thrown by someone.

    Damn! Who did this?

 Chapter 604: The Malatang That Took Flight

    <h4>Chapter 604: The Mtang That Took Flight</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Wang Qian and Li Kun didn¡¯t know where the broken branches flew from, but the motorcyclists believed they knew the answer. They thought it was Wang Qian and Li Kun since the two of them were close and the only ones who could have pulled off the stunt. The branches had caused them serious pain, if it wasn¡¯t for their protection gear, they might not have been able to stand up anymore.

    ¡°This is a warning, mind your own business!¡± One of the bikers cried out, pointing at them, his voice muffled by his helmet.

    Even now, they didn¡¯t ease their grip on the bag.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun never wanted to cause trouble, as they have yet toplete their cultivation of immortality. Right now, they should be keeping a low profile instead of taking on challenges way out of their league.

    However, when it came down to it, they weren¡¯t afraid of trouble. In unison, they let out a cry as they flung their mtang bowls towards the two motorcyclists.

    The two bowls of mtang were fresh out of the pot. The soup was at least 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

    The motorcyclists wore helmets, but due to the fall, they now had cracks. However, the oil from the mtang sshed onto their visor and made their view blurry. For venttion purposes, the helmets were windproof, but not waterproof. Once the hot soup made its way through the small venttion slits of the helmet, they bellowed in agony and wrapped their hands around their head, trying to remove their helmet.

    With the sess of their attack, Wang Qian and Li Kun¡¯s confidence grew. Taking of advantage of the fact that the motorcyclists were unable to see clearly, the two of them rushed forwards and started punching and kicking the two motorcyclists.

    ¡°How dare you steal someone¡¯s bag! I hate thieves!¡±

    ¡°Scr*w you! unting how fierce you are? Don¡¯t you know we¡¯re trained?¡±

    ¡°Give him a good one!¡±

    They were pumping themselves up with all the trash talk, punching, and kicking.

    By the time the motorcyclists took off their helmets, they had already suffered from a number of blows. They seemed to be the same age of Wang Qian and Li Kun, although their exact appearance couldn¡¯t be made out because of the soup and strings of translucent vermicelli hanging from their ears. The spicy soup had made its way into their eyes, making them unable to open their eyes.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun had only ever trained their verbal skills, their punches and kickscked strength and experience. They didn¡¯t dare take things too far as they were afraid of what would happen if the two motorcyclists suffered from serious injuries, so there wasn¡¯t substantial damage done to the motorcyclists.

    However, it was a different matter for the motorcyclists. They had to flee the scene as the police might arrive soon, so they had to do everything they could to get rid of the two troublemakers quickly.

    Desperate times call for desperate measures, and a punch was thrown towards Wang Qian¡¯s face.

    Wang Qian was panic-stricken, he instinctively closed his eyes and subconsciously cast his palm outwards.

    ¡°Aiya!¡±

    The person who went down wasn¡¯t Wang Qian, but the motorcyclist who threw the punch. He was holding his ribs in pain, it seemed like Wang Qian had delivered quite a heavy blow.

    However, the sensation in Wang Qian¡¯s fingertips told him that he barely brushed the side of his body. If he didn¡¯t use great force, why is the motorcyclist in so much pain?

    Li Kun had a simr situation. His opponent dodged his punch, but for some reason, went limp and fell towards his fist, suffering a solid blow. Li Kun punched him in the chest, but the motorcyclist held onto the back of his neck.

    ¡°Wow! You guys are really impressive!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, have you guys practiced before?¡±

    The surrounding crowd were amazed and pped excitedly. Under the night sky, no one was able to see the fight clearly, so they all believed that it was really Wang Qian and Li Kun who took down the thieves with one move.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were dumbstruck, they couldn¡¯t figure out why their opponents were so weak. Could it be that during their long period of time spent by master¡¯s side, they had unknowingly seeded in their cultivation of immortality? They heard that the most bada** practitioners were able to cultivate while they were asleep, could it be that they awakened such ability by chance?

    Li Kun picked up the designer bag and handed it back to its owner, who was also a Binhai University student. The bag was a Christmas gift from her boyfriend, so along with its mary value, it also had sentimental value.

    She was very thankful to both Wang Qian and Li Kun, she kept thanking them until they felt embarrassed.

    It didn¡¯t take long for the police to arrive.

    As the incident happened in the vicinity of Binhai University, and to one of their students, the school¡¯s security team leader arrived at the scene with his men and persuaded the students that weren¡¯t involved to return back to school.

    Since the details of the incident were obvious, and since there were a number of witnesses, the police were able to gather statements and leave with the two motorcyclists in their custody quickly.

    ¡°Are you two students of Binhai University?¡± The security team leader overheard Wang Qian and Li Kun giving their statements to the police earlier, so he came over to investigate further.

    ¡°Yes.¡± They wouldn¡¯t be able to hide anything even if they wanted to, so they were honest when they gave their ss, names, and student identification numbers.

    The security team leader took down their information, smiled as he gave them a pat on their shoulders, and said, ¡°Good job! Being brave for a honorable cause is a great thing that doesn¡¯t happen often. Have either of you received any honors or badges of recognition before?¡±

    Wang Qian gave it a thought and said after a moment, ¡°Does one from primary school count?¡±

    Li Kun added, ¡°I once made it to Diamond Rank in King of Glory.¡±

    Ever since they were young, their academic results had always been average, far from any honorable achievements. Even in games, they had never once made it to the top ranks.

    The security team leader replied, ¡°Forget it, you guys can head back. If we need anything else, I¡¯ll look for the two of you again.¡±

    ¡°Will what we¡¯ve done be considered as actions made for a just cause?¡± the unsure two asked. It was an impulse decision to dump their bowls of soup onto the motorcyclists head, if it counted as excessive self-defence things could get messy.

    ¡°If what the two of you described indeed happened, then yes it¡¯ll be considered as actions made for a just cause,¡± he exined. ¡°The two of you stoppedwbreakers whomitted a crime. They refused to let go of the bag and only did so when you took them down. Once they let go, the two of you stopped hurting them. If that¡¯s not actions made for a just cause, then I don¡¯t know what is. Even if it¡¯s not, rest assured the school will take it to court for the two of you.¡±

    The girl whose bag was stolen, spoke up, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m willing to testify for the both of you. Everyone else only stood by, while the two of you helped retrieve my bag!¡± It was clear that she had opinions about the onlookers who did nothing.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun both let out a sigh of relief. They really wanted to say that they weren¡¯t the ones who stopped the motorcycle and that they didn¡¯t have such capabilities, but things would getplicated, so they kept it to themselves.

    ¡°It¡¯s gettingte, the two of you should head back,¡± the security team leader said. He gave them a meaningful look before saying, ¡°Remember to keep your phones on, in case the school wants to reach you.¡±

    Bewildered, Wang Qian and Li Kun nodded.

    The security team leader and his men took the female student back to school. As the crowd slowly dispersed and the vendors packed up, the small alley soon became silent.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun both felt like they had just experienced a dream.

    ¡°Sh*t! The mtang was dumped before I even had a bite!¡± Wang Qian whined as he pped his thigh.

    Li Kun too felt his pain, but after a second thought, heughed, ¡°It¡¯s okay, we didn¡¯t pay for it anyway.¡± The two of them soon brightened up, turning their previous sorrow to joy.

    Wang Qian, remembering they had business to take care of, counted his remaining cards, ¡°I still have a few pieces before I¡¯m done, you?¡±

    Li Kun was dazed for a moment. ¡°Oh sh*t! Speaking of, while I was picking up the bag for thedy, I think I stuck myst piece onto her bag.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Li Kun seemed to realized that he did something wrong. ¡°You can¡¯t me me for this, I¡¯m used to it! What do you think will happen when her boyfriend finds the sticker on her bag?¡±

    ¡°Sh*t happens,¡± Wang Qian answered with finality.

    There was a cold breeze at the same time their blood boiled. They had finally surpassed their master in one thing, separating a couple.

    ¡°Will her boyfriend take revenge on us?¡± Li Kun asked.

    ¡°Who knows? I think it¡¯s best if we visit the pet store more often or stay at home. We need to avoid going to school so often, someday we just might get stabbed to death.¡± Wang Qian sensibly made a decision.

    The two of them followed the other side of the pathway back, walking along as they discussed what happened. They couldn¡¯t figure out what caused the motorcycle to flip? Was it a mechanical fault or was it something paranormal? What about the broken branches?

    They put up the few remaining cards on their way back. To avoid suspicion, they kept one to paste it outside the pet store.

    Not far behind them, on the roofs of neighboring stores, a ghostly figure loomed, making use of billboards, damaged lightboxes and various objects to keep hidden. The asional exposure under moonlight wasn¡¯t to catch it as it was so fast, people suspect that they¡¯ve been seeing things.

    The figure wore a bamboo hat and a thin mandarin jacket. Just one look into its bright yellow eyes, it was clear that they didn¡¯t belong to a human. Yet, those eyes don¡¯t instil fear as hidden within them lies peace and overflowing strength.

    Old Time Tea followed Wang Qian and Li Kun from above. They were too engrossed in their conversation to notice.

    Raising its head to look at the night sky, it saw only a handful of stars. A cat¡¯s eyesight is inherently unsuitable for long distances. It was only after taking on the form of an elfin that it was now able to clearly see what a night sky looked like.

    Today, it had suggested to Zhang Zian that it would apany Wang Qian and Li Kun on their trip. Zhang Zian was surprised and tried to persuade it to change times, as it was too cold at night. Lately, Old Time Tea felt that if it stayed in the store any longer, its bones and body would start rusting, so it persisted on tagging along. Who knew that it¡¯d help out Wang Qian and Li Kun, who wouldn¡¯t have been able to get through the incident at the female student¡¯s hostel.

    Taking down the motorcyclists was unexpected. Old Time Tea would never let criminals get away, so it made its move to punish the two motorcyclists, while conveniently giving the credit to Wang Qian and Li Kun. They¡¯ve been diligent and hardworking in the pet store, so they deserve a reward.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun made a turn up ahead, taking the shortest route back to the pet store.

    Old Time Tea picked up a small pebble and threw it in the other direction, to remind them to head home instead of returning to the pet store. However, the noise only heightened their suspicions that it really was a paranormal incident, so they both intentionally avoided going home.

    Old Time Tea couldn¡¯t help, but smile. The two boys were straightforward people, often thinking one way and not the other. When they do try, it usually ended wrong, so there was nothing to do, but to let them continue.

    These days, Old Time Tea had a feeling that Zhang Zian has things on his mind, and although there was no proof, its gut feeling said that the matter is rted to itself.

    Was it the new year that reminded him of the issue with its age?

    Old Time Tea felt that such concerns were unnecessary. Zhang Zian was still young which is why he worried about such stuff. Getting old and passing on is the cycle of life, even for cats. To try going against it, to change fate, the price is severe.

    Even so, does a way to challenge the course of nature, to change one¡¯s own fate even exist?

    Soon the pet store is in sight, the light on the second floor is already off, leaving only the bathroom light on. Wang Qian and Li Kun arrived at the doorstep and realized that there was no need for them to return back to the pet store.

    They softly discussed for a moment, stuck thest card onto the shutter door, said their goodbyes to one another and headed back to their respective homes.

    Once they left, Old Time Tea leapt up to the window of the second-floor bathroom, silently opened the window frame with its ws and made its way into the store. After it was safely inside, it shut the window and locked it.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, you¡¯re back.¡±

    Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t gone to bed. He felt a breeze blow in and knew that Old Time Tea was back. He intentionally left the toilet window unlocked for Old Time Tea.

    ¡°Zian, why aren¡¯t you asleep yet? Didn¡¯t I tell you that you didn¡¯t have to wait for me?¡± Old Time Tea removed his bamboo hat. Returning from the cold, it found itself liking the warmth of indoors more.

    Zhang Zian pointed towards the direction of the living room, dimmed lights were seen through the darkness.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Pi isn¡¯t asleep either.¡±

    Old Time Tea nodded its head. ¡°Go to bed, tomorrow is another early day for you. The two kids went home safely, nothing much happened.¡±

    It didn¡¯t intentionally hide what happened. It just felt that punishing two criminals was insignificantpared to its eventful cat life.

 Chapter 605: Pride and Prejudice

    <h4>Chapter 605: Pride and Prejudice</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In the early morning, Zhang Zian pulled open the door of his pet shop. Just as he was about to go back inside to do some cleaning, he heard rhythmic footsteps approaching.

    Ta! Ta! Ta!

    A figure wearing professional training clothes appeared on the street corner.

    She was as agile and robust as a deer in the forest. With the striking reflective strips on her clothes and shoes, she could be seen from far away. She was also pulling an energetic Beagle with a long leash so that the Beagle had room to have fun.

    ¡°Good morning!¡±

    Masanori Suzuhara greeted Zhang Zian in Mandarin. When she neared at the pet shop, she slowed down, but she didn¡¯t stoppletely. She lifted her legs high to keep her body warm. Today¡¯s air quality was good, so she didn¡¯t wear a mask.

    ¡°Good morning, you¡¯re really hard-working,¡± Zhang Zian responded, getting a broom.

    Almost every morning, Zhang Zian could see the student from Japan. She passed the pet shop at the same time, unless it was snowing.

    ¡°I¡¯m just used to running in Japan.¡± She smiled. ¡°I feel ufortable if I don¡¯t run at least once a day. I feel even more energetic now that Snoopy runs with me.¡±

    Masanori Suzuhara lifted the dog feces cleaning tool-kit, a small stic spade and a self-sealing stic bag, in her hand to show Zhang Zian.

    Beagles needed ample time and intensity for outdoor activities, otherwise their extra energy wouldn¡¯t be used, and they might make trouble at home. However, Masanori Suzuhara¡¯s morning run was enough for her Beagle to let off steam.

    Snoopy¡¯s chest rose and fell violently, panting with its tongue out. It trotted to Zhang Zian and circled him, sniffed at his shoes and trousers, then squatted next to his feet. As if it had recognized Zhang Zian, Snoopy nced at the pet shop with nostalgia. It had been here a long time before Masanori Suzuhara took it home.

    Zhang Zian knelt and looked at Snoopy. On the cor around its neck, there was a namete that had Masanori Suzuhara¡¯s contact information.

    As a student who had spent a long time in theboratory with Beagles, Masanori Suzuhara had a good understanding of Beagles, so she trained her Snoopy well. Snoopy didn¡¯t bark or run around, it stayed quiet while Zhang Zian rubbed its head.

    ¡°By the way, the Japanesepany shipped the machines and they¡¯ll arrive in China soon.¡± Knowing that Zhang Zian must be very concerned about the automatic dog washer, Masanori Suzuhara made sure to mention it. ¡°The machines will be exhibited at the Capital Science and Technology Exhibition during the Spring Festival. After the exhibition, the machines, along with the matching voltage transformers, will be shipped to Binhai City.¡±

    ¡°Thank you so much,¡± Zhang Zian said, ¡°I hope it didn¡¯t cause you too much trouble.¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Masanori Suzuhara smiled. ¡°In fact, during our email exchanges, I left a good impression on the supervisor. When he heard that I could speak Chinese, he invited me to do an internship at theirpany after graduation. I heard that thepany may be trying to expand to the Chinese market.¡±

    ¡°Really? Congrattions!¡± Zhang Zian was surprised to hear the news, but then he thought that it made sense.

    China¡¯s pet market was growing rapidlypared to Japan, which was suffering from declining birthrates and economic recession. If the Japanesepany had no intention to expand to the Chinese market, why would they attend the Capital Science and Technology Exhibition in Beijing? In order to expand, thepany must hire talented people who are proficient in Chinese. If Masanori Suzuhara could intern for thatpany, her talents would certainly be highly valued.

    ¡°I should thank you! If I hadn¡¯t met Snoopy in your shop, I wouldn¡¯t have found the right internship opportunity so easily,¡± she said with a sincere smile.

    ¡°If you say you can only understand a bit of Chinese, you¡¯re being too modest. Your Mandarin is better than many Chinese people,¡± Zhang Zian praised her in a matter of fact manner.

    ¡°I¡¯m ttered,¡± Masanori Suzuhara said embarrassingly. ¡°Actually, like many Japanese people, before I came to China, I had many prejudices. Take walking dogs as an example, have you heard of the controversial remarks of Koji Yano?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought the name was familiar. ¡°Do you mean the Japanese actor who said that the Chinese aren¡¯t qualified to raise dogs?¡± he asked tentatively.

    She nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Koji Yano¡¯s remarks had caused a great uproar in both China and Japan. After living in Beijing, Koji Yano discovered that dog poop could be seen everywhere because dog owners wouldn¡¯t clean up after their dogs.

    He wasn¡¯tpletely wrong. However, his remarks were taken out of context by the media and were widely publicized as ¡°Chinese people aren¡¯t qualified to raise dogs.¡± The remarks surrounded Koji Yano with a great deal of controversy, and people still brought it up to this day.

    Masanori Suzuhara continued, ¡°His remarks made me think that there would be many dogs¡¯ droppings on the roads of China. However, the situation isn¡¯t that serious. There are many Chinese people, like you, who carry stic bags and small spades with them when walking their dogs.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve seen me walk my dogs?¡± Zhang Zian was surprised.

    ¡°Yes,¡± she said with certainty. ¡°When I ran in front of your shop a few days ago, I saw you enter the shop with two German Shepherds, stic bags, and a small spade in your hands. You didn¡¯t notice me, but I saw you.¡±

    Whenever Zhang Zian went outside with the dogs, he carried stic bags and a small spade with him. He also carried these tools when he went to set with Famous and two police dogs.

    Masanori Suzuhara bowed and apologized to Zhang Zian. ¡°I secretly took a picture of you from behind and sent it to my ssmates in Japan. They realized that Koji Yano¡¯s remarks were biased because not all Chinese people forget about their dog droppings when they walk their dogs.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t think she needed to apologize for taking a picture of him. In fact, he wished that the picture was taken from the front, so that the Japanese girls could see how handsome he was.

 Chapter 606: Friend

    <h4>Chapter 606: Friend</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Speaking of social issues, the differences between China and Japan were fairly abundant. China was progressing very quickly, but its sense of social responsibility wasn¡¯t keeping up with their growing extravagance. Nows were put into effect to regte such issues, and with the increasing number of dog owners, it only served to contribute to the problem.

    However, many were starting to be conscious of the problem. Both young teenagers and seniors were now getting into the habit of picking up after their dog when out on walks. If every dog owner did their part, the world would be a better ce.

    Having dogs as pets was more troublesome than having cats because there was so much more to be worried about. When customers were unable to decide between a cat or dog, Zhang Zian always rmended cats because they¡¯re less bothersome.

    Although it¡¯s said that one can never be too courteous, Masanori Suzuhara¡¯s courtesy was too much. She positioned herself as an inferior in order to show respect, which Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t ustomed to. Why was he suddenly the superior?

    ¡°I¡¯m terribly sorry for taking your pictures without your consent and sending it to others.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, you don¡¯t have to apologize. I give you my consent, okay?¡± Zhang Zian responded.

    She bowed gratefully and said, ¡°Thank you very much for being so generous! Pardon me for intruding, I shall take my leave now.¡±

    Zhang Zian waved. ¡°Go on, you¡¯re going to catch a cold if you keep standing out here.¡±

    Masanori Suzuhara lightly tugged her leash. ¡°Snoopy, let¡¯s go.¡±

    Snoopy gave the inside of the pet store another affectionate look, before running off cheerfully.

    Just as her figure disappeared at the end of the street, Lu Yiyun arrived. Wang Qian and Li Kun would arriveter, as they had a long day yesterday and went homete.

    Zhang Zian brought the broom with him as he headed back into the store. He decided to clean up the second floor and leave the first floor for when Wang Qian and Li Kun turned up. He always cleaned the second floor, more so after Pi appeared, he couldn¡¯t just let anyone go up to the second floor.

    ¡°Zhi zhi!¡±

    Pi was still seated in front of theputer typing away. Hearing Zhang Zian, it turned around and grinned at him.

    ¡°Good morning, Pi!¡± Zhang Zian greeted Pi.

    Mentally, Pi was better, but it still lost sleep whenever it was excited. At least now, it smiled from time to time.

    ¡°How¡¯s it going Pi? How many adds now?¡±

    At this point, he was no longer worried about the question making Pi depressed.

    Pi pointed at the screen.

    ¡°9,853? Just a little more until ten thousand!¡± Zhang Zian eximed, ¡°Pi, you¡¯re going to have ten thousand readers soon!¡±

    ¡°Zhi zhi!¡± Pi leapt off the chair and did a few somersaults.

    Zian could¡¯ve never imagined Pi being so energetic. The Pi that used to be depressed because its novel wasn¡¯t doing well, was gone for good.

    ¡°Zhi zhi.¡±

    Zhang Zian had wanted to sweep the floor, but Pi stopped him from leaving. Pi pointed at the screen eagerly.

    ¡°Are you saying that you want me to watch the moment the adds reach ten thousand with you?¡± Zian guessed.

    ¡°Zhi zhi!¡± Pi nodded its head.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Zhang Zian pulled over a chair and sat down.

    Today was thest day of rmendations for the ¡°Top Choices¡± category. Just as Zhang Zian expected, Pi easily made it through the first round of rmendations. If everything went as nned, Pi would get through the second and third round of rmendations.

    ¡°Ding, dong!¡±

    A QQ alert suddenly rang out from Zhang Zian¡¯s phone. He tapped the notification to take a look. It was a message from the editor whose profile picture was of a small bald monk.

    Editor: 120 reading lists, how did you do it?

    Zhang Zian moved the phone away from Pi¡¯s view and replied truthfully: Went to the reading list and did some advertising.

    Since the night he started advertising, 120 reading list owners added Pi¡¯s novel to their reading lists and rmended it to others. Even Zhang Zian, who had started this, was in shock, let alone the editor.

    Editor: So the owners added your novel to their reading list?

    Zhang Zian: Yes.

    Zian wanted to correct him, to say that the novel wasn¡¯t his since Pi was the author, but there was no way he could exin everything. Yet, it felt like he was stealing the fruits of Pi¡¯sbor.

    After a brief moment of silence, the editor replied: Keep it up!

    Zhang Zian: Okay.

    There were no more messages from the editor. Being an editor meant that he was in charge of a few hundred books, so they didn¡¯t have much time to chat, but Zhang Zian was still excited. From this moment on, Pi was no longer just a nobody.

    ¡°Zhi zhi.¡± Pi shook Zhang Zian¡¯s arm and pointed towards a book review, urging him to take a look.

    [Killed by a Sword]: We¡¯ve created a Book Group, the group ID is 513717593. The group already has a number of members. To the author,e and join us!

    ¡°A book group?¡± Zhang Zian mumbled.

    Quite a number of readers were asking if there was a Book Group, a space to allow readers who fancy the book to converse with one another. Zhang Zian always replied on Pi¡¯s behalf, telling them that there was no group. He also had no ns on creating a group as it was never clear if anyone would join. If they created a group and no one joined, that would be awkward.

    ¡°Zhi zhi?¡± Pi asked what a Book Group was.

    Zian briefly exined and asked, ¡°Pi, do you want to join a Book Group?¡±

    There was neither consent nor dissent, Pi just stared nkly at the post.

    Zhang Zian knew that Pi had always been lonely ever since it came to the pet store. He was unable to stay by Pi¡¯s side all the time, and the other elfins had things they liked to do. It wouldn¡¯t be right for him to ask them to sacrifice their time to keep Pipany. Everyone had their own likes and dislikes, they might not even have fun together. Zhang Zian had been trying his best to make time for Pi, but there¡¯s only so many hours in a day, it was never enough.

    ¡°Pi, why don¡¯t we join the group?¡± Zhang Zian, but Pi still refused to express an opinion, lowering its head.

    Zhang Zian could guess what Pi was worried about. Previously in the book review section, readers had left offensive remarks because Pi was doing well and they questioned if Pi had used any immoral means. There were readers who skimmed through the book, then made derogatory remarks, believing that they found mistakes and plot holes. Pi was worried about what it should do if such people existed in the group?

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to worry about Pi. You need to know that only a true fans would join the group. This person seems friendly and approachable, give it a try, if you don¡¯t like it you can quit. How about it? Just treat it like you¡¯re making new friends,¡± Zhang Zian said carefully.

    Pi dazed for a moment, turned to look at Zian. His mouth opened and closed, seeming to mouth the word ¡°friend.¡±

 Chapter 607: Upgrade

    <h4>Chapter 607: Upgrade</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was Pi¡¯s only friend. The other elves in the pet shop could talk but Pi couldn¡¯t, and Pi was the only elfin that could type, so Pi found it difficult tomunicate with others. Zhang Zian had always been worried about Pi. When he couldn¡¯t keep itpany, who could relieve its loneliness?

    In China, it was forbidden to have primates as pets, so Pi couldn¡¯t appear before humans. Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t exin to others that Pi wasn¡¯t an animal, it was an elfin, ruling out the possibility of Pi making friends in real life.

    Zhang Zian felt that the Inte was a good space to make friends. As the saying goes, on the Inte, nobody knows who you are.

    Pi carefully thought about his suggestion, nodded, and typed: I¡¯ll try it.

    So, Zhang Zian helped it join the group established by the readers. The application was approved almost instantly. The readers in the group were so exhrated seeing that Pi had joined the group.

    ¡°Are you the author?¡±

    ¡°Are you really the author?¡±

    ¡°Are you actually the author of Pet King?¡±

    Everyone asked questions one after another.

    Zhang Zian looked at Pi with encouragement. Having just learned the skill, Pi captured the screen of the tform for authors on the Qidian website and sent the image to the group. Then Pi typed: Hello, everyone. I¡¯m the author of Pet King. Thank you for your support!

    The readers were even more excited, expressing their love of the book and their curiosity about the author.

    Pi was bemused, not knowing what questions to answer first or how to answer them. Fortunately, the group¡¯s manager helped Pi in a timely manner.

    [Killed by A Sword]: Everyone, don¡¯t harass the author. You¡¯ll dy Popo¡¯s writing.

    Zhang Zian was surprised. They¡¯ve given Pi a nickname?!

    ¡°Eeek.¡±

    Pi smiled. It seemed to like the nickname.

    Pi found that the readers were very friendly. Whether they were discussing the plot of Pi¡¯s book or talking about their life experiences, they were very polite, which waspletely different from what Pi had imagined. Every once in a while, Pi would slip in one or two sentences to express its own opinions. Eachment from Pi was praised by the readers, who would subsequently ask Pi a series of questions or urge Pi to release more chapters, making Pi feel overwhelmed again.

    As Zhang Zian watched the interaction between Pi and the readers, he knew it was a great idea to ask Pi to join the Book Group.

    While chatting with the readers, Pi refreshed the website from time to time. Previously, the number of readers who had put Pet King in their libraries was 9,853. Now, the number was increasing.

    9,887.

    9,923.

    9,945.

    9,972.

    Finally, the number became 9,999.

    Zhang Zian held his breath, and Pi minimized the chat room window. Their eyes stared at the number, waiting for the moment when it became ten thousand.

    However, reality was different from their expectations. When Pi refreshed the website once again, the number decreased to 9,998.

    ¡°Eeek.¡±

    Pi lowered its head. Every time it saw the number decline, it¡¯d be so frustrated and thought that the readers gave up reading the book because of its poor writing.

    ¡°Pi, raise your head.¡±

    Zhang Zian patted its shoulder,forting it. ¡°Pi, you have to remember that your novel isn¡¯t the Renminbi and it will never be liked by everyone. You should know that only two out of ten customers actually decide to buy my pets. Money means nothing to me.¡±

    Pi raised its head and pointed at its chest. The gesture meant: You should be ashamed of what you just said.

    However, Zhang Zian¡¯s joke had helped Pi regain its confidence and courage. Pi quickly forgot the one reader who had just left and refreshed the webpage again.

    10,000

    ¡°Eeek!¡± Pi danced with joy.

    ¡°Finally, 10,000! High-five!¡± Zhang Zian raised his right palm.

    Pi lifted its small pink hand and gently hit Zhang Zian¡¯s palm. Zhang Zian wanted to celebrate, but his cell phone suddenly rang.

    He took out his cell phone, thinking that it was a message from an acquaintance or merchant. He was surprised to find that Pet Hunter had opened with new three tips.

    [Game Tips]: Congrattions! Your Molecule Monkey has collected enough Strength of Faith to upgrade!

    [Game Tips]: Your Molecule Monkey is currently an Elite level elfin. After upgrading, it will be an Elite/Premier elfin.

    [Game Tips]: Are you upgrading now? If you choose ¡°No,¡± you can upgrade itter.

    [Yes/No, remind meter]

    Zhang Zian was stunned. It was his first time encountering the upgrade of an elfin.

    His palm was still touching Pi¡¯s, so Zhang Zian could feel its temperature that was slightly higher than that of humans. He looked at Pi, who was staring at theputer screen with joy and refreshing the page with the other to see the number increase.

    Zhang Zian nced at theputer screen. The Add to Library number had be 10,031.

    Although he didn¡¯t pay attention to the time, he believed that the game¡¯s upgrade option popped up when the number had reached 10,000.

    Was that a coincidence?

    ¡°Pi, I¡¯m going to the bathroom. Stay here by yourself for a while. By the way, don¡¯t just chat with the readers, start writing,¡± he said, taking his hand back.

    Pi nodded and excitedlyunched the Word document. However, the novelty of joining the group hadn¡¯t yet passed, and Pi still asionally looked at the chatroom.

    Zhang Zian entered the bathroom, closed the door, and said in a low voice, ¡°Navigation Elfin, are you there?¡±

    [Navigation Elfin]: At your service.

    A shing light appeared on the screen of Zhang Zian¡¯s cell phone.

    ¡°Navigation Elfin, is this ¡®upgrade¡¯ the kind I imagined?¡± he asked, thinking that the Navigation Elfin would be able to understand what he meant without exnation.

    [Navigation Elfin]: Yes, the upgraded Molecule Monkey won¡¯t disappear, unless it¡¯s downgraded due to losing its Strength of Faith.

    ¡°Are there any side effects?¡± he asked with concern.

    [Navigation Elfin]: There are no side effects.

    There was no reason that the Navigation Elfin would lie, Zhang Zian believed it. ¡°Thank you, I have no other questions.¡±

    [Navigation Elfin]: Enjoy ying your game!

    The light disappeared.

    Zhang Zian took a deep breath, and clicked ¡°Yes.¡±

    [Game Tips]: Your Molecule Monkey is upgrading. Please wait!

 Chapter 608: Additional Effects

    <h4>Chapter 608: Additional Effects</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When Zhang Zian saw ¡°Please hold on,¡± he became nervous. Based on previous experience with updating firmware, there should¡¯ve been a message that said, ¡°Make sure that your device is sufficiently charged. Please do not shut down or forcefully reset your device during the upgrade.¡±

    By the time he nced at the battery icon, there was already a new notification from the game.

    [Game Tips]: Congrattions! Your molecr monkey has leveled up to Elite/Premier ranks!

    [Game Tips]: Continue working hard, gather more Strength of Faith!

    With a few years of gaming experience under his belt, Zhang Zian reckoned he knew how the Strength of Faith aspect worked. The higher the levels, the more points required, the conditions greatly increased with the levels as well.

    Out of all the elfins he¡¯s acquired, only Gxy¡¯s level is unknown. An imaginary elfin unable to be captured by yers, much less upgraded or downgraded.

    Fina¡¯s level is half-epic, half-legendary, just one step away from goddess status. Although only a step short, this one step was nearly impossible. There wasn¡¯t a lot of people who like cats, so the probability of it increasing was very low.

    Old Time Tea is a Premier level elfin, the benevolent and righteous spirit isn¡¯t what it used to be. Although leveling up doesn¡¯t seem feasible, a demotion won¡¯t be happening either.

    Richard and Snowy Li aren¡¯t that far off in their situation, their Strength of Faith was currently stable.

    At the moment, the elfins with potential to upgrade are, Famous and Pi.

    If Pi was able to increase his Strength of Faith through the number of adds on his novel, isn¡¯t it possible for Famous to do the same thing through the number of people who see its movie?

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know for sure, but he thought it possible. Everything would have to wait for the film screening.

    He came to the bathroom with the excuse of having to relieve himself, so he flushed the toilet, opened the door, and walked out.

    ¡°Pi, how are you feeling?¡±

    From the back, Pi seemed no different than before.

    ¡°Zhi zhi?¡±

    Pi temporarily stopped typing, turned around and looked bewilderedly at Zhang Zian.

    ¡°I was just asking.¡± Zhang Zianughed it off as he pulled brought a chair to sit next to Pi, silently observing.

    Pi continued typing. Looking at Pi from both sides, there didn¡¯t seem to be a change to Pi¡¯s physical appearance.

    So the upgrade only released Pi from the danger of disappearing at any moment?

    ¡°Zhi zhi.¡± Pi stretched, leapt off the chair and paced around the room.

    Zhang Zian paused for a second. ¡°Pi, you¡¯ve already written a chapter?¡±

    Pi nodded.

    ¡°So fast?¡±

    He knew how fast Pi typed, usually it took Pi four or five hours to finish a chapter. Although Pi had worked on this chapter the day before, it still took less than four hours. Was the chapter easier to write?

    Zhang Zian sat down in front of theputer and started to examine the word file, checking for any spelling or grammar mistakes. He realized that Pi seemed to have made fewer mistakes.

    Could this be the effects of the upgrade?

    If the upgrade allowed Pi to write chapters quicker, to rest more, then it was a good thing. Any other effects could only be discovered by future observation.

    ¡°Zhang Zian.¡± Old Time Tea¡¯s voice rang from the living room.

    Zhang Zian pped his head, he had nned on cleaning up the second floor before starting today¡¯s Chinese punching sses, but hepletely forgot about it.

    ¡°Just a moment, I¡¯ll be done soon.¡± he said, standing up.

    Old Time Tea slowly strolled into the living room, with confusion in its eyes.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to hurry. I didn¡¯te to rush you.¡± Old Time Tea paused for a moment before he said, ¡°But my body feels strange.¡±

    ¡°Old Time Tea, where do you feel unwell?¡± Zhang Zianpletely panicked, thinking that Old Time Tea was sick, and broke out in cold sweat.

    ¡°No need for panic.¡± Old Time Tea was calm as always. ¡°I don¡¯t feel unwell, in fact, it¡¯s the opposite, I feel great, it seems like my strength has increased a little. I don¡¯t know why, so I came up to discuss the matter with you.¡±

    What? Zhang Zian was baffled. Old Time Tea mysteriously got stronger?

    ¡°Old Time Tea, are you sure?¡±

    It isn¡¯t that he suspected Old Time Tea of lying, but everyone had times when they felt the best they¡¯ve ever been and times when they felt under the weather.

    ¡°Those who introspect their vital organs constantly and possess no evil thoughts, eventually reach longevity. That¡¯s what I practice daily, through a single nce I¡¯m able to observe my bodily conditions clearly. If something is amiss, I¡¯m able to realize it immediately. In order to prevent any misjudgement, I¡¯ve observed myself for two cycles, the situation remains. It definitely isn¡¯t my imagination.¡± Old Time Tea said with certainty.

    Zhang Zian got an overall understanding of the situation. Did Old Time Tea really get stronger for no apparent reason? We can get stronger without paying?

    Zhang Zian recalled that Old Time Tea was born through the spirit of benevolence and righteousness that existed in the Great Land of Ancient China. Could it be that there were other ways to gather Strength of Faith?

    He didn¡¯t believe that something good just dropped down from heaven, there must be a reason for the change in Old Time Tea.

    Wait a minute!

    Zhang Zian suddenly remembered that in Pi¡¯s new chapter, Pi had just written the part where Old Time Tea makes his appearance, could it be rted?

    ¡°Old Time Tea, just give me a moment!¡±

    Zian ran downstairs, patted the cat tree, and startled a sleeping Fina. ¡°Fina, do you feel abnormal at the moment?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Fina red at him. ¡°I have an urge to murder someone right now.¡±

    ¡°Meow! Your Highness, you finally understand!¡± Snowy Li burst out into tears of joy. ¡°How does murder then castration sound? Or castration then murder?¡±

    He might¡¯ve depended too much on thiszy cat to discern something when all it did was sleep all day. Even though a slight increase would be very hard to notice with the immense base of her Strength of Faith.

    Fina, whose sleep was disrupted for no reason, was really angry and looked as if she would pounce on him at any moment.

    Zhang Zian sensibly decided that a wise man knew when to retreat, and hurriedly fled the scene.

    Returning to the second floor, he started to consider the possibility that Pi¡¯s novel wasn¡¯t just able to increase its Strength of Faith, but it can also assist the other elfins in increasing their Strength of Faith as well?

    Now, that¡¯s f*cking awesome!

 Chapter 609: Internal Alchemy

    <h4>Chapter 609: Internal Alchemy</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Returning to the second floor, Zhang Zian said to Old Time Tea, ¡°I think this phenomena is urring because of Pi¡¯s novel.¡±

    Old Time Tea was shocked. ¡°How so?¡±

    Zhang Zian told Old Time Tea his theory. Since Pi had introduced Old Time Tea in its novel, many people had begun to know and like Old Time Tea, the Benevolent and Righteous Cat, and its poprity raised its Strength of Faith.

    ording to this assumption, the readers attracted by Pi¡¯s novel could bring Strength of Faith to Pi and the other elves. It was unclear how the Strength of Faith was distributed to each elfin, but this was a good thing.

    It was also possible that Richard and Snowy Li would be upgraded when Pi introduced them in the novel.

    After a moment¡¯s thought, Old Time Tea epted this theory. After all, it was the best exnation. It smiled, stopped worrying, and went back downstairs to watch TV.

    Zhang Zian took out his cell phone. Instead of asking the Navigation Elfin, he opened his browser and searched an excerpt from the Taoism doctrine that Old Time Tea had mentioned, ¡°Those who introspect their vital organs constantly and possess no evil thoughts, eventually reach longevity.¡±

    Of course, the so-called longevity may not necessarily refer to unlimited life span, but a prolonged life. However, it was also possible that the ¡®longevity¡¯ meant infinite lifetime since it was a philosophy from Taoism. Many Taoists had been pursuing to cultivate Inner Alchemy and immortality.

    Even the most sophisticated theory must be tested. After many years, no Taoist had sessfully gained Inner Alchemy.

    Why could ignorant animals gain Inner Alchemy, when intelligent humans couldn¡¯t? Taoism believed it was because people could be tempted by distractions like fame and fortune, so they couldn¡¯t fulfill the aspect of ¡°possessing no evil thoughts.¡±

    As an elfin, Old Time Tea introspected its vital organs daily. Could it attain the realm of ¡°possessing no evil thoughts?¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t guess the answer. He put his phone back into his pocket and continued managing his pet shop.

    It was nearly noon, usually Uncle Li would¡¯ve delivered lunch on an electric tricycle by now. However, Uncle Li hadn¡¯t yet arrived. As Fina was getting upset, Zhang Zian decided to visit Uncle Li¡¯s snack bar to see if he was dyed.

    He told Lu Yiyun where he was going and left the shop. So many puzzling events had happened today, so while he was walking, he lowered his head to think about them. He was so familiar with the route that he could walk to Uncle Li¡¯s snack bar with his eyes closed.

    There were two girls walking side by side in front of him. When they stopped abruptly, Zhang Zian almost bumped into them.

    ¡°Is this the ce?¡± asked the taller girl, pointing to the side.

    ¡°I think so,¡± the shorter girl said with uncertainty. She looked around and saw Zhang Zian. She asked him, ¡°Excuse me, do you live nearby? Is this a Snack Bar for Cats Fanciers?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t realize what the girl referred to until he noticed that she was holding a small colored card that he recognized. ¡°Yes, this is the ce.¡±

    ¡°Great! We found it!¡± said the shorter girl excitedly. ¡°This ce isn¡¯t on the map. It was so difficult for us to find it!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a pity that we¡¯vee a bitte. There are so many people waiting in line.¡± The taller girl looked at the front and sighed regretfully.

    Zhang Zian also looked ahead. Holy cow!

    Uncle Li¡¯s snack bar used to attract few customers. Currently, over a dozen people waited in line to be seated. Among these people, 80% were girls, and the 20% of boys were probably here to apany their girlfriends. Several people were holding small colored cards in their hands. Even the cold couldn¡¯t curb the enthusiasm of these cat fanciers.

    Some curious passersby asked what the long line was for, then they also joined.

    For some distinctive snack bars in Binhai City, it wasmon to see customers line up in front of the entrance. Nevertheless, this was the first time such a phenomenon urred to Uncle Li¡¯s snack bar.

    No wonder Uncle Li had no time to deliver lunch to Zhang Zian. Uncle Li was very busy.

    Zhang Zian sighed. I¡¯ve never seen such a long queue in front of my pet shop!

    Someone patted Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder from behind and said, ¡°Is the wallet on the ground yours?¡±

    Zhang Zian turned around, widened his eyes to search on the ground and instinctively replied, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s mine!¡±

    He saw three cigarette butts, two crumpled pieces of paper, and a dog dropping, but no wallet on the ground. ¡°Where¡¯s the wallet?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s right there!¡± The man behind Zhang Zian pointed to the corner.

    There was indeed a brown wallet lying in the corner. From the style and logo, it seemed to be a very high-end, designer wallet for women.

    Ha-ha! Zhang Zian really wanted tough. I¡¯ve heard stories of lucky people finding wallets. It¡¯s finally my turn!

    However, he didn¡¯t have time tough, he just rushed to the corner. He was afraid that if he ran slowly, the wallet would be taken by someone else.

    No onepeted with Zhang Zian for ownership of the wallet. He bent down to pick up the wallet when something bizarre happened, the wallet moved!

    What?

    The wallet moved swiftly one foot to the side. Zhang Zian failed to grab it. Damn it!

    Zhang Zian felt his heart being wounded terribly. Even if the sky fell, he¡¯d never be as shocked as he was now. How could the wallet move?

    The first possibility that came to Zhang Zian¡¯s mind was that the wallet was an elfin.

    No, the wallet wasn¡¯t a pet, so how could it be an elfin? How could it even move without legs?

    Just in case, he took out his cell phone, opened the Pet Hunter game, and entered the capture interface. Aiming at the wallet on the ground, he pressed the ¡°Capture¡± button, looking forward to a prompt popping up to tell him that he had captured the wallet.

    Unfortunately, he was immediately disappointed.

    [Game Tips]: No capturable elves or pets have been found. Please try again by pointing the camera at the target.

    Since the game didn¡¯t work, Zhang Zian put his cell phone back in his pocket and opened his arms to pounce on the wallet. He thought that he¡¯d seed this time. However, the wallet moved again! The wallet moved one more foot in the same direction.

    I don¡¯t believe this!

    Zhang Zian demonstrated resilience by constantly chasing the wallet. The wallet dodged him every time.

    Before he knew it, Zhang Zian had been led to a shop nearby.

    The wallet seemed to slow down, and the distance it moved was getting shorter each time.

    Zhang Zian was overjoyed. You can¡¯t escape now!

    He swiftly picked up the wallet. Huh? Why is this wallet tied to a clear stic rope?

    Zhang Zian stared at the rope and had a bad feeling.

    A figure emerged, holding a cell phone, the camera aimed at Zhang Zian¡¯s face.

    ¡°You should see your face!¡± Snowy pointed to his face andughed.

 Chapter 610: The Prank Plan

    <h4>Chapter 610: The Prank n</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was almost noon when a group of Inte friends tuned into Snowy¡¯s live broadcast. They had learned that Snowy sought out a snack bar for a live broadcast. Based on previous experiences, they had to fill their stomachs first to prevent suffering as they watched Snowy eat. However, the group of friendspletely miscalcted today.

    Earlier this morning, Snowy received a private message on her Weibo. It was from an enthusiastic Inte friend, talking about a snack bar on Zhonghua Road with unique advertising, and requested for Snowy to visit the location.

    Information from Inte friends was one of Snowy¡¯s important sources in finding her next streaming location, so this piece of information had gotten her full attention. She had already paid visit to a number of food establishments, either their food was delicious or they had some unique specialty. However, a shop with special advertising piqued her interest.

    Snowy¡¯s parents weren¡¯t home today, they both left to visit an important client for New Years. Before they left, they warned her not to run around, but if she didn¡¯t take chances, then she wouldn¡¯t be Snowy.

    Coincidentally, Vivi came for a visit, without her mother. Snowy and Vivi decided to check the new ce out.

    Ever since she made her first appearance in the broadcast, Vivi¡¯s poprity had been high, a number of viewers weed her second appearance.

    Snowy and Vivi headed down to the location, and realized the snack bar was in the same area of Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

    What made them more surprised was Zhang Zian wandering around the front of the snack bar, lost in thought.

    Thus, the prank-loving viewers decided to convince the two into ying a prank on Zhang Zian using his Achilles heel. Zhang Zian¡¯s Achilles heel was so obvious, was there anyone who didn¡¯t know the answer?

    What prank should they pull? All the viewers contributed ideas. Someone suggested tying a clear string to a wallet before cing it on the floor, and have them hide while holding onto the end of the string. When Zhang Zian tried to pick the wallet up, they should pull the string and film his expression the entire time.

    Snowy¡¯s seen simr pranks, and she was a little worried that Zhang Zian would get mad. After all, filming someone getting pranked was rude. Seeing her hesitate, the viewers assured her that there was nothing to worry about. Even if the stingy store manager got ges mad, all she had to do was give him $100 and he¡¯ll be happy again.

    Snowy wasn¡¯t able to resist the temptation, so she decided to pull the prank with Vivi. She was going to hide and hold onto the string while Vivi went over to Zhang Zian to tell him about the wallet on the floor.

    Snowy had thought that no one would be dumb enough to actually fall for such a prank, but not only did Zhang Zian fall for it, he persistently chased after the wallet.

    The viewers had a greatugh. Those that were eating, spat their food out, and those who were drinking, choked on their water.

    Zhang Zian saw Snowy, turned around and saw Vivi. He realized that he had been pranked, but he knew that the whole thing definitely wasn¡¯t Snowy¡¯s idea.

    [The Hottie Manager] entered the live broadcast.

    [The Hottie Manager]: Which idiot thought of this idea? Get the f*ck out here!

    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen someone so stupid! Shouldn¡¯t you have realized something was off the moment the wallet moved?¡±

    ¡°There must be a hole in your brain! Just how obsessed with money are you?¡±

    Everyone was having so much fun teasing Zhang Zian like they were in a festive carnival. Zhang Zian wouldn¡¯t win this battle. Fina and the others were still waiting for their meals, so he shot back a few words before leaving the channel.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, I¡¯m so sorry! Everyone kept asking me to do it,¡± Snowy sheepishly apologized.

    Vivi walked over and said, ¡°Yes, I¡¯m a witness for Snowy. She didn¡¯t even want to do it at first.¡±

    Zhang Zian waved his hands. ¡°Why are the two of you here?¡±

    Snowy exined why they were here before asking, ¡°Are you interested in this snack bar too?¡±

    Before Zhang Zian could reply, Uncle Li came out of the snack bar, holding a styrofoam cooler. Covered in sweat, he apologized to the customers in the line. He and his wife hadn¡¯t expected the shop to be flooded with so many customers, they were so busy they couldn¡¯t get their orders right. It wasn¡¯t until now that they had remembered to send lunch over to the Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

    ¡°Uncle Li, let me take those, you¡¯re very busy today.¡± Zhang Zian quickly stopped Uncle Li and took the styrofoam cooler.

    ¡°Manager Zhang, thank you so much! If it wasn¡¯t for you, I really don¡¯t know¡­¡±Uncle Li he was at a loss for words, he had a lot of things he wanted to say, but they got stuck in his throat.

    Snowy blinked, curiously asking from the side, ¡°Excuse me, are you the shop owner of this snack bar?¡±

    Uncle Li paused for a moment, he thought Snowy familiar, recalled seeing her some time ago when he sent food over to the pet store, but it seemed like Snowy didn¡¯t remember him. He nodded and replied, ¡°Yes, I am.¡±

    ¡°Do you know the pet store manager?¡± She pointed at Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Of course!¡± Uncle Li nodded heavily, ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for Master Zhang, this small shop of mine would never be as prosperous as it is today!¡±

    His reply puzzled Snowy. ¡°Why is that so? Is he some sort of masterchef, did he teach you some secret dishes?¡±

    ¡°What kind of secret masterchef can I be? Do you think this is some Cooking Manga?¡± Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t stop himself from poking fun at her.

    Snowy smiled and said, ¡°Mr. Store Manager, before you make fun of me, could you give me my wallet?¡±

    It wasn¡¯t until now that he realized he had been tightly holding onto the wallet, with Snowy holding onto the clear string attached to it.

    ¡°Actually, I didn¡¯t intend on keeping the wallet, I was just afraid that someone might take it, so I was nning to wait for the owner¡¯s return.¡± He handed the wallet back to Snowy, then said, ¡°The wallet looks like it¡¯s designer. It must¡¯ve been expensive.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a knockoff, so it was cheap.¡± Snowy as she stuffed the wallet into her pocket.

    ¡°No wonder you could bear throwing it on the floor,¡± Zhang Zian said, now at ease.

 Chapter 611: Waiting in Line

    <h4>Chapter 611: Waiting in Line</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t greedy for the wallet. He just picked it up out of curiosity, intending to wait patiently for the owner.

    Snowy¡¯s wallet was a rare peacock-blue color. The small H-shaped buckle on the front of the wallet not only indicated that the wallet was luxurious, but also added a pop of color.

    Zhang Zian was relieved when Snowy said that her wallet was a knockoff. If the wallet was genuine, it would¡¯ve cost more than all the money Zhang Zian had stuffed into his own wallet in his whole life! He¡¯d be devastated if such an expensive item was dragged on the ground.

    Were knockoffs these days good enough to be mixed up with the genuine ones? Zhang Zian admired the wallet¡¯s smooth and delicate texture very much. He decided to ask Snowy where she bought such an incredible knockoff wallet. If the price was less 1,000 Yuan, he¡¯d buy a men¡¯s wallet to show off.

    Vivi was perplexed. Snowy¡¯s mother bought her that wallet from the brand store when she was traveling in Europe. Snowy¡¯s mother also gave Vivi a wallet of the same design. Was it true that the brand store sold knockoffs?

    Vivi saw that before Snowy left her house, she chose the wallet randomly from her collection of wallets and handbags in her locker room. Since Snowy didn¡¯t like carrying heavy handbags, she selected the wallet that was big enough to hold her cell phone.

    Due to the rtively low camera resolution on Snowy¡¯s cell, the audience watching the broadcast couldn¡¯t see the style of the wallet clearly, so it was difficult for them to tell whether the wallet was genuine or not.

    Snowy dusted off the dirt on her wallet and put it into her pocket. She changed the subject and said, ¡°Mr. Store Manager, what¡¯s going on here? Can you tell us about it?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll see when you enter the store,¡± Zhang Zian said. Any restaurant Snowy visited witnessed a rapid increase in customers for a short time, except for a few shops like the Teahouse in Hidden Fog that were too highbrow to be popr. Hence why Zhang Zian wanted Snowy to see for herself.

    Snowy looked at the line and frowned. The line wasn¡¯t long, but it was moving slowly. One or two customers would leave the snack bar at a time, and only after staying a long time.

    Snowy was hesitant. How long would it take to enter the store? Should Ie back another time?

    Vivi, who had nothing better to do, didn¡¯t mind waiting in line. She extended her neck and looked ahead.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think you should go in there,¡± Zhang Zian advised Vivi.

    ¡°What? Why?¡± Vivi was surprised.

    He exined, ¡°This is a snack bar that has cats. You¡¯re allergic to cats, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Vivi asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t there a Siberian cat in the snack bar?¡±

    ¡°No, Siberian cats are a very niche breed. Do you think you can meet Siberian cats in any shop?¡± Zhang Zian said, pointing to a sign hanging on the entrance door that said, ¡°There are cats in the snack bar, and those who are allergic to cats should take sole responsibility for entering.¡±

    ¡°What should I do? Did Ie all this way for nothing?¡± Vivi asked dejectedly.

    Zhang Zian looked around and saw Wang Qian and Li Kun stumbling to his pet shop. They looked tired, like they stayed uptest night.

    ¡°Wang Qian, Li Kun,e here!¡± Zhang Zian called.

    The boys were surprised to see Zhang Zian in front of the snack bar and quickly ran over to him.

    Zhang Zian told them to get in line for Snowy, so that she could do other things first. Snowy¡¯s visit would attract more customers to Uncle Li¡¯s snack bar, so Zhang Zian came up with the idea to secure Snowy a seat inside.

    Snowy was grateful, but embarrassed. She wasn¡¯t impatient, she just worried that the audience watching her had no interest in waiting in line for too long.

    Vivi said with frustration, ¡°What about me? Should I go home?¡±

    Snowy didn¡¯t want Vivi to go home by herself. What if she was kidnapped on her way home?

    ¡°Since we have nothing better to do, we can visit Zhang Zian¡¯s pet shop. Vivi, put on your mask,¡± Snowy suggested.

    Vivi hesitated, but then put on an anti-smog mask.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, can we go to your shop?¡± Snowy asked Zhang Zian.

    Uncle Li had already returned to the kitchen to prepare meals for his customers. Zhang Zian also had to return to his pet shop with lunch for the elves, so he nodded.

    While Wang Qian and Li Kun waited in line, Zhang Zian, Snowy and Vivi returned to the pet shop.

    A white Maserati Ghibli was parked in front of the shop. Such luxury cars weren¡¯tmon in Binhai City. Walking around the car in astonishment, Zhang Zian thought, Is there a wealthy person visiting my shop?

    Snowy and Vivi nced at this luxury car and walked into the shop. They weren¡¯t as stunned as Zhang Zian.

    As soon as he entered, Zhang Zian saw a middle-aged rich woman standing in front of the checkout counter and talking to Lu Yiyun in a very rude manner. The middle-aged woman wore a fur coat with a fur-trimmed cor, a ck leather dress, and golden jewels on her fingers, neck, and ears. She was about forty years old, but thanks to proper skin care, her face had few wrinkles.

    She was holding an eight-year-old boy, who was rather curious about the animals in the shop and wanted to break free of the woman¡¯s hands to y with them. A typical naughty boy.

    To be honest, boys at his age gave Zhang Zian the biggest headache. Yi Le had caused a lot of trouble.

    Someone once said that boys of eight years were the most terrible creature on earth because they had the curiosity and ability to destroy everything. However, they were protected by the Law of the People¡¯s Republic of China on Protection of Minors.

 Chapter 612: Teacup Puppy

    <h4>Chapter 612: Teacup Puppy</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The middle-aged woman looked like she had led a pampered life. She wagged her fingers, ceaselessly nagging at Lu Yiyun.

    Lu Yiyun was at a loss for words standing behind the counter with her head hung low.

    Zhang Zian was slow to enter the store as his attention was caught by the luxurious car parked outside. Snowy and Vivi had entered the store and witnessed the scene before him, Snowy couldn¡¯t remain silent and said: ¡°Are you here to buy something or are you here to pick a fight? Why can¡¯t you speak nicely?¡±

    Snowy¡¯s voice was crisp as she spoke with great confidence, instantly drowning the woman¡¯s voice.

    The woman was displeased as she turned her head, sized up Snowy and said, ¡°What has this got to do with you? Are you the owner of this shop?¡±

    Snowy wore a simple jacket with a pair of jeans, but Vivi wore a high-end wool coat with a shawl, which made the woman think twice.

    The woman knew that the two young girls couldn¡¯t be the store owners, so she thought that her question was enough for them to back off. Unexpectedly, Snowy immediately replied, ¡°Why couldn¡¯t we manage the shop?¡±

    ¡°You think the two of you have the right to meddle in my affairs?¡± Thedy rolled her eyes and the little boy she held alsoughed.

    Zhang Zian came into the store, saw the situation and asked: ¡°I¡¯m the store manager, what¡¯s going on? Is there anything you need?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the store owner?¡± She left Lu Yiyun and the others alone to turn her focus on Zhang Zian and sized him up.

    Zhang Zian was even more ordinarily dressed, wearing a pair of jeans, a turtleneck sweater, a fleece jacket, and dirty sports shoes. Everyday he had to maintain the cleanliness of the store and deal with the chance of stepping on dog sh*t, so what was the use of wearing nice shoes?

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Zhang Zian gave a look that said he wouldn¡¯t be messed with.

    Not all customers that came into the store were friendly. asionally there were those that would deliberately make things difficult, relying on the fact that they had money. They thought that they should be treated like royalty.

    With Zhang Zian standing up front, Snowy pulled Vivi over to the side and stood there watching silently.

    The viewers of the broadcast assessed the woman who was covered in jewels.

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that yours shop is able to find pets that other stores can¡¯t, so I came over to take a look, but this is all you have?¡± The woman started giving orders, ¡°Do you have other pets? If you do, bring them out!¡±

    Zhang Zian knew how to deal with difficult customers, so he calmly said, ¡°I do indeed have other pets, but they usually aren¡¯t on disy. What kind of pet were you looking for?¡±

    The rich woman snorted as she opened her designer purse and slowly took out a tiny puppy. ¡°Good boy! Come out and y.¡±

    Her bag wasn¡¯t big, no one would¡¯ve thought that a dog was hiding in there. Both the people in the shop and the viewers of the broadcast held their breaths as they stared at the dog in the rich woman¡¯s hand.

    Vivi eximed, ¡°What breed of dog is that? Why is it so small?¡±

    Zhang Zian recognized that the dog was a Teacup Poodle. It isn¡¯t really a puppy, it¡¯s actually an adult, but it was smaller than a regr poodle. Young girls like Snowy could easily hold them with both hands, while adult males like Zhang Zian could hold them with one hand.

    It opened its big, ck eyes, and with its long dishevelled hair making it look like it just woke up, it was as cute as a doll.

    The rich woman held the dog in her arms like a baby. ¡°Do you see this? My friend brought it over from America, she let me have it for a few days. This little guy is just too cute. After ying with it for a few days, I couldn¡¯t stand the thought of returning it, so I had nned on buying a simr dog for my friend. Do you have any teacup puppies here? It doesn¡¯t have to be of the same breed, it just has to be small. The smaller the better!! Money isn¡¯t an issue!¡±

    She didn¡¯t genuinely like the teacup poodle, she just liked the fact that whenever she took it out, it always marveled the people around her. She knew that her gold chains and her luxurious car no longer made anyone envious. People were even starting to say things behind her back, so she was eager to find something else to make her popr again.

    Snowy and Vivi liked cats, but the dog was too cute to ignore. It was very obedient, it didn¡¯t bark or cause a scene, it just quietlyid in the arms of its owner. The girls couldn¡¯t take their eyes off it.

    ¡°Mama, I want to y with it!¡± The little boy screeched as he pulled on his mom¡¯s arm.

    ¡°Here.¡± The rich woman handed the dog over to her son, then she turned and asked Zhang Zian, ¡°So, do you have it here? If you don¡¯t, then say so. I don¡¯t want to waste my time here.¡±

    Snowy was aware of Zhang Zian¡¯s connections with the American pet industry, he was able to get a rare Abyssinian cat and an expensive Ashera Cat, so she had great confidence in him. She was also pretty fond of the dog, so if Zhang Zian was able to get his hands on them, she wanted to get one too.

    Unexpectedly, Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°Sorry, we don¡¯t have it here. You might want to go somewhere else.¡±

    The rich woman let out a coldugh of contempt. Just as she was about to say something, the dog let out a wail of excruciating pain. It escaped from the little boy¡¯s hands and was about to fall head-first onto the floor when the little boy stretched out his hand and grabbed it by its hind leg.

    However, the wailing didn¡¯t stop and the dog struggled even more. It seemed like it was in a lot of pain. Its hind leg was bent at a weird angle, like it was fractured or dislocated.

    Both Snowy and Vivi screamed and covered their eyes. They couldn¡¯t bear watching the dog suffer in pain.

    ¡°You little b*stard! Why couldn¡¯t you be more careful?¡± The woman angrily raised her hand to p her son.

    However, she didn¡¯t swing her arm down because Zhang Zian had grabbed her wrist.

    ¡°If you¡¯d like to discipline your child, please do so outside,¡± he said as he pointed to the door.

 Chapter 613: Deformity

    <h4>Chapter 613: Deformity</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Many people in the pet shop, including Zhang Zian, witnessed the incident.

    Moments ago, the little boy held the Teacup Puppy in his hands. Unlike normal pet owners who put the Teacup Puppies in cups to take pictures of them, the little boy treated the dog like a toy and pulled its legs and twisted its ears.

    The dog turned around to bite the little boy, who swiftly withdrew his hands. The dog lost its bnce and fell from his hands. Fearing that the dog would get hurt, the little boy grabbed one of its back legs in the air, causing it to be dislocated.

    The dog cried in pain and snarled violently, but because it was upside down, it couldn¡¯t bite anyone. The little boy didn¡¯t want put the injured dog down because he knew it might bite people.

    Annoyed and embarrassed, the rich woman went to p the boy.

    Zhang Zian reacted quickly. He grabbed the woman¡¯s wrist to keep her from pping the boy, then he pulled out a box from the shelves behind him for the dog to sit in.

    ¡°This is none of your business! I¡¯m punishing my own son!¡± The woman¡¯s face became grim.

    ¡°It¡¯s not my business what you do at home, but you¡¯re in my shop,¡± Zhang Zian responded while examining the dog. ¡°So, you need to obey my rules.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t care about other people¡¯s parenting styles, but he¡¯d never allow anyone to beat their children in his pet shop.

    The little boy was scared, but he had a naughty smile on his face. Obviously, it wasn¡¯t his first time getting beat.

    After being put in the box, the dog was no longer freaking out. It huddled in the corner, its dislocated leg twitching from time to time.

    ¡°How¡¯s the puppy, Mr. Store Manager?¡± asked a concerned Snowy.

    The rich woman extended her hand to Zhang Zian. ¡°Give me my dog back!¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°You can have it back when you leave the shop. If it bites you outside my shop, it¡¯s none of my business.¡±

    The woman suddenly became less arrogant.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± she asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s very simple. The smaller a dog is, the stronger its defense mechanism is, and the more it likes to bite. Once injured, a small dog is more easily provoked,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    Just like the Tibetan Mastiffs, Teacup Puppies didn¡¯t refer to a certain dog breed, but it was the collective name of several breeds of tiny dogs that could fit inside teacups. Teacup Puppies included Teacup Poodles, Teacup Chihuahuas, Teacup Pomeranians, Teacup Yorkies, etc.

    In recent years, perhaps due to the influence of socialite Paris Hilton, many celebrities took pride in raising Teacup Puppies. However, Teacup Puppies were the results of deformity, like dwarfs. Their hearts and lungs were too small to support the normal cirction of their bodies. They survived only by elerating the frequencies of their heartbeats and breaths. Their overly petite size also caused their bones to be extremely fragile, so contact with humans that were normal for average dogs might cause injury to Teacup Puppies.

    Breeding was extremely difficult for Teacup Puppies because their reproductive systems were very small. They could only reproduce one or two puppies in one litter. Everything about them made them very rare and expensive. The prices of Teacup Puppies ranged from 10,000 Yuan to 100,000 Yuan.

    Just like the Scottish Fold cats, the Teacup Puppies were deformed pets. So, Zhang Zian had no intention to introduce Teacup Puppies to his pet shop.

    The woman hesitated. Though she wanted her dog back, she worried that it¡¯d bite her, leaving scars on her delicate hands.

    ¡°How about this? I¡¯ll sell this box to you. You should bring it to a veterinarian and set its dislocated bone as soon as possible.¡± Zhang Zian handed her the box.

    The woman didn¡¯t care about buying a box. She just felt like she was very unlucky. She came here to buy a Teacup Puppy, but all she got was a box. There wasn¡¯t anything she could do, so she pulled out her credit card, ready to pay.

    Suddenly, her cell phone rang from her bag.

    ¡°Hello?¡± she answered the phone, ¡°who¡¯s this?¡±

    A man¡¯s voice could be vaguely heard over the phone.

    The man said that hisst name was Zhang. Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t hear his first name clearly. It was inappropriate to eavesdrop on others, so he carried the cooler over to the inner area of his shop. Zhang Zian thought he had heard of the man¡¯s name before, he just couldn¡¯t remember what it was.

    ¡°Where?¡± The woman¡¯s voice was so loud that Zhang Zian could hear her through the ss door.

    Fina red at him. ¡°Finally, you¡¯re back. I thought I was going to starve to death!¡±

    ¡°Meow! Your Majesty, do you know why the people that served emperors were castrated?¡± Snowy Li stared at Zhang Zian¡¯s crotch and licked its ws menacingly. ¡°Because they were more diligent in running errands because they weren¡¯t distracted by women.¡±

    While taking the food out of the cooler, Zhang Zian exined, ¡°Your Imperial Kitchen was overcrowded, so lunch was prepared a bitte.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? I don¡¯t care! No one messes with my dining schedule!¡± Fina said resolutely.

    ¡°All right, I¡¯ll give your feedback to the chefs. It¡¯s your fault that the Imperial Kitchen is crowded. Your chefs might have to close the business,¡± Zhang Zian ttered Fina.

    ¡°Tut! Tell me about it, I can solve any problem!¡± Fina said arrogantly.

    Snowy Li wanted to talk more, but Zhang Zian shut it up by throwing a piece of raw beef brisket into its food bowl.

    Zhang Zian distributed the barbecue, fried steaks and dried fruits and vegetables to Old Time Tea, Famous and Richard. Putting everything else aside, the hungry elves concentrated on feeding themselves.

    ¡°What did you say? Love Lovely Pet Breeding Base? Where is it?¡±

    In the outer area of the pet shop, the rich woman repeated words like she didn¡¯t hear the man clearly.

 Chapter 614: Love Lovely Pets

    <h4>Chapter 614: Love Lovely Pets</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian stopped his hands that were giving out food to the elfins.

    When Zhang Zian returned to Binhai City to take over the pet store, he wasn¡¯t sure of where to get kittens and puppies from, so he went to the north side of the city to Love Lovely Pet Breeding Base and did some inspections. He met Zhang Wanguo, who was very passionate and exined that the pets¡¯ price was negotiable, but he refused to let Zhang Zian inspect the breeding grounds personally. Zhang Zian¡¯s parents told him that if they refuse to let you see the breeding grounds, something fishy was going on. He left Love Lovely Pets immediately and went south to Pets¡¯ Home, and it was there that he met Sun Xiaomeng.

    He never crossed paths with Love Lovely Pets or Zhang Wanguo again. When he heard the rich woman mention the pet shop on her phone call, he couldn¡¯t help but pause for a moment as he recalled his time there.

    Zhang Zian went back to the outer room with the empty styrofoam cooler, pretending to tidy up while listening in on the woman¡¯s conversation.

    Lu Yiyun was back at her seat, waiting for the woman to pay. Snowy and Vivi were beside her, admiring her artwork.

    ¡°Lu Yiyun, what do you think about starting a live broadcast to stream yourself drawing?¡± Snowy suggested.

    ¡°No, I can¡¯t do it!¡± Lu Yiyun¡¯s face flushed red as she rejected the idea. ¡°I can¡¯t speak when I get nervous.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I was nervous when I started out. You just need to get used to it!¡± Snowy tried to persuade her.

    Lu Yiyun still didn¡¯t like the idea, ¡°Snowy, your broadcasts are interesting. No one would watch me draw, it¡¯s boring.¡±

    Vivi chimed in, ¡°That¡¯s not true. I¡¯m very interested in the drawing process!¡±

    The viewers of Snowy¡¯s broadcast also joined in to encourage her.

    The woman found them to be too noisy, but instead of heading outside to continue her call, she decided to talk louder out of spite, making it easier for Zhang Zian to listen in on the conversation.

    ¡°Love Lovely Pets? Why haven¡¯t I heard of it before? Where are you guys located?¡± she asked loudly. Zhang Wanguo gave her the address and she replied, ¡°So you¡¯re saying that I can purchase a Teacup Puppy from you?¡±

    Zhang Wanguo reassured her.

    ¡°Are you sure? Your location seems far away, I wouldn¡¯t want to waste the trip.¡± The woman asked, still not believing him.

    Zhang Wanguo told thedy to add him on Wechat, so he could send her a photo of the Teacup Puppy.

    After looking at the picture, the woman believed him, but she remained suspicious. ¡°How did you know that I wanted a Teacup Puppy? Who told you? Where did you get my number?¡±

    Zhang Wanguo exined that because she left her number with a few other pet store owners he was friends with, he immediately gave her a call.

    The woman was convinced and decided to make the trip. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll make the trip. I haven¡¯t had lunch yet and my dog has dislocated his back leg. I have to go to a vet to get it treated, but once I¡¯m done with that, I¡¯ll be on my way.¡± She threw a quick nce at the wailing dog in the box.

    Zhang Wanguo was afraid of losing a big client if it took too long, so filled with anxiety, he said something that made her pause.

    ¡°What?¡± Thedy¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°You can heal dislocated bones? You¡¯ll treat my dog for free? Okay, I¡¯ll head over after I eat.¡±

    While he was dusting the shelf, Zhang Zian discreetly listened to the conversation. He was very doubtful of Zhang Wanguo, as breeding Teacup Puppies was very difficult, which was why they were so expensive. There are specialists overseas who are put in charge of breeding Teacup Puppies, it requires a degree of technical and theoretical knowledge. He¡¯s never heard of arge scale pet breeding base having that service.

    As for treating dislocated bones, Zhang Zian can do that. Sometimes when the animals y, they might asionally dislocate something. However, he¡¯d never treat someone else¡¯s pets as he didn¡¯t have the license to do so, and could get him into trouble. Even without taking that into consideration, a Teacup Puppy¡¯s bones were fragile, if it wasn¡¯t done by a professional, it could worsen the injury.

    Zhang Zian could only sigh at how audacious Zhang Wanguo was being. Wasn¡¯t he afraid of the consequences if something went wrong? Maybe Zhang Wanguo didn¡¯t care about thew as long as he made money.

    The woman hung up the phone and said, ¡°Settle my bill, I have something I need to do.¡±

    Lu Yiyun silently assisted thedy in paying her bill. She didn¡¯t take the receipt Lu Yiyun offered. She just called out to her son, ¡°Come with me! We¡¯ll eat, then we¡¯ll head down to another shop with lots of pets!¡±

    The little boy sat on the floor, observing the cat goddess statue. After hearing his mother, he unwillingly followed her out of the pet store, into the Maserati.

    The woman started the Maserati and, in the blink of an eye, disappeared down the street.

    It was noon, so there were no customers in the store. Snowy and Vivi were still admiring Lu Yiyun¡¯s artwork, asionally bringing up the Teacup Puppy. After learning that the Teacup Puppy was a deformed dog, they all felt sorry for the poor thing. They had already dismissed the idea of having a Teacup Puppy when they found out that it was very fragile and usually died prematurely. They¡¯ve heard of stories where people who owned a Teacup Puppy, ended up sitting on them.

    It was at this moment that Wang Qian breathlessly ran into the store. ¡°Master, it¡¯s almost our turn!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go! You guys are hungry, right?¡± Zhang Zian said to Snowy. He moved everything about Love Lovely Pets and Zhang Wanguo to the back of his mind.

    Snowy and Vivi were really hungry, and the viewers of the broadcast couldn¡¯t wait any longer.

    Zhang Zian brought them to Li¡¯s Supreme Snack Bar for Cat Fanciers, where Li Kun was at the front of the line.

    It¡¯s only been awhile since they left, but the line was longer than it was before, filled with teenage girls and boys. They were all braving the cold in high spirits to get into the snack bar. When they saw Zhang Zian andpany, who seemed like they were going to cut the line, they started shouting.

    Snowy and Vivi took Wang Qian and Li Kun¡¯s spot. Zhang Zian told Li Kun to return to the shop and look after things, and told those in line that he wasn¡¯t going in to eat and that he won¡¯t be taking their seats.

    Just as Li Kun was about to head back to the shop, someone spoke out in surprise, ¡°Aren¡¯t you the person who got my bag back for me?¡±

    Li Kun turned around and saw that it was the girl from that night, the one who had her bag snatched by bikers. She was standing at the end of the line with her boyfriend.

 Chapter 615: Holding Things in Both Hands

    <h4>Chapter 615: Holding Things in Both Hands</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The moment Li Kun saw the girl, his first reaction was to turn around and run because he stuck a small sticker, that was hard to peel off, on the girl¡¯s designer bag.

    ¡°Wait a minute!¡± The girl stopped Li Kun and introduced him to her boyfriend. ¡°If it weren¡¯t for him and another guy that night, I wouldn¡¯t have gotten my bag back. He¡¯s also a student at Binhai University.¡±

    It was the first time Zhang Zian heard about this incident, since neither Wang Qian, Li Kun nor Old Time Tea had mentioned it to him.

    The girl¡¯s boyfriend thanked Li Kun for his help. Once the two young men started talking about video games, they got acquainted in no time.

    The girl, apparently disgusted by her boyfriend¡¯s love of video games, interrupted, ¡°Is your cell phone turned off? The Student Union has tried to reach you and your friend several times.¡±

    Li Kun took his cell phone out and said embarrassingly, ¡°My battery diedst night and I forgot to charge it. Why does the Student Union want to talk to us?¡±

    Li Kun and Wang Qian were locals of Binhai City, so they didn¡¯t live in the dorms during break.

    ¡°They must have good news to tell you! I heard that the robbers were part of a gang that havemitted crimes everywhere, which helped the police arrest every member. I guess the school wants tomend your bravery, maybe even grant you with schrships!¡± she exined.

    ¡°Really?¡± Li Kun¡¯s eyes widened. He and Wang Qian had never gotten schrships before. If they did, they¡¯d spend the money on buying new video games.

    ¡°I think so. You should go to the school right now!¡± The girl urged Li Kun.

    Li Kun looked to Zhang Zian for advice. Zhang Zian waved his hand and told Li Kun to find Wang Qian and return to campus. Li Kun nodded and ran to the pet shop to tell Wang Qian of the news.

    When two customers left the snack bar, Snowy and Vivi finally entered. However, Vivi couldn¡¯t take off her mask. Zhang Zian stayed outside to ask the girl about the incident.

    ¡°Hello, girls. What would you like to order?¡± Aunt Li passed the menu to Snowy and Vivi with a smile while wiping the sweat off her forehead. Today was the busiest day since the store opened, so she kept walking back and forth between the dining area and the kitchen. Between helping Uncle Li cook, take orders, and wash dishes, Aunt Li barely had a chance to sit down. Even though her legs were aching, she was happy. Business in her snack bar had never been prosperous before, it was worth being tired.

    Vivi saw that every table was taken, and that the customers were ying with the cats while they ate. She would feel embarrassed if she didn¡¯t order food at a restaurant, so knowing that Zhang Zian and Lu Yiyun hadn¡¯t eaten, Vivi ordered two meals for them and an orange juice for her, to go.

    Unlike Vivi, Snowy didn¡¯t have so many concerns. She was hungry and because she exercised a lot, she wouldn¡¯t gain weight no matter how much she ate. She wanted to order a Supreme Combo for Two Cat Fanciers because she knew she could finish thebo all by herself. However, Aunt Li kindly reminded Snowy, ¡°All the cats are full. If you want to y with the cats, you¡¯d better order something else.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Snowy tilted her head and saw that the cats¡¯ bellies were round, and they ignored the food in the customer¡¯s¡¯ hands. ¡°What¡¯s your signature dish?¡± Snowy hadn¡¯t forgotten the reason she was here.

    Aunt Li pointed to the menu and suggested, ¡°All of our customers say that our fried beef brisket is delicious.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll order that, with a bowl of rice,¡± Snowy said decisively. ¡°Also, many people say that your ads are very distinctive. What kind of advertisement is it?¡±

    Aunt Li took a small, colorful card from her apron pocket and put it on the table. When Snowy and Vivi saw the words on the small card, they couldn¡¯t help, butugh.

    On the front of the card, there were images of cats in different poses with captions like ¡°A Satisfying Threesome with the ck and the White Cat,¡± ¡°Innocent British Shorthair Girl,¡± ¡°Mature American Shorthair,¡± and ¡°Exotic Siamese.¡± Undoubtedly, the words described the several cats in this snack bar.

    The audience watching Snowy¡¯s broadcastughed so hard when they saw the advertisement.

    ¡°That advertisement rocks!¡±

    ¡°Wow! I want to eat at this restaurant!¡±

    ¡°Damn it! I¡¯ve seen parodies about it on the inte. Are they really using pornographic words as advertisement? Who would be so shameless?¡±

    ¡°The advertisement is eye-catching. The question is, is the food delicious?¡±

    ¡°Was this your idea?¡± Snowy didn¡¯t believe that Aunt Li, who was in her fifties, could¡¯vee up with the advertisement. If Aunt Li did think of it, Snowy would be so shocked, her jaw would drop to the floor.

    ¡°No, it was Zhang Zian, the owner of the pet shop across the street,¡± Aunt Li replied, waving her hand.

    ¡°Zhang Zian?¡± Snowy was surprised, but she thought the answer made sense. Of all of Snowy¡¯s acquaintances, Zhang Zian was the only one that would do such a thing.

    ¡°Yeah, not only did hee up with the idea, but he took care of everything for free, from printing and handing out the small cards to providing the cats. All we needed to do was buy some cat food.¡± Aunt Li was grateful for Zhang Zian. ¡°We wanted to offer him money to express our gratitude, but he refused to take any money, saying that it didn¡¯t cost him much.¡±

    Snowy asked, ¡°He didn¡¯t charge you for the cats?¡±

    The viewers didn¡¯t believe that Zhang Zian would ever give anything away for free.

    Aunt Li pointed to a line of words on the wall. Snowy lifted her head and read the line, ¡°There are cats and dogs avable for adoption in the store.¡±

    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Both Snowy and Vivi were curious.

    Uncle Li said that the fried beef brisket was ready. Aunt Li gave Snowy her dish and told her about the cats and dogs in the store.

    As it turned out, the animals were abandoned by their owners at the pet clinic. Zhang Zian came up with an idea to benefit to Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s pet clinic, Uncle Li¡¯s snack bar, and the abandoned pets.

    The whole process didn¡¯t cost Zhang Zian very much, no wonder he was so generous. Even Wang Qian and Li Kun, who were responsible for posting the ads, had benefited a lot.

    ¡°Enjoy your meal. I¡¯ll bring your to-go order when they¡¯re ready.¡± Uncle Li called her, so Aunt Li went to the kitchen to help.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Snowy took apart the disposable chopsticks to start her meal.

    As the viewers had said, good advertisement was just the icing on a cake, the real criteria to judge a restaurant was its food, environment, and service. Snowy had visited many restaurants, and some restaurants hade up with even more gimmicks than this snack bar. Unfortunately, they failed to meet the fundamental criteria, so Snowy couldn¡¯t rmend them to theizens.

    Since she was allergic to cats, Vivi couldn¡¯t take off her mask to eat. She grabbed theplimentary cat wand and tried to y with the cats.

    ¡°Meow! Come here! Get the wand!¡± The way Vivi talked and acted didn¡¯t seem like her.

    The audience of Snowy¡¯s broadcast left all kinds ofments.

    ¡°Wow, you¡¯ve surprised me!¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s has a dark side hiding beneath her innocent appearance.¡±

    ¡°Now, I like you even more! Please be my girlfriend!¡±

    Snowy knew Vivi loved cats. Even if Vivi was hospitalized for an allergic reaction, she wouldn¡¯t stay away from cats. Like Zhang Zian said, cat people fall in love with all cats easily.

    Vivi stretched her arm to move the toy closer to the cats. Her sleeve move and revealed her wrist.

    Snowy reminded her, ¡°Vivi, be careful. Put on gloves, and don¡¯t let the cat touch you.¡±

    In some ways, Snowy was like an older sister. After all, she was more sophisticated and more thoughtful than Vivi.

    Vivi nodded and put on gloves.

    Attracted by the cat toy, a Siamese cat approached her tentatively. Vivi¡¯s Siamese cat had long hair, but she was also interested in the short-haired, exotic cat in front of her, so she shook the toy more energetically.

    However, aser pointer beamed from another table, leaving a red spot in front of the cat. The Siamese cat was obviously more interested in theser than the wand.

    Vivi was furious. ¡°What b*stard took the cat away from me?¡±

    Fortunately, the mask she wore muffled her voice, otherwise no one would think Vivi was ady.

    Vivi saw that it was a girl at another table that wanted the Siamese cat¡¯s attention.

    The wand was overshadowed by theser pointer, and that b*tch was about topletely attract the Siamese cat¡¯s attention. At this moment, Aunt Li brought Vivi¡¯s to-go orders to her.

    ¡°The food I ordered shoulde with a freeser pointer and catnip doll, right?¡± Vivi asked.

    Aunt Li froze for a moment. Customers were supposed to return the cat toys before they left the store, but people who ordered to-go usually didn¡¯t stay in the store to y with the cats, so she never thought to bring them some. Aunt Li gave Vivi aser pointer and a catnip doll, and apologized, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t think about it.¡±

    After she got the toys, Vivi¡¯s confidence multiplied tenfold. She put down the wand and grabbed the catnip doll with her left hand, theser pointer with her right hand, to continue vying for the Siamese cat¡¯s attention. Vivi also kept blowing the smell of the catnip in the direction of the cat.

    The Siamese cat had almost reached the opposite table, but when it smelled the catnip, it turned around and walked back to Vivi¡¯s table.

    The b*tch was surprised, but she was still fighting. However, her efforts were in vain because it was impossible for her to win the Siamese cat¡¯s favor with theser pointer alone. The catnip was powerful and unstoppable.

    The Siamese cat finally made it to Vivi¡¯s table. Vivi put down theser pointer and held the wand in her right hand. Vivi swung the wand to let the cat try to grab it. Vivi was overjoyed to be ying with the cat.

    Snowy aimed the camera at the fried beef brisket, and then used the chopsticks to pick up a piece of the brisket so that the audience could see the dish clearly.

    ¡°This dish can also be found in other restaurants in Binhai City. From its appearance, the beef brisket looks properly fried. Nowadays, everyone wants a healthy diet, and even though it¡¯s been fried in oil, there isn¡¯t much oil on the brisket or on the te.¡±

    She brought the brisket close to her nose and inhaled. ¡°The beef smells nice. The spicy aroma of peppers and garlic is very appetizing.¡±

    Other diners heard her voice and looked around curiously. They found Snowy recording with a hand-held tripod. Since the majority of the people in the snack bar were young, they realized Snowy was probably a vlogger.

    Snowy didn¡¯t care how others perceived her. When she started out, she was very embarrassed to talk to herself like a fool, but she gradually became used to it.

    She put the beef brisket into her mouth and bit half of it. While chewing, she aimed the camera closer to the beef brisket so that the audience could see the texture and color clearly. The texture indicated the quality of the meat, while the shade showed how long the meat was cooked.

    ¡°It tastes good. The beef is soft and smooth, and it¡¯s been well-marinated.¡± After she chewed the beef a few times, she put some rice into her mouth.

    Unlike the gourmetmentators who only tried the meat on TV, Snowy also tried the rice. After all, people usually ate meat with rice, so the quality of rice would be in her evaluation of a restaurant.

    ¡°I think the rice was freshly steamed, it¡¯s very delicious! It also perfectlypliments the beef!¡±

    Snowy swallowed, nodded satisfyingly, and said to the camera, ¡°After evaluating the food, the environment, and the service with the unique advertising methods of this snack bar, I strongly rmend this ce!¡±

 Chapter 616: Slander

    <h4>Chapter 616: nder</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Early in the morning, Zhang Zian was once again startled awake by the distant sound of firecrackers. It was the week before Chinese New Year, so people were using firecrackers more and more.

    Even people with bad hearing would be able to hear the noise, so, of course, the elfins were startled too. Gxy leapt out the crib, silently waved good morning to Zhang Zian, opened the bedroom doors and went downstairs to y with the kittens. Pi yawned and stretched before he going to the swivel chair to turn on theputer.

    The other elfins awoke too, but they wanted to keep sleeping as it was still too early and there was nothing for them to do even if they did get out of bed.

    Zhang Zian got dressed, walked over to the window, pulled the curtains open, and looked outside. It snowed against night, so the streets were covered with white, making the day brighter than usual.

    He saw an electric rickshaw stop right in front of Li¡¯s Supreme Snack Bar¡¯s.

    The driver was Uncle Li, who woke up before the sun rose to go to the market by the suburbs to stock up on groceries. He wore a thick cotton coat and knee pads to keep his knee joints warm. Driving the rickshaw in this weather must be very cold, his eyebrows had frost on them yet he was smiling.

    A quilt covered the trunk of the rickshaw. Uncle Li lifted the quilt, grabbing the bags of fresh vegetables to take into the snack bar. Their usual stock of ingredients that would always have leftovers was sold out by noon, so they had no choice but to close early. Today, Uncle Li not only increased the amount of vegetables he bought, but also the variety.

    Pi tapped its mouth and logged into Qidian¡¯s author tform. Pi did this every morning, it looked at the new adds andments left by readers, as these were his motivation to continue working on his novel.

    ¡°Zhi zhi!¡± Pi started screaming.

    All the elfins raised their head off their beds and looked towards Pi, wondering what had happened. Only Richard was still asleep.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Pi?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Every morning Pi would be one of the first to wake up, but Pi always tried to be quiet. It even typed softly, so it wouldn¡¯t disrupt the other elfins. However, today it suddenly screamed, something out of the ordinary must have happened.

    After Pi logged into QQ, there were a number of messages sent by its book friends in the middle of the night.

    ¡°Popo, go look at your book review section. There¡¯s posts of people iming that you¡¯ve been hacking ounts to rig votes.¡±

    ¡°Popo, erase those posts! New readers will believe them!¡±

    There were also others who were doubtful and asked, ¡°Did you really hack into ounts to rig votes?¡±

    Pi was at a loss as it watched all the messages pop up. The most unbearable thing was theck of trust from readers.

    ¡°What?¡±

    Zhang Zian was stumped. Pi would never hack into ounts to rig votes. Pi even told readers not to send in rmendation red packets, as it felt like it was a waste of the reader¡¯s money.

    Zian turned around and gestured to the other elfins that everything was okay. He ced his hands on Pi¡¯s shoulders and said, ¡°Pi, don¡¯t panic. Let¡¯s take a look at what¡¯s going on before we decide on what to do next. It¡¯s like the saying goes, different situations call for different action, and there¡¯s no problem that can¡¯t be solved.¡¯ You¡¯ve made it through worse, there¡¯s no need for you to be depressed by baseless nder.¡±

    Zhang Zian could feel Pi¡¯s body trembling, unclear if it was out of sadness or anger, maybe a little of both. Maybe Zhang Zian being calm helped because Pi pursed its lips as it opened the book review section.

    The book review section was flooded with posts filled with maliciousnguage.

    ¡°Could you more shameless? How could you bring yourself to do such things?

    ¡°As long as the book is crap, it¡¯s all pointless, even if you rig votes!¡±

    ¡°Even if you get your votes up, no one would read your book!¡±

    Looking at all the baseless rumors, Pi was depressed. It looked up at Zhang Zian with its red eyes, pointed at its chest, and shook its head, as if exining that he did no such thing.

    ¡°Pi, I know you didn¡¯t do it.¡± Zian consoled Pi.

    Zian frowned as he looked through the posts. He took the mouse from Pi¡¯s hands and said, ¡°Pi, go wash your face. Let me take a look.¡±

    Some of the posts were very offensive, going as far as to curse Pi¡¯s rtive to die a painful death. Although Pi had no rtives, Zhang Zian still didn¡¯t want Pi to see all these.

    Pi nodded and leapt out of the chair to head to the bathroom.

    Zhang Zian clicked every post. He told himself to be calm and look at it with an objective attitude, but after reading the offensivenguage, he couldn¡¯t stop his anger. He couldn¡¯t wait to delete all the posts. Readers who weren¡¯t aware of the truth could easily believe the posts, causing Pi to lose potential readers. Like the saying goes, If you fling enough mud, some of it will stick.

    Most of the readers believed in Pi, but clicking into the book review section to have all the rubbish posts everywhere will only serve to discourage readers. The book review section used to be full of discussions on the current elfins and what other elfins might appear. There were also theories on how the story was going to progress, but now the normal posts were pushed all the way to the third or fourth page. Even if readers wanted to look for them, they wouldn¡¯t be able to.

    Some readers took the initiative and tried to get the writer of the post to show proof, but the writer would never reply, they would just publish a new post. The first few pages were filled with such posts and their numbers were still growing.

    Soon, Zhang Zian realized a pattern, all the writers were newly registered Qidian readers with a level one ount.

    Qidian ounts have varying levels. Zhang Zian remembered that all you had to do was pay a dor to be a regr member.

    All the people who ndered Pi never paid the dor, so what value do they have? It was clear that this was all a n against Pi, an organized move with the goal of discrediting Pi.

 Chapter 617: Defying All Conspiracies with Absolute Strength

    <h4>Chapter 617: Defying All Conspiracies with Absolute Strength</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The previously well-ordered book review section was filled with malicious posts about Pi. While Zhang Zian was thinking of solutions, he heard someone behind him say, ¡°I¡¯ve always assumed the worst when it came to what the Chinese would do.¡±

    When he turned around, Zhang Zian saw Famous was staring at theputer screen.

    As if it had sensed Zhang Zian¡¯s astonishment, Famous exined, ¡°Wu Ning said that before I woke up from my Imagined Landscape. Wu Ning always brought magazines and newspapers to the Temple for the Righteous Cat and the Chivalrous Dog, and exined what the articles meant.¡±

    No wonder Famous could cite Lu Xun¡¯s famous saying, it entered its Imagined Landscape whenever it fell asleep.

    ¡°I think I¡¯ve heard this sentence.¡± Old Time Tea put on its bamboo hat and joined them. The word ¡°chivalry¡± was woven in the rim of the hat. After so many years, it still looked new.

    In real life, there was a Temple for the Righteous Cat in the barren mountains, and only Old Time Tea had been there to hear Wu Ning read the articles. However, in its Imagined Landscape, Famous had been there with Old Time Tea.

    Famous and Old Time Tea looked at each other and smiled.

    Pi came out of the bathroom, and the hair on its face was wet, as if Pi hadn¡¯t fully dried its face after washing it.

    ¡°Eeek?¡± Pi was surprised to see Famous and Old Time Tea surrounding theputer.

    Old Time Tea smiled and said, ¡°Pi, listen to me. If you¡¯ve done nothing wrong, there¡¯s nothing to worry about. Just ignore those posts. I believe that evil can never prevail over good. Those who use despicable tactics must be shameless scoundrels. If you get distracted, you¡¯ll fall into their traps!¡±

    Undoubtedly, Old Time Tea¡¯s words were filled with wisdom. Both Zhang Zian and Pi felt that they had learned something. Pi, who had secretly wept in the bathroom, felt touched to know Old Time Tea and Famous were concerned about it.

    However, Old Time Tea changed its tone and said, ¡°With all that said, since evil people have targeted Pi, we must prepare our counterattack. If we do nothing and allow the posts to continue, they¡¯ll be arrogant and think that we¡¯re afraid of them.¡± Old Time Tea¡¯s eyes were cold and intimidating.

    ¡°What should we do? It¡¯s not enough to ignore thements, it¡¯ll affect the normal readers.¡± Zhang Zian nced at Pi. Apparently, thements had affected Pi¡¯s mood, which was what the enemies wanted, so that Pi stopped writing.

    Old Time Tea had taken this into consideration. It winked at Zhang Zian and then said, ¡°Pi, you don¡¯t need to worry. You just need to continue writing your novel. We¡¯ll handle this for you.¡±

    Pi nodded, sat back on the chair, and opened a new Word document.

    In the Book Group, some readers had discovered abnormal dynamics in the book review section and reminded Pi to pay attention to these anomalies through QQ, notifications popping up one after another.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? I need to sleep!¡± Fina yelled furiously.

    ¡°Quack! I awakened just when Billy Zhang was about to take off his clothes. How are you going to make make it up to me for ruining my sexual dream?¡± Richard chimed in.

    If the elves were awakened by the alerts, Pi would be distracted instead of writing.

    Zhang Zian frowned and logged out of QQ on theputer. Since his mind was upied, he didn¡¯t pay attention to Richard.

    ¡°Pi, continue to write. We¡¯re going downstairs to eat.¡±

    Zhang Zian winked at Old Time Tea and Famous, a gesture for them to follow him downstairs, leaving Pi alone.

    Gxy was ying hide-and-seek with the kittens on the first floor. Zhang Zian found a ce to sit with Old Time Tea and Famous, so they could think of solutions.

    Old Time Tea sighed and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know how to write novels, and I know nothing about the inte. I¡¯m afraid that I can only provide some general suggestions.¡±

    There¡¯s nothing Famous could do to help Pi either, so it said, ¡°I¡¯ll try my best to find Pi¡¯s enemies in the real life, but I¡¯m basically useless on the inte.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment and told Old Time Tea, ¡°I¡¯d like to hear your ideas, even if they are vague.¡±

    Old Time Tea stroked its whiskers and said, ¡°I think whoever chose to nder Pi did so because their writing is inferior to Pi¡¯s. All conspiracies are weak, so Pi should just try its best increase its strength and beat them fair and square.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought that what Old Time Tea said made sense, but how could Pi increase its strength?

    Pi¡¯s strength increased whenever more people read its novel. However, it was easier said than done.

    To avoid disturbing Pi, Zhang Zian had logged out of QQ on theputer. He logged into QQ on his cell phone and on behalf of Pi, he responded to the reminders of the readers one by one. After all, the readers had good intentions, and he shouldn¡¯t ignore their messages.

    Ding!

    His cell phone rang again. Zhang Zian thought that it was another reader message, but when he looked, it was someone who wanted to add Pi as a friend. The verification message was, ¡°Hello, I am Feather of the Specter.¡±

 Chapter 618: Chief

    <h4>Chapter 618: Chief</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Just as Zhang Zian, Old Time Tea and Famous were at their wits end on what they could do for Pi, a sudden friend request surprised him.

    Feather of the Specter?

    Zhang Zian found the name very familiar. Could this be the inte celebrity in the Qidian reading listmunity?

    While helping Pi advertise, Zhang Zian had seen Feather of the Specter¡¯s reading list. It was a super deluxe reading list, almost every book came with a thousand word review, and almost every book had immense poprity. What¡¯s even more terrifying, is that Feather of the Specter is also one of the chiefs for most of the books on the list!

    People who send in a reward of 1,000 Yuan to the books they like, will then be considered a chief of that book.

    Back in his college days, 1,000 Yuan couldst Zhang Zian¡¯s a month, with enough left over for him to save some of it as funds for when he had a girlfriend. Of course, those funds would still be quietly lying within a bank.

    Sob story aside, Feather of the Specter had been casually rewarding books and bing one of their chiefs. Could he be a tall, rich hunk or could she be a fair, wealthy beauty? Daughter of a coal mine owner or young master of an oil tycoon family?

    Zhang Zian had selected two reading lists as his target for advertising, one with over 10,000 followers and another with over 3,000 followers. Feather of the Specter¡¯s reading list was in the top ranks of the reading listmunity and had over 50,000 followers.

    Books that were added by Feather of the Specter¡¯s reading list, immediately weed arge increase of adds, the effectsparable to having a rmendation on the homepage.

    Saying that Feather of the Specter was Qidian¡¯s underground monarch wasn¡¯t an understatement. So, why was this person looking for Pi?

    Could it be that he wants to strike a secret deal? Zhang Zian trembled at the thought.

    After some hesitation, he epted the request, no point brooding if it was a blessing. If it was trouble, we wouldn¡¯t be able to avoid it. Just like Old Time Tea said, ¡°evil never prevailed over good.¡±

    Although Pi was the author, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to make it worry unnecessarily while the other party¡¯s intention was still unclear. He nned to solve Pi¡¯s issues, so that Pi can focus on his novel. Whatever the other party wanted, they could talk to him first.

    So he calmed himself down and typed away.

    [Jie Po]: I¡¯m the author, is there something you need?

    This message was sent out after much deliberation, as he couldn¡¯t be too arrogant nor too humble. Even if the other party was Qidian¡¯s underground monarch, who had the ability to easily crush Pi¡¯s novel, he had to try.

    After Zhang Zian exined who the other party was, Old Time Tea supported his approach.

    [Feather of the Specter]: I¡¯ve always wanted to chat with you, but couldn¡¯t find the time.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t able to make an image of the person. He decided to put things out into the open, to make things clear, so he continued typing.

    [Jie Po]: What did you want to talk about?

    [Feather of the Specter]: I saw you getting attacked in the book review section, feels bad right?

    [Jie Po]: Actually I was just about to delete the posts. Just so you know, I didn¡¯t hack into anyone¡¯s ount to rig votes, but it¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t believe me.

    [Feather of the Specter]: I know, lots of books face these issues before they explode with poprity. Let me rephrase that, congrattions, you¡¯re going to be on fire.

    Zhang Zian coughed out of confusion. What kind of freak logic was that?

    [Feather of the Specter]: I¡¯ve been on Qidian for so long, I¡¯m able to know if a book is going to be popr or not. If you don¡¯t believe me, go take a look at the homepage new novel rankings.

    The homepage new novel rankings is for neers who¡¯ve made their debut with new novels around the same period, it¡¯s based on the number of rmendations, adds and view counts a book has. Competition within the new novel rankings is very fierce because making it to the top three is like getting a free rmendation.

    Zhang Zian doubtfully logged into the Qidian homepage with his phone, dragged the page all the way down to the bottom and there it was, Pi¡¯s novel upying the top spot of the new novel rankings!

    How was this possible? When did this happen?

    Zian had once noticed the new novel ranking, but felt that it had nothing to do with Pi¡¯s novel. Only phenomenal novels will make a name for themselves out of the ranking, so he didn¡¯t pay it any further attention.

    [Feather of the Specter]: Understand now? You made your way up and pushed others down, so they got jealous, but it¡¯s okay. If you¡¯re not making others jealous, that means you¡¯re doing something wrong.

    Finally, Zhang Zian found out why the posts happened. However, it was just the first step, what¡¯s the next step to take care of the situation?

    [Feather of the Specter]: I¡¯ve noticed your novel for a while now. I didn¡¯t add it to the reading list because it was still new, now, with this opportunity, let me give you a hand.

    Give you a hand? You mean push me down a cliff?

    Before Zhang Zian could understand what Feather of the Spector meant, he saw Pi rush down the stairs and almost fall.

    ¡°Zhi zhi! Zhi zhi!¡±

    Pi waved its arms, its eyes wide open, like something terrifying just happened. Thank goodness the curtains weren¡¯t open and Zhang Zian was the only human in the shop, so they didn¡¯t need to worry about Pi being seen by anyone.

    ¡°Slow down, Pi! What happened?¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s heart felt like it was being squeezed.

    Pi frantically pulled Zian into the bedroom, trembling as it stretched out its arm to point to its author tform on theputer.

    The usually empty reward list had a new name.

    Reward value: 1,000 Yuan!

    In an instant, a line of red words shed across the book review section, getting rid of all the horrid posts.

 Chapter 619: Possessing No Evil Thought

    <h4>Chapter 619: Possessing No Evil Thought</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian and Pi nkly stared at theputer screen, not believing their eyes.

    Chief?

    Many well-known novels that had been recognized by the Hall of Fame on the Qidian website, didn¡¯t have a Chief, so it was hard to believe that the Feather of the Specter had rewarded 1,000 Yuan to Pi¡¯s novel and had be the Chief of Pi¡¯s novel?

    Zhang Zian thought it was too good to be true. He wondered if it was a trick to gain his trust. No, my trust isn¡¯t worth 1,000 Yuan!

    The phone in his hand buzzed again.

    [Feather of the Specter]: Has the website showed the reward I sent? Sometimes there are some problems with the system and the rewards from Chiefs disappear.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t suppress his excitement and he quickly typed a response.

    [Jie Po]: It has. Thank you so much for your reward, Chief. From now on, I¡¯ll call you Feather of the Chief Specter.

    [Feather of the Specter]: What? Why?

    Without any exnation, Zhang Zian changed the person¡¯s alias to Feather of the Chief Specter on his QQ.

    When Old Time Tea and Famous came in, Zhang Zian exined what Chief meant, and they were also surprised.

    [Feather of the Chief Specter]: Well, my name aside, I think you should sort out those posts in your book review section. Today, I¡¯ll add your book to my reading list, and I¡¯m not bragging about this, but you¡¯ll witness the number of adds soaring.

    [Jie Po]: I see.

    As the saying goes, ¡°if someone invites you to a meal and you ept his hospitality, you¡¯ll find it difficult to say anything against him.¡± Before he knew it, Zhang Zian¡¯s attitude towards this person had changed, talking to this person with great respect.

    Old Time Tea who noticed the change in attitude, slightly frowned.

    [Feather of the Chief Specter]: You have to write, right? Then, I won¡¯t disturb you.

    [Jie Po]: Yes, I do.

    Zhang Zian felt relieved. Just when he was about to close the chatroom, he got another message. After seeing the message, Zhang Zian was so scared, he almost threw his phone.

    [Feather of the Chief Specter]: Actually, I¡¯ve been wondering if there¡¯s an elfin writing the novel.

    How did the person know? Did he imnt a Trojan horse program on my cell phone to open the camera and observe my every move? At the thought of this, Zhang Zian broke out in a cold sweat.

    He tried topose himself and typed.

    [Jie Po]: Why do you ask?

    [Feather of the Chief Specter]: Well, in your novel, there¡¯s a mobile game that collects elves. Gxy helped you bring the first customer to your pet shop, and Fina helped your pet shop make a name for itself. Although Old Time Tea¡¯s real name is unknown at the moment, from the manner of its speech and behavior, I can guess that it has an extraordinary origin. Old Time Tea seems like a hidden warrior and it helps you keep your pet shop from vition. Assuming that this isn¡¯t just a novel, but something that actually happened, based on the events of your novel, you should also have an elfin that¡¯s writing the novel for you, right?

    After reading this long paragraph, Zhang Zian was so stunned that he shuddered. Holy cow! This person is amazing, inferring so many things from little clues, just like Sherlock Holmes!

    Old Time Tea and Famous also found this person astounding.

    How should I answer? I have to say something. If I say nothing, they¡¯ll think I¡¯m rude and that they¡¯re right.

    Zhang Zian pondered a bit and decided to take a risky move.

    [Jie Po]: Yes, you¡¯re right. Can you tell me the real name of the elfin that¡¯s writing the novel?

    Zhang Zian had actually gained some advantages. Meanwhile, he wanted to see this person¡¯s ability. If this person could figure out Pi¡¯s real name, it¡¯d save Zhang Zian a lot of trouble.

    [Feather of the Chief Specter]: No spoilers, please! Those are just my thoughts. All right, keep writing your novel. I won¡¯t bother you.

    Zhang Zian waited for a while. He didn¡¯t wipe the cold sweat from his head until he knew the person had left the chatroom. That was a close call. Luckily, his bluff worked. By confessing that an elfin was really writing the novel for him, the person would think Zhang Zian was joking.

    ¡°Zhang Zian.¡± Old Time Tea muttered.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± asked Zhang Zian.

    Old Time Tea winked at Zhang Zian. They went downstairs, and Old Time Tea whispered, ¡°There¡¯s a saying, ¡®a great man isn¡¯t corrupted by wealth or honor, and he won¡¯t betray his principles in the face of hardship or poverty.¡¯ Although this influential person seems to appreciate Pi¡¯s novel, and it¡¯s good to receive help in times of crisis, Pi¡¯s mind must not be influenced by this person, otherwise his assistance will be counterproductive.¡±

    Zhang Zian was shocked to realize that Old Time Tea wasn¡¯t just talking about Pi, but also him. Why was so polite to a person who rewarded him 1,000 Yuan? He wasn¡¯t a poor college student anymore.

    Judging from the tone of Feather of the Chief Specter, he didn¡¯t seem like a person who¡¯d ask for a favor in return for his reward. However, Old Time Tea¡¯s reminder had calmed Zhang Zian down.

    What if someone else rewarded Pi with 1,000 Yuan and wanted Pi to write the novel how they wanted?

    A great man isn¡¯t corrupted by wealth or honor, and he won¡¯t betray his principles in the face of hardship or poverty. This principle could also be applied to novel writing.

    Zhang Zian admired Old Time Tea¡¯s wisdom. One shouldn¡¯t be pleased by external gains or saddened by personal losses. Is this what ¡°possessing no evil thoughts¡± meant?

    He also thought of Snowy¡¯s behavior.

    As a full-time vlogger, Snowy could ept rewards from her audience like other vloggers did. During every broadcast, tens of thousands of viewers offered Snowy money, but she had never epted any rewards.

    So, was Zhang Zian¡¯s state of mind inferior to Snowy¡¯s?

    After careful consideration, Old Time Tea reminded Zhang Zian. ¡°About this incident of ndering against Pi, though Feather of the Specter has provided a solution, we should be more discreet. How about exining the misunderstanding to the editors in charge of Pi¡¯s novel?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right!¡± Zhang Zian nodded.

    Old Time Tea was very thoughtful. To avoid simr incidents from happening in the future, it was necessary for him to report this incident to the editors. If the editorial team of the Qidian website believed that Pi was hacking into ounts to rig votes, there was nothing Zhang Zian could do to clear Pi¡¯s name.

 Chapter 620: Fireworks

    <h4>Chapter 620: Fireworks</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The reward from Feather of the Chief Specter added to his identity as Qidian¡¯s well-known list owner.

    Feather of the Chief Spector indeed fulfilled its promise and added Pi¡¯s novel to its list. Followers soon realized that a new book with a low word count was added to the list, and started flooding the book review sections to find out if the book was worth reading, pushing down all the bad posts about Pi.

    Zhang Zian logged onto the author¡¯s tform, deleted all the untrue posts and blocked the writers from the page. Finally, the book review section was peaceful once again.

    The effects were really terrifying. Zhang Zian and Pi both watched as the number of adds increased to a new level, simply dumbfounded.

    Pi recovered from its depressed mood and started on a new chapter. However, Pi refreshed the book review section every half hour to prevent any more nderous posts from showing up again.

    Bang! Bang!

    Someone downstairs was knocking on the doors. It must be Lu Yiyin here for work.

    Ever since he woke up, Zhang Zian had been busy with Pi¡¯s novel. His face wasn¡¯t washed, hair wasn¡¯t done and he hadn¡¯t finished cleaning the area. He quickly ran downstairs to let her in, and then started cleaning. As for his face and hair, nobody was going to look anyway.

    A nimble figure ran across the front of the store, followed closely by a brown, ck and white beagle with its tongue out.

    Passing by the pet store¡¯s ss door, Masanori Suzuhara eyes met Zhang Zian¡¯s. She nodded as a greeting and the next second her figure was no longer in sight.

    She would be run past the store almost everyday. The people who live nearby and wake up early are already used to her reflective sports attire and sports shoes, yet only a few of them know that she¡¯s an exchange student from Japan.

    Zhang Zian walked over to the entrance of the store and looked in the direction she was running. Not only did he see the reflective strip on her back, but he also saw the line outside Li¡¯s Supreme Snack Shop. People were already lining up so that they would be able to cuddle with the cats as they have their breakfast.

    After a moment, Wang Qian and Li Kun cheerfully turned up for work. They were told the day before that due to their exemry actions, they¡¯ll get a cut of next semester¡¯s merit student schrship. To them, it was like a gift from God.

    Zhang Zian stood at the entrance, stopping the two from entering, and pointed towards the direction of the market and said, ¡°Go over to the shop and buy some firecrackers.¡±

    The two of them looked at each other and said after a moment, ¡°Master, you want to set off firecrackers?¡±

    These days, not much people in the city still set off fireworks. Those who want to do so, go to the outskirts of town. It was a hassle, and the two of them didn¡¯t expect Zhang Zian to have a fun side.

    ¡°Just go where I tell you.¡± Zhang Zian waved as he chased them away.

    This is the elfins¡¯ first Chinese New Year since they came to Binhai City. Zhang Zian nned to give them a memory that was closer to the traditional celebration, so firecrackers were essential.

    Of course, for safety reasons, setting off firecrackers within the city was prohibited, so any n to set off firecrackers had to be done on the outskirts of town. Zhang Zian had already thought of a good location, Fu Tao¡¯s police dog nursing home, where the area around the vige definitely didn¡¯t prohibit setting off firecrackers.

    Ten dismissed police dogs had been living there for a period of time Although they weren¡¯t put to use after being bought by the film crew, they were still part of the film crew. Zhnag Zian nned to visit, to take a look at their current living conditions.

    Most members of the film crew, including director Feng Xuan, were either working on the editing process or filming for other movies. The rest were at home with their families for the New Years. No one remain in Binhai City, except for Zhang Zian, so the task visiting the dogs naturally fell on his shoulders.

    The living expenses for the 10 police dogs were paid for by the film crew. Zhang Zian visited the dogs on behalf of the film crew to check if the money was put to good use, and not put into Fu Tao¡¯s wallet.

    If the police dogs were suffering, the film crew would be too ashamed to put the closing line, ¡°Proper arrangements were made for all animals that worked on the production of this film.¡± Feng Xuan and his wife took this matter very seriously, they had requested for Zhang Zian to make some time for a trip down, and to ensure that it was a surprise so he can see the truth.

    The trip to the police dog nursing home not only allowed Zhang Zian toplete Feng Xuan¡¯s task, he would also be able to let the elfins see the fireworks, killing two birds with one stone.

    The only question was, when to leave?

    Fu Tao and the police dog nursing home weren¡¯t going anywhere, but Pi still wasn¡¯t able to leave the pet store. If Pi couldn¡¯t witness the fireworks, Pi would be bitter.

    Getting the fireworks was the top priority, and if there was no other choice, then they¡¯d have to go without Pi.

    Having sent off Wang Qian and Li Kun, Zhang Zian cleaned the shop alone. Once he finished, he noticed that it was already past 9 in the morning. Today was a workday, the Qidian editor should already be at work, so he leaned on the door frame as he took out his phone and tapped on the bald monk¡¯s profile picture.

    Every editor is in charge of a few hundred authors, so Zhang Zian wouldn¡¯t usually disturb the editor, but today was a unusual circumstance.

    He tried his best to exin the whole situation, and nervously awaited the response.

    Zhang Zian thought that he was going to have to wait a few minutes, yet unexpectedly, the reply came quickly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Stabilize the rate of your updates.

    Although the words used were short, Zhang Zian knew he was being supportive or else he wouldn¡¯t have said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±

    Just as he was about to put his phone away, there was another message, ¡°Get ready to be premium on New Year¡¯s Eve.¡±

    Zhang Zian was instantly a mess. Today was the Chinese Off Year, that means there¡¯s only less than a week left before he became premium. His estimation of having to wait for another two to three weeks before the test to be premium was off.

 Chapter 621: Borrowing A Car

    <h4>Chapter 621: Borrowing A Car</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Since the editor scheduled the date that Pet King would be Premium, there was no changing it. Zhang Zian went back to the second floor to tell Pi the news so that it could prepare.

    ¡°Eeek!¡±

    Before Zhang Zian could even speak, Pi pulled him over to look at theputer screen.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Pi?¡±

    He leaned over and saw a message from the Qidian website: ¡°Hello, we¡¯re notifying you that your novel, Pet King, will receive the Sanjiang Rmendation on the homepage today. Please keep uploading new chapters if you haven¡¯t finished your novel.¡±

    Sanjiang Rmendation?

    He knew that the Sanjiang Rmendation was one of the most important rmendations for new novels. If a novel got a good ranking in the Sanjiang Rmendation, it meant that the novel would secure thest and best rmendation on the homepage before the novel became Premium.

    Receiving also Sanjiang Rmendation indicated that the novel was unique and had been recognized by the editorial department of Qidian website.

    ¡°Congrattions, Pi!¡± Zhang Zian said sincerely.

    ¡°Eeek!¡± Pi¡¯s face lit up with happiness.

    Zhang Zian witnessed Pi go through three rounds of rmendations: the Popr Rmendation among Modern Novels, the Strong Rmendation among Modern Novels, and the Rmendation among Six Genres of Novels on the homepage. Pi¡¯s novel always ranked first and entered the next round with undisputed advantages. The uing Sanjiang Rmendation would be the fourth round of rmendation for Pi, and if it went well, Pi would enter the fifth round, the Strong Rmendation on the homepage, and be Premium at the same time.

    Most novels became Premium after the Strong Rmendation on the homepage, few novels achieved what Pi¡¯s novel might and do both at the same time. Zhang Zian believed that the editor must think very highly of Pi¡¯s novel. If Pi¡¯s novel became Premium on Chinese New Year¡¯s Eve, it could get a good position on the Monthly Power Ranking List for New Novels.

    ¡°Pi, your editor just told me that your novel will be Premium on Chinese New Year¡¯s Eve,¡± said Zhang Zian.

    Pi suddenly became uneasy. ¡°Eeek?¡±

    Zhang Zian knew what Pi worried about. At present, its novel was avable to readers free of charge, so almost 30,000 readers had put Pet King into their libraries, many actively participating in thement section and the Book Group. Once it became Premium, how many people would pay to read a novel by a novice writer?

    Only time could tell.

    It was impossible for Qidian website to keep providing novels for free. If the website didn¡¯t make money, it wouldn¡¯t be able to pay its employees, maintain operation of the server, or promote novels. Bing Premium was inevitable for sessful novels.

    ¡°Pi, don¡¯t worry. The editor is very optimistic, I am too. Your performance has exceeded a lot of people¡¯s expectations, you have nothing to be afraid of.¡± Zhang Zianforted Pi earnestly. ¡°A lot of people¡ªthe editors of Qidian, the reading list owners, the ordinary readers¡ªare supporting you.¡±

    He logged into QQ on hisputer, opened the Book Group to let Pi look at the readers in the group and said, ¡°Pi, 300 strangers have gathered in a virtual space because of you. That¡¯s a marvelous thing!¡±

    Pi quietly looked at the screen, its sses reflecting a re.

    After a long time, it nodded vigorously and typed: I promise I won¡¯t let you guys down.

    ¡°I believe you.¡± Zhang Zian patted Pi¡¯s shoulder gently.

    He straightened and looked out the window to see Wang Qian and Li Kun returning with two big stic bags. He said to Pi, ¡°I¡¯m going downstairs. Take this time to write.¡±

    When Zhang Zian made it to the first floor, Wang Qian and Li Kun were just entering the shop. Holding the stic bags, they asked, ¡°Master, we bought the fireworks. Where should we put them?¡±

    ¡°How many did you buy?¡±

    The bags were filled with various kinds of fireworks, many of which Zhang Zian didn¡¯t even know about. Since he didn¡¯t specify which types to buy, Wang Qian and Li Kun bought some of every kind.

    ¡°Master, where do you want to set them off? We can help you!¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun hoped that Zhang Zian would take them with him.

    ¡°I can set them off by myself. You guys go clean,¡± Zhang Zian, waving his hands, asked them to get back to work.

    Old Time Tea stuck its head out from behind the TV and asked, ¡°Zhang Zian, I think I smell sulfur and saltpeter. Am I right?¡±

    Zhang Zian put the fireworks in front of Old Time Tea. ¡°You were sad to learn that fireworks were prohibited in the city on Chinese New Year¡¯s Eve, right? Don¡¯t worry, we can still set them off, in the suburbs.¡±

    Old Time Tea looked in the bags. ¡°I just mentioned it casually. You didn¡¯t have to spend your money.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not my money.¡± Zhang Zian picked the bags up and went the storage room on the second floor. He guessed that it was Old Time Tea who had stopped and punished the robbers that night, so, to fulfill Old Time Tea¡¯s wish, it wasn¡¯t too much to ask Wang Qian and Li Kun to spend money on fireworks.

    After he safely ced the explosives in the storage room, he received a message from Lu Yiyun.

    ¡°Dr. Sun is looking for you downstairs.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be there right away,¡± he replied.

    He quickly walked to the first floor. Sun Xiaomeng was standing in the outer room of the pet shop, looking at the several pregnant Abyssinian cats.

    ¡°Are they going to give birth soon?¡± she asked Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Probably after the Spring Festival,¡± he replied.

    ¡°Here.¡±

    She threw a gadget, which Zhang Zian caught. It was her car key.

    Sun Xiaomeng was going to her hometown and wouldn¡¯t use her car during the Chinese New Year. Since Zhang Zian wanted to visit the police dog nursing home, he asked to borrow Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s car, sparing him from the trouble of finding a taxi.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Zhang Zian put the key in his pocket.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to thank me, you¡¯ve helped me too. I didn¡¯t have any ce for those abandoned cats and dogs.¡± She gently shook her head. ¡°One more thing, after you use my car, remember to wash it and fill up the tank, or I won¡¯t let you for borrow it next time.¡±

    Zhang Zian was embarrassed that Sun Xiaomeng knew him so well because his original n was to return her car without washing it or filling it up.

    Just when he was about to dere that he wasn¡¯t that kind of person, he saw a police car parked on the side of the road.

 Chapter 622: Eavesdropping

    <h4>Chapter 622: Eavesdropping</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As he watched Sheng Ke get out the police car, Zhang Zian was slightly surprised. The first thing he thought of was the incident where Wang Qian and Li Kun were involved with robbers from a bike gang. With that thought in his mind, Zhang Zian quickly went out to wee him.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t the only one who had this thought. Wang Qian and Li Kun¡¯s hearts skipped a beat, their faces turned gray, and their hands reached for the wallets in their pockets, thinking that the schrship money would be taken from them. They had yet to receive the schrship money, so the money they spent was their own. They started to wonder if the fireworks they bought for their master could be returned.

    ¡°Happy New Year! It¡¯s been awhile, but I wanted toe over to wish you an early Happy New Year!¡± Sheng Ke didn¡¯t even nce at Wang Qian and Li Kun, he just started a conversation with Zhang Zian. ¡°Brothers from the Police Dog Unit told me to send their regards.¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled as he replied, ¡°Captain Sheng, Happy New Year to you and the boys. Come in! It¡¯s cold outside and you¡¯re lightly dressed.¡±

    Sheng Ke was usually working during the week and sometimes on the weekends. Chinese New Year is a peak period for various theft cases, so it was very unusual for him to make a trip down when he could¡¯ve simply called.

    ¡°Sorry for bothering you.¡± Sheng Ke didn¡¯t refuse as he followed Zhang Zian into the shop.

    Sun Xiaomeng was observing a few brown Abyssinian cats that were expecting. She momentarily nced over to Sheng Ke in his uniform, but she wasn¡¯t concerned.

    ¡°Captain Sheng, how¡¯s Liu and Wang? Red Dragon and Prince?¡± Zhang Zian gestured for him to take a seat.

    Afterpleting Dog Warrior, Red Dragon and Prince returned to the Police Force, once again throwing themselves back into their usual work with their owners. Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t seen them since.

    ¡°They¡¯re currently away on a tracking mission,¡± Sheng Ke answered. ¡°Whether or not they¡¯ll be back before New Years is the question.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s tough.¡± Zhang Zian understood that the case was confidential, so he didn¡¯t push.

    ¡°This is our job, but it¡¯s also our responsibility.¡± Sheng Ke casuallyughed it off, looking around the store before heading into the reason he was here. ¡°I came over today for another piece of business.¡±

    Zhang Zian sat upright. ¡°Should we go somewhere private?¡±

    Thest time Sheng Ke came to the pet store, it was about Guan Biao, who was part of the fireworks division of the film crew. He brought over case files and requested to have a private discussion. Zhang Zian thought that this time would be simr, which was why he asked the question. Sun Xiaomeng, Wang Qian, Li Kun and Lu Yiyun were all inside the store, and, though they were some distance away, if they wanted to listen in, they could.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing confidential this time.¡± Sheng Ke waved his hands. ¡°Actually, it¡¯s quite embarrassing to bring up, but someone came to the station and wanted to file a report on a cheating case, requesting for us to form an investigation.¡±

    Zhang Zian listened closely. If this was a cheating case, there was no need to look for him.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun, who were listening to the conversation, were relieved to hear that it had nothing to do with them and continued with their cleaning.

    Sheng Ke continued. ¡°Our officers took her statement, and she mentioned a Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base. She said they had killed her dog and sold her a fake Teacup Puppy.

    Zhang Zian startled, asked, ¡°Wait a minute, Teacup Puppy?¡±

    ¡°Yes, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°Is the person who reported the case a middle-ageddy driving a Maserati, dressed in a marten coat with gold rings on her fingers? With a little boy?¡± Zhang Zian asked in a single breath.

    Sheng Ke let out a dry cough. ¡°Well, not every finger had a ring, but how did you know? Do you know her?¡±

    Zhang Zian answered, ¡°Just a few days ago, she came to my store looking to purchase a Teacup Puppy, but I didn¡¯t have any avable. Just before she left she received a call from Love Lovely Pets and talked to a person named Zhang Wanguo. I¡¯ve met him before, but forgot how he looks. After the call, she left in a hurry, seemingly to Love Lovely Pets to purchase a Teacup Puppy. I don¡¯t know what happened after that.¡±

    Sheng Ke nodded, he subconsciously reached for a cigarette, but saw the ¡°No smoking¡± sign and dropped his hand.

    ¡°This case is an economic dispute, it isn¡¯t under our jurisdiction. If the police force were to trouble ourselves with such issues every day, we wouldn¡¯t have time for other cases. We have advised her to head over to the Industrial and Commerce Bureau or the Consumers Association to settle the matter, but she didn¡¯t want to let it go. She refused to leave the station.¡± He paused for a moment, a troubled look on his face. ¡°To be honest, thedy has a background, so it¡¯s difficult for us to handle the matter.¡±

    The middle-aged woman probably had a lot of money. Those with money usuallye with power and unexinable rtionships with dignitaries, which is probably why she was able to cause a scene in a police station with nothing to fear.

    ¡°We wanted to get rid of her quickly, to keep it from disrupting us from our duties, so we contacted the Industrial and Commerce Bureau and the Consumers Association for her, but they said that the case isn¡¯t easy to take on. Love Lovely Pets have followed all the proper procedures, and the country doesn¡¯t have any strict regtions on animal breeding. Most importantly, thedy didn¡¯t request a receipt or any sort of agreement when she purchased the Teacup Puppy, so there¡¯s no way to prove that she bought it from Love Lovely Pets,¡± Sheng Ke exined.

    ¡°Hold on.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng walked over and interrupted, ¡°Sorry, it wasn¡¯t my intention to eavesdrop, but I heard the two of you mention Love Lovely Pets.¡±

    Usually, Sun Xiaomeng would onlye to the pet store if there was something she needed and would leave immediately after she was done, yet she continued to hang around the store today. Even when Sheng Ke came over, she didn¡¯t say anything about leaving. Zhang Zian thought she was just observing the pregnant Abyssinian cats, never would he have thought that she was eavesdropping like Wang Qian and Li Kun.

    As Sun Xiaomeng wasn¡¯t in her usual white coat, Sheng Ke thought that she was a customer looking to purchase a pet, so he didn¡¯t pay much attention to her. He sized her up before looking at Zhang Zian.

    ¡°This is Doctor Sun Xiao Meng, the practicing veterinarian for Spirit Curing Pet Clinic up north. I had to borrow her car during the new year period, so I invited her over today.¡± After introducing Sun Xiaomeng, Zhang Zian gestured to Sheng Ke. ¡°This is Sheng Ke, Captain of the Municipal Police Division.¡±

    After the introductions, he quickly remembered that Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s dad manages the Pets¡¯ Home Breeding Base, which is Love Lovely Pets mainpetitor. Those in the same line of business were always enemies.

 Chapter 623: A Tricky Problem

    <h4>Chapter 623: A Tricky Problem</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sun Xiaomeng had no intention of eavesdropping, but as soon as she heard ¡°Love Lovely Pet,¡± she started to listen carefully. It was fair to say that the Love Lovely Pet Breeding Base was the main rival of Pets¡¯ Home Breeding Base because Love Lovely Pet was muchrger and didn¡¯t care about Pets¡¯ Home at all.

    One of the reasons for Pets¡¯ Home¡¯s dismal business was Love Lovely Pet¡¯s low prices.

    Love Lovely Pet¡¯s prices were more than 20% cheaper than Pets¡¯ Home.

    She had been wondering why the animals of Love Lovely Pet were sold at such low prices. Love Lovely Pet couldn¡¯t possibly make profits like that.

    Her attention was on Sheng Ke and Zhang Zian¡¯s conversation. After hesitating several times, Sun Xiaomeng spoke up.

    Sheng Ke wondered why a veterinarian would be so interested in a pet breeding base, but since she was a friend of Zhang Zian, he let her enter the conversation.

    ¡°You mean, Love Lovely Pet has killed a customer¡¯s dog?¡± she asked, frowning.

    Sheng Ke couldn¡¯t give an answer. The rich woman who reported the issue was very rude and unreasonable, and her son had cried incessantly, so neither of them provided Sheng Ke with the details he needed.

    Zhang Zian told Sun Xiaomeng what happened that day. After, the rich woman¡¯s son dislocated the Teacup Puppy¡¯s back leg, Zhang Wanguo told the woman that he could set the broken bone just to make money. The rich woman believed him and took the Teacup Puppy to him.

    ¡°He¡¯s obviously practicing medicine without a license!¡± Sun Xiaomeng said firmly. ¡°I don¡¯t believe that a salesperson has a medical license.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how he is.¡± Zhang Zian pointed out. ¡°It has nothing to do with Love Lovely Pet.¡±

    Zhang Zian read Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s mind. She wanted to take this opportunity to find out Love Lovely Pet¡¯s weaknesses and sabotage them. If Love Lovely Pet kept dumping their pets, other pet breeding bases, like Pets¡¯ Home, would have to close.

    Not only did this matter pertain to Sun Xiaomeng and her family¡¯s business, but it also pertained to Zhang Zian. If Love Lovely Pet dominated the market in Binhai City, they would certainly use their status to increase the prices of their pets, to do whatever they want.

    Sheng Ke agreed with Zhang Zian. ¡°Love Lovely Pet could fire the salesperson for his personal misconduct.¡±

    ¡°Captain Sheng, what can I do to help?¡± Zhang Zian asked. He would figure out what to do and how to do it after hearing Sheng Ke¡¯s input.

    He could help Sheng Ke, Sun Xiaomeng, and even himself by solving this problem. If Love Lovely Pet was illegally practicing medicine, even Zhang Zian¡¯ste parents would agree with his decision to get involved. It was in everyone¡¯s best interests if the chaos in the pet industry improved.

    Sheng Ke nced around to confirm that there were no relevant people in the shop. He replied, ¡°The police officers, and the proper authorities, basically know nothing about animals. Even if Love Lovely Pet weremitting crimes, we wouldn¡¯t know. So, I¡¯d like to ask you''¡± Sheng Ke nced at Sun Xiaomeng and rephrased, ¡°I¡¯d like to ask both of you to help find evidence, if any, of Love Lovely Pet breaking thew.¡±

    Sheng Ke changed his tone and said, ¡°If there isn¡¯t any evidence to be found, we can at least provide some exnation to the woman who filed a report. The woman imed that she spent almost 30,000 Yuan buying that Teacup Puppy, which died one dayter. She insisted that we make a case for fraud.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡± Zhang Zian exhaled. ¡°Let me think about it.¡±

    Finding evidence was easier said than done. Unlike the dog market, Love Lovely Pet Breeding Base wasn¡¯t easily essible. Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t just visit Love Lovely Pet and inquire about their business practices, could he?

    Sun Xiaomeng bit her lip and frowned. Even if there was evidence anything illegal, it¡¯d be hidden so well that only core personnel would know, and it¡¯d be impossible to get them to expose such secrets.

    Sheng Ke knew that this was a very tricky problem. The officers didn¡¯t know anything about animals, so even if they had a search warrant for Love Lovely Pet, they wouldn¡¯t be able to identify anything useful.

    Sheng Ke was very optimistic about the resourceful Zhang Zian, who had helped solve a bizarre theft case of luxury watches and came up with the idea of using smoke cakes to poison the dogs for the Dog Warrior movie.

    As for Sun Xiaomeng, she also knew that Zhang Zian had extensive knowledge about animals and was a man of action. He was the one who had helped her clients solve the dog-trapping cases during New Year¡¯s Day. If anyone could find a way to deal with Love Lovely Pet, it¡¯d be Zhang Zian.

    If Love Lovely Pet were beat, her father¡¯s breeding base would have better prospects, and the pet breeding industry in this region could return to its usual healthypetition instead of a corrupt price war.

    Zhang Zian knew that Sheng Ke and Sun Xiaomeng were looking at him with high expectations, which added a tremendous pressure. However, he couldn¡¯te up with any good idea at the moment.

    After contemting for a long time, he sighed, ¡°Captain Sheng, give me some time to think about it.¡±

    ¡°All right, this matter has nothing to do with the police. It¡¯s just a personal request. If you don¡¯t know what to do, don¡¯t force yourself.¡± Sheng Ke was a bit disappointed. He stood from the chair and put the cap back on his head.

    What Sheng Ke meant by ¡°don¡¯t force yourself¡± was that Zhang Zian shouldn¡¯t vite anyws.

    Zhang Zian understood, and he nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll call you if I think of a way.¡±

    Since he knew Sheng Ke was busy, Zhang Zian sent him on his way.

    ¡°Please send my regards to your friends at the police dog training base,¡± Zhang Zian reminded Sheng Ke. ¡°When Liu and Wangplete their missions, they¡¯re wee to bring Red Dragon and Prince over to y. Dinner is on me!¡±

    Sheng Keughed and said, ¡°Okay, no problem. We¡¯re a bit busy right now, perhaps we could visit your ce after the Chinese New Year. Besides, it¡¯s us who should buy you dinner. If it weren¡¯t for you, a lot more police dogs would¡¯ve been injured. See youter. Call me if youe up with anything!¡±

    ¡°Be careful, Captain Sheng.¡±

    Zhang Zian walked Sheng Ke out, then returned inside.

 Chapter 624: Growing Greenery, Fowls in the Air

    <h4>Chapter 624: Growing Greenery, Fowls in the Air</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    A gentle breeze blew, and the sun was out.

    Famouszilyid on the ancestral hall¡¯s zed roof, sun-tanning. It let out a long yawn and raised its front paw to chase away a bee that was flying around its nose.

    February consisted of growing greenery and fowls flying in the air.

    ¡°Hei!¡±

    The young version of Old Time Tea jumped around at high speed in the open space just outside the ancestral hall. It would lunge forwards with both paws stretched out before suddenly changing directions, creating gusts of wind. It¡¯s sharp hind ws broke into the earth just like an iron plow, the newly sprouted grass shredded in an instant. As the pieces fluttered into the air, its mandarin jacket danced along with its movements, looking both elegant and stylish.

    ¡°Old Time Tea, take a break.¡±

    Famous was very impressed with Old Time Tea¡¯s tenacity, but it was toozy to train, especially since this was his Imagined Landscape. The muscles it gained here wouldn¡¯t follow him into the real world, so why torment oneself? There were times where he wasn¡¯t able to differentiate between the real world and his Imagined Landscape.

    After going through a whole set of moves, Old Time Tea pulled his paws back and exhaled a string of obscenities.

    ¡°Famous, would you like toe down for some tea?¡± Old Time Tea replied, raising its head.

    Right below the eaves of the ancestral hall, was a small, copper stove where the crackling sounds of firewood burning could be heard. From time to time, a heavy thud came from within the stove as a thin curl of smoke slowly rose. Right above the copper stove, an orange me lightly licked the bottom of a ceramic teapot as whiffs of tea fragrance came from its spout.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, enjoy the tea yourself. Careful not to burn your tongue.¡± Famous didn¡¯t move.

    They didn¡¯t have nimble hands like humans, and this world didn¡¯t have convenient thermal insted kettles, so drinking tea was too much trouble. Plus, it¡¯s very easy to burn one¡¯s mouth.

    Wu Ning brought the stove, so that they¡¯d be able to start a fire in the winter. As for the teapot, it was brought over by her follower who had forgotten to take it when they left. As for the tea leaves inside, they picked them up in the mountains, not knowing which travelling merchant threw them there.

    Old Time Tea wrapped a rag around its paw and opened the furnace door that was covering the inlet of the stove, slowly reducing the mes within.

    A momentter, Old Time Tea threw in a few raw potatoes, taking advantage of the lingering heat. The potatoes weren¡¯t for Old Time Tea, they were for Famous.

    Soon after, Old Time Tea quietly sat in a corner, waiting for the tea to cool down a bit. It mustn¡¯t be too cool, or else the tea won¡¯t be good.

    ¡°Meow.¡±

    Not far away, a bush shook vigorously before a ck-and-white cat leapt out, chasing a butterfly. The butterfly fluttered around, repeatedly escaping the cat¡¯s ws. However, its luck didn¡¯tst, as it was soon trapped within the cat¡¯s paws.

    The ck-and-white cat didn¡¯t harm the butterfly, and it didn¡¯t seem to want to eat the butterfly. It brought its paws closer to its face to observe the butterfly as it pped its wings in the enclosed space. A momentter, the cat released its paws. The butterfly hesitated for a second, but then gracefully took off to the sky, disappearing from the cat¡¯s eye.

    A green grasshopper caught the cat¡¯s attention, and it chased after it, meowing.

    ¡°Don¡¯t ask me, I don¡¯t know,¡± Famous muttered, as it heard a meowe from behind him.

    Famous freaked out, thinking that the ancestral hall was haunted, as it was very sure that there was no other living thing inside. Old Time Tea was also startled. It quickly got into a defensive stance as it slowly turned around and realized that it was just Gxy behind them.

    How did Gxye into this world? It was clear that it was Imagined Landscape Gxy, not real Gxy.

    Famous created this Imagined Landscape from Old Time Tea¡¯s memories. It was very close to reality, but it waspletely different from Gxy¡¯s Imagined Landscape of the mysterious ck box.

    Famous witnessed Gxy escape the ck box in Gxy¡¯s own Imagined Landscape, but never knew where it escaped to, as it wasn¡¯t able to follow.

    Famous had once asked Gxy, but Gxy was also unsure. The only thing it could do was meow and y a game of hide-and-seek.

    Although the young Old Time Tea had never seen Gxy before, Famous had told it stories, so Old Time Tea let down its defences.

    After that, the three of them temporarily lived together within the Temple for the Righteous Cat and Chivalrous Dog.

    Days and months were non-existent in the mountains, summer and winter didn¡¯t follow the usual timeline.

    Time passed differently in the Imagined Landscape than in the real world. At times, it seemed fast, and other times, it seemed slow. Famous wasn¡¯t sure how long had passed, probably a few months since it came into Old Time Tea¡¯s Imagined Landscape. They survived the winter, and weed spring.

    Everyday, Old Time Tea would train, and during a break, drink tea and make food. Gxy would run around the mountains, ying hide-and-seek with the other animals. Famous would always tan on the roof, responsible for looking out for potential danger. However, it was only an excuse that it used to tan. What possible dangers were there to look out for? The wolves and bears in the mountains had already been taught a lesson, so they were all hiding, and bandits had heard rumours of a demonic cat and viinous dog, so they hadn¡¯te looking for trouble.

    With no threats of beasts or bandits, the mountain road was secluded, but safe. As people pass by the Temple for the Righteous Cat and Chivalrous Dog, they¡¯d stop by and offer some incense before continuing with their journey.

    Wu Ning had beening less frequently, probably because of the cold weather. They still had lots of food, especially potatoes. Ever since Famous had finished filming, it had fallen in love with potatoes. A pity that it wasn¡¯t able to enjoy potato with braised beef as there were no wild cows within the mountain. Roasted potato was their only option.

    Old Time Tea was good at everything, except roasting potatoes. The fire would either be too big or too small, but as Famous did nothing, it had no right toin.

    ¡°Old Time Tea, is it not done yet?¡± Famous asked.

    As soon as it turned around, it saw Gxy, who hade up to the roof.

    ¡°I¡¯m hungry. I have no time to y hide-and-seek,¡± Famous replied quickly.

    ¡°Meow! You need to go back now.¡±

    Famous was confused for a moment before it woke up abruptly.

 Chapter 625: Name Calling

    <h4>Chapter 625: Name Calling</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Famous shuddered and woke up.

    The grass, the temple, the mountain breeze, the smoke, and the tea fragrance disappeared as if they had never existed.

    Famous was in the pet shop,ying next to Zhang Zian¡¯s recliner, dozing off before breakfast. Gxy ran past Famous, chasing the American Shorthair. Old Time Tea wasn¡¯t baking potatoes, but was watching the morning news with a cup of tea ced in front of it.

    Famous stood up and stretched.

    Famous looked up and saw Sun Xiaomeng frowning and pacing in the shop, as if she was thinking about something difficult.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s voice was heard not far away. Famous tilted its head and saw Zhang Zian outside the pet shop, talking to Sheng Ke. A moment passed before Sheng Ke got into the police car and drove away.

    Zhang Zian came back inside, and said apologetically to Sun Xiaomeng, ¡°Thank you for lending me your car, but as of right now, I can¡¯t really think of a good idea.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng sighed, unable to hide her disappointment. ¡°I don¡¯t me you. I should go. Don¡¯t forget to fill up the tank and wash my car.¡±

    ¡°Stop nagging me. You already told me once,¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    Sun Xiaomeng retorted bluntly, ¡°Because I¡¯m afraid that you¡¯ll pretend to forget.¡±

    Famous couldn¡¯t figure out what was going on. Did it miss something while it slept?

    Famous heard wings pping upstairs. From the stairwell, to be exact.

    ¡°Quack! Hello, doctor! Why aren¡¯t you wearing a white coat today? I like your white coat!¡±

    Richard, who had just woken up, staggered from the second floor. As soon as it saw Sun Xiaomeng, it immediately flew over to her.

    ¡°Hello, Richard!¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng temporarily forgot about the issue with Love Lovely Pet. She raised her left arm in front of her chest. Richardnded on her arm and looked her in the eye.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t wear my white coat because my clinic is closed today,¡± replied Sun Xiaomeng. She didn¡¯t answer perfunctorily because the other party was a bird.

    ¡°Quack! Closed? Doctor, are you on vacation?¡± Richard asked curiously.

    ¡°Well, yes. I¡¯m returning to my hometown for the Lunar New Year,¡± she said half-jokingly. ¡°Richard, would you like toe?¡±

    Richard pondered seriously and rubbed its chest with its beak. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t. Without my care, this idiot will die. I must take responsibility as his owner!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need your care,¡± Zhang Zian replied. ¡°You¡¯re nothing, but a troublemaker. How dare you im you take care of others!¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng said regretfully, ¡°Either way you wouldn¡¯t be able toe with me. My hometown is in the countryside. It¡¯s too cold in the winter and you¡¯ll get sick.¡±

    ¡°Quack! Doctor, you¡¯ll be back after the Lunar New Year, right?¡± Richard asked, tilting its head.

    She smiled. ¡°Of course! I count on my clinic to make a living.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± Richard said satisfyingly. It loosened its grasp and flew to a disy case nearby. ¡°Have a safe trip, doctor!¡±

    ¡°Goodbye, Richard!¡± Sun Xiaomeng waved at it. ¡°See you after the Lunar New Year!¡±

    ¡°Bye!¡± Richard watched her leave, affection in its eyes.

    ¡°Actually, I want to take a vacation as well,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°Having been busy for the past six months, I really want to rest.¡±

    ¡°Quack! Forget it, if you can¡¯t stand the hardship, how will you find yourself a boyfriend?¡± Richard shouted and flew to the highest shelf.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s response was to beat it with a feather duster, if only he could find one.

    ¡°I fell asleep. What were you talking about?¡± Famous interjected before they started to fight.

    ¡°We were talking about finding him a boyfriend,¡± Richard said without fear.

    Zhang Zian took off his shoes.

    ¡°Quack! Throwing chemical weapons is forbidden!¡± Richard shrank its neck.

    Famous got between them. ¡°Stop! You guys can fight after answering my question.¡±

    ¡°What kind of mediator are you?¡± Richard protested.

    You asked for it. Famous thought.

    Zhang Zian put his shoes down and replied, ¡°Sheng Ke has a problem that he asked me to help with. It also has to do with Sun Xiaomeng. However, I can¡¯t really think of a way to help him.¡±

    Famous listened carefully and nced at Gxy who was ying hide-and-seek. Why did the Gxy in Famous¡¯s Imagined Landscape ask it to return to the reality? Was it because of this incident?

    ¡°What happened?¡± Famous asked.

    ¡°Quack? What happened with Dr. Sun?¡± Richard stopped teasing Zhang Zian. Standing on the top of the shelf, its expression became serious.

    Zhang Zian repeated what Sheng Ke had just told him, adding his own thoughts.

    ¡°Oh, I see.¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°I think something illegal is going on because it¡¯s impossible for them to sell pets at such low prices. Besides, I don¡¯t believe that aprehensive breeding base can breed Teacup Puppies. However, we have no evidence of their crimes, we can¡¯t even go there to investigate.¡±

    Famous nodded.

    ¡°Quack! You loser, can¡¯t you think of a way?¡± Richard yelled.

    ¡°If you¡¯re so capable, why don¡¯t you find a solution?¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°Come down!¡±

    ¡°Quack! Why don¡¯t youe up here?¡±

    ¡°What are you looking at?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m looking at you. What are you going to do?¡±

    While Richard and Zhang Zian were fighting, they didn¡¯t notice that Fina, who was sleeping, was about to lose its temper.

    Famous had a headache from their bickering. It coughed and said, ¡°I understand. I think I have a way. I just don¡¯t know if it¡¯ll work.¡±

 Chapter 626: Secret Infiltration

    <h4>Chapter 626: Secret Infiltration</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The winter solstice was long over, and the sky took a lot longer to be dark.

    Dusk had fallen, so Wang Qian and Li Kun rushed back underneath the dim night sky to check around the store and make sure there weren¡¯t any customers inside. Then, they took out a package from their bag that was the size of a fist. The box looked unusually crude, with a few words simply written on it. Security Monitoring Device.

    ¡°Master, we bought you this from Computer City.¡± Wang Qian handed the package over to Zhang Zian. ¡°Do you want to take a look at it and see if this was what you wanted?¡±

    Zhang Zian opened up a tiny slit in the package, roughly looked inside and said, ¡°Is there an invoice?¡±

    ¡°Nope,¡± replied Li Kun truthfully, ¡°the worker from Computer City said another 10 would be charged for an invoice, so I told him that we didn¡¯t need one or a receipt.¡±

    ¡°Great, no invoice is good.¡± Zhang Zian nodded his head in satisfaction. ¡°We¡¯ll finish off early today. You two can start packing up now.¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun exchanged nces. They both were puzzled because the surveince camera above the cashier counter wasn¡¯t broken¡ªso why did he feel the sudden urge to buy another camera out of nowhere?

    That afternoon, Zhang Zian had sent the both of them on a trip down to Computer City to purchase a surveince camera. He specifically reminded them that the smaller the camera the better, and that no invoice was needed.

    Normally, it was cheaper to buy one from an online electronic store. It woulde with a better guarantee on both quality and warranty, and also had a free refund policy. So why would Zhang Zian send them down to Computer City for the purchase?

    Taking a moment to think, it was probably for two reasons. One, Zhang Zian needed it urgently, so buying it from a physical store would be faster as they would immediately get the product. As for the second reason, it would leave an online transaction trail, allowing the possibility of getting tracked. Purchasing the device from a physical store without an invoice was rtively safer.

    When the two of them told Zhang Zian that the Computer City worker didn¡¯t require an invoice or receipt, he gave them both a look of understanding, leaving them with an indescribable feeling.

    Zhang Zian told them to clean up the first floor, while he took the package and headed up to the second floor.

    He opened up the box and took out a camera that was shaped like a miniature shlight. Calling it a pinhole camera would be taking it a little too far as it wasn¡¯t that small, but it was definitely a great camera for candid shots.

    The instruction manual was simple. There were only two pages, the front and back of one paper. Zian briefly read through it, getting a general idea on how to use the device. Then he took out a Transsh memory card, that hadn¡¯t been used in a very long time, and inserted it into the memory card slot.

    ording to the manual, its battery life was around 7 to 8 hours. Based on that information, it should at the very least be able to work for 6 hours. Even if Zian turned on the infrared night vision function, the camera should still work for at least 3 hours, and that would be long enough.

    Famous, who was already waiting on the second floor, curiously examined the miniature camera and asked, ¡°Were there no smaller ones?¡±

    ¡°The smaller ones were too expensive. It wouldn¡¯t be cost-effective, so try to make do with this one.¡± Zhang Zian held up the camera up against its body, trying to figure out where he should set it up.

    ¡°How about I ce it on your head?¡± Zian suggested.

    ¡°No!¡± Famous rejected tly. ¡°This affects my image!¡±

    It was obvious that the camera could only be ced near the front of Famous¡¯s body, leaving only a few options.

    Zhang Zian held it up against its neck. ¡°How about I fix it to the side of your neck?¡±

    Its ck cor matched the ck camera, and it would be hard to notice without paying close attention.

    This time Famous didn¡¯t refuse. Zhang Zian brought out some double-sided tape and stuck the camera to the side of its cor. He waited for a moment before pulling on it. It seemed to be firmly stuck on, and as long as the camera wasn¡¯t roughly pulled on with a lot of force it wouldn¡¯te off so easily.

    ¡°Zian, do I get one too?¡± Old Time Tea asked from the side.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need one, this one is enough,¡± replied Famous on his behalf.

    This n was started by Famous, but it had asked Old Time Tea to help them along and Old Time Tea dly obliged.

    The operation was very simple. Famous and Old Time Tea would sneak into Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base with the camera, and take pictures of what they thought was suspicious. Then, they¡¯de back and have Zhang Zian examine their evidence. If there was anything illegal or incriminating found, they would immediately contact the police.

    ¡°Famous, Grandpa Tea, are the two of you sure you want to do this?¡±

    Zhang Zian was still worried about the n. After all, the breeding base¡¯s situation was still unknown. It wasn¡¯t smart to head in without careful consideration, and Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want something bad to happen. Compared to when he helped Sheng Ke out, Zian was more concerned about Famous and Old Time Tea¡¯s safety. He didn¡¯t think it was worth taking any risks.

    ¡°Hehe, don¡¯t worry.¡± Famous seemed to be full of confidence. ¡°It¡¯s just a breeding base, not a dragon¡¯s den or a tiger¡¯s cave. There won¡¯t be anything dangerous there.¡±

    Within the imaginary world, it had faced greater danger, shing with packs of wolves, wild dogs, crazy bears, and bandits in the wild. It had relied on its skilled teamwork with Old Time Tea toe out safely.

    Although Old Time Tea wasn¡¯t sure where Famous was getting its confidence from, a cat with great skills was never afraid. Old Time Tea was confident in its skills, and smiled as it nodded back.

    As they had already set their mind on going forth with the operation, Zhang Zian gave up on trying to change their minds.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were both done with cleaning up the first floor, and they checked in with Zhang Zian before heading home. Lu Yiyun had also finished tidying up the cashier counter and went home with Jasmine.

    Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s car was parked right outside the store. Zian waited for the sky to get a little darker before pulling down the shutter doors. Then, he took Famous and Old Time Tea into the car and drove north.

    Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base was located in the northern part of the city area, taking up a significant amount of space. Based on his memories from previous trips there, Zhang Zian was able to get there without any help from the GPS. He parked his car far away near the side of the road, switched off the headlights, and looked at the breeding base that was further away under the twilight sky.

    It was after office hours, and the staff members were leaving in twos and threes through the main door. Some left in cars and others were on electric scooters or bicycles, carrying their tired bodies as they all went their separate ways.

    Waiting for a little while longer, the breeding base gradually quietened down. The lights slowly went out one by one, and the guard eventually shut the big metal door, leaving only a single small door open for people to enter or leave thepound. Security checks on visitors seemed to be very strict.

    Even during the night,rge-scale breeding bases like these would always have someone on duty. Other than the guards, there were also staff members who remained on base for overtime responsibilities.

    Entering from the front door would be impossible. Zhang Zian started the car, and followed the outline of the base all the way to the back. Once again, he stopped by the side of the road, keeping a safe distance, with his headlights turned off.

    ¡°Famous and Grandpa Tea, isn¡¯t this wall a little too high?¡± Zhang Zian frowned as he looked at the towering wall.

    The long wall wrapped around the whole base. It was at least 3 meters tall with a 1-meter tall wire entanglement above it. Surveince cameras were also set up with a fixed distance between them. The security was very strict, and wasn¡¯t that far off from a prison. But the more secure, the more curious people would get about what was within it.

    Old Time Tea nced over at the wall, and fiddled with its whiskers as it said, ¡°Personally, it¡¯s height doesn¡¯t matter much to me. But Famous, how are you going to get over?¡±

    Famous was calm as usual, and it said to Zhang Zian, ¡°You can head back first, we¡¯ll make our way back once we¡¯re done.¡±

    ¡°The two of you are going to run all the way back?¡± asked Zian in shock.

    The exact distance from their current location to the pet store was about 10 kilometers, which means that the actual path back would be much longer.

    Even Old Time Tea paused for a moment. As a member of the cat family, Old Time Tea had unmatched agility and explosive force, but stamina was not one of its strongest traits.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, this distance is nothing. I¡¯ve ran further distances before,¡± said Famous confidently.

    Famous said nothing else, and gestured for Zhang Zian to open the door. It leapt out of the car with Old Time Tea.

    The wall was about 200 to 300 meters away. Famous and Old Time Tea both hid in a corner and waved their paws at Zhang Zian, who was still inside the car, urging him to leave immediately. Only when Zian had left could they begin the operation.

    Zhang Zian was still uneasy, but he knew that both Famous and Old Time Tea had superior skills that were above average. His only option was to believe in them.

    Zian started the car and went back along the same road that he¡¯d taken earlier. He repeatedly looked back at the Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base from his rear-view mirror, until it could no longer be seen.

    After returning to the city area, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t head back to the pet store, but instead he drove down to Li¡¯s Supreme Snack Shop.

    Maybe his luck wasn¡¯t so bad, or it maybe it was just past eating hours, but the line wasn¡¯t so long.

    He would have usually ordered takeout, but he decided that he was going to have his dinner there that day. Zian needed someone to testify for him and prove that he wasn¡¯t at the scene while Famous and Old Time Tea were going ahead with the operation.

 Chapter 627: Witnessing the Inside Story

    <h4>Chapter 627: Witnessing the Inside Story</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When Zhang Zian¡¯s car¡ªwell, Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s car¡ªdrove away, Famous and Old Time Tea left the corner they were hiding at and looked at the wall that was two or three hundred meters away.

    The streetlights in the suburbs weren¡¯t as densely distributed as they were in urban areas. There was only one streetlight far away, and its dismal light could only light up the small area around it. This was better for their operation.

    Since the Lunar New Year was approaching, a string of firecrackers went off not too far away from where they were. When the firecracker sounds stopped, Old Time Tea and Famous secretly reached the wall.

    Old Time Tea turned its head. Its eyes were shining like a zing fire underneath its bamboo hat. ¡°Should I go first?¡±

    ¡°Please,¡± said Famous.

    Old Time Tea climbed up the wall in a zigzag pattern, and in the blink of an eye, leapt to the top of the wall.

    Above the wall, there was ayer of barbed wire. The gap between the wall and the barbed wire was so small that if Old Time Tea tried to go under it, it would get hurt. Tapping the wall with its feet, Old Time Tea leapt up higher andnded on top of the iron stake used to hold the wire.

    Afraid that Famous couldn¡¯t get up, Old Time Tea nned to stay there and watch how Famous managed.

    After estimating the height of the wall, Famous tensed all of its muscles like a spring, and leapt up. As if it was being carried by the mist and clouds, it easily jumped over the barbed wire above the wall andnded steadily on the other side.

    ¡°What are you waiting for?¡± Famous turned back to look at Old Time Tea, who was still on the top of the iron stake.

    ¡°Your strength is truly amazing!¡± said Old Time Tea admiringly. It glided down the wall as well.

    ¡°Famous, you have a keen sense of smell, why don¡¯t you lead the way?¡±

    Although Old Time Tea was confident in its sense of smell, it was inferior to Famous¡¯s in this regard.

    The moment theynded within the wall, they¡¯d already smelled a rancid stench in the air. Meowing and barking came from within the darkness not far off, pointing them in the direction of the breeding farm.

    They were currently in the office area, and nearby was the dormitory area, where the nonlocal employees lived. From inside the simple dorm building, the employees asionally burst intoughter. The smell of hard liquor and cooked food filled the air.

    Old Time Tea and Famous moved through the shadows, carefully avoiding the staff walking by in their slippers. The area was filled with a strong smell of urine. The drunken men who didn¡¯t have time to reach a toilet just unzipped their pants and peed against the wall. Some drunkards also ced their hands against the wall and vomited. Famous was extremely sensitive to smells, and found the mixed stench of alcohol and bile to be even more disgusting.

    Since Famous didn¡¯t want to step on the nasty vomit or urine stains, Old Time Tea, who could see more clearly in the darkness, began to lead the way instead.

    After going through this area, they ran into an iron fence.

    A warning sign was hung up on the fence: Restricted area guarded by dangerous dogs. No trespassing.

    It wasmon for arge-scale pet breeding base to userger dogs as guards. However, Famous and Old Time Tea ignored the warning. They effortlessly jumped over the iron fence and entered the main area of ??the breeding base.

    Following Zhang Zian¡¯s instructions, Old Time Tea extended its w to switch on the camera on Famous¡¯s neck. The camera started recording.

    Under the dim moonlight, they could see that the farm¡¯s setup was rather simple. The so-called breeding sites were made up of hard stic ceilings and woven cloth, which looked like it could barely keep away the wind and rain. However, such simple equipment also meant that thepany could maximize the farm¡¯s usage.

    Since they couldn¡¯t see what was happening beyond the woven cloth, Famous and Old Time Tea went into one of them, going under the gap between the cloth and the floor.

    This setup was for breeding Poodles¡ªnot Teacup Poodles, but ordinary Poodles. Rows of iron cages were arranged in an orderly manner. Famous and Old Time Tea immediately noticed that each cage contained at least two or three puppies, and some cages were even crammed with four or five puppies.

    At the sight of Famous and Old Time Tea, the puppies started barking uneasily.

    Going on ahead, they saw that the female adult Poodles served as the breeding dogs.

    ¡°These people are so immoral!¡± Old Time Tea¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief.

    The female dogs were lying in their cages lifelessly, not moving or barking. asionally, their eyes rolled, which was the only indication that they were still alive. They were extremely skinny. Though they weren¡¯t old enough to be losing teeth, half of their teeth were gone, which was a sign that they were calcium deficient. Female dogs lost a lot of calcium during childbirth. If they didn¡¯t get enough supplements, they¡¯d be lethargic and their teeth would fall out easily.

    Clearly these female dogs were being treated as breeding machines. After giving birth to a litter of puppies, before they could recover their health, they had to immediately be pregnant again and breed another litter of puppies.

    Although the situation looked cruel, it couldn¡¯t be used as evidence. Zhang Zian had expected such a situation and reminded Famous and Old Time Tea in advance that China hadn¡¯t introduced the Small Animals Protection Law or the Anti Cruelty to Animals Law at that time. Just this couldn¡¯t be used as a proof to overthrow the Love Lovely Pet Breeding Base.

    Famous felt deeply helpless, seeing these dogs suffer from such inhumane treatment.

    ng!

    Not far off, wheels were bumping against the stairs. It sounded like somebody wasing their way.

    Having no time to express their sympathy to the female dogs, Famous and Old Time Tea quickly found a ce to hide, and extended their heads from under the cloth to secretly watch.

    A worker who seemed to be a cook was in a dirty apron, pushing a messy dining cart in their direction.

    ¡°Zheng!¡± another younger employee, who was carrying a stic bag, called Zheng from behind.

    Zheng stopped walking. ¡°What?¡±

    The younger employee walked over to the dining cart and looked inside. ¡°It¡¯s in porridge again.¡±

    ¡°Are you blind? There are obviously a few chicken heads in it too!¡± said Zheng rudely.

    The younger employee smiled. ¡°I¡¯m in a good mood today. I¡¯ll go give some meat to the dogs!¡± He dumped the stic bag¡¯s contents onto the dining cart.

    ¡°What are they?¡± asked Zheng.

    ¡°The chicken bones and duck bones my friends left,¡± The younger employee said drunkenly.

    Zheng cursed him. ¡°You bastard. Don¡¯t throw them in the porridge! The bones could choke the dogs to death!¡±

    ¡°No way. Zheng, if you¡¯re worried, you can pick the bones out. I¡¯m going to sleep for a while.¡± The younger employee staggered away.

    ¡°F**k!¡± Zheng looked at the porridge with disgust. ¡°It¡¯s none of my business anyway. I don¡¯t getmissioned when the breeding base sells more dogs.¡±

    He pushed the dining cart into the shed, scooped up the porridge with arge spoon, and poured it into the food bowl in each iron cage. His hands were shaking and at least half of the porridge spilled outside of the bowl.

    The Poodle puppies frantically rushed over to eat the porridge. They even licked up the porridge that was on the ground. They were like the hungry Tibetan Mastiffs from Tibetan areas.

    Famous felt sorry for the puppies. They were still growing up and needed nutrition. Obviously, a bucket of porridge with several chicken bones and a few slices of rotten vegetables wasn¡¯t enough.

    When Zheng pushed the cart over to the female dogs, the bucket was empty.

    Facing the hungry dogs, Zheng knocked on the empty bucket with a long spoon. ¡°There¡¯s no more.¡±

 Chapter 628: Skipping a Beat with Every Step

    <h4>Chapter 628: Skipping a Beat with Every Step</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Famous had two questions that he couldn¡¯t figure out. First, even if Love Lovely Pets didn¡¯t value the lives of the cats and dogs, they were still their money-making tools. So why weren¡¯t they being fed properly? Second, as breeding tools, wouldn¡¯t it be their top priority to make sure that the adult female dogs were in good health?

    However, after listening in on the conversation between Zheng and other the young employee, Famous was able toe up with a few guesses.

    Zheng was only a cook in charge of the pets¡¯ meals, so salemissions had nothing to do with him. He was probably just a temporary worker without an end of the year bonus or any other work-rted benefits. If that was the case, he¡¯d be better off pocketing some of the food expenses. Even if he wasn¡¯t able to get himself any cash, he could at least eat some of the whole chickens that were originally prepared for the dogs. He¡¯d finish them all alone, leaving just the chicken head and its rear, throwing them into the white porridge. No one would ever find out, and even if they did, what could they do?

    The female dogs were already hanging onto theirst breath due to starvation. Their teeth only allowed them to eat soft meats, but what came to them in the end was leftovers from the pot of porridge.

    Zheng knocked on the cage with a ricedle, causing bits of porridge to fall into the cage. The motionless female dogs didn¡¯t make a single sound and struggled to get up. They greedily licked up the cold bits of porridge that hadnded inside their cage.

    ¡°Don¡¯t stare at me like that, this is all for your own good. The residue found at the bottom of the pot is the most nutritious part. I specially saved it all for you,¡± Zheng mumbled to himself.

    Famous really wanted to return to the wilderness within the imaginary world, wherews didn¡¯t exist. To beyond reach of the regime, a world that still had a hint of superstition, and where, with Old Time Tea, they could rightfully take matters into their own hands. There, they could bring justice to thend without getting themselves into trouble.

    Suddenly, a ruffling noise came from one of the cages with the puppies in it, catching Famous¡¯s attention.

    Five puppies were crammed into a single cage, their faces hard. The five puppies were jostling among one another and seemed to be fighting over something.

    Famous¡¯s eyesight wasn¡¯t as good as Old Time Tea¡¯s in the dark, and he couldn¡¯t see what was happening. However, everything was clear to Old Time Tea. The puppies were fighting over a few pieces of chicken bones that the young employee had tossed into the porridge. There was no meat left on the bones¡ªthey had been picked clean by those who had eaten them earlier. Maybe there were still strings of meat left hanging off the bone, as well as the bone marrow in the bones itself. The bones had an indescribable appeal to the puppies who weren¡¯t used to eating anything besides white porridge everyday.

    However, they were still too young and some of the chicken bones were broken in half, leaving jagged, sharp ends on either side. They could easily puncture their delicate throats. Old Time Tea picked up a small pebble from the ground with its ws and flicked it towards the cage. The pebble flew through the gap between the bars and hit the chicken bone.

    The bone flew out of the cage, and the disappointed puppies swarmed at the corner of the cage. They all extended their paws outside, in an attempt to get the bone back.

    Old Time Tea¡¯s throw hadn¡¯t been gentle. The impact of the pebble hitting the bone let out a sharp sound.

    ¡°Who¡¯s over there?¡± Zheng opened his eyes wide, staring in the darkness where the light couldn¡¯t reach.

    Since he couldn¡¯t see in the dark either, his imagination went wild. He thought that maybe there was a terrifying demon or monster standing there in the dark.

    He held out the longdle in his hand like a weapon, and braced himself as he cautiously walked towards the darkness. He heaved a sigh of relief as soon as found out it was only a false rm. There was nothing there.

    After the sessful throw, Old Time Tea signalled Famous with its eyes, and both of them stealthily crept out from under the decorative fabric. Obviously, they weren¡¯t afraid of the chef, who only bullied the weak and feared the strong. Since they hadn¡¯t yet reached their primary goal, it wouldn¡¯t be smart to reveal themselves.

    Famous and Old Time Tea were unfamiliar with thepound and it was clear that Zheng was going around to feed the pets dinner. As long as they silently followed him, they¡¯d be able to save the trouble of looking around themselves.

    Zheng pushed the empty food trolley back to the kitchen. Momentster, he pushed the trolley back out again with a loose pack of cat food on it. The food had no branding or packaging around it.

    Famous found the scent of cat food to be familiar, and it remembered thest time it went to the dog market with Zhang Zian. There had been people setting up stalls and selling unpackaged cat food. The food was ridiculously cheap, and the number of people buying some wasn¡¯t small. This food seemed to be the same.

    Zheng, who was pushing the trolley, didn¡¯t notice the cat and dog following closely behind him, amidst the shadows.

    He lifted the cloth curtain and pushed the trolley into another shed.

    It was simr to the previous shed, with many metal cages. The difference was that this shed was for cats. They had the moremonly seen British Shorthair, American Shorthair, and Siamese cats. There were two to three, or even three to four, squeezed into a single cage.

    Zheng was still using the longdle to scoop up the porridge. He sshed the scoops into the cages, letting the kittens fight amongst themselves.

    Famous and Old Time Tea crawled out from beneath the curtain, to a scene more horrendous than what they¡¯d seen earlier.

    An American Shorthairy in one of the cages, and itsctation organs on its chest and abdomen were swollen like little buns. A few newborn kittens were curled up just below its belly, desperately sucking for cat milk that seemed close to drying up. Only repeated deliveries and continuous breastfeeding without time to rest could put a female cat in this terrible state.

    What was even more terrifying was that there was a cold, lifeless ball of organs that had fallen out from between its legs. It was its womb that was used to breed life. Itsst delivery must have severely damaged its breeding system. It was most likely thest delivery it would ever have. Famous and Old Time Tea didn¡¯t want to think about its future, of what it would have to face after losing all of its value.

    Passing by the female cat, Zheng stuck thedle inside the cage and poked it. Noticing that it still had a small reaction, he moved around a little before continuing to push the trolley out of the shed.

    ¡°Old Time Tea¡­¡± Famous wanted to say something but he couldn¡¯t find the words.

    Old Time Tea shook its head. ¡°Famous, I know what you want to say, but ack of restraint in the smaller matters will disrupt the greater ns.¡±

    Famous knew that what Old Time Tea was saying was right, but it still struggled to control itself. Especially when it came to self-restraint, Famous was still many levels away from Old Time Tea.

    They continued to trail Zheng from behind, making use of the shadows and corners to hide themselves.

    ¡°Is that you, Zheng?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, what¡¯s up?¡±

    A door suddenly opened and a person carrying a few ck trash bags walked in.

    ¡°Help me throw away these dead cats and dogs to the garage clearance area backyard.¡± The person threw the ck trash bags onto the trolley that Zheng was pushing. From inside the bags, they could see messy and filthy fur. There was also a w lifelessly hanging out, as the rancid smell filled the air.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you throw them away yourself?¡± asked Zheng unhappily.

    ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t you already on the way? If I go, I have to put on my coat.¡± The person started massaging Zheng¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Zheng, help me out, I¡¯ll treat you to a drink next time.¡±

    ¡°Drink, drink! How many times have you said that? When have you ever treated me once? You¡¯re only talk!¡± grumbled Zheng.

    ¡°Tch, I had other business to take care of those times. I¡¯ll really treat you this time, go throw it away for me!¡± Without waiting for Zheng to respond, he quickly went back inside the building.

    ¡°Sh*t! This is freaking disgusting!¡± Zheng nced over at the ck trash bags and said, ¡°All thesezy people, all they know how to do is to boss me around!¡±

    Although he was angry, he had no way to refuse. He continued grumbling, and just as he was about to push the trolley away, the person came back from within the building. ¡°Zheng, wait!¡±

    ¡°What else do you want?¡± Zheng snappily asked, ¡°Can¡¯t you get it out it all at once?¡±

    The person was holding a small box. He smiled and said, ¡°I almost forgot, bring this medicine over to them¡ªbe careful not to break them, it¡¯s full of ss bottles! They¡¯re also really expensive!¡±

    The moment Zheng heard that it was another troublesome errand, he immediately shrunk back and said, ¡°Bring the expensive items yourself, I¡¯m not going to care!¡±

    ¡°Hey, Zheng, it¡¯s nothing serious! As long as you don¡¯t drop it on purpose, the bottles won¡¯t shatter that easily. There¡¯s also some packaging inside the box to protect them.¡± He forcefully shoved the small box onto Zheng¡¯s trolley. Zheng tried to refuse, but he still failed in the end.

    ¡°Why are you like this?¡± asked Zheng impatiently.

    The person took out a cigarette and handed it to Zheng. ¡°Come on, just do me a favor. I¡¯m really toozy to make another trip.¡±

    Zheng stared at the remaining cigarettes in the pack.

    ¡°Fine, they¡¯re all yours.¡±

    The person couldn¡¯t help but give him the whole pack. A smile appeared on Zheng¡¯s face. ¡°Who¡¯s it for?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s for Zhang Wanguo and the others.¡± The person pointed towards the other side of the breeding base.

 Chapter 629: Expensive Injections

    <h4>Chapter 629: Expensive Injections</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When they heard the name Zhang Wanguo, Famous and Old Time Tea turned to look at each other. Zhang Zian had mentioned this name to them before. Zhang Wanguo had sold a problematic Teacup puppy to some rich woman, and had caused a lot of issues.

    Zheng shoved the cigarettes in his pocket, and pushed the dining cart around the corner. He walked toward a row of sheds further in the farm.

    Under the dim lighting, the cart ran over a brick and violently nged against it. Bang! One of the ck garbage bags fell onto the floor.

    The head of a dead Yorkie stuck out from the top of the bag.

    ¡°F**k, what a nasty smell! And it¡¯s so heavy!¡± Zheng covered his nose with his arm, picked up the garbage bag, and threw it back on the dining cart.

    When he reached the sheds, he knocked on one of the doors.

    ¡°Who is it?¡± someone asked from inside.

    ¡°It¡¯s Zheng! I¡¯m delivering medicine for some people!¡± replied Zheng loudly.

    Before anyone realized, Old Time Tea and Famous jumped onto the roof of the shed to closely observe the situation.

    The door slightly opened. A pair of eyes vigntly confirmed Zheng¡¯s identity through the crack. Then, the door opened all the way. If Zhang Zian was there, he would¡¯ve be able to recognize that it was Zhang Wanguo, whom he¡¯d met once before.

    ¡°Why would they ask you to deliver something so important? They should have delivered it themselves!¡± said Zhang Wanguo with a bit of dissatisfaction after seeing Zheng walk in alone.

    ¡°Do you think I want to do this?¡± asked Zheng angrily. He was running errands for people and all he got wasints.

    ¡°Where is the medicine?¡± Zhang Wanguo knew that Zheng was just a cook, so he didn¡¯t want to waste time with him.

    Zheng took out the box from the cart and carefully handed it over. ¡°Careful! Don¡¯t me me if you break it!¡±

    Zhang Wanguo grabbed it and red at Zheng. ¡°Do you know what kind of medicine this is?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t. What is it?¡± Zheng asked curiously.

    Zhang Wanguo smiled. ¡°Good. Just go mind your own business then.¡±

    And then he closed the door.

    ¡°F**k! Who the hell does he think he is?¡± Zheng was offended and cursed Zhang Wanguo. Lifting his leg, he almost kicked the door. He put his leg back down resentfully, got the cart, and went to the garbage dump in the backyard.

    When Zheng was far away, Old Time Tea and Famous stuck their heads out from the roof and peered inside the room through the window.

    Including Zhang Wanguo, there were three men in the room. None of them paid attention to them looking in from outside.

    ¡°Is it here?¡± someone asked Zhang Wanguo.

    ¡°Yes. Let¡¯s check out the quality of the medicine this time.¡± Zhang Wanguo opened the box, took out a few syringes, and carefully looked at them under the light.

    Another manined, ¡°The qualityst time was so bad. After one injection, the dogs became lifeless. I told you not to buy cheap drugs! You didn¡¯t listen to me!¡±

    ¡°I knew that the expensive drugs were better. But would you pay extra money for the expensive drugs yourself?¡± asked the other man sarcastically.

    ¡°Me? Why should I?¡±

    ¡°Shut up, both of you. We¡¯re in this together. Let¡¯s try out the new medicine.¡± Zhang Wanguo interrupted their argument.

    There was an iron cage in the room. A Poodle puppy was lying inside. It was much smaller than themon Poodle, but it wasn¡¯t small enough to be a Teacup Poodle.

    Zhang Wanguo took it out from the cage andid it down on a table covered with a white cloth. He said to the other two, ¡°This dog is in pretty good condition. If we can sell it, we can get at least 20,000 Yuan.¡±

    ¡°Oh? How did you get this dog?¡± asked one of the men.

    ¡°Probably gene mutation,¡± answered Zhang Wanguo uncertainly. ¡°Its parents are ordinary Poodles, and it¡¯s the smallest one among its siblings.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s possible. Our breeding farm is so huge. I¡¯ve sometimes seen several smaller sized puppies, just like how there are dwarf human beings,¡± said the other man.

    ¡°It¡¯s quite small, but it¡¯s not small enough to be sold as a Teacup Poodle.¡± Zhang Wanguo lifted up several syringes. ¡°So, we¡¯re going to use this medicine.¡±

    ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve been wondering what kind of medicine this is. Why do the dogs shrink so much after getting injected?¡± The man stared at the medicine with a confused expression.

    Zhang Wanguo sneered. ¡°It¡¯s a lipolytic solution.¡±

    The two men had never heard of the strange term, so they both asked nkly, ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°This medicine dissolves fat,¡± Zhang Wanguo exined patiently. ¡°Lipolytic solution is often used in the cosmetic industry. It¡¯s really expensive and one injection costs up to tens of thousands of RMBs. Usually, it¡¯s only used by wealthy celebrities who want to slim down their faces. But this money is well-spent because if the medicine works, it can transform an ordinary Poodle that¡¯s worth only hundreds of RMBs into a Teacup Poodle that is worth 20,000 to 30,000 Yuan or even more. To work, the Poodle must be in good condition. This one is pretty good though, and it¡¯s better than the Poodlest time.¡±

    He pointed to the Poodle puppy that was waiting to get injected and said, ¡°Newborn puppies have a lot fat in their bodies. One injection can dissolve most of the fat so that they¡¯re quickly reduced to the size of a Teacup Poodle. However, this a gamble because only some puppies can survive after the injections.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re gambling fearlessly, to turn bicycles into motorcycles!¡± one man shouted.

    Zhang Wanguo smiled and said, ¡°You¡¯re right. The dog we usedst time was in poor condition. To make it meet the standard size of a Teacup Poodle, I had injected it too many times and the medicine¡¯s quality was pretty bad. After I sold it to that woman, it died two or three dayster, causing me a lot of trouble. But this dog should be fine.¡±

    ¡°Why do we have to be so sneaky? Why do we have to inject the solution into it at night? I want to go home and cuddle with my wife!¡± asked one man in confusion.

    Zhang Wanguo sneered. ¡°Who doesn¡¯t want to go home and be with their wife and children? We have to mix several drugs proportionately to make the lipolytic solution. And none of these drugs are avable through regr means. China prohibits selling them and also private injections of the lipolytic solution. Let me ask you, do either of you have a cosmetic surgeon medical license? If you do, we can inject the medicine during the day. If you don¡¯t, just shut up! Do you want to make money or not?¡±

    The two men cowered away and stopped talking.

 Chapter 630: The Formulation

    <h4>Chapter 630: The Formtion</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Wanguo had already gotten the tools ready. He pretentiously put on ab coat and disposable rubber gloves, then carefully took off the lids of a few different substances. He took a certain amount from each one with a syringe, and injected them all into a graduated beaker.

    He was serious and focused, revealing apletely different side from his sales rep persona during the day. During the day, he had to kiss up to people in order to sell more pets. But now, he needed to be serious to make a greater profit.

    Real lipolytic injections were expensive and banned in many countries. The Ministry of Health of China hadn¡¯t banned it outright, but it was prohibited to sell the substance used to make the lipolytic injections to individuals. It also wasn¡¯t allowed for unqualified people to privately own the injections. It was in the realms of stic surgery.

    Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base hadn¡¯t purchased real lipolytic injections, as they were too expensive for them afford. Instead, they¡¯d bought its main ingredients and created the mixture on their own. It worked, even if the proportions weren¡¯t as urate. They were only getting injected into dogs anyway.

    As he mentioned earlier, with the huge amount of animals in the base, a great number of puppies were born each year. Some of them would always differ in size from the others. Some were bigger than their own kind, while some were smaller. Simrly, some humans could grow to 2 meters tall, while some could only reach 1.5 meters.

    Regardless of those who were 2 or 1.5 meters tall, most of them were neither giants or dwarfs. However, Teacup Puppies actually were dwarfs. Using lipolytic solutions, Zhang Wanguo intended to shrink the ones who were on the smaller size, making them look like dwarfs.

    Zhang Wanguo had worked in the pet business for a long time, and had done some research. The first time he saw normal-sized dogs giving birth to smaller puppies, he thought about breeding Teacup Puppies correctly. This was to wait until the smaller puppies reached maturity, and then to let them breed together in order to give birth to smaller puppies. This was how real Teacup Puppies were bred. It was nothing more than gics and mutation.

    But after careful consideration, he realized that it was too difficult and time consuming to breed them properly. He had to learn about gics on his own, spend years or even decades recording and nning the lineage of smaller puppies, and keep trying until consistently smaller Teacup Puppies were being bred.

    He could either seed in the breeding attempts, or fail. It was more likely that he would fail. Taking human beings as an example, shorter parents could also have children of normal height. It was the same way with dogs.

    Moreover, even if he made up his mind and got the approval from Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base to spend years or decades trying, by the time they sessfully bred Teacup Puppies, would they still be popr then? Could they still be sold at high prices? Nobody could guarantee anything. Trends were changing too quickly those days.

    So, he came to a conclusion. Why should he trouble himself? Wouldn¡¯t it be better to make quick cash by injecting lipolytic solutions into small puppies? He didn¡¯t want to be a freaking scientist anyway, and the boss of Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base would never agree to it anyways.

    He had another concern. If he seeded in breeding the Teacup Puppies, he would soon lose his job. Why would his boss still keep him if he already had the breeding Teacup Puppies in his possession? The end of a hunting game was also the end of the hunting dog¡¯s service.

    He wrote down the amount of each different substance in detail, and calcted the ratio with a calctor. He took out another syringe, and carefully adjusted the dose of each ingredient, until it was as he wanted. Then, he poured all the calcted ingredients into a new beaker and mixed them together.

    He wasn¡¯t sure if he had the real lipolytic mixture. At least it wasn¡¯t for human use. If something went wrong, all he could lose was a little money and one dog.

    He¡¯d gotten the information on counterfeiting Teacup Puppies with lipolytic indirectly from his friends. Then, he¡¯d forwarded the message to his boss to take the credit for himself. Under the support and authorization of his boss, he went through a few attempts, most of which were unsessful. However, he was unreasonably confident, and believed that he was getting closer to the correct form.

    His two sidekicks were sent by his boss to help him. They were actually spying on him to get the correct lipolytic solution form. Zhang Wanguo knew this. It seemed like he was telling them everything he knew, but during the formtion and calction process, he intentionally hid the key numbers.

    There was a bigger predator behind the predator. All of the schemes, plots, and secret agendas of the three people were guessed by the knowledgeable and experienced Old Time Tea. It shook its head gently. Although it didn¡¯t know much about business management, it was able to infer the bigger picture from the evidence that the Love Lovely Pets corporation was not internally tightly bonded. The boss was plotting against the employees, and the employees against the boss. It would be fine as long as everything went well. But as soon as something happened, everybody would end up in Splitsville.

    ¡°Old Time Tea, is the security camera working?¡± Famous asked gently. It couldn¡¯t see its own neck and had to ask Old Time Tea to check it.

    The cat meows were getting louder nearby, but the three people inside weren¡¯t bothered.

    Old Time Tea tilted its head, and saw the green light on the camera around Famous¡¯s neck, indicating that it was working properly.

    ¡°All good,¡± responded Old Time Tea.

    If somebody happened to see their positions, they would have been frightened. They were both leaning onto the window sill with their two front paws, peering inside, right next to each other.

    ¡°Is this enough evidence?¡± Famous asked. ¡°They¡¯re being so careful because they can¡¯t let anyone know what they¡¯re doing.¡±

    Old Time Tea thought about it, and nodded gently. That Zhang Wanguo was making a scene in front of the other two and had emphasized himself how serious it was. It was all heard and recorded by Old Time Tea and Famous. Since it was made illegal by the government to sell and buy the main ingredients of lipolytic solutions individually, it proved that these men were involved in illegal drug business. If this was exposed to the public, it would either end the Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base or cost it a great deal of trouble.

    ¡°What should we do next? Head straight back?¡± Famous asked tentatively. If the Old Time Tea in front of it was the same one as back in the Imagined World, it would give the answer that Famous was expecting.

    Before Old Time Tea could answer the question, Zhang Wanguo finished preparing the solution, and filled up a syringe to inject the small poodle. He asked the other two to hold it and stop it from moving.

    After the injection, this puppy would either die in a few days, or be shrunk into an expensive Teacup Puppy. There was no third possibility.

    He held up the syringe and was about to inject it, when someone knocked on the door.

    The three men paused, and wondered who would arrive at such a moment. Most of the employees in the breeding base were off of work, and had either returned home or to the dorms. Very few people worked the night shift. Could it be Zheng?

 Chapter 631: Secretly Setting up a Trap

    <h4>Chapter 631: Secretly Setting up a Trap</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± Zhang Wanguo shouted as he rushed out the door.

    No one answered.

    ¡°Go take a look.¡± It was inconvenient for Zhang Wanguo to hold the door because he was holding a syringe in his hands. So, he told one of the guys to do it.

    The guy swayed over to the the door and asked once again, ¡°Who is it?¡± He pulled the door open as he yelled.

    Zhang Wanguo had only opened up a small gap, as he¡¯d done earlier. This man, however, was not as cautious as Zhang Wanguo. He brazenly opened the door wide open.

    No one was at the door.

    He stuck his head outside, and peered left and right. There was no one around either.

    ¡°They probably knocked on the wrong door.¡± He thought nothing of it and closed it shut.

    ¡°Knocked on the wrong door?¡± Zhang Wanguo inquired doubtfully.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t some regr house, how could anyone knock on the wrong door? Even if he did knock on the wrong one, he wouldn¡¯t have left without saying a word, right?¡±

    ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s finish. It was probably someone who had a little too much to drink.¡± The other two wanted to get done with their work quickly so they could return home sooner.

    Zhang Wanguo was still hesitant. Then, more knocking sounds came from the door.

    ¡°D*mn! Who is it? Who the hell is ying jokes in the middle of the night?¡± The man from before raised his voice and shouted, ¡°Are you messing with me?¡±

    There was still no response from outside the door.

    Zhang Wan Guo started to get wary and sensed that something was going on. Just as he was about to warn the others not to open the door, the man had already made his way to the door and opened it.

    A gust of cold wind streamed into the shed.

    Along with the cold wind, two pebbles flew inside from the darkness outside. One of them hit the light switch, causing the entire room to be engulfed in darkness. The other pebble precisely struck Zhang Wanguo on his right wrist, the one he was holding the syringe with.

    Everything in front of Zhang Wanguo turned to darkness. He was holding the poodle down with his left hand. His right hand felt like it was pushed by someone, plunging the syringe into his left arm.

    ¡°Ah!¡± he yelled loudly.

    It wasn¡¯t just because a syringe was prating his arm¡ªthis little pain wasn¡¯t enough to cause such a reaction from him. Rather, it was what was inside of the syringe, a solution that shouldn¡¯t be injected into just anyone! Even genuine lipolytic solutions was banned in many countries, due to their unknown side effects. God knows what would happen to him once his imitation lipolytic solution, the one he created, took effect.

    Although the syringe was immediately pulled out as soon as it was plunged into his muscle, he could still sense that part of the solution had been injected into his body. Though, he could just be paranoid.

    He recalled a piece of information that had circted online, stating that the cholesterol dissolved by the lipolytic solution would spread across the whole body and through the bloodstream. It could even umte in the heart or vital arteries. The thought of it caused him to shudder and his face turned ash white.

    In a panic, his body became limp. His left hand could no longer hold the poodle down, and it leapt off the table and merrily ran out of the shed.

    ¡°Turn the lights on! Turn the lights on!¡± he yelled.

    He was desperate to see if the amount of liquid in the syringe was the same as before.

    The room lit up once again. The other two men looked at him, confused. They were wondering what scared him so much.

    Using the light, Zhang Wanguo stared at the level marker on the syringe and was sure that the content in it was definitely less than before. However, he wasn¡¯t sure if the solution was injected into his body or absorbed by the white cloth on the table from it spilling.

    ¡°What happened? Who turned the lights off? Who pushed my arm?¡± He red furiously at the other two men.

    He previously guessed that the two men were sent to spy on him by their boss, as well as to steal information on the correct mixture for the lipolytic solution. After this incident, his suspicions only grew.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t me.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t me either.¡± The two stoutly denied.

    Zhang Wanguo figured that it couldn¡¯t have been them, as both events happened simultaneously, nearly at the same time. If it wasn¡¯t them, then who? Could there have been a ghost?

    Zhang Wanguo had never been the type to believe in the paranormal. His utmost concern was whether the imitation solution would do any harm to his body.

    ¡°Where¡¯s the dog? Where did it run off to?¡± He suddenly realized that the poodle puppy had gone missing.

    In some ways, the poodle¡¯s value was higher than the lipolytic solution. It had great genes and the potential to be turned into a Teacup Poodle. Such naturally born small stature was a rare find, even inrge-scale dog breeding facilities

    ¡°It probably ran out as soon as the room went dark, I guess?¡± The other two men squatted around and searched the room, but to no avail.

    Zhang Wanguo was still worried about the side effects caused by the imitation lipolytic solution. However, worrying wasn¡¯t going to help him then. Instead, he gritted his teeth and ordered, ¡°Find that poodle. It shouldn¡¯t have gone far.¡±

    After the duo split up to go searching for the poodle, he carefully ced the loaded syringes into a box. He had to finish injecting the solution after the poodle was brought back. He couldn¡¯t suffer a jab for nothing, could he?

    He took off his white coat and turned the lights off. He closed the door slightly and ran out to help with the search after he was done packing. He assumed that the dog couldn¡¯t have run that far off and would soon be found. He didn¡¯t think of locking the door.

    The door was pushed open after the three of them had left. A short, stout shadow was cast in theb, against the dim lights from the stars.

    A pair of yellowish-bronze eyes glowed in the dark.

    Darkness like this was no big deal to a cat. Old Time Tea quickly found the box Zhang Wanguo had hidden the syringes in. It was about to knock the box onto the floor and smash the syringes, but then it remembered the men¡¯s three greedy faces. It changed its mind, grabbing the syringes with its mouth. It leapt onto the windowsill, using its paws to push it open. The, it used its momentum tounch itself yet again, grabbing the door firmly with both its front paws.

    It opened its mouth carefully and ced the syringe at the top of the door. It made the needle tip point downwards by using the gap between the door and frame to secure the syringe in ce.

    This syringe was made out of stic and was meant for single time use. Although the syringe waspletely filled with solution, it only had a mild concentration. It was rtively harmless to the human body. But at the very least, the solution in the syringe was enough to cause some unlucky soul even more terror.

    Old Time Tea leapt back to the window after setting up the small trap. He squeezed through the window and closed it from the outside.

    Itunched itself upwards, both paws grabbing onto the wall, and easily hoisted itself onto the roof.

    ¡°Done with everything?¡±

    Famous was waiting at the rooftop, its eyes filled with admiration. No doubt this was the Old Time Tea from its imaginary world, even though age never went easy on men or cats. However, Old Time Tea managed to retain its charm over the years.

    ¡°I¡¯m done.¡± Old Time Tea answered.

    It noticed a little figure squirming on Famous¡¯s back. It was the poodle that had escaped earlier. Famous had carried it on its back while jumping onto the rooftop. There was no way that the men would have guessed that the poodle puppy they were trying so hard to find was actually on the roof.

    ¡°Are we going to go now?¡± Famous tried to ask. Since they¡¯d already recorded sufficient evidence, the switch on the camera attached to his neck was already turned off. It was best not to record anything that happened next, or it could cause unnecessary rm and trouble.

    Old Time Tea stood on the roof, looking around disparagingly at this sinful facility.

    Its eyes flickered and it courageously announced, ¡°From what I see, since we¡¯ve already started, we might as well continue to the end!¡±

 Chapter 632: A Successful Escape

    <h4>Chapter 632: A Sessful Escape</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    What was happening in the Love Lovely Pet Breeding Base made Old Time Tea and Famous furious. Nobody could watch their own kind get treated inhumanely without doing anything, especially not these two, who had a great sense of justice.

    Famous nudged the puppy on its back, asking it toe down.

    Old Time Tea helped Famous loosen its cor.

    Famous¡¯s cor had a buckle style which could be easily adjusted, like a belt. Together with Old Time Tea, they adjusted the cor to itsrgest size and tied the poodle puppy tightly behind its neck. Fortunately, the puppy was smaller than those around its age. It would¡¯ve been hard to tie otherwise. They¡¯d decided to take the poodle puppy away from the farm. If it winded up with people like Zhang Wanguo again, it wouldn¡¯t be able to escape the fate of getting abused.

    Zhang Wanguo scanned the vicinity along with the other two guys for a while, but the puppy was nowhere to be found.

    The three men returned to the shed disappointed, and stopped at the entrance.

    ¡°What happened? Where¡¯d the dog go?¡± one of them asked.

    ¡°Well, it can¡¯t get out of the breeding base. Let¡¯s keep on searching tomorrow.¡± The other guy was sleepy, and yawned as he talked.

    Zhang Wanguo frowned. He felt like strange things were happening that night. Like when the lights turned off for no reason, or when his arms were pushed by someone, and then the missing puppy. It was an unlucky day for him.

    ¡°Fine, let¡¯s look tomorrow, then. Tell the guards and ask them to pay more attention.¡± He shook his head helplessly, and went inside.

    In a sh of a bright light, the syringe filled with solution dropped silently,nding straight into Zhang Wanguo¡¯s shoulder. The needle stopped after reaching the bone, but the plunger went down with gravity, injecting some of the solution into his muscles.

    ¡°Ah!¡± Zhang Wanguo felt a chill in his shoulder as the sharp object pierced him through his clothes. He felt the cold liquid get injected into his body. He screamed in panic. The syringe was still stuck in his shoulder. The other two guys saw it from behind and immediately yanked it out for him.

    At first, Zhang Wanguo thought it was only a nail. As he rubbed his shoulder and looked at his wound, his face turned green. Almost half of the liquid in the syringe had been injected into his body.

    ¡°F*ck! Who the hell did this? Get the f*ck out here!¡± He was goingpletely insane, yelling at the top of his lungs.

    The other two looked around aimlessly. This was obviously purposely done by someone. It was too serious to be a joke. If Zhang Wanguo hadn¡¯t gone through the door first, the syringe would have ended up in one of them, and the home-made lipolytic solution made of God-knows-what ingredients would¡¯ve be injected into one of their bodies.

    Zhang Wanguo was still loudly yelling, but nobody responded. This made him even madder. He jumped and cursed. All sorts of foulnguage poured out of his mouth.

    The employees who hadn¡¯t gone to bed yet and those on night duty heard themotion. They came over one after the other to check out the situation. Without knowing what was going on, they circled around each other asking questions. The two guys retold the story with some exaggeration.

    More and more people gathered at the scene. Almost everybody who was still awake at the breeding base came over to watch the drama.

    Old Time Tea and Famous went separate paths and snuck into different sheds. They unlocked the cagetches one by one to open the doors. All of the kittens and puppies had never been outside of their cages, ever since they¡¯d been born. Even now that the doors were open, they didn¡¯t know how to escape, and kept circling around the cage door. Fortunately, because of this, Famous and Old Time Tea had enough time to open almost all the cages before anyone found out. However, the great animal escape that Famous and Old Time Tea had imagined didn¡¯t happen. The puppies and kittens had been caged for too long and had lost their free nature. Maybe that was one of the Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base¡¯s goals, to make them stay obedient.

    Zhang Wanguo¡¯s cursing grew weaker and weaker. After the cathartic meltdown, his anger dwindled and he grew tired of cursing. Instead of being seen as a clown, it would be more effective to go home and do research on the side effects of lipolytic injections.

    As the crowd dispersed, Famous and Old Time Tea met up again.

    ¡°What should we do?¡± Famous was anxious and angry. ¡°These dumb cats and dogs don¡¯t even know that they should escape!¡±

    The wise Old Time Tea couldn¡¯t think of a good solution.

    If this went on, within just a couple of minutes, someone would see that the cages were open.

    The poodle puppy on Famous¡¯s back suddenly moved violently, as if it wanted to escape from the cor and jump off Famous¡¯s back.

    ¡°Stay still,¡± said Famous as it tilted its head. Unable to see behind it, it could feel the puppy moving, but didn¡¯t know what it wanted.

    Old Time Tea took a quick nce, and saw that the puppy seemed to be longing for affection. It wondered why. As it focused on listening, it heard a weak sounde from somewhere.

    ¡°Check it out over there.¡± Old Time Tea pointed at one of the sheds.

    Famous went under the shed¡¯s canvas with the puppy still on its back. The shed was full of all kinds of small dogs.

    ¡°Woo!¡± The puppy was struggling even more violently.

    Famous sniffed, and recognized the faint smells of thousands of different scents. They seemed to be simr the puppy¡¯s scent.

    It followed the smells, and reached one of the cages.

    Old Time Tea opened the cage door. A normal-sized adult female poodle was in the cage, lying in dried feces. Its fur coat was filthy and smelled terrible. It heard the puppy¡¯s whine, and struggled to open its eyes, casting a nce outside the cage with a look of both hope and despair.

    The female dog had the puppy¡¯s scent, and the puppy had the scent of the female dog.

    Needless to say, Famous knew that this female poodle was the mother of the puppy on its back.

    In the cage next door, a few poodle puppies were wandering near the cage door, without escaping or barking. They stared at the female poodle and the puppy on Famous¡¯s back. They also carried the same scent as the female poodle, but very weakly. They could have been siblings from the same litter, who were spared from the lipolytic injections because of their normal sizes.

    Famous turned around.

    Old Time Tea knew that they didn¡¯t have much time, but sighed and unfastened the buckle for Famous to release the puppy.

    The puppy stumbled into its mother¡¯s cage.

    The dying female poodle moved its neck and struggled to lift its head. It nudged the puppy with its nose. Despite the fact that this puppy wasn¡¯t the same size as the other ones, it was still its child, and blood was thicker than water.

    The puppyid down quietly next its mother, and gazed at it with big, affectionate eyes. If the female poodle was in better health, it would have been a warm and beautiful scene.

    Famous was trembling with sadness and anger.

    Old Time Tea jumped onto the shed roof, and watched over by Zhang Wanguo. The crowd was dissipating, and some people were heading their way. They might look inside as they passed by, which would ruin all the good work they¡¯d already done.

    ¡°Famous, we have to leave!¡± Old Time Tea jumped off the roof and hurried back in. Its tone remained calm, but held a hint of anxiety. Considering their current situation, as the kittens and puppies didn¡¯t even know how to escape, they could only save those that could be saved.

    Famous couldn¡¯t do any better. It could save itself along with Old Time Tea, but was unable to take all the cats and dogs with them.

    It turned around, and found the puppy lingering next to its mother, unwilling to leave. It wanted to put its snout into the cage and take the puppy by force.

    The female poodle didn¡¯t care how filthy and smelly it was. It licked the puppy¡¯s fur with affection. There wasn¡¯t much saliva left on its tongue, but it still licked with great care, as if it wanted to leave its scent on its baby forever.

    Seeing Famous approaching, its eyes sparkled with an intimidating re. It struggled to stand up. Using thest of its strength, it pushed the puppy out of the cage with its forehead.

    The puppy didn¡¯t understand what was going on. Everything was fine, but its mother suddenly didn¡¯t want it anymore? Its body was small and light. Although the female poodle was weak, the push rolled the puppy out of the cage.

    It stood up shakily, and stood on its short legs, trying to get back into the cage next to its mother. But the female poodle moved the cage door with its front paw, closing it with a loud bang.

    The puppy hit the cage door, and stepped back shakily. It walked forward again, and hit the cage door again. It whimpered and sadly sat on the ground.

    It was too young to understand what a cage door was. All it wanted to do was go back to its mother, and have its fur licked. This was one of the few moments where it could get all of its mother¡¯s affection for itself, without being bothered by its other siblings.

    The female poodle stopped looking at it. It turned around andid behind the cage door on its back, not responding to the puppy¡¯s whimpering.

    It knew that it couldn¡¯t move or run away. That was why it was acting that way. It wanted to face death alone, and leave any chance of survival for its baby.

    Famous cheeks felt cold, but its stomach was burning.

    Old Time Tea sighed gently and whispered, ¡°What can we do to repay the mother¡¯s affection? As long as I breathe, I will keep the mother and the puppy safe!¡±

    Famous turned around. ¡°Old Time Tea!¡±

    They read each other¡¯s mind. Old Time Tea opened the cage and went inside to check on the poodle.

    The female poodle looked at the strange and foreign species in front of it, and didn¡¯t even have the instinct to be afraid. No matter what Old Time Tea did, it wouldn¡¯t fight back.

    Old Time Tea knew that the poodle was in terrible shape and could die at any moment. It tried to push the dog out of its cage, but didn¡¯t dare use too much strength. The cage was extremely narrow. Luckily, it was an elfin with the Strength of Faith, and could use force and its limbs much better than a cat. It carefully pushed the female poodle out of the cage.

    The puppy jumped to its mother joyfully, and started licking the stain around its eyes with its tiny tongue. It mimicked its mother¡¯s actions from before, without caring about the filth.

    Outside of the shed, the sound of people was getting closer. They wereughing at Zhang Wanguo¡¯s misadventures, as ate night joke.

    ¡°Hurry up, Old Time Tea!¡± Famous said anxiously.

    Old Time Tea put its front paws under the poodle¡¯s body, and held it up to Famous¡¯s back.

    The puppy stumbled behind its mother, no matter where it went.

    Rip!

    Old Time Tea tore off a strip of canvas, and tied the weak female poodle onto Famous¡¯s back. It strapped the puppy behind its neck with the cor. It pulled everything tight after finishing. It was holding well, and neither of them should¡¯ve been able to fall off.

    ¡°Famous, thanks for the hard work,¡± said Old Time Tea. It couldn¡¯t help, even though it wanted to. Cats didn¡¯t have stable cor bones, and weren¡¯t able to carry things on their back.

    Famous shook its head. ¡°It¡¯s not that bad, really. Let¡¯s get going!¡±

    Old Time Tea nodded. It was a shame that they couldn¡¯t save all the cats and dogs there. This was the best they could do.

    As they were looking for a way out, the poodle on Famous¡¯s back seemed to understand their intentions, and barked gently.

    The puppies in the next cage overheard their mother calling, and jumped out of the cage one after the other. Theynded on the ground and followed Famous, sniffing around everywhere.

    Following their example, the other puppies under the shed also jumped out, carefully exploring the strange world outside of the cage.

    The footsteps from outside the shed sounded like they were right in front of them. Somebody said, ¡°Did you hear that? There are some weird noisesing from in there!¡±

    Another person answered half-heartedly, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Do you really hear something? Are you taking that Zhang Wanguo dude¡¯s words seriously?¡±

    ¡°No, no. Something¡¯s wrong. The dogs should be sleeping right now, and should be quiet. Why are they being so noisy today? Should we check inside?¡±

    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re just asking for more work! It¡¯s nasty inside. What¡¯s there to see? Maybe someone¡¯s stealing some dogs. We have so many dogs in the breeding base, what¡¯s one or two less? We don¡¯t pay for them anyways.¡± The other guyined impatiently.

    The former guy insisted, ¡°Don¡¯t say that! It¡¯s almost Spring Festival, and our boss still owes us our end-of-year bonus. What if something does happen, and he uses it as an excuse for not paying us our bonus? It¡¯ll be our loss, right?¡±

    The other guy was convinced, and softened his tone. ¡°You are right. Let¡¯s check it out then.¡±

    As soon as they pushed aside the canvas curtain, two strong, dark figures jumped at their faces.

    ¡°F*ck! What the hell!¡±

    They covered their faces, and bent down reflexively, while Famous and Old Time Tea jumped over them, followed by the huge pack of puppies.

    The fresh air outside made the puppies as happy and free as fish in the sea. They ran around everywhere in excitement, making all sorts of cheers.

    Some of them ran into other sheds, making even more kittens and puppies restless.

    Soon, the entire breeding base was in chaos, with fleeing cats and dogs everywhere.

    ¡°Somebody help! Cats and dogs are run¡ª¡± yelled someone who noticed the situation. Before he could finish his sentence, he got kicked in the face by a furry dog leg. He spun around in circles, and his unfinished sentence was cut off.

    ¡°Woo! Woo!¡± Famous howled towards the sky, cheering the puppies¡¯ spirits. They gathered towards it.

    Because Famous and Old Time Tea were still carrying a little bit of Fina¡¯s scent, the kittens crowded around them too.

    Famous and Old Time Tea saw the pack of animals behind them, and yelled simultaneously, ¡°Forward!¡±

    Old Time Tea and Famous were leading the path under the darkness. Those who ran into them were either kicked in the face or stomach before they could respond, making them too dizzy to move.

    Soon, thousands of cats and dog were following them, and flooding towards the front gate of the breeding base. Except for a few old and sick animals who were too weak to move, all of the cats and dogs from the base were there.

    It was too cold to be outside, and the security guarding the gate were hiding inside the security room, with a bag of peanuts and dried jerky. They were watching a TV show while they ate, and nobody noticed what was happening through the surveince camera.

    Ever since the breeding base was founded, no major incidents had ever happened. Nobody was bored enough to steal cats or dogs in the suburbs. The security guards loved theid back work, and all of them wanted to work the night shift. They could eat, drink, and sleep while making easy money.

    They were watching their show while snacking, and focused on the pretty girls on TV. They would asionally tell dirty jokes, and chuckle in response. The only shame was that alcohol wasn¡¯t allowed during their shift. Otherwise, they certainly would¡¯ve taken a few shots.

    The loud noise from the TV and theirughter masked the noiseing from all the animals. They didn¡¯t even notice that the iron gate had quietly been opened. Because the cats and dogs were so short, none of them even noticed that packs of them were running out of the base.

    ¡°Hello! Hello!¡± The walkie-talkie that they¡¯d left on the side was suddenly buzzing.

    After arguing back and forth with each other, one of the guards finally walked over andzily picked up the walkie-talkie. ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Do you want us to run errands and buy stuff for you again? I¡¯m telling you, none of us are going to do it if you don¡¯t pay us.¡±

    The loud reply from the walkie-talkie almost made him deaf. ¡°Shut up! Are you stupid morons blind? Close the gate! All of the animals are escaping! Our boss will go crazy if he finds out about this!¡±

    The guard didn¡¯t quite believe him, and figured that he was joking. As he nced back outside and saw the open gate, he stretched his neck further and saw the cats and dogs running under the window. He started to panic and felt his face change color.

    ¡°Sh*t! Stop eating! Shut the gate!¡± He kicked the table over. The peanuts and jerky were all over the floor. ¡°The animals are escaping!¡±

    ¡°What? No way!¡±

    The inappropriately dressed guards started putting on their hats and shoes, and grabbed their batons. Everything was in chaos.

    ¡°Sh*t! What¡¯s wrong? Who locked the door?¡±

    They wanted to rush outside and make ast-minute attempt to catch as many animals as they could. At least then they could tell their boss that they tried. But something was pushing against the security¡¯s room door from the outside. Anti-theft iron bars were installed around the windows, so they couldn¡¯t leave that way either. The only thing they could do was watch thest cats and dogs disappear into the dark night of the suburbs.

    They stared at each other with wide eyes. It was over. The cats and dogs were gone, along with their sry and end-of-the-year bonus. Their boss would surely lose his mind, and maybe even ask them to pay for the loss. Together, they thought, Should we run away too?

 Chapter 633: Sharing a Table

    <h4>Chapter 633: Sharing a Table</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian had been waiting for some time now, periodically checking the time on his phone. It was originally expected to take around half an hour, but there was a couple ahead of him who had left the line mid-way. Something must have came up for them or maybe it was the cold weather, but he only had to wait for about 20 minutes before entering the restaurant.

    After thest customer left, Aunt Li cleared the table for the next guest. She was surprised when she saw Zhang Zian. ¡°Master Zhang, didn¡¯t you say that you didn¡¯t need a delivery today?¡±

    Zhang Zian had notified them earlier saying that he didn¡¯t need food that day. The barbecued meat would be enough for the cats and dogs. Both Aunt Li and Uncle Li thought that Zhang Zian was heading out on some business, and they didn¡¯t expect him toe down in person for his meal.

    ¡°Heh, I¡¯ll be dining in today. I¡¯ll take the seafood pineapple fried rice, with orange juice. I¡¯ll be fine without the cat toys.¡± He calmly pulled out a chair and sat down, ready to wait there until Old Time Tea and Famous returned.

    ¡°Okay, it¡¯ll be ready soon.¡± Aunt Li hurriedly went back into the kitchen and instructed Uncle Li to pay special attention to his order of fried rice.

    Zhang Zian casually looked around the restaurant. All the seats were taken, primarily by young female customers. All of them were holding different variations of cat toys, doing anything to get the cat¡¯s attention. Even their husbands and boyfriends were upied, as they helplessly assisted with the cat teasers andser pens.

    Seven of the cats were already stuffed from the dried fish the customers had fed them. Some of them were stretching their paws in the ping pong scratcher and scooping the balls around, while some tried to catch the cat teaser. There were also those who were hugging their catnip toys on their backs. They had on a look of infatuation, and didn¡¯t care that their bodies were being exposed to everybody there.

    Looking at all the cats, Zian¡¯s thoughts started wandering. By now, Old Time Tea and Famous must¡¯ve made it into the Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base, right? What were they doing right then? The breeding base was so big, what if they weren¡¯t able to find any evidence of them doing anything illegal?

    Since Famous had to wear the cor and camera, they couldn¡¯t be made invisible through the invisiblemand, unnecessarily adding another danger.

    In reality, Zian knew that with Old Time Tea and Famous¡¯s bravery, there was really nothing for him to be worried about. Even if there was something the two of them couldn¡¯t handle, his worrying would be useless. Still, he couldn¡¯t just let it go.

    Zian didn¡¯t have to see it for himself to know that some sort of shady practices were happening in the Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base. However, with Old Time Tea and Famous¡¯s character type, the moment they saw any mistreatment they would definitely not be able to leave the matter alone. That was the main reason he was worried.

    ¡°Excuse me, are you alone?¡± A young woman¡¯s voice interrupted his thoughts.

    Momentarily dazed, he raised his head and saw a youngdy standing beside his table. She was in a down jacket, wearing a woolen cap and gloves. Her face was unfamiliar¡ªhe¡¯d never seen her before.

    ¡°I am,¡± he nonchntly replied.

    ¡°Then do you mind if I share this table with you? It¡¯s really cold outside,¡± she asked as she pointed to the empty seat across him.

    ¡°Oh, sure,¡± Zhang Zian answered without giving any thought to it.

    There were two different types of tables in the bar, a four-seater and a two-seater, with most of them being four-seater tables. Thest customers that had left were a couple, so Zhang Zian had grabbed the table for two and the seat across him was still empty.

    Most of the four-seater tables were already upied and there were only a few with one or two seats open. However, for somebody by themself, it was really hard to share a table with a group. With a two-seater table, it was different. Since the two were both alone, it didn¡¯t really make a difference who came first and who came after.

    Having gotten Zhang Zian¡¯s permission, the youngdy rubbed her hands together and sat down.

    Aunt Li brought over a menu and asked, ¡°What would this youngdy like to have?¡±

    The woman casually flipped through the menu and ordered her meal before handing the menu back to Aunt Li.

    ¡°Okay, your order will be ready soon.¡± Aunt Li returned to the kitchen with the menu.

    Not muchter, Zhang Zian¡¯s order of pineapple seafood fried rice and orange juice was served.

    The seafood rice was fried to a golden-brown, carrying a rich fruity fragrance. It had bright green scallions, white tender shrimp, and small pieces of golden-yellow pineapple mixed together. It looked delicious.

    Zian grabbed his small spoon, and scooped in a mouthful. The sweet taste of pineapple with a hint of sourness stimted his taste buds. The food increased his appetite, and his usually dormant stomach squirmed as if it couldn¡¯t wait to eat.

    He ate a few more mouthfuls of fried rice and drank a sip of orange juice. Zhang Zian was enjoying his meal, and he¡¯d unknowingly already ate half of the big te of rice.

    All of a sudden, something felt wrong. There was an tingling sensationing from the top of his head, so he looked up to see the youngdy staring at him with a weird expression on her face.

    Zhang Zian nervously wiped the corner of his mouth, thinking that maybe while he was busy eating, some of the rice might have gotten on his face. He quickly looked down to see if orange juice had spilled on his shirt, but everything was fine. He hadn¡¯t embarrassed himself like he¡¯d thought.

    If everything was okay on his end, that could only mean that the youngdy across from him was the one with an issue.

    Could it be that she was mesmerized by how handsome he looked while he was eating?

    With that thought, Zhang Zian felt ted. His level of handsomeness must have gotten higher without him realizing.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you have a cat toy?¡± The youngdy suddenly asked.

    ¡°What?¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s beautiful dream was shattered, leaving him momentarily stunned.

    She motioned her face towards the other tables and said, ¡°Your order of pineapple seafood fried rice should havee with a catnip toy. So why didn¡¯t thedy give it to you? Did she forget?¡±

    At the table just besides them, there was another youngdy who ordered the fried rice too. She hadn¡¯t touched her food much, and was currently ying around with a cat and a catnip toy.

    The youngdy must¡¯ve meant well, so she added, ¡°They¡¯re usually busy in the bar, and sometimes they forget things when they¡¯re too busy. Why don¡¯t you try asking thedy to bring over the catnip toy for you?¡±

    Zhang Zian finally understood why she¡¯d kept staring at him, and he couldn¡¯t help but feel disappointed. He put on a brave front and answered, ¡°Thanks, but there¡¯s no need. I told thedy not to bring me the toy.¡±

    The youngdy across was surprised and asked, ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Zhang Zian had yet to think of an answer, but the youngdy seemed to havee to a realization, and answered her own question.

    ¡°Is it that you don¡¯t like cats? If you don¡¯t like cats, why would youe to a Cat Fanciers Snack Bar for your meal? There¡¯s so many people lining up!¡±

    Zhang Zian remained quiet.

    It seemed like thedy expected all customers visiting the store to be cat lovers. It was tragic for people to visit the restaurant simply to eat their meal and not y around cats. Maybe she thought that those people should¡¯ve given up their seats to ones who really liked cats.

    Zian had initially thought that they were adding something unique to the restaurant, not making the ce solely a cat cafe. Cat cafes were aid back ce that were for young people with money and time. The main purpose of a restaurant though, was to fill people¡¯s stomachs. There wasn¡¯t any rules saying that you couldn¡¯t eat there unless you loved cats.

    Since they¡¯d only met by chance and Zhang Zian was still worried about Old Time Tea and Famous, he had no interest in reasoning with the youngdy. Heughed and offhandedly replied, ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t like cats.¡±

    ¡°Well you don¡¯t look like you like cats and if you do, why aren¡¯t you ying with them?¡±

    Zhang Zian asked himself, You can tell if a person likes cats just from the way they looks? I¡¯m sorry that I have that kind of face!

    ¡°That¡¯s because I always y with cats,¡± he replied casually, as he continued to stuff food in his mouth.

    ¡°Always?¡± She looked at Zian suspiciously. ¡°So you have your own cats then?¡±

    ¡°Hm¡­¡± Zhang Zian though for a moment. Do I count as someone who has cats?

    Aunt Li came up with youngdy¡¯s food, and coincidentally overheard her question. She cheerfully replied for him, ¡°He¡¯s the owner of the pet shop just across from here, of course he has cats! A lot of them too!¡±

    The youngdy knitted her eyebrows, and turned around to look at the pet store through the window.

    ¡°A pet store?¡± The youngdy quickly became furious, as if she was facing the criminal who¡¯d taken her father¡¯s life. She firmly said, ¡°Adoption over buying!¡±

    Zhang Zian put his spoon down. It seemed like he wouldn¡¯t be able to continue his meal.

 Chapter 634: Adopting Instead of Buying

    <h4>Chapter 634: Adopting Instead of Buying</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Aunt Li had spoken with good intentions and didn¡¯t expect this to happen. She was extremely embarrassed and felt bad for Zhang Zian.

    Of course, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t me her. He smiled at her and said, ¡°Go on ahead with your business. I¡¯m fine here.¡±

    Aunt Li, still embarrassed, returned to the kitchen.

    Zhang Zian knew that the idea of adopting instead of buying had been poprtely, and he agreed with it. However, you couldn¡¯t adopt anything you wanted. If you were particrly fond of a specific cat breed, it was almost impossible to find one to adopt.

    For example, Vivi, who came in with Snowy thest time, was allergic to cats and had to get a Siberian Forest cat. But where could she have possibly adopted one? If it was that easy, everyone would adopt one.

    Most of the customers purposefully went into his pet shop to buy a cat or dog and had never brought up the adopting instead of buying movement. It was the first time he¡¯d experienced someone badmouthing his business right in front of him.

    He thought about how he should exin all of this.

    In the end, he decided that there was nothing to exin. They¡¯d just met each other and were only sharing a table for lunch. Why should he bother persuading someone who already had a strong conviction?

    He said nothing and continued eating his food.

    The girl across from him watched him eat and simply thought that he knew he was wrong. She started babbling on in a long speech and repeatedly exined the benefits of adopting while denouncing his business, the main problem of the corrupted pet business chain.

    Her voice became louder and louder. Other customers started to notice and looked towards their table with curiosity, wondering what their rtionship was.

    Zhang Zian thought that if he stayed silent for any longer, she would keep on taking a yard when given an inch and might start bothering other people¡¯s meals. He put his spoon down and said helplessly, ¡°You¡¯re right. I support adopting over buying, wholeheartedly.¡±

    He thought that his surrender would stop her attacks. But again, she took a yard when given an inch and questioned him even further. ¡°You support adopting over buying? Then why do you own a pet shop?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know whether he shouldugh or cry. ¡°If I support the government¡¯s policy, it doesn¡¯t mean that I have to work for the government! Not to mention that adopting over buying isn¡¯t a government policy.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so you only support it verbally, so it doesn¡¯t cost you anything?¡± The girl¡¯s face grew even colder.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to argue, so he gave in. ¡°More or less. How should I support it then?¡±

    ¡°Easy. Starting today, stop bringing cats and dogs into your shop, and put all the animals you have up for adoption to the public,¡± she said confidently.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°And then what?¡±

    She paused. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Then what do I live on? Will you feed me?¡± Zhang Zian asked seriously.

    There weren¡¯t many male customers around them, but a few of them chuckled when they heard this.

    Her face changed. ¡°That¡¯s none of my business.¡±

    ¡°Why¡¯s that none of your business? I¡¯d do what you told me to do, and you¡¯d be responsible for my life,¡± Zhang Zian continued. ¡°Or should I live on government welfare? Wouldn¡¯t I be a burden to the country and society? I¡¯m not fat, but I eat a lot. I could eat an entire horse for lunch. If the modernization process of the country is dyed because of a glutton like me, would you take responsibility?¡±

    A guy at the next tablemented cleverly, ¡°Eating an entire horse for lunch? Are you an animal?¡±

    The witty remark made a lot of customersugh, including a few girls.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t upset. He looked at the guy with admiration.

    The girl in front of him finally realized that Zhang Zian was ridiculing her. Her face turned blue with anger.

    Zhang Zian was afraid of pissing her off too much, so he coughed. ¡°Actually, I understand your reasoning. But I sell pets for a living. If you support adopting over buying, you should tell people who are nning on getting a pet. It¡¯s useless to tell me. As I said, I support adopting over buying, and Ipletely agree with you. So you don¡¯t need to try to convince me anymore.¡±

    She was grinding her teeth in anger. ¡°It¡¯s exactly because of people like you that the people of this nation aren¡¯t bing more civilized! And you!¡± She pointed at the guy who had made the witty remark, then at another guy who hadughed the loudest. ¡°You¡¯re all responsible!¡±

    Crap!

    The two innocent guys were shocked and confused. It had just been a joke, and now she was hitting them with exaggerated usations? The wisest move for them should be getting sympathy from everyone, right?

    ¡°Well, did you misunderstand something? Even in other countries, a lot of people are buying pets instead of adopting them!¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°Pick a country that you consider to be the most civilized, and ask 100 random citizens to choose between Ragdolls and Mongrel cats free of charge. I think most of them would still choose Ragdolls. But in reality, if they want a Ragdoll, they have to buy one. I don¡¯t think there are free Ragdolls up for adoption. Even if there are some, it¡¯s extremely rare.¡±

    There was a simr misconception that no foreigners would buy pirated DVDs or counterfeit brands. When really, many foreigners visiting China bought pirated or counterfeit stuff intentionally on Silk Street in Beijing. At the end of the day, there had to be a bnce between authenticity and cost.

    Zhang Zian just wanted to quietly finish his lunch, wait for Old Time Tea and Famous, and rely on the other customers to stand up for him. Otherwise, he would have left a long time ago and never would have continued the pointless conversation between them. However, the girl wasn¡¯t willing to let go so easily. She wanted to shut down his pet shop to satisfy her own hatred.

    Two girls who hade together finished their lunch, paid their bill, and left, freeing up a table. Aunt Li quickly came over to clean up.

    Before the door had closed, it was grabbed by a pair of hands and opened again. A young couple walked in.

    The boy held the door open for his girlfriend and closed it only after she was inside. He took a quick nce around the restaurant and murmured, ¡°It¡¯s finally our turn. It was so cold outside! So, this is the restaurant you¡¯ve been talking about?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, this is it.¡± The girl took off her scarf excitedly, sat down at the free table, and said, ¡°Sit down before somebody else takes it.¡±

    The other customers smiled. The two were probably university students who were used topeting for seats in the library all the time.

    Her boyfriend sat down shyly. It seemed like he wasn¡¯t used to showing affection in public.

    ¡°Which cat do you like again?¡± he asked.

    ¡°There, that¡¯s the one!¡± She pointed at a Calico cat in the restaurant and said, ¡°I heard that you can adopt the cats here. I want this one!¡±

 Chapter 635: No Transactions, No Harm

    <h4>Chapter 635: No Transactions, No Harm</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    There was a silent confrontation going on between Zhang Zian and the youngdy sitting across from him. The surrounding customers were all eagerly waiting for a show while ying with the cats. They were all interested in how things were going to unfold between the two of them, as they both wereing from two very different stances. Although Zhang Zian originally nned to leave the sensitive subject alone, the youngdy obviously had no desire to do so.

    Everyone¡¯s attention was on the two of them, and no one was paying any attention to the couple who had just entered the restaurant. It was only when they overheard the youngdy expressing her interest in adopting a Calico cat that they realized a good show was just ahead.

    Indeed, the unfamiliar youngdy looked as if she would explode with confidence, provocatively staring at Zhang Zian with a look that said, See that? Everyone supports the idea of adopting over buying.

    Zhang Zian remained silent, quietly watching for any changes.

    ¡°Ting Ting, is this the Calico cat you wanted?¡± the guy asked his girlfriend after they had taken their seats.

    ¡°Yeah, what do you think? Isn¡¯t it so cute?¡± Ting Ting happily replied.

    ¡°Well, it is cute.¡± The guy thought that the Calico cat was somewhat cute, but as long as Ting Ting liked it, he would agree with her.

    ¡°Then, how about we adopt it? Should we?¡± Ting Ting eagerly pleaded.

    The guy¡¯s lips moved like he wanted to say something. Then, he saw Aunt Liing towards them with a menu, so he bit his tongue.

    ¡°What would the two of you like to order?¡± Aunt Li asked.

    After the two of them ced their order, Ting Ting called out to Aunt Li and asked, ¡°Ma¡¯am, I¡¯d like to ask about the cats in the bar. They are avable for adoption, right?

    ¡°Yes, they are.¡± Aunt Li was a little surprised. The cats had only been there for a few days and someone was already interested in adopting one of them. But this had been agreed upon earlier and a promise must be kept.

    ¡°Then we would like that one.¡± Ting Ting pointed at the Calico cat.

    The guy spoke up, interrupting them. ¡°Ting Ting, let¡¯s eat first. We¡¯ll talk about this after our meal, okay? We¡¯re not in a rush anyways.¡±

    After the awkward incident earlier, Aunt Li was afraid of speaking up. She only said, ¡°Call for me if you need anything else,¡± before she returned back to the kitchen.

    Ting Ting¡¯s high spirits had been interrupted, and she became upset with her boyfriend.

    After a while, Aunt Li served the food that they¡¯d ordered. Ting Ting pulled apart the disposable chopsticks, silently eating her food. Her boyfriend knew that he¡¯d made a mistake and had upset her. He started giving her special attention, doing everything he could to make her happy, but nothing seemed to work. Their tension was ufortable, and even the other diners were breaking out in a cold sweat for him. Zhang Zian, on the other hand, was just d that he didn¡¯t have a girlfriend.

    After eating for a few minutes, Ting Ting spitefully ced her chopsticks down and sullenly said to her boyfriend, ¡°Xiao Zhuang, what did you mean by what you said earlier?¡±

    Xiao Zhuang carefully replied, ¡°I didn¡¯t mean anything. Ting Ting, you told me that we¡¯d be seeing an obedient cat when we left, but you didn¡¯t tell me you had ns on adopting it.¡±

    What Xiao Zhuang said was true. Earlier, Ting Ting had been very excited to go see a cat that was especially nice and she wanted to bring him along to check it out, which he had agreed to. Although he had some clues, when he found out that Ting Ting had the intention of adopting it, he still couldn¡¯t help but try to change her mind.

    Ting Ting simply nodded her head. ¡°Okay. Let me ask you now, then. I want to adopt this Calico, so can I?¡±

    Her tone didn¡¯t sound like she was asking a question. It seemed more like a fight.

    The youngdy across from Zhang Zian gave the other girl a thumbs up in praise while Xiao Zhuang was crying inside. He braced himself and kept trying to persuade her. ¡°About this, Ting Ting, why don¡¯t we discuss it back at home?¡±

    ¡°Why do we have to discuss it at home? Can¡¯t we discuss it here? Aren¡¯t we discussing it right now?¡± Ting Ting snapped back in a single breath.

    ¡°Uh¡­¡±

    Xiao Zhuang was starting to feel embarrassed as he became the target of focus from everyone in the cafe. He was getting stared at by everyone like they were watching a TV show.

    ¡°Ting Ting, if you like cats, why don¡¯t we buy one?¡± He earnestly said, ¡°I¡¯ve asked my friends about it before, and there is a well-known pet store around the area and the cats there know how to dance! Why don¡¯t we head down there and take a look? I¡¯ve saved a few months¡¯ worth of wages, and we can get a really pretty one without going through the hassle of adopting.¡±

    ¡°No! I like this one!¡± Ting Ting firmly rejected him.

    ¡°Hold on a second!¡±

    The youngdy sitting by Zhang Zian was unable to pretend she wasn¡¯t listening in on their conversation anymore. She looked at him grimly, as if he was a public enemy. With a dry smile, she said, ¡°Sir, have you heard about the adoption over purchase movement?¡±

    Xiao Zhuang was busy trying to coax his girlfriend and was caught off guard by her question. Confused for a moment, he asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter who I am,¡± she confidently said with reason on her side. ¡°I just want to ask if you¡¯ve heard about adoption over purchase.¡±

    Ting Ting frowned lightly. Although she was arguing with her boyfriend, he was still her boyfriend and she had every right to act that way. But what right did this youngdy have to be questioning Xiao Zhuang so rudely? Ting Ting held back her displeasure and didn¡¯t snap back immediately.

    Xiao Zhuang was irritated by the unfamiliar woman¡¯s questioning and tone. They didn¡¯t know each other, so why should he answer her question?

    But since it was in front of so many people, and especially his girlfriend, Xiao Zhuang tried his best to show his maturity. He patiently replied, ¡°Adoption over purchase? I¡¯ve heard of it before.¡±

    ¡°You have heard of it before?¡± Thedy was stunned. ¡°If you have, then why do you still want to buy a pet?¡±

    The reply wasn¡¯t what she¡¯d expected. She thought that anyone who had heard of the slogan ¡°adoption over purchase¡± would unconditionally support the loving practice. Of course, with the exception of Zhang Zian, who was part of the ck-hearted pet dealing industry.

    Her aggressive tone made Xiao Zhuang more annoyed. ¡°It¡¯s my money, and I can spend it any way I¡¯d like to. What does it have to do with you?¡±

    ¡°Do you know that with no transactions there would be no harm? Spending money on pets is in itself supportive of ck-hearted pet dealers. It adds fuel to their mes of greed and makes them worse, endangering more animals!¡± Thedy pointed at Zhang Zian, as she started to break down and lecture them.

    Hearing that, Xiao Zhuang turned to look at Zhang Zian. ¡°You sell pets?¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded and pointed to the pet store across the road. ¡°The pet store you mentioned earlier was probably mine.¡±

    ¡°Is it true that the cats in your store know how to dance?¡± Xiao Zhuang asked, curious.

    ¡°More or less,¡± Zhang Zian replied without revealing too much.

    Realizing that the conversation was headed in the wrong direction, the youngdy quickly interrupted them. ¡°Did you not hear what I said? If you¡¯re not able to understand the pros and cons, I can exin them to you. Don¡¯t get tricked by these crooks. They¡¯ll definitely tell you that adopted pets will neverpare to ones that you buy. They¡¯re all wrong. You¡¯ll know after giving adoption a try!¡±

    Unexpectedly, Xiao Zhuang smiled bitterly. ¡°Of course I¡¯ve tried before. Did you assume that I haven¡¯t?¡±

 Chapter 636: Rubbed the Wrong Way

    <h4>Chapter 636: Rubbed the Wrong Way</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Xiao Zhuang¡¯s remark left the young woman, Zhang Zian, and his girlfriend Ting Ting astonished.

    ¡°When did you adopt a pet? Why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡± Ting Ting asked looking upset.

    She knew that her boyfriend didn¡¯t really care that much about pets. He didn¡¯t like or hate them. Using her woman¡¯s sixth sense, she immediately wondered if Xiao Zhuang had once adopted a pet for an ex-girlfriend. If Xiao Zhuang agreed to adopt a pet for his ex and not for her, she would seriously need to re-evaluate their rtionship.

    Xiao Zhuang felt wronged, and quickly exined himself. ¡°I mean, I¡¯ve tried. But I haven¡¯t really adopted one.¡±

    Ting Ting hadn¡¯t gotten the idea of adopting out of the blue. Often, possibly under the influence of public opinions on Weibo, she had asionally showed support for pet adoption. Sometimes she showed the Weibo pictures to Xiao Zhuang, telling him how sad the cat or dog looked.

    The audience paid more attention than the speaker. Ting Ting was just now remembering this, but Xiao Zhuang had always kept the information in his mind.

    After New Year¡¯s, it would soon be Valentine¡¯s Day, a western holiday. Xiao Zhuang was having a hard time picking out the right Valentine¡¯s Day gift for Ting Ting. A red packet was too unoriginal. He could buy her new clothes or a purse, but considering his poor taste, Ting Ting might not the stuff he picked out. Or he could buy some other gift, but he wasn¡¯t exactly sure what Ting Ting liked.

    After careful consideration, he decided to get her a pet, since she liked them so much. It would have to be an adopted pet, not only to save money, but also to impress Ting Ting with his kindness. It was like hitting two birds with one stone.

    In order to surprise her, he made the trip behind her back to get her the perfect pet, using the excuse of working overtime. He was nning on putting the pet in a box on Valentine¡¯s Day, and giving it to her as a surprise.

    Before, he thought adopting was simple. Since animals were in desperate need of adoption, generally speaking, the pet should be handed over to him as soon as he wanted, right?

    He only heard Ting Ting talk about pet adoption a few times, and didn¡¯t really know where to do it. He searched around on Weibo, and found a few ces iming to offer free pet adoption in the city. He checked multiple locations in order to pick a nice one for Ting Ting. She was quite picky, after all.

    Xiao Zhuang arrived at the first adoption agency, called Agency A.

    Looking back, Agency A was the most reasonable one. They were friendly at first, and enthusiastically introduced a dozen of ownerless pets to Xiao Zhuang, both cats and dogs.

    After telling this part, Xiao Zhuangined, ¡°Seriously, I know nothing about pets. I haven¡¯t owned one or tried to learn about them. I wanted to adopt a pet for Ting Ting, but I didn¡¯t want one that was too mean or unfriendly. If it scratched or bit Ting Ting, I¡¯d hate myself. So after hearing their introduction, I casually asked for more information about the temperaments of each breed. I didn¡¯t expect it, but somehow my question rubbed the guy the wrong way. His attitude changedpletely. He pointed at nose at me, and said that I was a hypocrite, a fake pet-lover. Then he told me to go as far away as possible.¡±

    The girl interrupted excitedly, ¡°You should have never asked about the breeds! Don¡¯t you know that it only promotes the unhealthy focuses of the corrupted pet industry? All pets are equal, and each one of them is a little angle waiting for your rescue.¡±

    ¡°The corrupted pet industry is none of my business!¡± Xiao Zhuang rolled his eyes and argued back. ¡°If Ting Ting didn¡¯t want to adopt a pet, I¡¯d never of went there even if you paid me a hundred bucks!¡±

    The strange girl widened her eyes in anger.

    Zhang Zian had been asked the same question about temperament by countless customers. Even his first one had asked, Zhao Qi, when he visited his shop. He¡¯d patiently answered each question more times than he could count. Customers came to pick the perfect pet. It was a perfectly normal question to ask, and had nothing to do with breed discrimination. In fact, as a whole, purebred cats were indeed more friendly and affectionate than mixed cats. The customers deserved to know this. It was wrong and shady to withhold the information.

    Customers were always the most important, and they deserved to know. It was a matter of integrity. No matter how unserious Zhang Zian seemed in private, he never would of had second thoughts on this issue.

    But in pet adoption agencies, that type of question should never be raised. The workers would immediately start to hate you. Most pets in adoption agencies were mutt dogs and mixed cats, with breeds that couldn¡¯t be identified. Their breed was a forbidden question and it was impolite to ask.

    Still, as Xiao Zhuang told his story, he was full of anger. He said furiously, ¡°After living to such an age, it was the first time I met a f*cking dumb*ss like this! I was too shy back then and ran away without a word. I regret it so much now! I should have stayed and taught him a lesson! ¡±

    After hearing this, Ting Ting¡¯s doubt toward Xiao Zhuang turned into appreciation. She held his hands, as if she was the one being insulted back then. ¡°Xiao Zhuang, thank you for doing so much for me. I was wrong to me you.¡±

    Xiao Zhuang grabbed her hands too. ¡°Ting Ting¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, if there was an Agency A, there should be an Agency B too, right? How about continuing your PDA after finishing the story?¡± Zhang Zian refused to witness their moment.

    Everybody smirked except the strange girl.

    Xiao Zhuang suddenly realized what he was doing, and scratched his head in embarrassment. Ting Ting shyly drew back her hands as well.

    ¡°Ahem!¡± Xiao Zhuang cleared his throat and continued. ¡°After leaving Agency A, I wanted to go home first. But then I realized that I¡¯d already lied to Ting Ting about working overtime, so I might as well visit a few other ces. I figured that I¡¯d already seen the worst, and the other ces couldn¡¯t have been worse than that man. I was wrong.¡±

    Xiao Zhuang went to Agency B. To prevent the same thing from happening again, he asked the same question as soon as he entered, about the temperaments of different breeds. If the ownershed out on him again, he would take the chance and give the angry speech that he didn¡¯t give back in Agency A.

    However, the person in charge of Agency B wasn¡¯t mad at all. Instead, he answered his questions patiently and happily. Xiao Zhuang knew nothing about pets, and couldn¡¯t validate the information given by that person. But he did sound very professional.

    Under the help of Agency B¡¯s manager, Xiao Zhuang soon picked out a cat. It was a non-purebred American Shorthair. The manager told him with great sympathy that it used to be a stray cat living a miserable life, until it was rescued by the adoption agency. Now it was eagerly waiting for a new owner to love it.

    Something gross happened next.

 Chapter 637: The Four Conditions

    <h4>Chapter 637: The Four Conditions</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    At the second store, Xiao Zhuang¡¯s cat adoption process started off well. He expressed his interest in adopting and then the person in charge instructed him toplete a simple adoption procedure.

    This ¡°simple¡± procedure shocked Xiao Zhuang, who hadn¡¯t experienced much of the outside world.

    Xiao Zhuang mockingly said, ¡°Do you guys know the conditions required for an adoption?¡±

    He slowly held up his fingers and counted. ¡°One, you need a copy of your ID and a submitted bank ount statement. Then, you have to give them another picture of you holding up your ID. Bloody hell, when I saw that requirement, I felt like was in a police station!¡±

    ¡°Two, you have to agree to house visits, and video calls from QQ or Wechat are not optional. Random surprise visits have to be epted unconditionally. When I read this condition, I felt like I was a criminal on bail!¡± Xiao Zhuang was so agitated his spit flew everywhere as he spoke.

    He looked at Ting Ting. ¡°For her, I could force myself to ept the first condition but the second one? What if I wasn¡¯t home when they made a surprise visit? To let Ting Ting handle them alone¡­ Honestly, I¡¯d be worried. These days, any kind of person can exist. What if we identally let someone dangerous into our house?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like that, you can¡¯t think of them that way!¡± The unfamiliar youngdy emphasized, ¡°It¡¯s only because people don¡¯t know how to cherish an adopted pet since ites at no cost. There have been cases where pets have been abused after they were adopted and this prompted such strict rules and regtions on adoptions!¡±

    ¡°Ipletely support the argument that people don¡¯t know how to cherish anything thates without a cost.¡± Zhang Zian nodded his head in agreement.

    The unfamiliar youngdy fiercely red at him.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t the condition too much?¡± A plump youngdy nearby couldn¡¯t help but to speak up. ¡°A tough girl like me wouldn¡¯t be afraid of house visits, but to take a picture with my ID? I¡¯m sorry, I really can¡¯t ept that. What if they use that picture of mine to get a loan? Isn¡¯t there a number of online banks now where you can easily get tens of thousands dors worth of loans approved with just a picture of you and your ID? I¡¯m actually really interested in adopting a cat too, but if this is the case then I think I¡¯m fine. I¡¯d rather just buy one with my own money,¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re just supporting the growth of the industry for ck-hearted pet dealers! And just because all of you are afraid of the troubles, afraid of this and afraid of that! It¡¯s leading to a number of pets being abandoned, abused, and left with no home to return to!¡± The youngdy confronted everyone she saw. If anyone even slightly questioned adoption practices, she didn¡¯t hesitate to confront them.

    The plump youngdy was as she described herself to be. She was truly a tough girl. She immediately snapped back, ¡°Don¡¯t try to use morals against me, I¡¯m not a saint and I don¡¯t want to be one. I¡¯m only doing whatever I can to give away love and kindness. But if by doing so brings me unwanted troubles, then it can stay far away from me!¡±

    ¡°Huh, the title hypocritical and fake pet lover is just for people like you!¡± The unfamiliar youngdy sarcastically replied.

    ¡°Holier-than-thou adoption b*tch!¡± The plump youngdy said with no restraint.

    The unfamiliar youngdy¡¯s face was flushed red with anger. ¡°Who are you calling a adoption b*tch?¡± Her lips moved a few times, but she was still unable to let out thest words.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mention exactly who, anyone who thinks it¡¯s them can dly ept the title.¡± The plump youngdy lowered her head, and finished off thest mouthful of rice in her bowl before she raised her voice and shouted, ¡°Lady, more rice!¡±

    The customers there were mostly youngdies and the restaurant¡¯s food portions were quiterge, so most of the time there was leftovers that caused unnecessary waste. Because of that, the old Li couple had recently reduced the portions of their dishes. Today however, they¡¯d run into a big eater. It was already her second time requesting for more rice.

    Aunt Li dropped off a new bowl of freshly steamed rice. The plump youngdy started stuffing herself while muttering, ¡°Snowy¡¯s rmendations are always great,¡± as if the previous sh with the pretentious youngdy hadn¡¯t affected her mood at all.

    The sh between thedies had silenced all the guys who were there. It was only after their fight came to an end that Xiao Zhuang carefully continued. ¡°I wasn¡¯t finished with what I was saying. So, after hearing the first two conditions, I was ready to give up on the n, but I didn¡¯t want to just turn around and leave like with Agency A. Keeping on with the principle of finishing what I started, I forced myself to continue listening, but the more I heard the more shocked I was.¡±

    Other than a picture of him holding up his own ID, and epting periodic surprise home visits, their third condition was to provide proof of one¡¯s stable ie and property deed within Binhai City. But since he was still a university student and was only able to work during his extra time after sses, his family had their own house but he wasn¡¯t the owner. Where was he supposed to get proof of a stable ie and a copy of his property deed? It was here that he finally understood that adopting a pet waspletely not an option for him.

    ¡°They need a copy of your property deed and ie statement? Are you sure this is for adopting a pet, and not for a blind date?¡± One other male customer spoke up after remaining silent for so long.

    ¡°Even a blind date wouldn¡¯t require an ie statement, right? If that was the case, we could still exaggerate a little more. That should be for a credit card application at least,¡± another male diner said with certainty.

    Xiao Zhuang shrugged his shoulders. ¡°If there is a single lie in what I just said, may the heavens strike me down with lightning.¡±

    Ting Ting ruthlessly pinched him, not letting him spout out such serious promises so casually.

    The youngdy quickly tried to exin, ¡°That¡¯s to ensure that the adopted pets have a stable home. Constantly moving around isn¡¯t good for pets, it¡¯s considered abuse!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a low-ie foreign worker, not a local from Binhai. I rent a room here and move around often. When myndlord decides to raise my rent, why wouldn¡¯t I move to a cheaper location? Based on what you¡¯re saying, my life is worse than a dog¡¯s!¡± said another male customer near the front as he pointed to himself. Considering how he was dressed, he was being too modest.

    Although the youngdy didn¡¯t directly reply to his question, the look of contempt from her eyes was enough to guess her answer. Low-ie foreign workers didn¡¯t deserve human rights.

    ¡°It¡¯s not over yet.¡± Xiao Zhuang started to get more enthusiastic as he went on. ¡°The fourth condition, although not as harsh as the previous ones, is the one I can¡¯t understand the most.¡±

    ¡°Oh, tell us.¡± Everyone¡¯s curiosity was piqued.

    Xiao Zhuang cleared his throat, and said, ¡°The fourth condition was that after the adoption, the cat food that we use to feed it must not be lower than 400 yuan a pack and it had to be imported. Otherwise, it would be considered abuse and the adoption organization would have to retrieve the pet. I was stumped! The staff clearly exined to me that the cat was a stray and used to live a very sad, starving life. Now that I wanted to adopt it, I can at least promise that it wouldn¡¯t starve anymore, yet if I didn¡¯t feed it expensive cat food it was considered some form of abuse?¡±

    After listening to this, Zhang Zian confidentlyughed. ¡°Did Agency B also designate a specific brand and where to get it from?¡±

    ¡°How did you know that?¡± Xiao Zhuang asked in surprise.

    ¡°It¡¯s very simple.¡± Zhang Zian gave the youngdy a sideways nce. ¡°Because besides ck-hearted chains of pet dealers, there are also ck-hearted pet adoption organizations as well. If I¡¯m correct, this agency¡¯s true identity would be an authorized distributor for that brand of cat food.

 Chapter 638: The Odd Case of Adoption

    <h4>Chapter 638: The Odd Case of Adoption</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian¡¯s statement made every customer put down their chopsticks and cat toys, and stare at him in disbelief.

    Although the self-righteous girl¡¯s speech disgusted everybody, and Xiao Zhuang¡¯s ridiculous story caused everyone not to know whether tough or cry, they still believed that they were just individual cases. What the youngdy and the Agency A and B did was kind of extreme, but at least they started off with good intentions. However, Zhang Zian¡¯s briefment made them rethink their judgement.

    ¡°No way! True pet-lovers like us aren¡¯t capable of that!¡± The self-righteous girl hit the table and stood up eagerly, almost crying in her anger.

    Zhang Zian gently smiled. He knew that being the loudest didn¡¯t make someone right, and that people still had their own judgments. Everybody there were adults with a normal IQ, and didn¡¯t need an borated speech to understand everything.

    Xiao Zhuang realized something. ¡°A corrupted pet adoption business? No wonder! Something I couldn¡¯t understand earlier makes sense now. I told the guy in charge of Agency B that I understood why they designated brands. But why did they have to designate the ce to buy them? Couldn¡¯t I buy them at other ces where they¡¯re cheaper? The guy¡¯s reasoning was that the cat food from the designated distributor was the authentic product from overseas, whereas the food sold in other ces was counterfeit. He even took out two empty packages and exined how to tell the difference between the real and fake. He imed that one of them was counterfeit from another distributor, and made some adopted cats sick or die. I can¡¯t believe that I was fooled by this mother f*cker!¡±

    Another male customer interrupted. ¡°I¡¯m guessing that the property ownership paper and the ie statement was to prove that you were capable of paying for the expensive cat food on a long-term basis. He emphasized repeatedly how pathetic that stray cat was in order to arouse your sympathy, and to make you a willing victim. Was the cat really a stray cat like he imed? Who can prove it? If they ask the adopter to provide all sorts of paperwork, it would only be reasonable to ask them to provide proof that the cat was stray, right?¡±

    The self-righteous girl was in tears, and said emotionally, ¡°How do they prove that? The agency must have rescued it as soon as they saw it outside. Do they record a video beforehand to prove it?¡±

    The male customer smirked. Apparently he didn¡¯t believe her.

    Everybody thought that his request to provide proof wasn¡¯t realistic. However, since the self-righteous girl had offended almost everybody there, nobody was willing to speak up for her.

    Two girls who looked like university students were eating together in a corner. They hadn¡¯t gotten involved in the argument earlier between Zhang Zian and the self-righteous girl. But one of them could not help interrupting. ¡°Speaking of cat food¡­¡±

    Everyone turned to look at her.

    She blushed slightly. ¡°When it was snowing a while ago, there were often dozens of stray cats gathering around the hot water pipe under our residence building. The girls in our dorm felt sorry for them, so we all contributed 20 to 30 RMB and bought a bag of cat food made in China to feed them. They ate it happily. At least they didn¡¯t starve, right?¡±

    Everybody nodded.

    ¡°But one day, when it was my turn, I was feeding the cats the cat food we bought. A student that I didn¡¯t know passed by. She gave me sh*t right to my face, using me of being irresponsible, and asking why was I feeding it crappy domestic cat food, instead of the Yearning 6 Fish brand,¡± she exined. ¡°But we were just poor students. My roommatese from the poor countryside and none of us are rich. We can¡¯t possibly feed dozens of stray cats expensive imported cat food.¡±

    Her friend with her frowned. ¡°Why haven¡¯t you mentioned it before?¡±

    She shook her head and smiled bitterly. ¡°Why should I have said anything just to make everybody upset?¡±

    Her friend sighed. ¡°One day it my turn to feed the cats. I saw someone too, but I¡¯m not sure if it was the same person. She saw me feeding the cats. First, she used me of using domestic cat food. Then she used me of feeding stray cats and causing an ecological imbnce. And then she used me for not neutering them.¡±

    She looked sad as she spoke, but everyone couldn¡¯t help butugh. It was just too ridiculous.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°We can say whatever we want. But if I can¡¯t give any real life examples, you might think that I¡¯m talking my way out of this. That¡¯s fine. Just search the words ¡®pet rescue business chain¡¯ yourselves. The first few results will surprise you.¡±

    Everybody had a smartphone, and opened up their browser one by one to search the words Zhang Zian mentioned.

    Shocking search results popped up on their phone screens. The so-calledrgest pet rescue organization turns out to be a scam taking advantage of kindness.

    This article mentioned a Weibo ount from a well-known pet rescue website in Shanghai, which was certified and had nearly 20,000 followers. They had a lot of pictures of cats and dogs, and each post was calling for people to adopt hundreds of stray cats and dogs. They also organized charity events for cat and dog food. There were even photos of the rescued animals and their adopters. It looked very legitimate and popr.

    But in reality, the organization was using pet rescue as a disguise, and secretly carrying out inhumane deals. The adoption itself was free, but the adopters had to pay arge sponsorship fee, which was imed to be used to rescue more dogs. Many people paid the fee out of kindness and support. But the pets they adopted were dead within a week.

    Up until then, many people were still being tricked by posts from this website. It was a terrible experience for the real and loving rescuers.

    When the scammed adopters went back, they were told that they signed an adoption agreement, not a sales contract. At the end of the day, animal adoption and rescue had not yet been legalized in the country. Nothing could be done, even if they called the police.

    The article was eyeopening to everybody there.

    Xiao Zhuang sighed. ¡°I guess Agency B is simr to this one. The adoption agreement of Agency B said that the signature agrees that the adopter has epted the terms above, and will pay a security deposit of 6800 RMB. As soon as they break the terms, not only will the pet be taken back, but so will the security deposit.¡±

    ¡°A security deposit of 6800 RMB? Why not just rob me instead?¡±

    Everybody was discussing the shocking number. The terms of adoption were so rigorous at Agency B, it was almost impossible not to vite them, like for the sudden house visits. Everybody went out to visit friends or travel sometimes. If a house visit ured when they happened to be out, the 6800 RMB would be taken away?

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Maybe this is a special case. I believe that most adoption agencies are legitimate. But you still need to pay close attention and check them out. Don¡¯t let anyone take advantage of your kindness. As for the ID and ie statement, I still support adoption. I¡¯m not joking. But everything must be done withoutpromising the citizens¡¯ privacy and the right to information.¡±

 Chapter 639: The Route of Adoption

    <h4>Chapter 639: The Route of Adoption</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Pet adoptions were incredibly confusing, and they¡¯d been that way for a long time. The issues within the industry were no worse than those in the pet sales industry. Some people would even put themselves on the moral high ground of doing public welfare, as they hated people that didn¡¯t match their standards for pet lovers.

    What was even more funny was that once there was a guy who lived in a rented apartment, and he brought home a cat that he found on the side of the road. He fed it local cat food for a few days. Soon, he felt like it was too much of a hassle and decided to put it up for adoption online. His requirements for those interested in adopting was that they had to own both a car and a house, submit a picture of them holding their ID card, and had to feed the cat with imported cat food only. Otherwise, it meant that they didn¡¯t love cats. The double standards here were no joke.

    There are adoption organizations that fed normal cat food to their cats, but still told adopters to only buy imported cat foods. They argued that if the cats weren¡¯t able to live a better life, why should they let anyone adopt them?

    As for the adopters that were found to make any mistakes that went against the organization¡¯s rules during the surprise house visit, they would have to go through a harsh lecture. The more severe cases would have to pay a fine. Sometimes the pet would be taken back to the organization.

    Instead of adopting a pet, it felt more like adopting a child.

    People who didn¡¯t do their best in raising their adopted pets and who were too cheap did exist, but ridiculously raising the requirements of adoption because of them was no different than refusing to eat because of a fear of choking.

    Xiao Zhuang had not only visited Agency A and B, but he¡¯d also went to two other locations. All of the adoption organizations were found on Weibo and their requirements for adopters were harsher than the ones before. They also didn¡¯t allow adopters to raise any objections. If you looked at cats of superior breeds you¡¯d be lectured for not liking inferior breeds.

    Xiao Zhuangined, ¡°It¡¯s not that I despise cats of lesser breeds! I can¡¯t even tell the difference between the two. I¡¯d naively thought that an Orange Tabby was also one of the better breeds. But personally, I think that superior breeds are prettierpared to the inferior breeds, although not all of them. At the very least, I wasn¡¯t interested in those in the adoption organizations. I only wanted for Ting Ting to adopt a cute cat that was pleasing to the eye. Am I wrong to want that?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not wrong, everybody loves things that are beautiful,¡± Zhang Zian said to him. ¡°When I sell pets, I always emphasize preference. The one that catches your eye, the one you find pleasant to look at. Nothing forcibly done will end up good. Adopting a pet that you don¡¯t even like just for the sake of being kind will definitely leave a bad taste. Everyone has their own preferences. You might not like a inferior cat breed, but someone else might. There¡¯s no need to force yourself.

    Xiao Zhuang shook his head. ¡°After leaving those few adoption organizations, I¡¯vepletely given up on the idea of adopting. This is why I reacted poorly earlier when Ting Ting said that she wanted to adopt a cat. I was nning on getting a cat for her before Valentine¡¯s Day and telling her that I adopted it.¡±

    Ting Ting was touched. She said, ¡°Xiao Zhuang, I¡¯m so sorry for misunderstanding you before.¡±

    ¡°Actually, if you have ns on adopting a pet, you don¡¯t really have to look for them on Weibo.¡± Zhang Zian suggested, ¡°On Weibo, the good and bad adoption organizations are intermingled. Even with legit organizations, due to therge amount of inquiries from adopters, their staff responsible for handling responses might be overwhelmed. Their service is usually poor. It¡¯s best to check out the local forums in the pet sections. Often there are owners who put up their pets for adoption there, but it¡¯s best not to adopt with people from foreign countries. They¡¯ll im that the adoption is free but charge you arge fee for postage costs.

    Zian paused for a moment before continuing. ¡°There is also a simpler solution, but only if you¡¯re okay with having any cat, and aren¡¯t picky about looks or color. You can just as easily head down to any park or older areas where it¡¯s flooded with strays. If you¡¯re lucky you might even find a cat that¡¯s from a superior breed. You just have to remember that a visit to the veterinarian for vines and deworming is required before you bring a stray cat home. Especially for those that already have a cat at home. There are horror stories where stray cats have infected the other cats in the household, causing severe health issues and damages.

    ¡°Stray cats are moremon than stray dogs. Stray dogs are usually taken away by management centers for stray animals, or stolen away to be made into dog stew. Are we only able to go to adoption organizations if we n on getting a dog?¡± someone asked.

    Zhang Zian gave it some thought before replying. ¡°Not necessarily. For dogs, you can try your luck at some research institutes or medical schools.¡±

    He thought about Masanori Suzuhara and Snoopy. He said, ¡°Research institutes and medical schools often use Beagles for their experiments. The beagles retire when they turn seven, and sometimes even younger. These dogs all end up for adoption. Police dogs are also another option, but usually the requirements are too strict for the average person. You might as well focus more on the schools¡¯ Weibo or public ount and try adopting a Beagle.¡±

    ¡°Used for experiments?¡± The man¡¯s face was filled with uncertainty. He wasn¡¯tfortable with Beagles that had been used for experiments. He worried that they might carry bacteria or would die after only a few days.

    Zhang Zian was able to guess what the person was thinking. He replied, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, since they put them out for adoption they definitely won¡¯t be sick. Beagles are also considered the healthiest pet dogs aspared to other breeds. Also, the Beagles used by research institutes and medical schools are always purebred, even more than the Beagles from ordinary kennels and pet stores. If you were to purchase a simr one, it would cost around ten to twenty thousand yuan. Usually, when the adoption news is released, adopters immediately respond. If you¡¯re too slow, there won¡¯t be any left for you! As for its lifespan, you don¡¯t have to worry about that either. Beagles that are able to live till they retire usually do not go through any serious experiments, so they¡¯re able to live for a long time.¡±

    ¡°What about cats?¡± another person asked. ¡°Are there any experimented cats?¡±

    ¡°Yes, there is,¡± Zhang Zian answered confidently. It¡¯s just that they¡¯re not asmon as Beagles.¡±

    The loud youngdy was as dejected as a rooster who¡¯d just lost a battle. Her previous confidence was almost all gone. She continued to fiercely stare at Zhang Zian. ¡°Even if you argue forever, that doesn¡¯t change the fact that you¡¯re a ck-hearted pet seller!¡±

    Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders as a response. When a dog bites you, should you bite it back?

    Xiao Zhuang let out a sigh. ¡°Forget it, Ting Ting, let¡¯s go. If you really want a cat we can just buy one instead of spending so much effort in adopting one.¡±

    Xiao Zhuang had been talking for a while, and he¡¯d barely gotten to touch his food. Ting Ting had only ate half of hers, and the leftovers had long gone cold.

    ¡°But¡­¡± Ting Ting affectionately looked at the Calico cat in the restaurant.

    She¡¯d came to the bar all excited to adopt the Calico cat and thinking that the process of adopting was very simple. Only to find out from her boyfriend that the adoption process wasn¡¯t as easy as she¡¯d thought and that some conditions were too unreasonable. It felt like someone had poured cold water over her, but she still wanted to give it a try.

    ¡°Ma¡¯am,¡± she called out to Aunt Li, holding on to a sliver of hope. She asked, ¡°What are the procedures needed to adopt a cat from you?¡±

    Aunt Li wiped her hands on her apron, shook her head, and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m not responsible for that.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± Ting Ting was surprised. ¡°Aren¡¯t they your cats? If you¡¯re not responsible then who is?¡±

    Aunt Li pointed at Zhang Zian. ¡°All these cats were brought here by Master Zhang. And as for the procedures, it¡¯s all up to him.¡±

 Chapter 640: Reasonable Terms

    <h4>Chapter 640: Reasonable Terms</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When everyone heard what Aunt Li said, they gazed at her and Zhang Zian in shock.

    ¡°What did you say?¡± Ting Ting wanted to make sure she had heard it correctly. ¡°He brought all the cats here? Doesn¡¯t he own a pet shop?¡±

    Aunt Li nodded. ¡°Yes, he owns a pet shop, but he also brought the cats here. There¡¯s no conflict.¡±

    During the self-righteous girl¡¯s speech, Aunt Li had overheard their argument in the kitchen, and grew worried that they might fight. She didn¡¯t understand what was worth fighting about. The rich bought expensive cats, and the poor adopted or rescued cats. Why did there have to be a right way or a wrong way? It was thepetitiveness of young people, one always had to convince the other. It was always a matter of right and wrong, there wasn¡¯t a middle ground.

    She didn¡¯t find it conflicting, but all the young people here did. He sold animals for a living, why would he bring them over to be adopted? Didn¡¯t that ruin his business?

    While everyone gazed at him, Zhang Zian spoke, ¡°I¡¯ve told you more than once, I support adoption. Why does no one believe me? Do I have to repeat myself?¡±

    The self-righteous girl¡¯s mouth opened in surprise. She assumed earlier that Zhang Zian words were just that, but she didn¡¯t realize that he actually supported adoption.

    ¡°You¡¯re really not joking?¡± she questioned.

    ¡°No, why would I joke about this?¡± Aunt Li saw that they didn¡¯t believe him, so she went to the second floor and came back down with a litter box, disying thebel.

    ¡°This litter box is from Amazing Fate Pet Shop,¡± she said. ¡°Master Zhang gave it to us, he didn¡¯t charge us.¡±

    The chubby girl finally finished all the food on the table, and burped loudly. She pointed at Zhang Zian and said, ¡°I think I¡¯ve heard about it in Snowy¡¯s broadcast, but since you have an average face, I forgot about you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re telling me?¡± Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t tolerate this. ¡°You have an average face!¡±

    The chubby girl didn¡¯t mind that at all. She rubbed her round belly and said, ¡°I have the video on my phone. If you don¡¯t believe, I can show it to you. I remember Snowy mentioning that he brought the cats here for temporary boarding. Oh, right. Snowy is a famous broadcast host. She¡¯s gorgeous. I highly rmend her broadcast channel, Eat, Drink and Be Merry at Binhai City.¡±

    The chubby girl¡¯s straightforwardness made everybodyugh.

    ¡°The cats don¡¯t belong to me,¡± Zhang Zian rified. ¡°The cats belong to a pet clinic up north, where they were abandoned by their owners. The clinic had to treat and take care of them, which was a heavy burden. That¡¯s why I brought them over here. If someone could adopt them, that¡¯d be great. Apart from the seven cats, there are a few dogs. If you¡¯re interested, you should apply for adoption.¡±

    Pet clinics and hospitals were great sources for pet adoptions, but not many people knew about it. The abandoned pets were in desperate need of new homes. The animals were very healthy, some of them were even neutered. They were often the best options for adoption, much better than the fancy¡ªand fishy¡ªanimals advertised on Weibo.

    Ting Ting was a bit confused, so she asked, ¡°Who should I give the application to? What are the conditions for adoption?¡±

    Everybody was listening carefully.

    After hearing the ridiculous stories about adoption agencies, they were concerned about the procedures set forth by the owner, who was considered to be a key yer in the corrupted pet business.

    ¡°You should file your application with Dr. Sun, as the cats technically belong to her and her clinic. However, she¡¯s back home for the Spring Festival.¡± Zhang Zian murmured. ¡°So, I¡¯ll take them. I was there when she wrote the adoption procedures, after all.¡±

    When Sun Xiaomeng first wrote the adoption procedures, the requirements were a bit strict. She sent them to Zhang Zian for feedback, then revised ording to his opinions, setting the bar for adoption a bit lower.

    Zhang Zian continued, ¡°First of all, you don¡¯t need to take a picture of your ID, nor provide an Ie Statement. It¡¯d be best if you owned property, so you should bring your property ownership certificate. If you¡¯re renting, that¡¯s fine as long as you can prove that there isn¡¯t a ¡® No Pets Allowed¡¯ use in the terms of your lease. Not too demanding, right?¡±

    Ting Ting and Zhuang nodded. The condition was reasonable and eptable.

    ¡°Second, we need reliable contact information. We won¡¯t physicallye to your home, but we¡¯ll do frequent remote visits through QQ or Wechat video. The visits aren¡¯t for forever, they¡¯llst from six months to a year. Still not too much to ask, right?¡± Zhang Zian said, ying with his fingers.

    Ting Ting and Zhuang nodded again.

    Zhang Zian slightly raised his voice before saying, ¡°The third condition may be the most challenging. Before taking the cats home, you¡¯ll need toe to the restaurant and take care of them for a month. Either of you will do, but at least one of you must show up here each day, and take care of the seven cats. You¡¯ll need to spend at least two hours, one in the morning and one in the evening, here each day. If you don¡¯t show up for whatever reason, you¡¯ll be disqualified, proving that you¡¯re not ready to own a pet.¡±

    This condition had never been heard of, so the audience started discussing.

    Thest one was Zhang Zian¡¯s idea, and reced the deposit condition. He believed that if the person was able toe and take care of the seven cats for a month, rain or shine, it proved that he or she was serious about adopting and was willing to take care of them. He or she would also learn the right ways to care for pets, making them ready to own a pet long-term.

    ¡°Is that all?¡± Zhuang asked tentatively.

    ¡°That¡¯s it. Only three conditions. Are you okay with them?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Zhuang and Ting Ting looked at each other. They saw excitement and confidence in the each other¡¯s eyes.

    They held each other¡¯s hands under the table, and replied at the same time. ¡°We¡­¡±

    The rest of the sentence was drowned out by the sudden noise that came from outside.

 Chapter 641: Scrambling for Loots

    <h4>Chapter 641: Scrambling for Loots</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was Zhang Zian¡¯s idea to do the month trial instead of the security deposit. There were a lot of people who were rich and thought that money solved everything. Even if they had a house, a high ie, and were willing to pay the security deposit, how would that prove that they loved animals? On the other hand, there were people who lived in apartments with no stable ie, unable to feed their pets high-quality food, but still treated them as a family member. So, if there was a pet avable for adoption, would the former be better or worse?

    Money has never been a standard of measuring love for pets.

    A month of volunteer work, visiting the store twice a day, spending at least 60 hours taking care of the seven cats is no easy task. If the person stuck it out the whole month, it showed that he or she had patience. It also was a way to mentally prepare for their own adopted pet.

    Just as Ting Ting and Zhuang were ready to ept the three conditions, they were interrupted by outside noises.

    The noises came from the north and it looked like arge number of people were running. There were cars honking and dogs barking.

    ¡°What happened? Was there a fire?¡±

    Everyone in the bar stared at one another, looking puzzled. Everyone set down their utensils and left the bar to have a look.

    Whoosh!

    A ck figure shed pass everyone¡¯s eyes.

    As it was too dark outside, no one was able to clearly see what the figure, but they thought that it might¡¯ve been a cat.

    A few more ck figures sped past. This time, someone raised his phone and took a picture. Most of the figures were different breeds of kittens and puppies, all around three months old. There were the asional adult cats and dogs spotted, but all of them were superior breeds.

    ¡°My God! What happened? Which pet store did these pets escape from?¡±

    Discussions could be heard, everyone was making all kind of guesses.

    Zhang Zian knew that it wasn¡¯t possible for a pet store to have such arge number of animals. It must be from somerge-scale breeding base.

    While everyone¡¯s attention was on the animals zipping down the street, Zhang Zian caught sight of a ck shadow before a small pebble was thrown at his feet.

    He raised his head to look, and on a roof nearby, Famous looked like it had just run a marathon. Old Time Tea was on its back next to two small dogs, but because he was so far, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t see clearly.

    Zhang Zian stood there for awhile, and with another look at the animals running down the street, he could guess what had happened. Old Time Tea and Famous must¡¯ve found evidence of Love Lovely Pets¡¯ illegal doings and couldn¡¯t stand them getting away with it, so they decided to wreak some havoc and let the animals out.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t make any noise, he just frowned and started to think of what to do.

    The whole situation was a mess. Seeing that the animals were by themselves, some pedestrians tried to bring them home. Some of the young people from the bar were also interested, but were too embarrassed to join in since it was wrong.

    The ones who were scrambling for the pets were older, so their legs weren¡¯t as good as they used to be.

    Across the street, two kittens underneath the street lights. One was a Siamese cat and the other was a foreign shorthair cat, also known as a Garfield cat.

    Right beside Zhang Zian and the others, a figure moved towards the kittens, seemingly trying to catch them.

    Everyone fixed their gaze on the figure, it was the self-righteous girl.

    The cars honking made the kittens scurry off in two different directions. The Siamese kitten went south, while the Shorthair went west.

    Since they were only kittens, they weren¡¯t able to run fast. There was a chance that they¡¯d be caught.

    The self-righteous girl hesitated for a moment before going for the Shorthair. It took only a moment before she had the Garfield in her arms.

    Zhang Zianughed. ¡°Looks like even a real pet lover knows which breed is more expensive.¡±

    Everyone burst out inughter.

    The self-righteous girl heard theughter, and turned around to re at them before unting the kitten in her arms.

    A pickup truck drove towards them, the people inside all wearing uniforms. The Love Lovely Pets logo was painted on the truck as well as on their uniforms.

    The person next to the driver held up a bullhorn and shouted, ¡°Dear all, I beg you to please return the animals to us! Due to the negligence ofpany staff, some animals have escaped our breeding base. We have employees that are depending on the sales of the animals so that they can go home and celebrate the New Year. Please, don¡¯t let us go home empty handed, we have families to feed!¡±

    When they noticed someone holding a dog or cat, the staff would stop them, half pleading and half pressuring them to return the animals.

    Some were polite and returned the animals as soon as they heard their plea, while some were reluctant. There were also those that insisted that the animals were theirs to keep.

    The self-righteous girl took a few steps forward before she saw the trucking towards her, then she quickly turned into an alley with the kitten in her arms.

    As the truck passed Zhang Zian and the others, the plump youngdy gave a wicked grin, raised her hand and shouted, ¡°Someone over there has one of your cats!¡± She pointed towards the self-righteous girl.

    The girl was hiding in the shadows of the alley, and had nned to hide there until the truck left. If it wasn¡¯t for thedy who gave her away, the staff of Love Lovely Pets might not have found her.

    She was so mad her face turned white. She looked like she wanted to pounce on thedy.

    With distance between them, the plumpdy wasn¡¯t afraid, so she gave the girl a smug grin. Even if they were face to face, the plump youngdy was still a better bet than the self-righteous girl, she¡¯d never be on the losing end.

    ¡°The cat in your arms is ours, right? Please, return it to us.¡± The Love Lovely Pets employee had the impression that the self-righteous girl might be a student, so he hopped out the truck and ran towards her.

    The girl wanted to run away with the cat, but she was stopped by a group of men surrounding her.

    ¡°Please, give us back our cat.¡± The employee stretched out his hand.

    ¡°No! This is my cat, why should I give it to you!¡± the girl eximed.

    The staff pointed at the plumpdy, ¡°She¡¯s a witness who saw you pick up this cat.¡±

    Thedy waved from where she stood, a distance away.

    With a witness there, the self-righteous girl wasn¡¯t able to deny the usation, yet she still said, ¡°All you cold-hearted merchants in the pet breeding industry aren¡¯t true pet lovers, you don¡¯t have the right to own this cat. It¡¯ll have a better life with me!¡±

    The staff from Love Lovely Pets were stunned. They¡¯ve seen unreasonable people, but not one quite like this.

    Zhang Zian and the others were already used to it. The girl was unbelievable.

    ¡°If you refuse to return the cat to us, we¡¯re going to call the police!¡±

    ¡°You guys are too much! Yes, I picked up this cat, but who can prove that it belongs to you?¡± the girl quickly responded.

    Everyone who heard her thought she had a point. Why should they return the animals? Where was the proof that the animals belonged to Love Lovely Pets?

    ¡°The cat is ours, it came from our breeding base. If you refuse to give it back to us, we¡¯ll expose you on WeChat!¡± The worker raised his phone and pointed the camera at her face.

    ¡°Take my picture if you want, I¡¯m not afraid. I¡¯ll expose you on WeChat, too!¡± The girl refused to be outdone, so she took out her phone to take pictures of them. ¡°You cold-hearted merchants, you¡¯ll suffer the wrath of true pet lovers!¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head as he gave Famous and Old Time Tea a signal with his eyes, telling them to head back to the store, he¡¯d be there soon.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t the slightest bit interested in the dispute that would surelye.

 Chapter 642: A Big Meal

    <h4>Chapter 642: A Big Meal</h4>

    Zhang Zian let Ting Ting and Zhuang know he was leaving. ¡°I need to head back to the shop. If you n to adopt a cat, pleasee over tomorrow, or anytime that works for you, as long as you keep showing up for the month trial.¡±

    They discussed in low voices before they said, ¡°We¡¯ll be here tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget to bring your lease if you¡¯re renting, or your property ownership certificate if you own a house. We won¡¯t make copies, we¡¯ll only take down the address.¡± Zhang Zian emphasized. ¡°Bring your ID as well. We need it to confirm that the names match the ones on the lease or the ownership certificate.¡±

    Ting Ting and Zhuang nodded, said goodbye, and headed home to prepare.

    Some of the others left as well, while some returned to the restaurant to finish their meals. Some people joined the crowd forming in the street.

    Almost every Love Lovely Pet employee was dispatched. They were catching pets all over the city, in multiple vehicles, and were asking various people to give the animals back. Some animals were sessfully retrieved, but not many.

    Zhang Zian stood outside to watch for a while. The self-righteous girl was still arguing with the Love Lovely Pets employees, both parties threatening to expose the other on Weibo. He saw that Old Time Tea and Famous on the tform of the second floor of the shop. Then he signaled the Li couple, returned to the shop, and closed the door.

    Famous and Old Time Tea were waiting inside. Zhang Zian saw the poodle puppy on Famous¡¯ back right away, as well as the extremely weak female poodle.

    The female dog struggled to open its eyes, but when it did, it red at him.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± He took off the dogs¡¯ cors and checked on the female poodle. He wasn¡¯t a professional vet, but with the knowledge he had gathered over the years, he was able to deal with minor injuries and diseases. After a quick examination, he didn¡¯t find any obvious injuries. It was weak because it was starving, and it had been staying in the cold for a long time. It needed to warm up.

    ¡°Try to save it first, the others can wait,¡± Old Time Tea said.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Zhang Zian took the female poodle to the heater and wrapped its body in a towel.

    There was still some beef and potato stew from when he made it for Old Time Tea and Famous earlier today. He went to the kitchen and took the leftovers out of the fridge.

    Since the poodle had been starving for a long time, its stomach was probably weak. Eating food that was hard to digest could lead to serious issues. He took out the beef and potatoes, then mixed the broth with rice and microwaved it for a while. Soon, a pot of nutritious and easily digestible beef congee was ready.

    He took the beef congee downstairs. All the puppies in the shop all tilted their heads towards the great smell. Even the weak poodle seemed to be energized by the smell.

    The poodle puppy lingered around the female. It was reluctant to leave its mother¡¯s warmth, but was curious about the world. It smelled the beef congee and licked its lips.

    Zhang Zian put the beef congee next to the female¡¯s mouth. It opened its eyes, but didn¡¯t lift its head. He took a spoon, scooped some of the broth, and brought it to its mouth.

    Out of instinct, the female poodle swallowed the beef congee greedily.

    One mouthful, two mouthfuls, three mouthfuls.

    As it digested the beef congee, the female poodle¡¯s body warmed up and regained some strength. It changed its position from lying on its side to lying on its stomach so that it was easier to eat. Now, it was able to stick its head into the pot and eat on its own.

    Gratitude and affection soon reced the anger in its eyes. It had seen too many bad people in its life, and started to believe that no one was good.

    The puppy followed the smell and stumbled to the pot. It gazed at the beef congee and licked its lips, but didn¡¯t try to eat it.

    The female poodle noticed, and stretched out a front paw to push the pot closer to the puppy. It whimpered, as if it was telling the puppy to have some.

    The puppy wanted to have some, as it was very hungry. Zhang Wanguo wanted to sell it as a Teacup Puppy, so he never allowed it to be well fed. He wanted it to be malnourished.

    Zhang Zian had noticed earlier that the puppy was much smaller than the average poodle puppies, but bigger than a real Teacup Puppy. It was small and weak. The pot he used for the beef congee was a bit tall, so it couldn¡¯t reach the rim. It started circling the pot anxiously.

    He stood up to get a dish. When he came back, he saw that the female poodle had sat the puppy on its front paws so that it could reach the food. It waited quietly until the puppy was full.

    ¡°Are they mother and child?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Famous nodded.

    ¡°No wonder.¡± Zhang Zian had assumed so earlier. Only a mother¡¯s love could make the hungry poodle do that.

    As Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want them to eat too much at once, he didn¡¯t serve them a big portion of the beef congee. They finished eating quickly, and licked the bottom of the pot clean.

    The two poodles had never once in their lives had enough food to eat. They thought that the pot of beef congee was all the food they would get. So, when Zhang Zian brought another pot of food, they were too afraid to eat, until he pushed the pot in front of them.

    The puppy only had a few mouthfuls before Zhang Zian pulled it aside. He couldn¡¯t let it overeat. The mother finished the rest of the yolk congee, its belly full.

    He took away the empty pot while the mother and puppy cuddled. The mother was gently licking the puppy¡¯s fur.

    They were so dirty and filthy, that Fina had been pouting in disgust for a while. Zhang Zian nned to give them a bath shortly.

    Before that, he needed to figure out what exactly happened in Love Lovely Pet Breeding Base.

 Chapter 643: Fight Poison with Poison

    <h4>Chapter 643: Fight Poison with Poison</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    There was a saying, ¡°what you hear can¡¯tpare to seeing it yourself.¡± Zhang Zian put the young poodle¡¯s cor aside after removing the memory card from its camera. Many phones nowadays no longer had the option to insert a memory card in, and the screen would be too small for everyone to watch. So, Zhang Zian inserted the memory card into awork set-top box.

    The travel-worn Old Time Tea and Famous were both tired and hungry. Famous was especially tired because it had to carry the puppy, its mother, and Old Time Tea on its back during the return trip. If a kitten or puppy fell behind, Famous would pick them up and carry them for a while.

    After escaping Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base, they had two options. The first was to let the animals flee in all directions. The second was to bring the animals into the city. The former would¡¯ve been easier on the two of them, but considering that the animals had lived in cages since birth, their chances of surviving was worrisome. The first option would do them more harm than good.

    After taking everything into consideration, Famous and Old Time Tea decided to bring them all into the city before going separate ways.

    To bring the animals into the city meant that everyone had to get together before they started their trek, and there was a big risk of getting caught. So, Famous and Old Time Tea had set up multiple diversions to lead any pursuers in the wrong direction, which only made the two of them even more exhausted.

    Zhang Zian turned on the television and used the set-top box to y the file.

    It was going fine, until Famous moved. The film started to shake uncontrobly, worse than low budget films recorded with handheld cameras. At least the image was clear when everything was still and the infrared night vision allowed all the details to be seen.

    Zhang Zian saw the inside of Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base, and with it, the truth of the animals being treated like breeding machines was revealed. Honestly, it didn¡¯t surprise him. It wouldn¡¯t have been possible for them to lower costs otherwise. Their actions were unjustifiable and hical, yet not illegal. They could only hope for the country to quickly producews that¡¯ll regte such issues, to prevent these acts from ever happening again.

    As Famous and Old Time Tea went deeper into the base, Zhang Zian saw them follow the chef who delivered the meals. Soon, they were outside the room that Zhang Wanguo and his colleagues were in. Through the window, they could clearly see all the hical activities taking ce.

    The camera also came with a microphone, and although there was ss between them, it was still able to record crucial information. Zhang Wanguo described the effects of lipolytic solution and how he knew it was illegal to administer the solution for private use, but still went ahead in doing so.

    The video ended there, Famous and Old Time Tea¡¯s heroic rescue wasn¡¯t recorded.

    The recording was sufficient evidence of Love Lovely Pets illegal practices. Not only were they cheating their customers, they were also purchasing, formting and using illegal drugs. As long as the video was given to Sheng Ke, Love Lovely Pets was going to be in serious trouble. Actually, they already were in serious trouble due to most of their animals escaping, so the video will just make their current situation worse.

    Zhang Zian reyed the video, this time he paid attention to the details, if any, that would expose Famous and Old Time Tea¡¯s identities. If there were any, they¡¯d have to be edited out. As the camera was attached to Famous¡¯s neck, it¡¯s heavy breathing could be heard throughout the whole video. Add in the fact that the video was shot from a low angle, and it was easy for anyone watching to guess that the camera was attached to an animal.

    It made it hard for Zhang Zian to simply hand over the video to Sheng Ke. If Love Lovely Pets started asking questions, he might be dragged into the mess.

    ¡°What to do?¡±

    Zhang Zian temporarily disregarded the issue since it wasn¡¯t urgent. He brought the female dog and the puppy to the washing area, put on a waterproof apron and disposable rubber glove before giving them a shower.

    The two poodles had probably never showered. The clear water soon turned dirty, full of mud, fur, dead insects, food scraps, and its own waste. Even after a few minutes, she still wasn¡¯t clean.

    Both dogs stood still, letting Zhang Zian rinse them with the showerhead. Even if the puppy wanted to move around and y, it¡¯d be scolded by the mother.

    Once the water started running a bit clearer, Zhang Zian applied shampoo meant for dogs to their fur andbed through it.

    The puppy¡¯s fur was okay, but the mother¡¯s fur was so matted, he couldn¡¯t use his hands to manage it, much less with ab. The only option was to cut the knots out sincebing the fur would only cause pain.

    Zhang Zian had to apply shampoo three times before he could blow dry them, revealing their true appearance.

    The mother¡¯s fur was uneven, it¡¯ll take some time for it to grow back. If you left her on the streets, no one would pick her up.

    The puppy¡¯s fur used to be stuck to its body, but now its fur was fluffy and smelled good. Since it was smaller than the usual puppy, it was safe to say that it¡¯ll most likely be popr among the youngdies.

    Zhang Zian took off his apron and hung it to dry outside. He found a big dog kennel for both of them to settle down in.

    It took some time to bathe the two dogs, so the exhausted Famous and Old Time Tea had already gone to bed.

    Zhang Zian essed Weibo on his mobile phone.

    The self-righteous girl left an impression on Zhang Zian. He thought there would be quite a number of people like her on Weibo.

    Zhang Zian applied for a Weibo ount. He posted a blog article titled, ¡°Abuse, Cold-Hearted Breeding, and Administration of Illegal Drugs: Who Can Save These Poor Animals?¡± In the post, he denounced Love Lovely Pets for their animal abuse, called all pet lovers to condemn the corrupt organization, and attached the video at the end for proof.

    He proofread the post, and tagged a few animal-loving users on Weibo. They were mouthpieces of several different adoption organizations, so getting their assistance in upholding justice for the animals would only benefit them. That¡¯s what you call fighting poison with poison, a viin can only be taken care of by another viin.

 Chapter 644: A Distant Marriage

    <h4>Chapter 644: A Distant Marriage</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Famous deserved all the credit for today. It was also the most exhausted.

    It took Zhang Zian a long time to finish bathing the female poodle and the puppy. It nned to just take a nap, but it soon fell into a deep sleep.

    It was surrounded by the smell of flowers, wet mud, and a young girl¡¯s perfume.

    It felt an itch in its nostrils. ¡°Achoo!¡±

    It wasn¡¯t in front of pet shop anymore, it was in front of a sunshine-filled valley. An annoying beended on the tip of its nose, and it waved its paws to chase it away.

    ¡°I¡¯ll pay you back next time. Make sure you serve the good wine.¡±

    A young girl was sitting on a stone, with a handkerchief under her and a magazine in her hand. She was interrupted by Famous¡¯ sneeze half way through her reading. Then she lifted her head and looked at it with a smile.

    ¡°Did you catch a cold?¡± she asked, concerned.

    To help her trip into the mountains, Wu Ning was wearing men¡¯s clothes. The tight suit emphasized her curves. Her feminine silhouette was a strong contrast with the edgy rocks. She was wearing a round bo, its shade making her skin seem fair.

    Famous turned its head to look at Old Time Tea lying on another rock, bathing in the sun while listening to Wu Ning read out loud. Gxy was joyously chasing butterflies in the grass.

    I¡¯m back in Old Time Tea¡¯s Imagined Landscape. It shook its head to let Wu Ning know that it didn¡¯t catch a cold.

    Wu Ning loved reading books and newspapers. All the scientific theories she had been exposed to had opened her mind. At first, she didn¡¯t believe in ghosts and demons, but ever since the cat and dog rescued her, she realized that science couldn¡¯t exin the supernatural. They understood her and kept her secrets, they were ideal listeners.

    The cat and dog had been living in the wilderness for a long time, she was worried that they might get sick, and if they did, there was nothing she could do.

    After Famous shook its head, she felt relieved. She lowered her head and searched for her ce to continue reading. ¡°The tavern keeper smiled at him as usual. ¡®Kong Yiji, you¡¯ve been stealing again!''¡±

    She finished reading the article, closed the magazine, and put it on the rock beside her. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the ck-and-white cat in the grass.

    She had no idea where the cat came from. Once, while she was in the mountains, she saw it ying with two other benefactors, as if they knew each other very well. Maybe they were new friends.

    There was something supernatural about the cat. It was always suddenly disappearing and reappearing. While she was reading, she often heard it rolling in the grass on one side of her, but then it appeared on the other in the blink of an eye. She was afraid that it might be some kind of ghost, but then she realized that ghosts couldn¡¯t be dangerous under sunlight, so she slowly stopped fearing it. Besides, it was adorable. How could a ghost be so adorable?

    ¡°I like this story, although I don¡¯t fully understand it. I think it has a deeper meaning.¡± She turned her head towards Old Time Tea and Famous.

    They didn¡¯t answer her, of course.

    Old Time Tea looked away in deep thought, while Famous yawned. It put a little white flower into its mouth and ate it.

    ¡°I was thinking what I would do if I were a character in the story?¡±

    She was used to talking to herself. The servants she brought over were resting, they wouldn¡¯te over to talk to her. Besides, they weren¡¯t interested in the articles, much like the crude drinkers in the tavern.

    ¡°Am I the snobbish tavern keeper, or one of the drinkers watching? Or am I the funny but sad Kong Yiji?¡± She sighed. ¡°This article makes my chest tight, it¡¯s so well-written!¡±

    Famous was used to seeing her like this. It wasn¡¯t interested in what she was reading, as it had no idea what was going on in China at that time, so it couldn¡¯t rte. It listened to her, though, it was just like turning on the TV for the background noise.

    Wu Ning pulled up grass and yed with it in her hands. She ripped off the leaves one by one, throwing them on the ground.

    She became silent, as if she was thinking of saying something.

    After a moment, she spoke, ¡°Benefactors, this might be myst trip into the mountains.¡±

    Famous paused halfway through its yawn. Old Time Tea also froze.

    She smiled bitterly. ¡°My father has betrothed me to a family in another city. I¡¯m getting married there in a few days. A married daughter is like water that has been poured out, I might not be able to return.¡±

    The two cities were thousands of miles apart. Even if she got a chance to visit her parents in the future, she might not be able toe into the mountains again.

    ¡°The family is good friends with my father. That man¡­¡± She paused and blushed, then continued in a shy, low voice. ¡°I met the man when we were young, and I remember him being a cute and honorable young boy. He should¡¯ve grown into a handsome and aplished man.¡±

    Famous tilted its head and looked at Old Time Tea to see how it reacted. Old Time Tea shook its head gently, meaning that it couldn¡¯t do anything. Men and women should marry at a certain age, it couldn¡¯t break up a couple. Judging from Wu Ning¡¯s reaction, she seemed satisfied with the marriage as well as this man¡¯s background. There was no reason to stop it from happening.

    After living in the Imagined Landscape for so long, Famous was quite fond of Wu Ning. She was the only one who carried out normal conversations with them. If she left, Famous would be lonely. If it was alone for a while, it might forget how to talk.

    It was hard for Wu Ning as well, she thought of the cat and the dog as friends.

    ¡°I wanted to repay you guys for saving my life, but now it seems like I might not get the chance. I hope we can meet again in another life, so I can repay your kindness.¡± She stood up from the rock, folded the handkerchief, and put it back into her pocket. Then, she bowed at them solemnly.

    As it was gettingte, she started to say goodbye. ¡°My father made arrangements so that I leave in two days. I have to obey him. Binhai County is thousands of miles away, and I need to get ready.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Famous¡¯ mind was starting to drift when it suddenly heard her say a familiar word.

 Chapter 645: Cause and Effect

    <h4>Chapter 645: Cause and Effect</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When Famous heard ¡°Binhai County,¡± it jumped up as if someone had stepped on its tail.

    Wu Ning wasn¡¯t able to understand Famous, but its barking shocked her. The resting servants quickly came to her defense with long rods and guns, and nervously asked, ¡°Mydy, is everything okay?¡±

    Their master had ordered them to escort the youngdy into the mountains to visit the cat and dog. It used to be an unpleasant task, but ever since the cat and dog came to the mountains, wild beasts and thugs started to slowly disappeared. Plus, the youngdy was always nice to the servants, so the trips to and from the mountains were rxing and lighthearted. The servants didn¡¯t want the youngdy to get hurt, if that happens, the old master would definitely break their legs.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Wu Ning told them to stay put.

    She wasn¡¯t sure why the dog was suddenly excited, it usually looked bored and disinterested in everything. Wu Ning knew that the dog wouldn¡¯t hurt her. With how mystical they were, if they really wanted to hurt her, the servants wouldn¡¯t be able to stop them.

    ¡°Please, calm down. If I did something wrong, please let me know and I¡¯ll fix it.¡± Wu Ning bowed towards Famous.

    Old Time Tea was frowning as it looked at Famous, not knowing why it reacted so extremely.

    Famous said, ¡°Old Time Tea, did you hear what she said? Where she¡¯s going?¡±

    ¡°Binhai County, what about it?¡± Old Time Tea asked, befuddled.

    Famous thought that it had heard wrong, but it wasn¡¯t possible for Old Time Tea to have misheard her too, which meant that Wu Ning really was moving to Binhai County.

    ¡°Where is Binhai County?¡± Famous asked quickly, ignoring Old Time Tea¡¯s question as it was the least of its concerns.

    Old Time Tea pointed northeast, ¡°I don¡¯t know the exact location, but it¡¯s in that general direction. It¡¯s very far away, a myriad of rivers and hills apart.¡±

    Famous looked in the direction Old Time Tea pointed, and only saw endless hills and mountains. However, Famous thought it saw a medium-sized city at the end of the horizon.

    Famous thought for a moment before asking, ¡°Old Time Tea, if a small town was given a hundred years, could it develop into a city?

    Old Time Tea nodded. ¡°It¡¯s possible.¡±

    ¡°Is it possible for the name to remain the same, but ¡®county¡¯ changed to ¡®city¡¯?¡± Famous asked.

    ¡°Of course,¡± Old Time Tea answered with certainty. ¡°Why are you asking such questions, Famous?¡±

    Things were starting to connecting in Famous¡¯ mind, so it impatiently told Old Time Tea of its discovery, ¡°Old Time Tea, do you remember what I told you before? The city where the Amazing Fate Pet Shop is located is called Binhai City!¡±

    ¡°Is that true?¡± Old Time Tea was astonished.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Famous said. Although Pi had to change the city¡¯s real name to Binhai City in its novel, reality wasn¡¯t going to change.

    ¡°So Binhai County is going to turn into Binhai City in a hundred years?¡± Old Time Tea finally understood Famous¡¯ initial reaction.

    Famous corrected, ¡°Not even a hundred years, probably in a few decades, before the establishment of new China. Then, an unknown pet store will open in the city, which a boy named Zhang Zian will inherit.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± The discovery stirred something in Old Time Tea. It didn¡¯t need Famous to go into details to know what would happen, it was like everything was falling into ce.

    ¡°Could it be a coincidence? Two ces with the same name could happen,¡± Old Time Tea said.

    Famous thought of the possibility, but felt that it couldn¡¯t be coincidental.

    Wu Ning patiently waited, watching the cat and dog as if they were having a heated discussion. Although she wasn¡¯t able to understand them, she had a suspicion that the cat and dog spoke a simrnguage.

    If she didn¡¯t know any better, she¡¯d think that the cat and dog were fighting.

    She nced to the side where the bushes were and saw the ck-and-white cat happily bouncing around. It seemed to only care about having fun, not really concerned with what was happening.

    There were a lot of things going through Famous¡¯ head, there was a lot that it wanted to say.

    Famous suddenly thought of a possibility, and hurriedly asked, ¡°Old Time Tea, what were you thinking about earlier?¡±

    ¡°What was I thinking about earlier?¡± Old Time Tea was thrown off guard by the random question.

    ¡°When Wu Ning said that she was going to Binhai County, I saw you deep in thought. What were you thinking about?¡± Famous stated.

    ¡°Oh, I was just thinking of where we would go after Wu Ning left,¡± Old Time Tea answered. ¡°She said that she¡¯ll repay us, but we¡¯ve already benefited a lot, we¡¯ve gotten spoiled. Without her, we¡¯d have to brave the cold and harshness of the wild, we might even have to live off raw food and drink blood.¡±

    ¡°So, you want to follow her to Binhai County?¡± Famous asked.

    Old Time Tea frowned. ¡°The thought crossed my mind, how did you know?¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you mention it?¡± Famous asked, ignoring its question.

    ¡°I wanted to get your and Gxy¡¯s opinion before making a decision.¡± Old Time Tea quickly nced at Gxy. ¡°We¡¯repanions, we should make our decisions together.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re saying, if it was just you, and you didn¡¯t need to consult with us, you¡¯d apany her to Binhai County?¡± Famous finally asked the most crucial question.

    Old Time Tea nodded. ¡°The world isn¡¯t safe, the trip could be dangerous. I¡¯m worried that something will happen to her.¡±

    Famous figured it out. In the real history, Old Time Tea must¡¯ve followed Wu Ning to Binhai County.

    ¡°Famous, what do you think?¡± Old Time Tea asked seriously. ¡°Do we stay here, or do we go to Binhai County?¡±

    ¡°Do you even need to ask?¡± Famous looked around affectionately. It loved the rxing in the sun, but it was time to say goodbye. ¡°Although I really want to stay, I know that we have to follow her, or more urately, follow you.¡±

    Famous had been troubled recently. With the wild beasts and thugs long gone, how was Old Time Tea supposed to collect sufficient strength of faith? There was no longer any opponents in its current locations, so it was time to change locations.

    Wu Ning was still awaiting a reply, although she was unsure of how they were going to give her one.

    Famous tried to exin, but she couldn¡¯t understand. Eventually, it just waved its front paws, gesturing for her to hurry on home.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, may we meet again in the future!¡±

    Wu Ning bowed once more as she reluctantly told her servants that it was time to leave. With each step she took, she kept waving, thinking that she¡¯d never see them again, much less repay them for saving her life.

    Famous wasn¡¯t the slightest bit sad, he happily watched her leave as he thought about how surprised she¡¯ll be when they surprised her in a couple of days. There was no need to worry about how they¡¯d locate her, his nose wasn¡¯t just a decoration.

    ¡°Famous, don¡¯t we need to discuss it with Gxy?¡± Old Time Tea pointed at Gxy.

    Famous shook its head. ¡°There¡¯s no need to discuss with the little fool, as long as it can y hide-and-seek, it¡¯ll be fine. Old Time Tea, you don¡¯t have to worry about what we think, just do what you want. We need to start packing. Are the potatoes done?¡±

    Old Time Tea noticed how quickly Famous changed the subject.

    Famous removed a well-roasted potato from the stove and ate it while it exined some of its theories to Old Time Tea.

    Old Time Tea understood a little. Maybe there was a deeper reason for why its elfin version appeared in Binhai City.

    Watching Wu Ning andpany leave, it started to look forward to the trip. It said in a low voice, ¡°Was everything predestined? A great union ending in separation, there must be a reason!¡±

 Chapter 646: Amazing Fate

    <h4>Chapter 646: Amazing Fate</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Talking endlessly of secr attachments, speaking endlessly of the world¡¯s debts and grudges, from one generation to the next, exists fate.

    ¡°Shedding the same blood, drinking the same water, this road is long and far-reaching.

    ¡°A red flower naturally has green leaves. Who¡¯ll apany me in this life? There are manyings and goings.

    ¡°Past circumstances can reappear. Even though the lotus root was broken, its threads are still connected, sighing softly at the ever-changing events of the world.¡±

    Famous heard musicing from the TV downstairs. Old Time Tea must be watching old Kung Fu dramas again.

    The scenery of the valley and the taste of roasted potatoes faded away quickly. It opened its eyes and saw the familiar second floor of the pet shop.

    Faint morning light shone through the window, so it turned off the night light.

    It woke up a bitte today. Zhang Zian and the other elfins were already up, leaving only it and Pi upstairs. Pi was sitting in front of theputer. It heard the sound of the night light shutting off and turned its head.

    ¡°Eek,¡± Pi said shyly.

    ¡°Good morning.¡± Famous stood up and shook its fur.

    Pi smiled, then turned back to theputer and continued typing gently, so as not to disturb Famous.

    Two brown poodles were lying in the corner, one big and the other small. They were the poodles Famous and Old Time Tea rescued yesterday.

    Compared to how dirty they used to be, they looked so much better, Famous barely recognized them. Now, their fur coat was fluffy and shiny, their bellies were full, and they slept in a warm room. They hadn¡¯t woken up until now. They cuddled together, as if they were trying to stay out of the way.

    Famous smelled detergenting from downstairs. Maybe Zhang Zian was doing theundry.

    It stretched, opened a pack of gum by pressing on it next to the cushion, and took three sticks into its mouth to chew. The gum had sugar, it wasn¡¯t sugar-free, since it heard Zhang Zian say that an ingredient in sugar-free gum was deadly to dogs.

    There were lots of people on the street, the sound of neighbors greeting each other could be heard from a distance. Usually, at this hour, the streets were much quieter.

    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s you! You¡¯re hunting, too? How many did you catch?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t catch any.¡±

    ¡°Neither did I, we heard about this toote. I heard that animals escaped from some breeding basest night, and lots of people were hunting them down all night. A guy in my neighborhood came backte after drinking, and caught three dogs and two cats all by himself.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s crazy, we just missed a billion bucks!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, what a master hunter.¡±

    ¡°They escaped a breeding base? I heard that a few trucks that were transporting the animals flipped on the highway?

    ¡°No, they definitely escaped from a breeding base. How many animals can a few trucks carry anyway? Someone posted on Weibo that the employees of a breeding base up north were negligent and didn¡¯t shut the gate, allowing the animals to escape. I also heard that the breeding base had been abusing the animals, videos of the abuse were posted online. They¡¯re in the middle of a fight with some big bloggers on Weibo.¡±

    ¡°At first, many people advocated returning the animals to the owners in order to promote traditional Chinese virtues. However, things took a turn all of a sudden when they formed an alliance and asked everybody to boycott the breeding base and take care of the animals instead of returning them. The fight has escted, a lot of dirty stories of the breeding base have been brought to light.¡±

    Famous jumped onto the windowsill, and saw many people wandering the street with all sorts of cages, most of which were empty. A few people had a cat or a dog in their cage, and were merrily running back home. Some even stopped them to ask where they had found the animals and if there were still some left. Crowds of people rushed towards the direction they pointed.

    It didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry, as it remembered the animals from the breeding base were purebred. However, these people were carrying mutts and mongrels in their cages. Needless to say, they must¡¯ve captured some stray cats and dogs from the neighborhood since most people weren¡¯t good at identifying breeds. It was better this way, more strays needed good homes.

    Famous went downstairs, and saw Wang Qian and Li Kunining to Zhang Zian. ¡°This is bad. A lot of people are hunting animals, we¡¯ll lose business. What should we do?¡±

    Zhang Zian, having anticipated this, smiled. ¡°It¡¯s fine. We can rx a bit during the Spring Festival period.¡±

    Their business might be affected temporarily, but in the long run, this was a good thing. The price of the pet market would rise in Binghai City and even in the surrounding area. In addition, Love Lovely Pets only hadmon breeds of cats and dogs, they didn¡¯t have expensive breeds.

    The pregnant Abyssinian female cats were big and heavy. They were less swift than before and preferred to stay alone with the due date being just a few days away.

    The renovation in the shoe store next door was done, all payments made. The construction team had issued an inspection, which indicated that all environmental parameters were within permissible range. However, as a precaution, every door and window of the store was open for venttion. They could move inside in a few days.

    After the Spring Festival, when the warm days returned, two pay-per-use automated dog washers would be installed in front of the shop, to bathe cats and dogs. It¡¯d attract a lot of customers to try them, so that they can make up for lost business.

    Zhang Zian was ambitious. Suddenly, he realized that Famous was staring at him.

    ¡°What is it, Famous? Do I have something on my face?¡± He touched his cheeks.

    Famous didn¡¯t see anything unusual. ¡°You still have gunk in your eyes,¡± it answered.

    ¡°Crap! Really? My perfect image is ruined.¡± Zhang Zian was shocked, and ran to the bathroom upstairs.

    Famous looked at Old Time Tea, who was lying on a heated nket with its paws under its body, watching TV. A thermos was in front of it, and the fragrance of tea was exuding from the tea cups next to the thermos.

    Cheesy Kung Fu sound effects came from the TV, along with Mandarin spoken in a Hong Kong ent.

    After noticing Famous staring, Old Time Tea tilted its head and grinned at it, then kept watching TV.

    ¡°Good morning.¡± Lu Yiyun pushed the door open. ¡°There¡¯s so many people outside, what happened?¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun held brooms and dustpans in their hands. ¡°Yiyun, did you know? Something big happenedst night!¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡± They caught Lu Yiyun¡¯s attention, so she didn¡¯t notice Famous sneaking through the door that she had opened. Jasmin saw from inside Lu Yiyun¡¯s backpack, and meowed gently.

    Famous stood in front of the shop, and took a deep breath. Lots of the pedestrians were wandering around to catch the animals. However, as a big, strong dog seemed to be a difficult target, they all moved to the side.

    One episode seemed to be over, and Old Time Tea yed the next episode. The theme song of the drama came on once again.

    ¡°Talking endlessly of secr attachments, speaking endlessly of the world¡¯s debts and grudges, from one generation to the next, exists fate.

    ¡°Shedding the same blood, drinking the same water, this road is long and far-reaching.¡±

    Famous realized something while listening to the music. It turned its head abruptly, and looked at the two words on the shop sign, Amazing Fate!

 Chapter 647: Discussing the Fall of Love Lovely Pets

    <h4>Chapter 647: Discussing the Fall of Love Lovely Pets</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian went in the bathroom and washed his face again, to make that there was nothing wrong with his appearance.

    When he came out, he saw that the two poodles were awake. The old newspapers beneath them were soaked in urine and covered in dog sh*t. No wonder the elfins were all awake, even Richard who loved to sleep in. The poodles couldn¡¯t help it, they¡¯d lived in cages since birth, they were never trained to go outside. Zhang Zian had expected this to happen, so he added a fewyers of newspaper in their kennel, preventing the need for him to clean the floor.

    Once a dog has gotten used to relieving itself in a specific location, it was hard to get it to stop, especially indoors. They could easily pick up scents, and if the lingering smell of dog sh*t wasn¡¯t properly removed, they were likely to go in the same location again.

    Zhang Zian was inclined to have the mother sterilized once Sun Xiaomeng came back from her New Years getaway. God knows how many times she had delivered, her reproductive system might be damaged. It was a miracle that she didn¡¯t contract a disease in such a foul breeding environment.

    Zhang Zian rolled up the newspaper, disposed of it, then added a freshyer of newspapers.

    ¡°Pi, do you want to put some clothes on? I¡¯m going to open the windows and it might get cold,¡± Zhang Zian said as he dug out an old cotton-padded coat from the closet.

    ¡°Zhi zhi.¡± Pi nodded, and with Zhang Zian¡¯s help, put on the coat.

    The coat was too big for Pi, almost covering it from head to toe. Pi waved its arms around, grinning.

    Zhang Zian helped zip the coat up before opening the windows, letting all the tainted air out. Seeing that the sleeves were too long, Zhang Zian held its hand and slowly rolled up the sleeves. He felt Pi shiver, its palms were cold.

    ¡°Pi, are you cold?¡± Zhang Zian was worried that it was freezing.

    ¡°Zhi zhi.¡± Pi shook its head.

    ¡°Do you feel sick?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Pi shook its head again, then typed: Just a little nervous.

    ¡°Are you nervous,¡± Zhang Zian thought for a moment before saying, ¡°because the novel¡¯s going premium soon?¡±

    Pi went silent. After a moment, it typed: Everyone helped me, and if it doesn¡¯t do well, I¡¯ll have let them all down.

    Zhang Zian understood why Pi was worried. Pi¡¯s novel was doing well, due to arge number of book lists adding the book and editors constantly rmending it to readers. Once it goes premium, it should only benefit the novel, but there¡¯ve been cases where it all went downhill after the upgrade. In those situations, it would be like letting down other authors and the editors.

    ¡°Pi, you have to believe in yourself.¡± Zhang Zian could only encourage Pi, even though he thought it looked pale and weak.

    Zhang Zian remembered something and suggested, ¡°I¡¯ve seen a few authors who increased the number of updates for their books on the day they go premium, some even reached 100 updates. It¡¯s said that increasing the number of updates helps boost your readers¡¯ morale.¡±

    Pi felt troubled as it scratched its head, staring down at its palms.

    Zhang Zian knew that Pi didn¡¯t type fast, although it has improved. Most of its time was spent thinking of a plot rather than typing.

    Zhang Zian regretted giving the suggestion, so he quickly added, ¡°Of course, it¡¯s only a suggestion. If it¡¯s not possible, then don¡¯t force yourself.¡± Although Pi was usually quiet, it was surprisingly strong, or else it wouldn¡¯t have persevered for so long when things were bad. Zhang Zian was worried that Pi would tire itself out in order to increase the number of updates on the day the novel goes premium.

    Pi seemed like it had made a decision, as it typed: I¡¯ll give it a try.

    ¡°Master! Someone¡¯s looking for you,¡± Wang Qian shouted at the top of his lungs.

    ¡°Coming!¡± Zhang Zian shouted back.

    ¡°Pi, I¡¯ll head downstairs first.¡± After taking a few steps, Zhang Zian returned for the poodles, nning to bring them down to the disy case. If they continued to relieve themselves inside, he¡¯d have to keep the windows open.

    Right outside the store stood Ting Ting and Zhuang, who Zian had met in the snack bar yesterday. They seemed a little reserved, standing outside, as they enviously stared at the kittens ying in the store.

    Zhuang immediately greeted Zhang Zian when he saw him, and withdrew a few documents from a briefcase he had under his armpit. ¡°Here is our tenancy agreement, identification cards, and student cards.¡±

    ¡°What dog kind of is that? It¡¯s so small and cute,¡± Ting Ting eximed after she noticed the small poodle that Zhang Zian was carrying.

    ¡°It¡¯s a poodle.¡± Zhang Zian ced the puppy on the counter to let them have a better look and ced the mother into an empty disy case.

    Lu Yiyun¡¯s thermos she always carried with her was next to the keyboard, the puppy wasn¡¯t much bigger than the bottle. It curiously looked at the people around it before cautiously stepping on the keyboard. It kept scanning it environment, seemingly looking for its mother.

    Wang Qian, Li Kun and Lu Yiyun weren¡¯t therest night, so this was their first time seeing such a tiny poodle. They all asked in surprise, ¡°Is that a Teacup Poodle?¡±

    ¡°No, a small poodle due to gic mutation isn¡¯t considered a Teacup Poodle,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°The size is right, but it wouldn¡¯t cause the poodle to suffer from any diseases.¡±

    A real Teacup Poodle¡¯s organs were too small, causing it to die young.

    ¡°Can we take a picture?¡± Both Ting Ting and Zhuang took out their phones, wanting a picture to send to their friends.

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    Zhang Zian left them to take their pictures, considering it as a form of advertisement. He looked at their tenancy agreement and identification cards, and took a picture for Sun Xiaomeng since she was the animals¡¯ owner.

    Ting Ting and Zhuang both carried and hugged the puppy for various shots, finally ending with a few shots that erged the puppy¡¯s already big eyes.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t worried that Love Lovely Pets woulde looking for him after seeing the pictures as the puppy¡¯s mother couldn¡¯t even recognize it after they were properly washed, much less after having the picture photoshopped.

    As for the Calico cat that Ting Ting and Zhuang wished to adopt, Zhang Zian had already notified Sun Xiaomeng. Sun Xiaomeng had caught wind of Love Lovely Pets¡¯ issue and tried to get details from him, but Zhang Zian told her that he had nothing to do with the matter, emphasizing that he was at the snack bar for a whilest night.

    Sun Xiaomeng didn¡¯t think much of it, and Zhang Zian didn¡¯t borate, as that would¡¯ve made her suspicious.

    Zhang Zian took down some of Ting Ting and Zhuang¡¯s identification details that weren¡¯t sensitive, as well as their phone numbers and WeChat details, sending them all to Sun Xiaomeng.

    While he was sent the message, he also received one. It was from Sheng Ke and it only consisted of two words: ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t able to confirm or deny that he was involved, but Sheng Ke was able to guess. There was an implied understanding between the two.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t send a reply, instead, he went through his newsfeed and found that it was filled with discussions on Love Lovely Pets. Someone imed that the police had stationed themselves in Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base to investigate their usage of illegal drugs. Apparently, the person in charge had been apprehended.

    There was arge group of animal lovers surrounding Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base, holding up banners, and calling for legal punishment for Love Lovely Pets¡¯ animal abuse.

    Now, Love Lovely Pets only had a bad reputation, it¡¯d be hard for them to make aeback.

    ¡°Is the German Shepherd outside yours?¡± Zhuang pointed outside of the store, ¡°It¡¯s kind of scary, having it sit there at the entrance. It doesn¡¯t bite, right?¡±

    Zhang Zian looked outside. When did Famous run outside?

 Chapter 648: Suspended Animation

    <h4>Chapter 648: Suspended Animation</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian registered Ting Ting and Zhuang¡¯s information, and after they finished their photoshoot with the puppy, he escorted them out. Today was their first day volunteering at the snack bar.

    After they left, he followed Famous¡¯ eyes to the shop¡¯s sign, and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the sign? You can¡¯t change it just by staring at it.¡±

    Famous shook its head. ¡°Nothing, it¡¯s a good name.¡±

    Zhang Zian replied, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you just found out it says Amazing Fate Pet Shop.¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Famous didn¡¯t exin any further, just went back into the shop.

    Zhang Zian shrugged and took another look at the sign, still not finding anything special. Famous seemed a bit weird today.

    It was cold outside, but there were still quite a few people trying to catch animals. As he was about to go inside, he heard a child. ¡°Store Manager, good morning!¡±

    Only one person addressed him by that name, so he turned around and responded, ¡°Good morning, Little Celery. Why are you up so early? There¡¯s no school.¡±

    Little Celery was wearing a red winter coat, a knitted hat, and her school bag on her back. The two fuzzy balls on her hat bounced as she ran.

    Her voice was slightly muffled under the mask she was wearing.

    ¡°Little Celery, don¡¯t run with a mask on. Can you even breathe properly?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    She took off the mask and panted rapidly. ¡°I don¡¯t like wearing masks, but my mom insisted. She said that the flu is very bad this year. I rarely catch a cold!¡±

    Zhang Zian corrected her, ¡°I know you¡¯re healthy, but the flu isn¡¯t amon cold. Your mom is right, just put it on. A lot of people are getting sick, wearing a mask will help.¡±

    ¡°Okay, since you said so.¡± Little Celery put the mask back on reluctantly.

    ¡°Don¡¯t run with your mask. Walk slowly, or you¡¯ll be out of breath.¡± He reminded her.

    Little Celery nodded, then asked, ¡°Store Manager, do hamsters catch the flu as well?¡±

    ¡°Why do you ask?¡± Zhang Zian asked before he answered. ¡°Hamsters may get sick, but if they do, it¡¯s not like how the flu affects humans. They can¡¯t catch human diseases.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± The worry was visible in her eyes. ¡°Store Manager¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Zhang Zian sensed that she had something to say. ¡°Little Celery, just tell me what¡¯s going on. I can help.¡±

    She lowered her head, twisted her fingers, and spoke in a low voice, ¡°Store Manager, the hamsters you gave us, they had a cold. Then¡­today¡­they¡­died. I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    Her voice grew weaker as she spoke, then she started sobbing uncontrobly, and wiped her eyes with her mittens.

    ¡°They died?¡± Zhang Zian frowned subconsciously.

    Little Celery¡¯s ss was using winter break to experiment on raising hamsters, and they needed to turn in a report before school started up again. If the school approved it, the program would be promoted to the entire school. Zhang Zian provided them with a few hamsters for their experiment, free of charge. It didn¡¯t cost much anyway.

    A few days ago, he saw Little Celery running to school in a hurry. He thought that they encountered some problems with the hamsters, but in order to educate them by letting them solve problems on their own, he didn¡¯t stop her to ask what was going on. Now, it seemed that he might¡¯ve overestimated their abilities, they were young, after all.

    ¡°Little Celery, don¡¯t cry. It¡¯s so cold. You¡¯ll get a frostbite if you cry.¡± He bent down tofort her and take her hands. The skin around her eyes were already red from the rubbing.

    ¡°But¡­you gave us the hamsters, and we didn¡¯t¡­take good care of them,¡± Little Celery sobbed, tears running down her cheeks like streams.

    Like her ssmates, she had devoted a huge amount of time and effort to the hamsters, hoping to hand in a beautiful report. Now that they were all dead, not only was all their hard work flushed down the drain, she had also broke Zhang Zian¡¯s trust.

    Little Celery was always smiling and energetic, it was hard for Zhang Zian to see her like this. However, he was an adult, so he had to act like an adult and find a solution.

    ¡°Little Celery, listen to me. Stop crying, crying may ease your pain and win you some sympathy, but it can¡¯t solve your problems,¡± he said in a firm tone.

    ¡°But¡­¡± Little Celery choked.

    ¡°Little Celery, when did the hamsters die?¡± He asked, interrupting her.

    Maybe his tone had sessfully calmed her. ¡°This morning. Yaning texted me.¡±

    ¡°The biology ss representative?¡± he inquired.

    She nodded. ¡°It was Yaning¡¯s turn to take care of them today. I wasn¡¯t supposed to be at school.¡±

    Wang Yaning was Little Celery¡¯s ssmate in addition to biology ss representative. She always acted mature for her age, as if she were an adult.

    ¡°So, you didn¡¯t see the hamsters die? She told you?¡±

    Little Celery nodded again. ¡°I got up this morning, and just started to do my homework when she texted me. She said the hamsters were dead. I want to go to school and see them.¡±

    ¡°Did all the hamsters die today?¡± Zhang Zian thought something was off.

    Hamsters died, but it was abnormal for all of them to die at the same time. Unless, they were poisoned.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Her head bowed even lower. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. They¡¯d been less active for a few days now, and today, they died¡±

    She was about to burst into tears again. Zhang Zian felt his heart warm. He rubbed her tiny head, and spoke with a smile, ¡°Little Celery, don¡¯t panic and don¡¯t be sad. They may not be dead just yet.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Little Celery shook her head. ¡°It can¡¯t be. Yaning isn¡¯t a liar, and she wouldn¡¯t joke around like this.¡±

    Zhang Zian exined, ¡°No, I don¡¯t think she was joking. She believes that the hamsters are dead, but she¡¯s mistaken. The hamsters might just be stunned, so they look dead, but are actually alive.¡±

 Chapter 649: Hibernation

    <h4>Chapter 649: Hibernation</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As soon as she heard that the hamsters might not be dead, Little Celery stopped crying.

    ¡°Store Manager, is that true? Are the hamsters still alive?¡± Tears welled up in her eyes, as if they would trickle down her cheek again at any given time.

    ¡°I think that it¡¯s possible. What¡¯s not possible is all the hamsters dying at the same time, unless they were poisoned. They might have entered a state of temporary hibernation,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± Little Celery, believing in Zhang Zian¡¯s knowledge of animals was relieved.

    Zhang Zian still had a stern look on his face because although the hamsters weren¡¯t dead, they were in a serious situation. Temporary hibernation is a state hamsters enter as a means of protecting their lives. Whether or not they¡¯ll be able to wake up from temporary hibernation, was unclear.

    Zhang Zian looked at his surroundings, everyone who woke up early was still looking for the animals that escaped from the breeding base. There probably won¡¯t be much business today, so he said, ¡°Little Celery, I don¡¯t have much going on today, why don¡¯t I go with you to take a look at the hamsters?¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± Little Celery nodded. ¡°We don¡¯t know what we¡¯re doing, so it¡¯s probably best if youe.¡±

    ¡°Can I enter your school? Zian asked. ¡°Security is strict, right?¡±

    Little Celery thought for a moment. ¡°Let me ask Yaning.¡±

    She took out her phone and sent a few messages to Wang Yaning.

    Soon, she said, ¡°Yaning said she¡¯ll tell her teacher to notify the security.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go.¡±

    Zhang Zian went back into the store to inform Lu Yiyun to look after the store before he left with Little Celery.

    His strides were big, one of his steps was equivalent to two of Little Celery¡¯s, sometimes she had to run to catch up to him.

    Little Celery¡¯s was worried, every once in a while, she¡¯d look up at Zhang Zian and ask him more about the hamsters. Although Zhang Zian believed that the hamsters were in a state of temporary hibernation, he was unsure if they¡¯d be able to wake up. He didn¡¯t want to lie to Little Celery, so he could only tell her not to panic.

    After the Christmas Eve trip, this was Zhang Zian¡¯s second time going to Zhonghua Road Primary ever since he graduated.

    At Christmastime, the primary school was flooded with parents of students, gathered to watch their children perform. Their vehicles filled the streets outside the main entrance. Today, the main entrance was empty and the school gates were closed, leaving only the side gate by the guard house open.

    Little Celery and Wang Yaning¡¯s teacher had already notified security. The teacher trusted Zhang Zian because she was once his teacher, too. Most senior primary school teachers spent their career in one school, watching their students graduate and leave to be pirs of the country.

    Little Celery led Zian towards the back of the school building. He thought that they were raising the hamsters in ss, but it seems like he was wrong.

    Behind the building was a line of single-story cabins, the area around the cabins was built like a small garden. A swing swaying in the wind, a grape trellis made of thin bamboo, and a bamboo fence separated the cabins from the main building. When spring came and the flowers bloomed, it had to be a nice view.

    The single-story cabin made use of a great number of tempered ss. Zhang Zian could see a few figures in the cabin, and it looked like they were busy.

    Little Celery knocked on the door, and Wang Yaning ran over to open the door.

    She suspiciously looked at Zhang Zian, and said, ¡°Come in. What did you mean when you said the hamsters weren¡¯t dead?¡±

    ¡°Exactly what I said.¡± Zhang Zian looked at the five students, including Little Celery and Wang Yaning who were there. He¡¯d never seen the other three before, they were probably Little Celery¡¯s ssmates. They all seemed very reserved.

    ¡°Where are the hamsters?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Over there.¡± Little Celery pointed towards a shelf right by the window.

    On the shelf was a hamster cage, clearly bought from the market, and a small ss fishbowl with wireting as a cover. There was also a birdcage made out of iron wires being used as a hamster cage, probably brought from a student¡¯s home.

    The cage was half covered in wood shavings and half covered in litter sand. On the wood shavings side,id a hamster, either a Djungarian or a Winter White.

    ¡°Do you guys have a thermometer?¡± Zhang Zian asked as he checked the furniture in the room. When he came in earlier, he thought that the cabin was hotter than outside, but it was still pretty cold.

    ¡°No, we don¡¯t. Why do you need a thermometer?¡± Wang Yaning replied.

    ¡°Hamsters are sensitive to changes in temperature.¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    Wang Yaning then asked the others, ¡°Do you guys have one?¡±

    A small boy took out a box from his bag, opening it up to find a small thermometer.

    ¡°Is this okay?¡± the small boy asked.

    Zhang Zian took the thermometer from the boy and looked it over, it should be okay for now.

    The thermometer stated that the cabin¡¯s temperature was around 17 degrees.

    ¡°It¡¯s too cold.¡± Zhang Zian finally understood the cause of the hamsters¡¯ temporary hibernation. He held out the thermometer so that the students could see.

    ¡°That¡¯s cold? My house isn¡¯t even close to 17 degrees!¡± Wang Yaning said, the other kids agreeing.

    Zhang Zian walked over to the cage where the hamsters were, bent down to look inside, then asked, ¡°Why is it covered in wood shavings and litter sand?¡±

    ¡°If we fill it up with just wood shavings, it¡¯s hard to manage and the smell is too strong,¡± Wang Yaning answered. ¡°So we thought of the solution to cover it half in wood shavings and half in litter sand. When the hamsters need to go, they walk over to the sand, and when they want to sleep, they go back to the wood shavings.¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°First, the temperature is too low. 17 degrees is nice for us, but hamsters aren¡¯t used to such cold environments. It¡¯s best to keep it above 20 degrees. Second, if you aren¡¯t able to maintain the temperature around 20 degrees, you¡¯ll have to cover the whole cage with wood shavings to keep them warm. Half wood shavings and half sand is better for spring and fall, then during the summer, use only litter sand.

    ¡°Store Manager, you¡¯re saying that the hamsters went into temporary hibernation because it¡¯s too cold?¡± Little Celery asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Zhang Zian rolled up his sleeves. ¡°Now, I need you guys to help me save these hamsters.¡±

 Chapter 650: Reviving the Hamsters

    <h4>Chapter 650: Reviving the Hamsters</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When the students heard that they were about to save the hamsters, their eyes widened and their hearts raced. They listened carefully.

    Zhang Zian took the opportunity to exin the science behind it first.

    Hibernation was a basic instinct to many animals. From small rodents, to reptiles, to bears, they all chose to hibernate to withstand the harsh weather when food became scarce. During hibernation, the animals had lower body temperature and slower metabolisms. They could spend the entire winter without eating, drinking or moving.

    Before entering hibernation, animals made preparations to fatten themselves up, so that they had enough fat to consume and to keep them warm. They chose a safe, quiet, and warm nest to hide out. By the time they came out, spring already arrived.

    Shi Shi liked to put a sweater on the Labrador she owned with Liu Sang. Zhang Zian had exined ¡°surface area to volume ratio¡± to her. Smaller animals had higher surface area to volume ratios, so they were more likely to lose heat. Therefore, medium torge-sized dogs didn¡¯t need extra clothing in winter, only small dogs needed the extra help. Hamsters, since they were very small, were sensitive to temperature changes.

    Hamsters¡¯ hibernation were rushed, as they didn¡¯t know enough to prepare for it. They entered hibernation as soon as their environment became too harsh. This type of hibernation was dangerous because there was a chance they¡¯d never wake up. To scientists, calling the hamsters¡¯ behavior ¡°hibernation¡± was an insult to the other animals, so they called it ¡°pseudo-hibernation.¡±

    Zhang Zian had only been there for a few minutes, but he had already spotted a few problems. They didn¡¯t use pure wood chips, the cages were in the north instead of the south, the humidity in the room was a little high, etc. All were reasons that could¡¯ve forced the hamsters into hibernation, but the main reason was the temperature.

    ¡°I¡¯ll help you move the cages so that they¡¯re in the south. There are two things that caused the pseudo-hibernation. One is the low temperature, the other is the short daylight hours. I¡¯ll need you to split up and prepare some stuff, but let¡¯s revive them first. Do you have a kettle? To boil some water. Do you have syringes?¡± Zhang asked.

    ¡°There¡¯s a kettle in the ssroom. I¡¯ll go get it.¡± A little boy volunteered.

    Wang Yaning frowned and said, ¡°The syringes are in the biology ssroom and the school clinic, but they¡¯re both closed right now. Should we buy some?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go. I know a convenience store nearby that sells toy syringes,¡± another boy said. After getting Zhang Zian¡¯s approval, he ran outside, then ran back and asked, ¡°How many should I buy?¡±

    ¡°Just one. The cheapest one will do.¡± Zhang Zian put up one finger.

    ¡°Okay.¡± The boy ran out again.

    ¡°Does anyone have candy?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°I do,¡± another girl spoke in a shy voice.

    ¡°We¡¯ll need to supplement sugar to the hamsters. Do you mind if we use your candy? A small piece will do.¡± Zhang Zian said gently.

    ¡°Okay.¡± The girl took some candy out of her pocket and put it on the desk.

    Zhang Zian nodded at her, then spoke to everyone, ¡°Stretch out your hands, and rub them like this, until your palms are hot.¡±

    He rubbed his palms quickly to demonstrate. They followed his example and rubbed their palms until they became red and hot.

    ¡°Okay. Now, everybody grab a hamster. If you think that it¡¯s getting cold, rub your hands again, and blow on it with your mouths.¡± As Zhang Zian spoke, he picked up a hamster from the cage.

    The three girls each chose a hamster, put them in warm palms, and brought them near their mouths to breathe warm air on them.

    This was the simplest and safest way to warm the hamsters up. Using hot water or heated nkets could backfire since the temperature was harder to control. However, Zhang Zian had only heard of this method, but he wasn¡¯t sure if it would work.

    The heat emitted from their palms traveled to the hamsters, and the hot air from their mouths was like a warm wind.

    ¡°I¡¯m back!¡± The boy that went to fetch the kettle returned first, with a silver stainless steel kettle in his hand. ¡°Is this okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhang Zian looked at the kettle doubtfully. ¡°Is that an electric kettle? Where¡¯s the dock with the cord? Do you n to boil the water with fire?¡±

    The girls couldn¡¯t stop chuckling.

    The boy paused, then looked at the kettle in his hand, and felt massively embarrassed. He stuttered, ¡°I¡­I¡¯ll head back to get it¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡± Zhang Zian stopped him. ¡°Put the kettle down, then go get the dock.¡±

    The boy dashed out as soon as he put the kettle down, running faster thanst time.

    After a while, the second boy came back with a toy syringe. Zhang Zian gave him a hamster, and asked him to do what the girls were doing to heat up the hamster.

    A few minutester, the first boy came back again. He brought the dock for the kettle.

    ¡°Fill the kettle halfway, and boil the water. Be careful not to burn yourselves,¡± Zhang Zianmanded.

    It only took a couple of minutes for the water to boil.

    Zhang Zian gave his hamster to the boy who brought the kettle. He poured half the hot water into a small ss, then took a tiny piece of candy and put it into the hot water. The candy dissolved and disappeared quickly.

    He shook the ss to mix the sugar well. After the water cooled down to an appropriate temperature, he drew enough water to fill the toy syringe, opened the mouth of the hamster in the boy¡¯s hands, and injected the warm sugar water into its mouth.

    He repeated the process with the other hamsters.

    He put the syringe down. He had done everything he could, and now all he could do was wait.

    Little Celery nervously looked at the Winter White hamster in her hands. If looks had heat, hers could melt ice.

    Suddenly, she felt a twitch in her palms, as if something had scratched her.

    The hamster wiggled its body and opened its eyes.

 Chapter 651: Rekindled Life

    <h4>Chapter 651: Rekindled Life</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°It¡¯s awake! My hamster is awake!¡± Little Celery eximed excitedly.

    ¡°Mine¡¯s too!¡±

    ¡°Mine moved a little!¡±

    The other hamsters slowly woke up from their hibernation, squirming in the kids¡¯ palms, opening their blurry eyes to once again see the world.

    Zhang Zian removed all the litter sand from the cages, so now they were filled with wood shavings. He told everyone to ce the revived hamsters inside the cage so that he could cover them up with wood shavings.

    Everyone¡¯s heart ached for the hamsters that just escaped death, they all wanted to hold them a little longer, but Zhang Zian reminded them, ¡°If your palms are sweaty, it¡¯s best not to hold them for too long, or else it might make their body temperature go back down.¡±

    As the kids were nervous, their palms were all sweaty. As soon as they heard what Zhang Zian said, they quickly ced the hamsters into cage. The hamsters instinctively dug a hole and covered themselves in the wood shavings.

    They continued the process, saving hamsters one by one. Near the end, they started apetition of who could save the most hamsters. Watching all the little hamsterse back to life, they all felt happy and proud.

    However, there was a sole hamster that remained in temporary hibernation, it was the Djungarian hamster that was in the birdcage. Everyone took turns rubbing their palms together before holding it, desperately puffing hot air on it, but it didn¡¯t even flinch, like it was really dead.

    ¡°Let me show you!¡± Wang Yaning pushed the others to the side, and grabbed the hamster confidently.

    She had saved the most hamsters, she began to think that her body temperature was higher than the others. However, no matter how long she held the hamster, it didn¡¯t move.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? This hamster can¡¯t really be dead, right?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Store Manager, why is the hamster not waking up?¡± Little Celery¡¯s began to panic.

    ¡°That¡¯s because the hamster was frozen the most.¡± Zhang Zian pointed at the birdcage that was well ventted, barely even blocking the cold air.

    A hamster¡¯s ability to adjust its body temperature was very bad because their environment was supposed to be warm in the winter and cool in the summer. In the summer, their living space must be well ventted and sheltered from direct sunlight, while in the winter, their living space must be sheltered from the cold air. The birdcage did nothing to block cold air, it¡¯d be a nice living area for summer.

    ¡°Now, what do we do?¡± Little Celery pulled on her little pigtails. ¡°We don¡¯t have anything else, our teacher didn¡¯t want us to spend money.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to spend money, the solution is actually very simple.¡± Zhang Zian took an empty cardboard box from a corner and covered the birdcage. ¡°As long as you poke a few holes in the box to let air in, you can put in on at night and remove it in the morning. It¡¯ll shelter the hamster from the cold, although just raising it in the box would be better. We need to try everything. Do you have a thick towel here?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    The kids took out their own towels and offered them to Zian.

    Zhang Zian got a cup and filled it to the brim with hot water. He covered the top of the cup with a fewyers of the towel before cing the unresponsive hamster on the towel, wrapping it tightly.

    A hamster¡¯s normal body temperature is higher than that of a human. If a human¡¯s body temperature couldn¡¯t bring it out of its hibernation, then maybe hot water could. When such measures are taken, much care is required. If the temperature wasn¡¯t controlled or if there wasn¡¯t a towel, the hamsters would easily be injured. However, like Zhang Zian said earlier, they had to try everything.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t just wait, so he called the two boys to assist him in carrying the shelf to the west window, where there was better sunlight.

    There was only one air conditioner in the room, which was quite limited in maintaining the temperature. Zhang Zian heard the kids say that the air conditioner will switch off at night in response to the school¡¯s effort in saving electricity. It was no wonder the hamsters went into temporary hibernationst night.

    There was nothing Zhang Zian could do about the air conditioner, but the kids could ask the school not to turn off the air conditioner at night. Saving electricity was, of course, a good thing, but it depended on the situation.

    Wang Yaning recorded everything into her notebook, so it¡¯d be best if she was the one who contacted the school.

    ¡°It moved!¡±

    ¡°Look! It¡¯s awake!¡±

    Little Celery and the other girl screamed together, pping their hands in joy.

    The Djungarian hamster that was wrapped in the towel opened its eye. It moved its small head to look around and stuck its nose out to sniff the air. It tried to squirm out of the towel, but Little Celery quickly caught it before its soft paws came into direct contact with the metal lid, stopping it from getting burned.

    ¡°That¡¯s great! It finally woke up!¡±

    The two boys were also ted. Their four little heads squeezed together to observe the Djungarian hamster. Wang Yaning also wanted to take a closer look, but since she was ss president, she suppressed her urge.

    ¡°Next time, just be more careful when ites to the temperature.¡± Zhang Zian let out a sigh of relief. If the hamster lost its life because of their negligence, they¡¯d feel guilty for a long time.

    Zhang Zian called the kids over, so that they could see the newly changed wood shavings and litter sand. ¡°Do you guys know what that is?¡± Zhang Zian pointed at a few soft-looking orange drops.

    Little Celery raised her hand. ¡°I know! It¡¯s the hamster¡¯s poop!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Zhang Zian gave her a look of encouragement. ¡°You know Ling, the hamster in my store? What color is her poop and what¡¯s it like?¡±

    Little Celery tried to remember, but her observation skills weren¡¯t really that good.

    Wang Yaning frowned and said, ¡°I think it was ck. They¡¯re like small drops.¡±

    Yaning had apanied Little Celery to Zhang Zian¡¯s pet store before, but he never expected her memory to be so good. It was no wonder she was a straight-A student.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°A hamster¡¯s normal poop looks like tiny ck drops, but this¡­¡± He pointed at the soft orange poop in the litter sand. ¡°The soft poop is a sign that you have to be cautious, if it isn¡¯t handled well, it might get diarrhea.¡±

    The kids looked at each other.

    ¡°What do we do?¡±

    ¡°Does it need an injection?¡±

    ¡°How about medicines?¡±

    All of them started to ask questions, not willing to lose the hamsters they just saved again. All their faces paled at the mention of injections and medicine.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need for injections or medications. It¡¯s winter, so all of you have apples at home, right? We can make some homemade dried apple rings, it¡¯s good for treating hamsters with diarrhea,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°Although, it¡¯s more convenient to get them online, your teacher told you guys to refrain from spending money. It¡¯s not that hard to make them at home.¡±

    Zhang Zian told them how to make the dried apple rings.

    The method on making dried apple rings was actually very simple. All you had to do was peel the skin, remove the core, and slice them into thin pieces before boiling it in hot water. After you take them out the water, ce them on a tray and microwave it for two to three minutes. Make sure to flip them over and do the same for the other side before drying them. If they have a food dehydrator at home, then it¡¯d be much easier.

    Zhang Zian reminded them, ¡°Although dried apple rings will help, they can¡¯t eat too much of it, if they do, they¡¯ll suffer from constipation.

    Thank goodness he came over with Little Celery. Even though the hamsters survived temporary hibernation, they¡¯d probably die from diarrhea and dehydration.

    While the other kids were listening and asking questions, Wang Yaning was writing everything down in her notebook. She had learned a lot today, and she wanted to show that in their report. At first, she worried that there was nothing much to write about. Now, she knew that taking care of a hamster required a lot of knowledge, it¡¯ll be worth taking the time at home to absorb everything she learned today.

    After the kids listened to what Zhang Zian said, they knew that raising a hamster wasn¡¯t as easy as they thought. In other words, life was fragile and needed to be taken care of and appreciated. Saving a life made them happy, but watching a life slowly slip through their fingers was painful. They learned the value of life way before other kids their age.

    Zhang Zian was pleased as he looked at them. He had always believed that kids who loved animals never had violent tendencies. Now, he knew he was right.

 Chapter 652: Red Packets

    <h4>Chapter 652: Red Packets</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Bang!

    Sounds of heavy fireworks and firecrackers started early in the morning.

    Zhang Zian picked up his phone to look at the time. It was almost time to get up.

    He had lots of unread Wechat messages. After clicking on them, he found that most of them came from Little Celery¡¯s hamster group. Ever since he helped Little Celery and the others revive the hamsters, they dragged him into the group chat, so that they could ask him questions. Zhang Zian never gave them all the answers. Instead, he encouraged them to search for the answers on their own. He was only there to observe and correct them if they made mistakes.

    After getting proper guidance, the kids had a great time, discussing their progress in the group chat everyday. They continued the discussion even after Zhang Zian went to sleep. They watched every move the hamsters made, regardless of whether they were on duty that day or not.

    During the process, they experienced being independent, and became better at thinking and asking questions. They might not have noticed the little changes, but Zhang Zian did. Maybe that was the school¡¯s intention with the project.

    Everyone in the group had a role to y.Wang Yaning had always thought she was a good student and ss leader. Her sharp tongue made her the perfect person to deal with teachers and school administration. Little Celery was more like the glue of the group, keeping everybody together. Nobody disliked her. By the end of Christmas break, they¡¯d be able to see their growth.

    After Wang Yaning talked to the school, the air conditioner in the cabin stayed on all day and night, so that the hamsters lived in a warm and dry environment. After eating the dried apples, the hamster¡¯s soft poop had returned normal.

    Zhang Zian browsed through the group chat to make sure that everything was fine. Those on duty had to submit a brief summary to the group at the end of the day, so that the person taking over would know what happened the day before, and what should be done next.

    He tucked his phone back under the pillow, and wondered if he should get dressed or sleep for a few more minutes. Surprisingly, Pi had already gotten up, and was typing on theputer, wearing his old winter coat.

    Its sses reflected the light from theputer screen. It stopped from time to time to flip through the nameless book for reference or yawn. It seemed exhausted.

    Zhang Zian threw on some clothes, walked to the desk, and asked in a low voice: ¡°Pi, did you just get up? Or did you stay up all night? ¡±

    Pi was so focused, that it was startled by Zhang Zian¡¯s sudden appearance. Once it got over its shock, it typed with a grin: ¡°I slept for a while, but I got up since I couldn¡¯t stay asleep. ¡±

    Zhang Zian understood why it was nervous, it was like taking the College Entrance Exam. Despite the fact that many students were sessful without taking the exam, it remained to be an important moment in most students¡¯ academic careers. He couldn¡¯t sleep the night before his College Entrance Exam.

    Today was the 29th of December, and Pi¡¯s novel would became Premium tomorrow, on New Year¡¯s Eve. This was Pi¡¯s College Entrance Exam.

    Zhang Zian knew it was pointless to tell Pi not to be nervous. He had to stand by its side and support it, so he didn¡¯t say much before starting his day.

    The Love Lovely Pets crisis wasn¡¯t over yet. People were still posting all over the Inte, seeking animals for trade or adoption. There were people who didn¡¯t get the breed they wanted, and wished to trade with those who got better breeds. If things continued this way, there won¡¯t be any customers in the store today.

    When he took the trash outside, he saw Masanori Suzuhara running with Snoopy and Zhuang and Ting Ting volunteering at the snack bar. The sulfur smell in the air was stronger than usual. Neighbors were greeting each other happily, asking if they had everything prepared for the Spring Festival. The temperature was slowing rising, so the snow was melting at an gradual rate.

    Zhang Zian stood by the shop and thought about his life in the past six months, feeling kind of sad. However, once he heard the various elfins in the shop behind him, he felt stronger, and couldn¡¯t wait for the future.

    ¡°Master! Happy almost New Year!¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun walked towards him, with pastries and goodies in their hands. Tomorrow, they were heading to their hometown in the countryside for the holidays. Today was theirst day of work before the Spring Festival.

    ¡°Happy almost New Year. If you finish early today, you¡¯re free to go. You still need to pack, right? Don¡¯t procrastinate.¡± He advised them with a smile. After taking their gifts, he gave each of them a red packet. ¡°Open it when you get home.¡±

    After a while, Lu Yiyun came into work. She had always been shy, but today, she was smiling. Perhaps, she was getting in the festival spirit. There were times where she¡¯d stare into the distance, where her parents were.

    Zhang Zian gave her a red packet. ¡°Happy almost New Year! Call your family today.¡±

    She stared at the red packet, as if she didn¡¯t know what it was. After a while, she took it with both hands and whispered, ¡°This is my first red packet from a non-elder. Thank you!¡±

    ¡°Consider it your end of the year bonus,¡± Zhang Zian said casually. ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard these past few months, you deserve it.¡±

    As there hadn¡¯t been any new pets, the cleaning was done quickly.

    ¡°Store Manager, what about the pregnant Abyssinian cats?¡± Lu Yiyun asked. She was in charge of taking pictures of the pregnant cats, as some customers had reserved the unborn kittens.

    ¡°They¡¯ve been moved next door.¡± Zhang Zian pointed at the new shop next door. ¡°You can skip the photos today. They could give birth at any time, so let¡¯s not bother them. You can head home if you¡¯re finished.¡±

    ¡°See you after the holidays!¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun waved goodbye.

    ¡°I¡¯m leaving, too. See you after the festival!¡± Lu Yiyun also left.

    After seeing them leave, Zhang Zian went to the reclining chair and gotfortable.

    He took out his phone, clicked on the Qidian app, cleared his throat and told the elfins, ¡°Today, I¡¯d like to read you Pi¡¯s novel.¡±

 Chapter 653: Zhang Zianâ€™s Wife?

    <h4>Chapter 653: Zhang Zian¡¯s Wife?</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The streets bustled with life, a contrast to the abnormal peace within the store.

    It was a suitable day for story-telling.

    Most stories started out in a dim, empty room, an old man in a rocking chair with a wool nket draped over his knees. The firece behind him crackled and popped.

    The rocking chair made him feel as though he was floating amidst the river of time, remembering the good old days.

    A boy and a girl,id on a carpet, their chins resting on their hands, waiting for the old man to tell a story of something that happened a long time ago. A story of the old man¡¯s life, a story of passion, a story that was captivatingly heartbreaking.

    If there was an old retriever next to the rocking chair, it would¡¯ve been perfect.

    There were no rocking chairs in the pet store, only a reclining chair. There were no kids on the floor, only two cats in their tree. Although there was a dog beside Zhang Zian, it wasn¡¯t an old retriever, it was a young Famous. Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t an old man, and stories weren¡¯t interesting. There was no nket over his knees, but there was a parrot on his shoulder. The only one who seemed to be prepared for the story was Gxy, who sat right in front of the chair.

    Today was still a good day for story-telling, as the most important factor was atmosphere, and the atmosphere in the store was good.

    The elfins knew that Pi had been writing a story that featured all of them, but no one knew how Pi described them. They were all curious, but out of respect, they didn¡¯t ask about the contents of the novel. Secretly reading the novel wasn¡¯t possible as Pi¡¯s novel wasn¡¯t a physical book, and their paws couldn¡¯t work a phone orputer.

    Fina yawned. ¡°I, the queen, wouldn¡¯t mind listening, but don¡¯t expect me to speak. A few thousand years ago, scribes faithfully recorded my words, thinking that Pi was just a monkey. If you¡¯re telling me that it¡¯s skills are better than that of the scribes, I don¡¯t believe you.¡±

    Just like how ancient China had historians who recorded the words and deeds of the emperor, ancient Egypt had scribes who were responsible for recording everything regarding the royal family. For example, royal scribe Thanuny recorded Thutmose III at the Battle of Megiddo, on the walls of the Karnak Temple. Being the reincarnation of the Cat Goddess and the beloved pet of Cleopatra VII, having its words and actions recorded wasn¡¯t out of the ordinary.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°You¡¯re not wrong, but back then, you were just a regr cat, right? Pi wrote you as an elfin, you can¡¯tpare the two.¡±

    ¡°A regr cat? Nonsense!¡± Fina red at him. ¡°I was born extraordinary, don¡¯tpare me withmon cats.¡±

    ¡°Okay, but you get what I¡¯m trying to say, right?¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t wish to have an argument with Fina. ¡°You weren¡¯t able to speak back then.¡±

    Fina snorted, not speaking another word.

    ¡°Meow! Although my birth doesn¡¯tpare to her majesty¡¯s, I¡¯ve seen much of life.¡± Snowy Li chimed in. ¡°I heard that Pi¡¯s novel is of the urban life genre. Urban life just describes the daily lives ofmon folks. I¡¯m not trying to be mean, but Lanling Sheng did it first.¡±

    Although it was arrogant, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t refute what Snowy Li said. Chin Ping Mei was indeed the first ssic Chinese novel with amon mortal as the main character, and the daily lives ofmon folk as the theme. Before that, main characters were either legendary heroes like Sun Wukong or royalty like Liu Bei, so Lanling Sheng has an irreceable spot in the history of Chinese literature.

    From this perspective, urban life novels were products of the precedent that Lanling Sheng set, making him the originator of urban novels. Lanling Sheng was very skillful in his portrayal of characters.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Pi¡¯s novel is of the urban life genre, but it¡¯s different from Sheng¡¯s novel. In Chin Ping Mei, the people or animals don¡¯t have special abilities, while Pi¡¯s novel is more of an urban legend.¡± Zhang Zian felt thatparing Lanling Sheng to Pi was really unfair.

    Zhang Zian pointed at his face and said, ¡°The legend is right in front of all of you. I have so many titiles: cat trainer, Wing Chun grandmaster, Head Dog Trainer of a movie crew, and so on. Is that not a legend?¡±

    After he finished talking, Zhang Zian lifted his head, nose towards the sky, and tried his best to avoid Fina¡¯s despising stare.

    ¡°Ha! You think you¡¯re a legend?¡± Snowy Li clicked her tongue in disdain. ¡°You¡¯d be more of a legend if you were castrated.¡±

    ¡°I just have one question, do you have a boyfriend in the novel?¡± Richard asked.

    ¡°No!¡± Zhang Zian shot back. ¡°I don¡¯t have one in reality, so why would I have one in the novel?¡±

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t it supposed to be partly fictitious? I¡¯m disappointed!¡± Richard eximed, pping its wings.

    ¡°Don¡¯t make stuff up!¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°Is there even a point in giving me a boyfriend in the novel?¡±

    ¡°Of course. Aren¡¯t novels meant to make up for any dissatisfactions in life?¡± Richard inquired.

    Zhang Zian dered, ¡°I¡¯m not dissatisfied in the slightest!¡±

    ¡°You have no boyfriend, no girlfriend, how aren¡¯t you dissatisfied?¡± Richard rolled its eyes. ¡°Since everyone here is knowledgeable about Egyptian scribes and Lanling Sheng, I shall recite a poem for the asion.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew full well that any poem out its mouth wouldn¡¯t be a good one, he tried to grab its beak, but he was a step toote. Richard had flown up in the air, hovering above them as it recited loudly:

    ¡°Alone in the study was a wife, outsiders shall not hear of this life;

    Changing from the left hand to right, is a divorce and a new bride.

    Stroke after stroke, quivering numbness as pleasures within were provoked;

    On the floor they stter, kids and offspring be one with nature!¡±

 Chapter 654: Nothing but Faithful Hands

    <h4>Chapter 654: Nothing but Faithful Hands</h4>

    After the poem was read, the entire room was quiet.

    Zhang Zian sincerely hoped that he was the only one who understood the dirty poem, otherwise it¡¯d so embarrassing.

    Fina and the others didn¡¯t understand it, but judging from Richard¡¯s smirk and Zhang Zian¡¯s embarrassed face, they could guess that it wasn¡¯t a decent poem.

    ¡°Meow! What does the poem mean?¡± Snowy Li asked.

    ¡°Quack! It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t understand it. The poem is from A Collection of ssic Chinese Jokes, so it¡¯s out of date. To make it modern, I made some revisions. Please, listen,¡± Richard shrank its neck and cleverly dodged a slipper that Zhang Zian threw, then it continued:

    ¡°Sitting alone at the desk, my hands are my wives. I¡¯ll never mention this to anybody;

    A Japanese girl on the screen, tissues lined up on the desk.

    Up and down, the story gets better. Fast and quick, my eyes are misty;

    As drops fall on the floor, millions of offspring turn into mud!¡±

    Richard dodged slippers, socks, gloves, brooms and charging cables. It finally finished reading the poem.¡±

    ¡°Quack! The poem doesn¡¯t have a title, but I¡¯d like to call it Nothing but Faithful Hands. What do you think?¡± It hid behind a shelf mischievously, winking at Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian had thrown everything he could find, but still couldn¡¯t shut the parrot up. He held his phone in his hands, but decided not to throw it after all.

    Snowy Li frowned, as if it understood. It spat on the ground in disgust. ¡°You guys are disgusting.¡±

    Zhang Zian wanted to rify that he preferred western videos, but he couldn¡¯t exin it explicitly, otherwise he¡¯d fall right into Richard¡¯s trap. The more he tried to rify, the worse he¡¯d make himself look.

    This made him even more angry, so he pointed at Richard and said, ¡°You¡¯ve always been dirty. Today, you¡¯re dirtier than the gutters. Tonight, I¡¯ll spank you and make your bottom red!¡±

    Richard had been suppressing itself for a long time, and today, it finally got a chance to let loose. It screamed, ¡°Quack! My past dirtiness isn¡¯t worth bragging about. Today, I¡¯m wild and free, my dirtiness is without borders!¡±

    Old Time Tea took a deep breath. It patted its chest and said, ¡°At least it didn¡¯t im to be innocent.¡±

    Zhang Zian red at Richard. It couldn¡¯t hide behind the shelf forever, it¡¯d have toe out to sleep sooner orter.

    Famous woke up because of Richard¡¯s loudness. It shook its fur coat and stood up. ¡°I fully support Pi¡¯s novel. It¡¯s the only who uses my real name, after all.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s so hard about writing a novel? I could write one if I wanted.¡± Richard said with pride.

    ¡°You? Give me a break. Your novel would be censored.¡± Zhang Zian would never take on such responsibility, letting Richard write a novel wasn¡¯t an option.

    He heard that people had been sentenced for publishing dirty articles online. It¡¯d be horrific if Richard¡¯s filthy novels caught the Inte Police¡¯s attention. The Inte Police would never believe that the novel was written by a parrot, so they¡¯d throw Zhang Zian in prison. He¡¯d be molested in the prison, his butt would turn into a sunflower by the time he came out.

    ¡°Writing a novel isn¡¯t easy,¡± Old Time Tea said, turning off the TV and taking a sip of tea. ¡°A novel can be written to secure a stable life and fortune, to pass on lost teachings, or to establish peace for future generations. Various people can write the same story and the story will be different every time.¡±

    Its thoughts wandered, as if it travelled back into the deste valley and listened to the youngdy reading Kong Yiji. In that world, there was no Famous or Gxy. In that time, it learned that some stories weren¡¯t written to make peopleugh, some stories were written to expose the darkness and unfairness of society.

    Zhang Zian listened carefully, but that type of story was clearly not suitable for online literature.

    ¡°Meow! Gxy wants to hear Pi¡¯s story!¡± Gxy¡¯s eyes were glistening. ¡°Gxy wants to hear Pi¡¯s story, too!¡±

    Zhang Zian hesistated. ¡°Pi¡¯s story?¡±

    ¡°Meow! Pi¡¯s story,¡± Gxy said seriously.

    Richard stuck its head out from behind the shelf. ¡°Quack? Did I hear it correctly? What¡¯s the difference between the two?¡±

    Gxy nodded. ¡°Meow! There¡¯s a difference!¡±

    Zhang Zian was also confused. What the heck did it mean?

    He thought about Gxy¡¯s words. He wasn¡¯t sure if he imagined the shift in intonation as Gxy spoke. The first ¡°Pi¡¯s story¡± was uttered in one breath, but the second time it said ¡°Pi¡¯s story,¡± the stress was on ¡°Pi.¡± Of course, he could be overthinking.

    If he didn¡¯t overthink, what story did Pi have?

    At the end of the day, Pi was 3.1415926. What was the meaning of the numbers?

    He wanted to ask Meng Li, but he had gone home for the Spring Festival and he didn¡¯t have his contact information. Even if he managed to find the information, it¡¯d be rude to bother him when he was with his family.

    Zhang Zian knew that he couldn¡¯t figure it out anytime soon, as math had always been his worst subject. He said, ¡°Fine. Pi¡¯s story and Pi¡¯s story. First, let¡¯s talk about the story written by Pi. I¡¯ll get to the story of Piter.¡±

    He clicked open Pi¡¯s novel, and started reading from the beginning.

    As time went by, the restless elfins slowly became interested, and listened quietly.

    ¡°Wait a minute!¡± Fina suddenly jumped out her tree, as if its tail had been stepped on. It spoke furiously, ¡°What¡¯s up with the A Dream of Two Thousand Years chapter? I didn¡¯t visit you, an earthly man, in the middle of the night. That¡¯s an insult to me.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought it was unlikely as well. Pi said it was ¡°70% truth and 30% made up,¡± but Pi clearly wasn¡¯t good at making up stories. It didn¡¯t do a good job of setting up Fina¡¯s character either. He said with an apologetic smile, ¡°It¡¯s a novel, nothing more. Don¡¯t take it seriously!¡±

    Fina looked away, pouting. ¡°You must tell Pi that this chapter must be revised, otherwise it¡¯s an embarrassment to me.¡±

    ¡°All right, no problem. I¡¯ll tell it in a minute,¡± Zhang Zian said just to shut it up. He wasn¡¯t about to bother Pi, besides Fina would forget about it shortly.

    He continued reading.

    After reading a few more chapters, Richard¡¯s duck-like voice was back.

    ¡°Quack! Stop! I think I saw an interestingment from a reader.¡±

    Before Zhang Zian noticed, Richardnded quietly on the disy cab behind him, staring at his phone screen. In the Qidian app, the readers¡¯ments were visible after each chapter, the most anticipatedments were at the top. Onement was particrly eye-catching. He wanted to pretend that he didn¡¯t see it, but he knew that Richard saw it.

    Zhang Zian realized that sh*t was about to hit the fan, so he stretched out his hands to hide the screen, but it was toote.

    ¡°Don¡¯t read it!¡± he cried desperately. As soon as thement was read, his life would end.

    Richard loved rocking the boat, and repeated the reader¡¯sment at the top of its lungs, ¡°Manager Weak Bird, are you fooling FatNa again?¡±

    The room suddenly turned silent, only breathing could be heard.

    Zhang Zian felt a chill go down his back, as if a bucket of cold water was poured on his head. Two fierce eyes stared at him, ready to rip him open.

    Fina stretched out its ws. It emphasized every syble as it said, ¡°Exin to me, how many times you¡¯ve fooled me? I¡¯m curious to find out, who in hell this FatNa person is?¡±

    Crap!

    Zhang Zian sat in the reclining chair, but it felt like he was sitting on a thousand needles.

    Heined silently. Which insensitive reader left such ament? Does he want me killed? If I survive what¡¯s about to happen, I¡¯m going to delete thement and mute the reader.

 Chapter 655: Chopstick and Bowls

    <h4>Chapter 655: Chopstick and Bowls</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Just a little more.

    Zhang Zian had almost beenbeled as ¡°The Late Emperor That Passed Whilst Building His Empire¡± by his family descendants (if there were any), he understood that some words should never be said and some cats should never be bothered.

    A supposedly peaceful day of story-telling turned out to be a day of chaos. Every five minutes, Richard and Snowy Li ask why they haven¡¯t yet made their appearance in the story. Fina seemed to be suffering from paranoid delusions because it got overly suspicious of every book review, believing that some unruly peasant was out to get it. Gxy, Old Time Tea and Famous paid attention to the story, but if they didn¡¯t understand a word or term, they too would ask questions and Zhang Zian would have to stop, causing the fluid story-telling to be disrupted. It was exhausting!

    As afternoon slowly approached, Ting Ting and Zhuang, who were doing volunteer work at the snack bar, entered the shop, holding a styrofoam cooler.

    ¡°You guys didn¡¯t have to bring it, I was going to pick it up myself.¡± Zhang Zian locked his smartphone as he went to wee them, taking the cooler from them.

    Zhuang and Ting Ting were only required to work an hour each, in the morning and at night. They were only responsible for taking care of the cats, there was no need for them to worry about the affairs of the store.

    ¡°Well, we had nothing to do and the old couple seemed busy, so we decided to help since it was on the way.¡± Ting Ting and Zhuang looked at each other.

    They had never raised a cat before, but they had always yed around with the idea of having one. Volunteering, having to take care of seven cats at once, allowed them to truly understand that raising a cat was no easy feat. Every cat was different, some were yful, while some were quiet, and their attitudes changed when it came to strangers.

    On their first day of volunteering, they had made a joke of themselves. They saw the eight food bowls and eight litter boxes in the storeroom, thought it was a waste, and decided to remove the excess, which resulted in the seven cats fighting over food bowls and litter boxes.

    After a lecture by the Lis, they learned that when raising multiple cats, one needs more food bowls and litter boxes than cats, or it¡¯d result in a fight. Ever since then, they no longer dared to make decisions on their own, and spent way more time in the snack bar than the required two hours, helping out with other matters.

    Every day, the Lis would privately report Zhuang and Ting Tang¡¯s performance to Zhang Zian and Sun Xiaomeng. As such, Zhang Zian was aware of how hardworking the two were, but he still reminded them, ¡°The initial agreement was for a month, so they have to continue, even during New Years.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we have nothing going on during New Years. Unless a natural disaster urs, we¡¯ll report every day,¡± Ting Tang confidently replied.

    ¡°Is that so?¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°Valentine¡¯s Day isn¡¯t that long after New Years, won¡¯t you guys have ns then?¡±

    Zhuang and Ting Ting looked at one another. ¡°We¡¯re okay with a casual celebration for Valentine¡¯s Day, it won¡¯t interfere with our volunteer work.¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s face was covered in tears, he didn¡¯t expect such a loving disy of affection. Hisst question was really unnecessary.

    As soon as the two left the store with the empty cooler, Zhang Zian prepared food for him and the elfins.

    Since it was going to be a new year soon, he decided he needed a change when it came to food. Even though the Li¡¯s food was delicious and cheap, Zhang Zian was a little tired of having it every day. It was customary to have dumplings on New Year¡¯s Eve and New Year¡¯s Day, but Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t be bothered to wrap them himself. Instead, he went to the supermarket and bought a few frozen dumplings.

    It had been a long time since he made food for himself, but the preparation for frozen dumplings couldn¡¯t be simpler. One just has to throw them into a pot of boiling water until they¡¯re ready and prepare some vinegar with chopped garlic.

    In the kitchen, Zhang Zian threw the dumplings into a pot and took out a te for the dumplings once they were ready. He took out a pair of chopsticks and a bowl, and set them aside before chopping some garlic on a board.

    After chopping the garlic, he ced them into a bowl with some vinegar and two drops of sesame oil before mixing it all together.

    He ced the chopsticks atop the bowl as he patiently waited for his dumplings.

    Waiting was boring, but the stove was on, so he couldn¡¯t leave the kitchen to do something else.

    He leaned on the counter as he looked around the kitchen. As his eyes swept pass the bowl and chopsticks, something tugged at his heart. A thought shed through his mind, but when he brought his eyes back to the bowl in an attempt to recapture the abnormal feeling, nothing happened.

    He frowned as he stared at the spot, deep in thought.

    The bowl was just an ordinary bowl, white with a shade of gray. Although the bowl hadn¡¯t been used in a long time, it was used a lot when it was first bought.

    The chopsticks were also ordinary. They were light yellow when they were brand new, but now they were slightly brown.

    Zhang Zian had used the bowl and chopsticks countless times before, so what was the tug at his heart earlier? It felt like he had vaguely grasped a solution to some problem.

    The water in the pot started to boil, streams of steam could be seen as the glistening white dumplings danced within the hot water.

    Grasping at straws, Zhang Zian held onto the tail of the momentary thought. He knew that he had to figure it out before he scooped out the dumplings, or else he¡¯d lose his train of thought.

    The chopsticks were on top of the round bowl, as if proposing a challenge to him.

    The water was boiling, and the lid started to shake.

    At thest moment, Zhang Zian figured it out. He shot forwards to turn off the stove, repeating the answer in his head, afraid that he¡¯d let it slip away from him again.

 Chapter 656: Pure Chance

    <h4>Chapter 656: Pure Chance</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After a busy day, the elfins fell asleep one after another, but Pi was still sitting in front of theputer.

    It was quiet outside, nothing but the asional firecracker could be heard.

    Pi took off its sses, and rubbed its bloodshot eyes. It was very sleepy, but couldn¡¯t sleep, it hadn¡¯t been sleeping well for days. As soon as it lied down and closed its eyes, the increasing number of Favorites appeared in its mind. It was both excited and anxious. The mixed feelings made it difficult to fall asleep. It was like a metal ribbon in a clock, being wound up tighter and tighter, with the potential to break at any moment.

    It just finished a new chapter. It stretched its fingers and nced at the clock on theputer screen. It couldn¡¯t remember how many times it had checked the time.

    It was almost midnight, and, ording to its editor, the novel was going Premium at midnight. Pi waited anxiously for the moment toe.

    Aside from checking the clock, its most frequent action was refreshing the Authors tform. The number of Favorites was approaching 50,000, but it was afraid of clicking the mouse too much, as the clicking sound might wake up the other elfins.

    The chapters that were to be uploaded after midnight were ready. There were five chapters in total, which it had been working on for a few days. Zhang Zian had checked them a few times during the day, so everything should be fine. However, Pi was still proofreading the chapters.

    This would¡¯ve been the time to catch up on new chapters, but as midnight approached, it became increasingly restless and couldn¡¯t focus on writing at all.

    After reading over a chapter, Pi felt that one of the paragraphs wasn¡¯t coherent enough, and it needed another sentence to make it flow smoother. So Pi put on its sses, ced its fingers on the keyboard, and typed quietly. However, something else was mixed in the line. It was the long string of numbers that was 3.1415926.

    Ever since Pi¡¯sst upgrade, it had been typing the numbers a lot less, but tonight, they came back.

    It moved the cursor over the numbers and deleted them. Then, it clicked the Save button in order to not lose the changes.

    When Pi first started using Word, it made the mistake of closing a document without saving it first. As a result, a chapter with a few thousand words was lost. It was so angry that it almost quit writing. After being persuaded by Zhang Zian, Pi managed to suppress its frustration and redo the chapter.

    It turned out that retyping a few thousand words wasn¡¯t as bad as it thought, and it didn¡¯t take that long. nning out the plot was the most time-consuming part, not typing.

    After deleting the numbers, Pi looked at the edited document and smiled.

    This was good.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t like the numbers, neither did the readers. They were never meant to exist, they were meaningless.

    On this cold, silent night, Pi suddenly felt empty, as if it just lost something important.

    It bowed its head, and gazed at its own palms.

    Why couldn¡¯t it control itself? Why did it type those numbers obsessively? Why couldn¡¯t it type what it wanted to type, like a human being?

    Pi had a hazy memory of its first appearance in this world. It was in the big house full of books, except it wasn¡¯t interested in books back then, it was interested in theputer on the desk. More specifically, it was intrigued by the keyboard.

    It stretched out its hands involuntarily and pressed the soft keys. The touch felt so familiar, as if it had done this a million times.

    There were only one or two people sitting in front of theputer, tapping away on the keyboard.

    Pi waved its hands in front of them, but they didn¡¯t respond. They couldn¡¯t see it.

    It stood behind them, and watched how they went into chatrooms andmunicated with others. Then, it found a freeputer in the corner, and repeated what it learned.

    Pi picked up most things quickly, but it wasn¡¯t able to type as fast as them.

    However, the humans were typing differently. They were using a keyboard with both letter and number keys, while it was using a numeric keypad.

    The alphanumeric keyboard had 26 letter keys and 21 number keys, but the numeric keypad was much simpler, as it only contained 10 number keys and 1 period key.

    Now, its hazy memory was starting toe back. There were more of its kind, a lot of them, and they all loved typing. Each one was like a human, and prefered the keyboard that was alphanumeric. Pi was the only one that liked the numeric keypad.

    Pi was a weirdo, even among its own kind.

    Why was Pi the only one to appear in this world? It had no idea.

    Pi looked around, the books were all written in words. None of them were written in numbers.

    Although the others of its kind typed randomly, sometimes they were able toe up with a real word, and were thrilled about it, as if they had achieved something great.

    Pi couldn¡¯t judge them, as it was typing randomly itself with the numeric keypad. However, numbers were numbers, so matter how many times it typed, it wasn¡¯t able toe up with a word.

    If Pi imitated the others, it might¡¯ve been able toe up with a word eventually. So,pared to Pi, the others were more qualified to appear in this world.

    In the previous world, time was almost frozen, and Pi, and the others, had an almost infinite life span. If they wanted to, they could keep typing forever. They had no idea when they appeared in that world, nor why. Regardless, they had been typing ever since.

    Was that meaningful?

    Everything was pure chance. They didn¡¯t understand what they were typing, nor did they know what they wanted to type.

    Why did Pi, a weirdo, appear in this dazzling and colorful world, instead of the others?

    Pi had no idea when it would appear in a new world, but it could vaguely sense when it was about to leave, when it was finally able to write a meaningful novel.

    Without a doubt, this was a fairytale. Even if Pi had all the time in the world, the chances of it writing a meaningful novel by pure chance were slim. It may never seed until the end of the world.

    Surprisingly, Pi seeded somehow, it was unexinable.

    Out of habit, it randomly tapped the numeric keypad and typed a long string of numbers. The decimal point came after the first digit, followed by another 100 digits. It had no idea of the meaning of the numbers it had typed.

    Clearly, nobody had a clue about this back in the library. They thought somebody was ying a prank on them.

    At first, Pi was having fun. Soon, it became anxious, as it found out that it was only able to type the 100 digits, and forgot the following numbers.

    Something was wrong. In the other world, it could type indefinitely. Why did it forget the numbers aftering to this world?

    Being anxious and puzzled, Pi suddenly felt sick and weak. It seemed to feel the others staring at it with jealousy, and asking, ¡°Why was it you?¡±

    An overwhelming grudge had travelled through time and space to cloud over Pi.

    Simr to how human faith was able to create and kill elfins, a grudge from countless individuals was a ck hole with enormous gravitational force. It was able to pull Pi back to the old world at any moment.

    In an unperceivable reality, Pi heard someone talking. It wasn¡¯t a human, but some sovereign existence.

    ¡°Find the book about life, universe and everything, or else you¡¯ll return to the old space.¡± The voice was like a bell at dawn, strong enough to shake the entire universe.

    It didn¡¯t want to go back. As soon as it did, the others would tear it to pieces. Pi learned an expression to exin its state of mind, ¡°Being poor was much more eptable than being unfair.¡±

    Pi tried to seek help from those around it, asking them to try to find the book, but no one was able to see or hear it. They ignored it, and it couldn¡¯t read what they typed.

    When it was close to giving up, Zhang Zian showed up.

    Pi could never forget the moment when Zhang Zian showed up in front of it with the nameless book in his arms. No matter how others saw him, Pi thought he was so handsome.

    Pi¡¯s looked up from its palms, its eyesnded on the nameless book next to itsptop.

    It stretched out a finger, and gently touched the cover.

    Apart from the metal lining on the edge, the crimson cover was bare. It wasn¡¯t pretty.

    For the first time in forever, it had an idea. It¡¯d be great if the cover had some writing or a picture on it.

    At that moment, a hand covered its own.

    Pi lifted its head to look. It saw that Zhang Zian was standing behind it, watching it silently.

 Chapter 657: The Probability Typist

    <h4>Chapter 657: The Probability Typist</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Pi didn¡¯t understand, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t either.

    Yes, he had already guessed Pi¡¯s origin a long time ago, but that was because there were so few thought experiments that involved monkeys, it was easy to guess. The problem was, what did have to do with the untitled book or Archimedes Constant?

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know the answer to the riddle, so he didn¡¯t give one. Just like how detectives need conclusive evidence before testifying against a criminal, Zhang Zian needed information before answering the riddle.

    There were many monkeys that could type, so why did Pi stand out?

    Until today, the answer had always puzzled him.

    Now Zhang Zian knew, it had to be Pi.

    Zhang Zian saw Pi delete Archimedes Constant, as well as a look of hopelessness on Pi¡¯s face. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want Pi to be depressed again, so he stood up. It was time to make Pi understand.

    Pi looked at Zian doubtfully, and pointed at the bed, meaning to say, ¡°It¡¯ste, why aren¡¯t you sleeping? You¡¯ll be alone in the store tomorrow, and it¡¯ll be busy, right?¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head and pulled a chair over to sit down. He pulled the left bottom corner of the keyboard towards him, and with his pinky and ring finger, pressed Ctrl+Z.

    The undo function made the Archimedes Constant that Pi deleted earlier reappear in the Word file.

    ¡°Pi, do you hate the Archimedes Constant?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Pi blinked, thinking for a moment before nodding and shaking its head.

    At first, Pi didn¡¯t hate the Archimedes Constant, it was actually quite fond of the endless string of numbers. So, when did it start to hate the Archimedes Constant?

    It was probably from it¡¯s time at the Binhai Library.

    During it¡¯s time at the library, the Archimedes Constant that Pi typed was perceived as a prank, they weren¡¯t able to see Pi nor were they able to understand it¡¯s plea for help. From the way they typed and their soft mutters, Pi knew that they weren¡¯t fond of it, and the Archimedes Constant was to me.

    Then, Zhang Zian appeared. He was the first person to actuallymunicate with it, but sadly, he wasn¡¯t able to understand the meaning of the Archimedes Constant either. Pi really liked Zhang Zian, and it didn¡¯t want to lose the only person it could talk to, so it started to hate the Archimedes Constant.

    After that, Pi started writing its novel. From time to time, while Pi was typing, it would unconsciously type the Archimedes Constant, leaving a few readers confused. Pi wasn¡¯t able to fully control itself. It didn¡¯t want to lose readers, so whenever it saw the string of numbers, it¡¯d get annoyed and frustrated, wishing that the numbers would disappear, so that it can be a normal author.

    Zhang Zian had been watching Pi ever since it started writing its novel. He couldn¡¯t read minds, but he was able to guess how Pi felt from its facial expressions. Whenever Pi unconsciously typed the Archimedes Constant, then deleted it in frustration, he knew that Pi was starting to hate the string of numbers.

    However, Pi shouldn¡¯t hate the Archimedes Constant because it was the reason why Pi existed. Since Pi used to love typing the Archimedes Constant, it stood out from the other monkeys.

    Zhang Zian had to make Pi understand.

    He pulled the desk drawer open, and took out a white piece of paper, a pen, a ruler and apass.

    He ced the paper on the desk and drew a circle with thepass.

    Pi bewilderedly looked at what Zian was doing.

    Zhang Zian ced thepass aside, and held the ruler with his left hand, pen with his right. He drew a straight line across the middle of the circle, from one side to the other.

    Zhang Zian looked at his work with satisfaction, it was like looking at the bowl and chopsticks.

    cing the ruler down, Zhang Zian asked in a low voice, ¡°Do you know what Pi is?¡±

    Pi rolled its eyes and shook his head.

    Pi had never been to school, all its knowledge was from the untitled book and even then, it was limited to what it could understand. It knew that Pi was the Archimedes Constant, but it wasn¡¯t sure what the Archimedes Constant was.

    Zhang Zian smiled gently and said, ¡°Okay, then let me tell you a story of Pi.¡±

    Pi listened attentively. Just like the other elfins, Pi loved to listen to stories.

    Zhang Zian pointed at the circle and the line with the tip of his pen, and said, ¡°Pi is the ratio of a circle¡¯s circumference to its diameter. You should never hate the string of simple looking numbers because they aren¡¯t simple. It¡¯s endless.¡±

    He looked at the Archimedes Constant that was on the screen before copying the numbers onto the paper, right below the circle.

    ¡°Pi consists of every possiblebination of numbers, like your birth date, your lockerbination, even your social security number.¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes swept across the untitled book that was resting on the desk, as if he could see all the meaningless letterbinations in the book.

    A,AA,AAA,AAAA¡­

    AB,ABA,ABAA,ABAAA¡­

    AC,ACA,ACAA,ACAAA¡­

    Z,ZA,ZAA,ZAAA¡­

    ZB,ZBA,ZBAA,ZBAAA¡­

    ZZ,ZZZ,ZZZZ,ZZZZZ¡­

    Zhang Zian now understood that the untitled book actually had a title.

    He continued, ¡°If we change the number to letters, we¡¯d be able to make every word in the world. Your first word as a baby, your lover¡¯s name, everything we¡¯ve ever said and all the possibilities of the universe is within this simple circle.

    Zian finished copying the first 100 numbers of the Archimedes Constant, ced the pen down and looked directly in Pi¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°What to do with the messages, is up to you.¡±

    This is Pi¡¯s story, the story of life, universe and everything.

    Pi stared at the paper, finally understanding why it stood out from all the other monkeys. While the other monkeys were thrilled when they identally typed one or two meaningful words, the Archimedes Constant that Pi typed was a book that contained everything in the universe.

    Pi stretched out its hands to grab the pen, and continued writing after the numbers:

    82148086513282306647093844609550582231725359408128

    This was Pi¡¯s first time holding a pen, so it used an excessive amount of force, but its endless energy allowed it to keep writing.

    It was very quiet in the house, the only sounds seemed to be the electric fan and pen touching paper.

    Soon, the front of the paper was covered in numbers. Pi flipped the paper over and continued writing until the back filled up as well.

    Pi no longer hated the Archimedes Constant because they were one and the same. Pi only existed in the world because of the Archimedes Constant.

    Suddenly, the untitled book shot out a captivating gold light. Initially, the light came from the center of the book, but then spread towards the sides. Once it grew to the length of a pinky, the light spread towards the top and bottom of the book, forming a golden circle. The circle was wless. Zhang Zian had never seen a circle so round before, even with apass, no one was able to draw such a perfect circle.

    A gold light of diameter intersected with the center of the circle.

    Pi stretched out its hand and carefully caressed the surface of the book. The cover didn¡¯t feel any different from before.

    Pi flipped to the first page of the book, and saw that the never-ending letters had disappeared. Now, in its ce was:

    3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679

    No matter what page Pi flipped to, it was filled with numbers.

    Pi understood why it couldn¡¯t continue to exist in the world without the untitled book, because Pi typed out the Archimedes Constant¡ªand consequently typed out the untitled book¡ªbeating the other monkeys and became molecr.

    Pi hugged the untitled book to its chest. It was as much a part of him as his arm.

    From that moment on, the untitled book was no longer untitled, it was known as The Book of Pi.

    Pi picked up a pen and circled a few numbers on the paper, then gestured for Zhang Zian to look.

    11610497110107121111117

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯tpletely understand, but he guessed that if the numbers were changed into ASCII codes, it¡¯d trante to ¡°thank you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee,¡± Zhang Zian replied, smiling. ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to be so polite, we¡¯re friends.¡±

    Before he could finish his sentence, his phone rang. Strangely, he had silenced his phone when the elfins went to bed earlier.

    Zhang Zian took out his phone and saw that Pet Hunter had opened on its own.

    [Navigation Elfin]: Congrattions! Your molecr monkey¡¯s likability has increased, unlocking its true name!

    [Game Notification]: Pet¡¯s Status

    [Known as]: Molecr Monkey

    [Rarity]: Elite/Premier

    [Feature]: My life is finite, but the book is infinite.

    [Unlocked History]: In 1909, French mathematician Borel wanted to exin the probability of alphabetical order, so he proposed a very interesting thought experiment that included a monkey typing on a typewriter.

    The experiment then became known as the Infinite Monkey Theorem, and stated that if one gave an infinite amount of monkeys an infinite amount of time, there will be a monkey that could type theplete works of Shakespeare.

    Pi was that monkey. Pi didn¡¯t use the letter keys like the other monkeys, it used the numerical keys. Pi didn¡¯t type all of Shakespeare¡¯s work, it typed the Archimedes Constant.

    With the arrival of the information age, the Infinite Monkey Theorem became widely known. With that strength of faith, Pi became an elfin and arrived to this world.

    [Unlocked True Name]: Borel¡¯s Typing Monkey!

    Zhang Zian was neither surprised nor amazed as he had already guessed Pi¡¯s true name and history. The untitled book Pi had typed contained unlimited content.

    Pi was able to aplish so much because it was smart and lucky.

    Zhang Zian was about to put his phone away, but another notification popped up.

    [Game Notification]: Congrattions! Since you guessed the elfin¡¯s origins and true name, it¡¯s likability has greatly increased!

    [Game Notification]: Congrattions! The likability of the Molecr Monkey has increased to Trusting, it now has the ability to move around freely!

    The ability to move around freely? Zhang Zian smiled. That ability might not be of much use to Pi.

    Zhang Zian looked at the time on his phone and realized it was midnight. It was already New Years Eve.

    ¡°Pi, it¡¯s about to go premium. Refresh the page and see if the editor activated the premium controls,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Pi nodded and went to hit the refresh button when it saw that the novel just reached 50,000 adds.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s phone rang again. He could feel Fina ring at him from the bed.

    [Game Notification]: Congrattions! Your molecr monkey has gathered enough strength of faith, it can now level up!

    [Game Notification]: Your molecr monkey is currently on the Elite/Premier level. Once it levels up, it will be on the Premier level.

    [Game Notification]: Do you want to proceed with the level up? If you select ¡°No,¡± you can still level upter.

    [Yes/No, Remind meter]

 Chapter 658: Going Premium

    <h4>Chapter 658: Going Premium</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t surprised to see Pi¡¯s real name unlocked. However, the upgrade alert was a surprise.

    Pi¡¯s first update urred when the novel reached 10,000 Favorites, and it was promoted from Elite to Premier Elfin. It¡¯s second update urred when the novel reached 50,000 Favorites. He had no idea how the upgrade criteria was determined.

    As a matter of fact, Pi¡¯s novel was first released on Qidian, but it could be found on other websites, just slightlyter. Therefore, the actual number of people reading Pi¡¯s novel could be more than 50,000.

    He was d that Pi appeared in China, a country with arge poption. If it had appeared in a small country or arge country with few people, it would¡¯ve taken forever for it to collect enough Strength of Faith. Pi would¡¯ve disappeared before that could happen.

    Clearly, upgrades became harder as the levels increased. The next upgrade might be far down the road, since a novel about pets had a limited poption of readers.

    He didn¡¯t hesitate, and quickly clicked [Yes].

    [Game Hints]: Your Molecr Monkey is being upgraded. Please wait.

    A short line of words appeared, then quickly disappeared.

    [Game Hints]: Congrattions! Your Molecr Monkey is now Premier!

    [Game Hints]: Please keep up the good work, and collect more Strength of Faith!

    Just likest time, Pi didn¡¯t change much in appearance.

    Pi refreshed the page over and over again. It¡¯s editor had reminded them that the VIP chapter privilege was scheduled to be activated after midnight. However, the activation may not ur immediately.

    A st of firecrackers came from outside, reminding them that it was New Year¡¯s Eve.

    Zhang Zian suddenly remembered that since Pi¡¯s real name had been unlocked, it was able to leave the pet shop. He could bring it with him today when he visited the Base for Retired Police Dogs. However, Pi waspletely focused at the moment, so he¡¯d talk to it about itter.

    Pi wasn¡¯t the only one feeling anxious. The readers in the Book Group were also waiting for the VIP chapters to be posted. Many people had sent messages, asking when Pi was going to post new chapters. Sometimes, in order to not disturb it, Zhang Zian logged into QQ on his phone, and answered questions on Pi¡¯s behalf.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t respond to all of them, but he had felt their passion and support.

    Now, it was midnight, and most people were asleep. Some of the people still online were Pi¡¯s biggest supporters. They stayed awake just so that they could subscribe to Pi on it¡¯s Premium day.

    Pi was a newbie, but most of the readers in the Book Group were veterans of Qidian. They knew the importance of First Day Subscriptions, knew it directly influenced the editors¡¯ impression of the book. They supported Pi with their actions. Some even said that they¡¯d like to reward Pi a Chief.

    A Chief was equivalent to 1000 RMB. It¡¯d be enough to buy dozens of books.

    Zhang Zian had been reading thements in the group whenever he had free time. He found out that most group members were students, and the youngest ones were in elementary school. He was shocked when he found out that there were elementary school students reading Pi¡¯s novel. He tried to remember what books he read in elementary school, mainly textbooks or Manga. He didn¡¯t read other books at all.

    He was aware that most students lived on their parents¡¯ allowance, very few students could work part time. Even for university students, who had more money to spend, 1000 RMB was a lot of money. It was almost enough for a month¡¯s worth of living expenses.

    Beep!

    Someone had sent a message.

    Zhang Zian thought it was another person asking why the book wasn¡¯t Premium yet. It turns out, it was a popr reading list owner, Feather of the Chief Specter.

    He was curious, and opened the message.

    [Feather of the Chief Specter]: Are the VIP privileges still not active? ¡¡¡¡[

    Zhang Zian looked at Pi, then bowed his head and typed: ¡°Not yet.¡±

    [Feather of the Chief Specter]: It should happen soon. I just wanted to remind you to ask for votes in the new VIP chapters. The first month of being Premium is important. If you can make it to the Top 3, it¡¯s like getting a free rmendation.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know about this earlier, so he asked him to provide more details.

    Afterwards, Zhang Zian understood that was it not for his reminder, he would¡¯ve missed out on a free lunch.

    ¡°Eek!¡±

    Pi tapped Zhang Zian¡¯s knee and pointed at the screen.

    There was an alert on the author¡¯s home page, the VIP chapters were active.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s figure out a n,¡± he whispered.

    They thought anxiously before uploading the VIP chapters. Then, they returned to the book¡¯s main page, and were relieved to see that everything was working fine.

    Pi sat in the chair, exhausted.

    Zhang Zian sent a message in the groupchat to inform everyone that the book had gone Premium, and that a First Day Subscription would be appreciated. He also mentioned that they should vote if they could.

    After the message was sent, the groupchat was suddenly buzzing again.

    Shortly after that, a series of alerts popped up on Pi¡¯s main page.

    [Corner in a Mountain Tavern] rewarded you 2000 RMB, and became a Chief of the book!

    [Ancient Yue Silhouette] rewarded you 1000 RMB, and became a Chief of the book!

    [Corrupted Wild Cat] rewarded you 3000 RMB, and became a Chief of the book!

    [Ricky Boy] rewarded you 1000 RMB, and became a Chief of the book!

    [Pug is a Cat] rewarded you 1000 RMB, and became a Chief of the book!

    Zhang Zian and Pi couldn¡¯t believe their eyes, especially Zhang Zian. He thought that the people in the group were just being polite. It turned out that so many people were willing to support Pi with real money.

    ¡°Pi, look at the Subscriptions!¡± After all, the Subscriptions were key for the book¡¯s survival. If it had more than 3000 Subscriptions, a book could be named in Qidian¡¯s Hall of Fame, and be remembered forever.

    Pi opened the main page. There were already over a thousand Subscriptions. If things continued this way, entering the Hall of Fame would be very easy.

    ¡°Pi, rx and go to sleep,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°I know that you care about the number of Subscriptions, but you can¡¯t keep waiting like this. You haven¡¯t been outside ever since you came to the pet shop. How about tomorrow, you go outside and y with everyone?¡±

    ¡°Eek.¡± Pi nodded reluctantly, then took off its sses, andid down in the hammock.

    Zhang Zian turned off the lights. Piid down, but its eyes were still wide open, staring at the dark ceiling. It crossed its arms in front of its chest as if it was praying. Pi¡¯s pupils were glistening, full of anticipation and hope.

    Book of Pi was lying on the desk, the gold circle shining.

    Tomorrow will be a great day.

 Chapter 659: Advancing into Berlin

    <h4>Chapter 659: Advancing into Berlin</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    At the crack of dawn, Zhang Zian and the elfins were once again startled awake by the noise of firecrackersing from outside.

    It was louder than usual since it was New Year¡¯s Eve, the day for families to reunite and ring the new year in.

    Setting off firecrackers on New Year¡¯s were said to be a method to repel a monster known as ¡°Nian.¡± The method slowly turned into a tradition, but nowadays, due to how dangerous it was and concerns of air pollution, many big cities forbid setting off firecrackers.

    Last night, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t really sleep and knew that Pi couldn¡¯t either, as it constantly moved around. Even though Pi softened its movements, the ivy chair still let out soft creaks. It was only once it was close to daybreak did Pi finally fall asleep.

    Pi woke up startled by the noise, it sat up from the ivy chair, nning to turn on theputer.

    ¡°Pi, wait! Don¡¯t go on theputer today. How about taking a break?¡± Zhang Zian stopped Pi. ¡°Didn¡¯t you already upload the VIP chapter for today? You can leave the next chapter for tomorrow.¡±

    Pi scratched its head, looking back and forth between Zhang Zian and theputer. It seemed like it really wanted to go theputer, to work and see if there was an increase in adds.

    Pi was used to typing every day, and now that it was told that it didn¡¯t need to work today, it¡¯d be hard for it not to feel a little ufortable.

    ¡°Pi, all of us are heading out today. Do you want to stay at home alone?¡± Zhang Zian asked. ¡°I know today is an important day for you and your readers, but you could at least take a break, right?¡±

    Pi stared into Zhang Zian eyes as it nodded.

    ¡°Hold your horses! What do you mean ¡®all of us?''¡± Fina yawned. ¡°I, the queen, didn¡¯t know that we¡¯d be leaving today. Amoner shall not make decisions for the queen! I have yet to settle my business with you two, making so much noisest night and disrupting my sleep!¡±

    Pi shrank back and hid behind Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Meow! Your Majesty, in my opinion, there is only one reason a male misbehaves, and that¡¯s because they aren¡¯t castrated.¡± Snowy Li nced at Zhang Zian¡¯s groin, licking its paws. ¡°As long as Your Majesty gives the orders, I¡¯ll be at your disposal, like a dog or horse.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a cat, what do you mean ¡®like a dog or horse?''¡± Zhang Zian closed his legs and kept his guard up as he scoffed.

    ¡°Is that even a question? It¡¯s obviously because dogs and horses have a lower status than cats,¡± Snowy Li responded with its head held high.

    Famous stood up. ¡°I¡¯ll pretend I didn¡¯t hear that.¡±

    ¡°Stop fighting! Only parrots are superior, everyone else is of a lower status,¡± Richard said from under the nket.

    Zhang Zian pointed at it. ¡°You get out here! I¡¯ve yet to settle our issue fromst night.¡±

    Richard flew out, rolled its eyes, and said, ¡°What happenedst night? I don¡¯t remember, but I take responsibility for whatever I did.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought, Stupid bird, acting like a fool, trying to confuse us.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to take responsibility, just behave ande down for a good smack, that¡¯s all.¡± Zhang Zian gestured towards Richard.

    ¡°Ha! I remember everything,¡± Richard said cheekily. ¡°Off with their robes general and emperor, spent the long night in the bedchamber. With the presence of the winged general, emperor attending court is now just hypothetical!¡±

    Freaking hell!

    Zhang Zian¡¯s brain went nk for a moment, it wasn¡¯t because of how obscene the parrot was, it was because every sentence was so familiar. Although he knew that Richard must¡¯ve heard it from various sources, he couldn¡¯t seem to recall where it was from.

    ¡°Pi!¡± Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t be bothered with Richard anymore. ¡°Don¡¯t ever put this into your novel, there are primary students reading your book. I won¡¯t take responsibility if you lead them astray.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that teachers would often show their students¡¯ papers, as some of the mistakes were entertaining. If a primary school student put this poem in their paper, it¡¯d go viral.

    Although Pi was the author, it didn¡¯t have an identification card, so Zhang Zian¡¯s signed it¡¯s contract. If the matter got too big, Zhang Zian would be in lots of trouble.

    ¡°Zhi zhi.¡± Pi nodded.

    Pi was able to type in Chinese, but Chinese poetry was a different story.

    Unfortunately, Pi was a little distracted, and already forgot what Zhang Zian said earlier.

    ¡°Meow! Zhang Zian, are we going out to y hide-and-seek?¡± Gxy asked.

    ¡°Yes, we¡¯re going out to y hide-and-seek! You guys can see the fireworks up close too,¡± Zhang Zian said while looking for the feather duster.

    Old Time Tea put on his bamboo hat, and asked, ¡°Zhang Zian, isn¡¯t it forbidden to set off fireworks in the city?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not going to set off fireworks in the city, we¡¯ll be heading to the countryside, to the base for retired police dogs,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°The director asked me to make a trip to check on the police dogs, so once I¡¯m finished with that, we could all head out and have some fun.¡±

    Actually, the main reason why Zhang Zian bought the firecrackers was to let Old Time Tea celebrate the New Year¡¯s.

    Director Feng Xuan, the film crew, and the final production crew were all busy, so they couldn¡¯te to Binhai City. Zhang Zian heard that the editing for the movie was already done, now they were rushing through the finishing touches, so that they¡¯d be able to participate in the Berlin International Film Festival inte February.

    As one of the three biggest film festivals in Europe, showing Dog Warrior at the Berlin Film Festival was akin to its premiere. Everyone in the film crew had high expectations for the festival, it¡¯d be great advertisement if they got an award.

    Feng Xuan and the others had no time to spare, so they asked Zhang Zian to check on the police dogs on their behalf. With that, they¡¯d be able to put out a statement at the end of the movie that said, ¡°Proper arrangements were made for all animals involved in the production of this film.¡±

    Feng Xuan also asked if Zhang Zian had a passport, so if Dog Warrior was nominated, all of the crew, including Famous, could go to Germany to receive the award.

    Zhang Zian went to America not long ago, so he still had his passport.

    Could Dog Warrior really get an award? How are thedies in Germany?

 Chapter 660: Famous in Despair

    <h4>Chapter 660: Famous in Despair</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was used to seeing Wang Qian, Li Kun and Lu Yiyune to work each morning, it was a bit weird not seeing any of theme in. He had to do everything himself. It was easy for a poor man to live a rich man¡¯s life, but very hard for a rich man to live a poor man¡¯s life.

    After a lot of coaxing, Fina was finally persuaded to visit the retired police dog home with the other elfins. If Fina ever found out that it had been lied to, it wouldn¡¯t be pretty.

    Manypanies had closed for the holidays yesterday, so there weren¡¯t as many migrant workers in Binhai City as the other major cities. There were usually long lines outside Li¡¯s Supreme Snack Bar for Cat Fanciers, but today, only two or three people were waiting outside.

    As there were no customers, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t open the shop. He was sweeping the floor, and Pi, following his example, picked up a cloth to clean the table.

    ¡°Thank you, Pi, but I¡¯ll take care of it. Just go and y. You deserve a day off.¡± He grabbed the cloth from its hands.

    Pi scratched its head and looked around it nervously.

    Ever since it arrived at the pet shop, it barely left the second floor. The first floor was a strange new world, it didn¡¯t know what to do. Each elfin seemed like it had its own space, which made it feel uneasy and like it didn¡¯t belong.

    ¡°Go watch TV,¡± Zhang Zian said, after detecting its confusion.

    Pi moved closer to the TV, keeping a distance from Old Time Tea, then sat on the floor and stared at the screen.

    As per tradition, the TV was airing a special program about the transportation during the Spring Festival, in which crowds of people were wandering train stations and airport terminals. The host was currently talking about highway traffic conditions, and it made Old Time Tea and Pi visualize how many people there were in China.

    Old Time Tea moved to the side, closer to the TV.

    Pi moved a little bit closer, too. It was much morefortable to watch TV that way.

    The TV reporter walked into the lobby of the train station, it was full of travelers carrying bags. Most of them were ying with their phones.

    The reporter interviewed a few random people. The questions were routine, ranging from ¡°Are the tickets expensive?¡± to ¡°Do you miss home?¡±

    ¡°Is that man reading your novel?¡± Old Time Tea pointed at a young man in the corner of the screen.

    The man was in the background while the reporter interviewed someone else. He sat in a chair, gazing at his phone attentively, which was open to the Qidian app. The cover of Pi¡¯s novel was visible.

    ¡°Eek!¡± Pi shouted excitedly. Even though the man only added the book to his library, it was still something to feel happy about.

    The camera was only on him for a few seconds before the reporter went to interview someone else.

    Pi watched more attentively now, with its neck stretched out.

    However, it didn¡¯t catch any more glimpses of its novel. It was lucky enough to stumble upon it once, it couldn¡¯t hope for more. This also meant that more and more people were reading online novels.

    Pi sighed, slightly disappointed.

    ¡°Meow! Pi, want to y hide-and-seek?¡±

    Pi turned to see Gxy sitting behind it, gazing at it with anticipation.

    Pi covered its head out of fear. The pain from thest time it yed hide-and-seek was still fresh.

    Zhang Zianughed. ¡°Pi, don¡¯t worry. Just be careful, and don¡¯t be so easily coaxed out by Famous and the others.¡±

    ¡°No. You y hide-and-seek. Don¡¯t get me involved.¡± Famous declined tly.

    ¡°Famous, you admit that you¡¯re scared?¡± Zhang Zian teased.

    Famous snapped. ¡°Scared? No, I¡¯m not scared. I just don¡¯t want to kill someone ying hide-and-seek!¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to make excuses, just admit that you¡¯re scared.¡± Zhang Zian waved his hand.

    Famous continued. ¡°You really think I¡¯m afraid? Fine. I¡¯ll y.¡±

    ¡°Great. Who¡¯s going to be the seeker? Let¡¯s y rock-paper-scissors to decide.¡± Zhang Zian was thrilled, as Famous was ying right into his trap.

    Famous looked Gxy¡¯s paws as well as its own, then at Zhang Zian and Pi¡¯s hands. It knew that it would definitely lose if they yed rock-paper-scissors.

    ¡°No way! Let¡¯s flip a coin,¡± Famous replied loudly.

    Zhang Zian put the broom down and searched his pockets. ¡°I don¡¯t have a coin with me. Wait a second.¡±

    He ran upstairs and came back with a coin.

    ¡°Okay. Who¡¯s calling it?¡± he asked. He tossed the coin in the air and caught it firmly between his palms.

    ¡°Meow! Gxy will go first!¡± Gxy said joyfully.

    Famous was quiet because it knew that it couldn¡¯t beat Gxy.

    ¡°Nobody¡¯s going against Gxy?¡± Zhang Zian looked at them. ¡°Okay. Famous and Pi will go, and whoever loses goes against me. How¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°That seems fair.¡± Famous agreed, and looked at Pi. ¡°You can go first.¡±

    Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Pi, you¡¯ve never done this before, have you?¡± Pi shook its head. ¡°You just have to guess which side is facing upward, the side with numbers or the side with flowers.¡±

    Pi blinked, and gestured for them to wait. It went upstairs, and came back with its book. After it flipped the book open, it stretched one finger out as if to say ¡°one.¡±

    Famous snapped. ¡°You¡¯re cheating! We agreed that we couldn¡¯t use our superpowers.¡±

    ¡°We agreed that superpowers couldn¡¯t be used during hide-and-seek. We¡¯re just flipping the coin.¡± Zhang Zian corrected. ¡°Famous, you can use your power if you want.¡±

    ¡°Fine, I lose.¡± Famous admitted unwillingly. Pi¡¯s book had everything in it, including how the coinnded. Famous couldn¡¯t beat it if it had the book.

    ¡°Eek!¡± Pi smiled joyfully.

    ¡°Now it¡¯s just you and me,¡± Zhang Zian said seriously. ¡°I¡¯ll give you a chance to back out.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not backing out,¡± Famous replied. ¡°I¡¯ll let you go first.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Zhang Zian threw the coin in the air. The coin whizzed through the air before he caught it between his palms again.

    He stared at his hands, as if he could see through them.

    ¡°Stop acting weird, you don¡¯t have a superpower,¡± Famousined. ¡°You think I was born yesterday?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t move. His eyes didn¡¯t look up when he said, ¡°The number side is up.¡±

    ¡°Then I guess that the flower side is up. Stop stalling. Move your palm so we can see.¡±

    Zhang Zian moved his palm, and the number side of the coin came into view. He won.

    Famous grumbled about bad luck, then closed its eyes. ¡°I¡¯ll start counting. Now go and hide! 1, 2, 3, 4¡­¡±

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    ¡°Eek!¡±

    ¡°Haha! Famous, don¡¯t peek!¡±

    Three distinct footsteps ran in different directions, while Famous counted. When it got to 100, it opened its eyes.

    It searched the entire first floor, but didn¡¯t find anybody, so they all had to be on the second floor.

    Afternding on the second floor, it tried the oldest trick in the book and shouted at the top of its lungs, ¡°Stop hiding, I can see you!¡±

    Pi didn¡¯t fall for its bluff this time.

    Famous didn¡¯t give up. There were only a few ces to hide up here, so it would find them sooner orter.

    Rememberingst time, it ran straight to the kitchen and opened the fridge. However, this time, it only found fresh vegetables and fruits.

    Could Zhang Zian actually be in the freezer?

    ¡°Are you inside the freezer? I¡¯ll only fall for that trick once. If you¡¯re there, you bettere out, or I¡¯ll seal the freezer with tape!¡±

    There was still no sound from the freezer.

    Was Zhang Zian not inside, or was he calling its bluff? Famous hesitated, then opened the freezer.

    Cold air spilled out, but there was nobody in the freezer, which was perfectly normal. It¡¯d be horrific to find somebody inside.

    Famous was somewhat relieved. It seemed that Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t lost his mind.

    Just in case, Famous opened all the cabs one by one and searched inside. It also jumped onto the stove and looked into the venttion hood. Zhang Zian was nowhere to be found.

    Famous considered Zhang Zian as the easiest target. After Zhang Zian read Pi¡¯s novel yesterday, it knew Gxy was good at hide-and-seek. Pi was verypetitive and had a magical book, so it was pretty good at hiding, too.

    Besides, both Gxy and Pi were small, so they had many ces to hide. Zhang Zian, on the other hand, was much bigger. Famous continued to search for Zhang Zian.

    Famous had finished searching the kitchen, and moved onto the bedroom and living room. It searched anywhere big enough to amodate arge person, such as the closet, under the bed, etc. It didn¡¯t find anyone.

    Famous was stunned. The storage room was the only ce left it hadn¡¯t checked. They couldn¡¯t all be hiding in the storage room, right?

    Either way, it opened the door to the storage room with onest hope.

    The storage room was cluttered with a lot of stuff, but none of it was what Famous was looking for.

    Famous wasn¡¯t willing to admit defeat, especially not to Zhang Zian. It searched the first and second floor again, and still couldn¡¯t find them.

    When it finished its second search, it asked, ¡°Old Time Tea, did they go outdoors?¡±

    ¡°Nope.¡± Old Time Tea smiled.

    Famous knew Old Time Tea would never lie, but it was weird that it couldn¡¯t find anyone.

    It even lifted its head to look up Fina¡¯s cat tree, and thankfully, Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t there. If Famous had found Zhang Zian there, it wouldn¡¯t know what to think.

    Famous searched the house one more time. This time, it went through everything, even the garbage can in the kitchen. No one was found.

    It remembered how it bragged before the game started, and its face burned as if it was on fire.

    ¡°Come out! I give up!¡± Famous shouted.

    ¡°Meow! Gxy has won!¡± Gxy ran out of the bedroom as it cheered.

    Famous was prepared for Gxy¡¯s elusiveness. ¡°Gxy, did you see the others?¡±

    ¡°Meow!¡± Gxy shook its head.

    Before Famous had time to ask more, it heard faint noisesing from the bedroom.

    That¡¯s weird. How were both of them hiding in the bedroom?

    Famous ran into the bedroom. ¡°Pi, where are you?¡±

    ¡°Eek.¡±

    Following the sound, Famous stopped next to the air purifier, and it was vibrating.

    Famous remembered how it saw the filter of the air purifier in the storage room earlier, and thought it was a bit odd, but didn¡¯t think anything else of it.

    ¡°Pi, are you in the air purifier?¡± Famous asked.

    ¡°Eek.¡± Pi¡¯s voice was muffled.

    Binhai City¡¯s air quality was bad sometimes, so most families owned air purifiers. The second floor of the pet shop was bigger¡ªand since the bedroom and living room were connected¡ªso theirs was in the bedroom. The air purifier was bulky, it wasn¡¯t big enough to hide a person, but apparently, it was spacious enough for a young monkey.

    Famous spoke to the air purifier, ¡°Did Zhang Zian put you in there? Then, let him be the one to take you out. By the way, where is he?¡±

    There was a knock on the bedroom window.

    The window that was on the second floor.

    ¡°Hurry, pull me in. I¡¯m falling off.¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s voice came outside the window.

    Famous stood up, and looked outside. Zhang Zian was hanging onto the edge of the windowsill. His entire body was hanging in the air, his legs kicking wildly.

    ¡°Famous, help me.¡± Zhang Zian smiled innoently.

    Famous smiled back mischievously.

    Old Time Tea didn¡¯t lie per se. Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t outdoors, he went outside the window, hanging onto the windowsill. No wonder he was nowhere to be found.

    The building was tall. As he was hanging, his feet were about two to three meters above the ground. The fall wouldn¡¯t have killed him, but it might¡¯ve hurt his ankles.

    There was a quiet alley outside the window. Nobody was walking in the alley, otherwise, someone might have called the police.

    ¡°Hurry, Famous. Don¡¯t just watch. Give me a hand. My fingers are cramping. I can¡¯t hold on anymore,¡± Zhang Zian grumbled.

    Famous simply replied, ¡°When you decided to do this, didn¡¯t it ur to you that your fingers may cramp up?¡±

    This time, Zhang Zian smiled out of embarrassment. ¡°I didn¡¯t think about it.¡±

    Suddenly, Gxy jumped onto the windowsill. ¡°Meow! Zhang Zian, there you are. Hiding outside the window again?¡±

    Famous tried to hide its shock, and failed. ¡°You¡¯ve done this before?¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Zhang Zian quickly rified. ¡°When I yed before with Gxy, I usually justid on the windowsill since Gxy is short. You¡¯re tall, so I figured that you¡¯d see me if I squatted on the windowsill. That¡¯s how I came up with this bad idea.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re unbelievable!¡± Famousined. ¡°You knew it was a bad idea, and you did it anyway? What the heck were you thinking?¡±

    ¡°I know, it was stupid. Just pull me in,¡± Zhang Zian begged.

    Famous was once again convinced that the hide-and-seek that Zhang Zian and Gxy yed wasn¡¯t the same hide-and-seek that normal people yed. It went to the storage room to find a strong rope. It tied one end to the bedroom door knob and threw the other end out the window. Zhang Zian caught it and climbed back into the room.

    ¡°Famous, did you give up?¡± He spoke proudly with one hand on his waist, back to his old self.

    A silver coin rolled out of his pocket, onto the floor, andnded by Famous¡¯ paw.

    It lowered its head to look at one side, which was the number side. Then it looked at the other side, which was still the number side.

    ¡°What kind of coin is this? Why are there numbers on both sides?¡± Famous asked.

    Seeing his trick discovered, Zhang Zian coughed and said, ¡°It¡¯s a magical coin that I bought.¡±

    Famous was too tired toin. ¡°Please, I¡¯m begging you. Next time, don¡¯t ask me to y hide-and-seek.¡±

    Zhang Zian took Pi out of the air purifier. He cleared his throat, obviously satisfied with the turn of events. ¡°This was a sessful game of hide-and-seek, a mind-blowing game of hide-and-seek. Well, it¡¯s breakfast time.¡±

 Chapter 661: Another Visit to the Police Dog Nursing Home

    <h4>Chapter 661: Another Visit to the Police Dog Nursing Home</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After lunch, Zhang Zian closed the shutter doors. The SUV he borrowed from Sun Xiaomeng was parked right outside the store, so he sat inside the car to check the gas tank and the condition it was in. Once he ensured that everything was okay, he opened up the trunk and ced all the fireworks in it before he called the elfins to get in the car.

    Earlier, Fina seemed very unwilling, but now it leaped into the car before the others to sit in the front seat.

    ¡°Hmph, is this the queen¡¯s royal transportation?¡± Fina being both picky and curious swept its eyes across the dashboard, waving its paws in front of the air conditioner outlet and pulling on the seatbelt. ¡°What is this? The reins?¡±

    Zhang Zian was toozy to exin, so he said, ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s the reins.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so why aren¡¯t you putting it on?¡± Fina cast a side nce at him.

    Zhang Zian stared at it. ¡°Did you misunderstand something? I¡¯m the person driving the car, not the horse pulling the carriage.¡±

    ¡°Is there a difference?¡± Fina haughtily stuck out its chest. ¡°The queen is heartless, all creatures are treated like stray dogs.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t clear where Fina heard the statement from, but it was really infuriating.

    ¡°Meow! Your Majesty, wait for me!¡± Snowy Li ran up from behind with its short legs. After leaping twice, it finally seeded in making its way into the car. Inside the car, it had difficulties climbing up the seats and only made its way to the front by sinking its ws into the seats, before squeezing in beside Fina.

    ¡°Hey, ws off the seats!¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s heart dropped. This was Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s car, if Snowy Li damaged the leather seats, it¡¯d be it¡¯s wallet that suffered.

    Snowy Li red at him before turning towards Fina, giving her a bewitching smile. ¡°Your Majesty, if you¡¯re tired, you can sit on me!¡±

    Old Time Tea slowly strolled out of the store and leapt into the backseat of the car.

    The exhausted Famous followed behind, it looked at the height of the seats,paring it to the trunk, and decided to sit in the spacious trunk instead.

    Gxy and Pi chose to sit in the backseat with Old Time Tea. Even with the three of them sitting side by side, there was still plenty of space.

    Zhang Zian brought along a bottle and started the car. ¡°Okay, everyone¡¯s here, right? Let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Hold up!¡± Richard¡¯s voice came from the store. ¡°Did you forget about me?¡±

    There was a thin rope tied to its legs that hung it upside down from the roof. ¡°Get me down! I want to go on the trip, too.¡±

    Zhang Zian went back into the store, and with his hands on hips, said, ¡°Are you going to misbehave? Or are you going to recite obscene poems all day?¡±

    Richard knew when it needed to yield and when not to, so it immediately said, ¡°I repent my actions!¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t trust Richard at all, but Fina was already getting impatient. It was too cold to leave the car door open, so he let this bird off the hook for now.

    Zhang Zian untied the rope and Richard immediately flew into the car. The car¡¯s interior was already small, and getting hung for so long made its wings weak, so it crashed into everything, getting its feathers all over the car before perching itself on the driver¡¯s headrest.

    Zhang Zian closed the shop¡¯s doors, and locked it up.

    Usually, whenever he left the store, he¡¯d leave a note to inform any customer where he was headed and when he¡¯d be back. Today, he left printing paper, on the paper was a picture of a brown Abyssinian Cat, with a poem at the bottom that read:

    ¡°Small head, big ears, wagging its tail. Fur covered its entire body, except its nail.

    ¡°Pedestrians passing through here, gifting red packets, who wouldn¡¯t adhere?¡±

    The poem was from Legends of Ji Gong, and described a tiger, but Zhang Zian slightly modified it.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s get going!¡± Zhang Zian sat back in the car and closed the door. He knew he had to drive safely today, if he were stopped by police, seen with so many animals in the car, he¡¯d be in tomorrow¡¯s headlines.

    Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t driven much after getting his driver¡¯s license. So today, he was thankful that the roads weren¡¯t packed with cars. Most cars were stuck in traffic on the expressway, going to the train station or airport.

    There were no signs guiding the way to the Nursing Home for Police Dogs, but Zhang Zian remembered how to get there.

    The closer he got to the suburbs, the stronger the smell of sulfur in the air became. Roads were hard to travel through because they were very bumpy.

    ¡°Do you know how to drive?¡± Fina swayed back and forth every time the car bounced,id her furious gaze on Zhang Zian. ¡°The queen shouldn¡¯t have a coachman like you!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a coachman!¡± Zhang Zian defended himself.

    He felt his pants being tugged, so he lowered his head to see Snowy Li with a sneaky look on its face.

    Somehow, because of the bumpy road, Fina ended up on top of Snowy Li. Looking at Zhang Zian, Snowy Li licked its paws and made a gesture that silently told him to stay on the bumpy road, the bumpier the better.

    Richard was also bumped around, as its head hit the roof, it muttered, ¡°One up, one down, my eyes are blurred!¡±

    It immediately shut its mouth once it saw Zhang Zian raise his hand.

    This was Pi¡¯s first time in a car, so it nervously held onto the headrest behind him. Old Time Tea tied its seat belt around one of its front paws to keep its bnce. On the other hand, Gxy had a great bnce, so it wasn¡¯t affected by the bumps as it leaned against the window to look outside.

    Famous, who was alone in the trunk, had wanted to take a nap, but after all the bumps, he was no longer sleepy.

    Even though Snowy Li wanted it, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t dare go on roads that were too bumpy because he didn¡¯t want to damage the car.

    He drove through the vige near the Nursing Home for Police Dogs, and the celebratory atmosphere was abundantpared to the city. The ground was covered in red paper, and the delicious aroma of meat wafted out from various houses. Kids ying outside saw the car passing and the animals inside, so they thought it was from a circus.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t stop in the vige, he drove straight down the mountain, carefully maneuvering through the roads covered with snow before finally reaching his destination.

    There wasn¡¯t much of a difference in the nursing homepared to thest time he was here. The big metal door was closed and barking could be heard from inside.

    Zhang Zian had the elfins stay in the car while he went to knock on the door, praying that the owner, Fu Tao, wasn¡¯t out, or else this would¡¯ve been a wasted trip.

    ¡°Who is that?¡± a melodious female¡¯s voice asked from inside.

 Chapter 662: Harassment, Delicious!

    <h4>Chapter 662: Harassment, Delicious!</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t believe his ears, maybe he came to the wrong ce. Last time he visited, Fu Tao was all by himself. Why was there a youngdy here? Was his daughter visiting him? However, this girl¡¯s voice seemed a little bit familiar.

    ¡°I¡¯m looking for someone. Is Fu Tao here?¡± He raised his voice.

    The iron door was pulled open as a youngdy stuck her face out, and saw Zhang Zian standing outside the gate.

    ¡°It¡¯s Store Manager Zhang!¡±

    ¡°Oh. It¡¯s you.¡±

    They spoke at the same time.

    Zhang Zian knew who answered the door. It was Ning Lan, a woman whom he had met a few times before.

    Before New Year¡¯s Day, Ning Lan¡¯s dog was trapped by a group of dog trappers. She offered a reward of 10,000 RMB to anyone who could retrieve the dog. Zhang Zian and Zhan Tian tracked down the dog trappers, but he didn¡¯t take her money. Instead, he suggested that she volunteer at the retired police dog residence with her ssmates. She could take the 10,000 RMB as the stipend that he offered.

    Ning Lan agreed happily back then, but as Zhang Zian got busy, he forgot all about the agreement, until now.

    As Ning Lan saw Zhang Zian, she pulled the iron door open, and tilted her body to one side. ¡°I¡¯m here helping with my ssmates, but we¡¯ll talk about thatter. Manager Zhang, pull your car into the yard. It may get stolen if you leave it outside.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t expect Ning Lan and her friends to be helping at the retired police dog residence on New Year¡¯s Eve. He smiled. ¡°Okay. Thank you for your hard work.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not hard. We have a lot of people helping.¡± Ning Lan smiled back.

    Zhang Zian returned to the car, drove it into the yard, and turned off the engine.

    After hearing the iron door open, Fu Tao lifted the cotton curtain, and walked out the room to check on things. When he moved the curtain, Zhang Zian saw a few young men and women in the room, making dumplings around a table,ughing and ying. They were probably Ning Lan¡¯s ssmates.

    Fu Tao was also surprised to see Zhang Zian. ¡°It¡¯s you.¡±

    He may have had a few drinks because his cheeks were red and he seemed a bit younger thanst time.

    Zhang Zian took the fruits and pastries out of the car. ¡°Master Fu, Happy New Year! I¡¯m here to send you greetings.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t make it obvious that he was here to check on the police dogs, he used the excuse that he was here to send Chinese New Year¡¯s greetings, which was why he specifically chose today to visit.

    The fruits and pastries were actually gifts from Wang Qian and Li Kun, but he was too embarrassed to show up empty-handed, so he re-gifted them to Fu Tao.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t have to bring gifts.¡± Fu Tao acted polite, but he took the gifts anyway. ¡°Come, have a seat. The young people are here as well.¡±

    As they were talking, Ning Lan hade into the room.

    ¡°This is the person that tracked down the dog trappers and helped me find my Tuan Tuan. He¡¯s the one who paid for your cab fare and the dumplings today.¡± Ning Lan introduced Zhang Zian. ¡°He also owns a famous pet shop, right on Zhonghua Road, not far from our school.¡±

    Some of them had flour on their faces. Clearly, they were ying around with the flour while making the dumplings.

    Zhang Zian waved to them, then opened the doors and trunk of the car to let the elfins out.

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    ¡°Eek!¡±

    ¡°Woof!¡±

    ¡°Quack!¡±

    Ning Lan and her friends were so surprised to see all the animalse out the car, that they couldn¡¯t move.

    ¡°Wow! What a cute cat!¡±

    ¡°Why is there a monkey? Does he owner own a circus?¡±

    ¡°Why does the parrot look upset with me?¡±

    Old Time Tea didn¡¯t get out of the car for three reasons: it didn¡¯t want too much attention, it was warmer in the car, and they weren¡¯t going to stay here long.

    The girls forgot they had flour on their hands, and went to pet Fina, Snowy Li and Gxy. Gxy ran far away, while Fina widened its eyes and stretched out its ws to stop them froming closer. Snowy Li was the only weing one, and let itself be held in their arms.

    Zhang Zian stared at Snowy Li with jealousy, especially because its restless paws were feeling their bodies and boobs. Instead of feeling sexually harassed, they seemed to be enjoying it, which made him want to yell, ¡°Release that horny cat. Let me do it!¡±

    Snowy Li squinted, and spat towards him. ¡°I¡¯m just a cuddler. Are you jealous?¡±

    Ning Lan squatted next to Famous, and asked, ¡°Is this the police dog fromst time?¡±

    All German Shepherds looked alike, so it was hard to tell them apart unless one of them was yours. She had mistaken Famous as Zhan Tian.

    ¡°No. I couldn¡¯t bring that police dog, there wasn¡¯t enough space in the car,¡± Zhang Zian replied, and then changed the subject. ¡°When did you arrive? Shouldn¡¯t you guys be spending Chinese New Year¡¯s Eve with your families?¡±

    Ning Lan smiled. ¡°We arrived this morning, and we¡¯re leaving once we finish eating the dumplings. I live in Binhai City, along with a few others. Some are from other cities, but aren¡¯t going back home. Manager Zhang, you arrived at the right time, let¡¯s have some dumplings. They¡¯re already made, so we¡¯ll cook them in a minute.¡±

    Zhang Zian smelled the dumplings, the filling seemed to be beef and onion. He already had lunch, so he waved his hand to decline. ¡°No, thanks. I just had lunch.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s okay. Just have some, we made a lot and can¡¯t finish them all by ourselves. The filling is beef. It¡¯s delicious.¡± Ning Lan thought that he was being polite. ¡°Even after you eat some, Master Fu will still have enough for tonight and tomorrow. Besides, we bought the flour and the beef with the 10,000 RMB you gave us!¡±

    ¡°Meow! Take some for me. Raw beef sounds so good¡± Snowy Li asked despite being very upied.

    Zhang Zian ignored it, thought for a while, and asked, ¡°Did youe today just to make dumplings for Master Fu?¡±

    Ning Lan nodded. ¡°Master Fu is very lonely living here all by himself, so we decided to spend the day with him.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew about Fu Tao¡¯s situation. He had been taking care of the retired police dogs by himself all these years. Festivals always made people more homesick, which also made them more lonely. Ning Lan and her friends were very thoughtful.

    There were a lot of police dogs herest time, so now with the dogs from the production team, the burden was even heavier. That was why he asked Ning Lan and her friends to help out when they had time.

    Unable to decline the warm invitation, he decided to stay for some dumplings, but before he could do that, he had some business to deal with.

 Chapter 663: Secret Investigation Visit

    <h4>Chapter 663: Secret Investigation Visit</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Other than the boys and girls ying outside with the animals, there were a few students who remained in the house and helped with the dumplings. Fu Tao took the snack box that Wang Qian and Li Kun sent into the house and distributed them among the students. Other than the female student who was one a diet, everyone was able to get two to three pieces.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun¡¯s snacks were very good but were a little too sweet. Fu Tao took out some loose tea leaves and boiled a pot of hot water, so the students were able to have some tea with the snacks

    The snacks that Zhang Zian brought weren¡¯t enough to be distributed among so many people, so not everyone got a piece. Fu Tao came out the house holding the empty box, looking for a ce to get rid of it.

    ¡°Master Fu.¡± Zhang Zian looked at him. ¡°I¡¯d like to have a word with you.¡±

    Fu Tao walked over, feeling puzzled. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Zhang Zian exined, ¡°The film crew has trusted you to take care of a few German Shepherds, right? Everyone misses the dogs. Since most of the crew have already joined other films, I¡¯m the only one left in Binhai City, and they asked me to take a few pictures for them. Do you think it¡¯s convenient for me to do so now?

    ¡°What¡¯s inconvenient about that?¡± Fu Tao threw away the empty box and removed a bunch of keys hanging from his waist. ¡°Come, take your pictures.¡±

    Zhang Zian and Famous followed him to the dog kennel. Ning Lan hesitated for a moment. Once she saw that they didn¡¯t have any objections, she followed as well.

    The moment the door to the kennel opened, the German Shepherds started barking. The loudest one was the dog with the biggest teeth. Conversely, the few police dogs that were originally from the nursing home didn¡¯t bark, they only looked at Zhang Zian. He wasn¡¯t sure if they reacted this way because they were getting older or because they were well-trained.

    After entering the kennel, Zhang Zian secretly observed that the kennel was much cleaner thanst time. The cleaning supplies were easily essible as they were right by the door. The food bowls were upgraded to standard aluminum, each bowl had a number that corresponded to a cage number.

    There was a flower vase on the windowsill, with a bundle of pale yellow carnations, giving off a light floral fragrance. Thanks to the pop of color, the dark and dull kennel now had a little liveliness.

    ¡°This was all their doing.¡± Fu Tao raised his chin towards Ning Lan, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have been able to handle everything myself. I¡¯ve told her many times not to do all these meaningless things, spending unnecessary money. Like that, what use is there for a flower vase in a dog kennel?¡±

    ¡°Flowers aren¡¯t that expensive,¡± Ning Lan quickly exined. ¡°Besides, I didn¡¯t buy the flowers, they¡¯re from a popr sister from my hostel who received them. She¡¯s dating a guy from a rich family, and gets flowers every day. I bring the old flowers here because it¡¯d be a waste to throw them away.¡±

    ¡°Even if it doesn¡¯t cost any money, it¡¯s still meaningless!¡± Fu Tao said, shaking his head. ¡°It¡¯s just a matter of time before the flowers die, so it¡¯ll still be thrown away.¡±

    ¡°I actually don¡¯t think it¡¯s that bad.¡± Zhang Zian supported Ning Lan¡¯s actions. ¡°Just leave it there, it¡¯s not in the way. You can talk about it again when the flowers die. You can¡¯t just refuse flowers because they¡¯re going to wilt soon, that¡¯s like rejecting an animal because they¡¯re going to die.¡±

    ¡°Right?¡± Seeing that Zhang Zian was on her side, Ning Lan smiled.

    Fu Tao let out a sigh. ¡°I don¡¯t understand the two of you.¡±

    ¡°Master Fu, the food is ready.¡± A guy wearing sses came in, pushing a cart.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll do it.¡± Fu Tao walked over with the intention of feeding the dogs.

    The guy quickly stopped him. ¡°No, Master Fu, you can rest. We¡¯ll do it today.¡±

    ¡°Yep!¡± Ning Lan quickly snatched the scoop. ¡°Just tell us what to do.¡±

    Zhang Zian pretended to unwittingly walk over to peek at the food as well as secretly take pictures of it with his phone.

    In addition to the food pellets, there were two steaming bowls. One was full of mixed vegetables¡ªcabbage, potato, carrots, eggnts and more¡ªall cut into small pieces and stewed. Although the presentation wasn¡¯t much, it was very nutritious. The other bowl had stewed pork belly, with soup and meat. Such a greasy dish wasn¡¯t popr among most girls, but it was definitely a delicacy to dogs.

    ¡°The food here isn¡¯t bad.¡± Zhang Zian pretended to be surprised. ¡°Do they eat such good food every day?¡±

    ¡°They have vegetables every day. They have pork once every two days since quite a number of families in the vige are ughtering their pigs, making it cheaper. If chicken is cheaper, they¡¯ll have that instead.¡± Fu Tao hesitated as he stammered: ¡°The meal allowance the crew sent over was meant for the German Shepherds, but usually it¡¯s just me, and I can¡¯t make two different sets of food for a single meal.¡±

    What Fu Tao was trying to say was that the meal allowance was supposed to be specifically for the German Shepherds, but Fu Tao didn¡¯t go to such lengths. He just upgraded all the dogs¡¯ food.

    Zhang Zian nodded. He didn¡¯t me Fu Tao; he¡¯d do the same thing¡­ As long as Fu Tao didn¡¯t put the money into his own pocket, everything was fine. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t believe Fu Tao would ever do such a thing. If he really wanted money, wasn¡¯t there so many other things he could¡¯ve done besides opening a police dog nursing home?

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Youck manpower, it¡¯s understandable.¡± Zhang Zian casually wrote it off.

    Ning Lan and the other guy had a great partnership going on, it was clear that this wasn¡¯t their first time feeding the dogs. The guy pushed the cart, stopping in front of every dog cage, while Ning Lan scooped a big portion of food pellets and stewed vegetables, and a small portion of stewed pork belly into each food bowl.

    All the dogs with food immediately started eating, while those that didn¡¯t yet have food were running in circles, waiting impatiently for their turn.

 Chapter 664: Death

    <h4>Chapter 664: Death</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Outside the kennel, Snowy Li was rubbing itself, while Richard was telling the guys dirty jokes, making them too stunned to speak. Pi was having fun swinging among all the agility equipment. Gxy was going back and forth in the tunnel, as if it was running in a maze. Fina didn¡¯t like the crowd, so it jumped on top of the car and watched over everyone.

    While feeding the dogs, Ning Lan asked curiously, ¡°Store Manager Zhang, your parrot talks really well. Did you train it?¡±

    ¡°Sort of. It mostly depends on the parrot¡¯s own talent. It doesn¡¯t have much to do with the trainer,¡± Zhang Zian answered cautiously. He didn¡¯t want to have to train another parrot to talk.

    ¡°I think the monkey is adorable. I want one.¡± A guy wearing sses stared out the window at Pi, while pushing the food cart.

    ¡°Don¡¯t get one,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°You have to be qualified to raise a primate. Besides, the monkey doesn¡¯t belong to me, I¡¯m just holding it for someone.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± The guy wearing sses was disappointed.

    Zhang Zian noticed that some cages contained different dogs thanst time, and that some of the cages that were empty before, were now upied. He remembered the police dog in Cage #3 was very old and had lost most of its teeth. It had to eat soft dog food pellets, instead of meat or vegetable stew.

    It was lying on its side, eyes slightly open.

    Obviously, Ning Lan and the guy wearing sses were used to seeing it like that because they skipped its cage when they were feeding the dogs. They fed X in Cage #4, and nned to feed the other dogs before going back to Cage #3.

    Despite having lost half of its back leg and being covered in bullet scratches, X was still strong, and was chewing the food hungrily.

    Famous¡¯ nose was more sensitive than a human¡¯s. It seemed to have sniffed something unusual. The scent was very weak, but Famous was able to catch it.

    It sniffed Cage #3 again, then ran to Zhang Zian and pulled on his pants. It whispered, ¡°The dog in Cage #3 is dead.¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned. He looked towards Cage #3, then stopped Fu Tao. ¡°Master Fu, there¡¯s something wrong with the dog in Cage #3. I think it¡¯s dead.¡±

    He remembered thatst time, the dog didn¡¯t have much of an appetite, and he thought that the dog wouldn¡¯t survive very long.

    Fu Tao frowned and looked at Ning Lan and the other guy. ¡°It can¡¯t be. It was fine this morning, right?¡±

    The kids looked puzzled, thinking that Zhang Zian was mistaken. ¡°Yes, we fed it this morning, it ate more than usual. It was energetic today, it even licked my hands.¡±

    Fu Tao frowned even harder. ¡°It ate more than usual and licked your hands?¡±

    Ning Lan nodded.

    Fu Tao figured it out, it was terminal lucidity.

    He opened Cage #3 and squatted down to press on the old dog¡¯s chest.

    Ning Lan and the guy wearing sses held their breath.

    After a moment, Fu Tao stood up and sighed. ¡°It¡¯s gone. It didn¡¯t survive the Chinese New Year.¡±

    Ning Lan med herself. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t notice that there was something with it. I should¡¯ve paid more attention.¡±

    Fu Tao waved his hand, a signal for her to stop talking, then turned around and walked out of the kennel.

    Ning Lan thought that Fu Tao was angry, which made her me herself even more.

    ¡°You can¡¯t beat yourself up. Aging, illness, and death are inevitable. There are so many dogs here, you can¡¯t watch over each one.¡± Zhang Zianforted Ning Lan. ¡°Besides, this dog died naturally. Look at its face, it¡¯s peaceful. It was able to lick your hands to say goodbye and die among friends.¡±

    Ning Lan was still upset. ¡°If I noticed earlier, maybe I could¡¯ve stayed with it.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wrong. Don¡¯t forget that it was a police dog, it wouldn¡¯t have wanted others to watch it die. It would¡¯ve wanted to die with dignity, and it did,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    Fu Tao came back in, pushing a wheelbarrow with a shovel inside. He picked up the dog and ced it in the wheelbarrow.

    ¡°When the dumplings are ready, you guys can go without me. I¡¯m going up the mountain to bury the dog,¡± he said quickly, and started to leave again.

    ¡°Wait!¡± Zhang Zian took the bouquet of carnations out of the vase, shook off the water, andid it next to the police dog¡¯s body. ¡°I¡¯ll help you.¡±

    ¡°Me too!¡± Ning Lan volunteered.

    ¡°Me three!¡± The guy followed.

    ¡°You guys stay here and clean Cage #3 to make some room. We may have new police dogse in after the Spring Festival.¡± Fu Tao covered the dog¡¯s body with stic, then pushed the wheelbarrow out of the kennel.

    Zhang Zian whispered to the kids, ¡°Don¡¯t tell your ssmates about this, it¡¯ll ruin the festive atmosphere.¡±

    They nodded in agreement, and Zhang Zian hurried off.

    In the yard, some girls were still ying with the cats.

    ¡°Master Fu, the dumplings are almost ready. Where are you going?¡± a girl asked after seeing Fu Tao leave with a wheel barrel.

    Fu Tao wasn¡¯t good at lying, so Zhang Zian answered, ¡°We¡¯re going to move some stuff, we¡¯ll be back in a minute. You guys can start eating without us.¡±

    As he spoke, he snapped his fingers to summon the elfins.

    Fina was tired of the noisy students, and dly jumped off the car roof. Snowy Li saw Fina leave, and escaped the girls¡¯ arms to follow Fina.

    Gxy and Pi also left what they were doing and ran towards Zhang Zian.

    Richard flew to Zhang Zian. ¡°Quack! I¡¯m freezing. Are we leaving?¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°Not yet, we need to head to the mountain first.¡±

    ¡°Quack! Mountain? What for?¡± Richard rolled its eyes, and said mischievously, ¡°When brothers carry dogwood up the mountain, each of them should have a branch, and my branch is missing.¡±

    Zhang Zian gave Richard a threatening look, and it shut up.

 Chapter 665: Looking off into the Distance

    <h4>Chapter 665: Looking off into the Distance</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Strictly speaking, the location of the police dog nursing home was considered a small hill, not a mountain. There was no water source uphill, the roads were difficult to travel across, and there wasn¡¯t muchnd to develop.

    Fu Tao pushed the wheelbarrow through the forest, making turns here and there before reaching an empty lot ofnd.

    It was very quiet. Thend was surrounded with small trees, the biggest one was no bigger than an adult male¡¯s forearm, while the smallest tree was the size of an adult male¡¯s wrist. They were much more delicate than the trees deeper in the for.

    There was a wooden te nailed to all of the little trees, and in front of every tree was a tiny mound.

    Fu Tao stopped, having found an appropriate ce, and pulled the stic sheet off the wheelbarrow before he silently picked up the shovel to start digging.

    Zhang Zian walked up to a small tree and realized that there were words on the wooden tes. They had details of each police dog that was buried there, their date of birth and death, where they rendered their services and under which unit.

    Zhang Zian counted, there was about eight dogs buried in the lot.

    The soil was hard because of the cold weather, and since Fu Tao was well past his prime, it wasn¡¯t for long before he was out breath from digging.

    ¡°Master Fu, let me take over.¡± Zhang Zian took off his coat, hung it on a branch, and walked over.

    Fu Tao stuck the shovel into the fresh pile of dirt, and looked at Zhang Zian. He didn¡¯t think Zhang Zian was strong, he looked no different than the young city boys who weren¡¯t used to hard work. Fu Tao didn¡¯t want Zhang Zian to injure himself, as it¡¯d be troublesome to put him in the wheelbarrow and push him all the way back.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t say anything else, he just grabbed the shovel and jumped into Fu Tao¡¯s shallow hole. He plunged the shovel into the soil and started digging.

    Fu Tao thought that Zhang Zian would startining soon after beginning, but he got more vigorous the longer he shovelled. Every movement made was controlled, his breathing was stable. He even looked rxed.

    Zhang Zian was much stronger than Fu Tao had imagined, and it was all thanks to training under Old Time Tea¡¯s supervision.

    ¡°Keep it up! Motto! Ga ga!¡± Richard, who was curled up within Zhang Zian¡¯s coat hood, kept making snidements.

    ¡°What¡¯s the parrot saying? Does it want to have a peach?¡± Fu Tao asked as he wiped off the sweat from his forehead.

    Zhang Zian was so embarrassed. He threateningly waved the shovel at Richard, which made it stop for a while, but it wasn¡¯t long after did it started up again.

    ¡°Sigai! Motto!¡± Richard continued shouting all the lines it could remember from Japanese films.

    Fina and Snowy Li werezily sitting on a rock, yawning out of boredom. It was already a miracle that they weren¡¯tining, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t count on them to help with the shovelling.

    Pi looked around, found the biggest tree with the most branches, and put all its limbs to use as it tried to climb up the tree.

    It was Pi¡¯s first time climbing a tree, and even though it wasn¡¯t a real monkey, it still had some of the natural instincts of a monkey.

    Fu Tao, who was taking a break, saw Pi. ¡°Hey, your monkey is climbing up a tree.¡±

    Zhang Zian raised his head to see that Pi was already halfway up the tree. ¡°Pi, be careful!¡±

    ¡°Zhi zhi.¡± Pi freed one hand to wave to Zhang Zian, showing that it was alright, but it only made Zhang Zian more worried.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to call it down?¡± Fu Tao asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, let it have its fun. It¡¯lle down once it¡¯s done.¡± Zhang Zianughed. It was normal for Fu Tao to have some doubts, but Pi wasn¡¯t an ordinary monkey.

    ¡°Whatever, I¡¯m not going to help you look for it if it disappears.¡± Fu Tao said nothing more, sure that Pi would run off.

    Gxy noticed a group of sparrows not far away as they rummaged through fallen leaves for seeds and nuts. It let out a meow and started to chase after them.

    The sparrows, sensing an iing predator, immediately took off towards the sky. Theynded on some tree branches nearby, seemingly reluctant to leave the possibility of food, as there was a shortage of it during winter. They waited until Gxy ran off before they fluttered down and continued to search for food.

    Once they did, Gxy would meow as it ran towards them again, and the whole game would start over. Both parties seemed to enjoy themselves.

    Richard covered its face with its wings, it couldn¡¯t bear to see fellow birds with such low IQs.

    Pi climbed higher, to a part where the tree branch split in two, Pi noticed a birds nest, but there were no birds, only a bird egg. The shell was covered in light gray spots and dried up green bird waste.

    Pi scratched its head, it didn¡¯t know what breed of bird this egg came from, as birds usually don¡¯ty eggs in winter. It left its book in the car so there was no way for him to check. Pi wasn¡¯t worried about losing the book because Old Time Tea was inside the car, so no one would be able to take it away. Even if they did, they wouldn¡¯t be able to understand the book.

    Pi looked around. Where¡¯s its mother? Or its father?

    After it found nothing, Pi blinked as it looked at the lonely egg in the nest.

    Maybe the mother already flew to the south for winter. Maybe the parents lost their lives to the vigers¡¯ guns.

    Of course, the greatest possibility was that the parents went out to look for food, and since food was hard to find in the winter, maybe they had to fly further than usual.

    Pi climbed down the tree, and ran to Zhang Zian. It poked around his coat pockets for a moment before pulling out a handful of nuts, which were also Richard¡¯s snack.

    ¡°What are you doing? Trying to steal my stuff?¡± Richard asked.

    ¡°Zhi zhi!¡± Pi tried to exin, pointing to the bird nest up in the tree.

    Richard rolled its eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t mind giving them to you, but once we¡¯re back you¡¯ll have to give me double the amount you¡¯re taking. No, five times the amount!¡±

    ¡°Zhi zhi.¡± Pi nodded.

    It climbed up the tree again, threw the nuts into the nest, and pressed the hay that was covering the nest firmly together so that the egg would be warm and prevent other birds from finding the nest. If the parents came back, the nuts would be a nice surprise.

    The temperature now was already rising, it wasn¡¯t as unbearable as it was before. If the little bird was lucky enough, it might be able to hatch in spring.

    Pi raised its head as it was reaching the top of the tree. The sky was getting darker while the tree trunks were getting thinner and flimsier, making it harder to climb.

    Pi slowly climbed up the tree. It even learned how to hook its tail on to a tree branch when it was about to lose bnce, which would prevent him from falling.

    It didn¡¯t take long before Pi finally made it to the top. Pi clung onto the tree as it looked down.

    Zhang Zian and Fu Tao looked very small, while Fina and Snowy Li were just yellow and white balls of fur. Richard was too small to even notice, except for its obnoxious voice, still hoarse and loud even from the top of the tree.

    From its position, Pi could see the nursing home and the car parked in the courtyard that looked like a shiny turtle shell. The lights were still on in the house, and from time to time, it could see people walk past the window.

    The sun was setting behind the mountains, and the evening mist covered Binhai City. The usually bustling city looked abandoned.

    Firecrackers could be heard from the viges nearby, the new year atmosphere was definitely getting stronger.

    Down below, the group of sparrows flew away after getting scared by Gxy again, but this time they didn¡¯tnd on the tree branches near them.

    Night was creeping in, so the sparrows didn¡¯t want to continue the cat-and-mouse game. They flew towards Binhai City, with a n to find food in residential areas.

    Gxy chased after the sparrows for a while before it got tired and returned.

    Passing by Pi¡¯s tree, Gxy raised its head and squinted to look at Pi.

    Pi waved to Gxy, asking it toe up to y and watch the nice scenery.

    Gxy shook its head and raised its paw to wave to Pi, asking it toe down.

    Even though the scenery was amazing, Pi had developed a feeling, as if it had to say something, to shout. Maybe this was why ancient poets loved to recite poems when they made it up a mountain. The wind at the top was a little too strong and it was really cold. There was no reason to stay up there alone, so Pi made his way down.

 Chapter 666: 666 Burial

    <h4>Chapter 666: 666 Burial</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After hearing the noise, Richard tilted its head and saw Piing down the tree. ¡°Why are youing down? Did you get the dogwood?¡±

    Pi looked at him, confused.

    Richard shook its head. ¡°Just like rotten wood can¡¯t be carved, you can¡¯t be educated!¡±

    Fu Tao was surprised to see the ck-and-white cat return with the monkey, he didn¡¯t that they¡¯d return. He had enough rest, so he walked over to relieve Zhang Zian. ¡°Take a break. I¡¯ll take over.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m not tired.¡±

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t trying to impress anyone, he just wasn¡¯t tired.

    Fu Tao took off his white working gloves and tossed them to Zhang Zian. ¡°Put them on, or else you¡¯ll get blisters.¡±

    Zhang Zian stuck the shovel in the ground and put the gloves on as his palms were indeed bing red.

    Famous ran towards the tree with Zhang Zian¡¯s thermos in its mouth. The thermos was filled with hot tea from the pet shop.

    Zhang Zian poured some of the tea into the thermos cap and drank.

    ¡°Master Fu, would you like a cup?¡± he asked out of courtesy.

    ¡°What is it? Tea or alcohol?¡± Fu Tao leaned over and looked in the thermos cap.

    ¡°Tea,¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    Fu Tao shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ll pass. I¡¯m not thirsty, I just drank some water.¡± He pointed at Famous. ¡°Your dog is well-trained and very smart. It knows to fetch water for you.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Zhang Zian smiled. He gave the thermos back to Famous, and Famous took the thermos back to the foot of the tree. ¡°Zhan Tian, the dog I took home from here, is a good dog, too.¡± He picked the shovel back up to continue digging.

    Fu Tao tried to remember Zhan Tian, then answered, ¡°That dog was too timid. It¡¯s only good as a pet.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wrong,¡± Zhang Zian corrected him. ¡°Had it not been for Zhan Tian, Ning Lan would have never found her dog.¡±

    He didn¡¯t add, ¡°If Ning Lan had never found her dog, she wouldn¡¯t have been here with her friends to help.¡±

    Fu Tao was astonished. ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t Ning Lan tell you?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Fu Tao remembered now. ¡°She mentioned it once, but I had no idea that Zhan Tian was the one who helped get her dog back.¡±

    ¡°Zhan Tian is amazing.¡± Zhang Zian started to dig and while he did, he told the story of how Zhan Tian tracked the dog trappers and jumped into their car to stop them from getting away. He might have exaggerated some details.

    ¡°Really?¡± Fu Tao asked doubtfully.

    ¡°When you have time, ask Ning Lan for the details. She tells the story better than I do.¡± Zhang Zian smiled, and stopped to point at the hole. ¡°Is this deep enough or should I dig deeper?¡±

    Fu Tao jumped into the hole to check. ¡°It¡¯s deep enough. You can stop digging.¡±

    The hole was almost one meter deep. If it was too shallow, rodents could get inside.

    They jumped out of the hole, threw the shovel to the side, and grabbed the legs of the dead police dog to pull it out of the wheel barrel. They wrapped it in stic to prevent worms and ants from eating the body, andid it carefully into the hole.

    Fu Tao stood outside the hole and gazed at it for a while before he grabbed the shovel to fill the hole.

    Each time the dirt hit the stic cover, it made a rattling sound.

    As time passed, part of the police dog¡¯s body vanished under the dirt. It looked like it was covered by a thick nket, warm and peacefully asleep on this cold winter day.

    At first, Fu Tao was shoveling slowly, but after its head was covered, he started moving faster.

    Zhang Zian rubbed his palms on his shirt, and watched silently. He didn¡¯t offer any help.

    ¡°Quack!¡± Richard shrieked. ¡°If someone saw you, they¡¯d think that you killed someone and are now trying to dispose of the body.¡±

    A small hill slowly formed. It wasn¡¯t very different from the other hills, except that the soil was slightly fresher, so it was obvious that it was recently dug.

    Fu Tao patted the soil with the shovel, while he panted and wiped the sweat off his forehead. He leaned against the shovel, and said, mostly to himself, ¡°I¡¯ll nt a tree here once spring arrives. The tree won¡¯t survive if I nt it now.¡±

    Famous took the bouquet of yellow carnations that was in the wheelbarrow and dropped it in front of the tiny mound. It pushed a few stones on top of the carnations to use as a paperweight, in case the wind tried to blow the flowers away.

    ¡°Wow! That dog is really¡­¡± Fu Tao was once again amazed by Famous. He couldn¡¯t find the words to describe what he was thinking, so he didn¡¯t finish the sentence.

    ¡°Master Fu, you¡¯ve been sweating a lot. Do you want my jacket?¡± Zhang Zian asked. ¡°You can¡¯t get a cold.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. If I¡¯m sick, who will take care of the dogs?¡± Fu Tao threw the shovel back into the wheelbarrow. ¡°It¡¯s too cold to be outside. Let¡¯s head back! The dumplings are probably ready, and they¡¯re waiting for us.¡±

    He refused to put on Zhang Zian¡¯s jacket, and pushed the wheelbarrow to head back. Zhang Zian put it on himself.

    ¡°Are we finally going back? I¡¯m freezing, and the only way to keep warm is by moving the muscles around my beak,¡± Richard spoke from inside his hoodie.

    ¡°As if you don¡¯t speak when it¡¯s not cold.¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t believe its nonsense.

    ¡°Quack!¡±

    Zhang Zian called the other elfins. ¡°Come on, everyone. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    The sun was setting, so the light was getting dim in the forest. Only part of the treeline was still covered in sunlight.

    ¡°Quack! I¡¯m in good mood today. How about a song for everybody?¡±

    Maybe Richard had sensed the sadness in the air and wanted to lighten the mood. Before anyone could object, it started singing.

    ¡°The sun sets in the west, the sunset glows. We¡¯re returning to camp because of a booty call.¡±

    It¡¯s awful voice traveled far and wide. The birds in the forest were startled and flew away before they even passed by.

    After walking a distance, Zhang Zian looked back. Only the bouquet of yellow carnations was visible.

 Chapter 667: Postcard

    <h4>Chapter 667: Postcard</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian hastened his steps to catch up with Fu Tao.

    The police dog nursing home was filled with chatter andughter. It was clear that the students weren¡¯t just here to volunteer, they also liked each other¡¯spany.

    Fu Tao pushed the wheelbarrow to a corner of the courtyard before he turned around and called out, ¡°Zhang Zian,e in! Have some dumplings and get warm.

    Zhang Zian opened the car door and saw Grandpa Tea sleeping. He ushered the elfins into the car, so that they¡¯d be safe from the cold wind, then locked the doors and followed Fu Tao into the house.

    ¡°Master Fu, what took you so long?¡±

    ¡°Quick, someone get Master Fu a bowl of dumplings! Master Fu, would you like to wash your hands first?¡±

    ¡°Store Manager Zhang, where¡¯s your cat? Why didn¡¯t you bring it in?¡±

    All the students bombarded them with questions. All the students except Ning Lan and the guy with sses, they just stared at Zhang Zian and Fu Tao. They wanted to know if the dog was given a proper burial, but they couldn¡¯t bring themselves to ask.

    One student noticed that their pants and shoes were caked in mud, and that they had left a trail of footprints. She eximed, ¡°Where did you guys go? Why are your shoes so dirty?¡±

    Zhang Zian let out a dry cough. ¡°There was a car that got stuck in the mud. Master Fu and I, being the brave and helpful people that we are, risked our lives to help and pushed the car, but that only allowed the two us to step into the mud.¡±

    With the festive mood of the New Year, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to tell a little lie. The students were speechless, so the lie did its job and stopped them from asking more questions.

    One of them was quick to serve Fu Tao and Zhang Zian a huge bowl of soup and dumplings. The others either had their fill or were still eating.

    Fu Tao nced at his bowl and sighed. ¡°Is this a dumpling or a wonton? The filling has spilled out.¡±

    A few of the students had fooled around during the process of wrapping and cooking the dumplings. Hence, the dumplings were of all shapes and sizes, and broke apart the moment they were ced in boiling water. So, Fu Tao was right, they resembled wontons more than they did dumplings.

    The students looked apologetic as Zhang Luo ordered, ¡°Get Master Fu another bowl, with dumplings that are intact.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need, wontons aren¡¯t that bad.¡± Fu Tao waved his hand, and found a ce to sit, eat his dumplings, and watch TV.

    There was a small TV in the house, and it didn¡¯t even have cable. No matter what channel they switched to, they were all about the New Year. Once the clock hit 8pm, they would immediately turn to the CCTV channel for the New Year¡¯s G.

    The police dog nursing home had never hosted before, so there weren¡¯t enough chairs for everyone. Someone felt bad that Zhang Zian was eating his dumplings standing up, so he got a chair for him, but Zhang Zian refused and said that he was leaving right after he was done.

    The students were also leaving soon since it wouldn¡¯t be safe for thedies to walk home in the middle of the night. The guys were discussing sending thedies home first so that they could sneak the electric hotpot back to their ce for another New Year party. Soon, the subject changed to their battle with the dormdy, as it¡¯s said that the she has confiscated enough electric hotpots to open a supermarket.

    The dumplings were really nothing to boast about. The skin was too thick and the filling was either too salty or nd, Zhang Zian¡¯s frozen dumplings were better. However, everyone ate a lot, and there were still enough leftover for Fu Tao to eat tomorrow.

    Zhang Zian finished his dumplings and took a few sips of the soup. He had wanted to wash his dish, but Ning Lan snatched it away from him. Apparently, the guys were put in charge of cooking and thedies were in charge of washing the dishes.

    Zhang Zian excused himself before the sky turnedpletely dark. Hepleted the mission that Feng Xuan gave him¡ªto make sure that the retired German Shepherds were living well¡ªthere was no reason for him to stay.

    Fu Tao put his bowl down and decided to head outside with Zian, to take the police dogs out to relieve themselves. A few other guys volunteered to help.

    When the door opened, an envelope, that wasn¡¯t there when Zhang Zian and Fu Tao returned, fell to the floor. These days it was rare for someone to write letters, and even more rare to mail them. Fu Tao was surprised to see the envelope, so he immediately opened it and pulled out a postcard.

    ¡°Is it an advertisement?¡± Fu Tao muttered.

    Zhang Zian took his phone out to use the shlight. When he pointed the shlight towards the postcard, the first thing they noticed was beautiful handwritten words.

    Mr Fu:

    Hello! I forgot to ask for your contact information thest time I was there, so I¡¯m only able to wish you a Happy Lunar New Year in this outdated manner. I hope you get this letter in time for the New Year.

    Luo Luo is having a great time at my ce, it¡¯s even gaining some weight. My husband and daughter love Luo Luo so much, and though my mother was very suspicious of it at first, she treats it very well now. She often feeds Luo Luo behind our backs.

    We¡¯ve been bringing Luo Luo to the pet clinic for routine check-ups. It¡¯s very healthy, and it¡¯s definitely thanks to the great care you provided. Luo Luo is an irreceable member of our family, and we only hope for it to stay with us longer.

    I¡¯ve sent some recent photos of Luo Luo along with my husband¡¯s Wechat information. Next time, we¡¯llmunicate in a much more direct way. Happy Lunar New Year!

    Best Wishes,

    Xiao Yuhong on the 20th of the Lunar Calendar

    Next to Xiao Yuhong¡¯s signature, was a red pawprint, probably Luo Luo¡¯s front paw after stepping in an ink pad.

    Fu Tao silently read the postcard twice before shaking the envelope. A few photos fell out.

    The first photo was of Luo Luo. It was lying on the grass, enjoying the sun as it stuck its tongue out, its gaze was filled with peace. The other photos were of Luo Luo with Xiao Yuhong¡¯s family. Some were at home, some were at the park, of Luo Luo being hugged by Xiao Yuhong, or walked by Xiao Yuhong¡¯s husband or ridden by Xiao Yuhong¡¯s daughter. No matter the picture, Luo Luo looked really happy.

    ¡°Is Luo Luo really nine years old? It seems no different than a four year old dog.¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Fu Tao stuffed the postcard back into the envelope before putting it into his pocket. There was a rare smile on his face.

 Chapter 668: Firework

    <h4>Chapter 668: Firework</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The iron gate of the retired police dog residence closed behind the car as it pulled out.

    Fu Tao walked uphill with a few guys to look for a ce to let the dogs pee. Zhang Zian drove downhill, looking for an open area without trees for firework.

    shlights were dancing wildly in the rearview mirror, along with the merry barks of the police dogs. Even these police dogs were excited for the arrival of the students.

    Zhang Zian was driving carefully because there were barely any street lights lining the road.

    ¡°Why did it take you so long to eat? I¡¯m freezing!¡± Fina red at Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian remembered that the car had AC, so he turned on the heat and adjusted the vent to let the warm air blow towards Fina to appease its anger.

    Fina was intrigued by the AC. It lifted a front paw and dangled it near the vent, but it wasn¡¯t long until its face turned serious after it realized something. ¡°Did you make me freeze in the car on purpose? Why didn¡¯t you use this magical gadget before?¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t take the me. ¡°Because it¡¯s dangerous to use the AC while the car is parked.¡±

    ¡°How is it dangerous? Will it explode?¡± Fina was doubtful.

    Snowy Li chose that moment to chime in, ¡°Meow! Your Majesty, don¡¯t listen to him! The stinky man says nice things, but none of it is true.¡±

    ¡°Quack! Actually, you just want to save money on gas.¡± Richard instigated from the headrest of the driver¡¯s seat.

    ¡°Of course not. It¡¯s hard to exin.¡± Zhang Zian stayed patient, and exined the dangers of using the AC while the car was parked. Since it involvedplicated science, Fina clearly didn¡¯t understand much, but it would never admit that to him. It just grunted and stopped asking questions.

    Zhang Zian found a spot in the open wilderness and came to a stop. He got out the car to check his surroundings. There were no trees for at least 100 meters, and the dead grass was covered in leftover snow. More importantly, there were no houses nor people anywhere near this area. It should be a safe ce to set off fireworks.

    When he opened the trunk, cold air rushed in and overpowered the heat inside the car. Before Fina couldin, he quickly took out the fireworks, an iron bucket, and a bucket of cold water. He shut the trunk and poured the cold water into the iron bucket to use just in case of an emergency. Safety should always be the primary concern when it came to setting off fireworks. Especially since he had feisty elfins with him, who might kill him if he identally burned them.

    ¡°Who wants to watch the fireworks up close?¡± he asked. ¡°If you do, get out of the car, or else, you¡¯ll have to watch from a distance.¡±

    ¡°Why do you have to fire them so far away?¡± Fina asked in confusion.

    ¡°Because it¡¯s dangerous to fire them next to the car,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°We often hear about kids who lit a car on fire while ying with fireworks.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t believe that!¡± Snowy Li said in disdain. ¡°You made that up.¡±

    Zhang Zian rolled his eyes. ¡°If there¡¯s a fire, you¡¯ll be the first one to burn since you have the longest hair. You¡¯ll no longer be called Snowy Li, you¡¯ll be called Burnt Li.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Snowy Li looked terrified. ¡°If you mess with my hair, I¡¯m going to grill your testicles and eat them!¡±

    ¡°I shall watch from the car.¡± Fina decided.

    ¡°I¡¯ll stay in the car with My Majesty!¡± Snowy Li changed its mind as well.

    ¡°Eek.¡± Pi made a gesture to show that it wanted to watch from up close, but it had to leave the book in the car. It would rather burn than put the book in danger.

    Zhang Zian doubted that the book was mmable because it had an infinite number of pages. If it was mmable, what was the consequence of lighting the pages on fire? Would it turn the entire earth into ava hell?

    Despite his doubt, he didn¡¯t want to push his luck. If it did burn, he couldn¡¯t be the one responsible for destroying all of civilization.

    Richard quacked and flew into his hoodie to make its decision clear.

    Old Time Tea had been saving its energy for this moment. ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡±

    ¡°Meow! Gxy wants to watch, too.¡± Apparently, chasing after sparrows didn¡¯t make it tired at all.

    Famous hesitated for a moment before it said, ¡°I¡¯ll go as well.¡± It was toozy to move, and wasn¡¯t that interested in fireworks, but it didn¡¯t want to stay in the car and be Fina and Snowy Li¡¯s third wheel.

    It was extremely cold. Zhang Zian pulled his jacket tighter around him, while he carried the fireworks in one hand and the bucket in the other. He walked about 40 meters and stopped. The wind blew in this direction, so the car was safe. The distance was perfect, even the elfins in the car would be able to see the fireworks.

    ¡°Quack! It¡¯s so cold, is this the North Pole?¡± Richard yelled, and shifted to wrap its entire body in the hood, only its head was visible.

    Zhang Zian took out a sparkler. ¡°Pi, would you like one?¡±

    ¡°Eek?¡± Pi was a little timid.

    ¡°This firework is safe to hold,¡± Zhang Zian encouraged. ¡°Let me show you.¡±

    He lit the sparkler. Immediately, the dazzling light spewed out, as bright and intense as a welding torch. Famous was startled and jumped back a few steps. Old Time Tea and Gxy were intrigued.

    ¡°Look, it won¡¯t burn you. It¡¯s fun.¡± He twirled the sparkler every which way, and made all kinds of pattern in the air. It was so bright and colorful, the elfins were dazzled.

    ¡°Eek!¡± Pi ran over in excitement, and grabbed a sparkler. Zhang Zian lit it.

    At first, Pi held its arm out, afraid of getting burned. After it realized that it wasn¡¯t in danger, it started ying with it merrily.

    ¡°Eek!¡± It was dancing happily.

    ¡°Everyone,e y!¡± Zhang Zian smiled.

    ¡°Quack! Give me one!¡± Richard had always been bold. It forgot about the cold and joined the party.

    Zhang Zian stuck a sparkler in its beak and lit it for Richard.

    Richard pped its wings and flew in the air, and wrote a ¡°S¡± and then a ¡°B.¡±

    It was a shame that the sparklers didn¡¯tst a long time. Richard and Pi soon came over and asked him to light new ones. It was too much work, so Zhang Zian lit an incense stick and put it under a small rock. That way the elfins didn¡¯t have to go to him to light more fireworks.

    Beep beep!

    A car horn broke the silence of the wilderness. Zhang Zian looked back, and saw Fina and Snowy Li squirming in the car. They were intrigued by the sparklers, and honked the horn to ask if they could join.

    Zhang Zian went back and opened the door for them. He yed dumb. ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Do you need to go to the bathroom?¡±

    ¡°Meow! You exaggerated the danger of the fireworks! How dare you hide this fun toy from me. I want to y with it!¡± Snowy Li grumbled and grabbed a sparkler with its mouth without asking for permission.

    ¡°Ignite it for me, now!¡± it demanded.

    Zhang Zian lit the sparkler.

    ¡°Look, Your Majesty! A gift from your servant.¡± Snowy Li wiggled its body, and tried to make a heart with the sparkler. Too bad it didn¡¯t look like a heart.

    Fina grew interested in the sparkler, but didn¡¯t grab one with its mouth. Instead, it took one with its front paws, and quietly watched it burn. The light of the sparkler made its eyes look more clear and green.

    Zhang Zian heard meows and turned around. Gxy also took a burning sparkler, and ran around happily. In the dark, Gxy¡¯s quick figure was fuzzy. The sparkler turned off and on, disappearing in the east, then reappearing in the west. If someone else had seen this, they might have mistaken it as will-o¡¯-the-wisp.

    Even Old Time Tea and Famous couldn¡¯t resist joining the party. After seeing everyone have fun, they also took sparklers in their mouths and yed with the firework.

    Zhang Zian wanted to surprise them even more. He walked a distance, thenid the firework cannon t on the ground and put a stone on top of it. He lit it with his lighter, and quickly ran away.

    Bang!

    The glorious firework cannon sted into the air. The colorful light brightened the whole clearing for a moment.

    ¡°Quack! What¡¯s that?¡± Richard screamed and the half-burnt sparkler fell out its beak. At the same time Richard was startled, something fell andnded on the car windshield.

    Another firework flew up into the air, then another and another.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    It was the first time that the elfins had seen such gorgeous fireworks. They all stared in astonishment, and the sparklers fell out of their mouths.

    Zhang Zian shouted, ¡°Happy New Year!¡±

 Chapter 669: The Unexpected Result

    <h4>Chapter 669: The Unexpected Result</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The fireworkssted for a fleeting moment.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun had purchased a number of fireworks with the schrship money they received, but it still wasn¡¯t enough. Everyone was left wanting more.

    Fireworks were so beautiful, even with more money, it wouldn¡¯t have been enough.

    They used the car¡¯s headlights as a light source, but they didn¡¯t want to keep them on for too long because the batteries would die and the car wouldn¡¯t start.

    ¡°That¡¯s it? No more?¡± Snowy Li disappointingly pawed at the stic bag that contained the fireworks. ¡°I¡¯ve said it before, poor, stingy men aren¡¯t dependable.¡±

    Richard sat on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder and screeched, ¡°Pi, it¡¯s all your fault! We all set off the fireworks one by one, you were the only one who set off two at once.¡±

    ¡°Zhi zhi.¡± Pi shrunk its neck. It had so much fun earlier, each hand waved around a sparkler. Richard was jealous, and hated the fact that it wasn¡¯t born with two beaks or else he could¡¯ve done the same.

    Thankfully it didn¡¯t grow two beaks, one was already unbearably noisy.

    It was no fun to bully Pi since it couldn¡¯t argue back. It flew back to Zhang Zian and used its wings to pat his head.¡±Ga! Did you see what I wrote in the air earlier?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t fall into his trap. ¡°Didn¡¯t see anything.¡±

    ¡°Ga! Forget it. Let¡¯s go back. I¡¯m about to turn into an ice sculpture.¡± Richard usually wouldn¡¯t have let Zhang Zian off so easily, but its wings were almost frozen. It dived into Zhang Zian¡¯s hoodie, and quickly wrapped itself.

    Zhang Zian grabbed the iron bucket, and threw the water on the firework remains to extinguish any lingering sparks. He put the bucket back in the trunk while the elfins made their way into the car.

    ¡°It¡¯s cold! Quick, turn on the air-conditioner thing!¡± Fina leapt into the front seat, and used its paws to fiddle with the vents, but no warm air came out.

    Zhang Zian started the engine. ¡°Just wait¡­¡± He paused when he noticed a white and green stain on the windshield.

    Richard cried, ¡°What blind bird actually pooped on the car? If I ever meet that bird, I¡¯ll make it regret it ever messed with us!¡±

    ¡°What kind of bird poops on a car in the middle of the night?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s quite a few! There¡¯s owls, Night Herons, bats, basically every nocturnal bird. Speaking of, I think I saw a Night Heron flying above us earlier, that must be it!¡± Richard looked in all directions. ¡°Let me think, which direction did it fly in.¡± It widened its eyes, as if it could see something in the dark.

    It was too serious, an extreme contrast to how it usually was, it made Zhang Zian certain that it was Richard¡¯s bird waste.

    ¡°First of all, bats aren¡¯t birds. Second of all, since when does Binhai city have Night Herons? Why haven¡¯t I seen them before?¡± Zhang Zian asked coldly.

    Richard stared at the night sky, and tried to think of an excuse. Zhang Zian grabbed its neck, threw it into the bucket, and ced it upside-down in the trunk next to Famous.

    ¡°Ga! You b*stard!¡± Richard pecked at the bucket. ¡°What evidence do you have that it was me? Do you know that this is illegal imprisonment? Read me my bird rights. I¡¯m going to the General Assembly of the United Nation for Bird Rights to sue you, and you¡¯re going to be in so much trouble! This is an international incident, a diplomatic dispute, are you aware of that?¡±

    Zhang Zian closed the trunk and wiped the bird waste from the windshield before he returned to the driver¡¯s seat. As he drove back to the city, he thanked God he didn¡¯t use the windshield wipers or the entire front windshield would be dirty.

    It was a little more than a hour since they left the police dog nursing home, so it was almost 8 pm. Ning Lan and her ssmates had also left the nursing home, they might even be home already.

    He turned on the AC, and as the temperature rose, Finained less.

    ¡°New year rings amidst the firecrackers bellow, warm in cottages as the spring wind blows,¡± Old Time Tea sang as it looked at the road and listened to the firecrackers.

    Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°Old Time Tea, now isn¡¯t the best time. Wait until midnight, that¡¯s the best time for fireworks. Last time, it was so loud you couldn¡¯t even hear the TV.¡±

    Usually, the second it hit 8 pm on New Year¡¯s Eve, families sat together in front of the TV to watch the New Year¡¯s G on the CCTV channel. However, with the advancement of technology, New Year¡¯s Eve was no longer as significant as it used to be. Teenagers now were often seen by the road in groups, enjoying nightlife.

    Zhang Zian parked the car right outside the pet store, turned off the engine, and got out the car. He took down the piece of paper that he had previously stuck on the doors before he opened it to let the elfins in the store. After he locked the car and closed the doors, he realized he forgot Richard. He went back out and brought in the bucket, or else Richard would¡¯ve froze to death.

    The doors and windows of the store were shut all day, so even though the heat wasn¡¯t on, the temperature inside was much warmer than outside.

    Fina was the first to run in the store, and it flung two heat pads at Zhang Zian¡¯s feet, which was her way of asking him to stuff them into the cat tree for her.

    Pi quickly ran to the second floor.

    Richard, who escaped the bucket, started to verbally attack Zhang Zian.

    Old Time Tea eagerly turned on the TV. It had heard that everyone in the country would be watching the New Year¡¯s G, so, in order to experience a modern New Year¡¯s, it wanted to watch as well.

    Famous yawned andid beside the reclining chair

    Gxy, on the other hand, started a new game of hide-and-seek with his little kittenpanions.

    Snowy Li remembered the beef minced filling in the dumplings, and clung to Zhang Zian¡¯s pants as it cried out for a taste.

    Zhang Zian stuffed the heat pads into Fina¡¯s tree before he went upstairs to boil water for tea. He also took out a raw beef brisket from the fridge to distract Snowy Li and some nuts to shut Richard up. Only once everything was done, did he stop to take a breather.

    It didn¡¯tst long though, as he poured a cup of tea for Old Time Tea and a cup for himself before he made his way to the second floor.

    Pi was already in front of theputer.

    Zhang Zian knew that even though Pi had a lot of fun today, it still got lost in thought and worried about its novel.

    He had confidence in Pi¡¯s novel because he saw users on the Wang Haige Forum who were jealous about the novel, so he wasn¡¯t worried.

    ¡°Pi, what¡¯s going on?¡± Zhang Zian looked at the time. It had only been 20 hours since the novel went premium, there shouldn¡¯t have been any substantial changes.

    ¡°Zhi zhi¡­¡± Pi had opened the tform, but its eyes were covered. It pointed at the screen, so that Zhang Zian would look at the results.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help butugh, Pi acted as if it was opening a letter that said whether or not it got into college. ¡°Okay, let me take a look.¡±

    Zhang Zian sat down and looked at the screen with confidence.

    Zhang Zian almost spilled his tea when he saw the number of adds. What is going on? Why are the results so bad? Only 1,000 people subscribed?

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know why the results were so much worse than expected.

    ¡°Zhi zhi?¡± Pi noticed Zian¡¯s surprised expression and became even more nervous.

    Zhang Zian set his teacup down and took another look. ¡°Pi, hold on. 1, 2, 3¡­4?¡±

    He had missed a zero? There were actually 4 zeroes?

    Holy cow! This can¡¯t be real!

    Zhang Zian¡¯s first thought was that he had counted wrong or there was some error with the site because it wasn¡¯t possible to have four zeroes.

    He rubbed his eyes, refreshed the page, and counted again.

    It still had 4 zeroes.

    Zhang Zian had thought that if 3,000 people subscribed to Pi¡¯s novel, it would be a dreame true. The novel would have been added to the Hall of Fame to be remembered forever. The actual results were jaw-dropping.

    Zhang Zian straightened his face.¡±Pi, I need you to do something for me¡±

    ¡°Zhi zhi?¡± Pi had a bad feeling and its face turned pale.

    Zhang Zian grabbed a nk book and a pen, and handed them to Pi. ¡°You¡¯ll have a lot of fans in the future. As your first fan, can I have your autograph?¡±

    Pi blinked,pletely at a loss.

    Zhang Zian burst outughing and held onto Pi¡¯s shoulders, ¡°Congrattions, Pi! There are 10,000 people who subscribed to your novel. 10,000 people!¡±

    Pi turned its head, saw the five-figure number on the screen, and froze like a statue.

 Chapter 670: Disturbance

    <h4>Chapter 670: Disturbance</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was a tradition to stay awake during Chinese New Year¡¯s Eve.The entire family stayed together until the first light of the New Year shone through the window, and the figurative ceremony of waving goodbye to the old year and hello to the new year waspleted.

    Of course, pulling an allnighter wasn¡¯t healthy. Nowadays, very few people stayed up the entire night. Most stayed awake until midnight, then went to sleep after the fireworks dwindled down.

    In fact, Fina, Snowy Li, Richard and Famous fell asleep before midnight. Only Old Time Tea, Gxy and Pi stayed awake.

    Old Time Tea just drank two cups of hot tea. The caffeine in the tea made it restless. It wanted to celebrate a modern New Year, so it stayed in front of the TV and watched the Spring Festival G.

    Gxy was ying with the kittens.

    Pi was too excited about its surprisingly good numbers to fall asleep. It constantly refreshed the author¡¯s main page, each click made it more and more awake.

    Today, Zhang Zian worked at the shop, dug a hole, buried a dog, and took the elfins on an outing. Although he didn¡¯t feel it earlier, the fatigue of his busy day overwhelmed him and he was asleep by the table before midnight.

    Bang!

    A huge firework was set off not too far away, and woke Zhang Zian up.

    Fireworks were prohibited in the city. However, some people still pushed their luck, especially on New Year¡¯s Eve.

    Zhang Zian wiped his face and looked around. Most of the elfins were asleep, but, just like him, awoke because of the firework. Gxy went to the baby¡¯s crib, while Old Time Tea yawned, turned off the TV, and walked upstairs.

    Pi still stared at the website, its sses reflected the light from the screen

    All of a sudden, the deafening sound of fireworks came from everywhere in the city.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t need to look at the clock to know that it was midnight. The old year was gone and the new year had arrived.

    ¡°Pi, go to sleep,¡± he whispered. ¡°You won¡¯t have the energy to write new stories tomorrow if you don¡¯t go to sleep.¡±

    Pi nodded, turned off theputer, and jumped into the hammock. It didn¡¯t close its eyes, it just gazed at the ceiling with a silly smile.

    Zhang Zian was ready to go back to sleep. He might be the only one in the shop tomorrow. He turned off the lights and was about to lie down when he saw two pairs of eyes in the dark, one pair green and the other yellow.

    ¡°What¡¯s that sound?¡± Old Time Tea asked. ¡°Did you hear that?¡±

    Zhang Zian paused. He just woke up, his head was still fuzzy. He listened carefully, but didn¡¯t hear anything.

    Fina looked at the wall, behind which was the shoe store. ¡°I think the cats are going intobor.¡±

    What? The Abyssinian cats next door were giving birth?

    Cats usually didn¡¯t like to be disturbed while inbor, which was why he prepared a quiet delivery room for them. Nobody knew when they were due to give birth, not even the cats themselves.

    The cats were first-time mothers. It was also Zhang Zian¡¯s first experience with pregnant cats. His family used to run a pet shop, but all the pets were brought in, he had never helped any give birth.

    His biggest concern was that the cats wouldck maternal instincts and eat their kittens.

    When it came to breeding, female cats who had sessfully given birth were the most valuable becaue they demonstrated that they were able to reproduce without the risk of filial cannibalism.

    To this day, the causes of filial cannibalism wereplicated and not fully known. Cats weren¡¯t the only species with this behavior, other household pets¡ªlike dogs and hamsters¡ªwere affected too.

    The most believed reasons for filial cannibalism was that the female was disturbed duringbor or they discovered that their newborn had a certain disease or disorder. In some circumstances, the mother ate the defected or diseased newborn to regain the strength it lost while giving birth.

    It was a survival instinct that the animals had developed under the harsh conditions of nature. Even as animals were domesticated, some that instinct was preserved. In order to guarantee its own survival and the survival of its newborns, the mother had to eliminate the weak ones.

    However, the cats were inexperienced, so they might incorrectly judge the kittens¡¯ health status. They could end up eating the healthy ones.

    With help, kittens with defects could survive, and even grow up healthy, but the cats didn¡¯t know this. The pain and anxiety ofbor made them follow their basic instincts.

    On the other hand, a small number of female cats ate their kittens just because they wanted to eat them. This was because of ack of maternal instincts.

    Statistically, a kitten¡¯s survival rate was the lowest in a cat¡¯s first litter, as a result of the mother¡¯sck of experience. After a sessful first litter, a kitten¡¯s survival rate grew higher and peaked at the fifth litter, but declined in the sixth litter. Respectable breeders wouldn¡¯t allow a cat to have more than five litters.

    The good news was filial cannibalism in cats and dogs wasn¡¯t as bad as in hamsters and rabbits, who, in some cases, could devour the entire litter. When Zhang Zian heard that Little Celery¡¯s ss was going to try hamster breeding next semester, he made a mental note to talk to them. Otherwise, it might end up a disaster, and Little Celery and her friends would be devastated.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t feel sleepy as he remembered that the Abyssinian cats next door were about to go intobor.

    In order to not disturb the birth, he bought a baby monitor online¡ªand installed the sensor in the cats¡¯ room and the receiver in his bedroom¡ªso that he could check on them at anytime.

    When Old Time Tea and Fina heard unusual noises from the baby monitor, they figured that the cats were inbor. Maybe it was induced by the firework disturbance.

    Zhang Zian put on his clothes. ¡°You guys go back to sleep. I¡¯ll check on them.¡±

    Fina jumped out of its princess bed. ¡°I¡¯m going, too.¡±

 Chapter 671: Delivery

    <h4>Chapter 671: Delivery</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    While the shoe store went through renovations, Zhang Zian had the idea to connect it to the pet store. That way, there was no need to head outside. However, he gave the idea up because there was no reason to go through all that trouble just for the 10 steps it took to get into the shoe store by going outside.

    The shoe store was slightly bigger than the pet store, and Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t yet decided on how to better make use of the space. He had been thinking of bringing in new pets because the pet prices would drop to an all-time low, thanks to the Love Lovely Pets incident, but Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t made up his mind on what breed to get.

    Zhang Zian went downstairs as he put on clothes. He tried to soften his footsteps so he wouldn¡¯t disturb the elfins and animals that were still asleep, but the shutter doors made noise when he opened them.

    However, the shutter doors were nothingpared to the fireworks.

    The scent of gunpowder wafted through the air with the midnight breeze.

    As he stepped out the store, Zhang Zian realized that he forgot to get the keys to the shoe store, so he went back in to grab them. When he made it to the entrance of the shoe store, Fina was already getting impatient.

    ¡°What took you so long?¡± Fina said discontentedly.

    Zhang Zian used his phone as a light source as he unlocked the door. He was just about to exin himself when he heard pecking from the bedroom window of the pet store. When he looked up, Richard had its face stered against the ss. ¡°Ga! You better stop taking your time!¡±

    Zhang Zian made a fist and thought, I¡¯m going to hang you up for the whole night.

    He opened the door of the shoe store, and fumbled around for the lights, while Fina had sprung in the store.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have a cat¡¯s ability to see in the dark, and he wasn¡¯t familiar with theyout of the shoe store so hegged behind.

    To maintain a dark, tranquil ambiance, the second floor had light bulbs of low wattage. If the lights were on, it wouldn¡¯t bother the pregnant cats or those inbor.

    Zhang Zian made his way to the second floor. Even though he was anxious to check on the cats, he had to move around carefully. He saw Fina outside the delivery room.

    When he looked through the ss of the door, Zhang Zian saw a female cat roaming around restlessly, it sounded panicked. To prevent the pregnant cats from disturbing one another, every cat had its ownpartment.

    Fina was annoyed with Zhang Zian so she red at him and gestured for him to open the door.

    As Zhang Zian opened the door, a gush of hot air poured out. The temperature in the delivery room was high because newly born kittens needed to stay in a room of 30 degrees or higher to prevent their body temperature from dropping too low. These needs were prioritized during the renovation of the delivery rooms, so everypartment had a built-in electrical warmer in the walls.

    As thepartments weren¡¯t that big, one electrical warmer was sufficient, and since they were built into the walls, it prevented the cats from burning themselves.

    There was also an outlet was reserved for the AC to keep the delivery room from getting too hot and stuffy during summer.

    As soon as the female cat saw Fina, it froze.

    Fina pointed to the cardboard box in the corner.

    With Fina around, the cat slowly calmed down andid down in the cardboard box, cushioned with a small electric nket.

    However, that was all Fina could do to help since she had never been inbor before. Fina¡¯s calmness was a front, a forced pretense.

    Fina turned and red at Zhang Zian. ¡°What are you doing over there? Go do something! If anything goes wrong, I¡¯ll hold you ountable!¡±

    Zhang Zian helplessly shrugged his shoulders, he had prepared all the necessary items for each room. Unless it was an emergency, it was best not to interfere with the delivery process and let the cat handle it alone. If a cat was able to safely deliver a kitten its first time, then the second time would go much smoother.

    However, it didn¡¯t feel right for him to stand idly by, especially with Fina there. He grabbed the medical box that was in the corner and pulled out scissors, cotton gauze, rubbing alcohol, milk bottles, and sheep¡¯s milk powder. Zhang Zian plugged in the electric kettle and started to boil water. He just had to pretend to be busy.

    The scissors and cotton gauze were for if it ended being a difficult delivery. The milk bottle and milk powder were backups in the mother didn¡¯t have milk. Of course, it was best if the items weren¡¯t put to use.

    Compared to dogs, a cat¡¯s delivery process was much smoother and safer. Even if they had difficulties, they didn¡¯t necessarily require a human to interfere.

    The catid on its sides and looked at Fina from time to time, as if Fina¡¯s gaze made it feel at ease.

    There was a night light in the delivery room, so Zhang Zian was barely able to see that the cat¡¯s contractions were getting closer and closer together.

    The cat started breathing faster.

    The water in the electric kettle was boiling, so Zhang Zian poured the water into a thermal bottle. He ced a thermometer inside and waited for the water to cool down to 50 degrees, then put the lid on.

    Fina nervously looked at the cat.

    All of a sudden, Fina cried out, ¡°What is that? A rat?¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t see what it was talking about as he was too far, but he knew that there were no rats in the shoe store. Pest control had already stopped by during the renovations, fleas would have a hard time getting in here, much less rats. He got closer and noticed that there was a small ck tail between the cat¡¯s legs.

    ¡°No, that¡¯s the kitten¡¯s tail,¡± Zian exined. ¡°The kitten is about to be born.¡±

 Chapter 672: Birth

    <h4>Chapter 672: Birth</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The miracle of life was a magical and solemn process. Fina, who despised everything, widened its eyes in amazement.

    ¡°That¡¯s clearly a rat¡¯s tail.¡± Fina red at Zhang Zian. ¡°If you¡¯re joking, I¡¯ll feed you to Snowy Li!¡±

    Zhang Zian exined, ¡°That¡¯s a kitten¡¯s tail. Newborn kittens are tiny and weak.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Fina doubted.

    ¡°Yes,bor would be much more difficult if the kittens were too big.¡± As he spoke, he took out disposable rubber gloves from the medical box.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Fina stared at his hands, and had a bad feeling.

    ¡°We might be in trouble,¡± he said honestly. ¡°The kitten¡¯s head is supposed toe out first, but the tail came out.¡±

    Just like humans, kittens and puppies shoulde out head first. If the tail came out first, their limbs could get stuck.

    If this happened to a human, the only option would be to have a C-section. However, cats were more flexible, so they had more options. Either way, Zhang Zian prepared for the worst.

    He disinfected the scissors in alcohol. Honestly, he didn¡¯t know what he was doing. He wasn¡¯t a professional vet. He didn¡¯t know if the scissors would hurt the kittens.

    It would¡¯ve been great if they had Sun Xiaomeng, but she had gone back to her hometown, and most pet clinics were closed for the holidays.

    After a few minutes, the cat realized something was wrong. It looked down between its legs, and hesitated before it tried to lick itself to lubricate the way for the kitten.

    Fina was anxious because there was nothing it could do. It felt helpless.

    The kitten seemed toe out little by little, with each contraction, but then it retracted back into its mother. It was stressful to watch.

    ¡°Hey! Are you just going to watch? Pull the kitten out!¡± Fina suggested.

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t. The kitten is fragile, it isn¡¯t fully formed. If I pull it out, the kitten cane out paralyzed. Let¡¯s wait a bit more. Don¡¯t stress out.¡±

    ¡°¡®Don¡¯t stress out?¡¯ That¡¯s easy for you to say!¡± Fina said angrily. ¡°You aren¡¯t the one giving birth!¡±

    Zhang Zian sighed. ¡°You may not know this, butbor canst a long time, sometimes a whole day. The kitten is breech, but it doesn¡¯t need our help right now. Let¡¯s wait and see if its back legse out.¡±

    He went through the medicine box and took out a vial of glycerin enema, which was used to treat constipation. He opened it and moved closer to the mother.

    The mother stared at him and Fina, then stuck its head between its legs again.

    Zhang Zian waited until it finished licking, then applied a few drops of glycerin enema around the kitten¡¯s tail. It was a much stronger lubricant than the mother¡¯s saliva.

    It worked almost immediately. During the mother¡¯s next contraction, the kitten¡¯s back legs appeared, one by one.

    Fina wasn¡¯t satisfied with its spot, so it came closer and watched the process anxiously.

    The mother pushed and licked, while Zhang Zian applied more glycerin enema. Thank goodness it was safe for the cat to eat glycerin enema.

    The kitten¡¯s body gradually came out. The kitten was darker than its mother, as its body was covered in a thin film.

    ¡°Why isn¡¯t it moving? Is it dead?¡± Fina asked.

    ¡°We can¡¯t make that conclusion right now.¡± Zhang Zian asked it to calm down.

    The mother pushed again. Most of the kitten¡¯s body was already out, so the glycerin enema was no longer needed.

    The front legs appeared, Fina had finally calmed down, the finishing line was near.

    Yet, at this crucial moment, the kitten got stuck again.

    The mother pushed and pushed, but the kitten¡¯s head wouldn¡¯te out.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t wait any longer. He lifted one of the mother¡¯s back legs with one hand, and gently grabbed the kitten¡¯s body, which was covered in a thin film, with the other hand.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Fina asked. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you couldn¡¯t pull it?¡±

    ¡°Things are different now.¡± Zhang Zian stared at where the kitten and the mother connected. ¡°Only the head is stuck. If we wait any longer, the kitten could suffocate!¡±

    He couldn¡¯t use too much force, so he just slowly pulled the kitten¡¯s body out.

    The mother knew that he was helping, and pushed harder.

    Soon, the kitten¡¯s head appeared. Zhang Zian let his hands drop, and checked on the kitten.

    The mother turned over to look. It saw the dark and slick little thing covered in blood, and paused, as if it didn¡¯t realize that this was the baby it just pushed out of its body.

    The kitten was covered in the amniotic sac, connected to its mother by the centa and umbilical cord.

    The mother hesitated a while longer, then lowered its head toward the kitten.

    Zhang Zian was nervous. This was the moment that tested the mother¡¯s maternal instinct. If the mother tried to bite the kitten, he¡¯d stop it. If the mother didn¡¯t do anything, he had to tear off the amniotic sac that covered the kitten¡¯s mouth, or else the kitten would suffocate.

    Fortunately, the mother stuck its tongue out and licked the amniotic sac open, and cleaned the kitten¡¯s body.

    After its first breath of fresh air, the kitten wiggled and woke up. Its eyes weren¡¯t fully open, but it was adorable. It meowed gently, but it sounded like a bird.

    Fina was relieved. ¡°Good job.¡±

    Zhang Zian stared at the mother¡¯s belly. ¡°It¡¯s too early to celebrate. There¡¯s more kittens on the way.¡±

 Chapter 673: One After Another

    <h4>Chapter 673: One After Another</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Fina hadn¡¯t considered the fact that there might be more than one kitten. It cried, ¡°What? There¡¯s more?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°Cats rarely give birth to just one kitten, they usually give birth to four or five kittens. Look at its belly, it¡¯s still swollen, and its contractions haven¡¯t ended.¡±

    The Abyssinian cat had been licking its kitten¡¯s fur to wipe off the amniotic fluid. As the amniotic fluid was washed away, the kitten¡¯s brown fur slowly puffed up, and it finally looked more like a cat.

    The mother noticed the kitten¡¯s centa and umbilical cord, and once again, had no idea know what to do.

    Zhang Zian grabbed the scissors and pinched the umbilical cord, then cut it about half a centimeter away from the kitten.

    After some hesitation, the mother ate the centa in a single bite.

    Fina had a look of rm and disgust on its face.

    ¡°The centa replenishes its stamina,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°Giving birth takes a lot of strength, and it¡¯s dangerous if it gets too weak.¡±

    The centa had many nutrients. Eating the centa was a custom passed down from ancient times, since cats in the wild didn¡¯t have someone by their side to take care of them.

    However, eating too much of it could cause diarrhea.

    Zhang Zian grabbed a can of cat food, and nned to feed it to the mother after it delivered the next kitten.

    The kitten became more energetic, it called out and sniffed for its mother.

    Zhang Zian touched the electric nket to check the temperature. It was warm enough, but he still wrapped the kitten in paper towels.

    The brought the kitten near its stomach so that it could drink its milk.

    Fina¡¯s curious gaze was fixed on the kitten. It raised one of its paws to pet the kitten, but the mother, who had always been respectful to Fina. blocked her.

    ¡°Its maternal instincts are strong, it¡¯s afraid that you¡¯ll harm the kitten,¡± Zhang Zian exined, worried that Fina was angry.

    Fina was a little angry, but not at the mother. ¡°Why are you the only that can pet the kitten? Isn¡¯t she afraid that you¡¯ll harm it, too?¡±

    Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t really thought about it, but he guessed it was because Fina was also a cat, and those of the same species had a higher probability of hurting one of their kind. It could¡¯ve also been the fact that he had gloves on, and was unable to leave his scent on the kitten. If he had touched the kitten with his bare hands, the mother might not have even acknowledged the kitten.

    The time between each kittens¡¯ birth wasn¡¯t fixed, it could be a few minutes or an hour. Zhang Zian told Fina to go back and rest, that there was no need for both of them to stay since she wasn¡¯t able to help.

    Fina, who loved to sleep, red at Zhang Zian, and said, ¡°What do you mean I¡¯m not able to help? It¡¯s precisely because I¡¯m here that her delivery went smoothly!¡±

    Zhang Zian was at a loss for words.

    Although the shoe store had been soundproofed, they still heard the fireworks. The sounds had faded, but hadn¡¯t stopped.

    Zhang Zian had estimated that the cats would go intobor around New year¡¯s, so even if the cat was rmed by the fireworks, the birth wasn¡¯t premature. If a kitten was born premature, it¡¯d have deficiencies and it¡¯d be very hard for them to survive.

    After a calm few minutes, the mother once again ced its head between its back legs and licked.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°The second one ising.¡±

    This time, they got lucky, and a tiny head popped out.

    The mother got a little impatient and started to lick the amniotic fluid off the kitten¡¯s face before it was even fully out.

    The birth went smoothly and was over in less than a minute. The little fe was covered in amniotic sac, but had sessfullye into the world.

    The mother licked the kitten from head to tail, and just as it was about to go for the centa, Zhang Zian grabbed it. He cut the umbilical cord and wrapped the centa in a paper towel with the n to dispose of it once everything was done.

    The cat¡¯s gaze fell on Zhang Zian¡¯s hands and meowed. The troubled look on its made it evident that it thought, That was mine, why did you take it from me?

    Zhang Zian opened the cat food and ced it beside the mother¡¯s mouth.

    The mother quickly forgot about the centa and happily indulged in the boiled tuna.

    Zhang Zianm looked out the window and realized that half of the houses in themunity had their lights on. The New Year¡¯s G was almost done, all that was left was the song, ¡°An Unforgettable Night.¡±

    Tonight was an exceptionally unforgettable night for Zhang Zian, it was his first time helping a cat deliver its babies. As he looked at the newborn kittens drink milk, he felt a sense of achievement.

    After 20 minutes, there were still no signs of a third kitten.

    The lights in themunity started to turn off one by one. Most people¡¯s nights had ended, while Zhang Zian¡¯s night had only just begun.

    ¡°Is it over?¡± Fina asked impatiently.

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure, we should wait a little longer, but you can head back if you¡¯re tired.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve already said that I¡¯m not tired!¡± Fina red at him.

    ¡°Fine.¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to argue with Fina, he just sat down and rested his head against the wall. ¡°We can take a nap while we wait.¡±

    Zhang Zian closed his eyes.

    Fina had nned to stay awake, but after waiting and seeing no signs of another kitten, it let out a big yawn and found a ce to lie down, with the intention to rest its eyes for a moment.

    Fina didn¡¯tpletely fall asleep. It would open her eyes and check on the mother from time to time, but it started doing so less and less.

    While Fina lingered between the state of being half-awake and half-asleep, it heard Zhang Zian¡¯s shout, ¡°The third kitten ising!¡±

 Chapter 674: Consecutive Dangers

    <h4>Chapter 674: Consecutive Dangers</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When he heard licking, Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes opened immediately.

    He tilted his head and saw Fina asleep. He hesitated, unsure if he should wake it up. However, after he saw the third kitten¡¯s taile out, he shouted to wake Fina up. It was another breech birth, and he might need help.

    The mother kept meowing, and it sounded like it was in pain. The kitten seemed bigger than its two siblings, which wasn¡¯t a bad thing. Bigger kittens usually grew up to be strong. However, at that moment, it was difficult on the mother.

    The mother stared at him, then it stuck its head between its back legs and continued to lick.

    Zhang Zian leaned on the wall to stand. He quickly grabbed the vial of glycerin enema and rubbed it on the kitten¡¯s tail.

    One of its back legs came out, but the other one was stuck inside its mother.

    Bloody fluid gushed out of the mother¡¯s body. It was in great pain. Its meows got louder and it was twitching.

    ¡°Crap! I think the amniotic sac ruptured in its body,¡± Zhang Zian said nervously. ¡°If it stays like this for too long, both the mother and the kitten may die.¡±

    ¡°What? What should we do? Should we pull the kitten out?¡± Fina replied.

    ¡°Not right now, we can¡¯t pull it like this. I have to adjust the kitten¡¯s position so that the mother can push it out.¡± This was the only way he could think of that didn¡¯t endanger the mother or the kitten.

    He stared at the mother¡¯s stomach and silently counted its breaths. When it inhaled, the kitten retracted a little, and when it exhaled, the kitten slipped out a little. However, the leg that was stuck couldn¡¯t slip outpletely.

    Zhang Zian put his hand behind the kitten¡¯s butt, and while the mother inhaled, he pushed the kitten back into its body.

    The mother screamed and curled its body. It even changed its position because it wanted to jump out of the cardboard box.

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    At that moment, Fina made a noise that made it stop fighting. Ity back down in the box.

    Zhang Zian took advantage of the moment and pushed the kitten¡¯s other leg back into the mother.

    The mother was exhausted. As ity in the cardboard box, it tilted its head to one side to stare at Zhang Zian with gratitude in its eyes. It understood that he was trying to help it just now.

    Zhang Zian was sweating from nervousness and because it was hot in the room. He wiped it off and said, ¡°Thank you. If it wasn¡¯t for you just now, we¡¯d be in trouble.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± Fina pouted.

    ¡°Tell it to change positions. The kitten mighte out at a different angle.¡±

    Fina meowed a few times, and the mother cat moved ordingly.

    Zhang Zian applied more glycerin enema near the kitten¡¯s tail and massaged the mother¡¯s belly. As the contraction started, both of the kitten¡¯s back legs popped out.

    The kitten was huge. After its legs came out, the butt got stuck, and the mother screamed in pain once again.

    ¡°I¡¯ll help pull it out.¡±

    Zhang Zian gently grabbed the kitten¡¯s legs and tail, but there was a problem. His gloves were slippery with blood, and he couldn¡¯t get a good grip. He had to tear off a piece of clean gauze and put it in his palms to be able to grab anything.

    While the mother pushed, he pulled. After an enormous amount of effort, the kitten was finally out.

    The mother was too exhausted to lick off the amniotic sac for the kitten. Ity on one side of the cardboard box and gazed at the kitten.

    Zhang Zian removed the part of the amniotic sac that covered the kitten¡¯s face, but the kitten wasn¡¯t moving. It didn¡¯t even open its mouth to breathe.

    He wrapped the kitten in paper towels and grabbed the thermos of hot water.

    The temperature of the water dropped to 40 degrees Celsius. Zhang Zian poured the water into a small basin and dipped the kitten¡¯s body into the water. He held the kitten with one hand and used his other hand to open its mouth. He needed to put the cotton swab in its mouth so that it could absorb the amniotic fluid.

    He didn¡¯t have a hand to spare, so he needed Fina¡¯s help. ¡°Help me massage its back.¡±

    The always fearless Fina seemed a bit scared. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that my scent would get on it?¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t worry about that now, we have to revive it!¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°Quick, massage its back.¡±

    Fina stretched out one paw and pressed on the kitten¡¯s back carefully. ¡°Like this? Am I pressing too hard?¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s perfect.¡±

    As Fina massaged, the amniotic fluid in the kitten¡¯s lung leaked out. It suddenly moved, and a squeak came out.

    ¡°Should I stop?¡± Fina wanted to pull its paw back.

    ¡°No, keep going.¡± Zhang Zian got another cotton swab to soak up the amniotic fluid in the kitten¡¯s mouth. He had already gone through four cotton swabs.

    The mother just stared at them.

    Three minutes passed, and the kitten was still moving and making noises.

    Zhang Zian had to resort to hisst trick. He told Fina to stop, and he slowly closed his hands around the kitten so that the kitten¡¯s entire body was caged between his palms. Then he swung his arms up and down to force the amniotic fluid out the kitten¡¯s lungs.

    It was a dangerous move. The swinging could break the kitten¡¯s neck or spine.

    After the third swing, the kitten coughed out the amniotic fluid and started screaming.

    Zhang Zian was so relieved. When he opened his palms, the kitten was breathing on its own, its life no longer in danger.

    He wiped down the kitten¡¯s body so that it was free of Fina¡¯s scent. After he made sure that it was clean and dry, Zhang Zian ced it next to its mother.

    The exhausted mother smelled it and brought it near its breasts to drink milk. If it hadn¡¯t epted the kitten as its child, Zhang Zian would¡¯ve had to feed the kitten himself.

    Zhang Zian was covered with sweat, and Fina was panting from the heat. They were no longer sleepy, but the night was still young.

    ¡°We¡¯ll wait to see if there are more. Get some rest.¡± He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.

    Fina didn¡¯t want to take a nap. It gazed at its front paws and took a whiff. The kitten¡¯s scent was still there. It looked at that kitten differently now. They had a bond.

    Saving a cat¡¯s life felt really good.

    It tiled its head to look at Zhang Zian. I guess, sometimes, he isn¡¯t so useless.

 Chapter 675: Leaving the Mountains

    <h4>Chapter 675: Leaving the Mountains</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Meow! Meow! Meow!¡± The mother in the delivery room next door came in through the baby monitor.

    Famous was very tired, both physically and mentally. It woke up when Zhang Zian left in the middle of the night, and it had nned to wait for him, but after a while, it fell asleep.

    Famous felt like it had just shut its eyes when Gxy started making noises. ¡°Meow! Meow!¡±

    ¡°Gxy, they¡¯re meowing because they¡¯re inbor. Why are you meowing?¡±

    ¡°Famous, are you talking in your sleep? It¡¯s time to wake up, we need to get going as soon as possible. It¡¯s gettingte.¡±

    Famous opened its eyes, confused. It was the middle of the night, where did they have to be? Next door to help with the delivery? It was a dog, how could it help a cat inbor?

    The sun rose from the east, and since it was blocked by the mountains, the sunlight hadn¡¯t yet to made its way into the valley.

    It looked like it rainedst night, as the green striped stones at the entrance of the temple were wet.

    Old Time Tea smiled at Famous from its seat on the praying mat.

    Famous stood up and yawned. It was very hard for it to get a normal night¡¯s sleep, it always lingered between the real world and the imaginary world.

    ¡°There¡¯s some braised meat and roasted potatoes over there, we¡¯ll leave once you¡¯ve eaten.¡± Old Time Tea pointed at the incense altar. ¡°I overheard the Wu¡¯s servants talking, and it seems like the bridal apaniment for the Wu¡¯s daughter is setting off today. If we¡¯rete, there might be unnecessary trouble.¡±

    ¡°Old Time Tea, have you eaten?¡± Famous asked.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Old Time Tea answered.

    Famous never rejected food, and finished the meat and potato in just a few bites. It licked its lips and let out a huge burp.

    Gxy could be heard from outside the temple. Famous looked towards the sound to see Gxy pounce towards a yellow butterfly. The butterfly¡¯s wings might¡¯ve been wet because it was flying slow and awkwardly before Gxy caught it in its paws. Gxy didn¡¯t harm the butterfly, it just carefully examined it before letting it go.

    ¡°Famous, check if there¡¯s anything we left in the temple. Once we leave for Binhai Town, we won¡¯t being back, so we should bring anything that might be useful,¡± Old Time Tea reminded Famous.

    The trip to Binhai Town wasn¡¯t a short one, and since they¡¯d be walking the whole way, the probability of them returning was very low. Even if they did return, it¡¯d be like three years from now.

    What would Famous need to bring? Old Time Tea was actually just reminding it that they might never see the Temple for the Righteous Cat and Chivalrous Dog again.

    Famous stepped outside and looked at the temple that had sheltered them for more than half a year.

    The temple¡¯s que had lost its shine after a few months of exposure to rain and wind. The sun rose higher and lit up the tiles that were at the tip of the temple. There were budding sprouts in the tiny slits between the tiles.

    Now that they were about to leave the temple, they couldn¡¯t help but feel heartache.

    Would anyonee to take care of the temple? To light incense and pray? Most importantly, would anyone remember that a dog and cat used to live in the temple?

    Famous wanted people to remember it, if only in its Imagined Landscape.

    A few momentster, Famous turned away and said, ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go. I have nothing more to bring with me.¡±

    Yes, this was Famous¡¯ Imagined Landscape, but everything here was Old Time Tea¡¯s memories. As long as Famous didn¡¯t lose its memory, the Temple for the Righteous Cat and Chivalrous Dog will remain forever.

    Old Time Tea smiled and looked up at the sky. ¡°Great, let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Gxy! Stop ying, it¡¯s time for us to go,¡± Famous shouted.

    ¡°Meow! Meow!¡±

    Gxy pounced at another butterfly. The butterfly was very sly, it didn¡¯t just avoid getting caught, it flew circles around Gxy. Gxy looked at Famous and the butterflynded on the side of Gxy¡¯s forehead.

    Famous waved Gxy over before it went off with Old Time Tea.

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    Gxy hesitated, it wanted to look for the butterfly, but couldn¡¯t find it. Gxy moved on and chased after Famous and Old Time Tea.

    There was a small path that went through the mountains and reached Foshan.

    On the road, the animals attracted quite a number of looks. Some people recognized Old Time Tea and Famous as the Righteous Cat and Chivalrous Dog, and, out of respect, moved aside to make a path for them. However, there were people who didn¡¯t recognize them and wanted to make them into stew. Those people suffered.

    As they got closer to Foshan, the road started to get more packed. Vendors shouted to attract customers, rickshaw riders pulled their empty rickshaws, and cars drove past.

    Pi Li Pa La! Dong!

    All of a sudden, a firework exploded up ahead, the noise was deafening. Remains of the firework littered the floor, and there was a strong smell of smoke in the air. It reminded Famous of New Year¡¯s in the real world.

    Many people blocked the pathway, nothing could get through. Even some vendors stopped, without a care for their business.

    Famous and Old Time Tea exchanged nces, and paused at the side of the road.

    ¡°Who¡¯s setting off fireworks so early in the morning?¡±

    ¡°Woah! What a morous disy! What¡¯s going on?¡±

    Some people were as puzzled as they were, and asked around for information.

    ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± some person asked, boasting. ¡°The Wu¡¯s are marrying off their daughter, and used fireworks to open the path for the bridal apaniment. They¡¯ll being out soon.¡±

    ¡°Which Wu family?¡±

    ¡°What other Wu family is there in Foshan? It¡¯s Wu Mancheng, Minister Wu¡¯s family!¡±

 Chapter 676: Wedding

    <h4>Chapter 676: Wedding</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As a prominent family in Foshan, the Wu¡¯s daughter¡¯s wedding was extravagant. Wu Mancheng was an educated gentleman who always acted modestly, but not at his daughter¡¯s wedding. They had ring trumpets and thunderous fireworks. People miles away could hear it.

    From government officials to beggars, crowds of people gathered in the street. They waited to catch a glimpse of the Wu¡¯s beautiful daughter, a few coins if they were lucky.

    Famous didn¡¯t want to join the crowd, it had to watch out for people who wanted to eat it. It carried Old Time Tea and Gxy on its back, and jumped onto the roof of a two-story building to watch the street from above.

    As Wu Ning¡¯s wedding was in another city, it was a bit different from local weddings. Social customs had changed dramatically from the early days of the Republic. In areas along the south coast, like Foshan, weddings weren¡¯t as rigid as the old days.

    The trumpet yers marched. Two dozen porters carried a dowry of goods through the streets. There was a three-feet tall porcin vase to ce the feather dusters and a pair of porcin pen holders. The dowry included shiny high-quality furniture, beautiful silk, antiques, and more. None of the items were affordable for ordinary people.

    ¡°Such a wealthy family. There¡¯s so many things, you can¡¯t even see where it ends.¡±

    ¡°How much fortune do they have?¡±

    ¡°Look at that red coral! Apparently, it takes a thousand years for a coral to form, and a hundred thousand years to turn red. The red coral is so tall and red, it looks like it¡¯s dripping blood. How much do you think it¡¯s worth?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s absolutely priceless!¡±

    ¡°Look at that. It¡¯s a bracket clock from overseas. It announces the hours! I heard that Empress Dowager Cixi owned one just like that back in the day.¡±

    The people by the road were envious and jealous, and couldn¡¯t help but exaggerate. They had to talk about what they heard, and the stories only got more twisted with each person. The red coral was only one foot tall, by the time it reached the end of the line, it was three feet tall. The bracket clock was even thought to be excavated from the tomb of Empress Dowager Cixi.

    ¡°That¡¯s just stupid stuff, and stupid, materialistic people longing after them!¡±

    Among the crowd of people, there was a snarky schr pretending he didn¡¯t care, but he was also dying of envy. He hated Wu Ning, the owner of the dowry, for not picking him as her husband. He shook the feather fan in his hand, andughed loudly, as if he couldn¡¯t care less about the stupid priceless treasure. He hoped to draw Wu Ning¡¯s attention, so that he could end up marrying her and be rich.

    The couriers in the back carriedrge crates, filled with books and paintings.

    ¡°Why did they use crappy book and paintings? Did they run out things for the dowry?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s to show that the Wu family is educated, that they aren¡¯t a family who just gained a quick fortune,¡± someone sneered. ¡°I heard that Miss Wu is very well educated. She¡¯s a realdy who knows about music, chess, calligraphy and painting. The crappy paintings you mentioned, those are some of the most well-known works of previous dynasties. In terms of value, they¡¯re just as expensive as the red coral and western bracket clock you saw just.¡±

    ¡°How much money could some stupid paintings and calligraphy possibly be worth?¡± The first person replied.

    The second person was toozy to argue, he just stood on his toes to see if Miss Wu¡¯s sedan chair had arrived.

    Famous stood on the rooftop nearby, worried as it watched the long wedding parade. Even if it wasn¡¯t a Chinese dog, it still would¡¯ve known that it was unwise to show your wealth. When the Wu family made such a extravagant parade, they invited the attention of thieves. The long journey to Binhai Town would be dangerous.

    In a brothel nearby, a few prostitutes had dressed up and watched from afar with a handkerchief in one hand and sunflower seeds in the other.

    An older prostitute spat out sunflower seed shells, and said with jealousy, ¡°Sisters, how many weddings have you seen? I¡¯ve seen fancier weddings. Do you know how the woman looks?¡± She thought herself to be good looking, and was just trying to make herself feel better.

    The sunflower seed shell fell on a young man¡¯s head. He lifted his head, and saw what was under the prostitutes¡¯ dress. He didn¡¯t look away.

    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± another prostitute agreed. ¡°I think this Miss Wu is mediocre-looking, at best. How could shepare to your dazzling beauty? She¡¯s probably a fat pig. Her mother-inw can use the dowry to pay for pig food.¡±

    ¡°Haha!¡±

    There was a burst ofughter in the brothel, which made people¡¯s imagination wander.

    As a token of good fortune, the housekeepers at the front of the wedding parade gave away coins. People were fighting over them.

    Maybe the Wu family knew that the gigantic dowry was going to draw unwanted attention. They recruited a lot of vige soldiers to escort the parade. They held sticks and bats, and had des hidden under their clothes.

    The huge dowry parade passed, then came the bride¡¯s parade.

    The crowd watched more attentively, as everybody wanted to see Miss Wu.

    In the bride¡¯s parade, there were people in carriages, on horses, and on foot. Wu Mancheng was in a tall house. Wu Ning, the heroine of the day, wore a bright red suit and a skirt, and sat in a sedan chair. The tassels in front of the chair¡¯s window blew in the wind, which made Wu Ning¡¯s face barely visible.

    Although her face couldn¡¯t be clearly seen, it was enough for the brothel girls to know that Miss Wu wasn¡¯t a fat pig. Her slim figure was by no means inferior to theirs. Not to mention the fact that she was well-educated and had arge dowry.

    Apart from the night they first met, Wu Ning always dressed in men¡¯s clothing to make her trip into the mountain easier. When had they ever seen her dressed up in such fancy clothes?

    For a moment, Famous didn¡¯t realize that it was Wu Ning, the girl that used to read them books and newspapers in the valley.

 Chapter 677: Send Off

    <h4>Chapter 677: Send Off</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The bridal sedan was padded with thick cushions, it was veryfortable.

    Wu Ning¡¯s thoughts were all over the ce. One moment, she¡¯d be thinking of her aging parents, reluctant to leave them; the next, she¡¯d think of her childhood ymate, and looked forward to the day they reunited. Then, she¡¯d remember the animals that lived in the temple, and worried that they¡¯d get bullied.

    Them getting bullied would probably be impossible, but what if they went up against guns?

    She had reminded her father to send them food, but he had a lot of work to do and was careless. She used to arrange their food herself, and made adjustments based on the servants feedback, so that she would send them food they actually liked.

    She always sent over three portions, but there were always leftovers, so she knew one of them wasn¡¯t eating well.

    They wouldn¡¯t leave her thoughts.

    However, she knew, it wasn¡¯t them who couldn¡¯t leave her. It was her who couldn¡¯t leave them. They were the only ones who listened to her. She could read to them and share her troubles without any reservations.

    They couldn¡¯t speak, so they couldn¡¯t spread her secrets around. Sometimes, when she read to them, their eyes would give off a thoughtful glow. They were way better than her maidservants who only spoke about marriage.

    The ornamental tassels outside her window swayed with the steps of the men that carried her. She could feel the gazes of the crowd on her face like the scorching sun. Her hands gripped the red handkerchief on herp.

    Wu Ning wanted to lower her head, like every otherdy who got married off, but she also wanted to take another look at Foshan. She wanted to memorize everything so that she¡¯d be able to reminisce about this ce, even when she was a thousand miles away.

    She brushed a tassel aside to look out the sedan.

    ¡°Look! Wu Ning is really pretty!¡±

    ¡°Wow, she¡¯s a real beauty!¡±

    ¡°Her soon-to-be husband is a lucky man.¡±

    Everyone wanted to see her, some even surged forward and almost broke through the local militia responsible for maintaining order.

    ¡°Back up!¡± Wu Mancheng, who rode a horse next to the sedan, raised his whip and shouted.

    Wu Ning didn¡¯t want cause trouble, but just as she was about to lower the tassel, she caught sight of animals on a rooftop by the side of the road.

    Her fingers trembled as she softly cried out, ¡°Ah!¡±

    ¡°Mydy, are you okay?¡± a maidservant walking beside the sedan asked.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m okay.¡± Wu Ning calmed herself down and looked at the rooftop again.

    Standing there was the two cats and one dog from the temple. No one else noticed them, they all had their attention on the bridal sedan and dowry.

    Could it be? Did theye to see me off? With that thought, Wu Ning felt happy and nodded her head at them.

    ¡°Wah! Wu Ning nodded at me!¡±

    ¡°Nonsense! She obviously nodded at me. Who do you think you are?¡±

    A few young men started to argue amongst themselves. One guy even introduced himself because he believed he got Wu Ning¡¯s attention.

    ¡°Nice to meet you, Miss Wu. The humble Xu Maosheng greets you!¡±

    The bridal sedan slowly advanced, and the animals followed along on the rooftops.

    After a few miles, the bridal apaniment reached the outskirts of town, the area was sparsely popted and the crowd started to disperse. There were a group of horse carriages waiting on the roadside.

    The bridal apaniment sent the carriers away and stored the dowry in a horse carriage. Wu Ning also had to switch carriages, as it wasn¡¯t convenient to sit in a bridal sedan for a thousand miles.

    Wu Mancheng would follow his daughter to Binhai Town, but his wife would head home. Wu Ning and her mother hugged one another and cried.

    Her mother couldn¡¯t stop her tears, she couldn¡¯t bear being separated from her daughter.

    Wu Mancheng tried to console her. He exined that Wu Ning would be with a family friend, one of high ss. Wu Mancheng told his wife not to be too sad, that maybe after a year or two when Wu Ning gives birth, they¡¯ll visit their daughter.

    He knew that his wife and his daughter would stay there forever, so he arranged for servants to send his wife home.

    Wu Ning wiped her tears away and waved at her mother until her horse carriage disappeared.

    The maidservants suggested she rest in the carriage and she agreed. However, just as she was about to enter the carriage, she noticed the animals again.

    She sent the maidservants off to assist with other matters as she walked towards the cats and dog.

    ¡°Are you guys here to see me off?¡± Wu Ning straightened her clothes.

    Famous shook its head and grinned at her.

    Stunned for a moment, Wu Ning was sure that she was right since they had always remained in the mountains. If they weren¡¯t here to see her off, why were they here?

    ¡°Wu Ning, get in the carriage. We¡¯ll be leaving soon!¡± Wu Mancheng shouted from a distance.

    ¡°Okay!¡± Wu Ning responded before she turned back to Famous and the others. ¡°I have to leave. Hope to see you guys soon.¡±

    Wu Ning still had a lot she wanted to say, but with her father and her maidservants rushing her, she bid them farewell and walked back to the carriage.

    The horse carriages slowly started moving.

    The roads weren¡¯t even, so the horse carriage wasn¡¯t asfortable as the bridal sedan. Wu Ning sat in the carriage with countless thoughts running through her mind.

    The maidservant across from her opened the back window, and suddenly eximed, ¡°Mydy, aren¡¯t those the animals from the temple?¡±

    Wu Ning, both surprised and happy, turned around to look. Is it them?

 Chapter 678: Borrowing Fish

    <h4>Chapter 678: Borrowing Fish</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Boom! Crack! Pong!

    After hearing the fireworks and the door closing, Famous woke up and yawned.

    Is Zhang Zian finally back? How long was I asleep?

    It was already bright outside. The fireworks also woke the other elfins up, so they were stretching.

    Famous followed the sound of footsteps to the bedroom.

    Zhang Zian looked exhausted. Fina was right behind him, yawning.

    ¡°Did you two just get back?¡± Famous asked.

    ¡°What do you think?¡± Zhang Zian sat on bed. ¡°It took us the whole night. The first cat gave birth to 5 kittens. Just when we were about to go back to sleep, the other cat went intobor, and gave birth to 6 kittens.¡±

    Fina didn¡¯t utter a word, it just jumped into its princess bed, closed the curtain, and fell asleep.

    God only knew how they survived the night. They had to help two mothers with delivery and take care of the newborn kittens. The mothers must¡¯ve fallen asleep while the kittens fought over milk.

    The kittens were born around the same time, but were quite different in size and strength, especially the first mother¡¯s third kitten. It was bigger than all of its siblings, and had reserved the best spot to drink milk. The fifth kitten was the weakest, its eyes weren¡¯t even open yet. It searched for milk for a long time, but couldn¡¯t find a spot to drink. Zhang Zian had to pick it up, and put it in front of the mother¡¯s chest.

    After the second mother had finished giving birth, Zhang Zian and Fina thought that they were finally done. However, when the first mother woke up, it favored the third kitten and basically ignored the fifth one. The mother breastfed it, but it wouldn¡¯t make the effort to pull it closer. This was a natural instinct of wildlife. The strongest cub in a litter had the highest chance of survival and was the mother¡¯s favorite.

    The second mother was worrisome as well. It treated all six kittens equally, but it didn¡¯t seem to have enough milk to feed all of them.

    Fortunately, Zhang Zian had prepared milk in advance. After dissolving the powder in warm water, he added glucose and fed the kittens with a dropper.

    He also had to pay attention to the mothers, as they were also weak. In order for them to regain their strength, they needed to consume two times more food than usual.

    Zhang Zian opened the cat food and dumped it into their food bowl, so that they could eat in a corner outside their box. He took that moment to change the newspaper in the cardboard box and threw the bloodstained newspaper in the garbage.

    Manually feeding the kittens was a short-term solution, as feeding 11 kittens every 3 hours was exhausting. Besides, some mothers were protective of their kittens. If the kittens had too much human interaction, the mothers would hide them. Even though he didn¡¯t need to worry about that since Fina was there, it wasn¡¯t a good idea to frighten the mothers.

    He thought about buying a few Crucian Carps today to make a fish soup. It would help the mothersctate, and as long as there was enough milk, he didn¡¯t need to worry about feeding the kittens.

    The problem was that it was New Year¡¯s, the food market was closed and the supermarket might not sell Crucian Carps.

    By the time dawn broke, he could barely stand. He drew the curtain open, so that there was light in the delivery room. The mothers needed sunlight, as female cats were prone to calcium deficiency after birth.

    Sunlight could do a multitude of good. The ultraviolet light killed any germs in the room, and the cats were able to get vitamin D, which was known to facilitate calcium absorption.

    When he saw the mothers and kittens fall asleep, he felt relieved, but then a flood of drowsiness overwhelmed him.

    Zhang Zian turned to Fina, who had almost passed out from exhaustion.¡±Thank you for helping. Let¡¯s head back.¡±

    He had never really stayed up all night on New Year¡¯s before. Having helped two cats sessfully give birth for the first time, and have all 11 kittens survive, he felt a great sense of achievement.

    However, this sense of achievement couldn¡¯t rece sleep. He stumbled back to the shop, prepared breakfast for the elfins, pulled the nket over himself, and fell asleep.

    He slept until noon. He would¡¯ve slept longer if someone didn¡¯t knock on the door.

    ¡°Store Manager, Happy New Year!¡±

    Lu Yiyun stood outside the shop, wearing a brand new jacket. Zhang Zian had asked her toe into work.

    ¡°Happy New Year,¡± Zhang Zian replied, scratching his head.

    ¡°Did something happen?¡± Lu Yiyun asked. Usually at this time, Zhang Zian would¡¯ve opened the shop, and she noticed that the shop hadn¡¯t been cleaned yet. He looked like he just woke up.

    ¡°No. I mean, the Abyssinian cats gave birth to kittensst light, so I didn¡¯t sleep.¡± Zhang Zian yawned. ¡°Come in. You can send a message on Wechat to tell everyone the good news.¡±

    ¡°Wow! Really?¡± Lu Yiyun was surprised. ¡°So many people were asking about it. Are the kittens super cute? I want to see them. How many are there?¡±

    She didn¡¯t even put her stuff down, she was already making her way to the shoe store.

    ¡°Wait, don¡¯t bring Jasmin over there!¡± Zhang Zian stopped her.

    ¡°Oh!¡± Lu Yiyun put her backpack down, and left Jasmin to y at the shop. She went to the shoe store with her phone to take pictures.

    When she came back, she said, ¡°Impressive! I counted, and there¡¯s 11 of them? Did you deliver them all by yourself?¡±

    ¡°Kind of,¡± Zhang Zian answered half-heartedly. He couldn¡¯t tell her that Fina helped him. He boiled some water, about to make some tea to wake himself up. He was still sleepy, but he there was a lot of work to do.

    ¡°I wish I could¡¯ve witnessed it,¡± she said regretfully.

    ¡°No worries. There¡¯ll be plenty of opportunities in the future.¡± Zhang Zian rubbed his temple. ¡°Do you know where I can buy Crucian Carps today?¡±

    ¡°Crucian Carps?¡± she repeated. ¡°You¡¯re craving Crucian Carps?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s for the two mothers, to help themctate,¡± Zhang Zian corrected. ¡°The food market is closed today, and I don¡¯t know where to buy Crucian Carps. I don¡¯t know if the supermarkets nearby sell them, and even if I ordered them online, there¡¯s no way they¡¯ll be delivered today.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­I¡¯m so sorry. I have no idea,¡± she answered in low voice, embarrassed.

    Lu Yiyun was the wrong person to ask. Shemuted everyday from her rented apartment to the pet shop. She didn¡¯t know her way around. How would she know where to buy Crucian Carps?

    ¡°That¡¯s okay.¡± Zhang Zian sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll visit the nearby supermarkets, to find out which one sells Crucian Carps.¡±

    Lu Yiyun felt guilty for not being able to help. She sat down and turned theputer on. She created a new post, and inserted the Abyssinian kittens¡¯ pictures. While she wrote the message, she thought about Zhang Zian¡¯s problem.

    When she finished writing the article, she went through thements and answered some customers¡¯ questions. If there were questions she couldn¡¯t answer, she asked Zhang Zian. If Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know the answer, he searched for it and told her.

    Suddenly, she had an idea, and suggested, ¡°How about posting an ad on the ount, asking everyone to lend us a few Crucian Carps?¡±

    ¡°Lend us fish?¡± Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t fully awake yet, and didn¡¯t understand her.

    ¡°Yes. The more people we ask, the more help we get. Maybe someone has Crucian Carps at home!¡± she said. ¡°We can borrow them or buy them from people. As long as we pay for the trips, someone will help.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought about it, and believed it was a practical suggestion and the best solution. It was much better than looking for Crucian Carps by himself. It would save him a lot of work. He pped his thigh and said, ¡°Fantastic idea! Let¡¯s do it. Let¡¯s borrow some fish!¡±

 Chapter 679: New Yearâ€™s Red Packet

    <h4>Chapter 679: New Year¡¯s Red Packet</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Snowy, your Uncle Zhou is here!¡±

    Snowy could vaguely overheard her mother nagging about how her daughter was young and and immature and obsessed with the Inte.

    ¡°Coming!¡± Snowy yelled before she mumbled to herself, ¡°I just woke up, how am I already immature and obsessed with the Inte?¡±

    She closed herptop and took Snowball off herp before she reluctantly went downstairs.

    The Spring Festival was a hassle every year, from morning till night there were countless visitors. She had to address them with various titles, like uncle and auntie, with a fake smile. She smiled so much, her face would get sore. Of course, there was always a reward for her trouble, which came in the form of many red packets.

    Her parents sat on the sofa, chatting with a well-dressed man who looked to be in his forties.

    Snowy didn¡¯t recognize the man her mother said was her Uncle Zhou. This didn¡¯t surprise her, as there were many people she didn¡¯t recognize or forgot about.

    Each time someone visited, Snowy¡¯s mother would call her down to greet them¡ªand just for calling them uncle, auntie, sister or brother¡ªreceive red packets.

    Since Snowy had met so many visitors, she could tell with one nce that this man was of low status, just like the young men who craved her father¡¯s investment.

    When the man saw Snowy, he immediately stood up with a smile and said, ¡°Is this her? She¡¯s really pretty. I¡¯ve heard others say that the Jiang¡¯s daughter was both smart and cute, seems like the rumours were true!¡±

    Snowy¡¯s mother always loved when others praised her daughter, so she smiled from ear to ear, but she didn¡¯t forget to act humble. ¡°You over-praise her, my daughter may be everything you said, but she¡¯s very yful.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s still young, she can afford to be yful. Plus, it¡¯s better than being gloomy all day, right?¡± the man replied.

    ¡°Yes! She¡¯s really lovely!¡± Snowy¡¯s mother nodded, epting hispliments. She turned around to see Snowy lingering in a corner.¡±Snowy, what are you just standing there for? This is your Uncle Zhou,e and greet him.¡±

    As per routine, Snowy put on a fake smile and bowed. ¡°Uncle Zhou, Happy New Year! May all your wishes be granted for a year of smooth sailing.¡±

    ¡°Look at her, so obedient and mature.¡± Zhou Cheng practically glowed. ¡°Come here Snowy, I have a small red packet for you. Happy New Year, may you grow prettier everyday!¡±

    He reached into his pocket, took out a red packet, and handed it to Snowy.

    Snowy was used to receiving big red packets, so she thought he was being humble when he said ¡°small red packet.¡± Little did she know that it actually was a small red packet.

    She was surprised, but still took the red packet. It was very light and thin and soft, not like a stack of notes.

    it felt like a single note or a thin piece of paper, but family wouldn¡¯t be so stingy, right? Did the note have some kind of significance?

    If it were a stack of notes, Snowy wouldn¡¯t have paid any attention to it, but because the red packet was thin, Snowy was curious, and quickly opened the red packet.

    Just as she expected, there was only a piece of white paper.

    Snowy grabbed the nk piece of paper and pulled it out. She opened it to see a string of jumbled numbers and letters and mumbled, ¡°Uncle Zhou, what¡¯s this? 3Ztnc5ss3J?¡±

    Jiang Tianda thought that what his daughter did was very impolite, how could she open the red packet right in front of the visitor? He red at Snowy, but as he caught a glimpse of the nk piece of paper, he was confused as well.

    ¡°Haha!¡± Zhou Cheng smiled. ¡°I think that giving cash is a little tasteless, I wanted to to change it up this year. The code is actually a password to a Bitcoin Wallet, within the wallet is a few Bitcoins. It¡¯s my New Year¡¯s gift to Snowy.¡±

    Snowy didn¡¯t understand. ¡°So, how do I use this?¡±

    Zhou Cheng had racked his brain before he thought of the Bitcoin idea. He knew that many people would visit the Jiang¡¯s, so he wanted to bring a gift that stood out.

    He eloquently exined how to use the code, all the while his hidden intention was to show Jiang Tianda his knowledge of leading concepts as an entrepreneur in the IT industry, to get his support and investment.

    Snowy was still a bit confused, so Zhou Cheng left his Wechat information for her to use if she had more questions.

    Jiang was fascinated with the concept.

    Zhou Cheng, seeing that his objective was met, decided to excuse himself.

    Jiang Tianda walked him out.

    While he was outside, Zhou Cheng once again tried to hint at the issue of investment, and by the way Jiang Tianda spoke, it seemed like it might happen. He left Jiang Tianda feeling grateful.

    As Zhou Cheng didn¡¯t mention out how many Bitcoins were in the wallet and the worth of the Bitcoins, Snowy quickly ran up to her room and turned on herputer as soon as he left. By the time herputer started, she had forgotten how to download the Bitcoin app.

    Just as she was about to message Zhou Cheng on Wechat, she saw that there was a message from Zhang Zian¡¯s store: ¡°Emergency help needed! The store requires fresh Crucian Carps, all suppliers will be heavily rewarded with a New Year¡¯s red packet from the store!¡±

    Snowy¡¯s curiosity was immediately shifted from the Bitcoin dilemma to the Crucian Carps. Why did Zhang Zian need Crucian Carps? Was he craving them?

    Snowy didn¡¯t believe that Zhang Zian would provide any actual rewards, there would probably be dried fish in the red packet.

 Chapter 680: Ask for Fish and You Shall Find

    <h4>Chapter 680: Ask for Fish and You Shall Find</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Snowy put the paper with the Bitcoin password to the side and logged into her Weibo ount. She saw aments on hertest post from local fans. They were all about Zhang Zian¡¯s Wechat message, wondering why Zhang Zian was asking for fresh Crucian Carp on Chinese New Year.

    ¡°Fresh Crucian Carp is used for one reason, to help a womanctate after giving birth.¡±

    Someone disagreed immediately. ¡°We know that. The problem is, Manager Weak Bird is a single man. Why would he have a woman who just gave birth in his house?¡±

    ¡°Maybe he¡¯s asking for someone else, like the wife of a friend?¡± someone suggested.

    ¡°That¡¯s possible, but whoever¡¯s friend with that cheap dude is pathetic.¡± Thisment received a lot of Likes.

    ¡°I just asked the pretentious manager, and the Abyssinian cats in his shop just gave birthst night, but the mothers aren¡¯t producing enough milk to feed the kittens. Since the food market is closed today, he has nowhere to buy Crucian Carps, so he has to ask fans and customers for help.¡±

    Snowy immediately wrote another Weibo post, asking people to spread the news and help out if they could.

    ¡°Oh, is that so? I knew nobody would be friends with him,¡± a fanmented after hearing the whole story.

    ¡°I feel bad for the kittens, they were starving as soon as they were born. Howe he didn¡¯t get the Crucian Carps in advance?¡±

    ¡°Maybe he never thought about it. Besides, you never know when the cats will give birth. If you buy the fish too far in advance, they¡¯ll turn bad. You can buy them on any given day, but, unfortunately, today happens to be New Year¡¯s Day.¡±

    ¡°Aw, we never buy Crucian Carps, but I¡¯d be happy to get a few and send them over. I don¡¯t have anything to do today, and would love to see the kittens.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have any either, but I¡¯ll go buy a few as well. We have so many rtives visiting today, and they¡¯re all smoking. The smoke is killing me!¡±

    ¡°Do you know where I can buy Crucian Carps nearby?¡±

    ¡°You can only find them in the market. I haven¡¯t seen them anywhere else. They used to sell them in the supermarkets, but not recently. It¡¯s not the best time to eat Crucian Carps right now anyway, they aren¡¯t fat enough.¡±

    Snowy thought for a while, then slipped on her slippers and ran downstairs. She opened the fridge and started searching everywhere.

    Her mother didn¡¯t even look up from baking a cake. ¡°What are you searching for? Can¡¯t you stay still?¡±

    ¡°Mom, do we have any Crucian Carps?¡± Snowy asked after a fruitless search.

    ¡°Crucian Carps? No, they have too many bones,¡± her mother answered grumpily. ¡°We have other fish, though. Salmon. Grouper. Turbot. Are you craving fish?¡±

    ¡°Not really.¡± Snowy didn¡¯t exin any further.

    ¡°Crazy girl¡­¡± Her mother shook her head and sighed. ¡°You came down just in time,e bake a cake with me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m in the middle of something right now!¡± Snowy ran back upstairs.

    ¡°What could you possibly be in the middle of right now?¡± her mother yelled.

    Snowy sat back in front of theputer and saw that many other users were also busy looking for Crucian Carps. Unfortunately, most people had bought expensive fish for the Spring Festival, nobody had bought any Crucian Carps. Even if they did, they wouldn¡¯t be fresh, they had been in the freezer for months.

    Some people did have fresh Crucian Carps at home, and were willing to help, but they were too busy with visiting rtives.

    Most fans were watching the live broadcast for fun, and were willing to pay to reward the host. However, making a trip on this cold day for a few fish was quite a hassle. They¡¯d rather stay in their warm beds and browse Wechat Moments.

    Snowy wanted to help, but she couldn¡¯t. She didn¡¯t know where to buy Crucian Carps, and had to give up.

    ¡°Snowy!¡± her mother shouted from downstairs. ¡°Change out of your pajamas. Who greets visitors in pajamas on New Year¡¯s Day? Do it quickly! We¡¯ll have more visitors soon!¡±

    ¡°Fine!¡± Snowy yelled back, then mumbled in a low voice, ¡°Who says I can¡¯t greet visitors in pajamas?¡±

    ¡°Meow.¡± Snowball the Persian cat swung its tail.

    ¡°Snowball, you agree, right?¡± Snowy patted its back. She felt that Snow Ball could actually understand her. ¡°Let¡¯s y outside.¡±

    She changed her clothes, and walked downstairs with Snowball. The cake¡¯s smell traveled from the kitchen, and made everyone¡¯s mouth water. Her father was on the phone, greeting his foreign business partners for the Chinese New Year.

    Snowy shouted, ¡°I¡¯m going outside with Snowball for some fresh air.¡±

    ¡°Come back soon.¡± Her mother stuck her head out of the kitchen.

    ¡°Got it.¡± Snowy left the vi, and finally got a moment of quiet.

    The area was quiet even during the Spring Festival. Sure, people came to visit their families, but they were all in a hurry.

    The snow on the road had been cleared. Now, only some snow remained on the grass and in the woods around theke.

    Around theke, there were many warning signs that read, ¡°Danger! The ice is too thin. Skating on theke is prohibited.¡± The signs werepletely unnecessary. Nobody would skate on theke. The residents of themunity were rich enough to pay for a decent skating rink.

    Snowy turned her head from time to time to check on the cat. ¡°Snowball, don¡¯t eat the snow. Zhang Zian said that the best way to melt snow was industrial salt. You¡¯ll be poisoned if you eat it.¡±

    She didn¡¯t know if Snowball understood her or not, but it wasn¡¯t eating the snow.

    ¡°Woof!¡±

    A dumb-looking husky suddenly ran out of the alley, and came towards Snowy.

    Snowball jumped in front of Snowy to protect her.

    ¡°Good-For-Nothing, stop embarrassing me!¡± Uncle Jin¡¯s disappointed voice traveled from the woods.

    Snowy followed the voice and saw someone sitting by theke with a fishing rod, his back was facing her.

 Chapter 681: Little Sweetie and Madam Cow

    <h4>Chapter 681: Little Sweetie and Madam Cow</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Good-For-Nothing was the name of the stupid-looking Husky, and it turned to re at its owner.

    Snowy was used in the conflict between Good-For-Nothing and Snowball. It¡¯s said that when a cat meets a dog of the same size, or evenrger, that the cat would be at an advantage.

    However, the Husky never learned its lessons, so it always came back for more, probably because of its bad memory.

    As expected, Good-For-Nothing stretched out one of its paws and tried to smack Snowball, but just as it raised its paw, Snowball retaliated and went to scratch its face. Thankfully, Snowball¡¯s legs were short, so it missed.

    Good-For-Nothing was shocked and hid in a corner. It couldn¡¯t seem to beat the cat, but it couldn¡¯t admit defeat so easily. It decided to go to its owner for help. It ran to Jin Er and started to roll around on the ground, pretending to be sad.

    Jin Er despised its shameful appearance, so he ignored Good-For-Nothing and continued to fish.

    n A backfired, so Good-For-Nothing started n B. It started squirming its body forwards, cing its mouth right beside a pile of dirty snow. It had heard that the snow had some kind of industrial salt all over it, so it pretended tomit suicide to get its owner¡¯s attention.

    Jin Er sighed and said, ¡°Something must have gone wrong with my brain to think I could raise this Good-For-Nothing!¡±

    He shifted the fishing rod to one hand. With the other hand, he reached in the cooler, dug out a honey-roasted chicken drumstick, and threw it at the Husky. Good-For-Nothing stood up to eat the chicken, its defeat forgotten.

    Snowy brought Snowball into the forest and walked towards Jin Er.

    Good-For-Nothing was just about to dig in when it heard noises. It turned around to see its mortal enemy, and Good-For-Nothing immediately panicked.

    Theke was right in front of it, and although it knew how to swim, the water would be freezing, and the drumstick wouldn¡¯t be good if it was cold.

    If they were to battle it out, Good-For-Nothing would definitely lose, and even if it wanted to run, there was nowhere to go. In a panic, Good-For-Nothing held the drumstick in its mouth as it dashed towards a tree and tried to climb it. To no one¡¯s surprise, it slid down.

    With nowhere to go, Good-For-Nothing retreated back to theke and red at the cat.

    Jin Er ced a hand on his forehead, ashamed.

    ¡°Uncle Jin, Happy New Year.¡± Snowy grinned with her hands behind her back.

    ¡°Happy New Year, Snowy.¡± Jin Er awkwardlyughed. He stretched his hand into the cooler again and fumbled around for a while. ¡°I didn¡¯t bring any red packets with me when I left today. Do you want a drumstick? I roasted it personally. It¡¯s still hot.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s okay. Mom made a cake at home, and I¡¯ll eat that when I get back.¡± Snowy quickly shook her head. She didn¡¯t want to stand there eating a drumstick in front of Snowball. It would despise her.

    ¡°That¡¯s a pity. It¡¯s quite delicious.¡± Jin Er took out another drumstick and took a bite.

    Jin Er finished the drumstick in a few bites and threw the bone back into the cooler before he let out a dry cough. He pointed to the Husky and said, ¡°The dog isn¡¯t actually mine. I¡¯m just helping someone by looking after it. It¡¯s adopted.¡±

    Snowy intelligently decided not to say anything even though she knew he was lying.

    Good-For-Nothing quickly lowered his head and chewed on the drumstick. When it heard what its master said, Good-For-Nothing raised its head to look at him as if it wanted to call him out on his lie.

    Jin Er knew his lie wasn¡¯t smart, so to prevent Snowy from asking questions, he tried to change the subject. ¡°You must have received a lot of red packets today, right?¡±

    Snowy nodded. ¡°It¡¯s not much different fromst year.¡±

    Snowy noticed that Jin Er wore a down jacket, thick gloves, a pair of waterproof boots, and a fisherman¡¯s hat as he sat on a foldable chair. He had a carbon fiber fishing rod in front of him and a white cooler next to him. He also had a blue bucket that was used to store fish, but it was empty.

    Snowy often found Jin Er fishing by theke. She knew that he didn¡¯t eat them. He¡¯d just throw them back into the water. Jin Er just enjoyed the process of fishing. The blue stic bucket was only a temporary ce for the fish he caught.

    ¡°Today is the first day of the New Year. Shouldn¡¯t there be many people visiting you today?¡± Snowy squatted. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you at home to receive the visitors?¡±

    ¡°Ha!¡± Jin Er wiped his greasy lips. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not like your father. I don¡¯t have a beautiful daughter to receive a whole bunch of red packets. If I stayed at home, I¡¯d have to give people red packets. It¡¯s a great loss for me, so I might as well be out here to fish!¡±

    Although his excuse sounded reasonable, Snowy didn¡¯t believe a single word. She also didn¡¯t really care. She was only looking for a subject to talk about.

    Snowball stood next to her leg and nced at Good-For-Nothing from time to time.

    Snowy looked at the hole for a while. Ever since she came over to Jin Er, the fishing float didn¡¯t budge. It was as if the float was frozen. This made her doubt whether there were even any fish in theke.

 Chapter 682: Ice Fishing

    <h4>Chapter 682: Ice Fishing</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The weather was getting warmer, and the thin ice covering theke started cracking. Jin Er was fishing in one of the holes. The dark blue water underneath the ice was peaceful and calm.

    Good-For-Nothing had finished the meat, and started gnawing on the chicken bone.

    Jin Er noticed Snowy gazing at theke, and asked, ¡°Snowy, do you want to fish? I can teach you, if you want.¡±

    Snowy wasn¡¯t interested in fishing at all. Asking her to sit for hours by the water was the same as asking her to die.

    ¡°Uncle Jin, are there fish in theke? Don¡¯t they freeze to death in winter?¡± she asked.

    ¡°How could the fish freeze to death? They aren¡¯t tropical fish.¡±

    ¡°Then why isn¡¯t the hook moving at all?¡± She asked again.

    ¡°Because I haven¡¯t put the bait on.¡± Jin Er pulled the rod up to show her.

    Snowy was doubtful, she didn¡¯t know whether there actually was no bait, or the bait was already taken by fish.

    ¡°What kind of fish are in theke?¡± she inquired. ¡°Are there any Crucian Carps?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the mostmonly found fish in thiske, especially in winter. Even in the extreme cold of Northeast China, you can still catch Crucian Carps. Low ambient temperature doesn¡¯t mean low water temperature. As long as the water temperature is above 4¡ãC, you can find Crucian Carps. That¡¯s why we say ¡®Every season is fishing season.''¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Snowy nodded. She figured that Jin Er was an experienced fisherman, so she asked, ¡°Is it easy to catch them, as long as you use the bait?¡±

    Jin Er chuckled. ¡°No. Most Crucian Carps stay in a certain area under the ice for a long time. We fishermen call this spot the ¡®fish nest.¡¯ If you choose the wrong location, you will never catch any Crucian Carps. The most crucial technique is to find the fish nest.¡±

    Snowy took another look at where Jin Er stuck the rod. It was an area of thin cracked ice. As far as she could tell, it was no difference from other locations.

    ¡°Is this the fish nest?¡± She pointed at the hole.

    ¡°No.¡± Jin Er shook his head. ¡°Since I wasn¡¯t nning to use the bait, I just stuck my rod in a random spot. Snowy, are you craving Crucian Carps? They have a lot of bones, you have to be careful when you eat them.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not for me. Do you know about the pet shop where I bought my cat? The shop owner¡¯s cats just gave birthst night, and he needs fresh Crucian Carps to help the mothersctate. The food market isn¡¯t open today, and there¡¯s nowhere to buy Crucian Carps. He asked for help, so I¡¯m trying to get some information,¡± Snowy answered honestly.

    Jin Er knew about the pet shop, he helped them deliver medication His driving license was revoked, but it was an amazing experience.

    ¡°So, you¡¯re looking for fresh Crucian Carps for the mothers toctate?¡± Jin Er asked.

    ¡°Yes, the kittens aren¡¯t getting enough milk. I feel sorry for them,¡± she replied.

    ¡°Haha, no problem!¡± Jin Er spoke with great certainty. ¡°I may be at the bottom of the list in terms of wealth, but in terms of fishing, I¡¯m at the top.¡±

    Snowy was speechless. Despite his ambitious and confident speech, she didn¡¯t believe him.

    Jin Er saw the disbelief on Snowy¡¯s face, and grew anxious. If she looked down on his fishing technique, how would he maintain his reputation?

    He stood up from his chair. ¡°Come here. I¡¯ll get you two big Crucian Carps today! If not, I¡¯ll change myst name to yours!¡±

    ¡°Myst name is Jiang.¡± Snowy reminded him.

    ¡°I¡¯m not taking your workaholic father¡¯s name!¡± Jin Er waved his hands with contempt. ¡°It¡¯s hard to get Crucian Carps in the winter, but the ones you do catch are big. Each one weighs about 13 ounces.¡±

    ¡°13 ounces?¡± Snowy frowned. ¡°That¡¯s big?¡±

    Jin Er was speechless. The Jiang¡¯s little princess didn¡¯t seem to know how a Crucian Carp looked. Maybe she was mistaking carps and cods as Crucian Carps.

    ¡°Most Crucian Carps weigh about 5 ounces, so 13 ounces is very big,¡± he exined.

    Snowy stuck her tongue out, embarrassed of her ignorance, but then she nced at thiske in concern. ¡°Are the fish from thiske edible?¡±

    If Zhang Zian¡¯s cats got sick because they ate the Crucian Carps from thiske, she wouldn¡¯t have helped at all.

    ¡°Absolutely edible,¡± Jin Er said. ¡°For humans and cats. Theke water is isted from outside, so the fish are much cleaner than those you can buy. They¡¯ve never been fed artificial food or hormones. They mainly live off worms in winter and nts in summer. Even the so-called wild Crucian Carps aren¡¯t as clean as the ones in thiske.¡±

    Snowy thought it made sense. The fish in theke were stocked by the home association, so they werepletely natural and free of pollutants.

    Jin Er knew he couldn¡¯t convince Snowy with words alone. He folded his chair and put it on his back before he grabbed his fishing rod. He took the thermobox with his left hand, and the bucket with his right hand, and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go, Snowy. I¡¯m taking you to a fish nest, where Crucian Carps are guaranteed!¡±

 Chapter 683: The Willing Shall Take the Bait

    <h4>Chapter 683: The Willing Shall Take the Bait</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Good-For-Nothing, time to change fishing spots!¡± Jin Er carried his fishing gear and walked a few steps before he turned around to see Good-For-Nothing lying down.

    Snowball, on the other hand, was following closely behind Snowy.

    Good-For-Nothingzily looked at its master, it had no intentions of tagging along.

    Jin Er let ity down, it wouldn¡¯t get lost in the vi area anyway.

    Snowy noticed that both his hands were full, so she tried to help him out, but he rejected the notion. ¡°If your old man knew that I had you carry a bucket for me, he¡¯d break down my door in the middle of the night just to fight me.¡±

    It was rare for someone to ask him about fishing, so he carefully searched for the best spot.

    The reason why Jin Er frequented theke to fish was the serenity. It was able to temporarily take him away from his many business affairs and responsibilities, and allowed him to empty his mind and rx his body.

    During the winter, theke would be exceptionally quiet. There were no sounds of birds chirping or wind brushing against the trees.

    Jin Er wasn¡¯t a professional fisher, but after fishing here for so long, he was familiar with the geography of theke. He could guess where the Crucian Carps gathered in the water.

    He swept his gaze across theke and pointed not too far off. ¡°Snowy, look over there. Right over there, underneath the ice, the water flows much slower. It¡¯s sheltered and faces the sun, and based on my experience, that¡¯s where the Crucian Carps should be.

    Snowy carefully avoided stepping on dirt, or else she¡¯d be reprimanded when she returned home. ¡°Isn¡¯t thiske man-made? How does the water still flow?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a water pump to maintain water flow,¡± Jin Er said. ¡°It seems like the home association fees weren¡¯t for naught.¡±

    Even though Snowy didn¡¯t know how much the yearly home association fees were, she felt that it was reasonable.

    Jin Er found a t space by theke, and put his fishing gear down before he cut a hole in the of ice using the dip.

    Good-For-Nothing had followed, but didn¡¯te close.

    Jin Er opened his folding chair and told Snowy to take a seat.

    Even if Snowyckedmon sense, she knew that the person fishing had to be seated, so she kindly refused and told Jin Er to sit instead.

    Jin Er sat down and dug through the cooler before pulling out a live lizard.

    ¡°That¡¯s disgusting!¡± Snowy frowned as she turned away.

    ¡°The lizard might be disgusting, but it¡¯s a must for fishing in the winter.¡±

    Jin Er had misunderstood her. The reason why Snowy felt disgusted wasn¡¯t because of the lizard, it was because Jin Er kept the lizard in the same cooler as the chicken.

    Jin Er took out a hook and fishing line, and strung them onto the fishing rod before putting the lizard onto the hook. He took out a small amount of fermented sticky rice and sprinkled it on the water, this acted as bait to attract the school of fish.

    After all the preparation, Jin Er sat on the chair and threw out his fishing line. With a tiny ssh, the fish hook sank into the water.

    They waited for a long time. Fishing is a sport that involves luck and tests your patience.

    After a while, Snowy got tired so she squatted until her legs became numb, then she stood up again. She had to be careful not to let Snowball lie on the ground, or else it would turn into a mudball.

    On the other hand, Good-For-Nothing wasn¡¯t discourage by the dirt. Itid down when and wherever it wanted to.

    Usually, when Jin Er was fishing, he was calm. Not today. Jin Er didn¡¯t want to lose face in front of Snowy, he stared at the fishing float with a frown on his face, and tried hard to suppress the urge to change locations.

    He started thinking that he wasn¡¯t getting any bites because his cast was too deep You have to fish deeper in the winter, but not too deep.

    Fishing requires patience. During the year, you¡¯d have to wait about 30 minutes for a reaction. In the winter, it usually took like an hour or two, but that¡¯s under the notion that there was actually fish in the water.

    Those that weren¡¯t patient ended up with nothing. Only those willing to cultivate themselves were patient enough to fish.

    Jin Er didn¡¯t want to waste Snowy¡¯s time. ¡°Why don¡¯t you head home, eat your cake, thene back? Your mother mighte out to look for you.¡±

    Snowy thought it seemed reasonable. If her mother dide out looking for her, she wouldn¡¯t be able to avoid her nagging.

    So she called Snowball over to head home, and told Jin Er that she¡¯d be back after the cake.

    When Snowy finished her cake, drank her red tea, and went back to theke, Jin Er¡¯s bucket was still empty.

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Jin Er¡¯s embarrassment was written all over his face.

    It was at this moment that the fishing float moved.

    ¡°Holy sh*t! There¡¯s a bite!¡± Jin Er blurted out words that he hadn¡¯t said in years.

 Chapter 684: Fish for the New Year

    <h4>Chapter 684: Fish for the New Year</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Is it on the hook?¡± Snowy shrieked.

    ¡°It¡¯s on the hook! Boy, it¡¯s a big one!¡± Jin Er stood up from the chair, and stared at the floater.

    Rookies usually pulled on the rod as soon as there was a bite, but the fish could escape that way. If it was a big fish, it usually fought back. If the rookie didn¡¯t have a firm grip on the rod, it could fly out of their hands.

    Jin Er wasn¡¯t a professional fisherman, but he was very familiar with fishing. As soon as the rod sank, he raised the rod so that the hook could pierce through the fish¡¯s mouth. As thin lines and small hooks were used to fish Crucian Carps, if the fish fought back, the line could break. Fighting the fish was necessary to catch it.

    He adjusted his grip on the rod and followed the fishing line¡¯s movement with his eyes. He tightened or loosened the line to control the fish.

    It was the first time that Snowy witnessed the fishing process. Her mouth was half open in amazement, and her fists were clenched on behalf of Jin Er.

    In the winter, Crucian Carps had less strength, so they didn¡¯t fight back as hard. It wasn¡¯t long before Jin Er felt the fish giving up. He carefully reeled in the line and lifted the rod.

    Whoosh!

    A huge Crucian Carp came out of the water and suddenly started fighting back, it flopped its tail and sshed water everywhere.

    ¡°Snowy! Get the for me!¡± Jin Er shouted.

    Snowy grabbed the immediately.

    However, as she was nervous, she wasn¡¯t in sync with Jin Er. While Jin Er swung the rod to the right, she swung the left. She stomped her feet in frustration, and both of them were screaming.

    The Crucian Carp used all its strength to get off the hook. Itnded on the ground, about one meter away from theke. It wiggled its body and flopped its tail. With each jump, it got closer to theke.

    Snowy threw the away, and Jin Er did the same with the fishing rod. They bent down at the same time to catch the fish. However, the fish was too slippery, and escaped their hands each time.

    As they were about to lose the fish, a sh of white came out of the alley and swung its paw to move the fish to the side. Another swing and the fish was firmly pressed on the ground.

    It was Snowball.

    ¡°Wow! Snowball, you¡¯re awesome!¡± Snowy rubbed Snowball¡¯s head. ¡°You¡¯ll get an extra can of fish today as a reward!¡±

    ¡°Meow!¡± Snow Ball squinted its eyes out of joy.

    Jin Er looked at Snowball, then at his own dog rolling in mud. He almost wanted to cry.

    The Crucian Carp slowly stopped fighting. As Snowball didn¡¯t n to eat it, it moved its paws away. Jin Er put the fish on a scale. ¡°Wow! It¡¯s 14 ounces. That¡¯s the heaviest Crucian Carp I¡¯ve ever caught!¡±

    Snowy gazed at him with puppy eyes.

    Jin Er understood what she was thinking. He unhooked the fish, picked up a thin long branch, and pierced it through the fish¡¯s mouth. ¡°Take it. This is the only one for now, but I¡¯ll keep fishing. Take this as my red packet for the New Year.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Uncle Jin!¡± Snowy took it with excitement.

    Jin Er had given Snowy red packets in the past for the New Year, but had never seen her as happy as she was right now. He was happy to give it to her. It was true that giving gifts was just as fun as receiving them.

    Snowy hesitated on whether she should drop Snowball off at home, or take it with her to the pet shop. It didn¡¯t take long for her to decide on thetter, as she wasn¡¯t sure if she¡¯d be able toe out again after going home.

    ¡°Uncle Jin, I have to go somewhere. If my momes to look for me, please help cover for me,¡± She begged.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Jin Er grinned. He didn¡¯t want to get involved, but he also didn¡¯t want to refuse Snowy.

    He filled the bucket halfway with water. ¡°Here, the fish is still alive. Put it in the bucket, or it¡¯ll turn stale.¡±

    The bucket was small, so it only fit one fish.

    Snowy put the fish inside and covered the lid. The fish was half alive in the bucket, and flopped it tail asionally.

    She called Snowball, and they walked out of themunity together. Jin Er sat back in his chair, ready for another fight. Fishing with an empty hook was nice, but fishing with real bait from time to time was very satisfying as well.

    After leaving themunity, Snowy called a taxi and went straight to the pet shop.

    There were very few cars on the road, so they arrived quickly.

    As soon as she entered, she realized that the pet shop was quieter than usual. The shop was empty. It was Chinese New Year¡¯s Day, after all.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s back faced the door. He put one hand on his waist, the other hand held a slipper pointed at a grey parrot on top of the shelf. ¡°I was talking about borrowing arrows with boats loaded with straw. What do you mean by ¡®f*cking the boat while borrowing arrows?''¡±

    ¡°Quack!¡± Richard rolled its eyes mischievously. ¡°I was wrong. You idiot is b*tchy enough. You don¡¯t need to borrow any more arrows!¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what to say.

    ¡°Quack! Let¡¯s have a truce. Put down the slipper¡± Richard shrunk its neck.

    Despite the absense of the two workers, the pet shop was still full of action on New Year¡¯s.

    ¡°Hello! Zhang Zian, Happy New Year! Yiyun, Happy New Year!¡±

    Zhang Zian turned and found Snowy standing at the door with a smile, with a white Persian cat sitting behind her.

    Lu Yiyun shifted her eyes from the number pad, and saw it was Snowy. ¡°Snowy, Happy New Year! Are you here for a live broadcast?¡±

    ¡°Happy New Year.¡± Zhang Zian responded.

    Snowy¡¯s appearance always meant a live broadcast, and he didn¡¯t think it was appropriate to hold slippers in front of her viewers, so he tossed them.

    ¡°Why are you here? Don¡¯t you need to stay with your family? Are you doing a live broadcast?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Not exactly.¡± Snowy shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m not nning to do a live broadcast today, and my trip here was unnned. Didn¡¯t you announce that you need fresh Crucian Carps? Did you get any?¡±

    ¡°Not yet.¡± Zhang Zian sighed.

    ¡°Is that so?¡± Snowy lifted the bucket. ¡°Well, I¡¯m bringing you one as a red packet for the New Year. Fish for the New Year!¡±

 Chapter 685: Stew

    <h4>Chapter 685: Stew</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian and Lu Yiyun both had their eyes fixed on the bucket Snowy held.

    ¡°You got a Crucian Carp? A fresh one?¡± Zian asked, doubtful.

    Snowy nodded proudly. ¡°It¡¯s very fresh, straight from theke!¡±

    Zhang Zian took the bucket from her hands and lifting the lid to see a big, fat fish.

    ¡°Impressive! You¡¯ve helped me a lot, I was really worried.¡± Zhang Zian closed the lid to prevent the fish from jumping out. ¡°Snowy, do you even know how to fish?¡±

    ¡°Not at all, I don¡¯t have the patience. My uncle actually caught it, but I took it from him.¡± Snowy waved her hands as she rified, ¡°He¡¯s still fishing if you need more, I can bring them over for you.¡±

    Zhang Zian pondered for a moment. ¡°The food market isn¡¯t open, so I might have to trouble you for more.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, being able to help makes me happy.¡± Snowy smiled. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so polite with me, you can go ahead and make the stew for the kittens.¡±

    Zhang Zian told Lu Yiyun to apany Snowy as he took the fish up to the second floor and started boiling the water.

    Since there were no customers, Lu Yiyun brought Snowy over to look at the kittens.

    ¡°Aw, they¡¯re so cute!¡± Snowy cried after she saw the kittens sleeping beside their mothers.

    The delivery rooms of the two mothers were next to each other. The more she looked at the kittens, the cuter they were.

    Even after drinking the fish stew, the mothers wouldn¡¯t produce milk immediately. Lu Yiyun did what Zhang Zian said to do, she boiled water and mixed it with goat milk powder, then added some children¡¯s multivitamins to the mixture before letting it cool. Once it reached 40 degrees, Lu Yiyun took a dropper and sucked up some milk, then started to feed the kittens one by one.

    ¡°Can I try?¡± Snowy asked.

    ¡°Sure.¡± Lu Yiyun finished feeding the kitten she was holding and handed the dropper to Snowy.

    Snowy hugged a small kitten. ¡°Hi, cutie. I¡¯m going to feed you!¡±

    The mother stood from her nesting area and watched Snowy since it wasn¡¯t familiar with her.

    The kittens that hadn¡¯t opened their eyes felt their mother leave, so they started to cry.

    The mother was slightly relieved when it saw that Snowy didn¡¯t have any intention to harm her child, so it went back to her kittens.

    Lu Yiyun corrected Snowy¡¯s stance. ¡°Snowy, you¡¯ve never fed a kitten before, right? They have to be on their belly. Use your hands to support its belly and slightly raise its head up or they¡¯ll choke.¡±

    Snowy did as she was told.

    ¡°Remember, only a drop of milk on their tongue at a time,¡± Lu Yiyun reminded her.

    This was just like fishing, it tests your patience. Feeding 11 kittens little by little? An impatient person would get frustrated immediately.

    Time slowly ticked away. Although Snowy had no patience for fishing, she was surprisingly very focused on feeding the kittens. She wasn¡¯t in the least bit frustrated or annoyed. She even asked, ¡°I understand feeding the kittens milk with children¡¯s multivitamins, it¡¯s very nutritious. Why do you need Crucian Carp stew to stimte the mother¡¯s milk?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s healthier and better for the kittens to drink their mother¡¯s milk. Kittens that depend on milk powders have a higher mortality rate, and they grow up to be thin and small.

    Zhang Zian put on a kitchen mitt and carried over a warm pot of the stew. The stew also had goat milk powder, so it was a milky-white color.

    The two mothers had be used to eating canned food, but the stew would taste better. They came out of their nesting area and lowered their heads to sip the stew.

    ¡°The kittens are still pretty young, so they need to be fed once every three hours. That¡¯s too many kittens for one person to feed everyday,¡± Zhang Zian continued.

    Snowy was about to put her kitten down when Zhang Zian pointed at the tissues and said, ¡°Wipe its mouth, then gently massage its side.¡±

    Snowy did what Zhang Zian said and started to stroke the kitten. A few momentster, the kitten opened its mouth and burped.

    ¡°After you feed them, you have to burp it or they¡¯ll have gas,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    The two mothers finished the stew. One of them ran towards the litter box in the corner of the room to relieve itself before it went back to the nesting area.

    With Snowy there to feed the kittens, Lu Yiyun had nothing to do, so she left to clean the litter box.

    Not longter, Lu Yiyun ran back in a panic holding the litter box.

    ¡°Zhang Zian, not good!¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°The cat has diarrhea!¡± Lu Yiyun anxiously pointed at the poop in the litter box for Zhang Zian to see.

    Zhang Zian looked at it and tried to calm her down. ¡°There¡¯s no need to panic. That¡¯s not diarrhea, it¡¯s just a soft poop. It happens frequently to mothers when they¡¯re still nursing their kittens, take a closer look.¡±

    He pointed at one of the mothers.

    The mother licked its kitten¡¯s fur from head to tail, even the kitten¡¯s butt area.

    As a result of the kitten being stimted, pee and poop slipped out.

    Without hesitation, the mother ate the pee and poop before she moved on to the next kitten and repeated the process.

    ¡°I¡­thought only dogs¡­eat poop. ¡°Snowy was so shocked she started stuttering.

    A thought appeared in her head, What if Snowball ate its own poop and then came to lick me? That would be disgusting.

    It was Lu Yiyun¡¯s first time witnessing this and she had the same thought as Snowy, but with her own cat, Jasmine.

    ¡°This is a special situation.¡± Zhang Zianughed. ¡°When kittens are newly born, they aren¡¯t able to relieve themselves on their own. They require their mother¡¯s stimtion to do so, or else they¡¯d die of constipation. After their mother eats their waste, it¡¯ll have soft poop. This only happens when the kittens are still young, so don¡¯t worry.¡±

    Both Snowy and Lu Yiyun let out a sigh of relief.

 Chapter 686: New Monkey King at Qidian

    <h4>Chapter 686: New Monkey King at Qidian</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian thought New Year¡¯s would be more rxing, but the kittens kept him busy. He spent most of his time around the kittens and the two mothers.

    The Crucian Carp that Snowy brought over was very helpful. After eating the Crucian Carp stew, the mothers had beenctating a lot more, almost enough for all the kittens.

    Out of her fondness for the kittens, she did her best toe over to help every day. Even if she couldn¡¯t make it, she would still send the Crucian Carps over. She said that they were all caught by an older friend.

    With her help, Zhang Zian¡¯s burden was relieved a little. Now that the holidays were over, he expected Wang Qian and Li Kun, toe back to work.

    Feng Xuan was satisfied with the report and photos he had sent. He told him that the demo film of Dog Warrior had been officially submitted to themittee of Berlin Film Festival, and it had been approved by the screeningmittee to be a candidate for thepetition. It was hard to tell whether the statement at the end of the film was useful or not. However, as Feng Xuan had said themittee greatly appreciated how they treated the animals in the crew.

    Zhang Zian had seen some reports on the Dog Warrior movie in the entertainment news. However, since there weren¡¯t any superstars in the movie, it didn¡¯t gain much attention. There were more reports on another Chinese detective film, which was also participating in thepetition. The director of that film was well-known, and it had famous actors.

    Famous was more concerned with the film¡¯s progress, and asking Zhang Zian about it a few times a day.

    Zhang Zian always told it any updates as soon as he found out, but he also reminded it to lower its expectations. After all, the Berlin Film Festival was the first major film festival of the new year, and there were strong candidates.

    Pi¡¯s novel was progressing well and rising rapidly. It was second ce on the Monthly Power Ranking List for the New Arrivals, which was the same as getting a free rmendation. The author in first ce was huge and had been famous for a long time ago.

    In the morning, after Zhang Zian had tended to the mothers and the kittens, he sat next to Pi with a cup of hot tea, watching it write.

    After the second upgrade, Pi was typing faster and more urately. Sometimes it still typed the string of numbers, but it no longer felt puzzled or ashamed. It just simply the deleted it with a grin on its face.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t good at writing. Even so, he still noticed that after the upgrade, Pi wasn¡¯t just writing faster, it was getting better.

    As Pi had said in the past, its novel wasn¡¯t entirely based on Zhang Zian and the elfins, it was 70% real and 30% fiction. The real part was easy. The imaginary parts gave Pi a headache.

    After the upgrade, Pi got better at writing the fiction plots. It no longer needed to wrack its brain all day. Now, it had free time to y and interact with the its fans.

    Pi typed thest few words, then it scratched its head in satisfaction. It had been writing ever since it woke up and it had just finished one chapter.

    ¡°Eek?¡± It looked at Zhang Zian expectantly, meaning, ¡°Shall we y hide-and-seek with Gxy and the others?¡±

    Pi was gradually blending in with the other elfins. Sometimes, when it finished writing early, it would voluntarily ask to join the other elfins¡¯ games.

    Zhang Zian smiled, about to say yes,when his phone rang. He unlocked his phone and saw a message from the biggest reading list owner on Qidian, Feather of the Chief Specter.

    He raised his tea cup and said, ¡°Pi, Gxy and I are fine. However, hide-and-seek is less fun when there is less people. You can go downstairs and wake Famous up. Try to get it to join the game. I¡¯lle down to look for you after my cup of tea.¡±

    ¡°Eek!¡± Pi nodded. It removed its sses and ced it on its book, then ran downstairs.

    There were no customers right now, so it didn¡¯t need to worry about being seen.

    After sending it away, Zhang Zian opened the message.

    [Feather of the Chief Specter]: Congrattions. You¡¯re high on the Monthly Power Ranking.

    Zhang Zian: Thank you, it¡¯s all because of your support and the support of other reading list owners.

    He knew that this Inte celebrity was busy and had actual work to do. He must be busy contacting other reading list owners as well, he never would¡¯ve sent such a personal message. He waited to hear back.

    [Feather of the Chief Specter]: Have you thought about setting a higher goal?

    Zhang Zian paused. What higher goal?

    Zhang Zian: You mean trying to reach the top of the Monthly Power Ranking List for the New Arrivals?

    [Feather of the Chief Specter]: No, I mean the New King of the Year, or The Best New Author of the Year.

    It was the first time that Zhang Zian had heard about this.

    Zhang Zian: What is that?

    [Feather of the Chief Specter]: It¡¯s a title for the author with the highest cumtive monthly ranking among new arrivals and new authors. There isn¡¯t a materialistic reward, but it¡¯s a great honor. Thepetition is fierce each year.

    Pi woke up Famous and tried to persuade it into joining hide-and-seek. Gxy was at its side, helping. However, Famous wouldn¡¯t agree.

    Zhang Zian was speechless, and imagined if Pi was selected. New King? Monkey King? The Best New Monkey of the Year?

    Zhang Zian: I¡¯ll pass. Leave a more qualified author win. It¡¯s just an empty title.¡±

    As a novel-writing elfin, Pi should stay low and avoid too much publicity.

    [Feather of the Chief Specter]: Is that so? Fine. It may be an empty title, but it¡¯s helpful in promoting the novel.

    It was obvious that he was trying to persuade Zhang Zian, or Pi.

    He was thinking of what was best for Pi¡¯s novel, but Zhang Zian knew how hard Pi worked to write the novel. If it fought for more awards, it would have to work even harder, and lose its free time. Between honor and health, he¡¯d rather Pi have thetter. After all, Pi still had a long time to write the novel, it wasn¡¯t necessary to sacrifice the future for some temporary gain.

    Zhang Zian: Thank you for telling me, but I don¡¯t n onpeting for the award.

    [Feather of the Chief Specter]: I get it. I still want to let you know that even if you aren¡¯t interested, other people are. Many people want that honor. Those people will see you and your novel as their enemy.

    Zhang Zian frowned. He remembered the attacks in thement section. Thepetition for the title would be greater thanst time. It was hard to imagine that the others would stay calm.

    Zhang Zian: What should I do?

    [Feather of the Chief Specter]: I don¡¯t have many good suggestions. I¡¯ll quote Mao Zedong, try to ¡°dig deep, gather your grain, and do not im to be the king.¡± Try to get as much support from your fans as possible.

    Zhang Zian thought about it.

    Famous and Pi were both about to be involved in fiercepetition. The difference was, one was active and the other was passive.

 Chapter 687: Forcing a Person with OCD to His Death

    <h4>Chapter 687: Forcing a Person with OCD to His Death</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Famous refused to join the game, so Zhang Zian yed hide-and-seek with Gxy and Pi for a little while. Afterwards, he started cleaning. When he went to take out the trash, he saw Zhuanging out of the Li¡¯s Snack Bar holding a ck garbage bag. Zhuang saw him, and they waved at each other.

    Zhuang went back in the snack bar, while Zhang Zian started to head back into his store, but at that moment, he heard someone running.

    He turned and saw Masanori Suzuhara and Snoopy on their morning jog. She wore her usual sports attire, her shoes and clothes had reflective strips to alert passing vehicles.

    ¡°Happy New Year!¡± Masanori Suzuhara didn¡¯tpletely stop, she just jogged in ce.

    ¡°Happy New Year! As I recall, your new year is on the first day of the Gregorian Calendar, right?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Yes, but when in Rome do as the Romans do.¡± Masanori Suzuhara smiled. ¡°I love New Year¡¯s here, I got quite a number of red packets, and I got to sleep in.¡±

    ¡°I was wondering why I didn¡¯t see you run on New Year¡¯s day.¡± Zhang Zian was relieved. If you saw someone run every day, you got worried when you don¡¯t see them one day, feels like you could force an OCD person to his death.

    Masanori Suzura continued running in ce. ¡°I just received a message from thepany, since Japan¡¯s is an hour ahead of China, thepany is already open. They informed me that the automated dog washer is on its way, it¡¯ll arrive soon. After its seen in a technology exhibition overseas, it¡¯ll be sent here, so be ready for it.¡±

    Masanori Suzuhara had ns to ept the internship at the Japan biotechnologypany.

    ¡°No problem.¡± Zhang Zian was ted. Thanks to the Love Lovely Pets incident, the store was empty.

    Masanori Suzuhara added, ¡°The coin system can only ept Japanese coins, and thepany is working on an upgrade to have the machine ept Chinese coins too, but due to the time constraint, it might have a bug. If you have an issue, thepany can fix it from over there.¡±

    ¡°I understand, I¡¯m thankful for thepany¡¯s thoughtfulness. If they can get the machine to ept Alipay or Wechat Pay, that would be more convenient.¡± Zhang Zianughed.

    ¡°That¡¯s not a choice.¡± Masanori Suzuhara shook her head. ¡°In regards to mobile payment, Japan is behindpared to China. Here, I don¡¯t even have to bring cash when I leave the house, only a small pouch for my wallet and dog license. It¡¯s really convenient.

    ¡°Thepany also informed me that the Chinese coins and Japanese coins differ in size and appearance, so there might be a problem when change is required. So it¡¯s best if you could set the fees to a whole number to avoid the problem,¡± Masanori Suzuhara added.

    Zhang Zian nodded, he hadn¡¯t thought of the fees yet. If it weren¡¯t for Masanori Suzuhara¡¯s reminder, he might have dont it wrong. He¡¯ll just set the prices to 200 for cats and big dogs and 100 for smaller dogs. Even if the customers didn¡¯t have cash, they¡¯d be able to get cash back at the register.

    It¡¯d be more expensive than most pet stores, but to make a profit, Zhang Zian had to consider the cost of the machine and future maintenance costs.

    Masanori Suzuhara said everything she had to say, so she bowed and continued her jog with Snoopy.

    ¡°Boss.¡±

    Although Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know if that was directed at him, he still turned around.

    Ady who looked like a young white-cor worker stood behind him, holding a designer bag.

    Zhang Zian had seen her before, she was a customer.

    ¡°Thest time I was here, I ordered an Abyssinian Cat,¡± she exined. ¡°I saw your message on Wechat that the kittens were born, so I was thinking I could take a look and pick one out, if that is okay.¡±

    ¡°Sure, follow me.¡± Zhang Zian led her into the store and checked her receipt. Her name was Tang Yuyun, she was one of the first customers to order a Abyssinian cat.

    ¡°There¡¯s something I have to let you know.¡±

    Tang Yuyun listened carefully.

    ¡°I said before that the store would notify all customers when toe down and pick a kitten. I didn¡¯t expect you toe so early. I didn¡¯t notify anyone because the kittens have yet to develop, there¡¯s not much for you to look at right now.¡± Zian continued, ¡°They¡¯re still too young, some of them might die, so even if you pick one now and it dies, you would have made your choice for nothing.¡±

    Tang Yuyun gave it some thought before sheughed. ¡°Actually, I have an issue with cleanliness and have OCD, so I don¡¯t like picking from leftovers. If there were only leftovers, I¡¯d rather not make the purchase.¡±

    Zhang Zian was at a loss for words. He personally preferred to head over to the market right before they closed because there was a discount on everything. Even if they were leftovers, at least he got a great deal.

    She knew that she was a little weird. ¡°My personality has caused a lot of problems but I can¡¯t change. I really like cats, but I have yet to keep one because the cats in the pet stores are mostly leftovers. They might not be, but I¡¯ll always wonder. So I asked my colleagues if they knew anyone who had newborn kittens for sale so I can go down early to pick, but I had another issue. Domesticated cats usually aren¡¯t purebred, right? I want a purebred cat.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because of this reason that I¡¯m unable to find a boyfriend, I always feel like they¡¯re leftovers as well,¡± Tang Yuyun added, embarrassed.

    Zhang Zian really wanted to tell her, if that was the case, she¡¯d have to go to kindergarten for a boyfriend.

 Chapter 688: Cat Bet

    <h4>Chapter 688: Cat Bet</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The world was a weird ce. A thousand people had a thousand different personalities, none were simr.

    Some people obsessed about checking to see if they locked their door. Some people obsessed about washing their hands.

    Tang Yuyun was special. She particrly disliked things that were leftovers. Her personality certainly made her life difficult, but oveing the OCD was difficult. It wasn¡¯t a life-threatening condition, so not many people paid attention to it.

    At the end of the day, Tang Yuyun¡¯s OCD took root in the fact that she had money. If she were poor, or as cheap as Zhang Zian, she would¡¯d ovee her OCD a long time ago.

    She said, ¡°I don¡¯t n on getting a lot of cats. One is enough, but I want a perfect cat. I think purebred cats are the best for me. They¡¯re expensive, as all pedigree cats are, but at least I¡¯ll never grow tired of it, right?¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. To some extent, her words made sense. It demonstrated that she was rational, and not just impulsively getting a cat.

    Buying a cat was just like buying a cellphone, there were two kinds of people. One bought an expensive phone, which couldst for a few years. The other bought a cheap phone, and changed it for a new one every year. Both choices made sense. However, a cat was a longmitment. If one bought a cheap cat, he/she might covet someone else¡¯s expensive cat, but if one had a pedigree cat, he/she was unlikely to covet a cheap cat.

    Tang Yuyun continued, ¡°I¡¯ve been following the pet shops in this city. I browse Weibo and Wechat every day. As soon as there¡¯s a kitten for sale, I go immediately in order to be the first one to pick. Unfortunately, I¡¯m always toote, and I wasn¡¯t quite satisfied with the breeds. I heard that you were starting to sell the Abyssinian cats in your shop, and I paid a deposit at my earliest convenience.¡±

    Zhang Zianforted her, ¡°I can assure you that no one has picked out their kittens.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± Tang Yuyun was relieved. ¡°I was worried that I may have arrived toote. I was out of town during the Spring Festival. I cut my trip short when I heard the news, and came back.¡±

    ¡°Normally, very few people start picking the kittens this early. They¡¯re too small, and you can¡¯t see anything. Most pet shops would wait until they grow up and start selling them when their characteristics are distinguishable. However, since you¡¯re our first customer of the Abyssinian cats, I¡¯ll give you a special privilege.¡± Zhang Zian told her honestly.

    If the kitten was picked at birth, the condition it ended up withrgely depended on luck. It was like cat betting, even the most experienced couldn¡¯t be certain of what they¡¯d get because most pet shops didn¡¯t allow customers to pick kittens at such a young age.

    Zhang Zian had faith in the kittens bloodline. He trusted the breeding handbook Kathy had written. Any of the kittens were good enough for breed shows when they grew up.

    When Yu Liyun showed up for work, he asked her to watch the shop. He took Tang Yuyun into the shop next door.

    After soon as Tang Yuyun entered the shop, she felt a wave of heat. ¡°It¡¯s so hot in here.¡±

    ¡°Abyssinian cats, especially kittens, like heat.¡± Zhang Zian took her upstairs. ¡°You said that you wanted to get a cat?¡±¡¡¡¡¡±

    She nodded.

    ¡°Abyssinian cats are a good fit. They¡¯re jealous and want to keep their owners for themselves. They get along with dogs and other cats, but it¡¯s best to keep them alone,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Tang Yuyun thought for a while. ¡°Like Siamese cats?¡±

    Zhang Zian was surprised. Most customers didn¡¯t know much about cats or the difference between breeds.

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± he agreed. ¡°They¡¯re like Siamese cats in a way. Siamese cats are known as ¡®the dog of cats¡¯. They¡¯re very clingy, but Abyssinian cats are more so. If you¡¯re home, it¡¯ll barely leave your side.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Tang Yuyun¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°I thought all cats were aloof.¡±

    ¡°Most of them are, but a few aren¡¯t.¡±

    Zhang Zian handed her a mask, gloves and shoe covers, all of which were disposable. Unlike Snowy, she was a stranger. The kittens weren¡¯t vinated and were very fragile. He didn¡¯t know if she had contact with other cats beforeing here, and he didn¡¯t want her to spread germs.

    Tang Yuyun took off her coat and ced it on the hook. She put on the mask, gloves and shoe covers without question.

    Zhang Zian opened the door of the delivery room. The mother cat nced at him, then stared at Tang Yuyun, and stood up from the nest with alertness.

    The Abyssinian cats were friendly, but they were cautious with strangers during nursing the period.

    The kittens¡¯ eyes weren¡¯t open yet, but they all turned towards the door and meowed. The voice was so soft and bone-melting.

    ¡°Wow! Those are the kittens? Howe they look different than their mother?¡± Tang Yuyun bent down. She didn¡¯t get closer without Zhang Zian¡¯s permission, so she stretched her neck, and nced at the adorable kittens.

    The biggest difference between the kittens and their mothers were the ears. Adult Abyssinian cats hadrge and flexible ears, but the kittens had small ears, which made them look like Shiba Inus.

    ¡°They¡¯re like this when they¡¯re young. It¡¯ll change when they grow up,¡± Zhang Zian told her. ¡°If you want to know how they look like when they grow up, we can look at their fatherter, they should look simr. If you don¡¯t like any of them, there are a few more next door.¡±

    She nced her eyes over them, and thought that they were all adorable.

 Chapter 689: Peculiar Cries

    <h4>Chapter 689: Peculiar Cries</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Betting on stones was a unpredictable act. It consisted of purchasing uncut jadeite stones in the hopes of finding a dazzling jadeite within. It could turn people into millionaires overnight or it could make them bankrupt.

    On the other hand, gambling on cats was ordinary. It consisted of purchasing cats when they¡¯re still very young, knowing nothing of their condition, and hoping for the kitten to grow up into a show quality cat.

    Very few pet shops put newborn kittens up for sale, unless they decided to stop operating.

    The Abyssinian Cats that Kathy left were of an excellent pedigree. Kathy didn¡¯t have the intention of winningpetitions in a short time, she didn¡¯t care for any possible profits. If nothing unexpected happened, the kittens had a very high chance of growing up to be show quality cats, especially since Abyssinian Cats don¡¯t haveplicated fur patterns.

    Tang Yuyun carefully observed all the kittens in front of her, they all had a simr fur color. Tang Yuyun thought they were all adorable, so adorable that her determination to raise only one cat wavered.

    As the mother stood up, the few kittens lost the warmth, and they sniffed around as they squirmed in the nesting area, crying out for their mother.

    One of the kittens, with an adventurous instinct in it¡¯s blood, stretched out one of its short legs and slowly climbed to the edge of the cardboard box that was used as the nesting area. It had ck patches on its forehead that were darker than the its body, proof of its Egyptian Mau genes.

    It wasn¡¯t the biggest among its siblings, its voice wasn¡¯t the loudest, andpared to the bigger kitten that the mother favored, it didn¡¯t stand out.

    Maybe it was due to theck of parental concern, but it was curious about the world.

    It crawled in Tang Yuyun¡¯s direction, which made her heart skip a beat.

    She thought to herself, Could it be that the kitten had caught my scent? Does it like my scent?

    Tang Yuyun didn¡¯t like picking leftovers, but this time, it seemed she wasn¡¯t the one doing the picking.

    The kitten continued crawling, making noise as it stepped on the old newspaper that was in the cardboard box. The mother continued to watch Tang Yuyun cautiously, but it had noticed its restless child and called out to it.

    ¡°That¡¯s what Abyssinian Cats sound like?¡± she asked. ¡°It seems different than other cats.¡±

    ¡°Yes, listen to it carefully.¡± Zhang Zian nodded.

    The sounds of an adult Abyssinian Cat was different than other cats, they didn¡¯t meow. It was more like ¡°aowu¡± and sometimes, depending on their mood, they sounded like they said ¡°ge.¡±

    The cries were quite peculiar, and it allowed people to differentiate them from other cats.

    The adventurous kitten turned a deaf ear to its mother¡¯s warning and continued to crawl out of the nesting area. The edge of cardboard box was 10 centimeters away from the floor, and although jumping down wouldn¡¯t injure the kitten, it¡¯d be easy for the kitten to get sick since the floor was very cold.

    Tang Yuyun was worried that it might fall, so she stretched out her hand, intending to catch it.

    The mother didn¡¯t give her the chance. It hopped to the side, caught the kitten in its mouth, and brought it back to the nesting area.

    However, the kitten was a wanderer, it didn¡¯t want to live its life in a safe quiet box. After being caught, it persistently crawled towards the outside of the nesting area.

    Tang Yuyun had done a lot of research to to avoid being scammed, but after she came here, she realized that all the theoretical stuff wasn¡¯t useful. Tang Yuyun felt a connection with the adventurous kitten, she didn¡¯t want to ce any standards on the kitten.

    ¡°I want that kitten.¡± She pointed at the adventurous kitten. ¡°Can I reserve this one?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± Zhang Zian was surprised, he thought that she¡¯d pick the biggest kitten as it had potential to grow up to be a quality show cat. The kitten she chose was, in all aspects, average.

    ¡°You can choose that kitten, but it¡¯s still unable to leave its mother and it¡¯s too small for vinations. You¡¯ll have to wait three months, is that okay? Zian asked.

    ¡°Okay.¡± She nodded in relief. ¡°I¡¯ve already waited this long, I can wait another three months. Can I visit the kitten in those three months?¡±

    ¡°Sure. Leave your Wechat information, and I¡¯ll have my staff to send you pictures of its daily growth.¡± Zhang Zian stood up. ¡°Come with me to sign the contract for the reservation.¡±

    Reluctant to leave the kitten, Tang Yuyun took onest look before she followed Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian handed Tang Yuyun her coat and told her to dispose of her gloves, mask and shoe covers, then said, ¡°The kitten¡¯s quality is still unknown, but let¡¯s discuss price.¡±

    =================================================================================================

 Chapter 690: Genetic Screening

    <h4>Chapter 690: Gic Screening</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As soon as they started talking about price, Tang Yuyun¡¯s attention left the adorable kittens. She knew pedigree cats were expensive, if they came with a studbook, they cost at least 10,000 RMB. Plus, she heard that this shop could teach kittens to dance, so it¡¯d cost even more than other shops.

    She had money, but she wasn¡¯t rich. She didn¡¯t want to spend more money than she had to. She had an eptable price in mind, but waited for Zhang Zian to start.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°The kitten costs 30,000 RMB. That includes studbook, immunization records, DNA screening documents, etc. Is that eptable?¡±

    ¡°30,000 RMB?¡± Tang Yuyun put on her jacket and froze. ¡°That¡¯s a bit expensive. You can get a Ragdoll at that price, a nice one.¡±

    His price exceeded her expectations. Her maximum budget was 25,000 RMB.

    ¡°If you want a Ragdoll, we have them at our shop. Abyssinian cats arepletely different than Ragdolls. They have very different temperaments. In my opinion, the two breeds of cats aren¡¯tparable at all.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t surprising that she thought it was too expensive, but Zhang Zian tried to exin that it was worth the money.

    An average Abyssinian cat was indeed less than 30,000 RMB. With all the certificates, it usually cost between 15,000 to 20,000 RMB. However, if the kitten grew up to be a show cat, and a rare chocte-colored one, it cost more than 30,000 RMB. He would¡¯ve lost too much if he sold it too cheap.

    He exined the risks and benefits to her. If she was just nned to keep it at home, she didn¡¯t need a show-grade cat, an average one would be enough.

    ¡°What¡¯s DNA screening? It sounds very ssy.¡± Tang Yuyun didn¡¯t want to rush a decision. She had been to few pet shops, but none of them mentioned this.

    ¡°It¡¯s impossible to exin with justs words. Come with me. Seeing is believing, right?¡± Zhang Zian guided her into the pet shop.

    Tang Yuyun nced around the shop and saw the few Ragdoll kittens near the reclining chair. They were ying with each other. Ragdolls were strikingly pretty, especially to girls. She had already made up her mind, but she hesitated slightly.

    She heard a strange sound, and followed it. A few Abyssinian cats stood on the cat tree, staring at her with big green eyes. After a while, they lost interest and started chasing each other. They were so swift and vigorous. Their bulging muscles were half visible under their brown fur. They yed tirelessly, with limitless strength in their bodies.

    The difference between Ragdolls and Abyssinian cats was obvious. The former was more of a domestic cat, but thetter was a wild beauty. They weren¡¯tparable. You couldn¡¯t say which one was prettier, it depended entirely on your taste.

    ¡°This is the father of the kittens you saw.¡± Zhang Zian pointed at one of the cats.

    It was a very handsome male cat. It didn¡¯t join the chasing game, it just sat alone on another cat tree.

    Based on the male cat, Tang Yuyun saw how the kitten would look once it grew up. She took out her phone to take a picture, but the male cat suddenly joined the other cats. It was as swift as lightning, that the lens of her phone couldn¡¯t follow it, and the photos were all blurry.

    After a few attempts, she put down her phone.

    Lu Yiyun brought the materials over, and asked her to go through them.

    ¡°That¡¯s in English?¡± Tang Yuyun flipped through the documents in her hands and frowned slightly. She could read English fluently, but there was terminology she didn¡¯t understand.

    Zhang Zian exined it all to her. ¡°Cats are divided into two categories. There¡¯s the ancient breeds, like the Egyptian cats and Abyssinian cats, which have been here for thousands of years. Then there¡¯s the modern breeds, like the Ragdolls, Scottish Fold, etc.¡±

    She nodded to indicate that she understood.

    ¡°Have you heard of the gic disorder of Scottish Fold?¡± He asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard about it. Is it true that Scottish Fold are prone to osteochondrosis?¡± She answered, uncertain.

    ¡°More or less,¡± Zhang Zian continued. ¡°The more ancient the breed, the healthier they are, and the less prone they be to gic disorders. Modern breeds are more likely to carry defective genes because people resorted to inbreeding, in order to stabilize certain characteristics.

    ¡°Abyssinian cats are generally healthy, but may suffer from pyruvate kinase deficiency, which causes intermittent anemia. This is a gic illness, and can be detected through gic screening. All 11 kittens have been screened, we collected swab samples and sent them to a professional screening agency overseas. The testing fee of each cat is around 100 US dors, plus the international shipping fee.¡±

    Tang Yuyun understood. The kittens were expensive for a reason, Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t asking for a ridiculous amount of money.

    ¡°Are the test results avable yet?¡± She was concerned about her kitten.

    ¡°Not yet, we sent out the samples not too long ago.¡± Zhang Zian showed her the receipt of international courier. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know as soon as I receive the results. If the kitten has health issues, I¡¯ll give you a full refund. If you insist on having it, I can give you a discount. I won¡¯t try to hide anything from you.¡±

    Tang Yuyun appreciated his candor. For a pet about to spend its life with her, she¡¯d rather spend more money for her peace of mind. Plus, it wasn¡¯t easy finding a pet that wasn¡¯t a leftover. If she missed this opportunity, she didn¡¯t know how much longer she¡¯d have to wait before the next one came.

    As soon as she made up her mind, she¡¯d be free of the anxiety and could focus her time and energy working on herself. If she made some extra money, she¡¯d be able to pay the higher price.

    After careful consideration, she said, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll get it. Let¡¯s proceed with the paperwork. Don¡¯t sell that kitten to anybody else.¡±

    ¡°No problem. Yiyun, take her to do the pre-sale paperwork.¡±

    Zhang Zian was very pleased. He nced at the photo of thete Kathy, in which she was gazing at the Abyssinian cats in the shop with a bright smile. He always reminded himself that the cats and the money he made selling the cats didn¡¯t belong to him, they belonged to Kathy.

    The money he made selling the cats should be used for a more appropriate purpose.

 Chapter 691: Birthday Gift

    <h4>Chapter 691: Birthday Gift</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Tang Yuyun left the store after she signed the pre-sale agreement. Zhang Zian became curious about how an OCD person like her bought clothes and other stuff.

    The store became quiet again. Lu Yiyun sat behind the cashier counter, drawing. There were few people on the streets, much less in the store.

    Zhang Zian looked around, and when he came up with nothing to do, he made his way upstairs.

    ¡°Ga! You hung me up just because of a disagreement? How did I annoy you today?¡± Richard hung from the ceiling of the second floor living room, pping its wing as it swayed left and right.

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment, and realized Richard didn¡¯t really cause trouble today. ¡°If you didn¡¯t annoy me, it just means that I had nothing better to do.¡±

    ¡°You stupid sh*t!¡± Richard was enraged.

    Zhang Zian replied, ¡°There isn¡¯t a day where you haven¡¯t caused trouble, so think of it as advanced punishment.¡±

    ¡°Advanced punishment for someone who hasn¡¯t made a mistake? Your thought process is very dangerous!¡± Richard cried out.

    ¡°Okay, let me get you down.¡± Zhang Zian pulled a stool over and used it as adder as he reached out to untie the nylon string tied around Richard¡¯s ws.

    Richard was finally able to stand up straight. ¡°You¡¯re being so nice today, is there something you need from me?¡±

    Wow, Richard actually guessed correctly. Zhang Zian thought to himself.

    ¡°Do you remember Kathy? We met during the America CFA?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Richard said with disdain, ¡°Of course I remember her! Isn¡¯t her memorial portrait just downstairs?¡±

    Zhang Zian ignored his question. ¡°Do you remember her voice? Her tone, her ent?¡±

    Richard rolled its eyes. ¡°I guess so. What do you want to do?¡±

    When Zhang Zian met Kathy at the CFA, Richard was invisible on his shoulders, telling him what to say.

    ¡°Just before she passed, Kathy changed her will and, for some reason, she decided to leave the Abyssinian Cats to me. To receive something I didn¡¯t do anything to deserve, doesn¡¯t sit well with me, so I want to do something to repay her.¡± Zhang Zian said seriously.

    ¡°Interesting, so even you feel troubled? It seemed to me that you slept quite wellst night,¡± Richard said.

    ¡°Of course, I want to be wealthy, but for something I did. In Kathy¡¯s will, the cats were to be given to me while her other assets would be donated to the Matthew Davis Cancer Research Foundation to be used for research on lung cancer,¡± Zhang Zian recalled. ¡°During the CFA, I think she mentioned that her husband had passed from lung cancer, so I think she wanted to save others the pain caused by lung cancer.¡±

    Richard too became serious.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how much money she had, but I don¡¯t think it was a lot. Actually, even if she was a millionaire, all that money wouldn¡¯t help tackle lung cancer, but she still wanted to try,¡± Zhang Zian continued.

    ¡°So, what do you want me to do?¡± Richard asked.

    Zhang Zian told Richard his idea. ¡°Earlier, an Abyssinian Kitty was sold for 30,000 RMB. I calcted it, and the profit when converted to US dors would be about $4,000. Although it isn¡¯t much, I¡¯d still like to donate it to the Matthew Davis Cancer Research Foundation under Kathy¡¯s name, so you have to imitate her voice and call the Foundation.¡±

    Richard paced back and forth on the desk.

    After a moment, Richard said, ¡°You mentioned the profit would be $4,000 USD, that would mean that the cost is about $700 USD? Before we even consider the fees for international shipping and gic screening, we can also put aside the cost of food and litter. Even if we only consider the amount spent to purchase the shoe store and the renovation fees, it can¡¯t only be $700 USD right? What aboutbor costs?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m aware of that, but I didn¡¯t buy the shoe store for Kathy and the cats, it was meant to expand our operational space. Even without the cats, I would¡¯ve still bought the store, the expansion was inevitable.¡±

    Although Zhang Zian was convincing, it wasn¡¯t enough. Richard stared at him. ¡°The customer will return in three months to make the rest of the payment, right? Three months is a very long time, anything can happen. The customer might cancel the deal. If it was me, I¡¯d wait until the transaction is finalized before donating.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew what Richard said made sense, but he thought his way made sense as well. ¡°Are you doubting my business capabilities? From what I¡¯ve observed, the possibility of the customer cancelling is very low.¡±

    ¡°Any other reasons?¡± Richard asked. ¡°If that¡¯s it, I¡¯d rather you tie me up and make the call yourself. Save me the trouble of your anger when you regret your decision.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought, Am I really that petty?

    ¡°There¡¯s actually another reason, when thewyer pulled out the will, I noticed that today was Kathy¡¯s birthday, so I wanted to give her a birthday gift,¡± Zhang Zian admitted.

    Richard was silent. It understood Zhang Zian¡¯s intentions. There were just some matters left unsolved, like why Zhang Zian wanted to make a donation in Kathy¡¯s name, or why Kathy would gift a cat she had bred for years to a Chinese man she met by chance.

    pping its wings, Richard said, ¡°Then, what are you waiting for? Get the number of the cancer research foundation, and let¡¯s revive the dead!¡±

    ===========================================================================

 Chapter 692: Matthew Davis Foundation

    <h4>Chapter 692: Matthew Davis Foundation</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    San Francisco, United States.

    The Matthew Davis Cancer Research Foundation was located in an ordinary, three-story office building in a suburb. The building was old, and its gray color looked out of fashion. The sign for the Foundation was not clearly visible, either; many first-time visitors had a hard time finding it.

    There was a small parking lot in front of the office building. A few cars of different models and years were parked within the lot, being silently washed by the rain.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    Eddy Lewis pushed open the car door, gave a nasty look to the gloomy sky, then walked out of the car reluctantly. He covered his head with his briefcase, which he held in one hand, and held a paper cup with coffee in it in his other hand. He hurried into the building against the cold wind and rain.

    ¡°Hi, Eddy! You arete!¡± The receptionist handed over a napkin to him. ¡°Horrible weather, isn¡¯t it? Wipe yourself off. Don¡¯t catch a cold.¡±

    ¡°Horrible, indeed! And I was stuck in traffic on my way!¡±

    Eddy put his coffee on the front desk, then took the napkin to wipe his face and his bald head. He then dried up the raindrops on his sses and exchanged a few words about the weather with the receptionist.

    ¡°I¡¯m going up. See youter!¡± He tossed the napkin into the garbage bin, took up his coffee, said goodbye to the receptionist, then walked straight into the elevator and adjusted his tie in the mirror.

    He was a volunteer for the Foundation, where he worked for them free of charge during his days off. He had been working there for almost ten years.

    He was a littlete today, as he was caught in traffic while driving by Chinatown in Los Angeles. Traffic jams were happening all the time in Los Angeles, but it happened today for a different reason¨C¨Cthe Chinese Lion Dance team was performing a lion dance by the street with drums, gongs, and firecrackers. It was such a spectacle that many tourists and local residents were attracted to watch it, whichpletely blocked the roads. That, plus the bad weather, caused the cars to move at snail¡¯s pace.

    He should have thought about this earlier. It was Chinese New Year, and even residents in the United States could not escape its huge significance.

    This was not the first time that he had arrivedte to work during Chinese New Year, but he could not be med. The Chinese New Year¡¯s Day never fell on a fixed date, and he could never remember the variable dates. It would be great if the date was fixed, such as American Thanksgiving, which urred on the fourth Thursday of every November. He would have remembered it this way. From now on, though, he would take a different road during the New Year season.

    Ding! The elevator stopped on the third floor, where his office was located, and the door opened.

    ¡°Good morning, Eddy!¡±

    ¡°Good morning!¡±

    In the hallway, he greeted his colleagues that passed by him. Like him, most of them were just volunteering for the Foundation. Some of them had lost family members to cancer, while some just wanted to help out. Eddy was one of thetter.

    ¡°Oh, right. Eddy!¡± The colleague who greeted Eddy stopped behind him.

    ¡°What is it?¡± Eddy turned his head and asked.

    ¡°When I passed by your office just now, the phone was ringing,¡± his colleague said while he walked backwards.

    ¡°Thanks. I¡¯mte today.¡± Eddy nodded to thank him. ¡°Hey, how about a drink in the bar nearby tonight? I mean, if it doesn¡¯t rain.¡±

    ¡°Sure. See you there.¡±

    Eddy took out a key that opened the door of the donation office. He was the only one working today. He looked at the phone on the desk¨C¨Cit was not ringing, but the recording light was blinking, indicating a missed call or a voice message.

    He put his briefcase and coffee on the desk, then pressed the button on the answering machine. He hooked his jacket, which had turned wet in the rain, on the jacket hanger.

    ¡°Hello, you¡¯ve reached the donation office of the Matthew Davis Cancer Research Foundation. We are out of the office right now. Please leave a message after the beep, and we¡¯ll call you back at our earliest convenience.¡±

    This was his pre-recorded message in the answering machine.

    ¡°Hello. Is there nobody there? I just want to ask about the donation¡­ but it¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll call backter.¡± An elderlydy¡¯s voice was at the other end of the phone line. After her short sentence, she hung up.

    The daily job of Eddy Lewis was to make and answer phone calls. He had heard the voice of many people and could even get some basic information about the caller judging from the ent. Thedy caller he just listened to had an obvious ent from southern California. Eddy guessed she was above 60 years of age, with a gentle voice and appropriate tone. She was clearly a well-educated and well-mannered person, meaning she should be one of the main targets for a potential donor to the Foundation.

    He usually got a few simr phone calls every day; it was nothing surprising.

    However, after ncing at the caller ID, Eddy frowned. It was a long-distance call from overseas; the area code was neither from the United States, nor from Canada. He could only remember area codes from these two countries, but the caller¡¯s area code seemed very unfamiliar.

    The Matthew Davis Foundation rarely received donations from overseas. Most of the donors were located in North America, while some were asionally from Europe.

    It was a long-distance call from overseas, yet the caller had a local, California ent. This had aroused his interest.

    Would she call backter? ording to his experience, the chance was half and half.

    Some donors might have made an impulsive decision to donate, and regretted it after they had calmed down¨C¨Cmeaning they would never call back. Some donors randomly picked whom they made donations to. Most of the time they found the number of the Matthew Davis Foundation in the yellow pages and then made the call. If nobody answered, they would switch to a different agency. It didn¡¯t make much of a difference to the donor, anyway.

    Eddy couldn¡¯t do anything about it. He could only me the Lion Dance team this morning, which caused histe arrival. If he lost a huge donation to the Foundation because of it, it would be such a shame.

    Eddy stood by the window, nced at San Francisco in the misty drizzle, then took a sip of coffee to warm himself up.

    He hated the rain and hated getting wet in it, much like his mongrel cat at home. It was always rainy during this time of year in San Francisco, though. Consecutive days of damp and cold, cloudy weather made people feel horrible.

    After thinking for a while, he yed the voice message again. He had great ears and seemed to have heard meowing from the background. Was the caller a cat lover as well?

    What should he do? Should he dial back? The caller had been clear that she would call backter. Maybe dialing back right now would upset her, or make her feel untrusted¡­

    Eddy hesitated.

    Ring!

    At the very moment he hesitated, the phone rang again.

    ¡°Hello, you¡¯ve reached the donation office of the Matthew Davis Cancer Research Foundation¡­¡± the answering machine responded automatically. Eddy suddenly realized that the answering machine had not been turned off yet, and picked up the phone immediately.

    ¡°Hey¨C¨Chello, this is Eddy Lewis,¡± he said.

    ¡°Hello. This is Katherine Donna Ryan. You can call me Kathy.¡± It was the same voice as earlier.

 Chapter 693: Some People Are Dead; She Is Still Alive

    <h4>Chapter 693: Some People Are Dead; She Is Still Alive</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Even though Eddy was 99% sure that the person on the phone was the one who called earlier, he still both carefully and politely asked, ¡°Erm¡­ okay, Kathy. It was you who called earlier, right? I arrived at the officete today, so I¡¯m really sorry that I missed the call.¡±

    ¡°Yes, and it¡¯s okay. I did say I would call back again,¡± the person on the other end of the line said. ¡°You are Eddy, right? My name is Louise. Can I call you Eddy?¡±

    ¡°Sure, of course.¡± Eddy shifted himself to a morefortable position as he sat on the chair. ¡°Kathy, what can I do for you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s like this, Eddy¨C¨CI would like to donate a sum of money to your Foundation. Can you let me know the remittance ount number for the Foundation?¡±

    ¡°Oh! Please allow me to represent the Foundation and extend to you our sincerest gratitude for your generosity!¡± Eddy happily switched on hisputer. ¡°But please understand that we still have some procedures that need to be done, if you do not mind. To ensure your rights and interests, I will have to record this conversation.¡±

    ¡°Please, I do not mind,¡± the other party said.

    Eddy subsequently pressed the recording and hands-free button and pulled out the information database from theputer. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ve begun the recording. Now can you tell me your full name again?¡±

    ¡°I am Katherine Donna Ryan,¡± the voice said.

    With every word the other person said, Eddy would type out the respective letters.

    ¡°Katherine Donna Ryan?¡± Looking at the results that appeared on his screen, Eddy was stumped. He repeated the name another time, ¡°Er, Ms. Ryan¨C¨CI mean Kathy¨C¨C have you donated money to our Foundation before?¡±

    ¡°Yes I have, but I can¡¯t remember the donation process. My memory isn¡¯t that good anymore since I¡¯m at that age, you know,¡± the person over the line stated, using a perfunctory tone as if they were trying to hide something.

    ¡°But¡­¡± Eddy swallowed a mouthful of saliva while staring at the screen before stating with much difficulty, ¡°Kathy, your previous donation was made in the form of a will¡­ Listen, no matter who you are, this joke isn¡¯t funny.¡±

    Eddy quickly browsed through the donation records for Katherine Donna Ryan. She had made a number of donations to the Foundation over the past ten years. The donation amount was different each time, but they were all designated to be used in lung cancer research. Thest donation figure had thergest amount; it was processed by awyer as her will.

    Was it a repeated name? It was very rare to have the same first name, surname, and middle name, much less choosing the same Foundation for a donation. It couldn¡¯t be a coincidence; the only exnation would be that this was a prank.

    ¡°I know, I know,¡± the person over the lineughed. ¡°I understand how you feel. The matter with the will is not wrong, but¡­ an ident happened. Initially, I thought that I was gone for good¨C¨Ceven thewyer and doctor thought so¨C¨Cbut I survived in the end. Look, I¡¯m all healthy again and on a holiday now in China¡ªcan you hear the firecracker noises outside? They are having their New Year¡¯s now, so it¡¯s really lively here!¡±

    Eddy said, ¡°Of course, I know it¡¯s the New Year¡¯s period. Why do you think I waste this morning?

    Feeling thirsty, Eddy picked up a paper cup filled with coffee and emptied it. He switched the receiver to the other ear and wedged it between his shoulder.

    ¡°Hold on for a moment; please do not hang up.¡±

    He pushed the hold call key on thendline telephone before he essed the old voice recording data for when Katherine Donna Ryan made her previous donations. He started to y the recordings.

    A voice¨C¨Cexactly the same as the one over the phone¨C¨Ccould be hearding from theputer¡¯s speaker. Other than the outdated audio file and a slight distortion caused by the conversion from analog signal to digital signal, Eddy judged that it was definitely the same person.

    So, thewyer and doctor really made a mistake?

    The doctor misdiagnosed and issued the death certificate, and thewyer then proceeded to donate all of her assets to the Foundation with that death certificate? It sounds rather ridiculous¡­

    With all of that, Eddy took a deep breath. From the bottom of his heart, he felt sympathy for both the doctor andwyer. How much money do they have topensate her for making such a serious error? The doctor¡¯s license might even be suspended for life.

    It must be the case; there seems to be no other reasonable exnation for this.

    Eddy closed the old recording files and reconnected the call. ¡°Kathy, are you still there?¡±

    ¡°Yes I am, Eddy. Have you confirmed what you needed to?¡± The other partyughed, as if anticipating Eddy¡¯s reaction.

    Eddy cleared his throat. ¡°I apologize, Kathy. I misunderstood you earlier.¡±

    ¡°Of course you did. Who would fake another person¡¯s name to make a donation? It¡¯s not like we¡¯re here to withdraw relief funds.¡± The other partyughed and epted his apology. ¡°Okay, now let¡¯s move on to the real business.¡±

    Although what she said made sense, Eddy still felt like something was amiss, but he was not able to find any reason or proof to support his suspicions.

    ¡°Kathy, do you have a fax machine on your end? I will need to fax over a copy of the confirmation letter for the donation to you. Our bank ount will be on the confirmation letter and we support fund transfers through PayPal, too. Can you fill up the letter and fax it back to me? Is that okay with you?¡±

    There was a pause on the other end of the call. The handset transmitter was covered up, and it seemed like the other party was discussing something with someone before returning to the call with a slightly bothered tone. ¡°Can¡¯t you just give me the ount number? Must it be so troublesome?¡±

    Eddy was caught off guard for a moment before he exined, ¡°Forgive me, Kathy, but this was your request for all of the previous donations, because of your request to have the donations used in the funding for the research towards lung cancer. If you do not wish to limit the usage of the funds, then it would no longer be necessary for you to fill out the confirmation letter. So, Kathy, do you wish to limit the usage for the funds, or would you prefer not to ce any limits?¡±

    Just like earlier, the other party paused for a moment and continued with a resigned tone, ¡°Fine, fine. Fax the letter over to this number here.¡±

    Eddy faxed over the confirmation letter.

    ¡°Kathy, have you received the confirmation letter?¡±

    Momentster, the voice responded, ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve received it, but how do I fill this thing out?¡±

    The suspicions in Eddy¡¯s heart grew. Although Kathy¡¯s previous transactions were not handled by me, she should have already filled out countless confirmation letters by now. Why is she still having trouble filling out the letter?

    Regardless, Eddy still patiently exined, ¡°On the first section, you will have to fill in your email address and residential address, so that we can send you the donation receipt. For the second section, you will have to select your funding target from a single selection to multiple selections. You will be able to see selections like lip cancer, colorectal cancer, galldder cancer, liver cancer, bone cancer, and names of various different cancer types. If you n to only fund the research for liver cancer, please select option number ten. The third section will be for you to fill in the amount that you wish to donate. As for thest section, please check the reason for your donation as listed below there: in memory of someone, to pay tribute to someone, or if you just wanted to make the donation.¡±

    There were rustling noises, heavy breathing, and mumblinging from the other end of the phone, as if the person was softly grumbling while filling out the letter. asionally, noises of cats meowing and dogs barking could be faintly heard, too.

    Not more than a few minutester, the other party put down their pen and said, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ve filled it all out. Now, what do I do? Can I make the transfer now?¡±

    It was Eddy¡¯s first time meeting someone in such a hurry to make a donation, as if they could not wait to donate out their money.

    He licked his lips and said, ¡°Please sign on the signature line of the confirmation letter, then fax it back to me.¡±

    ¡°What? I still have to sign?¡±

    The other party seemed to be very surprised and unwilling to sign, but Eddy insisted on getting their signature.

    With no other choice, as if exining themselves, the person exined, ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I hand-wrote something. I¡¯ve almost forgotten my own signature¡­¡±

    Eddy said, ¡°Even if it has been a while since you wrote something, is it even possible for you to forget how to write your own name?¡±

    Momentster, the fax machine started to ring as the faxed document arrived.

    ¡°Eddy, is that all?¡± the other person asked.

    Eddy pulled over the document, gave a quick nce at the donation amount that stated ¡°$4,000.00,¡± and replied, ¡°Yes, Kathy. I¡¯ve received the confirmation letter, so you can transfer the donation now.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± the other person said. ¡°Please confirm the amount transferred.¡±

    Eddy refreshed the page for the bank ount and saw that $4,000 had been transferred to the ount. ¡°Once again, allow me to express our sincerest gratitude to you! We assure you that every single cent of your donation shall be used per your request to fund the battle against cancer.¡±

    During the time Eddy had been rendering his services in the Matthew Davis Foundation, he had repeated this line of his countless times and would continue to in the future.

    ¡°Okay, Eddy,¡± the other person said in a rxed tone. ¡°That should be all, then. Have a great day ahead. See you!¡±

    ¡°See you, Kathy.¡±

    The person hung up the call.

    Beeping noises were heard from the handset receiver. Eddy, too, ced the handset down and switched off the recording.

    Although the process was a little strange, in the end, the donation went quite smoothly.

    Receiving a donation amount of $4,000 right when he started work was a great start for the day. It was enough to brighten his depressed mood from the terrible weather, just like sunbathing at the beach under the sun.

    Humming an old, ssic song from a few years back, Eddy pulled open the drawer of his desk with the intention of temporarily keeping the confirmation letter in there, until tonight where he would file it in before getting off from work.

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    Right at the bottom of the confirmation letter, Eddy noticed the person¡¯s signature: ¡°Katherine Donna Ryan.¡±

    Nothing wrong with the name, but the problem was that¡­ how could the handwriting be so ugly? Even a primary school student could write better!

    The horrendous signature and the person¡¯s voice both gave Eddy two strikingly different impressions.

    Soon enough, he noticed thest section of the confirmation letter¡ªif this donation was made in a memory of someone, to pay a tribute, or just with an intention to donate.

    The person selected the second option: paying a tribute to someone. On the nk space beside it was written ¡°K.D.R.¡±

    Which meant that the person donated this amount as a tribute to a person with the initials of ¡°K.D.R.¡±

    K.D.R¡­

    Incidentally, the abbreviation for Katherine Donna Ryan was K.D.R too.

    Paying a tribute to herself? Or is it just a coincidence?

    Eddy examined the confirmation letter that he was holding onto. The more he dwelled on this issue, the stranger it felt for him.

    No matter what, that voice he heard over the phone was certainly that of Katherine Donna Ryan¡¯s. Eddy trusted his hearing, so he was certain that he could not be wrong.

    So how could one exin this?

    Eddy stood up, leaned on the windowsill, and looked off into the distance.

    The light rain continued to fall. Based on his familiar understanding of the San Francisco weather, the rain would not stop anytime soon. Within the parking lot were a few familiar vehicles. There were no new cars driving in, so it seemed as though there would be no visitors for the time being.

    Eddy nced over at thendline telephone again; it was just lying there on the desk without any intention of ringing.

    ¡°Okay, fine.¡± It seemed like Eddy had just made up his mind. ¡°Let¡¯s take a look, Katherine Donna Ryan. Just what secret are you hiding?¡± he mumbled to himself.

    Eddy clutched the confirmation letter in his hands, switched on the telephone answering machine, locked the doors of his office, and left.

    He turned a corner, arriving outside the office of the colleague he greeted earlier in the corridor.

    The namete on the door read: The Archives.

    Eddy knocked before pushing the door open and entering the room. ¡°Hi! Jason!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s up, Eddy? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re heading to the pub now. It¡¯s not time to knock off yet right?¡± Jason joked as he looked at his watch. He was seated right behind his desk.

    Eddyughed. ¡°No, Jason, I have an issue. Help me find a few copies of past archived confirmation letters¨C¨Cthe donor is Katherine Donna Ryan.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Jason asked in a concerned tone.

    ¡°There¡¯s no problem at the moment. I just wanted to check.¡± Before things were made clear to him, Eddy did not want to spread the word to everyone.

    ¡°Sure, let me take a look.¡± Jason checked theputer and, soon enough, he found of the portfolio number. He then retrieved the files from the filing cabs and handed them to Eddy.

    Eddy opened up the age-old portfolio, picking out a few confirmation letters.

    A detailedparison was not needed, as it only took him one nce to see that the signatures on these confirmation letters werepletely different from the one he received earlier. The words on these letters were neat and beautifully written, making it obvious that they were not written by the same person. Another thing he noticed was that on the section for the reasons of donation, it was selected as ¡°in memory of someone¡± for these few confirmation letters, and the person in memory of was Katherine Donna Ryan¡¯s deceased husband, who passed away due to lung cancer.

    There was only a single exception in the few confirmation letters. This specific one was submitted by awyer named Adams. Attached to the letter was a photocopy of the will execution authorization letter.

    Eddy quietly read through it a few times. He did not make any noise and memorized the contact details ofwyer Adams before he slotted the confirmation letters back into the portfolio and ced it back in its original position.

    ¡°Thanks, I¡¯ll be treating the alcohol tonight¨C¨Cthat is, if the rain stops.¡± Eddy waved to Jason as he left the archives.

    ¡­

    China, Binhai City, Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

    Zhang Zian hung up the call and said with a guilty conscience, ¡°Why do I feel like this person is rather attentive¡­ he won¡¯t pick up any problems, will he?¡±

    ¡°Ga ga! Probably not, but if there are any problems, they would definitely stem from your dog poo of a signature!¡± Richard cried out while pping its wings. ¡°I have to say, are you an idiot that can only hang me upside down when you have nothing to do? Why did you not practice your signature?¡±

    ¡°Your poop might not be any nicer looking than a dog¡¯s poop.¡± Famous, who coincidentally came up to drink some water, overheard what Richard said. Immediately Famous retaliated, as it was displeased with what Richard said.

    ¡°Even if I were to practice my signature, I wouldn¡¯t be practicing it with other people¡¯s names, right?¡± Zhang Zian protested against the unfairness. ¡°Are you ming me now? I thought that a donation would be as simple as just transferring the money over. How would I know that there would be so many troublesome procedures?¡±

    Richard raised one of its wings, pointed towards the rope dangling from the ceiling, and cried out, ¡°Ga ga! Who else to me but you? I would advise you to hang yourself!¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°This stupid bird is looking for trouble again!¡±

 Chapter 694: The Chinese Zodiac

    <h4>Chapter 694: The Chinese Zodiac</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Making a donation to the Matthew Davis Cancer Research Foundation in Kathy¡¯s name was a refreshing experience, but it was only a small episode of daily life. It was soon forgotten by Zhang Zian and had been moved to the corner of his memory.

    Life had to continue. He had the same usual start to his daily business and work schedule: He woke up, practiced his boxing, and cleaned the shop.

    Lu Yiyun came to work with Jasmine on her back and the graphic tablet in her arms.

    Before long, Wang Qian and Li Kun, who had not been seen for days, showed up in the shop wearing new clothes and carrying local produce in their hands, looking merry and festive.

    ¡°Come and taste it, everyone. We brought this from home¨C¨Cit¡¯s homemade and absolutely clean.¡± They shared their local snacks with Zhang Zian and Lu Yiyun. Most of them were smoked or dried fish and meat, while the others were fish and meat prepared in unknown ways. They tasted good; the rustic cooking of the countryside gave them a special vor.

    Zhang Zian was more concerned with another question: ¡°How much red packet money did you get for the New Year?¡±

    They started counting with their fingers.

    ¡°I got 3400 RMB.¡±

    ¡°Haha, I got 3800 RMB¨C¨Calmost enough for a new phone. Too bad that I can¡¯t afford an iPhone.¡±

    ¡°That much?¡± Zhang Zian leaned himself against the broomstick, his face full of envy.

    Wang Qian sighed. ¡°We got more this year thanst year. One reason is that our rtives gave us more money after knowing that we won the Merit Student award. Another reason is that we are graduating from University this year, and we won¡¯t get red packet money anymore. This is ourst supper.¡± She said this with regret.

    Zhang Zian thought about it, then proposed a bad idea. ¡°How about dying the graduation?¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun said, ¡°Master, please don¡¯t be a jinx. Especially not during the Chinese New Year¡­¡±

    Lu Yiyun was envious as well. She didn¡¯t say anything, though; she just ate the snacks in her hand in silence.

    ¡°Right. The two of you go to the food market first and get two fresh Crucian Carps,¡± Zhang Zian instructed them.

    ¡°Oh, did the cats in the shop give birth to kittens? We saw the message in the public ount but couldn¡¯t do anything to help you back then¡­¡±

    They understood what he was saying right away. ¡°We either smoke or preserve the fish in our hometown. We don¡¯t have fresh fish.¡±

    ¡°Cut the nonsense and hurry up. Come back quickly. I¡¯m waiting to make the soup.¡±

    Zhang Zian sent them out while he cleaned the shop himself. He asked Lu Yiyun to clean up the branch store next door.

    As the New Year¡¯s holidays came to an end, the shops on Zhonghua Road reopened for business one after another. The peddlers at the food market also restarted their business, and Wang Qian and Li Kun could buy fish there every day again. Zhang Zian no longer needed Snowy to send the fish over.

    Unlike the usual days, Fina wasn¡¯t dozing off on the cat tree. It stared at the pedestrians outside curiously and asked, ¡°What¡¯s happening in this country today? Why do all the pedestrians look as if their mothers have passed away?¡±

    ¡°Something big is happening,¡± Zhang Zian answered while sweeping the floor. ¡°As the Spring Festival break is over, people have to go back to work. Soon, the students will go back to school.¡±

    ¡°Pooh!¡± Fina said. ¡°Should the servants of our godly kingdom have such azy and sloppy attitude? I¡¯m sending all of them to build the pyramid!¡±

    ¡°All right, all right. We¡¯ll surely build a big and solid pyramid, which will never fall down in tens of thousands of years,¡± Zhang Zian responded half-heartedly while telling himself that he shouldn¡¯t be too serious about it.

    ¡°That¡¯s the way it should be. There are a lot of people in this country, anyway.¡± Fina yawned with satisfaction, then asked as if it suddenly remembered something. ¡°Oh, right. These days the TV has been talking about ¡®out with the old, in with the new¡¯ and ¡®restless chickens and dogs,¡¯ etc. What do they mean?¡±

    ¡°¡®Restless chickens and dogs?¡¯ I believe you mean ¡®dogse after chickens!¡¯ Don¡¯t misuse the expressions¡­¡± Zhang Zian exined, not knowing whether tough or cry. ¡°This is the Chinese Zodiac, in which the doges after the chicken, and the piges after the dog. It makes a full circle every 12 years.¡±

    ¡°Oh, is that so?¡± Fina thought about it, and then asked seriously, ¡°Where is cat, then? Before the chicken?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know how to respond. There was not a cat in the Chinese Zodiac, which was known among all Chinese people. How could he exin this to this cat who was feeling so great about itself?

    He looked at Old Time Tea for help, but Old Time Tea lowered the rim of its bamboo hat to focus on the TV.

    Famous was lying next to the reclining chair. It didn¡¯t fall asleep, but it kept its eyes tightly closed as if it was ying dead. It was determined not to get involved in this.

    Fina observed the faces around it. Then its expression turned serious immediately.

    Zhang Zian used some quick wits and tried to muddle through this. ¡°After the piges the mouse, after the mousees the cow, after the cowes the feline¡­ family.¡±

    The word ¡°feline¡± was loud, while the word ¡°family¡± was quiet.

    Tiger is part of the feline family, right?

    Zhang Zian¡¯s smart scheme didn¡¯t escape Fina¡¯s ears, however.

    ¡°Feline family? What is a feline family?¡± Fina stared at him coldly. ¡°I¡¯m ordering you to tell me the truth. If I ever find out again from Pi¡¯s novel that you are fooling me, well¡­¡±

    The ¡°well¡± was pronounced in such a long and meaningful way that it made Zhang Zian shudder. He felt that it was a mistake to encourage Pi to write a novel.

    ¡°Meow, meow, meow! Your Majesty, this man is making up stories again!¡±

    Snowy Li would certainly jump out in such an asion. It licked its paws and stared at Zhang Zian¡¯s pants with an evil intention. ¡°Your Majesty, he¡¯s fooling you. There isn¡¯t a cat in the Chinese Zodiac. The so-called ¡®feline family¡¯ is actually a tiger!¡±

    ¡°Tiger?¡± Fina was more astonished than angry. ¡°There is no ¡®cat¡¯ in the Chinese Zodiac? Tell me, then¨C¨Cwhich 12 animals are in the Chinese Zodiac?¡±

    ¡°Meow, meow, meow! Let me think. There should be the mouse, cow, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse,mb, monkey, chicken, dog¡­ and him!¡± Snowy Li pointed at Zhang Zian.

    ¡°You are the pig!¡± Zhang Zian was unwilling to take the insult.

    Snowy Li waved its paws to demonstrate power. ¡°Pooh, pooh, pooh! Calling you a pig is apliment. Pigs are better than you¨C¨Ca lying, foul man!¡±

    ¡°Even mice are included? And the dragon¨C¨Cthe non-existent animal¨C¨Chas joined the party? But our mighty Mytha is not there!¡± Fina said in anger. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with this world? Whoever made up this Chinese Zodiac should be sent away to build the pyramid!¡±

    ¡°When the Chinese Zodiac was being made, your Mytha had not yet been brought into China. After you finally arrived, it was alreadyte and the Zodiac had already been made¡­¡± Zhang Zian answered in honesty. ¡°Mice were infesting things everywhere and were damaging everything. They didn¡¯t have any natural predators, so people feared them. If they had cats back then, mice would have been out of the picture.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not toote to make amends,¡± Fina said with self-righteousness. ¡°I have made a decision. Starting the next year of the mouse, everyone born in that year will take the cat as their Zodiac sign! Or it¡¯s okay to change all Zodiac signs into cats, such as Siamese cats, British Shorthair, Ragdoll¡­they will take turns. Of course, Egyptian Mau must be put first!¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless and pondered. Luckily, ancient Egypt didn¡¯t rule the world. Otherwise, my Zodiac sign will be Devon Rex¡­

 Chapter 695: The World Belongs to Cats

    <h4>Chapter 695: The World Belongs to Cats</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    All twelve of the zodiacs would be cats!

    With the brainless support of Snowy Li, Fina had a growing feeling that its thoughts on the matter were well-reasoned. Fina had even started to seriously consider the order of the new twelve zodiacs. Picking twelve breeds from the numerous cat breeds was actually quite a tough decision to make, too. Which breed to pick and which to not?

    Snowy Li shamelessly fought for a position to take over the dragon spot with the Linqing Chausie Cats, its reason being, ¡°Since dragons do not even exist, or are long extinct, at least the Linqing Chausie Cats still has this one here!¡±

    Everyone chimed in with one another and, soon enough, the new twelve zodiacs had their new selection and order. The Dragon Li Cats took over the spot of the Tiger. Even Old Time Tea took it seriously and held much gratitude to Fina.

    Zhang Zian had just let them be, allowing them to continue with their absurd ideas, while he cleaned up the area and pretended to not hear anything. Zian had thought that he had no further business in this absurdity, but who knew?

    Fina suddenly red at him and said, ¡°You, mortal, shall be responsible to announce this queen¡¯s will to the world! This queen is aware that the custom is deeply rooted and will be hard to change in a short period, which is why leniency shall be given, permitting the new change of the twelve zodiacs to start from the next rat year. Do you understand?¡±

    Zian said helplessly, ¡°I¡¯m just an ordinarymoner. How do you want me to announce your will to the world?¡±

    ¡°That is not this queen¡¯s business,¡± Fina said unreasonably. ¡°Anyway, this queen¡¯s decree has been issued, so if no change is implemented by the next rat year¡­¡±

    ¡°Castration! Castration!¡± Snowy Li proactively volunteered. ¡°Your Majesty, he does not even have the capabilities to take on the task¨C¨Cbased on what this one sees¨C¨Cso why not just castrate him right now?¡±

    A castration before even using it once? No way!

    In a panic, Zhang Zian quick-wittedly thought of an idea and suggested, ¡°How about this¨C¨Cisn¡¯t Pi writing a novel right now? Let¡¯s have Pi add this segment into its novel. We can treat it as an announcement to the world.¡±

    Zian did all he could to persuade Fina before it finally, reluctantly, epted the suggestion, but it was only temporary. If no change was implemented by the next rat year, Fina would still hold him responsible.

    Zhang Zian could only count a day as it passed¡ªmuddling along. If he was unable to find a solution by the next rat year, he would have to say goodbye to his little nuts¡­

    Lu Yiyun returned with a cloth and a bucket. She had already cleaned up the neighboring second floor; as for the first floor, since it was currently empty, there was no need to clean anything.

    Holding on to two carps that were not fully dead yet, Wang Qian and Li Kun, too, returned and generously refused to ept the reimbursement from Zhang Zian. Zhang Zian, too, did not insist on returning the money to them, since the two of them had once again received a windfall.

    Zian went up to the kitchen on the second floor to stew the fish before he headed down again to clean up the area with the rest of them. With four people working together, they made quick progress andpleted the cleaning tasks without taking much time.

    When Zian took out the trash, he noticed the people outside were just as what Fina had described. Every single one of them was in low spirits and seemingly unwilling to head back to work. A sense of lethargy could be felt from them; many had dark circles under their eyes and looked ahead. The whole street was filled with middle-aged, greasy men¡­

    This could be due to ack of proper rest during the long, festive break. Many people spent their time stuffing themselves, having mad fun, or spending the whole night ying mahjong with their rtives.

    This, too, was inevitable, since the customs were simr. Those that have spent a busy year in their workce would have to spend this rare, long vacation having fun with their family to maintain their rtionships.

    Compared to that, Zian was already very lucky. He had a fruitful New Year¡¯s, and his only regret was that he did not receive any mary gifts. He could only snatch virtual red packets from the various group chats on WeChat as a form of constion.

    After throwing the trash in the designated rubbish collection point, Zian went to the neighboring branch to check on the kittens.

    The kittens were growing quickly, benefitting from sufficient nutrition. Thergest kitten had already shown signs of opening its eyes, and the fur on its body grew longer as the days went by. It was slowly changing its appearance from arge rat when birthed to a cute little kitten.

    The two female cats had to bear the effects of the nourishment of the kittens. The more they ate, they more they had to relieve themselves. The cat litter had to be cleaned daily and the windows had to be opened for venttion during the warmest period in the afternoon.

    Zian observed for a while. The two female cats both had a great appetite and were filled with energy. They were recovering well and there were no signs of calcium deficiency, which was a good sign. Calcium deficiency was a verymon urrence for cats and dogs that had just gone throughbor, but it was usually neglected by the owners. As for the consequences of calcium deficiency, they could be observed from the video recording that Famous and Old Time Tea had secretly recorded at Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base¡­

    The kitten that was chosen by Tang Yuyun was still restless as ever, while its siblings were quietly resting within their mothers embrace. It would always attempt to run out of the nesting area and had to be brought back to its mother countless times.

    After a moment, after having all that it needed to eat and drink, the female cat seemed tired; it nced over at Zhang Zian before closing its eyes to rest. The little kitten once again quietly ran out from the nesting area and was caught by Zhang Zian. Zian brought the kitten over to the kitchen and ced it on a scale to measure its weight before taking a few photos. He then sent them to Tang Yuyun¡¯s WeChat to let her know that the kitten is all right and growing well, so she did not have to worry.

    Momentster, Zian ced the kitten back beside its mother and found a piece of cardboard box to block off the exit so that the kitten would not be able to run out again.

    After ensuring that both the female cat and kitten had no abnormalities, he headed downstairs. He looked around at the empty first floor, deliberating what new kind of pets to bring in.

    One does not simply bring in a new pet; there are many things that require careful consideration. What kind of pets does one get and where does one bring them in from?

    Any valuable pets are hoarded by every pet store or breeding base as a raremodity. If someone is not able to offer up a rtively high price for an exchange, they would not share them.

    Zian had to go through so much and a lot of effort was put in when he brought in the Ragdoll Cats; as for the chocte Abyssinian Cats, however, they were purely a coincidence and can¡¯t be taken in for consideration.

    Birds were basically out of the question. The local Phoenix House was well established and it was operating on arge scale, so it was hard to get anything off their tes to share. Not only that, the location of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop was in the urban district, and the neighboring area did notck residents. Raising arge number of birds might disturb the neighbours or even spread diseases¨C¨Cespecially bird flu, where both humans and animals could get infected. Bird flu had to be carefully treated, or else it would be toote when something happened.

    Although¡­ raising only a few birds would be fine, but they would have to be rare breeds, and where would he get them from?

    The Phoenix House relied on their connections with Binhai University to bring in rare breeds of birds under the excuse of research purposes, but Zian did not have any channels that required such connections.

    Ever since he took over the pet store, he had set a ¡°Quality over Quantity¡± business principle. He did not wish to have everything; all he needed is something new and fresh.

    While Zian was lost in his thoughts, pacing around the empty first floor, he heard a loud horn from outside the store that startled him.

    A cargo van stopped right outside the entrance; on the vehicle body was a marking that stated something in logistics.

    Masanori Suzuhara alighted the vehicle with a few others, shouting from right outside the store, ¡°Is Mister Manager in? The automated dog washing machine has arrived!¡±

 Chapter 696: Washing Cats and Dogs

    <h4>Chapter 696: Washing Cats and Dogs</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The automatic dog washer was a bulky item¨C¨Cbig and heavy. Before it arrived, the courier servicepany had confirmed with Zhang Zian. After getting a positive response, they delivered it on the first working day after the Spring Festival.

    Masanori Suzuhara followed the truck to make sure that everything was okay. The machine¡¯s instruction manual was written in Japanese, after all, so it turned out that she had been overly concerned. Even if the user could not read Japanese, the machine came with cartoon-style instructions at the front.

    Zhang Zian knew that the automatic dog washer would be delivered today but didn¡¯t expect it to arrive at such an early hour.

    By the time he walked outside the branch store, the workers of the courier servicepany were already carefully unloading the truck.

    Despite the fact that he had confirmed the length, width, and height, as well as other measurements of the automatic dog washer, it was bigger than he had imagined. Each automatic dog washer was equivalent to three vending machines standing side-by-side. The silver, stainless steel front panel was shining in the sun, looking rather stylish.

    The front of the automatic dog washer was simple and clean, with a square, acrylic ss front panel that could open and close. There was an airtight seal around it, just like a front-loading washing machine. In addition, it had a small sma screen. Since it was unplugged at that moment, the sma screen was off.

    In fact, the design of the automatic dog washer was notplicated. If a domestic manufacturer were interested, they could easily duplicate it, except that maybe the manufacturers were concerned that the cat and dog washing market was too small and very few customers might buy them. They might end up losing money, so they gave up; however, there had to be the first person to eat crab in the world. Zhang Zian was going to taste this ¡°crab¡± today.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun came out of the shop to watch. They held the ss door, one on the left and the other on the right, so that the courier workers could carry the machines inside.

    ¡°Sir, where shall we ce it?¡±

    ¡°This way, please. Gently¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian instructed them to ce the machine in the pet bathroom. After inspection and signature, they left with the truck.

    As thepany had promised, the specialized transformer was included. Masanori Suzuhara followed the instruction manual and plugged the dog washer the socket of the hair dryer through the transformer. In addition to this, much like a washing machine, the water inlet was connected to the tap, while the waste outlet was connected to the sewer.

    She exined the operation method and attention items patiently to Zhang Zian and others, including how to open the machine and remove the money inside. It was simple, straightforward, and easy to understand. After hearing these, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t wait to ask Lu Yiyun to get a few 100 RMB bills to try the machine.

    It was not only Lu Yiyun, Wang Qian, and Li Kun that made a circle around it; even the elfins surrounded it, ncing at the new pieces of equipment.

    Who should try them first?

    Zhang Zian nced around, then waved at Famous. ¡°Famous, you haven¡¯t taken a shower in days, have you? Come here for a shower.¡±

    Famous said, ¡°Do you think that I¡¯m a dumbass? I¡¯m not gonna be yourb rat!¡±

    Running out of options, Zhang Zian had to call Zhan Tian over.

    Maybe Zhan Tian was used to stainless steel cages or utensils at the police dog base; it didn¡¯t fear these two giant machines at all. Instead, it jumped inside, following Zhang Zian¡¯s order.

    Zhang Zian closed the ss panel slowly and observed for a while. Zhan Tian stood inside quietly and didn¡¯t seem to have any panic or fear.

    Zhang Zian was a bit concerned if it could breathe inside; however, Masanori Suzuhara pointed at the manual and told him that there was a vent inside.

    Zhang Zian got some dog shampoo and filled it into the shampoo tank at the back of the washer. He noticed that the shampoo tank was still wet and slimy. Apparently, these two machines had been shipped to the shop right after the exhibition, where they had done some demonstration.

    Everything was ready. He checked everything over again with Masanori Suzuhara to make sure that they didn¡¯t miss anything. After confirming that everything was fine, Zhang Zian selected Big Dog Mode on the sma screen and inserted two 100 RMB bills into the bill slot.

    The machine took the bills in, confirmed the amount, then initiated the washing sequence with a beep. In order to stop children from opening the ss panel, a child safety lock was activated during the washing process so that the panel could not be opened before the washing waspleted. To open the panel it needed to be unlocked.

    After a while, the shampoo was mixed with the instantly-heated tap water, which produced a lot of foam. The foam then sprayed out from both the front and the back.

    Zhan Tian turned white instantly, as most of its body was covered by foam. Only its head was not sprayed by bubbles, as it was located higher.

    Arge number of water droplets were sshed onto the ss lid, so that the inside was not clearly visible. Zhan Tian was neither screaming nor panicking, indicating that it had not been frightened.

    Zhang Zian noticed that the foam was not sprayed out from a fixed angle. It was rotating periodically to cover the few areas that had not been covered by bubbles, except the head.

    Masanori Suzuhara followed the manual and exined, ¡°There are four modules in automatic dog washing, including spraying, transmission, rinsing, and drying. The transmission rod is attached to three spray nozzles at both ends and rotates periodically after initiation. The water pressure can massage the dog.¡±

    ¡°It can even massage¡­¡± Zhang Zian eximed with envy. ¡°I don¡¯t get a massage when I wash myself.¡±

    After a while, the foam-spraying stopped. Zhan Tian stared at the whiteness covering itself with curiosity, as if it had fallen into a pile of snow.

    Afterwards, heated, clean water was sprayed from the six nozzles at the front and the back, rinsing off the bubbles all over its body. The bubbles, mixed with skin kes and hair, flew into the waste pipe through the holes of the anti-slip mat under Zhan Tian¡¯s paws, then flew down the sewer.

    Zhan Tian was all wet, and the hair was stuck tightly to the body, dropping water continuously.

    It wasing¡­

    As Zhang Zian just thought about this, Zhan Tian started shaking its body violently, sshing water in all directions.

    Everyone who had washed a dog had seen this. As long as dogs got wet, they shook their bodies instinctively to get rid of the water. Even Zhan Tian, a well-trained police dog, could not get rid of this instinct.

    They werefortable to get rid of the water, but not those who were washing them. It would be fine in the summer, as it might as well shower the owners at the same time; however, it was quite a headache in winter. If the owners had been sshed with water, they might catch a cold. If it was not warm enough indoors in the winter, the experienced owners would wash their dogs in raincoats. At least they wouldn¡¯t be sshed with water on their bodies. Their faces could not be spared, though.

    As Zhan Tian¡¯s body moved, Zhang Zian covered his face with his hands out of reflex. Next to him, Lu Yiyun, Masanori Suzuhara, Wang Qian and Li Kun all watched it without moving. They could not react as quickly, as they had not washed dogs often enough.

    Zhang Zian caught nothing on his hands, though, and his body was dry as well. The water ssh from Zhan Tian was all trapped inside the automatic dog washer. Not a single drop sshed outside. This was one of the advantages of automatic dog washers.

    With the advancement of technology and society, after the basic survival needs were met, people naturally started pursuing life quality. It was cheaper to wash dogs at home, and the owners could bond with dogs as well, but paying to wash dogs in a pet shop was chic and ssy, and it could save time. Besides, there were plenty of bonding opportunities with the dogs besides bathing. However, washing cats was a disaster to both the cats and the owners¡­

    Compared to traditional, manual dog washing in pet shops, the biggest advantage of automatic dog washers was to prevent the employees from being bitten by nasty dogs. Even the friendly dogs could bite when they were frightened. In case someone was bitten, a wave of ball-kicking and the rabies vine could be foreseen. That was the reason why Zhang Zian had not offered the dog washing service until now.

    There were chain stores in Taiwan with self-service pet bathrooms, in which dog washers were avable. Those dog washers were not automatic, though, and the owners had to wash their dogs themselves. It was simr to the self-service cat wash that Zhang Zian was offering, but it not as convenient as automatic dog washers at all.

    Regardless of washing cats or dogs, one of the challenges was drying the animals. The sting noise of the dryers could make them frightened or crazy, so much so that they might hide or attack the dryers.

    As Zhan Tian finished shaking, the drying system started. Limited by the size, the dryer noise could not be muted nor insted. There was enough space inside the automatic dog washer so that the hot hair would be blown out after making half a circle around the pipes instead of being blown out directly. The noise had been eliminated by more than a half.

    Hot air circted between the inlet and outlet vents at the front and the back of the machine. Zhan Tian¡¯s hair was being blown like a billowing wheat field in autumn. Zhan Tian squinted its eyes infort and shook its ears, enjoying the warm wind.

    The bubble-spraying and rinsing took four to five minutes altogether, but drying took 20 minutes. Zhang Zian felt the hydro bill burning!

    He knew this was necessary, though. If pets were notpletely dry after a bath in winter, they could catch a cold easily. Attention was needed in summer, fall, and spring as well, as damp hair was the ideal warm bed for germs and parasites.

    Like a washing machine, while the dog was being washed, the sma screen was disying the current sequence and the countdown. As the countdown came to zero, the dog washer beeped to announce the end of the washing cycle, and the child safety lock was automatically disabled.

    As Zhang Zian opened up the ss panel, Zhan Tian jumped out of it and sat on the floor with its tongue out. Its fur coat was shiny and slick, with the fresh scent of shampoo. The hair was dry down to the roots. It was not significantly different from a manual washing.

    ¡°Holy crap! Master, this is so clean! Cleaner than I have imagined!¡± eximed Wang Qian.

    Masanori Suzuhara smiled without a word, looking as happy as if she had been praised. She provided the information about the automatic dog washer to Zhang Zian and made all the connections. She had good reason to be proud, now that the machine had received great feedback.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if we can wash cats with it. It would be great if it can be used to wash cats, though.¡± Li Kun looked at Zhang Zian. ¡°Master, would you like to try washing a cat?¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t this be difficult?¡± As Masanori Suzuhara heard this, she stopped it immediately. ¡°I¡¯ve never had cats, but I¡¯ve heard of otherbs that had cats for experiments in the University. As they need to be washed before the experiments, it is a headache each time. If you use an automatic dog washer, the cats usually scratch and scream inside, sounding very sad¡­ although there are quiet cats, I heard there are very few.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, you don¡¯t need to worry about this.¡± Li Kun smiled. ¡°Our Master has the mighty power that has reached the Half Step Gold Elixir Phase. Regardless of cats or dogs, they will be trained to full obedience in the shop!¡±

    Even if Masanori Suzuhara knew Chinese very well, she had no idea about this immortality cultivation term, which made her clueless.

    Zhang Zian looked at Fina, who did not object. He felt that this was an approval.

    ¡°Okay then. Let¡¯s try to wash a cat.¡±

    ¡°Try with Jasmine, then. It needed a shower anyway.¡± Lu Yiyun brought Jasmine over in her arms. At first, she had some doubts about the automatic dog washer, but after witnessing the washing process of Zhan Tian just now, she was confident enough that nothing would go wrong.

    ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s use the other machine.¡± Zhang Zian took her to the other automatic dog washer. ¡°We can¡¯t mix cat shampoo with dog shampoo. If this works out, that one will be used to wash dogs, and this one will be dedicated to cats.¡±

    Lu Yiyun opened the ss panel and put Jasmine inside. She stroked its back tofort it. ¡°Jasmine, do not be afraid. It will be finished very soon.¡±

    Jasmine had no idea what was going on. It lifted its head and nced over the cold and strange machine with a hint of fear in its eyes.

    As Lu Yiyun drew out her hands, Jasmine wanted to follow them outside. She had to put it back again. As long as Jasmine refused to stay inside, she couldn¡¯t force herself to shut the door.

    ¡°Meow,¡± Fina meowedzily.

    Jasmine quivered and stayed silent as if it had received a sacred oracle. It stayed still in the automatic dog washer without moving.

    ¡°Plug its ears with this to prevent water from getting into the ear.¡± Zhang Zian brought some earplugs for cats. This was crucial, as it could prevent water from getting into the ear, and make the cats less frightened by noise.

    Without Fina, it was still possible to wash the cats, but as the owners heard their own cats screaming and jumping in the automatic dog washer, they may not allow it.

    Subjectively speaking, it was without doubt that automatic dog washers could significantly reduce the chances of employees being bitten and scratched during the wash. Zhang Zian grew up in the pet shop. Although he was never involved in the business operation, he had heard from his parents that employees of other pet shops had been bitten and scratched while washing cats and dogs, to the extent that they needed stitches. Without exaggeration, if the hand nerves had been hurt, it could leave some permanent damage.

    After getting ready, Lu Yiyun closed the ss panel, inserted a 100 RMB bill, and selected the Small Dog Mode. She ced her finger next to the unlock key of the child safety lock. As soon as Jasmine appeared frightened, she would open the lid immediately to release it.

    The automatic dog washer was initiated. As Small Dog Mode was selected, both the foam and water were sprayed at a low angle. Jasmine sat inside without moving. As the water level was below its head and no water went into its ears, contrary to what they had feared earlier.

    Apparently, washing cats with the automatic dog washer was entirely dependent on Fina. Without Fina, Jasmine would have bounced around inside, no doubt. Not only would water get into their ears, but the animal could hurt itself.

    After seeing Jasmine sitting quietly without fear, Lu Yiyun was greatly relieved.

 Chapter 697: For the Forgotten Memories

    <h4>Chapter 697: For the Forgotten Memories</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Lu Yiyun was operating the automated dog washing machine as the elfins and the others were watching from the side. The space for the pet bath area had always been cramped, so much so that the waters could not even be drained properly. Suddenly, a message alert rang from Zhang Zian¡¯s phone, and he then squeezed his way out of the pet bath area.

    Zian unlocked his phone to take a look. The message came from the Dog Warrior group chat that had been silent for a very long time¡ªsomeone had @him.

    Currently, all the crew members were in various ces; some were celebrating the New Year at home, while some others had joined a film crew for a new movie. Other than during New Year¡¯s Eve when the group was lively for a few hours due to the giving out of red packets, it had been some time since anyone had said anything.

    Executive Producer Nie Yuan had sent the following message: ¡°Members of the following staffs, please prepare your passports and Germany visas immediately in order to participate in the premiere of Dog Warriors at the Berlin Film Festival and to attend the award ceremony segment. Based on the situation, I will be leading the group with Director Feng assisting me as the co-leader. Everyone that is mentioned¡ªpeople and dogs¡ªis required to attend. If there are reasons for any absence, kindly message me privately with your reason and exnations.

    @Director

    @Assistant Producer

    @Assistant Director

    @Male Lead

    @Supporting Male Actor Number 1

    @Supporting Male Actor Number 2

    @Dog Lead (Requires thepany of its trainer)¡±

    The WeChat group became lively again, as everyone was looking forward to the Berlin Film Festival.

    Previously, when signing the performing arts contract, there was a use where Party B (Actor) had to proactively cooperate with Party A (Film crew) for any promoting or advertisement, including, but also not limited to, the premiere, meet-and-greet, and press conference, so on so forth. As for any costs incurred, Party A will be responsible for all necessary expenditures. Signing the contract meant that you agreed with these uses. Zhang Zian, who personally felt that he was notw-ignorant, would definitely abide by the contract.

    The way Nie Yuan phrased his words, however, it felt like Zian himself was Famous¡¯s entourage¡­

    Zian was in possession of a passport¡ªhe had it done before he went to America¡ªbut for the visa, he would have to make a trip to the conste. Aside from that, he also had to process the boarding procedures for Famous. Unlike Richard, it was obvious that Famous was unable to use the same excuse of ¡°research purposes¡± to be in the passengerpartment. Keeping Famous in the phone and only letting it out when Zian stepped foot in Germany was not an option, either, as it might arouse some suspicions. Since Famous was one of the leading actors, there would be a lot of eyes on him, and he would especially attract the attention of the reporters.

    Zian couldn¡¯t say for sure if there would be any Western reporters looking for a big scoop that would try to dig out which flight Famous was on. If the reporter was unable to find any boarding details, though¡­

    ¡°Famous,¡± Zian gestured to Famous, calling Famous up to the second floor before exining the situation to it. The main part of the exnation was to let Famous know that it was unable to enter the passengerpartment and would have to be ced in the pet cargo hold.

    Before the start of the Spring Festival, a few local airlinepanies introduced a pet transportation cabin service which allowed some pets to tag along with their owners in the cabin until they reach their destination, but not all pets were included. The pet¡ªincluding its cage¨C¨Cmust not exceed five kilograms of weight, which would mean that most adult dogs, and some adult cats, were excluded from this service¡ªsuch as, for example, an orange-colored cat named Fina¡­

    This service was directed at domestic cats and dogs; other kinds of animals were not included in the service.

    Famous¡¯s weight was way over five kilograms. It was definite that Famous would not be allowed into the cabin, so he would have to be ced in the pet cargo hold.

    Zhang Zian exined all of these reasons to Famous just in case it had any thoughts or opinions against this. Zhang Zian thought it might feel insulted since it was not an ordinary dog, but was actually an elfin.

    Famous listened to Zian¡¯s exnation, but it did not care much about the arrangement.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Famous said proudly and generously. ¡°I¡¯m an actor, so I have to be conscientious and I don¡¯t mind being ced in a pet cargo hold. If my job required me to lie on top of the ne to fly there, I would do so, too.¡±

    Zhang Zian paused. The control tower staff would definitely not permit the ne from taking off then.

    ¡°Oh, right. Where did you mention we would be heading to?¡± Famous asked.

    ¡°Germany, Berlin. That should be considered your hometown, right?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Germany¡­¡± Famous turned its head to look at the far west, and within its eyes drifted emotions that Famous itself was unable to describe. There was a period of time when Famous thought that it was Rin Tin Tin¡ªthought that it came from the German Battlefield¡ªbut now Famous knew that it wasn¡¯t. It might just be an ordinary German Shepherd, passing through various ces before drifting to America, where its true hometown was. Famous no longer remembered.

    ¡°I¡¯m an actor; it is not important where my hometown is at,¡± Famous said. ¡°If necessary, my home could be anywhere.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°On this trip to Berlin, it is certain that many people will be aware of you¡ªthey might have heard your name and you might even get a new film contract.¡±

    Famous gave it some thought before shaking its head. ¡°A new film contract might happen, but I would not want to ept any and every crap movie, like those familyedies or reality shows on television. Those films can be left for the ordinary dogs¡ªI would not lower myself to take on those characters. I have already taken on way too many of those characters in the past.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew what it said was true; having Famous act as a character at home with its tongue out and acting cute was no different from using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. It was also an insult to Famous¡¯s acting capabilities.

    Famous highlighted, ¡°So you must definitely keep a close eye on the script. If it looks like a shoddy script that challenges how low the audiences IQ can go, just push it off for me. I would rather stay at home than act.¡±

    ¡°Then what kind of script are you more inclined towards?¡± Zhang Zian asked. ¡°Give me a rough idea so that I will be able to know.¡±

    Famous gave it some thought and said, ¡°It has to have some kind of meaning, even if it isn¡¯t thought-provoking. At the very least it should not be something like a popcorn flick, where the audience forgets it right after finishing the movie.¡±

    ¡°Sure, no problem,¡± Zhang Zian readily promised.

    ¡°Oh, one more thing.¡± Famous was just about to head downstairs when it stopped. ¡°I heard from Richard that you had donated the money you received from the sale of the kitten a few days back?¡±

    Richard, that bbermouth¡­

    Zhang Zian had decided that he would not only put Richard up tonight, but he would also tie up Richard¡¯s mouth.

    ¡°Yeah, but it wasn¡¯t much,¡± Zian admitted.

    ¡°Why?¡± Famous asked in all seriousness. ¡°A few thousand United States dors seems negligible to the research of cancer, even as a memorial for Kathy. There must be some other methods, right?¡±

    Zhang Zian did not expect Famous to ask such a question. Giving a moment of thought to the question, Zian answered, ¡°You are right if you put it that way, but every year there are 1.4 million people in the world dying from lung cancer¡ªthat would be an average of three people a minute. Just with this short conversation of ours that took a few minutes, there are already over ten people who have passed away from lung cancer. A few thousand U.S. dors, even if it is only able to bring forward the time for oveing lung cancer by a minute, is equivalent to saving the life of three people. So even if it is insignificant, I believe that there is no other method that is much more suitable to this as a memorial for Kathy.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? I feel the same, too. As for the preparations before leaving the country, you must have a lot of things to do, right? I will head down first.¡± Finishing what it wanted to say, Famous headed downstairs.

    In its heart, though, that wish to be an angel still existed¡ªno matter where its hometown was at, and no matter if it was Famous or Rin Tin Tin.

 Chapter 698: Emergency Visit

    <h4>Chapter 698: Emergency Visit</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian felt that Famous had a strange look on its face¨C¨Cas if it was about to say something, but it didn¡¯t.

    He didn¡¯t have time to think further. A lot of preparation was needed before traveling abroad, and time was precious.

    ¡°Yiyun, Wang Qian, and Li Kun, watch the shop for me first. I¡¯m going outside. You can eat on your own at noon, and don¡¯t order my lunch. I may not be back then.¡± He put on his jacket and spoke while going downstairs.

    ¡°Master, where are you going?¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun asked out of curiosity.

    ¡°I¡¯m heading to Germany with the Dog Warrior production crew, so I need to apply for a Visa today, along with other paperwork,¡± Zhang Zian exined briefly.

    ¡°Germany¡­ Master, are you going there to beat up the immortality cultivators in Germany?¡± Their faces were full of envy. ¡°Master, we want to go with you. We want to be your cheerleaders!¡±

    ¡°Stay here! You want to fly to heavens as well!¡± Zhang Zian answered grumpily.

    The drying procedure had finished in the automatic dog washer. After a beep, Lu Yiyun opened the ss panel, and Jasmine jumped out with fresh, clean har. It didn¡¯t enjoy the process, though, even with Fina¡¯s orders. Water was still annoying, no matter what.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, when are youing back?¡± She held up Jasmine, rubbed its body to pacify it, then asked with concern. She could more or less handle most customers, but not certain customers with weird questions. Without Zhang Zian in the shop, she didn¡¯t have enough confidence.

    ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯m not sure about the return date yet. Maybe it¡¯ll take a week or so. If we don¡¯t win anything, I¡¯ll be back earlier. If we win something, I¡¯ll be backter. But I¡¯m hoping to win an award, anyway,¡± Zhang Zian half-joked.

    The kittens were just born in the shop, and a lot of help was needed. He knew that if he had to leave now, the responsibility of taking care of the kittens would all fall upon Yu Yiyun. It was unrealistic to rely on Wang Qian and Li Kun, the two dumb-*sses.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Don¡¯t push too hard for the unreachable deals, either. Just let it be,¡± he encouraged her. ¡°Aren¡¯t you in a good rtionship with Snowy and Ting Ying from the photography club of Binhai University? If you feel bored, just call them over to spend time with you. They enjoy watching you paint.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Lu Yiyun nodded in agreement but still didn¡¯t really want to bother them in her heart.

    Zhang Zian thanked Masanori Suzuhara, ¡°Miss Suzuhara, thank you again for the connections you made! Without you, these two automatic dog washers would have never shown up in my shop.¡±

    When Masanori Suzuhara saw that the store owner was about to leave, she took the opportunity to say goodbye. ¡°Mr. Store Manager, you are too kind. I¡¯ll need your favor in the future. I need to go as well. I haven¡¯t taken Snoopy out for a walk yet today.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Watch your steps, and have a safe trip. I won¡¯t walk you out this time.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, you don¡¯t need to. I pass by this ce every day when I jog.¡± Masanori Suzuhara smiled and waved her hands. She took out her phone and took a few pictures of the automatic dog washers so that she can send them to thepany.

    After seeing Masanori Suzuhara leave, Zhang Zian walked out as well. Instead of heading to the German conste, he drove Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s car to return it to her clinic. He was also going to ask her for a vination record of Famous, which was needed in airne transport.

    He had known for a while that he might have to travel to Germany, but the vination record for boarding a pet was only valid for five days. After the expiration, it would be deemed invalid and the pet would not be allowed to board the flight. It was useless to get the record too early. Fortunately, he received news that Sun Xiaomeng had just returned from her hometown today. Otherwise, it would have been such a hassle.

    He parked the car in front of the pet clinic and then pushed the door open to enter.

    ¡°Happy New Year,¡± he greeted Long Xian, the nurse working at the cashier.

    Long Xian was handling some chores with her head down. As she heard the greeting, she lifted her head and saw Zhang Zian. She smiled. ¡°Manager Zhang, Happy New Year! Are you just visiting or looking for Xiaomeng for something?¡±

    ¡°I have something. Is she not around?¡± Zhang Zian tilted his head to look at the treatment facility. It was silent there; there seemed to be nobody around.

    ¡°A customer asked her for an emergency visit. She mighte back around noon,¡± Long Xian replied with uncertainty. ¡°Manager Zhang, if it¡¯s urgent, shall I leave a message to her?¡±

    An emergency visit on the first day back to work?

    Zhang Zian could not wait here in vain. He put the car key on the cashier counter. ¡°This is the key to her car. Please return it to her for me, and ask her to issue a pet vination record for boarding a flight. She can contact me through Wechat for details. This is urgent, so please tell her to do it as soon as possible.¡±

    Long Xian wrote it down carefully on her notepad. ¡°Is there anything else?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s all¡­¡± Zhang Zian was about to say goodbye, then he added, ¡°I¡¯m traveling abroad for a few days. When you have a free moment, feel free to visit my shop. Lu Yiyun is alone in the shop, and it¡¯s impossible for her tomunicate normally with Wang Qian and Li Kun¨C¨Cthose two idiots.¡±

    ¡°All right. No problem!¡± Long Xian stretched out her hand with a smile. ¡°However, Manager Zhang, you must send me a red packet.¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°¡­Fine. I¡¯ll send itter in Wechat.¡±

    ¡°Haha! Thank you in advance, Manager Zhang!¡± She made a bow with her fists, then shook her head with content.

    ¡°By the way, Sun Xiaomeng doesn¡¯t often visit the patients outside, does she? Why is she making a visit today?¡± asked Zhang Zian. ¡°What if you have other customers at the clinic?¡±

    Long Xian shrugged. ¡°We don¡¯t have any other options. If there are other customers, they have toe backter this afternoon, or another day.¡±

    She lowered her voice, ¡°Manager Zhang, it¡¯s true that Xiaoment doesn¡¯t usually make visits outside, but this is a special case today.¡±

    Zhang Zian was only asking a casual question, but Long Xian¡¯s mysterious secrecy made him curious. Curiosity was human nature, after all. ¡°What special case?¡±

    ¡°There was a well-known customer that called early this morning, when we just started the day. She said that she found a stray cat downstairs in very bad shape. It seems¡­¡± Long Xian hesitated a little, ¡°Seems to have been abused very badly.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Please go on,¡± Zhang Zian frowned and asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know the details. We¡¯ll have to hear from Xiaomeng after shees back¡­¡± Long Xian hinted that she didn¡¯t know much about it.

    As a young female vet visiting patients outside was risky. As far as Zhang Zian could remember, ever since he had known Sun Xiaomeng, she had never made door-to-door visits, regardless of how much danger the owner imed its pet was in. She always insisted that the owner should send the pet to the clinic.

    Why would a person as discreet as her make an exception and agree to pay a visit? Even without consulting Yuan Fang, he knew that there must be something special going on.

    After noticing that Zhang Zian was in doubt, Long Xian whispered, ¡°Manager Zhang, I heard it that the cat that was abused was one of the cats that escaped from Love Lovely Pets breeding base earlier¡­ after receiving the phone call, Xiaomeng med herself a lot. She felt that if she had not asked for your help for the sake of her own breeding base, the Love Lovely Pets incident would not have happened, the pets would not have escaped, and they would not have been abused.¡±

 Chapter 699: A Diamond the Size of a Duck Egg

    <h4>Chapter 699: A Diamond the Size of a Duck Egg</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Listening to Long Xian¡¯s exnation, Zhang Zian more or less understood the reason for her actions.

    Pet¡¯s Home Breeding Base, operated by Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s father, had always been affected by the low prices of Love Lovely Pets, and business results were very depressing. When she heard that Love Lovely Pets might be involved in illegal activities, out of a little selfishness, she took Sheng Ke¡¯s side and requested for Zhang Zian to think of something and investigate if there was any inside story to see if there were any truths to them being involved.

    After the mass breakout from Love Lovely Pets¡ªalthough Zhang Zian did not admit to any responsibilities regarding this incident¡ªalmost everyone who knew him were suspicious about his involvement, but there wasn¡¯t any evidence to prove it. He had a sufficient alibi the night the incident urred, for he had remained within Li¡¯s Snack Bar without stepping out even once during the entire incident.

    Earlier that morning, a call came in reporting an escaped cat from Love Lovely Pets that seemed to be suffering from severe physical abuse. Sun Xiaomeng felt a sense of self-usation due to the circumstances; she felt as though she was partly responsible for the effects of the incident.

    Does the incident actually have any rtion to her, though? Yes, but it wasn¡¯t her fault. If Love Lovely Pets were to operate within legal means, no one would be able to dig out any problems.

    After thinking it through, Zhang Zian decided to keep this incident to himself and to not let Old Time Tea and Famous know about it for now. He was worried that they, too, would me themselves, since it was the two of them who personally let the pets out of Love Lovely Pets. If either of them¡ªbe it Famous, who yearns to be an angel, or the heroic Old Time Tea¡ªwere to find out about this incident, they would definitely be sad and furious.

    Did Old Time Tea and Famous make a mistake? Most of the escaped animals were taken home and adopted; this is already a big victory. Even though a small number were recaptured by Love Lovely Pets and others became stray cats and dogs roaming the streets, it was not right to deny the act of justice done by Old Time Tea and Famous.

    Furthermore, cat abuse has existed since the ancient times. Early in the middle ages, domestic cats would be brutally massacred during witch hunts, and in the present modern era, those mentally unwell and perverse sometimes abused cats. Simr incidents are numerous; those exposed by the media are only the tip of the iceberg¡ªyful, naughty, little kids who threw stones at cats, or stories of residents in a neighborhood that would drug the stray cat¡¯s food with poison because they find them to be too noisy. All of these stories are nothing new.

    Even if the Love Lovely Pets incident did not happen, these people would still find ways to abuse other stray cats, right?

    Despite all that, it is also true that therge number of pets escaping from Love Lovely Pets gave those abusers an easier time to locate a target to abuse¡ªthis was also an undeniable fact¡­

    Zhang Zian let out a sigh after thinking through all of that. Binhai City was too big to rely on an individual¡¯s strength to locate a cat abuser¡ªit was impossible, even if it was Old Time Tea or Famous searching. He can only hope that this cat abusing incident was an isted, individual urrence.

    ¡°Okay, I get it. I¡¯ll be heading off first, so don¡¯t forget to remind Sun Xiaomeng about my stuff when she¡¯s back,¡± Zhang Zian said, bidding farewell to Long Xian.

    ¡°Okay,¡± Long Xian said expectantly. ¡°Be careful of your steps, Store Manager Zhang, and remember to bring some souvenirs on your way back. It¡¯s best if you can bring along a few autographed celebrity pictures!¡±

    Zhang Zian left the pet clinic, hailed a cab, and headed straight to the German Conste to process his visa.

    Zian had recently left the country and returned from America without overstaying his visit past hiswful status. Simrly to that trip, he would be traveling in a group to Germany, too.

    The visa application process went smoothly at the Conste. Other than the long period spent in the queue, not much happened and Zian got his visa without trouble.

    Zian bustled about all day and didn¡¯t return to the store until evening.

    ¡°Mister Store Manager,¡± Lu Yiyun called out to Zian right by the store entrance. She handed him a document and said, ¡°Long Xian just sent this over.¡±

    Zhang Zian took a look at the document¡ªit was the Airline Veterinary Health Certificate that he wanted. With this, Famous would be able to board the ne.

    After letting Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Lu Yiyun get off from work, Zian pulled down the shutter doors and pped his hands to attract the attention of the elfins. He then raised his voice and said, ¡°Two days from now, both Famous and I will be heading to Germany to participate in the Berlin Film Festival. Do you all want to go together? You can alle along and take a look.¡±

    ¡°Germany? Where is that? Is that ce warm?¡± Fina opened its eyes and asked. Fina napped and slept the whole day, leaving it with excess energy to spare in the evening.

    ¡°It¡¯s very far in the west, but thetitude over there is much higherpared to Binhai City, so¡­ it shouldn¡¯t be considered warm, I guess? It would probably be two or three degrees lower than Binhai City,¡± Zhang Zian made a conservative estimate. Binhai City has already shown signs of rising temperature, but in Germany, which had a highertitude, it was still snowing. It is said that the female celebrities attending the Berlin Film Festival each year were all dressed up for the red carpet. They were all both beautiful and frozen.

    ¡°Not going!¡± Fina rejected Zian¡¯s idea with no hesitation.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be in a rush to reject the idea. You have to know that all the celebrities attending the Film Festival will be covered in diamonds and jewelry; the rings on their fingers will have diamonds the size of a duck egg. The gold chain on their necks would be as thick as a finger!¡± Zhang Zian gestured as he spoke.

    ¡°Is that true?¡± Fina¡¯s eyes sparkled the moment it heard what Zian said, and its interest was immediately piqued. ¡°This queen does not care for gold chains that are as thick as a finger. The diamonds, though¡ªare they reallyparable with duck eggs?¡±

    ¡°Of course they are,¡± Zhang Zian confidently pledged. ¡°It is said that the world¡¯s biggest diamond is in Germany. It is about 155 carats! There¡¯s also a small town in Germany that is covered in 72,000 tons of diamond!¡±

    Fina¡¯s mouth opened wide with shock. ¡°A 155-carat big diamond? A town covered in 72,000 tons of diamond? Do you know the consequences of lying to the queen?¡±

    ¡°Castrate him! Castrate him!¡± Snowy Li bared her fangs and brandished her ws, making threatening gestures as she chanted.

    ¡°It¡¯s true!¡± To express his sincerity, Zhang Zian raised his hand and vowed, ¡°If there are any lies in my words, I will lose my wallet when I leave the store!¡±

    If Zian had made a vow involving lightning strikes or anything of the sort, Fina would definitely not believe him. When Zian actually made a vow to lose his wallet, however, she believed him a little.

    Although it was true that Zhang Zian did not lie, he had left out some crucial information¡ªthe so-called big diamond is actually synthetic. The town covered in 72,000 tons of diamond is true, too, but they were microscopic diamonds formed by a collision of an asteroid in the region. They have a diameter of only 0.2 millimeters, and you would need a microscope to clearly see them¡­

    ¡°If that is the case, this queen will have to make her way down to take a look. It is unthinkable that this queen here has such arge amount of treasure stranded in a foreignnd¡ªit must be reimed as soon as possible.¡± Fina constantly nodded.

    At least Fina was fooled by Zian, but as for the consequences when it discovered that there were no diamonds¡­ that could only be left to the heavens.

    Wherever Fina went, Snowy Li followed without question, so there was no need to ask for its opinion.

    No questions were needed for Old Time Tea, either, as it wanted to explore this brand new world in order to experience and witness more. There were also new movies for Old Time Tea to watch over there.

    Famous was the main reason and the superstar for the Germany trip. Everyone else could be left out from the trip, but not Famous.

    Richard, on the other hand¡ªeven if Zian were to refuse to bring it along, it would shamelessly tag along anyway.

    ¡°Zhi Zhi.¡±

    Listening in to their conversation, Pi walked down from the second floor, pointing to its own chest as it shook its head.

    ¡°Pi, you¡¯re noting along?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Pi made a typing gesture with both its hands, saying that it will remain in the store to continue updating its novel.

 Chapter 700: Home Alone

    <h4>Chapter 700: Home Alone</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Old Time Tea heard that Pi was not going to Germany with everyone, but would stay in the shop to update its novel.

    ¡°Pi, are you staying in the shop? Our trip to Germany is long, and you¡¯ll be alone in the shop¡­¡± Old Time Tea asked in surprise.

    Zhang Zian also wanted to say that the Germany trip wouldst at least one week¡ªor even two¡ªincluding the time on the road. During this time, Pi would be fine during the day, as Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Lu Yiyun were there downstairs to run the business and do the daily cleaning. At night, however, after they had finished their shifts and returned home, the only intelligent creature in the shop was Pi itself. The regr cats and dogs were its onlypanions in the empty shop.

    Pi had reasons to insist on staying. Zhang Zian had not read many online novels, but he knew that one of the characteristics of online writing was the need to update on a daily basis. It was fine to take breaks asionally, but one or two weeks off was not an option, especially for a new author. The reader might think that the author had given up writing and would give up out of disappointment on reading the book. It would be a total disaster to the poprity of the book.

    It was unrealistic to carry aptop on the trip. People could open up theirptops and type anytime, regardless of waiting for the bus, on the flight, on the dinner table, or while drinking tea, but Pi had to pay attention to other people and could not do the same thing. It could make itself invisible, but not theptop, nor its book.

    Pi didn¡¯t need food, which was an advantage. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t need to worry that it might get hungry, except that leaving it alone was notpletely reassuring. Plus, it might feel lonely if it was left alone in the shop.

    ¡°Eek.¡± Pi nodded calmly, then shook its hands and grinned, telling everyone not to worry. It then circled its index fingers and thumbs of both hands to make a QQ shape, meaning that it would not feel lonely with the readers from the Book Friend Group with it.

    After seeing that it was determined, Zhang Zian stopped insisting that it follow him.

    In fact, after careful thinking, it was fine to leave Pi in the shop. Its life was extremely simple. It started typing after it woke up every day and took breaks when it was tired from typing, then resumed its typing again. In its free time, it read the online novels written by other authors as entertainment. At night, after it had finished writing, it jumped into the basket hammock to sleep. It didn¡¯t even need to go downstairs, so there was no danger.

    Communication channels were so well developed that Zhang Zian could check on Pi any time through the inte, urge it to not sit there for too long, and to take breaks at the appropriate intervals. There should not be any problems.

    ¡°Fine. Pi, stay here then,¡± he agreed. ¡°A few days will pass by quickly, and we¡¯ll be back very soon. Don¡¯t go downstairs in the daytime, and do not let other people see you.¡±

    He didn¡¯t need to remind it of anything else. Pi had always been a good, obedient kid, unlike Richard, who was a trouble-maker all the time.

    ¡°Eek!¡± Pi nodded continuously to tell him that there would be no problems. It didn¡¯t go downstairs during the day, anyway.

    After dealing with Pi¡¯s issue, Zhang Zian turned to Gxy. ¡°Gxy, are you going to Germany with everyone?¡±

    Gxy was ying hide-and-seek with Wendy and was busy running and jumping around.

    ¡°Meow.¡± It stopped, stared at Zhang Zian with its blinking, big gray eyes, then looked at Pi and asked, ¡°Germany¡­ is it a populous ce?¡±

    Zhang Zianughed. ¡°Compared to China, nowhere else is populous¡­ except India, maybe. In the foreseeable future, though, I don¡¯t have ns to bring you to India.¡±

    ¡°Quack! Even I cannot understand the curry vored English!¡± Richard was unwilling to be left alone and interrupted the conversation.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Be careful. Maybe the Indians will pluck all your feathers, then turn you into chicken curry stew while singing and dancing.¡±

    ¡°Meow. Can we y hide-and-seek over there?¡± Gxy asked expectantly.

    ¡°Yes. After the film festival is over, we can travel there for a few days before heading back. You¡¯ll surely have a lot of fun¡­¡± As soon as Zhang Zian spoke these words, he suddenly realized that Pi would be staying home and waiting for their return. He didn¡¯t know what to do.

    ¡°Eek.¡± Pi waved its hands, meaning that he didn¡¯t need to worry about it. It waved again to say that they could fully enjoy themselves beforeing back.

    ¡°Meow. Isn¡¯t Pi going?¡± Gxy blinked its big eyes and stared at Pi. The silver-gray light twinkled in its eyes.

    ¡°Eek.¡± Pi shook its head.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t think too much and exined the situation to Gxy on its behalf.

    ¡°Meow. Gxy is following then, to y hide-and-seek in Germany!¡± Gxy eximed with excitement.

    ¡°Okay. The meeting is adjourned. You guys are dismissed. I¡¯ll do some packing. I have to pack early, just in case I forget anything.¡± Zhang Zian looked at the time, then gave the order of dismissal.

    He went upstairs and took out a luggage bag from the storage room, which he used earlier on the USA trip. He stuffed some clothing inside, along with other things that he might need.

    The so-called dismissal meant continuing to sleep, y, and horse around with the elfins. Pi might be the only one with serious business.

    It jumped onto the swivel chair, sat straight in front of the desk, then put on its pince-nez and browsed the content in a Word document that it was writing earlier before going downstairs. It was trying to pick up where it had left earlier.

    The QQ icon at the bottom right screen was blinking¡ªsomebody was looking for it, but it didn¡¯t click on it to check the message. Zhang Zian would help deal with thoseter.

    Regarding the Germany trip of Zhang Zian and others, despite that Pi acted as if it didn¡¯t care, there was some pity and reluctance in its heart. It wanted to follow everybody, just like thest time they went for fireworks together, but it could not. Now was the first month that its novel went Premium. This was a crucial period, and a long-term interruption of updates would undo all the hard work in the past. It didn¡¯t want to disappoint the readers who had been supporting it all along.

    It was fine. There would be plenty of opportunities in the future.

    In fact, it was also an Otaku at heart.

    Pi quieted its mind and picked up the interrupted train of thought; it had already nned what to write next. It then ced two index fingers on F and J, naturally resuming the correct typing position that Zhang Zian had taught it. It no longer needed to work on resuming the position anymore, for this had be its instinct.

    ¡°Meow.¡± Pi was about to press the key when it heard Gxy meowing behind it.

    It looked back. For however long, Gxy was sitting around 1.5 meters behind Pi, gazing at it while blinking its silver-gray eyes. The light in its eyes was as dazzling as the gxy.

    ¡°Eek?¡± Pi made a questioning gesture, then pointed at theputer screen to indicate that it needed to work and had no time for y-and-seek.

    Gxy didn¡¯t look like it was inviting it to y hide-and-seek, though. It spoke seriously, ¡°Meow. Pi, when you are home alone, do not go downstairs!¡±

    Pi paused, then nodded and pointed at the storage room, meaning that Zhang Zian had already reminded it earlier.

    ¡°Meow. Do not go downstairs at any time, either during the day or at night!¡± After saying this, Gxy swung its tail and left, leaving Pi confused.

 Chapter 701: Consignment

    <h4>Chapter 701: Consignment</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Time passed very quickly. In the blink of an eye, it was already the day of the departure.

    Before setting off, Zhang Zian put Gxy, Fina, Old Time Tea, and Snowy Li in the game.

    The flight duration was very long. The path crossed over Eurasia, where they transferred to another flight. It would basically take an entire day just for the journey there. Unlike the previous trip to America, Fina was not in the mood to board the ne this time. It would definitely throw a tantrum if it were to starve during the journey there.

    It was the same for Richard; it wanted to act tough and board the ne, but it would be too troublesome to transfer flights, and it was going to be cold outside, so after thinking it through, Richard decided to conserve its strength and energy for when they reached Germany.

    Initially, the Pet Hunter game provided five elfin pet bars and five normal pet bars, but after Fina was captured and its true name was unlocked, an additional two free pet bars were provided. As the number of elfins grew, however, the elfin pet bars were insufficient, so Zhang Zian allocated the two free pet bars to the elfin pet bars. This made it so the elfin pet bars could hold a total of seven elfins.

    The elfins stored were Gxy, Fina, Old Time Tea, Richard, Snowy Li, Famous, and Pi¡ªjust the seven of them. There would be just enough space to keep all of them within the game, but what if there was a new elfin? That could potentially be awkward.

    On this flight, Famous would be consigned through the animal cargo hold, Pi would remain in the store and, if necessary, Richard could enter the passengerpartment, so the space within the pet bars would not be too packed.

    ¡°Pi,¡± Zhang Zian said as he locked his luggage bag.

    ¡°Zhi zhi?¡± Pi, who was typing right in front of theputer, turned its head back.

    Zhang Zian went through his thoughts again, checking if he missed anything before he said, ¡°Pi, we¡¯ll be heading off now. Remember to look after yourself and the house¡ªdon¡¯t run around, lock the door to the living room once we leave, and do not open the door if anyone else other than me knocks.¡±

    This was not Zian¡¯s first time reminding Pi about these rules. Pi nodded briskly to acknowledge what Zian said.

    Whenever a customer entered the store, Zhang Zian would observe them. If he felt that the customer required any assistance he would approach them, but if he felt that the customer did not require any assistance at the moment, then he would just leave them be. He was unlike those shopping guides in the malls, where they annoyed customers and pressured them.

    Customers that liked pets were usually of a better standard. Most of them were well behaved andw-abiding while they browsed around the store. They would pay attention to not cross their boundaries or do anything inappropriate. There was a note pasted by the side of the stairs to remind customers to not proceed any further than the second floor, for it was a private residence. Most customers would turn back after they noticed the note, but there would always be some unknown creatures¡ª known as the naughty kids¡ªthat would take advantage of their parent¡¯s love and would run around. They would go through things that did not belong to them and make a mess everywhere. You couldn¡¯t scold them or even say anything to them, or else the parents would be protective.

    Aside from that, there would asionally be a few customers with a different mentality. It was obvious that they had noticed the reminder on the note, yet they would pretend to be unaware and would attempt to head up to the second floor. There was no way of knowing if it was done out of curiosity, or they were trying to do something sneaky.

    When either of those situations happened, either Wang Qian, Li Kun, or Zhang Zian would step forward to stop them. When the naughty kids were stopped, they would make an ugly face before running off. What aggravated them the most were those adults that yed dumb and tried to act innocent after they were stopped.

    When the shop was busy, Zhang Zian would arrange for Zhan Tian to stand guard at the stairs. As the previous ace of the police dogs, Zhan Tian was very vignt and dedicated to its duties, so it would be impossible for anyone to sneak through under its watch.

    Zhang Zian had already instructed Wang Qian and Li Kun to pay close attention after he left in order to prevent theft, to which the two of them consented without much deliberation. The two of them were quite foolish, and they might be too engrossed in their mobile game. Zhan Tian could not stand by the stairway all day since it needed to rest, eat, and relieve itself, so Zhang Zian felt the reminder was necessary.

    As a precaution, Zian locked all doors on the second floor and instructed Pi to lock the door of the living room from the inside once he had left.

    ¡°Pi, you have to take care of yourself for the next few days. Don¡¯t sleep toote and don¡¯t sit for too long.¡± Once again, Zian started to remind Pi on the daily issues.

    Pi nodded its head.

    ¡°Okay then, we¡¯ll see you again in a few days time. Bye bye!¡± Zian waved goodbye to Pi.

    ¡°Zhi zhi!¡± Pi, too, waved its hands while it smiled.

    He dragged along his heavy luggage bag after him as he left the living room and stopped worrying once he heard the sound of the living room door being locked from the inside.

    ¡°Master, do you need us to send you to the airport?¡± Li Kun asked as Zian came down to the first floor. Zian¡¯s luggage bag seemed to be quite heavy.

    Wang Qian nimbly ran out to hail a cab.

    The previous trip to America was not too cold, and he hadn¡¯t been there too long. But it was still very cold in Germany now¡ªmuch colderpared to Binhai City¡ªso Zian had to bring along cotton-padded, and additional, clothing. Other than that, as he would be walking the red carpet with Famous and attending the awards ceremony, Zian had to prepare a set of formal wear; almost his entire luggage bag was stuffed with various clothing.

    Zhang Zian waved. ¡°It¡¯s okay. Although it seems quite big, it isn¡¯t too heavy so I am fine by myself. The only thing the two of you need to do is to look after the shop. If there are any issues that you can¡¯t solve, just put it aside and wait for my return.

    Zian also reminded Lu Yiyun, ¡°Xiao Yun, you¡¯re always the first toe andst to leave, so remember to lock the door when you leave.¡±

    Lu Yiyun nodded. ¡°Yes, I will. Have a safe trip Mister Store Manager.¡±

    Wang Qian stopped a cab right outside the store after Zhang Zian finished all that he wanted to say. He waved goodbye to all of them.

    ¡°Famous, let¡¯s go,¡± Zian called out as he walked out of the store, dragging the luggage bag behind him.

    The driver opened up the trunk, and Wang Qian helped Zhang Zian to load the luggage into it.

    ¡°Hold on, Mister Store Manager! Hold on a moment!¡±

    Lu Yiyun ran out of the store. ¡°Key! You haven¡¯t given me the keys to the shutter doors!¡±

    Zhang Zian pped his own forehead. He had thought of everything, but he¡¯d forgotten about this! How could she lock the door with no keys?

    Zhang Zian took out the keys from his pocket and handed them to her. ¡°Look at my memory¡­¡±

    Zian¡¯s wallet followed his keys out of his pocket and fell to the floor, but Zian did not notice.

    Famous smelled a scent and said, ¡°Wallet.¡±

    Zhang Zian lowered his head to look and was immediately left speechless.

    Up in the sky and down to the earth the spirits were watching. Thank god Fina¡¯s asleep within the game. I should have never sworn about losing my wallet yesterday¡­

    Not bringing a wallet along when walking about in China is not much, but Germany¡¯s mobile payments were not as advanced as China¡¯s. His foreign currency credit card, euro banknotes that Zian exchanged at the bank, a photocopy of his passport and everything else important were all kept in his wallet. If Zian really lost his wallet, it would haunt him for three sleepless months.

    Zian picked up the wallet that fell on the ground and got in the cab with Famous. Wang Qian and Lu Yiyun watched as Zian left straight for Binhai Airport from the pet store.

    It was a journey with no words. After arriving at the airport, Zian brought Famous to process the consignment procedures and handed over the Airline Veterinary Health Certificate to the staff. From February onwards, the EU had a new set of rules for animals entering their borders. A document, the EU Iing Tourists Pet-Veterinary Health Certificate, was required, while, at the same time, a handwritten statement letter must be produced to state that the pet was not for anymercial purposes.

    Aside from those requirements, Zian also bought arge-sized pet air box. Of course he could bring his own, but that would require him to produce a Transportation Equipment Disinfection proof, so he might as well buy one on the spot.

    Zian released Famous¡¯s leash and it entered the pet air box. Although this was already thergest pet air box avable, it was still quite cramped for Famous.

    ¡°How is it, Famous? Are you hungry?¡± Zian asked softly.

    ording to the regtions, pets that were to be consigned were required to fast ten hours before the flight. Although no one really bothered with this rule, the flight duration for this trip was really long and, since Famous did not want to squeeze into the box with its own poop, it had been fasting sincest night.

    ¡°I¡¯m still okay¡ªnot really hungry.¡± Famous curled up its body as itid down. ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry! I¡¯ll just take one nap and we¡¯ll be there.¡±

    ¡°Okay, then. Just treat it as a diet.¡±

    It was okay to not eat, but drinking water was still necessary. Zhang Zian bought a water bottle and ced it within the pet air box, then closed the door of the air box and covered it up with a sling, as requested by the airline staff. This was to greatly limit the chances of the pet escaping from the pet air box and causing amotion aboard the ne.

    Now that everything was ready, Zhang Zian was prepared to board the ne. A long flight awaited him.

 Chapter 702: Stray Cat

    <h4>Chapter 702: Stray Cat</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The night had fallen.

    Jasmine was a bit hungry. It circled around Lu Yiyun¡¯s feet and rubbed her legs, reminding her that it was time for food.

    Lu Yiyun rubbed her eyes and yawned. After seeing howte it was, she quickly saved her unfinished painting and started to pack things.

    ¡°Wang Qian, Li Kun, let¡¯s call it a day,¡± she said.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were usually gone before this hour; however, they were still hanging around the shop¨C¨Csitting together and ying mobile games¨C¨Cin order to keep Lu Yiyunpany.

    After hearing this, they stretched themselves and looked at the time. ¡°Master should be on the ne now, right? If he didn¡¯t send a message, then everything should be fine and his phone must be off.¡±

    ¡°Maybe,¡± Lu Yiyun said hopefully.

    The three of them worked together and cleaned up the shop with ease. In fact, there was not much to clean, anyway.

    After cleaning, Wang Qian and Li Kun left. Lu Yiyun carried Jasmine in her backpack and put the graphic tablet under her arm, then pulled the shutter door down with a quick motion. She locked the door while singing the theme songs from thetest episodes of the animation gently, then walked towards the residential area on the other side of the road with light steps.

    After a day of tiresome work, some of themuters went straight home, while others went in groups to grab a drink. Sporadicugher could be heard throughout the street.

    The smell of cooking food, which drifted from the kitchens of the residents, filled the old school residential area. The residents were replenishing their energy for their hungry stomachs, as well as providing strength for the hard work that awaited them the next day.

    Everything seemed normal.

    With or without Zhang Zian, Binhai City was operating as usual; hardly anyone had noticed that he had left at all.

    Lu Yiyun returned to her rental house, fed Jasmine, and continued on with her painting.

    Time flew by.

    ******

    Uncle Li and Aunt Li closed their restaurant door with satisfaction. The couple sat together, calcting how much money they had made that day.

    ******

    On the ne, Zhang Zian put on an eye mask and tried to sleep.

    Famous had some trouble adapting to the oxygen chamber and was feeling hungry. Sleepiness came anyway, however, and it closed its eyes.

    ******

    Lu Yiyun yawned and looked at the time. She turned off herputer and went to shower as she began getting ready for bed.

    ******

    Everything seemed normal; however, in a suburb of Binhai City, a sh of a dark shadow passed by in a hurry.

    The shadow¡¯s eyes were shining bright under the moonlight, resembling a cat.

    A savvy person could recognize right away that this was a skinny, stray Siamese cat that just reached adulthood. Its body was filthy, as if it often scavenged for food in the garbage and had not bathed in a long time.

    Most stray cats were mongrel, but recently, some pedigree cats had be strays, all of which came from the Love Lovely Pets breeding base. Most of the escaped cats and dogs had found new homes, but a few unlucky ones had never found favor in anybody¡¯s eyes¨C¨Cthat, or they were never found by people for other reasons.

    As spring approached, these new stray cats were copting with the local stray cats. In two months time, many new kittens were about to be born, which would further expand the stray cat family of Binhai City.

    This Siamese cat came from Love Lovely Pets. Not long ago, it followed everyone in the night to escape the breeding base without knowing any better. After entering the city, it went astray.

    It had a chance to be picked by someone, but the experience at Love Lovely Pets¨C¨C where it had been starved, beaten, and scolded for no reason¨C¨Cmade it scared of people. It didn¡¯t like human contact and was always trying to avoid people at all costs.

    After the cat-picking fever in the first few days had passed, fewer and fewer people were picking up cats. People who wanted to get free pedigree cats gathered online, then waited to pick one up in the city forum. Some people had caught several cats at once, and they might give them¨C¨Ceither at a low price or for free¨C¨Cif they could not handle them. Those who had sessfully found cats via the online forum were so satisfied, as if they had found ten billion dors on the street.

    The hungry Siamese cat came out of its hiding ce and scavenged the garbage nearby every night for food.

    It had be a stray and it was fine to be that way. It had the big, wide world all to itself. Although it didn¡¯t have food avable all the time like a regr pet cat, it was spared from being castrated.

    It had slowly adapted to the life of a stray, in which it searched for food in the garbage at night, bathed in the sun on the roof during the day, and fought for territory with other stray cats.

    Binhai City was a rich ce, and now it was Spring Festival time. There was a rich variety of food in the garbage¨C¨Calmost enough for a full table of Manchu Han Imperial Feast. It didn¡¯t really need to fight for territory, but it was part of their ancient instinct.

    In a few short days since its escape from the breeding base, it had even harvested love and impregnated a white mongrel cat. It had be a father without even knowing about it.

    Life was supposed to continue peacefully like this; however, the garbage in which it had been scavenging was now upied by a fat, orange cat. The Siamese cat was too skinny to fight the fat, orange cat, and it was quickly chased away from its old territory.

    The cat was fine. This was the jungle rule in the wilderness. Since it could not beat the intruder, it had to change its spot. Before it had time to say goodbye to the white mongrel cat, it continued on its journey.

    Gradually, it realized that most of the people in the world were good; there were often chubby housewives that tossed food to the roof to feed the cats, and young university students also bought cat food and put it where the stray cats gathered.

    These hot spots had already been upied by other stray cats, though, and they were very sensitive to intruders of their territory. The Siamese cat was often chased away before it could finish even a few bites. At night fall, it snuck back quietly and picked up some left-overs to feed its hungry stomach.

    It had a few bites of cold and dry cat food bits on the roof. It lifted its head suddenly and saw another Siamese cat ncing at it through the window of the third floor apartment in the residential building nearby.

    That Siamese cat looked just like itself¨C¨Cmaybe it escaped from Love Lovely Pets as well. The fur coat of that cat was clean and tidy, though, and its figure was plump. It yawned out of boredom and stared at it with curiosity and a hint of pity, as if it was wondering why it was eating the trash.

    A silhouette shed by the window. A pretty, young girl carried the Siamese cat in her arms and took out two cans of cat food of different vors, asking it to pick. The Siamese cat chose the salmon vored cat food with a bored expression on its face.

    It was an adopted cat, no doubt, and lived a fancy life with good food and a warm house. It didn¡¯t know what cold and hungry meant.

    The Siamese cat outside the window bowed its head with humiliation and looked at its filthy and stinky body. It was still hungry, and thest bits of the cat food on the roof was already gone. Its left eye was aching with blurry vision. It seemed to be infected and was oozing pus.

    Separated by the window, the two cats seemed to be in two different worlds.

    It suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of regret. Why was it avoiding people? If it embraced them bravely in the beginning, it would have be the cat with fancy food in a warm house¡­

    It had been proven, as a matter of fact, that most people in this world were good¡­. right?

    Therefore, it changed its mind and decided not to be a stray cat anymore. It craved human affection. How bad could castration be, anyway? It had already passed down its genes, so it had nothing to lose.

    It jumped off the roof and ran up the street happily. It went over to each person that it came across and tried to y cute like the other Siamese cat. It hoped that one of them would take it home so that it could eat a good meal, take a bath, and get the left eye treated.

    It was not very presentable at this moment, though¨C¨Cit was filthy and stinky. Except the people who were savvy in cats, nobody could recognize that it was a pedigree cat. Even if they did, they might hesitate as soon as they saw its infected left eye and pictured the expensive medical bill.

    People avoided it out of disgust and were afraid of getting their New Year¡¯s new clothes dirty. They intimidated their children by saying, ¡°Don¡¯t touch that stray cat. It¡¯s carrying nasty germs, and it will bite you!¡±

    After struggling for most of the night, nobody was willing to pause in front of it. It was getting even hungrier.

    Whatever. Just let it be¡­

    It bowed its head out of despair. Since nobody was willing to take it home, it would have to fight for territory with other stray cats.

    ¡°Mimi! Mimi! Mimi! Come here. Mimi!¡± Somebody was making a strange sound not too far in front of the cat. He seemed to be mimicking a cat meowing.

    The cat found it kind of funny. Was this guy a fool? What kind of cat made a ¡°mimi¡± sound?

    The aroma of salmon came from the same direction as the sound. It seemed to be a high-end, canned fish, maybe the same one that the Siamese cat was eating at home.

    It lifted its eyes to look forward. It was a friendly-looking young man, squatting on the ground with an opened cat food can in one hand. He to it gently. ¡°Mimi,e here! I have good food for you.¡±

    Was this a dream?

    It could not believe its eyes. Was it hallucinating because of its infected left eye?

    Even if its eye was hallucinating, could its nose and ears be precepting hallucinations, too?

    It hesitated, but could not resist the temptation of food. It ran towards the man with big paces.

    The manughed, took out a piece of salmon from the can and waved towards it. ¡°Come, mimi. Come here if you want some.¡±

    It grabbed the salmon fillet with its teeth and swallowed it after chewing it a few times.

    Yummy! So yummy!

    It had never tasted such great food, even in the the Love Lovely Pets breeding base.

    It stared at the canned fish in his hand, and its vision blurred a little.

    ¡°Do you want more?¡± The man stayed in the same squatting position, and lifted his eyes to nce through the crowd with the same smile on his face. ¡°If you want more,e here.¡±

    He stood up, took another fillet of salmon in his hand, then turned back and walked a few steps to lure it.

    Actually, he didn¡¯t need to do this, as the cat had already decided to go with him. It hoped that he could adopt it. Even if it could not live a fancy life, at least it wouldn¡¯t be a stray any more.

    The cat followed the man in obedience and left the busy street. After a few turns and detours, it entered a dark and secluded alley.

    The young man waited for it every few steps and waved the fish fillet to make sure that it didn¡¯t get lost.

    Finally, he stopped and turned back with a smile. The gentleness in his eyes was gone, and they turned cold.

    ¡°Look. Here is another one,¡± he said.

 Chapter 703: Rekindling Evil

    <h4>Chapter 703: Rekindling Evil</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    A bad feeling grew within the Siamese Cat; it felt like it had fallen into a trap.

    Just as it turned around to make its escape, a group of teenagers jumped out from the dark and intercepted the cat¡¯s escape. Almost all of them were equipped with either a stick, rod, or a slingshot in their hands.

    ¡°Brother Hui,¡± a teenager from the group said excitedly, ¡°You¡¯re really awesome! What number is this little one?¡±

    They were all very young¨C¨Ctheir age averaged around 17 and they reeked of the streets. Even the one known as Brother Hui did not look like he was any older than 20 years of age.

    The teenagers were the sluggards that lived in the vicinity; they didn¡¯t have a proper job and they didn¡¯t attend school. They would only take on jobs with daily pay after they ran out of money, where they would work for a day and fool around the next two days. The ce they frequented the most was the ck Inte bar.

    ¡°It¡¯s the third one tonight,¡± Brother Hui said as he still held the can of salmon in his hands. Pleased with himself, he startedughing. ¡°These cats are really dumb¨C¨Ca single can is enough to lure in three of them.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t until now that the Siamese cat noticed that there were two other cats lying in the dark corner, motionless and blood-soaked. It seemed as though they had both stopped breathing. One of them was amon cat and the other was a British Shorthair. The two cats had suffered from severe abuse when they were still alive; there was arge patch of charred fur on themon cat, as though it had been burnt with a lighter.

    ¡°How should we y with this cat? Should we stick needles into it, or hang it up as a target? The loser treats the rest to m tang,¡± the teenager with the slingshot said as he took on an aiming stance.

    Brother Hui swept his gaze around, rose his finger, and pointed towards a teenager that hid in the back. ¡°A Fa, you do it.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± The teenager known as A Fa shuddered from head to toe.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, you,¡± Brother Hui said with certainty. ¡°While we were having fun earlier, you just stood in the corner and didn¡¯t join in, right?¡±

    A Fa¡¯s lips trembled and his face flushed white. ¡°No, I¡¯m fine just watching. You guys can go ahead¡­¡±

    ¡°No can do.¡± Brother Hui shook his head. ¡°We¡¯re all brothers here and if you treat us as one, then this cat is yours. Hand him the awl.¡±

    A sharp awl was forcefully shoved into A Fa¡¯s hand. He looked down at the tool in his hands and his face turned ghastly. ¡°Brother Hui, I think it¡¯s best if you guys have fun¡­ the stray cats in the vicinity have all gotten smarter and won¡¯t be easily deceived. This cat might havee here from elsewhere. Next time, we might not get the others as easily¡­¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about this,¡± Brother Hui said as he smiled confidently. ¡°More than hundreds and thousands of cats escaped from Love Lovely Pets. Although most of them have been picked up and adopted, I can bet you that most people will get tired of the cats after raising them for two to three months and those cats will all be strays in the end¡­ Besides, when spring is here, a new batch of kittens will be born. Is that not enough for us to have fun with?¡±

    The Siamese cat felt that things were very wrong. The expressions on these people¡¯s faces were fierce, so remaining here might be a road that led straight to death.

    It rushed over to the side and attempted to jump on the wall to escape.

    With things as they were now, the Siamese cat no longer dreamt of a better life. As long as it was able to keep its life, it was willing to spend its entire life rummaging through thrash.

    Sou¨C¨CPa!

    A metal pellet urately struck its hind leg with great force. The Siamese cat let out a painful cry as it fell from the wall that it had halfway climbed up. The pellet might have broken its bones.

    The teenager with the slingshot wore a smug look on his face.

    The Siamese cat endured the intense pain and tried to escape with its remaining three legs, but it was kicked over by another teenager.

    ¡°Go, A Fa, and stop acting like a girl. The brothers hate cowards, right?¡± Brother Hui asked in a loud voice.

    ¡°Yeah!¡± one shouted.

    ¡°Yeah!¡± the rest echoed along and started making a lot of noise.

    A Fa¡¯s face turned white as a sheet. He was not as heartless as the other teenagers; he even fed cats for a period of time when he was younger. But if he backed out now, he would be looked down upon by the others. He would no longer be wee within the group, and he might even be turned into a victim of their harassment.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this¡­ against thew?¡± A Fa hesitated.

    ¡°It¡¯s not against thew. China does not have any pet protectionws yet, so rest easy. Even a king would not be able to prosecute us!¡± Brother Hui said with a hint of contempt, as if he was mocking A Fa¡¯s disy of cowardice.

    A Fa felt the pressure of his friends. He gritted his teeth, tightened his grip on the awl, and he stepped towards the Siamese cat.

    It seemed like the Siamese cat was crying¨C¨Ctears could not stop flowing from its eyes. It whimpered softly, as if it was begging him¨C¨Cbegging him to let it go.

    A Fa stopped in his tracks, wavering once again.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s crying?¡± A Fa said softly, pointing at it.

    ¡°Don¡¯t think too much,¡± Brother Hui said. ¡°Its left eye is just inmed and that¡¯s just pus. It¡¯s not crying; it¡¯s impossible for cats to cry,¡± he continued, as if he had some soft of knowledge of animals.

    The other teenagers bursted out inughter, throwing distasteful words of mockery at A Fa.

    A Fa waspletely ashamed of himself. He steeled his heart and raised the awl up, pointing it towards the Siamese cat.

    He hit it one time.

    Two times.

    Three times¡­

    Loud cries that could shatter hearts tore through the silence under the night sky¡­

    Brother Huiughed out loud. ¡°Well done! For now, let¡¯s just y around. Two or three months from now¨C¨Cwhen Binhai City is flooded with stray cats¨C¨Cis when we will have our fill of fun!¡±

    Everyone wasughing. A Fa too wasughing, as though he had lost his mind.

    ******

    After all the teenagers left, the Siamese cat stared at the night sky with its lifeless eyes. Lying in a pool of its own blood, the cat was already on the brink of death.

    So it¡¯s like this.

    There are no nice people in the world; it¡¯s all a pretense!

    Curse you all!

    Curse you all!

    Curse you all!

    With immense resentment, its life disappeared. Its eyes were still wide open as it left this world with a grievance.

    ******

    Approximately ten kilometers away.

    Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

    On the second floor of the shop, Pi was working on its novel and let out a yawn. Just as it was about to switch off theputer and head for bed, Pi faintly caught a soft, abnormal noiseing from the floor below.

    ¡°Zhi zhi?¡±

    Pi knew that Zhang Zian had already left. Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Lu Yiyun had also clocked out from work, so there was no one downstairs.

    Was something knocked over by the frolicking kittens?

    Pi jumped off the swivel chair and walked towards the door on all four of its limbs. Pi¡¯s intention was to head downstairs and take a look¨C¨Cif something was knocked over, then it could help to put it back upright.

    As it gripped the cold door handle, Pi, who was still immersed in the plot of its novel, suddenly had a realization.

    ¡°Don¡¯t go downstairs during the day, be careful not to be seen by anyone.¡± Pi recalled Zhang Zian¡¯s words before he left.

    ¡°Meow. Don¡¯t go down at any point of time, be it day or night!¡± Pi recalled the words that Gxy had told him with seriousness.

    Pi scratched its head. Forget it, I shall not bother. I will continue to write the novel and head to bed after this chapter.

    So Pi threw the noise it heard to the back of its head, jumped back on the swivel chair, and continued to write thest portion of the new chapter.

    ******

    Amazing Fate Pet Shop First Floor.

    The kittens were all awoken by the soft, abnormal noise. They stared at the direction of the door with fear in their eyes.

    The bronze Holy Cat statue had always been ced there, forming the unique scenery for the Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

    The wind rose and clouds gathered outside. Dark clouds blocked off the moonlight, causing the shop¡¯s interior to darken to almost pitch-ck.

    Suddenly, a scent of bloodthirst and ruthlessness shed within those bronze, pupilless eyes of the Holy Cat statue¨C¨Cthose eyes were distinct, even within the darkness.

    In the next instant, the heavy Holy Cat statue disappeared from where it originally was.

    The kittens then calmed down; some of them went back to sleep while others yed around as if nothing had happened.

 Chapter 704: Lost, or stolen?

    <h4>Chapter 704: Lost, or stolen?</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Beep beep.

    Lu Yiyun was woken up by her rm. She reached out her hand to turn it off.

    Five minutester, her phone buzzed again.

    Ding ding.

    She was woken up by the phone rm again.

    It could not be turned off this time. In order not to oversleep in the morning, she had ced the phone on the table before bedtime. She could not turn off the phone rm from bed, unless her arms were two meters long.

    She rubbed her eyes, groped near the pillow for her sses, and put them on. Jasmine was lying on her nket, and was woken up by her movements. It jumped off the bed, meowed to say good morning, and then went to its bowl to drink water by itself.

    ¡°Good morning, Jasmine,¡± she said after yawning.

    She got dressed, got up, washed herself, and poured a bowl of cereal. The same repetitive movements had formed a routine for her, which she was able to pull off without using her brain. She sat down at the table¡ªwhich was also her desk¡ªand scooped cereal into her mouth, her brain gradually waking up.

    Jasmine was eating breakfast at her feet. In terms of food expense, Jasmine¡¯s food was much more costly than hers.

    Unlike most girls her age, she skipped the makeup routine before going out; it seemed to be one step that she skipped. In fact, she saved one hour, as she could also skip the makeup removal routine when she returned home.

    One hour saved each day totaled 15 days saved in a year.

    Suppose that she lived 75 years¨C¨Cif she learned to apply makeup at 15, and stopped it at 75 as it was no longer necessary, she could save two and a half years within 60 years. That was an awful amount of time.

    The thought of spending two and a half years of her life applying makeup to her face caused an urge for her to speak to her face. ¡°Thank you for the hard work!¡± she eximed.

    She could do a lot of things during this one hour, such as painting.

    She was used to painting in the pet shop now, instead of staying at home and working behind closed doors. Another reason was that, since the hero of herics was based on Zhang Zian, it would be easier when she was drawing a brawny guy to do so next to the prototype.

    She finished breakfast with Jasmine and cleaned both of their bowls. She put Jasmine into her backpack, as usual, then grabbed her graphic tablet and headed towards the pet shop one block away.

    She went outside at same time as her next door neighbor. They both looked familiar to each other. She made an effort to open her mouth and say, ¡°Good morning,¡± but she could not utter the words because of her shyness. She lowered her head and covered her eyes with the hair on her forehead.

    The neighbor did the same thing, and pretended to not have seen her with embarrassment.

    All neighborhood rtionships in modern society were more or less like this.

    The apartments in the old, residential area did not have the bestyout, which made them small, low, damp, and dark. Most tenants were poor, but this was fine in a way, as nobody looked down upon each other.

    In fact, with the money she was making through painting and working, she could afford a better apartment, but there was no need to waste money¡ªan apartment was only a ce to sleep, anyway.

    As she left the gate of her residential area, a nice smell of breakfast food came from Li¡¯s Supreme Snack Bar for Cat Fanciers.

    ¡°Good morning,¡± three voices greeted her.

    She tilted her head to look. It was Ting Ting and Xiao Zhuang. They had been volunteering at the snack bar every day for over half a month now. As long as they could persist another ten days or so, they would seed.

    Ting Ting and Xiao Zhuang were talking to Sun Xiaomeng outside the snack bar. Maybe Sun Xiaomeng was evaluating how serious they were about adoption.

    Sun Xiaomeng looked tired, with dark circles around her eyes. It appeared as though she hadn¡¯t slept well the night before.

    ¡°Good morning,¡± Lu Yiyun responded with a low voice.

    She continued to walk in order to not interrupt their conversation. She looked around for the traffic, then ran across the street.

    The shutter door of the pet shop was not open. Normally it would have been open at the hour she arrived.

    She took out the key from her pocket, unlocked the door, then pushed the shutter door up with quite a bit of effort.

    She pulled open the ss door and everything looked normal in the pet shop, except that it was quieter than usual. That noisy grey parrot was absent¡ªit was apparently staying at a friend¡¯s ce, along with the cats and dogs, while Zhang Zian was abroad. That friend was very fond of them. He didn¡¯t specify which friend it was, but she didn¡¯t ask, either.

    She took Jasmine out of her backpack so that it could y freely in the shop. She then cleaned up the cash register thoroughly, which mainly included wiping the dust off from the keyboard, the mouse, the monitor, POS machine, and the receipt printer. After she finished, she sat down at the cashier¡¯s seat and connected the graphic tablet to start drawing.

    She wanted to wait for Wang Qian and Li Kun to begin cleaning the shop so they could all do it together. They usually cameter, as they always stayed upte ying online games.

    She had only posted one or two episodes of theic series on Weibo, but they were received quite well¡ªeven better than her previous series. She nned to sketch the draft of the third episode.

    She made a few sloppy sketches, then erased them. She made a few more sketches and erased them again.

    For some reason, she had a strange feeling and could not concentrate on the painting. She had never felt like this before, as if something was missing¡­ was it because the shop was too quiet? Thest time Zhang Zian went to the United States, the shop was just as quiet and it didn¡¯t bother with her painting.

    She lifted her head and nced around the shop slowly.

    The frolicking kittens, the cat tree, the disy cabs, the puppies in the disy cabs, the shelf were all still there¡­

    After ncing around, she suddenly found out the abnormality and was astonished.¡¡The Holy Cat statue sitting across the cash register was gone.

    She thought that she was sleeping and quietly pinched herself. It did hurt, and the Holy Cat statue was still gone.

    What happened? It was there yesterday when I left work.

    She started panicking in her heart. Was there a burr in the shop? The shutter door was locked tight and there was no sign of forced entry. The small amount of money was still inside the cashier drawer. There was not much, but it was a few hundred RMB in total. What kind of burr would break in without stealing the money, but would steal a heavy, bronze statue? Wasn¡¯t there something wrong with the burr?

    It would make sense if the statue was an artifact or antique, but she heard it clearly from Zhang Zian that it was only a replica and wasn¡¯t worth much money.

    Did Wang Qian and Li Kun hide the statue as a prank? No. They thought that she was too dull to y a prank on. They had never pranked her.

    Besides, there was only one key to the shutter door, and she was thest one to leave yesterday. Wang Qian and Li Kun had no chance to hide the statue under her eyes.

    Her hearting starting pounding. She left the cashier and ran to where the statue was ced, then bent down to observe carefully.

    There was a pale white mark on the ground¡ªa different color than the rest of the floor. It proved that the statue had been there for a long time, but was now gone.

    The statue was made with bronze and was very heavy. It was so heavy that nobody wanted to move it while cleaning the floor.

    The first time she saw the Holy Cat statue, she felt that the shape was weird and the color was dark, but it was fine after getting used to it. Many customers in the shop were also interested in the statue and even asked if it was for sale. Zhang Zian declined by telling them that the statue was a gift when his shop opened and it was not appropriate to sell it; however, Lu Yiyun felt the actual reason was that the offered price was not high enough for him¡­

    Lu Yiyun remembered that this statue was the opening gift from Snowy. How about asking Snowy where she bought it, and if there were more of them avable?

    Lu Yiyun wanted to pay with her own money, buy the same statue, and ce it back while pretending that nothing ever happened. The Holy Cat statue went missing during her watch, and she didn¡¯t want Zhang Zian, or others, to think that she was the thief. She didn¡¯t have much money, but she never stole anything. Moreover, she didn¡¯t want to be suspected as a thief.

    She took out her phone and retrieved Snowy¡¯s Wechat ID. After careful consideration, she sent a message. Good morning, Snowy. Do you remember where you bought the Holy Cat statue in the shop?

    This was her first message to Snowy since they had added each other on WeChat.

    After clicking ¡°send,¡± she held the phone tight in her hand and waited with a distraught mind.

    It was so early. When did Snowy get up? She had heard that all live broadcast hosts were night owls¡­

    It didn¡¯t take long before she received Snowy¡¯s reply. It was a voice message.

    After clicking on the message, Snowy¡¯s voice was heard from the phone speaker with a hint ofziness. It seemed as though she had just woken up.

    ¡°Good morning, Yiyun. The Holy Cat statue, let me think¡­ oh, I remember it. I bought it from a thrift shop called ¡®Back to the Old Days.¡¯ Right, that was it¡­ I¡¯ming! Coming down in a minute!¡±

    She could almost hear Snowy¡¯s mother calling her to eat downstairs in the voice message. The sound was quite distant. It seemed that Snowy was living with her parents in a pretty big house.

    Before she had time to think further, Lu Yiyun typed again. How much was it?

    Snowy sent another voice message: ¡°How much¡­ I don¡¯t remember. Maybe a few thousand?¡±

    A few thousand RMB was fine, as Lu Yiyun could afford it. She was slightly relieved, and typed again. Was there only one Holy Cat statue in the shop? Was there a second one?

    Snowy replied, ¡°Not really, no. There was only one in the shop, not a second one. I remember the boss was a charismatic old man. He didn¡¯t sell it at full price, but kind of offered it as a gift. He also said something like this holy object was psychic, and his little shop could not hold it¡­ It¡¯s been a long time, and I can¡¯t remember it all.¡±

    While Snowy was recording the voice message, her mother called for her again toe downstairs for food. She responded impatiently.

    Lu Yiyun looked very disappointed after hearing that there was only one statue like this.

    Snowy said, ¡°Yiyun, why are you suddenly asking about this? Did anything happen?¡±

    Lu Yiyun answered. Nothing. I just suddenly thought of it out of the blue. Snowy, go for breakfast now. Don¡¯t let your mom wait for too long.

    Snowy said, ¡°Hum, I¡¯m getting up¡­ Snowball, get off. Don¡¯t stay on top of my nket¡­ Right, Yiyun, is Mr. Store Manager out of the country? Is everything all right at the shop?¡±

    Lu Yiyun replied, Everything is fine. Don¡¯t worry, Snowy.

    Snowy said, ¡°That¡¯s great. I¡¯m going for breakfast now!¡±

    Lu Yiyun sighed. There was no other option now. As there was no way to rece it, she had to tell Zhang Zian the truth and hoped that he would not treat her as a thief.

    She retrieved Zhang Zian¡¯s Wechat ID. After careful consideration, she sent him a message. I¡¯m sorry, Mr. Store Manager. The Holy Cat statue in the shop is missing¡­

 Chapter 705: Arriving in Germany

    <h4>Chapter 705: Arriving in Germany</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Berlin, Germany. Tegel International Airport.

    Zhang Zian was not able to get a good rest due to the long flight and the time spent transferring flights, so his mind was muddled.

    Seated in the economy ss next to Zhang Zian was an obese white man, weighing at least 150 kilograms. Putting aside his pungent body odor, his snores could shake the heavens. It was so loud and noisy that Zian couldn¡¯t get any proper rest. Zian had felt the strongest urge to call Richard out. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth meant releasing the bird poo offense¡­

    After all the trouble, Zian finally got off the ne. He pulled himself together andpleted the procedure for Famous¡¯s consignment in English, which he was not all that familiar with.

    Famous¡¯s mental condition was not at its best. It seemed like the experience in the animal cargo hold was not that pleasant, either.

    ¡°Famous, how was it? Are you hungry?¡± Zian asked while putting on its leash.

    Famous went without food for close to a day and a half, only drinking some water in between.

    Famous, who was in a bad mood, shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m okay. There was a period of time when I was very hungry, so hungry that I couldn¡¯t fall asleep, but right now I¡¯m not that hungry anymore.

    Zhang Zian felt a deep sympathy for it. Looking at the bustling crowd around them, he asked, ¡°Should we get something to fill your stomach? Not sure if the airport here has hot dogs for sale or something¡­¡±

    The moment hot dogs were mentioned, Famous¡¯s belly started rumbling. Famous licked its lips. ¡°Let¡¯s get one, then.¡±

    Zhang Zian took out some money to get the hot dog for Famous. Zian had eaten the meal prepared by the airline earlier and was not hungry at the moment.

    While Famous was digging into its hot dog, Zian switched on his phone with the intention to take a picture of the Tegel International Airport. He wanted to post it on his WeChat moments to show off a little, especially since he was in Germany. Can¡¯t let Zhao Qi, who had taken selfies of herself while she was overseas during the new year, get too smug¡­

    Zian received a message on his phone the moment it connected with the airport¡¯s WiFi. The message was from Lu Yiyun and he opened it.

    Lu Yiyun said, ¡°Sorry Mister Store Manager, but the Holy Cat statue in the store is missing¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was dumbfounded for a moment. The Holy Cat statue is missing? What does that mean?

    After some probing, Lu Yiyun briefly exined what happened. She mentioned that the statue was still in its original position when she left the night before, but when she arrived for work this morning, the statue had disappeared. There were no signs of a break in and the money in the cashier drawers was still there.

    After she exined what happened, Lu Yiyun asked if she should notify the police.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s head, which was already muddled, started to throb in pain. Why, of all times, must something happen just as he leaves?

    Zian had no time to care about the Holy Cat statue. He quickly sent Pi a message, ¡°Pi, are you awake yet? Did anything happenst night?¡±

    Soon enough, Pi sent a reply back. ¡°Just woke up, working on the novel right now. Everything is all right.¡±

    Zian then asked, ¡°Did a thief break into the house?¡±

    Pi replied, ¡°Nope. If a thief entered the house, Zhan Tian would bark, right?¡±

    Well, that was right. Pi¡¯s point threw light on the matter.

    The Holy Cat statue was ced on the first floor and Zhan Tian, too, spent its nights sleeping on the first floor.

    Unlike Golden Retrievers or Huskies that can not differentiate friend and foe, as the previous ace of the police dog squad, Zhan Tian was very vignt and had a very highbat ability. If a thief had really broken into the house, Zhan Tian would not have left him alone. Zhan Tian would take him on, even at the cost of its life. Even if one or two knife-wielding thugs were to take on Zhan Tian, they still wouldn¡¯t stand a chance.

    With those thoughts in mind, Zian asked Lu Yiyun, ¡°Is Zhan Tian all right? Are there any traces of a scuffle?¡±

    Lu Yiyun replied, ¡°Zhan Tian¡¯s fine. Traces of a scuffle? Let me take a look.¡±

    Moments after, she replied, ¡°No, no traces of any scuffling.¡±

    Now that¡¯s strange¡­

    If anyone were to suggest the possibility of Zhan Tian being negligent in its duties, Zian would never believe them. No matter how skillful the thief was, it would not be possible for him to remove the statue right under Zhan Tian¡¯s nose without alerting it.

    Now, if it wasn¡¯t a thief, then how did the statue disappear? Did it grow a pair of legs and ran away by itself?

    Okay fine, the Holy Cat statue already had legs by itself, but that¡¯s not the point. The point is, how did it run away when the doors were shut?

    Zian did a long distance connection with the store¡¯s surveince controls and went through the recordings forst night.

    Hackers had been running rampant recently. Zhang Zian only had cameras installed by the shop entrance to record the situation around the cashier desk, as he was worried about hackers taking control of the cameras and witnessing his interactions with the elfins. The reason for focusing the cameras around the cashier desk was not because Zian was afraid that Lu Yiyun would do something, but it was for the purpose of having evidence if they were to get into a transactional dispute. On several asions, Zian or Lu Yiyun had miscalcted and had given the wrong change, but thanks to the surveince recordings, they managed to recover the losses, either on their end or the customer¡¯s end.

    It was a pity, though, because the range of the surveince cameras did not include the corner where the Holy Cat statue was ced, since there was no purpose in recording that area before.

    Zian yed the recording with 16 times the normal speed, starting from the time when Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Lu Yiyun clocked out from work. Zian watched the recording all the way through the morning when Lu Yiyun reported for work. He did not notice anything abnormal throughout the recording; the shutter doors at the front remained shut, so even if there was a thief, he did not enter through the main entrance.

    Compared to the theft of the statue, Zian was more interested in how it disappeared, but the recording did not have the answer he was looking for.

    Lu Yiyun asked again if there was a need to notify the police.

    Notifying the police would definitely not work. One, there was no evidence or any trace of a break in. Even if the police were notified, they would only suspect Lu Yiyun, Wang Qian, and Li Kun. Two, if the police were notified, they would definitely have to search the shop for traces, and if they found Pi, there might be unnecessary trouble.

    Zhang Zian replied, ¡°Forget it, there¡¯s no need to notify the police. Since it isn¡¯t worth much money, losing it is nothing much.¡±

    Lu Yiyun said, ¡°It was lost while the shop was under my watch, so I am willing topensate for the losses.¡±

    Zhang Zian answered, ¡°There¡¯s no need to mention anything aboutpensation. You¡¯re not responsible for the disappearance of the statue, so why should you pay? Let the matter rest and just treat it as a small misfortune. I¡¯ll be looking for the pick up at the airport now, so look after the store and don¡¯t overthink.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did something happen?¡± Famous asked with concern. After voraciously stuffing down the hot dog, Famous noticed that Zian¡¯s expression when he sent the message was not quite right.

    Zhang Zian did not hide the incident from Famous, and he truthfully repeated what Lu Yiyun told him.

    ¡°The statue disappeared?¡± Famous was surprised. ¡°Things like this happen?¡±

    ¡°Which is why this incident is very strange!¡± Zhang Zian could only shake his head. ¡°Let¡¯s put this matter aside. We¡¯ll talk about it when we¡¯ve settled down into the hotel. We might be able to figure something out if everyone puts their heads together.¡±

    Famous started brainstorming. ¡°Is it because you¡¯ve always been swearing oaths, so now you¡¯re facing the consequences?¡±

    ¡°Maybe the heavens have something good in store for me, but ites with a small cost¡­¡± Zhang Zian said in a disapproving tone.

    Famous paused and thought, Is heaven that cheap in your mind? No wonder you¡¯re being punished.

    ¡°Is one hot dog enough? Should I get one more for you?¡± Zian asked.

    Famous shook its head and said, ¡°It¡¯s okay, the taste was just average. I¡¯ll lessen the burden on your wallet.¡±

    Holding onto its leash, Zian led Famous towards the direction of the airport exit, looking out for any Chinese characters as they walked. Finally, at the exit, Zian spotted the person from the Dog Warrior film crew who was responsible for picking them up. He was holding up a sign that wrote, ¡°Dog andpany.¡±

 Chapter 706: The Check In

    <h4>Chapter 706: The Check In</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Those responsible for reception in the Dog Warrior production crew greeted Zhang Zian and Famous at the airport exit. They took them into a rental car and drove towards the reserved hotel near Potsdamer tz.

    As he had expected, the temperature in Berlin was lower than Binhai City by more than two or three degrees. It was almost four to five degrees lower, with snow flurries and high humidity. Fortunate enough, Richard didn¡¯t take the flight there. Otherwise, it would be freezing.

    All of Berlin was filled with the vibrant atmosphere of the yearly film festival, and huge posters of the Berlin Film Festival were posted on the two sides of the main street that connected the airport and downtown. Zhang Zian could not read German, but this did not stop him from smiling.

    The driving crew member was exining the glorious history of the Berlin Film Festival to him, as well as the superstars that were participating in the festival. He was also talking about the schedule of the crew for the following days, just for the sake of carrying on a conversation. Zhang Zian realized that the schedule was tight in the beginning, and then it rxedter on. The film festival was not only intended for film and awards, but also for the transactions of the screening privileges; however, those transactions were the business of the producers and had nothing to do with him. All he needed to do was show up at the appropriate time with Famous and cooperate with the team¡¯s promotion ns.

    Potsdamer tz was one of the busiest areas in Berlin. To his surprise, the trip from the airport to the hotel was less than 20 minutes, and there was not much traffic on the road. He might still be on the airport highway after 20 minutes, had it been in the capital of China.

    As the car drove into downtown, Zhang Zian noticed the old buildings one row after another. There were not many skyscrapers. Unlike the newly developed Binhai City, nor the heavilymercialized Los Angeles, the most prominent impression of this ce was that it was heavily historic. He thought this could also be interpreted as the decline of an old imperialistic country, like the setting sun.

    Posters with bear prints were appearing frequently on both sides of the street. There were pretty women and handsome men of all skin colors on the street that were all dazzling to the eye. Long lineups could asionally be seen in front of certain grand and modern buildings. The driving crew member stated that these people were lining up for film tickets, many of which came specifically for the film festival from other cities or other countries of the European Union. The cold and snow could not kill their love for film.

    Compared to other European film festivals, the Berlin Film Festival was more affordable, which made the tickets difficult toe by. Online reservations could not guarantee tickets for the most wanted films. The most reliable way was to wait in line for one or two hours, as some audience members with tickets might resell or give away the tickets if they can no longer attend the film. Good-looking people were more advantageous in this situation, especially young girls.

    The car parked outside the hotel, and Zhang Zian got out with Famous. The hotel management must have been informed in advance, as Famous grabbed the attention of everybody in the lobby. Nobody stopped it from entering, though. The Dog Warrior crew was not the only group staying in this hotel. He saw a few familiar foreign actors and actresses in the lobby. They looked familiar, but he could not name them. Maybe they yed supporting roles in some films.

    ¡°Xiao Zhang, there you are! Come over here!¡±

    As Zhang Zian was feeling lost, not knowing how to check in, the voice of a slightly older person sounded near the sofa in the lobby. They spoke in familiar Chinese.

    He turned his head to look. The person greeting him was Director Feng Xuan, whom he had not seen for a while.

    Director Feng Xuan had always been a little unkempt. While interviewing Famous, he wore a wrinkled suit. He looked sharp and fresh today, however, with a clean and ironed suit and a smile on his face, appearing to be five years younger. This could be considered a ¡°merry heart makes a cheerful countenance¡± situation. Feng Xuan was greeting others, but as soon as he saw Zhang Zian entering with his dog, he stopped him immediately.

    ¡°Director Feng, long time no see! How are you doing?¡±

    Zhang Zian made his way quickly to shake hands with Feng Xuan.

    ¡°Thanks to your blessing. Despite my age, I¡¯m doing very well.¡± Feng Xuan smiled, then lowered his head to look at Famous.

    ¡°Hello, Famous. Was the flight difficult?¡± he asked.

    Famous didn¡¯t miss the chance to be gazed upon by everyone. It straightened its back swiftly to stand up and stretched out its left front paw, whichnded straight on Feng Xuan¡¯s left hand. This was its handshake.

    During the filming, Feng Xuan had felt more than once that Famous was different from others. Famous was even more amazing than he remembered. After such a long time, it still remembered that he was left-handed.

    Zhang Zian spoke on its behalf, ¡°It is difficult, mostly for it being unable to eat anything during the flight. After getting off the flight, it has only had a hot dog.¡±

    ¡°Oh, let¡¯s proceed with check in then, so that you can grab some food soon. Sir, bring Xiao Zhang and Famous to their room, please.¡± Feng Xuan stopped another staff in standby.

    ¡°All right, Director Feng. I¡¯ll head upstairs then.¡± Zhang Zian was ready to go upstairs with Famous.

    ¡°Wait a minute, take this.¡± Feng Xuan handed over a square box with a home appliance inside. ¡°It¡¯s an electric kettle. This hotel does not offer hot drinking water. It¡¯s cold outside, so drinking cold water will give you diarrhea.¡±

    ¡°Director Feng, you are so thoughtful¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian took the luggage in one hand and grabbed the water kettle package under his other arm. He was amazed at how experienced a person could be at an older age. Feng Xuan was thoughtful enough to prepare an electric water kettle. Otherwise, in such cold weather, drinking cold water for ten days straight could actually give him diarrhea. Without hot water, Old Time Tea could not drink tea, either.

    Feng Xuan shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s because I¡¯m always traveling. After suffering a few times without any hot water to drink, I learned my lesson. There is a water kettle in the room of each acting crew. You¡¯ll take a double room alone, as you need to take care of Famous.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded and was grateful to Feng Xuan¡¯s care. It was more convenient to have his own room.

    ¡°Right, did you bring a bow tie?¡± Feng Xuan asked.

    Zhang Zian paused. Before departure, team lead Nie Yuan specifically emphasized that each acting staff must bring formal attire and dress just in case, but why did Feng Xuan specifically ask about a bow tie?

    ¡°Yes,¡± he answered reflexively, despite the confusion. His heart was uneasy, as all of his bow ties were cheap.

    ¡°How many colors and patterns do you have?¡± Feng Xuan asked.

    ¡°Um, maybe three or four,¡± Zhang Zian answered. ¡°Shall I take them out to show you?¡±

    ¡°Not now. Please go upstairs first and settle yourself.¡± Feng Xuan waved his hand, then pointed at the leather cor around Famous¡¯ neck and said, ¡°After you are settled, take this cor off and try those bow-ties on Famous, then send me the pictures. We¡¯ll need them for the Red Carpet.¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. After all the fuss, the bow ties were for Famous? He wanted to cry out loud!

 Chapter 707: Brainstorming

    <h4>Chapter 707: Brainstorming</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The staff that Feng Xuan had appointed brought Zhang Zian to his room and handed him his room keys before taking their leave.

    Zhang Zian started to survey the guest room upon entering.

    Although it was a double standard room, it wasn¡¯t all that spacious. The view out the window was quite wide, however, and drawing the curtains back would wee the view of the Berlin streets in the deepening dusk.

    The Dog Warrior film crew was not a film crew that had arge budget, so the hotel they booked was not five-stars. But, if you took into ount that fact that Berlin was currently packed with people everywhere, then being able to book a hotel was already good enough¨C¨Cone couldn¡¯t ask for too much.

    Zhang Zian hung up the ¡°Do Not Disturb¡± sign on the outside of the door, took out his phone, and pointed it at the empty space, letting the elfins out one by one.

    ¡°Ga ga!¡± Immediately after being let out, Richard cried out. A pillow was instantly flung to its face by Zhang Zian, muffling its voice and smacking Richard onto the bed.

    ¡°Stop crying out in such a loud manner! It¡¯s like you¡¯re afraid no one can hear you.¡± Zian gave Richard a warning.

    Gxy was a little fearful when it appeared, but after bobbing its head around, it realized that there was no one else in the room. It excitedly ran up and down the room, starting its exploration journey.

    Fina let out a yawn and strolled to the window. Looking out, it asked, ¡°So this is Germany?¡±

    ¡°Yup, that¡¯s right,¡± Zhang Zian answered Fina¡¯s question as he opened up his luggage and emptied it.

    ¡°It looks normal,¡± Fina said in a disappointed tone. ¡°So, where is the town that was covered in 72 thousand tons of diamond?¡±

    ¡°About that¡­¡± Zian forced out augh and said, ¡°No need to rush. We¡¯ll head over there when we have time.¡±

    Fina red at him in suspicion, but just as it was about to question him, Zian quickly interrupted, ¡°Oh right, there is something very strange that I need to discuss with all of you.¡±

    ¡°Meow meow meow! What is it? Did you wake up and realize that your balls were gone?¡± Snowy Li said while spitting its saliva everywhere. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you don¡¯t even have a use for them anyway!¡±

    Zhang Zian paused. Can we still have a proper discussion?

    Old Time Tea stretched itself. It observed that Zhang Zian did not seem to be joking, so it asked, ¡°Zian, what exactly happened? Did Pi meet with an unexpected situation over there in the store?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, unexpected¡­ well it is unexpected, but it has nothing to do with Pi. We lost something from the store.¡± Zhang Zian exined as he took the electric kettle out from its packaging, filled it up with water, and plugged it in to start boiling the water.

    ¡°What!¡± Fina, who was originally seated by the window looking out into the night sky, turned immediately after listening to Zian¡¯s exnation. Its eyes sharpened and within those eyes was sheer anger, ¡°Something was stolen from this queen¡¯s sacred pce? Who dares to challenge the queen?¡±

    ¡°Now, here¡¯s the problem. Until now, it is still not known if it¡¯s a case of theft,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Snowy Li said impatiently, ¡°If you want to say something, then say it. Stop mincing your words¨C¨Cyou¡¯re worse than a woman!¡±

    ¡°What is the missing item?¡± Old Time Tea asked.

    Zhang Zian looked at everyone and said with seriousness, ¡°It¡¯s the Holy Cat statue ced at the shop entrance.¡±

    ¡°Ga? That thing¡¯s so heavy and it¡¯s not worth much money. Who would have the time on their hands to steal that?¡± Richard eximed out in its utter surprise.

    Zhang Zian gave a general ount of the whole incident.

    At first, all the elfins were rowdy and constantly interrupting, but after Zian finished with his ount, everyone was deep in their own thoughts.

    ¡°Zian, so you are saying that the statue disappeared into thin air?¡± Old Time Tea confirmed with Zian.

    Zian nodded. ¡°Yes, which is why I said that this incident is very strange. The statue just silently disappeared¨C¨Ceven Zhan Tian was not alerted.¡±

    ¡°What exactly is going on? It¡¯s just a statue. Look at all of you making such a big fuss¡­¡± Famous stated.

    When Snowy gave the Holy Cat statue to Zhang Zian as an opening gift, Famous had not yet arrived at the pet shop. It only had a superficial understanding of the statue¡¯s origin.

    ¡°That statue is no ordinary object; actually, it¡¯s also not the real Holy Cat statue.¡± Zhang Zian exined to Famous, ¡°The real cat goddess of ancient Egypt is Bastet and, to date, there are quite a number of statues and murals of Bastet being passed down, but only that statue came with a nose ring.¡±

    ¡°Nose ring?¡± Famous tried hard to recall. ¡°I don¡¯t recall seeing the statue with a nose ring.¡±

    ¡°That is because the nose ring was cut into two halves by me.¡± Old Time Tea pondered before saying, ¡°Right, Zian, is the nose ring that is now in two halves still kept in the pet shop?¡±

    As soon as this statement was uttered, Fina¡¯s eyes opened wide. ¡°Could it be that you still kept the nose ring?¡±

    ¡°How is that possible?¡± Zhang Zian felt wronged as he tried to exin, ¡°Since I know that the nose ring is an item of maleficence, how could I still keep it around me? It has long been disposed of.¡±

    ¡°How did you dispose of it? Did you throw it away?¡± Fina asked.

    Zhang Zian awkwardly scratched his head. ¡°The nose ring was forged with gold and to just throw it away would be such a waste¡­ So I took it to a jewelry store and exchanged it for cash. I made the exchange at Longfeng Jewelry Store. Fina, do you still remember that store? The purity of the gold within the nose ring was not that high, so it wasn¡¯t worth much¡­¡±

    The elfins were all speechless.

    Zhang Zian quickly added, ¡°During that visit, I asked them and they told me that the reimed gold would be melted down and reforged into a new gold essory. No matter how evil the nose ring is, there should be no issues after melting it down, right? Especially when that was a very long time ago¡­ Why would something happen now?¡±

    ¡°Indeed, that is true,¡± Old Time Tea agreed. ¡°If the nose ring was melted down, it should no longer be a problem.¡±

    ¡°Wait a moment, I still don¡¯t understand,¡± Famous interrupted. ¡°How are both the statue and its nose ring evil? Isn¡¯t it just an ordinary object?¡±

    Zhang Zian was waiting for Famous to interrupt, so taking this opportunity, he quickly jumped into exining Famous¡¯s queries.

    ¡°ording to what Fina said, the Holy Cat statue was actually a pseudo Holy Cat statue, or also known as the Evil Cat statue. It was a product from a part of the ancient Egyptians who were unhappy under the rule of the Pharaoh. They had secretly worshipped the statue with evil intentions. Those people had performed torturous rituals to brutally massacre a great number of cats as a form of worship to the evil cat god, and that golden nose ring could have been stained with the blood of the ancient cats.¡±

    Zhang Zian was in charge of exining to Famous while Fina and Old Time Tea would asionally add in. Snowy Li and Richard would also interrupt the conversation from time to time, but Famous was now clear of the situation.

    Even after the situation was made clear, everyone was still unable to find an exnation for the disappearance of the statue. Even if the nose ring was an item of maleficence, it had long been melted down into a pool of gold liquid and the statue itself was now simply a close to perfect replica¨C¨Cnothing more.

    Famous gave it some thought before suggesting, ¡°I have an idea here, but I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯ll work.¡±

    ¡°Go on,¡± Zhang Zian perked up immediately. ¡°Gather everyone together so we can all brainstorm together.¡±

    The other elfins remained silent for the moment, giving Famous their full attention.

    Famous said, ¡°If I¡¯m not remembering wrong, Pi¡¯s Untitled Book should have kept records of life, universe, and everything else, right? We can just get Pi to check how the statue went missingst night. What do you guys think?¡±

 Chapter 708: An Epic Encounter

    <h4>Chapter 708: An Epic Encounter</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Famous¡¯s proposal made a lot of sense¨C¨CPi¡¯s book had everything in it. Even if it was impossible to check out the present and the future due to an infinite amount of possibilities, it was at least possible to check what happened in the past.

    Zhang Zian connected to the WiFi at the hotel and typed a message to Pi immediately. ¡°Pi, what are you doing now? Do you have time to check something for me?¡±

    After a while, Pi replied, ¡°Yes. I¡¯m walking circles in the living room. What do you want to find out?¡±

    Countless things were happening in the world at each second, of which 99.9% were trivial things¨C¨Csuch as Li Lei peeing outside the toilet bowl, and Han Meimei picking her nose. Pi was not interested in¨C¨Cnor could it possibly know¨C¨Call of these.

    In fact, Pi was only interested in what had happened during the past year in the pet shop, as it needed it to write its novel. It only opened up its book when it needed it to look for information.

    Zhang Zian replied, ¡°Here is the story, Pi. The Holy Cat statue, which has always been ced on the first floor of the shop, went missing all of a sudden. Could you help me find out what happened in the pet shopst night? Is that okay?¡±

    Pi quickly replied, ¡°Yes, but it will take some time.¡±

    Zhang Zian could imagine that Pi stopped circling around the living room and put its pince-nez back on. It flipped the book open and started the search bit by bit.

    Pi¡¯s book contained everything, which was both good and bad. This meant that everything that had happenedst night in the pet shop was recorded, including the trajectory of each particle of dust in the air, the evaporation process of each water droplet, and even the location of every atom that made up the pet shop. Finding something specific in such infinite records was not easy for Pi, who had the gift of being ¡°infinite.¡± It needed enough time.

    While waiting for Pi¡¯s answer, the elfins looked for their favorite spots to sleep in the room, and Zhang Zian took his clothes out of his luggage and hung them in the closet. He also took out the four bow ties he packed to try them on Famous and sent the photos to Feng Xuan. To Zhang Zian¡¯s surprise, Famous looked quite handsome in them.

    The electric kettle began to bubble, indicating that the water was boiling. Zhang Zian opened a pack of tea that he brought and made two cups of tea once the boiling water had cooled slightly. He and Old Time Tea each had a cup, while the remaining water was given to the other elfins after it cooled.

    Suddenly, an alert tone rang on his phone.

    That was fast.

    Zhang Zian was somewhat surprised, as Pi had never been so quick in the information search¡­

    As he unlocked his phone, he was slightly astonished. The message was not from Pi but from Professor Wei Kang, whom he had not contacted for a long time.

    Wei Kang was a biology professor at Binhai University, and, out of his interest in ancient Egyptian cats, he had always hoped that Zhang Zian would help him with his research. The research subject was, of course, Fina.

    It was impossible for Zhang Zian to ept this request, so he always declined. This was not a matter of life and death, anyway. Even if he agreed, Fina would not agree.

    Professor Wei Kang had offered him some help when he captured Richard. In order to reciprocate, he had always wanted to find an asion to return the favor, but he never encountered an appropriate asion.

    ¡°Zhang Zian, is this a good time?¡± Wei Kang asked him in a message. ¡°There is something that I¡¯d like to discuss with you.¡±

    The Dog Warrior crew had no other arrangements today. Zhang Zian¡¯s main task was to get used to the jeg, and he had nothing else to do except to wait for Pi¡¯s response. He replied, ¡°It is a good time. Professor Wei, what can I do to help you?¡±

    Zhang Zian wondered if Wei Kang was just unwilling to give up and still wanted to borrow Fina for research.

    After a moment, Wei Kang sent another message. ¡°Here is the story. At the beginning of the new year, I will be applying for funding and new projects at the institution. I¡¯m nning to head to Egypt to study the local biodiversity. As of now, though, it¡¯s still at the preparation phase. One of the goals of this research is to find traces of ancient Egyptian cats. Since you were able to get one, there might be more over there. If we are sessful, we might be able to rewrite the evolutionary history of domestic cats.¡±

    Zhang Zian felt that Wei Kang¡¯s hopes were distant. Fina was called out of history by the game; it didn¡¯t live through the 2,000 years of history. The chances of finding living ancient Egyptian cats in Egypt nowadays were smaller than winning the jackpot. Despite this, he was not in the position of talking Wei Kang out of it. It was only one of the goals of his trip, after all.

    Wei Kang also knew that the chances were slim and that it was impossible to make a trip to Egypt for only one purpose. It would have been too costly, and the institution would have never approved it. He must have other tasks.

    Therefore, Zhang Zian replied, ¡°I wish you sess ahead of time.¡±

    He knew that Wei Kang would respond back, as he would not have messaged him just to inform him about it.

    As he expected, Wei Kang sent another message. ¡°I hope that you can tell me where you got this ancient Egyptian cat, or even the channels you went through to acquire it. I guarantee that with my reputation, I will keep it confidential and shall tell no one. Please don¡¯t tell me again that you got it from the street.¡±

    Wei Kang was sincere in his question. Maybe he thought that Zhang Zian had smuggled the cat from the Egyptian ck market¡­ Zhang Zian could not tell him the truth but could not lie to him, either.

    He had to tell him, ¡°Professor Wei, please do not ask this question anymore. For personal reasons, I cannot disclose anything.¡±

    Zhang Zian felt guilty about once again disappointing the old man¨C¨Che was over 50 years of age¨C¨Cbut he had no other options.

    After a little time passed, Wei Kang sent another message¨C¨Che refused to give up. ¡°Fine. Since you are unwilling to disclose the truth, I have another request. If you have time then, would you be willing toe to Egypt with us? We¡¯ll pay for the trip, the amodations, and the food. We will not interfere with your freedom, so long as you promise to help us find another ancient Egyptian cat as much as you can. Is this okay with you?¡±

    Thest message Wei Kang sent was more surprising to Zhang Zian. Wei Kang was inviting him to travel to Egypt just so they could search for an ancient Egyptian cat?

    He nced at Fina and felt hesitant. He replied, ¡°Professor Wei, are you joking? I¡¯m just a pet shop owner, and the major I studied in University had nothing to do with biology. Even if you agree, will the institution approve it?¡±

    Wei Kang replied with confidence, ¡°Of course, this is not a problem. You can join as a special consultant. While we on a field trip, we often hire consultants who are familiar with the local conditions and customs. Otherwise, we will get lost in the unfamiliar field, right?¡±

    Zhang Zian had nothing else to say. It seemed as though Wei Kang was well prepared and had invited him after careful nning.

    Wei Kang often took teams on field trips, so he was familiar with the protocol. Since he was confident, he could not have been bullsh*tting.

    Zhang Zian became somewhat interested. Was this an opportunity for a free trip? The destination was not asmon as ces like Europe, America, or Southeast Asia, where there were more Chinese than local citizens. It was the mysterious Egypt¡­

    A free trip was the second best part. The best part was¡­

    Zhang Zian took another secret nce at Fina.

    It was sitting by the French window with its back towards Zhang Zian, staring out at Berlin¡¯s busy streets. Zhang Zian could not see its face from where he was standing¨C¨C maybe it was neither happy nor sad.

    Thest time he had traveled to the United States, Fina had asked on the airne if the ground below was Egypt. After hearing ¡°no,¡± its eyes were filled with disappointment, despite the fact that it hid its emotions very well.

    It must want to return to Egypt to take another look at the godlynd that it had once protected, as well as the cknd that it used to dream about¡­ Although, Zhang Zian still could not understand why the ancient Egyptians called the sandy nation ¡°cknd.¡± Were they color blind?

    He had considered bringing it to Egypt for a trip, but he could not make up his mind. Apparently, he could not follow a travel group to Egypt, as the group would only pass by the major tourist attractions while shopping. If he went there by himself, with no friends or any familiarity with his surroundings, it could be a real problem if something happened.

    The invitation from Wei Kang was a perfect opportunity¨C¨Cthere could not have been a better one. Seizing this opportunity in order to fulfill Fina¡¯s longtime wish seemed to be a good idea¡­ He wouldn¡¯t have to pay for it, either, and somebody else would.

    The only thing was that it was inappropriate to ept a gift without giving anything back. A scientific field trip was expensive. If he followed them brazenly, what would happen if he was unable to help Wei Kang find an ancient Egyptian cat?

    To be cautious, he didn¡¯t ept the offer on the spot. He asked further, ¡°Professor Wei, when are you leaving for this field trip you talked about? When are you returning? My schedule is pretty full. Right now I¡¯m attending an important meeting in Germany.¡±

    He only sent thest sentence to impress the Professor.

    After sending the message, he sent his current location to prove that he was, indeed, in Germany.

    Professor Wei Kang replied, ¡°We have just finished the long Spring Festival break, and the upper management is just now returning to work at the institution. The project application was submitted today, and now I need to confirm the number of people attending this field trip so that I can gather the funding ordingly. That¡¯s why I¡¯m asking if you would be interested. After the institution approves it, we¡¯ll still need to make specific ns and prepare the supplies. If everything goes well, I¡¯m estimating that the trip would be, at the earliest, in three months.¡±

    Three monthster was still quite far away.

    Zhang Zian was struggling to make a decision. On the one hand, he wanted to seize the chance to make the trip. On the other hand, he didn¡¯t want to look bad by not contributing to the sess; therefore, he didn¡¯t send a reply right away.

    At this time, a message alert rang again. He thought that Wei Kang was hurrying him to make a decision, but this time, the message was from Pi.

    Pi wrote, ¡°The Holy Cat statue disappeared on its own. Nobody stole it.¡±

    Zhang Zian grew more curious. ¡°It disappeared on its own? How could such a heavy pile of iron¨C¨Cno, bronze, disappear on its own? The world is indeed a rich tapestry where anything is possible.¡±

    He messaged to ask, ¡°How did it disappear? What was the cause?¡±

    Pi responded quickly. ¡°I had searched for the cause of disappearance, but could not find anything.¡±

    Pi couldn¡¯t find the cause?

    That¡¯s weird. Pi¡¯s book is about life, the universe, and everything else. This was not a matter in the future, but a matter in the past¡­ so how can it not be found?

    Zhang Zian asked again, ¡°Why?¡±

    Pi replied, ¡°ording to the book, the information is protected by the game and cannot be retrieved.¡±

    Holy crap! Zhang Zian had a million mas running over his heart!

    Protected by the game? Meaning that, somehow, the Holy Cat statue was rted to the game?

    He opened up the Pet Hunter game and asked, ¡°Navigation Elfin, are you there?¡±

    As he spoke, an icon appeared on the screen as if it were alive.

    [Navigation Elfin]: Hello! I¡¯m your Navigation Elfin, at your service at any time!

    ¡°Navigation Elfin, what happened to the Holy Cat statue in my shop? Don¡¯t tell me that you don¡¯t know anything!¡± he asked boldly.

    [Navigation Elfin]: ording to our judgment, the Holy Cat statue in your shop might have acquired enough Strength of Faith to be an elfin. Therefore, we can¡¯t disclose relevant information. Sorry!

    Zhang Zian had an urge to say ¡°f*ck.¡± But even if he didn¡¯t say it, the Navigation Elfin would surely know what he wanted to say.

    ¡°That thing can be an elfin?¡± Zhang Zian questioned. ¡°I¡¯m not well educated, but don¡¯t lie to me!¡±

    [Navigation Elfin]: Elfins are not bound by shape or form. No matter if it¡¯s a pet with life, or a pet in human imagination, it has the potential to be an elfin¨C¨Cand sometimes that includes a statue. Allow me to congratte you, though! You might be about to witness the birth of a new elfin. This is very rare!

    Zhang Zian was speechless. ¡°Do you think that I¡¯d be happy about it?¡± he finally asked. ¡°The statue was gone just like that. It¡¯s worth quite a few bucks, even if I sold it as scrap metal!¡±

    He noticed that the Navigation Elfin was emphasizing ¡°might,¡± which meant that it was uncertain whether or not the Holy Cat statue could gather enough Strength of Faith. Maybe it could be an elfin, or maybe not. Nothing was set in stone yet.

    He might not get any more information from the Navigation Elfin.

    ¡°Fine. I get it. You are dismissed,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    [Navigation Elfin]: At your service, at any time.

    The blinking icon disappeared from the screen.

    The elfins didn¡¯t see the words he typed with Pi, but they heard his conversation with the Navigation Elfin. His tone was unfriendly, which caused them to nce at him one after another.

    He organized his thoughts and was about to tell them what was going on before his phone rang again. It was another message from Pi.

    Pi said, ¡°I tried again, but still can¡¯t find detailed information. I found a sentence in the book, though, that might be rted to this.¡±

    Zhang Zian asked immediately, ¡°What sentence?¡±

    Pi replied quickly, ¡°¡®As cats meow about the changing sky, an epic encounter is about to take ce in the ocean of sand.''¡±

    After seeing this prophetic chant, something in his mind clicked, and he switched the screen to his conversation with Wei Kang. He read Wei Kang¡¯s message once again.

    Ocean of sand¡­ Could it be referring to the vast Sahara desert?

    If the ocean of sand was indeed the Sahara desert, could this sentence, the ¡°epic encounter that is about to take ce in the ocean of sand,¡± mean that he was destined to make a trip to Egypt?

    The Holy Cat statue came from ancient Egypt. Maybe he had to go to Egypt to find a way to stop it from bing an elfin¡­

    It seemed to make sense. The Holy Cat statue had failed to be an elfin for two thousand years¡­ maybe the ancient Egyptians had a secret way to repress it.

    But, what the heck was ¡°as cats meow about the changing sky?¡±

    Was the cat referring to the Holy Cat statue? But the statue could not ¡°meow¡­¡±

    Although he could not figure out everything, the trip to Egypt seemed both reasonable and necessary.

    He sent a brief message to Wei Kang. ¡°Professor Wei, is your offer still valid?¡±

    Wei Kang said, ¡°Yes.¡±

    Zhang Zian typed, ¡°Count me in, then.¡±

 Chapter 709: Itinerary

    <h4>Chapter 709: Itinerary</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was daybreak.

    Sleeping in a hotel was never asfortable as the bed, or the home, that one was used to.

    Zhang Zian got out of bed right as his rm went off. He woke the elfins up and started to prepare breakfast for them.

    The film crew was in charge of preparing food for Famous, so there would be no issues for its meals, but the food for the other elfins would have to be prepared by Zian himself. Before they had set off for their trip, Zian had bought a few packets of chicken slices that bodybuilders usually ate¨C¨Cthose instant types that were ready to be consumed after they were heated up. Every packet had smaller, separate packages wrapped within them, so there was no worry about the leftovers¨C¨Cif there were any¨C¨Cgoing bad.

    The chicken slices were definitely not as fragrant as the ones that were freshly prepared, and it did not have any extra seasoning included in it; it was basically in chicken meat prepared for passionate bodybuilders and, most importantly, it was convenient. Zian would have faced some difficulties in taking care of the meals for the three elfins if it was not convenient.

    There was also a separate bag that Zhang Zian had prepared for Richard.

    Even though Fina grumbled that the food was not good, it still ate more than the rest of the elfins.

    China¡¯s time zone was seven hours ahead of Germany, so it would be in the afternoon there. Zhang Zian sent both Pi and Lu Yiyun a message, checking on how things were going within the shop. Pi and Lu Yiyun both replied that everything was all right.

    Zhang Zian thought about his conversation with Professor Wei Kang the day before. The expedition dates had yet to be confirmed and there was also the chance that the school might disapprove of his participation in the expedition. Since the situation was still open to change, Zhang Zian temporarily had no intention of sharing it with the elfins until everything had been confirmed. Even if the school decided to disapprove of his participation, Zhang Zian had decided to find out more about the expedition team¡¯s itinerary and join them at his own cost. It was still better than going alone.

    As for assisting Wei Kang in the matter of looking for Egyptian Maus¨C¨Cif Fina was there, and as long as Egyptian Maus still existed in Egypt, then there was a very high chance that Fina would be able to locate them.

    While the elfins were having their meal, Zian opened up the schedule arrangement sent to him by the film crew and carefully browsed through it.

    Today was the opening ceremony for the Berlin Film Festival and they were required to participate in walking the red carpet.

    Tomorrow was going to be more interesting; it was the premiere of the Dog Warrior film.

    Although the Berlin Film Festival wasn¡¯t the most famous film festival out of the top three European film festivals, every festival had its own individual pride. The Berlin Film Festival, for example, had stipted that the films participating in the segment for their mainpetition had to be a film that had not participated in any other film festivals prior. Most of the films were world premieres, or at least overseas premieres.

    It could be said that the Dog Warrior film crew that had worked overtime, pushing forward their after-effects and editing work, had bet everything on the Berlin Film Festival.

    Aside from the mainpetition segment, the Berlin Film Festival also had other segments that included a few otherpetitions and out ofpetition segments. In particr, there was a ¡°Generation¡± segment, which included twopetitive sub-segments: Kplus and 14plus.

    To date, Generation had a 40-year-long history. The films that were yed under that segment were all meant for the younger generations. This was a very unique aspect of the Berlin Film Festival whenpared with the other film festivals: it clearly showed that the Berlin Film Festival organizingmittee valued the younger generation and ced a lot of importance on them.

    Kplus was for kids that were above the age of four, while 14plus was for teenagers above the age of 14.

    That was how the grading system for the film festival went, since not all of the participating films were suitable for kids. Some of the experimental films would even creep adults out or make them feel depressed.

    Many children raised in Berlin had grown up with the Generationpetition, and, after they grew up, they joined the Berlin Film Festival as a member of the organizationmittee. They rendered their services to the Generationpetition, showing the children above the age of four the first film of their life. They would then repeat the cycle and pass down the torch.

    Although Dog Warrior was selected to enter the segment for the mainpetition, it was said that the organizingmittee for Generation had previously fought for it, too, as they felt that the film was also suitable for teenagers above 14; yet, regretfully, the same film was unable to enter two differentpetition segments.

    The organizationmittee for Generation had also made a special arrangement for an additional screening of Dog Warrior in the Cubix7 Theater at Alexandertz. It was open to all teenagers above the age of 14 and was arranged for tomorrow as well¨C¨Cit just wouldn¡¯t go on during any assessments.

    Zhang Zian would have to first take Famous to participate in the premiere showing at the Berlinale Pst, and then rush down to the Cubix7 Theater for the additional screening.

    From the third day of the festival forward, Zhang Zian would be taking Famous around to participate in promotion and publicity activities when required. He would work together with the premiere screening to promote the sales for the rights to overseas screening. If there was nothing arranged for them, then they were free to go around by themselves, as long as they let the film crew know.

    The members of the film crew would start their return to China the day before the premiere, while the main actors and Zian would remain here.

    The tenth day of the festival would be theirst day in Germany, as the assessments and awards for the mainpetition segment would be announced then. Every member of the film crew was hoping that their film would win an award¨C¨Ceven if it was not the best film award¨C¨Cor else everyone would be sad. Since they participated in the Berlin Film Festival, they wouldn¡¯t be able to participate in any other film festivals.

    Everyone hoped that their film would win an award, but the decision for the ownership of the award would be in the jury¡¯s hands. The jury for the Berlin Film Festival was voted for by the Central Berlin Film Advisory Commission¡¯s Board and wasprised of well-known directors, producers, screenwriters, and actors. There were also the asionalposers, authors, or other people from the film industry.

    To be fair, the taste of the professionals was not exactly the same as that of the public. Some of the films that might be highly rated in the eyes of the public, might not be seen as such in the eyes of the professionals. Because of this, it was really hard to predict the film that would win the award; it was affected by their own personal aesthetics.

    The reason why Feng Xuan had insisted on participating in the Berlin Film Festival was because Germans were fond of pets. There was a great number of them that raised cats¨C¨Cand dogs, as well. The most well-known pet in Germany was the German Shepherd. Based on an unreliable source, it was leaked that there was more than one member of the jury who had a German Shepherd at home, which was a hidden advantage for the Dog Warrior film.

    When Zhang Zian heard of this insider information, he could not help but mutter, ¡°Shrewdness reallyes with age. Even an eagle would have trouble catching an old rabbit¡­¡±

    Once Zian was done looking through the daily schedule, the elfins had finished their breakfast.

    ¡°The opening ceremony will begin tonight, so let¡¯s not waste this Germany trip. Let¡¯s walk around for now,¡± Zian suggested.

    ¡°Ga ga! Are we going to Germany¡¯s red light district? Should I drive you out to unt and take you up to the sky?¡± Richard eximed as it pped its wings.

    Zian red at Richard, even though he was really curious about it, as well¡­

    ¡°Are we going to the town that is covered in 72,000 tons of diamond?¡± Fina asked, still holding onto the town with the diamonds.

    ¡°Cough! About that, we¡¯ll only be strolling within the city of Berlin today. We can¡¯t go too far, so the visit to that town will have to wait a few more days,¡± Zian said, trying to brush off the subject with some difficulty.

    ¡°Meow meow meow! He¡¯s being frivolous again!¡± Snowy Li said, immediately seeing right through Zian.

    Zian argued, ¡°I¡¯m not being frivolous! It¡¯s that¡­ only you guys have had your fill. What about me and Famous? We haven¡¯t had anything for breakfast, so we¡¯ll be going out for a walk and we will get our breakfast on the way.¡±

 Chapter 710: Delicacy

    <h4>Chapter 710: Delicacy</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian made the other elfins invisible and brought Famous downstairs, then walked across the lobby to Feng Xuan.

    ¡°Hey, Xiao Zhang. You are up early. Did you ovee the jetg?¡± Feng Xuan asked with concern.

    ¡°I¡¯m still a bit sleepy, but I think I¡¯ve ovee the jetg,¡± Zhang Zian greeted him. ¡°Director Feng, you are up very early, as well.¡±

    ¡°Young men like you are in good health, but not me. I arrived in Germany two days before you and spent the entire time sleeping.¡± Feng Xuan shook his head and smiled bitterly. He clutched a cup of coffee in his hand. ¡°I¡¯m getting old, so I can¡¯t overdo this.¡±

    He lowered his head to look at Famous and asked, ¡°You are heading to¡­?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I was going to take Famous outside for breakfast, then walk around in the area,¡± Zhang Zian answered honestly. ¡°Since we are in Germany, I would like to travel around. My friends in China want me to bring back some souvenirs.¡±

    Feng Xuan nodded. ¡°Sure. You should travel around, but don¡¯t run too far. Also, keep your phone on so that I can find you if something happens,¡± he advised.

    ¡°You can rest assured, Director Feng.¡± Zhang Xian smiled. ¡°Oh, right¨C¨Cthank you for the electric water kettle.¡±

    ¡°No problem. How is your English? Do you need someone to go with you?¡± Feng Xuan asked again. ¡°Most Germans can speak English, but not all are on the same level.¡±

    ¡°There is no need. My English is fine.¡± Zhang Zian waved his hand and declined politely. He had Richard, anyway, and it could handle both English or German.

    ¡°Okay. Go ahead, then. Let me know when youe back,¡± Feng Xuan said in a relieved tone.

    The cold, outside air blew on their faces as soon as they left the warm hotel. The flurries yesterday had stopped, but the air was still cold and damp.

    ¡°Quack! I thought I finally survived the winter in Binhai City, but now I¡¯m in Berlin to freeze! Which b*stard told me that ¡®if winter is here, spring can¡¯t be far away?¡¯ Winter is here to stay!¡± Richardined incessantly, then repeated theints in German.

    Fina could not agree more.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Comin as much as you want, but why do you have to repeat it in German? Didn¡¯t you see the pedestrians staring at you? If you start a war between Germany and Ennd, I¡¯m will not be responsible for that.¡±

    The hotel was near the Potsdamer tz. Zhang Zian decided not to go any further and stopped to get some food in the tz.

    Famous had smelled the food from a distance and had led Zhang Zian and the others toward it. There were many food carts near Berlinale Pst, which was the main venue for the film festival. They looked like the food carts in China, except that the food was much cleaner. The chefs were appropriately dressed and the carts themselves looked clean.

    ¡°Famous, what would you like to eat?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Famous nced around and spoke towards one of the carts, ¡°That one.¡±

    It was a food cart operated by a Turkish chef. The young Turkish chef was wearing his traditional ethnic clothes and looked very handsome. He wore a big smile. He saw Zhang Zian and Famous walking over and greeted them warmly with rusty English, ¡°Kebab! Would you like some? Authentic Turkish D?ner kebab.¡±

    There were a lot of Turkish immigrants in Berlin, so the D?ner kebab near the Berlinale Pst was very authentic. Zhang Zian had tried D?ner Kebab in China, but neither the taste nor the presentation wasparable to the kebabs this man was selling. The smell alone made him drool.

    He stretched out two fingers, indicating that he wanted two portions.

    Trantion was not necessary in this case, as any human being was able to understand him; however, Richard spoke in German on purpose, ¡°Two D?ner kebabs, plus your big sausage!¡±

    ¡°Oh, do you speak German? I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t sell sausages here,¡± the young chef answered seriously.

    Zhang Zian could barely keep a smile on his face. He swung his arm behind his head to warn Richard to not talk nonsense, but it anticipated this and dodged him.

    ¡°Two D?ner Kebabs, please,¡± Zhang Zian spoke in English.

    ¡°Okay. One moment, please.¡±

    The Turkish chef sliced the meat from the vertical rotisserie with a long knife, then collected the meat in a stainless steel container. His movement was skilled and smooth.

    He sliced two portions of meat, then followed Zhang Zian¡¯s instructions to prepare one portion with seasoning and the other one without. After adding the vegetable sd, he stuffed the meat into a freshly baked pita, put it in a paper bag, and passed it to Zhang Zian.

    The freshly roasted meat smelled good and tasted even better. Even Fina and Snowy Li, who were both full, were staring at the giant rotisserie and drooling. It seemed as though they wanted to devour the entire meat on the rotisserie. Zhang Zian winked at them, hinting that he would get some more on the way back to the hotel.

    He looked around and hesitated whether or not he should give one of the kebabs to Famous. In China, this could annoy people. Otherwise, he might have to sit down on a bench and feed it secretly.

    As there were no other customers for now, the Turkish chef figured out what he was thinking. He gestured ¡°okay¡± with his hands, then pointed to his left.

    Zhang Zian followed his finger to where he was pointing. Ady was sitting on the side of the street, feeding currywurst to her poodle. She broke the sausage in two, kept half for herself, then gave the other half to her dog. They were both enjoying the sausage at the same time and the pedestrians passing did not seem to be surprised by this at all.

    He felt better after seeing this, recognizing yet again the German people¡¯s love for pets.

    Famous stared at the poodle eating and licked its mouth.

    It was not good to feed dogs too much spice, but it seemed as though the poodle was used to it and was enjoying the food regardless.

    Zhang Zian smiled reluctantly, then walked over with Famous and ordered two currywursts. He warned Richard to not talk nonsense in advance.

    The elfins didn¡¯t eat such food very often, anyway, so he decided that he¡¯d rather let Famous fully enjoy everything while they were in Germany.

    Germany was a sausage republic, with over a thousand different types of sausages. If each resident ate sausages for three meals a day, they could eat different sausages for a year. Currywurst was a delicacy that could be found either on the table of a Michelin star restaurant or in a street food cart.

    It was simple to make currywurst. Ketchup was spread onto roasted pork sausages, along with a sweet and sour sauce that was made¨C¨Cfor the most part¨C¨Cwith curry. Each chef had his own unique recipe for the sauce, though, and one always differed from the others.

    The street was full of food carts. Apart from currywursts and D?ner kebabs, there were also hot dogs, hamburgers, and schweinshaxe, which was the national dish of Germany. A generous portion of roasted pork knuckle was ced on a ce, along with two roasted potatoes with some sauce on top and two cans of beer. Zhang Zian had enough food to feed any burly chap.

    Each food cart offered a different delicacy, which amazed Zhang Zian, Famous, and the other invisible elfins. Each thing seemed so tasty and they wanted to try them all.

    Zhang Zian had to tell them that they would taste each delicacy before leaving Germany, but for today, they were only going to try currywurst and the D?ner kebab, for he could not grab anything more in his hands.

 Chapter 711: Germans Who Love Dogs

    <h4>Chapter 711: Germans Who Love Dogs</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Early in the morning, even though the weather had yet to clear up, people were walking around at Potsdamer tz.

    Double-decker buses were dropping off groups and groups of excited tourists, and a great number of people had already joined the queue early to purchase tickets for the films that they were interested in seeing. There were many people who had dogs with them and were feeding their dogs hotdogs, burgers, or Turkish kebabs.

    Just how much do Germans love dogs?

    If one was to stop a random, middle-aged man on the street and ask him how many kids he had, he might answer¨C¨Cin all seriousness¨C¨Calong the lines of, ¡°Three¨C¨Cone 8-year-old boy, a 6-year-old little girl, and a 2-year-old dog¡­¡±

    If there was a housewife out for a walk on the street, she might be pushing a stroller with a little baby in it and walking her dog. The correct way to greet her is to first praise the dog and not the baby or thedy herself¡­

    When the dog owners were tired, they would take a break on the benches by the road. They would take out their own food, or the food they bought from the food trucks, to munch on, while also feeding some to their dogs. They really treated dogs as their own children, and happiness shone on their faces.

    Every single dog, be it purebred or not, was well-groomed and energetically healthy. One look was all it took to see that they were all well taken of.

    asionally,rge, aggressive dogs like Pit Bulls could be seen, as well, but these dogs all had a muzzle put on them to prevent them from biting anyone.

    Zhang Zian followed what he saw. He squatted down and started to feed Famous the Turkish kebabs and currywurst that was in the paper bag in his right hand. ( Updated by BOX NOVEL.COM)

    After observing for some time, Zhang Zian realized a very interesting phenomenon. Although there were very few stray cats on the streets, he couldn¡¯t find a single stray dog; every dog he saw was leashed and had an owner that carried a paper bag and picked up its poop as they walked.

    Since there were no other customers at the moment, the young Turkish chef made himself a burrito and squatted down right beside Zhang Zian, watching Zian feed Famous.

    Zhang Zian also took a bite of the burrito. It had a soft and crisp wrap, with a refreshing sd mixed in with the sauce thatplemented the fragrant, barbecued meat. All of those vors together just stirred up one¡¯s appetite.

    ¡°Very good¨C¨Cvery nice!¡± Zian said in English as he gave a thumbs up.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± The young Turkish chef smiled proudly. ¡°Are you here for the film festival, too?¡±

    ¡°I guess you can say that I am,¡± Zhang Zian casually replied.

    ¡°Chinese? Korean?¡± the chef curiously asked, staring at his ck hair and yellow skin.

    ¡°Chinese,¡± Zhang Zian answered.

    ¡°Oh, Chinese. Forgive me for asking, but you don¡¯t eat dog meat, do you?¡± the chef asked worriedly while keeping his eyes on Famous.

    ¡°¡­I don¡¯t.¡± Zhang Zian almost choked. So the chef thought that Famous was with him so that he could have fresh dog meat¨C¨Cfreshly ughtered and eaten?

    The chef¡¯s question was nothing out of the ordinary, though. Since Germans really liked dogs, whenever an exchange student from China went to Germany, they were always asked such a question. It was like a way to distinguish friend from foe. Zian wondered if there would be any consequences, like discrimination or bullying, if anyone were to answer that they did, in fact, consume dog meat.

    It seemed as though insisting on including the sentence, ¡°Appropriate arrangements have been made for all animals that had made an appearance in this film,¡± was the right move, after all, Zhang Zian thought to himself. Otherwise the Germans who are really fond of dogs would certainly have doubts regarding that¨C¨Cand don¡¯t even mention getting an award. Whether or not the film would even be allowed to participate in the mainpetition segment might be a problem in and of itself.

    The chef¡¯s expressions eased. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s great. Have you bought the tickets for the film that you¡¯re interested in?¡±

    ¡°Not yet.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll have to hurry, then.¡± The Turkish chef finished his burrito in two to three bites. ¡°I¡¯m getting off work early today to join the queue and get my tickets.¡±

    His eyes glowed when he spoke. Evidently he was not just a skilled chef; he was also an avid film lover and was willing to give up the great opportunity to do his business just so he could purchase tickets to the film that he was interested in.

    The people that were gathered in the queue¨C¨Cregardless if they were men or women, young or old¨C¨Cheld within their hearts a love of film.

    Both Zhang Zian and Famous had also finished their kebabs and currywurst. Stuffing their mouths full, they waved goodbye to the chef and indistinctly said, ¡°Wish you all the best.¡±

    After filling their stomachs, the fatigue caused by jetg was greatly reduced. Zian nced at Fina and the rest of the elfins, who were still staring at the Turkish Doner kebab, and softly said, ¡°Let¡¯s go, we¡¯ll take a look elsewhere.¡±

    ording to the traditions of the Berlin Film Festival, the opening ceremony was to be held at the Potsdamer tz Sony Center, a breathtaking building with arge number of tempered ss windows and por trees nted right at the entrance. It was a pity that it was winter, as the por trees were all bare, with not a single leaf on them.

    There were still a couple of hours before the opening ceremony, but, due to the recent threat of endless terrorism activities within Europe, traffic controls and security checks had alreadymenced around the vicinity of Sony Center. A barricade made from red curtains and stainless steel fences were used to barricade off the middle of the road, which was meant as the passageway for stars and guests.

    Zhang Zian also saw the legendary red carpet, but it was slightly disappointing, as it was much smaller than he had imagined. It was probably about twenty to thirty meters long; one would finish walking the red carpet in just a few steps.

    Right at the entrance of the Sony Center stood arge model of the Berlin Bear mascot. It was overflowing with silliness and was very lovable, so many tourists and pedestrians were taking photos with it.

    Zhang Zian knew that he couldn¡¯t return home from Berlin empty-handed. Long Xian had specially asked him to bring a present back and Snowy had delivered fresh carps to him for a few consecutive days during the spring festival, a favor which he had yet to return.

    Zhang Zian did not have any experience with picking out a gift for a girl. How about getting a few Berlin Bear dolls and distributing them among everyone? Young girls like dolls¡­ and getting a few film festival limited edition Berlin Bear dolls from the souvenir shop should be a pretty good and inexpensive gift.

    There was no rush for this matter, however. He could just get them before the return trip. Zhang Zian had the urgent task of heading down to a local pet shop to get a few sets of food bowls, water bowls, and the necessary things for Fina, Famous, and the others. The problem could not be dragged on; even ordinary cats and dogs were very unwilling to share their food and water bowls with their own kind, so it was intensified for the proud elfins.

    Zhang Zian stopped a few pedestrians who were also walking their dog and had Richard inquire with them in German if there were any pet stores in the vicinity. One of them pointed him towards a direction and said that there was a well-known pet store that way. The person even offered to take him there.

    Zian perked up when he heard the mention of a well-known pet store. Since it was well-known, it must have its own unique qualities. Zian then kindly rejected the offer from the person to bring him there since it wasn¡¯t necessary. Zian was not a three-year-old kid, so he didn¡¯t think that he would have any trouble finding the shop himself.

    Zhang Zian thought about the saying that went, ¡°Learn the merits of yourpetitors so that you can surpass them.¡± This was a great opportunity for him to learn from the advanced experience of the foreign pet stores. He would take a look at how people abroad from the same industry ran their pet shops.

 Chapter 712: A Fellow Business in Germany

    <h4>Chapter 712: A Fellow Business in Germany</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Germans were fond of more than just dogs¨C¨Cthey also loved keeping other animals as pets.

    Germany was home to arge number of pets. In fact, one in three families owned a pet. Domestic cats were the most popr pet of choice, numbering 8 million in total, followed by pet dogs¨C¨Cdespite the fact that any breed of dog could be seen wandering on the street¨C¨Cnumbering 5 million. The remaining pets numbered about 5 million, and included rabbits, hamsters, and guinea pigs.

    Zhang Zian took Famous and walked towards where the person had pointed. The other elfins followed him, looking around with curiosity.

    Before they had walked a long distance, they came across a multifunction pet store. It was a massive building with two floors and was almost as big as a medium-sized supermarket. Zhang Zian¡¯s shop was almost a slumpared to this one.

    They walked into the shop and found a multitude of pet products. Although Zhang Zian worked in the same business, he didn¡¯t even know the function of some of the products.

    The staff in the store wore uniforms and were all very busy. He began to wander around the shop, as nobody came up to greet him.

    He walked in front of a shelf and could not read the German words listed on the item. ¡°What is this?¡± he whispered to Richard.

    ¡°Let me see¡­¡± It was warm in the shop. Richard jumped out of Zhang Zian¡¯s hoodie and onto his shoulder. It bent down to stare at the shelf.

    ¡°Quack! This is cat food!¡± Richard said. ¡°There are different kinds on each row¨C¨Csome for domestic cats, some for stray cats, and some for half-domestic cats. They also include some for healthy and allergy prone cats. They all look nice.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Zhang Zian was astonished to hear this. ¡°There is specialized food for stray cats?¡±

    He was so astonished by the products in the German pet market. They specifically prepared a type of food for stray cats by enhancing certain nutrients because of the diet that stray cats had. Since there were manufacturers willing to make it, there were surely customers willing to buy it. Stray cats in Germany were so fortunate.

    Half-domestic cats were those that returned home for meals, but spent the rest of the day ying outside. Many families had their own yard, after all.

    Next to the cat food shelf was a shelf of snacks. There were stic containers of various colors on the shelf and a small stic scoop in each container so the customers could get any portion they needed.

    There was arge variety of snacks, including sandwich biscuits, colorful beans, doughnut-shaped cookies, and bone-shaped cookies. All were freshly baked, radiating warmth and aroma. If they were not found in a pet shop, Zhang Zian would surely think that these were snacks for human consumption. They weren¡¯t very cheap, either. Each snack was around three euros per kilo.

    Next to the snack shelf were rows of pet supplies, such as transportation cages, cat bags, bells,bs, trimmers, and so on, all in varied sizes and styles. It was amazing how many items there were.

    Zhang Zian picked up a leash and looked at the price. This ordinary leash was no more than 30 RMB in his shop, but it was 30 euros in this shop.

    He put the leash back, feeling envious of the fellow businessmen in Germany. The people were all so dumb and rich.

    He turned his head back towards the elfins only to realize that Famous was not following him but was staring at something on the shelf.

    Zhang Zian walked towards Famous and found that it was staring at a row of sunsses. The sunsses were designed for dogs, with vibrant colors and cool styles. Each dog would turn into a fashion professional after putting them on.

    ¡°Famous, would you like a pair?¡± he bent down and asked.

    Famous licked its lips and said with envy, ¡°Pi¡¯s sses look very nice.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll get you a pair as well. Which one do you like?¡± Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°How about trying all of them on?¡±

    Famous was very fond of his proposal and nodded immediately. ¡°Let¡¯s try them on then.¡±

    When humans bought sses, they had to try them on first. Dogs also needed to try them on, otherwise it would be difficult to figure out which pair was the perfect size and if they could be ced firmly above the nose.

    There was a small mirror on the side of the aisle. Zhang Zian asked Famous to sit in front of the mirror while he took a few pairs of sses to try on one by one. He put back the dissatisfactory ones and kept the good ones so that they could choose a pairter.

    Zhang Zian and Famous both found three or four pairs to be satisfactory, but they could not decide which pair to buy.

    ¡°You have good taste, but I rmend the ck one,¡± a voice said from behind them, speaking in German.

    Zhang Zian looked back and found a caucasiandy, probably in her forties, behind him. She was a little chubby and wore a friendly smile. She was also wearing the pet shop¡¯s uniform.

    She came closer, pointed at the yellow and ck fur on Famous, and said, ¡°Your dog is very pretty and very strong. I think the ck sunsses will make it look more heroic. The orange pair is also nice, but I don¡¯t think it suits it very much.¡±

    Richard knew that Zhang Zian could not understand German, so it spoke in English with his ent. ¡°ck? Let me see.¡±

    Zhang Zian understood it and put the oval-shaped sunsses with the ck frame back on Famous. After looking at different angles, he decided that it did look more handsome in the ck-framed sunsses. The orange pair made it look somewhat hippy.

    When the night came¨C¨Cthe moment Famous walked onto the red carpet with a bow tie and sunsses¨C¨CFamous would surely knock the audience off their feet.

    ¡°Thank you for your suggestion. We¡¯ll take this pair,¡± he nodded.

    ¡°d to help,¡± the middle-ageddy smiled, switching hernguage to English.

    Ever since thest trip to the United States, Zhang Zian¡¯s English skills had improved greatly. Dailymunication was no longer a problem.

    She nced over Famous with a highly professional standard. ¡°This is such a good dog. It¡¯s very hard to find such a dog nowadays. Would you mind me asking where you bought it?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t buy it,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°This is a dog in my shop. I own a pet shop as well, except that it¡¯s in China.¡±

    ¡°You are a fellow businessman in China?¡± The middle-ageddy was very surprised. ¡°My name is Reina. Nice to meet you.¡±

    ¡°My name is¡­¡± Before Zhang Zian could finish the sentence, Richard said, ¡°Jeff Zhang! This is Famous!¡±

    ¡°Hello, Jeff! Hello, Famous! Are you tourists in Germany?¡± Reina asked with curiosity after they shook hands with each other.

    ¡°No, we are not tourists. My dog was in a film, so we are here in Germany for the Berlin Film Festival.¡± Out of his respect towards a fellow businesswoman, Zhang Zian told her the truth.

    ¡°Wow! Really?¡± Reina eximed in astonishment. ¡°Your dog was in a film here in the Berlin Film Festival? Could you please tell me which film it is?¡±

    Before Zhang Zian answered, she widened her eyes as if she suddenly remembered something. ¡°Oh my gosh! China¡­ A film about dogs¡­ Is it the film Dog Warrior?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is.¡± Zhang Zian smiled.

 Chapter 713: Goggles

    <h4>Chapter 713: Goggles</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The pet shop was not far from Potsdamer tz. Every year during the Berlin Film Festival, much of the staff would excitedly purchase tickets for the films. As members of the pet industry, they had all heard of the film Dog Warrior that would be appearing in the mainpetition segment as a worldwide premiere¨C¨Cso more or less they were looking forward to it.

    However, in recent years, China-made films in the Berlin Film Festival did not have much exposure or a sense of existence; even the films that had won awards mainly revolved around China¡¯s different cities or country life. There had never been a film like Dog Warrior¨C¨Ca hot-blooded military film that focused on the bond between man and dog¨C¨Cso they were unsure if the film would be nice to watch.

    There were not many opportunities to join the queue and purchase tickets, so the staff was unsure if it be worthwhile to forsake the other films in the festival, which might be more interesting than Dog Warrior.

    Reina was a loyal fan of the Berlin Film Festival. She grew up in Berlin and and grew up watching films from the Kplus segment to the 14plus segment. Now she watched any film from the 14plus segment to the mainpetition segment. She had spent countless days and nights growing up at the Berlin Film Festival.

    Age was an unforgiving knife. She used to be a young girl with a willowy figure, but now Reina was a slightly chubby, middle-aged woman. Her passion and enthusiasm for the Berlin Film Festival, however, had always been the same.

    She would have never thought that she would encounter a fellow countryman from China with the dog that acted in the film Dog Warrior.

    ¡°So¡­ what role did Famous take on in the film?¡± Reina asked, looking at Zhang Zian. She then looked at Famous, for she had decided to look out for Famous during the film.

    ¡°Famous yed the role of Lightning, the protagonist of the film,¡± Zhang Zian answered proudly.

    With a much exaggerated voice, Reina cried out, ¡°Oh god! It¡¯s the main character? Meaning that Famous is a well-known star back in China¨C¨Cwhich has a poption of 1.4 billion?¡±

    ¡°Not yet. This is the first film it is appearing in, but I believe that Famous will be a superstar in the future,¡± Zhang Zian confidently patted Famous¡¯s head.

    ¡°I believe that, too.¡± Reina nodded hurriedly. ¡°Its first film and it¡¯s already appearing on the stage of the Berlin Film Festival. Famous¡¯s future achievements will be limitless!¡± / update by box novel

    Excitedly rubbing her hands together, Reina said, ¡°A future star actually came to my shop and picked out a pair of sunsses. I am really honored!¡±

    Zhang Zian noticed her choice of words, so he curiously confirmed with her, ¡°This pet store of such great size belongs to you?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s an inheritance from my father.¡± Reina nodded. ¡°He has retired after handing the shop to me and is now enjoying himself at the beach.¡±

    ¡°This is not an easy task!¡± Zhang Zian praised from the heart. ¡°This is thergest pet store I have ever seen. Your storepared to mine is like putting a dwarf in front of a giant.¡±

    After learning that Reina was the shop owner, Zian was not that surprised. His role in his own store was simr to hers, as he did everything himself. Although the shops might differ in sizes, there was no essential difference between the shop owners.

    Reinaughed and said, ¡°Although I have not seen your shop, it took 20 years for this shop to expand to such a scale. Initially it was just an ordinary shop by the road. With this superstar dog of yours, you can expect a great number of people visiting your store for its autograph¡­ Oh, right. Can I take a picture with it and get a pawprint? I will treasure it and show it off to others in the future¡ª¡¯look, that well-known superstar visited my store in the past!''¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± Zhang Zian readily agreed.

    ¡°Hey! Guys! Everyonee over for a moment!¡± Reina raised her voice and shouted out to the remaining staff. ¡°There¡¯s a surprise for you guys. Look who is here!¡±

    All the idling employees slowly gathered around. They were all of different skin colors. All of them stared at Zhang Zian, wondering which famous person he was. Since there were a lot of people in Germany walking around with their dogs, no one would have thought that the German Shepherd right in front of their eyes would be the protagonist in a film.

    Reina pointed at Famous, introducing it to everyone. ¡°Do you know who this is? Its name is Famous, the protagonist of the film Dog Warrior that will be appearing on the screen at the film festival!¡±

    ¡°Is that true?¡± one employee asked.

    ¡°You¡¯re not kidding, right?¡± another asked.

    Everyone was surprised by what they heard. A number of them liked watching movies and they were also loyal fans of the Berlin Film Festival. It was not very often that they would have the chance to have a close encounter with a movie star.

    Zhang Zian took out the invitation letter to the film festival and the film crew employee ID as proof of his identity, which dispelled their doubts.

    Immediately, Famous was treated like a star. He became surrounded by everyone as they fought to take a picture with it. They wanted to post the picture on their various socialworks to brag about it. Someone even brought over a proid and an inkpad, requesting for Famous to leave its paw print on the back of the picture.

    Famous was very calm, epting everyone that came forward, and was very cooperative with the countless photos. It even did weird poses and made funny expressions from time to time¨C¨Cit would stick its tongue out, tilt its head, squint its eyes, pretend to be dead¡­ Famous¡¯s charm quickly conquered everyone.

    Those that had chosen other films deeply regretted their decision. They quickly called up their friends to help them purchase tickets to Dog Warrior. Someone even took off his uniform on the spot and requested from Reina to have the day off so that he could go join the queue and purchase the tickets.

    Reina, too, was happy, so she approved their request of taking the day off before taking a picture with Famous herself. She then stood to the side, happily watching the lively scene in front of her.

    Zhang Zian nced at the shelf where the sunsses were ced. He suddenly remembered something and asked Reina, ¡°Reina, other than normal sunsses, do you have any other types of sses? For example, sand-proof sses?¡±

    ¡°Yes, we do¨C¨Chold on for a moment,¡± Reina answered almost instantly. She spoke to the staff in German before the staff hurried off somewhere and returned after a while with a few boorish looking boxes.

    ¡°Try this.¡± Reina handed one of the boxes to Zhang Zian. ¡°These are the wind-proof goggles that the United States military had equipped their military dogs with during the battle at Afghanistan. The lenses are made of polycarbonate, so it not only provides protection from the wind and sand, but it also blocks off tiny pebbles and shrapnel. The coating of the lenses can also weaken the damage of strong ultra-violet rays on the cornea, so they are especially suitable for use in the desert and higndbats. Let me tell you, this is an authentic military product. It¡¯s not easy to obtain something like this in Germany, so take it as a special treat for you and Famous!¡±

    Zhang Zian had initially just been checking; he did not expect Reina to bring out a product of such quality, so now he couldn¡¯t help but be overjoyed.

    The camouge-style box carried the strong color of munitions.

    ¡°Thank you! Thank you very much!¡± Zian could not stop expressing his gratitude.

    ¡°You¡¯re wee,¡± Reina said. ¡°Is Famous filming a movie in the desert or on the hignds?¡±

    ¡°Something like that.¡± Zian smiled and said, ¡°We might be visiting a desert three months from now.¡±

    Reina generously said, ¡°Then there is no need for money. Take it as a gift for Famous from me, its little fan.¡±

 Chapter 714: Dogs Never Change

    <h4>Chapter 714: Dogs Never Change</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The windproof goggles for American military dogs¨C¨Ca gift from Reina¨C¨Chad solved a problem that had been troubling Zhang Zian for a long time.

    He knew that canine pupils did not adjust to light as efficiently as felines¡¯ did. The sunlight was sometimes so strong in the desert and on teaus, which could not only limit their vision, but also harm their eyeballs.

    He opened the package and found that the shape of the goggles was simr to the ones that pilot¡¯s wore in old airbat movies. The shape was adjusted and improved to fit on canine¡¯s heads and to ensure a tight fit, so that neither wind nor sand could get through.

    The goggles were attached to the dog¡¯s lower jaw with two cut proof nylon straps, so that they would not fall off when the dog was running at a high speed.

    Zhang Zian took the goggles and yed with them over and over. He liked them so much that he almost wanted to try them on himself¡­

    ¡°And these.¡± Reina took out two more camouge packages. ¡°They make aplete set. Take all of this for Famous as a gift.¡±

    Zhang Zian felt that he didn¡¯t deserve such a gift, but he was curious as to what was inside.

    Reina introduced the products one by one: ¡°This is an ear mask that goes with the goggles. It prevents sand and wind from entering their ear canal; it can also partially eliminate the impact that a nearby explosion would have to the eardrum. This one is a military vest for dogs, which prevents external injury.¡±

    There were two pairs of ear masks that were triangr and made with the same material as the frame of the goggles¨C¨Cthey looked quite solid. There were venting slits on the sides of the ear masks so that police dogs could hear their master¡¯smands while they were also well-protected.

    The military vest was intended to keep the dog warm, since the temperature in the desert could drop to -20 degrees Celsius at night.

    Reina was very generous. They were all military grade products, so the set was very expensive. Altogether, the set was a whopping price of 199.99 euros. However, considering that a leash was sold at 30 euros in Reina¡¯s shop, the set was well worth the money¡­

    Driven by need because of long-term battles in desert areas, the United States army spent a lot of energy making equipment of simple structure and superior function. They were great products, but even those who had plenty of money could not necessarily afford them.¡¡¡¡ U.p. dated by boxnove l.

    The employees of the pet store took a group photo with Famous and were reluctant to return to their jobs.

    Zhang Zian tried the desert battle set on Famous. All three items were adjustable ording to the dog¡¯s size. It fit after proper adjustment and Famous looked incredibly handsome!

    Famous was very satisfied with itself as it nced itself over in the mirror.

    Zhang Zian took the set off of Famous and put them away. He thanked Reina again.

    Reina smiled. ¡°Okay. Now that we have taken care of Famous, we can now take care of our fellow businessman from China. Jeff, wee to my shop. Would you like me to walk around with you?¡±

    ¡°That would be great, if it¡¯s convenient to you.¡± What Reina suggested was exactly what Zhang Zian wanted. ¡°You have a lot of stuff in your shop that I¡¯ve never seen before. I don¡¯t know what they are for, so an introduction would be great.¡±

    He walked side by side with Reina and asked her questions whenever he came across an unknown item. She told him everything she knew and answered his questions with enthusiasm.

    There were other customers with dogs shopping around the store. Zhang Zian noticed that all of these dog owners carried paper bags with them in order to pick up their dog¡¯s poop. He eximed, ¡°Ever since I arrived in Germany, I¡¯ve been impressed by how much the Germans love their dogs. Dog walkers are everywhere on the street, but, miraculously, I rarely see dog poop on the ground.¡±

    Reina nodded and asked, ¡°Jeff, do you know why each dog owner is voluntarily picking up dog poop?¡±

    Zhang Zian paused at her question, thinking that the citizens were either well-educated, or the penalty was high. There could not be any other reasons, right?

    He exined his thoughts, but Reinaughed mischievously. ¡°No, Jeff, we are not that well-educated¨C¨Cwe are just afraid. We pick up dog poop without being told so that our dogs will not lick our faces after eating their own poop, or lick our faces after eating another dog¡¯s poop¡­¡±

    Poof!

    Zhang Zian could not help butugh at her exnation.

    Reina continued, ¡°Maybe you think this is a joke, but it¡¯s not. Take a look at this.¡±

    She took him to another shelf and took down a few small packages to show him. Each package was different in color and style, suggesting that they were from different manufacturers.

    ¡°Many owners are troubled by the poop eating problem. Therefore, some manufacturers have invented food additives, such as these in my hands,¡± she introduced. ¡°The manufacturers im that after adding these food additives and pills into a dog¡¯s food, the dog poop will have an annoying odor to the dogs and the dogs will not eat it.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Zhang Zian was greatly intrigued. He stared at the tablets, pills, and powdered food additives in Reina¡¯s hands, looking at them closely.

    As the saying goes, dogs never stop eating poop. This was a self-evident truth, just like the sun always rose from the east.

    At least half of the world¡¯s domestic dogs ate poop, only counting the ones that were caught. If one were to count the dogs that had been secretly eating poop without being caught by their owners, then the percentage might be as high as three quarters¡­

    Dogs not only ate their own poop, but they also ate the poop of other dogs, regardless if it was soft, hard, thick, thin, liquid, dry, round, or rod-shaped. Any form was considered a delicacy to dogs.

    More horrifically, studies indicated that dogs didn¡¯t eat poop for the nutrients inside, but because they simply enjoyed eating it. This was called ¡°coprophagia¡­¡±

    In the daily business of a pet shop, he was often asked the same question by panicking customers: ¡°Holy crap! What do I do if my dog ate poop? What if my dog licked me after eating poop?¡±

    In the public ount, many people left messages asking how they could train their dogs to stop their bad habit.

    In the past, his answer had always been: ¡°Just give it up. There¡¯s no solution!¡±

    What if he was wrong? Maybe these magical pills in Reina¡¯s hands could solve the conundrum that had been troubling dog owners for a long time.

    ¡°Do these pills and food additives work?¡± he asked. If they worked, he would like to purchase some for his shop. They would sell fast.

    Reina shook her head andughed. ¡°Unfortunately, only one percent of the customers say that it works. But this doesn¡¯t stop them from buying and trying them anyway, in hopes that their dog would be the one percent.¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless¡­

    ¡°So, I¡¯m not joking. The best way to prevent dogs from eating poop is to pick their poop up immediately after they go. This is what we do to protect ourselves,¡± Reina said seriously.

    Dogs never stop eating poop. The ancient people were not lying!

 Chapter 715: A Different Policy

    <h4>Chapter 715: A Different Policy</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Of course, what Reina said was just a joke. In fact, owning a dog in Germany came with very strict rules; dog owners were required to walk their dogs at least three times a day, each walksting at least an hour. If the standard was not met, the government would dispatch a professional to walk your dog for you, charging ten Euros for each walk. If, during the process of walking the dog, the owner did not dispose of its dog¡¯s poop properly, then a hefty fine would be issued.

    However, nothing could really be done about dogs eating their own waste, unless they were put through strict food refusal training, like police dogs. Another option was to train those dogs to relieve themselves outside and to put a muzzle on them when they were out for walks. Although it could be seen as unfair to the dogs, it was a much better option than having them lick their owners face after eating their own waste, which would only hurt feelings¡­

    Reina brought Zhang Zian around the shop to take a look, asionally answering some of his questions.

    What struck Zhang Zian the most was the array of pet products in the shop. Every product for a specific use¨C¨Cfor example, each kennel had multiple options to choose from, sometimes even going as far as tens of different options. Reina¡¯s shop was built to answer almost any request a customer could have.

    They were gradually walking towards the end of the rows of shelves, which led to the front of the pet disy and sales area.

    The first thing that Zhang Zian saw were rabbits. In a row of custom made, ss rabbit cages¨C¨Cwhich were secured with a wooden skeletal frame¨C¨Cwere a few different breeds of rabbits. There were Lop-eared Rabbits, White Rabbits, English Spot Rabbits, Nethend Dwarf Rabbits, and many others. Each rabbit took up one cage. The base of each rabbit cage wasid with a thickyer of hay, a stack of grass¨C¨Cmeant for the rabbits to consume¨C¨Cwas ced in a round food bowl, and there was even a delicate rabbit hutch made from wood by the side of the cage.

    Pictures and descriptions were pasted at the front of every rabbit cage, which introduced the breed, habits, and feeding methods of the rabbit that resided within the cage. Although Zhang Zian was unable to understand the German words on them, he could make out the general idea from the pictures.

    Zian walked up to the closest rabbit hutch and carefully observed it. Residing within the hutch was a light purple, Nethend Dwarf rabbit. It was small in size, round, and cute. It was eating the grass at the side of the cage when it turned and saw Zian, and then it instantly hopped away into the rabbit hutch.

    Once he got closer, Zian noticed that the base of the cage was notid with regr hay¨C¨Cit was scattered with bits of golden oat grass and the stack of green grass ced in the food bowl was also oat grass; it carried a rich milky fragrance.

    Zhang Zian thought of Little Celery as he looked at these rabbits. He couldn¡¯t help but look around inside the store; he noticed that, among the crowd of customers, there were only a handful of children and teenagers, all of which were apanied by adults.

    Shouldn¡¯t the teenagers¨C¨Cwho were in the prime of their rebellious phase¨C¨Chate going out with their parents?

    Zian threw his question out to Reina.

    Reina pointed towards the few lines of German words that were beside the price tag on the rabbit cage and exined that, due to the regtions under the Animal Protection Law, anyone below the age of 16 was not be allowed to purchase a pet in Germany. Also ording to thew, teenagers above the age of 16 were required to be apanied by their guardian when purchasing a pet. They were also required to learn and understand how to raise their pets before they purchased¨C¨Cit was the same for an adult who wished to purchase a pet, too.

    Reina also specially pointed out one point: in Germany, pets were not a suitable surprise gift for others¨C¨Cthe other party had to be notified before the purchase and before it was gifted to them. Once pets were sold, they were considered non-refundable and non-exchangeable.

    Zhang Zian had also encountered many simr situations during his daily operations. Liu Sang, for example, had wanted to get a dog for Shi Shi as a surprise to make her happy. If Shi Shi refused to ept the dog, then Liu Sang had hoped that the dog could be returned. Such situations happened from time to time; it was not a rare, isted incident.

    If the situation was to happen in Germany, Liu Sang would be required to notify Shi Shi before the purchase of the dog and Shi Shi¡¯s consent would be required before being able to purchase the dog. So if he wanted to return the dog after the purchase, there was no way that could happen!

    With doubts in his mind, Zhang Zian asked, ¡°If the customers are no longer fond of their pets after the purchase and they are not allowed to return the pets, then wouldn¡¯t more pets be abandoned?

    Reina exined that, in Germany, both the abandoning of pets and failing to provide a proper living space for pets, were subjected to heavy penalties. Such aw provided the reason as to why stray animals were rarely seen on the streets in Germany.

    She smiled and said, ¡°Earlier, I was surprised when I saw you enter the shop with Famous because an outstanding German Shepherd like Famous is hard to find now¨C¨Ceven in Germany. I had guessed that it was close to impossible that Famous is adopted, since no owner would abandon such an outstanding dog. That is why I asked you where you purchased Famous from.¡±

    While Reina was talking, Zhang Zian suddenly noticed that there were no cats and dogs in the disy and sales area for small mammals. ¡°I don¡¯t see any cats and dogs put up for sale here¡­ Are they on the second floor?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Regretfully,¡± Reina said as she shrugged her shoulders, ¡°we don¡¯t have cats and dogs for sale here.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Zhang Zian asked in a surprise. A pet shop that doesn¡¯t sell cats and dogs? What kind of pet shop is this?

    There were some pet shops back in China that did not sell pets; instead, they focused mainly on providing a variety of services, such as grooming. As long as the pet shop sold pets, however, then they would sell cats and dog¨C¨Cor one of them, at the very least¡­

    ¡°Because thew does not permit it.¡± Reina shook her head helplessly. ¡°Germans believe that animals with emotions, such as cats and dogs, should not be put for sale. 90% of the cats and dogs in Germany are all adopted.¡±

    ¡°But you¡¯re still selling monkeys¡­¡± Zhang Zian raised his finger and pointed at the monkey cage that was not far away, expressing his confusion with the German¡¯s thought process. ¡°Monkeys are put for sale, but not cats and dogs? As a close rtive to humans, do not monkeys have emotions, too?¡±

    ¡°About that¡­ you can only speak to the ones who made thew.¡± Reinaughed bitterly. ¡°Of course, there are also ces in Germany that do sell cats and dogs, but they are the breeding bases approved by the government. There are standards to be met by the breeding bases in order to raise dogs; a strict guideline is needed for the rest and exercise schedules for every single dog. For a pet shop, arge amount of money would be needed in order to reach such standards, so we have simply decided to forgo the breeding and sales of cats and dogs. Anyway, there are still other pets that we can sell.

    Reina gave an overview of Germany¡¯s current situation on the adoption and sales of cats and dogs¨C¨Cthe price to purchase a dog was not be lower than 1500 Euros; even adopting one would cost about two to three hundred Euros. After the purchase or adoption of a pet, an additional four to five hundred euros was also charged yearly under tax and insurance. Adding up the monthly cost of raising a cat or dog, it would be close to 100 Euros a month¡­ That¡¯s not a small sum of money that the pet owner was responsible for. Once the owner was unable to continue raising the pet¨C¨Cmaybe due to illness, bankruptcy or other reasons¨C¨Che was still required to pay a sum of money to send the pet to a new home.

    As for those that decided to silently abandon their pets as they could no longer afford to keep them, they were taking a very big risk. Through the chips that were imnted in the pets, the police were able to trace down the abandoners. Once they were found, they would receive a fine amounting to a few thousand Euros and they would be detained, as well¡­

    The hefty cost ensured that people would think twice before they decided to raise a pet; they wanted to prevent extra losses and penalties after spending so much money on the pet to begin with.

    Zhang Zian was overwhelmed. No wonder there were only a few dogs on the streets that were purebred. Germany had basically seeded in adoptions taking over purchases, but it was namely due to the limitations of thew instead of people¡¯s awareness.

    ¡°Free¡± adoptions did not exist, even in a country walking at the forefront of the world on pet protection; people would never cherish things that came without any cost.

 Chapter 716: All Roads Lead to Rome

    <h4>Chapter 716: All Roads Lead to Rome</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian thought it over. Over 90% of his shop¡¯s profit came from selling cats and dogs. If cat and dog sales were forbidden, then he would have to close his business.

    Germany and China hadpletely different dynamics that made the policies andws of the countries uparable. Germany was a country where those that imed social benefits could still live a good life; however, in China, millions of people could only afford to eat dirt. It would be unwise for such a country to spend their money and energy on pets; that money should have otherwise been used to improve the lives of the people.

    Zhang Zian was greatly intrigued. If Reina¡¯s pet shop didn¡¯t sell cats or dogs, then how did it develop into such a size? What was it relying on?

    Reina answered, ¡°We rely on pet supplies, essories, and food, of course. We do attract some customers by the exotic pets that we sell, but most only pay for the pet other supplies I mentioned before.¡±

    ¡°You may not be aware of this,¡± Zhang Zian began, ¡°But online shopping is highly developed in China and most people buy these things online¨C¨Cthat way they can easily find the best deal byparing prices¡­ To be honest, with the exception of imported cat food, I don¡¯t sell much pet supplies in my shop, and my profit is very low.¡±

    Ever since the event at Love Lovely Pets, cat and dog sales had dropped sharply in Binhai City. Most potential pet buyers were waiting so they could buy the pets that had escaped from Love Lovely Pets at a lower price from other sellers.

    Things were not good at Zhang Zian¡¯s shop, either. Only some people were asking about the Abyssinians, Ragdolls, and Siberian forest cats; the other cats and dogs were rarely asked about. Things were better with the cats¨C¨Csince they could at least dance¨C¨Cbut he was unwilling to sell them at a reduced price topete with the free cats that had escaped from Love Lovely Pets.

    As it was unknown how long this dilemma wouldst, he was desperately seeking other ways to do business. He was hoping that he could get some insight from Reina.

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡± Reina pondered for a while then said, ¡°I suggest that you start with two changes. The first is to sell the bulky items¨C¨Cwhich are inconvenient to buy online¨C¨Csuch as fish bowls and aquarium tanks. The second is to introduce more exotic and expensive pets so you can run your shop as a zoo. Use the exotic pets to attract more customers. As long as there are more peopleing in your door, then some of them will buy the other things in your shop.¡±

    She spoke from her own experience, as that was how she ran her shop.

    Zhang Zian followed her to the second floor.

    He had already seen monkeys on the first floor, but the second floor almost made his jaw drop!

    It was much hotter on the second floor. It was almost like a subtropical forest with all sorts of exotic and rare pets¡­ Some of them could barely be considered regr pets at all.

    A creepy looking tarant was alternating its hairy legs while staring at an expensive Imperial Amazon. Its millions ofpound eyes watched the bird with ill-intention through its cage.

    A Philippine Sailfin lizard¨C¨Ccovered with ugly wrinkles¨C¨Cwas lying on a dry branch, ncing at the customers that passed by with its emotionless, ck eyeballs.

    A long and thick Albino Burmese Python was flicking its forked tonguezily to distinguish different odor molecules in the air. It twisted itself into a pile on a rock.

    A pair of massive blue and yellow macaws were standing on a branch and tweeting words of love to each other.

    A ck-eyed racoon was putting a walnut into its mouth and gnawing on the shell, which made a loud cracking sound.

    An odd-looking armadillo¨C¨Carmored in scales¨C¨Cwas big in size, but small in guts. It curled up into a ball as if it was frightened, protecting its soft abdomen with the hard, bony scales.

    A family of ferrets were huddled together, sleeping in peace and love while they leaned their bodies into each other.

    A sloth was holding onto the tree trunk with ws as sharp as steel hooks. Its sleepy eyes were half-open as it peeked through the leaves of the tree.

    Reina put a tiny thumb monkey onto her fingers. It held onto her index finger as if it were holding onto an elephant¡¯s leg and nced around curiously.

    ******

    There was a zoo in Binhai City, but it was small and shabby and had nothing more than a few lethargic tigers and monkeys. It could not bepared to the National Zoo in the capital, or even to this pet shop, where there were more animals¨C¨Cin number and in variety. Reina¡¯s shop eye-opening.

    ******

    There were more customers on the second floor than the first. There was even a caf¨¦ in the corner. A few customers were sitting on chairs with cups of aromatic coffee and some delicate pastries in their hands; some customers even had beer and hot and sour currywurst. They were enjoying their food and their drinks while they watched these rare, exotic animals.

    Some customers even brought their entire families. There was a couple with their twin boys and the father was exining the animals to his children in a high-spirited voice. The pet shop was almost like a scientific outing in nature, except they didn¡¯t have to leave downtown Berlin.

    After seeing the second floor, Zhang Zian finally figured out where Reina¡¯s pet shop had been earning its profit.

    ¡°Do you see now? I don¡¯t sell cats or dogs in my shop, but the profit from the other pets is not any lower. If youbine these animals with the pet supplies and the essories, then I have enough to keep the business going,¡± Reina said proudly.

    ¡°Awesome, indeed,¡± Zhang Zian eximed with sincerity. ¡°I had never thought of running a pet shop like this. This is truly new knowledge to me.¡±

    ¡°So, does this help you, my dear Chinese fellow?¡± Reina was very happy to hear Zhang Zian¡¯s words.

    Zhang Zian sighed slightly. ¡°It¡¯s a shame, but I can¡¯t do the same thing as you.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± she asked doubtfully. ¡°Is it because of the funding shortage? Don¡¯t worry. I didn¡¯tplete my pet collection within one day. You just need to take it slow.¡±

    ¡°No, not because of that.¡± Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°The funding is an important factor, but the biggest problem is that¡­ many of the exotic pets sold in your shop, like these colorful parrots and these monkeys, are not allowed to be sold in China¨C¨Cat least not in public.¡±

    That was the problem. The policies for pet sales were different in China than they were in Germany. If he had the guts to sell the wildlife listed at international conventions in China, then his shop would have been reported the next day and closed for investigation by themercial department¡­

    He exined his difficulties to Reina.

    ¡°Is that so¡­ This is tough indeed¡­¡± Reina finally understood the situation.

    Zhang Zian agreed with regret. ¡°Nothing we can do about this. Things are just different from one country to another.¡±

    Reina thought about it, then waved her hands. ¡°Jeff, don¡¯te to a conclusion too soon. I understand your difficulties, but all roads lead to Rome. There are ways to bypass the regtions enforced by your country.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Please, enlighten me.¡± Zhang Zian felt doubtful, but listened carefully.

    Reina lifted her hand and pointed to an aquarium tank that was located in another area on the second floor.

    ¡°Jeff, you must know that the animals listed in the international conventions arend animals. Each year, thousands of new lifeforms are discovered in the ocean. These newly discovered ocean creatures are not yet listed in the conventions. Therefore, they cannot be regarded as protected species¡­ Do you understand what I mean?¡±

 Chapter 717: Communication Problems

    <h4>Chapter 717: Communication Problems</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    With the way that humans had been conquering nature, virginnds, unimed by humans, were bing fewer and fewer. Even the African rainforest and the Amazon rainforest were dwindling in size as the days went by and, every day, a new animal species ceased to exist. Although onnd, there were still species that had yet to be discovered by humans. The main focus was all on small animals, such as arthropods. As forrge animals, there weren¡¯t many left that had not yet been discovered.

    But the ocean was different.

    About 70% of the Earth¡¯s surface area was covered by the ocean, and, hiding within the blue ocean, was arge number of unknown, mysterious creatures¨C¨Cespecially the mysterious, deep-sea organisms that were beyond human imagination. Scientists have pointed out that human understanding of the deep sea was not even close to the little knowledge they had about the surface of Mars.

    Zhang Zian understood what Reina meant.

    Every year, thousands of new marine species were being discovered. The poption size for those newly discovered species was unknown¨C¨Cmaybe the one discovered was thest of its kind, or maybe there were still millions more of it out there¡­ anything was possible. Before the investigation was concluded, they couldn¡¯t be arbitrarily listed in the International List of Endangered Animals; therefore, they were not protected by thew, which allowed some space for maniptions.

    In China, cats and dogs ount for almost 90% of the pet sales market, while it might not even be up to ten percent in Germany. The German pet market, however, was far more developed than Zhang Zian imagined. From Reina, Zian saw a new method he could use to make a difference, aside frompletely relying on the selling of cats and dogs.

    Previously, Zhang Zian had also considered fish as an option, since, among pets, fish were one of the more important ones. As a coastal city, however, Binhai Citycked many things, but fish were definitely not one of them. If one were to head to the night market during summer with just twenty to thirty dors, they could stuff themselves full with seafood until they puked at any stall.

    There were a few aquariums in Binhai City, but their business conditions were basically bleak. Most of their sales were from the tropical fish and cold water fish, which were bought wholesale from Guangzhou and Jinmen. China had three major fish distribution centers: Guang, Jin, An¨C¨Cwhich represented Anshan.

    With the aquariums as a precedent, Zhang Zian never did make up his mind about taking on the aquarium route.

    The second floor was very spacious, but, rtively speaking, the area upied by the marine life section was smaller whenpared to the reptile section that took up most of the space. Perhaps the Germans have a preference for reptiles¡­

    A young boy, aged around twelve to thirteen, was lingering around the ss disy case for the Rhinoceros Iguana.

    It was also possible that reptiles required arger living space.

    An adult male customer, who looked like he came from Asia, had somemunication problems with one of the staff members. Reina apologized to Zhang Zian before heading over to deal with the matter.

    Zian turned around to see that the elfins were all intrigued by the various different pets in the shop and, since he did not have anything to do, Zian decided to tag along and take a look at how Reina ran her business.

    After getting closer, Zian realized that Reina¡¯s staff was very enthusiastic when dealing with their customers, but, looking at the professional aspect, the staff was not proficient enough. There were a few asions where the staff could not answer the customer¡¯s query. It might be due to therge number of pets within the shop¨C¨Cif anyone was able to familiarize themself with any one of them, they could probably be a zoologist by then.

    The Asian customer had his eyes on a ball python and a terrarium. Just when he was ready to make the payment for the two, one of the staff members held him back and stopped him from purchasing the terrarium. The customer could not speak German, nor was he proficient in English, which resulted in a problem in theirmunication that caused a dispute between the two.

    Zhang Zian noticed that the mobile phone in the hands of the Asian customer was from a China brand. On the main screen of the mobile phone was the familiar WeChat icon, so Zian asked, ¡°Hello, are you from China?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Are you a staff of this shop?¡± The Asian customer looked as if he had met his savior.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not. I¡¯m here on a trip,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°Are you having some problems?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s like this¡­ I want to purchase this ball python and this terrarium, but this unreasonable staff refused to let me purchase this terrarium and kept forcing me to purchase another terrarium that was more expensive!¡± the customer said furiously. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect hard-selling to also exist in Germany! Can you help me file aint about him?¡±

    The customer had chosen a golden Desert Spider Ball Python and a very ordinary terrarium. He was ying around with the ball python in the palm of his hand, just like someone who was used to handling snakes.

    Fina stared coldly at the Ball Python, looking as if she might tear it in half at any time.

    Zhang Zian hurriedly gestured towards Fina, motioning for her to calm down. If Fina were to attack the Ball Python, she would lose her invisibility status and would certainly shock everyone in the vicinity.

    Most Ball Pythons were gentle by nature. They were not aggressive, were not poisonous, and they didn¡¯t attack people.

    Zhang Zian looked at the terrarium a few times, but he was not able to see a problem with the snake and the terrarium. As Zian was unable to understand why the staff refused to let the customer purchase the terrarium, he then ryed the question to Reina in English.

    Reina pointed at the details on the Ball Python¡¯s ss disy case and exined to the customer, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sir. The Ball Python that you have chosen is 55 centimeters in length, but the terrarium that you have chosen is just 100 centimeters in length. ording to thew in Germany, the minimum length for terrariums that are meant for reptiles must be no less than two times that of the reptile¡¯s length. As you had chosen a terrarium that did not meet the minimum requirements, we are unable to sell it to you. You will have to either choose a smaller Ball Python or a bigger terrarium.¡±

    After she finished exining, Reina took out a copy of the Code of Law from the service desk on the second floor. She flipped it open and showed thew to the customer. The pictures and text within the Code of Law provided a detailed description of the breeding instructions and rtedws and regtions that involved reptiles.

    Zhang Zian ryed Reina¡¯s words to the customer in Chinese, and, at the same time, cleared his own doubts.

    The customer was still dissatisfied after Zhang Zian rified things, but he had no other choice. He was in a foreignnd, so he needed to follow their rules.

    With Zhang Zian¡¯s help, the customer chose arger terrarium and bought a heating mat, matchingmps for the terrarium, a water bowl, and mats. The price of the Desert Spider Ball Python was 399 Euros, and the price for the terrarium and the various essories were also about 300 something Euros. All in all, it was still much cheaper than raising a cat or dog.

    At the time of payment, Reina handed a copy of a document to the customer. On the front page of the document was the information about the Ball Python from the price, breed, size, origin, scientific name, and more. The customer was required to fill in his name, passport number, and other personal information on the second page, while the third page was filled up with legal terms and disimers. Just looking at it would make one¡¯s head throb. The pet sale agreement from Zhang Zian¡¯s shop was nothingpared to this document.

    The customer probably could not understand the German words on the third page, so he briefly swept a nce over, filled in his information, andpleted the payment.

    The customer¡¯s impression of the pet shop wasn¡¯t a good one, but he was very grateful that Zhang Zian helped him clear up the misunderstanding. Zhang Zian generously said to him, ¡°We¡¯re both Chinese, so it is just right that we help one another out¨C¨Cespecially when we¡¯re away from home.

    Reina, too, breathed a sigh of relief. At the opening of the Berlin Film Festival, there were always visits from foreign customers withnguage barriers.

 Chapter 718: The Aquarium Zone

    <h4>Chapter 718: The Aquarium Zone</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Reina went tofort and encourage the mistreated employee. Zhang Zian stepped back and whispered to Reina, ¡°Why are you making such a fuss? Did that ball python offend you?¡±

    After the Chinese customer took the ball python away, Fina turned its eyes towards the other snakes in the shop, such as the gold python, the green tree python, and more. Its eyes were as fierce as a knife and sharp enough to slice them open.

    Fina red at Zhang Zian and said coldly, ¡°I hate snakes. Every one of them deserves to die!¡±

    Zhang Zian was astonished at Fina¡¯s words before he realized that, ording to the legend, Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt, died from a deadly snake bite. The movie followed the legend and ended in the same way. Could that be the reason Fina hated snakes?

    Before he could think further, Reina called him up front. ¡°Jeff,e here. I¡¯ll show you the aquarium tanks.¡±

    ¡°Coming,¡± he responded, and winked at Fina to make it hold its temper. He then walked over to Reina with quick steps.

    Zhang Zian was startled as soon as he arrived at the aquarium zone. A massive tank was standing at the entrance, which was essentially just a wall. He had never seen a fish tank of this size. More than that, he was very puzzled that there was only one fish inside the enormous tank.

    Yet, after he clearly saw what kind of fish was in the tank, he became even more astonished. It was an Antic sturgeon, around 30-40 centimeters in length. It was a European sea sturgeon¨C¨Cnot Chinese¨C¨Cbut it was still just as rare. People were driven by their quest for caviar, which caused the Antic sturgeon to be almost extinct in the wild.

    ording to thebel, this Antic sturgeon was from Pnd and was sold at the price of 4000 euros. It was the superstar of the aquarium, without a doubt.

    Its body was light grey, with a streamlined shape. Its eyes were so tiny that one might mistake them as nostrils. It was swimming swiftly in the tank like a cloud of smoke.

    In fact, there were some small fish in the same tank, but they appeared to just be food for the sturgeon. It chased after them like a sword, biting them with small, sharp teeth, and swallowed them swiftly into its stomach.

    Zhang Zian finally understood why there was only one fish in this massive tank¨C¨Cit was because this fish could reach two to three meters in length.

    ¡°What do you think? Do you like my Antic sturgeon?¡± Reina asked in a high-spirited tone. ¡°If you are interested, I can keep an eye out and get one for you. I¡¯m sure it will draw a lot of customers to your pet shop.¡±

    ¡°I like it,¡± Zhang Zian answered earnestly. ¡°But no, thanks. I can¡¯t im a free meal ticket that¡¯s valid for 20 years.¡±

    Behind this massive fish tank was a small pond built with pebble stones. Hundreds of Koi fish, after they saw people approaching, swarmed over, stretched their mouths out of the water, and blew bubbles. The water stirred so vigorously that it almost seemed to be boiling. Red, white, yellow, and ck¡­ a few bright colors mixed together and looked very pretty.

    As they walked, the Koi fish followed them, waiting patiently to be fed. They only swam back to the bottom of the water in disappointment after Reina and Zhang Zian were far from the pond.

    It seemed as though Koi fish were just as popr among the Germans as they were with the Chinese.

    In addition to the Koi fish, there were other varieties ofmon, tropical fish, and cold water fish. For example, Germany had some of the top breeders of cichlids in the world. By selecting cichlid parents with vibrant colors, they were subject to have repeated purification. At the same time, German fish farms were constantly introducing new blood to avoid inbreeding. The cichlids that were bred in such conditions were beyondparison to those sold online in China, which were fed with colored food in order to be sold at a higher price.

    There were two major trends in ornamental fish worldwide: one was with breeders, which was led in poprity by Germany, while the other was with naturalists, which was led in poprity by Japan. The Germans concentrated on improving the bloodline of freshwater fish, while the Japanese focused on keeping the fish in their original, natural state. As a result, German aquariums were more expensive than the Japanese. In China, the domestic ornamental fish market seemed to favor the Japanese trend.

    Fish were not the only species in the aquarium zone. Zhang Zian saw a strange creature that looked like a fish, but had limbs; it also looked like a lizard, but had a gill. It had a pale pink color and cute, innocent eyes. Its fat body waspletely disproportionate to its skinny limbs. The most striking characteristic was its three pairs of feather-shaped external gills on each side.

    Thebel on the tank read: ¡°Axolotl, or Mexican smander from Mexico.¡±

    This species was listed in the 2016 Endangered Species Red list by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and was ssified as ¡°extremely endangered.¡± This rare species was sold in Reina¡¯s shop at 9.99 euros each.

    Imagine having a couple of these at home. They would definitely catch more eyeballs than those expensive gold or silver Arowana fish. These would be enough to make the guests¡¯ jaws drop.

    These creatures could not only be kept as pets. Since they were able to regrow their broken limbs, scientists throughout the world were using them to study tissue repair and development.

    Unfortunately, China did not allow people to buy or sell them. But if one was nning on keeping it in secret, then they just needed to keep a low profile and they needed to never post the fish on their WeChat moments.

    In 2017, an article titled, ¡°A pet shop in Xiamen selling ¡®dinosaur¡¯ Mexican smander,¡± was posted on Xinhua. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to earn his fame in such a way. He could imagine the title on a United States browser¨C¨C¡±Shock! Crazy pet shop owner making huge profit by selling Mexican smander. Will be thrown into jail and get his a** busted.¡±

    Zhang Zian took a tour of the aquarium zone with Reina. Soon, he realized a problem. Most of the aquarium tanks were freshwater tanks; there were very few saltwater tanks. Were the Germans not fond of saltwater fish?

    He threw the question to Reina.

    ¡°No, no, Jeff. You misunderstood,¡± Reina exined. ¡°It¡¯s just that we are running out of space here. We can¡¯t fit any more aquarium tanks.¡±

    Her words were true. The entire second floor was pretty much upied; there was very little extra space.

    ¡°Do you remember what I told you just now?¡± She smiled. ¡°My father has retired by the beach to enjoy his life and he left this shop to me. But he is notpletely free, as he still focuses on the sales of saltwater fish and equipment. If you are interested, I can give you his address and you can pay him a visit when you have time. His temper is a little bit odd, but he is a nice guy.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought about it. He could neither keep nor sell Mexican smanders or Antic sturgeons. The online shops had messed up the market for freshwater fish, such as cichlids. Saltwater fish were a safer bet, as he would be less likely to break anyws or rules.

    It was gettingte. The entire morning had passed by without him realizing it.

    There was a rehearsal scheduled in the afternoon, and Director Feng Xuan might get anxious if he didn¡¯t get back soon.

    Zhang Zian asked for the address and contact information for Reina¡¯s father. He was nning to try his luck until the events were over with the film festival. Of course, he didn¡¯t forget to pay for the super expensive pair of sunsses for Famous. The safety goggle set was a gift from Reina, but he still need to pay for the sunsses.

 Chapter 719: Crowning as King

    <h4>Chapter 719: Crowning as King</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°How does it look? Am I not very handsome?¡±

    Zian put on a suit he had not worn for a very long time, tied his tie, and applied some special hair mousse. He posed from left to right in front of the mirror before he contentedly asked the elfins his question.

    He hadn¡¯t worn a suit since he left his previous job and inherited the pet shop. He raised his arms and stretched his legs, but there was an awkward feeling that lingered no matter what he did. It was probably because, ever since he had started training with Old Time Tea, the fat on his body had turned into muscle and his shoulders and chest were now firm and well-developed, which caused the suit to feel a little tight.

    ¡°Meow. Very handsome!¡± Gxy said while seated on a chair.

    ¡°Ga ga! Great for going gay.¡± Richard descended on the coat rack and a hint of sadness lingered within its eyes. ¡°Thete king in the midst of his conquest, the great Billy, has passed on. I shall now appoint you as the sessor to the throne. From this moment on, you will be the Billy!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know anyone by the name of Billy,¡± Zhang Zian promptly rejected. ¡°I¡¯m also not going to inherit the throne!¡±

    All of the other elfins were busy digging into their Turkish barbecued meat, currywurst, and Bavarian roast pork and had no time to waste on Zian.

    In the WeChat group chat, Nie Yuan had mentioned everyone who was supposed to participate in the opening ceremony. He requested for everyone to gather downstairs in ten minutes so that they could all take a ride down to the Sony Center together to prevent anyone from being left behind.

    Although there were many people heading down, only three people and a dog would be walking the red carpet. Aside from Zhang Zian and Famous, there was also the director, Feng Xuan, and the male lead, Lin Feng. There were no female characters in the film except for the female background characters, which was why there were no female lead or supporting actresses.

    Famous, too, started checking itself out in front of the fitting mirror.

    They did not go out again after they returned from the pet store earlier that afternoon; instead, they slept off the jetg with an afternoon nap. After he woke up, Zhang Zian went out alone and returned with a lot of snacks that he had bought. Zian then gave Famous a shower, blow-dried its hair, and brushed it silky smooth. He also carefully picked out a bowtie and dressed Famous up to be a fine-looking dog.

    It could be said that there was not a dog in all of Berlin that looked any smarter than Famous did. Zhang Zian did not put the sunsses on Famous for the time being, since that was their secret weapon.

    Executive producer Nie Yuan was a member of the organization and, as the leader of the Berlin trip, he wished for nothing more than a smooth trip. Although he was well-rounded in handling matters, he was also very conservative. If he were to see Famous with sunsses on, there was a very high chance of Zhang Zian and Famous being reprimanded for being an attention seekers¨C¨Ceven putting a bow tie on Famous was pushing his limit.

    Of course, even the male lead, Lin Feng, self-proimed as the top star from China for the Berlin trip, was not willing to let anyone else or any other dog steal his spotlight.

    With all that in consideration, Zhang Zian decided to go with a surprise attack and cook the rice before asking, which would give Famous the chance to show off and leave a deep impression on the others. That way, Famous could rope in more¨C¨Cand better¨C¨Cfilm contracts. As for how the others felt, it was none of Zian¡¯s concern. The chances of working with Nie Yuan and Lin Feng again were close to nil, anyway.

    Since there were many other people that were going to be riding to the red carpet with them, Zhang Zian recalled all of the other elfins aside from Famous back into his mobile phone.

    After heading downstairs, they met up with the others at the hotel entrance and got in the car together as they made their way to the Berlin Film Pce.

    The vicinity around the Sony Center was already a sea of joy. Passionate fans from all over the world were gathered, congesting the roadways in the area. Colorful neon lights turned the night sky into daylight as the crowd bustled beneath the colorful lights. Cameramen from all over the world, equipped with various different cameras¨C¨Clong to short and big to small¨C¨Cwere focused on the red carpet.

    Most of the local fans were simply fond of films, but fans that had gathered from other areas, or even overseas, were mostly there for their favorite movie stars. After all, there were not many opportunities to interact with movie stars up close. The fans were hoping that they might even be able to get their hands on an autograph.

    Under the direction of the staff members of the organizingmittee, iing vehicles that were chauffeuring the movie stars were to stop in an orderly fashion at the start of the red carpet. One by one, the movie stars stepped out from their vehicles. Their attire and essories were all carefully prepared¨C¨Csome of them had even made a recent appearance in a fashion week as a representative for some influential fashion designer¨C¨Cand costedrge amounts of money. Some costumes couldn¡¯t even be bought with money.

    The male stars were all in suits and ties. The female stars were shivering in the cold Berlin weather while in their evening gowns that exposed their chest and bared their backs. Even in the cold, however, they held onto their designer bags. Although seemingly unintentional, they made poses one after another, just like a flock of proud peacocks fanning out their tail feathers topete with one another, desperately trying to attract the cameras to them. The only difference was that when peacocks fan their tail feathers out in an attempt to impress, they are male.

    Some stars waved their hands to the surrounding crowd with a friendly smile on their face after they stepped out onto the red carpet. Others took on a cool, expressionless attitude, which evoked countless screams from their fans.

    Zhang Zian saw many familiar faces¨C¨Cfaces that he had previously only seen on television or in movies. He had never once thought that the day woulde when he would be in the same space as them, let alone even step on the same red carpet as them.

    Feng Xuan and Lin Feng were a little nervous; they were both very stiff, constantly rubbing their neckties, and straightening the little creases on their trousers to divert their attention. As a second-tier director and a movie star back in China, both of them treasured the opportunity to walk the red carpet. Lin Feng¡¯s personal assistant kept cheering him on and telling him to remain calm. They told him to pay less attention to the others and to treat himself as the best star.

    Nie Yuan and the others who hade down together were in another vehicle. They did not go through the process of walking the red carpet, but instead entered the venue directly.

    Zhang Zian overheard from the other crew¡¯s staff that, as a second-tier movie star back in China, his exposure was not that high. Some of the cameramen didn¡¯t even recognize him, which was why he had beenmunicating with the media from various countries the day before in hopes that he would be able to have more exposure during the featured report.

    Famous held a dismissive attitude toward such petty thoughts.

    The working staff members kept an eye on the red carpet and then gestured towards Zhang Zian¡¯s driver, indicating that it was time for them to walk the red carpet.

    Compared to the other two prestigious film festivals in Europe, the Berlin Film Festival had a rtively flexible requirement for walking the red carpet. There were no limitations on the amount of time each movie star had to walk down the red carpet, so everyone always thought of ways to remain there. They would take a photo in front of the cameraman alone, pull in another familiar star to take a photo with them, or pull in other stars for a group photo before they finally took selfies with their passionate fans and gave out their autographs¡­ A short walk down the twenty to thirty meter red carpet would take more than ten minutes toplete. The stars would remain on the red carpet until there were no cameras focusing on them before they would then make their way into the venue.

    The driver stopped the vehicle at the start of the red carpet.

    The vehicle door was pulled open and cold air started to pour into the vehicle.

    Feng Xuan got out of the car first, then Lin Feng followed after.

    Zhang Zian took the opportunity while no one else was paying attention to swiftly put the the sunsses on Famous. He looked from left to right and felt very satisfied.

    ¡°Come on, Famous. You have waited a very long time¨C¨Cit is time for you to make your appearance in front of the world.¡±

    Famous looked at the bustling crowd outside the vehicle. The cheering from outside and the cheering from Hollywood a hundred years ago began to ovep as one in its ears; they could no longer be distinguished.

    Zhang Zian and Famous got out of the vehicle together as an ocean of camera shes weed them.

 Chapter 720: Glorified

    <h4>Chapter 720: Glorified</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Each time a car stopped by the entrance to the red carpet, a few cameramen would always shift their eyes towards it. If it was an unfamiliar face, they¡¯d ask the fellow cameramen who it was. If the others didn¡¯t know, then it was most likely a small nameing to mooch the red carpet and was not worth moving the camera for.

    As the influence of Berlin Film Festival was gradually declining, more and more people were calling for changes. Fewer and fewer big named actors and actresses were willing to travel to Germany for the red carpet, so most people were just red carpet moochers.

    One of the cameramen noticed Famous first and focused on it with their lens. They then focused on Zhang Zian, trying to figure out who was ying the leading role.

    The experienced cameramen bowed their heads and discussed the dog in low voices. ¡°Where did this doge from?¡± they asked each other. ¡°Did this young Asian bring it here?¡±

    ¡°Is he a celebrity? How could themittee allow amonce dog to step on the red carpet?¡±

    ¡°Is it the Dog Warrior?¡± they continued to ask.

    ¡°It is the Dog Warrior!¡±

    A quick-minded person quickly thought of the film that was soon to be premiered and connected it with the German Shepherd on the red carpet. He immediately realized that this was a very significant moment¨C¨Cmaybe this was the first time in history that an animal had ever stepped onto the red carpet at the Berlin Film Festival.

    Lin Feng walked out of the car with a slightly rigid smile on his face. He repeated in his heart, I am the biggest Chinese celebrity and everybody¡¯sing here for me.

    He lifted his hand but didn¡¯t know which direction he should wave it. The film fans on both sides of the red carpet were screaming towards a few international superstars. Apparently not many people cared about him, the B-list actor from China.

    ording to the ns prepared by his personal assistant and agentpany ahead of time, he was supposed to stay on the red carpet for at least 10 minutes.

    How could he survive these ten, hard minutes? Did he pose for the cameramen? Very few cameramen were focusing on him.

    Did he sign autographs for the fans? No fan seemed to know who he was.

    Inparison, the red carpet at a Chinese film festival was much easier.

    Maybe he had to use his n B and stir up enough courage to greet the other A-list celebrities with his broken English in hopes that the cameramen might capture him in the same photos with the superstars¨C¨Cotherwise known as poprity mooching.

    It would be quite embarrassing, but he had no other options. He had to keep up with the exposure in order to get more film invitations andmercials. He didn¡¯t want to be forgotten by this forgetful industry.

    Being forgotten was fine with Feng Xuan. He was over 50 years old, after all, and fame was no longer a big deal to him. After waving around for the sake of it, he walked towards the entrance of Berlinale Pst at his natural pace.

    Lin Feng identified a superstar signing autographs for the fans and he silently rehearsed some lines he prepared in advance in order to suck up. As he was about to walk over, he suddenly noticed that everybody was looking at him and all the cameras were focusing on him. The camera shes were firing continuously and some cameramen even ran towards him to get a better angle. The look on his face was as if he really were the biggest Chinese celebrity!

    Even the superstar that he was about to suck up to stared at him from a distance, unwilling to have all of the attention stolen by him.

    The noisy fans suddenly quieted down. It was as silent as a pond before a thunderstorm.

    Lin Feng¡¯s heart was pounding. Did he suddenly be an internationally recognized celebrity without even knowing it?

    As all of his confidence came back. He lifted his hands fashionably and waved to the fans with the brightest smile he¡¯d had since the start of his career.

    However, the fans were still silent and did not respond to him.

    This was awkward.

    ¡°Could you please step aside?¡± the closest cameraman waved at him sharply. ¡°You are standing in front of the dog.¡±

    Lin Feng didn¡¯t understand the cameraman¡¯s German, but judging from his gesture and movements, he seemed to be more interested in something behind him¡­

    Lin Feng suddenly turned his head and saw the dog trainer in the crew, of whom he didn¡¯t remember the name, stepping onto the red carpet with Famous.

    Every eye passed by him andnded on Famous, who was wearing a bow tie and sunsses.

    He knew that this was Famous¡¯s debut in film. They both had nk CVs before this, and both were stepping onto the stage at the Berlin Film Festival for the first time. Why did Famous get so much attention? Were Germans really this fond of dogs? He had no idea at all. Besides, why did Famous look so d*mn calm and confident?

    The camera shes were firing again, but the extra light was absorbed by Famous¡¯s sunsses, so that it could still look around without being in difort.

    With everyone¡¯s eyes gazing upon it, it lifted one front paw and waved it at the eager fans.

    On the red carpet, it was hard to find a four-legged dog, but not hard to find two-legged people.

    In the 2016 Cannes Film Festival and 2015 Academy Award Ceremony, there were dogs on the red carpet. Those two dogs, however, were nothing more than background characters and were not as handsome as Famous at all. In recent years, as the Berlin Film Festival had been remembered as old-school and conservative, no dog had even walked on the red carpet.

    After seeing this, some business insiders turned their eyes towards the poker-faced chairperson of the film festivalmittee and secretly wondered if this was a signal of a long-anticipated change to the Berlin Film Festival.

    Most of the festival¡¯s fans were from Germany, while some were from Europe and overseas.

    Earth-shattering apuse, cheering, and whistling poured out generously towards Famous.

    Feng Xuan, who had almost entered the Berlinale Pst, stopped in surprise and looked back, wanting to find out which superstar had just arrived. But all he saw at the entrance of the red carpet was Zhang Zian and Famous.

    Famous straightened up its body, lifted its head, and stepped forward.

    Zhang Zian was nning to step back and let Famous walk in front. It was the hero of the festival, after all; however, Famous stopped after a few steps and waited for him to follow.

    Zhang Zian stepped up with a smile and walked side by side with it.

    He wasn¡¯t carrying any baggage at heart, as he had a very proper perception about his identity. He was nothing more than an owner of a pet shop, as well as the dog trainer in the crew. What did he have to do with the fame and money of the entertainment business?

    They passed by the motionless Lin Feng, then continued on their way forward.

    ¡°Hey, Jeff! Hey, Famous!¡±

    They heard someone calling their names. After tilting their heads to look, a few people were jumping and waving as hard as they could from one side of the red carpet, hoping to be seen by them.

    It was Reina and her employees. They were no longer wearing uniforms. They closed the store early so that they coulde and cheer for Famous and Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian waved his hand at them and Famous waved its paw.

    ¡°Did you see? He bought those sunsses from my shop. Isn¡¯t it handsome?¡± Reina asked proudly to those around her. ¡°I have the autograph of Famous. I¡¯m its first fan in Germany!¡±

    Zhang Zian and Famous took a few more steps and suddenly heard a familiar voice.

    ¡°It¡¯s you!¡±

    The young Turkish chef was also in the crowd, gazing at them in surprise.

    Zhang Zian pointed a thumb at him. ¡°Turkish kebab¨C¨Cdelicious!¡±

 Chapter 721: Opening Ceremony

    <h4>Chapter 721: Opening Ceremony</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was very surprised with how courteous their reception was on the red carpet. If they were in another country, perhaps Famous would still attract some attention, but it would not be nearly as sensational as it was in Germany. After all, the love that the Germans had towards dogs was obvious to all.

    Fans on both sides of the red carpet raised their mobile phones or their cameras to film the majestic Famous. The focus that Famous had during the red carpet was unparalleled. Even other well-known, big shot celebrities were outshined.

    Fans who were unaware of the situation started to ask around, inquiring about the origins of the dog, while the more experienced, local fans flipped open their movie manual to the page with details on Dog Warrior for those asking.

    The Berlin Film Festival spanned over a period of ten days and showed over a few hundred films in rotation. In the movie manual, the introduction for Dog Warrior was very brief and was paired with a cover that was not very eye-catching. If the film had not made its way into the mainpetition unit, there would not really be many people that would take notice of the film.

    Fans who didn¡¯t get to purchase the movie tickets for Dog Warrior immediately regretted it; they all felt that they should have bought the tickets for the movie even if it was just to see the dog. The tickets for the Berlin Film Festival were priced around 15 euros, which was very affordable with the median local ie.

    Several children, held in the arms of their parents, extended their short arms out towards Famous while they continued to cry out, ¡°Doggy.¡±

    ¡°Hello, can I take a picture with your dog?¡± a female celebrity in a low-cut see-through dress asked Zhang Zian as she smiled and walked over.

    Zhang Zian did not seem to have any impression of her face; she was probably not one of the more influential movie stars. Zian made a guess that she was here to mooch off of Famous¡¯ poprity. While she was doing that, however, Famous was also able to mooch off of her poprity, too.

    Zian made a ¡°please, go ahead¡± gesture before he moved to the side.

    The female celebrity carefully stroked Famous on the back of its neck. She noticed the gentleness in Famous¡¯ eyes and noticed that it was so docile, so she courageously bent down and hugged Famous by its neck. She then smiled at the photographer, while being careful to not be a victim of a wardrobe malfunction in her evening gown¡­

    The theme of beauty and the beast had always been appealing. It never went out of style, so experienced photographers seized the opportunity and snapped countless shots from various angles.

    With the female celebrity as an example, other celebrities soon came forward to request a photo with Famous, too. After the end of the first wave, a new wave of celebrities stepped onto the red carpet. Famous was so busy that the staff members from the organizingmittee had to step out and intervene. After the intervention, Famous finally made its way into the hall of the Berlin Film Pce with Zhang Zian and, under the guidance of the staff, they were directed into the guest area.

    The magnificent Film Pce was divided into three levels. The live sound effects were excellent. It was originally a theater dedicated to musicals, but during the festival every year, it was be temporarily arranged as the main venue for the Berlin Film Festival.

    In the Film Pce, almost every seat was filled up. The celebrities, jury members, and people from various industries that had entered the theater earlier were gathered together. They were all looking for fellow acquaintances to catch up with, or were chatting about various topics with various differentnguages and ents.

    When Zhang Zian and Famous found their seats, Feng Xuan and Lin Feng came in were already quietly seated in their seats. Feng Xuan was not fond of socializing, nor was he familiar with the foreign celebrities gathered. Lin Feng, on the other hand, looked indifferent. He was looking down at his his mobile phone, his thumb swiftly sliding around the screen, as he chatted with someone on WeChat.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s phone had been vibrating nonstop since earlier, but he found no need to look at it. He figured it was the crew group chat on WeChat exploding, as no one would have expected that Famous would attract so much attention.

    Modern inte media was very well developed. Although the attention that the Berlin Film Festival received was not as high as the Oscars, there were, at the very least, two or three video websites from China that had sent their reporters to the festival. The reporters were here specifically to stream a live broadcast of the opening ceremony, but what had happened during the red carpet had already spread like the ripples created by a tossed stone.

    The opening ceremony was about to begin and, through the use of their microphones, the theater staff invited the guests to return to their seats. There were still people asking for a photo with Famous, however, and it was only after Famous satisfied each and every one of their requests that they returned to their seats.

    After waiting for these celebrities that were hard to please to get seated, the opening ceremony officially began. The hostess for the night, dressed in a tight-fitting, evening gown, made her way to the stage with a bright smile on her face.

    ¡°Hello everyone! Good evening! Wee to the Berlin International Film Festival!¡±

    She circled the stage, waving to the guests under the stage, while the guests responded back with warm apuse, screams, and whistles.

    After the apuse stopped, she said, ¡°Ah! I noticed that there are a lot of movie stars here today. Many of them are old friends that we metst year, while we also have new friends joining us this year¨C¨Cthere¡¯s even a cute, lovely dog!¡±

    Following her voice, the attention of the guests and the focus of the cameras turned to Famous. Famous remained seated on its chair, calmly epting the attention of everyone.

    It was then that the guests who had entered the hall much earlier noticed Famous; they were both surprised and curious.

    ¡°This dog, by the name of Famous, is from China and is not here at our film festival as a guest, but as an actor. The film it participated in qualified for this year¡¯s film festival¡¯s mainpetition unit!¡± The hostess did not have a script with her, nor did she have an earpiece on¨C¨Cit was all impromptu. ¡°If I do not remember incorrectly, Audrey Hepburn also had a dog with the name Famous! It seems like the name has quite a connection with films!¡±

    Once again, the hall resounded with another round of apuse¨C¨Cexcept this time, it was all for Famous.

    The experienced female host used Famous as the introductory topic before she began to introduce the other heavyweight guests and the members of the jury. In the list of guests, there was the mayor of Berlin and several other ministers in Germany. The important role that Germany yed in the Berlin Film Festival could clearly be seen.

    The flow of the film festival was not all that different from the film festivals back in China, there were just fewer dance performances. It started off with a speech from the German Minister of Culture and the Mayor of Berlin respectively, who both gave their blessings to the Berlin Film Festival. Next, the chairman of the film festival¡¯s organizingmittee had a chat with the host about interesting stories that rted to the films before the chairman of the jury made his appearance and introduced the jury members to the guests.

    Zhang Zian, Feng Xuan, and Lin Feng were more infinitely more concerned with the jury members for the film festival¨C¨Cas they were the ones that decided the fate of Dog Warrior¨C¨Cthan the guests responsible for giving speeches. The jury had a total of eight members, all of whom were film rted professionals, including actors, directors, screenwriters, and so on. There were five men and three women, and their professional insights and personal tastes would decide who would win the various awards for the film festival. Zhang Zian could only pray that none of them hated dogs.

    In addition, the influence of the organizingmittee chairman could not be underestimated.

    Finally, the President of the film festival jury announced the official opening of the Berlin Film Festival. Thousands of films would be contending against one another during the ten-daypetition.

 Chapter 722: Schedule Changed

    <h4>Chapter 722: Schedule Changed</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Early the next morning, Zhang Zian and the elfins woke up to the sound of message alerts one after another. Luckily, they had taken a nap yesterday to ovee the jetg and had gone to bed early the night before, so they were not overly sleepy.

    After unlocking his phone screen, Zhang Zian saw that all of the messages were from acquaintances of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop. Most of them were customers, while some were business acquaintances, either telling him that they saw him in the news, or expressing congrattions. Some were simply curious and asked how much money he received from the film, while others asked him for red packets up front. Someone even told him that she was interested in the entertainment industry and asked if he knew any directors, as she didn¡¯t mind sleeping with them¡­

    In addition to the other messages he received, Lu Yiyun told him that someone from the Binhai television channel had shown up at their door and was waiting in the shop to make an interview appointment. She asked him how she should respond¨C¨Cdid he want her to decline or ept?

    Zhang Zian replied to her text, asking her to tell the television reporter that he was busy in Berlin and would discuss it after his return.

    He ignored most of the other messages, said thanks to those who congratted him, and blocked those who asked for red packets¡­

    Since he was already awake, he didn¡¯t want to stay in bed any longer. Their ten days in Germany were going to pass by in the blink of an eye, so he wanted to seize the moment and walk around in order to make the trip worthwhile.

    He picked up a name card next to his pillow. It was Reina¡¯s name card, with a line of address written in German in the nk space on the flip side. It was the address of her father, but he didn¡¯t know the city. He only knew of a few big cities in Germany, such as Berlin, Hamburg, and Bremen.

    Richard could read German, but didn¡¯t know the city, either. It was not a living map, after all.

    Today was the premiere of Dog Warrior at the Berlinale Pst of Potsdamer tz. There was an additional screening for teenagers over the age of 14 at the Cubix 7 cinema on the Alexandertz. The screening was close to the same time at both locations. ording to the schedule made by the production crew, they were going to walk the red carpet another time at the Berlinale Pst. After Zhang Zian and the crew watched the film with the audience at the first premiere, they would run to Cubix7 cinema right away so that they could try to catch the curtain call.

    The schedule was tight. He had no time to visit Reina¡¯s father today, so he would have to wait a few more days.

    He woke Famous up, gave it a bath, and changed its bow tie.

    The red carpet photos yesterday were already spreading all over the inte. Under the gaze of countless cameramen, each w in one¡¯s appearance was magnified enormously. A single w could make one look bad¨C¨Cespecially Famous, who was at the height of his exposure.

    After Famous finished its bath, Nie Yuan, the crew¡¯s team lead, mentioned everyone in the WeChat group and asked them to be present at the premiere. He asked them to gather downstairs so they could take a ride to the Berlinale Pst and have breakfast on the road.

    Zhang Zian put the other elfins back into his phone, changed his suit, then took the elevator to the lobby downstairs with Famous.

    Everybody else was already there except for him. After counting the people present, Nie Yuan announced, ¡°We have ast minute change to our schedule today. After the premiere, we are not going to Cubix7 cinema. We¡¯ll head to the European Film Market instead to cheer for the crew members there. Hopefully we¡¯ll get a good price for our overseas distribution rights while we¡¯re there.¡±

    Nobody else objected to this decision, yet Zhang Zian and Famous were shocked. How could the schedule be changed at thest minute?

    ¡°Why are we not going to Cubix7 anymore?¡± Zhang Zian could not help but ask. ¡°Isn¡¯t there an additional screening for the 14plus? Is it rescheduled or relocated?¡±

    Nie Yuan frowned as soon as he saw him. They didn¡¯t get along during the filming of the movie, especially after the guy in charge of craft service, who was Nie Yuan¡¯s rtive, was fired and secretly used Zhang Zian of sabotaging the film in front of Nie Yuan. It was too bad that Nie Yuan¡¯s rtive was a troublemaker, but a rtive was a rtive. What offended his rtive, offended Nie Yuan.

    Ever since that happened, Nie Yuan and Zhang Zian had been keeping things strictly professional and had nothing to do with each other in private.

    ¡°The team has reached amon decision. As part of the team, you need to have team spirit and execute the decision along with everyone else.¡± Nie Yuan waved impatiently. ¡°In addition, some team members are going out of their way for attention. You¡¯d better keep it down today in order not to leave a bad impression with our international friends and to not impair the image of our team.¡±

    He talked as if he was making an official statement. He was obviously referring to the attention that Famous received by wearing its sunsses.

    Lin Feng nodded along as Ni Yuan spoke.

    Zhang Zian smiled coldly.

    ¡°Xiao Zhang,e over here.¡± Feng Xuan, the vice team lead, pulled him to the side secretly and whispered, ¡°Xiao Zhang, we just received a notification from themittee. The additional screening at Cubix7 may have to be canceled.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Why?¡± Zhang Zian asked. ¡°Is there some confict between the Competition unit and the 14plusmittee?¡±

    The films in 14plus and Competition did not ovep. Some films might be appropriate for both units, thus the twomittees might fight for them. Dog Warrior was selected by the Competition team and could only be screened in the 14plus unit as a nonpeting film.

    ¡°Not that.¡± Feng Xuan shook his head. ¡°The twomittees arepeting in a friendly way, with themon goal of selecting the best films to be shown to the audience. There isn¡¯t any conflict. The reason for the canction of the additional screening is that the interpreter for this film fell sickst night and is hospitalized. They can¡¯t find anyone else to rece the position.¡±

    After hearing Feng Xuan¡¯s detailed exnation, Zhang Zian finally understood.

    As a matter of fact, the main audience for the Kplus and 14plus films was teenagers¨C¨Cteenagers in Germany. Yet, the films selected for Kplus and 14plus were not necessarily German films. Most of them were in English or othernguages from around the world. This had caused a serious problem, as the kids in Germany might not be able to understand the dialogue and the English subtitles. They might struggle to read some of the English subtitles, but they probably would not be able to understand the plot very well.

    To solve this problem, the Berlin Film Festivalmittee assigned simultaneous interpreters for films in Kplus and 14plus units who tranted the English subtitles into German and read them to the kids.

    The simultaneous interpreters were not college students randomly found on the street, but rather experienced personnel in the film industry that were chosen by themittee. Some of them were actors and actresses, while others were TV or radio hosts. Not only did they have beautiful voices, but they were able to trante a foreignnguage urately into German.

    The interpreter¡¯s job required extensive professional qualification. As there was only one interpreter on set, he or she needed to start their preparation a few days in advance. After receiving the blue-ray DVD of the film, they had to watch and meditate over it repeatedly so that they could not only urately express the ideas presented in the subtitles, but also find the right timing, add the lip-sync, and even put emotion into the dialogue of the film¡­ It was so challenging that an interpreter could be reced at thest minute.

    The interpreter¡¯s job was done in order to help the kids understand the films better.

 Chapter 723: Splitting Paths

    <h4>Chapter 723: Splitting Paths</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Out of all the film festivals, the Berlin Film Festival ced the most importance on the children and teenagers¡¯ viewing experience. Each Kplus and 14plus stage was equipped with a simultaneous interpreter, which was also emted by the other film festivals.

    However, sometimes the unexpected happened. Maybe due to the bad weather or an overnight party, the interpreter responsible for the simultaneous interpretation of Dog Warrior suddenly became sick and there was no suitable candidate to rece them. Because of this, there was the possibility that the additional showing might be canceled, which was why the film crew decided to change their ns at thest minute.

    Feng Xuan informed Zhang Zian of the matter and said to him, ¡°Xiao Zhang, nothing can be done, and walking the red carpet for today¡¯s Dog Warrior premiere is much more important. After yesterday¡¯s opening ceremony, there will definitely be more people from the media present today. We need to further expand the influence of the film, which is beneficial to both the domestic row piece rate and the rights for overseas distribution.¡±

    Zhang Zian was aware that what Feng Xuan said was correct; the film showing for young children was far less influential than the film showing for adults. Many people had only heard of the Golden Bear Award and the Silver Bear Award. They were not aware that the Berlin Film Festival still had two other units, the Kplus and the 14plus, which were specially set up for teenagers and young children.

    Although that¡¯s how things were¡­

    Zian looked down at Famous. It was deep in thought.

    Famous was more eager than anyone else to have his real name known to the world. It had worked hard and deserved it.

    But, more than that, Famous was more eager to be an angel for the children¨C¨C like Audrey Hepburn, who was still concerned about the starving African children on her deathbed.

    With that figured out, Zian already had an answer in his heart.

    Zian smiled and said to Feng Xuan, ¡°Director Feng, I think we should split up. You can lead the crew to the Berlin Film Pce while I¡¯ll take Famous to the Cubix7 theater. This way, neither side will be dyed.¡±

    Feng Xuan immediately panicked after hearing what Zian said. ¡°How can that work? The media is here for Famous and if Famous doesn¡¯t make its appearance, then we would be standing them up. You should be aware of what our local media is like. They would definitely feel that the two of you are trying to act like big names¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian had made up his mind and had no n to change his decision. Heughed and said, ¡°Director Feng, you¡¯re wrong. We aren¡¯t acting like big names¡­¡± He looked down at Famous again and met his eyes. ¡°We are the big names!¡±

    Zhang Zian listened to what Lin Feng¡¯s assistant had said to cheer him on and regarded himself as the best local star. Since they were the local stars, then how could they not care about the feelings of the local children?

    After all, Germany really could be Famous¡¯ hometown.

    ¡°This¡­¡± Feng Xuan was speechless.

    ¡°Nonsense! This is nonsense! Many reputable senior artistes don¡¯t even dare to do that!¡± Nie Yuan said after he vaguely overheard their conversation. His face turned ck instantly. ¡°You¡¯re not even well-known and you¡¯re already acting like a big shot. If you¡¯re a little famous, then your tail goes up in the sky? I think this is as far as you can go in life. It¡¯s going to be hard for you to progress any further¡­¡±

    Before Nie Yuan could even finish what he was saying, as if to spite him, Famous¡¯ tail stood upright just like a military saber and pointed up at the sky.

    Several youngdies who were tagging along with the film crew couldn¡¯t help butugh.

    Nie Yuan was speechless. If he had known earlier, he would have pulled out all the stops to prevent Feng Xuan from selecting Famous as the protagonist!

    Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about it now.

    With that in mind, Zhang Zianughed. ¡°Leader Nie, Famous and I will be taking a leave of absence. We won¡¯t be able to join you guys for the visit to the film pce and the European film market.¡±

    After Zian said all that he wanted to say, and without waiting for Nie Yuan¡¯s approval, he took out the sunsses that he had kept with him and openly helped Famous put them on.

    ¡°It¡¯s about time, right? You guys can go ahead¨C¨Cdon¡¯t let the media in the film pce wait too long. I still have to head back to the room to prepare some things.¡± Zian led Famous to the elevator and returned back to his room, leaving the furious Nie Yuan far behind.

    The purpose of him returning back to the room was, of course, to release Richard out of his mobile phone.

    ¡°Ga? I was just thinking of taking a nap. Who knows, I might get to see my king¡¯s lovely voice and countenance. So, what do you want now, idiot?¡± Richard said in a sleepy voice.

    ¡°Don¡¯t sleep. There¡¯s something that needs your help,¡± Zhang Zian said. Without any exnation or giving Richard a chance to say anything, Zian made Richard invisible and threw it into the hood of his coat.

    When Zian and Famous both went downstairs again, Nie Yuan, Feng Xuan, and the others had already left. They had probably rushed down to the Berlin Film Pce for the premiere showing.

    ¡°Famous, do you me me for making the decision all by myself?¡± Zian asked as they walked out the door.

    ¡°No way. This is what I was hoping for.¡± Famous shook its head. ¡°Another thing¡­ change my bow tie back to the cor. Although the bow tie makes me cool, today I want to appear in front of the children with a cor on.¡±

    Zhang Zian squatted down and changed its bow tie back to its usual cor. Zian then raised his hands to hail for a taxi.

    ¡°Cubix7,¡± he said to the driver.

    If it had been a taxi driver back in China, he might have raised an objection or been dissatisfied with Zian bringing a dog into the car, for fear that the dog might relieve itself inside the car. But this taxi driver reacted like it was amon sight. He swept a nce at Famous before he started the meter.

    After the car started, the driver suddenly frowned. He stared at Famous through the rearview mirror and observed carefully. ¡°Hey! I know you! You¡¯re the dog from the opening ceremonyst night, right?¡±

    He wasn¡¯t talking to Zhang Zian. Instead, he naturally started a conversation with Famous. Such a habit was usually formed from raising a dog at home or having raised a dog in the past.

    Famous barked once as a response.

    ¡°Haha! I knew I wasn¡¯t mistaken!¡± the driver said excitedly. ¡°Are you two going to the premiere? Wait a minute, aren¡¯t the two of you going to the wrong venue? Your film should be at the premiere showing at the Film Pce!¡±

    Having said that, the driver was about to take it upon himself to change directions.

    ¡°We¡¯re not going to the wrong ce. We¡¯re heading down to the Cubix7 for the 14plus additional showing,¡± Zhang Zian said, quickly stopping him.

    The driver suddenly realized and said with regret, ¡°Oh, the additional showing for the children¡­ It¡¯s such a pity. I have work during the day and only have time to watch the films at night. So, when will the DVD for your film be released in Germany? I¡¯m fonder of watching the film at home with my wife, kids, and dog instead of going to the theater.¡±

    Zhang Zian took a peek at the driver¡¯s sizable beer belly and thought that the seats in the theater might possibly not even be big enough for him. Even if he were to force himself into the seat, it wouldn¡¯t befortable at all. No wonder he doesn¡¯t like to go to the theater¡­

    ¡°I¡¯m not too sure about that. Hopefully it will be quick,¡± Zhang Zian answered.

    The driver was very talkative. He enthusiastically introduced a few famousndmarks and popr spots as they passed by¨C¨Cespecially the restaurants in the vicinity, which he knew like the back of his hand. He knew which restaurant served tasty roasted pork knuckles and which restaurant served a nice beer. Even the most professional tour guide was nothingpared to him.

    The Alexandertz was not far from the Potsdamer tz. Along the way, Zhang Zian kept watching the time, hoping to make it to the venue on time.

    ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± the driver said.

    Looking out the window, Zhang Zian saw the theater¡¯s staff members who were in the midst of rolling up the red carpet.

 Chapter 724: Zhang Zian Had the Red Carpet All to Himself

    <h4>Chapter 724: Zhang Zian Had the Red Carpet All to Himself</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Is it really canceled?¡± a freckled teenager asked. His voice was filled with disappointment as he stood outside the Cubix7.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, kid. It might not be shown today,¡± a cinema staff answered with regret. ¡°Go home for now.¡±

    ¡°When will you y it, then?¡± The freckled teen didn¡¯t want to give up.

    The staff member shook his head. ¡°We are not sure. The only thing we know is that the gentleman in charge of interpretation suddenly fell sick in the hospital. As for when it will be yed, we might have to wait for his recovery. I suggest that you go home first and keep an eye on the news.¡±

    ¡°But the film festival onlysts ten days. Will that interpreter recover within ten days?¡± The freckled teen looked sad. ¡°After ten days it will no longer be screened, right?¡±

    He knew the procedures for the film festival quite well, as this was not his first year attending it. He had been a faithful audience member of the Berlin Film Festival and had attended the Kplus screenings every year since he was a young kid. He was finally old enough to attend the 14-plus screenings. He had noticed the Dog Warrior film from the moment he received the viewer¡¯s guide and had waited eagerly for the day of the screening.

    He didn¡¯t have a dog at home, but he loved dogs so much. He could only dream about a dog through this film.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, child. I don¡¯t know.¡±

    The staff member said that he could not do anything else to help. He looked at his watch. It was almost the hour of the screening. Without a miracle, this screening would have to be canceled¨C¨Cand that miracle meant that the interpreter would have to suddenly recover and show up on the cinema¡¯s doorstep.

    ¡°Could you wait a little longer? Maybe another interpreter gentleman will show up¡­¡± The freckled boy nced around eagerly, hoping for a miracle.

    ¡°Child, it is not that simple,¡± the staff exined patiently. ¡°The interpreter needs a few days in advance to get prepared, and you can¡¯t find a random person to rece the interpreter¨C¨Cespecially for this film, for it has to be tranted from Chinese to English, then from English to German. If anything goes wrong in the middle, the original meaning might be misinterpreted.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ my English is good. I can understand it without an interpreter,¡± the freckled boy answered anxiously. ¡°Can¡¯t you just y it like this?¡±

    ¡°I would love to make an exception, but rules are rules. I¡¯m sorry, child.¡± The staff member shook his head and called upon the other staff. ¡°Come and help me out. We won¡¯t need the red carpet anymore. Let¡¯s roll it up.¡±

    Another staff member walked over. The two of them bent down and were about to roll up the red carpet when someone called out. ¡°Wait a minute!¡±

    A taxi stopped by the cinema. A young man with ck hair and yellow skin had not even gotten out the car before he yelled at them through the window in German.

    Zhang Zian paid for the taxi fare and then ran over with Famous.

    ¡°Sir, what can I help you with?¡± The staff member nced over him, finding him somewhat familiar.

    ¡°It¡¯s Famous!¡± the freckled boy blinked his eyes and shouted suddenly.

    He grabbed the arm of the staff member in excitement and pointed at Famous. ¡°It¡¯s Famous! It¡¯s the dog in Dog Warrior!¡±

    The staff member had been to the opening ceremonyst night and finally recognized Famous and Zhang Zian. In his eyes, all Asian faces looked simr, and it was hard to tell them apart.

    ¡°Yes. Hello!¡± Zhang Zian greeted them in German with a smile. Of course, Richard was doing the talking.

    Apart from this freckled boy, there were many other teenage boys and girls outside Cubix7. They stood outside in groups of two or three, all waiting for Dog Warrior. Some of them had left in disappointment after they heard that the film screening might be canceled, while others were still willing to wait a bit longer.

    There was no media at the scene¨C¨Cnot even one. Without a reporter or a cameraman, it looked quite bleak and quiet in the otherwise festive film festival.

    Media that had quick ess to information had heard the news that the screening might be canceled. Even the few other media personnel that had already arrived left early to seek more valuable news elsewhere.

    Zhang Zian had expected this and was not disappointed.

    ¡°Come here! Come here! Famous is here!¡± the freckled boy shouted at his friends at the top of his lungs.

    After hearing the news, the teenage boys and girls felt as if they had suddenly been given a strong dose of caffeine. They quickly came over and formed a crowd. Even if they could not watch the film today, they at least had a chance to get a close look at Famous, which made the trip worthwhile.

    The two staff members quickly dropped the red carpet and started maintaining the order at the scene. One of them took the left side while the other took the right so they could stop the teenagers outside the barriers on both sides of the red carpet.

    The teenagers took out their phones and began to take pictures of Famous and Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Sir, we weren¡¯t informed that you wereing¡­¡± one of the staff members said in an embarrassed tone after they had things more or less in order.

    ¡°I made the decision to be here,¡± Richard answered the man for Zhang Zian in fluent German. ¡°I heard that your interpreter is sick. I happen to speak decent German, and I have been part of the filming process all along. I believe I can take on the task of an interpreter.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± The two staff members looked at each other. ¡°We need to ask our superior.¡±

    One staff hinted to the other one to go inside the cinema and ask their superior.

    ¡°Please, go ahead.¡±

    Zhang Zian took Famous amongst the teens and allowed them to either take photos with Famous or pet it.

    ¡°Sir, sir, I just heard what you said. Are you serious? Are you really going to be the interpreter for this film?¡± the freckled boy leaned forward and asked Zhang Zian loudly, his eyes full of hope.

    ¡°If the cinema would allow me.¡± Zhang Zian smiled.

    ¡°Fantastic! I¡¯m sure they will say yes!¡± The freckled boy cheered with joy. ¡°Right, are you the owner of Famous? Can you sign this for me?¡±

    He handed over a piece of paper and a pen.

    ¡°Are you sure that you want my signature?¡± Richard asked in surprise. ¡°Or do you want a paw print from Famous?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯d like your signature.¡± The freckled boy nodded seriously. ¡°You are a good man.¡±

    Zhang Zian could not help butugh. He didn¡¯t know that good men were acknowledged in such a way in Germany.

    He took the pen and paper from the freckled boy, then signed his name neatly in both English and Chinese.

    The staff member that had gone inside ran outside, out of breath. ¡°Sir, our superior said yes. Pleasee in.¡±

    Zhang Zian adjusted the tie of his suit, then stepped onto the red carpet with Famous.

    The red carpet led straight to the entrance of the Cubix7. It was so clean; there wasn¡¯t even a shoe print. Nobody had walked on it, after all.

    There were no reporters with microphones, nor any cameramen with cameras. There were only bright smiles from genuine teenage boys and girls, cheering and jumping for him and Famous.

    It might have been the most special red carpet walk in the history of the Berlin Film Festival. With the red carpet all to themselves, Zhang Zian and Famous marched forward with their heads up, looking as proud as princes.

 Chapter 725: Curtain Call

    <h4>Chapter 725: Curtain Call</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian and Famous walked very slowly. Although there was an absence of the usually consistent camera shes, they both enjoyed having a moment on the red carpet solely to themselves.

    The red carpet wasn¡¯t very long and they soon reached the end.

    A member of the staff led Zhang Zian through the theater¡¯s staff passageway, while another staff member called out to the children. ¡°Everyone cane over this way to have your tickets checked for admission. Hurry up; the film is about to begin!¡±

    There was no need for deliberate instructions; the young boys and girls routinely formed into two lines with their tickets ready. The children that had left the venue earlier in the day heard the news from some others still in line and now rushed back to the theater.

    After Zhang Zian and Famous entered the theater, they were led around numerous turns before the staff member opened the door to a room.

    ¡°Sir, this is the preparation room. You can spend some time getting ready here and we will call for you right before the start of the film. There is a television set right there with a DVD yer and the DVD for Dog Warrior. You can use it as you like but¡­ I¡¯m afraid that there is not much time left for you. There might only be enough time for you to quickly go through it once.¡±

    The staff member pointed to the room that was not too spacious and introduced the space and equipment to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°All right, thanks,¡± Richard said in German on behalf of Zhang Zian.

    Right before the staff member left, he turned around and said sincerely, ¡°I¡¯m really thankful that you were able to make your way down today¨C¨Cthe children would have been really disappointed.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. It¡¯s my pleasure,¡± Richard said.

    The staff member nodded and made his leave.

    After Zian entered the room, he shut the door and surveyed the room.

    It was not very spacious, just about the size of a normal bedroom. There was a wardrobe in the corner that could be used if someone needed to change clothes. Aside from that, there was a television set, DVD yer, coffee table, and a two-seater sofa. Other than those items, there was nothing else in the room.

    ced atop the coffee table was the Dog Warrior Blu-ray DVD. It was not one from the official release, as there were various warnings printed on the cover.

    Since the film was still in its world premiere phase, the DVD could not be brought out of the room in order to prevent someone leaking the film.

    The previous interpreter must have reyed and analyzed the film countless times in the room.

    Zhang Zian switched the television and DVD yer on and started the film in quick rey. There was no need for him to watch the film¨C¨Conly Richard needed to.

    Zian released the other elfins into the empty space in the room and made them invisible.

    ¡°Where is this?¡± Fina looked to its left and right.

    ¡°Theater,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°Dog Warrior will have its world premiere here. This is almost the first showing I guess, so we can all watch it together.¡±

    ¡°Have we not seen it already?¡± Fina said, quickly losing all interest.

    ¡°Nope. The one we saw was the rough cut version, not the official release. Compared to the official release, the rough cut version is less refined and itcks the additional post-production effects. The small screen in the VIP room cannot bepared to the giant screen of a real movie theater, however¨C¨Cthe difference in impact is so huge it could almost be considered two different films.¡±

    Zhang Zian corrected Fina¡¯s misconceptions. The difference between the rough cut version and the official release was no different from the difference between an AVI quality film from a full HD quality film.

    Famous walked up next to Richard and worriedly asked, ¡°How is it, Richard? If tranting is difficult, don¡¯t worry about trying to make it perfect. It¡¯s fine as long as the general meaning is brought across.¡±

    A simultaneous interpretation by itself was already hard, but adding in emotion to the dialogue was almost the equivalent of tranting an entire dubbed work of a foreign film.

    Richard stood on the coffee table with one of its bird ws stepping on the remote control. It switched between asionally ying the film in four times the regr speed, sometimes in eight times the regr speed, and sometimes in regr speed for the key scenes that contained more dialogue.

    ¡°Ga ga! Are you looking down on me? Only a challenge of this difficulty can reflect my overwhelming intelligence,¡± Richard arrogantly cried out.

    ¡°But¡­ at the speed you¡¯re going, most of the scenes are just shing by, right?¡± Famous reminded Richard.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter! Look at that idiot over there. He basically fast-forwards through his Japanese film every time, yet it doesn¡¯t affect his business as long as the key scenes are seen. One stroke, two strokes, stroke, and strokes¡­¡± Richard said as he gave Zhang Zian a side nce.

    Zhang Zian told himself to hold it in and let Richard off for today. Everything it said was going to be settled when they return to Binhai City.

    Seeing that Richard was brimming with confidence, Famous stopped disturbing it and left it to its own devices.

    Not much time went by before there was a knock on the door.

    ¡°Mr Zhang, it is time. Are you ready?¡± the staff member asked from outside, his voice a little unsettled.

    With 16x speed on, Richard quickly watched the ending before he switched off the television, pped its wings, and descended upon Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°All ready! You can begin now,¡± Richard said as Zhang Zian pulled open the door.

    The staff member was still pretty worried. With such a short preparation time, it was hard for him to believe that Zhang Zian was going to be able toplete the difficult simultaneous interpretation sessfully. But there was no other option¨C¨Cthey could only perform treatment on a dead horse as if it were still alive. To the staff, Zhang Zian¡¯s biggest advantage was his participation in the entire filming process and his ability to speak fluent German. If it wasn¡¯t for all that, the theater¡¯s executives would not have been convinced.

    When Zhang Zian and Famous both appeared next to the screen, the theater resounded with a warm round of apuse. Zian looked around and noticed that, aside from a few theater staff members and people from the upper management, most of the audience was the young boys and girls of Germany.

    Audiences for otherpetition segments were from all over the world. Only Kplus and 14plus¨C¨Cwhich were specially created for Berlin with the 4,000 schools in the vicinity, youth clubs, and student unions¨C¨Cconsisted of people from Germany.

    The staff member led Zhang Zian and Famous to the small podium next to the screen and assisted with adjusting and testing the microphone before he left.

    As the apuse came to an end, Richard cleared its throat and said in German, ¡°Hello, everyone. I am honored to stand here as the interpreter for today. As all of you know, the star of this film is Famous, and I have also participated in the whole filming process. But what all of you do not know is that I have previously learned the Germannguage and have also undergone professional dubbing training. Today, I invite everyone here to witness the fruit of my training. Thank you!¡±

    Zhang Zian understood nothing of what Richard said; he could only coordinate with Richard by opening his mouth slightly to fake the movement of his lips, while also maintaining a smile on his face. But from the reactions of the audience below the stage, everyone seemed pretty surprised by what Richard said.

    Some fabrication and exaggerations were necessary, or else there would be no way to exin why a pet shop owner like Zian was able to take on dubbing works.

    Famous sat quietly next to him.

    The other elfins curiously walked in front of the widescreen; no one could see them while they were in the state of invisibility.

    The theater¡¯s lights quickly dimmed as the film began. The audience turned their full attention to the screen, ncing from time to time at Zhang Zian who stood behind the podium.

    It was necessary for Zhang Zian to pretend that he was staring at the screen while he did the dubbing, which meant his back was facing the audience. There was no need for him to continue to move his lips, so he was able to rx. Having to move his lips for the next two hours would have been very tiring.

    The film started.

    At some fictional police dog training base, a female German Shepherdid on its side in a kennel. Two vets, a man and a woman both dressed in white coats, helped it with its delivery.

    ¡°Come on! It¡¯s almost out! Come on!¡±

    ¡°Breathe! Use more force!¡±

    They both continued to say a sentence each to cheer on the pregnant, female dog.

    Soon enough, a cute puppy made its way out from its mother¡¯s body, oblivious as it swayed its head to the left and right.

    One of the vets picked it up and looked at its abdomen. ¡°It¡¯s a male. Since you were so impatient in making your appearance, let¡¯s call you ¡®Lightning!''¡±

    The scene at the beginning of the film was not in the rough cut edition. Feng Xuan and the others must have added it in afterwards to tell the origins of the protagonist¡¯s name.

    Richard¡¯s interpretations were lifelike. Not only did they clearly express the excitement and anxiety in the voices of the two vets, but Richard also emted the slightly sharp pitch of a woman¡¯s voice and the deep low pitch of a male¡¯s. Richard did not overdo it, however. It was still Zhang Zian¡¯s voice that was used as the base so that the audience would be able to differentiate¨C¨Cif they listened carefully¨C¨Cthat a fake voice was emted deliberately so they could not grow suspicious.

    After the beginning scene, Fina, who originallycked interest, recalled the time when it helped out with the delivery process for the two pregnant, female cats. It immediately felt a sense of empathy and focused its attention onto the screen.

    The youthful cheeks of the young audience members below the stage were covered with ayer of faint watercolor from the lightsing off the screen. When the scenes changed, the different colors started to blend on their faces; yet, nobody found itical.

    Richard¡¯s dubbing did not make the young audience members feel any awkwardness. They werepletely immersed in the plot that was slowly unfolding. Each and every one of them, with their mouths half-opened, werepletely absorbed in the film. The popcorn in their hands was also forgotten as they stopped stuffing their mouths full with it.

    It was the same for Gxy, Old Time Tea, and Snowy Li. In the beginning, they were still unable to adapt to the wide screen and surround sound effects¨C¨Cthey felt as if their eyes were not big enough¨C¨Cbut as they slowly started to adapt, they realized the beauty of the wide screen. It gave them an immersive experience, as if they were there themselves. It was definitely not the kind of shock that one could receive from the audio-visual experience enjoyed at home or in a VIP room.

    The adult employees and the theater¡¯s executives all exchanged nces in surprise. Initially, they didn¡¯t hold high expectations for Zhang Zian¡¯s dubbing capabilities. They had all felt that if Famous could make its way down to the showing, it wouldn¡¯t really matter if the dubbing was poorly done as the children would take the presence of Famous into ount and not make a fuss out of it. But the effects of Zhang Zian¡¯s dubbing far exceeded their initial expectations¨C¨Cit was of professional standards!

    Famous stared at the screen.

    Yes, this is the feeling.

    It seemed to have recovered a feeling in its memories from close to a hundred years ago.

    No matter if it was then or now, the people that have liked its films the most have always been the children.

    Choosing toe here instead of the Berlin Film Pce was indeed the right choice.

    Famous, too, quickly became immersed in the story of the film that had gone through a meticulous editing process.

    As the story unfolded, scenes from when Famous was still filming resurfaced in front of its eyes. The multiple calls of ¡°action¡± and ¡°cut,¡± the rivalry scenes with various actors, the numerous times that it fumbled through all the smoke and dirt and solved the obstacles in and out of the film crew¡­ All of the sweat-soaked hard work finally bore fruit and turned into aplete and amazing film, and the days when they had to start work early and end workte were no longer painful.

    Leisurely admiring the story on the screen and asionally ncing over at the dedicated Richard, Zhang Zian was convinced that this was the best animal film out of all of the ones he had previously seen¡ªintense, but yet not too violent; inspirational, but notcking emotions; and faithfully restoring, with the hot blood and tears expended by the officers of the border defense and the police dogs to protect and safeguard their homnd¡­ Most importantly, the film silently mentioned the crisis Tibet was facing due to the overcrowding of Tibetan Mastiffs. It was subtle and didn¡¯t make anyone feel as though it was too abrupt, while it also took on a certain aspect of social responsibility.

    What other animal films could surpass this?

    The staff prepared a bottle of mineral water for Zian so that he could soothe his throat during the small breaks in his dubbing.

    Zian quietly filled the cap full with water and, using his body as a cover, he brought it up to Richard¡¯s mouth so that it could drink the water with just a light bow of its head.

    Time always flew by quickly whenever one watched a film that grabbed them hard and had their full attention throughout.

    As thenguage barriers were shattered by Richard, Lightning¡¯s growth, as well as the addition of the jokes and misunderstandings between Lightning and its trainer during its training process, had the young audience members hugging their stomachs as they bursted out inughter. Even the adult audience members could not help but smile.

    When the border defense police officers led the police dogs into a confrontation with the invading enemy militants, the young audience members below the stage held their breath and gripped their tiny fists as they cheered on the armed officers and police dogs.

    There was a mission in the film to break out from the encirclement and seek help and they were assigned to three police dogs. When those three police dogs broke their way through multiple obstacles and dragged their bodies that were covered in scars back to their garrison headquarters, all the young audience members¨C-with no exception¨C¨Cwere moved to tears. The youngdies especially, in their adolescence, cried their eyes out¡­

    In the end, the armed officers were sessfully rescued. Together on the rostrum, the officers stood with their police dogs, fitted the medals awarded by their superiors on their chest, and saluted. The film came to a still with the sound of apuse from the armed officers and men below the stage.

    The young audience members and the small number of adult audience members all stood up together, bursting out in great, enthusiastic apuse and whistles. The freckled teen from the front of the theater¡¯s whistles were the sharpest and his apuse was the loudest.

    Famous still had its eyes on the screen; the screen was rolling out the list of staff names.

    Famous had its eyes wide open and finally saw it!

    Starring:

    Lin Feng as Liu Xiaokai

    Famous as Lightning (Provided by Binhai City, Amazing Fate Pet Store)

    Although its name appeared on the screen for only a short two to three seconds, it was its name nheless.

    Famous was reassured; it no longer had to take the name of other dogs¡­ its longtime nightmare had finallye to an end.

    The subtitles on the screen continued to roll out.

    The staff list included Chief Dog Trainer Zhang Zian, the names of behind-the-scenes producers, the productionpany and its sponsors. Those names made their way across the screen one by one and, appearing at the end, was ast line of subtitles: ¡°Proper arrangements have been made for all the animals that have made their appearance in this film.¡±

    The subtitles ended here.

    The lights brightened up again and Zhang Zian took a bow for the curtain call.

    The staff members and the theater¡¯s executives quickly made their way up the stage and took turns shaking hands with Zhang Zian, enthusiastically expressing their gratitude and congratting him.

    The children below the stage were all yearning for more, reluctant to leave the theater. Many of them had expressed their intention to purchase the DVD after the official release of the film so that they could watch it a few more times.

    The theater had ns to arrange a car to send Zhang Zian back to the hotel, but he politely declined.

    The Alexandertz was not far from the Potsdamer tz and they had taken a taxi earlier, as they were rushing for time. Now that they were heading back, they could return on foot and enjoy Berlin¡¯s scenery along the way.

    After leaving the theater, the kids dispersed in groups in all directions.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, too,¡± Zhang Zian called out to the elfins.

    Richard was boasting and bragging about its earlier performance; Fina was most concerned about what they were having for lunch; Old Time Tea was full of praise for the theater¡¯s wide screen and sound effects; Famous was still immersed in his own thoughts and was not speaking a word; Snowy Li was making a fuss about having to have raw beef sirloin to celebrate, or else it would pull down Zian¡¯s trousers in the middle of the street¡­

    Gxy turned its head and stared at a group of children who were moving further away. They were still excitedly discussing the plot with great interest. Within the group, the freckled teen was the loudest with his hoarse voice.

    After taking a few steps, Zhang Zian noticed that Gxy was not catching up.

    ¡°Gxy, what are you looking at?¡± Zian asked. ¡°Everyone has already left.¡±

    ¡°Meow.¡± Gxy happily caught up and said, ¡°There was a kid earlier who might be the Prime Minister of Germany in 30 years.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡± Zhang Zian asked in surprise. He wanted to turn around to see which kid it was to see whether or not he could get chummy with him, but he decided to put that idea away after he gave it some thought. Letting the future hold some uncertainty would make it much more interesting, right?

 Chapter 726: The Journey North

    <h4>Chapter 726: The Journey North</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Three days after the kick off the Berlin Film Festival, most of the crew members were free to tour around. The producers, on the other hand, had started their busy work of promoting Dog Warrior in order to sell as many copies of the overseas screening rights as possible. Each transaction was a matter of gold and silver and determined whether they would make money or lose money from this film.

    The premiere at Berlinale Pst had received great reviews. Distributors and agencies interested in the film wereing over to contact the producer and negotiate how they could cooperate with each other. Yet, the business deals didn¡¯t concern Zhang Zian. He knew almost nothing about them because of his position in the production team.

    Many parties were still waiting to see if Dog Warrior could get an award in the Berlin Film Festival. If it did, then its promotion and box office sales would both increase greatly.

    It was said that when the members of themittee had selected a film for Competition, they actually already had a score for this film and would not change it unless something significant happened. This meant that whether Dog Warrior could win an award or not had already been determined, but it would only be announced on thest day of the film festival.

    Zhang Zian and Famous had previously been assigned to some promotional activities, as well as the task of standing in the kiosk at the European Film Market. However, due to the conflict yesterday with the team lead Nie Yuan, they were both put aside for now. Nie Yuan had canceled all of their promotional activities.

    This worked out in Zhang Zian¡¯s favor, however, as he now finally had a few free days to walk around Germany with the elfins without being worried about being called back by the production team.

    The so-called ¡°being put aside¡± meant not attending the official promotional activities of the production team. In fact, there were quite a few members of the media that were trying to reach Zhang Zian through various means and asking him for interviews with Famous¡­

    The day before, Famous didn¡¯t show up on the red carpet at the Berlinale Pst. The happiest person was Lin Feng, as there was finally no person, or dog, that could steal his thunder. He had a st on the red carpet.

    Once he woke up that morning, Zhang Zian contacted Pi, like he had the past two days, and asked how it was doing at the shop. Pi¡¯s answer was the same old, ¡°Everything is fine. Don¡¯t worry. Have fun in Germany.¡±

    Lu Yiyun was under a lot of pressure. There were more members of the mediaing to the shop these days than customers. As Wang Qian and Li Kun¨C¨Cthe two dumb***es¨C¨Ccould not control their mouths and could not be counted on, she had to send all the media back by herself.

    After confirming that nothing was wrong in the shop, Zhang Zian felt relieved.

    After asking around, he found out that the address that Reina had written down on the name card was a small city by the ocean in northern Germany, not too far from Berlin. He could either take a train or rent a car to get there.

    Train travel in Germany was well-known, as the scenery along the road was as beautiful as a picture. It was the best option to tour around Germany if one had plenty of time. Once he considered the inconvenience of taking the elfins on the train, however, he finally decided to rent a car for the freedom of it.

    He took Famous and the invisible elfins out of the hotel. The rental car had already stopped outside. The elfins sat in the same spot as thest trip. Fina and Snowy Li upied the front passenger seat, while Old Time Tea and Gxy upied the back seat. Famous took the trunk alone, while Richard flew around everywhere.

    Before departure, there was one more thing to do.

    Zhang Zian drove around Berlin, then stopped in front of a souvenir shop that was officially designated by Berlin Film Festival. He was nning on sending some limited edition postcards to his friends in China. They were only sold during the film festival and had the stamp of Berlin on them, both vintage and memorable. If he didn¡¯t act fast, some of the popr post cards might sell out.

    The festivity of the film festival was still growing, as there were people lining up for tickets outside every cinema.

    It was getting warmer in Binhai City, but in the streets in Germany, many local residents and tourists were still wearing winter jackets.

    Zhang Zian asked the other elfins to stay in the car for now while he walked into the souvenir shop with Famous.

    As soon as he entered, a huge Berlin Bear toy was standing right in front of him. Its body was brown and fuzzy and it wore a triangr, red scarf around its neck. It stared at each customer that entered the door with two small, ck and round eyes that were full of innocence. It was as if it was saying, ¡°What took you so long to arrive? Take me home!¡±

    This massive toy was cute, but too big to be posted and transported. He had to choose a smaller one. Luckily, the face and gesture of the smaller one was the same as the big one, and it was still cute enough to make a young girl happy.

    There were a variety of products in the souvenir shop and various official souvenirs in a ss disy cab, such as t-shirts, hoodies, scarves, hats, clothes, and more. There were also shopping bags and backpacks with the Berlin Bear printed on them, as well as wine sses, mugs, markers, keychains, and notebooks. Most of them were red. Red was also the color that most people identified with in China. With the festive atmosphere during the Spring Festival, the film festival this year was almost tailored to the Chinese.

    Many customers came and went in the souvenir shop, speaking all kinds ofnguages. Even Chinese could be heard asionally.

    These small souvenirs were delicate and practical, appropriate to either be ced in one¡¯s room or put to use.

    Zhang Zian had originally nned to buy the souvenirs right before his return, but under the influence of the festive atmosphere in the shop, he was carrying a bag in each hand without realizing it. After his return, the souvenirs he bought would be given as gifts for customers that had bought pets. He expected them to be very popr.

    Once he reached Reina¡¯s father¡¯s house, he was going to ask him about salt water pets. He had no idea about the courtesy rituals in Germany, but he didn¡¯t feel like knocking on his door with empty hands. Therefore, he bought some souvenirs for him as well, not knowing whether or not he would like them.

    There was quite variety of official postcards for the film festival, most of which had a bear on the cover. Some were brown, some were red, while some were blue under the light. All of them were taken from the posters of the film festival this year¨C¨Cthe postcard with a white bear in a hot spring seemed particrly popr. By the time Zhang Zian noticed the card, there weren¡¯t very many left. He quickly grabbed the remaining few in his hands¨C¨Calong with a few others¨C¨Cthen went to the cashier to check out.

    The cashier gave him a pen to write down different words of blessing on the back of the postcards, then he wrote down the addresses under the cashier¡¯s instructions.

    As he wrote, he saw in his side view that Famous was lingering around one of the disy cabs. He walked up and asked, ¡°Famous, is there something you like?¡±

    Famous was looking at a cor, which was also an official souvenir from the Berlin Film Festival. A few white Berlin Bears were printed on the ck leather cor in equal distances from each other. Thebination of ck and red looked very handsome.

    ¡°Do you like this?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Famous nodded without turning its eyes away. ¡°This is very memorable. I¡¯d like a collection of souvenirs from different film festivals, so the Berlin Film Festival seems to be a good start.¡±

    Zhang Zian understood what it was hinting at. It had great confidence about itself; it knew that it would y more roles in the future and that it would step onto the stage at many different film festivals.

    Your stage is as big as your heart is.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s start from Berlin.¡± He smiled, feeling equally confident for Famous.

    He added the cor to the shopping list and headed towards the checkout.

    Aftering back to the rental car and putting all the newly purchased items into the trunk, he turned the steering wheel and headed north of Berlin.

 Chapter 727: Any Empty Beer Bottles for Sale

    <h4>Chapter 727: Any Empty Beer Bottles for Sale</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Compared to the vastnd of China, Germany was very small. Hamburg in the north to Munich in the south only stretched over 700 kilometers.

    Zhang Zian departed from the hotel in the morning. Although he had spent some time in the souvenir shop in the middle of the journey, they still made it to their destination¨C¨Ca small seaside town in the north¨C¨Cin the afternoon.

    The influence of the Berlin Film Festival did not affect this town. The town was obviously emptier than Berlin, as it was right in the afternoon but there were not many people on the street.

    It was colder than Berlin and the sky was overcast. Outside the car window, the strong sea breeze whizzed past. The pedestrians on the road had all wrapped themselves up tightly. It was almost as cold as the coldest time in Binhai City.

    ¡°This queen is asking¨C¨Cis this the small German town that is covered in 72 thousand tons of diamond?¡± Fina asked in disbelief as it surveyed the area outside. ¡°Where are the diamonds? This queen can only smell salted fish!¡±

    Zhang Zian had long forgotten about his exaggerated words, yet Fina still had it in its mind. Zian let out a dry cough, summoned up his courage, and said, ¡°Yes it¡¯s here, but don¡¯t worry! Just think about it¨C¨Cif the diamonds were all disyed in public, wouldn¡¯t it all have been taken away by the others already? There wouldn¡¯t be any left for you, right?¡±

    Fina gave it some thought. The exnation seemed reasonable so she nodded and said, ¡°So be it. The queen shall wait a little longer. But what you said earlier was incorrect¨C¨Call the diamonds in the world belong to this queen. Any mortals who darey their hands on them shall be sent to build the pyramids!¡±

    ¡°Pei pei pei! Sweet talking, stinky man! Continue with your bull and I¡¯ll see how you clean up your own mess!¡± Snowy Li was gloating. ¡°Let me say this first: when that timees, I won¡¯t be eating roasted eggs any more. I¡¯ll be having fried eggs with sausage!¡±

    Zhang Zian was perturbed and was contemting a solution as he drove around looking for the address of Reina¡¯s father.

    At noon, both Zian and the elfins were hungry, and the hungrier they were, the more they couldn¡¯t think of a solution. So Zian suggested, ¡°How about this¨C¨Clet¡¯s look for a ce to eat first, okay? It¡¯s also not a very convenient time to visit a stranger¡¯s house since we might be interrupting their meal time.¡±

    As soon as food was mentioned, Fina¡¯s attention was temporarily diverted and it readily agreed with Zian¡¯s proposal.

    Zhang Zian parked the car outside the entrance of a restaurant. The elfins were all not fond of the cold weather outside and they all refused to leave the car. Zhang Zian got out of the car and prepared to have his meal before bringing some food back once he was done.

    The exterior and interior of the restaurant had a strong, traditional German design; the scent of beer permeated the air and there were square wooden tables and chairs.

    The service staff in the restaurant was all dressed in uniforms that had a traditional design. The waiters were in white shirts matched with ck lederhosen trousers and ck leather shoes with their white socks stretched up to their knees. There were only two colors on them and they looked very neat and tidy. The waitresses, on the other hand, wore a Bavarian-style dress that swayed with the wind as they walked.

    There was an unnamed band performing live with a keyboard and a trumpet as they yed cheerful country music.

    Walking into the restaurant was just like crossing time and space to an old-fashioned brewery from a few decades, or even a few centuries, ago. Although there was one thing that felt off: it was the big screen television in the restaurant that was showing their local serpetition.

    Unlike other quiet, western restaurants, the one Zian was in had a boisterous atmosphere. Diners were talking loudly and gantly downed one beer after another. It was worth noting that if one look around the restaurant, they wouldn¡¯t be able to see any skinny people around, be it male or female.

    The temperature in the restaurant was very high. Zhang Zian sat himself down after finding an empty table, removed his jacket, and ced it on the side. Zian studied the menu and the neighboring table¡¯s order before he ced an order with the waiter for a set of Germany¡¯s specialty eisbein.

    ¡°Brother, why are you not getting a beer?¡± someone behind him asked in English as Zian looked down at his phone. The person might have overheard him converse with the waiter in English.

    Zhang Zian turned to look; it was a diner from the neighboring table. On his table was a set of eisbein and a mug of light beer¡ªthe mug of beer had already reached the bottom and the eisbein was half eaten. Zian¡¯s order was based on this person¡¯s order, just without the beer.

    The diner was about sixty to seventy years old, his hair was white, and he had a bright red brandy nose. Though, old as he was, his body was still big and strong like a bear.

    The diner looked a little drunk, but he observed Zhang Zian and sized him up. The diner spoke with a lisp and shouted out loudly to the waiter, ¡°Two more beers!¡±

    The waiter quickly served up two mugs of golden, frothy beer.

    ¡°This mug is for him. Put it on my bill.¡± The brandy nosed diner pointed at Zhang Zian, gesturing for the waiter to put one of the mugs on Zhang Zian¡¯s table.

    Zhang Zian quickly waved his hands and said, ¡°Thank you, but I can¡¯t drink. I still have to driveter.¡±

    If you drink, don¡¯t drive, if you drive, don¡¯t drink. Zhang Zian had always abided by the traffic regtions.

    The brandy nosed dinerughed out loud as if he heard some kind of a joke. He said, ¡°You¡¯re a foreigner? First time here in Germany, right? Who told you that you can¡¯t drive after drinking?¡±

    Zhang Zian was puzzled. He had a nk look on his face and almost suspected that he had heard wrong.

    The brandy nosed diner pointed to the side at a female diner who had just finished her meal and was about to leave, hinting for Zhang Zian to pay attention.

    On the female diner¡¯s table was an empty beer mug. There was still some foam left on the walls of the mug, an obvious sign that she had just drank the mug of beer.

    The female diner put on her coat and scarf, wrapped herself up tightly, and left after she settled her bill.

    Zhang Zian kept his eyes on her through the window ss. He saw her enter a car that was parked outside before she started up the engine and left.

    It was amon urrence here; the other diners and the service staff were not in the slightest bit surprised.

    Following closely, another diner had also finished his meal and settled his bill. He, too, had some beer and also drove off in a car¡­

    Zhang Zian looked and was dumbfounded by what he saw. Wasn¡¯t all of Germany strict andw-abiding? They were drinking and driving so openly, yet no one was bothered¡­

    The brandy nosed diner stared at Zian¡¯s face. Heughed even harder until his face flushed red.

    ¡°Kid, let me tell you¨C¨Cbeer is considered a beverage here, just like the coke you always drink! Consuming this amount of alcohol is not considered drunk driving here in Germany. Don¡¯t apply the traffic regtions of other countries here in Germany! In Germany, cars and wine are not disassociated!¡±

    The diner¡¯s voice was very loud¨C¨Call the diners at the neighboring tables could hear him. They all turned and smiled at Zhang Zian, raising the beer in their hands and gulping it all down.

    The waitress served up Zhang Zian¡¯s order of eisbein and heard what the brandy nosed diner said. Sheughed and said, ¡°Young man, drink up¨C¨Cit¡¯s okay. How can you not drink when you¡¯re here in Germany? Just one mug of beer won¡¯t influence your driving and also, our beer and eisbein is a greatbination!¡±

    ¡°Drink! Drink! Drink!¡± Under the lead of the brandy nosed diner, the surrounding diners started to chant as they patted the table.

    ¡°Goal!¡± At that moment, the local ser team managed to score a goal and the entire restaurant erupted.

    Zhang Zian found it difficult to decline their great hospitality. He raised the mug, took a big gulp, and praised, ¡°Great beer!¡±

 Chapter 728: An Eye for the Queers

    <h4>Chapter 728: An Eye for the Queers</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    There were two world renowned products in Germany: one was cars, and the other was beer. Cars were somewhat controversial, but Germany was, no doubt, the king of beer¨C¨Cnot necessarily because of the quality of beer, but more so the culture and tradition that surrounded the beer. ording to trafficws in Germany, drinking a small amount of beer was not considered to impair one¡¯s driving¨C¨Caw that was near impossible to find in other countries.

    The beer that Zhang Zian was drinking was not the best that he had ever tasted; however, he was in an atmosphere where everyone was drinking and watching a game, so even the mediocre beer tasted good.

    He took a big sip of beer and the smiles on the customers around him suddenly seemed friendlier. It was as if they were treating him as one of their own.

    ¡°After your beer, you¡¯ve gotta try the pork knuckle roast. You won¡¯t be disappointed!¡± a brandy-nosed customerughed heartily.

    Zhang Zian saw the roasted pork knuckle and was slightly startled. In order for people to serve themselves, the knuckle came with a knife. The knife was notid t on the table like it would be with a regr meal, but was instead stuck in the middle of the pork knuckle and was standing upright. It reminded him of the bold ways the ouws in Water Marsh ate and drank.

    Apart from a thinyer of juice on the te, there was only a piece of pork knuckle with its bone, about the size of a grown man¡¯s fist, and two round balls of mashed potato. There was also a small cup of sauce for seasoning.

    After slicing the pork knuckle with the knife, the aroma of hot pork made Zhang Zian¡¯s mouth water involuntarily. He put a piece of meat into his mouth with a fork. It was so tender and delicious and it almost melted in his mouth right away. His earlier concern that the meat might be too greasy turned out to be unnecessary.

    With one mouthful of roasted pork knuckle, one big sip of beer, and one taste of the chewy, mashed potato, Zhang Zian understood why this restaurant was able to attract so many customers with such simple dishes. The pork knuckle was its so-called specialty.

    ¡°Have another ss!¡± the brandy-nosed customer urged him after Zhang Zian finished his beer.

    ¡°No, no. Not this time,¡± Zhang Zian declined firmly. Although the Germanws on drinking and driving were not that strict, he was not a German who could drink beer as a soft drink. He would not be able to drive if he had one more drink.

    Zhang Zian usually ate a lot. This portion of roasted pork knuckle didn¡¯t look that big, but it was impossible to finish. The beer was also quite filling, so he was already very full.

    He ordered a few other things for take out for the elfins.

    He proceeded to check out, and the brandy-nosed customer was paying at the same time. They left the restaurant one after the other.

    ¡°Son, we haven¡¯t had enough to drink here. Would you like some more drink at my ce?¡± the brandy-nosed customer asked, longing for more.

    ¡°No, thanks. I have other things to do,¡± Zhang Zian declined him politely.

    ¡°Come on, be my guest.¡± The brandy-nosed customer held onto Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder as if he knew him well.

    Zhang Zian wondered silently, Are all Germans so hospitable? This man is old¡­ Could he be a homosexual? Maybe he will get me drunk, and I¡¯ll wake up tomorrow morning with an aching butt¡­

    After he had this thought, he was suddenly on high alert. It was as if Richard had gotten into his mind and everybody seemed gay to him¡­

    ¡°No, I really have things to do. I¡¯m here to look for someone¡­¡± he said, trying to escape from the man.

    ¡°Looking for someone?¡± The brandy-nosed man sniffed his nose and spoke with a half-serious smile, ¡°Aren¡¯t you the one that Reina wanted to introduce me to¨C¨Cthe man looking for the aquarium? If so, you don¡¯t need to look any further.¡±¡¡¡¡¡±

    What?

    Zhang Zian was astonished, then asked in doubt, ¡°You are¡­?¡±

    ¡°Do you think that I invite any stranger from the street into my house?¡± the brandy-nosed man asked with alcohol on his breath. ¡°Of course I recognized you. I¡¯m Reina¡¯s father, but you can just call me Karl. You are Jeff Zhang from China, correct? I heard that you are a fellow businessman and that you own a pet shop in China.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought, Reina was right about her father¨C¨Che is odd-tempered. The man had to a y a purposeful joke instead of just saying that he recognized me.

    But could this be too much of a coincidence? Too much so that Zhang Zian could not believe that the person he had been looking for happened to be eating in the same restaurant.

    ¡°Yes, nice to meet you,¡± he said. ¡°But how did you recognize me?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it simple?¡± Karlughed. ¡°This is a small town with very few foreign tourists; this is the best restaurant in town; and, more importantly, I¡¯ve seen your pictures. Where is Famous?¡±

    ¡°In the car,¡± Zhang Zian said, pointing to his car.

    ¡°I¡¯ll get my car and you can follow me.¡± Karl waved his hand, then got into a rough looking pick-up truck.

    Zhang Zian returned to his own car, then shared the take-out food he ordered with the elfins.

    ¡°Who¡¯s that man?¡± Richard asked as hended on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder. ¡°A new gay friend? He¡¯s a bit old, but he should still be strong. I can¡¯t believe you have such a strong taste!¡±

    ¡°Strong your a**! That¡¯s the man we are looking for. He owns an aquarium nearby and we are going for a visit.¡± Zhang Zian followed behind Karl¡¯s truck. At first, he was worried if it was safe for Karl to drive, as he had a lot to drink at the restaurant, but he soon realized that he was being overly concerned. Karl was driving very steadily¨C¨Cone could not even tell that he had been drinking.

    There were a lot of cars in German towns, but the traffic was in order. What were considered luxury cars in China, such as a Mercedes or a BMW, could be seen everywhere in Germany.

    Just as Karl said, they were in a small town. Within a few minutes, they had arrived at a parking lot at the edge of town.

    Karl waved at him from a distance, then walked into a two-story building next to the parking lot, which looked like arge warehouse.

    Zhang Zian got out of the car with Famous and the elfins followed them.

    After entering the building, Zhang Zian realized that it was not arge warehouse, but actually a massive aquarium.

    Reina¡¯s father¡¯s aquarium was dark, like many of the big aquariums in China. The first thing one noticed when they walked in was the darkness. The only lights were in the two rows of aquarium disy tanks, which was meant to simte the dark environment of the underwater world.

    What caught Zhang Zian¡¯s attention the most, however, were not the beautiful, swimming fish around him, but a tall, young man wearing sses near the entrance. He looked very nerdy¨C¨Cthe typical image of a nerd in American movies.

    The young man almost stuck his entire head into theputer in front of him. His eyes were fixated on the screen and his hands were typing, quickly and loudly, on the keyboard. He didn¡¯t even notice that Karl and Zhang Zian hade inside.

    ¡°This is Paul, the expert who tests our water quality,¡± Karl said, introducing him to Zhang Zian. ¡°If you would like to build a serious aquarium instead of harvesting a pile of stinky dead fish, then you need a serious expert like Paul¨C¨Cor you could just be one yourself.¡±

 Chapter 729: Almost Peed His Pants

    <h4>Chapter 729: Almost Peed His Pants</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The professional who tested the aquarium¡¯s water quality, young nerd Paul, lifted his head up from the front of theputer screen after he heard Karl¡¯s voice.

    ¡°Paul,e over and meet someone. This is the person that my daughter Reina mentioned¨C¨Cthe one in the same trade as us who¡¯s here from China. His name is Jeff Zhang and this is his dog, Famous. This is one amazing dog! The film it was a lead star in is currently showing at the Berlin Film Festival. It might even get an award¡­¡± Karl introduced.

    ¡°Erm, hello. I¡¯ve heard of you!¡± Paul shyly greeted Zhang Zian and waved his hands at Famous. ¡°Hello, Famous! I¡¯ve heard great things about the film you starred in. If I wasn¡¯t tied up here, I would have made my way down to Berlin for the films.¡±

    Famous let out a bark with great vigor as a greeting.

    ¡°Hello! Nice to meet you!¡± Zhang Zian walked over and shook hands with Paul. From Karl¡¯s solemn introduction, Zian was aware that the nerd-like expert yed a pivotal role in the aquarium.

    When Paul shook hands with Zian, he realized that he still had the disposable rubber gloves on and quickly took them off.

    After the introductions and greetings, Paul learned about Zhang Zian¡¯s purpose ining and enthusiastically exined the water quality testing console that he was in charge of.

    Water quality was the basics of the basics for fish keeping, especially saltwater fishes. The requirements for keeping them were much higher than those for keeping freshwater fish. The factors included water temperature, salinity, specific gravity, PH value, nitrite, nitrate, silicate, phosphate, carbon dioxide, iron, calcium, magnesium, and water hardness. It was a veryplicated and systematic process that had often left beginners discouraged.

    The surface of the water quality testing console was very messy. ced on top of the console were test tubes, measuring cups, catheters, electronic testing pens, hydrometers, test strips, reagents, arge number of drugs, and other unknown equipment. The items took up almost all of the space atop the console. Most of the items were marked with German words, so Zhang Zian did not even recognize a single word.

    Paul was very enthusiastic in his introductions, but Zhang Zian¡¯s standard for the Englishnguage was limited to those for daily conversations. Zian was immediately exposed when Paul touched on the technical terms¨C¨Che listened to Paul with a nk look on his face throughout the long introduction.

    Karl noticed Zian¡¯s awkward situation and interjected, ¡°Paul, slow down. Our guest just arrived, so there¡¯s no need to rush. Why not let him take a look on his own first?¡±

    Karl¡¯s suggestion was exactly what Zian had intended to do. Although the water quality testing console was veryplicated, there was still a rule that it followed or a pattern that it ran on, just like the if/else in calctornguage. When the soldiers invaded, the general fended them off; when water flooded, a dam would be built. Zhang Zian did not intend to research the principles intensively. His only intention was to learn how to operate the console, how to analyze the value, and how to adjust the water quality.

    However, before Zian made his return to Binhai City to inherit the pet shop, he had made a few visits to some aquariums in other big cities. Those aquariums that he had visited did not have any specialized water quality testing equipment set up, much less did they have an expert in water quality testing stationed in the aquarium¨C¨Cthat was the difference in professionalism.

    The overall size of the German pet market could not bepared to the size of China¡¯s pet market, but their professionalism and expertise were at least ten years ahead of China.

    In addition, the aquarium equipment made in Germany enjoyed a worldwide reputation for quality. But just having the equipment was not enough; the key was in the operator for the equipment, just like how someone with a good camera might not be a good photographer.

    Paul smiled awkwardly and said to Zhang Zian, ¡°Okay, you cane look for me whenever you need to.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡± Zhang Zian gratefully nodded to him, determined to learn as much as he could in the next few days. As long as he was able to learn thirty to forty percent of Paul¡¯s knowledge, then it would be enough for him to handle his own aquarium.

    Karl took out two cans of cold beer from the fridge behind the water quality testing console and threw one of the cans to Zhang Zian. ¡°Let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll show you around. If you have any questions, just ask away.¡±

    Looking into the dark aquarium, aside from the entrance, the three other walls were filled up with aquarium tanks of various sizes. Some of the tanks had only aquatic nts, some had corals, but most of the aquarium tanks were home to a great variety of fish which presented a bizarre, underwater world.

    Compared to freshwater fish, saltwater fish were more vibrant in color. They swam around in the water under the illumination of the halogenmps and every single one of them looked very healthy and brimmed with vitality.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes were fully upied with the scene before his eyes. His heart was filled with envy. With an aquarium of such scale, it was hard to imagine the amount of time, money, and energy that was put into building it.

    Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Zian caught sight of a medium-sized aquarium tank. In a corner of the tank, there were two to three round and white objects that somehow left Zian horrified, caused him to shudder, and gave him goosebumps!

    In the dark aquarium, Zian felt like his windpipe was tightly gripped by someone and it became difficult for him to breathe.

    Initially, Zian thought that he had made a mistake since such a thing should not have existed in an aquarium. This was Germany, not Los Angeles, and it was not like he crossed over into some budget Hollywood horror film¡­

    But after taking a closer look, Zian knew that he had not made a mistake.

    It was a few white colored skulls, half buried in all the sand and pebbles. A brown deadwood with its entangled roots and intertwining branches nted across the tank. Several green aquatic nts grew out from the eye sockets of the skull and swayed gently with the faint flow of water.

    There were also several fish swimming around in the water. They were spindle-shaped with a cdon-colored body and a bright ssh of red on their bellies.

    Why would there be skulls in an aquarium?

    Could this be some kind of ck shop that lures customers in before killing them to feed the fish? Like the kind that serves human meat buns?

    Zian¡¯s strange and grotesque imagination started to run wild. Images grew in his head like wild grass. Zian looked down at Famous, seriously considering if they should turn around and run for their lives¡­ But there was Old Time Tea behind them. Even if they met anything dangerous, Old Time Tea would take care of it.

    ¡°You don¡¯t look too good¡­ Did you get scared?¡± Karl took a big gulp of beer and mischievously asked as he stared at Zian¡¯s face.

    As he trembled with fear, Zhang Zian pointed at the skulls in the aquarium tank. ¡°That¡¯s¡­

    ¡°Of course they¡¯re fake. It¡¯s something like my sick sense of humor!¡± Karlughed out loud. ¡°Everyone always gets shocked during their first visit here. Go closer and take a look.¡±

    You can¡¯t catch a tiger¡¯s cub without entering the tiger¡¯sir¨C¨Cwith no risk there would be no returns. While embracing a tragic mood, Zhang Zian walked over to take a closer look.

    After approaching, Zhang Zian realized that the skull was indeed a fake, kind of like the props used to scare people during Halloween. It was mainly due to the distance away from the aquarium tank. The visual interference from the water paired with the special lighting and atmosphere in the aquarium had caused Zian to mistake the props for real ones¡­ It was so scary someone could¡¯ve died!

    This aquarium was exactly like the pet shop in Berlin. Every disy case or aquarium tank wasbeled with details on the animal inside, it¡¯s habits, and feeding methods.

    After making sure that the skull was a fake, Zhang Zianposed himself and wiped off the cold sweat from his forehead. He then looked at thebel, which wrote, ¡°Natteri; ce of origin: Peru.¡±

    In other words, kept in this aquarium tank was the fabled piranha.

 Chapter 730: Novelty Hunting

    <h4>Chapter 730: Novelty Hunting</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Piranhas were famous in China due to cheesy American horror movies; people were terrified at the mention of them. The highly aggressive and schooling breed of fish included a few dozen species in and of themselves. They were not a protected species, but as long as people were dumb enough to continually release them into local waters, then they would continue to bring a devastating impact upon the ecosystem.

    However, piranhas lived in the tropical forest of the Amazon. The ice-covered, northern part of Germany could not sustain their survival. Even if they escaped unexpectedly from breeders, they would soon freeze to death.

    Piranhas were not pretty in shape, thus most owners were either hunting for novelty alone or had a nefarious taste, like Karl. The old man was retired, yet he still greatly enjoyed pranking people. It was no wonder Reinained about his odd character.

    ¡°The first time I came here for an interview, I was terrified, too. I almost called the police,¡± Paul, the expert in water quality, said.

    ¡°You? Call the police?¡± Karl sneered. ¡°You screamed like a ten-year-old girl!¡±

    ¡°Absolutely not!¡± Paul rified hurriedly.

    While the two of them were going back and forth, Zhang Zian was carefully observing the aquarium tank that the piranhas were in. Without considering Karl¡¯s nefarious taste, thendscaping within the tank was very sessfully designed. The weeds, dry branches, skulls, and the fish¨C¨Cwith ck backs and red bellies¨C¨Chad created a creepy atmosphere. The novelty hunters would surely want a tank like such at home.

    Aquascaping was a new form of entertainment that became quite popr in recent years; it was also an art. There were even stylists that specialized in aquascaping.

    The profit of running an aquarium came from two major sources: one was the selling of living creatures, while the other was the selling of the peripherals. Aquascaping was one of thetter and produced a very high profit that was also immune to the impact of online businesses.

    Zhang Zian was considering making an aquarium tank simr to this one, but he was afraid it would terrify the children that came into his shop. If he was used of ¡°promoting horror and violence,¡± then it wouldn¡¯t be worth the risk.

    Karl took out an aluminum container. Inside, there was a dead fish with bulging eyes and slightly open lips.

    ¡°It¡¯s lunch time, Jeff. Would you like to feed these cute little fish?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Not this time. I¡¯ll watch you feed them.¡± Zhang Zian was not interested in¨C¨Cand was mostly afraid of¨C¨Cgetting his fingers bitten off while feeding them. The piranhas in the tanks were quite big¨C¨Caround 10 centimeters in length. He was afraid they might suddenly jump out of the water.

    Karl shrugged, opened the lid of the tank, took the dead fish by the tail, then dipped its body into the water.

    The moment the fish head hit the water, the piranhas swam away rapidly and hid behind the weeds and branches as if they were startled. However, once they realized there was no danger, they came out of their hiding ces, headed straight to the dead fish, opened up their strong lower jaws with their razor-sharp teeth, and took a hard bite into the fish belly¨C¨Cthe fattest part of the dead fish. They tore off a piece of meat, swam away slightly, swallowed then meat, then took another hard bite¡­

    One bite after another, the piranhas surrounded the dead fish and shared it. Within a few minutes, the upper body of the dead fish only had bones left and the water had turned slightly turbid.

    ¡°These are wild Peruvian piranhas. If they were piranhas after two or three generations in an artificial environment, then they would not eat the fish after it had been dead for hours. The degeneration is quite obvious,¡± Karl said as he took the remaining half of the dead fish out the water and threw it into the garbage bag.

    Apart from the freshwater piranhas, most of Karl¡¯s possessions were saltwater creatures, including some rare and dangerous species.

    In arge tank, some colorful corals were ced on clean, white sand, like sunflowers blooming on the seabed. The water was clear and calm and a few tiny fish of ordinary breeds were swimming back and forth. Zhang Zian thought this was an aquascaping tank, but as he passed in front of it, he detected something unusual. Something seemed to have moved on the coral.

    He took a closer look. There looked to be a mollusk with colors almost identical to the coral; it even had the same limestone appearance.

    A small fish swam closer and closer to the coral,pletely unaware of its imminent death.

    The ring-shaped mollusk suddenly moved. The parachute-like tentacles suddenly wrapped around the fish like a bolt of lightning.

    The fish struggled briefly and then stopped moving. There was no obvious bite wound on its body.

    Zhang Zian took a deep breath. It was so toxic!

    The animal was an extremely dangerous, blue-ringed octopus, the type of deadly creature that many experts warned against owning privately. There was no cure for the toxin, which could make one stop breathing before the ambnce even arrived.

    It caught a small fish for lunch, but exposed its hiding ce at the same time. There were no predators in the tank, but it stayed just as alert as if it were in nature. It flickered the blue stripes on its body, then secretly swam to another spot on the coral and jammed its body into its cracks. It changed the shape and color of its body almost instantly, bing identical to the surrounding corals while it waited for its next meal to pass by.

    ¡°This is a dangerous creature. Are there many buyers?¡± Zhang Zian asked curiously.

    Karl nodded. ¡°Quite a few. As you know, the less popr the pet is, the more likely that the owners will form a group of their own. There are not many saltwater pet owners¨C¨Cat least not as many cat and dog owners. They are fewer in number, but they are more willing tomunicate with each other because,pared to cat and dog information, it¡¯s much harder to find saltwater pet information online. In the saltwater pet circle, the blue-ringed octopus is a special case. Being able to raise a blue-ringed octopus means that you are no longer a rookie in the saltwater pet circle, but an intermediate yer. Plus, this little guy is cute, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°This makes sense,¡± Zhang Zian admitted.

    Whether it was psychological or not, from the brief nce Zhang Zian got of the octopus, he had encountered a fatal attraction to its golden, soft body and its bright blue stripes. It was no wonder many saltwater pet owners loved it so much. It was not a simple novelty like piranhas were.

    The blue-ringed octopus was not a protected species, but he was still not nning to sell it in his pet shop. It was too dangerous, after all.

    ¡°Jeff, how many days do you n to stay here?¡± Karl asked.

    Zhang Zian made an estimate and said, ¡°Seven days at the most.¡±

    ¡°You have plenty of time, then. How about settling down first?¡± Karl suggested.

    ¡°That¡¯s what I was thinking,¡± Zhang Zian agreed.

 Chapter 731: FKK

    <h4>Chapter 731: FKK</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Karl invited Zhang Zian to stay in his house since he lived alone and his daughter, Reina, resided in Berlin. Karl¡¯s house was very empty, but Zhang Zian felt that, if he lived with Karl for seven days, he might be an alcoholic, so he politely declined the offer and asked for Karl to rmend a hotel to him that would amodate pets.

    Karl¡¯s poprity in the local area was pretty good. He found a friend¡¯s empty house for Zhang Zian, and it was quite a luxurious seaside vi. The vi was upied only during the summer when Karl¡¯s friend was here for a holiday; otherwise, the vi was usually empty for most of the year. The keys to the vi were left with Karl, as his friend had entrusted him to take care of the ce. Karl contacted his friend about the matter and his friend readily agreed. In exchange, he requested a photo of Famous with its paw print.

    Staying in the vi was much more convenientpared to staying in a hotel. The most important factor was that it was free. After Zhang Zian left Berlin, everything was at his own expense. From food to lodging, everything was out of his own pocket, so it was good for him to save on costs whenever possible.

    The vi stood alone at the top of a cliff by the sea with an open view. The doors and windows in the vi were all full height ss panels, and walking onto the balcony weed in a view of the Baltic Sea that went on as far as the eye could see. There were no other houses in the vicinity¨C¨Cthe nearest one was a few hundred meters away and it was also a holiday vi that belonged to someone else.

    It was very deserted in the winter, but once it was summer, it was going to be quite lively as a great number of wealthy people from Berlin would make their way down to spend their summer vacation by the sea. It was also a very well-known, clothing-optional beach¨C¨Cthe holynd of the nude beach¡­

    Zhang Zian had asked for the email of Paul, the professional who tested Karl¡¯s water quality. Paul had printed some introductory materials for water quality testing for Zian, and if there was anything Zian did not understand, he would be able to consult Paul through email or drive his way down to the aquarium and operate the water testing console under Paul¡¯s guidance.

    Paul was a very genuine person. He unreservedly shared his experience and knowledge, to which Zian benefited a lot from.

    From the day that he arrived, Zian had made use of all his spare time to immerse himself in the study of water quality testing techniques, striving to have a thorough grasp of it before he left town.

    It was noon and the weather was great; there was less wind and the temperature had risen slightly.

    Zhang Zian tried to use the barbecue grill in the backyard of the vi for a barbecue. The stainless steel grates were covered fully with steaks, sausages, chicken skewers, cherry tomatoes, eggnt, and corn. Thebination of meat and vegetables was bnced in nutrition and looked really good. As the sauce and oil dripped off the grill into the burning charcoal fire, it sizzled into smoke and the fragrant aroma permeated the air.

    ¡°When will it be ready?¡± Fina asked as it swallowed its saliva.

    ¡°Don¡¯t rush me. A watched pot never boils, you know?¡± Zhang Zian said as he flipped the food over and continued with the barbecue.

    Snowy Li tugged on his trousers. ¡°Leave me a piece of raw beef, got it?¡±

    ¡°Zian, are we still going to the aquariumter?¡± Old Time Tea asked while itid on its stomach in a sheltered space. ¡°There are so many new and strange things there. It¡¯s an eye-opener even for this old one who has lived a long time¡­¡±

    Whenever they visit the aquarium, it was Old Time Tea, aside from Zian, who gave the ce a serious look. Old Time Tea could not stop singing praises about the various strange and different marine life in the aquarium tanks.

    ¡°Not today.¡± Zhang Zian looked up at the sky. ¡°It¡¯s rare to have such great weather. Let¡¯s take a walk along the beach after we¡¯re done with lunch. We can visit the famous tourist spots.¡±

    ¡°Pei pei pei! You¡¯re just itching to go to the beach after hearing that people were spotted skinny-dipping, right? Don¡¯t think I can¡¯t tell!¡± Snowy Li spat on the floor with contempt.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you frame an innocent person out of the blue!¡± Zhang Zian rified. ¡°It¡¯s winter now, how could anyone be skinny-dipping when the water is so cold? Don¡¯t even mention skinny-dipping¨C¨Cit¡¯s too cold even with a swimsuit on!¡±

    ¡°Then what about the binocrs you bought from the supermarket?¡± Snowy Li exposed his lie without batting an eyelid. ¡°Although you tried to hide it during payment, such lousy trickery can¡¯t escape my eyes!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Zhang Zian was left speechless for a moment. ¡°That¡¯s for its original purpose: to view the scenery¡­¡±

    ¡°Pei! What kind of scenery is there to see at a beach in the middle of the winter?¡± Holding the upper hand in the argument, Snowy Li continued, ¡°When you overheard the cashier discussing some sort of FKK area while you were getting the steaks and sausages, your eyes lit up immediately and your saliva was drooling all over the floor!¡±

    Freikorperkultur had close to a hundred years of history in Germany. It was known as tian ti culture in Chinese¨C¨Cwhich ¡°Tian Ti¡± could also mean celestial body like the stars ands of the universe¨C¨Cand the actual definition referred to the stark naked human body.

    When the summer sun shone, Germans who were passionate about Freikorperkultur would always make their way down to a park, beach, or awn and remove all their clothes. They would then sunbathe openly while they were stark naked.

    However, in order to avoid drawing the dislike of others, not all parks, beaches, andwns allowed the support of such a movement. Most Germans chose areas that had been specially designated so they could proceed with their sunbathing while in the nude. These areas were also known as the FKK areas. Entering such areas meant that you were okay with seeing men and women, young and old in their most bare form¡­

    Zhang Zian learned from the cashier at the supermarket that the beach under the cliff where the vi stood is one of the designated FKK areas. Once it became summer, the beach would be the most cloth-saving ce in the world.

    Zian had long heard that foreigners were fond of the free body culture. When he learned about the beach, he could only sigh and regreting here during the winter months¡­

    But, just in case, Zian had hurried back into the supermarket, grabbed a pair of binocrs, and settled the payment while reciting that such indecent behaviors should be criticized¡­

    Zian¡¯s face turned red with embarrassment when his thoughts were exposed by Snow Li.

    Whenever the elfins were in the other room, Zian would always camp on the balcony with the binocrs in his hand, scanning the beach in hopes of finding an unexpected surprise.

    However, he was left disappointed numerous times. Even the highest temperature in the afternoon was around zero degrees Celsius; only a crazy person would exercise their free body culture in such cold temperatures. If anything went wrong, it would easily turn into free corpse culture¡­

    ¡°Ga! Cough cough!¡± Richard pped its wings and descended on Zian¡¯s shoulder, coughing twice due to the smokeing from the barbecue. ¡°I understand you. You¡¯re just curious about the naked body of foreign men! You bought those binocrs to see if their buttocks are still firm! Nice boat!¡± it cried loudly.

    ¡°Understand your sister!¡±

    Zhang Zian was so angry that he wanted to catch Richard and hang it upside down, but Richard was smart and flew away before anything happened. Zian then picked up a cherry tomato and threw it at Richard, but Richard caught the tomato using its mouth and swallowed it after chewing twice. Richard even made a face at Zian.

    Fortunately, Famous saw that Zian was in an awkward predicament and promptly interjected, asking, ¡°Any new news from the crew?¡±

    ¡°It seems as though the overseas distribution rights are selling well. Several European countries have expressed their interest in the purchase. Southeast Asian countries, Japan, and Korea are in contact with the producers, while some other countries are awaiting the results of the awards before making their decision.¡±

    Zhang Zian said all of that very quickly before finally letting out a sigh of relief. Famous was, after all, still my brother. Let¡¯s grill an extra steak for Famous!

 Chapter 732: Beware of Burns

    <h4>Chapter 732: Beware of Burns</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When Zhang Zian was in the luxurious beach house, he felt as though he was briefly experiencing the life of a rich man.

    The house had two floors, six bedrooms, four bathrooms, and was about 400 square meters in area. The kitchen was an open concept with a bar at the end and a lot of good wine in the cooler.

    What he envied the most was the 60 square meter living room, which had a firece in the center of the wall. It was such a wonderful feeling toe in and rx on the soft sofa, read next to the warm fire, hear the wind howling outside and the firewood crackling, and to take a nap after hours of reading.

    After he finished his lunch, he waited on the balcony with a ss of good wine. He watched how the golden beach and blue Baltic sea shifted with the wind. If he wasn¡¯t holding binocrs in his other hand, he would have looked more like a rich man.

    After searching the beach for a few minutes, Zhang Zian put the binocrs down in disappointment.

    There was nothing more to the German people than this, after all.

    What kind of fanatic naturalist are you if you dared to not be nude by the Baltic sea in the winter?

    This portion of the beach was rugged with too many twists, anyway. Even if he stood on top of a short cliff, he could only view the beach nearby. Maybe on the beach in the east or west¨C¨Cwhere he could not see¨C¨Csome pretty, young girls were enjoying themselves as naturalists.

    After thinking about this, he turned his head and said, ¡°Gxy, would you like to y hide-and-seek outside?¡±

    ¡°Meow. Yes! Yes!¡± Gxy had stretched itself out on the carpet out of boredom. After hearing Zhang Zian¡¯s question, it suddenly became energetic.

    ¡°Pooh! Horny pig!¡± Snowy Li eximed. It had seen right through him.

    Zhang Zian pretended that he didn¡¯t hear it, then said to Gxy, ¡°We made a deal before departure that we¡¯d y hide-and-seek in Germany. Since the weather is nice today, let¡¯s have some fun! There are not many people on the beach, so we can y however we want. We have almost the entire beach to ourselves. Gxy, you haven¡¯t yed hide-and-seek at the beach before, have you?¡±

    ¡°Meow. Awesome! Hide-and-seek! Hide-and-seek at the beach!¡± Gxy could not wait to try.

    ¡°Fina, Old Time Tea, and Famous, would you like to y at the beach?¡± he asked the other elfins. ¡°The beach here is quite well-known, and it gets very crowded as soon as the summeres.¡±

    Old Time Tea nodded. ¡°I¡¯d like to go. I can use some exercise to stretch my bones.¡±

    Famous¡¯s mind had been preupied with the film, so it was also willing to take a break at the beach.

    ¡°What a fuss you are making! This is such amonce beach. You can find as many as you want in Egypt! It¡¯s so cold. Why go to the beach in such weather?¡± Fina yawned. It was digesting its food after a big meal and didn¡¯t want to leave the firece.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to leave it all by itself. Warming up was fine, but why was it staying so close to the firece? After staying there a long time, its golden fur might be burnt. If a spark from the wood flew onto it, its fur might catch on fire. It would surely burst in anger, and I would still be the one suffering the consequences¡­

    Lying next to a warm firece was just like a boiling a frog in warm water. In the winter, many cats got burnt by fire in the countryside. Despite the fact that cats were always sensitive and paranoid, they seemed particrly dull when it came to fire. Maybe the warmth from the burning charcoal kept their guard down so that they could fall asleep easily next to a firece, only to wake up and find arge area on their fur coat had been burnt. Some even got injured.

    This seemed to not only happen to cats but dogs as well¨C¨Cexcept that dogs seemed to be a little smarter than cats about fire. Maybe dogs were bigger and less afraid of the cold than cats were.

    When cats and dogs got burned by the firece, the burns were called low-temperature burns. Low-temperature burns were burns caused by long exposure to an object that was not too hot but was hotter than one¡¯s body temperature.

    There was no need to despise the clumsiness of cats and dogs. Stupid humans were no better than them. Many people got low-temperature burns in the winter from sleeping with a hot water bottle or heating pad in their hands while they slept. Some people liked to y with their phones before bed and then fell asleep on top of them, ending up with severe burns on their chests in the morning.

    An object that was 50 degrees Celsius was not too hot, but continuous skin contact with an object that was 50 degrees Celsius for over five minutes could cause a low-temperature burn.

    To make matters worse, low-temperature burns may not seem severe, but the burns were usually deeper due to continual contact with the low-heat object. They were usually harder to heal than brief, high-temperature burns.

    For small animals, like cats and dogs, low-temperature burns were very dangerous and could even be life-threatening.

    Ever since Fina had finished eating and had started digesting next to the firece, Zhang Zian had been reminding it to be careful. Fina didn¡¯t take him seriously, however, as it had never been so cold in ancient Egypt, where it used to live. There was no such a thing as firece there, either.

    Zhang Zian thought that if he brought Gxy and the others outside, Fina would surely fall asleep next to the firece. The consequence would be bad. Even if only a tiny portion of its fur and its pride got burnt, then it would surely snap and punish him¡­

    No matter how he tried to persuade it, Fina was unwilling to leave the firece.

    Atst, he just had to say, ¡°Fine, you can stay if you want. But if we find pearls by the beach, then they will all belong to us.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Fina¡¯s head suddenly rose. Its ears were erect. ¡°What did you say? Pearls? Those tiny round beads?¡±

    ¡°Exactly!¡± Since Zhang Zian had decided to lie, he would lie until the end.

    He pretended to be serious. ¡°Don¡¯t you know? Many people find ms while walking near the beach. Once they open them, they find beautiful pearls inside, and they¡¯ve made a fortune just like that!¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty! Don¡¯t listen to the bullsh*t of this stupid man,¡± Snowy Li interrupted as it tapped on the sofa cushion. ¡°What pearls can be found on the beach? He¡¯s just fooling you to go outside into the cold! Why not stay here with me so we can do something nasty?¡±

    Fina became interested. ¡°I¡¯ve heard about this¨C¨Ca pyramid ve found a m while digging in the sand on the beach. After opening it, he found one, or a few, big and round pearls inside¡­ There were many rumors like this. They could not being from nowhere!¡±

    ¡°Indeed so.¡± Zhang Zian seized the opportunity and carried on, ¡°It has been said that a Brazilian fisherman found a giant m by the beach and there were 400 pearls of all sizes inside it. There were so many pearls that they filled an entire basin! Also, a Filipino fisherman found a 34-kilo giant m by the beach. It measured 60 centimeters and was worth 0.2 billion United States dors! Their lives turned around at that moment. They became rich and married pretty, rich girls!¡±

    He held thest sentence back. Maybe they turned in the treasure to the government!

    ¡°A 34-kilo pearl?¡± Fina¡¯s mouth widened in surprise. It stood up abruptly. ¡°Why didn¡¯t anybody give me such a treasure? And that person who found 400 pearls in a m should be sent away to build the pyramid!¡±

 Chapter 733: Seaside Encounter

    <h4>Chapter 733: Seaside Encounter</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was both envious and full of hate for the lucky people who were able to pick up pearls while they were taking a walk along the beach.

    Zian felt especially supportive of Fina¡¯s opinion¡ªone day, when power was in hand their hands, everyone that had found pearls would be sent to build the pyramids.

    Binhai City was also by the sea, so there were stories there that people had managed to find pearls along the beach. Ever since Zian was a kid, he had always run up and down along the seashore, hoping that one day he, too, would pick one up¨C¨Cyet that wish of his never came true.

    Zian let out a dry cough and said, ¡°Even though it¡¯s winter now and the weather is cold, it doesn¡¯t mean that no one¡¯s there topete with us at the beach. If a shell with a huge pearl hidden within was washed ashore, we¡¯re going to miss it just because we¡¯re indoors. Aren¡¯t we then just letting a 100 million dors slip through our fingers? That¡¯s not right¨C¨Cit¡¯s 200 million in the United States dor!¡±

    Fina nodded. ¡°That¡¯s true. Although this queen is more fond of diamonds, pearls are nice, too.¡±

    Snowy Li quickly interrupted. ¡°Your Highness! Don¡¯t be misled by the sweet talking of a stinking man! Even if there were pearls on the beach, it¡¯s not assured that you would be able to find one just by going down!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true that you might not be able to find one, but if you don¡¯t give it a try, you will never find one ever,¡± Zhang Zian said, adding in a phrase that could be found in every Chicken Soup for the Soul book.

    Snowy Li red at him.

    Zian continued with his persuasion. ¡°No one has visited this beach since the beginning of winter, and for months, the waves have been washing onto the beach. Who knows, there might be a big shell that has been washed ashore and is still waiting to be found¡­¡±

    Fina promptly made its decision and said, ¡°No need for further words¨C¨Cthis queen shall take a walk along the beach. This queen would not sleep well knowing that there might be a big pearl out there that would slip through our fingers if we did not go!¡±

    Zhang Zian heaved a sigh of relief, silently giving himself a thumbs up in his heart. His idea had killed two birds with one stone¨C¨Che managed to get Fina away from the firece, and he diverted her attention from the diamonds to the pearl. If they didn¡¯t find a single pearl on the beach, then the me could only be put on their luck and not on him.

    ¡°Ga ga! Going to the beach and you¡¯re not taking me along?¡± pping its wings, Richard swayed its way into the living room. ¡°I just went to relieve myself after having too much food and now you¡¯re nning to discard me after you¡¯re done using me?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s too cold by the beach, so I would suggest that it¡¯s best if you didn¡¯t go,¡± Zhang Zian said as he moved to the side, not letting Richardnd on his shoulders. Only God would know if it cleaned itself after relieving itself.

    Richard rolled its eyeballs. ¡°Ga ga! I know what¡¯s on your mind. Aren¡¯t you just afraid that I¡¯ll mess things up for you during your encounter with a naked beauty? Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t pull such a wicked move and interfere in the rtionships of others! Besides, they speak all different kinds ofnguage here in Europe¨C¨Cwhat if you meet a tall, green-eyed, busty blonde, a Eastern European beauty, yet you can¡¯t make any moves on her because you can¡¯t speak Russian?¡±

    Zhang Zian did not believe that Richard was so kind, but what it said made sense, too. After giving it some thought, Zian agreed to let Richard tag along but also warned it not to spout any nonsense. Zian then threw Richard a towel for it to clean its butt.

    As for Snowy Li, there was nothing much to be said; wherever Fina went, it would follow.

    To prevent sand from getting into his shoes, Zian wore his boots and put on a down jacket. Of course, he did not forget to bring his binocrs, as well.

    The weather outside was not as cold as Fina had expected. After all, the weather was really good; it was slightly cloudy and the wind wasn¡¯t that strong. It was alsote February, so the weather wasn¡¯t as cold as it was during the real winter period.

    They took a detour down the cliff and traversed the rugged reefs before they set foot on the beach. They then chose a direction at random and walked from the east to the west.

    The elfins weren¡¯t invisible. There wasn¡¯t anyone else along the long coastline, so it made no difference whether or not they were invisible.

    The sand on the beach was harder during winter. Only a faint line of footprints were left on the beach, unlike the beach during summer, where one¡¯s feet would sink deep into the sand with each step.

    ¡°Famous, we¡¯re going to y hide and seek. Are you joining us?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Famous shook its head like a rattle drum and tly refused. ¡°Just pretend that I don¡¯t exist.¡±

    ¡°Really? It¡¯s such a pity¡­ Gxy, you can go and hide first, but don¡¯t run too far.¡± Zian shut his eyes and said, ¡°I¡¯m going to start the count.¡±

    ¡°Meow!¡± Gxy nimbly ran a distance away, as if its feet did note in contact with the ground. It did not leave any pawprints on the beach.

    Frothed with white foam, wave after wave of seawater washed onto the beach, carrying the taste of salt from the ocean.

    As he continued to count, Zhang Zian walked forward with his eyes closed. There were no utility poles for him to crash into at the beach, so he was not worried.

    While the other elfins were looking around and admiring the beauty of the beach, Fina kept her head down as it walked. If there was anything that resembled a shell, then Fina would dig it out with its ws to check it.

    Seeing Fina behave in this manner caused Snowy Li to be ovee by sorrow and it cried out, ¡°Your Highness! You¡¯ve been fooled by this stinking man and can¡¯t even think straight anymore!¡±

    Fina thought differently. ¡°This is the will of this queen, so what has it got to do with him? Since it¡¯s an after-meal walk, it would not hurt to look for pearls along the way.¡±

    Maybe because the area they were in was a holiday resort for the wealthy people of Berlin, the environment around the beach was well maintained. It was unlike a popr tourist spot back in China, where one could find a pile of rubbish just by digging a hole in the beach¡­

    Old Time Tea stared at the endless sea. It watched on as the raging waves smashed themselves into tiny droplets of water when they met the unimpressive reef. As Old Time Teamented over the sight it saw, a thought appeared in its head. A thousand years ago, the reef might not have been so round and smooth, and a thousand yearster, the reef would be power while the waves remained unchanged.

    Having counted to a hundred, Zhang Zian opened his eyes, ced his hands together around his mouth, and shouted out loudly, ¡°Gxy, I¡¯ming! Be careful to not be found by me!¡±

    His voice traveled far out on the open beach.

    There was no response from Gxy. Gxy was not Pi¨C¨Cit wouldn¡¯t be fooled by such a simple trick.

    Zhang Zian was very confident in winning their game of hide and seek, as there weren¡¯t too many ces to hide on the beach. There weren¡¯t any hiding ces besides the gaps in the cliffs, behind the reef, or in the dry bushes.

    Zian turned and looked at the sea. He recalled the various strange sea creatures he saw at Karl¡¯s aquarium. Despite the great harvest in recent times, a problem still remained that was hard to solve: Where to bring in all the rare marine life?

    There were some in Karl¡¯s aquarium, but not all of them were suitable. Some of them carried a lethal poison or were very aggressive, and some were not able to escape the restrictions of the International Convention on Endangered Animals.

    Karl had been honest with Zian; he had told Zian that it was difficult to acquire newly discovered marine life. He would either have to acquire it through a marine scientist or a research institute by means of private channels, or he would have to be well informed about any fishermen who had caught a strange fish. From there, he¡¯d have to rush down immediately and buy it for a high price.

    While Zhang Zian was wandering off in his own thoughts, a notification tone suddenly rang from his mobile phone. He unlocked the phone to see that it was an elfin detection message from

    !

    [Game Notification]: Detected the appearance of a rare pet in your city. It is up to the yer to decide if they wish to proceed with the capture.

    [Game Notification]: The following is the pet information:

    [Pet Type]: Elfin.

    [Rarity]: Epic/Legendary.

    [Capture Difficulty]: Low.

    [Threat level]: Low.

 Chapter 734: Cape Treasure Hunting

    <h4>Chapter 734: Cape Treasure Hunting</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was here¨C¨Cin a German border town almost as remote as the world¡¯s end?

    Zhang Zian stared at the elfin detection message on the screen, too surprised to speak.

    It had been a few days since his arrival in the small town where he was observing the operation of an aquarium. Driving from the house to the aquarium each day, he realized that this was, in fact, a tiny city on its own. The life of the residents was rich and good, but in terms of size and poption, it would be a big vige in China¡­

    There were only three main streets in the city and the houses were sparsely located. The restaurant which he visited on the first day was the best one here. Foreign tourists never visited the city when they visited Germany; it was so rare toe across another Asian on the street.

    An elfin could appear in a secluded little town like this? Not to mention a high-ranked elfin!

    Since the elfin had indeed shown up here, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t think any further and opened up the e-map in the game, trying to look for the elfin¡¯s location.

    To be honest, thest time he had captured Pi in Binhai City Library, the level of difficulty had made him nervous. Had it not been for the hints given by Gxy in advance or stumbling upon Meng Li, the math professor at the university, then they would have returned empty-handed¨C¨Ceven if ten Zhang Zian¡¯s had set out to look for the nameless book they probably wouldn¡¯t have found it.

    The little German town was tiny, but had everything of every function. There was also a town library. If the elfin appeared inside the library, then he would reconsider whether he should make himself suffer such a pursuit¡­

    However, to his surprise, the icon indicating the elfin¡¯s location was not within the town, but near the beach. It was not far from him, actually¨C¨Cjust right in front.

    Gxy happened to have hidden somewhere in front, so Zhang Zian decided they might as well y hide-and-seek while looking for that elfin.

    He turned his head and saw Fina taking its time digging in the sand behind him. Each time it saw an object that appeared to be a m, it took it out of the sand to check it out.

    ¡°Fina, walk faster. Aren¡¯t you cold? You¡¯ll feel warmer once you move faster,¡± he suggested.

    Snowy Li spat at him in anger and sadness. ¡°Pooh pooh pooh! Shut up! You fool her Majesty all day long. Don¡¯t you feel guilty about it?¡±

    Fina had short hair and was indeed cold in the wind. It lifted its head hesitantly. ¡°But¡­ what if I miss out on the pearls because I walked too fast?¡±

    ¡°This is such a long beach. If you are too slow, then maybe the pearls ahead of you will be taken by other people!¡± Zhang Zian found a random excuse. ¡°How about this: you take your time to search behind me, while I check it out in front. If I find idlers loitering in the area, then I¡¯ll send them to build the pyramids on your behalf. What do you think?¡±

    Fina nodded joyfully. ¡°Sounds like a n. But they must pay for the ticket to Egypt themselves. I¡¯m not paying.¡±

    Zhang Zian hinted to Old Time Tea with his eyes. ¡°Grandpa Tea, keep an eye on it for me. I¡¯ll go ahead of you.¡±

    Old Time Tea was also a slow walker; it wanted to take its time to enjoy the ocean¡¯s waves. After hearing Zhang Zian¡¯s words, it gestured that he could go ahead, while it would stay behind and keep an eye on everything.

    Nothing was likely to go wrong on this beach with no people. Zhang Zian summoned Famous and ran forward with it. If someone else saw them, they would surely think that this was a regr person walking his dog on the beach.

    It was hard to run on the beach, as one¡¯s entire body weight and the impact ofnding fell on one single foot. Half the foot sank in the sand at each step and it was hard to pull it out.

    A short distance was fine, but after running for a long time, Zhang Zian¡¯s breath came heavier and heavier.

    It was much easier for Famous to run, as it had four legs and weighed lighter than Zhang Zian.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? What¡¯s the rush?¡± it asked while running with its tongue out.

    ¡°There is an elfin in front of us. Let¡¯s go there and see,¡± Zhang Zian exined briefly.

    ¡°Elfin?¡± Famous nced around the beach nearby. ¡°What kind of elfin could possibly show up here? A m elfin?¡±

    ¡°I wish. It¡¯s the River Snail Maiden in Chinese legend. God saw that I¡¯m still single at this age, then gave me a beautiful and kind River Snail Maiden with big boobs and long legs. She cooks for me in the day and warms the bed for me at night. I don¡¯t even need to buy piles of cosmetics and designer bags to make her happy. Isn¡¯t this nice?¡± he answered while breathing heavily.

    Richard was napping in his hoodie, but was suddenly woken up. It interrupted him, ¡°Quack! You young people should work hard. Stop day dreaming! Let me wake you up from it!¡±

    It swung one of its wings and pped it on his head.

    Zhang Zian was speechless. ¡°¡­If I was not in the middle of an elfin hunting, I would turn you into buffalo chicken wings!¡±

    Famous tried tofort him, ¡°You should have some dreams. What if ites true?¡±

    Richard continued to st, ¡°Even if ites true, it will never be a River Snail Maiden. Probably a toad fairy!¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have the strength to argue with Richard, as he was out of breath from running. It took advantage of his silence.

    After a turn, the t coastline suddenly changed shape and formed a protruding cape at the front, stabbing the sea like a dagger.

    The cape was full of rocks, with an abandoned lighthouse at the end. Maybe it had been warning the ships of the reefs many years ago.

    Zhang Zian looked at his phone and realized that they were getting close to elfin¡¯s location, as indicated by the icon.

    He climbed onto a huge rock carefully, using both his arms and legs.

    The rock had been washed day and night by the ocean. The surface was wet and slippery, with many small, unknown shellfish attached to it.

    The binocrs he was carrying became useful. He looked towards the other end of the cape through the binocrs, where he saw the same endless t beach, empty of any hiding ce. Maybe both Gxy and the unknown elfin were at the left side of the cape.

    ¡°Famous, wait for Old Time Tea and Fina here. I¡¯m worried that they may not find us after following our tracks. I¡¯ll search around the lighthouse. After they arrive, you cane look for me with them,¡± Zhang Zian instructed.

    Famous nodded, then sat down on a dry rock.

    Zhang Zian marched forward among the rocks, bypassing one puddle of water after another.

    A frightened crab waved its strong w to demonstrate its strength, then hurried off beneath one rock to another.

    A golden starfish was attached to a rock inziness, like blooming sunflowers.

    A spiky sea urchin was as frightening as a cactus.

    There seemed to be such a variety of creatures in the puddle of water. Even in a small puddle, about the size of a bowl, there were one or two small fish swimming. In a bigger puddle, about the size of a bathtub, there was even a micro ecosystem. A half-meter long octopus moved its tentacles and swallowed a small fish, which had just eaten a little shrimp.

    All of the fish, shrimp, sea urchins, starfish, and octopuses, had been washed up the shore by the tide? Could there be this many?

 Chapter 735: Monster

    <h4>Chapter 735: Monster</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian had grown up in Binhai City, so he had spent a lot of time ying on the beach. As far as he could recall, starfish and sea urchins were asionally spotted on the beach, but for so many of them appear together in the same area was unheard of.

    Zian nced worriedly at the octopus that had squeezed itself back into the crack of the rocks after the predation. He then turned around and, at the top of his voice, shouted to Famous, ¡°Be careful when all of you areing over. Some of the animals in this area might be dangerous, so don¡¯t touch any of them!¡±

    Zian¡¯s voice traveled far and wide as it was carried by the sea¡¯s breeze. Famous barked once as a response to Zian.

    Richard, too, stopped being noisy. It jumped out from Zian¡¯s hood and onto his shoulder, curiously watching the increasingly concentrated and peculiar marine creatures.

    ¡°Ga ga! Pay more attention you idiot. I don¡¯t want to take care of your corpse!¡±

    Zhang Zian was more worried about where Gxy had gone They were already halfway through the heand, yet there was still no sign of Gxy.

    Zian did not even have the time to look at his phone to track the unknown elfin. It was already very difficult for him to keep his bnce on the slippery rocks with his two hands.

    ¡°Ga! Stop!¡± Richard suddenly cried out, ¡°What¡¯s that disgusting thing in the front on the left? Don¡¯t step on it! Stepping on it would definitely ssh stinking green mucus everywhere!¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s attention was mostly on his feet to prevent any slipping. He stopped his steps after he heard Richard and looked towards the direction it had pointed.

    Zian didn¡¯t see anything at first, but soon, a mollusk-like creature with a color simr to sand suddenly moved.

    The mollusk squirmed and crawled to the edge of the muddy ground. Its body was fat, t, and covered with hard bristles; it was just like a slug that grew hair. The size of the mollusk was not small, either¨C¨Cit was about the size of half an adult woman¡¯s arm and was estimated to weigh about one to one and a half kilograms.

    Its body was yellow with a hint of white, while the bristles were of a bright golden color.

    The most terrifying thing was that it had a very strange, grayish-ck head and it had no eyes¨C¨Conly a giant mouth that was not proportionate to the size of its head. In its mouth were two pairs of triangr, sharp teeth-¨Cjust looking at them would send chills down your spine.

    Richard¡¯s description was right. It was really disgusting.

    Zhang Zian squatted down and gave it a careful look. He took in a breath of cold air and said, ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, this creature appeared once in the Illustrated Handbooks of Rare Pets. It¡¯s generally known as a sea caterpir but its scientific name is Aphrodita. The Aphrodita isn¡¯t really rare¨C¨Cthere have been ssifications of it in many sea areas around the world¨C¨Cbut this one here seems to be a rare subspecies discovered by scientists in the cold waters of Antarctica in the year 2012¡­ It is known as ¡®Egisca Gigantea!''¡±

    ¡°Ga? Really can¡¯t tell that this disgusting thing has such a background¡­ But didn¡¯t it appear in the South Pole? How did it get here? We are not far from the North Pole here,¡± Richard asked in amazement and excitement.

    ¡°I¡¯m not too sure.¡± Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°Maybe this creature also exists in the North Pole and has yet to be discovered.¡±

    Richard pped its wings and flew over from Zian¡¯s shoulders, hovering over the Egisca Gigantea.

    ¡°It¡¯s dangerous! Don¡¯t get close!¡± Zhang Zian hurriedly reminded.

    The moment Richard heard Zian, it instinctively pped its wings to fly up higher.

    In a split second, the Egisca Gigantea, that had once seemed sluggish, suddenly opened its mouth. Its sharp, brown teeth grew out another five centimeters and it lunged towards Richard!

    Richard could almost hear the sound it made from the upper and lower jaw shing against each other.

    Thank god Richard flew up higher just in time; otherwise, that one bite would have left a hole in its body.

    Several bird feathers drifted in the air. Richard was scared out of its wits and it hurriedly flew back to Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder. It no longer dared to approach the horrifying monster.

    Zhang Zian was also frightened quite badly¨C¨Che almost thought that he was going to lose the b*tch bird.

    ¡°Holy sh*t! I only flew over after I calcted the height that it would not be able to reach, but I didn¡¯t know its teeth could grow! I¡¯ve not heard about the existence of such monsters in this world!¡±

    Richard was stillpletely shocked and was talking endlessly to vent about his fear and uneasiness.

    ¡°This kind of animal is like this¡­ their teeth are extendable. It¡¯s exactly because other animals hold the same mentality as you, which is why they fall prey to them.¡± Zhang Zian continued, ¡°In addition to that, those gold bristles of theirs are also poisonous.¡±

    Richard felt a little more at ease after it sped Zian¡¯s shoulders tightly with its ws. ¡°By the way, I was so close to it earlier, yet I still failed to make out if the monster was a male or female.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s both male and female¨C¨Cthey are hermaphrodites,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    ¡°Ga? Hermaphrodites? It¡¯s both the top one and the bottom one?¡± Richard cried out in a sudden realization. ¡°No wonder it looks so disgusting! Maybe even its own kind are disgusted!¡±

    Although this Egisca Gigantea had no eyes, the countless bristles on its body were able to sense the flow and vibration of the sea water and air. It could even sense Zhang Zian¡¯s footsteps and his voice.

    It sensed that Zhang Zian was muchrger in sizepared to the reckless bird. Feeling threatened, it started to squirm its body around to look for sea water in an attempt to escape.

    ¡°Ga ga! It¡¯s running away. Are you just nning to look? Weren¡¯t you nning to start an aquarium? Bringing it back as a kind of gimmick is not a bad idea¡­ How about having this be the first resident? Since this monster was only discovered in 2012, it shouldn¡¯t be listed in the International Endangered Species List, right?¡±

    Richard was frightened quite badly earlier, so it tried to convince Zian as a part of its revenge. It couldn¡¯t just sit there and watch as the Egisca Gigantea make its escape.

    ¡°Indeed. It¡¯s not listed in the endangered species list because people know very little about this creature. Even their poption size is not known.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. He was also hesitant about how the Egisca Gigantea should be dealt with.

    Although it looked disgusting and was dangerous, it was still rare, after all, so to just let it go was wasting God¡¯s gift. Corruption and wastage were also just heinous crimes.

    Ever since he had arrived in Germany, be it Berlin or the coastal town, both Karl and Reina had taken great care of him and he had yet to thank them.

    That old man who ran the pet shop for his entire life was fond of hunting for strange animals, so why not catch this Egisca Gigantea as a gift for Karl?

    In addition, there was something that he had always been too embarrassed to ask¡­ Germany¡¯s aquarium equipment held a worldwide reputation for quality, and Zian had wanted Karl¡¯s help to get ahold of a batch of German branded aquarium equipment.

    If a worker wanted to do a good job, then he must first sharpen his tools.

    Marine lives were all very delicate because the ocean was the world¡¯srgest ecosystem. Moving marine life from the sea into a narrow aquarium was inevitably an adjustment that they would not be used to it. So, the perfect aquarium equipment was necessary in order to maintain their lives.

    However, Zian refused to use his hands to catch the monster in front of them. It was going to be very painful if he were bitten or stung.

    Zian took out his mobile phone and looked at the five normal pet slots provided by the game

    . It looked like they were finally going to be put to use.

 Chapter 736: Angel

    <h4>Chapter 736: Angel</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian had not used the regr pet column in the game very often, except for when he had transported the Ragdolls and Abyssinian cats. He had only used it once to capture a stray cat during the game¡¯s tutorial.

    He took a clear, frontal picture of the pet¨C¨Ckeeping in mind the game¡¯s instructions¨C¨Cin order to capture it. He then adjusted the position carefully to focus the lens on the disgustingly weird worm before he pressed on the ¡°capture¡± key.

    Kacha!

    The giant scale worm disappeared from where it had been before it appeared in the game and upied one of the five regr pet columns. A live animal was digitalized on the screen.

    No matter how sharp its teeth and how toxic its bristles were, it could only stay in the pet column.

    Karl might like this weird worm, since Germans have strange tastes and find reptiles or poisonous creatures eptable to keep as pets. It would look weird in my pet shop, though.

    However, could it be a mere coincidence that such a rare animal just showed up on this empty beach?

    ¡°Gxy, where are you? Come out now. I lose!¡±

    Compared to the current issue, Zhang Zian was more concerned about if Gxy had run into some danger. If it had touched simr monsters out of mere curiosity, then that would not be good.

    The wind came in from the sea, so his voice was blown back to thend behind him as soon as it left his mouth. It could not travel very far ahead.

    He focused to listen, but did not hear Gxy¡¯s response.

    There was nothing he could do except search for Gxy and the unknown elfin.

    The further he walked ahead, the more creatures he found between the rocks and sand. Sometimes there were so many that he had nowhere to step and he had to take a detour.

    To avoid stepping on poisonous creatures hidden under the rocks, he stopped caring about how he looked and started crawling on top of the rocks with both his arms and legs. Sometimes he jumped from one rock to another.

    Richard had been very careful ever since it had almost turned into the worm¡¯s feces. Every time Zhang Zian jumped, it fluttered its wings to fly as well, as it was afraid of injuring itself if Zhang Zian slipped on the rocks.

    It had a wide field of vision above Zhang Zian¡¯s head and soon discovered something unusual.

    ¡°Quack! What¡¯s in that puddle up there? A fish with wings?¡±

    Zhang Zian had seen quite a few rare fish, shrimps, and crabs along the way. They were not precious, but indeed rare toe across. He lifted his phone a few times, then put it down and marked the rocks with small stones. There was a limited amount of spaces in the pet column. If there were not any rarer creatures ahead, then he nned to capture them into the phone on his way back.

    After he heard Richard¡¯s scream, the first idea that came to his mind was, A fish with wings? Could it be a flying fish?

    He climbed over another rock and nned to mock Richard for making such a fuss, but after seeing the creature in the puddle of water, he was astonished!

    About a dozen semi-transparent mollusks were suspended in the half-meter deep puddle. Each one measured around eight centimeters in length, while some were even longer.

    Most of their bodies were almost transparent. There was a heart-shaped, orange organ in their chests and a simr organ was found in their round heads, only much smaller.

    The most surprising part was the pair of crystal clear wings that pped in the water to keep them suspended. They also had a long, crystal clear tail and two soft antennae on their heads. They looked like elfins in a puddle¨C¨Clike in a dream.

    Had it been the old Richard, it would have surely flown up to them immediately for a closer look; however, it had lost its guts after the fright before and stayed a distance away to watch.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. They won¡¯t bite you!¡±

    Richard finally rxed. ¡°Quack! I¡¯m not afraid! But tell me¡­ what are they? They look pretty.¡±

    ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, they are very rare creatures called sea angels, or naked sea butterflies. The official name is Clione¡­ These Cliones in front of us are huge. I¡¯m guessing that they are giant sea angels living in north Antic,¡± he exined.

    ¡°Quack! That is a beautiful name. Since they are so rare, then why not take them back?¡± Richard asked.

    ¡°This is exactly my n.¡± As Zhang Zian raised his phone, he became hesitant.

    Giant sea angels were very rare creatures, even in public aquariums. They could have easily been the most eye-catching pet in the shop; however, the problem was that only one pet could be captured in each pet column and having four giant sea angels in all of the remaining spaces seemed like kind of a waste¡­

    Zhang Zian almost put his entire face on the water and observed them again carefully. He suddenly noticed that one of the giant sea angels was bigger than the others, and that the organs inside the chest and abdomen had vibrant colors. He noted that as an obvious sign of sexual maturity.

    Immediately, another giant sea angel crept over tentatively and floated next to the bigger one, like a polite gentleman inviting it to dance in the water.

    Two opaque, giant sea angels attracted each other like mas. They got closer and closer. The organs inside them looked like burning mes of love and shone brighter and brighter¡­

    Zhang Zian seized the chance and pressed the ¡°capture¡± button, putting both giant sea angels¨C¨Cwhich were about to mate¨C¨Cinto his phone.

    Giant sea angels were hermaphroditic, but needed to cross-fertilize. Therefore, it didn¡¯t matter whether these captured giant sea angels were male or female.

    He was not being insensitive to break them apart as they were about to mate. The mating of giant sea angels couldst for four hours, which would put any human to shame. He simply could not wait¡­

    After he captured the two giant sea angels, he thought that he might be able to breed a litter. There was an ambitious saying that said: ¡°Give me a woman, and I can create a nation!¡±

    He took another look at the remaining giant sea angels. As he was about to leave, another sea angel suddenly tore off its angel-like gentleness, exposed several tentacles, then jumped over a small creature next to it.

    The little creature was determined to survive, but it was not as agile as the giant sea angel.

    It was a helicid pteropod, which was another beautiful creature, but it was also the only food of giant sea angels, like bamboo was for pandas.

    Without the helicid pteropods, even if the giant sea angels were sessfully bred, they would starve to death.

    The reason that giant sea angels were rare in major public aquariums was simply the scarcity of helicid pteropods; they simply had no food.

    Without a second thought, Zhang Zian rolled up his sleeves and dipped his hand quickly underwater. He scooped out the helicid pteropod so that it would not end up being food.

    The helicid pteropod was as big as a button, so he didn¡¯t need the phone to hold it¨C¨Ca cup would do just fine.

    He searched the puddles nearby and found a dozen helicid pteropods so that the giant sea angels would have plenty to eat.

    The helicid pteropods would die quickly out of water, however, and Zian didn¡¯t bring a cup when he came out. How would he transport the dozen helicid pteropods?

    As he was getting anxious, Richard reminded him in time, ¡°Quack! Don¡¯t you have binocrs around your neck? Knock off the lenses on one side so that they could be a temporary cup.¡±

    Richard¡¯s suggestion was enlightening.

    He spent money on these binocrs so it was a pity to break them, but he had to sacrifice them for a greater purpose.

    He picked up a small rock and knocked off the lenses. After cleaning up the broken ss, he filled the binocrs with salt water and tossed the dozen helicid pteropods inside.

    The binocrs were the cheap ones from the supermarket, but they were not leaking from the other side. He was surprised and joyous.

    ¡°Richard, you finally came up with a brilliant idea. Do you want to repay me for saving your life just now?¡± he asked.

    Richard was staring ahead while he talked and answered him without rush. ¡°Quack! Actually, I want to say that there seems to be a naturalist girl up front. She seems hot.¡±

    ¡°What!¡± Zhang Zian almost vomited blood. As he looked at the broken ss all over the ground, his heart broke into pieces!

    Was it possible to put the lenses back?

 Chapter 737: Whereâ€™s My Long Legged Oppa?

    <h4>Chapter 737: Where¡¯s My Long Legged Oppa?</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian had not forgotten that the beach they were on was an FKK area, which was the designated clothing-optional area. That meant that stripping down naked was legal in this area.

    Zian had brought his binocrs along in order to search for nudedies on the clothing-optional beach. It would be better if thedy had a busty chest, long legs, fair skin, and was also beautiful.

    Too bad it was winter now¡­ Zian had been here for several days and he had not even seen a single living youngdy, let alone a naked one!

    Of course, even in an FKK area, it was still rude to stare directly at ady¡¯s privates. This was when the binocrs woulde in handy.

    Originally, Zian had despaired. He thought that it was impossible to find a nudedy on this beach before summer came, which was why he listened to Richard¡¯s suggestion and knocked out the lenses of the binocrs to keep the Helicid Pteropod in them.

    Thinking back on it now, Richard definitely did it on purpose. Tempting him to break the binocrs, then telling him that there was a nudedy in front of him¡­ he should¡¯ve known. When did the b*tch bird ever have any of Zian¡¯s good intentions in mind?

    With his suspicions, Zian tiptoed and looked out in front of him. In his heart, he could not help but suspect that Richard was making a fool out of him¨C¨Cmaybe there wasn¡¯t any nudedy in front of them.

    However, he did see one vaguely. Under an abandoned lighthouse, a nakeddyid there on the beach. She seemed to be sunbathing and was curvaceous with eye-catching, fair, white skin.

    Gxy was there too, curiously walking around the nudedy.

    What to do? What should be done at this point?

    Zian was too far away and was not able to make out the details of thedy. He got very antsy.

    Zian thought about it: the only way was probably to put a bold face on and walk over, then im to be looking for his cat.

    This is a good idea.

    While abroad, Zhang Zian constantly reminded himself that he needed to pay attention to his words and deeds, as he must not discredit the image of the Chinese. If he was unable to control his own eyes from looking when in front of the nudedy, then he would insist that he was Japanese or Korean so that the me would be shifted¡­

    With his thoughts running, Zian was no longer bothered to check if there were any other rare marine creatures in his surroundings. He jumped around the reef like he was doing acrobatics and stretched his steps as he rushed towards the lighthouse.

    As he got closer, Zian deliberately slowed down his steps and said loudly, ¡°Haha, I¡¯ve finally found you! Gxy, you actually ran all the way here¡­¡±

    While he was speaking, Zian¡¯s eyes sneakily nced towards the nudedy.

    Sheid on the beach with nothing on and her body from the waist down was submerged in the sea water. Her curly hair, dark green hair¨C¨Clike the color of seaweed¨C¨Cwas draped over her shoulders and her skin was like cream with not even a single speck of w. Her face was turned to the other side and she had no reaction to Zhang Zian¡¯s voice.

    Zhang Zian was speechless. Does she not understand Chinese? Do I have to say it again in English?

    ¡°Meow. Zian, you¡¯ve run out of time!¡± Gxy said as it raised its head.

    ¡°Yes, yes, I¡¯ve run out of time. It¡¯s my loss.¡± Zhang Zian straightforwardly admitted his loss. In that moment, hide and seek was not his focus.

    But, the way thisdy sunbathed was really strange. Only her upper body was exposed under the sun while her lower half was submerged in the sea water. Was she not afraid that her upper body would be tanned to a wheat color while the lower half of her body remained a fair white?

    This doesn¡¯t seem like a sunbathing pose. Instead, it looks like¡­ a victim who drifted ashore?

    With that thought in mind, Zhang Zian was shocked. Is thisdy a victim of a shipwreck? Is she dead?

    Zian gripped his phone tightly. If she was a castaway, he was supposed to call the police, right? What was the number for the German police again?

    Of course, if she was still alive and was just a drowning victim, he should not waste any time and perform immediate resuscitation. For example, he could bravely offer his first kiss to give her artificial respiration andpress her chest with sufficient force to perform cardiac massage on her¡­

    In an instant, a noble sense of justice that sprouted from helping those in distress filled his heart.

    ¡°Ga?¡± Richard suddenly cried out with no reason or warning.

    ¡°What now?¡± Zian turned and asked.

    ¡°Nope, nothing.¡± Richard was unusually silent and a hint of gloating shed in its eyes.

    Zian approached thedy. He bent over and poked her shoulders with his fingers. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but are you okay?¡±

    From his fingertips, Zian felt the warmth and sticity of her skin from his touch, proving that there was a very high chance that thedy was still alive. Her warmth made him start to fantasize¡­

    There was still no reaction from her; she was not making any movements or sounds.

    I should drag her out of the water first instead of letting her soak, right? There¡¯s a lot of strange marine creatures nearby¡­ what if she gets bitten or stung? That would not end well.

    So, Zian pulled on her arms and forcefully dragged her out of the water.

    He couldn¡¯t help it as his eyes drifted down¡ªher partially visible shoulder des, her chest with a great contour as seen from the side, her slim waist, and that voluptuous butt wrapped in light blue scales¡­

    Hold on!

    Scales¨C¨Cwhat?!

    This is not the nudedy I want!

    From her waist down, the so-called nudedy had a light blue fishtail as the lower half of her body. Her wide caudal fin unconsciously pped against the surface of the water, sshing water and creating ripples.

    Zhang Zian was so shocked that he released his grip. Thedy fell down onto the beach with her face buried in the sand.

    ¡°Cough, cough!¡±

    All of a sudden, thedy woke up. She supported her body up with her slender arms and wiped off the sand on her face in a casual manner. Her seaweed-like, dark green, curly hair drooped down naturally, and coincidentally, her hair covered the front of her chest.

    ¡°What are you doing? Why did you throw me to the ground?¡± She red at Zhang Zian.

    ¡°I also have questions for you¡­ Is that fishtail of yours real or fake?¡± Zian red back, refusing to back down.

    Pa pa pa!

    She used her caudal fin and pped the surface of the water a few times, sshing droplets of water onto Zian¡¯s face. She then angrily said, ¡°What do you mean real or fake? You¡¯re really rude!¡±

    After he got scolded by her, Zian wiped off the water droplets on his face and subconsciously said out the lines he prepared earlier, ¡°Actually, I¡¯m Korean.¡±

    ¡°Ha?¡± She looked at Zian with doubts before she tly disapproved his ims. ¡°You¡¯re not Korean! My oppa doesn¡¯t look scrubby like you!¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Now it was Zhang Zian¡¯s turn to be dumbfounded. The half-human and fish person had just uttered an amazing line!

    Looking like she had just recalled something, she shook her head and looked around. ¡°Where¡¯s my oppa? Where¡¯s my long legged oppa?¡±

    After looking around for a very long time, she saw that Zhang Zian was the only male on the beach. She couldn¡¯t help but show disappointment on her face.

    Reaching the limit of his patience, Zhang Zian said, ¡°Hold on a minute! Let¡¯s make things clear! Who are you? And who is your long legged oppa?¡±

    ¡°Hmph!¡±

    She proudly raised her chest, but unfortunately it was covered up by her hair so nothing could be seen.

    ¡°My name¡¯s Sihwa. It means to blossom with a radiant beauty in the world. Isn¡¯t it nice?¡± She added, ¡°It was given to me by my oppa!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s put aside whether the name is nice or not. Who is your oppa? Where is he?¡± Zhang Zian asked. ¡°I¡¯ll help you look for him so he can quickly take you away.¡±

    She looked troubled as she scratched her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know where he is¡­ I¡¯m waiting for him to appear, but he did not appear no matter how long I waited so I came out to look for him! ording to the plot, he¡¯s supposed to save me on the beach¡­¡±

    The plot? What the hell? This fe writes novels, too?

    Zhang Zian had so many things he wanted to rant about.

    She stared at Zhang Zian again, but not for long before she shook her head, mumbling to herself, ¡°No that¡¯s not right, my oppa doesn¡¯t look like this!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I was born looking like this!¡± Zhang Zian could not help but say.

    She only struggled for a short while before she said with a firm belief, ¡°Forget it. With the face of an extra, you¡¯re probably just the extra responsible for being the curtain-raiser before oppa appears.¡±

    Zhang Zian was so close to exploding right then and there after he was infuriated by her. She actually told him that he had a face that looked like an extra¡­ How could that be tolerated?

    ¡°I really want to have a look at how handsome your oppa is,¡± Zian said with a sneer.

    ¡°En en, you¡¯ll see. My oppa is the most handsome in the world. When you see him, you would probably be so ashamed to the point that you¡¯ll feel like taking your own life. Wahahaha!¡± she said with a smile of glee as her caudal fin pped on the surface of the water even more vigorously.

    ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll wait and see if your oppa¡¯s going to appear and if he¡¯s really that handsome.¡± Zhang Zian sat down on a rock that was slightly dry while he waited to see her make a fool out of herself. He was also waiting for Fina, Old Time Tea, Snowy Li, and Famous to make their way over.

 Chapter 738: Mermaid

    <h4>Chapter 738: Mermaid</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The wind kept blowing in from the ocean. The abandoned lighthouse was like a sundial, faithfully recording track of the sun.

    Zhang Zian rubbed his calf. After a series of serious jump from the rocks, his legs were cramping.

    He lifted his phone and focused the camera lens on this creature named Sihwa so he could capture her.

    [Game Hints]: Target confirmed¨C¨CMermaid!

    Indeed so.

    In fact, he could recognize it without the game hints, as there was only one half-human, half-fish creature out there; however, the confirmation from the game was more reassuring.

    If she was a naturalist girl, he would have been too shy to take a picture of her with his phone. Since she was an elfin, though, it didn¡¯t matter anymore.

    He could easily cage her in his phone as soon as he pressed the ¡°capture¡± button¡­ but he didn¡¯t do it, as she had onest, unfulfilled wish. She wanted to wait for her long-legged Oppa to show up.

    When he had captured Old Time Tea in the Treehouse in Hidden Fog, he didn¡¯t press the ¡°capture¡± button right away, either. Old Time Tea had an unfulfilled wish, also, and it didn¡¯t have time to drink the three cups of tea in front of it. It would have been such a shame to waste such a treasure.

    Therefore, he decided to wait. He had plenty of time to waste, anyway.

    The mermaid supported her body on the beach with both her arms and pped water over and over with her wide tail out of boredom. She nced around while she swung her curly, dark green hair and mumbled about why her long-legged Oppa was still not here.

    Frankly speaking, in terms of appearance, the mermaid was indeed a beauty. Her face was delicate and clear-cut. Her big, blue eyes were bright and kind. Her long eyshes made her seem so smart and witty. Her skin was fair and tender. She looked gorgeous without makeup¨C¨Cmuch prettier than models and celebrities. Adding in her exquisite curves, she was the spitting image of ¡°the angel¡¯s face and the devil¡¯s body.¡± The only shame was that¡­ her lower body was a fish tail.

    Zhang Zian yed with his phone and came across an app for smarta** answers. He posted a question: ¡°What do you do with a mermaid you found on the beach? Waiting online. This is urgent!¡±

    It was already midnight in China, yet there were people answering him within seconds¨C¨Cmaybe they were trying to get more attention by posting the first answer.

    ¡°Thanks for the invitation! A mermaid found on the beach¡­ I¡¯m just wondering how old you are? Are you a guy or a girl? I¡¯ve had the same dream in the past, but then I woke up! If you are a girl, I¡¯m avable for dating!¡±

    Wishful thinking! I never invited you, okay?

    ¡°Here is my answer! It depends whether the upper body of the mermaid is fish, or the lower body. This will determine whether you¡¯ll cook Chili Fish Head or Braised Fish Tailter on!¡±

    Crap! Was this dude a food junkie?

    ¡°What to do with a mermaid? You enjoy yourself first, of course!¡±

    This was sick!

    After flipping through the answers for a while, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t find any useful suggestions so he deleted the smarta** app.

    The lighthouse was abandoned, but it was still solid.

    Gxy snuck into the abandoned lighthouse and ran to the top as quick as smoke.

    ¡°Meow. Zian! What is that over there?¡± its voice called from the distant top.

    Zhang Zian stood up and entered the lighthouse. He went up the spiral stairs and reached the top, then looked towards where Gxy was pointing.

    Ssh. Boom!

    A giant sea creature ruptured the sea surface, flipped its body, then dove back into the sea. Its tail pped on top of the water, making a loud sshing noise.

    It was white all over its body, with a bulging forehead like the Chinese Longevity God in traditional paintings. It looked charmingly na?ve, as if it were smiling.

    Richard saw it, too, then starting screaming. ¡°What is that? A whale? A shark?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a white whale.¡± Zhang Zian gazed on the graceful silhouette swimming in the sea. It swung its tail left and right as it went up and down the surface, like an undting sinusoidal wave.

    ¡°A white whale?¡± Richard rolled its eyeballs. ¡°Don¡¯t all fish have dorsal fins? Why doesn¡¯t this whale have one?¡±

    ¡°First of all, not all whales have dorsal fins. White whales live under the ice in the arctic. What is the use of dorsal fins for them? If they do have them, they might end up injuring their dorsal fins while swimming under the ice. Second, who told you that whales are fish? They are mammals!¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    ¡°So you are not nning to bring it back to the pet shop? It¡¯s huge and will definitely get a lot of attention if you do!¡± Richard yelled.

    ¡°That¡¯s true, except that I don¡¯t have the space to amodate it,¡± he answered with regret. ¡°An adult white whale can reach five meters in length. You need at least a swimming pool to fit it¡­ Plus, it¡¯s an endangered species. I can¡¯t bring it back just like that. Let¡¯s leave it to swim freely in the ocean.¡±

    The white whale stuck its head out of the water, then opened its mouth to call out. The volume was not high, but the pitch was extremely high and sharp. It ripped open the sound of waves crashing against the rocks like a sharp sword from the distant ocean. It was not unpleasant to hear, but instead it was quite beautiful, as if it were singing them a song.

    ¡°Hum¡­ ording to my genius-level music talents, this big guy¡¯s voice can almost keep up with my worst.¡± Richard squinted.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°The white whales¡¯ sound is always changing and beautiful. They are called the canaries of the sea.¡±

    After hearing the white whale¡¯s song, the mermaid turned her head to look towards it before she also opened her mouth to call back to it. The sound was simr to the white whale¨C¨Cmuch like a song¨C¨Cexcept that Zian couldn¡¯t understand what she was singing about.

    The white whale seemed reluctant to part and looked towards her before it pped its tail against water a few times as if it were saying goodbye. It then changed direction and swam deep into the ocean.

    ¡°Hey! Ajeossi!¡± The mermaid put her fingers together to block the sunshine, then looked upon the top of the lighthouse. ¡°Hey! Ajeossi! I¡¯m calling you. Why are you not answering? Ajeossi!¡± she shouted again as Zhang Zian didn¡¯t respond to her.

    Zhang Zian watched the white whale disappear after a deep dive into the sea with a heavy heart.

    He wanted to ignore her, but he got annoyed after she yelled at him a few times. He stretched his head out of the lighthouse to look down, then pointed at his own nose and asked, ¡°Are you calling me?¡±

    ¡°Right. Who else could I be calling? Is there a second person around?¡± she asked as she rolled her eyes, one arm akimbo.

    Zhang Zian had a few reasons to be mad. ¡°Why is your long-legged Oppa called Oppa, and I have to be Ajeossi? Don¡¯t you ever think that I don¡¯t understand this. Isn¡¯t Ajeossi ¡®uncle¡¯ in Korean? How do I look like an uncle exactly?¡±¡¡¡¡¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ As an extra on set, aren¡¯t you satisfied?¡± She took it for granted and said, ¡°Only the main character is Oppa. Any other adult men are Ajeossis, including you!¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. This mermaid was very cute while silent, but she could resurrect a dead man with anger as soon as she spoke!

    Plus, what was this Korean ent about?

 Chapter 739: Excursion

    <h4>Chapter 739: Excursion</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was infuriated with the mermaid. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down before he yelled out towards the bottom of the tower. ¡°Just say it. What do you want?¡±

    ¡°Aiyo, why don¡¯t youe down first? You¡¯re not the one talking with your head raised up.¡± She rolled her eyes and began to massage the back of her neck. ¡°Oh, my neck¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian nced down the beach and saw a few ck spots jumping between the rocks¨C¨Cit was Fina and the rest. They were far nimbler than he was when it came to traversing across the rocks, so there was no need to worry about them.

    Zian reluctantly walked down the lighthouse steps and appeared in front of the mermaid. He looked at her through the game capture interface. Despite his anger, he could not deny that her face had no ws.

    ¡°Okay, go on. What¡¯s the matter?¡± Zian asked.

    She frowned and asked, ¡°Ajeossi, I have a question for you¡­ Is this Spain?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t call me Ajeossi. I¡¯m forever 18, not an uncle!¡± Zhang Zian corrected her mistake before he answered her question. ¡°Spain? Did you go the wrong way? This is Germany. We are far from Spain!¡±

    ¡°Mwoya?¡± Her mouth was wide open from shock. ¡°Germany? Ottoke? Ottoke? Ottoke? I swam in the wrong direction, now my oppa won¡¯t be able to find me¡­ Wu¡­¡±

    Her eyes began to turn red as tears started to well up in them. Although Zhang Zian was unhappy about the fact that she would always call him uncle, she was still half girl. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did you swim in the wrong direction? Were you heading to Spain?¡± he asked nicely.

    ¡°Nae.¡± She wiped the corner of her eyes and nodded as she said, ¡°I swam here from the north. I had been swimming for a very long time before I reached here. I took a short break on the shore because I was so tired¡­ I thought that I had made it to Spain and that I could finally see my oppa. Why is this Germany instead¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian busted outughing. ¡°You wanted to swim all the way to Spain with your directional dyslexia? I¡¯ll advise you to give up on that. If you were to continue swimming, you¡¯d be swimming all the way to Pnd¡­ I heard that it is not safe over in Eastern Europe. ck market dealers are especially fond of selling naive little sweeties like you to America as sex ves, so you better be careful¡­ Although, you are a fish, so who knows if there are people with such unique tastes¡­¡±

    She hugged her shoulders in horror. ¡°Omo! I want to see oppa. I don¡¯t want to be a sex ve!¡±

    Zhang Zian found her to be quite interesting when she behaved in this manner. Of course, he was just scaring her earlier. In fact, ordinary people were unable to see her, let alone catch her as a sex ve. Even Zian himself had to look through the game capture interface to see her.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you exin in detail how you got here¡­ and why do you want to go to Spain?¡± Zian squatted down and asked out of curiosity.

    She gave it a thought while resting her chin on her hands. Her pose made her look ridiculously cute, but it was all ruined the moment she opened her mouth.

    ¡°It¡¯s because that¡¯s how the story goes. I will meet oppa in Spain, then with oppa, I¡¯ll go to Seoul, South Korea and experience some twists and turns before living a happy life!¡± She nodded her head with approval. ¡°It¡¯s Seoul¨C¨Cinternational metropolis. Oh, Ajeossi, you haven¡¯t been to Seoul before, right? I feel sorry for you!¡±

    There were too many things toin about in her previous words, but Zhang Zian was concerned about the plot that she had mentioned. ¡°What plot? Where did you see the plot from? A novel?¡± he asked.

    ¡°It was on the television!¡± Her face lit up with a bright smile. ¡°Television¨C¨CI like watching television!¡±

    Oh!

    Zhang Zian finally understood the situation after all the guessing and assumptions. So it was like that.

    ¡°So, after you, little fellow, became an elfin, you somehow watched a Korean drama that got you brainwashed and you ended up thinking that you were the mermaid in the television series?¡±

    Her facial features were obviously those of a typical European, but she continued to insist that she was a Korean mermaid¡­ Speaking of which, the brainwashing influence that Korean dramas had was too strong. Even an elfin got brainwashed. They were really worthy of being named alongside Hollywood movies, Japanese anime, and China¡¯s web novels as one of the four major cancers of the world¡¯s culture!

    ¡°I was not brainwashed! I am the mermaid in the television series! Don¡¯t you know about reincarnation? Right, my name¡¯s Sihwa. It means to bloom with a radiant beauty in the world, so stop calling me this little fellow! Ajeossi, you¡¯re really rude!¡± She red at Zian.

    Zhang Zian did not follow up with her words, but instead asked, ¡°Then can you tell me¨C¨Chow many times did you watch that Korean drama?¡±

    ¡°Nae¡­¡± With her lips pursed, she thought about it before she said with uncertainty, ¡°I only watched it about ten times¡­ then I couldn¡¯t help but try to swim to Spain and look for oppa!¡±

    Holy sh*t! Ten times? No wonder the Korean ent!

    Zhang Zian had no more energy left toin.

    She scratched her head furiously. ¡°Why? Why did I swim here to Germany? Oh right, Ajeossi¨C¨Cwhich direction is Germany in from Spain?

    ¡°It¡¯s northeast of Spain. You don¡¯t even know your directions, yet you still n to swim there? You won¡¯t make it there even if you swim to your death.¡± Zhang Zianughed.

    In that moment her emotions hit rock bottom. Her eyes turned red again. ¡°Wuwu. Can I still make it on time if I swim to Spain now? Will my oppa wait for me in Spain?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d advise you to give up on that idea¡­ it¡¯ll be about a yearter by the time you swim to Spain. Your oppa would have already left.¡± Zhang Zian suggested, ¡°How about this¨C¨Cisn¡¯t your final destination Korea? Why not just swim to Korea?¡±

    In that moment of sudden realization, she patted her head and smiled with approval. ¡°Arasso! Couldn¡¯t see that you¡¯re actually quite smart! Kamsahamnida, Ajeossi!¡±

    Right after that, she jumped into the water, and with only her wet, dripping head out of the water, she clenched her first and encouraged herself. ¡°Sihwa, fighting!¡±

    Without waiting for Zhang Zian to stop her, she plunged into the water and disappeared. Only a string of bubbles was left behind her.

    ¡°Ga? She left just like that?¡± Richard said in astonishment.

    Zhang Zian was really impressed with the busty, brainless mermaid. She could have at least found out where Korea was before swimming off!

    Swimming from the North Coast of Germany to South Korea was quite an epic feat!

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, she¡¯ll be back.¡± Zian sat down on the rock again, quietly waiting for the mermaid to return. After all, there was no one else she could ask for directions.

    Richard expressed its doubts.

    Sure enough, not even two minutester, the mermaid stuck her head out of the water with a ssh. She then wiped the water off of her face and, as sheughed foolishly, said, ¡°Ajeossi, I forgot to ask¨C¨Cwhich direction should I swim to reach Korea?¡±

    Richard covered its face with its wings. The mermaid was too much of a fool for him to bear!

    Fina and the others had made they way over. Jumping down from the rocks, they all looked at the mermaid and were amazed as her dark green, curly hair floated around her like seaweed.

    The mermaid was also looking at them and thest one sheid her eyes on was Fina. She pointed at Fina and said, ¡°I heard that out of ten orange tabbies, nine are fat, and one is so fat that it breaks the bed! You¡¯re that fat orange tabby that broke the bed, right?¡±

    Holy sh*t! Zhang Zian and the other elfins were all dumbfounded. The mermaid had no restraints with her words and mentioned that which must not be mentioned!

    Ottoke=What should I do?

    Nae=Yes

    Arasso=I got it

    Omo=Oh my

    Kamsahamnida=Thank you

    Mwoya=What?

 Chapter 740: She Is a Beauty

    <h4>Chapter 740: She Is a Beauty</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Fina and the others werete because Fina had been searching for shells in the sand the entire way, hoping to find pearls in them. Old Time Tea was not in a hurry, either; it appreciated the scenery along the way. Snowy Li was just interested in ttering Fina.

    To Fina¡¯s disappointment, there were many shells hidden in the sand, but none of them had a pearl inside.

    Famous was waiting for them at the cape to warn them about touching the dangerous animals.

    The wet rocks didn¡¯t bother them too much, as they had much better bnce than human beings did.

    If anyone were to see the mermaid floating in the water with only her head and neck out, they would think she was human. Thus, Fina and the others were astonished, indeed. With so many dangerous sea creatures about, surely nobody would be stupid enough to stay in the water.

    They then noticed her dark green, curly, long hair floating on the water like seaweed. It was such a rare color and very unlike human hair.

    Fina was about to ask Zhang Zian where this woman came from when the mermaid gave it an unpleasant greeting.

    Fina was stunned, then looked behind it. It thought that maybe an orange cat was following it, but there was nothing behind it; the mermaid had clearly been referring to Fina.

    ¡°What did you say? Do you dare to repeat it?¡± Fina¡¯s voice was not loud¨C¨Calmost as if it was not actually mad¨C¨Cbut there was a chilliness creeping around in its almond-shaped eyes and its ears were tucked back like an airne.

    ¡°Hey, is this fat orange cat yours? It can talk?¡± the mermaid asked Zhang Zian with augh.

    When she turned her head, Fina could not take it anymore. It arched its back and pressed its four feet hard against the ground. Its body sprung up like an arrow, aiming towards the mermaid like a sh of lightning!

    If Fina didn¡¯t miss, her delicate face would have surely ended up with a few nasty scratches.

    Old Time Tea moved its body to stop it, but paused all of a sudden. As Fina¡¯s long coat flew in the air, its shadow only blurred slightly.

    Fina suddenly realized that, if she was an ordinary human, she could not have heard it talk. Besides her rare hair color, she definitely might not be an ordinary Jane. She said those words because she had no fear.

    As expected, as soon as Fina moved, the mermaid reacted.

    Her wide and strong tail flew out of the water, then pped heavily on the surface of the sea!

    p!

    The sea¡¯s surface was dented by the p. A meter-wide wall of water formed in front of her, rushing towards Fina¡¯s face.

    Fina didn¡¯t think much out of rage. It thought that she was nothing but an ordinary human, but here came the surprise!

    It didn¡¯t fear water, as most cats did, but it didn¡¯t like getting wet. A bath would have been fine, but the sea water was clearly not as clean as tap water. It had a strong, salty taste.

    Then, Fina suddenly turned its body around in the air and dodged this surprising attack from an unpredictable angle. It flipped in the air andnded on another rock.

    It fixated its eyes on the proud mermaid and asked while bending down, ¡°What the heck is this thing?¡±

    Famous and Old Time Tea were also shocked at this wave attack. This new elfin was nothing to be overlooked.

    ¡°Don¡¯t fight yet.¡±

    Afraid that these two would start fighting again, Zhang Zian quickly stepped between them to intervene. At the beach, the mermaid clearly had an advantage. If they had really started a fight, Fina might not be on the winning side. Zian had unintentionally noticed some giant tentacles moving beneath the water¨C¨Ca lot of scary creatures might be lurking under the blue water.

    In the first round, the mermaid had some advantages, but she was afraid of Fina¡¯s strike speed. It was fast like a bolt of lightning.

    She crossed her arms in front of her chest and squinted at Fina, on alert.

    ¡°Hey! Ajeossi, tell me now which is the shortest way to swim to Korea. I must see Oppa right away!¡± she said as she raised her voice, then pointed east and west. ¡°This way or that way?¡±

    ¡°Neither way is short. Both are halfway around the earth,¡± Zhang Zian said, then pointed downward. ¡°If you want a shortcut, swim down. The shortest distance between two points is the straight line.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± She was excited to hear this, then dove into the water.

    A momentter, she came up from the water while crying. There was a red patch on her forehead¡­

    ¡°You are lying! There are rocks down there!¡± she said as she wept.

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    What she did was so stupid that it didn¡¯t even appear as though she had faked it. Even Fina found it funny and slowly let its guard down a little.

    ¡°Zian.¡± Old Time Tea lifted one front paw and waved it secretly at Zhang Zian to call him to the side.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea?¡± Zhang Zian followed it.

    ¡°Zian, what¡¯s wrong with this elfin? Why can¡¯t I understand what she¡¯s saying? Am I too old for this?¡± Old Time Tea asked in confusion.

    ¡°Quack! That¡¯s because she¡¯s speaking broken Korean with very bad pronunciation.¡± Richard hid back into Zhang Zian¡¯s hoodie while Fina and the mermaid were fighting. Now it stretched out its head and said, ¡°This mermaid is so stupid. She somehow thinks that she¡¯s a mermaid from Korea. Even I can tell there¡¯s something wrong with her brain!¡±

    Zhang Zian looked back. Fina and the mermaid were still in silent rivalry. The mermaid rubbed her forehead as if she was in pain. She wouldn¡¯t be starting any trouble¡­ for now.

    Zian exined, ¡°Old Time Tea, I¡¯m guessing that this elfin is an imaginative elfin. She was like a nk piece of paper when she became an elfin, then she identally saw a Korean drama from a tourist at the beach. The Korean drama may have some ovep with her past. She was influenced without realizing it and picked up the Korean ent. She also picked up the outspoken and shrewd characters of most female characters in Korean dramas.¡±

    Old Time Tea suddenly understood everything and sighed. ¡°No wonder¡­ As the saying goes, ¡®Man on earth, good at birth.¡¯ No matter if it¡¯s humans or animals, they are a piece of white paper at birth. Their character depends on nurture and past experience. It¡¯s the same with imaginative elfins.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. Old Time Tea¡¯s words were famous.

    Old Time Tea murmured for a moment and continued, ¡°Zian, do you know what follows ¡®man on earth, good at birth¡¯?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought for awhile and then answered, ¡°The same nature, varies on nurture. With no education, there¡¯d be aberration. To teach well, you deeply dwell. The Mencius¡¯ mother, chose her neighbor. At Mencius sloth, she cut the cloth¡­¡±

    Human nature was good at birth. Different characters, depending on how they were nurtured, grew up to be either good or bad.

    Without proper education, the good nature would turn bad. To avoid having people turn bad, the most important method was to focus on education from childhood forward.

    Old Time Tea nodded with a smile, then looked at that poor mermaid and said, ¡°Zian, from what I observed just now, this elfin isn¡¯t bad in nature, and is not outspoken, either. She just talks like a child¨C¨Cjust like a kid who learned some bad words from other people and then repeated them for fun. Parents can¡¯t punish this kid, but should not ignore this, either. What do you think?¡±

    Zhang Zian listened and learned.

    In fact, the moment he recited the Trimetric ssic, he had already understood Old Time Tea.

    Old Time Tea continued, ¡°As you said, she just turned into an elfin not long ago. It¡¯s still possible to mold her character. She might look like an adult, but in fact, she¡¯s just a child at heart¡­ I believe in words such as ¡®growing in the mud but remain untainted.¡¯ She¡¯s untainted because she¡¯s been washed by clean water. She is a beauty. I can¡¯t watch her be corrupt like this.¡±

    Zhang Zian admired the big empathetic heart of Old Time Tea the most in the world.

    He looked sideways at the blue ocean and smiled. ¡°I get it, Grandpa Tea. Let¡¯s put more work in on ourselves, and be the clean water for her.¡±

 Chapter 741: Invitation

    <h4>Chapter 741: Invitation</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian mentioned that the mermaid was an imaginative elfin because it was obvious that mermaids don¡¯t exist in the real world¡­ right?

    If mermaids do exist in reality, please give me a dozen!

    Old Time Tea¡¯s analysis was very reasonable. In fact, during the daily operations of his pet shop, Zian would asionally encounter some children that swear¨C¨Cthey were usually apanied by their parents during their visit to the shop to purchase a pet. But the children themselves might not even understand what the words they were saying meant. As long as an adult in the house swore, then they would pick up what they heard like parrots. It was like the saying, ¡°Nurture determines a person¡¯s character.¡±

    ording to the mermaid, Germany was not her birthce. Instead, she swam all the way here from the north, and she was only stranded here because she was exhausted from the swimming. So, it had probably been some days since she had made her appearance in the world as an elfin.

    It¡¯s difficult to make a piece of white paper clean, but to dye it with colors was very easy.

    So, Zian shot a thoughtful nce over at Old Time Tea before he walked over to the mermaid and said, ¡°Your name is Sihwa right?¡±

    She nodded her head and pouted.

    ¡°Sihwa, you want to go to South Korea, right?¡± Zian asked again.

    She nodded again.

    ¡°I¡¯m a Chinese and I¡¯m here in Germany for a short holiday trip. I¡¯ll be heading back to China in two more days, and China is much closer to South Korea. So, if you want to swim all the way to South Korea, it¡¯s much closer from China aspared to here in Germany.¡±

    Ever since Zhang Zian had started running the pet shop, he had been dealing with a lot of children. So he knew very well that you could not lecture them, or else you would evoke the rebellious feelings in them and would have to go along with what they said.

    Sure enough, Sihwa blinked her eyes, stopped crying, and stared at Zian in anticipation.

    ¡°I have a suggestion,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°Why don¡¯t you follow me back to China first¡­ How about that?¡±

    She thought about it for a moment before she suddenly hugged her arms tight around her shoulders and said with caution, ¡°Ajeossi, you¡¯re not going to take me back and turn me into a sex ve, right?¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. Am I such a sick crazy person? I¡¯ve talked to you about so many things and all you remembered were these two words?

    ¡°Of course not! I¡¯m just inviting you over to stay for a short while, then if you¡¯re still going to South Korea to visit your oppa, I¡¯ll definitely respect your decision and not stop you. How¡¯s that?¡± Zian said patiently.

    ¡°Okay then. That¡¯s what you said, so no going back on them!¡± Sheughed and turned her tears into smiles as if she had just won a victory.

    But Zhang Zian did not give her his words so easily. He changed the focus of the conversation over to other elfins. Zian pointed at them and said, ¡°Hold on a moment, I still have two conditions¡ªfirst, I can¡¯t make the decision on my own, you will need their agreement.¡±

    Sihwa frowned and looked at Fina very reluctantly, mumbling to herself, ¡°¡­why the need for all this?¡±

    The other elfins weren¡¯t really bothered, but Zhang Zian was worried that Fina would not be able to ept the mermaid.

    Unexpectedly, Fina actually gave a light nod and said coldly, ¡°That¡¯s great, this queen agrees.¡±

    Yi?

    What¡¯s going on?

    When did Fina be so tolerant?

    Zhang Zian carefully pondered for a moment before he understood why. When Fina had lunged at the mermaid earlier, she must have seen the danger hidden beneath the water, and knew that she wouldn¡¯t be able to gain any advantage from having a confrontation with the mermaid here. Yet, Fina couldn¡¯t just let the mermaid go just like this, so she¡¯s going to wait for the mermaid to go up onnd before she settled things with her¡­

    With his thoughts running, Zhang Zian felt a cold shudder run down his spine. It truly was not toote even if it took ten years for an Orange Tabby¡¯s revenge¡­

    That¡¯s not right! This thought must not be written into the novel by Pi, or else there would be trouble!

    Sihwa was really surprised to hear that Fina had agreed, but she had lesser cortex folds and did not think too deeply into the matter. She happily said, ¡°Actually, you¡¯re not that fat!¡±

    Fina was speechless. Sparks flew in all directions as Fina grinded her ws against the rock.

    Zhang Zian was confused. Was that apliment?

    When Zian saw that the other elfins did not object, he extended two of his fingers and said, ¡°The second condition¡ªyou are not allowed to call me whatever ajeossi anymore. I¡¯m forever 18, how could I possibly be an uncle? Anyone who calls me uncle shall be strangled to death!¡±

    ¡°Very scary! Very scary!¡± Sihwa retracted her neck and asked reluctantly, ¡°Then how should I address you? I¡¯ll mention this first: I¡¯m not going to call you oppa, it feels strangely disgusting¡­¡±

    ¡°I find it disgusting too, okay!¡± Zhang Zian expressed. I don¡¯t want to be the oppa of a fish!

    Zian then did a self-introduction. ¡°My name¡¯s Zhang Zian. The other elfins address me as Zian, but you can address me by my full name, too, if you want.¡±

    ¡°Ga ga! That¡¯s not right!¡± Richard rified. ¡°I always call you idiot!¡±

    Snowy Li had also raised an objection. ¡°Meow meow meow! I have always called him a stinking man, I suggest you call him that, too!¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    Zhang Zian was now having doubts about whether it was a good idea to bring the mermaid back. Instead of purifying her, she might be dyed ck by these two ¡°inksticks¡­¡±

    Sihwa swayed her head around with her chin rested on her hands, and out of everyone¡¯s expectations, she said, ¡°I guess I¡¯ll go with Zian. I like that name.¡±

    Yi?

    Zhang Zian was stunned for a moment. He raised his mobile phone and said, ¡°Okay then, you cane out of the water now and I¡¯ll bring you back.¡±

    ¡°Get ready!¡±

    Before his voice had died away, Sihwa jumped out of the water with a ssh. Her arms stretched out like she was going to embrace the sky; her waist and fishtail arched like a bow, while beads of water and her scales glistened in the sunlight.

    At that moment, even Fina had to admit that she was very beautiful, provided that she kept her mouth shut.

    When she was at the highest point of her jump, her entire body, including her caudal fin, waspletely out of the water. That was when Zhang Zian pressed the ¡°capture¡± button. After pressing the button, he regretted pressing it too early, because ording to thews of physics, when she fell, her hair would be moved away from her chest¡­

    The mermaid disappeared in mid-air, leaving only a few drops of water that fell back down to the surface of the sea.

    [Game Notification]: Captured! Mermaid!

    The mermaid appeared in the elfin pet bar. Her eyes were closed and her hands were ced atop one another on her lower abdomen, looking like she was asleep.

    Zhang Zian pressed on the mermaid and a notification from the game popped up.

    [Game Notification]: Pet Attributes

    [Known As]: Mermaid

    [Rarity]: Epic/Legendary

    [Feature]: Forgo being a dragon keeping one¡¯s tail, yet descend as an immortal upon the world. Creatures with scales will all miss her, gathering together for a sleepover!

    [Origins]: Locked

    [True Name]: Locked

    Zhang Zian was lost in thought as he stared at the screen when Old Time Tea suddenly shouted, ¡°Zian! Get on the rocks!¡±

    Zian quickly recovered from his thoughts when he saw an uncountable variety of marine life gush out from below the rocks of the heand, just like an ebbing tide, gushing towards the sea. Most of the creatures were unheard of and never before seen by Zian. Their appearance was all so peculiar, it was just hair-raising.

    Among the marine creatures, there had to be some that bit or carried a lethal poison. Zian was dazzled by the view before his eyes; he had no time to be concerned about catching them as his life was now at stake, so he quickly jumped up onto the nearest rock.

    The marine creatures either jumped, crawled, or rolled; they used various different methods to get to the beach and then they threw themselves back into the sea. It did not take long before all of them had disappeared.

    As if it had just been looted, the heand became deathly still; it no longer had the abundance of life it had earlier.

    The surface of the water in the vicinity started bubbling like boiling water¨C¨Clike there were countless creatures creeping beneath the water. It took some time before the water calmed down.

    Zian and the other elfins all hid behind the rocks as they marveled at the incredible scene in front of them.

    After ensuring that everything was okay, Zian and the elfins jumped off the rocks one after the other. There were only a few odd-shaped scales, tentacles, carapace, and bristles on the ground, but it was not known who they belonged to.

    On the northern coast of Germany during February, there were still drifting ice remnants floating around the rocks and on the surface of the sea. Cracking sounds could be heard when they were stepped on.

    Zhang Zian suddenly noticed a thinyer of ice that was moving between the rocks. It was moving very slowly and was very easy to miss if he did not pay attention.

    It was obvious that the drifting ice could not have grown legs and moved by itself.

    Out of caution, Zhang Zian picked up a branch and carefully flipped the drifting ice over; he was immediately stunned.

    ¡°Could this be¡­¡±

    At the same time, Fina seemed to have been dazzled by the sunlight. It couldn¡¯t help but squint its eyes as it walked towards the source of the reflected light.

    Fina reached out its paws to pick up a round ball from the ground. She raised it above her head to make use of the sunlight to take a better look at it; her eyes immediately widened in surprise.

    It was a big pearl of very high quality.

 Chapter 742: A Surprise Gift

    <h4>Chapter 742: A Surprise Gift</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The following day was Zhang Zian¡¯sst day staying in the small town by the sea. As usual, he drove to Karl¡¯s aquarium with Famous in the morning.

    ¡°Hi, Jeff! Good morning!¡±

    Paul, the expert who tested the aquarium¡¯s water quality, was analyzing something on his microscope. His eyes were close to the microscope¡¯s lens when Zhang Zian opened the door. He nced toward Zian half-heartedly¨C¨Cit was a short nce, as his eyes were not even one inch away from the lens.

    He always had enough work to do. The water density and nitrate and phosphate levels were analyzed each week. Ammonia and nitrite levels were tested every two weeks. Adjustments had to be made immediately if anything unusual was detected. It was Paul¡¯s job to determine the cause of the change, as well¨C¨Cit either urred in the ecosystem of the tanks or was due to equipment malfunction. If the problem was not fixed, then fish could die, which was considered a significant loss.

    There were so many tanks in the aquarium. He had to run batch tests and random tests, then record in detail the test date of each tank. It was a lot of work. Of course, Karl was paying him good money.

    ¡°Good morning, Paul!¡±

    Zhang Zian put down the stic storage box with great effort, then nced around the shop. ¡°Where is Karl? Not here?¡±

    ¡°He should be in the back. Go ahead to look for him.¡± Paul straightened up and recorded the data he just collected in theputer. He suddenly noticed the stic container that Zhang Zian was carrying seemed very heavy, as if it was filled with water. ¡°Do you need help?¡± he asked out of curiosity.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, thanks.¡± Zhang Zian nced at the Paul, who was very skinny, and thought that he could not be very helpful.

    Karl came out from the back, carrying a stic bucket. ¡°Jeff, are you heading back to Berlin today?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m leaving in a moment. Thank you for having me these past few days,¡± Zhang Zian said as he tossed the house key to Karl.

    Paul was surprised. ¡°What? You are leaving so soon?¡±

    ¡°Right. Otherwise, I¡¯ll miss the closing ceremony of the film festival.¡± Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°Thank you, Paul. I¡¯ve learned a lot from you here.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­?¡± Paul lowered his head with regret.

    After spending thest few days together, Zhang Zian had be a good friend to Paul. Zhang Zian was eager to learn and had a lot inmon with him. He could not find such a sense of identity from Karl, nor the others, as they were more concerned with the local ser teams and if they could make it to the German league in the next season. They didn¡¯t care about howplicated it was to record water testing levels and to monitor them.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. We can keep in touch online. I¡¯lle over again if I have time in the future.¡± Zhang Zian hugged him to say goodbye.

    ¡°Jeff, there¡¯s something that you must take a look at over here!¡± Karl could not wait to wave at Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Oh? What is it?¡±

    The mysterious look on his face made Zhang Zian curious.

    ¡°You¡¯ll find out after taking a look. Come look while it¡¯s still alive¡­¡± Karl didn¡¯t specify any details. He brought Zian to the employee section at the back of the aquarium where a tank was ced separately.

    ¡°Look¡­ have you ever seen such a thing?¡± Karl asked as he pointed at the tank.

    Zhang Zian walked closer to observe it.

    There was ayer of sand at the bottom of the tank where a lethargic, strange creature was resting. It was covered in a hard, chitin shell, like abination of a young cicada and a mantis shrimp, but it was hundreds of times bigger than both.

    A young cicada was a nymph of a cicada. It climbed up trees in order to turn into a mature cicada, like a monkey in a tree.

    The shell of this creature was light purple and measured about one foot. It was resting on the sand as if it were dead. If the two antennae were not moving slightly, Zhang Zian surely would have thought that it was already dead.

    Between the creature¡¯s body and the sand, a few of its appendages were visible. Each appendage had a sharp w at the end of it.

    ¡°This is¡­ a giant isopod?¡± Zhang Zian asked with uncertainty.

    ¡°Exactly!¡± Karl was both excited and sorry. He sighed. ¡°It¡¯s a shame that it¡¯s dying and cannot live much longer. We might be thest two humans that it will ever meet.¡±

    ¡°Its death is certain, right? It lives in the deep ocean and is used to the high pressure thates from the water. Not to mentionnd¡­ even if it¡¯s in shallow water, it will die from low pressure. It¡¯s a miracle that it survived until now.¡± Zhang Zian was well aware of the imminent death of this rare creature.

    Giant isopods usually lived hundreds of feet under the sea, making them an unlikely pet for most people. It was hard to catch them, as well.

    They could be seen asionally in deep-sea aquariums in Japan, as Japanese people seemed particrly fond of this creature. Isopod figures, toys, and keychains were popr. Maybe they found this creature cute.

    ¡°Right.¡± Karl nodded. ¡°That¡¯s why I called you here in a hurry¨C¨Cto take ast look at it. A living giant isopod is very rare. After it dies, I will have it taxidermied and put it in front of the shop.¡±

    ¡°Where did ite from?¡± Zhang Zian asked. ¡°Did the fishermen catch it?¡±

    Karl shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s strange. Yesterday my friend found it while walking on the beach. Isn¡¯t this incredible? Such deep-sea creatures should know that they will die if they float up, but they are acting against their survival instinct, as if they are in a hurry to go somewhere. My friend knows aquatic life well. He thought it was a deep-sea isopod from Japan at first¨C¨Cthat creature isn¡¯t worth much money¨C¨Cbut it¡¯s strange to find it in Germany. After looking at it carefully, he recognized that it is a giant isopod. Then he called me, and I drove there to bring it back to the aquarium.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that it was very likely that the creatureing to shore was an anomaly caused by the mermaid.

    ¡°Oh, right. I have a gift for you, too.¡± He hinted for Karl to return to the front.

    ¡°What is it? Don¡¯t¡¯ tell me it¡¯s a Berlin Bear toy. I¡¯m too old for that,¡± Karl said, half-joking. ¡°I also have an autographed picture of Famous.¡±

    Zhang Zian also smiled, then opened the lid of the storage box, pointed at the creature in the water, and said, ¡°Here it is.¡±

    After seeing the giant scale worm, Karl was instantly stunned. He could not believe his eyes.

    ¡°My goodness! This¡­ Is this a giant scale worm?¡± His voice was shaking. ¡°Did you bring it here in a storage box?¡±

    ¡°Since I had nothing else avable.¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what else to say. ¡°I can¡¯t buy an aquarium tank just to transport this thing.¡±

    Karl was quite savvy with novelty hunting creatures. He identified the giant scale worm immediately, knowing that it was a new species discovered by scientists.

    He looked left and right around the storage box as if it were a treasure box. He had the urge to put it in his hands, but luckily he knew the danger of the creature.

    Inparison, the giant isopod was not nearly as rare nor as precious.

    Upon hearing their conversation, Paul came over from his water quality testing station. He was also astonished to see this strange and rare creature.

    ¡°This giant scale worm is your gift for me?¡± Karl suddenly realized. ¡°Are you giving it to me? You should know how rare this creature is. I bet no other aquarium in the world owns it!¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m giving it as a token of appreciation to you and Reina for taking care of me. Plus, you really like creatures like this, don¡¯t you?¡± Zhang Zianughed. ¡°For the Chinese, it¡¯s important to repay a favor. I can¡¯t ept your favor without a payback. Otherwise, it would be a joke.¡±

    He suddenly changed his tone and joked half-heartedly, ¡°Plus, how can I transport this guy to my country? I¡¯m afraid customs would stop me. If that happened, I would need a long exnation and might get into trouble.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ How did you get this giant scale worm?¡± Karl asked, believing his story. ¡°As far as I know, they live in the Antarctic.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how it ended up in Germany, millions of miles away¡­ It was quite a coincidence. I found it walking along the beach yesterday.¡± Zhang Zian shrugged. ¡°Maybe the same adventure as your friend, except I had better luck. Giant scale worms don¡¯t live in deep water, so they don¡¯t die if they are stranded on the shore.¡±

    Karl could not thank him enough. He asked Paul to free up the best tank in the shop right away, set up the cooling device, and mimic the water of the Antarctic in the tank. This new guest had to be treated with the best amodations.

    He was very confident that this giant scale worm would surely attract lots of customers.

    ording to his experience, the rare creatures didn¡¯t even need to be put up for sale. In fact, the better option was to keep them in the shop on disy, which could then facilitate the sales of other pets.

    To some degree, Zhang Zian agreed with him. Some customers came to his shop after they heard about the rare, chocte-colored Abyssinian cats, but they ended up taking an interest in another breed of cat, or buying imported cat food and supplies¡­

    Zhang Zian then made his ns clear¨C¨Che was hoping that Karl could help him acquire some high-quality German aquarium equipment.

    Karl had always been a big customer of a local aquarium equipment supplier, so he was able to get the equipment for a good price. He agreed without hesitation and reassured Zhang Zian that he would have them shipped to China right away.

    After finishing up their business, Zhang Zian said goodbye to them and started the car¡¯s engine to drive back to Berlin.

 Chapter 743: Contract and Commission

    <h4>Chapter 743: Contract and Commission</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Following Zian¡¯s way down south, the remote and quiet seaside town was gradually left behind.

    It was hard to avoid yearning for the pastoral life when one lived in a big city. While it would always be good to experience the pastoral lifestyle for a short period, the inconveniences of the pastoral lifestyle would be magnified during a longer experience.

    It was the same for Zhang Zian. Living in a seaside vi was reallyfortable, but it was also too quiet and inconvenient; a drive down to the supermarket would take him an hour, which had him miss the liveliness and convenience of the big city.

    Zian was aware that he was aity¨C¨Che was unable to be a master who lived in seclusion.

    After he got up that morning, Zian received a message from Feng Xuan, urging him to return to Berlin as soon as possible. He urged him to attend the film festival¡¯s closing ceremony awards ceremony that would be heldter that night. Even if there was bad chemistry within the film crew, it was, at the very least, necessary to maintain harmony within the crew in order to avoid unfounded spections made by the reporters.

    Even if Feng Xuan did not mention anything, Zhang Zian was still going to rush back. After attending the closing ceremony, he would have to catch an overnight ne and return to Binhai City the night after¨C¨Cback to his cozy home.

    Everything was alright in the pet shop, though.

    ording to Lu Yiyun, the number of customers had increased in the past few days. Even the aunties in the neighborhoodmittee had caught wind of the news and came forward to give their cordial regards to Zhang Zian. They had also generously proposed to reduce the health and management fees for the year after, obscurely reminding Zhang Zian to be sure to mention during the interview that he was able to achieve today¡¯s results with the support of the neighborhoodmittee¡­

    Invitations for business partnerships were alsoing in quick session. For example, a certain brand of dog food wanted to invite Famous to advertise their brand. However, the reputation of the brand had always been bad and the amount of money offered was also not that high, so after Zhang Zian and Famous had a discussion, they decided to turn down the offer.

    Commercial advertisements were all exclusive. For example, if one epted the position as the endorser for Red C, they could no longer endorse for Blue C. Therefore, Zhang Zian was very cautious about the choice of dog food advertisements. He would rather refuse to take on any offer than endorse a product with problems.

    Zian has been conversing with Pi daily. Their exchange timings were once in the morning and once during the night¨C¨Cafter all, there was a time difference. Pi was also safe and sound, typing, reading books, exercising its body, sleeping. It had a disciplined lifestyle.

    After a few hours of traveling, Zian arrived to Berlin at noon.

    He first made a detour to Reina¡¯s pet shop and handed her the things Karl had entrusted him with; he then briefly mentioned his interactions with Karl over the past few days before he bid his farewell.

    He randomly picked a restaurant outside to fill his stomach, before he headed back to the hotel where the crew stayed and happened to meet Feng Xuan who was sending off a guest.

    ¡°Xiao Zhang, you¡¯re back! How was it rxing by the beach? You look full of vim and vigor, so I guess it must have been great?¡±

    Feng Xuan observed Zian¡¯s face. All along, he had thought that Zhang Zian took the time off just to rx and have some fun.

    ¡°It was indeed pretty nice. Director Feng, you don¡¯t look so good¡­ Are you tired?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Feng Xuan sighed. ¡°Cough. Don¡¯t mention it. I¡¯ve been busy the past few days. Several scripts have been handed to me and some were through connections, so I had to take a look at them out of courtesy. There wasn¡¯t even one that I was satisfied with, though¡­ I should have taken the time off and went to the beach with you.¡±

    Although he was sighing, Zian could still see the little pride and relief between his brows. If he hadn¡¯t of gotten famous, who would remember a second or third-tier director who had not been active for a very long time?

    ¡°Oh right, Director Feng¨C¨Care there any chances of winning an award? It¡¯ll be great if you manage to win the Best Director Award,¡± Zhang Zian joked.

    Feng Xuan looked at his surroundings before he lowered his voice and said, ¡°Speaking of this¡­ Some members of the crew have been asking around and they thought that might reallye true. It seemed like Lin Feng had also spent some money for a spot on the trending searches. They are prepared to rally interest and support¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian had a clear understanding of what was going on. Even an inactive director like Feng Xuan had been garnering a lot of attention. A a second-tier actor like Lin Feng would definitely have film contractsing in one after the other; his sry would naturally go up, as well.

    Zian was able to tell that, although Feng Xuan looked rtively calm on the surface, inside, he must have really been looking forward to the Silver Bear Best Director Award.

    Feng Xuan was not young anymore. Every film he shot was one less, so he was really hoping to get a Silver Bear Award for the end of his career. But Feng Xuan was also aware that thepetition for the Best Director Award was very fierce, especially against a criminal investigation film director who was also from China¨C¨Cthat director had always held a good reputation.

    After a light chat, with the excuse that he would like to get some rest, Zhang Zian returned back to his room.

    Since it was theirst appearance at the Berlin Film Festival, Zian decided to bathe Famous. He hadn¡¯t bathed Famous during their past few days at the beach, so there was a lot of sand and salt caught in its fur. There was even some ash from burning charcoal in the firece.

    Since they had to catch a ne right after the closing ceremony, Zian kept all the other elfins in his phone instead of releasing them.

    Famous stood in the bathtub as Zian wet its fur with the shower head he was holding on to. Zian then put the dog¡¯s shower gel he bought from Reina onto its fur and scrubbed until it was covered in foam. He then washed it off with water and dried it with a blow dryer.

    ¡°Famous, Director Feng had mentioned that themission¡¯s final payment has been credited. What do you n to do with the paycheck? How about making a big gold chain to wear on your neck? Sunsses and a big gold chain¡­ Tsk tsk, you might have to walk sideways on the road!¡± Zian joked around with Famous while giving it a rinse.

    Famous was soaked in water. It instinctively wanted to shake its body, but it stopped itself from doing so. Because it was an elfin, it couldn¡¯t behave like the others of its kind, just shaking off the water on its body while getting Zian wet from head to toe in the process.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I have no need for it, anyway, so you can handle it,¡± Famous casually replied. It wasn¡¯t really concerned about this issue.

    ¡°How is that okay?¡± Zhang Zian asked seriously. ¡°Although a newbie¡¯smission isn¡¯t much, this money was earned from your hard work, so it¡¯s rightfully yours to handle. If you have the chance to take on another film, themission would at least increase in folds.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡± Famous gently shook its head. ¡°I used to have a lot of money, living well and eating well every day. I used to have a diamond ne on my neck which was much more expensive than a gold chain, and I had a custom-made car from Ford that would send me around¡­ But so what? I was just a money making tool for someone else, easily receable by any other dog¡­ I also probably easily reced any other dog. Even the diamond ne and personal car were all just create subjects and act as a gimmick, just like¡­ what Director Feng mentioned earlier, Lin Feng had to spend money for a spot on the trending searches.¡±

    Zhang Zian turned on the blow dryer and started to blow dry its fur.

    Under the noise of the blow dryer, Famous slightly increased its volume. ¡°It¡¯s all worth it if this movie is able to help the children suffering from hydatid disease and those threatened by the stray Tibetan Mastiffs. As for themission and all the other ie from future advertisements, you can handle it for me. I believe that you can put the money to better use.¡±

    Zhang Zian saw that its mind has been decided, so he spoke no more. Any more words and it was going to be pretentious.

    In fact, Zian had though of a better ce to use the money.

 Chapter 744: The Closing Ceremony

    <h4>Chapter 744: The Closing Ceremony</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In the blink of an eye, it was already time to go.

    Team lead Nie Yuan mentioned everyone in the WeChat group and told them to attend the closing ceremony. He asked everyone to meet downstairs in the lobby so they could head to the ceremony together.

    Zhang Zian bathed Famous, then began packing his things into his luggage¨C¨Call except his clothes for the ceremony.

    Berlin Bear toys of all sizes, along with other souvenirs, were being shipped to China through a shipmentpany. He had spent a lot of money on souvenirs alone while in Germany.

    Famous was ready to go. It was wearing a bow tie with Berlin Bears on it that was also bought from a souvenir shop.

    There were still a few people absent when they came downstairs, so Zhang Zian sat on the couch with Famous.

    Lin Feng was whispering with his assistant. Zhang Zian could not hear what they were talking about, but Famous had better ears. It heard that the assistant was encouraging Lin Feng to be himself on stage in case he won an award, and to not be afraid of making mistakes. There were a few seconds of dy in the broadcast signal in case there were any surprises during the broadcast.

    Feng Xuan was wearing a ck suit and looked very formal. Lin Feng had on the same. They were both well prepared for the night. In some sense, the closing ceremony was more important than the opening ceremony.

    They waited awhile until everyone was there, then Nie Yuan got into his rental car and led everyone for departure.

    The ten-day long Berlin Film Festival wasing to an end. The entire city wasing down from its carnival-like atmosphere.

    At the same time next year, however, movie lovers from across the globe would gather in Berlin again.

    At dusk, the cars left the hotel and headed towards the Berlinale Pst in the Potsdamer tz.

    Most crew members were ying with their phones in the car with their heads down, or discussing the transactions of overseas distribution rights in low voices. Nie Yuan was making one call after another to big cinema bosses in order to get higher screening rates for Dog Warrior. A higher screening rate meant higher ie, which was ultimately rted to the final numbers of the movie¡¯s cost and profit.

    Zhang Zian sat in silence and stared at the night view of Berlin outside the window.

    In the distance, the Berlin Victory Column was surrounded by lights and looked as bright as a torch in the pitch-ck sky. The golden Victory Goddess was holding a spear in one hand and a wreath in the other, ready to fly with both wings spread.

    As most of the buildings in downtown Berlin were not very tall, this 67-meter tall monument could be seen in most parts of the city. Zhang Zian had visited it once with the elfins.

    Soon, the cars stopped in front of Berlinale Pst. It was time to walk on the red carpet once more for the closing ceremony.

    Thest time Zhang Zian and Famous stepped out of the car, it took a while before the cameramen and reporters focused their lenses on them. They did so out of novelty hunting and gimmicks, however¨C¨Cit was the first dog on the red carpet of Berlin Film Festival, after all.

    Things were different this time.

    After the ten-day film festival, the obscure Famous was now known by everyone. Even the Germans who had not seen the film knew about the dog in the film festival.

    The film itself had great reviews. People tended to be more tolerant of films that had animals in them¨C¨Cnot to mention that Famous was a great actor.

    The fans had started cheering as soon as the Dog Warrior crew arrived at the red carpet. Many of them were teenagers. The loud cheering made the other big celebrities look dim. The crew was greeted like home, making people realize how much the Germans loved dogs.

    Lin Feng and Feng Xuan, who were in the front cars, stepped out one after another. They didn¡¯t spend much time on the red carpet, nor did they try stealing the thunder from Famous in vain. Even Lin Feng didn¡¯t do so.

    The security crew judged the situation, then waved at Zhang Zian¡¯s car, hinting for them to drive to the entrance of the red carpet.

    ¡°Sir, you may get out of the car,¡± the driver said after stopping the car.

    As soon as Famous got out of the car, the atmosphere reached a climax. After a long wait, the reporters and cameramen focused on them immediately. Camera shes were as bright as the day.

    Famous sat on the red carpet politely, lifted a paw, and waved at its fans. It also posed for photographers, which raised another round of exmation.

    ¡°Famous!¡±

    ¡°Famous!¡±

    ¡°Famous!¡±

    Not knowing who called out to Famous first, the frantic fans began to cheer spontaneously. They were as loud as the fans yelling ¡°step down¡± to the main coach on the ser field¡­

    The cheering was the loudest in one corner. Zhang Zian and Famous followed the noise and saw a group of young teenagers. Some of them looked familiar¨C¨Cthey were the teenagers that they met in front of Cubix7 the other day.

    After Famous looked at them in the eyes, they became more excited.

    ¡°Famous! You are our hero!¡±

    ¡°Famous! We support you forever!¡±

    Famous smiled gently. It paused again and waved its paw towards them.

    As teenagers, they had limitless potential. At the time, they were kids, but in the future, they could change the world.

    Everyone watching was confused about the wave that Famous gave. The wave when it got off the car might have been trained by Zhang Zian, but how about the second wave? Even if Zhang Zian gave it a hidden dog trainer¡¯s signal, how did he train it to wave in a certain direction?

    Many Germans on site owned dogs and knew about dogs, but they still could not understand.

    No matter how long the red carpet was, one would always reach the end.

    Zhang Zian and Famous, guided by staff members, walked into the Berlinale Pst.

    There were more celebrities on site than the day of the opening ceremony because the films had different premiere days during the ten days of the festival. Some busy celebrities might not arrive in Berlin on the first day, but would onlye over at the day of their premiere and then leave at the end of the film festival.

    The celebrities formed small groups and chatted with each other. After some time passed and there were repeated reminders from the loudspeaker, they finally took their seats.

    The lights under the stage were dimmed, while the stage lights were brightened. The closing ceremony had started.

    Bright lights were focused on one side of the stage where a row of bear trophies were ced on a table. One of them was gold, while all the rest were silver, representing the Golden Bear of Best Film and other awards. They were the center of everybody¡¯s attention.

    Zhang Zian tilted his head slightly to look around. He noticed that most of the foreign celebrities were casually dressed. Some even appeared sloppy. In contrast, the Dog Warrior crew, and another Chinese detective film crew, were all formally dressed. Maybe it was because the closing and award ceremonies were both broadcasted live in China by an online video website.

    Every once in a while, the eyes from the two Chinese film crews crossed each other and they red. They all saw the other as their biggestpetitor.

    Perhaps due to national pride, the Chinese media was giving more attention to the Chinese winning foreign awards than domestic awards. The promotions were atpletely different levels. For instance, if Feng Xuan won an award at the Berlin Film Festival, then the media would refer him as ¡°a director who won one of the top three European film festivals. If he won the Oscar¡­ My goodness!¡±

    There was the same hostess at the closing ceremony as there was at the opening ceremony.

    After a brief speech, she introduced the awards for the short films first. Some were happy, while some were not. The winners were happy, while the losers were sad.

    It was the same with the other awards.

    As fewer and fewer bear trophies became avable, the awards were bing more and more important.

    During the Best Director award, when the special guest read a different name, Feng Xuan sighed slightly. He was highly expected to win that award; however, it turned out that one could never figure out what the jury members liked the most. His reaction was indication of a saying that went, ¡°the bigger the hope, the greater the disappointment.¡±

    Then, the hostess invited another special guest to the stage with a mysterious look on her face.

    As this special guest appeared shakily from the back of the stage, everybody was astonished. It was a very olddy who was pushed onto the stage in a wheelchair by some helpers.

    The celebrities didn¡¯t know this olddy. They started guessing her name, identity, and age.

    The hostess started introducing the olddy loudly. It turned out that she was one of the starters of the Berlin Film Festival!

    Apuse and whistles rose fanatically under the stage as people began to pay the highest tribute to this respectable olddy. Without her, people would not have gathered in Berlin for over half a century to enjoy a carnival of films.

    It was an unwritten tradition to have a male guest give the Best Actress award, and a female guest to give the Best Actor award. There were exceptions, of course.

    Thedy was old, but had great eyes. She made a speech with a voice that was not high, but very clear. ¡°I barely watch foreign films because of thenguage barrier. It¡¯s very hard to read the subtitles after getting old¡­ But this film is an exception. In fact, I don¡¯t understand a single word from this film, but I understand everything. In this film, I saw a great character that was created by an actor. The story he told us is unbelievably attractive. His mour is everywhere in the entire film.¡±

    Next, she opened the card from themittee with shriveled hands and read it with a smile. ¡°The Best Actor, winner of the Silver Award is¡­ Famous!¡±

 Chapter 745: Well Deserved

    <h4>Chapter 745: Well Deserved</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When the old woman gave her speech, Lin Feng¡¯s assistant keenly perceived that the name she was going to read out must have been a film actor that was not in an English or German film. The assistant held in her ecstasy and quietly poked Lin Feng, hinting for him to prepare himself for the camera and the stage.

    Lin Feng was also overjoyed. Although he had prepared his awards speech beforehand, the chances of him using it were still very low. He had only prepared them just in case there was a need for it.

    In the foreignnguage films participating in this Berlin Film Festival, there were only three to four foreignnguage films that were influential, including Dog Warrior. There was also another Chinese criminal investigation film that was shortlisted for the mainpetition segment. In that film, the male and female leads had more scenes.

    Therefore, since it was a foreignnguage film that got the award, Lin Feng believed that the old woman was going to read out his name. His body involuntarily leaned forward, with the intention of standing up and waving to the surrounding crowd.

    At the same time, Zhang Zian and Famous were both very calm. Because Feng Xuan missed the Best Director¡¯s Award, the only award left topete for was the Best Film Golden Bear Award.

    No one would have expected that the old woman, one of the founders of the Berlin Film Festival, would actually mention Famous¡¯s name!

    Instantly, everything went quiet below the stage.

    Most of the celebrities were in shock. It was easy to read from their lips that they were mumbling, ¡°unbelievable,¡± while the reporters were all so excited that their legs were shaking. They knew that they were witnessing history.

    The camera urately focused on Zhang Zian¡¯s and Famous¡¯s face and faithfully recorded down their shocked expressions.

    In his pocket, a notification tone suddenly rang from his phone, but he had no time to look.

    [Game Notification]: Congrattions! Your Reincarnated Dog has collected sufficient strength of faith. It has reached the level up requirement!

    [Game Notification]: Your Reincarnated Dog is currently Elite/Epic level. After the level up, it will be Epic level.

    [Game Notification]: Do you want to level up now? If you select ¡°No,¡± you can still level it up at your own convenience at ater time.

    [Yes, No, or Remind meter]

    The hostess had probably expected the situation to happen, so she said twice, ¡°May Famous and its dog trainere up to the stage? The dog trainer shall receive the award on behalf of Famous.¡±

    The audience members below the stage finally reacted. There was a mix of exmations and apuse, but there were more people who were furiously posting on various forms of social media. They wrote something along the lines of, ¡°A dog actually won the Berlin Film Festival¡¯s best male lead!¡±

    Nie Yuan, Lin Feng, and the other members of the crew were all stunned. They would never have imagined the situation that was unfolding. Were they dreaming or were the Germans so crazy that they actually awarded a heavyweight ss award to a dog?

    Feng Xuan nudged Zhang Zian and motioned for him to go up the stage.

    Feng Xuan¡¯s depressed mood was now taken over by surprise and relief¨C¨Cno matter what, winning an award was always good.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know how he got up on stage¨C¨Chis mind was muddled and he felt like he was stepping on cotton with every step he took. He followed behind Famous and walked mechanically up to the old woman¡¯s wheelchair.

    The olddy smiled as she extended her arms to hug Zian. She whispered softly in his ear, ¡°You have a great dog.¡±

    Her body was bony like dead wood and her weight was very light. When Zhang Zian hugged her, he did not dare use too much force, for fear that he might hurt her.

    After the hug, the old woman bent over and lightly caressed Famous¡¯ head and said, ¡°You performed very well. These human actors should be ashamed of themselves.¡±

    Following closely, she yfully winked at Zhang Zian. ¡°Go on and give your speech; I hope you¡¯ve prepared for it.¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s mind was nk as he stood before the podium facing the countless pairs of eyes from below the stage. Famous sat next to him.

    For five full seconds, Zian did not say a word.

    The hostess frowned slightly, and just as she was about to intervene to save the stage, the old woman spoke first.

    Sheughed and said, ¡°When I was much younger, probably about the age of those children outside the film pce, I saw a film that starred another dog as the lead. Out of every one of them¨C¨Cof course you all know who I¡¯m talking about, and I believe that out of everyone here¨C¨CI¡¯m the only one to have seen those films in the theater.¡±

    The audience below the stage caught onto her joke andughed.

    She then continued. ¡°I was very surprised when I saw Famous because it looked exactly like the other dog in my memories. But unfortunately, because of some reasons outside of films and the prejudice from people, that dog never made it to highest podium of that time, so I am really honored to be able to present Famous with this award. It seems like nearly a hundred years have passed and the human society has finally made a little progress, after all.¡±

    The audiences below the stageughed out harder, due to her witty humor.

    ¡°My children may have already forgotten, but when they were younger, at the time when the Berlin Film Festival was just established, I told them that if such a miracle ever happened, I was going to bark once like a dog for them. Now, it is time to fulfill that promise.¡± She looked around and softly ¡°barked¡± once, then she smiled.

    There was a burst ofughter and apuse from below the stage.

    The old woman nodded to Zhang Zian. She has already earned him enough buffer time, now it was time for him to perform.

    Of course, Zhang Zian did not prepare any award eptance speech. No one would have thought that Famous would win an award. It was not a question about the acting¨C¨Cin his opinion, Famous was much more outstanding than the other male actors at the film festival¨C¨Che just didn¡¯t believe that the jury of the Berlin Film Festival would defy the world¡¯s opinion and push a dog up the podium, much less have the Berlin Film Festival Organization Committee agree to that decision.

    Maybe out of every country in the whole world, only Germany would do it.

    After the old woman finished speaking, the apuse andughter came to a stop, and Zhang Zian finally calmed himself down. He knew what he had to say¨C¨Cit needed to be tactful, and it also had to make the organizingmittee feel that presenting Famous with the award was a right decision.

    Zian raised up the Silver Bear Trophy. Following the old woman, he also started off with a humorous opening to ease the awkward atmosphere. ¡°As you all can see, I am very surprised, and the reason for that is because I never thought that by following a dog here, I would still be bringing a bear back¡­¡±

    The audience startedughing again.

    Zhang Zian smiled and recovered, then turned serious again.

    ¡°From the moment I stepped foot in Germany, I earnestly felt that Germany was a model example for the world in caring for animals. You have all made a very loving decision in treating animals as our equal, providing benefits, and protecting animals rights.¡±

    Zian paused for a moment, then raised his hand and pointed in a direction outside the film pce.

    ¡°On the way here to the film pce, I saw an angel in Berlin¡ªit turns out that the angel does not only exist in the Berlin Victory Column at the center of the city, but it also exists in all of your hearts.¡±

    The audience recovered from their earlier amusement and listened carefully.

    Zian looked down at Famous and exchanged nces with it.

    ¡°Famous really likes its name a lot because it¡¯s a loyal fan of Audrey Hepburn, and Audrey Hepburn also had a dog named Famous. Famous had always wanted to be an angel like Audrey Hepburn¡ªthe guardian angel of the children. I know that there are still many children in the world suffering from hunger, so I intend to donate all of Famous¡¯ earnings to the UN World Food Program so that more children will be able to have food to eat. I think, if Famous was able to speak, it would definitely support this idea, too.¡±

    Famous had let Zian decide on what to do with its earnings, and that was Zian¡¯s decision after some careful consideration. But he did not expect to speak about this on a podium in front of the public.

    At that moment, he felt very honored for Famous.

    In his pocket, a line of texts shed across the screen of his phone.

    [Game Notification]: Congrattions! The likability of Reincarnated Dog has increased to trustful, gaining the freedom to move around!

 Chapter 746: An Unforgettable Night

    <h4>Chapter 746: An Unforgettable Night</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The night after the closing ceremony was sleepless.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s improvised speech was unexpectedly sessful. Guests below the stage gave him the biggest round of apuse there had been since the beginning of the film festival. Some celebrities even stood up to apud the speech. The hostess on stage, the olddy who was one of the starters of the film festival, along with the jury standing behind the unawarded trophies all gave their generous apuse to him and Famous.

    The remaining awards, except the Best Actress, the Jury Grand Prix, or the Best Film, all ended up going to supporting roles in Dog Warrior.

    There was only one leading role tonight, and it was Famous!

    It finally stood on the stage of the highest award, showing everyone its real name and enjoying the glory it had long deserved.

    After the speech, Zhang Zian bent down and put the microphone next to Famous. Its eyes were filled with tears as it barked a loud woof!

    At that moment, Famous¡¯s bark was broadcast to everybody watching the festival¨C¨Call over the globe¨C¨Cthrough the inte at lightning speed.

    ******

    ¡°Eek!¡±

    On the second floor of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, Pi, who barely watched television, wasn¡¯t writing its novel tonight. Instead, it was dancing towards the online television app and pping, despite the fact that nobody could hear it.

    Book of Pi was flipped open to a nk page on the desk. The pince-nez was put aside.

    ******

    ¡°Holy crap!¡±

    In the boy¡¯s dormitory at Binhai University, Wang Qian and Li Kun looked at each other, each with a phone in their hands. ¡°Now the Master is famous!¡±

    Wang Qian said, ¡°Isn¡¯t it true that, after one bes immortal, his chicken and dog follow him into heaven?¡±

    Li Kun said, ¡°Do you want to be the chicken or the dog?¡±

    The dorm chief on the upper bunk yelled at them, ¡°Fry your chicken and dog! What are you waiting for? Get online for the game. Now!¡±

    ******

    ¡°Meow.¡±

    In the old residential area, Lu Yiyun was sitting in front of her small table with her pajamas on. She tickled Jasmine¡¯s chin and sighed. ¡°I know it, I know it. I¡¯ll have plenty of work to do tomorrow¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah!¡± Shey down sadly, covered her face with a pillow, and rolled over. ¡°I want a day off!¡±

    ******

    In a brand new, big house, each door inside was widened intentionally for easier wheelchair ess.

    Guo Dong Yue held a bowl of hot food in her hands. She tested the temperature with a spoon in her mouth, then scooped a spoonful of food into her mother¡¯s mouth.

    While chewing subconsciously, she stared at the pair of red-headed love birds huddling in their cage and mumbled, ¡°Little Purple, Yellow Pea Cake, are you hungry?¡±

    Guo Dong Yue nced at the television, then put the bowl down and moved her mother¡¯s wheelchair in another direction. She pointed at the screen and asked, ¡°Mom, do you remember this person? He gave us the parrots.¡±

    Her eyes seemed lost and unfocused, as if she was trying hard to recall something. In the end, she just smiled.

    ******

    ¡°Mom, mom, mom! Mom, mom, mom, mom!¡±

    Snowy jumped off the stairs like a monkey, her phone clutched in her hand.

    ¡°Oh my, little precious! Slow down!¡± Shi Rong tapped her thigh with concern.

    Without saying one more word, Snowy projected her phone screen to the television in the living room. ¡°Look! You keep telling me that my broadcast is just me fooling around, but look! I¡¯ve gotten to know a big name!¡±

    ******

    Jiang Tianda was drinking tea when he saw who was on the television. He spat the tea out!

    Holy crap, this poser is posing outside China! he thought sadly.

    ******

    p!

    Good-For-Nothing lifted its head out of the bowl, licked off the beef residue around its mouth, then stared at its owner as if it were saying, ¡°Why are you punching me again? Don¡¯t you have better things to do? What if I get a concussion and be stupid?¡±

    Jin Er was seeking the trend of jewelry in the fashion world, as usual. He stared at the screen and said with regret, ¡°Look at him! You have to die afterparing yourself with others!¡±

    Good-For-Nothing came closer with a grin and stared at him thoughtfully, as if it were saying, ¡°Look, I¡¯m not young anymore. When are you going to look for a girlfriend for me?¡±

    Jin Er rubbed Good-For-Nothing¡¯s head with a crafty smile. ¡°Girlfriend? I¡¯m bringing you to the vet tomorrow to turn you into a eunuch!¡±

    ******

    Sun Xiaomeng fell asleep at her desk, an array of veterinary medicine books under her arms. Her phone screen was lit and left aside on the charger. She was nning to watch the live broadcast, but could not stay awake any longer. She fell asleep without realizing it.

    ******

    Inside the dormitory of the police dog team, Xiao Liu, Xiao Wang, and their teammates were sitting around the television, knocking on the metal bowls and cheering loudly. They could not be happier, even if they had won the award themselves.

    In the kennel, Red Dragon and Prince seemed to have felt something. They stood up, erected their ears, and gazed into the distance.

    ******

    Luo Qingyu put his phone aside and quickly fetched the SLR camera to look for a picture with Zhang Zian or Famous. He remembered going to the opening ceremony of the pet shop with the photography club. He could use this opportunity to post on Weibo or WeChat moments to mooch some poprity.

    He had evene up with a title. It was: ¡°As the professional photographer of Famous, I have a word to say¡­¡±

    After further thought, this title was not heroic enough. He wanted to change it to, ¡°As the designated photographer of the Best Actor dog, I have a word to say¡­¡± It would definitely attract a lot of girls toe and get photoshoots done with him. He might be famous just like that!

    However, after going through all of his memory cards, there were only sneaky photos of the girls in the pet shop from different angles. All of the photos with Zhang Zian and Famous had been deleted¡­

    ******

    After helping his child with his homework and putting him to bed, Sheng Ke crept into bed himself. He stared at his phone while leaning on the headboard, keeping the volume at the minimum level.

    ¡°Hey!¡± He elbowed his wife¡¯s back. ¡°Get up and look! I introduced this dog to the production crew! I¡¯m kind of a Bo Le, right?¡±

    ¡°Got it. Now go to sleep! I have to go to work tomorrow!¡± His wife didn¡¯t move¨C¨Cshe didn¡¯t even open her eyes. Her voice was filled with fatigue.

    Sheng Ke sighed. They were an old couple, after all, and had lost their passion.

    He put his phone on the nightstand, turned off the light, and went to bed. In his heart, though, he remained excited. He could not fall asleep for a long time.

    ******

    In the restaurant of the beach town, the television was not ying the local ser game. Instead, it was ying the closing ceremony of the Berlin Film Festival.

    Suddenly, Karl stood up and raised his beer ss high. White foam was overflowing from the ss. He shouted in a loud voice, ¡°To celebrate my friend¡¯s award, everyone gets a drink. It¡¯s my treat!¡±

    The customers raised their sses one after another. ¡°Cheers! Cheers!¡±

    Then they emptied the sses in one sip!

    ¡°Another one!¡± they shouted.

    ******

    Many workers and students were busy with work or school and didn¡¯t watch the live broadcast. It was midnight in China, after all. Some were like the Li couple and didn¡¯t know which app to download in order to watch the broadcast. The next day, however, there would surely be more people watching the recording after they heard the astonishing news.

    The night was still young.

 Chapter 747: Goodbye, Germany

    <h4>Chapter 747: Goodbye, Germany</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian did not know how he walked down from the stage.

    He only remembered the old woman smiling and waving to him before she was pushed back to the backstage, then the hostess stared at him and joked, ¡°You¡¯re not nning to leave? Or do you think that you can win the Best Female Lead Silver Bear Award?¡±

    Like someone who had just woken up from a dream, Zianughed as he hurriedly left the stage. He couldn¡¯t disrupt the organizingmittee from giving out the awards.

    On the way back to his seat from the stage, many celebrities took the initiative to reach out their hands to him. Zian mechanically shook their hands and epted their congrattions.

    ¡°Congrattions to you! Congrattions to Famous!¡± Feng Xuan sincerely extended his hand to Zian.

    ¡°Thank you!¡± Zhang Zian said gratefully. After all, if Feng Xuan had not chosen Famous as the lead, it would not have won the award today.

    Nie Yuan snorted and he did not look too happy. He was probably ming Zian for not giving his thanks to the film crew on stage.

    Yes, many award winners from before and after were excitedly thanking their family, friends, and film crews, but Zhang Zian didn¡¯t. From the beginning until the end, he did not mention a single ¡°thank you¡±¨C¨Cof course, he didn¡¯t thank the neighboringmittee, either, because it was Famous who won the award and not him.

    Lin Feng¡¯s face was even more unhappy. After returning to China, he may have to face an embarrassing public rtions crisis. He might be asked the same question repeatedly by the media: ¡°How do you feel about losing to a dog?¡±

    Feel your sister!

    Lin Feng had no idea how he was going to answer that question¨C¨Che even had the thought of retiring.

    Zhang Zian had already made a guess that his deration of nning to donate all of the earnings to the UN World Food Program would inevitably be questioned back in China. People would suspect it to be another fake charity¨C¨Cafter all, there were too many tainted stories of such incidents in China. But just as Old Time Tea always said, ¡°Whatever we do, we only ask for a clear conscience and to be worthy of this world. Whether or not others understand, what does it matter.¡±

    The hostess continued to invite other guests to present the other awards, but Zhang Zian¡¯s heart had already flown back to China. It is no longer here.

    A few minutes earlier, his phone had vibrated many times. It was obvious that many people had sent him messages and their congrattions, but the strange thing was that he had already muted his phone before entering the hall, so why would it still ring?

    Taking the opportunity, Zian quietly pulled out his phone and unlocked the screen.

    As he looked at the level up reminder from

    on the screen of his phone, he couldn¡¯t help but be momentarily stunned. Famous leveled up so quickly? But it made sense after Zian thought about it. Dog Warrior had already been released in Berlin, and the shot of Famous winning the award had been broadcasted to thousands of households. Many people now knew its name, and they are also aware that it had just won the Berlin Film Festival¡¯s Best Male Lead Silver Bear Award.

    Just knowing its name was not enough to generate the strength of faith¨C¨Cit was necessary for them to watch its film and acknowledge it, then be its fan to generate the strength of faith.

    So, Zian pressed on ¡°Level Up,¡± and Famous was upgraded to Epic Level.

    Famous sat on the seat and stared at the stage, looking at the guests presenting the awards to the other actors and showing his respect for the people in the same industry.

    The silver-ted Silver Bear Award was ced beside it, attracting countless envious looks.

    Famous had nned on buying the Berlin Film Festival cor as a souvenir, but now it had gotten an even more meaningful souvenir.

    Famous was not aware of the upgrade, but Zhang Zian knew that certain aspects of it had undergone subtle changes, and the results of those changes would be revealed in time.

    The increase in likability to trustful was just a matter of time.

    Famous had made up for its longtime regret that night, and a brighter, more brilliant, future awaited it.

    Zhang Zian was looking forward to the day that Dog Warrior would be officially showing back in China.

    There had been waves of controversy in the forums back in China¨C¨Csome people supported the idea of having a dog win the Best Male Lead Award, while some were opposed to it. The more enthusiastic the supporters got, the fiercer the opposition became.

    The supporters quoted the old woman¡¯s words: ¡°Rather than being envious of a dog, you¡¯re better off being ashamed of yourself.¡±

    This situation was expected, since a change in perspective was not aplished in just a day or two.

    With the end of the award presentation, the hostess gave a warm invitation to the guests and celebrities seated, weing them to visit the Berlin Film Festival again next year.

    With her curtain call, the ten-day Berlin Film Festival officially ended. It was like having a dream that one did not want to be woken up from.

    Regretfully, the Dog Warrior film crew had only harvested that one trophy. The Best Film Golden Bear Award was won by an experimental stream-of-consciousness film¡ªthe Berlin Film Festival kept to their old traditions and was unwilling topromise withmercial films.

    Zhang Zian, Famous, and the other members of the film crew all had their own thoughts running as they stepped out of the door of the film pce.

    There were a lot of reporters gathered outside. As soon as they caught sight of the celebrities, they were like a swarm of flies that had caught on to a scent.

    Zhang Zian and Famous in particr were surrounded by groups and groups of reporters.The reporters from China were especially enthusiastic¨C¨Call kinds of microphones with various logos on them were extended out towards his mouth.

    ¡°I am XX TV reporter, do you mind saying a few words?¡± one reported asked.

    ¡°Mr Zhang, do you have anything you want to say to the audience back in China?¡± another chimed in.

    ¡°May I ask how you trained Famous? Were there any interesting happenings during the training process?¡±

    ¡°Why did you decide to donate all the earnings?¡±

    ******

    Although Zian was happy to hear the familiar Chinesenguage, he was not in the mood to deal with reporters.

    The staff members from the organizingmittee were used to such scenes. Soon enough, they opened up a passage for him and blocked out the reporters.

    Lin Feng had already sneaked away after he put on his sunsses and scarf for fear of being recognized by the reporters.

    ¡°Famous!¡± people called out. ¡°Famous!¡±

    What surprised Zhang Zian was that there were still many young fans who braved the cold of Berlin¡¯s February night. They continued to wait outside just to catch a sight of Famous.

    ¡°I knew it! I just knew it! Famous, I knew you would definitely win the award!¡± the freckled teen shouted. ¡°I told them long ago, but they just wouldn¡¯t believe me!¡±

    Unfortunately, Richard was not at the scene today, so Zhang Zian could not understand what they were saying in German, but their enthusiasm had also influenced him. The freckled teen looked proud and overjoyed after he proved the others wrong.

    Just like the speech given by the old woman earlier, Zian did not understand a single word, but he understood what he saw.

    Zian was able to ignore the reporters, but he was not able to ignore the loyal fans¨C¨C they were the source of Famous¡¯ strength of faith.

    Disregarding Nie Yuan¡¯s constant urging, Zian raised the Silver Bear Trophy up in the air on behalf of Famous. Zian then responded to each young fan¡¯s request to take a picture with Famous one by one until thest young fan was also satisfied.

    They then returned to the hotel by car, picked up their luggage, checked out from the hotel, and bid their farewell to the friendly hotel staff.

    Zhang Zian and the other members of the crew rushed to the airport, and while the others waited to board at the waiting hall, Zian brought Famous to process the check-in procedures for pets.

    Not long after, the ne took off.

    Zhang Zian waved his hands and bid farewell to the angel on the Victory Column, while also bidding farewell to Germany.

 Chapter 748: Unpredictable

    <h4>Chapter 748: Unpredictable</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    At the end of February, it was still very cold at night in Berlin. Famous was brought into the oxygenated chamber of the flight, so the temperature was around 25 degrees Celsius¨C¨Cas warm aste spring.

    After hearing that it was the dog that won the Best Actor award in the Berlin Film Festival, the flight attendants took very special care of it.

    Famous watched the long legs of the tall Caucasian flight attendants dangling around and suddenly had a strange idea in mind: If possible, Zhang Zian would surely be willing to exchange seats with me¡­

    After the flight took off, the noise around them grew slowly distant. The oxygenated chamber was warm and quiet, and only the low humming of the fans could be heard.

    Famous was still excited. It had not yet calmed down from the thrill of winning the award.

    The night was still young, so it didn¡¯t think it could fall asleep. It had nned to lie down and rest¨C¨Cjust lie down on its stomach¡­

    Almost in an instant, it fell asleep.

    ******

    ¡°Brother Famous! Brother Famous! Wake up. The parade is about to leave.¡±

    Famous shook its ears and opened its eyes.

    The sky was cloudy and the temperature was almost identical to the oxygenated chamber. It waste spring, the best time of the year.

    Old Time Tea stood in front of it with a smile. ¡°Brother Famous, you are always alert, and the first one to wake up as soon as the parade moves. Why are you so sleepy today?¡±

    Famous yawned. ¡°I feel like I just fell asleep.¡±

    Old Time Teaughed. ¡°Brother Famous, you were talking in your sleep again. Last night, you fell asleep as soon as youy down. You¡¯ve been sleeping for at least ten hours. What do you mean you just fell asleep?¡±

    Famous looked around. Kitchen smoke was rising slowly in the vige not far away. Roosters were crowing, and dogs were barking in the distance.

    Silent men picked up their loads and started working in the fields with hoes on their shoulder, as they had been doing for thousands of years.

    Talkative women headed towards the river in groups of three or five. Some headed upstream with wooden buckets to wash clothes, while others headed downstream with toilet buckets to empty. Their voices were loud and high-pitched as they talked about what the bride looked like. They told a few dirty jokes, which made the unmarried girls blush.

    The wedding parade team for the Wu family slept in the vige the night before. They were about to continue their journey today.

    It was not safe outside, which was why the parade set off each day after the sun rose and looked for viges to sleep in for the night before it waspletely dark. They tried to use big roads as much as they could. They crossed rivers, detoured over mountains, and avoided high hills and thick forests. The route was long and winding.

    There were quite a few weak women in the parade. After a long walk each day, theyined about having sore backs and legs. Sometimes the carriages that were fully loaded with dowry sank into the mud or got stuck between the rocks and needed hauling from both the men and the horses. The parade team was very behind schedule.

    Their arrival date in Binhai County was unknown. With any further dys, they might miss the best dates for the wedding. Wu Mancheng was so stressed that he got canker sores all over his mouth. Each day, before daybreak, he hurried the team to get up and prepare for their journey.

    Famous could hear Wu Mancheng¡¯s yells from a distance.

    Ever since they had left Foshan, Famous and the other two cats had been following the parade team from a distance. Wu Ning wanted to invite them into the carriages, but Wu Mancheng did not agree.

    He was not being ungrateful. The legend of the Righteous Cat and the Chivalrous Dog was widespread in Foshan, but the groom¡¯s side didn¡¯t know about it. If they believed the gossip and thought they were ghosts or bad spirits, it might bring unnecessary trouble to the wedding.

    Wu Ning felt guilty, but Famous and Old Time Tea didn¡¯t care. Gxy was afraid of people, so even if Wu Ning had invited them, they could not ept the invitation. Besides, traveling along with the carriages and horses was quite inconvenient, so it was better to follow from a distance.

    The team was ready. Wu Mancheng gave orders from a tall horse, and the bells on the horses rang. The team set off again slowly, easing back into their journey.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get some breakfast,¡± Famous said after smelling the kitchen smoke. It suddenly felt hungry.

    Old Time Tea agreed, naturally.

    ¡°Meow.¡±

    Famous looked back. A ck and white cat jumped out of the grass, stretched out two front paws, and jumped merrily towards a butterfly in the midst of the wildflowers.

    The butterfly dodged it craftily and escaped between its paws.

    ¡°Gxy, aren¡¯t you tired of catching butterflies every day?¡± Famous shook its head. ¡°It¡¯s wonderful that you don¡¯t need to eat¡­ We need food regardless. Come follow us.¡±

    ¡°Meow. ¡± Gxy left the butterfly behind unwillingly and followed Old Time Tea and Famous.

    Famous felt that the Gxy with them now was slightly different from the Gxy in reality. Not in shape, but in some subtle and indescribable ways. For example, the one with them now preferred catching butterflies instead of ying hide-and-seek, but that might be because there wasn¡¯t anybody to y hide-and-seek with it.

    Famous snorted its nose. After the parade team had left, it followed the scent and found a big blue rock in the woods next to the road with a bamboo food cover on it. The smell of beef pies and steamed fish was seeping through the bamboo cover.

    Each day, after the parade team started their journey, Wu Ning always asked the handmaids to put food along the road in a hidden spot. Famous could trace it with its nose, anyway.

    Famous opened the food cover with its mouth and swallowed the entire beef pie.

    Old Time Tea took its time to eat the steamed fish.

    Gxy stared at the sky in a trance.

    Famous chomped down the entire beef pie. This was their food for the whole day. Their next meal wouldn¡¯te until the next morning.

    After they finished eating, they were not in a hurry to continue their journey. They wanted to let the food digest first. The carriage grooves were deep and obvious, so they would not lose track of them.

    ¡°Famous, did something good happenst night?¡± Old Time Tea stroked its whiskers, then stared at it in slight astonishment. ¡°I always feel that Brother Famous is different today than it was yesterday.¡±

    ¡°Nothing.¡± Famous nced down at itself. ¡°Old Time Tea, did you mistake anything?¡±

    ¡°No. Brother Famous, your eyes are bright and clear, as if you have put down your obsession. Were you enlightened after a serious search for the truth?¡±

    Famous said helplessly, ¡°Old Time Tea, you are thinking too much. How can I get enlightened?¡±

    Old Time Tea smiled, then lifted its head and recited,

    ¡°Let go the obsession without asking the scripture,

    Once enlightened, the heart is clear.

    Looking back at the past glories and shames,

    It took a hundred years to uncover the heavenly secrets!¡±

    Famous didn¡¯t understand, then shook its head and said, ¡°Old Time Tea, can you speak in modernnguage? I can¡¯t understand it at all¡­¡±

    Old Time Tea said thoughtfully, ¡°Brother Famous, you told me that you came from a hundred yearster. Why are you here now?¡±

    Famous was stunned. It had never thought about that before.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this a coincidence?¡± it said. ¡°I can get into the Imagined World of the other elfins, so here I am.¡±

    Old Time Tea disagreed. ¡°There is a reason and n for everything. I, Old Time Tea, believe that you are here for a deeper reason, but it¡¯s up to you to uncover the heavenly secrets or not.¡±

    Famous realized something. Why did it always end up in Old Time Tea¡¯s world every time it entered the Imagined World? Why did Gxy always follow it? Why was this Gxy always different from the Gxy in reality?

    It always considered itself as an observer here, meant to witness the journey to the north of Old Time Tea and Wu Ning. The journey had already taken ce in history. History would not change, whether it observed it or not.

    With Famous, Old Time Tea would still rescue Wu Ning in the mountain with a little more effort.

    Without Famous, Old Time Tea would still follow Wu Ning to the north, it would just be a little lonelier.

    What was the significance of having it and Gxy in this Imagined World?

    However¡­ as Old Time Tea had said, could there be hidden heavenly secrets in this?

    Famous was not good at thinking over these myths. Too much thinking made its head grow big.

    ¡°It¡¯s gettingte. Let¡¯s go,¡± Old Time Tea said, breaking Famous¡¯ train of thought. ¡°I heardst night that the parade team will cross the river at noon today. I¡¯m not good with water. Let¡¯s head there early to take a boat with the team. Otherwise, we¡¯ll be left behind¡­¡±

    Famous came back to the present and nodded. ¡°I can swim, but I don¡¯t want to cross a river¡­ Let¡¯s follow them. Miss Wu should let us on the boat.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Gxy,¡± Famous turned back and called.

    Gxy had been staring at the sky and murmured, ¡°Meow. It¡¯s about to rain.¡±

    Famous and Old Time Tea looked up at the same time.

    Hurl!

    A gust of wind with the taste of dirt blew up the dust. Famous squinted and spat out the sand in its mouth, greatly missing that pair of windproof goggles.

    Pitch-ck clouds appeared rapidly from the north. The sky was getting dark in front of their eyes; a heavy storm wasing.

    ¡°Oh no!¡± Old Time Tea¡¯s face suddenly turned.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Famous didn¡¯t take it seriously.

    It felt that Old Time Tea was making a fuss. Was rain a big deal? It appeared that, tough as Old Time Tea was, it, like most other cats, still hated getting wet¡­

    Famous was looking forward to this generous rainfall. Ever since it had appeared in this Imagined World, it had not taken a bath yet. It was probably stinky by now.

    There were a few lighter rainfalls before, but it was spared from the rain, as it was staying in the Temple for the Righteous Cat and the Chivalrous Dog with Old Time Tea back then. It thought about getting a bath in the rain, but it was too cold then. It didn¡¯t want to catch a cold, and hair dryers didn¡¯t exist in this world.

    Old Time Tea gazed toward the horizon in the west. There were endless mountains after mountains over there.

    ¡°Judging from the thick cloud, I, Old Time Tea, am afraid that the storm will cause a sh flood. If the water level rises, it might destroy the ferry dock¡­ the levee might even burst¡­¡±

    sh flood?

    Famous blinked. Whether in Hollywood or Binhai City, it had never seen a sh flood, nor had it even heard about one. But those words didn¡¯t sound nice¡­

    ¡°Let¡¯s follow them quickly!¡± It realized that the rain might wash away the scent, along with the grooves of the carriages. They might lose track if they didn¡¯t hurry.

    They stopped talking. Famous took Old Time Tea and Gxy on its back and ran wildly towards the north.

    In real history, as Old Time Tea didn¡¯t stand around and chat with Famous, it had reached the team ahead of time. Now it had topensate for the lost time.

    Famous was fast and steady while running. Old Time Tea felt that it seemed faster than before and it could jump higher. When they encountered a short tree, it didn¡¯t even bother to detour but instead jumped directly over the branches. They ran towards the parade team in almost a straight line.

    To their surprise, the parade team appeared soon in front of them¨C¨Cquicker than they had expected. Maybe the team saw the dark clouds from the north earlier than they did.

    Wu Mancheng had already ordered the team to stop moving. He hesitated. Should they speed up to the river and cross it before the storm fell? Or should they head back to the vige and wait for the rain to pass?

    The former was risky, but thetter would dy the trip by another day.

    He was in a hurry but didn¡¯t lose his mind. He knew their priorities. After hesitating for a short while, he ordered the front team to be the back, while the back to be the front. A few strong and tough servants marched forward to inquire about the situation on the ferry dock. The majority of the team was heading back to the vige.

    After going back and forth, some people in the parade teamined. They mumbled that the master was too cautious.

    Famous came across the returning team. It stopped and stepped aside to let the parade team pass.

    As Wu Ning¡¯s carriage passed by, she opened up the curtain slightly and waved at them with a worried face. It seemed as though she was also worrying about missing the wedding date.

    A prestigious family like hers usually sent out hundreds and thousands of wedding invitations. Many of the guests were big names, and the wedding date could not be changed at thest minute. If they arrivedte, there would surely be gossip.

    After seeing her face, Famous and Old Time Tea felt sympathetic, but could not do anything to help. No one could fight against nature. Crossing the river was not worth the risk.

    The parade team was a few hundred meters in length. They headed back to the previous vige slowly to settle down. The vigers weed them, of course. The Wu family was rich and generous. The vigers could make a lot of money in one night by feeding the people and the horses¨C¨Cequal to what they made in one month of hardbor.

    The men and women who went outside to the fields and river all returned to the vige in a hurry.

    Old Time Tea estimated the situation, then took Famous and Gxy to a small cave on highernd to wait out the rain.

    Soon after the parade team had settled, the sky was as dark as charcoal. A sh of thunder ripped the sky open and lightened the ferocious cloud.

    Then, one thunderp came after another. As the wind hurled, trees as thick as an arm were bent like crossbows.

    Boom!

    A sh of lightning hit a crooked tree on the hill. Orange fireballs burnt the trunk into charcoal within seconds.

    The unstoppable power of thunder and lightning made everybody fearful.

    After the lightning and a wind gust, raindrops as big as soybeans started falling from the sky, making dents in the dust-covered road.

    The heavy rain fell down straight, forming a semi-transparent curtain between the sky and the ground. Soon, the water on the ground formed a creek.

    Everybody hid under roofs and fixated their eyes on the sky, wondering when the rain would stop.

    The rain didn¡¯t stop. Itsted all day and all night.

    The servants scouting the river didn¡¯t bring back good news. Wu Mancheng¡¯s face seemed so sad; it was almost dripping water.

    Theiners now secretly rejoiced that the master had made the right decision.

    After nightfall, the rain continued. The raindrops sounded like a luby. Famous closed its eyes without realizing it. The rock underneath its belly was hard and cold. It curled up and fell asleep.

 Chapter 749: Methods on Dealing with the Media

    <h4>Chapter 749: Methods on Dealing with the Media</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Dong!

    Famous felt a sudden jerk in its body like it had missed its step and fallen off a cliff. Thinking that it was andslide caused by the rain, Famous instinctively stood up; it woke up in a shock and had nned to give itsst struggle.

    As a result, it knocked its head on the roof of the cage.

    As it stood up with a lot of force, the impact knocked the stars out from its eyes.

    Before its eyes was no longer the mountain vige in the rain, but the cabin of a ne and the jerk from earlier was from the nending.

    Shaking its head, Famous seemed to have recalled something as it hurriedly looked down to the lower half of its body.

    Famous had heard that one would wet their bed if they dreamt of a rain¡­ but it dreamt of a rainstorm, so shouldn¡¯t it be flooded now?

    Fortunately, the inside of the dog cage was still dry, and not like the image of the flood it had in its mind¡­

    Momentster, Famous heard a slight hiss. It was the sound caused by the internal and external pressure bnce of the airne from opening the cabin door.

    Soon, the ground crew pushed its cage off the ne, indicating the end of the long flight journey.

    Zhang Zian dragged his heavy suitcase,pleted the pet consignment procedures, and retrieved Famous.

    ¡°Did I sleep for very long?¡± Famous asked and yawned. ¡°Where are we now?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re already back in the Binhai City Airport. I had nned to ask if you would like to eat something during the transfer of flights, but you were sleeping very soundly, so I didn¡¯t wake you up,¡± Zhang Zian answered.

    Famous didn¡¯t know that it had slept so hard. It had even slept through the transfer of flights, and slept all the way till they reached Binhai City.

    The sky was already dark outside. The long flight journey and the entire process of waiting and transferring flights took up almost an entire day, so being able to sleep through it was actually not a bad thing.

    There were reporters waiting at the exit of the airport and immediately surrounded Zhang Zian the moment they saw him¡ªor more urately, the moment they saw Famous. Since there weren¡¯t many dogs in the airport, Famous was easily recognized.

    Zhang Zian answered a few simple questions to satisfy the reporter¡¯s curiosity. He then let the reporters take a few pictures of Famous before he rejected further questions and interview requests using the excuse that they were exhausted from their long journey.

    On the bus to the Berlin Airport, Director Feng Xuan gave Zian some advice as a person with experience¨C¨Che reminded Zian not to sour his rtionship with the media, but at the same time, not to satisfy all their interview requests. Too much exposure in such a short time would leave Famouspletely exposed under public attention, and too much was never good as the public would soon lose interest in it. Instead, it was better to maintain a certain sense of mystery and appear in front of the camera with a slightly cool attitude to keep them interested.

    Zhang Zian was now enlightened and was really grateful to Feng Xuan for his guidance. Otherwise, he really wouldn¡¯t know how to deal with the media.

    Zian called for a taxi outside the airport and made his way back to the Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

    Although he had only been away for twelve days, Zian felt as though he had been away for much longer.

    Lu Yiyun, Wang Qian, and Li Kun had already clocked out of work and the shop door was locked, but there were still reporters waiting outside by the door.

    The reporters were mainly the local media reporters. Zhang Zian repeated what he did earlier¨C¨Che answered a few simple questions and told them toe back again another day. He also warned them to not block the entrance of his shop or it would influence his business, and anyone who did not heed his warning could forget about getting an interview.

    After sending off the reporters, he pulled open the shutter door and brought Famous into the shop that they had been away from for some time and closed the shop door again.

    There were a lot of gifts at the entrance of the shop; there were also two flower baskets sent by the neighborhoodmittee, and the four treasures of the study from Binhai Studio. The gifts had filled up the area around the cashier counter and on the name cards on those gifts had names that Zian was not familiar with¨C¨Che had never seen them before.

    It was probably like the saying, ¡°No one would bother about the poor living downtown, but there would still be visitors for the rich living in the deep mountains, right?¡±

    Zian nced over to the opposite of the cashier counter. The floor had a light white mark, indicating that something that had been ced there for a long time has been moved away, which was the Holy Cat statue.

    Zian carried his luggage up to the second floor and knocked on the door to the living room. ¡°Pi, I¡¯m back. Are you inside?¡±

    The living room door was still locked very well.

    With a bang, the door opened.

    ¡°Zhi zhi!¡± Pi excitedly jumped out and started gesturing to Zian.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, how have you been, Pi?¡± Zhang Zian put down his luggage and looked around the room. It was no different from when he left.

    ¡°Zhi zhi!¡± Pi nodded its head and looked behind Zian.

    ¡°Famous is downstairs. Do you want to congratte it in person? Go on and look for it, I¡¯ll be clearing up some stuff before heading down.¡± Zian was relieved after seeing that Pi was safe and sound. It had lived well in the shop all by itself for the past few days.

    Pi did not walk down the stairs, but instead, it yfully slid down the stair rails. Pi was more lively than ever.

    Zhang Zian opened up his suitcase and sorted his things. Those that required washing were thrown into the washing machine and the others were kept in his closet.

    After he was done sorting his things, he took out his phone and pondered about where he should ce the mermaid. It seemed like the only ce for her in the house was the bathtub¨C¨Canywhere else and she would be a dried fish.

    Zhang Zian did not usually use the bathtub. Besides, there was another one in the bathroom of his parent¡¯s bedroom, so he could always use that one when needed.

    Zian filled up sixty to seventy percent of the bathtub with warm water. He touched the water to feel that the temperature was just about right. He just didn¡¯t know if the mermaid would prefer the sea water.

    Pointing his phone towards the bathtub, Zian started up the game and selected the mermaid, then pressed ¡°Release.¡±

    With a ssh, a light blue figure fell into the water, sshing out a lot of water from the bathtub.

    ¡°Woah!¡±

    She stuck her head out of the water and wiped off the water on her face before looking to her left and right. ¡°Where is this? It¡¯s so shabby-looking!¡±

    It was hard to say whether or not she was just like a child or someone who spoke rashly without hesitation, but she was actually just like an uneducated, naughty child.

    But truthfully speaking, it was really shabby. After all, it was a design from more than ten years ago. The design on the tiles was old and the paint on the bathroom cab was also partially peeled off.

    ¡°This is China, Binhai City, Amazing Fate Pet Shop, also my home.¡± Zhang Zian said, ¡°You better be content, most Chinese people do not have a bathtub in their house and if I was one of them, you would have to sleep in the washtub!¡±

    She nced over at the washtub on the floor. Her mouth half-open as she said in shock, ¡°How can I sleep in there? It¡¯s too small!¡±

    If you were to ignore that a long, light blue fishtail was about three-fifths of her body, the image of her now was just like a standard beauty bathing picture. Whether it was her creamy skin, bright eyes, or even the seaweed-like, dark green, curly hair of hers, if this image were to be posted on Wang Haige Forum¡¯s free talk zone to be scored by meanizens, and out of ten of them, nine would give her full marks.

    It was a pity that no matter how beautiful she was, she was still just a fish.

    No matter what, Zhang Zian would never be tempted by a fish¡­ That would just be too crazy!

 Chapter 750: The Joy of an Everyday Routine

    <h4>Chapter 750: The Joy of an Everyday Routine</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian took a mop and cleaned up the water that was overflowing from the tub. He then released the other elfins from his phone, one by one, into the empty space.

    ¡°Wow! Ajeo¡­ An, are you a magician? Amazing! Can you teach me?¡±

    The mermaid was utterly astonished when she saw the elfins appear one after another.

    ¡°Hey, who is Ajeoan?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    She blinked and yed innocent. ¡°I said ¡®ah!¡¯, Zian.¡±

    ¡°Ajeoan¡± and ¡°Ah! Zian¡± did sound simr. If she were a real girl, then there would be dudes lining up for her, but her tricks did not fool Zhang Zian.

    He heard it clearly. She started to say ¡°Ajeossi¡± at first, then changed the pronunciation immediately.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think that I didn¡¯t hear you! What¡¯s your deal?¡± He didn¡¯t get fooled easily.

    She flipped her hair disapprovingly and sshed water everywhere. ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t be so narrow-minded! I bit my tongue, okay?¡±¡¡¡¡¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. That was an original excuse.

    ¡°Are you a magician?¡± She pointed at the elfins and asked, ¡°How did you make them appear? I¡¯ve seen dovese out of hats, but how did you get the parrots and the cats out?¡±

    ¡°Quack. Don¡¯tpare me with a dove!¡± Richard said from its spot on the door frame. ¡°But Jeff, you must be happy, I suppose? Your IQ ranking is finally no longer at the bottom here at the shop!¡±

    Zhang Zian red at it, warning it to watch its mouth.

    There were two small windows next to the bathtub in the bathroom for venttion after baths and to get rid of extra humidity. A curtain was drawn most of the time.

    The mermaid opened the curtain and looked outside, but it was already dark. She could barely see anything.

    ¡°I¡¯m telling you, don¡¯t stick your face on the window and look outside all the time!¡± Zhang Zian warned her seriously. ¡°People are going to think that I¡¯m hiding a girl here! I may not find a girlfriend because of this!¡±

    ¡°Quack! Then you can get a boyfriend in broad daylight. Just tell them that this mermaid is your bestie!¡± Richard gloated.

    A hell of a bestie! My bestie is a fish?

    Zhang Zian waved the mop to p it, but it escaped to the ceiling of the bathroom.

    The mermaid pouted. ¡°Only tall and rich hotties can find girlfriends. You look like the supporting male role in a Korean drama who fought against the alpha male for the alpha female and failed!¡±

    This was brutal!

    Although, what she said kind of made sense¡­

    ¡°Humph!¡± Fina dodged the water that sshed out from the mermaid flipping her hair. ¡°How dare this gold-digging fish brag in my pce!¡± it said in a depressed tone.

    Zhang Zian wanted to ridicule them. The gold-digging cat was confidently using the mermaid of being a gold-digging fish. It would be even more convincing if Fina put down the pearl it was holding in its paw.

    Ever since Fina found the giant pearl on the beach, it could not put it down. It yed with it with paws all the time, like how other cats yed with yarn balls.

    ¡°What?¡± The mermaid crossed her hands on the brim of the bathtub, supported her pointy chin on her arm, and stared at Fina with interest. ¡°Aren¡¯t you the orange cat from the beach?¡±

    ¡°What!¡± Fina¡¯s almond-shaped eyes widened. It stared straight at her with a look as cold and sharp as an icy arrow. ¡°This is not the beach. I suggest that you think it through before saying another word. You must know that careless talk leads to trouble. Think about that before it¡¯s toote!¡±

    The mermaid didn¡¯t care. She inhaled and sniffed. ¡°Not the beach? But I smell the ocean.¡±

    Binhai City was a coastal city and was located on the east coast of China next to the ocean. Amazing Fate Pet Shop was located in Dongcheng District. All of the other three districts had suburban areas, but not Dongcheng District. The ocean was right outside the city and very close by.

    ¡°You are a stubborn one!¡± Fina said coldly, then tossed the pearl to Snowy Li. ¡°Watch this for me. I¡¯m going to teach a lesson to this shameless fish!¡±

    Zhang Zian saw that the two of them were about to start a fight and wanted to intervene, but Fina was too quick. As soon as it spoke, it jumped at the mermaid.

    Zian thought it unlikely that she could defend herself by pping her tail against the water, as she was no longer at the beach. One p of her tail would empty the tub. She didn¡¯t p her tail against the water. After she saw Fina approaching, she slipped downward, immersed her head and neck in the water, andy at the bottom of the tub.

    Fina missed her andnded on the windowsill, then stared at her through the water.

    It didn¡¯t want to the get its fur wet, and its paws were not long enough to reach her at the bottom of the water.

    ¡°I¡¯m waiting to see how long you can stay underwater!¡± It crouched on the windowsill patiently, ready to beat her up as soon as she came out of the water to breathe.

    Yet, one minute passed¡­

    Two minutes passed¡­

    Five minutes passed¡­

    The mermaidy underwaterfortably, showing no signs ofing out to breathe. It seemed that she could stay underwater until the world ended.

    Fina was speechless.

    It was a bit awkward, so Zhang Zian walked over to ease the tension. ¡°Let it go, Fina. You are the whatever XIII, Guardian of the Kingdom of Eternity. Don¡¯t lower yourself for this pickled fish!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Fina Paris XIII!¡± Fina stared at him angrily. ¡°My servant can¡¯t even remember my full name. Why should I keep you around?¡±

    ¡°Meow, meow, meow! Castrate him! Castrate him!¡± Snowy Li took advantage of the moment. It had the pearl on its head like it was an acrobat.

    ¡°Okay, okay, okay. It¡¯s Fina Paris XIII. I remember it now,¡± Zhang Zian said half-heartedly.

    Fina realized that it was pointless to stay above the tub. Plus, it was hungry. It decided to let her go, then jumped off the windowsill, took the pearl from Snowy Li¡¯s forehead, and said to Zhang Zian in a bossy tone, ¡°Tell the Imperial Kitchen that I¡¯m eating grilled fish tonight!¡±

    It usually had grilled chicken, but it suddenly switched to grilled fish to intimidate the mermaid.

    To his surprise, the mermaid suddenly emerged from the water and lifted one arm. ¡°Ah! Jeo-an, I want grilled fish too!¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Are you doing this on purpose? Pronounce my name correctly first!¡±

    ¡°I bit my tongue!¡± she pouted and uttered confidently.

    ¡°Answer this for me first¨C¨Cyou are a mermaid. Why do you eat grilled fish? Isn¡¯t this cannibalism?¡± Zhang Zian was too tired toin.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a fish! I¡¯m a mermaid¨C¨Ca beautiful mermaid!¡± She crossed her arms in front of her chest and said seriously, ¡°I heard at the beach that a mountain needn¡¯t be high; it is famous so long as there is a deity on it. Ake needn¡¯t be deep; it has supernatural power so long as there is a fish in it! This is a shabby shop, but as long as I¡¯m here, it¡¯s awesome!¡±

    Zhang Zian was ready to ridicule this ridiculous quote; however, Fina ridiculed it first.

    ¡°Bullsh**! It should be: A mountain needn¡¯t be high; it is famous so long as there is a cat on it!¡± Fina said with disdain.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, help me hold down Liu Yuxi¡¯s coffin!¡± Zhang Zian asked Old Time Tea.

    Old Time Tea smiled bitterly and said, ¡°Sihwa, as you said, you are not a fish, but a mermaid. Since you are half-human, you should follow their customs and etiquette.¡±

    It lifted its front paw and pointed at her bare shoulder. ¡°How can you not wear anything? It looks bad. How about some clothes?¡±

    ¡°Quack! Someone here would prefer that she stays naked!¡± Richard winked at Zhang Zian mischievously.

    ¡°Clothes?¡± She looked at Old Time Tea¡¯s long robe, then at Zhang Zian¡¯s outfit. ¡°Are they the things that you are wearing? I¡¯d like to wear something, but I have nothing to wear. Besides, it would get wet, right?¡±

    That was indeed a problem. If she didn¡¯t wear anything, Zhang Zian could not control his eyes ncing in her direction.

    ¡°In fact, there are clothes to be worn in the water,¡± Zian suggested. ¡°¡­Such as swimsuits.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great. I want a swimsuit¨C¨Ca pretty swimsuit!¡± She pped her tail against the water gently, then pointed at Zhang Zian and said, ¡°Since you are the one suggesting, go buy some for me!¡±

    Zhang Zian was rendered speechless¡­

    Crap!

    I have to go buy women¡¯s clothes?

 Chapter 751: Extra Large

    <h4>Chapter 751: Extra Large</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Even after staying in a hotel and a vi for so long, Zhang Zian still felt that his own house was the mostfortable. No matter how luxurious other ces could be, they would never be able to provide the kind familiarity of his own house.

    In the morning, due to the jetg, Zian got upter than usual and went straight to the bathroom after waking up.

    There was a partition in the bathroom of his house that separated the toilet bowl, washing machine, shower, bathtub, and sink from the wet and dry. It was fortunate that he had that, otherwise he would not have dared to put the mermaid in the bathtub that was in his room. She would have definitely shouted ¡°pervert¡­¡±

    But even so, Zian was still nervous when he peed and it took him a very long time to finish. Zian did his best to control the ¡°rhythm¡± in order to prevent her from hearing the sshing noises¨C¨Cthat would be too embarrassing.

    After Zian was done relieving himself, he went over next door to wash up. That¡¯s when he realized that he had thought too much¡ªSihwa¡¯s whole body was submerged in the water when she slept, so she wouldn¡¯t have been able to hear him anyway.

    She was still deeply asleep; her hands were folded across her abdomen and her seaweed-like, dark green hair floated around her head and in front of her chest. She would asionally blow bubbles out of her mouth that would float up to the surface of the water before they popped.

    If her lower half, light blue fishtail were to be ignored, if someone were to see the scene in front of him, they would probably think that Zian had murdered someone and was trying to hide the corpse.

    While he was washing his hands, Zian secretlyined about the difficult problem that Old Time Tea had given him. Zian felt that it wasn¡¯t necessary for the mermaid to wear clothes since that long eyesore of her hair always covered up her chest, so putting on clothes seemed unnecessary¡­

    But since Old Time Tea had already spoken, he could only buy her a swimsuit.

    Of course, an ordinary one-piece swimsuit was no good. She didn¡¯t have any legs so she wouldn¡¯t be able to put it on, so his only option was to purchase two-piece swimsuits.

    As a pure male with no girlfriend, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t go to the mall himself to buy a women¡¯s swimsuit¨C¨Che would be treated as a pervert, and it also wasn¡¯t a good idea to ask a female friend to buy it for him. Fortunately there was Taobao¨C¨Cone could get an aircraft carrier or a J-20 on there, not to mention a swimsuit.

    The night before, Zian had let Sihwa choose a swimsuit that was to her liking from his phone. It only took her a moment to pick out a light blue bikini, one that was about the same color as her tail. Of course, that was if it was exactly the same as the one in the pictures.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know her measurements, so he did not know how to select a size for her and she herself didn¡¯t know, either. But, fortunately, the kind and helpful seller told him that he was able to make his selection through her weight. However, he also didn¡¯t know what her weight was, so he thought of an idea.

    ording to the Archimedes Principle, through the weight of the water spilled out from the bathtub, he would be able to roughly deduce her buoyancy. Since she was able to remain floating in the bathtub, he would be able to further estimate her weight¡­ That principle was, of course, nonsense. He threw her a tape measure and told her to measure her bust size.

    After that, it was a little more problematic as he only wanted to buy the upper half of the bikini, but the customer service insisted that they were only able to sell it as a set and not separately. They had also mentioned that they have never heard of anyone buying only half a set¡­

    But the problem was that a mermaid would only need half a set, so what would he do with the lower half? Collect them?

    After negotiating for half a day, Zian still lost to the customer service and paid for the entire bikini set, feeling like he had just lost a hundred million!

    Ssh!

    While Zian was brushing his teeth in front of the mirror, Sihwa stuck her head out of the bathtub and wiped the water off of her face. She hurriedly said, ¡°A-jeoan, I want to watch TV! I only watched half of the previous Korean drama, so I still want to know the ending of the series!¡±

    Zhang Zian spat out the foam in his mouth. ¡°When you wake up in the morning, you should greet someone with ¡®good morning¡¯ or even just ¡®morning.¡¯ Another thing¡­ why were you dragging your voice earlier?¡±

    ¡°I identally bit my tongue!¡± she said as she pouted her lips.

    The other elfins woke up one after another.

    Gxy jumped out of the crib and walked past the bathroom. It saw Zhang Zian standing inside so it raised up one of its front paws and greeted, ¡°Meow. Good morning, Zian.¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Gxy.¡±

    ¡°Zian, do you want to y hide and seek?¡± Gxy asked while it tilted its head.

    ¡°Maybeter. There are a lot of things to do today.¡± Zhang Zian wiped his mouth clean with a towel.

    ¡°Meow. Okay.¡± Gxy happily pushed open the living room door with its front paw, heading downstairs to y with Wendy and the American shorthairs.

    Zhang Zian said to Sihwa, ¡°Look at Gxy¨C¨Cthe first thing it does in the morning is greet others good morning, you need to start learning.¡±

    ¡°But I¡¯m not a cat¡­ acting cute is not my thing!¡± she said.

    Richard appeared from below a small nket that was next to the pillow. It pped its wings and said, ¡°Ga ga! You¡¯re right! Being stupid is your thing!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care! I don¡¯t care! I want to watch TV! I want to watch Korean dramas!¡± She swished her hair around like a rattle drum and made the whole bathroom wet with water droplets.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have a TV here! Look at me, I don¡¯t watch TV,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°You liar!¡± she said as she puffed out her cheeks. She red at Zian. ¡°I heard TV soundsing from downstairsst night! Don¡¯t think that I don¡¯t know anything!¡±

    ¡°Cough! That was this old one watching the television.¡± Old Time Tea said as it woke up. It stretched its body and put on his bamboo hat.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care! I want to watch too! I want to watch TV! I want to watch TV!¡± She continued to make a fuss about how she wanted to watch TV no matter what.

    Old Time Tea sternly said, ¡°Sihwa, this old one here is some years ahead of you, and I was here before you were. Previously, this old one did not know about television, but after watching television for some time now, this old one has some understanding towards television now.¡±

    Sihwa frowned. She couldn¡¯t reallyprehend Old Time Tea¡¯s words.

    Old Time Tea continued, ¡°This old one feels that television is not suitable for children who are too young because much of its content is still open to question. It may lead children who have yet to develop an outlook on this world towards the wrong direction. So, watching television is more suitable for adults who are able to make their own judgments.¡±

    ¡°But I¡¯m also an adult.¡± She pointed at herself and said, ¡°My swimsuit is extrarge, okay?¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    Old Time Teaughed and said, ¡°Hehe. Whether or not you¡¯re considered an adult is not determined by your body, but your mind. From what this old one sees, Sihwa, you are still too young and not suitable to be watching television.¡±

    Sihwa took in a deep breath and, just as she was about to make her retort, Old Time Tea changed his tone and said, ¡°Of course, if you behave well, it¡¯s not like we can¡¯t let you watch television.¡±

    It was clear that, since Old Time Tea grew up with Ye Wen who was very yful and mischievous during his younger days, Old Time Tea was very experienced in handling children. It was no other than the carrot and stick¡­

    Sure enough, Sihwa fell for it. She supported her hands on the edge of the bathtub and asked, ¡°So, what counts as behaving well?¡±

    ¡°You may start with the greetings in the morning,¡± Old Time Teaughed and said.

    She pouted her lips. Even though she was reluctant, the attraction of the TV was too much for her, so she softly said, ¡°Good¡­ good morning.¡±

 Chapter 752: Amazing Fate Aquarium

    <h4>Chapter 752: Amazing Fate Aquarium</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian thought Old Time Tea was really good at persuading children¨C¨Cmaybe better than it was at martial arts. It had managed to get Sihwa under control with only a few words.

    It was a pity that the regr folks could not hear Old Time Tea talk, otherwise it would be an awesome granddaddy.

    Old Time Tea stroked its beard and smiled to respond. ¡°Good morning, Sihwa. I think your name is beautiful. I hope you can be just like your name, a bright and beautiful light in this world.¡±

    ¡°Wahahaha! I think it¡¯s pretty too!¡± Sihwa lifted her head with pride.

    Old Time Tea waved secretly at Zhang Zian to call him to the side. It whispered, ¡°Zian, did you buy clothes for her? The type of clothing called swimsuits¡­¡±

    ¡°I did,¡± he answered. ¡°I ordered themst night and paid extra money for the courier. They should arrive today.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great.¡± Old Time Tea nodded dly. ¡°The ancestors used to say: ¡®When there are adequate stores, they will know what are decorums. When the people have enough food and clothing, they will know what is honor.¡¯ Getting dressed seems to be a small thing, but it ys a long-term role in psychology.¡±

    Some elfins got up and went downstairs, while some remained in bed.

    Pi got up every day, including today. After it washed its face, it put on the pince-nez, turned on theputer, and flipped open the Book of Pi to get resources for today¡¯s chapter.

    Zhang Zian walked over, grabbed a chair, sat down, and watched it type for a while.

    Pi was getting more and more skilled in typing. It was typing faster than him. He had been using the phone more often, after all. He had not typed on aputer in a long time.

    ¡°Eek?¡± Pi paused and made a gesture, asking if there was something wrong.

    Zian thought for a moment and said, ¡°Pi, regarding the Holy Cat statue¡­ was the sentence ¡®as cats meow about the changing sky, an epic encounter is about to take ce in the ocean of sand¡¯ the only clue? There was nothing else you could find?¡±

    Pi typed, ¡°What are you worried about?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m worried, indeed.¡± He smiled bitterly. ¡°Isn¡¯t it strange? Even if that Holy Cat statue is kind of spiritual, it stayed in the shop for such a long time. Why did it disappear as soon as I flew to Germany?¡±

    He was not an all-knowing god. He had been seeing the Holy Cat statue incident as an isted event, without connecting dots with the other recent events.

    Pi grinned and typed, ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Why?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Pi opened its book and pointed at a page, but it looked nk to Zhang Zian. He could not see words. The pince-nez was on Pi¡¯s nose, after all.

    It typed again, ¡°I can¡¯t get more information on the Holy Cat statue, but a few other words may be connected with it.¡±

    ¡°What words?¡± Zhang Zian asked with interest.

    He was eager to find out why Pi thought that there was nothing to worry after it knew the words.

    Pi typed with a cking noise,

    ¡°The Golden Monkey wrathfully swung his massive cudgel,

    And the jade-like firmament was cleared of dust.

    Today, we hail Sun Wukong, the wonder-worker

    As a cat demon is once more rising.¡±

    Zhang Zian gasped suddenly, then recited the poem repeatedly, especially thest verse. ¡°As a cat demon is once more rising¡­¡±

    If the Holy Cat statue, which had been silent for two thousand years, had gathered enough Strength of Faith and became an elfin, it would surely fit the verse, ¡°a cat demon is once more rising.¡±

    What was the meaning of the other three verses, then?

    As Zhang Zian was meditating, he heard the shutter door open downstairs. Maybe Lu Yiyun just arrived for work. He had left the spare key with Lu Yiyun before going to Germany, as she was watching over the shop.

    ¡°Pi, go on with your writing. I¡¯ll head downstairs and leave you to it.¡±

    As he spoke to Pi, he headed downstairs.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, good morning!¡± Lu Yiyun felt relieved upon seeing him.

    These days, she had to deal with not only the customersing to the door after they heard the news about Famous, but also the sneaky reporters from media. She could not sleep well and had barely any time to paint in the shop during the day. Her fans on Weibo had been asking every day why the Gay Pet Shop series had not been updated in a while. Gay Pet Shop was not the name of heric, but the nickname that the fans gave it¨C¨Cit was better known than its real name.

    ¡°Good morning. Thank you for the hard work these past few days.¡± Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°You can leave early this afternoon. Go back and take a good rest.¡±

    Lu Yiyun didn¡¯t decline. She was really exhausted.

    She returned the key to the shutter door to him.

    ¡°Ah, right¨C¨Ccongrattions on the award! It was a great speech! I watched the entire award ceremony, except that I couldn¡¯t understand the hostess or the guests,¡± she said bluntly.

    ¡°It¡¯s pure luck, all thanks to the excellent performance of Famous. I didn¡¯t have much to do with it.¡± He stuck the key into his pocket.

    ¡°What should we do with these gifts?¡± Lu Yiyun asked, pointing at the gifts that surrounded the cashier counter. ¡°I told them you were not here, but they insisted leaving the gifts here¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian thought for awhile. Regardless of the motive, gifts were gifts at the end of the day. Offending a good man was better than offending an evil man.

    Therefore, he instructed, ¡°Please make a list of the gifters. I brought some souvenirs from Germany. Let¡¯s return some gifts, depending on what they are.¡±

    ¡°Okay. I have a record here.¡± Lu Yiyun turned on theputer, made an Excel spreadsheet with the list of gifters, then printed it out.

    After a while, Wang Qian and Li Kun also showed up for work.

    ¡°Holy crap! Master! You are amazing! You earned your fame in Japan, Korea, the United States, and Europe!¡±

    They started making a fuss from the moment they entered. The admiration in their hearts was flowing like a river.

    ¡°Famous, did you know that your name can¡¯t be found online anymore? It¡¯s now called the ¡®Best Actor Dog!''¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master. Our ssmates heard that we work here at your shop and they want toe visit and ask for an autograph!¡±

    ¡°I think they want to call him Master! We¡¯ll have followers then. Maybe there will be a few cute girls!¡±

    They had a lot to say and wanted to continue, but Zhang Zian waved to interrupt them. ¡°Do you think they will be like you? Clean up the ce first. I¡¯ll check things out next door.¡±

    He walked out of the shop and thought, It would be nice to have a few cute girls around¡­

    ¡°Store Manager Zhang, can we get your autograph?¡±

    As he turned around, Ting Ting and Xiao Zhuang were standing behind him with envy on their faces.

    ¡°We¡¯ve all heard it. Can¡¯t believe you did it! You managed to train a dog to win the Best Actor award at the Berlin Film Festival!¡± Xiao Zhuang said with excitement.

    Zhang Zian thought to himself, Right. I can¡¯t win it if I were the actor.

    Xiao Zhuang continued, ¡°Store Manager Zhang, today is ourst day as volunteers.¡±

    Zhang Zian granted their wish and signed an autograph. ¡°Oh, congrattions. You can take the cat carrier home today, as you¡¯ve been hoping for.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s just great!¡± Ting Ting nodded seriously. ¡°We¡¯ve learned a lot about cats during our time here and feel rewarded. The old couple has been so nice to us and let us eat for free in their restaurant. We¡¯lle over to help often in the future.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to thank you on their behalf. Go inside and pick a cat carrier you like. It¡¯s my gift for you.¡± Zhang Zian pointed at the shop.

    Volunteering for 30 days straight without a break was not an easy job. They deserved the reward.

    Limited by the economical status, it was not feasible in China to establish a good pet adoption system or to punish people who abandoned their pets as Germany did. Even in Germany, stray pets could still be found in the streets, they were just very few in number. Europe was not doing welltely in the economy. Even the developed countries were short of funds.

    ¡°Right. Tell dumb and dumber in the shop that there is a big shipment arriving from Germany today. Ask them to open the package and sort it out, then bring them next door,¡± he said.

    ¡°Okay. Thank you, Store Manager Zhang.¡± Xiao Zhuang and Ting Ting walked into the shop happily to choose a cat carrier they liked.

    Zhang Zian walked next door quickly. He had taken off the old shoe store¡¯s sign the moment he had taken over the shop. Now the shop was bare on the outside, without any signs.

    He took out the keys and opened the door, a decision already made in his heart. First, he was nning to name it the ¡°Branch of Amazing Pet Shop,¡± but now, ¡°Amazing Fate Aquarium¡± seemed like a more suitable name.

 Chapter 753: Between the Lotus Leaves the Fishes Play

    <h4>Chapter 753: Between the Lotus Leaves the Fishes y</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    At its present state, the Amazing Fate Aquarium was dirt poor. There were many things that needed to be done, and there was nothing in the shop other than just an empty space. But it was okay; Karl had already sent over a batch of aquarium equipment from Germany, and there would be more following after. As for the aquarium tanks, Zian had ns to buy a batch of ordinary ones first, then make a custom order for extrarge ones to impress and shock customers the moment they stepped into the shop.

    Karl¡¯srge aquarium tank in his aquarium¨C¨Cthe one that could also be used as a screen¨C¨Chad left a really deep impression on Zhang Zian. Karl had kept an Antic Sturgeon in that aquarium tank, and Zhang Zian had ns to order a simr one.

    Zian looked around the first floor after he entered the shop. Fortunately, after he took over the shoe shop, he had done some changes to the water and electricity supply. He increased the number of sockets on the wall, just in case there was ever any need for them.

    Marine lives were very sensitive to temperatures; sometimes the temperature would have to be warmer, and at other times it has to be cooler. And basically, all aquarium equipment required electricity. It wouldn¡¯t be nice seeing a bunch of plug extensions all around the shop.

    And lights. Marine life, including corals, all requiredmps of varying intensity and colors¨C¨Cnot only to provide light but also to enhance the atmosphere and have the customers enjoy the beautiful creatures at a nce.

    Zian seemed to have inadvertently walked around the first floor, but he was actually pondering about the cement of the aquarium tanks, trying to make good use of all the space.

    When he reached the stairs, he made his way up to the second floor.

    A small part of the second floor served as the delivery room for the Abyssinian cats, but the Abyssinian cats wouldn¡¯t be delivering throughout the year, so the delivery room would be empty most of the time. The other spaces were also empty, just like the first floor.

    Zian gently pushed open the door of a delivery room, and the vignt female cat raised her head. She recognized Zian after she saw him, so she rxed andy down again to continue licking the fur of the kittens in her embrace.

    In the few days that he had been away from Binhai City, the kittens were now able to open their eyes, and they looked much better than when they were newly born. The kittens curiously looked at their new and unfamiliar world, nudging around in the female cat¡¯s embrace as they looked for the optimal position to drink her milk.

    The two female cats had been living in the delivery room to avoid theing and going of customers from disturbing them. Their activity space was rtively smaller, and the food they ate was rich in nutrients¨C¨Csoup that was made from four medium-sized carps were served every day, and a can of cat food was opened during the night for their supper. As a result of that, they had grown a size bigger.

    But after the kittens grew up, the female cats would be able to return to the pet shop and continue their life of jumping up and down daily. Soon, they would be able to regain their slim and healthy figure.

    Although the kittens had just opened their eyes, they were about the size of a soybean. Their eyes were not fully opened yet, and the kittens were about the size of a mobile phone. After they had their fill, the kittens gathered together and yed like a bunch of furballs. During that, one could see their tiny milky teeth in their mouth.

    When they were just born, the fur all over their body was very dark, but as they slowly grew up, the fur on the different parts of their body had started changing its shade. The stripes on their forehead were more obvious, and the color of the fur around their chest and neck area was getting lighter in the shade. Especially the area below their neck¨C¨Cit had a milky white color that was slightly yellow, just like putting on a napkin before a meal.

    Most of the kittens still didn¡¯t really know how to run; they just squirmed and crawled their way around the female cat, but the little kitten that had previously been reserved could already run. Although it would still fall from time to time, it would climb up again immediately, just like an adventurous explorer.

    Zhang Zian then checked on the situation in the other delivery room; there was nothing unusual.

    He lowered the power of the electric nket under the cat¡¯s nest since spring was just around the corner for Binhai City.

    In every delivery room, a small booklet hung on the wall. Zian flipped open the booklet and took a look. Recorded in the booklet was the weight of the kittens from the day of their birth. Lu Yiyun was the one who kept the record during the period that Zian was away from Binhai City.

    Roughly browsing through the data, the weight of the kittens increased every day by just a little more than 10 grams, sometimes more and sometimes less. After all, whether or not they relieved themselves had a big influence on their weight as well, but the average over the weeks was roughly as such.

    A stable increase in weight was an indication of great health.

    Zian then picked up each kitten one by one and weighed them on the kitchen scale before indicating the date on the booklet and filling up the table.

    Each time he was done weighing a kitten, the female cat took the initiative and carried the kitten back to the cat¡¯s nest.

    During the current stage of life, the female cat liked to remain in the dark with its kittens. For health reasons, however, the kittens should be exposed to the sun more in order to help with the replenishment of their vitamin D levels.

    So he pulled open the curtains and let the morning sun shine into the room¨C¨Cit was just nice exposing the female cat and her kittens to the sunlight. The sun disyed the Abyssinian cat¡¯s unique two to three band colored fur coat.

    Jingle.

    The noise of a door opening and closing came from downstairs.

    ¡°Master! We are here! Your mail is here!¡±

    It was Wang Qian and Li Kun delivering the mail. Since there was nothing wrong with the kittens and the female cat, Zhang Zian shut the door of the delivery room and headed downstairs.

    Li Kun held onto the door as Wang Qian moved the items in the store one by one. Written on the boxes were German words and some were in English.

    ¡°Master, you have told us to sort out the items before bringing them over, but we don¡¯t even know what these items are!¡± Li Kun said bitterly.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun¡¯s family, including their rtives, all raised cats and dogs at home, so they were familiar with how to care for them.

    They also had rtives that kept fish, but it was mostly freshwater fish raised with an extensive feeding system. For example, they used the outdoor concrete and red bricks as the fish pond, then threw in a few Koi and Goldfish. Aside from feeding them from time to time, there was nothing more to worry about. The fish would have to be kept indoors during the winter, but they could be left outside during the other three seasons.

    Although there were some courageous people who decided to leave the fish outdoors during the winter, since the Gold Crucian Carp and Koi were known to be easy to care for, even if the surface of the water was frozen, they still might not die from the cold.

    From the Qing Dynasty, a jingle had been spread that portrayed the life of the old Beijing courtyard house vividly¨C¨Cthe canopy, the fish tank, and a pomegranate tree; the mister, the fat dog, and a fat girl.

    It was a short, two-sentence jingle that mentioned six different things, and two were rted to animals! In the two sentences, there were only two adjectives and no verbs, yet an image of a tranquil lifestyle unfolded before one¡¯s eyes, making them yearn for it.

    The older people of Beijing liked to keep goldfish in a big fish tank in their courtyard houses, and others with a higher social ss would nt lotus, water lilies, and other nts in the fish tank.

    Picking lotus in the south of the river, where lotus leaves gather.

    Among the lotus leaves, the fishes swim and y.

    North to South, East, and West, the fishes gather to swim and y.

    So even without going down to the south of the river, or without leaving the courtyard house, they could enjoy the beautiful scenery with a smile, fanning their cattail leaf fan while under the canopy, and looking among the lotus leaves where the fishes swam and yed.

 Chapter 754: Absolutely a Misunderstanding

    <h4>Chapter 754: Absolutely a Misunderstanding</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    From the expression, ¡°Sheds, fishbowls, pomegranate trees; men, fat dogs, chubby girls,¡± it could be inferred just how much the old Beijing residents loved fish and dogs. The rich and cozy life in the Siheyuan, the Chinese courtyard houses, made both dogs and girls chubby.

    At the end of summer, at the beginning of the fall, there were fewer and fewer mosquitoes. Teachers were reading with rhythm in the study. They grabbed a reclining chair, sat under the shed full of purple grapes, and opened a red pomegranate. Ripe pomegranate seeds exuded sweet juice between the teeth.

    An old, fat dog was lying on its stomach next to the reclining chair,zily flicking its tongue from time to time. Dense condensation formed on the exterior wall of the fishbowl, gathered slowly under gravity, and dripped down the bowl, moistening the green rocks.

    A goldfish with bulging eyes was blowing bubbles and frolicking among the dark green lotus leaves. A fair and chubby girl was running merrily and freely in the Siheyuan. From that moment on, a good life was always closely connected to pets.

    The indoor people owned cats. The active, outdoor people owned dogs. Those who wished to cultivate their tastes and mold their characters owned fish.

    Of course, the Siheyuan life in Beijing could no longer be enjoyed by ordinary folks. A courtyard could easily cost a billion dors.

    The older generation was not very fussy about the fish. Besides, goldfish, grass goldfish, and koi fish were coldwater fish that were resistant to low temperatures. Even in winter, it was unnecessary to move the fish tank indoors. In addition, the fish tanks in the old Beijing Siheyuan were not only for the fish. They were also used as fire hydrants. In case one house caught on fire, people drew water from the nearest fish tank to extinguish the fire.

    As the greenhouse effect worsened, snowfall became rarer in the winter. But in the past, it used to be very cold in Beijing, and the fish tanks were covered with a thickyer of ice after winter began. As spring arrived and the ice melted, people would, surprisingly, find the fish swimming again in the tanks, as if they had not been affected by the frozen water.

    With the development of time and technology, people became fussier with fish. Apart from goldfish, grass goldfish, and koi, there was a growing demand for fish that were rarer, more delicate, and colorful, so it was time for a variety of aquarium equipment to make their debut.

    The careful fish owners would normally buy some simple equipment online or from the aquarium market, such as heating rods, pumps, filtering devices, filters, along with some fish food toplete the list. It would cost 50 to 60 yuan in total, enough to care for at least half of the freshwater fish.

    The more serious fisher owners¨C¨Cthe ones who knew how to search for information online¨C¨Cmight add some nitrifying bacteria,monly used fish medicine, and oxygen pumps, while changing their tank water on a regr basis. That was enough for 80% of the freshwater fish.

    But raising saltwater creatures was much moreplicated. Wang Qian and Li Kun stared at the eye-dazzling equipment, not knowing what to do. Zhang Zian could not possibly take care of the entire aquarium all by himself. He absolutely needed Wang Qian and Li Kun to take care of the daily tasks. Therefore, he pointed at the equipment and started exining to them one by one.

    ¡°We know this one. Is this a filter?¡± they asked as they yed with one device.

    ¡°Yes. But do you know what kind of filter it is?¡± Zhang Zian asked them.

    They looked puzzled. ¡°This¡­ Isn¡¯t a filter a filter? Just put some grinding wheels or filtering pads inside so that it can filter the fish poop out.¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head andughed. ¡°Filters are not that simple. The filtration system is the most important piece of equipment in the aquarium, as they determine if the fish can live for a long time in the tanks.¡±

    There were roughly three types of filtration: physical filtration, biological filtration, and secondary filtration. Physical filtration was the filtration of fish poop and food residue, which Wang Qian and Li Kun were referring to. Biological filtration was the nitrogen cycling system, in which the ammonia from fish poop degradation was transformed into harmless nitrates. Secondary filtration included a protein skimmer, ozone generator, calcium reactor, denitrator, UV sterilizer, etc.

    For each type that Zian talked about, he pointed at the corresponding piece of equipment so that they could remember the names and shapes and not confuse them. As for the use of each device, they could take their time to learn them in the future.

    Apart from the filters, there were different kinds of lights, heating rods, hydrometers, dipsticks, and other misceneous items.

    Not all of the equipment was shipped from Germany. He ordered many of them online before returning to China. Some of the equipment was less important, so he didn¡¯t need to get the expensive ones.

    Wang Qian took an aquarium fish out of the package and asked doubtfully, ¡°Master, you only need a few fishs. Why did you buy a whole box? Can you possibly use all of theses? Or was the supplier only selling in bulk and refused to sell them individually?¡±

    Li Kun felt the same. They both felt that a wasteful purchase was unlike Zhang Zian.

    There were 100 fishs in the box in multiple colors.

    ¡°No.¡± Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°I was about to remind you. In the future, when you take fish out of the tank, you must remember to use a separate for each tank¨C¨Cnever mix them. Otherwise, if the fish in one tank get sick, it will soon infect all the fish.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ Is this like not sharing a syringe?¡± Li Kun asked, understanding Zian¡¯s point.

    ¡°More or less,¡± Zhang Zian confirmed.

    When shopping in aquarium markets and shops for ornamental fish, the customers only saw the thriving fish tanks and the smiling shop owners counting their money. They would never imagine that the first thing that the owners did each morning before they opened their business was dump dead fish outside and cry¡­ They only saw the best but didn¡¯t see the worst.

    Fish diseases were usually highly infectious, and they had a long period of incubation before they showed symptoms. By the time the symptoms were seen, it was usually toote. Therefore, disease prevention and timely quarantine were crucial. Mixing aquariums was one of the important, but often overlooked, route of transmission. Many aquarium owners who rushed into the business ended up learning their lesson after losing tens and hundreds of thousands of dors.

    Karl had reminded him specifically about this.

    The first task that Zhang Zian had assigned to Wang Qian and Li Kun was tobel each fish with serial numbers on stickers from one to one hundred that corresponded to each aquarium tank. They could not mix them under any circumstance.

    They nodded in agreement.

    ¡°Is there anything else that you still don¡¯t know the function of?¡± Zhang Zian asked again.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun looked at each other.

    Zhang Zian detected the strange look on their faces. ¡°What¡¯s the matter? If you don¡¯t understand anything, just ask. Never pretend that you understand everything. It¡¯s okay if you don¡¯t get it all. Nobody can get everything from the beginning.¡±

    ¡°Master, we know this¡­¡± they mumbled hesitantly. ¡°But¡­¡±

    ¡°But what? Just ask your question,¡± Zhang Zian hurried them. ¡°I have things to doter.¡±

    Li Kun picked up a box behind him. ¡°Master, you asked us to sort the packages and move them. But we really can¡¯t figure out what this is for¡­ We thought that it was delivered by mistake, but the recipient¡¯s name is yours.¡±

    He took an itsy-bitsy, light blue bikini set shakily out of the box, one piece in each hand.

    ¡°Master, could you please tell us¡­ What did you buy these for?¡±

    Zhang Zian pretended to be calm. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a gift.¡±

    They said in tears, ¡°Don¡¯t lie to us, Master! Even if you are a drag queen, we will never despise you!¡±

    ¡°Oh, crap! What are you thinking? This is really a gift!¡± Zhang Zian rified desperately.

    Heaven knows where the brains of dumb and dumber are!

    ¡°But you don¡¯t have a girlfriend or a wife¡­ Who is this bikini set for? Isn¡¯t it an inappropriate gift for a regr female friend?¡± They would not let this go.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know how to answer them. He could not possibly tell them that it was for a mermaid in his bathtub, could he?

    ¡°This¡­ Is it your business who I¡¯m going to give it to? Can¡¯t it be for my own collection?¡±

    ¡°Collection?¡±

    After hearing Zian¡¯s excuse, Wang Qian and Li Kun changed their view of him from a ¡°pervert,¡± to a ¡°BIG pervert¡­¡±

 Chapter 755: Top-up for a Bugatti!

    <h4>Chapter 755: Top-up for a Bugatti!</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°No, please look at my eyes¡­ Things are now as you all imagine; you have to listen to my exnation¡­¡± Zhang Zian said solemnly.

    However, no matter how much he tried to rify, Wang Qian and Li Kun both seemed to firmly believe that he was either a secret crossdresser, or a pervert who was fond of collecting bikinis.

    Li Kun quickly packed the swimsuit back into the packaging, then handed the parcel back to Zhang Zian with deference and respect. He wondered if the swimsuit still had any of its previous smell? He¡¯d better wash his hands after going back to work¨C¨Cit wouldn¡¯t be good to contract some weird sickness¡­

    Li Kun had heard that the Germans had a unique taste for things on the stronger end¡­ even the German adult videos provided a stronger and heavier stimtion. He thought that Master¡¯s trip to Germany was really not a wasted trip now; he also had their kind of preferences¡­

    Zhang Zian was in a dilemma as he looked at the bikini swimsuit that Li Kun was handing over. If he wanted to me anyone, he could only me the mail for being sent over today.

    Even if he chose not to receive it, they would probably think it was a cover-up, so Zian could only take it from his hands and quickly change the subject. ¡°Oh right, do the two of you have your driver¡¯s license?¡±

    ¡°Driver¡¯s license? Yes, we just got itst summer. We enrolled together and took the test together.¡± The two of them were in a blur, unsure as to why Zhang Zian would suddenly bring up that question.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°Okay then. I was nning on buying a car, but it will be driven by the two of you most of the time.¡±

    ¡°Buying a car?¡± They suddenly got excited after hearing the news. ¡°Master, are you nning to get a Ferrari or a Lamborghini? No no, those two cars are not worthy of you¡­ It must be a Bugatti Veyron!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master! I can¡¯t believe that we are going to be able to touch a Bugatti Veyron¡¯s steering wheel during our lifetime!¡±

    ¡°A rtive in my family just got marriedst year and he borrowed an Audi A8 from his friend as the wedding car. I heard that he had given the car owner a 1,000 dor red packet. So if it¡¯s a Bugatti Veyron as the wedding car, the red packet should at least be 10,000 dors, right?¡±

    ¡°Are you an idiot? Bugatti Veyron as a wedding car? The minimum price starts at 100,000! You also don¡¯t get to bargain!¡±

    They continued saying a sentence each, both immersed in their beautiful dream of driving in a Bugatti Veyron up to the peak of life.

    Zhang Zian looked at them with a cold face and a few words slid out from between his teeth. ¡°Bugatti your sister! Are the two of you paying? Of course I¡¯m getting the high-performance, super-enduring, giant-capacity, and aesthetically pleasing Wuling Hong Guang S MPV!¡±

    The two of them still didn¡¯t give up. ¡°Master, are you nning to buy a Bugatti Veyron and paste the logo of the Wuling Hong Guang S on the back of it? I heard that this is the new way to show off!¡±

    Starting an aquarium but not having one¡¯s own transportation was definitely a no go. There were always things to transport¨C¨Cwhether it was the aquarium tanks or the equipment, which were all very heavy, or the marine life themselves that had to be transported in water, which would make them heavy and take up a lot of space. So borrowing a car was not going to work and pulling a tricycle like before would not be efficient, so he had to buy a car.

    Zhang Zian also desired to buy a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, and he might even be looked down upon by the salesperson at the 4S shop, which would start the ssic story of shaming the salesperson¡­ Hitting up girls would no longer be a problem in a luxury car!

    As for the Bugatti Veyron, forget about it¨C¨Che didn¡¯t even dare to think about it. But the problem was that he couldn¡¯t afford any of them, and the sports cars could not be used to deliver goods. They werepletely impractical, so he could only leave them in his thoughts.

    Since his options were based on practicality as the main reason, the Wuling Hong Guang MPV¨C¨Cwhich could fetch people and deliver goods, while it was also spacious, fuel-efficient, and drove through rough terrain like tnd¨C¨Cwould obviously end up as his top choice.

    Seeing that Zian was really nning to get a Wuling Hong Guang MPV, both Wang Qian and Li Kun couldn¡¯t help but feel disappointed.

    Zhang Zian then asked them about the location of any nearby building materials market. He nned to head down an order for a batch of aquarium tanks.

    Zian left them tobel the fishs with the serial numbers and headed back to the pet shop by himself, where met Lu Yiyun, who had printed out the name list of the people that had sent gifts for him. Zhang Zian then went back upstairs, holding the name list in one hand and the bikini box with the other.

    Pi was concentrated on typing in front of theputer; it did not even hear Zian¡¯s footsteps.

    Sounds of water sshing could be hearding from the bathroom, so Zian walked in to see that it was Sihwa in the bathtub, ying with the little yellow duck toys on the water with great interest.

    She held a little yellow duck in each hand, letting them kiss in one moment, then letting them embrace each other the next moment. She even did a voice-over for them; she was having a great time.

    ¡°Here, your swimsuit has arrived. Put it on before ying.¡± Zhang Zian handed the whole box to her. ¡°See if it fits. If it doesn¡¯t then we can exchange it. Fortunately, I bought the freight insurance.¡±

    Sihwa reluctantly let go of the little yellow ducks, then took out the swimsuit and curiously looked at it. ¡°How do I put this on?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t ask me! You can figure it out yourself! I don¡¯t know!¡± Zhang Zian had just been mistaken as a crossdresser, so he was currently in a sensitive state.

    ¡°I¡¯ll head out first. Let me know once you¡¯re done.¡±

    Zian walked over to the living room and looked at the novel that Pi had worked on for a while, then he heard Sihwa call out, ¡°Ajeo-an! I¡¯ve put it on!¡±

    ¡°How is it? Does it fit?¡±

    Zian made his way back into the bathroom to see that Sihwa had already put on the top half of the bikini, and was ying around with the triangle trunks.

    ¡°Where should I put this on? On my head?¡± she asked while looking bewildered.

    ¡°Don¡¯t bother about that! Just throw it to the side! It¡¯s not for you to wear!¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    She felt that it was a pity when she heard him, but she still threw the trunks to the side and moved her seaweed-like dark green curly hair to the side. With her arms at her sides, she asked, ¡°How is it? Do I look good?¡±

    The light blue bikini swimsuit matched well with her light blue fishtail and translucent caudal fin¨C¨Cit felt whole. Whether it was the size or color, it couldn¡¯t be any more matching, and it made her skin look fairer.

    ¡°Pretty good,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°Hehe!¡± Sihwa was happy and she continued to y with her little yellow ducks.

    This pair of little yellow ducks were Zhang Zian¡¯s toys when he was younger. They were already very old and were thrown in the corner of a storage box that was beside the bathtub. It wasn¡¯t clear on how she dug it out.

    He listened carefully. Sihwa was reciting a nursery rhyme that she made. ¡°One little yellow duck, two little yellow duck, swimming over to meet oppa¡­¡±

    ¡°Sihwa, I have something to ask you.¡±

    After she had put on her swimsuit, Zhang Zian was now able to face her from a closer distance.

    ¡°Hm?¡± she replied without even raising her head up.

    ¡°Previously, while we were still at the beach in Germany, there were many different marine creatures around you¡­ Do you remember? There was also a white whale in the sea that seemed like it was singing a song with you,¡± Zian said.

    ¡°Yep yep.¡± She nodded, but her eyes were still focused on the little yellow duck.

    Zhang Zian pondered for a moment. ¡°What I want to ask is¡­ those marine creatures, would they follow you all the way here?¡±

    It would cause some trouble if that was the case. A batch of unknown marine creatures gathering at Binhai City was going to cause an uproar.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± She swished her hair and shook her head. ¡°Maybe.¡±

 Chapter 756: Weeping from the Distant Ocean

    <h4>Chapter 756: Weeping from the Distant Ocean</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In his dreams, Zhang Zian could see the nameless cape in Germany, packed with weird ocean creatures. He had even created weirder creatures in his dreams.

    Many unimaginable creatures were lurking in the unfathomably deep ocean. If these creatures were attracted to Binhai City because of Sihwa¡¯s presence here, it would be hard to imagine the consequences. When ferocious sharks, giants whales, and giant squids gathered at the harbor, there would surely be havoc.

    The mermaid was almost a weapon of mass destruction!

    Therefore, Zhang Zian was concerned with the answer to the question.

    Sihwa shook her head with ignorance, suggesting that she had no idea.

    Apparently, summoning ocean creatures was a passive skill that she owned. Maybe the source was in her description: ¡°Creatures with scales all miss her, ande for a sleepover.¡± Maybe she was too pretty and attracted a multitude of ocean creatures toe around and fall asleep with her.

    Zhang Zian scratched his head. What could he do?

    Sihwa waspletely unaware of the seriousness of this issue and continued to y with the little ducks while she sang a nursery rhyme that she made up.

    ¡°One yellow duck, two yellow ducks, swimming away to meet Oppa. Oppa is not home, so theye back for Sihwa¡­¡±

    ¡°Quack!¡±

    Richard fluttered its wings and flew downstairs. As it happened to hear him talk, it interrupted, ¡°You idiot! Did you forget it? Didn¡¯t she sing a song back then and the white whale left? In my opinion, you should have called the whale back, then rode it to meet the Japanese porn star that you can¡¯t get out of your mind. This fits that description: ¡®Zian rides a whale to Japan today. When will hee back on a crane¡¯s back?''¡±

    Zhang Zian picked up a bar of soap and threw it to Richard. ¡°F**k off! This is a freaking eulogy!¡±

    ¡°Quack!¡± Richard dodged it coyly, then flew downstairs to tease the other elfins. Its noise in the stairwell could be heard from a distance. ¡°Lift your head to throw a soap, then bend your body to offer your butt! I finallypleted this ancient poem!¡±

    As soon as it left, the second floor turned quiet.

    Zhang Zian thought about it carefully and realized that it made sense. Not the butt offering, of course, but the white whale leaving the coast after hearing Sihwa¡¯s song and diving back to the deep ocean. It suggested that, although she could not manipte the ocean creatures to not follow her, she was able to make them leave.

    ¡°Sihwa, at the German beach, did you sing to the white whale? Then it left?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yeah.¡± She nodded without paying much attention.

    ¡°Can you repeat the magic and make the ocean creatures approaching Binhai City leave?¡±

    She nodded, and then shook her head. ¡°They are too far and can¡¯t hear me.¡±

    ¡°This means that if the creatures are too far away, they can¡¯t hear you sing?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Fine. He didn¡¯t think of this.

    If Sihwa was able to leave the pet shop and sing at the beach or in the sea, it would have been fine. But she could not leave the pet shop¡­

    Should he try to record her songs, and then y them at the beach?

    But that could not work, either¡­ Even if he yed them at the beach, how far could the song possibly travel?

    Zhang Zian could not figure of a better idea. He didn¡¯t foresee so much trouble in bringing the mermaid to Binhai City.

    He wanted to take a walk downstairs so he could figure out a new way. Then Sihwa murmured to herself, ¡°If Oppa hears my song, will hee here to look for me¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible,¡± Zhang Zian said, killing her thought from the start. ¡°Isn¡¯t your Oppa in Korea? It¡¯s hundreds of kilometers away!¡±

    She pouted. ¡°Hundreds of kilometers? How far is hundreds of kilometers? But I can clearly hear the whales weep in that direction.¡±

    As she spoke, she lifted one arm and pointed towards the northeast.

    What?

    Zhang Zian paused and looked towards where she was pointing, but all he saw was the wall of the bathroom.

    ¡°Wait, what you do mean?¡± he asked. ¡°You heard the whales weeping? You can hear the whales weeping from here? Why can¡¯t I hear it?¡±

    ¡°Because you are an idiot! Didn¡¯t that bird call you an idiot just now?¡± She made faces at him.

    Zhang Zian was not in the mood to joke with her. He asked seriously, ¡°Sihwa, please answer me seriously. Can you hear the whales now?¡±

    Sihwa rolled her eyes sneakily. ¡°Do I get a reward if I answer correctly?¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course,¡± he answered quickly.

    ¡°What¡¯s the reward? I want to watch TV!¡± she said excitedly.

    Zhang Zian thought about it. ¡°I can promise to shorten your waiting time, but it¡¯s not possible to watch TV right away, as I only have one TV at home and Grandpa Tea is watching it. You see, Grandpa Tea is very old. We should respect the elderly, right?¡±

    ¡°Is it the tea-colored old cat who asked me to get dressed?¡± she asked childishly.

    ¡°Yes. Its name is Old Time Tea. You can call it Grandpa Tea, like I do,¡± Zhang Zian answered.

    She was reluctant, but agreed. ¡°You promise?¡±

    ¡°I promise,¡± he agreed generously. ¡°Now, answer my question.¡±

    ¡°I can hear them. Not only the whales over there, but also the ones there, there, there, and there!¡± As she spoke, she waved her hand around, covering almost the entire 180 degree range from two o¡¯clock to seven o¡¯clock. She looked serious and didn¡¯t seem to be joking.

    Zhang Zian understood.

    The human sound covered two to three octaves, but a whales¡¯ sound covered eight octaves. They could emit sound from low murmurs, barely audible to human ears, to high-pitched sounds that were sharp enough to pierce the ear drums.

    The sound traveled at a speed of 340 meters/second in the air under ambient temperature, but in the ocean, the speed could reach 1500 meters/second.

    Whales used low-frequency sound waves for long-distancemunication. They were even able to send simple signals to friends thousands of kilometers away.

    Low-frequency sound waves alone were not sufficient to travel such a long distance. The reason that whales were able to achieve this was because of the presence of SOFAR channel, or deep sound channel in the ocean. The SOFAR channels were wateryers capable of conducting the sound wave due to density difference. These SOFAR channels were only open to low-frequency sound waves, an exclusive privilege of whales.

    Whales¡¯ sound signals wereplicated in nature, and different types of whales emitted different sounds. Even the same type of whales living in different regions carried unique regional ents, just like humans.

    As they sang tirelessly in the ocean, were they having a conversation? Or singing songs to amuse themselves? Despite extensive research in recent years, humans still had no idea.

    Sihwa said she could hear the whales¡¯ sound, then pointed in four different directions at the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, and the South China Sea, which suggested that she could hear the low-frequency waves from whales in the surrounding seas. Maybe it was the privilege of an elfin.

    As soon as he figured it out, Zhang Zian asked again in surprise, ¡°Sihwa, why are the whales crying?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± She shook her head with doubt. ¡°All I know is they are weeping.¡±

    Low-frequency sound waves could travel a very long distance, but carried very little information, around one bit per second. Inparison, each word that a human uttered contained ten bits of information.

    Therefore, Sihwa was not lying, nor was she passing the question around. She did hear the whales crying, but didn¡¯t know why they were crying.

    Maybe, in a moment, new information would be transmitted.

    As expected, she tilted her ears and listened again, then said, ¡°The sound is chaotic, as if they are running away and being hunted. They are being¡­ killed¡­ by humans¡­¡±

    As she spoke, she looked frightened. Her smooth and fair skin was covered with a thinyer of goosebumps as she shuddered.

    ¡°Okay, stop listening. I get it now,¡± Zhang Zian interrupted her.

    She stared at him in confusion, with her mouth half-open, waiting for him to exin.

    ¡°This is whale hunting. Someone was poaching whales in Korea.¡± Zhang Zian sighed. ¡°This is clearly a vition to international agreements. But¡­ It¡¯s hard to stop thempletely.¡±

 Chapter 757: The Gentleman is Poor

    <h4>Chapter 757: The Gentleman is Poor</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Whaling was a long-standing activity of mankind, especially in countries with abundant fishery resources and cold seas. However, with human¡¯s indiscriminate killing, the number of whales continued to decrease. As a result, the internationalmunity had since banned whaling in the year 1986.

    It was no exaggeration to say that every part of a whale was a treasure. Other by-products in modern society had their own substitutes¨C¨Cexcept for whale meat, which was irreceable.

    Fishermen in developed countries were able to earn more than $80,000 for each whale they caught. Catching one a year would be middle ss, and catching two would make the people reach a higher ss. As for restaurants that served whale meat as delicacies, they would be able to double their profits earned.

    Driven by high profit earning, even though the international convention had explicitly prohibited whaling formercial purposes, it had repeatedly failed to stop whaling activities. Because the international convention required each respective country to abide by it, if an individual country decided close one¡¯s eyes to the matter, then nothing else could be done.

    Some countries were whaling in the open, and some were whaling under the excuse of scientific research, while there were also those that did it in secret.

    Zhang Zian had heard that some people in South Korea, under the reason of ¡°Bycatch,¡± had been whaling secretly, and as long as a customer was willing to pay, they would be able to enjoy fresh whale meat in the restaurant. So when he saw Sihwa pointing towards the northeast, he immediately recalled the rumors about South Koreans poaching whales.

    Yet Sihwa didn¡¯t believe his words. ¡°A-jeoan, you¡¯re lying¡­ right? Whales are so cute, the South Koreans would never poach whales! Something must have gone wrong somewhere!¡±

    She refused to believe that her oppa would be holding up a fork and knife to taste the delicious whale meat with a bright smile on his face.

    Zhang Zian wanted to refute, but he swallowed his words back after he opened his mouth because there was no evidence.

    Sihwa pointed towards the northeast, but the northeast was a veryrge area¨C¨Cit included South Korea, Japan, and the far eastern regions of Russia. Those three countries were well-developed in offshore fishing and they all had a tradition of whaling.

    There were certain species of whales that were not endangered and the whaling of such whales was permitted under certain circumstances.

    Zhang Zian felt very angry; he clearly had an opportunity to bring a white whale back, but because he was aw-abiding citizen, he gave up on the opportunity. Now, someone else had secretly earned this money that he had given up on, so he was feeling really unhappy!

    This cannot do. Don¡¯t even think about earning the money that I can¡¯t earn!

    So he did not continue to dwell on which country was secretly whaling, but said, ¡°Sihwa, you don¡¯t want those whales to be hunted by humans, right?¡±

    She nodded her head. ¡°Whales are really cute! The white whale apanied me all the way until I got stranded ashore on the beach at Germany! When I was tired, it would float up to the surface of the water and let me take a rest on its back; when I was thinking about oppa, it would sing a song for me; when I was lost in the open sea, it would swim in front and lead the way¡ªalthough it was stupid for leading me the wrong way and taking me all the way to Germany instead of South Korea¡­¡±

    As she went on, she started to get depressed.

    In fact, Zhang Zian felt as though she had no right to say that the white whale was stupid since it did at least lead her to the shore. If she had continued to swim foolishly, she probably would have swam all the way to Bermuda.

    Now, even if you take ten thousand steps back and say, ¡°If the white whale did manage to lead her all the way to South Korea, it would probably be served up the dining table as a te of whale meat¡­¡±

    ¡°Then, Sihwa, do you have any way to send messages to those whales?¡± Zian asked.

    ¡°I do. I can sing!¡± she said.

    ¡°They can hear you from such a distance away?¡± Zian continued asking.

    She gave a look like she was looking at an idiot. ¡°Ajeo-an, are you looking down on me? I can hear them sing, so of course they can hear me sing, too!¡±

    ¡°You misunderstood me¨C¨CI was just trying to confirm.¡± Zhang Zianughed and said, ¡°Then can you make those whales that are being hunted swim here? We don¡¯t hunt whales around here, and of course, we don¡¯t have any interest in whale meat.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± She stared at him suspiciously. ¡°Chinese people are very poor, right?¡±

    Zhang Zian paused and said, ¡°¡­You learned that from Korean dramas?¡±

    ¡°En!¡± She nodded her head with force. ¡°I knew it was all true after seeing this shabby bathroom of yours!¡±

    Zhang Zian almost knelt down. Sorry, I brought shame to the Chinese!

    ¡°Actually, Chinese people are not considered very poor, at least not like how you imagined. Putting those first-tier cities in North Canton aside, even the living standards of a second, third-tier city like Binhai City are notcking in any aspect whenpared with South Korea¡ªbut of course, there¡¯s still a gap whenpared to much more developed countries like Europe and America,¡± Zian quickly exined.

    ¡°So it¡¯s just you who¡¯s poor?¡± She obviously didn¡¯t believe his words.

    Zhang Zian felt that there was still benefits in letting her watch television¨C¨Cif it was movies like Little Times or the news broadcast, they would at least refresh the image of China being ¡°poor¡± in her head.

    But forget about it. If she were to watch Little Times, her personality might start to develop in a more unpredictable direction¡­

    ¡°Actually, I¡¯m not poor.¡± Zian himself was not convinced by his own words. He started counting with his fingers. ¡°Look, I have a house, a car¡­¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s the car?¡± She pulled open the curtain beside the bathtub and looked downstairs.

    ¡°It will be here soon!¡± Zhang Zian stressed. ¡°That¡¯s not the point, the point is: I still have cats! Some of them might look well off, but they don¡¯t have a single cat!¡±

    Now it was Sihwa¡¯s turn to be speechless.

    She seriously thought about it and it seemed true that there really were very few male leads who owned a cat in Korean dramas.

    ¡°That¡¯s not right!¡± She suddenly realized that her thoughts were being misled by Zhang Zian. Unwilling to concede, she pointed at his face and said, ¡°The cats that you raise have a bad personality! Especially that fat Orange Tabby!¡±

    ¡°Who did you say had a bad personality? And who¡¯s a fat Orange Tabby?¡±

    Fina was hungry and came upstairs to rush Zian, as he did not seem to be heading out soon to get lunch. Coincidentally, it overheard Sihwa talking bad about her, and was immediately unhappy.

    Sihwa blinked her eyes. ¡°Is there another Orange Tabby here?¡±

    Truthfully speaking, the two of them had no right to despise one another, as they were the same.

    The two of them were like natural enemies, and seeing that the cat and the fish were going to start a fight again, Zhang Zian quickly changed the subject. ¡°Sihwa, I have a way to prove that I¡¯m not poor, and the proof for that is that I once bought a diamond for Fina!¡±

    ¡°Ha?¡± Sihwa eyes were wide in shock. ¡°You bought a diamond for this Orange Tabby?¡±

    Fina jumped off its princess bed and pulled out a shiny diamond ring from below its pillow. It then put the ring on the tip of its paws to show off and red at Sihwa.

    ¡°¡­Okay then. Now I know why you¡¯re poor.¡± Sihwa sighed.

    Zhang Zian let out a dry cough. ¡°Let¡¯s put all of this aside first. Sihwa, tell the whales that are being hunted to swim over here¨C¨Cas long as they swim into China¡¯s exclusive economic zone, there would be boats from the China Marine Surveince, Coast Guard, and the Administration of Fishery that would protect them.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± She still didn¡¯t believe him.

    Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders. ¡°You can give it a try since you won¡¯t get pregnant from trying, either.¡±

 Chapter 758: Missing Money in the Five Elements

    <h4>Chapter 758: Missing Money in the Five Elements</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sihwa doubted Zhang Zian¡¯s remarks; his behavior and the old-fashioned decoration in his bathroom had left her with a shabby impression. Could he guarantee that once the whales entered an exclusive economic zone in China, they would never be hunted by Chinese fishing ships?

    Zhang Zian was confident because the Chinese did not traditionally consume whale meat and there was no other body parts worth hunting for illegally.

    Despite the fact that many animals were moving towards extinction in China due to the expansion of human activities, the Chinese had been reluctant to hunt massive-sized animals¨C¨Cespecially giant whales¨C¨Csince the ancient times. They were sometimes even considered to be the incarnation of the Dragon King, therefore, they were barely hunted. Almost every fisherman who earned a living in the vast ocean was superstitious. Offering a sacrifice and praying for peace to the Dragon King before a fishing trip was a verymon practice.

    The fishing moratorium was starting in two months. By that time, it would be safe for the whales to stay around the Chinese coast.

    The persistent sad songs from the whales left Sihwa with no other options except to try everything she could. She opened her red lips slightly and began to sing silently.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t even notice that she was singing at first, as he could not hear anything. Only her lips were moving slightly. Maybe she was singing in low-frequency sound waves inaudible to human ear, since only low-frequency sound waves were able to travel over thousands of kilometers.

    He waited patiently for a while, but Sihwa didn¡¯t seem as though she was going to stop anytime soon. Fina¡¯s stomach wasn¡¯t interested in waiting. It hurried him to get lunch a few times.

    As low-frequency waves carried very little information, she had to sing for a long time in order to transmit all of the information to thousands of kilometers away. The transmission needed some time, as well. Even if the whales started swimming towards China as soon as they received the message, and if the whales traveled at a speed of 15 kilometers/second, it would still take them two to three days to reach the Chinese coastline¨C¨Cgiven that the whales were indeed located around Korea and not in Japan, Russia, or even further away.

    Therefore, it would take at least two to three days to find out whether Sihwa¡¯s songs had worked or not.

    Zhang Zian had a lot of things to do today. He needed to look for a car, order some custom-made aquarium tanks at the construction material market, then take a tour in a specialized market to get an appropriate chiller.

    Saltwater creatures not only needed heating rods, but they also needed cooling in hot weather, especially the sea angels and the helicid pteropod that Zhang Zian had brought back from Germany. They both lived in cold water close to 0 degrees Celsius. The uing spring and summer in Binhai City would kill them within in minutes.

    The price of a chiller could range from 1,000 to 10,000 yuan, including wind chillers and water chillers. They were must-haves for an aquarium.

    If the requirement on temperature change was not high, it was possible to get an AC from the flea market, then convert it into either a wind chiller or water chiller to save money. Most aquariums did so.

    But Zhang Zian didn¡¯t dare do the same. He only had two sea angels and could not breed them if one of them died. He would want to kill himself if anything happened to them!

    The sea angels would be used to attract more customers, as they weren¡¯t sold in any other pet shop in the world. He had not yet decided their price, but it would surely be expensive. He would not sell them very easily, either, as he must make sure that the buyer would be able to keep them alive.

    He could not sustain his business by selling sea angels alone¨C¨Che must have a certain amount of regr saltwater creatures as well¨C¨Cbut he had not yet figured out where to get those saltwater creatures from. Maybe he needed to make a trip to the aquarium market.

    The dog market in Binhai City was big, and fish were sold there as well. But only the cheapest and mostmon were fish sold there. One must visit the aquarium market to get the better fish.

    Just like freshwater fish, saltwater fish had different price points. The more expensive they were, the more money the owners would be willing to pay to make themfortable. Therefore, high-level saltwater fish owners were usually rich. One set of equipment was enough to buy a high-quality Ragdoll cat.

    Counting the space that the tank was upying and high housing prices these days in the downtown area of big cities, the space upied by arge aquarium tank alone might be worth 10,000 yuan at least!

    Unlike cats and dogs who didn¡¯t need a designated space, raising saltwater fish much more expensive andplicated.

    If the aquarium tank was worth 10,000 yuan, one could not put a shabby fish in it, right? Otherwise, it would make them look bad in front of visiting friends and rtives.

    ording to professional statistics, in the pet market in China, dogs and cats upied 90% of the market share.

    Aquarium pets upied a very small percentage of the market share¨C¨Csmall enough to be ignored¨C¨Cbut these statistics only ounted for families. Companies, offices, government agencies, andmercial groups were not included.

    Exactly!

    It was impossible to raise cats or dogs inpanies and government offices. But having fish tanks was totally possible!

    In hotel lobbies, one or more fish tanks were often seen containing oscars, silver arowanas, or other fancy fish. They made the hotels more elegant and ssy.

    Besides, apart from refreshing one¡¯s spirit, another important function of raising fish was harmonizing Feng Shui.

    Those who disliked cats would never own a cat.

    Those who disliked dogs would never own a dog.

    But those who disliked fish might own fish. Dogs and cats could not harmonize Feng Shui, but fish could.

    An owner might not like fish at all, but he might insist on cing a fish bowl at home or at work in a spot with excellent Feng Shui. He might appear to be peaceful and visionary. But the fact was that he had a secret ambition of climbing up thedder and getting rich. This was the typical reason that the Chinese owned fish¡­ though not many people spoke about it explicitly.

    Fish could not survive without water. Therefore, a fish bowl was the synonym of ¡°water¡± in terms of Feng Shui. There was even a special term for it: ¡°Feng Shui Fish.¡±

    ording to I Ching, the book of ancestry for Feng Shui, water was the most life-fostering and moisturizing ingredient of all.

    ording to traditional Feng Shui, cing a fish bowl appropriately and raising fish could block disaster and bring good fortune, especially for those whocked water in the five elements. Raising fish could help them climb up thedder and make more money¨C¨Cat least this was the theory of Feng Shui. If it didn¡¯t work, there must have been other reasons.

    There were still many people¨C¨Cespecially those with power and money¨C¨Cthat believed in these theories.

    For the Feng Shui theories, if one believed them, they were real. If one didn¡¯t, they were not.

    Regardless of whether the Feng Shui theories were true or false, it was a fact that some people could make money out of them.

    It was never reflected in the market share statistics, but the profit was extremely high. If the hidden factors were counted, aquarium pets definitely upied much more than a few percentages of the market share¡­

    Therefore, Zhang Zian believed in the great potential of aquarium pets. Bhe was notcking water in the five elements¨C¨Che wascking money.

 Chapter 759: Transition

    <h4>Chapter 759: Transition</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian stood in front of the cashier counter and had Lu Yiyun order a batch of adhesive stickers. He had ns to follow in Reina and Karl¡¯s footsteps bybeling each fish tank so that the customers would be able to know what creature was living in the fish tank, what kind of feeding environment it needed, and the difficulty level of raising it, all without approaching the staff members for assistance.

    It could save so much time for the staff; otherwise, it would be really annoying to have each customering forward with questions, and if that continued for some time, it would be hard for the staff to not lose their patience.

    Zian had taken quite a few photos in Germany, so he sent the pictures that were rted to thebel design to Lu Yiyun and told her to forward it to the emerce seller.

    Just as he finished telling Lu Yiyun what to do, the shop door opened and a person with gray hair strolled into the shop with a smile on his face. The grayish white hair wasn¡¯t the current trend of ¡°Grandma Gray¡± hair dye, but it was real gray hair.

    Grandma Gu was dressed just like thest time they saw her; a pair of reading sses hung on her chest, a few booklets were mped under her arms, and a ¡°Neighborhood Committee Administration¡± red armband was on her arm.

    The elderly were more physically weak. Zhang Zian had already changed into a jacket, but she was still wearing a down jacket¨C¨Cbut that was normal since there was the saying, ¡°February and August, dress a mess.¡±

    Today was Zhang Zian¡¯s first day back in the shop, so he knew that someone would definitelye over to look for him since the Berlin Film Festival was quite a sensation. No matter what people thought about Famous winning the Best Male Lead, at least its name was being spread around¡ªwhether they were in support of Famous or against it, they were all still spreading its name around.

    ¡°Hey, Grandma Gu! Please, take a seat! Wang Qian, bring over a chair for Grandma Gu!¡± Zian yelled out loudly.

    Grandma Gu waved her hands andughed. ¡°No need, no need. Grandma¡¯s just here to say a few words.¡±

    Even though she said no, Wang Qian still brought over a chair and asked her to take a seat.

    ¡°Grandma Gu, I was prepared to thank the neighborhoodmittee for all the help and support over the years, but I was too nervous and forgot about it¡­¡± Zhang Zian exined. He thought that Grandma Gu was there to question him because he did not mention anything about the neighborhoodmittee during the award eptance speech or when he was being interviewed.

    ¡°Cough!¡± Grandma Gu waved her hands. ¡°Don¡¯t mention about it. I just happened to take a few days off during that period and was away visiting my grandkids, but who knew that the neers in themittee would be so lost without me¡­ Honestly speaking, running a shop by yourself is not easy. Grandma Gu is able to see all that and should provide you with more support, but the neighborhoodmittee needs to be impartial in our job and not biased, right?¡±

    Zhang Zian stuck out his thumb. ¡°Grandma Gu, you said it so well! That is how it should be!¡±

    With the elderly¡¯s special triviality, Grandma Gu went on with her small talk for some time. She asked if Zian was used to the food in Germany and if there were any difficulties in his shop operations. She also asked about when the film would start showing, saying that the neighborhoodmittee wanted to organize everyone to show some support. She also showed some concern about Zhang Zian¡¯s personal issues, hinting to him that it was still best to find a Chinese girl for marriage¡­

    Everything went in Zhang Zian¡¯s left ear and out from his right ear; he was just casually entertaining her.

    After all the small talk, Grandma Gu changed the subject and was about to mention her real business here.

    ¡°Zian, Grandma Gu is here today to let you know some inside information!¡± she said secretly, lowering her voice and looking to the left and right to ensure that there was nobody else around.

    ¡°Oh? What is it about, Grandma Gu? Did somedy fall for me?¡± Zhang Zian went along with her and lowered his voice too, so they looked like some underground gang meeting up.

    ¡°Well, not that. It¡¯s about the woman pacesetter program that we had you apply for.¡± Grandma Gu put on her reading sses.

    ¡°It¡¯s the May Day Model Worker,¡± Zhang Zian corrected her.

    Grandma Gu pped her own thigh. ¡°Yes, the May Day Model Worker! This model worker will be selected by our Dongcheng district. Grandma here shall speak truthfully¡­ Originally, your chance of winning wasn¡¯t big, but after you won the Bailin Film Festival award¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Berlin, not Bailin,¡± Zhang Zian corrected her again. ¡°I didn¡¯t win that award either¨C¨Cit was Famous who won the award.¡±

    ¡°Cough! Look at my memory. Grandma¡¯s too used to saying Zhang Baizhi!¡± She pped her own thigh again and ignored the other half of what Zian said.

    Zhang Zian could onlyugh along.

    ¡°Ever since you got this¡­ Berlin Film Festival award, Grandma heard that it has been confirmed¡ªDongcheng¡¯s district May Day Model Worker is definitely yours!¡± Grandma Gu confidently said.

    However, Zhang Zian¡¯s reaction was not as ecstatic as she had expected it to be.

    ¡°Zian, why aren¡¯t you happy?¡± she asked.

    Zhang Zian said with a bitter smile, ¡°I am happy¡­ are there any cash prizes for model workers?¡±

    ¡°Of course there is,¡± Grandma Gu said. ¡°The Provincial Model Worker will have 10,000, the City Model Worker will have 4,000, and our Dongcheng District Model Worker will have 1,000.¡±

    Okay then, small as it may be, 1,000 dors is still money¡­ It¡¯s better than nothing.

    Grandma Gu said with seriousness, ¡°Zian, Grandma knows that you young ones feel that the Model Worker is just an honor with no actual use, but don¡¯t belittle this honor. When the banner is hung on the wall, it will benefit your business¡ªif there were two of the same shops, why would people not want to buy from the Model Worker shop? Even if it¡¯s more expensive, at least they would be assured.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded his head. He agreed with what Grandma Gu said.

    ¡°And¡­¡± Grandma Gu lowered her voice again. ¡°Grandma will tell you another piece of information: you might have a part in this year¡¯s Binhai City model worker, too!¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Zhang Zian was very surprised. A district model worker was nothingpared to a city model worker.

    ¡°Grandma can¡¯t say for sure, but the chances are there,¡± Grandma Gu said. ¡°Zian, if you¡¯re really selected as the city model worker, you will be invited to meet the city mayor, and after you hang the photo of you and the mayor on the wall. Whether it is the industrial andmercial department, taxation department, hygiene department, fire control, or urban management, they would have to give you some face. Even going down to their office to process some paperwork would be much more convenient.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded his head. What Grandma Gu said was all true¨C¨Canyone who had run a business before knew how hard it was to handle people from the aforementioned departments.

    He had seen in movies that even the wealthy businessmen in the United States would hang the picture they took with the President up in the most prominent position in their office. It was done with the same reasoning: to show that they are friends with the President, and to warn people to think twice before messing with them.

    Although the practice seemed ridiculous, it did have an effect on giving one¡¯s friends confidence and shocking one¡¯s potential enemies.

    ¡°Aside from all these, once there¡¯s anyrge-scale municipal project, the City¡¯s Model Morker will be given priority. Just like Liang San, the one from the street beside who does construction¨C¨Cthey contracted him to build the new expressway on the west, and now he¡¯s rich¡­¡± Grandma Gu let out a sigh. ¡°But this doesn¡¯t seem to concern you.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t say for sure.¡± Zhang Zianughed. ¡°Maybe the city government wants to build a fish pond in some park, then they will require a batch of fish, which I can bid for when that timees.¡±

    ¡°Fish?¡± Grandma Gu lifted her reading sses and looked around the shop. ¡°Zian, don¡¯t you only have cats and dogs here? Where are you going to get the fish from?¡±

    Zhang Zian pointed towards the shop beside them and exined, ¡°Grandma Gu, I took over the shoe shop some time ago, and I¡¯m preparing to open the shop soon. It¡¯s mainly going to be on keeping fish and other marine creatures. The shop name will be Amazing Fate Aquarium¡ªI can send over a few fish for free to the neighboringmittee if you have any ns to keep fish.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t! Please don¡¯t! Why would the neighboringmittee keep fish? We already have so much to do, where would we find the time to take care of them?¡± Grandma Gu shook her head. ¡°But to start an aquarium is also a good idea. The number of aquariums in our city seems to be quite low¡­ There were a few of them before, but they didn¡¯t seem to do well.¡±

    Zian actually meant it as a joke. Even if there was a need to build a fish pond for the municipal project, they wouldn¡¯t keep expensive fish in the pond. They would probably buy some Koi and throw them in there, but Grandma Gu seemed to have a different opinion regarding this matter.

    ¡°Zian, you really can¡¯t say for sure, so let Grandma read you thetest document issued by the city government.¡± She took the booklets she had mped under her arms into her hands and took out a red-headed document. She started reading, ¡°¡­With the decision made by the municipal partymittee, we will have to prepare for some economic transitions to abandon economic development thates at the cost of high energy consumption and pollution. Our city will gradually be transformed into a new seaside garden guided by entertainment and tourism.¡±

    ¡°Hear that? With entertainment and tourism as the guide, which is to say, in the future, our Binhai City will be supporting rted enterprises, institutions, or individuals. Zian, the award you won in Berlin is somewhat rted to entertainment and tourism, right?¡± She put away the file after she was done reading it.

    ¡°Somewhat, I guess.¡± Zhang Zian corrected her, ¡°Actually it was Famous who won the award, not me¡­¡±

    He used to pay little attention to these policy documents; he didn¡¯t even watch the news broadcast. In his subconscious mind, he felt that they were too far away from his life, but unknowingly he was now so close to them.

    ¡°Then that¡¯s it.¡± Grandma Gu offered a weighty advice, ¡°The whole of China¡¯s economy is transitioning, so we can no longer go on with the old way of treatment after pollution, and we can¡¯t let Binhai City fall behind, either. Zian, be prepared¨C¨Cyou never know when your opportunity wille and, when ites, you must grasp the opportunity.¡±

    ¡°Grandma Gu, you¡¯re right,¡± Zhan Zian said sincerely.

    The older the wiser.

    Zian used to think that the aunties and grandmothers in the neighborhoodmittee had no other skills besides racking their brains on fee collections, but it seemed like he has been underestimating them. They actually had an urate grasp on their study of the policies. They responded to the calls of the leaders at any time. It was eptable to make mistakes, but it was not eptable to be on the wrong team.

    Grandma Gu nodded her head in satisfaction. She stood up and said, ¡°Okay then, Grandma actually came here just to congratte you. Who knew I had so much to say¡­ It¡¯s not early, so Grandma shall leave first. There are still some other ces that I¡¯ve yet to collect the sanitation fees from.¡±

    Zhang Zian walked her out of the shop and watched as she went next door with great interest and gave some amateur advice to the aquarium¡¯s furnishing. She then turned and left in a hurry to the other shops on the street.

 Chapter 760: Making Up for Past Regrets

    <h4>Chapter 760: Making Up for Past Regrets</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Grandma Gu¡¯s news cheered Zhang Zian up a lot. As the economy transformed, society transformed as well. Everybody mattered. He should not look down on himself. However, he had to start his long journey one step at a time.

    His aquarium was only an empty shell for now. He had to find a way to fill it up. Karl had shipped him a lot of high-end aquarium equipment for a low price. Zhang Zian also purchased some cheap equipment that was made in China. The aquarium tanks and chillers could be either custom-made or purchased as long as he had the money. The most pressing issue was where he could get the sand bottom, eco-bio-blocks, grass, corals, and other aquarium creatures¡­ It was unrealistic¨C¨Cand unnecessary¨C¨Cto acquire all of them from Germany. The shipping cost alone would be unaffordable. Therefore, he decided to visit Binhai City¡¯s aquarium market. Maybe he could find some nice things there.

    The aquarium market was also called the market of flowers, birds, fish, and insects. It was somewhat simr to the dog market but not the same. For instance, there were not any cats or dogs in the aquarium market. Ornamental fish upied at least half of the market of flowers, birds, fish, and insects. Eventually, it became known as the aquarium market.

    He brought Famous to the dog marketst time. But this time, Famous could not clone itself. Many people traveled here to take pictures with it, which would only happen more after the film was in theaters.

    The aquarium market was not far from the pet shop. It was located in the Dongcheng District, close to the harbor. Ornamental fish were shipped in from other cities and distributed to different levels of distributors, as well as regr customers.

    Lu Yiyun already ordered thebel stickers. Zhang Zian sent Wang Qian and Li Kun to get lunch for the elfins, then told her that he might returnte today and that they could leave when their shift was over. There was no need to wait for his return.

    As he spoke, the door opened.

    ¡°Hello, Mr. Store Manager. It¡¯s me!¡± An energetic figure hopped inside. It was Snowy, who had been a great help during the Chinese New Year. Without the fresh Crucian carps that she had sent in just in time, a few Abyssinian kittens might have starved.

    She was wearing a thin winter coat and no tuque. She switched out her thick cotton gloves for the thinner knitted gloves to go with the season change. She also cut her hair short. It had been growing all winter, so the new cut made her look vibrant and energetic.

    ¡°Wee.¡± Zhang Zian nodded to greet her.

    ¡°Hello, Snowy,¡± Lu Yiyun greeted her with a smile. ¡°Are you here for fun or for a live broadcast?¡±

    ¡°For a live broadcast, of course! I¡¯m an online host and must follow what¡¯s popr! It¡¯s a great chance to get more fans!¡± The moment that Snowy entered the door, she was ncing around. ¡°Well¡­ Where is Famous?¡±

    ¡°Over there, the one surrounded by a crowd.¡± Zhang Zian pointed inside the shop.

    ¡°This many people?¡± She was a little bit surprised. ¡°Am Ite?¡±

    Many people didn¡¯te to the shop for pets or pets supplies, but to take pictures with Famous, just like photos with celebrities. One crowd left, and another crowd arrived. People didn¡¯t stop pouring in.

    Most people left after taking pictures, but some were attracted to the other pets and stayed in the shop. Zhang Zian was seriously thinking that he should charge for the photoshoots¨C¨Cten yuan for five seconds per person.

    ¡°It¡¯s not toote,¡± he said.

    Snowy suddenly looked worried and sighed. ¡°Arh! I¡¯ve been to the shop so many times and had always seen Famous as an ordinary dog. Turns out I¡¯m missing out on a huge future celebrity! Now my Weibo ount is full of the fans¡¯ints, saying that I¡¯m penny wise and pound foolish. I should not have wasted my time on Mr. Store Manager¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian decided to visit Snowy¡¯s Weibo ount tonight and write down all the IDsining that said he was a waste of time. He would then send private messages to them one by one to fight back.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, you are keeping your profile too low!¡± sheined. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell us that you took Famous to shoot a film? I was totally unprepared¡­¡±

    She had been to the pet shop a few times and had worked with him on a few outdoor live broadcasts, such as the trip to Mount Hidden Fog and the trip to the dog market. Most of the live broadcast fans knew Zhang Zian and were familiar with his shop.

    However, she did not take notice on any of her visits of the silent German Shepherd lying next to the reclining chair. Even when they went to the dog market, she did not pay close enough attention to Famous.

    The fans in the live broadcast were the same. The dancing kittens in the shop were so cute, and it was so much fun to argue with the store manager. Who would pay attention to the ordinary German Shepherd?

    All of those thoughts were put to an end at the moment that Famous stepped onto the red carpet during the opening ceremony of the Berlin Film Festival.

    At first, along with the online fans, Snowy felt amazed and impressed when she heard the news. Zhang Zian had made a film with his dog without anyone realizing it, and they had gone to the Berlin Film Festival. Maybe he had hooked up with a film director.

    Since Dog Warrior was only screened in public at the Berlin Film Festival but not in maind China, she and the online fans were only able to find a few trailers and posters. They didn¡¯t know what kind of role Famous yed in the film or how much screen time it actually had. It was not surprising that this misunderstanding urred.

    From that moment on, Snowy and the other online fans had been following the status of Famous and Zhang Zian during the Berlin Film Festival. They wanted to find out something to make fun of Zhang Zian about so they couldugh at him after his return. It would be best if he did something stupid during the live broadcast¨C¨Cit would surely be a lot of fun.

    They had never expected that, during thest day of the film festival, paradigm-shifting news would break out in front of everyone¡¯s eyes. Famous, a dog, won the Best Actor award. Zhang Zian took it on stage to receive its award and made a speech on its behalf.

    Everybody had different views andments for Zhang Zian, but most people agreed that he made an excellent speech.

    It was veryte at night when the ceremony was finished. She went to sleep¨C¨Cafter letting her parents nce at the live broadcast¨C¨Cwithout any second thoughts. The next morning when she logged onto her Weibo ount, she discovered that the online fans had all kinds ofints in thements!

    Everyone said they simply could not allow Zhang Zian to be such a poser and gain such publicity like this!

    Many fans questioned why nobody noticed the dog in the shop earlier¡­ Did the poser store manager do it on purpose to humiliate them?

    After it was mentioned, Snowy was overwhelmed with regret. She quickly browsed through the recordings of the past live broadcasts. In the video files that filled up her hard drive, she realized that, despite the fact that she had visited the pet shop many times, she didn¡¯t give a single shot of Famous!

    It had always been in the background as a supporting role to Zhang Zian and the other pets¡­ It was a case of, ¡°Today, you don¡¯t give a sh*t about me. Tomorrow, I¡¯ll make you eat your own sh*t in real life!¡±

    Therefore, under the urge of the online fans, she decided to pay another visit to the pet shop to make up for past regrets.

 Chapter 761: Mobilizing the Masses

    <h4>Chapter 761: Mobilizing the Masses</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Famous being awarded the Berlin Film Festival¡¯s Best Male Lead had also made Snowy proud and ted. Her father had always nagged that the people she knew from live streaming were all people with small mindsets and it¡¯d be better for her to join him on dinners with the upper ss where she could meet the big names of Binhai City or even the big names in the whole of China.

    Now, if he were to nag again, she would have something to refute with¡ªthe best actor in a European film festival. Was that still small?

    In the past, she would sneak out like a thief whenever she left the house, but today, she deliberately strolled around the sofa downstairs. She wanted her father to say what he had always nagged so she could use her prepared rebuttal, but he just sat there, looking unconcerned as if he was on a fishing tform. Her father continued reading his newspaper, not giving her a chance. She was so mad she snorted several times.

    But her mother, on the other hand, was very gossipy. She told Snowy to inquire about some insider information, like if there was any news or scandals about Lin Feng and Feng Xuan.

    If the interview was requested by the reporters, Zhang Zian would give serious consideration as to whether or not he should ept it, but if it was Snowy, he would just go along with her. However, she came over at an inopportune moment. Famous was surrounded by a group of university students and unable to make its escape.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun returned to the shop with the food for the elfins. They noticed the situation and inquired if they should ask the students to leave so Snowy could go on with her live stream. Zhang Zian waved his hands and told them that there was no need for that because everyone in the shop was a customer, and even if they had not spent a single cent, they were still fans of Famous, so there was no ce for being biased.

    Snowy, too, was unwilling to be treated specially, especially if others were inconvenienced because of her arrival. It would make her feel bad. But even if she could wait, the fans in the broadcast channel might not have the same patience as her. They were just like newborn kittens waiting to be fed, crying for milk.

    Zhang Zian was also unable to apany her. He looked at the time, and it was about time for him to set off.

    Snowy noticed that he was a little absent-minded, and it looked like he wanted to go out, so she asked, ¡°Mr. Shop Manager, did Ie at a bad time?¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s not it,¡± Zian said. ¡°I just have something to do at the nearby fish market, but Famous will remain in the shop. So once all these people leave, you can take all the pictures you want and share them with theizens.¡±

    ¡°To the fish market?¡± Snowy looked to the side at the shop next door and wondered, ¡°To buy carps?¡±

    She thought that the female cat¡¯s milk was still not enough and they required carps that would be stewed into a soup to stimte the secretion of milk.

    ¡°It¡¯s a fish market, not the usual market. They don¡¯t sell fish that are meant to be eaten there; they sell ornamental fishes,¡± Zian exined. ¡°My new aquarium branch will be opening soon, so I need to buy some sand, coral, live rocks, and more¨C¨Cmaybe also bring in a batch of ornamental fish.¡±

    ¡°Yi? Mr. Store Manager, you¡¯re starting an aquarium? The aquarium where you can see sharks and dolphins?¡± She was in a shock and stood there in a blur. Clearly, she had confused the aquarium with the underwater world.

    ¡°No, do I look like I have that kind of capability?¡± Zhang Zianughed. ¡°Nothing so high-end. It¡¯s just an aquarium that sells ornamental fish and it¡¯s just going to be next door¡ªisn¡¯t it empty there right now? I n to bring in a batch of fish tanks, equipment, and marine life, turning it into an aquarium with mainly saltwater fish.¡±

    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s really amazing!¡± Snowy reacted like she had found a scoop. ¡°Can I go over and take a look?¡±

    She visited a wide variety of shops daily, but she had never been to an aquarium before. The reason was the same as to why she had never visited a pet shop in the past¨C¨Cbecause she didn¡¯t know anything about them and there was too much to learn about them. It was much simpler for her to visit restaurants and bars since all she had to do was follow her taste buds and show the appropriate facial expressions.

    Whether the food tasted nice, or if the drinks were good had always been a very subjective feeling, so the audience would be able to understand. Pets, on the other hand¡­ before she had visited the pet shop, it was really possible for her to mistake an American Shorthair for a British Shorthair.

    To her and her audience, an aquarium was a very new thing, and with Zhang Zian¡¯s professionalism, she was confident that it would make a great show.

    ¡°Of course, but there¡¯s nothing much to see now. There¡¯s no difference from before other than the first floor, which is just piled up with aquarium equipment now. If you¡¯re interested in taking a look, you cane back once the aquarium is ready,¡± Zhang Zian said truthfully.

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡± Snowy was a little disappointed. It seemed like the live stream of the aquarium could only be pushed back for now.

    She nced over at the crowd that surrounded Famous. She wouldn¡¯t mind waiting for some time, but if taking pictures of Famous was all that she was going to do, then it won¡¯t be enough to fill in as a program. After all, she couldn¡¯t understand dognguage.

    ¡°That¡­ Mr. Store Manager, I would like to visit the fish market, too, and do a live stream program. Would you be okay with that? Would I disturb you?¡± she asked with a smile.

    ¡°Well, I won¡¯t find it an inconvenience.¡± Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders. ¡°Just that the smell of fish would be quite heavy over there. If you¡¯re okay with that, then sure.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great! I¡¯ve never been to a fish market before!¡± She breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°Right, on the way there, I would like to have you share with the audience the filming process that you and Famous experienced, and if there were any interesting happenings during the Berlin Film Festival. Is that okay?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± Zhang Zian epted her request.

    Snowy happily took out her phone, removed her backpack, and took out a handheld pan-tilt-zoom, assembling them skillfully before she turned on the selfie function to give it a test.

    Hm?

    Through the phone¡¯s self-portrait interface, she noticed some abnormalities. The Holy Cat statue that was ced opposite the cashier counter was missing. The statue had been a gift from her to Zhang Zian to congratte his shop opening, so she remembered it clearly.

    She then recalled that Lu Yiyun had asked her a few days back about the purchase process of the Holy Cat statue. Linking the two together, she couldn¡¯t help but wonder.

    Ahe pointed at the floor with the white marks and asked, ¡°Mr. Store Manager, what happened to the Holy Cat statue?¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡­¡± Zhang Zian pondered for a moment before he looked at the restless Lu Yiyun. He then said, ¡°While I was away from the shop, a thief broke in and, since there was nothing for him to steal, he stole the Holy Cat statue.¡±

    ¡°Ah? Such a thing actually happened?¡± Snowy was worried so she asked, ¡°Did you lose anything else?¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°No, the thief probably saw Zhan Tian guarding the stairway, so he left after stealing the Holy Cat statue.¡±

    ¡°Did you call the police?¡± Snowy asked.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s better to have one less problem than to create another one, and it might not be found even if I called the police, so I¡¯m just going to strengthen the security in the future¡ªthough, it¡¯s a pity for the Holy Cat statue.¡± Zhang Zian took on themon attitude of small businessmen. He did not want to be entangled in the issue any longer.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Who knows if you mighte across another simr statue, and it¡¯s okay as long as no other items were stolen.¡± Snowy suddenly thought of a great idea. ¡°Why don¡¯t I mobilize theizens to assist you in keeping an eye out? The more people, the more efficient¡­ maybe we could find it again?¡±

    Zhang Zian paused for a moment. That¡¯s a great idea indeed.

 Chapter 762: High Reward

    <h4>Chapter 762: High Reward</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Ever since the Holy Cat statue had vanished into thin air, Zhang Zian had not nned to look for it. Binhai City was huge. Where would he even start? It was not stolen by a thief, anyway.

    Snowy¡¯s thought was simple. Since it was stolen, the thief would surely dispose of it. Usually, a thief was unlikely to have a good taste and would not ce the Holy Cat statue in his own house. Not to mention that the statue looked kind of creepy.

    As long as it was disposed of, then someone might have witnessed it.

    She had around 10,000 to 20,000 hardcore fans in her live broadcast, most of which were living at Binhai City, while some were living in nearby areas or other cities. Counting the non-hardcore fans and the asional visitors, the total number was around 50,000 people.

    It was not feasible to ask her fans to look for it, as most people had their own life going on. But if she asked them to notify her when they saw a simr statue, she figured many people would be willing to help.

    She told Zhang Zian about her thoughts and he agreed.

    Regardless of whether they found it or not, it was an option.

    Therefore, she initiated the live broadcast app and said with a big smile, ¡°Hello, everyone! This is Snowy. Wee to my live broadcast! Our slogan is¨C¨Cto eat, drink, and be merry at Binhai!¡±

    The fans had been waiting for a long time. They poured into the broadcast instantly. Gifts and bullet screens were flying everywhere.

    ¡°Snowy, I love you!¡±

    ¡°Snowy, I miss you so much! Cry!¡±

    ¡°Is this the first live broadcast of the new year? Or am I missing something? I feel as though Snowy is getting prettier!¡±

    ¡°Without Snowy during the Spring Festival, the entire holiday was tasteless!¡±

    ¡°Bulging eyes! I saw the stupid face of Manager Weak Bird as soon as I entered the broadcast. Allow me to spit on it!¡±

    ¡°You should learn from me. I knew earlier that Manager Weak Bird wasing today. I taped the sides of the screen so that I¡¯ll only see Snowy in the middle!¡±

    ¡°That is an insanely awesome idea!¡±

    ¡°We want to see the Best Actor dog! We want to see Famous! We don¡¯t want to see Manager Weak Bird!¡±

    There were so many bullet screens that Snowy could not read them all. She only replied to a few important bullet screens. ¡°I¡¯d love to do a live broadcast during the Spring Festival, but most stores were closed for the holidays. However, as the stores are re-opening, Snowy¡¯s live broadcast is back online.

    Something unexpected happened today. I made an announcement earlier on Weibo that we will interview the Best Actor dog. But as you can see, Famous is busy right now and is surrounded by too many people. Many people want to take pictures with it. Therefore, I¡¯m changing up the content of this live broadcast.¡±

    She pointed the phone camera at Famous, but there were so many people that they could not even see the dog¡¯s hair.

    ¡°Snowy, we¡¯ll watch whatever you broadcast! We are not picky¨C¨Cfor real!¡±

    ¡°As long as you block out the bacterium standing next to you!¡±

    ¡°You are insulting bacteria!¡±

    Snowy waited for the mocking bullet screen to calm down a bit. Then she spoke in a serious tone in front of the screen. ¡°I have a favor to ask you all, First, let me test your eyes. Look over there. Is there something missing?¡±

    She pointed where the Holy Cat statue used to be.

    Many fans figured out the answer immediately.

    ¡°Oh crap! Manager Weak Bird finally sold Snowy¡¯s Holy Cat statue gift for scrap metal?¡±

    ¡°This is uneptable. We should kill this poser!¡±

    ¡°Snowy, do you want us to bust his butt? If yes, just nod, and the next person posting the bullet screen will bust his butt!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have a tool to do that¡­ (Shy)¡±

    ¡°Oh you are a girl. Let someone with a big d*ck do it!¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. Why was the first thought of the b**tards that he sold the Holy Cat statue for scrap metal? In fact, he did think about that. But he never put that into action¡­

    Snowy waited for a while and continued. ¡°Many fans have found out that the Holy Cat statue I gave him as a gift is gone¨C¨CMr. Store Manager told me that it was stolen. I¡¯d like to ask for your help in keeping an eye out for it. If anyone sees a simr statue in Binhai City or the nearby areas, please leave ament on my Weibo ount or send me a message. Thank you all in advance!¡±

    Zhang Zian added next to her, ¡°Or you can leave a message on the Wechat public ount of our shop.¡±

    Snowy nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll post a picture of the Holy Cat statue on my Weibo today after the broadcast so that you can take a better look.¡±

    The online fans doubted it out of reflex.

    ¡°Snowy, could it be that Manager Weak Bird is lying that it¡¯s stolen when he actually sold it for scrap metal?¡±

    ¡°To be honest, I¡¯ve thought about stealing it. It¡¯s a gift from Snowy, after all. It¡¯s such a waste to keep it here with Manager Weak Bird.¡±

    ¡°Snowy, Snowy, is there any reward if anyone sees it?¡±

    ¡°A reward¡­¡± Snowy could not think of a proper reward. She scratched her cheek in embarrassment.

    She thought about giving away a new smartphone model as award, but she considered the fact that she had already given Zhang Zian the Holy Cat statue as a gift and it was now Zhang Zian¡¯s possession¡­ so would she be going beyond her duty if she was the one offering the reward?

    Zhang Zian figured out her concern just in time and interrupted her. ¡°I just came back from Germany and I brought back some official souvenirs of Berlin Film Festival. Now they are no longer avable and you can¡¯t buy them anymore. If anyone can provide any useful clues, our shop will reward you with a limited edition Berlin Bear fuzzy toy. Plus¡­ any pet sold at our shop.¡±

    As soon as he spoke, the fans were not only shocked, but Snowy, too, was too astonished to speak.

    One must know that she spent a few thousand yuan on this Holy Cat statue from a thrift shop. Offering a new smartphone as reward was already very generous, but Zhang Zian was willing to let anyone who could provide a clue to pick any pet in the shop? The most expensive Ragdolls and Abyssinians were sold for at least 30,000 yuan! It was such a high reward.

    Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Lu Yiyun all looked shocked.

    Everyone was wondering if Zhang Zian lost his mind. Why was the Holy Cat statue so important to him?

    ¡°Oh my goodness, this is not the cheap store manager I know!¡±

    ¡°Am I dreaming? Somebody hit me and wake me up!¡±

    ¡°I get it. The cheap store manager wants to show just how much he values Snowy¡¯s gift. He¡¯s such a b*tch!¡±

    ¡°Fine! I¡¯m 100% sure that the cheap store manager has surely sold the Holy Cat statue in secret for scrap metal. That¡¯s why he¡¯s willing to offer such a high reward.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought, It is so hard to survive in this world. I have been attacked for being cheap, and now I am still under attack for being generous!

    If the Holy Cat statue was an ordinary statue, he would have let it go and would have never offered such a high reward. The problem was that statue was bing an elfin. He would prefer to find it sooner and melt it into the furnace like T-800 than think about it all day.

    For such a high reward someone would surely say something. Maybe somebody saw something.

 Chapter 763: Staring at the Back View

    <h4>Chapter 763: Staring at the Back View</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Everyone present and everyone absent all said what they felt. No one else, besides Zhang Zian himself, really believed his words¨C¨Ceven Snowy. After all, the rewards that he provided were really too much; it was way over the worth of the Holy Cat statue¡ªor at least that was what they feel.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, are you serious?¡± Snowy expressed that she couldn¡¯t believe him.

    ¡°Of course I am.¡± Zhang Zian grabbed a Berlin Bear doll from behind the cashier counter and ced it right in front of her camera for the audience to see. ¡°See this? This is the doll; it¡¯s authentic and limited edition!¡±

    Zhang Zian returned from Germany with many official souvenirs from the Berlin Film Festival, and of course, the most popr one out of them all was the Berlin Bear doll. But the dolls would not be given out so easily as they were quite big in size, so he could only bring back a limited number of them.

    ¡°Wow! What a cute doll!¡± Snowy focused the camera on the doll to let everyone take a better look.

    The doll had a red triangr cloth on its neck and looked both silly and cute. It was sealed tightly in a transparent stic back in the form of a gift and was enough to win the hearts of most youngdies.

    ¡°This one will be for you, Snowy, as a return gift for the carps you sent here during the Spring Festival,¡± Zhang Zian said generously, and repeated again, ¡°Anyone who is able to provide a clue about the Holy Cat statue will be rewarded with the same doll and you can choose any one pet that is on sale in my shop.¡±

    ¡°Ah? Thank you Mister Store Manager! I¡¯ll ept your gift then!¡± Snowy was pleasantly surprised. She gave a light bow and said her thanks.

    The audience in the broadcast channel was immediately unbnced.

    ¡°All the tuhao in this channel can¡¯t even exchange Snowy¡¯s thanks with a ten thousand dor gift. This store manager is too crafty!¡±

    ¡°Looks like Stingy Store Manager is serious this time!¡±

    ¡°Yiiiiing. I also want a Berlin Bear Doll!¡±

    ¡°I still find it suspicious¡­ is Stingy Store Manager not afraid that someone might prepare an identical statue to cheat the reward?¡±

    Zhang Zian expressed his thoughts: how could anyone easily find an identical statue of the Holy Cat statue. Did he think that he was cheating a kid? Unless that person was able to bring over the original statue that was in the British Museum¡­ if he was capable of doing that then Zhang Zian would admit his defeat.

    ¡°Hear that, everyone? Great rewards await!¡± Snowy smiled and said to her fans, ¡°If any of you see the Holy Cat statue in Binhai City or its vicinity, remember to let us know immediately.¡±

    The Berlin Bear doll was about 80 centimeters tall, 60 centimeters wide, and 50 centimeters thick. Snowy had to empty one hand to hug it in her arms. It was very inconvenient and affected her streaming, so she asked Lu Yiyun to help mail the doll back to the guard room in the vi area since the Amazing Fate Pet Shop had her address.

    After they were done with the matter, Snowy said, ¡°Another piece of good news for everyone¨C¨Cit¡¯s also something like a preview for the next or next-next live stream: Amazing Fate Pet Shop is going to open up a branch next door! It will specialize in the sales of marine life with saltwater fish as its focus. When the timees, Snowy will take everyone along to visit the Amazing Fate Aquarium to take a look at the mysterious, but also amazing, marine life!¡±

    The audience in the broadcast channel blew up again!

    ¡°Ha? Sexual Harassment Store Manager has already screwed cats, screwed dogs, and now wants to screw fish too?¡± one eximed.

    ¡°Teddy Store Manager!¡± someone else said.

    ¡°The grass on the grave of thest idiot who dared to start an aquarium in Binhai City is already three feet tall!¡±

    ¡°Aye, is it finally fish now? My family keeps fish. I¡¯ve always shuddered as I watch all of you stroke your cat and dogs!¡±

    ¡°I keep a bastard at home. Does a bastard count as a marine creature?¡±

    ¡°Not if it¡¯s a bastoad!¡±

    ¡°Snowy, since it¡¯s just next door, why wait until next time?¡±

    Snowy waited for the messages on her screen to settle down a little before she answered. ¡°It¡¯s because the aquarium is not done with its renovation yet. Once it¡¯s done, I will notify everyone. Today I n to visit our Binhai City fish market with Mr. Store Manager. Have any of you been there?¡±

    ¡°Fish market¡­ my house is right next to the fish market. But I¡¯m at work now, or else I would have gone down to meet Snowy,¡± someone mentioned.

    ¡°You¡¯re watching a live stream while you¡¯re at work and you can even send a message? Does yourpany still need people?¡± another viewer responded.

    ¡°Haha, earning just barely enough to eat and wait until I die. What can I do other thanze around?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been to the fish market a few times. The water there feels very deep¡­ the fish there are all so expensive, I don¡¯t even know if they¡¯re worth the price,¡± someone else chimed in.

    ¡°I got scammed by a fish market in the past. I wanted to save some trouble so I spent two to three thousand on an ecological tank, which they said could be left alone for years, but the fishes were all dead just after half a year¡­¡±

    ¡°Holy sh*t! Two to three thousand on a fish tank? Richly inhumane!¡±

    Snowy stared at her screen and asked Zhang Zian, ¡°Mr. Store Manager, what¡¯s an ecological fish tank? What¡¯s the difference between that and an ordinary fish tank?¡±

    Zhang Zian answered, ¡°An ecological fish tank is just a ruse¨C¨Cbuying that is akin to paying for stupidity tax. Especially for saltwater fish, as the water¡¯s PH value will decrease with time, making it acidic. Most fish require an alkaline environment which can only be solved by changing water.¡±

    ¡°I was actually despised by Store Manager. I shall cry until I faint in the toilet!¡±

    ¡°Who said the only solution was changing the water? I can just add some baking soda to bnce it off right!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t add baking soda! It¡¯s better sour¨C¨Cjust nice for eating fish with preserved vegetables!¡±

    ¡°But the water in the ecological tank does look clearer than those from an ordinary tank¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian nced over at the message, then answered, ¡°That¡¯s because the merchants would add algaecide into the ecological fish tank, suppressing the growth of algae. It will have the same effect if you buy an algaecide and add it in, too.¡±

    ¡°Fine then, I¡¯ll just treat it as a lesson learned¡­¡± the viewer responded.

    Snowy replied with, ¡°Seems like there¡¯s a lot to learn about keeping fish¡­ the audience members that have fish at home or are interested in keeping them, remember not to leave! Let Snowy and Mr. Store Manager take you guys for a walk around the fish market and have your questions answered!¡±

    Zhang Zian then said a few words to Lu Yiyun, Wang Qian, and Li Kun. He handed them all the things that needed to be done before he waved at Snowy and they left the pet stop one after another.

    The fish market and the Amazing Fate Pet Shop were both in the Dongcheng district, so the distance between them was not far yet also not close.

    Zhang Zian and Snowy stood by the entrance of the shop and had a discussion. Finally, they decided to stroll their way there and on the way, Zian could answer the questions of those interested in keeping fish.

    After they left, on the Amazing Fate Pet Shop¡¯s second floor, a small window that had the curtains down for a very long time suddenly had the curtains pulled open.

    A beautiful and attractive face got close to the window. Its forehead was pressed tightly on the window ss with a few strands of dark green hair at its side. The water beads from its hair dripped down the ss and a blue eye as blue as the ocean stared closely at Snowy¡¯s back¡ªto be precise, it was curiously watching Snowyughing and talking to her phone.

    Until Zhang Zian and Snowy turned around the corner, where their figure waspletely blocked by the walls, only then did the curtainse down again. Those walking on the street would not lift their heads up for no reason, so no one noticed that face that was clearly different from an Asian¡¯s.

 Chapter 764: Visiting the Aquarium Market

    <h4>Chapter 764: Visiting the Aquarium Market</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In fact, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know much about fish. He had been cramming in the knowledge ever since he decided to open an aquarium. He had also received a lot of information from Karl and Paul. When his parents were running the pet shop, there were only a few freshwater fish merely for the sake it. They didn¡¯t have much experience with fish.

    As they walked, Snowy ryed to him the questions that the aquarium fans had asked in the live broadcast. He could not handle the questions as well as he could handle the questions about cats and dogs and he often had to think twice before giving an answer. As they were walking, they had to dodge pedestrians and vehicles and Zian had to give smart answers to the mocking questions from the online fans. Neither the fans nor Snowy had realized that he was wracking his brain to answer their questions.

    The fans were right. Almost all of the aquariums in Binhai City ended up losing money. There was one aquarium that was barely able to make ends meet¨C¨Caquariums were quite expensive. The tanks, equipment, materials, and aquatic creatures weren¡¯t the only things that were expensive¨C¨Cthe electricity bill alone was a huge expense each month.

    The cost to stock aquatic creatures was much higher than it was for cats or dogs, but they were also less popr than cats and dogs. It was more likely to lose money than gain any.

    Zhang Zian was hesitating. If he couldn¡¯t manage it well, then he might lose everything that he had been saving up for in the past.

    Aquariums were struggling to survive, yet the aquarium market in Binhai City didn¡¯t disappear because of it. The vendors at the market minimized the pressure to stock by selling the newly acquired fish within the week and by trying to avoid their fish dying as much as they could. To avoid them dying, they did not feed the fish, but instead added drugs to their water¨C¨Cit was a known secret of this business.

    They walked a few blocks and approached the aquarium market.

    Despite the fact that it was a working day, most elementary schools were closed so there were parents asionally walking towards the market with their children.

    The parents held the fish bowl in their arms, while the kids carried transparent stic bags with one or two cheap coldwater fish inside. Both the parents and the kids looked happy, although Zhang Zian knew that most of these fish would die within a few days.

    Children didn¡¯t know anything about fish, nor did they have any patience. They wanted the fish to grow bigger, so they were always afraid that they were starving it. They fed the fish too often and often ended up killing them by overfeeding them. Even if they didn¡¯t, the water in the tank usually turned cloudy in a few days from food residue floating everywhere. In the end, the fish would die due to deteriorating water quality.

    There were strict pet raising guidelines in Germany that prevented that from happening. If China tried to follow their example, then the aquarium market would be shut down the following day.

    ¡°Is that the aquarium market over there? It¡¯s my first time being here.¡± Snowy tipped her toes and nced in the distance.

    ¡°I¡¯ve never been here, either.¡±

    Zhang Zian also nced over towards the aquarium market.

    The aquarium market looked fancier than the dog market did. The dog market was full of individual stands in the open air, possibly because the pets sold there were hardier and could survive in the rain or the sunshine. Inparison, there was a three-floor building of reasonable size in the aquarium market to provide shelter for the vendors. It seemed more regted than the dog market, but fraud was still inevitable. At least they were not as heartless as some of the abominable dog vendors.

    There was a rusty sign at the entrance of the aquarium market that said: ¡°Flower, Bird, Fish, and Insect Market of Binhai City.¡±

    Beep!

    A truck honked behind them.

    They moved to the side to make space. A truck loaded with all kinds of ornamental fish drove into the aquarium market and stopped at the back of the market building. A few workers covered in a fish smell walked out and unloaded the fish tanks one after another. The fish vendors had been waiting for a long time. They crowded over quickly, trying to get the cheap fish ahead of others.

    There were a few individual fish vendors next to the three-story building. They were selling their fish for lower prices. The types of fish that the kids were carrying earlier were probably bought from them.

    Zhang Zian and Snowy discussed about it. Since they were already at the market, they decided to visit all the stands, starting from the individual vendors outside the building.

    As he expected, most of the fish sold at the individual stands were cheap. They were called ¡°beginner¡¯s fish.¡±

    In the fish business, ording to the price and difficulty level, the ornamental fish were categorized as beginner¡¯s fish,mercial fish, and high-end fish. There was no price cap for high-end fish, but it was hard to draw a clear line between the categories.

    Most of the individual stand vendors were not professionals. They were aquarium fans selling baby fish they hatched on their own. As they could not keep too many fish in their own tanks, they could make some extra money by selling the babies. The prices were usually lower inparison and some good ones could be found asionally.

    ¡°That¡¯s grass goldfish. That¡¯s koi,¡± Zhang Zian said, introducing the fish one by one to Snowy as they passed each stand. ¡°That¡¯s gruppy, and that is molly¡­ These are all beginner¡¯s fish and are easy to raise. They¡¯ll live as long as you have a filter and a heating rod. If it¡¯s a coldwater fish, you can even skip the heating rod.¡±

    ¡°Girl, would you like some fish? They are cheap and easy to raise.¡±

    The vendors started selling their fish to Snowy after seeing that she was pretty and well-dressed.

    ¡°Wow! Is this a koi? They are so chubby and cute!¡± Snowy bent down in front of one of the stands. The koi fish caught her eye. They were fat and big, more eye-catching than those gorgeous, but smaller, guppies and mollies.

    There were koi fish of various colors at this stand, including gold, ck, and mixed colors of red, white, yellow, and ck. A few of them measured around 15 centimeters and looked fat as they blew bubbles in the water.

    Snowy was staring at the big, fat koi fish.

    ¡°Girl, would you like some? You can take them at a cheaper price: two for 70 yuan.¡± The vendor was making every effort to sell them.

    The koi fish Snowy was looking at were the worst kind. If they bartered for them, they might get a pair for 50 yuan, but Zhang Zian didn¡¯t say anything. It was hard to do business in a stand in such cold weather.

    They were a novelty to Snowy, but she had not been too keen on having fish ever since Snow Ball threw Jin Er¡¯s Crucian carp into the air with its paws. She still remembered it clearly. She was worried that if she had fish, they might end up to be Snow Ball¡¯s food or toy.

    After seeing enough of them, she stood up with a smile, shook her head, and apologized to the vendor that she didn¡¯t want them anymore. Then they continued.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on over there? Are there any hical vendors cheating customers?¡± she asked while pointing in front of her.

    A few people gathered around the stand in front of them and they seemed to be arguing in loud voices. A middle-aged woman with a child was particrly loud. The vendor could no longer talk back, since a few other people were helping the middle-aged woman.

    Ever since thest trip to the dog market, Snowy had developed a strong hatred towards the hical vendors who had colored the chicks and sold the sick dogs as healthy dogs. After she saw the scene in front of her, she thought that they had maybee across with another hical vendor.

    ¡°Let¡¯s not jump into conclusions too fast; let¡¯s check it out first,¡± Zhang Zian suggested.

 Chapter 765: Wild Harvest

    <h4>Chapter 765: Wild Harvest</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian and Snowy approached the stall. Snowy then pointed at the items sold in the booth and asked, ¡°What is this for?¡±

    The items sold in the stall were all very simple. There were a few small, stic storage boxes with their lids stacked on top of each other to the side. Each storage box was filled with half a box of seawater. From ncing over the boxes, there seemed to be more than a dozen different types of marine life swimming. Most of the other stalls were selling creatures of the same kinds.

    Zhang Zian gave it some thought and understood what was going on. ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, this is not the stall owner¡¯s profession,¡± he exined. ¡°She¡¯s just here to sell the creatures she caught in her wild harvest during her free time out in the sea.¡±

    ¡°Wild harvest?¡± Snowy did not understand him.

    The audience in the broadcast channel did not understand him, either.

    ¡°Wild harvest¡­ what? I¡¯ve only heard of field operations in the wild¡­¡± one mentioned.

    ¡°I¡¯ve only heard of jungling for neutral creeps¡­¡± another said.

    ¡°I¡¯ve only heard of going on a wild hunt¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian further exined. ¡°Wild harvest, just like what its name suggests, is when you go out in the wild to collect nts and animals as a harvest. In fact, most of you here have gone on a wild harvest before, right? For example, when you were younger, you headed out to y and caught some butterflies, grasshoppers, or crickets. Generally speaking, that is considered a wild harvest, too. However, the term wild harvest is nowmonly known for wild harvest activities by a river or the sea, also known as ¡®hand gathering.''¡±

    ¡°So I have unknowingly participated in such an upper-ss activity?¡± someone watching the broadcast asked.

    ¡°If I had known about this earlier, I would have told my parents that I¡¯m on a wild harvest when I went out to y during my younger days. That would¡¯ve saved me from so many beatings¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t. You might confuse them and end up with a double beating!¡±

    A wild harvest was a way of returning to nature. It was a mixture of an outing in nature and short-distance travel. It was trending among fishermen.

    Life was just like a box of choctes, and the sea, too, was also like a box of choctes. One would never know what the sea would wash up on shore each day. That was also the fun in a wild harvest or a hand gathering. Collecting shells, crabs, and starfish was also considered a wild harvest, and asionally, there would be unexpected surprises. But strictly speaking, going on a wild harvest meant that one was taking the initiative to go out in the wild for a harvest¨C¨Cthey had a clear objective.

    Most of the audience listening to Snowy¡¯s broadcast channel were locals of Binhai City, and they were deeply attracted to the term ¡°wild harvest.¡± Soon, they started to call on their friends to organize a wild harvest and hold an offline meeting over the weekends.

    Zhang Zian hurriedly persuaded them to stop. ¡°Hold an offline meeting if you want, but don¡¯t be so gullible. Do you all think that it¡¯s very easy to go on a wild harvest? Just all youzy people with weak limbs andcking exercise¡­ it¡¯s better if all of you just remain in the city!¡±

    A single word from him invoked 1,000 waves. All theizens in the broadcast channel expressed their unhappiness.

    ¡°What¡¯s so hard about a wild harvest? Isn¡¯t it just picking up shells that we see?¡±

    ¡°Manager Weak Bird is being pretentious again!¡±

    ¡°Hehe, picking up whatever you see¡­ that¡¯s not called a wild harvest, it¡¯s just a blind bird picking!¡± Zhang Zian mocked. ¡°Do you all think that you can just pick up whatever you see? Let me tell you, sometimes dangerous creatures are washed ashore, and if you were to pick them up, you better prepare to turn into a corpse in the hospital!¡±

    Zhang Zian knew theizens well¨C¨Cthose that were fond of watching live streams were normally those that remained cooped up in their house. It was precisely because they were toozy to move that they loved watching Snowy¡¯s outdoor live broadcast. Watching her was just like an excursion around Binhai City without leaving their home¨C¨Cit didn¡¯t cost any money, they didn¡¯t get exhausted, and they still got to enjoy the fun.

    Some marine creatures were dangerous. Usually, they were hidden in the sea and would not harm anyone, but it was a different matter once they were washed ashore.

    The regr person would not have the knowledge to identify such dangerous creatures, often confusing them with the other ordinary marine life. The more dangerous it was, the more attractive it was. If a regr person were to reach out and pick it up without knowing the consequences, then it would bring them lethal danger.

    Simr things could often be seen on the inte. For example, a certain someone sometimes picked up an octopus by the beach and it turned out to be a blue-ringed octopus, or another person sometimes picked up a jellyfish by the beach, which ended up being a Portuguese man o¡¯ war. The result of the two was definitely a tragedy¨C¨Cit was just like going to the wilderness in the mountains and gathering poisonous mushrooms, then drinking the stew made from it¡­ Then, death.

    Even if people had no intention of picking them up, sometimes they just identally stepped on a stingray that was hiding under the sand and got stung by the poisonous sting on their tail. So, going on a wild harvest wasn¡¯t exactly like an outing or a trip through nature. It was necessary to have the knowledge onmonly seen dangerous creatures so they could know their appearance and habits.

    Being carried away in the heat of the moment, theizens on the broadcast channel were all nning to go on a wild harvest, and if anything were to happen, Zhang Zian did not want to be held responsible for instigating them.

    Fortunately, theizens were just carried away in the moment. Once they heard the severe consequences from Zhang Zian, they all decided to pull out of their wild harvest ideas. But the offline meeting would still be held¨C¨Cwho knows if they could meet a pretty girl!

    After he seeded in persuading theizens, Zian looked at the stall owner who was being surrounded and verbally attacked by a group of adults. The stall owner was a youngdy who was quite tanned. She looked quite muscr, and her skin had a healthy glow. She looked like someone who loved outdoor activities, standing out from the current trend of people from the younger generations that remained in their own houses.

    The middle-aged woman was holding her child¡¯s hand while holding on to a lunch box in her other hand. She was very emotional as she pointed at the stall owner and cried out, ¡°Everyone, listen to this¨C¨Cwhat do you think you¡¯re doing? Selling such a dangerous thing to my child! Are you plotting a murder intentionally? You want my child¡¯s life? We don¡¯t have any grudges between us, so why are you trying to harm us? If we didn¡¯t meet a knowledgeable friend, my son could have¡­¡±

    The surrounding onlookers all looked serious as they spoke out in favor of the woman.

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Such a dangerous thing¡­ How could you just sell it off like that?¡±

    ¡°Are you that crazy about earning money? Going so far to sell this to a child who doesn¡¯t even know anything?¡±

    ¡°So young, and you¡¯re not attending school properly! Coming out here to set up a booth, selling such dangerous things to the children¡­ You will end up in jail if anything were to happen, you know?¡±

    ¡°This is really¡­ Cough! Fortunately, it was discovered early by someone knowledgeable, or else two families would have to suffer!¡±

    ¡°What are you doing just standing there? Quickly apologize! Do you want to make it a big thing?¡±

    Everyone standing around said a sentence each. There was saliva flying everywhere, and the young girl who was surrounded by them waspletely terrified. Her face was pale with fright, and she couldn¡¯t say a single word. She didn¡¯t even dare to wipe off the saliva stain on her face, and tears were welling up in her eyes.

    After a long time, she squeezed out a sentence. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m sorry. I apologize¡­ I¡¯m really sorry¡­¡± Her voice was very soft.

    Because her precious child almost lost his life for nothing, the middle-aged woman was very angry. The youngdy¡¯s apology did not seem sincere to her.

    ¡°You¡¯re sorry?¡± she said while gritting her teeth. ¡°This is your apology? Hehe! I don¡¯t ept your apology! I¡¯m going to call the police! If there¡¯s anything to say, say it to the police!¡±

    The middle-aged woman was not just threatening her¨C¨Cshe really took out her phone and intended to call the police.

 Chapter 766: Extremely Venomous Creature

    <h4>Chapter 766: Extremely Venomous Creature</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After realizing that the middle-aged woman was, indeed, about to call the police, the girl who owned the stand was too frightened to stand.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry! Please don¡¯t call the police!¡± she begged bitterly. ¡°I¡¯m still attending university. If the police arrest me, I¡¯ll be expelled from the university¡­¡±

    The bystanders were not being unreasonable. They rebuked her out of righteous anger. As they saw what was happening to the vendor girl, however, they felt sympathy towards her. They knew that it would be serious if she was arrested and they started to persuade the middle-aged woman. ¡°Lady, look, she¡¯s feeling sorry. Just forgive her this time.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! She¡¯s too young to know it all. Everybody makes mistakes. Just let her go this time.¡±

    ¡°She has learned her lesson and will surely not do it next time.¡±

    The vendor girl grabbed her purse with shaky hands and took out a few bills out of it. ¡°This is the money that your child bought the snail with. I¡¯ll refund you the full amount. Could you please not call the police?¡±

    The middle-aged woman didn¡¯t take the money. She waved her phone and insisted on calling the police.

    ¡°Money? I¡¯m not short of a few dozen dors! Can I buy my son¡¯s life with a few dozen dors? If I let her go this time, she might harm someone else next time! Can you buy a life with money?¡± she yelled furiously.

    The bystanders didn¡¯t know what to do anymore. They sighed and stopped talking.

    As a matter of fact, the vendor girl was selling dangerous creatures and almost killed a child. It was fine to let her learn a lesson. The middle-aged woman had the right to call the police.

    Except that, as soon as she called the police, the vendor girl¡¯s life would have been ruined.

    The other vendors watched from a distance, and none of them nned toe over to intervene.

    The child of the middle-aged woman was clueless. He nced around at the adults around him, unsure of what was going on exactly.

    The vendor girl could not hold back her tears anymore. She covered her face and burst into tears.

    Snowy was furious in the beginning, as she thought that the vendor girl was an hical peddler ripping off her customers. However, after hearing the story for a while alongside Zhang Zian, she fell into a dilemma¨C¨Cthe vendor girl did do something wrong, but was the punishment too heavy? She had apologized with sincerity, after all.

    The fans¡¯ opinions in the broadcast were divided. One group thought they should let her go as long as she learned from her mistake. The middle-aged woman was making too big a fuss out about it. The other group thought that it was not a minor mistake. If they were to walk in the middle-aged woman¡¯s shoes, how could she easily let go of the person who almost killed her son?

    After seeing that the middle-aged woman had already entered the police number and was ready to dial, she quickly walked over and said, ¡°Excuse me for the interruption! May I ask what¡¯s going on here?¡±

    The middle-aged woman saw that Snowy was around the same age as the vendor girl. She thought that she might be her ssmate or friend that had just arrived to help her out. Then her face turned.

    However, after a more careful look, she realized that Snowy dressed and talkedpletely differently from the vendor girl. She didn¡¯t seem to be protecting the vendor girl, just judging from the way she talked. Moreover, Snowy¡¯s smile had always been super friendly. The woman eased up her tone and said, ¡°What¡¯s going on? Go ask her and see if she¡¯s not too embarrassed to tell you.¡±

    Her tone was still not friendly, but she was trying to control herself.

    Snowy turned to the vendor girl, handed over some tissues, and asked gently, ¡°Please don¡¯t cry. Wipe your tears first.¡±

    The vendor girl blinked her tearful eyes and looked at Snowy and Zhang Zian. She seemed to have heard Zhang Zian talking about a beach harvest. He seemed to be a business insider. Besides, Snowy¡¯s action to prevent the middle-aged woman from calling the police was reassuring.

    She finally stopped sobbing and took the tissue to wipe her tears and nose. Her eyes were already red.

    After a few deep breaths, she whimpered and exined to them what had happened.

    Well, herst name was Jiang. Her name was Jiang Feifei. She came from a different city and was in Binhai to attend university. Her family was poor, so she had been working part-time tutoring people when she didn¡¯t have ss.

    Jiang Feifei came from ind and had never seen the ocean beforeing to Binhai City. From the moment she had arrived, she¡¯d been in love with the sea. She often visited the beach about once a week when she had no ss or tutoring to do.

    On a random asion, she walked around the aquarium market while passing by with ssmates. She found out that some people were selling sea creatures outside the market building, such as starfish, sea urchins, crabs, octopuses, small fish, etc. The business seemed good.

    She had seen such creatures at the beach, and an idea came to her mind¨C¨Cshe had nothing to do at the beach, anyway, so why not pick up some creatures and sell them at the aquarium market for some extra money?

    The idea grew bigger ever since it had popped into her mind. She tried a few times, and the creatures she harvested were quite popr. The rarer the creatures, the more popr they were.

    She had no idea about the market, and she had made up the prices on impulse. The creatures were harvested without cost, and she didn¡¯t need to pay rent or utility fees for her stand outside the market building. Whatever money she made was pure profit. Why not make some money while having some fun?

    Sometimes she had to run for ss, but the creatures were not sold out yet. She ended up selling them for very low prices, almost as gifts.

    While doing so, she had widened her horizon and learned a lot about sea creatures. She had a general idea about what creatures were popr and what were not.

    Even so, she was still able to find one or two novel creatures that she had never seen before each time she visited the beach.

    Jiang Feifei¡¯s harvesting and selling had been going well and nothing had gone wrong. She never realized that some of the creatures she harvested might be dangerous until today.

    It was still winter vacation, and school had not yet started. She didn¡¯t have any tutoring lessons today. In the morning, while her roommates were still sleeping, she had already packed up her backpack and headed to the beach. She packed some stic containers and a waterproof canvas in her backpack in advance.

    She stayed at the beach from morning until noon and had harvested a lot of creatures. She came to her aquarium market stand as usual.

    Business was slow, but she was not in a hurry. She took out her textbooks and sat on the waterproof canvas. She responded to the customers¡¯ questions when there were any and read her book when no customers were around.

    Time passed by slowly. While she was reading, a little boy came to her stand and fixed his eyes on the sea creatures in the stic containers.

    As the Spring Festival had just finished, kids still had some red packet money in their hands. They were generous when it came to spending money, unlike the adults who counted every cent. They were a major group of customers.

    The boy asked her a few questions. ¡°What¡¯s this fish? What¡¯s that crab?¡±

    She knew the creatures, but not their official names. Some of them were new to her, and she had to tell him that she didn¡¯t know, either.

    The boy picked a few small fish, shrimp, and a beautiful sea snail. He paid her generously, without any bargaining.

    The sea snail was the problem. The boy returned home and met an adult rtive, who was frightened after seeing the snail in his hand. He told his mother that it was an extremely venomous cone snail!

 Chapter 767: Cone Snail

    <h4>Chapter 767: Cone Snail</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Cone Snails, also known as Cone Shells, were named after their shape that resembled a cone. Just on the coast of China, there were already more than 70 different types of cone snails that were widely distributed. Although they weren¡¯t as famous as the Blue-Ringed Octopus or the Portuguese Man O¡¯ War, the hidden, poisonous creature did not inflict any less harm to humans each year whenpared to them.

    The Blue-Ringed Octopus and the Portuguese Man O¡¯ War were mollusks with tentacles, and since they looked really disgusting, most people would not take the initiative to touch them. But the shell of a Cone Snail was really beautiful and they looked like a delicate piece of artwork lying on the beach, so people couldn¡¯t help but want to pick it up.

    The content of the Cone Snail¡¯s venom was veryplicated, and each type of cone snail had a different kind of venom, so there was no specific detoxification serum.

    The little boy¡¯s mother had never seen a Cone Snail before, but she had vaguely heard of the poisonous creature. She was badly frightened when she heard of its name, so she snatched over the lunch box from the boy and checked both the front and back of his hands countless of times to make sure that there was no wound before she let out a sigh of relief.

    Still shaken up from the scare, she sternly questioned her child where he had bought the creatures from.

    The little boy was also scared into a blur. He began to stammer and said that he bought them from the fish market.

    So, she held onto the evidence and led her child back to the market in an aggressive and threatening manner. She then scolded Jiang Feifei the moment she saw her.

    The sound of her scolding had attracted a number of people who came over to watch, and after they heard of the cause, they all started to me Jiang Feifei for her careless actions.

    At that time, Jiang Feifei was reading a book for revision as she sat by the stall. She was thrown into a blur from the sudden disaster that befell her¨C¨Cshe could not even say anything. But she also had no way to say anything since the facts were all right on the table and there was no way for her to deny.

    She immediately regretted her harvest the moment she learned that her unintentional mistake had almost led to a disaster. She felt like pping herself a few times.

    Now that things hade that far, she had no other wishes. She just wanted to plead for the middle-aged woman to not call the police, or else she would really be done¡ªif the school were to find out, she would either be punished or, if things were serious, she would be kicked out of school. How was she going to face her parents and family who had spent the money to send her to a university?

    Theizens were all scared after Zhang Zian had made clear how the situation came to be. They now believed that a wild harvest wasn¡¯t something for everyone. If they were to go on a blind bird pick and picked up a cone snail, then harming themselves was one thing¡­ but if they were to cause harm to others, wouldn¡¯t that be considered manughter? It was better to remain in the city for the offline meeting, after all.

    Snowy was very sympathetic to Jiang Feifei¡¯s experience, but the issue was not going to be easy to solve. The middle-aged woman was extremely furious; she would not be easily persuaded.

    The same was true for the onlookers. Speaking in terms of reason, they were in support of the middle-aged woman, yet they were also emotionally biased towards Jiang Feifei. That one wrong step on her part had brought her to a situation that was beyond redemption.

    If Jiang Feifei had unintentionally sold the Cone Snail to the little boy, even if the police were to arrive, they might just give her a lecture and be done with it. But if the middle-aged woman were to insist that Jiang Feifei had done it on purpose¨C¨Cselling the Cone Snail even after knowing what it is¨C¨Cthen things would be different.

    The key was if Jiang Feifei could prove that she had not done it intentionally.

    Everyone knew that it was almost impossible because the only ones who were there during the purchase were the little boy and Jiang Feifei. The little boy¡¯s testimony would also not have much credibility since he had already forgotten what he had said.

    Everyone looked at Jiang Feifei sympathetically, but there was nothing they could do to help.

    There were one or two people who were more experienced in the ways of life. They quietly signaled with their eyes for Jiang Feifei to fork out more money to resolve the issue, treating it as if it were a lesson.

    But where would Jiang Feifei find any extra money¨C¨Cif she had money? She wouldn¡¯t be going out on a wild harvest while her schoolmates were all sleeping.

    Seeing that the middle-aged woman was about to press the dial button, Zhang Zian stepped closer to her and looked into the lunch box.

    In the lunch box that was half filled with water, a beautiful snailid there.

    Its outer shell appeared to be streamlined¨C¨Cwide on one end as it gradually narrowed with a smooth angle to the other end. The enamel-glossy surface was evenly distributed with quicksand-like spots. It was really beautiful.

    The most eye-catching thing was that it would asionally spit out a pale pink feeler shaped object as if to test the movements of its surroundings.

    It was its appearance and the feeler-like thing that made everyone believe that it was a dangerous Cone Snail.

    The middle-aged woman continued scolding Jiang Feifei while the onlookers and theizens had their own opinions.

    ¡°Cough! Can I saw a few words?¡± Zhang Zian let out a dry cough.

    He¡¯d been standing to the side and he was so quiet that everyone had forgotten about him.

    Hearing what he said, the middle-aged woman suspiciously looked at him. ¡°What? Let me tell you, all of you can forget about persuading me today. I¡¯m going to call the police!¡±

    A glimmer of hope appeared in Jiang Feifei¡¯s heart. She hoped that Zhang Zian would be able to persuade her not to call the police.

    Snowy felt the same way, too. She knew that Zhang Zian would not just involve himself in such situations, but when he did, there was something he could achieve.

    ¡°This¡­ Big sister.¡±

    Zhang Zian pondered for some time on how he was supposed to address her, and finally, he decided to go against his heart and call her big sister like the others. In fact, it was supposed to be ¡®aunty,¡¯ but to prevent making things worse, he decided that it was better to suffer a little!

    ¡°It¡¯s fine if you want to call the police¨C¨CI¡¯m not going to stop you¨C¨Cbut I feel that it¡¯s best if you did not call the police. Because once the police are here, I¡¯m afraid that you¡¯re going to be the one receiving the lecture and me,¡± Zian said to her.

    The middle-aged woman immediately paid attention. She thought that Zhang Zian had some special connections with the police. ¡°What are you talking about? Justice is on my side, so I won¡¯t be afraid of anyone today! I¡¯m going to get the me? Why would I be the one receiving the me? It¡¯s obviously her fault!¡±

    She pointed at Jiang Feifei¡¯s face. The tip of her fingers could almost touch Jiang Feifei¡¯s forehead.

    Zhang Zianughed and said, ¡°The reason why you want to call the police is because she sold a Cone Snail to your son, right? But what you¡¯re holding now isn¡¯t a Cone Snail. So even if you were to call the police, they would be making a wasted trip! So if you¡¯re not going to receive the me, then who is?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    The unexpected twist got everyone present confused.

    ¡°Mr Store Manager, isn¡¯t that a Cone Snail?¡± Snowy asked in a delightful surprise.

    The middle-aged woman gave a look that said, ¡®don¡¯t try to lie to me just because I¡¯m uneducated.¡¯ With a very aggressive tone, she questioned, ¡°You¡¯re in cahoots with this girl, right? Stop trying to lie here! Are the two of you conspiring together to cheat people? How much money is she giving you? My rtive told me very clearly that this was a type of Cone Shell. It¡¯s also known as Nussate Cone! I clearly remember the name!¡±

    Zhang Zian immediately refuted, ¡°I don¡¯t know her, we¡¯re not working together, and I¡¯m also not siding with her. I just happened to be here and can¡¯t bear to see her being treated unfairly, so I¡¯m here to say a few words out of fairness. From what I see, your rtive is just a smatterer. Although this thing is simr to a Nussate Cone, it¡¯s actually an Oliva Emicator and is not poisonous.¡±

 Chapter 768: Calling a Stag a Horse

    <h4>Chapter 768: Calling a Stag a Horse</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The rtive of the middle-aged woman had some discernment, as the Nussate cone (Hermes nussatellus) was a special species among cone shells.

    Most cone shells were heart-shaped with a wider end and a sharp, narrow end. The Nussate cones¡¯ narrow edge was less sharp, and they looked more like bullets. They didn¡¯t look like cone shells, but more like ordinary, harmless snails.

    The Oliva emicator looked quite simr to Nussate cones in both shape and color and were often mixed up by amateurs. But in fact, they were not the same species at all.

    Zhang Zian was fully confident that the creature in the container was an Oliva emicator and not an extremely venomous cone snail.

    When Snowy first heard his words, she was expecting him to present some evidence to turn the situation around. He ended up turning the entire table of negotiation! If the creature was not a cone snail, then the previous usations were total nonsense. The woman would end up being the one at fault.

    Jiang Feifei waspletely stunned. Her head was buzzing, and her heart was pounding. She really hoped that what Zhang Zian said was true. If it was true, then she would no longer need to apologize, nor fear the police.

    The middle-aged woman didn¡¯t want to give up so easily. ¡°How dare you! You call my rtive an amateur,¡± she said with a poker face. ¡°I think you are more like an amateur! You said that this is an Oliva emicator. Do you have any evidence? Can you prove it? Anyone is capable of making up nonsense! Since you say it¡¯s an Oliva emicator, fine. Do you dare to hold it in your hands?¡±

    Clearly, she trusted her rtive much more than Zhang Zian. She talked quite provocatively. Zhang Zian became the target of the arrow.

    The surrounding crowd was doubtful, as Zhang Zian just uttered a very professional name¨C¨COliva emicator. None of them were certain if his judgment was correct.

    ¡°Young man, you can eat whatever you want, but you can¡¯t im whatever you want!¡± someone tried to persuade him.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Don¡¯t y the hero if you are not one. If this is really a cone snail, then you¡¯ll certainly die if you hold it in your hands!¡± Someone was afraid that he might act impulsively.

    Someone tried to step in and end the fight. ¡°Just let it go. You should meet each other halfway and stop it there.¡±

    Snowy didn¡¯t know what to do. She believed Zhang Zian, but it was too risky. What if¡­?

    The online fans, who had always been ridiculing him, could not stay calm anymore.

    ¡°Manager Weak Bird, just be a weak bird. Don¡¯t be a fool!¡±

    ¡°I give you 99 points, you poser. Forget about the remaining one point as long as we know that it¡¯s an Oliva emicator.¡±

    ¡°I wanted to say, ¡®I¡¯ll take care of your wife,¡¯ but Manager Weak Bird doesn¡¯t have a wife! You should at least get a wife before posing!¡±

    Zhang Zian wanted to let it go. But if he did so, the online fans in the broadcast might mock the crap out of him in the next year. Plus, he thought that the middle-aged woman was overreacting. Even if she had her rights, she had to behave within the limits of thew.

    With a smile, before the other people had realized what was happening, he quickly put his hand underwater, grabbed the beautiful snail in his palm, and lifted it out of the water to show to everyone. Clear water dripped through his fingers.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    Snowy was too shocked to watch and turned her head. Jiang Feifei closed her eyes. Everybody else eximed in astonishment. A few nice people even tried to tap Zhang Zian¡¯s arms so that the snail would fall out of his hand.

    The face of the middle-aged woman changed abruptly. She thought that Zhang Zian could not have been so stupid. He actually took the snail in his hand. If he ended up being poisoned by the cone snail, then she would have been responsible in some way.

    Yet, Zhang Zian¡¯s face remained calm as usual, as if the thing in his hand was nothing but an ordinary button.

    ¡°The Nussate cone looks very simr to the Oliva emicator. They have the same color, but there is a major difference. The grooves on a Nussate cone shell are slightly protruding. You can feel them with your hand and can see it if you take a close look. But an Oliva emicator¡¯s shell is smooth. If you don¡¯t believe me, you cane here and touch it yourself.¡±

    He stretched out his hand to the crowd, but nobody had the guts to touch it. Everybody stepped back when it was in front of them.

    Even though they didn¡¯t touch it, everybody saw that the snail did have a smooth shell.

    Suddenly, it stretched out a light pink antenna out of its mouth and pointed it at the center of Zhang Zian¡¯s palm.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    Even the grown men shouted like girls. They all looked terrified, thinking that if Zhang Zian was wrong, then he should surely be dead.

    After a few seconds, Zhang Zian still looked calm and well. His palm was not hurt at all.

    The antenna was soft and only slightly touched his palm. It changed direction as soon as it hit the obstacle.

    It was then that the crowded figured out that the snail was, indeed, not a cone snail. As Zhang Zian said, it was a harmless Oliva emicator.

    While everyone was still frightened, Zhang Zian thought they looked kind of funny.

    He exined, ¡°You don¡¯t need to be frightened like this. Even if it is Nussate cone, it¡¯s not as venomous as other cone snails. They can hardly kill a grown man. The toxicity of a cone snail depends on the width of its mouth. The wider the mouth, the more venomous it is. In other words, the more it looks like a heart, the more venomous a cone snail is. The Nussate cone snails have narrow mouths shaped like bullets. In terms of toxicity, it is nothing more than a weak bird among cone snails¡­ not to mention that this is not a Nussate cone.¡±

    The crowd was finally relieved. Everybody¡¯s foreheads were covered with sweat.

    Inparison, the broadcast fans were not physically present to experience the tense atmosphere. They came back to their senses first.

    ¡°Nussate cone says, ¡®You¡¯ve hurt my feelings!''¡±

    ¡°When Manager Weak Bird utters the word ¡®weak bird,¡¯ it sounds particrly irritating¡­¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that so! Look at his ugly face intoxicated with sess! His posing attempt is once again sessful¡­¡±

    Facts were louder than words. The middle-aged woman could not utter a word; she was too embarrassed to stay.

    After the situation had changed direction, the crowd started to rebuke her.

    ¡°What are you doing? You med the wrong person without figuring out what was going on¡­ It¡¯s your fault that we almost helped you do wrong!¡±

    ¡°Luckily this knowledgeable young man is here. Otherwise, this poor girl would have never gotten out of this mess!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say anything else. Just apologize, as you wronged her incorrectly¡­¡±

    ¡°After you return, tell your amateur rtive to be careful next time. You almost ruined someone¡¯s life!¡±

    The middle-aged woman finally experienced how Jiang Feifei was feeling. After she was med by the crowd, her face changed color in embarrassment. But she just could not utter a word to apologize. Her words were too mean, after all, and she didn¡¯t leave any room for the girl to defend herself. By doing so, she left no room for herself, either.

    Anyway, she was just a stranger to the crowd, and nobody knew her well. She lowered her head, took her boy¡¯s hand, squeezed themselves through the crowd, and left the aquarium market in embarrassment.

 Chapter 769: Acting Ability Not as Good as a Dogâ€™s

    <h4>Chapter 769: Acting Ability Not as Good as a Dog¡¯s</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The whole incident started because of a misunderstanding and it only worsened because the woman was very protective when it involved her son. So, when she left with her son, the whole incident ended.

    Those watching the show had also dispersed, going off to their own homes to look for their own mothers. They would probably take the incident as one of the things they talked about over a meal, then they would boast about how Zian had flipped the whole situation over with his sharp eyes¡­

    Having escaped from death, Jiang Feifei walked over excitedly. But just as she was about to express her gratitude, Zian sternly reprimanded her. ¡°Even if this incident stemmed from a misunderstanding, the root of this incident was still a problem on your end. This time you were lucky to have picked up an Oliva Emicator, but what if you were to pick up a Nussate Cone next time? Wouldn¡¯t you be causing harm to both yourself and others?¡±

    Jiang Feifei was at a loss for words. She hung her head in shame and said, ¡°You¡¯re right, it¡¯s my fault¡­¡±

    Snowy and theizens all sighed. A wild harvest really wasn¡¯t for just anyone, or else the 70 different types of Cone Snails along China¡¯s coastal areas would easily teach one how to get a fresh start¡ªthe true meaning of getting a fresh start was to reincarnate better for one¡¯s next life.

    Of course, the China coastal area was rtively safe as long as one didn¡¯t go blind bird picking. The Australian beaches that were flooded with poisonous creatures, sharks, and crocodiles were the ones that would send chills down people¡¯s spines!

    Snowy noticed that Jiang Feifei was feeling down, so sheforted her and told her not to be so bothered by the incident, to be more careful when she was out on a wild harvest again, and to not pick up things that she did not recognize.

    Jiang Feifei nodded her head and thanked both Snowy and Zhang Zian from the bottom of her heart. She was really grateful that the two of them were there, otherwise she¡¯d be facing a lot more trouble. It wasn¡¯t necessarily confirmed that the policemen would be able to differentiate an Oliva Emicator from a Nussate Cone.

    ¡°Right, can I ask you a question?¡± Jiang Feifei cautiously asked Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian threw the Oliva Emicator back into her stic storage box, mixing in with the other sea creatures.

    ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡± Zian asked.

    ¡°Are¡­ are you a biologist? Why do you know so much?¡± Jiang Feifei asked confusedly. ¡°Even a biology teacher would not necessarily be able to differentiate an Oliva Emicator from a Nussate Cone, right? They might not even be able to mention those names¡­¡±

    If Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t so young, then she would definitely have thought that he was a professor from Binhai University¡¯s School of Life Sciences. If that was the case, she would have to address him as teacher¡ªof course that was also not impossible, since the number of young professors and doctors were increasing.

    Zhang Zian smiled, but just when he had nned on faking the demeanor of a master, he heard Snowy expose him with much enthusiasm. ¡°No, he runs a pet shop!¡±

    ¡°Runs a pet shop?¡± Jiang Feifei couldn¡¯t figure it out for a moment, and she found it to be unbelievable. She thought that Snowy was joking. Do all pet shop owners hold such high standard of professionalism?

    Theizens in the broadcast channel all echoed after her.

    ¡°Yes, you can address him as Manager Weak Bird. You¡¯re wee! My name¡¯s Lei Feng!¡±

    ¡°Or for short, ¡®Weak Bird.''¡±

    ¡°As the parrot says: say chicken and not bird, be civilized you and I!¡±

    Jiang Feifei was not able to see the bullet screens flying across the broadcast channel, but the word ¡®Pet Shop¡¯ had her vaguely recall something.

    Jiang Feifei¡¯s roommate was an ordinary female university student: she had moderate academic performance, one or two past rtionships, a crush on one or two boys, one or two rtionship b-ns, one or two best friends, loved to watch a variety of programs, paid attention to entertainment news, and was a moderate idol chaser.

    Two days earlier, her roommate suddenly said a sentence to her: ¡°Aiya! Oh my god! Lin Feng lost to a dog! Even though he¡¯s slightly old now and he may not look as good as he used to, I used to like him during my younger days! Time really is¡­ just like a knife that leaves marks on your face!¡±

    At that time, Jiang Feifei was busy working on her graduation project. She had no interest in gossip or entertainment scandals¨C¨Cshe didn¡¯t chase after idols and was also not on her roommate¡¯s best friend list¨C¨Cbut out of consideration of maintaining a healthy roommate rtionship, she casually replied, ¡°What? Lost to a dog? How did that happen?¡±

    Her roommate then went on to say, ¡°Such a big news and you¡¯re not aware of it? The Berlin Film Festival had awarded the Best Male Lead Silver Bear Award to a dog, and Lin Feng declined all interview requests he had received ever since he came back. Those sad eyes of his¡­ aye, it just stimtes my maternal instinct! Right, that dog is also from a pet shop here in our Binhai City. The shop owner brought it up on stage to receive the award.¡±

    Having said that, her roommate showed her the picture on her phone.

    Out of courtesy, Jiang Feifei nced over at the picture without looking carefully and said a few words before she continued working on her graduation project.

    ¡°Aye, next time the phrase ¡®acting ability is not as good as a dog¡¯s¡¯ won¡¯t just be a derogatory term. 99% of actors are not as good as dogs¡­¡± her roommate continued to mutter before her attention was attracted by other entertainment scandals. Soon enough, her former idol was thrown to the back of her head.

    Jiang Feifei had already forgotten about the news, but when she heard the word ¡®pet shop,¡¯ somehow the image from her roommate¡¯s phone popped up into her head.

    When she saw the picture, her focus was entirely on the dog and she had just given the man standing beside it a nce. But now that Zhang Zian was right in front of her, she realized that they seemed to be the same person¡­

    ¡°Could you be¡­ the one from the Berlin Film Festival¡­?¡± she asked hesitantly.

    Zhang Zian nodded his head. It was true that men were afraid of getting famous and pigs were afraid of getting fatter. Once you¡¯re a celebrity, people would easily recognize you on the streets.

    ¡°No wonder¡­¡± Jiang Feifei finally understood why.

    If just any pet shop owner had this kind of standard, China¡¯s pet industry would have already rushed out of Asia and progressed towards the world¡­

    For someone who was able to train a dog that won the Berlin Film Festival¡¯s Best Male Lead, it was not surprising that he knew so much about marine life.

    Jiang Feifei then looked at Snowy. She was about to guess that Snowy was awork anchor because Snowy had beenughing and talking to her phone.

    There were also a few girls in her school that did a live broadcasts or videos for a video website, but none of them seemed to be really famous.

    ¡°I¡¯m Snowy, an outdoorwork anchor,¡± Snowy said, giving a self-introduction. ¡°My channel is ¡®Eat, Drink, and Be Merry at Binhai City.¡¯ You¡¯re wee toe over and y!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m really thankful to the both of you for today.¡± Jiang Feifei has already said her thanks multiple of times that day.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, you don¡¯t have to thank me,¡± Snowy said with a smile. ¡°You like to go on wild harvests, right? Can you introduce these creatures in the box to me and the audience? I honestly don¡¯t even recognize a single one of them!¡±

    ¡°This¡­¡± Jiang Feifei shyly looked at Zhang Zian. Introducing them in front of an expert¡­ wasn¡¯t that just like teaching a fish how to swim?

    Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders. He motioned for her to rx and ignore his existence.

    ¡°Okay then¡­ I¡¯ll introduce them, but if there are any mistakes, please don¡¯t hold back and correct me,¡± she said shyly.

    ¡°We can¡¯t call it a correction. We¡¯ll just be learning from each other and progressing together.¡± Zhang Zian nced through the few storage boxes. ¡°But there¡¯s quite a variety of creatures that you collected here.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± She also had her own doubts. ¡°Usually, I am not able to get this much unless it¡¯s just after a storm, but recently, it hasn¡¯t been raining¡­¡±

 Chapter 770: Low Oxygen

    <h4>Chapter 770: Low Oxygen</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Anyone with beach harvesting experience would know that the harvest was a gift from of the heavens above. There was not much of a harvest when the sea was calm. Yet the day after a storm, as the water levels rose, the beach was usually full of creatures. Sometimes one could stumble upon a surprising harvest.

    Jiang Feifei had been harvesting along the beach for quite some time. Nobody had ever taught her about it, but as she became more experienced, she learned by herself.

    The weather was oddly very nice the past few days. The ocean was calm. She didn¡¯t expect to harvest a lot when she left in the morning¨C¨Cotherwise, she would have brought a few more containers with her¨C¨Cyet, after a short walk on the beach, she had found a lot more creatures than she had ever even seen. She didn¡¯t even know many of the creatures, such as the Oliva emicator.

    Despite that, she didn¡¯t grow suspicious, as it happened asionally. Although there was no storm in Binhai City, there might be one in the nearby ocean. If the current and wind were both traveling her way, the rising sea level would bring more creatures like the ones she was finding to the beach.

    The listener paid more attention than the speaker.

    Zhang Zian thought that this was not a coincidence.

    Apparently, Sihwa¡¯s arrival had drawn the marine creatures to the beach like a ma.

    As he was thinking, two girls squatted down on the ground. Jiang Feifei pointed at the creatures in the container and introduced them one by one to Snowy and the broadcast audience.

    ¡°Is this an octopus?¡± Snowy pointed at the creeping tentacles of a mollusk, looking disgusted.

    ¡°This is a verymon octopus. Local fishermen call it ¡®octopus minor.¡¯ It has a prettier name¨C¨C¡¯tide watcher,''¡± Jiang Feifei said while ncing at Zhang Zian without confidence. She was afraid of being wrong.

    As she said, it was a verymon octopus. Precisely speaking, it wasmon on the dinner table. Not many people had seen them live and intact, as they had already been cooked.

    ¡°Tide watcher? I like its name. It sounds like the local ¡®Wang Haige Forum.''¡± Snowy nodded, then pointed at another octopus. ¡°What is this? Octopus major?¡±

    ¡°This¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡± Jiang Feifei smiled with a blush.

    Snowy retracted her hands subconciously, fearing that the octopus might be venomous.

    ¡°That¡¯s a ruby octopus¨C¨Ckind of rare in our seas.¡± Zhang Zian realized something. ¡°Did you bring an oxygen pump? This ruby octopus is about to die, I¡¯m afraid.¡±

    The ruby octopus usually lived in tropical areas and was much prettier than the rustic-looking octopus minor. Its body was pink with a hint of purple. The surface was covered with countless white spots. It rested feebly in the water and barely moved, ignoring the small fish swimming past it.

    ¡°Oxygen pump¡­ No. All I have is arge.¡± Jiang Feifei grew more embarrassed.

    ¡°Octopuses need a lot of oxygen and must rely on pumped oxygen to survive away from the ocean.¡± Zhang Zian shook his head with regret. ¡°The ruby octopus is quite expensive. One at this size is worth 400-500 yuan.¡±

    ¡°400-500 yuan?¡± Jiang Feifei was astonished. ¡°This morning, someone asked about the price. I asked for 150, and that person bargained for 100. He didn¡¯t take it in the end; he said it was too expensive¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that guy didn¡¯t know that kind of octopus this was.¡± Zhang Zian knew the customers¡¯ mind too well. ¡°He only felt that it was pretty and that 100 was not too expensive. It¡¯s a good thing that you didn¡¯t sell it. That would have been a big loss.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s a shame that it¡¯s dying. I¡¯m losing anyway¡­¡± She sighed. ¡°I know it¡¯s better to have an oxygen pump. But even if I have one, I don¡¯t have anywhere to plug it in.¡±

    ¡°There are UBS-powered small oxygen pumps designed specifically for beach harvesting,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°With a portable charger, you have everything you need for the harvest.¡±

    Jiang Feifei said with embarrassment, ¡°But I didn¡¯t bring a portable charger either¡­¡±

    ¡°I have a portable charger, Mr. Store Manager. We can buy an oxygen pump from the aquarium market, I suppose?¡± Snowy interrupted.

    Snowy often stayed outside the entire day for broadcasting. She always carried a portable charger in her backpack, otherwise her phone battery might notst too long.

    Zhang Zian then realized that they were right next to the aquarium market. As long as they bought an oxygen pump, the ruby octopus might be saved.

    ¡°Let¡¯s do this. You can wait outside while we go inside to buy the oxygen pump and bring it to you,¡± he said.

    Jiang Feifei had to stay around her stand and could not leave. She was grateful for his gesture.

    Zhang Zian and Snowy were about to tour around the aquarium market, anyway. It was a small favor they could do for her.

    They were almost done with the individual stands outside the market building. The remaining stands were quite simr and not worth visiting.

    After reaching an agreement with Jiang Feifei, the other two went straight into the building of the aquarium market.

    There were two entrances to the market building¨C¨Cbuilding A and B. Building B was only for aquarium creatures, while building A was for other pets. Zhang Zian and Snowy walked straight into building B.

    As soon as they entered, the crowd outside the building became distant. There were not many customers in the aquarium market, as it was a work day. Most people were quiet, watching their favorite marine creatures in front of the tank with folded arms and talking to the store owners asionally. The marine creatures were quiet, as well, unlike the meowing cats and barking dogs.

    Once one had seen the best, everything else became second best.

    Since Zhang Zian had been to Karl¡¯s aquarium, the market was not impressive at all. The atmosphere, equipment, expertise, and marine creatures were not as eye-catching.

    But it was fine. He didn¡¯te here to learn, but to buy things like bottom sand, eco-bio-blocks, corals, etc.

    It was Snowy¡¯s first trip to this ce and everything was a novelty to her. But she didn¡¯t forget her priority, which was to buy an oxygen pump and bring it to Jiang Feifei.

    They looked at the store n of building B at the entrance and found out that the first floor was for marine creatures; the second floor for bottom sand, eco-bio-blocks, and other supplies; and the third floor was for different types of aquarium equipment.

    If Zhang Zian hade here by himself, he might have skipped the third floor, as he already had all the equipment that he needed.

    The two of them agreed on the n to take the elevator to the third floor, then tour their way downstairs.

    ¡°Sir, what are you looking for? A tank? A filter? A heating rod? Protein separator? Calcium reactor? We have everything here. Juste in and take a look. If you want a whole set, we have them, too. It¡¯s even cheaper!¡±

    ¡°Sir, take a look in our shop!¡±

    As soon as they exited the elevator, the shopping guides of the third greeted them in their faces. They were much more weing than those on the first floor.

    Maybe as a result of online shopping, there were even fewer customers on the third floor. Most of them were shopping for medium torge aquarium tanks. The online shipping cost for these items was too high, after all. But at the market they could deliver them for free to one¡¯s door.

    ¡°We are looking for an oxygen pump.¡± Snowy was straightforward.

    ¡°Oxygen pump? We have them. We are specialized in tank essories and have all models and sizes. We have more stuff than anyone else. Just follow me.¡± One of the shopping guides was louder. He grabbed Zhang Zian¡¯s arms, bringing him to his store.

 Chapter 771: Electrician

    <h4>Chapter 771: Electrician</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian could have gotten rid of the shopping guide, but he was not familiar with the area, so it made no difference which shop he went to. It was more important for him to buy an oxygen pump as soon as possible for Jiang Feifei, or else the Ruby Octopus would really be gone.

    The shopping guide led them to a shop that wasn¡¯t small. The counters and walls were filled with aquarium equipment; there were also open cardboard boxes piled on the ground and the space left for people to move around was very limited.

    There were only two people in the shop: one boss taking on the counter duties and another, which was the shopping guide staff. Honestly speaking, the shopping guide had done a very good job in his work¨C¨Che was really good at pulling business. Even if the shop were to close down, he could probably get a job at a shampoo room¡­

    ¡°Prettydy, you wanted an oxygen pump?¡± the boss said with a smile. ¡°How big is your fish tank? Let me give you some advice.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew full well how the routine would go. If they were here just to buy an oxygen pump, it would not be worthy of such warm wee, so the boss would definitely try to promote other items. He would first ask about the fish tank and the fish to get a general idea, then he would take a chance to introduce other equipment and items like pumps, filters, fish medicine, and nitrifying bacteria.

    But he was just running a business, so it was understandable. Profits earned were already being pushed low due to online shopping, so if he did not think of ways to push his sales, then he would only starve.

    However, the boss did not expect Snowy to show him with her hands the size of a textbook. She said, ¡°About this big.¡±

    The boss was speechless and looked at the shopping guide. That was a freaking small fish tank¨C¨Cwas she raising a tortoise?

    ¡°What fish are you keeping in there?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Ruby Octopus,¡± Snowy answered.

    The boss immediately perked up after he heard her, since keeping an octopus in such a small tank was not going to work.

    ¡°Prettydy, you can¡¯t do that. An octopus won¡¯t be able to move freely in such a small tank, and it¡¯s going to die in a few days.¡± He winked at the shopping guide. ¡°You would need a tank that¡¯s at least 60 by 30¨C¨Cthe bigger, the better! Do you want to take a look at our fish tanks? It¡¯s an ultra-white ss, hot bend aquarium tank¨C¨Cmuch cheaper than the other stores. Let me tell you, if you want to keep fish for a long time, you won¡¯t lose out buying a good fish tank¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, I just want an oxygen pump¡­ one with a USB port. Do you have it here? If you don¡¯t, then I¡¯ll head over to the other shops.¡± Snowy was concerned about the octopus¡¯s safety, so she interrupted his sales introduction.

    The boss and shopping guide immediately lost all their earlier enthusiasm. One oxygen pump would be about 20 to 30 dors, so the profit would probably be just enough for a lollipop. But it was still money, so they took out a few different oxygen pumps to let Snowy choose.

    Snowy looked at Zhang Zian inquiringly and just gestured for her to pick the cheapest one.

    Snowy then chose one that was small and had a nice color. She paid for it and ran downstairs to give it to Jiang Feifei.

    ¡°Sir, you¡¯re¡­ together with that prettydy from before?¡± the boss asked Zhang Zian after Snowy left.

    Zhang Zian nodded and moved away from the counter to show that he did not have any intention of buying anything.

    The boss then pouted his lips at the shopping guide, signaling for him to continue waiting for customers by the elevator. At that time, an old man who looked to be in his sixties led a ten-year-old child over and, without saying anything, pped the box that he was holding in his hands onto the counter.

    Seeing that the old man did note over with good intentions and it seemed like he was here to cause issues, the boss and shopping guide immediately straightened their faces.

    ¡°Excuse me, sir, is there a problem?¡±

    The veins on the old man¡¯s neck and forehead seemed like they were about to burst. He said with anger, ¡°This is the fish tank heating rod that you guys sold me! It¡¯s a freaking rip-off!¡±

    Inside the box was a shiny, stainless steel heating rod. Its stated power was 100W.

    His voice was very loud and it attracted the eyes of the few customers that were on the third floor, while the other shops did not concern themselves with the issue.

    ¡°Sir, there¡¯s no need for you to shout this loud. Reason doesn¡¯t take the side of the one with the loudest voice, right?¡± The boss frowned and took out the heating rod from the box and gave it a careful inspection. ¡°Is this heating rod faulty? It¡¯s not heating well?¡±

    The shopping guide tried tofort the old man from the side. ¡°Sir, don¡¯t be angry; getting angry is not good for your body. We¡¯ve always been responsible for all items sold¡­ Every item sold will have a warranty period of three months. Did you purchase this heating rod within three months? Did you bring along a receipt? As long as the purchase was made within three months and the damage isn¡¯t caused by any man-made errors, we will be responsible for the exchange. This is the advantage of a physical shop since, if you purchase the item online, the warranty period would only be for fifteen days and you have to fork out extra for the postage fees.¡±

    Zhang Zian secretly nodded his head. Every piece of electronic equipment could not avoid the possibility of a malfunction, but it was okay for them to malfunction as long as regr maintenance was carried out or the shop was willing to rece it. The shop he was in had handled the situation well.

    The equipment, like the timed feeding device that he sold in his shop, would also asionally be faulty, but as long as it was within the warranty period, then he would do an exchange for them when a customer returned with a faulty product. He wanted to avoid any disputes.

    Therefore, Zian was unable to understand why the old man was so furious¨C¨Cespecially after the shop had agreed to change a new one for him, he did not seem to be any less angry.

    Could it be that this old man had lost his receipt? If there was no receipt, there would be no way for him to prove that he had bought the item from the shop¡­ In that case, the shop would not be able to go forward with the exchange.

    Snowy had already handed the oxygen pump to Jiang Feifei, and she returned to the third floor just to see the situation.

    Zhang Zian shook his head, indicating that he was not aware of the full story.

    Theizens in the broadcast channel were quickly interested. They all guessed that it must be a transaction dispute. The old man might havepared the prices with the ones on the inte after he bought the heating rod, only to realize that he had spent more money, so he was here to return the item or to ask for a refund. Such situations often happened to old people.

    ¡°Sir, please calm down. Is this heating rod faulty? If it is, you can just change for a new one,¡± Snowy tried to persuade him.

    The old man looked over at Zhang Zian and Snowy. Seeing that they weren¡¯t people from the shop, he said, ¡°Well, it isn¡¯t faulty¡­¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­ then why are you so angry?¡± Snowy asked curiously. ¡°Is it because it¡¯s too expensive? You feel like you have been cheated?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not it.¡± The old man shook his head indignantly. ¡°What kind of person do you think I am? Even if it was overpriced, it wasn¡¯t forced on me, so I won¡¯t stoop that low to fine them for that!¡±

    The shopping guide and the boss were also in a blur. It was their first time encountering such a situation.

    ¡°Then you¡­¡± Before Snowy was done with what she was going to say, the old man took out an identification card from his pocket and threw it on the counter.

    ¡°I¡¯m a former electrician. I¡¯ve worked in a factory my whole life, and this is my electrician certificate.¡± He pointed at the identification card and said, ¡°Take a look if you don¡¯t believe me.¡±

    Snowy picked up the electrician certificate and looked at it. The old man¡¯s surname was Wu, and he was indeed a certified electrician. His card had not expired yet.

    ¡°I¡¯m showing you my identification card so that all of you won¡¯t suspect my professionalism, and so you all won¡¯t try to fool me!¡± Old Man Wu was very agitated when he pointed at the boss and the shopping guide. ¡°Are you nning on taking someone¡¯s life with the things that you sell? There¡¯s an electrical leakage in the heating rod! It shocked all the fish in my fish tank, and if it weren¡¯t for my grandson who told me that his hands were numb, I wouldn¡¯t have noticed it!¡±

 Chapter 772: Electrical Leakage

    <h4>Chapter 772: Electrical Leakage</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Electrician Wu¡¯s son and daughter were both married and working in different cities. During the winter holidays, he and his wife took care of the grandchildren.

    He had nothing to do after retirement. As an attempt to look for something fun to do, he nned to get some fish.

    As a result, he quickly bought the tank and all the equipment that was required. Many equipment sets were bought in the store. The prices were okay, although they were not as low as the prices were online. Old men like him preferred to shop in real stores as long as the price difference was not dramatic.

    He didn¡¯t want to get the expensive fish to start off with¨C¨Cif the fish died, he would have just wasted his money. He bought a few cheap saltwater fish to practice. He chose saltwater fish instead of freshwater fish because he had heard from the buddies that he exercised with in the morning that the water for freshwater fish had to be heated under the sun for some time. Saltwater fish were more convenient, as the ocean was close by. He could get a few buckets of salt water from the sea on an electric bike to save money on water.

    Electrician Wu felt that doing so made sense. His wife didn¡¯t want him to have fish because she felt that the water and electricity bill was too high. By having saltwater fish, she mightin less. So that was it! Saltwater fish it was.

    Early spring time was still cold in Binhai City, and the indoor temperature was still low. The tropical saltwater fish he bought all required a water temperature of at least 25 degrees Celsius. A heating rod was a must, regardless of how much his wifeined about the electricity bill.

    At first, everything was going well, as he spent most of his days working on the tank and enjoyed it a lot. Everything was perfect, apart from his wife¡¯sints that he was distracted with unimportant things and left her with all the hard work of taking care of the grandchildren.

    Soon, the aquarium tank was taking shape.

    Electrician Wu stood in front of the tank every day, watching the tank that he had decorated with bottom sand, eco-bio-blocks, and corals. A few colorful fish swam in it back and forth, filling his heart with contentment and aplishment.

    When his neighbors and former colleagues visited, they said a lot of nice words about the tank, and that he was really good at taking care of it.

    After a while, his wife stoppedining, and even helped him feed the fish sometimes.

    The little fish grew up fast.

    Electrician Wu had been thinking recently that he was very gifted with fish, and these ordinary little fish were not enough for his ambitions anymore. It was time to consider getting a few better ones, which would surely make him look even better in front of his neighbors and former colleagues.

    Carrying those thoughts with him, he left home on his bike as soon as he had free time during the day. He searched in the aquarium market and the only few aquariums in town andpared prices, hoping to find some higher grade saltwater fish for the best price he could.

    However, his fish seemed abnormal recently. They didn¡¯t sleep day or night and they jumped around the tank nonstop.

    Electrician Wu became worried, suspecting that the fish were getting sick.

    He realized that he was not as good as he had thought, then postponed his n of acquiring fancy, saltwater fish.

    One day, he bought a book onmon diseases in saltwater fish from the bookstore and returned home. He ignored his wife¡¯sints and started ying with his grandson.

    His grandson was very obedient and did well in school. He was a good little boy who also loved fish. He enjoyed watching Electrician Wu take care of the fish and never made trouble when he fixed the tank. He was always watching silently at his grandfather¡¯s side and offered to take on the task of changing the water for the tank.

    Electrician Wu loved his young grandson and treated him as the apple of his eye.

    As his grandson yed, he suddenly grabbed his arms and said mysteriously, ¡°Grandpa, put your hand into the tank.¡±

    Electrician Wu was peeling an apple and felt that it was not sanitary to stick his hands into the water. Heughed. ¡°Why do I need to put my hand into the tank? Grandpa needs his hands to peel the apple for you.¡±

    His grandson acted as if his well-nned game had been foiled. He grabbed his arm to butter him up. ¡°Grandpa, just put it in there! Just once! It¡¯s so much fun!¡±

    Electrician Wu smiled and didn¡¯t want to refuse him. He put the half-peeled apple down. He secretly wiped his hands against his pants and hoped his wife wouldn¡¯t notice.

    ¡°Okay, okay. Let me see what my dear grandson is up to¡­¡± He stood up with a smile, then stretched his hand towards the water in the tank.

    As soon as his fingertip touched the water, a numbing feeling traveled through his body instantly¨C¨Can electric shock!

    ¡°Ah!¡± He withdrew his hand quickly, astonished.

    He was all too familiar with the feeling. It was an electricity leakage! Judging from the intensity of the numbing feeling, the current was not weak!

    ¡°Haha!¡±

    His grandson¡¯s little scheme was sessful. He pped his hands merrily andughed. ¡°Grandpa! Grandpa! Is it a little bit numb?¡±

    As he spoke, he tipped up on his toes and tried to put his hand into the water as well.

    Electrician Wu grabbed his hand quickly. ¡°Don¡¯t touch the water!¡±

    His tone was not very friendly, nor was his face. His grandson stared at his face, feeling a little frightened.

    ¡°You d*mn old man, why do you scare the child?¡± his wife asked him while standing akimbo. She was was clearly unhappy. ¡°You spend the whole day idling outside and don¡¯t do any work at home. After you get home, you scare the child. Are you growing more and more childish?¡±

    Electrician Wu didn¡¯t have time to argue with his wife. He held his grandson¡¯s hands nervously.

    His entire forehead was covered in sweat. He said in shaky voice, ¡°My child, when did you discover that the water is numbing?¡±

    ¡°Grandpa, my wrist hurts¡­¡± His grandson was almost in tears.

    Electrician Wu loosened up a little, but didn¡¯t let his hand go. ¡°Tell Grandpa¨C¨Cwhen did you find it out?¡±

    His wife noticed his odd behavior and felt a tightness in her heart. She watched their conversation anxiously.

    His grandson thought about it. ¡°Yesterday morning, when I changed the water.¡±

    ¡°The water was numbing yesterday morning?¡± Electrician Wu tried to confirm.

    ¡°Not very numbing¡­ Just a little¡­ Not as numbing as today,¡± his grandson answered.

    His words expressed the same meaning¨C¨Cthe electricity leakage was more severe today than yesterday.

    Electrician Wu¡¯s heart was almost broken. If his grandson didn¡¯t ask him to stick his hand into the water, or if he was preupied with peeling the apple and didn¡¯t stick his hand into the water, would the leakage have been even worse tomorrow? Tomorrow, when the child changed the water, could he have¡­?

    He was too afraid to think any further.

    He wanted to punch himself hard. As a certified electrician, and after seeing the fish jumping around the tank nonstop, he didn¡¯t even think about the possibility of a leakage. Instead, he had just suspected that the fish were sick.

    Holy crap! He had lived all these years in vain!

    If something had happened to his grandson, not only would his son and daughter-inw have been devastated, but he would have been too humiliated to live any longer.

    His wife almost fell on the floor once she understood what was going on. She took her grandson in her arms, thenined in tears that he should not have started raising fish. It almost killed their beloved grandson!

    But Electrician Wu had a bigger heart. It was not a problem of owning the fish¨C¨Csomething was leaking electricity inside the tank.

    As an electrician, he always had a voltage tester at home.

    He stuck the voltage tester straight into the tank water. The indicator jumped straight over 70 volts.

 Chapter 773: Testing the Voltage with Oneself

    <h4>Chapter 773: Testing the Voltage with Oneself</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    There was more static electricity during the Autumn and Winter period, and although Electrician Wu suspected that there was an electrical leakage within the aquarium equipment, there was still a need to first rule out the possibility of static electricity. Otherwise, he would be framing an innocent person.

    As an experienced electrician, he ced his grandson under the care of his wife before he fetched a discarded three-pin plug. He skillfully removed the live and neutral wire, leaving only the earth wire which he had then connected to the water¡ªif the cause was indeed because of static electricity, what he had done would have eliminated the static electricity.

    However, after testing it again with a multimeter, the voltage in the water was still over 70 volts.

    After ruling out the possibility that the cause might have been from static electricity, the only possibility left was an electrical leakage from the equipment.

    Currently, in the fish tank, there were only three types of electrical appliances that were submerged in the water¡ªa filter, a wave pump, and a heating rod.

    The first two worked at a very low voltage, either 12 volts or 24 volts, so there was no need for further considerations. He knew clearly that the heating rod was the source of the problem.

    He unplugged the power for the heating rod, tested the voltage in the water again, and the reading quickly returned to zero.

    Electrician Wu was unable to just let the matter drop since it wasn¡¯t just some quality problem¨C¨Cit concerned the safety of a person¡¯s life!

    Electrician Wu had wanted to look for the seller who sold him the heating rod, but his wife knew that, although he was an old man now, he still had a bad temper. She was afraid that he would cause trouble outside, so she did not let him leave the house, but instead, she left their grandson with him and told him to take care of their grandson at home. The next day, she disposed of the fish tank and fish.

    While his wife was preparing their food, while he was watching TV and ying with his grandchild, Electrician Wu still felt unhappy about the incident. Why should he be solely responsible for the mess? Was there any fault in keeping fish?

    So, he softly whispered to his grandson, ¡°Shh! Don¡¯t say a word. Grandpa¡¯s going to bring you out to buy chocte.¡±

    His grandson really loved choctes, but his wife was afraid that giving him too much chocte would damage his teeth, so she never bought any for him. Electrician Wu would still asionally buy some in secret for him, though.

    Electrician Wu raised the volume of the TV and snuck out of the house with his grandson. He also brought along the heating rod and headed straight for the fish market to seek justice.

    And that was the whole story of the incident.

    After Snowy heard his story, she, too, felt scared for Electrician Wu. After all, an electrical leakage was no trivial matter; it might even electrocute someone to their death.

    The boss and shopping guide, too, felt their heart skip a beat. Fortunately, the problem was discovered early. Otherwise, if the grandson were to lose his life over the problem, they would lose more than just their pants.

    Electrician Wu pointed at the heating rod. He said with anger, ¡°Isn¡¯t this aplete rip-off? You guys are selling fake, shoddy products, right? I want to write in aint!¡±

    ¡°Cough! This¡­ please calm down first, we can talk this over.¡± The boss exchanged nces with the shopping guide. ¡°Go prepare some snacks and drinks for his grandson.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t try to fool us! We won¡¯t be drinking your beverages, and we won¡¯t be eating your snacks!¡± Electrician Wu¡¯s bad temper came up. ¡°I demand an exnation from you today, otherwise, I will head over to the fish market¡¯s management department to file in aint, and I¡¯ll also go down to the City Consumers Association toin! Let¡¯s see if you guys still dare to sell such harmful things!¡±

    The shop wanted to settle things peacefully. They were willing to do an exchange for him and even a full refund, but the furious Electrician Wu was not willing to drop the matter. He insisted on an official statement regarding the incident¡ªwhat he meant by an official statement was an official apology.

    It was very simple to make an official apology, but the boss had his worries. He was worried that once he admitted to the mistake, Electrician Wu might im that he had suffered some bodily harm from the electrical leakage, then thepensation would be like a bottomless pit, so he refused to make an official apology.

    The situation came to a standstill.

    Once again, theizens in the broadcast channel were split into two groups. One group was the single dogs¨C¨Cthey felt that Electrician Wu was blowing things out of proportion. Since the heating rod was a piece of merchandise, there was always the possibility of it being faulty and the shop was already willing to make an exchange or a refund. The other group was the fathers and mothers¨C¨Cthey made their considerations after cing themselves in his situation. They felt that, if their kids had to go through such terrifying experience, they would definitely not let things rest. They firmly supported Electrician Wu¡¯s side and condemned the shop.

    The boss knew that it was not a solution to leave the incident in a standstill, as the onlookers were increasing over time. He straightened his face and said, ¡°Old man, we¡¯ve already been very polite and we have already made several concessions¡­ Why don¡¯t you just ept our current offer? We are willing to give you a full refund for the heating rod¡­ what else do you want? Hehe, although you have an electrician certificate, who knows if its a real one? No one knows if this heating rod really has an electrical leakage since everything was just based on what you told us¡­¡±

    The boss suddenly took on an aggressive attitude. There was nock of cynicism in his words.

    Electrician Wu immediately exploded. ¡°Fake certificate? I¡¯ve been working in a factory for more than thirty years and you¡¯re saying that this is a fake certificate?¡±

    ¡°Hehe, only you would know if it¡¯s real or fake,¡± the boss hugged his arms around his chest and said coldly.

    ¡°Great, great, great! Putting aside whether or not my electrician certificate is real or fake, won¡¯t we know if this heating rod has an electrical leakage just by testing it out?¡± Electrician Wu turned over to look at Zhang Zian and Snowy. ¡°Can the two of you be witnesses for me?¡±

    Before Zhang Zian said anything, Snowy had already agreed to help him. ¡°Okay, we will be a witness for you!¡±

    The boss pouted his lips at the shopping guide, who then brought over a fish tank and ced it on the counter.

    ¡°Then let¡¯s test it out. Fill it with water!¡± he ordered.

    The shopping guide took the container of water from the water dispenser and emptied the water into the fish tank.

    Very quickly, the container was emptied and the water in the half tank was swaying back and forth.

    The boss pulled over a multi-plug extension cord and ced it on the counter. He pushed it towards Electrician Wu and said, ¡°Go ahead, you can test it yourself to save the trouble of iming that we did something.¡±

    Saying all that he wanted to say, the owner and the shopping guide took two steps back. They stepped away from the counter.

    Electrician Wu was really unwilling to let them handle the heating rod¨C¨Cwho knew if they would deliberately drop the heating rod on the floor to destroy the evidence.

    Electrician Wu ced the heating rod in the fish tank and plugged the power into the multi-plug extension cord.

    The light on the heating rod lit up with an orange-red light, indicating that the heating rod was in use.

    Just then, Electrician Wu pped his own thigh in regret!

    He just remembered that he had not brought along the multimeter when he left the house, and the ce that sold aquarium equipment would most probably not have multimeters for sale.

    The boss seemed to have expected the situation. He stared at Electrician Wu and smiled.

    Electrician Wu was also a stubborn person. How could he ignore such contemptuous eyes? While thinking that the electrical leakage was not that severe, he rolled up his sleeves and was about to put his hands inside the water to test the voltage himself.

    ¡°Don¡¯t¡­¡±

    Snowy got the scare of her life, just like earlier when Zhang Zian used his bare hands to grab the Oliva Emicator. Zian had been confident that there wouldn¡¯t be any danger, but an electrical leakage was dangerous¡­ It was only a difference between how dangerous it was, so what if the leakage got worse?

    However, before she could stop him, Electrician Wu¡¯s hand had alreadye into contact with the surface of the water.

    Snowy nervously closed her eyes; she did not dare to look.

    Zhang Zian, on the other hand, did not say anything and just watched how things unfolded.

    The boss was the same, too.

    One second passed¡­

    Two seconds passed¡­

    Nothing happened.

    Electrician Wu was in a blur. The tips of his fingers were already in the water, but the expected numbness had note.

 Chapter 774: Conductivity

    <h4>Chapter 774: Conductivity</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    While everybody was staring at him, Electrician Wu¡¯s face turnedpletely red.

    Even if he faked an electric shock, it would not work¡­

    ¡°That¡¯s strange. What¡¯s going on? It was leaking electricity yesterday at home¡­¡± He was doubtful as he bent down and looked at the heating rod through the ss of the tank.

    The heating rod stayed at the bottom of the tank. The orange light was on, indicating it was working properly.

    Switching the rod was impossible. The store owner picked up the heating rod and inspected it, but Electrician Wu was keeping his eyes steadily on it. The owner could not have possibly made a switch in front of his eyes, unless he was a part-time magician.

    ¡°There¡­ There was, indeed, an electricity leakage at home¡­¡± he mumbled to Snowy, wanting to prove that he was not lying.

    Snowy had nothing else to say.

    She had already chosen to believe that Electrician Wu¡¯s heating rod was leaking electricity. Could he have wronged the store owner?

    ¡°How¡¯s that, grandpa? Is the heating rod leaking electricity?¡± The store owner fought back a smile. ¡°If it¡¯s not leaking, should youpensate us for making us look bad? Of course, since you are already old, we won¡¯t take your money, as long as you apologize in front of everybody.¡±

    Electrician Wu was humiliated and furious. His brain was about to explode. His face and body were both covered in sweat.

    It was too humiliating. Did he really be a professional ckmailer in the crowd¡¯s eyes? If so, he should have listened to his wife and stayed home to spare himself such embarrassment¡­

    His grandson was concerned as he walked over, and he wanted to grab his grandpa¡¯s hands. But Electrician Wu waved his hand vigorously, asking his grandson not to get close. He looked at the heating rod, then at the plug and wire, searching for an exnation.

    ¡°Weird¡­ Really weird¡­¡±

    The owner said to Snowy, ¡°Pretty girl, you promised to be the witness for us earlier. Now that the heating rod is not leaking, should he apologize to us?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Snowy looked at Zhang Zian with hesitation.

    Zhang Zian had already figured everything out. He stepped up and told Electrician Wu, ¡°Grandpa, get your water out of the water now. It¡¯s useless to keep it in there. It¡¯s still cold these days, so it¡¯s totally not worth it if you end up getting rheumatoid arthritis.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ The heating rod is leaking¡­¡± Electrician Wu stomped his feet anxiously.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°I know that, but you can¡¯t figure it out if you test it this way.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Electrician Wu paused and stared at him. ¡°Then how should I test it?¡±

    The store owner frowned. ¡°Handsome dude¨C¨Cbe careful what you say.¡±

    Zhang Zian ignored his warning. He pointed at the empty water cylinder in the corner of the wall and said, ¡°Did you forget? Pure water does not conduct electricity.¡±

    The water in the water dispenser cylinder was purified water, not mineral water!

    The words suddenly woke him from his dreams!

    Electrician Wu withdrew his wet hands out of the water and tapped his forehead. ¡°I¡¯m really getting old! How could I forget about this?¡±

    Although he was an experienced electrician who had been working in a factory for over 30 years, he dealt mostly with weak and strong currents within the factory, not with water. Most of the water in one¡¯s daily life contained impurities and was not as clean as the purified water in the cylinder.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°You just mentioned that you have a saltwater tank at home. This is where the difference is¨C¨Csaltwater is rich in electrolytes, such as calcium ions, magnesium ions, sodium ions, etc. It is a good conductor of electricity. If you have freshwater fish, even if the heating rod leaks, you may not notice it. This is because the saltwater is 1,000 times more conductive than the fresh water is in rivers andkes.¡±

    Snowy suddenly understood everything. ¡°This means that the heating rod is actually leaking?¡±

    ¡°Very likely.¡± Zhang Zian nced at the store owner. ¡°If you would like to test it, we can get some saltwater from the first floor¡­ But I suppose this won¡¯t be necessary.¡±

    The owner lowered his head like a defeated rooster. ¡°There¡¯s no need to test.¡±

    Electrician Wu¡¯s spirit was suddenly boosted as if he had been dosed with a stimnt. As he was about to revenge himself for the humiliation he had experienced earlier, Zhang Zian stopped him and asked, ¡°Grandpa, please recall it carefully. When you were buying the heating rod, did you mention that it was for a saltwater tank?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Electrician Wu thought about it. ¡°I didn¡¯t. When I bought it, I had not yet decided whether I was going to have freshwater or saltwater fish. What¡¯s the matter?¡¯

    Zhang Zian paused for a moment, then took a mutual standing. ¡°When you bought the heating rod, you didn¡¯t specify that it was for a saltwater tank. The saltwater is not only highly conductive, but it is also highly corrosive to metals. Generally speaking, the heating rods for saltwater and freshwater tanks are not interchangeable. ss heating rods should be used in saltwater tanks. But if you specified that it was for a saltwater tank, and he still sold you a stainless steel heating rod, it would have been his mistake. But since you didn¡¯t specify this¡­¡±

    Electrician Wu had not thought about everything Zhang Zian said when he had decided to own fish. He had only decided what fish to keep after he bought all of the equipment. Even if he had decided on saltwater fish in advance, he would not have thought about the conductivity and metal corrosion of saltwater.

    Then Zhang Zian said to the owner, ¡°As for you, you are making a bigger mistake. Since you know that pure water doesn¡¯t conduct electricity and that saltwater is a good conductor, even if the customer didn¡¯t specify about saltwater fish, you should do your due diligence and remind them when selling them heating rods.¡±

    The owner¡¯s little scheme and trick hadn¡¯t fooled Zhang Zian. He became very embarrassed and nodded repeatedly.

    ¡°In my opinion, both of you have made some mistakes. You should meet each other in the middle,¡± Zhang Zian tried to persuade them. ¡°All electric equipment will wear out eventually. The biggest problem between you two is the pre-salemunication.¡±

    As a fellow pet businessman, Zhang Zian was more or less sympathetic towards the owner. It was not easy to own a store. Therefore, he spoke some words of truth to help him out.

    At the end of the day, the key issue was Electrician Wu¡¯s tank of saltwater fish. If he had freshwater fish, the heating rod might not have broken at all. Even if it had leaked, it would have been too insignificant to be felt by the human body.

    After experiencing an emotional roller coaster, Electrician Wu was bing less angry. He nodded in agreement. ¡°Okay. I didn¡¯t specify, indeed.¡±

    After seeing the customer¡¯s inclination to reconcile, the owner was very happy and refunded the full amount right away. He also wanted to give a ss heating rod of the same power to Electrician Wu for free.

    Yet Electrician Wu shook his hand and refused. ¡°I¡¯ll pass on this one. I can¡¯t trust the quality of your products here.¡±

    The owner smiled bitterly and took back the ss heating rod in embarrassment.

    Electrician Wu sighed and asked Zhang Zian, ¡°Even if I use a ss heating rod, the leakage is notpletely avoidable, right?¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°Indeed so. Equipment wears out faster in saltwater. Nobody can guarantee that their heating rod will not leak for sure.¡±

    Electrician Wu rubbed his grandson¡¯s head and said with determination, ¡°I¡¯ll listen to my wife and not keep fish any longer. Even if I do, I¡¯ll have freshwater fish instead.¡±

    If he had to choose between his own hobby and the safety of family members, then he would choose thetter and sacrifice the former.

 Chapter 775: Aquascape

    <h4>Chapter 775: Aquascape</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After Electrician Wu retired, he had no other hobbies, and he wasn¡¯t fond of keeping cats, dogs, or birds¨C¨Che found them to be too noisy. But just when he had developed a strong interest in keeping fish, the leakage incident happened and he was a little disheartened.

    Zhang Zian smiled. Zian knew what Electrician Wu was thinking about. ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to give up just because you¡¯ve met with a setback. After all, an electrical leakage is a very rare urrence.¡±

    ¡°No, no¡­ even if the probability of it happening is small. Once it does, it¡¯s like a zero and one difference.¡± Electrician Wu waved his hands. Even though he was sad, there was no other solution. Once bitten, twice shy.

    The high conductivity of seawater further increased the danger of an electrical leakage aspared to a freshwater tank. Although it was theoretically possible to switch off the power for the heating rod before it made contact with the water to ensure safety, there was still the chance of people being careless after a period of time, especially since he had a grandson.

    If he insisted on keeping saltwater fish, there would be tremendous pressure from his wife, so out of consideration for the family¡¯s harmony, he decided to give up fish keeping.

    ¡°Actually, if you¡¯re really keen on keeping saltwater fish, I have a solution.¡± Zhang Zian took the chance to make a proposal. ¡°You can use a heating rod with a working voltage of 24 volts, so even if there¡¯s an electrical leakage, it would not cause harm to anyone.¡±

    ¡°Ah? There¡¯s a heating rod with a working voltage of 24 volts?¡± Electrician Wu was first surprised, then happy.

    The human body¡¯s safety voltage level is 36 volts. Any voltage below 36 volts was very safe. Even if the heating rod with a working voltage of 24 volts had an electrical leakage, it would not cause any danger to the human body.

    ¡°I don¡¯t see any on sale?¡± Electrician Wu looked over at the different heating rods disyed on the counter; they all had a working voltage of 220 volts.

    ¡°Um¡­ I don¡¯t have a 24 volts heating rod here. I¡¯ve never even heard of it.¡± The boss was confused, too.

    Zhang Zian smiled slyly. ¡°If you n on buying a 24 volts heating rod, I can leave you an address. It¡¯s high-end aquarium equipment imported from Germany, so it¡¯s going to be expensive, but it¡¯s definitely safe. It just depends on if you¡¯re willing to invest in the safety aspect.¡±

    The audience in the broadcast channel immediately exploded. After going on for so long, Manager Weak Bird was just trying to take advantage of the situation and using the opportunity to promote his own product¡­

    Of course, Electrician Wu was not able to see the bullet screen. He thought that Zhang Zian had rmended some other aquarium equipment shop to him.

    Before he retired, Electrician Wu had to participate in the safety production learning organized by the factory every year, so he had seen and heard many unfortunate idents that were caused by negligence, malfunctions, and misoperations. He knew full well that safety was priceless, and idents would always ur when people felt that they wouldn¡¯t.

    Immediately, he patted his own chest and said, ¡°How expensive can it be? Is one month of my retirement sry enough?¡±

    The retirement life of his neighbors and colleagues were all very rich and colorful. Some had spent tens of thousands of dors on an SLR camera and its lens, heading out on the streets to take pictures. There were also those that bought a drone for their love of aerial photography, flying through ravines every day. Even if the drone were to crash, they would just buy a new one¡­ Compared to all those, the cost of keeping fish was really cheap.

    As for his wife¡¯s nagging, he had already listened to her for tens of years. There was already calluses in his ear, so he was just going to let her go on.

    ¡°Well, not that much.¡± Zhang Zian added Electrician Wu¡¯s WeChat and sent over his shop address.

    Electrician Wu took a look at the address. There was no time for him to go over today since he snuck out of his home with his grandson. He still had to face the wrath of his wife when he returned home, so he nned to let it rest for a few days before heading over.

    He said his goodbyes to Zhang Zian and Snowy before he led his grandson out of the fish market building.

    The boss of the aquarium equipment shop was already very curious. He asked Zhang Zian where the heating rod with a working voltage of 24 volts came from, because he was aware that the more high-end a piece of equipment was, the higher the profit. But Zhang Zian did not answer his question¨C¨Che just used an excuse to leave the third floor with Snowy and walked down the stairs to the second floor.

    The second floor had sand, live rocks, aquatic nts, seaweed, filter equipment, corals, decorative corals, and other aquarium aquascaping supplies. They also had finished products of fish tanks on sale, those that they had already done aquascaping for.

    Aquascaping for fish tanks was a job that required skill. Other than being good with one¡¯s hands, the most important thing was having a pair of eyes that could discover the beauty in things. With the same sand, live rocks, and corals, some people could only make a mess out of them, but in the hands of others, it could be a beautiful underwater dragon pce. Not everyone had the talent and patience for it, so most people were more willing to spend money on apleted product.

    If his earlier walk around the third floor was just giving the shops a quick nce, then his time on the second floor was going to be spent paying attention to the details and picking out the suitable materials for his own aquarium.

    ¡°Wow! This ce is just like a garden! It¡¯s so beautiful!¡± Snowy¡¯s eyes lit up as she praised.

    Indeed,pared to the brightly lit third floor, the second floor¡¯s lighting was much dimmer, and the most conspicuous central area was filled with various proud works of aquascaping tanks from various shops. Using colorful lights to enhance their appeal, the green of the aquatic nts and the seaweed had a beautiful glow to them, which created beautiful scenery.

    On the wall of the second floor, there was a notice prohibiting photography. Snowy apologized to the audience in the broadcast channel and temporarily kept her phone in her pocket.

    The audienceined and grumbled. They could hear the sounds, but the screen was all ck.

    There were no shopping guides pulling customers on the second floor¨C¨Cit probably was because it was not efficient. The customer on the first and third floor were there to purchase fish or equipment, but the customers on the second floor would usually roam around and look at the different aquascaping tanks, admiring them but not spending a cent. Some would even secretly take a picture with their phones with the ns to replicate it at home.

    The sellers were also in no hurry; they were just sitting there ying with their phones.

    The profits earned from aquascaping tanks was very high; they didn¡¯t usually get orders, but once they did, it would be enough for the wait.

    It was good too, because, with no one to disturb them, the customers could look for as long as they wanted and however they wanted.

    ¡°Mr Store Manager, why are the prices for these aquascaping tanks all different?¡± Snowy noticed after observing for some time.

    ¡°That¡¯s because these are aquascapes of different genres.¡± Zhang Zian pointed at the nearest aquascaping tank and introduced it. ¡°Look, this tank uses a great number of Driftwood and rough rocks, with the roots of the Pteris tied to the Driftwood, and there¡¯s also Water Fiscus nted in the sand. Now look at the fish with the orange-red colored dorsal fin and the Mohican hairstyle¨C¨Cthose are known as the Purple Splendid Cichlid. Don¡¯t they look very wild in general?¡±

    Snowy nodded. ¡°That¡¯s true, especially the Purple Splendid Cichlid¡­ they look really funny.¡±

    ¡°Aquascaping tanks like these follow the West African style of aquascaping, but it¡¯s not very traditional. The traditional West African style of aquascaping should be using Dark Wood Fern instead of Pteris.¡± Zhang Zian nced over at the seller. ¡°Pteris grows very quickly so sellers usually use it as a recement for the Dark Wood Fern since it looks almost the same. The average person is generally not able to tell the difference.¡±

    Snowy stuck her tongue out. ¡°No wonder theizens said that the water in the fish market was very cheap. Even a small aquatic nt is being reced with a lower quality alternative!¡±

    ¡°It isn¡¯t really a lower quality alternative since the prices of the two nts are almost the same¨C¨Cit¡¯s just that using Pteris can save more time. The amount of time required to set up the Dark Wood Fern in the tank would be enough to set up two tanks with Pteris,¡± Zhang Zian corrected her.

    ¡°Then what about this? It gives off a very quiet and peaceful feeling,¡± Snowy asked as she pointed towards another aquascaping tank.

    Theyout of the aquascaping tank was very simple. Hemianthus Callitrichoides covered the bottom of the tank like hills; the four corners were low and the center was slightly higher. Two long rocks were ced nted as they intersected with each other at the tip of the hill like an abandoned tombstone. A few sedge nts were swaying with the water beside the rocks; the white and blue light created an atmosphere of a clear and boundless sky and looking at it gave some kind of ethereal and lonely feeling, like mourning right in front of a hero¡¯s tomb.

    ¡°This is a typical Japanese-style aquascape. Other styles are all adding more things in, but the Japanese-style works the other way. They feel as though it¡¯s better to have lesser things in the tank¨C¨Cthe simpler the elements, the better.¡± Zhang Zianughed and said, ¡°As long as it¡¯s still a cool, quiet style, then you won¡¯t go wrong linking it to the Japanese-style.¡±

    Theizens in the broadcast channel were all frustrated at not being able to see anything. They exploded after they heard what Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this sexual harassment? Hit him!¡±

    ¡°Since he¡¯s aware that we can¡¯t see, Sexual Harassment Store Manager is now showing his true face¡­¡±

 Chapter 776: Corals

    <h4>Chapter 776: Corals</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The wild west African style and the serene Japanese style formed a sharp contrast against each other. The other aquascaping styles were somewhere between the two of them.

    Zhang Zian introduced the aquascaping styles to Snowy one by one. Even the other customers strolling by them were drawn to what Zian was saying.

    ¡°Is there a Chinese style in aquascaping?¡± Snowy asked after finishing the tour, yearning for more.

    ¡°Unfortunately, there is not. At least, I¡¯ve never heard of any,¡± Zhang Zian answered. ¡°Japanese aquascaping is 40 years behind western aquascaping¨C¨Cit took a lot of effort to catch up with thetest trends. You must understand that in Japan, the cost of aquarium tank construction and decoration can be counted into one¡¯s mortgage, which relieves the financial burden. Aquascaping became popr in China eventer than it did in Japan. It takes time to form a distinct style. Maybe someday in the future, there will be aquascaping in the Chinese style.¡±

    Snowy felt that it was unfortunate, but art could not be forced. China was a big ce, and the major cities didn¡¯t get along with each other. It would be very hard to agree on amon style.

    Apart from financial factors, sufficient time and money were needed for aquascaping. The middle ss in China were usually too busy every day with old parents and young kids; they didn¡¯t have any time to calm down and y. Most aquascaping fans were retired old people with good pensions, or the elites with financial freedom, orpanies and government agencies.

    After finishing with the central disy area, Zhang Zian needed to get down to his real order of business. He arrived at the front of the different stores, looking for the appropriate aquarium supplies.

    Snowy followed him, having no idea about the things that he was looking for. Zian picked up a handful of bottom sand and pinched, then picked up an eco-bio-block to observe the color and sniffed it under his nose. He barely asked any questions except about the prices. The store owners could tell from his behavior that he was a business insider. They usually started off with the lowest price to spare each other the hassle of bargaining.

    Zhang Zian stopped at one shop, grabbed two long, rod-shaped artificial stones, and knocked one on the other.

    ¡°What¡¯s this? Hollow bricks?¡± Snowy asked, noticing the tiny holes covering the surface of the two artificial stone rods. They looked light, which reminded her of the hollow bricks used in construction.

    ¡°No, these are bacteria houses, a type of filtration material to culture the nitrifying bacteria.¡± Zhang Zian handed one of the rods to her. ¡°Most saltwater tanks use eco-bio-blocks for this task, so no extra bacteria houses are needed. However, for Fish-Only-Tanks, or FOT, in which there¡¯s nothing else but the tank, they are needed. Bacteria houses turn acidic after a long time. You need to use them along with coral sand.¡±

    After exining, he told the store owner, ¡°Get me one of those.¡±

    Zhang Zian bought the bacterial house from the store he was at, and then he stopped by every store on the second floor and bought a bacterial house from each one. He stored the houses in different stic bags, then marked down the store name with a marker.

    Before Snowy asked him, he exined, ¡°Bacterial houses are consumed inrge amounts, and at least 50 kilos are needed each time. But the quality differs a lot. I¡¯m buying some samples first, then I will smash them up and check the internal structure under a microscope. Some bacterial houses are poorly made. They have small holes in their surface, but the inside is solid. I¡¯ll find out which store offers the best quality, thene back and buy some more. Of course, I¡¯ll ask for a bulk price.¡±

    Snowy was very impressed, as she didn¡¯t really understand all of it.

    They turned a corner and arrived in front of a store that sold corals.

    Live corals, coral reefs, and decorative corals were often mixed up. In fact, live coral was actually a living creature. The twotter were the remains of dead coral.

    Saltwater tanks included three categories: Fish Only Tanks, coral tanks, and reef tanks with fish. As the difficulty levels increased, so did the aesthetics. Most saltwater tank fans dreamed of owning a perfect reef tank. Therefore, Zhang Zian needed to acquire different kinds of corals and ce them in the disy tanks. Customers would be more willing to pay for those than the bare Fish Only Tanks.

    The store they were at specialized in corals. Coral tanks of all sizes filled up the entire store. Zhang Zian nced around and saw that there was quite a variety of corals. Most of themon corals could be found.

    ¡°Oh? Are these corals on both sides?¡±

    Snowy looked from left to right. The corals on the left and right side tanks hadpletely different shapes. The corals on the left looked like giant flowers blooming on the reefs, whereas the corals on the right had branches like cacti.

    ¡°Yes, they are both corals¨C¨Csoft corals on the left, hard corals on the right. Very clearly defined.¡± Zhang Zian walked towards the tanks, then observed carefully through the water.

    After careful observation, he noticed that the corals on the left and right seemed equal and bnced, but in fact, the soft corals on the left had more variety to them. The hard corals on the right had more numbers than variety.

    The beauty of coralsid in their various colors and shapes, especially the hard corals. They looked like a thick, coral jungle.

    Snowy almost had her face stuck on one of the tank¡¯s walls, admiring the beauty of the corals through the ss in amazement. Coral tanks werepletely unlike the aquascaping tanks earlier. Aquascaping tanks mainly used freshwater nt and animal resources. They were beautiful, but not as deep and mysterious as the coral tanks.

    Another female customer was choosing corals in the store. She seemed to have seen all the corals avable but didn¡¯t find anything satisfactory. She asked the owner, ¡°Sir, do you have any other corals? Are these all you have?¡±

    ¡°These are all I have. Nothing more.¡± The owner was ying on his phone and had his head down. He didn¡¯t even bother to look up.

    The female customer was in her 30s and was dressed up in designer brands. She seemed to be rich.

    ¡°The corals you have here¨C¨Care they all artificially grown? Do you have anything wild? It¡¯s fine if they cost more.¡± She frowned and said, ¡°Anything from the South China Sea?¡±

    The owner lifted up his head and nced at herzily. ¡°No, it¡¯s forbidden to sell them. I only have those from Indonesia and Australia. Last year, they were selling wild corals in this store. A few people were arrested by thew enforcement department and were released a few dayster. After their return, they closed the store and left permanently.¡±

    Wild corals looked better than cultured corals, and there were even more colors. However, as hard corals were endangered, the government had forbidden the harvesting and trading of hard corals. Corals from the South China Sea were protected by strict measures. It was quite a shame to the hardcore aquarium fans.

    Most imported corals were artificially cultured corals from Australia and Indonesia.

    Zhang Zian had heard about it, but couldn¡¯t do anything about it. Since it was thew, everyone had to abide by it.

 Chapter 777: Greeny Green

    <h4>Chapter 777: Greeny Green</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Due to El Ni?o and global warming, the world¡¯s wild, hard corals were facing an extinction crisis. There were even some people who joked about buying some hard corals now, and 40 yearster they would be worth more than gold¡­

    Corals were strong, yet also fragile, creatures.

    They were strong because they were constantly replicating and splitting, so they could survive for more than thousands of years. After they perished, the coral reefs formed from the umted remains would gradually rise out of the surface of the sea, forming a string of pearl-like reefs and even inds in the vast sea. For example, the Spratly Inds and Paracel Inds were bothposed of coral reefs.

    If there were no corals, China¡¯s territorial waters would be much smaller than what they were today.

    They were said to be fragile because, although most of them lived in tropical seas, they were unable to withstand water temperatures that were above 30 degrees for a long period of time. Otherwise, they would expel the Zooxanthee that lived in symbiosis with them and they would quickly meet their death.

    However, the intensification of the greenhouse effect had caused seawater around the world to slowly rise in temperature, and corals were not like fish; they were unable to swim to cool waters. It might not even be 40 years¨C¨Cit could just be 20 years before wild hard corals ceased to exist in the world.

    Aside from the rising temperatures, the acidification and eutrophication of seawater were also important causes of the copse of hard corals, which were entirely attributable to the discharge of human¡¯s domestic sewage and industrial wastewater.

    The seabed of Mirs Bay in Dapeng was a water-rich paradise with rich coral species more than a decade ago. Now, it was just arge stretch of underwater desert.

    With the situation being as such, the country had decided to crack down on the aquarium market and ban the exploitation and trade of wild, hard corals, especially in the South China Sea. Currently, the hard corals circting in the aquarium market were mostly cultivated in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Australia¡ªtheoretically, it was as such; however, because of the profitability of coral mining, in addition to cultivating them in Indonesia, fishermen would also mine for corals to increase their production. Because they were mixed and sold, it was difficult to distinguish whether they were cultivated or were from the wild.

    Soft corals, on the other hand, did not have that many prohibitions, because soft corals were more tolerant to temperature and there was no risk of extinction. The species of soft corals in the store were significantly more than those of the hard corals.

    The female customer from earlier had browsed through the store, but it seemed like she didn¡¯t find a coral that was to her liking. She couldn¡¯t help but have a disappointed look on her face as she shook her head turned around to leave.

    The owner of the coral specialty shop seemed to have the intention to keep her at the shop. He raised his chin and pointed at the Coral Importation Permit on the wall and proudly said, ¡°I¡¯m running a certified business here and I went through a great deal of trouble to get my hands on that permit. Those colleagues of mine thatughed at me in the past are now all having their meal in jail. You all came at the right time. You may wish to stay a little longer since there is a new batch of corals arriving shortly.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± The female customer was suddenly interested. ¡°How long does it usually take before you bring in a new batch of corals?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s never fixed, but probably about three months or so,¡± the boss answered. ¡°Usually we¡¯ll bring in new ones when the corals are about to be sold out. We¡¯ll bring in more of those that are popr while also a small number of new corals as a trial.¡±

    The female customer frowned. ¡°You are too conservative in running your business. There are too few types and colors, it¡¯s hard to get customers interested, you know? Like this Cup Coral that¡¯s only in gold and the Brain Corals which are all basically green¡­ Whether it¡¯s the Open Brain Coral or the Aussie Doughnut Coral, it¡¯s all in green¡ªdeep green, light green, dark green¡­ Do you just like putting green on your head?¡±

    Pu!

    Snowy couldn¡¯t help butugh from listening to her. Even theizens in the broadcast channel had their stomachs hurting fromughing too much. They only hated the fact that there was nothing to look at.

    The female customer sounded like an experienced aquatic hobbyist. Her words were so sharp she got the boss looking all embarrassed. The boss tried to exin with a bitter smile on his face, ¡°I do want to bring in more varieties, but corals are really too delicate¡­ There are also many of them that I¡¯m not able to raise myself, such as those that have to be sold immediately after they¡¯re brought it or they¡¯ll just perish in my hands.¡±

    Since the shop owner had the courage to run a coral specialty shop, he definitely had to be an expert in coral raising, too, and his standard of raising was most definitely higher than that of the female customer. There was just such a wide variety of corals that he had to care for, and each of the corals had different requirements for their water temperature, lighting, and raising environment. After some time, he would definitely be exhausted, and, if he was not careful, he would be making big losses.

    Zhang Zian was deeply sympathetic, but he didn¡¯t have any intention of getting involved.

    He concentrated his attention on observing the corals that were currently disyed in the store, and it was just as what the female customers said. Although there were various varieties, they were all themon species. Their colors were also rich, but oftencked the rare colors, and the tanks with the Brain Corals were a patch of greeny green.

    The color of the corals was an important factor in determining their price. Even if it was the same kind of coral, the price could be several times or even ten times more as long as the color was different.

    Rare things were always more expensive, and everyone wanted to raise a coral with a rare color. So corals with rare colors were usually sold out immediately after they were brought in to the fish market, while those with themon colors were not as popr.

    Zhang Zian had originally nned to visit the other coral shops, but after he heard that there would be a new batch of corals being shipped in soon, both Zian and Snowy decided to stay around longer.

    Snowy was there to widen her horizon, while Zian and the female customer exchanged nces. They had a tacit understanding that the both of them were there to try their luck. If Zian was able to find a rare coral type or one with a rare color, it would definitely enrich his aquarium.

    However, that also meant that he was going to burn a hole in his wallet.

    Snowy asked, ¡°Boss, the disy area outside for aquascaping tanks did not allow photography¡­ is it okay here? I¡¯m awork anchor, so if it¡¯s okay, it might help your shop with some advertising effect¡­¡±

    The boss pondered for a moment. Seeing that Snowy was a beauty, he agreed. ¡°Only in the shop, then¡­ Actually, I¡¯m not hoping for any advertising effect since coral raising is actually a very small circle, so those that are interested in buying corals can onlye here.¡±

    With his permission, Snowy could finally take out her phone. She faced the camera to the inside of the store and walked around. The various strange and unusual coral tanks immediately amazed theizens on the broadcast channel.

    Someizens were not happy with what the boss had said. They mentioned that they would head down in the next two days to buy some corals and to specify that they were only here because they watched Snowy¡¯s live broadcast¡­

    Ding!

    The elevator stopped at the second floor. It was not the normal elevator for customers, but the cargo elevator that was meant for staff members. It had a wider doorpared to an ordinary elevator.

    ¡°Move! Move! Move! The one in front, please make way!¡±

    When the elevator door opened, the employee wearing the fish market uniform pushed the delivery cart and appeared in the elevator. He spoke loudly to the customers who were blocking his way in the front.

    The cart was piled up with huge cooler boxes and they looked really heavy.

    ¡°It¡¯s here.¡± The boss perked up immediately and exited the game he was ying on his phone.

    Zhang Zian and the others were also looking forward to it.

 Chapter 778: Aquatic Treasure Hunt

    <h4>Chapter 778: Aquatic Treasure Hunt</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The owner of the coral store waited at the entrance and rubbed his hands, looking a little nervous.

    The imported corals had traveled a long distance to China. Even with careful heating and oxygen settings in ce during transport, the asional death of the corals was inevitable.

    ¡°Gently! Gently!¡± he instructed the workers as they unloaded the trolley, his heart aching.

    Zhang Zian noticed all kinds of stamps and seals on the insted boxes. They were the testing and approval marks from customs.

    After unloading the corals, the workers left with the empty trolley.

    The store owner opened the insted boxes carefully one by one, while the others watched from his side.

    As the lids were taken off, a slight odor diffused out of the boxes.

    Zhang Zian and the others could not wait toe over. They saw that the boxes were half filled with saltwater and had stic squares on the bottom of them. Dozens of different types of corals were ced on top of the stic squares.

    The insted boxes were very heavy. Apart from the weight of the saltwater, the live corals were attached to eco-bio-blocks. Every coral in the boxes was attached to an eco-bio-block of a different color and shape.

    The owner opened up another box with more corals inside.

    ¡°Wow. These Aussie doughnuts are fully round and have symmetrical spokes. How much are they¨C¨Calong with that bicolor snake brain coral?¡± The female customer found two brain corals to her taste, and was afraid that Zhang Zian might fight her over them.

    The brain coral had an orange base and a slightly concave middle, with evenly extending purple streaks.

    The other bicolor snake brain coral looked like the brain cortex, or a maze without exits. The protruding part was bright orange, while the hollow part was florescent, light green.

    The owner thought about it, then stretched out four fingers, meaning 4000 yuan. It was a fair price.

    ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll take them.¡± She epted it generously.

    Snowy nudged Zhang Zian secretly, asking him to choose quickly. Otherwise, all the good corals would be gone thanks to the rich, female customer.

    Zhang Zian was quite anxious, but he tried to stay calm. It was his first time picking out corals. He tried to recall in his head the pictures and introductions of the corals he had seen before and correspond them to the corals in front of him.

    If he pointed to a coral and asked its name, the female customer would surely look down on him. Maybe the owner would seize the opportunity and raise the price. He could not appear unconfident.

    He discovered that the types of corals in the two boxes were simr. The corals in the first box were bigger, while those in the second box were smaller.

    In addition, the shape of a few of the corals in the second box were a bit crooked. After careful observation, he guessed that some of the corals were cut for culturing, which left them with an altered shapepared to the natural corals.

    The female customer took notice of the same thing. She preferred the natural-looking corals and fixed her eyes on the first box. She didn¡¯t bother with the corals in the second box, which had been cut artificially.

    Apparently, the same type of coral cost less in the second box.

    Zhang Zian took a guess that some of the corals in the first box were mixed with the wild, hard corals that were illegally harvested by Indonesian fishermen. Otherwise, how could there be so many corals with such a natural look?

    However, since the store owner had an importation permit, and the insted boxes came with an export permit from the country of origin, Zhang Zian could not say anything, even if he had doubts.

    To be honest, the artificially cut corals were okay. After they were cultured for a while, they would look very much simr to natural corals.

    Apart from that difference, there were broken eco-bio-blocks at the bottom of the second box. They were probably broken during transport.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t fight for the corals in the first box with the female customer. Instead, he put on the disposable gloves provided by the owner and started picking out corals in the second box.

    Of course, there were many rules for picking. For example, the corals should never leave the water, one¡¯s hand must only touch the eco-bio-block and not the coral, etc.

    At first, the owner worried that Zhang Zian might have been a rookie, but after watching Zian for a while, he saw that he was following all the rules and became less concerned. Plus, the corals in the second box were not expensive, anyway.

    Snowy also moved next to the second box and focused her camera on the corals inside.

    The broadcast audience was getting anxious on Zhang Zian¡¯s behalf.

    ¡°Cheap Store Manger, don¡¯t be cheap at this moment! Do you really expect to find treasure in a dumpster?¡±

    ¡°If you are so cheap, the good stuff will all be taken by the others! You¡¯ll cry then!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m pissed. Manager Weak Bird, you are such a low B!¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t allow himself to be influenced. They were not the ones paying the bill¨C¨Cof course they could be generous on his behalf.

    After looking through the corals in the second box, he had a n in his mind. He settled on a few corals and estimated the price, thinking that it should be within budget.

    When his fingers touched one of the broken eco-bio-blocks, he touched something soft.

    What was that?

    His initial reaction was anxiety. If he had touched the coral and vited the rules, the owner might give him hell.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Snowy asked after noticing his strange expression.

    ¡°Nothing.¡±

    After seeing that the owner didn¡¯t notice it at all, Zhang Zian was relieved.

    He turned the eco-bio-block over and saw another coral on the other side of the block, as he expected.¡¡¡¡.

    The coral had a dark color to it and was very tiny. The mud-like brown color blended into the eco-bio-block¡¯s color. If he had not touched it earlier, he would not have seen it.

    What kind of coral is this?

    Zhang Zian stared at it and meditated for a while, yet it didn¡¯t match any coral he had in mind. It looked like a few corals, but not quite the same.

    Was this because it had been cut and was no longerplete?

    Yet, as he looked at it closer, he could not find any obvious cut marks on it.

    Snowy took notice of his movements, but she didn¡¯t understand why his eyes were fixed on a broken piece of stone.

    ¡°Manager Weak Bird is possessed¡­¡±

    ¡°I thought Mr. Cheap Manager only did this when he found a wallet¡­¡±

    ¡°Haha!¡±

    Limited by the definition of the cell phone broadcast, the online fans could not see anything without physically being there. They started mocking Zhang Zian.

    As Zhang Zian was meditating, the female customer had already picked a few corals from the first box. Some of them cost more than 10,000 yuan. Even so, she still didn¡¯t seem satisfied.

    ¡°Sir, pleasee over here.¡±

    Zhang Zian raised his free hand to signal the owner. ¡°I¡¯d like to buy these corals. Please let me know how much they cost.¡±

 Chapter 779: One More

    <h4>Chapter 779: One More</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Ever since the new shipment had arrived, the boss had not been idle; he held the invoices in his hands as he checked the quantity and type one by one, then took pictures of the corals with his phone. As he checked them, he couldn¡¯t stop mumbling to himself: ¡°This coral is a little small¡­ that coral¡¯s color isn¡¯t as good as the picture¡­¡± After all, he hadmunicated with the shipper over the inte, so there would be differences between the real object and those in the pictures and videos.

    When he heard Zhang Zian calling out to him, he quickly walked over. ¡°Which are the ones that you want?¡±

    ¡°These Castrea Furcata, Euphyllia brescens, Plerogyra Sinuosa, Corynactis Viridis, and Euphyllia Divisa¡­¡± Zhang Zian pointed at the corals that he had chosen and the boss recorded down their serial numbers.

    ¡°You fine-looking gentleman¨C¨Cis it your first time getting involved with corals?¡± the boss asked as he looked up.

    Zhang Zian was in a blur. He had tried his best to cover up the fact that he was a newbie, so he didn¡¯t know how the boss found out.

    ¡°It¡¯s very simple. What you mentioned earlier were the coral¡¯s scientific names, but the local coral hobbyists would not address them in such an official manner,¡± the bossughed and said.

    ¡°Hmph¡­¡± the female customer said. ¡°I was in a blur when I heard such a literary word like ¡®Castrea Furcata,¡¯ and I was wondering what new species of coral that was¡ªbut it¡¯s actually just a Bullseye Coral.¡±

    No one had heard the female customer walk over and her tone was full of disdain towards the newbie, Zhang Zian. She was probably done choosing the corals to her liking, so she came over to see what Zhang Zian had picked.

    Being exposed by the boss, Zhang Zian was a little embarrassed. He only had theoretical knowledge about the corals, as he¡¯d only seen them in books. The books only had their scientific names and did not include theirmon names, so he was immediately seen through in front of a veteran.

    ¡°If it¡¯s your first time raising corals, your choices of corals are not easy to raise¡­¡± the boss reminded him.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, I can treat it as the school fees,¡± Zhang Zian answered.

    Zian¡¯s confidence came from his top-notch equipment¨C¨Cit was all about the equipment when it came to raising marine creatures. The better the equipment, the lower the difficulty for raising them.

    ¡°Yes, I like that sentence.¡± The female customer nodded. ¡°It¡¯s boring if you raise them in the order of how difficult they are.¡±

    ¡°Okay, then.¡± Of course, the boss didn¡¯t object¨C¨Cwhoever paid got the final word.

    He turned around to grab the calctor. ¡°Let me calcte the amount¡­¡±

    ¡°Hold on, there¡¯s this, too.¡± Zian pointed to the coral attached to the live rock fragment. ¡°I want this, too. How much is it?¡±

    In order to enhance the colors of the aquascaping tanks and the coral tanks, the lighting on the second floor was dimmer than the other floors. The boss and the female customer did not notice that there was a coral hidden between the rocks; puzzled, they got closer just to finally notice the average looking little guy.

    ¡°Hm? That¡¯s strange.¡±

    Earlier, the boss had matched the corals with the purchase list, and the numbers of the corals on the purchase list were the same as the numbers of corals he had received¡­ So why was there one extra coral now?

    He frowned and counted the numbers again. If it wasn¡¯t for this coral, the numbers would be exact.

    Which was to say that the shipper had sent him an extra coral.

    In order to import corals, the boss had multiple dealings with Indonesian cultivation farms. He was fully aware that they who only cared about their own profit and would never be so nice. So, the only exnation was that the coral had attached itself to another coral, and because it wasn¡¯t very noticeable, it was packed and sent over with the rest. It even made its way through customs and quarantine control.

    Unfortunately, the coral wasn¡¯t some rare, valuable species¡ªcorals that are rare and valuable must be beautiful, but the coral was both small and ugly.

    But¡­ even with his experience and after taking a closer look, the boss was still unable to recognize what species the coral actually was.

    ¡°This thing is¡­¡± The boss trailed off and pretended to be deep in thought. He was too embarrassed to admit that he wasn¡¯t sure about the species of the coral.

    The female customer, who was beside him, nced over and said confidently, ¡°Isn¡¯t this a Rose Coral, Boss? You don¡¯t recognize it?¡±

    Although the Rose Coral had a nice and romantic name, it was in fact, one of the uglier species out of all the coral species, and its color was more on the darker side. So, most aquatic hobbyists did not have much interest in the species.

    In addition, the Rose Coral¡¯s appearance was known for being unconventional and unrestricted. In the ¡®Rose Coral¡¯ family, some Rose Corals looked just like other coral species, while there were also some Rose Corals that looked very different. The difference in their look caused confusion for the coral researchers during their ssification¨C¨Cthey were obviously from the same species, but they looked very different. They are said to be the Chameleon of the coral world.

    ¡°Um¡­¡±

    The boss only had a very faint impression of the Rose Coral. He had previously brought in a batch that he couldn¡¯t sell off and he had already forgotten what he did to them in the end.

    Some corals were easier to distinguish only when they were clustered, and Rose Coral was one of them

    ¡°The lighting is too dark¡­ I didn¡¯t see it clearly earlier, but it is, indeed, a Rose Coral,¡± he smiled and said calmly.

    Rose Coral?

    Zhang Zian hesitated a little.

    Earlier, Zian had suspected that this coral was simr to the Rose Coral and might be one of the subspecies, but after taking a closer look, he wasn¡¯t too sure. After all, he had never seen a real one before, and the Rose Coral was notorious for being hard to distinguish, so he didn¡¯t dare to jump to any conclusions.

    But since the boss and the female customer had confirmed that it was a Rose Coral, then it probably was. After all, they were the ones with more experience, while he was just the newbie.

    ¡°Okay, then. So how much for this Rose Coral?¡± Zian asked.

    ¡°¡­You can take it home for 50 dors,¡± the boss said.

    ¡°Hmph.¡± The female customer sneered with a faint hissing sound that could be hearding from her nose. Because such a small Rose Coral wasn¡¯t worth any money, and since Zhang Zian had bought some other corals, he could¡¯ve asked to get it for free. Otherwise, it would rot in the hands of the boss.

    A newbie is a newbie; taking is as paying for the school fees, then.

    ¡°Although the appearance of a Rose Coral isn¡¯t much, it¡¯s still easy to raise, and is a good choice to start with,¡± the boss smiled and said. He quickly calcted the amount and reported the total price.

    Zhang Zian did not try to bargain. Ever since he was exposed to be a rookie, there was no way for him to bargain; he would just be asking to be shamed.

    Theizens on the broadcast channel were quite sympathetic towards him.

    ¡°This time, the Stingy Store Manager is probably going to bleed.¡±

    ¡°Listening to him earlier, I thought that the Weak Bird Manager was also an expert in the aquatic matters¡­ His acting is really good!¡±

    ¡°50 dors is also money! Tipping Snowy is also good!¡±

    Zhang Zian made his payment. The boss then prepared a smaller cooler box for Zian, cing all the corals Zian had chosen into the box before filling it up with oxygen. ¡°The weather is still cold now,¡± he reminded Zian, ¡°So the water temperature drops quickly. Remember to keep them warm once you¡¯re back, otherwise they would easily perish.¡±

    ¡°Got it. Thank you.¡±

    Zhang Zian carried the cooler box and left the coral specialty shop with Snowy.

    The female customer also left after making her payment.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have the time to walk around the first floor with you anymore,¡± Zhang Zian said apologetically to Snowy. ¡°I have to bring the corals back immediately. I spent a lot of money on them, so I¡¯ll be suffering a great loss if they perish.¡±

    The first floor was filled with a variety of fish, prawns, crabs, octopuses, and other marine creatures. Their initial n was to go through everything, but things happen and they had been dyed due to some small idents.

    Actually, the aquarium in his store was also not ready yet, so for the time being, Zian was not in a rush to bring in such creatures. However, the imported corals that had just arrived could only be met and not sought after, so how could he leave empty handed?

    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s okay. It¡¯s not early, either.¡± Snowy looked at the time. She had a great time ying, but she couldn¡¯t get too carried away or she¡¯d be scolded again.

    After hearing that they were going to have to say goodbye to Snowy again, theizens on the broadcast channel pulled out a variety of stunts that included getting Zhang Zian involved in their fury.

    ¡°Okay then, today¡¯s live broadcast shall end here, and to all the new friends, please remember to subscribe to Snowy¡¯s broadcast channel and WeChat. The timing for the next live broadcast shall be made known on WeChat in advance¡ªif there are no idents, then for the next broadcast, I will be taking everyone around the Amazing Fate Aquarium! And don¡¯t forget about the Holy Cat statue¨C¨Cif any one of you were to see it, remember to notify us for the reward provided by Mr Store Manager!¡± Snowy did her signature pose to end off the broadcast. ¡°See you next time!¡±

    With thest word, she exited from the app and ended the day¡¯s live broadcast.

    Zhang Zian and Snowy said their goodbyes to each other and took separate taxis home.

 Chapter 780: May Heaven Lend Me Another 500 Years to Live

    <h4>Chapter 780: May Heaven Lend Me Another 500 Years to Live</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    March came and the weather was getting warmer. It was easier to get up than it was during the winter.

    Zhang Zian yawned and stood up on his bed.

    He had been busy recently and was running around everywhere. He had to go to the 4S stores and the construction material market to get custom-made aquarium tanks, so he barely had any free time.

    He had a lot of things to buy and a lot of things to do. He even went to a specializedpany to get the CO2 cylinders for the calcium reactors. Sometimes, as soon as he got home, he suddenly realized something else he had forgotten to buy. Then he would leave home again¡­

    Apart from the purchases, he needed to get a license¨C¨Ca Business and Utilization License for Aquatic Wild Animals. Without it, he would not be allowed to breed or sell aquatic creatures legally.

    The license was not easy to get, and, in theory, it would take some processing time. However, as he became famous because of Famous, and after getting a letter from the residents¡¯mittee, he received special treatment from the government agency. The license was issued very quickly.

    Now that he had finally received the license, bought the car, fixed the deals on the aquarium tanks, and bought everything else that he needed, he could finally stay at the shop and rest a little.

    He stayed busy not only during the day, but also at night. He examined the quality of the bacterial houses and the bottom sand under the microscope, picked the best ones after carefulparison, then sent Wang Qian and Li Kun to drive to the aquarium market the next day to get some more.

    On top of the aforementioned responsibilities, he had to take care of the newly purchased corals and help them adapt to the new environment and grow up strong.

    Each coral needed different a light intensity and water temperature. Even if two corals required simr growing conditions, he had to be careful in case one of them was more ferocious and could harm the other one¡­

    In addition, he could not get his mind off that ugly coral, which was identified as vase coral.

    Ever since he bought it, he had been looking through reference books and materials over and over again. He always felt that it was not vase coral, especially after observing it under the microscope. Some of the detailed structures were different.

    Yet, vase corals had many sub-categories. He was not sure if his was one of the rarer ones¨C¨Cafter all, in terms of coral breeding, he was only a rookie with more knowledge than experience.

    Since he could not bepletely certain, he dared not raise the ugly coral as a vase coral. To be safe, he prepared medium current and medium-light settings, set the temperature at 25 degrees Celsius, and fed it with liquid coral food. It might not be the best growing conditions, but it was the most universal one.

    Under his attentive care, the ugly coral and the other corals had sessfully adapted to their new environment and started growing. The ugly coral was growing slowly inparison.

    Every day, he observed the corals¡¯ growth conditions through a magnifying ss in the tank wall. Maybe he had the hope that it might turn from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan. He spent 50 yuan on it, after all. Otherwise, it would have been a big loss!

    The high-end aquarium equipment shipped from Germany had been really helpful. The technology was amazingly sophisticated.

    For example, a light and temperature controller from GHL required a specific controlling software to be installed on theputer. It also needed sophisticated settings in order to function.

    Yet, as a result, as long as the settings were correct, it was able to control the light to mimic the different brightness levels of the sun, the fullness of the moon, and the thickness of the clouds. It could even use the bright light for bottom lighting at night to mimic lightning across the sky¡­ It could perfectly mimic the lighting conditions in nature, as well as the day and night temperature changes. There was an automatic rm when anything unusual was detected. Of course, the price was staggeringly high.

    It was worthwhile to spend money on equipment, as the proper tools were key to sess. He could save time and increase the survival rate of these precious creatures.

    Gxy heard him getting dressed and woke up, rubbed its cheek with its paws, yawned, then jumped off the baby crib, fully awake. It didn¡¯t want to wake up the other elfins, so it opened its mouth towards him in silence, meaning ¡°good morning.¡± Then it opened the bedroom door and ran outside excitedly.

    ¡°Good morning, Gxy,¡± he said in silence.

    Normally, Gxy always went downstairs to y hide-and-seek with the kittens after it woke up. Yet, it seemed to be intrigued by the mysterious marine worldtely. It always took a few looks at the corals in the bedroom next door before going downstairs.

    To make it more convenient, Zhang Zian put the corals to his parents¡¯ bedroom. First of all, he didn¡¯t have enough space in his own bedroom. Secondly, the corals¡¯ lighting might disturb the elfins trying to rest.

    After the corals grew bigger, he would move them into the aquarium. He might also try to breed them.

    There was a slight squeak in the basket hammock.

    Pi also woke up. It jumped off the hammock, then climbed up the chair to turn on theputer.

    It didn¡¯t rush into writing, but instead browsed through some websites first to see what popr novels were publishedtely. Then it clicked into them to read the beginning. If they were interesting, it would read more.

    Ever since it had started writing, it could no longer spend the entire day reading novels as it did in the past. It could only briefly read the beginning, then add it to the collection, hoping that one day it could enjoy reading it when it had free time.

    Zhang Zian never asked how much longer it nned to write. If it was writing ording to his life, would itst forever? Maybe it would write until the day the website closed down.

    One must know that he was confident enough to live 200 years. If heaven would lend him another 500 years, he had 700 years to live in total!

    Even if he finally died after 700 years, it could continue writing about his sons, grandsons, great grandsons, great great grandsons, and so on!

    Of course, he needed a girlfriend first!

    He was neither hermaphrodite, nor was he capable of dividing and duplicating himself.

    After getting dressed, he felt that something was off today. Richard was normally grinding its teeth, snoring, or kicking in the morning. Why was it so quiet?

    He opened up the little nket to check. Richard had already left.

    Suddenly, something fell on his head.

    His vision turned ck, as his eyes were covered by something.

    What the heck?

    He quickly removed the thing on his head. Judging from the feeling of the item, it seemed to be a smooth fabric.

    A light blue bikini bottomnded on the bed.

    That was odd. Didn¡¯t he put away this bikini bottom?

    He looked towards the closet. The door was half open. He seemed to have forgotten to close itst night.

    Just then, Richard started shouting on top of his head, ¡°Quack! Get the dress for the drag queen!¡±

 Chapter 781: Spicy Diced Chicken

    <h4>Chapter 781: Spicy Diced Chicken</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Gxy and Pi were both quiet when they woke up because they didn¡¯t want to disturb the other elfins, but Zhang Zian and Richard had caused a scene.

    Richard pped its wings as it flew around the room, its feathers falling everywhere, and it didn¡¯t forget to taunt Zhang Zian, who was chasing after it with a feather duster. ¡°Ga ga! Even if you¡¯re an experienced crossdresser, the difficulty of putting on a bikini is still slightly high for you. I didn¡¯t consider it carefully!¡±

    Zhang Zian bent down. ¡°I dare you to stop!¡±

    ¡°Ga ga! Stupid! Won¡¯t I fall if I stop? Do you know about gravity?¡± Richard didn¡¯t budge; it didn¡¯t fall for Zian¡¯s taunt.

    Their noisy actions had disturbed the other elfins.

    After Fina woke up, it didn¡¯t stay on the bed for another half an hour like it usually did, but instead, it immediately jumped off of the princess bed. For the first time, it was the second one to leave the bedroom and Snowy Li, who was lying down at the side of the bed, was in aplete blur.

    ¡°Meow meow meow! This olddy is probably still dreaming,¡± Snowy Li muttered a few words before it continued to sleep.

    Fina¡¯s abnormal behavior caused a temporary peace in the battle between Zhang Zian and Richard. They both exchanged nces¨C¨Cno one knew what was wrong with Fina today.

    Guangdang!

    Ding!

    ¡°Achoo!¡±

    Strange noises could be hearding from the kitchen.

    It did not take long before Fina returned, but its movements were weird and awkward. It was only walking on three legs with one of its paws up in the air. It looked like it was holding something, and its face was turned towards the opposite direction.

    She pushed open the door to the bathroom and went straight inside.

    Momentster, someone eximed, ¡°Puwah! It¡¯s spicy!¡±

    Sihwa¡¯s scream and the sound of water sshing could be hearding out of the bathroom.

    A golden figure quickly leaped out of the bathroom. On Fina¡¯s face was the smile of a victor, even though it was still sneezing. It had a weird really look on its face.

    Zhang Zian curiously walked into the bathroom, only to see that Sihwa had sshed water all over the bathroom. With tears in her eyes, Sihwa stuck her tongue out and couldn¡¯t stop blowing her nose.

    The water in the bathtub was almost aplete red. Tiny flecks of chili powder were floating on the surface of the water.

    Sihwa had tears and mucus flowing profusely from the spice. Her fair, white skin was turned the color of a red cooked prawn, and chili powder was also stuck on her seaweed-like, curly hair. Somehow, Zhang Zian thought of the dish hot and sour fish¡­

    It was only now that he understood what had happened. Fina had gone straight to the kitchen after waking up because it wanted to get a pawful of chili powder and, while Sihwa was still asleep, she emptied all of it into the bathtub and retreated immediately.

    Ever since Sihwa hade to stay with them, both her and Fina were not happy with one another. They shed with each other countless times every day, be it in the open or not. Relying on the fact that the bathroom was her turf, Sihwa had made use of the water to protect herself, forcing Fina, who hated to get wet, to retreat each time.

    Now, Fina had gotten back one round.

    ¡°Achoo!¡±

    Hearing that, Zhang Zian turned around to look at the princess bed.

    Fina did not seem to be doing too well, either; some of the chili powder had made its way into her nose and she couldn¡¯t stop sneezing.

    Even Snowy Li, who would usuallyfort her during such times, decided to stay far away.

    This is a freaking double-edged sword!

    ¡°Scary, scary,¡± Richard muttered to itself.

    ¡°Indeed, it¡¯s very scary.¡± It was a rare asion where Zhang Zian had the same sentiments as Richard.

    With tears in her eyes, Sihwa fumbled around with some difficulty before she got ahold of the shower head. She washed her face and hair before she pulled out the bathtub drain stopper and drained away the chili water. She then filled the bathtub with new water.

    The chili powder was definitely not Fina¡¯s first attempt at hurting Sihwa. The night before, Fina had thrown a pawful of salt into the bathtub, but sadly, the salt that was an enemy to the cat family was nothing to a mermaid, and Sihwa seemed to enjoy soaking in the salt water.

    In the bathtub now was salt and pepper. It felt like Fina was nning something big¡­

    Even Famous and Old Time Tea, who were in a deep sleep, were woken up by their constant noise.

    Especially Famous¨C¨Cits nose was too sensitive, so it could already smell the chili powder when Fina had returned to the bedroom. It sensed theing of a big war that might involve the innocent, so it held a dental stick that was used for oral cleaning in its mouth and headed downstairs.

    While it was heading downstairs, it raised its front paw in a depressed manner to take a look. Its paw was red just like Fina¡¯s¨C¨Cthe only difference was that the red on Fina¡¯s paw was from the leftover chili powder, while Famous¡¯s was red from an ink pad. It couldn¡¯t even remember how many pawprint autographs it had given to its fans.

    Not only that, but its fur was also mixed with the aroma of various cosmetics¡ªhisdy fans loved to hug Famous around its neck to take a picture or a selfie, and when they did that, the cosmetics and perfume on them and their clothes naturally got on Famous¡¯s fur. Very fewdies left home without any makeup on.

    There were also quite a number of guys with makeup on¨C¨Calthough it was very light, the smell could not hide from its nose.

    Zhang Zian was envious of Famous, but Famous was more than willing to exchange ces with him. Famous felt that it was about to suffer from a pollen allergy, and it only took Famous a few days before it could smell the different cosmetic price ranges from their aroma¡­

    It was said that Binhai Studio was actively responding to the call of the municipal government¡¯s intention to promote the city through entertainment and tourism. There were ns to build a Star Avenue and invite a group of local celebrity big names to leave their name and handprints.

    They had just received news over the past two days that Famous was on the list of invited celebrities, and, as a local celebrity from Binhai City, Famous¡¯s paw print would be among those at the top.

    Right after Famous went downstairs, Old Time Tea, too, could not handle the noise. It put on its bamboo hat and headed downstairs where it was quieter, and, like usual, it watched the local morning news.

    Fina underestimated the lethality and stickiness of the chili powder. No matter how much it swung its paw, it just couldn¡¯t get the remaining chili powder off, which is why it couldn¡¯t stop sneezing.

    It didn¡¯t want to get the chili powder onto her princess bed¨C¨Cit wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep if that happened¨C¨Cso it thought of a very simple idea. It ran over to Zhang Zian¡¯s bed and rubbed her paw against his bedsheet. It was finally clean from the chili powder.

    Zhang Zian was angry, but he didn¡¯t dare to say anything.

    ¡°Meow meow meow! Your Majesty, forgive me for offending you, but what you did earlier was not right.¡± Unexpectedly, Snowy Li actually came forward to speak up for him.

    ¡°What is wrong?¡± Fina asked with curiosity.

    Zhang Zian thought that Snowy Li had finally changed for the better, but just before he could feel touched, Snowy Li pointed towards the center, slightly to the bottom of the bedsheet and said, ¡°In my opinion, you should¡¯ve rubbed the chili powder on that spot.¡±

    ¡°Why is that?¡± Fina still didn¡¯t understand the difference.

    With no good intentions, Snowy Li stared at Zhang Zian¡¯s crotch. ¡°So this one could have a freshly ughtered, freshly diced, and freshly marinated spicy diced chicken¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s chrysanthemum tightened!

    Fine, I¡¯ll take back what I said. This crotch staring cat will never change!

 Chapter 782: Morning News

    <h4>Chapter 782: Morning News</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was about to give a serious lesson to Snowy Li. It could not eat too much Spicy Diced Chicken¨C¨Cit was too hot. Then he heard Old Time Tea shouting for him from downstairs.

    He waved the feather duster again to intimidate Richard, then quickly walked downstairs.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, what¡¯s the matter?¡± he asked as he bent down next to Old Time Tea.

    Old Time Tea lifted a front paw, pointed at the TV screen, and asked, ¡°Zian, is this news worth watching?¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at the screen.

    The local morning news was on.

    In fact, girls in Binhai City, such as the news hostess, were of high quality. She was prettier than the CCTV hostess, except not as nicely presented.

    The hostess nced at the script, then lifted up her head with a smile.

    ¡°Here is good news for everyone: the pollution treatment has been proven effective in our city. Minke whales that have not been seen for many years are resurfacing in the sea near our city. Here is the detailed story.¡±

    The screen switched.

    On the vast sea, the cameraman seemed to be rising and falling with the waves on a boat. Water drops sshed on the camera lens.

    The cameraman pointed the lens somewhere in the distance.

    The lens zoomed in.

    Among the rolling white waves, a number of giant grey creatures swam on the surface of the deep, blue sea.

    They chased each other and jumped out of the water every once in a while. After they turned their bodies in the air and exposed their white bellies, theynded back into the sea with a loud ssh, making waves a few meters tall.

    Poof!

    Poof!

    A thin air pir squirted out of their nostrils. They revealed their identity as whales in a unique way.

    A voice-over spoke:

    ¡°As reported by fishermen, a pod of whales has recently appeared in the sea near our city. In order to not disturb their games, the cameraman is keeping a distance. The experts have identified them as minke whales, who have not been spotted in decades near our city.¡±

    The screen shifted again. A middle-aged man wearing sses was standing in front of the camera. Subtitles showed that he was a high-level official in the Ocean and Fishery Bureau of Binhai City.

    ¡°Minke whales are very sensitive to the environment. The fact that they are resurfacing the sea nearby is proof that the pollution treatment work in our city is going well. We are heading towards the right direction, taking the right measures, and following the right method. The agencies involved have done a lot of work, but there remains a lot to be done.¡±

    ¡°As instructed by city officials, the Ocean and Fishery Bureau has made an urgent n to work with other departments to deepen the regional corporation and strengthen the administrative measures on the sea. They will do everything they can to keep the pod of minke whales here and make them beautiful scenery in our city!¡±

    He spoke with resolution. His tone was a bit rusty, as if he had just recited the script.

    The screen switched back to the hostess.

    ¡°The government offices suggest that everyone should not watch the whales in the sea simply out of curiosity. Just let them roam freely between the water and the air.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it for the news today. The weather forecast will follow. Before we end our program today, let¡¯s appreciate the beauty of these minke whales in the waves once again.¡±

    With the subtitles, the screen switched once again to the minke whale pod. The boat and the cameraman never got too close to them, and stayed parallel to the pod. The sea surface was bumpy, so they could not be clearly seen in the camera. Yet, the audience could still feel their happy and rxed mood.

    After the subtitles, the weather forecast was on the television.

    ¡°From now into tonight, it will be cloudy, then sunny in the north of our city, with western wind¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless¡­

    It turned out that the minke whales¡¯ arrival was due to the effective pollution treatment¡­ I almost believed them!

    The experts might know that this was a far-fetched exnation, but since the species had not been seen for decades and were making aeback, it could be the only usible exination.

    He had always doubted Sihwa¡¯s imed ability tomunicate with whale pods thousands of kilometers away, but now it seemed to true. She was indeed able tomunicate with whales using low-frequency songs inaudible to human ears. It could not have been a coincidence.

    Old Time Tea chuckled. ¡°Zian, people seem so thrilled for the arrival of the whales. It¡¯s even on the news.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Whales are huge and cute and never harm people. There are rumors that whales have saved drowning people. If it were a school of sharks, the news would be saying differently¡­¡± Zhang Zian alsoughed. ¡°Maybe the government offices will warn people not to swim in the sea.¡±

    Old Time Tea nodded. ¡°Looks like bringing Sihwa back was the right decision.¡±

    He concurred with his mouth, but didn¡¯t fully agree in his heart. What if it were a school of white sharks swimming over? If the girls were too afraid to swim in the sea, it would have been a gloomy summer!

    After watching the local news, Old Time Tea switched to the CCTV news channel to watch the national and international news.

    Zhang Zian wanted to share the news with Sihwa. He returned upstairs.

    The tap in the bathroom was still running to replenish the tub. As soon as he heard the running water, he thought about the water bill, which would certainly be expensive this month. It probably wouldn¡¯t cost less in the future, either.

    He didn¡¯t n to use natural saltwater as the source of the tanks. Instead, he used the purified water treated by reverse-osmosis system and prepared artificial saltwater. Regardless of what the local news reported, the saltwater near the city was surely polluted. The toxic heavy metal would neither evaporate with the water nor degrade on its own. It would only umte in the aquarium tanks more and more.

    It would take a lot of water to fill up all the tanks he had custom-made. The filters were expensive, too, which made his heart ache.

    Sihwa finally cleaned up the chili powder on her body and in her hair. She stopped her tears and mumbled angrily, ¡°Stupid fat orange cat! Just watch me! I¡¯ll turn you into a drowned cat next time!¡±

    It seemed that the war between Shiwa and Fina would not end anytime soon.

    She pulled her bikini out to look inside. There seemed to be chili powder inside, as well. She wanted to take the swimsuit off to wash them.

    ¡°Ahem!¡± Zhang Zian coughed at the bathroom entrance.

    Sihwa lifted her head and nced at him with friendly, blue eyes. ¡°Ajeo-an, as the owner, aren¡¯t you responsible for disciplining that fat, orange cat? Didn¡¯t you promise to put a leash on the cat and walk it?¡±

    Zhang Zian was about to rify that the fat orange cat never saw him as its owner, then Fina yelled in the bedroom, ¡°That stinky, salty fish in the tank¡­ Shall I get you on a hook and turn you into dried fish?¡±

    ¡°Meow meow meow! Your Majesty, don¡¯t bother with that little fish. How about releasing your anger on me? You can knead, bite, scratch¡­ No matter how you trample me, I will never fight back!¡± Snowy Li didn¡¯t forget to be involved.

    Sihwa could not take the insult and wanted to yell back.

    Zhang Zian saw that things were never-ending between them. Soon, there would be another fist fight. He didn¡¯t want to get the other elfins involved. So he quickly shut the bathroom door and kept Fina¡¯s voice outside.

    He said seriously, ¡°Sihwa, I have some good news to share. A pod of minke whales just appeared in the sea near Binhai City¡­¡±

    ¡°I know that. I knew as soon as they arrived.¡± Sihwa interrupted him before he finished talking.

    She was still angry and said in fury, ¡°They arrivedst night. I wanted to tell you this morning, but the fat orange cat interrupted me and I forgot about it!¡±

    ¡°All right. That¡¯s it for me.¡±

    Zhang Zian realized that it made sense. If Sihwa was able tomunicate with the whales from such a distance, it would be unreasonable that she didn¡¯t know they were already close by.

    As he was about to leave, Sihwa added, ¡°A-jeoan, you can¡¯t possibly think that there¡¯s only a few whales, can you?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Zhang Zian was astonished and paused himself.

    Sihwa shrugged without letting anything into her heart, as if she took the answer for granted. She said in aid-back fashion, ¡°This is only the vanguard. The real whale pod is still behind.¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    Merely a few minke whales was enough to make the government offices nervous and to make them announce special instructions on television in an attempt to keep them close as much as possible. If arge pod arrived, it would drive them nuts¡­

 Chapter 783: Voice Recording

    <h4>Chapter 783: Voice Recording</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Regardless of what Zhang Zian had thought, the school of Minke Whales was going to be a major vanity project of the municipal government. Besides, they had swam over a thousand miles to take refuge in China, so it was not good to just chase them away.

    The key now was that, other than the school of whales, there were definitely more marine creatures that had arrived in the vicinity of Binhai City¡­ What could they do with them? They couldn¡¯t always say that it was the initial result of pollution control, right?

    ¡°Right, Sihwa, a great number of aquatic creatures have followed you to the vicinity of Binhai City. Do you have any way to make them leave? Or telling them to note close to the beach is fine, too,¡± Zian said.

    ¡°Most creatures, aside from whales, are not able to listen that far¡­¡± She pouted her lips. ¡°It will work for those near me, but I can¡¯t do anything about those that are further away.¡±

    She meant that most aquatic creatures were unable to hear low-frequency sound waves, and high-frequency sound waves were not able to travel as far.

    Zhang Zian gave it some thought before he took out his phone and said, ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll record your voice, then let me think of a way.¡±

    ¡°What way?¡± Sihwa asked with curiosity.

    ¡°I bought an underwater speaker a few days ago. So, I¡¯ll record your voice and y it in the water near the sea,¡± Zian said.

    The higher the density of the medium, the further the sound traveled in it. For example, the sound traveled further through metal than it did in water, and traveled further in water than it did in air.

    Zian had bought an underwater speaker so that ying Sihwa¡¯s song in the water could cover a rtively wide range. Everything would be fine as long as the aquatic creatures stayed away from the beach¨C¨Cespecially therge-sized marine creatures that could easily be discovered by humans.

    Sihwa stared at his phone. ¡°Is this¡­ a mobile phone?¡±

    ¡°Yes it is. You¡¯ve seen it before, right?¡± Zhang Zian felt that, since she had watched so many Korean dramas, it couldn¡¯t be possible that she hadn¡¯t seen one before.

    ¡°So that noisy girl from a few days ago was talking non-stop to a phone?¡± she asked.

    Noisy girl?

    Zhang Ziangged for a moment before he reacted. Sihwa must have been referring to Snowy.

    ¡°Yes, she¡¯s awork anchor, so her job is to interact andmunicate with otherizens over her phone,¡± Zian exined before he suddenly realized something. ¡°Are there nowork anchors in Korea dramas?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s awork anchor?¡± The innocence on her face could not have been faked.

    It seemed usible after thinking about it. After all, the lead characters in a Korean drama were mostly prosecutors, judges, big business heirs,wyers, doctors, and all kinds of upper-ss characters¨C¨Cnone of them came close to awork anchor.

    Aside from that,work anchors were not as popr in other countries like they were in China.

    What is awork anchor? It seems pretty hard to define it.

    Zhang Zian pondered for a moment before he tried to exin. ¡°Awork anchor does a live broadcast about what they¡¯re currently doing and, if people are interested, they will continue watching and turn into thework anchor¡¯s fan.¡±

    ¡°A live broadcast on what they¡¯re doing?¡± She was still a little blur. ¡°Doing anything is fine?¡±

    ¡°Of course not¨C¨Cit has to be something that other people would be interested in!¡± Zhang Zianughed and said, ¡°For example, if you y games well, you can do a live broadcast of you ying games; if you have any special talents, you can do a live broadcast on you singing or dancing; if you¡¯re more courageous, you can do a live broadcast on extreme sports or exploring a haunted house¡­¡±

    Sihwa looked down at her pale blue fishtail and her translucent dorsal fin. She protested, ¡°What does that girl do a live broadcast on? She doesn¡¯t seem to be good at anything, only jibber-jabbering in front of her phone.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s an outdoorwork anchor, so she introduces specialty spots and shops of Binhai City to her audience,¡± Zian answered.

    Sihwa pouted and said disdainfully, ¡°Che! What¡¯s so special about that? It¡¯s fine as long as you have two legs and you¡¯re a human, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not for sure¡­ It isn¡¯t so simple.¡± Zhang Zian shook his head. He used to feel that it was very easy to do a live broadcast¨C¨Cit was just lying down and counting your money¨C¨Cbut facts have proven that sessfulwork anchors all have their own sess element.

    ¡°You think it¡¯s so simple to be an outdoorwork anchor? That all they have to do is walk around, eating and drinking whatever they want? That¡¯s not the case. ording to what I know, Snowy usually has to observe and do some research before selecting a shop, and only when she feels that a shop is good, will she choose to do a live broadcast there. Usually, out of ten shops, maybe not even one meets her standards¡ªit is precisely because of how strict her selection criteria is that her live broadcast is trusted by others.

    Even before her live broadcast, she still nned her broadcast content carefully, collecting opinions and feedback from her audience, creating topics, setting up the atmosphere and asionally acting cute¡­ And aside from all that, awork anchor needs to have their own unique trait andbel. For example, Snowy had beenbeled as awork anchor who ignores the tuhaos in her broadcast channel. Many curious people have heard of herbel then decided to visit her broadcast room only to be her fan in the end.¡±

    Zhang Zian told Sihwa everything that he had observed about Snowy since the day that he had met her.

    ¡°Ah, sounds so troublesome!¡±

    Sihwa was suddenly at a loss for words. Suddenly feeling dispirited, she rested her head on the edge of the bathtub while her arms were hanging down, swaying back and forth like a pendulum.

    ¡°Which is why they are not known for nothing¨C¨Cthere must be a reason for their sess.¡± Zhang Zian ended the topic. He raised his phone and hurriedly spoke, ¡°Come, can you speak or sing to the phone and tell those aquatic creatures to head back to where they came from?¡±

    With apleteck of interest, Sihwa gave Zian a side nce. She suddenly straightened her back and raised one hand up high, just like a primary school student asking for permission to give a speech. She said, ¡°So boring! I want to watch television!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve talked about this before and you have yet to meet the requirements to watch TV,¡± Zhang Zian said as he dodged the water she had sshed out.

    ¡°Then I won¡¯t sing!¡± she said spitefully and hugged her arms around her chest. Clearly, she wanted to negotiate.

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    ¡°If you let all those weird marine creatures gather around Binhai City, it¡¯s going to cause a lot of trouble. You do not want to alienate yourself from your kind and your people,¡± Zian warned.

    Sihwa rolled her eyes in response to what Zian said. ¡°It¡¯s okay if you don¡¯t let me watch tv, but I want a phone. I want to watch live broadcasts, too!¡±

    Using a phone to watch live broadcasts?

    Zhang Zian gave it some consideration and he felt that it could work.

    Since she had to stay in the small bathroom, Sihwa was only able to see a corner of the outside world through a small window. Indeed, it was really boring and was no different from jail¨C¨Cbut even in jail, they were still be allowed to go outside for a breather.

    The more exciting the outside world was, the more helpless the inside world felt.

    Most of the elfins hung out downstairs; the only elfins upstairs were Sihwa and Pi.

    Pi was unable to talk, but even if it could speak, Sihwa and Pi would not have amon topic to talk about.

    Although Old Time Tea woulde upstairs and speak to Sihwa from time to time, it usually talked about its thoughts and ways of life and with Sihwa¡¯s child-like mentality, it was hard for her to digest what she heard.

    Thinking back, it seemed like the elfin that Sihwa interacted with the most was actually Fina¡­

    Zhang Zian suddenly had a thought. Could it be that Fina found Sihwa to be lonely so it wasing up with ways to tease her?

    Is that how it is?

    He felt that he might have thought too much into it. How could the proud and arrogant Fina possibly look out for the feelings of others?

    Compared to watching television, live broadcasts were more realistic. It was all about what young people liked, while the things shown on television were mostly far from what reality actually was.

    Buying her a cheap mobile phone with only a well-reputed live broadcast app installed would hopefully be sufficient enough for her to understand what the real world was like¨C¨Cunlike the world of Korean dramas, which were filled with overbearing presidents, or local Chinese drama series with a world of supernatural abilities.

    No matter what, giving it a try would be fine.

    So he nodded and agreed. ¡°Okay, then. I¡¯ll buy you a mobile phone, but you have to sing first and tell the marine creatures to leave.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± she asked in delightful surprise.

    ¡°Of course it¡¯s true, a monk never lies!¡± Richard tapped on the bathroom door with its beak. ¡°Are the two of you done? I need to use the bathroom! Or would you prefer if I relieve myself outside?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the monk!¡± Zhang Zian scolded. ¡°Wait a few more minutes!¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t wait! I can¡¯t hold it in any longer!¡± Ricard tapped harder and faster.

    It was also true that getting a bird to hold in its dropping was not easy¡­

    There was nothing Zhang Zian could do but open the door.

    Richard hurriedly descended on the side of the toilet seat, positioning his bird butt above the toilet bowl.

    ¡°Ga ga! Do you really want to see how I relieve myself? Don¡¯t you want to take a whiff?¡± Richard looked slyly at Zian. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of a fetish called ¡®Olfactophilia.¡¯ Some people like the smell of gasoline; there are those that like the smell of Camphor; could it be that you have¡­ a special fetish for the odor of bird droppings?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to look at it or smell it!¡±

    With a face of disgust, Zhang Zian turned on the recorder and ced his phone on the counter of the bathroom cab. He said to Sihwa, ¡°I¡¯ll head out first. Let me know once you¡¯re done.¡±

    Sihwa happily nodded before she pinched her nose and submerged herself underwater, lying at the bottom of the tub.

    Dong!

    Something seemed to have fallen into the water of the toilet bowl.

    Zhang Zian hurried out of the bathroom under Richard¡¯sughter and he closed the door.

    Fina was no longer on the second floor, nor was Snowy Li. They were probably downstairs asleep on the cat tree.

    Pi was concentrating on his typing, so Zhang Zian asked with embarrassment, ¡°Pi, did we disturb you with all the ruckus in the bathroom?¡±

    ¡°Zhi zhi.¡±

    Pi turned around and waved its hands with a smile on its face. It typed on the Word file document, It¡¯s good material.

    Zhang Zian was suddenly awestruck. He felt that Pi now had the demeanor of a novelist, but he still reminded it, ¡°Remember to make me more handsome.¡±

    Dong, dong!

    There was a knock on the bathroom door from the inside.

    ¡°Open the door! I¡¯m done!¡± Richard shouted.

    ¡°Did you wipe your butt clean?¡± Zhang Zian asked through the door.

    ¡°Ga ga! It¡¯s clean. Do you want to check?¡± Richard shouted.

    ¡°I¡¯m not interested! But let me warn you, if you dare to get any droppings inside the house, I¡¯m going to beat the droppings out of you!¡±

    Zian opened the door and Richard flew out, pping its wings.

    ¡°Ga ga! I have a suggestion¨C¨Cwhy not install a smart toilet cover? The one that will squirt water and blow-dry your chrysanthemum? It would save me the trouble of rubbing against the toilet paper each time!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the only one with so many requests!¡± Zhang Zian red at it.

    ¡°I¡¯m done recording!¡± Sihwa shouted.

    Zhang Zian walked into the bathroom and listened to the recording. He felt that Sihwa¡¯s song had some weird stuff mixed into it¡­ it went pu pu pu.

 Chapter 784: Underwater Dancing Waltz

    <h4>Chapter 784: Underwater Dancing Waltz</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian had only heard Sihwa¡¯s regr song once in Germany. It was not her low-frequency songs. He could not hear them, anyway, as they were beyond the audible range of human ears.

    Sihwa¡¯s songs were not in anynguage from around the world. Even Richard, who imed to know a million human and birdnguages, could not understand them. But her voice was pure and serene. No contaminating sound could be found in it.

    Clearly, Richard had to im responsibility.

    He rushed out of the bathroom to get Richard, yet the b*tchy bird had a premonition and flew away.

    Fine. It was probably nothing. Just consider them as beats.

    ¡°When will you buy a phone for me?¡± Sihwa blinked her eyes and asked expectantly. ¡°This hour, or the next hour?¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Your time range is too narrow¡­ Should be within today. Tomorrow at thetest.¡±

    ¡°Oh. I have to wait that long?¡± she whimpered, then said, as if she remembered something, ¡°Right, I also want a pretty phone case!¡± She pointed outside the small window. ¡°I see a lot of girls with pretty phone cases!¡±

    ¡°Okay. No problem.¡±

    Zhang Zian agreed. After walking out of the bathroom with his phone, he could still hear Sihwa yelling excitedly, ¡°Cellphone! Cellphone! I¡¯m finally getting a phone! Now I can surely make that fat orange cat jealous!¡±

    ¡°Pi, do you have time now? I need to use theputer.¡± He came to the desk.

    ¡°Eek!¡±

    Pi nodded, saved the Word file, jumped off the chair, then started walking around the room to exercise.

    Zhang Zian yed the recorded file saved in his phone on the loudspeaker. Then he opened up the online shopping website to pick a phone for Sihwa. Luckily, it was March seventh and eighth, thedies¡¯ festival. Most online shopping websites were doing promotions. One could imagine that many gentlemen¡¯s wallets were about to lose weight.

    At first, he wanted to get the cheapest phone, as Sihwa had never used a phone before and could not tell the difference, but then he realized he could not. She would be using the phone in the bathtub, so it could fall into the water easily¨C¨Cthen he would need to buy a new one. He might as well start off with a good, waterproof phone.

    None of the waterproof phones were cheap, even with the promotion. He closed his eyes, made the order, and checked out. He also bought a girlish case with it.

    After he finished, he left theputer to Pi and left his bedroom with the underwater loudspeaker.

    The door of his parents¡¯ bedroom was slightly open. It was dark inside. He pushed the door and entered. The thick curtain was drawn in his parents¡¯ room. The only light source was themps for the aquarium tanks. It was very dark inside.

    Zhang Zian walked in after his eyes were used to the darkness. The high-end aquarium fans normally prepared a separate room for their aquatic creatures. Basements without windows were the best. Artificial lighting was used topletely rece natural light, as the artificial lights nowadays could mimic natural light almost perfectly. The ovep of natural and artificial light was not good.

    There was no basement in the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, nor in the shoe store next door. But his parents¡¯ bedroom was empty and could be made useful.

    ¡°Meow.¡± In the dark room, Gxy¡¯s silver-grey eyes were exceptionally bright. It sat on the nket and put its face close to the tank. It was fixated on the dark and mysterious marine world inside. After hearing Zhang Zian open the door, it turned its head, lifted a front paw, and said happily, ¡°Meow. Good morning, Zian!¡± It hadn¡¯t wanted to wake the other sleeping elfins earlier. Now it gave a real greeting.

    ¡°Good morning, Gxy. You are watching the corals again.¡± Zhang Zian was not surprised, as Gxy had been touring the bedroom every morning to look at the corals before heading downstairs to y hide-and-seek.

    ¡°Meow. The corals are so pretty.¡± Gxy nodded and added, ¡°So are the fish!¡±

    The ¡°fish¡± it referred to were not really fish but the sea angels.

    Inside the room, a few tanks stood against the walls, separated by books, shelves, and other objects, so that the lights would not interfere with the tanks. Apart from the tanks for the corals, there was a tank dedicated to sea angels. To keep the temperature low, there was another tank outside that tank with ice packs in between.

    The two fully grown sea angels floated in the cold water, fluttered their transparent wings, and tried to get close to each other. The antennas on their heads had felt the existence of one another. In their translucent chest cavities, their heart-shaped organs were growing brighter and redder, like burning mes of love.

    The night before, after preparing the saltwater, installing the equipment, and making sure everything was working properly, Zhang Zian finally released them from the pet columns in the game. He could not afford to lose them in the early stages of his project. Luckily, after adapting overnight, they seemed to have epted their new environment and had started thinking about reproduction after their basic needs were met. It was exactly what Zhang Zian had hoped for.

    After repeated attempts, they finally got past the initial shyness, stretched out their suction cups, and attached to each other with them. Then they started dancing in the water. Very few mating processes in the animal kingdom were as romantic and beautiful as theirs. It was a waltz thatsted for hours.

    Zhang Zian closed the door and held his breath, afraid of bothering them with any noise. But in fact, their mating process was not that vulnerable.

    No matter how elegant the dance might have looked, it got boring after you stared at it for too long. He turned his eyes and watched the tank next to it.

    This tank was also cooled with ice packs and held a few helicid pteropods. The Chinese name of helicid pteropod was the word ¡°snail.¡± Yet, they lookedpletely different from cone snails and the Oliva emicator. Their bodies were almost transparent, including the shells. A pair of pea-leaf-shaped translucent wings fluttered like a dancing butterfly. Therefore, they had a more appropriate nickname: ¡°sea butterflies.¡±

    The helicid pteropods were also gorgeous¨C¨Cthey were attractive enough to be the stars of the aquarium. Yet, their most important mission was to be the sea angels¡¯ food. Sea angels had a surprisingly monotonous dinner menu, just like pandas. Their only food was the helicid pteropods.

    Zhang Zian also hoped the helicid pteropods would breed quickly and give birth to more helicid pteropods.

    He wasn¡¯t worried about the sea angels starving before it got to that point. That was because sea angels could survive a long time without food. Maybe the cold water temperature lowered their metabolism. They could survive by only feeding once a year.

    The third tank was like the previous two, with a smaller tank inside a bigger tank and ice packs in between. The difference in the third tank was that there was thick ice floating on top of the water, which meant the tank needed an even lower temperature¨C¨Calmost 0 degrees Celsius. Yet the tank was empty.

    What kind of creature could live in such a low temperature?

 Chapter 785: Ugly Duckling

    <h4>Chapter 785: Ugly Duckling</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The shape of the third fish tank was a little special: It was t and wide with nothing inside except for a thick ice floe.

    Zhang Zian squatted down and looked up at the bottom of the ice floes; the secret was there.

    The bottoms of the ice floes were like a beautiful flower, gently drifting along with the water¡¯s flow. But the flower was far from slender and under the illumination of the faint light on the surface of the ice, it became ice-like and crystal clear, almost transparent. There were only a few of such ¡°flowers,¡± and all of them were rooted in the ice, making one wonder if they were animals or nts.

    On the beach in Germany, when Zhang Zian captured the mermaid with his phone, arge number of weird creatures retreated from the beach like low tide. There was also ayer of drift ice that slowly crept up. When he flipped the thinyer of ice over with a tree branch, he found the same strange creatures on the back of the thin ice.

    Zian immediately recognized it. It was an Edwardsie andrie, a new species discovered in Antarctica in the year 2010. Its quantity was unknown, and its habits were unknown¨C¨Ceverything about it was just an entire mystery.

    They curled up immediately after receiving a shock. They were no longer than three centimeters in length, but when they were brought back to the pet store and adapted to their new environment, their bodies stretched out to around seven or eight centimeters, and over twenty different tentacles of different lengths bloomed like the petals of a flower.

    Fortunately, Zian did not use his hands to flip the ice, because the tentacles of an anemone were generally poisonous. Since the toxicity of the newly discovered anemone was not known, he did not wish to test the poison with his own body.

    Sea Angels, Sea Butterflies, and the Edwardsie andrie all required a low-temperature environment. So, before the chiller arrived, he could only use a simple and crude method to lower the temperature for them.

    ¡°Meow! So pretty,¡± Gxy said as it stared at the Edwardsie andrie. ¡°Just like stars.¡±

    In the dimly lit room, the faint light on the ice floes barely illuminated the ice floe itself. The seawater under the ice floes was just a stretch of darkness. However, in the darkness, the fragile Edwardsie andrie were shining like cat¡¯s eyes in the dark. Looking up at them was like looking at a star-filled sky.

    Actually, it was not empty in the seawater; there were some freshly hatched brine shrimps floating in the water, which were meant to be food for the Edwardsie andrie. Fortunately, the Edwardsie andrie were not as picky as the Sea Angels were.

    Zhang Zian carefully observed their condition. After he confirmed that everything was normal, he went over to the other coral tanks to continue with his inspection.

    The coral tank was located under the other wall. Because the water temperature of the coral tank was above 20 degrees, when it was ced together with the three other fish tanks that were just above zero degrees, they would affect one another.

    Thanks to the high-end aquarium equipment, the corals were growing well, and Zian did not have much to worry about. Despite that, he would still have to measure the water quality every day to prevent sudden deterioration. After all, the equipment was not able topletely rece humans, and some indicators of water quality could only be determined manually.

    Zian used a test tube to take a sample of water from each coral tank andbeled them to prevent a mix-up. Later, he was also going to test the KH value in the hard coral tank, which was the concentration of bicarbonate ions, and also one of the greatest differences between natural seawater and artificial seawater. Natural seawater usually had a KH value of seven to eight dH, but the amount of water in the fish tank was limited, and in order to avoid the sudden deterioration of water quality that would cause the hard corals to perish, it was necessary to maintain the KH value at nine to twelve dH.

    For soft corals, on the other hand, one needed to prevent an increase in the KH value.

    When Zian took the water samples one by one, Gxy came over. It stared at thest coral tank and said, ¡°Zian, there are beautiful mushrooms in the water.¡±

    Mushrooms?

    Zhang Zian was in a blur. He thought to himself, How could there be mushrooms in the water? Was Richard bored, so it threw a mushroom into the coral tank? If that¡¯s indeed the case, he would have to beat all the droppings out of it!

    Thest coral tank was the tank for the ugly coral. Although it was growing up with each passing day, it was still ugly.

    Zhang Zian bent down and looked through the ss. There was no mushroom in the water, but the ugly coral seemed to have undergone some subtle changes.

    He quickly took a magnifying ss and looked at it again. Despite theck of light through the magnifying ss, he vaguely found that the edge of the ugly coral was slightly white, like it had grown a white circle around it.

    Is the coral sick? Doesn¡¯t look like it.

    He gave it some thought and adjusted the light settings from the original white light to a faint blue light.

    In that instant, a miracle appeared!

    The faint-colored coral glowed with a dreamybination of colors. The white circles shone a dazzling blue color, and the taupe in the white circle turned into a pale red, just like a mushroom with a red base and a blue ring.

    It was like the saying from the ancient times: ¡°A pair is born from the red and blue.¡±

    The pale red and bright blue turned the originally ugly coral into the most striking star. Even with several other beautiful corals, they would not be able to cover its light. Even if it was ced among hundreds of corals, people would see it at a nce. If the boss of the coral specialty shop were to witness its transformation, he would definitely regret missing out on a million dors!

    Zhang Zian stared at it with a stunned look. He suddenly remembered a name and an anecdote in his mind. The rare coral was known as Mesophotic Leptoseris. Currently, it had no corresponding Chinese name.

    The first appearance of this coral was in the year 2011. They were mixed in with a group of live rock produced in Indonesia and were sent to a tropical fish shop in California in the United States. It was then discovered by the owner through an ident¨C¨Cvery simr to Zhang Zian¡¯s situation.

    There were also other rare corals that had been discovered in the same way¡ªpeople had originally bought othermon corals, and after going home, they inspected their purchase only to find that there were mysterious immigrants mixed in¡­

    It was now clear that the Indonesian coral cultivation farm, which was the source that the coral store used, probably not only sold cultivated corals but also quietly mined natural corals to increase their production. Because of how small and inconspicuous the coral was, it was probably mined by the fishermen along with the other corals. Then they were all packed together and transported to China.

    The boss of the coral specialty shop and the female customer were both aquatic hobbyist veterans; they also had a wealth of experience, but because they were missing some theoretical foundations, they had missed out on their opportunity.

    At the same time of recalling its name, Zhang Zian seemed to have woken up from his dream. Immediately, he dimmed the lighting intensity and lowered the water temperature by one degree. He remembered that the coral survived about 30 meters deep underwater, and the sunlight that could shine there was already very weak. It was a kind of low-light coral, and the reason why it grew so slowly was that the light Zian had provided before was too strong and the water temperature was also somewhat high.

    One tree did not make a forest, and some species of corals were more beautiful only when they were clustered into amunity. The same was true for his new coral. When it grew into a coralmunity, it would be a breathtaking beauty.

    ¡°Meow. Zian, what¡¯s the name of this coral?¡± Gxy asked with curiosity.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Zhang Zian felt that the English name was very long and quite a tongue-twister, and because it didn¡¯t have a Chinese name yet, Zian just said, ¡°It¡¯s called the Ugly Duckling Coral.¡±

    One day, the ugly duckling would grow up to be a white swan.

 Chapter 786: Sex Education

    <h4>Chapter 786: Sex Education</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After watching the corals, Gxy heard the kittens downstairs had already woken up. It ran downstairs merrily to y hide-and-seek with them.

    Zhang Zian also went downstairs and opened up the shutter door to ventte the shop. He tested the water quality at the same time.

    A brand new Wuling Hong Guang MPV was parked in front of the shop.

    Now that he owned a car, not a bicycle, he might be able to ask a girl if she would ratherugh in his Wuling Hong Guang, or cry in someone else¡¯s BMW.

    As the water testing result was fine, he started cleaning up the shop as usual.

    Soon, Lu Yiyun, Wang Qian, and Li Kun arrived for work.

    ¡°Master, it¡¯s a shame that you didn¡¯te with us to get the bottom sand. Otherwise, you would have seen my handsome driving!¡± Wang Qian bragged excitedly. ¡°This Wuling Hong Guang deserves its fame! With over 100 kilos of bottom sand and eco-bio-blocks, I passed two elerating Honda Civics, one BMW M4, one Te, and almost passed a Lamborghini! As I was about to drift in the alley, I arrived at the pet shop¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was intoxicated. Was it a Wuling Hong Guang he was driving, or an AE86? It could drift in an alley?

    Li Kun rified, ¡°Master, don¡¯t listen to his nonsense. In fact, I was the one driving. He almost peed in his pants¡­¡±

    ¡°Just save it, both of you! Don¡¯t drive the car into the ditch. If you get a ticket, you will pay it. Stop the bullshit and get to work!¡± Zhang Zian vented. When he bought the car, the two of them despised the Wuling Hong Guang so much, saying it was a low-ss car. But after they got the car, they enjoyed driving it so much.

    ¡°Aye.¡± They agreed and started working with brooms and mops. They still could not shut up, arguing one after the other over who was a better driver.

    ¡°I¡¯ll use the car soon. If you are finished, just take a break. Our custom-made aquarium tanks are being delivered today. If I¡¯m not here then, just sign off the courier for me,¡± Zhang Zian instructed.

    ¡°Master, are you going to try drifting in the alley?¡± they asked.

    ¡°Drift in your a**! I¡¯m going to the beach to take a walk.¡± Heughed and cursed.

    He was nning to y the underwater loudspeaker in the sea. It might be toote if he waited any longer.

    ¡°Good morning, Brother Store Manager!¡±

    With a loud and clear greeting, Little Celery hopped into the shop. Then she stepped outside in doubt, looked up at the store sign next door, and mumbled, ¡°Amazing Fate Aquarium¡­ Brother Store Manager, are you going to sell fish?¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Little Celery. That¡¯s right! I¡¯m going to sell fish, but not food!¡± Zhang Zian put up his hand. ¡°Come here, high five! Yay!¡±

    ¡°Yay!¡±

    Little Celery jumped and pped her little palm against his, despite that she didn¡¯t know why he wanted a high-five.

    It was his first time seeing Little Celery ever since his return from Germany. Before that, he had been busy day and night, while Little Celery had been going to schoolte to take care of the hamsters during the winter holidays. They always missed each other.

    ¡°Little Celery, did your school start?¡±

    Judging from the way she was running, he saw that her backpack seemed much heavier now than it was in the winter holidays. Maybe it was full of textbooks and exercise books.

    ¡°Yes! It¡¯s the first day of school today!¡± She nodded with strength.

    She was wearing a red nnel hoodie with a sweater inside, a backpack, a scarf, but no hat. The scarf dangled behind her as she ran.

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve never seen those shoes before. Are they new? Very nice,¡± he asked.

    ¡°Aha! New shoes for the new year! It¡¯s my first time wearing them! I kept them specifically for the school day! They are bigger than the old ones. The old shoes are getting squishy!¡± She hopped with joy.

    He felt that she had grown a bit taller after the winter holidays. Kids grew fast, after all. They grew up in the blink of an eye.

    ¡°Haha, Little Celery can certainly control herself! I¡¯d surely put on my new shoes the same day I got them when I was younger.¡± Zhang Zianughed. ¡°Oh right, Little Celery, how are the hamsters? Are they okay?¡±

    ¡°Very good! Our ss report is handed in. We got the full mark! Except that¡­ Yaning wrote all of it. We didn¡¯t really help her¡­¡± She said with embarrassment.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. Everybody¡¯s good at something, and not so good at something.¡± Zhang Zian encouraged her. ¡°Wang Yaning is good at writing reports. Little Celery is good at making the team work together. Youpliment each other¡¯s role. Isn¡¯t that great?¡±

    Little Celery nodded. ¡°The school is very happy with our report and agreed that we can keep hamsters.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Does it mean that you need more hamsters? Should I look for more for you?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need. Thank you, Brother Store Manager. We are going to breed our own hamsters. We¡¯ll use these hamsters to breed the new generation. This is also the focus of the hamster raising ss this semester,¡± she said seriously.

    ¡°Is that so. You need to work hard, then. But I¡¯m sure Little Celery can do it.¡± Zhang Zian thought that this was indeed a good idea, as hamsters were very fertile. In fact, all rodents were very fertile.

    ¡°Yes!¡± She made a little fist and looked very motivated. Yet, her eyes were soon filled with questions. ¡°Brother Store Manager, how do hamsters reproduce? We¡¯ll put the males with the females, and that¡¯s it?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what to say.

    He suddenly understood something. The purpose of hamster raising ss in Zhonghua Road Primary School was not that simple. They intended to use this ss as part of the sex education program. When he was young, the schools were not thinking that far in advance.

    Education¡¯s purpose went beyond answering questions and teaching knowledge. Children nowadays were maturing earlier and faster. They indeed needed the missing link in education. The decision maker in Zhonghua Road Primary School deserved a thumbs up.

    As he thought, he encouraged her. ¡°Little Celery, don¡¯t worry. Just follow your school¡¯s instructions. They would certainly not let you go ahead blindly.¡±

    Little Celery nodded, still a bit confused.

    ¡°Your school teachers may only give you some general guidance. If you have any questions regarding details of hamster breeding, juste ask me. But you¡¯d better try searching for the answer first.¡± He smiled.

    ¡°Okay! Thank you, Brother Store Manager!¡±

    Little Celery still had questions, but she no longer had doubt in her eyes.

    ¡°You are wee. After you grow up, if you can help take care of my business, it would be great.¡± Zhang Zian joked with her.

    ¡°I get it! I¡¯ll go talk to Bell and Ear!¡± She ran into the shop to see the hamsters and lop-eared rabbits.

    Zhang Zian looked at the time, instructed Wang Qian and Li Kun to examine the courier carefully, then took the underwater loudspeaker and left the shop. He drove the Wuling Hong Guang towards the beach.

 Chapter 787: Fruitful Return

    <h4>Chapter 787: Fruitful Return</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Probably under the influence of Wang Qian and Li Kun¡¯s remarks, when Zhang Zian drove, he was always looking to the sides of the road and subconsciously searching for the sewer. However, it was obvious that there would be no sewer in the city unless it was a trench for construction.

    The pet shop in the Dongcheng District was close to the sea and, because it was during work hours, there were no vehicles on the road. It almost felt like you could smell the sea breeze the moment you stepped outside.

    Zhang Zian found a ce to park, and when he got out of the car, the sea breeze messed up his carefullybed hairstyle.

    The beach he came to had the shortest straight line distance from the pet shop. He felt that, if the marine creatures were attracted to Sihwa just like a ma, they would most likely gather around there.

    The beach had a rugged terrain. There were very few sandy beaches and all of them were rough in quality. There were quite a number of reefs, however, so they weren¡¯t a tourist destination. On usual days, very few foreigners came to the beach he was at, and it was also not tourist season. So at the most, only a few locals living nearby woulde to the beach to walk their dog or to take a walk themselves. He made a mental note to be careful to not step on any dog waste.

    Bringing along the underwater speaker, Zian crossed over the sea wall and walked towards the seashore that was covered with reef rocks.

    Ssh!

    Getting closer to the seashore, the sounds of the surging sea waves filled his ears.

    The horizon was grayish in color where the sky met the sea and the sea met the sky. The sky and sea were of one color, making it almost impossible to differentiate between the two.

    There were no fishing boats as far as the eye could see.

    For quite some time, there weren¡¯t any fish in the vicinity of the seashore because all of them had already been caught¨C¨Cunless it was a man-made fish farm. Fishermen would not waste their time at the seashore; the moment they left port, they would drive their boat straight out to the deeper sea.

    The off-season for fishing begun the first of May, so fishermen were making use of thest month they had to make some more money.

    There was no one on the seacoast, but there were the asional vehicles driving along the seawall. People were either in school, in work, or sleeping in.

    When crossing over a pool of water, Zhang Zian¡¯s eyelids jumped. A red light shot itself to the corner of his eyes, like something was just illuminated by the sunlight.

    With his experience on the beach of Germany, he immediately stopped and walked closer to the pool of water.

    There were more than a dozen small fish swimming in the pool of water and they had neat, conspicuous orange, red, white, and ck stripes on their body. The ck stripes especially almost looked like they had been drawn on with a marker. He recognized them at a nce¨C¨Cthey were Clownfish.

    Clownfish were small and could be raised in small fish tanks. They were also not picky about bait and were easy to raise. They were the introduction fish for many saltwater tank hobbyists, starting from Clownfish as their first step into the bottomless pit of saltwater fish.

    Generally, Clownfish were cheap, as they were practice fish and could be easily purchased in any aquarium or fish market.

    However, Clownfish also had a variety of types: the mostmon and popr Clownfish in the country was the Perc Clownfish. But, although the dozens of small fish in the pool of water looked really simr, they were not the Perc Clownfish.

    No matter what kind of Clownfish, there would be a pure white band on their neck¨C¨C just like a scarf¨C¨Cand most Clownfish would have a second and third band on their body and tail. Only a small number of Clownfish would have the white band just on their neck.

    The difference between the Clownfish in the pool of water and the Perc Clownfish was that their second white band had arger, sharp triangle that extended out in the direction of its head.

    Zhang Zian recalled that the ones in front of him were not amon Clownfish species; instead, they were a rtively rare variant.

    Since he had seen them, he couldn¡¯t just let them go¨C¨Ccorruption and wastage were very heinous crimes!

    He looked around to see that there was no one around before he ran back to his Wuling Hong Guang MPV.

    When the car was used to transport the sand and live rocks earlier, there were some containers such as storage boxes¨C¨Cas well as buckets and the likes¨C¨Cleft in the car. Wang Qian and Li Kun had no time to clean up, but now the boxes were going toe in handy.

    Zian ran back to the pool of water with a bucket and scooped up the water and fish. He then returned to the car with the heavy bucket, pouring the water and fish into the container slowly.

    After he finished, Zian then brought along the empty bucket and started searching along the seashore.

    Like what Jiang Feifei had mentioned, there was an abundant variety of creatures on the beach. Just by flipping over a piece of reef rock, amon or umon crab could be found underneath.

    In a short while, the severalrge and small containers in the car were all stuffed. He had over ten different kinds of crabs alone, such as Spider Crabs, Red Egg Crabs, Asian Paddle Crabs, Macrophthalmus Banzai, etc. Some were valuable, while some were worthless¨C¨Cbut even if they weren¡¯t valuable, they could still be used to stew a hot pot or something¡­

    He had also seen some different kinds of snails, but he did not pick them up because they were hard to sell and he still had to take care of them.

    There were also many shrimps, but there were more types of fish.

    asionally, he would encounter poisonous marine creatures which he would take a detour to avoid. But he decided to bring back those that weren¡¯t very poisonous.

    He picked up animals here and there and he just couldn¡¯t stop. He hated that there was no space left in the car, though. If he had known, he would have just bought a truck¡­

    Although Sea Angels and Edwardsie Andries were creatures of a higher grade, they could only be disyed as an attraction to attract customers. Even if someone were to buy them, it would be hard to keep them alive if the person wasn¡¯t a high-end aquatic hobbyist. Zhang Zian had also been pondering on where to bring in a batch ofmon saltwater fish.

    There was nothing Zian could do about having Sihwa sing to drive away the marine creatures near Binhai City. If she didn¡¯t, it was going to be chaotic.

    A thought suddenly shed in his head; he suddenly thought of an idea.

    The underwater speaker had a built-in battery, so he could buy a few more and ce them along the coast, then write down the location and periodically change their batteries. That way, he was able to get the marine creatures to stay away from the coast.

    When necessary, he could temporarily take the speaker out from the water at a specific location and let a small number of marine creatures gather before putting the speaker back into the water after he¡¯d caught enough. Wasn¡¯t that killing two birds with one stone?

    The more he thought about it, the more the method seemed feasible. He could also connectrge-capacity power banks with a waterproof function to the underwater speaker, eliminating the trouble of frequent charging.

    The speaker was ced under the water, so no one would know that there was such a thing there except for himself. He would select their cement positions ording to uninhabited locations, then record their coordinates by GPS; he would also use their nearbyndmarks as a reference so he would definitely not make a mistake.

    The Amazing Fate Pet Shop was very close to the sea, so driving down every morning to charge the batteries and to catch some fish wasn¡¯t going to take much time.

    But¡­ what if he had something to do and had to be away for a long time? For example, when he went to Egypt, he would have to leave the country for ten and a half days. Who would take care of the underwater speakers? Wang Qian and Li Kun?

    Unless it was really necessary, then letting them know would be hisst resort.

    He gave it some thought; maybe he could connect the underwater speaker to a sr charging board¡­ The sr charging board would then be tied to a small air cushion that would float on the surface of the sea to receive sunlight, while the speaker would sink to the bottom of the water with a wire in the middle to transmit power, and the power bank would be used as a backup power source.

    Even if someone were to pick it up by chance, who would know what it was for?

    Let¡¯s do this then!

    As for the aquarium creatures in the car, Zian could just im that he had received them through some connections, or he could also say that he had picked them up¡­ Anyway, it was a wild harvest.

 Chapter 788: Alumni

    <h4>Chapter 788: Alumni</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t forget what he came for and returned with his hands full.

    He found a high rock at the beach, stood on it, and turned on the underwater loudspeaker. Sihwa¡¯s song in an unknownnguage flew out of the speaker and mixed with some strange sound.

    Soon, under the rocks and in the puddles nearby, the marine creatures that he had left behind started moving towards the sea like an ebb. Some were slow and some were fast. Some swam, some ran, and some jumped. Some presumingly local creatures stayed there without moving.

    After the majority had left, Zhang Zian put the speaker into the sea and waited for a while. He could not see anything above the sea surface, but he expected it to work.

    The coast was quiet again. He also started his journey home.

    After driving back to the pet shop, he realized that he had already spent two to three hours outside. It was almost noon.

    The Amazing Fate Aquarium door was open and a lot of loose pieces of cardboard and strings were on the ground. Zhang Zian guessed that the custom-made tanks had finally arrived.

    ¡°Wang Qian! Li Kun! Come out and carry this stuff inside!¡± he shouted.

    ¡°Aye! Coming!¡±

    They ran out of the aquarium one after the other with sweat on their foreheads.

    ¡°Master, all the tanks are here. We examined each one. None of them are broken. Juste in and take a look,¡± they said.

    ¡°No rush. Just help me move the things in the car first.¡± The storage boxes filled with saltwater were quite heavy, so Zhang Zian asked them to help.

    As the trunk opened, Wang Qian and Li Kun were stunned.

    ¡°Holy crap! Master, where did you get all these fish? And crabs¡­ and shrimp.¡±

    Zhang Zian recited the lines he prepared in advance, ¡°I took a walk at the beach, and I happened toe across a group of fishermen returning from a fishing trip. I bought these from them. When you fish, anything can be caught in the. Apart from edible fish, there are some ornamental fish asionally, and even some rare fish. I told them not to throw them back into the sea next time. I¡¯ll buy them for a high price.¡±

    Part of what he said was the truth. Most fishermen had no idea that the colorful fish were in fact quite expensive. They either tossed them back or gave them to children to y with. Some even cooked and ate them. It was such a waste of the heavenly gifts.

    Only a few fishermen knew how much the ornamental fish were worth, but they had nowhere to sell them. It was not worth it to set up a stand in the aquarium market just to sell one or two ornamental fish.

    He made up such a good story that Wang Qian and Li Kun fully bought it. They eximed, ¡°Master, this is such a brilliant idea! Is this direct selling? There won¡¯t be any rip-off by the aquarium market middle men!¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled calmly on purpose as an agreement.

    There was another advantage in his story. There were neither invoices nor receipts. The transactions were untraceable, no matter the number, or the prices, of his purchase. It was as much as he imed to be¡­ there were so many fishermen in Binhai City. Who would bother asking them one by one?

    Zhang Zian gave instructions while they carried the storage boxes into the aquarium. Lu Yiyun came out to help as well, recording the varieties and numbers of the creatures ording to their kind.

    After entering the aquarium, Zhang Zian saw that the custom-made tanks were all in their ces. The empty first floor was totally transformed. Yet, as the tanks had just arrived, the essories were still cluttered on the floor and the tanks were empty. After they were filled with saltwater and all sorts of marine creatures, they must look amazing with the lighting effects.

    Knock, knock!

    ¡°Hello, anyone here?¡±

    Zhang Zian turned his head and recognized Jiang Feifei, the girl from the aquarium market, standing at the door.

    Compared to the delicate facial features and the smooth, fair skin of city girls, she had thick eyebrows and a rough skin texture. But she looked very healthy. She had a wheatish skin tone that Westerners loved a lot. She must have spent a lot of time working outdoors, and she must have done a lot of farmer¡¯s work in her hometown. It was easy to recognize her from a crowd.

    ¡°Oh, what are you here for?¡± Zhang Zian asked Wang Qian and Li Kun to keep moving, while he went over and talked to her.

    ¡°I¡¯m here to return this. There¡¯s nobody next door. I saw the door open here and came in.¡± She took out a portable charger from her backpack. ¡°Snowy lent me this the other day and never came looking for it. I don¡¯t know how to return it to her¡­ Then I remembered that you know Snowy. So I searched for the address of your pet shop, so that you can return it for me. Do you know where Snowy lives?¡±

    Zhang Zian took the portable charger from her hands. He turned it on and the indicator bar was full.

    He knew that Snowy would not care about a portable charger and would not mind giving it to her. She never expected it back. Yet, not only Feifei did male the trip to return it, but she had also charged it fully.

    ¡°I only know a rough location. I can mail it. But Snowy ising here in a few days, so I can give it to her then to save on mailing costs,¡± he answered.

    ¡°Thank you! Sorry for the inconvenience! Same for the other day. If you and Snowy were not there, I¡¯d surely have lost everything,¡± she said gratefully.

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°Correcting the injustice is the right thing to do. Besides, it¡¯s a small favor not worth mentioning¡­ Don¡¯t you have sses today?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m in my fourth year and sses are finished. I have one more semester left. Now I¡¯m doing my undergraduate project, so I have lots of free time,¡± she answered.

    ¡°So? You are from Binhai University?¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun asked curiously after hearing their conversation.

    ¡°Yes. Are you studying there as well?¡± Jiang Feifei nodded.

    ¡°We are in our third year. We should call you senior. Haha!¡± Theyughed.

    ¡°Watch your feet. Don¡¯t stumble!¡± Zhang Zian reminded them.

    After knowing that the two simple-minded guys were alumni, Jiang Feifei suddenly felt a bit closer to them. ¡°Are you working here part time?¡±

    ¡°No, we are cultivating here,¡± they answered seriously.

    Jiang Feifei was made clueless¡­

    Zhang Zian interrupted. ¡°Just ignore them. They are working here part-time. There¡¯s something wrong with their brains.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Jiang Feifei then looked at Lu Yiyun, who appeared two or three years younger. She asked, ¡°Are you studying at Binhai University as well?¡±

    ¡°Me¡­¡± Lu Yiyun paused after hearing this, then whispered, ¡°Sort of. But I dropped out.¡±

    As Jiang Feifei realized that she just asked a sensitive question, she appeared embarrassed. Then she smiled awkwardly and said, ¡°If I didn¡¯t meet Store Manager Zhang and Snowy the other day, I¡¯d have been expelled from the university¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Everybody is good at something and not good at something. Yiyun doesn¡¯t like school, but she¡¯s an excellent painter¡­ a professional one.¡±

    ¡°Really? I¡¯ve always admired good painters ever since I was young!¡± Jiang Feifei continued on this topic.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not that good¡­¡± Lu Yiyun blushed, as she was not used to being praised.

    Knock, knock!

    ¡°Anyone inside?¡±

    As they were speaking, another person knocked at the door.

 Chapter 789: The Electrician and the Welder

    <h4>Chapter 789: The Electrician and the Welder</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Subconsciously, everyone in the store turned to look at the door when they heard the knock.

    What a coincidence¨C¨Cit was another person that they knew.

    Electrician Wu stood by the door and stuck his head inside to take a look. There was another old man of a simr age who was on an electric bicycle waiting by the sidewalk.

    ¡°Wu, is this the ce?¡± thetter asked, his voice loud and sonorous.

    The outside was bright and the inside was dark, so Electrician Wu squinted his eyes and swept his gaze across the faces of the people. His gaze soon fell on Zhang Zian and he said with surprise, ¡°Yi, it¡¯s you?¡±

    ¡°Master Wu, you¡¯re here! Quick,e in¡­ is that your friend outside?¡± Zhang Zian walked over to wee them in.

    Electrician Wu hesitated for a moment before he nodded. ¡°He¡¯s also a retiree from our factory. His surname is Zhao and he¡¯s a welder.¡±

    Following after them, Electrician Wu waved his hands to the person outside. ¡°Come in. Lock the bicycle well; don¡¯t let it get stolen.¡±

    Welder Zhao was a thin old man, his teeth were ck and yellow from years of smoking, and he had a strong smell of smoke on him. He pushed open the door. The moment he entered, he started making a lot of noise. ¡°This is the ce? Wu, are you kidding me? Isn¡¯t this a newly-opened store? The stuff isn¡¯t even set up yet! Let¡¯s go¡­ let¡¯s go look for an old store. I can¡¯t trust a new store! It could close down in just a few days!¡±

    After he said that, he went over to pull on Electrician Wu.

    Electrician Wu was also hesitating, but Zhang Zian had helped him with his problem in the fish market, so he felt bad if he were to just take his leave.

    ¡°Master Zhao, right? I agree with whatever you say¡ªbut, my shop has been running on this street for more than ten years. It¡¯s not a new shop!¡± Zhang Zian interrupted.

    ¡°Not a new shop?¡± Welder Zhao sneered. He pointed at the walls and the floor with his finger. ¡°The smell of this newtex paint isn¡¯t even gone yet. It hasn¡¯t even been a month since he renovated this ce, right? And you¡¯re telling me it¡¯s not a new shop?¡±

    ¡°Great observation! You can even notice all that! This shop is indeed new, but the shop beside it is also mine. It has been running on this street for ten over years. You can ask around if you don¡¯t believe me.¡±

    Zhang Zian was able to understand his thoughts on looking for an old shop. Even for the almighty Taobao, everyone would still look for the oldest shop with the highest sales so that they can be relieved. It was better to be ripped off with everyone than alone¡­

    Welder Zhao walked out of the shop, suspicious. He came back momentster, nodded, and said, ¡°Okay, I said the wrong thing.¡±

    It was not okay to leave the pet shop alone with no one to look after it, so Zhang Zian sent Lu Yiyun back. He then asked, ¡°Master Wu, are you here for the 24V heating rod?¡±

    Electrician Wu nodded. His gaze uncontrobly drifted to the aquatic creatures that Zhang Zian had brought back.

    ¡°I will look at the heating rod, then also look at the fish,¡± he said.

    Welder Zhaoined. ¡°Wu, I¡¯m telling you not to waste that money. Isn¡¯t a twenty to thirty dor heating rod just the same? A heating rod that costs a few hundred dors can help you raise better fish? I don¡¯t believe it!¡±

    Electrician Wu waved his hands. ¡°Zhao, stop trying to persuade me in this matter. I have made up my mind so you¡¯re just wasting your breath¡ªthe problem isn¡¯t with the fish, but the safety. You¡¯re not an electrician, so you don¡¯t understand how dangerous electricity can be.¡±

    It seems like Welder Zhao had already persuaded him more than once before they came here, but Electrician Wu, who was determined to buy a safer heating rod, had turned down Welder Zhao¡¯s advice.

    ¡°Look at you¡­ the older you are, the more stubborn you get!¡± Welder Zhao pointed at him in frustration.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun had a lot to say about Welder Zhao: ¡°You¡¯re not even part of Master Wu¡¯s family; Did he eat your rice, or use your electricity?; Is there a need for you to care so much?; You persuaded him once and he didn¡¯t listen, so forget it¡­ Why are you insisting on your views?¡±

    Before he hade into contact with high-end aquarium equipment, Zhang Zian, too, did not know how good a piece of high-end equipment could be. But after he got exposed to them, he understood that one got what they paid for. For a dor, one could get a tier one piece of equipment, and with five dors, they could get a tier two piece of equipment. But a tier two piece of equipment was of a much higher gradepared to the tier one piece of equipment, so they could only acknowledge the difference.

    Zian brought over the German imported 24 volts heating rod for Electrician Wu. ¡°Master Wu, you can take your time to look at it. You can also give it a test here, too.¡±

    Electrician Wu said with a little embarrassment, ¡°I¡¯m not going to hide it from you, but I actually brought a multimeter along¡­¡±

    Electrician Wu took out the multimeter from his satchel bag. He didn¡¯t bring it along when he visited the fish market, but he had learned his lesson.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Go ahead and test it out. Over there is the prepared artificial seawater; its conductivity should be about the same as natural seawater.¡± Zhang Zian pointed to a drain bucket ced in the corner. The artificial seawater was prepared by Wang Qian and Li Kun under his guidance. It was all for the aquarium tanks that were going to be set in ce that day. Once they had been taught how to prepare the artificial seawater, they would be able to do it themselves the next time.

    ¡°Heh, artificial seawater,¡± Welder Zhao said disdainfully. ¡°We¡¯re just a few steps away from the sea, why even bother with artificial seawater? You¡¯re just wasting more money.¡±

    Zhang Zian retorted, ¡°You can put it this way: because it¡¯s inevitable for natural seawater near the shore to be polluted, especially in the vicinity of the city. If you¡¯re just nning on raising beginner¡¯s fish then it¡¯s fine, but for fish of a higher grade, it¡¯s much better if you can prepare artificial seawater for them. Otherwise, it¡¯s going to hurt when one of them dies.¡±

    Hearing Zian¡¯s words, Electrician Wu was quite interested. He used to bring back natural seawater from the sea just to save money; however, he now felt that beginner fish were not able to satisfy him and he was actually nning on raising some high-end fish.

    ¡°How do you prepare artificial seawater?¡± he asked.

    ¡°The salinity of natural seawater is 34 percent to 35 percent, so you¡¯ll have to prepare synthetic sea salt and fresh water, then buy an ordinary hydrometer and prepare it using the temperature-salinity-density table on the hydrometer,¡± Zhang Zian briefly exined. He then pointed to the buckets in the corner and emphasized, ¡°But there are some things that you need to pay attention to. When preparing the artificial seawater, don¡¯t use metal containers, iron, aluminum, or copper¨C¨Cnone of those.¡±

    ¡°Because seawater is corrosive to metals?¡± Electrician Wu seemed to have understood something.

    ¡°That is one reason. The second is because arge number of metal ions will be released into the artificial seawater that you prepared when the metal is corroded, and the pollution of natural seawater may not even be as severe¡­ Look, you can see that I¡¯ve only used the cheapest stic bucket from the supermarket.¡± Zhang Zian gestured.

    Electrician Wu breathed in a cold breath. ¡°If you didn¡¯t mention anything about this, I might have really used the metal bucket I have at home to prepare the water since it¡¯s sturdy after all¡­¡±

    ¡°Do you have synthetic salt on sale here? How much is it?¡± Electrician Wu asked with much interest.

    Zhang Zian answered, ¡°We have both high-grade and low-grade ones, so it depends on which one you want.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the difference between the high and low-grade?¡± Electrician Wu asked again.

    Zhang Zian brought the two bags of sea salt for him topare. ¡°The mainponents of sea salt are sodium chloride, magnesium sulfate, and potassium chloride. All these ount for 90 percent of it. The remaining ten percent are trace elements. The difference between the high and low grades is here: the low-grade sea salt contains more than 20 kinds of trace elements, but there are more than 40 kinds in the high-grade. If you¡¯re only raising fish, you can just buy the low-grade ones; there is no need to waste money. But if you¡¯re also raising corals and anemones, then without enough trace elements, their colors would not be as vibrant.¡±

    Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Jiang Feifei werepletely absorbed. They felt like they had gained a lot of knowledge.

 Chapter 790: Fish Gone Missing

    <h4>Chapter 790: Fish Gone Missing</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As Zhang Zian exined the differences in artificial sea salt, everybody listened carefully. Only Welder Zhao grew impatient and said, ¡°Useless talk. This is a waste of money! When I started my saltwater tank, I didn¡¯t spend a cent. And the fish are thriving!¡±

    ¡°What? Mr. Zhao, you didn¡¯t spend anything on your saltwater tank?¡± Electrician Wu paused in surprise.

    He knew that Welder Zhao was a saltwater aquarium fan and had started earlier than him. He checked it out at his ce and felt they were nice. The tanks were big, with bottom sand and eco-bio-blocks. It looked very decent, but he could not imagine that he didn¡¯t spend money on it.

    ¡°Of course!¡± Welder Zhao felt pretty good about himself. ¡°Saltwater is taken from nature, free of charge. It can be used after it¡¯s carried home and resting for a while. The eco-bio-blocks are chiseled from the rocks at the beach. The bottom sand is even simpler. Just take some sand from the beach and put it into the tank after a simple wash¡­ Even the tank itself was built with scrap ss I collected. I cut and glued them together with a ss cutter and ss glue. It¡¯s 1.5 meters long, worth at least 2,000 yuan if you bought it! Then I made a wood frame for my tank. It¡¯s very solid!¡±

    Electrician Wu was speechless after hearing this. ¡°Zhao, you are too good at saving money¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian suggested that it was a shame that Snowy was not there. Otherwise, if the online fans had heard, he could have his ¡°Cheap Store Manager¡± tag removed forever¡­

    Despite that both the rich and the poor were entitled to have fun in their own rich or poor ways, it was really too stingy¡­ Not to mention that the DIY fish tank was most likely made of regr ss, not the super clear type, thus impairing the view. As for the coarse sand from the beach, there might be turd hidden inside.

    Regardless of having cats, dogs, or fish, pets were supposed to make people happy and rxed. It was entertainment¨C¨Cbuying fun with money. Was there any fun left if one had to raise the fish under such a tight budget and wrack their brain to find free stuff all day?

    Yet, this was Welder Zhao¡¯s choice. Maybe he really enjoyed doing so.

    If one was not a fish, how could they understand its joy?

    Electrician Wu nced at the package of the heating rod. It was all in German. He could not read a word¡­

    He put the heating rod into a saltwater bucket, plugged it in, then tested it with a multimeter. At least for now, it was not leaking.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll take this heating rod. How long is the warranty?¡± he asked.

    Zhang Zian stretched out three fingers. ¡°Three months. As long as the damage is not intentional, I¡¯ll get you a new one. If any leakage urs within a year, I¡¯ll get you a new one as well, as long as the warranty seal is kept intact.¡±

    Electrician Wu paid for it generously. Then he suddenly remembered something and asked Welder Zhao, ¡°Right, Mr. Zhao, I see that this boy knows a lot. Would you like to ask him how to deal with the worms in your tank?¡±

    Welder Zhao was still babbling about his experience in saving money on an aquarium. He seemed frustrated at being interrupted and didn¡¯t seem willing to bring it up. He said vaguely, ¡°Ask? I don¡¯t need to ask! It¡¯s just a few stupid worms. I can take care of them. Just get some fish that feed on worms. In fact, I¡¯m out with you today to get some fish! Just dump those fish in the tank, and they¡¯ll clean up all the worms!¡±

    Jiang Feifei grew curious and interrupted, ¡°Mr. Zhao, are there worms in the tank? What kind of worms?¡±

    ¡°Nothing! Nothing! Right, even the tank lightings are not purchased. I used an oldmp¡­¡± Welder Zhao waved his hand and continued with his money-saving tricks.

    Electrician Wu took out his own phone, waved at Jiang Feifei, took her to the side, and whispered, ¡°Girl, do you want to know what kind of worm it is? In fact, I don¡¯t know what worm it is, either. I suggested that Mr. Zhao ask an expert in case the worms harm the fish. But this guy is so proud and opinionated and thinks he knows everything. He won¡¯t listen to me at all¡­ When I visited his house, I filmed the worms in the tank with my phone. Would you like to see it?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    The more Welder Zhao tried to hide, the more Electrician Wu acted mysteriously, and the more Jiang Feifei wanted to find out what it was.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun dumped bucket after bucket of artificial seawater into the brand new tanks. Their arms grew tired quickly. They rubbed their arms and rested, then came closer to take a look.

    Electrician Wu¡¯s expression wasplicated. He said hesitantly, ¡°I suggest that you don¡¯t watch it.¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡± The three of them asked in one voice, thinking that Electrician Wu was good at ying mysterious. He took it out but would not let them see it¡­

    ¡°Because¡­¡± Electrician Wu stuttered. ¡°Because they are gross. Most girls are terrified of worms. I¡¯m afraid that you¡¯ll feel ufortable.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine, no worries,¡± Jiang Feifei guaranteed with confidence. ¡°I go to the beach all the time and have seen plenty of disgusting marine creatures. Some creatures may seem disgusting to others, but they seem fun to me.¡± She was not bragging, just being honest.

    After seeing that she insisted on seeing them, Electrician Wu sighed and unlocked the phone. He flipped out a photo from the library and said, ¡°Here you go. These are the worms.¡±

    Jiang Feife, Wang Qian, and Li Kun all crowded over, stretched out their necks, and started at the screen. Their faces froze instantly and their stomachs felt ufortable.

    It was a close-up picture. Between the rocks and bottom sand in the tank, a dozen worms like centipedes were squirming around. To show the lengths of these worms, the photographer had used a ruler forparison. Each worm was at least ten centimeters long.

    ¡°So gross. What kind of worms are they?¡± Wang Qian asked. ¡°They are quite long.¡±

    ¡°I wish I knew.¡± Electrician Wu shook his head. ¡°These are the smaller ones. His tank is big, with lots of rocks with cracks in between. There might be bigger ones hiding there¡­¡±

    The three of them were getting breathless. If the smaller ones were ten centimeters long, then the big ones¡­ would be how long? It was too disgusting.

    ¡°Master, take a look. What worms are they?¡± Li Kun asked.

    Zhang Zian walked over and nced at it. He said with certainty, ¡°These are m worms, or pile worms. They¡¯re a type of sandworm. They may look gross, but they are not harmful. They can clean up the algae in the tank. Some people even eat m worms¡­ These are enough for a dish.¡±

    The three of them became even more disgusted.

    ¡°Young man, these are m worms?¡± Electrician Wu asked in doubt.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct,¡± Zhang Zian confirmed once again.

    ¡°Will they harm the fish?¡± Electrician Wu asked again.

    ¡°No. Some fish like eating m worms. If you find them gross, just get some fish that feed on m worms,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    After hearing their conversation, Welder Zhao said proudly, ¡°Look, what did I say? Wu, you should trust me! What can I do about you¡­ Why would you make a fuss when this can be easily solved by getting a few more fish? In fact, I kept them on purpose, so that they¡¯ll grow bigger. Then I¡¯ll get some more fish and save money on fish food!¡±

    After hearing him, the others said to themselves that Welder Zhao was quite cheap to keep such disgusting worms.

    Electrician Wu still didn¡¯t feel certain. ¡°Young man, how can you be so sure by taking one nce? Please look again carefully.¡±

    ¡°No need to look again. This is one type of m worm. There are 80 types along the coast in China!¡± Zhang Zian smiled.

    Electrician Wu gasped in fear. ¡°But I feel these worms are ferocious¡­ Mr. Zhao, don¡¯t your fish disappear from the tank for no reason?¡±

    ¡°Nonsense! There¡¯s no such a thing! It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s just my mistake in counting!¡± Welder Zhao blushed and argued.

    Zhang Zian was astonished and interrupted their conversation. ¡°Wait! The fish are disappearing from the tank? Really?¡±

    Electrician Wu pointed at Welder Zhao. ¡°That¡¯s right. Heined to me the other day that the fish were missing after a few days and the remains were never found. They are not expensive fish, but it still makes him upset¡­ You see, now he¡¯s denying it again.¡±

    Zhang Zian was almost sweating. He realized the situation was not good.

 Chapter 791: The Ferocious Monster Worm

    <h4>Chapter 791: The Ferocious Monster Worm</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Although the appearance of ordinary m Worms was not much to beplimented, they were actually the equivalent of Mealworms in the water. They were harmless, could be used as food for several different kinds of fish, and their protein content was not low. There were even people in the southern seas that cooked them as a dish for consumption. But, some m Worms were slightly poisonous, and some people developed an allergic reaction after they came into direct contact with it.

    However, ordinary m Worms were not aggressive, so it was not possible for them to cause the disappearance of the fish.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart skipped a beat as he continued to listen. He hurriedly said, ¡°Let me take another look at that picture.¡±

    Everyone else who was present originally guessed the reason for the disappearance of the fish when they suddenly saw the change on Zian¡¯s face. He became very serious. They stopped talking and looked at one another; even Welder Zhao, who kept boasting about how he had saved money, was also somewhat uneasy.

    Electrician Wu showed Zhang Zian the picture again. His phone was of an older model so the picture he took was not very clear.

    ¡°What is it, Store Manager Zhang? Is this a m Worm?¡± Electrician Wu asked. He was worried about his fellow colleague.

    Zhang Zian looked at the picture countless times. ¡°It¡¯s indeed a m Worm, there¡¯s no mistake about it. But¡­¡±

    ¡°But what?¡±

    ¡°Is this the only picture?¡± Zhang Zian asked. ¡°I¡¯m worried that, aside from the m Worms, there might be something else hiding in this reef rock.¡±

    Electrician Wu started to get nervous after listening to what Zhang Zian said. He suddenly remembered. ¡°Right, I¡¯ve also recorded a video for my wife, hoping for her to agree on letting me change to a bigger fish tank. This video is about the fish tank in general and not the m Worms¡­ Is that okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes, better than nothing,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°Let me look for it.¡±

    Electrician Wu swiped his fingers across his phone a few times before he found the previously recorded video clip and pressed y.

    The quality of the recording wasn¡¯t that good. Aside from its rity, the video was also shaking so badly that Zhang Zian wanted to persuade Electrician Wu to conduct an early screening of the Parkinson¡¯s disease¡­

    Welder Zhao¡¯s homemade fish tank was very huge. It¡¯s length was one and a half meters long and, although it¡¯s width was not carefully measured, it was certainly not narrow. There were several ck reef rocks piled in the center of the fish tank and, at the bottom of the fish tank, was ayer of rough sand. A fewmon, small fish were swimming between the overgrown seaweeds, feeding on the algae from time to time.

    Overall, the fish tank was quite well set up, but because of the pursuit of the extreme limits of cost-saving, it was not equipped with a skimmer. There were excessive nutrients in the water and the water was slightly turbid. Fortunately, there were only a few fish, and the water quality would not deteriorate that quickly.

    The reef rock was chipped from the beach. Its interior were filled withrge and small holes¨C¨Csmall holes that only a grain of rice could be stuffed into. Therger holes, on the other hand, ran through the inside of the rock, bending and turning. There was no way to know how long it ran.

    The more space in the reef rock, the better it was. It could reduce the weight of the reef rock and it could also provide a breeding ground for the proliferation of the nitrifying bacterias. Welder Zhao must have considered this, too, when he mined for the reef rocks.

    ¡°Stop! What¡¯s that thing?¡±

    Zhang Zian suddenly found something in the corner of the video image. There was something moving in the reef rocks. It was very fast, but the movement was very small, like something sticking its head out to observe the outside world. It then quickly contracted, only leaving a whirl of sand that was stirred by the movement.

    Zian was able to notice that because he knew that the problem was definitely from the reef rock, so he kept his eyes on them.

    ¡°What?¡±

    Electrician Wu¡¯s eyes were affected by his old age and he didn¡¯t have any sses on, so he wasn¡¯t able to catch what Zian noticed.

    He wound back the video and started it again. Everyone¡¯s eyes were on the location that Zhang Zian had pointed out.

    They finally saw it when he yed the video back, but the video image was not very clear and the thing moved so fast, they still couldn¡¯t make out what it was. It was definitely not the slow-moving m Worms.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Zhao, what are raising in your fish tank?¡± Electrician Wu was spooked by what he saw, so he immediately asked Welder Zhao.

    Welder Zhao was still acting tough. ¡°I didn¡¯t raise anything, just fish¡­ look at all of you making a scene here. Isn¡¯t it just a bigger m Worm? I heard that m Worms are able to grow up to a meter long, so it should be that. Right, Shop Owner, do you have frogs for sale here?¡±

    ¡°Frogs?¡± Wang Qian hastily asked back. ¡°Are frogs considered aquatic creatures? They¡¯re amphibians, right? We don¡¯t have them for sale here.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s asking about the Mandarin Drag. It¡¯s a fish that looks like a frog, not a real frog,¡± Zhang Zian corrected.

    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right¨C¨Cthe Mandarin Drag. I¡¯ve heard that this fish feed on m Worms. If I keep a few of them, it¡¯s sure to make the entire tank clean,¡± Welder Zhao said.

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°We can put aside whether or not the Mandarin Drag feeds on m Worms, but what we saw earlier was definitely not a m Worm. I¡¯m afraid that even the Mandarin Drag would be its food.¡±

    ¡°What exactly is that thing?¡± Electrician Wu asked.

    Zhang Zian said with uncertainty, ¡°I think¡­ that thing might be a Bobbit Worm.¡±

    ¡°Bobbit? Is that Bolt¡¯s younger brother?¡± Wang Qian was being dumb again.

    Jiang Feifei interrupted. ¡°I think I¡¯ve heard of it before. It¡¯s a really aggressive worm and it can grow very long, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that worm is very aggressive. Ites and goes like the wind, and if there¡¯s enough space, it can even grow up to three meters long. They will not only attack fish, but they will attack humans.¡± Zhang Zian made an estimate from the glimpse he caught in the video. ¡°This one in the fish tank doesn¡¯t seem too small. My guess is that it¡¯s about half a meter long.¡±

    ¡°What? It can even attack humans?¡± Welder Zhao, who had been acting tough, suddenly asked, looking surprised and shocked.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, so¡­ aside from you, is there anyone else in your house who woulde into contact with the fish tank?¡± Zhang Zian sternly asked.

    ¡°This¡­¡± Welder Zhao gave it some thought. ¡°My daughter-inw finds the m Worm disgusting so she would never touches the fish tank, but my son asionally takes care of it for me.¡±

    ¡°Are there any children who mighte into contact with the water in the fish tank?¡± Zhang Zian continued to ask.

    ¡°My grandson and his little friends have yed a game to test their courage. It¡¯s apetition on who dares to touch the m Worms¡­¡± Welder Zhao swallowed his saliva and said in his defense, ¡°I¡¯ve already reprimanded them and told them not to y such games.¡±

    ¡°Did they stop ying then?¡± Electrician Wu felt a grip on his heart because his grandson was one of Welder Zhao¡¯s grandson¡¯s friends.

    Both families were living in the factory¡¯s workerspound; they lived very close by. Every day after school, the boys of simr age in thepound would gather together and y games on their phones. But because the adults didn¡¯t like their children ying games for too long, the children looked for other kinds of fun when they didn¡¯t have games to y.

    Electrician Wu was aware that his grandson was hanging out with Welder Zhao¡¯s grandson, but he didn¡¯t know that they were ying games like such.

    He knew that his grandson was a very obedient child and he hated bugs, so he would not take the initiative to touch strange insects. But boys at his age were particrly afraid of being looked down upon by theirpanions, so if he was being ridiculed, he would often do something that he wouldn¡¯t normally do¡­

 Chapter 792: Everybody Dispatched

    <h4>Chapter 792: Everybody Dispatched</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Welder Zhao was a rugged person. He had the same attitude when educating his grandson, thinking that boys should be raised in a rough manner. They could be naughty, but they should not be as delicate as girls.

    A few days ago, he saw his grandson having a braverypetition with other kids around the aquarium tank, seeing who was brave enough to pick up a m worm. His daughter-inw was criticizing them, asking them not to y with disgusting worms. She even asked him to help educate them.

    He didn¡¯t take it seriously and spoke along half-heartedly for the sake of peace in the family. But his tone was not harsh, and he was smiling. He thought his daughter-inw was overreacting. There was no need to criticize them.

    In fact, when he was a kid, he was wilder and crazier. Not only had he yed with wasps¡¯ nests and birds¡¯ nests, but he had even cooked and eaten snakes that he caught on the mountain¡­ Boys now were too girly. How could they grow up to be real men? They should be encouraged to be naughtier.

    Later, when he saw kids ying bravery games around the fish tank, he didn¡¯t say anything about it. When his daughter-inw approached, he even alerted them in silence. He was encouraging them to do so.

    After being confronted harshly by Electrician Wu, he didn¡¯t know what to say, and he responded hesitantly, ¡°This¡­ I¡¯m not sure. Maybe they y with it sometimes in secret¡­¡±

    Electrician Wu looked at the time and began to sweat in fear immediately.

    It was the first day of elementary school. School was finished after the students handed in their winter holiday homework and were given their new textbooks along with a few words from their teacher. They were to arrive at home early.

    Now, maybe they had already finished school, returned home, and finished dinner. They could be together now, discussing what to y and where to have fun in the afternoon.

    ¡°Mr. Wu, look how frightened you are¡­ They may not be ying at my ce. Even if they are, it¡¯s not their first time. Nothing happened before. Why would something happen this time?¡± Welder Zhao looked anxious, yet he pretended to be calm.

    Electrician Wu took out his phone and dialed. Nobody picked it up after a few rings.

    ¡°Mr. Zhao, do you have anyone at home?¡± he asked.

    Welder Zhao shook his head. ¡°No. Everybody¡¯s at work except me.¡±

    ¡°Does your grandson have a key to the house?¡± Electrician Wu continued to ask. It was the same at his house. Everybody else was at work, while his wife had possibly gone square dancing.

    ¡°Yes¡­ Otherwise, how could he enter the house after school?¡± Welder Zhao said.

    Electrician Wu¡¯s face grew paler and paler. He told Zhang Zian in a hurry, ¡°Store Manager Zhang, I¡­ I have an emergency and must return. I¡¯ll get some fish from hereter.¡±

    Zhang Zian had seen how protective he was over his grandson. Last time, when his grandson¡¯s hand felt numb due to the leaking heating rod, he had chased after the store owner in the aquarium market relentlessly.

    Electrician Wu searched for the key with shaky hands. As he failed to grab it firmly, the key dropped on the floor. He then bent down to pick it up.

    ¡°If you are in a rush, just take a taxi.¡± Li Kun picked the key up for him and passed it onto his hands.

    Zhang Zian looked outside the shop and saw that he hade on a bike, while Welder Zhao had ridden an electric bike. In fact, as Welder Zhao had said, maybe nothing would happen. But nobody could be sure.

    ¡°How about this: I¡¯m not busy right now. I can drive you back,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°Really? You are too kind¡­¡± Electrician Wu was reluctant to take the offer but felt surprised at the same time. Zhang Zian was young but very knowledgeable. He was so much better than the old folks.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯d like to have a look myself.¡± Zhang Zian had been carrying the key with him since he drove back. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry up and leave. You can leave your bikes outside my shop, and take them backter.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Electrician Wu agreed immediately.

    ¡°Master! We want to go, too!¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun didn¡¯t want to miss out on the opportunity and asked proactively, ¡°We can drive. Not only do we drive fast, but we can drift in the alley!¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ If I can fit in the car, I¡¯d like to see it, too.¡± Jiang Feifei grew curious as well.

    ¡°You can fit! We are sure! It¡¯s a Wuling Hong Guang! Not to mention five people, even 15 people can fit in there! It can take 20 people in a field mission!¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun loved drama and nodded ceaselessly.

    ¡°Crap. 20 people in a car? It¡¯d squeeze your crap out!¡± Zhang Zian ridiculed. ¡°This not a train in India!¡±

    He tossed them the key. ¡°Cut the nonsense and leave now. You¡¯ll start the engine while I lock the door. Don¡¯t drift in the alley!¡±

    Electrician Wu walked in front of Welder Zhao and asked for the key with his hand out. ¡°Mr. Zhao, lend me your house keys.¡±

    ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll follow you guys back. Didn¡¯t you say it can take 20 people? I believe I can fit there.¡± Welder Zhao sighed.

    Zhang Zian locked the aquarium door since there were no customers, anyway. He notified Lu Yiyun, then all seven people squeezed themselves into the Wuling Hong Guang MPV.

    Luckily, all the containers in the car were moved into the aquarium, and all seven people were skinny. Otherwise, it could not amodate so many people.

    Wuling Hong Guang didn¡¯t disappoint them. With seven people on board, the speed didn¡¯t slow down¡­

    Wang Qian drove, while Electrician Wu pointed the directions. The seven people left as a crowd.

    Zhang Zian had thought that a car could make life so much more convenient.

    The old factories were built in downtown. To reduce pollution, their factories had been moved out of the city a long time ago. But the workers¡¯ residence buildings had stayed where they used to be. It was at the edge of Dongcheng District, not far from the pet shop. They arrived soon.

    Although it was a residential area, the guard was doing a good job. As it was not a car owned by the residents, he stopped them and didn¡¯t let them enter.

    Electrician Wu stepped out of the car and greeted him. Then the guard allowed them to enter.

    After entering the area, he searched for his grandson. But he didn¡¯t see him, which meant that he was not ying outside. He could either be home or at someone else¡¯s house.

    Wang Qian parked the car in front of the building where Welder Zhao lived. The others squeezed out of the car immediately before the car was properly parked. They squeezed into the building entrance.

    There were no elevators in the old buildings. Welder Zhao lived on the sixth floor.

    The two old men could not walk as fast as the young folks. They left the key to Zhang Zian so that he could bring the others up and check things out first.

    Zhang Zian led the group and climbed six flights of stairs in one breath. He knocked on the door loudly first to alert the people inside. In case Welder Zhao¡¯s son and daughter-inw were doing something intimate while nobody else was home, they would have at least some time to get dressed after hearing the knock¡­

    He took out the key and opened the door before anyone responded inside.

    Welder Zhao¡¯s door was facing the living room. As soon as Zhang Zian opened the door, he saw a couple of people. A group of kids were gathered around the aquarium tank in the living room with their sleeves rolled up. A few kids¡¯ hands were wet and dripping water.

    Among them, was Electrician Wu¡¯s grandson, whom Zhang Zian had met in the aquarium market. He was putting his arm into the tank¡­

 Chapter 793: Undocumented Alien

    <h4>Chapter 793: Undocumented Alien</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian, Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Jiang Feifei opened the door. ¡°Don¡¯t move!¡± they all shouted in unison.

    The group of little boys was scared and in shock. Electrician Wu¡¯s grandson immediately pulled his hand out of the fish tank.

    ¡°You¡­ who are you people? What are you doing? Who gave you the keys? Thieves? Are you guys thieves? Let me tell you, we¡¯re not afraid¡­ The adults are in the house!¡± one of the little boys, a cute fatty, screamed out sternly.

    The other little children echoed along with him. ¡°If all of you don¡¯t leave, we¡¯ll call the adults!¡±

    Zhang Zian did not bother with them. He looked over at the fish tank that was behind them.

    The kids might have disturbed the water from taking turns putting their hands in the water. It caused the water in the fish tank to appear murky, like looking at flowers in the mist or staring at the moon in the water. Zian could only distinguish the outline of the reef rocks.

    When the little brats saw that Zhang Zian andpany weren¡¯t going to leave, some were about to cry, some wanted to call for help, and the others were at a loss for what to do.

    Fortunately, the two old men, Electrician Wu and Welder Zhao, who were panting heavily, had finally climbed upstairs. The little brats immediately felt at ease and gathered around them toin.

    ¡°Grandpa! Thieves have broken into our house. Quick, call the police!¡±

    ¡°Grandpa Wu! Wu wu!¡±

    ¡°Grandpa Zhao, I¡¯m scared¡­ I want mummy!¡±

    The house was a mess and the neighbors next door had heard the noise ande over to check on the situation, but Electrician Wu and Welder Zhao persuaded them to go back after some repeated apologies.

    Seeing that the children were all okay, Electrician Wu and Welder Zhao were finally relieved. The two of them had rushed up six floors in one breath without taking a break, and because of their old age, they were still unable to catch their breath after some time had passed. They looked at the boisterous children with both love and hate.

    Welder Zhao usually had to go up and down six floors, so his physical condition was much better than Electrician Wu¡¯s. He caught his breath first and asked, ¡°How¡­ is it? The thing in the water¡­ is there any movement?¡±

    Zhang Zian was already cautiously approaching the fish tank.

    He swept his gaze across the window and said, ¡°Bobbit Worms are generally nocturnal, but it¡¯s daytime now and the sun is strong, so it should be resting in its hiding ce. It will note out under normal circumstances¡­ but now that it has been disturbed by the children, I¡¯m not sure if it will¡­¡±

    In just a short while, the whirl of sand that was stirred up had gradually sunk back down and the visibility in the tank slowly recovered.

    Before Zhang Zian¡¯s voice died off, a dark-brown colored shadow rolled up the sand and shot out from inside the reef rocks like a spring. It bit onto a small fish that had swum by and retracted back with great speed.

    All the adults present had witnessed the scene; they were stunned with shock.

    ¡°Grandpa, what¡¯s that?¡±

    Some of the kids had seen it too, so they asked with terrified and trembling voices.

    Zhang Zian was the closest to the fish tank, so he got the clearest look of it. It had five feelers on the top of its head; its segmented body looked smooth; its strong mouthpart was like a pair of steel mps; and it had a very ferocious bite. If it was not a Bobbit Worm, what could it be?

    After witnessing the scene, Welder Zhao, who was pretending to be calm, hadpletely vanished. It was almost like electricity had run through him¨C¨Chis back felt weak and numb and he didn¡¯t have to touch his back to know that it was all cold sweat.

    ¡°Holy sh*t!¡± Electrician Wu shouted out loud and grabbed a bench that was beside him with the intention to throw it into the tank.

    ¡°Wu! Don¡¯t! My fish tank!¡± Welder Zhao immediately pulled Electrician Wu back.

    He had spent days working hard before he finally found five suitable pieces of ss, which he had cut and glued together. He couldn¡¯t even remember how many times he had made a mistake during the whole process. He can¡¯t bear to have it smashed.

    Zhang Zian had also stopped Electrician Wu because the Bobbit Worm had already retracted back into the reef rock. Nothing can be achieved even if the fish tank was smashed, and instead, it might even allow it to escape from the fish tank. Then it would be running around the house, biting anyone it catches. What could be done then?

    Electrician Wu was so furious his lips trembled. He wanted to smash that worm into smithereens.

    ¡°Zhao! Give me an exnation! How did you get this weird worm in there?¡± Electrician Wu started scolding Welder Zhao harshly while pointing at his nose. The boat of friendship that had floated for years was about to capsize.

    ¡°This¡­ how would I know? If I had known about it, why would I keep it in there?¡± Welder Zhao was also pouring out his grievances. Even if he didn¡¯t want to be too attentive to the children, he would not possibly let the childrene into such close contact with an animal so dangerous.

    What he said was the truth, but Electrician Wu was unable to think straight from his anger.

    Zhang Zian had already guessed the truth of the matter, so he helped Welder Zhao exin. ¡°Master Wu, don¡¯t worry. Nothing happened. Just calm down first. I already know what¡¯s going on.¡±

    ¡°Ah? How did it happen?¡± Welder Zhao also wanted to know.

    ¡°The problem lies in the reef rock that you got from the beach,¡± Zhang Zian said, his gaze was fixed on the reef rock. ¡°Bringing reef rocks back as live rocks is fine, but did you disinfect them before cing them in the tank?¡±

    ¡°Disinfect?¡± Welder Zhao thought for a moment. ¡°I found the reef rock to be quite clean, so I only rinsed it once with a water pipe.¡±

    ¡°That cannot do. The problem lies here¡ªwhether it¡¯s a reef rock or a lick rock, you have to disinfect them with hot, boiling water when you bring them back, and it¡¯s best to rinse it a few times. Otherwise, there may be some unexpected creature or their eggs hiding in the holes of the rock. Then you bring them into your fish tank,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°m Worms and the Bobbit Worm are such aliens.¡±

    Zian added, ¡°Of course, there are some veteran aquatic hobbyists who like surprises. They would deliberately not disinfect the live rocks¨C¨Cespecially live rocks from overseas¨C¨Cwhich would give the rock some time to see what kind of alien would grow out of the holes. There might even be unexpected rare creatures. But you¡­ obviously you don¡¯t look like a veteran at this, right? Even those veterans would only do such a thing after they have made all proper preparations.¡±

    This Bobbit Worm was simr to the Ugly Duckling Coral¨C¨Cboth were aliens attached to the live rocks. Such situations were not umon in the circle of aquatic creatures.

    The proper procedure was to sterilize the live rocks with boiling water before cing them into the tank, but there were also some veterans that deliberately did the opposite in an attempt to gamble.

    Zhang Zian spending the money to buy the ugly coral was also a form of gambling.

    Gambling with a small amount was entertainment, while excessive gambling was harmful. It was just like the saying, ¡°If you win, you get the clubs and the girls; if you lose, you get the gloves and do the work!¡±

    In a regr aquarium, because they were afraid that customers might not be aware of the procedure, their live rocks were often disinfected before they were sold to the customers.

    However, Welder Zhao went to the beach himself to get the reef rocks, and he didn¡¯t know that it had to be disinfected. Then, coincidentally, one of the reef rocks had contained a young Bobbit Worm, so now there was a problem.

    The Bobbit Worm was well-versed in the ancestor¡¯s strategy: ¡°Dig deep, umte stocks, and don¡¯t unt.¡± It had been acting with restraint so as to not attract attention, feeding on the small fishes, prawns, and m Worms as it grew longer and bigger. The key was that its body was able to hide in the sand and reef rocks, and it only moved at night so it was hard to be discovered.

    So next was how to kill it.

 Chapter 794: Crispy and Chicken-Flavored

    <h4>Chapter 794: Crispy and Chicken-vored</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After hearing Zhang Zian¡¯s exnation, everybody finally understood how the bobbit worm ended up there.

    Electrician Wu med Welder Zhao repeatedly,ining that he was too fixated on saving money. It would not have happened if he had bought amercial eco-bio-block from an aquarium¡­ Now that his beloved little grandson was almost bitten, what would he do?

    In fact, everybody knew that even if Electrician Wu¡¯s grandson did stick his arm into the tank to grab the m worm, he might not have been bitten by the bobbit worm. The bobbit worm was not stupid. A kid¡¯s arm was much thicker than a m worm and was not on its menu for now. But since Electrician Wu was venting in rage, nobody said anything to make things worse.

    It was Welder Zhao¡¯s mistake, so he had to suck it up.

    To make amends, he grabbed a bottle of disinfectant immediately from the kitchen, wanting to pour it into the tank to kill the bobbit worm.

    Zhang Zian stopped him from being impulsive. There was too much water in the tank. Even if a crate of disinfectant was poured in, it might not be enough for a lethal dose. Besides, bobbit worm was an extremely tough arthropod. Disinfectant might not kill it.

    Wang Qian sighed. ¡°Crispy and chicken-vored¡­ Too bad that Bear Grylls is not here.¡±

    ¡°Even Bear Grylls may not eat this thing!¡± Li Kunined.

    Wang Qian didn¡¯t agree. ¡°Maybe Bear Grylls would be interested in taking a challenge.¡±

    Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Master Zhao, did you just say that you have water hose at home? May I borrow it? Please also get a container, such as a basin or a bucket.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Just a moment.¡± Welder Zhao had already lost himself by now. He would do anything he was told.

    He ran into the kitchen and searched loudly for a while. He came back with a full armor: a bucket in his hand, a basin under his arm, and a water hose on his shoulder.

    ¡°Are these enough?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Fine, no problem.¡± Zhang Zian nodded, then looked at the frightened and helpless children and smiled. ¡°Kids, I¡¯ll demonstrate a simple scientific phenomenon. It¡¯s called siphonage.¡±

    If there were another adult around, such as Welder Zhao¡¯s daughter-inw, she would certainly ask the kids to stay in another room so they would not be frightened or get injured. But as Welder Zhao was a crude man, and Electrician Wu was consumed with anger, nobody thought about keeping the kids away for the moment.

    The kids stood by the wall and didn¡¯t know what to do. Without receiving instructions, they didn¡¯t know whether to stay or to leave. They were more or less scared, and even the naughtiest kid became quiet.

    Zhang Zian noticed their fear. To prevent them from developing psychological trauma, he decided to use the event and to divert their attention with a scientific experiment.

    Most girls their age would probably not be interested in science experiments, but the kids were all naughty boys, full of curiosity to the world. They were even tempted to crawl into a dog hole to explore if they encountered one¡­

    As he expected, after hearing about the science experiment, they all grew very interested and crowded over eagerly.

    Zhang Zian stuck one end of the hose into the aquarium tank, put a bucket on the ground, then stuck the other end of the hose into the bucket.

    The tank was ced on a wooden support that Welder Zhao had made himself. The tank¡¯s bottom was over half a meter above ground.

    After watching Zian, the grown-ups knew what Zhang Zian was up to, but the kids didn¡¯t.

    He winked at the grown-ups and instructed, ¡°You can stay busy. Find all the thermos you have and start boiling water now. The more the better. Soon we¡¯ll drown this sucker!¡±

    Welder Zhao and Electrician Wu suddenly woke up from their dreams and turned back into the kitchen. They turned on the gas stove as well as the electric water boiler, boiling one kettle after another, then poured the water into the thermos.

    Zhang Zian bent down and took the other end of the hose to show to the kids. ¡°Do you think that the water will automatically flow from the tank into the bucket?¡±

    The kids saw the higher end of the hose was stuck at the bottom of the tank, the middle part was bent like a hill along the tank¡¯s wall, and the lower end was stuck into the bucket. They all shook their heads.

    ¡°Absolutely not. The middle part is so high. The water can¡¯t flow up there!¡±

    ¡°Right. Water always flows from the higher to the lower. Uncle, you can¡¯t do it like this. You have toy the hose t!¡±

    ¡°But there¡¯s no way toy it t¡­ Unless we fill up the tank first?¡±

    They yapped one after another.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun shook their heads, thinking that their Master had been having a good time posing in front of elementary school students¡­

    Zhang Zian¡¯s face twitched after hearing them call him uncle¨C¨Cmaybe because Sihwa had always called him uncle¨C¨Cand emphasized, ¡°Do you think that I look like an uncle? I¡¯m an older brother, okay?¡±

    The elementary school students were speechless.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°You don¡¯t think it will happen? Just watch me.¡±

    As he spoke, he bent down and sucked the lower end of the tube. The water flew from the higher end, passed the highest point, then ran straight down. Then he moved his mouth away, and ced the tube¡¯s lower end into the bucket.

    Something interesting happened. Despite that he had stopped suctioning, the saltwater flew out of the tank ceaselessly along the tube.

    The kids were all stunned. Someone even tucked the tube, yet it was unaffected. Water continued to flow out of the tank.

    Soon, the bucket was full. Wang Qian had been waiting with a basin. Li Kun took the bucket to the toilet to empty it, then brought it back. They alternated like so.

    There was a lot of water in the tank and it would take some time to empty. Zhang Zian used the opportunity and exined, ¡°When you watch the weather forecast, you often hear the word ¡®atmospheric pressure.¡¯ There is pressure in the air. Air is light, but the atmosphere is thick. It weighs heavily on each of us. There is pressure in water, too. The deeper the water, the higher the pressure¡­¡±

    He tried to exin the principles of siphonage as briefly as possible, which made his mouth dry. He had not touched physics for a long time, and might not have gotten all the details right. But he made the basic principles clear.

    The kids only understood part of it. They tried it themselves with some thin tubes and it worked.

    They might not have understood the principles, but at least they remembered the interesting phenomenon.

    After Zhang Zian had finished exining, the tank was almost empty. Even the bottom sand was almost emptied. The m worms wriggled their bodies and were without a hiding ce. A few small fish flopped their tails in the remaining water.

    The bobbit worm was still hiding under a rock and was nowhere to be seen. Maybe it had sensed there was something unusual¨C¨Ca premonition that something bad was going to happen.

    It was no longer possible to drain the remaining thinyer of water. Zhang Zian scooped the small fish out with a and ced them into a bucket. It was just like the quote¨C¨C¡±When the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat suffer¡­¡±

    ¡°Fine. Go out and y now¨C¨Cbut don¡¯t just y. Don¡¯t forget the principles I just taught you! It took me a lot of words, and a lot of brain cells!¡± Zhang Zian waved his hands to send the kids away.

    The kids argued for a while, then started nning whose house would be the next victim. They ran away like a swarm of bees.

    Electrician Wu and Welder Zhao boiled kettle after kettle of water. They filled all the thermos they could find at home, and even borrowed a few from the neighbor.

    As soon as Zhang Zianmanded, everybody, including Jiang Feifei, was rolling up their sleeves, getting ready for a big fight against the bobbit worm.

    Everyone took a thermos or boiling kettle in their hands. They gathered around the fish tank and poured boiling water toward the rocks.

    Hot mist rose immediately from the tank.

    Everyone put down their empty containers, then took another full one and continued to pour boiling water over the rocks.

    The poor m worms were soon cooked. They floated on top of the water in the tank bottom.

    Zhang Zian reminded everyone, ¡°Be alert! That bobbit worm mighte out anytime. Don¡¯t freak out and drop the thermos in the tank¡­¡±

    As he spoke, a dark brown shadow rolled out of the rock. Apparently, the heat was killing it and it could not hide any longer.

    Jiang Feifei yelled out of instinct. Luckily, she managed to hold the thermos firmly in her hands.

    Everybody turned pale¨C¨Cthe bobbit worm was much longer than they had expected.

    The tank was a 1.5-meter tank. Zhang Zian had estimated that the worm was half a meter long, but in fact, before it had fully stretched out its body, it was longer than half of the tank.

    It circled around the tank again and again, emitting heat all over its body. The nasty mouth parts opened and closed. It moved its countless feet, trying to climb up the tank wall and escape.

    Yet, wherever it escaped, boiling water was pouring down on it. Even when it climbed up the tank wall, it got washed down.

    As more and more hot water was poured into the tank, the super tough arthropod was moving more and more slowly. After being washed down the tank wall onest time, it stopped moving and floated on the water¡¯s surface with its belly up.

    As the saying went, ¡°A centipede continues to wriggle after its death.¡±

    They feared that it might be faking its death, or that it was notpletely dead yet.

    They poured a few more kettles of boiling water on it. After seeing that it had stopped moving, they were finally relieved, and wiped off the sweat from their foreheads after all the excitement, anxiety, fear, and disgust.

    As soon as Wang Qian and Li Kun had put down their thermos, they took out the phones and started filming, ready to show off on WeChat Moments.

    Welder Zhao stared at the rocks with concern and asked, ¡°Could there be more inside? Should I throw these rocks away?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need. The rocks are safe. With so much boiling water, except for some microbes, the other creatures have all been killed,¡± Zhang Zian said affirmatively.

    ¡°Really?¡± Welder Zhao was not fully relieved.

    Zhang Zian borrowed his gloves and moved the steaming rocks away one by one.

    After thest rock was moved, the remains of a few small fish were found underneath, already nibbled to pieces.

    ¡°No wonder your small fish were disappearing one after another and the dead fish were never found¡­¡± Electrician Wu shook his head and sighed. He pointed at Welder Zhao and said, ¡°You, be more careful! You have a good pension. Are you really short of a few bucks?¡±

    Welder Zhao nodded with some lingering fear. ¡°Wu, you are right. I won¡¯t do this again in the future¡­ Now that the water is drained, how about if I buy some sea salt and learn to prepare artificial seawater? Store owner, can you give us a discount if we both buy some?¡±

    Everybody was speechless.

    Wang Qian pointed at the dead bobbit worm and asked, ¡°What do we do with this worm?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s already cooked. Bring it home and make a dish. I bet it tastes like spicy crawfish!¡± Li Kun answered.

 Chapter 795: Newcomer

    <h4>Chapter 795: Neer</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The following morning, the pet shop was open as usual.

    After Wang Qian and Li Kun came, they described the previous day¡¯s battle with the Bobbit Worm to Lu Yiyun with some exaggerations. The half-meter long Bobbit Worm became at least one meter long ording to them and swam in the tank with great speed; it was justcking wings to fly. The two of them also added a few thrilling twists that never happened, scaring Lu Yiyun and leaving her in shock. She was trembling while she held onto Jasmine, feeling very thankful that she did not tag along.

    The two of them felt that it was a pity that they did not bring the corpse of the Bobbit Worm back. Otherwise, hanging it up at the entrance of the shop would definitely attract a lot of customers¡­

    After listening for a while, Zhang Zian could no longer listen to them; he hurried them off to do some work.

    Zian then took out his car keys with the n to head down to the beach while there were no customers in the morning. He wanted to y Sihwa¡¯s song in the sea to drive away the marine creatures that were attracted. Of course, before ying, he was going to be sure to check if there were any interesting creatures on the beach.

    Dong, dong!

    Someone knocked on the door twice.

    Every day, the ss door of the pet shop was open after they started operating, and customers did not usually knock on the door when they came in.

    Zhang Zian looked towards the door and it turned out to be Jiang Feifei.

    After the nasty battle with the Bobbit Worm yesterday, everyone had parted ways and Jiang Feifei had returned to school.

    ¡°Shop Manager Zhang, good morning.¡± She was slightly embarrassed when she entered, but after she looked around the shop to see that there were no customers yet, she felt a little more at ease.

    ¡°Good morning. Did you need something? Oh, right, Snowy hasn¡¯te by in two days, and the power bank is still with me.¡± Zhang Zian went over to greet her. He knew that the girl was living in the school dormitory and was not here to buy a pet.

    ¡°No, I came here to ask¡­¡± She stuttered and, after making up her mind countless times, she said, ¡°I¡¯m here to ask if you¡¯re hiring. I would like to work here and give it a try¡­¡±

    To be honest, Zhang Zian really needed someone for the Amazing Fate Aquarium. He had nned to recruit for a new worker on his public ount over the next few days; he hadn¡¯t expected someone to take the initiative to look for him.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were both very careless and unreliable. Although they were great helpers, quick and neat in their work, and they were able to answer somemon pet problems, if he were to let them take care of the cash register, the pet shop might just close down the next day¡­

    Although the pet shop and the aquarium were right next to each other, they had their own entrance and exit. Their internal decoration style and pets were also different, and so were the customers. It was unrealistic to have Lu Yiyun run back and forth between the two shops. Because of that, it was necessary for Zhang Zian to recruit another cashier for the aquarium¡ªalthough it was hard to put it clearly, the priority would obviously be given to thedies who were more attentive.

    It was not difficult to recruit a cashier, but Zhang Zian did not wish to recruit just any ordinary cashier who was working to earn a sry like a robot. The cashier was required to have at least some understanding of the aquarium and had to be able to answer the simple questions of the customers. It was best if the cashier was also passionate about raising aquatic creatures.

    There were many girls that liked cats and dogs, but it was mostly guys that raised fish and liked aquatic creatures because raising fish was a systematic process. If they wanted to raise the fish well, they had to be good at setting up the various aquatic equipment, and when the fish fell sick, they would have to analyze the symptoms and perform the treatment themselves. But the most important thing was that fish were not furry; their body was covered with slippery mucus, so girls were able to pet cats and dogs, but no one could really pet fish¡­

    Zhang Zian had a headache about the matter, so of course, he was very happy to see Jiang Feifei take the initiative to sell herself. He was aware that she used to go to the beach often for a wild harvest; she also liked the sea and had nock of passion for aquatic creatures. When she saw the horrifying Bobbit Worm the day before, she did not scream like other normal girls. She¡¯s definitely the best candidate for the aquarium¡¯s cashier.

    But, Zian did not rush to agree. Even if it was just for show, he still had to make things clear.

    ¡°I dock a cashier here, but I remember that you¡¯re on your fourth year at Binhai University, right? And you also have a tutoring job? Will you have time to work here?¡± Zian asked in detail.

    ¡°Yes,¡± she nodded.

    She did not see any job advertisement notice, so it was a bit embarrassing for her to juste over and sell herself. If Zhang Zian was not hiring, it was going to be embarrassing.

    Hearing Zhang Zian mention that he was looking to hire, her heartbeat elerated. ¡°I¡¯m in my senior year and I¡¯ll be graduating soon,¡± she said eagerly. ¡°My family¡¯s condition is not very good, so I n to work right after graduation. As for the tutoring job¡­ I¡¯m nning to quit since I¡¯m not very good at teaching children, and tutoring is also not a job that can be done all the time. It¡¯s better to find an official job. I¡¯m studying tourism management and the employment prospects for this major right after graduation is not very good. After graduation, I n to find a job in an aquarium or the zoo; therefore, instead of continuing to my tutoring job, it¡¯s better for me toe here and have some practical exposure to animals and umte some experience, which may increase my advantage in my future employment.¡±

    She had prepared her speech before she came and she said it in one breath, then nervously looked at Zhang Zian¡¯s face, waiting for his reply.

    Zhang Zian felt that she was a very honest person from what he had heard and from her speech, he was able to tell that she was a very down-to-earth girl who had ns for her future¨C¨Cnot someone who was just living the day as it went by.

    Compared to a tutoring job, the job of an aquarium cashier did not hold many advantages. The schedule for a tutoring job was very flexible; the work was also rtively easy and the sry wasn¡¯t low. ¡°Family Tutor¡± sounded much more respectablepared to ¡°Cashier¡±; it was also the first choice for many college students who were looking for work.

    Her being able to make ns for her future, and her determination to quit her easier tutoring job just to work here, had already shown that she had left many of her peers behind her.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°I understand now. My aquarium is not officially open yet, but I¡¯m reallycking a cashier. The job scope here is not just taking care of the cash register, but also the other daily cares of the aquarium in the store. Are you interested?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± she replied excitedly.

    She had alreadye into contact with Zhang Zian twice¨C¨Conce at the fish market entrance, and then at Welder Zhao¡¯s home. She felt that his knowledge of aquatic creatures was very profound¨C¨Cat least much more than her¨C¨Cand if she was able to work here, she would certainly learn a lot of useful information. Even if it was not reflected on her resume, she would definitely be able to use the knowledge she gained when she was at the aquarium or the zoo for future job interviews.

    Before leaving Welder Zhao¡¯s house yesterday, she had added Wang Qian and Li Kun on WeChat. Through chatting with them and going through their WeChat moments, she learned about the work environment in the pet shop. She knew the atmosphere was very rxed, the shop owner was very cheerful, and it was a pleasant experience to be able to work here. There was also a bonus of being able to get close to the Best Male Lead of the Berlin Film Festival¡­

    ¡°Okay, you¡¯re hired,¡± Zhang Zian said immediately. He then called Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Lu Yiyun over.

    ¡°Everyone,e over for a moment. You¡¯ve all seen Jiang Feifei before. She¡¯s going to work in our shop from now on; she¡¯s mainly responsible for the cash register at the aquarium! Let¡¯s wee her.¡±

    ¡°Hello everyone! I¡¯m new here, so please take care of me in the future!¡± Jiang Feifei bowed and said earnestly.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were both very happy. ¡°Aiya, senior. You¡¯re here to cultivate immortality too? Wee!¡±

    Since she had gone through their WeChat moments, Jiang Feifei felt that she generally knew about their characters, so she automatically ignored their teenage syndromes. She nodded and said, ¡°I¡¯m your senior in school, but the two of you are my senior here, so I hope my two juniors can take care of me.¡±

    Receiving herpliments, Wang Qian and Li Kun were so touched that their mucus came running out. They immediately patted their chests and told her to look for them if she ever encountered any problem.

    ¡°Wee, Sister Feifei!¡± Lu Yiyun said while grinning; she was also very happy.

    Since Lu Yiyun was the only female out of all the people here, sometimes she couldn¡¯t help but feel lonely. She was also too embarrassed to join the rest during lunch even though they always invited her over. She always used the excuse that she had to take care of the cash register, but would just sit alone at the entrance, silently stuffing food into her mouth.

    Since Jiang Feifei was now an employee and they were both cashiers, they could join tables for lunch in the afternoon.

    ¡°Hello, Xiao Yun! There are so many things that I don¡¯t know about being a cashier. I still have to trouble, so I need you to teach me!¡± Jiang Feifei said as sheughed.

    Zhang Zian was really happy. Aside from a pair of clowns and a senior female otaku, the store finally had another normal person¡ªhe naturally ssified himself as a normal person. Little did he know that he was existing as a crossdresser in Wang Qian and Li Kun¡¯s circle of friends, and in Lu Yiyun¡¯sic, he was a muscr gay man who always ripped his own clothes¡­

    ¡°Xiao Yun, print out a copy of the new employee personal information form, then get her to fill it out. Also, take a photocopy of her identification card¡ªdid you bring your identification card along? I need to take a look at it,¡± he said proudly to Jiang Feifei after he gave his instructions to Lu Yiyun. ¡°Although my shop here is small and we only have a few staff members, it¡¯s still a proper shop.¡±

    Jiang Feifei imed to be a student from Binhai University, but he couldn¡¯t just go along with what she said. Zian still has to check her identity to be sure.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ve brought it along.¡± Jiang Feifei nodded. She took out her identification card and student card, then handed them over to Zhang Zian.

    As instructed, Lu Yiyun printed out an employee personal information form, took a chair over for Jiang Feifei, and went to make a photocopy of her identification card.

    Jiang Feifei filled out the form very seriously, then signed it and handed it over to Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian swept his gaze over the form and he got a general understanding of her hometown address and her life growing up. He then handed the form over to Lu Yiyun for her to file it.

    ¡°Ga ga! I heard that there¡¯s a neer in the shop? Should we celebrate by giving out bags of nuts?¡± Richard, who had heard the news, pped its wings and flew into the shop.

    Jiang Feifei was shocked; she wasn¡¯t even that surprised when she saw the Bobbit Worm. The way this gray parrot talked was no different from a regr human¨C¨Cit was even more fluent than she was since she carried an ent from her hometown.

    Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Li Yiyun were already used to it.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid!¡± Zhang Zianughed andforted her. ¡°There are many things you don¡¯t know about this shop, so you just need some time to get used to it.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ okay, I got it.¡±

    Although she did not fully understand what Zian meant, Jiang Feifei responded to what he said. She clenched her fists and silently cheered herself on for her new career.

 Chapter 796: A Little Green On the Head Makes Your Life Easier

    <h4>Chapter 796: A Little Green On the Head Makes Your Life Easier</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    With regards to cashier work and daily chores at the shop, Jiang Feifei had a lot to learn. Afterpleting some simple new employee paperwork, she sat right beside Lu Yiyun and listened to her teaching and training.

    Jiang Feifei was a normal person, yet the people and things in the shop seemed a bit abnormal: the grey parrot that talked just like a human, the German Shepherd that won the Best Actor award at the Berlin Film Festival, the tabby cat that wore a long robe and a bamboo hat while watching television in high spirits¡­ Everything was a surprise to her.

    Except that she wasn¡¯t that interested in cats and dogs. They were cute, but nothing more. She was more fascinated in the mysterious and colorful marine creatures, not to mention that her future workce was next door. Therefore, she only skimmed through the pet shop randomly.

    Lu Yiyun was not much of a talker, but she did her best to teach her everything she needed to know about the cashier work. She noted them down in heart seriously, and asked whenever she had a question.

    Luckily, there were a few more days before the official opening of the aquarium. She had plenty of time to learn.

    After seeing that there was nothing else to do, Zhang Zian drove to the beach and yed Sihwa¡¯s song. He took some marine creatures back on his way.

    A few minutes after he returned, a courier car parked in front of his door.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun could not wait to get the package from the courier man, then handed it into Zhang Zian¡¯s hands respectfully and said with hints, ¡°Master, your courier. Don¡¯t worry. Without your permission, we¡¯ll never open it on our own!¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what to say¡­

    ¡°What do you mean? It¡¯s notdy¡¯s clothing inside!¡± he emphasized.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun smirked mysteriously.

    Zhang Zian knew that it was Sihwa¡¯s cellphone inside, which he had ordered online. But he could not open the package in front of them. Otherwise, they would wonder why he would continue to use his old phone after buying a new one¡­

    ¡°Whatever.¡± He shook his head reluctantly. ¡°Go ahead and work. Go check out if Jiang Feifei needs help.¡±

    As he spoke, he took the courier package upstairs.

    After his footsteps could no longer be heard, Wang Qian and Li Kun nced at each other and said, ¡°The online merchants are very protective of customer privacy these days. I¡¯m sure there¡¯s woman¡¯s clothing inside, but it¡¯s written ¡®Electronics¡¯ on the package¡­ Whom are they trying to fool?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t hear their mumble. He entered the living room upstairs.

    Pi sat in front of theputer and typed attentively. He didn¡¯t want to disturb it, so he walked straight into the bathroom¨C¨Cmore precisely, he was going into the bathroom.

    However, with a sh of golden light, Fina dashed out of it swiftly, while Sihwa yelled in anger. ¡°Bad orange cat! Stinky orange cat! Don¡¯t ever let me see you again! Or else I¡¯ll make you a drowned cat!¡±

    Before Zhang Zian could figure out what was going on, a stic, spinning basin flew out of the bathroom and came right towards him!

    He cringed his neck quickly and barely dodged the weapon. His face was sshed with some water, though. He tasted it with his tongue. It was salty. He could also smell a strong odor.

    Fina sat at a safe distance far away. Although it tried to pose a smile of victory, its face told him that it was having a hard time, too.

    It seems that the two of them had just had another fight.

    Richard flew downstairs, possibly to avoid being hit by friendly fire.

    Thanks to Pi¡¯s concentration while writing, it was not disturbed by them. Had it been Zhang Zian, he would have stopped writing a long time ago.

    ¡°Why are you fighting again?¡± He bent down to pick up the stic basin.

    ¡°Humph, this salty fish said some nasty words. I¡¯m punishing it a little bit,¡± Fina said with pride.

    As he could not get an answer from Fina, Zhang Zian wanted to ask Sihwa in the bathroom. However, as soon as he stepped in, water sshed towards him and almost hit his head.

    He had some the quick wits like a cornered dog. As he had the basin in his hands, he put it over his head while exiting his body from the bathroom quickly. He finally spared his head from a passive wash.

    ¡°Hum. You are a brave protector of your master. I¡¯m very pleased. In addition, this green helmet suits you well. You should wear it all the time to protect yourself from the salty fish¡¯s nasty attacks,¡± Fina encouraged him.

    ¡°Quack! A little green on the head makes your life easier! Young man, you are wise!¡± Richard had foreseen the disaster toe as soon as he went upstairs. That was why it didn¡¯t remind him, but followed behind him to watch the drama. Now it finally gloated and shouted out.

    Zhang Zian took the basin off his head without a word. He would never buy a green basin again in the future.

    Fina yawned. ¡°Since this salty fish has learned her lesson, I¡¯m letting her go today. Oh, ¨C¨Cis breakfast ready? I¡¯m hungry.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll get it for you soon. Just go downstairs and wait. There¡¯s a new staff member in the shop. You should meet her to avoid misunderstandings,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Jiang Feifei was a cashier and would certainly deal with money. If Fina had seen a stranger taking its money out of the drawer, it might scratch her with its ws¡­

    ¡°Oh? A new ve to serve me? You are doing a good job as a general manager!¡± Fina cheered up and didn¡¯t feel sleepy anymore. It ran downstairs happily, ready to let Jiang Feifei call it majesty.

    After it left, Zhang Zian shielded himself with the basin and showed up in the bathroom. ¡°Captain, don¡¯t shoot. It¡¯s me!¡±

    After making sure that Sihwa didn¡¯t ssh water, he walked into the bathroom carefully.

    There was water all over the bathroom floor. One could imagine what kind of battle it had been. It seemed more fierce than the battle against the bobbit worm yesterday, as Wang Qian and Li Kun had described.

    The bathtub was murky and there was sand floating in it. After a careful look, it was small particles. It couldn¡¯t be anything else but the cat litter for the kittens in the shop. Moreover¡­ it had been used.

    No wonder there was a strong odor in the air.

    Cat urine had a very strong scent, stronger than the urine of other animals. That was because the ancestors of domestic cats were wild desert cats that lived in the deserts of Africa and Middle East. Water was precious. To preserve the precious water in their bodies, they could not get rid of water easily. Therefore¡­ the concentrated urine had a strong smell.

    Besides, there was another unique ingredient in cat urine¨C¨Cfelinine. After being exposed to the air, it was transformed into thiol, which emitted a unique stink.

    Even cats could not tolerate their own urine¡¯s smell. To avoid being spotted and tracked by predators, cats had the instinct to cover their urine using cat litter.

    Luckily, kitten urine had a milder smell than adult cats. Even so, it was enough to put Sihwa to tears. She pinched her nose with one hand, and unplugged the tub with the other hand to drain the soiled water.

 Chapter 797: Do Not Do Unto Others What You Donâ€™t Want Others to Do Unto You

    <h4>Chapter 797: Do Not Do Unto Others What You Don¡¯t Want Others to Do Unto You</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Although Sihwa saw Zhang Zian walk in instead of the stinky Orange Tabby, her gaze was still fixed behind him, cautiously staring at the door.

    She turned on the shower head and washed her body over and over again, trying to wash off the foul stench of the cat urine.

    ¡°Ajeo-an, hand me the shower gel!¡± she said as she pointed towards the shower gel on the shelf.

    Zian handed the shower gel to her although he wasn¡¯t sure if it would cause any problems¨C¨Clike skin allergies¨C¨Cwhen a mermaid used a shower gel that was meant for humans¡­

    Sihwa squeezed out a little shower gel onto her palm. She sniffed it and rubbed her hands, then she asked with dissatisfaction, ¡°Is there a shower gel that will make a lot of bubbles in the bathtub?¡±

    ¡°That¡­ you will need a special shower gel for that. A normal shower gel won¡¯t be able to produce that many bubbles.¡± Zhang Zian opened the bathroom cab to find the remainder of the bath bombs that he had from the past. They were in a corner of the cab, so he grabbed them and taught her how to use them.

    Sihwa did as she was taught, and in a short while, the entire bathtub was filled with bubbles. Even her hair was covered with white bubbles.

    ¡°Wahaha! It¡¯s so fun!¡± Sihwa happily scooped a handful of bubbles and blew them off her hands. She was having a great time.

    Zhang Zian wiped the water stains on the ground up with a mop. If he hadn¡¯t, then the house would be covered in wet footprints the moment he walked out.

    Zian was concerned about his water bill. Sihwa basically changed a bathtub of water, sometimes even two bathtubs of water, every day.

    He sighed. ¡°The two of you can really mess around. One day the house is going to be wrecked¡­¡±

    ¡°Fina started it!¡± Sihwa said with her arms on her hips. ¡°I¡¯m a pacifist. If it wasn¡¯t for that fat Orange Tabby who¡¯s always provoking me, then I would not even care about it!¡±

    ¡°But you¡¯re always calling it a fat Orange Tabby, so of course it¡¯s going to be mad.¡± Zhang Zian paused then asked her, ¡°Or do you like being called a stinky, salted fish?¡±

    ¡°Ajeo-an! Are you picking a fight?¡± She red at him with her eyes wide open.

    Zhang Zian calmly smiled and said, ¡°Look, you¡¯re angry when someone calls you a stinky, salted fish, so Fina also has the right to be angry when it¡¯s called a fat Orange Tabby, right?¡±

    ¡°But¡­ but it is a fat Orange Tabby! Why can¡¯t I call it that?¡± Sihwa was still not convinced.

    ¡°Then smell yourself now. Are you stinky?¡± Zhang Zian asked a question as a response to her answer. ¡°So why can¡¯t it call you a stinky, salted fish now?¡±

    There was no need to smell herself. Sihwa was fully aware that she was covered in a foul stench, but that was the smell of urine from the cat litter and it didn¡¯te from her.

    ¡°I¡¯m not stinky at all! This is not my smell!¡± she fiercely retorted.

    Zhang Zian imitated her tone. ¡°But Fina¡¯s not very fat, and it¡¯s not an Orange Tabby. Her fur is obviously golden and she¡¯s an Egyptian Mau. Are you not able to distinguish between orange and gold?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s almost the same, anyway¡­¡± Her spirit from earlier had disappeared.

    Although her figure was that of a teenage girl in her prime, she had the mentality of a mischievous child.

    Children loved to call people names, and it was okay if it was a nickname out of good will. Usually, however, it was an insulting nickname that arose from the physical or mental ws of others. However, they were not aware of the psychological trauma that could be caused by those nicknames¡­ They normally made others hate them, and they didn¡¯t forget the names even after many years.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°There¡¯s an old saying in China¡­¡±

    ¡°Do not say that you have not been forewarned?¡± She immediately continued his words.

    ¡°¡­Who told you that?¡± Zian was dumbfounded.

    ¡°I heard you say it when that Snowy girl came over for her live broadcast¡ªmy ears are really sharp!¡± She mischievously flung her dark green, curly hair, causing the bubbles to go everywhere.

    Zhang Zian let out a dry cough. ¡°Cough! Actually, it¡¯s not¡­¡±

    ¡°Then it¡¯s ¡®Shelve it when it¡¯s too much to handle; im it when you have the ability to handle?''¡± She continued his words again.

    ¡°None of those! It¡¯s, ¡®Don¡¯t do unto others what you don¡¯t want others to do unto you!''¡± Zhang Zian had wanted to look cool, but he didn¡¯t expect her to continue his words and ruin his attempt.

    He thought to himself, This mermaid¡¯s ears are too sharp¡­ She can hear everything I said downstairs clearly. Can¡¯t she just let a man look cool?

    ¡°What does that mean?¡± she asked, looking confused.

    ¡°It means that if you yourself do not want to be treated in such a mean manner, then you should not treat others that way.¡± Zhang Zian exined the original meaning to her, then added, ¡°If you don¡¯t want to be called a stinky, salted fish by Fina, then why are you calling it a fat Orange Tabby? You¡¯re not willing to ept an insulting nickname¨C¨Cso is the same for Fina. If you think about it, doesn¡¯t it make sense?¡±

    Sihwa puffed her cheeks. She wanted to refute what Zhang Zian had said, but after giving it some thought, she didn¡¯t know how to.

    I¡¯m a mermaid, not just some cat that can be seen everywhere, she thought to herself. I¡¯m also not stinky.

    But what Zhang Zian said wasn¡¯t wrong, either¡­ the Orange Tabby isn¡¯t that fat. It is, of course, fatter than I am, but it¡¯s not orange, either. I can obviously differentiate between orange and gold.

    Actually, she had heard the slogan ¡°out of ten Orange Tabbies, nine are fat, and one will crush the bed¡± from a few children who were repeating it by the seaside, and she had only remembered it because it was interesting and very fun to say. The moment she saw Fina, she had identally blurted it out without thinking.

    She couldn¡¯t wrap her head around it at the moment and she didn¡¯t want to talk.

    Zhang Zian stopped after pointing out what he wanted to. He did not force her to admit her mistakes immediately, otherwise, it would only evoke her rebellious mentality.

    He changed the subject and raised up the box containing the phone. ¡°Right, the phone you wanted¨C¨CI¡¯ve bought it.¡±

    ¡°Yi? Really? I want it! I want it! Give it to me!¡±

    Sihwa immediately threw all of the problems from earlier to the back of her head. She impatiently extended out both of her arms as she stared at the phone box. Her body rose up as if she was going to stand up in the bathtub, but immediately, she slipped back down again. After all, she had no legs and the lower half of her body was covered inrge, slippery fish scales.

    ¡°Hold on, let me say this first¡ªyour hands are covered in bubbles and, although this phone has a certain waterproof function, the charger isn¡¯t waterproof. If there¡¯s an electrical leakage, you¡¯re going to be a boiled fish!¡± Zhang Zian warned.

    ¡°There won¡¯t be an electrical leakage! I¡¯ll be careful!¡± She was just like a child, impatient to get her hands on her new toy and making meaningless promises. Also, when the charger came into contact with the water, there would definitely be an electrical leakage; whatever she said didn¡¯t count.

    Zhang Zian opened up the box in front of her and turned the phone on. ¡°I can give you the phone, but the charger must be ced outside. If you need to charge the phone, let me know and I¡¯ll charge it for you¡ªbut you can only charge the phone once a day.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± She wrinkled her nose, looking very dissatisfied.

    ¡°Because this is my house. Are you paying for the electricity bill?¡± Zian asked her.

    She rolled her eyes. ¡°Ajeo-an, you are stingy!¡±

    Zhang Zian felt that if he did not impose any limitations, she would definitely y around with the phone all day and all night without stopping.

    The unopened, new phone basically had about half its battery charged. Zhang Zian simply checked through the pre-installed apps in the phone and uninstalled all the useless ones.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Sihwa asked anxiously. ¡°Quick, give me the phone!¡±

    ¡°Almost ready¡­ just wait a minute. Didn¡¯t you want to watch live broadcasts? I¡¯m installing the live broadcast app for you. How else would you want to watch them?¡± Zian answered.

    If it was before, he probably would not have agreed to let her watch live broadcasts because the content of the live broadcasts were not always suitable for children with ack of judgment.

    However, with continuous crackdowns by the country recently, the live broadcasts¡¯ tforms were starting to change for the better and were gradually entering the tracks of proper development. They had alsounched a parental control modes for minors where only the contents that had been screened by the live broadcast tforms could be viewed. The content rating for the television, however, was still far away¡­

    He had already considered all of this, which was why Zhang Zian had agreed to her request.

    He installed the app from the live broadcast tform that Snowy was in. He felt that it was not bad, so he installed it for Sihwa on her new phone, too.

    ¡°Okay, here.¡± He handed the phone over to Sihwa after he was done with it.

    ¡°Uwah! I¡¯ve got a phone now! I¡¯ve got a phone!¡± Sihwa was so happy that she started dancing while also holding the phone very carefully.

    ¡°Right, does that fat Orange Tabby have a phone?¡± she asked, blinking her bright, big eyes.

    Zhang Zian answered truthfully, ¡°Nope.¡±

    ¡°Hehe! That¡¯s great! That fat Orange Tabby is always unting its diamond ring in front of me. Now I also have something that it doesn¡¯t!¡± Sihwa was really very happy. She looked at the bathroom door again, as if hoping that Fina would appear so she could unt her new phone.

    She was aware that Fina had an extraordinary position in the shop¨C¨Cshe seemed to be treated preferentially everywhere¨C¨Cbut finally there was something she could beat it at.

    Seeing that it wasn¡¯t early anymore, Zhang Zian estimated that lunch would be arriving soon and was about to head downstairs for his meal.

    ¡°Wait a minute!¡±

    His shirt was tugged on from behind. He turned around to look; the foam between Sihwa¡¯s fingers got on his shirt.

    ¡°Is there anything else?¡± Zian asked.

    ¡°This¡­ how do I use the phone?¡± Sihwa stared at the phone with a frown.

    She had only seen people use their phones through the window or on the television; she had never personally used one before. She didn¡¯t know what to do as she stared at all of the strange looking icons¨C¨Cjust like a tiger trying to devour a porcupine, she didn¡¯t know where to begin.

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Zhang Zian sent a message to Lu Yiyun, telling them to go ahead with the meal when it was there and to not wait for him. He then wiped the water and foam off of the edge of the bathtub with a towel and sat sideways on the edge. He pointed to the icons on the screen and said, ¡°It¡¯s actually very simple. All you have to do is remember the icons and their uses¡ªfor example, this is for watching live broadcasts.¡±

    Taking Snowy¡¯s live broadcast app as an example, he introduced the operation method of the live broadcast app to her. He then showed her how to subscribe to a live broadcast room, what bullet screens were, and he also helped her apply for an ount so she could watch the live broadcasts.

    Snowy was not currently broadcasting, so they could only watch her previous recordings.

    Sihwa was very smart. Not even a few minutes had gone by and and she had already learned how to use the phone, starting and quitting the apps with ease.

    ¡°Ajeo-an, what are these icons for?¡± she asked as she pointed towards the few icons at the bottom of the main page.

    ¡°Oh, this is to make a phone call; this one is to send a text message; this is your contact list and other functions. Currently, however, this phone has no phone card installed, so you can¡¯t make a phone call or send a text message,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°Then what can I do to make a phone call?¡± Sihwa asked.

    Zhang Zian was in a blur. ¡°Who do you want to call?¡±

    Sihwa appeared dejected. ¡°I want to call Oppa. I want to let him know that Sihwa is lonely.¡±

 Chapter 798: Special Talents

    <h4>Chapter 798: Special Talents</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sihwa lowered her head and touched the ¡°call¡± icon repeatedly with her finger. However, as there was no SIM card in the phone, she could neither dial nor text.

    Zhang Zian watched her loneliness in silence. Empathy and sadness filled his heart.

    He knew that she was lonely. She was all by herself every day in a small room, watching the world outside from a small window. She only had some asional interactions with Fina. He had been out a lot these days and had even barely talked to her.

    She was lonely, as she was neither considered herself a human nor a fish. She might be the only mermaid in the world. There was no other of her kind.

    The other elfins in the shop, whether cats or dogs, had manypanions. Even Pi hadpanions¨C¨Ccountless monkeys tapping keyboards all day. Sihwa was the only one without apanion, born all by herself into the world.

    She yearned to be loved. That was why she became so obsessed with Korean dramas that were known for their love romances. There were other mermaids in the Korean dramas she watched. She was loved by the hero. They lived happily ever after in the end.

    Who didn¡¯t want happiness? Even if the happiness was imaginary.

    She would rather believe that there was a handsome, rich young man waiting for her with a smile somewhere far away. It became her belief and obsession. Otherwise, how could she survive the countless days and nights thereafter?

    Zhang Zian uttered, ¡°You just want to make a phone call? Why don¡¯t you just tell me?¡±

    Sihwa lifted her head and looked at him with red eyes. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I can help you get a phone card. Then you can make phone calls¨C¨Cnot only phone calls, but you can also text, WeChat, and use any othermunication tool you need,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°Really?¡±

    She finally smiled in surprise. ¡°Does it cost money to make phone calls? But I don¡¯t have money¡­¡±

    ¡°Just owe it like that. Anyhow, you still owe me a cellphone, a bubble bath bomb, around seven tons of tap water, 50kwh ofmercial electricity¡­¡± Zhang Zian named a few things while counting his fingers.

    ¡°¡­A-jeoan, you¡¯ll never have a girlfriend if you stay this cheap!¡± She was totally speechless, but her sadness was gone.

    ¡°Quack! ¡­Quack?¡±

    Zhang Zian knew what Richard was about to say. Before it had uttered a word, he took the green basin and tossed it where the sound came from so that Richard would shut uppletely.

    ¡°But even if you can make a call, you must know the number of whom you want to call. Do you know the number?¡± he asked.

    Sihwa shook her head slowly. ¡°I don¡¯t know for now, but I will find out.¡± Her voice and tone were gentle, but full of resolution.

    ¡°Fine. After lunch, I¡¯ll go to the closest mobile service branch and get you a phone card,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    He could apply for a phone card online, but the mailing would take a long time. It was more convenient to drop by the mobile service branch so that he could get it right away.

    ¡°Well¡­ Well¡­¡± She repeated the word ¡°well¡± for a long time, then finally spoke in a low voice, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Right after that, she looked out of the window.

    If Zhang Zian remembered correctly, it was the first time she had said ¡°thank you.¡± Before that, no matter what request she had made, she looked as if she took everything for granted.

    He remembered Old Time Tea¡¯s words and wanted to wash the mud-tainted lotus flower with clean water.

    The two words were short, but they were solid progress.

    ¡°You are wee,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°By the way, you still owe me the 19 RMB monthly fee.¡±

    ¡°Humph! Cheap!¡± Sihwa turned her head back, staring at him in anger.

    Zhang Zian confessed: ¡°I have no choice! My business is small. Do you think I¡¯m making easy money? I want to save every single penny.¡±

    ¡°Then you are stupid! The heros in dramas all make billions per minute! Their gift to the heroines are either houses or sports cars!¡± sheined.

    ¡°If you are not stupid, would you like to try making money? Not to mention one billion per minute, if you can make a few bucks per minute, you¡¯ll be able to pay off what you owe me soon. I¡¯ll neverin about it again.¡± Zhang Zian shrugged.

    ¡°If¡­ If I want to make money, I can make a lot in an instant!¡± she said like an a** in a lion¡¯s skin. ¡°Right! Swimming is tiresome. I¡¯ll buy a ticket to Korea, the first ss cabin of a luxury cruise! I¡¯ll also buy a lot of big and pretty diamond rings. I¡¯ll kill that fat orange cat with jealousy!¡±

    ¡°Oh? How do you want to make money then? Don¡¯t tell me you want to sell your body. You¡¯ll have to find a buyer first,¡± Zhang Zian ridiculed intentionally.

    ¡°I¡­¡± Sihwa rolled her eyes with her mouth open but didn¡¯t know what to say.

    How could she possibly make money in this tiny space of a bathroom?

    Pi¡¯s typing sound traveled from outside. She heard that Pi could make money by writing novels, but she could not write novels. She could not even type. Not to mention that she could not have aputer in the bathroom.

    She nced at her phone with head down and took notice of the live broadcast app. Her eyes became bright.

    ¡°Yes! I can do live broadcast like that Snowy girl!¡± She lifted the phone up with full confidence. ¡°I should be able to make money in live broadcast, right?¡±

    ¡°You can make money in live broadcast. Good hosts can¡¯t make billions per minute, but I heard they can make at least a million a day!¡± Zhang Zian admitted. ¡°But they have special talents. They are either good at arts or games. What¡¯s your special talent?¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡± Sihwa didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°I have a super long tail!¡±

    To prove what she said, she lifted her strong, light blue tail out of the tub. Water and bubbles flew down the translucent tail fin like a waterfall.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°¡­I suggest you stop it there. What¡¯s your long tail good for? A few servings of Diced Pepper Fish Tail?¡±

    ¡°Humph! A-jeoan, you¡¯re looking down on me! When I get serious, I frighten myself! That Snowy doesn¡¯t have any special talent!¡± She pretended to be mean and angry. ¡°Anyway, I want to do live broadcast! I want to make money! I want to make a million a day! I¡­ Teach me how to do live broadcast!¡±

    Unable to withstand her repeated begging, Zhang Zian finally downloaded the host version of the app and taught her how to do live broadcast.

    To put an end to the obscenity in live broadcasts, the tforms were more and more regted. The host identity must be verified so that nobody could do live broadcasts without authentication.

    An ID and bank card were also needed for identity verification. Sihwa didn¡¯t have either of those, and could not borrow them from anyone else. She had to use Zhang Zian¡¯s. Even the cell number was Zhang Zian¡¯s number.

    It was almost noon and he became hungry. He finished her identity verification very quickly.

    ¡°A-jeoan, why are you so familiar with the verification procedures?¡± she asked in doubt.

    ¡°Well¡­ This is none of your business!¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to answer her question.

    When he first got to know Snowy, he envied the gifts and rewards that Snowy received. He also thought about making money by broadcasting cat poop scooping, and had tried it seriously in secret. Of course, nobody wanted to watch that. It didn¡¯t end very well. It became one of his old stories that he didn¡¯t want anyone to find out.

    ¡°Quack! I think this is very suspicious!¡± Richard¡¯s voice came from the outside of the bathroom. It mimicked Detective Conan¡¯s voice and said, ¡°Ahaha! There is only one truth!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going downstairs for lunch, then I¡¯ll get you a phone card. You can y with it yourself for now and familiarize yourself with the phone. If you have any questions, you can ask me after Ie back.¡±

    Zhang Zian pinched his fist to teach that smarta** grey parrot a lesson.

    ¡°Quack! Help! Someone¡¯s killing the bird witness! Help!¡± Richard had foreseen the uing danger and fluttered its wings to fly downstairs before he came out, trying to hide from the danger.

    ¡°Aha!¡± Sihwa concurred half-heartedly, then lowered her head and yed with the phone. Her entire mind was on the live broadcast app.

    ¡°You, freeze!¡±

    Zhang Zian chased after Richard.

    He didn¡¯t stop Sihwa from ying with the live broadcast. He felt that for a childish mermaid like her, she might only be interested in live broadcasting for no more than three minutes. Soon, she would feel totally discouraged due to ack of an audience, just like he did in the past.

 Chapter 799: Mutual Harm

    <h4>Chapter 799: Mutual Harm</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After Zhang Zian left, Sihwa started to y around with the mobile phone. She was really fond of it and tried to take a few photos.

    She finally understood why¨C¨Cwhether it was in a television series or in real life¨C¨Ceveryone didn¡¯t put their mobile phone down even for a moment. Even the office workers in the morning were still looking at their phones while they rushed to work. They wouldn¡¯t even be aware if they had stepped on sh*t because the phone was just so much fun!

    It was hard to imagine that with a phone, one could do so many things!

    But¡­ She looked worriedly at the battery icon on the top of the screen. She felt that her phone battery was disappearing too quickly, though it might have just been a psychological effect. It looked as if the amount of battery would change in the blink of an eye.

    ¡°Cheapskate!¡± sheined softly. If Zhang Zian was willing to hand her the charger, then she could y with the phone in peace. Instead, she had to limit the amount of time she spent on it and had to be so careful.

    ¡°I¡¯ll stop. I¡¯ll stop ying! If I continue ying then I wouldn¡¯t be able to y with it tonight!¡± She locked the screen and carefully ced the phone on the shelf next to the bathtub. She closed her eyes and tried to expel the image of the phone from her mind.

    Without the phone, time felt very slow, and the bathroom seemed particrly boring.

    ¡°Half an hour must have passed, right? I should be able to y with it for a while¡­¡±

    She swiftly picked up the phone and unlocked it, but was disappointed to find that only ten minutes had passed. If things continued like they were, then the phone was going to run out of battery before night came.

    ¡°Awful, stinky uncle! Even if you don¡¯t hand me the charger, then at least charge it before handing me the phone!¡±

    Sihwa was filled withints. She was itching to y with the phone, but she was also worried that it would run out of battery before the night.

    Suddenly, she caught a sh of gold in the corner of her eye; immediately, she looked up towards the bathroom door with vignce.

    Fina appeared there¨C¨Conly revealing its head and half of its body¨C¨Cits green eyes ring at Sihwa.

    ¡°You¡­ what do you want now? Let me tell you, I¡¯m not afraid of you!¡± Sihwa gripped the phone tightly, and under the water, her strong fishtail was taut like a slingshot; she was ready to defend herself.

    What was she holding in her paw that was hidden behind the wall? Chilli powder? Cat litter? Cumin? Pepper? Or a never before seen, new weapon?

    She felt that Fina was here to pick a fight, but she was not afraid since she had discovered it in time. Under the circumstances, Fina was not able to ambush her. Sihwa was able to rely on her turf advantage to gain an absolute advantage over it. She could easily turn the bathroom into a kingdom of water.

    Soon, she noticed that Fina wasn¡¯t looking at her, but was looking at the phone in her hands.

    The brand-new phone was very pretty and, while the screen was locked, the design of the front and back double-sided ss was jewel-like, just like a fine piece of art.

    ¡°See this? This is my phone, it¡¯s really fun to y with! You don¡¯t have one, right?¡± She proudly raised her phone to show it off.

    Fina averted its eyes away from the phone. ¡°Hmph! It¡¯s just a phone¡­ this queen does not care for it!¡±

    Sihwa couldn¡¯t stand the things she cherished to be dismissed by Fina. She was about to start an argument with her. She knew that Fina did not care for it¨C¨Cthe phone was so fun, how could anyone not care for it?¨C¨Cbecause it did not have flexible fingers like humans, so she was unable to operate the phone. Yet, she was deliberately putting on an act that she did not care for it.

    Sihwa intended to extend her fingers towards Fina so she could flexibly wiggle them in front of her and ridicule her as a stupid Orange Tabby who was both arrogant and self-deprecating!

    However, when the words were on the edge of her mouth, she recalled what Zhang Zian had said earlier: ¡°Don¡¯t do unto others what you don¡¯t want others to do unto you.¡± Suddenly, she felt a little soft-hearted and swallowed the words back. She knew that once the words left her mouth, Fina would definitely retaliate by ridiculing her for being a stinky, salted fish that would never be able to leave the bathtub for her entire life. Then another fight of bloodshed would begin.

    Fina saw Sihwa¡¯s lips twitch while her eyes were fixed on its paws. It did not look like she was going to say anything good, so Fina, too, fixed her gaze on Sihwa¡¯s light blue caudal fin, nning to ridicule her for not having legs; it had even thought of the nickname ¡°fish no legs.¡± The nickname probably came from the television show that Old Time Tea watched. Fina asionally heard that there was a person with the name Lu Youjiao, which meant Lu with legs¡­

    In the end, Sihwa extended out her fingers but she did not wiggle them. Instead, she held her phone and said softly while pouting, ¡°You¡­ do you want to y with the phone?

    The unexpected development left Fina in a momentary blur. Fina could not help but look at her suspiciously, thinking that it was a trap. She was using her phone to lure the queen over, then she would ssh it with dirty water¡­ The stupid, stinky, salted fish was able to set up traps now?

    Fina did not approach Sihwa carelessly, because once it got wet, its fur would stick to its body, its usual grace would all disappear, and it would definitely beughed at by Sihwa. Fina did not move from the entrance; its current position allowed it to go on the offensive or to retreat with ease¨C¨Cit was waiting to see what Sihwa had nned out.

    Sihwa raised her phone. Offering her phone was already the greatest good will she could offer. The phone was currently her biggest pleasure, so what would happen if Fina were to run away with it? What if Fina damaged the phone by dropping it? Cheapskate Zhang Zian would definitely not buy her a new phone and she could only continue her boring days staring at the ceiling.

    Her arm was starting to feel sore, so she swapped hands.

    ¡°You¡­ you don¡¯t want to y?¡±

    Somewhere in the bottom of her heart, she was hoping for Fina to reject her offer. She was even wishing for Fina to take the initiative to ridicule her and start a fight so they could just battle it out.

    Fina raised its legs and walked two steps inside the bathroom. Most of its body was now exposed, but it was still being vignt; it was prepared to retreat out of the bathroom at any time.

    Fina had absolute confidence in its dynamic vision and speed. From its days of observation, it knew that when Sihwa¡¯s abdominal muscles contracted, it meant that she was going to use her fishtail to attack. Fina didn¡¯t even need to wait for Sihwa¡¯s tail to be out of the water to know.

    However, Sihwa¡¯s abdomen remained rxed throughout. There was no sign of force being used, and Sihwa¡¯s soft, flexible arms did not pose a threat to it at all.

    As Fina walked closer, Sihwa waved her phone and said reluctantly, ¡°There¡¯s not much battery left, so I can only let you y with it for a while¨C¨Conly a while, okay? Really just a little while! I can¡¯t even bear to y with it myself!¡±

    Fina hesitated for a moment. If it were to continue to walk towards Sihwa, it would no longer have the confidence to avoid Sihwa¡¯s water attack. Sihwa¡¯s caudal fin was very strong and the water that she sshed out hit like a bullet. If Fina were to receive the attack head-on, it could even send it flying towards the wall.

    Fina had always seen Zhang Zian ying with his phone, so it knew that there were a lot of fun things in there. But it also knew that it was unable to operate the phone with its paws, so it had always put on the act that it doesn¡¯t care for it.

    What Fina really wanted to know was what exactly Sihwa was nning.

    The only way to get the answer was to risk itself.

    But it was Fina Paris XIII, the guardian of the Kingdom of Eternity. It was not even afraid of the mighty Caesar, so why would it be afraid of a small, salted fish?

    So, Fina leaped forward and in a sh andnded on the edge of the bathtub close to Sihwa.

 Chapter 800: Selfie

    <h4>Chapter 800: Selfie</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Fina refused to get close to the bathtub ever since Sihwa had moved in. Even if it did, it only approached the tub to sprinkle cat litter or chili powder into it.

    It thought that the side of the tub would be wet, yet it was surprisingly dry, with the faint scent of Zhang Zian lingering. Maybe he had sat there recently.

    It was hard to stand on the side of the slippery tub, but it was not a problem to Fina, whose body had maximum bnce and flexibility.

    After standing firm, it rxed itself. Its body was not as tense as it was before because there was no way to stay away from her water ssh in its current position.

    But it didn¡¯t need to run. Simply stretching out its ws and scratching her shoulder would do the trick, causing both of them to suffer.

    After seeing it pop out next to her, Sihwa was indeed startled. She had never been so close to it. Its sharp teeth and ws looked terrifying. Its green eyes were like bottomless ponds of water, making it impossible to figure out what it was thinking about.

    She shrugged her shoulders. Despite the fear in her heart, she said with her head up, ¡°Do you want to y? Be careful and don¡¯t touch the water. This cell phone is waterproof, but I can¡¯t be 100% sure.¡±

    As she spoke, she activated the screen and put the phone in front of Fina¡¯s face.

    Fina nced at her, then lowered its head to look at the phone. It clicked on the screen with its front paw.

    It could not separate its fingers like a human. It didn¡¯t even know which icon it had clicked on. The screen suddenly switched. A golden cat with dark golden streaks and spots was looking straight into its eyes.

    Fina was astonished and retracted its ws quickly.

    ¡°Haha! Don¡¯t be afraid. This is the camera. You just touched the camera button. This is for selfies!¡± Sihwaughed hard, teaching Fina all that she had just learnt from Zhang Zian.

    Fina¡¯e eyes turned slightly serious. Was her real intention to just startle it then mock it?

    Yet, herughter was genuine¨C¨Cthere was no mocking in it.

    ¡°Press that button again and you¡¯ll get yourself a picture!¡± she hurried. ¡°Just click it. The camera drains the battery fast.¡±

    So, what kind of trap is this?

    Fina nced at her again and stretched its paws out. Now there was only one big button at the bottom of the screen¨C¨Cit could not miss it.

    A picture of itself appeared on the screen. It looked cautious and curious in the picture. The camera focused on its face. The stretched out w had turned blurry since it was closer to the lens.

    ¡°¡­What kind of sh***y phone is this? This picture doesn¡¯t look like me,¡± Fina finally said as it nced over the picture.

    In the picture, its eyes were extremely big. Its chin was too sharp. Even its light golden hair was turned white and yellowish.

    ¡°The phone is not sh***y! You turned on the retouch function!¡± Sihwa grabbed the phone, recalled the procedures, and turned off the retouch function. Then she pointed the front camera at Fina and clicked the capture button.

    The new picture looked much more like Fina¨C¨Cit was much better than before. In the previous picture, Fina was barely recognizable by its own mother¡­

    ¡°Humph! Humans just love such pretentious and deceiving things!¡± Fina vented with contempt.

    ¡°I don¡¯t like retouched selfies either. I¡¯m pretty enough myself!¡± Sihwa took another selfie with confidence, then looked at it with content.

    She took another selfie from a different angle, then another one with scissor hands next to her chin, like a girl on the street.

    ¡°Humph!¡± Fina mumbled, but it didn¡¯t utter anything sarcastic.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that the camera drains the battery? Why are you taking one after another?¡± It could not stay silent anymore after it saw her taking endless selfies.

    ¡°Wow! I just took a few pictures and the power is down so much!¡± After seeing the battery bar going down, Sihwa quickly turned off the camera.

    What a simple-minded idiot. I overestimated her by assuming that she could set up a trap¡­ Fina thought in silence.

    This is boring!

    Fina shook its head.

    Sihwa was a bit odd today. Maybe she took the wrong medication. Could she have swallowed all the fish medicine that Zhang Zian had bought?

    Anyway, it was none of its business. Since she was not starting a fight, it would let her go for now, then head downstairs for a digestion nap.

    Fina swirled its tail and turned its body, ready to jump off the bathtub.

    ¡°Hey¡­ hey!¡± Sihwa yelled behind it.

    There were only two of them in the bathroom, so she was obviously calling for Fina.

    ¡°What?¡± Fina turned its face and asked impolitely.

    For a moment, it sensed that her abdomen was contracting. It thought that she was finally about to tear off the pretentious kindness and start an attack.

    It held back and didn¡¯t attack first because of a thought raised by itsmon sense¨C¨C even if she was an idiot, she should not be stupid enough to call the enemy before starting a sudden attack¡­

    Sihwa didn¡¯t strike a sudden attack. She wiggled her body with shyness. Her cheeks and forehead were as red as a cooked lobster. She whispered in a shy voice, ¡°Fi¡­ Fina, is it? It¡¯s a pretty name.¡±

    Fina¡¯s body froze for a moment. Ever since it had arrived at the pet shop, nobody had told it that its name was pretty.

    ¡°To be precise, it¡¯s Fina Paris XIII,¡± it said with reservation and pride as it came back to its senses. ¡°It is a noble name passed down from the ancient times. It can only be inherited by the highest royal priest of Bubastis Bastet Temple¡­ That idiot servant thought it was too long and simplified it.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I also agree that Fina sounds prettier. That full name is too long. I can¡¯t remember it either¡­ ¡± she said as she scratched her head.

    It was not long, okay? You thought it was too long to be remembered because you and him were both idiots!

    If all humans were idiots, the creatures that resembled human were also infected with stupidity¡­ Fina thought seriously.

    ¡°That¡­ Fi¡­ Fina, is there anything that you want to tell me?¡± she asked loudly. She gazed upon it with big blue eyes with some kind of expectation, as if she wanted to say, ¡°Kind words! Say some kind words about me!¡±

    Fina didn¡¯t get it at first, but her eyes were too easily understood. After hesitating for a while, it said reluctantly, ¡°¡­Sihwa is also a pretty name.¡±

    ¡°Right? Right? Sihwa means to bloom with radiant beauty in this world! It¡¯s also an ancient name!¡± Sihwa shook her head happily.

    Do not impose on others what you don¡¯t want to be imposed on yourself. The phrase was corrected if it was said the other way: If you didn¡¯t wish to be treated a certain way, don¡¯t treat others the same way. In other words, if you wanted to be treated a certain way, you should treat others the same way.

    Complimenting each other seemed much happier than harming each other!

    After she wasplimented, her body felt greatly relieved and lightened. After hearing mean words, the heart was about to jump out of the chest with anger¡­

    Sihwa regretted this. Why had not she found out about this earlier?

    Fina saw that her face was changing quickly. Once she seemed to be pondering attentively, then she chuckled with stupidity.

    So, what were they doing? Wasting their nap time topliment each other on the pretty names? It was so boring!

    No. It could be infected with stupidity by staying with an idiot. Two thousand years ago, it would never do such a boring thing!

    Fina arched its back, ready to jump straight to the bathroom door.

    ¡°Fi¡­ Fina!¡± Sihwa called it hesitantly.

    ¡°What again?¡± it asked as it turned its head impatiently.

    She stretched out a hand at it. ¡°How¡­ How about being friends?¡±

    Fina stared at her fair-skinned palm speechlessly¡­

    Sihwa said in a hurry, ¡°I saw on TV that friends shake their hands!¡±

    ¡°¡­Why would we be friends?¡± Fina asked without taking sides.

    ¡°Because¡­ Because I don¡¯t have any friends yet¡­¡± She bowed her head in embarrassment, then secretly squinted to observe its face. ¡°Is¡­ Is that okay?¡±

    Fina felt restless for some reason. It really hoped that it was a trap. Having a good fight was much better than being gazed at by her like so. Even being smashed against the wall by water bomb was much morefortable than their current situation!

    ¡°I only have enemies, servants, and subordinates,¡± it said with arrogance. ¡°In front of me, the enemies will perish, the servants will serve, and the subordinates will fulfill their duties.¡±

    Sihwa didn¡¯t understand, but she felt that its tone was harsh, as if it had rejected her. She retracted her hand in fear with a lot of disappointment in her heart. It took her a lot of courage to ask for its friendship, after all.

    ¡°But it¡¯s fine to have a friend¡­¡± Fina said super quickly. Then it flung a paw and tapped her in the palm.

    Its soft paw pad and her soft palm touched each other then parted.

    Sihwa stared at her palm in stupor, as if she was still savoring the touch.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t have anything else, I¡¯m going for a rest.¡± Fina turned its head away without looking at her.

    ¡°Wait! There¡¯s one more thing!¡±

    Sihwa quickly took out her phone, turned on the screen, and activated the camera.

    ¡°Shall¡­ Shall we take a selfie?¡± she asked while biting her lip. ¡°I see that friends on the street all take selfies together.¡±

    Fina could not wait to get out of the bathroom so that it could head downstairs for a nap. Maybe dropping by here in the afternoon was a huge mistake.

    It asked impatiently, ¡°Isn¡¯t your battery almost dead?¡±

    ¡°So¡­ Hurry up! Don¡¯t waste time!¡± Sihwa hurried it.

    Fina said will ill-temper, ¡°Just one. If you botch it, I¡¯ll leave! Also, no retouch!¡±

    ¡°I know it!¡±

    Sihwa cheered up. She flipped the screen, leaned against the bathtub close to Fina, then lifted her scissor hands and reminded it, ¡°If you put a paw next to your chin, it¡¯s even cuter!¡±

    ¡°Are you taking this or not?¡± Fina had almost lost its patience. It felt so annoyed that it was about to roar.

    ¡°Fine. Don¡¯t move. I¡¯m ready to capture!¡±

    As she pressed down her finger, the screen was captured and froze. Without that light blue fish tail, it looked like amon selfie of a girl with a cat.

 Chapter 801: Friendâ€™s Betrayal

    <h4>Chapter 801: Friend¡¯s Betrayal</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sihwa looked down and examined the photo. She zoomed in and out of the picture with what Zhang Zian had taught her, looking to the left and right, but she wasn¡¯t satisfied. The picture was not able to faithfully reflect her unparalleled beauty. Her fingers that were doing the peace sign seemed to be too far apart¡­ it looked a little fake. Fina wasn¡¯t even looking at the camera; it seemed tock interest in taking the picture.

    ¡°This photo isn¡¯t good¡­ shall we take another one?¡±

    Although she had agreed to take just one photo, she had automatically changed it in her mind to, ¡°Only one photo that looks great; the lousy ones are not included.¡±

    She was about to call Fina over for another picture, but Fina had already jumped to the entrance of the bathroom, obviously not interested in taking another picture. Fina also did not respond to her, so she could only give up the idea.

    Forget it; this photo is okay¡­ There will be more chances in the future. I shall take as many pictures as I want after the phone is fully charged.

    With her thoughts running, she moved her gaze to the battery icon and got an immediate shock.

    ¡°Oh no, this is terrible! Taking pictures really uses up a lot of battery!¡± She scratched her head, and cried out regretfully, ¡°Is the battery for this phone fake? Why is it depleting so fast!¡±

    Fina stood by the entrance; it did not leave immediately. Even though it really wanted to just turn and leave, it still asked coldly, ¡°If there is no battery, why don¡¯t you just charge it? Do you have to get this depressed?¡±

    The hidden implication was: ¡°Why are you so stupid?¡±

    Sihwained. ¡°I¡¯m aware that I can just charge it, but that stingy person just wouldn¡¯t hand me the charger. He kept saying that there would be an electrical leakage if it came in contact with the water. Does he think he¡¯s lying to a child?¡±

    Fina hesitated for a moment, then jumped back on the edge of the bathtub.

    ¡°Haha! Do you also want to take another picture?¡± Sihwa thought that she had seen through Fina¡¯s thoughts. ¡°But no, we can take another one tomorrow. There¡¯s only a little bit of battery left and I still want to y with the live broadcast tonight!¡±

    Fina snorted with disdain. ¡°Hand the phone over to this queen.¡±

    Sihwa was stunned. She did not know what Fina wanted the phone for¡­ Could it be to make it its own?

    ¡°Hurry up! Don¡¯t dy this queen¡¯s nap time!¡± Fina said fiercely.

    Sihwa did not want to hand the phone over to Fina because she was afraid that Fina would note back, and the phone was her only entertainment. Without her phone, she was going to go crazy in the small bathroom.

    But¡­ Fina was her friend¨C¨Cher first friend¨C¨Cand Sihwa was the one who took the initiative to be friends with it. But now her friend had a request, so was she going to reject it?

    Sihwa had note in contact with the real society, but she had watched a lot of dramas. In those dramas, friends were always loyal¡ªat least most of them were, though there were also a few bad friends who would do things to harm the main character behind their back.

    Then, was Fina a bad friend?

    Sihwa was unable to make up her mind.

    The only way to get the answer was for her to take the risk and hand the phone over to Fina.

    If Fina were to run away with the phone or smash the phone onto the floor with an evil smirk, she was going to lose two precious things in a single day¨C¨Cher phone and her friend.

    Sihwa rubbed the back of her phone with her fingers. Her palms were sweaty from her mental struggle.

    ¡°Then¡­ okay then, I¡¯ll lend it to you, but you have to return it to me, okay?¡± Sihwa reluctantly handed the phone over, but she didn¡¯t know how Fina was going to receive it.

    Fina was already annoyed from waiting. She took the phone in her mouth, turned around, and ran out of the bathroom.

    ¡°Ya! My phone!¡± Sihwa eximed.

    She felt that it was the end. Fina¡¯s teeth were very sharp; she was definitely going to damage the phone, or maybe even shatter the screen with her teeth.

    After Fina ran out, there was no more sounds or movements.

    Sihwa stared at the door. She tried to call out, ¡°Fina?¡±

    There was no response.

    It was quiet outside of the bathroom. Sihwa could only hear the sounds of the monkey outside typing on the keyboard and flipping through the pages of a book.

    ¡°Fina, where did you go?¡± she asked again.

    There was still no response.

    ¡°Fina? Don¡¯t scare me! Come back! That¡¯s my phone! The cheapskate bought it for me and I¡¯m only lending it to you, not giving it to you! If you want a phone, too, you can get him to buy you one!

    Wu. How did things be like this!¡±

    Her bad premonition seemed to havee true. No matter how much she called, Fina neither responded nor reappeared. She really felt like she had lost both her phone and her friend at the same time.

    She looked down and started weeping; her tears poured into the bathtub. Sihwa had never cried, even at her worst when she was bullied by Fina. Of course, the tears from the chili powder didn¡¯t count.

    It turned out that no matter how happy one was when they made a friend, it was going to hurt worse when betrayed.

    Maybe because of her crying, the typing sound from outside stopped. The swivel chair creaked and just momentster, a monkey¡¯s face appeared at the bathroom entrance.

    ¡°Zhi zhi?¡± It leaned against the wall and started gesturing.

    Sihwa wiped her eyes that were red from crying. She shook her head and said, ¡°I can¡¯t understand you.¡±

    She seemed to recall that its name was Pi¨C¨Cwhat a weird name¨C¨Cand it was always sitting in front of aputer, typing away every day. It never seemed to get bored.

    ¡°Zhi zhi.¡± Pi scratched its head and cheeks. It awkwardly looked to the outside before it left.

    A whileter, the typing sound continued.

    After Sihwa was interrupted by Pi, she stopped weeping and muttered to herself, ¡°Just like this¡­ Everyone can just leave me alone. I don¡¯t need anyone to care for me, and I don¡¯t want friends anyway¡­ I only need oppa.¡±

    She stared at her long, strong fishtail and wide caudal fin. If only she had legs like a human¡¯s, then she would be able to run out and ask Fina why it betrayed her¡­ No, if she had legs, she wouldn¡¯t even be trapped in the small bathroom. She would be able to bravely pursue her true love like the heroine in the television series.

    Right!

    I don¡¯t have legs, but I still got my hands!

    She turned to look at the small bathroom. It was not even four meters from the bathtub to the bathroom entrance. If it it just that short distance, then maybe I can attempt to crawl out of here¡­

    She wanted to see if Fina was still outside. She was going to give up after she had taken a look.

    She acted without dy.

    ¡°Hei!¡±

    She tried using her delicate arms as a support on the edge of the bathtub. She tried her best to lift her fishtail out of the water and to push it further out from the bathtub. The water from her fishtail flowed all over the floor.

    Her fishtail, which was usually light and flexible, suddenly became very heavy once it was out of the water, and every inch it moved exhausted all of her strength.

    Her arms, which were supporting her on the edge of the bathtub, trembled like dead branches in the autumn wind. She clenched her teeth and pulled her fishtail out of the water little by little.

    All she wanted was to take a look at the bathroom entrance. She didn¡¯t even consider how she was going toe back after looking, or whether it would still possible for her to return.

    It was already so difficult for her to lift her heavy fishtail out of the bathtub¡­ What about lifting it up from the floor? She hadn¡¯t thought about that.

    If she was not able to make it back, what was going to happen?

    Zhang Zian had already gone out and he would not be back until sometime around midnight. It might not be until he returned that she would be found on the bathroom floor¡­

    ¡°Do you really want to be a dried, salted fish?¡± Fina¡¯s cold voice rang from the side.

    Sihwa looked up in surprise. She didn¡¯t know when Fina had returned to the bathroom, but it was sitting on the cab as it lowered its head to ce the phone on the counter and coldly stared at Sihwa.

    Ssh!

    Sihwa¡¯s arms weakened from the shock and she slipped back into the bathtub, both body and tail sshing out almost a third of the water in the bathtub.

    Fina seemed to have expected Sihwa to try to climb out, so it hadn¡¯t stood at the edge of the tub. It had wanted to avoid the disaster.

    Pu!

    Sihwa emerged out from the water. She wiped the water off of her face, not knowing if it was the tap water or her tears.

    ¡°Fi¡­ Fina, where did you go? Why did it take you so long toe back?¡± Sihwa asked tearfully. ¡°I¡­ I thought you weren¡¯t going toe back anymore¡­¡±

    ¡°A long time? This queen has only been away for a few minutes. It is not so exaggerated like what you said.¡± Fina pushed the phone forwards with her paws. ¡°Your phone¨C¨Chere.¡±

    Afraid that Fina would go back on her words, Sihwa pounced forward with great speed and picked up the phone. Like it was a precious treasure of hers, Sihwa repeatedly checked the phone countless times from the front to the back. She was surprised that there weren¡¯t any teeth marks left on the phone, only some of Fina¡¯s saliva.

    What was going on? She clearly saw Fina bite the phone in her mouth and run away¡­

    If Zhang Zian was here, he would definitely tell her that cats were able to hold their kittens in their mouth without hurting them, so how could Fina damage a phone that was much harder than a kitten?

    She hugged her phone tightly in front of her chest. She stared at Fina and asked, ¡°You¡­ where did you go earlier?¡±

    ¡°Where did I go?¡± Initially, Fina did not want to answer the question, but because Sihwa was stupid¨C¨Cso stupid to the point where she was nning to leave the bathtub she depended on to survive¨C¨Cshe said, ¡°Of course, I went to look for the charger¡ªsince I can¡¯t bring the charger into the bathroom, I can only bring the phone out to charge it.¡±

    ¡°Charge?¡± Sihwa blinked her eyes. The back of the phone did feel a little warm¡­ It was even a little bit hot.

    ¡°Of course I went to charge the phone. Did you not say that the phone was running out of battery? Should I not have charged the phone since there is no battery?¡± Fina turned her head around. She felt that there was no helping Sihwa¡¯s IQ.

    Sihwa blinked her eyes again. She finally thought of unlocking her phone screen to take a look.

    ¡°Ah! What¡¯s going on?¡± She shouted in surprise. The bar of the phone battery was out of the warning line and it was a lot longer than earlier! Even the number that represented the power had more than doubled!

    ¡°Did this queen not say that she went to charge the phone? Do you not have a brain or are youcking knowledge?¡± Fina angrily asked.

    ¡°I know, of course, I know what charging is! But¡­ you only left for a few minutes and there¡¯s already this much battery?¡± Sihwa was so excited her heart jumped out of her mouth and she couldn¡¯t even speak properly.

    ¡°Hmph! So stupid!¡± Fina felt that it took too much effort to converse with Sihwa¨C¨Cevenmunicating with an ant was easier than her. Fina deeply suspected that all of Sihwa¡¯s body¡¯s nutrients had gone to her chest¡­

    ¡°Do you not like to watch television?¡± Fina asked disdainfully. ¡°Have you not heard of an advertisement on the television¡ª¡¯Charge it for five minutes, your call can go on for two hours?''¡±

 Chapter 802: Noise and Silence

    <h4>Chapter 802: Noise and Silence</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In fact, Sihwa had not watched much television. After she was born as an elfin, there was a Korean couple that was traveling and watching DVDs on the beach. She watched with them secretly. There were nomercials on the DVDs.

    Fina was not interested in the television, but it heard themercials every once in a while while Old Time Tea watched the television. Then it recognized the cell phonemercial line.

    Since it was born with a sharp mind, it quickly realized that new cell phones charged more quickly, which was proved by Zhang Zian¡¯s actions. If he was hurried to go out, but the phone battery was low, he would usually charge it for a few minutes before leaving. It had not heard himining that the his phone battery was dead outside.

    Fina appeared to be snoozing day and night on the cat tree. But in fact, its ears had captured everything going on around it. If there was something it could not understand, it would not speak to ask. Instead, it would search for relevant information in silence in order to infer the meaning of the former. It didn¡¯t want to be considered an idiot by thezy servant.

    Sihwa was shocked.

    ¡°What? Charge for five minutes, then talk for two hours? What magic is this? A dying phone brought back to life? Fina, you are awesome! Are you a magician?¡± She stared at the phone battery bar icon in disbelief, not knowing what she was talking about herself.

    ¡°You should get to know some modern technology.¡± Fina seriously felt that spending too much time with the idiot would lower its own IQ.

    ¡°Fina, you are awesome!¡± Sihwa almost jumped out of the bathtub in excitement. She opened up her arms to embrace Fina, but missed it. It dodged her arms swiftly.

    Fina squinted. ¡°Do you know that you have bubbles and water all over your body?¡±

    ¡°Hihi! I¡¯m too happy!¡± Sihwa grinned with embarrassment.

    How should it put it¡­ Maybe it had seen the servant¡¯s ugly face too often. They were both being stupid. Fina could not tolerate the servant¡¯s stupidity. But when she was being stupid¡­ it was kind of cute. A pretty face was so important in the world!

    ¡°Right, Fina, could you slip in the charger for me? I won¡¯t tell that cheapskate!¡± she said as she winked.

    ¡°Don¡¯t take a yard when I give you an inch!¡± Fina threatened her with a serious look on its face.

    In fact, it also thought about bringing the charger inside for good. But it knew that the servant was not joking since it had heard about someone being shocked by a leaking heating rod in a fish tank. It knew that electricity was dangerous. Such a dangerous thing should not be handled by an idiot.

    ¡°Okay, okay. Don¡¯t be so mean¡­¡± She pouted andined gently, ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me earlier. I thought you just left with the phone¡­¡±

    ¡°Do you think that I give a crap about your phone?¡± Fina said with pride. ¡°When I do something, do I need to exin it to anyone?¡±

    ¡°Anyway, thank you!¡± Sihwa shook her head merrily. ¡°Now the battery canst until tonight¡­ Would you like another selfie?¡±

    ¡°Get out!¡±

    ¡°Fine. We¡¯ll skip the selfie. But you don¡¯ t have to be so rude¡­¡±

    Fina yawned. Maybe too much yelling deprived its brain of oxygen. Usually it was napping by now. But today, it got dyed because of the mermaid moron, which made it especially tired.

    ¡°I¡¯m tired. I¡¯m taking a nap. You should behave yourself.¡± It swirled its tail and jumped to the entrance of the bathroom.

    ¡°Bye bye!¡± Sihwa waved her hand.

    As Fina stepped outside, it suddenly stopped and looked back. ¡°Besides, don¡¯t you know that you can¡¯t leave that bathtub? I hate salty fish. I don¡¯t want to see your idiot self wriggling on the floor like a salty fish!¡±

    ¡°Aw! Fine. Don¡¯t be so mean. I get it!¡± Sihwa crumpled her face in embarrassment.

    Oddly enough, in the past when it called her a salty fish, she surely would have jumped off in anger. But now, not only did she not feel angry, but she didn¡¯t even feel close.

    Fina made a ¡°humph¡± with its nostrils then left on its own.

    Sihwa stared at the door for a long time and Fina didn¡¯t show up again, which confirmed that it had indeed left.

    Maybe it was just too noisy. She could not get used to the sudden quietness right away¡­ She could not even fully concentrate on ying with her phone with her head down.

    She could hear Pi typing and flipping pages outside the door, and the asional car honking outside, but the sounds didn¡¯t drive away the silence inside the bathroom. On the contrary¨C¨Cit made it even more quiet.

    In the past, when she and Fina were fighting, it was noisy. She could not wait for it to leave so that she could enjoy the quietness in the bathroom.

    Now that the quietness was back, she had started to miss the noise.

    She yed with the phone for a while. Her mood had been through a roller coaster. Drowsiness crept up like a tide. Her eyelids were fighting with each other. She even dozed off briefly and the phone almost fell into the tub, Zhang Zian reminded her that the phone was waterproof, but it was not wise to test it, as water damage was not covered by the warranty.

    She estimated how fast the power was diminishing, then decided to rest for a while, so that she could keep the power and her own energy forter that night.

    She ced the phone on the bathroom cab. As she was about to go underwater to sleep, she suddenly remembered that it was no longer necessary. Then she crossed her arms under her head and leaned against the side of the tub. She fell asleep soon.

    A long time had passed.

    ¡°Holy crap! Is it flooding here?¡±

    A familiar voice suddenly woke Sihwa up. She rubbed her eyes, and saw that it was already dark outside. Zhang Zian stood, astonished, in front of her.

    He nced over the water that was all over the floor in a discouraged manner. ¡°How many fights did you have today? Who¡¯s going to pay for my water bill?¡±

    Sihwa yawned deeply. ¡°A-jeoan, you are back. Did you get the phone card?¡±

    Zhang Zian wiped down the water on the floor with the mop and cleared a path. Then he was able to enter the bathroom.

    He dangled what was in his hand. ¡°I got it. Now power off the phone. I¡¯ll insert the card, then you can make phone calls.¡±

    ¡°Great!¡± Sihwa powered off the phone with a thrill then handed the phone to him.

    He inserted the card into the phone, then turned it back on.

    What?

    What happened? Why was there still so much battery left? Didn¡¯t she y with the phone? Or did phone batteriesst a long time these days?

    ¡°Here you go. You can make phone calls.¡± He handed her the phone, then continued to mop the floor.

    Sihwa carried the phone in excitement. But as she entered the contact list, it was all empty.

    ¡°A-jeoan, tell me your number,¡± she said.

    Zhang Zian gave her his number and warned her, ¡°Don¡¯t make useless phone calls. There¡¯s a charge if I pick up by mistake!¡±

    ¡°Pooh! Cheapstake! I¡¯m not gonna call you! It¡¯s just the contact list doesn¡¯t look good empty!¡± Sihwa said as she rolled her eyes.

 Chapter 803: The Spring Cat Cries

    <h4>Chapter 803: The Spring Cat Cries</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Jiang Feifei excitedly stared at the small kittens in the delivery room. Most of them were learning how to walk under the watchful eyes of the female cat, or were huddled together and ying around. Some of the better-developed kittens had begun to learn how to run and were stumbling around. They were often taken back to the cat¡¯s nest by the female cat after they ran a little too far out.

    Compared to the slit-eyes they had when they had just opened their eyes, their eyes were nowpletely open. Their visual system was basically fully developed, and they could now see their strange new world clearly like an adult cat.

    Jiang Feifei thought that the aquarium was full of marine creatures and aquarium equipment. She didn¡¯t expect the second floor to have two delivery rooms separated out, where two adult, female Abyssinian cats and a group of kittens lived.

    Zhang Zian was preparing the cat food that the little kittens ate. From time to time, he would exin matters that required special attention and Jiang Feifei would listen carefully.

    ¡°From today on, we must add in some solid food for the little kittens, and the proportions will gradually increase so that we can prepare them for a smooth weaning in one month,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    Jiang Feifei nodded. ¡°I understand.¡±

    Ever since she had found out about the existence of the group of little kittens, she had taken initiative to take care of them, which would save Lu Yiyun the trouble of running back and forth several times a day. Since they were still little, they had to eat several meals a day.

    ¡°The color of their eyes seems to be different from that of an adult cat.¡± She observed both the adult female cats and small kittens and found the interesting phenomenon. She thought to herself, Is it true that their eye color is inherited from their father?

    Zhang Zian answered, ¡°This is normal. All the little kittens have gray-blue eyes, and when they grow up, their eyes will slowly turn into the amber color of their mother.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s like this. It¡¯s really amazing!¡± Jiang Feifei understood now. ¡°In the past, stray cats in our school would asionally give birth to a litter of kittens and they would carry them around the campus, so the girls in the school would always feed them. I have never observed them so carefully¡­ but thinking back now, some of the food they fed them did not seem to be suitable for cats. If I had known, I would not have let them feed the cats.¡±

    Jiang Feifei softly sighed. She only came to know about the existence of a light or serious taboo in the diet for cat and dogs after she came to the pet shop to work.

    Zhang Zian shook his head and said, ¡°Don¡¯t be too bothered about that. After all, they don¡¯t have such knowledge, and they only did it out of good will. The first thing stray animals will do, as long as the food isn¡¯t poisonous, is eat their fill before they even think about eating well. The next time you see a simr situation, you can tell the girls that if they don¡¯t know what to feed them, then the safest thing is to feed them cat food. Even the cheapest cat food is better than starving them.¡±

    Jiang Feifei nodded, but then she said with regret, ¡°It¡¯s a pity that I¡¯m going to graduate soon. I only have a short time left in school, and I¡¯ve noticed that, after the start of the new semester, the stray cats around the campus are fewer than before.¡±

    ¡°The stray cats are fewer in number?¡± Zhang Zian asked casually.

    ¡°Yep. When it¡¯s spring, the cats cry outside the dormitory building at night¡­ well, you should know.¡± Jiang Feifei blushed and smiled in an attempt to lessen her embarrassment.

    There was an artificially cultivated grove near the girls dormitory in Binhai University. The trees there were not densely popted, so many girls liked to read or exercise in the woods every morning and, because the girls liked to feed stray cats, the grove had also be the paradise for the stray cats that upied the area.

    However, when spring came, there were often inner conflicts within the girls. The reason was, of course, that the stray cats often cried out in the woods every night.

    The girls living on the lower floors were always unable to withstand the disturbance. The crying of the cats thatsted throughout the night had reached the point where their sleep was affected. So, due tock of adequate sleep, their daily studies and life had been affected in varying degrees.

    Of course, there were also some people who made cynical remarks, such as: ¡°One can simply rent a room and move out.¡±

    There were some who really had rented a room and moved out because they were ufortable, but not everyone had that kind of spare money. Plus, the convenience and security of living at the school was notparable to living outside the school, especially for those girls who were determined to take their exams. It was more convenient to live at the school, as it was easier for them to upy a seat in the study room.

    Therefore, the girls tended to put up stickers in the groves and at the entrance of the dormitory that read: ¡°Please don¡¯t feed the stray cats. If you really want to feed them, you can feed them elsewhere to prevent them from gathering in the vicinity.¡± Some of the words on the notes were gentle, while some were aggressive, some were pitiful, and some simply screamed and scolded the people who were feeding the stray cats¡­

    If someone were to be seen feeding the stray cats in the woods, then the matter would be very serious, since there were many supporters on both sides. They would often have a lot of arguments, and if it was not because they were worried about being dismissed or even expelled from school, some people would definitely fight.

    Simr incidents always broke out during the spring and then would gradually subside in the other three seasons.

    In the second year, the waves behind would ride on the ones before. The older students left the school, and new students entered; it was just another cycle.

    Among the girls, Jiang Feifei took a neutral stance towards the argument.

    She lived on one of the higher floors, so as long as she closed her window during spring nights, then the cats cries would have little effect on her and her roommate. In addition, she slept very deep and always fell asleep very fast. Her roommate often teased her, saying that she was able to fall asleep as soon as her head touched her pillow. All of the factors gave her the right to remain neutral.

    On one hand, she felt that the stray cats were quite pitiful¨C¨Cespecially the adult female cats with their kittens; on the other hand, she was also very sympathetic to the girls that lived on the lower floors, as being disturbed every night would definitely affect their studies and their lives. It could even go as far as affecting their future life¡¯s path.

    Fortunately, she prefered the mysterious marine creatures over cats and dogs. Cats were cute to her, but not to the extent where she wouldn¡¯t be able to walk away from them, and she didn¡¯t take the initiative to feed stray cats. She was also a cautious person and didn¡¯t like to meddle in other affairs, so she had never had a conflict with the other girls in that respect.

    In fact, most of the girls in the dormitory were neutral supporters just like her. As long as things didn¡¯t affect them, then they wouldn¡¯t get involved; the most they would do was say a few words to each other in private.

    Oddly enough, after the start of the new semester, the female dormitory building had a rare scene where there were no conflicts or squabbles on the feeding of stray cats. Of course, it wasn¡¯t because the girls didn¡¯t like cats anymore, nor was it that they had suddenly improved; it was because the number of stray cats in the grove was now significantly fewer than before. Since their numbers were now very small, even if the remaining cats continued to cry out, it was too weak to affect the girls.

    Under such circumstances, even if there were people who insisted on feeding the stray cats, the affected girls that lived on the first floor would close one eye to them, pretending that they didn¡¯t see anything¡­

 Chapter 804: Cause Unknown

    <h4>Chapter 804: Cause Unknown</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian had been to Binhai University more than once. Every time he went, he saw many stray cats wandering around the student and staff residences. Some even had kittens.

    No matter if it was in schools, residential areas, tourist attractions, or even the wilderness, feeding wild and stray animals was not a small thing to be overlooked.

    For instance, if someone was feeding monkey in a tourist attraction and made the monkeys fearless, then they might rob the tourists¡¯ bags and food, and bite or injure the tourists.

    These circumstances were often reported.

    In schools and residential areas, feeding stray animals could make them a nuisance to the residents.

    Zhang Zian was a little surprised. ¡°You mean that ever since the new semester started, there have been less stray cats on campus? Where did they go?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Jiang Feifei said with regret. ¡°I need to do my undergraduate project, work part-time, and look for a formal job this semester. I barely paid any attention¨C¨Cnor did my ssmates. Everybody is relieved that there are less stray cats¡­ We¡¯ve been getting along in peace for four years. It¡¯s not good to jeopardize our friendship because of feeding stray cats when it¡¯s almost graduation time¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded thoughtfully in agreement.

    ¡°Store Manager, do you think that these stray cats were captured by the management center for stray animals?¡± Jiang Feifei asked. ¡°Because of the stray cat feeding issue, there have been a few fights in thedies residence. It was such a fuss that the building administrators reported it to the university. The university said that they would deal with it and avoid simr incidents from happening again. Did they finally take action?¡±

    ¡°Maybe.¡± Zhang Zian agreed with her. Maybe the university asked for help from the management center for stray animals, then captured most of the stray cats on campus during the winter holidays.

    In fact, there were too many possibilities for the diminishing stray cat poption on campus. Maybe a group of graduating students adopted them, or perhaps they found a ce with more food. Maybe the number didn¡¯t diminish, but some animal protection organization neutered them. They stopped making sounds, creating the illusion of a reduced poption.

    Of course, maybe they were captured by the management center for stray animals. Or a girl was driven nuts by the meowing and poisoned them¡­ The possibilities were enough to fill an A4 paper when listed. It was hard to know which was the actual reason.

    Cat poisoning was not impossible. If someone was driven to madness, they were capable of doing anything, no matter to cats or to roommates.

    Apparently, Jiang Feifei had thought about this possibility. She gasped, ¡°People can¡¯t be so cruel, could they?¡±

    ¡°I hope not.¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t agree nor disagree. Jiang Feifei was not a child anymore and didn¡¯t need his meaninglessfort.

    ¡°Poisoning is a serious matter, even if it¡¯s just animals. I hope your ssmate isn¡¯t stupid enough to do that.¡± He recollected. ¡°When Famous was filming the movie, there was aw-ignorant person in the production team who tried to poison it, along with two other dogs, for personal reasons. He ended up in prison.¡±

    ¡°Is it that serious?¡± Jiang Feifei was surprised.

    ¡°Of course. It is a threat to public safety, as you can¡¯t be sure if the poison would be ingested by cats, dogs, or children. Some people poison cats and dogs in some residential areas. They should be grateful that they didn¡¯t get caught, otherwise there would be a public prosecution. There are many solutions to the stray animal problem and they chose the worst one,¡± Zhang Zian said with certainty.

    There were many solutions to the stray animal problems, but most of them could not eliminate the root cause. If people were to follow Germany¡¯s example, then makingws to forbid pet abandonment on a national level was the radical solution to the problem.

    After feeding the kittens and weighing each one of them, they went downstairs one after the other.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were busy downstairs, making final preparations for the aquarium¡¯s official opening.

    ording to Zhang Zian¡¯s request, each aquarium tank wasbeled with adhesive stickers to mark down the type of the marine creature, their habits and behaviors, and the difficulty level of raising them. The stickers were still nk, however.

    Simr to most high-grade aquariums, the lighting on the first floor was dark to bring out the mysteriousness inside the aquarium tanks.

    If an insider had seen it, they would surely realize that Zhang Zian had divided the indoor area into two sections. The disy cabs separated them neatly down the middle. One section was for marine creatures that loved the heat, while the other section was the opposite. After the coolers arrived, the cool water could be used to cool off thetter, while the heat generated by the coolers would not go to waste¨C¨Cit would be pumped to heat up the former.

    Jiang Feifei rolled up her sleeves to help Wang Qian and Li Kun. They were testing all kinds of aquarium equipment to make sure that they were working properly.

    Zhang Zian wanted to ask them if they knew why there were less stray cats on campus, but then he realized that it would be in vain. They would not care about such a thing.

    ¡°Keep up with the good work. I¡¯ll head back and see if there¡¯s anything at the shop. You can call me if you have questions,¡± he told them, then left the aquarium alone.

    Eek!

    A car stopped on the roadside.

    ¡°Your aquarium is about to open? How¡¯s the preparation?¡± Sun Xiaomeng asked as she rolled down the car window.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Have to carry on no matter what. We¡¯ll find out after the official opening.¡± Zhang Zian walked over. ¡°Why are you going to work so early today?¡±

    ¡°I have an patient appointment. It¡¯s an emergency,¡± she answered. ¡°Her cat¡¯s eye was beaten blind by someone. They are arriving at the clinic soon for emergency treatment.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s really bad. How was it beaten?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    She frowned. ¡°I didn¡¯t have time to ask further. Maybe a slingshot.¡±

    ¡°A slingshot? By some stupid kid?¡± Zhang Zian immediately thought that it could be a naughty kid making trouble again.

    ¡°This¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Her cat slipped out when she was not paying attention. Maybe it was mistaken as a stray cat. When she found it, one eye was already beaten blind.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡± Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°How¡¯s the business in your family¡¯s breeding farm?¡±

    She smiled bitterly. ¡°The Love Lovely Pets chaos is not over yet. Lately, the market demand for cats and dogs has been very low. A lot of people are posting in the forum to give away their pets for adoption. My father has been traveling and trying to sell them to other cities. Your aquatic pet business is a smart move. How did youe up with it?¡±

    ¡°I had a sudden eureka moment. I think I should walk on two legs.¡± Zhang Zian smiled.

    After the small talk, Sun Xiaomeng looked at her watch. ¡°It¡¯s gettingte. I¡¯ll head to the clinic now. The customer may have arrived already.¡±

    She rolled up the car window then drove towards the clinic.

    Zhang Zian started thinking while he watched the car leave.

    It was mistaken for a stray cat¡­

 Chapter 805: Free Prostitution

    <h4>Chapter 805: Free Prostitution</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After sending Sun Xiaomeng off, Zhang Zian turned to enter the pet shop.

    Lu Yiyun sat behind the cashier counter, almost hiding her entire body behind the monitor. She squinted her eyes at him as if she was trying to indicate something.

    Zhang Zian looked into the store and saw two strangers inside. One of the men had a cap one, carried a camera, and wore a tooling vest with many pockets that had ¡°Binhai TV Station Production Team¡± written across the back.

    Looking at the other person from behind, Zhang Zian could tell it was a woman. She wore a decent gray suit and held a microphone in her hand.

    The girl was quite aggressive. The weather in Binhai City was still quite cold and, most of the time, sunny; however, asionally there would still be a cold spell in the early spring. She was wearing a suit skirt early in the year.

    The man with the camera pointed the camera at the kittens ying around in the store and turned their cute actions into digital information recorded on the memory card.

    The girl with the microphone excitedly ran around inside the store. One moment she was pointing at a kitten for the man to shoot, and then the next moment she was pointing at another kitten, asionally eximing softly with delight.

    ¡°Look at that cat! It¡¯s wearing clothes and has a bamboo hat on!¡± She pointed to Old Time Tea in surprise, so the photographer moved the camera towards it.

    Old Time Teaid on the floor and covered its face with the bamboo hat. It did not want them to photograph its face.

    ¡°That cat too! It¡¯s so golden¨C¨Cjust like a blonde beauty!¡± She wasn¡¯t even bothered about being ignored by Old Time Tea. She soon found Fina, and with great interest, she extended her hands to try and touch it.

    ¡°Meow!¡± Fina red at thedy with its green almond eyes. It also revealed its sharp teeth and let out a threatening hiss, which meant: ¡°You can observe this queen from a distance, but not taint this queen with your hands.¡±

    She was so scared that she quickly retracted her hand. ¡°This cat is so aggressive!¡±

    ¡°Meow meow meow! Breast? Where¡¯s a great breast?¡± Snowy Li had heard the noise, woken up from its sleep, and yawned. It licked its lips and looked around, as if searching for the great breast.

    Its gaze fell on the chest of the female journalist, and it suddenly pouted in disappointment. ¡°How disappointing. It¡¯s just another B!¡±

    Zhang Zian said quietly. ¡°Disappointing your sister? I¡¯m the one who¡¯s supposed to be disappointed, okay?¡±

    Snowy Li seemed to have heard his voice. It turned around to re at him. ¡°Meow meow meow! Why are those in your shop all like this? Have all the big breasted girls in the world gone to find the tall, handsome, and rich? Ever since I came to your broken shop, I have only been able to dream of seeing a pair of peerless breasts!¡±

    Zhang Zian was immersed in his own thoughts; he couldn¡¯t help but start to doubt his life.

    The noise of Snowy Li caught the attention of the female journalist. She had initially thought that it was just an ordinary white cat, but she was surprised when she took a closer look.

    ¡°Quick, look! That cat¡¯s fur is so long! It looks even longer than the fur of a Persian cat!¡± she said to the cameraman.

    She reached out her hand towards the Snowy Li, and, unlike Fina, Snowy Li actively jumped up and burrowed into her arms.

    ¡°Wow! This cat¡­ It¡¯s so heavy, but it¡¯s also so soft!¡± The female journalist held Snowy Li in her arms and immediately felt its heavy weight and soft, delicate body.

    Snowy Li squinted its pair of lecherous eyes, and its two front paws slid up and down her chest. Snowy Li also stuck out its tongue at Zhang Zian. ¡°Meow meow meow! Big breasts are but a dream? Only I know how it is! A filled spring slumber in this broken shop, enraging none but the stinky man!¡±

    If Snowy Li was reced by a man, the female journalist would have probably already pped it; instead, she was smiling and looked quite content. She didn¡¯t seem to realize that Snowy Li was taking advantage of her.

    ¡°Cough!¡± The photographer raised his head from the camera¡¯s viewfinder. He coughed and reminded her, ¡°We are here to shoot the dog.¡±

    Famous was quietlyying to the side of the reclining chair, and because Famous was too quiet, it was ignored by the female journalist.

    ¡°I almost forgot about our business here¡­¡± The female journalist seemed to have woken up from her earlier state. She reluctantly ced Snowy Li down on the floor and dusted off the long cat hair from her body. It was difficult to dust them off, so she could only remove them strand by strand.

    ¡°Ga ga! Where¡¯s the prostitution expenses? We don¡¯t support free prostitution here!¡±

    They heard the sound from the top of their heads and got a shock. They then looked up to see a gray parrot on the top of the shelf staring at them condescendingly; its little ck eyes seemed to harbor ill intentions.

    Tracing its line of sight, the female journalist lowered her head and buckled the two buttons that opened the neckline of her shirt. Even though she was a B-cup, they were still her treasures¡­

    ¡°Holy sh*t! This parrot speaks like a human!¡± The photographer pointed the camera at Richard.

    Richard shook its head in a serious manner. ¡°No! It¡¯s you, the two-legged beast, that talks like a parrot! I¡¯ll advise you to hand over the prostitution expenses first, otherwise, the shop owner will chase you out for for the prostitution expenses¡­¡±

    The cameraman was speechless.

    The female journalist was shocked by Richard, and she couldn¡¯t speak with her mouth half-opened.

    ¡°Excuse me, you are¡­?¡± Zhang Zian came over and asked. Although he had already guessed their identity, he still pretended to not know.

    ¡°Ah?¡± The female journalist turned back and immediately matched Zhang Zian¡¯s face to the award recipient of the Berlin Film Festival. ¡°Hello, Mr Zhang. I¡¯m a journalist for Binhai TV¨C¨CI made an appointment with you over the phone some time back. My name¡¯s Liu Ying and this is the cameraman, Qin An.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I got it.¡± Zhang Zian shook hands with her and nodded to the cameraman. He was unable to reach out his hands because he was holding onto the camera.

    Ever since Famous had won the Silver Bear Award for Best Male Lead at the Berlin Film Festival, there had been a flood of people who approached Zhang Zian to make appointments for interviews. There were also countless media outlets, including newspapers, magazines, and traditional TV stations, that wanted interviews, as well. People from the rising online media, too¨C¨Cand even some unknown public figures¨C¨Ccame forward under the guise of a big name and asked for an interview¡­

    Zhang Zian kept Feng Xuan¡¯s advice in mind: He did not want Famous to be overly exposed in front of the media in a short time period. Only by maintaining a certain mystery could he tantalize the media. So he gave all of them the cold treatment while he secretly selected a few that seemed more reliable.

    The Binhai Television station had little influence in the country¨C¨Cbut it was, after all, a local television station, and in the future, Zian would inevitably have some dealings with it. So he had to do them a favor, which was why he agreed to their request for an interview.

    Zhang Zian had thought that before he epted interviews with other heavyweight media outlets, it wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea to use Binhai TV as a practice partner. He wanted to treat it like a beginner¡¯s mission.

    Through the Inte, the Binhai television station had asked Zhang Zian if it was convenient to have them over that day for the interview.

    Zhang Zian was basically free at any time so he had agreed, but he didn¡¯t expect them toe so early. It was not even the working hours of ordinary enterprises yet.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t had a formal interview before, so I¡¯m not sure how the process goes,¡± he said.

    The female journalist raised the microphone. ¡°First of all, I would like to ask¨C¨Cthe gray parrot said that you will chase us to pay for the prostitution expenses. Is this true?¡±

 Chapter 806: Special Report

    <h4>Chapter 806: Special Report</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was Zhang Zian¡¯s first interview with the television station. The first question was so embarrassing. Richard would have to take responsibility for that one.

    As for the prostitution expense¨C¨Ccrap¡­ Looking at how satisfied Snowy Li seemed, it was uncertain who was prostituting who¡­

    Luckily, before he answered, journalist Liu Yingughed out loud. ¡°It¡¯s a joke! Zhang Zian, your pets here are so eye-opening to us¨C¨Cespecially that grey parrot. How did you train it? It talks just like a human!¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ It¡¯s the result of very hard training. But the hardness is not worth mentioning to others¡­¡± Zhang Zian sighed and pretended to be profound, as if he had been through much suffering.

    ¡°We can imagine,¡± she said in admiration. ¡°I once interviewed a retired worker in our city. He likes birds, and had a lot of them, such as parrots, crested myna, Chinese hwamei, and so on. Some of them could talk, but nowhere close to your parrot.¡±

    ¡°Excellent aptitude and correct training methods are both essential.¡± Zhang Zian tried to avoid the same thing from happening again. ¡°Even I cannot find another parrot as gifted as this one.¡±

    Liu Ying nodded. She had a lot of interview experience and was not a rookie journalist. She soon diverted the subject to Famous.

    ¡°So, you trained a Best Actor German Shepherd that ¡®didn¡¯t shock the world with cuteness, but impressed everyone with its acting.¡¯ Is this also rted to excellent aptitudes and correct training methods?¡±

    ¡°Right. It¡¯s exactly so.¡± Zhang Zian nodded dly. ¡°Ever since Famous was young, it followed orders andmands very well. In other words, it¡¯s highly obedient. Plus, it¡¯s good at sports. These are all reasons that it won the award.¡±

    ¡°Well, would you be willing to share with the audience the unknown anecdotes between you and Famous during the filming?¡± Liu Ying asked again.

    ¡°Anecdotes¡­ There are a few.¡±

    He and Famous had been filming for quite a while. They reported to the production team each day, and had experienced or witnessed some interesting things. He chose a few non-controversial things as examples. For example, regarding the bento boxes, he said that he was very surprised that everybody in the crew¨C¨Cproducers, directors, celebrities, and regr workers¨C¨Cate the same bento food.

    In addition, he mentioned that Xu Junyu, the makeup artist, had a very rare hairless cat and always put makeup on it. She would then film the cat¡¯s astonished face in front of the mirror. Liu Ying could not help butugh.

    He didn¡¯t mention anything about the conflicts within the team. Even when Liu Ying asked him about the Guan Biao, the pyrotechnician, he down-yed it with very few words. It was not something nice to mention, after all, and it might leave the audience with a poor impression towards the team. Even if it was not the truth, he had to create an impression that the entire team was getting along, so that the audience would be willing to pay for the movie.

    A verbal interview alone could not satisfy Liu Ying. There had finally been breaking news in Binhai City that shocked the entire nation, and it was not a negative report. The interview today would surely be yed again and again on the television.

    The audience focused on Famous, wondering how Famous was different from others. Therefore, she made a request to film Famous¡¯ handsome training outdoors. She also asked him to rey part of the film on the spot so that the audience could get a glimpse of the film before the official screening.

    Zhang Zian had no reason to say no¨C¨Cthe request was a piece of cake to Famous.

    Thus, he shouted at Famous, put a leash on it, and headed to the grass behind the shop for a demonstration. There was enough space to run around.

    Famous followed him obediently.

    Liu Ying walked alongside them, asking detailed questions from time to time. The cameraman was a few steps behind them to film Famous from different angles.

    As soon as they left the pet shop, Jiang Feifei walked towards them.

    At first, she didn¡¯t notice the journalist crew behind Zhang Zian. She thought they were regr customers. She told him in a hurry, ¡°Store Manager, a clownfish is dying. Would you like toe over for a look¡­¡±

    Then, she finally saw the cameraman with a camera on his shoulder, and a journalist with a microphone in her hand. She kept the other half of the sentence inside and didn¡¯t speak it out.

    Zhang Zian introduced to her. ¡°These two folks are from the TV station. They are here to interview Famous.¡±

    Then he introduced to Liu Ying, ¡°This is a cashier in my shop.¡±

    Liu Ying suddenly lost herself, taking a while to realize what was going on. It was not until Qin An nudged her from behind that she finally came back to her senses. ¡°Oh, hello. My name is Liu Ying. I¡¯m a journalist at the TV station.¡±

    ¡°Em, hi! My name is Jiang Feifei. I¡¯m working part-time at Store Manager Zhang¡¯s aquarium¡­¡± Jiang Feifei shook her hand nervously, ncing at the dark camera lens from time to time.

    Zhang Zian told her, ¡°I¡¯ll check itter. I¡¯m bringing them to the grass behind the shop so that Famous can perform a few moves for them.¡±

    ¡°Aha, okay.¡± Jiang Feifei nodded and returned to the aquarium quickly.

    Liu Ying lifted her head and saw the sign for the ¡°Amazing Fate Aquarium.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, are you running this aquarium as well?¡± she asked in curiosity.

    Zhang Zian replied, ¡°Yes. It¡¯s still under preparation and not open officially. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    But Liu Ying stayed. She looked sideways towards the aquarium¡¯s inside. ¡°Mr. Zhang, was that girl looking for you for something? You don¡¯t need to worry about us. If you have something to deal with, just go ahead.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing important. A fish might be sick,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°I can handle thatter.¡±

    Liu Ying smiled. ¡°Mr. Zhang, actually we are here for a special report¨C¨Cit¡¯s not only for Famous. You are an important person that we want to interview. Before we arrived, we heard that you took over the shop not long ago, but managed to earn a reputation. You also mentored Famous, such an amazing actor. Therefore, we are very curious¨C¨Ccurious about you. We want to find out what kind magic you have to achieve these amazing miracles. So filming your daily business at the pet shop is our n. Please take it easy and do whatever you need to do. Don¡¯t worry about us, as long as you allow us to film behind you.¡±

    Zhang Zian had thought that they were here for a regr interview, which would be no more than a few minutes on the local news. Now he finally found out that it was a very official, special report. He mooched the poprity of Famous and the other elfins.

    Since she said so, it would be inappropriate to insist on his own way. He nodded and said, ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s get inside and take a look.¡±

    ¡°Wee inside,¡± he said, leading them into the aquarium.

 Chapter 807: Brooklynella

    <h4>Chapter 807: Brooklyne</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Jiang Feifei returned to the aquarium first; she was waiting to inform Wang Qian and Li Kun that Zhang Zian had to go out with the television station and wouldn¡¯t be able toe for a while. But Zhang Zian then came in with television crew.

    ¡°Mr Zhang, your aquarium is very beautiful. It is rare to see such a beautiful aquarium in Binhai City.¡± Liu Ying nced around the store and could not help but praise it. ¡°It¡¯s still under preparation, correct? I think it looks almost ready. When will it be officially open?¡±

    ¡°Probably a few more days. We¡¯re trying to be fully prepared so nothing goes wrong,¡± Zhang Zian replied cautiously.

    He wanted to start the business early to make money, but once he was open, he couldn¡¯t just stop his business at will, so he had to prepare everything in advance to avoid unnecessary troubles in the future.

    The creatures in the aquarium were the wild creatures he had picked from the seaside. When wildlife creatures were suddenly ced in a small, artificial breeding environment, they would not be used to it. Even if Zian were to try his best to prepare the perfect seawater with the perfect lighting environment, the narrowness of the aquarium itself could not be changed.

    In addition, there were also many inconspicuous microorganisms and bacteria in the ocean, and together they created a stable ecosystem. But the aquarium was unable to provide that¨C¨Cnot even with natural seawater.

    But that didn¡¯t mean that putting wild marine creatures into the aquarium would reduce their lifespan. On the contrary, most aquatic creatures were able to live longer in an artificial environment inparison to the natural environment. It was like how a domestic cat could live longer than a wild cat.

    The premise was that the breeder had to havemon knowledge on raising animals and was able to solve somemon problems.

    If it was aplete beginner trying his luck, then that was another story¡­

    He asked Jiang Feifei, ¡°Which clownfish has a problem?¡±

    ¡°This is the one.¡± Jiang Feifei led him to a fish tank.

    Liu Ying gave the cameraman, Qin An, a look and gestured for him to follow the two of them.

    The clownfish was one of Zhang Zian¡¯s first clownfish that he had brought back from the sea. It was an umon variant clownfish. It was still very healthy and lively when he brought it back, but now it was not okay. It looked very weak, and although it was still swimming, it looked very unstable: It was being pushed around by the water flow from the wave pump.

    What was more noticeable was that part of its body was covered with a thinyer of white mucous membrane, which was more pronounced in the darker areas of its body, as if it had just burrowed its way out of a spider web.

    ¡°This fish¡­ I remembered that it was fine justst night, but when we saw it earlier, it was already like this¡­¡± Jiang Feifei said with difficulty and nced at the camera from time to time.

    ¡°Aiya, this is the Brooklyne disease!¡± Liu Ying eximed. Her voice had a peculiar semnce of pity in it.

    Qin An, who was holding the camera, lightly coughed. He meant it as a reminder to her that they were here to film the special report on Famous and Zhang Zian, so she should just watch quietly from the side and maybe create some asional chances for Zhang Zian to show off. She was not to add scenes for herself.

    The two of them were old partners, and Liu Ying was now aware that she had spoken too hastily. She smiled apologetically to Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian looked at her in surprise. ¡°You¡¯ve also raised clownfish?¡±

    Brooklyne disease was a disease unique to clownfish, and if one had never raised a clownfish personally, it was hard to recognize it from a nce.

    Liu Ying knew that she couldn¡¯t hide it, so she nodded. ¡°I raised them for a while, and one also got the Brooklyne disease, which I had cured by chance.¡±

    ¡°After that did you stop raising it?¡± Jiang Feifei asked curiously.

    ¡°After that¡­ it died, not only that one clownfish, but my whole tank of fish died,¡± Liu Ying said dejectedly. ¡°I stopped raising them after that.¡±

    ¡°How did they die? Infectious disease? Or did the water quality suddenly worsen?¡± Jiang Feifei asked.

    Liu Ying smiled bitterly and said, ¡°No, it was a typhoon.¡±

    ¡°What? Typhoon?¡± Zhang Zian and Jiang Feifei were both in a blur.

    She nodded. ¡°Yes. I¡¯m not a local here¨C¨Cmy home is further south, a small fishing vige with typhoons crossing in the summer¡­ Maybe it¡¯s a town now? I¡¯m not too sure. I haven¡¯t gone back in a very long time.¡±

    ¡°Why haven¡¯t I heard you mention this before?¡± Qin An couldn¡¯t help but interject.

    ¡°Because¡­ there¡¯s nothing much to say¡­¡± She smiled bitterly. ¡°It was a very long time ago, and the memory was already all a blur. At that time I was still young¨C¨Cprobably about seven or eight years old.¡±

    Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t paid much attention to her appearance before¨C¨Cafter all, he was a little nervous for his first interview¨C¨Cbut when he looked at her, he noticed that she was not a pretty woman in the conventional sense. Her skin color was not so fair and it looked somewhat rough on a closer observation. It was simr to Jiang Feifei¡¯s skin.

    Qin An pointed the camera at her face.

    ¡°¡­Why are you filming me? We¡¯re here to film Mr Zhang and Famous today!¡± Liu Ying said with a frown, wanting to push the camera away.

    ¡°It¡¯s still too early now, and since there are no other customers, you can just take on the role of the customer and talk about your fish raising experience. It¡¯s also great content for this theme, so don¡¯t disappoint the station leader¡¯s expectations!¡± Qin An stepped back two steps, but the camera was still aimed at her.

    ¡°Yeah, talk about it. I want to hear it, too,¡± Jiang Feifei yelled, then she ran away quickly to get a bottle of mineral water and handed it to her. ¡°Come,e,e, what was that saying again? You have a story and I have wine, let¡¯s sit and chat for a night! Since I don¡¯t have wine, I will substitute it with water!¡±

    Liu Ying became more and more powerless. ¡°Don¡¯t be like this! It¡¯s not an interesting story¡­ it¡¯s just an ordinary little girl with a tank of ordinary fish¡­¡±

    Woof!

    Famous sat down, looking like it was also ready for a story.

    Liu Ying was speechless.

    ¡°Look, if you don¡¯t talk about it, Famous will probably go on strike,¡± Qin An joked. ¡°Being able to tell a story in front of the Best Male Lead of the Berlin Film Festival is not something that just anyone can do. You have to cherish this!¡±

    Liu Ying could not handle their persistence, so she said, ¡°Okay then, I¡¯ll talk about it casually¡ªbut don¡¯t expect too much! It¡¯s just a very ordinary story!¡±

    ¡°Okay, we all understand. Just tell us the story now! If it¡¯s the old cameraman in our station, he would definitelyin that you¡¯re wasting feilin!¡± Qin An urged.

    ¡°What¡¯s a feilin?¡± Jiang Feifei softly asked.

    ¡°Film. Now it¡¯s all digital cameras, so the use of film has long been eliminated,¡± Zhang Zian replied quietly. ¡°While filming, some old-fashioned crew members would like to use this word to show off¡­ it¡¯s the equivalent of adding Mandarin into English, like the elites of a workce¡­¡±

    Jiang Feifei was speechless.

    Liu Ying asked Zhang Zian, ¡°Mr Zhang, are you not in a hurry to treat this clownfish?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, you can go ahead with the story first. I have all the medicine that I need here, and this tank was originally a special quarantine tank. I¡¯ve already prepared for the possibility of them getting sick,¡± Zhang Zian replied calmly.

    ¡°Okay then, let me just briefly talk about it,¡± Liu Ying said as she recalled her past memories.

 Chapter 808: Fish Hook

    <h4>Chapter 808: Fish Hook</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As Liu Ying had said, her hometown was a coastal fishing vige located south of Binhai City.

    When she was young, her parents were busy all day long, either fishing in the sea or selling fish. Her family was doing well economically, but at the cost that she barely saw her parents. She was brought up by her grandmother, which made her shy and introverted. After attending college and joining the workforce, she made a continuous effort to make herself more extroverted, as her work demanded.

    Her grandmother had weak legs and didn¡¯t feel safe letting her y outside with other kids. Back then, human trafficking in the neighboring vige was a big deal. Rumors said that human traffickers from other ces had already arrived and kidnapped a few kids in the neighboring vige. As the stories circted, nobody could find out whether or not they were true. But her grandmother believed them. She kept her at home and didn¡¯t allow her to go outside.

    Little Liu Ying felt that her grandmother favored boys over girls in some way. Maybe if she were a boy her grandmother would have brought her outside to y, even if she had weak legs.

    There was nothing to y with at home. There was no cable for the television, and they could only receive a limited few channels with a deciphered satellite receiver. There were foreign channels, but the signal was bad. They often received nothing but static noise.

    Liu Ying was bored at home. She was always clinging to her grandmother, asking her to tell her stories and y with her.

    Her grandmother might have been annoyed by that. It interrupted her house work. Moreover, her grandmother was heavily addicted to Mahjong and had to y with other older women in the vige each afternoon, rain or shine. One day, her grandmother brought back a few small fish for her and asked her to keep them as pets. Then she locked the yard door and headed to the Mahjong table, worrying that she might lose her spot if she arrivedte.

    The so-called small fish were, in fact, Crucian carps and loaches. Her grandmother might have caught them in the river by the vige.

    Back then, it was easy to catch fish from the river. All one had to do was roll someting into a pocket shape, put some rice or bread crumbs inside, and sink it into the river. After a few minutes, some dumb Crucian carps would get into the.

    Later on, the method was no longer feasible. As the industrial pollution worsened near the vige, fish were barely caught in the river.

    Catching fish in the river had always been the monopoly of boys in the vige. After getting the small fish, Liu Ying was very happy. She had new buddies, which made the afternoons less lonely when her grandmother was not home.

    There was a small empty vat in the yard. Little Liu Ying filled it with water and kept the Crucian carps and loaches inside.

    Crucian Carps and loaches were very tough. As long as you didn¡¯t try too hard, it was hard to kill them. A few rice grains and bread crumbs every few days were enough to keep them alive.

    ¡°Now when I look back, I was not treating them as pets at all. They were just tools to make me less lonely. I¡¯ve done horrible things to them out of boredom¡­¡± Liu Ying said with regret.

    There were fish hooks sold for 20 cents each in the small convenience store of the vige. She made an excuse that she was craving popsicles and asked for some money from her grandmother to buy a fish hook. She then tied the hook to an end of a cotton thread from the sewing machine and hooked a rice grain at the tip. She started fishing, mimicking the others.

    It was easy to hook Crucian carps and loaches. They fought over the rice grains as if they were starving. Soon, a Crucian carp took a bite.

    Little Liu Ying lifted the cotton thread excitedly, but the Crucian carp struggled fiercely¨C¨Cmuch harder than she had thought. It broke the cotton thread and fell on the yellow dirt.

    As it flopped, it was covered with dirt, like a fish coated with flour before going to the frying pan.

    She panicked and tried to pick up the Crucian carp and put it back into the vat, but the scales were slippery, and the dying fish was fighting hard. She couldn¡¯t grab the fish firmly. Instead, the hook pierced into her finger. It was quite deep. Crimson blood gushed out immediately.

    She cried hard in pain. As she loosened her hands, the Crucian carp fell back to the ground, and stopped moving after a few more flops.

    There was nobody else home. After she cried for ten minutes, nobody came tofort her.

    The Crucian carp was already very dead on the floor. Her finger also stopped bleeding.

    She stopped sobbing slowly.

    She lied about buying popsicles and bought the fish hook with the money. Therefore, she dared not tell her parents and grandmother what happened. They might punish her for being naughty. She hid everything in secret, iming that a fish had died.

    Yet, the truth was not that simple.

    After a few days, she suddenly had headaches, dizziness, and a fever. Her parents thought she had caught a cold, but the medicine didn¡¯t work. She got worse and worse, and even started convulsing.

    Her parents rushed her to the hospital in town overnight. The doctor said she had tetanus. If she was sent in half a dayter, her life would have been in danger. The doctor also asked if she had been injuredtely.

    After being questioned by her parents, she finally told them in tears that her finger was pierced by a fish hook.

    If she had not been very sick then, her parents would have surely beat the crap out of her.

    Later, she recovered. After returning home from the hospital, she found out that the vat was empty. Both the fish and the water were gone.

    She didn¡¯t dare to ask her parents, as they were already mad at her and had spent a lot of money on her illness.

    To her surprise, after the event, her grandmother seemed remorseful towards her, thinking that her carelessness had caused her to be very sick. A few days after she was released from the hospital, her grandmother bought her a fish tank from the temple fair. It was a real fish tank, about 40cm long, and crystal clear. There was even an aquascaping mini house inside.

    Ever since then, her grandmother had stopped ying Mahjong and had gotten rid of years of Mahjong addiction just like that. Although the old Mahjong buddies often tempted her, she turned them all down, even when they were only short one yer.

    ¡°Ying Ying, shall we keep pet fish together?¡± her grandmother had asked her with a smile, rubbing her head. Countless deep wrinkles bloomed on her face.

    Little Liu Ying was overwhelmed at her grandmother¡¯s sudden attitude change. She nodded, at a loss.

    For some after she was released from the hospital, she was afraid of any sharp objects. Her grandmother prepared everything for the fish.

    Her grandmother carried the bucket to the beach to get saltwater, then pushed a wheelbarrow to get the sand. She picked up some rocks and put them in the tank. A simple aquarium tank slowly took shape.

    Her grandmother didn¡¯t just buy a tank; she also bought an oxygen pump and a pair of clownfish.

    Compared to the grey Crucian carps and loaches, clownfish were much prettier; they were almost like swans against ugly little ducklings. Little Liu Ying was thrilled.

    She started raising fish with her grandmother, pondering each day what the clownfish were eating. Each day, she supported her chin with her arms next to the fish tank, admiring the graceful swimming dance of the clownfish.

    Those were the happiest days of Liu Ying. For the first time, she felt so close to her grandmother. She was no longer the rude grandmother that forbade her from ying, like she was in the past.

    However, trouble came, anyway. The clownfish eventually got sick and were covered in a white film all over their bodies.

    Her grandmother and her could not do anything about it.

 Chapter 809: Typhoon

    <h4>Chapter 809: Typhoon</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Liu Ying still didn¡¯t know what had caused her to be infected with Tetanus. Was it the old fish hook that she bought for twenty cents from a small shop, or was it the dirty soil that got on the fish hook when the carp was struggling on the ground? In short, it was the most serious illness she had ever had since she was a child. Fortunately, she did not have any seque and grew up healthy.

    In fact, to a certain extent, she was quite grateful to the little fish hook. If it wasn¡¯t for the sickness, her Grandma would not have cared for her, and she would have been too afraid to spend every afternoon alone with only the fish tank, carp, and loach as apany.

    As a small coastal fishing vige, fish were both food andmodity for the vigers¡ªbig fish were food for the people, while small fish and shrimps were food for the chickens and ducks. Not many people treated fish as pets, of course, and they also did not normally cure fish of their sicknesses.

    Grandma was unable to see well with her old eyes, and it was Little Liu Ying who first discovered the white film on the clownfish. Both of them did not know what the white film was, and initially, Grandma even said that the fish was shedding its skin and there was no need to worry.

    Did fish shed their skin? It seemed very unlikely.

    The conditions of the clownfish started to worsen; they no longer ate anything¨C¨Cno matter what they were fed, they just wouldn¡¯t eat.

    Previously, they liked to feed on minced shrimp, because the small fish and shrimps in the fishing vige were not worth much¨C¨Cthey were mostly used to feed poultry. Grandma would peel the shrimps and mince them with a kitchen knife before feeding it to them. They would always happily snatch the food from one another, but now they didn¡¯t eat them anymore. They just let the shrimp sink down into the bottom of the tank and soak in the water, causing the water to be turbid.

    Little Liu Ying had raised her carp and loach for some time, so she was aware that the fish would not starve to death even if they didn¡¯t eat for a few days. Sometimes, the fish would die if they were overfed, so she stopped feeding them and told her grandma not to feed them, either. She felt that they might have been eating too much.

    Both grandmother and granddaughter looked after the weak clownfish; they were at their wit¡¯s end.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think to change the water at that time because I was used to raising my carp and loach. To me, it didn¡¯t matter if the water was turbid or not.¡± Liu Ying had aplicated smile on her face, sweeping her gaze over at the clear and transparent aquarium tanks in the aquarium.

    Grandma had said that the fishmongers selling fish at the temple fair all raised their fish in very clear water. She thought that the hot weather might be causing the shrimp meat to turn bad from soaking in the water. So she proposed to change the water.

    At that time, the rainy season had arrived, and it was raining outside. Since the rain was not light, it was not easy to walk on the road, and there was no way to get seawater back from the seaside.

    So, Grandma thought of a solution: First, she poured out half of the water in the fish tank, then she filled it up with well water. It was a temporary solution while they waited for the rain to stop so that they could bring back fresh seawater.

    They lived in a small courtyard with their own well, which would be dry during the dry season. So, during the rainy season, they would basically not use running water.

    Little Liu Ying was very worried about the life of the clownfish. She wondered if it would be okay to fill the tank with half fresh water and half seawater as the clownfish live in seawater. But she couldn¡¯t think of another way, so she helped her grandmother change the water in the fish tank.

    They first scooped out the clownfish.

    Usually, the clownfish were very clever and were not easily caught, but now they were slow moving like patients, and it only took a few moments to catch them. They were then ced in a separate container together with the clearer seawater from the upper portion of the fish tank, then they drained away the seawater from the lower portion of the tank, which was particrly turbid. Next, they added half a tank of running water and poured the remaining seawater in with while stirring it, then they returned the dying clownfish back into the fish tank.

    After changing the water, both grandma and granddaughter waited without any expectations. They waited for the clownfish to get better and waited for the rain outside to stop.

    However, a miracle appeared.

    The clownfish that they thought were definitely going to die started to recover, and the white mucus faded.

    During that period, the oxygen pump that grandma had bought from the temple was left operating, injecting strings of bubbles into the water.

    Zhang Zian nodded and said, ¡°You¡¯re really lucky; you managed to chance upon the right method. Indeed, you can use fresh water to improve the condition of clownfish that are infected with the Brooklyne disease. The method is to put the clownfish in a fish tank with half seawater and half fresh water. The salinity of this mixture of water would be about 1.01, and it can cause the bacteria that is not used to the low-salinity seawater to die. As for the clownfish, they are able to tolerate the low-salinity seawater more than the bacteria, but the effect also varies from fish to fish. This method cannot be used for a very long time, otherwise the clownfish will die, too.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s also possible?¡± It was Jiang Feifei¡¯s first time hearing that saltwater fish could be ced in a half seawater and half fresh water environment.

    Liu Ying turned and looked at the camera. She smiled bitterly and said, ¡°At that time, it was really by chance¨C¨Cmy grandmother and I didn¡¯t know anything; we were just blindly raising them. But somehow, we really managed to cure the clownfish of their Brooklyne disease¡­¡±

    She and her grandmother did not know that it was because of the fresh water; they had thought that it was because they changed the water.

    In the evening, the rain stopped. Rushing under thest rays of the setting sun while the sky was notpletely dark, they ran to the seaside and brought back some sea water. They then ced the clownfish back into the seawater again, and they were almost fully recovered after two to three days.

    She and her grandmother happily cheered when they finally saw them open their mouths and eat the shredded shrimp.

    Zhang Zian analyzed. ¡°In fact, it¡¯s not necessarily useful to treat the Brooklyne disease through low-salinity seawater since the effect varies depending on the fish. If the fish is too weak, it may even elerate the death of the fish. In addition, you quickly reced the water with fresh seawater and didn¡¯t leave the clownfish in the low-salinity water for too long. You were really quite lucky.¡±

    ¡°What happened next? Why did the clownfish die?¡± Jiang Feifei asked.

    Liu Ying sighed. ¡°As mentioned before, the rainy season had arrived¡­¡±

    After the clownfish recovered from their Brooklyne disease, they had been very healthy. She and her grandmother would periodically change the water. Later, she heard that the clownfish were suitable to live with anemones, so she bought them anemones and decorated the small fish tank, making it look rather nice.

    During the Summer and Autumn seasons, there would often be a typhoon that passed through the small fishing vige, and although the vigers were used to it, they were still unable to avoid suffering certain losses.

    It was a particrly hot summer afternoon. The air felt dense, and it was very hard to breathe. The shirts of her and her grandmother were all soaked, and the sweating did not stop even while they were in front of the fan.

    The weather was too hot and there was no air conditioning in the house. The water in the fish tank felt like it could cook the fish, and the clownfish were in a bad state.

    Grandma went out to look at the sky in the southeast direction. Sheforted little Liu Ying that it was going to rain soon, and the temperature was going to drop after the rain.

    Sure enough, before her grandmother¡¯s voice died out, there was a broadcast that sounded out from the central part of the vige. The vige chief informed everyone that they had just received an urgent notice from the superior meteorological observatory that a typhoon was about to pass through and there might be thunderstorms and winds in a short period of time. He requested for the vigers to prepare for the wind and disaster.

    The vigers went home in groups, including her grandmother¡¯s former gambling friends. Everyone wasining about the typhoon, and all kinds of swear words went over the walls of the courtyard and into little Liu Ying¡¯s ears.

    Grandma sighed. Whenever a typhoon arrived, there was a drop in production in the fishery contracted by the family. The fence could be torn or blown by the typhoon, and if that happened, they were going to lose everything.

    At that time, Liu Ying was still unable to know much. She kept staring at the clownfish, worried about them.

    Her parents called to inform that they would stay in the fishery to try to reduce the losses and told both grandma and granddaughter that they must pay attention to their own safety. They told them to shut the doors and windows of the house, and to lift the electrical appliances and food to higher ground, just in case water flooded in.

    Grandmaplied with their every instruction, and in turn, told them that they needed to be careful, too; she told them to pay attention to safety, and to not risk their lives just for money.

    After hanging up the phone, Grandma got busy. She ced all the valuables in the house¨C¨Csuch as banknotes, passbooks, and jewelry¨C¨Cinto stic bags before tying them well. She then taped the window ss in a ¡°Ã×¡± shape to prevent stones and tree branches blowing in the wind from shattering the ss and injuring someone. She then used the red brick to raise the bed and the cabs, and ced the rice, noodles, and vegetables on higher ground.

    Little Liu Ying also tried her best to help; she passed around the tape and stuffed red bricks under the bed legs when her grandmother lifted the bed.

    The weather was already hot, and the two of them worked out a whole body of sweat. They were not far from a heatstroke.

    When they were about to be done, the sky had quickly darkened. A moment earlier, it was still sunny and hot, but the next moment, the sky was filled with clouds. As if they felt somethinging, the seabirds all pped their wings and flew away from the small fishing vige. The air was filled with a tense atmosphere.

    Grandma took ast nce towards the southeast direction and closed the window; it was ck as night inside the room.

    They did not turn on the lights, as Grandma would be turning off the electric box as the final step of preparation for the wind and disaster relief. She wanted to prevent an idental electrical leakage.

    Little Liu Ying watched as the air bubbles from the oxygen pump stopped abruptly.

    Grandma lit a candle and took out two popsicles from the fridge. Both grandmother and granddaughter sat around the candle and listened to the whistling sounds of the roaring winds from the outside world while they ate their popsicles.

    The clownfish hid in the anemone. Her grandmother was worried that little Liu Ying would feel afraid, so she told her old stories that Little Liu Ying had heard countless times.

    The ss of the small fish tank reflected the image of the candle, and little Liu Ying also saw her own worried face.

    The typhoon was approaching.

    The heat was swept away almost instantaneously.

    The storm and hailstones struck. Huge raindrops and the dense hail mmed onto the roof; the sound of the impact was louder than the firecrackers during the New Year.

    Grandma¡¯s storytelling voice was drowned out by the noise that came from all directions.

    Everywhere in the house shook and made a disturbing squeaking noise, as if they would all be turned into dust by the typhoon.

    The vige¡¯s fragile drainage system was overwhelmed, and the umted water quickly passed the threshold and poured into the room.

    Little Liu Ying and her grandmother both sat on the bed with their feet up. They watched as the water rose higher and higher at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    Grandma tried to use the phone. She wanted to ask if her son and daughter-inw were safe and if the fishery was safe, but the phone was silent. It was obvious that the telephone line from somewhere had been torn off by the storm, which was expected.

    Everyone except for them seemed to have disappeared, leaving only two of them trapped in the house.

    As time passed by, the wind started to lessen, but the water was still rising.

    The water was pitch ck and they couldn¡¯t even see the bottom. It left one with the feeling that there was an unknown danger hidden inside.

    The bed became less stable and wobbled around; it seemed like it was going to float.

    Pong, pong, pong!

    Just then, something knocked on the door, and a voice called out hurriedly.

 Chapter 810: Natural Disaster

    <h4>Chapter 810: Natural Disaster</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When they heard the knock on the door¨C¨Cor the bang on the door, to be exact¨C¨Clittle Liu Ying and her grandmother first thought that it was the wind. But after listening carefully, they realized it wasn¡¯t, as someone was shouting at them from outside.

    Grandmother asked Little Liu Ying to wait in bed while she stepped into the knee-deep water to open the door.

    As soon as the door opened, deeper water flooded in immediately, nearly striking grandmother down. Luckily, a strong arm held her.

    It was Liu Ying¡¯s parentsing back in from the heavy storm. They didn¡¯t even use an umbre, as it was totally useless.

    They didn¡¯t say much, just one simple word: evacuate.

    Grandmother didn¡¯t ask any further. She handed them the water-proofed valuable items, then took Little Liu Ying with herself.

    Her mother entered the flooded house to take the medicine. Then, she took some emergency food, such as instant noodles, etc.

    ¡°What about the clownfish?¡± Little Liu Ying asked, looking back at the fish tank. She was sitting on her father¡¯s back.

    After the door opened, the candles were blown out. The fish tank was pitch dark; nothing could be seen inside.

    Yet nobody answered her. Nobody had time for the clownfish.

    As her mother dangled the sh light, it swept through and illuminated the fish tank. Something shed inside. Little Liu Ying felt that it was the clownfish¡¯s eyes staring at her.

    As soon as she went outside, the storm cooled her downpletely. The heat that had umted inside her body didn¡¯t even have time to evaporate. She was cold outside but hot inside¨C¨Ca terrible feeling, indeed.

    The entire vige was evacuating with their entire families. They were moving to higher ground¨C¨Csomewhere safe.

    There were no more roads in the vige. The river was everywhere. The water was taller than an adult¡¯s thigh.

    All kinds of things were floating in the turbid water, including dead poultry, broken branches, and even some small boats. The boatman rowed the bow while he avoided the obstacles in the water and terrified family members sat on board.

    Even then, grandmother didn¡¯t forget to lock the door, just in case any thieves came in after the flood and stole the electric appliances.

    On the main road, the vige leaders shouted at the top of their lungs, organizing the evacuation.

    The closest army had already arrived, evacuating vigers on jet boats. Dark green silhouettes were going around everywhere.

    Little Liu Ying¡¯s father drove the fishermen¡¯s jet boat there. She didn¡¯t like the jet boat, as it stunk with a strong odor of dead fish and rotten shrimp. She could smell it even in the torrential rain.

    ¡°The clownfish are still at home,¡± she repeated after getting into the jet boat. Cold rain drops poured in as soon as she opened her mouth.

    Maybe the rain was too loud, or the vige leaders¡¯ loudspeakers were too noisy, but neither parent seemed to have heard her question¨C¨Cor maybe they had heard, but didn¡¯t think it was necessary to answer.

    Grandmother held an umbre in her skinny hands to protect Little Liu Ying from the storm. Yet while it rained heavily outside, it still drizzled inside the umbre.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll buy you more in the future,¡± grandmother said, almost announcing a death sentence on the clownfish.

    Her father drove the jet boat and took the whole family outside the vige. Little Liu Ying stared at her house all the way out of the vige until she could not see it any longer.

    After the typhoon, it took a day for the flood in the vige to recede, then another two to three days to clean up the branches and trash that were blocking the roads. Dead animals and poultry that were scattered everywhere were burnt and buried to prevent them from spreading diseases.

    Her family and the other vigers stayed in temporary tents for a few days before they finally returned home.

    Some vigers¡¯ houses were torn down by the flood. They had to stay in the tents, waiting for the vige council to build them temporary houses.

    Little Liu Ying¡¯s house was quite solid and survived the typhoon, but it left a water mark around the walls, marking the highest point that the water had reached.

    The fish tank was no longer where it used to be. Itid quietly on the ground, intact.

    Because the water level was higher than the tank¡¯s center of gravity, it had caused it to float away.

    Not only the fish tank, but the cabs, tables, beds, and all of the furniture were moved around, as if there was a huge party while the owners were away.

    The fish tank was still half full of water. It was very turbid, with green algae growing in it.

    Little Liu Ying scooped inside of it a few times inside with a. There were neither clownfish nor anemones in the tank¨C¨Cnot even the dead bodies.

    ¡°They swam back into the ocean already.¡± Grandmother smiled with her wrinkled face. ¡°The Dragon King has picked them up.¡±

    Grandmotherforted her, asking her not to feel sad.

    Little Liu Ying believed her, yet she still wanted cry. The clownfish were her friends, and she had saved them from death. Even the Dragon King had no right to take them away.

    Somewhere deep inside her heart, she felt that the clownfish were already dead. The livestock and poultry in the vige had all died in the typhoon, along with a lot of fish bigger than they were¡­ they were all floating belly up. How could they have possibly survived?

    The following days after that were very busy, as each family rebuilt their houses and tried to make up for the losses they suffered from the typhoon.

    When it became less busy, grandmother offered to buy another pair of clownfish for Little Liu Ying, but she refused.

    She remembered how helpless she was at that moment. She could not protect the clownfish like that. Even if she got new clownfish, they would still leave her when the next typhoon arrived.

    Her parents¡¯ fish farm suffered a great loss during the typhoon. After reconsideration, they decided to sell the fish farm and switch to other businesses.

    At the end of the summer, she left the small fishing vige with her parents. They rejoined rtives in a nearby city, where she attended elementary school.

    Grandmother was too attached to their hometown to leave. She stayed in the fishing vige in the name of keeping the ancestor¡¯s house. After Little Liu Ying had left, she picked up Mahjong again.

    During elementary school, Little Liu Ying figured out that the clownfish most likely died, indeed. The rain and the flood was fresh water, so even if they had escaped the tankst minute, they would have been unable to swim back to the ocean safely.

    She went back asionally during the winter and summer holidays, but grandmother had be somewhat distant. The short and happy days were gone forever.

    Later, grandmother passed away.

    After burying grandmother, her parents sold the old house in the vige and said farewell to their old life. Little Liu Ying had not been back to the small fishing vige ever since.

    On that stormy typhoon day, grandmother sat on bed with her feet lifted and watched the flood rise. The dark fish tank, along with the faint reflection of light in the tank before they left, was imprinted deeply inside her mind like a non-fading photographic film.

    After Liu Ying had finished with her story, her mood was still buried deep in the old days.

    After first, people interrupted with asional words. Qin An even mocked her while carrying the camera. Butter, everybody listened to her in silence.

    In the dark aquarium, looking at the clownfish covered in white film in the quarantine tank, they seemed to have traveled back 20 years, reliving Little Liu Ying¡¯s helplessness back then. In front of a natural disaster that humans could not fight against, she was the only one that cared about her little buddies in the fish tank.

 Chapter 811: The Empty Aquarium Tank

    <h4>Chapter 811: The Empty Aquarium Tank</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Ever since Binhai City was built, the city had only experienced a few typhoons, and they basically just passed by¨C¨Cnone of them had caused any major damages. Zhang Zian had never experienced a typhoon before, much less a maind girl like Jiang Feifei. Even Wang Qian and Li Kun had put down their work and were engrossed in the story.

    The horror of a typhoon could only be truly felt if one had experienced it themself.

    In the face of such a disaster, it was already very fortunate for one to keep their own life. How would one have time to take care of the safety of their pets?

    The survivor would continue to live on, while the deceased would be put to rest.

    Jiang Feifei felt a little sad and it was not because the clownfish, who were lucky enough to survive the Brooklyne disease, still ended up dying. But it was because Grandma and little Liu Ying became distant again. Just like the death of the clownfish that had bonded them together, the rtionship they had built up had also copsed.

    She had even secretly med Liu Ying. Wasn¡¯t it better if the story had stopped after Grandma told the story about the Dragon Kinging to pick up the clownfish? Why did she have to continue talking through the end? The story with the fairytale touch now had a realistic ending. It was just like the prince and the princess who got together and were now quarreling about their daily expenses every day, before they finally agreed to a divorce and split their assets.

    But it was because of the imperfect ending that she knew that Liu Ying did not make up a random story.

    In fact, it was not a story about the clownfish at all, but a story about Liu Ying and her Grandma.

    ¡°What about after that? You didn¡¯t raise fish any more?¡± The camera was steadily supported on Qin An¡¯s shoulder, and the camera was always focused at Liu Ying when she spoke. He had never thought that his old partner had such a thrilling past.

    ¡°Binhai City rarely experiences typhoons, and now you should have the sufficient capability to protect the clownfish, right?¡± he asked.

    Although he was only the cameraman, he had been out interviewing with reporters for a long time, so he knew when to ask what question.

    Liu Ying was immersed in her memory for a long time. She unconsciously rubbed her right thumb against her index finger. On the side of the index finger there was an inconspicuous white mark, which seemed to have been left after she was scratched by something sharp.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t¡­ No, I actually had ns to raise them,¡± Liu Ying replied slowly. ¡°After working at the TV station, I borrowed a loan to get a house and had my own home¡ªspacious, bright, strong, sturdy, and it was located on the upper floors, so even if the typhoon came, it would not be flooded with water. On the second day, I got the key, I bought a branded aquarium tank of 1.5 meters with twomps on the lid, and an ultraviolet disinfectionmp; it also came with filtering and oxygenating equipment. I spent more than 3,000 dors at that time, and you probably can¡¯t get the same with just 3,000 dors now. But after the aquarium was delivered to my house, I just couldn¡¯t bring up the idea of ??raising fish¨C¨Clike I didn¡¯t have the mood or interest¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was somewhat able to understand her feelings because the person who raised the fish with her was no longer there.

    Or, she was still waiting for the person who gave her the clownfish.

    ¡°So you¡¯ve never kept any fish after that? The aquarium tank has been left empty?¡± Qin An started taking on the role of a reporter.

    ¡°No, of course it¡¯s not empty. It¡¯s such a waste to leave it empty, so I just decorated it with misceneous items.¡± Liu Ying faintly smiled. ¡°When I fetched my parents over to visit in Binhai City, they were surprised when they saw the aquarium. They also felt that it was a pity to buy a fish tank yet not raise any fish.¡±

    ¡°Do they still remember that you had kept clownfish when you were a child?¡± Qin An asked.

    ¡°No. They do remember that I had kept fish when I was a child and that I was pricked by a fish hook and suffered from Tetanus, but they had already forgotten what fish I kept,¡± she replied with a depressed smile on her face.

    After a moment of silence, she regained her spirit and smiled cheerfully. ¡°Oh, yes, my parents have already retired. So, this year, I intend to bring them around the country for some fun, and the first stop shall be at my hometown¨C¨CI haven¡¯t been back in a long time. Of course, the premise is that I¡¯m able to apply for a long vacation from the station leader¡­¡±

    ¡°About that¡­ I think it¡¯s going to be quite difficult,¡± Qin An said. ¡°Currently, there¡¯s a shortage of manpower in the station. So, you would probably have to wait for the graduation of theing graduates, then recruit a few reliable interns before you can apply for your leave.¡±

    Liu Ying let out a shriek and said to Zhang Zian, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mr Zhang, have I been taking up too much camera time? It was originally an interview for you, but I¡¯ve only been the one talking¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, I think it¡¯s very good. In fact, the pair of clownfish you bought may have been wild-bred, so the chances of them contracting the Brooklyne disease is also higher. If it was a clownfish that was artificially bred by humans, it¡¯s rtively harder for it to fall sick,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°Is that so? I thought that the constitution of the wild-bred is better?¡± Liu Ying was surprised.

    Zhang Zian corrected her misconception. ¡°Although the wild-bred are more beautiful, their constitution might not necessarily be better¡ªthe key is not if they were born in the wild. Do you know how wild clownfish are caught?¡±

    ¡°They are scooped up in a¡­ They can¡¯t be fished out from the sea, right?¡± she jokingly said.

    Zhang Zian gave a serious reply. ¡°No, clownfish are always associated with sea anemones. They swim between the reefs on the seabed, so it¡¯s difficult to catch them with fiss. As far as I know, wild clownfish are often caught by spreading drugs into the sea, so after buying wild-bred clownfish, you should raise them separately, not feed them any food, and wait until the residual effects of the drugs disappearpletely and their constitution returns to normal. You must not rush to feed them, or rush to put them together with the anemones.¡±

    ¡°They are caught with the use of drugs?¡± Liu Ying was shocked by what she heard.

    ¡°Yeah, a small dose of the anesthetic drug numbs the clownfish at the bottom of the sea, then they float to the surface of the sea and are easy to scoop out. If it wasn¡¯t for this, the price of wild-bred clownfish might even be a few times more,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°This¡­ won¡¯t it numb them to death?¡± Liu Ying asked worriedly.

    ¡°Of course it¡¯s possible, but for the capturer, they only care about those alive, and one or two deaths will not have much influence on them.¡± Zhang Zian then emphasized, ¡°My clownfish here are not caught by drugs. Out of so many of them, only this clownfish has contracted the Brooklyne disease.¡±

    ¡°So it seems like we should still encourage everyone to buy artificially-bred clownfish?¡± she asked in a reporter¡¯s tone.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°Especially for seawater fish tank beginners. It¡¯s best not to covet the beauty of the wild-bred clownfish, but to choose artificially-bred clownfish, which are rtively cheaper and easier to raise. In addition, due to pollution of the environment and the breeding with artificially-bred clownfish that were released back into the sea, there are more and more variants appearing. For example, the clownfish here in my ce are an undetermined variant.¡±

    He gestured for them to take a closer look at the clownfish in the quarantine tank. ¡°How is it different from the one you raised when you were younger?¡±

    Liu Ying frowned and observed it for a while. Although her memory of her childhood was not very clear, memories that involved the clownfish were still clear. She was sure that the clownfish she was looking at was not the same as the clownfish she had raised.

    ¡°It¡¯s really not the same,¡± she said in a heartfelt manner. ¡°This one is much better than the clownfish that I had when I was younger!¡±

    Qin An interjected, ¡°Just like humans, the mixed-blood are often more beautiful.¡±

    ¡°Probably.¡± Zhang Zian was not an expert in the gics field, so he can only answer that way.

    ¡°Right, I had wanted to ask¡­ Why do you have newspapers stuck on both sides of the fish tank?¡± Liu Ying pointed to the sides of the fish tank in confusion, where it was covered with thick, old newspapers.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand that, either,¡± Jiang Feifei said. She¡¯d been gaining a better understanding of the breeding of aquatic creatures little by little, but there were still many things that she didn¡¯t understand. She was also too embarrassed to ask because Zhang Zian was always busy, so she nned to umte more questions and ask them all at once.

    ¡°It¡¯s very simple: It¡¯s just to block out the light and create an atmosphere like a cave in the sea, which can give the clownfish a sense of security,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°Clownfish are very sensitive animals. Their vision is very sensitive to light and color, and bright colors will scare them, but they will also be afraid if it¡¯s too dark. However, the fun of raising clownfish is that once they mature, they will be able to recognize you and get close to you, like kittens and puppies.¡±

    In order to prove his words, he brought everyone to another healthy clownfish, pinched some minced prawn meat between his fingers, and stuck his fingers into the water.

    After it smelled the food, the clownfish, which was quietly submerged at the bottom of the tank, swayed its tail and swam up towards the surface. It swam a fewps around his fingers before it swallowed the shrimp meat in one bite. It didn¡¯t seem to be afraid of people.

    After eating the shrimp meat, it didn¡¯t leave immediately, but it continued to swim around his fingers, and even went closer to nibble on his fingers.

    ¡°Can I try it too?¡± Liu Ying was very envious. When she was a child, she didn¡¯t get the chance to feed the clownfish in such a way; she had always thrown the minced prawn meat inside and watched them fight for it.

    ¡°I¡¯ll advise you not to do that because they are able to recognize people. If you stick your hand in, they¡¯ll either be too scared to get close, or they would open their mouth and bite you. Clownfish have teeth, so even if they didn¡¯t bite through your skin, it¡¯s still going to hurt,¡± Zhang Zian advised her.

    ¡°That¡¯s a pity,¡± she said with a hint of sadness. She then seemed to have recalled something suddenly and hurriedly asked, ¡°That¡­ the faint light reflection I saw in the fish tank that time, could it be that they were staring at me?¡±

    She was referring to the moment before they left home to seek refuge from the typhoon.

    Zhang Zian nodded silently.

    ¡°So it was like that¡­¡± She was also silent.

    Qin An saw that she really liked the clownfish, and she had such an experience before, so he urged her, ¡°Why don¡¯t you buy a few? If you bring them back and raise them up, you can feed them like this in the future.¡±

    Liu Ying was hesitant. The clownfish in Zhang Zian¡¯s shop were really beautiful, and they were of a rare species. Taking into ount Zhang Zian¡¯s reputation and word-of-mouth endorsement, it seemed like a good opportunity to buy them. If she waited until the aquarium was officially opened, they might sell out very quickly.

    ¡°Okay, I will buy two then. I¡¯ll treat it as a gift for myself.¡± She finally made up her mind.

    Qin An said with surprise, ¡°Two? Why don¡¯t you buy more? You have a 1.5 meter fish tank, and you¡¯re only keeping two fish? It¡¯s going to be ugly looking so empty!¡±

    She still insisted. ¡°I¡¯ll just keep two¨C¨Cincluding this one.¡± She pointed to the clownfish with the Brooklyne disease.

 Chapter 812: Party on the Grass

    <h4>Chapter 812: Party on the Grass</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Liu Ying¡¯s decision surprised everyone. Most people would certainly choose to buy healthy pets¨C¨Cat least, nobody would pick a sick pet on purpose. Yet she chose the clownfish that had Brooklyne disease. Brooklynellosis was a dangerous disease for clownfish and had a very high death rate.

    She knew all about all of it, yet she still made the same decision.

    ¡°This clownfish may die,¡± Zhang Zian reminded her.

    ¡°I understand. But I want to save it with my own hands,¡± she said.

    After seeing that she had made up her mind, Zhang Zian stopped trying to persuade her. He then asked her to pick another healthy one. As the interview was not finished yet, Liu Ying could not take them home yet. She had to wait until the end of the interview.

    Zhang Zian gave her a small vial of fish medicine. ¡°I know that you want to try the low-salt water therapy to treat it, but it may not work. If it doesn¡¯t, put a drop of this medicine in the water¨C¨Cthen it should be cured.¡±

    She took the vial and saw that thebel was all written in English. After reading it through, she found out that it was a sophisticated copper medication. The instructions wereplicated, and it needed to be used inbination with a copper testing solution in case of a copper ion overdose.

    Before she could even ask, Zhang Zian gave her a vial of copper testing solution and a pack of copper absorption cotton. ¡°All medicines are toxic. You should try to use as little as possible. In case you put in too many drops, just absorb the excess with the copper absorption cotton. If you are not sure about the dose, you can contact me anytime.¡±

    Liu Ying sighed. ¡°Science is advancing so fast these days; now there¡¯s specialized medication for Brooklyne disease¡­ No wonder you were not worried at all after you heard that the clownfish is sick, Mr. Zhang. I¡¯ll buy the medicine as well.¡±

    Zhang Zian waved his hands. ¡°I¡¯m giving you the medicine for free as part of our post-sales service. This is the first time we have sold a sick pet, after all. It¡¯d be a shame if the clownfish died in your hands.¡±

    ¡°Well then, thank you.¡± Liu Ying didn¡¯t refuse the offer. She left the medicine and the clownfish for now until she was ready to leave.

    Since they were at the aquarium, Qin An filmed around the aquarium, apanied by Zhang Zian. He exined the special features of different aquatic creatures to them.

    If they could edit his exnations of the creatures into the special report, then it would surely boost the aquarium¡¯s sales. It was said that after a popr food documentary was yed in CCTV, the cast iron woks that appeared in the documentary became so popr that they were sold out. What a deal!

    After filming around the aquarium, the main content of the special report could start: They would now witness the acting skills of Famous in real life so that the audience could catch a glimpse of it before Dog Warrior went into theaters.

    Zhang Zian took Famous to the empty grass field behind the shop, followed by Liu Ying and Qin An. In the winter, the grass field was lifeless. Only the evergreen pine trees struggled to keep some green color. But as spring came, the grass came back to life. Nameless, tough weeds sprouted from the ground, adding a lot of green to the yellow, dry ground.

    Liu Ying was very surprised. Although she was not a local, she worked in the Binhai TV station and had settled down there, so she had spent many years in Binhai City. She had traveled throughout the city but never knew about the barren grass field that was hidden in the old town of Dongcheng District.

    Zhang Zian had been surprised, too. In the past, he used to train Zhan Tian there. Ever since he had gone to Germany, he had left the task with Wang Qian and Li Kun. After that, he had been busy with the aquarium¡¯s opening. It was his first time returning to the grass field since the Chinese New Year.

    There had always been a lot of stray cats lived in the grass field. They searched the residential area dumpster for food when they were hungry. Each time he came with Fina, the stray cats ran everywhere in dismay, then gathered back after Fina left¡­ Yet the grass field was very noisy. There seemed to be a lot of stray cats among the weeds¨C¨Cmuch more than before.

    At a nce, stray cats of all colors chased each other in the weeds, fighting for territory and screaming sharply from time to time. He remembered what Jiang Feifei told him¨C¨Cthat the number of stray cats in Binhai University was diminishing. Were the stray cats all gathering in the field instead? It was possible, since it was close to Binhai University. It wouldn¡¯t take long for stray cats to climb over the walls. But why? Why would the stray cats give up a university campus where food was easily avable to fight over territory there instead?

    While carrying the camera, Qin An was especially sensitive to details. He also noticed the cats, then asked with surprise, ¡°Why are there so many stray cats? Is there someone feeding them here?¡±

    Zhang Zian bowed his head and looked at Famous.

    Famous took the hint. It circled around the grass field, then shook its head gently at him aftering back, meaning there was no stranger¡¯s scent. In other words, the stray cats made the decision to gather here.

    Liu Ying saw Famous¡¯s action and facial expression, then tugged Qin An with excitement. ¡°Did you capture that scene? Could Famous understand what we were saying?¡±

    She had seen it. Zhang Zian had to admit vaguely, ¡°A little bit.¡±

    ¡°So amazing!¡± Liu Ying eximed. ¡°No wonder Famous was the Best Actor at the Berlin Film Festival. It understands humans so well¨C¨Cmuch better than other dogs!¡±

    Qin An reyed the video, confirming that he did capture it.

    Themunication detail between Famous and Zhang Zian would surely be good material for the special report.

    Unable to get an answer, Zhang Zianmented randomly, ¡°I don¡¯t know. There weren¡¯t so many stray cats here in the past. Maybe they gathered here recently.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s strange. Why are the stray cats gathering here? Is this a spot with good Feng Shui?¡± As Qin An swept the camera, he saw a few stray cats fighting on top of the wall.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± Zhang Zian said truthfully.

    Liu Ying whispered something thoughtfully, but neither Zhang Zian nor Qin An heard it clearly.

    ¡°Sorry, what did you say?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Oh¡­ nothing. I just remembered the typhoon in my childhood again¡­¡± Liu Ying waved her hand in embarrassment, asking them not to take it seriously.

    ¡°What exactly did you remember?¡± Qin An pressed on. ¡°Don¡¯t just say half a sentence. This is a bad habit!¡±

    After her partnerined, Liu Ying had no choice but to say, ¡°I mean, are they hiding away to prepare for some disaster? We moved our entire family to a safe hiding ce when a disaster such as the typhoon came¡­ Could they be doing the same thing?¡±

    Qin An smirked. ¡°Nonsense. What kind of disaster could there possibly be?¡±

    Liu Ying also felt that she had too much of an imagination. She rified, ¡°I¡¯m just saying. Don¡¯t take it seriously!¡±

    The listener was paying more attention than the speaker.

    Zhang Zian had a bad hunch. Oddly, Liu Ying could be right.

 Chapter 813: Not Envious of The Earthliness

    <h4>Chapter 813: Not Envious of The Earthliness</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Blub!

    Inside the bathtub, a string of bubbles emerged.

    Sihwa stuck her head and shoulders out of the water, sleepily wiped the water off of her face, and yawned.

    It was quiet towards the direction of the bedroom; there were no other sounds other than the sound of the monkey typing.

    She was still not fully awake. If it wasn¡¯t for the sunlight that happened to shine on the water through the curtains of the small bathroom window¨C¨Cwhere a small angle of refracting light hit her face at the bottom of the tub¨C¨Cshe would most likely not be awake now.

    In the past, when Zhang Zian would go into the bathroom to wash up, Sihwa would often be woken up from the noise. Ever since she had gotten her phone, she had started going to sleepter at night. She would always y with it until the battery was left with only one percent before reluctantly putting it down and calling Zhang Zian over to charge it for her. When she woke up the next day, the fully charged phone would always be ced on the bathroom cab.

    She nced at the screen and took a look at the time. The 100 percent battery gave her an inexplicable sense of security. It was a little short of nine in the morning; it was not toote, but Zhang Zian and the other elfins were used to getting up early.

    Outside the window, a faint voice could be hearding from downstairs. She brushed up the curtains and raised her hand to block the sunlight, then squinted her eyes and looked down. She saw Zhang Zian holding onto the dog and talking to two other strangers while walking outside. One of the men was carrying a camera that looked really professional.

    She thought about it and guessed that the two were probably people from the television station because she had watched a drama with plots set around television stations.

    Zhang Zian went out with them and she did not know where they went. No one woulde up to the second floor for the time being¨C¨Cbecause she had never seen anyone other than Zhang Ziane up to the second floor.

    She pressed on the camera icon, nted her head and did a peace sign, then took a selfie without saying a word.

    ¡°En, today I¡¯m pretty pretty!¡± She looked at her own photo with satisfaction.

    There were already a lot of photos in the photo album¨C¨C99 percent of which were her selfies¨C¨Cwhich all looked a bit simr because the background of the selfie was very monotonous. It was all the same bathtub, tiles, and bathroom shelves.

    Other than the selfies, there were also some ordinary photos, which were shot with the rear camera. The angle of the photos taken was almost the same: They were all taken from the high angle. It was the photos she took of the pedestrians from outside the small bathroom window, and there were also pictures of birds that had descended onto the window sill.

    The rear camera was actually much more powerful than the front camera; it was able to bring the subject closer, and it could also make the picture look much more clear¡ªthe scientific name was known as zoom.

    While the pedestrians were unaware, Sihwa would save their actions and expressions through taking a picture, and after that, she would carefully examine the pictures. Sometimes, she would be able to see the anxiety and desire on their faces. She was intrigued watching them¨C¨Cwhether it was a raise or a promotion, a wish for a rtionship and kids, maliciouspetitions, gains and losses, all them were part of the weight of life.

    She was a little envious of the human leg¨C¨Cwell, she was very envious. Whether they were long or short, fat or thin, they could go wherever they wanted to go¨C¨Ceven on an impromptu trip.

    But she couldn¡¯t, because she didn¡¯t have legs. Although she was able to go on an impromptu swimming trip, the human ¡°traveling¡± wasn¡¯t really ¡°traveling by foot,¡± but by riding in a car, taking a boat, or boarding a ne. ¡°Walking¡± was only a small part of the traveling journey, but for her, she could only swim¡­ The result of herst impromptu swimming trip left her being tired on the beach in Germany.

    Of course, not all humans had two healthy legs. asionally, she would witness disabled people in wheelchairs or old people passing by downstairs. They didn¡¯t seem to me the heavens, but they tended to be optimistic and hearty. They seemed to be happier than those who were healthy¡ªperhaps it was because theycked two healthy legs, so they had less ambition for life and their career. That also meant that they didn¡¯t have to be so hard on themselves or force themselves to bear the extra weight.

    Know contentment and you¡¯ll always be happy¡ªthat¡¯s what Zhang Zian always said.

    Therefore, whenever Sihwa was envious of the human legs, she would secretly rejoice. If she had legs, wouldn¡¯t she be nothing more than a mundane person in the real world, drifting along with life, face filled with exhaustion? How could itpare to being a happy mermaid like her? Even though she was often ridiculed as an idiot by Fina, at least she had the privilege to wake up naturally everyday and ying with her phone until it ran out of battery. The only problem was that she was a little lonely.

    She was lost in her thoughts, and before she knew it, the battery of the phone was no longer 100 percent. That made her feel a sense of urgency because from 99 percent onwards, it was not all that far from one percent.

    She closed the photo album, and the screen wallpaper was the selfie of her and Fina. No matter what it said, Fina didn¡¯t n to take a second shot with her.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s see if anyone has contacted me,¡± she muttered to herself. She then opened her QQ and WeChat¨C¨Cthe chat apps were all registered with the phone card that Zhang Zian had bought for her.

    There were no unread messages in WeChat, though there were four unread messages in QQ, three of which were the news, and one was from the QQ weather.

    Of course, there was only one friend in the chat apps, which was Zhang Zian, and he obviously wouldn¡¯t make the special effort to talk to her through the chat app.

    ¡°Hmph¡­ hmph! One day I¡¯ll fill up my friend¡¯s list and all of them will be handsome, rich, and my long-legged oppa! Let that cheapskate be ashamed of himself and delete his ount to appease the wrath of the world! Wahaha!¡±

    The more she thought about it, the more excited she got and she couldn¡¯t stopughing.

    Theughter may have been a bit too arrogant; it caused the typing outside to stop for a brief moment before it continued.

    While Zhang Zian was away, she decided to try the live broadcast that she had long been curious about¡ªof course, she could still try it when Zhang Zian was present, but who knew when he might decide toe upstairs and it would be embarrassing to be seen by him.

    It wasn¡¯t because she had no confidence in herself; she had already watched a lot of live broadcasts for some time, and the anchors didn¡¯t even have any capabilities. Leaving aside the anchors who yed games, she simply couldn¡¯t understand what they were ying and why they were getting so excited. There were food anchors, who were justpeting over who could eat more¨C¨Cthey would eat 100 scallops and 50 sausages in one go. They were just pigs, and she was traumatized by the chili powder and cumin powder. However, the most speechless ones were the talent anchors¨C¨Cwhether it was singing or dancing, they were all just ordinary and very boring!

    As for the girl named Snowy who came to the pet store for a live broadcast, Sihwa had also watched her live broadcast and her previous live videos. Compared to other anchors, Snowy¡¯s performance was not so fake, but that was about it. Sihwa was unable to see why she was so popr¡­

    Sihwa was filled with confidence. As long as she started to broadcast live, there would be arge number of audience members flocking in, and a lot of gifts would fall like rain. Not to mention that she would bring in millions daily¨C¨Ceven tens of millions were possible. She would leave the cheapskate envious!

    The only problem now was¡­ what content was she going to broadcast live?

 Chapter 814: Pretty Face and Content

    <h4>Chapter 814: Pretty Face and Content</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sihwa didn¡¯t feel that the live-broadcast hosts were all that good. She thought that although she had just started live-broadcasting, she could do better than them. The only problem was that she didn¡¯t have legs and could not leave the bathtub¡­ all she could broadcast was her singing and ying different games.

    She didn¡¯t know how to y games, and ording to Zhang Zian, he couldn¡¯t understand what she was singing, anyway. Did that mean she had to learn human songs?

    She was against this idea, as human songs were restricted to a narrow range to her. Both the high and low keys were stuck in a very small range; calling them ¡°songs¡± was aplete insult to the word.

    Because of that, she didn¡¯t want to learn any human songs. She could conquer the world with her beauty alone, right? Like the expression said: ¡°If one could make a living with a pretty face, then why bother acquiring talents?¡± It was against her fish life principle of surviving on minimal effort!

    She selected a ¡°beauty¡± tag for her broadcast room with great confidence. Then she took a few deep breaths and activated her live broadcast room.

    Wait, nobody is here¡­

    It was normal to have no visitors. Nobody knew about her live broadcast just yet, after all. Even spreading the news from word of mouth took some time.

    She waited for a while. The number of visitors was still zero.

    ¡°What is this! Did the cheapskate pick the wrong live broadcast app? It¡¯s not popr at all!¡± she mumbled andined.

    If Zhang Zian were there, he would have certainly pointed out that she picked the wrong time. How many people were streaming live broadcasts on a weekday morning? Besides, it was her first broadcast. She should at least have chosen an evening; that was when most of the viewings urred.

    Sihwa waited for visitors to enter the broadcast room, ncing at the battery level icon from time to time.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Why is the battery bar going down so fast?¡±

    She tried to think and then guessed the reason: The camera was on. She had learned a long time ago that the camera drained the battery fast.

    ¡°Crap. If I wait like this, the battery will be dead before nightes! What a bad decision! I didn¡¯t think of this!¡± She knocked her head gently in remorse.

    It looked like she would have to beg Fina to charge the phone for her in secretter that afternoon. As long as she could have 30 minutes to charge her phone, then the phone couldst until she went to bed that night.

    Each time she begged Fina, it looked at her hatefully. Most people could not take that look in its eyes, as if it had asked: ¡°Do you live just to y with the phone?¡±

    One time, it did ask her that question out loud. She had answered assertively: ¡°Yes!¡±

    After hearing her answer, Fina was speechless for quite a while. Sihwa should have taken a picture of its face then. But then she considered that if she offended it, nobody would help her charge the phone, so she decided to not act stupid.

    She waited for a while longer, but there still weren¡¯t any visitors in the broadcast room.

    She heard Zhang Zian leaving the aquarium with two other people. The sound of them traveled further and further away.

    At that time, she realized the biggest inconvenience of live broadcast: She could no longer y with her phone while broadcasting. Even if there were no visitors, all she could do was wait.

    As seconds and minutes ticked by, the decreasing battery level was nibbling away her confidence.

    At one point, she even doubted if other live broadcast rooms had visitors, either. But after exiting and visiting other rooms, she found that the other rooms were very busy and active; yet, her own looked like a ghost¡¯s live broadcast room¡­

    ¡°How can it be¡­ D*mn it! That cheapskate will look down upon me!¡± she said to herself while clenching her teeth together. As soon as she thought of Zhang Zian¡¯s stingy face, she wanted to p it with her tail¡­

    She waited another long while, but still no visitors entered her broadcast room.

    After keeping the same posture for a long time, her arm grew tired from holding her phone. Since there were no visitors, she fixated the phone on the soap dish, shower gel bottle, and other misceneous items. Then she adjusted the angle for a sideways filming from one side of the bathtub. Her face and shoulder were captured in the screen, as well as the bathtub rim. She finally had her hands free.

    Another ten minutes passed and there still wasn¡¯t anybody in the room.

    Her excitement slowly cooled down; her mood grew weary. After all, she had yed with her phone untiltest night, and the sun had woken her up very early that morning.

    After confirming the number of visitors one more time, she yawned.

    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll just nap on my arms¨C¨Cjust for a little while.¡± She made up excuses for herself. ¡°Fina naps all the time. It sleeps much more than me, so it¡¯s fine if I get a little more sleep!¡±

    She crossed her arms on the bathtub rim, put her face on her arm, then twisted her body into afortable position. She closed her eyes and fell asleep quickly.

    In the quiet bathroom, time ticked down without hurry. So did the phone battery.

    Suddenly, the seemingly frozen live broadcast screen changed.

    [Little Small Bear] entered the live broadcast room.

    [Little Small Bear]: The first!

    [Little Small Bear]: ¡­

    [Little Small Bear]: What a quiet room. But the girl seems good. So pretty!

    [Little Small Bear]: Hostess, are you there? Don¡¯t sleep anymore. Wake up for your guest!

    [Little Small Bear]: Hey! Hey! Wake up! Wake up!

    [Little Small Bear] sent a moon cake and left a message.

    Five minutester.

    [Little Small Bear]: Crap. Is this an inted doll?

    [Little Small Bear] left the live broadcast room.

    Two minutester.

    [Swordsman] entered the live broadcast room.

    [Swordsman]: Haha! The first!

    [Swordsman]: Wow! What a pretty girl! Is the retouch function really that powerful in live broadcast apps these days?

    [Swordsman]: Girl, are you broadcasting your bath? Stand up. Let me see if you are wearing any clothes.

    Four minutester.

    [Swordsman]: Boring!

    [Swordsman] left the live broadcast room.

    ******

    An hour passed; it was almost noon.

    Zhang Zian was still in the grass field, working toplete the interview with Famous and the other two television station crew members.

    ******

    [Little Overlord] entered the live broadcast room.

    [Mr. Grape]: Wee.

    [Little Overlord]: ¡­Are you weing me?

    [Mr. Grape]: Yes.

    [Little Overlord]: Fine. I didn¡¯t think there was anybody here. I was about to say that I was the first.

    [F*ck The Wildest Dog]: You are not the first. There was already someone here when I entered.

    [Little Overlord]: So, what is the room broadcasting?

    [Mr. Grape]: I don¡¯t know. As far as it seems, it¡¯s broadcasting sleep.

    [Little Overlord]: Crap! There are people watching live broadcasts of sleep?

    [F*ck The Wildest Dog]: The hostess is very pretty, so people would like to watch her sleep.

    [Little Overlord]: Fine; that sounds reasonable¡­ But is she really sleeping?

    [killme]: Let me be honest. I¡¯ve been watching for over half an hour. The hostess is indeed sleeping.

    [Little Overlord]: ¡­How do you know that she¡¯s not dead?

    [killme]: Because during the 17th minute, her eyelid twitched. I thought she was about to wake up, but I was wrong.

    [Little Overlord]: ¡­This is so sick! So what are you watching really?

    [F*ck The Wildest Dog]: I want to know when she will wake up.

    [Mr. Grape]: So do I.

    [Warm and Cozy] entered the live broadcast room.

    [Mr. Grape]: Wee.

    [Warm and Cozy]: Thanks! What¡¯s being broadcasted here?

    [killme]: Sleep.

    [F*ck The Wildest Dog]: Sleep.

    [Little Overlord]: It¡¯s said to be sleeping.

    [Warm and Cozy]: ¡­There are people watching a live broadcast of someone sleeping?

    [Little Overlord]: I just asked this question.

    [killme]: It¡¯s because the hostess is very pretty. So there are people willing to watch her sleep.

    [Warm and Cozy]: ¡­You guys are so boring!

    [killme]: People watch live broadcasts because they are bored.

    [Warm and Cozy]: At least other live broadcast hostesses have some content, such as food, outdoors, talents, and even games¡­

    [F*ck The Wildest Dog]: What kind of content does a hostess need? All they need is a pretty face.

    [killme]: Right.

    [Warm and Cozy]: ¡­Are all men like this¨C¨Cthey think that all a woman needs is a pretty face? Is this too shallow?

    [Little Overlord]: Indeed¡­

    [killme]: Why is this shallow?

    [Warm and Cozy]: Haven¡¯t you heard the expression¨C¨C¡±All good-looking skins are the same. But each interesting soul is unique?¡±

    [killme]: Bullsh*t! Everybody likes good-looking skins. Only the soul itself will find itself interesting, I¡¯m afraid.

    [Little Overlord]: Hey! Stop arguing! Actually, I think [Warm and Cozy] makes sense. But in reality¡­ good-looking skins are just popr! If I broadcast myself sleeping, nobody would want to watch. Who would find out what my content is like?

    [F*ck The Wildest Dog]: I just like pretty faces. How can you call me shallow?

    [First First First] entered the live broadcast room.

    [Just Walk Don¡¯t Stop] entered the live broadcast room.

    [Mr. Grape]: Wee.

    [Little Overlord]: [Mr. Grape], are you a robot?

    [Warm and Cozy]: I like people with content. Pretty faces are from nature, while content is cultivated with nurture. I like hard-working men.

    [First First First]: I, Tianjin Daniel Wu, do not agree!

    [Little Overlord]: I, Shenzhen Aaron Kwok, haven¡¯t talked!

    [Just Walk Don¡¯t Stop]: I¡¯m Nanjing Leonardo DiCaprio. Go away, ugly ghosts!

    [First First First]: Eunuch Li! Here you are! Follow me into the Forbidden City to meet the queen!

    [F*ck The Wildest Dog]: Hehe. If I find you a 1.4-meter tall man with crooked teeth, pimples all over his face, and foul breath as soon as he opens his mouth, would you like him? Can you kiss him?

    [Warm and Cozy]: ¡­This example is too extreme. It¡¯s hard to find a man like this.

    [F*ck The Wildest Dog]: At least it¡¯s easier than finding a hostess as pretty as this one.

    [Little Overlord]: That is true¡­ I¡¯ve never seen a prettier hostess than her on this broadcast tform.

    [killme]: So, regardless of what you said, you pay attention to pretty faces.

    [Warm and Cozy]: ¡­I didn¡¯t say that I didn¡¯t pay attention to pretty faces. Just inparison, I pay more attention to the content!

    [killme]: If someone can¡¯t attract you with a pretty face, then how would you be interested in finding out about their content?

    [Just Walk Don¡¯t Stop]: What¡¯s there to argue about? To me, a girl¡¯s pretty face is more important than anything! As for men¡­

    [First First First]: The criteria for men are simple: Pan, donkey, Deng, young, free, money, money, money, money, money!

    [Warm and Cozy]: What does that mean?

    [First First First]: As handsome as Pan An; a d*ck as big as a donkey; as rich as Deng Tong, the richest man in Han Dynasty; young; and has free time to spend with women. One can only get five points if he can achieve these five criteria¡­ But as long as he has money, he gets at least six points!

    [Warm and Cozy]: Shallow! Dirty! I¡¯m not talking to you anymore!

    [Warm and Cozy] left the live broadcast room.

 Chapter 815: Emergency

    <h4>Chapter 815: Emergency</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Thank you and Famous for cooperating with us for the program! We¡¯re terribly sorry to have taken up a lot of your time.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. You don¡¯t have to mention it,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°Then we will take our leave first. Once the program¡¯s broadcast schedule has been fixed, we will inform you about it.¡±

    ¡°Okay, see you! Be careful on the road.¡±

    Woof!

    The polite words and Famous¡¯s bark could be hearding from downstairs.

    Not knowing what dream she had, Sihwa suddenly woke up. She looked around in a blur only to find herself still in the narrow bathroom.

    ¡°Ouch!¡±

    She had maintained the same position for a long time so her neck was a little sore. She massaged her neck and wiped off the saliva from the corner of her mouth.

    When her eyes swept to the phone, her mind was stillgging, so she wondered how the phone had made its way there. After a short period of confusion, she remembered that she seemed to have fallen asleep while broadcasting live¡­

    ¡°Wah!¡±

    She picked up the phone, pressed the power button, and immediately let out a intive cry. The phone¡¯s battery waspletely used up until it automatically shut down by itself.

    ¡°Wuuu. How did this happen! I just wanted to take a short nap¡­¡± She was deeply regretful.

    It had to be noted that it was just past noon, and it was still too early to sleep through the night. How was she going to get past this long day?

    When she didn¡¯t have a phone, she would always float on the water and stare at the ceiling of the bathroom, or lean against the window to look at the pedestrians outside, or cautiously look out for Fina¡¯s sneaky attacks. But ever since she got the phone, aside from sleeping, she was always holding onto the phone¡­

    Right! Fina!

    ¡°Fi¡­ Fina! Are you there? If you¡¯re there,e upstairs!¡± she shouted towards the outside. Her voicecked confidence.

    She knew that Fina was definitely there because Fina rarely went out. However, Fina did not oftene to the second floor unless she needed to use the toilet, but it rarely required the toilet. Actually, it should be said that those few cats rarely required the toilet, so to bump into them was a matter of luck.

    But every time Fina came up, Sihwa always begged it to help her charge the phone, even if it¡¯s only for a few minutes. After all, charge it for five minutes, one¡¯s call canst for two hours¡­

    ¡°Fina! Fina!¡± she shouted a few times and did not receive a response, so her voice started getting higher and higher, and soon it broke the limit.

    The aforementioned limit referred to the limit of the human ear because Sihwa had identally discovered a pattern. Sometimes, Sihwa would happily sing while she was ying with her phone, but she might have gotten carried away and sang a little too high. Although Zhang Zian waspletely indifferent to her singing, Fina would be mad and reprimand her: ¡°So noisy! Shut up!¡±

    After it happened once or twice, she seemed to have grasped a pattern¡ªwhen she was singing in a sharp, high-pitched voice, Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t able to hear her, but Fina and the other felines were able to hear her. It was probably because a cat¡¯s hearing was much sharper than humans.

    That skill allowed her to avoid Zhang Zian and secretly have Fina charge the phone for her.

    She was very proud when she discovered that trick. Who said she was an idiot? She was clearly very smart!

    Sure enough, not long after, Fina appeared by the door of the bathroom in anger. It red at Sihwa. ¡°It is nap time. What crazy stunt are you pulling?¡±

    Sihwa had expected that Fina would be angry, and the consequences of Fina¡¯s anger were very serious. She had already submerged her body under the water in advance, only leaving her mouth out of the water. She carefully said while blowing out bubbles, ¡°Fi¡­ Fina, don¡¯t be angry. I just called you here¡­¡±

    ¡°You are not allowed to call this queen just because you are too bored!¡± Fina angrily said, ¡°Do you think that this queen has so much time like you?¡±

    ¡°But¡­ but aren¡¯t you taking a nap?¡± Sihwa asked sullenly.

    ¡°Taking a nap is for the sake of staying alert at night in case an incident happened in this queen¡¯s pce!¡± Fina red at her.

    Sihwa smiled disapprovingly. ¡°Hehe! Fina, you are telling a joke again. This is just a small, broken shop, what can happen?¡±

    ¡°Hmph! What do you know?¡± Fina said coldly. ¡°Before you came to the sacred pce, an incident had just happened here at the sacred pce. An evil statue went missing, and it has not been found yet¡ªif this queen was here during that time, I would not allow such a strange thing to happen under the eyes of this queen! It¡¯s an insult to the dignity of this queen!¡±

    ¡°Yi? Yi? Something here has gone missing? Fortunately I was not there at the time, so I won¡¯t have to be treated like a suspect. Hehe!¡± Sihwaughed foolishly.

    Fina nced at Sihwa¡¯s fishtail. She was toozy to respond to her¡ªtreating one as a suspect was an insult to the word ¡°suspect.¡± Where were they going to hide what they stole?

    ¡°That¡­ Fina, can you charge the phone for me?¡± Sihwa stuck out an arm from the water, picked up the phone that had no battery, and tried to hand it to Fina.

    ¡°What time is it now? You have already used up the battery? Are you eating the electricity?¡± Fina said with a sigh. ¡°This queen is not here just to charge the phone for you!¡±

    ¡°Today¡¯s an unexpected situation. I tried ying around with the live broadcast and fell asleep halfway. After I woke up, the battery was all used up¡­¡± she said pitifully. ¡°Help me, Fina! This is an emergency!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re really an idiot!¡± Fina was speechless.

    ¡°It won¡¯t happen again next time. So help me this time, okay?¡± she continued to softly plead.

    Fina knew that if it doesn¡¯t satisfy Sihwa¡¯s request, Sihwa would definitely continue to cry out for it. It would disturb its sleep, and even the other cats would be implicated.

    ¡°The next time you dare to use up the battery so early, this queen will try the taste of garlic stewed catfish!¡± Fina red at her fiercely, then opened her mouth to receive the phone and leaped outside. She had also deliberately bit Sihwa¡¯s finger.

    ¡°It hurts!¡± Sihwa was rubbing her finger andining that it hurt, but she was very happy inside because the phone would return a better phone after 18 minutes.

    Fina temporarily went downstairs. It took a short nap before it returned back upstairs. It handed over the phone that was charged up to thirty or forty percent of battery to Sihwa, before it returned to her nap with a peace of mind.

    Sihwa happily started up her phone.

    ¡°Hm, what should I y now in the afternoon?¡±

    While she was pondering, she heard Zhang Zian, who was at the door of the bathroom, say, ¡°y, y, y! You only know how to y! When are you going to return the rent you owe me?¡±

    ¡°Cheh! Cheapskate!¡±

    Sihwa¡¯s good mood suddenly vanished.

    Zhang Zian walked in and washed his hands under the faucet. He had just performed a series of ssic plots in the Dog Warrior film with Famous on the grass, so his hands were all covered in dirt.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you im to bring in millions of dors daily by broadcasting live?¡± Zian said as he washed his hands. ¡°How many fans do you have now? I¡¯ll bet that there¡¯s not more than ten, right?¡±

    ¡°Wu!¡± Sihwa was poked at her pain spot. She immediately frowned. Why does this guy always say things that others don¡¯t want to hear!

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s still okay I guess. I started broadcasting for the first time today, and there were¡­ there were a hundred fans!¡± She told a lie, and clearly, there wasn¡¯t even a ghost in the broadcast channel before she fell asleep!

 Chapter 816: Adorable Mermaid

    <h4>Chapter 816: Adorable Mermaid</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Of course, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t believe Sihwa¡¯s incredible speech at all. He asked while wiping his hands, ¡°Oh, really? How much tipping did you get then?¡±

    ¡°Tipping¡­ Emm, around¡­ Around 100 yuan. It¡¯s not a lot, but it¡¯s my first day of live broadcasting! The first day!¡± Sihwa emphasized without confidence.

    After seeing her shifty eyes and uncertain words, Zhang Zian knew for sure that she was bragging.

    In the past, when he had tried to do a live broadcast of scooping cat litter, there were no more than ten visitors in the whole day. All of them took a quick look and then left.

    ¡°Okay then, do another live broadcast.¡± Zhang Zian took out his own phone. ¡°I¡¯ll check out your live broadcast room as well.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ Emm¡­ Well¡­ Hum¡­¡± Sihwa¡¯s face suddenly turned pale. She stuttered, ¡°Well¡­ My phone battery is almost dead. Let¡¯s broadcast tomorrow¡­¡±

    After seeing her reaction, Zhang Zian grew more certain that she was just bragging. He continued to taunt her. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Just broadcast for a little while and let me see how many fans you have. If you are not lying, I¡¯ll make sure to fully charge your phone.¡±

    Sihwa bit her lip and stared at him with fury. This evil cheapskate. He must be embarrassing me on purpose!

    ¡°If you are lying, you¡¯d better admit it now. I won¡¯t punish you,¡± Zhang Zian said generously.

    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m not lying!¡± Sihwa was driven mad by the look on his face. ¡°Fine¡­ Do you want to watch my live broadcast? Beware¡­ my number of fans will scare you!¡±

    ¡°Hehe, take it easy. I can take being scared.¡± Zhang Zian smiled with confidence. ¡°Tell me the number in your live broadcast room.¡±

    Sihwa clenched her teeth, then braced herself and activated the live broadcast app. She entered her own live broadcast room. She closed her eyes tightly, then opened them up little by little. She could not bear to look at the number of her fans.

    Not zero¡­ not zero. As long as it¡¯s not zero, it¡¯s all good. Zero is too humiliating¡­ she prayed in her heart.

    ¡°What? What?¡±

    The number of fans was not zero; it was not a one-digit number, nor a two-digit number. It was¡­ 237!

    She rubbed her eyes and looked again. The number still didn¡¯t change. As she activated the live broadcast, another group of fans poured in quickly.

    ¡°Wow, the hostess is awake!¡±

    ¡°The hostess is prettier awake then asleep!¡±

    ¡°Girl, what were you doing just now? I was watching it, then it suddenly stopped!¡±

    Sihwa was thrilled. She told Zhang Zian, ¡°Look! Look! I have 237 fans! Live fans! Look at it now!¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± After seeing her so excited, Zhang Zian grew doubtful, thinking that she could just be acting¡­ But the acting was too genuine. Even Famous could not act better than that. He found Sihwa¡¯s live broadcast room ording to the number she provided.

    [The Hottie Manager] entered the live broadcast room.

    [Mr. Grape]: Wee.

    At the same time, the number of fans mounted to 238.

    Someone asked, ¡°To whom was the hostess talking to just now? A boyfriend?¡±

    ¡°My heart is broken! Pleasefort me! Why do all pretty girls end up with ugly guys?¡± someone responded.

    [se7en] sent a Chinese mitten crab and left a message: ¡°Hostess, let us see what your boyfriend looks like.¡±

    Sihwa was shocked. ¡°Chinese¡­ Chinese mitten crab! A Chinese mitten crab is worth 100 yuan!¡±

    Her mouth was half open. She was almost drooling¨C¨Cnot because she wanted to eat Chinese mitten crabs, but because the Chinese mitten crab gift was worth 100 yuan!

    ¡°So generous! Are you a Tuhao? Or tall, rich, and handsome? Why are you giving away a Chinese mitten crab just like that?¡± She no longer knew what to say.

    In the past, when she had watched television dramas, the hero would give away a billion dors without blinking an eye. She didn¡¯t really know how much that was and had no idea about the conversion rate between South Korean won and Chinese yuan. She felt that the hero was handsome and rich. She had nothing to do with however many billions of dors he gave.

    Yet this 100 yuan was a real 100 yuan; the 100 yuan belonged to her!

    [se7en] sent a Chinese mitten crab and left a message: ¡°Haha! The hostesses expression looks so funny. Does 100 yuan make you a Tuhao?¡±

    Another 100 yuan!

    Sihwa almost fainted from happiness! Soon, she would be able to save some money. Not only could she pay off what she owed Zhang Zian, but she could even¡­ At first, she wanted to buy a cruise and go to Korea. But then she realized she should start with a small goal: get another phone. The battery of one single phone could notst long¡­

    Zhang Zian also watched in astonishment. His face was burning! Why were there so many people in her live broadcast room? And why was there was a tipping Tuhao? Were they all frauds?

    He had heard that some popr hosts falsified the number of their fans. Maybe¡­ Impossible. Sihwa was a newbie. Who would be willing to falsify numbers for her? She could not even pay for her own electricity and water bills. How could she possibly hire ghost posers for herself?

    Besides, the bullet screen was quite active in the live broadcast room. It didn¡¯t look like they were posted by robots¨C¨Cexcept for [Mr. Grape], who said ¡°hello¡± to every single new visitor, just like a robot!

    Bullet screenments traveled across the screen. There were not that many, but Sihwa was not used to it. She could barely follow them with her eyes. Yet she focused primarily on the Tuhaos out of instinct.

    She replied, ¡°Well¡­ Because this is the first time I have ever made money. I¡¯m so happy that I¡¯m almost in tears!¡±

    She wiped her eyes for real; it could not be faked. As she spoke, a few other generous people also tipped gifts of various amounts.

    ¡°This may not be appropriate, but the hostess is so pretty even when she wipes her tears!¡± someone said.

    ¡°She¡¯s pretty all over the 361 degrees! The extra 1 degree is my love!¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t the hostess want to answer? Is it your boyfriend that you are with?¡±

    Sihwa paused, then rified immediately, ¡°No way! He¡¯s just¡­ Emm¡­¡±

    She mumbled for a long time without knowing how to introduce Zhang Zian properly. In the end, she said, ¡°He¡¯s just a cohabitant under the same roof!¡±

    The bullet screen exploded almost instantly!

    ¡°Cohabitant? Holy crap! Hostess, I want to cohabit with you!¡±

    ¡°Hostess, give us your address. I¡¯m heading there to cohabit!¡±

    Sihwa answered seriously, ¡°No. He¡¯s very cheap¨C¨Calways going behind my back and asking me to pay for the water and electricity bills. He only allows me to live in a bathroom. With one more person, I can¡¯t afford the rent¡­¡±

    ¡°Weep! Howe a pretty girl is willing to cohabit with such a guy?¡±

    ¡°Girl! He¡¯s a douchebag! A man that is unwilling to pay for you surely isn¡¯t into you! Leave him now!¡±

    Sihwa nodded. ¡°That¡¯s why I want to make money. I¡¯ll make money to go to Korea!¡±

    Zhang Zian thought speechlessly. ¡­You are nodding? How exactly am I a douchebag? If I didn¡¯t pick you up back at the beach in Germany, you would still be lying there like a corpse!¡±

    ¡°Hostess, do you want to go to Korea for stic surgery?¡±

    ¡°Is this another artificial pretty girl?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s toomon. How many hostesses haven¡¯t done stic surgery on live broadcast tforms?¡±

    Sihwa said unhappily, ¡°stic surgery? I¡¯ve never had that. My face is natural!¡±

    ¡°Hehe, what kind of hostess would admit to having stic surgery?¡±

    She pouted. ¡°I don¡¯t care if you believe me or not. I¡¯ve never had stic surgery!¡±

    [se7en] tipped a Chinese mitten crab and left a message: ¡°I believe the hostess has never had stic surgery. Are you a foreigner? Or a mixed-blood? Your skin is so fair, and your facial features are so prominent. Doesn¡¯t look artificial.¡±

    Sihwa was on the moon. ¡°I¡¯ve never had stic surgery! Foreigner? Maybe. I came from Germany.¡±

    ¡°You are his German sister. No wonder. But what about your dark green hair? Did you dye it?¡±

    ¡°That means that the hostess¡¯s blue eyes are also natural? I thought she was wearing cosmetic contact lenses¡­¡±

    Sihwa stroked her wet hair and said with pride, ¡°It¡¯s all natural. My hair is naturally green, and my eyes are naturally blue!¡±

    The online fans didn¡¯t believe her and started asking questions.

    ¡°I almost believed you, but does dark green hair exist?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of it, either.¡±

    ¡°Human hair color includes blonde, ck, red, brown, white, and gray. But there isn¡¯t dark green!¡±

    Sihwa didn¡¯t agree. ¡°I¡¯m not a human. Why can¡¯t my hair be dark green?¡±

    The live broadcast room became quiet for a short while.

    Zhang Zian thought, Crap. But it was not a good time to talk. He immediately winked and waved hands at her, asking her to not blurt everything out.

    ¡°Haha! Hostess, did you say that you are not a human?¡±

    ¡°If you are not human, are you a fairy?¡±

    ¡°I feel the hostess wants to say that she¡¯s a goddess¡­ This is adolescent delusional disorder!¡±

    Sihwa lifted her chin with pride. ¡°I¡¯m not a human, or a fairy, or a goddess. I¡¯m an adorable mermaid!¡±

    Zhang Zian was astonished. He didn¡¯t imagine that she would actually tell the truth. What would he do now?

    That was not all she did. Before he had a chance to stop her, Sihwa used her waist strength and lifted her long, strong tail out of the bathtub. Water dripped down her wide tail fin.

    She showed her fish tail clearly in front of the live broadcast room audience.

    Crap!

    Zhang Zian regretted it so much. He¡¯d had a chance to stop her earlier, but since his phone was not waterproof, he had worried about his phone getting wet and had acted toote.

    ¡°Look! I¡¯m an adorable mermaid!¡± Sihwa said, content.

    The tail was too heavy once it was out of the water. It only stayed in the air for a little while, then sank back into the water.

    Zhang Zian watched the live broadcast room nervously to see how the audience was going to respond.

    ¡°What? The hostess is a cosyer! Which animation are you cosying? Why haven¡¯t I seen it before?

    ¡°Is there a new Disney animated movie out?¡±

    ¡°Wow! That fish tail just now looked so real. I almost believed it!¡±

    [se7en] tipped a bear w and left a message: ¡°Okay, okay! You are a mermaid!¡±

    ¡°Wow! A 1,000 yuan bear w!¡± Sihwa was thrilled both on her face and in her heart. ¡°Thank you, Tuhao! I am a mermaid!¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless again. ¡­These audience members are in desperate need of some brains! All they have in their brains is sperm!

 Chapter 817: Buddhist-Style Mother

    <h4>Chapter 817: Buddhist-Style Mother</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Ya!¡±

    Snowy woke up from her nightmare in horror. Her sweat drenched the hair in front of her forehead and her sideburns, leaving them stuck to her skin.

    She opened her eyes and pulled the curtains in the room open; it was very dim.

    Instinctively, she wanted to sit up and leave the nightmare behind; however, her body felt very heavy and it was difficult to breathe. It felt like someone was sitting on her chest¨C¨Cshe couldn¡¯t get up at all.

    Could it be¡­ the infamous sleep paralysis?

    She started sweating even more at the thought.

    She tried her best to suppress the fear in her heart and looked down¡­

    ¡°Meow.¡± Snowball was lying on her chest and staring at her innocently.

    Snowy was speechless.

    ¡°Go, go! Get down from the bed! You¡¯re about to squash me!¡± She waved her hands to chase Snowball off the bed, literally feeling the weight lift off of her chest.

    It was not strange that it was so heavy, since Snowball waspletely an adult now. One would, of course, have difficulty breathing and a nightmare if there was about five kilograms of weight pressed against their chest.

    She was still a little sleepy and wanted to sleep in a little longer, but she couldn¡¯t. It was the official opening day of the Amazing Fate Aquarium, and she had already issued a live broadcast notice that she¡¯d be going to the pet store to broadcast live¡­ If she continued to stay in bed, her mother would definitely make some noise.

    Snowy got up from the bed, washed her face, and changed into dry pajamas. She sat in front of the desk and stared nkly for a while until the nightmare waspletely forgotten, then she switched on herputer.

    She essed Weibo, where there were a number of private messages waiting in the tform. She responded to them one by one.

    Most of the private messages were sent by her friendly fans, but asionally there would also be absurd insults and usations. For example, some people mentioned that her live broadcast was not objective and was unfair; others said that the food that she introduced was not even delicious and that people even suffered from diarrhea after eating¨C¨Cthey asked her how much the shop paid her. Was it possible to be awork anchor just by topping up money?

    There were also a number of private messages from various marketing ounts that belonged to the local shops in Binhai City, inquiring if she was willing to take up advertisement offers. They were willing to spend money and invite her to broadcast an episode in their shop so she could share more good things about them.

    For thetter, she would still have the patience to send a polite reply back to indicate that she was not interested and that she chose stores based on her own preferences. As for the former, she used to apologize to them out of fear, but gradually it only had a negative effect. She found out that even after the apology, the other party would not necessarily understand. They would even post her reply on Weibo and ask her forpensation.

    In some of the private messages, there were some people who imed to have seen the Holy Cat statue, and simr private messages could be seen almost every day. When Snowy saw such simr private messages, she always copied the contents of the message into a separate document.

    However, with only a little analysis, one would start to suspect the credibility of the information in the private messages. Often, there would be two or three people who imed to have seen the Holy Cat statue in two or three different ces on the same day¡­ unless the Holy Cat statue was able to fly, some people were deliberately causing mischief, or they were lying for the rewards. If they were doing it for the rewards, then they were both brave and swindlers.

    There might even be other intentions that were much worse than the aforementioned, but she didn¡¯t want to think too much about it. Some of the locations reported were inessible¨C¨Cthe likes of unfinished buildings that had been abandoned for many years in the suburbs.

    She did a little filtering through the private messages received, then removed those with ridiculous and contradictory information. She then put all the other received information into a document file and printed it. She was nning to hand it over to Zhang Zianter that day.

    Snowy was very curious about the disappearance of the Holy Cat statue. The statue had been a gift from her, and then it just disappeared. She was very eager to help, and it was better than being bored from staying at home.

    Zhii¡ª

    The printer started spitting out A4 carbon paper.

    After she was nearly done, Snowball pawed the edge of her trousers, calling out to Snowy as if she wanted to climb up her leg.

    ¡°Aiya, Snowball! You¡¯re so heavy! I¡¯m almost unable to carry you anymore!¡±

    Snowy tried to hold it up and her arms immediately felt the heavy weight. Thinking back to when she had just brought it home from the pet store, Snowball was just like a hairball¨C¨Cit had grown so big in a blink of an eye.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go. Let¡¯s head downstairs for our meal.¡± She carried Snowball and headed downstairs.

    Breakfast was alreadyid out in the dining room. Her mother gave her a side nce. ¡°Yo, is the sun rising up from the west today? You¡¯re already down without anyone calling you?¡±

    Although she knew that it was mockery, Snowy still happily swayed her head. If she got angry, she would be reacting how her mother had intended for her to.

    She ced Snowball on the floor where its breakfast had beenid out. The bowl was raised¨C¨Cwhich was suitable for t-faced cats like the Persian cats¨C¨Cto prevent food residue from getting to their face.

    Snowy also sat in the dining room. She casually dusted her clothes and reached out her hands to grab the bread.

    Pa!

    Her mother urately pped the back of her hand. ¡°Go wash your hands!¡±

    There was nothing Snowy could do, so she ran to the bathroom downstairs, washed her hands, and returned.

    ¡°Look at your clothes, all covered in cat hair¨C¨Cin your room, too. If anyone didn¡¯t know better, they would think that I¡¯m keeping two cats!¡± her mother scolded.

    Snowy looked down. She had just changed her pajamas, and just by holding Snowball for a few minutes, there was a lot of long and white cat hair hanging on her chest.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t my fault. It¡¯s Snowball shedding its hair.¡± She defended herself and grabbed the bread at the same time.

    ¡°Snowball shedding its hair has nothing to do with you? If youb it every day, would it still shed this much hair? ¡­Forget it. You¡¯re heading to the pet shop today, right? While you¡¯re there, cut Snowball¡¯s hair shorter!¡± her mother ordered.

    ¡°No,¡± Snowy immediately refused. ¡°It¡¯s a long-haired cat. Cutting it short would make it look ugly.¡±

    Huff! Huff!

    Snowball made some weird groans under the table. Crouching on the carpet, it squirmed around like it was feeling difort.

    ¡°Snowball, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Snowy threw her half-eaten bread to the side and wanted to pick it up.

    Snowball opened its mouth and threw up a pool of disgusting things. There were even bunches of hair in there.

    It seemed to be much morefortable after throwing up, but it also seemed to be disgusted with the thing that it threw up. It then used its ws to pull the food bowl away and ran to a different ce to have its breakfast.

    Snowy suddenly realized something. ¡°This is the so-called hairball, right? I¡¯ve gained knowledge!¡±

    She hurriedly jumped out of the dining chair and wanted to sneak away, but she was caught on the cor by her mother, who said coldly, ¡°It¡¯s the cat that you brought back, so you¡¯re responsible for clearing this puddle of mess. You¡¯re not allowed to push it to the cleaning auntie.¡±

    ¡°Such bad luck!¡± Snowy sullenly looked for a mask, gloves, paper towels, disinfectant, and other things from the storage room. She then started to clear the puddle of vomit with her eyes closed.

    Ding dong!

    When she heard the doorbell, her mother, who had been supervising her work, went to open the door.

    Snowy wrinkled her nose at Snowball. She then followed her mother¡¯s actions and said, ¡°This is what you threw up. You¡¯re responsible for clearing this mess!¡±

    Unfortunately, Snowball was indifferent and continued to eat its canned cat food.

    Her mother walked back in with a bunch of flowers. She stuck her nose deep into the flowers and took a deep breath. ¡°En, that¡¯s a nice fragrance!¡±

    ¡°Where did the flowerse from?¡± Snowy asked curiously. ¡°What special day is today?¡±

    ¡°I bought it myself, and I¡¯m learning about flower arrangements from our neighbor¡¯s wife.¡± Her mother softly hummed a song and walked into the kitchen to take a vase, then sat on the coffee table and pulled out a flower from the bouquet and stuck it into the vase. She carefully adjusted the angle and, if she felt unsatisfied, she would pull it out and rece it with another one.

    Snowy went closer to take a look. ¡°What a beautiful flower. What flower is this?¡±

    ¡°Tulips.¡± Her mother nced at her and asked without holding any expectations, ¡°Do you want to learn together with me?¡±

    Flower arrangement was an art for women to show off her femininity. It was basically an art exclusive to women. If you just listened to the name, it gave people a feeling of calmness and elegance. A long-term study of flower arrangement could cultivate temperament and enhance artistic aplishment. It could also allow one to decorate their home warmly and beautifully, and to better express one¡¯s feelings to another.

    She obviously hoped for Snowy to cultivate her nature from learning how to arrange flowers¨C¨Ceven if she couldn¡¯t be as quiet and gentle as a realdy, at least she could be like an ordinary girl.

    Unsurprisingly, Snowy shook her head with no hesitation. ¡°Not learning! Flower arranging is not my thing!

    ¡°¡­If you don¡¯t try it, how would you know if it¡¯s not suitable for you?¡± her mother asked angrily.

    ¡°Aiya! Anyway, it¡¯s really not my thing! We¡¯re notpatible, our birth dates don¡¯t match, everything just doesn¡¯t match!¡± Snowy feared that her mother would continue to pester her, so she hurriedly looked at her watch and said, ¡°It¡¯s almost time. I¡¯m leaving! Everyone is waiting for me!¡±

    She threw the dirty paper towel into the trash can, ced the glove, mask, and disinfectant back to their original position, and ran back upstairs to change her clothes.

    ¡°It¡¯s really¡­ making me mad! This foolish girl is just too wild!¡± Her mother was really angry. She used too much force with her fingers and bent a bunch of beautiful looking tulips.

    ¡°No! This is not right! The world is so beautiful, yet I¡¯m so irritable. This is not good! I have to calm my heart! I want to go Buddhist-style! From today onwards, I want to be a Buddhist-style mother! Be it happiness or sadness, I shall remain indifferent!¡±

    She took a deep breath, closed her eyes slightly, and sat quietly without looking around. A smile appeared on her face and it shined with buddha¡¯s light. One hand was supporting the vase, and she pinched her fingers with the other. She looked just like the Guanyin Bodhisattva who didn¡¯t involve herself with the earthliness¨C¨Calso like the pure Virgin Mary.

    ¡°With or without, both are fine. Don¡¯t fight or snatch; remain indifferent to wins and losses. All the troubles are but an illusion. The various unhappiness levels are but fleeting like clouds. Marriage and childbirth are like illusory dreams. However my daughter messes around, I shall remain steadfast. Buddhist-style rearing, all are cheering. Amitabha, praise and praise.¡±

    Muttering words from her mouth, and under constant self-suggestion, her mood gradually became more cheerful. All the previous negative emotions were swept away, and her body felt light as if she was floating in the clouds. She even had a feeling that there should be buddha¡¯s light emitting behind her, and a halo above her head¡­

    Snowy grabbed her phone and carried the cat bag, running and jumping her way downstairs.

    ¡°Mom, I¡¯m heading out!¡±

    After she ran out two steps, she turned around and saw the tulip on the table that had bloomed beautifully. She thought to herself that it wouldn¡¯t be nice to go to the opening of the aquarium empty-handed, and there should be no problem in giving a few tulips, right?

    ¡°Mom, I¡¯ll be taking a few flowers. Anyway, there¡¯s still so much so it shouldn¡¯t matter,¡± Snowy said casually, taking a few golden colored tulips from the bouquet and running out the door.

    Her mother suddenly opened her eyes and saw Snowy leave with all the golden tulips, leaving her with only the red, pink, and white ones. How was she going to arrange the flowers now?

    ¡°Come back right now! Put the flowers back! Buy some yourself if you want to give it away!¡± she screamed at the top of her lungs.

    Unfortunately, Snowy had already run far away so she couldn¡¯t hear her mother¡¯s roar.

    Sure enough, she was still unable to be a Buddhist-style mother.

 Chapter 818: An Innocent Live Broadcast Hostess

    <h4>Chapter 818: An Innocent Live Broadcast Hostess</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°How¡¯s everything? Are you ready? Is anything missing?¡± Zhang Zian asked after walking into the aquarium.

    ¡°Master, everything is set. Just rest assured!¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun assured him in confidence.

    ¡°I should be fine. Maybe I¡¯m not quite familiar with certain tasks¡­ I¡¯m afraid of making mistakes.¡± Jiang Feifei seemed a bit nervous.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s the first time for everybody. All you need to think is¨C¨CIf there is a mistake, it must be the customer¡¯s fault. That will do,¡± he said tofort them.

    ¡°¡­Fine.¡± Jiang Feife didn¡¯t know if he was joking or not; she nodded in agreement anyway.

    The big clean-up started early in the morning. The aquarium was squeaky clean¨C¨Cbut since the lighting was dark, the dirt would not show regardless.

    Colorful lights brightened up rows of aquarium tanks. Newly installed chillers directed cold and hot water to their appropriate tanks through different water tubes hidden under the tanks,pleting the heat exchange.

    ¡°Store Manager, I have a question,¡± Jiang Feifei said. ¡°Why not keep the corals and the fish in the same aquarium tank? Wouldn¡¯t that save both work and materials¨C¨Cnot to mention look better?¡±

    With the exception of a few aquarium tanks, the fish and the corals in the shop were kept separately.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°You are right; it would save us work. But you need be aware that we sell the fish¨C¨Cwe don¡¯t keep the fish forever. It¡¯s indeed prettier when fish and corals are kept together. But after the fish and corals have formed a stable ecosystem, then someone suddenly buys the fish away, how can you refuse to sell them? If a crucial link is missing in a stable ecosystem, things can easily go wrong. Therefore, it¡¯s better to keep them separate¨C¨Cexcept in the disy tanks, which are not for sale.¡±

    Both the fish and the corals in the tanks were very dynamic. Usually a new batch was brought in before the older batch had been sold out. It was very hard to keep fish and corals together, as it was not as simple as dumping fish into a coral tank. For an aquarium, it was not worth the trouble.

    ¡°There¡¯s another reason. Fish often get sick and medication is needed. Sometimes you even have to disinfect the entire tank, scrap the entire ecosystem, and start over again. This is called ¡®restarting the tank.¡¯ If we mix the fish with the corals, it would be too expensive to restart the tank,¡± he exined further. ¡°It¡¯s indeed nicer to keep the fish and corals together, but it¡¯s not a good way to do business.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see.¡± Jiang Feifei understood everything.

    Zhang Zian toured around the shop and didn¡¯t find anything wrong.

    ¡°Oh right. I wanted to ask¨C¨Cdo you watch live broadcasts?¡± he asked.

    ¡°We do!¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun suddenly had their spirits boosted after hearing this.

    ¡°I don¡¯t watch live broadcasts. I don¡¯t have time, nor any interest.¡± Jiang Feifei shook her head.

    Zhang Zian asked again, ¡°What kind of broadcasts do you watch then?¡±

    ¡°Games!¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun answered in one voice.

    ¡°There are a lot of gaming broadcasts. Whom do you follow? Does it have anything to do with how pretty the host is?¡± Zhang Zian continued to ask.

    ¡°Emm¡­¡± The two of them hesitated and didn¡¯t answer right away. ¡°I don¡¯t think so? We follow the funniest hosts. It doesn¡¯t have anything to do with their faces¡­ Most game broadcast hosts are ugly, while the hostesses abuse the retouch function. We only watch the game, anyway. It doesn¡¯t matter how pretty or ugly they look¡­¡±

    ¡°Fine. You both are very straight.¡± Zhang Zian expressed his admiration.

    ¡°Thank you, Master, for thepliment!¡± The two of them shook their hands in contentment.

    ¡°I¡¯m notplimenting you guys!¡±

    Jiang Feifei interrupted them. ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve watched live broadcasts once or twice in the past, mainly with my roommates. We watch male hosts sing, dance, or simply chit chat¡­ In fact, I find it boring. If you want to watch people sing or dance, just watch the variety shows or concerts. They are not that good anyway. But my roommates like watching it.¡±

    ¡°Why do your roommates like watching it?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Because the hosts are handsome. Besides, my roommates often spend money on tipping, just so that the hosts will smile and say ¡®thank you, sweetheart,¡¯ or ¡®thank you, my little angel,¡¯ etc,¡± Jiang Feifeiined. ¡°I don¡¯t understand it. My imagination is limited by my poverty!¡±

    ¡°Okay. I see.¡± Zhang Zian nodded.

    He had watched Sihwa¡¯s live broadcast the other day. She didn¡¯t do anything except sit in a bathtub and answer the audience¡¯ questions, while asionally acting silly. Yet the audience number kept growing. There were people tipping all the time. Someone even tipped a bear w¡­ That was equivalent to 1000 yuan. It also posted notifications in other live broadcast rooms, thus redirecting the audience.

    That caused more and more people to join her live broadcast room. At the peak hour, there was nearly 1,000 people!

    Sihwa wanted to continue with the broadcast, but her phone battery was dying. Unable to charge the phone in the bathroom, she had to, regretfully, end the broadcast.

    Zhang Zian felt as if he were dreaming. He could not understand, by any means, how a newbie hostess, who didn¡¯t know anything, could attract so many audience members on the first day. Was it only because of her pretty face?

    Sihwa¡¯s beauty was beyond all doubt. It was not beauty from the world; it had too much loftiness and distance from the earth. It was almost as impable as an ancient Greek goddess statue¡­ But despite so, it didn¡¯t make sense!

    After asking Jiang Feifei, he had more or less realized that men were not the only ones with sperm running through their brain. Many women also fancied the handsome hosts in front of the screen. They were willing to pay big bucks to make them smile.

    Besides, Sihwa¡¯s beauty was so much beyond those coquettish hosts¡­

    After finishing the live broadcast, Sihwa showed off in front of him in pride, asking him to keep his promise to fully charge her phone.

    Of course, Zhang Zian could not break his promise; otherwise he would have been a bad example for her. However, he warned her seriously that she could never show her tail, or body, in the future. The audience was only allow to see what was above her shoulders.

    Sihwa was very dissatisfied and asked him why.

    He provided an unquestionable reason: The government was imposing more and more regtions to live broadcast tforms. The tforms responded with more and more restrictions. Doing live broadcast in a bathtub was already borderline. If one posed in front of the audience in a bikini, their ount would be suspended sooner orter.

    Sihwa had nothing else to say. She had to agree in anger.

    Ever since that day, the name ¡°Mermaid Cosyer¡± had spread within a small range. Audience members thought that she was cosying a mermaid, and did an excellent cosy job. In fact, it was not hard to fabricate an artificial fish tail to cover the legs¨C¨Cit was much easier than duplicating the ornamental armor and sophisticated weapons in animations.

    Zhang Zian eximed that it seemed like Snowy was such an innocent hostess in the live broadcasting business¡­

 Chapter 819: Information Inquiring

    <h4>Chapter 819: Information Inquiring</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    A few people were conversing about live broadcasts and guessing the annual ie of poprwork anchors. Zhang Zian then saw a police car stop in front of the door.

    When he saw the familiar license te, he knew that Sheng Ke hade.

    Sure enough, Sheng Ke got out of the car, beaming. He walked happily towards the aquarium and shook hands with Zhang Zian at the door.

    ¡°Shop Manager Zhang, your business is getting bigger!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention that. I borrowed some money and I¡¯m still in debt¡­ If there¡¯s no business, I can only starve.¡± Zhang Zianughed. ¡°Captain Sheng, how did you find the time to visit today? Oh, right, it¡¯s the weekend¡ªlook at my memory. Since leaving the ranks of office workers, I can no longer differentiate the weekdays from the weekends!¡±

    He had chosen the opening day of the aquarium to be on a weekend in order to attract customers. The pet shop also had a promotion going on¨C¨Call pet supplies were at a 20 percent discount.

    ¡°That¡¯s because you¡¯re too busy with your business!¡± Sheng Ke looked at the aquarium and he couldn¡¯t stop nodding his head.

    ¡°Stop with the jokes, Captain Sheng. Quick,e in and sit down for a while!¡± Zhang Zian invited Sheng Ke to enter, then gestured for Wang Qian to bring a chair over.

    Sheng Ke waved his hand and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need for a chair; I have to return to the station in a while. Don¡¯t you see that I¡¯m still in my uniform? Actually, I came to visit today in a private capacity. The brothers from the police dog team have made a banner and asked me to send it to you.¡±

    ¡°Oh, they didn¡¯t have to¡­¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Sheng Ke didn¡¯t allow Zian to refuse. He opened the trunk of the police car and took out a red pennant that had a golden tassel on it, then disyed it to Zhang Zian.

    A couplet was embroidered onto the pennant¡ªFlowers, fowls, fishes, and worms, the power of nature to fascinate. Sons, daughters, and heroes, their affections carry a separate stimte.

    At the bottom, it was signed off by all the officers and men of the Police Dog Unit and all the police dogs.

    ¡°The brothers in the Police Dog Unit are busy with their tasks. Almost every day, they have to patrol, perform security checks, and track down subjects. It¡¯s really hard for them to take a break. When they heard that you were going to start an aquarium, they all volunteered to have this pennant custom made. Although it isn¡¯t worth much, it holds the appreciation and feelings the brothers and sisters have for you. I hope that you do not refuse to ept it,¡± Sheng Ke exined in detail.

    ¡°To think that everyone has been thinking about me so much. I¡¯m really embarrassed¡­¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re family. There¡¯s no need to be so courteous.¡± Sheng Ke interrupted his words.

    It was difficult to refuse their kindness, so Zhang Zian took the pennant and told Wang Qian and Li Kun to hang it on the door of the store entrance.

    He had only found evidence that the pyrotechnics were deliberately injuring the police dog during the filming by chance, and was then regarded as part of the family by the officers and men of the Police Dog Unit. Even after so long, they were still paying attention to his movements. Although he had not informed them¨C¨Cwhether it was during the re-opening of the pet shop or the new opening of this aquarium¨C¨Cthey had sent him a pennant. It expressed their support in such a simple way, which moved him greatly.

    It was like what was on the pennant: Sons, daughters, and heroes, their affections carry a separate stimte.

    Wang Qian stood on the chair and hung the pennant on the wall, while Li Kun watched from below and suggested where to shift it so Wang Qian wouldn¡¯t hang it up nted.

    Zhang Zian led Sheng Ke around the aquarium, ying his part as the host.

    Sheng Ke was full of praise for the arrangement of aquarium tanks and lights. The peculiar marine creatures and high-tech aquarium equipment left him amazed.

    After the tour, the two returned to the door again, and Sheng Ke mentioned that he had to take his leave.

    Zhang Zian knew that Sheng Ke was busy with his official duties¨C¨Che even worked overtime on the weekends. It was really rare for him to take out time to visit, so Zian did not persuade him to stay. Instead, Zian personally walked him out.

    He helped Sheng Ke open the car door, and Sheng Ke thanked him as he sat inside the car.

    ¡°Right, Captain Sheng, there¡¯s something that I¡¯d like to inquire from you¡ªif it¡¯s not convenient for you to answer, please let me know. It¡¯s okay,¡± Zian said, suddenly recalling his previous doubts. He leaned against the window.

    ¡°Oh? What is it? Tell me about it.¡± Sheng Ke was quite surprised. After all, Zhang Zian always knew when to stop and had never gone overboard with his requests.

    Zhang Zian was actually hesitant. He felt that he was making a fuss over a trifling matter by inquiring from Sheng Ke regarding the matter. But if he didn¡¯t ask¡­ He just couldn¡¯t seem to calm down.

    ¡°Captain Sheng, has the police recently received any reports on cat abuse?¡± he asked without beating around the bush.

    ¡°Cat abuse?¡± Sheng Ke was in a blur upon hearing Zian¡¯s question.

    ¡°Yes, cat abuse. Were there any citizens who have reported to the police as a witness to a cat abuse incident?¡± Zhang Zian further exined.

    Recently, Zian felt that the seemingly calm Binhai City had an undercurrent. There may have been some connections behind those seemingly isted incidents, but Zian was also unable to exin the reasoning behind his suspicions.

    From the Spring Festival¨C¨Cno, even from before the beginning of the Spring Festival¡­ Since the fall of the Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base, the gears of fate had begun to turn quietly.

    Love Lovely Pets was like the first domino, and since its fall, fate had turned sharply in an unpredictable direction.

    Sun Xiaomeng had to make repeated trips to perform emergency treatments because cats were attacked and suffered injuries.

    The stray cats that had lingered around Binhai University for years had fled and ran to the uninhabited green space behind the pet shop.

    If Zian was just an ordinary person, then it would be unlikely for him to be acutely aware of the anomaly and connect the two points. But when he considered the sudden disappearance of the Holy Cat statue in the store, or even the chances of it bing a new elfin from the strength of faith¡­ The situation waspletely different.

    Where did the power of faith in the Holy Cat statuee from?

    If the three incidents were not isted, but instead had connections as he suspected, then all the clues were pointing to cat abuse.

    Cat abuse was not a phenomenon that had only been seen in recent years. It was because of the boom in mobile phones and the inte in recent years that videos of cat abuse incidents had been frequently brought forward to the public eye.

    It was not because the number of bad guys had increased in recent years¨C¨Cthey always liked to abuse cats¨C¨Cbut it was because the media used to be underdeveloped, so the cat abuse incidents had never appeared in front of the public eye.

    The mobile inte was a double-edged sword: It could direct the pressure of the public opinion and condemnation towards the cat abusers, but cat abusers, on the other hand, were also able to lurk in various QQ group chats and WeChat group chats to conveniently exchange their experiences and methods for abusing cats.

    In other words, a veteran of cat abuse in the group chats could cause more and more people to be interested in cat abuse. They would also quickly grasp the methods of cat abuse and how to avoid the public¡¯s sight.

    As a result, the evil strength of faith began to generate and they gathered together, one by one, and could eventually form a typhoon-like disaster.

    At present, all of it was just Zhang Zian¡¯s spection. There was no substantial evidence, so he wascking the confidence when he asked Sheng Ke.

    Sheng Ke frowned. He thought for a moment, then slowly shook his head.

    ¡°Is it inconvenient?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    If Sheng Ke expressed that it was not convenient to disclose such information, then nothing could be done. After all, it was an internal matter in the police system.

    ¡°That¡¯s not it.¡± Sheng Ke seemed to be thinking about something. He did not answer Zian directly, but asked him back, ¡°You should know that, at present, there¡¯s no legition on animal abuse in China, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I do.¡± Zhang Zian nodded.

    ¡°If you¡¯re asking about the recent murder cases or recent reports on robbery cases, then I have noment because murder and robbery are illegal and it is not convenient for me to disclose such information to the general public. However, what you¡¯re asking is about the recent reports of any cat abuse incidents, so there¡¯s nothing I can¡¯t say about it. After all, it isn¡¯t illegal to abuse cats,¡± Sheng Ke exined.

    Zhang Zian quietly waited for what Sheng Ke was going to say next.

    Sheng Ke¡¯s tone changed. ¡°But, regarding your question, I still have noment. I really have no idea¡ªI¡¯m in charge of the major crime cases, so the reports on any cat abuse incidents, if there are any, would fall under the responsibility of the civil police, and would not be reported to me.¡±

    Zhang Zian realized that he had indeed asked the wrong person. If Sheng Ke were to even manage such matters, he would really throw up blood like Zhuge Liang.

    However, Zian did not know anyone from the civil police. He only had the experience of finding his own wallet, and not the previous experience of finding someone else¡¯s wallet before handing it over to the police uncle from the civil police¡­

    When Sheng Ke saw the disappointment in Zian¡¯s face, he smiled andforted him. ¡°It¡¯s okay, when I have the time, I¡¯ll help you inquire about it. It¡¯s all inside the police system, so it¡¯ll just take a few phone calls from me.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for that,¡± Zhang Zian said apologetically. In the end, he still had to trouble Sheng Ke.

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. It¡¯s just a small matter.¡± Sheng Ke started up the car. While looking at the front, he smiled and said, ¡°Shop Manager Zhang, it was embroidered on the pennant: ¡®Flowers, fowls, fishes, and worms, the power of nature to fascinate,¡¯ but unfortunately, you have birds and fish here, but there are no flowers or worms. But look, the flowers are here.¡±

    Zhang Zian traced Sheng Ke¡¯s line of sight and saw a taxi parked outside the door of the store. Snowy got off the car while holding onto a small bunch of flowers. She then took the cat bag out from the back seat of the car.

    ¡°I¡¯ll not disturb you then. I¡¯ll be heading off first.¡± Sheng Ke waved his hand, rolled up the window, and drove away from the pet shop.

    Zhang Zian also waved to the back of the police car, then went forward to greet Snowy.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, the aquarium is now open and may it prosper!¡± Snowy made a funny face. ¡°The Holy Cat statue I sentst time is now missing, and I don¡¯t have other gifts this time. I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s suitable to gift gold-colored tulips for the shop opening, but even if it¡¯s not suitable, please try to make do with it!¡±

    ¡°Wee, wee! Nothing is unsuitable. I don¡¯t know the flowernguages, but I will ept it as long as it¡¯s a gift!¡±

    Zhang Zian took the bouquet of tulips. The golden petals matched the emerald green stem and they looked fresh and beautiful. There weren¡¯t many of them¨C¨Cjust a few stalks.

    ¡°They look really high-grade, unlike the ordinary tulip¡­ Thank you!¡± He thanked Snowy, and it seemed like the cat bag was a little heavy. Snowy had some difficulties carrying it with one hand. After giving away the flowers, Snowy used her empty hand to carry the bag with both hands.

    In the cat bag, the face of a Persian cat could be seen as it peeked out with slight uneasiness.

    ¡°Are you here to bathe the cat? Let me help you carry that.¡±

    Snowy had wanted to refuse his offer, but Zian still took the cat bag.

    ¡°Yo, did this cat get fatter again?¡± After Zhang Zian took the bag from Snowy, he really felt the weight of the cat. It was really not light, but it was still very easy for him to carry.

    Snowy nodded and smiled. ¡°Haha, yes it got fatter again¡ªin fact, this time I¡¯m not here to bathe it but to give it a haircut. I need to cut its hair short¡­ My mom is alwaysining that there¡¯s cat hair everywhere. Um, maybe I¡¯ll give it a bath after the haircut to wash away the excess hair, so I can prevent my mum from nagging! Recently, my mom is behaving weird. She was just meditating on the chair earlier! ¡±

 Chapter 820: Prank

    <h4>Chapter 820: Prank</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Snowy didn¡¯t know why her mother had been neurotic, nor why she had been sitting in the lotus positiontely. In fact, it was because she wanted to be a Buddhist-style mother after Snowy had annoyed her, but she failed all the time.

    ¡°When I was eating breakfast this morning, Snowball suddenly vomited. It puked out a puddle of disgusting stuff with a lot of cat hair in it. I had to suck up my nausea and clean it up,¡± she said with a bitter face. ¡°Is it because its hair is too long?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not because of the long hair. It¡¯s now shedding season, especially for long-hair cats such as Persian cats. They shed heavily. Cats like to lick their hair, which cannot be digested. It will form a ball, and then be puked out,¡± Zhang Zian corrected. ¡°Cutting its hair short is the right choice. We have short springs anyway; it¡¯ll get hot soon and the long hair will make it very ufortable. You can feed it some hairball remedy after you get home.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Snowy nodded in agreement.

    She knew that Zhang Zian didn¡¯t offer any pet grooming services at his shop. She had to cut Snowball¡¯s hair by herself if needed, but that was fine. She wouldn¡¯t entrust others with the task. The reason she didn¡¯t cut it at home was that Snowball always behaved very well each time it came to the pet shop.

    As they were talking at the entrance, a few young people came over merrily.

    ¡°Snowy, we are your fans! We knew that you were live broadcasting here today, so we came to watch. We can be on camera at the same time,¡± they said.

    They seemed to know each other. Maybe they were ssmates or colleagues.

    ¡°Thank you! No problem!¡± Snowy answered with a big smile.

    Such things happened a lot. Most of her audience members were Binhai locals. The fans often recognized her while she walked in streets. The die-hard fans even showed up in the broadcast locations that she had forecasted and asked to be shown on camera.

    After getting Snowy¡¯s permission, they turned to Zhang Zian and said after a short silence, ¡°We know you¨C¨Cyou are the Sexual Harassment Store Manager! Time for a duel!¡±

    Zhang Zian stepped back, made a ¡°T¡± with his hands and said, ¡°Wait! Why are you calling a duel right at the start? It¡¯s uwful to fight in public! I won¡¯t ask why you¡¯re calling a duel, but which one of you will duel against me? Stand out!¡±

    ¡°We will duel against you together,¡± they said with righteous confidence. ¡°We can also give you a chance to duel against all of us.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought, ¡­You want a group fight, don¡¯t you? Cut the fancy words!

    A short guy among them was observant and noticed the Wuling Hong Guang parked in front of the shop. He gave the others a meaningful look.

    Before Zhang Zian could realize what was happening, they took a red banner with some big words written on it out of someone¡¯s purse. He could not see the banner clearly.

    His anger turned into happiness as he thought that they were there to congratte him. Except that they gave him a banner instead of a pennant¡­ and the banner was wrinkled and of poor quality. Apparently, it was poorly made in a rush.

    But that was fine. It was better than nothing.

    Two tall guys grabbed the banner by the two ends¨C¨Cone on the left and the other on the right¨C¨Cand stood behind Zhang Zian. Others took out their phones, searching for the best angle for pictures and videos.

    Zhang Zian cooperated with a smile.

    A girl dubbed a voice while trying hard not tough out loud. ¡°Store Manager Zhang joined the pet industry less than a year ago. He purchased a Wuling Hong Guang as the fruit of his hard work! He¡¯s a new role model in sexual harassment. He poses with his left hand and ps his own face with his right hand! He is enthusiastic, young, and energetic. He bought a Wuling Hong Guang so that all the cats and dogs in his pet shop can have a ride¡­¡±

    After that, she was no longer able to read her script. She held her stomach and bent down to the ground.

    As Zhang Zian heard her words, he began to wonder where the lines came from. Why did they sound so familiar?

    He lifted his head and saw the banner. Written on it was: ¡°I, Mr. Zhang, CEO of Amazing Fate Pet Shop, congratte myself on purchasing the Wuling Hong Guang!¡±

    Before he had time to respond, the two tall guys threw the banner to the ground after finishing their task and ran away. The other people in charge of photos and filming also scattered all over the ce!

    Zhang Zian almost exploded in anger!

    He estimated that, after a short while, the photos and videos would spread online. The live broadcast fans would start mocking him soon.

    Snowyughed so hard that her belly hurt. Her fans were too good at pranks!

    Apparently, they hade prepared. They pretended to be there for Snowy, but in fact, they came to prank Zhang Zian. While he was not paying attention, they actually seeded¡­

    Zhang Zian was wondering if he should take Zhan Tian to track them down and ask them to give back the photos and videos. Before he could decide, someone else arrived.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, it¡¯s us again!¡±

    He turned his head and saw Electrician Wu with Welder Zhao. They stopped their electric bicycles in front of the shop and greeted him while they locked their bikes.

    Business was more important. He had no choice but to give up on the idea of chasing after the pranksters. He went over and said, ¡°Good morning, elders! What can I do for you?¡±

    ¡°Haha,st time we saw you we heard about your aquarium¡¯s opening. We are nning to get some saltwater fish. After talking to each other, we decided to wait a few more days and get some from your aquarium after the opening. We trust your shop more than the others!¡± Electrician Wu said cheerfully.

    He had been thinking about buying some high-grade saltwater fish for a while. After visiting several aquariums, he had not yet found anything satisfactory. He decided to buy some from Zhang Zian becuase he trusted him.

    ¡°Yes. This time, I¡¯m ready to spend a fortune!¡± Welder Zhao put his hand on the wallet in his pocket with a serious face, as if he was afraid that the wallet might fly away like a bird. ¡°Right, shouldn¡¯t there be some promotion for the grand opening?¡±

    Electrician Wu¡¯s face suddenly turned serious. He elbowed his old buddy for hinting that he decided to be there just for the promotions. Even if he was, he should not make it so obvious. Wasn¡¯t it embarrassing?

    When it came to being stingy, Zhang Zian could notpare himself to anyone else but Welder Zhao. The old man had made an aquarium tank from scratch, all by himself, without spending a penny. Despite its problems, his gift in building things was beyond doubt.

    ¡°Mr. Zhao, rest assured. All marine creatures are 20 percent off today. All the aquarium equipment is full price.¡± He lifted his hands to signal them. ¡°Pleasee in and have a look around.¡±

    Welder nodded in satisfaction. ¡°Okay then. If your fish are of good quality and a reasonable price, I¡¯ll rmend it to my fish lover friends. Oh, is it safe to leave my electric bike at the entrance?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry; it won¡¯t get stolen. Otherwise, I¡¯llpensate you,¡± Zhang Zian promised generously. A man capable of stealing things inside or outside his shop had not been born yet¨C¨Cwith the exception of the Holy Cat statue. It had disappeared on its own; nobody had stolen it.

    Electrician Wu knew that it was the first day of the opening, and Zhang Zian was surely overwhelmed with customers and visitors. He could not waste too much time on two old men with limited purchase power. He dragged Welder Zhao¡¯s arms, bringing him into the aquarium.

    Before Welder Zhao could say anything further, he was dragged into the shop by Electrician Wu.

 Chapter 821: Concealed Toxicity

    <h4>Chapter 821: Concealed Toxicity</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    While Zhang Zian greeted Electrician Wu and Welder Zhao, Snowy took out her mobile phone and set it on the handheld pan-tilt-zoom to start her live broadcast.

    ¡°Hello! Hello everyone! I am Snowy, and wee to my live broadcast room! Our slogan is: Eat, Drink, and Be Merry at Binhai!¡±

    As soon as the signal of the broadcast came out, the long-awaited fans flocked to the live broadcast room.

    It was the weekend, so there were more idlers on the live broadcast tform than usual. The hardcore fans not only greeted Snowy, but also greeted those with familiar IDs. Bullet screen filled up the entire screen.

    ¡°Haha, big T, you¡¯rete today!¡±

    ¡°Seoi Gwai, why haven¡¯t I seen you recently? Where did you go?¡±

    ¡°Big Sister Mei Lu, hugs and kisses!¡±

    ¡°Mua. Hugs Little Sister Huan Huan and gives her a kiss!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a littlete. I was strolling in other live broadcast rooms for a while¡ªthere was ady cosying as a mermaid. She¡¯s really pretty!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve had a change of heart! We only love Snowy!¡±

    ¡°I only love Snowy, too, but that girl was just too pretty. I couldn¡¯t help but take a few more looks at her.¡±

    ¡°How pretty? Prettier than Snowy?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ She does seem prettier than Snowy, but that girl is more the cutesy type, while Snowy is more the lively and cheerful type, so they aren¡¯t directlyparable¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t believe you¨C¨Cunless you give me a number. I mean the room number!¡±

    There were just too many bullet screens, and they were all mixed together. By the time Snowy took a nce at them, she saw that Zhang Zian had already greeted the two old men and was walking over to her with the cat bag.

    ¡°Yo. Isn¡¯t this the Poser Store Manager? Congrattions to President Zhang for getting the Wulin Hong Guang MPV!¡±

    As soon as one person started, the others followed suit.

    Fans of Snowy had organized their own QQ group, where videos and photos of Zhang Zian being pranked had already spread through the group. Even new meme collections had been made.

    Zhang Zian had already expected for it to happen, so he deliberately ignored it. He invited Snowy to enter the shop.

    He ced the cat bag on the ground, opened the zipper, and took Snowball out from the bag. Zian let it y around in the store before he raised the bouquet in his hand and said, ¡°Hold on a moment¨C¨Clet me look for a vase for the flowers. If you want to cut the cat¡¯s hair, there are scissors at the cashier counter.¡±

    Snowy stood behind Lu Yiyun, admiring her paintings, and nodded her head when she heard Zian.

    Lu Yiyun took out the scissors from the drawer and handed them to Snowy. ¡°Snowy, do you know how to cut its hair? Do you want me to help you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll try it myself first.¡± Snowy rolled up her sleeves. She seemed excited to give it a try.

    Zhang Zian dug out a vase that had not been used for a very long time from the cupboard, filled half of the vase with water, and stuck the few golden tulips into it. He was about to walk out with the vase when Fina said, ¡°Stop right there!¡±

    Fina coldly red at him from the top of the cat tree. ¡°Where do you think you are going with this queen¡¯s flowers?¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. ¡°These were clearly given to me¡­ When did they be your flowers?¡±

    Fina jumped off the cat tree and blocked the path in front of him. ¡°These flowers are simr to this queen¡¯s hair color, so they should belong to this queen.¡± Fina¡¯s tone was as persistent as ever.

    The golden tulips were very fragrant¨C¨Cone could even smell the aroma from a distance away¨C¨Cand together with their exquisite flower pattern, they were definitely worthy of being the flower that the European Royal Family loved.

    Fina, who used to live in a hot, desert area, had never seen such a flower before. When she saw Zian walk in with the flowers, she immediately had the thought of leaving the flowers in the Sacred Pce. It was no wonder she could not endure it when she saw Zian actually walking away with the flowers.

    Snowy also saw Zhang Zian walking out with the flowers. She thought that he was going to throw the flowers away. ¡°Mr. Shop Manager, you don¡¯t like the flowers?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t like them, but these flowers can¡¯t be ced in the pet shop, so I n to ce it in the aquarium.¡± Zhang Zian rified the misunderstanding.

    When theizens in the live broadcast room heard him, they said: ¡°Now that you have a new love, you¡¯re forgetting your old love!¡±

    Compared to the minority group for the marine creatures, cats and dogs were more favored as pets. Everyone started sending bullet screens to criticize Zhang Zian¡¯s actions on liking the new and hating the old.

    ¡°Why can¡¯t you ce it here?¡± Snowy looked at the shop and thought that they would look nice in the pet shop. Whether they were ced on the cashier counter so that the customers could see them when they entered through the door, or if they were ced in front of Kathy¡¯s portrait¨C¨Cboth seemed suitable.

    ¡°Because tulips are poisonous,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    ¡°Ah? Tulips are poisonous?¡± Snowy was stunned. She immediately thought of her mother who was ying with the tulips at home, and her fingers tightened around her phone.

    All theizens expressed their disbelief and suspected that Zhang Zian was trying to fool them again.

    ¡°Tulips are poisonous? Why haven¡¯t I heard of that?¡±

    ¡°If tulips were poisonous, I would have already been poisoned over ten thousand times!¡±

    Snowy Li took the opportunity to join in. ¡°Meow meow meow! Your Majesty, don¡¯t believe this stinking man who spends all day sweet talking. He must be fooling you! This one here finds the bright color of the flower to be a perfect match with Your Majesty¡¯s beauty!¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded seriously, then, like he was exining to Snowy and to Fina, he raised the golden tulip and said, ¡°Although tulips are good-looking, they are also slightly toxic. For humans, the toxicity of tulips does not matter because people do not consume tulips, but for pets such as cats and dogs, the toxicity of tulips are fatal. If they are eaten by mistake, there could be dire consequences, like severe kidney failure. I¡¯m going to ce the tulips in the aquarium next door because idents might happen when ced here.¡±

    Whether it was the kittens running around, or an adult Abyssinian cat, all cats had a curious nature, and they were especially good at climbing and jumping. So no matter where the vase was ced, there was a chance that the tulips could be eaten by curious cats. When people said ¡°curiosity killed the cat,¡± that was what they are referring to.

    Not only cats, but even dogs would get poisoned from eating tulips, and the consequences were also very serious.

    The puppies in the pet shop were locked in disy cabs, and the only dogs that could move freely were Zhan Tian and the poodle mother and son pair who had escaped from the Love Lovely Pet Breeding Base.

    Zhan Tian had undergone strict anti-feeding training and would not eat without permission, but it was really hard to say the same about the poodle mother and son pair.

    Aside from tulips, there were also other flowers that had varying degrees of toxicity, so pet owners could not raise them casually.

    Zhang Zian had to run back and forth between the two shops, so it was impossible for him to keep an eye on the vase. Since Snowy and the others were there, Zian was unable to tell Fina to instruct all the cats to not eat the tulips. To be safe, he could only take them next door.

    Snowy patted her chest in fear. ¡°Fortunately I came over today. When I get home, I have to let my mom throw away all the tulips. If Snowball were to eat any by mistake, I would cry myself unconscious¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was puzzled. ¡°You bought a lot of tulips at home?¡±

    Snowy said, embarrassed, that the flowers were actually bought by her mother, and she only took some over as a gift for Zian. She mentioned that her mother liked tulips a lot and had just happened to buy some.

    Because Zhang Zian was always exaggerating, Fina was still skeptical. Only after she observed that Snowy seemed to be convinced did she reluctantly move away and let him pass.

 Chapter 822: Cold Shoulder

    <h4>Chapter 822: Cold Shoulder</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The sun rose slowly.

    On a warm spring day, even the most hardcore Otaku would go outside.

    There were more and more visitors to the pet shop and aquarium. Some were there just for a look, while some came for the promotions. Some were seriously searching for a pet, while others came for Famous.

    During promotional periods, Zhao Qi would surely be there¨C¨Cshe had to seize the chance and buy enough foreign brand cat food for Lan Lan.

    She came with Shi Shi, despite that Shi Shi would rather spend time with her boyfriend, Liu Sang. After she was used of ¡°dates before mates,¡± however, she followed her in obedience. She could also buy some dog food for Xiao La.

    As the official screening of Dog Warrior in maind China approached, the production team and producers started new rounds of promotional campaigns. Famous, the new Best Actor of the Berlin Film Festival, was surely the center of all promotions. Therefore, more and more people came to look at Famous with their own eyes. There were even touristsing in from other cities.

    The production team also asked Zhang Zian if they could borrow Famous for a while. If Famous could be present during the promotional activities, it would be better¨C¨Cof course, if he had time to participate in the promotional activities with Famous, the team would greatly appreciate that, too.

    Zhang Zian had no time: The aquarium business was just starting; the cat abuse issue was still troubling him deeply; plus, he had the trouble-making mermaid in his bathtub¡­ He was unable to leave Binhai City at all.

    He was notfortable of lending Famous to them; therefore, he didn¡¯t agree.

    Famous had already acquired the ability to move around freely. It could understand humannguages, and it was able to foresee impending danger due to its crisis prediction ability. It was unlikely to run into danger, though; the production team could make a ton of money with it, so they would surely take good care of it.

    He didn¡¯t refuse them up front. He told the team that if the promotional activity was very important, he might squeeze in some time to attend. As for other activities, he agreed to make Famous avable as much as possible, either for photos or videos.

    Zhang Zian put a vase of tulips in the aquarium to add some fragrance to the dark room. Then he returned to the pet shop.

    After knowing what to do, Snowy borrowed a basin from Lu Yiyun. She sat in a corner and put Snowball inside the basin and tried to groom it using scissors, holding her phone on the side.

    Snowball was very obedient, but it was naughty asionally. If it suddenly became active while being groomed, the scissors might hurt it. But aftering to the pet shop, Snowball became so quiet and obedient. Snowy could do almost anything to it. It was like a living, fuzzy toy.

    The live broadcast fans wereughing and joking as usual, teasing Snowy not to overgroom it, in case Snowball became a bald cat like a monk¡­

    Snowy opened her eyes wide and bit her lips. She was grooming very carefully. But as she was not so good at it, the more careful she tried to be, the worse she did. Snowball was so badly groomed that it seemed as if it had been chewed by a dog, which made the online fansugh even harder. They teased that she didn¡¯t need to broadcast other things. She could earn millions per month by broadcasting cat grooming!

    Luckily, Snowball didn¡¯t care about it so much. It felt cooler with less hair, and the hair wouldn¡¯t end up inside its stomach.

    ¡°Hello! Are you Mr. Zhang Zian?¡± Ady¡¯s voice came clear and sharp from the shop¡¯s entrance.

    Snowy lifted her head to look. Zhang Zian seemed to be talking to a youngdy dressed like a reporter.

    Due to the high number of customers that day, Wang Qian chose to stay at the pet shop, while Li Kun helped out at the aquarium.

    After hearing the question, Wang Qian also looked towards the entrance. Thedy was a stranger, not Liu Ying, who had visited a few days ago. He didn¡¯t pay much attention, as there were too many reporterstely. One group came after another, like in a market fair. They all requested and interview from Famous or Zhang Zian¨C¨Cin fact, interviewing Famous was actually interviewing Zhang Zian. Famous could not talk, after all.

    Most reporters got the cold shoulder. Zhang Zian only epted a few interviews from the media. Wang Qian didn¡¯t know, nor did he care, about who got interviews and who didn¡¯t. All he cared about was when Master would teach them advanced animal training¡­

    He thought that, without exception, thedy at the entrance might get the cold shoulder, as well.

    As soon as the female reporter spoke, Zhang Zian answered, ¡°Sorry, we have an important activity today at the shop. We can¡¯t ept interview requests. Pleasee back another day.¡±

    Although it was just out of courtesy, there was nothing wrong in what he had said.

    This female report wore a long jacket and a pair of delicately designed, oversized sses. The lenses were non-prescription, and the frames were bright red. With her sharp-looking face, she seemed quite proud and overwhelming.

    She held a microphone in her hand, and a cameraman was filming behind her. There was a ¡°Global Entertainment¡± tag on the microphone; Zhang Zian had never heard about that media outlet before. Maybe it was some form of online media that not many people knew about. He had no time for them; therefore, he gave her the cold shoulder with respect.

    Not all rogue media outlets were qualified to interview the Best Actor of the Berlin Film Festival. If she knew, then she should have given up.

    After speaking to her, Zhang Zian turned back to the shop for the other customers.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, please wait a moment!¡± Yet, it seemed that the reporter didn¡¯t know about that at all. Not only did she not know, but she even quickly stepped in front of Zhang Zian to stop him from leaving.

    Zhang Zian had dealt with a lot of reporters, but it was the first time he had seen such a rude one.

    The customers inside the shop also took notice of what was going on at the entrance. They stopped shopping and watched quietly. Zhao Qi and Shi Shi were in the crowd and were watching the drama in broad daylight. Shi Shi grew a bit worried, but Zhao Qi didn¡¯t care at all. As the first customer of the pet shop, she had almost witnessed the growth of the pet shop. She had seen¨C¨Ctoo many times¨C¨Cpeoplee for trouble. Yet, Zhang Zian had bounced back from every single one.

    Snowy was focused on grooming Snowball. After hearing the noise, she lifted her head again, but her view was blocked by the others. She could not see what was happening at the entrance.

    The live broadcast audience had heard it, too. But as they could not see anything, they urged Snowy to take a break and take a look at the drama.

    Snowy looked at Snowball regretfully, rubbed its chin, and said, ¡°Snowball, wait for me. I¡¯ll be right back.¡±

    Snowball was half-groomed. The hair on the lower part of its body was so short¨C¨C almost bald. Its upper body was not finished, as she was nning to practice on the lower body. There was a lot of cat hair in the basin. She had never realized before that Snowball had so much hair.

    Snowball meowed, then stayed inside the basin obediently.

    ¡°Excuse me! Excuse me!¡± Snowy lifted the phone, took advantage of her flexibility, and moved to the front of the crowd.

 Chapter 823: Donation Fraud

    <h4>Chapter 823: Donation Fraud</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The female journalist stretched her arms wide open and obstructed the pathway at the door. When Zhang Zian moved to the left, she also moved to the left, and when Zhang Zian moved to the right, she also moved to the right. She made it clear that she was not going to let him leave; she was not going to give up until he was done with the interview.

    If it was a journalist from a big mediapany, she wouldn¡¯t be acting in such a manner. Journalists from mediapanies that were run illegally did not have any concerns about their own image. After all, the name and benefits brought by a single sessful report was not to be underestimated.

    The most annoying thing was that she was not tall, but she would raise her chest up, and whichever direction Zhang Zian went, she would greet him with her chest. Since there was a camera rolling in the back, she was sure that he would not dare to forcibly break through¡­ If he really decided to push his away onto her chest, his nickname of the Sexual Harassment Shop Manager would be made true and he would never be able to rise up again.

    Zhang Zian was really impressed with his encounter of such a persistent person. It would have been easy to handle during normal times¨C¨Che could easily leave the store and go for a walk on the beach¨C¨Cbut that day, he was unable to just leave his customers alone.

    ¡°What do you want?¡± Zian asked bluntly.

    ¡°I would like to interview you, Mr. Zhang. I will leave after I ask you a few questions. If you cooperate, we will be done in ten minutes, so please do us the honor,¡± she said with a stylized smile. Although her tone was polite, she did not allow Zhang Zian to refuse.

    ¡°Interview me? Is it about Famous? You can ask me the questions, and I will consider whether or not I want to answer them,¡± Zhang Zian said, ncing at the onlookers. Recently, he had endured countless dealings with media outlets and journalists, so he was calm.

    With a faint smile on her face, like she was trying to hint something, she said, ¡°It¡¯s rted to Famous, but we¡¯re mainly interested to ask you. Mr. Zhang, if I remember correctly, when you received the award at the Berlin Film Festival, you imed that you would be donating Famous¡¯ earnings to the United Nations World Food Programme. Is that correct?¡±

    So that was what she wanted to ask¡­

    When Zhang Zian received the award, he had mentioned that in his speech. The guests and the online audience had also witnessed the speech, so he was unable to deny it.

    ¡°That is true.¡± Zian nodded.

    ¡°Okay, then I would like to ask¨C¨Chas the donation been made yet? Have you already donated Famous¡¯ earnings to the UN World Food Programme as nned?¡± She blinked and stared at Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes as if she was exploring the secrets of his heart.

    There had been frequent reports of incidents of donation fraud by local celebrities, where the local celebrities had promised to make donations, but after earning the reputation of being charitable and attracting the intended attention, the promised donation funds were never donated. Once such incidents were reported, great repercussions were caused, and even the celebrity¡¯s character was questioned.

    Moreover, it wasn¡¯t only a question of morality and credibility, but also a matter that involved thew. The relevantws clearly stipted that promising a charitable donation cannot be revoked. If one had the courage to pose in front of the public, then they must abide by the promise they made; otherwise, they¡¯d just be making a fool out of themselves.

    As a new actor, Famous¡¯mision for signing its first performance contract was not very high, but even so, it was from the film circle that was showered with luxuriousness. So even if it was not very high, it definitely was not a small figure, either.

    She keenly grasped the key issue. ording to her observation and understanding, before Zhang Zian became famous overnight, he was just an ordinary pet shop owner. His ie was very limited, and he was also known for being a cheapskate, so why would any ordinary person like him be willing to donate arge sum of money in exchange for nothing?

    In addition, local celebrities always made their donations to local charity organizations. Although it wasplicated, people were still able to perform checks or an investigation about the said funds. But Zhang Zian had unexpectedly decided to donate to the United Nations World Food Program¡­ because of that, it was really impossible for them to verify it¡­

    She seriously doubted that Zhang Zian donated the money; she thought that he had only said that in order to make a good name for himself.

    Now, Famous was the talk of the town, and no one was able to challenge the reputation of the new Best Actor Dog of the Berlin Film Festival¨C¨Canyone who had seen the preview of Dog Warrior had affirmed its acting skills. Various spoof works had also been created, like Super Dog Warrior, Return of the Dog Warrior, Matchless Dog Warrior, King of Dog Warriors, Dog Warriors King of Kings, and so on. Some were even produced in just half a month, then hurriedly released online¨C¨Cof course, they all had bad reviews.

    Not only that, but retired police dogs that had significant meritorious performance during their service were also in high demand, even to the point where it was hard to find one dog.

    In a wave of support and cheers, the best way to stand out was to do the opposite. The usual way was to erge the private life of the target, and pick out scandals or improper actions. But to find scandals of a dog¡­ obviously it was not realistic. Even if there were any, people would onlyugh.

    Therefore, she had her eyes set on ??Zhang Zian¡¯s donation statement. If the donation fraud was affirmed, the major scandal would be enough to discredit Zhang Zian, and she would be famous for the exclusive report.

    Onlookers and friends looked at Zhang Zian with concern. Some people were resentful of incidents like donation fraud, so they decided to watch how things rolled out, while there were also those who voiced their discontent about her intentions.

    Zhao Qi said loudly from the crowd, ¡°Even if he¡¯s donating the money, he didn¡¯t mention that he¡¯d make the donation immediately, right? They just opened their aquarium¡­ Isn¡¯t it fine to put it off for two days? Who doesn¡¯t have times when they¡¯re strapped for cash?¡±

    For the sake of her cheaper imported cat food, she had to help Zhang Zian by saying a few words of fairness.

    Shi shi pulled her back, telling her not to get involved.

    Someone echoed along. ¡°That¡¯s right, he didn¡¯t mention when he was going to donate the money, so why are you here to chase after him? And doing it today of all days?¡±

    In the midst of the chaos, Zhang Zian was particrly calm. He said calmly, ¡°I¡¯ve already made the donation. I have donated all of Famous¡¯ earnings to the United Nations World Food Program, and part of the funds will be going to Southern Sudan, where they are suffering from famine. The funds will be used to provide nutritional school meals for the children, and the rest will be used in areas where they are most needed.¡±

    The noisy crowd gradually calmed down, and countless eyes stared at the female journalist, waiting to see what she was going to say.

    There was no change in the female journalist¡¯s face, as if she had already expected Zhang Zian to say that. She immediately asked, ¡°In this case, can you show me the proof of your donation?¡±

    ¡°Why should he?¡± someone asked.

    ¡°Who are you to demand that?¡± The onlookers were finally enraged. If her question earlier was made out of the public welfare purposes, then her second question clearly exceeded her authority. She was stretching her hands too far.

    Even Shi Shi was unable to endure it. She used to studyw, and although she wasn¡¯t good at it, she still remembered some things.

    She said loudly said, ¡°Have you ever heard of ¡®the burden of proof?¡¯ If you¡¯re suspecting him, then you can check it yourself and find the evidence to prove your im. Everyone respects you as a woman, but what right do you have to make others bring out the evidence?¡±

    After she was done with what she wanted to say, as if she was afraid of being seen by the female journalist, she quickly hid behind Zhao Qi.

    Shi shi¡¯s words gained the support of all the onlookers.

    There is a principle of the ¡°presumption of innocence¡± in a trial. If one was suspecting that Zhang Zian was guilty, they should find the evidence to prove that Zhang Zian was guilty. But now, they were the one that suspected that Zhang Zian was guilty, yet they were also telling him toe up with evidence to prove that he was not guilty. Obviously, it was unfair.

    The female journalist was aware that she had evoked the public anger, and under no circumstances were her current actions eptable. She had no other choice, however; she would not be able to find any donation records from the United Nations, so she could only use her method to force Zhang Zian.

    In the face of the usations of everyone, she did not waver. She ignored all of them and looked directly at Zhang Zian.

    She believed that she was holding the advantage¨C¨Cshe thought that she had taken ahold of the advantage the moment she appeared.

    Zhang Zian had three options: One was to submit to her request and produce his evidence; the second was to ignore her; the third was to be tough and to refuse to produce the evidence on his end.

    If he chose thetter two, it may seem like he had a guilty conscience. If he went with the first option, she would not lose anything, either. Either way, she would be able to get a good, exclusive interview.

    The people present were not fools¨C¨Ceveryone was able to guess her intentions, but there was nothing they could do. When a person was shameless, the world was theirs; now, the world was hers.

    Wang Qian squeezed out from the crowd and whispered into Zhang Zian¡¯s ear. ¡°Master, should we call the police? She¡¯s obstructing us in our business operations. Didn¡¯t Captain Sheng just leave? While he has yet to arrive back at the police station, we can call him back¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head. Calling the police was a bad idea, and involving Sheng Ke was also a very bad idea. If she were to make an issue out of it, Sheng Ke could get implicated.

    He thought about it and decided that he could only take out the automatic reply he had received from the United Nations World Food Program through email. If she was going to question that, then there was nothing more he could do.

    There were still customersing into the pet store one after another. Some had walked there on foot, some came by bus, and some took taxis. More and more people were gathering by the door.

    Another taxi stopped at the door of the store, but it did not attract anyone¡¯s attention.

    However, the person who got off the car was not a ck-haired, yellow-skinned Chinese person. He was also not any other East Asian descent, but he was a tall, bald-headed, African American man. He had probably just shaved his head, as it was shimmering under the spring sunlight, which attracted the curious eyes of some customers.

    The bald, African American man wore a pair of sses, held a briefcase under his arm, and a piece of paper in his hand. He struggled withparing the words on the paper with the signboard at the door of the pet shop.

    He was a little surprised to see so many people around the door of the shop. He did not know what they were doing, or whether it was some strange custom or an important ritual. He did not dare to intrude or cause a disturbance, so he stood there by the side of the road.

    After he had foolishly waited for a while, he felt that he might have thought too much. It was only two people arguing, while others seemed to be watching the show.

    He would often drive through San Francisco¡¯s Chinatown, so he knew that Chinese people had a thing for watching shows. Of course, most people in the world liked to watch shows, too, but for the Chinese, they enjoyed it more.

    The new customers walked by him; the customers who had bought their items and were leaving also walked by him. They all paid attention to the African American electricity pole that was obstructing their way.

    The man and woman who were in dispute were both young people, and he was not interested in the woman. He took out a picture from his pocket and looked at the young man carefully.

    To him, all Eastern Asians looked almost the same. Afterparing them for a very long time, it was still impossible for him to determine whether the person in the photo was the same person he was looking at¡­

    Taking the opportunity while the dispute came to a rest, he stepped up and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry to bother you¡­ Are you Mr. Zhang Zian?¡±

 Chapter 824: Flowers

    <h4>Chapter 824: Flowers</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The tall, bald, African American man asked the question in English¨C¨Cwhich surely stood out among the Chinese speakers. Besides, he was as tall as a walking utility pole, almost a head taller than the others. Immediately, he stood at the center of everybody¡¯s attention.

    The female reporter was so excited. She had sharply sensed it was her lucky moment. Maybe she hade across a real scoop. She hinted the cameraman behind her, asking him to film the African American man carefully, and to find out what was he doing with Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian also nced over the bald, African American man. After reexamining him a few times, he confirmed that he didn¡¯t know him, and had never met him. He had some striking physical features; if he had met him in the past, he would have certainly remembered.

    The bald, African American man wore a well-ironed suit, a light blue shirt, and ck leather shoes. The suit was not made of expensive material, but it was very clean and tidy.

    Zhang Zian nodded and answered in English, ¡°That¡¯s right. I am Zhang Zian.¡±

    The bald, African American man was so relieved. He took a name card out of a box and handed it to him. ¡°Hello, it¡¯s great to meet you! I am Eddy Lewis, Chief of the Donation Office at Matthew Davis Cancer Research Foundation. I finally found you!¡±

    After hearing the title of the Matthew Davis Foundation, Zhang Zian was astonished.

    The foundation was the organization to which Kathy had donated her heritage. Later, Zhang Zian had also donated the money he made from the Abyssinian cats to the foundation, except that he had made the donation under Kathy¡¯s name.

    He had never expected the foundation to find him one day. How did they find out where he was?

    ¡°Hello, nice to meet you!¡± He took the name card, nced at it quickly, then shook hands with him.

    Eddy had a big smile on his face, exposing a mouth full of white teeth. He nced at the female reporter and the camera next to him. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Am I interrupting you?¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Zhang Zian and the reporter answered in one voice.

    The former didn¡¯t want anything to do with thetter, while thetter wanted to watch what was about to happen. As for her business with Zhang Zian, she could discuss that at ater time.

    Eddy was even more confused. They were having a big argument, but then they suddenly talked in one voice.

    Since neither of them minded his interruption, he made no further dy and stated his intentions directly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for visiting without an appointment. On behalf of the Matthew Davis Cancer Research Foundation, I express our sincere gratitude. Thank you for your generous donation! Because of you and the other donors, we realize that we are not alone on the journey of conquering cancer for mankind!¡±

    Each person who understood English was astonished.

    Those who didn¡¯t know English started asking others what the bald, African American man had said. Why was everyone behaving as if they had seen a ghost?

    Zhao Qi had worked in the foreign trade department of herpany. She often traveled abroad and was good at English. She tranted Eddy¡¯s words briefly to the others without hesitation.

    Nobody knew that Zhang Zian had once secretly donated to a foreign, cancer research foundation¨C¨Cnot even Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Lu Yiyun. Everybody had their mouths wide open in surprise. The others knew even less.

    But there was one thing that everybody had figured out: If Zhang Zian had secretly donated money to a cancer research foundation, then he had no reason to not fulfill his pledge of donating to the UN World Food Programme.

    If anyone had suspected Zhang Zian of donation fraud, they should have no doubts anymore.

    As soon as they thought of it, everybody started looking at the female reporter with contempt. Clearly, she was measuring Zhang Zian with her own yard-stick. It was good to question fraudulent donors, but if by doing so an authentic donor¡¯s feelings were hurt, then that was not okay!

    The most embarrassed one was the reporter herself. Had it been someone else, they surely would have run away in shame. She was so brazen, however, that she took advantage of the moment asked Eddy in English, ¡°Hello, Mr. Lewis. I¡¯m a reporter for Global Entertainment. May I ask you a few questions regarding Mr. Zhang Zian¡¯s donation to your foundation?¡±

    The crowd started swearing. How could someone be so shameless?

    Unfortunately, Eddy didn¡¯t understand Chinese. The name ¡°Global Entertainment¡± sounded very legitimate. He thought that she was a reporter from a top Chinese medium. Therefore, he didn¡¯t want to treat her lightly. He nodded like a gentleman and said, ¡°Yes. Please go ahead.¡±

    Zhang Zian wanted to stop her, but since Eddy had said yes, there was nothing more he could do.

    The female reporter handed over the microphone. ¡°Could you please tell us the details of Mr. Zhang Zian¡¯s donation to your foundation? We are very curious, as it¡¯s the first time that we are hearing about this.¡±

    ¡°Of course. I¡¯d be d to help.¡± Eddy recollected with a smile, ¡°I remember it so clearly that I won¡¯t forget it for the rest of my life. It was a day during the Chinese Lunar New Year. It was raining in San Francisco and I was on duty in the donation office that day. Suddenly, I received a strange phone call.¡±

    He nced at Zhang Zian. ¡°The caller imed to be Katherine Donna Ryan, and wanted to make a donation to our foundation¨C¨Cyou may not know this, but Ms. Ryan had maderge donations to our foundation in the past, so I remember her voice. Strangely, after doing a search, I found out that Ms. Ryan had already passed away. Herst donation came from Mr. Adams, thewyer and executioner of her will.¡±

    Eddy¡¯s story drew everybody¡¯s attention. They held their breath and listened quietly.

    ¡°This phone call came from Binhai City, China. Ms. Ryan imed that she was not dead, that the doctor had issued a death certificate by mistake, and she was traveling in China at that time. I believed her at that moment, and processed her donation. But after hanging up, I found it suspicious. After a series of not soplicated investigations, and after talking to herwyer, Mr. Adams, I had figured out the truth: It was Mr. Zhang Zian who made a generous donation to our foundation under the name of Ms. Ryan.

    There was more than one donation like this. The volunteers at the foundation were very moved, but we acted as if we didn¡¯t know about it. Apart from volunteering at the foundation, I have another official job. Now, as I¡¯m attending a work conference in China, I decided to visit Binhai City along the way. On behalf of my colleagues at the foundation, we express our sincere gratitude to Mr. Zhang Zian and Ms. Ryan!

    And¡­¡± As he spoke, he took out a bouquet of yellow daisies behind his back like a magic trick. ¡°Please allow me to dedicate these flowers to Ms. Ryan.¡±

    Bright yellow daisies were not as gorgeous as golden tulips; yet, they had their own spirit of elegance and tranquility, like an olddy who had been through the hills and valleys of life.

    After a moment of silence, Zhang Zian lifted his hands to hint to the employees inside. ¡°Pleasee in. Ms. Kathy is inside.¡±

    Without being told to do so, the crowd split on its own, making a path that led into the shop.

 Chapter 825: Thereâ€™s No Credit for Nothing Done

    <h4>Chapter 825: There¡¯s No Credit for Nothing Done</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The onlookers opened up a pathway down the middle, making the female journalist look particrly isted and embarrassed. After a little hesitation, she also moved away to let Eddy and Zhang Zian step into the pet shop.

    With the exception of Fina and Famous, the other elfins had never seen anyone with dark skin, so they couldn¡¯t help but stare at him.

    Eddy looked around the shop. He carefully moved his feet, fearing that he might identally step on the kittens who were running around. ¡°Wow! Mr. Zhang, your shop is really interesting. It¡¯s a paradise for all cat lovers! I don¡¯t think Ms. Ryan would ever feel lonely apanied by so many cats!¡±

    When his gaze fell on Kathy¡¯s portrait, his smile immediately vanished. He walked over and ced the daisy in his hands at the front of her portrait. He ced his hands together in front of him, bowed his head, and prayed silently.

    Kathy in the portrait was surrounded by Abyssinian cats. She was sitting on the greenwn and smiling at the photographer. The bright yellow daisy blocked the lower part of the portrait and made it look like she was sitting among the flowers.

    When the flowers in the mountains bloomed, she would be smiling amongst them.

    The Abyssinian cats who had been chasing each other on the top of the shelf seemed to have felt something. They jumped off the shelf and sat orid down in front of the portrait, then stared at the face of the former owner. As if recalling their past memories, soft whimpers came from their throats.

    Eddy, who was looking down, peeked to the left and right in surprise. He looked at the cats that seemed very intelligent and he could not help but feel awed. At the same time, he was also d that he wasn¡¯t in the United States¡­ Otherwise, if the scene before him was witnessed by a devout priest, they might think that the cats were possessed by evil things, and may even try to exorcise them¡­

    Because of his work, he was acquainted with one or two priests that had extreme beliefs. Even under the restrictions of the Vatican¡¯s explicit prohibition of exorcism, they still identified a woman that was possessed by a demon and forcibly exorcised her, which caused an uproar.

    Zhang Zian knew what was going on; they were obviously ordered by Fina.

    Others who saw the scene were also in awe. They took in a breath of cold air and raised their phones to take pictures of the kittens remembering their master.

    The female reporter and her cameraman rubbed their eyes; they couldn¡¯t believe what they were seeing.

    Eddie was done mourning, and the Abyssinian cats had also returned to normal. They jumped back onto the shelves and the cat tree to continue ying.

    Zhang Zian walked over to the female journalist and nced at her journalist¡¯s work permit on her chest. ¡°I¡¯ve given it some thought, and I don¡¯t seem to have the need to prove anything to you. If you suspect that I¡¯m part of a donation fraud, then you can go look for the evidence¡ªhowever, if you don¡¯t have any evidence and you still insist on ndering me about the donation fraud, then we¡¯ll have to meet in court.¡±

    The female journalist let out a few dryughs and said, ¡°Mr. Zhang, you have misunderstood me. I was just asking questions out of journalistic curiosity¨C¨CI did not make any sort of assumptions in my heart¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you know the saying, ¡®curiosity killed the cat?''¡± Zhang Zian just threw her the sentence, then left her alone.

    She was not at all angry; on the contrary, she was very excited because she got first-hand, exclusive news. Her original report on Zhang Zian¡¯s donation fraud was changed to Zhang Zian¡¯s low-key support of charities that had attracted a foreign friend. That friend hade to visit and then offered him Chrysanthemums with a bow¡­ Not to mention the picture of the kittens mourning at the picture of their master would certainly yield a lot of reactions.

    Anyway, she just wanted to collect exclusive news that could attract attention. As for whether it was positive reports or negative reports, it didn¡¯t matter.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t guess how her thoughts would change. But even if he did, he wouldn¡¯t be surprised. Journalists from illegally-run media outlets were just like that¨C¨Cthey went with whatever came.

    Eddy¡¯s trip to Binhai City, aside from paying tribute to thete Ms. Ryan, had another small purpose.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, I still don¡¯t understand it now¡­ How did you pretend to be the voice of Ms. Ryan? Do you have some¡­ special skills? Or some high-tech equipment?¡± Eddy asked curiously. ¡°If I had not found out that Ms. Ryan had passed away, I would really have been fooled by your voice.¡±

    Before Zhang Zian could say anything, a gray shadow pped its wings and quickly descended on his shoulder.

    ¡°Ga ga! You¡¯re Eddy Lewis? Nice to meet you! I am Katherine Donna Ryan, and I¡¯m very happy to meet you!¡± Richard never gave up on a chance to steal the limelight. It imitated Kathy¡¯s voice and spoke in English.

    Eddy¡¯s eyeballs were about to pop out. ¡°My God! The¡­ the one talking to me the whole time¡­ was this parrot?¡± Eddy felt a ringing in his head and he stuttered.

    Zhang Zian red at Richard as if to say, ¡°Would you die without speaking?¡±

    Richard did not seem to be bothered. It scratched the feathers on its chest with its beak, while its little ck eyes rolled around. It replied with a look that seemed to say, ¡°Yes I would die from holding it in!¡±

    To prevent Eddy from having a heart attack from the shock, Zian quickly exined, ¡°It¡¯s just a part of it. Most of it was re-edited with Kathy¡¯s previous voice! I have a friend who¡¯s an expert in this field, and he helped me with it.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s how it is.¡± Eddy finally epted his exnation. After all, even if a parrot was able to imitate people, ording tomon sense, it would, at most, be something like daily conversations. But his conversation with Kathy involved a lot for the donation, so how was a parrot able to respond to those questions?

    If it was a re-edited recording, then it made sense. Some spy movies often had simr content.

    Thinking back, his dialogue with ¡°Kathy¡± was actually not veryplicated. If it was prepared in advance, and then yed as needed, it could be done with expert assistance.

    Then, he remembered another question. ¡°Mr. Zhang, why do you want to make the donation in the name of Ms. Ryan? I heard from Lawyer Adams that it was because she gave you the cats she raised in her will. Is this considered your reciprocation?¡±

    ¡°You could say that.¡± Zhang Zian nodded. An Abyssinian cat happened to pass by him, so he picked it up.

    ¡°There¡¯s an old saying in China¡­¡± While he spoke, he unconsciously looked up at the ceiling and hoped that Sihwa would not misunderstand his sentence. ¡°There¡¯s an old saying in China: ¡®There¡¯s no credit for nothing done.¡¯ Although Kathy gave these cats to me, I always thought that they belonged to her. You can¡¯t imagine how much effort she put into cultivating these excellent cats. The honor is always hers; I¡¯m just her agent,¡± he exined.

    Eddy had more or less guessed the reason, but when he confirmed it through Zhang Zian¡¯s mouth, his heart felt deep respect for him. How many people were ecstatic when they received something from a will, but yet they didn¡¯t even know how to be grateful to the generous gifters?

    Eddy once again looked at Kathy, who was in the sea of flowers. She was smiling so bright andfortably, as if she had listened in on their conversation.

 Chapter 826: Sickness

    <h4>Chapter 826: Sickness</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After his question was answered, Eddy said goodbye to Zhang Zian. He came to China for work, so he could not stay too long in Binhai City.

    ¡°Mr. Zhang, if you one day visit San Francisco, pleasee visit our foundation. My colleagues are very eager to meet you and to find out about your stories with Kathy and the magical kittens,¡± he said.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°Okay. If I ever go there, I¡¯ll surely pay a visit.¡±

    He actually meant what he said. Tim and Laurin, the couple from Blue Climax, had invited him to revisit the United States. The dancing Ragdolls that he had trained were so popr that they became a local rarity sold for extremely high prices. The couple was so happy about it that they wished he could spare some time and visit Los Angeles again.

    Los Angeles was about 500 kilometers away from San Francisco. It was not a huge distance in the United States, where everybody owned a car. He could get there easily with a rental car.

    Last time he visited Los Angeles, it was so cold that he only visited Hollywood. If he could go back, he would love to visit some more ces.

    Eddy said dly, ¡°Sure. Our door is always wide open for you. We wee you at any time.¡±

    As Zhang Zian escorted him to the door, he noticed that the female reporter and the cameraman had already left secretly.

    Eddy stopped a taxi. Zhang Zian told the driver that he was heading to the airport, then he watched the taxi drive away.

    Snowy had been filming the interaction with Zhang Zian, the female reporter, and Eddy the entire time so she could broadcast the entire event to her audience. Her arms were getting tired.

    ¡°Crap! I forgot about Snowball!¡± She suddenly remembered that Snowball was only half-groomed and was staying in the basin, waiting for her to finish the grooming.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Snowball! It¡¯s all my fault!¡± She held it in her arms with an aching heart. Its upper body still had long hair, but its lower body was bald and super ugly.

    The live broadcast audience was still discussing what had just happened.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know the Cheapskate Store Manager was generous sometimes¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to listen! I don¡¯t believe it! I don¡¯t care! This is not the Cheapskate Store Manager I know!¡±

    ¡°Is this the so-called triple denial?¡±

    ¡°Why are you so stupid? Each dor that Cheapskate Store Manager donated, he got ten more dors back from us!¡±

    ¡°That is the truth! I was a fool to be so moved just now¡­¡±

    Snowy didn¡¯t say anything, yet her heart was moved. She had learned about a different side of Zhang Zian for the first time. In fact, she wanted to buy an Abyssinian cat herself. But she didn¡¯t do it, as Snowball might not like it. She wanted to make her own contribution to cancer research, too, as she had rtives who had died of cancer. When their lives had reached that point, money was no longer useful. It was no longer a problem that money could solve.

    She groomed Snowball with small scissors. After some practice, she got better and became less hesitant. She was no longer cutting nervously, and the rest of its body looked better than before.

    Zhao Qi and Shi Shi grabbed cat food and dog food, then they walked to the cashier to pay.

    Zhao Qi tugged Zhang Zian¡¯s clothes and whispered to him while the other customers didn¡¯t notice. ¡°Give me a discount.¡±

    ¡°Why? This is already how much it costs.¡± Zhang Zian frowned and pushed her hand away.

    ¡°Look, you are getting famous. You may run into legal trouble some day and need our help. Shi Shi graduated from a renownedw school with good grades. She can offer you free legal consultation!¡± Zhao Qi started pulling strings.

    Shi Shi sat on the floor, having a good time with the mini poodle. She waspletely unaware that her best friend had already sold her¡­

    ¡°I¡¯ll pass on that. I appreciate your good intentions.¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t bother¨C¨Cthere was no free lunch in the world. He waved his hand to refuse. ¡°I can¡¯t trust your proficiency, and I can¡¯t afford to be misguided by you gals. You shall pay the full price, not a cent less!¡±

    ¡°Hey! You will regret it! This is a limited time offer!¡± Zhao Qi warned him. Although she knew that she was not convincing.

    Zhang Zian indicated that she should cut the crap. If she could afford luxury brands of bags and clothes, along with vacations abroad, then why was she being so stingy on cat food? Was it fair to Lan Lan?

    As they were arguing back and forth, a shadow shed across the entrance. A middle-aged woman came in with a girl holding onto her left hand, and a cat carrier clutched in her right hand.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t pay much attention and thought that she might be there to wash her cat; however, since Zhao Qi was facing the the door, she immediately recognized who it was.

    ¡°Hey, Big Sister Wenying! What brought you here?¡± she asked in surprise.

    Zhang Zian turned his head towards them.

    It wasn¡¯t a stranger, but Liu Wenying and her daughter, Yue Yue, who had bought a Siamese cat from his shop in the past.

    Liu Wenying was one of his earliest customers, whom he had dealt with a few times. He knew that she was a very kind, super gentle, and easy-goingdy.

    Zhao Qi put the cat food down next the cash register so she could check outter. She came in front of Liu Wenying and greeted her. ¡°Big Sister Wenying, if I knew you¡¯d be here today, I would havee here with you.¡±

    She was Liu Wenying¡¯s neighbor; they lived in the same residential unit. They got to know each other because they were both cat owners, and they got along well. Sometimes, when Liu Wenying had to go out and leave her child at home, she¡¯d keep Yue Yue at her ce. Zhao Qi loved Yue Yue; she was a quiet and obedient girl. Each time she traveled abroad, she¡¯d bring back small gifts for the adorable little girl.

    Liu Wenying had a very active Siamese cat. Sometimes when she walked the cat downstairs, she¡¯de across Zhao Qi in the residential area. Yettely, it seemed that she had not been downstairs walking her cat.

    In fact, Zhao Qi didn¡¯t totally mean what she said. Compared to Liu Wenying, who was more than ten years older than her, she preferred hanging out with her best friend, Liu Shi Shi. They enjoyed simr things, and joked around like close friends.

    But if Zhao Qi had known in advance that Liu Wenying wasing to the shop that day, shesurely would have invited her toe.

    Liu Wenying smiled reluctantly. ¡°In fact, I was heading to the pet clinic in the north. When I passed by here, I heard the noise inside, so I came in for a look. Store Manger Zhang, you can go ahead with your business. You don¡¯t have to stay with me. I¡¯ll be gone in a minute.¡±

    ¡°To the pet clinic?¡± Zhao Qi was astonished. She looked at Liu Wenying¡¯s cat carrier and asked, ¡°What happened? Is Fluffy sick?¡±

    Liu Wenying had named her Siamese ¡°Fluffy,¡± as it was easy for her daughter Yue Yue to pronounce it.

    Maybe Zhao Qi was standing at the wrong angle, or it was because Fluffy was curled up deep inside the cat carrier, but she could not see what was inside the carrier¡­

    Liu Wenying nodded sorrowfully. ¡°I think it¡¯s sick. But I don¡¯t know what sickness it has¡­¡±

    Yue Yue suddenly started sobbing and wiping her tears. ¡°I want Fluffy! Fluffy, don¡¯t die¡­¡±

 Chapter 827: Madness

    <h4>Chapter 827: Madness</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Yue Yue¡¯s voice was very sharp, and when she cried, it made people¡¯s hearts ache. Customers who were looking to purchase pets and pet supplies heard her, and everyone looked towards her.

    Liu Wenying panicked. She apologized to the other customers with a smile and bent over to console Yue Yue.

    ¡°Yue Yue, don¡¯t cry. Fluffy won¡¯t die. We¡¯ll head down to the pet clinic in a while and get the doctor to cure Fluffy, okay?¡±

    Zhao Qi passed some tissues over. Liu Wenying epted them gratefully and wiped off Yue Yue¡¯s tears.

    Initially, everyone had thought that it was a minor illness, but listening to Yue Yue cry in such a heartbroken manner, they started to wonder if her Siamese cat was suffering from a serious illness.

    Liu Wenying wiped off Yue Yue¡¯s tears. She saw that there were no trash cans around her, so she stuffed the wet tissues into her pocket. She pulled on Yue Yue and said, ¡°Yue Yue, let¡¯s go. We¡¯ll take Fluffy to the doctor. Say bye-bye to the uncles and aunties.¡±

    Yue Yue¡¯s eyes were still red. She raised her small hand and waved it, then softly whispered, ¡°Bye-bye, uncles and aunties.¡±

    ¡°Goodbye, little one.¡±

    ¡°Bye-bye, Yue Yue.¡±

    Regardless of whether they knew her or not, everyone was friendly and waved to her.

    ¡°Shop Manager Zhang, it¡¯s so lively here today, so I won¡¯t bother you further. I shall take my leave first.¡± Liu Wenying said her goodbyes to Zhang Zian. She pulled Yue Yue and was about to leave.

    Just then, a customer who had just arrived kindly notified her, ¡°Big sister, I think you should wait a little while before heading over. I just came over from the clinic, and there were several people there waiting with their pets. Even if you head over now, you¡¯ll probably have to wait for some time.¡±

    Liu Wenying sighed with worry. ¡°Even if that¡¯s the case, I can only join the queue. I¡¯ve been busy recently, and the weekends are the only free time I have to take the cat to the vet.¡±

    Everyone knew that pet clinics and hospitals were always busy on the weekends, because the young people were all working during the day, and the clinics were closed at night. As long as they were not particrly urgent, like ordinary minor illnesses and minor operations¨C¨Csuch as routine physical examination or sterilization surgery¨C¨Cthey would usually visit the clinic on the weekends. So, it was normal to see a number of people waiting in line.

    Zhao Qi had a good rtionship with Yue Yue, and she couldn¡¯t sit idly by while Yue Yue was heartbroken. She quietly poked Zhang Zian and said, ¡°Hey, don¡¯t you know the veterinarian who opened the clinic? Why don¡¯t you talk to her and get her to look at Big Sister Wenying¡¯s cat.¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°Whose pets are not treasures to their owners? Whose time is not precious? To keep things in order, you¡¯ll have to follow the queue. Would you be happy if someone cut your queue while you were at the hospital to see a doctor?¡±

    ¡°Stubborn.¡± Zhao Qi rolled her eyes. ¡°If you didn¡¯t have connections, I wouldn¡¯t have said anything. But who wouldn¡¯t use their connections when they have one?¡±

    Liu Wenying hurriedly smoothed out the dispute. ¡°Qi Qi, don¡¯t make things difficult for Shop Manager Zhang¨C¨Cwhat Shop Manager Zhang said is right. Those who are willing to spend money and time to bring their pets to the vet must treat their pets like their own precious treasures. No one is more important than the others¡­ I can only me myself for not having time during the weekdays. I¡¯ll just join the queue.¡±

    She was willing to wait, but Zhao Qi¡¯s temper made her even more willing. She noticed Shi Shi ying with the mini poodle, so she pulled on Shi Shi¡¯s arm and forcibly pulled her up.

    ¡°What?¡± Shi Shi was in a blur. ¡°Are we leaving?¡±

    Zhao Qi picked up the mini poodle and stuffed it into her arms. ¡°Since you have nothing to do, hold this dog and head to the pet clinic in the north, then join the queue for consultation.¡±

    Shi Shi was not paying attention to their conversation earlier, so she asked, ¡°Is this dog sick?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not sick. I¡¯m just asking you to join the queue. Don¡¯t ask so much¨C¨Cjust go. I¡¯ll treat you to a big meal tonight!¡± Zhao Qi coaxed.

    ¡°Really?¡± Shi Shi¡¯s eyes shone brightly. ¡°Qi Qi, you¡¯re not allowed to lie!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not lying, just go now. Someone will take over you in a while,¡± Zhao Qi said. She then turned her head and said to Zhang Zian, ¡°I can borrow this dog for a while, right? It¡¯s not like I won¡¯t be returning it.¡±

    Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders and thought to himself, Zhao Qi¡¯s really good at making use of her friend¡­

    ¡°When it¡¯s about to be your turn, send a message to let me know,¡± Zhao Qi shouted.

    ¡°Okay!¡± Hugging the mini poodle, Shi Shi happily left the pet shop for the clinic to join the queue.

    Zhao Qi sent Shi Shi away and said to Liu Wenying, ¡°Big Sister Wenying, you can y around here with Yue Yue for now. Save yourself the trouble of waiting there.¡±

    ¡°I feel bad about this¡­¡± Liu Wenying was very grateful; she didn¡¯t know what to say.

    Just like every other child, Yue Yue didn¡¯t like to visit the hospital. She hated taking injections and medicines. She even felt timid when she saw doctors and nurses in their white coats or felt like crying when she smelled the smell of the hospital¡¯s disinfectant.

    Although the pet clinic was not a hospital, the doctors and nurses in white coats and the smell of the disinfectant were the same. Liu Wenying was certainly happy to be able to shorten the waiting time at the clinic. Moreover, there were many cats and dogs there, so Yue Yue would be happier over there, too.

    Liu Wenying had even considered leaving Yue Yue at the shop temporarily while she took Fluffy to see the doctor¡­ But after thinking about it, she decided not to. She didn¡¯t want to bother Zhang Zian, and she would not be able to feel at ease if she left Yue Yue there.

    Snowball was not done with its haircut yet. Snowy was still hugging it close to her¨C¨Cand had been since she brought it to the entrance to watch the disruption earlier. Because Snowball was heavy, Snowy¡¯s arms were sore from hugging it for a while. When her grip loosened, it slipped down from between Snowy¡¯s arms.

    ¡°Shop Manager, pleasee over for a second. Can we discuss the price for this Ragdoll kitten? I really like it, and I¡¯m really sincere about buying it!¡± A youngdy was captivated by the Ragdoll cat, but the price exceeded her budget. She tried to bargain with Zhang Zian.

    The condition of the Ragdoll cats from the Blue Climax was excellent, and they were very popr among the customers; however, the high price had stopped most people from buying them. After all, Binhai City was not a super first-tier city like North Canton. There were not many people who were willing to spend 30,000 dors on one cat; they still had to take their budget into consideration.

    Zhang Zian walked over and told her that it was already at a discounted price for the day and it could not be any cheaper; he was, however, able to throw in some pet supplies and cat food in the purchase. That method wasmonly used in mobile phone stores, where one could buy a mobile phone and the staff members would give them a bunch of small gifts, making it look like the customer had gotten a great deal.

    The youngdy was really fond of the Ragdoll kitten. The blue eyes, the symmetrical mask, and the slightly raised hair on its cheek made it look like a princess, and it seemed especially gentle and obedient. She was concerned about her budget, yet she was also unable to bear the thought of it being bought by someone else.

    Any cat was fine to pet¨C¨Cthe breed and its appearance did not matter. Its beautiful hair was just ayer of skin, and it depended on whether one was willing to pay more for better-looking skin. In fact, people were also like that¨C¨Cthe beautiful and handsome people were more popr, although it was just ayer of skin. Some people were willing to spend more for good-looking skin¡­ and it wasn¡¯t just a small number of people.

    The girl who wanted to buy the cat was trying to bargain with Zhang Zian. Wang Qian was busy dealing with other customers, Lu Yiyun was busy with the cashier, and Zhao Qi and Liu Wenying are talking to one another. The other customers were busy picking out their products or pets.

    Liu Wenying¡¯s cat bag was ced under the cashier counter, not far from her feet.

    Yue Yue was attracted by the weird looking Snowball. With a smile on her face, she scrambled after it.

    Liu Wenying looked at Yue Yue from time to time; it was not that she was afraid of Yue Yue getting lost, but she was afraid that Yue Yue would be knocked down by moving customers.

    Snowball, who had slipped out of Snowy¡¯s embrace, ran next to Liu Wenying¡¯s cat bag and circled around it a few times, asionally patting the cat bag with its paw.

    ¡°White Kitty¡­¡± Yue Yue smiled. She wanted to y with Snowball.

    Snowy was not in a hurry to chase after Snowball. Instead, she interacted with the audience in the live broadcast room.

    Old Time Tea was watching television. Famous was taking a nap by the reclining chair. Fina was annoyed by the bustling customers; she covered her ears with her front paws. Snowy Li was lecherously observing the female customers who wereing and going. Richard pped its wings, flying around to look for any rtionships between the male customers. Pi was on the second-floor living room, concentrating on typing. Sihwa was sleeping in the bathroom with her live broadcast on, her audience only increasing and never decreasing.

    The pet shop was calm, like usual.

    Snowball heard Yue Yue¡¯s footsteps. It turned and looked at her; it judged that Yue Yue was not a threat, so it did not run away and continued to pull on the cat bag with her ws.

    There was a strange sounding from the cat bag¨C¨Cgrowling sounds from the depths of its throat. Snowball had never heard such a sound.

    The store was full of people¨C¨Conly Snowball, who was closest to the cat bag, heard the sound.

    Yue Yue came to the side of Snowball. She knelt down and rubbed the long hair on the back of its neck with her small hand, and poked its back where the hair had been cut.

    ¡°White Kitty¡­ Fluffy¡¯s inside,¡± she muttered and patted the cat bag gently.

    Snowball didn¡¯t understand what she was saying; it was only curious about the sounding from the cat bag.

    ¡°White Kitty, do you want to y with Fluffy?¡± Yue Yue thought that Snowball wanted to y with Fluffy, so she smiled happily.

    She extended her small hand towards the cat bag, pinched the zipper, and pulled it open.

    It was a little dark inside the cat bag, and the inside couldn¡¯t be seen clearly by the human eye. Snowball¡¯s pupils erged slightly to get used to the lighting, and it peered inside where the source of the sound wasing from.

    A Siamese cat was hiding in the deepest part of the cat bag.

    It was originally not easy for the lively Siamese cat to gain weight, but in the case of adult cats, the Siamese cat seemed to be too thin. Its size wasn¡¯t evenparable to Snowball, who had its hair cut. Aside from being too thin, the Siamese cat also seemed to be out of spirits.

    When the cover of the cat bag was opened by Yue Yue, the outside light shot in, and the Siamese cat turned its head over as if it hated the light. When it turned its head, Snowball noticed that its eyes were not clear blue like the other Siamese cats in the store, but gray, like they were covered with a veil.

    ¡°Fluffy,e out. Come and y with White Kitty,¡± Yue Yue called out into the cat bag.

    The Siamese cat¡¯s ear moved a bit as if it heard the voice of its master, but its body did not move.

    ¡°Fluffy,¡± Yue Yue called out again. The Siamese cat still didn¡¯t move.

    Yue Yue got impatient, so she stuck her little hand into the cat bag, intending to take the Siamese cat out.

    Snowball suddenly opened its eyes wide, because it saw the Siamese cat¡¯s body convulse violently. It opened its mouth, revealing its pointed teeth.

    The situation didn¡¯t seem right.

    Snowball cried out. It turned around to look for Snowy, but Snowy was speaking to her phone and did not notice the situation that was going on.

    Suddenly, the listless Siamese cat suddenly bit Yue Yue¡¯s little hand! Blood, particrly eye-catching, pooled on her delicate, white palm.

    ¡°Waa!¡± Yue Yue let out a heart-wrenching cry. ¡°Mommy, mommy!¡±

    She wanted to pull her hand out, but the Siamese cat still had her hand in its mouth. A spread of deathly grayness covered its pupils; they were filled with madness and ruthlessness.

    All the people present who had heard the sound turned to look¨C¨Ceven the snoring Famous and Fina were startled awake.

    ¡°Yue Yue! Yue Yue! What¡¯s wrong?¡± Liu Wenying¡¯s face instantly turned pale. She lunged over and hugged Yue Yue.

    ¡°Mommy! It hurts¡­¡± Yue Yue shouted as she cried.

    Liu Wenying pulled on Yue Yue¡¯s arm and took her little hand out of the cat bag.

    The Siamese cat came out of the cat bag, exposed under the eyes of everyone. It had yet to adapt to the strong light, causing the force on its teeth to slightly loosen, which was why Yue Yue¡¯s hand could be pulled out from its mouth.

    Dark red blood rushed out from the four deep holes.

    Everyone was stunned, and almost no one understood what had happened.

    Viscous saliva dripped out from the corner of the Siamese cat¡¯s mouth, and it went into a manic frenzy. It abandoned Yue Yue and pounced towards Snowball. Its eyes, deathly gray, were wide open.

    Snowball was caught off guard. It fell on the floor after it was pounced on, and the two cats rolled into a ball.

    The Siamese cat was crazy strong. It was scratching and biting, and in just a few seconds, Snowball, who had lost its naturalyer of protection from its long hair, had been bitten and bruised.

    Thump!

    Thump! Thump!

    Thump, thump, thump!

    Time seemed to have frozen. Everything became slow motion, and everyone¡¯s heartbeats were clearly audible.

    Snowy¡¯s phone slipped from her fingers and circled in the air before smashing to the ground. The front camera had caught the look on her face. Snowy was overwhelmed with utter shock.

    ¡°Quick¡ªcall¡ªan¡ªambunce¨C¨C¡± Liu Wenying looked terrified. She hugged Yue Yue tightly in her arms, protecting her with her own body. Her mouth opened and closed. Every word she spat out seemed as though it had a very long pause in between.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s body erupted with all his strength. Each muscle contracted, and he charged towards the Siamese cat with his highest speed, trained from Old Time Tea¡¯s Chinese boxing lessons. With his left foot as the fulcrum, he concentrated all the power on his right foot, and like kicking a football, he whipped his right leg towards the crazy Siamese cat.

    But, he wasn¡¯t the fastest¨C¨Che was far from being the fastest!

    A golden stream of light shot down from the sky!

    The enraged Fina unreservedly disyed her unparalleled speed. She was unable to tolerate any feline causing hurt in her presence, especially if it was to an innocent little girl.

    Being the furthest away from the scene, Old Time Tea removed its bamboo hat and hurled it out. The bamboo hat was spinning at high speed, drawing a beautiful arc in the air. It went over Fina¡¯s body and hit the Siamese cat.

    If it was like usual, the Siamese cat wouldn¡¯t have been able to avoid any of the blows, especially when it had suffered injuries during Snowball¡¯s counterattack.

    However, it did not seem to feel any pain, and it broke out with an unbelievable reaction speed. In a split second, it dodged the iing bamboo hat. Even after it had suffered a blow from Fina, it didn¡¯t seem to know any fear; instead, it ferociously engaged Fina head-on.

    Zhang Zian was forced to pull his leg back because Fina would also be sent flying if he were to go ahead with the kick¡­

    It was a mess in the pet shop.

    ******

    ¡°White Kitty¡­¡± Yue Yue smiled; she wanted to y with Snowball.

    Gxy sat by the stairway, blinking it¡¯s silver-gray eyes as it watched the events that had yet to unfold.

 Chapter 828: Abnormality

    <h4>Chapter 828: Abnormality</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Snowball slipped out of Snowy¡¯s arms and walked towards the cat carrier curiously. It had heard a slight pur inside the cat carrier. It had a cat¡¯s scent, but the sound was different than a regr cat. Its curious nature urged it to find out where the sound came from.

    ¡°Meow.¡±

    However, a ck-and-white kitten stopped it on the way. It had to stop and examine it to see if the kitten was hostile.

    It didn¡¯t see when the ck-and-white kitten had showed up. It seemed to have appeared all of a sudden.

    Snowball was not timid. Even facing Good-for-Nothing, a dog much bigger than itself, it fought bravely. Since Fina was there, however, it couldn¡¯t do anything it wanted.

    The ck-and-white kitten didn¡¯t seem like it intended to attack. Instead, it lifted a front paw and waved at it, as if it was greeting and asking Snowball to follow it.

    Snowball looked at the cat carrier, then looked at the ck-and-white kitten, wondering which one was more interesting.

    ¡°White kitty, ck-and-white kitty¡­¡± Yue Yue waddled over and spoke unclearly with a grin on her face.

    Snowball looked back at Yue Yue¨C¨Cit was that look that made it lose its advantage.

    A furry paw tapped on its head gently. It turned its head back again and saw that the ck-and-white kitten had gone up the shelf, as fast as smoke.

    Snowball was furious after it was tricked. It left the cat carrier alone and dashed towards the ck-and-white kitten, but the kitten was so fast and flexible, and it knew the ce really well. It circled around the shelves in ¡°eight¡± shape. Sometimes it slipped under the shelves, making Snowball¡¯s chase very exhausting.

    Yue Yue made a turn, and followed Snowball to the shelves.

    Liu Wenying nced and raised her voice. ¡°Yue Yue, be careful not to hit yourself.¡±

    Yue Yue turned her head and said with a bright smile. ¡°White kitty. ck-and-white kitty¡­¡±

    The girl was so obsessed with Ragdolls that she finally decided to live on nothing for the rest of the year. After getting enough money from credit cards and all sorts of Borrow & Lend apps, she finally purchased the Ragdoll kitten and asked Zhang Zian to give her more pet essories. Then she marched to the cashier to pay, making the biggest purchase of her life.

    After settling a deal, Zhang Zian was in a good mood. He asked her to pick some small essories she liked on the shelves, such as food bowl, water bowl, etc.

    After it saw someoneing towards the shelves, Gxy turned around and ran upstairs.

    Snowball was already tired of chasing¨C¨Cto the point that it had forgotten why it was chasing Gxy in the first ce. It stopped, out of breath, then turned back to Snowy for somefort.

    Zhang Zian had caught a glimpse of Gxy and felt surprised. Gxy usually hid upstairs when there were a lot of people on the first floor. Why was it ying on the first floor?

    ¡°Howl!¡±

    Just then, a sharp scream broke the silence in the pet shop.

    Everybody was shocked and stopped what they were doing. They looked around, wondering which cat was howling.

    Some cats in the shop were active, while some were shy. But all of them were quiet, and only meowed gently even when they were not quiet. Did a stray cate inside from the street?

    The howl even woke up the snoozing Fina and Famous. Fina was especially upset. Who dared to do that right in front of its eyes?

    Since there were too many cats in the shop, nobody knew where the sound came from at first. Only Yue Yue stumbled towards the cat carrier.

    After a short while, another heart-tearing howl came out of the cat carrier. It was creepy to hear.

    ¡°Oh, Big Sister Wenying, your cat¡­ seems to be very sick.¡± Zhao Qi shuddered at the howl. A chilling sensation crept up her back.

    Liu Wenying was also confused. ¡°It¡¯s indeed very sick, but it has never screamed like this before¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian came close to the cat carrier and looked inside through the screened window. It was too dark inside the carrier; he couldn¡¯t see anything.

    Liu Wenying apologized to the customers around her. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m so sorry. Did it frighten you? My cat never screams this way. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong about it today¡­ I think I should go and wait at the clinic.¡±

    Wenying didn¡¯t want to bother the other customers, so Zhao Qi didn¡¯t want to bug her further.

    Zhang Zian bent down in front of the cat carrier and activated the shlight function on his phone. A bright cone of light lit up the cat carrier¡¯s inside.

    After seeing the Siamese cat clearly, he was astonished. His hands started sweating.

    It was in very bad shape. Its hair was wet and cluttered in strands, stinking of vomit.

    The most striking part was its eyes: They were blue and greyish,pletely lifeless, and blood-shot.

    Its mouth was half-open. Gooey saliva dripped down its sharp canine teeth.

    It reacted violently as soon as the light shone on it. It wriggled violently, as if it didn¡¯t like the light. One of the front paws was twitching and shaking.

    As Zhang Zian was examining inside the cat carrier with the shlight, Liu Wenying could not leave right away.

    Zhang Zian turned the shlight off, thought about it, and asked: ¡°How many days has the cat been sick?¡±

    ¡°How many days¡­ I¡¯m not sure. Maybe a few days,¡± Liu Wenying answered. ¡°I¡¯ve been too busy these days and didn¡¯t have much time for it. A few days ago, I noticed it was not eating much and it was barely drinking. Every day when I got back home, I found its food and water barely touched in the bowls.¡±

    ¡°Did it vomit?¡± Zhang Zian asked again.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Liu Wenying nodded immediately. ¡°The vomit has cat hair in it¡­ I hear that this happens a lot in the spring. I thought it had cat hair in its stomach and had lost its appetite. Then I fed it with some hairball remedy¡­ but it didn¡¯t work after two days. It continued vomiting and didn¡¯t eat anything. It¡¯s losing weight fast¡­ If someone didn¡¯t know what was going on, they might think that I was abusing it.¡±

    Snowy wanted to continue to groom Snowball, but after hearing Liu Wenying¡¯s story, she immediately remembered that Snowball had also vomited cat hair that morning. She held Snowball in her arms and listened carefully.

    Liu Wenying paused and continued, ¡°Look how dirty it is. It doesn¡¯t only vomit¡­ after vomiting, it trips on itself into its own vomit, covering itself with filth. It¡¯s so dirty that I want to bathe it, but as soon as I put it into the bathroom, it scratches me like crazy¡­ Look at my arms. These are all its scratches. Luckily I cut its nails a few days ago. Otherwise it would be much worse. In the past, it¡¯s always been hard to bathe, but not as bad as this.¡± She rolled up her sleeves as she spoke.

    Zhao Qi covered her mouth in surprise. Liu Wenying¡¯s arms were covered with red scratches, but they weren¡¯t bleeding.

    Zhang Zian frowned and stared at the scratches on her arms. After a while, he looked at Yue Yue. The little girl ran after Snowball all the way to Snowy.

    ¡°Is Yue Yue scratched?¡± he asked.

    Liu Wenying rolled her sleeves down and smiled. ¡°No. The cat is too dirty and refuses a bath. Kids are vulnerable, so I didn¡¯t let Yue Yue y with it. Now that it¡¯s the weekend, I wanted to bring it to the pet clinic for a check-up. Injections, infusions¡­ we¡¯ll get whatever is needed. It¡¯ll be fine after the treatment¨C¨Cit has never scratched people in the past. Now it must be feeling miserable in sickness, so I don¡¯t me it. After it gets treated, I¡¯ll bring it back here for a bath. I heard that you got an automated dog washer. I¡¯m going to try it, then share the pictures in my WeChat moments with my old friends. Haha!¡±

    She had dealt with Zhang Zian a few times already, and knew him well. She wanted to make a joke, but Zhang Zian didn¡¯t find it funny at all. Instead, he looked unusually serious. She chuckled briefly, then stopped.

    ¡°What happened? Is it bad? Can you tell what disease it has? Is it¡­ something incurable?¡± Zhao Qi asked Zhang Zian nervously withoutughing.

    Liu Wenying made a tight fist and said, ¡°It can¡¯t be, right? It feels warmer than usual. Is it a flu or a fever?¡±

    Zhang Zian took a deep breath. ¡°I have to tell you up front that I¡¯m not a licensed vet, so my judgement may be inurate, and only for your reference.¡±

    Liu Wenying nodded. ¡°Store Manager Zhang, you are too modest. Last time, you could tell which dog had eaten too much just by just a simple touch. You also told us how to use the position of thest rib to tell if the dog was full. After I told my dog owner friends, they were all amazed and impressed.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll put it straight then. Your cat may not get well ever again,¡± Zhang Zian said frankly.

    ¡°What?¡± Liu Wenying¡¯s heart was immediately filled with mixed feelings.

    At first, she felt sorry for the money she had spent on the cat. If it was incurable, the money would have been wasted. Secondly, if Fluffy never got well again, she could not exin it to Yue Yue, who would surely cry a lot. Lastly, she still had some faint hope that Zhang Zian¡¯s judgement could be wrong. He was not a professional vet, after all.

    Zhang Zian added immediately, ¡°But, the cat is not the top priority of the moment¨C¨Cit is yourself! You should go to the closest hospital or vination station right away and get yourself a rabies shot. Everything else can wait! Are you sure that Yue Yue has not been scratched nor bitten?¡±

    A few customers were lining up at the cashier. Everyone had heard the conversation between Liu Wenying and Zhang Zian, including Lu Yiyun and Snowy. It spread across the entire pet shop within a moment!

    Liu Wenying¡¯s head buzzed as if she had been hit by a heavy hammer. All the blood in her body ran to her head. Her feet slipped and she almost fell.

    Zhao Qi was standing right next to her and caught her in time. ¡°Big Sister Wenying!¡±

    The live broadcast audience was joking about marrying Liu Wenying¡¯s adorable daughter Yue Yue. After they heard what was happening, they freaked out immediately.

    ¡°Rabies? Manger Weak Bird, you can¡¯t joke about this!¡±

    ¡°How can it be? Can cats carry rabies?¡±

    ¡°Future mother-inw, don¡¯t just stand there. Rush to the hospital! Oh my goodness. You are driving your son-inw nuts!¡±

    ¡°Holy crap! This is insane¨C¨CI mean the one who sent the bullet screenment just now!¡±

    Snowy¡¯s breath suddenly stopped. She looked down at Snowball in her arms; its eyes were still crystal clear.

 Chapter 829: Rabies

    <h4>Chapter 829: Rabies</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Rabies had a mortality rate of more than 99 percent; people turned pale with just the mention of its name. Yet, their subconscious mind also felt that the terrible, infectious disease was too far from them, and that it was impossible for their own pets to contract the disease.

    In fact, ording to inurate statistics, at least tens of thousands of people worldwide died from rabies every year. Once they became ill, it was almost certain that they would die.

    In the midst of all the noise, Zhao Qi asked, ¡°Rabies? Are you sure?¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not too sure, but from the symptoms of this cat, there¡¯s at least a 90 percent chance of it being rabies.¡±

    As a result of his statement, customers who were close to the cat bag took a few steps back. They wanted to stay as far away as possible, as if the cat bag contained a time bomb.

    ¡°Big Sister Wenying, you need to calm down first¨C¨Cdon¡¯t panic. There¡¯s no use panicking. Since there¡¯s no open wound on your arm, the chances of you contracting rabies is not that high, but the vine still has to be taken,¡± Zhang Zian said slowly. ¡°I¡¯ll ask you a few questions, and you can give them some thought.¡±

    Liu Wenying took a few deep breaths. Her face was very pale, and she stiffly nodded.

    ¡°First of all, are you sure that Yue Yue has not been scratched or bitten? And what about your husband?¡± Zhang Zian asked again because Liu Wenying was obviously in a state of shock after hearing the word ¡°rabies.¡± It was like she had lost her soul¨C¨Cnothing went into her ears.

    Liu Wenying looked at Yue Yue. She tried her best to recall, and after a few seconds, she answered with difficulty, ¡°No, no, I just gave her a showerst night, and if she had any injuries, I would definitely have noticed. My husband usually doesn¡¯t y with the cat¡­ I¡¯ll call him a littleter and ask.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great then,¡± Zhang Zian also breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°Second question¡­ Has your cat been scratched or bitten by other cats or dogs recently?¡±

    Liu Wenying¡¯s cat was a Siamese cat, and the Siamese cat was known as the ¡°dog among cats.¡± She would often take it downstairs to y like she was walking a dog.

    There were many households in themunity who raised cats and dogs. In the past, the owners never used a leash, but after several incidents of dogs scaring or wounding people, a new rule was made in themunity that dogs must be leashed when they were brought on a walk. Gradually, almost nobody walked their dog without a leash.

    As for cats, there were very few people who would bring their cat down to y. The only one who would leash and walk their cat was Liu Wenying. She was often teased about this by the other owners in themunity.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so¡­¡± Liu Wenying hesitated, and then her face changed. ¡°Ah! My husband took Fluffy downstairs to y some time ago, and after he came back, Fluffy¡¯s hair was a mess, and there was a wound on its body. My husband mentioned that a dirty stray cat had appeared out of nowhere and started a fight with Fluffy, but it was immediately scared off by my husband¡­ because it didn¡¯t bleed, I didn¡¯t really pay much attention.¡±

    Zhang Zian frowned. It was a stray cat again¡­

    ¡°Seems like this is the problem¡­ The stray cat may have been a carrier of the rabies virus, and it has transmitted the virus to your cat,¡± he spected.

    Liu Wenying¡¯s legs trembled. Grabbing onto thest line of hope, she asked, ¡°Cats can also transmit rabies? Aren¡¯t they all transmitted by dogs?¡±

    ¡°They are all infectious, and in theory, as long as they are warm-blooded animals, they may be carriers of the rabies virus. When dogs bite people, they must be vinated¨C¨Ceveryone has thismon knowledge. It is said that cat-infected rabies ounts for only three percent of the total number of rabies infections, and it is precisely because the cases are scarce, so they are often ignored. Although the probability is very small, the danger is always there,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    After hearing Zian mention that everyone was susceptible to the danger, customers who were still choosing their pets or were checking out with their selected pets suddenly thought twice about raising pets.

    Zhang Zian quickly added, ¡°But it¡¯s impossible for a clean cat that has been raised at home to infect and spread rabies. It¡¯s okay to be scratched or bitten by such a cat¡­ All of you can rest assured. What you all need to pay attention to are the cats that had physical contact with a cat or dog outside or a cat that has slipped out of the house and returned with a wound. If you¡¯re scratched or bitten by such a cat, it¡¯s best to be vinated for your own safety. Don¡¯t lose something more because of something so small.¡±

    Hearing that, everyone was finally relieved.

    Most people keep their cats in their houses, except for taking them to the clinic for medical examinations or sterilizations. Besides that, they may not leave their homes for the rest of their lives, so there was no possibility of them contracting rabies.

    It was not easy to be bitten by your own dog but raising a cat¡­ Which cat owner has not been scratched or bitten? If you have to get a vination every time you are bitten or scratched, then it wouldn¡¯t really be possible to raise it anymore.

    Liu Wenying¡¯s head started to throb with pain; her body seemed to be roasted by fire one moment, and then thrown into an ice cave the next moment. It was very ufortable.

    She was still doing well earlier, but when she heard that she might have been infected with rabies, under the influence of her psychological effects, she started to feel ufortable all over her body. She even suspected that she was ill and would soon die¡­

    The main issue was that she was scratched over two days ago¡­ Was it still okay to get the vination now?

    Compared to her own safety, she was actually afraid that, if she died, what would Yue Yue do? Was she going to lose her mother at such a young age? Would her husband find a heartless stepmother for Yue Yue?

    Her thoughts were in a mess, and she was in aplete daze.

    Zhang Zian gave Zhao Qi a look. ¡°You¡¯re free now, right? Apany Big Sister Wenying to get a vination.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­ okay!¡± Zhao Qi was shaken up. She was thinking about her own Lan Lan, and fortunately, Lan Lan never left the house.

    ¡°Wang Qian, go call a taxi to the nearest health and epidemic prevention center,¡± Zhang Zian called out.

    Wang Qian hurriedly ran out of the door to call for a taxi.

    Zhao Qi and another kind-hearted customer held onto the weak Liu Weiying as they walked out of the shop. They all entered the taxi together with Yue Yue.

    ¡°Shop Manager Zhang, this cat¡­ what should we do about it? It can¡¯t just be left here, right?¡± a customer asked as it pointed at the cat bag.

    Everyone was afraid of the cat bag, and no one dared to approach it. They were all afraid that the sick cat would jump out from the inside and injure people. Even though they knew that it was close to impossible, everyone didn¡¯t want to take the risk.

    ¡°Find a way to kill the cat, and then throw it away with the bag! Don¡¯t take it out¡­ What if it hurts someone?¡± someone suggested. ¡°Since the cat is going to die anyway.¡±

    Everyone nodded in agreement.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not that simple.¡± Zhang Zian dismissed the proposal. ¡°An animal infected with rabies simply cannot be handled like this.¡±

    He bent over and picked up the cat bag, then said to Lu Yiyun and Wang Qian, ¡°I¡¯ll head out for a while and go to the pet clinic in the north. I¡¯ll be back soon, so you guys can take care of the shop.¡±

    The two of them nodded. ¡°Master, be careful¡­¡±

    ¡°Hold on! This queen ising too!¡±

    Fina jumped down from the cat tree and left the pet shop, following behind Zhang Zian.

 Chapter 830: Ancient Deadly Disease

    <h4>Chapter 830: Ancient Deadly Disease</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As Zhang Zian walked, the cat carrier swung gently beside him. The rhythm spread through the straps and into his palms.

    The Siamese cat seemed to be struggling, or seizing, or twitching. It was not lying still, anyway. Maybe it was already at the terminal stage of its rabies and had sunken intoplete hysteria. It was highly aggressive.

    In other words, it was no longer a pet cat, but a dying beast who recognized nobody. It bit and scratched every living creature that got close to it.

    Fina followed them quickly, sniffing around the cat carrier.

    Maybe it had felt that Fina was approaching, because the Siamese began to struggle even more violently inside the carrier.

    ¡°Don¡¯t get too close. This is a deadly, infectious disease. You may be infected by simply touching the saliva.¡± Zhang Zian switched the cat carrier to the other hand, separating the cat carrier and Fina with his own body.

    ¡°Don¡¯t treat me as a fool.¡± Fina pouted with contempt. ¡°Do you think I¡¯m ignorant?¡±

    ¡°Oh? You know about this?¡± Zhang Zian was surprised.

    Fina gazed in the distance in a trance. ¡°Of course I do. In the Holy ck Land, 2,000 years ago, this disease had already imed many feline and human lives¡­ No, it was even earlier than that. When the first pyramid was built on the Holy ck Land, this disease was already spreading silently. People believed that jackals had bitten the traveling merchants in the desert and they brought the disease into the kingdom¡­ Many schrs and pharaohs¡¯ doctors racked their brains for a cure to this horrible disease. Countless times, they believed that they had found a cure, but all of them failed. Some people even tried to intentionally get themselves infected in order to prove themselves in front of the pharaohs. But all them of died, along with their stories.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what to say¡­

    He knew that rabies had a very long history, almost as long as human civilization¨C¨Ci was recorded in ancient civilizations all over the world¨C¨Cbut he didn¡¯t expect Fina to know about it.

    He thought of another question right away.

    ¡°If you know, then why are you not afraid?¡± He showed it the cat carrier in his hand. ¡°Look at yourself, jumping at it in the shop. What if it suddenly runs out of the carrier and starts biting and scratching everyone?¡±

    ¡°For the glory of Mytha, I¡¯ll kill it on the spot, for sure! This will be my mercy,¡± Fina answered without hesitation.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid of getting scratched?¡± Zhang Zian asked again.

    Fina put on its poker face. ¡°Are you looking down upon me? How can an ordinary cat possibly hurt me?¡±

    ¡°In case¨C¨CI mean just in case.¡± He had to make an emphasis, as it was feeling too good about itself.

    ¡°Even so, I have to stop it,¡± Fina said resolutely. ¡°If I¡¯m afraid of death and can¡¯t be an example in front of my warriors, how can Imand millions of cats to fight for me?¡±

    ¡°¡­It¡¯s okay to be afraid of death once every in a while. To live is the most important thing. You can live without dignity sometimes, but you must first live,¡± Zhang Zian said while shaking his head.

    He didn¡¯t agree, as he was just an ordinary human¨C¨Ca petite bourgeoisie. He could not understand Fina¡¯s sense of pride and glory.

    Fina tilted its head and looked at it. Surprisingly, it didn¡¯t mock him, but said, ¡°ording to what you just said, there¡¯s already a cure for rabies at this time?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not really a cure,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°It¡¯s just a vine. After getting bitten or scratched by an infected animal, if you can get to the hospital in time and get vinated, then your chance of infection will be greatly reduced. But, the vine is not all powerful. Many people don¡¯t bother and don¡¯t think they need an injection. Some people want to take a chance instead of spending money on the vine. Others don¡¯t even know that they need an injection, such as Liu Wenying just now¨C¨Cshe didn¡¯t think about it at all. She thought that rabies was only carried by dogs, while cat scratches were safe.¡±

    Many people had the same misconception: that rabies could only be spread via saliva. Vines were only needed when one was bitten by a dog or a cat, but it was not necessary if one was simply scratched by a cat. It was a huge mistake, as felines had a habit of licking their paws¡­ just look at Snowy Li.

    ¡°Not everyone that is bitten by an infected animal will get sick. In fact, only 15 percent will get sick. But it¡¯s not worth risking your life for the 15 percent chance. Even if you get vinated after you¡¯re bitten, there¡¯s still a one percent chance that the vine will not work. It¡¯s not an elixir, after all,¡± he added.

    ¡°Is this why you worry? That you might be the one percent?¡± Fina asked, staring at his face.

    Zhang Zian paused.

    ¡°You should look at yourself in the mirror.¡± That was all Fina had to say.

    Zhang Zian smiled bitterly, but didn¡¯t say anything. There was nothing he could do, even if he was considered a coward.

    He was not worried of getting infected himself, nor that he would be so unlucky to be the one percent for which the vine was useless. In fact, he was thinking about the stray cat that infected the Siamese cat with rabies.

    The pet shop was very close to the pet clinic; they were almost there when his phone beeped.

    Zhao Qi had texted him, saying they were already at the Health and Epidemic Prevention Center. The doctor suggested some kind of globulin shot for Liu Wenying. Neither her nor Liu Wenying had any idea if she should get it or not, so she asked him to reply soon.

    He stopped to reply. At first, he texted, ¡°Get it.¡± Then he edited a second message and sent it, informing her that globulin was also called ¡°passive immunization¡± for rabies and was specially designed for those who had severe animal bites, or didn¡¯t get vinated in time after being bitten. It injected the viral antibodies directly into the body. The action was fast, but could notst long. It was only used to prevent the virus from spreading inside the body as an emergency measure.

    ¡°Is that woman fine?¡± Fina asked.

    ¡°Should be fine.¡± Zhang Zian put his phone back into his pocket. ¡°Her skin didn¡¯t bleed, and she appears quite healthy. Her chance of infection is low. Getting the vine is just precautionary.¡±

    As they spoke, they arrived at the pet clinic.

    As they entered, Shi Shi was sitting in the waiting area, ying with her phone joyfully. After seeing him there, she asked in surprise, ¡°Howe you are here? Did you leave your shop behind?¡±

    ¡°I have something to do here. You may go back now,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°Except that Zhao Qi is not at the shop right now. She¡¯s at the Health and Epidemic Prevention Center with Liu Wenying. I guess your fancy dinner won¡¯t happen tonight.¡±

    ¡°What!¡± Shi Shi ignored what he had said earlier, and jumped up excitedly. ¡°Qi Qi is lying again! I just declined Liu Sang¡¯s movie invitation for her fancy dinner!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. As long as you say it, Liu Sang surely would not mind.¡± Zhang Zian nced around the clinic, and saw two people waiting in front of Shi Shi, while one person was waiting behind her.

    ¡°Humph! Of course I know it! I just don¡¯t like the fact that movies are not good for WeChat moments. Food pictures get more attention!¡± As Shi Shi mumbled, she picked up her purse and rushed out of the clinic.

 Chapter 831: Diagnosis Confirmation

    <h4>Chapter 831: Diagnosis Confirmation</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    At the pet clinic, two of the waiting customers were with a dog, and one customer was with a cat. They were all ying with their phones out of sheer boredom, and Zhang Zian did not attract much of their attention when he walked in.

    Long Xian raised her head from behind the nurse¡¯s station and saw Zhang Zian. Her eyes fell on the cat bag in his hand. ¡°Shop Manager Zhang, isn¡¯t today the opening for your aquarium?¡± she asked in surprise. ¡°You have time toe down personally? Can¡¯t you just let Wang Qian or Li Kun run the errand for you?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t leave this matter in their hands.¡± Zhang Zian raised the cat bag higher and said to her sternly, ¡°This cat might have contracted rabies, and it is already ill. Do you all have any relevant treatment experience? ¡±

    Long Xian was stunned for a moment and stopped what she was doing. ¡°Rabies? Um¡­ at least I don¡¯t. I¡¯ve only learned some theoretical knowledge in school.¡±

    ¡°Okay, is Sun Xiaomeng inside?¡± Zhang Zian pointed to the direction of the treatment room.

    ¡°Yeah.¡± She nodded.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll wait then. I¡¯m with the girl who just left. There should be two people in front of me, right?¡± Zhang Zian confirmed.

    Long Xian looked past him and shook her head. ¡°Nobody.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Zhang Zian turned around to look. When the three people in the waiting area heard that the cat he brought had rabies, they all immediately left with their pets¡­ He said in a low voice, ¡°Don¡¯t tell Sun Xiaomeng that I scared her customers away¡­¡±

    Speak of the devil¡­

    The door of the treatment room was pushed open, and a visiting customer walked out of the treatment room with his pet and thanked the person inside. Sun Xiaomeng sent the customer to the door and shouted, ¡°The next one is sterilization, right?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Zhang Zian corrected. ¡°I¡¯m not going for a sterilization.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng stuck her head out of the treatment room in surprise and asked, ¡°Why are you here?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here to deliver a cat.¡± Zhang Zian took the cat bag and walked over. ¡°Today, a customer stopped by my store on her way to visit you¡­ It¡¯s about this cat that¡¯s ill. Now guess what happened?¡±

    ¡°Stop making me guess.¡± She frowned at the cat bag then nced at Fina, who had followed along.

    ¡°Take a look at this cat first.¡± Zhang Zian entered the treatment room with her and ced the cat bag on the operating table.

    Sun Xiaomeng reached for the zipper of the cat bag, and Zhang Zian quickly pulled the cat bag back.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± She said furiously, thinking that Zian¡¯s deliberately messing with her.

    ¡°Are you always so careless?¡± Zhang Zian had thought that all doctors were cautious and careful. He exined, ¡°Don¡¯t say that I didn¡¯t remind you. This cat seems to have contracted rabies and is at thest stage.¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng stared at his face and realized that he was not joking. She already had a pair of rubber gloves on her hands, but she took out a pair of thicker ones from the stainless steel cab. She put them over the other rubber gloves, then slowly pulled the zipper of the cat bag.

    Zhang Zian was afraid that the ill Siamese cat would pounce out without warning. Fina was kind of a selfless, impulsive character, so he moved over two steps and stood in front of Fina.

    ¡°Ao¡­¡± Although its gray eyes were lifeless, the strong light from the operating table still stimted the Siamese cat. It let out a cry of sorrow, and its body violently convulsed. Because of the virus attacking its nerves, it had lost control of its lower jaw muscles, leaving its mouth open and unable to close. Its sharp canines were exposed, and it had a glistening thread of viscous saliva stretching out from the tip of its tooth. If one was scratched by its tooth, thousands of dors would be lost¡­

    When the cat stuck its head out from the cat bag, its neck was held down by Sun Xiaomeng¨C¨Cwho was prepared¨C¨Crendering it unable to move.

    ¡°Is it rabies?¡± Zhang Zian asked. Whether or not the cat was ill wasn¡¯t based on what he said; it needed to be diagnosed by a practicing veterinarian.

    Sun Xiaomeng silently nodded. She then noticed that there was a cor around the Siamese cat¡¯s neck. ¡°Is this a domestic cat? How did it get infected?¡±

    ¡°The owner thinks that it was scratched by a stray cat.¡± Zhang Zian recounted Liu Wenying¡¯s words and sighed. ¡°This cat was bought from my shop¨C¨Cit was the second pet ever sold in my shop. I would have never thought that it would end like this¡­¡±

    Because there were no customers at the moment, and Long Xian was bored outside, she followed them into the treatment room to gain some knowledge.

    ¡°I have a question, Shop Manager Zhang. Don¡¯t me me if I ask the wrong question, but why didn¡¯t you give the pet a vination before selling it?¡± Long Xian questioned. ¡°Is it because of the cost?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Sun Xiaomeng and Zhang Zian answered her question almost at the same time, but the question was directed to Zhang Zian.

    He replied, ¡°For dogs, the earliest they can get their rabies vination is at least three months after they are born, and sometimes, they are bought before they even reach three months old. But this is not the main reason. The main reason is that many cities require a rabies vination certificate to be provided at the same time that someone applies for a dog raising license. There are even certain pet clinics or pet hospitals that are designated as vination points. Even if the dog has been vinated in the past, you¡¯d still have to get another vination for the dog raising license, which would cause a waste of resources. As for the cats¡­ no one would give cats a rabies vination in advance; that¡¯s even more wasteful.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I understand now.¡± Long Xianughed and stopped with her questions.

    Sun Xiaomeng held down the Siamese cat. She did not have an extra hand, so she instructed Long Xian, ¡°Prepare the anesthetics and potassium chloride.¡±

    Long Xian was stunned for a moment before she ran to the medicine cab to prepare the rted drugs. She knew that Sun Xiaomeng was going to euthanize the ill Siamese cat.

    ¡°Who¡¯s the cat owner?¡± Sun Xiaomeng asked Zhang Zian. ¡°Can you make all decisions?¡±

    Even if the cat had rabies, it was also a cat with an owner. Since it was the property of others, Zhang Zian really couldn¡¯t make the decision by himself.

    He asked Sun Xiaomeng to wait for a moment and sent a message to Zhao Qi. Done with the vination? Help me convey to Big Sister Wenying that her cat has been diagnosed with rabies. The problem now is that it¡¯s the walking dead, and it¡¯s suffering¡­ There¡¯s also the danger of it injuring someone. Can it be euthanized? We need to get the consent of Big Sister Wenying.

    Zhao Qi replied quickly. We¡¯re done with the vination. I¡¯m sending her home now, so I won¡¯t be heading back to the pet shop. Let Shi Shi take care of my things. Big Sister Wenying¡¯s mental state is very poor at the moment¡­ Her face is filled with worry, and Yue Yue has been crying the whole time. About the euthanasia, can¡¯t you just decide it yourself? Do you have to ask her? Yue Yue¡¯s still beside her.

    Zhang Zian replied, We have to ask her since this is her cat. As for how, you can only think of a way to avoid involving Yue Yue.

    There had been many euthanasia operations done in the pet clinic. Generally, they were for the pets who had be too ill and could no longer be treated.

    Long Xian had prepared the rted supplies. She put on a pair of thick gloves and stood beside the operating table with Sun Xiaomeng, waiting for his news.

    After a while, Zhao Qi sent a message. I¡¯ve asked her. Big Sister Wenying has agreed to go for the euthanasia. She said to let it go painlessly, and that this isn¡¯t its fault.

 Chapter 832: Dust to Dust, Ashes to Ashes

    <h4>Chapter 832: Dust to Dust, Ashes to Ashes</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After getting Liu Wenying¡¯s approval, Zhang Zian put the phone in front of Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s face so that she could read the chat information.

    Euthanizing a pet was serious business, and written consent was needed to avoid disputes. Sun Xiaomeng knew Zhang Zian well enough, so she nodded to Long Xian in agreement and started preparing for the euthanasia.

    The two of them worked together very well. Long Xian pressed down the Siamese cat¡¯s body, while Sun Xiaomeng injected it with anesthesia.

    Zhang Zian and Fina watched silently from a distance.

    The anesthesia took effect immediately: The Siamese cat stopped seizing, struggling, and screaming violently; its head softened and bowed down; its pupils lost focus and stared at the white walls in confusion.

    Its brief life was about to end.

    After confirming that the anesthesia had worked, Sun Xiaomeng held up another syringe. The needle sparkled under the bright light as a drop of clear liquid traveled down it.

    Inside the syringe was a highly concentrated dose of potassium chloride, which would cause a sudden spike in blood potassium after the injection and the cat¡¯s heart to stop beating.

    After the injection, there was no turning back.

    Sun Xiaomeng looked at Zhang Zian once again. He nodded slowly, but resolutely.

    She pierced the needle into the Siamese cat¡¯s body, then pushed a tiny amount of potassium chloride solution into its blood with her thumb.

    Almost instantly, something shed inside the Siamese cat¡¯s pupils. Then it disappeared permanently.

    Sun Xiaomeng pressed he stethoscope into its chest to listen for the heart beat. After a few seconds, she announced, ¡°The sick pet is confirmed dead.¡±

    It was the first time that both Zhang Zian and Fina had watched a pet being euthanized. It was quiet, without blood. Although it was a dangerous, rabid pet that was being euthanized, they felt it difficult to breathe. The treatment room was spacious, but it was still hard to breathe in there, as if the room were airtight.

    ¡°What a potent poison,¡± Fina said while watching the syringe, astonished. ¡°Tasteless and odorless, yet more potent than the deadliest snakes. Can¡¯t believe humans have invented such a potent stuff¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian wanted to rify that potassium chloride was present in everyone¡¯s body, and that it was not really a poison, but it was not convenient to exin in front of Sun Xiaomeng and the other girls so he gave up.

    Sun Xiaomeng and Long Xian were used to seeing it happen and had performed pet euthanasias many times, but their faces didn¡¯t seem rxed at all.

    ¡°How would you like to dispose the carcass?¡± Sun Xiaomeng asked. ¡°There are three options: cremation, you can keep the ashes after cremation, or self-disposal.¡±

    Zhang Zian hesitated for a while. He felt that he should ask Liu Wenying since she was the owner, but considering her condition, it was wise not to bother her.

    Since the pet was infected with rabies, it was clearly inappropriate to dispose of the carcass on his own. The so-called self-disposal was, in fact, iming the carcass, then finding a ce to bury it¨C¨Cbut cat and dog carcasses that carried a deadly, infectious disease had to be buried very deep. Otherwise, wild dogs or other dirt-digging animals might dig them out, which would cause further spreading of the disease.

    ¡°Keep the ashes after cremation.¡± Zhang Zian chose the middle option. At least he could return the ashes to Liu Wenying.

    Although it was not clearly specified, the cost might have to be paid by Zhang Zian for now. He could keep the receipt and ask Liu Wenying to reimburse him.

    Sun Xiaomeng took her gloves off, then called a specialized pet crematorium for an appointment to pick up the carcass.

    While she was talking on the phone, Zhang Zian calcted in his mind how much money it would cost.

    ¡°They areing tomorrow,¡± she said after hanging up.

    ¡°Not today?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°No. They are busy today.¡± Sun Xiaomeng could not help it. ¡°There¡¯s only one pet burial service provider in Binhai City. There¡¯s a line up for cremation.¡±

    Zhang Zian eximed, ¡°These days, it¡¯s hard to live, and equally hard to die¡­¡±

    Pet burial was a new line of service, which became avable to the general public in thest two to three years. As more and more people owned pets in China, and the owners were wealthier and wealthier, many people considered their pets as valuable as family and friends. After the pets died, they were willing to pay for a decent funeral and a quiet resting ce.

    Yet, realistically speaking, the government had not issued anyws or regtions in that area. The pet burial business was not well regted.

    He could not hold back anymore and asked Sun Xiaomeng about the price. She told him that group cremation was ten yuan without ashes; individual cremation was 200 yuan with ashes; individual cremation with a funeral was 1500 yuan. With thest option, monks performed rituals during the funeral while the owners could watch the entire process, and then collect the ashes on their own.

    Zhang Zian was more or less relieved. 200 yuan was fairly eptable.

    The 1500 yuan for a top notch funeral was not so expensive considering the services that were included¨C¨Cas long as the services were decent. Someone willing to pay 300,000 yuan for expensive cat breeds such as Ragdolls or Abyssinians should be able to ept that price. At least it was much cheaper than a human funeral.

    Fina despised his stinginess and calctions. While they talked, it jumped onto the stainless steel operating table and stared at the dead Siamese cat.

    The Siamese cat had lost all signs of life. After being thoroughly tortured by the virus, it finally regained peace in both body and mind. The muscles on its face were rxed as a result of the anesthesia, making it look asleep.

    ¡°Dust to dust, ashes to ashes. If you have a next life, you will surely be a cat again,¡± it whispered gently to the Siamese cat.

    ¡°Don¡¯t touch it!¡± Long Xian stretched her hands immediately to stop it, thinking it wanted to touch the dead Siamese cat.

    Zhang Zian was asking Sun Xiaomeng about the pet burial arrangements and didn¡¯t hear Fina clearly. When he looked back, it had already jumped off the operating table.

    Long Xian put the Siamese cat¡¯s carcass into a specialized pet body bag, thenbeled it and stored it into the fridge in the clinic. The pet crematorium staff would pick it up the next day.

    After settling payment, Zhang Zian said goodbye to Sun Xiaomeng and Long Xian. He still had a lot of things to do at the shop.

    On the way back, he still seemed absorbed with what had just happened. Neither he nor Fina spoke.

    When they already arrived at the pet shop, Fina suddenly uttered, ¡°Are you puzzled? Is it true that, in your eyes, I don¡¯t value life at all?¡±

    Zhang Zian paused without a word¨C¨Chis silence meant yes.

    Fina said slowly, ¡°Death is only the end of one journey. But it¡¯s not the end¨C¨Cin the holy pyramids, the mummies of all pharaohs and priests are waiting silently. As soon as the right time arrives, the Holy ck Land will surely rise again, and conquer the world once more!¡±

    Zhang Zian shrugged. ¡°Sounds good. Too bad I¡¯m an atheist. To me, I only live once.¡±

 Chapter 833: Corpse Disposal

    <h4>Chapter 833: Corpse Disposal</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Upon Zhang Zian¡¯s return to the pet shop, Wang Qian and Lu Yiyun both cast an inquiring look at him. He simply nodded to make them feel at ease, meaning to say that it had all been taken care of.

    Snowy was already done with Snowball¡¯s haircut. She saw that Zhang Zian hade back and said with regret, ¡°That cat was really pitiful¡­ Was it euthanized? The audience in the live broadcast wanted to have me broadcast the process of a live euthanasia, but I¡¯m not courageous enough and I¡¯m afraid that I¡¯d have nightmares¡­¡±

    She hugged Snowball tightly, feeling fortunate that it was not as unfortunate as the Siamese cat.

    ¡°Well, there was no other option. Even if it was not euthanized, it was not going tost long. Letting it stay alive was just letting it suffer,¡± Zhang Zian replied. ¡°Don¡¯t worry¨C¨Cthe cases of cats contracting rabies are very rare.¡±

    Snowy sighed. ¡°But I always take Snowball out to y. If stray cats suddenly rush out and bite or scratch¡­¡±

    ¡°Where would there be so many stray cats? Stray dogs are much more dangerous than stray cats.¡± Zhang Zianughed before he recalled the cats that had escaped from the Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base. Although most of them had been adopted, there were still many left as strays. After the adopter¡¯s initial excitement had passed, it was unknown whether or not they would abandon the cats they had gotten for free and further increase the number of stray cats.

    In fact, the vi area where Snowy was located was strictly managed, so there were no stray cats or stray dogs at all. The estate owners there were rich, and they all had more than one ce to live, so the various reasons that ordinary people abandoned their dogs and cats were not applicable to them.

    Snowball was bald now, but it didn¡¯t get any stronger¨C¨Cit just looked slimmer. There was still a lot of shredded hair left on it, so Snowy decided to bathe it with the automatic dog washing machine.

    Fina jumped back onto the cat tree, yawned, and went back to sleep.

    Old Time Tea was still watching TV; Snowy Li was lecherously looking at the beautiful women; Famous was surrounded by a few fans who had juste for its autograph and photo; and Richard was flying around making lots of noise. It was just as if nothing had happened.

    Zhang Zian nced at the stairway. Gxy was sitting on the highest step of the stairs, blinking it¡¯s gray eyes as it watched the customers that wereing and going. Its eyes were both yearning for and afraid of human beings.

    Temporarily, there was nothing going in the pet shop, so he notified Lu Yiyun and went over to the aquarium next door.

    ¡°Master Wu, Master Zhao, are you still picking?¡±

    As soon as he entered, Zhang Zian heard Welder Zhao¡¯s sonorous voice. The other customers were quietly admiring the fascinating underwater world, but his voice was the loudest in the entire aquarium.

    Compared to Wang Qian and Lu Yiyun, Li Kun and Jiang Feifei, who were in charge of the aquarium business, seemed to be more rxed. Their workload was at least half that of the other two; they were even a little too free.

    The reason for that was that each fish tank had already beenbeled with abel that indicated the type of creature in the aquarium and its raising difficulty, so there were not many questions left to ask. Also, most of the people who raised aquatic creatures had onlye down after they had done their homework. Unlike those who raise cats and dogs, they often came to the pet store and left with a pet on impulse. It was also undeniable that the number of aquarium creature lovers was much less than that of cats and dogs.

    Electrician Wu and Welder Zhao had arrived early. Zhang Zian had been busy in the pet shop for a long time, and he did not expect for the two of them to still be there¡­ It can only be said that retired people had a lot of spare time. If they didn¡¯t have to head back in the afternoon for dinner, then it could be estimated that they would stay for one whole day.

    Zhang Zian had actually considered providing coffee and tea in his shop, like the German aquariums and pet shops did; he would also ce a few wicker chairs and rattan table for people to sit. He had even thought of working together with Li¡¯s Snack Bar to provide take-away, and in addition to an extra ie it would provide, the more time that customers spent in the store, the more likely he¡¯d be able to make money.

    Electrician Wu and Welder Zhao stood in front of a drainage box. They seemed to be arguing fiercely about something.

    Welder Zhao¡¯s voice was loud, while Electrician Wu¡¯s voice sounded calm but also did not show any weakness. As they got older, they both became more stubborn, and neither of them could convince each other.

    When they saw Zhang Zianing over, Electrician Wu warmly greeted him like he had seen his loved ones. ¡°Xiao Zhang,e over for a moment. You know a lot, so we have a few questions for you.¡±

    Zhang Zian walked over and asked, ¡°Master Wu, what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Wu, stop acting so close. I¡¯ll say it: this is the case,¡± Welder Zhao hurriedly said, ¡°Earlier, when you came to my house to deal with the bobbit worm, didn¡¯t we pour a lot of boiling water into my tank, and it got all over the reef rocks?¡±

    ¡°Yes we did.¡± Zhang Zian expressed that he had not forgotten.

    Electrician Wu pointed to Welder Zhao andined to Zhang Zian. ¡°Look at this person who doesn¡¯t know how to be grateful. You obviously helped him so much, and now he¡¯s ming you. If you didn¡¯t help him, who knows what kind of trouble the bobbit worm would have caused¡­¡±

    ¡°Wu, stop spouting nonsense. Who did I me?¡± Welder Zhao interrupted angrily. ¡°Can¡¯t we just talk facts?¡±

    Zhang Zian saw them quarreling again and quickly interjected. ¡°Two grandpas, with the two of you arguing like this, I can¡¯t understand anything. How about we take turns talking?¡±

    ¡°Okay then, I¡¯ll go first,¡± Welder Zhao took the lead.

    It turned out that on that day that Zhang Zian andpany had gone down to Welder Zhao¡¯s home to resolve the issue with the bobbit worm, they did not stay for any length of time after they had killed it.

    Soon after they left, before Welder Zhao had the time to clean up the scene, his wife had returned back from square dancing. His son and daughter-inw also came home from work soon after, and when they saw the long and ugly worm in the tank, they all had a bad scare. His wife was so scared that she turned pale and almost fainted.

    Welder Zhao felt both awkward and guilty. Of course, he couldn¡¯t mention that he had brought the dangerous bobbit worm into the house because of his ignorance and mistakes¨C¨Che would be too ashamed and would likely be banned by the rest of his family from raising fish in the future.

    He casually made up a few lies, iming that the worm only looked ugly, but that it was not dangerous. It usually fed on fish waste and he had deliberately kept it.

    As for the grandson who knew the truth, he could bribe him with just a few boxes of chocte.

    His family was dubious, but the worm¡¯s body could not be kept at home, so they urged him to throw it away.

    Welder Zhao casually found a supermarket stic bag. He used a pair of pliers to clip the body of the bobbit worm, which caused him to be nauseous and be sick to his stomach. He then stuffed the corpse into the bag, where its corpse was wrapped around itself several times.

    He took the bag downstairs to dispose of it. When he walked to the door of the building, he wondered where he should throw the thing. If he were to throw it into the garbage bin, would it scare the garbage cleaner the next morning?

    Just then, someone greeted him from behind, and he turned and saw that it was a neighbor from another unit who was also out to throw out their garbage.

    The neighbor¡¯s surname was Wang, and he was also a retiree from their factory. He used to be a carpenter.

    Carpenter Wang stared at the worm¡¯s corpse in the bag and his eyes lit up.

 Chapter 834: The Live Rock Is Dead

    <h4>Chapter 834: The Live Rock Is Dead</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The residential area where Welder Zhao lived was built before the SOE Reform. Many residents had been living there for 20 to 30 years, some even longer. They knew each other well, always stuck together, and took care of each other when something happened. Even if someone had to leave their child home alone, the neighbors would help out. It was unlike the new residential areas, in which the next door neighbors didn¡¯t even know each other.

    However, there was one disadvantage to an old residential area: When there was gossip, everybody knew it the following day.

    Welder Zhao saw Carpenter Wang taking the trash out and tried to hide his bag behind his back, but Carpenter Wang saw it anyway.

    ¡°Wow, a bobbit worm? Zhao, you have some guts in you to keep such a thing in your tank!¡± Carpenter Wang said in surprise.

    Welder Zhao wondered if Carpenter Wang knew marine creatures really well, since he seemed to know what a bobbit worm was.

    He had always known Carpenter Wang, but not very well. They used to work in different sections of the factory. Their acquaintance was nothing more than greeting each other when they saw each other.

    ¡°Wang, how do you know about this worm?¡± he asked with a smirk, not being able to hide it anymore.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve owned saltwater fish for eight to ten years. How would I not know this worm?¡± Carpenter Wang kept his head up, looking quite confident.

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve never heard this before. You are an aquarium pro?¡± Welder Zhao was astonished.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a pro. There¡¯s too much to learn about saltwater fish. I only know a little.¡± Carpenter Wang¡¯s words were humble, but his tone was not.

    He pointed at the bobbit worm in the bag and asked, ¡°Zhao, tell me the truth. Did you get the worm on purpose, or did it follow the eco-bio-block into your tank?¡±

    Welder Zhao blushed. He might be able to trick an amateur, but not a seasoned aquarium lover. Who would be so stupid to keep such a worm?

    ¡°Hey! You are right. The eco-bio-block was not clean. The worm did follow it into the tank.¡± He told the truth.

    Carpenter Wang nodded. ¡°I told you. But luckily you found it early. If you had discovered it a few monthster, it wouldn¡¯t fit in your stic bag anymore.¡±

    ¡°Actually, I didn¡¯t discover it. A young man running an aquarium found it¡­¡± Welder Zhao nced left and right, then whispered, ¡°To tell you the truth, it took us quite a while to finally kill the worm. I freaked out¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh? Tell me more about it.¡± Carpenter Wang grew curious. His heart started burning for gossip. In fact, he had nothing to do. His wife was cooking at home.

    Welder Zhao told him the story in detail¨C¨Cbut, of course, he made himself sound better in the story. Carpenter Wang fell into the story. After hearing that Zhang Zian and the others had poured boiling water on the rock to force the bobbit worm out and then burned it to death, he shook his head as if it was nothing.

    ¡°Zhao, allow me to be direct with you. In my opinion, that Zhang Zian¡¯s method is questionable. I¡¯d guess that he is an amateur who pretended to be a pro,¡± he said with confidence.

    The way Carpenter Wang talked looked kind of familiar to Welder Zhao. As he thought about it carefully, he remembered that he wore the face of a spectator, like the old men watching others y chess by the street.

    ¡°You mean¡­¡± Welder Zhao dragged his voice to probe for more information.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t pour boiling water on it!¡± Carpenter Wang said regretfully, hitting his right fist into his left hand¡¯s palm.

    ¡°Why?¡± Welder Zhao paused.

    ¡°Because rocks are living stones. The internal bacterial colonies and microbes form a mini ecosystem, which helps you improve the water quality. Establishing the algae takes a lot of work in the beginning, but it¡¯ll save you lots of troubleter. The saltwater experts in our city all use live rocks to start the tanks¡­ Look, after you poured boiling water on them, the live rocks be dead rocks. All the beneficial bacteria on the live rocks are killed! It¡¯s ruined¡­ ruined. All the rocks in your tank are finished¡­¡± Carpenter Wang shook his head and sighed ceaselessly.

    He seemed to be making good points. Welder Zhao didn¡¯t understand it all, but he felt impressed.

    Welder Zhao had been raising saltwater fish longer than Electrician Wu, but only by a little bit. He didn¡¯t know everything about fish. After he had heard Carpenter Wang¡¯sments, his trust in Zhang Zian was kind of shaken.

    ¡°Well¡­ What shall I do then?¡± Welder Zhao asked for help.

    ¡°There¡¯s no way back. Your tank of rocks are finished. Just throw them away and get some more live rocks from the aquarium market or an aquarium. Start a new tank!¡± Carpenter Wang¡¯s tone sounded certain.

    He thought about it again and suggested, ¡°Right, don¡¯t go to the aquarium of that Zhang dude. He¡¯s young and inexperienced¨C¨Can amateur who pretends to be a pro¡­ If you want to continue, I¡¯ll refer you another aquarium. I¡¯ve bought all my live rocks and equipment from that aquarium. It¡¯s an old store with a lot of loyal customers, a good reputation, and reasonable prices. Every aquarium lover in our city knows about it.¡±

    Welder Zhao was hesitant. He was thankful that Zhang Zian had brought a team to his house to solve his bobbit worm problem. He had saved the children from danger. Not only did he not charge any money, but he went back without having a drink. However, his old-schooled thoughts made him trust a reputable old store more. Plus, Zhang Zian¡¯s shop was kind of expensive¡­ In addition, he didn¡¯t want to refuse Carpenter Wang to his face. They lived in the same residential area, after all, and came across each other all the time. It was unwise to jeopardize their rtionship.

    After careful consideration, he asked Carpenter Wang to write down the other aquarium¡¯s address and promised that he would take a look when he had some time.

    They added each other on WeChat. Carpenter Wang sent him the address and told him confidently, ¡°Zhao, stop hesitating. Trust me¨C¨Cgo to this store. After you finish restarting your tank, I can introduce you to a WeChat group for aquarium lovers. There are a lot of pros in it. You can learn a lot from them. It¡¯ll be much better than figuring everything out on your own!¡±

    Welder Zhao looked forward to that. Raising fish alone was quite a lonely hobby. His friends who had cats and dogs often posted cat and dog pictures on WeChat moments and received a lot of likes. Inparison, he couldn¡¯t even get a fewments for his saltwater fish and m worm pictures, not to mention likes. At the end of day, it was an issue of group differences.

    He wanted to belong, and wanted tomunicate with other fish owners. He nodded in agreement. ¡°Thank you in advance, Mr. Wang.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. You are too kind. You don¡¯t need to thank me, I¡¯m your neighbor!¡± Carpenter Wang threw his own trash in the designated location, then waved his hands and said to him, ¡°I¡¯ll go home first. Looking forward to your good news.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    As Carpenter Wang disappeared in the stairwell, Welder Zhao suddenly remembered that he forgot to ask where he should dump the dead worm¡­

 Chapter 835: Three Styles

    <h4>Chapter 835: Three Styles</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Welder Zhao and Electric Wu had a closer rtionship, so the next day, Welder Zhao repeated what had happened with Carpenter Wang to Electrician Wu. He was immediately reproached by Electrician Wu.

    Electrician Wu scolded him for being an ungrateful person. Why did he so easily believe what people said? How did he know if Carpenter Wang had not received a rebate from the aquarium that he had rmended? He might even get a benefit fee for every person he rmended to the shop.

    After he was reprimanded by Electrician Wu, Welder Zhao hesitated again. He felt that both sides had their own reasoning so he decided to visit both sides. Since there was a special promotional event for the opening of the Amazing Fate Aquarium, he followed Electrician Wu there first, and then he would maybe visit the other shop in the days toe.

    Welder Zhao exined while Electrician Wu added on the side, asionally exposing him. Finally, Zhang Zian understood what they were arguing about.

    Electrician Wu said after catching his breath, ¡°Xiao Zhang, he¡¯s a stubborn donkey. I can¡¯t convince him¡­ You can tell him about it. Is what Carpenter Wang said true?¡±

    Welder Zhao wanted to refute, but in the end, he didn¡¯t say anything, because he also wanted to know if what Carpenter Wang said was true or not.

    Zhang Zian gave it a thought and said, ¡°Actually, what he said does make sense¡­¡±

    Welder Zhao opened his mouth and wanted to mock Electrician Wu, but then he heard Zhang Zian continue. ¡°But it¡¯s also not all the truth.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Electrician Wu asked.

    Zhang Zian exined in detail that there were three kinds of style to kick start and create a sustainable environment for saltwater fish. One was through live rocks, which was what Welder Zhao had done before. The second was with dead stones, where one boils the live rock with boiling water or even use chemicals to kill off all the poison, creatures, and microorganisms attached to the live rock before cing them into the fish tank. The third was through the use of artificial stones, which was simr to the dead stone, but the disinfection step was omitted.

    Interestingly, it was basically only China that almost always used a live rock to kick-start the process, while in foreign countries, using dead stones to kick-start the process was the absolute mainstream. There was only a small percentage that used artificial stones. Very few people used live rocks, and some countries even hadws to ban the use of live rocks¡­ There was a strong contrast between domestic and foreign practice.

    Zhang Zian had studied aquarium operations under Carl in Germany, so of course, he had also studied the theories and techniques of using live and dead rocks to kick-start the process of creating a sustainable environment for the fish. In addition, he also knew the strengths and weaknesses of the three different styles.

    He could say anything but there would be no proof, so he called Li Kun over and told him to take a live rock that had not been used yet.

    The live rocks in his shop were bought wholesale from the fish market, and most of them had already been turned into dead stones through treatment; only a few were kept in their live rock state.

    Li Kun brought over a stic wash basin. The basin was half-filled with seawater, and a natural live rock was soaking inside. The surface of the live rock was slightly brown and it was covered with wrinkles and tiny holes.

    ¡°This live rock should be simr to the reef rocks in your home.¡± Zhang Zian rolled up his sleeves and took out the live rock from the water, disying it to the two elderly people.

    They nodded.

    Then, Zhang Zian did an action that waspletely unexpected: Heid a cloth onto the floor, ced the wet stone on top, then took a hammer from the toolbox and swung it down on the live rock!

    A crack was heard and the live rock split down the middle into four or five pieces. The seawater that was contained in the inner cavity flowed out to the ground.

    ¡°This¡­ what is this?¡± Electrician Wu eximed.

    After the live rock was shattered into pieces, some small, peculiar shaped creatures flowed out along with the sea water.

    There were worms covered with bristles, squirming tubeworms, tiny translucent anemones, small crabs, colorful shrimps, and some creatures that werepletely indistinguishable¡­ They never would have expected there to be so many things hidden in the small live stone.

    Zhang Zian pointed at the creatures with the hammer handle and introduced them one by one. ¡°You¡¯ve seen this before. The bristle worm is simr to the m worm, but the bristle worms are actually useful. They can help you turn the sand and clean the gaps of the live rock. Tubeworms and sponge organisms are also useful to filter water. Crabs and prawns, on the other hand, have both advantages and disadvantages. As for these ghost anemones, they are the notorious scourge in aquarium tanks¡­ cing a live rock in your tank would mean bringing all of these creatures into your tank, which sounds like both a good and bad thing, but the benefits of using live rocks can be reced by other things. The downsides, however, are a headache to resolve.¡±

    He did not clearly state the advantages and disadvantages of using a dead rock and a live rock. There was a reason for something to exist. Since the use of live rocks was so popr in China, they must not bepletely useless.

    Electrician Wu asked curiously, ¡°Why is using the dead stone popr in foreign countries, and live rocks in our country? What¡¯s the reason? Just because our concept is different?¡±

    ¡°Not exactly.¡± Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°The use of live rocks is popr in China because the performance of the protein skimmer was generally not great. The skimmer is unable topletely remove the pollution inside the tank, so they depend on live rocks to elerate the growth of algae to assist with the process¡­ Over time, this folk method became the mainstream. Even if the performance of the high-end protein skimmer is sufficient, many people will still regard it as the standard.¡±

    Electrician Wu immediately said to Welder Zhao, ¡°Look, didn¡¯t I say so? You insist on listening to Carpenter Wang. Do you think he really knows it all? He¡¯s just following what people say, only knowing that it is so but not knowing why it is so!¡±

    The conversation between them attracted the other customers in the store, who frowned at the living creatures that flowed out from the live rock. Things like bristle worms were really unbearable.

    After listening to Zhang Zian¡¯s exnation, everyone now had a better understanding.

    Welder Zhao was still not convinced. He said loudly, ¡°If the live rocks are turned into dead rocks then what about the beneficial bacteria that was attached to them?¡±

    Zhang Zian had expected him to ask this question, so he led them to the nearest aquarium with a base cab and opened the base cab to let them look inside.

    ¡°Yi? Why is there another small tank hidden in the base cab?¡± Welder Zhao was amazed.

    There was a small fish tank in the base cab, and there was nothing in the fish tank¨C¨Conly a live rock soaked in seawater. Several pipes connected the small fish tank to the filtering system in the base cab. It was Zhang Zian¡¯s custom aquarium tank.

    Zhang Zian further exined, ¡°The dead stone is ced in therge tank above the base cab. In order to supplement the beneficial bacteria, an extra small tank is added to the filtering system. There is a filter in the tube connecting the small tank so that the bacteria can pass. However, the small creatures hidden in the live rocks will be stopped by the filter. It is used tobine the advantages and avoid the disadvantages of the dead rock and live rock.¡±

    ¡°Boss, what is the brand of this aquarium tank? I want to buy one, too.¡± Someone was tempted.

    Zhang Zian was waiting for the question, so he immediately replied, ¡°This is our store¡¯s own design and it is customized by us. You can¡¯t buy it outside the store. But if you¡¯re interested, the shop can customize one for you!¡±

    The biggest profit from running an aquarium did note from aquarium creatures, but rather the other peripheral products.

 Chapter 836: Love Big, Love Small

    <h4>Chapter 836: Love Big, Love Small</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Someone who bought a cat or dog didn¡¯t always necessarily buy a cat or dog house, but a fish buyer surely needed a fish tank. The only difference was where to buy one. After all, not many men had Welder Zhao¡¯s hands and could make everything by themselves¨C¨Cnot to mention make them nice and presentable.

    Among the customers inside the aquarium, there were not only rookies, but also professionals who had been raising saltwater fish for years. Not only did they notice the small tanks for live rocks at the bottom of the aquarium stand, but they were also curious about the stand¡¯syout.

    Just then, Snowy came over with Snowball. She hadn¡¯t forgotten that her primary goal of the visit that day was to live broadcast the aquarium.

    The shaved Snowball had taken a bath in the automatic dog washer. It was almost unrecognizable, as if a girl with long hair suddenly got a crew cut by an apprentice in the street.

    Snowy circled the aquarium with her phone so that the audience could see what the aquarium was like. She heard Zhang Zian introducing aquarium stands to customers, so she walked over to listen.

    The aquarium tanks that Zhang Zian had ordered included the tanks and the stands. The tanks were simr for the most part, while the main differences were in the stands. However, aquarium rookies usually didn¡¯t know the function of the equipment in the stands and were too shy to ask; they were afraid of being ripped off by sneaky merchants. As a result, they just paid without getting to the bottom of things.

    The standyout and the aquarium equipment quality were the most important determinants of an aquarium tanks¡¯ quality. If theyout was lousy, in which all equipment was stuffed into a stand, then it would make future maintenance and changes a headache¨C¨Cnot to mention the noise istion and shock absorption.

    In Germany, Zhang Zian had observed Karl¡¯s aquarium and his daughter¡¯s pet shop. He had paid special attention to the scientifically reasonableyout inside the aquarium stand. After his return, he modified it with with his own self-design ording to the realistic conditions of Chinese fish owners. Then, he had them custom-made by people from the construction material market.

    After hearing ¡°self-design,¡± the audience started to express their doubt.

    ¡°Come on, what kind of self-design could there possibly be? All I can see are a few nks added inside the stand,¡± someone mentioned.

    ¡°If this counts as self-design, I can do it too.¡±

    The so-called self-design sounded impressive. In fact, it was no more than separating sections with nks inside the aquarium stand, while leaving pre-arranged holes and passage for the pipes. He also added wire organizers to make the wires look less messy.

    Zhang Zian knew the live broadcast fans would surely have negativements to add. He said, ¡°Don¡¯t look down upon these nks. I didn¡¯t put them in random ces. Instead, after careful consideration, I nailed them where they are supposed to be. For example, a desktop PC case is nothing more than a box with some holes and a few metal boards, yet, it¡¯s sold for 200-300 yuan or more. Why not just stuff the motherboard, CPU, and graphic card in an empty box? Isn¡¯t that cheaper?¡±

    ¡°Manager Weak Bird, don¡¯t talk too fast! I¡¯m telling you that my desktop PC doesn¡¯t have a case!¡± someone said.

    ¡°No case? Is it a super expensive, all-in-one PC?¡± anotherizen responded.

    ¡°No. I¡¯m using a shoe box as a PC case. The venttion is great, and it¡¯s environmental friendly.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t make your poverty sound so noble¡­¡±

    ¡°Holy crap! I can¡¯t imagine that I can meet geeks from Tutin bar.¡±

    ¡°Hail the pros at Tutin bar!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s almost summer. Be careful in case a shoe box catches fire¡­¡±

    ¡°Haha! The standard PC case of Tutin bar¨C¨Ca shoe box! I wanted to try it in the past. But I¡¯m not good enough at DIY¡­¡±

    ¡°If you pay 3000 yuan for Tutin bar membership, you¡¯ll soon be able to manage an inte bar next to a university!¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, I entered the wrong bar in the past. I ended up paying 98,000 yuan¡­¡±

    As the online fans joked around, Zhang Zian continued to introduce his self-designed aquarium stand to the customers.

    For example, if a regr aquarium stand was a shoe box, then his self-designed stand was a PC case. Although some geeks from the Tutin bar loved the challenge of using a shoe box as a PC case, most normal people preferred using a normal PC case.

    The internal structure of a good PC case should have been designed properly with predetermined spaces for the motherboard, the CPU, the hard drive, the fan, the high-definition graphic card, etc. The internal venttion should also be taken into consideration, in case the PC turned into a furnace. The asthetics were thest thing to be considered¨C¨Cas in where the messy wires and cables should be hidden¨C¨Cso that the PC case became a piece of art and was pleasant to look at.

    A good aquarium stand was simr to a good PC case, in which theyout should be properly designed, while it still preserved some space for future upgrade.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s self-designed stand was not a piece of art, yet it had all the functions it needed, and extra space was preserved. As soon as the door opened, a light-sensitive light was activated automatically, lighting up the internal space.

    Devices were ced in grids of various sizes in order, including the filtration system, the protein separator, the calcium reactor, the CO2 cylinder, the denitrator, etc. Turbid salt water was pumped from the aquarium into a small tank with live rocks and good bacteria, then into the devices listed above. The water, already clear at the exit, was pumped into the aquarium again, forming a high-efficiency circuit.

    The saltwater circted in transparent PVC tubes. It seemed to possess some magic, making it fascinating to watch.

    The online fans stopped reminiscing about the good old Tutin bar and began to talk about how if the aquarium stand had a few RGB fans installed, it could disguise as a high-end CPI water cooler.

    Welder Zhao was so tempted. He put his hands inside of it to feel it everywhere, then took a few pictures with his phone¨C¨Che nned to make a simr stand by himself at home. Yet, most peoplecked Welder Zhao¡¯s skillful hands. They would rather buy one that was ready to use.

    One of the middle-aged male customers said, ¡°Store Manager, I¡¯d like to order one. Please let me know the price of a tank with a stand.¡±

    Zhang Zian asked him, ¡°The price depends on the tank size. How big do you want it? The smallest one with the stand is 100 centimeters. I also have 120, 150 and 180 centimeters. If you want a longer one, I can have it made, too.¡±

    As long as he could afford it, he could order a tank as long as the Great Wall. Rich people had the freedom to do whatever they wanted.

    The middle-aged customer frowned and said, ¡°The shortest is 100 centimeters? It seems too big. I want to ce it in a corner of my living room, but I¡¯m not sure if a big aquarium tank would look good or not there¡­¡±

    ¡°Is this the first time you own an aquarium?¡± Zhang Zian asked in conjecture.

    ¡°Strictly speaking, no. I¡¯ve owned aquariums tanks in the past, but they were all small tanks around 40-50 centimeters. The fish kept dying, so I gave up after all fish had died,¡± the middle-aged customer exined. ¡°Then I got bored and purchased more fish. This repeated a few times¡­ I moved into a new ce recently. My room is bigger, so I¡¯m thinking about buying a bigger tank and getting serious about it¡­ but 80 centimeters seems too big to me.¡±

    In fact, what happened to the middle-aged customer was quitemon. Many people had tried to own an aquarium on a whim¨C¨Ceither fresh water fish or saltwater fish, or turtles and loaches. First-time aquarium owners always wanted to try it first, and ended up buying small or mini tanks. Their rationale was that small tanks were cheap. Even if all the fish ended up dying, or if they got sick of the tank, then they would not lose too much money and wouldn¡¯t feel bad about it.

    However, their thinking was incorrect. Rookie owners should buy a tank as big as they could afford. Settling it once was the best approach. Just like a television, aquarium tanks all seemed big in the beginning, then actually became smaller and smaller. After a while, the owner would start coveting bigger tanks and would want to change. If they changed, they ended up wasting the smaller tank. If they didn¡¯t change, they would continue to covet the bigger tank.

    After Zhang Zian exined, the middle-aged customer nodded ceaselessly and said, ¡°Manager, you are absolutely right! You just described my mind precisely! I¡¯ve been wanting to change to a bigger tank for a long time, but I always tell myself that my house is too small for it. I finally made up my mind to get a bigger tank after I moved into a new house, but even so, I felt that it was a shame to waste the small tank I bought earlier¡­¡±

    Zhang Zianughed. ¡°Your case is nothing. I heard of someone that bought a 30 centimeter tank at first. After a while, he felt it was too small and changed for a 50 centimeter one, then a 60 centimeter one. In the end, he got a one meter tank and finally felt satisfied¡­ As for the previous tanks, they could only serve as shoe boxes¡­¡±

    ¡°Luckily, I made a 1.5-meter tank myself from the start,¡± Welder Zhao said, smiling, unconscientiously bragging about his free aquarium tank.

    Zhang Zian agreed with him. ¡°Mr. Zhao is very visionary. In fact, for an aquarium rookie, big tanks are much easier. The bigger the tank, the less likely it is that the fish will die, as bigger tanks can provide a better ecosystem for the fish. If your fish always died in the past, you should ask yourself if you put too many fish in a small tank.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s indeed like this. I always felt that the tank was too empty with only two or three fish, so I bought more fish after a while. Watching colorful fishing swimming inside was so satisfying¡­ but the fish always died after a short while,¡± the middle-aged customer said with a sigh. ¡°I had no idea about this. Maybe it¡¯s just as you said¡­ I put too many fish in a small tank.¡±

    Welder Zhao gloated. ¡°I¡¯m a first-time rookie too, but because of my big DIY tank, none of my fish have ever died!¡±

    ¡°Right, none of your fish died, but you have a fish missing every couple of days¡­ They are neither alive nor dead,¡± Electrician Wu vented calmly.

    The middle-aged customer was shocked and didn¡¯t understand why some fish disappeared once every few days. Was the tank too big and the fish got lost while swimming? Or was there some paranormal activity?

    Welder Zhao stared at Electrician Wu fiercely, not allowing him to continue.

    ¡°All right. Manager, you are right. To avoid covetting for a bigger tank in the future, I¡¯ll get a 1-meter aquarium tank!¡± The middle-aged customer finally made up his mind.

 Chapter 837: Unreasonable Request

    <h4>Chapter 837: Unreasonable Request</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The middle-aged customer finally decided to buy a one meter long aquarium, but Welder Zhao was still urging him from the side. ¡°What¡¯s the point in buying a one meter tank? Won¡¯t you still be tempted to get a bigger one after a while?¡± he asked.

    The middle-aged customer responded, ¡°Then¡­ the 1.2-meter one?¡±

    Welder Zhao said, ¡°If you want to buy one, then get the biggest one. Even if you¡¯re not going for the 1.8-meter one, you must at least get the 1.5-meter one!

    The middle-aged customer waved his hands again and again. ¡°No no, it¡¯s too big¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not too big. My tank is 1.5 meters too, and it¡¯s not even big!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s really too big¡­¡±

    1.2 meters is 20 percent longer than one meter, but the price is much higher than just 20 percent because the area hadd increased by more than 20 percent. As the water capacity increased, the corresponding filtering equipment was reced with some that had more power. Otherwise, the filtering effect would not be up to standard. In total, a 1.2-meter aquarium tank was 40 percent more expensive than a one meter one. If it was even bigger, it would be even more expensive.

    Welder Zhao was obviously generous at the expense of others¨C¨Canyway, it was not his money. If he was younger, he¡¯d be one of the fiercest members on getting others to spend more¡­ but his voice was loud, and the one with the loudest voice always won.

    After some urging, the middle-aged man was really tempted. Finally, he decided to change to a 1.2-meter aquarium tank with a full set of aquarium equipment.

    It was Zhang Zian¡¯s first aquarium tank that he sold and it was even his own design. Being able to get the customer¡¯s approval, his heart was filled with a sense of aplishment.

    ¡°But Boss, why are the fish tanks here all so short? It¡¯d be better if they were taller so they could hold more water and we¡¯d be able to raise more fish,¡± the middle-aged customer said while he was paying.

    None of the fish tanks in Zhang Zian¡¯s shop, no matter how big or small¨C¨Cwith the exception of a few fish tanks that were meant for disy purposes only¨C¨Chad a height of more than 60 centimeters.

    Theizens had answered the question for him¡ªit was obviously because Zhang Zian was a cheapskate, and since he couldn¡¯t cut corners on the length and width, he did it with the height.

    Zhang Zian led him to an empty fish tank and gestured. ¡°The height of this fish tank is 60 centimeters. Try putting your hand inside.¡±

    The middle-aged customer was unclear about his intentions, but he still reached his hand into the tank and was surprised to find that his palm could not touch the bottom of the tank. His armpit was held back by the tank wall, but his fingers were able to touch the bottom.

    ¡°An ordinary person¡¯s arms are not so long, so the maximum height of the fish tank is up to 60 centimeters. Otherwise, it would be too much trouble to maintain and clean the fish tank¨C¨Cyour hand is unable to touch the bottom of the tank unless you are 2.2 meters tall, or if you put the fish tank on the floor,¡± Zhang Zian exined, letting the other person try it out was more convincing than just talking about it.

    Including his shoe soles, the middle-aged man¡¯s height was about 1.7 meters tall. He was not too short whenpared to another middle-aged person of simr age. The length of his arm was within the normal range, but even so, his fingers could only barely touch the bottom of the tank. If he wanted to pick up something from the bottom of the tank, he would have to stand on his tiptoes.

    Since therge aquarium tanks were all equipped with a base cab and there were various filtering devices in the base cab, it was obvious that the fish tank could not be ced directly on the ground. It was also impossible, however, to make therge fish tank too high, with the exception of a few disy tanks or those customized ording to the actual needs of customers.

    The middle-aged man¡¯s question was answered and just as he was about to express that he understood, he heard Zhang Zian add on, ¡°In addition to the inconvenience of the maintenance, there¡¯s another reason why the fish tank can¡¯t be made too high¡­ If the water¡¯s too deep, the light at the top might not be strong enough to prate the seawater, which will result in the corals and other aquatic creatures at the bottom to not get enough light.¡±

    Electrician Wu listened carefully, and Welder Zhao proudly said, ¡°Look, although I made my fish tank myself, it isn¡¯t too high. At most, it¡¯s about 70 centimeters, and that¡¯s because I¡¯m tall. Does it mean that I have the subconscious understanding of raising fish?¡±

    No one paid attention to him except for Electrician Wu, who continued to ridicule him. ¡°If you were any shorter, the bobbit worm would have already climbed out. It would have burrowed under your nket in the middle of the night, then¡­¡±

    Electrician Wu suddenly remembered that they were in a public area with a young girl like Snowy present, which meant that some jokes were not suitable to be made. He swallowed thetter half of his sentence.

    Welder Zhao said, ¡°¡­Wu, would you die if you were to stop ridiculing me?¡±

    Electrician Wuughed and said no more.

    Seeing them behave like that, Zhang Zian estimated that both Wang Qian and Li Kun would probably be the same way when they were older.

    They had already spent a lot of time in the shop, and if they didn¡¯t go home soon, their wives may call and urge them to go back for lunch.

    Electrician Wu selected a few of his favorite high-end fish. ording to his views, he advised Welder Zhao to buy his things at Zian¡¯s shop too, instead of heading to another aquarium. It would save him the trouble of running around and limit the chances of being scammed.

    Welder Zhao also picked a few fish, but he didn¡¯t pay immediately. Instead, he told Zhang Zian to save them for him for the same price as the promotion. He wanted to visit the other aquarium to take a look, and if the fish there were better and cheaper, he would not get the fish from Zian.

    Thinking reasonably, the request was very unreasonable. Electrician Wu was so frustrated that he sighed again and again, ridiculing that Welder Zhao didn¡¯t know any better.

    Zhang Zian felt that, although Welder Zhao was particrly fond of taking advantage of people, he was still a good person. He was bold and straightforward, so he agreed. ¡°Well, today is the opening of the shop so everything can be discussed. I will ept this request of yours¡ªbut I¡¯ll say this first, there is no next time!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! I¡¯ll promise you now that there will never be a next time! Just let me take a look at that shop, and if the fish are not as good as yours, I will buy them from you next time!¡± Hearing that Zian had epted his request, he felt that he had earned one hundred million dors. He patted his own chest as he promised.

    Electrician Wu was still ridiculing him. It was too embarrassing. He did not want to go out with Welder Zhao in the future.

    After Welder Zhao saw Zhang Zian help the middle-aged customer with some of his small questions, he quietly pulled Electrician Wu to the side and whispered, ¡°Wu, I heard that Carpenter Wang is going to restart his tank in a few days, and he might be taking out some fish¡­ I¡¯m thinking that maybe I can go over and ask for those fish, so I can buy less¡­¡±

    ¡°Restarting his tank?¡± Electrician Wu had heard of that before. It meant turning over the ecosystem in the aquarium, then restarting the whole process of creating a sustainable environment, then adding new fish.

    There were many reasons for restarting the tank: some were problems with the fish; some were devastating disasters in the tank¡¯s ecosystem; and some were purely because the owners had nothing better to do. All the various reasons were different.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m going to visit him when the timees and ask for a few fish,¡± Welder Zhao said and smiled.

    ¡°Is there a problem with the fish he raised?¡± Electrician Wu asked.

    ¡°That¡­ I¡¯m not too sure, but who cares! Since there¡¯s a bargain, why not take it?¡± Welder Zhao said indifferently.

    Electrician Wu vaguely felt that something was wrong, but he had no reason to persuade him, so Electrician Wu left him be.

 Chapter 838: Assignments

    <h4>Chapter 838: Assignments</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The middle-aged customer had no other questions, so he headed to the cashier to check out with Jiang Feifei.

    It was Jiang Feifei¡¯s first transaction with a customer. She was a little bit nervous, and her fingers trembled slightly. Luckily, most people chose card or online transaction, so she was spared from the trouble of making a mistake with the change.

    ¡°Right, do you deliver the aquarium tanks to the door?¡± The middle-aged man hesitated right before making the payment.

    ¡°Of course. We deliver to your door for free. We even climb up the stairs,¡± Zhang Zian answered.

    ¡°That¡¯s great. It¡¯d be a headache if you wouldn¡¯t climb up the stairs.¡± The middle-aged man made the payment, took the receipt, scheduled a delivery time, then left.

    ¡°Master, well¡­ Who¡¯s going to climb up the stairs to deliver?¡± Li Kun asked Zhang Zian immediately, as he had a bad premonition.

    Zhang Zian stared at him and said, ¡°Of course it¡¯s you guys. It¡¯s not me, for sure.¡±

    Li Kun startedining right away. It was such a hard job to move a heavy and fragile aquarium tank upstairs. If the recipient lived in an old building without an elevator, it would be even worse.

    Zhang Zian tapped on his shoulder and said, ¡°Young people like you should exercise more often! Plus, you¡¯ll get amission for each delivery. I envy you guys!¡±

    Even if Li Kun wanted to push back, he couldn¡¯t do anything about it. He messaged Wang Qian about the unfortunate news via WeChat. Fortunately, judging from the conversation with the middle-aged customer, Zhang Zian thought that he lived in a new building. There should be an elevator there.

    Electrician Wu and Welder Zhao both picked some fish and other marine creatures. Electrician Wu paid directly, while Welder Zhao spent a lot of time instructing Jiang Feifei that he had picked out his fish, and she should not sell them to others. He would return in a few days to pay at the same discounted price.

    Welder Zhao only left with Electrician Wu after his wife had called, telling him that she would call the police if he didn¡¯te back home soon.

    Snowy lifted the phone and led her audience around to look at the exotic marine creatures. First, she focused her camera on the creatures in the tanks, asking the audience to guess their names. Then she verified the answer against thebel stickers. Even for themon creatures, only a few audience members answered correctly. It seemed that most people knew very little about marine creatures.

    After touring the aquarium, Snowy looked at her watch and decided it was time to end the live broadcast session.

    ¡°All right, that¡¯s it for the Amazing Fate Aquarium tour. Are you satisfied? If you are not, there¡¯s nothing I can do about it. Haha!¡± Snowyughed towards her phone. ¡°As for the time and location of the next broadcast, I haven¡¯t decided it yet¡­ New friends, please subscribe to Snowy¡¯s live broadcast room and Weibo. I¡¯ll announce the next broadcast on Weibo in advance. In addition, the reward for the Holy Cat statue is still in effect. If you¡¯ve seen a simr statue somewhere, please contact me via Weibo or my WeChat public ount. There is a big reward!¡±

    The audience started sighing. Everybody knew that when Snowy said the broadcast was over, it was over, no matter how much tipping they gave. They had to grasp thest few minutes to kiss the screen.

    ¡°Sigh! When Snowy is not broadcasting, life is so dull and tasteless¡­¡± someoneined.

    ¡°If you are bored, go check out other live broadcast rooms,¡± another person responded.

    ¡°Right. What¡¯s the room number of the mermaid cosyer you were talking about? I¡¯ll go and check out if she¡¯s as pretty as you described.¡±

    ¡°I can guarantee by my reputation that she¡¯s absolutely gorgeous. Ten points out of ten!¡±

    ¡°Stop joking! Lin Chi-ling only gets seven. How could a nameless cosyer on a live broadcast tform get a ten?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m serious. Just go and look at her yourself. Lin Chi-ling is nothing more than a vige girl in front of her¡­¡±

    ¡°Is she really that pretty? Could she be a drag queen?¡±

    ¡°The only drag queen we know is Manager Weak Bird!¡±

    The audience exited the live broadcast room one after another. Some returned to their jobs and studies in real life, while others entered other rooms.

    After broadcasting for a long time, Snowy¡¯s phone had turned hot. She put her phone back in her pocket, then took out two pages of A4-sized paper from her backpack.

    ¡°Oh right, Mr. Store Manager. I almost forgot¡­ This is for you.¡± She handed the paper to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°This is¡­?¡±

    Zhang Zian took the paper and nced over it. There were locations and times written on it, with numbers and various IDs. The two pages were identical.

    ¡°These are clues from the audience. All of them are locations where someone imed to have spotted the Holy Cat statue. The IDs are the fans who provided the clues. If they are real, we need to contact them for the reward,¡± Snowy exined.

    ¡°This many?¡± Zhang Zian was astonished. He didn¡¯t expect so many candidate locations.

    Snowy spoke bluntly. ¡°I suspect that most of them are pranks or jokes from the fans. The Holy Cat statue doesn¡¯t have wings¡­ How could it show up at so many locations within such a short time?¡±

    Zhang Zian stayed calm and didn¡¯t respond. He could not make assumptions, as the Holy Cat statue could not be anticipated withmon sense anymore. Even if it had wings, he would not be surprised.

    He read it again attentively. If the online fans were not joking, how could the Holy Statue appear near the old residential area of Dongcheng District at one moment, then in the industrial park of Xicheng District the next moment? No wonder Snowy felt it was a prank.

    ¡°Whatever these may be, I¡¯ll check them out. What if they¡¯re not pranks?¡± he asked.

    Snowy nodded and took one page back. ¡°I have nothing else to do, anyway. I¡¯ll help you with the search. Let¡¯s assign these locations and head to different ones. It¡¯ll save time.¡±

    Zhang Zian was embarrassed to get her involved. But after seeing that she really seemed bored and wanted to something to do, he agreed. ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s divide them up.¡±

    After discussing and nning, a few downtown locations were assigned to Snowy. Apparently, asking a young girl to visit remote suburban locations was inappropriate. Zhang Zian took care of those ces.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, are you covering too many ces? Wouldn¡¯t it take a lot of time?¡± Snowy asked after finding out that Zhang Zian had only assigned her 30 percent of all of the locations.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, no worries. I have my tricks.¡± Zhang Zian smiled without revealing the answer.

    It seemed that he had a lot of ces to cover; however, many of them could be eliminated. For example, some online fans imed that they saw people carrying the Holy Cat statue. This was obviously impossible, as the Holy Cat statue was not stolen. After eliminating those, there were not many locations left.

    ¡°All right. I¡¯ll drop off Snowball at home first, then I¡¯ll start my search. If I get new clues, I¡¯ll notify you,¡± Snowy said.

    ¡°Okay. Take care.¡± Zhang Zian hesitated and added, ¡°If you see stray cats, don¡¯t get too close to them.¡±

 Chapter 839: Coat Removed and Itâ€™s Now Unrecognizable

    <h4>Chapter 839: Coat Removed and It¡¯s Now Unrecognizable</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In the past when Snowy ended her live broadcast in the pet store, her mood was quite good¨C¨Cbut today was an exception. The reason, of course, was the Siamese cat that had contracted rabies. Even when she left the pet shop to take a taxi home, the mournful cry seemed to linger in her ears.

    Before leaving, the words that Zhang Zian had said to her deepened the gloom in her heart¡­ They had also made her somewhat puzzled. Even if the Siamese cat had contracted rabies after being scratched by a stray cat, it was not like every stray cat was a carrier of rabies, right? Was it necessary to be so cautious?

    Although she didn¡¯t really understand, she heeded Zhang Zian¡¯s words. After all, Zhang Zian knew more about pets than she did, so maybe he had his own reasons.

    She sat in the back seat of the taxi. Snowball was on herp and the cat bag was thrown aside. After its haircut, Snowball seemed to have lost some weight.

    The ride wasn¡¯t very long and soon, the taxi stopped by the entrance of the vi area. Snowy paid the fees and got out of the car with the cat bag.

    The guards in themunity knew her, so she entered the vi without any obstructions.

    Spring had arrived, and the willows in the vi area had all sprouted. That meant, however, that the annoying willow catkins wereing, too. The property staff in uniforms were trimming the branches andwns, and soon the vi area would be green.

    Wu. There was a familiar bark in the forest between thekes.

    Then, an adult husky shot out of the forest with its bright red tongue stuck out. It quickly rushed over to Snowy. It seemed like it had wanted her to give it a warm hug, although she had never done so.

    Snowy stopped and stared at the husky that was getting closer and closer. She was a little confused.

    Because of its frequent defeat in front of Snowball, Good-For-Nothing seemed to have be a lot more obedient recently. It always hid when it saw Snowball from afar.

    Good-For-Nothing lived up to its name. Since it was called Good-For-Nothing, it only remembered to eat and not defeat. Good-For-Nothing was thick-skinned and fleshy. It was not because it was hurt by Snowball that it had learned to be obedient, but every time it suffered defeat in front of Snowball, it was punished by Jin Er, who would starve it for a meal.

    It was strange that it was rushing out again that day¡­ Did it not see Snowball beside Snowy?

    Not waiting for it to rush up to Snowy, Snowball jumped out and reached out its w towards its face.

    Good-For-Nothing was so scared it immediately mmed its brakes and scrambled backward. It had at least avoided the danger of getting disfigured. It had yet to find a partner, so how could it get disfigured so easily?

    It took a few steps back and looked at Snowball without recognizing it. It blinked and squinted its eyes as if to say, ¡°You little thing¡­ You¡¯re so arrogant even though you¡¯re new?¡±

    Snowy was speechless. Don¡¯t tell me that because of Snowball¡¯s haircut, this stupid dog doesn¡¯t recognize Snowball anymore? Then it must be really stupid! Is its nose just for disy?

    After squinting and blinking for some time, it still didn¡¯t recognize the cat in front of it to be its enemy. It only felt that it was careless earlier, and as long as it was a little serious, it would not have any problems dealing with the kitten. The days of the Big Husky Holy Cult unifying the vi area was near!

    It slowly came closer again, smiling as it raised a front paw. It looked like it was trying to pat Snowball¡¯s head and get Snowball to submit to it.

    The action enraged Snowball because Snowball had just had its head patted in the pet shop by a ck and white cat whose size was much smaller than that of its own. Just as it had no ce to vent its frustrations, the defeated, big, stupid dog actually wanted to pat its head?

    Snowball leaped out, alternating its two front paws, and showering scratches on Good-For-Nothing.

    Good-For-Nothing¡¯s spirit flew away to the clouds. It had no time to care about its face and ran away while letting out cries of grief.

    In the past, Snowball would always stop after its victory and wouldn¡¯t chase after it, but that day was an exception, Snowball chased Good-For-Nothing all the way to the woods by the artificialke before it decided to stop.

    ¡°Good-For-Nothing, you¡¯re really good for nothing. Since you can¡¯t beat it, why would you still provoke it?¡± Jin Er¡¯s scolding could be hearding from the woods. ¡°What? You don¡¯t know this cat? It just removed its coat and you don¡¯t recognize it anymore? D*mn! I really want to smack you!¡±

    During Spring, the branches and leaves were sparse, and through the gaps in the forest, Jin Er¡¯s back was revealed. He was sitting by theke and fishing.

    Good-For-Nothing sat by the side, looking all depressed as it kept nudging the lid of the cooler box.

    It could clearly smell the smell of the honey-roasted chicken drumsticks inside the cooler box, but why couldn¡¯t it recognize Snowball¡¯s scent when it had only shortened its hair?

    ¡°Shoo! Go stay in a corner! I¡¯ll eat today¡¯s dinner for you!¡± Jin Er said.

    It turned out that after Good-For-Nothing was bullied, it went to its owner forfort.

    Snowy also made her way into the woods, and when Good-For-Nothing saw Snowball beside her approaching step by step, it got so scared that it hid behind the Jin Er and trembled. Although it curled its body and tried to hide, it was unfortunately too big, so it could still be clearly seen.

    Jin Er despised it for being so disappointing so he kicked it, but it just ignored that kick.

    Jin Er turned to look at Snowball. ¡°Yo, Snowball got a haircut? No wonder my Good-For-Nothing couldn¡¯t recognize it.¡±

    ¡°Haha, I was the one who cut its hair. Isn¡¯t it ugly?¡± Snowyughed.

    Jin Er said, ¡°It¡¯s not ugly. How is it ugly? I think it looks quite spirited. It just doesn¡¯t look like a Persian cat anymore.¡±

    He slowly cast the fishing line, and the hook made a shining arc in the air before it made a small ssh of water at the surface of theke and sunk under the water. Only the floater remained on the surface of theke, making a simple harmonic motion as it gradually came to a still.

    Snowy clearly saw that there were no fishing lures on the hook.

    As Snowy was in a daze as she stared at the floater, she heard Jin Er ask, ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Snowy? You don¡¯t look too happy. Did someone bully you? Is it your workaholic old man? If so, then there¡¯s nothing I can do¡­¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not that¡­ I just saw a poor cat today,¡± Snowy said as she waved her hands.

    ¡°What poor cat?¡± Jin Er asked.

    Snowy then told him about the Siamese cat, some of which she saw with her own eyes, and some of which she heard from Zhang Zian.

    After listening to Snowy, Jin Er smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s really pitiful, but Snowy, you don¡¯t have to be sad.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Snowy asked.

    Jin Er put his fishing rod down and said in a serious tone, ¡°You feel that the Siamese cat is pitiful, but what about the stray cat that¡¯s also infected with the virus? At least the Siamese cat had lived a happy life for half a year, but the stray cat may have been wandering since birth.¡±

    Snowy was silent.

    Jin Er then continued, ¡°The stray cat is also pitiful, but the number of stray cats in the world is no less than ten thousand, all of which are very pitiful. You can¡¯t help all of them, so don¡¯t let this affect your mood.¡±

    Snowy knew that what Jin Er said makes sense, and she really hoped that one day, all the stray cats in the world would be happy. But that was probably a delusion, right? No one would be able to achieve that¡­ probably no one.

 Chapter 840: A Night Trip

    <h4>Chapter 840: A Night Trip</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was a super busy day!

    Customers were walking in and out of the aquarium and the pet shop until eight that night. Most of them came for Famous, of course, but as long as they were drawn by the pets and bought something, then it was profit.

    Zhang Zian had been running between the two shops and wished he could clone himself. Luckily, the two shops were close to each other. Otherwise, his legs would break.

    It was almost nine at night. Zhang Zian had to put up the ¡°Closed¡± sign and asked thete customers to go home ande back the next day. He promised them that they could still get the discounted price the next day.

    The group sat in the pet shop in all sorts of poses, eating ate dinner in small groups of two or three. Zhang Zian was in a group of three, while Jiang Feifei formed a group of two with Lu Yiyun.

    To celebrate the day, Zhang Zian had ordered extra barbecue and cold beer, offering them as much to eat and drink as they wanted.

    The barbecue was generously seasoned, hot, and spicy. After a big bite and a sip of ice cold beer, it felt like heaven.

    As the weather was getting warmer, and the guys were young, drinking ice cold beer would not give them diarrhea. When Zhang Zian was in Germany, he had seen Germans drinking cold beer on the coldest days of winter.

    Jiang Feifei could tolerate some alcohol, but Lu Yiyun would not take a sip. She enjoyed the barbecue, though. Wang Qian and Li Kun were stuffing their stomachs as if they had not eaten anything for ages. Soon their faces turned red, and they started bragging.

    The two girls discussed the anecdotes at the shop that day. After hearing that a rabid cat had almost started some big trouble, Jiang Feifei was astonished.

    ¡°Master, let¡¯s fill up your ss!¡± Li Kun saw that Wang Qian and himself were drinking one ss after another, while Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t drank at all. He thought it was inappropriate, so he quickly raised the beer bottle, wanting to fill Zhang Zian¡¯s ss.

    ¡°No, thanks. I have to run an errand tonight. You can drink as much as you want. I¡¯m good with soft drinks.¡± Zhang Zian declined, covering his ss with his palm.

    Li Kun paused with the beer bottle in his hand. ¡°It¡¯s getting sote. What errand could you possibly have?¡±

    ¡°Shall¡­ Shall we do it for you?¡± Wang Qian asked, slurring.

    ¡°Nothing special. I need to drive somewhere. Just now, the fishermen told me that they caught a few rare fish in their boat and kept them for me. They asked if I would be interested. I don¡¯t have other things to do, anyway, so I¡¯ll go and take a look in case someone else buys them first.¡± Zhang Zian made up some bullsh*t and chased Snowy Li away, who wanted to mooch some food.

    He had already used that excuse in the past, so Wang Qian, Li Kun, and the two girls all believed him and thought that there were fishermen waiting for him at the beach.

    After the big meal, they cleaned up the leftovers, took some rest, then left.

    Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Jiang Feifei were all living in Binhai University students¡¯ residences and could go back together. They sent Lu Yiyun home first, then headed back to campus together.

    Normally, after the workers had left, Zhang Zian and the elfins would close the shutter door and rest at the end of the day.

    ¡°Do you know what I envy most about you humans?¡± Fina asked after a yawn. ¡°I envy that you can put so much spice in your food.¡±

    The barbecued meat for Fina and the others was barely seasoned, with nothing more than bay leaves in it. They started drooling after they saw how appetizing the human food was. The other cats didn¡¯t do anything other than drool, while Snowy Li took action and tried to steal some.

    ¡°Actually, too much spice is not healthy, even for humans. Tasteless, healthy food is the safest,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°We know too much grease and salt is bad for our health, but we can¡¯t control our mouths!¡±

    ¡°Hehe, you should enjoy life as much as you can. It¡¯s okay to indulge yourself every once in awhile. But Zian, you said you are heading out soon. What for?¡± Old Time Tea asked, smiling.

    Zhang Zian had been keeping part of the stray cat story from the elfins, especially Old Time Tea and Famous. They had released the cats and dogs from Love Lovely Pets, and caused a spike of stray cats in Binhai City. They had good intentions, of course¨C¨Cthe cats and dogs were starving at Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base, and had been injected with toxic drugs. Their actions had saved most of the cats and dogs, and they had helped them find new homes. Even if a only small percentage of those cats and dogs ended up as strays, they could not be med for it. Nobody could have foreseen such consequence, after all.

    If doing the right thing always led to usations, then who would do the right thing?

    Therefore, Zhang Zian told them, ¡°I¡¯m nning to look for the Holy Cat statue ording to the clues from Snowy.¡±

    ¡°At this hour? Why not go in the day?¡± Old Time Tea didn¡¯t quite agree. The night was not as safe as the day.

    ¡°I have other business during the day,¡± Zhang Zian responded.

    In fact, there was another reason: He believed that the cat abusers were more likely to be active at night¨C¨Cthat way, they could avoid eye-witnesses during daylight.

    He wanted to persuade the cat abusers to stop their meaningless action as much as he could. If they wanted to blow off steam, they could find better ways, such as ying FPS games, learning boxing, Taekwondo, or otherbat games. What was the point of abusing cats?

    Even rabbits could bite after repeated provoking. The stray cats might fight back if they got cornered. A scratch or a bite could really hurt.

    Despite the faint chance, the cat abuser might get rabies without even knowing it¡­

    He knew his persuasion might be fruitless, as being a psychological counselor was a tough job. Yet, being fruitful or not was one thing, while doing it or not was another.

    After hearing about the cat abuse, he searched for information, which had revealed two causes of animal abuse: One cause was that a stressed abuser had discovered by chance that abusing animals could relieve their high stress levels, and an asional act grew into a habit; another cause was that the abuser had been subject to violence or cold violence, but was unable to fight back. Therefore, the abuser opted to vent their emotions on weaker creatures. Small animals, such as cats and dogs, were the perfect victims.

    To make matters worse, the behavior was psychologically addictive, which made the abusers unable to stop. It was just like taking drugs.

    usations from other people would not make them feel guilty. Instead, there was a thrill in it. The louder the usations, the more excited they became. It was not the right way to deal with their emotional problems¡­ Deeper emptiness and pain followed the thrill. Therefore, they came up with more brutal ways to abuse animals.

    Not even regr people¨C¨Ceven kings who decided the fate of many lives¨C¨Ccould abuse cats out of stress.

    Since 1904, Russian tsar Nics II had been hiding in the royal vige of suburban Saint Petersburg. Not only did he refuse to see officials, he even avoided his rtives. Nics II often found the arguments among officials insufferable. He hid away and shot cats with a rifle.

    Royal record showed that he had killed thousands of cats. It was estimated that apart from security duties, his Cossack army also captured cats and put them in his pce. After hearing the news that the Russian navy waspletely annihted in the Baltic Sea during the Russo-Japanese War, Nics II took up a rifle and shot cats with a poker face. People considered him heartless because of it; however, it was how he blew off steam during an extremely anxious period.

    Even great people did such things. More and more regr people chose to abuse cats as a way of venting their emotions during their stressful, modern lives.

    The recent cat abuse happened at the same time as the Holy Cat statue¡¯s revival¨C¨Cor, maybe the cat abuse had led to the Holy Cat statue¡¯s revival.

    If left on its own, the Holy Cat statue could absorb too much Strength of Faith. It could cause big trouble once it became an elfin.

    The priority now was to find the Holy Cat statue, then find a way to stop the cat abuse. In the end, he needed to find a secure way to either seal off or destroy the Holy Cat statue.

    Finding the Holy Cat statue was already very hard. Thetter two things were even harder¡­ Social usations didn¡¯t work, and legal weapons could not be used either. It was such a headache.

    Old Time Tea thought for a while and said, ¡°In that case, how about I apany you on the trip? I¡¯ve been staying inside these days. This is a good chance to stretch my muscles outside.¡±

    ¡°Of course. If Grandpa Tea is willing, I¡¯d be very d.¡± Zhang Zian nodded.

    He was indeed weak all by himself. If Old Time Tea could go with him, they could beat the cat abusers into submission if they could not persuade them¡­

    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you, too.¡± Famous stood up and shook its hair. ¡°The shop is filled with a perfume smell¨C¨Cmy nose is exploding! I¡¯m desperate for some fresh air.¡±

    It had been taking pictures with curious movie fans all day. Its hair had trapped all kinds of foundation, sunscreen, and perfume¨C¨Cboth cheap and expensive.

    Famous¡¯s help would be great; it would certainly make tracking easier.

    ¡°Famous, do you still remember the Holy Cat statue¡¯s scent?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Famous walked to the shop entrance and sniffed around the pale marking on the floor. It thought hard for a while and answered, ¡°More or less. It¡¯s been a while, but I suppose there are not many bronze objects in this modern city.¡±

    ¡°Not many, indeed. It¡¯s actually very rare.¡± Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°Bronze is barely used in modern society. Most bronze can only be found in museums or artifact shops.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Famous nodded.

    Fina jumped off the cat tree. ¡°I¡¯m going, too.¡±

    It had been an enemy of the Evil God, represented by the Holy Cat statue, since the ancient times. It could not stay out of it.

    ¡°Meow meow meow! Your Majesty! Life is short. While they are away, we can lick hair for each other¡­¡± Snowy Li tried to persuade it not to go.

    ¡°You should stay in the shop.¡± Zhang Zian refused.

    ¡°Why?¡± Fina¡¯s face turned angry, and its eyes were cold. ¡°Are you looking down upon me?¡±

    ¡°No. If we all go out, who will stay to protect the shop? If something happens to your Sacred Pce, wouldn¡¯t it look bad for your Great Cat Sacred Kingdom?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Fina actually believed him. ¡°It makes sense.¡±

 Chapter 841: Unfinished Building

    <h4>Chapter 841: Unfinished Building</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After Zhang Zian found out that what had happened that day was rted to cats, he didn¡¯t want Fina to go with him. It would get very impulsive, not caring about the consequences, and it was likely to cause it injuries. He managed to sweet talk it to stay behind.

    There was only one life, and Zian did not believe that being reborn or crossing universes happened in the online novels to be true. He also didn¡¯t believe that the mummies of the pharaohs and the great priests would be revived one day¡­ Their organs had already been removed, and their whole body was marinated with spices like barbecued meat. How were they going to be revived? It was much better for Fina to stay in the store.

    Fina was still hesitating, so Zhang Zian added, ¡°Not to mention, we may not be able to find the Holy Cat statue this time. It is very likely that it¡¯s going to be a wasted trip¡­ As the saying goes, ¡®A good steel should be used in the de.¡¯ I¡¯ll definitely notify you immediately when there¡¯s information with substantial evidence on the Holy Cat statue.¡±

    After some reasoning and bootlicking, he finally made Fina agree to remain in the shop.

    Fina brought out all its spirit and was in a state of alertness, looking like it was ready to protect the entire shop. Snowy Li was disappointed.

    Gxy was chasing Wendy when it overheard Zhang Zian¡¯s conversation, so it stopped and asked. ¡°Meow. Is Zian heading out?¡±

    ¡°Yes, we¡¯re going out to find something. Gxy, do you want to go, too?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Find something?¡± Gxy blinked its eyes. ¡°Is it like hide and seek?¡±

    Zian snapped his fingers. ¡°Yes, Gxy. You¡¯re right! Strictly speaking, the thing we¡¯re looking for is not a dead object. It might even be able to move or fly, so it should be simr to hide and seek.¡±

    ¡°Meow. Gxy wants to go too!¡± Gxy excitedly jumped up.

    Zhang Zian was going to look in an unfinished building on the outskirts of the cityter that evening. The building was on Snowy¡¯s list, and the witnesses had imed to see a statue resembling the Holy Cat statue in a window in the building. But because of the distance, they were unable to confirm.

    Previously, when they were drawing out the sectors, Snowy had advised him not to go there because the ce had been deserted for a very long time. It was rare to see anyone there, and she felt that it might be mischief from theizens.

    Zhang Zian, on the other hand, thought that it might be true. The tone of the witness was uncertain¡­ If it was a prank, then the witness would definitely be certain.

    Since it was a deserted ce, it should not be a problem bringing Gxy along for a walk.

    ¡°Ga ga! There¡¯s something fun going on, and you¡¯re not bringing me along? I want to go too!¡± Richard was unwilling to be left behind. It descended on Zian¡¯s shoulders and made a lot of noise.

    ¡°Yeah right! Aren¡¯t you blind at night? Tagging along just to give us trouble,¡± Zhang Zian scolded and shooed it away. If this b*tch bird was tagging along, it would be able to scare off the cat abusers with its raucous voice from 800 meters away.

    ¡°Ga ga! I want to sue you for discriminating against disabled birds!¡±

    Richard flew away. It hovered in the air before descending onto Old Time Tea¡¯s electric nket.

    ¡°Well, okay then. I shall stay behind. It¡¯s finally my turn to be in control of the remote control!¡± It messed around with remote control using its ws, changing the channels one after another. ¡°Ga ga. It actually can¡¯t receive the signal for HBO? Then let me see which video app has sensual films¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°¡­Lower the volume. I don¡¯t want the anti-pornography office to find their way here.¡±

    As for the two upstairs, there was no need to ask them. One was concentrating on typing its novel, while the other was addicted to her live broadcasts and her mobile phone. She actually couldn¡¯t even leave the bathtub in the first ce.

    There was a big difference in the temperature between day and night in the spring. Although it was warm during the day, it was a little cold during the night. Zhang Zian put on an additional heavy coat, grabbed the car key, and left the shop with the three elfins, then he turned and pulled the shutter door down and locked it.

    It was really convenient to have a car, not to mention the Wuling Shenguang that had arge body and cargo load. Even with the elfins inside, it was still very spacious. If they were to take a taxi from a stranger, it might be inconvenient to bring Gxy along.

    Fina briefly showed its face on the second floor and looked at them condescendingly. It was very eager to take up the responsibility of protecting the pet shop. After all, those withbat capabilities had left the store, and the rest were too weak to handle a fight.

    Zhang Zian started the car and drove towards the suburbs, as listed on the list given by Snowy.

    In the backseat, Famous sat in the middle with Old Time Tea and Gxy on its left and right. Their faces were stered to the window as they curiously observed the nightlife outside.

    It was the weekend, so there were more cars on the road than usual. After about half an hour, they arrived at their destination.

    In the twilight, an uncapped building appeared in front of them. It was dark, and most of the details were not clear.

    Zhang Zian and the elfins got out of the car one after another. He locked the door and looked up at the building.

    In the past few years, Binhai City had experienced a boom in real estate development. Capitals and manpower swarmed into the real estate industry, and the house prices rose. However, the ie level of Binhai City could not support the increased house prices, so after a short period of prosperity, they becamemon trifles.

    The building was a product from that period. Just when the construction was about to bepleted, the housing prices of Binhai City fell sharply. There were issues with the developer¡¯s capital, rendering them unable to afford the wages of their workers, and they soon went bankrupt. The result was an unfinished building that was left there with no one caring for it. No one knew the final ownership of this property.

    In fact, even if the building waspleted, no one would buy it. The surrounding area was very deste, and there were no signs of any supporting facilities. Plus, the price was ridiculously high. The developers hadpletely regarded the people as fools.

    It was precisely because of these reasons that the unfinished building was quite well-known in Binhai City. It had also be andmark building in the area. Some young people who had too much time would sometimese together to explore the building at night. There were also rumors of it being haunted on the¡­ Of course, all of those were baseless rumors.

    Haunted or not, it was hard to discern, but because there are no monitoring devices around, it was indeed a good ce to abuse cats¨C¨Cthere was no need to be afraid of being discovered.

    The moon was visible. Although it was not a full moon, it was enough to illuminate the road.

    Zhang Zian had prepared an extra shlight because after entering the building, the moonlight would not be able to reach inside. He didn¡¯t have the same vision that cats did at night.

    The surroundings were very quiet. Several stic bags hung between the branches of the roadside and the night wind blew.

    Meow! Meow!

    Cat cries could vaguely be hearding from the front of the building.

    The night wind had the rancid smell of the garbage mixed in. It was obvious that the nearby,zy residents had used the ce as a garbage dump, which also provided food for the stray cats.

    Although the building was unfinished, it could at least shelter stray cats from the wind and rain.

    Famous lowered its head and sniffed. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of dog waste in the vicinity¡­ There¡¯s also waste from humans. I¡¯ll go ahead to prevent you guys from stepping on them.¡±

    Zhang Zian and the three elfins continued in an arrow shape. Famous was in front, leading the way, and Zhang Zian was in the middle, while Old Time Tea and Gxy were on the left and right, slowly moving towards the dark, unfinished building.

 Chapter 842: The Fall

    <h4>Chapter 842: The Fall</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The Unfinished Building was not just one building; it also included the ground floor stores that came with it. The developer nned to build a residential area, and the Unfinished Building was the first building of it. It was a perfect example of oversized ambition. The ground floor stores were abandoned after the framework, but now, they were a natural obstacle, making it impossible to see into the distance.

    The faint streetmps could not light up much space, and were not very helpful for observation.

    Fast cars drove by, including some fully loaded trucks that were traveling overnight. The red taillights made long shadows across the road. The heavy sound of trucks was kind offorting.

    As Famous said, the smell of human and animal waste was everywhere. Even Zhang Zian could smell it without a dog¡¯s sense of smell. People passed by without finding a toilet, so they ended up doing their business in roofless, empty rooms. Cats, dogs, and other animals made the smell even worse.

    ¡°Gxy, beware of your feet. Don¡¯t step on turd,¡± Zhang Zian reminded it, tilting his head towards it.

    ¡°Meow.¡± Gxy dodged the crap on the ground with flexibility, peeping around at the strange, new ce.

    ¡°Zian, are you sure the Holy Cat statue has shown up here?¡± Old Time Tea¡¯s eyes were as bright as bronze lights in the darkness. It was not happy to see the urine and feces all over the ground.

    ¡°I heard that it has.¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s tone was not very certain. He twisted the shlight to light up the ground ahead, avoiding pointing it directly into Old Time Tea¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°That Holy Cat statue was an evil object for sacrifices. How can it end up with urine and feces?¡± Old Time Tea shook its head, not finding it credible.

    ¡°It¡¯s said that the statue showed up in the building, not outside. Maybe there isn¡¯t so much urine and feces inside the building.¡± Zhang Zian covered his nose. Thanks to the wind at night, it was not very hot right now. Had it been a hot summer night, he would definitely need a gas mask.

    People relieved themselves at the building for convenience, so they would not walk into the building¨C¨Che conjectured, anyway.

    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Old Time Tea turned its body in the air, made a few gentle pushes on the wall, and jumped onto the beam of a ground floor store. It stood overlooking thendscape from high ground.

    ¡°What? Weird!¡± It sensed something unusual.

    Zhang Zian looked up and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    He was not Old Time Tea; he could not even climb up a tree. He decided not to embarrass himself by climbing up on the beam.¡¡¡¡.

    Old Time Tea¡¯s eyes were like a torch, staring at the dark Unfinished Building. ¡°I saw a sh of light on the fifth floor¡­ but I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s a reflection.¡±

    ¡°Fifth floor? Let¡¯s go up and see.¡± Zhang Zian was happy that it was not the thirtieth floor. Otherwise, the climbing would kill him! Besides, the higher the floors, the more dangerous they were. Many locations were unfinished, and the open balcony had no rails. He could not take the risk of falling.

    They detoured around a row of ground floor stores and arrived at the Unfinished Building.

    The traffic sounds from the street dwindled immediately.

    Under the moonlight, holes and ditches were illuminated everywhere on the ground. They were filled with stinky, stagnant water, along with hardened cement, broken red bricks, and sand that was deeper than one¡¯s ankle. There was barely any ground to stand on.

    If the Unfinished Building had been finished, it would have looked pretty good. It was not a regr residential building, but a high-end apartment building. The two dark entrances looked like mouths of a giant beast ready to devour people.

    Cold, damp wind blew out of the entrances, making one¡¯s skin cold.

    ¡°Well, could this building be haunted?¡± Famous sniffed, suspicious.

    Zhang Zian pushed the question back. ¡°Are you afraid of ghosts?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d love to meet a ghost. I¡¯ve sniffed all sorts of smells, but not the scent of a ghost.¡± Famous was upset. It came out for some fresh air, but it ended up sniffing all sorts of foul odors. It would have been better off staying in the shop with the perfume scent¡­ Inparison, ghosts might smell better than the urine and feces.

    ¡°Unfortunately, I¡¯m 80 percent sure that ghosts don¡¯t exist¡­ so I don¡¯t think we will find them in this building.¡± They were about to enter. Zhang Zian turned on the shlight and dimmed the light, so that it only lit up a small area in front of them. He didn¡¯t want to scare away the target.

    Cats meowed nearby. Light spots appeared in pairs in the distant grass, then disappeared; they were eyes of stray cats and other small animals¨C¨Cthere might even be foxes. Grass rustled everywhere. It would take a lot of courage toe to the building alone.

    ¡°Hehe, Zian is right. There¡¯s no ghosts in the world; people made them up. The light I just saw on the fifth floor seems to be firelight. More precisely, it was from a cigarette lighter. If a ghost is carrying a cigarette lighter, I¡¯d like to meet it.¡± Old Time Teaughed.

    Gxy looked up and blinked its gray eyes. ¡°Meow. Zian, let¡¯s go inside.¡±

    Zhang Zian wanted to stay outside longer and observe the surroundings. Even if he was not afraid of ghosts, he felt it unpleasant to walk into the Unfinished Building.

    After hearing Gxy, he pointed the shlight at the stairway. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go inside. Be careful, everyone. Pay attention to anything unusual.¡±

    He was staying with Famous and Old Time Tea, whose vision, hearing, and sense of smell were a thousand times better than his. If there was anything unusual, they would surely be the first ones to know.

    As they entered the stairway, it felt colder and damper. The shlight lit up countless dancing dust particles.

    Dirty water dripped on their heads from time to time. The water supply had been cut off for the building and the pipes were empty, but they had probably umted rain water.

    After taking a few steps, Zian saw Old Time Tea turn abruptly and look back vigntly. Famous did the same.

    He turned around subconsciously. The shlight pointed backwards. A gray shadow traveled through the moving shlight and fell on the ground like a sand bag. It fell almost exactly where they were standing.

    A fallen object?

    The first idea that came into Zhang Zian¡¯s mind was a falling object. It was an unfinished building, after all, and many balconies on the higher floors were not sealed off. The unpaid workers had left in a hurry, and didn¡¯t take the construction materials or tools with them. Maybe the wind had blown something down¡­

    His hand was sweating while holding the shlight. Even ghosts were not as frightening as falling objects, which fell down silently at a high speed andnded on people below sooner than they could realize.

    If they had stayed outside, it could have been so bad¡­ Maybe Old Time Tea and Famous were capable of dodging it, but he was not. He could have been hit.

    However, as his shlight located the fallen object, they all gasped. The fallen object was not construction waste they had imagined, but a gray, furry animal.

    Zhang Zian, Old Time Tea, and Famous looked at each other, then approached it slowly with caution.

    In case there were any other falling objects, they didn¡¯t leave the stairway, and stopped as close as they could without leaving their cover.

    The shlight was fixated on the animal; it was not moving at all.

    In fact, Zhang Zian was able to recognize it without getting too close. It was a gray cat¨C¨Cor maybe ck or blue. The shlight covered its true hair color.

    It was bleeding from every hole of its body and not breathing at all.

    Generally speaking, cats were not likely to be killed by falling off of certain heights due to their superb bnce, but the height could not be too tall. They could not fly, after all.

    Therefore, did this cat fall off by ident? The answer was no.

    Zhang Zian saw a few burn marks on its hair; they were pitch-ck. There were very small pieces of ash on the ground.

    Had it been winter, it could have been burned while warming itself up by the fire, but it was spring now. Even Old Time Tea didn¡¯t use the electric nket all the time, so Zian doubted that the young cat did.

    Being hit by a dead cat was not as fatal as being hit by construction waste, but it could have still handicapped him.

    Famous lowered its voice and said, ¡°It has a burnt smell.¡±

    The burning smell was still there, meaning the cat had just been burned. Considering the sh of fire light that Old Time Tea had seen, the conclusion was self-evident.

    Apart from the burn marks, it also had a few bruises and scratches. They were not sure if it got hurt during the fall.

    Old Time Tea¡¯s whiskers trembled gently. It tried very hard to control the shock and anger inside of it. ¡°Zian, did someone do this on purpose?¡±

    There were two meanings of ¡°on purpose.¡± First, someone was harming this cat on purpose. Second, someone threw this cat from a great height and tried to hit them on purpose.

    The former was certain, as a cat could not harm itself. Thetter was questionable. It was not illegal to harm a cat, but harming people on purpose was a much more serious matter.

    Famous sniffed everywhere in the stairway and seemed to have found something. ¡°There¡¯s human scent. Quite fresh,¡± it said.

    Suddenly, Old Time Tea and Famous looked toward a certain spot at the ceiling almost at the same time. Their ears erected, focusing on the same direction like a radar.

    ¡°Footsteps!¡± Old Time Tea said. ¡°More than one person. Running!¡±

    ¡°Go!¡± Zhang Zian made a decision without hesitation.¡¡¡¡.

    He guessed that the shlight on the cat¡¯s body had alerted the people upstairs¨C¨Cor maybe their voices had traveled far in the empty building, making the people eager to run away like thieves.

    As soon as he spoke, Famous dashed out.

    The elevator door was a ck hole andcked a real elevator. They rushed into the emergency stairway and dashed up the stairs.

    Famous had long legs, and had a great advantage when climbing up the stairs. It could jump up half a flight of stairs with a single leap, and it soon took the lead.

    Old Time Tea and Gxy were flexible, but had shorter legs. They stayed behind.

    Zhang Zian had long legs, but his vision was not good as cats and dogs. The shaking shlight made it hard to see the stairs in front of him.

    They didn¡¯t know the ce well, and the cluttered construction waste was quite an obstacle. They had to be careful of sharp, steel rebars sticking out, along with the suffocating lime dust and other unknown danger in the darkness. They could not go up very fast.

    Soon, they arrived on the fifth floor one after another.

 Chapter 843: No Zuo No Die

    <h4>Chapter 843: No Zuo No Die</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Famous was the first to reach the fifth floor. Its vision was better than humans, but the spacious floor wasplex. The dark passages and countless rooms were like abyrinth, and the moonlight formed a contrasting light and dark boundary.

    It didn¡¯t rush forward, instead, it lowered its head and sniffed for any scent as it waited for Zhang Zian at the stairway.

    ¡°How is it? Is anyone here?¡± Zhang Zian gasped and adjusted his breathing, sweeping his shlight across the room.

    ¡°There¡¯s a scent, but I don¡¯t see anyone,¡± Famous replied.

    While they were conversing, Old Time Tea and Gxy made their way up.

    ¡°Zian, did you find anyone yet?¡± Old Time Tea asked. ¡°Do you want to split up and search?¡±

    Zhang Zian hesitated before he shook his head and said, ¡°I think it¡¯s better if we don¡¯t split up.¡±

    Old Time Tea was only able to propose such an idea because of its capabilities. They might be able to find the other party faster if they did split up, but it would obviously bring more danger to themselves. In those low-budget horror movies situated in deserted ces, it was filled with stupid men and women who fled at the moment of crisis.

    ¡°Okay then.¡± Old Time Tea seemed to understand Zian¡¯s concern, so it nodded and agreed.

    Famous was still the one leading the way. Its sense of smell was the best radar, but it wasn¡¯t easy to track the smell on theplicated paths. Famous had not received any professional tracking training like Zhan Tian, so it would asionally get lost or go in circles.

    Zhang Zian was aware that the other party was familiar with the terrain, and he may have already escaped. But it was useless to panic, so he did not rush Famous. Instead, Zian allowed him to locate the source of the smell with peace of mind.

    He had considered bringing Zhan Tian along, but how was he going to describe the smell of the Holy Cat statue to Zhan Tian? Even if it was an ace police dog, it was necessary to let the police dog sniff the criminal¡¯s belongings before tracking them down, but the Holy Cat statue did not have any belongings or clothes.

    In addition, he was also worried that when he confronted the cat abuser, Zhan Tian might go too hard and hurt the other party. After all, abusing cats was not against thew, but it was illegal for a dog to bite a person. If Zhan Tian went light on the other party¨C¨Cif he just bit them and did not injure them¨C¨CZhan Tian may be injured in the other party¡¯s counterattack¡­ so he decided to not bring Zhan Tian along.

    Zian was also very d that he did not bring Fina along. If Fina were to see a cat falling from the building, it would most likely erupt.

    Famous tried its best to sniff and soon traced the smell to an empty room.

    The internal wall of the room seemed to be iplete; there were only a few load-bearing walls.

    Before entering the room, Famous sniffed the room twice and whispered to Zhang Zian, ¡°This room has the heaviest scent¡­ both human and cat.¡±

    Zhang Zian cast a look at Old Time Tea, gesturing for it to prepare itself. He then waved at Gxy for it to move back a little to avoid getting hurt.

    He extended his fingers one by one, and when he reached ¡°three,¡± he rushed into the room with Famous and Old Time Tea.

    There was no one in the room, but there were food packets and empty bottles on the ground that proved that multiple people had been there.

    Zhang Zian carefully approached the window that had no window frame or ss. He stuck his head out and looked down. Right below them was the entrance to the corridor.

    There was a pile of ashes on the floor in the middle of the room. Old Time Tea extended its ws closer and felt the residual heat of the ashes. ¡°It is still hot¡­ the person just left. Should we give chase?¡±

    Zhang Zian was hesitant. The cat abuser was familiar with the terrain, so he may have already left the unfinished building from another path. They might not be able to catch up even if they gave chase now.

    Just then, Famous suddenly shouted, ¡°The scent of the Holy Cat statue!¡±

    Famous¡¯s words got Zhang Zian¡¯s attention. The primary purpose of their visit was to find the Holy Cat statue, and since Famous was able to catch its scent, it proved that Snowy¡¯s information was correct.

    ¡°Where is it?¡± Both Zian and Old Time Tea approached Famous.

    Famous went in circles around the food packets and empty bottles. ¡°It should be nearby¡­ but¡­¡±

    Strangely, Famous could clearly smell that the Holy Cat statue had appeared around the vicinity of the ashes, but it was unable to locate the exact location of the statue.

    ¡°It¡¯s close by?¡±

    Zhang Zian was deeply surprised that the Holy Cat statue was nearby. It meant that the cat abusers had been in close contact with the Holy Cat statue. Did they pick up the statue? Had they been carrying it with them ever since then? Did they bring it along during the abuse and when they were escaping?

    Although it wasn¡¯tpletely unreasonable, standing from the perspective of the cat abuser, was it really necessary? They shouldn¡¯t be aware of the connection between the Holy Cat statue and cat abuse. The Holy Cat statue was also deadweight, so it was clearly impossible for them to carry it around.

    The pile of ashes was probably from the fire started by the lighter that Old Time Tea had seen. The cat that fell from the building was also ced on the ashes there and it was burnt before it died.

    Old Time Tea was surveying the surroundings, and Gxy was wandering around curiously.

    There was arge piece of reinforced concrete debris near the ashes. It seemed to have copsed from somewhere, and it might have been used as a seat by some cat abuser. There was a can of iced coffee on top of it.

    Staring at the debris, a thought suddenly shed in Zhang Zian¡¯s mind. He moved the shlight up towards the ceiling and raised his head.

    Just above the ashes, there was a hole that wasn¡¯t too big in the ceiling. They could see the sixth floor through the hole, and the shape of the debris was basically consistent with the shape of the hole. It seemed that the construction materials selected by the developers of the year were also inferior materials. Fortunately, the building was abandoned, otherwise, if people lived there, they would have gotten hurt sooner orter.

    Famous also saw it. It vaguely understood what was going on, and got embarrassed about his blind sniffing earlier. He said, ¡°All of you stay here. I¡¯ll be back in a while!¡±

    ¡°Be careful!¡± Zhang Zian had no time to stop it, so he reminded it from behind.

    After a few moments, dust scattered down from the hole, and the voice of Famous came from above the hole. ¡°I can¡¯t be wrong¡­ the Holy Cat statue was just in my current position!¡±

    ¡°Can you smell the whereabouts of the statue?¡± Zian said to the empty hole.

    ¡°I can¡¯t smell it. It seems to have disappeared in thin air,¡± Famous replied.

    ¡°Okay,e down then.¡± Helplessness and pity could be heard in his voice. It wasn¡¯t easy looking for the clue, and now it was lost again.

    After a while, Famous returned to the fifth floor safely.

    Zhang Zian stepped back and took concrete blocks, ceiling voids, ashes, food packets, and empty beverage bottles into his eyes to form a panoramic image.

    A cold chill enveloped his heart and made him shudder! He seemed to have seen the cat abusers sitting around the fire, eating and drinking while they abused the cat for their enjoyment.

    However, above the top of their heads, where the fire was unable to illuminate, the Holy Cat statue was coldly staring at them through the hole.

    Did they know that while they were willfully abusing the cats for their enjoyment, there was a terrible existence quietly lurking next to them?

    It was probably best that they didn¡¯t know. Otherwise, they might be scared crazy on the spot.

    Old Time Tea and Famous had also thought of that. As strong as they were, their face slightly changed.

    ¡°This is really¡­ no zuo no die¡­¡± Zhang Zian let out a sigh. He called out towards the elfins and said, ¡°We have no more business here. Come on, let¡¯s go home.¡±

 Chapter 844: Detour

    <h4>Chapter 844: Detour</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After returning from the Unfinished Building, the smell of urine, feces, and perfume lingered in Famous¡¯s nose and followed it to its dream.

    In the dream.

    ¡°Famous! Famous!¡± Someone was calling its name.

    Without opening its eyes, it sat up out of reflex, then raised a front paw next to its head and made a peace sign with its paw¨C¨Cthe most popr pose while taking photos with its fans. It had be its reflex.

    ¡°Famous? What are you doing¡­?¡±

    As it opened its eyes, a slightly younger Old Time Tea appeared in front of it. It stared at its peace sign, confused.

    Famous quickly put the paw behind its head and pretended to scratch itself. It then tilted its head and looked around.

    The long carriage parade team was resting not far away. Kitchen smoke wafted through the air, carrying the nice smell of cooking food.

    The carriages formed a circle, protecting thedies inside. They even hung fabric curtains to prevent perverted men from peeping in on them.

    The men in the parade all slept around the carriages, but they were getting up now. Everybody seemed so tired and wereining and sighing in low voices.

    The night watch team came back with muskets, rifles, and long knives. Most people slept immediately upon their return, hoping to get some sleep before departure. They could eat breakfast while walking. A few team leads were debriefing Wu Mancheng.

    Wu Mancheng, Wu Ning¡¯s father, had another sleepless night. He cheered everybody on with red eyes, promising that they would all be paid a fortune as long as they could arrive at Binhai County safely.

    He was not so generous back in Foshan, but he no longer had any better options under the current circumstances.

    They were in the wilderness in the middle of nowhere¨C¨Ca dangerous area that the wedding parade team had been trying to avoid at all costs. It was far away from the biggest road, and they could not return anytime soon.

    It was pouring rain that night. The flooding river destroyed the dock and submerged the river bed. At midnight, when the sleeping people suddenly woke up from their dreams, they realized that the murky water from the river had already flooded the room. Their shoes were floating around. As the rain continued, Wu Mancheng made a quick decision to travel forward at night and take a detour. Worse things might have happened if they had stayed and waited.

    The next morning, the exhausted parade team suddenly heard a loud noise behind them¨C¨Cfrom the direction of the dock¨C¨Clike a thunder p in the sky.

    The pulling horses suddenly stood up as if they sensed something. They roared and stopped followingmands; the carriage drivers could not control them.

    The river had broken the levee. Not a single person in that vige had managed to escape.

    After a sleepless night, people were on the verge of falling asleep while they walked. They started panicking after they heard the news. Had it not been Wu Mancheng¡¯s strict discipline, then they might have left and scattered all around.

    The flood chased after them at a high speed.

    During the emergency, the wedding parade team took whatever road was in front of them to reach the highest ground. After they had finally escaped the flood, they were already far away from the nned route.

    Luckily, in case of rogue bandits, Wu Mancheng had asked all the closest team members to carry hidden guns. They could use them to hunt and to protect themselves against robbers. The team was well prepared before departure, and they could replenish their food and water in the viges along the way. They would not be hungry.

    Going back was as hard as moving forward, but Wu Mancheng didn¡¯t allow them to head back. Therefore, they had to push forward.

    Famous, Old Time Tea, and Gxy followed them all the way.

    ¡°Famous, are you okay? You seem a bit weird today¡­¡± Old Time Tea mentioned with concern.

    Famous shook its head in embarrassment: ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­ It¡¯s hard to exin, but I¡¯m fine.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Old Time Tea nodded, then pointed at the forest ahead with its paw. ¡°There¡¯s a stream over there, and the water is clear. Famous, would you like to wash up? If you wait until everyone gets up, the stream may smell like urine and feces¡­¡±

    Famous smiled bitterly. Why was it having so much trouble with urine and feces?

    It looked toward the carriages and heard some women talking behind the fabric curtains. Thedies were up already; they might start washing up and dumping the toilet soon. Just as Old Time Tea had said, with any further dy, it would have to wash upstream.

    Yet, Famous was a dog; it was not as fussy as cats in terms of being clean. It didn¡¯t really care about washing up.

    ¡°I¡¯ll skip it. Are they leaving soon?¡± it asked, checking the hour in the sky.

    Old Time Tea was a bit confused as well. ¡°Normally we¡¯d be on the road by now¡­ But today they are still silent. This is really weird¡­ Famous, you can go wash up. No worries. I¡¯ll get you when the parade leaves.¡±

    ¡°Fine¡­¡±

    Although Famous didn¡¯t really want to wash up, it didn¡¯t want to be a dirty dog in front of Old Time Tea. It ran into the forest, found the stream, drank some water, then dipped its head into the water, and shook its hair dry.

    The stream water tasted so sweet¨C¨Ctotally unlike the tap water in the real world. It tasted much better than the mineral water that imed to be drawn from mountain topkes. Even Fina¡¯s Evian water was not nearly as good.

    After washing up, Famous ran back to where it had slept the night before. The parade team was still there and there was no sign of departure. Many people surrounded one carriage, pointed fingers, and whispered with each other. Wu Mancheng looked very worried, sighing with his hands behind his head.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Famous asked.

    Old Time Tea shook its head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Someone seems to be sick. I just saw the apanying doctor go inside the carriage. He has yet toe out and it has been a long time.¡±

    The only people who slept in the carriages at night were either women or rtives of the Wu family. It must be someone important. The ordinary, lower-ss people all slept outside.

    If Wu Mancheng had sent for a doctor at the cost of dying the trip, the sick person in the carriage must be important.

    ¡°Could Wu Ning be sick?¡± Famous asked anxiously. It would be bad if Wu Ning, the bride, fell sick.

    ¡°No. That¡¯s not Miss Wu¡¯s carriage,¡± Old Time Tea said in certainty.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s great.¡± Famous was relieved. As long as Wu Ning was fine, it would be okay. The other people were not important to it. They were all extras in a film; they didn¡¯t even y supporting roles.

    Gxy meowed in the grass nearby, jumping happily toward a butterfly that was dancing on a wildflower. It seemed that even the end of the world could not disturb it from catching butterflies.

    Famous was hungry and wanted to ask when breakfast was. Then the curtain opened, and an old, white-bearded doctor came out of the carriage, waving his hands at Wu Mancheng. Even if they could not hear what he was saying, they could tell from his face that the patient in the carriage was not doing well.

 Chapter 845: Hysteria

    <h4>Chapter 845: Hysteria</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Before departure, Wu Mancheng had taken into ount the long distance and that people in the group would inevitably fall sick, so he hired an experienced physician at a high price to apany the group.

    The physician was old and weak and was usually seated in the carriage. He was rarely seen unless there was a sick person that required his attention.

    The medical standard of the old man was not at the top of the country, but he was a famous name in Foshan. If it wasn¡¯t for his b*stard son¡¯s gambling debt, he wouldn¡¯t be traveling with the old body of his. He might even send his life away during the journey.

    The old physician waved to Wu Mancheng, meaning to say that nothing could be done, or that he can¡¯t get any better, which meant that there was no saving the patient in the car.

    The fatigue and anxiety over the past few days had caused Wu Mancheng to have a temper. He felt that the man hadn¡¯t even tried, so why was he asserting that there was no cure? He insisted on having the physician try, even if it was futile.

    His other trusted aides also echoed after him, requesting for the physician to give it a try.

    Famous did not understand anything about medicine, and it wasn¡¯t bothered to care since the group wasn¡¯t moving for the time being. Why not continue to sleep and wait for breakfast?

    Old Time Tea had a little understanding of medicine, so it was really interested in listening in on the conversation between the physician and Wu Mancheng. It was too far away to hear anything, though.

    Just that moment, the carriages that were grouped in a circle were separated down the middle by the carriage driver. A group of maidservants and old mothers yawned as they headed to the stream to empty their night stool.

    Wu Ning wore a neat set of men¡¯s clothing and walked over with a maidservant, who was holding a bamboo basket in her hands. Needless to say, it was breakfast.

    The meals for Famous and Old Time Tea had always been made by Wu Ning personally, so their meals were better than the ordinary carriage driver. However, ever since their deviation from the official road, the meal quality of the whole group had declined, and no one could be excluded.

    Some people in the group looked at Wu Ning¡¯s back and whispered to each other. There was a lot of discontent in their eyes. Under the current circumstances, their youngdy was still caring for the two animals¡­ Such actions made them feel resentful. So what if the two animals had saved the youngdy?

    Looking at the situation, Old Time Tea was worried, and it wanted to advise Wu Ning to stop sending them meals.

    Famous confirmed the look in the people¡¯s eyes. It indicated that the hearts of the people were scattered, and the group would no longer be easy to lead.

    However, it also knew why Old Time Tea liked Wu Ning, and why it would even follow her to the north. Just by her character that held gratitude in her heart, she was already very likable.

    Wu Ning was not oblivious to the dissatisfaction of the people, but at least she pretended not to know.

    Coming in front of Famous, she ordered the maidservant to put down the bamboo basket. ¡°Two Benefactors, please have your breakfast.¡±

    Famous smelled the scent in the bamboo basket and wanted to open the basket to see what was for breakfast, but Old Time Tea didn¡¯t move, so it didn¡¯t move, either.

    Old Time Tea stared at the physician and Wu Mancheng, who were in a dispute. It took a few steps forward, then looked back at Wu Ning.

    Wu Ning had been with them for a long time, so she was able to make out the meaning behind their actions. She replied, ¡°A family uncle suddenly suffered from an acute illness. My father and this family uncle have always had a good rtionship, which is why he¡¯s acting this way¡­ We have embarrassed ourselves in front of the two benefactors.¡±

    Old Time Tea remained in its same posture. Even if it was an acute illness, why didn¡¯t the physician even try to cure him?

    ¡°Cat Benefactor, do you want to know more about it? Okay.¡± Wu Ning found a clean stone, the maidservantid a mat on it, and she sat down.

    ¡°Two Benefactors, please have your breakfast. You can just listen to me.¡±

    It turned out that Wu Ning¡¯s uncle had fallen ill all of a sudden, but it wasn¡¯t serious at first. Her uncle would only feel difort all over and be suspicious of things. He would yell at a touch then hide in the carriage. After the physician took a look at him, the physician diagnosed that he had developed hysteria.

    As time went by, his condition began to deteriorate. His body would convulse intermittently, and his mouth would drool with saliva. When he woke up that morning, he was so thirsty that his lips were chapped, but he still refused to drink even a sip of water. He stared at the water as if he saw a demon. Even the sound of pouring water would cause him to convulse¡­

    Cough! Cough!

    Famous was stuffing itself when it almost choked at that part of the story.

    Wu Ning quickly patted its back to help it catch its breath.

    ¡°Brother Famous, are you okay?¡± Old Time Tea asked worriedly.

    ¡°I¡¯m okay¡­ that¡¯s not hysteria!¡± Famous cried out.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Old Time Tea was really surprised. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that Brother Famous was also well versed in the art of Qi Huang.¡±

    ¡°What art of Qi Huang?¡± Famous did not understand the term. It sounded like something Richard would say.

    ¡°It¡¯s medical skills,¡± Old Time Tea exined.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand medicine at all! I only know that it¡¯s not hysteria, because it¡¯s rabies!¡± Famous said with agitation.

    Old Time Tea pondered and said, ¡°Rabies¡­ is Brother Famous referring to the disease contracted after one is bitten by a mad dog? This old one also has doubts on it too after listening to Miss Wu¡¯s description, but wasn¡¯t as sure as Brother Famous¡­¡±

    Famous wanted to say that it wasn¡¯t only through dogs¨C¨Ceven getting scratched by a cat can get you infected, but Famous could exin it in detailter because Wu Mancheng was calling for Wu Ning to go over.

    ¡°Old Time Tea, this disease can be transmitted, and once someone is infected, there is no cure! Do not let Wu Ning close to the patient!¡± Famous said quickly.

    Famous cast a look at Old Time Tea and gestured for it to quietly follow along.

    A cat and a dog followed behind Wu Ning. They slowly approached the group. Wu Ning turned to look at them and she didn¡¯t stop them.

    While walking, Old Time Tea shook his head in disapproval. ¡°What Brother Famous said earlier isn¡¯t right. If this person was really bitten by a mad dog, although it¡¯s difficult to cure, it isn¡¯t without a cure¡ªthere are records of many prescriptions in the ancient books that can be used as a cure. For example, using the brain of the mad dog and applying it to the patient¡¯s wound¡­¡±

    Famous shuddered. Its body stiffened immediately, and one of its legs that was lifted remained in the air.

    Using the brain of the mad dog? That¡¯s really cruel¡­

    Famous immediately caught up and retorted, ¡°No! Old Time Tea, I don¡¯t know where you saw it, but Zhang Zian had said that the mortality rate of rabies is above 99 percent. Once contracted, the patient is basically dead. I have never heard him say that using a mad dog¡¯s brain can cure this illness! Did you read a fake medical book?¡±

    Old Time Tea was still in doubt. ¡°Brother Famous, are you serious? But this method is clearly recorded in the ancient medical books¡­ How can it be wrong?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s better to not have books if all you believe are books! Anyway, I¡¯ll tell you that a mad dog¡¯s brain is not a cure for rabies! There was no cure for rabies a 100 years ago, and there¡¯s no cure for it now, either!¡± Famous didn¡¯t know how to exin, because it was sleeping when Zhang Zian was exining it. It didn¡¯t hear clearly but it had caught the part of the horrible mortality rate.

    In just a few words time, Wu Ning was already beside her father, followed closely by Famous and Old Time Tea.

    Just then, Famous heard the old physician say, ¡°This old one had made an incorrect initial diagnosis, and now I plead guilty to you. This person is not suffering from hysteria, but poison from a mad dog¡¯s bite. It is necessary to extract the brain of a mad dog and apply it to the wound before it can heal¡­ I¡¯m not trying to me anyone, but where can we find the mad dog who bit him?¡±

    While the physician spoke, his eyes fell on Famous.

 Chapter 846: Physician Li

    <h4>Chapter 846: Physician Li</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The old, apanying doctor was Physician Li. He was very experienced. He had seen a few cases of rabid dog bites, but had never cured them. It didn¡¯t stop him from believing, however, that the recordings in the old medical books were correct.

    He could not cure them because they either could not find mad dog brain, or the poor men could not afford the fees. Most dog bite victims were poor people, such as peasants, carriage drivers, beggars, thieves, and low-ss men. They could not pay him at all, and he would not bother looking for any other treatments. The rich people barely had the chance to meet rabid dogs, so they would never get bitten.

    Even in front of Wu Mancheng, the master of a rich family, he pretended to be unyielding and upromising; he kept shaking his head and saying no. He imed that the rabid dog must be captured and its brain extracted, otherwise the patient was incurable. He had already received his payment for the trip, and he could not take any risks.

    Wu Mancheng was upset. His cousin had bravely volunteered to apany him north, yet he ended up with a disaster. The problem was, he had never heard that his cousin was bitten by a rabid dog!

    At that moment, Famous and Old Time Tea followed Wu Ning to the front of the group. As soon as Physician Li saw Famous, he felt that it was his chance to im some credit. Hihi, how lucky could he possibly be? Without any searching effort, the rabid dog just showed up front in front of his face!

    Then he yelled, ¡°Hey! Take that rabid dog! Don¡¯t let it run!¡±

    Famous looked around, but didn¡¯t see any rabid dog. It then realized that Physician Li was referring to itself¨C¨Che was calling it a rabid dog. It was so mad that it wanted to bite his face off¡­ It was not real history, anyway, so biting him was probably fine.

    Wu Ning, Wu Mancheng, and some servants knew Famous well. Besides, it didn¡¯t look like a rabid dog at all. They were astonished at this im and said, ¡°Sir, is this a mistake? This dog is not rabid!¡±

    Physician Li insisted that Famous was surely a rabid dog, iming that they must kill it and use its brain to cure the patient in the carriage.

    He was a reputable doctor in Foshan. Otherwise, Wu Mancheng would not have paid him a high price to be the apanying doctor. As he insisted, many people started to believe him. They hinted to Wu Mancheng that he should listen to Physician Li. Even if the dog had saved Wu Ning¡¯s life, she had repaid her favor, which was witnessed by everyone. Since they were now even, which one was more important? A human¡¯s life or a dog¡¯s life?

    Wu Mancheng vented without taking sides. Yet, to the other people, not taking sides meant that he agreed.

    The bodyguards hinted to each other, carried their muskets, and surrounded them just in case Famous tried to escape.

    Famous really wanted to swear. The old doctor seemed reputable and knowledgeable, yet he nothing more than a phony chatan. His outdated treatment doctrines and flowery talks might have harmed many patients.

    Famous looked everywhere for an escape route, yet people had blocked all possible roads.

    Famous was confident about its strength and jumping ability. Adding its crisis prediction ability, it could escape from a wolf ten times more ferocious than the people around him were. It was discouraged by the muskets and rifles in their people¡¯s hands, though.

    It had witnessed the power of muskets and rifles. With one shot during hunting, hundreds of metal pellets burst out of the barrel, covering a great area. It could not shoot very far, but it could kill anything close by¡­ Even Neo from the Matrix would be shot into a sieve.

    What was the consequence of dying in the Imagined World? Would it leave the Imagined World? Or would the real body in the real world die as well?

    Famous didn¡¯t know and didn¡¯t want to know. It didn¡¯t want to try¡­ Gxy¡¯s ckbox World was too weird and it could not serve as a point of reference.

    ¡°Old Time Tea, just leave me. They want me. Don¡¯t let them get to you!¡± it whispered.

    Old Time Tea was the hero of their world. Even if Famous had died or had left the Imagined World, it still hoped that Old Time Tea could continue the journey with Wu Ning. It was the right thing to do¡­ It didn¡¯t belong to that world anyway.

    Old Time Tea smirked. ¡°Famous, don¡¯t look down upon me. Life or death have never been a problem to me! If I don¡¯t do anything now and watch you fight alone, how can I be called ¡®chivalrous?''¡± As Old Time Tea spoke, it turned its body to face the enemies back-to-back with Famous.

    They didn¡¯t need to say anything else.

    ¡°Okay! After we break out, I¡¯ll surely bite off this old chatan¡¯s ear!¡±

    Famous was so heroic; it was as if it went back into the days when it fought side-by-side with Old Time Tea in the Nameless Valley.

    ¡°Mistress, please leave that mad dog right now! The knives and rifles don¡¯t have eyes!¡± someone holding a musket shouted at Wu Ning.

    Wu Ning would never believe Famous was a rabid dog. She loved the tall, brave, and gentle dog¡­ It even acted funny sometimes. How could it be rabid?

    She was well educated, but she had not seen much of the outside world. The dark gun barrel freaked her out, and she could barely stand on her legs. Before she knew anything, her servant dragged her to the side.

    Famous hated being called a rabid dog. Even without any hope to escape, even if it would die, it wanted to teach them a lesson.

    Then, as most people were focusing on Wu Ning, it suddenly buckled its back and jumped towards the talking man like a lightening bolt.

    Everyone eximed at the same time, ¡°It¡¯s really a rabid dog! Physician Li is such a magical doctor!¡±

    Physician Li seemed satisfied, watching Famous with a smile while he stroked his beard. He was thinking about how much money he could charge if the rabid dog brain could cure the patient, and what kind of excuse he could use in case the patent didn¡¯t get well.

    Famous was so fast that it was already in front of the person in the blink of an eye.

    The man was busy talking to Wu Ning, thinking that since so many people were surrounding them, Famous had to wait for death¡¯s arrival. He lowered the rifle; he didn¡¯t foresee that Famous would actually fight back. A big dog like that could rip open his throat in a second!

    He wanted to raise the gun again and shoot Famous, but either a musket or a rifle was too long for short-distancebat. Wu Mancheng was the only one carrying a handgun in the crowd.

    Before hepletely raised the gun, Famous had already reached him. He could even feel its warm breath.

    That was it! He closed his eyes, waiting to die.

    However, Famous made a fake move. It pushed its front paws against his chest and kicked him far away. It used the force to change direction and turn its body in the air, jumping towards Physician Li.

    Famous always paid its debts!

    Everything had happened because Physician Li told a lie to win a reputation. Famous didn¡¯t forget that fact, despite its extreme anger.

    Everybody shouted at the sight!

 Chapter 847: Escape From Death

    <h4>Chapter 847: Escape From Death</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Even if Famous had extraordinary leg power, changing directions in mid-air caused a drastic reduction in its speed. As such, its second leap was not as fast and ferocious as the first one.

    A few quick-reacting people had already lifted their muzzles, aimed them at Famous, and pulled their triggers!

    Famous was in the air, and really wanted to move like those martial art films that Old Time Tea watched, using its left foot to step on its right foot and using the force to maneuver in the air¨C¨Ceven in the imagined world, however, it was unable to be free from the constraints of thews of physics.

    Gritting its teeth, Famous was prepared to be turned into a sieve.

    But, even if it were to be a sieve, it would use its weight to squash the sh*t out of that crap of a physician!

    ¡°Brother Famous, watch out!¡± Old Time Tea eximed. It had just sent one of the shotguns flying and wanted to rescue Famous, but it was too far away. Even if it had made it in time, it would have the same fate as Famous.

    Ta! Ta! Ta! Their triggering caused the sound of the hammer to resound.

    Everyone, including Famous itself, thought that it was dead that time around. However, no one had expected a jam in several of the muskets and shotguns!

    The muskets and shotguns were homemade, so their rate of failure was already high, and it was not unusual to have a jam. Many old hunters in the mountains were killed by wild boars and wolves because of a jam in their shotguns at crucial moments.

    But the chances of all the musket and shotguns experiencing a jam all at once¡­

    Ridiculously escaping from death, Famous itself was in a blur. Its body was already at the highest point of its leap. Famous¡¯s field of vision was extremely open as it parabolically headed towards Physician Li.

    For a moment, in the corner of its eye, Famous saw a small tree nearby with Gxy seated on the branches. Gxy was watching Famous with its silver-gray eyes.

    Then, several people reacted and lifted the muzzle up and pulled the trigger. That time there was no jam, and the hammer struck the percussion cap urately.

    However, there was no sound from the percussion cap. The few bullets were blind shells; the gunpowder must have gotten wet from the rain and wasn¡¯t dry yet.

    Famous did not have much time to think. In its eyes was Physician Li¡¯s terrified face, which was getting closer and closer. His face was pale like death, and the earlier smugness had already been blown away.

    The remaining few people had maintained their muskets and shotguns well. They were all well-polished, and there was no jam or water in their guns. Their guns were aimed at Famous, but they didn¡¯t dare to shoot because Famous was very close to Physician Li, and their bullet would cover a wide range. Once the gun was fired, Famous and Physician Li would be killed together, but they did not want to bear the crime of murder.

    Famous fell on Physician Li with tremendous pressure. Physician Li was already old¨C¨Che could not withstand such force, so he was immediately flipped over. Famous had a front paw on his chest that prevented him from getting up.

    The others were terrified and didn¡¯t dare to shoot.

    Physician Li was flustered. His eyeballs were about to pop out with fear. A small part of Famous¡¯s weight was on his chest¨C¨Cthat in itself was enough to overwhelm his old respiratory system, and he started panting heavily.

    Famous lowered its body and stared at him coldly. Famous had to open its mouth to catch its breath after the intense movements from earlier, and doing that exposed its threatening canine teeth.

    Physician Li was enveloped in fear. The dog¡¯s muscles were so strong, its teeth so sharp, that if it were to bite down, his neck bone might snap.

    ¡°Dog Benefactor, don¡¯t!¡± Wu Ning covered her mouth and eximed.

    ¡°Brother Famous, hold on!¡± Old Time Tea said from a distance away.

    All those watching believed that there was no way Physician Li was going to survive.

    The dog was really miraculous. It knew how to bait the others, and who to exact revenge on. Everyone could not help but look at one another. A chill could be felt in their hearts.

    Physician Li looked at Famous from a very close distance. He found that Famous¡¯s eyes were different from the other dogs he had seen before. The feeling could not be described in words¡­ Instead of saying that it resembled a dog, it resembled more like a human.

    ¡°No¡­ don¡¯t kill me¡­¡± Physician Li prayed weakly and desperately. He thought that since the dog¡¯s eyes were like those of a human¡¯s, and it was so miraculous, it might be able to understand him.

    Famous caught its breath and didn¡¯t need to pant anymore, so it closed its mouth.

    To Physician Li, it was a sign that Famous was able to understand his words and a glimmer of hope sprouted in his heart.

    ¡°Dog¡­ Dog Grandpa, I beg you to spare this little one. Don¡¯t kill me! I have old and young people in my family to take care of, and I just married my seventh wife. A number of people are depending on me for their meals!¡± Physician Li shed tears as he screamed indiscriminately.

    Although no one wanted to die, Physician Li¡¯s method of seeking mercy was too low. He was even willing to call a dog grandfather for the sake of his life. The other people in the group couldn¡¯t help but despise him. They evenughed that he was still sexually active at such an old age, having just married his seventh wife¨C¨Cmaybe it was with the help of some self-prescribed viagra¡­

    After all the mess, Famous¡¯s anger gradually disappeared. Famous was originally peaceful and did not want to hurt people. If it wasn¡¯t so furious, it would not have done anything to Physician Li.

    It had imed to bite off one of his ears, but it was only just saying that. Once it really bit off an ear, Famous would be affirming the ims of it being a mad dog.

    Physician Li was still struggling for mercy, but Famous didn¡¯t intend to let him off so easily, or else it would continue to suffer from injustice. Once it lost its hostage, the others might shoot at it again. It couldn¡¯t always count on good luck.

    Famous turned to look at Wu Ning. Wu Ning had finally calmed down, so she broke away from her maidservant and ran over.

    ¡°Youngdy, don¡¯t go over! Youngdy, it¡¯s dangerous!¡± Everyone told her not to approach Famous, but she still came up to Famous and squatted beside it.

    ¡°Dog Benefactor, please forgive my ipetence. I¡¯ve let you be wronged¡­¡± Wu Ning said with guilt.

    Famous did not me her. Under such circumstances, what could a youngdy like her do?

    Woof!

    Famous used more force on its front paw and patted Physician Li¡¯s chest. Physician Li¡¯s face immediately distorted with pain.

    Wu Ning guessed the meaning behind its action and asked on behalf of Famous, ¡°Physician Li, let me ask you¨C¨Cyou im that this dog is a mad dog, but do you have evidence for that?¡±

    In order to survive, Physician Li shook his head desperately. ¡°No! No! I said it without evidence! I¡¯m a b*stard! Dog Grandpa, please forgive me. Please spare me¡­¡±

    When everyone heard his words, they awkwardly lowered their guns and secretly scolded Physician Li for being so despicable. They cursed his future son under their breath.

    Wu Mancheng was filled with guilt. He lowered his head and said nothing.

    Wu Ning sighed and pleaded, ¡°Dog Benefactor, he already knows his mistake. On my ount, please let him off this one time.¡±

    Famous was already cleared from the previous usations. He raised his paw and Physician Li rolled over and crawled some distance away.

    The others also dispersed, returning to what they were supposed to be doing. Soon, it was only Wu Ning and her maidservant left. Wu Ning waved her hand, gesturing for the maidservant to step back.

    ¡°Cat Benefactor, Dog Benefactor, our family has let the two of you down this time. Please don¡¯t be offended.¡± She sincerely apologized.

    Actually, Famous and Old Time Tea were very fond of the Wu¡¯s father and daughter. The incident was entirely because of Physician Li¡¯s ridiculous ims.

    Wu Ning didn¡¯t expect them to answer her. She pulled out an old magazine that was in her arms, rubbed the cover, and sighed. ¡°I used to like the art of Qi Huang and learned a thing or two by myself. I have also often fantasized about the days after arriving at Binhai Town. Aside from my responsibilities as a wife and mother, maybe I could start a small medical center¡­ The author I liked wrote in the magazine that learning medicine would not enable you to save the Chinese. I didn¡¯t like that phrase when I saw it; I thought that it was too biased. But now It seems like¡­ he may be right. Learning medicine can cure the body¡¯s illness, but it can¡¯t cure the brain¡¯s illness.¡±

    Old Time Tea was deep in its own thoughts, while Famous didn¡¯t understand a thing.

    ¡°Foolish, really very foolish¡­¡± She felt lost. ¡°Just because it¡¯s written in the ancient medical books, just because of mere words with no basis, they wanted to extract Benefactor¡¯s brain¡­¡±

    She wasn¡¯t just disappointed with Physician Li¨C¨Cshe was also sad and disappointed that the servants and her family aides so easily believed the words of Physician Li.

    There was also her father¡­ He was usually a very open-minded person, but today, he remained silent and actually allowed everything to happen.

    But she hated herself more. Even though she would often sigh about the fact that she wasn¡¯t born a male, and always wore men¡¯s clothing, once she encountered an incident, she would immediately reveal her fragile side. She would get weak legs at critical moments. What was the difference between a woman who was unable to stand up when required and the traditional woman that she looked down on?

    She couldn¡¯t hold it in any longer and started to sob softly. All the fear and remorse came out with her tears.

    As she continued to cry, she felt something warm on the back of her hand. She opened her eyes to look and it turned out to be Famous licking her hand. Its eyes were gentle and firm.

    ¡°Dog Benefactor, have you forgiven us?¡±

    Famous let out a bark as a reply.

    Wu Ning revealed a sad smile, wiped off the tears from the corner of her eyes with a handkerchief, and gently stroked the hair on Famous¡¯s neck. ¡°Thank you, Dog Benefactor.¡±

    She stood up and thought of her sick uncle who was still in the carriage. After all the trouble, everyone seemed to have forgotten about the uncle.

    Wu Ning approached the carriage. She nned to go in and visit.

    ¡°Don¡¯t go!¡± Famous jumped up and stood in front of her. Both Famous and Old Time Tea were originally there to stop her from getting close to the rabies patient.

    Wu Ning didn¡¯t understand what was going on. She quickly exined, ¡°The one inside the carriage is my uncle. He usually dotes on me. Right now, his condition is critical, and since we can¡¯t find a cure for the mad dog¡¯s bite, this may be thest time I can see him¡­¡±

    No matter what she said, Famous remained in front of her and prevented her from passing. Suffering fromnguage barriers, Famous didn¡¯t know how to make her understand that she couldn¡¯t get close to a rabies patient. A sudden idea appeared in its head. Famous said to Old Time Tea, ¡°Old Time Tea,e and act out a scene with me!¡±

    Old Time Tea walked over, very confused. Famous then told Old Time Tea his idea.

    Wu Ning was still confused when, suddenly, Famous opened its mouth wide and bit Old Time Tea. Its teeth stopped right when it touched Old Time Tea¡¯s hair.

    Old Time Tea pretended to be in pain, and fell down abruptly; its limbs convulsed just like a rabies patient.

    Next, Old Time Tea suddenly jumped up and started to snarl, scratch, and bite towards the empty space.

    Wu Ning seemed to understand something. ¡°Two Benefactors, are you saying that the illness is infectious?¡±

    Old Time Tea and Famous both nodded at the same time.

    ¡°Okay, I understand now. I won¡¯t go in anymore.¡± Wu Ning easily epted their warning. She said a few words to her uncle from outside the carriage, but there was no response.

    Famousid on the ground with no more strength. It was all very tiring!

 Chapter 848: Ten Points

    <h4>Chapter 848: Ten Points</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zoom.

    Engines hummed outside the pet shop, followed by vibrations of wheels running over the sidewalk.

    Sihwa opened the curtain and saw the Wuling Hong Guang, which was always parked at the entrance, heading east.

    She knew it had to be Zhang Zian driving. He always drove to the beach at that hour of the day to collect the harvest¨C¨Crare fish, shrimp, and so on¨C¨Cfrom the fishermen.

    The pet shop was close to the beach, yet his round trip would take at least half an hour if he returned empty-handed. If the harvest was plentiful, it might take more than an hour.

    The pet shop had just opened. The young boys and girls were doing their routine cleaning on the first floor, making noises while they moved chairs and vacuumed the floor.

    Nobody woulde upstairs at that hour. Sihwa picked up her phone happily and activated the live broadcast app.

    ¡°Hahaha! Hello, everyone! I¡¯m here for the broadcast!¡± She paused. ¡°What? Why there are so few people?¡±

    Sihwa nced at the number of subscriptions of the live broadcast room. There were about 3,177 people. The number had stopped growing a few days ago, and then continued to drop.

    It was too early. There were only two or three people online. They were all regrs, and they didn¡¯t seem to have anything to do all day long.

    [Watermelon] entered the live broadcast room.

    [Mr. Grape]: Wee.

    [Watermelon]: Hello.

    [Little Confused] entered the live broadcast room.

    [Mr. Grape]: Wee.

    [F*ck The Wildest Dog]: Hostess, you started your shift early.

    [killme]: She starts at this time every day, when most of the other hosts are still sleeping.

    [Watermelon]: I¡¯m new here. I heard the hostess is gorgeous. She is, indeed, but not enough to get ten points.

    ¡°What? What ten points?¡± she asked immediately with an angry face. Sihwa was conceited about her own beauty, and could not withstand any questions about it.

    [Watermelon]: Lady Perfect should be a female, alive, rich, pretty, with fair skin, a sweet voice, a smart brain, big boobs, a small waistline, and long legs. If all ten of these pieces of criteria are met, then she gets ten points. As long as she¡¯s a woman, she gets one. If a woman is alive, she gets two. So two points is basically the bottom line.

    ¡°So¡­ How many points do I get?¡± Sihwa asked, pointing at her own nose.

    As it was morning, there were barely any bullet screenments in the room. [Watermelon] could send as manyments as he needed and say whatever was on his mind without worrying about being interrupted by otherments.

    [Watermelon]: Well¡­ I¡¯ll tell you the truth. Please don¡¯t get mad at me¡­ You get top score for being a female, alive, having fair skin, a sweet voice, big boobs, and a small waistline. You can get at least seven. As for your legs¡­ I can¡¯t see them, but I suppose they are quite long. I think I can give you eight.

    ¡°What! Only eight? I think you need to see an optometrist!¡± Sihwa turned so mad. In her eyes, if she didn¡¯t get twelve, then [Watermelon] definitely had something wrong with his eyes.

    [killme]: Hostess, don¡¯t get mad¡­ Although, you are still gorgeous when you are mad.

    [F*ck The Wildest Dog]: Grant me administrator privilege. Let me kick this guy out for you.

    [Little Confused]: I have a stupid question. Is this criteria treating women as objects?

    [Watermelon]: Haha, ording to this standard, Lin Chi-ling only gets seven. Hostess, eight is a very high score¡­ Someone just said this criteria treats women as objects. Indeed. But our society these days not only treats women as objects, but it treats men as objects, too. They get judged by height, job, ie, face, background, character¡­ These are women¡¯s criteria to evaluate men, so it works both ways. Let¡¯sugh about it and don¡¯t be too serious.

    ¡°Tell me then¡­ Where exactly did I lose the two points?¡± Sihwa asked in discontent. She didn¡¯t care about being treated as an object at all. She didn¡¯t know who Lin Chi-ling was, but was slightly relieved after hearing that she had scored above her.

    [Watermelon]: First of all, you don¡¯t meet the criteria of being ¡°rich.¡±

    Sihwa turned her head and nced around the shabby bathroom decoration. She blushed and argued, ¡°I¡­ Money is a bit tight right now, but it¡¯s only temporary. I¡¯ll be rich very soon! Very, very rich! I¡¯ll make one million a day like the other hosts! By that time, I¡¯ll stuff the entire bathroom and the bathtub with cash! I¡¯ll swim in dor bills!¡±

    [Watermelon]: Hostess, you misunderstood me. The criterion of being ¡°rich¡± doesn¡¯t only include material wealth, but also your spiritual wealth. Even if you can swim in cash, you only get half a point.

    ¡°Spiritual wealth?¡± It was the first time Sihwa had ever heard that word.

    [Watermelon]: Yes. What kind of positive hobbies do you have? How many books have you read? How many movies have you seen? What insightfulments can you make on the books you¡¯ve read and the movies you¡¯ve seen? What¡¯s your point of view on the economic trend in China today? What do you think about the current international situation? What¡¯s your education level? What jobs have you done? What do you have to say about life?

    His questions made Sihwapletely lost and speechless.

    Her hobbies included ying with the phone and sleeping. She had never read any books¡­ or watched any movies. Economic trend? International situation? What were those? Were they food? Education? Jobs? Ahh¡­

    After a long pause, Sihwa¡¯s confidence was half gone. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ve watched Korean dramas¡­¡±

    [Watermelon]: Korean dramas¡­ They will do. I don¡¯t discriminate against Korean dramas. But what are your insights after watching them?

    ¡°Insights¡­ Insights¡­ Insights¡­¡± Sihwa thought very hard. ¡°Emm¡­ Long-legged Oppa was very handsome and very rich. Do they count as insights?¡±

    [Watermelon]: ¡­

    [killme]: ¡­

    [Mr. Grape]: ¡­

    [F*ck The Wildest Dog]: Oh crap! Mr. Grapes, you are not a robot?

    [Watermelon]: Insights arements you make about movies, novels, or dramas that make people think, or at least broaden their perspectives¡­ As for how handsome and rich the hero is, these are part of the character¡¯s set up, not insights.

    Sihwa wracked her brain, but could not bring out any insights worth mentioning.

    ¡°Well¡­ Let¡¯s put this insight thing aside for now. Where else did I lose my point?¡± She changed the subject.

    [Watermelon]: Intelligence.

    [killme]: I¡¯m a die-hard fan of this hostess, but I can¡¯t ept this ¡°intelligence¡± thing. Hostesses arebeled as dumb and cute. If they are not dumb, they are no longer cute.

    Sihwa said, ¡°¡­You are calling me dumb?¡±

    [F*ck The Wildest Dog]: Haha, the hostess thinks she¡¯s very smart?

    [killme]: It seems the hostess¡¯ dumbness is widely recognized.

    Losing one point on ¡°richness¡± was forgivable. Sihwa had not been in that world for a long time, and had never read books, watched movies, been educated, or worked any jobs. All of that was understandable. Being poor was not her fault, but Zhang Zian¡¯s!

    But being called ¡°dumb¡± was absolutely uneptable to her.

    ¡°Why exactly am I dumb?¡± she asked loudly.

    [Little Confused]: The hostess¡¯ reaction to the word ¡°rich¡± seems dumb to me.

    Sihwa said, ¡°¡­Do you know everything? Do you know the economic trend, international situation, and such?¡±

    [Little Confused]: I don¡¯t know, either. But I¡¯d humbly admit that I don¡¯t know.

    [Watermelon]: The hostess misunderstood us again. ¡°Intelligence¡± doesn¡¯t only include IQ; it also includes emotional intelligence, or EQ.

    ¡°Emotional intelligence?¡± Sihwa had encountered another new word.

    [Watermelon]: IQ is something you are born with, and nobody can change it. But EQ can be improved. EQ is your attitude towards the world and the other people. An approachable, gentle, and gracefuldy wins everybody¡¯s respect, even if her IQ is below average.

    Sihwa interrupted right away. ¡°I am an approachable, gentle, and gracefuldy!¡±

    [Watermelon]: Would an approachable, gentle, and gracefuldy ask someone to see an optometrist for giving her eight points?

    Sihwa was speechless.

    [F*ck The Wildest Dog]: Don¡¯t be mad, hostess. Just stay dumb and cute.

    [killme]: Right. There¡¯s nothing bad about being dumb and cute!

    Crap! Instead of getting any more fans, she only got a stomach full of anger!

    Sihwa¡¯s chest swelled with anger. It was such a bad luck day. These guys were so despicable¨C¨Cthey were even worse than Zhang Zian!

    Wait!

    She suddenly noticed something. The fan number was 3,177 when the broadcast started, and now it was still 3,177.

    That meant the two neers, [Watermelon] and [Little Confused], didn¡¯t subscribe to her channel!

    ¡°Hey, two neers¨C¨Cwhy not subscribe to my channel? You should subscribe out of courtesy alone!¡± she said with self-righteousness.

    [Little Confused]: ¡­Sorry. I¡¯m just looking around. Sorry to interrupt.

    [Little Confused] exited the live broadcast room.

    Sihwa grew even more furious. How could it be? Leaving after a nce, without subscribing or tipping¡­ Was this free prostitution?

    [Watermelon]: Hostess, you are very pretty, but you are not my type. I¡¯m leaving too.

    Sihwa said angrily, ¡°Why did you stay?¡±

    [Watermelon]: After interacting with you so long, I felt that I should give you some suggestions as a hostess. Otherwise, this would be free prostitution!

    Sihwa said, ¡°I suggest you skip this. Go straight to the tipping!¡±

    [Watermelon]: If you¡¯ll listen to my advice, more and more people will be tipping you.

    Sihwa was mad, but still curious. ¡°Tell me your advice.¡±

    [Watermelon]: Hostess, do you want more subscriptions to your channel? Many peoplee and go without clicking ¡°subscribe.¡±

    The guy made an excellent point.

    Indeed, just as he said, Sihwa¡¯s broadcast room was busy. Many people came after hearing her name, but few people stayed. There were only a number of regrs, and the number of subscriptions rose and fell like a roller coaster, making her anxious and angry. She thought they were all blind.

    [Watermelon]: You really are gorgeous, but that¡¯s all. Peoplee in to take a look out of curiosity. But then it bes boring.

    [F*ck The Wildest Dog]: With a wave of violent tremble, everything turns dull.

    Sihwa said, ¡°¡­Why don¡¯t I understand you?¡±

    [Watermelon]: My suggestion is this: you can attract audience with your beauty. But to keep the audience around, and to turn them into your fans, you should make an effort on ¡°richness¡± and ¡°intelligence.¡± Okay. I hope next time I visit, you¡¯ll make me willing to click on ¡°subscribe.¡±

    [Watermelon] exited the live broadcast room.

 Chapter 849: Reading Books

    <h4>Chapter 849: Reading Books</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sihwa was in a bad mood. She had wanted to scold [Watermelon], but the person had left immediately and didn¡¯t give her the chance to.

    In the blink of an eye, her number of followers dropped a few from 3177. Several frequent visitors also canceled their subscription and exited the live broadcast room.

    ¡°The live broadcast will end here today! I¡¯m not broadcasting anymore!¡± Sihwa was in a really bad mood. She turned off the live app in anger and didn¡¯t even greet her fans.

    Sihwa yed around with her phone, but it was the first time that she thought that it was quite boring. ¡°How awful! Saying a lot of things that don¡¯t make sense only affects my mood!¡±

    She changed a few positions to y with her phone, trying to find the fun of ying with her phone that she had before, but she was unable to concentrate. She recalled what that person said andpared it to her own situation¨C¨Cshe wanted to prove that the person was wrong. However, the more shepared, the more it seemed to prove that the person was right.

    ¡°Wu¡­¡± She ced the phone aside. Her arms folded over the edge of the bathtub and she rested her head on them weakly, feeling very terrible.

    ¡°Sihwa, are you not feeling well?¡± She heard the voice and looked up to see Old Time Tea¡¯s brass-colored eyes staring at her.

    ¡°That¡¯s not it¡­¡± she said, sitting up straight. She pursed her lips and nced over at Old Time Tea. ¡°Old Time Tea, what are you doing up here?¡±

    Old Time Tea rarely came back upstairs after going downstairs every morning. ¡°Oh, this old one has had a lot of water, so I need the toilet. I heard your voice from the hallway and wondered if you were not feeling well, so I came over to visit,¡± Old Time Tea exined. ¡°Since you¡¯re fine, this old one shall head back downstairs.¡±

    Sihwa was indeed feeling unwell, but it wasn¡¯t her body. Instead, it was her heart. She really wanted to speak to someone, or else there was no ce for her to vent her frustration and anger. She was about to explode from holding it all in.

    ¡°Old Time Tea, wait up!¡± she called after it. Sihwa had wanted to speak with Fina, but Fina came up at random times and she just couldn¡¯t hold it in any longer.

    Old Time Tea turned around. ¡°Is there anything else?¡±

    When the words came to her lips, Sihwa hesitated again. She nervously peeked at Old Time Tea¡¯s face and asked, ¡°I have a few questions that I would like to ask you, but you can¡¯t tell the others about my problems¨C¨Cespecially that cheapskate Zhang Zian. Otherwise, he would definitelyugh at me¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, rest assured¨C¨Cthis old one¡¯s mouth is sealed.¡± Old Time Teaughed.

    ¡°You said it yourself. You have to keep your words!¡± Sihwa worriedly confirmed again.

    Old Time Tea stopped smiling and said seriously, ¡°This old one will never go back on my words, nor will it be taken back. Sihwa, if you don¡¯t believe in this old one, it¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t say anything.¡±

    Having said that, Old Time Tea turned to leave.

    ¡°Hold up! I believe you! Why would you leave so early? Not like you¡¯re going on a holiday!¡± Sihwa quickly stopped Old Time Tea. After some hesitation, she brought up her courage and whispered, ¡°That¡­ Fina always scolds me that I¡¯m an idiot. Am I really stupid? It¡¯s okay to tell me the truth!¡±

    Although that was what she said, she stared at Old Time Tea with an anxious look, as if to say, ¡°Comfort me even if it¡¯s a little. It doesn¡¯t matter if you¡¯re not telling the truth.¡±

    Old Time Tea didn¡¯t seem to notice the look in her eyes and asked her, ¡°Why are you asking such questions?¡±

    Sihwa briefly exined what happened earlier. ¡°Old Time Tea, they all say that you¡¯re well-informed, so tell me¨C¨Cwas that person right?¡±

    Old Time Tea didn¡¯t give her an answer right away, but walked back and forth, seemingly in deep thought.

    Sihwa started fidgeting as she waited anxiously. She was keen to know the answer but yet she was also afraid to know the answer.

    ¡°This old one feels that what the person said does make some sense,¡± Old Time Tea stopped moving and looked right back at her.

    ¡°Is¡­ is that so?¡± Sihwa¡¯s heart tightened, but she still held onto a sliver of hope. She hoped that Old Time Tea would say that it was joking. But she was disappointed. Old Time Tea¡¯s face remained serious and calm; there was no hint of it being a joke.

    Old Time Tea said, ¡°That person mentioned that you¡¯re able to attract audiences with your beauty, but you¡¯re unable to make them stay and you can¡¯t turn those audience members into your fans. They¡¯re only here to see you out of curiosity. After they¡¯ve seen you, they will feel like you have no other means to attract them and they¡¯ll leave without hesitation. Is that what that person meant?¡±

    Sihwa nodded.

    Old Time Tea brushed his whiskers andughed. ¡°Sihwa, have you ever heard of an ancient poem that says, ¡®Using your beauty to satisfy, how long before it all pales?''¡±

    Sihwa shook her head in a blur. She didn¡¯t even know the words used topose the poem.

    Old Time Tea exined, ¡°This poem is saying that the beauty of an appearance can only be pleasing for a while. On the other hand, inner beauty is the one thatsts. Another one with a simr meaning is, ¡®Using your beauty as an asset to attract others, their love will pale as your beauty fades.¡¯ This means that people who are attracted by your beauty will leave you when they¡¯ve had enough of your beauty or when your beauty fades with age.¡±

    Sihwa was still not convinced. Her beauty was a beauty that transcended the earthly world, so how would anyone get tired of it?

    ¡°You don¡¯t believe me?¡± Old Time Tea seemed to have expected her reaction. ¡°When ites to appearance, you are indeed unparalleled in the world¨C¨Cthere are no other simr examples in the world. However, there are many beautiful works of art in this world, and there is a lot of beautiful scenery. All of the beautiful scenery and the artwork awes first-time visitors. But for the museum staff and the local residents, they are already used to it. They have no special feelings about the artwork or the beautiful scenery. Isn¡¯t it simr to your situation?¡±

    Sihwa was at a loss for words because Old Time Tea¡¯s clearly showed the problem¡ªno matter how beautiful, the more one looked at it, the more they¡¯d be used to it. That was probably why she couldn¡¯t make her fans stay¡­ It was just like how tourists admired and appreciated artwork and scenery, but that was all it was¨C¨Cthey would not migrate over just because of the artwork or scenery. They will not settle in the local area because of the artwork or the beautiful scenery. Even if they really migrated and settled down, it would be uninteresting after they got used to it.

    ¡°That¡­ what should I do?¡± She sprawled on the edge of the bathtub like she lost all her strength. ¡°I¡¯m stupid and I¡¯ve not attended school before¡­ I¡¯ve never read a book, never worked¡­ Is it destined that I will not be able to make fans stay?¡±

    ¡°That may not be true.¡± Old teaughed. ¡°Sihwa, you don¡¯t have to be discouraged. Nothing is impossible. Who is born having the experience of going to school, reading books, and working? And who is more stupid than who? If you¡¯re willing to work hard, you can catch up with the others soon.¡±

    Continuing with his words, Old Time Tea temporarily left, then returned momentster with a book. The book was a novel that Pi had previously read and Old Time Tea took it from the shelf with Pi¡¯s permission.

    ¡°You may wish to temporarily put down your phone and start reading books.¡± Old Time Tea handed the book to her.

    Sihwa took the book and a rough and unfamiliar sensation came to her fingertips. It was not as smooth as the phone case.

    ¡°Can I get ten points for reading books?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Of course,¡± Old Time Tea smiled. ¡°One who is filled with knowledge will always behave with elegance! If there is a person in this world who can reach ten points, I believe that it must be you!¡±

    Sihwa looked down at the cover of the book. ¡°Then¡­ then I¡¯ll read it.¡±

 Chapter 850: Fairy Tales

    <h4>Chapter 850: Fairy Tales</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    With a wave of tremble, the Wuling Hong Guang drove up to the sidewalk and stopped in front of the pet shop.

    The door opened and Zhang Zian got off the car.

    The chicdies nced at him while they passed by, then covered their noses in disgust and kept a distance from his car.

    Despite the fact that he didn¡¯t specialize in the seafood business, he drove to the beach each day, and often took rare marine creatures, such as fish, shrimp, and crabs, back. He could not wash the containers in the car everyday, so after some time, the car inevitably smelled like fish.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun greeted him, and carried the new marine creatures into the aquarium. They sorted them and put them into different quarantine tanks so that they could adapt to the new environment.

    Zhang Zian walked into the shop. The cleaning job was almost done, so he didn¡¯t have much to do. He took the underwater loudspeaker battery upstairs to charge.

    He met Old Time Tea on the stairs. He hinted Old Time Tea and asked gently, ¡°How is it?¡±

    Old Time Tea smiled gently. ¡°Everything is under your expectations.¡±

    The man and the cat looked at each other and smiled.

    ¡°Quack! What are you talking about in secret? What are you hiding from me?¡± Richard had sharply sensed the unusual atmosphere while it flew by.

    ¡°Right. We are discussing you behind your back¨C¨Cspecifically plucking your feather and making you into a stew,¡± Zhang Zian threatened. ¡°After you be stew, the world will be quiet.¡±

    ¡°Quack! My meat is old and dry¨C¨Cit wouldn¡¯t taste good in a stew. I suggest you pick another bird!¡± Richard flew away quickly.

    Old Time Tea walked downstairs slowly for the television, while Zhang Zian headed upstairs to wash his hands. They carried a fishy smell after they were soaked in the sea. He could still feel some fine, sea salt granules after his hands were dry.

    As soon as he entered the bathroom, he saw Sihwa hide something in a hurry.

    He pretended not to see it. After turning on the tap, he asked, ¡°Why aren¡¯t you broadcasting today?¡±

    Sihwa was angry and humiliated after hearing his question. ¡°Today¡­ I¡¯m not in the mood today! I don¡¯t want to broadcast!¡±

    ¡°Okay. It¡¯s nice to take a day off sometimes.¡± Zhang Zian wiped his hands, then left the bathroom.

    ¡°Wait a moment!¡± Sihwa shouted behind him.

    ¡°What is it?¡± Zhang Zian stopped.

    ¡°Emm¡­ This¡­ Emm¡­ That¡­¡± she stuttered. Her pale face turned red because she needed his help. After stammering for a long time, she took out a book from under a towel. ¡°I can¡¯t read. What can I do?¡± she asked, troubled. ¡°I know a few Korean words, but not any Chinese words¡­¡±

    She could y with the phone, as the phone functions were simple¨C¨Cas long as she remembered the icons. She could make guesses on others, or ask Zhang Zian if it was too hard to guess. However, reading a book full of Chinese characters was mission impossible to her.

    In fact, she had learned a few Chinese words since she had arrived in China. But she had learned them mechanically; she didn¡¯t have any formal, systemic teaching.

    ¡°You must beughing at me, aren¡¯t you? You absolutely are!¡± She pointed at his face in fury before Zhang Zian had even said anything. She was almost embarrassed to tears.

    ¡°I¡¯m notughing at you. It¡¯s normal to be illiterate. Nobody is born literate.¡± Zhang Zian shrugged. ¡°Otherwise, they¡¯d be a freak.¡±

    After hearing his words, Sihwa¡¯s mood calmed down a little.

    ¡°Well¡­ Is there anything you can do to make me literate?¡± she asked, lowering her head.

    ¡°Yes. Lend me your phone for a moment.¡± Zhang Zian took her phone and downloaded a few early childhood education apps from the app store. They were all basic-level, but entertaining word learning apps nheless; he started with Pinyin, which had real people¡¯s voices. The apps were already quite developed, and the functions wereplete.

    Hepared a few quickly, then left the most user-friendly one and deleted the rest.

    ¡°Here you are. Follow this. You¡¯ll learn them soon.¡± He gave the phone back to her.

    ¡°Wow! So childish!¡± Sheined as soon as she saw the interface for young kids. ¡°Are there any long-legged Oppas or big-boobed girls teaching the lessons?¡±

    ¡°Save it. I¡¯d love to learn if these teachings existed!¡± Zhang Zian took up her book and flipped through it. The book from Old Time Tea was not suitable.

    He returned the book to Pi, then found a few fairy tale books with pictures from his childhood book collection. Each character was marked with a Pinyin illustration.

    ¡°After you learn Pinyin, you can read these books. Just learn the words while reading the stories.¡± He piled the books on the bathroom closet. ¡°Oh, right¨C¨Cbooks are not waterproof. Dry your hands before you read them. These are books from my childhood. Most of them can¡¯t even be found these days.¡±

    ¡°Books from your childhood?¡± Sihwa seemed skeptical. ¡°Could there be¡­ Any dirty content in them?¡±

    ¡°These are all fairy tales, okay?¡± Zhang Zian said with frustration. ¡°What kind of person do you think I am? These are the books I read at the age of five or six. What kind of dirty content can there be?¡±

    ¡°Fairy tale books? I¡¯m not interested¡­ too childish.¡± She shook her hands. ¡°Let¡¯s get something dirty!¡±

    Did this fish get contaminated by that bird? What was in her head all day?

    ¡°You are wrong. In fact, fairy tales are not necessarily childish,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°Even adults could interpret content differently sometimes.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean? I don¡¯t understand.¡± Sihwa grew slightly interested.

    Zhang Zian thought about it, then made an example she could understand. ¡°In fairy tales, you often read stories of Cindere meeting the prince¡­¡±

    ¡°I know this! It happens a lot in Korean dramas, too!¡± Sihwa suddenly turned excited, as if she finally found someone with the same interests as her.

    ¡°Yes, right. That¡¯s why people often call Korean dramas ¡®fairy tales for adults.''¡± Zhang Zian suddenly changed his tone. ¡°But have you ever given thought to the fact that, in the end of fairy tales and Korean dramas, the story stops where Cindere marries the prince?¡±

    She nodded in agreement.

    ¡°What about the story after?¡± Zhang Zian continued to ask.

    ¡°What story after? It¡¯s over!¡± She didn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°I mean, two people frompletely different worlds¡­ Are they really happy after marriage? The prince and Cindere hadpletely different educations, family backgrounds, and growing experiences. After marrying the prince, Cindere must have faced a truckload of royal rtives. Did they really respect and ept her? Did love really defeat all the challenges? Even if it did for a while, what happens after the passion dies out?¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s series of questions made Sihwa astonished.

    ¡°The boring, everyday life of the world after marriage is never mentioned in fairy tales, nor in Korean dramas. They always end with the line that Cindere and the prince lived happily ever after. Although they didn¡¯t mention this, you can try to imagine, then tell your audience about your thoughts in the live broadcast. Isn¡¯t this great?¡±

    Sihwa was drawn in gradually. In the past, she had never used her brain to watch dramas. She eitherughed or cried as the story went along. She had never thought about the questions Zhang Zian had brought up.

    ¡°Would the audience like to hear this?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Of course,¡± Zhang Zian said in certainty. ¡°You can also try to make up sequels to fairy tales and tell everyone. You have such lovely voice. I¡¯m sure people will like it.¡±

    ¡°Really? I have lovely voice?¡± Her confidence was already shaken from one blow after another. She was no longer as arrogant as before.

    ¡°It¡¯s absolutely lovely. I¡¯m not joking. If you don¡¯t believe me, ask the other elfins,¡± he said, suddenly feeling that his words might have been too mean in the past.

    ¡°Oh¡­ okay. But don¡¯t lie to me¡­¡± she mumbled gently as she picked up the fairy tale books.

    ¡°What are these?¡± She browsed through the covers one by one.

    ¡°They are all ssic fairy tales written by great writers all over the world, such as fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen, Aesop¡¯s Fables, One Thousand and One Nights, Zhang Yuanjie¡¯s Fairy Tale Collection, etc. They¡¯llst quite a while,¡± Zhang Zian said, introducing them one by one.

    ¡°Oh.¡± Her eyes glided through the colorful and entertaining covers. She saw a prince with a sword on a white horse, a grey wolf wearing a pajama hat, a little girl with a match stick in a snowy night, a tin man with big belly, a little duckling staring at the sky, a fox with a broken tail, an ugly toad, a mouse driving a tank¡­ She also saw a little mermaid sitting on a rock, overlooking the sea.

    For some reason, the figure seemed so lonely.

    Under an unrecognizable impulse, she opened up one of the books, even though she didn¡¯t know a single character in it.

    ¡°I can¡¯t read it¡­¡± she said in disappointment.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. You¡¯ll understand it once you learn the characters.¡± Zhang Zian encouraged her. ¡°Be patient! These fairy tales may seem childish, but in fact, you can find non-childish stuff in it. As long as you read them with your whole heart, you¡¯ll surely discover something different¡­ Then, you can share your thoughts boldly with your broadcast audience.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Let me try.¡± Sihwa looked at the fairy tale covers again. She was more eager to learn now than ever before.

    She wanted to be able to read the fairy tales. She wanted to do what Zhang Zian described¨C¨Cto write sequels for the finished fairy tales. She was the only one who could do it, and who was qualified to do it.

    She picked up her phone and entered the child education app, imitating the mouth and sound movements against the image on the screen.

    ¡°A¡­ A¡­ Bo¡­ Bo¡­ Ci¡­ Ci¡­ De¡­ De¡­¡± she read off while peeping at Zhang Zian¡¯s facial expressions; she wanted to confirm that he was notughing at her. She then continued reading boldly.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. You can read loudly. Raise your head and straighten your back. Read every word boldly,¡± Zhang Zian encouraged her.

    ¡°A¡­ A¡­ Bo¡­ Bo¡­ Ci¡­ Ci¡­ De¡­ De¡­¡± she read even louder, like a baby learning to talk.

 Chapter 851: Box

    <h4>Chapter 851: Box</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian stood next to Sihwa and listened for a while. He saw that she was slowlying out from being shy and immersing herself in the study of Pinyin, and he was worried that standing there would distract her. He quietly went out of the bathroom and shut the bathroom door on the way out.

    ¡°Pi, I¡¯m sorry. She¡¯s studying inside there, and it¡¯ll disturb you, right?¡± Zian apologetically asked Pi.

    ¡°Zhi zhi.¡± Pi smiled and pointed to the keyboard, meaning to say that it doesn¡¯t matter. If anything, the sound of its typing would affect her.

    Zhang Zian stood behind Pi and watched it work on its novel for a while, then asked if it had encountered any problems in its recent writing process. After getting an answer that everything was all right, he was relieved and went back downstairs.

    When Zian came down to the first floor and walked past Old Time Tea, Old Time Tea¡¯s eyes moved from the television screen, and it looked upstairs as if it was enjoying something. It then said, ¡°So good to hear the sound of people reciting again. Hope that she¡¯s able to persevere.¡±

    Old Time Tea then pointed at the television screen for Zian to look.

    The local news was being broadcasted on the television. The anchorwoman smiled and said, ¡°Everyone knows that there¡¯s a celebrity in the city. The dog he trained has won the title of the best actor in the Berlin Film Festival¡ªbut did you know? He¡¯s also a good, young man who supports charity and is passionate about public welfare. Please see the detailed report below.¡±

    The scene on the television changed.

    What appeared next was actually the picture of when Eddie Lewis came to the pet shop, and in the lower right corner of the screen, there was a ¡°Global Entertainment¡± watermark. If one just listened to the name, it sounded like some heavyweight mediapany.

    Under the introduction of the voice-over, the female journalist who made things difficult for Zhang Zian under the im of a suspected donation fraud became a journalist who seemed to have received some exclusive news and went down to witness the arrival of the Matthew Davis Cancer Research Foundation. They didn¡¯t mention anything about her questioning Zhang Zian before that. The video clip was well edited, and if Zhang Zian himself wasn¡¯t present in the scene, he would have believed that she was a good,passionate journalist with keen instinct.

    In the video, Eddie Lewis talked about the process of Zhang Zian making the donation under an impersonation, and the female journalist was moved to tears. It was obviously retaken afterward, but after the editing, it looked as if she was crying at the scene.

    Zhang Zian watched and shook his head again and again. The media journalists were really able to do whatever they wanted. The female journalist had finally concocted the big news she had wanted; she would most likely be famous after this.

    However, she did at least show the sign of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, so Zian would just pretend that he had done an advertisement.

    After the end of the interview, the scene returned back to the studio.

    The anchorwoman smiled and said, ¡°When you read this news, do you feel excited? Do you want to know more about this new celebrity in the city and his best actor dog? Tonight, this station will bring you the exclusive special report from Journalist Liu Ying, titled: ¡®Decisive Battle of Berlin: Zhang Zian and Famous¡¯s Road to the Best Actor¡¯! In the program, there will be behind the scenes from Dog Warrior fully presented in front of you, and everyone is wee to watch it! In other news, there have been constant sightings of whales off the shore of the city. Experts from the capital havee over to the city to investigate the situation of these whales¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was about to point out that his photo on the cover was not handsome enough, but Famous looked really cool when he saw a car parked on the side of the road outside of the pet shop.

    The engine was not turned off, the window was down, and Sun Xiaomeng waved her hands to call him over.

    Old Time Tea continued to watch the news. Zhang Zian hurried out of the shop.

    ¡°What is it?¡± Zian passed on all the formalities and asked her immediately.

    Sun Xiaomeng handed him a box.

    ¡°What¡¯s this? A present for me? Is today a special day?¡± Zhang Zian asked. ¡°We¡¯re already so close, you don¡¯t have to be like this¡­¡±

    ¡°Continue dreaming!¡± She rolled her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s the ashes of that cat. I just brought it back from the pet burial service provider.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Only then did Zhang Zian know what was going on.

    The box in his hand was unexpectedly light. No matter how big or heavy it was when it was still alive, it was unbelievably light after it was turned into ashes.

    It was not his first time holding ashes in his arms. Because it was only a cremation grade worth 200 bucks, the urn that came along with it was not of a high grade. It felt cheap, just like a gray-ck stic box.

    Sun Xiaomeng did not say anything more. She just handed over a piece of paper rted to the cremation certificate.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know the cat owner¡¯s home, so I can only bring it to you,¡± she said. ¡°You can call the cat owner and ask her toe and pick it up.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°Okay, thank you.¡±

    ¡°I still have something to do, so I¡¯ll take my leave.¡± She waved her hand and drove away without rolling up her window. After all, it was already spring.

    It was not Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s first time euthanizing a pet, nor was it the first time she brought back the ashes. If possible, she didn¡¯t want to face the sad eyes of the pet owner.

    Zhang Zian returned to the pet shop with the urn. Wang Qian came up and stared at the urn curiously. He asked, ¡°Master, what nice food is this?¡±

    ¡°Food? This is the ashes of Liu Wenying¡¯s cat,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Wang Qian stuck out his tongue and quickly slipped back to work.

    ¡°Hmph. Would have been better off bing a mummy,¡± Fina opened her eyes a little and muttered to herself before it shut its eyes and continued its nap.

    Zhang Zian did not continue the conversation with it. He first tried to contact Liu Wenying over WeChat, but after sending a few messages, there was no reply. So he instructed, ¡°Xiao Yun, help me find Liu Wenying¡¯s contact number.¡±

    Lu Yiyun essed the customer¡¯s folder on herputer and recited out Liu Wenying¡¯s contact number.

    Just then, Li Kun rushed in from the aquarium next door. He said: ¡°Master! There¡¯s a customer who¡¯s interested in the fish that Welder Zhao had reserved. He¡¯s nning on buying it. Are we still keeping it for Welder Zhao? It¡¯s already been a few days, and he hasn¡¯te to collect it yet¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was at a loss for what to do.

    Indeed, the opening of the aquarium was a few days ago. Welder Zhao had mentioned that he¡¯d be back in just a few days to say whether or not he was going to buy them, but he hadn¡¯t been back yet.

    Such customers were not umon. In fact, Zhang Zian had already waited for a few days, which was already more than necessary. There was no need to keep it and dy his business any longer.

    He also had Welder Zhao¡¯s WeChat, so he sent a message to inquire, but strangely, just like Liu Wenying, Welder Zhao did not respond either.

    Liu Wenying lost her loved cat and was facing the potential threat of rabies. So it was understandable if she did not reply, but what about Welder Zhao?

    After giving it some thought, he changed his ns and said, ¡°Xiao Yun, find me the address for both Liu Wenying and Welder Zhao. Since there¡¯s nothing going on now, I¡¯ll head over personally.¡±

    Lu Yiyun found the two addresses and sent it to Zian¡¯s phone.

 Chapter 852: The Most Wanted Cat

    <h4>Chapter 852: The Most Wanted Cat</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Liu Wenying and Welder Zhao lived in the Dongcheng District, not far from the pet shop. Now that Zhang Zian had a car, it wouldn¡¯t take long to make a trip to see them.

    ¡°Master, what about the customer in the aquarium?¡± Li Kun asked.

    ¡°Exin the situation to them and ask him to wait another day. If Welder Zhao doesn¡¯t take it, let¡¯s deliver it to the customer¡¯s door tomorrow at the discounted price,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Li Kun nodded and returned next door.

    Zhang Zian instructed Lu Yiyun and others, then got in the car with the urn. He headed to Liu Wenying¡¯s residential area first. It was inappropriate to visit him with an urn.

    Before he drove away, he sent a WeChat message to Zhao Qi, telling her that he was about to deliver the cat¡¯s ashes to Liu Wenying. He also asked how Liu Wenying was doingtely.

    It was a working hour, but Zhao Qi replied quickly, saying there was no sign of disease after a few days¡¯ rest. Liu Wenying¡¯s mood was getting better, but to be safe, little Yue Yue was sent to her grandma¡¯s ce for a few days. Besides, the event was kept a secret to Liu Wenying¡¯s rtives¨C¨Cgossip could really hurt people. Many people freaked out at the mention of infectious diseases, especially a very deadly one.

    Zhao Qi didn¡¯t know anything further. She had been working a lot recently, so she could not visit her at night. She could only greet her online, but she was sure that Liu Wenying had been staying at home. Zhang Zian should be able to find her as long as he visited.

    After receiving the news, Zhang Zian was relieved. His biggest concern was finding the house empty after making the trip.

    He started the engine, then drove towards the residential area of Liu Wenying and Zhao Qi.

    Rush hour had passed. There were not many pedestrians or cars on the street. The traffic was light, so he arrived at the residential area soon.

    It was a residential area that was built around ten years ago, so it was neither new nor old. There didn¡¯t seem to be underground parking area in the building, so all cars were parked outside. The security was not as tight as new residential areas.

    Zhang Zian had never been there before. He slowed down the car and searched for Liu Wenying¡¯s building ording to the numbers, while he tried to avoid pedestrians.

    Most of his focus was on the buildings. He passed by one of the pedestrians. After taking a nce in the rearview mirror, he realized the silhouette was Liu Wenying¡¯s.

    Zhang Zian stopped the car immediately, then rolled down the window and asked behind him, ¡°Wenying?¡±

    The person stopped and looked back. It was Liu Wenying herself.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s Zhang. What are you doing here?¡± Liu Wenying seemed to be a bit lost. She only recognized him after staring at his face for a few seconds. She smiled reluctantly.

    Liu Wenying seemed very tired. Her hair was messy and she looked as if she had aged a few years.

    Zhang Zian thought she was heading out for groceries, but then noticed it didn¡¯t seem to be so. Nobody would go to the grocery store with a steel bat in their hands¡­ It was as if she was about to rob the supermarket.

    ¡°Big Sister Wenying, are you going for¡­ baseball?¡± he asked hesitantly.

    ¡°Baseball?¡± She paused as she heard it, then followed his eyes to the bat in her hand. ¡°No, I don¡¯t know how to y baseball. This is the bat my husband keeps in his car to protect himself¡­ You never know what might happen outside. Keeping a bat in the car is useful to protect yourself, and the police won¡¯t mistake it as a dangerous weapon.¡±

    Zhang Zian had sensed that her mood was indeed unstable, and her eyes had lost focus. She didn¡¯t answer questions when she was asked, which made him worried about her.

    ¡°Big Sister Wenying, do you have anyone else at home? Let me send you back,¡± he said.

    ¡°No. I have other things to do.¡± She shook her head firmly, then nced around and held the baseball bat tighter. ¡°I¡¯ll find that stray cat that scratched Fluffy and I¡¯ll kill it so that it will stop harming more lives!¡±

    Ever since the first day that Zhang Zian had met Liu Wenying, he knew that she was a very kind, gentle, and maturedy. While she uttered the words, however, her eyes were filled with a rarely seen anger. Her gnawing teeth made her cheeks look skinny and mean and her eyes sparkled with hatred.

    As soon as he saw the bat he had kind of guessed her intentions, but the confirmation uttered from her mouth still made him astonished. Apparently, the Siamese cat¡¯s death was too much of a shock to her. The fact that she almost got rabies and lost her entire family was too terrifying. In the end, she vented all her anger on that stray cat that scratched the Siamese cat.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know how to make her feel better. As he was feeling puzzled, someone spoke behind him, ¡°Big Sister Wenying? Who is this guy? Do you know him?¡± Their tone was a little rough and unfriendly.

    As Zhang Zian looked back, he saw a strong man about as old as him, around 1.9 meters tall, and weighing about 95 kilograms. It was still cold, but he was wearing a short sleeve t-shirt and a blue denim shirt hung casually on his shoulder. The tight t-shirt brought out the perfect curves of his abdomen.

    He nced at Zhang Zian, whom he had never met, with a skeptical face.

    Liu Wenying hurried to introduce them. ¡°This is my friend; he came over to visit me. A Hui, how¡¯s everything on your end?¡±

    A Hui was still cautious about Zhang Zian. He answered, ¡°We¡¯ve looked everywhere, but didn¡¯t find the mad cat.¡±

    ¡°Oh. Just go home then. It¡¯s almost lunch time,¡± Liu Wenying said.

    Although A Hui didn¡¯t seem to be fond of him, Zhang Zian interrupted them and asked, ¡°Are you looking for a mad cat?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ What? You have a problem with it?¡± A Hui¡¯s tone was very hostile. He was a tall and strong man, very chivalrous and generous. Many knew him in the area.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m just asking.¡± Zhang Zian came to deliver the ashes and was not to looking for trouble. He smiled. ¡°I¡¯m very curious. What kind of mad cat are you looking for?¡±

    A Hui stared at him. ¡°Since you are Big Sister Wenying¡¯s friend, haven¡¯t you heard about her tragedytely? A mad cat carrying rabid scratched her cat. Then her cat died of rabies.¡±

    ¡°I know this. But¡­¡± Zhang Zian was interrupted before he could finish.

    A Hui said indignantly, ¡°A mad cat carrying rabies is loose in this residential area, and it scratches whoever it encounters. How is this eptable? There are many elderly people walking in this area, and a lot of parents ying with young kids. If the mad cat can scratch a pet cat, then it can hurt the elderly and the kids, too! The adults are stronger, so they can get a rabies shot. But the elderly and the kids are weak. How can they bear a rabies shot?¡±

    Liu Wenying sighed.

    The day the incident happened, Snowy happened to be live broadcasting in his shop. 70 percent of Snowy¡¯s fans were Binhai City locals. Bad news always traveled much faster than the good news. Soon, everybody knew about it. There was no way to hide it. Everybody knew there was a rabid, stray cat lurking in this area, and everyone panicked.

    Nobody knew if the stray cat was dead or not. Nobody knew if it had passed on rabies to more stray cats before it died.

    Some old men¨C¨Cor in fact, many old men¨C¨Cwere very uneducated. There were many reports of the elderly forcing people to remove mobile base stations in their residential area simply because they were afraid of radiation. As a result, nobody could use cellphones in their residential areas.

    If they could do that to invisible radiation, how could they not do something about a rabid cat in the residential area?

    The elderly had their own ways ofmunication. After a brief discussion, they acted together with very high efficiency. At first, they called the city Dog Hunters, but they had told them they were only responsible to exterminate dogs, not cats.

    Then, a few aggressive old men took the lead and organized the avable young men to search for stray cats in the area. As soon as they found one, they killed one. One should never underestimate the old men¡¯s ability to do big things. They had a lot of money and time. Plus, nobody wanted to get into trouble with them. They knew how to make good use of their age to rip off young people. Old men could be very scary if they got serious.

    Zhang Zian could not stop himself from asking, ¡°Do you know which stray cat has rabies? Besides, not all rabid cats are aggressive¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, and I don¡¯t need to know!¡± A Hui said in contempt. ¡°We¡¯ll just kill every one that we meet. Do you have a problem? If a mad cat hurts the elderly and the kids in the neighborhood, would you take responsibility?¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. He wasn¡¯t able to take such responsibility¨C¨Cnobody was.

    For a sick cat that might not be alive, they made a simple and savage decision of killing every single stray cat in the neighborhood.

    It was better to kill a thousand wrong ones than miss the right one.

    Education would not work to them. They didn¡¯t believe in the truth, nor did they care about the truth. They only wanted to solve a problem with the simplest solution. Thew was useless to them.

    Most residents in that area were nice people and thought their n was a bad idea, but they chose to remain silent. It was impossible for them to speak out for the truth. Life was exhausting enough; nobody wanted an extra portion of trouble.

    Not to mention that many people didn¡¯t like pets at all. Cats and dogs more no different from bugs in their eyes, and their lives didn¡¯t mean anything.

    ¡°Don¡¯t kill anyone¡¯s pet cat¡­¡± Liu Wenying said, sighing. ¡°Some pet cats are naughty and often sneak out of the house. Don¡¯t mistake a pet cat as a stray cat¡­¡±

    ¡°Big Sister Wenying, stop worrying about this! Just take good care of yourself! I suggest that you stop wandering outside with a bat. As far as I can see, you couldn¡¯t bear to harm a stray cat even if you saw one. Just let us do it!¡± A Hui said, tapping his belly.

    Liu Wenying bowed her head in sadness. The aggression that she faked against her true nature suddenly disappeared. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll go home then. Thank you.¡±

    She seemed troubled and lost, and was about to head home. She suddenly realized that Zhang Zian was still there. She had not yet asked what he was there for.

    ¡°Oh right, Zhang, I¡¯m so confused. You are here today for¡­?¡±

    Zhang Zian took out the urn from the car. ¡°This is your cat¡¯s ashes. I¡¯m here to bring it to you.¡±

 Chapter 853: Handover

    <h4>Chapter 853: Handover</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Liu Wenying stared at the urn, and the bat fell to the ground with a ng as tears swirled in her eyes.

    A Hui hurriedly asked, ¡°Big Sister Wenying, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m okay¡­¡± Liu Wenying wiped the corner of her eyes and said with a forced smile, ¡°Xiao Zhang, I¡¯m really sorry to have youe all the way here¡­ You¡¯re already busy enough taking care of the two stores. You could¡¯ve just given me a call or sent me a message, and I would have gone down myself. Why did you have to send it in person¡­?¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°I sent you a message, but you didn¡¯t reply. Since I was passing by the neighborhood, it was just on the way.¡±

    ¡°Right, I haven¡¯t returned the money to you yet¡­¡± Liu Wenying subconsciously touched her pocket. ¡°Ah, I forgot to bring my phone out¡­ I¡¯m sorry for bothering you.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, don¡¯t worry about that. It was just on the way¡­ You don¡¯t look too well, why don¡¯t I send you back home?¡± Zhang Zian observed.

    ¡°Cough, okay then. I live in the unit just beside us.¡± Liu Wenying raised her hand and pointed.

    Zhang Zian picked up the bat from the ground and turned back to smile at A Hui. He followed Liu Wenying into the corridor and took the elevator.

    Liu Wenying opened the door with her key and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t know that there would be guestsing, so the house is very messy. I¡¯m sorry for that¡­ pleasee in.¡±

    Zhang Zian replied with a few words of pleasantries and followed her into the house. He then leaned the bat against the wall by the door.

    In fact, the house was not messy at all. Some of Yue Yue¡¯s toys were scattered on the ground and had not been cleaned up, but all families with children were basically all like that. Even if they were cleaned up, they would soon be thrown around again, so it didn¡¯t make a difference.

    Aside from that, everything was well organized and it was clear that she was a diligent housewife.

    ¡°Take a seat anywhere. I don¡¯t have much to offer you, but let me make you a cup of tea¡­¡± Liu Wenying hurried into the kitchen.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, there¡¯s no need to trouble you. I¡¯ll be leaving after a while,¡± Zhang Zian said, but she still insisted on making the tea.

    No one else was at home, but looking at the toys on the ground, he could almost see Yue Yue ying in the house.

    Zhang Zian noticed the cat food bowl, water bowl, litter tray, and cat nest still ced in the corner. Liu Wenying seemed to have not epted the fact that her cat had died.

    Liu Wenying came out with a tray and tea. On the tray was a bag of children¡¯s snacks. She said with an apology, ¡°There¡¯s nothing prepared in the house¡­ We don¡¯t even have fruit. Please drink some water and have some snacks instead.¡±

    Her eyes nced over at the urn in Zhang Zian¡¯s hands as she spoke. When she saw it, her face looked even worse.

    Zhang Zian solemnly handed the urn and cremation documents to her.

    Her fingers trembled slightly as she held the urn in her arms like how she used to hold her cat. She stared at it nkly.

    Zhang Zian silently took the tea and had a sip after blowing away the floating tea leaves.

    Momentster, Liu Wenying slowly opened the urn.

    There weren¡¯t many ashes in the urn, only a thinyer¨C¨Ccat¡¯s bones were not that big.

    Something in the ashes shimmered.

    She gently brushed the ashes at the surface with her fingers, revealing a thin cor with the metal namete that shimmered with a faint glow.

    After she saw the cor and the namete, she finally couldn¡¯t hold it in anymore. She held the namete tightly in her hands and cried while hugging the urn. Her tears fell like rain.

    In his heart, Zhang Zian sympathized with Sun Xiaomeng. She must have seen too many of such scenes.

    Zian did notfort Liu Wenying, because she really needed the chance to cry and vent her inner sorrow. She would definitely break if she kept it all in.

    Aside from venting her emotions, Liu Wenying also needed to use the chance to recognize the fact that her cat was dead. One needed to look forward in life and not remain immersed in past memories.

    When the tea became warm, she gradually stopped crying.

    Zhang Zian handed the tissue box on the table to her.

    ¡°Thank you¡­¡± she sniffed and said, ¡°I¡¯ve made a fool out of myself in front of you¡­ crying like a kid at such an age¡­¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about? Anyone who loses a pet feels sad, too.¡± Zhang Zian saw that she had calmed down, so he got up and said his goodbyes. ¡°Please get a good rest. I¡¯ll be off.¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute, let me return your money to you. Thank you for helping me pay.¡± Liu Wenying ced the urn on the table and fumbled around for her phone to transfer the money to Zhang Zian.

    After the transaction waspleted, Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Does Yue Yue know about the cat¡¯s death?¡±

    ¡°Not yet.¡± She sighed and shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to break the news to her yet¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d suggest that you get another pet to raise, be it a cat or a dog. Of course, this is not a sales promotion¨C¨Cyou don¡¯t have to buy the pet from my shop¨C¨Cbut¡­ only raising a new pet can wash off the sadness from losing a pet,¡± Zhang Zian seriously suggested.

    Liu Wenying looked at the pet supplies in the corner and said, ¡°I¡¯ve actually thought about it¡­ But when I think of raising a pet, I remember that it will still die. Whether through an ident or old age, I¡­ I really can¡¯t stand it¡­¡±

    The Siamese cat had be a member of her family and losing it had a simr pain to losing a family member. She was worried that she could no longer bear such a pain again.

    Zhang Zian nodded and expressed that he understood. Such a choice was also verymon¨C¨Cno longer raising pets in order to avoid suffering from the pain again.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll take my leave. Have a good rest and lock the door.¡±

    ¡°Be careful on the road.¡±

    Liu Wenying wanted to send him down, but returned to the house after Zian¡¯s repeated persuasion.

    There was no trace of A Hui downstairs. He might¡¯ve gone home for lunch, or maybe out to continue his search for the stray cats.

    Zhang Zian started the car and carefully drove out of the estate.

    In themunity, there were old people walking with crutches, some young parents pushing a stroller, and there were also children chasing one another.

    If he also lived in thatmunity, he would probably not dare to oppose the decision of the old people to exterminate the stray cats, because no one could afford the responsibility of being infected by stray cats.

    With the intensification of the cat abuse incident, and now the stray cats, it was hard to not think of the Holy Cat statue again. He was afraid that everything happening would help with the recovery of the Holy Cat statue.

    Zian could only hope that, as time went by, the incident would calm down. After all, people were good at forgetting.

    Thinking of the series of cat abuse incidents, Zian thought of Sheng Ke and felt a little strange. Thest time he saw him, he had asked if he had received any alerts on cat abuse incidents¡­ Why had Sheng Ke not gotten back to him yet?

    He had dealt with Sheng Ke many times and was aware that Sheng Ke was a very passionate person. If one required his help in normal circumstances, he would get back to you very quickly. What was going on this time? Was it because of some sudden case that caused a dy? That seemed usible.

    Zhang Zian decided to put the matter aside for now. He took a look at the address on his phone and drove to Welder Zhao¡¯s ce.

 Chapter 854: Resident Evil

    <h4>Chapter 854: Resident Evil</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Dongcheng District was an old town, with many factories and government residential buildings from the olden days. The factories and government branches had either gone bankrupt or had closed. Only the residential buildings were left as part of the past.

    Zhang Zian had been there once with Welder Zhao and Electrician Wu when the bobbit worm incident happened. The trip was easy. He had easily found the entrance to the residential building.

    He wasing on a work day, and a working hour.

    Normally, except unemployed people such as Zhang Zian, only retired people and insurance brokers were wandering in the streets.

    Yet, he was astonished when he saw the residential building entrance. Many people gathered inside and out of the entrance. From a distance, all one saw was a sea of heads. Had it been an FPS game, one could shoot a few heads with your eyes closed.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t think there was anything wrong at first. Maybe it was a wedding or a funeral. It was not a lucky day ording to the fortune tellers¡¯ calendar, but a funeral might not need to take that into consideration. Or maybe some hical vendors were there to sell natural health products and rip off the elderly and were disguised as people offering free medical exams.

    Beep! He honked the horn.

    The crowd gathering around the entrance looked back towards him, then moved aside reluctantly to let him pass.

    Zhang Zian was not an excellent driver. He tried a few times, but he could not pass through at all. He parked the car outside the building, shouted ¡°excuse me,¡± and squeezed into the crowd on foot.

    The further he walked, the more crowded it became. He became more and more convinced that something was wrong, since the crowd was too massive. It was as if every single person in the residential area had been poured out of their homes. What happened to make so many people circle around to watch? Had the old factory owner passed away? Yet people¡¯s faces didn¡¯t seem sad, but frightened. They discussed in small groups, pointing deeper inside from time to time.

    And¡­ judging from where they were pointing, it seemed to be Welder Zhao and Electrician Wu¡¯s building.

    Of course, maybe he was thinking too much.

    He had vaguely captured some keywords in his ears, such as ¡°police,¡±¡±horrifying,¡±¡±bad luck,¡±¡±family extinction,¡±¡±trouble,¡± etc.

    Was there a homicide?

    As he moved further forward and took a turn, the road was fully blocked by police cars. Arge group of police officers were standing behind the yellow cordon with serious faces. Many policemen were maintaining the order, asking the nearby civilians to leave the scene.

    Of course, many curious people stayed at the scene, filming with their phones from a distance.

    Apparently, the police didn¡¯t want people to see what was going on, but they couldn¡¯t stop them; the building had a lot of residents. He lifted his head and nced around. There was a curious face and a phone in every single window in every single building. There were even professional cameras and video recorders.

    Zhang Zian stood where he was and didn¡¯t know what to do. The ce with the most police happened to be the building he was heading to¨C¨Cthe building where Welder Zhao lived.

    Luckily, most police wereing in and out in a different unit¡¯s door, not Welder Zhao¡¯s unit.

    Many people were weeping at the scene, as if they were family members of the ¡°victims.¡± The police were trying tofort them.

    One child was crying super loudly. Zhang Zian moved his feet to switch angles. He suddenly discovered that the wailing, chubby child was, in fact, Welder Zhao¡¯s grandson. He had inherited Welder Zhao¡¯s loud voice.

    What happened?

    Did something happen to Welder Zhao?

    Zhang Zian gasped in terror. No wonder Welder Zhao said he coulde back to the aquarium to buy fish, but had never showed up¡­

    Beside the chubby kid, a few adults cuddled him and wept. They must have been Welder Zhao¡¯s family members.

    The crowd sighed and whispered, exchanging all sorts of horrific guesses.

    Everybody wanted to find out what on earth had happened that had caused half of Binhai City¡¯s police officers to be drawn to the normally quiet residences.

    Homicide?

    Hostages?

    Kidnap and ckmailing?

    None of themonly seen violent cases seemed to qualify.

    When a group of special forces walked out of the unit door with professional gas masks, oxygen tanks, and tool boxes, the civilians in the crowd all panicked. Everybody seemed frightened and stepped back. Many people ran away without being told to do so by the police.

    Some parents were watching with their kids. As soon as they saw what came out of the apartment, they carried the kids in their arms and ran home, afraid that their kids might be exposed to some horrible virus.

    Many people squeezed out of the crowd without hesitating, and then drove away in cars.

    Curiosity was important, but not as important as life¡­ Everybody knew that a wise person would not stand next to a falling wall.

    Clearly, something big had happened!

    An event that had brought in the Biochemical Specialist Police Unit¡­ Could it be a terrorist attack that seemed to be far away from the Chinese?

    The Hollywood movies seemed to be pouring into everyone¡¯s minds at that moment.

    It was cool to watch the actions in the movie for an adrenaline rush, but entering the movie to be a nameless victim was not cool at all¡­

    As the crowd left, Zhang Zian suddenly had much more free space around him. Only a few brave people stayed around to watch.

    After the Biochemical Specialist Police Unit came out, they debriefed a middle-aged man in a police uniform waiting outside.

    The man was in his fifties and had a serious look on his face. He was radiating an invisible authority of a man in high power.

    Next to the middle-aged man, Zhang Zian saw Sheng Ke. He was asking the specialist unit questions with anxiety.

    Although Zhang Zian was too far away to hear anything, it seemed that the specialist unit didn¡¯t bring any good news. As Sheng Ke and the middle-aged man looked at each other, their facial muscles twitched ceaselessly, as if they had encountered great trouble and were unable to make such important decisions.

    ¡°Keep away! Keep away!¡±

    A sharp breaking sound rang out, followed by quick and rhythmic footsteps. Zhang Zian looked back and saw two familiar men and two familiar dogs!

    Xiao Liu and Xiao Wang came out of a police car at the entrance with serious faces, along with Red Dragon and Prince. They ran into the scene with other police and police dogs to report to the middle-aged man.

    While they passed by Zhang Zian, Xiao Liu, Xiao Wang, Red Dragon, and Prince all discovered him. Out of strict disciplines on duty, however, they only looked at him without speaking.

    The well-trained police dogs didn¡¯t bark a single time from the beginning until the end.

    Zhang Zian knew what to do and stayed silent. He was not in the position to speak to them for greeting, either.

    Sheng Kemanded the police dog unit to stay for further instructions. The police dogs sat down in a row. The Biochemical Specialist Police Unit gave each police officer a gas mask.

    The dog unit police held the gas masks and oxygen tanks, while staring straight forward. They nced at the unit door where the Biochemical Specialist Police Unit wasing in and out of, unable to hide a hint of concern in their eyes.

    Zhang Zian had roughly figured out that, as soon as the middle-aged manmanded, the police dog unit would break into that unit and search for suspicious objects with the dogs.

    Judging from the Biochemical Specialist Police Unit¡¯s response, it might be a suicide mission for the police dogs.

    ¡°Oh crap! Why did I lose cellphone signal?¡±

    ¡°Me too. I¡¯m editing my WeChat moments, but can¡¯t send it out after editing¡­¡±

    ¡°My phone signal is gone. My call was cut in the middle, and can¡¯t dial out anymore. How about you?¡±

    ¡°Me too¡­¡±

    ¡°Aw man, I¡¯m live broadcast! The fans are pouring in! Who the hell cut it off for me?¡±

    The bystanders lifted their phones to search for the faded signal, as if someone hadmanded them to do so.

    Zhang Zian also took out the phone to check. The signal bar was gone.

    As he had expected, to avoid the rumor from spreading and causing arge-scale panic within Binhai citizens, the police had used special equipment to block cell phone signals in the area, or they had shut down the mobile base station in the neighborhood. They might have cut off the inte connection as well.

    Such measures could only buy them a very short period time, as someone would soon reach an unblocked area to upload photos and videos.

    ¡°Hey, what¡­ What is this? What¡¯s the police doing here?¡±

    After hearing a familiar voice behind him, Zhang Zian looked back again.

    Electrician Wu wore his morning exercise outfit, carrying a supermarket stic bag in his hand that was filled with fresh vegetables. He looked at the familiar, but strange, residential area at loss.

    He went outside for his morning exercise very early, and didn¡¯t head home right away after he finished exercising. Instead, he headed to the supermarket for groceries, and spent a lot of time there after meeting a friend. He returned to residential area almost around noon. At first, he thought his wife would surely give him crap. On the way back, he had been thinking what kind of harmless lies he could make up. Yet, after a few hours of absence, something shocking had happened in the residential area!

    ¡°Wu, something happened in your building!¡± someone told him. ¡°Go check it out now!¡±

    Electrician Wu¡¯s face turned pale as soon as he heard. The stic bag fell on the ground and fruits and vegetables were everywhere.

    ¡°Let me in! Don¡¯t stop me! Let me in! My family is still inside! My little grandson is still inside!¡± He ran inside fanatically, trying to cross over the yellow cordon.

    A young policeman stopped him. ¡°Sir! Sir! Please calm down! This area is quarantined. Please don¡¯t interfere with the police work!¡±

    ¡°My family is still inside! Let me in!¡± Electrician Wu was desperate. He was determined to rush into the yellow cordon, regardless of police or arms in front of him.

    Electrician Wu made such a noise that the middle-aged man and Sheng Ke heard him. They frowned and saw Electrician Wu. At the same time, Sheng Ke saw Zhang Zian. A strange look crept on his face.

 Chapter 855: Immature Deduction

    <h4>Chapter 855: Immature Deduction</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian felt very awkward after he was seen by Sheng Ke. He seemed to be in the wrong ce at the wrong time. Wasn¡¯ting here at that time causing trouble to the police uncles?

    He wanted tofort Electrician Wu and take his leave, but right at that moment, he heard a crying voice, ¡°Grandpa! We¡¯re here!¡±

    Electrician Wu¡¯s grandson and other family members pushed the crowd aside and rushed over, crying as they hugged Electrician Wu.

    He was relieved after he saw that his family members were all safe; he was almost scared to death.

    From his family members, Electrician Wu learned that, just a few hours ago, the police suddenly knocked on their door and ordered the whole family to leave the house and go downstairs. They didn¡¯t even have the time to take their valuables, such as bank books and jewelry.

    It was not only their home, but the neighbors next door and the neighbors of the upper and lower floors were also all squeezed into the corridor and forcefully sent downstairs. Everyone did not understand what was happening; they all thought that it was an earthquake.

    Once they made it downstairs, they were dumbfounded when they saw the rows of police cars and ambnces. It was something only seen in Hollywood blockbusters.

    Immediately afterward, someone was carried downstairs on a stretcher, and the medical staffs who was carrying the stretcher all wore gas masks. Even the person on the stretcher wore an oxygen mask; his face was blue and he kept trying to rip the shirt off his chest. He seemed to have difficulty breathing.

    One of those that was carried downstairs was Welder Zhao.

    Welder Zhao¡¯s family was all right; nothing had happened even after a series of inspection¨C¨Conly Welder Zhao himself was sent on the ambnce.

    The ambnce rushed to the emergency center at its fastest speed.

    Later, more and more police officers came to the scene, and even the scary looking Biochemical Specialist Police Unit arrived at the scene and swarmed into the block beside.

    Electrician Wu felt fortunate that his family members were all safe. At the same time, he was very worried about the safety of Welder Zhao. He traced the fingers of his little grandson, and the unit beside them was the unit where Carpenter Wang lived. Of course, there are many other households in this block, not just Carpenter Wang.

    Electrician Wu frowned.

    The night before, Carpenter Wang had ns to restart the ecosystem in his aquarium tank and to remove the fish that he was not fond of. Being cheap, Welder Zhao had wanted to get several fish from Carpenter Wang¨C¨Cthose that Carpenter Wang had eliminated out from his tank¨C¨Cso he had run over to watch Carpenter Wang restart his tank and invited Electrician Wu toe along.

    Electrician Wu was not so thick skinned. He had his own retirement money. So if he wanted any fish, he would buy them himself. He didn¡¯t want to do anything like picking up rubbish, and it was better to sit on the sofa and watch some anti-Japanese drama. So, he turned down Welder Zhao¡¯s invitation.

    Welder Zhao went there himself and spent an hour or two at Carpenter Wang¡¯s home before returning. He got a few good fish, just as he had hoped for, then he took some pictures and sent them to Electrician Wu to unt his harvest.

    Electrician Wu ignored him and went to bed.

    At that time, everything was still all right; there were no abnormalities and no signs of anything.

    Early the next morning, Electrician Wu got up and went for his early morning exercise.

    Welder Zhao did not have the habit of going for morning exercises, so Electrician Wu took it that he was still asleep.

    After Electrician Wu¡¯s morning exercise, he returned with some groceries, only to see that the housing facility had been turned upside down.

    Looking at the Biochemical Specialist Police Unit going in and out of the block, Electrician Wu started wondering: Could it be that the matter is rted to Carpenter Wang? Otherwise, it¡¯s too much of a coincidence, right?

    Impossible!

    Definitely impossible!

    Electrician Wu shook his head and denied his own thoughts.

    Although he was not familiar with Carpenter Wang, Carpenter Wang was just amon person that one could find anywhere, and he had lived most of his life ordinarily. How could he be involved in such a big thing¡­? Electrician Wu refused to believe so!

    ¡°Master Wu, are you okay?¡±

    Electrician Wu was lost in his own thoughts when he heard someone calling out to him from behind.

    ¡°Aiya, Xiao Zhang? Why are you here?¡±

    Electrician Wu was really surprised to see Zhang Zian. After a momentary nk, he introduced Zian to his family members before pulling him to the side.

    Zhang Zian could only exin, ¡°Didn¡¯t Master Zhao reserve a few fishes in my store and have yet to pay for it? There are other customers who want to buy those fish, but I can¡¯t seem to contact him. Since I had business around the neighborhood, I decided to visit him on the way and ask about the fish¡­ Who knew I would run into such a big thing.¡±

    ¡°Cough!¡± Electrician Wu sighed. ¡°Zhao¡­ I think you can just forget about it and sell those fish to someone else. Even if Zhao is able to survive this incident, I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll have time to care about those few fish anymore¡­¡±

    ¡°What? Something really happened to Master Zhao?¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s spection was affirmed¨C¨Che had guessed so when he saw Welder Zhao¡¯s grandson crying.

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Electrician Wu told Zhang Zian everything that he had heard from his family members. He told Zian that Welder Zhao was sent to the hospital by an ambnce, and his current situation was unknown.

    Zhang Zian was deeply affected by the news. The cheap Welder Zhao, who had a loud and clear voice¡­ It seemed like it was only yesterday that he was bargaining loudly in his shop, and now, in the blink of an eye, he was lying in the hospital. How things change!

    ¡°Xiao Zhang, that¡­ I have an immature thought, can you listen to it?¡± Electrician Wu asked nervously.

    ¡°What is it? Please go ahead.¡±

    Electrician Wu had pulled Zhang Zian aside just to tell him about his own guess. The guess was really unbelievable, so he was afraid that he¡¯d beughed at by the others when they heard about it.

    Although Electrician Wu had been denying the possibility in his heart. He constantly felt flustered and wanted to find someone to share it with¨Cpared to his family members, Zhang Zian was obviously more suitable.

    Electrician Wu let out a few coughs. ¡°Xiao Zhang, I¡¯m just guessing and you can treat it as an old man¡¯s nonsense¡­ Don¡¯tugh at me¡­ So it¡¯s like this¡­¡±

    Electrician Wu talked about Welder Zhao going to Carpenter Wang¡¯s house to watch him restart his tank, and then added in his own doubts¡ªwas there a possible connection between the two matters?

    After he listened to what Electrician Wu said, Zhang Zian was quiet for a moment.

    ¡°What about it? I might¡¯ve thought too much, right?¡± Electrician Wu carefully observed Zian¡¯s facial expressions.

    Zhang Zian slowly shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not too sure at the moment, but we can¡¯t eliminate it as a possibility¡­¡±

    Zian also thought of something, but currently, the information was too little and the matter was very serious. Any misjudgment on his part would easily cause irreversible damage to the life and property of others, so he could only be extra cautious.

    Aside from that, even if he had some suspicions, his words had no weight to them, so there was nothing he could do.

    ¡°Is that so? Do you think so, too?¡±

    No matter what, Electrician Wu was already very happy that Zhang Zian had listened to him and was thinking seriously about what he had said.

    ¡°Shop Manager Zhang, what a coincidence! It¡¯s really a small world!¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s thoughts were interrupted. He raised his head and saw Sheng Ke standing right in front of him.

 Chapter 856: Suspicion

    <h4>Chapter 856: Suspicion</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As the uniformed Sheng Ke suddenly came to talk, Electrician Wu was startled, thinking the police were looking for him. He was soon relieved, however, to find that Sheng Ke wanted to talk to Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t expect to meet Sheng Ke under such circumstances. He thought that Sheng Ke¡¯s words were just a simple greeting, or carried deeper meanings. He smiled reluctantly and said, ¡°I happened to be here to visit a customer. What a coincidence¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh? Is that so¡­? Which building?¡± Sheng Ke asked.

    ¡°This one,¡± Zhang Zian answered honestly.

    ¡°This one? We evacuated all the residents in this building. I¡¯m afraid it¡¯ll be hard to find him.¡± Sheng Ke nced back at the bystanders. Most people had left, but still many had stayed.

    ¡°In fact¡­ The customer I was looking for was just sent to the hospital¡­¡± Zhang Zian spread his hands. ¡°It¡¯s a welder with the family name Zhao.¡±

    Sheng Ke was surprised and repeated, ¡°What a coincidence¡­¡±

    Among the thousands of residents, Zhang Zian happened to be looking for the poisoned victim. Out of a criminal police officer¡¯s instinct, Sheng Ke grew more and more suspicious.

    Many criminals would specifically visit the crime scene after the crime to admire their own criminal achievements and the crowd¡¯s response. If they were unlucky enough to meet an experienced policeman, they might be suspected for their suspicious act.

    Logically speaking, Sheng Ke didn¡¯t believe that Zhang Zian would risk his bright future tomit such a crime, but the incident was too big. As a criminal police officer, he could not let a single trace of suspicion go.

    He didn¡¯te over to chit chat with Zhang Zian, nor had he the time for it. He only felt it strange for Zhang Zian to be there, so he came over to question him. He indeed found some suspicion after he spoke with him.

    Zhang Zian empathized his back luck for being involved in such a sudden incident.

    He knew it was not convincing to call it a coincidence. But to him, it was a coincidence for real. Luckily, he had a witness right beside him. He pointed at Electrician Wu and said, ¡°This is Electrician Wu, Welder Zhao¡¯s friend. He can testify that Welder Zhao had ordered some fish in my aquarium, but never showed up to pay for and pick up the fish. I have another customer today who also wants those fish. As I couldn¡¯t reach Welder Zhao, I wanted to pay a visit and ask him face to face.¡±

    Electrician Wu nodded nervously after being watched by Sheng Ke¡¯s authoritative eyes. He stuttered, ¡°Yes¡­ It is¡­ Indeed so¡­¡±

    Sheng Ke was still suspicious, as the circumstances could be arranged if they had nned it. It could prove Zhang Zian¡¯s innocence.

    As a criminal police officer, he suspected everything out of his instinct.

    Zhang Zian added, ¡°Talking about suspicion, Electrician Wu just mentioned something that I find a bit suspicious.¡±

    ¡°Oh? What is it? Tell me about it.¡± Sheng Ke¡¯s spirit was boosted after hearing that. The higher officials had been imposing a lot of pressure, but the local police basically knew nothing about it to tell the ugly truth. He had to grasp at every single clue.

    At that hour, Electrician Wu turned hesitant. Gossiping to Zhang Zian was one thing, as he didn¡¯t need to take responsibility if he were wrong. But telling the story to the police was a different matter¡­ What if he was wrong and misled the police?

    As he saw his hesitation, Zhang Zian hurried him, ¡°Electrician Wu, this is an emergency, and human lives depend on it! Please retell the story to Captain Sheng. It might be useful. Even if you make a mistake, Captain Sheng won¡¯t me you for sure.¡±

    Whether he realized it or not, he was keeping Sheng Ke under control with such words.

    Sheng Ke smiled and agreed. ¡°Electrician Wu, please tell me everything you know honestly. I¡¯ll judge if it¡¯s true or false.¡±

    ¡°Okay, fine¡­¡± Electrician Wu felt reassured, and retold what he just said to Zhang Zian with more details. He shut his mouth after speaking, waiting for Sheng Ke¡¯s response anxiously.

    Sheng Ke gasped after hearing the story. He waved to summon a police officer next to him. ¡°Xiao Tian, bring me the notes.¡±

    The police ran over and brought him the notes.

    Sheng Ke read through the notes quickly, then stared at Electrician Wu and questioned, ¡°Mr. Wu, did you tell me the truth just now? Welder Zhao¡¯s families didn¡¯t mention this. They said Welder Zhao went outst night, but they didn¡¯t know where he went.

    Electrician Wu started panicking. ¡°Of course it¡¯s the truth! Zhao is such a cheap a**hole, bragging to his family that the fish were gifts from others. He never mentioned that he was the brazen one asking for the gifts!¡±

    ¡°You can verify this with Carpenter Wang¡¯s family?¡± Zhang Zian suggested.

    Sheng Ke shook his head slowly. ¡°Carpenter Wang and his family are all still in aa. They are not awake yet.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what to say.

    Part of Sheng Ke¡¯s suspicion was answered.

    After receiving the report and seeing the scene, the policeman found Carpenter Wang¡¯s whole family was deeply poisoned, yet the neighbors next door were all fine. Welder Zhao, who lived in the adjacent unit, showed simr poison symptoms, but less severe. Welder Zhao¡¯s family was fine. The weird circumstances had made the police extremely puzzled. They could only assume two sources of poison for now.

    If Electrician Wu was correct, Welder Zhao had gone to Carpenter Wang¡¯s ce the night before. Therefore, Welder Zhao¡¯s home could be excluded as the source. The police would focus on Carpenter Wang¡¯s house.

    As he thought about it, he said decisively, ¡°Follow me, both of you.¡± He lifted the cordon, hinting for them to follow him. His tone was firm and undeniable.

    Electrician and Zhang Zian looked at each other and followed him in obedience.

    Sheng Ke brought them to the middle-aged man, asking them to wait a moment. He then reported to the middle-aged man in low voices.

    Zhang Zian nodded and smiled at Xiao Liu and Xiao Wang. They both blinked back at him.

    After seeing an old acquaintance, Red Dragon and Prince seemed more excited.

    The middle-aged man felt overwhelmed. His eyes suddenly brightened after he heard the news, as if a window in his heart was pushed open.

    ¡°Captain Sheng, is this Electrician Wu?¡± The middle-aged man stared at Electrician Wu.

    ¡°Yes. This is Zhang Zian. I mentioned him twice.¡± Sheng Ke hinted the middle-aged man with eyes. ¡°It¡¯s the young man in the lost watch case of Yuanhua Mansion, and the poisoning case of the Dog Warrior production team¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡± Immediately, the middle-aged man started looking at Zhang Zian differently. Apparently, the two cases had won Zhang Zian a lot of favor among the police.

    Sheng Ke introduced to Zhang Zian and Electrician Wu. ¡°This is Bureau Chief Chen.¡±

    Zhang Zian figured the middle-aged man must have been someone important, but he was still surprised that the Chief of Binhai Police Office actually came to supervise on his own.

    ¡°Xiao Tian, take notes for Mr. Wu here,¡± Sheng Kemanded.

    Officer Xiao Tian took Electrician Wu to the side politely to inquire about the details.

    After Electrician Wu had left, Bureau Chief Chen stared at Zhang Zian and said, ¡°Please feel at home here. Let me call you Xiao Zhang. Xiao Zhang, what are your thoughts on this incident?¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at the Biochemical Specialist Police Uniting in and out of the unit door, then at the eager police dogs. He knew how big his responsibility was.

    ¡°Bureau Chief Chen, I have some thoughts, but not really mature. They are just wild guesses¡­ If possible, I¡¯d like more information,¡± he said with caution.

    Bureau Chief Chen thought about it and sighed. ¡°To tell you the truth, this incident has been reported to the provincial office. It¡¯s been defined as a major malicious poisoning case. Experts from provincial office are on their way here¡­ The funny thing is, we haven¡¯t yet found the source of poison, and we have no idea what caused the poisoning. If we can¡¯t locate the source before the experts arrive, then we will look very ugly indeed!¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart trembled. He was surprised how serious the police had considered the event.

    ¡°Captain Sheng, tell him what he doesn¡¯t know. Police and civilians should work together. Let¡¯s leave the bureaucracy aside for now.¡± Bureau Chief Chen hinted to Sheng Ke with eyes. Clearly, he was already desperate.

    ¡°Okay. Here is the situation.¡± Sheng Ke began to describe what was going on.

    Tobine the information from the fire department, hospital emergency room, and the police, the event happened as follows:

    Carpenter Wang¡¯s family was getting along with their neighbors very well.

    That morning, the neighbor woke up to buy breakfast for the whole family. He wanted to ask if he could bring breakfast to Carpenter Wang¡¯s family as well, so he knocked on Carpenter Wang¡¯s door.

    Older people were used to get up early. Usually by that time, Carpenter Wang would have already been awwake.

    However, the neighbors had knocked for a long time without hearing a response inside.

    The neighbor felt that it was weird. Could Carpenter Wang be sleepingte, or did he fall sick? He was healthy and energetic yesterday¡­ How could he be sick in bed overnight? Even if he was sick, his family should be up. His son needed to work.

    At that timest year, there was a natural gas poisoning incident in the same residential area. A whole family was poisoned.They were discovered toote, so none of them were saved, which caused such a tragedy.

    Ever since the incident, all retired residents had been more alert, making a deal to watch out for each other.

    It was an old neighborhood, and most residents were retired employees in the same factory. The neighbors were much closer than they were in new residential areas.

    The neighbor knocked on the door a few more times and put their ear on the door to listen, but there were no sound inside.

    He was worried that natural gas leaked again and poisoned Carpenter Wang¡¯s family. He tried to dial Carpenter Wang¡¯s cellphone. Surely enough, it was not appropriate. If there was indeed a natural gas leakage, then using cell phone could cause an explosion. But the phone call had saved the lives of Carpenter Wang¡¯s entire family.

    The neighbor heard the cell phone ringing from inside. The elderly had poor listening and barely muted their phone. The ringing was very loud. Otherwise, the neighbor might not hear it.

    To be safe, he dialed the cell number of Carpenter Wang¡¯s son. Again, it rang inside the door.

 Chapter 857: The Mysterious Poison Source

    <h4>Chapter 857: The Mysterious Poison Source</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Now that things hade so far, the warm-hearted neighbor felt that it might really be a case of natural gas leakage. He didn¡¯t dare treat the matter lightly, and he quickly dialed the numbers for the fire department and the emergency center.

    He also dialed the fire department because every household was secured with a heavy security door. If the fire department was not there to break down the door, the emergency personnel of the emergency center would not have been able to get in, and they¡¯d be wasting precious time¡ªsuch was the bloody lesson learned from the natural gas poisoning incident the year before.

    After receiving the call, the fire department and the emergency center acted quickly. They immediately dispatched their firetruck and ambnce. It didn¡¯t take long before they drove into the housing facility one after the other with their sirens on.

    The neighbor did not leave as nned to buy breakfast; instead, he waited by Carpenter Wang¡¯s door and sent his family downstairs for breakfast.

    The firefighters and emergency care personnel came upstairs with their tools and the neighbor briefly exined the situation to them.

    After listening to his exnation, in order to avoid more serious consequences caused by the explosion of natural gas, they immediately arranged the evacuation of the neighbors on the upper and lower floors. They then carefully removed the locks with their tools.

    The heavy security door was opened, but the strange thing was that the firefighters didn¡¯t smell the smell of natural gas. Natural gas itself was colorless and odorless, but in order to allow people to notice the gas leak sooner, the gaspany added in stinky gas to the natural gas.

    The firefighters did not smell any unpleasant smell, and the natural gas rm that was on them did not react, either.

    Carpenter Wang¡¯s family was all on the ground and there were several piles of vomit on the floor. Carpenter Wang¡¯s condition was the most severe. He was unconscious and had white foaming out from his mouth. His other family members still had consciousness, but they were unable to move their bodies.

    The firefighters then judged that it wasn¡¯t a gas leak, but that it was a bad case of food poisoning.

    As the emergency care personnel was also sent downstairs by the firefighters, the firefighters took turns going into the room and carried Carpenter Wang¡¯s family downstairs. They then helped the emergency care personnel and carried them into the ambnce.

    However, things did not end there. The firefighters immediately developed symptoms of chest tightness and shortness of breath. They were then taken to an ambnce, along with Carpenter Wang and his family.

    Before the ambnce had time to drive away, the emergency center received a second phone call, and the caller was also from the samemunity. It was from a different unit in the same building. It was Welder Zhao¡¯s family; they imed that Welder Zhao was suffering from shortness of breath and was unable to stand. They were afraid that it might have been a heart attack.

    The emergency care personnel was alerted and felt that the situation was serious. After taking protective measures, they rushed to Welder Zhao¡¯s home.

    At that time, Welder Zhao¡¯s consciousness was already in a blur, his body was weak, and his family was very anxious. However, the emergency care personnel not only carried Welder Zhao, but they also requested that his family members go downstairs for a physical examination.

    His family did not understand the situation and almost quarreled with the emergency care personnel, but after much persuasion, they reluctantly followed the emergency care personnel downstairs to undergo a physical examination, which turned out to be all normal.

    As for Welder Zhao, his symptoms were very simr to those of Carpenter Wang¡¯s family¨C¨Cthe severity was between Carpenter Wang¡¯s family and those of the firefighters.

    After receiving the news, the fire department and the emergency center judged that it was not a simple food poisoning incident¨C¨Cit might have been a case of arge-scale poisoning, or something even more serious.

    As a result, the fire department and the emergency center alerted the police.

    After the police were alerted, they rushed over with haste and cordoned off the scene. The seriousness of the issue had escted up another level.

    With the feedback from the emergency center, it was confirmed that Welder Zhao, Carpenter Wang with his family, and the firefighters were all suffering from the same kind of poison. The toxicity was extremely strong, but they were still waiting for the test results to show exactly what kind of poison it was¨C¨Cthough they could be certain that it was a rarely seen poison.

    Actually, it was quite obvious when one thought about it¨C¨Cthe firefighters had stayed in Carpenter Wang¡¯s home for only a few minutes and showed symptoms of poisoning. So how strong was this poison?

    The police urgently dispatched the Biochemical Specialist Police Unit to do all they could to find the source of the poison.

    Sheng Ke asked a police officer for an SLR camera and let Zhang Zian look at the LCD screen.

    Sheng Ke flipped through the photos one by one. The photos were taken by the Biochemical Specialist Police Unit and were shot at Carpenter Wang¡¯s home.

    Zhang Zian saw that Carpenter Wang¡¯s home was very messy, and there were piles of things everywhere¨C¨Cthere was almost no ce to step.

    Older people were often reluctant to throw away their unused, old objects, and as a result, more and more things umted in the home.

    Sheng Ke sighed. ¡°This house is too messy. We don¡¯t even know where the source of the poison is, and we can only search blindly. It¡¯s almost like searching for a needle in a haystack¡­¡±

    Because it was a densely popted area, and the toxicity of the unknown poison was extremely strong, the Specialist Police Unit did not dare to open the window for fear of it spreading to the nearby people.

    ¡°Hold on!¡± Zhang Zian suddenly shouted at Sheng Ke. ¡°Captain Sheng, please go back two pictures.¡±

    Sheng Ke was unsure about what Zian had noticed, but he did as was told.

    Bureau Chief Chen stood on the other side of Sheng Ke, attentively staring at the LCD screen of the SLR camera.

    Zhang Zian noticed that the photo captured a corner of the fish tank. The water in the fish tank was still clear, but a few small fish had floated up to the surface of the water with their bellies up¨C¨Cthey had been dead for some time.

    ¡°What is it? Xiao Zhang, what did you notice?¡± Bureau Chief Chen anxiously asked.

    Zhang Zian started wondering¡­ Could it be that the source of the poison is from the fish tank?

    He was unable to confirm it, however, because the poison is so strong. Just a few breaths could get someone poisoned, so it was obvious that it could get into the tank and kill the fish, too¨C¨Cbut it could not be proven that the poison source was from the fish tank.

    ¡°Bureau Chief Chen, Captain Sheng, is Welder Zhao able to speak now? If he can, I would like to ask him a few questions. Of course, it¡¯ll be better if Carpenter Wang himself is able to answer my question, but he¡¯s not conscious yet, is he?¡± Zian asked.

    Sheng Ke immediately got in touch with the police officers stationed at the emergency center with his walkie-talkie.

    ¡°Welder Zhao is already out of danger and is able to speak,¡± Sheng Ke replied and cast a look at Bureau Chief Chen for permission.

    Bureau Chief Chen lightly nodded his head. Sheng Ke then handed the walkie-talkie over to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Hello? Is this Master Zhao? This is Amazing Fate Pet Shop¡¯s Zhang Zian. I¡¯m currently assisting the police in trying to trace the source of the poison that is affecting you. Can you briefly exin what you did at Carpenter Wang¡¯s cest night?¡±

    Since it was an emergency, Zhang Zian skipped the formalities and expressed his identity and purpose of the call in only a few sentences.

    Welder Zhao¡¯s hoarse voice came from the walkie-talkie. He sounded weak, which was a big difference from his usual loud and energetic voice.

    ¡°That¡­ We didn¡¯t do anything¡­ Carpenter Wang just restarted his tank, got all the fish and prawns out, poured out the water, and did everything again. I only watched from the side. Who knew I would be so unlucky¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was waiting for that sentence. He needed to confirm that Carpenter Wang and Welder Zhao had restarted the tank.

    Restarting the tank meant setting up the fish tank¡¯s ecosystem all over again; it was a spring cleaning for the fish tank.

    Some residents in the tank might not have been too willing for that to happen.

 Chapter 858: The Eighth

    <h4>Chapter 858: The Eighth</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Welder Zhao was not a detail-oriented person, and he didn¡¯t provide much useful information. Heined repeatedly about how unlucky was. He was half delirious, and just repeated himself over and over.

    Zhang Zian used an excuse to end his conversation with Welder Zhao.

    To summarize the information avable until now, he suspected that a certain creature in the aquarium tank had caused the massive poisoning incident. He was only 20 to 30 percent sure, however, so he didn¡¯t know if he should speak up about it. If he was wrong, he didn¡¯t mind being despised, but it would waste their precious time.

    Sheng Ke saw that he was thinking about something and asked, ¡°Did you find anything?¡±

    ¡°Xiao Zhang, if you found anything, just speak directly. We can¡¯t let go of anything suspicious at this moment,¡± Bureau Chief Chen encouraged him.

    It was a sunny spring day in March¨C¨Cnot too cold or too hot¨C¨Cyet his forehead and Sheng Ke¡¯s were full of sweat.

    The regr police inquired residents nearby to see if there had been anyone suspicious showing up recently. They also pulled out the surveince recordings of the area. The Biochemical Specialist Police Unit wore thick protective gear and entered Carpenter Wang¡¯s residence in groups for a full search. The police and dogs kept the scene secure, waiting for orders at any time. If the Biochemical Specialist Police Unit failed to locate the source of poison, they might have to send the police dogs inside to search for suspicious objects.

    To make matters worse, the toxin that caused harm was not amon one. All sorts of test papers, reagents, and detectors that the Biochemical Specialist Police Unit brought in were fruitless.

    Bureau Chief Chen had been talking through a walkie-talkie. The pressure from higher offices had made him exhausted. Despite his troubled mind, he tried to look calm and gentle.

    Zhang Zian made a brave decision and told Bureau Chief Chen, ¡°Bureau Chief Chen, I suspect that there¡¯s something wrong with Carpenter Wang¡¯s aquarium tank.¡±

    Sheng Ke and Bureau Chief Chen¡¯s faces froze at the same time.

    ¡°Zhang Zian! You can¡¯t joke at this moment!¡± Sheng Ke told him seriously.

    Bureau Chief Chen paid more attention and asked him, ¡°Are you saying that someone slipped the poison into the fish tank?¡±

    ¡°No, not like that.¡± Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°The fish tank itself was the source of poison.¡±

    Sheng Ke and Bureau Chief Chen looked at each other, their eyes full of skepticism. Had Zhang Zian not helped the police in a few cases in the past, they would have ignored himpletely; they were not in the mood to listen to his nonsense.

    Zhang Zian knew that the general public didn¡¯t know much about aquatic creatures. Even an experienced aquarium owner might not understand it. His words sounded unimaginable to most people. But in fact, some marine creatures were indeed capable of causing such serious harm.

    The deep blue sea hid millions of strange creatures beyond human imagination.

    ¡°Are you saying that some fish in the tank is poisonous?¡± Bureau Chief Chen asked to confirm.

    ¡°It might be a fish, or something else. We won¡¯t know unless we see it with our own eyes. Otherwise, we can¡¯t be sure,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    It was hard to see it with one¡¯s own eyes, as the fish tank was full of water and very heavy. It was hard to carry it downstairs. Besides, if the fish tank was indeed the of source of the poison, then carrying it out without discretion might be dangerous.

    Bureau Chief Chen frowned and stared at Carpenter Wang¡¯s tightly shut windows, weighing the risks against the benefits in his mind.

    Sheng Ke and Zhang Zian were wise enough not to disturb him.

    ¡°How sure are you?¡± Bureau Chief Chen asked after a long time, his face serious.

    Zhang Zian stretched out three fingers. 30 percent was not a high chance, but it was worth betting for¨C¨Cespecially under such clueless circumstances.

    Bureau Chief Chen stayed silent for a moment, then waved his hand and said, ¡°Prepare a gas mask and protective gear for him.¡±

    ¡°Bureau Chief Chen, this¡­¡± Sheng Ke wanted to challenge him. Involving an unexperienced civilian was too dangerous.

    ¡°Xiao Zhang, would you like to go inside and try? Of course, it¡¯s kind of dangerous,¡± Bureau Chief Chen said, confirming with Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian looked at the police dogs standing by. If he refused, they might have to send the police dogs in, which were far less tolerant than humans. Once they went in, they might nevere out.

    ¡°All right, I¡¯ll do it.¡± He nodded in agreement.

    Sheng Ke saw that he insisted on going in, so he sighed and stopped objecting.

    The Biochemical Specialist Police Unit brought a full set of protective gear over. They put on protective clothing, a gas mask, and an oxygen tank on him, then exined to him the rules for safety. They also warned him not to run around in the house after he entered.

    The weather was cool, but after wearing the thick, protective clothing, his entire body seemed to be covered in a cocoon. It was so hot and humid, and his joints were greatly limited. Unable to look back, he had to turn around if needed. Sounds were muffled and unclear.

    The special police checked the air pressure for him to make sure it was not leaking. They then gestured him for follow them into the building unit.

    Zhang Zian walked forward slowly, then turned his body back to look at Bureau Chief Chen and Sheng Ke. He waved at them, his eyes expectant and uneasy.

    There were no elevators in the old residential building. Each step was exhausting. All he heard was his breath and a slight sizzling of high-pressure gas being released slowly from the oxygen tank.

    When they reached the third floor, where Carpenter Wang lived, Zhang Zian was already sweating. Sweat dripped from his cheeks and stuck on his eyebrows. His face was so itchy, but he couldn¡¯t scratch it, which made it itch even more.

    He forced himself to focus on Carpenter Wang¡¯s apartment.

    There were a lot of shiny pieces of equipment at the door. The Biochemical Specialist Police Unit was busy analyzing and moving things. They were surprised to see Zhang Zian¡¯s strange face, and they asked through the microphone, ¡°Who is this? Expert from the provincial office?¡±

    ¡°No, he¡¯s not police. He is¡­ someone Bureau Chief Chen sent for help,¡± the person that brought Zhang Zian upstairs exined.

    ¡°For help?¡± The specialist lead¡¯s tone was full of doubt. But since Bureau Chief Chen sent him, he couldn¡¯t say anything further. Maybe Zian person had something special in him. ¡°What do you suggest?¡±

    Zhang Zian saw the fish tank in the living room corner right away.

    In fact, judging from the location of the fish tank, Carpenter Wang was much more experienced than Welder Zhao and Electrician Wu. The corner was shaded and away from direct sunlight all day. A bright metal-halidemp was ced 30 centimeters above the tank, with LED lights next to it to bnce the light spectrum. The entire tank relied on artificial lights.

    ¡°I¡¯ll check out the fish tank.¡± He pointed at the fish tank and said, ¡°I think the source of poison is in the tank.¡±

    ¡°In the tank? We¡¯ve examined the tank. There¡¯s nothing unusual.¡± The specialist lead shook his head.

    As the toxin was rare and unknown,mon test papers, reagents, and detectors were not working. The Biochemical Specialist Police Unit had to consider all possibilities, including potential radioactive substances hidden somewhere indoors.

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s invisible,¡± Zhang Zian said. As nobody was objecting, he moved his steps slowly towards the fish tank.

    The water was clear in the tank, and everything was visible. A few dead fish floated on the surface. Beautiful corals attached themselves to the live rocks. The tank was presentable in both aquascaping and coral maintenance.

    Usually, fish and corals should not be put together immediately after restarting a tank. Maybe Carpenter Wang felt sick when he was only half done. He gave Welder Zhao a few random fish to send him away.

    The specialist lead didn¡¯t want him to get out of his watch, since he didn¡¯t know if he would touch something dangerous. He followed him and asked, ¡°Do you think these fish are problematic? Even if the fish are toxic, they should not poison themselves, should they?¡±

    Clearly, apart from the fish, there was nothing else that could move in the fish tank. Besides, ording tomon sense, no fish could be that toxic.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Come, help me out. Scoop some of the water out of the fish tank, then take out all of these rocks. Be careful! The tank water may be highly toxic. Don¡¯t dump it into the sewer!¡±

    As everyone was wearing heavy protective gear, and the tank was massive, it was very hard to remove the rocks without scooping the water out.

    The specialists were not very willing to follow the civilian¡¯s instructions. They agreed to help reluctantly after they asked Bureau Chief Chen. They used every single container they could find in the apartment and scooped out about half of the water.

    Then, the rocks were taken out one after another and ced on a waterproof canvas.

    Zhang Zian started examining the corals attached to each live rock they took out. All the corals weremon species, however, so they could not be the culprit.

    The photographer specialist took photos of the rocks attentively, while someone else took care of the filming.

    The fish tank was empty. Apart from the sand stirred up on the bottom, there was nothing else.

    Everybody stared at Zhang Zian, as if to ask, ¡°What now? We told you there was nothing unusual in the fish tank.¡±

    Zhang Zian fixated his eyes on thest live rock. There were some brown and negligible umbre corals attached to it. They had radiating stripes on top, and a circle of gently wriggling tentacles growing evenly on the umbre¡¯s edge.

    As the tank was ced next to the wall, the live rock on which the brown corals were attached to was leaning on the wall. They could be ignored easily, as they were not visible from the front.

    He was almost certain that Carpenter Wang didn¡¯t realize the brown corals were growing in his tank, as they were very ugly. Nobody would be willing to buy them.

    Zhang Zian could not guess whether Carpenter Wang had seen the hidden coralsst night while he restarted his tank, or if he tried to get rid of them or not. Anyway, they got very upset.

    He was relieved, then pointed at the brown corals and said, ¡°Here they are¨C¨Cthe source of poison you are looking for.¡±

    Commonly, creatures with brighter colors were more likely to be dangerous. Creaturescking vibrant colors were more likely to be safe.

    ¡°What are these? Corals?¡± the specialists asked skeptically. ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded and said, ¡°These are Palythoa corals. Don¡¯t look down upon them. They can release a toxin called Palytoxin, ranking them number eight on the world¡¯s most toxic substance list. The top seven toxins include Botulinum toxin, radioactive Plutonium-210, Diphtheria toxin, and so forth. 21 milligrams of Palytoxin is enough to kill an adult weighing 70 kilograms to 21 milligrams! The unit is not grams, but milligram, or 0.000021 grams.¡±

    Then he pointed at the very bright metal-halidemp that radiated high heat above the tank. ¡°These corals sensed danger, and they released their toxin into the water. It killed the other creatures in the tank first, then the toxic saltwater evaporated into the air under the metal-halidemp. Carpenter Wang family inhaled it, then Welder Zhao and the other firemen. This caused the poisoning.¡±

    In the most toxic creatures list often seen online, Palythoa corals were never included. But the Palytoxin they released was dozens of times more toxic than the notorious blue-ringed octopus and cone snail. Plus, there was no cure. Inhaling a trace amount would lead to acute poisoning.

    In fact, Palytoxin poisoning incidents had happened before in aquarium owners. The dangerous corals usually slipped into the tank by attaching themselves to live rocks, and grew they up slowly. If they sensed danger, they would release the toxin.

    If Carpenter Wang didn¡¯t use a metal-halidemp, the salt water would evaporate more slowly, and the poisoning would be less severe. Themps were too hot, much like a small burning sun.

    The biochemical specialists were very experienced in handling dangerous substances, but it was their first time hearing about such horrifying corals. They were too shocked to speak.

    ¡°Reporting to Bureau Chief Chen! The source has been located. It¡¯s¡­¡± The team lead reported to Bureau Chief Chen via walkie-talkie. He nced at Zhang Zian and said, ¡°It¡¯s the corals in the fish tank.¡±

    ¡°What? Repeat!¡± Bureau Chief Chen could not believe his ears, thinking he made a mistake. After all the fuss, the culprit turned out to be corals?

    ¡°Not amon type of coral, but a very toxic type, called Palythoa corals.¡± The team lead exined the best he could.

    Bureau Chief Chen was both astonished and greatly relieved. The source of poison was located, no matter what. They could now send the experts from the provincial office home. At the same time, the nature of the incident had changed radically.

    He continued to ask, ¡°Is there a possibility of intentional poisoning?¡±

    The team lead was unable to answer his question. He hinted to Zhang Zian to answer it.

    ¡°Reporting to Bureau Chief Chen. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s intentional,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°It most likely came from the live rocks that Carpenter Wang bought.¡±

    ¡°Live rocks? Where did he buy the live rocks?¡± Bureau Chief Chen gave a serious order, ¡°Find out where he bought the live rocks, then search that shop. How can anyone trade such dangerous creatures?¡±

    Zhang Zian felt sorry in his heart. It seemed that the aquarium that sold Carpenter Wang the live rocks was in big trouble. They might not be able to run their shop anymore after being nvolved in such a big incident.

    ¡°Bureau Chief Chen, please instruct how to dispose of these corals,¡± the team lead requested.

    Bureau Chief Chen thought for a while and said, ¡°Seal them up and bring them to the office first. Be careful.¡±

    The specialists sealed up and preserved the live rocks and the corals with great care.

    Zhang Zian was free now. He walked downstairs by himself, then took off the gas mask at the unit door, letting his sweaty face dry in the breeze.

    ¡°Xiao Zhang, this is really impressive!¡± Sheng Ke walked up in excitement.

    ¡°I¡¯m d the mission is aplished,¡± Zhang Zian said, smiling.

 Chapter 859: Disinfection

    <h4>Chapter 859: Disinfection</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sheng Ke wanted to say something to Zhang Zian, but the two of them were immediately separated by the Biochemical Specialist Police Unit who were waiting at the door. The mask that Zhang Zian had notpletely taken off was also put back on.

    ¡°Follow us to carry out the decontamination treatment.¡± The specialist police pulled Zhang Zian into an intable tent that was set up at the side of the door.

    The tent was square-shaped and had translucent tarpaulins on all sides¨C¨Cone side was zippered. It was more like a simple shower room than a tent.

    After Zhang Zian was shoved inside the tent, and before he could even stand still, a disinfectant with foam was sprayed out from the shower head above him. There was a specialist police officer at the side who sprayed water at him using a high-pressure nozzle. After he was done with one side, he turned and sprayed the other side. He only stopped after the surface of the protective suit waspletely sprayed. Lastly, he was rinsed with water and the decontamination process was finallypleted.

    Not only he, but all the other biochemical specialist police officers who came down after him went through the decontamination treatment. Only after the treatment could they remove the heavy and stuffy protective clothing.

    If it was amon poison, they may not require such a formal decontamination process, but when they heard that only 21 micrograms of Palytoxin were needed to poison an adult, the biochemical specialist police officers didn¡¯t dare to treat it lightly¨C¨Cbeing careful was the only way to survive.

    Actually, although the Palytoxin was powerful, it had already been dissolved in water, and it was not a powdery poison. So, it was reasonable to say that there should not be a problem after washing one¡¯s gloves clean. But the shower was just a preventive measure.

    The biochemical specialist police officers who leftst were carrying a tightly sealed box with all the live stones in Carpenter Wang¡¯s house loaded inside. They grabbed all of them to avoid any being missed.

    As for Carpenter Wang¡¯s house, there was a need to go through a disinfection process before anyone could live inside.

    After he was done with all the little things, Zhang Zian was finally able to breathe the refreshing air again.

    The other police officers were busy with their own affairs, and Bureau Chief Chen was making phone calls one after another. When he saw Zhang Zianing out, he pressed his hand against the receiver and said, ¡°Xiao Zhang, don¡¯t leave yet! We need you for an interviewter. I¡¯m currently on the line with the TV station. We must rify this matter immediately before malicious rumors start to spread around the whole city.¡±

    Bureau Chief Chen didn¡¯t sound like he was going to take no for an answer. It¡¯s probably because the videos and photos taken by the nearby residents had started to surface on the inte, and they had to be dealt with as soon as possible before they caused unnecessary chaos.

    Zhang Zian was not in a hurry to do anything, so he just stood by and watched.

    The police car carrying the live rocks drove off with the siren on, and the other police officers began to remove the perimeter cordon. However, the unit where Carpenter Wang lived in was still cordoned off.

    When Xiao Liu and Xiao Wang received the notification to stand down, they both let out a sigh of relief and nced at Zhang Zian with gratitude. It wasn¡¯t convenient for them toe over and say hello, so they just nodded before they led Red Dragon, Prince, and the other police dogs back into their police vehicle.

    After Sheng Ke was done with his work, he walked over while massaging his old waist. He smiled and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that this major case was actually because of a few inconspicuous corals. When we heard the news, we were really surprised! Fortunately we have you here, or else we would have made a big fool out of ourselves. We¡¯ll definitely beughed at by the other stations in the bordering cities¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian shrugged and said, ¡°Actually, there¡¯s no problem with your response. A simr incident happened recently in the UK, and at that time, the British police were more nervous than you¨C¨Cthey cordoned off a whole block.¡±

    ¡°Was it also because of that poison?¡± Sheng Ke asked.

    Zhang Zian nodded.

    ¡°That¡¯s d*mn ridiculous! Before today, if you were to tell me that corals could poison people, I never would have believed you! But¡­ sh*t! I guess this group of corals can poison about a hundred people, right? It¡¯s no different from a weapon of mass destruction!¡± Sheng Ke vented his tension and anxiety through the use of many vulgar words.

    ¡°Actually, it¡¯s not so much. It¡¯s only in theory that you can poison a person with 21 micrograms. ording to the LD50 value, they had used a purified version of the toxin. The Palytoxin is not as pure, of course, but it¡¯s still very dangerous,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    ¡°All these aquatic hobbyists¡­ they really don¡¯t want their lives! They can just y with anything! There¡¯s also that blue-ringed octopus that some people raise¡­¡± Sheng Ke shook his head and sighed.

    Zhang Zian smiled and didn¡¯t say much; it was too much trouble to try to exin it to an amateur. The corals apparently snuck their way into Carpenter Wang¡¯s fish tank, instead of being raised deliberately. But because of the bad impression left by some of the aquatic hobbyists who loved to pursue peculiar salt-water creatures, they were treated with partiality.

    However, there was one sentence that was correct¡ªgood riders fall off their horses, divers drown in water, good drinkers get drunk on alcohol, and good warriors perish through battles; it is always the experienced ones that failed.

    The technical requirements for polyculture of fish and coral were very high. Ordinary saltwater fish yers would not be able to handle it. Carpenter Wang¡¯s fish and his coral tank had already proved that he was a highly qualified, experienced hobbyist, but yet he was the one who messed up. It could only show that he was too confident and negligent.

    Marine creatures had always had a beautiful and dangerous existence¨C¨Cany kind of negligence and overconfidence could teach one how to start over as a human being. Now, Zian could only hope that Carpenter Wang would get better as soon as possible and learn from his incident.

    Sheng Ke was still going on when he suddenly pped his own head and said, ¡°Right, I almost forgot¡ªyou had asked me before about the recent reports on cat abuse. I¡¯ve already gone to the 110 rm center to inquire, but there have been so many things going on that I forgot to tell you about it¡­ I¡¯m getting old and my memory is no longer as good. If I didn¡¯t see you, I might have even forgotten it!¡±

    ¡°It has nothing to do with your memories! You just have too many things to do,¡± Zhang Zianforted him and continued to listen.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have tofort me.¡± Sheng Ke waved his hand and said, ¡°ording to the feedback from the rm center, there have always been alerts on cat abuse incidents. But recently, there¡¯s been an increase in cat abuse incidents by at least an estimated 50 percent in thest one or two months¨C¨Cmaybe even more¡­ This is because cat abuse is not illegal, and it¡¯s also not under our control. Unless the caller insists on it, we would not even dispatch our officers. Even if we do attend to the case, we can only persuade and educate them. Most times, the cat abusers would have already run away, and we have no reason to use police resources to track them down¡­¡±

    Sheng Ke exined very clearly, and Zhang Zian had expected as much. From the police point of view, because there was really no illegal behavior, and even if the police were interested in taking charge, there was no valid reason that would allow them to. So they could only invest the limited police resources in more needed ces.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Sheng Ke observed that Zian didn¡¯t look too good. He patted his shoulder andforted him, ¡°I know that you¡¯re selling cats, so it¡¯s definitely hard to see people abuse them. These days, I have understood the situation, and it requires legition on the government level to resolve the problem. You can¡¯t do anything by yourself, so don¡¯t be too upset.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded, but actually, Sheng Ke only knew one reason and not the other.

 Chapter 860: Pronunciation Issues

    <h4>Chapter 860: Pronunciation Issues</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Mater, you¡¯ve been on TV over and over again recently. I bet you¡¯ll get famous!¡±

    ¡°Nonsense! Master is already famous!¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun said, full of envy.

    In the early morning, the local news was on the television. The background was the residential area where Carpenter Wang lived. Zhang Zian was interviewed seriously in front of the camera as an expert. He described the toxicity of Palytoxin, asking all aquarium owners to be very cautious when buying marine creatures. The best practice was to buy them from official stores in order to prevent simr incidents.

    Next, Sheng Ke was interviewed.

    The news took a long time to recap the incident, then showed a close-up picture of Palythoa corals. They warned all aquarium owners in the city that if anyone found simr corals at home, they should call the police immediately and not handle them on their own.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were right: Zhang Zian had been on the local news a lottely, sometimes even in the provincial news. He was almost a local celebrity.

    ¡°Don¡¯t just watch the stories!¡± Zhang Zian stared at them. ¡°The live rocks we bought from the aquarium market may have these corals attached to them, too. Be careful, the two of you. If a simr incident happens to us, we¡¯ll have to close the shop for good!¡±

    He was not exaggerating, nor was he threatening them. In fact, the aquarium that Carpenter Wang often visited was suspended indefinitely. Nobody knew if they could ever reopen. After such an unexpected event, that aquarium owner might have to head to his hometown and get married there.

    They heard that Carpenter Wang¡¯s family was out of danger and gradually recovering. Carpenter Wang¡¯s condition was the most serious. His hands had been inside the water, so his arms were covered in rashes. He still needed to stay in hospital for observation.

    As soon as Welder Zhao got better, he could not wait to be checked out of the hospital. The doctors wanted him to stay for a few more days for observation, but he insisted on being released, iming that he was too unlucky. He didn¡¯t want to spend so much money on being hospitalized because of a few fish. It was definitely not worth it¡­

    Electrician Wu thought that Welder Zhao deserved what happened to him, so he didn¡¯t bother to visit him. Moreover, he asked other retired employees not to visit him. Even if they did visit, they should not bring gifts. He would only learn after paying a price¡­

    As the rumors were busted in time by solid proof, the incident didn¡¯t cause any aftermath on the inte. It died out soon. Only the retired people in that residential area had something new to talk about at tea time.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun made faces, but didn¡¯t dare to talk back.

    Jiang Feifei was drawn to the story. She felt that ever since she had started working part-time in Zhang Zian¡¯s aquarium, she had learned a lot of new knowledge that she didn¡¯t know in the past. The work shifts were not boring at all.

    They chatted while they did their routine cleaning, preparing for the new business day.

    Zhang Zian returned to the second floor. He headed to his parents¡¯ room first to check out if the marine creatures were growing well.

    The corals seemed normal, especially the ¡°Ugly Duckling Coral¡± that he named by himself. As it grew bigger, it turned brighter and brighter under the blue light. The blue rings on the red bottom was a rarebination, making it as pretty as the most beautiful corals.

    He estimated that, in a few days, he could try to cut them, dividing them into twos, fours, eighths, and so forth¡­ Soon, he would have a flock of Ugly Duckling Corals.

    Corals might sprout or divide even if they were left alone, forming a coral bed from one single coral. Artificial cutting, however, could help them propagate faster.

    Before making the real cut, it was wise to practice on cheap corals.

    The sea angels, Antarctic sea anemone, and sea butterflies were all growing very well. The sea angel¡¯s abdomen was already visibly erged. He was sure that it was pregnant. A school of little sea angels would be born soon.

    He checked the instruments once again. The high-end instruments had automatic alerts that detected abnormalities, but being careful was always good.

    After finishing his tasks, he took the saltwater samples and headed back to the living room for the daily water quality test.

    Pi was still typing and wearing its sses. It paused from time to time to refer to the Nameless Book.

    ¡°Hey! A-jeoan! Are you outside? If you are, squeak!¡± Sihwa shouted from the bathroom.

    ¡°Squeak, ¡± Zhang Zian answered herzily, lifting his head from the microscope.

    ¡°Hey! You actually squeaked. Aren¡¯t you afraid all cats downstairs wille up to catch the mice? Ahahaha!¡± Sihwaughed hard, feeling good about herself.

    ¡°Most cats in this shop don¡¯t catch mice. Some don¡¯t bother, and some just can¡¯t,¡± Zhang Zian answered from a distance. ¡°They might know how to catch fish, though.¡±

    Sihwa said, ¡°¡­Come in here. I have a question.¡±

    Zhang Zian put down his work temporarily and walked into the bathroom.

    She lifted the phone so that he could see the words on the screen. ¡°How do you pronounce this?¡±

    Zhang Zian saw that the all of the sybles had confused her. She could not figure out why sybles like yuan, yue, and ying must be read directly, instead of pronouncing them as y-u-an, y-ue, and y-ing.

    ¡°Because this is a rule. There is no why.¡± He gave a crude and simple answer. ¡°Don¡¯t mind these minute details¨C¨Cjust remember them.¡±

    Sihwa learned very quickly, as she was not a baby and had been immersed in a Mandarin-speaking environment. She encountered difficulties only once in a while.

    ¡°Then why is there an apostrophe in Xi¡¯an?¡± she asked again.

    ¡°Without the apostrophe, you¡¯d pronounce it as Xian.¡± Zhang Zian pointed at himself and said, ¡°And my name is actually Zi an. It¡¯s okay to omit the space in between, but in English, it may be mispronounced.¡±

    ¡°Pfff. Chinese is so hard!¡± Sihwa was a bit discouraged.

    ¡°Quack! How about changing your change into Billy Zhang? I guarantee it will not be misunderstood!¡± Richard showed up at the right time and started quacking.

    ¡°No! This one will be misunderstood!¡± Zhang Zianined. ¡°Why did you fly up here again? You can¡¯t hold your bird droppings?¡±

    ¡°Quack! You look down upon me! I¡¯m telling you. When you are away, I¡¯m the one teaching her Pinyin!¡± Richard shouted.

    Zhang Zian was quite surprised to hear that He looked at Sihwa and asked, ¡°Is this true?¡±

    Sihwa nodded. ¡°Yes! It¡¯s true! Richard¡¯s pronunciation is very good. Much more urate than yours!¡±

    Zhang Zian spoke Mandarin, but he still carried a slight local ent, especially when he spoke with customers.

    Despite that, he was even less reassured. He was concerned that Richard might teach her dirty and gay things, which were inappropriate.

    ¡°Quack! Oh, right. I¡¯m up here for something. Someone¡¯s looking for you downstairs. You¡¯d better go down,¡± Richard said.

    ¡°Fine.¡± Zhang Zian looked back at Sihwa and said, ¡°You can learn by yourself and write down anything you don¡¯t understand. We¡¯ll discuss it after Ie back up. For the stuff the parrot teaches you, don¡¯t¡¯ believe a single word of it!¡±

 Chapter 861: Anything

    <h4>Chapter 861: Anything</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Under normal circumstances, Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Lu Yiyun were able to cope with ordinary customers. There was no need to specifically ask for Zhang Zian to head downstairs, but since Richard had specially flown upstairs to call him, it meant that they had encountered a customer with special request¨C¨Cor it might be an acquaintance there to look for him.

    Zhang Zian went downstairs and saw a girl who looked about 27 to 28 years old walking into the store, seemingly interested in the pets in the shop.

    Lu Yiyun sat behind the cash register as she worked on the summary of the previous day¡¯s business report. Wang Qian was sweeping the floor with a broom, and when he saw Zhang Zian, he quietly went up to him.

    ¡°What is it?¡± Zhang Zian asked softly.

    Wang Qian nudged his lips towards thedy. Also in a soft voice, he replied, ¡°She¡¯s a customer who just came in. I asked her what pet she wanted and she said anything.¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°¡­Then what did you tell her?¡±

    Wang Qian straightforwardly replied, ¡°I said that we didn¡¯t have ¡®anything¡¯ on sale here in our shop.¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    Anyone who was serious about doing business was actually afraid of customers who would say ¡°anything.¡±

    ¡°Anything¡± sounded like there was no request and anything would work, but with no request, it was actually the highest request. It was like an essay for the college entrance examination¨C¨Ceveryone prefered to have the scope of the subject to be as clear as possible. If a day came when the subject of the essay for the college entrance examination was ¡°just write anything,¡± many of the candidates would probably vomit blood on the spot¡­

    Or on a blind date, if the girl were to say ¡°anything,¡± the man was sure to lose countless brain cells. He¡¯d be wondering if the other party was really casual or if she was just saying it without meaning it. It was okay if she was the former, but if she was thetter, leading her to a roadside stall for cheap beef noodles or stew, it would most probably be thest time they met¡­

    If it was at a restaurant and the customer said ¡°anything,¡± the restaurant could still serve up one of their specialties, but there at a pet shop to buy pets, could he just sell her a random one?

    Wang Qian was very straightforward and he didn¡¯t like to beat around the bush. When he met such customers, even if the customer was ady, he would not be lenient on her. So of course, the atmosphere immediately became awkward, and Richard flew upstairs to call Zhang Zian down for help.

    Actually, Wang Qian couldn¡¯t be med for that. When a customer came to a pet shop and said the word ¡°anything,¡± everyone would feel that the customer had no intention to buy a pet, so they would be toozy to entertain the customer.

    Zhang Zian turned and looked outside the shop. The sky was getting brighter, and there were more pedestrians outside. They were either going to work, to school, doing business, while others were just walking around. Few customers woulde to a pet shop so early in the morning.

    Zian looked at the girl¡¯s back view. Her clothes were loose on her, and they didn¡¯t look very fitting. Her long hair covered her shoulders, but her hair didn¡¯t seem to be in a good condition; her hair was thin, and she looked like an ordinary person from the way she was dressed.

    It was a weekday¡­ Did the youngdy not have work or school?

    Or was she a fan of Famous and was there for Famous, but was too embarrassed to admit it? I didn¡¯t look like it.

    She moved around slowly, watching the pets in the store. She was moving at a very uniform speed, and she showed no particr preference for any kind of cat or dog, nor did she show any special interest in Famous. It didn¡¯t look like she was visiting a pet shop, but instead, it looked like she was admiring cultural relics.

    To let her be mentally prepared, Zhang Zian deliberately put more force on his footsteps and walked over to her slowly.

    Hearing the footsteps, she turned around, swaying her long hair.

    ¡°Hello, my surname¡¯s Zhang. I¡¯m the shop manager. Is there anything that I can help you with?¡± Zhang Zian asked. ¡°Or would you like to take a look first?¡±

    As he spoke to her, he observed her facial features.

    She looked very ordinary¡ªwhether others believed him or not, after getting used to Sihwa¡¯s beauty that was out of that world, when Zian now saw an ordinary face of an ordinary person, he felt an inexplicable closeness.

    Aside from her ordinary looks, her skin color was rtively darker. Although she had put on some light makeup, it still couldn¡¯t hide the hint of sadness between her brows.

    In addition, Zhang Zian had also noticed that the skin around her neck was loose, and such loose skin should not appear on a person at such a young age like her.

    She smiled. ¡°Boss, I want to buy a pet.¡±

    Her voice was weak and slightly hoarse, and it seemed to becking strength.

    ¡°Okay, what do you like? Cats or dogs? Or are you interested in the likes of saltwater fish and corals?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Um¡­ forget about the fish¨C¨Cjust cats, and dogs,¡± she answered after a moment of hesitation.

    ¡°Sure, do you like cats or dogs then?¡± Zhang Zian continued asking.

    ¡°I like them both,¡± she answered, and it didn¡¯t seem like she was just saying it. ¡°I have always wanted to raise a pet, whether it was a dog or a cat, but due to some personal reasons, I was unable to keep one. But today, I am finally able to put everything aside and satisfy this little wish of mine¡­¡±

    She was smiling, but her smile didn¡¯t look like a happy smile. Instead, it felt really lonely.

    Zhang Zian raised his hand and pointed at the kittens ying around in the shop and the puppies waiting in the disy cab. ¡°We have many types of cats and dogs in the shop, which one do you prefer?¡±

    As expected, without any hesitation, she said, ¡°Any kind would be fine.¡±

    Zhang Zian was already prepared, so he said, ¡°If you¡¯re not sure about it, do you want to take more time to look at them? Choosing a pet is all about the chemistry. You can just look around and who knows, you might just find the one for you¡­¡±

    She turned her head around and quickly nced through the pets in the shop, then said in an embarrassed tone, ¡°I just want to raise a pet¨C¨Cany type would be fine. Can you choose one for me? It just needs to be easy to raise.¡±

    Zhang Zian felt that she was serious, and she really intended to just raise any pet. Each pet in the store was not cheap, and she didn¡¯t look like a G2 rich¡­ yet she was so generous with her money?

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but if you haven¡¯t made up your mind, you cane back again after you have done so.¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s tone vaguely expressed his intention of sending her off.

    She was stunned, very surprised, and she said in an agitated manner, ¡°Do you think that I¡¯m joking? I really want to keep a pet!¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°But I would still suggest that you think about it beforeing back. If you¡¯re nning to keep a pet on impulse, you would most likely regret your decision in the future, which wouldn¡¯t be a good choice for both you and the pet¡­ You¡¯d be wasting your money and the pet would be forced to change owners. After once or twice, the pet would either suffer from abuse or be left in the streets, and you¡¯d constantly be thinking about it.¡±

    In the past, when Zian¡¯s parents had run the pet shop, he had seen customers who bought a pet home on an impulse and they soon realized that they were not suited for raising pets. Physically or mentally, they were not prepared for raising a pet, so they would return it to the shop and request a refund. If no refund was allowed, then they would give it to their rtives or friends.

    So, ever since he had taken over the pet shop, he had been trying his best to avoid such a situation from happening. Even if he were to lose some business that way, he would still persist in his principle of not giving way to such examples.

 Chapter 862: Hard to Choose

    <h4>Chapter 862: Hard to Choose</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian¡¯s words were gentle but firm, making the girl astonished. She thought she was already asking for the minimum, and that she could get a pet forpanionship as easy as that. To her surprise, she was refused.

    She was so impressed by the shop owner, who turned away money that he could have made. A thin ray of light shone into her heart¡¯s dark corners.

    She was neither upset nor mad. She exined from a different angle. ¡°Owner, please trust me. I really don¡¯t care what kind of pet I get, as long as it¡¯s a cat or dog. I¡¯ll treat it well after I buy it, and I will never give it away to someone else.¡±

    Despite her sincere tone, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t give in easily. He asked her, ¡°Customer, just tell me your situation and your needs. I¡¯ll do my best to analyze it for you¨C¨Cfor example, if your neighbors mind any noises from the pet; if your ce is rented or bought; if you have enough space at home; your family or roommate¡¯s attitude towards pets; if you have enough time to spend outdoors with the pet; if a cloying pet would interrupt your work or study; your economic condition, etc. The more details you tell me, the better I can analyze if a pet is suitable for you, and what kind of pet suits you best.¡±

    She was a little overwhelmed by the series of questions, and answered slowly after digesting them for a while, ¡°The neighbors have dogs, so they should not mind¡­ My family bought the ce for me, and I live alone. My family is in another city¡­ About space, it¡¯s a medium-sized house, so there should be enough space¡­ Outdoor activities¡­¡±

    When speaking of outdoor activities, she paused and smiled in embarrassment. ¡°I didn¡¯t like outdoor activities in the past, and I preferred to stay at home. I¡¯ll try to be out more often. Well¡­ Economic status¡­ It¡¯s fine, I suppose. I can support myself and a pet. Speaking of pets interrupting my work or study, you can rest assured¨C¨CI¡¯m buying a pet forpanionship. I¡¯d love a cloying pet¡­¡±

    From her description, she was actually quite suitable to own pets. If she wanted a cloying pet, then a dog would suit her better, but she also mentioned she didn¡¯t like outdoor activities, which was kind of conflicting for having a dog.

    Many families, especially young couples, owned dogs because they liked them. They yed with the dogs a lot during the day, but always avoided the responsibility of walking the dog outside. Some even argued about it. After all, after a long day of work, everybody knew that sitting on a couch, ying with the phone, or ying video games was much morefortable.

    If they had older people at home, they could delegate walking the dog to the older family members, but young couples didn¡¯t like living with the elderly¡­

    The girl said she didn¡¯t like outdoor activities, but emphasized that she would make an effort to step outside. Zhang Zian was skeptical. Oveing the habit ofziness was not that easy. She might change for a few days, then go back to her own ways and never step out of the door.

    If she insisted on having a pet, Zhang Zian thought a cat was a better choice for her. It was safer, although no cat breed could be as cloying as she wished for. It was still better than betting on the option of falling in love with outdoor activities. The chance was just too low.

    After she finished talking, she asked expectantly, ¡°Owner, what kind of pet suits me better? A cat or a dog?¡±

    ¡°A cat, maybe,¡± Zhang Zian answered, although he was not too sure about it.

    ¡°A cat? Well, cats are nice. I like them.¡± She smiled and looked down at the kittens ying on the floor, then looked up at the grown Abyssinian cats jumping on the shelves. She asked again, ¡°What breed of cats then? What suggestions do you have?¡±

    Her answer was too fast; there was no trace of objection. Zhang Zian was even more uncertain. How could someone be so impulsive about owning pets? He still felt there was something wrong.

    ¡°The price range of cats is huge¡­ Anywhere from a few to a dozen thousand. You can choose yourself, ording to your economic wellness,¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to choose. Owner, pick one for me.¡± She shook her head decisively and kicked the question back. ¡°A few thousand is fine. A few dozen thousand¡­ I can still afford it if I want to. I don¡¯t buy cats every day, after all.¡±

    Wang Qian, who was pretending to sweep the floor but was actually eavesdropping, coughed to drop a hint. The hint was to pick the most expensive and charge for extra. There must be a way to manipte the G2 riches!

    She didn¡¯t look like a G2 rich to Zhang Zian, neither in outfit nor in temperament. Her conditions were too wide. He had to find a way to narrow them down.

    ¡°Customer, do you prefer long hair cats or short hair cats? Long hair cats are nicer to touch, but they need more everyday maintenance. Plus, they shed a lot. Short hair cats are more suitable for the fast paced urban lifestyle nowadays.¡±

    Kittens with long and short hair were not that different from each other. Zhang Zian pointed at Fina and Snowy Li as examples, which caused Fina to stare at him angrily.

    ¡°Both are fine. I¡¯m not afraid of extra work,¡± she said.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know how to handle her. Did he really have to pick a random cat and sell it to her?

    Wang Qianughed by himself, thinking that the Master had never failed in impressing or convincing the customers. But today, it was his turn to fail. The girl was so good¡­

    ¡°How about this: have you heard of the slogan adopting over buying?¡± Zhang Zian had to use that as thest resort. He had never even dreamed about selling that slogan to someone one day¡­

    She thought about it. ¡°I think I¡¯ve heard it somewhere.¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t have specific preference to certain cat breeds, I rmend adopting one¡­ Adopting over buying has many advantages. First, you¡¯ll save money. Second, you can help reduce the number of stray animals. Third, it promotes social charity. Atst, no trade, no harm¡­¡± Zhang Zian said, counting his fingers.

    He had no better option. There was a hint of sarcasm in it, but she still nodded and said, ¡°Sounds good. Where can I adopt then?¡±

    ¡°There are many ways to adopt. First, you can catch one outside. There are many stray cats out there now. You can pick up one, take it to a vet clinic for fumigation and vinations, and then bring it home if it¡¯s healthy¨C¨Cor you can go to a professional adoption agency. I personally rmend one ce. It¡¯s the Li¡¯s Supreme Snack Bar for Cat Fanciers on the other side of the street. We have a partnership with them. You can check it out¡­¡± Zhang Zian said all of these for one purpose: to transfer his headache to somebody else.

 Chapter 863: Barking

    <h4>Chapter 863: Barking</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    There was nothing Zhang Zian could do about the female customer and her weird request. He couldn¡¯t just sell her a random pet, so he nned to convince her to adopt one.

    He led her to the door and pointed to Li¡¯s snack bar that was just opposite of his shop; it wasn¡¯t too far away. The Li couple had already opened for business, and their business was quite good, too¨C¨Cthere were one or two people waiting in line at the door.

    ¡°The shop there provides adoption services. All the cats in the store were abandoned by their former owners, and there¡¯s no problem with their health¨C¨Cthey¡¯re all vinated. If you don¡¯t have a specific breed that you¡¯re looking for, it¡¯s a good choice to adopt one from there,¡± Zhang Zian said, introducing the ce to her. ¡°If you want to adopt a dog, I can introduce you to another ce.¡±

    When she heard about adopting a pet, she did not show any signs of rejection. Instead, she nodded happily, ¡°So we can do this, too? So I can just get a cat by going there?¡±

    ¡°Well, not just like that. You¡¯ll need to fill out a form and report to the store every day for a month to take care of the cat as a volunteer. Only once you have passed the test can you adopt the cat you like¡­ They do this to prevent those who are not sincere from adopting a cat.¡±

    ¡°Ah? So it¡¯s like that¡­¡± She hesitated, seemingly bothered with all the trouble, but she also didn¡¯t know how to turn down the offer. She looked troubled as she lightly scratched her cheek.

    Judging from her age, there was a great chance that she was not a student. For people who worked, it was a very difficult test for them because they worked throughout the day and were still required to do one month of voluntary work. The working people were usually notcking in budget, however, so they often leaned towards spending money to buy a cat.

    Early in the morning, the streets were filled with the fragrance of the morning snacks. Although Zhonghua Road was not famous for its street snacks, there were many traditional and modern snacks there from all over the country. In the morning, whether it was a breakfast shop or a roadside stall, it all was busy with business. Tofu beancurd, tea eggs, steamed soup dumplings, buttered crisp cake, eight treasure rice, soup dumplings, steamed dumplings¡­ all kinds of fragrances mixed together, whetting one¡¯s appetite.

    Zhang Zian was getting a little hungry. It was also almost the time when Fina would start demanding its breakfast, so Zian nned to send thedy off then head out to buy food.

    Woof!

    An unusually small, brown figure from inside the shop ran to the door. It seemed to have been attracted by the fragrance of the food that made its way into the shop.

    Zhang Zian looked down to see that it was the mini poodle, the one that Famous and Old Time Tea had brought back from the Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base.

    Almost two months had passed, and its size had grown slightly, but it was still much smaller than other poodles of the same age. Its slightly unkempt brown hair was dotted with its round ck eyes and nose. If it was not for the spirited look in its eyes, and for it being very lively and active, it was easy to mistake it for a fluffy doll.

    Several customers had expressed their interest in it and asked Zhang Zian and the other staff members about the price, but Zhang Zian had concerns about selling it. One, he was concerned if the other party was really interested in it, or if they just wanted to buy it as a breeding dog to breed teacup poodles. The second concern was that a special mini dog like the poodle was more troublesome to take care of. People had to be careful every time it was fed to not overfeed it, and they had to pay careful attention to make sure it did not choke and die. Thest reason was that it was still too small to leave its mother at the time¡­

    Therefore, it had been staying in the shop with its mother, being taken care of by the staff members, and enjoying more privileges than the other puppies, since it was not locked in a disy case.

    Maybe during its stay in Love Lovely Pets, the experience of being mistreated and starved had left it terrified of people. Aside from Zhang Zian and the other staff members who fed it, the mini poodle rarely took the initiative to approach strangers. When there were a lot of people in the store, Zhang Zian would take it upstairs, for fear that a customer would step on it.

    It ran to the door, sniffing hard, and looked around to search for the source of the enticing fragrances.

    Although it had a small appetite, it was full of enthusiasm for food. On one hand, it was a dog¡¯s nature, and on the other, it was because of the experience it had of being starved. Because of that, it was necessary to be careful when feeding it, lest it ate too much.

    Woof! Woof!

    Its mother barked twice from inside the shop, as if telling it not to run too far and to go back inside.

    In the morning, people wereing and going on the streets, rushing to work or school. Those that were runningte were very easy to spot¨C¨Ctheir hair would be standing up, their face covered in oil, breakfast in their mouth as they ran to catch their bus.

    With the poodle¡¯s small size, it was easy to kick or step on it outside the shop, and its frail, internal organs were not able to withstand such an impact. The death of many teacup poodles was because they weren¡¯t noticed on the sofa, or they were unable to run away because of their poor athletic ability. As a result, they were killed because they were sat on by their owner or a guest of the house¡­

    Zhang Zian also waved towards the inside of the shop and gestured for the poodle to go back in. He also looked down and smiled. ¡°Go back in! Breakfast will be ready in a while.¡±

    It had reached the age where it could leave its mother, and sometimes it didn¡¯t listen to its mother¡¯s words. But looking at Zian, it recognized him as the one who fed it, so it turned around and scurried back inside with its four small and short legs. But it didn¡¯t go far.

    The mini poodle suddenly stopped and turned around. It wasn¡¯t looking at Zhang Zian; instead, it was staring at the female customer.

    Thedy was still staring at the snack bar, hesitating about whether or not she should adopt a pet or simply spend some money to buy one. She thought of her own affairs and couldn¡¯t help but feel a little confused.

    Zhang Zian was about to exin to her further the benefits and necessity of adopting instead of buying. He did not notice the mini poodle¡¯s movement¨C¨Che thought that it had already run back inside the shop.

    Woof! Woof! Woof! The continuous barks of the mini poodle broke through the silence of the morning.

    Earlier, both the mini poodle and its mother had barked a few times, but it hadn¡¯t been loud. But now, it was barking as loud as it could¨C¨Cits voice was high and sharp. Often, the smaller the size of the dog, the louder their voice was. Since they couldn¡¯t scare off their threat with their body size, they could only rely on their voice.

    Zhang Zian was shocked. He subconsciously turned around and looked at it.

    Thedy woke up from her thoughts. Also surprised, she turned around. ¡°Aiya, what a small dog¡­¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Yiyun were also attracted by the poodle¡¯s barking. No one knew why it suddenly started to bark.

    It had been trained very well by Zhang Zian in the pet shop, so it knew that it couldn¡¯t attract the attention of its owner with its voice; therefore, it usually didn¡¯t bark. Even if it had barked, it wasn¡¯t too loud¨C¨Cit had never barked like that before.

    Even the passing pedestrians outside the shop were attracted.

    ¡°Stop barking! Don¡¯t bark!¡± Zhang Zian raised an arm and did a down gesture, indicating for it to stop barking.

    It had obviously heard Zhang Zian¡¯s instructions. It looked at Zian and remained quiet for a moment, but after only two or three seconds, it started barking again as it stared at thedy. The more it barked, the more agitated it became. Its body tensed up as if it was facing a great threat.

    Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!

 Chapter 864: First Aid

    <h4>Chapter 864: First Aid</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian kept his hand in the air in embarrassment. He had trained the mini poodle himself. Even if it barked asionally, it would stop as soon as he raised his hand. But the handmand wasn¡¯t working for some reason.

    In fact, small dogs were better watchdogs than medium-sized dogs orrge dogs, such as stupid sled dogs and golden retrievers. Breeds like those would wag their tails and greet strangers happily, even if the stranger was a burr.

    If the mini poodle barked because it spotted a thief and wanted to alert Zhang Zian, he would surely reward it happily¨C¨Cbut the girl next to him was a customer. She didn¡¯t look like a thief or a dangerous criminal. The poodle had no reason to bark.

    ¡°Stop barking!¡± Fina was taking a nap and became annoyed. It stood up immediately from the cat tree, then stared at it in anger from its spot on higher ground. Unfortunately, its power of deterrence only worked on cats; it wasn¡¯t so useful on the mini poodle.

    ¡°Keep barking and I¡¯ll castrate you!¡± Snowy Li said while it licked it paws and stared at Zhang Zian.

    ¡°It better shut up now! Or else I¡¯ll shut it up myself!¡± Fina stared at Zhang Zian furiously, since the mini poodle was clearly ignoring it.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what to say.

    Old Time Tea could not watch television anymore, as the mini poodle¡¯s volume totally outran the television. It was just like the oldmercial line: No voice, no acting¨C¨Cno matter how good your acting is.

    Famous had been busy taking pictures with movie fans in the morning, and it was finally enjoying a free moment. It dozed to recall the dream it had the night before, but the barking annoyed it.

    ¡°Quack quack! Quack quack!¡± Richard vocalized, as it thought someone wanted topete with it. Soon, the entire shop was noisy and chaotic.

    It didn¡¯t bother Gxy at all. Gxy chased after the American shorthair cat and passed by the poodle quickly. After stopping briefly to watch, it continued to chase the cat.

    As for the two elfins upstairs, they might have heard themotion, too, but Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know if it bothered them.

    Even the puppies in the disy cabs were aroused by the mini poodle; they started barking with it. They were not as loud, of course.

    The mini poodle not only barked; it was approaching the customer step-by-step.

    ¡°Will this dog¡­ bite?¡± She stepped back in fear.

    ¡°No, don¡¯t worry,¡± Zhang Zian said immediately.

    Clearly, she didn¡¯t believe him. ¡°Really? I heard that all dog owners im that their dogs don¡¯t bite, but in fact¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian grew even more embarrassed.

    He knew that some people walked their dogs without the leash. If the dog barked at others and terrified them, the owner would im confidently that their dogs would never bite. All people believed that their dogs didn¡¯t bite, but in fact, the only person dogs didn¡¯t bite was the owner.

    Normally, he would be certain that the mini poodle would not bite anyone, but he wasn¡¯t so sure how it would act that day. Heaven only knew if it would dash forward and bite the girl the next moment¡­ Biting a customer would be a disaster. The only thing worse than apologizing andpensating them would be the bad name it would bring to him.

    Wang Qian came close and whispered, ¡°Well¡­ Master, the other day, could this dog have been¡­?¡±

    As he spoke, he made a scratching gesture. What he meant was that mini poodle could have been scratched by the rabid Siamese cat while they were not watching and have contracted rabies. Why else would it bark so horrendously? However, as there were customers present, he didn¡¯t say it out loud to preserve his shop¡¯s reputation.

    Zhang Zian shook his head, asking him not to take such wild guesses.

    The Siamese cat had no physical contact with the poodle that day. How could it have possibly infected it? Besides, the poodle wasn¡¯t showing any rabies symptoms. Such guesses werepletely far-fetched.

    ¡°Sorry. This dog always behaves well¡­ I don¡¯t know why it¡¯s doing this,¡± Zhang Zian said honestly. He moved his body between the poodle and the female customer in case it suddenly jumped and tried to bite her.

    Yet, as he moved, it moved as well, and continued barking at her.

    ¡°It looks like this dog doesn¡¯t like me¡­¡± Sheughed. ¡°I can¡¯t believe even dogs hate me these days¡­¡±

    Troubled by the barking poodle, Zhang Zian kept thinking about the reason it was barking. He ignored her words and said casually, ¡°Sorry, really. I¡¯m so sorry¡­ I¡¯ll bring this dog upstairs right away. Please wait for a moment¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay; you don¡¯t have to. I¡¯ll leave first. Store owner, you are right. I didn¡¯t think twice beforeing here. I should think carefully about what kind of pet I really want¡­¡± She said with a gentle sigh. ¡°I¡¯m leaving. I wille back after I make up my mind¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian did want to send her away so soon, but he felt bad for letting her go.

    ¡°My guest, you¡­¡± Before he could persuade her to stay, she turned around to leave, but she fell down as if she suddenly lost strength.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s body moved before his mind. He dashed forward, stretched one arm behind her back to catch her, and grabbed her arm with the other hand.

    Luckily, he was close by and reacted promptly. Otherwise, she would have fallen hard on the floor. She might have even hit her forehead on the doorsteps.

    ¡°Hey! What¡¯s wrong? Wake up!¡± Zhang Zian supported her body with his arm, not knowing what to do. All he could was call to her in vain, like a television drama. He wondered silently why she just fell down like that. She seemed incredibly weak.

    Wang Qian and Lu Yiyun paused, then dropped the work in their hands and ran over.

    ¡°Master, you didn¡¯t touch her. How did she fall down like that? I¡¯d say you should put her on the floor. This might be a scam¡­¡± Wang Qian was both imaginative and vignt.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, shall I call the ambnce?¡± Lu Yiyun asked anxiously.

    Clearly, she was not faking¨C¨Cshe waspletely unconscious. Her eyes were tightly closed; her face was as pale as a ghost; her body was full of sweat. If she was acting, then she could surely win the Best Actress Award at the Berlin Film Festival the next year.

    Old Time Tea and Famous were concerned and came over too.

    Zhang Zian hit Snowy Li¡¯s paws that were stretched out toward her chest. His hand felt a hard object on her waist by ident, which didn¡¯t seem to be a purse.

    He lifted her shirt around the waist slightly. To his surprise, he found a stic device with an LED screen on her waist. It was attached to a thin, transparent, stic tube that was inserted into her skin next to her belly button. There was gauze and medical tape around the skin attached to the tube.

    The LED screen was blinking, but nobody knew what it was showing.

    ¡°What¡¯s this? Looks like a pager from thest century,¡± Wang Qian said, as if he was an expert. ¡°Is she a time traveler from the past?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what kind of device it was either, but he was sure that it was not a pager, and she was surely not a time traveler.

    Lu Yiyun pinched her philtrum, but it didn¡¯t work.

    ¡°Let¡¯s call an ambnce then,¡± Zhang Zian said. It was such bad luck to encounter such things early in the morning.

    Lu Yiyun picked up her phone and dialed, informing the Emergency Center of the situation and giving the address of the pet shop.

    The mini poodle was still barking, but not as loudly.

    Another dog started barking; the sound came from outside. Apparently, it started after hearing the poodle¡¯s bark.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t pay attention; he thought that there was an elderly man or woman walking their dog in the area.

    ¡°Snoopy, stop barking! Good morning, Store Manager¡­ Ouch! What¡¯s this? What happened?¡± A silhouette as swift as a deer passed by in front the shop. After seeing what was going on inside, it turned around and ran inside quickly.

    Zhang Zian lifted his head. It was Masanori Suzuhara, out for her morning exercise.

    She was wearing a bright-colored athletic outfit. The reflective strips on her running shoes were shining brightly under the sun. She had a small pack behind her back with a set of poop scooping tools in it. She had Snoopy the beagle¡¯s leash in her hand, as usual.

    Snoopy used to bark a lot. After it was trained by Masanori Suzuhara ording Zhang Zian¡¯s methods, it became quiet and stopped barking. But now, it barked after it heard the poodle¡¯s noise.

    Masanori Suzuhara was tall and athletic. She reached them quickly in long steps and stopped next to them. She bent down to check on the copsed girl. As she saw the device on her waist, she eximed in low voice, ¡°Oh! An insulin pump? She¡¯s diabetic? Crap! She¡¯s hypoglycemic!¡±

    Zhang Zian was clueless. He was not diabetic, nor he had any diabetic family members. He had distant rtives and old friends who had diabetes, but the word remained unfamiliar to him.

    However, he knew that Masanori Suzuhara had a medical or pharmacological background¨C¨Cshe had even participated in pharmacological experiments carried out in beagles. If she recognized the strange device as an insulin pump right away, it should be so, indeed.

    ¡°She¡¯s a customer that just walked into the shop, then suddenly copsed. What should we do?¡± he asked anxiously.

    ¡°Hypoglycemia in diabetic patients is very dangerous. You¡¯d better call an ambnce!¡± Masanori Suzuhara checked her condition briefly and examined under her eyelids.

    ¡°We already called for one,¡± he said. ¡°Now all we can do is wait?¡±

    Masanori Suzuhara thought for a while, then took out a piece of chocte candy from her purse. ¡°Do you have warm water? I need to dissolve the candy and make her drink it¡­ A spoon would be even better.¡±

    Without waiting for Zhang Zian¡¯s instructions, Wang Qian poured some hot water from Old Time Tea¡¯s thermos, then mixed some cold water and gave it to Masanori Suzuhara.

    She broke the chocte candy into the cup and stirred quickly with a spoon. She said, ¡°I don¡¯t have diabetes, but I¡¯m afraid of getting low blood sugar while I¡¯m running. I always carry candy with me. It turns out that it¡¯s useful today¡­¡±

    Soon, the candy dissolvedpletely in the warm water.

    Masanori Suzuhara lifted the female customer¡¯s head, opened her mouth, and made her drink the cup of sugar water.

    Lu Yiyun wiped off the water dripping out of her mouth.

    The sugar water worked immediately. Within less than a minute, the customer slowly opened her eyes and woke up from thea.

    Everybody breathed in a sigh of relief at the same time.

 Chapter 865: Diabetes

    <h4>Chapter 865: Diabetes</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was strange¨C¨Cthe mini poodle had been barking the whole time. It wouldn¡¯t even stop under Zhang Zian¡¯s instructions or Fina¡¯s threat, but once the unconscious female customer woke up after drinking the sweetened water, it let out a whimper and stopped barking. Soon after, it ran back inside the shop as if it had lost interest in her.

    When it stopped barking, Snoopy, too, stopped barking.

    Her vision started to focus from near to far, and soon, the faces of Masanori Suzuhara, Zhang Zian, Lu Yiyun, and Wang Qian appeared in front of her as her vision cleared up. She opened her lips slightly and weakly asked, ¡°I¡­ What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    At that moment, Zhang Zian was really worried that she would ask, ¡°Who am I? Where am I? What should I do?¡± They were the three questions of memory loss. It was going to be troublesome if that happened.

    ¡°You suddenly fainted,¡± Zian briefly answered. ¡°It seems to be hypoglycemia.¡±

    ¡°Oh, thank you.¡± She understood what happened immediately and said apologetically, ¡°I¡¯m terribly sorry. It wasn¡¯t on purpose¡­¡± She tried to stand up but struggled.

    ¡°It¡¯s best not to move around for now.¡± Masanori Suzuhara pressed on her shoulders. ¡°We¡¯ve already called an ambnce, so let¡¯s wait for the emergency care personnel to give you a checkup.¡±

    The female customer stared at Masanori Suzuhara¡¯s face. She had not seen that person before.

    Zhang Zian introduced them. ¡°You don¡¯t have to thank us! Thank her instead¡ªshe¡¯s a customer of our shop, too. She¡¯s studying medicine and happened to pass by on her morning exercise. She had a sweet on her, which she dissolved into sweetened water and fed to you¨C¨Cthat¡¯s why you¡¯re awake now.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. I¡¯m sorry to trouble you,¡± she thanked Masanori Suzuhara.

    Seeing that she looked much better now, Masanori Suzuhara helped her sit upright. ¡°It¡¯s okay¨C¨Cit was nothing much!¡±

    It was spring and the floor was very cold. Zhang Zian gestured for Wang Qian to bring over a cushion for her to sit on, or else she could catch a cold.

    ¡°Master, here¡­ what happened? I heard a dog barking nonstop so I came over to take a look¡­¡± Li Kun ran over from next door and was surprised by what he saw.

    ¡°None of your business. You can head back.¡± Zhang Zian waved his hands to send him back. Li Kun, on the other hand, cast a look at him, meaning to say that he¡¯d go overter and tell him what happened.

    ¡°Speaking of which¡­ I also came over after hearing the dog bark.¡± Masanori Suzuhara turned her head to look at the mini poodle. It had tired itself out from barking, and was drinking water from its water bowl.

    Masanori Suzuhara said, ¡°My condition today isn¡¯t really good¨C¨CI felt a little weak¨C¨Cbut just as I was hesitating about whether or not I should turn back to the dorm and rest, I heard a dog barking nonstop. I thought, ¡®Whose dog is this? Did something happen?¡¯ And it sounded like it came from the pet shop, so I ran a few more steps to check on it. Who knew that I would see you faint¡­¡±

    After everyone heard what she said, they all looked at the mini poodle.

    ¡°Such a coincidence,¡± Wang Qian said in a surprised tone. ¡°This dog usually doesn¡¯t bark like that, but it started to bark nonstop earlier and now it stopped again¡­ Oh, right¨C¨CI heard that dogs can see things¡­ Could it be that a ghost had passed by outside? The cause of her fainting might have something to do with the ghost! She might even be possessed¡­ Master, should we hire a monk or a Taoist priest to chant some scriptures?¡±

    Lu Yiyun immediately covered her ears. ¡°Stop saying that! It¡¯s too scary!¡±

    ¡°Read your mom¡¯s scriptures!¡± Zhang Zian scolded. ¡°Putting aside whether or not dogs can actually see ghosts, it¡¯s now broad daylight. What kind of ghost would harm people under the bright sun?¡±

    ¡°It might¡¯ve been a western ghost who¡¯s suffering from a difference in timezone¡­¡± Wang Qian continued.

    Masanori Suzuhara stared at the mini poodle. She thought for a while before she said, ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve heard stories of some dogs who are supposedly sensitive to changes in blood sugar. When the blood sugar of a diabetic falls drastically, they would behave abnormally¨C¨Cfor example, barking madly¡­ In medical school, there¡¯s a study group formed around this subject, but I¡¯m not too sure about the details.¡±

    Zhang Zian had heard of a simr story, but he had always thought that it was just an exaggerated rumor. But after seeing what happened today, he couldn¡¯t help but believe it.

    ¡°Are you saying that this dog is able to detect the changes in blood sugar levels in a diabetic?¡± Zian asked.

    Masanori Suzuhara smiled apologetically. ¡°Maybe, I¡¯m not too sure. A dog¡¯s sense of smell is super sensitive¡­ How sensitive it is can be hard for ordinary humans to imagine. They can even detect chemical changes that are taking ce in a human¡¯s body¡­ Just like how some people are very sensitive to a specific smell, some dogs are like that, too. They have a special preference for a certain smell during a series of chemical changes that takes ce during hypoglycemia, and once they catch such a smell, they respond with abnormal behaviors. But the research on this subject has only begun recently, and not all dogs have simr reactions¡ªmaybe the other dogs are not sensitive to such a smell, or they probably don¡¯t think much about the smell even if they¡¯re able to catch it.¡±

    The mini poodle¡¯s actions coincided with everything that Masanori Suzuhara had mentioned. Earlier, when the female customer¡¯s blood sugar started to drop drastically before she even realized it herself, the mini poodle had started to bark at her. Now, it seemed like it wasn¡¯t because it hated her, but it was because it had picked up a smell of danger, and it was only after her blood sugar level had returned to normal after she was fed the sweetened water that it stopped barking.

    Listening to them, Famous regretted that it didn¡¯te over earlier¨C¨Cit might¡¯ve unlocked a new skill if it had. But now it was toote since the smell had disappeared. It could only wait until another diabetic walked in and coincidentally experienced a drop in blood sugar for another chance¡­

    The female customer had already gotten much better, and was listening to Masanori Suzuhara. She seemed to understand what was going on, although not clearly. Just like the others, she stared at the mini poodle.

    ¡°Which is why, instead of thanking me, you should thank that little puppy,¡± Masanori Suzuhara said as sheughed. ¡°It really barked with all its might. If it wasn¡¯t for the dog, I might not havee over¡­ Ah, right, are you here to buy a pet?¡±

    The female customer quietly nodded.

    ¡°Have you picked one yet?¡± Masanori Suzuhara asked again.

    ¡°Not yet,¡± the female customer answered. ¡°I still don¡¯t know what pet I want.¡±

    ¡°Why not this one then? With it by your side, you¡¯ll be much safer,¡± Masanori Suzuhara suggested as she pointed at the mini poodle.

    She smiled embarrassedly at Zhang Zian for making the decision herself. She added, ¡°Of course, that¡¯s if the shop manager is willing to part with it.¡±

    Obviously, if the mini poodle was really able to perceive the risk of hypoglycemia in diabetics and respond ordingly, its value must be different from what it originally was. It could even be said to be a valuablemodity, because there was not a small number of rich people with diabetes, and they were more than willing to invest in the safety of their own lives.

    The female customer was tempted. She felt that what Masanori Suzuhara said did make sense, but she was too shy to ask. It felt like she was using her own condition to pressure Zhang Zian.

 Chapter 866: Rise and Fall

    <h4>Chapter 866: Rise and Fall</h4>

    Nobody else could say anything, as the mini poodle belonged to Zhang Zian. Nobody could have said anything about whether he decided to sell it or not. Forcing the deal by imposing a moral standard was not an honorable thing to do.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t hesitate at all, as the mini poodle was rescued from Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base by Old Time Tea and Famous and it didn¡¯t belong to him; it owed its life to Old Time Tea and Famous. Had it not been for their heroic and chivalrous act, then it would have died under Zhang Wanguo¡¯s needles.

    After going through so much, the mini poodle might have finally found a suitable owner.

    He took the mini Poodle on his arms, put it in front of the female customer, and pressed on it gently so it could not run away. He asked, ¡°How is it? Are you interested in getting a dog?¡± He sounded calm, as if the dog was no different from the other dogs.

    The female customer could hardly believe it and asked, ¡°You can¡­ Sell it to me?¡±

    ¡°Of course I can,¡± Zhang Zian replied. ¡°As long as you are confident enough to treat it well.¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡± She hesitated. She had lost confidence in her own life. How could she be confident in being a good dog owner?

    Masanori Suzuhara encouraged her, ¡°Don¡¯t rush into owning a pet. You can take your time to think about it. This shop is right here; it won¡¯t fly away¡­ But for you, do you need us to notify anyone? You parents? Or¡­ Boyfriend?¡±

    ¡°Boyfriend¡­¡± She smiled sadly. ¡°How can a person like me have a boyfriend¡­ As for my parents, I don¡¯t want them to know about it.¡±

    Masanori Suzuhara frowned. The girl seemed to have gone through really tough times. She seemed so pessimistic and depressed. Could it be the diabetes?

    Zhang Zian stood aside without saying anything. Maybe it was wiser to let a girl talk to another girl. He asked Wang Qian to go out and check if the ambnce had arrived.

    Masanori Suzuhara asked again in her gentle voice, ¡°Are you sure we don¡¯t need to notify anyone?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure¡­ really.¡± She shook her head slowly.

    Her name was Chu Manhua. She came from another city to Binhai University to study. The four year university life had made her ustomed to the peace and quietness of Binhai. The sries were not as high as other big cities, but the slow-paced lifestyle was nice. Therefore, she found a job after graduation, then bought a house under her family¡¯s financial assistance to settle there permanently.

    A few years passed by quickly. As she grew older, important life events were right in front of her: finding a boyfriend, getting married, then having babies.

    Society was not tolerant to singledies. Her family grew anxious and pushed her constantly to find someone to marry. Her colleagues and friends also set her up on dates. Some of the boys were very nice.

    Chu Manhua didn¡¯t want to be single all her life¨C¨Che fancied about love¨C¨Cbut she never met anyone she truly loved. She didn¡¯t want to settle with someone she didn¡¯t love, therefore, she stayed single.

    On a random asion, she felt that she might meet her Mr. Right.

    The boy was also working in Binhai City, with medium to high level sry. He made more money than her, which was enough to support a family. She was satisfied with his height and looks. He was not as handsome as a celebrity, but wasfortable to look at. He didn¡¯t have any bad qualities, he liked traveling, and he knew a lot. He was funny, had a lot inmon with her, and made her look good in front of her friends. Most importantly, he was very good to her, cared about her, and always helped her out whenever she encountered difficulties in life or at work without being asked. He made her heart warm.

    He was also a man who listened to reasoning. She felt that she could not ask for more in a boyfriend. Sometimes, she even feared that she was not good enough for him, as she was a little chubby and ordinary-looking. Her family was not very rich, either.

    To strengthen the precious love rtionship that she had waited for a long time, she tried her best to improve herself in every way.

    It was fine to be ordinary looking. She didn¡¯t want to get stic surgery, but she was constantly reading fashion magazines and learning how to apply make up. After some careful makeovers, she might get six or seven points in most people¡¯s eyes.

    Her family was not rich. She could not choose the family that she was born into, but she could make an effort to make things better. Therefore, she studied in her spare time, and submitted her resume to another localpany that paid a higher sry.

    It was fine to be chubby. She studied all kinds of weight loss tricks, and devoted 120 percent of herself into the cause of losing weight¡­

    As the story developed to that point, Chu Manhua¡¯s life path was not much different from others. The only difference was the fact that she had met someone that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with¨C¨Cit made her work even harder.

    Good news came one after another.

    She had passed the written test and the interview with the betterpany. Weight loss seemed so easy¨C¨Cit was not as hard as the others described it to be on the inte. She became skinner and skinner very quickly.

    As she lost weight too fast, the skin on her neck, tummy, and shoulders were not stic enough and became wrinkled. Her old clothes became baggy; her face became skinny with a pointy chin. Her colleagues and friends envied her so much that they asked what her secret was. They even asked if she had been taking some secret prescription from an old, traditional, Chinese medicine doctor¡­

    The greatest news was that her boyfriend finally proposed to her in a very romantic way!

    The day he proposed, Chu Manhua thanked all the Gods and Buddhas she ever knew, thanking them for blessing her with such a happy life.

    However, something unexpected happened.

    Slowly, she started feeling tired and she was always thirsty. Even after drinking a few sses of water, she still felt thirsty.

    Suddenly, one day, she was rushed to the hospital after she developed a sudden fever. In the hospital, she was diagnosed with Ketoacidosis and the doctors confirmed that she had Type One Diabetes.

    The news struck her like a lightning bolt on a sunny day. She would never forget the doctor¡¯s face when he spoke to her.

    She searched for information in the hospital and realized that Type One Diabetes was incurable under the current medicinal level. She could only sustain her quality of life by injecting insulin for the rest of her life. Worse than that, if the blood sugar in Type One Diabetes patients was not well controlled, they might develop seriousplications within a few years, such as amputation, blindness, and death¡­

    The diabeticplication photos she found online were so shocking. She didn¡¯t want to look at them, but she could not help herself from looking.

    She also found out that diabetic patients might not conceive easily. The babies they bore might also be prone to diabetes.

    She fell into a great pain after she learned the information. How could she live the rest of her life after getting such a chronic, deadly disease at such a young age?

    It was too unfair!

    She had already worked so hard. The heavens gave her everything she had wished for, but then they took them all back.

    She could not hide the news from her boyfriend. Chu Manhua waited for an appropriate time and told him everything honestly.

    While she spoke, she still had some hope in her heart, thinking that their rtionship might survive. Their future life would be hard, but nothing would be too hard as long as they both walked together. As for having babies, she would try her best.

    However, her boyfriend, who had always been sweet to her, didn¡¯t give her a warm hug as she had expected, nor did he tell her not to worry and that everything would be fine. He acknowledged the news coldly, then found an excuse and left.

    Chu Manhua¡¯s heart turned cold.

    As she expected, on the third day, her boyfriend broke up with her officially. He told her bluntly that her illness had made him lose faith for their future, and his family insisted that they should stop seeing each other. He didn¡¯t even bother telling her face-to-face, but messaged her on WeChat. He then transferred her some money aspensation for the breakup.

    She seemed very calm back then¨C¨Cso calm that it scared her. She didn¡¯t take the money. Instead, she messaged him back and said, ¡°I got it. Wish you all the best.¡±

    After that, she deleted him from her contact list and cried herself to sleep. She didn¡¯t step out of her house for days.

    She hated everything, and hated herself. Why did she have to get such a deadly illness?

    To make matters worse, during the medical exam before she started at the newpany, she could not hide her illness. The newpany declined her candidateship politely; yet, before she had found out about her illness, she had already been resigned at her previouspany.

    She lost both her love and her career at the same time and became a zombie. She spent hours every day looking into the distance without doing anything, and without knowing the purpose of her life.

    The threats of severeplications hung over her head like the Sword of Damocles, which could cut down at any moment.

    She didn¡¯t bother looking for a new job, and lived on her old savings.

    Afraid of making her parents sad and worried, she didn¡¯t tell her parents about her sickness.

    As for future rtionships¡­ Her ex-boyfriend was right. She¡¯d better not burden or harm anyone else.

    She spent her life in limbo for a long time. One day, she suddenly wanted a pet.

    Chu Manhua always liked pets¨C¨Cboth cats and dogs¨C¨Cbut she never had a chance due to various reasons and restrictions. She had been raising a pet on the cloud.

    She once imagined that if she had two kids in the future, a boy and a girl, and had two pets, a cat and a dog, then life would truly be perfect.

    Too bad her ex-boyfriend was not interested in pets. He didn¡¯t object up front, but he didn¡¯t support her. Sometimes he even forwarded her news in which pets injured the owners.

    Anyway, she didn¡¯t have a boyfriend anymore¡­ As soon as the pet idea popped into her mid, she could no longer stop it from growing stronger.

    She did some research and learned that cats and dogs had a life expectancy of around ten years, which was perhaps around as long as the life that she had left¡­ If she had pets, that would not count as burden and harm, would it?

    Therefore, she searched for pet shops online, and visited a random one that she had picked. As for the reason she picked it¡­ it was maybe that the name ¡°Amazing Fate¡± had somehow touched her.

    Just like that, she was there.

    When Zhang Zian asked her if she liked outdoor activities, she said she would try to like being outdoors because the doctors told her so. If she wanted to stay healthy and avoidplications, she had to be careful with her diet, take walks outside, or jog more often.

    She used to be a real Otaku. Now that she had lost both her love and her career, she still had her parents. She didn¡¯t want to die before her parents and make them devastated. As a result, she decided to follow the doctor¡¯s advice.

 Chapter 867: Talented

    <h4>Chapter 867: Talented</h4>

    Zhang Zian and the others sighed when they heard about Chu Manhua¡¯s story.

    Just then, the ambnce arrived with its siren still on.

    Although there was no longer anything wrong with Chu Manhua, the emergency care personnel still did a check on her.

    Wang Qian wondered, ¡°I have an old rtive who¡¯s also a diabetic, but he¡¯s still doing fine¨C¨Che¡¯s energetically going on with his life. This year, he even got a mistress and went through a divorce¡­ She¡¯s also a diabetic, but why is it so different?¡±

    Zhang Zian also did not understand why.

    ¡°The situation is different,¡± Masanori Suzuhara exined. ¡°Your rtive must be diagnosed with Type II diabetes, and Type II diabetes has little effect on our daily lives. Generally speaking, it can be controlled by anti-diabetic medication. She has Type I diabetes, and she is only able to maintain her life by injecting insulin every day¨C¨Cyou can see the insulin pump hanging around her waist. She can¡¯t even leave that thing for a moment. Sports that young people like¨C¨Cfor example, swimming and mountain climbing¨C¨Care cut out from her life. She¡¯s also not able to eat most food, and she has to live every day being very careful¡­ especially when she¡¯s still so young¡­¡±

    Wang Qian really wanted to ask if she needed to bring that thing along when doing

    ¡°the deed,¡± but if she did, then it might really cause some influence¡­

    ¡°In fact, even Type I diabetes is not the end of the world. I have seen many cases in medical school where some patients have changed their previous, unhealthy lifestyle because of getting sick, and now, they are living much healthier than ordinary people! She¡¯s probably depressed because her longtime boyfriend broke up with her, which caused a big blow,¡± Masanori Suzuhara analyzed. ¡°She looks smart, and I believe that in time, she will be able to walk out from this heartache and re-embrace life.¡±

    ¡°I hope so.¡± Zhang Zian agreed with her opinion.

    From what Chu Manhua had said, they understood that she used to be an otaku, which meant that she did not like to exercise and was slightly chubby¨C¨Cit was hard to say for sure that those weren¡¯t the cause of her diabetes. If she was able to get over what happened to her and walk onto a new path, then she might be live a better life in the future.

    Initially, Chu Manhua did not want to go to the hospital with the ambnce, but there seemed to be a problem with her insulin pump. After some persuasion from the doctor, sheid on the stretcher and decided to go with them for aplete check at the hospital.

    Zhang Zian carried the mini poodle and walked up beside her. He said, ¡°Pets are probably not allowed on the ambnce, I guess.¡±

    She raised her arm up from the stretcher and rubbed the mini poodle¡¯s head.

    ¡°So small,¡± she said. ¡°Just like a delicate porcin doll.¡±

    Zhang Zian added, ¡°Delicate and extremely frail¡­ It requires a lot of care from the owner. The amount of food and water per meal should not be too much or too little. The amount of exercise per day should also not be too much or too little. When it¡¯s brought out of the house, you need to keep your eyes on it. Be careful not to let it be kicked or stepped on by the pedestrians¡­ It¡¯s very troublesome to take care of, and I haven¡¯t been able to find the right owner for it yet.¡±

    But Wu Manchen seemed to have heard about something fun. She smiled happily. ¡°Isn¡¯t that almost the same as me?¡±

    She seemed to have seen herself in this mini poodle¨C¨Cher life from then on also required careful nning. She had to pay attention to her diet, be careful when she exercised¡­ She had to be careful of everything. All it took was one mistake and it would be dangerous for her.

    Her ex-boyfriend was not willing to take on that responsibility, so she could only take it upon herself¨C¨Cnot only for herself, but also for the mini poodle.

    The ambnce driver and doctor started to rush her.

    ¡°Can you keep this dog for me? I¡¯lle back and pick it up once I¡¯m discharged from the hospital,¡± she said.

    ¡°Sure, no problem. It¡¯ll be here waiting for you,¡± Zhang Zian answered.

    Having received Zhang Zian¡¯s promise, she smiled and waved at the poodle before she was carried into the ambnce by the emergency care personnel.

    The ambnce drove further and further away before it slowly disappeared at the end of the street.

    ¡°I really have to thank you for today. Someone would have lost their life outside my shop entrance if it wasn¡¯t for you.¡± Once again, Zhang Zian thanked Masanori Suzuhara.

    ¡°Haha! Don¡¯t mention it. I just happened to be here. With that, I¡¯ll see you tomorrow!¡± Masanori Suzuhara smiled and waved goodbye.

    She was covered in sweat from her run and the weather was still very cold, so she was very eager to return back to the dormitory for a shower and to change her clothes.

    Zhang Zian did not try to keep her. Anyway, he basically saw her every morning.

    The beagle Snoopy had gotten bigger again, and it looked cooler than before. Being led along by Masanori Suzuhara, it kept turning back while it ran, staring at the mini poodle in Zhang Zian¡¯s arms, as if to say, ¡°Bark! Why aren¡¯t you barking anymore?¡±

    ¡°Disperse, disperse! All go back to what you¡¯re supposed to be doing!¡± Zhang Zian ced the mini poodle back on the floor and waved to Wang Qian and Lu Yiyun.

    Wang Qian made up an excuse to help out next door and slipped away to gossip with Li Kun.

    Seeing that there were no customers at the moment, Lu Yiyun plugged in her graphic tablet and started to draw.

    ¡°Hmph! Who would have thought that us felines would be suppressed one day¡­ Do you think that cats do not exist anymore?¡± Fina stared at the mini poodle with dissatisfaction.

    ¡°Speaking objectively, a dog¡¯s sense of smell is, indeed, better than that of cats. Nothing can be done, even if you¡¯re not happy about it,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Fina turned and stared at Zhang Zian. ¡°Do not belittle us cats. There are millions of cats, so don¡¯t assume that there¡¯s ack of talented ones!¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°I know! Some cats are really able to eat¨C¨Cit¡¯s almost a talent.¡±

    ¡°What did you say?!¡± Fina suddenly stood up. ¡°Do not think that this queen is unable to understand what you are trying to hint at!¡±

    ¡°Nope. You¡¯re thinking too much into this¡­ It was a random speech.¡± Zhang Zianughed and tried to brush it off.

    Snowy Li took the chance to interrupt. ¡°Meow! Meow! Meow! Your Highness, there¡¯s no need to entertain this stinky man. From what this one sees, we should just castrate him before we say anything else! This one has heard of a folk prescription; it¡¯s said that eating a deep fried human whip can cure and prevent diabetes¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian felt a chill in his crotch, and decided to leave immediately.

    Old Time Tea sighed. ¡°Who knew that a day¡¯s goodwill actually saved another person¡¯s life today.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, who would have thought that it was able to detect the abnormal blood sugar levels of a diabetic¡­¡± Famous echoed after it. ¡°With it by her side in the future, it should be able to help her¨C¨Cat least it can give her a warning when her blood sugar falls again to prevent what happened today from happening again.¡±

    ¡°Ga ga! From what I see, she¡¯s only suffering today because she¡¯s blind. She treated a crap of a man as true love! As for what true love actually is¡­ well you know!¡± Richard cast a look at Zhang Zian. Its first sentence had made a lot of sense, but what came after was back to its original nature.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know! I also don¡¯t want to know!¡± Zhang Zian understood what Richard meant, but he pretended to be dumb. At the same time, he picked up the feather duster and went after Richard. ¡°Earlier the dog barked for a reason, but why did you join in?¡±

    ¡°Ga ga! Bird ughter! Help!¡± Richard pped its wings and flew everywhere, while Zhang Zian chased it from behind with the feather duster in his hands. Left on the ground behind them were bird and chicken feathers.

 Chapter 868: Do Some Splits for You

    <h4>Chapter 868: Do Some Splits for You</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian fussed with Richard for a while, chasing it from upstairs to downstairs.

    Richard flew to the chandelier, confident that Zhang Zian would not attack it in order to not break the chandelier.

    Zhang Zian had to pause their boring Tom and Jerry game. Besides, he didn¡¯t want to disturb Pi.

    ¡°Zan! Zan!¡± Sihwa called from the bathroom.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t recognize that she was calling at first; he thought she was practicing her pronunciation. As she kept shouting, he finally realized that she was calling him.

    ¡°It¡¯s Zi¡¯an, not Zian!¡± He said after walking into the bathroom. ¡°Just like I told you earlier, it¡¯s Xi¡¯an, not Xian.¡±

    ¡°Tooplicated. It¡¯s almost the same!¡± Sihwa waved her hands half-heartedly. ¡°You are a man. Don¡¯t be so picky like a woman!¡±

    ¡°This is about my name!¡± Zhang Zian emphasized.

    ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about this first. What happened to the woman just now?¡± Sihwa asked, pointing downstairs.

    At that time, Zhang Zian noticed the small bathroom window was open, along with the curtain.

    It was springtime, but the wind was still cold. The small bathroom window was usually closed, and Sihwa was not dressed warm.

    Clearly, Sihwa had heard the noise downstairs and felt curious. She had opened the window on purpose so she could hear better.

    ¡°Which woman? The running one?¡± Zhang Zian bent his body over to shut the window.

    ¡°No. Don¡¯t treat me like a kid! Of course I know the running one. Doesn¡¯t she pass by here every day?¡± Sihwa pouted, and sat akimbo in anger.

    ¡°The other one? The other one is a first-time customer. She had a diabetic episode and passed out. The running one happened to pass by and saved her,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°Why are you asking?¡±

    He wondered why Sihwa was suddenly interested in Chu Manhua. Was it because of the ¡°hua¡± in her name? No. Sihwa might not even know how to write ¡°hua.¡±

    ¡°I wanted to start the live broadcast, but the dog was barking so loud downstairs that I lost the mood for it. I opened the window to listen¡­¡± As Sihwa spoke, she became hesitant.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Zhang Zian saw that she looked unusual, as if she was thinking hard about something. It was rare for her¨C¨Cshe was a girl with big boops and small brain.

    ¡°I can¡¯t figure something out,¡± she said in confusion.

    ¡°What is it? Care to tell me about it?¡± Zhang Zian grew more curious.

    ¡°You?¡± She looked at him with distrust. Honestly, the look was hurtful to him.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with me?¡± He looked down at himself. His clothes seemed fine today, and his zipper was even closed.

    ¡°You are a man.¡± She pointed out.

    Zhang Zian was totally lost. ¡°So you want to discuss this with a woman?¡±

    Sihwa believed that finding a woman to discuss things with was not realistic. She sighed and said sadly, ¡°Actually, all I want to find out is why that woman was abandoned by her boyfriend¡­¡±

    ¡°Because her boyfriend can¡¯t ept her diabetes.¡± Zhang Zian shrugged. ¡°Is this bothering you? This man is just an individual case. He can¡¯t represent all men.¡±

    Sihwa looked sadly at her long and strong fishtail under the water. ¡°If Oppa knows I¡¯m a mermaid¨C¨Cone that will never turn into a human¨C¨Cwill he not ept me? Or will he even¡­ abandon me?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know how to answer her, thinking that Oppa¡¯s existence was very likely just in her imagination. If his existence was questionable, how could he abandon her?

    Nheless, ever since Sihwa had showed up, she seemed to be searching for romantic love with all her being. She was even willing to search for her Oppa across half the globe¡­ Of course, that was also rted to her disoriented nature. She didn¡¯t seem to have any idea how far half the globe actually was.

    ¡°My live broadcast audience members often say, ¡®I don¡¯t know what to say. Let me do some splits for you!¡¯ If one day I find myself having nothing to say to Oppa, I can¡¯t even do splits¡­¡± Her mood grew more depressed.

    Holy crap! She believed that?

    Zhang Zian was totally speechless. That was an Inte buzzword. She actually believed that those male Otakus were able to do splits? Even if they forced themselves to do splits, they would only end up ripping their balls apart!

    ¡°If Oppa doesn¡¯t ept me and abandons me, I¡¯m afraid my only choice is to die! Oh no¡­¡± Sihwa wiped her tears with hands and sobbed. ¡°What is the least painful way to die? If I hang myself, my face will look ugly. Cutting my veins would hurt too much. If I throw myself out of the window, I won¡¯t die since I¡¯m only on the 2rd floor. I may have to drown myself in water! Oh no.¡±

    There were too many things to vent about that Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know where to start.

    ¡°Humph! Are you living your life only for a man?¡± Suddenly, an aloof and despising voice came from the outside.

    Sihwa paused her half-hearted sobbing, then looked at the bathroom door with Zhang Zian.

    Fina walked in with a poker face. It stared at her coldly and said, ¡°What¡¯s the big fuss about your Oppa? Why are you stooping so low? If you want happiness, you must fight for it, no matter if you are a cat or a fish! I just can¡¯t help despising women like that¡­ Being abandoned by a man somehow makes their world copse. I want to throw up! Hysterical!¡±

    Zhang Zian was shocked. Fina barely expressed its despise toward someone so explicitly. Maybe it had been treating humans as servants and bugs. Of course, itined about him every day¨C¨Cthat was just its daily routine.

    Both him and Old Time Tea were kind of annoyed to hear Sihwa mentioning ¡°Oppa¡± all the time. Yet, Old Time Tea was too much of a gentleman to say anything, and Zhang Zian was too busy to say anything. Fina was the one who said it outloud so explicitly in such an unforgiving tone.

    The elfins and other people were all empathetic to Chu Manhua¡¯s misfortune. Getting a chronic, deadly disease and being abandoned by a boyfriend she had been dating for years was indeed a tragedy, but he didn¡¯t expect that Fina had apletely different view about it. Maybe it was because it always wore a poker face that nobody noticed it.

    ¡°Fi¡­ Fina¡­¡± Sihwa was shocked, too. Tears glittered on her long eyshes.

    Fina said ruthlessly, ¡°That woman changed jobs for a man, lost weight for a man, learned makeup for a man¨C¨Cshe always put herself in a low and humble position! God rewards brave and strong people! Women should be like this too! A real, admirable woman should have her own ambitions and goals. No matter what difficulties and setbacks she encounters, or if she gets abandoned by a man or not, she should never renounce her own responsibility! Now, wipe your tears dry!¡±

    Normally, Zhang Zian would be teasing it by now, but he stayed totally quiet. The sounds of typing and fluttering wings also paused, as if the entire world was frozen.

    Normally, Sihwa would be crying after being criticized like that, but she wasn¡¯t. Her small mouth was half-open, as if she forgot to cry as a result of Fina¡¯s great impact. She wiped off her tears like a robot.

 Chapter 869: Human Identity

    <h4>Chapter 869: Human Identity</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sihwa was usually afraid of Fina¨C¨Cnot because of its strength, but because of her character. So, even after they made up, it remained the same. If Zhang Zian were to say the same words as Fina, Sihwa would definitely roll her eyes and give sarcastic remarks, but when she faced Fina¡¯s stern lecture, she wouldn¡¯t even think about refuting.

    Fina sat by the door and stared majestically at Sihwa. Even though Fina wasn¡¯t as tall as her, it felt as if Fina was looking at her from above.

    ¡°In the eyes of the world, that woman from earlier is a weak person who deserves sympathy. It is unfortunate that she got dumped by her boyfriend after being diagnosed with diabetes, but if she did not meet that man, then would she not have been diagnosed with diabetes?¡± Fina asked.

    Zhang Zian answered, ¡°She would probably still be diagnosed with diabetes.¡±

    ¡°So, all of you would not sympathize as much in that situation?¡± Fina continued to ask.

    ¡°About that¡­¡± Zhang Zian gave it some thought and said, ¡°Although there would still be sympathy, many people in the world are suffering from illnesses that are much more severe than hers. Type I diabetes isn¡¯t that major whenpared to the rest of them¡­ so my sympathy for her would be reduced, as well.¡±

    ¡°So, all of you are only sympathetic because she¡¯s been dumped by a man, and not because of her own condition,¡± Fina concluded.

    Zhang Zian wanted to disagree, but he wasn¡¯t able to think of a supporting reason. Objectively speaking, Fina was right.

    Fina remained silent for a short while. ¡°This queen is not denying the existence of love, but have you thought about it? In the first ce, why were you born into this world? Was it just to look for a prince charming and marry him? If that is the case, then your existence is really cheap.¡±

    Fina was only speaking her thoughts, but somehow, the word ¡°Prince Charming¡± struck Sihwa hard in her heart, causing it to tremble violently.

    Fina proudly raised her head. ¡°This queen is proud to be born a cat. I have never thought of bing human¡­ This queen¡¯s body, hair, eyes, and ws are all gifts from the heavens, and this queen is proud of them all! But what about you? Why do you feel that it would be good to have legs? Just so you can do a split for your oppa? Do you really like legs that much?¡±

    Sihwa stared at her healthy, slender fishtail. Indeed, she had thought that it would be good if she had legs. If she had legs, she could go wherever she wanted to go, and she could also ride in a car, go on a cruise, and take a ne, just like humans did. But without legs, she couldn¡¯t do any of those things¡­

    ¡°If I had legs, I could do whatever I wanted, I could go wherever I wanted, and I could even take a ne to Korea to meet oppa!¡± Sihwa let out her thoughts.

    Fina¡¯s eyes were filled with ridicule, as if it was looking at an idiot. ¡°You think that all you need are legs to take a ne?¡±

    ¡°Of course I also need money for the ne ticket, but I have money. I¡¯ve already earned a lot of money from all the presents given to me by my audience in the broadcast channel!¡± Sihwa added.

    ¡°Fine. So you think that you¡¯re able to take a ne with just legs and money?¡± The sarcasm in Fina¡¯s tone did not get any milder. It said to Zhang Zian, ¡°Tell her, what else does she need?¡±

    ¡°You need an identification document.¡± Zhang Zian opened his wallet and took out his identification card that had his picture on it for Sihwa to see. ¡°Otherwise, you won¡¯t be able to buy a ticket or get on a ne.¡±

    Sihwa suddenly recalled that Zhang Zian had used his own identification card to apply for her phone card. He had mentioned that one couldn¡¯t make the application without an identification card. It was such a small card¡­ was it really so important?

    ¡°How do I make an identification card?¡± she asked anxiously. ¡°I want one too!¡±

    ¡°This¡­ I¡¯m afraid you can¡¯t make one,¡± Zhang Zian said regrettably. ¡°Only a Chinese citizen born in China can make a China identification card¡­ It¡¯s the same in almost every other country.¡±

    He added, ¡°Though there might be some other people with special capabilities¡­ They might be able to make one through special connections. Sadly, I don¡¯t have such a capability and I don¡¯t know anyone with such a capability.¡±

    Before Sihwa could even get disappointed, she heard Fina highlight, ¡°Chinese person.¡±

    Fina emphasized the word ¡°person¡± and the ridicule in her eyes now carried a hint of pity, as if to say, ¡°Do you still not understand?¡±

    Sihwa blinked her eyes. She looked at Fina, then looked at Zhang Zian, only to realize that Zhang Zian could not bear it any longer and had already shifted his nce away.

    She seemed to understand.

    The handicapped people that passed by downstairs didn¡¯t t have legs, or their legs couldn¡¯t move, but why were they still able to go wherever they wanted?

    Sihwa has been pondering about that question.

    In the end, it wasn¡¯t because of their legs¨C¨Cit was simply because they were humans.

    They were humans; they had their own identification documents; they could apply for their own phone card; they could go to school; they could work; they could keep pets; and they could go wherever they wanted¡­

    So, what she was envious about wasn¡¯t the legs, but the identity of a human?

    Sihwa had such thoughts because she was different from the other elfins. Appearance-wise, the only difference she had from humans were the legs.

    ¡°If you really want an identification card, or to say, if you really want to be human, this queen has a solution,¡± Fina said with a provocative tone. ¡°It just depends on whether or not you are willing to make the sacrifice.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at Fina suspiciously, wondering if it had learned how to bluff from him. Sihwa was an elfin¨C¨Ca mermaid with a long fishtail¨C¨Ceven if her upper body was no different from a human¡¯s, she was still not a human. How was it possible for her to hold an identification card? How could she be human? If he brought her to the immigration office, as long as the immigration officer wasn¡¯t blind, there was no way he would approve her application, right?

    Although Sihwa did not believe her, she still asked with surprise and desire, ¡°What solution? Fina, quick¨C¨Ctell me!¡±

    ¡°It is actually very simple. This queen is really surprised that none of you have thought of this solution¨C¨Cit¡¯s probably because none of you are able to think out of the box,¡± Fina scornfully said.

    Sihwa still didn¡¯t understand, and neither did Zhang Zian too. They were both waiting for Fina to continue.

    Fina jumped up to the side of the fish tank. It looked down, staring at the light blue fishtail.

    ¡°Cut it,¡± Fina said.

    ¡°Ga?¡±

    ¡°Meow, meow, meow? Your Highness, are you finally willing to do it? This one is willing to assist you!¡±

    Ridiculous words could be hearding from outside the bathroom, but Zhang Zian and Sihwa were not bothered by them. Fina immediately continued with words that were even more shocking.

    ¡°Since you want to be human so much, cut yourself from the waist and give up your fishtail forever. Although you¡¯ll be a handicap, no one could pick anything out from just your appearance. You can then use special methods to apply for an identification card, or even spend some money to buy one. That way, you can satisfy your wish of bing human. But, you have to consider this¨C¨Cis your oppa really worth you doing all this for?¡±

    Zhang Zian felt that Fina had changed into another cat. It was filled with sly temptations, just like¡­ thosemonly seen witches in fairy tales.

 Chapter 870: Freedom

    <h4>Chapter 870: Freedom</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    If you think about it, there were indeed cats in fairy tales, except that they were mostly ck cats sitting on an evil witch¡¯s shoulder. They were gloomy and scary, and often terrified the fairy tale heroes with their long, sharp teeth.

    Fina¡¯s tone and face were both provocative and tempting. It showed its little tiger¡¯s teeth once in a while, looking slightly like an evil ck cat in a fairy tale.

    It ced a seemingly impossible trade in front of Sihwa¨C¨Ctrading her tail for a human¡¯s identity.

    Yet, the trade was not totally impossible; it was actually kind of feasible.

    If Sihwa really showed up to the world as a handicapped girl who had lost her legs, nobody would ever think that she used to be a mermaid. She could get as much sympathy as she wanted by using her gorgeous face. It was hard to get an ID card, but not totally impossible. There were many things one could not buy with money, but an ID card was not one of them.

    Without considering who would perform the surgery, or how Sihwa could survive the surgery, Fina¡¯s proposal was not as impulsive as Zhang Zian had imagined.

    ¡°Hey! We get our body from our parents. We don¡¯t have the right to mutte it¡­¡± Old Time Tea said quietly from outside the bathroom. Maybe it wanted to convince Sihwa to give up the horrible idea. Yet,ter it realized that Sihwa had no parents at all, so she would not feel guilty to anyone even if she mutted her body.

    It seemed that Fina¡¯s fierce speech had shocked all the elfins on the first floor.

    Sihwa¡¯s face was as pale as paper. ¡°Fi¡­ Fina, you mean that¡­ I need to cut off my entire tail?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Don¡¯t you alwaysin about your tail? You always want an ID card and a human identity¡­ Cutting your tail off is the easiest and the only feasible option¡­¡± Fina¡¯s eyes shifted up her tail, stopping at her skinny waist.

    Sihwa was no different from a human from her waist up. Light blue scales started appearing around her waist. They were small at first, and became bigger around her waist.

    To execute Fina¡¯s horrible idea, Sihwa would be cut in two at the waist¡­

    A bloody scene appeared in Zhang Zian¡¯s mind, along with other elfins, including Sihwa herself.

    She quivered. Fear prated her bones.

    They were not in a fairy tale. She could never get a pair of legs¨C¨Cnever ever. But she could obtain human identity through another cruel way.

    But, was it worth it?

    Zhang Zian wanted to tell her it was not worth it, but after ncing around the narrow bathroom, he swallowed his words back.

    If a prisoner was confined in a ten square meter room all his life, and could never step out, but was offered a way out if he was willing to give up half of his body, he would do it. He could be free from his prisoner¡¯s identity¡­ Although he would end up handicapped, he would at least be able to leave the small, shabby room. Who could be sure that the prisoner would never choose thetter?

    Fina turned around and stepped away slowly. ¡°You can think about it.¡±

    As Fina left, the other elfins also went back downstairs so that Sihwa could think about it by herself.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be out, too,¡± Zhang Zian said, closing the bathroom door behind him.

    He didn¡¯t go downstairs, but leaned against the door to think. Giving up a fishtail for a human identity sounded familiar somehow, as if he had read it somewhere.

    Speaking of books, nobody could beat Pi.

    Zhang Zian walked next to the desk. Pi was not typing but was flipping through the Nameless Book.

    ¡°Pi, I want to ask you something.¡± He pulled a chair close to sit.

    ¡°Eek?¡± Pi scratched its head, then pointed back at the bathroom, meaning, ¡°Is this about Sihwa?¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°Yes and no. In fact, I wanted to ask you¡­ You stay in the living room all day and barely go out. Do you ever feel lonely?¡±

    ¡°Eek.¡± Pi grinned and typed, ¡°Sometimes. Sometimes I want to get out and look.¡±

    ¡°But?¡± Zhang Zian asked again.

    Pi tapped its Nameless Book and typed, ¡°The whole world is in my book. Looking at the world with my own eyes is no different from looking at it in my book.¡±

    Then it pointed at the busy Book Friends Group and typed, ¡°Besides, I have so many Book Friends with me. So I¡¯m not lonely.¡±

    Zhang Zian believed Pi, but its case didn¡¯t suit Sihwa, as it was too spiritual. There was fortune, beauty, and everything in the book. It could gratify all curiosity through the Nameless Book; there was no need to step out of the house.

    ¡°Okay, Pi. I¡¯ll leave you with your work. Don¡¯t forget to take breaks.¡± Zhang Zian stood up and tapped its shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ll head downstairs.¡±

    ¡°Eek.¡±

    Zhang Zian went downstairs, and saw everything was as usual. The elfins were doing what they were always doing¨C¨Csome were sleeping, some were watching television, while some were ying¡­

    Yet, just because it seemed normal, it became abnormal and unnatural, as if nobody wanted to talk about what had just happened.

    Two or three movie fans stayed around Famous. There were no real customers for now.

    Wang Qian was still working next door. Lu Yiyun was drawing with her head down.

    ¡°Xiao Yun.¡± Zhang Zian walked to the cashier counter, then knocked on the desk with his knuckle.

    ¡°What?¡±

    Lu Yiyun lifted her head in a haze. Behind her thick sses were a pair of innocent eyes.

    ¡°Is this a good time? I want to ask you something.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought about the correct wording to use. Talking to a young girl was not as casual as talking to an elfin, especially with what he was about to ask her. He didn¡¯t want to hurt her feelings.

    His tone and attitude surprised her, and made her panic for a moment. She thought he finally found out about the Gay Pet Shop series she had been posting on Weibo and wanted to fire her¡­

    ¡°What¡­ What is it?¡± she asked anxiously.

    ¡°As far as I know, you are quite an Otaku, right? This is not an insult¡­ I¡¯m an Otaku, too, and I don¡¯t like going outside, nor dealing with people,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°I just wanted to ask¨C¨Cdo you ever feel lonely about your monotone life between your apartment and the pet shop? Don¡¯t you want to go out sometimes?¡±

    Lu Yiyun pushed her sses up. From her impression, Zhang Zian was not the kind of person who would discuss such a topic with her.

    She thought for a while and said, ¡°I¡¯m not lonely. The shop is always busy with so many pets and so many customers. I¡¯m not lonely at home either; I have Jasmine.¡±

    As she spoke, she tickled Jasmine¡¯s chin. Itidzily on herps with its belly up, fully unaware of the fact that its private parts were in the air¡­

    ¡°Speaking about going out¡­ Well, sometimes I want to. But I only think about it. I want to visit interesting ces, but after thinking about it carefully, I don¡¯t feel the need for it. Tourist attractions are nothing more than thebinations of people, trees, houses, mountains, and water. It¡¯s nothing more than that. It¡¯s easier to follow Snowy¡¯s live broadcast¡­ Of course, not having enough money is the biggest reason. It¡¯s already not easy to keep Jasmine and myself alive,¡± she said a lot at one time, then smiled shyly.

    She was not old, yet her words carried a sense of agedness.

    In fact, everybody thought that about tourist attractions, especially some cultural attractions. One could see as many as they wanted in pictures and videos, but everybody still followed the big crowd to the attractions during vacations and holidays.

    ¡°Well¡­ If you have a lot of money, but you have to stay at home all your life, you can never step out of the door, and can buy everything you want online, would you ept it?¡± Zhang Zian asked her in a different way.

    He thought she might say yes, although it might be an impulsive answer. But she shook her head without hesitating. ¡°I don¡¯t ept it. Absolutely not!¡± She was extremely firm, allowing no room for discussion.

    ¡°Why? Don¡¯t take me wrong, but isn¡¯t your old life style just like this?¡± Zhang Zian was a bit surprised, and teased her intentionally, ¡°Or your real concern is¡­ That you won¡¯t find a boyfriend like this?¡±

    She blushed right away and stuttered, ¡°Boy¡­ Boy¡­ Boyfriend? It has nothing to do with a boyfriend! Besides, I¡¯m not nning to get a boyfriend¡­¡±

    ¡°Fine. Why is it then?¡± Zhang Zianughed too. She made him think of his old ssmate. They also once imed in confidence that they never nned to have boyfriends, yet after they met the destined one, they forgot everything they had once said and threw themselves fully into their love rtionships¨C¨Ceven if the rtionships were doomed to fail and hurt them.

    Therefore, it was not that she didn¡¯t want a boyfriend; she simply had not yet met the right person.

    Sihwa thought she had met the right person, so she threw herself into a love rtionship, even if it was doomed to fail and hurt her¡­

    Lu Yiyun said seriously, ¡°I can stay at home all the time, I can be an Otaku forever, but nobody can deprive my freedom to step outside. Isn¡¯t this in a poem? ¡®Life is precious, and love even more. But I can give up both for freedom.''¡±

    She felt even more embarrassed. ¡°Are my words inappropriate? Does it sound like stupid teenagers? Crap! It happens every time. I lose myself as soon as someone shows a hint of respect¡­ My brain might be corrupted by ACG* world¡­ Mr. Store Manager, please forget what I just said!¡± She said, holding her head in remorse.

    ¡°No, don¡¯t think this way. I like what you just said!¡± Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°Okay. I won¡¯t interrupt you anymore. Keep drawing.¡±

    He left the cashier counter, but Lu Yiyun was still unable to get her regret and self-condemnation out of her mind.

    After hearing her words, Zhang Zian seemed to have thought of something.

    What Sihwa was searching for, or what she should be searching for, might not be a human identity, nor the Oppa that she kept mentioning all day. It was actually freedom, but she had not figured that out yet.

    As there were not many customers yet, Zhang Zian picked up his car key and informed Lu Yiyun, whose face was as red as a cooked crab, that he was leaving. He drove to the beach to finish his daily task of chasing away the marine creatures in the area with the underwater loudspeaker, then collecting interesting marine creatures on the beach.

 Chapter 871: Application Approval

    <h4>Chapter 871: Application Approval</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The weather was good¨C¨Cthe sun was shining, the sea breeze was blowing, and the visibility was great. The weather was not too hot nor too cold¨C¨Cit was all around a great day for a spring outing.

    On the way to the beach, Zhang Zian saw many parents and grandparents taking their kids out to fly kites. The kites of various different colors fluttered high in the air, and one could not help but think, Ah! It¡¯s spring!

    There was also a few elderly men who flew kites that were abnormallyrge, stretching over ten meters long. The kites were made up of connecting sections¨C¨Ca dragon head and a centipede body. It was just like the overlord of the skies, and all the other small kites were iparable.

    Wu!

    A flock of white pigeons flew across the sky above their heads. The pigeon whistles tied to their ws sounded out, making a melodious sound. Zian only hoped that the owner did not raise them in the downtown area.

    Zhang Zian drove along the seawall, all the way to the rugged, dested beach.

    Zian¡¯s phone had rung on the way, but because he was driving, he did not check his phone. After he stopped the car and switched off the engine, he took his phone out to look.

    It was a message from Professor Wei Kang.

    Wei Kang: ¡°Xiao Zhang, the academy just had a meeting, and the academy¡¯s dean has approved our expedition application. That also includes you joining us to Egypt as the special consultant, but they have specifically instructed that, as a non-staff personnel, you are responsible for your own safety and actions. If you have an ident during the expedition, the expedition team and academy will not be held responsible. Do you have any issues with that?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought about it. The academy¡¯s terms were not unreasonable, since he was originally not part of the hired staff. The dean was already being very nice in allowing him to join the expedition team. If he were to cause some trouble or be injured over in Egypt, the school would definitely not be willing to take the responsibility for all of that¡­ Wei Kang must¡¯ve put in a lot of effort to have the dean agree.

    With that, Zian was also able to go around freely. There were more advantages than disadvantages. After all, it was better than him going alone.

    So he replied, ¡°Professor Wei, I¡¯m okay with that.¡±

    Soon enough, Wei Kang sent another message over: ¡°That¡¯s great then. The budget will be avable soon, so we¡¯ll be entering the itinerary nning and equipment preparation stage. I¡¯ll be sending you a form, so please fill it out with the correct data of your height, weight, chest measurement, arm length, and shoe size before sending it back to me. We need to custom order the clothes required for the expedition.¡±

    Zhang Zian received the form, but he was in no hurry to fill it out. He asked, ¡°Professor Wei, I have a request¡­ Can you hear me out?¡±

    Wei Kang: ¡°What request? As long as it¡¯s not against the rules of the expedition team, the dean is not an unreasonable person.¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°I¡¯d like to bring a few pets along with me. Of course, I¡¯ll be responsible for their expenses on travel and meals¨C¨Cthere¡¯s also no need to custom order any clothes for them. They won¡¯t add any trouble to the expedition team.¡±

    Wei Kang: ¡°Reason is?¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°To further ensure that we¡¯re able to aplish the expedition team¡¯s goal: to locate traces of the Egyptian Mau. The pets in my shop have undergone my special training, so they¡¯re able to y an important part of the expedition team. I¡¯m sure that they¡¯ll be able to provide great help to the team.¡±

    There was no need to exin any further. Zian used to be known for his capabilities in training cats, and ever since Famous won the Berlin Film Festival¡¯s best actor award, many people were willing to pay him a high price to train their dog. Although he seemed unaffected when he turned them all of down, he was bleeding inside his heart. His dog training abilities were really just average, however¨C¨Cthere was nothing special about them¨C¨Cand he was going to destroy his own reputation if he took the job. It was just better all around if he turned them all down and remained a mystery.

    Of course, Wei Kang had also heard stories. In fact, even the dean himself was aware of them.

    For the Egypt expedition, the team would be spending most of their time on outdoor expeditions, and the dangers of the hot, Sahara desert need not be exined in detail. Every member of the expedition team was on a major insurance n, and the dean had not nned to approve Zhang Zian¡¯s application of joining the team. If a supernumerary person on the expedition got involved in an ident, then the academy will have to face a lot of pressure.

    What made the dean change his mind were two things: One, Wei Kang brought out all of Zhang Zian¡¯s past achievements, and two, they were surprised to see the news of Zhang Zian and the Police Bureau Chief Chen on TV for their interview where Bureau Chief Chen had expressed his recognition of Zhang Zian.

    With that, in the meeting that had just ended that afternoon, the application for the expedition and Zhang Zian¡¯spany was approved by the academy¡¯s management with a small margin of winning votes.

    Wei Kang replied: ¡°Okay then, I trust you. If you¡¯re saying so, that must mean that you have some guarantee. Bring along your pets then, and I¡¯ll settle it on the academy¡¯s side.¡±

    Zhang Zian replied, ¡°Okay, thanks, Professor Wei. I¡¯ll send the form back soon.¡±

    Even if Wei Kang had not agreed to his request, Zian was going to secretly bring the elfins along. If he did things that way, however, the elfins would not be able to show themselves in front of the expedition. Wei Kang agreeing to his request had saved Zian a lot of trouble.

    After Zian ended the conversation with Wei Kang, he got out of the car with the underwater speaker and got busy.

    A shadow swept across his face. Is that a bird?

    Zian used his hand to block the sunlight, then looked up, to his surprise, to see a kite above his head.

    It was a verymonly seen goldfish kite fluttering high up in the air, bing just a small dot in the sky. If it didn¡¯t pass by above Zian¡¯s head and cast a shadow, it would have been hard for Zian to notice it.

    Usually, not much people visited the beach he was at, and Zian had almost never met anyone there before. But today, there was actually someone flying a kite.

    Zian climbed up a reef rock. He then straightened his back, stretched out his neck, and squinted his eyes, looking towards the direction of the wind¡ªbecause ording to simple physics principles, the person flying the kite could only be in that direction.

    At the furthest end of his sight, Zian vaguely saw two figures, one big and one small. They were happily running along the beach, like father and son, or maybe grandfather and grandson. It was too far for Zian to see clearly.

    The beach was actually not the best ce to be flying kites because of the inconsistent airflow. They might have chosen that ce because it was quiet. The other kiting hotspots were filled with people, and often, the kite strings would get tangled with one another. There was also the danger of crashing into someone when running.

    Zhang Zian remembered the days when his parents brought him out to fly a kite. Staring at the two figures, Zhang Zian was lost in his thoughts. In the two figures, Zhang Zian saw himself from the past.

    It was not until a particrlyrge wave crashed into the reef rock and sshed thousands of crystal clear water droplets that he was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts. A few drops of salty sea water sshed onto his face.

    Heughed at himself before jumping off the reef rock. Putting the past memories away, he rolled up his pants and walked towards the water. He ced the underwater speaker into the water and let Sihwa¡¯s singing y across the sea.

    Of course, during that period, he did not just wait. He looked down and strolled along the beach, using his prepared stick to stir the water. He moved away the smaller reef rocks to look for rare marine creatures in the waters and under the reef rocks.

 Chapter 872: Stranded for Death

    <h4>Chapter 872: Stranded for Death</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    There was no harvest that day. There were some rare marine creatures, but they were all too small and too young. Zhang Zian threw them back into the sea after picking them up and looking at them. He continued the search with his head down.

    ¡°Uncle! Uncle!¡±

    Loud, pping footsteps came behind him. It was the specific sound of when shoes pped against the sand.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t look back. Who could possibly be the uncle? It was surely not him.

    ¡°Uncle! Uncle!¡±

    The footsteps came even closer. A shadow suddenly stepped out from one side, and stopped in front of Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Uncle, you¡­ Do you have hearing problems?¡±

    An outgoing boy put his hands on his knees and panted heavily, either from the workout or the sea breeze. His cheeks were as red as fire.

    Zhang Zian was speechless. ¡°Why did you call me uncle?¡±

    The little boy blinked in confusion. ¡°You are younger than my dad. What else should I call you? Older uncle?¡±

    Zhang Zianmented that the world was spiraling downward. Kids today were so rude.

    He nced around and didn¡¯t see anyone, then he bent down and said seriously, ¡°You should call me brother, of course. I¡¯m not that much older than you. Should you call me older brother?¡±

    The little boy stared at his face and looked carefully. He didn¡¯t seem only a few years older than him.

    ¡°¡­Okay then. Brother, you seem to be free. Can youe over with me? My dad needs help over there.¡± The boy stopped dealing with the uncle and brother issue. While he spoke he pointed in the distance, looking very anxious.

    Zhang Zian thought, Do I look free?

    He looked where the boy pointed, then at the sky above. It was sunny without a cloud, except the kite was now gone.

    ¡°Were you just flying the kite?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yes! Un¡­ Brother,e with me now!¡± The boy didn¡¯t hesitate. He grabbed Zhang Zian¡¯s arms and left.

    ¡°Wait a minute. What is it exactly?¡± Zhang Zian was dragged against his will.

    The boy pointed with his fingers. ¡°There¡¯s a whale on the beach over there!¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Zhang Zian was astonished. ¡°A whale?¡±

    ¡°Yes! I think it¡¯s dying. I saw it when I was flying the kite with my dad. We wanted to push it back into the sea, but we can¡¯t¡­¡± the little boy said.

    ¡°Wait!¡± Zhang Zian braked with his feet. He didn¡¯t really resist, otherwise, how could a little boy drag him away?

    The boy felt as if he was pulling a pir. He suddenly tripped and almost fell.

    ¡°Brother, why are you doing this? That whale is really dying!¡± The boy was so mad and anxious that he was almost in tears.

    Zhang Zian pulled him with the other hand. ¡°Are you stupid? What can I possibly do even if I go there? Do you really think that the three of us are Hulks, strong enough to push a whale? Let me make a phone call first.¡±

    He called the yellow pages first and got the local Fishery Administration Office¡¯s number. He then called the office and reported their location, telling them that a whale was stranded here, and a tow boat was needed as soon as possible.

    The boy was scratching his face anxiously, telling him to hurry up.

    After Zhang Zian had finished the call, he didn¡¯t go forward with the boy, but instead pulled him to his car. He took a few empty stic containers out of the car, and stacked them on top of one another.

    ¡°Why are you taking these? Do you want to cut off a few strips of meat after the whale dies, then make whale dumplings at home for lunch?¡± the boy asked skeptically.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you too imaginative?¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have time to exin. He locked the car door and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    The boy ran in front. Zhang Zian followed him with stic containers in his hands.

    Soon, they turned along the coast. A gigantic, streamlined body appeared in front of them, and a middle-aged man stood next to it.

    ¡°Dad! I¡¯m back!¡± The boy shouted at the top of his lungs. ¡°I¡¯ve searched everywhere. This man is all I could find!¡±

    ¡°Xiao Zhi, what took you so long? I was worried you got lost¡­¡± The middle-aged man had a H-shaped kite handle in his hands. The goldfish kite was lying on the beach nearby with a rock on top of it, in case the wind blew it away.

    ¡°Hello. What happened?¡± Zhang Zian nodded to greet the middle-aged man. His eyes fell upon the whale.

    ¡°Oh. I was out flying a kite with my son. We found this stranded whale when we ran here. I think it may not survive. But Xiao Zhi, my son, insisted we get help to save it¡­¡± The middle-aged man exined. ¡°Oh, by the way, myst name is Huang. Just call me Huang.¡±

    Judging from his face and tone, Huang didn¡¯t really want to get involved with the whale. He waited in patience only because his son kept begging him. Maybe he didn¡¯t want to frustrate his boy¡¯s innocent heart.

    Huang and Xiao Zhi were ordinarily dressed. Their family was most likely ordinary, lower-middle ss.

    Zhang Zian told them his name.

    The whale had a t and pointy head, white pectoral fins, grey back, and white belly¨C¨Call of its characteristics indicated that it was a young minke whale that was stranded on the beach. It was around five meters in length and three tons in weight. The bodyid sideways on the beach at a 45 degree angle.

    Its chest and belly fluctuated slightly. It tail, dorsal, and pectoral fins pped from time to time with less and less strength.

    Huang rolled up his sleeves and said, ¡°I just tried with my son, but we can¡¯t move it. Shall we try again on three? There¡¯s nothing else we can do if we can¡¯t¡­¡±

    Despite the fact that his pants were rolled up, they were already wet up to his knee. He took off his shoes and socks and left them where the waves could not reach.

    ¡°We don¡¯t need to try. We can¡¯t move it, for sure.¡± Zhang Zian shook his head.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you have a rod? Let¡¯s try to use it as a lever,¡± Xiao Zhi said, unwilling to give up. ¡°Didn¡¯t someone say, ¡®Give me a fulcrum, and I shall move the earth?¡¯ There shouldn¡¯t be a problem to move a whale, should there?¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°My rod is stic. You can¡¯t even move me with it, not to mention the whale¡­ I already notified the local Fishery Administration¡¯s Office on my way here. They should arrive soon. Lately, the city government office has voiced repeated acts to protect the whales in our neighboring sea. They should not ignore this.¡± Zhang Zian debriefed Huang.

    ¡°If the government officers areing, shall we go back then? You mom is cooking at home and waiting for us to go back to eat.¡± Huang said the first sentence to Zhang Zian, and the second to his son. Clearly, he was ready to leave.

    ¡°We should wait for a moment.¡± Zhang Zian tried to keep him there. ¡°Let¡¯s not overestimate the government¡¯s promptness. Come, let¡¯s grab a container each and take turns to pouring water on the whale, just in case it overheats.¡±

 Chapter 873: Cooling Down

    <h4>Chapter 873: Cooling Down</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Huang and his son Xiao Zhi took the stic storage boxes that Zhang Zian handed them; they didn¡¯t know his intentions.

    Xiao Zhi couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°Unc¡­ no, big brother, the weather¡¯s so cold. It¡¯s definitely cold from being soaked in the water, right? Shouldn¡¯t we cover it up with sand instead? Why are we sshing it with water?¡±

    It was close to noon. The temperature was about ten degrees over. It was a very cooling temperature, but it was not the same when one was wet and the wind was blowing.

    Earlier, Xiao Zhi and Huang had already tried to push the minke whale back into the sea. Their pants were already wet up to their knees. Stepping on the beach barefoot, their toes sunk deep into the sand. They could feel the loss of heat from their soles as the cold circted back.

    Huang suddenly thought of something. He nodded and said, ¡°Yes! We should pour water! The reason why fish die on shore is because they don¡¯t get soaked with water, so they can¡¯t breathe. Xiao Zhi, don¡¯t stand there like a fool! Quickly, scoop some water. Don¡¯t you want to save this whale?¡±

    Zhang Zian found a reef rock and sat down. He raised his head and squinted his eyes at the ring sun. He started taking off his shoes and socks, then exined, ¡°Whales are not like us. They spend most of their time living in the lower temperatures of the middle sea level. They only get temporary exposure to sunlight when they float up to the surface of the sea to breathe, which is why they have a thickyer of fat to keep them warm. When they¡¯re beached, the temperature that may be just right for us is like a hot summer day to them. In addition, it¡¯s sunny out today, so it¡¯s grayish-ck back must¡¯ve already absorbed a great deal of heat. It must be suffering from the heat now¡­ If we don¡¯t do anything now, it¡¯s probably going to die from a heat stroke before the tow boat from the Administration of Fishery arrives.¡±

    As for Huang, Zhang Zian decided to save him some face, and not point out his mistake of mistaking a whale for a fish. After all, a father¡¯s image in front of a child was very important.

    Xiao Zhi now understood. He quickly ran into the water and scooped out a full box of seawater. He had overestimated his strength, however, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯t lift the box up. With no other options, he poured out half the water and ran back to the minke whale, sshing it with water. Clearly, he believed his father¡¯s exnation that whales breathe through their gills.

    Zhang Zian and Huang both made their way into the water, too, scooping out water with the storage boxes, then sshing it onto the other parts of the minke whale.

    Although it sounded easy, it was actually really tiring¡ªlugging that heavy weight around, and raising up box after box of seawater. After a few cycles, all three of them were panting hard, and their arms were both sore and aching.

    It was okay for Zhang Zian, since he was still young and had been training. But Huang, on the other hand, was just an ordinary sryman; he worked during the day and was responsible for teaching his child during the night. It had been some time since hest participated in any rigorous activity, and it only took a short while before he was drenched in his own sweat.

    ¡°I can¡¯t¡­ I need a break.¡± Huang wiped off his sweat and sat down on a reef rock. Squinting his eyes at the horizon, he mumbled to himself, ¡°Why isn¡¯t it here yet? It¡¯s really very slow¡­¡±

    To Huang, it felt like a lot of time has passed, but in actual fact, it was just a short while. The Administration of Fishery was not the 110 patrol officer, so their response time was not as fast. The staff who picked up the call might not even have had the authority to mobilize the fishery boat. He would have to report the matter to his supervisor and wait for approval. It was definitely going to take some time for all that to process, and what if the supervisor was not around¡­

    Xiao Zhi was also too exhausted. He just sat down on the beach. Whether or not he would be scolded by his mother when he returned home was not part of his consideration at the moment.

    Zhang Zian did not rush them. It was already verymendable that they were able to take the initiative to help out the beached minke whale. Zhang Zian continued alone for awhile before he also stopped and took a break.

    Zian did not sit down¨C¨Che felt that he would getzy if he sat down, so he stood beside the minke whale to try and catch his breath.

    After it had cold water sshed on it, the minke whale seemed to be feeling better. Its tightly shut eyes were now slightly opened, and it locked eyes with Zhang Zian, who was just beside it.

    The shape of the minke whale¡¯s eye was simr to that of the human¡¯s¨C¨Cunder its eyelid was an astonishinglyrge eyeball. It was clearly still a calf, but it already had thick bags under its eyes, and a few thin wrinkles were stretched around its eyelids.

    Its eyes were ck and white¨C¨Cwarm and bright¨C¨Cwith the white fundus, and the ck pupil. In the ck pupil, there was an obvious white circle, and in that white circle was another ck pupil.

    It was said that the intelligence of whales and dolphins were second only to humans, even further exceeding monkeys and orangutans, who are close rtives of the human. Being watched by the whale¡¯s eye, Zhang Zian clearly realized that point¡­ The whale was an intelligent creature; it knew that they were helping it, and it was showing gratitude through its eyes.

    The feeling could only be felt and not shared with words. It was just like being watched by a crocodile¨C¨Cone would be able to feel it¡¯s cold-bloodedness. When one was watched by a dog, they can also feel its loyalty¨C¨Cor contempt, when watched by Fina.

    Zhang Zian reached out his hand and patted it as an attempt tofort the whale.

    A cool and smooth sensation was felt on his palm. Zian could also feel the slight undtions on its skin; it was like a leather sofa with an excellent feel.

    Its skin was both soft and tough. It was also very stic when pressed slightly, and there was at least ayer of fat under the skin as thick as a finger.

    The sun rose higher and higher in the sky.

    Zhang Zian regained some stamina and again started using the stic storage boxes to scoop some water. He was seriously considering if he should call his two strongborers, Wang Qian and Li Kun, down to help out with the hard work.

    Xiao Zhi and Huang took a longer break, continuing again after they had enough rest. Whenever Huang scooped out a box of water, he would look into the far distance, hoping for the fishery boat to arrive sooner. If Huang was to continue with that rigorous activity, he¡¯d be turning up for work the next day with sores and aching.

    ¡°Unc¡­ big brother! This whale, it¡¯s bleeding! Dad! Come over and take a look!¡± Xiao Zhi suddenly screamed out.

    Zhang Zian and Huang made their way over after hearing him. They soon noticed the blood stains on the beach, and the blood was oozing out from one side of the minke whale. But because the wound was pressed against the beach, they could not see the exact condition of the wound.

    The blood might have already seeped into the sand, and was only seeping out now after the sand had absorbed enough water from the continuous flushing.

    ¡°No wonder it¡¯s beached¡­ The cause is the wound,¡± Zhang Zian said softly.

    Whales being beached and dying was amon urrence¨C¨Cthere were almost a few cases each year. It happened to different whales worldwide. The reason for them being beached was veryplicated. Except for a small number that were suffering from an injury, most whales did not have obvious reasons. Some said that the whales lost their way; some said it was just an ident; some said that it was due to the sonar interference¡­ There were even some that suggested that it might be a suicidal phenomenon.

    But the reason that the minke whale in front of them was beached was due to its injury. It might have been influenced from the pain, then t lost its sense of direction and ended up rushing ashore. Of course, that was just a spection¨C¨Conly the whale knew the true reason, but it couldn¡¯t speak.

 Chapter 874: Flipping the Whale

    <h4>Chapter 874: Flipping the Whale</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Dad! What should we do? Shall we go to the pharmacy for Band-Aids?¡± Xiao Zhi asked nervously after he saw that the whale was bleeding.

    Huang told him in concern, ¡°What good can Band-Aids do? We can¡¯t even see the wound. Let¡¯s wait for the Fishery Administration¡¯s boat. They¡¯ll figure something out.¡±

    ¡°We can push and flip it so that the wound will be visible?¡± Xiao Zhi proposed again, still unwilling to give up.

    Huang shook his head. ¡°Boy, did you forget? We tried it just now. It wouldn¡¯t move at all.¡±

    ¡°This time there are three of us! Besides, we are not pushing it back to the sea, just helping it flip¡­¡± Xiao Zhi mumbled in dissatisfaction. Unable to get an answer from his dad, he looked at Zhang Zian.

    ¡°I think we can try,¡± Zhang Zian said without much confidence.

    There were three of them, but there were really only two and half¨C¨CXiao Zhi was only half a man.

    ¡°Dad! Come help us!¡± After getting Zhang Zian¡¯s support, Xiao Zhi ran to the minke whale¡¯s side in excitement, waving at his dad to hurry up.

    Zhang Zian also walked next to Xiao Zhi. He picked a location and stood there.

    Huang¡¯s back was hurting a little. He didn¡¯t want to help, but he was too embarrassed to refuse under such circumstances. He had to drop the stic container and stand next to them.

    The three of them posed the same way: They pushed their arms against the minke whale¡¯s body and bent their bodies to about a 45 degree angle with the ground.

    ¡°Are you ready?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    The other two clenched their teeth and nodded.

    ¡°One, two, three!¡±

    As ¡°three¡± was uttered, the three people breathed and shouted at the same time. With a shout in one voice, all their muscles tightened, and their feet sank deep into the sand.

    Xiao Zhi¡¯s face was all red. Veins popped on Huang¡¯s forehead.

    Under thebined strength of the three of them, the minke whale¡¯s body tilted slightly, but not enough to make it flip.

    Their strength drained quickly. The whale¡¯s skin was too slippery, making it hard for them to find an appropriate spot to push.

    ¡°Ah!¡± As Huang yelled, his hands slipped. The two others could not support the whale¡¯s body. It fell back heavily to its old position.

    Maybe it fell on the wound. The minke whale screamed sharply in pain; its body quivered vigorously.

    Zhang Zian had good reflexes. He grabbed Xiao Zhi and Huang immediately to step back, one in each hand, in case the swinging pectoral fins swept them. The force was as strong as being hit by a hammer.

    The three people stepped back to a safe distance, terrified.

    The minke whale only struggled a few times before it used up all its strength. Plus, the more it struggled, the higher its body temperature became. It stopped moving, exhausted, and in worse condition than before.

    ¡°No! It¡¯s my fault! My hands slipped!¡± Huang sighed.

    ¡°Shall we try again?¡± Xiao Zhi asked with his head up.

    Zhang Zian shook his head and told them, ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. We don¡¯t need to try again. We overestimated our strength. Even if you didn¡¯t slip, we still couldn¡¯t move it.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t saying that for the sake offorting them¨C¨Cthey really were using all their strength. Even if Huang didn¡¯t slip, they could notst more than a few seconds. Three Zhang Zians might do the job, but Huang and Xiao Zhi were not strong enough.

    They were all sweaty, scared, and tired, especially Huang. His sweat would not stop; he almost passed out.

    It was almost noon. After such a long workout, they were all getting hungry and growing weaker. Xiao Zhi was still growing, so he became hungry faster.

    ¡°All we can do is wait?¡± Xiao Zhi asked, swallowing his saliva.

    ¡°Let¡¯s wait. After the tow boat arrives, they can tow it back to the sea and dress the wound. It won¡¯t be too much longer.¡± Huang kept wiping sweat away from his face.

    When the minke whale¡¯s wound was slightly above ground, Zhang Zian paid attention to observe it. He could not see it well, but he could at least be certain that if it was towed into the water with a boat, the wound would rub against the sand so badly, that the pain alone would be enough to kill it. Even if it was towed into the water sessfully, it would swim away on its own; they might not get a chance to dress the wound.

    ¡°Wait for me. I¡¯ll be right back.¡± Zhang Zian left, running towards his car.

    ¡°Is he running away because he doesn¡¯t want to wait any longer?¡± Huang asked skeptically, staring at his back.

    ¡°He shouldn¡¯t be¡­¡± Xiao Zhi was not sure, either.

    They waited at the same spot for a while, staring in the direction that Zhang Zian had left. Yet, a little whileter, they heard a car honking beside them.

    Zhang Zian drove his Wuling Hong Guang carefully, and stopped where the beach met solid ground. If he went any further, the tires might sink into the sand.

    He stopped the car, took some spare ropes from the trunk, and tied one end on the hitch. He walked towards the minke whale with the other end in his hand.

    One rope was not long enough. He tied two together and it was barely enough. It would be too short if the whale any further away.

    ¡°Come. Help me get the rope under its body.¡± Zhang Zian passed the rope to Huang, while he stood at the other side the whale. Huang tied the rope to the rod, then thrusted it to the other side under the minke whale¡¯s body.

    They worked together, tied the minke whale around with the rope, and tied a solid knot.

    ¡°I¡¯ll start the engine. When I pull, you two push. This time it will work,¡± Zhang Zian instructed them.

    After understanding his intentions, Huang and Xiao Zhi¡¯s faith was greatly boosted.

    As the engine roared, the wheels stirred up a lot of sand underneath, which hit the car¡¯s bottom loudly. The rope straightened immediately.

    Zhang Zian felt the car vibrate violently. He cheered on the Wuling Hong Guang in his heart. A good car was known in rough conditions!

    In fact, he didn¡¯t really need Huang and Xiao Zhi¡¯s help. The engine alone was able to slowly flip the minke whale¡¯s body. As the father and son added their force, the minke whale flipped 180 degrees with a loud bang.

    Zhang Zian turned off the smoking engine, locked the car, untied the rope, and ran to the minke whale.

    ¡°This is a bad wound! Did a human do this?¡± As Huang stared at the wound, he suddenly turned sympathetic and said with concern, ¡°Who did this?¡±

    Xiao Zhi¡¯s mouth was wide open. He felt the pain by looking that the whale¡¯s bloody wound.

    There was a ring wound on one side of its back. It was not big, but it seemed very deep. It might have gotten it a while ago, and it had never healed. The wound¡¯s edge was slightly infected.

    A piece of wood pierced deep into the wound. The wood was thicker than a grown man¡¯s thumb, with broken stubble left outside.

    No wonder the pain was driving it crazy. A man with such a bad wound might have been dead already.

    After examining the wound, Zhang Zian said, ¡°It seems to be a spear gun. The spear broke off inside.¡±

    ¡°How do we deal with it?¡± Huang and Xiao Zhi asked in one voice.

    ¡°The spear must be removed. Otherwise, the wound will never heal and will be infected soon. It will die of sepsis,¡± Zhang Zian said.

 Chapter 875: The Right Way to Use a Swiss Army Knife

    <h4>Chapter 875: The Right Way to Use a Swiss Army Knife</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The warm sunlight was pleasant to the men, but the rising temperature caused by the sunlight was now killing the minke whale, and the high temperature was also speeding up the wound¡¯s inmmation process. If the broken harpoon that was lodged in the wound was not taken out, even if the whale were to return to the sea, it was not going to live more than a few days.

    In the course of the inspection, Zhang Zian faintly smelled a rancid smelling from the wound. He also noticed that the edges of the wound were covered with a yellowish abscess. After rubbing against the beach, some sand had also made its way into the wound, so the situation was not good.

    ¡°How do we get it out?¡± Looking at the minke whale¡¯s gruesome wound, Huang was shaken.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go look for tools in my car. The two of you can continue to shower it with water, especially to wash off the sand in its wound,¡± Zhang Zian instructed.

    Huang and Xiao Zhi did as they were told. They sshed boxes of cold seawater onto the minke whale¡¯s wound, washing off the sand and mud in the wound.

    The minke whale seemed to enjoy having its wound rinsed with seawater. It swayed its caudal fin from side to side.

    Zhang Zian went through the spare tools in his Wuling Shenguang, but he did not find anything that could be of use. He grabbed a pair of pliers and a pair of rubbers gloves then returned back to the minke whale.

    ¡°Huang, do you have a lighter on you?¡± Zian asked. Zian didn¡¯t smoke, so he wouldn¡¯t carry a lighter around.

    ¡°I do.¡± Huang took out a delicate-looking lighter, but before handing it to Zhang Zian, he lit a cigarette and took a puff. ¡°Brother, do you want a stick? It helps to relieve some exhaustion.¡±

    ¡°Dad! You¡¯re secretly smoking again! I¡¯ll tell mom when I get back!¡± Xiao Zhi looked at him with his hands on his waist.

    ¡°Don¡¯t! Xiao Zhi, dad¡¯s just smoking a stick! One stick!¡± Huang smiled and said. ¡°I¡¯ll buy you a toy gun when we get back!¡±

    Zhang Zian took the lighter and tried to light it. He realized that it was windproof, so no matter how strong the sea breeze was, the fire would not go out. Zian took out a key from his pocket.

    A multi-function swiss army knife was hung together with his keys. It was meant to make it convenient for him to open mailboxes, but now it was able to be of use, too.

    ¡°Xiao Zhi, Huang, step back a little.¡± Zhang Zian gestured.

    Huang looked at him while smoking. ¡°Brother, you n to¡­?¡±

    Zhang Zian put on the rubber gloves. The gloves were meant for his wild harvest by the seaside because there were a number of creatures that could be poisonous, so as much as possible, he had to avoid using his own hands to pick them up.

    He lit the lighter again, and heated the small swiss army knife on the yellow me. He exined, ¡°The harpoon is barbed and is hooked to its meat inside. We need to cut the wound open a little more to remove the harpoon¡­ But the process will definitely be very painful, and I¡¯m afraid that it would hurt the two of you during the struggle, so I want you to move back a little.¡±

    Hearing that, Huang quickly pulled Xiao Zhi back to the reef rocks. ¡°Brother, you be careful, too!¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°I will.¡±

    Honestly speaking, Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t confident. He was okay with treating the wounds of cats and dogs since there would only be a few scratches here and there if they struggled. But when facing a whale that weighed about three tons, he was really worried. If it turned around and squashed him, the whale would definitely squeeze the sh*t out of him¡­

    To start the operation for the whale, Zian had to be extra careful. He always had to be ready to retreat.

    Zhang Zian disinfected both sides of the knife with the me, then squatted down next to the minke whale¡¯s head and said to it, ¡°You¡¯re injured, so now I¡¯m going to remove the thing that¡¯s hurting you. The process is going to be very painful, but this is all to help you. Can you bear with it?¡±

    As Zian spoke to the minke whale, he stared right into its eyes and had his hands on its skin. Zian looked very serious. Huang and Xiao Zhi could not help but feel that Zian was ying the lute in front of a cow.

    Zhang Zian was able to feel that the minke whale was a creature of intelligence. Although its intelligence was equivalent to infants whenpared to humans, even infants were able to feel the goodwill of others.

    Whales were not cold-blooded creatures; they are mammals like humans, and they also had a veryrge brain. That gave their intelligence the capital of surpassing the other animals.

    The minke whale¡¯s eyes were also staring at him.

    Whales had very poor eyesight, but they were still able to see clearly in a short distance.

    Zhang Zian repeated his words a few times. The knife was already dark red from being heated up. The heat could also be felt on the handle, so much so that Zian almost couldn¡¯t hold on to it anymore.

    There was no reaction from the minke whale, so Zian wasn¡¯t sure if it could understand him, but he could no longer dy the operation.

    Zian extinguished the me of the lighter and threw it back to Huang. Using his left hand to support the edge of the wound, Zian observed where the harpoon had entered. After estimating where the harpoon was lodged, Zian waved the knife toward the spot.

    The harpoon injury wasn¡¯t recent, as part of the whale¡¯s muscles were already growing back together, which caused the barbed harpoon to be buried inside its flesh. If Zian didn¡¯t cut open its flesh and pull out the harpoon directly, the whale would not be able to bear it even with a will of steel.

    One must be able to steel his heart to be a doctor¨C¨Cthe more one dyed, the more pain they were giving the patient.

    With one sh from Zhang Zian, its meat was cut open and blood immediately gushed out. Simultaneously, Zhang Zian also quickly retreated backward to prevent getting hurt from its struggling.

    Out of pain, the minke whale mmed its caudal fin on the water, sshing up a tower of water that was as tall as a man. It also rubbed its head to the left and right on the beach, leaving a fan-shaped mark on the beach. The whale was clearly in a lot of pain.

    But, even under such pain, it did not make anyrge movements. Its pectoral and dorsal fins only moved a little then stopped and trembled.

    Blood could not stop gushing out from the would; it flowed down its skin and dyed the beach red.

    Zhang Zian waited for a few seconds. After seeing that it didn¡¯t make any fierce struggle or put up any resistance, Zian carefully went back beside it.

    As the blood was not stopping, Zian couldn¡¯t see what it was like inside the wound. It would have been great if there was someone to help wash away the blood with water, but both Huang and Xiao Zhi were too terrified to move.

    Zian had felt the tip of his knife touch something hard when he had shed it. It stopped his knife from going further and it didn¡¯t seem to be the minke whale¡¯s bone.

    Zian used to pliers to mp on to the broken handle of the harpoon and he tried to pull it out. He could feel that the harpoon was loosened.

    The minke whale started struggling more intensely; its whole body could not stop shaking.

    Zhang Zian could only give it a try. He used all his strength and pulled the broken handle!

    Pu!

    Together with its handle and barbs, the harpoon was pulled out from its wound, and a string of blood beads formed an arc under the sunlight.

    Zhang Zian had used too much strength. He lost his bnce and fell on his butt after stumbling a few steps. With blood on it, the harpoon was stuck in the sand.

    Out of pain, the minke whale started to hit its head and tail fins against the beach and water. It seemed to be in a spasm. A powerful breath of air was blown out from its nostrils, blowing up the sand towards Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes.

    For an instant, Zhang Zian really felt that it might die from the pain, but after a few seconds, the whale stopped struggling and became quiet. The blood did not seem to gush out as much as earlier, but it still didn¡¯t stop.

    Zhang Zian stood up again and took a look at the wound.

    Although the harpoon had been removed, the blood gushing out from the wound had be stopped. Otherwise, if it continued to bleed, the minke whale would notst long.

    But how was he supposed to stop the bleeding?

    Use a knife that had been heated red to burn the wound like in the movies?The wound was too big¡­ Zian would have to use a forty-meter long knife to make it work.

    Zian looked around and his gaze fell on the kite that Xiao Zhi and Huang had thrown aside. The long and strong kite line was coiled around the H-shaped handle.

    ¡°Xiao Zhi, can I borrow your kite for a moment?¡± Zhang Zian asked loudly.

    The father and son were pale with fright from the earlier scene. They could not speak for a moment.

    ¡°The¡­ the kite?¡± Xiao Zhi¡¯s lips trembled. ¡°Uncle, what do you need to kite for?¡±

    Zhang Zian had no time to correct him that it was ¡°big brother¡± and not ¡°uncle.¡± He exined, ¡°I just need the kite line. I need it to stitch its wound.¡±

    Huang and Xiao Zhi looked at each other, clearly saying to each other, ¡°You can do that, too?¡±

    Xiao Zhi wanted to bring the kite over, but he was held back by Huang. Huang was afraid of Xiao Zhi getting hurt, so he ran over and ced both the kite and kite handle beside Zhang Zian, then he quickly stepped back again.

    ¡°Even if you have a string now, what can you do without a needle?¡± Huang asked.

    Zhang Zian used the swiss army knife to cut the kite line. He then ced the goldfish kite at the side and rubbed his hands together. He knew that the kite line was a cotton thread, and it didn¡¯t matter if the cotton thread was left in its flesh.

    Zian removed his key ring. mping onto one side with his big pliers and the other with the small plier that came with his swiss army knife, he used the force on both his arms. He pulled the key ring into an arc, then said, ¡°Don¡¯t we have a needle now?¡±

    Huang shouted in his heart, then offered to help, ¡°I¡¯ll help you pull it straight.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to pull it straight. Needles used during operations are all curved¨C¨Cit makes it more convenient to stitch.¡± Zhang Zian looked at both ends of the key ring and chose the side that was sharper. He then filed it on the swiss army knife filer, making it sharper, before he tied the kite line to the other end.

    Huang stood there awkwardly. He wanted to help but he didn¡¯t know what he could help out with.

    Zhang Zian turned and saw Huang¡¯s awkwardness. It was nice that he wanted to help, so he gestured and said, ¡°Huang, help me hold onto the kite handle. I need to stitch the wound for the minke whale, so I¡¯ll need you to release the strings and be careful not to get any sand on it.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Huang picked up the handle as instructed and stood a few steps away. He waited at a safe distance for further instructions.

    Xiao Zhi ran over and stood beside his father, using his fingers to remove every piece of sand from the kite line.

    Zhang Zian used the lighter and lightly burned the key ring to disinfect it. He also did the same for the small pliers on the swiss army knife because the whale¡¯s skin was very thick and tough. Using his fingers to pinch the needles and to stitch was unhygienic and his fingers did not have enough strength to prate the whale¡¯s skin. He was going to use the small pliers to do the stitching of the wound.

    Before he started, Zian once again squatted beside the minke whale, and just like before, he stared into its eyes and said seriously, ¡°I know you can understand me. You did very well earlier. So now, please bear with it for a little longer, okay?¡±

 Chapter 876: Rising Tide

    <h4>Chapter 876: Rising Tide</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The minke whale rolled its ck and white eyeballs, staring at Zhang Zian. He responded with calm and gentle eyes, while petting its smooth and soft skin with his palms.

    Zhang Zian was not sure which one worked¨C¨Cthe eye contact, the tone of his voice, or the body contact¨C¨Cbut he was sure that it was trying its best to control itself and to not hurt anyone by struggling. It proved that it understood that they were helping it to relieve its pain.

    Each stitch on the wound was not as bad as the pain of cutting off the flesh, or removing the spear, but it needed at least a dozen or a few dozen stitches. Could it take such continuous pain?

    Zhang Zian hesitated, wondering if he should invite Sun Xiaomeng toe down. She was a licensed veterinarian, after all, and she would be familiar with stitching up animals¨C¨Cat least much more familiar than he was.

    He thought again. She surely stitched up many wounds, but they were all small animals such as cats and dogs. She might not have simr experience in stitching up such a gigantic whale.

    Besides, it would take her some time to win the minke whale¡¯s trust, and time was what theycked the most.

    As for anaesthesia, she might not be sure about the dose on an animal of that size. If the dose was too low, it would not work. If she was too high on the dosage, it might never wake up again.

    Zhang Zian felt a cold sensation on his ankles. As he looked down, the water was above his feet.

    The tide was rising.

    ¡°Hey! The tide is rising!¡± Xiao Zhi eximed.

    Zhang Zian stood up, looked out over the sea in the distance, and got anxious, ¡°What¡¯s taking the tow boat so long? The Fishery Administration is so inefficient¡­¡±

    The rising tide was the best time to tow the whale back into the water. If they missed that and waited until low tide, it would be in trouble.

    Ssh! Ssh!

    The tide rose under the moon¡¯s gravitational force, each time higher than thest. The ice-cold water made the minke whalefortable, but human¡¯s movements harder. After the tide had reached their waistline, they could no longer stand firmly under the water. They would have to move back, or else it would be dangerous.

    Huang¡¯s cell phone rang. He picked it up quickly. ¡°Where the heck are the two of you? Are youing home for lunch or not?¡± A savage voice came out of the loudspeaker like a roaring lion. Even Zhang Zian could hear it loud and clear.

    Huang smiled at Zhang Zian with embarrassment, then gave the kite handle to Xiao Zhi. He bent over and ran a bit further to answer the phone.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be home soon! Very soon! We just came across with a stranded whale by the beach. It¡¯s wounded, so we are helping it return to the sea¡­¡± Huang¡¯s voice came from a distance.

    ¡°Wounded? Who¡¯s wounded? Xiao Zhi? I¡¯m telling you, Huang, if Xiao Zhi gets hurt, I will kill you!¡±

    ¡°No! It¡¯s not Xiao Zhi, but a whale that¡¯s stranded on the beach¡­¡±

    ¡°Bullsh*t! You think I possibly believe this crap?¡± Huang¡¯s wife gave him crap. He had to take a picture of the minke whale and send it to his wife to appease her anger. She asked him to head home immediately after he finished.

    Zhang Zian suddenly realized what a bliss it was to be single!

    Xiao Zhi was quite used to such interactions with his parents. He stuck to Zhang Zian for all kinds of questions, as he saw the variety of things that Zhang Zian could do with a Swiss Army knife. It was so amazing to him.

    Huang dealt with his wife quickly, then hung up the phone and walked over with an awkward smile. ¡°She¡¯s such an ignorant woman. I won¡¯t make such a fuss like her¡­ Let¡¯s continue.¡±

    As the tide rose higher and higher, there was no time to dy anymore.

    Zhang Zian had already instructed the father and son on what to do. Without further words, he tapped the minke whale¡¯s head and prepared for suturing.

    The flesh around the wound¡¯s edge was already infected. He had to remove the corrupted flesh first before he could suture it. It would cause the whale a lot of pain.

    With each cut, Zhang Zian could feel the minke whale trembling. Maybe hisforting acts turned out to be useful, or the rising tide was reassuring. Despite the pain, it didn¡¯t struggle violently; it gave nothing more than a head or tail shake. The body remained still as much as it could.

    Luckily, whales had a thickyer of subcutaneous fat, in which there weren¡¯t any nerves. There was not much infected flesh, and the wound was not too bigpared to its body size. The deeper tissue was not infected. He removed the infected tissue with only a few cuts.

    The tide continued to rise. Soon, it was over their calves. The water under their feet was tainted red by the whale¡¯s blood.

    Tired and nervous, Zhang Zian¡¯s forehead was covered in sweat. Sweat drops hung on his eyebrows and made him very itchy, but he had no time to wipe them off.

    After cutting off the infected tissue, Xiao Zhi handed him the kite string along with the needle.

    Zhang Zian used the small pliers in the Swiss Army knife in his right hand to grab the needle, and he focused on putting the whale¡¯s skin together with his left hand. He then pierced the needle into its skin like he was sewing cloth.

    The minke whale was getting more and more used to the pain¨C¨Cor it might have been too exhausted to feel the pain. It didn¡¯t struggle as the needle and string pierced through its skin and flesh.

    Huang and Xiao Zhi had turned their heads away when Zhang Zian cut the infected flesh. They felt pain in their own skin by simply watching.

    Zhang Zian had never done any needlework, and the whale was trembling. As a result, the suture was super ugly and all over the ce; it was not symmetrical at all. He would have surely failed had this been a medical school exam.

    Yet, the suture worked almost right away. As the wound was closed up, the bleeding was slowly controlled.

    The whale¡¯s skin was too slippery and tough, while the ¡°needle¡± was not specifically sharp. Zhang Zian was not good at suturing. After a while, his right hand was so sore and numb. As it trembled, the needle slipped off the little pliers. He even almost dropped the Swiss Army knife.

    Although the needle slipped, it didn¡¯t fall into the water, as it was attached to the string.

    Had it been a human surgery, he would surely need to change the needle, or at least redo the disinfection. But due to the limited amount of time left, he could not do that much. He picked up the needle again and continued suturing. Whales were much hardier than men, anyway. He hoped that it could survive.

    As whales moved a lot while swimming in the ocean, Zhang Zian worried that the suture might not hold while it swam. He made dense sutures and used a lot of the kite string.¡¡Huang released the string carefully, while ncing over the sea nearby, searching for the Fishery Administration¡¯s boat.

    Despite being super busy, Zhang Zian asked Xiao Zhi to step away and keep a distance, as the rising tide had submerged the two grown men¡¯s calves. Xiao Zhi was shorter and lighter; the tide already made him swing left and right. He might fall at any time.

    Xiao Zhi didn¡¯t want to leave, but he stayed away under his father¡¯s insistence. He stared at them worriedly from a rock, afraid that the tide might wash them away.

    Suddenly, he captured a ck dot over the horizon.

    He rubbed his eyes and looked carefully. Then he shouted in excitement, ¡°Dad! Look over there! A boating ising!¡±

 Chapter 877: Return to the Sea

    <h4>Chapter 877: Return to the Sea</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The sea water was rising, so there was not much time left for Zhang Zian and his helpers.

    They hoped and hoped that the boat woulde, just like the poor peasants hoping for the red army¡¯s arrival. They were worried that the boat might note if they were unable to find the leader of the Administration of Fishery.

    Xiao Zhi eximed, and both Zhang Zian and Huang turned to look. Indeed, they saw a small towboating towards them. On the boat, they could vaguely see the words ¡°Administration of Fishery¡± written in Chinese.

    Huang, at his age, actually jumped up with joy. He waved his hands and shouted, ¡°Hi! We¡¯re here! We¡¯re here!¡±

    There was no need for him to shout since the minke whale was much more conspicuous than he was. The Administration¡¯s towboat had already noticed them from far away.

    Zhang Zian tried to hurry what he was doing, and quicklypleted the stitching of the minke whale¡¯s wound.

    His technique was very crude. The skin around the wound was lumpy, so there would definitely have an ugly scar in the future. Zian could only hope that the would not affect the minke whale¡¯s ability to find a partner¡­

    Thankfully, the bleeding had stopped; there was only a thread of blood that was still seeping out. This semi-mature minke whale had a very strong life force, and its telets soon coagted the wound.

    The pain that had persisted for a long time was now gone. The minke whale happily patted its pectoral and caudal fins. It inhaled some sea water before expelling it out through its baleen. It couldn¡¯t wait to return back to the ocean.

    But returning was not something it could aplish alone, because its head was in the direction of thend¨C¨Cout of the water¨C¨Cand its body was way too heavy. Without sufficient buoyancy, it was nearly impossible for it to turn around, even with the help of the high tide.

    The towboat was getting closer, and the figure of the people onboard the boat were growing clearer. They could see a few enforcement officers from the Administration of Fishery in their uniforms and orange life jackets.

    The towboat could not be too close to the shore, otherwise, it might also get stranded on shore.

    The enforcement officers turned off the engine and anchored the boat. They parked the towboat approximately about twenty to thirty meters away from the minke whale. Several enforcement officers then took an intable boat towards the shore, they jumped into the water and dragged the small intable boat ashore.

    ¡°Sorry! I¡¯m sorry we¡¯ve kept you waiting for so long!¡± The person in charge stepped up and took the initiative to apologize. He seemed sincere. ¡°We wanted toe over earlier, but the boat was located somewhere else, so we had to arrange for it toe back.¡±

    ¡°Hello. We were the ones who called.¡± Zhang Zian pointed to the himself and the two others on his side.

    ¡°No problem. As long as you guys are here now,¡± Huang said with a smile. He even took out his phone and snapped a few pictures.

    ¡°How long has this minke whale been beached for?¡± the enforcement officer asked.

    Zhang Zian pointed at Huang and Xiao Zhi. ¡°The two of them discovered it first.¡±

    Huang told him everything that had happened. He mentioned that he was flying a kite with his son along the beach when he had chanced upon the beached minke whale. Zhang Zian was then called over by his son when his son went to look for some help. The three of them then helped to ssh water on the whale to control its temperature.

    ¡°You guys handled this very well, but we¡¯re really veryte,¡± the officer praised. ¡°Do you have relevant experiences?¡±

    Huang shrugged his shoulders.

    Zhang Zian answered for him, ¡°I know some popr science information, so I have a very basic understanding.¡±

    ¡°No wonder¡­¡± The officer examined the minke whale. He noticed the wound on its back and the messy stitching. ¡°This is¡­¡±

    ¡°It was already injured when we discovered it. It was caused by a harpoon,¡± Huang hurriedly exined. He also shared how Zhang Zian had removed the harpoon and stitched the wound.

    ¡°Great!¡± The officer stuck out his thumb in awe. ¡°It¡¯s my first time seeing someone operate on a whale without any form of anesthesia! Didn¡¯t it struggle?¡±

    ¡°It struggled, but it was still okay. It wasn¡¯t very aggressive,¡± Zhang Zian answered.

    The officer sighed. ¡°Actually a simr situation has happened before¡­ Forget it, let¡¯s get it back into the sea first. We¡¯ll talk againter.¡±

    Now was not the time to talk. The sea water was rising higher¨C¨Ceven adults like them were unable to stabilize themselves.

    ¡°Lifebuoy and rope,¡± the officer shouted at the other officers from the administration. ¡°Are there any extra life jackets? Throw them here too.¡±

    Ssh! Ssh!

    Several red and white patterned lifebuoys and life jackets were thrown from the small boat. There was also a thick hemp rope.

    ¡°This is what I have in mind: let¡¯s tie the lifebuoy and life jackets onto the whale¡¯s body to increase its buoyancy, then we¡¯ll use the towboat to drag it back into the sea. What do you guys think?¡± the officer asked.

    Zhang Zian nodded and agreed. ¡°I think it¡¯s feasible.¡±

    ¡°Great, then let¡¯s begin.¡±

    They all worked together with the other officers from the administration. They tied the lifebuoy and life jackets on both sides of the minke whale and skillfully used the hemp rope to tie a Y-shaped sailor knot on its body.

    When Zhang Zian had used his Wuling Shenguang to turn the minke whale over, he had also used a rope to tie a knot. When his knot waspared to their sailor knot, however, his was far too simple. The sailor knot was both tight and firm. All they needed to do was to lightly tug on it if they wanted to untie it, but it was a skill that only seasoned seafarers would have.

    They had increased the buoyancy by the lifebuoys and life jackets, as well as the rising sea water which submerged most of the minke whale¡¯s body in the water. It seemed to have gotten a lot lighter. When everyone was tying the rope around it, it was moving its body around, and that would not have happened earlier. It was also a sign that it¡¯s wound wasn¡¯t hurting as much anymore.

    ¡°Okay, there¡¯s nothing more we can do here. Let us go on shore,¡± the officer said.

    Finally, Zhang Zian and the rest could leave the water. Almost half of their bodies were submerged in the sea, and when the waves came, they were pushed around.

    They waddled their way ashore.

    When Zhang Zian walked past the whale¡¯s head, he seemed to have felt something nudge against his thigh. He looked down to see the minke whale looking at him with its warm and peaceful eyes, as if it was trying to convey something very warm to him.

    Zhang Zian gave it a final pat on its head, then waved his hands and walked ashore.

    The officers from the administration pushed the small intable boat back into the sea, and took the other end of the hemp rope to the towboat, the people on the towboat then tied the hemp rope to a specialized towing tool.

    Theymunicated through the use of their walkie-talkie. They had a discussion to start the towboat when the tide was at its highest.

    Zhang Zian and Huang¡¯s pants had absorbed a lot of water, and it was very ufortable having them stick to their skin¨C¨Cespecially since it was cold, too. They wrung their pants to get some water out, and only then did they feel morefortable. It was only a temporary solution; they would have to change their pants immediately when they got home, otherwise when their pants dried up, there were going to be white salt spots.

    The tide was at its highest, and most of the minke whale¡¯s body was submerged in the water. When the biggest wave came crashing down, they could even see its dorsal fin.

    Ssh!

    A thin vapor of water sprayed out, reflecting a splendid iridescence under the sunlight, like the signal old steam trains give before their departure. The happiness of the minke whale could clearly be felt.

    Under themand of their leader, the towboat started up slowly, and it¡¯s horsepower went up from low to high. The thick hemp rope that was originally submerged in the water broke out and stretched into a straight line, dragging the minke whale into the sea.

    The body of the minke whale finally moved, dragged by the powerful power of modern mechanical engines. It slowly moved into the sea.

    The whale seemed to be unustomed to being towed by the ship. Instinctively, it swayed its tail fins and tried to swim towards the shore. It tried to break free, but its power could notpete with the towboat, and it was slowly dragged deeper into the sea.

    It suddenly quieted down and let the towboat continue to drag it back. They only turned off the engine after the officers from the administration aboard the towboat felt that they had reached the safe waters. They then sent out the small boat again to untie the rope around the whale.

    The lifebuoys and life jackets were attached to the ropes, so once the ropes were untied, all of them naturally left the minke whale¡¯s body along with the rope.

    The officers from the administration aboard the intable boat were worried that the whale might have a great reaction after it was free, so they quickly moved away.

    The minke whale seemed to be lost, however; it was in a little bit of a blur. It remained in the same spot for a short while, then with a wave of its tail, it started to swim out to sea.

    It would sometimes swim to the surface of the sea, then plunge back into the sea. Momentster, it surfaced from a very distant ce, and squirted out a thin pir of air. It then sshed a two to three meters high wave with its tail fins. It once again plunged back into the water, swimming further and further away. It soon turned into a little ck spot under everyone¡¯s watch, before it finally disappeared.

    Huang had temporarily forgotten about his wife, who had been rushing him home to eat. With his son on top a reef rock, he tiptoed and extended his neck out to watch. He only snapped out of it when the minke whale disappeared, but he was still in a low mood. ¡°So it¡¯s gone just like that?¡±

    Zhang Zianughed. ¡°Of course. Were you expecting for it to stay here forever?¡±

    Huang clumsily exined, ¡°No, what I meant was¡­ Shouldn¡¯t it look back every three steps and wave its tail at us, then leave with reluctance?¡±

    Even the officers from the administration next to themughed. ¡°Do you think this whale is a dog? Also¡­ wagging its tail?¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not what I meant¡­¡± Huang¡¯s face flushed red, but he was also unable to urately express how he felt.

    Zhang Zian could more or less understand his feelings. It was just like encountering a stranger on the street who was in trouble, but after one went through a lot of trouble to help him, he just left without saying anything. Maybe they weren¡¯t expecting any mary repayment, but the stranger should at least express some gratitude¨C¨Cor at the very least, leave after saying thanks.

    But, that was a whale and not a human. So it was not bound by thews of human society.

    Zhang Zian patted Huang¡¯s shoulder. Heforted him, ¡°Huang, although it had received help from humans, it had also been hurt by humans. Although it wasn¡¯t us that hurt it, it doesn¡¯t make much of a difference to it. It¡¯s thankful to us humans, yet at the same time, it also carries a great fear and is on guard against us. With so many of us here, it wouldn¡¯t know what we¡¯re going to do, so its best course of action was to leave immediately after it was freed.¡±

    Huang sighed, but just as he was about to say something, his phone rang again. Unsurprisingly, it was his wife rushing him to bring the child home.

    Zhang Zianughed and said, ¡°Also, it¡¯s a semi-mature minke whale. Its mothers and siblings might be waiting for its return further out in the sea.¡±

    Huang nodded. He felt that what Zian said made a lot of sense, and he was able to ept the situation better. The whale probably had a family waiting for it in the sea; it was no wonder it left in such a hurry.

    He and his son had just happened to find the stranded whale, and initially, he was not very enthusiastic about giving a helping hand. He found it to be too troublesome, dirty, and a waste of time. He thought that he might get scolded by his wife, and it might even be dangerous.

    However, after seeing the behemoth-like whale regaining its health with the help of himself and the others, then once again returning to the arms of the ocean, there was a great sense of aplishment in his heart. With how big the whale was, there was a big sense of aplishment in his heart.

    Such an experience was difficult for any ordinary person to go through in a lifetime, no matter how high their sry was, how much power they had, or how sessful they were in their life and career.

    Huang was just an ordinary person, an ordinary wage earner who had never been known for anything in his life. Even if he had ideals and ambitions when he was younger, he had already lost his edge over the years. Every day, he thought about his mortgage and car loan that had not yet been paid off. Aside from that, he thought about his children¡¯s education and enrollment problems, and his four parents who he was supporting¡­ Although he felt so ordinary, he had also done an extraordinary thing that day: something that was worth boasting of for a lifetime.

    After he stood there for a little longer, his wet pants were blown cold by the sea breeze, and the minke whale never came back. After all, Huang was a middle-aged man; his constitution could not bepared to what it was years ago.

    ¡°Then¡­ I¡¯ll take my son home. My wife at home keeps rushing me back¡­¡± He held his son¡¯s hand and said his goodbyes.

    ¡°Thank you for everything you have done. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude towards you on behalf of all the staff at the Administration of Fishery!¡± The leading officer from the administration walked over and shook hands with Huang.

    Huang¡¯s old face turned red. ¡°Cough! What are you talking about? Anyone who encounters such a thing would definitely help! Well, I¡¯ll go on ahead.¡±

    ¡°Take care. Be careful on the road.¡± Zhang Zian smiled and waved his hands.

    ¡°Unc¡­ I mean, Big Brother, bye bye!¡± Xiao Zhi also waved goodbye.

    From a distance away, Zhang Zian heard Huang ask his son, ¡°I wanted to ask¡­ Why are you calling him brother? Shouldn¡¯t you call him uncle?¡±

    ¡°He told me to call him that!¡± Xiao Zhi answered.

    His dad was speechless.

    ¡°Dad! I want to write what happened today into the diary, is that okay?¡± Xiao Zhi raised his head up and asked. His eyes held so much excitement.

    ¡°Sure,¡± Huang agreed and reached out to rub Xiao Zhi¡¯s head, but Xiao Zhi dodged it.

    ¡°Dad! Your hand is dirty! You better wash your hands when we¡¯re home, or you¡¯re going to get scolded by mum again!¡± Xiao Zhi said with a frown.

    Huangughed and wiped his hands on his shirt.

    ¡°Dad!¡±

    ¡°What else?¡±

    ¡°I want to buy a book about the ocean.¡±

    ¡°Okay, we can search for it on the when we¡¯re home. It¡¯s cheaper on the,¡± his dad responded.

    ¡°But I don¡¯t want to! I want to see it now!¡±

    ¡°Fine, fine. We¡¯ll take a detour and visit the Xin Hua Bookstore.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure? Hasn¡¯t mom rushed us a few times already¡­?¡± Xiao Zhi asked.

    ¡°Hehe. She¡¯s already waited for so long, so we can let her wait a little longer¡­¡±

    ¡°Dad!¡±

    ¡°What is it now?¡±

    ¡°I want a whale kite too!¡±

    ¡°A whale kite? Do they sell whale kites?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so¡­¡±

    ¡°Not a problem. Dad will make a whale kite for you!¡±

    ¡°Ah? Dad, you know how to make a kite?¡±

    ¡°You little rascal! Looking down on your old man¡­ Back in my day, I won the first prize for my school¡¯s craftpetition!¡±

    ¡°Chie! How long ago was that?¡±

    ¡°How long ago¡­¡± His dad paused. ¡°It feels just like yesterday.¡±

 Chapter 878: Old Sailor

    <h4>Chapter 878: Old Sailor</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As Huang and Xiao Zhi walked further and further away, only the goldfish kite could be seen as the wind blew it up from time to time. Someone said slowly, ¡°I wish there were more people like them.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked sideways. It was the lead officer of the Fishery Administration. He was in his 30s, right in his prime years, and was strong and muscr.

    ¡°Oh, I haven¡¯t introduced myself yet. Myst name is Ke. I¡¯m Ke Shaohui.¡± He came over to shake hands. ¡°In fact, I can tell that you did most of the work in saving that minke whale. The father and son only helped you a bit?¡±

    His eyesnded on Zhang Zian¡¯s sleeves. Both of Zhang Zian¡¯s sleeves were tainted red by the whale¡¯s blood. Blood spots sshed on his clothes. He might not be able to wash them clean again. Luckily, his shirt was not an expensive designer brand.

    Inparison, there was barely any blood on Huang and Xiao Zhi¡¯s clothes. They were clean, just soaked wet by the ocean.

    An observant person would be able to tell right away who the real yer was, while who the cheer leaders were.

    ¡°Without them, I never would have found out that there was a stranded minke whale in the first ce,¡± Zhang Zian said. He also introduced his own name.

    ¡°Well¡­ Forgive me if I was wrong. Why do I find you familiar? Have we met somewhere?¡± Ke Shaohui gazed upon Zhang Zian¡¯s face and nced him over in suspicion. ¡°The name sounds familiar too¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was certain that he had never met him.

    ¡°Oh! I remember it! You are the one who won an award in Berlin with the dog¡­¡± Ke Shaohui suddenly remembered that he had seen Zhang Zian¡¯s news while browsing on the inte.

    Zhang Zian smiled and did not deny it.

    ¡°Wow! No wonder you are so familiar with animal treatment. Had it been someone else, I bet the whale would be dead already¡­¡± Ke Shaohui said, sucking air into his mouth.

    ¡°Chief! Are you there?¡± There came a voice from the walkie-talkie.

    Ke Shaohui put the walkie-talkie over his mouth and said, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°I just received a report that there is a fishing ship that hit the reef and is leaking. It¡¯s about to sink. The higher office asked us to help. It¡¯s an emergency,¡± the voice from the walkie-talkie said.

    ¡°Okay, got it. You can drive the boat here¡­¡± Before Ke Shaohui finished the sentence, he frowned as he looked at the tow boat.

    The Fishery Administration staff on the tow boat was worried that the suture might break open as the minke whale swam. Therefore, he drove the boat and followed it for a while. He stopped only after making sure that it had dove deep into the ocean safely. Now the boat was already far away. Only a ck dot could be seen fluctuating over the horizon. It was at least a dozen kilometers away from the shore.

    It would take a long time to drive the tow boat to the shore, lower the intable boat, then pick up Ke Shaohui and take him back to the tow boat. The sinking fishing boat was in great emergency, and allowed for no dys.

    Then, Ke Shaohui changed his words immediately, ¡°You should go rescue the sinking fishing boat immediately. Don¡¯te back for me.¡±

    ¡°But officer, you¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll get a taxi home. You should hurry up.¡± Ke Shaohui gave the order, loud and clear.

    ¡°Okay. We are going there.¡±

    As the engine rolled up the waves, the tow boat turned around slowly and drove in the other direction at full speed.

    In fact, part of the reason why the minke whale left without looking back was that it was afraid of the tow boat. It could not tell the difference between the tow boat and the boat that injured it. Zhang Zian simply didn¡¯t share that information with Huang.

    As Ke Shaohui spoke, Zhang Zian rolled down his pants and put back on his socks and shoes.

    As Ke Shaohi put down the walkie-talkie, Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Oh, you mentioned that simr incidents had happened in the past, right? Could you tell me more about it?¡±

    ¡°Oh, okay.¡± Ke Shaohui nodded. ¡°Lately, there have been a lot of whales in the ocean around Binhai City. Do you know about this?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It was in the news.¡± Zhang Zian thought that he might have been the first person to discover that information because of Sihwa.

    ¡°Well, we¡¯ve been busytely, as we always need to apany the experts that the higher office sent here to the sea. The boat arrivedte today because of that¡­¡± Ke Sahohui spread his hands speechlessly. ¡°Now we don¡¯t have enough boats, while in the past, we had plenty.¡±

    ¡°Experts?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Because the whales areing for no reason.¡± Ke Shaohui didn¡¯t hide anything and told him frankly, ¡°The news says it¡¯s because our anti-pollution treatments are working well. In fact, we all know that this is not the reason. We patrol the surrounding ocean almost every day. We know the pollution situation better than anyone. Of course, the marine pollution has indeed improved in recent years, but it is far behind where it should be¡­ We know this, so do the higher officials. Therefore, they sent a lot of experts here, both Chinese and foreigners, to find out why Binhai City is attracting so many whales. However¡­¡±

    Heughed bitterly. ¡°As the experts lined up to arrive, they lined up to leave. They spent a lot of money and raised all kinds of sophisticated theories¨C¨Cthe only theory they haven¡¯t brought out is the hidden UFO in the ocean¨C¨Cbut none of the theories are legit!¡±

    Zhang Zian tried not tough, thinking that the situation must be hard on the experts.

    Ke Shaohui continued, ¡°The rising whale poption is surely a good sign. The higher officials are supportive, too, as it¡¯s helpful for our tourism. But, some whales arrive wounded; some are injured by fishing spears; some are injured by the propeller des; and some are injured by something else entirely.¡±

    Zhang Zian tried to concentrate and listen carefully.

    Ke Shaohui looked towards where the minke whale disappeared and said, ¡°Among the injured whales, not many are lucky enough to receive the treatment that this minke whale did. The lesser injuries may recover on their own, but the badly injured ones cannot. Some of them died in the ocean, and their bodies are carried to the shore by the waves then discovered by people. Some get stranded, like this minke whale did. But the people who find them may not know what to do and they dy the precious time for treatment. By the time we arrive, they are already dead¡­

    Surely enough, we are partially responsible, as we have not reacted and acted quickly enough. A few of the men who work for me are new grads from University. They don¡¯t know anything, and they rely on us to teach them everything. Some are even seasick¡­ Why would they bother working for the Fishery Administration if they are seasick? Isn¡¯t that just more trouble for us? They told me they thought it was an office job¡­¡± Ke Shaohuiined.

    Zhang Zian could understand him. In the past, there were no whales at all in the neighboring sea. All of a sudden, so many whale pods appeared, which would surely overwhelm the underprepared Fishery Administration.

    ¡°But you seem very experienced to me,¡± Zhang Zian mentioned tentatively.

    ¡°Me? I used to be in the navy,¡± Ke Shaohui said proudly. ¡°Asking me to train these fresh grads is just like asking a lion to train a herd of sheep!¡±

    No wonder¡­ Zhang Zian suddenly understood everything. Untrained people could never tie such sophisticated sailor¡¯s knots so quickly. It had to be an old sailor. He was not bragging.

    Ke Shaohui gazed at Zhang Zian¡¯s face and asked him, half joking, ¡°Well, as we are understaffed, I heard that the city¡¯s Fishery Administration is nning to expand the operation and double the budget to cope with the exploding whale poption. I suppose you are in your 20s? Would you consider taking the qualifying exam?¡±

    The fresh grads working under him were not good at the work they did. As he saw the sutures on the minke whale, he felt that Zhang Zian could certainly be an immediate asset if he was recruited into the Fishery Administration. However, he also knew that it was unlikely, as Zhang Zian had already earned his fame and fortune. There was no need for him to join the government system work force. Still, he felt sorry that such talents were too rare.

    As he expected, Zhang Zian declined his invitation.

    ¡°Where did the whales get the injuries?¡± Zhang Zian asked out of curiosity.

    Ke Shaohui thought about it and said, ¡°The propeller des are hard cases, as most countries are using simr des. As the whales swim under the boats, they might be injured by the propeller if they didn¡¯t dive deep enough. Well, the fishing moratorium period will start earlier this year in our city, and it will endter. I heard that the higher office is thinking about how topensate the fishermen, as they have no other options. But there are not that many real fishermen these days still catching fish in the sea. Most of them do fish farming, so it won¡¯t affect them much.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. The traveling fishing boats might indeed injure the whales identally.

    ¡°As for the fishing spear injuries¡­¡± Ke Shaohui murmured, ¡°We can¡¯t rule out the individual Chinese fishermen who might do it out of greed or curiosity. But most are probably done by Korea and Japanese whale poachers. Our fishermen don¡¯t have the tradition of catching and eating whales. Even if they catch one, the good citizens may report them. So very few fishermen here would bother wasting time and energy on such a thing.¡±

    Zhang Zian had already figured that out, more or less. He was still surprised as he heard Ke Shaohui¡¯s confirmation.

    In fact, the Chinese were very protective towards giant, wild creatures such as whales. A few years ago, a dead, young minke whale had appeared in a university cafeteria in the Shandong province. Students reported it to the media and government offices right away.

    ¡°In addition, some whales don¡¯t seem to have particr reasons of death. But after autopsy, they found out that their stomachs are filled with stic bags and other trash.¡± Ke Shaohui sighed. ¡°Maybe they can¡¯t find enough fish, so they find other things to eat. This is also one of the reasons we are prolonging the fishing moratorium.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t think of that before. As Ke Shaohui exined, he understood it immediately.

    Whales needed a lot of food. After years of overfishing in Binhai¡¯s neighboring sea, there were not many fish left. In order to make the whales settle in Binhai City for a long time, the city officials would surely do their best to provide an appropriate environment for them, but that would take some time.

    Ke Shaohui looked at the waterproof watch on his wrist and said, ¡°Oh, it¡¯s gettingte. I must go back now, or else they¡¯ll think I¡¯m idling around.¡±

    Zhang Zian had been hungry for a long time. He pointed at his Wuling Hong Guang and said, ¡°Would you like a lift?¡±

 Chapter 879: Shepherd Dog

    <h4>Chapter 879: Shepherd Dog</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Go a little higher.¡± Zhang Zian waved.

    ¡°How about this?¡± Wang Qian stood on thedder and raised the surveince camera higher.

    ¡°Almost there¡­ Let¡¯s fix it there.¡± Zhang Ziang looked to the left and right and felt satisfied.

    Wang Qian fixed the camera in ce with a screwdriver and pliers. He also installed a rain cover to shelter it from the wind and rain.

    Li Kun, who was holding thedder for him, reminded him, ¡°Don¡¯t fix it nted!¡±

    ¡°Do you think that I¡¯m you? You can¡¯t even install the LED lights of a fish tank correctly! My eyese with a level, so it will never be nted!¡± Wang Qian kept his hands busy as he continued to boast, ¡°All you need to do is hold thedder stable.¡±

    Whether verbally or mentally, Li Kun was not convinced. He retorted, ¡°Yeah, right. Even your junk is nted! You always ssh out of the bowl in the toilet! And you have the guts to say I¡¯m nted? You¡¯re just a nted machine gun!¡±

    ¡°D*mn you! I¡¯m not going to hold back after all this!¡± Wang Qian was not going to let himself be outdone. He immediately exposed Li Kun¡¯s dark history.

    The two of them continued bickering.

    Zhang Zian raised his phone and walked around. His eyes fixed on the top of the phone¡¯s screen where it showed the strength of the WiFi signal.

    Woof! Woof! Woof!

    More than twenty different puppies had a rope tied to them. They couldn¡¯t wait to break free and y around.

    Zhan Tian quietly stood in the corner, paying attention to its surroundings with its chest up. Even though it really wanted to run around and y, the long period of training it went through had trained it to control its emotions, unlike the puppies.

    After some bickering, Li Kun was defeated and he could only change the subject. ¡°Master, I have something I don¡¯t understand and I would like to consult you!¡±

    ¡°Enough nonsense. Just ask what you want to ask!¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°Cough! Okay then, I¡¯ll ask now¡­ Master, why are you installing a surveince camera here, where even birds don¡¯te toy eggs?¡± Li Kun let out a dry cough, and on his face was an unconceble curiosity.

    Wang Qian¡¯s hands stopped for a moment. He perked up his ears, waiting for Zhang Zian¡¯s reply.

    They were in the green space behind the pet shop.

    As long as it didn¡¯t rain or snow, Wang Qian and Li Kun would bring the puppies in the shop out there every morning for a walk. It gave the puppies that were kept in the disy cab all day a chance to enjoy the outdoors for a short time. The puppies also cherished the precious moments when they were let out. They usually didn¡¯t bark, but every day at that time, they would be sitting in the disy cab barking, reminding their owner that it was time to go out and y.

    The green space was hidden in the depths of the old residential areas and it was usually deserted. Apart from the old residents that lived nearby, few people knew about it. It was also not shown on some navigation apps.

    Right beside it was an old residential area that was waiting to be demolished. There had been talks long ago that it was going to be demolished soon, but it still had not yet been demolished. It was probably because of the high demolition costs, and thepensation was not high enough, so everything was put on hold.

    It was also precisely because there were basically no other people there, that it had be Wang Qian and Li Kun¡¯s first choice for walking the dogs. In the green space, they could take the leashes off of the puppies and let them y for about half an hour. It also gave them a chance to solve their bodily needs at the same time.

    Since the arrival of spring, there was a sudden increase of stray cats in the green space. Wang Qian and Li Kun didn¡¯t care at first, but ever since Liu Wenying¡¯s Siamese cat was infected with rabies through a stray cat, they were a little more vignt. They didn¡¯t let the stray cats get close to the puppies because the puppies weren¡¯t injected with a rabies vination yet. In fact, stray cats would usually not take the initiative to approach the puppies. When they were there to walk the dogs, the cats would retreat and hide at the grass and trees behind them.

    Today, Wang Qian and Li Kun were going out to walk the dogs as usual when Zhang Zian picked up a courier box, grabbed adder, and came along with them.

    In the courier box, there were several surveince cameras and rain covers purchased from the Inte. Zhang Zian had the two of them install the cameras in several ces in the green space. The principle of selecting the locations was to cover as much space as possible.

    Fortunately, they could still connect to the WiFi in the pet shop, although they just barely got one bar of signal. The images captured by the cameras could be transmitted in real time.

    To be reasonable, they were in a public space, and it was not owned by Zhang Zian. Aside from the city government, no one was actually qualified to privately install the cameras there¡­ But wasn¡¯t it a remote area beyond the control of the government? Anyway, no one was in charge.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to exin, so he said, ¡°Just install the cameras as I told you. Why do you have so many questions?¡±

    Li Kun stuck out his tongue and continued to assist Wang Qian.

    Zhang Zian walked around the green space and saw many stray cats lurking around. They were all kinds of colors, had various body types, and there was even an adult female cats with a litter of kittens. Compared to thest time he was there, there more new faces.

    The area seemed to have be a gathering ce for the stray cats nearby.

    With the increasing number of stray cats, he couldn¡¯t help but worry¡ªit was a deserted ce, but that didn¡¯t mean that no one wasing. If a cat abuser chanced upon the area, wouldn¡¯t it be regarded as an ideal site to abuse cats? It might even attract the Holy Cat statue to appear there¡­

    So, he bought surveince cameras and nned to monitor the area. The existence of the camera itself would be a form of deterrence to the cat abusers.

    It¡¯s just that¡­ the number of stray cats was increasing, and the cats gathering there were constantly mating and breeding, which seemed to be a problem, too.

    Stray cats were the killers of the small animals in the city. Whether it was flying in the sky or running on the ground, it was difficult for them to survive once a stray cat had its eyes on them. Letting it go on would definitely affect the ecological bnce in the long run.

    ¡°Master, we¡¯re done with the instation. You can try it out now,¡± Wang Qian said while still on thedder. He shook the rain cover and confirmed that it was sturdy; it wouldn¡¯t fall off even under strong winds and hail.

    Zhang Zian gestured for him toe down, then Zian connected to the camera to his phone. Although the images were not smooth due towork reasons and the screen asionally froze, it still met the minimum monitoring requirements.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun untied the leashes of the puppies and also untied Zhan Tian¡¯s leash.

    The puppies spread their small, short legs and excitedly ran around. All they had in minds was to y, and they would run a distance away the moment one took their eyes off of them. However, as long as any puppies ran too far, Zhan Tian would go forward, stop the puppies, and drive them back.

    Like Famous, Zhan Tian was also a German Shepherd. It was engraved with the talent of a shepherd. After just a little training, it could easily take on the task of a ¡°Shepherd Dog¡± and excel in it. It had done very well and had never let any puppies run away or get too close to the stray cat¡¯s turf.

    With Zhan Tian¡¯s help, Wang Qian and Li Kun¡¯s workload reduced tremendously. All they had to do was wait for the puppies to have enough fun, then put their leashes back on and lead them back. On the days that Zhan Tian was not with them, they would be exhausted and they wouldn¡¯t dare to remove their leashes.

    Zhang Zian took out another box. He opened the cover and called the two of them over.

    In the box were grains of cat food.

 Chapter 880: Sterilization

    <h4>Chapter 880: Sterilization</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As Wang Qian and Li Kun saw Zhang Zian taking out the dry cat food, they immediately understood what he was up to.

    ¡°Master, shall we feed the stray cats?¡± Wang Qian asked for confirmation.

    ¡°Yep. There are so many stray cats that I¡¯m afraid there isn¡¯t enough food nearby,¡± Zhang Zian answered.

    Wang Qian tried to persuade him otherwise. ¡°But¡­ The more you feed them, the more stray cats wille here, right? Plus, if you feed them every day, the cat food will cost a lot of money¡­¡±

    All animals wanted to avoid extra work. If they could find food at the pet shop easily, instead of searching the residential dumpsters and garbage bags under the danger of naughty kids¡¯ flying bricks, the strays cats would surely choose the former. That would result in more and more catsing to the shop. They would start mating and reproducing, thus resulting in a stray cat explosion.

    Surely enough, Zhang Zian had thought about all of that. But he could not find a better way for now. The stray cats gathering there had already been a nuisance to the residents nearby¨C¨Che confirmed that with Lu Yiyun. She told him that her neighbors hadined about the garbage all over the ground, as stray cats were going through the dumpsters.

    If things continued like so, the residents would hate them even more. It would be better if he fed the stray cats and made them stay in the green field, instead of making trouble elsewhere.

    ¡°Don¡¯t think too much. You guyse twice a day to feed¨C¨Conce in the morning and once in the evening¨C¨Cso that they¡¯ll form a habit of eating here,¡± Zhang Zian instructed them.

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Since Zhang Zian had made up his mind, Wang Qian and Li Kun had to follow his orders. They each carried a small bucket of cat food, and brought them to the green field behind the shop.

    At first, after they saw people approaching, the stray cats kept their distance in fear and hid in the grass. After a while, after they saw that Wang Qian and Li Kun had gone back, they went back to their territories out of their natural curiosity. They bowed down, sniffed the cat food, then licked it. They realized it seemed to be food.

    As soon as one stray cat started eating, others followed. They even started fighting, despite the fact that there was plenty of cat food. They all wanted more to themselves.

    All of a sudden, the grass was so chaotic that sharp cat screams were heard everywhere.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were a little bit worried about getting a rabies shot at the Epidemic Prevention Center, just in case they were scratched by the stray cats. After dropping the cat food, they headed back, stood aside, and watched.

    Cats were not group animals¨C¨Cthey were not meant to live together in harmony¨C¨Cbut soon, they would form their own territories. Then the fighting would not be as bad.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun wanted to count just how many stray cats there were as they started jumping out of the grass towards the food. But soon, they lost count and gave up.

    A few bold, stray cats were not too afraid of people, as they might have been fed by someone while they were going through the dumpsters. They were still hungry, but they didn¡¯t want to fight for food with other cats¨C¨Cor maybe they could not beat them. Instead, they tried to approach Zhang Zian and the others with caution, and stopped a few meters away, staring at the box they brought.

    They licked their tongues, meowed softly, and stretched themselves on the ground with their bellies up.

    The cats were experienced in dealing with people; they knew how to please people. As long as they posed a little, stupid people would offer food obediently with both their hands outstretched.

    Yet, the three of them had dealt with cats all the time, and they had be immune to such moves. It was like a porn movie reviewer who had a hard time getting hard again after reviewing too many porn clips¡­

    Zhang Zian put a handful of cat food into a small stic bowl, then sprinkled it right in front of him, as if to say, ¡°If you wanted food,e over here to eat.¡±

    There were a few cats, but only one small bowl of cat food.

    At first, the cats seemed to be distaining, as if they were too proud to eat food they begged for. Yet, as soon as one cat approached the bowl, driven by their appetite, the other cats soon followed, burying their heads into the crowded bowl.

    Zhang Zian seized the moment and approached them from the back. He then grabbed one suddenly, and put it into a cat cage before it realized what had happened. Wang Qian opened the cat cage, then Li Kun locked it.

    Then, they grabbed another one.

    Soon, all cats were inside cages, except a smart one that ran away.

    They were confused in the cages, as they were not used to the small space.

    ¡°Master, why do you catch those cats? Do you want to sell stray cats?¡± Li Kun asked in confusion.

    Before Zhang Zian had time to answer, someone spoke at the grass field¡¯s entrance, ¡°Hey! There is an empty space hidden here? I didn¡¯t know it before.¡±

    It was Sun Xiaomeng. As she walked deeper into the field, she nced around in curiosity. She was not a resident there. Choosing the clinic¡¯s location on Zhonghua Road was because of the rent-client bnce that existed there, and because of Binhai University and a few residential areas that were nearby. In other words, it was because she didn¡¯t have enough money.

    ¡°Hello,¡± Zhang Zian greeted her.

    She nodded. ¡°Why did you call me here? If you didn¡¯t tell me, I never would have found out about this big grass field. But it¡¯s too empty¡­ I wouldn¡¯t dare toe here at night.¡±

    ¡°Do you see these stray cats?¡± Zhang Zian raised his chin to hint to her.

    She had seen them as soon as she had arrived¨C¨Cthey were all in the grass pockets, in the branches, under the long chairs¡­ there were cats everywhere. Normally, there would not be so many cats gathering in the same ce, as cats were not group animals.

    ¡°These cats¡­ are all yours?¡± She was misled by the leftover cat food on the ground.

    ¡°How can that be?¡± Zhang Zian vented. ¡°I¡¯d be broke if I kept so many cats! Let¡¯s get to business. I called you here to have a discussion. Would you be able to sterilize these stray cats?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Sun Xiaomeng thought she didn¡¯t hear him clearly, as there were so many cats gathered that she had a headache just from looking at them.

    ¡°I mean, the stray cats are getting out of control here. It¡¯s spring now¨C¨Cbreeding season. If it goes like I think it will, then by next spring, the stray cat poption will double, or even more. So we must sterilize them,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    Sun Xiaomeng was also aware of the danger of too many stray cats. It would be a disaster to the urban ecosystem, as well as to the residents nearby. But¡­

    ¡°Who¡¯s paying for the sterilization surgeries? You?¡± She pin-pointed the key to the problem.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°¡­Look at you. It¡¯s not noble anymore to talk about money.¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun stared at each other as if they both realized something. They knew that the Master was about to give a flowery speech in order to get free stuff again.

    But Sun Xiaomeng didn¡¯t fall for his trap. She said directly, ¡°One or two is fine. I can do it effortlessly, and I will surely not talk about money. But there are one or two hundred cats here¨C¨Cboth young and old. Do you want me to work until I drop without getting paid?¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t ask you to do everything in one shot. You can do it in batches¨C¨Ca few today, then another few the day after tomorrow, or whenever you have free time¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any free time,¡± Sun Xiaomeng interrupted him. ¡°Do you think my schedule is like yours?¡±

    She was not exaggerating. As the clinic became well-known, she had umted a lot of clientele. Her appointments were pretty full from morning to evening each day. If she epted Zhang Zian¡¯s invitation, she would have to work overtime for free. Her legs were already sore after standing all day. Who would not want to go home and rest early?

    ¡°You can let Long Xian practice. Doesn¡¯t she want to run her own vet clinic in the future?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Long Xian was working as a nurse at Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s clinic to gain experience and funds. Yet, her dream was also to have her own pet clinic one day.

    Sun Xiaomeng frowned and answered in a conflicted manner, ¡°But she hasn¡¯t passed her vet licence exam yet¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. Let her do the surgeries after work, behind closed doors. Nobody would find out. Besides, these cats don¡¯t have owners. Who would even care?¡± Zhang Zian spread his hands.

    Sun Xiaomeng nced around at the stray cats again. She refused him earlier only to bargain, but she knew that she could not let them continue like that without intervention. Lately, she had seen a few cases of cats beaten up by strangers. If the stray cat poption continued to grow, things would get very bad.

    As for letting Long Xian perform the sterilization surgeries alone, it would be fine. Sterilization was a simple procedure, and nothing would go wrong.

    ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s proceed this way.¡± She sighed.

    ¡°Don¡¯t make sad faces. You¡¯ll get wrinkles. In fact, you and Long Xian would not have that much work. All you need to do is sterilize the female cats here.¡± Zhang Zian encouraged her with ambiguous words.

    Sun Xiaomeng paused after hearing this. ¡°Why am I only sterilizing the females?¡±

    She couldn¡¯t understand that at all. Sterilizing the males was much easier than sterilizing the females. In theory, as long as all the male cats were sterilized, the stray cat poption would be under control. Yet, that was only theoretic. In reality, there would always be new male cats joining. It was safer to sterilize both the males and females.

    Zhang Zian chuckled and avoided the hard part of the question. ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about this. I¡¯ll take care of the male cats. You and Long Xian only need to sterilize the females. But, if you want to do it all, I won¡¯t object¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­Fine. Send the female cats to my clinic for sterilization then. Let¡¯s make it clear first: me and Long Xian only take care of the surgery, and nothing else.¡± Sun Xiaomeng shook her head, as she didn¡¯t want to waste time with him. She still had client appointments waiting on her.

    ¡°No problem.¡± Zhang Zian agreed generously.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun separated the cats they captured by gender. As Zhang Zian instructed, they kept the males, and sent the females to Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s clinic.

    After they left with Sun Xiaomeng, Zhang Zian sat down on a long chair in leisure. He nced at a white cat on the wall with unusually long hair and a ck streak on its forehead.

    Snowy Li licked its paws. Its eyes were sparkling with a light of excitment.

    ¡°Meow, meow, meow! My sharp ws are getting blood thirsty!¡± It gazed at his pants. ¡°Let me practice with their balls first!¡±

 Chapter 881: Mark

    <h4>Chapter 881: Mark</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In the deserted green space, an asional scream from one or two stray cats would not alert anyone¡¯s attention, right?

    Zhang Zian looked at the scattered blood on the ground and the pair of steaming balls, and he couldn¡¯t help but sigh. The fox mourns when the hare passes; sympathy is felt for one of its kind!

    After Snowy Li was done with the operation, it felt very excited, and jumped up and down. ¡°Meow! Meow! Meow! There are now fewer males in the world!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t lick your paws. We¡¯re not sure if these stray cats carry any bacteria, so wash your paws in here.¡± Zian pointed at a bottle of disinfectant, gesturing for Snowy Li to wash its paws.

    ¡°Chie! Hesitant, stinking man!¡± Snowy Li red at Zian, but it also didn¡¯t want to be infected with some random sickness. It was afraid that it would affect the rtionship it had with Fina, so it did as it was told and washed its paws with the disinfectant.

    After washing, its paws were not only clean, but they also carried a weird smell, which temporarily made it lose any interest in licking its own paws.

    The few male stray cats shivered in their cages. Blood was dripping off the lower half of their bodies, and their eyes were empty as if they had lost something important.

    ¡°Meow! Meow! Meow! I just don¡¯t understand¡­ Why did you ask me to leave a mark on their ears?¡± Snowy Li asked.

    Zian answered, ¡°That¡¯s for marking purposes¨C¨Cto separate out which cat has already been castrated. Otherwise, wouldn¡¯t there be a mix-up?¡±

    It was a custom established through a long social practice. After sterilizing a stray cat, they would cut a corner of their ears. So when other sterilization personnel saw the mark, they would know that the cat had been sterilized, and they would then avoid wasting resources.

    ¡°Chie! There¡¯s still a need to leave a mark? Will you mix up males and females? Whether it¡¯s male or not, all I need is one look to tell!¡± Snowy Li snorted. Its eyes slowly moved up from Zian¡¯s crotch, looking to the left and right. ¡°So which ear¡¯s your choice?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not picking either ear! I don¡¯t need you to sterilize me!¡± Zhang Zian firmly refused.

    ¡°Hmph, then I can only choose one on my own. I¡¯ll let everyone know that your balls have been removed!¡±

    All the male cats that had lost their manhood were staring at Snowy Li with resentment. Instinctively, they constantly felt like licking their wound. Zhang Zian had nned to take them all back to the pet shop and put an Elizabethan cor on each cat so the wound would actually heal.

    After he was done, Zhang Zian went to visit the Li couple.

    Recently, the Li¡¯s snack bar had been doing quite well. It was already past breakfast time, and they were having a short break before lunchtime. The Li couple was at the counter doing their ounts.

    Aside from them, there was a young man with an unfamiliar face there. He had sses on and was bent over, ying with the cats.

    ¡°Uncle Li, about your cats here¡­ How many are left?¡± Zhang Zian looked around the shop, only seeing two cats.

    ¡°We were going to talk to you about this matter! Most of the cats in the shop have already been adopted. We were about to ask if there were any more abandoned cats at the clinic,¡± Aunt Li said.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°For the time being there are no abandoned cats, but there are a few stray cats. Once they¡¯re done with their vinations and sterilizations, I¡¯ll send them here after observing them for a few days. Although they¡¯re strays, they seemed to have been abandoned by their previous owners. They¡¯re quite friendly to people.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great! These days, the customers have beenining that there are too few cats. Some are even not willing toe anymore!¡± Aunt Li said.

    Zhang Zian gestured with a nce to the bespectacled young man and softly asked, ¡°That is¡­?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s here to adopt. He¡¯s currently still under observation,¡± Aunt Li softly replied to him.

    ¡°That¡¯s about it then. I still have something on, so I¡¯ll take my leave first.¡± Seeing that it was gettingte, Zhang Zian said his goodbyes.

    After Zian walked out from the Li¡¯s Supreme Snack Bar for Cat Fanciers, he started up his Wuling Shenguang and drove towards the sea to continue with his daily chores.

    When he reached the seaside and got out of the car, he immediately saw a weird-looking whale kite faltering in the low altitude.

    ¡°Dad! What kind of crappy kite did you make? It can¡¯t even fly!¡± a kidined.

    ¡°You can¡¯t me me for this! The wind is strong today! The wind direction is also a mess¡­ It¡¯sing from the east now and north in the next gust! Even a better kite would not be able to fly!¡± his dad responded.

    Zhang Zian stepped onto the beach. He could hear the familiar voicesing from a distance.

    When Zian got closer, it was indeed Huang and Xiao Zhi. They were flying their kite by the seaside. That day, however, things didn¡¯t seem to be going well for them. The whale kite couldn¡¯t seem to fly, or it would fly a good twenty to thirty meters before it would fall back down. The kite had also almost fallen into the sea, too.

    Xiao Zhi was constantlyining, while Huang was constantly exining.

    The whale kite was quite well made, but the design was horrible; it looked nothing like a whale. The only characteristics that resembled a whale were the nostril above its head and the baleen on both sides.

    ¡°Good morning,¡± Zhang Zian raised his hand and greeted them.

    Huang and Xiao Zhi both turned around to look.

    ¡°Yo, Brother! You¡¯re here!¡±

    ¡°Unc¡­ no, Big Brother, look at the kite my dad made! It¡¯s too crappy! It can¡¯t even fly!¡± Xiao Zhiined.

    ¡°I told you that it¡¯s the wind today!¡±

    Zhang Zianughed and said, ¡°You guys really enjoy life! Youe over daily to fly kites by the beach.¡±

    ¡°Cough! There¡¯s nothing much to do these days, so I took some days off to apany the kid. Today¡¯s thest day, then I¡¯ll be heading out of town for work. I don¡¯t even know when I¡¯ll be back.¡± Huang sighed, his voice was filled with the helplessness of a middle-aged man. ¡°But Brother, don¡¯t you have to go to work?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ considered a self-employed person. I¡¯m run a pet shop, so I have more time for myself.¡± Zhang Zian did not want to bother their father-son bonding time, so after talking for a while, he wanted to continue what he went there for.

    ¡°Pet shop?¡± Xiao Zhi overheard their conversation and became interested. ¡°What pets do you sell?¡±

    ¡°Cats, dogs, and fish,¡± Zhang Zian answered.

    ¡°Do you have whales?¡±

    ¡°Nope, whales are too big, so you can¡¯t keep them.¡± Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Xiao Zhi, do you like whales a lot?¡±

    Xiao Zhi nodded his head, then looked towards the sea. ¡°Big Brother, will the minke whale evere back again?¡±

    ¡°About that¡­ who knows. Maybe it will.¡± Zhang Zian did not want to disappoint him, so he said, ¡°But, even if it doese back, it won¡¯t get too close to the shore so it doesn¡¯t be beached again. No one would fall for the same trick twice. Plus, whales are very smart, so of course they wouldn¡¯t get beached twice.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Xiao Zhi nodded his head, looking like he understood.

    ¡°This kid¡­ He¡¯s particrly fascinated with whales now. He¡¯s even had me print a lot of whale pictures and put them up in his bedroom¡­ His room is an underwater world now.¡± Huangughed.

    ¡°I think that¡¯s great. Having an interest is a good thing,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    The two adults were chatting when Xiao Zhi suddenly pointed towards the sea and shouted, ¡°Dad! Big Brother! Look over there! The minke whale is back!¡±

 Chapter 882: Not a Minke Whale?

    <h4>Chapter 882: Not a Minke Whale?</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian and Huang exchanged a few casual greetings. As they far apart in age, experience, and character, they ran out of topics after only a few words. As they heard Xiao Zhi shouting, they both looked back.

    ¡°What? Where?¡±

    Huang stretched out his neck and looked around, but the sea was so vast. Where was the minke whale?

    ¡°There! Right there!¡±

    Xiao Zhi¡¯s face turned red with anxiety; he thought his father didn¡¯t trust him. He then pointed in one direction, jumped, and shouted with all his strength.

    Zhang Zian also looked over, but as Xiao Zhi had only pointed towards an approximate direction, he had no idea how far it could be. He gazed attentively for a while until his eyeballs turned rigid, but he still didn¡¯t see the minke whale.

    Huang didn¡¯t see it either. He asked skeptically, ¡°Where is it? Are you mistaken?¡±

    Ever since they had saved the minke whale, Xiao Zhi had been in a state of extreme excitement. He told the whole story to his mother a few times, then while he ate, before he slept, and even in his dreams. It was a shame, however, that the minke whale had swam away just like that. He had insisted on visiting the beach again since earlier that morning. Therefore, Huang thought that his son made a mistake, as he was too eager to see the minke whale.

    ¡°It¡¯s real! Right there, just now! You missed it because you were too busy talking!¡± Xiao Zhi spoke angrily, as Huang¡¯s skepticism was hurtful.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t see it either, but he didn¡¯t rush to deny it. Instead, he nced over the sea and asked, ¡°Xiao Zhi, did you see it clearly? Did it surface, then sink?¡±

    Xiao Zhi shook his head. ¡°I saw it spraying water.¡±

    ¡°Is it a whale spraying water?¡± Zhang Zian asked again.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Xiao Zhi nodded.

    Zhang Zian made a subtle frown. He hinted to Huang with his eyes, then asked him toe to the side.

    Xiao Zhi was still staring at the sea in perseverance, waiting for the whale to spout water again.

    ¡°Bro, what¡¯s the matter?¡± Huang followed him and asked him in a low voice. He had taken the hint that Zhang Zian had something to say to him in the absence of Xiao Zhi.

    Zhang Zian replied in a low whisper, ¡°Huang, do you really think that Xiao Zhi has really seen a whale?¡±

    Huang took a deep breath and told him hesitantly, ¡°Xiao Zhi barely lies. I¡¯m not willing to believe that he was lying. But¡­ I didn¡¯t see any water spraying. Did you see anything?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Zhang Zian murmured. ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t think Xiao Zhi was lying. But there¡¯s a problem¡­ If it¡¯s that half-grown minke whale, then we¡¯ve all seen it spouting water. The spray is quite thin, and is only visible when it¡¯s very close by. If it¡¯s that close, it will not be able to dive very deep, as the sea bed is quite t in this area¡­¡±

    Huang was lost. He didn¡¯t understand Zhang Zian at all. He smiled bitterly and asked, ¡°Bro, what are you trying to say? Please talk straight. I can¡¯t understand what you are saying at all!¡±

    Zhang Zian had to exin simply. ¡°I mean, either Xiao Zhi¡¯s eyes lied to him, or¡­ what he saw was not that minke whale, but a bigger, fully grown whale.¡±

    He tried not to suspect Xiao Zhi as a liar.

    To further confirm, he came next to Xiao Zhi, bent down, and asked: ¡°Xiao Zhi, how far was the water spray from the beach we are standing at?¡±

    ¡°Very far. It¡¯s almost at the end.¡± Xiao Zhi pointed at the horizon, where the sea met the sky.

    After hearing that, Zhang Zian was more inclined towards thetter¡ªXiao Zhi might have seen another whale. From such a long distance, the thin water spray from the minke whale would barely be visible unless Xiao Zhi had the eyesight of a fighter pilot.

    ¡°Elder brother, is the minke whale back to visit us?¡± Xiao Zhi asked expectantly.

    ¡°Well¡­ It¡¯s hard to say. I think it might be a different whale,¡± Zhang Zian told him frankly. ¡°Xiao Zhi, you may know that there have been a lot of whalestely in our city¡¯s neighboring sea. Most of them are minke whales from northeastern Pacific, but there might be other kinds of whales, too.¡±

    ¡°Oh right¡­¡± Xiao Zhi was a bit disappointed. Yet he asked again curiously, ¡°What kinds of whales?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know for now. I must see them first,¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    Xiao Zhi and Huang stopped flying their kite. The kite was poorly made anyway, and it could not fly very high. They sat on the rock with Zhang Zian and stared at the sea, searching for the whale¡¯s trace.

    A few minutes passed¡­

    A quarter passed¡­

    ¡°Why is it not spraying anymore? Did the whale swim away?¡± Xiao Zhi fidgeted anxiously. He sat for a moment before he stood up. It was normal, in a sense. Boys at his age always had a hard time to staying seated for a long time, as if their butts were on fire.

    Huang turned a bit impatient. Most of time, he bowed his head and yed with his phone. He lifted his head to look only once in a while.

    There was nothing on the vast sea¡ªit was empty. Without the undting waves, one might suspect that they were standing in front of a giant painting.

    ¡°If you want to see a whale, be patient,¡± Zhang Zian persuaded them. ¡°Whales are slow animals. They onlye up to breathe after a very long dive.¡±

    Minke whales normally did not dive for as long as other whales. Zhang Zian became more convinced that Xiao Zhi was not mistaken, but it was not a minke whale in the sea.

    Minke whales could dive 20 to 25 minutes in their deep dives, but they normally would not stay down so long. They came up once every ten minutes.

    Xiao Zhi was anxious and disappointed, as if he made a trip to the zoo for the tigers, yet the tigers rested inside the kennel and refused toe out.

    Huang looked at his watch again. He tugged Xiao Zhi and said, ¡°Xiao Zhi, let¡¯s go now. Let¡¯s not wait any longer. It¡¯s time for your English ss.¡±

    ¡°But I¡¯m not interested in English!¡± Xiao Zhi twisted his body and said unhappily, ¡°I¡¯m interested in whales!¡±

    ¡°Hey! This is not a question of interest!¡± Huang¡¯s face turned serious. He rebuked him, ¡°All the other kids are attending the ss. If you don¡¯t, you¡¯ll fall behind. We cannot lose the race at the starting line!¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t say anything. He pretended that he didn¡¯t hear anything.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to go to the English ss. I want to watch the whales!¡±

    Xiao Zhi sat on the sand and pretended to have a stomach ache. He did everything to skip the English ss, yet Huang refused to give in on the matter. He insisted that they had to go no matter what.

    After a long fuss, Zhang Zian was sympathetic towards Xiao Zhi, but Huang was not doing the wrong thing, either. They were living in apetitive society. Xiao Zhi did not understand that for now, but one day in the future, he would surely thank his father.

    Then he said, ¡°Xiao Zhi, how about this: I¡¯ll wait here while you go to the English ss. If the whale shows up, I¡¯ll take a picture and send it to your father. At such a distance, it makes no difference whether you watch it with your eyes or in a photo. Is this okay?¡±

    Xiao Zhi was still unwilling, but he had no other choice.

 Chapter 883: Deep Sea Whale

    <h4>Chapter 883: Deep Sea Whale</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was not just entertaining Xiao Zhi. Under Xiao Zhi¡¯s supervision, Zian and Huang added one another on WeChat. Zian also promised time and time again that he¡¯d take a photo when the whale appeared and send the photo to Huang.

    Huang held Xiao Zhi¡¯s hand in one hand, and in the other he held onto the kite. Huang thanked Zhang Zian. ¡°Sorry to trouble you. This kid is really stubborn. God knows who he took after¡­¡±

    Zhang Zianughed. ¡°It¡¯s all right! It¡¯s just a small matter. Anyway, I¡¯m also quite free. I would also like to see what kind of whale it is, so you don¡¯t have to feel bad.¡±

    ¡°Aiya! Both of you stop talking! What if we miss the whale again!¡± Xiao Zhi vigorously shook his father¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Fine, we¡¯ll be leaving first then.¡± Huang smiled and said goodbye.

    Zhang Zian waved his hands at them, then took his phone and returned to his original position.

    From the sound of a car engine behind him, it seemed as though the father and son also came to the beach by car.

    After they left, Zhang Zian continued to wait patiently.

    Another few minutes passed.

    Zian was also growing a little impatient. He started to doubt¡ªwell, not Xiao Zhi, but he suspected that the whale had already left. Why was it not surfacing after such a long time?

    If it hadn¡¯t swum away yet¡­ then it was most likely going to be a big guy beyond imagination.

    There seemed to be very fewrge whales in the waters around China. Of course, due to the emergence of Sihwa, the situation had changed and past experience was no longer applicable.

    Zhang Zian grabbed some stones in order to pass some time and to not grow sleepy from waiting. He stood up and threw them into the sea one by one. He constantly adjusted the height and angle of the shot as he tried to reach further and further.

    The stones went right into the sea, making little sshes of water.

    Soon, he had only one stone left in his hand. The size and weight of the stone felt veryfortable, and with the experience of the cannon fodders earlier, he was sure that he could throw the stone further.

    Standing on one foot, his body half turned, his arm stretched out¨C¨Cjust like a professional baseball pitcher¨C¨Che threw the stone out.

    The stone really did fly far away, drawing a curve in the air before mming into the sea.

    Right when the ssh of water jumped out, almost at the horizon, a huge water pir suddenly spouted out of the sea!

    The water pir was really high, although there were no objects nearby topare it with. Through his visual inspection, it was definitely not less than five meters¨C¨Cit was probably about ten meters, or even higher. There was arge volume of water sshed out and it looked exactly like a giant fountain. It¡¯s notparable to the thin gas column sprayed by the minke whale that was just about two meters high.

    The sea breeze was very loud, and if that wasn¡¯t the case, the sharp whistling sound as the airflow passed through the hole would definitely be heard from afar.

    Zhang Zian was so surprised and stunned, that he almost forgot to take a picture for Xiao Zhi. After a momentary pause, he raised up his mobile phone and pointed the camera at the target. The water pir had already reached its highest point and was already falling back down, but it was still very spectacr as the water smashed back down into the sea like a waterfall.

    A wide gigantic ck back separated the deep blue waters and floated up like a submarine to breathe. Because it was too far away, the details couldn¡¯t be seen clearly, but one thing was for sure: that was a huge adult whale. Just by looking at its back, it looked just like a moving, floating ind. It was definitely one of the few,rgest types of whales.

    Zhang Zian not only observed the whale but also took photos one after another. Although the photos were blurry when they were erged, one could still tell that it was a whale.

    In the end, he gave up taking photos and took a video instead.

    This behemoth wandered around the sea alone, floating up one moment, and then going back down just beneath the water¡¯s surface the next. ording to the habits of whales, the continuous surfacing and diving motion was the way it prepared to take a deep breath for its deep dive. After that deep dive, no one knew how long it would take to surface again, or even where it would surface; it could be a few kilometers, or even a dozen kilometers, away.

    Zhang Zian stared at its figure. It might be his first andst time seeing it, and there might not be another chance if he missed the next one.

    Sure enough, the next time it floated on the surface of the sea was exceptionally long. It then plunged down at a steep angle¨C¨Calmost at a 45 degree angle to the sea.

    Its huge tail fin emerged out from the water, then pped back down against the sea, creatingrge waves.

    Following its dive, a small whirlpool and white foam were formed on the surface of the water, which disappeared after some time.

    The whale also disappeared.

    The sea returned to its usual calmness as if nothing had happened. If it wasn¡¯t for the video on his phone that recorded everything, Zian really wouldn¡¯t have been able to believe that such a huge whale had appeared in the waters just outside of Binhai City.

    Zian waited on for a while more, but the whale did not appear again.

    He had no ns to continue waiting. God only knew when the whale was going to surface again, and he did not have a whole day to waste there.

    Zian kept his promise. He picked out a few well-taken photos, including the video, sent them to Huang, satisfying Xiao Zhi¡¯s wish.

    Huang soon replied with three thumbs up emoticons.

    After he was done with the matter, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t forget what he came there for. He took the underwater speakers from the car and lowered them into the sea. He then searched around the nearby beaches for any rare marine creatures, looking over at the distant sea from time to time, holding on to the thought that it just mighte back again.

    As he continued to walk, he suddenly stepped on something hard.

    Zian bent down and brushed off the sand to find a broken wooden handle. The handle was ck and red in color, like it had been soaked in blood.

    ¡°¡­What a coincidence,¡± Zian muttered to himself. He then pulled the wooden handle out from the sand. The tip of the wooden handle was barbed with sharp metal; it was the harpoon that was extracted from the injured minke whale.

    At that time, the situation was urgent, so after he took out the harpoon, he didn¡¯t have the time to take a closer look and just threw it to the ground. It was then washed away when the high tides came, and he couldn¡¯t find it even if he wanted to.

    It turned out that he had unknowingly walked to the location where the whale had beached itself.

    Zian used the seawater to wash off the sand from the surface of the harpoon, revealing the harpoon¡¯s original appearance.

    How does one put it¡­ It was a simplified version of the harpoon. It was not the kind that would beunched by the harpoon cannon of arge whaling ship. It also showed that the minke whale did not meet a Japanese whaling team¡­ If it had really met such a team and it was struck by their powerful harpoon cannon, it could never survive.

    The metal part of the harpoon had already rusted red, so it was not known if the color of the rust was already reddish or if it was dyed red with the whale¡¯s blood.

    Zhang Zian flipped the harpoon around and looked all over it. His finger seemed to havee in contact with an unusual bump near the tip.

    Once again, Zian took out his Swiss army knife and used the file to file off some of the rust.

    An unfamiliar character was revealed underneath the rust that seemed to have been carved on.

    If Zian was not wrong, the character was Korean. He was not too sure about its meaning, but if he were to guess, he would guess that it represented a certain surname.

 Chapter 884: I Want Them All

    <h4>Chapter 884: I Want Them All</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian drove away from the beach and headed back to the pet shop.

    As soon as he walked through the door, Wang Qian greeted him. He pointed next door and said, ¡°Master, you should go over there for a look. Those two old men are here again.¡±

    Zhang Zian wondered which two old men Wang Qian was referring to. He walked towards the aquarium quickly. Before he entered, he heard the loud and slightly hoarse voice of Welder Zhao.

    ¡°Store Manager Zhang, you are back!¡± Electrician Wu breathed in a sigh of relief after he saw Zhang Zian walk in. ¡°We are here to disturb you again. You were not here just now, and we were hesitating about whether or not we should head back¡­ Please don¡¯t feel annoyed by us. It¡¯s mostly this guy¡ªthe trouble maker,¡± he said, pointing at Welder Zhao next to him.

    It was the same old Welder Zhao¡ªa tall man with a loud voice¡ªexcept that he didn¡¯t look as healthy that day. His cheeks were not as red as they usually were. After all, he had just been released from the hospital.

    ¡°Wu, watch your words. Who¡¯s the trouble maker?¡± Welder Zhao responded resentfully. He looked at Zhang Zian and said, ¡°Store Manager Zhang, I¡¯m here to pick up the fish I reserved. Did you keep them for me?¡±

    Before Zhang Zian could answer him, Electrician Wu interrupted, ¡°Zhao, shouldn¡¯t you thank him first? How can you be so insensible? Had it not been for him, you would have been lying in the hospital like a dead body right now!¡±

    ¡°Pooh! What dead body? So unpleasant to hear!¡± Welder Zhaoined.

    ¡°If he had not pointed out that the cause was Palytoxin, the doctors may not have found a specialized treatment so soon. Who else would have been the dead body but you?¡± Electrician Wu rebuked him. ¡°If you and Carpenter Wang didn¡¯t make such trouble, how would this incident have ever happened? You almost dragged the entire neighborhood underwater¡­¡±

    ¡°Hehe, Wu, you are ttering us. We are not capable of doing that¡­¡±

    ¡°This is not apliment!¡± The two old men started arguing with each other. The customers nearby gave them strange looks, thinking that the two elderly citizens were so immature¡­

    As the argument seemed endless, Zhang Zian interrupted them. ¡°Mr. Zhao, since you didn¡¯t pick up the fish you pre-ordered at our agreed upon time, they were sold to other customers.¡±

    Welder Zhao turned restless right away. ¡°Am I not here now? Why did they sell so fast?¡±

    ¡°When was your appointment with Store Manager Zhang? What day is it today? So many freaking days have passed. He didn¡¯t even know if you would get out of the hospital alive. Why would he keep the fish for you?¡± Electrician Wu asked sarcastically. ¡°Learn your lesson and pay attention next time. Don¡¯t bust your a** to save money all day!¡±

    Welder Zhao turned sulky and sighed. ¡°Crap! Instead of saving money, I lost so much! And the hospital ripped me off with medical bills!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. All the money we busted our a**es to make all our life will wind up in the hospital. It¡¯s just a matter of time.¡± Electrician Wu had seen it through.

    ¡°How¡¯s Carpenter Wang?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. He¡¯s still in the hospital. They have to keep them for observation for a while. His family members were released. They smashed up his fish tank and chucked it as soon as they were out of the hospital,¡± Electrician Wu answered.

    ¡°What a shame. Why do they have to smash it up to toss it? Wang¡¯s fish tank was pretty nice¡­¡± Welder Zhao said with regret. ¡°I bet Wang will not give up so easily. He¡¯ll surely get another tank after he¡¯s released from the hospital.¡±

    Everybody there could figure out what he was thinking.

    ¡°How about this: I¡¯ll let you know the next time I get the fish you wanted, and I¡¯ll offer them to you for a lower price.¡± Zhang Zian wanted to send him away as soon as possible, as the other customers might find him noisy and annoying.

    ¡°Really? That¡¯s great! Store Manager Zhang, you are a nice fe!¡± Welder Zhao rubbed his hands with excitement. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. After Wang gets out of the hospital, I¡¯ll bring him here to buy fish. You¡¯ll make a lot of money! Wang is very generous with money. You can charge him as much as you want!¡±

    ¡°You n to rip Wang off?¡± Electrician Wu vented.

    Zhang Zian knew that he was cheap and liked to boast. He didn¡¯t take his words seriously. After a quick acknowledgement, he added, ¡°The only thing is, our fish are acquired from local fishermen at the beach. I can¡¯t be sure how soon we¡¯ll get simr fish in. You may have to wait a few days.¡±

    ¡°No problem!¡± Welder Zhao waved hisrge hands. ¡°Just let me know when you get them. I got a few fish from Wang, so I can start with them.¡±

    He turned his head and told Electrician Wu, ¡°Wu, let¡¯s go. I heard that the suspended aquarium is liquidating the stocks in secret to minimize their loss. Let¡¯s head there now and check it out. Maybe we¡¯ll find nice bargains¡­¡±

    As a result of the Palytoxin incident, the aquarium that sold Carpenter Wang Palythoa corals was raided by the police and the Industrial and Commerce Bureau for selling dangerous creatures and their business license was suspended. The incident was widely spread among the local aquarium fans in Binhai City.

    In fact, it was quite unfair to the poor aquarium owner. He must have been shocked when his aquarium was raided¡­ Had he known about it, he surely would not have been bold enough to sell such a thing. It was impossible that he sold the Palythoa corals on purpose¡ªhe would not have had such guts. Very likely, the extremely dangerous corals smuggled themselves into Carpenter Wang¡¯s tank by attaching themselves to the live rocks.

    However, as it was a vicious incident, someone had to take the me.

    Unfortunately, the aquarium owner took the me¡­ Luckily, he only needed to close his shop. He could still do other business. If he was suspected of intentional poisoning, he would have to pay a much bigger price.

    As the shop was suspended out of the blue, there were a lot of tanks, pieces of equipment, and aquatic creatures in the shop. It would be a shame if the owner could not get rid of them.

    Carpenter Wang had introduced Welder Zhao into the aquarium fan group. He heard that the employees of that shop were selling things privately at a very low price¡ªeven lower than the cost. They would go back to their hometowns after the liquidation.

    The news had spread out the night before from some unknown source. After hearing the news, some local aquarium owners went to the shop overnight to pick out their stuff, and they bought back truckloads with their cars. Whatever they had bought was a steal. Aquarium fans from other cities were very jealous.

    For a man who could never skip out on any bargains, Welder Zhao had totally forgotten about the incident. He had been unable to go even after he had heard about it, so he was eager to fly over there and make a ¡°I want them all¡± gesture.

    Electrician Wu gave Zhang Zian a dumbfounded look. He was too tired toin about Welder Zhao.

    Welder Zhao was so anxious that he dragged Electrician Wu outside before he could say no. He ran as if he would miss out on the bargains if he arrivedte, as the best items had already been purchased by others.

    Zhang Zian wanted to remind him to pay attention, and to not buy things that he didn¡¯t know about only because they were cheap. Before he had time to speak, however, the two old men were already gone, leaving a trail of dust behind them.

 Chapter 885: The Grandmother at the Door

    <h4>Chapter 885: The Grandmother at the Door</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After Electrician Wu and Welder Zhao left, there was no one else in the aquarium. After some period of training, Jiang Feifei and Li Kun were now able to cope with the customers better. They now had no issue answering simple questions regarding aquarium creatures, and they didn¡¯t require Zhang Zian¡¯s constant attention anymore.

    When Zian returned to the pet shop, he was surprised to see an acquaintance standing inside.

    Wang Qian¡¯s attitude towards the other customers was learned by imitating Zhang Zian¡¯s coolness. He would never take the initiative to promote pets to the customers, but for the current customer, he wouldn¡¯t dare neglect them. He stood behind the customer, carefully attending to their every need.

    It was the same for Lu Yiyun. When there were no customers waiting to check out, she would always be painting, but currently, her eyes werepletely fixed on the customer.

    Wang Qian noticed Zhang Zian and squinted at him with a sullen face, meaning to say, ¡°Quickly send this customer away. What if something happens again? It¡¯d be trouble for us.¡±

    The customer was none other than Chu Manhua, the one who fainted by the shop entrance a few days ago. She was a diabetic, and because of a sudden drop in her blood sugar levels, she had fallen unconscious without warning and caused everyone to panic. Fortunately, Masanori Suzuhara, who just so happened to be passing by, managed to wake her up. She was then sent away in an ambnce.

    At that time, the mini poodle in the store had detected her signs of hypoglycemia in advance, and she had hoped to buy it. Zhang Zian had also agreed to it, but because she had to go to the hospital with the ambnce, she couldn¡¯t take the mini poodle along. She had made an arrangement to return once her condition stabilized.

    Wang Qian and Lu Yiyun looked like they were facing a big enemy, but that was only because they were afraid of her falling unconscious again. They were always on the ready to perform resuscitation measures, however.

    Famous, who was always napping or surrounded by fans, had also noticed her. With great interest, it approached her and sniffed around, only to shake its head in disappointment, as it did not smell anything unusual.

    Chu Manhua was a little afraid of Famous since it was such a big dog. Thankfully, Famous returned to its spot after sniffing around.

    ¡°Doggie,e over.¡±

    She squatted down and waved towards the mini poodle, but the mini poodle seemed to have forgotten her and ignored her call. It was, instead, very interested in the leftover cat food in the food bowl, and repeatedly attempted to get a few mouthfuls.

    When she heard Zhang Zian¡¯s footsteps, she turned and smiled. ¡°Hello, Mr. Zhang. I¡¯m here to purchase this mini poodle.¡±

    Because it was agreed upon earlier, Zhang Zian gestured for Lu Yiyun to process the pet sales procedure for her.

    At that moment, a figure appeared at the door and knocked.

    ¡°Ay¡­ that¡­ Can I find out something here?¡±

    Zhang Zian and the others turned their heads to look. There was a grandmother standing outside the door, and she looked to be in her eighties. She was holding onto a bamboo cane; her hair was all white; she didn¡¯t have many teeth; and her face was wrinkled with a darkplexion. She wore a dark purple, oversized shirt, ck baggy trousers, and ck cloth shoes on her feet. The design of the shoes was very old, but they were clean and did not look drabby.

    The grandmother¡¯s right hand was holding onto the cane, and her left hand was holding onto the leash of a Pomeranian.

    The Pomeranian looked to be about three to four months old. It didn¡¯t seem to have any energy, as it wasn¡¯t running around or making any noise.

    Zhang Zian and Wang Qian exchanged nces. They both called out in their hearts, Why are the customers today either sick or old and weak?

    The grandmother was really old. Her body seemed weak and fragile, as if she could just fall anytime. She also seemed to be the oldest customer in the pet shop.

    Coming out alone at such an age, apanied by no family or friends, was very worrying. The elderly had such fragile bones¡­ If she were to identally fall, they might just snap and break.

    Zhang Zian and the others could only cry in their hearts, but when customers came to the door, they had to attend to them no matter what. They couldn¡¯t just refuse to see them, right?

    ¡°Grandmother, do you need anything?¡± Zhang Zian quickly walked up to the door, waved his hands, and said, ¡°Quick,e on in. Be careful, the steps might be slippery.¡±

    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s okay, I won¡¯t be going in. I¡¯m just going to ask a few questions by the door,¡± the old grandmother waved her shaking hands and said. Because of her tooth, she couldn¡¯t pronounce some words clearly, which made her speech unclear. She also had a strong ent, so Zhang Zian struggled to understand her.

    ¡°It will be better if youe in¡­ There are many peopleing and going outside, and it¡¯s not going to be good if anyone bumps into you,¡± Zhang Zian persuaded.

    Because it was the peak period, the pedestrians on Zhonghua Road were all hurrying, especially the naughty children who werete for school. They just spread their legs out and sprinted off, not caring if they ran into someone else.

    ¡°Then¡­ I¡¯ll head inside. Come, be good¡­ Come into the house with grandma.¡± She gently pulled the Pomeranian, then took small steps up the steps, moving slowly like a robot. Anyone watching her would break out in a cold sweat.

    Zhang Zian took a few steps forward and wanted to help her, but his arm was tugged on by someone.

    He looked back and saw that it was Wang Qian who was pulling him back.

    Wang Qian desperately made signs with his eyes and mouth. There was no need to ask, for Zhang Zian knew he was trying to say, ¡°Master, don¡¯t help her! She might be a scammer!¡±

    To be honest, Zhang Zian had simr concerns, too. After all, there were many such cases over the year, but when he saw the Pomeranian, he felt that he might have thought too much. He had never seen anyone bring along a pet during a scam. He also believed that, in general, no bad person liked pets¡­ At least not rotten to the core people.

    So he lightly shook his head and pushed off Wang Qian¡¯s arm. Zian then took over the Pomeranian¡¯s leash from the grandmother¡¯s hand, held her left arm, and said, ¡°Grandmother, be careful. Let me help you in.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, thank you¡­¡± the grandmother said repeatedly. ¡°It¡¯s always awkward to be old, and others can¡¯t even hide¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian helped her up the steps, and gave Wang Qian a look to have him move the chair over.

    Wang Qian quickly brought over a chair with a backrest and handed it over carefully. He then quickly retreated far away.

    Lu Yiyun, who was currently working on pet sales procedure, also nced over curiously.

    Zhang Zian asked the grandmother to sit down on the chair. Only then did he let go of his hand and straighten his waist. For those few steps alone, he felt a little more tired than running a kilometer¡­

    The grandmother ced the cane across her thighs and squinted at the inside of the pet shop. She then said, ¡°Great, great. This shop is so beautiful. It makes people feelfortable¡­ The little girl there is also really handsome. Her smooth, pretty face¡­¡±

    Chu Manhua and Lu Yiyun did not know who she was talking about, so the two of them embarrassedly lowered their heads.

    ¡°Grandma, in fact, I¡¯m also very handsome. My face is shiny smooth too, don¡¯t you see it?¡± Zhang Zian pointed to his face and reminded her.

    The Old Grandmother said, ¡°¡­Yes, my old eyes aren¡¯t too good. I just noticed. Child, you¡¯re really handsome!¡±

    Zhang Zian, whose vanity was satisfied, was finally happy. He then asked, ¡°Grandma, what did you want to ask earlier?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I would like to ask about this dog,¡± the old grandmother said, while looking at it with affection.

 Chapter 886: A Pomeranian On a Snowy Night

    <h4>Chapter 886: A Pomeranian On a Snowy Night</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The Pomeranian that the olddy had brought in was already three or four months old. But it was small, skinny, and not energetic. Even its hair was lousy. It was not as feisty and cute as the younger Pomeranians in the pet shop.

    It was all white, with half a circle of light brown tear marks under its eyes that resembled bags under its eyes. Besides, its nose was dark brown, unlike the ck nose of the Pomeranians in the shop.

    Nheless, the Pomeranian was very quiet. Since it had arrived at the shop, it didn¡¯t run nor bark after it saw so many other dogs. Instead, itid quietly under the olddy¡¯s feet, ncing around while it blinked eyes. In another sense, it was too quiet¨C¨Cso quiet that it lost the energy.

    After seeing a new buddye in, the mini poodle walked towards it with jolly paces, circled around the Pomeranian, and even sniffed its butt. It barked gently in a feisty voice, as if it was inviting it to y despite the size difference.

    After hearing the bark, the Pomeranian tilted its head to look at the mini poodle, then at the olddy. It didn¡¯t stand up.

    Most dogs in the shop were kept inside the disy cabs. The mini poodle had finally found apanion of simr age and size as itself, so it didn¡¯t want to give up easily. It circled around the Pomeranian.

    The olddy told them that she was there to ask about the Pomeranian, which made everyone stare at the dog at the same time.

    It was still early, yet there were already two or three other customers in the shop. They might not be real customers, but they were there to take pictures with Famous while the shop was empty in the early morning.

    One of the young male customers looked at the Pomeranian and asked immediately, ¡°Is it a mutt? Why is it brown under its eyes? Grandma, where did you buy it? Did the merchant lie to you?¡±

    As he spoke, he looked at the Pomeranians in Zhang Zian¡¯s shop. ¡°You definitely didn¡¯t buy it here. There are only Spherical Pomeranians here. Look, they are Hadleigh Pomeranians!¡±

    asionally, the pet shop received customers that knew a lot about pets. Zhang Zian was not surprised. Chu Manhua interrupted curiously, ¡°What are Spherical Pomeranians?¡±

    ¡°Spherical Pomeranians are spherically-shaped Pomeranians. Hadleigh Pomeranians are the best among them.¡± The male customer began a long speech. ¡°I heard a long time ago that the pets in this shop are of a high quality. I agree with this after my visit here today. You must know that other shops sell regr Pomeranians along with Spherical Pomeranians at the same high price¡­¡±

    He looked at the olddy¡¯s Pomeranian once again and said, ¡°This Pom looks quite ¡®spherical,¡¯ but what are the brown circles under the eyes? My guess is that it¡¯s a mix with some other breed. Grandma, don¡¯t get ripped off! Just return it to wherever you bought it from! If the breeder refuses to refund you, this is what you should do: just lie on the floor and don¡¯t get up. I¡¯m sure he will refund your money¡­¡±

    Chu Manhua and Lu Yiyun looked at each other as they heard him speak. What the customer said seemed to make sense, yet it seemed a bit inappropriate¡­ Wasn¡¯t it promoting bad behavior to encourage the olddy to take advantage of her age?

    Zhang Zian thought that the customer had suggested a terrible idea. Even if she did get ripped off by an immoral breeder, she should file aint at the Consumer¡¯s Association. If they wouldn¡¯t ept herint, she could still figure something else out. She shouldn¡¯t make a scene like that.

    Wang Qian nodded and smiled with appreciation.

    Nobody expected the olddy to smile gently with her wrinkled face. She waved her hand and said, ¡°No. It¡¯s not like that. I didn¡¯t get ripped off. I am old, but I haven¡¯t lost my mind. I don¡¯t get cheated that easily¡­ I didn¡¯t buy this dog. I found it.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Everybody was astonished, unable to believe that the olddy was such a great hunter that she could find a dog like that at her age.

    Zhang Zian soon realized what had happened. He asked, ¡°Madam, did you find it during the Chinese New Year?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Right during Chinese New Year!¡± The olddy smiled.

    Then, she told the story of how she found the Pomeranian.

    It all happened about a week before Chinese New Year¡¯s Eve.

    One evening, the olddy headed outside as she normally did to collect stic water bottles to sell for money.

    Not many people knew that even the stic bottle collectors had their own territories. If she arrived toote, there might not be any more bottles, and she stood the chance of getting into fights with other old bottle collectors.

    The olddy had been collecting bottles for over a decade. She had found a route with very fewpeting collectors. It was a bit remote, and there were no busy ces along the way, such as cinemas and parks. It was quiet and free ofpetitors. She could take her time and collect as many bottles as she could.

    She was lucky that day¨C¨Cmaybe because it was almost Chinese New Year. There were more stic bottles and other soft drink bottles than usual. She had filled up her bag very quickly then headed home, feeling satisfied.

    As she heard the fireworks and firecrackers from the distant suburb, she was happy about the city government¡¯s decision to forbid them in the urban area. A dozen years ago, kids¡¯ firecrackers had burned holes in her new clothes during the Chinese New Year, making her upset for a whole month. After the firework ban, it was much safer to collect bottles.

    As she walked, she suddenly heard rustling from the roadside.

    It was dark, and the streetmp was shing from time to time. She had poor eyesight, so at first, she thought she saw a big rat and wanted to chase it away with her cane.

    But as she looked carefully, there was a ball of white fluff wriggling in a pile of snow. It didn¡¯t look like a big rat, as rats were either grey or ck.

    Then, she tried to prod the white fluff with her cane. A furry creature¨C¨Ca little dog¨C¨Ccame out of the snow pile.

    The olddy didn¡¯t know what breed the dog was. She simply felt that it was very cute and it was staring at her with a pair of big round eyes.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s so cold outside. Where did this little doge from?¡± she murmured to herself.

    It was freezing cold. The northwest wind was cutting her face like a knife. The dog was so tiny. It shuddered in the cold, and curled up in the snow pile to stay away from the wind. It was hard to get it out of there.

    ¡°Whose dog is this? Who lost this dog? Did it run away? Who lost a white little dog?¡± she yelled loudly. As she felt the dog was adorable, it was very likely that it was a lost dog.

    She was on a secluded road. It waste and almost holiday time, so there were barely any pedestrians on the road. As she looked around, she could not see anybody around her. Nobody responded, either.

    At night time, the wind was growing colder and colder. If it continued like so, the dog would freeze to death before long.

 Chapter 887: Ownerless Dog

    <h4>Chapter 887: Ownerless Dog</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian listened to the grandmother. She said that the Pomeranian was not bought by her, but that she had picked it up. Zian immediately reacted that the Pomeranian must have been raised in the Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base. It must have escaped with the other cats and dogs while Old Time Tea and Famous were causing a scene there, but because of its age and short legs, it soon got separated from the pack.

    Old Time Tea and Famous also heard the grandmother¡¯s story. Old Time Tea turned off the television, Famous opened its eyes, and they both listened with interest.

    Zhang Zian saw that the old grandmother¡¯s mouth was dry from talking, so he got Wang Qian to pour her a cup of warm water in a disposable paper cup.

    After the grandmother expressed her gratitude, she carefully took the paper cup and drank the water, then with the back of her hand, she wiped off the water flowing out from the corner of her mouth before she continued talking.

    The white puppy was very pitiful. If it continued to stay in the snow, it was going to freeze to death before midnight.

    She had wanted to take it home, but she was also afraid that it was be a dog that someone else had lost. What if the owner was looking for it and was unable to find the dog? How sad would that be?

    So, she put down the sack filled with empty bottles, picked the dog up, and cradled it in her arms. She used her body to shield it from the wind as she stood there to wait for its owner toe and find it.

    From picking up a full sack of empty bottles early in the morning, she could¡¯ve gone home early. For the puppy, however, she stood in the same spot for an hour, stomping her feet and moving her body to prevent herself from being frozen.

    In order to get past the loneliness, she also hummed her favorite song from the Kun Opera she used to listen to.

    Although the road was remote, asionally, one or two people would still pass by, No one seemed to be looking for anything, however, and all of them just hurried off with their heads down.

    Although the grandmother was old, she was not slow, and she was not foolish to the point where she would ask everyone she met if they had lost the dog. Instead, she paid attention and observed their facial expressions and movements. If it was the owner of the lost dog, she would definitely be able to tell.

    Being in her arms, the puppy was able to feel a little warmer. It then began to whimper from hunger.

    After waiting for an hour, there were fewer and fewer pedestrians passing by. After a long time, there were none.

    The old grandmother decided not to wait any longer, since just waiting alone wasn¡¯t going to solve anything.

    ¡°Little one, you¡¯re hungry, right? Why don¡¯t you follow grandma back home.¡±

    Because the puppy was very small, she temporarily ced it in her own pocket, carried the sack with the empty bottles again, and slowly walked home with her cane.

    After arriving at home, she brewed some milk powder for it, which it happily drank.

    After that, she made a small simple nest for it. She ced extra rags in the nest to make it warmer, then let it sleep.

    Because she was afraid that the person who lost the dog would be worried, the next morning, she wrote on a piece of paper, braved the cold, and walked to the ce where she had picked up the dog the night before. She then stuck the paper on the wall, asking for the dog owner to call her.

    However, a few days passed, then a few months passed in the blink of an eye. Several times, the paper strip on the wall was blown away by the wind, and several times, it was removed by the groundskeeping workers. Every time it was removed, she would put it back up, but the dog owner never contacted her.

    Zhang Zian knew the reason was because the dog had no owner at all, but she didn¡¯t know and had been waiting.

    During that period, the puppy grew up slowly day by day, and the rtionship between them got better. The puppy always reluctantly watched her leave the house in the morning and then happily weed her back at night.

    She was also very happy to have foundpany, but asionally, she would be troubled. Subconsciously, she felt that the dog wasn¡¯t hers and someday, the dog¡¯s owner would find it and take it away.

    Because she was busy all day trying to make a living, she rarely had time to take it out. One day, when she had nothing much to do, she took the puppy out for a walk and she met a nearby neighbor.

    Her neighbor was very surprised and asked her when she bought the dog.

    She answered truthfully and told her neighbor that she had actually found the dog, not bought it, and that she was still waiting for the dog¡¯s owner to look for her.

    Her neighbor scolded her for being so foolish. Her neighbor said that since she was the the one who found it, she shouldn¡¯t return it. Would she return the empty bottle that she picked up?

    But the old grandmother just shook her head and exined that the empty bottles are things that people no longer want. How could anyone not want such a cute dog?

    When the neighbor saw that she couldn¡¯t be convinced to think otherwise, the neighbor changed their approach and offered to buy the dog from her for a few hundred dors. The neighbor also mentioned that the dog was a mixed-breed, so it was only worth a few hundred dors. Selling the dog off would be the equivalent of how many days of picking up empty bottles?

    No matter what her neighbor said, she stubbornly refused. First of all, it was because she felt that the dog did not belong to her, and second, even if the dog was hers, she would never want to sell it.

    But there was also one more thing that she was troubled with: the puppy seemed to be growing too slow¨C¨Cit didn¡¯t like to eat. She had watched other people¡¯s dogs grow up, but the dog remained like a bean sprout.

    In addition, the dog was always lethargic, and there were only a few periods of time in a day that it would be energetic. Other times, it would justy on its side.

    She had tried to change things around and feed it something that she herself couldn¡¯t bear to eat, but it still had no appetite.

    How could it grow if it didn¡¯t eat?

    Recently, its situation had be more and more serious. Not only did it stop growing, but it would also fall unconscious without warning at times. Initially, she had thought that it was asleep, but the dog just wouldn¡¯t wake up when called. It was only after more than ten minutester that it would slowly wake up.

    She was very worried that it might have fallen sick.

    Her neighbor then suggested again to buy the dog from her for a few hundred dors, saying that she had no money to treat the dog, anyway. Her neighbor said that it would be better to sell the dog to him, or the dog would only die in her hands.

    Previously, when the neighbor said that, she didn¡¯t feel concerned, but that time, it was different. She also felt that if she continued to leave the dog with her, it might really die.

    She knew that there¡¯s a pet hospital that specialized in treating cats and dogs, but their fees were very costly. The money she got every day by exchanging bottles was not sufficient to cover the costs.

    One night, she was hugging the puppy at home watching the television. The television was small and the screen was blurry, so she could also only use it to watch the local channels. The TV series on the local channels were all old, just like her.

    However, at that time, the local station was not broadcasting any television series but had the local news on instead. In the news, there was a spirited young man who was interviewed by reporters.

    From the reporter¡¯s words, she learned that the young man was running a pet shop in the local area, and it seemed to be very famous. The dog he trained has also won the award for best actor overseas, and he had also solved the poisoning incident caused by an aquatic creature.

    Anyone who was not interested in such news would have already changed the channel, but her small television could only receive the local stations, and she couldn¡¯t change it even if she wanted to.

    Then, she was surprised to see that the young man had taken the big dog to a green field to perform a show with the reporter.

    Others might not be able to recognize the green space, but she¡¯s able to recognize it because the green space was just behind her house. In other words, the young man¡¯s pet shop was just be a green field away from the old, broken house where she lived.

    Out of trust in the news program, she decided to take a look at the pet shop that was on the television.

 Chapter 888: Hypoglycemia

    <h4>Chapter 888: Hypoglycemia</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The olddy was wearing in and old clothes. She told them that she collected empty bottled outside every day. They didn¡¯t know if she had other sources of ie, but as she told her story, she seemed so peaceful, smiley, and cheerful. She didn¡¯t feel ashamed of collecting bottles, nor did she feel inferior to anyone.

    Ever since Chu Manhua was diagnosed with type I diabetes, quit her job, and broke up with her boyfriend, she felt as if her world had copsed. Her life was dark and grey and without any hope; she had even given up on herself because of it. Yet, as shepared her life with the olddy who collected empty bottles each day under the scorching sun and freezing wind, she realized how fortunate she actually was.

    At first, Chu Manhua felt sympathy towards the olddy. Butter on, she realized that the olddy didn¡¯t need anyone¡¯s sympathy. She didn¡¯t steal, rob, or beg. Instead, she fed herself with her hands and her hard work. Why should she feel ashamed of anything? How was she inferior to anyone else?

    It was Chu Manhua herself who needed sympathy. She med the world for some small things, pitying herself for being diagnosed with diabetes at such a young age. If she switched ces with the olddy, she might have died of self-pity. She could never be as optimistic and cheerful as the olddy was.

    After telling the whole story, the olddy was a little out of breath.

    Zhang Zian realized something and asked her, ¡°All that to say¡­ You came here to ask if this dog is sick?¡±

    The olddy nodded. ¡°I know it needs a vet if it¡¯s sick, but pet clinics are quite expensive and I can¡¯t afford it. I figured if you own a pet store, you might know what¡¯s wrong with it. If it¡¯s something minor, I¡¯ll buy some meds and treat it. But if it¡¯s something serious¡­¡±

    She paused and said, ¡°If it¡¯s something serious, it¡¯ll die if it stays with me. I¡¯d better find its owner. If not, I¡¯ll look for a social welfare agency that would take it and get it treated¡­¡±

    As she spoke, she felt that what she mentioned was not easy to do. The dog had been with her for a long time, after all, and they had developed an affection for each other. She became used to having a living creature greeting her after she came home from bottle collecting. She was no longer alone at home.

    However, if the treatment was dyed because of her selfishness, she would rather give it away to someone who could afford to treat it¨C¨Cthe best one would be its old owner.

    The Pomeranianid quietly on the floor without moving or barking, not knowing it was about to say goodbye to its current owner.

    Chu Manhua could not watch it any longer. She held her phone tightly and wanted to help by offering money to treat the little dog. She was not rich, but ever since she had been diagnosed with diabetes, she had looked at money differently.

    Yet, she hesitated on activating her phone screen. First, she was not sure if the olddy¡¯s phone was a smart phone, and if it could ept an e-transaction. Second, she didn¡¯t know if she would hurt the olddy¡¯s self-esteem, making her feel as if she was begging.

    Zhang Zian said without hesitation, ¡°Madam, you don¡¯t need to waste your energy looking for its owner. It doesn¡¯t have an owner at all. If my guessing is correct, it escaped from a breeding base a while ago.¡±

    ¡°What? Is that so¡­ Then I should return it to the breeding base!¡± the olddy said in surprise.

    Zhang Zian pointed at the mini poodle and said with a smile, ¡°That breeding base is very immoral. They were very cruel to their pets. For example, they wanted to sell this mini poodle for a high price, so they starved it so that it wouldn¡¯t grow too big.¡±

    The olddy took a deep breath, shook her head, and sighed, ¡°Cruel. So cruel¡­ People nowadays¡­¡±

    ¡°Also, even if you want to return it, there¡¯s nowhere to return it to. After they were exposed by the media, that breeding base went bankrupt. Even the ones in charge have run away. There were some pets left, but now they have been divided by the unpaid employees to make up for their unpaid sries.¡± Zhang Zian added more information, so that the olddy would totally give up on the idea of returning the dog.

    ¡°Oh. I heard about this¡­¡± the male customer interrupted. ¡°Howe I nevere across such good luck? I¡¯ve been searching outside for free cats and dogs ever since I heard about it. But I was toote, and I didn¡¯t even find a hair! I spent the whole night freezing for nothing!¡±

    As she heard the dog didn¡¯t have any owner to be returned to at all, the olddy was indeed relieved, but then she became more worried. If the treatment was expensive, would she have to send it to some social welfare agency that adopted pets?

    As Zhang Zian spoke, he kept his eyes busy observing this Pomeranian. Although it was very quiet and obedient, he didn¡¯t dare carry it up for observation. One should never touch a strange dog, unless one was absolutely sure. It was justmon sense. Otherwise, one could not me anyone if they got bitten.

    As he confirmed that it really didn¡¯t have any urge to bite, he stretched his hands carefully under its arm to hold it up and observe it carefully from all perspectives.

    As he held the dog, his first impression was how skinny it was. Its body temperature was also higher than normal dogs¨C¨Che could sense that without actually measuring its temperature. One could only develop such sensitivity by touching different dogs every day.

    Small dogs had a higher body temperature than big dogs did, and big dogs had a higher one than humans. If he measured the Pomeranian¡¯s body temperature by inserting a thermometer into its butthole, it might be as high as 39 to 40 degrees, which was slightly higher than normal.

    In addition, the muscles in its four limbs seemed weaker than dogs of the same age. Of course, that might be a sign of malnutrition due to its poor appetite.

    The olddy stared at the Pomeranian with her cloudy eyes. She wanted to know if Zhang Zian had found out anything, but she didn¡¯t ask for fear of interrupting him.

    It only took a two to three minute brief examination before Zhang Zian put the Pomeranian back to the floor gently. He said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You don¡¯t need to send it to any welfare agency. It is sick indeed, but the treatment will be cheap. It won¡¯t cost you a lot of money. All you need to do is take better care of it.¡±

    The olddy breathed in a great sigh of relief as she heard his words. She asked him in surprise, ¡°Well¡­ What kind of illness does it have?¡±

    ¡°Hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar,¡± Zhang Zian said firmly.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    A few people uttered the word at the same time. They all looked at Chu Manhua. They were too familiar with the word ¡°hypoglycemia,¡± as they still had a fresh memory of when Chu Manhua¡¯s life was threatened by hypoglycemia, as if it had just happened yesterday.

    Wang Qian¡¯s mouth was open the widest. His eyeballs almost fell out.

    Even Chu Manhua was shocked. She covered her mouth in disbelief. What a coincidence that the Pomeranian also had hypoglycemia!

 Chapter 889: Expiry Discount

    <h4>Chapter 889: Expiry Discount</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian concluded that the situation was not good for the Pomeranian because of its low blood sugar. The others felt amazed¨C¨Cthey didn¡¯t know that even dogs could have low blood sugar; it was their first time hearing of that.

    The grandmother, on the other hand, was not as surprised as the others. She just acknowledged the fact and asked, ¡°Low blood sugar, then¡­ Will it be fine if I just feed it some candy? Aiya, I don¡¯t have any candy on me¡­¡±

    Chu Manhua took out a piece of chocte candy from her pocket. ¡°I have a candy on me. Since thest time I fainted, I always have candy on me.¡±

    ¡°Not this candy. Dogs can¡¯t eat chocte, it¡¯ll kill them!¡± Zhang Zian quickly and sternly informed her. ¡°Don¡¯t ever let your dog eat chocte.¡±

    ¡°Ah? Okay, then. I really didn¡¯t know about this before¡­¡± Chu Manhua awkwardly put the candy back in her pocket. ¡°Then¡­ what about candies that don¡¯t contain any chocte?¡±

    ¡°Not those, either. To be precise, they need something to replenish their sugar level; it¡¯s purpose is not to simply eat candy,¡± Zhang Zian corrected. He then turned back to the grandmother and said, ¡°You just need to prepare a bag of glucose at home¨C¨Cthe medical kind¨C¨Cthen add two drops of it into the water it drinks. It¡¯ll be fine after that.¡±

    ¡°So simple?¡± The grandmother couldn¡¯t believe her ears. The Pomeranian had been unenergetic for a very long time, and it had been growing very slowly, too. Could those problems really be solved by such a simple method?

    Zhang Zian nodded and exined, ¡°Low blood sugar is amon symptom among young Pomeranians, and it can lead to depression, weakness, loss of appetite, and an elevated body temperature. If the situation is severe, it may faint and convulse, or even die. People who are not aware of the situation could easily ignore the symptoms and only think that it¡¯s being very obedient until it bes too severe and nothing can be done.¡±

    ¡°Aiyo, so it¡¯s that serious¡­¡± the old grandmother said with fear. ¡°Fortunately, I brought it here to consult with you. Otherwise, the problem would have continued to drag on¡­¡±

    ¡°If your condition permits, you could also buy some nutrition cream for it to supplement nutrition, but it¡¯s best to mix the nutrition cream into some rice or dog food. If you let it eat the nutrition cream alone, it might get picky with its food; it might refuse to touch other foods aside from the nutrition cream, and that would be very troublesome,¡± Zhang Zian added.

    ¡°Nutrition cream¡­¡± The grandmother looked up at the shelves full of products. ¡°How much is the nutrition cream? Do you have it here?¡±

    ¡°We do.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that her economic situation was not very good, so he took a few cheaper nutrition creams from the shelves and handed them to her. ¡°These should do. It¡¯s not necessary to feed it too well, otherwise it will start to get picky.¡±

    The old grandmother¡¯s eyes were not as good as they used to be, and she left home without her sses that day. No matter how she flipped the nutrition cream around, she was unable to clearly see the small words on the packaging. She was able to barely see the price tag, however. Suddenly, her face didn¡¯t look too good and she said, ¡°Ah¡­ that¡­ I will buy two first¡­ or three.¡±

    Several people present wanted to lend her a helping hand without damaging her self-respect, but they couldn¡¯t think of a good reason.

    Lu Yiyun suddenly said, ¡°Grandma, hold on a moment!¡±

    She ran to the innermost shelf, took out several identical nutrition creams from the bottom, and handed them to the grandmother. She said, ¡°These products are close to their expiration date. If you¡¯re okay with them, you can use these. Anyway, you¡¯ll definitely finish them before the expiration date, and since it¡¯s a product that¡¯s almost expired, we should be able to discount it¡­ right?¡±

    At the end of her sentence, she looked at Zhang Zian and asked for his consent.

    Usually, it was Lu Yiyun¡¯s responsibility to organizes the shelves. All the items purchased in the store that came with an expiration date was recorded by her, then they would be ced in the most conspicuous position in order to sell them as soon as possible; it was just like how it was done in the supermarket.

    If a product was really nearing its expiration date but it was still not sold, she would then reorganize it to the corner to prevent customers from buying it by mistake. As for how she was supposed to deal with such products¡­ she had yet to discuss it with Zhang Zian, because most of the things in the store were selling very well and there were very few unsble products.

    ¡°Yi? There are products nearing their expiration date? Why was I not aware of them?¡± Wang Qian scratched his head.

    Zhang Zian thought to himself, Indeed, girls are more attentive to details. Zian himself had thought about doing that before, but because it was too cumbersome to implement and he waszy, he did not push the n forward. Little did he know that Lu Yiyun had silently put some effort into the n.

    ¡°Of course, products nearing their expiration date will be discounted.¡± Zian immediately nodded and confirmed. ¡°They¡¯ll be sold at half price and the closer it is to the expiration date, the higher the discount will be. I will leave you responsible for the specific details. Even if they¡¯re sold at a discount, it¡¯s better than throwing them away after their expiration date.¡±

    Lu Yiyun felt the weight on her shoulders, and together with the sense of responsibility, she also gained a sense of trust that made her satisfied and excited.

    Lu Yiyun calcted the pricing for the grandmother. A nutrient cream couldst for five to seven days, and the ones she was purchasing would expire after one month, so there was a sufficient amount of time to finish them before their expiration date. Their price was also less than half of the normal price, so it was a good choice for both quality and price.

    The grandmother was very happy after listening to her and she asked, ¡°So, how long must it take these? Forever?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. Pomeranians are often hypoglycemic when they¡¯re young, but after they grow up, they¡¯re basically fine. After a month¡¯s worth of nutrition cream is finished, it should not have to eat any more of it. At that time, it will have most likely already recovered and will be in good health,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°Great! Great! That¡¯s great! There¡¯s hope for Xiao Guaiguai!¡± The grandmother didn¡¯t know how to express her feelings. She could only say that it was great, and her eyes were moist.

    She picked up the Pomeranian with her skinny hands that were shaking, stroked its hair with affection, and lightly rubbed her cheek on its back. Her joy could clearly be felt.

    With a happy ending, the other people present were also very happy for the grandmother. Although the Pomeranian would not be able to live avish life, at least it had met an owner that loved it.

    ¡°Also, I would like to remind you: If someone wants to spend hundreds of dors to buy your dog, don¡¯t agree to it, and remember to lock your door when you go out.¡± Zhang Zian hinted for her to beware of her neighbor.

    The old grandmother was in a blur; she did not understand what he meant.

    ¡°Your Pomeranian¡­ It¡¯s not a mixed breed, but a purebred Pomeranian,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°Its normal price is about four or five thousand dors. The person who wants to buy it from you for a few hundred dors is purely trying to take advantage of you.¡±

    ¡°That can¡¯t be right.¡± The young male customer questioned. ¡°What about the brown shade under its eyes? And what about its brown nose?¡±

    Wang Qian snorted. He thought to himself, How dare you question Master with your low standards? Aren¡¯t you just putting your face out to be pped?

    In fact, Zhang Zian did not even need to look carefully to know that the Pomeranian was a purebred. It was not because he was confident in his own eyes, but because of his understanding of Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base.

    Regardless of how Love Lovely Pets treated their pets, they did have a good eye for pets. They would never raise a mixed breed Pomeranian, so he knew without even thinking that the Pomeranian had to be a purebred.

 Chapter 890: A Dog That Doesnâ€™t Shed

    <h4>Chapter 890: A Dog That Doesn¡¯t Shed</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As soon as the Pomeranian had entered, Zhang Zian had noticed the brown tear marks under its eyes, as well as its brown nose. As he rubbed it in secret while holding it, he realized it was not artificial color. He had an idea about what was going on.

    ¡°This is caused by a calcium deficiency,¡± he said with confidence. ¡°This elderlydy barely takes it outside. Pomeranians don¡¯t need much exercise, so it would have been fine, but going outside isn¡¯t just for exercise. Dogs also get Vitamin D from the sun, and Vitamin D is rted to calcium absorption. If a Pomeranian has a calcium deficiency, then these marks will appear. As long as it gets enough sunlight, the brown tear marks will disappear naturally. Its nose will also turn ck again.¡±

    Everything depended on the sun to grow¨C¨Cit was a universal truth, especially for humans and animals undergoing growth. They all needed some sunlight to help with calcium absorption.

    Walking the dog outside was not only to give the dog enough exercise¨C¨Cit was also an important way to get enough sunlight and, thus, calcium.

    As for cats, they didn¡¯t go outside a lot, but cats often searched for sunny spots at home and stayed there, so that their hair would produce Vitamin D under the sun. They would ingest the calcium when they licked their hair. Therefore, a calcium deficiency in cats was rare. Zhang Zian had made sure that the kittens in the delivery room upstairs were getting enough sunlight to avoid problems in growth and development.

    As the others heard his exnation, they were all happy for the olddy¨C¨Ceven the young male customer was cool about it. After all, it was normal that pet owners didn¡¯t know as much as a pet shop owner.

    The olddy was very calm. It made no difference to her whether the dog was a purebred Pomeranian or a mutt as long as it was safe and healthy. She remembered the advice of getting more sunlight, and nned to walk it outside when she had free time at home. She also nned to move its nest to a sunny spot in the house.

    ¡°Okay, great. Thank you so much, young man. This trip was worthwhile.¡± The olddy pressed her cane against the floor, and tried to stand up shakily.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t do anything. Chu Manhua, who was the closest one to the olddy, was the first to help her stand¨C¨Ceven Wang Qian¡¯s arm moved a little, but then he withdrew it in shyness.

    After their conversation, they had already knew what kind of person the olddy was. She was independent and self-reliant, and epted no charity. She would not even take a stray dog for free. How could she rip off other people?

    Lu Yiyun put the nutrition cream inside the customized bag with the store¡¯s QR code, then handed it to her.

    It was actually Chu Manhua¡¯s turn to check out, but she let the olddy check out first. She could wait a bit longer.

    The olddy took out a few wrinkled bills from her pocket, then spread them open on the cashier counter one by one.

    Lu Yiyun counted them carefully, then took the money, gave back the change, and printed the receipt.

    ¡°This is your change. Please keep it safe.¡± She handed the change to the olddy. It took much more time than the electronic checkout of regr customers, but none of the waiting customersined.

    ¡°Thank you. Thank you. I¡¯m headed out so that I won¡¯t interrupt your business any longer.¡± The olddy took the Pomeranian and took two steps outside before she stopped again.

    Zhang Zian thought she had more questions to ask, but she bent over slightly, picked up an empty stic bottle from the trash can next to the cashier, slipped it into her bag, then left slowly. The cane¡¯s noise tapping the ground became more and more distant, then disappearedpletely.

    The young men over there had some sad feelings as they saw her. The empty stic bottles that they threw away without thinking turned out to be the main source of ie for an elderlydy. The price of any pet in the shop might be her living expenses for a whole year. The difference was just so¡­ It gave them a clear perception of the great gap between the rich and the poor.

    Old Time Tea sighed. ¡°I sigh in tears, as I see how hard people¡¯s lives can be¡­¡±

    In the past, Wang Qian and Li Kun had mocked Welder Zhao wildly for being stingy. But now they realized that maybe Welder Zhao was so keen on saving money because he knew how hard it was to make money, as he worked hard his whole life before he could afford to retire. He would spend every penny as wisely as he could.

    ¡°Master! I¡¯ll be out for a while, and will be back soon!¡± Wang Qian said all of a sudden.

    Before Zhang Zian responded, he ran out of the shop as quick as smoke in the same direction as the olddy.

    As Lu Yiyun took the nutrition cream from the shelf just now, Chu Manhua suddenly remembered that she had no pet supplies. She would rather buy everything at one time. She had never owned pets before. Getting a dog for the first time¨C¨Ca dog closely rted to her own life¨C¨Cmade her feel like an elementary student preparing for their first outing in nature. As she nced over the variety of products on the shelves, she felt that everything was useful, and wanted to get every single item.

    Apart from a cage, food, water bowl, leash, and dog shampoo, she also picked some small essories such as nail clippers, electric pet hair remover, etc.

    As she checked out, Zhang Zian was happy that she had bought a lot of stuff. He still pointed out, ¡°You can skip the electric pet hair remover. You won¡¯t need it.¡±

    Chu Manhua paused as she heard his words. In her impression, all dogs and cats shed. When she visited her friends with pets in the past, she had to spend hours removing the cat or dog hair from her sweater, which was why she had chosen an electric pet hair remover to save time. Why did Zhang Zian say that she would not need it?

    Another customer was also lining up to pay for an electric pet hair remover. He started hesitating as he heard Zhang Zian. He had just gotten a new golden retriever from a friend. It was a lovely dog, but the shedding was insufferable. He wanted to buy an electric pet hair remover to solve his problem as much as he could. He wondered if the shop owner said this because electric pet hair removers were not useful.

    Zhang Zian exined, ¡°Of course electric pet hair removers are useful. But poodles don¡¯t need them, as purebred poodles are among the few dog breeds that don¡¯t shed. Since it doesn¡¯t shed, you won¡¯t need an electric pet hair remover. It will end up collecting dust.¡±

    He put the electric pet hair remover in Chu Manhua¡¯s hand back to the shelf, then put a grooming tool set for long hair dogs into her hands. ¡°Purebred poodles don¡¯t shed, but they need daily brushing. So a grooming tool set is more useful. There are specialbs for the top and under coat. You also need to pay attention to the order of grooming. If you want your dog to look prettier, just read the user¡¯s manual carefully.¡±

    Many customers had dogs at home, but that was the first time they heard about poodle¡¯s advantage. Some customers started to regret choosing a small dog that shed heavily. If they wanted a small dog, it would be wiser to have a poodle, to spare themselves from the dog hairs floating around everywhere. They could even get dog hairs in their mouth while they talked. The shedding was insufferable.

    Some customers felt even worse. They also had poodles, but why did their poodles still shed? Clearly, as they heard Zhang Zian emphasize the word ¡°purebred,¡± they realized that they had been ripped off by immoral breeders. They had brought mixed poodles¡­

    ¡°In fact, they still shed seasonally, but their hair doesn¡¯t float around all year long like golden retrievers and Samoyeds. Poodles have curly hair, so their hair doesn¡¯t fall off during shedding season. Instead, it stays inside the follicles, and only ends up on theb when you brush. Therefore, you need to brush them more often during shedding season,¡± Zhang Zian exined further.

    He did wish to sell as many items as possible in his shop; however, he didn¡¯t want to sell customers what they didn¡¯t need for the sake of a tiny profit. The customers would hate him if they realized that the pet supplies ended up collecting dust.

    Chu Manhua understood everything. Although poodles needed daily brushing, it was still better than having dog hair on the floor, bed, couch, clothes, and everywhere else. Thetter was worse inparison.

    During her brief hospitalization for observation, sheid on the hospital bed and browsed through her phone in boredom, searching for dog raising information and tips shared by other dog owners, especially poodle owners. She saw that many owners groomed their poodles so nicely that they looked just like toys. She wanted to groom her dog nicely after she took it home. Brushing it was only a simple task, after all.

    At that moment, Wang Qian ran back into the shop out of breath, saying, ¡°Master, I just followed that olddy, and I found out which area she lives in. Of course, I was discreet and she didn¡¯t see me, but I think that Pomeranian saw me. It was looking back all the time¡­¡± He was proud about what he just did.

    ¡°Since when did you be a stalker?¡± Zhang Zian asked with despise. ¡°A stalker with teenage syndrome¡­ I guess you need to quit the group.¡±

    Others also gave Wang Qian a strange look.

    ¡°No, no. I¡¯m not a stalker. I¡¯m nning to collect all the empty stic bottles in the shop¡¯s trash, then put them near her house. She will walk her dog near the green grasnd every day in the future, so she can pick them up on her way,¡± Wang Qian exined in embarrassment.

    They couldn¡¯t believe that he had denied about being a stalker, instead of denying his teenage syndrome.

    Zhang Zian was quite surprised to hear that Wang Qian was capable of such a nice deed. He said dly, ¡°Sure. I hope you keep doing it, and don¡¯t give it up after three minutes.¡±

    ¡°Rest assured: I¡¯ll absolutely keep doing it. As for the aquarium, I¡¯ll ask Li Kun to help collect the bottles. He will follow my orders, as I¡¯m older than him.¡± Wang Qian was full of confidence. He then remembered something and asked curiously, ¡°Right, Master, you mentioned in the past that the old residential area beside the green grasnd was supposed to be demolished a long time ago, but it hadn¡¯t happened for all sorts of reasons. If one day it really gets demolished, will that olddy get a huge sum ofpensation and be rich over night?¡±

    ¡°This might happen!¡± Zhang Zianughed. ¡°Demolishing changes lives!¡±

 Chapter 891: Boat

    <h4>Chapter 891: Boat</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Chu Manhua settled the payment and got an invoice together with a pet sales agreement. Once all of that waspleted, the mini poodle that could smell signs of hypoglycemia in a diabetic patient belonged to her.

    In fact, it was not umon for poodles to have an excellent sense of smell. It had been said that the ancestor of the modern poodle was a kind of Truffle Dog in Britain in the fifteenth century. Their mission was to help their owner smell out precious mushrooms known as truffles, and they were very sensitive to the smell of that mushroom¨C¨Cperhaps the mushroom also exuded a scent simr to that of a hypoglycemia reaction in a diabetic patient.

    In short, she bought a lot of pet supplies. There were too many things and they were too heavy, so she asked Zhang Zian to mail them over.

    She wanted to put on a cor and a leash on the mini poodle, but it just wouldn¡¯t keep still. As if it knew that it was going to leave the pet store, it broke free from her hands and ran back to her mother.

    Chu Manhua asked, ¡°That dog is¡­?¡±

    ¡°Its mother,¡± Zhang Zian answered.

    Wang Qian had thought about carrying it over, but he was stopped by Chu Manhua. She suddenly wondered if she was being selfish. Should she really be breaking up the mother and child?

    The mother of the mini poodle was the female poodle that had escaped with it from Love Lovely Pets. Because it was forced to give birth for a long period of time, her physical condition had not been very good. Giving birth caused its body to lose calcium and it even lost some of its teeth. After a period of nursing, although it had partially recovered, it was not as healthy as other adult dogs.

    Zhang Zian did not intend to sell the female dog to his customers. He nned to raise it in the pet store unless he met a very suitable customer.

    The mini poodle seemed reluctant to leave its mother. It whimpered as it went around in circles and sniffed her scent, but its mother acted very cold to it. Recently, its mother had not paid any attention to it. It even pushed it away when it came close to her. The same was true that day when it tried to get close to its mother¨C¨Cthe mother, who was lying on the floor, suddenly stood up, turned around, and left. She then chose another spot andid down again, not looking at it at all.

    Her cold attitude made the mini poodle feel very sad. It sniffed where its mother had just been before it walked in a depressed manner towards Chu Manhua.

    Chu Manhua squatted down and tried to put the leash on it again, and that time, it did not resist or break free. Instead, it kept still for Chu Manhua so she could attach the leash on it.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be heading off. Thank you, Mr. Zhang¨C¨Cand thank you, everyone.¡± Chu Manhua thanked Zhang Zian, Lu Yiyun, and Wang Qian, and said her goodbyes.

    ¡°Be careful on the road,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°Come back again if there are any problems.¡±

    Wang Qian and Lu Yiyun both also waved goodbye to her.

    She led the mini poodle out of the store. Although she would usually take a taxi home, she decided to walk home that day because her doctor had advised her to move around more. Since she still wanted to live a long, healthy life, she was going to follow the doctor¡¯s advice.

    When Chu Manhua and the mini poodle disappeared from their sights, the female poodle stood up and stared nkly at the door of the store. Even after some time had passed, it did noty back down.

    That night at Love Lovely Pets, it had pushed its child that was only the size of a palm to Old Time Tea and Famous. Now, it had done the same thing again.

    Whether it was humans or animals, when the child grew up, the parents would force the child out of the house and push them towards the wider world. Eagles would even push their eaglet off from their high nest in order to make the eaglets learn to fly. To a certain extent, it was also the instinct of the creatures to survive and multiply.

    The others may not have noticed, but Zhang Zian did. He walked over and patted the back of its neck. The mother whimpered andid back down on the ground, its eyes still staring at the door.

    Zhang Zian saw that there was no other thing in the store that required his attention, and both Wang Qian and Lu Yiyun seemed to be handling everything well. He went out of the store and took out a long object that was wrapped in stic sheeting from the trunk of the Wuling Shenguang and went back up to the second floor.

    Entering the living room, Pi was typing away on the keyboard as usual. Many of the keys had already worn off since the keyboard was originally not a high end keyboard. Fortunately, Pi had already adapted to touch typing, and whether or not there were the letters on the keyboard made no difference to it.

    Zhang Zian put down the things in his hands, walked up to the desk, and said, ¡°Pi, do you have time now? I need to use theputer for a while.¡±

    ¡°Zhi zhi.¡± Pi raised its hands high and did a little stretch. It then took off its pince-nez sses, rubbed its eyes, and jumped from the swivel chair, gesturing for Zian to go ahead.

    ¡°Well, Pi, you can take a break. I¡¯ll be done soon.¡±

    Zhang Zian opened up the browser, entered the omnipotent Taobao, and typed in the keywords he wanted to search before pressing enter.

    He didn¡¯t really hold much hope before, but he was relieved to see the loaded pictures. It really was the omnipotent Taobao. Such things were really sold, and there was also quite a number of sellers¡­

    ¡°Zhi zhi?¡± Pi also saw the pictures on the screen. It curiously stood next to the desk. Its height was only a little higher than the desk, and its eyes were barely over the desktop.

    Pi gestured, as if to ask, ¡°You want to buy a boat?¡±

    The pictures on theputer screen were all boats¨C¨Cto be precise, intable boats.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°To buy or not, I haven¡¯t decided yet. Let¡¯s just take a look at them first andpare the price and performance ratio for each merchant.¡±

    The screen of the mobile phone was too small, which made it very inconvenient topare them. It was more intuitive on theputer, and more content could be disyed at one time.

    ¡°Actually, I¡¯m nning to buy an aircraft carrier¡­ Preferably a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier¨C¨Cthose that carry fighter jets¨C¨Cbut I didn¡¯t expect them to be taken off the shelf. Now, there are only their models left, and it seems like the omnipotent Taobao is no longer what it used to be¡­¡± he sighed.

    Pi was in aplete blur.

    The intable boats disyed by the Taobao sellers came in a variety of models, from unpowered intable boats that could only amodate a single person for about one hundred and something dors, to four-seater assault boats with electric motors for about two to three thousand dors. The boats of different grades came with different prices and different configurations, which only made Zhang Zian, who had no knowledge about it, confused.

    Of course, in theory, one got what they paid for, and they could never go wrong buying the most expensive one. In the scope of economic conditions, buying the most expensive item in one¡¯s price limit was basically the right option.

    Two to three thousand dors was not expensive. Zian could afford the number, but he still had to consider another piece of criteria: the size of the boat didn¡¯t seem as though it could be loaded into the boot of the Wuling Shenguang. How would he bring it to the beach then? Lug it over?

    He was nning to buy the intable boat to use it, and not disy it in the aquarium.

    ¡°Zhi zhi?¡± Pi wonderingly gestured. It meant to ask, ¡°What are you buying a boat for? Are you going out on the sea?¡±

    Zhang Zian pondered for a moment before he nodded, ¡°I have that thought, but it¡¯s not confirmed yet.¡±

 Chapter 892: Whale Fall

    <h4>Chapter 892: Whale Fall</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Pi was very surprised, as Zhang Zian had never revealed any thought about going out on the sea on a boat. Even Zhang Zian himself was surprised.

    It was just a spur of the moment decision. In fact, he didn¡¯t have reasons to go out on the sea on a boat, but after he saw that giant whale, he could no longer hold back his curiosity. It was very dangerous for a giant whale toe so close to the shore, as it could strand itself with a slight carelessness. It only belonged out in the deep blue sea.

    What made it to approach the shore against its survival instincts? Was it Sihwa¡¯s songs? Or was it hurt, too?

    As Sihwa¡¯s songs were calling the hunted whales in northeast Asia to head to Binhai for asylum, in theory, it could be traveling there to get away from being hunted. That would bring up a new question, however¨C¨CSihwa was asking the whales toe to the sea near Binhai City, but she didn¡¯t ask them to approach the shore. The minke whale¡¯s earlier stranding was an ident as a result of its injury.

    Was that suggesting that was that giant whale injured, as well?

    Judging from what he knew, he had to make such a guess.

    When he saw it briefly at the beach, it was too far away and there were no reference points nearby. He could not estimate how big the giant whale was, but from a rough look, it measured at least a dozen meters long and weighed over ten tons. It was a fully grown, giant whale.

    Had such a giant whale been stranded at the shore and could not return to the water within a short time, it would surely die. To make matters worse, the moment it left the water and stranded itself, it would lose the buoyancy of the sea water. Its skeleton and organs would be crushed by its own body weight, making it beyond any possible rescue.

    But if it really approached the shore because of injury, things would have been worse¡­ It would not be as lucky as the minke whale, who got stranded on the beach and waited to be found. It would have to wait for the wound to heal on its own, or someone would have to find out about its injury ahead of time.

    Zhang Zian was not impulsive. He knew it was extremely dangerous to approach a giant whale over ten tons on a boat¨C¨Cand it might be a giant whale that had lost its mind under the injury.

    Even if the giant whale had no intention to harm it, it could bring the entire boat, and him, into the sea with a careless flip. A tail swing was enough to break the boat frame, along with his bones¡­

    That was the sheer difference of size. There was no room to fight back at all.

    Him against the giant whale was like a newborn kitten or puppy against a grown man. Their body sizes were hundreds of times different. He would vanish like smoke in an instant.

    Not to mention that ten tons might be an underestimation. It would not be surprising if that giant whale weighed over 20 tons.

    Anyone with a clear head would not touch an unfamiliar dog boldly, in case the dog bites. If that was the case with a dog, how much more would it be with an unfamiliar, giant whale? Any normal human being would stay away from it.

    Not to mention that his only way of approaching the giant whale was on a motorized, intable boat, the type used by deep sea anglers. To save money, the motor might not be included, and he would have to row the boat by hand¡­

    Even the marine biologists that specialized in whales would never approach an unfamiliar, giant whale on an intable boat. It was an act of foolishness.

    Despite all of that, could he allow the giant whale to live or die on its own?

    There was a magical term called ¡°whale fall,¡± which referred to the slow falling of a whale¡¯s carcass into the seabed after its death. It turned itself into nutrients, which fed a multitude of marine creatures.

    Many marine creatures that lived on the seabed lived on whale falls, as they never received any sunlight throughout the entirety of their lives.

    Whales were massive. Whale flesh was rich in fat and the degradation was very slow. It was estimated that after one whale¡¯s death, its carcass could feed a multitude of sea bottom creatures for years, or even decades.

    Cherry blossoms fell at a speed of five centimeters per second. What was the speed of a whale fall?

    Giant whales didn¡¯t fall into the sea bottom right away. Instead, they floated for a while on the surface and were gnawed on by sea birds, sharks, and pr bears. During the fall, other fish would bite and tear it apart, one after another. After it arrived at the bottom, the still carcass would attract more creatures such as hagfish, sleeper sharks, deep sea crabs, etc., followed by bristle worms and crustaceans. Anaerobic bacteria was thest in line.

    During the process, its flesh was torn and degraded, forming a storm of ¡°marine snow¡± that drifted further away along the currents, feeding more lives.

    As each giant whale died, many new lives were born out of it.

    Even if the giant whale¡¯s flesh was all gone, its grey white skeleton would always stand at the sea bed, forming grotesque and mysterious scenery. As deep sea divers dove into the deep sea for scientific exploration, they often captured whale skeleton forests, monuments for these giant marine mammals. Marine creatures of all shapes swam through the whale skeleton and hid themselves in a panic after being disturbed by the divers¡¯ lights and the stirred up sand.

    However, as a result of whale hunting and pollution, the giant whale poption had diminished, which meant the number of whale falls diminished as well. Nobody would ever know just how many marine creatures that lived on whale falls were slowly disappearing.

    Death always followed life. It was thew of nature, both to humans and to whales.

    The giant whale that Zhang Zian had seen might also die, but not in that way. It was meaningless to die near the shore. Its final destination needed be the remote, deep sea so it could transform itself into a whale fall like other giant whales had, and thus feed millions of lives. Of course, that should only happen after a few decades. Whales had a long life span.

    Therefore, he wanted to sail out to sea on a boat to search for that giant whale.

    If it was indeed injured or sick, he wanted to do something to help. Even if he could not do enough, he could ask for help from Ke Shaohui, the Fishery Administration Officer he had just met. After all, that fell within his list of responsibilities. Even if it wasn¡¯t enough, he could still seek help from Liu Ying, the local television reporter. She could ask for charitable donations or volunteers from the society in order to save this giant whale¡¯s life.

    When everybody added to the fuel, the me could rise high enough. One person had very limited strength, but the strength of everybodybined was great. Even for that stranded minke whale, without Huang and Xiao Zhi¡¯s help, he could not have operated on it by himself, nor could he have sent it back to the sea. Most people had good hearts, and most people were full of awe towards giant mammals¨C¨Cthey were unwilling to regretfully watch it die.

    However, the premise of all of that was to confirm that it was indeed sick or injured, instead of approaching the shore for other reasons, such as Sihwa¡¯s songs. He had to confirm his theory with his own eyes by approaching it on a boat.

 Chapter 893: Request for Help

    <h4>Chapter 893: Request for Help</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian browsed the data and pictures of the intable boats provided by the Taobao sellers, as well as the evaluations from their buyers. He then selected a few that seemed reliable and added them to his shopping cart topare them in detailter.

    In addition, life jackets and lifebuoys were also necessary. Although he grew up in a seaside city, and he was able to swim, he knew that those that drown most often were always those that could actually swim. He did not want to verify that truth with his own life.

    After he was done, he returned theputer back to Pi. The rest could be done on his phone.

    If he was an ordinary person, no matter how much he liked whales, he would take a look at the risks before attempting the one that was his current n. Still, he had a cheat: Sihwa.

    He could let Sihwa record a song in advance, so when he approached the giant whale by boat, he would y the song and clear the whale¡¯s hostility so that he could safely approach it.

    As for the content of the song, he¡¯d let Sihwa decide. Anyway, it should mean something along the lines of: ¡°Captain don¡¯t shoot, it¡¯s me!¡±

    He walked to the bathroom and knocked on the open door, indicating that he wasing in.

    Sihwa was not filming a live broadcast, but instead, she was sullenly stirring the water in the bathtub. Two little yellow ducks rocked back and forth on the surface of the water.

    Ever since the day that Fina had scolded and questioned her about if she would like to exchange the lower half of her body to be a human, she had been in a daze¨C¨Cshe just stared at the water or out the window all day.

    It was heart wrenching to watch her behave in such a pitiful manner. After all, beauty was justice. She had a 360-degree sense of beauty that was unparalleled and had no bad angle; even if she had a bad personality, it was fine it she didn¡¯t speak.

    However, Zhang Zian did notfort her, because the situation was not necessarily a bad thing. She was no longer the brainless, big chested fan who used to make a fuss all day about going to South Korea to see her Oppa. Now, she was really starting to think about things, such as herself and the meaning of her own existence.

    But, would she be able to think things through? After all, she had not had any education. She also had no social experience, and the only knowledge she had about human society was through Korean dramas and live broadcasts.

    On the bathroom cab next to the bathtub was her phone and a few fairytale books with colorful covers. The covers of the books were slightly curled, which proved that she did read the books instead of cing them there just for show.

    Aside from having deep thoughts, she had also started learning pinyin and Chinese characters every day under the supervision of Old Time Tea. Although she hadn¡¯t been studying for long, she had picked it up unexpectedly fast. She was already able to understand some simple words, and if it wasbeled with pinyin, she could even read an entire fairytale. Perhaps it was because she was an elfin born out of faith, so she couldn¡¯t be measured by human standards.

    In the past, she couldn¡¯t understand the bullet screens in the broadcast room; she had to rely on the text-to-speech function to understand them. Now, she could understand some of them after she turned off the text-to-speech function. The only problem was the speed of the bullet screens because her reading speed was unable to keep up with them.

    Sihwa heard Zhang Zian knock on the door. As she looked up at him, her sea-like blue eyes had a shred of maturity aside from their original innocence.

    ¡°Using the bathroom?¡± she asked randomly.

    In fact, Zhang Zian had been using the bathroom next door in his parent¡¯s bedroom. The only ones who used that toilet were the other elfins.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m here to ask for your help,¡± Zian said. ¡°Do you have time now?¡±

    After a momentary pause, Sihwa reacted, and she quickly grabbed her phone and a fairytale book. She said, ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m busy. I¡¯ve got some studying to do, and I still have to go liveter. But if you ask for my help, then I would consider helping you¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. Had she been in contact with Fina too much? The contempt in their tones was exactly the same.

    But he really had something to ask of her, and no one but her could help him with it.

    ¡°Then can you please help me? Please,¡± he asked in a resigned tone.

    ¡°Then¡­ First, charge the phone full for me!¡± She said with a smile, like she had won a big bargain. ¡°And I heard that there¡¯s something called a power bank. Buy that for me too! ¡±

    Zhang Zian took the phone from her. ¡°I have no problem charging the phone for you, but as for the power bank, we¡¯ll have to discuss it againter. After all, that stuff is very expensive. Don¡¯t forget that you still owe me money!¡±

    ¡°Chie! Stingy!¡± She pouted and said unhappily. ¡°So¡­ What help do you need? Is it to spend money on you?¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not necessary. I don¡¯t even have enough to spend myself, so why would I need your help¡­?¡± Zhang Zian turned it down without a moment of hesitation.

    She smacked her lips in pity. ¡°Tsk! Then what do I need to help you with?¡±

    Zhang Zian pulled out his phone and let her look at the screen.

    On the screen was the photo and video he took at the beach, where the protagonist was the giant whale that had appeared for an instant.

    ¡°What is this? It¡¯s so blurry! Is it AVI quality?¡± She squinted her eyes and looked at the small ck spot on the screen.

    There was no other choice; that was the picture quality after he zoomed in, so it was definitely going to be blurry.

    ¡°What AVI quality¡­ Who did you learn this from?¡± Zhang Zian asked. ¡°This is a whale that swam near the coast. It¡¯s very big.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Sihwa blinked her eyes and asked, ¡°And?¡±

    ¡°A whale of such size, logically speaking, should not have swam close to the coast. It might get beached any time,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°Do you know what it means to be beached? It¡¯s just like you when you were tired on the beach of Germany.¡±

    ¡°Of course I know what it means to be beached! Don¡¯t treat me like a child!¡± she eximed indignantly.

    To be honest, Zhang Zian suspected that her socialmon sense and scientific knowledge were not as good as a child¡¯s. He figured Xiao Zhi knew more¡­

    ¡°Okay then, but the size of this whale is too big¡­ Once it gets beached, it¡¯d be very dangerous. Sihwa, you like whales a lot, right? Could you bear to watch this big guy die on the beach?¡± Zian patiently exined to her.

    Sihwa¡¯s expression finally got a little serious. She nced at the little ck dot on the screen of the mobile phone and asked, ¡°And? Why is it going to get beached? Because there¡¯s no money? Ajeo-an, you¡¯re really stingy. You¡¯re going to let it get beached just because it doesn¡¯t have money?¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°¡­What does this have to do with me!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that it wants to get beached, but¡­¡± Zian felt that it was very tiring to try to exin things to themon sense idiot, but there was no other way. He had to think about how he could go about it. Then he said, ¡°But¡­ it shouldn¡¯t be swimming in the shallow part of the sea so close to the shore. This puts in danger of being beached at any point of time.¡±

    ¡°Oh, okay then. So it¡¯s not you who¡¯s making it beach itself.¡± Sihwa finally understood a little. She asked, ¡°Why would it swim in the shallow seas? Isn¡¯t it more fun in the deep sea?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I was going to ask you,¡± Zhang Zian said seriously. ¡°Sihwa, in your previous singing, did you really tell the whales to swim out to the outer seas of Binhai City?¡±

 Chapter 894: The Whale Hunting

    <h4>Chapter 894: The Whale Hunting</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sihwa¡¯s songs were emitted at a low frequency, inaudible to human ears. Maybe cats and dogs could hear them, too, but only the whales and herself could understand the content. As the transmission rate of low-frequency sound waves was very low, a short human sentence would take a long time to sing when it was being transmitted by low-frequency waves.

    In the recording, she sang to ask the hunted whales in northeastern Asia toe to Binhai City¡¯s outer sea for asylum. It took her a good three or four minutes toplete the sentence.

    Apart from Sihwa, nobody understood whalenguage¨C¨Ceven the scientists didn¡¯t understand the grammar and pronunciation in whalenguage.

    Zhang Zian suspected that the wording in Sihwa¡¯s song might not be urate enough. As a result, some whales had misunderstood her and swam into the dangerous, shallow water.

    Sihwa didn¡¯t understand what he meant at first. After a moment, as she understood it, her face immediately turned red in anger.

    ¡°You¡­ What nonsense are you talking about, you cheapskate? Don¡¯tpare me to those stupid cats and dumb dogs!¡± she said in arrogance.

    ¡°Cut it. What are you angry at? I¡¯m just confirming¡­ Besides, you are not qualified to call others stupid, are you?¡± Zhang Zian knew it was inappropriate to question others without any evidence, but he had no other choice.

    ¡°Anyway, I am not wrong!¡± Sihwa gnawed her teeth and crossed her arms in front of her chest in anger.

    Zhang Zian had to apologize. ¡°Fine, I¡¯m sorry I wronged you¡­ Just help me do another recording. You should tell them: ¡®If you are hurt or sick, this man is here to help you. Please don¡¯t harm him.''¡±

    ¡°Hurt? That whale is hurt?¡± She lifted her eyes and asked. She felt a tightness in her heart.

    ¡°I can¡¯t be sure yet. That¡¯s why I need to observe it closer on a boat,¡± he said.

    She spoke in lingering anger, ¡°Whales don¡¯t hurt people. It should be fine even if I don¡¯t tell them, right?¡±

    Zhang Zian exined, ¡°Not necessarily. If it¡¯s really hurt and was injured by humans, then it might be holding a grudge against humans. All whales are short-sighted. They can¡¯t tell the difference between different people at a certain distance. It¡¯s very likely to capsize my friendly boat before I have a chance to get close enough¡­¡±

    ¡°Injured by humans?¡± She misunderstood immediately. She spoke, her eyes big and furious, ¡°You said Chinese people don¡¯t harm whales! That¡¯s why I asked them toe here! Did you lie to me on purpose? You a**hole cheapskate!¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t injured by Chinese people, for sure. I mean, maybe after they heard your song, they swam to China from other ces with their wounds¡­ Wait a minute.¡±¡¡ Zhang Zian asked her to calm down. He walked out of the bathroom, took a long object wrapped in stic, then opened it up next to the bathtub.

    ¡°Look. What is this?¡±

    Inside the stic wrap was the broken fishing spear he had taken back from the beach. The rusted metal appeared a darker crimson color after it was soaked in blood. The fractured section of the wooden handle was rough and uneven. The handle itself was old and worn after years of use.

    The bloody object might be mistaken as a weapon if he walked out in public with it. Due to recent security concerns, it would be a big problem if the police arrested him for suspicion. He might also frighten the customers in his shop. Therefore, he wrapped it in stic.

    Sihwa stared at the fishing spear and nced at it from left to right. She didn¡¯t know what it was, but a faint bloody smell had drifted into her nostrils, making her feel nauseated. A bad premonition suddenly rose in her heart.

    She stretched out her fair and tender fingers and rubbed against the spear¡¯s rough surface. It was covered in rust, but she could still feel the sharp curve. In the end, she stopped at the sharp end.

    ¡°Ouch!¡±

    Her finger had just gently touched the tip of the fishing spear, and it was cut. The wound was not visible, yet a drop of blood seeped out and dripped into the bathtub. As it circled and spread, it made a beautiful shape like a cherry blossom.

    Even baby fingers were not that tender.

    ¡°What is this?¡± she asked, retracting her hand.

    Zhang Zian answered, ¡°This is a fishing spear.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t understand what it was used for just by hearing the name alone. He held the remaining portion of the wooden handle and lifted the spear over his shoulder to make a javelin throwing pose. He didn¡¯t know if the harpooning movement was simr to that, but it was enough to fool her; she could not tell if it was right or wrong.

    ¡°As soon as they saw a whale emerge out of the water, they threw the spear out like this. Do you see the barb? As long as the spear pierces into the whale¡¯s body, it will not fall off. The barb will grab the whale¡¯s flesh firmly, making them insanely miserable. This spear is not whole; there is another half. The tail is attached to a rope, and the rope is attached to the boat. After the whale is pierced by the spear, the whale can no longer escape. It will use all its strength in its great pain to drag the boat as it swims. But the more it does so, the more it loses blood and drains its strength. In the end, it¡¯s exhausted and copses on the surface of the water. It then gets dragged onto the whale hunting boat and gets butchered into pieces¡­

    Judging from the size, this spear is used to hunt small whales. The owner might be driving a non-professional whale hunting boat¨C¨Ca regr fishing boat. That person may not live on whale hunting alone, but rather they are only a regr fisherman. But he always keeps a fishing spear on the boat. Each time hees across a small whale, he picks the spear up to make some extra money. The real, professional whale hunting boats use a harpoon cannon. After shooting a whale, it may even pierce right through it¡­

    This fishing spear was discovered in a minke whale a few days ago. It was very lucky. It might have struggled too much after being harpooned, or the wooden handle was already rotten inside after it had been used for a long time. Anyhow, the spear broke in half. From another perspective, you can tell how firmly the barb can grab onto a whale. It won¡¯t fall off, even if the handle is broken.

    It heard your song. With a spear inside its body, it swam a long way, in great pain, all the way to Binhai City. Atst, it lost direction under the pain, then dashed onto the beach and got stranded. Luckily, it was discovered in time and got rescued, leaving only an ugly sutured wound on its body.¡±

    Everything Zhang Zian had just said was a guess; it was not precise, but most likely not far from the truth, either.

    With rich bodynguage, he made a graphic illustration. Even if Sihwa had never seen a real whale hunting excursion, the bloody scene was vivid in front of her eyes.

    She was so terrified that she held her own body tight in the bathtub, as if she was freezing. She realized she was shaking.

    ¡°Who¡­ Who is he? What kind of person is capable of such a horrific deed?¡± she asked, fighting back her tears.

    Zhang Zian put the spear back to the side of the bathtub, flipped it, then pointed at the family name engraved into the fishing spear to let her read.

 Chapter 895: Recording

    <h4>Chapter 895: Recording</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sihwa didn¡¯t watch Korean dramas for no reason. At the very least, she was able to recognize some Korean characters. Even if she didn¡¯t know the word, she was able to understand that the word was Korean. After all, Korean characters were very distinctive; they were easily recognizable, just like the characters from both the Chinese and Japanesenguage.

    In the past, Zhang Zian had told her that the area in Northeast Asia that was mainly doing the whaling was South Korea and Japan. The only difference was that South Korea had been doing it secretly, iming that the whales were caught by mistake, while Japan had been tantly killing them under the ims of it being for scientific research. Both countries had a tradition of eating whale meat. Whale meat was more expensive in its domestic market, and many people were willing to pay for the experience.

    After listening to him, Sihwa refused to believe him because she had watched many Korean dramas. In all those dramas, the actors in each Korean drama were both beautiful, elegant, and living in the thriving streets of Seoul. It was apletely different image from them putting a piece of whale meat into their mouth and chewing vigorously. She suspected that Zhang Zian was lying to her because Fina had told her that Zhang Zian liked to bluff.

    If it was about eating fish, then Sihwa would not be as bothered, but whales meant more to her. Perhaps it was because she was half-fish, half-mammal¨Cpared to humans, she was actually closer to whales.

    Whales and dolphins had the highest IQ in the ocean andpared to fishes, whales and dolphins had intelligence, feelings, and their ownnguages. They were able to cooperate with society, have a natural friendliness to human beings, and were natural allies of mankind in the ocean.

    She would never be able to understand¨C¨Cespecially since there were so many things that human beings could eat. With the birds flying in the sky, mammals running on the ground, and things swimming in the sea¡­ was whale meat really necessary?

    The most important thing was that although humans couldn¡¯t hear anything, her ears were filled with the songs and whispers of the whales all day and night. The sounds came from thousands of miles away from where the whalesmunicated with each other through low-frequency sound waves. She could hear them expressing their love for one another, sending out messages to protect their family and people, and warning each other about attacks from ferocious beasts and whaling ships. She could also hear a mother calling out to her child, a husband calling out to his wife, the deep bellows of a male, and hear the soft whispers of a female¡­ All this made her feel like she was there in the crowd of whales; sometimes, she would even dream that she was also a whale, and she could swim in the sea without tiring.

    To her, whales were special.

    The white whale who apanied her for a long time in the cold Baltic Sea¨C¨Cthe one who used its body to warm her up when she was a newborn¨C¨Cwas all alone and helpless. Would it also be put on the table one day to be eaten?

    Zhang Zian noticed the look on her face was getting uglier. It seemed like she would vomit at any time, so he quickly handed her a washbasin.

    ¡°Hey, are you okay?¡± Zian asked.

    She pressed her lips together and shook her head. She didn¡¯t dare to speak a word because she was afraid that she would vomit just from opening her mouth.

    Zhang Zian waited by her side, and after waiting for about ten minutes, her face slowly eased. It looked much better, but it still wasn¡¯t back to normal yet.

    ¡°So, is it really the Korean fishermen who injured the minke whale?¡± Sihwa asked with a glimmer of hope.

    Zian did not answer her question; it was like a silent acknowledgment.

    The evidence was right in front of them and it wasn¡¯t possible to fake it. The harpoon was not new, and the handle was smooth from long periods of use¨C¨Cplus, the barbs were also rusted. It had to have been used for at least ten years. The unique smell of whale blood was emitted from the wooden handle and continued to linger around.

    Who would write their surname on the harpoon? Only a fishing family would do that with ostentation.

    Zhang Zian picked up the harpoon and rewrapped it with stic sheeting because he felt that Sihwa would definitely feel unwell if she continued to look at it.

    Sihwa said with difficulty, ¡°The giant whale you recorded¡­ was it also injured by a harpoon?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m can¡¯t confirm that. I have to look at it from a close distance to determine if it¡¯s hurt or if it¡¯s sick. This type of harpoon is not fatal to it, but if it¡¯s bigger, like the harpoons meant for hunting giant whales¡­ I¡¯m afraid that if we continue to drag this on, it¡¯s not going to be great for it,¡± Zhang Zian replied truthfully.

    ¡°Okay¡­ I understand.¡± Sihwa swallowed her saliva, as if to suppress the feeling of nausea that rushed up through her chest. ¡°Then let¡¯s start recording.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to rush. We can start the recording after you take a short moment of rest.¡± Zhang Zian saw that she really didn¡¯t look too well. Even her crisp and sweet voice was a little hoarse, so he tried to persuade her to wait.

    ¡°I want to do the recording.¡± She looked up at him. Her voice was not loud, but she was very determined. Her eyes were filled with a resoluteness that was extremely rare in her case; it was like two blue mes burning.

    ¡°This is the only thing I can do for it,¡± she added.

    Zhang Zian seemed to have been infected by her emotions. There was an inexplicable impulse within his chest.

    ¡°Okay, then. Let¡¯s start the recording.¡±

    He brought up his phone, but before he started the recording function, he bought the most expensive electric motor-powered assault boat in his shopping cart, and then paid for the life jacket and lifebuoy, too. He felt a little pain at the cost of it all.

    However, he clearly felt that if he retreated now, he would be looked down upon by the mermaid who had always been an idiot. If even Sihwa was able to do the recording, why should he hesitate?

    ¡°The content of the song will be, ¡®Are you hurt? This person can be trusted. He will not hurt you. Is that okay?''¡± She confirmed.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s fine.¡± He nodded. Zhang Zian was afraid of disturbing her song, but just as he was about to turn and head out of the bathroom, he suddenly remembered a problem. He stopped and asked, ¡°Right, about your song¡­ Can all whales understand it?¡±

    ¡°Why such a question?¡± She asked him back after a momentary pause.

    ¡°Because I was too far away, so I couldn¡¯t really see what kind of whale it was,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°So I would like to confirm if your voice is generally understood, or if it will only target a few different species?¡±

    Sihwa was really stumped. She thought for a while before she replied, ¡°About that¡­ I¡¯m also not too sure. When I appeared in this world, the whale¡¯s voices were already lingering in my ears, so I naturally learned them¡­ But, there¡¯s a difference between kinds of whale songs. Some have a higher frequency, some have a lower frequency, and some have ents, just like human dialects. Rest assured, I can basically sing all the different kinds of whale songs¡­ All I have to do is to repeat the same meaning several times with each of them.¡±

    She was filled with confidence, and Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t find any reason for rebuttal. With no other problems, he left the bathroom and closed the door.

    After a short while, an unclear voice could be hearding from the bathroom, appearing and disappearing from time to time. The tone lingered on the edge of the frequency that the human ear could hear, until almost half an hourter, the song disappearedpletely.

    Sihwa was done with her recording.

 Chapter 896: Lending Umbrella

    <h4>Chapter 896: Lending Umbre</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The nice, sunny weather that had been there since the spring had started finally ended.

    It had been cloudy since the day had started. The temperature dropped again. It seemed that the first spring shower would be arriving soon.

    Zhang Zian and the elfins got up at their usual time, then headed downstairs after washing up. Like all of the same old mornings, the shop was buzzing with noise after a long night¡¯s silence.

    He pulled open the shutter door to start the new day¡¯s business.

    Old Time Tea turned on the television. The same old morning news started at the same old time.

    Zhang Zian took the vacuum to clean up the pet hair in the shop. He could vacuum enough hair to knit a pair of gloves a day.

    Fina stared at him. Normally, he would use the vacuum right before the store closed at night. Vacuuming in the early morning was too noisy, which made Fina unable to go back to sleep.

    But he couldn¡¯t do anything about it. A customer stayedtest night, so he had to close up quickly, which left him with no time to vacuum the shop.

    ¡°A whale was stranded in the shallow water near Yanshui Vige beach. After getting the vigers¡¯ telephone, Fishery Administration officers sent the employees on duty near to the scene immediately for rescue. Construction teams working nearby also sent their crane to offer help for free. Under the help of the Fishery Administration, diving coach, and warm-hearted citizens, this whale finally got rescued. However, due to its severe injury, it died a few hours after the rescue. Here is a detailed report.¡±

    There came the familiar voice of a news reporter on the television once again.

    Zhang Zian stopped to watch. He turned off the vacuum temporarily so that the noise would not cover up the television¡¯s sound.

    The news was recorded with a drone.

    In the lens overlooking from above, arge-sized adult whale was stranded in water around two meters deep. As the tide was high during the filming, it was not possible to tell what kind of whale it was; only the rough size was visible.

    About a dozen men were busy working around it. Some wore navy police uniforms, some were in police border patrol uniforms, while some divers were emerging out of the water in full diving gear and oxygen tanks. They were attaching floatation devices to the whale. As the news had reported, a crane was waiting on the beach. Unfortunately, it was too far to reach it with the arm. Even the experienced operators could not do anything to help.

    A few boats floated on the water, including fishing boats and Fishery Administration¡¯s boats.

    On the beach further away, a few dozen vigers were watching.

    As it was not an important news, the reporter ended the story by interviewing a few vigers and some Fishery Administration officers, asking them to briefly describe the story.

    It was all very unfortunate, but not surprising.

    As many whale pods were gathering near Binhai City and the outer sea, there would surely be more and more events of whale stranding for all sorts of reasons. It was unavoidable.

    The news report was not detailed enough. He didn¡¯t know if the whale was injured before or after the stranding, nor did he know the severity of the injury. It didn¡¯t specify if the whale had died of injuries or because of the stranding. After all, the reporter was not very professional. It was an intern reporter. Maybe they decided to send him for practice, as they figured the report was not that important.

    The rescue team did everything they could, yet they were unable to save its life.

    In fact, the reason Zhang Zian and Huang were able to save the minke whale was because of its small size and their timely discovery. Had they met the fully grown whale in the news report, all they would be able to do was watch it die.

    The camera switched back to the news host.

    ¡°Let us mourn this unfortunate whale. Our next story is also about the sea. Recently, a fishing boat hit the reef in the outer sea. Under a full-effort, coborated rescue, all the crew members on the boat are safe. Here is a detailed report¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was not particrly interested in the news. He turned the vacuum back on, then vacuumed the dust at the television¡¯s top.

    Soon, Wang Qian and Li Kun came in with dark circles around their eyes. They came across Lu Yiyun at the entrance, then walked inside together.

    ¡°I told you earlier that it was going to rain today, yet you didn¡¯t bring your umbre?¡± Zhang Zian asked the two morons. ¡°Only Xiao Yun came with un umbre.¡±

    Lu Yiyun had a in ck umbre hanging on her arm. Wang Qian and Li Kun had their phones in hand as usual, and they walked while they exchanged thoughts on games.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun looked up at the sky and said with a smirk, ¡°It may not rain. Even if it does, Master, will you just watch us go back in the rain?¡±

    ¡°Of course I will! For the record, you can never borrow my umbre or my girlfriend!¡± Zhang Zian emphasized with great self-righteousness. ¡°Even if you catch a cold in the rain, you can¡¯t take tomorrow off.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, Master¡­ How can youpare these two things? We believe you do have an umbre.¡± They seem to be hinting at something.

    Before Zhang Zian became angry, Lu Yiyun interrupted them, ¡°It¡¯s okay. If it rains, you can go back with my umbre. I¡¯m close by, so I can run back quickly.¡±

    She put the ck umbre next to the cashier counter, and then took Jasmin out of her backpack to let it y in the shop on its own. She picked up a cloth, wet it, and started wiping down the table.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t agree. ¡°Don¡¯t. Just let them walk in the rain. They are silly dudes¨C¨Cthey¡¯re young and energetic enough to sleep on a cold bed. They can use the rain to freshen up their brains.¡±

    Spring rain was cold; he could not let her pay for their silly mistake.

    ¡°This umbre isn¡¯t mine anyway. The previous tenant left it here when he moved out.¡± She paused her hands mid-wipe and added, ¡°So is Jasmin.¡±

    No wonder she owned a big and ugly ck umbre that few girls would buy. Even if Lu Yiyun was a hardcore Otaku, she was still a girl. All girls liked pretty things.

    A few minutester, Jiang Feifei arrived. She brought in a foldable umbre. After a brief chat in the pet shop, she went to the aquarium next door to do the cleaning.

    Compared to the pet shop, it was easier to clean the aquarium, but the daily chores were heavier.

    Zhang Zian pointed at a few cages, then asked Wang Qian and Li Kun to send them over to the Li couple¡¯s snack bar. There were new cats in the cages. Some were abandoned at the pet clinic, while some were stray cats in the green field behind the pet shop. After a few days of observation, he picked some gentle and friendly ones to be candidate cats for adption.

    Solving the expanding stray cat problem in the green field by that method was not efficient. To be responsible for the adopters, he could not keep the nasty stray cats, in case they got abandoned again after their owners realized they could not get along with them.

    Everybody was busy doing their own tasks in order, while they asionally stopped to chit chat. Soon, it was eight in the morning.

 Chapter 897: Whale Watching

    <h4>Chapter 897: Whale Watching</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The shop was all cleaned up, and it was still quite early in the morning, so there were no customers at the moment.

    Pedestrians outside wereing and going; they were either heading to work or to school to start their daily activities.

    The young courier riders had their waterproof jackets on and drove electric tricycles marked with their courierpany logo as they went around delivering parcels to the recipient¡¯s hands.

    Zhang Zian just had some free time when a courier parked at the door of the store.

    ¡°Is¡­ Mr. Hottie here? We have a parcel for you,¡± the young courier stuck his head in the shop and asked.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s me.¡± Zhang Zian walked towards him.

    The young courier took out a big square box from the trunk. From how he handled it, the box did not seem as though it was light.

    ¡°Here¡¯s your parcel. Please acknowledge the receipt of your item.¡± The young courier took out two more parcels from the trunk and ced them together, then handed the receipt to Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian took the receipt and pen from him, but he didn¡¯t rush to sign his name. Instead, hemunicated with the young courier. ¡°I¡¯ll have to check the goods before I sign.¡±

    The young courier was eager to deliver his other parcels. After all, every delivery was an ie, but since Zhang Zian insisted on checking, he had no choice but to agree.

    Zhang Zian first checked the box for any damages, then pulled out the Swiss army knife on his key chain, ready to cut the tape that sealed the box.

    ¡°Master, I understand that you¡¯re eager to try on your new women¡¯s wear, but we¡¯re in public, and it¡¯s not going to be a good influence¡­¡± Wang Qian came over and whispered, indicating that there were many pedestrians watching.

    ¡°Rubbish! I¡¯ve never worn women¡¯s clothes!¡± Zhang Zian scolded.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to deny it. The package clearly states, ¡®Items of clothing.¡¯ What else could it be other than women¡¯s clothing?¡± Wang Qian asked as he pointed to one of the parcels.

    Zhang Zian was toozy to exin¨C¨Cespecially in front of the young courier. He opened up the three boxes one by one.

    ¡°Yi? What¡¯s this? A life jacket?¡± Wang Qian was left in a blur when he saw a bright red life jacket in the box that had beenbeled ¡°items of clothing.¡±

    In another small box, there was an uninted lifebuoy.

    As for thergest and heaviest box, it was loaded with an deted assault boat, electric motors, paddles, and other gadgets from the seller. Whether it was useful or useless, everything he needed was inside the box.

    Zhang Zian was not very confident about the quality of the assault boat. After all, it was produced by a small workshop. In the case of any leakage, not only was it troublesome to return, but he might also have to pay for the postage. That was why Zian was so insistent on checking the goods in person. If there really was a problem with the quality, he would just refuse to ept it.

    Zhang Zian had Wang Qian bring out a power strip from the store. He plugged the air pump in and started to inte the assault boat. The air pump started to run, and the assault boat slowly expanded and began to take shape. As it inted, it could finally be recognized as a boat.

    The young courier who was eager to deliver his other parcels was surprised. He had been a courier for quite some time. There were people who bought all sorts of items, but that day was the first time he saw someone buy a boat.

    ¡°Stop staring foolishly. Help me check if there¡¯s any leakage.¡± Zhang Zian pushed Wang Qian, who was still in a blur.

    Because it was still early, there were no customers for the time being, so even Lu Yiyun, Jiang Feifei, and Li Kun were called over by Zhang Zian. Everyone¡¯s eyes were almost glued to the ship while they did a thorough check.

    ording to the instruction manual, for the first intion, it was only required to be 80% inted. Zhang Zian secured the intion point and joined the others in looking for any defects.

    After spending a great deal of time checking, none of them found any leakage problems, so Zhang Zian signed the acknowledgment receipt under the young courier¡¯s impatient urging.

    The young courier left with a surly expression, counting to himself how many more deliveries it was going to take to recover the time he lost there.

    Zhang Zian then let out the air in the assault boat, folded it up, and stuffed it back into the box.

    Wang Qian wanted to carry the box into the store but was stopped by Zhang Zian.

    ¡°No need to carry it into the shop. Just put it directly in the trunk of my car, along with the other two boxes that have the life jacket and lifebuoy,¡± he instructed.

    ¡°Erm¡­ Master, what are you going to do?¡± Li Kun asked in a confused manner. ¡°Could it be that¡­ you¡¯re nning on bing a drifter?¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t normal people think that I¡¯m going out to sea or fishing?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Going out to sea? What are you going to do out in the sea?¡± they all asked in unison.

    Some of them were locals, some were foreigners, but they had all lived in Binhai City for some time. Although there were some tourist attractions in Binhai City, what did he have in mind by going out to sea alone? Zhang Zian was not a guy who liked to fish¨C¨Cnot to mention that the intable boat did not look very reliable.

    ¡°Actually, I¡¯m not heading out to the sea. I¡¯m just going to float around in the shallow water near the shore. It¡¯s going to be a form of rxation,¡± Zhang Zian exined with reservation. ¡°A lot of whales have recently appeared in the nearby sea, right? So I want to go by boat and admire the whales. Since there¡¯s no such tourist excursion in our city, I bought a boat myself to go whale watching.¡±

    The others were left speechless. That wasn¡¯t Zhang Zian¡¯s usual style. He bought a boat just to go whale watching?

    Whale watching was a very popr tourist excursion. There were a few regions in the world that were blessed with unique geographical conditions, and they were known for whale watching and sightseeing. Binhai City was not included on the list, however, because there had been no whale sightings in Binhai City for many years.

    The others couldn¡¯t understand, but Jiang Feifei was very excited; her eyes were even glimmering.

    She volunteered and said, ¡°Shop manager, I want to go whale watching, too. Can you take me along?¡±

    Although Jiang Feifei was from the ind areas, she was really fond of aquatic creatures, so of course, she liked whales, too. She had never seen whales up close; she had not even seen dolphins up close, either. After all, Binhai City did not have any aquariums, so there was no ce to see them even if she wanted to.

    Jiang Feifei was aware of the news¨C¨Cthat many whales had been spotted in the sea just outside of Binhai City, but that was all. She had never thought that there would be a chance to take a boat out to the sea to watch the whales.

    After listening to Zhang Zian, she almost couldn¡¯t hold in her excitement, and immediately proposed that she would tag along.

    Zhang Zian had not expected her to be so enthusiastic, but he couldn¡¯t take her with him. At least not that time because the first trip was experimental, and he¡¯d be getting close to a giant whale with unknown circumstances. The risks involved were self-evident.

    Taking the risk himself was all right, but he couldn¡¯t take Jiang Feifei along and put her at risk. If anything were to happen, he wouldn¡¯t be able to take up the responsibility.

    ¡°Is that a no?¡± Jiang Feifei noticed the hesitation on his face. She was a little discouraged, and at the same time, she also scolded herself for being too abrupt.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t bear to let down her enthusiasm. He nced over at the life jacket and said, ¡°It¡¯s not impossible, but you can¡¯te this time. I didn¡¯t expect you to like whale watching as well, so I only bought my own life jacket¡­ it¡¯s dangerous to go out to sea in this kind of boat, so you must wear a life jacket. You cane with me next time.¡±

 Chapter 898: Going Underwater

    <h4>Chapter 898: Going Underwater</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was serious. He really did only get one life jacket ording to his own size. Jiang Feifei would not fit into it. Going out on the sea was serious business. Even if they were only staying near the beach, they had to be prepared for everything. Navy police and Fishery Administration staff wore life jackets all the time, as long as they were on the boat. Their boat was much nicer than his intable one.

    A lifebuoy could fit all sizes, but not a life jacket.

    One had to be vignt no matter how good of a swimmer they were. After all, all drowning victims were good swimmers.

    ¡°¡­Well then.¡± Jiang Feifei felt much regret, but Zhang Zian left her with some hope. Maybe she would get a chance to go next time. Regardless, she wanted to buy a life jacket online as soon as she returned to her dorm that night.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun said, ¡°Master, let us go with you! We don¡¯t have life jackets, but we both grew up by the ocean. We are very good swimmers. Our nicknames are Wave Captain One and Wave Captain Two!¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯d be Wave General!¡± Zhang Zian vented. ¡°Stay in the shop. Who will take care of the business if everybody runs to the beach?¡±

    Lu Yiyun couldn¡¯t swim, and she was not interested in the beach.

    Zhang Zian was not totally sure. He told them that if he had not returned within two hours, then his boat might have been capsized and they should call the police without hesitation. If they were able to get him out of water in time, he might be able to get a refund from the online vendor.

    After finishing his half-joking instructions, he got into his Wuling Hong Guang and drove to the beach.

    Soon, he parked his car at his old spot close to the beach. He then unloaded the big box containing the intable boat with great strength.

    The weather that day was not good, and it was a working day. There were very few kite flyers on the road and the beach was empty. Huang and Xiao Zhi were not there.

    Dark clouds were hanging low above the water. Waves washed up on the beach over and over again, carrying white foam.

    The wind was not strong. Even the sea birds were not there. It was very quiet nearby. Everything seemed to be waiting for the first spring shower of the year.

    Zhang Zian could not take too much stuff by himself. He transported the things to the beach in a few batches. There was nobody around, so he was not worried about losing anything.

    At the shop entrance, he could inte the boat using a 220V power extension, but he couldn¡¯t do that at the beach. He could only inte manually using a foot pedal.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s feet were sore after pedaling. Finally, the boat was fully inted.

    He kept his eyes busy while inting the boat. He had been ncing over the sea from time to time, searching for a trace of the whale.

    He learned his lesson in the past and brought a pair of binocrs. The view was much better while he looked through the binocrs; the fuzzy scenery became very clear. Yet, there was only ocean beyond the ocean, and sky beyond the sky. After gazing for a long time, he could not see anything. The sea was silent and peaceful.

    He felt slightly disappointed, although he knew it was very unlikely to spot a whale at the beach.

    He had been visiting the beach every daytely, and he had only seen whales twice. The first time, it was the minke whale. The second time, it was a giant whale.

    Whales were animals and not trees. They were marine animals with a massive area of activity. Besides, most whales lived in groups. They needed food and social interactions, and they could not stay in the same area waiting for him toe over. They didn¡¯t make an appointment, after all.

    After inting the boat, he installed the essories at the right ces in the boat, such as the electric motor and rows. He attached the battery with the motor, and verified that the battery was full. The indicator was green.

    Everything was ready. As soon as he pushed the boat into the water, he was good to go.

    He didn¡¯t find the whale, but he still needed to test the boat in the water. One purpose was to verify that the boat even worked. The other purpose was to familiarize himself with the operation.

    The battery that came with the intable boat was full. ording to the manual, it could power the boat at full speed for three hours, but that was clearly an overestimation under ideal conditions. Anyone who believed in that might end up stranded out to sea. It might onlyst two and a half hours at the most in reality.

    As it was a trial run, he didn¡¯t n to get too far away from the shore, but to stay within the visible range through the binocrs at the beach. In that case, he could still try to swim back in case something happened.

    He didn¡¯t rush into the water. Instead, he sat in the boat and thought for a few minutes calmly, just in case he had forgotten anything. He then texted Wang Qian and the others, informing them about his approximate location. He emphasized that if they heard no news within one hour or two, they should call the police right away. After sending the text, he slipped his phone into a waterproof bag.

    He figured that Wang Qian and the others were probably confused as well. Why was he so nervous about a boat ride near the beach? Yet they had no idea about his dangerous n to approach a giant whale on a boat.

    ¡°Okay¡­ Let¡¯s go!¡± He said to himself, trying to instill some courage. He pushed the boat into the water, then jumped into the boat himself. As his movements were so clumsy, he fell on his back in the boat. Luckily, nobody saw him.

    The waves were strong at the shore. The light, intable boat went up and down along the waves, as if he was sitting on a swing. If he was prone to motion sickness, he might have barfed on the spot.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have any motion sickness, yet the waves made him very ufortable.

    The boat was too light, and the center of gravity changed at the slightest movement. He felt powerless while sitting in the boat, as if his destiny was in the hands of someone else.

    He grew more doubtful in his mind. Could he really drive the boat out to sea? Or was it a mobile coffin?

    The intable boat was not the smallest type for one single person. It was about 3 meters long, and it could fit four to six people inside of it; there was a lot of space. He also had a shading tent above his head, except that there was no sun that day.

    He crawled up from the bottom, sat in the middle seat at the back, then tried to figure out what direction he was going. He pushed against the sand with his paddle so he could push the boat deep into the water. He could not start the motor if the water was too shallow. Otherwise, the des might hit the bottom and break.

    It was hard to keep the bnce. While traveling against the strong waves, he shifted from left to right, then circled around in the same spot. He moved forward three steps, then backwards two steps. His head was dripping sweat and his arms grew tired. In fact, it was not because he was a weak bird, but it was because he wasn¡¯t a master of the techniques it took to row the boat.

    He did think about giving up, but he didn¡¯t. His biggest motivation was that the shipping cost would be too high if he decided to refund the boat right in that moment.

    Despite the difficulty, the boat drifted slowly towards deeper water.

    He tried to feel the bottom with the paddle. It was about one and a half meters deep. He fixed the paddles on both sides of the boat and tried to start the motor.

    As the motor started with a loud noise, the vibration traveled from his arm to the rest of his body.

    The momentary eleration caught him off guard; he almost fell out of his seat. The boat tilted and nearly turned back to the shallow water. Fortunately, it was stabilized in the end.

    The boat rode on the waves into the vast sea.

 Chapter 899: Test Ride

    <h4>Chapter 899: Test Ride</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    No wonder super rich people would buy a yacht when they had the money; it felt great to sail freely in the open sea.

    There were no zebra crossings, no traffic lights, no pedestrians, and no vehicles; one could just pilot the boat however they wanted. The strong sea breeze with a hint of saltiness blew against Zian¡¯s face, and his sweat from earlier quickly dried up. It was even a little cold.

    At first, Zhang Zian was not used to operating the motor, but once he got used to it, it became second nature. He could even judge the current power intensity through the vibration felt on his palm.

    He did his best to not get carried away. From time to time, he would look back to the coast, so as to not pilot the boat too far offshore.

    eleration, deceleration, turning, stopping¡­ Zian tested the boat in different ways while he paid attention to the battery¡¯s power. He roughly understood the limits of the boat, and currently, it seemed to be worth its price.

    Zian looked back again, only to realize that he was already quite far off the shore. He decided to stop the boat right where he was.

    After Zian stopped the boat, he took the underwater speaker out of his bag and lowered it into the water. He then began his daily routine of sending away the marine creatures that swam too close to the shore. Most marine creatures did not have the ability to receive low-frequency sound waves across thousands of kilometers like whales; otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t be so troublesome.

    During the sailing process, due to the tension, Zian¡¯s hand had been firmly gripping the control handle of the motor. Because of that, Zian¡¯s hand was kind of sore, and he took advantage of the opportunity he had to rx his hand.

    Zian carefully supported himself using the bottom of the boat and tried to stand up. The boat was too light and the shallow was draught, so it was not easy to stand still; it seemed like he might fall at any time.

    Despite the difficulties, he had to give it a try. What if he needed to pee when he was out at sea the next time? Was it necessary to use the special lid of the mineral water bottle? No, the mouth of the mineral water bottle was too small¡­ It at least had to be Mizone¡­

    After giving it a few tries, Zian decided to give up. Guess it¡¯s Mizone then!

    Even if he could stand firm, his muscles were so tense that nothing woulde out!

    Even if something managed to find its way out, with the inconsistent sea breeze and the surging waves, Zian might just experience the thrill of receiving a golden shower¡­

    Seriously though, if he didn¡¯t wish to pee into the boat, he had to stand by the edge of the boat while he settled his business. It was impossible to maintain his bnce when there was only one person in the boat. It would almost certainly turn over, so it was better to just give up.

    In the eyes of Wang Qian and the others, Zian was whale watching gracefully, but none of them would have thought that he was actually trying to unlock the 108 different kinds of postures for urinating out at sea¡­

    As for thedies¡­ It was best not to drink any water before getting on the boat, or else the only option left was to use adult diapers.

    Zhang Zian was having fun testing out the different postures. The only thing he didn¡¯t do was pull down his zipper and perform the actual deed. Anyway, no one was watching.

    Just then, something shed at the far end of his sight. He stopped moving and looked around, but he found nothing. He picked up the binocrs and looked again, but still nothing.

    ¡°I might be seeing things¡­ or it could¡¯ve been a seabird,¡± Zian mumbled to himself.

    It was about time to end the broadcast. Zian pulled the underwater speaker out of the water and threw it back into the boat. He was all ready to head back. He was satisfied with the test ride today. He had tried all that he needed to, and even that which he shouldn¡¯t have¡­

    Just when Zian started the motor, a thin gas pir shot out from the sea just in front of him. He was shocked and he quickly shut off the motor.

    Then, a semi-mature whale floated on the surface of the sea, spewing out residual water from its nostrils as it slowly came towards Zian¡¯s boat.

    Zhang Zian picked up his binocrs and looked towards it. He noticed a ragged depression on the side of its back that should have been smooth. He immediately recognized that it was the minke whale that he and Huang had treated!

    What was going on? It had actually appeared exactly where he was just by a coincidence?

    The minke whale was much faster than Zian¡¯s small boat, and after a few vigorous dips, it was already right next to him. The whale slowed down and circled the boat, asionally spurting out some thin water mist from its nostrils. It seemed curious about the boat.

    Could it have recognized me? That¡¯s not possible, right?

    Whales did not have great vision, so it was really unbelievable to say that the whale had recognized him and approached him on purpose¡­

    Zhang Zian suddenly noticed the underwater speaker that he had casually thrown at the bottom of the boat, and a vague spection appeared in his heart. In fact, it did not recognize him by sight; instead, it had heard the sound of the underwater speaker.

    That day, before Zian had treated the minke whale, he used the speaker to y Sihwa¡¯s song in the water. The whale might have made a connection between him and the song, and after hearing the song from a distance away, it swam over to see if it was Zian.

    Zhang Zian leaned over to the side of the boat and waved at it. Zian loudly said, ¡°Hi! Is your wound better now?¡±

    Whales did not have good vision, but their auditory system was very well developed and sensitive. Although it might not understand what Zian was saying, it might have been able to remember his voice.

    Sure enough, the minke whale seemed to have let down its guard, and it slowed down as if it was drifting along with the water current towards the boat. It stopped dipping itself under the water, and its eyes were exposed above the surface of the water as it swam close to the boat. It was so close that Zian could touch it.

    In fact, Zian did reach out and touch it, mainly to check whether the wound on its back hadpletely healed.

    When his palm brushed across the wound, Zian knew that the wound had healed ording to the touch, but¡­ something rough seemed to have attached itself around the wound. It felt like scabs, so he instinctively grabbed on to it and pulled some off its wound.

    After it swam past the boat, the minke whale slowly turned around before it swam back again. However, it wasn¡¯t very flexible and its turning radius was rtivelyrge, so it took some time for it to turn back.

    Taking advantage of the time, Zhang Zian looked down at his hand and frowned almost immediately. What he saw caused his hair to stand on end. He hurriedly flicked his hands to shake off them off, then washed his hands with the sea water.

    What he had grabbed was also known as whale lice, a parasite that would attach itself to a whale. It was particrly easy for them to attach themselves around a wound, and they were also usually clustered together. It easily invoked the Trypophobia in people.

    Whale lice were unable to prate a whale¡¯s skin, so they were unable to inflict much harm to a healthy whale. But the minke whale was seriously injured not long ago, and the whale lice must¡¯ve taken the opportunity during its healing process to attack.

    The minke whale turned back and went past the boat again. Zhang Zian took advantage of the opportunity and, enduring the disgust in him, he reached out and grabbed the whale lice near its wound again. Although he was not a whale, thinking from its point of view, he did not think it was a problem to have the parasites attached to its body. To have them attached to its wound, however, was definitely ufortable, and it probably hurt or itched.

    Every time it swam past the boat, Zian would grab a handful of whale lice and fling them out to the distance.

    The minke whale seemed to feel veryfortable. It even stopped by the boat to let Zian remove the whale lice around its wound.

 Chapter 900: Another Whale

    <h4>Chapter 900: Another Whale</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The minke whale floated next to the boat. Its defenseless state was extremely dangerous to it. If someone wanted to harm it, or if there was a naughty brat on the boat, they could easily injure it, or even kill it.

    Had it not heard a familiar voice from a distance, then recognized Zhang Zian after it approached him, then it would not have easily let its guard down, as it had once been harmed by a human. It proved that it was an intelligent creature. Although it didn¡¯t have a high intelligence level, it was intelligent enough to distinguish good people from bad people.

    Whale lice was yellowish, and it was attached on its body surface in crowds. They looked just like scorpions without tails. Whales could swim at a high speed, but it could still not get rid of them. One could imagine how firmly they could attach themselves to the whale¡¯s body. They pierced through the whale¡¯s skin with their hook-like appendages. They would not harm the whale¡¯s health, but it was definitely ufortable. They were as annoying as lice on human bodies. They were not deadly, but they were so annoying that anyone would want to snap them dead one by one.

    The minke whale floated there still, making it more convenient for Zhang Zian to remove the whale lice near its wound carefully. The whale lice was too firmly attached. Sometimes, he could not pull them out using his hands alone, even if he used all his strength. He had to use his secret weapon once again¨C¨Cthe Swiss army knife.

    ying with a knife on an intable boat was simr to ying with firecrackers near fire. If his hand slipped and the knife poked a hole in the boat, nobody would me anyone but him.

    Zhang Zian leaned himself against the boat¡¯s side, held the Swiss army knife at a safe distance as much as he could, then slipped it under the whale lice. He then twisted his wrist and turned the knife 90 degrees to remove the parasites forcefully. He held them in his left hand and threw them far away into the water on the other side of the boat.

    The numerous amounts of whale lice were all over the ce, like a swarm of scorpions stinging around the minke whale¡¯s wound. They were indeed disturbing and disgusting to watch. They sucked the blood oozing from the wound so they could grow and reproduce.

    Some marine parasites and hosts were in a mutually beneficial rtionship. However, whale lice were not that nice¨C¨Cthey were a pure nuisance. But as whales didn¡¯t have hands, they couldn¡¯t do anything about it.

    After his careful cleaning, there were fewer whale lice on the minke whale¡¯s body. Only their marks remained on the whale¡¯s skin in the form of small dents.

    Without their shield, the wound had finally revealed its true form.

    Zhang Zian wanted to remove the cotton string sutures in the minke whale¡¯s wound. It was Xiao Zhi and Huang¡¯s kite string, and it was very tough and solid. It would be fine to leave it in the wound¨C¨Cas it would slowly incorporate into the whale¡¯s skin¨C¨Cbut since he had the chance, he took the advantage to remove it.

    Yet as he looked carefully, there was barely any string left outside the skin; there was only some broken ends. Maybe the hungry whale lice chewed them off, which saved him some work.

    The wound recovered well, without any signs of splitting back open or any infection. After all, it was a feisty, half-grown minke whale.

    He put away the dangerous Swiss army knife, then tapped around its wound to let it know that he was done.

    Even if whale lice attached to it again, they would not do much harm. By that time, the skin around its wound would have thickened again, making it less ufortable as it felt then.

    The minke whale seemed very happy to be free from the annoying whale lice¨C¨Ceven its swimming movements were much loftier. It circled around the intable boat slowly, spraying low water mist from time to time.

    It reminded Zhang Zian of monkeys catching lice for one another. He wondered if it had mistaken him for another whale.

    He remembered Xiao Zhi; he knew how much that kid loved whales. He was in such a precious moment with the minke whale, so he knew that he should take some pictures to send to him as souvenir.

    He took his phone out of the waterproof bag and tried to get a good angle for the photos.

    However, as the minke whale was too close and the boat rose too high, it was hard to take a good a picture of it.

    Afraid of hurting it with the propeller de, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t start the motor, nor did he dare to put the phone too far out of the boat. What if it fell into the water? How would he get it back?

    He took a few pictures, but he was only able to capture its grey back. Had he not specified anything, it would be hard to tell that it was a whale.

    As Zhang Zian was trying to figure out what to do, the minke whale suddenly swung its tail and swam away from the boat. He seized the moment and took a few more pictures. Finally, he was able to capture the whole image.

    Was it tired of ying? Or was it hungry?

    Zhang Zian thought that it would swim away away, yet it stopped after swimming 200 to 300 meters. A thin air mist appeared in front of it. Then the water split into two, and another grey back surfaced.

    It was a much bigger, fully grown minke whale, very simr in shape to the previous half-grown one.

    Zhang Zian was astonished to see another whale so suddenly. He felt nervous for the younger minke whale, fearing a possible conflict between the two whales.

    Most whales were group animals, forming pods of a few or a dozen whales. They might be rted to each other, or they might not. By forming a group, they defended each other against possible invaders and took care of unrted, young offspring for each other. Much like humans, they formed a structured, mini society.

    However, that was not the case for minke whales. They were known for being loners, and they would not travel with other minke whale individuals unless it was for mating purposes, or¡­

    After seeing the fully grown minke whale, the young minke whale was not afraid, but it swam over happily and rubbed against the grown whale with affection. It expressed its fondness through physical touch.

    As he expected, it was a female, adult minke whale. It was most likely the young minke whale¡¯s mother.

    Zhang Zian had been wondering where the young minke whale¡¯s mother was, as it was not quite old enough to be alone. Did it get lost when it was being hunted by the whaling boat? Or¡­ did it already die under the whale boat¡¯s harpoon?

    It was unlikely that it got lost, as a whale¡¯s sound could travel a long distance in the ocean. They could find each other even if they got lost. Then¡­

    A young whale that left its mother prematurely could hardly survive in the dangerous ocean. He had been feeling nervous for the young minke whale, yet a whale was not a cat, nor was it a dog. He could not bring it home even if he felt sorry for it. Therefore, regardless of how nervous he felt, there was nothing he could do.

    After seeing its mother, Zhang Zian felt happy for it, and he was finally relieved.

    That day, he told Huang that the minke whale had left quickly after it was rescued from being stranded because it hurried off to get back to its family. In fact, he was just saying that, as he wasn¡¯t sure about it at all. It turned out, however, that his guess was right.

 Chapter 901: Knight in Shining Armor

    <h4>Chapter 901: Knight in Shining Armor</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    There weren¡¯t many opportunities to take pictures of whales swimming with their mothers, and they were often monopolized by high-end marine photographers. Zhang Zian knew he couldn¡¯t miss the opportunity. He picked up his phone and took a few shots. Along with the previous ones he had sent to Huang, Xiao Zhi would be very happy to see the photos.

    The minke whale¡¯s mother was wary of Zhang Zian and his assault boat. It didn¡¯t approach the boat, but it kept a distance of two to three hundred meters away as it swam around the boat.

    Zhang Zian understood the mentality of being a mother. In order to not disturb them, he did not bring the boat towards them.

    The minke whale yed happily for a while around his mother, then as if it got bored, it swam towards the assault boat again.

    Ssh!

    The minke whale¡¯s mother moved, too. Although it didn¡¯t trust Zhang Zian, it was more worried about letting its child act alone. So, it followed the minke whale, protecting it from the side as they swam towards the assault boat.

    Fortunately, they weren¡¯t moving fast. Otherwise, Zhang Zian would have had to consider speeding up and leaving the area to prevent the boat from being knocked over.

    In order to show that he was not hostile, Zian ced his phone back into the waterproof bag and slid his hand into the water. He gently yed with the water as if to wee them.

    Three hundred meters¡­

    Two hundred meters¡­

    One hundred meters¡­

    Their distance grew closer and closer.

    Zhang Zian stared at them intently,pletely oblivious that an unexpected situation was about to happen.

    Fwoosh!

    Right in front of the assault boat, a third, grayish-ck minke whale jumped out of the sea without warning. Its giant body rolled in the air before it smashed back down into the sea.

    Due to the close distance, the light assault boat violently swayed from the impact of the waves. Zhang Zian, who was caught off guard, was almost tossed out of the boat.

    ¡°Not good!¡± Zian watched as the waves, mixed with white foam, came crashing down on him. Zian shouted in surprise, and with no time to dodge it, his hair and face became soaked.

    Water had also gotten into the assault boat, causing the inside of the boat to be slippery. Zian was unable to bnce himself, and he fell to one side.

    Fortunately, Zian reacted fast. He held onto the bracket that fixed the awning for support, and at the same time, he crouched down to lower his center of gravity, stabilizing himself after many difficulties.

    The assault boat rolled like a toy boat between the waves and the troughs, going up and down. It was more exciting than riding a roller coaster.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s face turned pale. He grabbed onto the hull with one hand and a lifebuoy in the other. He was prepared to abandon the ship to save his life.

    Shortly after, when the second wave did note as expected, Zian carefully straightened his body on the boat.

    When he wasn¡¯t looking, the young minke whale had swum up next to him, blocking right in front of the assault boat. While its mother had stopped by the side, its intention to protect Zian was clear to see.

    A short distance away, an adult, male minke whale swam a little aggressively, spurting out a more prominent air pir than the young minke whale and its mother.

    Zhang Zian suddenly had a thought: he wondered if the male minke whale was the giant whale he saw, but he immediately denied those thoughts. Their sizeparison was just too great¨C¨Cit would be like the difference between an elephant and a wild boar.

    He wiped the water on his face and knew that the minke whale had saved him. If it didn¡¯t stop the second attack, Pi might have had to write a new story on Zhang Zian¡¯s Drifting Journal¡­

    In fact, the first attack from the adult male minke whale was not to take his life; it was just a warning, like a warning shot. Otherwise, it would have directly rammed the boat from below. With its size, overturning the boat was a breeze for it.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s boat was too small and too light, so it couldn¡¯t even withstand an attack meant as a warning.

    The minke whale let out a long cry, and its mother echoed after.

    Zhang Zian felt that it would¡¯ve been good to have Sihwa there. She would have been able to understand what they were saying, and she could also plead with them to spare his life. Zian could also roughly guess that the minke whale may have been exining that he was not a bad person.

    He believed in the minke whale, and he was also grateful to it. His hand was still holding onto the handle of the motor, ready to escape when the negotiations broke down.

    Just moments after, the male minke whale seemed to have dispelled some of its hostility and slowed down.

    If an ordinary person were to see the scene, they would have been overwhelmed with emotions¡ªthe family of minke whales, their mutual love, mutual protection¡­ They were a really enviable family¡­ If it were someone with literary talent, they might even have been able to write out a long, hearty Chicken Soup for the Soul article.

    However, even if the Chicken Soup for the Soul article was really written, it could only deceive the ignorant girls and those whocked proper knowledge. The male minke whale was not the biological father of the young minke whale¨C¨Cat most it was Old Wang, the next door neighbor. The taste of the Chicken Soup, though, was really euphoric!

    In the world of whales, a young whale was born into a single parent family, and the individual known as the father would have already left after the task of spreading its seeds. After the ten plus months of pregnancy, when the baby was born, its father might have already been thousands of kilometers away living a happy life with no worries.

    So what was the story of the male minke whale by Zhang Zian¡¯s boat? Of course, it was the female minke whale¡¯s admirer; it was a knight in shining armor. However, before the young minke whale left its mother to live independently, the knight in shining armor would just be the knight in shining armor; they would not have any kind of rtionship. At least when it came to their demeanor, the whale was much stronger than Old Wang the next door neighbor¡­

    There were many dangers in the ocean, including dangers from other marine life and human beings. Also, a single mother raising her child was very vulnerable to bullying. Knight in shining armors like the male whale were also called primary escorts. They would silently follow the orphans and widows, standing up to protect them when they were in danger, even if the orphan did not have any blood rtion to it.

    From that point of view, whales were really like human beings, and it was worthy of being titled the wisest mammal in the ocean.

    Before the young whale left its mother to go independent, the chief escort whale would silently protect them until the day the female whale epted it.

    Not just any whale could be the knight in shining armor. Since there was a ¡°chief,¡± it went to show that it had beaten otherpetitors to im the seat as Old Wang, the next door neighbor¡­

    Being able to beat the otherpetitors and be selected as the knight in shining armor proved that its body was strong enough and had more gic advantages, which would help win the favor of the female whales. After all, as a male, there was no doubt that the strongest was the most respected.

    It suddenly attacked Zhang Zian because it felt that Zhang Zian might pose a threat to the mother and child, but the whale¡¯s nature of being close to humans held it back from directly killing Zhang Zian. It had only attacked Zhang Zian as a warning, and if Zhang Zian knew better, he would immediately ce both hands on the keyboard and type to prove that he was clean¡­ Okay, it was not that one¡­ He was supposed to retreat immediately to a safer distance.

    But if he didn¡¯t know better¡­

    Zhang Zian was aware of the habits that the cetaceans have, and he also knew that it was just trying to protect the mother and child. So, although he was drenched and was almost tossed into the sea, he did not me the whale; he just felt very wronged. With what power could he use to cause harm to the mother and child?

 Chapter 902: Pacify

    <h4>Chapter 902: Pacify</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    If it was not for the current situation that seemed as if the whales were all set for a showdown¨C¨Cif it was not for the fact that Zhang Zian was currently sitting on a flying intable boat and not in an aircraft carrier¨C¨Cthen being surrounded by three minke whales of different sizes was something that would make Zhang Zian happy. However, at the moment, he could not bring himself to feel happy.

    Adult male minke whales wanted to protect the females. They wanted to purposely make themselves seem bold and powerful in front of females in order to win the affection of the female they liked. Zhang Zian¡¯s small boat was now in the way of that, and so it became the object the male minke whale was going to use to show how bold and powerful it was.

    Even with young minke whales, there would be some damaging effects if one tried to get in their way. While the females were slightly less aggressive, one still couldn¡¯t let their guard down around them. As soon as something rmed or angered it, it was highly possible that the female whale would attack¨C¨Cand the next time it attacked Zhang Zian¡¯s boat it might not be a warning, but instead a direct attack.

    The situation once again reached a deadlock.

    Zhang Zian did not want the situation to continue in a deadlock. Winning their cold war meant nothing to him, but if he lost, the consequences would be dire. He used his hand to tightly hold the motor handle so he was ready to immediately escape if there was any change to the situation.

    He did not want to immediately escape for he was worried that the sound of the motor moving and the rotation of the propeller would break the deadlock and anger the female whale.

    The instruction booklet had said that the electric motor¡¯s speed could reach up to 12 kilometers per hour. It was not much faster than a toy, and its speed was nothing in front of a whale; they could catch up in a blink of an eye.

    Zhang Zian was now in a situation where it was difficult to move forwards or backwards¡­ Actually, it was probably a dilemma between backing away and backing away, because proceeding was impossible.

    So he could only hope that the minke whale could convince its non-blood rted male whale¡­

    No one liked leaving their fate in other people¡¯s hands, much less a whale¡¯s.

    Zhang Zian racked his brains to think of a way to get out of the awkward situation. When his empty hand made a sweeping motion, it touched the underwater speaker that had been thrown to the bottom of the boat.

    Oh, right! How could he have forgotten about it?

    He hit his forehead and remembered the recording Sihwa had made. It was originally to pacify the big whale¨C¨Cto tell it that the person in front of it was a good person and would not harm it.

    Then this recording should be effective on the female whale, right?

    He immediately took out the memory card in the underwater speaker and changed it for a new memory card. He then ced the speaker underwater and switched it on.

    With the speaker as the center, the low-frequency sound waves that the human ear could mostly not detect would disperse in the water; the speed was much faster than the speed of a sound wave in the air.

    Zhang Zian stared intently at the female whale, praying in his heart that Shihwa had been reliable just this once.

    Right after the sound started ying, the three minke whales had different degrees of reactions. By the time the sound had been ying for two to three minutes, the male whale who had been very fierce totally lowered its guard and its body began to rx as itzily stroked the water. Its bodynguage showed that its wrath had fully vanished.

    The female whale was even more rxed. It was slowly drifting in the water like the young minke whale, its greyish-ck back rising and falling just next to the assault boat.

    The song actually had such instantaneous results¡­

    Zhang Zian was instantly shocked. It was very miraculous¡­ It seems like what Shihwa said about being able tomunicate with whales was not just her blowing smoke.

    Since it was safe, there was no need to hurriedly escape anymore. Zhang Zian had also rxed quite a bit. He copsed on the boat, wheezing.

    It would be embarrassing if people knew about this, but he had been so scared that he had almost peed himself out of fear. It also made him even more aware of the fragility of the assault boat. It could, at most, be used to travel around the coastal waters¨C¨Cgoing any further would be basically seeking death. Even if one did not meet any whales, a strong gust of wind could capsize the boat.

    He picked up the binocrs and carefully observed the male whale. It maintained a reasonable distance from the mother and so¨C¨Cnot so much that it could note to the rescue if there was any danger, but enough that it would not stress them out.

    Its body had many scars, and they all looked like old scars that seemed to havee about naturally. They could have been scars from when it fought with other sea animals, but they could also be scars from fighting with others of its kind.

    The courtshippetition between whales was very intense. To fight for the position of ¡®chief escort whale,¡¯ two, or even more, male whales would spare no effort to drive the other party away from the female whale. How would the winner be decided? It would depend on whose body was stronger.

    The whales would use the gas column sprayed out from their blowhole to threaten and scare the other. If that was not effective, they would leap out from the water, and then heavily smash back onto the water¡¯s surface in order to ssh an enormous amount of foam to attack the other. If both threatening and scaring them and the foam attack were ineffective, they would use their huge bodies to violently hit each other. Whichever whale could not stand the brutality, it would escape, crestfallen.

    Two male whales¨C¨Cboth around ten tons each¨C¨Chitting each other would be enough force to squeeze a small fishing boat into a contorted, fried dough twist.

    Due to the existence of whale lice and other kinds of parasites, a mature whale¡¯s body was not as smooth as it looked on the surface. When the whale¡¯s hit each other, they could harm themselves or the other whale, but it would not cause a fatal injury.

    The scars on the male whale were probably battle scars from its previous courtship experiences.

    Of course, the male whales that seemed extremely devoted in the moment would immediately change and pull out their genital organs after they sessfully inseminated the female whale. They would be heartless jerks that pulled up their pants and walked away, leaving the pregnancy, the birth, and the child rearing all to the female whale.

    Zhang Zian looked in interest at the interactions between the mother and son minke whales, but most of their body was submerged underwater; he could only see their backs. Sadly, there was no underwater camera, so he could not see the elegant way in which they swam in the water. He could only base it off of his own imagination.

    The male whale was swimming quite far away, around 400 to 500 meters, as if it was on high alert for them.

    Zhang Zian looked at his watch; he had been out for quite a while. Dark clouds hung low in the sky as if it were going to rain at any time. The trial voyage¡¯s goal had already been reached, and he had unexpectedly seen three minke whales, so it could be said that hepleted his mission perfectly. It was about time he turned around and returned to shore. It would take quite some time to dete the assault boat and to gather his things.

    ¡°Child, I¡¯m going home. You all have fun on your own.¡± The young minke whale had floated to the surface, so Zhang Zian took advantage of the moment to pat the side of its back as a farewell. Although its body was much bigger than his, in terms of age, he was undoubtedly a child.

    It was like it could understand what he said. It waved its tail, as if it couldn¡¯t bear to part from him. The movement of its tail caused some water droplets tond on the boat as if it was not willing to say goodbye to its friend.

    Although the minke whale was not a social animal and did not like traveling withpanions of the same species, Zhang Zian was not a whale and was not considered a part of its species.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯lle by often in the future to visit you all. If you heard the sound you heard before, then you¡¯ll know I came back. If the person who came isn¡¯t me, don¡¯t get too close to them.¡± He warned them, but perhaps they did not understand suchplicated sentences. They seemed quite distracted and suddenly became very restless as they continuously moved their bodies.

    What happened? What¡¯s wrong with them? Are they hungry?

    Zhang Zian was feeling puzzled when the nearby male whale gave a long, low-pitch cry and whipped its tail as if it were a propeller. Its tail continued to get closer and closer to where he was with increasing speed.

 Chapter 903: The Battle of the Three Whales Against Lu Bu

    <h4>Chapter 903: The Battle of the Three Whales Against Lu Bu</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The male whale suddenly rushed towards Zhang Zian¡¯s assault boat as if it went berserk. Zhang Zian waspletely stunned.

    Why?

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯te over on a whim. He had read up on information about the habits of whales before he came, but the situation in front of him left him dumbfounded. They were a few hundreds of meters apart. Zhang Zian did not know how he had provoked the whale.

    Was it because he patted the young minke whale?

    I heard that some animals will abandon their children once they smell the scent of human beings on them, but this can¡¯t be the case now, right? The young minke whale isn¡¯t the child of the male whale, and a whale¡¯s vision isn¡¯t good enough to see across a few hundred meters.

    How did it see Zian pat the minke whale?

    Also, Sihwa¡¯s singing seemed to have taken effect earlier. Why did the male whale start to attack again? Was there a time limit on the effects of the singing?

    The surprise and doubt had only shed in his mind for a moment; he didn¡¯t have the time to be surprised. The male whale was charging towards him at full force, and that time it was definitely not a warning attack. Once it rammed into the assault boat, both Zhang Zian and his boat would be smashed into pieces.

    The electric motor had arge turning radius. He might be caught up before hepleted the turn. So, Zian picked up the paddle that was next to him and paddled with all his might on one side of the boat, turning the assault boat around to face the coast, then he started the motor.

    The propeller stirred up white sshes of water, and the bow of the assault boat was raised high as it headed for the coast at full speed.

    Zian kept looking back behind him. The male whale was much faster than him, and it had already traveled halfway in just the blink of an eye.

    Strangely, the young minke whale did not show any signs of blocking or intervening. It just seemed lost while the female whale was in a panic. She used her head to nudge her own child, as if she was urging her child to run away.

    When the assault boat was some distance away, Zhang Zian suddenly realized that something was wrong. The target of the male whale did not seem to be him; its charging route pointed to another direction. It was on the other side of the position the assault boat was before.

    What¡¯s going on? Did the male whale see a whaling ship? Was that why it was behaving like it was being confronted by a formidable enemy?

    But it couldn¡¯t be possible¡­ How could there be a whaling ship on China¡¯s coastline?

    Zhang Zian was confused, but when he saw that he wasn¡¯t in danger, he reduced the power of the motor slightly and looked over in that direction. However, there was nothing unusual there¨C¨Cat least nothing on the surface of the sea.

    Just as he was in a daze, a towering water pir broke through the waves, shooting up to about ten meters high from the surface of the water. It was just like a fountain!

    The surging water pir was thick, and there was even a faint whistle, the unique sound of the airflow passing through the small hole at high speed.

    When the water pir rose to the highest point, it returned to the sea like a heavy downpour.

    A sea breeze blew, and tiny water droplets sshed onto Zian¡¯s face, but he didn¡¯t wipe them off. Instead, he stared straight in that direction.

    At first, Zian thought that he was looking at a submarine surfacing out from the sea; he even guessed whether the United States imperialist submarine was attempting to invade China¡¯s territorial waters and that he was witnessing the beginning of the Third World War¡­ But after he looked closely at it, it wasn¡¯t any kind of submarine¨C¨Cit was a giant whale!

    The whale was an adult whale and it was really big¨C¨Cmost likely one of thergest types of whales. The waves produced when it rose out to the surface of the water could even make the assault boat, which was over a hundred meters away, bob up and down as if it was trembling in fear.

    Zian immediately recognized that the whale was definitely the giant whale he saw from the shore before!

    The male whale swam up to the mother and son and turned sharply to the side, blocking right in front of them, as it tried to protect them with its own body.

    But the difference in their sizes was just too giant!

    The male whale was about eight meters long, but the giant whale was at least three times longer, and even ten times heavier!

    In front of the giant whale, the three minke whales were no different from newborn babies. As for Zhang Zian¡¯s assault boat¡­ it was probably the same as an eggshell.

    Zhang Zian now understood that the three minke whales must have noticed the approaching giant whale, which exined their earlier behavior.

    It was no wonder they were so terrified. The huge whale was almost an indomitable existence in the sea, and except for humans, even the Great White Shark and Killer Whale were not its match.

    When Zhang Zian saw its humongous tail fins briefly rise out of the water, he was more because parasites, known as barnacles, were attached to itsrge caudal fins.

    The barnacle was a crustacean that liked to attach themselves on marine creatures such as whales, and sometimes they would even attach themselves to the bottom of a ship. Their weak bodies were hidden in their hard, calcareous shells, exposing only their thoracic limbs to prey on nearby nktons.

    If whale lice were bad parasitic tenants with only harm and no benefit to their host, then the barnacles were still somewhat useful.

    The strong whale tail was already like a metal bat¨C¨Cit was very powerful. After the hard barnacles attached themselves to the tail, it was now a dreadful mace, and if it was used against other creatures, it would definitely split their skin and tear their flesh.

    With the strength of the whale, one whip of its tail could stun a medium-sized whale. Now, if it were to use it on a person¡­ that person would die before feeling any pain.

    If one judged it by its chubby appearance and felt that it wouldn¡¯t be able to swim fast, it was definitely a big mistake. The whale swam faster than most of the surface ships that humans had. Under its thickyer of fat were iparably strong muscles, and when it utilized its caudal fins, they were almost like the propeller of a warship.

    In front of the giant beast, Zhang Zian was toozy to escape. If it wanted to chase after him, he would be caught up in an instant. On the other hand, if it didn¡¯t want to chase after him, there was no need to escape.

    Zian did not forget the purpose of his visit, which was to see if the whale was injured or sick.

    Another reason that he did not escape was because he had an ace up his sleeve¡ªSihwa¡¯s singing.

    Zian had misunderstood earlier¨C¨CSihwa¡¯s singing did not fail, and the target of the male whale¡¯s hostility was not him, but instead the giant whale that was approaching quickly.

    Since it did not fail, what was the point of him escaping? All he had to do was to let the giant whale know that he¡¯s not a bad person.

    Coming to that conclusion, Zhang Zian slightly regained his calmness.

    After the giant whale emerged from the water, it did not take any excessive actions. It just continued to swim at a low speed on the surface of the sea, but its cruising route had intentionally or unintentionally blocked the escape path of the three minke whales, making them unable to swim towards the deep sea.

    In the face of a guy who was bigger and faster than itself, the three minke whales werepletely helpless.

    The male whale was obviously enraged. Even if the other whale was much bigger than itself, how could it be afraid of death in front of its crush?

    It let out a long and low-pitched cry, tearing through the waters as it rushed over to the giant whale. In the eyes of a bystander like Zhang Zian, its action was just courting its own defeat¨C¨Cjust as how Don Quixote tried to challenge the windmill.

    Zian quickly sank the underwater speaker into the water again and began to y Sihwa¡¯s song, hoping to stop the meaningless battle between them.

 Chapter 904: Miscalculation

    <h4>Chapter 904: Miscalction</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The three minke whales and the newly appeared giant whale were all set for a showdown¨C¨Cespecially the male minke whale, who was trying to protect the other two minke whales. It was provoking the giant whale to try to chase it away; however, the differences in their physique was toorge, so it was a futile effort. In fact, it was an effort that could even bring about its own death.

    The only advantage the minke whale had was that it was agile, but they were so close to the shore and the water was so shallow that its agility was quite restricted. The huge size of the giant whale practically blocked any escape routes.

    Under normal circumstances, a giant whale with that kind of physique was unlikely to risking into such shallow waters. If it was not able to have a proper grasp of when the tide rose and when it ebbed, then there was the possibility that it could be stranded at any time.

    The giant whale opened itsrge mouth¡ªthe mouth that could probably swallow a whole truck¨C¨Cand as it swam, it swallowed the small fish and prawns nearby like a ck hole. It didn¡¯t even view the male whale¡¯s provocation as a threat. When the male whale moved slightly closer, it just casually swept its tail, and the currents produced made the male whale¡¯s advance tougher.

    The male whale could not even match the speed of the giant whale even though the giant whale had yet to show its full speed. What seemed like a brave charge ended up with the male whale only being able to follow behind the other and eat its tail current.

    The number of living organisms in that part of the sea had increased from in the past. In the past, the part of the city near the ocean was entirely deserted¨C¨Call the fish had been caught by humans. It was only when Sihwa came to Binhai City that life started to reappear.

    For a giant whale with that kind of physique, most of their day was spent eating, otherwise it would not be able to sustain itself. And it was exactly because of that fact that the giant whale could not appear too often near Binhai City. There simply was not enough food for them to eat.

    Zhang Zian was scared that the minke whale and the giant whale would really start to fight, and he was anxiously looking at the speaker that was underwater, hoping that Sihwa¡¯s singing would quickly take effect.

    However, the main meaning of Sihwa¡¯s song was that a human would not hurt you, and that they wanted to help you. That meant that he had to let the giant whale know of his existence before it could understand the meaning behind the sentence.

    Yes, that was right. Although Zhang Zian had been observing from the side for a while, he was not sure if the giant whale had noticed his presence because his small boat was really too small. It was roughly like a small pebble in a human¡¯s eyes. Who would go and notice the pebbles beneath their feet when they walked? Furthermore, whales had bad eyesight, so it was even more likely that the whale did not notice him.

    Therefore, he analyzed the direction that the giant whale was swimming in, and in his heart, he started topare the swimming speed of the giant whale and the speed of the assault boat. He calcted a suitable distance to move forward, and started the motor to stop it in its path.

    Of course, that was the ideal situation, and the prerequisite was that the giant whale would not suddenly change its direction. Otherwise, his work would be of no use, and he would have to recalcte the path he should take.

    Just from that alone, he was much better than the male whale that only knew how to follow behind it. Humans were really the wisest of all creatures.

    The good thing was that the giant whale was quite cooperative¨C¨Cor perhaps it was better to say that it was persistent in its own ways, and it did not feel the need to change its swimming path. So, Zhang Zian¡¯s n of putting the assault boat right in the path of the whale worked.

    The giant whale cut through the waves to continue moving forward, and its size seemed to growrger andrger. The sense of oppression was increasing by the minute. His instincts told him that his actions were like an ant trying to shake a tree, and he was practically seeking death; it was akin to lying on the rails to stop a train¡­ He had the thought to take a handsome selfie with his face in the same frame as the giant whale; however, he did not have the leisurely mood or the bravery to take a selfie. He was so nervous that his mouth and throat were both very dry, and his heart was about to explode!

    When he was moving to stop the giant whale, the speaker kept ying Sihwa¡¯s song, but that giant whale had no reaction at all. It was still rushing straight at him.

    Zhang Zian was not doubting Sihwa¡¯s song because he had already tested it with the male whale; he was suspecting that the speaker was broken¨C¨Cafter all, it was cheap one that he had bought on Taobao. There was really no way to confirm, however, because Sihwa¡¯s singing voice was beyond the hearing capabilities of the human ear.

    Or could it be that it still had not noticed that there was a small intable cartridge case in front of it?

    Are you kidding me? What bad luck!

    As the giant whale came closer and closer, it looked as though the voice still had no effect. He made the prompt decision that he could not stay any longer, so he abruptly turned the boat 90 degrees. He switched the motor to its maximum power and headed to the side with full force!

    It was toote! He knew in his heart that it was toote.

    Although he felt very flustered, his basic judgement was not yet lost yet. He deduced by looking at it that the assault boat was likely to just miss the head of the giant whale. It would not be totally smashed into smithereens, but he would not be able to escape the currents formed from the whale swimming past him.

    The most optimistic estimate would be that his boat would capsize. The most pessimistic estimate would be that before his boat capsized, he would be swept at by the whale¡¯s pectoral fins.

    In such an emergency, he could not care about that anymore. There was no one in the surrounding area, and even if there was someone looking, it did not matter.

    He steadied the motor handle with one hand, and used the other hand to raise his phone, opening the

    game. He adeptly entered the game capture interface, directed it at the giant whale, and pressed on the ¡°Capture¡± button!

    Click!

    [Game Hints]: Capture failed! Target is not suitable to be a pet!

    From the first time he yed the game, the newbie guide had hinted that onlymon pets could be captured, like cats, dogs, birds, etcetera¨C¨Cspiders, cockroaches, and things of that sort were not considered pets.

    There were indeed people who kept spiders and cockroaches as pets, but then again, there were also people who kept other people as pets¡­

    Looking at it now, whales seemed to be not on the list of capturable targets.

    It was said that, in the whole world, only Bill Gates had built a private aquarium in his house, and he kept a whale shark in it. That kind of extreme example did not have much meaning, and it was only a rumor. It was likely that it was false, because Bill Gates definitely knew that no matter how big a fish tank it was, it was still unsuitable to keep a whale.

    Yet Zhang Zian could only quietly say, ¡°Are you kidding me?¡±

    He was already at his wit¡¯s end. No matter how hard he thought, he could not think of any other n, so he could only close his eyes and resign himself to his fate.

    Just at that critical moment, he suddenly felt that the assault boat was violently shaken, as if the bottom of the boat had hit a reef. He had not been expecting anything like that, so he lost his bnce. His hand let go of the motor handle and he heavily crashed into the bottom of the boat. Thankfully, the bottom of the boat was made of rubber as well, and he was not hurt.

    What happened? Did he get hit by the giant whale? It should not have felt like that¡­

    When he let go of the motor, the motor automatically switched off, and the propeller stopped turning. The assault boat was inclined at a strange position, as if it had entirely left the water¡¯s surface.

    Could it be that I was hit by the giant whale and flew up?

    Zhang Zian clung to the side of the boat and looked down.Below the ship was a greyish-ck colored back.

    It turned out that the assault boat was being carried on the whale¡¯s back. It was half on the humpback and half on the head, and was being quickly carried to escape the danger zone. The speed much faster than the weak motor.

    Almost exactly when he left the danger zone, the giant whale brushed past the boat, and the rolling waves were like an extremely tall and looming wall of water that surged towards where he was.

 Chapter 905: Whale Rider

    <h4>Chapter 905: Whale Rider</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sharing drinks with one who rides whales; distance was but a mere spell away.

    Throughout the ages, everyone was very envious of those that could ride whales, because whales were big and they were fast. The most important thing, however, was that they were gentle towards people, and riding on a whale¡¯s back to journey across the seas was very chic.

    Even though it was very envious, it was estimated that the number of people who once rode on the back of a whale to journey across the sea could be counted on one hand.

    Zhang Zian had not thought that he would actually aplish the long-cherished desire of the ancient people.

    The earlier shock from the bottom of the boat was from the male whale that had swum below and bunted the assault boat. The situation was urgent, so there had been no way to remain gentle.

    Its intentions might have been to push the assault boat away, but because the minke whale¡¯s head was t, it acted like a shovel and the assault boat was shoved onto its back. The whale itself was probably in a blur, too.

    Fortunately, the assault boat was made of rubber so it was very light, and Zian himself wasn¡¯t that heavy, either. So, resting on the back of the male whale did not impose much burden on it.

    Zhang Zian really wanted to tell the ancient people that riding on the back of the whale wasn¡¯t thatfortable¡­ There was also no need to be envious because there was an intable rubber boat between him and the whale.

    The small boat was spinning on the male whale¡¯s smooth back, and everything before Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes was spinning around. He was so giddy; the only thing he could do was hold onto anything that he could reach to prevent himself from being flung out of the boat.

    Fortunately, he had let go of the motor handle which automatically stopped the motor. Otherwise, the propeller might injure the male whale¡­ but that wasn¡¯t definite. After all, the motor was just like a toy, so it might not even be able to cut through the skin of an adult whale.

    Be it the assault boat or the male whale, the giant whale didn¡¯t seem to have either of them in its sight. It was just swimming at its own pace as waves rose like two white lines spreading rapidly from both sides of its body; one of them was closely chasing after the male whale.

    Although the male whale wasn¡¯t as fast as the giant whale, it was much faster than the assault boat. In addition, if the male whale wasn¡¯t there to lend a helping hand, the assault boat would have already turned over, and Zian would have already been tossed into the water. When that happened, even if Zian didn¡¯t drown due to his life jacket, it was inevitable for his stomach to fill with water, and the assault boat that costed him thousands of dors would most likely drift away and never be found again.

    As the whales continued to swim, the waves had also gradually subsided. The male whale had already swum its way to a safe area, so it started to slow down. The assault boat could no longer remain on its smooth back, so it slid down the whale¡¯s tail and mmed back into the water again; a moment of jolting instability was inevitable.

    In fact, from the time Zhang Zian wanted to escape from the giant whale until now, it had only been a total of twenty to thirty seconds, but Zian felt like half an hour had already passed. Every second was like it was in slow motion, almost making one breathless.

    Up until that moment, Zian felt like he was rocking up and down with the waves. He didn¡¯t dare to let go of the hull. He was drenched in sweat that had been mixed with sea water. All he could taste was saltiness when he licked his lips, not knowing if it was sweat or sea water.

    The giant whale seemed to have lost interest in everything. With a p of its tail fin, it swam towards the direction of the open sea, and its body slowly sank into the water. Soon, the giant had disappeared without a trace.

    Although Zhang Zian could not see underwater, from the reaction of the three minke whales, the giant whale had already left. They all had loosened up.

    The feeling of rest filled his heart, and it was probably the same for the three minke whales.

    The feeling of having survived a crisis took over Zian. When he thought about it, it was probably the same for the three minke whales, too.

    ¡°Thank you. If it weren¡¯t for you, I would be in deep trouble today.¡± Zhang Zian noticed that the male whale didn¡¯t go too far away; it was still floating near the assault boat. He reached out to pat its back with his hand and thanked it.

    It spewed out a thin gas pir as it slowly swam away with a tired look.

    Zhang Zian pulled out the speaker from the water and stared at it while thinking hard.

    What exactly was going on here? Why didn¡¯t Sihwa¡¯s song work like it was supposed to?

    The male whale had rescued him, not entirely because it was being nice, but perhaps because it had listened to Sihwa¡¯s song and knew that Zian was a good person. It knew that Zian was there to help them¨C¨Calthough it didn¡¯t need any help. The only thing it needed help with was how to court the female whale, but Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t able to help with that.. .

    The same singing worked for the male whale, but it didn¡¯t work on the giant whale?

    In the short time before their escape, the assault boat was almost right in front of the whale¡¯s nose. Even if the whale¡¯s vision was very bad, it should have noticed Zian.

    So why¡­

    His gaze moved from the male whale and the female whale beside him.

    Sihwa¡¯s singing not only dispersed the male whale¡¯s hostility, but it had also made the female whale lower her guard. was it possible to say that Sihwa¡¯s singing was effective on minke whales, but it was not effective on the giant whale?

    But why was it ineffective? Was it due to personality reasons, or a difference in their species?

    Zhang Zian had also confirmed with Sihwa before he came, and she had said with confidence that her singing was effective for all whales. Zian himself had also confirmed with his own eyes that her singing was at least effective on white whales and minke whales.

    So, was the giant whale special?

    If that were true, it would mean that the giant whale did not follow Sihwa¡¯s song to seek refuge at Binhai City after it was hunted; it was there for other reasons.

    Because the situation was urgent earlier, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have the time to carefully identify the type of whale it was. Now, he was trying to recall in detail based on the impression he had of it.

    The giant whale¡¯s body was roughly spindle-shaped and the color of its body was¡­ bluish-gray? Or maybe light blue? The sun wasn¡¯t out, so Zian couldn¡¯t really make out its color. If he was guessing, though, he would say it was a rtively light color, unlike the grayish-ck color of the minke whales.

    As for its other features¡­ its dorsal fin was really small and it didn¡¯t seem to match well with its size. If only its dorsal fin was exposed, it may even be mistaken for a big shark.

    It¡¯s caudal fin, on the other hand, was particrlyrge, and it was also as strong as a submarine¡¯s propeller. It could discharge a considerable amount of seawater with each movement, which was also the root of its speed.

    When it turned, there seemed to be a white patch on its chest and abdomen, but Zian wasn¡¯t too sure about that. He might have been seeing things, or it might have been the white foam from the sshing seawater.

    Thinking about it, he had only observed so much. Its other details were either too far away or too close, and he had no time to pay attention.

    With just that, Zian was unable to judge what kind of whale it was. Everything felt usible.

    Of course, he could be considered a pet expert, but he was not a marine expert or a whale expert. A difference in expertise was worlds apart, so it was normal that Zian couldn¡¯t recognize the whale.

    The most unfortunate thing was that the giant whale had suddenly appeared, and when it left, Zian was still in shock, so he didn¡¯t manage to get a photo of it. Otherwise, he could have brought the photo to an expert for advice, and he might have gotten the answer that he was looking for.

    It was not early anymore, and Zian had been out for too long. If he didn¡¯t return, Wang Qian and Li Kun might actually call the police.

    Zian waved goodbye to the three minke whales¨C¨Cin fact, he had already said his goodbyes earlier¨C¨Cthen he started the motor and headed back to the shore.

    When the assault boat stopped at the beach, the battery indicator light shed red and a low battery rm was issued.

    That was really close!

 Chapter 906: Secretly Infiltrating

    <h4>Chapter 906: Secretly Infiltrating</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sihwa could not really sleep the night before¨C¨Cor perhaps it would be better to say that she had not been sleeping well for the past few days. At first, she was troubled by Fina¡¯s cruel, but enticing, suggestion; then, she thought about what Zhang Zian had said about the whales being killed off;stly, when she saw the harpoon that was covered in blood, she began to worry about the fate of the whales again.

    She rubbed her eyes. She sat up in the bathtub and the clear water rustled down her delicate skin. Except for her wet, dark, long, green hair, there was practically no water left on her.

    Hah!

    She gave a long, drawn-out sigh. She really missed the time when she had just been born. At that time, she was so carefree, taking advantage of how the ordinary person could not see her. She had yed by the seaside, carefree and happy. She had even taken advantage of the high tide to sneak into a sea-facing vi¡¯s swimming pool. Sheid by the poolside and watched Korean dramas with the owner of the house who was inside the living room.

    That vi was very stylish, and its design was very clever. There was only a wall between the sea and the pool, and the door to the yard was often not closed¨C¨Cprobably because the owner did not think anyone woulde in from the sea.

    To have a seaside vi at a position with the best scenery, the owner of the vi must have been very rich. They were someone that, even if Zhang Zian worked his whole life, they would still be so far ahead of him that he could only see their dust. They were definitely not someone that worried about money. Even the bathroom in the house was most likely renovated magnificently.

    Sihwa¨C¨Cno, at that time, she had yet to give herself a name¨C¨Cyed by the seaside for a very long time. Even though the white whale was very understanding, after a long time, she felt lonely.

    On another night, when she was swimming past the reef rock outside the vi, she suddenly heard the sounds of cheerful chatting andughter. There were sounds of people toasting to each other, and it sounded very lively. It was very attractive to her.

    What were the people inside doing? It seemed to be very interesting.

    She took advantage of the high tide and leapt out of the water, jumping between reef rocks to try to get close to the vi.

    The cold and hard reef rocks dug into her until it was very painful. The scales on her fish tail broke off, but that was unable to stop her passion in trying to find out what was going on. Perhaps she was just too bored.

    She managed to get to the door of the yard with great difficulty. The door was just a false cover and it was not locked. She lightly pushed the door open until there was a small opening, and she looked inside.

    The vi was effectively using natural light. The side facing the sea used arge, transparent, tempered ss¨C¨Cwhether it was the designer or the owner of the vi, they probably did not think someone would peek in through that direction.

    The first floor had a spacious living room that was brightly lit, and there were many people there. It seemed like it was a party. People were wearing evening gowns and suits and they were elegantly lifting their champagne sses to greet each other and show respect. The rich women of high quality were all dressed up beautifully.

    What especially caught people¡¯s attention was that the people present were mostly dark-eyed and yellow skinned, quite different from how the majority that lived nearby were white. It seemed like a gathering of fellow townsmen.

    Sihwa did not mind their skin color¨C¨Canything was all right, as it did not have anything to do with her. After she had satisfied her curiosity she was nning on leaving. She could not understand why everyone was all shining with happiness. They all wore fake smiles on their face, and all they were talking about was business and investment¨C¨Call things she could not understand.

    At that moment, she suddenly noticed that the living room on the first floor was entirely dark, but there was just a television that was lit up. The light from the television illuminated a girl¡¯s face.

    The girl looked to be around the same age as her. She looked lonely, and she was curled up in the corner of a sofa, hugging her knees and staring at the television screen.

    Sihwa found it weird. Why was the girl not partying with the others? Why did she want to hide in the dark house alone?

    Unless¡­ What the television was showing that was so very interesting? She was too far away to see it clearly.

    Sihwa, who had been bored for too long, did not hesitate for a very long time. Actually, she did not hesitate at all, and she pushed open the door to the yard and rolled into the open-air pool. She was action-oriented, and an action-oriented person always moved first before thinking, or just make a move without thinking. She did not consider at all what she would do if she could not return.

    The sound of something entering the water was noticed by a waiter who was carrying a te, but since the sky was ck and the yard was very dark, he did not notice anything weird. He just shook his head and carried the te into the house, putting the incident into the back of his mind. He just wanted to finish his job, anyway. He was a waiter and he was not paid to be a security guard, after all.

    Sihwa felt quite smug and was ridiculing that the people were all blind, despite keeping their eyes open.

    The open-air swimming pool and the vi itself were very close together¨C¨Cthey were only separated by a small walkway.

    At that time, she was a bit puzzled. Although there was arge and spacious sea outside, why did the owner still want to waste so muchnd on a pool?

    However, after she jumped into the pool, she understood.The swimming pool was filled with fresh water; it was not as salty as seawater. After one dried off, there wouldn¡¯t be small salt crystals left behind on their skin and hair. There was joy in swimming in the sea, and there was also joy in swimming in the swimming pool. It was a new and interesting experience for her.

    She first swam two circles in the swimming pool and washed away all the seawater left on her body, before sheid by the side of the pool and looked into the living room.

    The girl inside was very focused on the television, as if she was so immersed in the television show that she could not pull herself out of it.

    At that time, Sihwa could not see it, but if she were to go back now, she would definitely have realized that the girl was not happy. Her eyes were empty, and even though she was staring at the television, the truth was that she was not focusing on it.

    Sihwa saw her appearance, and truly believed that the television was very interesting. The small people in the television were as natural to her as if they were actual living beings. They could even talk, and they acted out lives that Sihwa never believed were possible.

    Of course, rich people could afford arge television, and the living room television was huge. Even though Sihwa was looking at it from the side at a 45 degree angle, she could still see very clearly. The colors were very real, and they made people feel like they were in the scene themselves.

    She was instantly immersed in watching the television.

    From then on, she stayed in the house¡¯s swimming pool and refused to leave because she had yet to finish watching the show. Even if she had finished watching it, there was always the next show.

    Perhaps it was because it was winter, there was no one else going into the swimming pool. It was even rare if people even walked past the pool.

    The young girl in the house seemed to have a very bad rtionship with her family members. Her face was ck all day, and she did not want to interact with outsiders. Every time she talked to her family members, she would scream hysterically, and she would only calm down when she was watching television alone.

    The owner of the vi seemed to be very troubled by the young girl. They were embarrassed that there was such a child like that in the family, and they did not let her meet outsiders. After a while, she became more and more lonely.

    The Sihwa at that time did not care about such things. She only wanted to watch the television.

    She watched one show after another, and whatever that girl yed, she watched. She spent every day in so much enjoyment that she forgot to go home¨C¨Cshe even forgot about the white whale.

    On a certain day, she woke up from her sleep in the swimming pool, but found that both the inside and the outside of the vi was very quiet. There was no sound of arguments or shouting, and there was also no sound of television dramas.

    The vi was empty.

 Chapter 907: Bottom of the Deep Sea

    <h4>Chapter 907: Bottom of the Deep Sea</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When she realized that the vi was empty, Sihwa was in aplete blur. She knocked on her own head, thinking that she had not yet woken up.

    The vi was really empty, though¡­ And the noise from before seemed to have disappeared overnight without a trace.

    The wealthy and powerful vi owner, the girl who was gloomy all day, the chef in his official attire, the cleaner, and the security guard had all disappeared as if they had never even existed.

    The things in the vi did not disappear, including the big television. It was still beautiful and neat, waiting for the return of its owner at any time.

    Sihwa was at a loss. It wasn¡¯t because she had feelings for the family, but because of the unconcluded Korean drama. The unknown ending had left her restless.

    However, through watching these Korean dramas, she had learned a lot of socialmon sense. Although they weren¡¯t necessarily correct, she has indeed learned them.

    Maybe they were just out temporarily? For example, maybe the went to visit their rtives.

    With expectancy, she waited patiently for their return.

    One day passed¡­

    Three days passed¡­

    The owner of the vi and the others had still not returned.

    Because there was no one to do the cleaning, the clean swimming pool gradually filled with fallen leaves and became murky Now, when Sihwa woke up every morning, she had to endure the annoyance of getting rid of the leaves stuck in her hair.

    Soon after, it started snowing.

    The pool became very cold, and there was always a thinyer of ice at night. In order to not bepletely sealed beneath the pool¡¯s surface by a thickyer of ice when she was asleep, Sihwa would break the thin ice every day.

    Everyone from the vi still did not return.

    She had to think of other possibilities¨C¨Cfor example, they went to a warm southern resort, just like how rich people usually did. They might remain there until spring came before they returned, or they might even return after summer came.

    The pool water was getting more and more turbid.

    She had long wanted to leave, but the reason she stayed was that she wanted to know the final ending of the mermaid named Sihwa in the television series. Although, ording to the routines of these television series, the male and female protagonists would eventually get together. There was the asional series that had an absurd plot. Either the male or female protagonist would be suffering from cancer, only to have the couple separated by life and death¡­

    After watching more of such television dramas, one would realize that they all followed the same pattern, so they were really easy to anticipate. She just wanted to see the ending, though¨C¨Cshe really wanted to¨C¨Cand it was now one of her obsessions.

    She thought about taking the risk of leaving the pool to enter the house so she could continue the show. She had seen how the girl operated the television, but when she saw her own fishtail, she knew it would not work. She didn¡¯t know where the girl had stored the glimmering disc, and the ss door of the vi was also locked from the inside, so she was unable to open it.

    The snow was getting heavier as time passed, and the ice in the pool was also getting thicker and thicker. It hade to the point where she would identally bump her head against theyer of ice when she woke up.

    She finally decided to leave the pool that she had been in for a very long time. She was nervous that, one day, she would be frozen into the ice with the pool water.

    The process of her leaving was almost the same as how she came. The opportunity came when the tide rose. She got out of the pool and pushed the courtyard¡¯s door open, rolled out onto the reef rocks, then jumped back into the waters.

    The salty sea water once again surrounded her. It was strange, yet familiar.

    Even after a long separation, the white whale did not leave her side. It lingered around the area nearby, and soon after it heard Sihwa¡¯s call, it came to her side, affectionately licking her cold face and warming her with its body temperature.

    Sihwa sleepily hugged it. Her eyelids became heavier and all she wanted was to sleep. When she was still in the swimming pool, she would always wake up from the cold, or from the fear that she would be frozen into a block of ice in her sleep.

    I¡¯ll just sleep for a short while. I¡¯m just resting my eyes, Sihwa thought. The moment she lowered her head, she immediately fell asleep.

    Even though the white whale sounded like a canary, no matter how it tried to call out to her, Sihwa just wouldn¡¯t wake up. She continued to mutter half-baked Korean and her body was as cold as ice.

    The white whale carried her and swam down to the depths of the sea. There was no light, and it was a ce with no sun all year round. It was always a bottomless pit of darkness, and the fish inhabitants were all ugly and scary looking.

    There were asional light spots in that depth of the sea, but any smart and intelligent creature would not be tempted to approach. Behind those spots of light could be a bloodied mouth full of fangs.

    The darkness was no obstruction to the white whale. Its biosonar system guaranteed that it could find its way, even in absolute darkness.

    The white whale carried her and continued down, swimming towards the deeper depths.

    Finally, its sound waves encountered an extremely wide obstacle and were all reflected back. It then emitted sound waves in a different direction, but they were also partially reflected. The white whale knew that it had arrived at the bottom of the sea with Sihwa.

    The seafloor, that should have been darker, was not as dark as it had imagined.

    There were a few serpentine-like, dark red lights on the bottom of the sea, which was the entrance of an inactive volcano. Theva was slowly seeping out of the earth¡¯s crust, only to be extinguished by the sea water and solidifying into volcanic stone. It slowly sealed up the crater of the volcano. The solidified, moltenva would then be pushed aside by the new gushingva, or theva would find a new exit after a small underwater earthquake.

    Abundant geothermal resources could be found where they were at now, and there were strange underwater creatures living around them. Their appearance was so strange; they could challenge the human imagination. Basically, none of them had eyes, and their vision had already degraded to a dispensable degree. Most of them had not been seen by humans, as humans could never reach such a depth without riding in heavy duty, submersible equipment.

    The white whale carried Sihwa and swam over theva countless of times, letting the seawater that was heated by theva caress her body. It also carefully protected her from falling off, so as not to be burned by theva.

    The outlet for theva was blocked again, andva with bubbles started gushing out from the deep depths of the earth as more of them gathered underneath the solidifiedva. They had to find another new outlet. When theva found a point of thin, fragile crust, a new small crater appeared with a slight underwater earthquake.

    During the tremors, there was a temporary disturbance in the sea currents.

    Sihwa felt the tremor in her sleep and finally woke up.

    When she moved, the white whale knew that she was waking up, so it slowed down and suspended itself in the middle of the sea.

    Where¡­ is this ce?

    She tried to open her eyes and look at the darkness around her, but she could not see anything.

    The white whale told her that they were in the deeper parts of the sea floor and right below them was hotva.

    It was not until the warmth enveloped her that she realized how cold she was. She had almost died.

    She had been in the cold for too long in the swimming pool. Even if she was an elfin, she was unable to withstand the cold day after day.

    It was the white whale who had saved her.

    If it hadn¡¯t have been for the white whale, she might have be the first elfin to freeze to death¡­ or probably die by dumbness.

    In her dreams, she dreamed that she had be the heroine of a television series. She had taken the ce of the ugly mermaid who she despised and yed out her own ending.

    But when she woke up, she had forgotten all about that ending.

    When the white whale took her to the surface and returned to the world under the sun, she decided to name herself Sihwa.

 Chapter 908: Broadcasting Once Again

    <h4>Chapter 908: Broadcasting Once Again</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sihwa tossed her head, and what she swung away was not just her hair, but also two drops of glittering, crystal-clear teardrops. She had originally wanted to recall happy things¨C¨Clike the Korean drama she had watched and the delicate features of those handsome men and women¨C¨Cto make her mood better, but why was it that she often thought about minor happenings in the past and continued to cry unconsciously?

    She really missed the white whale. She wondered if it was doing well now.

    After hearing about whaling from Zhang Zian, she often worried that it would be pierced by a harpoon and dragged onto a whaling ship by a barbarian with a beard and waterproof clothes. The barbarian would raise a shining butcher¡¯s knife up high, then a lot of blood would rush out from the deck¡¯s drainage outlet. From then on, it would never be able to sing with its voice like a beautiful canary again.

    She could indeed use low-frequency sound waves tomunicate with the whale species over long distances, but the range at which she couldmunicate at was limited. With the current status of the sea, her low-frequency sound waves could only transmit over a few thousand kilometers, and the Baltic sea was at the other side of the earth.

    She had no way of finding out how the white whale was doing.

    When she was with it, she repeatedly talked about the Korean dramas she watched, but when Zhang Zian gave her the opportunity to go towards the east, she did not hesitate to ept his offer¨C¨Cjust like how she did not hesitate to climb in through the vi¡¯s yard gate. When she did that, she did not even consider the white whale¡¯s feelings. She was action oriented, and had thought that even if it left her, it could still live well.

    Currently, she was in the east, but she had begun to miss the white whale who was tens of thousands of miles away.

    She had even begun to miss the girl curled up on the sofa watching television the whole day in the vi. Even though she could no longer remember what the girl looked like, she wanted to know if the girl and her parents got along now, or if was she still sullen and watching Korean drama alone every day¡­

    She heard the sound of the shutter door being pulled up, the sound of talking downstairs, and the sound of the machine roaring, so she knew that Zhang Zian had already left the shop to drive to the sea.

    After he left, she had a period of alone time in which she did not want to have disturbed.

    She took up her phone, swiped on the phone screen a few times, then hovered over the shortcut to the live broadcast application. She hesitated and did not press down on it.

    She had not done a live broadcast in a few days, as she had been troubled by many things over thest few days; she was in no mood to broadcast.

    The small bit of poprity she had managed to gain¨C¨Cthe pitiful few thousand fans¨C¨C could they all have gone away during thest few days?

    She had actually wanted to continue to live broadcast two days prior, but she had been as cowardly as she was acting currently. She had not been able to press down on the application shortcut, so she could only give up and abandon herself to despair.

    There was bound to be a second time after the first, and every time she thought about live broadcasting, she felt dispirited. Her lofty ideals and high aspirations had long been destroyed into a disastrous state. She had, for a very long time, not even wanted to see the application logo.

    ¡°Nevermind¡­ It¡¯s better if I go back to sleep. My head hurts.¡± She rubbed her temples, then put her phone back on the cardboard in the bathroom, perturbed.

    Just as she had closed her eyes and sunk back into the bathtub to use the clean water to separate herself from the troubles of the outside world, she heard a scuffling noise at the doorway and immediately opened her eyes again.

    Pi was squatting at the doorway¨C¨Cthe monkey that spent the whole day in the living room typing. Sihwa was not familiar with it, and she had never seen it use the toilet before. She had often treated it as a part of the backdrop, and hence could not help but feel puzzled as to why it came to the toilet at this moment.

    ¡°Do¡­ do you need something?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Zhi zhi?¡± Pi made some hand gestures as if it were asking her a question.

    Sihwa could not understand what it was saying, and she could not interpret its hand gestures. While Zhang Zian might have understood what it was saying and its hand gestures, she did not have the ability to.

    The shabby house was filled with different kinds ofnguages¨C¨Ccats meowing, dogs barking, birds chirping, and the whales song. There was also the soundless hand gestures of the monkey, so it was practically a small Pets United Nations in the pet shop.

    ¡°This¡­ I don¡¯t understand.¡± She hurriedly waved her hands, and pointed at her own ears. ¡°The miser whose surname is Zhang has gone out. If you need anything, you can wait till he is back to tell him.¡±

    ¡°Zhi zhi.¡± Pi did not leave. Instead, it pointed at itself, then pointed at her.

    ¡°What? You want to talk to me?¡± Sihwa guessed. She could not help to feel even more puzzled. She did not have any interactions with it, so what was there to say? Furthermore, how could anything be said?

    ¡°Zhi zhi.¡± Pi took a tabletputer out from under its armpit. It opened up a document function and typed on the virtual full keyboard. ¡°You have not broadcasted for quite a few days.¡±

    After that, it raised theputer for her to see, and because it was worried that she could not read it, it even started up the text-to-speech function. Theputer then read out the words with a voice that was devoid of emotions.

    Seeing the line of words, Sihwa was taken aback.

    In the daytime, the rest of the elfins were downstairs and rarely came upstairs. Zhang Zian had a lot of things to do between the two shops, and most of the time, only Pi and Sihwa were on the second floor. Only Pi knew that she had not broadcasted for quite a few days.

    She had assumed that it would treat her broadcasting like a backdrop, just as she had treated its typing as a backdrop. Could it be that it was not like that at all?

    ¡°Um¡­¡± she scratched her head in embarrassment. ¡°I haven¡¯t been in the mood thest few days¡­ Anyway, it¡¯s all right. There¡¯s barely anyone watching at all.¡±

    Pi typed, ¡°Don¡¯t you have more than 4,000 fans?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s 4,000 fans? These days, those big live broadcasters have tens of thousands¨C¨Chundreds of thousands¨C¨Cof fans. There are even those super live broadcasters with more than ten million fans! Compared to them, I¡¯m nothing!¡± She became dejected and despondent as sheined.

    Pi typed, ¡°You have only done live broadcasts for a short time. Having 4,000 fans is already very amazing. When I first started writing novels, only a few people read them.¡±

    ¡°Only a few people reading and you can still continue writing? That¡¯s amazing! For me, I can¡¯t take it. I should be brilliant and shining in this world¡­ I want everyone¡¯s eyes fixed on me, not ignored by everyone.¡± Sihwa shook her head.

    Pi typed, ¡°I almost could not continue writing either, but every day when I wake up, I always tell myself, ¡®Just write for one more day.¡¯ Zhang Zian also told me that. If it was not for his encouragement, I probably would have already given up.¡±

    Sihwa stayed silent and did notment.

    Pi typed, ¡°Broadcast for one more day. There will definitely be people waiting for your new broadcast. If you really do not want to continue broadcasting, you must at least say goodbye to your fans.¡±

    She bit her lip and thought about it, remembering the familiar IDs in the broadcasting room. Despite originally not wanted to broadcast, her heart wavered.

    ¡°All right, what you said was right. I¡¯ll continue broadcasting for one more day,¡± she nodded and said.

    ¡°Zhi zhi!¡± Pi did not type, instead giving her a thumbs-up, as if being happy for her.

    Sihwa showed a helpless smile. Perhaps it thought that her spirit was rejuvenated, but she truly just wanted to live broadcast for thest time¨C¨Cjust like what it had said¨C¨Cto say goodbye to her fans. She wanted to tell them that in the future there would no longer be a mermaid broadcasting for them.

    She had once separated from the white whale without saying goodbye, and she did not want to do that again.

    Pi turned around to leave, but Sihwa suddenly thought of something and called it from behind. ¡°Wait! Don¡¯t leave!¡±

    ¡°Zhi zhi?¡± Pi stopped, blinked its eyes, and waited.

    ¡°That¡­ you¡¯re called Pi right? How did you know that I have 4,000 fans? I¡¯ve never told anyone about that before!¡± she asked, puzzled.

    Just before thest broadcast had ended, her number of fans had just barely reached 4,000. The number was very far from what she had hoped to reach, so she was too embarrassed to tell people.

    Pi proudly patted its chest, then typed, ¡°I know everything about life and the cosmos.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Sihwa thought about it. ¡°There was once an ID called Watermelon that came into my live broadcast room and said a whole lot of rubbish, which made me so angry my chest hurt, and then never appeared again. Can you tell me if that person wille to watch my live broadcast today? I must give this person a proper scolding!¡±

    ¡°Zhi zhi.¡± Pi nodded, its face showing a meaningful smile.

 Chapter 909: Robot

    <h4>Chapter 909: Robot</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sihwa was aware of Pi, and she had heard of its magical book that included things about life, the universe, and everything else. From what she knew, there were even records of things that had not yet happened in the book¡­ To go through those records was very cumbersome and time consuming, and it was also not necessarily urate because the future was not fixed and could change at any time.

    So, how was it so sure that Watermelon woulde to her broadcast room that day? It didn¡¯t even go through its book.

    Sihwa suspected that Pi was just trying to brush her off, but just as she was about to inquire further, Pi had already left the bathroom.

    However, after exchanging a few words with Pi, she had temporarily gotten out of her unpleasant memories.

    Taking the opportunity since Zhang Zian was not back yet, she decided to fulfill her promise and started the live broadcast app. She nned to conduct herst live broadcast and she didn¡¯t want the cheapskate to see it. She always felt ridiculed by him. After that, he would also ask from her the electricity bill and other payment.

    After the live broadcast room was opened, she squinted her eyes and looked at the number of fans. She expected the number of fans to have dropped drastically after she had not broadcasted for so many days. She didn¡¯t even expect the number to reach 3,000 fans.

    She was dumbfounded with what she saw. Not only did her number of fans not reduce, but it seemed to have increased by two or three hundred more.

    [Mr. Grape] entered the broadcast room.

    [F*ck The Wildest Dog] entered the broadcast room.

    [Mr. Grape]: ¡°Wee!¡±

    [killme] entered the broadcast room.

    [Mr. Grape]: ¡°Wee!¡±

    [killme]: ¡°D*mn! So early in the morning and the robot¡¯s already on duty!¡±

    [F*ck The Wildest Dog]: ¡°Isn¡¯t that why he¡¯s a robot? I entered the room immediately when I saw the anchor go live, but I was still a step toote.¡±

    These familiar IDs were like familiar faces. They entered the room every time Sihwa went live, and although Sihwa had never met them, she had already designed a face for each of them in her heart. [killme] was an undergraduate who was still studying. His face was one that had just shaken off its immaturity, with a sparse amount of stubble on his chin. He was sitting in the ssroom, looking down at his mobile phone. [F*ck The Wildest Dog] on the other hand, was a working adult, nearly 30 years old, had a darkplexion, and often smoked as he tuned in to the live broadcasts. As for [Mr. Grape]¡­ maybe he was really a robot.

    [killme]: ¡°So what is the anchor intending to broadcast today? Sleeping again?¡±

    Sihwa frowned and asked, ¡°Let me ask all of you¨C¨CI haven¡¯t broadcasted live for a few days. Why haven¡¯t you guys unsubscribed by now? Why did the number of fans increase, not decrease?¡±

    [F*ck The Wildest Dog]: ¡°I don¡¯t know why others watch live broadcasts, but for me, I just use it to pass the time. I just watch whichever anchor looks the most pleasing in my eyes, and you¡¯re currently the most pleasing.¡±

    [killme]: ¡°You probably don¡¯t know about this, but the app has a rey function. So, even if you¡¯ve not gone live, some viewers can watch your live broadcast through the video yback. If they find you interesting, they would subscribe to your channel! Anyway, subscribing doesn¡¯t cost any money. That might be why there was an increase in your number of fans.¡±

    Sihwa was amazed. She really didn¡¯t know that there was such a feature.

    More and more IDs started to enter her room. Some were familiar and some weren¡¯t. The new fans were all first weed by [Mr. Grape] and then shocked by Sihwa¡¯s perfect appearance. They started a heated discussion about if she had gone through stic surgery or if she was utilizing some form of beauty filter. The level of excitement wasparable to thoserge broadcast rooms with over tens of thousands of viewers. As for her old fans, they were already used to the phenomenon.

    [Radish]: ¡°Wuwu. I used to only watch reys, and today I¡¯ve finally caught up with a live anchor! Why do you always broadcast during the morning? Many people are either sleeping or on their way to work!¡±

    There were not just a few fans who shared the same opinion. Except for those individuals who wanted to keep the live broadcast time unchanged, most agreed to have her change the next live broadcast time to the evening, which was more suitable for bringing in the crowd.

    It was very rare for the people in the broadcast room to use really umon words. Although they would asionally use some homophonic numbers to rece some Chinese characters, Sihwa was still able to understand them.

    There were several times where she had wanted to tell them that it was herst live broadcast, but after they suggested the best time to broadcast live, and there were even some people who volunteered to advertise for her, she could no longer utter the words that were on the tip of her tongue¡­ It was a huge change for someone like Sihwa, as she was the type of person who would say whatever she wanted without any considerations about if her words would hurt others.

    The heated discussion temporarily came to a standstill. The stic surgery party and non-stic surgery party weren¡¯t able to convince anyone, so the focus of attention shifted to another issue.

    [killme]: ¡°What¡¯s the anchor going to broadcast? Sleeping again?¡±

    The number of bullet screens reduced for the moment. It was evident that everyone was looking forward to her answer.

    Shihua vaguely felt that if she gave a positive answer, many viewers would exit out of the broadcast room. If they wanted to sleep, they could always watch the yback of her previous videos at any time.

    In fact, it wasn¡¯t too bad. Anyway, she had decided that it would be herst live broadcast. So, she was going to take the opportunity to say her goodbyes, and when everyone wanted to see her, they could always yback her previous videos.

    Sihwa noticed that [Mr. Grape] was still sending the ¡°wee¡± bullet screens over and over again. Any ID that entered the broadcast room would have a ¡°wee¡± waiting for them. Although many of them wereughing at [Mr. Grape] for being a robot, he wasn¡¯t the least bit affected and continued, as always, with his ¡°wee¡± messages. Sihwa felt even more conflicted inside.

    Of course, [Mr. Grape] wasn¡¯t a robot. When he entered the broadcast room on the first day, Sihwa had seen him say one or two other words. He might have also wanted to say something else, but he was just too busy sending ¡°wee¡± messages.

    He was only one of her few loyal fans. She didn¡¯t ask him to do it, nor did she ever thank him. So, why was he willing to go so far for her?

    There were also other familiar IDs. There were also those that took advantage of her being a foreigner, using obscure, abusive words tomunicate with her. Since she was new to the Chinesenguage, she didn¡¯t understand the meaning of those words; she thought that thements werepliments to her. It was at those moments that the familiar IDs would retaliate on behalf of her and assist her with reporting them.

    Looking at these fans who were not familiar with each other, she just couldn¡¯t bring herself to say the goodbyes that she had long prepared in her heart.

    Moreover, the hateful [Watermelon] had yet to make his appearance, and if she didn¡¯t take the chance to get back at him, she would not be willing to leave.

    That day¡¯s weather wasn¡¯t very good; it was dark and cloudy, and looked like it might rain at any time. The temperature was also much lower aspared to the previous days, but her skin was hot as she was surrounded by warmth. It was just like when the white whale had brought her to the bottom of the sea near theva.

    Everyone was still waiting¨C¨Cwaiting for her to reveal the contents of the broadcast for that day.

    But if she didn¡¯t broadcast herself sleeping, then she was really at a loss on what to broadcast. After all, there was nothing that she knew.

    She swept her gaze around the small bathroom and finallyid eyes on the cover of the fairy tale book that was on the bathroom cab.

    ¡°About that¡­ Actually, I really don¡¯t know anything. I can¡¯t y games, I don¡¯t have any special talents, I can¡¯t even do a split, and I¡¯ve just started learning the Chinese characters¡­ If you don¡¯t mind, I would like to read fairy tale stories to all of you. I know that¡¯s boring, but this is the only thing I can do,¡± she said, bowing her head.

    After she was done speaking, Sihwa did not dare to look up at the screen. She felt that there would be many peopleughing at her, and many who would unsubscribe and quit the broadcast room because she had never seen or heard of any anchor who would broadcast themselves reading fairy tales. Even she felt that it would be super boring.

    She had never confessed like that before, and she was even regretting it a little now. She thought that it would be better if she had just announced that it was herst live broadcast.

    Two to three minutester, with her face flushed red, Sihwa looked up at the screen uneasily. To her surprise, there were none of the expected ridicules. Instead, there were many who were looking forward to it, and her number of fans did not decrease, either.

    She picked up a fairy tale book and mustered up her courage. Just as she was about to start, she noticed that another person had entered the broadcast room.

    [Watermelon] entered the broadcast room.

    [Mr. Grape]: ¡°Wee!¡±

    [Watermelon]: ¡°Yo? What¡¯s this anchor gonna do? Read a fairy tale? Now that¡¯s rare.¡±

    Gnashing her teeth as she stared at this ID, Sihwa said, ¡°It¡¯s you!¡±

    [Watermelon]: ¡°It¡¯s me. Now let¡¯s see if you can make me stay and willingly subscribe to you.¡±

 Chapter 910: The World of Elfins

    <h4>Chapter 910: The World of Elfins</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sihwa had only seen [Watermelon] once in the live broadcast room, but she hated his domineering look a lot. It was one thing toe into the live broadcast room and only look around without giving any gifts, but what right did he have to act as if he was a lifelong mentor and point fingers at her? She felt like her unlucky streak had begun as soon as she met the person with that ID. From then on, practically nothing went well!

    When she saw the ID again, she wanted to pull him out from the screen to give him a beating, then strip him of his clothes and throw him in front of the shop to show the public¡­ However, the anonymity of the Inte made it impossible for her to do that, so she could only re at the screen angrily.

    ¡°The host¡¯s angry look is so pretty! I feel like I need to change to a 4K monitor to make it more convenient to lick the screen!¡±

    ¡°Tut-tut! Every expression can be used as a wallpaper¡­¡±

    [This Old Man Is Unrestrained]: ¡°Continue! Don¡¯t stop!¡± *gave a hairy crab and left a message.*

    Sihwa originally wanted to continue being angry¨C¨Cto use her re to make [Watermelon] scared¨C¨Cbut when she saw someone sending presents, she instantly smiled brightly.

    There were also people asking her what city she was in; they could not tell from her ent, as she spoke perfect Mandarin but had the asional weird Korean words.

    She still remembered the instructions that Zhang Zian gave: she should not expose what city she was in¨C¨Cand even more importantly, she should not expose her specific location. Otherwise, if the Live Broadcast tform found out, they might close her ount. She did not mind that, but the problem was that, after her ount was closed, the money other people gave her could no longer be retrieved.

    Sihwa did not really understand why people were willing to listen to her read out fairy tales, but the reason was simple: listening to a broadcaster read fairy tales and listening to a broadcaster sing were not that all that different. In essence, the viewers still looked at the face of the host and listened to their voice. It helped, too, if the host knew how to act cute. Although she did not know how to act cute, her face and her voice were at the level that would crush anypetition.

    She took up a fairy tale book and cleared her throat. ¡°What kind of fairy tale do you all want to hear?¡±

    ¡°I only want to hear the host speak more. Anything is fine.¡±

    ¡°To be honest, I want to hear a horror story. I¡¯m currently at a rest stop on the highway, so I desperately need to lift my spirits up¡­¡±

    ¡°How about The Seven Heroes and Five Gants?¡±

    ¡°I want to hear **Pure¡­ F*ck! Why is ** censored?¡±

    For a short time, the audience¡¯s opinion was divided, but out of what the audience suggested, practically none were fairy tales¨C¨Cor at least none were the fairy tales she had heard of before.

    [Watermelon]: ¡°Anchor, aren¡¯t you cosying a mermaid? Then just read The Little Mermaid.¡±

    Sihwa did not want to acknowledge [Watermelon]. She nned on scolding him as soon as she finished broadcasting, but quite a lot of the audience supported his suggestion.

    ¡°The Little Mermaid? What book is it in?¡± Sihwa flipped to the contents page of the fairy tale book she was holding, but could not find that name. After all, the book she was holding was aption of Grimm¡¯s Fairy Tales.

    [killme]: ¡°Is the anchor acting cute? Although I have never read the story before, at least I know to find it in Hans Christian Andersen¡¯s fairy tales.¡±

    [Split Second of Darkness]: ¡°This fairy tale is quite famous, but I haven¡¯t read it before, either. I only saw the animated version by Disney, and I found it quite average.¡±

    [The Grim Reaper Is Here]: ¡°Actually, the story itself is quite average. It¡¯s just a story about a prince and a princess, but the tragic ending is quite different from normal fairy tales.¡±

    [Sour Pineapple]: ¡°Times have changed. Now it¡¯s no longer the prince and princess that¡¯s popr; what¡¯s popr is an overbearing CEO and a Mary Sue.¡±

    [Dragon Knight Yin Zhiping]: ¡°I don¡¯t like Hans Christian Andersen¡¯s fairy tales. All the fairy tales he writes are tragedies, like The Little Match Girl and The Little Mermaid. Why are books that are written for children written as tragedies?¡±

    [Two Dogs]: ¡°What the f*ck! The one who sent the bullet screen¨C¨Cyou have the guts to say that? I saw the picture of you riding the dragon and I really wanted to tear the book at that moment!¡±

    [Dragon Knight Yin Zhiping]: ¡°Comical emoji!¡±

    [Watermelon]: ¡°Actually The Little Mermaid isn¡¯t considered a tragedy, right? I remembered that Andersen left this fairy tale open ended¡­ He hinted that the mermaid had risen to the elfin world, which is much better than staying in the human realm with the prince and the greasy and crooked woman giving birth to a whole bunch of naughty kids, right?¡±

    [Wind Maker]: ¡°Haha, naughty kids must die!¡±

    Sihwa noticed that particr bullet screen, even though it came from the ID she hated the most.

    ¡°Elfin world?¡± She became interested, and opened her mouth to ask, ¡°What¡¯s with the elfin world?¡±

    Most of the people in the live broadcast room were men, and even if they had read the fairy tale before, it did not leave a deep impression. For women, even if they had read it before, they were often more concerned with the mermaid¡¯s sad ending; they generally did not notice the ¡®elfin world.¡¯

    No one could answer her question, and the only person who seemed like they could answer, [Watermelon], became silent.

    Horrible!

    Sihwa had no other choice. She found Hans Christian Andersen¡¯s fairy tales, then found The Little Mermaid from the contents page. She flipped to the corresponding page.

    ¡°It¡¯s so long! And there are so many words I don¡¯t recognize!¡± She quickly skimmed through it. As if she felt discouraged, she wrinkled her brow; reading that fairy tale was going to be a really big challenge.

    Of course, when she wrinkled her brow, many fans took a screenshot to remember the moment.

    However, [Watermelon]¡¯s words made her very interested, and she wanted to know what the ¡®elfin world¡¯ was. She saw that the audience¡¯s bullet screen mentioned that The Little Mermaid was a tale regarding a mermaid, which made her care about it even more. She did not see the ending of the Korean drama with the mermaid, but at least the fairy tale definitely had an ending, right?

    ¡°All right, then I¡¯ll start reading¡­¡± She cleared her throat once again, then began to read the story out. She talked slowly, as she stumbled over many words as she read. ¡°In the faraway sea, the water was very blue, just like the most beautiful corn¡­ flower petals¡­¡±

    When she met words she did not know, she could only read them ording to the Pinyin. She cared about the reactions of the audience, so she was not entirely focused. She would pronounce a word incorrectly from time to time, or she would entirely read the wrong word, which caused the audience to send bullet screens to vent about it.

    However, it was precisely because she did not read well, and some of her mistakes were very outrageous that the story felt almost like aedy. The most important thing was that she did not pronounce the words incorrectly on purpose, and her awkward and suffering expressions nicely incited the audience¡¯s desire to vent about her pronunciation. The bullet screenments were very close together, and there were often people sending gifts.

    Her timbre was beautiful¨C¨Clike the surging of clear spring water; like the dripping of water onto stones; like the rustling of tree leaves; and like the echoes of the tides¨C¨Cand her vocal range was shockinglyrge. No matter how picky a person was, they would not be able to find a problem with it.

    Someone with that kind of voice and that kind of looks reading a fairy tale was enticing. She often made the audience members unable to control their smiles. Even if it was the morning with very little people watching live broadcasts, there were still a lot of peopleing to her room from other live broadcast rooms.

    She was unknowingly immersed in the fairy tale and did not notice that her number of fans was quickly increasing. As she was very concentrated, she got into the character of the female lead in the story. Although she often read words incorrectly, her voice already had emotions, unlike the emotionless and energycking voice she had at the start.

 Chapter 911: The Story of the Mermaid

    <h4>Chapter 911: The Story of the Mermaid</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As she continued reading, Sihwa temporarily forgot about the mobile phone on the side and the viewers who were watching her live broadcast. She was simply immersed in Hans Christian Andersen¡¯s Fairy Tales.

    The underwater world described by Andersen was different from the real underwater world that she knew; it was full of childlikeness and the good things from people¡¯s imagination. But that did not prevent her from quickly substituting herself into the smallest mermaid in the fairy tale.

    Like the protagonist, she was also infatuated with an illusory prince and was head over heels for him. She couldn¡¯t wait to see him and be with him. But life had to y a cruel joke on them.

    Both Sihwa and the protagonist had no legs, so they were unable to set foot onnd. They could only endure their yearnings for thend day after day as they watched their prince leave them.

    Reading up to there, Sihwa was very anxious for the protagonist, and she wanted to know the ending immediately.

    Like many fairy tales, the witch made her appearance, and she provided the protagonist with a seemingly cruel trade: to give her beautiful voice in exchange for a pair of legs. Each step she took, however, would be like walking on a sharp knife. That reminded Sihwa of Fina¡¯s proposal.

    Don¡¯t ept it! How could this be tolerated? Sihwa anxiously shouted to the protagonist in her mind.

    However, the protagonist epted the trade and got her legs. Ever since then, she had set foot on thend and spent a wonderful time with the prince.

    Sihwa was no longer naive like she was when she was first born into the world. Reading up until there, she suddenly realized a very strange thing: The image of the prince was very vague. It was only revealed that he was about sixteen years old and had a big pair of ck, dark eyes. He was very handsome, butpared to the witch, his image was not as notable. Sihwa just couldn¡¯t draw out his appearance in her mind, which was very abnormal for a world renowned writer.

    The prince seemed to be a fool. He had actually recognized the wrong person and had mistaken another human girl as his savior.

    He was not only stupid, but also blind. The little mermaid who became a human had climbed up a mountain with him, and everyone could see her feet bleeding, but he did not give an order to stop and return.

    With him being like that, how could he still have the guts to say that she was his dearest person? Was that how he treated the dearest one to him?

    Reading up until there, Sihwa was on the verge of blowing up!

    Why did the protagonist fall for such scum? Was it just because he was handsome and it was a love at first sight?

    The most infuriating thing was that the prince was obviously using her as a substitute for his savior. She looked like his savior in his impression, so he brazenly asked for her to stay with him for a lifetime¡­ But refused to marry her?

    Even after the protagonist found out, she didn¡¯t get angry¡­ Instead, she shouted in her heart to look after him and love him.

    Excuse me? Was the protagonist a masochist?

    Sihwa couldn¡¯t ept it and her lips trembled with anger, but she insisted on reading further. She hoped that the author could give an exnation that was convincing, and at the same time, she hoped that the protagonist would wake up quickly.

    She hated the prince, but she also contradictorily hoped that he could turn over a new leaf and marry the protagonist. Otherwise, the protagonist would turn into sea foam¡­ Aside from falling for the wrong person, the protagonist had not done anything wrong. So why was she subjected to such cruel punishment?

    But he did not change for the better. When he saw the princess of the neighboring country, he realized that the princess was his savior, so he rushed over like a studhorse. The protagonist had no choice but to be happy for him.

    Sihwa¡¯s hands that were holding the book were trembling, and she didn¡¯t want to continue reading. Every word was like a knife stabbing into her heart. Even a bystander like her was feeling such pain! The pitiful protagonist must have definitely been in great pain. Her heart was definitely hurting more than her feet!

    Despite all that, Sihwa still wanted to know the ending, even if it was likely to be a tragedy based off of the audience¡¯s bullet screens.

    She continued to read.

    When the prince and the princess were married, it would be the protagonist¡¯sst night in the human world. When the sun rose, she would turn into sea foam and disappear forever.

    The protagonist¡¯s sisters did not give up on her; they were really fond of their youngest, foolish little sister. They willingly traded their beautiful, long hair to the witch in exchange the only thing to save their sister: a sharp knife. They told her that all she had to do was pierce the prince¡¯s heart with the sharp knife, then her legs would disappear and she would regain her fishtail. With that, she¡¯d then be able to return to the big mermaid¡¯s family andfort their old grandmother¡¯s depressed heart.

    Sihwa¡¯s voice started to tremble with long pauses in between her words. Her heart was split into two contradictory halves: On one side, she found the prince to be very hateful, and the protagonist to be very pitiful. She felt that the protagonist should decisively stab the sharp knife into the heart of the prince. On the other hand, she felt that although the prince was stupid, blind, and aplete douchebag, did he really deserve death?

    The protagonist did not hesitate. She kissed the prince, threw the sharp knife into the sea, then turned and jumped into the sea, turning into seafoam.

    Sihwa¡¯s heart seemed to have also turned into seafoam. It was all empty, and she had even forgotten about all the pain.

    Generally speaking, the story should have ended here, but it did not.

    The protagonist who had turned into seafoam did not lose her consciousness. Instead, she saw some transparent and imaginary creatures, and she herself had also obtained a simr form. She softly fluttered towards the sky.

    The creatures told her that they were in the world of the spirits. Neither the daughter of the sea nor the daughter of the sky would have an eternal soul, but it was possible to create an eternal soul through the umtion of good deeds. It may take three hundred years, or perhaps shorter.

    They also told her that whenever they found a good child, they would get closer to the goal.

    Sihwa thought that there would be more, but after she turned a page, she found that the next page was the beginning of another story.

    What was going on? The story didn¡¯t end when it should have, but it suddenly ended when it shouldn¡¯t have?

    Sihwa was bewildered. There seemed to have been some kind of separation between the small part of the story at the end and most of thee at the front¡­ They were like twopletely different stories. The front seemed to be a love story where one held the wrong belief until death, and thetter¡­ seemed to have a deeper meaning.

    The protagonist also behaved very strangely at the end. She no longer seemed to care for her love of the prince. She even lightly kissed the bride on her face, and smiled at the prince, as if she had put everything down.

    While Sihwa was in a daze, time passed very quickly. Before she knew it, a low battery prompt popped up on the phone, and she also heard the sound of a car parking downstairs.

    Not good! Zhang Zian¡¯s back!

    She had already forgotten that it was herst live broadcast. She hurriedly said goodbye to her audience, and before she even had the time to see if [Watermelon] had subscribed to her, she quickly quit the live app.

    Just as she was done, she heard a weird cry from Wang Qian downstairs. ¡°Master! You¡­ what did you do? Did you take a bath at the beach? Why are youpletely drenched?¡±

 Chapter 912: Viewing Whales at the East Coast

    <h4>Chapter 912: Viewing Whales at the East Coast</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sihwa had originally been immersed in the fairy tale story, but upon hearing the sounding from downstairs, she could not help but feel curious. She knew that Zhang Zian made a trip down to the sea practically every morning. Sometimes he would return after half an hour, while other times he would return a bitter. It was amon urrence in the pet shop, but something seemed to be different that day.

    She opened the small window by the toilet and quietly peeked downstairs.

    Li Kun heard the sound of talking and came out from the aquarium next door. He saw that Zhang Zian¡¯s clothes were wet, and his hair was sticking to his forehead. He had originally thought that Zhang Zian had, unfortunately, fallen into the water, as it was his first time driving a ship out to sea. After carefully observing him, however, it did not seem like that was what happened. If he had fallen in the water his clothes would have been totally wet, but only Zhang Zian¡¯s jacket was wet¨C¨Cmostly just on his chest and shoulders. Furthermore, they were already slightly dry. It almost seemed like he had been rained on or someone had poured a bucket of water over his head.

    He lifted his head to look at the sky. It was cloudy, but it had yet to rain.

    Jiang Feifei heard that Zhang Zian was back and came out as well. Upon seeing how Zhang Zian looked, she immediately thought of a possibility. ¡°Store manager, could it be that you¡­ got sprayed by a whale?¡± she asked, a hint of jealousy in her tone.

    ¡°Ga? A facial?¡±

    Jiang Feifei forgot to say ¡®water,¡¯ and Richard managed to hear it acutely from afar. ¡°Ga ga! I heard that a whale is very big down there¡­ The amount it can spray is also veryrge. Don¡¯t clean it off, though! It¡¯s all good essence, and it can be used for skin care!¡±

    ¡°Master! You really met a whale?¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun asked at the same time.

    They knew that Zhang Zian took the boat out to sea to admire whales, but they were shocked that he had actually managed to see a whale. After all, the sea was sorge, and a rubber boat could not travel that far. How was it be possible that he just so happened to meet a whale?

    Zhang Zian pointed at the Wuling Hong Guang MPV¡¯s trunk. ¡°We can talk about thatter. First, help me to bring the battery into the house to charge.¡±

    ¡°How heavy!¡± Wang Qian almost sprained his back when he lifted up the battery. His face contorted in agony as he signaled for Li Kun to quicklye over and help. The two of them carried the battery into the house, then found a corner to plug it in to charge.

    There were some familiar customers in the shop. After they saw Zhang Zian¡¯s rather flustered look, they could not help but cast nces at him.

    Zhang Zian took off his half wet and half dried jacket, picked up the hair dryer, and used it to dry his limp hair into shape. Otherwise, it would have been quite detrimental to his image.

    ¡°Master, that hair dryer is used to dry dog hair,¡± Wang Qian reminded him, having good intentions.

    Zhang Zian red at him. ¡°No one will think you are mute if you don¡¯t say anything!¡±

    Wang Qian stuck out his tongue, not daring to speak anymore.

    ¡°Ga! Your hair and your body are all wet. Be careful to not catch a cold!¡± Richard hypocritically expressed its care, raising up a wing towards the automatic dog washing machine. ¡°Do you want to have a hot bath? 100 yuan for small dogs, 200 yuan forrge dogs, and free of charge for single dogs!¡±

    The automatic dog washing machine had a few customers queued. Some had heard of it and wanted to try something new, while others were old customers that thought that the automatic dog washing machine was very convenient for washing their own dogs. They were all young people, so they found it easier to ept such new things and woulde over from time to time to use it. Upon seeing the situation, they all expressed that they could let Zhang Zian be washed first and that their dogs could wait.

    Zhang Zian instantly declined their good intentions. He conveniently picked up a towel and tossed it at Richard. It covered its head, forcing it to hold back what it wanted to say next.

    ¡°Store manager, did you really meet a whale?¡± Jiang Feifei asked, unable to hold herself back. She had already bought a life jacket online, and if he had really met a whale, she nned on asking Zhang Zian if she could go with him the next time he went.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were also very concerned about her question; they perked their ears to listen.

    ¡°I really did meet whales,¡± Zhang Zian admitted.

    ¡°Whales? Where can you see whales from?¡± Some of the customers also heard what he said and were curious about it.

    Binhai City had norge, underwater aquariums. Even for the big cities that did haverge, underwater aquariums, they normally did not have whales. They would have dolphins, and at the most, there would be a few killer whales or white whales¨C¨Cthe smaller kinds of whale species. Actually, killer whales were of the Delphinidae ss, and calling themrge dolphins would not be considered wrong. It was not easy to see reallyrge species of whales in the country, and even then the cost of doing so would be very high.

    Even for world famous whale watching spots, it was not guaranteed that one would definitely see whales if they went. Most of the time, one needed to stay multiple days and patiently wait out at sea for the whales to appear. Some whale watching spots had evene up with insurance policies that they would return the customer¡¯s money if they did not see any whales.

    Zhang Zian did not reveal the specific location. He casually pacified them by saying, ¡°Just near to the shore¨C¨Csometimes whales will swim in shallow waters. Today I was quite lucky, so I just happened to meet them.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not simply a ¡®meeting,¡¯ right? Store manager, you must have been very close to the whales, right?¡± Jiang Feifei asked. ¡°Otherwise, how would you have gotten sprayed?¡±

    ¡°Erm, whales normally travel in groups, so I met a few whales today,¡± Zhang Zian exined vaguely. ¡°They were very close to my boat, so when they came out of the water, I was shocked. My clothes got wet from the water they sprayed out.¡±

    In order to be drenched by the water the whale sprayed out, how close would he have to be?

    Jiang Feifei and the rest of the customers were all very jealous; they wished that they were the ones that had been there, and continuously asked him for more details.

    Zhang Zian spoke carelessly, opening his mouth and talking some nonsense. It was not entirely nonsense, though. Instead, he intentionally kept some details to himself, satisfying the curiosity they had about whales in their hearts.

    In the eyes of ordinary people, whales were both fat and cute animals¨C¨Cin most situations that was true, especially when they were portrayed on the television. However, when one saw a whale close-up and in real life, the sense of awe was even greater than seeing them on the television. There was the condition, however, that one could not get too close. Otherwise, there was the possibility of danger. Zhang Zian had been entirely too close to them that time around.

    In the era of information overload, many young people did not pay attention to the nearby local news. Many people did not know that any whales hade to Binhai City, and after they heard Zhang Zian tell his story, they were all confused and enlightened by the situation.

    ¡°Store Manager Zhang, you shoulde up with a business that charges people to go whale watching. There would definitely be a lot of people willing to spend the money. That is, as long as it is cheaper than taking a special trip to a big city¡¯srge, underwater aquarium or going overseas to whale watch!¡± a customer suggested.

    ¡°Exactly. Anyway, people go to whale watch just to take photos or videos to share with their friends to be pretentious. It¡¯s not like you can differentiate whether we¡¯re in the country or overseas. All you need to do is write some english words on your boat and pretend that you¡¯re overseas, then share them with your friends and you¡¯ll have a lot of face!¡± Another customer went straight to the heart of the matter and analyzed it.

    ¡°I want to be the first customer!¡± Jiang Feifei said as she happily raised her hand.

    The truth was that their suggestions did indeed have some merit¡­ As long as they used Sihwa¡¯s special song to call the whales over, it would not be hard to operate.

    It was just that it was not an urgent matter, and he could wait and think it over. Anyway, no one could steal his business. First, Zhang Zian needed to solve the giant whale problem.

 Chapter 913: Underwater Recording

    <h4>Chapter 913: Underwater Recording</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian dried his hair and shared a few words with the customer, then he had Li Kun and Jiang Feifei return to the aquarium to take care of the business there. Once they went back, he made his way up to the second floor.

    The customer¡¯s whale watching proposal was pretty good, but it was another matter entirely when there was a moody whale in the shallow sea¡­ God only knew when it would suddenly appear on the side of the ship. There was also going to be trouble when it overturned the boat and brought danger to the customers.

    Zian knocked on the door to the bathroom. After waiting for a brief moment, he entered.

    Sihwa looked at him from head to toe then asked, ¡°The water on your body¨C¨Cwas it really sprayed onto you by the whales?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I met the giant whale again and my boat was almost overturned by it.¡± Zhang Zian emptied his pockets and threw the wet clothes into theundry basket. He had nned to umte more clothes before washing them.

    ¡°What happened? Did you not y my song?¡± Sihwa frowned, suspicious. She didn¡¯t dare to assert other things, but she was very confident in her own voice. So far, she had yet to encounter any problems inmunicating with whales through her songs.

    ¡°Of course I did, but it didn¡¯t seem to work. It had a counter effect,¡± Zhang Zian replied truthfully. ¡°The strange thing was that your singing affected the minke whales, but it wasn¡¯t effective against the giant whale. Do you know the reason for this?¡±

    Sihwa innocently blinked her eyes. Except for white whales, she couldn¡¯t really differentiate between other types of other whales. Even if Zian mentioned that it was a minke whale, she wouldn¡¯t know what kind of whale that was.

    Zhang Zian told her about his trip out to sea, picking out only the important things to tell her. ¡°Currently, your songs have only been yed on two kinds of whales, and it¡¯s effective to one, but ineffective on the other. I had wanted to find more whales and test it on them to gather some data samples, but unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t find any. The problem now is that there are only two possibilities for this: There¡¯s either a w in your song, or a problem with the whale. Which do you think it is?¡±

    ¡°Impossible! There¡¯s absolutely no problem with my song! You must have yed the song with the wrong posture!¡± She shirked her responsibility, for fear that Zian would me her.

    Zhang Zian ced his hand on his forehead. ¡°Then what if you temporarily exclude posture problems?¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ then it must be that whale! Yes! It¡¯s probably deaf!¡± Sihwa rolled her eyes. She said with a sudden realization, ¡°Since there are deaf people, there must be deaf whales, too!¡±

    She even felt proud of herself after she was done speaking. She had an ¡°I am so smart¡± look on her face.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°¡­Although deaf whales do exist, this whale didn¡¯t seem like one. It seemed to have been attracted by your song.¡±

    Sihwa had a momentary pause. ¡°Impossible! There¡¯s no way it¡¯d attack you after it listened to my song!¡±

    ¡°I mean, it does hear your voice, but for some unknown reason, it doesn¡¯t understand your song. What do you think about such a possibility?¡± Zhang Zian exined patiently. ¡°Remember when I asked you about it? I asked if all cetaceans can understand your songs. If they don¡¯t, would there be any misunderstandings?¡±

    If it was like before, then Sihwa would give a positive answer to his question without much thought. Now she wasn¡¯t so sure. If there were no problems with the giant whale, it would mean that the problem was in the song itself, and she really didn¡¯t want to admit that.

    She tried to recall and said, ¡°I guess¡­ Most whales should be able to understand my song. At least¡­ the whales in the vicinity of Germany could all understand my song, and I could learn their songs after I listened to them. I can¡¯t do anything if I can¡¯t hear it, though. After I arrived in Binhai City, I could understand the whale songs in the nearby sea¡­ Maybe that giant whale¡¯s from a remote country!¡±

    The low-frequency sound waves of whales could be transmitted far, but they were not infinite. They could spread thousands of kilometers depending on the sea conditions, and Sihwa, who was born near Northern Europe, could only hear the whale songs in that range.

    ¡°Then can you hear the sounds of the giant whale now?¡± Zhang Zian asked again.

    ¡°I can¡¯t. There are too many whales nearby, and it¡¯s like a thousand ducks are quacking at the same time. I can¡¯t even tell who is who. During the usual times, I can only try my hardest not to listen to them and treat those voices like the sound of the wind and rain in the background. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t even be able to hear all of you.¡± Sihwa shook her head.

    So it was like that¡­ Zhang Zian gave it some thought, and indeed, it was really tough to have a wide range of hearing. One would even hear some sounds that they didn¡¯t want to hear, and if it was an ordinary person, they might have already gone crazy. It was fortunate that Sihwa had a one-track mind.

    Although the number of whales had been greatly reduced, within a few thousand kilometers, there were still more than a thousand of whales. The giant whale was only one of the many whales. Just like thousands of people speaking at the same time, to single out an individual was just like finding a needle in a haystack.

    ¡°Understood. Then let me change a question¡ªif you hear the song of the giant whale, can you understand and try tomunicate with it?¡± Zhang Zian threw out another question that he had prepared in advance.

    ¡°Erm¡­¡± Sihwa grabbed her hair in frustration, then said with uncertainty, ¡°I¡¯ve never consciously tried to learn them. It all happened unconsciously¡­ But I probably can.¡±

    ¡°Okay then, let me find a way to get the voice of the whale.¡± Zhang Zian nodded, expressing that he was done with his questions.

    ¡°Hold on!¡± Just as Zian was about to leave the bathroom, he was stopped by Sihwa. ¡°How do you n on getting the giant whale¡¯s song?¡± Sihwa noticed the waterproof bag on his mobile phone. ¡°Are you nning to put the phone into the water to record?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. The waterproof bag can only prevent damage against sshes of water; it wouldn¡¯t necessarily be waterproof if it was ced underwater. Besides, even if the waterproof bag was able to work underwater, it would still hinder the sound transmission, cause distortion, and the recording would all be for naught,¡± Zhang Zian said as he shook his head.

    ¡°Then¡­¡±

    ¡°If you want to record sounds underwater, you can only use professional equipment¨C¨Ca high-precision recording device called ¡®Underwater Pickup,''¡± Zian exined further.

    ¡°Oh, haha. So it¡¯s the underwater pickup¡­¡± Sihwa pretended to know about it. ¡°Can it be bought online? Like how you bought your boat?¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t purchase it online¨C¨Cnot even from the almighty Taobao.¡± Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders regretfully.

    ¡°So what now?¡± she asked.

    ¡°I know a person. He¡¯s an associate professor in the Biology Department at Binhai University. He often goes out to the field to investigate things, so I think he should have one. I n to give him a call himter and ask if he can lend it to me.¡± Zhang Zian had considerable confidence in the biology department. He believed that it should have such professional equipment. He was just uncertain if he could borrow it.

    ¡°Me¡­ let me make the call! I¡¯ve never made a phone call before!¡± Sihwa excitedly pleaded.

    It didn¡¯t really matter who made the call, since it was all the same. Anyway, since Zian was asking for her help, he decided to satisfy the little wish of hers.

    Zhang Zian quickly agreed to her request and unlocked his phone screen. At the same time, however, he revealed the interface of the broadcast app that he had yet to exit from.

 Chapter 914: Being Mischievous For a Bit Makes Her Very Happy

    <h4>Chapter 914: Being Mischievous For a Bit Makes Her Very Happy</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sihwa was all too familiar with the Live Broadcasting application interface. When she was not broadcasting, she often wandered to other host¡¯s rooms. With one look, she knew that Zhang Zian was watching a Live Broadcast and had not managed to exit before she came by.

    ¡°You¡¯re watching a live broadcast?¡± she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

    ¡°Oh, this? Snowy just had a live broadcast, and it seemed like her fans were giving clues about the Holy Cat Statue, so I was just listening on the way back¡­ I was just listening, I didn¡¯t really watch it, so I did not break any traffic rules!¡± Zhang Zian casually said in order to deal with her. After that, he left no trace and exited the application, then his tone changed as he asked, ¡°Do you know about the Holy Cat Statue? Did I not tell you about it before?¡±

    His change of topic was a bit deliberate and Sihwa stared at him suspiciously. ¡°I¡¯ve heard a bit here and there. Fina has been sleeping in the morning recently, and I heard it was so that she could be more vignt at night¡­ That doesn¡¯t seem to have anything to do with me, though.¡±

    ¡°Haha! You thought that before the Holy Cat Statue disappeared, Fina did not sleep in the daytime?¡± Zhang Zianughed, then hurriedly turned around to see if there was a golden cat sitting somewhere behind him. Thank goodness it was not behind him.

    He pulled up his contacts page, found Wei Kang¡¯s number, and then went to call it himself; however, Sihwa hurriedly extended her hand and said, ¡°Let me call!¡±

    ¡°You can call him, but after it goes through, you have to let me speak,¡± Zhang Zian instructed.

    He did not want to have to exin to Professor Wei Kang as to why a woman was using his phone to call people. If he and Wei Kang had a misunderstanding it would not be good. Middle-aged, older men like Professor Wei Kang who were around 50 plus years old often liked to introduce young people to the opposite gender to set them up. As a professor, he probably knew quite a few young female university students, right?

    He was anticipating the trip to Egypt quite a bit. If there were younger women in the expedition that had a beautiful appearance, long legs, and a good chest¡­ then when they met danger, he could enact the role of a hero saving a beauty scene. From then on, they would think that he was charming¡­

    Sihwa did not know that the thoughts in his head were thatplicated. She took his phone from him and swiped on his phone screen. Even after swiping a few times, she had not reached the bottom. ¡°Wah! You have so many contacts!¡± she said with envy. Her phone only had Zhang Zian as a contact.

    ¡°Most of them are customers that I added to be polite. I have never actually called them before.¡± Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders. ¡°You need to find Professor Wei Kang. Find it from W¡­¡±

    ¡°I know! Don¡¯t look down on me!¡± Sihwa wrinkled her nose and red at him fiercely.

    She scrolled and scrolled until her finger eventually stopped on one of the contacts.

    The contact only had one word as their name¨C¨Cor to be urate, it was not a name, but rather a designated name: ¡°Mom.¡±

    Sihwa¡¯s heart suddenly grew sour. She knew that Zhang Zian¡¯s parents had encountered an ident and passed away. She hadn¡¯t seen her parents since she was born¨C¨Clike him, she had no rtives in the world.

    The page¡¯s contacts started with ¡®M.¡¯ To find ¡®W,¡¯ she needed to continue scrolling down, but her fingers started scrolling up until she found ¡°Dad¡± in the ¡®D¡¯ section.

    Was it that he didn¡¯t have the habit of sorting out his contacts regrly? Why would he keep a phone number that would never be used again? It would only cause the contact list to be longer and longer¡­ Or could it be that the longer his contact list, the more satisfied he felt because it made him feel that he was a very social person?

    Zhang Zian and Sihwa were facing each other, and the phone screen was facing Sihwa. He could not see what she was doing, but thought that she had not yet found Wei Kang¡¯s name. He prompted her, ¡°Have you found it yet? How about you let me find it instead.¡±

    Sihwa was action-oriented, and being action-oriented meant that she would make a move and then think¨C¨Cor sometimes not even think at all. The contempting from Zhang Zian made her very angry.

    Thus, without thinking, she pressed the ¡°Dad¡± word.

    Dialing¡­

    Sihwa waited quietly for a short moment. She expected that the phone call would not go through; she just wanted to be mischievous for a bit to make herself happy. She did not expect that, after a few seconds, there was the sound of very old-fashioned musicing from the direction of the other bedroom, brimming with the most national style rhythm.

    She and Zhang Zian turned their heads at the same time towards where the sound wasing from.

    Zhang Zian did not manage to react at first. He instinctively started walking towards the noise to see who called. His father¡¯s close friends would still call that phone sometimes during the first few months after his dad had passed away. Most of the time it was the wrong number, and after he answered, they would, in a hurry, ask about his health or mourn his father. After the first two months, however, the phone rarely rang. Even when it did ring, it was always an advertisement.

    He had just taken two steps when he found that there was something not quite right. Why did it ring so coincidentally, at that moment?

    Before he could recover his wits, the ringing on the phone stopped.

    He was hesitant as to whether he wanted to go over to check whose phone call it was when, immediately after that, another old-fashioned, but different song, yed from another direction.

    His mother did not know many people¨C¨Chis father was the one who normally contacted people for the pet shop¨C¨Cand even when she was alive, there were not many phone calls. They were normally from neighbors inviting her to y cards, or to go for square dancing, or to chat. After she had passed away, her phone practically never rang.

    One phone ringing could be a coincidence, but two coincidences together was definitely not a coincidence anymore.

    He should have understood it earlier, but hearing the ringtones he had not heard in a long time caused him to be a little out of sorts. His heartbeat had elerated, and he had habitually opened his mouth to shout, ¡°Mom! You have a call!¡±

    The words hung in his mouth for a moment before he returned to reality. He slowly closed his mouth. There was no longer a need to shout.

    There were not many people who had both his parents¡¯ phone numbers and would call them after such a long time. Besides him, there was no one else that would do it.

    He finally understood. He turned around to re at Sihwa and scolded her. ¡°It¡¯s you that¡¯s calling? There are actual things for you to do, so who asked you to randomly call phone numbers? Why do you enjoy being mischievous so much?¡±

    Before that, no matter how much trouble Sihwa caused, he would always brush it away with a smile. He would straighten his face and say a few sentences while he pretended to be angry, but he had never been really angry before. Now, he was really angry, but he was not sure as to why he was so angry.

    If Fina had scolded her like that, it would be all right. The cheapskate she had always looked down on, Zhang Zian, had an attitude while he spoke to her. In the past, she definitely would have been reluctant to show any sign of weakness. She would have red back at him, then used her shrill voice to argue loudly¨C¨Cbut today, she did not react as she normally would have. Instead, she lowered her head and spoke haltingly. ¡°Sor¡­ sorry¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian had originally wanted to continue reprimanding her, but who would have thought that she would so easily admit her mistake and apologize? It made him hold back whatever he had wanted to say and bottle it up. He didn¡¯t know if he should continue reprimanding and teaching her, or if he should forgive her.

    Sihwa lifted up her head slightly. Her eyes were as blue as the sea was bright as she pointed in the direction of the master bedroom and asked in a small voice, ¡°You¡­ you keep paying the phone bill for them?¡±

 Chapter 915: Rent

    <h4>Chapter 915: Rent</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In Sihwa¡¯s knowledge of Zhang Zian, he was a cheapskate and a super rational person. He would even clearly calcte the charges of her phone bill with her¡­ So how could he do anything that was meaningless and wasteful? His parents had passed away, but he was still keeping their previous numbers active. It just didn¡¯t fit his character!

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know why she was asking such a question, so he nodded. ¡°If you don¡¯t pay the bills, the line will be terminated. China Mobile isn¡¯t a charity organization, after all.¡±

    ¡°So, you¡¯ve not only been paying the bills, but you¡¯ve also been charging their mobile phones every day?¡± Sihwa asked. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that we¡¯remercial consumers of electricity, and it pains you each time you pay the bills?¡±

    Zhang Zian was really speechless. ¡°How much of a cheapskate am I in your eyes?¡±

    Sihwa had a mix ofplicated feelings in her heart. It was like she had re-recognized Zhang Zian, who not only kept the number of his deceased parents in his contact list, but also kept their numbers active and charged their phones daily. They were the same as they were before. It was just like¡­ they had not passed on.

    Sihwa had always thought that she was lonely, but in fact, Zhang Zian was lonely, too.

    ¡°Why are you looking at me like that?¡± Zhang Zian looked down at his pants to confirm if his crotch was also wet.

    ¡°Nothing.¡± Sihwa swished her hair and swiped down the contact list until she reached W, then selected Wei Kang from the list and pressed dial. When she heard the other party answer, she handed the phone back to Zhang Zian, but still continued to stare at him.

    ¡°Hello? Professor Wei, it¡¯s me, Zhang Zian.¡± Zhang Zian was embarrassed from being stared at by Sihwa, so he slowly backed out from the bathroom.

    ¡°Oh, Xiao Zhang, what is it? Is it about the expedition?¡±

    Wei Kang¡¯s tone suddenly became tense. He¡¯s worried that Zhang Zian would suddenly propose to withdraw from the expedition team and no longer participate in the trip to Egypt. That would be a great loss to the expedition team.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing to do with that. Actually¡­ I would like to borrow a scientific instrument from you, and I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s convenient for you.¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°What instrument? Tell me about it. It won¡¯t be a problem If it¡¯s just a normal instrument that I can make decisions for, but if it¡¯s a valuable and expensive instrument, then it will be out of my authority and I can only consult the Dean¡­¡± Wei Kang had his reservations and dragged thest word out a little longer.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be a particrly expensive instrument. It¡¯s an underwater pickup device. I¡¯m not sure if you have it there?¡±

    ¡°An underwater pickup device?¡± There was a brief pause in Wei Kang¡¯s voice, then he asked with surprise, ¡°I can make the decisions for this instrument, but do you mind if I ask why you require this instrument? There¡¯s a need to fill out a form for all borrowed items, so I have to know the purpose of your usage.¡±

    Wei Kang was implying that there didn¡¯t seem to be a reason why someone who ran a pet shop would need an underwater pickup device.

    Zhang Zian exined, ¡°Professor Wei, I¡¯ve recently opened a new branch¨C¨Can aquarium. At the same time, I have also developed some interest in whales, especially the sounds of whales. It feels particrly melodious and mysterious, and listening to them can put you in a trance¡­ Now, weren¡¯t there a number of whales making their appearance in the sea just outside of the city? I want to record some of their sounds and y them in my aquarium to create the mysterious atmosphere of the underwater world.¡±

    ¡°I really couldn¡¯t tell, Xiao Zhang, that you had quite an aesthetic sense! Few people around your age can calm down and listen to the songs of the whales.¡± Wei Kang¡¯s tone had both astonishment and praise; there was nothing sarcastic. ¡°But the sound of whales can be downloaded from the Inte. There are many downloadable ones avable. Why do you want to record it yourself?¡±

    Zhang Zian chuckled and said, ¡°Professor Wei, this question shouldn¡¯t be asked by someone like you¡­ You¡¯ve been going outfield to study so hard, and you may not even be able to find a new species as you wish. Why are you still going at it again and again? Although I might be able to download whale songs online, I¡¯d still like to record it myself. I just might be able to discover something different and new.¡±

    Wei Kang was silent for a moment, which had Zhang Zian think that his words might have made Wei Kang angry. Almost immediately, Wei Kang pped the table and praised, ¡°Good! This is exactly the spirit that we must notck scientific explorations! It seems like you were born for this line of work! Are you really not going to consider taking the test to be my graduate student?¡±

    ¡°Professor Wei, you must be joking again!¡± Zhang Zianughed. He had intentionally said words that would curry favor from Wei Kang, in order to sessfully borrow the underwater pickup device. How could Zian have the spirit for scientific explorations¡­

    Wei Kang let out a sigh. ¡°Okay then, let me talk to my colleagues over at the marine life studies and see if they have a spare underwater pickup device¡­ Right, how long do you n to borrow it for?¡±

    ¡°Maybe a few days¡­ I¡¯ll try to have it back as soon as possible.¡± Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t sure if he would run into the giant whale again at the beach, so he hoped he could extend the time required.

    ¡°Right, Professor Wei, help me ry a message to your colleagues that I do not intend to borrow it for free. Your colleagues will get a proper repayment,¡± he added.

    ¡°No need for that¨C¨Cthere¡¯s no need to give any money. I¡¯ll borrow it under my name, so there¡¯s no need to give any money.¡±

    Wei Kang thought that Zian had wanted to pay the rental fee, so he told Zian that there was no need to pay. Zhang Zian had actually wanted to repay them in a special form. On a personal basis, he was nning to give them a few Antarctic Sea anemones to the Biology Department of Binhai University for them to do a research on.

    Antarctic Sea anemones were a new species that had just been discovered under the Antarctic ice in recent years. So far, no one had understood their habits and how they were able to root themselves in the hard ice with their weak bodies. If the teachers and students of Binhai University could take the lead of the world to unlock the mystery of the Antarctic Sea anemones, or even discover some substance in the Antarctic Sea anemone that could be applied in medicinal areas, it would definitely cause quite a stir. By then, Zian would also be honored and that would make it much more convenient for him to borrow things in the future.

    Zhang Zian did not have the corresponding knowledge and research instruments, and he was also not interested. As the Antarctic Sea anemone was only a pet to admire in his hands, it was better for him to give some out for the benefit of science. Zian could also take the opportunity to repay Wei Kang for his countless favors.

    ¡°I¡¯m not paying any money. It¡¯s toomon to talk about money. My n was to send you some good stuff.¡± Zian pretended to be mysterious to keep Wei Kang interested.

    Wei Kang was in a blur for a moment; he thought that Zhang Zian had finally figured it out and was willing to hand over the original Egyptian Mau for him to do some research on. After giving it some careful thought, though, it didn¡¯t seem like it.

    No matter how much Wei Kang asked, Zhang Zian refused to spill the beans. Zian had nned to give him a surprise when he returned the underwater pickup device.

    Wei Kang then hung up the phone, went off to borrow the instrument from his colleague, then gave Zhang Zian a call to say that everything was going well. Coincidentally, his colleague had exactly one spare one at the moment.

    The two agreed on a time and ce for the meeting. When it was time, Zhang Zian drove to Binhai University, filled in the corresponding loan form with the help of Wei Kang, and finally got the valuable underwater pickup device.

    With the instrument, Zian could finally record and analyze the sound of the whale and unveil its mysterious veil.

 Chapter 916: Underwater Hymn

    <h4>Chapter 916: Underwater Hymn</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Master, you are going out to sea to watch the whales again?¡±

    Early the next morning, Wang Qian saw Zhang Zian carrying a heavy battery and walking towards the Wuling Hong Guang MPV. He guessed what he was going to do.

    ¡°En, you¡¯re right.¡± Zhang Zian nodded and pulled open the trunk of the car. He connected the battery to the motor to confirm that the battery was fully charged.

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Wang Qian was puzzled. While whale watching was elegant, watching them every once in a while was enough. Why did he have to go every day? Was whale watching really that meaningful? It was not like he was looking at beautiful women¡­

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± He picked up a long, stick-shaped, grey object from the trunk of the car and started fiddling with it. He had never seen it in the car before; it had to be something that was just put in.

    The long stick-like object was rough, and from touching it, it seemed like the KTV microphone had aponent that picked up sound. A long grey wire was coiled behind it, and the surface of the grey wire was covered in stic.

    ¡°It¡¯s used for recording sounds underwater.¡± Zhang Zian was scared that he would be careless and drop the precision instrument and ruin it, so he snatched it back from Wang Qian¡¯s hands and put it back into the trunk. ¡°All of you can watch the shop. I¡¯m going to go, but I¡¯ll be back soon. If I don¡¯te back, remember to call the police!¡±

    Wang Qian watched as Zhang Zian drove the car off into the distance. As he sent him off, a look of constipation crossed his face.

    Li Kun came back from next door. He walked closer to Wang Qian and said, ¡°Older brother, Master has been driving his car a lot. We haven¡¯t touched the steering wheel in so long, and my hands have be quite itchy¡­ Right, what is Master going out to do again?¡±

    ¡°He ims that he is going to record some underwater sounds, but I saw that Master¡¯s manner was a bit suspicious. I suspect that he just said that to pacify me¡­ I think he is hiding some kind of secret that he doesn¡¯t want to tell us¡­¡± Wang Qian frowned and was deep in thought, his expression serious.

    ¡°Oh? What secret?¡± Li Kun suddenly perked up. ¡°Is it the correct way to read and understand that Advanced Veterinary Control book?¡± he asked nervously.

    ¡°That¡¯s not it¡­ I saw that the trunk of Master¡¯s had an object that was both thick and long, and seemed very high tech. It could be¡­ the uranium rod from legends.¡±

    ¡°Uranium rod?¡± Li Kun was so shocked that he became dumbstruck. ¡°What does Master want to do with a uranium rod? Could it be that he wants to cause trouble?¡±

    Wang Qian looked to the left and right and saw that there was no one, so he lowered his voice and said, ¡°Perhaps Master is secretly keeping a Godzi in the sea¡­¡±

    ¡°Godzi? Are you sure it¡¯s not that he¡¯s secretly keeping a Kraken?¡±

    ¡°Ga ga! What kind of rod were you both talking about just now?¡± Richard pped his wings and flew over to them. It was especially excited for some unknown reason, only because it had heard R instead of Y¡­

    Zhang Zian was driving very carefully, especially after he reached the beach. He had lowered his speed in order to prevent battering around the expensive instrument in his car.

    Theponent that picked up sound that Professor Wei Kang had lent him was not an ordinary quality good; rather, it was a legitimate, high-quality instrument for actual scientific research that was used by the Binhai University Underwater Acoustics Engineering Faculty.

    The instrument to pick up sound underwater was not only able to record underwater sounds. If it were that simple, then he could buy it from Taobao which had everything. Instead, it also had aplete set of functions that included a signal processing system. It could change the underwater sound signals to light signals, and through optical fiber conduction, enter the system. After modtion and strengthening, it coulde up with a sound chart, changing sounds that could originally not be heard by the human ear to something that they could hear and that researchers could analyze. The whole system was very expensive, but even if the ordinary person wanted to buy it, they could not.

    Like yesterday, Zhang Zian pumped air into the assault boat. He checked to see if there was any air leakage¨C¨Cone could not afford to be careless on the sea. Any mistake could cause eternal regret.

    After checking that there were no problems, he carefully carried the equipment into the boat, then pushed the boat into the sea.

    With the heavy equipment pressing down on the boat, the waterline of the assault boat was even deeper than the day before. The steadiness of the boat was also higher. He was d that he did not buy an assault boat that was too small, otherwise it would be too cramped.

    He used his naked eye to gauge the distance, and stopped the boat closer to the shoreline than he did the day before. He picked up the grey, rod-shaped sound device. He did not instantly throw it into the water. Instead, he wet the surface and ensured that there were no bubbles stuck on the surface, which would cause the distortion of the sound waves. He slowly released the optical fiber line.

    There were scale markings on the optical fiber line, but Zhang Zian did not know how deep the sea was below him. He temporarily released 50 meters, estimating that it could reach the bottom of the sea. If it was too shallow, all it would detect was the noise from the water¡¯s surface.

    After he finished preparing the device, he hastily put on the headphones that came with the equipment.

    As expected of high-quality, professional earphones, the thick foamyer pressed tightly against the ear contour, and after a slight adjustment, they practically kept out every sound from the outside world.

    He switched it on, and the small monitor showed the real time waveform.

    The underwater sounds strengthened. The instant they sounded through the headphones and into his ear, he was so frightened that his hair stood on end. As if he was suddenly surrounded by cold currents, he tightly shrunk into himself and shivered excitedly!

    It was very hard to describe the sound he heard; it was just like standing in front of an iparably thick, stone door that was also very wide, and as the stone door opened there were numerous angelic choirs singing a magnificent hymn.

    His two legs shook. If it was not for the fact that he was sitting in the unsteady boat, he might have knelt down on the spot.

    The professional sound device and the monitoring headphones sent all the sounds from underwater in a circle spanning several kilometers, then they traveled finely into his eardrums. There were sounds from animals and sounds from the currents; there was the sound of the propeller and the motor; and the sound of harsh winds and thunder and lightning from a distance. The soundsing from the high energy storms could travel thousands of kilometers in the sea and be detected and picked up by the device¡­ Besides that, there could be the sounds of hidden submarines, it just depended on how well the human¡¯s brain could handle it. All the sounds were mixed together¨C¨Cit was like morning bells and evening drums repeatedly sounding in his brain.

    The developed hymn would asionally have some strange noises, as sharp as a loud howl, or as low as someone weeping andining. No one knew who made the strange sounds, it could just be that two currents of different warmths and densities met each other, or it could be crustal movements at the bottom of the sea; however, they were all mere guesses. No one could confirm what exactly what happening.

    On the other hand, it was the sounds of the animals that were not worth mentioning. Often, one could only differentiate the animal sounds when they were very close to the animal. Most of the underwater animals did not make much noise. In terms of the sounds by animals, the sounds of whales and dolphins were the ones that dominated.

    Zhang Zian adjusted the lever on the instrument towards the low-frequency direction to strengthen the sensitivity of the device towards low-frequency sounds. He did so in order to remove the high-frequency sounds from the dolphins, toothed whales, and storms, and instead focus on sounds of a lower frequency.

    Following his movements, the sounds in the headphones changed. In general, everything quieted down and changed from a magnificent hymn to long, drawn out breathing sounds.

    Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump¡­

    A series of anxious knocking sounds kept ringing two or three times every second; it sounded like the sonic boom from an inferior horn. The sound was asionally loud and asionally soft, which showed that there was one¨C¨Cor a few¨C¨Cminke whales that were traveling back and forth in the nearby waters.

 Chapter 917: Success

    <h4>Chapter 917: Sess</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian sat on the rocking boat with his headphones in his ears and his eyes closed. As the connection between his five senses and the outside world weakened, he listened to the sounds filtering through the underwater pickup device from the bottom of the ocean. His whole person seemed to sink slowly into the sea, enveloped by the bottomless darkness. Like returning back into his mother¡¯s womb, he was suspended in the middle of nothingness.

    The darkness induced one to focus more, and the beauty of the underwater hymns made one lose any sense of time. However, as a strange sound rang around him, Zian couldn¡¯t help but open his eyes, drenched in cold sweat as he was brought back to reality. He was thankful that he wasn¡¯t physically present at the bottom of the dark sea so he didn¡¯t have to worry about what kind of monster it was that produced the sound from earlier.

    If experienced, underwater acoustic engineering teachers and graduate students were there, through the application of the triangtion method by making use of two or more underwater pickup devices, they would be able to judge the swimming speed and direction of the target. It was also said that experienced submarine sonar technician officers could even identify the true body of hundreds of noise targets in a short time frame.

    Zhang Zian did not have such outstanding abilities, but he could tell that the sound was the voice of the minke whale because the voice of the minke whale was very special, and he was aware that there was a minke whale nearby. If it was reced by a whale that was rtively rare, then Zian would not be able to tell.

    He listened for a while and heard the sound of other cetaceans, but they were too far away for him to distinguish what they were.

    He took off his headphones and hung them around his neck, then he sunk the underwater speaker into the water¨C¨Cbut not as deep as the underwater pickup device because its line was not long enough.

    He started the speaker, which began to y Sihwa¡¯s song.

    He did it several times, and each time, he would y the song for a few minutes, pause, put on his headphones, and listen to the sound of the sea. If he didn¡¯t pause the song, because the speaker was too close to the pickup device, Sihwa¡¯s song would drown out all the other sounds. He would not be able to hear anything else.

    The day before, he had used Sihwa¡¯s song to appease the male minke whale, but unexpectedly, the song had also attracted the giant whale. Now, he intended to replicate what happened the day before to see if he could attract the giant whale again.

    Unlike the day before, Zian was now mentally prepared, so he would not let the giant whale pull off another surprise attack.

    The giant whale had emerged without any warning, and that had almost led Zian to think that it was a submarine from another country. Because it had traveled deep under the water¡¯s surface in a single breath, there were no signs that could¡¯ve been observed from the surface of the water.

    The giant whale was not very easy to get along with. If it came within a dangerous distance with Zian, there were no longer any minke whales there to save him. It was a small matter to have his boat overturned, but if the valuable instruments were to fall into the water, he would have to send everything¨C¨Ceven his underwear¨C¨Cto the pawnshop.

    However, he now had a secret weapon: the underwater pickup device. As long as the whale came within a certain range, Zian could locate it in advance and take some countermeasures¡ªnamely escaping.

    To draw an analogy, it was like a game of cat and mouse between a Destroyer and an SSBN, but this Destroyer was rather cowardly.

    That kind of thing was a real test of patience. It was like war movies where the submarine sonar technicians were on duty. Often, they were made to sit there for half a day and listen to the various sounds with their headphones, trying their best to find their enemy before the enemy¡¯s sonar crew found them. What level of concentration did they need? If they got distracted for even a brief moment, the entire submarine could have already been sunk by the enemy submarine.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have such patience and focus, but thankfully, he didn¡¯t need to listen for too long.

    After about the third pause, he picked up a strange sound on the headphones; it was a intermingled between the short bursts of the minke whale¡¯s sound. If it wasn¡¯t because he had been paying close attention, he might¡¯ve easily missed it.

    There seemed to be more than one minke whale in the vicinity; the sounds were chaotic and noisy. They sounded just like people bargaining in the market. Zian didn¡¯t know what they were saying; however, when the strange sound appeared, the sounds from the minke whales stopped, like they heard the ring of a bell that signaled the start of a ss. Then, the sounds from the minke whales burst out at a higher concentration, as if they were warning each other about something.

    They had no other option. Although whales had a certain degree of wisdom, they were still stuck in the era wheremunication was based on roars and growls.

    Zhang Zian braced himself and listened in more carefully, nervously wiping his sweaty palms on his trousers. He took a deep breath and nced over at the motor handle.

    He couldn¡¯t determine if the sound was from the giant whale or something else, so he could only wait.

    About half a minuteter, the sound rang again, now closer and clearer than thest time.

    The target was swimming with a tremendous amount of speed, apanied by a rumbling reverberation. It was like a train-like, huge object was approaching his boat quickly.

    Zhang Zian could almost imagine a giant whale with its mouth wide open, taking in all the small fish and shrimp along the way into its mouth without any differentiation. It would swallow them then discharge seawater through its baleen.

    The sounds from the minke whales were weakening and their numbers were decreasing. It was as if they were moving away from the mysterious behemoth¨C¨Cnot necessarily because they were afraid of it, but because it had eaten all the food nearby, so all the other whales in the vicinity could only starve.

    The sound was getting closer and closer, like a periodically changing whistle. When it was loud, his eardrums rang, but when it was soft, the sound was really hard to catch.

    Zhang Zian frowned as he listened. What kind of thing produced such sounds? Was it the giant whale?

    Zian nced over at the meter¡¯s LCD screen. The instrument was automatically recording and drawing the waveform of the sounds, but he didn¡¯t have the time to carefully examine it; the target was approaching fast. He wasn¡¯t sure if he had recorded a sound sample that was long enough, but he had to leave immediately. Otherwise, it would be a repeat of what had happened the day before.

    He took off his headphones and quickly rolled up the fiber optic cable to pull the underwater pickup device out from the water. It was going to take some time to pull the 50-meter-long fiber optic cable from the water, so Zian stared at the sea¡¯s calm surface with a nervous look. He was worried that something as huge as a submarine would suddenly emerge from the depths.

    With the sound of sshing water, he finally pulled the underwater pickup device out of the water; there was some dark green algae tangled in with it, too.

    Zian then ced the pickup device down and started the motor as quickly as he could. He adjusted the bow to face the direction of thend and turned the power to the highest level, having the propeller rotate at a very high speed.

    The assault boat sped off towards the shore.

    Zian was still notpletely relieved; he kept looking back while he operated the boat.

    Ssh!

    Not even a minute after he left, a huge water pir burst out from his earlier position, rising up to its highest point before falling back down into the water like a rainstorm.

    The surface of the sea was split into two as a huge figure rose out of the water.

    Zhang Zian estimated that he had already arrived in safe waters, so he slowed the boat down and picked up the telescope to observe.

    The giant whale whipped its tail around and swam for a little while on the water¡¯s surface without a care. It seemed like it had not found what it was interested in, so after inhaling a few breaths of air, it made a vigorous plunge into the water and disappeared again.

    Zhang Zian finally heaved a sigh of relief. He had managed to escape from the whale dry, and he was able to confirm that the source of the sound was the giant whale and not something else. It hadn¡¯t been a wasted trip.

 Chapter 918: Occamâ€™s Razor

    <h4>Chapter 918: am¡¯s Razor</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After releasing the air from the assault boat, Zhang Zian folded it and loaded it into his trunk. He then drove his car back to the pet shop, satisfied. He was not in a hurry to return the underwater sound device to Professor Wei Kang because he did not know if he had managed to fully record every sound. Although he did not understand thenguage of the whales, but he knew thatnguage was aplicated thing; it was impossible to learn anguage from just listening to a few fragmented words.

    If Sihwa expressed that the length of the sound recorded was not enough, then he would have to repeat what he did that day again until she was satisfied.

    ¡°Master, you¡¯re back. Godzi¡­ No, did you manage to record the sounds you wanted to record?¡± Wang Qian asked, running over to carry the battery.

    ¡°En, I¡¯ve probably managed to record it. After I¡¯ve finishedpiling it I¡¯ll make a copy, and you can go and pass it to Li Kun. Tell him to y it as background music in the aquarium,¡± Zhang Zian instructed, carrying the whole equipment set for the underwater sound device. He walked towards the second floor.

    Wang Qian agreed, then returned to the shop to charge the battery.

    Pi had just finished writing a chapter, and at that time, was stretching his limbs and strolling back and forth in the living room to exercise its body.

    ¡°Pi, let me use theputer. I¡¯ll be done in a short while.¡±

    ¡°Zhi zhi.¡±

    Zhang Zian took out the memory card from the equipment and downloaded the matching sound analysis software, then imported the original audio file from the memory card.

    The sound was converted into a waveform and disyed on the monitor, but it was veryplicated. There was no continuity, just like a thousand K-line charts of stock being disyed at the same time, causing people to see things in a blur.

    He studied for a while about how to use the software, then adjusted the strainer, removing all the high frequency sounds. After that, the disy instantly became a lot less messy, but there was still more than 100 curves left over.

    After that, he then dragged the time axis and found the ending of the audio file.

    He had roughly remembered when the giant whale¡¯s sound appeared, and throughparing the time it appeared and when it ended, he went through a process of elimination and eliminated more than 90 percent of the random noises. He was then left with very few curves.

    As he had not much experience, the rest of the curves could not be eliminated simply through using the sound figure, so he decided to use a dumb method: He selected the curves, then yed the sounds.

    Thump¡­

    Click¡­

    Ka¡­

    Ding¡­

    Si¡­

    Different kinds of sounds sessively rang from theputer¡¯s weak speakers. Some sounds were beyond the human¡¯s ears¡¯ capabilities, and could only be heard after he used the software to strengthen the sound.

    Talking about it was strange. He had been very focused when he was out at sea, but when he heard the sounds from theputer, he found that they were very foreign, as if he had never heard them before.

    ¡°Zhi zhi.¡± Pi scratched its ears and head, as if its whole body was itchy. Obviously, listening to the overly strange sounds made it ufortable, and in the end, it simply covered its ears and jumped into the rattan chair. It covered its head with a pillow.

    Wu¡ª The familiar sound rang out.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heartbeat suddenly sped up.

    He could not be wrong! The sound he had heard on the boat was the sound he was hearing now! Like the ringing of a train whistle, the sound periodically increased in loudness and then weakened. asionally, there were some sounds like that of the banging that urred when the wheels of the train met the railway track.

    He had found it through much difficulty. He held down the left mouse, not daring to loosen his hold. He was scared that when he loosened his hold, the curve would be buried under the other curves. He dragged it to create another window of its own.

    In the new window, the curve shape was like the mountain peaks that would periodically rise and fall. One side was steep, while the other side was gentle. The mountain had several peaks, which was where the whistle was the sharpest, and the peaks mostly corresponded to the banging sounds.

    For the axes of the curve, the x-axis represented time, and the y-axis represented the sound frequency.

    He moved his gaze to look at the y-axis.

    ¡°En?¡± He froze.

    Only very few types of whales could grow to such a huge size. Eliminating the whales whose head had a horn, and then eliminating the kind of toothed whales like sperm whales, there were few options left.

    Zhang Zian had originally thought that that giant whale was a blue whale or a fin whale; however, the numbers on the y-axis showed that he had been totally wrong in his guessing.

    The frequency range of the blue whale¡¯s sounds was between 15 Hertz and 40 Hertz, but it was mostly concentrated in the 15 Hertz to 20 Hertz range. In recent years, due to noise pollution by humans, evidence showed that the blue whale¡¯s sound range had slowly decreased in frequency. It grew closer and closer to 15 Hertz to prevent shes with the noises made by humans.

    The fin whale¡¯s sound range was even narrower, between 15 to 15 Hertz, and it mostly concentrated at around 20 Hertz.

    The range of sounds that humans could hear was between 20 to 20,000 Hertz. Without the help of any machinery, humans could practically not hear sounds made by the blue whales and the fin whales.

    However, what the monitor showed was that the corresponding y-axis range for the whale¡¯s sound was between 45 to 50 Hertz. That sound range was something the human ear could hear directly.

    That was strange¡­ Could it be that he got it wrong¨C¨Cthat the curve was not the soundwave of the giant whale?

    Some whales had a veryrge sound range and could cover the interval he captured, but those whales did not grow to such arge size.

    Zhang Zian continued to think about it. The most logical exnation was that when he was recording for the giant whale, there was another species of whale hidden nearby. He had thought that it was from the giant whale, but it was actually from another whale.

    Could there be such a coincidence?

    If it was really like that, then where did the soundwave of the giant whale go?

    He switched over to the previous window and yed the sounds of the remaining curves. What made his head hurt, however, was that he was unable to confirm whether the sounds came from whales.

    If only there was an experienced submarine sonar staff with him¡­ then they would definitely be able to tell him what made the sounds.

    He was a bit troubled. Originally, he had thought that his job was finished, but it looked like he would need to go record the sound again the next day. Hopefully he would not get it wrong the next time¡­

    Wait, wait¡­ Was it really wrong?

    He tried to not let any possibility slip.

    What if it was not wrong? What if what he recorded the next day was still the same abnormal soundwave? There couldn¡¯t always be a mysterious and hidden whale following that big whale at all times, right?

    There was an ultimate elimination method called ¡°am¡¯s Razor.¡± Thew used simple words to express the idea that, ¡°If not necessary, the substantiality will not be added.¡±

    The simpler the avenue, the better it was.

    To be more specific, when two hypotheses had the exact same exnation and predictive power, people could use the simpler hypothesis to be the basis of discussion.

    Zhang Zian became vignt. He realized that he was making a mistake by adding something out of nowhere to exin something out of the ordinary.

    A mysterious whale did not reveal itself behind the giant whale. Was there really a need to add it in?

    Actually, there was another exnation that existed that could exin the same thing. The giant whale¡¯s sound was just as it sounded, and there was no existence of a mysterious whale.

    Between the two exnations, which was simpler? Obviously the second one.

    The sharp am¡¯s Razor shed with cold light and cut the former exnation into pieces.

 Chapter 919: Destined to Be Alone

    <h4>Chapter 919: Destined to Be Alone</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian realized with a shock that his thoughts were on the wrong track. Whenever he encountered a difficult problem, he would forcibly add an exnation just to make it logical. It was just like how the ancients would push the identity of the culprit onto supernatural forces whenever they encountered something that was unexinable. They would add an unknown entity just to exin the unexinable.

    It was fine for the ancients to do that¨C¨Cafter all, scientific knowledge during those days was extremelycking¨C¨Cbut the people of the modern age should not advocate for such a practice. The television program ¡°Approaching Science,¡± which is often ridiculed byizens, at least had methods and a certain attitude when facing spooky events that was somewhat desirable¡­ Although their final conclusion always left one with the urge to puke out blood.

    Was there any difference in specting that there was another mysterious whale following behind the giant whale¨C¨Cor in specting that a spirit that no one could see was following behind somebody? Not only did that not exin the problem, but it alsoplicated the problem.

    The simplest exnation was that it was what the whale had originally sounded like, and there was no other mysterious whale.

    Zian went back and examined his thoughts. The reason why his thoughts were caught on the wrong track was because he hadmitted a mistake of empiricism and dogmatism. It was stated in books and on the inte that the blue whale¡¯s sound wave band was 15 to 40 Hz, but was there no exception? Some people¡¯s voices were higher than others; some people¡¯s hearing had a wider range than others; and some people¡¯s vision was better than others. It was very normal in human society!

    Wasn¡¯t the intellectual gap between ordinary people and Einstein not greater than the difference in the whales?

    Information found in books was based on the collected sample data that humans had gathered, but the ocean was inherently mysterious. To have a whale that was outside of the sample standard was normal. It was also better to not have a book if all you believed were facts found in books.

    Zian breathed a sigh of relief. It felt like he had just solved a difficult math problem; he was both tired and speechless.

    However, his stretched posture immediately froze because he thought of another, more serious problem. If the sound waves of the whale were out of the ordinary, how did the other whalesmunicate with it?

    Whales were just like humans; they were animals that socialized with each other. Although not all whales were social animals, all whales had tomunicate with other whales. Through their unique songs of courtship, warnings, assistance, and the broad range of low-frequency sound waves ensured that they could hear each other¡­ Otherwise, how would they find one of their own in the vast ocean?

    Some extremely rare cetaceans had only a few hundred of their own left in the world, and if they couldn¡¯t find each other through their songs in the ocean, they would¡¯ve already gone extinct.

    No wonder¡­ Some things made sense now.

    The reason why the whale was always so moody and always alone was probably because it may not have been able tomunicate with other whales since its birth. It had no way to learn the social rules of the whale society, no way to respond to the call of the opposite sex, and even its mother might not have been able tomunicate with it normally¡­ It was a miracle that it could have even survived until then.

    Most importantly, it had to be single!

    Being of the same kind, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help but feel a deep sympathy for it¡­ At the same time, he also had a sense of superiority because he was only temporarily single, but it was probably destined to be alone for life.

    Zhang Zian was still immersed in his own emotions when he felt his shirt being tugged at from behind. Zian had spent a lot of time on theputer, fiddling with the sound analysis software. He thought that it was Pi who wanted to continue writing, but when he turned his head to look, Pi was curled up in the basket hammock chair with its ears still blocked. It didn¡¯t even move. Pi seemed to have fallen asleep identally.

    Turning his head around to look again, it was Fina who was sat behind him. Fina had a nasty look on its face as it red at him.

    ¡°¡­It¡¯s not meal time yet, right?¡± Zhang Zian looked at his watch. He thought that the glutton was hungry again.

    ¡°What do you treat this queen as?¡± Fina said with anger.

    ¡°No, nothing¡­ so what¡¯s the matter?¡± Zian quickly changed the subject.

    Fina lifted a paw and pointed in the direction of the bathroom. ¡°What did you do to her earlier?¡±

    To her? To Sihwa? ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything¡­ I¡¯ve been here ever since I came back. Pi can testify for me.¡± Zhang Zian was confused. With the way that Fina was questioning him it seemed like he had done something sickening.

    Fina looked over at Pi who was sleeping soundly in the basket hammock chair. Obviously, Pi could not testify for Zian.

    Zhang Zian was speechless. He thought to himself that, out of all times, why did Pi have to sleep now?

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with her? Did she jump out of the bathtub?¡± Zian asked, the image of a dying, salted fish struggling in the desert popping into his mind.

    Probably because his expression didn¡¯t look like he was faking it, Fina¡¯s doubt cleared a little. ¡°She¡¯s crying,¡± it said.

    ¡°Crying? Are you sure?¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s first reaction was that she was most likely faking it. Normally all he would hear was Sihwa watching live broadcasts andughing foolishly.

    ¡°How dare you! Why would this queen lie to you?¡± Fina¡¯s face turned nastier at his doubt.

    ¡°No¨C¨Cwhat I meant was¡­ Could you have heard wrong?¡± Zian leaned over to listen, but he couldn¡¯t hear any crying. It was very quiet.

    ¡°Hmph! This queen would never mishear! But you¨C¨Cyou¡¯re dull like a deaf!¡± Fina squinted at him disdainfully. Even though Fina was of shorter stature, it had a way of making others feel like it was staring down at them¡­ Though, that might¡¯ve been because it was always sleeping on the highest cat tree.

    ¡°Cough! Zian¡­¡±

    In the midst of their conversation, with the sound of a light cough, Old Time Tea appeared at the entrance of the living room. Old Time Tea was slightly surprised when it saw that Fina was also present. ¡°Is her Majesty also here because of Sihwa¡¯s crying?¡±

    Sometimes, Fina wasn¡¯t able to keep its calm, but the calm and steady Old Time Tea would hardly make any mistakes. No one could¡¯ve predicted the consequences for the incident with Love Lovely Pets.

    Fina nodded slightly.

    ¡°So, it seems like this old one is a stepte. Since the queen is personally here, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be needed anymore.¡± As always, Old Time Tea¡¯s ttery was on point. It easily made Fina happy.

    Even though it made Fina happy, it still red at Zhang Zian, meaning to say, ¡°Can¡¯t a lowly servant like you learn something?¡±

    Zhang Zian stood up from the chair. He felt the seriousness of the matter. Even Old Time Tea was rmed¡­ In addition, he was panicking a little inside. Was he really deaf?

    Of course he wasn¡¯t deaf. Theptop was still ying the recordings of the giant whale; there were numerous car horns outside the window; and the voices of the customers downstairs bargaining were all in his ears.

    So why did both Fina and Old Time Tea mention that Sihwa was crying, but he couldn¡¯t hear anything? There was only one truth: Sihwa was crying at a frequency that exceeded a human¡¯s hearing range.

    Just as he had understood what was going on, he heard a soft p from the side of his body; it was like the sound of chopsticks being split into half.

    The two cats and one man all turned around to look. A hairline crack suddenly appeared on the ss window.

 Chapter 920: Abnormality

    <h4>Chapter 920: Abnormality</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian saw the cracks on the ss and could not respond for a moment. In his head, he thought, Why did this ss, that was originally okay, suddenly start to crack? Could it be that just now, unknowingly, his tiger body shook and his overbearing atmosphere leaked out?

    Pa¡­ Pa¡­

    The cracks started to spread at a speed that could be seen with the naked eye¨C¨Cin front of the eyes of the two cats and the one human. Originally, it only existed in a corner, but it started to act like a small dragon. It spread and extended, and the piece of ss very quickly became full of the glittering and translucent cracks. The strange part, however, was that the ss did not break¨C¨Cat least not for now.

    ¡°Ah? What¡¯s going on? What¡¯s with the cats in your shop?¡± the customers below asked, their voices high.

    ¡°This¡­ We are not sure, either¡­¡± Wang Qian and Lu Yiyun answered, dazed.

    Zhang Zian tookrge steps, quickly rushing down the stairs. What he saw was that the shop¡¯s cats and dogs were in a constant state of anxiety, as if a great cmity was at hand. Some kittens were so scared that they were curled up in a corner shivering, and there were also kittens leaning against the automatic ss doors, as if they wanted to run outside the shop. Puppies in the disy cabs were desperately pawing at the ss, and there were many different barks rising one after another.

    The customers, upon seeing the situation, were all shocked and stunned like wooden chickens.

    It was unknown who said it, but someone said, ¡°F*ck! There¡¯s not going to be an earthquake, right?¡±

    Animals were more sensitive than humans, especially some animals that could hear the high-frequency sound waves from the faults in seismic zones deep in the earth¡¯s crust. The speed of sound waves traveling in the earth¡¯s crust was extremely fast, so the animals would often have out of the ordinary behaviors right before an earthquake urred¨C¨Cchickens would fly all over the ce, dogs would be barking, rats would be moving throughout the house, etc.

    In history, there had been more than one such urrence. When humans saw that the animals were all behaving weirdly, they were made aware that it could be that an earthquake wasing. It allowed them to quickly escape to a safe area, and it hence prevented a huge loss of lives.

    China was a country where earthquakes happened quite often, and a lot of people present, whether female or male, old or young, had heard of simr rumors before. Upon hearing those words, everyone in the shop acted like they had instantly woken up from a dream. Their expressions changed greatly, and they no longer cared about buying pets or anything else. They threw down everything in their hands and ran out of the shop like they were crazy; they were very scared that if they were too slow, they would be buried under rubble when the house copsed.

    In a short while, the whole shop was practically empty.

    Wang Qian and Lu Yiyun were not sure what to do with their hands and legs; they were standing dumbly in their original spots, not sure as to whether they should follow the customers and run outside.

    The customers had all run onto the open air streets, but they still did not dare to rx. They all used their phones to call people, wanting to tell their family and friends to quickly evacuate their houses. There were still a few old customers that were gesturing wildly to Wang Qian, Lu Yiyun, and Zhang Zian, telling them toe out quickly.

    Zhang Zian thought, F*ck, something big is going to happen!

    He quickly ran out of the shop. ¡°Don¡¯t panic everyone! Everyone calm down a bit! Don¡¯t panic! And don¡¯t spread rumors. If the rumors are transmitted 500 times, you might go to jail!¡± he shouted loudly.

    Sadly, not many people listened to him, and the phone calls they needed to make, they still made.

    ¡°Store manager! Quickly get your staff toe out! It¡¯s already at this juncture. Don¡¯t value your money over lives!¡±

    ¡°What rumors? I only trust my own eyes!¡±

    ¡°Exactly! Isn¡¯t it said that when animals act strangely, they¡¯re signaling that an earthquake is going to happen? See for yourself how the animals in your shop are acting! I can¡¯t talk anymore. I need to continue calling people¡­ Aish, my dad refuses to pick up; he¡¯s probably ying cards again. This is really worrying me!¡±

    ¡°No no! It¡¯s that the cats and the dogs in the shop have eaten something bad and gotten sick¡­¡± Zhang Zian was just doing his best to convince people when he saw Li Kun run out of the aquarium like he was flying.

    ¡°Mas¡­ Master! The fish in the shop¡­ The fish in the shop keep trying to jump outside! Quicklye and take a look! Is it an electric leakage or something else?¡± Li Kun incoherently said, his face panicked.

    Zhang Zian did not bother saying any more and instantly rushed into the aquarium with big strides.

    In the dark, indoor aquarium, there were already many customers looking, shocked, at the sizzling array of fish tanks. They could see that all the different kinds of fish and prawns in the fish tank were jumping upwards like crazy, flopping and flopping like they were dumplings on a skillet. If it was not for the jump proofting stopping them, it was possible that all the fish would jump out of the tank and be dried fish.

    On seeing the situation, Li Kun thought one of theponents had an electric leakage. However, that did not make sense, because all the equipment in the fish tanks were functioning at safe voltages. Even if there was an electric leakage, it would not be that exaggerated!

    Even in coral tanks with no fish, there were ripples on the water¡¯s surface for no apparent reason. It was as if the sea water in the fish tanks was vibrating.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart tightened; he was very scared that the expensive fish tanks would be full of cracks like the ss window. The fish tank ss itself was thicker, however, and they were built to hold over hundred kilograms of seawater. They were much stronger than the ss of the window, and there was temporarily no danger of cracking¡­ At least for the time being.

    Since Jiang Feifei had started working at the aquarium, she had learned many things, but she had never even heard about such a weird situation before.

    Some customers heard the noise from outside, and said doubtfully, ¡°Why is it so noisy outside? Did a car knock someone down?¡±

    ¡°Go, go! Let¡¯s go and see what¡¯s going on outside.¡±

    Jiang Feifei, upon seeing Zhang Zian, opened her mouth and wanted to ask a question, but she was cut off by a wave of his hand. He had no time now to answer 10,000 ¡°Why¡¯s?¡±

    ¡°Aiyo! This¡­ these bats, what¡¯s going on with them? Why did they run out in the day time?¡±

    ¡°F*ck! Now there¡¯s no mistake¡­ It¡¯s an earthquake. An earthquake is definitelying!¡±

    There was an even louder sound outside.

    Zhang Zian rushed out of the aquarium and returned back to the street. He followed people¡¯s gazes and raised his head to look towards where everyone else was looking.

    Suddenly, a group of bats fluttered in indiscriminate directions and randomly flew and hit objects like headless flies, knocking themselves unconscious on streetmp poles and billboards. They fell to the ground one by one, unconscious.

    Zhang Zian suddenly thought about it: bats inhibited the green space behind the store. Thanks to them, there were a lot of trees and grass in the green space. Recently, cats had been giving out feces and urinating a lot, but there were few mosquitoes and flies, and thus he was very fond of bats.

    However, what made people confused was that bats were nocturnal animals that came out at night. Why did they fly out in the daytime? It was as if they had lost their ability to recognize direction¡­

    Bats used ultrasounds to find their way and avoid obstacles. Their hearing range was as high as 200,000 Hertz, ten times higher than that of a human. So, had they been disturbed by ultrasounds?

    The customers gathered on the street. Upon seeing the situation, no one had any more doubts at all. If it was only the cats and dogs that were disying abnormal behavior then it was all right, but even the bats had abnormal behavior. If it was not an earthquake, then what other reasonable exnation was there?

    Zhang Zian was scared that the situation would be blown out of proportions. He raised his volume and shouted, ¡°Everyone, calm down! Things are not like what you are imagining! You must all know that animals could be acting strangely for a multitude of reasons. This might not be an earthquake!¡±

    ¡°What reasons are you talking about?¡± someone asked loudly.

    Everyone else did not trust what he said. Instead, they doubted his words.

    Fortunately, he was not the relevant department. Otherwise, the more he tried to dispel the rumors, the more people would believe that it was true¡­

    Zhang Zian knew that he needed to immediately stop the strange phenomenon. Otherwise, there would be hell to pay!

 Chapter 921: The Spring Thunderstorm

    <h4>Chapter 921: The Spring Thunderstorm</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As the abnormal phenomenon befell the sky, people started to worry and panic.

    It wasmon knowledge that animals behaved abnormally when earthquakes wereing, and it gave the customers the feeling of impending doom. The panic soon attracted the attention of surrounding merchants and pedestrians; it looked like it was about to spread.

    Nothing could be done just by talking to them, so Zhang Zian no longer tried to exin. He turned around and ran back into the pet shop.

    ¡°Master, is there really going to be an earthquake?¡± Wang Qian asked, cold sweat all over his forehead. In his hand was his phone; apparently, he had also wanted to call his family to warn them that an earthquake wasing.

    ¡°What earthquake?¡± Zhang Zian waved his hands. ¡°Go outside and exin to the customers. Just make up any reason and remember to make the most out of your moronic brains!¡±

    Wang Qian was confused and speechless.

    Lu Yiyun was also in a state of panic, but she had no rtives in the local area. Even if she had wanted to call someone, she wouldn¡¯t know who to call. At most, she could warn Snowy.

    Famous had just woken up from its nap. It shook its head to rid off the lingering drowsiness, and it didn¡¯t seem to hear any unusual sounds.

    The same was true of Richard. It stood on the top of the shelf andughed at the customers who were overreacting. They had such unfounded suspicions and were extremely paranoid.

    Snowy Li curled up into a ball and covered its ears with its long, dense hair.

    Gxy, on the other hand, wasn¡¯t much affected. With its head tilted up slightly, it started at the ceiling.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have time to say much. With a few big steps, he went up to the second floor but was immediately stunned. The calm and rxed Old Time Tea was in a spasm. Is bamboo hat was thrown aside, and it covered its ears with its paws. It seemed to be suffering in extreme pain.

    Fina¡¯s state was simr, too. It had lost all of its usual gracefulness as itid on the ground and pulled its long ears down with its paws as it rolled back and forth.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea! Fina! You guys¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian bent down and tried to lift them up when he heard chatter from the basket hammock chair. Pi, who had been asleep before, was awoken by the noise. It sat up awkwardly, staring at them with its big, round eyes. It waspletely oblivious to the current situation.

    ¡°Zhi Zhi!¡± Pi wanted to jump off the basket hammock chair to help Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian locked eyes with Pi, then immediately raised his hand to stop Pi¡¯s movements. ¡°Pi, don¡¯t move!¡±

    ¡°Zhi Zhi?¡± Pi stopped moving, not knowing why.

    Suddenly, Pi felt warmthing from its nose, so it raised its hand to rub it. A touch of red appeared on its pinkish palm.

    ¡°Zhi Zhi?¡± Pi stared at the red on its palm, confused. It had never had a nosebleed before.

    Zhang Zian was creeped out. He was unable to hear the ultrasonic waves in the air, but that didn¡¯t mean that they wouldn¡¯t cause harm to his body.

    The full set of the underwater pickup device was ced on the table, and although it was designed for underwater use, it could also be used in the air.

    Zian flipped the switch, and the numbers on the small LCD screen that came with the instrument shed, eventually shing an error message in the end.

    Holy sh*t! He quickly turned the switch off to prevent the instrument from overheating. If it went on like that, it wouldn¡¯t take long before the pet shop became a microwave oven.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have time to help Old Time Tea and Fina. He rushed into the bathroom and shouted with all his strength, ¡°Stop crying!¡±

    In fact, he didn¡¯t even see the situation in the bathroom at all; however, he knew Sihwa was in the bathroom, and he knew that it was Sihwa that was crying. Crying was fine, but she was actually crying with ultrasound waves!

    Zian had long known that Sihwa had a broad range¨C¨Cthe kind of transcendence that transcended human knowledge. But previously, she had only disyed her ability in the ranges of the low-frequency sound waves, such asmunicating with whales thousands of miles away. He had ignored any other possibility, such as her potential with high-frequency ultrasound waves.

    As it turned out, he was wrong. The panic in the store today was the result of his own mistake. However, his shouting did not go as he had expected. Sihwa continued to cry and wipe her tears as if she didn¡¯t hear him.

    ¡°Stop crying!¡± Zian shouted again. But still to no avail.

    Zhang Zian thought that she had deliberately ignored him, but after a closer look, he realized that wasn¡¯t the case. After hearing a sudden roar, one would definitely have a reaction to it, such as flinching. Sihwa had no reaction whatsoever.

    He immediately understood. Sihwa¡¯s hearing range also had a broad range; all she could hear was her own crying. Her crying had drowned out all the other sounds, including Zian¡¯s shouting and the conversation he had with Old Time Tea and Fina outside.

    Having understood that, he was about to rush up and hold her arm to stop her from crying, but right that moment, a dazzling white light shed from the small window of the bathroom. It was so bright that he couldn¡¯t open his eyes. Next, came an earth-shattering roll of thunder!

    Bang! That year¡¯s first thunder of the spring finally sounded.

    It has been cloudy since the morning before. The weather forecast mentioned that there would be rain, and the old people on the streets had also said that there would be rain, but it hadn¡¯t rained until then.

    Apanied by the sudden explosion of thunder, dark clouds invaded the sky from the north at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    A cold wind started to blow. The first spring rain of the year was about to fall.

    Sihwa, who was wiping her tears, got a shock from the lightning and thunder. When she looked up, she noticed Zhang Zian standing by the door of the bathroom. She had no idea when he came in. She stared at him in a blur, her eyes red and swollen from crying.

    Anyway, she had finally stopped crying, right?

    Zhang Zian pointed with his finger and warned her again, ¡°No more crying!¡±

    Next, Zian stuck his head out to look into the hallway. Both Fina and Old Time Tea seemed to have been released from their pain and were struggling to stand up. They still didn¡¯t look too good.

    The effect was immediate. When the crying stopped, their pain was immediately gone, too.

    Zian then ran to the window and looked outside through the cracked ss. The customers who had flocked to the streets were shocked by the thunder and lightning. They looked up at the sky and knew that it was going to rain soon.

    Wang Qian, who was sent to appease the customers, tried his best to think of a solution, but he just couldn¡¯t make one up. At that moment, he had a good idea and shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t use your mobile phone when there is lightning! You might get struck!¡±

    The customers started anothermotion.

    Wang Qian wasn¡¯t spouting nonsense. Many people knew that it was best to not use their phones in the open air when there was lightning in the sky because they could attract it down.

    It was still unclear whether or not there would be an earthquake, but if they were to insist on making calls in the open air, it could just be minutes before they were fried into a KFC luxury lunch.

    Wang Qian noticed that it was working, so he immediately continued to shout, ¡°It¡¯s raining! Keep your clothes! Let¡¯s not stand outside and get drenched. Hurry into the house to take shelter from the rain! Whoever continues to stand outside is a stupid fool! ¡±

    Although what he said was true, the customers were not so easily fooled. Being treated as a stupid fool was much better than dying under the rubble of a copsed house.

    However, the abnormal behaviors of the animals seemed to have disappeared, too.

 Chapter 922: Burning Tail

    <h4>Chapter 922: Burning Tail</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Aish! Am I seeing the wrong thing? All of you look at it! The cats and dogs in the shop seem to have returned to normal!¡±

    Some people¡¯s eyes were sharp. They pointed towards the inside of the faraway shop, but they still did not dare to take the risk to rush in to see.

    ¡°Really? I¡¯ll go take a look¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m telling you to be more careful¡­¡±

    There were people with big c*cks¡­ No, it was brave young people carefully running towards the doorway of the shop and stretching out their necks to look inside. The pets had returned to normal. The kittens were close to each other, rolling around and ying. The puppies stood in their disy cabs; they were in great spirits as they looked at the pedestrians in anticipation, waiting for those with affinity to take them away.

    ¡°Eh? Oh, it¡¯s true! The pets are really back to normal!¡± the people who were inspecting the shop said in surprise.

    Someone stubbornly retorted, ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean anything. On the contrary, it might mean that the earthquake ising soon!¡±

    In fact, usingmon sense, what that person said could be true.

    The reason why animals were able to give a certain amount of warning before an earthquake happened was because animals were generally considered to have a more sensitive sense of ultrasound and infrasound. Before the seismic waves reached the ground, they would hear the rupture and discement of seismic zones deep in the earth¡¯s crust in advance. When the seismic zones werepletely split open and the sound ended, the abnormal behavior of animals would end. That did not mean, however, that the danger was over. On the contrary, it might mean that the seismic waves would soon reach the ground level.

    However, the current situation had nothing to do with the conventional logic.

    Most people were hesitating, unable to decide what they should do. For the sake of caution, they stayed where they were, but hung up and put down their cell phones one by one. Several others simply shut down their phones, and quietly distanced themselves from those who were still insisting on making calls, so as to not be struck by lightning or to get in trouble because of what they were doing¡­

    ¡°Look at the bats on the floor there! They seem to have woken up!¡± someone said, pointing towards the bats.

    The bats that had been randomly flying and hitting things were like a blind man who had regained his ability to see the light. They managed to recover their normal navigation abilities, nimbly pping their wings and avoiding obstacles. They became a dark and dense mess sweeping over the roof of the pet shop as they flew towards the green space at the back of the shop.

    The bats that had unluckily knocked themselves unconscious began to slowly wake up, but since bats were used to taking off from hanging upside down on branches or below the eaves of the house, trying to take off from the ground was not that easy. They used their joints to lean on the ground, staggering to find a suitable position and angle, and then tried to fly again, looking very pitiful.

    If it was a flock of cute birds, the onlookers would surelye forward to help them lovingly¡­ Even though most of the people knew that bats were good animals, their ugly appearance and sharp teeth made them unwilling to go up and help. Furthermore, it was said that the teeth of the bats were not clean, and they could spread rabies. They did not want to be bitten for no reason and have to go and be vinated.

    Wang Qian saw the situation and said, ¡°Do you see it now? Master said it was not an earthquake, but all of you refused to believe it. These animals have abnormal behavior because the pressure is low before it rains. The reason why rats move around the house, besides for when an earthquake is about to happen, it could also be that it is going to rain!¡±

    ¡°But cats and dogs are not rats. Would they act like that when the pressure is low?¡± someone questioned.

    The pitiful bit of ink in Wang Qian¡¯s stomach had all been taken out already, and for a moment, he could not answer.

    Just at that moment, Zhang Zian pushed open the second floor window and told the people below, ¡°It¡¯s not only the low pressure. The air is also very humid and very statically charged¡­ It could be that, not far from here, it is raining. The sounds of thunder traveled over¨C¨Cwe can¡¯t hear it, but animals can. The pets in my shop are all around three months old¡­ They have never heard thunder, so they are acting very panicky.¡±

    The exnation was definitely not perfect, but it was grudgingly epted by the people.

    More customers were swayed because, although Zhang Zian was a single dog and a miser, he had always been very knowledgeable about pets. He remained in his safe position on the second floor of the pet shop, but it seemed that he did not think of the abnormal behavior of the animals as something big. His daring to do that meant that he definitely had a considerable degree of assuredness.

    There was another dazzling sh of lightning.

    Boom¡­

    There was another earth shaking roll of thunder. The sound lingered and continued without stopping for three seconds.

    The thunder was even louder than the first one, practically exploding next to the people¡¯s ears. It caused people¡¯s eardrums to shake.

    ¡°Whether all of you are going in or not, I¡¯m just going to go in already.¡± Wang Qian had finished his job and dly ran back into the shop. He sat down and poured himself a cup of tea, then crossed his legs leisurely.

    Lu Yiyun had not left the pet shop. She was at ease, but she vaguely felt that Zhang Zian could be fooling people again¡­ It hadn¡¯t just been the three-month-old kittens. Even her Jasmine had been running around randomly in the shop like crazy, which had never happened before.

    Some people started to move.

    Several young girls that hade to the shop in a group had left the umbres they brought in the shop when they were escaping. If it rained, their carefully applied makeup would be ruined, and their light clothes would be transparent after getting wet. Comparing the two possibilities, they decisively chose to enter the shop to avoid the rain and protect their makeup.

    However, they were also not dumb. After they entered the shop and took their umbres, they upied the spot near the doorway. If anything happened, they could escape the store again in plenty of time.

    When one person did it, another person would follow. It followed the same principle that if the sky fell down, the taller people would take the brunt of it. More customers entered the shop, picking up what they had thrown away, and also stood near the doorway.

    Other people thought about it. When they had fled, they were all out of it, and the things they brought, like their bags and umbres, were all thrown in the shop. They could not really throw them away¨C¨Cthat would be quite a heartache. They had to at least pick them up then talk about it. Otherwise, was that not benefitting Zhang Zian for no reason?

    People returned to the shop one after another, and around half of the people immediately returned home as soon as they picked their things up. The other half decided to temporarily stay behind, but they were still were not entirely at ease. They looked to see the sky from time to time, then whispered to each other, probably to guess whether an earthquake would happen or not.

    Of course, there was no earthquake.

    Zhang Zian finally let out a breath of relief from the second floor. Things were really close to getting out of hand.

    Drip¡­

    Drip drip¡­

    Hua¡­

    Hua hua¡­

    A gust of strong wind blew up the dust that had been gathering for a long time on the ground, rolling up the stic bags and waste papers and causing them to fly to the sky.

    The rain started out of nowhere. At first it was a few drops of rain, but in the blink of an eye, the rain grew very heavy.

    The sky was filled with dark clouds, and the lightning was lithely darting through the dark clouds. It appeared suddenly and disappeared just as suddenly. The low rumbling of thunder could be heard without end.

    Looking at the rain, it did not seem like it would be stopping anytime soon.

    Zhang Zian quietly looked at the fine rain streaks and could not help but think of an old legend.

    It was said that if the weather had both lightning and thunder, then when a fish finally leapt through the Dragon Door, lightning from the skies would strike the fish¡¯s tail and the fish would transform into a dragon. From then on, it would freely travel the skies and the seas. The legend had a specific famous phrase attached to it called ¡°Burning Tail.¡±

    Perhaps¡­ it could even transform into a human.

 Chapter 923: Good Deeds

    <h4>Chapter 923: Good Deeds</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The customers on the first floor of the pet shop waited and waited, but the earthquakes from the legends just didn¡¯te. After some time, they even looked forward to the appearance of a little vibration. Otherwise, wouldn¡¯t them calling their friends and rtives have been for nothing¨C¨Cjust a bunch of made up rumors? Just the thought of being thrown in jail for spreading rumors¡­ Their chrysanthemum would blossom into a sunflower¡­

    Those who were the most active earlier were more terrified now than when they thought an earthquake was approaching. They quickly called and exined to their rtives and friends that they were just joking¡­

    The rain outside continued at its own pace, and there was no sign of it clearing anytime soon.

    Not everyone headed out of the house with an umbre, so it was not easy to catch a taxi or a ride on a rainy day. Those who were bored could only look for things to do, and so they started to talk about their pet raising experiences.

    ¡°Hey, that customer there! Yes, you!¡± Wang Qian ran over and stopped a customer from throwing his empty bottle of coca-c into the trash can. He pointed at the wall where a signboard said, ¡°Our store actively responds to the national environmental protection policy. We support garbage separation and recycling, so please throw your stic bottles into the specific trash can for them.¡±

    In the past, there was only one trash can by the door of the pet shop, so all kinds of trash was thrown inside. Recently, however, they added another trash can next to it. The two trash cans stood side by side. They were of the same design but were different colors. The newly added trash can had a ¡°recycle¡± sign on the front, and a downward arrow on the wall that pointed to it with the words, ¡°Please throw your stic bottles into this trash can.¡±

    Most young people liked to drink beverages, and it wasmon for them to have a bottle in their hands when they entered the store. Most customers who noticed the change would throw their empty bottles into the designated trash on their own ord. However, there were still a small number of customers who had not noticed or didn¡¯t bother, to which Wang Qian would then give them a verbal reminder.

    But asionally there would be customers who were special. They had probably been part of their school¡¯s basketball team for a few days, so they thought that they were possessed by LeBron or Bryant. They were fond of throwing their empty bottles into the trash can from a distance in front of the girls. Normally, they would miss the shot; it was very rare that anyone actually made it in.

    When that happened, Zhan Tian would walk over and pick the empty bottle up with its mouth, then drop it into the designated trash can before it returned to its original position: the stairs leading to the second floor.

    Now that was awkward.

    After it happened once or twice, people seemed to stop trying to embarrass themselves.

    The trash can was a suggestion made by Wang Qian. The first reason was that the original trash can was no longer sufficient with the increasing number of customers in the store; they had to empty the trash can several times in a day, and it was mostly filled with empty bottles. Secondly, with a designated trash can, it would be easier to collect the empty bottles. Otherwise, to separate them from the other trash¡­ was really a waste of time.

    For a proposal of goodwill and for the better, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have any reason to object, so he agreed to it immediately. Lu Yiyun helped to hand-paint the arrow and the recycle sign, which were respectively attached to the wall and the trash can itself.

    Zhang Zian did that for not only the pet shop, but also the aquarium. With the designated trash can, Li Kun would also remind the customers just like Wang Qian did, but there wasn¡¯t much customer flow aspared to the pet shop, so there were fewer empty bottles collected each day. In addition, most of the customers visiting the aquarium were calm, middle-aged and elderly people, and they themselves were not very fond of drinking beverages.

    Every morning, Wang Qian and Li Kun would bring the puppies in the store to the green field for a walk; they would also bring along some cat food to feed the stray cats. They each carried a ck garbage bag filled withrge and small empty bottles and ce them near the old grandmother¡¯s house.

    In the past, the empty bottles collected in the pet shop were randomly thrown into the designated trash cans on the street. So, instead of benefiting some random stranger, they decided they might as well go a little further and let the grandmother have more time to bring the Pomeranian out for a walk under the sun.

    Good deeds were manifested through the little things in one¡¯s daily live.

    It was easy to do a good deed, and it was easy to do good deeds for a day¨C¨Cbut what about doing good deeds for three hundred years?

    If a person could do good deeds for three hundred years, he was probably just like Tang Seng, a man of ten lifetimes of goodness. He¡¯d be favored by luck as if he had saved the world in his previous life, and all kinds ofdies send themselves into his arms, be they human or not.

    ording to the fairy tale, if the little mermaid that had turned into sea foam could do three hundred years of good deeds, she would be able to acquire an immortal soul and share all eternal happiness with mankind.

    Blown by the gentle breeze, the drizzles of rain sprinkled into the room from the open window on the second floor.

    Zhang Zian gave a final nce at the lightning that was like a silver dragon dancing between the lead-gray clouds. He then carefully closed the window and stared at the crack on the ss. He sighed, feeling a hint of pain in his heart. His wallet was going to bleed again, but oh well. Anyway, the weather was getting warmer, so he could first fix it with scotch tape. As long as it didn¡¯t break, he could just change the ss when it was approaching winter.

    ¡°Pi, are you okay?¡± Zian pulled out a wet tissue and handed it to Pi.

    ¡°Zhi Zhi.¡± Pi¡¯s nosebleed had already stopped. It was only a few drops of blood, and it wasn¡¯t anything serious. It took over the paper towel and wiped its nose without a care, then wiped its hands clean and wanted to return back to the chair to continue its novel.

    ¡°Wait, Pi, take a break,¡± Zhang Zian dissuaded. ¡°Take a rest in the basket hammock chair. You must be feeling sleepy, right? You fell asleep earlier, and you also don¡¯t have to be in a hurry for your novel.¡±

    ¡°Zhi Zhi.¡± Pi nodded and obediently returned to the basket hammock chair. It pulled up the nket and covered itself, then it closed its eyes.

    Fina and Old Time Tea had also returned to normal, but their eyes were still filled with shock and suspicion. ¡°Zian, what happened earlier?¡± Old Time Tea picked up his bamboo hat and put it back on.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, I was just about to ask you that. When I went downstairs, what happened here?¡± Although Zhang Zian was asking Old Time Tea, he also swept his nce over at Fina.

    Fina¡¯s anger had yet to dissipate; it remained silent and did not speak. Its face was distorted with anger and unhappiness. It had never suffered like that before, taken down before even catching sight of the enemy. Most importantly, it had suffered such a defeat in front of its lowly servant. It had lost face!

    Old Time Tea inhaled a breath of air and pondered before it said, ¡°After you went downstairs, this old one had wanted to enter the bathroom tofort Sihwa, to get her to stop crying. But suddenly, my head felt like it was being split open, and it felt like thousands of steel needles stabbing my ear. That kind of pain¡­ even the deities would not be able to bear! Even after covering my ears, it only eased the pain a little. That is, until the thunder¡­¡±

    Fina did not express any objection to Old Time Tea¡¯s description.

    ¡°Grandpa Tea, what gave you guys a headache, and¡­¡± Zhang Zian sighed and looked at Pi, who was sleeping soundly in the basket hammock chair. ¡°¡­Pi¡¯s nosebleed, the panic of the cats and dogs downstairs, and the sudden rampant bat appearances outside the window¡­ The culprit of all this is Sihwa¡¯s crying!¡±

 Chapter 924: Ultrasonic Wave

    <h4>Chapter 924: Ultrasonic Wave</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian told Fina and Old Time Tea that what had caused that chaotic storm was Sihwa¡¯s crying. Fina did not believe his exnation¨C¨Ceven Old Time Tea was doubtful.

    ¡°Zian, is what you¡¯re saying true? The sound of Sihwa¡¯s crying has that much power?¡± Old Time Tea inquired.

    ¡°You¡¯re making irresponsible remarks! Are you fooling me again?¡± Fina¡¯s expression was not good. It felt a suffocating feeling in its chest and was ready to find a scapegoat at any time to vent its anger. ¡°It¡¯s not like she had never cried before¡­ Hasn¡¯t anything happened in the past?¡±

    ¡°Hear me out first,¡± Zhang Zian said, helpless. ¡°Sihwa has indeed cried before, but this time was not the same as before. This time, you all could hear her crying, but I did not hear anything¡­¡±

    Old Time Tea had a realization. ¡°No wonder¡­ I felt puzzled downstairs just now as to why Sihwa was crying, but Zian, you did not have any reaction. It was like you did not hear it at all¡­ I thought that Sihwa had done something wrong, and you wanted to take the opportunity to punish her. Later on, I could not bear to hear it anymore, and went upstairs to check on what was going on¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian looked towards Fina.

    Fina turned its head. ¡°Hmph! I thought that you dared to do something that is hated greatly by both Man and God in my sacred pce, so I went upstairs to stop you!¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    What kind of person do you think I am? What could I do to a fish?

    Since he had not heard it, he was quite curious. What on earth did Sihwa¡¯s cry sound like to be able to attract Old Time Tea and Fina to go up and check on her?

    Old Time Tea sighed. ¡°Sihwa¡¯s crying¡­ That was really¡­ the listeners would be sad and cry. I have never heard such a despairing cry before¡­ But, why was it that you couldn¡¯t hear it, Zian?¡±

    Zhang Zian exined even more, ¡°That¡¯s because¡­ a cat¡¯s range of hearingpared to a human¡¯s¡­¡±

    ¡°Lowly humans,¡± Fina interrupted.

    ¡°¡­ All right. That¡¯s because a cat¡¯s range of hearing is much wider than us lowly humans, so you all could hear sounds that us humans cannot hear.¡±

    Fina had just suffered a huge loss and was in a very bad mood. Zhang Zian wisely decided to swallow his insults and humiliation for a while and not take what it said seriously.

    He tried his best to exin, in the simplest terms, what ultrasonic waves were and why cats could hear them but not humans. It was not just humans, however¨C¨Ceven Famous lost to cats in that aspect. Cats were far inferior to bats in that case.

    Throwing aside the dosage to talk about the toxicity was hooliganism. Ultrasonic waves were not harmful towards living things when they were weak, but if they reached a certain strength, then they could cause varying levels of harm to living things. They could even cause very serious damage.

    As humans could not hear ultrasonic waves, they might not even notice that they were being harmed; they could misunderstand and think that they came down with some kind of illness.

    Only then did Fina and Old Time Tea nod their heads, not fully understanding his exnation. They epted it anyway, as it further proved the superiority of cats. As for bats¡­ that type of flying rat was not worth mentioning.

    But his exnation was still unable to exin the other problem: Why was it that when Sihwa cried before, it was just ordinary crying, but when she cried thest time, it was with ultrasonic waves? F*ck, were ultrasonic waves used for that kind of thing?

    Zhang Zian gave Fina and Old Time Tea a look, and the two cats and one human went into the bathroom together.

    Sihwa had been frightened by the sudden thunder and had been roared at by Zhang Zian, so she had temporarily stopped crying. She was still sniffing continuously.

    ¡°What¡­ What¡¯s going on? Why do you all have that same expression? Do you all have cons¡­ constipation?¡± Seeing them walk into the bathroom so seriously, she shrank and sank into the water. She revealed only her neck and head, as if she might shrink her head into the water as well at any moment.

    ¡°Sihwa, I need to ask you something. You must answer truthfully.¡± Zhang Zian straightened his face and asked, ¡°The first question is¡­ Why did you cry? The second question is, why did you use ultrasonic waves to cry?¡±

    Sihwa blinked both innocently and nkly. ¡°Ultrasonic waves? What are ultrasonic waves? Can they be eaten?¡±

    ¡°Idiot! You don¡¯t even know about ultrasonic waves?¡± Fina gave her a hard look, then turned her head to stare at Zhang Zian. ¡°Why are you still stunned?¡±

    In his head, Zhang Zian said, F*ck. He needed to exin what ultrasonic waves were again?

    He had no choice, so he could only exin the definition of ultrasonic waves to Sihwa. She had not been in their world for long, so she had a very poor understanding of scientific knowledge. Exining it to her required a lot of work.

    The two cats and one human talked for half a day before Sihwa understood what had just happened outside.

    ¡°I¡­ I did not do it on purpose!¡± She shook her head with rm. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to hurt anyone with ultrasonic waves, but I felt bad and wanted to cry¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian believed that she did not do it on purpose because she did not have the IQ to do it. He asked, ¡°Why is it that in the past you cried normally, but today¡­ you cried abnormally?¡±

    ¡°Because¡­ because¡­ because¡­¡± She looked very embarrassed. Her body sunk into the water more, covering her neck and chin. Her lips were pressed to the surface of the water and she blew bubbles. She had repeated ¡°because¡± several times but had yet to exin the reason why.

    ¡°What is the reason? Say it quickly!¡± Thest bit of patience in Fina¡¯s heart was worn out. It rounded its eyes and stared at her, pping a forepaw on the bathroom cab.

    ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ don¡¯t be so fierce¡­¡± Sihwa saw that she could not hide it anymore, and hence extended her finger to point at Zhang Zian. She said with a mocking smile, ¡°At that time, he was on the second floor. I didn¡¯t want to let him hear me cry¡­¡±

    At that instant, the two cats and one human did not know what to say in response to that. Just because she did not want Zhang Zian to hear her cry, she cried in a voice that he couldn¡¯t hear? She could cry as much as she wanted and not lose her dignity. There was actually nothing wrong with that logic¡­

    ¡°Next time, if you want to cry, you can cry normally. If you don¡¯t want me to hear you, I can go downstairs,¡± Zhang Zian said with much difficulty. Yet in his mind, he thought, This is my house, why should I be the one avoiding it?

    But the words could only be thought about in his head; they could not be said in front of Fina. Otherwise, he would be pped in his face at the speed of light.

    ¡°All¡­ All right, I know now.¡± Sihwa pouted reluctantly because she not only did not want him to hear her cry, but she did not even want to let him know that she had cried before.

    ¡°Anyway, isn¡¯t crying normal? Why are you scared that others will hear?¡± Zhang Zian asked again. ¡°Do you know how much trouble you have caused with this inaudible cry today? We had almost stabbed a ho¡¯s nest!¡±

    ¡°Because¡­ all of you are very brave, and never ever cry.¡±

    Sihwa hung her head while she spoke. Then, she raised her head slightly and nced over at Zhang Zian¡¯s, Fina¡¯s, and Old Time Tea¡¯s faces.

    ¡°All of you never ever cry¡­ You don¡¯t cry, Fina doesn¡¯t cry, Old Time Tea doesn¡¯t cry, Pi doesn¡¯t cry, Famous doesn¡¯t cry, Snowy Li doesn¡¯t cry, Richard doesn¡¯t cry, Gxy doesn¡¯t cry¡­ Only I spend the whole day crying! Isn¡¯t it embarrassing?¡±

    Sihwa really felt that Zhang Zian and the rest of the elfins were all very strong. They spent the whole dayughing and joking, and were always boisterous. She had never seen them sad or crying.

    She really envied them.

 Chapter 925: Lonely

    <h4>Chapter 925: Lonely</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After Sihwa came to the pet shop, although she could only stay in the small bathroom, her ears were very sensitive. No matter what happened on the first floor or the second floor, she was able to hear everything¨C¨Ceven the things happening on the streets outside. Nothing could escape her ears. She had heard the elfins talking and messing around, but she had never heard them cry. She, on the other hand, would cry whenever something didn¡¯t go her way. Although sometimes she was just faking it, the sadness was never a lie.

    She didn¡¯t understand. How were they always so happy?

    When the two cats and one man were made aware of why she was crying, they couldn¡¯t help but feel both angry and amused.

    As for her question, no one was more qualified to speak on the issue than Zhang Zian. He said, ¡°You¡¯re wrong. Most of the time, it isn¡¯t that we¡¯re not crying, but that we¡¯re forcing ourselves to smile. You think that you¡¯ve suffered a lot, but actually, everyone has their own different problems and experiences. Everyone is very strong, so you don¡¯t see their sadness on their faces.¡±

    Sihwa said with suspicion, ¡°I don¡¯t believe that. I can¡¯t even get out of this shabby bathroom¨C¨Cit¡¯s just like prisoners being sentenced to life imprisonment. I can only look at the outside world. Who else is worse off than me?¡±

    ¡°Is it very bad to be trapped in a bathroom? At the very least, you can still watch the scenery and y with your mobile phone.¡± Zhang Zian snorted. ¡°What if you¡¯re trapped in a dark, iron box, only to be revived and left to die, die and be revived again? What if you were forced to experience countless cycles of life and death, never catching a glimpse of the hope of freedom?¡±

    Sihwa was shocked. There was such a thing?

    She thought that being trapped in the bathtub was very miserable, but after the thought of being in a dark, iron box, forced to experience life and death repeatedly¡­ It was really a life where one could neither live nor die¡­ If she had to choose which one was worse, what Zian described was much worse than hers.

    ¡°And have you ever experienced the feeling of being locked in a narrow dog cage, surrounded by smelly waste, with only pig food to eat? Not to mention that you¡¯d also get whipped if your owner was even the slightest bit unhappy? Then, when you¡¯re finally out of the dog cage, you were forced to take on roles for your simr kind, and right until the end, you never once appeared in front of others with your real name, let alone talked about the splendor in the world?¡± Zhang Zian continued.

    Sihwa was even more shocked. If she lived like that, she might as well die.

    ¡°At least you have a phone to y with and you can still look at the scenery. Can you imagine being forced to type on the keyboard 24 hours a day, just for the possibility of coincidentally typing letters that would make up a meaningful words?

    Can you understand the feeling of being separated from your loved one because you were seriously ill, then when you were resurrected, you could never see each other again for various reasons?

    Also, what if you were deeply in love with someone, but was then betrayed by him and turned into a scapegoat, only to be flung to your death on the steps? How is thispared to your life?¡±

    Zhang Zian continued one by one, and each of them caused Sihwa to drop sweat like rain. She had always thought that she was the most miserable one and that the whole world should sympathize with her¨C¨Ceveryone should give back to her¨C¨Cbut what about the truth? Her life and experiences were much happier whenpared to those situations.

    Zian¡¯s gazended on Fina, and he was about to continue to speak, but immediately swallowed his words because he saw Fina perk up its ears, reveal her teeth, and posture itself to strike.

    Old Time Tea also smiled and shook its head slightly. Zhang Zian knew what it meant: ¡°You don¡¯t have to mention this old one¡¯s story again. Let the past go with the wind.¡±

    ¡°They have experienced so much pain in their past, but today they¡¯re stillughing at life. They¡¯ve never med anyone, and none of them have attempted to seek vengeance on anyone, even though they definitely have the ability to do so¡­ Don¡¯t you think that they¡¯re very admirable?¡± Zian concluded. He wasn¡¯t only taking the opportunity to educate Sihwa, but he also took the opportunity to share his feelings.

    Sihwa cried again.

    Zhang Zian was shocked when he saw her tears drip into the bathtub, and both Old Time Tea and Fina took two steps back at the same time, thinking that she would cry with ultrasound again. Fortunately, she seemed to be crying silently, without making any sound.

    That time, she didn¡¯t cry because of herself, but because she was moved. She cried with guilt.

    Zhang Zian waited for a moment before he asked, ¡°You were doing fine this morning. Why did you suddenly cry?¡±

    When he got up and washed his face in the morning, Zian saw that, although Sihwa wasn¡¯t in a particrly good mood, she was still rtively calm. Why did she suddenly cry without warning? There had to be a reason, right?

    Sihwa sniffed and pointed her finger to the wall, which was in the direction of the living room desk.

    ¡°I was ying with my phone when I suddenly heard a very, very sad whale song. Although I didn¡¯t really understand it, it felt like it was strangling my neck, and I almost couldn¡¯t breathe¡­ The whole song, from the start until the end, seemed to be talking about loneliness. It was like they were alone in the world, unable to find the same kind even after searching to the ends of the earth¡­ When I heard that song, I thought of myself¡­¡±

    Sihwa choked a little and said, ¡°Since I have appeared in this world, I have only had myself. I¡¯ve tried numerous times to sing to the distant ends, in hopes of finding another one like me¨C¨Canother mermaid¡­ I knew that it would take time for the song to go ande back, but it didn¡¯t matter. I was willing to wait. But no matter how long I waited, there was never a response¡­ Maybe my song wasn¡¯t able to travel far enough, after all. The world is big, so I came to the other side of the world. From Germany, I came to China and continued to sing, but there was still no one here to respond to me¡­ I¡¯m probably the only one in this world. I was born alone, and maybe one day, I¡¯ll die alone¡­¡±

    There were intermittent pauses between her story¨C¨Cshe sometimes stopped to wipe her eyes and rub her nose¨C¨Cbut in general, she made things clear.

    ¡°So, when I heard the song about loneliness, I could no longer control my tears¡­ I know that you¡¯re outside, and I just wanted to cry a little¡­ But the more I cried, the more I couldn¡¯t stop. I didn¡¯t want you to hear me, so I could only¡­¡±

    Everyone knew the things that followed after. If she had continued to cry, even Meng Jiangnu would have to bow for her¡­ Speaking of which, Meng Jiangnu cried the Great Wall down. Could her voice be¡­?

    Zhang Zian, Old Time Tea, and Fina exchanged nces. They all felt that the issue was a little problematic.

    Even among the elfins, Sihwa seemed to be unique. A second mermaid probably didn¡¯t exist in the world. Even if it did, it wouldn¡¯t be easy to find it.

    The other elfins¨C¨Cdogs, cats, monkeys, birds¨C¨Call had their own kind in the world.

    ¡°The same kind¡± didn¡¯t sound very important, but imagine if all human beings in the world disappeared, leaving one single human, and they were locked in a small bathroom with no way to get out¡­ It definitely wouldn¡¯t feel good.

 Chapter 926: 52 Hertz

    <h4>Chapter 926: 52 Hertz</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Just as how some people were strong in nature and others were weak in nature, elfins were the same. Many elfins had honed their indomitable will through their past experiences, but some of them did not possess such a character. The world was so big, so of course, there should be innumerable different personalities.

    Although it could be said like that¡­

    Outside, there was the continuous patter of the spring rain, while inside the house, there was the continuous patter of teardrops. Zhang Zian and the others were filled with anxiety. They were scared that Sihwa would hear something she did not like and start crying again. If the pets downstairs started their strange behavior again, Zian really did not know how he could exin it again. It might even attract the Approaching Science column¡­

    Why did the pet shop store manager die a tragic death in the streets? Why did dozens of pets run around randomly in the daytime? Why did the fish in the aquarium repeatedly jump out? Why did the nocturnal batse out in the day? Was it the outbreak of madness or helplessness due to hunger and thirst? Was it the distortion of human nature or the loss of morality? Wee to ¡°Approaching Science¨C¨CThe Strange Sounds in the Pet Shop.¡±

    Although it was very sensational, it definitely could not happen!

    The best way to solve it would be to have Sihwa stop crying¨C¨Cto turn grief and anger into strength¨C¨Cbut she was born with a weak and delicate personality, so it was not easy for her to do that.

    Old Time Tea and Fina had sympathy for Sihwa. They could understand her loneliness, because they too, were very lonely in a sense¨C¨Cthe kind of loneliness due to the cold at high altitudes.

    An understanding was just an understanding; they did not know what the best way tofort her was. Although they were lonely, they were stronger and prouder.

    Zhang Zian sighed softly, reaching out his hand to rub her head. ¡°Don¡¯t cry. Let me tell you a story.¡±

    ¡°How hateful! Don¡¯t mess up my hair!¡± Sihwa shook her head in embarrassment. The residual tears in her eyes were thrown into the water with her movement.

    Actually, her hair was already very messy; it was curled like dark green algae. She neverbed it. As soon as she opened her eyes every day, she would instantly start to y with her mobile phone. It was a world that looked at faces, after all, and because her face was unparalleled in the world, she still exuded natural beauty even with unkempt hair.

    However, she was very curious about the story Zhang Zian wanted to tell. It even overwhelmed the sadness in her heart, and she asked, expectantly, ¡°What story?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a story about a whale¡­ a lonely whale.¡± Zhang Zian gave a simple introduction, which caused people to instinctively think back to what Sihwa had mentioned about the lonely song.

    Fina and Old Time Tea were also quite curious. After all, it was the nature of a cat to be curious.

    ¡°Zhi zhi?¡± He did not know when, but Pi had also appeared at the doorway of the bathroom, gesturing with its hands. It meant to say, ¡°Can I listen too?¡±

    ¡°Of course you can.¡± Zhang Zian called for it toe in.

    Watched by four pairs of expectant eyes, he recalled the stories he had read before. He organized hisnguage a bit and retold the story in his own words.

    Ancient stories often started with, ¡°A long, long time ago,¡± allowing the audience to quickly get away from reality. It was just like how the opening scenes for online fictional books often involved crossing into another world so that readers would know that they could not judge the story with the restrictions of real life.

    Unfortunately, it was not a story that happened a very long time ago, nor was it a story with someone crossing into another world. Instead, it was a real life story that had actually happened before.

    The story started in thete part of the Cold War. At that time, to fight the enemies that used false impressions, America built an underwater acoustic interception system called SOSUS.

    Many things were manufactured for military purposes, butter on, they had unexpected effects in other areas¨C¨Cand so did SOSUS.

    In the sea, the sounds were too numerous and messy. As soldiers, the American Navy could only identify a small portion of these sounds; even they did not know what was making arge portion of the sounds, but for national defense reasons, they really wanted to find out.

    So they wisely decided to cooperate with scientists, sharing some of the military¡¯s recordings with them, and letting the scientists analyze the sounds that the military wanted to know about. The result could greatly benefit both sides.

    Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution¡¯s researcher, Dr. William Watkins, was the first to hear an unusual sound in the recordings. The sound was very simr to the song of a whale, but while it appeared to be the most simr to a blue whale¡¯s song, it was not, as a blue whale¡¯s frequency range was between 15 to 20 Hertz. The sound he heard, however, had a frequency up to 52 Hertz.

    After the Cold War was over, even more top secret recordings were made public.

    More than once, the sound of the whale would appear and disappear in quick session. The scientists did more research and even mapped its former swimming routes ording to the recording sites, but the ocean was too big and deep for anyone to see the whale with their own eyes.

    In the Twenty-First Century, the unfinished research was published, and it aroused the curiosity of the whole world. People called the mysterious whale ¡°52 Hertz¨C¨CThe World¡¯s Loneliest Whale.¡±

    Even more people joined the research and search for this whale, and practically every year, people would be able to record its voice. Until now, however, no one had managed to see it.

    It swam around the vast, mist covered water of the Pacific Ocean, mainly appearing in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and the Western Coast of the United States. It would also often appear in further regions, as well.

    20 years had passed, and the whale was still using its unique frequency range to sing lonely songs in the sea.

    Due to its frequency range being very different from other whales, it was unable to interact with its fellow species, and was hence excluded from the whale society. Thus, it had been continually lonely for more than 20 years.

    It had always swam back and forth in the deeper parts of the ocean, singing a song that none of the same species could respond to.

    It had been always swimming slowly alone to find the traces of a fellow whale species, on a journey that had no end.

    In recent years, its voice had be even lower, dropping from 52 Hertz to around 45 to 50 Hertz. People guessed that it had matured¨C¨Cthat it had grown from an ignorant juvenile to a strong and young youth. It was only a guess, as no one knew what the truth of the matter was.

    No one knew if it was male or female; no one knew if it was young or old; no one knew what species of whale it was; and no one even knew if it was alive or dead¡­ After 2004, no one had managed to record its sound again.

    No one hoped that it had died, because if it had died a lonely death, then the story had a tragic ending.

    It was probably that they had no luck, and just did not manage to record its voice.

    The area with the densest number of hydrophones was the Eastern Pacific Ocean and the Western Coast of the United States. It could have swam somewhere else with not as many hydrophones and not as many enthusiastic scientists who were interested in studying the ocean.

    That was what people believed.

    In order to find its trace, in order to not let it be forgotten, the people who loved it and sympathized with it had even raised funds to shoot documentaries and movies topose songs for it.

    Zhang Zian had read the story a long time ago. Like the other people, he did not want it to die so lonely, but logic told him that it was probably already dead.

    Perhaps he was wrong.

 Chapter 927: 30 Year Search

    <h4>Chapter 927: 30 Year Search</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    How long did a person have to be missing before they could be dered dead? Different countries had different regtions on the issue. Generally speaking, it was around three or five years, though there were some that had a shorter, or longer, time frame.

    So, how long until a missing whale could be dered dead? It was hard to say.

    The whale, known as ¡°52 Hertz¡± because of its unique sound frequency band, had been discovered in 1989. That meant it was at least 30 years old.

    Generally, the lifespan of whales was very long, much longer than 30 years, but too many things could happen in that timeframe.

    People had not heard its sound since 2004, which was 15 years after it was first discovered.

    There were still some countries in the world that were whaling out in the open sea. Whalers did not discern their target¡¯s voice before they fired off their harpoon; for them, whales were just whales¨C¨Cnothing more than a huge block of meat. To them, there was no difference between the two. With such thoughts in mind, people couldn¡¯t help but worry about 52 Hertz and its fate.

    Zhang Zian had read its story before, but when he learned that it had not appeared for many years, he also leaned towards the belief that it was dead. It could¡¯ve been through old age, or through a health issue, or even by natural causes, such as encountering arge group of killer whales. But of course, it could¡¯ve also lost its life to whalers.

    When Zian encountered the mysterious whale, he had thrown its story into the corner of his memory. He hadn¡¯t realized the possibility that it could¡¯ve been 52 Hertz. After all, the ocean was too big, and there were many whales in the ocean¡­ How could there have been such a coincidence? And how could he have thought that the giant whale was 52 Hertz?

    People had only ever heard its sound; no one had ever seen its physical body before. They weren¡¯t even certain what kind of whale it was. The only way to determine the identity of 52 Hertz was to judge by its sound. Any other methods were unreliable.

    Earlier, when Zhang Zian yed the sound of the giant whale on theptop, he found that its sound frequency band was very unique; it was between 45 and 50 Hz. Therefore, he hadn¡¯t associated the giant whale with 52 Hertz immediately and had mistakenly thought that he had recorded the sound of another whale nearby. Fortunately, he immediately negated that guess, and then recalled a rted rumor: The sound frequency band of 52 Hertz when it was just discovered was 52 Hz, but it had slowly gone lower over time. Eventually, it fell between the 45 to 50 Hz range.

    52 Hertz had often lingered on the west coast of the United States all the way up to ska, which was the northeastern Pacific Ocean. Had it ventured into thepletely unfamiliar waters of the western Pacific Ocean, near northeast Asia, after many fruitless results of searching for its own kind?

    The possibility existed¡­ After all, it was a special whale.

    Ever since it came to the western Pacific Ocean, scientists on the west coast of the United States had lost its trace.

    On the long coastline of northeast Asia, there were many ces that were dested regions, and they did not have precise underwater listening systems. It was normal that its sound went undetected and unrecorded.

    It could have been due to some kind of juncture¡­ For example, it heard Sihwa¡¯s song and, although it might not have understand the song, it felt the loneliness in the it. It followed the song all the way to the sea just outside of Binhai City, then loitered around the surrounding areas.

    The nearest route from the pet shop to the sea was the beach where Zhang Zian often went, and so it always appeared there and met Zhang Zian unexpectedly.

    What was it waiting for? What was it expecting?

    After thinking it through, Zhang Zian was immediately thrown into a whirlpool of chaos thanks to Sihwa¡¯s crying. He didn¡¯t even have the time to make a n for his new discovery¡­

    Sihwa, Fina, Old Time Tea, and Pi were all engrossed in his story as if, with Zhang Zian¡¯s storytelling, they were there together with the loneliest whale as it traveled through the vast Pacific Ocean. They witnessed countless magnificent scenes, witnessed countless moments on the survival of the fittest, and witnessed the numerous times it called out to try and reach its own kind, only to be left with no response.

    It was swallowed up by the bottomless loneliness as if it had been abandoned by the whole world¡­ But it was not disheartened.

    Sihwa in particr felt the deepest connection to it. She was as unique as 52 Hertz. They were the only ones of their own kind in the world. Sihwa silently shed tears again. She had already lost count of the tears she had shed that day, but now it wasn¡¯t for herself. Instead, she cried over the fate of 52 Hertz¨C¨Cfor its 30 years of tireless searching and for its courage in crossing the oceans. No one could imagine how it had spent 30 years alone.

    Old Time Tea sighed and said, ¡°As the saying goes, ¡®Thirty years of achievements are but dust to earth, eight thousand miles under the clouds and moons¡­¡¯ Apanied only by the clouds and moon, who could know about the pain and difficulties in its journey so far?¡±

    Even Fina, who was always harshly blunt, nodded with approval.

    ¡°That¡­¡± Sihwa looked up as shimmering tears swirled around her eyes. She spoke through her tears, ¡°Is there anything we can do for it?¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Some people have spected that 52 Hertz may be a descendant of a cross between a blue whale and fin whale. After witnessing it personally, I think that this spection makes sense. Its biggest wish is to find another whale of a simr kind, but this is very difficult. Even if there¡¯s another whale that¡¯s also a mixed breed, it may not be able to use the frequency band of 45 to 50 Hz.¡±

    There was nothingplicated in the courtship and mating for whales. As long as their size was rtively close, even whales of different types could spark a me of passion.

    Rumors about the hybridization between different types of whales had been around for a long time, but due to the vastness and depth of the sea, confirmed cases were extremely rare to find.

    There was an example on the Discovery Channel, where researchers had made their way to Japan and bought whale meat from the Japanese market. The idea was to study the DNA of the whale meat to trace its source. The results of the DNA had indicated that it was a mixed breed from a blue whale and fin whale.

    It was such a pity that a rare, mixed breed whale was served up on the dining table of a Japanese family.

    However, aside from their sizes being simr, another reason why blue whales and fin whales were able to mate and give birth was because their sound frequency bands were around 20 Hz, so they could find andmunicate with each other.

    Whales that could produce sounds around 45 to 50 Hz existed too, but the size of those whales was much different than 52 Hertz¡¯s¡­ To insist on having them mate, the image was just too beautiful to imagine.

    Zhang Zian continued, ¡°It¡¯s almost impossible for 52 Hertz to find another of its kind, and there¡¯s nothing we can do to help it find one¡­ But this doesn¡¯t mean that we can¡¯t do anything. Although we can¡¯t help it find one of its kind, we can help restore a sense of hope in it. If you want to help it, there¡¯s only one solution.¡±

    ¡°What solution?¡± Sihwa asked.

    Zhang Zian replied immediately, ¡°You can learn its song, and then tell it with the same sound frequency band to not be afraid. It¡¯s? not alone.¡±

 Chapter 928: A White Lie

    <h4>Chapter 928: A White Lie</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Whether or not 52 Hertz really did feel lonely was something that had always been argued over. Arge proportion of people were more inclined to believe that it could feel loneliness; after all, whales had a certain level of intelligence and were considered social animals.

    Scientists and oceanic enthusiasts had also tried to find 52 Hertz, wanting to see it in real life by ying sounds with a frequency around 52 Hertz in the water it often appeared in. The hope was to attract it to them.

    Their effort was not sessful; after all, the Pacific Ocean was really vast, and 52 Hertz was too mysterious. How easy was it to wait in the grass for the rabbit? When the limited funds were used up, they had to go home and give up for the time being.

    Despite that, the method they were using was likely correct. When 52 Hertz, who was born to be single, heard a simr voice to its own, it was likely to approach it out of curiosity even if it did not understand the content of the voice.

    52 Hertz had actually appeared in the open sea in Binhai City, and Sihwa couldmunicate with whales¡­ The opportunity was hard toe by. As long as Sihwa learned itsnguage, she could reply to its call.

    Since Sihwa wanted to know how to help it, Zhang Zian exined his idea in detail.

    ¡°But this is just an artificial response. The truth is that another mixed-blood whale like it does not exist. Even if Sihwa couldmunicate with the whale, she still wasn¡¯t a whale.¡± Fina exposed the gaps in Zhang Zian¡¯s words without mercy. ¡°It is just like you agreeing to a promise that would nevere true. Without a doubt, this is tricking the whale.¡±

    Fina¡¯s pride made it ustomed to confronting everything directly. It disdained deception, which was not in line with its normal style.

    Sihwa was originally ready to agree, but after she heard what Fina said, she could not help but hesitate. 52 Hertz was already very pitiful¡­ It should not be hurt anymore.

    ¡°I don¡¯t agree with that. Truth is not always needed. Sometimes white lies are needed instead,¡± Zhang Zian retorted, ¡°Now 52 Hertz needs hope. If a lie can bring hope to it, then a lie may not be a bad thing¡­ And who can confirm that in a few years or more, there won¡¯t be no other whale like it? In that case, a lie will no longer be a lie.¡±

    Old Time Tea, who lived a more rounded and flexible way of life, agreed. ¡°Zian¡¯s words are logical. I deeply agree with him. Consoling oneself on false hopes might be derogatory, but it is not necessarily a bad thing to hope that a plum will quench your thirst or that drawing a cake will ease your hunger. No matter what happens in the future, at least it really managed to stop your thirst and ease your hunger at that moment. 52 Hertz has been thirsty and hungry for 30 years¡­ Perhaps our lie would be able to ignite a sense of hope for it. It could keep it going for another 30 years.¡±

    Fina hmphed, but did not say anything to disagree with their opinions.

    ¡°Pi, what do you think?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Zhi zhi.¡± Pi also nodded and agreed. It pointed at itself, then pointed at theputer keyboard outside, meaning to say, ¡°If it could know earlier that it would one day be able to finish typing the whole Shakespearean series, it would definitely continue to type. It would be even more hopeful.¡±

    Sihwa saw that everyone was no longer objecting. She nodded and said, ¡°All right, I know now¡­ It¡¯s just that, can I learn itsnguage?¡±

    It was no wonder that shecked the confidence. Before, she could understand thenguages of other whales because she had been born in their world. Her ears had been full of whale songs, and a white whale had apanied her around, so unconsciously she had managed to learn theirnguage. This time, she had to deliberately go and learn it, and she did not have a lot of confidence that she could do it.

    Ever since birth, it had been unable tomunicate with the other whales. 52 Hertz was like a wild child that grew up in the mountains; no one taught it how to talk, so its whale song could be said to be something entirely of its own. Whether it was the way of speaking or the pronunciation, it was all very different from other whales, so learning itsnguage would be very difficult.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Zhang Zian encouraged her, picking up the fairy tale book that was ced to the side. ¡°You have even learned what is said to be the world¡¯s most difficultnguage to learn: Chinese. What is 52 Hertz¡¯snguage inparison?¡±

    Sihwa was shocked after hearing that. ¡°Is Chinese really that hard to learn?¡±

    ¡°Of course, Chinese has been said to be the most difficultnguage to learn by UNESCO. Did you realize that? A single Chinese word has a lot of different meanings; a single tone has a lot of different meanings; a word has a lot of different meanings; and a sound has many words. It is just like a piece of paper¨C¨Cyou can write on it, use it to wipe your buttocks, and fold a paper ne with it. It has many uses!¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s face was brimming with honeyed pride. ¡°For example, if you hear someone saying a word ¡®gou,¡¯ you never know whether he saw a dog or wanted to recite a poem until you¡¯ve seen which word it is.¡±

    Sihwa¡¯s facial expressions showed confusion while she listened to him.

    For foreigners, Chinese was probably as unique and hard to understand as 52 Hertz¡¯s song.

    ¡°Ga ga! I have specificallye to inform you that you¡¯ve gotten onto the shot list for next year. Please check and ept it!¡± Richard saw that everyone was staying on the second floor. They hadn¡¯te down for a long time, so it flew up to join in on the excitement. It just so happened to hear Zhang Zian¡¯s pretentious words, so it instantly cracked down on them.

    Zhang Zian gave a dry cough, then brought the topic back. ¡°Ke! Anyway, just be at ease and learn. If you need any help, like needing more recordings, all you need to do is open your mouth. It¡¯s no big deal. I¡¯ll just go record more sounds.¡±

    ¡°When ites to learning anguage, no one is better at that than me. I¡¯m willing to provide you with all the tricks from the numerousnguage that I have umted free of charge¨C¨Cas long as after you have learned the whale¡¯snguage, you teach it to me,¡± Richard pped its wings and called out.

    Not being able to learn Pi¡¯s signnguage was one thing, but it had always been dissatisfied that it could not understand whalenguage, so it took the opportunity to make the request.

    ¡°What kind of know-how? Say it out for us to hear.¡± Zhang Zian, upon hearing that, was quite curious; after all, it was not bad to have more abilities. If he could learn some useful tricks, if the pet shop copsed one day, then he could still go to New Oriental to be a teacher¡­

    Richard jauntily called out, ¡°Ga ga! The trick is¨C¨Cif you can¡¯t die while you are learning, then you must learn until you die!¡±

    Zhang Zian, ¡°¡­Are you sure this is not some closed high school slogan of a closed Militarization Organization?¡±

    Fina looked across them, then coldly spit out, ¡°Noisy!¡±

    Zhang Zian and Richard shut their mouths at the same time, both not willing to admit defeat as they red at each other. They wished they could use their res to kill the other.

    ¡°All right, I will try my best to learn,¡± Sihwa nodded and said. Her voice was not loud, but it was more firm than normal.

    It was the first time that she had a strong determination not for herself, but for other lives besides her own. She did not bargain with Zhang Zian; she was purely selfless. She could not get anything in return from 52 Hertz, and she had to use time that she could spend ying on her phone to learn a new whalenguage. That was something that would have been unthinkable to her before now.

    She seemed to see a shadow of herself from 52 Hertz: They were both so lonely, and both so misunderstood.

    She wanted to help it, just like she hoped that someone would help her.

 Chapter 929: Schedule Confirmation

    <h4>Chapter 929: Schedule Confirmation</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sihwa temporarily gave up on ying, gave up learning Chinese, and even gave up on her live broadcasts; she devoted herself to learning 52 Hertz¡¯s uniquenguage.

    Every time anyone entered the bathroom, they saw her sitting in the bathtub with a slight frown as she listened to the recording with full concentration. Sometimes, she would even make strange shapes with her mouth as she practiced.

    She was not just making the shapes up as she went¨C¨Cbut she was imitating 52 Hertz¡¯s sound. Whether it was the recording itself or her imitation of it, they were both silent, at least to the people listening.

    Since Sihwa had decided to learn 52 Hertz¡¯snguage, Zhang Zian had made a copy of the original audio file of 52 Hertz¡¯s whale song from the underwater pickup device and sent it to Sihwa¡¯s mobile phone.

    The sound he heard before was not the original audio file, but it was automatically modted by the instrument and yed at ten times its original speed. The sound on the original audio file was not made for human ears. The degree of its melodious gentleness could easily be imagined.

    Fina, Old Time Tea, and Famous had a more sensitive sense of hearing than humans did, so they were able to hear some slight sounds, but it wouldn¡¯t cause any effect on their daily lives. It was no different than any background noise.

    Themotion about the earthquake quickly subsided, and it was unsure if anyone was detained and warned about it. Nobody came up to Zhang Zian with the intention of finding faults, though. In fact, Binhai City wasn¡¯t located in the earthquake zone, and there hadn¡¯t been any major earthquakes in its history. Typhoons and tsunamis were a much bigger threat than an earthquake was.

    Zhang Zian still went to the beach every day, but he didn¡¯t head out to the sea again. Sihwa said that the existing audio was enough for her. To be honest, in the current situation, he didn¡¯t want to take any risks. It wasn¡¯t a good feeling to be in the middle of the sea, waiting for the appearance of a giant beast. It was like he¡¯d be using himself as bait.

    He didn¡¯t know how long Sihwa was going to take, and it didn¡¯t seem nice for him to rush her. He felt anxious, though. After all, a valuable instrument like the underwater pickup device couldn¡¯t stay in his hands forever; it had to be returned as soon as possible. Returning it on time would make it easier to borrow anything in the future.

    That morning, Zhang Zian was cleaning up downstairs as usual. Wang Qian and Li Kun carried the garbage bags that were filled with empty bottles so they could dispose of them at the green space. They also had to walk the dogs and feed the stray cats there. Sometimes when they had already disposed of the garbage bags, they would hide and observe for a while until they saw the grandmother appear with her pomeranian to pick up the bags up, then happily totter her way back to her old cottage. Only then would they return back to the pet shop with the puppies.

    It was early in the morning and there were already a few fans in the shop squeezing around Famous for a picture.

    As time went by, the influence of Famous winning its awards at the Berlin Film Festival had slightly diminished, so the number of fans who came to visit had decreased. But after the film was officially released in China, fans were definitely going to swarm the pet shop. There would be so many that they might even shatter the ss doors¡­

    Zhang Zian¡¯s phone rang. He straightened his waist, took off his gloves, and pulled out his cell phone. He was a little worried that it would be Professor Wei Kang urging him to return the underwater pickup device¡­ However, it wasn¡¯t Wei Kang who sent the message, but Director Feng Xuan.

    Feng Xuan: ¡°Xiao Zhang, let me tell you a piece of good news!¡±

    Zhang Zian quickly replied, ¡°Director Feng, what good news? Did the team discover that they identally gave me too little of a sry?¡±

    Feng Xuan: ¡°Hehe, not that. The Dog Warrior release date has been set. In fact, we were really fighting for it to release during the summer vacation, but unfortunately, for various reasons, it will be sooner than that.¡±

    What the hell! Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. He read the message over and over again, and then looked at the sender to confirm if it was Feng Xuan and not some rotten kid who had changed his profile picture to Feng Xuan¡¯s.

    Both Zian and Famous had been waiting for the official release of Dog Warrior. Actually, not only them, but also everyone else on the production team.

    However, as everyone knew, films were subjected to heavy censorship in China, and they would not lower the censorship standard just because the film had won a prize. If it was pointed out that a portion wasn¡¯t suitable during the review process, it would have to be rectified, deleted, or redone immediately. Otherwise, there was the possibility that it would never be released. It would be a long process, so everyone could only be patient and wait for good news.

    Zhang Zian nced over at Famous. It was surrounded by fans, but it seemed to feel that Zian wanted its attention and so turned back to look at him.

    Zian smiled, then decided to find out more about the news before he spilled the beans. He replied, ¡°That¡¯s great! Director Feng, when will it be released?¡±

    Feng Xuan: ¡°At present, only a few people know about this news, and a formal announcement will be issued soon. If everything goes as nned, it¡¯s scheduled to premier at the Beijing International Film Festival in the near future. That¡¯s the other reason I contacted you. I would like to ask you to take Famous and participate in the premier. All the members of the production team will alsoe to help with the publicity.¡±

    He sent another message that said, ¡°Even the two police dogs, Prince and Red Dragon, are invited with their trainers. If the team leader of the Police Dog Unit approves and they have no duty that day, they should also be participating. What do you think? Would you have the time toe down to Beijing? Of course, the team will bear all the expenses for your amodation and travels.¡±

    The Beijing International Film Festival? Zhang Zian¡¯s heart jumped, then he slowly calmed himself down from his earlier excitement. He carefully read the message twice and began to make his ns silently.

    When the contract was signed for Famous, there was a provision in the contract that required the team members to fully cooperate with the publicity for the film. Of course, the rules were dead, and people were living, so the rules weren¡¯t so strict. Zhang Zian had pushed off some of the previous publicity activities and the production team didn¡¯t use the contract to embarrass him.

    But now for the premier of Dog Warrior in China, he had to participate¨C¨Cnot only for the team, but also for Famous.

    Due to the premier and subsequent series of interviews and publicity activities, he was most likely going to have to stay in Beijing for a few days after the fact. The work in the store needed to be arranged in advance¡­ There didn¡¯t seem to be anything else for him to prepare. After all, he wasn¡¯t going abroad.

    So he replied, ¡°Got it, Director Feng. Famous and I will participate.¡±

    Feng Xuan: ¡°Okay. About the specific itinerary and arrangement, I¡¯ll let my assistant contact you. If you find anything to be inconvenient or if there¡¯s anything you require to be prepared in advance, you can tell him directly. Don¡¯t be too reserved.¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°I got it. I look forward to meeting everyone in Beijing.¡±

    Ending the conversation with Feng Xuan, Zian opened the calendar on his mobile phone and checked for the specific dates.

    That year¡¯s Beijing International Film Festival would be held in April, and the most optimistic estimate for the Egypt trip would be in May, so there weren¡¯t any conflicts in time.

    Famous had been staring at Zian because it noticed that the expression on Zian¡¯s face was veryplicated and had been changing rapidly. It felt that something big had happened.

    p, p! Zhang Zian pped his hands and got the attention of the staff, customers, fans, elfins, and even the pets. He then announced loudly, ¡°I have a piece of good news for everyone! Dog Warrior will officially be released soon!¡±

 Chapter 930: The First Text Message

    <h4>Chapter 930: The First Text Message</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian raised both his hands high,ughing foolishly. Unlike in his imagination, however, there was no exciting scene facing him.

    Besides things concerning pets, his creditworthiness had dropped. Most of the customers, the movie fans, and the elfins all looked at him like they were looking at a silly a** person. No one believed what he said.

    ¡°Really! All of you must believe me!¡± Zhang Zian exined, awkwardly lowering his hands.

    There was a hardcore movie fan who came to the shop practically every day, but they were still not yet aware of his dark past. They asked excitedly, ¡°Really? When will it be shown? I¡¯m going to take my whole ss and book the whole venue!¡±

    ¡°At present, it is scheduled to have a domestic premier at the Capital Film Festival inte April. Immediately after that, it will be screened at all major cinema chains in the country!¡± Zhang Zian generously shared the new information with everyone.

    ¡°Oh? Really? What is the frequency of showtimes? How much do the movie tickets cost?¡± the movie fan continued to ask.

    ¡°This¡­¡± Zhang Zian did not know how to answer the question. He could only shake his head helplessly. ¡°I haven¡¯t had time to ask about any of that yet. The frequency of showtimes is hard to confirm right now, right?¡±

    ¡°Are you silly? Of course this kind of thing has to be arranged in advance. If you know the producers of the film, tell them to go to the managers of the major cinema chains with meals, drinks, rebates, and red envelopes before it¡¯s toote! The data from the first day the movie is aired is very important; it affects the number of times the movie will be aired each day in the future. Let the filmmakers take their own money out to pay for the attendance numbers and the box office. Don¡¯t feel embarrassed. Nowadays everyone is doing this. If anyone doesn¡¯t do it, they will surely regret it! This is a good film, but even fragrant wine is afraid of deep valleys!¡±

    The movie fan¡¯s words were rough, but not unreasonable. He seemed to have a great understanding of the inside workings of the movie industry. He painfully exined the gains and losses of the situation to Zhang Zian and talked until Zhang Zian¡¯s heart was slightly moved. He hesitated as to whether he should give Feng Xuan a subtle reminder.

    The movie was too important to Famous, and they could not afford to have anything go wrong. Half of their sess had been achieved after getting to Berlin¡¯s Film Emperor, but the domestic box office was as unpredictable as the domestic stock market.

    He looked towards Famous to ask for its opinion.

    Famous was both shocked and excited. After waiting for so long, the official airing of the movie was finally confirmed. Despite the excitement, however, it had still managed to maintain its calm and restrained attitude. After all, that level of excitement was not the first time for it; it was a dog who had done big scenes.

    It shook its head indifferently and explicitly rejected Zhang Zian¡¯s inquiry. It had defeated countless rivals in the film industry, and it disdained the use of such low level means. Absolute strength could crush all the evil doers.

    Zhang Zian nodded his head to express that he understood, then turned back to the movie fan. ¡°Thank you for your kind intentions, but it¡¯s still better to let things unfold naturally. The people¡¯s eyes are bright, and good films will not be buried. No matter what you do for roughly produced films, in the end, they are just a pile of chicken feathers.¡±

    That movie fan wanted to continue to persuade him, but Zhang Zian signaled that their discussion was over. There was no need to say anything else.

    It was only at that time that the other people finally believed that Zhang Zian was not randomly fooling them again. One by one they expressed their well wishes towards him and Famous¨C¨Cthey had managed to wait for the clouds to disperse to see the moonlight.

    The other movie fans present shared the explosive news with their friend circles and their Weibo ounts. The information spread quickly, but whether others believed it was something else entirely.

    Zhang Zian epted the congrattions with ease and wasughing with the movie fans. Anyway, Feng Xuan did not tell him that he had to keep it a secret.

    At that moment, his phone rang again.

    He thought that Feng Xuan had forgotten to tell him some information he wanted to share, or that Feng Xuan¡¯s assistant was contacting him, so he separated himself from the crowd and walked into a corner. He would let Famous ept the congrattions from the movie fans.

    However, the message on the phone screen was not sent by Feng Xuan, nor was it by Wei Kang to remind him to quickly return the underwater sound device.

    It was a message, and after the free online chatting applications started to be widely used, practically no one was willing to spend the money to send a text message. What was normally received through text was advertisements or notifications, but this was not.

    The sender was Sihwa.

    The text message only had a few words: ¡°I¡¯m Sihwa. Help me congratte Famous! Also, I¡¯ve finished learning thenguage.¡±

    She did not know that the text message would show who sent it as long as their name was in the receiver¡¯s call log; she had even especially emphasized that she was Sihwa. Furthermore, she had typed the wrong ¡°Fei¡± in Famous, because she had heard other people call it Famous. She knew how to pronounce it, but she did not know which ¡°Fei¡± word it was.

    It was her first time texting, and her first time typing. It was also her first time using Chinese letters to type.

    Zhang Zian had taught her before how to use WeChat to send free messages. She had learned it and sent some voice messages, but after the novelty had passed, because she had no one else to send messages to besides him, she had not sent any messages again.

    She did not use the free WeChat, but instead specifically used the text messages that one had to pay for. There had to be some special meaning behind it.

    Zhang Zian was very surprised, but he did not have the time to think deeper into it. He walked over to Famous and said, ¡°Sihwa told me to congratte you.¡±

    Famous was stunned but cried out with a Woof! It wanted Zhang Zian to thank her in response. He should have gone upstairs to thank her face to face, but he was surrounded and could not get away.

    The rest of the people in the shop did not know who Sihwa was, but after they heard her name, they thought she seemed like a fresh girl. There was another round of people making digs at Zhang Zian and ridiculing him.

    Zhang Zian silently remembered everyone who ridiculed him, nning to have his revenge on themter on. He then tookrge steps and went upstairs.

    Pi was in front of theputer, the keyboard tapping as he typed on it. When it heard footsteps, it turned to look at Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Pi, let me tell you some good news. Dog Warrior is going to officially air soon!¡± he excitedly told Pi the good news.

    ¡°Zhi zhi!¡± Pi was equally excited. It pushed the keyboard aside, jumping down from the chair and dancing about.

    ¡°No matter what, we need to think of a way to celebrate a bit today¡­ How about an unprecedented game of ultimate hide-and-seek?¡± Zhang Zian suggested.

    ¡°Meow! Hide-and-seek! Gxy wants to y hide-and-seek!¡± Gxy happened to be chasing the American Shorthair and ran past them through the hallway. It immediately rejoiced upon hearing Zhang Zian¡¯s words.

    ¡°Zhi zhi¡­¡± Pi had been traumatized from the hide-and-seek games with Gxy, and upon hearing that they would be ying ultimate hide-and-seek, it got even more scared and started to shrink into a corner. It scratched its ears and cheeks to think of an excuse to not participate. Presumably, Famous would do the same thing.

    ¡°We can talk about thister. I have to go and find Sihwa first.¡±

    Zhang Zian let Pi and Gxy continue writing and ying. He knocked on the door of the bathroom. Sihwa was sitting in the bathtub, dazedly staring at the outside through the small window. Her face had a look of tiredness that was rarely seen.

    Hearing him knock the door, she turned her head around and smiled lightly. ¡°So many people like Famous!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because Famous is very hardworking, and this is what it deserves. A lot of people only see the good times¨C¨Cwhen Famous has seeded. They do not know how much hard work and sweat it put in to stand on that stage,¡± Zhang Zian answered. ¡°There is no sess thates purely due to luck.¡±

    She nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve finished learning thenguage. Do you want to record the sounds now?¡±

 Chapter 931: Fighting!

    <h4>Chapter 931: Fighting!</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In order to ensure the uracy of the recording, Zhang Zian did not simply use his phone to record, but instead took the underwater pickup device, held up the receiving end of the device, and pointed it at Sihwa.

    ¡°Are you ready?¡± he asked. ¡°When you¡¯re ready, I will start recording.¡±

    Sihwa was a little nervous facing such a strange instrument.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. Just think of it as an oversized microphone. Haven¡¯t you seen the otherwork anchors broadcast while using a microphone? It¡¯s basically the same kind of thing,¡± Zhang Zian encouraged her.

    Sihwa nodded. She had seen the other anchors using a seemingly professional microphone, and she had wanted to ask Zhang Zian for one. She was already in too much debt, though, so she felt like she couldn¡¯t bring it up.

    She rxed a little, looked at Zian, opened her mouth, and sang slowly into the microphone.

    Although she was singing, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t hear what she was singing. He could only see her mouth moving at a very slow speed. He didn¡¯t even notice when she stopped.

    ¡°Wait¡­ wait, I made a mistake. Can we start over?¡± she asked, embarrassed.

    Zhang Zian was a step slow in reacting. ¡°Yes, it doesn¡¯t matter. You can sing however you want. I¡¯ll just edit itter and save the part that¡¯s correct.¡±

    Sihwa nodded and began her soundless singing again. She was very focused, her looks unparalleled, and if she wasn¡¯t singing a soundless whale song but a popr song, she could probably decimate all the other femalework anchors in a split second.

    Zhang Zian had been pointing the microphone of the device at Sihwa the whole time and he felt like a sound recording artist. From time to time, he would nce over at the small LCD screen of the instrument, and the screen showed a soft undtion of waves. But because he was too bored, he took the long end of the microphone and held it under his arm. He then gently put on the matching monitor headphones to iste all the noises around him.

    The sound that had been modted by the device in real time made its way into his ears. He closed his eyes and listened.

    Wu¡ª¡ªWu¡ª¡ª The sound had a rhythm like that of Scottish bagpipes, asionally apanied by brisk drum beats. An image of a shepherd girl guiding a flock of sheep on the endless grasnd as a huge shepherd dog ran happily by her side, barking as it rushed the sheep that were falling behind back to the team, popped into his mind.

    Enveloped in the whale song, Zian could hardly feel the passage of time until the sound had stoppedpletely. He opened his eyes and locked eyes with Sihwa, who had already finished singing.

    ¡°How¡­ how is it?¡± she asked nervously. ¡°Was there anything wrong?¡±

    Even if she had asked Zhang Zian for his opinion, he couldn¡¯t answer. But judging by his subjective feelings, Sihwa¡¯s song seemed to be more melodious than the song of 52 Hertz. The former was like a bagpipe, while thetter was like a whistle¡­

    Was it different because of their sizes? Or their gender?

    He hesitated to point out the difference, but after thinking about it, he decided not to say it. If he could hear it, then Sihwa was surely able to hear it too.

    As the saying went, ¡®Never doubt the person you hire, and never hire the person you doubt.¡¯ In addition, no one except Sihwa knew best about the whalenguage, so in that case, he chose to believe her.

    ¡°I think that it¡¯s very good.¡± He smiled. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll go ahead and edit it. It¡¯s the final portion right?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Sihwa nodded hard and looked more rxed now.

    Pi was still racking its brain to think of a way to get out of ying hide-and-seek, so Zhang Zian took the opportunity to connect the instrument to theputer and start the sound analysis software. Messy waveforms popped up on the screen like a collection of mountains.

    Although the surroundings seemed to be very quiet, like there was no noise at all, the sensitive device had still recorded a lot of sounds that the human ear couldn¡¯t pick up or hear clearly.

    Zian clicked on one of the curves at random, then he heard the voices of a couple whispering from the headphones¨C¨Cthe customers downstairs. The male partner said that they were financially tight at the moment, and asked if they could purchase a pet in a few months. The female partner whispered to the male partner in a very low, but coquettish voice, saying she wanted to buy the cute kitten now.

    Clicking on another curve, he heard a rustling sound. Initially, he thought it was the sound of the wind blowing the leaves outside the window, but he soon realized that it was actually the sound of the friction between Lu Yiyun¡¯s pressure-sensitive pen and the drawing tablet.

    Even the whirring sound of the fridge next door could be heard clearly. Terrifying¡­

    Thinking about it, if Zian were to start the recording at night, it would probably be possible to record some sounds that shouldn¡¯t be recorded¡­ Zhang Zian shook his head and dispelled all the unrealistic thoughts from his mind, re-focusing his mind on the things at hand.

    Because of his previous experience, he was familiar with the program. He first filtered out all the high-frequency sound waves that were obviously inconsistent, and then picked out the correct sound wave from the many waveforms ording to the time he had recorded earlier.

    He listened to it, and he could hear Sihwa¡¯s song again in the earphones. He didn¡¯t make a wrong selection. He extracted the correct portion of the audio file and imported it into the memory card.

    ¡°Pi, you don¡¯t have to hide. Even if we¡¯re ying hide and seek, it won¡¯t be right now. You have to wait for Famous to have time, then we¡¯ll surprise it.¡± He raised the memory card in his hand and said, ¡°Go on and continue writing. I¡¯m heading out, but I should be back before noon.¡±

    ¡°Zhi Zhi.¡± Pi breathed a sigh of relief and quickly jumped onto the chair to continue its novel. At least it didn¡¯t need to participate in the terrifying game of hide and seek now.

    Gxy probably already knew that they wouldn¡¯t be ying hide-and-seek for the time being, so it didn¡¯t wait foolishly for it. It had already disappeared downstairs to chase the Abyssinian cats.

    Zhang Zian carried the underwater speaker on his shoulder and walked to the stairway. He was about to go downstairs when he suddenly heard Sihwa¡¯s voiceing from the bathroom.

    ¡°Aza¡­¡±

    He thought that Sihwa was calling him. After all, she had always called him ¡°A-jeoan¡± or ¡°Ajeo-an.¡± The pronunciation was very simr to this, so he stopped.

    ¡°Fighting!¡± However, Sihwa said an English word.

    Zhang Zian remained in the same ce in a blur, and only after a few seconds did he realize that what she had said was actually, ¡°Aza fighting!¡±

    It was a phrase that often appeared in Korean dramas. It wasn¡¯t purely English, but was considered abination of half-Koreannguage and half-Englishnguage. Fighting, of course, meant, ¡°You can do it¡± or ¡°Buck up,¡± and aza was just a modal particle.

    But Sihwa had added a nasally sound to the end of ¡°a,¡± which made it sound like ¡°azan.¡± For someone who was sensitive to hernguage and pronunciation, she wouldn¡¯t have made such a low-level mistake, which indicated that it was intentional.

    The pronunciation sounded more like ¡°a-zi-an¡± than ¡°a-ze-an.¡±

    Zian recalled the time he had met Sihwa on the beach in Germany. When he introduced his name to her, she held her chin and said that she liked the name ¡°Zian.¡± Did she n on nicknaming him ¡°Azi¡¯an?¡±

    She was saying, ¡°Azian, you can do it!¡± It was just that she was too shy, so she was using that to cover it up. That part of her seemed like she had been influenced by Fina.

    Although he couldn¡¯t see her from the stairway, Zhang Zian still gave a thumbs up in the direction of the bathtub across the wall. He smiled and responded, ¡°Fighting!¡±

 Chapter 932: Dorsal Fin

    <h4>Chapter 932: Dorsal Fin</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Downstairs, Famous was still tightly surrounded by the movie fans and the customers who had heard the news. Everyone wanted to take a photo with it as a memory before the movie aired; they were afraid that in the future, after it became a famous star, there would not be a lot of opportunities to take any more photos with it.

    Zhang Zian picked up the battery that was charging at the corner of the wall and opened the trunk of the car. He connected it to the motor, confirming that the battery had already been charged to 100 percent.

    Wang Qian noticed his actions and knew that he was going to take the boat out to sea again. Otherwise, he would not be bringing the battery. He walked over and asked, ¡°Master, could it be that you are going to watch the whales again?¡±

    Jiang Feifei, who was next door, had also heard the news that the movie would be aired publicly. Although she was not that interested in movies, her ssmates knew she was working at the aquarium and had all asked her to find out more about the newest information. Since the aquarium did not have many customers at the moment, she walked over to the pet shop.

    ¡°Store manager, when are you going to bring me along to whale watch? I¡¯ve even bought my life jacket already¡­¡± she said in anticipation.

    ¡°About that¡­ It should be quite soon,¡± Zhang Zian smiled and said, ¡°Don¡¯t be in a rush. We must wait for the suitable time. Everyone will have the chance to go too.¡±

    Jiang Feifei saw how he had loosened his lips and was instantly overjoyed.

    Before that, he had kept very tight lipped because there was a giant whale at sea that was moody. As long as the problem with 52 Hertz could be solved smoothly, it would no longer pose a danger to those who wanted to whale watch. It would be much safer to go to sea to whale watch.

    He gave some more instructions before turning to enter the car, and headed towards the seaside.

    Not long after, he stopped his car at his normal parking spot by the sea and dragged the assault boat out from his trunk.

    As a result of two or three days of continuous spring rain, the temperature was somewhat low, and the sea level seemed to have risen a little higher than usual. Foaming waves rushed down to the beach and hit the reef rocks.

    Zhang Zian pumped air into the assault boat as he continuously thought about the steps for the operation. If 52 Hertz could understand Sihwa¡¯s song, then that would be all right¡­ But what if it could not understand? Or what if it understood, but did not reply?

    He thought about how to respond to all the different possible scenarios in order to be rtively stable, but the ocean was vast, and his boat was just a lone boat. There was no one-size-fits-all strategy, and he had to, at the minimum, ensure his safe return.

    The assault boat was fully filled with air, and he simply checked to see if there were any leakages before pushing the small boat out to sea. He then activated the motor, driving into the sea.

    He made an estimation based on what he could see, and when he reached close to where he wasst time, he switched off the motor, inserted the memory card into the underwater speaker, and started to y it.

    After preparing everything, he put on his headphones again, and stopped the underwater speaker at intervals. He listened to the sounds that the underwater sound device recorded.

    Countless mysterious andplex sounds surrounded him again. He had heard some of them before, but he had also never heard some of before. Could it be that after noting for a few days, there were new guests in the sea?

    It would be great if the deserted, open seas of Binhai City could take advantage of the precious time during the fishing ban to return to its old vigorous appearance.

    Hearing the sounds under the sea, his mind wandered unconsciously. One moment, he was filled with excitement at the thought of Famous¡¯ filming out soon; one moment he was excited at the thought of his mysterious trip to ancient Egypt; and one moment he was worried about the case of the cat abuse that had yet to be solved. Not to mention the god d*mn statue of the cat was still missing¡­

    Just at that moment, a distant sound suddenly sounded in his ear, like a train whistle in the distance. At first, it was very far and somewhat dull, like it wasing out of a tunnel. It soon drew nearer and nearer, suppressing all other sounds, and evoked echoes throughout the valley.

    Other sounds, like the arrival of a sea bully, suddenly grew silent like cicadas in cold weather, or they fled at the fastest speed. It was suddenly as quiet as a pond before a storm.

    Zhang Zian suddenly became alert,ing out from the state of where his mind was wandering off.

    He had repeatedly listened to the recording of 52 Hertz song. He was already very familiar with its voice, but today, its voice seemed to be different; it was even more hurried, with shorter intervals and a stronger emphasis. It was just like a wanderer who saw his father and elders from afar, dropping all the burden in his hands and rushing wildly towards his parents and rtives that were at the doorway of his home.

    He nced at the small LCD screen, and the sound intensity disyed on the screen increased at a steady speed. It proved that it was moving in a practically straight line to his direction at an unprecedented speed that was faster than ever.

    With his previous experience, he estimated the time, and when he felt that it was almost time, he kept the underwater sound device, and only left the speaker. He started the motor and made a short retreat to the shore.

    The distance was very tricky. While it was not yet a safe distance, Zhang Zian decided to take a gamble. He trusted in Sihwa¡¯s hard work thest few days. At this distance, even if there were any idents, he could probably still swim back to shore.

    He could not retreat too far. If 52 Hertz came after him because it was too excited, its huge body would probably be stranded on shore. He would have been the main culprit¨C¨Coriginally wanting to help it, but harming it in the end.

    Zhang Zian took off his headphones. His gaze cruised across the undting sea. His two hands held onto both sides of the ship and his heart beat like that of a drum, his palms sweating.

    To say that he was not nervous was impossible. A huge beast was about to appear, but he did not know how it was going to appear. Would it directly rush up from below and throw the small boat into the sky? Or would it open its mouth that was as wide as a city gate and swallow both him and the small boat?

    All right, the second one was probably not possible¡­ If 52 Hertz was a mix between the blue whale and the fin whale, then it probably inherited some of their characteristics. Although the mouth of a blue whale was extremely big, its throat was very narrow and was not able to swallow an adult human. Its throat could even be blocked by floating stic bags in the sea, and that was how some blue whales died¡­ So, blue whales instinctively avoided devouringrger organisms.

    Of course, Zhang Zian did not want to personally find out if the fact was true.

    Suddenly, he caught sight of a small, fast moving ck spot from the corner of his eye. He quickly picked up the telescope to look at it.

    It was a dorsal fin that cut through the sea like a sharp knife, stabbing directly in the direction of the boat. The swinging tail fin could also be vaguely seen behind it.

    If a person did not know about marine life and was sitting in a boat that was like an eggshell, like Zhang Zian was, and they suddenly saw the towering dorsal fin rushing towards them, their first reaction would be that a shark hade. Their second reaction would be to be so scared that they urinated on the spot.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart tightened, but when he saw the tail fin behind the dorsal fin, he put his heart back into his throat.

    Differentiating between sharks and whales at sea was simple. Although sometimes their dorsal fins were confusing, there were essential differences in the way they swung their tail fins. Sharks swung left and right, while whales swung their tail fins up and down, so the owner of the dorsal fin was a real whale.

    Puff!

    As it approached, it slowed down, spewing out a towering water pir. Half of its body came out of the sea.

    It really was 52 Hertz.

 Chapter 933: Truth Revealed

    <h4>Chapter 933: Truth Revealed</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian remembered very clearly. The previous time and the time before that, 52 Hertz¡¯s aggressive appearance on the surface of the water had left little room for him and the minke whales to avoid being hit. Now, it appeared 200 to 300 meters away from the boat, with its caudal fin mming onto the surface of the waterzily as it approached with a slower speed.

    Generally, whales had poor eyesight, but from such a distance, it would at least be able to see the outline of the boat. It was probably both surprised and confused. Why was it that the ¡°whale¡± that emitted the same sound as it was so small?

    It swam in an arc, and it seemed like it was going to look around the boat.

    Seeing it behave that way, Zhang Zian knew that Sihwa¡¯s song had worked. It was no longer the violent old man¡­ or sister, but he still couldn¡¯t judge how big of an effect it has.

    As it approached, Zian secretly grumbled, because the pressure of a behemoth approaching him at a slow speed was even stronger than the shock caused by its sudden appearance. It was like a training at a low speed and he, for some reason, had to stay on the rails and hope that the train would stop in time.

    When it was closer, he finally observed some details of its body.

    Inparison to other whales, its appearance was very unique; it could even be said to be somewhat strange. It was about 25 meters long from head to tail, probably even longer. After all, Zian had nothing to use as reference and was purely making an estimation through his visual inspection.

    Its appearance was closer to that of a fin whale¡¯s, but it was bigger than the ordinary fin whale. Its head was slightly curved like a blue whale, its baleen was ck, and its back was blueish gray like a blue whale¡­ The wrinkled area on its nk was white just like a fin whale, though, while the other parts of its nk were also blueish grey like a blue whale.

    In addition, its dorsal fins were so small that they did notmensurate with its size, like the dorsal fins of a fin whale, which was why it was almost mistaken as a shark.

    During its approach, it asionally leaped out of the water before mming back down, sshing outrge waves. Zhang Zian also took the opportunity to observe the details of the underside of its body, head, and neck through his binocrs.

    First of all, it was certainly not a blue whale, and secondly, although its appearance was just like a fin whale, there were several characteristic features that were different from a fin whale. A fin whale¡¯s right chin was grayish white, while its left chin was grayish ck, looking like it had shaved a yin yang beard. That wasn¡¯t the case for 52 Hertz, however; its chin color was the same on both sides.

    The same was true for the color of its baleen. A true fin whale would have different colors on both sides, but it had the same color on both sides. When it turned sideways, the slightly exposed baleen tes were thinner and not as thick as a blue whale¡¯s.

    Based on those characteristics, Zhang Zian was at least 80 percent sure of it being a mixed breed between a blue whale and a fin whale. As for the remaining 20 percent, he had to rely on a DNA identification to seal it.

    Throughout the second half of the 20th century, humans had only confirmed the existence of five hybrids born from blue whales and fin whales. Even with the addition of a decade or two in the new century, the number would never exceed ten¡­ or it may not even increase at all.

    Obviously, the mysterious 52 Hertz was another mixed breed that had not been discovered, and its mixed blood was what gave it a unique voice. That was also the cause of its loneliness.

    In addition, while it was swimming over, Zhang Zian confirmed that it was a female whale.

    Cross-species hybrids often meant infertility, such as the familiar mule, but he believed that 52 Hertz was different. If it encountered the right partner, it was still possible for it to be a mother.

    Mules were infertile because a horse had 64 chromosomes, while a donkey had 62. A mule only had 63, which were unpaired. The blue and fin whale both had 22 chromosomes, so the number of chromosomes in their babies would also be 22.

    If there were no surprises, the chromosomes in 52 Hertz should be paired, meaning it was fertile.

    It was already an adult, so it couldn¡¯t wait to swim over after hearing the sound. Was it perhaps looking for a partner? Unfortunately, it was going to be disappointed, as there was only one intable boat there.

    Zhang sat quietly in the boat. No matter what he did, he did it in slow-motion, so as to not frighten 52 Hertz.

    When 52 Hertz appeared, he had turned off Sihwa¡¯s song in order to avoid making it too excited, but he left the speaker in the water.

    It might be because of its poor eyesight, or its eagerness to find out, but as it started to get closer and closer, it locked eyes with Zhang Zian.

    Its eyes were different from a minke whale¡¯s. It had two distinct folds in its upper and lower eyelids, just like a human¡¯s double eyelid and the bags under their eyes. Its eyes were all blue and ck with almost no white. It was just like a huge, glimmering sapphire.

    Then, it slightly squinted its eyes, took in a breath of air, and quickly sank down into the sea. It disappeared from the surface.

    Did it leave? No, it didn¡¯t.

    If a drone was to film from above, it would show a huge shadow in the blue sea, silently creeping under Zhang Zian¡¯s boat. If it were to m its way out of the water, Zian would experience what it was like to fly.

    Zhang Zian was also aware of his current situation and was even more afraid to move. He had a life jacket and a lifebuoy was within his reach. Anyway, whales didn¡¯t eat people, so as long as he didn¡¯t drown, everything would be okay.

    It took over tens of seconds for the huge shadow to swim past the assault boat. It floated up on the other side of the boat and spurted a mist of water.

    At that time, the wind was blowing from thend towards the ocean, so some of the water mist was blown onto Zhang Zian, carrying the strong smell of fish and shrimp.

    It pped its pectoral fins, turned a semi-circr bend, and swam back again. This time its eyes were full of expectation and longing; it was so strong it almost overflowed. Even Zhang Zian was deeply affected.

    After 30 years of loneliness, it had finally received a response.

    ¡°Hi!¡± Zhang Zian waved to it. ¡°You didn¡¯t hear wrong, the song was from me.¡± Zian patted the rubber side of the assault boat. ¡°This is my boat, and we¡¯re here to say hello to you.¡±

    52 Hertz was apparently unable to understand his words, so it continued to swim around the boat. From time to time, it snuck into the water and swam beneath the boat, as if looking for one of its kind that didn¡¯t exist.

    Because it couldn¡¯t locate its target after some time, it started to be more and more anxious. Its range of motion was getting bigger, and the waves it made caused the boat to rise and fall like a roller coaster. Although it wasn¡¯t enough to overturn the boat, it would only be a matter of time before the boat was overturned.

    Zhang Zian underestimated its desire towards finding one of its kind. He thought that it would leave with the satisfaction of hearing a response, but looking at it now, it seemed more like it wouldn¡¯t stop unless it achieved its goal.

    If it didn¡¯t leave, then Zian could only retreat back.

    When it swam to the front of the assault boat again, Zian quietly started the motor, shifted the reverse gear, and tried to retreat back to the coast. However, 52 Hertz immediately noticed his attempt and quickly went after him. It made a turn around the boat and refused to let Zian go.

 Chapter 934: All Set For a Showdown

    <h4>Chapter 934: All Set For a Showdown</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Faced with 52 Hertz¡¯s encirclement and interception, Zhang Zian knew that he had miscalcted some aspects of his n. Thirty years of longing could not be eased by just a few sounds.

    Years of loneliness had caused 52 Hertz to separate from the whale species entirely, making it entric. Its actions were not entirely the same as that of normal whales.

    It hade by a response easily. It was like it had managed to grab something lifesaving¡­ How could it let it go? Even if it was not malicious, its huge size in itself was a threat.

    When Zhang Zian tried to drive north, it chased him to the north side, and when he drove to the south, it chased him to the south side.

    The horsepower of the assault boat was not enough, and the fin whale was known for its speed; it had the reputation of being the ¡°deep sea greyhound.¡± 52 Hertz, which had inherited the bloodline of the fin whales, also had a shocking swimming speed. It could easily reach more than 20 miles per hour over short distances. As long as it wanted to chase Zhang Zian, he would not be able to leave.

    Time passed by, and Zhang Zian was still entangled by it. He was not able to get out of the troublesome situation no matter what he did.

    Zhang Zian was in a dilemma. Its actions were dangerous to both him and itself because the sea water was already very shallow. There could be a sunken ship or construction waste on the sea bed and masts or steel bars could cut its belly.

    If he drove out towards the sea it would be safe, but then he would be in danger.

    The small boat was shaking more and more vigorously, and the breakfast in Zhang Zian¡¯s stomach was queuing up to air itself.

    It could not go on like that. Sooner orter, the little boat of friendship would turn over.

    He could not help but secretly regret not borrowing a bigger fishing boat, which, was still unlikely to make it through the chase, but it could have at least held on for a little longer.

    There was no such regret medicine sold in the world. He remembered what Sihwa had said to him before: good luck. He gritted his teeth, decided to take an unconventional gamble, and made every possible effort to get out of the situation.

    He quickly put on the headphones and put the underwater sound device into the water.

    As expected, 52 Hertz was singing again, but since the distance was too close, its song overrode all the other sounds. Both ears of the headphones echoed with its whining song. It was like it was cheering, like it was crying, and like it wasining¡­

    It could not hold itself back; it wanted to say all the words it had umted its whole life.

    Zhang Zian could not understand its words, but he knew who could understand.

    While holding the side of the boat, he tried to dial the phone, but the boat was being rocked so violently by the waves. He was so dizzy from the bumpiness that he couldn¡¯t see the screen clearly.

    Just at that moment, his phone suddenly rang.

    He did not have the time to think further; he instinctively swiped on his phone. He did not even see clearly who called him; he just hoped that it was not some harassment phone call to sell him insurance.

    ¡°Hello?¡±

    ¡°¡­Hello?¡± The voice in the telephone really deviated from the voice in real life. Zhang Zian was stunned for half a second before he responded. The voice was actually Sihwa¡¯s. ¡°Sihwa?¡± he asked loudly.

    ¡°En¡­ en, are you still all right? I¡¯ve been hearing the sound of whales from the east since you left. A whale said it heard a restless whale and a trapped boat¡­ I¡¯m a little worried. Of course, I¡¯m not worried about you! So I called to ask ask¡­¡± Sihwa¡¯s nervous voice came from the receiver.

    Zhang Zian raised his eyes and quickly looked around the area. In the sea not far away, he saw two grayish ck backs. Although he could not see them clearly, he thought it might have been the mother and son minke whales. However, he did not know where the male whale went.

    They could have also been attracted by Sihwa¡¯s song, but his concentration had been on 52 Hertz¡­ He did not even know when they had appeared.

    After suffering losses thest time, they did not even dare to go near to 52 Hertz. They could only sing their whale songs from afar.

    There were many whales around the thousands of kilometers of the area. Most of them were concentrated in the sea off the coast. They were like a noisy banquet hall, talking about practically everything. It was very difficult to tell what they were talking about exactly.

    Sihwa did not recognize the mother and son minke whales, but she had heard their songs. In their songs they had mentioned a giant whale and a small boat, and although she was not sure where the situation was happening, she linked it to Zhang Zian¡¯s situation. He had not returned, despite it being quitete, and she had begun to worry in her heart for some reason.

    She wanted to find people to help, but she could not expose herself, and the rest of the elfins could not speak¡­ The only one who could speak, Richard, could not be taken seriously.

    Furthermore, she was not able to confirm whether the person stuck was Zhang Zian or not. The sound could havee from the sea over a hundred kilometers away.

    The whale song mentioned how the current situation was bing more and more dangerous, but the ability of whales to express themselves was limited. It was unable to fully and urately describe what the exact situation was.

    In a moment of desperation, she remembered that her cell phone could make phone calls, so she plucked up the courage to dial the only number in the phone book.

    Radio waves jumped between telmunication base stations, attenuating in the air and increasing by base stations. When they reached thest base station by the sea, they found that there was no way ahead. They jumped towards the sea desperately, and finally reached the target cell phone before the energy fully decayed and was exhausted.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s cell phone only had one signal bar left, and the quality of the call was not high. It was even more difficult to ess the Inte. Thest time he tried to send a photo to Huang, it took half a day before it was sent over. He did not even think that he could receive phone calls in the middle of the sea¡­ When he returned, he would have to add five yuan to his telephone bill to express his gratitude to the telmunicationspany.

    52 Hertz¡¯s desire was turning into disappointment, and its movement range was gettingrger andrger. It was not the time for politeness, and Zhang Zian instantly said, ¡°Sihwa, 52 Hertz is getting very impatient. Can you listen to what 52 Hertz is saying?¡±

    As he said that, he opened the hands-free mode and put his phone between the two ends of the headphones to let Sihwa directly hear its voice.

    He was very nervous in his heart; he did not know if there would be enough time. Because of the limited ability of low-frequency sound waves to carry information, Sihwa might have to listen for several minutes to understand what 52 Hertz was so eagerly expressing. What hecked most now, however, was time.

    The weather was quite good and there was not much wind, but the water¡¯s surface was choppy because of the huge body of 52 Hertz. Its movements were like someone was stirring a pot of dumpling soup, and Zhang Zian¡¯s small boat was the only dumpling in the pot.

    It definitely had no ill will, but despite that, a sneeze could blow the boat ten meters away.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s was very worried in his heart, but he still could not rush Sihwa. He could only pretend to be calm as he asked, ¡°How much longer do you need?¡±

    ¡°You still need to wait awhile more¡­¡± Sihwa was also very anxious. Although she was not yet able to fully understand what 52 Hertz was expressing, based on the impatience in its voice and the sounds of the waves in the background, she guessed that the situation was not good.

    ¡°No worries. Just listen to it slowly.¡± Zhang Zianforted her. His eyes checked out the surroundings of the boat, nning his escape path after the boat capsized.

    ¡°Eh?¡± Sihwa suddenly shouted, shocked.

    ¡®What happened? Do you understand what it¡¯s saying now?¡± Zhang Zian anxiously asked.

    ¡°No¡­ Nope. It¡¯s not 52 Hertz¡­ It¡¯s other whales¡­ I hear a lot of other whales¡­¡± she said incoherently. ¡°They¡­ They are here!¡±

    An unexpected turnaround urred!

    52 Hertz seemed like it felt some sort of threat, and suddenly stopped swimming around the small boat. It stared in the direction of the deeper sea.

    The surface of the sea around Zhang Zian calmed down very quickly, but the surface of the sea in front of them was very, very choppy.

    What is going on? Zhang Zian wondered. Are you kidding? Who could threaten the big bully of the sea?

    He followed 52 Hertz¡¯s lead and looked in the direction of the choppy water.

    Hua!

    One after another, greyish ck backs emerged. They stretched out in long lines to seal off the sea¡­ It was at least a dozen adult minke whales, and from time to time there were short water sprays in the far-off distance, indicating that more minke whales were rushing over.

    The one at the head was the male whale that Zhang Zian had met before. No wonder it did not appear by the mother and son minke whales! It had gone out to call the nearby minke whales over.

    Minke whales normally traveled alone, but sometimes, they would formrge groups, especially when they met with trouble. They wouldmunicate with each other through whale songs to coordinate a group operation. After all, whales were social animals, and when one was in trouble, they would be supported on all sides.

    The male whale suffered a solo loss thest time. This time, however, it had been smart and asked for help to fight in a group.

    Now, there was a rare and big-scale minke whale gathering.

    Minke whales did not have teeth, but they could use the top of their heads and their bodies to hit each other, and they could use their tail to sweep each other. A singr minke whale could be food for the other ferocious animals at sea, but a big group of minke whales could protect themselves.

    The mother and son minke whales joined the group of whales, and they could no longer be found. The sea was covered with grayish ck backs that loomed over the water¡¯s surface from time to time.

    It was no longer three heroes fighting against Lu Bu, but instead, it was thousands of soldiers and ten thousand horses going to tten Lu Bu¡­

    If he recorded the scene on his mobile phone and posted it on a video website with the title, ¡°Legendary 52 Hertz Battles a Group of Minke Whales,¡± it would certainly draw a lot of attention.

    It was a pity that Zhang Zian did not have the time to record it. His phone was being used to let Sihwa listen to the whale song, and even if there was time to record it, he did not n on recording it. He did not want to disturb the peace of the whales in Binhai City.

    No matter how desperate 52 Hertz was, it still needed to deal with the situation in front of it. The surface of the sea had already been sealed off by the group of minke whales, and it was not the deep sea that it could swim into deeper depths in. If it wanted to break out of being surrounded, it had to barge through the line of minke whales.

    Zhang Zian and his boat had regained temporary stability. He could take the opportunity to slip away, but he did not want to leave 52 Hertz and the minke whales to fight each other until both sides got hurt. Otherwise, there would be several stranded whales on the beach the next day.

    The pair of earmuffs on the earphones echoed all the different kinds of sounds captured by the underwater sound device. The minke whales¡¯ song was chaotic and noisy, and all kinds of information was being exchanged intensively. The sound of 52 Hertz was more profound. Even if he could not understand itpletely, he could feel the sadness of it. The other party could attract arge group of whales when it was met with disagreements, but it would always fight alone. There were no whales of the same species that could respond to its call.

    At that moment, suddenly, another melodious song came out between the earphones. The voice rose to the peak and twisted into the trough, corresponding to two different frequencies.

    52 Hertz and the group of minke whales instantly calmed down.

 Chapter 935: The Lonely Singer

    <h4>Chapter 935: The Lonely Singer</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Needless to say, it was certain that Sihwa had finally understood 52 Hertz. She said something to both 52 Hertz and the minke whales, managing to prevent a meaningless fight.

    Her songsted for a few minutes, and it was modted by the pickup device so Zhang Zian could hear it, too.

    52 Hertz was still excited, but its restlessness had already disappeared. It seemed to have understood that it wouldn¡¯t be able to get an answer from Zhang Zian and his boat; they were not of its kind.

    The minke whales on the other side of the boat were probably persuaded by Sihwa, as well. Minke whales were originally a gentle animal, so after Sihwa had persuaded them, they dispersed in all directions with only a small part of them staying behind. The sounds picked up by the pickup device had also rxed.

    Zhang Zian saw the mother and child minke whale. They hadn¡¯t left, but instead had carefully approached his boat, rolling around the sea in a pleasant and soothing manner. As for the male whale, it had also stayed behind, which was definite, since it wanted to retain the title of the chief escort whale!

    It had attracted a lot of minke whales, including both males and females, and the remaining males were obviously after its target. They circled around the mother and child minke whale from a distance away.

    The external conflict had been resolved, so now, it was the conflict among their own: A courtship battle between the males.

    Zhang Zian had no sympathy for the male whales who had their brains infested with sperm. They were all so eager to get out of their d*mn single status that they wouldn¡¯t even hesitate to fight.

    When Zian saw that the situation had de-escted, he asked through the phone, ¡°Sihwa, what did you say to them?¡±

    ¡°I just told the side with more people to not start a fight, and that the big whale wasn¡¯t a bad guy.¡± Sihwa was wiping off her sweat in the bathtub. The tense situation earlier had made her nervous. She had broken out in a sweat, which rarely happened, and now her whole body felt like it had been emptied.

    ¡°And 52 Hertz, I told it that although it doesn¡¯t have another one of its kind, for the time being, I¡¯m able to understand it. Did you know? It wasn¡¯t actually looking for another of its own kind, but it was just looking for someone who could understand it,¡± she added. ¡°Do you get what I¡¯m trying to say?¡±

    Zhang Zian had a sudden realization. Their previous spections were slightly off. They had always thought that 52 Hertz was looking for its own kind so it could be free from its lonely status, but that wasn¡¯t urate.

    Many kinds of whales liked to be alone, and it was only during the courtship or breeding season that they liked to be apanied by a spouse or children. Therefore, for 52 Hertz, although it was pitiful that it was unable to find another of the same kind, that wasn¡¯t the most pitiful part. The most pitiful thing was that it didn¡¯t have any friends¡­ No creature could understand its voice, and no creature couldmunicate with it.

    Minke whales were also used to being alone, but were they lonely? No, they couldmunicate with other whales at any time.

    Destined to be alone was nothing, and it was fine to not have a partner¡­ Whether it was humans or nature, there were many d*mn singles. But it was terrifying when friends, enemies, or even someone tomunicate with didn¡¯t exist¡­ Even the otakus that didn¡¯t leave their home had a few otaku friends and buddies on the Inte. They reigned over some forum under the name of some hero, smothering all dissident opponents with their spit and endless amounts of time.

    In the simplest terms, one could have been alone, but not lonely at the same time. One could do things alone and be alone, but they can¡¯t be confined to themselves. That was the difference between alone and lonely.

    52 Hertz was the loneliest whale in the world, but it was not the only one that was alone. There are many whales that were alone out there.

    After Sihwa was done, she remained silent on the other side of the line, not knowing what she¡¯s waiting for. All Zian could hear was the sound of her breathing.

    Zhang Zian cleared his throat and said, ¡°Sihwa, thank you.¡±

    ¡°Why¡­ why did you suddenly thank me?¡± She suddenly panicked on the other side of the line. Her face flushed like a cooked shrimp.

    ¡°Because you helped me¨C¨Cand you also helped 52 Hertz. You prevented a fight between 52 Hertz and the minke whales. If it weren¡¯t for you, I don¡¯t know how many whales would have died today.¡± He solemnly said, ¡°You¡¯ve done an incredible thing today.¡±

    ¡°Nothing¡­ it¡¯s just a little thing¡­¡± Sihwa wasn¡¯t used to being praised. She started to twist her body around in the bathtub, getting really embarrassed.

    ¡°No, this is no trivial matter. This is very important, so I have to thank you for myself, 52 Hertz, and the minke whales,¡± he said. ¡°In addition, I also have something to tell you.¡±

    ¡°What? Why are you being so talkative? Can¡¯t you just say it when you¡¯re back? You¡¯re wasting my phone bill¡­¡± she muttered softly.

    ¡°Sihwa, I just want to tell you that although there are no other mermaids to apany you, although you¡¯re trapped in a bathtub and you can¡¯t go out, Fina, Old Time Tea, Pi, Famous, and the other elfins, including me, are all able to understand you. Your thoughts are free. This is more important than anything else¡­ You may be lonely, but you¡¯re not alone.¡±

    ¡°Really¡­ Is that true?¡± Sihwa asked softly.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s true, so you don¡¯t need to continue fantasizing about the long-legged oppa that doesn¡¯t exist. We all know that you¡¯re a kind-hearted child. You don¡¯t need to escape in the fairy tale-like fantasy, or put your own value onto others. You also don¡¯t have to be envious of humans that have legs because you are you, a unique little mermaid, and there are so many things in the world that only you can do. You¡¯ve already let 52 Hertz, minke whales, and I see you blossom, and in the future, you will certainly bring happiness to more people!¡±

    After a long silence, Sihwa suddenly burst into tears. ¡°Thank you¡­ Thank you¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was also embarrassed to say this, but he had kept all his thoughts about Sihwa¡¯s growth and hard work to himself. She deserved to thepliments. After all, only when children were praised often did they build up confidence and grow up with good mental health.

    ¡°Well, then I won¡¯t waste your phone bill anymore. I¡¯ll see you at home!¡± Zian said, then hung up and locked the screen.

    However, the screen automatically lit up again.

    [Navigation Elfin]: Congrattions! Your mermaid¡¯s likeability has been upgraded to friendly. Its real name is being unlocked!

    [Game Hints]: Pet Attributes

    [Known as]: Mermaid

    [Rareness]: Epic/Legendary

    [Features]: Forgo being a dragon keeping one¡¯s tail, yet descend as an immortal upon the world. Creatures with scales all miss her ande for a sleepover!

    [Unlocked Origins]: The legend of the mermaid has existed since ancient times, but most of them appear in front of the world as an evil Siren, enchanting all beings with their beauty and sound.

    In these legends, the mermaid was often extremely beautiful, and their voice so enchanting that no one could resist. Even the famous Greek hero Oedipus stuffed a candle in his ear and tied himself to a mast in order to resist the song of the mermaid. He did so to avoid sailing his ship towards the reef rocks out of the confusion of his mind.

    In the teachings of the Middle Ages, the mermaid was like the snake in the Garden of Eden; it was a symbol made to seduce people into falling.

    When Andersen wrote the eternally famous Daughter of the Sea, hepletely reversed the inherent image of the mermaid with his own power.

    Under Andersen¡¯s pen, the little mermaid was beautiful, had an enchanting voice, and a perfect appearance. But she was unable to be together with her loved one, and in the end, her soul was sublimated through being at ease. The tear-jerking story and the mermaid¡¯s infatuation touched the hearts of countless girls, and ever since then, the evil Siren disappeared from everyone¡¯s memory.

    Andersen admitted that Daughter of the Sea was the only fairy tale he had written that even spoke to himself.

    Later, in a period that wasn¡¯t far off, another great writer and artist Oscar Wilde further perfected the image of the mermaid with The Fisherman and His Soul. He gave the mermaid the ability to attract fishes by singing. It was only because of the existence of Daughter of the Sea that Wilde¡¯s fairy tale seemed slightly inferior.

    The two eternal fairy tales from two great writers made the story of the mermaid known to everyone. Now it was an indispensable bedtime story for countless young girls.

    Under the blessing of great faith, the little mermaid was born as an elfin into the world.

    [Real Name Unlocked]: Andersen & Wilde¡¯s Crowning Fantasy!

    Zhang Zian silently read through the shing text on the screen before he locked the screen again. He took in a few mouthfuls of fresh air and his mood became more rxed.

    The minke whale and its mother were ying next to the assault boat when several male minke whales shed in the distant sea. 52 Hertz had left while he was staring at his screen, but Zian knew that it would definitely return, since there was a little mermaid there who could understand it.

    The previous tension left him extremely exhausted, so he stretched his body andid down in the boat, looking up at the sky and watching as white seabirds flew over his head. They stretched their wings and hovered freely in the air.

    The question that had been bugging him for a long time had finally been answered. He had always wondered why Sihwa didn¡¯t exactly match the portrayal of the mermaid in Andersen¡¯s fairy tale, and why she had the ability to summon marine creatures. The answer for that was because she was thebined creation of Andersen, Wilde, and other countless myths and legends.

    ¡°Okay, go on home!¡± Zian waved goodbye to the mother and child minke whale, then started the motor and headed back for the shore.

 Chapter 936: Silent Hunter

    <h4>Chapter 936: Silent Hunter</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Some year, some month, some day. Some sea area. 200 meters below sea level. Twilight zone.

    In that depth underwater, the sun was as dark as dusk.

    Looking down, there was a dark abyss. Looking up, the top was like just after sunset: that short moment of blue sky right before the skypletely darkened.

    What was really different from the real sky was that there were no tired birds returning to the forest, and asionally there would be a streamline shadow swimming at a high speed overhead¨C¨Carge shark in shallow water.

    The depth was beyond the reach of at least half of the marine life, but in the faint light, there were still some things quietly moving.

    Hu¡ª

    A shadow swam at a very high speed. Its body reflected a dim, silver light. Very few things could swim at this kind of speed in the sea.

    It was a nearly two-meter-long, adult swordfish. Its long jaw was shaped like a fencing sword, and it wandered wildly through the sea without restraint. In the deep ocean, it had few natural enemies, besides sharks, due to its excellent speed.

    Its eyes were very big, as big as tennis balls, scattered with arge number of photoreceptors. It would be impossible for it to hunt in such light without some special features on its body.

    It had sharp jaws, keen vision, and hundreds of kilograms of body weight. It had a short distance speed of more than 100 kilometers per hour, and had gained the capital to be prideful. When it went crazy, it was as scary as a harpoon, and had even earned the title of, ¡°Piercing Through Wood Every Day¡±

    The swordfish was not very lucky that day, however, as it had not found anything to eat. Hunger turning it into a grumpy old man. It really wanted to find something to smash¨C¨Canything would be all right.

    At the front of its high-speed swimming route, a big, ck fellow suddenly appeared. With a slow swimming speed, the swordfish was 70 to 80 percent sure that it was a whale.

    Even if it was a whale with the fastest speed, it was still not even able to eat the tailwind of the swordfish. The swordfish had a lot of confidence as it went to provoke it.

    Its speed was too fast¨C¨Cso fast that the other party had not even seen what was happening before it rushed over. Only when the swordfish got closer did it realize there was something wrong. It hurriedly twisted its strong muscles to make a sharp turn, just managing to prevent colliding with the other party.

    What was going on? Why was this fellow¡¯s body so long? It was much longer than the biggest whale it had seen before¡­ It had a perfectly round head; its ¡°dorsal fin¡± was as thick as a reef rock; its pectoral fin was so small that it could hardly be seen; and its tail fin rotated periodically to stir the sea water. No matter how one looked at it, it did not seem like a dumb whale¡­ Most importantly, the other one¡¯s skin seemed a lot harder to smash than a wooden nk.

    Forget it, it was better to find some push-over to pinch.

    With a flick of its tail, it angrily swam away and disappeared in the dim light.

    The nuclear submarine, that had been mistaken for a whale by the swordfish, cruised silently underwater at a speed of six knots. Along the way, it traveled under dozens of different types of ships, including fishing boats, cargo ships, oil tankers, private yachts, and it even took the risk to venture close to the warships. Fortunately, it had not been noticed by any ship.

    Behind it, it towed a long long ¡°tail,¡± longer than any tail in the natural world, and its total length was around one kilometer. It had an 800 meters long, less than one centimeter thick, towline and a more than 100 meters long sonar arrayposed of more than a thousand hydrophones.

    The towed sonar array operated at wavelengths below 3000 Hertz, with very low frequencies varying between ten to twenty Hertz in the lowest frequency range. Through deep-sea channels and convergence zone effects, the longest detection distance reached 180 kilometers, and information and topographical features could even be obtained outside of the territorial sea boundary of other countries.

    ******

    In the narrow sonar room.

    The Sonar Team Member One, who was wearing a military uniform and headphones, was focused on the monitor in front of him, looking for traces of enemy nuclear submarines.

    All sounds within the range of 180 kilometers were captured by the sonar arrays, transmitted to Sonar Team Member One¡¯s headphones after they were amplified. The waveform was disyed on the screen in front of him using a tuning indicator.

    The Sonar Team Member Two sitting at his side was in charge of the operation of the sonar at the bow of the ship and the echo sounder.

    Sonar Team Member One periodically switched between buttons and adjusted the filters, sometimes decreasing to a low frequency and sometimes increasing to a high frequency, in order to prevent enemy submarines from approaching quietly in the shadowy areas.

    The sparse stubble on his lips proved that he was very young, but he had been on duty in the submarine for a year. He was not a new recruit who panicked when things happened, as could be seen from his calm and experienced expression.

    He knew most of the different sounds that alternately sounded in the headphones very well. If it was not for that, he would not have the qualifications to enter the submarine; he was essentially the eyes and ears of the submarine.

    The nuclear submarine was very quiet. The noiseing from it was very small, and it was far less noisy than diesel submarines.

    He could distinguish and identify the crisp crackling sounds of the shrimp, the sharp chirping of dolphins, the unpleasant cricket sound from the Golden Drum Fish¡­ His incredible and keen observation skills were something that a normal person would not be able to imagine, but to him, it was just a part of his work and training. He did not have any extraordinary hearing power, it was just that after hearing the same sounds many times, he remembered them. It was nothing else, just that he had be familiar.

    Suddenly, his straight eyebrows moved slightly. He heard an unfamiliar sound in his ears, which stopped almost as soon as it began.

    He did not let go of any anomalies. The waveform on the screen still remained in his memory, and based on his intuition, he adjusted the button, opening the low pass filter, and decreasing the frequency.

    The sound returned again. His eyeballs turned rapidly, and he took a slight nce at the frequency; it was between 45 to 50 Hertz.

    Was it a whale?

    The submarine often met whales, and he knew all kinds of whales¡¯ sounds very well. In his memory, there were indeed some whales that could make sounds in that frequency range, but the specific sounds of their calls were different from what he had heard just then.

    ¡°Number Two, please confirm the position. The frequency range is 45 to 50,¡± he said.

    As the towed sonar was a straight line, it was very hard to confirm whether the sound came from the port or the starboard. It needed the assistance of other sonars, or the maneuvering of the submarine, to confirm where the sound came from, but the submarine in its cruising state could not change direction just because of a little abnormality. Only the former could be chosen.

    ¡°Understood,¡± Sonar Team Member Two answered crisply. He adjusted the sonar at the bow of the boat to the same low-frequency gain of 45 to 50 Hertz.

    Sonar Team Member Two, who was young as well, stared and listened for a while before saying, ¡°Bearing is 090, identity unknown.¡±

    ¡°Received!¡± Sonar Team Member One said.

    ¡°Sir!¡± He took off his headphones and called the officer-on-duty.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± The officer-on-duty immediately walked over. He was much older than Sonar Team Member One and was really mature and sophisticated. The wrinkles in the corners of his eyes and the military rank on his shoulders also proved that point.

    ¡°Suspicious contact, bearing is 090. The sound seems like a whale,¡± Sonar Team Member One reported concisely.

 Chapter 937: No Longer Lonely

    <h4>Chapter 937: No Longer Lonely</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Upon hearing the report from Sonar Technician No.1, the duty officer looked at him intensely. The duty officer knew the standards of Sonar Technician No.1, and he knew that he wouldn¡¯t fail to distinguish whether or not the target was a whale. He grabbed a spare earphone and put it on his head. Sonar Technician No.2 also began to track the unusual sound.

    The three of them were in deep concentration, and the already quiet sonar room became even more quiet¨C¨Cso quiet that even their breathing could be heard clearly. Based on their judgment, they would decide whether or not to report the abnormal contact to the captain.

    Half a minuteter.

    The duty officer let out a breath of air. The alertness on his face gradually disappeared and he smiled. ¡°Turns out that an old friend is back,¡± he chuckled and said to himself.

    Sonar Technician No.1 had barely ever heard himugh while on duty, so when he did, he couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Sir?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. That¡¯s just a whale,¡± the duty officer said calmly.

    ¡°But¡­¡± Sonar Technician No.1 didn¡¯t just follow the orders of a superior blindly; he wanted to raise a disagreement.

    The duty officer waved his hand. ¡°That¡¯s a whale, but it¡¯s not an ordinary whale¡­ To be honest, I didn¡¯t expect to hear its sound again.¡± His face had a rare look of mncholy, and he sighed. ¡°So many years have passed since Ist heard its sound. Back then, I was still sitting in your position. I was as young as the two of you¡­¡±

    Sonar Technician No.1 and Sonar Technician No. 2 were confused. They couldn¡¯t understand what their officer was saying.

    The duty officer smiled. ¡°You guys are too young, of course. You haven¡¯t heard its sound before, so it¡¯s nothing surprising. Its voice disappeared long ago, so it didn¡¯t appear in your training course¡­ I¡¯ve always thought that it was dead, but now that I hear it again, it seems to be doing well.¡±

    ¡°Sir, what¡¯s going on here?¡± Sonar Technician No.1 could no longer stand the officer¡¯s riddle.

    ¡°It¡¯s 52 Hertz. Haven¡¯t you heard of it?¡± the duty officer said with a smile. ¡°During my time, it was a legend, and all the Sonar Technicians of my generation knew about it.¡±

    Sonar Technician No.1 and Sonar Technician No. 2 seemed to have some slight impression of the name, but they couldn¡¯t recall anything at the moment.

    ¡°But, Sir, its sound isn¡¯t 52 Hz¡­¡± Sonar Technician No.1 said hesitantly. He didn¡¯t want to interrupt the officer¡¯s good mood, but he had his duties, so he had to clear all doubt.

    ¡°It hasn¡¯t been 52 Hz for a long time,¡± the duty officer replied.

    The two Sonar Technicians stared at his face and waited for him to exin further.

    ¡°It¡¯s 52 Hertz, a legendary whale. People call it ¡®the world¡¯s loneliest whale¡¯ and, because of its unique frequency, which is very different from other whales, it can¡¯tmunicate with other whales.¡± The duty officer fell into the recollections of his past. ¡°I remember this one time, the submarine I was in brushed past it¡­ The closest we have ever been to it was less than one nautical mile. At that moment, I had the sudden impulse to activate the active sonar on the bow and use it to respond to its voice and tell it, ¡®I hear you, and I¡¯m by your side. You are not alone.''¡±

    The two Sonar Technicians looked at each other and were surprised that their officer had such an unknown past. ¡°Then¡­ did you do it?¡± Sonar Technician No. 1 asked out of curiosity. If there was an enemy submarine nearby, starting the active sonar could have revealed their position.

    ¡°What do you think?¡± the duty officer responded snappily. ¡°We are soldiers and military discipline is of the utmost importance. Especially while onbat duty, we mustn¡¯t neglect our duties or act on our own selfish desires. Doing so may bring disaster to the entire submarine¡­ All I did was think about it. If I had really done so, I would¡¯ve been sent to the military court, and I wouldn¡¯t be standing here talking to you today!¡±

    Sonar Technician No. 1 then made a face to No. 2, and the two secretly snickered, an expression that fit their age.

    ¡°What happened after?¡± Sonar Technician No. 1 asked.

    ¡°There¡¯s no after,¡± said the duty officer. ¡°I only met it once and never again. It was also said that no one else had heard it since¡­ Initially, someone said that it had swum over to the other seas in search for its own kind. But there were also others that said that it was dead, that it had probably encountered a group of killer whales or a whaling ship¡­ After many years, people gradually forgot about it¡­¡±

    He suddenly hit his own head. ¡°Speaking about this, I just remembered that I had a bet with someone. I had bet that it didn¡¯t die while another tramp had insisted that it was dead¡­ To hell, once we return back to base, I¡¯ll have to get the bet from him. I¡¯ll also have to consider intion and interest!¡±

    The two sonar techniciansughed aloud. ¡°Sir, since you didn¡¯t do it that time, did you regret it after?¡± Sonar Technician No. 1 asked suddenly.

    ¡°Sometimes I do I find it quite regrettable,¡± the duty officer honestly admitted. ¡°There are only a few opportunities in life where you feel that kind of impulse.¡±

    ¡°So, do you want to make up for that regret?¡± Sonar Technician No.1 asked.

    The smile on Sonar Technician No.2¡¯s face froze. The three men thenid their eyes on the button of the active sonar at the bow of the boat.

    They did not find traces of any enemy submarines nearby, and the surrounding countries did not have any nned military exercises in the near future, so the possibility of enemy submarines being in their vicinity was very low.

    However¡­ The unique whale song continued to echo in their headset as the sonar room grew quieter.

    Sonar Technician No. 1 knew that he had asked the wrong questions and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. If the officer had really wanted to make up for his regret, then the future of the three would bepletely ruined.

    ¡°Hehe! What are you thinking about, kid?¡± The duty officer smacked him on the head and said with a smile, ¡°I have regretted many things in life, but can I make up for all of them? No. Besides, if you don¡¯t leave some regrets behind, is that still life?¡±

    The two Sonar Technicians were finally relieved. Their sweat had soaked through the back of their military uniform.

    Sonar Technician No. 2 red at hispanion, meaning to say, ¡®Watch how I¡¯ll get youter¡­¡¯

    The interaction between the two was seen by the duty officer, and the wrinkles in his eyes creased even more. The person he had made a bet with had also once joked around with him in the sonar room just like the one they were in now. He had also heard 52 Hertz¡¯s lonely song¡­

    A long time had passed since then, and the two little boys who once sat side by side in the sonar room had grown up with their own aplishments, each rendering their services in two different submarines. However, the bet that was made that year still remained in their memories.

    He smiled with relief. Seems like we¡¯re really old now.

    ¡°Enough horsing around. Be on guard.¡± He patted the shoulders of the two men and said, ¡°Wait until we return back to the base before you brag to others about your encounter with 52 Hertz.¡±

    The two Sonar Technicians immediately sat upright and stopped smiling. ¡°Sir, what kind of whale is 52 Hertz? What does it look like?¡± Sonar Technician No. 1 couldn¡¯t help but ask onest question.

    The duty officer shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. As far as I know, no one has ever seen it. Although I was really close to it that time, submarines don¡¯t have windows.¡±

    Sonar Technician No. 1 found it regretful, but there was nothing he could do.

    The two Sonar Technicians pulled their thoughts out of the long story and prepared to get back to their work. Since the suspicious voice was indeed from a whale rather than an enemy submarine, there was no need to report it.

    The duty officer was about to take off the spare headset and return to his position when he suddenly stopped what he was doing. The faces of the three had a strange look at the same time! It was another one! Another unusual sound! Also from the 45 to 50 frequency range!

    The two Sonar Technicians acted quickly without waiting for the officer¡¯s instructions. Together with the towed array sonar and the bow sonar, the two sonar technicians confirmed that the sources of the two sounds were not the same. It was as if there was a chorus of voices.

    They looked at their officer for instructions. That time, the duty officer was in a blur too. What was going on?

    ¡°Sir, could it be¡­ that this is another submarine responding to it? Just like what you had wanted to do but didn¡¯t do¡­¡± Sonar Technician No. 1 peeked at the officer¡¯s face.

    The duty officer was speechless.

    What country was that crazy submarine sonar technician from? Did he really want to be sent to military court?

    The duty officer broke out in cold sweat. Submarine soldiers were strictly trained, and they would absolutely abide by their military discipline. No matter what country they were from, they would not put their submarine andrades in danger because of some sudden, fleeting impulse.

    The three of them did not speak as they listened silently to the unique sounds of the two voices.

    ¡°It¡¯s not a sonar.¡± They were unsure who said it first, but the other two immediately agreed.

    The voice of the response was not the same as the sound of 52 Hertz, which proved that it was not a recording of 52 Hertz¡¯s sound yed back. The active sonar could not do that; it was not designed to do that.

    If it was not a sonar, then¡­

    The duty officer suddenly thought of something. ¡°I understand.¡± He wiped the sweat off his forehead and smiledfortably. All the regrets that he had left behind from over a decade ago had also dissipated in hisughter.

    The two sonar technicians waited for his exnation.

    ¡°It has finally found apanion¨C¨Cone who can sing with it,¡± The duty officer said with a smile. ¡°That¡¯s the only exnation. After so many years of loneliness, it is finally no longer lonely.¡±

    The two sonar technicians suddenly understood what was going on.

    52 Hertz no longer needed them to respond to it with the danger of viting their military discipline. It had already found apanion who could respond to it and had gained inner peace.

    ¡°Sir, do you want to report this incident after you return?¡± Sonar Technician No. 1 suggested. ¡°You know, to prevent other sonar technicians from being bothered by this matter.¡±

    The duty officer took off his earphones and smiled. ¡°The two of you are the first ones to hear it, so the two of you can decide. But I think this news will spread soon. After all, we aren¡¯t the only ones cruising under the seemingly calm ocean.¡±

    With that said, he left the sonar room with strong footsteps. A part of the heavy burden on his shoulder seemed to have been partially passed down to the young men.

 Chapter 938: Returning to the Sea

    <h4>Chapter 938: Returning to the Sea</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Master, are you going out to sea again?¡± Wang Qian saw that Zhang Zian was, once again, carrying the heavy battery, and blurted out the question.

    ¡°En, anyway, I¡¯ve been idling away,¡± Zhang Zian answered casually.

    ¡°Store Manager, when can I go with you out to sea to whale watch?¡± Jiang Feifei asked, her eyes wide. She had already requested the same thing many times, especially after she had heard that Zhang Zian had even encountered a group of whales when he had gone out to sea thest time. Her heart was even more itchy and impatient.

    ¡°Wait for a few more days. After a few days I¡¯m going to bring Famous to the capital to participate in the Maind premier. At that time, the assault boat and the Wuling Hong Guang MPV will be idle. If you want to go out to sea, you can drive the car to the seaside yourself, then take the boat out to see. I¡¯m not responsible for whether you manage see any, though.¡± Zhang Zian finally relented.

    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± Just as Jiang Feifei wanted to cheer happily, she instantly sighed again. ¡°But I still have to go to work¡­ You can¡¯t go whale watching at night, can you?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s all right. The day Dog Warrior premieres in the maind, the store can have a day off. You can go out and have fun,¡± Zhang Zian said with augh. ¡°Anyway, when I¡¯m not in the store, you all bezy. Don¡¯t think that I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Master, you have wronged us! Whether you are here or not, we are all conscientious and dedicated to working withoutint¡­¡± Wang Qian expressed his disapproval.

    ¡°Ga ga? Conscientious?¡± Richard¡¯s eyes shone suddenly.

    Zhang Zian did not acknowledge it¨C¨Cthe more he acknowledged it, the more energetic it became. He added, ¡°But you should be careful when you go out to sea. You can¡¯t drive the boat too far, and you should properly wear a life jacket¡­ Right, do you all know how to swim?

    ¡°I know! I know! I learned in my physical education lessons!¡± Jiang Feifei nodded.

    ¡°That¡¯s good. Xiao Yun, you can also go with them.¡± Zhang Zian looked at Lu Yiyun, who shrank back and shook his head to show that he was not interested in going to sea. He preferred to stay at home during the day off.

    Zhang Feifei ran back to the aquarium, telling the news to Li Kun. The three of them began to discuss the ns for that day off. Of course, they would be going to the seaside in the morning to whale watch, then at night, they would go to support Dog Warrior.

    Zhang Zian drove to the familiar seaside. He inted the assault boat with ease and familiarity, connecting the motor and the battery.

    He had nothing in his hands and was very rxed. He did not bring the underwater speaker or the underwater sound device, as thetter had already been returned to Binhai University. He had also fulfilled his promise and gave several ice anemones to the biology department that Wei Kang was in. The mode of transportation was very simple: They were kept in a foam incubator filled with ice and seawater. Anyway, the pet shop was very close to Binhai University.

    When Wei Kang saw him holding the foam incubator at the door of the office, he thought he hade to deliver some takeaway. After opening the lid, however, he saw the several ice anemones that were rooted in the ice and was immediately so shocked that his jaw fell open.

    Even though Wei Kang¡¯s area of research was not marine life, the peculiarity of the anemones could be seen at a nce. He repeatedly asked Zhang Zian where he got them.

    Zhang Zian expressed that he had picked them up from the seaside by chance¨C¨Cwhich was the truth, but Wei Kang did not believe him.

    What made Wei Kang¡¯s heart ache most was that Zhang Zian had actually used a foam incubator to carry over, which was basically a reckless waste of God¡¯s gifts.

    Wei Kang called over his colleagues who studied marine life, all of whom were able to tell whether something was good or bad. At first nce, they recognized that the anemones were rare organisms that had just been discovered in recent years. Their habits and characteristics were unknown. They might even have strong medical and medicinal value, which immediately caused a small sensation.

    In order topete for the ownership of the ice anemones, the elegant professors and associate professors showed their true forms: They blew each other¡¯s¡¯ beards; stared at each other; and patted the table topare their qualifications. They almost even started a physical fight¡­ After all, having things to experiment on was the equivalent to having research papers; and having research papers was the equivalent to having professional titles; and having professional titles was the equivalent to having status; and having status was the equivalent to having some money¡­

    How they decided to allocate the ice anemones internally had nothing to do with Zhang Zian. He put down the foam incubator and the underwater sound device and went out, believing that after his experience, if he needed to borrow anything in the future, it would definitely be very convenient.

    After he had pumped the assault boat full of air, Zhang Zian pushed it into the sea and got into it. He rowed the boat to waters with the depth of one meter, then started the motor; the boat sailed off the shore briskly.

    Although he had warned Jiang Feifei and the rest not to go too far out with the boat, he drove the boat very far¨C¨Ceven further than he had in the past. He only stopped at a distance that, even after he used the binocrs he had brought with him, he could not see the scenery on the shore clearly.

    The dark blue waves were fluctuating continuously. He was surrounded by a vast expanse of open space, and no person or ship could be seen.

    Zhang Zian took out his phone, and his signal had already fallen back to 2G. He did not even have to hope that he could go online, as the signal itself was sometimes absent.

    However, he did not need signal and did not need the Inte.

    He started the

    game and aimed the back camera at the water nearby. He found the mermaid in the pet bar, then pressed ¡°release.¡±

    Ssh!

    Sihwa appeared out of nowhere. She fell into the sea, unprepared.

    Hua!

    She popped her head out of the sea, wiped a handful of seawater on her face, and looked around in surprise. She licked her lips again; the salty taste came into her mouth, which made her understand immediately.

    ¡°This¡­ is the sea?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Zhang Zian answered.

    Since Sihwa¡¯s likeability had already increased to friendly, that meant that she could leave the pet shop. Zhang Zian had captured her into his phone and brought her to the sea that she had not seen in a very long time.

    ¡°That¡¯s great! I can finally leave that shabby bathroom! I¡¯m practically going to cry!¡± Sihwa found it difficult to restrain the excitement in her heart. She raised her slender white arm and began backstroke. After staying in the bathtub for so long, she had almost forgotten how to swim.

    She raised her small face to stare at the white clouds in the sky, her two hands alternately hitting the water. Her strong fish tail and wide caudal fins were visible in the sea, and her speed could easily break the world record of human swimmers.

    Sihwa could swim freely, but Zhang Zian could only sit in the boat and watch the wind. He observed the surroundings from time to time in case a boat suddenly came over towards them.

    She swam backstroke, freestyle, and butterfly, using all the kinds of swimming strokes she knew. She even jumped happily from the water and turned a somersault before she plunged into the water again, creating big sshes. Once, she even dove fiercely and came up ten minutester. Sheughed loudly and threw a fierce-looking, big crab into the boat to frighten Zhang Zian. She was having a very good time.

    Zhang Zian was really frightened. He was afraid that the crab¡¯s ws would pierce a hole at the bottom of the boat and cause him to fall into the sea and bepanions with the fish and shrimps. He threw the crab back into the sea in a hurry. His fingers were almost pinched¡­

    After ying for around half an hour, a cylindrical fountain erupted from the sea not far away.

    Right after that, the sea water separated into left and right sides, and a broad, blueish grey back emerged from the sea.

    Unsurprisingly, it was 52 Hertz.

 Chapter 939: An Invitation to Sign a Contract

    <h4>Chapter 939: An Invitation to Sign a Contract</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t bring the underwater speaker with him, so he hadn¡¯t summoned 52 Hertz¨C¨Cit must have been Sihwa.

    Before leaving the shop Zian had only told her that he was bringing her somewhere, but he hadn¡¯t mentioned that they¡¯d be going to the beach. He also tell her to summon 52 Hertz, but it was no surprise to Zian that she did. After all, Sihwa and 52 Hertz were both very lonely.

    52 Hertz was extraordinarily gentle that day. Half of its body was exposed on the water¡¯s surface as it looked directly as Sihwa with its eyes that had almost no white.

    It was Sihwa¡¯s first meeting with 52 Hertz. It was probably very surprised to see that the one who couldmunicate with it was a mermaid who was half human and half fish.

    Sihwa didn¡¯t hesitate to swim up to it; she wasn¡¯t worried at all that the behemoth might hurt her by ident. She swam up to its head and intimately touched its skin, then whispered words that could not be heard by the human ear.

    52 Hertz was probably talking too, but Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have the underwater pickup device with him so he couldn¡¯t hear what they were saying. It might have been Sihwa listening to 52 Hertz talk about its long search over the years, or it could have been Sihwa telling 52 Hertz her own story.

    Zhang Zian was getting bored as he watched them, and since there was no inte in the middle of the ocean, there was nothing much he could do with his phone.

    After some time, 52 Hertz¡¯s long and t head sank back into the water. Using her arms as a lever, Sihwa jumped out of the water with a ssh and sat on it. 52 Hertz then took her around like that. Sometimes it dove into the water with Sihwa and emerged out from another spot.

    Both Sihwa¡¯s fishtail and the whale¡¯s back were very smooth, so Sihwa would asionally fall into the water when she lost her grip. She would then emerge from the water like a silly girl,ughing as she hugged its pectoral fins. She had even tried to sit on its nostrils, and it would spray her up in the air with its strong breath. She would somersault in the air before diving back into the sea like she was doing acrobatics.

    52 Hertz was also very happy. It twisted its huge body around just like a happy, 100-ton child. It was most likely the first time since its birth that it had apanion to y with.

    Zhang Zian really envied them. Although humans had two legs, they could only walk on about 30 percent of the world¡¯s area. Even though Sihwa had only one fishtail, she could freely swim in 70 percent of the world¡¯s area. What was there to be unsatisfied with? Moreover, all marine creatures could be her friend.

    Right then, Zian¡¯s phone rang, and it was definitely not Sihwa. The caller was a strange, foreignndline. He tried to recall, but he didn¡¯t know anyone in the city represented by the area code. Was it a wrong number?

    After hesitating for a moment, he answered the call. ¡°Hello?¡±

    ¡°Hello? Is this¡­ Mr. Zhang Zian?¡± The other voice belonged to a young man, and he seemed surprised to hear Zhang Zian¡¯s voice. He immediately regained his calmness.

    Strange¡­ Who is this? How does he know my phone number and name? Zhang Zian was puzzled. Could it be that his personal information had been sold by some unscrupulous website again?

    ¡°It¡¯s me. Who is this?¡± Zian asked, a hint of alertness in his voice.

    ¡°Oh! That¡¯s great! I¡¯ve finally gotten in touch with you. I called you several times earlier, but the operator either said, ¡®The other party is not in the service area,¡¯ or ¡®The other party is currently not avable¡­''¡± the young man said, ¡°Mr. Zhang, is the signal on your end very bad? Your voice is being transmitted intermittently.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a little bad¡­ Who is this? Do you need anything?¡± Zhang Zian asked again.

    The young man introduced himself. ¡°I¡¯m a staff member from your live broadcast tform. I had wanted to contact you directly in the live broadcast room today to discuss the details on signing a contract, but you didn¡¯t broadcast live today, so I decided to give you a call¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless as he looked up at Sihwa. ¡°Signing a contract?¡± he repeated.

    ¡°Yes! I would like to congratte you. The poprity of your live broadcast has already qualified you for the contract signing standard of our tform, and you can formally be a contract anchor!¡± the other party said heartily.

    Zhang Zian then remembered that Sihwa¡¯s live broadcast tform had required a real name authentication, and the authentication method was through an ID card and a bank card. He had used his own personal information to help Sihwa register, and the contact number left was, of course, his¡­ but he didn¡¯t even consider the possibility of signing a contract at the time!

    ¡°Wait! Are you mistaken? Are you sure that you want to sign a contract with me?¡± He emphasized the word ¡°me¡± because it seemed to him that there was something wrong.

    ¡°Oh, Mr. Zhang, you¡¯re too modest! To be honest, I was very surprised when I heard your voice. You had registered with a male ID card, but our one of our staff members thought that you were a girl¡­ But don¡¯t be discouraged! We absolutely have no intention to discriminate! Cross-dressing boys are also very popr! Speaking of which, you are really very beautiful, and your mermaid cosy was just so amazing. You were so perfect that no one even harbored thoughts of jealousy. The employees of our office, whether they were men or women, all have your photo as their wallpaper, and they asionally fawn over it¡­¡±

    The other party continued on with his words that Zhang Zian found to be disgusting.

    ¡°In fact, you¡¯ve already reached the contract signing standard of our tform, but we have decided to review your broadcast more, so we did not send you an invitation to sign a contract with us¡­ Because you didn¡¯t host a broadcast today, we thought that you might not be feeling well, so we called to check on you. At the same time, we wanted to take the chance to officially issue an invitation to sign a contract with us in hopes that we can all work together and progress and benefit mutually¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s head started to ring. He no longer felt like he was floating in the middle of the sea, but like he was riding a horse on a vast grasnd, cracking his whip to drive countless alpacas around¡­

    He used to watch Snowy broadcast live and saw that it brought in quite a lot of money, so he had also quietly tried to broadcast live, but no one even bothered to watch, let alone sign a contract with him. Who knew that his broadcast dream would be realized in such a surprising manner¡­

    He didn¡¯t listen to the employee¡¯s excuse of checking to see if he was feeling unwell. He might have been able to trick little girls, but he definitely couldn¡¯t trick Zhang Zian. They must have panicked when they saw that Sihwa did not broadcast live today, and under the impression that she was poached by other tforms, they quickly called to sign a contract.

    It was impossible to sign a contract. After all, he was not a crossdresser.

    ¡°To tell you the truth, I have seen countless crossdressers in this line, their faces covered with thickyers of makeup. After removing their makeup, however, the sight of them would burn the eyes of others. Only yours seemed natural, and we can see that you do not have any makeup on at all! Forgive me for being blunt, but it¡¯s a pity that you were born as a man!¡±

    Zhang Zian choked in silence.

 Chapter 940: Web Crawler

    <h4>Chapter 940: Web Crawler</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian wanted to find a moment of leisure in his busy life.

    He was heading off to the capital the next day, so that day was hisst leisure time before he had to leave.

    In the morning, Zhang Zian and the shop assistants finished cleaning and saw that it was still early. There were no guests for the time being, so they each went to find their own ces to rest.

    Lu Yiyunid on the cashier¡¯s desk, concentrating on painting. Even though she did not want to go out to sea to whale watch, she was unable to endure the urges of the rest of the people. She was hesitating as to whether she should join the rest to watch a movie at night, but that meant that she needed go to the cinema.

    She had not gone to the cinema in a very long time. She often felt that it was kind of an exclusive ce that had nothing to do with her, but she did not give a t refusal. Instead, she thought about it over and over again.

    Wang Qian was not using his phone to y games, which was rare for him. Instead, he was searching for different kinds of snacks from online retailers. It was a difficult chance toe by¨C¨Cto go out to sea to y for a day¨C¨Cand he definitely wanted to y for a long time. He wanted to y to his heart¡¯s content.

    Li Kun was next door choosing drinks to buy.

    Jiang Feifei borrowed a camera from her ssmates. It was best to bring a DSLR camera with a long focus lens. At sea, the shooting range of a phone camera was not enough. If they met whales but did not have any pictures, wouldn¡¯t that be a pity?

    Zhang Zian was reclined on the recliner chair with a Ge You posture, and was also ying his phone; however, he was not chatting with anyone and was not ying games. Instead, he was checking the forums.

    Recently, he had been busy with things, so he did not have time to casually check through the Wang Haige Forum. Since that could be considered where his store grew from, he would asionally go and bless it.

    As he entered the pets section, he just happened to find a new post:

    [High Salt Content]: ¡°I want to buy a cat. Which local pet shop or cat house is most reliable?¡±

    He suddenly felt refreshed, and his hands quickly typed out a reply.

    [The Hottie Manager]: ¡°Of course it¡¯s the Amazing Fate Pet Shop on Zhonghua Road. The prices are affordable¨C¨Cthey don¡¯t cheat you of your money¨C¨Cand the most important thing is that the boss is very handsome! Right, is the host a beautiful woman? If you are a beautiful woman, it is not rmended that you go, because you could faint because of the boss¡¯ handsomeness.¡±

    He pressed ¡°reply¡± contentedly.

    He did not think someone would reply so fast.

    [High Salt Content]: ¡°Haha, it¡¯s not a beautiful woman, it¡¯s a rough man. Zhonghua Road right? All right, I¡¯ve taken note of it.¡±

    Immediately, there were other people replying.

    [Projectile]: ¡°What the f*ck! The rare elite has appeared. Everyonee and quickly kill it! Maybe a few cats and dogs will drop!¡±

    [The Forehead Reflects Light]: ¡°Silently watching a big scale, pretentious act fail in real life.¡±

    [High Salt Content]: ¡°??? What are you all saying? Is this some code that the pet section specially uses?¡±

    [A Deadly Stone]: ¡°I¡¯ll be kind-hearted and tell the host: the first person who replied you is the owner of that shop. He is not handsome at all!¡±

    Zhang Zian had already separated himself from that forum post, and went to browse other posts in the pet section. He would let them show off for a while, then in a while he would return to open up a group ridicule.

    He was swiping his finger on the screen, and very quickly noticed another post.

    [Fat Security Guard]: ¡°Have you all heard about the cat abuse case at Shimen Street Primary School a few days ago?¡±

    [Look At That Dog]: ¡°I did not hear about it. What happened?¡±

    [Strongest Paragraph yer]: ¡°What? Even primary school children are abusing cats now?¡±

    [Copse The World]: ¡°I heard about this incident. I live at Shimen Street, so I heard about it. I even went to the actual scene.¡±

    [Fat Security Guard]: ¡°Brother, talk about it.¡±

    [Copse The World]: ¡°There¡¯s actually nothing to talk about¡­ You all know the bamboo forest behind Shimen Street Primary School, right? There are quite a lot of old people near there, so in the mornings, there are often old men or old women doing Tai Chi or kicking shuttlecocks. Since there isn¡¯t any cement pavement, there is no one square dancing. I don¡¯t know when it began, but it has be a base for stray cats. Sometimes people take things to feed the stray cats, but I personally don¡¯t support it. When they do that, more stray cats will gather.

    A few days ago, I heard that there were pupils abusing cats there. Teachers told parents that they needed to teach their children to not bully kittens¨C¨Cthe kids could not catch up to the adult cats, so they could only bully kittens.

    When I first heard of it, I thought it was just children being mischievous and throwing stones at kittens; however, this morning when I passed by that ce on the way to work, I saw something squirming in the grass. I thought it was a kitten that had not opened its eyes. Upon seeing that there were no big cats around, I decided to go and help it.

    I meowed to imitate the cat. There was a kitten that crawled out of the grass; it limped and crawled to where I was. As it crawled and crawled, it crawled incorrectly¡­¡±

    [Fat Security Guard]: ¡°Brother, why did you stop? Is it that the child broke the kitten¡¯s legs?¡±

    [Copse The World]: ¡°No, the kitten¡¯s eyes had been dug out.¡±

    [Strongest Paragraph yer]: ¡°It couldn¡¯t be, right? That¡¯s so cruel.¡±

    [Look At That Dog]: ¡°F*ck! Are you sure a child did it?¡±

    [Copse The World]: ¡°It¡¯s practically confirmed, even though I did not see it with my own eyes. If I had seen it with my own eyes, I would definitely have stopped the child.¡±

    [Fat Security Guard]: ¡°It¡¯s really that there are talented peopleing out every generation, and each new generation takes the ce of the old generation! Thinking back, when I was young, all I dared to do was pull on the grasshopper¡¯s legs and use hot water to burn ants¡­¡±

    [34562]: ¡°Did no one bother about this incident? Are the parents not going to educate the child?¡±

    [Copse The World]: ¡°Didn¡¯t I say it just now that the teacher had issued a warning to the parents? There weren¡¯t many parents that took it seriously, though¡­ They only cared about the children¡¯s grades. It seemed like there was a child who had been caught red-handed abusing cats, and the teacher had his parentse over¡­ But his parents only lightly said, ¡®He¡¯s just a kid.''¡±

    [Graceful Rhythm]: ¡°My back turned cold after reading this. I predict that in 20 years, the China version of Hannibal will appear in Binhai City.¡±

    [lxm]: ¡°What you said was right. Many notorious serial killers started off with childhood animal abuse.¡±

    [Dark Night MK]: ¡°These parents are really¡­ Sooner orter, there will be a day they regret it.¡±

    [Wooden Horse]: ¡°The vital part is that our country does not have a protectionw for small animals currently¡­ Even if an adult was caught abusing animals, the only punishment would be judgement.¡±

    [Fat Security Guard]: ¡°Migrate, migrate! Before this group of children grows up, I need to quickly move to another city. Does any nice person know which city has less perverted children?¡±

    [Copse The World]: ¡°Speaking of that, I actually heard about something else.¡±

    [Fat Security Guard]: ¡°If it¡¯s another case of a child abusing a cat, then forget it. My heart cannot take it anymore¡­¡±

    [Copse The World]: ¡°That¡¯s not it. After I heard about this case, I suddenly had an idea andpiled a web crawler program to collect relevant information with the keyword ¡°cat abuse.¡± Guess what I found?¡±

    [Look At That Dog]: ¡°What?¡±

    [Copse The World]: ¡°Our Binhai City¡¯s local forum is Wang Haige Forum, and the rest of the big, medium, and small cities all have their own local forums. Usually, only locals go to these forums, and news only spreads and is discussed in these forums. The web crawler software I programmed searches through the local forums of other cities throughout the country. It found that cat abuse cases do not only exist in Binhai City.¡±

    [Fat Security Guard]: ¡°Brother, aren¡¯t you just saying crap? It¡¯s not possible that only Binhai City people do bad things!¡±

    [Copse The World]: ¡°No, I haven¡¯t finished saying what I want to say yet. I havepiled the cat abuse cases over thest three months, and I have found a very interesting phenomenon. Cat abuse cases have urred frequently in all parts of the country in the past three months, but they are most concentrated in the eastern part of the country¡­ Of course, it seems normal since the eastern region is densely popted with a lot of humans and cats, so having more cat abuses cases was also normal¡­ However, the most interesting thing is that, if we count the number of cat abuse incidents and connect the cities with simr numbers together, we will find that the cat abuse cases seem to be ur with Binhai City as the center. From there, they radiate out to the whole country.¡±

    [Fat Security Guard]: ¡°¡­What does this imply?¡±

    [Wooden Horse]: ¡°With Binhai City as the center? When did Binhai City suddenly get a ce as a first tier city in the country? Is this just a coincidence?¡±

    [Copse The World]: ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ I¡¯m just truthfully describing the results after the web crawler collected information and filtered it. How to analyze these results, on the other hand, is not what I specialize at. Actually the original reason I created this web crawler program was to write a psychological paper concerning cat abuse, but the more I checked into it the weirder it became. The more I checked, the colder my heart became, and I could no longer write the paper anymore.¡±

    [Fat Security Guard]: ¡°Brother, I feel that you should continue writing it. If this paper is published, perhaps it could change the situation for the better.¡±

    [Copse The World]: ¡°Haha, I know clearly my own worth. Even if the paper was published, it would be like a ssh of a small stone thrown into the sea.¡±

    [Fat Security Guard]: ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate yourself! I think you speak clearly and reasonably. The paper you write would definitely be excellent. Maybe you will even win a Nobel Prize in Psychology!¡±

    [Copse The World]: ¡°¡­¡±

    [The Hottie Manager]: ¡°@Copse The World, Can you send me a copy of the web crawler software you programmed? Would it infringe on your patent or copyright or something?¡±

    [The Forehead Reflects Light]: ¡°Oh ho! The pretentious shop manager has learned gueri warfare and ran here to show off again.¡±

    [Copse The World]: ¡°@The Hottie Manager, It¡¯s not to the extent of infringing on my patent. This program is not really thatplicated, and if you want it I can send it to you. What do you want it for?¡±

    [The Hottie Manager]: ¡°Because I¡¯m interested in this cat abuse case, but I don¡¯t want to do research like you. Instead, I want to find thew, and perhaps there will be a way to spread the news of such cases.¡±

    [A Deadly Stone]: ¡°@The Hottie Manager, This posing of yours is destined to fail! The person has already said that cat abuse cases are urring all over the country. What are you going to use to stop it? Unless you pass aw right now, and it¡¯s aw that is strictly enforced, there is no way to stop this!¡±

    [Copse The World]: ¡°@The Hottie Manager, Check your private message.¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s gaze moved to the top right hand corner of the forum application. There was a small red dot there, showing that there was new message.

    He entered the forum¡¯s inbox and saw a new website¡¯s short message there. The message was very short, only one sentence long.

    [Copse The World]: ¡°The website does not allow me to send an attached file. Give me an email address.¡±

    Zhang Zian liked that kind of efficient person. He instantly sent his email address over.

    After a short while, his phone notification showed that he had received a new email. The email had multiple attachments.

    The email body said, ¡°The software can be used on the windows tform, and in the file there is the instructions on how to use it. Collecting data needs a certain amount of time, so you can first take a look at the data I collected. If you have something you are not sure of, you can contact me.¡±

    Zhang Zian rolled out of the reclining chair and stood up, holding his phone. With a thump, thump, thump, he came to the living room on the second floor.

    ¡°Pi, let me use theputer for a while,¡± he said.

    ¡°Zhi zhi.¡± Pi saved the document it had yet to finish writing. It stretched and jumped down from the chair, walking in circles around the living room.

    ¡°Right, Pi¡­ How about taking a few days off starting tomorrow?¡± he casually asked as he sat down and opened his email inbox.

    ¡°Zhi zhi?¡± Pi blinked its eyes, shocked.

    ¡°I¡¯m bringing Famous to the capital to take part in the movie festival tomorrow. Why don¡¯t we all go together and have fun? There should be quite a few interesting ces in the capital¡­ Haven¡¯t you stayed at home since the Spring Festival when you went to the countryside to set off fireworks? Take this opportunity to go to the capital, take a look around, and learn. You must not only read ten thousand books, but you must also walk ten thousand miles,¡± he advised.

    He could discuss it with the rest of the elfinster, but if Pi wanted toe along, it needed to ask for leave in its chapter that was set to be published that day.

    Pi scratched its head, troubled. On one hand, it did want to go and have a fun trip with the rest, but on the other hand, it could not bear to stop its updates.

    Zhang Zian let it consider for a while while he downloaded the files in the email to theputer. Just in case, he even did a virus scan¡­

    The attachments included a web crawler program, an instruction manual, and even a zip file, which was all pictures.

    He did a simple scan of the instruction manual. This web crawler program was specially used for searching for cat abuse cases, and the way to use it was quite simple; however, depending on the performance of theputer, it would take a long time. If it was an in-depth search, it would take even more time.

    The notebook was bought a few years ago, and it could not be said to be a very high-performanceputer. It was more than enough for Pi to type and write his stories, though. It was all right that it took a lot of time, anyway. Pi was practically on theputer from morning to night, and he could let the program slowly crawl in the background.

    The only problem was that tomorrow, he was going out, and the results of the crawl could only be seen after he returned.

    He unzipped the zip file, and on the desktop, a file that contained quite a lot of photos appeared.

    The photos were from after [Copse The World] had used the web crawler program. He had screenshotted the results he had found, and some were screenshots of parts of the paper he was writing.

    [Copse The World] had not been lying; he was really writing a psychological paper about cat abuse. In the screenshots, there were a lot of professional words that Zhang Zian could not understand.

    In thest picture, it was a clear picture of the map of China. The map that was shaped like a cock was dotted with many cities, scattered like the stars in the sky, and many cities had been circled in red with different Arabic numbers written next to them.

    The first city Zhang Zian found was Binhai City,

    The red circle around Binhai City was thick and emphasized, and the numbers written next to it were even bigger than the numbers written for the other cities around it.

    Not only Binhai City, but practically all the first, second, and third tier cities were also all circled in red. As for the fourth, fifth, and sixth tier cities, it was not that the small and medium cities did not have any cat abuse cases, but that they probably did not have their own local forums.

    He was unaware that cat abuse cases had actually spread in arge scale towards the rest of the country, with Binhai City as the center.

    The horrifying red color on the map shocked him until his whole forehead was full of cold sweat. The severity of the situation was beyond what he had imagined¡­

    En?

    He suddenly noticed a strange part of the map. A certain big city was not circled in red¡­

    [Copse The World] seemed to also not understand what was going on with that and had drawn a question mark next to the city.

    The big city was the cock¡¯s heart¨C¨Cthe capital.

 Chapter 941: Intuition

    <h4>Chapter 941: Intuition</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian stared at the map where ¡°the whole country was red¡± and ¡°the white spot in the midst of the red¡± was the only nk spot on the map. Zhang Zian was very puzzled.

    Why was the capital not marked with a red circle? Why did [Copse the World] put a question mark next to the capital? Was it because there were more local forums in the capital, and the amount of data was rtivelyrge, so Ta had yet toplete the data collection?

    In order to resolve the confusion, Zhang Zian replied to [Copse the World] with an email to confirm the problem with Ta.

    [Copse the World] replied almost immediately. ¡°You¡¯ve noticed it too? But it¡¯s not as you imagined¨C¨Cthe data collection work in the capital has beenpleted. I¡¯m also unable to understand the result¡­ I had thought that it was a bug in the program, but after optimizing the code, I¡¯ve also conducted a second search on the data for the capital, but the result was the same. Although there were dozens of mentions of ¡°cat abuse,¡± they were all talking about the cat abuse incidents in foreignnds or foreign countries. No one had mentioned anything about people in the capital who have been involved in cases of cat abuse.¡±

    After reading the email, Zhang Zian did not feel like he was any less confused. Instead, he felt even more puzzled.

    The capital, where the king resided, was where the finest people lived. Was the quality and awareness of the people of the capital really that high?

    There were millions of permanent residents in the capital and even more migrants. Zian did not believe that there were no abnormalities in over twenty million people.

    Were the inte police in the capital just exceptionally efficient and once anyone mentioned the word ¡°cat abuse,¡± the post would immediately be taken down? That seemed like a little too much¡­ After all, the inte police should have more important things to do.

    It was strange.

    Zhang Zian replied, ¡°What do you think of this issue?¡±

    [Copse the World]: ¡°I feel very surprised. Not only are there no incidents of cat abuse in the capital, but there have been such frequent urrences of cat abuse in the country in the past three months, and an unusually high number of cat abuse incidents in Binhai City alone. These three incidents are very unusual, and it¡¯s difficult toprehend it all with justmon sense. It can even be defined as a ¡®supernatural phenomenon.''¡±

    A supernatural phenomenon¡­ Undeniably, this person¡¯s intuition was really very keen. He didn¡¯t forcibly exin the situation by using coincidences or other reasoning that was far-fetched. Instead, he simply admitted that it could not be exined. That was the correct attitude towards science¨C¨Cmuch better than the likes of Approaching Science¡­

    Supernatural phenomena did not necessarily mean spiritual events. There was no need to be intimidated since it was possible that existing technology had not developed to the extent where such situations could be exined.

    Zhang Zian replied, ¡°I also feel that it¡¯s a supernatural phenomenon, but aren¡¯t you writing a thesis? If you include supernatural phenomenon in the paper, you probably can¡¯t publish it, right?¡±

    [Copse the World]: ¡°The things that are happening one after another are all too strange. I have basically given up on this paper since there¡¯s no ce to publish it. Honestly speaking, the more data I find, the more I¡¯m afraid. I¡¯ve repeatedly told myself not to dig deeper, and if I were to dig out something that¡¯s beyond belief, things would turn really bad¡­ But at the same time, I¡¯m also too fascinated to just let it go. If I weren¡¯t too busy with my studies, I would¡¯ve made ns to visit the capital.¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned for a moment before he replied, ¡°What were you going to do at the capital?¡±

    [Copse the World]: ¡°I don¡¯t know. I just have some kind of intuition¨C¨Ca feeling that I can find some answers in the capital. In fact, my intuition is often very urate. I always figure out the questions that are going to appear on my exams.¡±

    Zhang Zian was very envious, both mentally and verbally. That was definitely a great tool for exams!

    He replied, ¡°What a coincidence. I¡¯m going on a trip to the capital, so let¡¯s see if I can find any answers. Although my intuition isn¡¯t as good, I have great luck on my side. I always picked the wrong questions to appear on my exams, which fostered my ability to think independently.¡±

    He was being pretentious, but he felt great. Anyway, they weren¡¯t using a forum, so he didn¡¯t have to worry about being exposed.

    [Copse the World]: ¡°Well, if you have any interesting discoveries in the capital, you can let me know about it once you¡¯re back. Maybe then I can work on my thesis again.¡±

    Zhang Zian promised him he would let him know. Zian himself also wanted to find the answer to the question.

    In any case, he had to go on the trip to the capital¨C¨Cbut whether or not he could find any answers there was left to luck.

    The two agreed to contact one another a few days after Zian¡¯s return from the capital.

    Time flew by and it was evening already.

    After they closed up after hours, the staff all left together. Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Jiang Feifei first sent Lu Yiyun back to her rented room in the opposite district. Although she always said that they didn¡¯t need to send her back, they would always insist. Anyway, it was just a few extra steps. After they dropped her off, the three of them made their way back to Binhai University.

    Zhang Zian pulled down the shutter door and turned off the lights on the first floor, leaving only a small night light in the corner to provide faint illumination.

    The puppiesid down to rest, while the kittens were still energetic.

    Returning back to the second floor, Zian opened his suitcase and ced it on the floor, then he began to pack his luggage. The trip to the capital was right in the spring, so it wouldn¡¯t be too cold or too hot, which meant that he didn¡¯t need as many clothes as he did in Germany. He just needed simple, light luggage. Aside from a set of casual clothes, another one or two sets of formal attire for the ceremony was sufficient.

    ¡°Erm, Fina, do you want to visit the capital?¡± Zian casually asked, seeing that Fina had nothing to do.

    Fina sat on the window sill, and although it was already dark, her vision wasn¡¯t affected much. It watched the pedestrians and vehiclese and go with a dignified attitude. In other words, it maintained its pretentious face at all times.

    ¡°The capital? This Queen is not interested,¡± it yawned and said. ¡°I already grew tired of watching the prosperous capital of the Holy ck Land, much less the capital of mere humans.¡±

    ¡°This isn¡¯t the same. Binhai City has no way topare with the capital. Take a look at Binhai City¨C¨Cit¡¯s quiet at night, but the capital is different. It¡¯s bustling with life during the day and night,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°I have a feeling that we might be able to find clues for the Holy Cat Statue at the capital.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Are you sure?¡± Fina¡¯szy tone disappeared and a little spark shed in her eyes. Fina had been at war with the worshippers of the Holy Cat Statue for over two thousand years. Ever since the Holy Cat Statue disappeared without a trace, it had an ominous premonition in its heart. It felt that the ancient evil was about to make aeback¡­

    For that, Fina had maintained a state ofbat readiness at all times. It would make sure to eat enough and replenish itself during the day, so when the other elfins were sleeping at night, it would keep watch. Whenever it heard an abnormal noise from downstairs, it would jump off its princess bed and rush down to the first floor to check on the situation.

    As long as the Holy Cat Statue had not yet been found, Fina would not be at ease. In the current world, no one knew more about the horror and madness of those evil worshippers than it did. It would never want to smell the blood of ancient Egypt again.

    Therefore, Zhang Zian had its full attention.

 Chapter 942: Sword Pointing At The Capital

    <h4>Chapter 942: Sword Pointing At The Capital</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The Holy Cat Statue had yet to be found, and there was not even a single reliable clue. While Fina retained it normal dignity and reserved self on the surface, the truth was, inside, it was already impatient and worried. It wanted to go out at night to search for the Holy Cat Statue itself, but both Zhang Zian and Old Time Tea stopped it. Zhang Zian and Old Time Tea had seen the bizarre aspects of the Holy Cat Statue in the unfinished building, and even for Fina, taking on the Holy Cat Statue alone was likely to be very dangerous.

    The Holy Cat Statue was not a non-living thing; it had yet to fully be an elfin, but it was stuck in some transitional state between life and death¡­ No one was sure how to deal with such things.

    ¡°How should I say it¡­ It¡¯s some kind of gut feeling,¡± Zhang Zian answered, not saying too much. ¡°To find a statue in Binhai City is much too tough. Based on the number of people we have helping out, we might not even find it after 100,100 years¡­ But today, I heard about some things. Perhaps after going to the capital, things could change.¡±

    ¡°Please do tell¨C¨Cwhat on earth is it?¡± Fina asked curiously.

    Under the current circumstances, Zhang Zian found that it was already very difficult to hide it. Rather than letting Fina find out itself and getting angry, it was better to automatically confess and tell it the less serious cat abuse cases recently. Old Time Tea and Famous both knew about it, but everyone was hiding it from Fina. They were scared that it would explode upon hearing about it.

    ¡°What! Someone dares tomit high treason towards the cat race?¡± In the end, Fina still exploded.

    Zhang Zian really wanted to retort. Using the phrase, mit high treason,¡± was not appropriate, right? However, he wisely decided to put up with it and not add oil to the fire. He had never seen Fina so angry before. Each whisker was stretched like a steel needle and it bared its two pairs of little canine teeth at the top and bottom of its mouth.

    Even Richard, who would normally say something at that kind of moment, kept as quiet as a cicada in cold weather.

    Fina was so angry it almost exploded. It walked around the house in circles, and its whole body trembled. Her tail continuously swished, wanting to find something to vent her anger out on.

    ¡°When did you find out about this?¡± it suddenly turned its head to re at him.

    ¡°Just now,¡± he insisted, and at the same time gave looks at Old Time Tea and Famous, asking them not to betray him.

    Snowy Li feared that the world would not be chaotic, and seized the opportunity to interrupt. ¡°Meow, meow, meow! Your Majesty! There¡¯s an 80 percent chance that this stinky man is randomly speaking again. In my opinion, if he¡¯s still not being honest, then we can fry a te of spicy diced chicken with peanuts.¡±

    ¡°Cough! Your Majesty, since the incident has already urred, then there is no need to investigate the origin of how it urred¡­¡± Old Time Tea said in a roundabout way. ¡°Zian said that after going to the capital, things might turn around. Why don¡¯t we go there for a trip? Even if we stay here we aren¡¯t able to help solve this problem.

    Fina was really very angry. Before, it had only known that the Holy Cat Statue had gone missing, but it did not think that cat abuse cases had also started to ur. It was as if the scene that had happened in ancient Egypt two thousand years ago was repeating itself and its peaceful life was gone forever. Once the cat abuse cases spread further, the survival of the entire cat race was facing a huge threat.

    What Old Time Tea said was logical. Since the incident had already urred, they could only look forward and look for a way to solve the problem. It did no good to continue to regret the past.

    ¡°How sure are you?¡± it squinted at Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian thought, I am not even 50 percent sure. He could not truthfully say those words out loud. Otherwise, even if he did not be a te of spicy diced chicken with peanuts, he would be Yuxiang Shredded Pork¡­

    ¡°Zhi zhi!¡± Pi, who normally did not participate in their conversations, suddenly made hand gestures, showing that it had something to say.

    ¡°What is it, Pi?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Pi beckoned him, calling him to theputer and pointing at the words on theputer for him to see. ¡°As cats meow about the changing sky¡­¡± he murmured. Pi had told him the meaning of the Buddhist chant before, which was for him to not worry too much about the Holy Cat Statue problem. He did not understand what exactly the words meant.

    ¡°Zhi zhi,¡± Pi made some hand actions again, pointing towards the north.

    ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­ that after we go to the capital, these words wille true?¡± he confirmed.

    Pi nodded, then patted its Untitled Book. It meant that it was what was written in the book.

    ¡°All right¡­¡±

    He had always thought that the hymn referred to the Holy Cat Statue, but after he thought about what Pi was implying, his understanding could have been wrong.

    He gritted his teeth, patted his chest, and promised Fina, ¡°I am 100 percent sure!¡±

    Fina¡¯s anger decreased by a little bit. ¡°Then I will temporarily trust you¡­ But if you have the guts to lie to me¡­¡±

    Snowy Li had somehow managed to find and hold a can in its mouth. With a loud sound, it threw the can at Zhang Zian¡¯s feet. ¡°If you are going to the capital, you definitely must go to the Forbidden City. If you go to the Forbidden City, you can¡¯t forget to bring this.¡±

    ¡°What is this?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Cut it off! Put it in the can and dry it! Then you can go inside and serve the emperor in peace. After a few decades you can hug it and be buried with it, and in the next life you can be a whole man again!¡± Snowy Li called out, taking pleasure in Zhang Zian¡¯s misfortune.

    ¡°Get lost! I won¡¯t be a freaking eunuch!¡± Zhang Zian kicked the can, causing it to hit the wall with a loud Dong!

    Famous and Old Time Tea did not need to be asked anymore; they were definitelying alone.

    Snowy Li also did not need to be asked. Since Fina was going, then it definitely would shamelessly follow her.

    ¡°Ga ga! Are you not going to ask for my opinion?¡± Richard expressed, not letting himself be forgotten.

    ¡°If you want to go you can go. If you don¡¯t want to go then get lost!¡± Zhang Zian said seventeen truthful words. He then turned to ask, ¡°Pi, have you considereding along?¡±

    ¡°Zhi zhi.¡± Pi nodded its head and expressed that it wanted to go, too, but it then pointed at the notebookputer, expressing that it wanted to bring theputer along. That might let him have time to write his stories.

    A notebookputer was not that heavy, so Zhang Zian agreed to keep theputer in his luggage.

    ¡°Gxy, you are going as well, right?¡± he asked for Gxy¡¯s opinion.

    ¡°Meow? Go to the capital?¡± Gxy was making use of itsst moments before its sleep time to y hide-and-seek with the American Shorthair. Upon hearing Zhang Zian, it blinked its silver-grey eyes.

    ¡°En, the great capital¨C¨Cthe heart of China!¡± He smiled. ¡°It is said that thend a toilet takes up is enough to buy this pet shop with extra money left over.¡±

    ¡°What? A toilet made of gold?¡± Fina¡¯s ears perked up.

    ¡°Not to that extent. It is just that thend is such that an inch ofnd is like an inch of gold,¡± he answered. ¡°After all, it¡¯s the capital.¡±

    ¡°Meow! There are a lot of people in the capital, right¡­?¡± Gxy was still uncertain.

    ¡°It is possible that there are a lot of people everywhere, but there are quiet ces in the noisy ones. For example¡­ the Forbidden City that Snowy Li mentioned just now has a veryrgend area, but only a small part is open for visitors; the rest of it is empty space. At that time, you can y hide-and-seek in the Forbidden City,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°Probably very few people have tried ying hide-and-seek in the Forbidden City before.¡±

    ¡°Meow! Gxy wants to try try!¡± On hearing that, Gxy¡¯s eyes became even brighter.

    ¡°All right, no problem.¡± Zhang Zian agreed easily. As to how they would y hide-and-seek in the Forbidden City, he would have to wait until they reached the city to figure that out.

    He walked near to bathroom and extended his neck to peek inside. Sihwa was happily ying on her phone.

    ¡°Sihwa,e with us to the capital.¡± He did not ask her. Instead, he directly told her that she wasing because if he left Sihwa behind, the situation would be very troublesome. He would need to send Wang Qian or Li Kun to go and y recordings at the seaside every day if she did note, so it would be better to bring her to the capital as well.

    ¡°Why?¡± Sihwa twitched her mouth, obviously not very willing.

    ¡°When we go to the capital this time, the film crew will provide us with a five-star hotel. Don¡¯t you want to try the bathtub of a five-star hotel?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Wow! A five-star hotel! It is definitely better than this shabby bathroom! Can I experience the feeling of being a rich person? Me! I want to go!¡± Sihwa almost jumped out of the bathtub in excitement.

    ¡°Then we¡¯ve all agreed. Everyone sleep well tonight. Tomorrow we¡¯re setting off very early,¡± Zhang Zian continuously urged everyone to go to bed early. Otherwise, if they were toozy to get out of bed the next morning, they could miss the ne.

    Several elfins were the type that were broad minded, fat, and carefree, but the other elfins had things weighing on their minds. After the lights had been switched off and they hadid down, they continued to toss and turn before slowly falling asleep after a long while.

    Zhang Zian was also like that. Heid on the bed for very long, unable to fall asleep. On one hand, he was looking forward to the trip to the capital, but on the other hand, he was restless. What kind of incidents would happen in the capital this time?

 Chapter 943: Arriving in the Capital

    <h4>Chapter 943: Arriving in the Capital</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Beijing Capital International Airport.

    After several hours of flight time, the domestic flight that departed from Binhai Citynded smoothly on the airport runway.

    Zhang Zian grabbed his suitcase and alighted from the ne. He immediately felt that the air in the capital was different from the dryness of Binhai City. It was always dry and rainy during the spring in northern, ind cities. However, the air quality wasn¡¯t bad and there was no scent of the famous Manchu Han Imperial Haze¡­

    Except for Famous, the other elfins were all kept in Zian¡¯s phone. After all, they were on a small and shabby domestic flight. There weren¡¯t even have young, blonde, busty, and long-legged flight attendants. Even Richard was not interested in taking the ne, although Sihwa, on the other hand, had wanted to take a seat, which was obviously impossible. That would be like shipping a salted fish by air. The moment they reached the capital, it would stink.

    The pet shop and the aquarium were entrusted to the care of the staff. Anyway, they had grown from rookies that stuttered when handling customers into experienced salesmen. There would be no problems even if he was away for a longer period of time¨C¨Cor it might be more appropriate to say that after he left, they would be able to have their own fun.

    The only thing that Zhang Zian was worried about was the traffic safety problem. He had repeatedly reminded them to pay attention to their safety when they drove or sailed, and he told them not to go too far offshore. If they missed the whales, there would always be another chance.

    The crew had arranged for a person to pick them up, so after getting in the car, Zhang Zian went straight to the airport cargo road and found the shipping counter of the airline to which the flight belonged. He then used his ID card to process the pet collection procedure.

    Probably because of therge amount of passenger traffic at the Beijing Capital International Airport, the process time for procedures was extremely slow. It took two hours just to get Famous out. By that time, both Zhang Zian and the crew had almost lost their patience.

    Fortunately, Famous had previously experienced a longer flight, so it drank less water this time. What was it going to do if it embarrassed itself in front of the media?

    After much difficulty, they finally left the airport with Famous, only to be caught in traffic congestion at the airport expressway. They couldn¡¯t even see the end of the jam, and the road waspleted congested. Every car moved forward at the pace of a crawling snail and time was slipping away by seconds and minutes. The congestion made many people frustrated, and Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help but feel that it wasn¡¯t easy living in arge city. It was no wonder there were many more people inrge cities that had road rage.

    A few hours after leaving the airport, Zhang Zian finally arrived at the hotel where the crew was located.

    The Beijing International Film Festival carried the name of the ¡°capital,¡± which made it sound very grand because in general, anything that was involved with the capital was always of a higher ss. However, it was just a very young film festival founded in 2011, and it was only in 2013 that they started giving out awards. Therefore, the influence of the festival was really limited and was not even close to the top festival in China.

    During the Berlin Film Festival, the whole of Berlin was filled with a carnival-like atmosphere, and posters of the film festival could be seen everywhere on both sides of the road. Fans queuing up to buy their tickets were everywhere and the silly look of the Berlin bears was unforgettable. Even tourists who hade to visit were deeply influenced by the scene.

    In contrast, the atmosphere of the Beijing International Film Festival was less lively. Aside from a sign on the door of the hotel that indicated that it was the designated hotel for the festival, no other signs for the film festival were seen along the way. It seemed like there weren¡¯t many locals interested in how long the film festival would be held, and there wouldn¡¯t even be any relevant reports on the news app until the second day after the festival closed. It was also on that day that people realized that it was already over.

    In addition, like other film festivals, the Beijing International Film Festival had also stipted that films were only eligible to be included in the mainpetition unit and participate for the awards if it was their world premiere. However, due to the existence of the censorship system, even for the award-winning films at the Beijing International Film Festival, they were not guaranteed to be released in China. That was another reason why the Beijing International Film Festival was less attractive to foreign film dealers. The foreign films that did participate in the selection were all by actors and directors who had not been heard of before.

    Since Dog Warrior had already made its world premiere in Berlin, it did notply with the relevant regtions, so Dog Warrior and Famous had no right to participate for the awards of the Beijing International Film Festival. It could only be shown as a screening film.

    In fact, even if it was able to participate for the awards, the chances of an award being given to a dog at the Beijing International Film Festival was very slim. Director Feng Xuan¡¯s choice to participate in the Berlin Film Festival was a gamble that turned out in their favor.

    Even so, the Beijing International Film Festival was still good for publicity, and it was also thest film festival before the release of Dog Warrior.

    The crew had a room booked for Zhang Zian. They had also notified the hotel in advance about Famous and its special identity, otherwise the hotel would not have allowed it toe inside.

    Zhang Zian was taken to his room, where he ced his suitcase down, and then he took Famous to Feng Xuan¡¯s room.

    ¡°The big star is here! Wee, wee! Everyone¡¯s already here. We were just waiting for you!¡±

    ¡°Sorry to keep everyone waiting for such a long time. There was heavy traffic on our way here.¡± Zhang Zian smiled and apologized.

    Feng Xuan¡¯s room was very lively. There were a lot of people gathered together, and all of them were part of the crew and production team. There were more people on the trippared to the number of people who went to the Berlin Film Festival. After all, it was within the country and the cost was low. When everyone saw Zhang Zian and Famous, they all enthusiastically apuded.

    As they looked at all the familiar faces, Zhan Zian and Famous couldn¡¯t help but recall those days and nights they shared during the filming process, and the countless times they had to brave the wind and snow as they spent hours just to get the perfect shot. There was also the battle of wits with the pyrotechnician Guan Biao and the Tibetan Mastiffs. Thankfully, all their hard work was finally being rewarded.

    Feng Xuan smiled and sat in the center of the room. Everyone else was seated around him on the floor because there weren¡¯t enough chairs. Zhang Zian and Famous found an empty spot and sat down.

    The lead actor, Lin Feng, and the production director, Nie Yuan, were both not present. They were most likely trying to avoid the awkwardness of seeing Famous. Zhang Zian pretended not to notice, so he didn¡¯t ask where they were.

    Everyone started to share their own experiences and stories over the past six months. After all, they were all working in the same industry so they could exchange information, such as whichpany wanted to film what movie, which director was currently searching for lead actors, which crew was currently recruiting staff¡­ All sorts of information was passed around from everyone¡¯s mouth. Those who had worked in support roles wanted a chance to take up a lead role, while the assistant directors hoped to be the director the next time. Those working in the film industry had no fixed sry, and how much they could earn relied heavily on information, hard work, and luck. If no one wanted them, they could only stay at home.

    Zhang Zian was the only person who was not in the same industry, so he didn¡¯t get involved in their discussion; however, heughed as he listened to them like they were all spreading gossip.

    There were also a few people who provided him with information, like which director was raising funds for an animal movie, what dogs they required, and so on. Zian

    took down all the information, and as for whether or not to participate in the filming, Famous took great care not to do anything that couldpromise its reputation.

 Chapter 944: Strange Stray Cat

    <h4>Chapter 944: Strange Stray Cat</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Feng Xuan was the center of attention and there were constantly people whispering into his ear. Obviously there were some moviepanies that had seen how Dog Warrior was garnering sess, and there were crew members who were familiar with both parties that could act as a go between.

    They wanted Feng Xuan to direct their movies; however, Feng Xuan kept a constant, slight smile on his face. He didn¡¯t agree, but he did not reject them, either. He was hesitant because he was already quite old, and after filming one movie, he needed sufficient rest before filming the next one. Also, he wanted to sell to the highest bidder, so he wanted to wait for the box office sess of Dog Warrior.

    As a special effects movie that had low funding, due to not having any big celebrities in it, Dog Warrior¡¯s production and advertising costs was the equivalent to the money a famous celebrity would earn from filming a movie. With the current momentum of the movie, earning enough to cover the costs and earn profits would not be a problem. What was vital, however, were the box office ratings.

    Zhang Zian had found some employees he was well-acquainted with to reminiscence about the past. He had specially reminded the makeup artist, Xu Junyu, that the weather was getting hotter and hotter, and the mosquitoes were starting to move around. The hairless cats that she had at home would likely have a lot of red bumps from mosquito bites, but even then she should not burn mosquito repellent incense, as there were ingredients in the mosquito repellent incense that were harmful to cats.

    Xu Junyu shared the photographs of her cats after she helped them put on their makeup. Every photo could be used as a sticker, and it caused the rest of the cat owners to be so amused that theyughed loudly.

    After chatting for a while, Zhang Zian saw that the sky outside had started to darken. He came up with a reason that he needed to walk the dog and said his goodbyes, then left with Famous.

    When he returned to his room, he released the rest of the elfins besides Sihwa and made them invisible. He did not release Sihwa because he was scared that when he was out, the hotel staff would enter the hotel room for some reason. They would see the empty part in the bathtub, and that would be troublesome¡­ She could make her body invisible, but the dent in the water¡¯s surface could not be hidden.

    In the past, when he went to America, he had stayed in Tim and Laurin¡¯s house, and when he went to Germany, the hotel he had stayed in was ordinary. Old Time Tea observed the exquisite and luxurious decorations in the room and could not help but be left slightly speechless.

    Gxy jogged to the window and stuck its face onto the ss to look outside.

    ¡°This is what they call a five-star hotel? It looks quite ordinary.¡± After Fina appeared and turned around to look at the decorations in the room, it could not help but be very disappointed. It looked at everything in disgust andmented, ¡°The cups are made of ss, the lights are made of ss, the dishes to hold the fruit are also made of ss¡­ There is a cheap feeling to everything. There are no gold utensils, no jeweled tassels¡­ How is it worthy of being called a five-star hotel? You humans have such low expectations of a five-star hotel. To think that I had some expectations at first.¡±

    ¡°You probably have some misunderstanding of what five-stars means.¡± Zhang Zian could not stop himself fromining. ¡°Even if it¡¯s a five-star hotel it is still a hotel, not a five-star pce!¡±

    Fina did not pay attention to hisints. It jumped onto the bed and surprisingly found that the mattress was very soft and stic. It jumped on the bed a few times; it was like it had springs inside.

    ¡°Eh? This bed is very soft!¡± it said happily.

    ¡°Your Majesty, that¡¯s because this servant is under the bed sheet¡­ Step on this servant a few more times!¡± Snowy Li had unknowingly wriggled under the bedsheets and had been stepped on a few times by Fina. It had not felt pain, but instead seemed to be enjoying it a lot. Its head popped up from under the bedsheets, giving Fina a soft nce.

    Fina: ¡°¡­¡±

    Even when it was not stepping on Snowy Li, the bed was still very soft, and Fina dered its ownership of the bed.

    ¡°From the ancient times to the present times, this bed belongs to me!¡± it said, unreasonably.

    No one fought with it.

    Fortunately, there were two beds in the standard room, and if they squeezed a bit they could still fit. Famous did not like sleeping in too soft a ce; it preferred to sleep on the carpet instead.Gxy liked to lie by the window and sleep; Pi was used to sleeping on the basket hammock chair and liked to sleep somewhere that it could be sheltered. The sofa was a pretty good option for it. Old Time Tea was able to sleep anywhere¡­ so Zhang Zian did not have to go to the extent of sleeping on the floor.

    He took some clothes out from his luggage and hung them up in his closet, then ced theptop on the desk.

    Pi looked at the time and anxiously wanted to open theputer to write his stories.

    ¡°Pi, don¡¯t be too anxious. We rarelye out, and now that we are staying in a luxurious hotel that we did not need to pay for ourselves, why don¡¯t we go downstairs to take a walk? You can brainstorm your plot, and it would not be toote to start writing after wee back,¡± Zhang Zian persuaded. ¡°When you enter a treasure mountain, how can you return empty-handed?¡±

    ¡°Ga ga! Is it Babaoshan?¡± Richard pped its wings and said. ¡°Aftering to the capital you have quite a lot of awareness! But don¡¯t worry, you don¡¯t have the qualifications to enter Babaoshan!¡±

    Zhang Zian looked around the surroundings. There was one thing that was not good about a luxurious hotel: They did not have a feather duster for the guests.

    He did not bring much on the trip, and he did not have a lot of things in his luggage. He had packed very quickly.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go. Let¡¯s go downstairs and take a walk around the garden¨C¨Ctake in the capital air,¡± he suggested.

    Fina could not really bear to leave the soft bed, but it unwillingly followed behind.

    Zhang Zian led Famous, and brought the invisible elfins to the elevator. They entered the elevator with no one inside, and reached the lobby on the first floor. He asked the hotel staff about the directions to the garden before they all left the hotel lobby.

    In the capital where every inch ofnd was worth an inch of gold, it was already extremely extravagant and luxurious for a hotel to have such arge garden. When Zhang Zian reached the garden, he was shocked to realize that there was no one there at all. Obviously, there were more fun things in the hotel attracting the guests, like the gym, the billiard room, the sauna, the indoor swimming pool, and so on.

    Actually, if it was only Zhang Zian alone, he would have been more willing to go to the gym or the indoor pool to look at girls, but the elfins were definitely not interested in those things.

    ¡°Meow. Zian, shall we y hide-and-seek?¡± Gxy excitedly suggested, seeing that there was no one around. Even though it would never be bored of ying hide-and-seek in the pet shop, it was very happy toe to a new ce to y, as well.

    ¡°All right. It¡¯s been a long since I¡¯ve exercised my joints. Today, I¡¯ll let you witness the product of my hard work and training. Stealth Cloak!¡± Zhang Zian was very confident.

    ¡°Meow! Zian is boasting!¡± However, Gxy had seen through his lies a long time ago.

    When Zhang Zian turned his head back, he saw that Famous and Pi had instantly escaped. Pi had jumped a few times and climbed to the top of the tree, hugging the tree while trembling lightly, and Famous had even used the short distance teleportation skill that was only supposed to be used to escape from danger. Could it be that its crisis prediction ability had taken effect?

    ¡°Tsk! Two cowards!¡± He twitched his lips disdainfully, ¡°Gxy, how about we have apetition to determine the winner and the loser?¡±

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    ¡°All right, go and hide well. Don¡¯t let me find you too easily. I like games with a challenge!¡± Zhang Zian closed his eyes.

    ¡°Meow. Zian don¡¯t you dare peek! Don¡¯t cheat!¡± Gxy said seriously, probably knowing that Zhang Zian often liked to secretly peek when he counted.

    ¡°I never peek! It¡¯s not like it¡¯s a girl who¡¯s bathing. What¡¯s there to look at?¡± Zhang Zian refused to admit it.

    ¡°Meow!¡± Gxy disappeared in a blink of an eye; the ¡°me¡± had sounded from close by while the ¡°ow¡± came from a distance away.

    The evening wind was not cold and not hot; it was veryfortable.

    Fina found a long chair, and Snowy Li helped to clean the dust off the chair by blowing it off diligently before Fina sat downfortably.

    Richard was having a much tougher time. The bird species was blind at night, which made it blind despite its eyes being wide open. Even though there were streetmps all around and it could still see a little bit, it was still like a headless fly, flying around randomly and hitting things.

    Old Time Tea leisurely jumped onto the cover of the pavilion and narrowed its eyes, looking around.

    Zhang Zian closed his eyes and counted, ¡°One, two, three, four¡­¡±

    Gxy had hidden itself a long time ago and was quietly waiting for him to find it.

    Zhang Zian counted to 100, then opened his eyes and started to sweep the area, not letting go of anywhere that could hide a cat.

    However, Gxy¡¯s hide-and-seek skills were very good; it was not that easy to find it.

    When he was lowering his head to look, he heard a soft sound from Old Time Tea, who was sitting on the roof of the pavilion.

    ¡°Old Time Tea, what is it? Did Gxy hide there?¡± he thought that Old Time Tea wanted to cheat, and he instantly looked very happy.

    ¡°No. Zian look over there.¡± Old Time Tea raised its w to point at the corner of the garden.

    Zhang Zian squinted his eyes, trying his best to look over to where Old Time Tea was pointing at. He did not have the night vision of cats, and he could not see very well, so all he could see was that something seemed to be moving in the darkness.

    ¡°Old Time Tea, what is that?¡± he asked. ¡°I can¡¯t see clearly.¡±

    ¡°It seems to be a stray cat,¡± Old Time Tea murmured in a low voice. ¡°But this cat seems a bit weird.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Weird in what way? Does it have three or five legs?¡± Zhang Zian thought that he had met a cat that had been born strangely, and his curiosity was peaked. He wanted to go closer to take a look.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that¡­ The weirdness I¡¯m talking about is not referring to a physical strangeness¡­ Zian there is no need for you to go over. It has already run off.¡± Old Time Tea shook its head softly. ¡°It could be that I¡¯m thinking too much, but I kept feeling like that stray cat was very weird. It was quite different from the stray cats in Binhai City.¡±

    ¡°What part of it was different?¡± Zhang Zian felt even more troubled. Since it was not a physical difference, what other part of it could be different?

    Old Time Tea took in a breath of cold air. Its voice was deep as it said, ¡°Since we came here, its gaze did not leave us. It seemed to be¡­ observing us. I saw that its behavior was a bit weird, so I took extra notice.¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned and speechless. ¡°Old Time Tea, are you sure?¡±

    ¡°I know it¡¯s a bit strange, but in my opinion, it does seem so¡­¡± The tone of Old Time Tea was not 100 percent sure. After all, that was a little too strange.

    ¡°Old Time Tea, are you sure that it was an ordinary stray cat? Could it be that it was an elfin or something?¡± Zhang Zian suggested.

    ¡°That¡¯s not possible.¡± Old Time Tea shook its head again. ¡°I¡¯m sure that it is just an ordinary stray cat¡­ How about I chase after it to see see? It just left not long ago, so perhaps I can catch up.¡±

    Zhang Zian pondered for a while, but was worried about Old Time Tea¡¯s safety. ¡°There¡¯s no need, Old Time Tea. If it¡¯s not you overthinking things, and it was actually spying on us, then it will definitely appear again. We should just wait at ease for the fatigued toe to us.¡±

    Old Time Tea thought about it, then nodded happily and said, ¡°What Zian said is reasonable. You have the air of a great general.¡±

    ¡°Old Time Tea, don¡¯t be absurd. How could I have the air of a great general¡­ I should go and find Gxy.¡± Zhang Zian suppressed the suspicion in his heart, and grudgingly smiled.

 Chapter 945: Hand in Hand

    <h4>Chapter 945: Hand in Hand</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    They didn¡¯t lower their voices, so the conversation between Zhang Zian and Old Time Tea was overheard by the other elfins.

    ¡°Meow, meow, meow! There was a stray cat spying on us? Was it coveting after my beauty?¡± Snowy Li sat on the bench with its head looking upwards, but because it was still too low, it couldn¡¯t see anything. Snowy Li then hugged the pir of the pavilion and tried to climb up it, but whenever it was halfway up, it would slide down again.

    ¡°What cat is so bold that it dares to spy on this queen?¡± An icy emanated from Fina¡¯s eyes.

    Famous also asked in confusion, ¡°Old Time Tea, could you be mistaken? Besides, you¡¯re invisible now, so it shouldn¡¯t be able to see all of you.¡±

    The incident was really beyond belief. How could an ordinary, stray cat spy on them? However, Old Time Tea had always been calm and cool-headed, and it wouldn¡¯t have brought it up if it wasn¡¯t sure about it.

    Zhang Zian nodded. What Famous said made sense too¡­ All the other elfins aside from Famous were currently invisible. If the stray cat was indeed spying on them, it could only be spying on Zhang Zian and Famous.

    Old Time Tea talked in great detail. When they left the hotel building, it had noticed that there was a stray cat probing around in the hotel parking lot.

    It was a very normal phenomenon because spring nights were still very cold. Stray cats liked to rest near car engines, like on the front tire or the engine cover, using the engine¡¯s residual heat to warm themselves. If it rained or if the temperature dropped suddenly, the stray cat might even sneak into the enginepartment from the chassis. To the stray cats, an enginepartment was a magical ce that could shelter them from the wind and rain, and there were situations where stray mother cats would give birth to their kittens in the enginepartment¡­

    However, for car owners, that situation was very bad. Because they didn¡¯t know that a cat had entered their enginepartment, when they started their car, they might hurt the stray cat. Also, if the stray cat excreted in the enginepartment, there was a foul stench.

    Old Time Tea saw the stray cat in the parking lot, but it didn¡¯t think much of it. It had thought that it was looking for a warm enginepartment to stay in for the night.

    As Zhang Zian and the other elfins walked towards the garden, however, the stray cat quietly followed behind them, maintaining a distance of 100 steps. It was hiding as it followed them, as if it didn¡¯t want Zhang Zian to find out.

    Old Time Tea continued to observe their surroundings. The other elfins did not realize that they were being followed by an unfamiliar stray cat, only Old Time Tea had noticed it. It still didn¡¯t really care; it felt that the stray cat could just be hungry, so it was following Zhang Zian in hopes of finding something to eat.

    However, when Zhang Zian walked into the garden and began to chat and y with the elfins, the stray cat didn¡¯te over for some food. Instead, it quietly snuck into a corner and used the surrounding flowers as a cover as it watched every move both Zhang Zian and Famous made.

    It was starting to behave unlike ordinary stray cats.

    Old Time Tea was bold with confidence. It didn¡¯t make any noise when it discovered the stray cat¡¯s abnormality, but instead, it started to observe the cat. Even if the stray cat was conspiring something, Old Time Tea wasn¡¯t afraid.

    After some observation, it noticed that the stray cat wanted to leave, so it immediately notified Zhang Zian.

    It had also considered approaching the stray cat quietly then taking it down by surprise, but what could it do after taking it down? Torture it and force out a confession? That was obviously impossible, and the average cat had limited intelligence, so it might not have even been able to get anything useful out from the stray cat.

    Another way was to quietly follow after the cat and see where it went after it left, but that would take up a lot of time.

    As they listened to Old Time Tea, everyone was surprised that they had encountered a strange incident just after they arrived in the capital.

    Zhang Zian decided to maintain the status quo. If the stray cat was really spying on them, it would definitelye back.

    They yed hide and seek in the garden for a while, but during the fun, Zhang Zian and the other elfins kept their eyes open. The stray cat didn¡¯t appear again.

    ******

    The next morning.

    Zhang Zian woke up on a soft, sun-soaked bed and did some stretching. He didn¡¯t want to get up. The bed was too soft andfortable. No wonder the princess in The Princess and the Pea could feel a pea under her mattress; she was most likely sleeping on such a soft bed, too.

    It was the day of the opening ceremony of the Beijing International Film Festival and their schedule was quite packed. In addition to meeting with the media, Famous would also participate in the opening ceremony as a special guest where he would have to have his photo taken and be asked for interviews. Fortunately, both Zian and Famous had already gotten used to such situations.

    Fina was sleeping under the nket on another bed, while Snowy Li slept on top of the nket. It had tried several times to get under the nket so it could sleep with Fina, but it was pushed out every time.

    Gxy slept on the windowsill, and the rising sun decorated its fur with a golden circle. The white curtains gently swayed as the wind blew out of the central air conditioner and covered Gxy¡¯s body like a nket.

    Pi was still in a daze. It turned over and fell off the sofa, but fortunately, the floor wasyered with a thick carpet, so it didn¡¯t feel much pain. It yawned and felt around for its pince-nez sses, but after some time, it couldn¡¯t find them anywhere. It opened its eyes to look around, then it remembered that they weren¡¯t on the second floor of the pet shop.

    Pi woke Famous up when it fell off the sofa. Famous was in high-spirits and it didn¡¯t take it long to wake uppletely. It stood up from the carpet and shook its hair.

    Old Time Tea slept on another sofa near the coffee table. Soaked in the teacup on the coffee table was the tea bag fromst night. Zhang Zian had forgotten to bring the tea that it loved¨C¨Ca careless mistake¨C¨Cso it had to make do with the instant tea bags provided by the hotel.

    Richard¡¯s mouth was tied shut with a cloth strip, and it wanted to call out but it couldn¡¯t, so it just jumped around and pped its wings.

    Zhang Zian had a headache. When the room attendant came in to clean the room and saw so much cat furs, bird feathers, and monkey hair, what would the person think?

    Zian put on his clothes, got up, and went to the bathroom.

    ¡°Wow! This bathtub is great! It¡¯s so blissful! Is this the rumored life of those from the higher ss?¡± Sihwaid in the tub and watched as water and bubbles continued to rush out from the jacuzzi jet. She was almost moved to tears.

    ¡°Did you have the massage function on for the whole night?¡± Zhang Zian asked. ¡°You must¡¯ve enjoyed it enough, right? I¡¯ll have to keep you in the phone when we head outter.¡±

    Sihwa pped the surface of the water and objected. ¡°No! I don¡¯t care! Today I will broadcast live in this bathtub, and shut the mouths of all those audience members whoughed at my bathroom and called it shabby!¡±

    ¡°No, we don¡¯t have a choice. After we leave, the room attendant wille in to clean up the ce, and if the person sees a mermaid in the bathtub, they will definitely faint.¡± Zhang Zian refused without hesitation. It was not even going to work if he left her invisible¨C¨Cthe water in the tub would give her away.

    ¡°D*mn! Cheapskate!¡± Sihwa vented her temper and sshed water everywhere.

    Zhang Zian brushed his teeth and washed his face, then woke up the other elfins.

    Pulling the curtains open, he caught a glimpse of something at the parking lot. There was something that shot out from beneath the cars that looked like a cat.

 Chapter 946: Heading Towards the City Center

    <h4>Chapter 946: Heading Towards the City Center</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    They had endured a busy day.

    The day before, Zhang Zian and Famous followed the crew to deal with the various media interviews. It was like they were on a merry-go-round, but thankfully, when they passed the Berlin International Film Festival venue, there was a sense of having sailed the seven seas. It was nicely coordinated, as the crew had finished the task of promoting the movie.

    Now, the crew members were not rxed at all, and there were even people who had stayed up all night, refreshing the box office numbers over and over again. From midnight forward, Dog Warrior had officially started to show in movie theaters across the country. Most movies aired for around 20 days, but if the box office numbers were not good, that number would decrease; if it was good, that number would increase. The longer the movie aired, the more money that would be made¨C¨Cthat would also mean the influence of the movie would increase.

    Zhang Zian also hoped that Dog Warrior would air longer, but he would not stay up all night because of it. Both he and Famous had confidence.

    The sky outside was still dark, but he woke up early and woke up the elfins.

    ¡°Wake up! Wake up! Otherwise, we won¡¯t be able to make it!¡± He pped his hands as he rushed them.

    ¡°Shut up! I haven¡¯t slept enough yet!¡± Finained angrily, then hid its head under the covers again.

    Zhang Zian took the life-threatening risk of pulling away the covers, and then quickly ran far away, switching on the light as well.

    Snowy Li, who was lying on the covers and sleeping, rolled onto the carpet like a ball.

    Because he had already given them prior notice the night before, they woke up one by one despite theirck of sleep; only Fina was still muttering and throwing a tantrum due to being woken up.

    Zhang Zian himself did not want to wake up so early, but he had no choice. If they did not wake up early, they would miss the g raising ceremony in the parade square. Since they were at the capital, how could they miss the g raising ceremony?

    From that day on, crew members had, to a certain degree, freedom to move around on their own. The less important members had already left the capital the night before to join new filming groups. Zhang Zian had already told the staff that he was going to bring Famous and the elfins to explore the famous tourist spots in the capital, and the first stop would be the g raising ceremony in the parade square.

    To see the g raising ceremony, they had to wake up early and leave before the sky brightened since the g was to rise with the sun.

    ¡°It¡¯s just the raising of a g. What is there to see?¡± Fina was full of anger and wasining fiercely. ¡°If you want to see it, you can set up a gpole in front of the sacred pce and g raise as much as you want! If you want to, you can even hang yourself on it!¡±

    ¡°This is different.¡± For safety reasons, Zhang Zian held tightly onto the nket in his hand, to prevent Fina from harming people out of anger. ¡°You must know, a lot of people from other regions, and even those from other countries, rush over specially to experience the g raising ceremony in the most famous parade square in the world. To stand in the rising sun and be covered in the spring breeze, raising their heads to see the national g slowly rising up¡­ That kind of solemn and respectful feeling is something that cannot be experienced every day.¡±

    He wasted a lot of saliva, and emphasized that that sort of experience was one that people would only see a few times in their lives. They only needed to wake up early that one day, anyway; there was no need to wake up early from then on. Fina was still barely convinced to move.

    The rest of the elfins were not thatzy. The others had a bit of curiosity. Why was it that an ordinary g raising ceremony could attract so many people from faraway ces?

    The only one who could not go and see was Sihwa. She had quite wanted to go and see it, but it was a pity that she could not, so she threw a tantrum in the bathtub. She finally reduced her temper when Zhang Zian sent her a video of the actual event. Following that, she urged Zhang Zian to buy a car that came with a massage bathtub so that she could randomlye with them whenever she wanted. Afterall, four wheels were more convenient than two legs.

    After hurriedly clearing up, Zhang Zian put Sihwa back in his phone, and took the other elfins and headed out. When on the esctor, whether it was a human or an elfin, they were all yawning; afterall, they did wake up too early.

    The good thing about waking up early was that there were very few people. The lobby of the hotel on the first floor was very quiet, and there were only a few guards and hotel staff. Now that the staff knew what sort of background Famous had, if it was not for the strict rules in the hotel, they really would have asked for a photo with it.

    Above their head, the sky was still full of stars, and the fresh and cold morning breeze made them full of spirit.

    When Zhang Zian reached the parking lot and found therge size SUV he had rented, he had the elfins sit inside while he climbed into the driver¡¯s seat.

    ¡°Zian.¡± Old Time Tea reached out his paw from behind, lightly patting his shoulder. He signaled that he should look towards the side.

    He did not make any big reactions or sounds; he only turned his head slightly, seeing a yellow and white stray cat sitting on the courtyard wall. Its bright, piercing eyes were staring at his car.

    ¡°Is that the cat?¡± his lips moved slightly as he lowered his voice and asked.

    ¡°If I am not remembering incorrectly, then this was the one I saw the other day,¡± Old Time Tea answered, very sure of his answer.

    ¡°I want to see. What kind of cat species dares to act so suspicious in front of me?¡± Fina, who had originally nned on taking a nap on the road, instantly sat up and started to look around.

    ¡°Ignore it. It¡¯s just a normal stray cat. If it has the ability to, then it can continue to monitor us. I don¡¯t believe that it can catch up to a car.¡±

    Zhang Zian was scared that it would cause trouble. Afterall, if an elfin wanted to be aggressive, it would stop being invisible. There are surveince cameras everywhere near the five-star hotel, so if a cat appeared out of nowhere on camera, then it would definitely cause a lot of interest.

    ¡°We should take note of the time and go and see the g raising ceremony.¡± He put on his seatbelt and started the car. He used the rearview mirror to stare at the cat until it disappeared from his sight. It was still sitting on the corner of the wall, not moving.

    He did not know why, but he let out a breath of relief. What would he have done if that cat really chased his car?

    There was another good thing about waking up early: There were no traffic jams.

    Zhang Zian had onlye to the capital once or twice a very long time ago, and he was not familiar with theyout. The hotel he had stayed in was quite far from the city center, and he could only use the GPS to drive towards the city center.

    The elfins pressed their faces against the car windows, curiously assessing the thousand-year-old city in the early morning. The old streets were next to the modern office buildings, causing a stark contrast.

    ¡°Ga ga! There are so many people!¡± Richard called out.

    Even though the sky had not brightened yet, there were already quite a lot of pedestrians on the road. Both those who had woken up early and those who had yet to reach home were hurriedly walking, showcasing the fast-paced life of a world-famous big city.

    ¡°Zian.¡± Old Time Tea patted Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder again. ¡°Look over there.¡±

    Zhang Zian quickly nced over at the direction Old Time Tea was pointing at, and was instantly startled. The whole car started to shake and he almost lost control of the car. Thankfully, he was not driving too fast.

    They were driving past ane in Chaoyang District and a cat was squatting on one of the greyish green courtyard walls. It seemed to be a stray cat.

    Even though the cat was definitely a different one from the one at the hotel parking lot, its gaze was very simr. Its eyes were closely watching the car, moving along with it as if it was spying on them.

    What was very coincidental was that, below the wall, was an olddy wearing a red armband. She looked with a simr gaze at their SUV that was slowly driving past.

 Chapter 947: The Five Greatest Intelligence Organizations

    <h4>Chapter 947: The Five Greatest Intelligence Organizations</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Old Time Tea sucked in a breath of cold air, but this time it wasn¡¯t because of the stray cat. It said: ¡°Who is this old woman? Why are her eyes so sharp?¡±

    Next to the blue-gray wall, the grandmother wore a gray vest and a pair of gray trousers that matched the color of the wall. At first nce, it was the perfect camouge; only the red armband on her arm seemed striking.

    She looked around with vignce and scanned her surroundings as if everything was a suspect. Any unfamiliar car or stranger that passed by would have to bear her watchful eyes until they disappearedpletely from her sight. Her look would send chills down anyone¡¯s spine, which was enough to deter anyone that had malicious intents.

    A hand-woven, woolen phone sock was hanging around her neck, and once she discovered a suspicious person or a suspicious vehicle, she would immediately pick up her phone and whisper into it.

    Zhang Zian coughed and exined, ¡°She¡¯s probably part of the residentsmittee for the neighborhood. Although they¡¯re both residentsmittees, her aura is much stronger than Grandma Gu from our Zhonghua Road residentsmittee! This is the capital¡¯s Chaoyang District, so if I¡¯m not wrong, this vignt grandmother should be the legendary secret s¡­ No, not that. The legendary Chaoyang Residents!¡±

    ¡°Oh? Are the Chaoyang Residents powerful?¡± Old Time Tea was shocked.

    ¡°Of course. Countless cases have been cracked every year by the Chaoyang Residents. The cases range from big cases that shocked China to smaller security issues. The Chaoyang Residents are active everywhere! They¡¯ve also been listed as one of the top five intelligence organizations in the world, together with CIA, KGB, MI6, and Mossad! The key is that the people in Chaoyang Residents are very secretive. Everyone you meet in the Chaoyang District, regardless of gender, may be a member of the Chaoyang Residents. They might be all nice and friendly in front of you, but once they dig out the information from you, they report you when you turn around. They¡¯re everywhere and there¡¯s no way to guard against them! Like the old grandmother earlier¨C¨Clook at her vignce. She¡¯s probably a small leader in the Chaoyang Residents. The annual reward imed for reporting crimes is much higher than the retirement bonus¡­ Oh yeah, I wasn¡¯t speeding just now, right? I hope she didn¡¯t report my license te¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian continued with the story as he drove. The elfins in the car were really amazed by what they heard.

    ¡°Speaking of this, could the reason there are no cat abuse incidents in the capital be because of the presence of the Chaoyang Residents?¡± Old Time Tea asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s possible,¡± Zhang Zian said, ¡°The security situation in the capital is rtively better than anywhere else. They have satellites in space, surveince cameras on top of people¡¯s heads, and the Chaoyang Residents on the ground. It¡¯s a three-in-one security system, so if you want tomit crimes here, you must first put yourself against the system and take a look at your odds.¡±

    Having said that, even if the people in Chaoyang Residents were allparable to James Bond, the capital had only one Chaoyang District, and it could not exin why there were no cat abuse incidents in the other districts.

    Jokes aside, Zian and the elfins had kept their eyes open. They were observing their surroundings while they drove. Fortunately, the sky was still dark, and there were fewer vehicles on the road, so they wouldn¡¯t go in the wrong direction or hit another car.

    It was so early in the morning, yet there were already many olddies out walking; some were wearing training clothes, some were carrying baskets, and some were walking their dogs. What they had inmon was that everyone¡¯s eyes were burning as they stared at the vehicles that had foreign license tes and those who spoke with a foreign ent.

    Not only that, but there were also quite a number of stray cats in the Chaoyang District, and the eyes of the cats were simr to those of the Chaoyang Residents. Whenever a stranger passed by, their ears would perk up, and they would poke their heads out from over walls, between trees, under porches, and from behind sr water heaters to watch. One could easily get the creeps from their watchful stares.

    But the locals seemed to be ustomed to it. The stray cats would switch their behavior when they were with a familiar local. They would sway their tails and meow for food. The olddies had a lot of snacks to feed the stray cats; they were already used to this situation.

    After going through the Chaoyang District and entering the core of the capital, Zhang Zian and the elfins couldn¡¯t help but breathe a sigh of relief. The eyes staring at them felt like daggers on their backs.

    ¡°Famous, I¡¯ll have to make you invisible, too, because the capital doesn¡¯t allow dogs with a height of 35 centimeters or more. Also, no pets are allowed in the parade square where the g is raised,¡± Zhang Zian said while they waited for a traffic light to turn green. Famous wasn¡¯t unhappy about it at all, but it was very curious. It lifted its ws and asked, ¡°35 centimeters? Isn¡¯t that just small dogs then? On the way here, I clearly saw that some dogs were pretty tall¡­ They were definitely over 35 centimeters.¡±

    ¡°It should be. In fact, I don¡¯t know how the 35 centimeters standard came from. It was probably decided on a whim¡­ As for those people, they¡¯re probably raising them in secret and no one¡¯s really bothered to call them out about it. But I¡¯m aw-abiding citizen, so I won¡¯t do anything that¡¯s against thew. Of course, as long as I don¡¯t get caught, it doesn¡¯t count,¡± Zhang Zian said as he made Famous invisible.

    Many cities banned aggressive dogs, which was understandable, but it wasn¡¯t known whyrge dogs were forbidden. It was important to note that manyrge dogs were more docile and less likely to bite aspared to small dogs that were fiercer¡­ So it could only be said that the people who made the policy probably didn¡¯t understand dogs at all, and had proceeded with a ¡°one size fits all¡± approach.

    Old Time Tea suddenly sniffled and praised, ¡°Good tea! Where¡¯s this tea fragrance from?¡±

    Zhang Zian looked around and saw that there was a tea house in front of them that was decorated with an ancient touch: two slightly cheesy golden dragons riding on a pink and blue cloud with their ws bared.

    It was still too early, so the tea house had yet to open for business, but the fragrance of their tea was already brimming up the ce.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°That¡¯s Laoshe Teahouse. It¡¯s basically one of the finest teahouses in the capital, and it¡¯s also ranked in the top few in the country. On our way backter, how about we stop by to drink a few cups?¡±

    ¡°Good! Good!¡± Old Time Tea¡¯s eyes shone brightly and it nodded happily. ¡°Judging by the scent of the subtle tea fragrance alone, the tea inside must be good!¡± Old Time Tea had been drinking the instant tea bags provided by the hotel, and although it hadn¡¯tined about anything, it was definitely not enjoying them.

    ¡°It won¡¯t be easy to find a parking lot up ahead, so let¡¯s park the car near the entrance of the teahouse and walk over,¡± Zhang Zian suggested.

    When Fina heard that they had to walk, it started to grumble again and again, but there was no other choice since there weren¡¯t any parking spaces near the parade square. If they were to park there without any care, they would most likely not make it back to Binhai City.

    Several cars were already parked at the entrance of the teahouse, so Zian parked the car there.

    There were many crows along the street, so the cars parked there were inevitably attacked by bird droppings. The front windshield of one car was covered in yellow and white bird droppings, but it¡¯s a rented car, so it didn¡¯t really hurt.

    Zian locked the car and took the elfins to the underground passageway to the parade square.

 Chapter 948: Flag raising

    <h4>Chapter 948: g raising</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In the underground passageway, there were different dialects from the tourists all around them; there was even a portion that were golden-haired and blue-eyed. It was obvious that they were all there to watch the g raising ceremony. Most of them wore ordinary clothing, but there were also people who wore traditional costumes, including the Han costume. There were young couples, and middle-aged, married couples. Some were holding onto elderly people, some were carrying young infants, and some were even wearing hospital clothes. It was probably that, even though they were there in the capital to treat their illness, they wanted to fulfill their dream of witnessing the g raising ceremony.

    Seeing the scene in front of them, Fina was starting to have its misgivings. It did not have much interest in g raising... They were just raising a g up a gpole. What was there to see?

    ¡°This... This is the most famous parade square in the world?¡±

    ¡°This is China¡¯s ancient Imperial City?¡±

    ¡°Ga ga! How big! How white!¡±

    After they walked through the underground passageway and reached the parade square, all the elfins were stunned. They had never seen such arge parade square before, and a person standing on it was very unassuming.

    The red zed top of the roof was located on the central axis of the capital. There were no especially tall buildings nearby, and the parade square served as a foil to make everything around it seem short, but stable.

    Famous was reminded of Berlin¡¯s victory memorial pir by the cloud patterns that looked like wings on the white marble; however, it was not the goddess of victory sitting above the ornamental columns. Instead, it was an exotic stone beast that was both like a lion and a unicorn.

    It was the first time that Fina had seen the ancient Imperial City, andpared to the pce in ancient Egypt, China¡¯s olden architectural style was not extravagant or beautiful. Instead, it was full of dignity and solemnity. It did not need to use skillful craftsmanship to prove anything, but it instead used vast space to disy the sense of vastness and richness.

    Old Time Tea looked at the city buildings filled with historical ups and downs and whispered, ¡°This was where the sad Qin and Han Dynasty was governed from. The tens of thousands of rooms of the Imperial Pce were made into dirt...¡±

    The rest of the elfins did not have such deep feelings, but they were certainly shocked by the magnificence of the parade square.

    Zhang Zian signaled with his eyes for them to be quiet; he did not want armed police all over the square to hear cats barking and dogs barking and birds singing. He followed Richard¡¯s line of sight to see what was so white... As a result, he saw that someone had brought a steamed bun.

    In the early morning, the lights in the parade square had yet to entirely diminish. The sky was still cloudy and greyish in color¨C¨Cnot as dark as it had been when they had set out.

    The tourists were all stretching their necks and trying their hardest to squeeze in front¨C¨Cthey wanted to get the best position before the g raising began. They squeezed so hard they almost squeezed their feces out. Zhang Zian did not attempt to squeeze to the front; instead, he chose a rxed position that was quite far away, but had less people.

    Even though it was not any special asion, and was not some public holiday, there were still a great number of tourists there to see the g raising ceremony.

    The tourists were chatting in muted tones, looking to the east, waiting for the moment the sun rose.

    The time was roughly 5:30 in the morning.

    ¡°It¡¯sing! It¡¯sing! It¡¯s going to start!¡± someone shouted in a low voice.

    Zhang Zian tiptoed and looked over everyone¡¯s heads, seeing the honor guards of the three armed services appear. Their steel guns were arranged neatly on their shoulders as they crossed the Jinshui Bridge full of manliness and with high spirits. The lines were very straight, horizontally and vertically, like tofu that had been cut by a knife. The honor guards of the three armed services gathered so quickly that very few tourists noticed when they appeared.

    ¡°Ga ga! They¡¯re all handsome men!¡± Richard directly jumped onto Zhang Zian¡¯s head and opened his eyes wide to look towards the stage.

    ¡°What did you think? They¡¯re called the top day regiment in Asia!¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°If you dare to sh*t on me, I¡¯ll beat you until you sh*t!¡±

    The honor guards of the three armed services were of simr height and body shape; their expressions were proper and strict, and their movements synchronized. It was almost like they had all been carved to look the same.

    The tourists started the squeeze forward even more. If it were not for the fact that there were railings in front to stop them and that there were armed policemen watching, the tourists probably would have rushed to directly below the gpole to look at them in close proximity.

    There were short people and tall people, and some came early while some camete. The taller people in the front were blocking everyone else¡¯s view, and to get a better view, they even stood on their tiptoes. That made it even harder for the people in the back to see clearly, so many people raised their phones up high, recording the scene with their phones so they could watch it whenever they wanted.

    The smart people hade with selfie-sticks so they could raise their phones even higher.

    There was even a young girl who was seated on her boyfriend¡¯s shoulders to see things clearly... Eh, that¡¯s cheating! The boyfriend was willing to be a cow for his girlfriend. He did not mind that he could not see, as long as his girlfriend¡¯s wishes were fulfilled.

    ¡°How did they make it so neat?¡± Fina asked, confused.

    ¡°They practiced. They trained in all sorts of weather, whether it was the hottest days in summer or the coldest days in winter. Right, it would be better if the honor guards are followed by the military band, which happens during special festivals. Those are even better looking,¡± Zhang Zian answered.

    Old Time Tea looked around and asked, ¡°Zian, everyone is filming. Aren¡¯t you going to use your phone to film it?¡±

    Zhang Zian shrugged and answered, ¡°g raising is for people to look at, not for people to film. It¡¯ll be enough to use my eyes to remember it.¡±

    Old Time Tea stopped for a while, not understanding what he meant.

    The honor guards of the three armed forces marched towards the gpole, and then separated at the bottom like a pair of goose wings. They stood straight on the right and left side of the gpole. Only three people that were holding the g walked up to the gpole, and then hung the g up properly.

    When the national anthem yed, the g-raiser pressed a button, raising the national g up high. At the same time, the honor guards of the three armed forces saluted.

    The cold morning wind blew the g, making its surface ripple like water.

    As the tourists¡¯ heads and mobile phones were raised slowly along with the national g, the noise of conversation still resounded, and some people were stillughing. It was difficult to hear the apaniment of the National Anthem from far away.

    At that moment, childish voices suddenly sounded in the corner of the square. A group of pupils who were carrying out their patriotic education also came to visit the g raising ceremony. The teacher who led the team was afraid that they might be injured from being squeezed. Instead of pushing them forward, he stood at another corner, not far from Zhang Zian. The group of pupils might havee from other ces. They wore bright red scarves on their chests and had strong ents from another part of the country. Under the leadership and organization of teachers, they sang the national anthem with children¡¯s voices that were not in line with the rhythm of the song.

    The noise from the tourists stopped.

    After attracting the attention of the public, the group of pupils were very embarrassed. They sang even more out of tune and, and a few shy little girls bowed their heads and yed with their clothes, feeling inferior due to their ents.

    However, much their teachers tried their best to encourage them¨C¨Cto push them on¨C¨Cbut their voices became lower and lower and messier and messier.

    ¡°Arise! You who refuse to be ves! With our very flesh and blood, let us build our new Great Wall!¡±

    Zhang Zian, who was standing nearby, stared at them quietly, before he suddenly opened his mouth and sang the national anthem with them. He was an adult, after all, and his voice was loud, so it immediately attracted the attention of the group of primary school children and even more people.

    He was ordinarily dressed, and he was standing close to the primary school children, so the tourists thought that he was one of the teachers, while the teachers of the primary school children thought he was an ordinary tourist.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s voice was often mocked for being very out of tune, and so he normally did not really sing. Now, however, he was singing like there was no one around him. Surprisingly, nobody was mocking him, and nobody said that his voice was horrible.

    ¡°The people of China are at their most critical time! Everybody is forced to make theirst roar in defiance!¡±

    The pupils were encouraged by his physical exertion, and they soon got rid of their shyness. They raised their heads and continued to sing. Several boys who were normally very naughty were shouting hoarsely at each other, which made the teachers look at them in a different light.

    ¡°Get up! Get up! Get up!¡±

    More tourists put down their phones and sang loudly with them.

    There was no one looking at Zhang Zian anymore, and there was no one looking at the group of primary school children anymore. Everyone¡¯s gaze was focused only on the five stars red g that was slowly rising.

    There were different kinds of ents¨C¨Ceven some voices that sounded like unfamiliar Chinese. All the voices merged together, resounding in the air of the parade square, and any other little noise was drowned out by the raging national anthem.

    ¡°Many hearts, with one mind. Brave the enemy¡¯s gunfire¨C¨Cmarch on! Brave the enemy¡¯s gunfire¨C¨Cmarch on! March on! March on¨C¨Con!¡±

 Chapter 949: Watched by Who?

    <h4>Chapter 949: Watched by Who?</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As the powerful national anthem ended, the g rose to the top of the pole.

    The sun revealed a smile and shined its rays upon the des of the bays that belonged to the honor guard of the three armies. The sun refracted multicolored lights that lit up the national g and made it look like blood.

    With thepletion of the ceremony, the tourists apuded. Some of the tourists also turned around and gave their apuse to Zhang Zian and the group of primary school students. Even the armed military officers on duty slightly shifted their gaze to look at them.

    ¡°Ga ga! So the idiot can sing! You¡¯re about three percent of what I am!¡± Richard said, ruffling up Zian¡¯s hair.

    ¡°Get lost!¡± Zhang Zian was not in a situation where he could get back at Richard, so he could only roll his eyes to the best of his ability. It was a cool hairstyle that he hadbed for a long time that morning.

    Old Time Tea seemed to be in its own thoughts. It seemed to have understood why Zhang Zian said that the raising of the national g had to be seen in person and not through the recording on a phone.

    ¡°Hello there!¡± Right that moment, a male teacher in charge of the primary school students ran over.

    He was of a simr age to Zhang Zian and spoke Mandarin with a strong local ent. ¡°Thank you very much! If it wasn¡¯t for your help today, we wouldn¡¯t have been able to sing! Not to hide it from you¨C¨Cwe¡¯re from a small ce and the children are not used to the world outside, so they¡¯re quite afraid of the unfamiliar...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing! I just wanted to sing myself. I didn¡¯t do it just to help you guys.¡± Zhang Zian shook his head and turned down the teacher¡¯s gratitude. Zian didn¡¯t want him to feel that he owed Zian a favor. What was more, what he did couldn¡¯t even be counted as a favor. The children didn¡¯t need to be shy. The ones who should have felt ashamed were the adults who were still shouting during the ceremony.

    ¡°In any case, I would like to thank you on behalf of the other teachers and children.¡± The male teacher turned around and gestured, then the pupils and the teachers who remained in the same spot all smiled and waved towards them.

    Zhang Zian also waved back in response and then asked, ¡°Are you guys here in Beijing for a school trip?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, this is the first time that our school has organized such a long-distance trip. These childrene from better family conditions, otherwise, parents wouldn¡¯t have been willing to pay for their children to go on the trip. If it goes well, we¡¯ll be able to organize one every year,¡± the male teacher enthusiastically said, ¡°Since we¡¯re here in the capital, we definitely wanted to visit the g raising ceremony, as we want to inspire the children¡¯s patriotic feelings for the country. Therefore, we had also encouraged the children to sing along with the national anthem during the g raising, but due to the inadequate preparation, and theck of consideration of theplexity of the actual situation and the shyness of the children, we almost failed...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s always difficult the first time and easy the next. After the experience this time, there shouldn¡¯t be a problem next time,¡± Zhang Zian encouraged him.

    ¡°I hope so... All right, I have to head back. I still have to organize the children and find a ce to have breakfast, and then visit the Pce Museum.¡± The male teacher exined the situation and bid farewell to Zhang Zian, then returned to the children.

    They had four teachers¨C¨Ctwo men, and two women¨C¨Call of whom were young and had a strong sense of responsibility. They had about 40 children, and the children of that age were either too shy or too yful, so eating and drinking outside was also a problem.

    The teachers were so busy that they didn¡¯t have time to appreciate the scenery of the capital. They had been busy with arranging the amodations since they alighted from the train, and whenever they were out to visit the sights, they would have to count their numbers every 20 minutes to prevent any children from getting lost or injured... They would not have been able to exin that to their parents.

    Even though their voices were hoarse from all the shouting, the faces of the teachers didn¡¯t reveal even the slightest impatience. They stood at all four corners of the children¡¯s group and they tried their best to solve all the problems the children had encountered.

    The teacher and all the children held a small g in one hand and held each other¡¯s hand with the other to prevent anyone from being left behind. They waved the g at Zhang Zian to say goodbye, then left the parade square while singing a children¡¯s song. They were off to find a cheap ce to eat their breakfast.

    In fact, Zhang Zian was heading in the same direction as them because he had also nned to bring the elfins to the National Pce Museum.

    Visitors who came to the parade square to watch the g raising ceremony would usually visit the Forbidden City, but it was still too early and the Forbidden City had not yet opened. Zian didn¡¯t want to trouble the teachers so he nned to walk around the vicinity with the elfins and buy some local specialty snacks to satisfy their desire for food. They would just walk around until the Forbidden City is open, then they¡¯d head in to visit the Forbidden City.

    Seeing that no one was around, he said to the elfins, ¡°How do you guys feel after watching the g-raising ceremony?¡±

    ¡°Hmph, it was just okay,¡± Fina said with a sullen face. ¡°This queen is only interested in how they practice. Their movements were as uniform as a marite. After we head back, this queen is also nning to train a team... The honorable cat guards of the three armies to spread our cat name!¡±

    ¡°Your cat name is already known enough, you don¡¯t need to spread it anymore!¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°You¡¯re already nning on training honorable cat guards of the three armies after watching the g raising ceremony in China... If you were to watch the g raising ceremony in India, would you want to train a ten cat acrobatics group...?¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Zian didn¡¯t mean anything when he said that, but Fina was interested. ¡°Is India¡¯s g raising ceremony powerful?¡±

    ¡°Well, it is quite powerful. It would even shock you!¡± Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°India has the most elite mechanized infantry in the world... This isn¡¯t an exaggeration. Anyway, you¡¯ll know when you see it.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll talk about Indiater. For now, this queen only wants to know their training methods.¡± Fina didn¡¯t let Zian distract her so easily. She spoke with an imperative note, meaning, ¡°Go and get the training method for this queen.¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    ¡°Right, do you get the feeling that we¡¯re being watched?¡± Zian looked around and asked.

    ¡°Don¡¯t try to change the subject!¡± Fina said with anger. ¡°The same move will not work for the second time!¡±

    ¡°Meow, meow, meow! Your Majesty! I have a way to settle this once and for all. Would you like to hear it?¡± Snow Li said in the midst of the quarrel.

    Zhang Zian red at Snowy Li then quickly exined to Fina, ¡°No, no, I wasn¡¯t trying to change the subject. I really did feel like that. It wasn¡¯t there when we first arrived in the parade square, but after a while I felt like there was a sharp pair of eyes watching us... Did you guys feel it too?¡±

    ¡°Zian, are you being serious?¡± Old Time Tea saw that Zian didn¡¯t seem to be faking it.

    ¡°Yeah, could it be that I was the only one that felt it?¡± Zhang Zian was very puzzled because his perception was the slowestpared with the other elfins. He thought that the elfins had also felt it, but were deliberately not doing anything. It turned out, however, that they actually hadn¡¯t felt it.

    That time, he really wasn¡¯t messing around with Fina. From earlier, or more precisely, while he was singing the national anthem, Zian suddenly felt like someone was watching him. An extremely sharp sense enveloped his body and made him feel like there were daggers at his back. It remained until they left. He had nned to talk to the elfins after he was done singing the national anthem, but he was interrupted by the male teacher, so he could only bring it up then.

    Because of its long history of trust issues, Fina was still skeptical and suspected that Zhang Zian was deliberately trying to change the subject.

    Famous looked at Old Time Tea, then the former sniffed around while thetter leaped and jumped its way up a light pole that was beside them and looked around.

    After the g raising ceremony ended, some people went back to sleep, and some stayed in the parade square to take pictures. There were also those that went off visiting ces as they had nned, but there were some people who werete and had just arrived.

    Some wereing, some were leaving, and some were staying. It was very chaotic.

    When Zhang Zian spoke, he looked around to try and find out who was watching him; however, he was in the midst of a sea of ??people and he didn¡¯t have any specific target, so it wasn¡¯t easy.

    Old Time Tea looked down from above while Famous slowly ran around, avoiding the crowds. It ran around the vicinity before it returned back to their original spot. The two of them shook their heads one after another, indicating that no suspicious people were found.

    Richard also fluttered its wings and flew high. It looked around but also found nothing.

    That was to be expected. If there were any obvious suspicious people in the parade square, before Zhang Zian and the elfins did anything, the military officers all over the area would have already invited the suspicious people out to have a cup of tea...

    ¡°None of you felt anything?¡± Zhang Zian confirmed again.

    ¡°No.¡± Famous shook its head and gave a negative answer.

    ¡°No. Could it have been a stray cat?¡± Old Time Tea suggested.

    ¡°Impossible. No stray cats can get into the parade square,¡± Zhang Zian said with certainty.

    ¡°Meow, meow, meow! This stinky man. Aren¡¯t you being too sensitive? Don¡¯t be such a drag all day!¡± Snowy Li unreservedly asked, ¡°Right, is there any ce that sells beef sirloins nearby?¡±

    Was he really being watched by the mysterious Chaoyang Residents?

    The sky was up and thend was down... His conscienceid there right smack in the middle! He didn¡¯t do anything that was against thew! At most, when Zian was going to visit the Forbidden Cityter, he was nning to have the elfins enter without a ticket. That n of his hadn¡¯t been put into action yet, though...

    Zian slowly turned 360 degrees and his eyes swept across the faces of the nearby people one by one. Since the g raising ceremony was over, no one was deliberately looking at him. At most, people briefly sweep their nce over him.

    The elfins all indicated that they didn¡¯t feel anything, and even Zhang Zian himself wondered if he was being over-sensitive.

    ¡°Forget it. Whoever wants to watch can just watch. Maybe some fair-skinned, rich beauty has secretly fallen for me.¡± Zian decided to let it go. He shrugged his shoulders and said, ¡°There¡¯s no choice. It¡¯s such a hassle being so handsome. I even wake myself up from being too handsome every morning.¡±

    ¡°Ugly people just like to behave strangely,¡± Fina said disdainfully.

    ¡°Ga ga! Maybe some handsome guy in the honor guard of the three armies has taken a fancy in you!¡± Richardughed insidiously and emphasized the word ¡°in.¡±

    ¡°Meow!¡± Gxy raised one of his front paws and stared at it. ¡°Zian, there¡¯s really someone watching you.¡±

    Huh? Zhang Zian never imagined that Gxy would be the one to prove it for him. In his initial thoughts, if any elfin were to find any evidence that he was being watched, it was certainly going to be either Old Time Tea, Famous, or Fina. The other elfins were also shocked.

    ¡°Gxy, how do you know?¡± Zian asked.

    Gxy raised its head and looked around with its silver-gray eyes. ¡°Meow! The person¡¯s observation is very strong, so although you¡¯re the one being watched, it has affected Gxy too.¡±

 Chapter 950: Play Cat and Mouse

    <h4>Chapter 950: y Cat and Mouse</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was not very trustworthy, but Gxy would not help him lie.

    Gxy itself had very acute senses when it came to ¡°observing¡±¨C¨Cmore acute than the rest of the elfins¨C¨Cand if it said that there was really someone watching Zhang Zian, then that was definitely true.

    Fina finally became serious, and Old Time Tea and Famous both started to ce more emphasis on the matter. The rest of the elfins stopped with their yful faces, then all looked around at their surroundings. The originally lively parade square suddenly became a bit strange.

    There were constantly tourists that were talking andughing as they walked past Zhang Zian, but there was no one who specially stopped to take notice of him.

    The elfins separated themselves to stand at Zhang Zian¡¯s front, back, and sides. They ced him at the center as they each took charge of a single direction so that they could search with higher efficiency.

    Honestly speaking, the feeling of being observed in secret was not a good one¨C¨Cespecially when the other party¡¯s identity and their reason for doing so were still unknown.

    Thankfully, Zhang Zian was quite big-hearted. If Fina was met a simr situation, it would have exploded a long time ago.

    The elfins all searched for a long time, but they still did not notice anything out of ce.

    ¡°It¡¯s all right, don¡¯t search anymore. It is probably like what I guessed: there is a beautiful, white, and rich woman in the capital that has a crush on me... Perhaps it¡¯s not just one¨C¨Cit could be two. I need to be with one on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and I need to be the other on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. I can have a day off on Sunday to let me catch my breath, otherwise my body wouldn¡¯t be able to take it...¡± Zhang Zian said, pretending to be rxed.

    ¡°Ga ga! Everyone make way. Let me pee on him to wake him up!¡± Richard called as he made small jumps on his head.

    Old Time Tea thought about it for a while and said, ¡°It¡¯s better like that. I suggest that we y a game of cat and mouse. We pretend that we do not care about it and just keep doing what we have to do. If the other party persists, they will definitely follow us. As long as the other party starts to move, it¡¯ll be easy to find them.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded his head. As expected, aged ginger was more pungent.

    Now they were in a static state, and the other side was also in a static state. It would be too difficult to find them, but as long as they started to act, the other side could only follow if they wanted to keep watching him. As long as the other side moved, their weakness would be easily revealed.

    Zhang Zian pointed to the gate of the city building and said, ¡°Anyway, we are going to visit the Pce Museum. Why don¡¯t we go north?¡±

    The elfins were not familiar with the area, so of course, they would follow what he said. No one objected.

    The Forbidden City had yet to open, and there were not many tourists moving in that direction. When it came time for the Forbidden City doors to open, there would be a lot of tourists.

    He took the lead and led the elfins through the tall doors to the north of the city building.

    ¡°Ga ga! Brother soldiers came again. Perhaps there is someone who has a crush on you inside!¡± Richard patted his head using his wings.

    A neat line of g guards came to the side of the building. Although it was not the formal g raising ceremony, their postures were still straight and their movements were uniform.

    ¡°Weing the morning of the East, full of sincerity. Alongside the solemn music, we raised the national g! The national g, the national g, it¡¯s higher than everything else! We salute to you! We will stand guard by your side at every moment. You will always be fluttering in our heart!¡± They had heroic vitality, walking neatly together while they sang a team song loudly. Each step they took urately kept beat with the drum, and the tourists consciously cleared a path for them.

    Zhang Zian and the rest were standing at the roadside, sending the g guards off with their eyes.

    ¡°Zian, how is it? Do you still have that kind of feeling?¡± Old Time Tea asked.

    Zhang Zian tried to feel it for a moment. ¡°It seems to have weakened quite a bit, but it has yet topletely vanish.¡±

    That kind of feeling was very weird. He would asionally feel a normal gazee from a certain direction, but this was different. It was closer to a sense of pressure one would feel if something enveloped them from the sky.

    Old Time Tea nodded. ¡°Then we continue walking. I believe that the other party will give themselves away.¡±

    They had woken up too early, and he had just randomly eaten some things to fill his stomach. He had been tossed about the whole morning, and now his stomach was a bit angry.

    ¡°Ga ga! That group of primary school children is eating over there. Should we go over and taste? I¡¯m hungry!¡± Richard called out from Zhang Zian¡¯s head. He had the highest viewpoint.

    The group of primary school children surrounded a street food stall, chatting and eating breakfast. The four teachers were there, and they were eating deep fried dough sticks while drinking fermented soybean milk. They had been attracted by the fame of the capital, and they wanted to try the traditional food of the capital; however, the two female teachers obviously could not stand the taste of the fermented soybean milk. They had a mouthful of the drink and tears in their eyes, but they felt that it was rude to spit it out; yet, it was too disgusting to drink it... A greyish-white liquid came out of the corner of their mouths, somehow giving off a lecherous feel.

    In Germany, they had eaten barbecued meat, sausages, and pork shank and found that it was quite good. Now that they were in the capital, they were naturally anticipating the specialty snacks that the capital had to offer.

    ¡°Actually, there aren¡¯t any specialty snacks in the capital that are suitable for you to eat.¡± Zhang Zian used his fingers to count. ¡°Bittern pjack, fried cow stomach, fried liver, stuffed intestine, fermented soybean milk, seasoned millet, puff pastry, sweet pea puree... It is either made of starch, or it is animal viscera, or it has a lot of spices, or it is very sweet or salty. You all definitely could not stand the taste, and eating it would cause harm to your bodies. It¡¯d be better to find other things to eat.¡±

    Richard was speechless. ¡°This is the first time that I heard that stuffed intestines can be eaten... That¡¯s insane!¡±

    Zhang Zian bought some barbecue and other food and squatted down in a quiet corner. The food there was not cheap, but the food in the Pce Museum was so expensive that it was shocking. It was better to eat there and then go in, otherwise he would be broke again.

    As he watched the touristsing and going, he fed some food to the elfins and ate some of it himself. It was just past eight o¡¯clock in the morning; they still was had a whole morning to explore the capital. If they did not have enough food, they would surely be weak and spiritless.

    After they finished their food, he threw the bag and the paper that was used to wrap the food into the trashcan and called the elfins. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going now? Isn¡¯t it still closed?¡±

    Fina had finished eating and drinking and wanted to find a good position under the sun. Since it was still early, it had nned on taking a short nap. Upon hearing Zhang Zian¡¯s words, it wore an unhappy face.

    ¡°We can¡¯t wait until the doors are open to line up. If we did that, there would be too many people. We need to go and line up now. Once the door opens, we need to quickly rush inside. That way, we can admire the scenery in the Forbidden City in peace,¡± he exined.

    Many photographers wanted to photograph works of art in museums, such as the Mona Lisa, without being blocked by tourists, but there were always a lot of tourists around the famous works of art. What were they to do? That required them to go the day before to get a good spot, and then the next day when the museum opened, they had to rush in and rush to the art they wanted to shoot. At that time, therge army of tourists stillgged behind, and while no one disturbed them, they could shoot as much as they wanted.

    Gxy was scared of humans, and the rest of the elfins did not want to squeeze in with the tourists. That was the only way they could explore the ce to their heart¡¯s content while avoiding most of the tourists.

 Chapter 951: Restless

    <h4>Chapter 951: Restless</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When it came to tourism, the impression people got were crowded ces; however, as long as one was diligent, they could enjoy the pleasure of having the whole ce to themselves, even in the peak season. The way to do so was to queue up at the gate early in the morning and rush in with the first wave. As soon as the doors opened, one rushed in, ignoring the unnecessary attractions near the door. When most tourists were still dawdling, one could have gone far ahead for a long time. One could bypass the endless mountain ranges and go straight to the depths of the scenic spots that were worthy of careful savoring. Once there, one could observe them all alone.

    Of course, for traveling, different people had different likings. Some people liked to go with tour groups, feeling that it was more convenient, safe, and less troublesome to do so. Other people liked traveling on their own, feeling more at ease, and they could freely choose their own itinerary¨C¨Cwhen they wanted to walk they could walk, when they wanted to stop they could stop. That way, they could fully enjoy the joy of traveling, and tour guides wouldn¡¯t pull them into unnecessary jewelry stores to buy things.

    Zhang Zian liked traveling freely; he hated being nagged by tour guides who would constantly try to convince him to buy things¨C¨Cbut not because he was petty.

    He took into ount the elfins¡¯ situation, and when he was nning the tour of the Forbidden City, he decided to first witness the g Raising Ceremony. From there, they would buy tickets and queue up at the Forbidden City so they could be there when the doors opened. That way they could rush in without the crowd.

    He told the n to the elfins. He would queue up, the elfins would just jump into the Forbidden City over the yard walls, and they would all meet inside. As for the elfins that could not jump high nor fly, such as the Snowy Li and Pi, Famous would have to carry them over. Although the yard walls of the Forbidden City were very high, there were a lot of ces that it could borrow strength from, like the 90-degree corners. With Famous¡¯ jumping ability, it could jump between two walls that were next to each other and then flip over the ward walls.

    When he was exining the n to the elfins, he swore that if pets were allowed to enter the Forbidden City, he would not hesitate to buy tickets for them. It was not his fault that the manager of the Forbidden City was not enlightened! Otherwise, he definitely would not have cheated and not bought tickets for them.

    He made himself seem like a victim, causing the elfins to be speechless. Anyway, they were used to it.

    When the group of young primary school children finished eating, the two female teachers organized them into lines to throw their food wrappers into the nearby trash can. The two male teachers brought the school-issued letter of introduction to buy tickets for the Forbidden City.

    The Forbidden City tickets were normally 60 yuan. The university, secondary school, and primary school students could use their student pass and a letter of introduction to buy student tickets. The student ticket price was 20 yuan, but there was also a rule that children that were under 1.2 meters tall could get free tickets.

    The pupils in the same ss had different developmental and nutritional statuses, and their heights and weights were different. That lead to the need to buy tickets for some pupils, while some could still enjoy the ticket-free policy. In order to save money, the teachers had to ask 40 students to line up ording to their size. They then followed the teacher to buy tickets for those that were taller than 1.2 meters, and those below 1.2 meters just needed to sit and wait.

    Looking at such a funny scene, Zhang Zian could not help but think of the prohibition ofrge dogs with a height of more than 35 centimeters...

    Richard scratched his head, warning him not to randomly think things. He had to be careful to enter the list of shootings next month.

    Zhang Zian had the elfins go and flip over the wall. Of course, that was not referring to the online wall. He went to buy tickets for himself and met the male teacher he had greeted just now, but the other party was so busy and a mess. His forehead was full of sweat, and he had no time to talk. He could only smile bitterly while he nodded to give his regards.

    The Forbidden City had fully implemented online ticketing in 2017. Tickets could be purchased through online booking or on-site by the scanning of QR codes. Zhang Zian had paid for the tickets by scanning codes at one go. The male teacher was still inviting staff to check the school¡¯s letter of introduction at theprehensive service window, and then he asked them to ce orders on their behalf.

    After he bought his ticket, Zhang Zian went to wait for the door to open. There were already a few people waiting. He turned his body to the side and pushed forward smoothly. The other tourists rolled their eyes at him, annoyed that he tried to squeeze in so tightly when it was still so empty. It was not as if he was squeezing onto the public bus...

    He finally squeezed to the front with much difficulty. It was almost time, and the workers there signaled that they could enter. He instantly rushed in.

    After he entered, he was not in a rush to admire the scenery in the Forbidden City. Instead, he looked for the elfins to see if they had managed to jump in sessfully.

    ¡°Ga ga! This way! This way!¡± Richard pped its wings and called.

    Zhang Zian walked briskly over, and also red at it at the same time, wanting it to be quieter. Thankfully, the rest of the tourists were still a good ways behind them, taking photos. It was a good thing no one heard it, otherwise, they might have thought there was a ghost.

    The elfins had all entered, and Famous had very sessfullypleted its mission.

    They looked around, looking at the innumerable courtyards and pces. They were all so amazed that they thought were dreaming.

    ¡°Guai guai, the emperors of China really knew how to enjoy life!¡± Richard flew to the highest point it could fly to, but it was still unable to see the end of the Forbidden City. All it could see was pces after pces.

    ¡°Zian, how big is the Forbidden City actually?¡± Old Time Tea asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m not clear about the specific area, but it is said that the total number of rooms in the Forbidden City is 9,999 and a half. The truth is, there are not that many. There are only 8,000 plus rooms,¡± Zhang Zian responded.

    ¡°8,000 plus rooms?¡± Even Fina was shocked. ¡°How did the China emperors manage to live in them? Even if he changed rooms everyday, it would still take over 20 years to finish living in all of them!¡±

    ¡°It was mainly for them to disy their wealth. If not for that, how could they show the difference between the emperor and themon people?¡±

    ¡°Over 8,000 rooms... Can we finish walking through this ce in a day?¡± Famous asked, worried.

    ¡°First of all, the Forbidden City only opens a third of the area, which is more concentrated near the central axis. The remaining two-thirds are not open to the outside world. In addition, even if the area was open, there is no need to walk all over, because everything looks about the same. We can just select some key areas to look at,¡± Zhang Zian said as he walked. He didn¡¯t want to let the visitors behind them catch up.

    Generally speaking, most of the tourists who came to visit the Forbidden City in the early morning wanted to spend the whole day wandering around all the different areas they could visit. They did not want the trip to go to waste, so they wanted to make the fare of 60 yuan worthwhile. Therefore, after the tourists came in, only a few of them, like Zhang Zian, went straight through the Gate of Supreme Harmony and continued north. Most of them diverted left and right before the Gate of Supreme Harmony. In those directions were the Wenhua Pce on the east and Wuying Pce on the west, which exhibited ceramics and paintings respectively.

    Zhang Zian was pleased with his decision when he looked back and saw therge army of tourists crawling slowly like snails. The bluestone they were walking on had no one on it, and the elfins could walk freely without any tourists around them.

    Crossing the magnificent square supported by the railings of white marble and stepping onto the steps that had withstood thousands of years of wind and rain, they came to the front of Hall of Supreme Harmony.

    ¡°Zian, my eyes aren¡¯t good. What are the animals on the eaves?¡± Old Time Tea questioned.

    On the brilliant, zed tiles, there was a series of special-shaped animals arranged neatly, shining in the sunshine.

    The eyesight of cats in the daytime was not very good, and they were not good at seeing far away. Old Time Tea could only see a few blurred outlines, and the specific images of the foreign animals could not be seen clearly.

    ¡°Oh, those are immortals and the imperial roof decorations. The one in front is the immortal riding a chicken, and those behind it, based on their order, is a dragon, a phoenix, a lion, a heavenly stead, a hippocampus, a gori, an orangutan, a bull, and a Hang Shi. There are ten kinds of exotic animals, all of which are auspicious creatures in ancient legends.¡± Zhang Zian did not have the ability to say so many umon nouns in one breath, so he checked them with his mobile phone and then introduced them to the elfins.

    ¡°It sounds like there aren¡¯t many real animals included in there. The ancient Chinese have a great imagination.¡± Fina twitched its lips. ¡°Why can¡¯t we use cats, crocodiles, jackals, and eagles as sacred beasts, just like the Holy ck Land?¡±

    Zhang Zian could onlyugh at that. Why didn¡¯t it just say directly that there were no cats in the ten sacred beasts? Why must it insist on bringing up the crocodiles, the jackals, and the other animals...?

    Because of safety concerns, his words could only be thought of in his heart but could not be said out loud.

    After Old Time Tea heard his introduction, he quietly stared at the imperial roof decorations on the eaves. After a while, he asked in confusion, ¡°Zian, are my eyes acting up? I counted multiple times, but no matter how many times I count there are 11 exotic beasts on top...¡±

 Chapter 952: The Real Identity of the Rare Animal

    <h4>Chapter 952: The Real Identity of the Rare Animal</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    What? There were 11 kinds of imperial, decorative animals in the eaves of the roof?

    Zhang Zian was stunned for a while, but he seemed to understand something. He told Old Time Tea, ¡°Grandpa Tea, I said it just now and perhaps you didn¡¯t hear it clearly¡ªthere are ten types of decorative animals on this roof. The leader is a fairy that rides a chicken. If you count the chicken as one, then there are indeed 11 kinds.¡±

    ¡°Ga ga! A fairy riding a chicken? Is it riding its own chicken or someone else¡¯s chicken1?¡± Richard did not care about how many types of decorative animals there were. It was only suddenly attentive upon hearing the word ¡°chicken.¡±

    ¡°Ride you!¡± Zhang Zian red at it.

    ¡°Ga ga! I also want to ride a chicken!¡± Richard pped its wings andnded on his head.

    Zhang Zian was so humiliated he was just about to pull it down and pluck all of its feathers off, but heard Old Time Tea spoke again. The doubts in its voice remained unchanged. ¡°That¡¯s not right. I counted again, and there are still 11 types. If we count the fairy riding a chicken, that¡¯s 12 types of rare animals.¡± Zhang Zian was stunned again.

    It could not be, right? Could it be that the Baidu Encyclopedia was wrong?

    That was possible, after all. The Baidu Encyclopedia had not always been very reliable... But was it possible for something so important to be wrong and no one noticed it?

    ¡°Zian, I counted as well. Excluding the fairy that is the leader, there are indeed 11 kinds behind it,¡± Famous added.

    What was going on? There was really an extra one?

    If it were one or two fewer than expected, that was easier to exin. It could be that the wind blew them over or that they were spoiled because of some reason and had been taken down to be fixed... but what the heck. How could there be an extra one?

    ¡°Ga ga! I know! Isn¡¯t there a saying, ¡®Five backbone and six beasts?¡¯ Since it is five backbone and six beasts, then five plus six is of course 11!¡± Richard called out, thinking it was very smart.

    There were a total of only ten kinds of imperial, decorative animals, and ording to the ancient Emperor¡¯s rules, only the eaves of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Imperial Pce could be filled with all the ten kinds. Only odd numbers could be ced anywhere else, and dragons and phoenixes could hardly be used.

    That meant that, in the whole world, it was only at the Hall of Supreme Harmony that one could see the gathering of all ten beasts.

    Now that there was one more, could it be that one was a freebie that came along with the other ten?

    Zhang Zian hurriedly lifted his head and looked towards the eaves.

    He thought that if there really were 11, then perhaps it was going to be some great discovery. If he told the Imperial Pce workers, then perhaps he could get a big sum of reward money.

    ¡°One, two, three, four... ten.¡± He raised his head and slowly counted. ¡°That¡¯s not right. There are obviously ten types. Where¡¯s the eleventh type? Did you all count incorrectly?¡±

    ¡°Idiot!¡± Richard raised its wing and hit his head. ¡°You are all counting different eaves!¡±

    Zhang Zian turned his head to look. Old Time Tea and Famous were staring at the eaves on the right while he was counting the eaves on the left.

    He recounted the number of decorative animals on the right eaves.

    ¡°One, two, three... ten... eleven! F*ck! D*mn it. There really are 11!¡± Zhang Zian could not help but curse continuously. The discovery was too shocking.

    ¡°Is it that two of them developed feelings over a long time and had a small animal?¡± Richard cried out mischievously. ¡°It must be very lonely squatting on the eaves the whole day.¡±

    ¡°Do you think it¡¯s you?¡± Zhang Zian scolded.

    If something went wrong, there had to be a demon. He could not be bothered to listen to what Richard was saying and looked at the decorative animals carefully.

    It was a sunny day. The sun was very strong, and the sun shining on the roof of the zed tile produced a strong reflection, affecting his line of sight.

    ¡°Ga?¡±

    ¡°Meow?¡±

    ¡°Woof?¡±

    ¡°Zhi zhi?¡±

    ¡°What the f*ck?¡±

    Zhang Zian and the elfins shouted in shock at the same time because one of the ¡°imperial decorative animals¡± suddenly started to move. It twisted its body and fell backwards off the eaves, then disappeared in front of their eyes. Before it left, it had even opened its mouth to smile.

    ¡°Which of you saw clearly? What sort of thing is that?¡± Zhang Zian asked, his voice trembling and his back going cold.

    The elfins all shook their heads, expressing that they did not manage to see clearly. Cats, dogs, and monkeys did not have as good of vision in the daylight as humans did, and while parrots had good daytime vision, their eyes grew on the side of their heads. Their observation skills were not as keen as humans were when they looked directly ahead.

    Furthermore, that thing was very agile in its movements. It had picked the time to leave very well, running away when Zhang Zian had seen it, but not clearly.

    He and the elfins looked at each other, and everyone thought it was a bit weird. It was like it had been waiting for them... No, the elfins were invisible. It was waiting for him.

    ¡°Right, Zian... That feeling that you had of being watched... Is that happening now?¡± Old Time Tea suddenly asked.

    Zhang Zian had already, more or less, be ustomed to the feeling, and it was not as ufortable as it was at the start. After he had left the parade square, that feeling had weakened. After Old Time Tea asked the question, he carefully felt for it, and answered in shock, ¡°Not anymore! Grandpa Tea, that feeling has vanished!¡±

    ¡°When did it vanish?¡± Old Time Tea questioned.

    Zhang Zian was not entirely sure. ¡°It seems like... just now.¡±

    Whatever Old Time Tea had left to say did not need to be said anymore; he already understood Old Time Tea¡¯s meaning: It was that thing that had run away that had been watching him.

    ¡°So that thing appeared in the parade square, then came here a step before us and was waiting for us toe. It purposely let us see it before it left... What are its goals?¡± Old Time Tea pondered.

    No one could answer.

    Before now, that thing had been hiding very well and did not expose itself. If it wanted to continue watching Zhang Zian in secret, it should have kept hiding. Since it was squatting on such an obvious eave, that meant that it was purposely exposing its position.

    ¡°Hmph! In my opinion, we can just pretend that we did not see it. I hate these kinds of sneaky things!¡± Fina said unhappily.

    ¡°Your Majesty, I feel that it is inappropriate. If the other party is purposely doing this, it¡¯s bound to return... Do you want to catch up to take a look?¡± Old Time Tea asked.

    Zhang Zian turned back to take a look. The big group of tourists had almost caught up. If he did not want to squeeze with the other tourists, then he could not stop and waste time. He needed to advance quickly.

    The direction that the thing ran in was deeper into the Imperial Pce. Anyway, Zhang Zian and the elfins had to continue forward, so chasing after it did not contradict with what they wanted to do.

    But... he kept feeling like that thing was purposely luring them after it.

    Could this be a trap?

    As the saying went, ¡®Do not pursue a beaten enemy.¡¯ Zhang Zian was hesitating when the phone in his pocket suddenly rang.

    He took out his phone to take a look. It was actually a notification from

    about an elfin being detected.

    [Game Hints]: A rare pet has been detected in the city you are in. Whether the yer wants to find it to capture it is the yer¡¯s own decision.

    [Game Hints]: Below are the details of the pet.

    [Pet Type]: Elfin.

    [Rarity]: Epic/Legendary.

    [Capture Difficulty]: Extremely High.

    [Danger Level]: Low.

    On the electronic map provided by the game, the light clusters that indicated where the elfin was just happened to cover the entire range of the Imperial Pce.

 Chapter 953: Restricted Area

    <h4>Chapter 953: Restricted Area</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Looking at the elfin detection notification on his phone screen, Zhang Zian¡¯s first thought was, Was the thing that ran away just now the elfin that was awaiting capture? Because that was really too coincidental.

    But there were two strange points there: first was that he did not see it from the Game Capture Interface, and second was that it actually appeared before the game gave a notification... It had already appeared when they were at the parade square. Why did the game only give a notification now?

    Thinking about it, he felt that there were only two possible answers. One was that the thing just now was just a random animal that walked by and not an elfin. The second possibility was... perhaps it was a very unique elfin?

    ¡°Zian, what happened?¡± Old Time Tea saw that his expression was strange.

    Zhang Zian put down his phone and stared in the direction that thing had run off in. He answered, ¡°There is an elfin that appeared nearby. I¡¯m wondering if it was that thing just now?¡±

    Old Time Tea muttered to itself and then said, ¡°Compared to standing on the edge of a pond and idly longing for fish, it¡¯s better to retreat and make ating. Rather than stand here and guess, it¡¯s better to chase after it and investigate it. What do you think, Zian?¡±

    Zhang Zian was in deep thought. If it were an elfin, what type of elfin was it?

    He narrowed his eyes to look up at the eaves again, at the 11... No, it was 11 unique animals, including the chicken.

    A dragon, a phoenix, a lion, a heavenly stead, a hippocampus, a gori, an orangutan, a bull, and a Hang Shi¨C¨Cand also a chicken.

    By logic, those 11 unique animals all had the right to be an elfin. After all, they had stood on the eaves for a few hundred years and had witnessed the Ming Dynasty and the Chao Dynasty in all its happiness and sadness.

    Under their silent gaze, the brave and capable¨C¨Cor ipetent¨C¨Cemperors were like a trotting horses¨C¨Cthey all took their turn in the spotlight, but no emperor could change the fate of the decadent feudal dynasty that was doomed to extinction.

    They were ced on the eaves to avoid evil, but in the end, they did not manage to maintain the ¡°house,¡± nor did they let any emperor avoid the ¡°evil.¡± Ultimately, they were all only pieces of loess. Even the Forbidden City itself was no longer the ¡°house¡± of the emperor, but had be a museum open to all people. As long as the money was spent, anyone could step foot in it.

    In addition, ancient Chinese houses were made of wood and were afraid of fire. Several of the beasts were rted to water, but the Forbidden City had been burned multiple times in history.

    Despite that, the 11 beasts were not all suitable to be pets. Amongst them, perhaps only chickens were, grudgingly, considered pets. Since they were not even pets, it was even more doubtful as to whether they could be an elfin.

    The thing that just ran away was definitely not a chicken, although Zhang Zian had not seen its specific appearance. As for the hippocampus, it was the horse of the sea, not the hippocampus in everyday life.

    If it were not those 11 exotic beasts that had be elfins...

    Zhang Zian recalled that he had felt monitored while he was singing the national anthem at the parade square. Pets were not allowed to enter the square... The only animal-shaped object was the stone on the ornamental column surface, but that was even more unlikely.

    Standing on the stairs before the Hall of Supreme Harmony and looking backwards, the tourists poured in like corpsesing out of their cages. He and the elfins could not stay there any longer. Otherwise, they would be submerged.

    ¡°Ga?¡± Richard was caught off guard when Zhang Zian caught its legs and threw it up.

    ¡°Go and see where that thing ran to.¡±

    Richard did quite a few somersaults in the sky, turning until it was dizzy. It pped its wings as hard as it could before it managed to steady itself and not fall like a piece of stone.

    It only saw a blurry image and angrily said, ¡°It ran north... This is definitely using official means to take your own revenge. You¡¯re purposely trying to take revenge on me, right?¡±

    Zhang Zian would definitely not admit it. He called to the elfins, ¡°Let¡¯s go. Anyway, we are also heading north, so we can try to chase it. Let¡¯s see if we can find it.¡±

    ¡°Meow! Hide and seek! Hide and seek!¡± Gxy was eager to try and jumped out first.

    Zhang Zian was scared there would be a mishap and followed closely behind with the other elfins.

    Before that, he had promised that they would y hide-and-seek in the Forbidden City, but he did not think that it woulde true in that way.

    From the point of view of the employees, Zhang Zian alone was walking vigorously and passing through the Zhonghe Pce and Baohe Pce without turning his head. He did not even stop to admire the Forbidden City, and in their hearts, they wondered if that person had spent money toe to the Forbidden City to exercise.

    If the elfins saw any kind of structure that it was slightly interested in, they would run over to it to take a look around. After they finished looking, they would run back to Zhang Zian.

    Actually the process of touring the Forbidden City was quite boring. The 8,000 plus rooms were all around the same, and the history of each room was not something that interested everyone. Most people that had nevere to the Forbidden City before just liked to admire the scenery and look at the new things. After that, they were unlikely to go there again.

    The Gate of Heavenly Purity was an important link between the inner courtyard and the outer court. After one passed through the Gate of Heavenly Purity, they would reach the real ¡°harem.¡±

    Zhang Zian turned his head back to look. They had already left therge part of tourists behind. They stopped to take a breath and find the elfin¡¯s trace while they were at it.

    Richard saw the elfin go through the Gate of Heavenly Purity. Where it ran to after that, it did not manage to see.

    Gxy and the other elfins were also looking.

    ¡°Zian, I seemed to have smelled some scents,¡± Famous lowered its head and sniffed around, then suddenly raised its head.

    ¡°Oh? It¡¯s the scent of that elfin just now?¡± Zian asked, walking closer.

    Famous shook its head. ¡°I can¡¯t tell. It could be. Anyway, the scent is a fresh one. It extends all the way from the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

    ¡°Then that¡¯s probably correct,¡± Zhang Zian let out a breath of relief. The trail that had been cut off continued again. ¡°Where did it run to?¡±

    ¡°The scent trail is headed this way.¡± Famous raised a w and pointed in a direction.

    ¡°Meow! That guy really knows how to y hide-and-seek.¡± Gxy was very excited. After all, it was a new opponent.

    Old Time Tea also tried to hurry them. ¡°Zian, we¡¯ve rested enough. We can¡¯t dy any longer. Shall we continue after it?¡±

    Zhang Zian did not move. He shook his head and smiled bitterly. ¡°Sadly, I can¡¯t chase it anymore. If we want to continue chasing it, only you all can go.¡±

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you chasing it anymore?¡± Famous was stunned, thinking that Zhang Zian meant there was a problem with its tracking ability.

    Zhang Zian raised his chin, looking at that direction and sighing. ¡°Because that¡¯s the restricted area. It¡¯s not open to tourists. If I go there, I would just be stopped.¡±

    Before that, when he was at the Binhai City Library capturing Pi, he was scared as to whether Pi would appear in the ancient books section or the children¡¯s section. If it were like that, he could not even enter, and could only give up on capturing it. The good thing was that Pi appeared in the mathematics reading area.

    Now, they were met with something simr, but he was not as lucky asst time. The thing that seemed like an elfin had actually run into the restricted area. What could he do? Forcefully enter?

    What a joke! That was the area of the emperor. If one had a brain, they would not dare to forcefully enter the restricted areas of the Forbidden City!

    So it seemed he could only give up.

 Chapter 954: A Fatter Snowy

    <h4>Chapter 954: A Fatter Snowy</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Actually, it was not shocking that the elfin-like thing ran into the restricted areas. After all, two-thirds of the Forbidden City was not open to ordinary tourists, so the possibility that it would enter that area was high.

    If it really ran into the restricted area, Zhang Zian could onlypletely give up on capturing it¨C¨Cor he could try to apply for a temporary job in the Forbidden City.

    However, the jobs that the Forbidden City were hiring for probably had nothing to do with him, right? Whether it was his university major or his work experience, it seemed that it would not be useful in the Forbidden City.

    He could not chase it, but the elfins could... What was the use of catching up, though? The most they could do was see what kind of elfin it was.

    ¡°...Snowy...¡± Zhang Zian was feeling troubled when he suddenly heard people talking next to him; they had mentioned Snowy¡¯s name.

    The voices had floated over from behind a wall, and so he could not hear them very clearly. The person was speaking very fast and very anxiously.

    That was strange... The whole way there, he had not seen any tourists run in front of him. Who was talking? And what was with mentioning Snowy? They were obviously not talking about the weather being snowy... Could it be the same Snowy that he knew? Could it be that Inte celebrity broadcaster from Binhai City also ran to the Forbidden City to do a live-broadcast?

    It would not be so coincidental, right?

    He gave a look to the elfins, signaling for them to be quiet and not to talk. After that, he brought them around a corner.

    In front of them stood two young people around his age, a man and a woman. The man was wearing sses, and the woman was hugging a cat in her arms. There was a Forbidden City employee pass hanging around both their necks.

    Eh? Is the management of the Forbidden City really so rxed? You could even bring a pet to work?

    Zhang Zian was unsure of the situation and was still feeling puzzled when he saw the female worker scratch the face of the cat in her arms, clearly heartbroken. ¡°Snowy, Snowy, are you all right? Do you feel ufortable anywhere?¡± she muttered.

    F*ck! As soon as he thought that it could not be so coincidental, he found out that the cat in the woman¡¯s arms was also named ¡°Snowy!¡±

    However, that Snowy was really quite fat... It was a ck, white, and orange colored cat, and its weight seemed to be around 10 kilograms. It was probably that the genes of the orange tabby cat were dominant in its body...

    In The ssics of Cats Appreciation, it was mentioned that nine out of ten orange tabbies were male, and a calico cat was definitely not a male.

    That meant that out of the orange tabbies that one came across, nine out of ten were male, and as long as a cat had three different colors on it, that meant that it was definitely a female cat.

    So this Snowy is a fat girl.

    The female worker seemed to really like the calico cat named Snowy and was so worried that she was about to cry.

    The male worker saw that and tried to convince her. ¡°Wen Li, why don¡¯t you take an off day and bring Snowy to the veterinarian? Have the vet take a look... Hopefully it¡¯s nothing serious.¡±

    ¡°But... Work has just started. We¡¯ve been quite short-handed, with quite a few people on maternity leave. It¡¯s probably not possible to take leave...¡± Wen Li said, looking troubled.

    ¡°Then what can we do? We can only wait and go after work.¡± The male worker sighed. ¡°Ah, we have so many stray cats in the Forbidden City. Honestly, we should hire a veterinarian...¡±

    ¡°How could we do that? The public will start toin and ask whether we are here to work or keep cats...¡± Wen Li shook her head and smiled bitterly.

    At that moment, they saw Zhang Zian. He was in a normal, open area, and so they did not do anything. They thought that he was just an ordinary tourist.

    Zhang Zian slowly walked closer, taking a nce at the calico cat. He gave a dry cough as he tried to strike up a conversation. ¡°This cat is really quite fat. It needs to lose weight, otherwise it is not good for its health.¡± He was too embarrassed to say that he had eavesdropped on their conversation, so he could only use that excuse to try to start a conversation.

    The two workers only smiled politely. They turned to leave with the cat.

    In his urgency, Zhang Zian could only say, ¡°Ah, I see that the cat doesn¡¯t seem to be in a very good state. Is it sick?¡±

    The two workers stopped, then nced at each other with aplicated look in their eyes.

    ¡°May I ask... Are you a veterinarian?¡± Wen Li asked, full of anticipation.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a veterinarian, but I have some basic knowledge about pet illnesses because I own a pet shop.¡± Zhang Zian maintained hisposure and introduced himself. He took out his phone and searched on the Inte for articles concerning himself for them look over.

    Ever since Famous had won the Best Actor prize at the Berlin Film Festival, there were many reports online about Zhang Zian and Famous. He just needed to randomly do a search and he could readily pull them up. There were words, pictures, and even videos.

    ¡°Yah! You¡¯re the owner of the dog that won the Best Actor award?¡± Wen Li called out, pleasantly surprised. ¡°No wonder I thought you looked slightly familiar!¡±

    The male worker was worked up. ¡°Where¡¯s Lightning? Wait, its real name is Famous, right? Could I possibly have its autograph...? Latest night, I went with my colleagues to watch the first screening of Dog Warrior. Its acting was amazing! My friends and I have all be fans!¡±

    ¡°The Forbidden City does not allow me to bring pets in, so Famous remained in the hotel room and I came to take a walk by myself,¡± Zhang Zian smiled and answered. Famous was actually sitting just a few steps away, but it was a pity that they could not see it.

    Famous heard them describe their love for his movie, and he was very happy in his heart.

    The male employee felt that it was such a pity that Famous was not there, but he could not do anything about it. After all, it was a rule in the Forbidden City. He told Wen Li, ¡°I invited you to follow us to watch the first screening yesterday and you didn¡¯t want to go!¡±

    Wen Li felt very regretful. ¡°I was a bit tiredst night and wanted to go back home early to sleep. Who knew that I would be able to meet the Best Actor dog¡¯s owner?!¡±

    ¡°Right, since he owns a pet shop and is so famous, he might know what kind of illness Snowy has,¡± the male worker reminded her.

    Wen Li was suddenly awoken from a dream. She had been carrying the fat Snowy until her arms were aching and she was not able to carry it for much longer. She hurriedly told Zhang Zian, ¡°Can I ask you to help us take a look? What kind of illness does this cat have?¡±

    They thought that since Zhang Zian could see that the cat was in a bad state with one casual look, there was an 80 percent chance that he was better than a certified veterinarian. They definitely did not want to miss the opportunity to ask him.

    Zhang Zian got her to put the cat down. He pretentiously observed it for a bit and asked, ¡°Besides its bad state, what else is abnormal about it?¡±

    The two workers pointed at the calico cat¡¯s eyes at the same time. ¡°Look, its eyes have blood stains at the side! Those did not exist when we got off workst night,¡± the said simultaneously.

    Wen Li added in a worried tone, ¡°There are quite a lot of stray cats in the Forbidden City, and there are also some other small animals that treat this ce as their home. I¡¯m worried that it fought with another cat or another small animal and injured its eyes...¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes settled on the cat and he took a look. The fur at the sides of the cat¡¯s eyes was indeed a reddish-brown color.

    It seemed to have smelled Fina¡¯s scent. It behaved itself and let Zhang Zian check it, not daring to move at all. The scene was noticed by the two employees, but they did not know it was because of Fina. It made them feel even more admiration for Zhang Zian. Snowy¡¯s temper had always been quite bad¨C¨Cit did not like interacting with strangers¨C¨Cbut it was actually behaving itself under Zhang Zian¡¯s hand, proving that he person had an extraordinary calling...

 Chapter 955: Tear Stains

    <h4>Chapter 955: Tear Stains</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The two employees were very concerned with the calico cat, Snowy¡¯s, health, and they told all the details of the situation to Zhang Zian.

    Actually Zhang Zian understood the situation within a few seconds, it was just that he could not say it immediately. If one spoke too fast, the others would look down on them, and then subsequently would not trust them. It was like the doctor knowing your illness but still needing to check your pulse.

    He purposely made an expression that made it seem like he was thinking very hard. He quietly muttered for a while before he slowly said, ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry. Snowy is not hurt, it¡¯s just crying.¡±

    ¡°Crying?¡± Wen Li did not have cats herself. Upon hearing that, she was even more confused. A cat could cry until the fur on its face was red?

    She quickly thought the worst and worriedly said, ¡°Crying red tears? Is it conjunctivitis? Cornea inmmation? a? Cataracts? Does it need to eat some kind of medicine or have something applied to it?

    ¡°Have you been watching too many advertisements?¡± Zhang Zian could not help but insult her. ¡°It¡¯s just ordinary tears. There¡¯s no need to give it any medicine at all. A cat¡¯s tears are normally colorless and transparent, but there areponents of iron in the tears. After they flow out, if you do not wipe them away in time and they are dried by the wind, then when they meet the oxygen in the air, they are oxidized. That causes them to be reddish-orange because they are oxidized iron. It¡¯s not blood stains, but tear stains,¡± he exined again. Although eye infection and illnesses would also cause tears, that cat¡¯s eyes were not red or swollen and did not have any signs of infection or pus. It was only ordinary crying.

    The two employees finally managed to understand. They expressions changed from worried to surprised.

    Right after that, Zhang Zian¡¯s tone changed. ¡°However, a cat cries as a reaction to external shock. Has it gotten scared recently, or has there been any kind of environmental changetely?¡±

    ¡°Nope.¡± The two employees looked at each other and shook their heads to say no.

    ¡°Then that means its too fat. It is due to eating foods that are high in fat.¡± Zhang Zian looked at its fat body and said, ¡°It needs to lose weight. Fat is quite helpful to cats, but it cannot be too fat. If it¡¯s too fat, it will have all kinds of chronic diseases, and it will greatly reduce its expected lifespan.¡±

    Upon hearing that, the two employees were all quite embarrassed.

    The male employee admitted, ¡°This is all our fault. The Forbidden City provides cat food, but because of budget constraints and how many stray cats there are, the cat food is all quite ordinary. We often buy our own cat food to feed the cats we like... Quite a lot of people still bring small snacks around to feed them, and sometimes tourists feed them, too. A lot of them end up eating all day long, so naturally they get pretty fat.

    ¡°At first, we did not find anything about it; they are so cute when they are fat. The feeling when you pet them is especially good. After that, we felt that they were a bit too fat. Even though we said in our hearts we would not feed them anymore, we could not help it... It seems like we need to put them on a diet.¡± Wen Li expressed that she would learn from her mistakes and change.

    The Forbidden City employees, especially the employees in charge of the literary items, were graduate students majoring in archaeology and restoration of cultural relics. They tended to be more introverted and liked staying at home. Often, men and women who preferred staying at home also preferred cats, and hence loved the stray cats a lot.

    The stray cats lived in the Forbidden City and did not have any enemies. They did not need to run about, and were very well taken care of by the employees. Theyid around all day, sleeping after eating and eating after sleeping. Their days were better than an ordinary house cat¡¯s. If they did not get fat, then there was something wrong.

    Zhang Zian had, with much difficulty, gotten closer to them, and was just wondering if he should ask if the Forbidden City was looking for temporary workers. He heard the male employee remind Wen Li, ¡°Wen Li, it¡¯s rare that we meet such a high-level person. How about we invite him to help look at the condition of the cat in Jianfu Hall?¡±

    ¡°Right!¡± Wen Li hit her forehead. ¡°How could I forget about Zhuang Zhuang? I was just saying that I would bring it to the vet after work today. It¡¯s just...¡±

    She looked at Zhang Zian in embarrassment before telling the male employee, ¡°He¡¯s here to explore the Forbidden City. Let¡¯s not waste his time. That¡¯s so embarrassing... It¡¯s better that I just bring Zhuang Zhuang to a veterinarian after work.¡±

    ¡°Ah, we wanted to go and watch Dog Warrior for the second time today. You aren¡¯t going again?¡± the male employee asked, finding it a pity.

    Wen Li hesitated. ¡°This...¡±

    When Zhang Zian heard Jianfu Hall, his heart was moved. He had just looked at the map and there was no pce called Jianfu Hall in the open area. That meant that the pce was likely in the restricted area!

    He was just thinking very hard about how to make his way into the restricted area, and it just happened that the chance was there. Of course, he could not let it go.

    ¡°No worries. Anyway, I¡¯vee to the Forbidden City before. This time around, I¡¯m just touring the Forbidden City again. I was nning on spending the whole day at the Forbidden City anyway, so just taking a look won¡¯t take too much time,¡± he hurriedly said.

    ¡°See, he¡¯s already said that,¡± the male employee said happily. ¡°Then let¡¯s just stop being overly polite.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°Exactly. Plus, I¡¯m just grateful to you all for supporting Dog Warrior and Famous so much.¡±

    Wen Li was overjoyed. If she could solve the problem of Zhuang Zhuang in the daytime, she could go to the cinema with her colleaguester that night. Yesterday, after they saw the premier, they all praised the film, saying that it was another ck horse in the domestic film market that year. When she heard it her heart felt itchy. It was somehow considered a collective activity, which would not be good to be pushed off again. It was easy for people to think that she did not want to be in the group.

    ¡°Then that¡¯s great! Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t let youe in vain. You came to the Forbidden City before, but what you saw were just the ordinary open areas, right? We¡¯ll bring you into the restricted area to walk around. We won¡¯t let youe in vain!¡± she promised excitedly.

    The male employee corrected her. ¡°I still have something going on. You can just bring him in alone.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good too. Help me cover it up in front of our superiors,¡± Wen Li said, half-jokingly.

    The male employee also did not want to suffer losses and started to bargain, ¡°I can help you cover it up, but tonight¡¯s movie ticket...¡±

    ¡°All right, all right, then tonight I¡¯ll be in charge of your movie ticket.¡± Wen Li waved her hand impatiently. ¡°You really don¡¯t have a gentlemanly attitude at all!¡±

    The male employeeughed and walked off.

    Wen Li warmly signaled to Zhang Zian. ¡°Come, I¡¯ll bring you to Jianfu Hall to see Zhuang Zhuang.¡±

    Zhang Zian was very willing. When he saw that most of the tourists behind were catching up again, he gave a look to the elfins to signal for them to follow behind him.

    ¡°Will it be inconvenient?¡± he asked guiltily. The main reason was that he was worried that he would be stopped by the other employees.

    ¡°It won¡¯t be. Anyway, I want to make a trip there to take something. It¡¯s something convenient.¡± Wen Li seemed very sure; she was not worried at all.

    She then waved to the calico cat, Snowy. ¡°Snowy, do you want toe along? Walking a bit more is good for losing weight.¡±

    Snowy sniffed Fina¡¯s scent carefully, then chased after it.

    Wen Li brought Zhang Zian and turned towards the west side, saying hello to the other staff. They bypassed a sign of that said, ¡°Tourists Stop Here¡± and entered the unopened area of the Pce Museum.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    PS1: There really is a fat calico cat in the Forbidden City named Snowy.

 Chapter 956: The Stray Cats in the Forbidden City

    <h4>Chapter 956: The Stray Cats in the Forbidden City</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As soon as he entered the restricted zone, it was like it was totally separate from the noisy, public areas. The fear of being overwhelmed by arge group of tourists totally vanished, and he could finally admire the true Forbidden City.

    The first feeling he had upon entering the forbidden area was that it was quiet. It was really too quiet. Besides the one or two employees that asionally walked past them, there was basically no one on the road. There was little grass and the ancient trees covered them. A pair of coppernterns with stone bottoms were situated on both sides of the road in intervals, and walking there was like wandering through thousands of years of history.

    Wen Li watched how Zhang Zian looked around, curiously looking at the city. With a chuckle, she said, ¡°Did you think that the restricted areas in the Forbidden City were very mysterious, and now that you¡¯ve seen them, they turned out to be just like this?¡±

    She had guessed a part of it correctly.

    Actually, the main reason Zhang Zian was looking around was that he was looking for the thing that he suspected to be an elfin that had run away earlier. It was not convenient to exin that to her, so he decided he might as well just silently agree with her guess.

    ¡°May I take photos? Being able toe into the restricted areas is rare,¡± he requested, waving his phone. The thing that had run away was only suspected to be an elfin. What was he to do if he missed the real elfin because he had some prior misconceptions?

    ¡°Go for it,¡± she generously agreed.

    Zhang Zian was touring around with her while he used the Game Capture Interface to scan his surroundings. He didn¡¯t want to miss a single corner.

    Concerning the restricted areas in the Forbidden City, there were a lot of rumors and it was sometimes hard to differentiate the truth from the lies. Some people said that, hidden in the closed-off areas, were the treasures of the Emperors of the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty. There were even people who said that the reason the Forbidden City did not open up the restricted areas was because at night, there would be magical incidents that happened there.

    The truth was, based on what he had seen and heard along the way, he could entirely overturn the baseless rumors. The reason the areas were not open to the public was because they had yet to bepletely restored, and it was not time to open them to the public.

    Every time he passed a pce, he would peep through the open gate into the corner of the courtyard like a leopard. The grey colored pce was surrounded by scaffolding and piles of stone; it was clearly still under repair.

    As a cultural relic with a history that stretched over several hundred years, the repairs of the Forbidden City were much moreplicated than that of ordinary houses. Experts who had been engaged in the field for decades led graduate students to carry out the repairs bit by bit with a lot of care. Any carelessness could lead to irreversible damage to the cultural relics.

    Therefore, although it looked like a construction site, there were only a few people working there. They wore yellow safety hats and repeatedly checked drawings. The progress of the work was extremely slow. After all, it was slow work that produced delicate work.

    Of course, there were also some pces inside the restricted area without scaffolding, which could be that the external reinforcement work had beenpleted, the internal repair work was underway, or that it was not its turn to be reinforced yet.

    He had also noticed that there were a lot of stray cats there¨C¨Cthey were on the walls, in the corners, at the doorsteps, and under the windows. They enjoyed the spring sunshine in various ces all over the city.

    Most of the cats liked the quiet. The ordinary, open areas were crowded with tourists, and some naughty kids liked to pull the tails of the cats. There were no stray cats in the open area; they all went to the restricted areas to enjoy the peace and quiet.

    Every time they met a stray cat, Wen Li would say their names with sincere familiarity.

    The history of the Forbidden City keeping cats had started in the Ming Dynasty. A ¡°Cat Room¡± was even created in the Ming Dynasty specifically to take care of the cats in the pce. After that, they would choose the best cats and present them to the emperor. The emperor would keep the cat he liked the most for himself and gift the rest to the members of the royal house.

    After many years of historical changes, the pce cats that had been respected had already been scattered.

    Wen Li introduced some of the stray cats that could be the descendants of the pce cats. There were some that had run over from the nearby stray cats, so they had not been able to differentiate them for quite some time.

    Including Snowy, the stray cats all had markings on their ears to show that they had already undergone sterilization.

    Wen Li had even proudly said that the buildings in the Forbidden City were mostly made of wood, but they had yet to have a mouse outbreak in many years. She gave partial credit of that to the stray cats.

    Seeing the infertile cats that had been fed until they were so fat andzy, Zhang Zian decided to reserve his opinion about what she said. Perhaps the reason why Wen Li was saying that was because she wanted toe up with a reasonable excuse for why the Forbidden City workers kept cats and liked cats.

    The stray cats were the real owners of the ancient building. They could skillfully squeeze through the gap under some of the locked courtyard doors, or between the drainage channels on the courtyard wall, or they could even jump over the wall.

    Visiting the Forbidden City was a very boring thing. After all, all the pces were kind of the same, just with different professionals leading them. Every time Wen Li passed a pce, she would tirelessly tell Zhang Zian about the name and the origin of the pce, which concubines once lived in them, and what interesting stories had happened there.

    Not only was Zhang Zian listening intently, but he was nodding his head continuously, feeling that the trip was not in vain. Even the elfins were listening seriously.

    The more northwest they went, the more the buildings around them became... old. They were entirely unlike the beautiful buildings in the open area. Perhaps that was what the Pce Museum really looked like after hundreds of years of storms and wars. The beauty was beautiful, but it was not real.

    ¡°Our destination is in front of us.¡± At the east wall of the Jianfu door, she pointed her finger at the building in the middle of some ancient trees.

    The Jianfu Hall was a veryrge area, but where they were going was not the main Jianfu Hall. Instead, it was a small courtyard by the side of the hall.

    At the first nce of the courtyard, Zhang Zian did not dare to believe his own eyes. That too was ruined, right?

    The rows of rooms in the courtyard could no longer be described as just grey and dirty. It was almost the same as an abandoned, broken temple. The windows were hollow, without ss or window paper. The paint was almost entirely gone. If Zhang Zian were to rub the windows with his fingers, they would be covered in ayer of gray dust.

    If it was not the Forbidden City, he dared to bet that no one would want to enter the house.

    Wen Li understood his feelings and smiled bitterly. ¡°There¡¯s no other way. This has yet to be put on the schedule to be fixed, and this courtyard itself does not have much importance. It¡¯s of the lowest priority.¡±

    She walked to the door of thepartment; that door was also very broken and was only used as a decoration.

    What was out of Zhang Zian¡¯s expectations was that she did not directly push the door to enter. Instead, she raised her voice and said towards the broken and ruinedpartment, ¡°I¡¯m entering.¡±

    Before she said anything, Zhang Zian had long ago taken a rough look at the inside of the house from the hole in the window. It was totally dark inside, and although he could not see too clearly, he could be sure that there was not a single human in the house. Who was she talking to?

    Thinking about the scary, magical rumors he had heard, although Zhang Zian did not believe in those things, his back still turned cold.

    Could it be that the rumors were true and that there was indeed some kind of unnatural thing or creature there?

 Chapter 957: The Orange Tabby Locked in the Bronze Sparrow Spring

    <h4>Chapter 957: The Orange Tabby Locked in the Bronze Sparrow Spring</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In the row of dpidated rooms in front of him, disorderly weeds grew everywhere. The broken que was mottled with paint and the original handwriting could not be seen clearly.

    Perhaps 100 or 200 years ago, it was the long term residence of an imperial concubine that had been thrown into the cold pce. They would have lived the rest of their tragic life with an oilmp in front of a Buddha¨C¨Cor maybe an old eunuch who had been very popr for a while but suddenly fell out of favor had hung himself there with a white ribbon. It was even more likely that it was neither of those things.

    The rumors of ghosts in the Forbidden City had been talked about for a long time because there were so many unknown secrets in the Forbidden City.

    Zhang Zian thought of those things while Wen Li shouted at the empty house and he felt his back turn cold. He was not afraid, but instead felt that it was quite weird. After all, it was broad daylight. Even if there were ghosts, they would not be able to do anything... He just thought that Wen Li, as an employee in the Forbidden City, should not engage in such feudal superstitious activities, right?

    After Wen Li finished shouting, she moved the board in front of the door, which practically served no purpose, aside, and went into the house herself. A second after that she noticed that Zhang Zian did not follow her in, so she walked out again.

    ¡°Please enter,¡± she said, her facial expression normal.

    ¡°This... there¡¯s something I feel as though I should ask, Who were you talking to just now?¡±

    Wen Li was stunned and instantly understood. She smiled and said, ¡°Oh, I was talking to Zhuang Zhuang!¡±

    It turned out that every night, the Forbidden City employees would lock up all the doors of the pces when they ended work, and the next day, when they started work, they would get the keys to open the doors of the pces.

    Before opening the door, most employees would follow a conventional rule: cough loudly, or shout ¡°I¡¯ming in.¡± It was not to shout at the ghosts wandering in the Forbidden City, but to shout at the small animals living in the Forbidden City. They would tell them that someone wasing in so they wouldn¡¯t be frightened.

    The Forbidden City was mainly made of wooden buildings, but there were many trees and a lot of grass. It covered arge area. The environment in the open area was quiet, and the whole Forbidden City was almost empty at night. In addition to stray cats, there were also other small animals, such as weasels, snakes, hedgehogs, and so on. No one knew when they moved in.

    By yelling outside the door, they were trying to remind the little animals to be prepared. Those that should hide should hide, and those that should run should run. They wanted to prevent them from getting shocked into hurrying out of the door and hurting or scaring people.

    The tradition did not start in the present day, but it could be traced back to the Qing Dynasty. More than 8,000 houses in the Pce Museum could not have people living in all of them, so vacant houses were upied by small animals. Shouting before entering the door let small animals voluntarily withdraw. The humans did not want to offend the animals.

    After she exined in detail, it suddenly dawned on Zhang Zian. Sure enough, the industries were all different. If they did not exin the rules, one would not know. All types of industries had their own old rules, as did the cultural relics workers of the Forbidden City and the pet industry. Just as the The ssic of Cats Appreciation said, ¡°Don¡¯t buy kittens under four months.¡± It was someone¡¯s own experience that they wrote about, but few people followed it now.

    Zhang Zian put his heart back into his stomach and followed her into the dark room.

    ¡°Be careful, the house is dark. Don¡¯t sprain your ankle,¡± Wen Li reminded him out of goodwill. She waved at the corner. ¡°Zhuang Zhuang, we came to see you.¡±

    There was also another special part about the Forbidden City: Inside the pce, there were very few lighting devices. Its main purpose was to prevent fires, but it caused every pce to be very dark. After walking from the very bright outside into the house, one¡¯s eyes were not ustomed to it instantly.

    Zhang Zian stood still for a while, and when his eyes became ustomed to the light, he followed Wen Li¡¯s line of sight towards the corner.

    There was a straw mattress with an orange tabby squatting on it. Beside it was an aluminum alloy food basin and a water basin.

    In terms of the average size of a cat in the Forbidden City and the average size of the orange tabby, the orange tabby was not fat¨C¨Cit could even pass as slim.

    Its head drooped listlessly, like it was not awake yet. It heard Wen Li¡¯s call and looked up at her. From his gaze, Zhang Zian could tell that it knew her, but it soon dropped its head again.

    The room was dark, and the cat was quite far away. It was hard to tell the exact situation, but Zhang Zian could see transparent and shiny water dripping out from the corner of its mouth.

    Wen Li introduced it, saying, ¡°This is Zhuang Zhuang. It has been here since before I started my job. It¡¯s quite an old cat; we are not sure of its exact age. Thest two days, it has be very lethargic...It drips saliva from time to time. We thought that maybe it was due to its age.¡±

    After Zhang Zian entered, he kept standing at the doorway, blocking the entrance.

    Fina¡¯s natural curiosity made it want to enter the room to take a look, but because he blocked the entrance, it could not enter. It did not want to lower itself by jumping in through the window, so it kept pulling on the corner of his pants from behind, wanting Zhang Zian to move.

    Zhang Zian put one hand behind him and kept waving in the dark, signaling to the elfins not to follow him in and to y in the yard.

    He was not a professional veterinarian, but he had quite a good understanding of themon illnesses in cats and dogs. With one look he could tell that the cat¡¯s condition was not right, and it could be that it had some kind of infectious disease. If the elfins followed him in, they could be in danger of being infected.

    Wen Li wanted to walk in to carry Zhuang Zhuang out into sun, but Zhang Zian stopped her. ¡°Wait, it could have an infectious disease,¡± he said, and pulled out a pair of disposable stic gloves from his pants pocket.

    It was not like he could tell the future, so how could he have prepared disposable gloves? The gloves were a gift from breakfast ce outside the Forbidden City so that customers¡¯ hands would not be covered with oil while they ate. Because he wanted to feed the elfins, he had bought more breakfast. The stall owner thought he bought for more than one person, so he gave him more disposable gloves. After he used one pair, he was reluctant to throw the other pairs away, so he slipped them into his pocket. He did not think that he would actually use them...

    Now that he thought about it, the capital was very particr. Even breakfast stalls thoughtfully provided disposable gloves, letting the white-cored workers and the CBD elite be able to eat their breakfast without having to go through the trouble of washing their hands. Of course, the prices were also very high. After all, wool came from the sheep¡¯s body.

    Wen Li did not know the details, but upon seeing that he actually brought disposable gloves with him, she admired him even more. She thought in her heart that he was indeed a professional and different.

    The calico cat, Snowy, was also following behind them. Zhang Zian had Wen Li stop it so it wouldn¡¯te in the room.

    He slowly got closer to Zhuang Zhuang.

    Zhuang Zhuang did not wee his arrival at all. It shook its head in annoyance, spitting out its tongue and salivating everywhere. Because of its exhaustion, it could not resist any further or escape, which also showed that there was something wrong with its nose; it could not smell Fina on his body.

    Zhang Zian extended its hand to the back of its neck, and he unexpectedly grabbed it from the back, picked it up, and half-forced it to open its mouth. He saw arge ulcer in its mouth and on its tongue.

 Chapter 958: Three Viruses

    <h4>Chapter 958: Three Viruses</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The orange tabby¡¯s mouth and tongue were in a lot of pain. Therge ulcer made it such that it could only leave its mouth open to use the cool air to reduce the burning pain on its tongue and in its mouth. It was continuously salivating.

    It was twisting its body around in Zhang Zian¡¯s hands, struggling to get free and revealing its tiger teeth in a threatening manner. Zhang Zian was prepared. How could he let it escape from his hands?

    ¡°What is it? It isn¡¯t some big illness, right?¡± Wen Li asked worriedly. Even if Zhang Zian was a professional, she felt that he would hurt it by pressing too hard.

    Zhang Zian put it down, his expression serious, and said, ¡°The situation is not good. This cat needs to be quarantined and quickly sent to the veterinarian, otherwise it could spread it to the other stray cats.¡±

    ¡°Ah? Ah?¡± Wen Li did not think that the situation was so serious and was so shocked that she did not know what to say.

    On the other hand, she hoped in her heart that Zhang Zian¡¯s judgment was wrong. Even though he was a professional in the pet world, he was still not a veterinarian.

    ¡°It... What illness does it have? Is it not the normal flu?¡± she asked, still having a bit of hope.

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t determine what kind of sickness it is exactly. It needs to be sent to a veterinarian to be checked out, but I think it could be one of these three things: cat calicivirus, cat herpesvirus, or cat HIV.¡±

    When he said the first two names it was still all right, but upon hearing the scaryst one, Wen Li was so shocked that her face lost color. She was not able to help; she backed away with two small steps.

    AIDS was something that would make people¡¯s whole expression change, and hearing about it was as scary as hearing that it was rabies. No wonder Wen Li was scared.

    Zhang Zian could guess what was going on in her mind andforted her, ¡°Don¡¯t be scared. Cat HIV is different from human HIV. It won¡¯t be spread to humans or dogs. Furthermore, it is just one of the three options, so it might not be that.¡±

    Cat HIV was usually spread through cats biting each other, and the group that was high risk was adult, male stray cats. The orange tabby met the requirements.

    No matter which of the viruses it was infected with, it could not be judged on the spot. It had to be tested before it could be diagnosed, and it had to immediately be isted from the other cats.

    ¡°Then... then will it die?¡± Wen Li calmed down a bit, then worriedly asked the question she was most concerned about.

    ¡°The situation is not that serious. These three kinds of viruses are not fatal viruses. Even if it is a fatal cat HIV, in recent years there have been some new medicines that have been discovered. The medical facilities in the capital are definitely very good. As long as you do your best to treat it, it could greatly increase its lifespan,¡± he answered truthfully.

    ¡°I understand.¡± Wen Li looked like she was very determined. Her gaze became very certain. ¡°Forbidden City employees have a Cat Lovers Fund that we donate to. We will definitely give it the best medicine and we won¡¯t give up on it!¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded his head in encouragement. He did not say any more because it was more suitable for a veterinarian to speak on the subject. They knew more about how to tell people when it was time to let go. Euthanasia was a kindness to cats who suffered terribly from illness.

    ¡°I have a metal cage in my office. I¡¯ll bring it over right now, then I¡¯ll see if I can get leave from work. If it is not possible, I¡¯ll bring it to a veterinarian office after work... It seems like I can¡¯t go see Dog Warrior anymore,¡± she said.

    ¡°Here, I still have many extra gloves. After you touch it, if you do not disinfect your hands, it¡¯s best not to touch other cats.¡± Zhang Zian handed her a pair of gloves.

    She took them with gratefulness, not thinking that the gloves were given out for free by the breakfast stall.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I was nning on bringing you to walk around a bit more, but it seems like I don¡¯t have time anymore...¡± she said apologetically. ¡°How about this¨C¨Cif you stay a few more days in the capital, I¡¯ll wait for the next time youe to the Forbidden City again to pay back the debt I owe you.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that she was rushing to bring the cat to the vet, but she could not let him, a tourist, stay in the restricted area alone. If anything happened, she could not deal with the consequences, so she was telling him to leave.

    On hearing that, he smiled. ¡°It¡¯s not some big debt. I¡¯m very satisfied with having been able to see the restricted area of the Forbidden City.¡±

    He was saying it in a heartfelt manner. After all, it was a rare experience to be brought by a professional to tour the Forbidden City, and here she was promising him that when he came again, she would bring him into the restricted area to look around. The only pity was that on the way there he did not find any trace of the elfin, because he did not see the one that ran away again. Who knew if when he came two dayster, he would see it again...

    Wen Li wore the gloves and carefully carried the orange tabby. She was very worried and her posture was very strange. She wanted to make sure that the orange tabby¡¯s saliva did not drip onto her clothes or shoes. It was not because her heart ached for her clothes, but because she was scared that it would spread to the other stray cats because of that.

    The orange tabby¡¯s attitude towards Zhang Zian was not that good, but it was quite well-behaved in her hands. Although there was a burning pain in its mouth, it did not resist.

    ¡°I¡¯ll send you to the public areas,¡± Wen Li said. ¡°You can continue touring around.¡±

    At that moment, the public area had to have been very crowded with people, and Zhang Zian had no interest in continuing to look around. It was better toe another day, so he automatically suggested, ¡°It¡¯s all right, I¡¯ll just cut my visit short today. There will be a chance in the future toe again.¡±

    The two of them brought the orange tabby to the outdoors.

    The calico cat, Snowy, wanted toe over and rub her head against Wen Li, but Zhang Zian stopped it. He did not want to let it get close to her. At the same time, he made a warning signal with his mouth at the elfins, signaling for them to stay away from the orange tabby.

    ¡°Where¡¯s the exit? I¡¯ve gotten lost.¡± Zhang Zian looked at his surroundings. The Forbidden City houses and courtyards all looked the same, especially since the restricted areas had no signs and it was even easier to get lost.

    ¡°That way. Come, I¡¯ll bring you out. The tourists can only leave from Gate of Godly Prowess.¡± Wen Li carried the orange tabby and walked in front.

    Zhang Zian signaled for the elfins to follow behind.

    Walking a few steps, his body suddenly stiffened. The feeling of being watched came back again!

    Practically at the same time, Old Time Tea lowered its voice and called, ¡°Zian, look at the top of the wall!¡±

    Zhang Zian suddenly raised his head, seeing that on the wall not far away, within the shadows of the eaves, sat a ck animal, almostpletely hidden in the shadows. It stared straight at him.

    He instantly raised his phone, pointing the camera at that thing, but its reaction was very fast. In an instant it twisted its body and flipped over the wall, jumping outside.

    ¡°Haha! If you have the ability,e and chase me!¡± Itughed arrogantly.

    ¡°Eh? Where did that cat sounde from?¡± Wen Li stopped, confused. She turned back to look, but besides for the calico cat Snowy, she did not see any traces of any other cats.

    ¡°There was a cat on the wall just now, but it ran away,¡± Zhang Zian said calmly.

    He lowered his head to look at the phone screen.

    [Game Hints]: Target confirmed¨C¨CWarding Off Evil Cat!

 Chapter 959: Racing Each Other

    <h4>Chapter 959: Racing Each Other</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian watched as the light on the screen moved. Before that, the light cluster covered the whole range of the Forbidden City. Now, there was almost half a circle that was already out of the Forbidden City.

    He thought in his heart that it was horrible. Before that, the elfins he had met were fixed on a particr position and didn¡¯t move. That was the first time he had met a situation where the elfin was moving, and the speed of movement was quite fast.

    Wen Li wasn¡¯t walking very fast. She was quite slow carrying the orange tabby, and she would asionally ask questions concerning the three types of viruses. Zhang Zian did not have the time to be dyed there any longer so he asked, ¡°Something urgent hase up and I must leave. Where¡¯s the exit?¡±

    ¡°Oh, that way,¡± she said, pointing northeast. ¡°After you take a few turns, you¡¯ll see it. It¡¯s not far from the Gate of Godly Prowess.¡±

    ¡°All right, then I¡¯ll go. Bye! If I have time I¡¯lle back again,¡± Zhang Zian said, distracted by his phone screen. He ran off.

    ¡°Ah! You¡¯re running in the wrong direction! Just walk straight past this doorway, don¡¯t turn. You¡¯re heading to the Respectability Room!¡± she called out from behind.

    Zhang Zian: ¡°...¡±

    ¡°Meow, meow, meow! The Respectability Room is right!¡± Snowy Li could not contain itself.

    ¡°Ah? Why is there the sound of a cat calling?¡± Wen Li was confused and looked around. ¡°There¡¯s no cat around...¡±

    Zhang Zian pretended to not hear her and prepared himself to jog the whole way. He left the Forbidden City from the Gate of Godly Prowess.

    The northwest of the Forbidden City was Beihai Park, and directly to the north was Jingshan Park. The light circle had already left the Forbidden City and it was first running towards the northeast for a while before it turned towards the southeast. It ran into a very crowded area.

    They had walked around the Forbidden City for the entirety of the morning, and it was now almost afternoon. There were a lot of people, and there were a lot of cars; the difficulty of finding it was increasing.

    Gxy was originally excitedly running right in front, but as soon as it left the Forbidden City and saw therge crowd in front, it hesitated.

    Normally, Pi did not exercise, and after jogging, it was also panting.

    Snowy Li was also like that. It was having a lot of trouble running with its short legs, and its fur was too long. It was very hot after exercising, and was asking to be returned to the phone.

    Fina was not scared of people, and was rather athletic, but it was not willing to lower itself to chase another cat elfin. It was actingzy and unenergetic.

    Zhang Zian had to watch where the light was moving and also had to make sure they were not hit by a car. It was very hard to do all those things at once, so he had no other choice but to keep the four of them in his phone and leave only Famous, Old Time Tea, and Richard out.

    This old city area had a lot of alleys and old style housing; sometimes he would also see courtyard dwellings, full of the old capital feels. The Warding Off Evil Cat seemed to be very familiar with theyout, and when it was walking through the streets and the alleys, it kept changing directions, which caused Zhang Zian to be tiredly running for his life.

    The good thing was that Richard had flown to somewhere high to look for the cat. Old Time Tea had climbed up to the top of the walls and the eaves of the houses, and Famous was leading the way by following its scent; it could just manage to smell its faint scent. If Zhang Zian chased it by himself, he would have been left behind a long time ago.

    There were quite a few times, ording to Richard¡¯s words, that the cat had run into a dead-end and had nowhere else to escape to. As they continued to chase it, it kept managing to find unknown, small roads, or even dog holes, or it would turn around and slide into another alleyway, causing him to not be able to trap it.

    It was very strange, because his phone¡¯s elfin radar was like Saiyan¡¯s Dragon Ball Radar¨C¨Cit knew where the cat had escaped to, and then it would decide the path that would be the shortest distance to it. The elfin did not have a radar, though, so how did it know its movements so well? He kept failing to catch the elfin at the most vital moment, and he felt like his actions were all known by the cat...

    At that moment, he noticed something else: No matter where he and the elfin ran to, he would always meet a stray cat. No matter where they were, whether it was between weeping willow branches, on the walls of the courtyards, on the roofs of old houses, there are all kinds of stray cats staring at him with strange eyes.

    After they had met his eyes, the stray cats would swing their tails and ran away. The direction they ran to was very simr to the direction the Warding Off Evil Cat.

    If one said it was a coincidence, it was not very possible. While he was running, more than 10 stray cats had done the same thing. It would be more convincing if one said that they had all be elfins together.

    He could not help but think of an even more scary possibility: Could it be that the Warding Off Evil Cat was ordering the stray cats to observe his movements?

    If it were really like that, then the observing operation had begun the day he had checked into the hotel. At that time, there had not even been any notification in the game that an elfin had appeared...

    He was thinking as he chased, but he could not think of a solution no matter how hard he tried.

    The loud panting in his ears made him slightly distracted. He turned his head to look and saw Famous running next to him. It was panting with its tongue hanging out.

    When he took a look at Old Time Tea, Old Time Tea¡¯s situation was better than Famous.¡¯ Its breathing was stable, and the pace of breathing was normal. Even though it was like that, he and Famous were both still young, but Old Time Tea was quite old. Blindly chasing the elfin was clearly not the method.

    As for Richard, the b*tch bird really knew how to take care of itself. After flying a while, it wouldnd on the top of his head to take a break. It would constantly say dumb things, making him so angry that he wanted to drown it in fermented soy bean milk.

    Just as he wanted to tell Old Time Tea and Famous to rest and take a breath, he was very surprised to find that the Warding Off Evil Cat¡¯s speed seemed to have slowed down. It headed towards a street not far in front of him, and then stoppedpletely.

    Could it be that it was also tired of running as well? That was also a possibility. They had chased for a very long distance already.

    He became more energetic, and told Old Time Tea and Famous, ¡°The elfin doesn¡¯t seem to be running anymore. Let¡¯s think of a way to capture it. We definitely cannot let it run away again! We need to at least get an exnation from it as to why it is watching us.¡±

    Old Time Tea and Famous were all a bit tired, but once they found out it had stopped, they became more energetic.

    They discussed their attack n while facing the electronic map, and in the end decided to separate down three different roads to surround it. Famous was in charge of the left side, Old Time Tea was in charge of the right side, and Zhang Zian would continue in a straight path, but would slow down. When Old Time Tea came behind the Warding Off Evil Cat and blocked its escape path, they would show themselves catch it!

    While they were discussing the n, he gave a look to Old Time Tea and Famous. He then lowered his voice until it was very low, purposely avoiding the ears and eyes of the nearby stray cats.

    Old Time Tea and Famous suddenly understood. The reason they had been running for so long was because the stray cats were carrying information to the Warding Off Evil Cat. It was no wonder they could never catch up to it.

    But the stray cat could only see Zhang Zian; it could not see Old Time Tea and Famous. Since they were watching Zhang Zian, separating seemed to be the best option.

    Now that they were finished nning, Old Time Tea and Famous ran towards the left and right alleyways.

 Chapter 960: Borrowing Money

    <h4>Chapter 960: Borrowing Money</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian had observed before that Fina had an iparable control over domestic cats¨C¨Cbut only domestic cats. The control it had over stray cats was weaker, and its control of wild cats in the cities or viges, as well as those that were second or third generation stray cats, was even weaker. When those cats saw it, they did not submit to it, but ran away in fear.

    A lot of cats were originally domestic cats and were very close to people, butter on were abandoned by their owners or ran out of their homes by themselves and became stray cats. The second generation stray cats that were born when they mated with other stray cats were not as close to people, and by the third or even the fourth generation, they were practically the same as wild cats.

    Because of that, hoping that Fina could order the stray cats and make them stop their actions of sending news secretly was too difficult. Furthermore, the reason Fina cared about the safety of the stray cats was because they were all part of the huge family of cat species. It could not ignore them, but the way it treated house cats and stray cats was slightly different.

    If one needed to find a reason, it was probably because before it was summoned to the current time period, it had lived in the time of very in the Ancient Egyptian Empire. People were separated into many levels; the ves had no human rights, much less cats. That way of doing things was very normal in its eyes, so its long-formted ideas could not be changed in a moment and a half.

    Zhang Zian rested for a short while. Richard had flown over, and Old Time Tea and Famous reported to him and had already started to branch out. He got up and also started to move.

    The light that signaled the elfin¡¯s position on his phone screen did not move. The Warding Off Evil Cat was resting.

    But, deep inside his heart, he felt that something was wrong... The Warding Off Evil Cat had been very smart up to that point; it was so sly that it seemed like a fox. Why was it being careless now?

    No matter what, he still needed to go and take a look to see what kind of sly idea it had now.

    He kept observing the digital map in the game and slowly got closer to the middle area with the shing light. He entered a very normal street.

    The street was one that could be seen anywhere in the old town in the capital city. It was not wide but not narrow, not long but not short, not new and not old... There were no luxurious courtyards around, and there were even a few shops. On both sides of the street were offices of some government units stationed in Beijing, old bungalows, elementary schools, and kindergartens. The tallest building was no more than three or four floors.

    Cars that were stopped at the side of the road took up a part of the wideness of the road, and on the pedestrian walkway were a few bicycles. The tall pagoda trees and aspen trees held up dense leaves to block the noon sunshine, and nearby residents or passersby hurriedly walked along.

    No matter how he looked at it, it was a daily scene that could not be any more normal.

    Richard pped its wings andnded on his shoulders. It shrugged its shoulders in regret, indicating it did not see any trace of the Warding Off Evil Cat.

    The circle of light did not move, which indicated that the Warding Off Evil Cat was hidden somewhere nearby.

    Old Time Tea and Famous were hidden on the left and right of the street exit. Zhang Zian told them that if there was a need to, they could leave their invisible state in a hidden ce when the pedestrians were not paying attention in order to stop the target.

    Currently, he was not worried that the Warding Off Evil Cat would escape; he was only worried that it would stay still and not move in order to test their patience.

    There were too many ces that could hide cats on the street, but as long as the Warding Off Evil Cat did not escape, it would definitely be found¨C¨Cthat was unless it hid on some resident¡¯s balcony... If it did that, then there would be no way of finding it.

    He slowly strolled around, concentrating on observing his surroundings. He did not even let a trash can go... If a person who did not know the situation saw him, there would be an 80 percent chance they thought he had lost a wallet nearby.

    There were many beautiful, fashionable women with exquisite makeup walking in the streets of the capital. They were already dressed for the cool weather. It would be a good time for all of them to feast their eyes, but unfortunately, Zhang Zian had no time to go and look at them...

    However, happiness fell from the sky and caught him off guard.

    He was concentrating on searching for any trace of the Warding Off Evil Cat because the elfin seemed to be able to be seen directly without a phone, which reduced his troubles by a lot. At that moment, he was suddenly stopped by a pair of beautiful legs.

    ¡°Big brother.¡± A delicate voice made even his bones weak.

    Raising his head to take a look, in front of him stood a young woman around 20 years old, wearing a checkered shirt and tight, ripped jeans. She wore a sun hat and was very ordinary looking, but had a very bright smile.

    Zhang Zian thought that it was a girl who was taking the initiative to chat him up and felt that his charm had probably increased unconsciously. He was very happy. He nned to give her his WeChat ount, but when he turned to take a look, he saw a young man, also around 20 years old, standing beside her.

    The young man¡¯s looks were also ordinary and his clothes were also around the same as the young woman. He nervously checked out their surroundings.

    What made Zhang Zian feel the most shocked was that in the young girl¡¯s arms was a baby who was roughly not even one year old yet.

    Who are these two people? What kind of rtionship do they have? Are they boyfriend and girlfriend? They¡¯re probably not husband and wife because they are too young and are probably not of legal age yet...

    Why did they want to stop me? Is the baby this girl¡¯s child? Did she have a child so young? Or could it be that it is her rtive¡¯s child?

    Or perhaps her younger brother or sister? After all, these days, there are some old couples that choose to have a second baby. The first child and the second can have more than ten years of age difference between them... even twenty years is possible.

    A series of questions shed in Zhang Zian¡¯s head, but he did not ask them. Instead, he only asked the question that was the most normal under the current situation: ¡°Is there a problem?¡±

    ¡°This, big brother...¡± the young woman smiled and said in embarrassment, ¡°My husband and I brought our child to the capital to y, but we had our wallet stolen and now we can¡¯t get home. Could you lend us some money to eat?¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart fell.

    To be honest, their situation was verymon in every city in China, especially in the vicinity of the railway station. It could not be excluded that some people had real temporary difficulties and needed help urgently, but it was undeniable that most of them were swindlers who used people¡¯s kindness to cheat others out of their money.

    When those swindlers asked for money, they would normally choose people who looked very honest and young, like university couples. The would make use of the weakness of the university students because they were not thick-skinned. They would continue to bother them, pretending to be pitiful to ask for money.

    A lot of people upon meeting that kind of situation would be on high alert, knowing that there was a high chance they were a swindler. Sometimes, however, they could not hold up against them, and would take out money because they were soft-hearted. There were also some boys who wanted to show how generous and kind they were in front of their girlfriends and would easily hand out money.

    The truth was, there were definitely quite a lot of people who would take out money. Otherwise, it was not possible to have such arge cheating industry.

    That method of swindling people had existed for 20 to 30 years. It had not yet disappeared, but had instead be more innovative.

    With the increase of people¡¯s vignce, they would choose to use elderly people to dress up as pitiful, disabled people with iplete limbs. Or, they would dress up as the couple in front of him had. They would make use of ignorant babies to get sympathy...

    Zhang Zian did not have the ability to read minds. He did not know whether the young man and woman in front of him were swindlers; they could really be a couple that was in genuine trouble and needed money to eat.

    The young man added, ¡°Older brother, it is rare that we go out. The two of us do not have enough experience out in society and we identally lost our wallets. We are very hungry now...¡±

    He stopped for a while, lowering his head to look at the baby. He raised his finger to wipe at the corner of his eyes and said, ¡°We aren¡¯t shameless people, either. If it was not for the fact that we had no other choice, we would be unable to lower ourselves and ask you for help... It¡¯s all right if us adults do not eat two meals, and it¡¯s all right if we are hungry for two to three days, but children cannot stand being hungry...¡±

    If it were a young, female university student who had heard that, they would immediately be so touched and try to help them, but Zhang Zian was not moved. He looked at the faces of the young man and woman and the infant.

    The young woman sighed. ¡°Yes, big brother. Children cannot stand being hungry. We haven¡¯t eaten a single thing since this morning and even the adults are so hungry we cannot stand it, much less our child...¡±

    Before she finished speaking, the baby in her arms started to cry loudly. Its face turned red, but the sound of their crying was weak, as if they were really so hungry that they had no more energy.

    Most ordinary people under such a circumstance, no matter how hard-hearted they were, could not stand a child crying. Most of the time they would just take out money, and thenfort themselves, telling themselves that the other party was probably not swindlers.

    Zhang Zian still did not say anything, however. The expression on his face was very calm. He said, ¡°Sorry, but I left my house in a rush today. I did not bring any money with me.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a problem. I see that big brother brought a phone... A phone transfer is also all right. WeChat or Alipay are both all right,¡± the young man instantly continued, bringing his phone out and preparing to let Zhang Zian scan the QR code.

    ¡°Oh, then how much money do you need?¡± Zhang Zian nodded.

    The young man and woman looked at each other and the woman said, ¡°20 to 30 is not too little, 40 to 50 is not too much. If you see that we are pitiful, you can give us a little more... After we finish eating, we still need to buy train tickets home.¡±

    ¡°Big brother, don¡¯t worry. We aren¡¯t begging for money from you; we are borrowing money from you,¡± the young man affirmed. ¡°However much money you transfer to us, we will instantly return to you when we reach home¨C¨Cnot a cent less! We can also be friends!¡±

    The young woman did not wait for Zhang Zian to agree before she smiled and said, ¡°Thank you, big brother. When I saw how handsome you were, I knew that your heart must be good. We were hesitating for a long time before we were thick-skinned enough to stop you for some money. We felt like you were definitely a good person.¡±

    Zhang Zian gave a dry cough. He smiled and said, ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve recently been quite tight on... money. It¡¯s not that I can¡¯t lend it to you, but it¡¯s true that my heart is very good. I can bring you to the police station and help you report to the police. Let¡¯s go and find policemen uncles to help. What do you both think? Look, there¡¯s a sign next to us that says ¡®If you have trouble, find the police,¡¯ right?¡± He pointed at the notice board on the wall.

    The young man and woman¡¯s facial expressions instantly changed.

 Chapter 961: Not a Scam

    <h4>Chapter 961: Not a Scam</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Under normal circumstances, the cheaters who were trying to get money enjoyed hanging around the train station or near rest stops because those areas had a lot of people. Also, those traveling on long journeys would often have enough small change in case they needed it. After all, there was an old Chinese saying that said, ¡°Poor people, rich trips.¡± The meaning was that when one left their house, they needed to bring more money for the journey. A good part about that kind of ce was that it was convenient to do guerri warfare.

    However, Zhang Zian hade to the capital for only a few days, so he had seen the capital¡¯s security. He realized that there were always a lot of people patrolling at the train station, the airport, and the rest of the important areas, and the swindlers who were trying to get money did not dare to stay for very long. They had run to the ordinary areas where people lived to try to cheat money. Even though the efficiency was a bit lower, people in the capital had money, so it was much safer.

    He did not have any evidence, so he could not confirm if the man and woman were really cheaters or not. If they were really a couple that was in trouble, then it would be inappropriate to turn around and walk away... But if they were cheaters, he was not willing to give his money to them for no reason, even if it was only one cent.

    That was why he had suggested going to the civilian police to ask for help. If anyone was met with troubles, the civilian police would definitely try to help them¨C¨Cbut first, they would check their identities.

    He did not really want to send them to find the civilian police; he more so wanted to check their intentions. If the other party was not feeling guilty, they would not be scared to see the police. They would likely agree without hesitation, then he could believe that they were a couple that had fallen into trouble. He would not mind giving them some money to let them eat a meal if that were the case... But if the other party was really guilty, they would definitely find a reason not to go.

    As expected, before he even finished saying what he wanted to say, both of their facial expressions changed.

    The young man smiled disdainfully. ¡°Older Brother, I¡¯m just borrowing some money to eat a meal. Let¡¯s not trouble the police. Furthermore, the policemen are so busy. They might not be able to help us...¡±

    The woman added, ¡°Yes, older brother, we are all foreigners, and we heard that the capital¡¯s policemen have a lot of power. They are more likely to bully those who are unfamiliar to this ce. We are also unfamiliar with the capital, and we are scared of being bullied if we enter the local police station...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s especially because we are in the capital that the police do not dare to randomly do things. After all, it¡¯s the emperor¡¯s domain, so you don¡¯t need to worry about that. Right, didn¡¯t you lose your wallet? If you lose your money, you need to report to the police! Have you all reported to the police?¡± Zhang Zian knew that they were making excuses, but he was purposely pretending to be unaware.

    ¡°I¡¯ve reported already. I¡¯ve reported already...¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to report. The wallet doesn¡¯t have a lot of money in it. Even if you report it to the police, you won¡¯t be able to get it back. Let¡¯s just leave it...¡±

    The young man and woman spoke at the same time. One said that they had already reported, and the other said that they did not need to report. They looked at each other awkwardly. Although what they said was different, their meaning was the same: They refused to go to the local police station, no matter what.

    At that moment, Zhang Zian was already 100 percent sure that the two of them were swindlers. He was even less likely to give them money because giving them money was indulging them.

    The truth was, if everyone had special eyes, could recognize the swindler¡¯s tricks, and kept a tight hold of their wallets¨C¨Cso much so that taking away money from their wallet was like taking away firewood from under a cauldron¨C¨Cthen that kind of industry where they stopped people for money would have vanished a long time ago.

    So he shook his head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t have money. I can only go with you to report to the police. How about it, do you want to go or not?¡±

    Both he and his opponent had a tacit understanding of what the other was thinking, but they weren¡¯t able to break through thestyer of window paper.

    The young man¡¯s face darkened. He raised his eyebrows, wanting to say something else, when the young woman pulled on him, giving him a quick look. She hurriedly waved at Zhang Zian, squeezed out a smile, and said, ¡°Nevermind, nevermind. We just remembered that we had a distant rtive in the capital. We can go to him to borrow some money for a ticket home after. We¡¯ll have dinner there. Big brother, I¡¯m sorry to have dyed you.¡±

    The young man felt unsatisfied in his heart, but it seemed like the scam was led by the woman. He could only force down the words he wanted to say as he quietly took two steps back.

    They had realized that Zhang Zian was smarter than they had thought and knew that they would not be able to trick him. Rather than wasting more time on him, it was better to find a new target.

    Zhang Zian nodded and did not continue saying anything. He turned around to continue forward.

    Since the other party had already acknowledged the truth, then there was no need for him to stay behind and waste more time.

    Even if he knew that the other party were swindlers, what else could he do? Go to the police station and report them? Where was the evidence? If he were to make a report he would need evidence... He could not make a police report empty-handed.

    The other party had two people, and he was alone if they reached the police station and the other party denied what they had said insistently. What evidence did he have to prove that the other party was swindling people? Perhaps he might even be harmed by them in retaliation, and they might use him of nder.

    Forget it, there was no need. In the end, he would not be able to hit the fox and would instead cause a fuss for himself.

    To be honest, such street fraud was somon in China that it could be found in any city. Moreover, their single fraud amount was very low, ranging from tens to hundreds, and they could not meet the standard of filing a case. Even if they were transferred to the police station, they would just criticize their education and would be put into detention for a few days at most. They would eat several free meals in the detention center and be good people by the time they were released, which made them even more fearless.

    Zhang Zian knew himself that he did not have the ability to deal with that. He could only hope that the other people could see clearly so they would not be cheated by them.

    He patted his cheeks, lifting up his spirits, and observed the hidden corners around him. He tried to concentrate on finding the Warding Off Evil Cat again.

    However, his gaze kept scattering unconsciously. He was unable to concentrate. It seemed that he had neglected some details.

    After walking a few steps forward, he heard someone say, ¡°Prettydy.¡± Although they were definitely not calling him, he could not help but turn his head around to look.

    The young man and woman stopped a girl who looked like a college student. She was around the same age as them, but her face was obviously much younger than them. She looked like a girl who was not deeply involved in the world; maybe she was a good girl who studied hard and listened to her parents.

    She was wearing sses, carrying a shoulder bag, wearing brand name sports shoes, and holding a new Apple phone in her hand. From her look, it could be seen that her family was rtively prosperous.

    After she had been stopped, she was very shocked. There was a strange expression on her face. At first, she was slightly guarded, but when she saw the other person¡¯s face smiling face and the baby, her guard soon disappeared.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°What bad luck...¡± That kind of girl was definitely the best kind of victim.

    As expected, the young man and woman surrounded her and repeated what they had said to Zhang Zian just now.

    Zhang Zian had already walked a distance away. He could not hear what they were saying all that well, but he thought that it was probably simr to what they had said to him. He observed the university girl¡¯s expression change. She had obviously been persuaded by them already.

    ¡°Ga? That girl won¡¯t be so dumb, right? She obviously doesn¡¯t have a chest, but she has to have a brain... Where did all her intuition go?¡± Richard stood on his head and muttered.

    The University student showed her empty palms, and seemed to be saying that she did not bring any spare change. That was probably true. After all, now that AliPay was so advanced, young people that were not traveling long distances often did not bring spare change with them.

    The young man and woman motioned to their phones, meaning to say that she could transfer money to them through her phone.

    ¡°Ga ga! Do you want me to go take a sh*t on their heads?¡± Richard asked. ¡°Or do you want me to pee on this girl¡¯s face to wake her up?¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head. One could not wake someone up that wascking in brain cells. Even if she had not been cheated that time around, she would most likely be cheated the next time.

    The University girl hesitated. She felt that something was not right, as the beggar was using a QR code to beg for money... It caused people to wonder whether the other party was actually a beggar or not.

    At that moment, the infant that had gone back to sleep after crying suddenly woke up, waved its hands around, and started crying loudly. The cries were still verycking in energy.

    The University girl was flustered from the crying, and her heart had already been softened. Any remaining sense of reason had flown out of the window. She took up her phone and quickly transferred a sum of money to them, even urging them to hurry and find a ce to eat. She also told them to buy some milk powder for the child and then hurry and buy a train ticket home.

    From the smiles on the young man and woman¡¯s faces, the sum of money was probably quite a lot. It was likely not just some tens of yuan, but perhaps 200 or 300 yuan¨C¨Cor even more.

    Despite that, it was still not enough to satisfy their appetite. They had decided that the university student was a good target, so they wanted to fully exploit her.

    After the university student had finished transferring the money, she wanted to leave, but the young man and woman jogged after her. Zhang Zian guessed that they were probably trying to get the university student to give them more money¨C¨Cit was like sending the Buddha to the west; one had to go all the way when saving someone.

    She had never met that kind of shamelessness and stickiness. Adding on the fact that the infant kept crying, she was bothered to the point of being irritated and confused. She transferred them more money.

    Only then did the young man and woman let her go, satisfied.

    Wait! Why was it that the infant¡¯s crying time was so coincidental both times? Why did the infant cry at the most appropriate moment every time?

    Zhang Zian was acutely aware of the suspicious aspect... He suddenly realized what details had been bothering him. Was the baby that they were holding really their child?

    At the thought of the possibility, he felt like cold water was poured on his head and he was cooled from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet.

    Compared to the most heinous crime he envisioned, fraud was nothing at all!

    ¡°Ga ga! What¡¯s with you? Why are you shivering? Are you jealous that others can make money so easily?¡± Richard, standing on top of his head, felt his trembling. It moved its ws uneasily.

    Zhang Zian did not reply instantly. He moved his gaze away, and looked at anotherdy that was carrying an infant.

    He opened his eyes wide and observed her actions and her expression, then turned to look at the young woman who he had met earlier.

    Comparing the two, he felt that the posture the young woman had when carrying the infant was very rigid. With that kind of posture while carrying an infant, the infant was likely to be ufortable... Her gaze did not have the special kind of doting that the woman opposite had when looking at her infant.

    He clenched his fist tightly, realizing that he had underestimated the ugliness of human nature.

 Chapter 962: Choice

    <h4>Chapter 962: Choice</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The young man and woman stared at the woman carrying the baby in her hands. They ran across the road to try the same thing on her; their acting was so well rehearsed and was very believable. Since they were carrying a baby, they easily received the woman¡¯s sympathy and she immediately took out her phone to transfer them some money.

    Zhang Zian told himself that he needed to keep calm.

    He had no evidence. As of now, everything was just his assumption.

    Some cats had the habit of eating their children and some mothers didn¡¯t love their biological children... That was not normal, but it could not be used as evidence.

    He could not force them to go to the police station to check whether or not they were abducting and selling children¨C¨Che couldn¡¯t even do that if parents hit their children in public. The probability of that being the case was most likely ridiculous; the probability was too low.

    When he met the young couple, his heart had a little bit of doubt because they were too young. They looked to be around 20 years old... Legally, they weren¡¯t at the age to be married. How could they have a child when they were so young?

    However, in less developed areas in China, like the rural farmingmunities, people getting married and having children young was not rare. There were those who were younger that had children, but it could not prove anything.

    There was a slight possibility that the infant really was the child of the young man and woman, but it was just that they were too young and had not been well prepared to be parents. They clearly did not love their child since they used their child as a tool to beg and cheat people. One could dislike such an action, but it was not technically illegal.

    But, what if... What if the infant was not their child and had been swindled from someone? What if they had bought it from someone else?

    Once he considered that they could be human traffickers, he couldn¡¯t walk anymore.

    He could choose to ignore it and walk away as if nothing had happened¨C¨Cthat was the most secure choice, as it had no impact on his life and everything could continue as normal. He would eat, drink, and earn money as usual.

    If he guessed wrong, it could backfire... They could ckmail him for money. He was a little famous now, for better or worse. Once he was relied on, his reputation and money would be affected.

    However, his choice in that moment could decide the infant¡¯s entire life.

    It could be that he was too focused. The young man and woman noticed his shifting eyes and lowered their heads, whispered something, then looked at Zhang Zian from time to time, pointing at him.

    Since he was discovered by them, he decided to not hide anymore. He looked at them and they moved their gaze away, their eyes shing.

    Zhang Zian was anxious and kept looking around secretly. What about the people of the Chaoyang district, one of the five legendary intelligence organizations in the world? Where did they go when it was time to use them? They didn¡¯t drop the ball at a critical moment!

    On second thought, they were in the old city center, not Chaoyang District... They probably were not within the influence of the people in the Chaoyang District.

    After the young male and female finished muttering, they gave him a fierce re and turned to walk towards where they came from.

    They knew that Zhang Zian was suspicious of them and nned to leave.

    They knew that their earnings that afternoon were quite high, and they had already exceeded their target; they had no need to stay on the street. In their line of work, if they were careful, they could sail for thousands of years. After they shot a gun once, they had to change the ce they shot the gun. Anyway, the capital was so big, the people in the capital were so rich, and there are so many good people. They could beg for money anywhere. They could not stay there with Zhang Zian.

    Looking at them from behind, only a corner of the cloth that was used to wrap the infant was showing. The white that was showing was especially obvious and moved with the young woman¡¯s steps.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s gaze was concentrated on that corner of the white cloth, and he unknowingly followed behind them.

    Just as he took a step out, he stopped, because he suddenly thought of the true reason he was there today: to catch that Warding Off Evil Cat.

    He took a look at his phone. The light on the screen had yet to move, showing that the Warding Off Evil Cat was still nearby.

    Old Time Tea and Famous were already hiding in the front, and the circle surrounding the Warding Off Evil Cat had started to shape up. As long as he found the Warding Off Evil Cat, it would either be seized without a fight or it would only be able to run forwards and would be stopped by Old Time Tea and Famous.

    If he followed the young woman and man, however, he would lose the best chance to capture the elfin. He could even lose the elfin forever.

    The young woman and man were walking very fast, and in a few minutes, they would merge into the big crowd of the capital; they would disappear with their infant forever. He didn¡¯t have much time to weigh his options.

    At that moment, as if wanting to add oil to the fire, Zhang Zian suddenly caught sight of something moving from the corner of his eye, and the feeling of being watched appeared again.

    He turned his head to look. Not too far in front of him, under the shadow of a tall pagoda tree, a cat, the same color as shadows, was crouching there and staring at him with a smile.

    It was the Warding Off Evil Cat that was ying around with him!

    The cat saw him look over and it sat up. It turned around to walk forwards a few steps before it turned back around.

    ¡°Haha! If you have the ability to,e and chase me!¡± Itughed provocatively. It paced slowly and stopped after each step as if it was trying to lure him to catch up.

    Zhang Zian looked at it and then looked back at the young man and woman, who were gradually leaving. They were headed in theplete opposite direction that the cat was going. He was fated to only choose one of them.

    On one hand, it was a high-level elfin that he was so close to capturing... The other was what seemed to be an illegal case.

    From the logical and selfish standpoint, of course, he should choose the first option, and in order to appease his conscience, he could choose to call the police after he had captured the elfin. Whether the police could find them or not was the matter of the police, which had nothing to do with him.

    ¡°Ga ga! What are you waiting for? Are you blind? Don¡¯t you see that that guy is mocking you?¡± Richard pped its winds to pat his head, not knowing why he was stunned.

    Zhang Zian raised his hand to grab its leg and took it down from his head, saying, ¡°Fly to a high ce and call Old Time Tea and Famous over. Cancel the previous n.¡±

    ¡°Ga? Are you crazy?¡± Richard was stunned. ¡°Could it be that you want to repay evil with evil and chase them down to take the money that they cheated?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t ask anymore questions. Go quickly!¡± He did not have time to exin further and threw it up high.

    Richard pped its wings and flew in the air, giving the signal that they had discussed earlier. When Old Time Tea and Famous saw the signal, they would leave their hiding ces and rush over, but that would require a certain amount of time.

    Zhang Zian did not have time to stop and did not need to stop. Famous was familiar with his scent. Its sense of smell would lead it and Old Time Tea to him after a while.

    After Richard finished sending the signal, itnded onto his shoulder, still nagging him continuously. It expressed its inability to understand his decision.

    He took a final look at the Warding Off Evil Cat, which was gradually getting away, and resolutely pursued the young man and woman.

 Chapter 963: Along the Way

    <h4>Chapter 963: Along the Way</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The young man and woman had not originally realized that Zhang Zian was following behind them, but because there were a lot of people in the capital and theyout of the old city area wasplicated, Zhang Zian did not dare to follow too far away.Otherwise, it would have been easy to lose them.

    While walking, Zhang Zian was trying to figure out how to deal with the two swindlers and suspected human traffickers. The simplest way was to detain them and not let them go. Then he would call the police and question their identities on the spot. He was not very sure of that n, however, because ordinary citizens had now enforcement rights... It was a criminal offense to restrict the personal freedom of others without authorization. He could not bear the responsibility for the crime.

    He could be brave when dealing with things, but if he tried to do the right thing and ended up breaking thew, he could only find other methods.

    Another way was to find a police station nearby and report the case to the police station. But if he did so, he would lose any trace of the young man and woman. It would be difficult to find them again. Moreover, whether the police would pay attention to the case was ambiguous. If he met irresponsible police, then he woulde out empty handed. He would have lost a lot but gained nothing.

    Thinking about that, he could not help but find it a pity that it was not Binhai City. Otherwise, he could have given Sheng Ke a call, and Sheng Ke would have definitely ced a high emphasis on it. Things were definitely easier when one was an insider!

    At that moment, he could not think of any other n, so he could only continue to follow them and ready himself for any sudden changes.

    Despite being such a young couple, they seemed to have umted an abundant amount of anti-reconnaissance experience. It could also be that they were guilty ofmitting crimes and therefore more suspicious. When they walked, they often turned around habitually. Not too long after, they found that Zhang Zian was following them. After all, he was very close to them. Moreover, tacking someone could not be exaggerated like in a movie. Otherwise, he might be reported by others at any minute.

    Now that they had found out, Zhang Zian simply did not hide anymore. He has changed from secretly tracking to tantly tracking. When they walked, he would walk. When they stopped, he would stop. He always kept himself at a distance. If they had the ability, they could call the police. When the police came, he could confront them face to face.

    He knew they would definitely not dare to call the police.

    There was a brief, flustered expression on their faces. They stopped and talked for a while. Their tones were quite fierce. It seemed that they were arguing about what to do. Finally, the young woman persuaded herpanion, and she squeezed out a smile and walked back with the baby in her arms. She came towards Zhang Zian while herpanion remained in ce indignantly.

    Zhang Zian could more or less guess what she wanted to do. It just so happened that there was a newsstand nearby, so he pretended to read a magazine.

    ¡°Big Brother, you¡¯ve been following us this whole way. Is there anything wrong?¡± the young woman asked in a low voice. She walked to his side, smiling. Her tone was quite calm.

    Of course, Zhang Zian would not admit it. He pretended to be shocked and he widened his eyes. ¡°Following you? No! It¡¯s just on my way.¡±

    The young womanughed in a distracted manner. Her expression was obviously saying, ¡°Why are you pretending?¡±

    ¡°Then... big brother, where are you going?¡± she asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m just randomly walking. It¡¯s rare that Ie to the capital, so of course I need to enjoy the alleys and the courtyards.¡± Zhang Zian opened his eyes wide.

    The young woman was silent for a moment. The two sides picked at the thin window paper, but no one would take the initiative to show their true selves.

    ¡°Then... this, big brother. The two of us have juste here. We don¡¯t know why we offended you. Have we done something to offend you? It¡¯s not easy to make money outside. Can you be generous, not bother us, and let us go this time?¡± she pleaded.

    Her tone made Zhang Zian feel like a bully that wasmitting robbery. If she and herpanion only cheated on the street, he might have let them go as soon as his heart softened; however, he could not let them go until he knew the truth of the matter.

    ¡°Haha, I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± Zhang Zian pretended to be confused. ¡°I¡¯m just randomly walking around. It has nothing to do with whether you offended me or not.¡±

    The muscles of the young woman¡¯s face twitched and her smile became stiff. She felt that she had lowered herself enough to give Zhang Zian face, but the other side deliberately pretended to be silly.

    However, it was, after all, thend under the emperor, and she came there to earn money. She did not want to make a big fuss. Otherwise, it would not be easy to clear up the mess.

    She bit her teeth, taking out a few notes from her pocket and stuffing them into Zhang Zian¡¯s hand. She said, ¡°Big Brother, it¡¯s already afternoon. You haven¡¯t eaten yet, right? Little Sister will treat you to a meal. Can you stop following us?¡±

    Zhang Zian looked down and thought, Well, she is generous. These notes of different denominations add up to about one hundred yuan, presumably the money they cheated from other passersby.

    In his heart he scolded. The cash she gave him was more than what he had. Why the f*ck were they pretending to be poor on the streets to cheat people out of their money?

    It was meat that had reached his mouth, so how could he spit it out? He instantly nodded and agreed. ¡°All right, I definitely won¡¯t follow you.¡±

    ¡°Big Brother, you¡¯ve agreed, right?¡± She did not loosen the hand she was using to grip the money. She was not reassured. ¡°Since you¡¯ve agreed, you can¡¯t back out.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I always stick to my word. You can believe me.¡± Zhang Zian showed a rxed smile.

    The young woman got his reassurance, and only then did she let go of her hand. He instantly put the money into his pocket.

    ¡°You¡¯ve promised, Big Brother. Bye bye. If fate allows, we can meet again,¡± She waved her hand to say goodbye, finally letting out a breath of relief. She quickly walked towards her partner.

    ¡°All right, I¡¯ve settled it. Let¡¯s go,¡± she told her partner.

    The young man did not answer. He stared past her. She turned her head back to look and practically exploded in anger!

    Zhang Zian came back with a bright smile on his face. He seemed to be saying to himself based on what he was mouthing, ¡°I¡¯m not following you, it¡¯s along the way.¡±

    She had never seen such a thick-skinned person before! He was not persuaded by reason nor force. He had taken the money but still not done the thing he was told to do!

    Zhang Zian did not feel unsettled at all. On the contrary, he felt refreshed. He was not so distressed by the loss of the opportunity to catch the Warding Off Evil Cat when he epted the 100 yuan.

    Who said time was the best medicine for pain? It was obviously money!

    Richard sighed on his head. ¡°She was really dumb to have believed you.¡±

    Atst, the young man and woman gave up the hope of making peacepletely. They scolded him with dirty words, sped up, and walked at a fast pace in an attempt to shake off Zhang Zian.

    Whether it wasparing physical strength, orparing intelligence, orparing shamelessness, Zhang Zian did not lose to anyone. How could he let them get the better of him? He believed that in the capital, they would not dare to use force, and even if they dared to, he was not scared.

    He believed that they wouldn¡¯t continue walking like that. They definitely had a base in the capital. It could be nearby, but it also could be in the suburbs, where there could be the nest of their gang.

 Chapter 964: Not the Police

    <h4>Chapter 964: Not the Police</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The young man and woman tried to get rid of Zhang Zian by circling around, crossing the street, and going into the shopping mall anding out again, but ultimately they failed.

    They were very wary and did not choose to take the bus or the subway because it was easy to get on the bus, but it was difficult to get off. If the driver listened to Zhang Zian, he would not open the door at the station and would drive directly to the police station.

    Zhang Zian was not in a hurry. After following them into the mall, he bought two hamburgers and a bottle of mineral water, as well as a bag of dried fruit and vegetables. He ate them while he walked and fed them to Richard. Old Time Tea and Famous would have to suffer; they had to remain hungry temporarily.

    At the end of the street, the young man and woman saw that Zhang Zian was as difficult to get rid off as a dog skin ster. They talked about it in a low voice. Then, unexpectedly, they split up. The man went left at the crossing and the woman went right.

    Zhang Zian did not consider that they would be so smart and suddenly felt troubled. He did not have the ability to split himself up and was destined to only be able to chase one of the two. Who would he pick?

    Why was it that Old Time Tea and Famous had yet to catch up? If only they were there, then he would not be in his current dilemma.

    Zhang Zian did not consider it for that long and instantly followed the woman because she was carrying the infant. His main goal was to get the infant back, especially if the infant had really been stolen or purchased.

    But should he have just the guy go like that? Wasn¡¯t it letting him off too easy?

    Zhang Zian was hesitating when he suddenly saw a police motorcycle with green reflective stripes and a private car beside it. A policeman in police uniform seemed to be checking a driver¡¯s license.

    Many unimportant intersections did not have traffic policemen at them, and the traffic policeman would only be there during the peak hours to help direct traffic.

    Zhang Zian was still not sure if the male and female were human traffickers, and he did not have much time. He could not hesitate too much. He wanted to report to the police, but he had not met any patrolling policemen the entire way. Calling the police was limited in effectiveness. He was not familiar with the roads of the capital, so he could not urately describe his location, nor could he predict the direction in which the young man and woman would go since their direction was always changing. When the police arrived, the young man and woman might have already gone far away.

    Although the man in front of him was a traffic policeman, a traffic policeman was a policeman!

    He jogged a few steps to the traffic policeman wearing sunsses and said, ¡°Policerade, I want to report a case.¡±

    The traffic policeman, who was looking over a driver¡¯s license, was very confused. Why was he looking for the traffic policeman to report the case?

    ¡°What case do you want to report? A traffic ident?¡± the traffic policeman asked.

    ¡°No, I suspect that I¡¯ve met a human trafficking case.¡± Zhang Zian pointed to the young man and woman¡¯s backs to the left and right and briefly exined the situation. ¡°It is the two of them¨C¨Cthe woman holding the child and the man. They seem to feel guilty that I suspect them, so they are trying to run away separately. I¡¯ve been following them for quite some time. I haven¡¯t met any other policemen on the way. When I saw that they were going to run away, I just so happened to see you on duty here, so I came over.¡± After he finished speaking, he was hesitant and worried. He was not sure if the traffic police would care.

    ¡°Human traffickers?¡± The traffic policeman returned the driver¡¯s license to the driver and signaled for the driver to continue on. He took his sunsses off and looked seriously at Zhang Zian before he looked at the young man and woman. ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t be certain... But from their actions, that¡¯s what I suspect.¡± Zhang Zian told the truth. ¡°But I don¡¯t have the time to exin anymore. They¡¯ve almost escaped!¡±

    He was anxious because the young man and woman seemed to have found out that he was talking to the traffic policeman. Instead of walking away quickly, they were jogging away in a hurry, like they were running for their lives. In ten seconds, they would disappearpletely into the crowd at the crossing.

    If the traffic policeman did not trust what he said, he could only continue chasing them himself.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll have people watch the man.¡± The traffic policeman took up his walkie talkie and contacted a colleague at the crossroad, describing the man¡¯s appearance. He did not see his face, so he could only talk about the clothes he was wearing, his height, and whether he was plump or thin.

    The difference from Zhang Zian was that the traffic policeman was very familiar with the streets nearby. He could tell which direction the two people could escape in.

    Zhang Zian let out a breath of relief, thinking in his heart that there was finally nothing for him to do; however, after the traffic policeman finished contacting his colleague, the traffic policeman told him, ¡°We are traffic police, and this is not under our jurisdiction. We have no power to stop them, we can only take notice of where they go. You must go to a police station to report the case. Furthermore, the direction the woman is heading in has no traffic policemen nearby, so we must think of another way.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m not from around here and I am unfamiliar with this ce. Where can I find a police station?¡± Zhang Zian was helpless, but he also knew that he had to tell the truth. Traffic policemen were traffic policemen; civilian policemen were civilian policemen. It was impossible to exceed their station¡¯s limitations, especially when the informant himself was not sure.

    ¡°There¡¯s a police station over there. You can see it when you run into that alley. It¡¯s just I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s anybody on duty right now...¡± The traffic policeman pointed in the general direction. ¡°Let me call 110 for you.¡±

    ¡°All right.¡± Zhang Zian did not say anything else. He immediately followed the traffic policeman¡¯s directions and ran into the alley. He saw a police station; it was the kind that would be hard to notice if no one had pointed it out. It was true that every bit ofnd was precious in the Capital.

    ¡°Is there anyone here?¡± He knocked on the door and pushed it open. His heart sunk when he entered. There were two young people wearing police uniforms inside, but he could tell with one look that the police uniform they were wearing was not the official police uniform; it was the kind worn by the auxiliary police.

    Auxiliary and co-policemen were also policemen. They were set up to solve problems that were insufficient for the formal police force. They upied arge proportion in the police force. They were police, yet not police at the same time and could be thought of as temporary workers in the police field.

    The biggest problem was that auxiliary policemen had no independentw enforcement power. In theory, they had to be guided by the official civilian policemen in order to carry out all kinds of work. But there were no civilian policemen present.

    ¡°What is the problem?¡± The two auxiliary policemen were reading books and writing documents. Upon seeing him enter, the policeman who was reading stood up.

    ¡°Er...¡± Zhang Zian hesitated for a bit. ¡°Um... is there a civilian policeman present?¡±

    He was clear about the power of an auxiliary policeman, feeling that even if he told them the situation, it would be useless. If there were no civilian policemen present, then it would be better to think of another solution.

    ¡°The civilian policeman went to the nearby area to settle some things. He¡¯ll be back after a while,¡± the auxiliary policeman answered. ¡°If there¡¯s anything you can tell us, we can help you pass the message along.¡±

    ¡°My situation is quite urgent. I need a civilian policeman present right now.¡± Zhang Zian did not want to harm their pride, but he really felt that they would not be able to help. Instead of wasting time talking to them, it would be better to hurry and find another way to solve the problem.

    ¡°You can try to talk about it.¡± The other cop who was writing on a document put down his pen. ¡°Maybe there¡¯s something we can do about it.¡± Their eyes were sincere and forthright when they spoke.

    Seeing their eyes, Zhang Zian, who had originally nned on leaving immediately, stopped and decided to trust them.

    ¡°I saw a young man and woman carrying an infant and asking for money on the street. I suspect that that infant was stolen or bought, so I followed them. Now they split up and ran, and I didn¡¯t have the ability to chase the two of them alone. I met a traffic policeman on the road who told me toe here and report it to the police,¡± Zhang Zian said quickly, waiting for their reaction.

    He took a quick look at the narrow table next to them. On top of it were documents that had been written halfway and a reversed reference book. They werepiling the examination materials to join the civilian police. Before he came in, they were both studying hard. They wanted to pass the police examination to get rid of the status of an auxiliary policeman and be a formal policeman.

    However, if they acted unauthorized in the absence of the police, it could leave a stain on their portfolio, which would increase obstacles and frustrations on their way to bing civilian policeman.

    Therefore, if they expressed that they would be unable to do anything and could only pass on the message to the civilian police, he would understand.

    Just like the choice he had made just now, it was their turn to make a choice between their future and an infant they did not know.

    The two of them quietly looked at each other. That one look expressed manyplicated signals, and then they took down their police hats from the clothes rack at the same time and simply said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Zhang Zian did not say anything; he could totally understand what they were feeling.

    They had been together for a long time in that narrow police room. They already got on well with each other. One called to report to the civilian policeman who was out settling things in another area. The other picked up a bunch of keys from the desk and pointed to two electric bicycles parked outside the police room and said, ¡°Get in the car and chase after them.¡±

    Zhang Zian did not know what the civilian policeman said on the phone¨C¨Cperhaps he had encouraged them, or he tried to stop them. It could be that he did not say anything.

    After putting down the phone, they locked the door of the police station and took an electric bike each. Zhang Zian sat on the backseat of one of the bikes.

    ¡°They separated at that intersection. The man went to the left and the woman to the right.¡± Zhang Zian briefly exined the situation. ¡°The traffic policeman at the next intersection on the left has been notified to help us watch the man, but there is no traffic policeman on duty to the right.¡±

    There was no need to say anymore; the two auxiliary policemen already understood what he meant. They turned towards the right at the intersection to search for the young woman and the infant.

    Zhang Zian was even more anxious in his heart because he had been dyed in the police station and did not know if he could find the woman again. Watching the man should have provided some clues, but in the end he was not at ease.

    The speed of the electric bike was a lot faster than walking, and after riding it for a short time, Zhang Zian saw a familiar figure in front: It was the woman carrying the infant.

    ¡°There! That¡¯s her!¡± he called, surprised and happy.

    However, at that moment, the two auxiliary police suddenly stopped the bikes.

    ¡°What happened? Why aren¡¯t we moving anymore?¡± Zhang Zian asked, confused.

    ¡°The area in front is not under our jurisdiction anymore...¡± one of the auxiliary police said, hesitating.

    The other auxiliary police seemed to have made up his mind. He gritted his teeth and said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Chase after her!¡±

 Chapter 965: Network of Justice

    <h4>Chapter 965: Network of Justice</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    At the intersection in front of them, there was a line invisible to ordinary people called the boundary of jurisdiction.

    Community policemen were often called ¡°area police¡± in the capital. As the name implied, they were the policemen in charge of a region. Different area policemen were responsible for different jurisdictions, and so were the assistant policemen under the policemen.

    Zhang Zian instantly understood.

    Just now, when one of the auxiliary policemen made a phone call, the policeman working in themunity must have made amitment to help them hide the fact that they were acting without any authorization. After all, they were acting out of goodwill. That way, they could have the best of both worlds, neither letting the suspects go nor affecting the corrections of the two assistant policemen.

    However, all the cover up could only be done in the region they were in charge of. When they went to the other area police¡¯s jurisdiction, other people would not be bothered with hiding anything.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. We¡¯ve almost caught up. Stop the car. It¡¯s better that I follow them alone.¡±

    Since he understood what they were worried about, Zhang Zian did not want to force them and requested to get off the bike. Anyway, he already saw the woman carrying the infant, and he knew he could not lose them again.

    The two auxiliary policemen did not stop the car. They knew that, as an ordinary citizen, Zhang Zian had no right to enforce thew. At least they were wearing the auxiliary police uniform and could scare people. Not everyone knew the difference between auxiliary policemen and civilian policemen.

    The young woman turned her head back. When she saw the police uniforms, she got even more flustered.

    Just as she passed arge, covered trash can¨C¨Cwho knew what was going on in her mind¨C¨Cshe suddenly put the baby on the top of the trash can. She had thrown off her burden and was not trying desperately to escape.

    Seeing that she was acting guilty after doing something bad, the two auxiliary policemen decided to control her actions immediately. One of them went to grab the baby because the garbage bin was dirty and smelly. The other increased his speed to catch up with the woman quickly. He stopped the car in front of her.

    When she saw Zhang Zian on the backseat, she was so angry she wanted to jump onto him and bite a few chunks of meat off him.

    ¡°Comrade, please show your identity card,¡± the auxiliary police stopped his electric bike and said in an official tone.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t bring my identity card.¡± Her face was green. ¡°Is there a problem?¡±

    ¡°Then please report your name and identity card number,¡± the auxiliary police said politely.

    ¡°I¡¯ve forgotten. My memory is not good,¡± she directly replied.

    The other auxiliary police carried the infant over, questioning sternly, ¡°Why did you throw this infant onto the trash can? Is this your child?¡±

    The other auxiliary police also asked her, ¡°If this is your child, then it¡¯s a crime of abandonment. Did you know that?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± She pretended to be innocent and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know where this child came from. I picked him up from the road and I carried it for a while to find his mother. In the end, I couldn¡¯t find her, so I put him down...¡±

    Zhang Zian quite admired her quick wit; she coulde up quick reasoning.

    ¡°Then how about this¨C¨Cplease cooperate with our work, ande with us to the police station. Help us investigate this incident.¡± The auxiliary policeman was also quite helpless and made a motion with his hand, requesting for her to follow.

    ¡°What right do you have? I don¡¯t have time!¡± she cried out fiercely. ¡°Just because you¡¯re a policeman you think you¡¯re great? You can¡¯t just randomly arrest people on the road!¡±

    She increased her volume and encouraged the people around her. ¡°Everyone look, look¨C¨Cthe police are randomly catching people. They will catch whoever they want. Is there still order in this world?¡±

    Everyone was born to sympathize with the weak, and a young girl was a weak person in front of the two policemen. Pedestrians who did not know the truth stopped to watch, and some people picked up their mobile phones to film it, thinking it was another incident of police disturbing the people without reason.

    At that time, it is obvious that the experience of the young auxiliary policemen wascking. In previous missions, there were on duty policemen with them. When the sky copsed, there were still policemen with them to hold it up; they just need toy their hands on it. For the first time, they were on their own. Faced with the crowd¡¯s mobile cameras andments, they blushed. They clearly had words in their hearts, but they just couldn¡¯t say them.

    Zhang Zian was not more experienced than them, but he was thick-skinned. He often pointed out that the two assistant policemen were too thin-skinned. He pulled up his voice and shouted, ¡°You can take pictures, but after taking pictures, you must add mosaic to the girl¡¯s face. Although she is a suspect of abducting and selling babies, the suspect also has human rights! Please cooperate with us!¡±

    That young woman had thought that she had managed to stun the police and was just preparing to take advantage of the situation to escape. Upon hearing Zhang Zian¡¯s words, her face turned pale immediately.

    Those few sentences angered the civilians. Instantly, the atmosphere did a 180-degree turn!

    Who didn¡¯t hate human traffickers? As long as one was a normal human with a conscience, they would hate human traffickers to the core.

    When the surrounding people heard that the young woman, who was acting innocent, was an evil human trafficker, the sympathy they had immediately disappeared.

    Their phone cameras were still recording the situation, but they weren¡¯t focusing on the two auxiliary police anymore. Instead, they were focusing on the young woman.

    There was someone who shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we will all respect people¡¯s privacy, Before we share it on Weibo we will add mosaic¨C¨Cadd mosaic on her legs!¡±

    ¡°Right, we will add mosaic, but sadly we arecking in skills. If we add mosaic to her hand, you wouldn¡¯t me me, right?¡±

    ¡°Oh? The mosaic thing... Isn¡¯t it coding?¡±

    ¡°No, you got it wrong, that means signing up.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I understand now. I¡¯ll definitely put mosaic, and I¡¯ll make sure to put some extra!¡±

    It could have been imagined that such a video was popr on social media tforms. If one casually added on to it, then its poprity would soar...

    The two auxiliary policemen looked gratefully at Zhang Zian, then told the young woman, ¡°Do you want to be filmed by everyone here, or would you rather follow us back to the police station and assist in the investigation?¡±

    The young woman¡¯s two hands were not enough. She did her best to cover her face, and only dared to peek out through the cracks between her fingers. At the same time, she said, ¡°I¡¯m warning you all, don¡¯t touch me. Otherwise I will sue you all for acting inappropriately!¡±

    Although the whole situation had been reversed, the two auxiliary police really did not dare to randomly touch her, especially when one of the auxiliary police was still carrying an infant.

    At that moment, a police siren rang from nearby.

    Everyone on the scene turned their heads to look. Two police cars with shing lights came quickly and stopped at the roadside one after another. Several patrol police, including policewomen, finally arrived at the scene.

    It was the traffic police who had reported the case, and he had exined the situation at the same time. The main controller at 110 had instantly sent out patrol police, but because the young woman was constantly moving and hiding around in the alleys in the old city area, the patrol police had used quite a lot of time before they managed to find their way there.

    The policewoman came up to her frosty face, put her arm on her arm and trapped it, then pointed to the police car and said, ¡°Please follow us.¡±

    At that juncture, the young woman knew that resistance was futile. She instantly changed from being forceful to weak. She fell onto the floor and cried loudly.

 Chapter 966: Appearing Again

    <h4>Chapter 966: Appearing Again</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The young woman changed into a vige woman who was acting very shameless: Sheid her whole body on the ground, rolled around in circles, and pedaled her legs and moved her arms. Full of tears and mucus, she yelled, ¡°This doesn¡¯t concern me! I don¡¯t know anything! Someone else forced me to do this!¡±

    The police officers often saw that kind of person and remained unmoved. However, they did gain a piece of information from her words: The woman was probably in a crime circle, and perhaps they could find a spot of weakness. If they did that, they could capture everyone in the criminal organization at once. All they needed to do was increase the pressure on her and she would definitely reveal everything she knew.

    ¡°If you have anything to say, you can tell the judge.¡± The two female police officers pulled her up forcefully from the ground, handcuffed her, and forced her into the police car like they were dragging a dead dog.

    Her male colleague had already been captured and was waiting in the other police car.

    The patrol police looked at the two auxiliary policemen to ask about the situation and found out that Zhang Zian was the first person to report the case. They came over to ask him some questions and record his statement.

    It was normal operating procedure, so Zhang Zian did not refuse. He could wait for Old Time Tea and Famous to find him while he was recording his statement.

    From their conversation, Zhang Zian got to know that there were some other people that had called the police just a few days ago. Judging from the age and how they dressed, the criminals they captured were likely the same people that were reported then. They had been a little more sly the first time, so by the time the police had rushed over, they had long disappeared.

    The infant was already passed to the policewoman by the auxiliary police. The policewoman ced the infant in a car seat and opened the cloth that was wrapped around him to take a look at the situation. She was met with a strong, pungent smell.

    It was a mess inside the cloth. There were feces and urine mixed together, and the suspects did not have any ns to change his diaper.

    The policewoman endured the smell and used a wet cloth to help clean his body. She cleaned away the feces and the urine stuck on his body and instantly frowned, calling the head patrol police over.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± The head patrol police had Zhang Zian wait for a while and walked over to her.

    The policewoman turned the infant around and pointed at the infant¡¯s thigh to let him take a look. He saw that the infant¡¯s originally white thigh had a huge patch of green and purple; there were faint fingerprints in the bruise, as well.

    ¡°It¡¯s really f*cking...¡± the head of the patrol police could not help but scold.

    Zhang Zian moved over to take a look and instantly understood why the female suspect could so urately control when the infant cried to get the sympathy of the passersby. It turned out that every time she wanted him to cry, she would pinch his thigh harshly, making him cry out in pain.

    Even the policewoman, who was not rted to the case, felt sad upon seeing that. She said that it was lucky that the group of people had been caught, otherwise after being pinched a few more times, the flesh could have been pinched to the point that the blood was unable to flow properly. It would be permanently spoiled, and the child could have been left with an eternal disability.

    However, it could have been that the criminal organization wanted the kid to be left with a disability... When the child grew slightly bigger, they could have him beg for money as a disabled child.

    The old people who were looking on all sighed and said, ¡°It¡¯s really evil¨C¨Creally evil!¡±

    The infant and the suspects all needed to be brought to the police station. The suspects needed to be questioned about where they got the infant from so they could find his biological parents. If he had been kidnapped, his biological parents would cry tears of joy upon seeing him. If his biological parents sold him off for money, however, then what waited for them would be punishment by thew, as well as society¡¯s disapproval. The police¡¯s official Weibo page might have even identally typed their number down wrong... It was just that the child had to suffer.

    As to the criminal organization behind the suspects, the police promised to investigate until they found out the truth; they would not let a single one go.

    The surrounding passersby donated some clean cloth to wrap the infant up again, in order to prevent him from getting cold.

    Zhang Zian finished recording his statement and the police had him leave his contact information behind so they could contact him if there was anything else that they needed.

    The surrounding passersby gradually left and the police car returned to the police station; even the two auxiliary policemen, whose name he did not even know, had left surreptitiously.

    There was only Zhang Zian left at the scene¨C¨Cor it was more urate to say that there was still a bird with him on his head.

    ¡°Zian, I came a bitte. What is going on? Why did you suddenly leave?¡± At that time, Old Time Tea and Famous rushed over. After all, there were too many people in the capital, and for a part of the journey Zhang Zian was sitting in the backseat of an electric bike. Famous was not able to follow his scent sessfully and had only been able to meet him then.

    They did not know what the situation was and were very worried the whole way. Famous ran until he was panting, his tongue hanging out to reduce the amount of heat in its body.

    Zhang Zian was also quite tired. He found a long bench and sat to rest. He had theme over to sit and rest as well, and Richard, who did not want to be lonely, told the whole situation to Old Time Tea and Famous; he even added a few additional details.

    Anger shed in Old Time Tea¡¯s face. ¡°I thought that there would only be such shameless and horrible humans in the olden days. I did not think that in today¡¯s well-developed world there would still be such situations that would make people grip at their wrists and give a long sigh...¡±

    Famous¡¯ panting finally evened out and it asked, ¡°Nothing happened to the child, right?¡±

    ¡°The child is all right. There¡¯s nothing very wrong. Before they find his biological parents, the police will definitely take good care of him,¡± Zhang Zian answered.

    ¡°That¡¯s good. This is already something good despite all the misfortune.¡± Famous felt relieved.

    Old Time Tea said, praising, ¡°Zian, you handled this situation well. When you deal with things you need to be flexible, and the most important thing is that one¡¯s every movement can change the course of events. The infant being saved was all due to your single, humane thought.¡±

    Zhang Zian was embarrassed to be praised so much. He smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s not all due to me. If I did not have the help of that traffic policeman and the two auxiliary police, then today¡¯s situation would have been troublesome... I¡¯ve also troubled the two of you. You must have walked around in quite a few circles before you managed to find your way here, right?¡±

    Old Time Tea chuckled and was about to answer when suddenly its ears twitched and it turned its head, alert.

    ¡°A single humane thought? Haha! It¡¯s more like soft-heartedness, right?¡± a voice full of mockery sounded from not far away.

    Zhang Zian and Old Time Tea were shocked at the same time. He wondered in his heart who had heard what Old Time Tea had said.

    They looked to where Old Time Tea was looking and saw, under the shadow of a tall pagoda tree, a cat squatting low. They did not know when it got there, and it was staring at Zhang Zian with a look that was like a smile, but not a smile.

    F*ck! Isn¡¯t that the Warding Off Evil Cat? Did it follow us? Zhang Zian was suddenly shocked. He was scared that it would run again, so he instinctively reached out to find his phone, but resisted the urge forcefully.

    However, the Warding Off Evil Cat did not want to run. Instead, it walked leisurely out of the shadow of the tree and slowly walked towards them.

    Before that, besides the time where it was sitting at the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City, every time it appeared, it was sitting under a tree or hiding in the shadows. Until then, Zhang Zian had not truly seen what it looked liked. He could only remember its gaze, which was deep and meaningful, and its smile, which was mysterious.

    It was the first time it was totally exposed, and it was standing under the sun without any fear.

 Chapter 967: The Correct Fighting Strategy

    <h4>Chapter 967: The Correct Fighting Strategy</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Before this, every time the Warding Off Evil Cat appeared, it was always hiding; no one had seen its real self.

    Zhang Zian had always thought it was a ck cat because it was always able to totally blend into the dark shadows, but upon careful observation, he found that its fur color was notpletely ck. Instead, it was a dark blue color with hints of gray under the sunlight.

    Famous had seen many kinds of pet cats in the pet shop, but not that one. It asked Zhang Zian, confused, ¡°English Shorthair? It¡¯s an English Shorthair?¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head slightly. ¡°No, it¡¯s not an English Shorthair.¡±

    English Shorthairs were dominant in China. Many people would open their mouths and say that it was an English Shorthair when they saw a blueish gray cat. Even Famous was no exception, but Zhang Zian could tell at a nce that the Warding Off Evil Cat was not an English Shorthair.

    ¡°If I did not identify it incorrectly, from the unique features of its appearance, it is a mixed breed of the Russian Blue and a native cat,¡± he said.

    The Russian Blue, the France Chartreux Cat, and the English Shorthair were called the world¡¯s three biggest blue cats, but the other two were rare in China. When they appeared, they were also mistaken for English Shorthairs.

    Zhang Zian had not interacted with a Russian Blue in real life before, but he was, after all, running a pet shop, and normally he would try to increase his professional knowledge. If he was stumped by the questions of the customers, he could not act knowledgeable anymore.

    The unique part about the English Shorthair was that its eyes were circr, its face was circr, its ws were circr, the tip of its tail was circr, and its torso was circr; it had various kinds of circles all over.

    Although the Russian Blue was also blue,pared to the British Shorthair, the Russian Blue was slender. It had slender limbs, and a small and sharp face. If it was impossible to distinguish between them, there was a better way to distinguish between them. The Blue Shorthair had yellow eyes, while Russian Blue cats had green eyes with a hint of a gold rim. Of course, their pupils were ck or brown.

    Compared to the purebred Russian Blue cat, the Warding Off Evil Cat¡¯s fur color was darker. It could be mistaken for ck and gray in the dark. Some details were different from the pure Russian Blue cat. It was due to the integration of native cat¡¯s genes into its body. The Russian Blue cat¡¯s trademark golden-edged green eyes made it such that Zhang Zian could not mistake it for anything else.

    The Warding Off Evil Cat walked over as if there wasn¡¯t anyone nearby. Itmented, ¡°You¡¯re a little interesting. You¡¯re one of the few bright spots in this indifferent and selfish world. I had high expectations for you at first, but you finally disappointed me a little. If the full score was 100, I could barely give you 60 points.¡±

    Zhang Zian did not know what kind of points it was giving him, but he thought it seemed like it was talking about the process he went through to save the infant. Even Old Time Tea, who had high expectations and was strict, gave him very good reviews. What right did it have to give him 60 points?

    In all fairness, in the process of saving the infant, there were some details that were not that good. If he had time to think carefully, perhaps he could find a better way to solve it. Even so, he had to have done better than just barely passing... Right?

    And it was talking way too big. It said that the world was indifferent and selfish... Even if the world was wed and bad, at least most people were good people, right? For example, the traffic policemen and assistant policemen who helped. Without them, that problem from earlier would not have been solved so smoothly.

    Old Time Tea shook its head slightly, disagreeing with the Warding Off Evil Cat¡¯sments.

    ¡°What are you referring to? Are you talking about the things just now? Did you see everything?¡± Zhang Zian asked, finding it strange.

    ¡°Of course.¡± The Warding Off Evil Cat nodded, chuckling. ¡°Did you think that it was a coincidence you met those two swindlers that could be human traffickers?¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned. What did it mean? If it was not a coincidence, could it be that... it had purposely lured him to that special street, let him meet that young man and woman, and then took the opportunity to observe his reaction?

    He had thought that they had set a trap to corner the Warding Off Evil Cat, but the truth was that he had already fallen to the Warding Off Evil Cat¡¯s scheme. It purposely calcted a n and give him an invitation into the urn...

    At that time, on the nearby walls and roofs, a number of different stray cats appeared, staring at them from afar.

    Since the stray cats could inform it of Zhang Zian¡¯s movements, it could also inform the young man and woman¡¯s movements to him. It was not running around in the old city before, but instead it was looking for the right time for him to meet young man and woman... It could have even been traced back to the moment when it appeared on the eaves of Taihe Hall. Since then, it had been luring the enemy in.

    Zhang Zian was shocked. What a deep scheme! What a careful n!

    In front of it, he felt that he had really be an idi*t that felt like he knew everything.

    ¡°When I noticed you on the parade square, I already felt that you were quite interesting, so I nned a small test for you. However, you disappointed me a little.¡± It shook its head with pity.

    ¡°Where did I disappoint you? You said you gave me 60 points. I want to know where you reduced the other 40 points. Was it because I hesitated in making some decisions?¡± Zhang Zian asked, unsatisfied.

    The choices he were talking about, of course, were the moments when he made a choice between pursuing the Warding Off Evil Cat and pursuing the young man and woman. He did hesitate because he was not sure whether the young man and woman were human traffickers. But even so, even if he had chased them earlier, the result would not have changed. It was not so bad to deduct 40 points...

    ¡°No, of course not. Under this kind of situation, hesitating is normal.¡± The Warding Off Evil Cat rejected his guesses. ¡°At that time, I saw that you had clenched your fist, am I correct?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Zhang Zian admitted. When he felt that the two people could be human traffickers, he had clenched his fist in anger.

    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you punch them?¡± it asked with a matter-of-fact look.

    Zhang Zian: ¡°...¡±

    ¡°Under normal circumstances, no one would punch them, right?¡± He was full of insults. ¡°At that time, I was not sure if they were actually human traffickers or not...¡±

    ¡°But you could at least confirm that they were cheating money, right?¡± it continued to ask.

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± he admitted. ¡°But cheating a few tens or hundreds of yuan does not require punching them... Furthermore, that was a woman. As a man, hitting a woman because of that kind of small thing is really...¡±

    ¡°See, that¡¯s where your problem lies. You are too benevolent¨C¨Cyou¡¯re like a woman!¡± The Warding Off Evil Cat cut off his exnation. It widened its eyes and said sternly, ¡°In your eyes, that¡¯s a woman, but in my eyes, that¡¯s a reactionary!¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°...It isn¡¯t so bad that you need to call her a reactionary right...?¡±

    It said indignantly, ¡°You recognized the real face of the reactionaries, yet you still went to great lengths to track down and seek help. You almost let the reactionaries flee. This is the worst strategy for fighting!¡±

    ¡°Then what¡¯s the correct fighting strategy?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    It was exasperated at his failure to improve. It raised its front paw, then hit it heavily on the ground. ¡°You need to have physical fights, not literary fights!¡±

 Chapter 968: Your Name

    <h4>Chapter 968: Your Name</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was stunned and speechless. What did it mean, physical fight? Should he make a move?

    The Warding Off Evil Cat¡¯s insistence that his nature was soft like a woman¡¯s made him very frustrated. From a young age, he had learned that a gentleman moved his mouth but not his hands. How could he just go out and hit people?

    In a seemingly eloquent and indifferent manner, it said, ¡°In dealing with reactionaries, we need a zero tolerance attitude. Whether it¡¯s a swindler or a human trafficker, we cannot tolerate it! First we need to kick them over, then kick them down, andstly step on them so that they can never rise up again!¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait!¡± Zhang Zian raised his hand to stop its long-winded essay. ¡°We live in a legal society. We can¡¯t just fight at our own free will. Even if we know that they are swindlers and traffickers, we still have to report them to the public security organizations. After all, ordinary citizens have no right enforcing thew. If they hurt people not out of self-defense, they themselves are breaking thew...¡±

    ¡°Breaking thew?¡± It looked up andughed. Its gaze was full of contempt, but it was not contempt that was directed at Zhang Zian. ¡°If the secrw cannot meet my requirements, then I will smash the old world and build a new world!¡±

    Zhang ZIan finally understood: This was a tough old brother who was going to fight as long as he did not agree with something. It was, in every way, a fighter, and its promises were toorge that it was impossible to take what it was saying seriously.

    ¡°But, although you have the soft-heartedness of a woman and you always adopt the wrong method of fighting, you at least managed to get rid of the problem. What is the purpose of youring to the capital to find me?¡± it asked without shame.

    Zhang Zian corrected it. ¡°Actually, I didn¡¯te to the capital to find you. One reason is that I have something to do myself in the capital. The other is that... recently, there have been cat abuse incidents of varying degrees throughout the country, especially in Binhai City, where I am from. Binhai City seems to be where the cat abuse incidents are originating from, but I found no reports of cat abuse in the capital area, so I came to find out why.¡±

    ¡°Abusing cats?¡± As soon as it heard it his words, it exploded. ¡°God d*mn, there¡¯s actually that kind of thing?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s hard to exin in detail.¡± Zhang Zian nodded his head.

    It thought for a moment, put its paws on its lips, whistled, and the stray cats on the walls and roofs around it dispersed as if they had been ordered.

    ¡°All right, then I¡¯ll go with you to Binhai City to free those meows that have been suffering!¡± Holding a forepaw tightly, it firmly said, ¡°Clean up all the harmful bugs¨C¨Cinvincible!¡±

    There were too many things to insult that Zhang Zian had no energy to. He raised his phone, entered the catching page of the game, and exined, ¡°Then can I keep you in my phone temporarily? It is more convenient. Otherwise, you will be tired from the travel from the capital to Binhai City...¡±

    It waved its paws impatiently. ¡°D*mn it, don¡¯t be so long-winded all day long. Just do what¡¯s convenient!¡±

    ¡°All right...¡± Zhang Zian forced all the words he wanted to say back in. He pointed the phone camera at it.

    Before he pressed the ¡®Capture¡¯ button, it spoke again. ¡°Eh! I still don¡¯t know what your name is,¡± it said. ¡°Report your name to me. This way it is more convenient to talk.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m called Zhang Zian. I own a pet shop in Binhai City...¡±

    Just after he said that sentence, he was cut off by it again. ¡°God d*mn! I just asked you for your name. Why are you so long-winded? It¡¯s not like I¡¯m introducing you to another person for a matchmaking session!¡± It vented its discontent.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s extensive self-introduction was choked back, but it could not be refuted. It had really only asked for his name and nothing else.

    ¡°Then what¡¯s your name?¡± he retorted. He was prepared to treat others in the same way.

    It rolled its eyes and thought for a while. ¡°Name... Those in our business usually use aliases. You can call me dimir.¡±

    dimir... that name fit in well with its Russian Blue pedigree, but what did ¡°those in our business¡± mean? What line of business were they in?

    ¡°All right, then I¡¯ll call you dimir.¡± Zhang Zian had a lot of questions in his heart he wanted to ask, but it was not a suitable time. He pointed the camera at it again and pressed the ¡®Capture¡¯ button.

    The Warding Off Evil Cat, dimir, instantly disappeared from where it was. Before it had vanished, it said, ¡°As for your invisiblepanions, you can introduce them to me when we reach Binhai City.¡±

    Zhang Zian let out a breath of relief, feeling that he was much more rxed. ¡°Grandpa Tea, you are very experienced. What is your opinion of the Warding Off Evil Cat?¡±

    Old Time Tea and Famous had been observing the situation all along and did not say anything. What dimir had said before it disappeared showed that it knew that they were present.

    ¡°Zian, have you heard of the phrase, ¡®Any natural thing will definitely have a nemesis?''¡± Old Time Tea asked in a low voice.

    Zhang Zian nodded his head. He had indeed heard a simr phrase before; it was a simple, dialectical view in the ancient times based on the principle that all things were mutually reinforcing. For example, some people said that where poisonous snakes were found, there was an antidote within seven steps.

    Of course, that phrase could not be understood by a far-fetched exnation. A more urate meaning would be that there was no absolutely invincible existence in the world. If anything seemed invincible, it had to be because the correct way to defeat it had yet to be found.

    Old Time Tea thought a little. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that whenever evil spiritse into being, the world is chaotic and people are destitute. There has to be something to ward off evil in order to save the people in the water and fire, such as the phoenix singing on Qishan Mountain, or the book collection hidden in a fish¡¯s belly, or a bonfire and fox calls, or a cock singing and causing the world to be bright... But now, it seems that the thing to ward off evil spirits is the cat...¡±

    Zhang Zian was quiet, remembering the prophecy in Pi¡¯s Untitled Book: ¡°As cats meow about the changing sky, an epic encounter is about to take ce in the ocean of sand.¡±

    ording to Old Time Tea¡¯s meaning, the phoenix, the fish, the fox, and the chicken all had represented a good omen to ward off evil spirits in special periods of time. Now it was the cat¡¯s turn.

    As to whether the legends were real or not¨C¨Cwhether the phoenix had really sung on the Qishan mountain, or if books had really been hidden in the fish¡¯s belly, or if a fox had really called next to a bonfire, or it the cock really had such a unique ability¨C¨Cat least many people believed them. Belief was priceless.

    Old Time Tea¡¯s words had a deep meaning for them. Since there were so many hidden meanings, he had yet to fully understand. Old Time Tea did not intend to exin more. Afterall, there were still many questions concerning the Warding Off Evil Cat, and Old Time Tea was just deducing. He could only take it one step at a time.

    Yet no matter what, the trip to the capital had many rewards.

    He entered the elfin pet bar and saw the dimir facing the sky as if it could see everything. He lightly clicked on its body.

    [Game Hints]: Pet Attribute

    [Known As]: Warding Off Evil Cat

    [Rarity]: Epic/Legendary

    [Feature]: Defeating all sorts of bad characters!

    [Origin]: Locked

    [Real Name]: Locked

 Chapter 969: Inspection

    <h4>Chapter 969: Inspection</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Shanghai.

    There were countless transparent raindrops linking the sky and the earth. On the street, colorful umbres started to appear like mushrooms and wound along the street.

    Jiangnan¡¯s plum rain season had arrived, and the sun had not appeared for a very long time. The continuous rainy days made the air extremely humid. For an open-door business, such weather was obviously unwee.

    However, the one who was troubled was the boss. To the ordinary worker, sales did not mean as much. Whether they sold more or sold less, the money they received was all around the same. When there were fewer customers, they were quite rxed, and they could take the opportunity to bezy.

    There were many people that liked it when it rained, like the group of people that owned cars. Rain meant they had a free car wash.

    In the rain, a limousine quietly stopped by the roadside.

    The driver that also acted as the bodyguard came down from the cab, opened the umbre, respectfully opened the back door, and held the umbre out for the person in the car. The driver paid no regard to the rain falling down his back.

    A leather shoe stepped into the shallow puddle by the curb. After that, another leather shoe followed.

    Li Yuanfei got out of the car and buttoned the button in front of his suit. He raised his eyes to look at his surroundings.

    It was a very normal street in Shanghai, located in the transitional zone between themercial center and the residential area. There were some fashionable brand stores nearby. The brands were not top-notch, but they had good reputations.

    In front of him was a pet shop. It was a direct store under his Stars pet chain supermarket. Its exquisite decorations did not lose muchpared to other boutiques nearby. Its brand new signs were washed bright by the rainwater.

    White-coreddies and teenage girls passed by with umbres. They cast burning gazes when they saw the luxurious car and Li Yuanfei, who was in high spirits.

    ¡°Boss, do you need me to follow you in?¡± The driver that doubled as the bodyguard carried the umbre, sending him to the covered doorway.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡± Li Yuanfei valued his words like gold.

    The automatic doors separated to the left and right, and he walked into the shop.

    The driver quietly returned to the side of the luxury car, waiting quietly for him toe back.

    Compared to the cold wind and rain outside, the warmth and humidity inside were just right, causing people to feel like a huge burden was lifted off of them.

    There was a mat to rub their feet on at the door and the floor was clean, but it also showed that customers were scarce because of the continuous rain. When he walked into the shop, he left a string of shallow footprints. No shop assistant came to wipe them off immediately, but perhaps that was a little too extravagant.

    Theyout of the shop was concise, but not simple. It was mainly pure white in color. It tried to cater to the cold and mild Japanese style favored by metropolitan, fashionable women. The first half was the pet supply area, the second half was the pet sale area, and there was even a yground for the children beside the door.

    The cashier raised his head to look at him but did not recognize him. He weed him, as was the official procedure, before he continued to chat in the QQ group of chain stores on theputer. After all, the distance between the lowest level workers and him was quite far.

    At that moment, there were only two or three customers sitting on the sofas and resting. Rather than actually shopping for pet supplies, they were instead just avoiding the rain.

    Li Yuanfei took a quick nce at the products on the shelves. There was nothing to criticize. Whatever was necessary was there, and he walked towards the most central part of the pets section. Even though the pet products took most of the space, the position of the pets themselves was even more important.

    The disy cabs in the pet area disyed cats, dogs, and other pets in different categories. The prices were arranged in descending order. The most beautiful and valuable pets were ced in the front so that customers could see them first.

    Li Yuanfei took a quick look and saw an employee sitting cross-legged. He was concentrated on using his phone, so Li Yuanfei coughed lightly and used his finger joint to knock on the ss of the disy case of the English Shorthair. He asked, ¡°May I ask what kind of cat this is?¡±

    Of course, he knew what kind of cat it was. At that moment, he suddenly wanted to have a random inspection on how the chain store was run and the attitude in which they treated their customers. Before that, no one was warned.

    The employee took a look, then quickly lowered his head again to stare at his phone. He spat out, ¡°English Shorthair.¡±

    Li Yuanfei frowned in a way that was not easy to see and asked again, ¡°What is special about this cat? Can you introduce it to me?¡±

    The employee¡¯s face shed with obvious irritation, as if he was reluctant to be disturbed. Li Yuanfei guessed that he was probably ying a game on his mobile phone.

    He walked overzily, staring at the English Shorthair. He casually answered, ¡°Using simple terms, the most unique part of the English Shorthair is how ¡®circr¡¯ it is: its eyes are circr; its face is circr; its ws are circr; the tip of its tail is circr; its torso is circr. Its personality is warm and obedient, and it is suitable to be kept by an ordinary family.¡±

    Li Yuanfei was shocked and happy. He did not think that the employee, who looked particrlyzy, could somehow summarize the English Shorthair¡¯s specialties so well. He had used the simplest and easiest words to introduce it to the customer.

    ¡°Brother, you are very professional. Do you learn details about pets on a regr basis?¡± he questioned tentatively. He had already made a decision in his mind. If the employee gave a positive answer, he would greet the manager of the store and promote him to assistant manager. After all, the low-level employees who liked to learn were too rare to be buried.

    ¡°So-so.¡± The shop employee scratched his head. It could have been that he saw that Li Yuanfei was dressed very well and he did not want him to look down on him. He answered truthfully, ¡°That¡¯s what¡¯s written in the book.¡±

    ¡°Oh? You saw it in a book? What book?¡± Li Yuanfei asked, interested. ¡°Is it a pet magazine or a book you bought in the bookshop concerning pets?¡±

    The store employee shook his head. ¡°It was written in an online novel.¡±

    His response was not what Li Yuanfei had anticipated. He was shocked momentarily. ¡°...An online novel introduced the unique points of the English Shorthair?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t believe it? I was just reading it just now... Here, it¡¯s this paragraph.¡± The store employee took his phone out from his pocket and flipped to the chapter he was referring to, letting Li Yuanfei see the words on the screen.

    Li Yuanfei was intrigued and grabbed the phone to take a look.

    The phone screen was full of words, and it seemed to really be an online novel. One of the paragraphs introduced the special features of the English Shorthair. It was exactly the same thing that the store employee had just said.

    So that was how it was...

    Li Yuanfei was a bit disappointed. After all,pared with professional reference books, online fiction had a lower level. He hardly ever read online fiction. The impression of online fiction was that it was all about killing in a different world or fighting in a city and getting girls. On the private bookshelf of his office were all the biographies of famous businessmen and historical celebrities in the country and abroad.

    He had already gotten rid of the idea of promoting the employee to the assistant manager, but as an employee of a pet shop, reading an online story about pets was more meaningful than reading pornographic books, right?

    Then, another thought shed through his mind: It was impossible to expect unambitious, lower level employees to learn and improve on their own initiative, but could he improve the quality of grassroots employees by means of teaching in a way they enjoyed?

    Such as... Li Yuanfei took a look at that employee again. No matter where the employee¡¯s knowledge came from, it indeed would be able to increase the experience of a customer¡¯s shopping experience.

    ¡°How is that online novel written? Is it meaningful?¡± he asked, pretending to be very interested.

    He simply looked through several pages and found that no matter what the story was, at least the pet knowledge mentioned in the novel was basically correct, which was already very rare for an online novel.

    ¡°Haha, I find that it is quite meaningful. I rmend that you read it!¡± The employee was obviously a fan of online fiction. He was suddenly spirited. He gushed and said, ¡°I am also an old bookworm. This is the first time I have seen online fiction describing real pets! At first, the website rmended it to me and I refused, but recently there¡¯s been a book shortage. Now that I¡¯m working in a pet shop, I thought it would be okay to see how the author fabricated the story. After I looked, however, it seemed that it was not like that, so I continued to read it. The only thing is that the author is rtively short and powerless...¡±

    Li Yuanfei smiled as he listened. He thought, You are holding an employee pass for a pet shop and you are rmending online novels to customers. Is that suitable?

    But he was already disappointed, and right now, he did not have much hope that the level of the employee was very high. He followed the flow and asked, ¡°Is it? It sounds quite good. I also quite like pets... What is the content of this book? Can you exin it to me?¡±

    ¡°No problem!¡± The employee said. ¡°In short, it¡¯s in a ce called Binhai City. A man nicknamed ¡®Huo¡¯ downloaded a mobile game to capture elfins by chance, and then caught elfins everywhere. It just happened that he was running a pet shop...¡±

    ¡°What did you say? Repeat it again!¡± The employee was suddenly seized by the cor by Li Yuanfei. He was totally confused. What kind of stimtion did the elegant man in front of him have that caused his face to turn so vicious in the twinkling of an eye? He hoped that he was not an intermittent manic patient that had escaped from a psychiatric hospital.

    ¡°Who are you? Let me go!¡± He was reluctant to admit his weakness and wanted to remove Li Yuanfei¡¯s hand from his shirt cor.

    ¡°What is happening? Why did you start a fight with the customer?¡± Right at that moment, the store manager of the shop walked out. At first, he had only seen the back of Li Yuanfei and had thought that he was just an ordinary employee. When he walked in front of them and saw Li Yuanfei¡¯s face, he was instantly so shocked that his face became the color of mud.

    ¡°Boss... Boss Li, why are you here today?¡± The store manager turned around and pushed the employee to the side, exasperated at his failure to do good. ¡°Boy, open your dog eyes wide and look clearly! Who is this? This is the big boss of ourpany!¡±

    The employee shrank his neck in fear, but still whispered in disobedience, ¡°So what if he¡¯s the boss? He was the first to make a move...¡±

    ¡°You still dare to speak?¡± The store manager was so angry he wanted to vomit blood.

    ¡°It was really like that! He took my phone and hasn¡¯t returned it to me!¡± The employee put his neck on the line. In his heart he thought that he would just resign and return to his hometown, but he needed his phone back at least. It was the new Apple phone that he had bought with months worth of savings.

    The store manager pointed at the doorway and was just about to tell the employee he was fired when his hand was pressed down by Li Yuanfei.

    Li Yuanfei took a deep breath, straightened his clothes, then shook his head lightly. He walked over to return the phone to the employee and apologized. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it was me who lost myposure just now. Let me apologize to you. I¡¯m willing to pay you for your losses.¡±

 Chapter 970: Very Confused

    <h4>Chapter 970: Very Confused</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Li Yuanfei was a big boss with immeasurable assets, and such a modest attitude made the employee feel quite embarrassed. He awkwardly took the mobile phone, not knowing what to say. He didn¡¯t know if it was better to just turn around and walk away from the handsome figure...

    The store manager was very troubled, not knowing what Li Yuanfei had in mind. It was just a bottom-level, temporary worker. What was wrong with firing him?

    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯d like to talk to you about this novel. May I?¡± Li Yuanfei asked the staff member.

    When the employee and the store manager heard Li Yuanfei¡¯s request, they were stunned. The former was wondering why such a big boss was interested in an ordinary web novel, while thetter did not understand at all why they were talking about the web novel.

    ¡°This...¡± The employee looked at the store manager awkwardly. If it was found out by the store manager that he was reading novels during work, even if the boss did not fire him, the store manager would treat him badly in the future.

    Li Yuanfei understood his considerations, and motioned at the store manager, signaling for him to leave.

    ¡°This...¡± The store manager still wanted to say something else.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing else you need to do here. You can go,¡± Li Yuanfei said firmly.

    Although the store manager was not happy, he left slowly. Before he left, he fiercely red at the employee, ming him for losing face in front of the boss.

    ¡°Sit.¡± Li Yuanfei signaled, then pulled a chair for himself to sit down on. The employee sat stiffly, only daring to put half of his buttocks on the chair.

    ¡°Exin this book in detail. Which city did you say the main character is in? Binhai City? Is there a ce called Binhai City in China?¡± Li Yuanfei asked with a pleasant face.

    ¡°Online novels are all fabricated. Where would there be a city called Binhai City? And the website does not allow real life ces to appear in the stories,¡± the employee answered, wondering in his heart why his boss did not have that kind ofmon sense at all.

    ¡°All right...¡± Li Yuanfei sighed regrettably. ¡°Then tell me about the novel itself... Right, I still don¡¯t know what the name of the book is.¡±

    The employee hardened his resolve and wondered what he was so scared of.

    ¡°It¡¯s called Pet King. It is currently being written and published on the Chinese version of the Qidian Website.¡± He opened the conversation box and roughly summarized the hundreds of thousands of words of the novel so far. Because he read more than one novel, sometimes he confused the content of the novel with other novels. What he said before did not match what he said after, but at least the main content was clear.

    Everyone else did not know, but Li Yuanfei understood, that the story was not randomly fabricated¨C¨Cor at least, it was not entirely fabricated. It was not even possible to fabricate the part of the game where elfins were captured.

    ¡°Have a lot of people read this book?¡± he asked. He was greatly concerned about it.

    ¡°Eh. There are quite a few books on pets, and this is a more realistic type. Boss, you also know that a lot of people utterly hate dogs and cats, and won¡¯t even want to read a book concerning pets,¡± the employee answered. ¡°En... however, it seems like there are people who say that the author of this book has a chance of getting the Best New Author of the Year. If that happens, it would probably be more popr.¡±

    Li Yuanfei¡¯s heart grew colder and colder. He knew clearly how the game worked and how the elfins could attract the power of faith to grow up. He admired the author who had thought of increasing the spiritual power of the elfins in that way.

    Based on what the employee said, the elfins that appeared in the story were liked by different readers. Based on that, the elfins that the other had would receive more and more belief in them.

    He could not leave it as it was.

    ¡°All right, I know now. Thank you! Right, can I add your WeChat? Perhaps I¡¯ll still have to ask you about some other things.¡± He smiled and stood up.

    The employee was so ttered that he could exchange his WeChat with the big boss. It was just like getting an amulet, which he could boast about for a year!

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll go now. Right, I promise the store manager won¡¯t do anything to you; you don¡¯t need to worry.¡± Li Yuanfei straightened his clothes and waved goodbye to him. He paused at the doorway. ¡°It¡¯s still raining outside. You don¡¯t need to send me out.¡±

    The employee stood dumbly in ce until Li Yuanfei left. The big boss¡¯ humility was something that exceeded his expectations.

    ******

    When Li Yuanfei reached the doorway, the driver had already walked up holding an umbre and was helping him open the door. Li Yuanfei sat in thefortable car, separating himself from the noisiness of the outside world.

    He frowned. He was definitely not as calm as he looked on the outside. The truth was that, in his head, he was a mess.

    What should he do? He took up his phone to confirm: China really did not have a city called Binhai City. The location¡¯s name was fake and the main character and the side characters¡¯ names were probably fake, too. As for the events in the book, how real they were was hard to tell.

    He was just like a heavyweight champion¨C¨Chis body was full of strength, but he could only wave at the air.

    However, the elfins in the book were definitely real. Quantum cat... The game actually had that kind of fantastical elfin... It was the first time he started to lose confidence in his elfins. As he thought about it, he installed the web novels application.

    He was not in a rush to add the book to his library, but he first checked viewership of the Chinese version of the Qidian Website to see if he could spare some effort and directly purchase the novel website. From there, he could find the author from the database.

    However, the viewership of the online novel website exceeded his expectations.

    At that moment, the Stars pet chain supermarket was rapidly developing, opening outlets everywhere in the country and even overseas. The IPO was blocked and they did not have a lot of funds. For the time being, there was no way to swallow the novel website.

    His cat was quietly resting in the seat next to him.

    As a result of recent trade frictions between China and another superpower, the yuan had depreciated by about five percent in the first half of that year alone. Trade frictions were still warming up. There was no sign that it would end, which made his cat somewhat depressed. There was no room for providing more money.

    ¡°Novels...¡± He breathed out since it was just novels... Perhaps there was a way.

    If he wanted to suppress the novel remotely without knowing the author¡¯s location, it seemed that he could only resort to the teacher and his elfins.

    He took up his phone and called his assistant. ¡°Hello? It¡¯s me. Pack that authentic Qi Baishi artwork into a gift box. Also, cancel all other arrangements and prepare the ne for me as soon as possible.¡±

    He did not need to wait for the other to answer before he hung up. He told the driver, ¡°To the airport.¡±

 Chapter 971: Spiritual

    <h4>Chapter 971: Spiritual</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    At dusk, Binhai City.

    A taxi stopped slowly.

    ¡°Sir, do you need my help? You don¡¯t want to strain your back,¡± the taxi driver asked with concern.

    ¡°Hehe, it¡¯s okay. It¡¯s not heavy, so I can still handle it. Thank you.¡± A thin and handsome old man smiled and waved his hand as he took a small suitcase and got out from the taxi.

    From his appearance, the old man was at least 80 years old, and he had a white beard. Although the pedestrians around him had already changed into their thin, single shirt, he still had an old-style cotton gown on like he was afraid of the cold, and he looked like he had juste out from a theatrical troupe. However, in stark contrast to his age and his old-fashioned dress, he paid the taxi fare through his mobile phone. It surprised the driver because many middle-aged people around 40 to 50 years old still only used cash payments.

    If the driver were to find out that there was also an invisible cat seated in the back seat, he would be even more surprised.

    The taxi drove off, and the old man dusted off his cotton robe, then looked around a little. He saw that there were no significant changes in the surrounding area from when he had left.

    Meow. The cat softly meowed.

    The old man lowered his head and asked with concern, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    It was a Persian cat that waspletely white except for its ck top, ck back, and ck tail. But if measured by the modern Persian cat¡¯s standard, the cat would undoubtedly be judged as a disqualified product. After all, it wasn¡¯t a cat from modern times. During the Song Dynasty, the cat that was the most popr among the upper sses was the cat from Persia.

    It ran up to the old man¡¯s feet with its small, short legs; it looked like it wanted to take refuge in his cotton robe. It stared at the streets under the twilight, and its trembling body caused the old man¡¯s cotton gown to shake slightly. It seemed to be terrified.

    The unusual behavior of the cat made the old man frown. He also looked suspiciously into the depths of the dim street, but he found nothing unusual.

    Office workers who got off from work were dragging their tired bodies home; children released from school rode their bicycles like the wind; and the small stall owners who only ran their business at night to avoid the city management started to prepare and set up their booths. Everything was no different than normal.

    He looked up at the two-story, antique building in front of him. The front of the store was a redcquered door decorated with brass nails and a finecquered pir stood on both sides. Right on the top, a blue que with a golden frame was hung up, and on it were the words ¡°Back to the Old Days.¡±

    The redcquered door was shut tight and locked up. There was ayer of dust on the door knocker. Since leaving the previous fall, it was his first return to Binhai City after a few months.

    What interesting things had happened in Binhai City over the past few months?

    Now that he was old, his body wasn¡¯t able to handle the cold anymore. So whenever winter came, he would always lock up the shop door then head to a vi further down south and hibernate indoors. He would only return when spring came, and he wasn¡¯t counting on the shop to make money.

    Binhai was the retirement city of his own choice. It wasn¡¯t as noisy as a big city, it wasn¡¯t as inconvenient as a small city, and apart from the cold winter, the weather was still pleasant. Of course, there was more than one city with the same conditions. So he drew lots on the candidate cities and happened choose Binhai City. As a result, he spent half of his time in a year at Binhai City.

    That wasn¡¯t the first time his cat has shown an abnormality. Thest time it showed an abnormality was when someone had sent him a statue of a bronze imitation Holy Cat statue. When the cat saw the Holy Cat statue, it was terrified and would always hide a distance away, never daring to approach.

    The old man liked cats very much, and he also liked things rted to cats. He was very happy after receiving the Holy Cat statue, because he had touched many antiques and he saw that the Holy Cat statue wasn¡¯t just a simple imitation.

    However, his cat¡¯s fear of the Holy Cat statue had made him wary.

    He has been exposed to and collected lot of antiques. The antiques in the shop were just a drop in the ocean. No one would casually disy those valuable antiques for just anyone to see.

    Perhaps it was because of the fact that the ancients poured too many emotions into them, or perhaps it was because they existed for a very long time, some very few antiques would asionally show abnormalities that were difficult to exin withmon sense. In other words, they were ¡°spiritual.¡±

    Being spiritual wasn¡¯t necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes a magical, tacit understanding could be felt with the spiritual antiques, just like bypassing time and space to meet its original owner.

    However, in those very few spiritual antiques, there were some special ones that did not have good owners; they seemed to be a medium for evil spirits.

    Whenever that happens, his cat would always show an abnormality and promptly warn him to stay away from the antiques that were riddled with evil spirits.

    Other spiritual antiques would have some special phenomena, such as abnormal sounds, movements, and strange visible changes. But initially, he didn¡¯t notice any simr signs on the Holy Cat statue; it just looked like a spectacr art piece. He thought that his cat was just being over-sensitive, so he temporarily left the statue somewhere by the entrance of the shop and didn¡¯t let his cat approach it.

    He used to feed the nearby stray cats, but ever since the Holy Cat statue came to the shop, the stray cats no longer dared toe close to the shop, and that made him reconsider the problem... Perhaps the Holy Cat statue was different from the other spiritual antiques he had encountered before. In that case, he couldn¡¯t just judge it by his past experiences.

    But how was he going to deal with the Holy Cat statue then? He felt very conflicted inside.

    On one hand, Confucius once said, ¡°When the living is already a problem, why bother with ghosts? Before you make out what life is, don¡¯t meddle with death.¡± With regards to issues rted to ghosts and deities, the teachings of the sages were to ignore them because there are many more important things to explore in the world. So where would one find the extra time to pursue the illusory spirits and deities?

    On the other hand, Zhu Xi once said, ¡°Schrs need to know why the sky is high, why the ground is thick, why spirits and deities are illusory, and how mountains are stuck together¨C¨Cthat is the investigation of things.¡± Zhu Xi¡¯s proposal on the pursuit of knowledge was to understand its very source. It required schrs to be curious about everything in the world, and to give spirits a scientific and reasonable exnation in the form of philosophical spection.

    The two sages had subtle differences in this aspect, and not to mention the old man, even Zhu Xi himself had been gued by the problem for a lifetime.

    The old man had inquired about a lot of information, but there were too few credible materials about ancient Egypt and only little was known so far. He never understood why the Holy Cat statue that represented the god of blessings in ancient Egypt would have been tainted with a malevolent aura.

    Zhu Xi had said, ¡°If you speak of an evildoer, it most likely left this world in a horrific manner. Their lingering grudge umtes to manifest into a fiend.¡± ording to that statement, the Holy Cat statue didn¡¯t meet the precondition of bing a fiend, as it didn¡¯t suffer from a horrific death.

    One whose spirit had transcended was known as a deity; one whose spirits had sumbed was known as a fiend. The so-called spirits and deities were originally the growth and decline of the yin and yang, and the same was true for the human body, which exined why some people were able tomunicate with spirits and deities.

    He could only attribute the abnormality of the Holy Cat statue to it being buried in the ground for a very long time, causing it to take in too much Yin energy.

    The Holy Cat statue itself was very precious and it¡¯d be a waste to have it destroyed, so since there was nothing unusual with it now, why not leave it until a person who could suppress it came by?

    What was more, Zhu Xi also said, ¡°The energy of deities are generally in a fluctuating state, and when life is lost, its energy diminishes.¡± However, depletion happened at various rates. So, if the energy dissipated almost immediately, it was dead. But if the energy lingered around and refused to dissipate, that was a fiend.

    The Holy Cat statue was tainted with a lot of Yin energy when it was buried underground, but it was only a matter of time before the Yin energy would eventually dissipate. So he would often push the Holy Cat statue under the sun at noon to bask it in the sunlight, in hopes that the Yin energy would dissipate quickly.

    Everything in the world wasposed by the yin and yang, and the living was also homologous with the dead. In addition to dispelling the Yin energy with the sun¡¯s Yang energy, the Yang energy from the human body could also bring about the same effects. He felt that if the Holy Cat statue was ced in a crowded shop, it might further elerate the dissipation of its Yin energy; however, his shop was definitely not a good choice. This second-hand antiques store had a small, mostly highbrow following, so there weren¡¯t many customers visiting the shop.

    That time when he met the cheerful female anchor, he heard that she wanted to send the Holy Cat statue as a gift to congratte someone, since the other party had a business that was thriving. Because it seemed like a good ce to borrow the Yang energy and dispel the Yin energy, he sold the Holy Cat statue to her at a very low price and had specifically warned her about some of the taboos.

    Whether it was the female anchor or the person she was gifting it to, they didn¡¯t seem to be too concerned about spirits and deities¨C¨Cespecially the recipient who had actually imed that being attacked by the Yin energy was just like being cooled with an air-conditioner. He was really...

    However, that was also good. The ¡°unbelief¡± was originally the best way to ward off evil, but the old man was already unable to achieve the state of ¡°unbelief.¡± After all, even the sages of the ancients ¡°believed,¡± so how would he dare to go against the teachings of the ancient sages?

    The sky was growing darker and darker, but his cat was still watching the darkness in the distance and calling out with no pause. It continued to pull on his cotton gown with its ws, warning him to leave the city quickly. The cat seemed to be a hundred times more terrified than it was when the Holy Cat statue appeared.

    ¡°The Holy Cat statue has already been given away. What are you afraid of?¡± he asked gently.

    However, his cat was also unable to exin it clearly, so it could only tell him that a huge evil was about to befall upon the city. For safety reasons, it was best to leave quickly.

    He pondered for a moment. If the evil was just beside him, such as some antiques that were possessed by evil spirits, he would definitely listen to its advice and act immediately¨C¨Ceither to send the antique away, bury it, or even destroy it. But since the scope of the evil was so wide, it didn¡¯t seem to be anything urgent. No matter how serious the situation is, with his cat, he could always be a step ahead of the evil.

    ¡°We had a tiring journey so let¡¯s go in and rest for a while¨C¨Cat least for the night. Then we¡¯ll decide where to go after,¡± he said. He took out his key, unlocked the door, and pushed the door open.

    The turbid air that had not been circting for several months in the store was quickly blown away by the influx of nightly wind.

    Everything was exactly the same as when he left, including the half-opened ¡°Zhu Xi¡¯s Literature Work Collection¡± on the table, which was denselybeled with hisments and reading thoughts.

    The pages fluttered under the night¡¯s wind and finally stopped on one of the pages.

    ¡°Never seen a cat catch a mouse? It has four feet fixed to the ground, tail straightened, eyes focused, and the mind free of thoughts. No movements at all, but once it moves, the mouse is done.¡±

 Chapter 972: To Avoid and Evade

    <h4>Chapter 972: To Avoid and Evade</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When the turbid air in the room was exhausted, the old man moved sideways and gave way, waving his hand. He let his cat enter the house first, then he let himself in. He mmed the door, locked it from the inside, and lifted the burr rm device.

    Even though it was just a door away, his cat seemed to calm down a bit; it was no longer as scared as when it was waiting outside.

    He had not yet decided whether he was going to leave Binhai City the next day, so he did not open his suitcase. Instead, he went inside and boiled water. He picked up a chicken feather duster and wiped the dust off the tables and chairs.

    Not long after, the water was done boiling. He stood up to make tea, carrying his teacups to the desk and sitting down to rest his legs. He also carried his cat onto the table, using a wrinkled hand to stroke its long fur, then used his other hand to flip through the Zhu Xi Anthology that he had flipped through numerous times.

    Knock, knock!

    He frowned slightly. Who woulde to visit him at this time? Was it the neighborhoodmittee that wasing to collect management fees?

    ¡°Who is it?¡± he asked, his voice raising slightly.

    ¡°Teacher, it¡¯s me.¡± Upon hearing the familiar voice, he knew who hade.

    He walked over to open the door. ¡°Yuanfei, why are you here at this time?¡±

    Li Yuanfei bowed and handed the gift box with both hands. ¡°Hello, teacher. Thepany has been busy, so I haven¡¯t visited for a long time. This is a small gift, just a little token to show my respect for you.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to bring a gift when youe...¡± The old man shook his head and looked outside. ¡°Where¡¯s your car?¡±

    ¡°I was scared to disturb my teacher¡¯s peace, so I stopped it at the intersection,¡± Li Yuanfei answered.

    ¡°Come in. I¡¯ve juste back from the south like a migratory bird. If you hade an hour earlier, you would have met a closed door,¡± the old man said.

    ¡°Thank you for your hospitality.¡± Li Yuanfei bowed his head respectfully and entered the room.

    ¡°Sit. You must be quite busy with yourpany now. Why do you have the time toe here today?¡± The old man asked him to sit and poured a cup of tea for him.

    Li Yuanfei¡¯s gaze stopped for a short while on the cat on the desk, then he quickly took a look around the ce before he rested his eyes on the old person in front of him.

    The neighbors around them probably did not think that the ordinary old man that lived next to them was the one that had been in charge of the Weiming Lake College of Literature for decades. He had been a world-ss figure in Chinese literary circles all his life. However, he was very low-key in dealing with people. Since his retirement, he had been in a semi-hermit state and rarely contacted the outside world.

    Li Yuanfei was lucky enough to be the old man¡¯s student. He was part of thest batch of students that the old man had taught, and he had received a lot of care and advice from the old man. Although he chose to leave the arts and go into business after graduation, he never dared to forget the help his teacher had provided him. He visited Teacher at least two or three times a year, sometimes in the capital, sometimes further south, and sometimes at his house. With the increase of his wealth, the level of the gifts he brought increased.

    After finding out that the old man also yed the game, the two of them got even closer.

    Li Yuanfei did not hide anything and directly told the old man about the novel.

    ¡°Oh? That exists?¡± The old man felt that it was very strange. ¡°But I don¡¯t know much about quantum mechanics. That elfin must be extraordinary... So what did you decide to do?¡±

    ¡°Because I don¡¯t know the exact location of the other party, I wanted to ask Teacher to help out.¡± Li Yuanfei exined the reason he was there.

    The old man was deep in thought and did not say anything.

    After a moment, he had made his decision and said, ¡°After I retired, I have not asked about the outside world and have no intention of being involved in such disputes. I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t help you.¡±

    Li Yuanfei had already thought of a reason on the way there. He tried to convince him, ¡°Teacher, this is not just about my personal gains and losses. You used to say that the schr should put his mind in for heaven and earth and put his life in for the people; he should continue learning for the sake of the past, and for the sake of peace and prosperity for all ages. I have always remembered that. I know that you have a lot ofints about the rise of online fiction and the trend of recing traditional literature. As this goes on, traditional literature is declining, and what is recing them is the fast food culture of online fiction. How can you continue to learn for the sake of the past?¡±

    The old man¡¯s eyebrows were raised up slightly, obviously a bit moved by Li Yuanfei¡¯s words. He was already so old; he did not care about personal honor or disgrace, but he could not bear to see the decline of traditional literature.

    Li Yuanfei tried to convince him further and said, ¡°With your standing in China¡¯s literature, as long as you raise your arm, the respondents will gather tounch the criticism of online novels. Students will be grateful if they take the novel with them, by the way.¡±

    The old man thought for a very long time. After weighing the pros and cons over and over again, he said, ¡°Yuanfei, Zhu Xi taught us that it¡¯s better toy your heart t. If you y tricks, demons wille out. If I grant you your request, I¡¯m afraid it will make waves and cause bad things to happen.¡±

    ¡°This student knows, but still, I hope Teacher will agree to it! This is not just granting your student¡¯s wish¨C¨Cit¡¯s for the sake of the future of the people of China!¡± Li Yuanfei left his seat and bowed deeply, nervously holding his breath.

    The old man did not say yes or no. He waved his hand and said, ¡°You can just go back.¡±

    ¡°I hope Teacher reconsiders.¡± Li Yuanfei knew his teacher¡¯s temper and did not dare to try to convince him further. Leaving the gift behind, he walked backwards and stepped back out of the store, gently closing the door.

    The old man sighed quietly, caressed the back of his cat¡¯s neck, and said to himself in an inaudible voice, ¡°What shall I do?¡±

    His cat meowed a few times, as if answering his words, and pressed its paw onto the Zhu Xi Anthology book.

    [Game Hints]: Pet Attribute

    [Known As]: Warding Off Evil Cat

    [Rarity]: Epic/ Legendary

    [Feature]: Confucius never talked about odd, puissance, turmoil, and deity!

    [Unlock Origin]: Confucianism teaches personal matters and Buddhism teaches about life and death.

    The doctrine of ghosts and gods had existed since ancient times. Confucianism paid attention to the golden mean, taking humanity as the principle of practice. The attitude towards ghosts and gods was inherited from Confucius, who believed that there were ghosts and gods in the world, but did not listen to them, speak to them, or explore more about the subject.

    Zhu Xi, as a great schr of Confucianism inter generations, had further developed the Confucian concept of ghosts and gods with his rationality of ¡°getting knowledge from things.¡±

    Zhu Xi tried theorize about ghosts and gods in a simr way as life sciences. He wished to recognize ghosts and gods with the flexion and extension of yin and yang. He not only exined the gods and ghosts that the people of the pastmonly believed in, but he also brought those exnations into the ¡°peaceful world and the bright and magnificent universe.¡± Among them, there were not only the shadows of the simple natural philosophy of pre-Qin Dynasty, but also his own unique opinions, which did not harm the theories of Confucius and Mencius about gods and ghosts. Instead, he carefully supplemented them and improved the theories. That was Zhu Xi¡¯s great contribution to traditional Confucianism.

    Zhu Xi¡¯s influence onter Confucianism was second only to that of Confucius. With the great faith of Confucianism supporters and followers, Zhu Xi¡¯s cat became an elfin of the world.

    On the other hand, Zhu Xi still had notpletely rid himself of the Confucian thought of ¡°revering ghosts and gods but keeping away,¡± which had the limitations of the times.

    One could evade the problem by walking away from it.

    Thebination of the words ¡°opening up¡± and ¡°walking away¡± resulted in the words ¡°warding off.¡±

    [Unlocked True Name]: Zhu Xi¡¯s Confucian School Warding Off Evil Cat!

 Chapter 973: Return to Binhai

    <h4>Chapter 973: Return to Binhai</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°We¡¯re finally home.¡± Zhang Zian looked at the familiar city and couldn¡¯t help but exhale a long breath of air.

    Over thest few days in the capital, Zian had apanied Famous on interviews with various media sources, and during their breaks between the interviews, he made use of the time to visit the nearby attractions. Sometimes during the tours, he would be called back through a phone call because of a sudden interview request by a heavyweight media source.

    Dealing with the media was much more tiring than physicalbor. One always had to be careful with their words and unambiguous because everything could be taken out of context.

    In any case, with the closing of the Beijing International Film Festival, the crew had finallypleted their publicity mission. After that, they all headed back to their own homes and rushed to their new job posts while the film was still in the midst of its celebrated screening.

    The sky was already dark when they arrived in Binhai City, and in the taxi on their way back from the airport to the city, they asionally passed by some cinemas. Whenever they passed by those cinemas, they would see posters of Dog Warrior standing side by side with other big hits. There was endless lines of people entering and exiting the theater, so both Zian and Famous felt confident about the future of their film.

    The taxi stopped at the door of the pet shop.

    ¡°Master, how much is it?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to pay me. This is Famous, right? Can you let me take a photo with it?¡± The taxi driver was doubtful when Famous got in the taxi, but when he heard that they were going to Zhonghua Road, he was pretty sure of it. When Zhang Zian told him to stop at the door of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, he knew that the dog in the car was indeed the dog that won the best actor award.

    ¡°Of course you can.¡± Zhang Zian was obviously happy when he heard that he didn¡¯t need to pay, and Famous was always willing to go along with its fans.

    After they took a picture together, the taxi driver said with enthusiasm, ¡°This is myst trip for the day¨C¨Csomeone else will be using this car for the night shift¨C¨Cand I¡¯m thinking of taking my wife and children to see your movie. May I ask if the movie is exciting? Not to hide it from you¨C¨Cit¡¯s really tiring after a whole day of driving. Whenever I watch a movie that¡¯scking in excitement with my wife and children, I fall asleep in the cinema and start to snore. Now both my wife and children find me embarrassing and no longer want to bring me along...¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the plot is absolutely intense and exciting. I¡¯ll assure you that you won¡¯t fall asleep. In case you do fall asleep, you cane to my store and I¡¯ll give you a refund,¡± Zhang Zian promised.

    ¡°That¡¯s great! I¡¯ll take your word for it!¡± The taxi driver waved his hands and drove away.

    The pet shop was dark and all the staff had already left. The Wuling Shenguang was parked by the entrance, and there was a lot of sand stuck in the lines of the tires. It seemed like they had been to the beach a few times over thest few days, but it was not known if they were able to see the whales like they wanted to.

    Zhang Zian opened the door, entered the house, turned on the light, and then pulled down the shutter door.

    The house was tidy and everything cleaned up; it proved that the staffs didn¡¯t neglect their work even when they went to y.

    Wagging its tail, Zhan Tian, who had heard Zian¡¯s unique footsteps, came out to wee him back. Zhang Zian put down the trolley case and affectionately patted it.

    Most of the puppies had already gone to sleep, and those that were still awake looked at him. The kittens that were free from Fina¡¯s presence had been a little too crazy ying around, but when they witnessed Zian¡¯s return, they knew that Fina was back too. They almost immediately behaved themselves.

    Zhang Zian took the trolley case and went up to the second floor with Famous. It was time to release the elfins.

    Zian first went into the bathroom and filled the bathtub with warm water, then released Sihwa, and at the same time, quickly hid to the side.

    Ssh!

    Sihwa appeared out of thin air and plunged into the bathtub, a great deal of water sshing out of the tub.

    She poked her head out of the water and wiped the water off her face, then she turned her head around to look. ¡°What? Where¡¯s my jacuzzi? How about the fragrant white towel? The floor mirror? Oh, this must be a dream! It¡¯ll be fine once I wake up.¡± With that said, she closed her eyes to gain peace of mind, wanting to sink to the bottom of the water to sleep.

    ¡°No it isn¡¯t¨C¨Cjust give it up. The real dream was what happened before.¡± Zhang Zian burst Sihwa¡¯s bubble with no hesitation.

    She cupped her ears and shook her head. ¡°Shut up! Shut up! I don¡¯t want to listen! I don¡¯t know you! Let me wake up! This is the most terrible dream I¡¯ve ever had!¡±

    Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders. It seemed like it would take some time for her to ept reality. In fact, even Zian himself was also yearning for the five-star hotel¡¯s customer service...

    He walked out of the bathroom and released Gxy, Fina, Old Time Tea, Snowy Li, and Pi towards the floor, then released Richard towards the air.

    Upon seeing their familiar environment, the other elfins remained where they were, while Pi eagerly jumped to the chair and hurriedly urged Zhang Zian to take out theptop. It wanted to hurry and work on its novel before everyone went to bed so it could quickly make up for all the chapters it had missed.

    Originally, Zhang Zian had wanted to let it rest for another night, but after he looked at Pi, even if he were to make it sleep, it wouldn¡¯t be able to rest peacefully. So Zian went along with it and took out theptop then connected it to the power supply.

    Once again, the typing sound returned to the second floor.

    ¡°Meow, meow, meow! I¡¯ve heard of the saying, ¡®Da Yu walked past the house thrice without entering,¡¯ but how dare you! You actually passed by the respectability room twice without entering?¡± Snowy Li started to find fault with Zian.

    Over the past few days, Zian had visited the Forbidden City twice. The first time was because Wen Li had something going on and he wanted to catch the Warding Off Evil Cat, so he couldn¡¯t really tour the ce. Then the next day, he took the elfins to the Forbidden City again and visited the ces they had missed before, but Snowy Li was very unhappy with the fact that Zian had refused to enter the respectability room.

    For that matter, Zhang Zian would neverpromise. One didn¡¯t enter the respectability room if they were a man. Otherwise, their balls would hurt even in their dreams.

    ¡°Everyone quiet down. Pi, you need to stop first too. A new member has just joined us, so let¡¯s get to know it first.¡± Zian then released the Warding Off Evil Cat, dimir, at the empty space.

    dimir appeared in the empty space, then looked around with its green eyes. Its eyes swept through the other elfins before finally falling on Zhang Zian¡¯s face.

    ¡°Hello, everyone. Is this the city of Binhai?¡± It lifted a front paw and greeted them in a rxed manner. It didn¡¯t seem to feel embarrassed that the other elfins were all focused on it.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Our current location is on the second floor of my pet shop. You can introduce yourself to everyone,¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    dimir nodded. ¡°My name¡¯s dimir. There may be a few of you who have already seen me, but it¡¯s my first time seeing all of you. I hope that in the days toe, everyone can learn from each other and make progress together. ¡±

    Zhang Zian was a little surprised. Its speech was unexpectedly decent, unlike the arrogant impression it had left before.

    ¡°Hey! I wanted to ask¨C¨Cyou said that you¡¯re dimir, so are you also a fan of Putin the Great?¡± Richardnded on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder. It stared at dimir with its small ck eyes.

    ¡°Putin? Who¡¯s Putin?¡± dimir was confused. ¡°I don¡¯t know any Putin.¡±

 Chapter 974: Sixteen Character Proverbs

    <h4>Chapter 974: Sixteen Character Proverbs</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang ZIan was speechless. dimir was a verymon name in Eastern Europe, but Richard even linked it with Putin. It was absolutely a deliberate ridicule.

    ¡°Ga ga! Have you not heard, ¡®If you don¡¯t know King Putin, then there¡¯s no use calling you a hero!''¡± Richard started talking nonsense again.

    dimir did not know that Richard was teasing him. It answered seriously, ¡°If it¡¯s in vain then let it be in vain. I¡¯m not a hero anyway.¡±

    It answered so seriously that Richard did not know what to respond. ¡°Ga ga! So you have some self-awareness.¡± Richard had thought for a very long time before responding.

    dimir raised up a front paw and clenched it tightly, then said solemnly, ¡°I¡¯m not a hero, and I don¡¯t need to be a hero. A single person¡¯s strength is weak; the strength of a group of people is the strongest! All the glory belongs to the cat citizens!¡±

    Richard was unable to respond again. It could only sigh and say, ¡°Ga! This is really boring. There¡¯s no point in even teasing dimir. It¡¯s more fun to tease the idiot below me.¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°...¡±

    Old Time Tea and Famous introduced themselves to dimir separately.

    ¡°So strong!¡± Fina suddenly muttered in a low voice.

    ¡°What?¡±

    Fina¡¯s voice was very soft that Zhang Zian almost did not hear it.

    ¡°I¡¯m saying that it is very strong.¡± Fina widened its eyes, staring intensely at dimir¡¯s back. ¡°I have never seen a cat of so much strength. It¡¯s even slightly higher than mine...¡±

    Zhang Zian was so shocked that his mouth hung open. ¡°What? Stronger than you?¡±

    Fina was a cat that the game said was ¡°half-epic and half-legendary, just a step away from god level.¡± If Fina itself admitted that dimir could be even stronger than her, then wasn¡¯t that a real legendary elfin?

    No, no... dimir¡¯s rank was half-epic and half-legendary, as well. It was probably not a legendary elfin. At maximum, it was just half a step away...

    Now that they were on the topic, there had been a lot of questions about dimir from the start. Zhang Zian suspected that before the game showed the hints that it was already in the capital; the strange stray cats that seemed like they were watching them could prove that point.

    Another piece of evidence was that the crawler program that [Copse The World] had written had started to gather information from before, but had not found any evidence that there were cat abuse cases in the capital. If it was not dimir¡¯s doing, that would have been impossible.

    If his guesses were true, that could only mean that it could control when it was detected by the game, and that was an ability the other elfins did not have. Of course, Gxy was an exception. After all, Gxy could not be caught and could only be drawn from the lucky draw after finishing the beginner¡¯s task.

    ¡°At least not weaker than me.¡± Fina did not look like it was joking.

    It could feel that the power of belief in Gxy was as elusive as a neb, and its strength was hard to estimate. The power of belief in Old Time Tea¡¯s body was as quiet and restrained as a mountain, and the power of belief in dimir was unshakable... Like a burning wildfire, it could erupt at any time and burn everything up.

    ¡°Right-¨Cwhy did youin that my name is long but not its name?¡± Fina suddenly thought about that, then coldly looked at him. Its gaze told him that she would decide how to deal with him based on his answer.

    ¡°Meow, meow, meow! Your Majesty, do you even need to ask? It must be that he¡¯s favoring one over the other and wants to make things hard for you! Your Majesty, why don¡¯t you send him to the service room?¡± Snowy Li took advantage of the situation, working hard to alienate them from each other.

    Zhang Zian did not think that Fina would actually remember such a thing. He was not prepared for her question at all.

    At that time, he hadined that ¡®Fina Paris XIII, The Protector of the Kingdom of Eternity¡¯ was too long and too hard to say, so he had simplified it to ¡°Fina¡± on his own. Now that Fina was challenging his logic, what was he to do?

    However, he had a lot of experience after constantly battling with wits and bravery, and he was smart in times of crisis. ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m favoring one over the other, but it¡¯s just that when your name is simplified, it¡¯s still very nice. When its name is simplified, it won¡¯t be nice! Think about it¨C¨Cdimir... When you shorten it, doesn¡¯t it beckey? How unpleasant to hear!¡±

    ¡°Zhi zhi!¡± Pi also nodded its head to agree, expressing that it was easier to meet the word count like that...

    He did not know whether Fina agreed with his exnation, or if it was because he said that Fina¡¯s name was nice, but either way, Fina hmphed and was not angry anymore. It did not question him any further, which made Snowy Li feel very disappointed.

    ¡°Horrible man who just spouts flowerynguage all day long, you¡¯ll be sent to the service room eventually!¡± Snowy Li said fiercely.

    Old Time Tea and Famous introduced themselves to dimir, admitting that they were the ones who had followed Zhang Zian in their invisible states to chase it that day.

    dimir did not express any unhappiness, but it was curious about how to be invisible.

    After Gxy was released, looking thoughtfully out of the window in some direction in the darkness, its silver-grey eyes twinkled and it then turned its head to stare sideways at dimir.

    ¡°What is it, Gxy?¡± Zhang Zian was done with dealing with Fina troubling him. He noticed Gxy¡¯s odd state and walked over to talk to it.

    ¡°Meow. It¡¯s nothing.¡± Gxy shook its head. It happily ran in front of dimir, raising its front paw and saying, ¡°Meow. I¡¯m Gxy. You y hide-and-seek very well. Do you want to y hide-and-seek together?¡±

    dimirughed loudly. ¡°Hide-and-seek? You think that¡¯s a game? All right, it¡¯s all right to call it hide-and-seek. The trick is very simple: it¡¯s ¡®Enemy advances, I retreat. Enemy stationery, I disturb. Enemy tires, I attack. Enemy retreats, I chase.¡¯ A sixteen word proverb only.¡±

    Gxy tilted its head, showing that it did not understand.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°...Wait, what you¡¯re saying isn¡¯t the trick to hide-and-seek, right?¡±

    No wonder it was always running in circles around me. The assh*le used military tactics to deal with me!

    Thinking back to the whole process of chasing the Warding Off Evil Cat, besides theck of ¡°enemy tired, I attack,¡± the whole thing was basically exactly the same as the other 12 words. Was that considered killing a chicken with a cow knife?

    dimir heard the sound of flowing water in the bathroom and asked curiously, ¡°Who else is here?¡±

    Zhang Zian waved his hand. ¡°Don¡¯t need to bother with it. That¡¯s a big-breasted, small-brained mermaid. She¡¯s called Sihwa. She¡¯s currently a mess, so just wait to meet her tomorrow.¡±

    It nodded. ¡°We can talk about hide-and-seek when we have the time to. Let¡¯s talk about actual things now. Where is the cat abuser? I¡¯ll f*cking beat them up!¡±

    Fina was also very concerned about that problem and was even more concerned about the location of the Holy Cat Statue. It was precisely because Zhang Zian promised that he could find the solution in the capital that it had followed him.

    Zhang Zian waved his hands. ¡°This problem cannot be clearly exined in such a short time. We can talk about it again tomorrow. Everyone is so tired, so let¡¯s get some good rest tonight. It¡¯s not that pressing.¡±

    Actually, he was just pacifying dimir. Its likability was not high enough yet, so how could it leave the pet shop?

 Chapter 975: Famous People, Famous Quotes

    <h4>Chapter 975: Famous People, Famous Quotes</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Early the next morning.

    The first thing that Zhang Zian saw when he opened his eyes was a blue-gray tail moving left and right under the curtains. dimir seemed to have woken up before the sun was up and it was just sitting on the window sill and looking outside.

    Zian sat up and began to put on his clothes.

    dimir poked its head out of the curtains and leaped lightly down from the window sill. The Russian Blue cat¡¯s body, which waspletely different from the British shorthair, was clearly very agile.

    ¡°What time are we heading out today? My iron fist is already hungry and thirsty!¡± It clenched a front paw and was very excited.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have to rush this. Are you sure you don¡¯t need me to prepare a ce for you to sleep?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Before going to bedst night, Zhang Zian had nned to find an old nket for it to temporarily sleep on. From there, he would find out what kind of bed it prefered before he bought it online. But it didn¡¯t really care and had turned down Zian¡¯s idea, then it chose a random spot to lie down and fell asleep.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need,¡± dimir said with a forthright smile. ¡°Those in our line have the four seas as our home, the sky as our nket, the ground for our bed, a steel gun as ourrade-in-arms, and the grasnd as our canteen. It¡¯s nothing exquisite, but it¡¯s enough as long as we have a ce to shelter us from the wind and rain. Why would I need a bed?¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. It really had a way with words.

    Zian was a little worried that he was neglecting dimir, but he didn¡¯t expect it to really feel that it didn¡¯t have to sleep on a bed. Since it was forthright in character, Zian no longer had to worry about where it was going to sleep.

    ¡°Moreover, when I think of the hundreds and thousands of stray cats being bullied and oppressed outside, I can¡¯t sleep at ease on a bed,¡± dimir said as it pointed towards the outside.

    Old Time Tea had just woken up and happened to hear what dimir said. It then praised, ¡°The worries of the world alwayses first¨C¨Cpunish oneself with a big cup of wine!¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head and smiled bitterly. If dimir wasn¡¯t joking, then the difference in their level of thoughts made him feel ashamed of himself. Although he knew that there were still many poor people in the world who couldn¡¯t eat and sleep, he still slept well when it was time to sleep...

    After all, those things were too far away from him, and those poor people were just strangers to him. Zian knew himself, and he wouldn¡¯t make saving the poor people in the whole world his goal. Just like what Confucians often said: ¡°Keep yourself safe when you¡¯re a nobody; however, give back to the world when you¡¯ve be somebody.¡±

    Zian was currently in the position where he was keeping himself safe, and only when he was as rich as Father Ma would he consider giving to the world.

    For those who were still thinking about the world when they couldn¡¯t save themselves were either mad men, were naive teenagers, or was a person¨C¨Cor cat¨C¨Cwho actually could change the world...

    At that time, the other elfins woke up one after another. Having spent a few days in the capital, especially the capital¡¯s attractions which epass a great deal of space, they were all very tired. They had gone to bed early the night before and naturally woke up early that morning.

    Pi jumped and skipped its way into the bathroom and washed its face, then jumped back on the chair and started to type away.

    When dimir heard the typing sounds, it jumped up on the desk with no difficulty and put its face close to the screen. It stared at the Word document on the screen and asked, ¡°I wanted to askst night¨C¨Cwhat are you doing sitting in front of theputer all the time? Are you writing a novel? ¡±

    Pi was surprised, and it nodded nervously. ¡°Zhi zhi.¡±

    Zhang Zian said on behalf of Pi, ¡°Its name is Pi, and its currently working on a serialized online novel. Although it can¡¯t talk, you canmunicate with Pi through its typing.¡±

    Pi was quite shy and it had an inferiorityplex because it couldn¡¯t talk. The night before, when everyone was talking around dimir, Pi sat silently in front of theputer as it worked on its novel.

    dimir gaped in amazement and said seriously, ¡°Writing a novel? That¡¯s amazing!¡±

    Pi embarrassedly typed, ¡°It¡¯s not that good.¡±

    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s awesome that you are able to write novels!¡± dimir said seriously. ¡°I respect every writer. Each writer is like an engineer of the human soul.¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. I think I heard this sentence from my elementary school teacher, but I¡¯ve already forgotten the source... Anyway, it couldn¡¯t have originated from the elementary school teacher. Although the sentence had often been used as ¡°teachers are the engineer of the human soul,¡± the actual original text was ¡°writer.¡±

    Speaking of which, he kind of admired dimir. Each time it spoke, it easily recalled famous quotes.

    Pi was even more embarrassed; it felt that it didn¡¯t deserve such praise.

    ¡°Keep it up. Once youplete this novel, I will read it,¡± dimir encouraged. ¡°But you should also pay attention to your health. Don¡¯t always sit still, and remember to rest. You rest so that you can work better. Don¡¯t jeopardize your own health. Novelists always want to care about ¡®the destiny of people,¡¯ but they always forget to care about their own destiny. This is their tragedy and you shouldn¡¯t embark on the old path of the predecessors.¡±

    Pi was a little confused, but it still nodded. Zhang Zian had also said simr words, though he didn¡¯t use such quotes.

    ¡°But,¡± dimir changed his tone and became strict, ¡°Now, many human beings have lost their noble souls and have be despicable and shameless, bullying creatures that are weaker than them. For such reactionaries, we must throw away all imaginations and prepare for a fight!¡±

    Even though its words were impassioned, the problem was that some of the elfins couldn¡¯t understand it, and others didn¡¯t care.

    Fina yawned and rubbed its sleepy eyes, ¡°This queen also feels that some humans are no longer able to recognize their own position. Now, they even have the gall to climb above the cat family. They must be disciplined!¡± As it spoke, it coldly swept its gaze at Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian interjected, ¡°Wait a minute, dimir, you don¡¯t fully understand the situation, since you¡¯ve just arrived. Indeed, the incidents of cat abuse in Binhai City have been happening frequently and are slowly spreading across the whole country. There¡¯s also a rted QQ group chat on the Inte where the group owner has muted all chat functions only to publicly stream a cat abusing video for fun... But there¡¯s a deeper reason for all this.¡±

    dimir glued its eyes on Zian and listened carefully.

    Zhang Zian continued, ¡°In the past, there have been asional cat abuse incidents urring in most areas, but none of them were as serious as the one now. This time, it¡¯s a concentrated outbreak over a short period of time. It ispletely different from previous situations and can¡¯t simply be attributed to humans. I don¡¯t mean to make up excuses for humans by saying this, after all, the ones abusing the cats are indeed humans. But there¡¯s someone pulling the strings behind this series of cat abuse incidents, and that is a Holy Cat statue from ancient Egypt.¡±

    ¡°Holy Cat statue?¡± dimir was both surprised and confused. ¡°The Holy Cat statue has such an ability?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a long story. The statue isn¡¯t the real thing, but a vivid imitation, and it was given to me as a gift from someone. Initially, it was just an ordinary decoration, but god knows what happened. It suddenly disappeared...¡±

    Zhang Zian told dimir about the Holy Cat statue, including the part about him, Old Time Tea, Famous, and Gxy tracking it to the unfinished building. Although they had missed the Holy Cat statue, through reasonable spections, they were able to make out what had happened earlier. The Holy Cat statue had kept itself hidden in the dark as it observed how the cat abusers abused the cat for their own enjoyment.

    ¡°I suspect that, as an elfin that¡¯s in the process of materializing, the Holy Cat statue may be able to influence and manipte the mind of human beings to a certain extent. So ordinary people with psychological problems would bring out their bloodthirsty side, and as the process of the cat abuse gets bloodier and crueler, it will be stronger.¡± Zhang Zian shared his own spections.

    Old Time Tea and Famous both agreed with his point of view and added some of their own thoughts ordingly.

    ¡°I see.¡±

    As a witness of the incident, whenever Zhang Zian recalled the scene at that time, he couldn¡¯t help but feel creeped out. However, dimir was still calm after hearing the story. Itughed and said, ¡°So, the reason why all of you are behaving so cautiously is because of that Holy Cat statue? That¡¯s it?¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless yet again. He then exchanged nces with Old Time Tea and Old Time Tea shook its head slightly. Although it was fond of how dimir worried about the world, Old Time Tea found the words that dimir had just used to be too arrogant.

    With good intentions, Old Time Tea interjected from the side. ¡°You should never underestimate your opponent! The Holy Cat statue is extremely ferocious, and its whereabouts are erratic and strange. This will inevitably lead to a great disaster... The most important thing is that it seems to exist between life and death. It¡¯s neither a living thing nor a dead thing, so what is it and what can we do about it?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± dimirughed towards the sky, then raised a front paw and mmed it on the ground. ¡°Although I have never seen the Holy Cat statue, I know that all the reactionaries are just paper tigers that hold no threat!¡±

    Zhang Zian also wanted to persuade it not to underestimate the enemy, but just as he was about to, he heard it say, ¡°You can rest assured that I would never underestimate the enemy. Since the Holy Cat statue is able to cause such a big scene, it must have a thing or two up its sleeve... But the principles of a battle are to despise the enemy strategically and attach importance to the enemy in our tactics! This is how to remain invincible!¡±

    Zian then dismissed the idea of ??persuading it because he felt that its statement was somewhat reasonable.

    Ever since the Holy Cat statue had ravaged Binhai City, both he and the elfins would turn pale whenever the Holy Cat statue was brought up. Even Old Time Tea, who didn¡¯t flinch at anything, would find itself in a sticky situation. None of them knew how to deal with the ghost-like monster... The two sides had not officially met each other, and they were already beating themselves up. In other words, they were already afraid before the battle had even begun, and that was a taboo when it came to warfare.

    After listening to its words, Old Time Tea seemed to have caught on to something.

    It was not that Old Time Tea¡¯s standard and awareness wasn¡¯t high, but it was because Old Time Tea had always been a lone ranger. It was better at thinking about problems on an individual and tactical level, while dimir thought from a higher level and set its sights further and wider, just like a strategist that examined the issue from a strategic perspective.

    Zhang Zian recalled when Old Time Tea and Famous snuck into Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base and, out of a moment of outrage, they took action and released all the pets that were being treated unfairly in the breeding base. However, they didn¡¯t consider the arrangements for all those pets, and as a result, many of the cats and dogs had be homeless. Objectively speaking, that was also the trigger for the current cat abuse incident.

    If dimir was there at the time, it would have definitely looked at the problem from all angles, then it would have made a n and moved forward with it. It would not act hastily, like how Old Time Tea and Famous did.

 Chapter 976: A Shocking Blow

    <h4>Chapter 976: A Shocking Blow</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    An outstanding agent might not have been able to be a famous general, but a famous general could not rece an outstanding agent. The famous general might have even been assassinated by the outstanding agent... Everyone had their own suitable job position, and it was the same for an elfin.

    Old Time Tea was like an agent. It was good in one-on-one fights, its own skill was unbeatable, and dimir seemed to have a leader¡¯s charisma. It had the ability to be a leader.

    It was also strange to think about it. Even though its words seemed very wild, its confidence had affected Zhang Zian and the elfins, making them lose their fear of the Holy Cat Statue.

    ¡°What you said is right. We should have loathed it from the strategy, and value it from its tactics. It was originally just a piece of old copper and metal, nothing to fear,¡± Zhang Zian said, encouraging himself at the same time.

    ¡°So I don¡¯t need to sit here and waste time! We can hurriedly end this whole situation. Let the cats that have suffered so much be freed!¡± dimir hurried them.

    Zhang Zian nodded and said, ¡°We also want to quickly end this whole situation, and we do need your help; however, there¡¯s a problem... You might not be able to leave at the moment, so this situation cannot be hurried.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t leave this ce? Why? Could it be that I¡¯m under house arrest?¡± dimir looked outside the window.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not house arrest... It¡¯s a problem with the setting of the game,¡± Zhang Zian tried his best to exin. ¡°Because of some reasons, the elfins cannot leave immediately after they arrive at the pet shop. You have to wait a while.¡±

    ¡°Who said that?¡± dimir asked.

    ¡°The Navigation Elfin said it¨C¨Cthe game said it.¡± Zhang Zian spread out his hands. ¡°And the other elfins were all like that... except for Famous.¡±

    Famous in the Imagined World was like Gxy. It had gone through a lot of reincarnation cycles and had learned how to do short distance teleportation. Only because of that could it leave the pet shop right after it had arrived. However, it had only seeded in that after quite a bit of trying. It had hit its head quite a few times, and its nose had been hit until it almost got a nosebleed.

    ording to Zhang Zian¡¯s observations, dimir¡¯s body was just more nimble. It obviously did not have a short distance teleportation ability. How could it randomly leave?

    Actually, the more urate way of saying it was that it was not such a low-level phrase like short distance teleportation. Instead it was an observation of the state and contraction. It was just that it was easier to understand the phrase short distance teleportation.

    Gxy was able to leave if it wanted to, but it had never wanted to leave the pet shop and hence had never tried. Fina had always called the shop its sacred pce and did not have any intentions of leaving. Old Time Tea deeply understood the word ¡°tolerate,¡± and obeyed the rules of the game. It did not try to test this rule. Snowy Li was fondly attached to Fina; Pi was one who really liked staying at home and did not actively want to leave the pet shop; Sihwa did want to go into the outside world... She had the heart, but did not have the legs for it...

    Now that he was thinking about it, there were only two elfins that wanted to walk out of the pet shop as soon as they came: One was Famous, as it had wanted to follow Zhang Zian to the dog mart, and the second was Richard. It had wanted to go and see its previous owner... The former seeded, but thetter failed.

    When he thought about Richard, Richard appeared.

    It wriggled out from below the small nket next to the pillow, stretching out its wings. It used its bird beak to stretch its underarm, totally like azy, burly man who picked at his legs.

    ¡°Ga ga! You all seem to be talking about me?¡± it asked, shaking its head.

    ¡°dimir, if you don¡¯t believe me, you can ask this parrot. Ask him how he knocked the air wall till his whole face bruised up,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Richard did not feel embarrassed at all, as if it what it was talking about was something that happened to someone else,

    dimir did not let that bother it. Itughed loudly. ¡°Haha! Don¡¯t let your thinking be restricted by these kinds of previous experiences, dogmas, and books. The rest of the elfins could not do it, but that does not mean that I can¡¯t do it!¡±

    Zhang Zian was both angry and amused. He was advising him out of good will, in order to prevent it from harming its pride after hitting the air wall.

    ¡°Ga ga, since it refuses to turn back unless it hits the wall, then let it try! I want to watch the drama!¡± Richard urged dimir on, scared that there would be no drama to see.

    dimir ignored Richard¡¯s provocation. Instead, it seriously nodded. ¡°I want to try! I believe that I can do it. The only word the world is scared of is ¡®seriousness!''¡±

    Zhang Zian was helpless. Since it strongly requested to try, he decided to let it try.

    He brought dimir downstairs, and the elfins, besides Pi and Sihwa, also went downstairs. Not all the elfins were the same as Richard, who just wanted to watch the drama unfold; it was just that after they woke up, they wanted to go downstairs.

    Zhang Zian pulled open the roll-up door, then opened the floor-length door. He pointed and said, ¡°Then you can just try, but be careful. Don¡¯t use too much force.¡±

    dimir walked out a few steps, just to test it. As expected, near the door, it knocked into an invisible door. It raised its front paw and touched around, finding it strange. It found that the invisible door totally blocked the road.

    ¡°Ga ga! Haven¡¯t I said it already?¡± Richard pped its wings, as if boasting. It flew in and out of the door, ¡°Do you see? I can freely enter and leave. Aren¡¯t you jealous?¡±

    dimir did not say anything, but it also did not give up because of that. Instead, it jumped one step forward to try again. No matter how high it jumped, the invisible wall was blocking in front of it like a tiger blocking the road.

    ¡°Do you want to see if you can jump out from the window?¡± Zhang Zian knew that it was unsatisfied with failing, so he opened the window for it.

    Richard flew to the windowsill again, calling out, ¡°I¡¯ve already tried to convince you not to try. This is just embarrassing yourself!¡±

    dimir didn¡¯t say anything. It tried to jump out of the window, but its head hit the invisible wall with a loud knocking sound, causing it to fly backward.

    That time it had hit it quite hard. It staggered a few steps backward, almost losing its bnce, then raised its paw to rub its forehead.

    ¡°Just let it be. Stop trying. Even if it¡¯s a war, there¡¯s no rush. We still have a long time.¡± Zhang Zian admired its courage, but some things would not be solved just using courage.

    Fina also tried to convince it and said, ¡°Everyone has something that they are good at and not good at. There¡¯s no need to forcefully do things. Mine was actually coincidental...¡±

    dimir knew that they were trying to encourage it, but it still persevered and shook his head. ¡°God d*mn, I don¡¯t believe in this kind of ult!¡±

    It returned to the door again, staring at the position of the invisible wall. Its green eyes with gold lining suddenly shot out burning mes of anger!

    Hu¡ª

    This time, it did not choose to jump up into it. Instead, it took a deep breath, raised a front paw, and clenched it tightly. It suddenly, loudly, called out, ¡°Take my move. Meow Meow Doctrine Iron Fist!¡±

    After that, it used its full strength to punch the air wall!

 Chapter 977: Error

    <h4>Chapter 977: Error</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian looked at dimir who¡¯s taking up a stance in all seriousness and found it funny¡ª¡ªonly primary school students would call out the name of their moves before executing it.

    In addition, the name of the move was awful, it¡¯s better to just shout out¡ª¡ª¡±On behalf of the moon, I will right wrong and triumph over evil!¡± which sounds more powerful.

    In the eyes of a would-be martial arts grandmaster like Zhang Zian, dimir¡¯s fist was neither fast nor powerful, but soft and light, just like a kitten swatting a mosquito. Whether it was Zian or the other elfins, they couldn¡¯t imagine how a punch like that could produce any miracles, but at least it won¡¯t hurt itself, so just let it be.

    dimir¡¯s fist stopped silently in the air as if it hade into contact with a wall of invisible, colorless air.

    It continued to stare at the front without moving.

    A static tingling sensation instantly flowed through Zhang Zian¡¯s body and disappeared quickly. Although everything inside and outside of the pet shop was normal, the air in the shop seemed to be filled with some kind of restlessness.

    That wasn¡¯t his illusion, because the other elfins have also stood up in horror and looked around with unease. They were looking to see what has changed where they can¡¯t see with the naked eye.

    Ding!

    Zhang Zian¡¯s cell phone suddenly rang with an alert tone.

    He picked up the phone and saw that the pet hunter game had already started automatically.

    [Game Tips]: Error! Error code 043cd968!

    [Game Tips]: Error! Error code 043cd968!

    [Game Tips]: Error! Error code 043cd968!

    [Navigation Elfin]: I¡¯m sorry! Due to an unpredictable memory overflow error, the game will enter a temporary maintenance phase and will be back online. The estimated maintenance time would be 5 minutes. During the maintenance period, the yer will not be able to capture and release any elfins, I will also be unable to respond to the yer¡¯s call, sorry for the inconvenience!

    Before Zhang Zian had the time to read the long message, the screen suddenly turned ck, and the navigation elfin just disappeared.

    Disappeared?

    ¡°Navigation Elfin?¡± he tried to call.

    The phone was quiet and there was no response.

    Since he downloaded the game, it has always been running in the background. As for the light that represented the navigation elfin, it has always been shing on the screen for most of the time, and it¡¯s either upying the center or a corner of the screen. Even if it sometimes disappears, as long as Zian calls for it, it would instantly reappear even if the game was not running at the time.

    This meant that the game had the right to ess his camera and microphone, so every word he says can also be heard by the navigation elfin, but there¡¯s nothing he can do, after all, he did agree to these when he first entered the game.

    Initially, he felt ufortable about having such a navigation elfin, because it feels like he¡¯s being monitored at any time and anywhere, he even changed his payment passwords often. He was afraid that his already pathetic assets would be transferred away by the navigation elfin...

    After some time, he noticed that the navigation elfin didn¡¯t seem interested in stealing his riches, and his browsing records were also not disclosed on the Inte, only then was he relieved. Then he turned a blind eye to the existence of the navigation elfin.

    But such a navigation elfin has actually disappeared?

    Even if it¡¯s only temporary, it¡¯s shocking enough.

    Zian stared nkly at the phone screen, his mind was still in a blur. He tried to quit the game and run the game in the background, but regardless of which button he presses, the screen seemed to be stuck with the game interface. He couldn¡¯t even lock his phone and there was no response when he tried to shut it off.

    He couldn¡¯t help but think of Old Time Tea¡¯s words. There¡¯s nothing invincible in this world, and anything that exists would definitely have a weakness. As long as its a program, it would definitely have its bugs, and the more exquisite a game was, the more likely it is to have bugs. This was unavoidable, even for pet hunter which was a game that goes far beyond the current era.

    Right at this moment, the whole room suddenly shook tremendously!

    Holy shit! Is it really an earthquake?

    Or is Sihwa crying on the second floor again?

    Zhang Zian was shocked and he thought to himself, seems like you really can¡¯t deny a rumor, it was all okay before, but now it¡¯sing true!

    Zian was unable to bnce himself so he squatted down in a hurry and looked for a table to hide under.

    The elfins were also thrown everywhere and Fina was also thrown off from the top of the cat tree. Fortunately, she was quick to react, she regained her bnce in mid-air andnded steadily.

    Snowy Li was also thrown off from the cat tree and it rolled around on the ground like a hairball. But fortunately, it¡¯s hair is thick so it¡¯s not afraid of falling.

    Zhang Zian was about to scream out ¡°Earthquake, everybody run!¡±, but then he noticed something strange¡ª¡ªit seems like it was only him and the elfins that are suffering from the tremor. Everything else in the house was stable and fine, even the little kittens and puppies.

    The tremor onlysted a moment before it disappeared.

    Before Zhang Zian got up from the ground, he saw four legs and four dirty sneakers in front of him.

    Wang Qian stared at him in shock, he asked: ¡°Master... Were you nning on taking upskirt photos by holding your phone and kneeling on the floor? Isn¡¯t it still a little early? It¡¯s not even summer yet!¡±

    Li Kun suddenly said: ¡°Master is probably practicing for the real thing right!¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°...¡± Why must I always be seen by acquaintances every time I embarrass myself?

    He patted off the dust on his knees and stood up from the ground, then he suddenly asked: ¡°Was there an earthquake earlier?¡±

    ¡°No...¡± Wang Qian was about to answer truthfully when he felt a tug by Li Kun.

    Li Kun gave Wang Qian a look, meaning to say, don¡¯t you know how to preserve a little face for our master, he then corrected: ¡°Yes, Master, indeed there was an earthquake earlier, and we were affected by the tremor too... Master, look over there, there¡¯s ady who has hurt her knees too...¡±

    Zhang Zian looked over at the direction Li Kun pointed at and he saw a young girl with heavy makeup on. She looked listless as she hurried off, and her knees were a little red too, an expression of excessive indulgence.

    ¡°Nonsense! This is an escort who just got off work!¡± He scolded, ¡°She passes by every morning and her knees are always red!¡±

    Li Kun gave a thumbs up. ¡°Master¡¯s prediction is godlike! Eyes as sharp as an eagle¡¯s!¡±

    There was no way for Zian tomunicate normally with them, but looking at the pedestrians on the roadside behaving normally, if there was an earthquake, the people would never be so calm.

    The elfins too didn¡¯t know what was going on and they looked around nervously.

    So, the shock had just affected him and the elfins?

    It wasn¡¯t an earthquake, but a vibration in the space where the pet shop is located, such as... breaking and deformation.

    ¡°Hm? Master, where is this cat from? Is it a stray cat?¡± Wang Qian asked as if he had discovered a new world.

    Under normal circumstances, if you see a cat in a pet shop, you would never think of it as a stray cat unless the cat isn¡¯t in a pet shop, but on the streets...

    Zhang Zian suddenly looked back and saw that dimir had already walked out of the store while swishing its tail around!

 Chapter 978: Truth

    <h4>Chapter 978: Truth</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Upon finding out that dimir was sashaying out of the shop, Zhang Zian broke down inside. The f*ck... You can do it this way too?

    He just saw it squatting down at the stairs outside of the shop, and shook its front paw that it had used to punch to wall. ¡°Hu... God d*mn, it¡¯s quite tough. No matter how tough it is, it is just a paper tiger!¡±

    When the other elfins saw what happened, they were almost so shocked their jaws dropped!

    ¡°Ga ga! What¡¯s with this situation? Are my eyes messed up?¡± Richard raised its wings and rubbed its eyes.

    This is not scientific! That light punch actually managed to pierce through the restriction set by the game?

    ¡°Master, your facial expression doesn¡¯t seem that good...¡± Li Kun noticed his expression and reminded him, ¡°It¡¯s like you have eaten a few flies...¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t bullsh*t! Right, these past few days when I was not here, did you both stir up trouble?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°No, how could anything happen? We just went to y at the seaside a few times,¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun solemnly promised. ¡°We are all good citizens that follow thew before we are done training. We won¡¯t stir up trouble.¡±

    ¡°Is this a stray cat? It looks like a British Shorthair, but it also doesn¡¯t really look like...¡± Wang Qian pointed at dimir.

    ¡°No, this is a cat I brought back from a friend¡¯s house in the capital. He didn¡¯t want to keep it anymore, so I took it,¡± Zhang Zian blurted without thinking. ¡°And also, it isn¡¯t a British Shorthair. It¡¯s probably a cross breed of Russian Blue.

    The Russian Blue was quite rare in China, and the price was quite expensive. It would not be given to others normally, but if it was a cross breed of Russian Blue, then it was believable.

    ¡°Russian Blue... Ah, no wonder...¡± Wang Qian was angry. ¡°I thought it was a stray cat.¡±

    ¡°If you have nothing to do then quickly go and do you work.¡± Zhang Zian waved his hand to chase them away.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun stuck out their tongues, scattering in every direction. They asked in their hearts why it was that as soon as master came back, his mood was not good.

    ¡°dimir, you... you really managed to get out? How did you do it?¡± Zhang Zian squatted down, trying to touch the position where the invisible wall was. Of course, he could not feel anything.

    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s very simple! As long as there is a will in your heart and you have a metal fist, you can do it!¡± dimir said freely.

    ¡°A metal fist and whatever can be put aside. What kind of will do you have?¡± he continued to ask.

    It thought about it and answered, ¡°As long as you strongly believe that you are the truth, then that¡¯s enough!¡±

    Zhang Zian seemed to understand it a bit. When normal people did things, they would more or less have a bit of doubt, feeling as though they couldn¡¯t do it. They thought that they couldn¡¯t manage to learn it, or felt as though they did not have the ability... but dimir was different. In its heart, it did not have any bit of doubt towards itself. It strongly believed that what it was doing was right. It strongly believed that its thought was the real truth. It strongly believed that it could do it.

    And thus, it did it.

    What kind of strong spirit was this?

    The only problem was that he hoped that what it was doing and what it was thinking was right. Otherwise, that kind of strong spirit doing the wrong thing... It might even cause greater trouble than the Holy Cat Statue.

    Old Time Tea walked over. It sighed and said, ¡± Zian, no wonder it¡¯s the Warding Off Evil Cat. It can even pierce through that kind of imaginary air wall with its fist. Those evil spirits and ghosts would probably not be able to stand a chance...¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded to agree. Old Time Tea had already talked about the main point. Before that, they were very scared of the Holy Cat Statue, a thing that was lying in between life and death. They were not even clear as to whether it was considered a living thing or not, much less how to deal with it... But the might from dimir¡¯s fist, even the air wall can be pierced through. If it hit the ordinary evil spirit or ghost, it might be powder...

    He remembered that in Pi¡¯s Untitled book there was another Buddhist Hymn that was like a prediction: ¡°The golden monkey makes a vigorous stick with his great stick and the sky is crystal clear for ten thousand miles. Today, we call for the Great-sage Sun, but only the evil cat reappears again!¡±

    Although Great-Sage Sun was in a legend, it was quite a famous character that warded off evil spirits. There was nothing wrong, right?

    The gold monkey had to be changed to a blue cat, and the Great-Sage Sun had to be changed to the Warding Off Evil Cat. That would be more suitable.

    Thinking about it carefully, the punch of dimir was probably not a normal punch by physics. After all, both the punch speed and force were not very fast or strong. No matter how great it was, it could not go against thews of Physics. So was it some kind of... belief attack?

    If it were an attack based on physics, then Old Time Tea was still the best.

    After interacting with dimir for such a short time, he found that sometimes it acted very old, but sometimes, it was very childish. For example, before it did its action, it yelled out the name of the move. The most unique point was that... it liked to use famous sayings from famous people.

    ¡°dimir, I have a suggestion: When you use famous sayings from famous people, can you also use Roosevelt, Churchill, and those kinds of famous people¡¯s sayings? It¡¯s just like when you are shearing sheep¨C¨Cyou can¡¯t only stare at two or three sheep. What if you identally shear the sheep bald?¡± he suggested.

    dimir stared at him strangely. It thought about it and said, ¡°All right, I¡¯ll consider.¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Store Manager.¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Store Manager.¡± Just as they were talking about it, Lu Yiyun and Jiang Feifei came into the shop one by one for work. As soon as they arrived, they saw Zhang Zian squatting at the doorway. Next to him, there was a blue cat squatting down.

    ¡°Good morning. How was it? Did you manage to whale watch?¡± Zhang Zian stood up and asked.

    Jiang Feifei excitedly said, ¡°We managed to see some! We went practically every day thest few days. In the end, we only managed to see whales one day, and they were a bit far. It seemed to be three minke whales. Thankfully we brought binocrs! The next time I have a chance to, I want to go again! I hope that next time, they will be closer. Also, Wang Qian and Li Kun are very bad at driving ships, and they especially like to show off their ability. They almost caused the boat to capsize multiple times!¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that it was the mother and son minke whales, and also the male whale that was taking care of them. They probably thought that it was Zhang Zian who hade again, but they did not hear Sihwa¡¯s song from the underwater speaker, and hence were cautious and did not dare to go too near.

    That was good. Being cautious of strangers was not bad. It was because the stray cats were not cautious of people that they were abused by them.

    Jiang Feifei continuously praised and said, ¡°Right, we went to watch the first screening of Dog Warrior. It was very good! The soundtrack is also very great! And the whole theater was full! A lot of people were so touched that they cried at the end! There are a lot of boys in our ss that still want toe and see Famous!¡±

    That was expected.

    ¡°This cat...¡± Lu Yiyun also noticed dimir. Zhang Zian repeated what he had said earlier again.

    Lu Yiyun just nodded, then both her and Jiang Feifei went off to do their individual work.

    ¡°Brother Store Manager, good morning!¡± A clear child voice rang out from behind, and Zhang Zian turned around to look. Little Celery was skipping in.

    dimir also noticed the active and cute Little Celery. It praised, ¡°This child is really full of energy, like the sun at eight or nine o¡¯clock in the morning!¡±

 Chapter 979: Definition of Meow Meow

    <h4>Chapter 979: Definition of Meow Meow</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sigh. Zian had already reminded dimir earlier not to stare at two or three sheep while shearing them, but it had gone in one ear and out the other. Its habit of using famous quotes was really hard to change.

    Zhang Zian resigned. He didn¡¯t rush over to say hello to Little Celery. Instead, he first corrected dimir. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t just use quote famous quotes, as theyck flexibility. She¡¯s not even that old and is, at most, like the sun at six or seven o¡¯clock in the morning...¡±

    dimir listened to Zian¡¯s advice and nodded. ¡°Six or seven o¡¯clock is good too.¡±

    ¡°Also, what¡¯s the meaning of the Meow Meow Doctrine?¡± Zian asked. He had heard dimir shout the name of its move earlier and somehow felt his chrysanthemum tighten...

    dimir gave it some thought then exined, ¡°That is a good question... In short, it fights for the freedom, equality, and fairness of stray cats. Its goal is also to free stray cats from being bullied and oppressed so that they can decide on their own destiny!¡±

    ¡°Okay then...¡± Its answer was eptable, so Zhang Zian wisely decided not to delve into it. Who knew if he might get an inappropriate answer if he continued on the subject...

    Little Celery was used to Zhang Zian conversing with animals, although his partner that day was a blue cat that looked very spirited. She had never seen it in the store before.

    As the weather turned warm, Little Celery was not wearing clothes as thick as the ones she wore during the early spring. They were reced with loose-fitting sportswear that were easy to move in. Her clothes were a half a size bigger than her actual size¨C¨Cafter all, children grew up fast and clothes that fit couldn¡¯t be worn for long. Her mother was definitely a pragmatist.

    In addition, she finally did not need to wear thick hats and scarves, so her iconic pigtails were fully exposed now.

    Zhang Zian noticed the direction of her pigtails, then recalled that it was definitely the weekend. Ever since he had taken over the pet shop, he had almost lost the concept of time; however, Little Celery¡¯s pigtails were as urate as ever.

    ¡°Little Celery, it¡¯s the weekend. Why are you here so early on a weekend? Didn¡¯t you want to sleep in?¡± he asked.

    Little Celery looked around and eximed, ¡°Wow, there¡¯s a lot of people!¡±

    Usually during the early morning, the store was as empty as ever¨C¨Cbut wasn¡¯t Dog Warrior showing? Many local fans who watched the premiere rushed over early in the morning to find Famous so they could get a photo together; however, the shop was not fully prepared for opening, so they were stopped outside by the staff.

    There were so many fans lined up outside, and Famous wasn¡¯t willing to make the floor dirty with everyoneing in after the staff had cleaned up the ce. If all the fans were to be let in, they would interfere with the business, so Famous went outside the shop and satisfied the fans request for photos out there.

    Little Celery only remembered after being asked by Zhang Zian that there was a reason she had stopped by. She quickly said, ¡°I don¡¯t have ss today, but the hamster in our ss is going to give birth soon. My ssmates told me to ask you if you coulde over to help. Do you have the time?¡±

    Little Celery and her friends had been very serious about raising the hamster; they had formed a feeding n where daily records were taken by the person on duty each day. Through their care, the hamsters grew well, and several female hamsters had gotten pregnant. Now, despite Zhang Zian¡¯s long-term guidance, they had no confidence in handling the childbirth process, so they had Little Celery ask Zhang Zian toe and guide them through the process.

    Zhang Zian looked at his schedule, and that day he was as free as usual. If he stayed in the store, he would probably be dragged around by the fans and media then forced to answer their questions, so it was better to just head out for a walk.

    What was more, the Zhonghua Road Primary School where Little Celery studied was very close to the shop; it was just minutes away.

    ¡°Sure! No problem,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°I¡¯ll take a trip down with you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Brother Shop Manager!¡± Little Celery finally breathed a sigh of relief.

    ¡°Little Celery, have you eaten?¡± asked Zian as he touched his own empty belly.

    ¡°I have!¡±

    ¡°Then you can y in the shop for a while. We¡¯ll leave after I have breakfast.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± Little Celery ran into the store cheerfully.

    dimir, who had been sitting by the side watching and listening, suddenly said, ¡°Can Ie along too? I¡¯m new here in Binhai City, so I need to familiarize myself with the nearby terrain and environment. After all, I¡¯ve got no right to speak without any investigation.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± Zhang Zian agreed with what it said. He felt that there was nothing wrong with bringing it along.

    Zian bought some steamed buns and soy milk, split them between the staff members, and finished his own portion. He then called Little Celery over and left the shop with her.

    ¡°Oh... Is this cating along with us?¡± Little Celery asked. She had taken a few steps forward before she turned around and noticed dimir tagging along.

    Zhang Zian guessed her concerns. ¡°Well, don¡¯t worry. It won¡¯t hurt the hamsters.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good then.¡± Little Celery finally rested assured.

    The current weather was mild and suitable for walking¨C¨Cpossibly the best weather for walking in the whole year. Many couples and families were out and about, taking advantage of the good weather. Even Otakus that never left their house were not able to stop themselves from going out for a walk. If they didn¡¯t, they would have been wasting such good weather.

    On the way down to the school, Little Celery told Zhang Zian about the small problems they had encountered while raising the hamsters, and the interesting things that happened in school. dimir followed behind them and observed the unfamiliar city.

    Binhai City and the capital were two cities with very different styles. Even if the scale and poption of both cities were not taken into consideration, the obvious differences could be seen from their rhythm of life. Due to the limited amount of pressure they ced on life, the residents in Binhai were ustomed a slow and leisurely pace of life.

    asionally, there would be one or two stray cats on the side of the road or on the wall, and after seeing dimir, they didn¡¯t have any special reaction. Whether they were fighting or eating food from people¡¯s hands, they were no different than usual. They seemed to treat dimir as any other ordinary cat, which was very different from their behavior when they saw Fina.

    dimir was walking leisurely. It would sometimes mumble something and sometimes nod, but Zhang Zian did not know what was going on in its head.

    Zhang Zian casually spoke with Little Celery, and periodically he would look back at it. He thought that after leaving the pet shop, dimir would be very eager to look around for the Holy Cat statue, however the reality was much different from his own imagination.

    Before it could deal with the Holy Cat statue, it had to be located first. The Holy Cat statue was really elusive, and if it were that easy to find, then Zian would have already found it.

    Zian was very curious about how dimir nned to find the Holy Cat statue in the first ce.

    dimir felt his gaze and smiled back at him with a meaningful smile. The smile was full of self-confidence and it said, ¡°No hurry! No hurry! In any practical work, all the correct leads muste from the puss and blend with the puss!¡±

    Zhang Zian paused. Fortunately, it didn¡¯t say into the... puss.

    They arrived at the entrance of Zhonghua Road Primary School, and Zhang Zian didn¡¯t bother with the Holy Cat statue for the time being. He followed Little Celery into the campus and towards the hamsters.

 Chapter 980: Observation and Recording

    <h4>Chapter 980: Observation and Recording</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Talking about it, Zhang Zian really admired dimir. Before that, it was the one who was hurrying to go out and solve the problem. But now, after they had left the house, it was the one who was saying not to be too hurried.

    He picked up his phone to take a look. Ever since the Navigation Elfin announced the temporary maintenance notice, his phone was constantly in his hand. He wanted to see if the game would return to normal as scheduled. In less than five minutes from the announced time, perhaps it was just three to four minutes, the Navigation Elfin had already appeared on screen, and everything was as normal.

    Due to the unexpected maintenance, the Navigation Elfin did not say anything else, and did not give any notification as to whether the hole had been fixed. Anyway, dimir could still freely travel in and out of the shop.

    He did not have any need to capture or release elfins now, so he temporarily exited the game.

    Little Celery¡¯s form teacher had already told the security guards at the entrance of the school. Otherwise, Zhang Zian would not be able to enter the school so easily.

    The primary school was very quiet, and there was not a single person to be found. He and Little Celery walked around the ssroom area and walked to the feeding room at the back of the school. The feeding room door was open, and inside there were a few small figures moving about. He could hear the sharp voices of young girls.

    ¡°Everyone, I brought Brother Store Manager here!¡± Little Celery greeted loudly.

    Wang Yaning, who was wearing sses like a little adult, frowned. ¡°I said already we don¡¯t need to call him over. This is something we can deal with ourselves. Why do we need to call him?¡±

    ¡°But...¡± Little Celery wanted to exin.

    ¡°Eh? Why did he bring a cat here?¡± Wang Yaning noticed dimir behind Zhang Zian¡¯s back, and started to wave his hand outwards like she was chasing chickens and ducks. ¡°Get out! Get out! This is where we keep hamsters. How could you bring a cat here? If it bites the hamsters and kills it, who will take responsibility?¡±

    There was a boy next to her who said, ¡°But these hamsters were originally given to us by him...¡±

    Wang Yaning said, ¡°...Still, we cannot let that happen. If it is given to us, then it¡¯s ours now.¡±

    Zhang Zian just wanted to say that dimir would not harm the hamsters when dimir pulled on the corner of his pants and said, ¡°No worries, I can take the opportunity to walk around nearby. I¡¯ll see you in a while!¡±

    After saying that, it quickly ran off.

    Wang Yaning adjusted his sses. She looked at him, then looked at dimir who ran off. She asked strangely, ¡°You cat has run away, aren¡¯t you going to chase it?¡±

    ¡°Why do I need to chase it? The sky must rain; the mother must marry someone. Just let it go where it wants to go!¡±

    Perhaps it was due to dimir¡¯s influence, Zhang Zian casually used a famous saying from a famous person, but sadly that group of primary school children did not understand the meaning behind it.

    Little Celery seriously exined, ¡°Brother Store Manager¡¯s cats won¡¯t run away. It¡¯ll definitelye back in a while.¡±

    Wang Yaning had a face of indifference.

    After interacting with him a few times, Zhang Zian had long understood Wang Yaning¡¯s personality. She was the kind of student that was often seen with a serious face. She did not have many expressions towards his ssmates, but she smiled a lot at teachers, and was a model student that was likely toin to teachers about other students behind their backs.

    As to those kinds of primary school students, Zhang Zian could only express that he could not afford to provoke her. He also did not wish to cause trouble between Little Celery and her because of him. The good thing was that Little Celery and Wang Yaning¡¯s rtionship was quite good, but the little boys next to them had the same feelings as Zhang Zian. In the face of Wang Yaning¡¯s ordering them about, they always resigned to adversity.

    ¡°There¡¯s a hamster that¡¯s about to give birth!¡± A boy hurriedly said, breaking the awkward atmosphere at the doorway.

    The multiple people at the door rushed in with shouts, and Zhang Zian managed to follow behind them.

    That group of pupils always put their feelings into hamsters. At first, they put the male hamster and the female hamster together, iming they wanted to give the baby a healthy and warm home. Zhang Zian repeatedly stressed that the hamster could not be mixed together to be reared several times before they gave in. Otherwise, they would only see the female hamster and the skin of the male hamster.

    Besides for the hamsters during mating, the hamsters definitely could not be reared together. The animals were often cannibals, and if they were not careful, it would cause those who had them as pets to witness a tragedy between hamsters.

    They did not have any guilt towards their same species, and because of that, when female hamsters gave birth to baby hamsters, it was even more dangerous. It could not be scared, otherwise, the female hamster could kill the baby hamster that was just born or eat it.

    Zhang Zian, as an adult, had wide steps and ran fast as soon as he saw quite a few primary school children rush to the side of the hamster cage to watch the process of the baby hamster being born. He instantly ran two steps to stop them.

    ¡°Don¡¯t all go together¨C¨Ctwo to three is enough. If there are too many people the female hamster will be scared,¡± he said.

    Wang Yaning frowned again. ¡°But we need to submit a rearing report. Observing theplicated birth process is a very important event!¡±

    Zhang Zian was very worried for her future. If it continued like this, perhaps before she was 30 years old, her forehead would be full of wrinkles...

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so old fashioned. People must learn to be versatile and adaptive. You can have two or three representatives that will record the whole birth process using their phones and then they can share it with other people to see. Isn¡¯t this better? A recorded film can be watched as many times as you want,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Nowadays, many primary school children had their own phones. Of the primary school children present, at least half of them had their phones with them.

    Wang Yaning did not know what to say to that.

    After a short discussion, it was decided that Wang Yaning, Little Celery, and another boy, along with Zhang Zian, would observe from a close distance and film. The rest of the primary school children would wait at the side and prepare to help at any moment.

    Zhang Zian lifted his finger to his lips, lowering his voice and saying, ¡°After youe close, even if the sky falls, don¡¯t make loud noises. If you want to speak, you can only speak like that.¡±

    The rest of the people nodded. Only Wang Yaning twitched her lips, an indifferent look on her face.

    Those who had phones raised up their phones and opened their cameras. Little Celery did not have a phone and borrowed one from someone else.

    When he got close to the hamster cage, Zhang Zian held his breath and observed carefully, only to see a plump, hairy, female hamster sitting in the sawdust like a ball waiting for delivery. She was just sitting, which was a special feature of hamsters. They were used to sitting and giving birth, rather than standing or lying on their side like many animals.

    Not long after, a baby hamster that was purplish red appeared from the female hamster¡¯s stomach. The baby hamster¡¯s body was smooth, with not a single hair on it. Its eyes were also closed, and where the eyes should have been were two blurry ck spots.

    Little Celery mouthed and asked, ¡°This is the baby hamster?¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded soundlessly, not ming her for her question. A hamster that had just been born was very different from a mature hamster.

    Suddenly, Wang Yaning shouted in shock, her expression full of disgust, ¡°Ah! It¡¯s eating the baby hamster!¡±

    Zhang Zian wanted to raise his hand and p her. He had reminded her not to speak loudly just now. It was just like ying the piano for a cow. Even if the female hamster was not nning on eating the baby hamster, after being scared by her, even if it was originally not going to eat it, it would have to eat it now.

 Chapter 981: The Correct Use for Disposable Chopsticks

    <h4>Chapter 981: The Correct Use for Disposable Chopsticks</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    For the average person, they were better off not knowing that cats and hamsters would sometimes eat their own babies. Once they knew, they would panic whenever they saw the mother cat or female hamstering in close contact with the newborn babies. They would nervously think that the babies were going to be eaten. In many instances, it really was a situation where the ignorant was fearless.

    In fact, Zhang Zian saw it clearly: The mother hamster did bite something, but it wasn¡¯t the baby. Instead, she was biting on the umbilical cord.

    Even Little Celery, who was always smiling, got angry. She suppressed her anger and pulled Wang Yaning back, then reprimanded her. ¡°Yaning, don¡¯t talk so loudly! You¡¯ll frighten the mother hamster!¡±

    The other students also felt that Wang Yaning was unable to keep her cool, but they didn¡¯t dare to say anything.

    ¡°But I clearly saw it trying to eat its babies...¡± Wang Yaning was quite convinced.

    ¡°What should we do now? Why don¡¯t we take the little hamster out?¡± The other children discussed it amongst themselves. There was a child who had even reached out his hand to pick up the little hamster.

    Zhang Zian pped his hand away and interrupted their argument. He said, ¡°Stop making noises. Do you have any disposable chopsticks here? Bring me a pair!¡±

    ¡°Disposable chopsticks?¡±

    All the students present were stunned. One of the more mischievous boys had a strange thought. His face changed and he said, ¡°Could... could it be that you¡¯re nning to eat ¡®Zhi Zhi?''¡±

    ¡°Zhi Zhi?¡± The other children were confused. What was ¡°Zhi Zhi?¡± Was that edible?

    Zhang Zian knew what he was referring to. Of course, it was certainly not the sound that Pi made, but a special recipe that was popr in some ces where a live baby mouse was first marinated in soy sauce and vinegar before it was eaten. A ¡°Zhi Zhi¡± sound could be heard from the baby mouse before it died, hence the name.

    That method of eating was said to be quite cruel. The level of cruelty wasparable to that of eating monkey brains, so it was no wonder the other children had never heard of it. Somehow, however, that little boy was aware of it. When he heard Zhang Zian ask for a disposable chopstick, he linked it to the hamster¡¯s baby, and quickly formed the impression that Zhang Zian was going to eat the hamster¡¯s baby. Since it was going to be eaten by its mother anyway, he thought Zhang Zian was just going to eat it himself...

    Zhang Zian was definitely not going to exin to the children what ¡°Zhi Zhi¡± was; otherwise, they would definitely have nightmares. He gave the little boy a wink and said, ¡°What ¡®Zhi Zhi Ya Ya?¡¯ Enough with your nonsense. Are there any disposable chopsticks?¡±

    ¡°Yes! I bought buns on the way here and it came with two pairs of disposable chopsticks, but I didn¡¯t use them. Eating them with your own hands makes it more delicious...¡± another little boy said as he handed over two pairs of disposable chopsticks.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t agree more. Those who ate their buns with chopsticks were heretics.

    ¡°How unhygienic!¡± Wang Yaning clearly expressed her disgust.

    Both pairs of disposable chopsticks were still wrapped in their stic film, unopened. Zhang Zian then tore open one pair and rubbed the thinner end of the chopstick on the cardboard box, deburring it as much as possible, then he concentrated on the mother hamster.

    It was the mother hamster¡¯s first time giving birth and it was going well until it got frightened by Wang Yaning¡¯s sharp voice. The newly born baby hamster was squirming in the wood shavings, but it didn¡¯t care. It just looked around with its small eyes.

    Most hamsters were easily frightened; they could even be frightened by the sound of the wind and grass. If they were to be frightened during birth, they would either eat their babies or escape with them and run to a ce they thought was safe.

    Zhang Zian told the children to prepare an empty cardboard box and pour some new clean wood shavings into it. With the disposable chopsticks, he picked the female hamster out and ced it into the new cardboard box, temporarily separating it from its baby.

    After that, he plucked at the old cardboard box with the chopsticks before he picked up a few pieces of wet wood shavings from a pile he found at the corner and ced them in the new cardboard box right next to the mother hamster.

    ¡°That¡¯s the wood shaving that¡¯s stained with urine,¡± a little boy reminded him.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. That¡¯s what we need,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    In order to make the mother hamster feel at ease after putting it in an entirely foreign environment, it was necessary to transfer some wood shavings, paper pieces, cotton, and other things that had been stained with its urine in order to lower the wariness it had towards its new environment.

    After all that, Zhang Zian picked up some of the stained wood shavings again and rubbed it on the baby hamster to get the scent of the mother hamster on it, then he carefully picked it up and ced it right next to the female hamster in the new cardboard box.

    The children stared nervously at the transfer process.

    ¡°From now on, don¡¯t touch the baby hamster with your hands for the three weeks; don¡¯t rub the scent of humans onto them. When you need to clean the cardboard boxes, you have to use a pair of disposable chopsticks just like this,¡± Zhang Zian exined softly.

    Curious to know everything, some of the children asked, ¡°What about three weekster?¡±

    ¡°Three weekster? After three weeks, the baby hamster will be grown. At that point, it needs to be separated from its mother, so you can grab it directly with your hands,¡± Zhang Zian answered.

    ¡°I can¡¯t use chopsticks well, so can I wear gloves to hold the baby hamster? Or maybe a spoon?¡± a little boy asked, his tone embarrassed.

    The other childrenughed in a low voice.

    ¡°It¡¯s best to not. It¡¯s easy to drop the baby when you use a spoon, so when ites to transferring them, let those who are better at using chopsticks do it.¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯tugh at him. Many children were not very good at using chopsticks, especially those who were doted on by their parents. Some children were still being fed by their parents even when they were seven or eight years old.

    In fact, wearing gloves was ok, but the premise was that the gloves had to be disposable; they could not have the smell of human beings on them. The process of wearing gloves must also be standardized. Otherwise, it was equivalent to not wearing any at all. Because the requirements were too much to ask from primary school students, it was much simpler and convenient to just use disposable chopsticks.

    The mother hamster sniffed the baby hamster and smelled its own scent, which made it instinctively believe that it was its own child. It pulled the baby hamster to its side; the new environment seemed more secure.

    Not long after, the second baby hamster was born smoothly, followed by the third and fourth...

    The children looked stunned and murmured, ¡°It can really give birth...¡±

    Only after it gave birth to eight baby hamsters did the mother hamster¡¯s bulging abdomen tten slightly. It then, exhausted, pressed its body against the baby hamsters to keep them warm, and at the same time looked around at their surroundings.

    ¡°The homemade paper cotton that I told you guys to prepare in advance¨C¨Cis it ready?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s ready.¡± Little Celery brought over a bag of homemade paper cotton and handed it to him.

    After unpacking it, he grabbed an amount of paper cotton and sprinkled it in another corner of the cardboard box.

    ¡°What¡¯s the paper cotton used for?¡± the children asked curiously. They had been very curious about what the wide strips of paper cotton were for.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t answer their question but indicated for them to look carefully.

    The mother hamster noticed the pile of paper cotton almost immediately and left the baby hamsters that were waiting to be fed. It quickly rushed to the paper cotton, then it opened its mouth and stuffed them inside.

 Chapter 982: Teach by Instruction and by Example

    <h4>Chapter 982: Teach by Instruction and by Example</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Self-made cotton paper was a very important and necessary item when hamster breeding. It could be bought from the Inte. The product was whole, raw, pulp paper, without any artificial dyes, and it could be cut into finger-wide strips. Hamsters would instinctively search for nesting materials after giving birth to their pups. If they couldn¡¯t find them, they would be anxious, even if the owner had already made a nest for it. It was useless, however, as it would only be reassured if it was a nest made by the hamster themselves.

    The cotton paper was given to the children for free by Zhang Zian¨C¨Ca pack was only ten yuan¨C¨Cand he had the children cut them into paper strips.

    When the children saw that the female hamster was actually eating the cotton paper strips, they were all very shocked.

    ¡°Is the female hamster hungry? Why is it eating cotton paper?¡± Little Celery asked, worried.

    ¡°Yes, should we give it some food to eat? What if it gets so hungry it eats the little hamsters?¡± another child added.

    ¡°You all think it is eating the cotton paper? No, it is just keeping the cotton paper in its cheek to make it easy to move it to build a nest. The reason why we needed to cut the cotton paper into thin strips was because if it was too wide, it couldn¡¯t fit it into its mouth...¡±

    After the cotton paper passed through its mouth, it would be softer, and hence it could not be reced by normal sawdust. Sawdust was too hard; it could not eat it and it was not suitable to build a nest with.

    It kept several pieces of cotton paper strips into its cheek pouch, then ran back to its baby hamsters. It spit out the cotton paper and started to make the nest without any guidance. After that, it ran back into the corner to eat the cotton paper again.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it better to directly put the cotton paper closer to the babies?¡± a child who asked. ¡°That way it wouldn¡¯t have to run back and forth. It just finished giving birth so it must be very tough for it, right?¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°It is indeed very tough for it, but during the making of the cotton paper and the transporting of it, it is impossible to prevent it from getting some human scent on it. When it puts it in its mouth, its own scent overpowers the human scent. It can¡¯t be put too close, otherwise that wouldn¡¯t happen.¡±

    The children saw that the hamster mother was very busy even though it had just given birth and had used all its strength. It was still painstakingly traveling back and forth, building a shelter for its children. They could not help but pay tribute to it.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°When your mother gave birth to you, she experienced much more pain than the mother hamster. In order to take care of you, she also did more hard work than the mother hamster. She not only had to take care of your clothes, food, and living, but she also had to run between her house and her workce every day to earn more money in exchange for a bigger and morefortable house¨C¨Cin exchange for good food, for things for you to y with, in exchange for a happier life for you... So you all should be considerate of your mother, and not always make her angry. Try to help her share some housework, which will be the best reward for her.¡±

    Remembering their mothers¡¯ daily hard work and how they often made her angry because of their studies and their naughtiness, a few of the usually naughtier boys bowed their heads in shame. Several already sensitive girls were so moved they had to wipe away tears.

    If one just stood on the tform and nagged, it would absolutely not have such an effect. One would not be able to let the children intuitively understand the hard work of motherhood. They had to witness it, personally feel it, in order to leave a deep impression on them. If one could do that, the cost of buying pets and the hard work of keeping pets would be meaningful.

    No matter if it was pets kept at home or school rearing courses, the purpose was not simply to let children y, but to cultivate their love and sense of responsibility in the process of raising pets. If they could also experience the hard work of mothers in the breeding process, that would be great.

    The children had made up their minds to try to start doing housework when they got hometer that day¨C¨Ceven if it was just helping their mother sweep the floor or wipe the table.

    ¡°Little Celery does very well in this aspect. You all need to learn more from her,¡± Zhang Zian encouraged.

    ¡°I... I still have not done enough...¡± Little Celery lowered her head, embarrassed.

    Wang Yaning was a bit awkward. Her studies were very good, and all her time outside of school was spent on homework and various interest sses. Her mother also did not let her do any housework.

    While they were chatting quietly, the female hamster had already moved all the cotton paper into the corner, made a shallow pit in the sawdust, put the pups in it, and then covered it with the cotton paper to make a simple and warm nest. After all, the newborn hamsters were hairless and had poor heat preservation abilities.

    ¡°The baby hamsters won¡¯t suffocate?¡± someone asked worriedly. They saw that the cotton paper had already totally covered the baby hamsters.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. That¡¯s the good thing about cotton paper and sawdust: There are a lot of holes in the middle and they can breathe, so it¡¯s not a problem,¡± Zhang Zian said. He retrieved the food bowl the female hamster normally used and opened a bag of small steamed buns made of goat¡¯s milk and eggs that he purchased online. He put a few into it, and then put them into cardboard boxes as supplementary food for female hamster.

    Although he did his best to encourage the children to prepare their own pet rearing supplies, baking was too hard for children.

    The female hamster was still busy making a nest. Even if he prepared food for it, it did not have time to eat. It was just hurriedly drinking water to rece the water that it had lost while giving birth.

    ¡°You have an electric kettle here, right? Bring an egg tomorrow and boil it in in water. After boiling it, you can break off the egg white that is the size of the nail cap and feed that to it to make sure it has enough protein. Don¡¯t overfeed it. The rest can be fed to other hamsters,¡± Zhang Zian ordered.

    ¡°I see people feeding hamsters with mealworms. Is it better to eat live food?¡± a boy asked.

    The girls all scrunched up their faces and said, ¡°No mealworms. That¡¯s disgusting!¡±

    Zhang Zian was standing on the girls¡¯ side this time and agreed. It was better not to feed them mealworms. For house pets, live food was not necessarily good because live food could carry bacteria, and there was a small amount of toxin on the mealworms.

    In a twinkling of an eye, there was a small bulge where the baby hamsters were, and almost no trace of the baby hamsters could be seen.

    In the end, the female hamster had managed to finish all the work and was finally satisfied. It went under the cotton paper. If it was not for the slight movement of the cotton paper, there might even be people who would mistake the paper box as being empty.

    ¡°How does mother hamster take care of baby hamsters? I really want to see it,¡± the children said sadly, but the paper cottonpletely blocked their sight.

    ¡°If you really want to see it, there¡¯s a way. Is there any other mother hamster who¡¯s about to give birth? Find a normal ss fish tank, or an acrylic, transparent hamster cage, and spread the sawdust a little thinner. You can see from the bottom up. Maybe then you could see how the mother hamster takes care of her baby,¡± Zhang Zian suggested.

    The children suddenly realized that and they were full of expectations for the next delivery.

 Chapter 983: New Clues

    <h4>Chapter 983: New Clues</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    For the moment, the female hamster and its pups no longer required any human assistance; what they needed most was some peace and quiet.

    Zhang Zian directed the children to pack things up, as they should not just leave a mess for the students who were on duty the next day.

    Several girls surrounded him to ask when the baby hamsters would start to grow out their fur because they found the current appearance of the newborn hamsters to be a little gross.

    He gave a general introduction to the development of hamsters and told them that hamsters developed very quickly. About a week after birth, they would grow out some obvious fluff, and then they would be able to open their eyes in about ten days. If they hadn¡¯t opened their eyes after two weeks, they could use cotton swabs to gently wipe their eyelids with wet water to help them open their eyes. In three weeks time, the baby hamsters could be weaned and had to be separated from their mother, so when that timees, they needed to prepare a few more hamster cages. As the weather warmed up, a hamster wire cage would be sufficient, as it was great for venttion.

    At the same time, the female hamster that had already gone through a cycle of childbirth should not give birth again. Although there was much to learn from the childbirth process, rodents bred too quickly; there would easily be a nest of them. Each adult hamster had to upy an individual cage separately, anyway. As for the other students who were interested in the birthing process, they could watch the video.

    The children quickly packed everything up, and after they prepared clean water and food for the hamsters, they headed home. It was the weekend, and their parents had been working throughout the week, so they would definitely want to spend their weekends with their children. They probably prepared a hearty lunch and were waiting for them.

    Everyone left the breeding room and locked the door. Wang Yaning gathered everyone around her, summed up their work for the day, and arranged people to be on duty the next day.

    Zhang Zian, who had nothing else to do, noticed that dimir had quietly returned. It sat in a dark corner by the wall and yawnedzily. Parts of its body were dirty and it had gotten some dirt on its face as well. It looked like it had just squeezed itself out of a dirt hole.

    That was another difference between dimir and Fina. Fina was actually quite obsessed with cleanliness, and if the ground wasn¡¯t clean, it would rather stand and not sit. However, dimir clearly seemed to not be bothered with cleanliness at all.

    Wang Yaning, who had fully enjoyed ying the part of a leader, waved her hand and let those who had nothing to do head home first. She noticed dimir and muttered, ¡°It really dide back. I thought that it would¡¯ve been a stray cat...¡±

    Although it was just a casual remark to her, Zhang Zian sharply caught what she said and asked, ¡°What? Are there many stray cats here?¡±

    Wang Yaning nced at him with vignce and asked, ¡°Why are you asking about this?¡±

    ¡°I was just asking... I didn¡¯t mean anything by it.¡± Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders.

    ¡°No?¡± Wang Yaning looked at him doubtfully from head to toe. ¡°Are you the kind that treats cats well on the surface, but is actually a pervert who likes to torture cats?¡±

    That wasn¡¯t the first time she had used him of being a pervert. That day, however, she had discovered new suspicious information.

    Aiya? Zhang Zian noticed that the little girl seemed to hold a hidden meaning in her words. Did she know something?

    He exchanged nces with dimir before he quickly rified his innocence, ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand me. I¡¯m definitely not a pervert!¡±

    Little Celery helped him out. ¡°The shop manager is definitely not that kind of person!¡±

    Words with no proof couldn¡¯tpletely dispel Wang Yaning¡¯s suspicions. Her mobile phone was still tightly gripped in her hands as she stared at Zian with vignce. She looked as if she would dial 110 at any time...

    There was nothing Zhang Zian could do with her. People always sided with and sympathized with the weaker, disadvantaged group. Compared to Wang Yaning, people would definitely think that Zhang Zian was the bad guy. In fact, it should have been the opposite: Zian was at the mercy of Wang Yaning. A true pervert would not have been afraid of her notifying the police, but anyw-abiding citizen would definitely have been because they wouldn¡¯t want to leave any stains on their reputation or records.

    Zianughed and tried to change the subject. ¡°Right, so what you mean is that there are those type of people who are nice to cats in front of people but they are actually a pervert that likes to torture cats?¡±

    Her eyes stared at him as if she was saying, ¡°Aren¡¯t you one of them?¡±

    That look of hers was really hurtful. If she were a cat, she could probably pull off cosying as Fina.

    After a moment, she snorted and said, ¡°A few days ago, someone in the bamboo forest behind Shimen Street Primary School used cruel means to torture stray cats. I heard that it was done by a child. On the weekend before the holiday, the teacher had organized a meeting with the key members of the ssmittee to have us pay more attention to prevent simr incidents from happening to students of our school. She wants to protect the image of our school. It seems like all the other sses have also held simr meetings.¡±

    When she talked about the ¡°children,¡± she had a dismissive expression on her face; it was as if shepletely forgot that she was also just a child.

    ¡°Hm? Why don¡¯t I know anything about this?¡± Little Celery asked.

    ¡°Because you¡¯re not a key member of the ssmittee.¡± Wang Yaning¡¯s emphasized the word ¡°key¡± and was smug about it.

    Little Celery wasn¡¯t really bothered about that and she just replied with an ¡°Oh.¡±

    Zhang Zian was listening. He had heard about the incident from [Copse the World] and was aware that towards the matter, the teachers and parents of the students were divided. The teachers of Shimen Street Primary School had brought up the incident in the parents WeChat group and had asked for parents to strictly discipline their children to prevent simr incidents from happening again, but some parents felt that ¡°it was just a stray cat¡± and didn¡¯t really care about it.

    Despite such parents, there certainly were parents who were upright and kind as well. But because [Copse the World] was aware of what had taken ce in the parent group, it showed that the relevant dialogue screenshots had already been circted so the school and parents would most likely face some pressure.

    As the saying went, ¡°Good news doesn¡¯t go far, but bad news spreads far and wide.¡± As a neighbor, Zhonghua Road Primary School must have heard about the incident and as a precautionary measure, the teachers called a meeting with the ssmittee members to have them monitor the other students.

    Zian was in his thoughts when he felt his trousers being tugged. He looked down and saw dimir. dimir looked up and asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Shimen Street Primary School?¡±

    If he was only in front of Little Celery, he would have answered dimir directly. In front of Wang Yaning, however, he had to be careful and didn¡¯t dare to answer immediately. He responded with a look, meaning that he would answer the questionter.

    ¡°What are you nning? You¡¯re making such weird faces.¡± Wang Yaning had been staring at his face and found that he was been making weird expressions. That only served to deepen her suspicions.

    Zhang Zian coughed and said, ¡°It¡¯s nothing... I myself like cats a lot, so after listening to your words, I was filled with indignation. It¡¯s just unimaginable for a child to do such a thing, so I n to make a visit at Shimen Street Primary Schoolter and take a look. If I encounter any stray cat that has been tortured, I¡¯ll try my best to save it and do whatever I can...¡±

    He thought his words were very passionate, but judging from the expression on Wang Yaning¡¯s face, she did not believe a single word.

 Chapter 984: Stalker

    <h4>Chapter 984: Stalker</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The first time Zhang Zian heard about the Shimen Street Primary School, he had considered whether or not he should go to the ce and take a look; however, he was about to leave for the capital and he needed to pack a lot of things. Furthermore, the internal team in the film group needed to prepare a statement for the media and had given him some lines to memorize.

    Shimen Street Primary School was not far from Zhonghua Road Primary School¨C¨Cthey could be considered neighbors¨C¨Cso upon hearing Wang Yaning mention the situation again, he knew that dimir was definitely nning on making a trip there itself. Since Zian wasn¡¯t doing anything, he decided to follow along.

    Wang Yaning said, ¡°It can¡¯t be that you¡¯re going to be doing bad things, right? I¡¯m warning you¨C¨Cif you want to do anything bad, go alone. Don¡¯t bring Little Celery along.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go by myself. Little Celery, you should go back.¡± Zhang Zian had not nned on bringing Little Celery along. If they really met a young cat that had been harmed a lot, it might scar the girl.

    Little Celery was still hesitating a bit, but Wang Yaning urged, ¡°Little Celery, you have toe here in the afternoon for duty. It¡¯s better if you go back. Come over earlier, after you finish your meal. Otherwise, there will be no one taking care of the hamster.

    ¡°Then... Brother Store Manager, I¡¯ll go. Bye-bye.¡± Little Celery waved at Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Bye-bye! Be careful on the way back. Go directly home, and don¡¯t talk to strangers or enter their cars.¡±

    ¡°I know!¡± Little Celery quickly jogged off.

    ¡°All right, then I¡¯ll go, too. Are you not leaving yet?¡± Even though Zhang Zian really wanted to leave Wang Yaning, who was scary to provoke, he needed to still pretend.

    ¡°Do I need you to care about what I¡¯m doing? Of course I also need to go, but I won¡¯t go with you!¡± Wang Yaning hugged her chest with both arms, backing away like she was on guard in order to get further away from him.

    Zhang Zian was helpless and called out, ¡°dimir, let¡¯s go now.¡± The human and the cat walked towards the entrance to the school.

    ¡°Where did you go just now? Your whole body is dirty,¡± Zhang Zian inquired.

    It raised up a front paw and rubbed its face. Instead of rubbing its face clean, it rubbed it until it was even dirtier. It said, ¡°I was dealing with the stray cats nearby. I wanted to see where they usually ate, where they rested, and then I wanted to dissuade cats that were fighting from fighting in the territory.¡±

    ¡°You were quite busy.¡± Zhang Zian did not think that in such a short time it would be able to do so much.

    It sighed and said, exasperated, ¡°Really, even though they are all poor, middle-ss peasants, they fight so hard for the remnants. They are not bandits who upy the mountains as kings, so why are they fighting for territory? At present, the big enemy is in front, and stray cats should unite against the outside world. First, they should concentrate their efforts on solving the main external contradictions. The internal contradictions among the cats can be solved slowly... To put it bluntly, it¡¯s the mindset of small-scale peasants that cause them to make a fool of themselves.¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. It was such a pity his middle school politics teacher died so early.

    ¡°However, most of the stray cats here understand logic. After my persuasion, they are willing to leave behind their suspicions from before and unite together. They joined The National United Front Against the Holy Cat Statue,¡± it added. ¡°Oh, right, I just thought of the name. It doesn¡¯t have any special meaning.¡±

    Before Zhang Zian managed to say something insulting, dimir seemed to have noticed something and turned its head to take a look. ¡°The little girl who¡¯s constantly tense and ss conscious is following you.¡±

    That was such a long way of describing a person... Zhang Zian said in his heart he did not know any girl that was ss conscious... He turned his head back to look and, around 50 meters behind him, a primary school girl was suspiciously following him, using the trees on the sidewalk as cover.

    It was Wang Yaning. Even if she turned into ashes he would still recognize her.

    Zhang Zian had just followed the human traffickers a short time ago. He couldn¡¯t let the pedestrians around him find out that he was tracking more. Otherwise, he would be reported every minute. As long as the pedestrians around him were not blind, they could all see who Wang Yaning was tracking, but they justughed and felt that it was funny. People¡¯s tolerance for naughty children was really too high.

    Heined secretly, saying that naughty children were both male and female. How could she insistently feel that he was perverted? Did he have abel on his forehead?

    ¡°Actually, I quite admire her,¡± dimir said. ¡°She is notcking in ambition, courage, and action. Although mistakes are made asionally, young people make mistakes. It doesn¡¯t matter as long as she doesn¡¯t stand for the wrong team.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t admire her. She¡¯s really not cute at all!¡± Zhang Zian said angrily.

    If he had enough space, he knew he could lose her, but he saw the main gate of Shimen Street Primary School just ahead of them. She also knew his destination was the bamboo forest behind the school, so it would be very hard to lose her.

    There was no way... He decided to just pretend that he did not know. Anyway, he was not doing something illegal or morally wrong. If he was upright, he was not scared that his shadow was not, and he would not let her find anything wrong with him.

    There were also guards at the gate of Shimen Street Primary School. Zhang Zian would not be able to get it, but the good thing was that he did not need to. He just followed the walls of the school and turned towards the back.

    Very quickly, a medium-sized bamboo forest appeared in front of them.

    The bamboo forest covered an area about the same as three, 400-meter runways and its shape was irregr. It was likely set up in order to provide a suitable ce for sports activities for the people nearby. The density of bamboo was not high. There were some small spaces in the middle. The middle-aged and old people nearby liked to y diabolo, kick shuttlecock, and practice taijiquan in the morning. They were all popr sports among the people of Binhai City.

    Because the floor was loess, it was not t. On sunny days, it was all soil, and on rainy days, it was all mud. Temporarily, there were not aunties dancing in the parade square.

    ording to the [Copse The World], he or she had found the kitten whose eyes had been dug out.

    The bamboo forest was close to the back door of Shimen Street Primary School. It was a small campus, so sometimes when they were having Physical Education lessons, the teacher would bring the children to the bamboo forest. Normally, during such lessons, there were children who came to y there. Their timing worked out so they were not there at the same time as the older people.

    The current rumors that such cruel actions were actually done by primary school children made people¡¯s hearts go cold.

    However, because it was the weekend, the pupils did not have sses. The bamboo forest was so quiet that he could not hear any noise. There were only rustling sounds like the sounds of the tide when the wind blew into the bamboo forest.

    dimir seemed to notice something and used its ws to pull aside the grass nearby. It pulled out a few pieces of cat food.

    Zhang Zian squatted down, picked up the cat food, and pressed on it; he then put it under his nose to sniff. He was a professional, after all, and as soon as he pressed and smelled it, he could tell that this was the cheapest domestic cat food on the market. It was probably sold in bulk.

    It seemed that the rumors were true: There were indeed middle-aged and old people feeding stray cats. Middle-aged and old people had always been more thrifty, so they were reluctant to buy good cat food. They only took the cheapest food to feed the cats.

 Chapter 985: Bootlick

    <h4>Chapter 985: Bootlick</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian determined the grade and price of the granted cat food with just a pinch, and at that moment, he felt like Sherlock Holmes. But when he nced over at dimir, it didn¡¯t seem to have any response to him.

    At that moment, Zian thought of Wang Qian and Li Kun. With the two of them there, at least someone would¡¯ve shouted ¡°666...¡±

    ¡°Hey! You! What are you doing here?¡± A sharp and slightly hoarse female voice rang from the bamboo forest, and then a young woman in her twenties walked out and looked at him with doubtful eyes.

    Her question had Zhang Zian in a blur. He felt strange when he responded, ¡°Is this a military control zone? Is there a reason I can¡¯t be here?¡±

    The woman wore a gray suit. She had sses on and a pair of sneakers that didn¡¯t match her suit. Through Zhang Zian¡¯s, who has been possessed by Holmes, observation, he found traces of red on her right fingertip, which of course, wasn¡¯t blood. It seemed to be red ink.

    Linking it to her outfit and Shimen Street Primary School that was just next to the bamboo forest, Zhang Zian made a Holmes-like guess: She was a teacher from Shimen Street Primary School.

    A normal person¡¯s fingers wouldn¡¯t be stained with red ink; only primary and secondary school teachers, who often marked papers and homework, were likely to have it on their fingers.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s question had the female teacher stumped because Zian was right¨C¨Cthey were in a public ce, so theoretically, everyone had the right toe in. In desperation, however, she could only make something up. ¡°I... I noticed that you were behaving suspiciously!¡±

    The word ¡°suspicious¡± was really popr that day. Zhang Zian felt countless sheep and alpacas gallop through his heart. He wondered if he didn¡¯t check the almanac before he left that day... Why did everyone feel that he was behaving suspiciously?

    The female teacher took a few steps forward and opened her arms in front of dimir, then she shouted, ¡°You, be honest¨C¨Cwere you nning to abuse this stray cat? Are you also the one responsible for the previous cat abuse incident?¡±

    It was clear that she regarded dimir as a stray cat, which was not surprising. After all, only a handful of people brought their pet cats out for a walk, and the cats that were met outside were usually stray cats. Not to mention that dimir¡¯s body was covered in dust and dirt, so no matter how one looked at it, it looked just like a stray cat.

    Since the cat abuse incident that had urred a few days ago, a screenshot of the dialogue between the teachers and the parents in their WeChat group had been circted on the Inte by someone, causing an effect like that of a stone that in the water. Not only did the parents have to bear a lot of pressure, but even Shimen Street Primary School was also under pressure. Pet protectors had violently questioned on Weibo if such a school was even able to fulfill its responsibility of teaching and educating people.

    The situation wasplicated and the school couldn¡¯t really say anything in response. The only thing they could do was bring together the teachers in the school and hold a meeting to enforce and emphasize the importance of stopping it so they could prevent future incidents. Otherwise, it would have too much impact on the reputation of the school.

    With themands from their superior, those beneath had toply and execute the n.

    The teachers all grumbled. In addition to strengthening ideological education in the school, they now also had to sacrifice their own break time to patrol the bamboo forest during ss or on the weekends. If they were to catch any students ying in the bamboo forest, they would advise them to leave.

    The female teacher was a form teacher for a ss, and today happened to be her turn on duty.

    She was also very depressed with the situation. There was already a lot of pressure being a form teacher, and now she was stuck with patrolling the forest, too. Her wonderful weekend had been ruined.

    As she was making her rounds, she just happened to see Zhang Zian crouch down suspiciously as he muttered to himself. There was a blue cat that she had never seen before right next to him, so she immediately linked him to the cat abuse incident. She thought to herself that the culprit for the cat abuse incident might not have actually been their student... Maybe it was him! If that spection of hers were to be proven, that would mean that she had made a great achievement for the school.

    The bamboo forest wasn¡¯t very secluded, and from time to time, some people would pass by. Therefore, she mustered her courage and stepped forward to stop Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian was utterly dumbfounded. He pointed at dimir, who was behind her, and said, ¡°You have misunderstood. This is my cat... I brought it out for a walk.¡±

    ¡°Your cat?¡± The female teacher didn¡¯t believe him. She quickly turned to look at dimir and said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t have a cor or a cat bell on. How can you prove that it¡¯s your cat?¡±

    ¡°I...¡± Zhang Zian retorted, ¡°No one has said anything about it being necessary for cats to put on a cor and bell, right?¡±

    The female teacher stubbornly asked for him to provide proof. ¡°If it¡¯s your cat, you must have photos of it on your phone, right? I have never seen any cat owner that doesn¡¯t take pictures of their cat.¡±

    In fact, that wasn¡¯t an outrageous request at all. In fact, it was actually really reasonable. There was probably only a handful of cat owners that didn¡¯t take pictures of their cat, and Zhang Zian was one of them.

    He hesitated, smiling, and said, ¡°Although I haven¡¯t taken a photo of it before, I can get it to respond to my instructions. If I tell it to go left, it will go to the left, and when I tell it to go right, it will go to the right.¡±

    The female teacher¡¯s face turned colder. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s a dog?¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    While the two of them were still in a stalemate, Zhang Zian heard the sound of footsteps behind him, and a sharp, childish voice said, ¡°Ms. Sun, this cat really is his. I can prove it.¡±

    When Zian turned back to look, Wang Yaning was running towards them. She ran up to the female teacher, then positioned herself with her feet close together and did a military salutation. Her arms stood out under the sunlight.

    It was clear that the greeting had a positive impact on the female teacher, as Wang Yaning¡¯s likability increased drastically. She smiled and asked, ¡°What ss are you in at our school?¡±

    Wang Yaning shook her head. ¡°My name is Wang Yaning and I¡¯m a member of the Young Pioneers Committee and also a part of the ss Committee at Zhonghua Road Primary School.¡±

    Zhang Zian was stupefied. His days in the Young Pioneers Committee was already the peak of his political career. He had never expected for Wang Yaning¡¯s political specs to crush him!

    ¡°Oh?¡± Ms. Sun was surprised. ¡°So how did you know that my surname is Sun?¡±

    In front of Zhang Zian, Wang Yaning had always been filled with contempt, but now, she had changed into an obedient little girl. She smiled and said, ¡°About half a month ago I came to your school to participate in the Young Pioneers activities and I got the chance to meet you at the event. Your profound knowledge and fluent speech left me with an unforgettable impression¨C¨Cespecially the way you managed the ss in an orderly manner. It was much better than the other form teachers! Even after we went back, my ssmates and I were filled with praises for you!¡±

    Holy sh*t! Zhang Zian¡¯s eyeballs almost popped out from their sockets. D*mn, that bootlicker! No wonder she was the favorite student of Little Celery¡¯s form teacher. She was such a sovereign-like existence in their ss...

    No one hated words of ttery, and even when she knew that it was fake, Ms. Sun waspletely ted. Almost immediately, she regarded Wang Yaning as her own, and now, the boring duty that had been going on for half a day was worth it...

    dimir looked at him with a faint smile on its face, meaning to say, ¡°Didn¡¯t I say that she had a bright future ahead of her?¡±

 Chapter 986: Bamboo Forest

    <h4>Chapter 986: Bamboo Forest</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Even though it was practically their first time meeting, Teacher Sun already believed Wang Yaning a 100 percent. She pointed at Zhang Zian and asked, ¡°Do you know this person?¡±

    Wang Yaning turned her head back to look at Zhang Zian, and her face instantly changed from a smiling one to a one as cold as ice. Even the face changes of the singers in the Sichuan Opera were not as sharp.

    Zhang Zian almost knelt down. The girl definitely could not be provoked after she was grown up... No, even now, he still could not afford to provoke her, if she used him of being a pervert, then even if he jumped into the Yellow River, he would not be able to clear his name!

    Fortunately, the script did not develop in the direction of a social ethics drama. Wang Yaning just nced at him contemptuously, then turned around and resumed her cute smile. ¡°He is the owner of a nearby pet shop. I know him, but I am not very familiar with him.¡±

    ¡°Oh, then are you sure that this cat is his?¡± Teacher Sun pointed at dimir again and asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s his.¡± Wang Yaning nodded.

    Zhang Zian finally let out a breath of relief. His whole person was about to copse. He had already made up his mind¨C¨Cif Wang Yaning wanted to stay in Binhai City and develop her career when she grew up, then he would definitely have to move as far away as possible!

    But why did she help him? He did not believe she was doing it with a sense of righteousness.

    Only then did Teacher Sun offer an embarrassed apology to Zhang Zian. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it¡¯s my misunderstanding.¡±

    Even though it was the other party¡¯s mistake, Zhang Zian had some kind of gratitude like he had received amnesty. He almost shouted, ¡°Thank the Lord!¡±

    He did not want to stay there for very long, as both the older and younger woman were not good to provoke. He nned to retreat for the time being ande back again the next day.

    However, Wang Yaning seemed to see through his n. She did not wait for him to leave before she said, ¡°Teacher Sun, this Uncle Zhang volunteered to help your esteemed school investigate the cat abuse case. He came specially to do that today.¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°...¡±

    Teacher Sun was stunned upon hearing that, wondering in her heart what kind of ability he had.

    Wang Yaning helped him introduce himself and said, ¡°This uncle is a bit famous in Binhai City. I believe you have also heard of him before, actually. The dog that he trained won the Best Actor Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, and he even helped the police solve a whole series of cases rted to pets.¡±

    Teacher Sun widened her eyes in shock. ¡°You... You¡¯re the trainer of Lightning? No wonder I found that you looked familiar... I was nning on taking the weekend to watch Dog Warrior, but in the end, I was chosen to keep watch here. Furthermore, our school might organize an event to book the theater to watch it!¡±

    Zhang Zian was also very shocked, but he was also confused. How did Wang Yaning know so much about him? Then, after taking another look, he saw the screen on the phone in her hand. He immediately guessed that Wang Yaning had searched him.

    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s really nothing much. It¡¯s just that I had some time today, so I came over to take a look,¡± he hurriedly said, ¡°I utterly hate cat abuse, so if I can help, that would be for the best.¡±

    ¡°Teacher Sun, since Uncle Zhang is happy to help, then let¡¯s not reject his goodwill.¡± One would guess that Wang Yaning went to Shimen Street Primary School from the way she talked.

    Zhang Zian had kind of guessed that she had probably thought that if she used the opportunity toe up with a clue, then she would be more well-known at school and perhaps she would be able to add one more red bracelet on her arm...

    Teacher Sun had been totally convinced by her. She followed the well-intentioned advice and said, ¡°All right, then thank you, Mr. Zhang. Please follow me. I¡¯ll bring you to where the cat abuse case was discovered.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought about it. At least Teacher Sun was a part of Shimen Street Primary School... It was better than listening to the citizens that were unrted to the case.

    ¡°Then I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll have to bother you, Teacher Sun.¡± He gave up trying to resist. Teacher Sun brought them into the bamboo forest, and dimir followed behind.

    The bamboo forest was full of dirt roads and rugged terrain. Teacher Sun took them next to a small slope, pointed to it, and said, ¡°That day, the old man living nearby heard the cat crying out loudly. He found a kitten whose eyes had been gouged out. He found another cat that seemed like it was from the same litter next to it, too young to be weaned off its milk. He said he saw the figure of a child running out of the bamboo forest quickly, so he reported it to the school.¡±

    Meow! As Teacher Sun was talking, there was the upset wailing of a cat.

    They turned their heads at the same time to look. A stray cat came out from the grass, around 20 meters away from them. It seemed as though it wanted toe near but it didn¡¯t dare to. It continuously called out, its cry filled with misery.

    Teacher Sun sighed, saying, ¡°The litter of kittens whose eyes were gouged out are most likely this cat¡¯s kittens. Its kittens suffered such a cruel fate when it went out to look for food... Ever since that day, it has been wandering around the small slopes screaming, like it¡¯s calling for its children...¡±

    Zhang Zian squatted down to take a look. The cat¡¯s chest was swollen, and it really seemed to be in thectation period. Teacher Sun seemed to know what she was talking about.

    A young cat whose eyes had been dug out would have definitely died. Its body was most likely buried by people with goodwill, but the female cat did not know. It probably believed that its children had gotten lost, and it was still searching, not willing to give up.

    ¡°How horrible!¡± dimir raised its paw and mmed it on the ground heavily. ¡°Where there is oppression, there is rebellion!¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°...¡±

    ¡°By the way, have the students and teachers of your school, or the old people living nearby, ever seen in the bamboo forest... the bronze statue of Cat God?¡± he asked.

    Teacher Sun was astonished. She did not understand why he suddenly asked such a weird question. ¡°Statue? How big is it? What kind is it?¡± she asked.

    Zhang Zian used his hands to show how big it was, then described what the Holy Cat Statue looked like and what color it was.

    Teacher Sun frowned. ¡°Wait, let me think... I vaguely remember a student mentioning a statue or something...¡±

    ¡°Which student?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Teacher Sun looked to the left then to the right. After confirming there was no one around, she reduced her voice and said, ¡°It¡¯s ¡®that¡¯ student...¡±

    Zhang Zian was confused for a while before he understood. She was talking about the student who had abused the cat, but because he was a minor, she could not specifically say his name.

    He nodded. ¡°What did they say about the Holy Cat Statue?¡±

    Teacher Sun looked at him strangely. ¡°We all thought that he was lying at that time because when we went to look for itter on, we did not find any statue at all...¡±

    After the old man who found the blinded kitten contacted the school, they had to go through rounds of investigation. Only then did they figure out which child it was. The child did not manage to hide it. He ried and admitted his mistake to the teacher.

    He imed that, on the way to school, he had passed by the bamboo forest and had seen the young kittens, but there was no adult female cat nearby. He said that he did not want to harm these kittens and had originally only wanted to y with them then go to school. He was already at the back door of the school, so it would not dy him much.

    After ying for a while, he saw the strange statue in the grass. It seemed to be made of metal. When he first saw it, he was scared, because he felt that the statue was dark and evil.

    At that moment, he said that his head suddenly buzzed and he felt very dizzy. All of a sudden, memories of being scolded by his parents when he was a child, memories of being scolded by his teacher for copying homework, and many more unpleasant memories poured into his mind, making him feel very much in pain. His heart felt like it was being burned.

    The kittens kept meowing, which made him even more irritated. He did not know why, but his hand reached out for one of the kitten¡¯s eyes... After he acted, a strange feeling of happiness came out from the bottom of his heart, and it seemed like all the unhappy memories disappeared as the blood flowed out of the kittens...

    When he returned to his senses, seeing the kittens that had been subjected to such abuse, he was very scared. At that time, someone walking by, so he immediately escaped, feeling very sure that he would not be recognized. In the end, however, he was still identified...

 Chapter 987: Bewitchment

    <h4>Chapter 987: Bewitchment</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian silently listened to Ms. Sun¡¯s recount while Wang Yaning, on the other hand, said with disdain, ¡°It¡¯s obvious that he¡¯s the culprit, yet he wants to push it all onto a statue to deliberately mystify the incident... Does he think that he can fool the teachers and parents with this? Boys are all like this. They have the guts to do it but they are cowards when they¡¯re held responsible. All of them are so daring when ites to causing trouble and behaving mischievously, but when they¡¯re caught, they cry louder than girls, and they always lie...¡±

    Ms. Sun hesitated for a moment before she nodded her head in agreement. ¡°We¡¯ve searched the area here, but we have not found any strange statues. This also isn¡¯t his first time causing trouble... He¡¯s a notorious problem student in ss. He doesn¡¯t do his homework, always lies that he lost his homework, and sometimes he has sticky fingers... His family environment isn¡¯t very good, though. His parents are divorced, and they were quarreling frequently before the divorce. Now he lives with his father, but his father is also busy with work and has no time to care for him, so the father pushed the responsibility of disciplining him to the school...¡±

    It seemed that the school and teachers had already determined that the child was lying. After all, he had a string of records before him. Although it was always said that everyone should be given a second chance, when something bad happened, the first person to be suspected was always the one that had a criminal record.

    Zhang Zian, however, believed the child¡¯s words. The child had never seen the Holy Cat statue before, so it was impossible for him to just make that up out of nowhere. But in any case, it was also true that the child had personally inflicted harm onto the kitten.

    Ms. Sun asked, puzzled, ¡°The thing about the child who met the weird statue... Only a few of us who were there at the time knew about it, and we didn¡¯t disclose anything regarding that in the WeChat group. How did you hear about it?¡±

    Their search for the statue was unsessful, so naturally, the teachers thought that the child was habitually lying and wanted to shirk his responsibilities. When they reported it to the school and parents, such detail was automatically removed. Now if Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t reminded her, even she would have forgotten about such a detail.

    ¡°Because... the statue¡¯s a missing item from my shop.¡± Zhang Zian carefully chose his words. ¡°It¡¯s a replica of an ancient Egyptian artifact, and ording to the legends, it¡¯s engraved with imperceptible textures that create a sense of dizziness when its stared at for a long time. It was a mechanism created by the ancient Egyptian pharaohs to deter grave robbers. So when the child said that he felt dizzy at that moment and couldn¡¯t control himself, I think it might be true...¡±

    Zian made everything up and told this non-existent legend of his as if it was real because he hoped that the responsibility on the child would be slightly relieved. Although the child had indeed done something wrong, everything he said was true, and it was very depressing to be suspected by everyone.

    A few days previous, Professor Wei Kang had added Zian into the WeChat group for the expedition team to let him familiarize himself with the other team members. The other team members were either graduate students or teaching assistants, all very energetic and lively, and they often shared information like the curse of the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh. Since they would be dealing with some of the local archaeologists on their trip to Egypt, they were trying to learn as much as they could from the murals of the tombs to find the mystery of the evolution of the original Egyptian Mau. The girls in the group were a little scared from looking through the information, so they told the boys not to send such stuff anymore. What if there was really a curse?

    In order to prove himself, he also pulled out the photo album on his phone and asked Ms. Sun to look at the photo of the Holy Cat statue he had taken before.

    Ms. Sun took in a breath of cold air. ¡°So there was such a statue here at the time? Why couldn¡¯t we find it? Was it taken away by someone? In literature it is often written that within the tombs and pyramids of ancient Egypt there exists the curse of the Pharaoh, and those who enter without permission will die tragically. I have never believed it, but could all that have been true?¡±

    dimir smiled and said aloud, ¡°There are still people that believe in the old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits from thousands of years ago? No wonder the Holy Cat statue still exists... In order to break free from the remnants of superstition, there is still a long way to go!¡±

    Of course, to Ms. Sun, the blue cat had simply meowed a few times.

    Zhang Zian just gave her a smile that carried a hint of secrecy. He didn¡¯t answer her series of questions directly. ¡°If you don¡¯t see what you hear, who can ascertain if it¡¯s true or not? Can you? I can¡¯t say much about the Pharaoh¡¯s curse, but there are many gif images online that can cause dizziness if one looks at them for a long time. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve seen those before right, Ms. Sun¨C¨Cthose that make use of the changes in the lighting to create those effects? The principle is the same.¡±

    Ms. Sun seemed to be convinced. She was very young, and she often mingled in the chat groups of various ssmates, colleagues, and parents. She had seen many gifs that were always rotating or changing, and if she were to focus on them for a while, she would feel a sense of dizziness. I there were simr patterns on the Holy Cat statue,bined with the sunlight and the shadows of the bamboo, it just might have a bewitching effect...

    ¡°Okay, I understand. The child might not have hurt the kitten entirely out his own intentions. I will exin this to the school and the parents.¡± She nodded reluctantly.

    If it was just his suspicions earlier, then Zhang Zian was sure of it now: The half-elfin Holy Cat statue did have some kind of bewitchment ability that called forth a person¡¯s worst memory and brought out their inner dark side. It was also only through bloodthirst and torture that they could regain their senses...

    Zian looked at dimir. If it came to bewitchment, the Holy Cat statue might be even worse than dimir...

    While they were talking, Ms. Sun turned to look back. She gasped in surprise and asked, ¡°Where did Wang Yaning go?¡±

    Zhang Zian also felt that he hadn¡¯t heard Wang Yaning¡¯s in a long time. He turned and looked, but saw that Wang Yaning was no longer around.

    Ms. Sun looked at him and asked, ¡°Did Wang Yaning go home already?¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. ¡°I didn¡¯te with her... Why would you ask me? How would I know where she went?¡±

    However, from Ms. Sun¡¯s perspective, Wang Yaning dide with Zhang Zian. ¡°Wang Yaning isn¡¯t such an impolite child. Even if she was going to leave, she would¡¯ve said something,¡± she said with certainty. It seemed like Wang Yaning had left a very good impression on her.

    dimir lifted a paw and pointed to the side of the bamboo forest then said, ¡°She noticed something and went that way alone.¡±

    Zhang Zian also pointed to that side and said, ¡°She went that way. Could she have needed... to pee?¡±

    Ms. Sun red at him. ¡°Wang Yaning isn¡¯t a boy. How could she relieve herself just anywhere?¡±

    ¡°That can¡¯t be said for sure. That kid always has a few sides to her: one in front of others and one behind...¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t continue the futile argument, but instead he softly whispered the statement to himself.

    Just then, a sudden scream came from within the bamboo forest. The voice was sharp and crisp; it sounded just like Wang Yaning.

    Zhang Zian and Ms. Sun looked at each other with shock, then quickly ran over together.

 Chapter 988: Scare

    <h4>Chapter 988: Scare</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian¡¯s head was hurting over Wang Yaning, the little viin, and wished to be away from her immediately. However, if she was met with any kind of danger, then he would definitely feel guilty. After all, she had followed him over.

    As for Teacher Sun, she was even more worried, because there had been a cat abuse case in the bamboo forest. If students from other schools met with any danger there, then Shimen Street Primary School would have an even worse reputation.

    The good thing was that she was wearing sports shoes and not high heels. Otherwise, she would really not be able to run that fast.

    The two of them ran towards where the sound came from. They both silentlyined that Wang Yaning did not tell them before she went off on her own.

    dimir was running even faster. Its movements were nimble, but it was restricted to only being slightly more nimble than normal cats. In terms of speed, it could notpare to Fina or Old Time Tea.

    The bamboo in front shook, and they saw Wang Yaning sitting on the floor. She had fallen and her back was towards them. She seemed as though she was very scared. Her two hands were pressed on the ground, her legs kicking wildly, and she was moving her butt backwards.

    ¡°Wang Yaning!¡± Teacher Sun hurriedly ran over. She hugged her shoulders and checked her body from head to toe, finding that she seemed to not have suffered any external injuries. She was just covered in dirt all over, as she had touched a lot of mud. Once she saw that everything was okay, she finally rxed.

    ¡°Wang Yaning, what happened to you?¡± Teacher Sun worriedly asked.

    Wang Yaning¡¯s face was pale, her lips were trembling, and her gaze was stiffly staring in front of her. Her voice stuttered as she said, ¡°I... I seemed to have seen the statue you both were talking about. It... it seemed to have smiled at me...¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Teacher Sun did not dare to believe her own ears, thinking that she had heard wrong. ¡°Wang Yaning, wake up! Were you so scared that you got confused? That¡¯s a statue. How could it smile?¡±

    ¡°Really! It was really smiling! I saw it!¡± Wang Yaning covered her ears and screamed shrilly. ¡°Why won¡¯t you believe me! If it did not smile, why would I be scared of a statue?¡±

    ¡°All right, all right! Wang Yaning, calm down!¡± Teacher Sun temporarily gave up on arguing and hurriedly tried tofort her.

    Zhang Zian and dimir had already walked around them. They rushed in front and carefully observed their surroundings.

    A light wind blew and the bamboo forest rustled slightly. Hundreds of pieces of bamboo swayed until it was dazzling. It felt like there was something hidden in the bamboo forests, but of course, that could have been a visual illusion.

    Zhang Zian used his gaze to ask dimir if it had seen something, and it shook its head in response. ¡°God d*mn. I said that I was just an ordinary cat, not a deity!¡±

    So far, apart from the smash at the door of the pet shop, dimir had indeed behaved like an ordinary cat. It was neither as outstanding in appearance as Old Time Tea, nor was it like Fina, who had tens of thousands of cat subjects that were submissive to it. It was also very different from Gxy. As it said itself, it seemed that it really had no superpower.

    But Zhang Zian knew that dimir did have a special power, and it was an extremely scary power.

    The saying went, ¡°A good man can be judged by his mouth, and a good horse can be judged by its legs.¡± dimir was like that as well. It was very persuasive and it had the ability to get cats to follow it. it had a strong sense of leadership and a powerful aura. Although it did not have any superpower, it had a lot of courage. In some ways, that was an even scarier power than any kind of superpower.

    After all, there was an old saying that went, ¡°Those who work with their brains will rule; those whobor with physical strength will work for people.¡±

    Zhang Zian wanted to go into the bamboo forest to search for it, but he was worried that if he and dimir left, the Holy Cat Statue woulde back again and scare Wan Yaning and Teacher Sun.

    Furthermore, the Holy Cat Statue seemed to be getting more and more arrogant. Before now it had only appeared at night, but this was broad daylight¨C¨Cthe sun was shining the brightest, and it actually appeared in an imposing manner. It seemed to be saying that its power was bing stronger and stronger.

    Wang Yaning said that it was smiling, and if that was true, then it meant that it was bing less and less of an inanimate object, and bing more and more of an elfin.

    He squatted down, staring at Wang Yaning who had cried until her face was full of tears and mucus, and asked, ¡°Where did you see the Holy Cat Statue?¡±

    Wang Yaning pointed in front of her, trembling.

    Without waiting for Zhang Zian¡¯s instructions, dimir ran out quickly. ¡°dimir, be careful!¡± he yelled from behind. Its figure quickly disappeared in the bamboo forest, and only its voice could be heard. ¡°D*mn it, a true Meow-Meow Doctrine Believer is not scared of anything!¡±

    Teacher Sun was confused. ¡°What did your cat go to do?¡±

    ¡°It went to pee,¡± Zhang Zian said quickly. He turned to Wang Yaning and asked in a questioning tone, ¡°What happened just now? Why did you walk away and not even tell us?¡±

    Surrounded by two adults, Wang Yaning regained herposure slightly, wrinkled her face in grief, and sobbed, ¡°I... When you were talking, I looked left and right, and suddenly saw something ck shaking in the bamboo forest. I wondered if it was the statue you had mentioned, so I wanted to go and see for myself.¡±

    Although she did not say it outloud, Zhang Zian could guess what she had been thinking. She definitely thought that if she could find the Holy Cat Statue that even the adults could not find, she would have done something great; therefore, she did not tell anyone and ran off. She had run off quietly so nobody could steal her credit.

    Teacher Sun said, her expression cold, ¡°This child... I thought that you had a steady and calm personality. How could you be so reckless? You did not even tell the adults! What if something had happened to you?¡±

    She channeled her inner teacher and wanted to repeat what she said again and again, but Zhang Zian stopped her with a hand because it was not the time. ¡°What happened after that? What did you see when you came here? What did you hear?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    A look of fear shed across Wang Yaning¡¯s fac. ¡°I came here because I saw a dark shadow squatting in the grass. It looked like a cat, but it seemed to be made out of some kind of gold metal. I thought that it could be the Holy Cat Statue, so I walked close to it to check... Then it suddenly turned its head and grinned at me savagely.¡±

    The scary scene had been deeply imprinted in her mind. No matter how hard she tried, every time she thought about it, that kind of fear that originated from the bottom of her heart overwhelmed any kind of courage she had.

    That kind of situation, to make an analogy, was like when one was walking at night and they saw a long-haired, pretty woman in front of them. As they started to walk up to her to chat her up, she turned her head and revealed a face like Sadako...

    Zhang Zian asked again, ¡°Were there any special features on its face?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Wang Yaning widened her eyes and said. ¡°It was wearing a shiny gold ring on its nose!¡±

 Chapter 989: Giving Pointers

    <h4>Chapter 989: Giving Pointers</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was impossible for normal cats to have a nose ring. So when Zhang Zian heard Wang Yaning say that there was a golden nose ring on the statue¡¯s face, he was confused. The nose ring on the Holy Cat statue had already been sliced off by Old Time Tea, and Zian himself had sent it to the Longfeng Jewelry Store to recycle. By now, it had probably been melted into liquid gold and recast into a piece of new gold jewelry that was on somedy¡¯s finger. So where had the nose ring on this statuee from?

    The Holy Cat statue that they were facing now was a replica, and only the nose ring was a product contemporary of the real thing. However, because it had been buried for more than 2000 years in the dark, it had lost its original shade of pure gold, and could no longer be linked with shiny gold. Anyone unaware would definitely mistake it for bronze.

    Wang Yaning insisted that the nose ring was bright gold, which made Zhang Zian wonder if it was the statue that had gone missing from his store. Or had the real thing in the British Museum be an elfin too? But there hadn¡¯t been any recent news from the British Museum...

    There was also the possibility that the concentrated power of faith had caused the replica to rece the real thing, just like how Famous had reced Rin Tin Tin as an elfin. So after it had gathered the power to be an elfin, the game had then restored its nose ring like it had hoped for, just like how the game had provided a bamboo hat and gown for Old Time Tea, who had be an elfin.

    Ms. Sun frowned again. Was she still in shock? Or was she possessed? How could the statue turn around andugh? But her words and descriptions were pretty clear, unlike those of someone in shock...

    ¡°Did you notice its other features? Did it also have a pair of gold earrings and a cor essory withplicated line patterns on its chest?¡± Zhang Zian asked again.

    Wang Yaning thought for a moment. ¡°The earrings were there, but I¡¯m not too sure about the cor on its chest, though it did seem to have some line patterns. What¡¯s a cor essory?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a square-shaped namete, simr to a ne. It hangs around its chest.¡± Zhang Zian gestured.

    ¡°No.¡± She shook her head without any hesitation. ¡°Although I didn¡¯t look too clearly, there was no square-shaped item.¡±

    Her answer was surprising because the neck ornament was carved into the body of the Holy Cat statue, so it was reasonable to say that it would be impossible to lose it or wear it out. Even the damaged nose ring had been perfectly reproduced, so how could the important neck ornament wear out?

    Zhang Zian made some further analysis and felt that there may only be one answer. The game must have determined that the Wadjet amulet, which represented the Eye of Horus in ancient Egyptian mythology, did not belong to the Holy Cat statue, so it had been taken away. The game was very fair. The current name ¡°Holy Cat statue¡± was just a customary name, and in fact, it was actually an Evil God statue. So it shouldn¡¯t have had the Wadjet amulet on it.

    Of course, all that was only his spection, because it was also possible that Wang Yaning had missed it. The truth could only wait until Zian saw the Holy Cat statue himself.

    Wang Yaning gradually stopped sobbing under thefort of Ms. Sun.

    ¡°Wang Yaning, can you try to recall what you saw again? Could you have seen wrongly? Like what Mr. Zhang said, were you affected with giddiness after looking at the line patterns? You know, it¡¯s impossible for a statue to turn around by itself,¡± Ms. Sun said after she saw that Wang Yaning was able to converse with no issues.

    Earlier, Wang Yaning had insisted that she had seen the Holy Cat statue turn its head, but this time, out of Zhang Zian¡¯s expectations, she looked up at him, then lowered her head and replied in a low voice, ¡°Well, I may have been wrong... Ms. Sun, you won¡¯t me me, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good. It¡¯s normal to mistake things when you¡¯re nervous. I won¡¯t me you just for this.¡± Ms. Sun smiled in relief and helped Wang Yaning sort out her hair, which had been messed up.

    Initially, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t understand why Wang Yaning had decided to take back her words, but right when they met eyes, he seemed to have found the answer¡ªWang Yaning hadmon sense, and ording tomon sense, statues didn¡¯t turn around. So if she were to insist that the statue had indeed turned its head around, she would be regarded as different by Ms. Sun and everyone else. Now, if this were to spread out, it would affect people¡¯s perception and evaluation of her, so she had told a lie against her will.

    She was very clever and very flexible too. She was aware that a child¡¯s so-called truth was worthless in front of socialmon sense. Children who tried to challengemon sense would always be crushed bymon sense and eventually be regarded as one with mental issues.

    What shocked Zhang Zian most was that she had already understood such logic at such a young age.

    At this moment, rustling sounds came from the bamboo forest. The sounds made the three nervous, and they all looked up at the same time.

    dimir leaped out of the bamboo forest, and there was more dust on its body now, as well as a green bamboo leaf on its head.

    Zhang Zian inquired about the situation with his eyes.

    ¡°God d*mn, there¡¯s nothing in the bamboo forest! But I¡¯m sure that the statue was hiding there before. I can feel the remnants of the evil presence inside!¡± dimir spat out saliva with dust in it, then walked around in circles, irritated.

    In the presence of outsiders, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t dare to respond to dimir.

    dimir clenched his fist. ¡°This can¡¯t go on. We can¡¯t let it take us by the nose! Even with all its beauty, the lotus flower needs its green leaves toplement it! And a fence requires the support of three stakes, while an able fellow needs the help of three other men! We must look for helpers and then take the initiative. We must hold the initiative firmly in our hands!¡±

    It made a lot of sense, but where were they going to look for helpers? Binhai City wasn¡¯t big nor was it small, but it was also because of ack of manpower that Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t been able to locate the Holy Cat statue. He had even gotten help from theizens in Snowy¡¯s live broadcast room, but the results weren¡¯t ideal. Even if all the elfins were mobilized, they wouldn¡¯t be able to cover much ground.

    dimir didn¡¯t exin further, but it was still full of strong self-confidence and had no doubt about victory and sess.

    Ms. Sun lifted Wang Yaning from the ground and patted off the dirt on her clothes. She asked, ¡°Wang Yaning, where¡¯s your home? Do you want me to send you home?¡±

    It was already close to noon. Ms. Sun¡¯s duty had also ended, and with all that had happened earlier, she had no intention of staying.

    Wang Yaning shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s okay, thank you, Ms. Sun. I can go back by myself.¡±

    ¡°How is this okay? You¡¯ve just been through shock, I think it¡¯s better for me to send you home.¡± Ms. Sun was afraid that Wang Yaning might be out of sorts and space out again, and it wouldn¡¯t be good if anything were to happen on her way home.

    But Wang Yaning refused to ept her offer.

    Ms. Sun then turned to see Zhang Zian, and with the tone of a teacher, she forcefully assigned him a task. ¡°Mr. Zhang, since you and Wang Yaning came here together, why don¡¯t you send her home.¡±

    Zhang Zian shrugged. ¡°I also don¡¯t know where her house is...¡±

    ¡°Then at least send her back to Zhonghua Road Primary School,¡± Ms. Sun insisted.

    This time, Wang Yaning remained silent and didn¡¯t object. She probably felt that Zhang Zian was a weakling and easy to push around...

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s go,¡± Zhang Zian sighed. He still couldn¡¯t get rid of this little liar.

    Ms. Sun said, ¡°Wang Yaning, be careful on your way home, and if you encounter any situations, do contact the adults in time.¡±

    ¡°I know. Thank you, Ms. Sun. Goodbye!¡± Even at this moment, Wang Yaning didn¡¯t forget to give a Young Pioneers greeting. She turned to follow Zhang Zian out and stayed behind him.

    Ms. Sun watched them disappear around the corner before she left the bamboo forest to go home.

    After walking for a while, Wang Yaning suddenly asked, ¡°That statue... What¡¯s going on?¡±

    She had been holding this question in her heart for a long time, and the reason why she was willing to leave with Zian was also to ask about this.

    But Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to involve her in the matter, and he also didn¡¯t want to scare her, so he casually said, ¡°That¡¯s not something children should know.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, what are you being smug for? I can just check it myself, and even if I can¡¯t find anything, when I grow up, I will force you to say it sooner orter!¡± she threatened Zian.

    Zhang Zian gave an expression that said, Heh, we¡¯ll talk about it when you grow up.

    ¡°Right, Wang Yaning, I have a question for you,¡± Zian said, changing the subject.

    But Wang Yaning remained silent and didn¡¯t answer him.

    So Zian had to ask directly. ¡°Wang Yaning, what are you going to do when you grow up? You¡¯ve got the gift of the gab, so I think that you¡¯re suitable to be awyer...¡±

    Wang Yaning asked Zian, ¡°What about you? Did you want to open a pet shop when you were young?¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled and said, ¡°Not really when I was young. I felt that putting on a military uniform was very awe-inspiring, so I wanted to be a general...¡±

    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you join the army?¡± she asked again.

    ¡°This is why... ideals are ideals, and reality is reality. After growing up, I felt that it would be a safer option to go study at a university. It wouldn¡¯t be easy to be a general,¡± he said.

    She snorted, and maybe because she felt that Zian was harmless, she spoke without holding anything back. ¡°If a rtive who¡¯s a doctor asks me this question, I would say that I want to be a doctor; if it¡¯s a rtive who started apany, I would say that I want to start my own business; and if it¡¯s a teacher, I would say that I¡¯d like to be a glorious people¡¯s teacher...¡±

    With all that said, Wang Yaning gave Zian a look. ¡°But I would never open a pet shop.¡±

    Zhang Zian felt that he was being deeply despised.

    He really had not misread her, she was definitely a quick-witted one!

    ¡°So what do you really want to do?¡± he continued to ask, pretending not to understand what she¡¯d said earlier.

    She stretched out three fingers. ¡°I want to do this.¡±

    Thinking to himself that this little girl was actually starting a riddle now, he decided to go along with her since he had nothing to do either.

    ¡°I know, you want to enroll in the top three schools in China!¡± With a sh of wit, Zian smiled and said, ¡°When I was young, I was also worried about whether I should go to Peking University or Tsinghua University, but then I realized that I¡¯d been overthinking things...¡±

    Wang Yaning had a ¡°how silly you are¡± face on. She just gave up and said, ¡°I want to get into the system and sit in the first three rows!¡±

    Zhang Zian said nothing.

    The first three rows probably didn¡¯t mean the first three rows in ss, right? They should be arranged based on size and height...

    dimir praised: ¡°Sure enough, she¡¯s the sun at six or seven o¡¯clock in the morning! Her ambitions aremendable! Young she may be, her ambitions seeping; filled with overflowing enthusiasm, breaking free from restraints! Giving words of advice, stirring the people¡¯s me, the great was treated no more than dust!¡±

    Zhang Zian felt that not only would he have to flee Binhai City after 20 years, but he also might not even be able to stay in the country...

 Chapter 990: The One Who Spots the Long-Distance Running Horse

    <h4>Chapter 990: The One Who Spots the Long-Distance Running Horse</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Knock! Knock, knock!

    In the early morning, Zhang Zian was woken up by the faint sound of knocking. He yawned and sat up. Rubbing his eyes that were still sleep-ridden, he got down from the bed and walked to the window in confusion. He pulled up the curtains and saw dimir sitting outside, so he opened the window for it. After it jumped in, he closed the window lightly, trying not to disturb the other elfins that were still asleep.

    It was not a ghost calling outside his door at midnight, but a cat knocking on his window in the early morning.

    Thest few days, dimir had frequently gone out at night and slept during the day. When Zhang Zian and the elfins wanted to sleep, it would go out by itself, then return in the early morning.

    It opened its mouth widely and yawned. Its face was full of tiredness as it said, ¡°God d*mn, I¡¯m so tired. Time to hurry and sleep!¡±

    ¡°Why do you keep running outte at night? Is there anything that you cannot solve during the day?¡± After the morning wind blew at him through the window, Zhang Zian was slightly more awake.

    After a few days of interacting with it, he knew that dimir actually did not need to eat. That showed that it was likely not a cat that existed in real life, and instead, it was just an imaginary elfin. Despite that, however, it still needed to sleep.

    dimir did not care much and justid on the mat. He answered in a way that did not actually answer Zhang Zian¡¯s question. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m almost done settling it. In the future, I¡¯ll try to work during the day and sleep at night.¡±

    Zhang Zian saw that it seemed to not want to say, or perhaps it felt that it was not the right time. It picked up a cloth and covered its body with it like a nket.

    Its fur had a lot of small stems and thorns on it every morning when it returned. It was like it had been running about the whole night with no feeling of exhaustion.

    Actually, even if it didn¡¯t say anything, Zhang Zian could roughly guess that it definitely went out and fought with the stray cats outside. It seemed to not have any realization that it was an elfin and did not think that it was better than the ordinary cat. If it met a stray cat on the road, it would always raise a front paw and automatically greet the other party. Even if they ignored it, it was not angry.

    He sat next to the bed and took up his phone to look at the time. Even though it was slightly earlier than his normal wake up time, he was awake already. He probably would not be able to sleep even if heid back down.

    There were a few unread notifications on his phone. They had been sent overte the night before by the [Copse The World], whom he had met on the forum. It seemed like they were also nocturnal.

    [Copse The World]: ¡°Did you see the newest data from the crawler program? In thest two days, the capital had its first cat abuse case. It seems like the peace was only a probability-wise, asional urrence.¡±

    Zhang Zian saw that Pi was still sleeping in the basket hammock chair, so he sat in front of theputer and opened the screen of theptop.

    Aftering back from the capital, he had been running the Inte crawler program that [Copse The World] had sent in the background. He had been searching for information on cat abuse cases around the country on the local forums in different countries. Theputer was practically never closed, anyway, so it did not interfere with Pi¡¯s writing.

    He changed to the interface of the Inte crawler, and based on the urrences of the cat abuse cases, he sorted it them lowest to highest. As expected, he saw a new record: The capital, which had never been on the list, had a new entry.

    Opening the new entry, he quickly looked through the capital forum snapshots and saw that the cat abuse cases were around the same as other ces.

    It looked like as soon as dimir left the capital, the capital immediately fell into trouble.

    [Copse The World] had guessed wrong, but that was also good. It would save Zhang Zian the trouble of him being suspicious every day.

    Zhang Zian replied: ¡°My trip to the capital has yielded some results, and cat abuse cases may be over in the near future. If you want to ask the reason, it¡¯s probably... The construction of socialist spiritual civilization has achieved periodic results.¡±

    He sent the message over, and as to whether [Copse The World] believed it or not, it had nothing to do with him.

    ¡°Meow! Zian, good morning!¡± Gxy energetically whispered.

    He also replied quietly, in order to prevent disturbing the other elfins¡¯ rest.

    He went downstairs and opened the shutter door, then started to clean up in preparation for the shop¡¯s opening.

    Not long after, Wang Qian, Li Kun, Lu Yiyun, and Jiang Feifei came in one by one, taking up the cleaning equipment and chatting as they did their daily activities.

    Uncle Li and Aunt Li had opened up shop earlier than he had, so now the door of the snack bar already had a lot of people lined up outside of it.

    ¡°Mr Shop Manager, good morning!¡± Masanori Suzuhara held onto Snoopy¡¯s leash and quickly ran past his shop.

    ¡°Good morning,¡± he replied, holding a broom.

    Everything was normal.

    ¡°Store Manager Zhang! Store Manager Zhang! Are you here?¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s back was facing the door as he helped ce the stic bottles Wang Qian and Li Kun had spent the day before collecting into a stic bag. He suddenly heard someone call him from behind; the voice was quite old, but it sounded familiar.

    He turned to look. An electric bicycle was stopped at the door of the shop, and Electrician Wu hurriedly jumped off the vehicle and quickly rushed into the shop.

    ¡°Store Manager Zhang!¡± Electrician Wu¡¯s throat and tongue were dry. He pulled on his arm, not able to say anything for a short while.

    ¡°What happened, Master Wu? Don¡¯t be too flustered. Speak slowly, the sky won¡¯t fall,¡± Zhang Zian signaled for Wang Qian to give Electrician Wu a cup of water in a disposable paper cup.

    Electrician Wu gulped down the water in the cup quickly. He wiped his mouth and said, ¡°Store Manager Zhang! You¡¯re finally back! Where have you run off to these few days? I couldn¡¯t find you at all!¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve been a bit busy. I was in the capital thest few days,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°Master Wu, why were you looking for me? Are you going to introduce me to someone? Is the girl pretty? Is it a worker in your factor? I can rx my criteria. If it¡¯s not a fair-skinned, rich, and gorgeous girl it¡¯s all right... as long as she¡¯s either pretty or rich. After all, we know each other quite well, and I trust Master Wu¡¯s judgment...¡±

    Electrician Wu almost choked. He coughed a few times before regaining his breath. ¡°Cough! Cough! This... I¡¯ll make sure to keep a lookout for Store Manager Zhang next time¨C¨Ckeep a look-out... Store Manager Zhang, you¡¯re a fine-looking man, you still haven¡¯t found a girlfriend yet?¡± Electrician Wu said awkwardly.

    ¡°Sigh, I must first have a person who can spot the long-distance running horse before I can find a long-distance running horse. Now the problem is that it is easy to find a long-distance running horse, but it is hard to find someone who can spot it...¡± Zhang Zian held his wrist and sighed.

    ¡°Master, why are you taking things to heart? Is it that the novels are not nice, or the game is not fun? Why must you find a girl?¡± Wang Qian came over to them. ¡°Women are the most troublesome.¡±

    ¡°Ga ga! That¡¯s right, men can still y with men,¡± Richard said, a hidden meaning to its words. ¡°If you are really bored, how about finding a wrestling training camp to sign up for? You can be the next King Billy!¡±

    ¡°Leave! All of you leave!¡± Zhang Zian red. He picked up a feather-duster and chased them all away before he turned to Electrician Wu and asked, ¡°Master Wu, please don¡¯t forget to do that... Right, what are you here for today?¡±

 Chapter 991: Various Methods of Inviting Trouble

    <h4>Chapter 991: Various Methods of Inviting Trouble</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian brought a chair over and gestured for Electrician Wu to sit down. Electrician Wu wasn¡¯t young anymore, and there would be trouble if he were to have a panic attack. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to have an ambnce visit the pet shop again.

    However, Electrician Wu¡¯s body was still in good condition, and in terms of mental health, he felt younger than people the same age as him; however, that was due to his stability in life, his open-minded nature, and his spiritual sustenance.

    Electrician Wu took a moment to catch his breath and said, ¡°Actually, it isn¡¯t an urgent matter. I was just anxious because I was afraid that you would disappear again. I visited your shop about two or three times a few days ago, but you weren¡¯t around... I rushed down today in a hurry, afraid that you would head out again...¡±

    Zhang Zian was surprised and thought to himself, He¡¯s been here two or three times to look for me? But no one said anything about this.

    Zian had gone to the capital a few days prior, and after his return, he had been busy taking Famous to a series of media activities organized by Binhai City¨C¨Cwhich included leaving its paw prints on the Star Avenue in Binhai Studio. It was normal for Electrician Wu to miss him, as Zian had been heading out early in the morning and returningte at night.

    Zian had notified the staff members ahead of time that if someone were to look for him specifically, they needed to take down the visitor¡¯s details. That way, when Zian returned at night, he would be able to call the visitor back depending on the situation. There hadn¡¯t been any records of Electrician Wu stopping by over thest few days.

    Electrician Wu observed Zian¡¯s facial expression and noticed that Zhang Zian gave Lu Yiyun a questioning look. He quickly added, ¡°Oh. During my visits, all your staff members were very busy, and there were a lot of customers in the store. I just took a look around and left withouting in because I didn¡¯t want to bother you guys or affect the business.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded and expressed that he understood. ¡°So, your reason foring here...¡±

    ¡°Cough! It¡¯s all because of Welder Zhao, that old child... I¡¯m almost like his father now, worrying about him all day!¡± Electrician Wu said as he sighed and pped his own thigh.

    In fact, when Electrician Wu came in through the door, Zhang Zian had already guessed about 70 percent to 80 percent of the reason he was there. After all, Electrician Wu was a steady old man. Although he was as ordinary as one could be, he stood out by being a very steady person. He didn¡¯t cause trouble, and wouldn¡¯t do anything stupid just because he had nothing to do. Such people generally did not encounter anything particrly urgent.

    Electrician Wu¡¯s longtime friend, Welder Zhao, was a ssic example of someone who had various methods of inviting trouble. He continuously went to great lengths to save money, yet he had extremely bad luck. For example, the reef rocks that he brought back from the sea had a bobbit worm in them. After that, he had nned to ask Carpenter Wang for a few fish while he cleared his tank, but he got infected with Palytoxin. He wanted to save money on fish, but he got charged for the hospital bills instead... No one knew how he survived until the age of retirement.

    From listening to Electrician Wu¡¯s tone, Zhang Zian wondered if Welder Zhao got into trouble again after he had just been discharged from the hospital only a few days ago...

    With all that said, Electrician Wu felt very embarrassed for this longtime friend. His retirement sry was not veryrge, and an ordinary family wouldn¡¯t spend so much money on fish alone. Welder Zhao was always trying to save money, only to lose more money in the end.

    Electrician Wu thought about leaving Welder Zhao alone¨C¨Cletting him suffer alone so he would learn how to be honest after learning a lesson the hard way¨C¨Cbut he just couldn¡¯t harden his heart. Especially after thest time, the Palytoxin incident had scared Electrician Wu so bad. He feared that Welder Zhao had implicated other people because of his own foolish actions.

    ording to Electrician Wu, after Carpenter Wang caused the Palytoxin incident, he became the target of criticism for the wholemunity. Everyone was gossiping and criticizing him until he no longer had the face to remain in themunity. After being discharged from the hospital, he didn¡¯t even return home, but directly escaped to his rtive¡¯s ce to recover. He was probably intending to sell his old house and never return to Binhai City.

    Welder Zhao was discharged much earlier, and without Carpenter Wang to lead him along, he was quiet for a few days. Having been reprimanded by his family members, Welder Zhao imed that he would change his ways and no longer touch dangerous things in the future... However, when his family asked him to not raise saltwater fish ever again, he didn¡¯t agree to it. But after taking into consideration that raising fish was Welder Zhao¡¯s only hobby¨C¨Cand it wasn¡¯t a bad hobby like drinking, prostitution, or gambling¨C¨Cthey no longer tried to force him to stop.

    Carpenter Wang had previously added Welder Zhao into a local marine fish culture group. There weren¡¯t many people in the group, and for most of their chats, they mainly bragged about things; they would only asionally exchange information about marine animals. For example, they had information about which aquarium had a new batch of fish. From there, they would call on everyone to organize a group purchase so they would be able to ask for a discounted price from the shop owner.

    Once, Welder Zhao had seen people in the group talk excitedly about a local aquarium that was having a clearance sale. It wasn¡¯t because the boss was running away with his mistress, but because the store was jointly sealed by the industrial andmercial taxation public security departments. The store was the shop that had identally sold the Palythoa Corals to Carpenter Wang, so it was under investigation for buying and selling dangerous goods.

    The shop was already destined for doom, so the owner and staff of the shop were secretly selling off their products for a low price during the middle of the night; they were trying to recover as much as they could before they lost everything.

    After the people in the group caught wind of the information, they all hurried down at night to snatch some good buys. There were aquarium tanks, aquarium equipment, and aquarium creatures¨C¨Cthey got everything they could, and after they got back, they started posting all the discounted prices. The prices were really ridiculously low; they were about one-third of the usual market price. Plus, the quality of the equipment and aquarium creatures were very good. Welder Zhao was very envious from hearing about it.

    Welder Zhao looked at the heated discussion in the group and the photos that were taken by members of the group, then he looked at his own fish tank that only had a few fish in it. The more he thought about it, the more unfair he felt it was... Why were they the only ones getting to enjoy it? Was he just supposed to watch all of them?

    That kind of mentality was verymon, unless it was a person of great wealth. Otherwise, few people in their middle and old age would be able to avoid it. Not to mention the great discount... Even if eggs in the supermarket were to suddenly go on sale, it would attract a bunch of olddies to queue up from the early morning just to get them...

    Welder Zhao made the calctions himself and confirmed that it was the best opportunity to buy high-end aquarium creatures for a low price, and although that kind of opportunity did happen asionally, it was very rare. If he were to miss out on the opportunity, he might never have one again! If he didn¡¯t go, all the products would have already been snatched by the others, or the store might have beenpletely sealed up by the jointw enforcement agencies. If any of that were to happen, he would definitely regret it for the rest of his life!

    Of course, to say that he hadn¡¯t learned any lessons from his past experience was an usation. After all, he was not the kind to just forget about a lesson learned.

    He had learned his lessons, but he felt that the danger had stemmed from the live rocks and corals, so he decided to only buy fish. He would not touch live rocks and corals no matter how cheap they were. So after getting the fish, he woulde back and build a fish tank with only fish. That would definitely be okay... right? It was not a vition of his promise to his family.

    He made a decision to take an indirect approach, so he casually lied to his family, and right after dinner, he told them that he was heading down to Electrician Wu¡¯s home and might be returningte. He told his family to go to sleep and not to wait for him, then he snuck out to pick some cheap fish.

 Chapter 992: Door-to-Door Appraisal

    <h4>Chapter 992: Door-to-Door Appraisal</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The aquarium Welder Zhao went to was an old one, and had been open in Binhai City for more than ten years. It had a very good reputation¨C¨Ctheir rtionships with the higher-ups and their customers was very good, and their scale of production was slowly increasing. If it was not for the Palytoxin incident blowing up, the shop most likely would not have closed down.

    Because the scale of the shop was quiterge and the aquatic animals were all quite small in size, even if they sold everything at super low prices, the things in the shop would not sell out that fast.

    Welder Zhao had heard about the shop location and had taken the electric bicycle to quickly find it.

    Just like what was said in the group, even though it waste at night, the shop was busy like it was the morning. The main door was sealed up by the jointw enforcement stickers and could not be entered, but the back door was open wide. There would asionally be fish lovers that came and went, having bought many things.

    The shop was clearing stock secretly and did not dare to be too obvious. They did not even dare to open the main light in the shop. Whether it was shop employees or those who came to buy fish, they were all holding torchlights or using their phones for light. It resembled the headlights that underground workers used.

    Quite a few people drove their cars over, buying the fish tanks and the equipment for keeping their fish like they were free of charge.

    Welder Zhao looked at the situation and became even more anxious, scared that he hade toote. He was worried all the good things had already been taken.

    He had not kept saltwater fish for a very long time, and he could only recognize themonly seen aquatic animals. At that moment, the shop was very dark and a mess. There was no time to observe how the fish looked, and his eyes, which had presbyopia, could not clearly see the words on thebels for the fish tanks. He could only guess the type of the fish based on the price.

    The employees were yelling to clear out their stock and mark down their prices, not giving receipts and not talking about prices. Their hands were continuously collecting payment from the customers, so they did not have the time to bother with him.

    Seeing the fish lovers in the shop increase, and the items in the shop decrease, Welder Zhao gritted his teeth. Based on how much money he had in his secret stash of money, he chose ten fish that he had never seen before, found a shop employee, and paid for the fish.

    Because Welder Zhao did not have a car, it was not convenient to bring the precious and expensive fish home. The employee promised that they would have someone deliver the fish to his house and told him not to worry.

    When Welder Zhao heard the promise, he felt that it was not suitable. When he left the house earlier, he had not told his wife that he was going to buy fish. If they were sent over, wouldn¡¯t that expose him? He could not bear to part with the fish that he bought, so he gave them Electrician Wu¡¯s address and had the employees send the fish to his house the next day.

    The next day, when the employee sent the fish to his house, Electrician Wu was very confused. His wife had thought that it was edible fish that their son and daughter-inw had bought and almost cooked it.

    Electrician Wu had guessed that there was an 80 percent chance it was Welder Zhao who bought it. When he called to ask, his suspicion was confirmed.

    Welder Zhao talked about his trouble and told the happenings of the situation to Electrician Wu. After he went back home from the aquarium the previous day, he had tried to test the waters with his family members, and had hinted about wanting to buy a fish. His family members all rejected the idea, however, thinking that the Palytoxin incident had just been resolved. They did not want him to buy more aquatic animals so quickly... They didn¡¯t want the neighbors to gossip.

    He had no choice. He could only ask Electrician Wu if he could temporarily leave the fish at his house. After a few days, when the whole problem was over, he would bring the fish back home.

    Electrician Wu had originally not wanted to agree, but if he did not agree, what could they do? The fishes were quite expensive, so they could not throw them away... Although he was not as petty as Welder Zhao, as a whole, he was still quite thrifty.

    After he said that, Electrician Wu sighed. He had finally gotten to the point of his entire visit to the aquarium. He said, ¡°Store Manager Zhang, I don¡¯t want to keep it from you, but Zhao is not a very reliable person. Thesest few days I¡¯ve been very worried. The fish that Zhao brought back... I don¡¯t recognize them and I am worried that there is a dangerous fish in there...¡±

    Electrician Wu was the kind of person that, after having been bitten by a snake once, he would be scared of a rope for ten years. He was filled with fear towards aquatic animals and was worried about the foreign fish.

    He continued, ¡°I have a young child at home, and he¡¯s at such a mischievous age right now. Although I ordered him to stay away from the fish tank, he¡¯s a young child. When he starts to y he goes crazy... I came here because I wanted you to help me see if the fishes are dangerous or not. If there is a danger, no matter how expensive the fish is, I¡¯ll throw it out!¡±

    Zhang Zian finally understood. Welder Zhao was ying with fire again, blindly buying fish he did not recognize and leaving them in other people¡¯s house. He was basically making someone else his shield!

    Electrician Wu took out his phone in embarrassment. ¡°Store Manager Zhang, I know that you are a famous person in Binhai City and you are busy with a lot of things... I did not want to trouble you. I had originally wanted to take a photo of the fish using his phone and ask you to take a look, but this horrible phone... When I took a photo of it, it was only a blur... I couldn¡¯t manage to get an eptable photo...¡±

    He had heard that the dog in Zhang Zian¡¯s shop had gotten an important award from an overseas film festival, and he had also solved the Palytoxin case and had gone on television. It was no longer the same as before... He was now a famous person in Binhai City. When would he have the time to make a trip down to his house to help him check the fish? Even if Zhang Zian found an excuse to reject it, he would have nothing to say. He had already prepared himself for a no.

    Zhang Zian took his phone to take a look. The photo was really not clear, and he could not see the species of fish. Actually, even if it was a high-quality phone, because the speed of the camera shutter was quite slow, and the reflection of the ss of the fish tank, even if they wanted to take a photo of a fast moving fish, it would not be easy.

    He passed his phone to Electrician Wu, thought about it, and said, ¡°I understand. Teacher Wu, it just happens that I have time today. I can make a trip to your house to take a look.¡±

    ¡°Really? How can I trouble you like that...¡± Electrician Wu was both shocked and happy. ¡°I didn¡¯t buy these fish from your shop, but I¡¯m troubling you like that... It really makes me feel uneasy...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a problem,¡± Zhang Zian smiled and said. ¡°Actually, I¡¯m almost done with what I¡¯m dealing with, so I have a free moment. I had originally nned on finding an opportunity to go to your area and visit some old friends, and it just happens that I can visit your house on the way. It¡¯s not troublesome, so you don¡¯t need to be overly polite. There¡¯s nothing to be uneasy about.¡±

    Electrician Wu stood up and rubbed his hands, his gaze falling onto the electric bicycle outside of the shop. ¡°That¡¯s great! Then... should we go now or...¡±

    He had an electric bicycle, but Zhang Zian did not have one. If he wanted to go with him, he could only sit behind him.

    When they were in the capital, Zhang Zian had ridden on the back of the electric bicycles of the auxiliary police to chase the human traffickers. That was an urgent and evil situation, so he had a reason to do so. Now, however, it was not something urgent, and an adult sitting on the back of an electric bicycle was illegal.

    Zhang Zian had always been aw-abiding citizen, and now that he was slightly famous, he was even more conscious of his actions. He could not do these kinds of obviously illegal things. Even if he wanted to do it, he could not do it in broad daylight. If he was investigated by the traffic police, he would be embarrassed.

 Chapter 993: Thereâ€™s Really None of That

    <h4>Chapter 993: There¡¯s Really None of That</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian suggested for Electrician Wu to head home first, he knows Electrician Wu¡¯s address, so he¡¯ll be there after a while.

    Electrician Wu¡¯s anxiety was mainly due to the feeling of unease towards unfamiliar saltwater fishes. But ording to Zhang Zian, although saltwater fishes bought may be poisonous or dangerous, but at least they wouldn¡¯t beparable to the likes of the Palytoxin, which had almost turned into a weapon of mass destruction. Additionally, as long as they don¡¯t take the initiative to touch the fishes, the fishes wouldn¡¯t pose any danger to the people outside the aquarium tank.

    With the words of Zhang Zian, Electrician Wu felt relieved. Now Electrician Wu has regarded Zhang Zian who has been on TV as an authority, this is also the general mentality of many middle-aged and elderly people. They feel that anyone who appears on TV is very remarkable.

    Zhang Zian reminded him about some other stuff, mainly to let Electrician Wu take care of his grandson, and not let the children approach the fish tank for the time being.

    Electrician Wui promised to do all that and went home on his electric bicycle.

    Zhang Zian first went back upstairs, and as soon as he entered the living room, he heard Sihwa¡¯s agitated voiceing from the bathroom.

    ¡°Let me tell all of you, I¡¯m just living here to experience life. The bathroom with the jacuzzi is my true home...Hey! Why don¡¯t you guys believe me!¡±

    Apparently, she hasn¡¯t fully awakened from her dreams, and she¡¯s also attempting to make the audience in the live broadcast dream with her.

    Pi was focused on his typing.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t disturb Pi, he entered the storage room, and found a pair of long rubber gloves from the inside, those that were over the elbows and were much thicker. This glove was worn by his parents when they bathed cats, so there were many or deep and shallow scratches and white marks left on its surface.

    If Zian was going to some other aquarists house, he wouldn¡¯t have to arm himself like this, but considering that it¡¯s Welder Zhao who¡¯s always inviting trouble and also has the worst of luck, no preventive measures would be overboard...

    It may be his footsteps or it may also be Sihwa¡¯s voice that woke up the sleeping dimir. As soon as it got up, it blinked and asked, ¡°How long have I slept for?¡±

    ¡°Not more than two hours.¡± Zhang Zian pointed at the door of the bathroom, ¡°Would you like me to close the door for you? The fish inside is too noisy.¡±

    ¡°Hey! Ajeo-an, who are you calling a fish! I¡¯m obviously a mermaid!¡± Sihwa¡¯s keen sense of hearing caught what Zian said and she shouted from the bathroom.

    ¡°No, two hours is enough sleep.¡± dimir shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s not a good habit to stay up at night and I¡¯ve always wanted to change this habit but I haven¡¯t. I¡¯ll take this opportunity to sleep less during the day and sleep again at night. ¡±

    Since it came to the pet shop, dimir had been behaving like a nocturnal animal. It¡¯s especially energetic every night and only sleeps when the next morninges. In this sense, it really was like an ordinary stray cat.

    It looked at the north with a slightly tired eye and said: ¡°This is a bad habit left from those wandering days outside. As a stray cat, you never know when you would be in danger and the dangers encountered during the night are usually far greater than the daytime. Every night, all kinds of monsters and creaturese out, and it is only during the day where they can sleep peacefully for a few hours.¡±

    Zhang Zian listened quietly while Sihwa was still going on in her broadcast room.

    ¡°I rarely go out at night, so I don¡¯t know much about the world at night,¡± said Zian.

    ¡°It¡¯s best to never understand it. The day is the world for people, so leave the world at night to the cats.¡± dimir nced at him, ¡°The reason why stray cats are being bullied is that they are never united, or always fighting amongst one another. If they want to reverse the current situation, they can only win by strengthening the team and fight with determination!¡±

    ¡°Okay, but you¡¯ll have to be careful.¡±

    Although it¡¯s very confident, Zhang Zian was still very worried. After all, the Holy Cat statue wasn¡¯t easy to deal with.

    It grinned and clenched its fist, then it said: ¡°Don¡¯t worry! There are only two roads in front of us, victory or death, but death does not belong to the Meow-Meow Doctrine Believer!¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded and raised the rubber gloves in his hand. ¡°I¡¯ll be heading out and will be back before noon. Are you staying at home to rest, or are you heading out too?¡±

    ¡°Is it far?¡± it asked.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not too close,¡± Zian replied.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll go along.¡± It wiped its face indiscriminately and made himself feel more awake, ¡°I¡¯ve already seen the area around the vicinity, time to venture out for a look.¡±

    ¡°Great.¡± Zhang Zian pushed open the window and shouted downstairs: ¡°Wang Qian! Is the fuel full?¡±

    A few days ago, Wang Qian and Li Kun have always taken the Wuling Shenguang to the beach, so he¡¯s worried that they would have forgotten to refuel the car. Which would be troublesome if the car doesn¡¯t have fuel.

    ¡°Master! It¡¯s full!¡± Wang Qian also shouted.

    Zhang Zian closed the window and waved at dimir, indicating: ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    dimir didn¡¯t move, it curiously asked: ¡°Are we taking a Gundam there?¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°...¡±

    Zian thought he had heard it wrong. How could this otaku-like phrasee from dimir?

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Zian asked.

    It repeated with all seriousness: ¡°Are we taking a Gundam there?¡±

    ¡°No...¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know tough or cry, he solemnly rified: ¡°I don¡¯t have a Gundam.¡±

    dimir had a doubtful look, ¡°No Gundam?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°You should have one!¡± it said firmly.

    ¡°I really don¡¯t have one! It¡¯s better to say, why would you think that I have a Gundam?¡± Zhang Zian waspletely baffled because its tone obviously didn¡¯t mean the Gundam toys, but to pilot a Gundam and head out...

    When it heard Zian, dimir had disappointment written all over its face and it sighed: ¡°Is that so, what a pity... When I went outst night, I passed by a room and heard a fat man dancing and talking to theputer¡ª¡ªHuben soldiers at Meng Liang Gu, thousand-mile reinforcements by Li Tianxia. Help is not withheld, it is because the enemy is in possession of Gundams... I thought it was true.¡±

    Zhang Zian started to sweat and thought to himself, that fat otaku must die! What nonsense is he spouting!

    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to the nonsense that those fat otakus spout, we don¡¯t have any Gundams in our military!¡± He once again rified, what if itmits the crime of historical nihilism?

    ¡°Okay then, so what are we going to take?¡± dimir was disappointed but was also at ease.

    Zhang Zian pointed to the Wuling Shenguang, which was parked at the entrance downstairs, ¡°Cough! I don¡¯t have a Gundam, I only have this Wuling Shenguang...¡±

    ¡°A domestic brand? That¡¯s good, I never knew you were one to support Chinese goods!¡¯ It jumped onto the window sill and nced at it.

    Zhang Zian thought to himself, I also want to buy Ferrari or a Bugatti, but the problem is that I have no money. Within my financial capabilities, only the Wuling Shenguang seemed worthwhile, so if I don¡¯t buy this, what else can I buy?

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s go!¡± dimir swung its w, ¡°Valiant and spirited, onto the Wuling Shenguang! Maintain peace and defeat the demon cat, all to protect the other cats!¡±

 Chapter 994: Fish Net

    <h4>Chapter 994: Fish Net</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian had managed to convince dimir with much difficulty, telling it that the victory of an army depended entirely on the unity of the army and the people, so there was no such thing as a high-level hack like Gundam. He then took it downstairs and put it into the Wuling Hong Guang MPV.

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± dimir asked, looking at the assault boat that took up the whole trunk of the car.

    ¡°Oh, this? That¡¯s not Gundam either. It¡¯s an assault boat for going out to sea,¡± Zhang Zian exined as he started the engine, scared that it would misunderstand again.

    ¡°Out to sea?¡±

    ¡°Right. If you have an interest, I¡¯ll bring you the next time I go to the seaside¨C¨Cas long as you don¡¯t get seasick.¡±

    Zhang Zian told the shop employees they were leaving, then drove the car towards Electrician Wu¡¯s house.

    dimir did not sit still and jumped around in the car¨C¨Cit jumped on the passenger seat one moment, then to the other end of the car; it even jumped onto the dashboard. Zhang Zian had to warn it that it was dangerous that. If he suddenly hit the brakes, it might get hurt.

    Not long after, they reached their destination.

    Thest time he came to the neighborhood, he happened to be met with the Palytoxin case. He had note back after that. However, the old neighborhood did not change much; it only became greener. In the daytime, the main people that went in and out were retired, middle-aged, and old people from the factory. They went home to cook with the vegetables they bought from the vegetable market, or they walked leisurely with theirs dogs, or they took their grandchildren to enjoy the happiness of family rtions.

    The police officer at the gate still recognized Zhang Zian, and upon seeing him return, he instantly grew nervous. He thought that there was someone poisoning the neighborhood again, but Zhang Zian told the police officer not to be worried. He was onlying to visit customers.

    After he got out of the car and locked it, he brought dimir into the unit that Electrician Wu lived in. After climbing a few levels, they reached Electrician Wu¡¯s house.

    After knocking the door, Electrician Wu hurriedly came to open the door a few secondster. At the same time, Welder Zhao¡¯s loud voice sounded. ¡°Wu, why are you so worried for nothing? Store Manager Zhang is so busy, and you still made him make a trip down. Do you really not trust this old man so much?¡±

    Electrician Wu could only smile bitterly at Zhang Zian. He was secretly asking Zhang Zian if he saw how unbelievable Welder Zhao was. Not only was he stingy, but he also cared about his reputation a lot. Who would suffer losses if he did not?

    Zhang Zian smiled, following Electrician Wu into the house. He saw Welder Zhao¡¯srge figure standing next to a fish tank. He was slightly thinner than one to two months before; it seemed like his time in the hospital was quite hard on him.

    Besides the two old men, there were also three children there. They were the grandchildren of the two of them, and then a little girl he had never seen before. They were all surrounding the fish tank and staring at the fish withrge eyes.

    ¡°Master Zhao, hello!¡± Zhang Zian took the initiative and greeted him.

    ¡°Ah, there¡¯s a cat!¡± The three children saw dimir instantly and called out anxiously, ¡°Be careful! Don¡¯t let the cat eat the fish!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, this cat doesn¡¯t like to eat fish,¡± Zhang Zian said, smiling.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t eat fish?¡± Welder Zhao¡¯s clear and loud voice asked. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that there aren¡¯t any cats that don¡¯t steal fish... Is this cat an exception?¡±

    ¡°Zhao! What are you saying? You¡¯re already so old. You keep saying improper things all day long...¡± Electrician Wu scolded, then smiled at Zhang Zian. ¡°Store Manager Zhang, ignore him. This man doesn¡¯t have a door to his mouth... Come, sit and rest for a while. What do you want to drink? Coke? Mineral water?¡±

    Zhang Zian waved his hands and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need to trouble you. I won¡¯t be here long. Plus, I drank some water before I came out, so I¡¯m not thirsty.¡±

    Welder Zhao warmly greeted him, ¡°Mr. Zhang, it¡¯s good that you came here. Look at these fish. Aren¡¯t they especially worth buying? Let me tell you¨C¨Cthis fish is 80 yuan, this one is 45 yuan, this one is 65 yuan...¡±

    Zhang Zian had dimir y by itself before he walked to the side of the fish tank and looked through the ss.

    He had to admit, this time around, Welder Zhao really did not make a wasted trip. He had bought quite a few good fish. Some of them were more expensive and rtively rare. They looked very attractive as they swam about in the tank.

    At a quick nce, he saw the bright yellow tang, the metallic shrimp goby lying on the fine sand at the bottom of the tank, the southern tyfish¨C¨Ca fish whose head was difficult to distinguish¨C¨Cand the especially bright bluestripe snapper. They were all brightly colored fish species and especially pleasing to the eye.

    ¡°These are good fish. You got a great bargain,¡± Zhang Zian nodded and eximed. ¡°These fish are much cheaper than the market price, but some of them are not suitable to be kept together. The water temperature they need is not the same... You better separate them as soon as possible.¡±

    When Welder Zhao got the acknowledgment from Zhang Zian, his heart became even morecent. He pointed at the small fish tanks next to them and said, ¡°I know. I took the time to get some today because Wu is not spending enough effort on my fish. He squeezed them all into a single fish tank. How could I leave it like that? If he doesn¡¯t make an effort, I¡¯ll have to do it myself.¡±

    Electrician Wu was still not reassured and asked, ¡°Store Manager Zhang, look carefully. Are there any fish that are poisonous, or are there any dangerous fish?

    ¡°A dangerous fish...¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s looked through the fish in the fish tank. Because there were quite a few fish swimming around, he could not see them very clearly in a short time.

    At that moment, the anxious Welder Zhao started to move. He picked up the fish and said, ¡°No hurry, no hurry. When I divide the fish into tanks, they will be easy to see.¡±

    After saying that he put the fish into the fish tank.

    The fish swam off in different directions, scared. He saw the chance and used the fish to catch a fish.

    After the fish left the water, it instinctively resisted with all its might, twisting its body with all its strength to leave the and jump back into the water. It sshed water droplets onto people¡¯s faces as it struggled.

    Welder Zhao was scared that during its struggle, it would manage to jump out of the andnd on the ground. That would be very dangerous... The fishes were swimming RMB notes. If one died, he would be heartbroken for a long time.

    He reached out his other hand¨C¨Ccooperating with the hand that held the fish¨C¨Ccurled up his palm, and put it on top of the fish. Even if the fish jumped out of the, it would be blocked by his palm and would not fall outside.

    The action was very normal; people who kept fish would transfer fish like that all the time.

    One by one he fished them out. Just as he was about to catch a blue fish, the fish swam quickly and it took a lot of effort for Welder Zhao to force it into a corner of the tank. He used the fish suddenly and pulled it out of the water. His left hand looked like it was drawing a gourd as he tried to hold it with his palm to prevent it from jumping out.

    Following his actions, Zhang Zian¡¯s gazended on that blue fish, and instantly identified the species of that fish. He could not contain his shock as he hurriedly pressed on Welder Zhao¡¯s hand. ¡°Master Zhao¨C¨Cdon¡¯t move! There¡¯s danger!¡±

 Chapter 995: Dory

    <h4>Chapter 995: Dory</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    While Welder Zhao was scooping out the fish, the three children stood around and watched. They were all very eager to try, so they were waiting to take Welder Zhao¡¯s ce. When Welder Zhao was about to scoop up the blue fish, the little girl covered her mouth in worry, seemingly afraid that the fish would jump out and fall to the floor.

    ¡°Grandpa! Grandpa! Be careful! Slow down a little! Don¡¯t let Dory get hurt!¡± She stared nervously at Welder Zhao¡¯s hand.

    Welder Zhao¡¯s palm wasrge and rough, and there were tiny scars on them that were caused by burns. At a nce, his hands looked ugly and contrasted sharply with the little girl¡¯s delicate hands.

    However, although they were an ugly pair of hands, they were extremely stable from years of welding metals together.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Although grandpa¡¯s hands are coarse, they do delicate work!¡± Welder Zhaoughed. His voice was soft, so it was clear that he doted on the little girl.

    Listening to their conversation, Zhang Zian also noticed this blue fish. The first feeling he had was that the fish was familiar¨C¨Cvery familiar. He didn¡¯t have such a fish in his shop, but he had seen it somewhere.

    The fish was about 20 centimeters long from head to tail, and was spindle-shaped. It was mainly blue in color, while half of its pectoral fin and most of its caudal fin were a brilliant yellow. ck, te-like stripes started from its eye and went along its back and through its entire body. The dorsal fin had alternating thin stripes of blue and reddish brown at the end of it.

    Its eyes were round, ck, and hidden in the ck, te-like stripes. They weren¡¯t easy to find at first nce. Its small mouth kept sucking in and spitting out sea water; it looked silly, but also really cute at the same time.

    Dory? That name... Zian suddenly remembered that he had not seen the fish in real life, but he had seen it in a movie that he had watched previously.

    It was Dory, who yed the supporting role in Finding Nemo 1 and the leading role in Finding Nemo 2!

    The little girl must have also seen the Disney ssic animated film, so she gave the same name to the fish that looked almost identical to the main character of the film.

    Welder Zhao scooped Dory up, and Dory struggled fiercely, unwilling to be taken so easily. In an attempt to prevent it from jumping out, Welder Zhao went to cover the fis with his left hand.

    ¡°Master Zhao! Don¡¯t do it. It¡¯s dangerous!¡± Zhang Zian hurriedly shouted to stop him. He was worried that Welder Zhao would get injured, so he rushed forward to pull on Welder Zhao¡¯s left hand.

    Welder Zhao was surprised and his hands shook. Dory then took the opportunity to jump back into the big fish tank.

    ¡°Store Manager Zhang, is that fish poisonous?¡± Electrician Wu was worried. When he saw Zhang Zian take action, without saying anything, he immediately pulled the three children further away to avoid any injury or poisoning.

    ¡°Store Manager Zhang, what¡¯s the matter? If I had heart issues, I would definitely suffer from a heart attack with you making such a fuss...¡± Welder Zhao muttered unhappily.

    ¡°Were you the one who bought this fish?¡± Zhang Zian asked as he pointed to Dory.

    Welder Zhao smiled smugly. ¡°Yeah. Although I don¡¯t recognize the other fish, I know this one. I used to take my granddaughter to the movies, so while I was in the shop, I recognized this fish at a nce. I thought of getting it as a gift for my granddaughter, who would be very happy to receive it! Am I right, Xiao Xuan?¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡± The little girl named Xiao Xuan nodded hard and said, ¡°Thank you, Grandpa!¡±

    ¡°Xiao Xuan is such a good child!¡± Welder Zhao¡¯s face beamed.

    ¡°Hold on a moment! Store Manager Zhang, is this fish dangerous?¡± Electrician Wu couldn¡¯t stand them anymore, so he interrupted Welder Zhao and his granddaughter¡¯s moment of happiness.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°This fish does have a certain degree of danger¨C¨Cespecially if you touch it directly with your hands.¡±

    ¡°What? That can¡¯t be right...¡± Welder Zhao gave him a look that said, ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me just because I didn¡¯t study much.¡± He said, ¡°If this fish is dangerous, why would apany as big as Disney make it their main character?¡±

    ¡°This has nothing to do with Disney. Didn¡¯t Disney also made a lion their protagonist? Can you say that a lion isn¡¯t dangerous?¡± Zhang Zian asked him.

    Welder Zhao was stumped.

    Zhang Zian continued, ¡°People know that lions are dangerous, and there is basically no one who would keep lions, except for those rich tycoons in the Middle East. But fish can be raised by everyone, and once a dangerous fish is raised, the unlucky ones are the owners. Do you know what kind of fish this is?¡±

    ¡°What else is there that I don¡¯t know? It¡¯s called a ¡®royal blue tang¡¯ in the movie, right?¡± Welder Zhao smiled confidently and said, ¡°When Finding Nemo 2 was released, I brought my granddaughter to watch it several times!¡±

    It seems that, although Welder Zhao is stingy, he was willing to spend money on his granddaughter. Many old people were like this. They were extremely frugal when it was just themselves¨C¨Cthey were reluctant to eat well and dress well¨C¨Cbut they were generous when it came to the children of the younger generation.

    Electrician Wu gestured to Zhang Zian to ask if the answer was correct.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°Yes, this fish is indeed called the royal blue tang in the movie.¡±

    ¡°Look, Wu, you never believe me... I really know a lot about fish!¡± Welder Zhao was proud. He patted his chest and began to boast.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t let him be proud for too long. He continued, ¡°But do you know its other name?¡±

    ¡°Other name?¡± Welder Zhao looked around, but he couldn¡¯t think of any other name that the fish had.

    Zhang Zian took out the long rubber gloves that he had prepared earlier from his pocket and exined while putting them on, ¡°It¡¯s also known as ¡®Paracanthurus.¡¯ It doesn¡¯t sound as nice, so the movie went with the name royal blue tang¨C¨Ca name that sounded noble and domineering.¡±

    ¡°Para... can... thurus?¡± Electrician Wu repeated the name several times before he got it right. He wasn¡¯t sure how to spell it.

    ¡°If you think this name is hard to say, then it has a nickname that¡¯s very easy to say and remember: Surgeonfish, which means that its spines are as sharp as a surgeon¡¯s scalpel. If you grasp it directly with your hand, it will cause serious cuts or stab wounds.¡± Zhang Zian had already put on the rubber gloves, so he slowly continued as he looked at Welder Zhao, ¡°And it¡¯s also poisonous.¡±

    There¡¯s a saying in Gu Long¡¯s novel, ¡°A person¡¯s name may be wrong, but his nickname is never wrong.¡±

    This sentence was also suitable for the Paracanthurus, which was the surgeonfish.

    Welder Zhao and Electrician Wu¡¯s faces changed at the same time. The word ¡°poison¡± left them with some trauma. Welder Zhao, in particr, recalled that he was about to use his hands to grab hold of Dory, and he couldn¡¯t help but shudder. He was terrified and quietly put his hands behind his back, clenching them tightly.

    ¡°Let me borrow that.¡± Zhang Zian took the fis that Welder Zhao had just used and repeated what Welder Zhao did to scoop Dory out; the only difference was that Zian had a pair of thick rubber gloves on.

    After Dory was scooped out of the water, it struggled intensely. Zhang Zian threw the fish aside and grabbed it with his two hands.

    ¡°Look at its caudal peduncle here.¡± Zian gestured for them to get closer and not to hide so far away.

    Electrician Wui and Welder Zhao carefully approached him. The three children had wanted to watch too, but they were stopped by Electrician Wu. The little girl was still muttering for them to not hurt Dory.

    After they got closer, they fixed their eyes on where Zhang Zian was pointing with his thumb.

    The royal blue tang, or the surgeonfish, was a very timid fish. It generally didn¡¯t take the initiative to attack other fish or people, and when it encountered any trouble, it would always try to hide. But at that moment, Dory had nowhere to hide and it felt that its life was greatly threatened, so, with the contraction of its tail ligament, two extremely sharp spines came unsheathed like a saber. The two barbs were usually hidden in the caudal fin, so it wasn¡¯t visible at all.

    China aquarists often referred to the fish as a ¡°hanged blue,¡± which was actually a homonym of ¡°blue knife snapper¡± in Chinese.

    Ordinary aquarists only knew that they were blue, but they didn¡¯t know what ¡°knife¡± and ¡°snapper¡± meant, so they referred to it as the hanged blue...

    The ¡°knife¡± referred to its spine, while ¡°snapper¡± referred to its species ssification¨C¨Cthe Acanthurus Family.

    Electrician Wu picked up the drawing block paper that his grandson had been drawing on from the table and pressed it down on the barb. He didn¡¯t use much force, but the barb easily pierced through the thick paper and revealed its sharp end. There was also a colorless and transparent liquid that soaked the paper, but it wasn¡¯t water; it was more viscous than water.

    ¡°What you see is its spine. It¡¯s named ¡®surgeonfish¡¯ because of these two spines. Although these two spines aren¡¯t big, when you grab the fish with your bare hands, the spines follow the tail as it struggles left and right, and the two spines will rapidly tear your skin. That would form a severe cut with serious blood loss, and the viscous liquid is the venom of the epidermal cells near the fishtail. Its venom, although I haven¡¯t heard of any precedent cases of death caused by its poison, has no specific antidote for it.¡±

    It was already very painful if pierced into one¡¯s skin, but the strength of a fish with a body length of 20 centimeters could not be underestimated. The spine would stir in the wound, tearing blood vessels, nerves, and muscles, which would further aggravate the wound. That would cause serious trouble.

    Zhang Zian informed those present of the danger of the fish, then he loosened his grip and threw Dory back into the tank. Otherwise, it was going to be life-threatening for it.

    The moment when he loosened his grip, Dory struggled more violently when it felt that the mping force on its body had lessened. A spike sliced across Zhang Zian¡¯s palm before it mmed back into the water with a ssh.

    People who kept snakes and yed with snakes were often bitten by snakes the moment they loosened their grip, instead of being bitten in the process of handling them. It was basically the same thing.

    Zhang Zian looked down at the palm of his hand and let both Electrician Wu and Welder Zhao take a look, too. A deep line appeared in the lower part of Zian¡¯s palm; it had almost prated the rubber gloves.

    Electrician Wui and Welder Zhao took in a breath of cold air. Fortunately, Zian had worn a pair of thick rubber gloves. If he hadn¡¯t...

    The consequences were simply unimaginable!

 Chapter 996: Exchange

    <h4>Chapter 996: Exchange</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian felt that it was very fortunate that the pair of long thick rubber gloves he found were used. Sure enough, they should not have underestimated Welder Zhao¡¯s ability to find trouble. He managed to quietly get a yellow-tailed anchovy¨C¨Cthat was, the blue knife snapper¨C¨Cback.

    Over thest few years, after Finding Nemo 2 had aired, Zhang Zian had looked into the special features of Dory¡¯s species. He had a deep impression of the fish¡¯s beautiful appearance, which had some hidden danger.

    At that time, he was a bit worried that with the movie being screened, people¡¯s desire for the blue tang would increase rapidly. A lot of children would be proud of having a Dory in their house, and parents would be happy to satisfy their children¡¯s wishes. But the blue tang was not as harmless as it looked. The truth was, it was actually quite dangerous.

    Because Finding Nemo 1 was very popr, clownfish suddenly became popr in the international pet market, and people were fighting to buy the cute clownfish to make their children happy.

    There were reports that said some mischievous children were influenced by the movie and would even follow the movie plot and flush the clownfish down the toilet, hoping that a real life Finding Nemo would ur.

    The clownfish that had been flushed into the toilet would die. Such urrences showed that mischievous children were both female and male in multiple countries.

    The good thing was that even though the clownfish that had been flushed down the toilet were pitiful, they were, in the end, safe aquatic animals. If they were kept at home, they would not pose any danger. On the other hand, the blue tang was a bit different.

    When Finding Nemo 2 aired, Zhang Zian felt that there was probably going to be a problem. The movie showed all the cute parts of Dory, but it did not show the dangerous qualities of this fish... Of course, that was not necessarily Disney¡¯s fault. After all, it was a movie especially for young children to watch. It would not be suitable if it was bloody, but the seeds of danger had already quietly been nted.

    As expected, after Finding Nemo 2 was screened, the blue tang increased in poprity rapidly. Its poprity had not decreased at all, so the price had increased immensely. Despite that, there was still an insufficient supply because it was very hard for humans to conduct artificial propagation for the blue tang. More than 99 percent of the blue tang in the market were captured from the wild.

    99 percent was still a conservative estimate. The truth was, it could be 100 percent. The biggest difficulty was not in the courtship or the reproduction process, but in the small mouth of the blue tang. The young blue tang that had just hatched had an even smaller mouth, and they could only feed on specific, small organisms, which made it extremely difficult to raise artificially.

    Not all aquariums or fish markets would inform the buyers about their purchase. They neglected to tell their customers about the danger of the fish; if customers heard about the danger, they might not buy it anymore. On the almighty Taobao, when one searched for the Paracanthurus hepatus, not a single page told customers of the danger.

    Whether or not it would harm people or children when it was brought home would depend entirely on their luck.

    The aquarium Welder Zhao had managed to get such a great bargain from shipped in blue tangs, and that shop¡¯s reputation was normally quite good. If it was normal operating times, they would have definitely done their due diligence in warning customers of the danger; however, now that the shop was having trouble themselves, why would they care so much?

    When Electrician Wu was describing Welder Zhao¡¯s process of buying the goods, the employee was only concerned with receiving the money. He did not remind Welder Zhao... It was also possible that the employee did remind him, but it was too noisy there and Welder Zhao did not hear it.

    Welder Zhao had always been quite arrogant and petty and felt that after watching the movie, he knew about the species of Dory. Despite only knowing a bit, he mboyantly bought it back to keep.

    Zhang Zian concluded, ¡°This fish is the prime example of only being able to look from afar, but not being able to y with it. If you¡¯re just admiring it, it¡¯s a very pretty fish, but just don¡¯t use your hands to catch it...¡±

    After saying that, he used his gaze to signal to the three children that were quite confused.

    Electrician Wu and Welder Zhao understood his meaning. Adults can stay away when they know the danger, but children don¡¯t have self-control. They might catch it with their hands whenever they wanted to... Even if the three children were obedient and did not catch it, when other children living in the area came to y, they might catch it out of curiosity. That kind of possibility was unavoidable.

    Although Dory was cute, it was only suitable in houses with no children.

    No matter how much Welder Zhao liked to keep fish, he would not keep fish that would endanger his grandson and granddaughter. Even if he dared to, his family members would definitely not agree to it.

    ¡°Wu...¡± Welder Zhao¡¯s eyeballs turned, and he started to think about asking his old friend for help.

    Electrician Wu just rudely replied, ¡°Get lost!¡±

    He could guess what Welder Zhao wanted; he wanted him to continue rearing Dory, but how could he agree? His grandchildren were what he treasured most. They could note to any harm at all.

    ¡°Then what should I do? I spent money to buy it. If I throw it away, it¡¯ll be such a waste.¡± Welder Zhao helplessly spread his hands.

    Electrician Wu wanted to scold him over wanting money but not his life, but in front of outsiders, that would be embarrassing. He thought about it and said, ¡°How about this¨C¨CStore Manager Zhang made a trip down. He wasted time today without getting any reward back. We can¡¯t not express our gratitude enough... How about we give this fish to Store Manager Zhang?¡±

    When Welder Zhao heard it, his heart ached. The blue tang was very expensive, and it had grown to such a big size. Its quality was quite good and it was quite expensive. In the aquarium he got it from, its original price was around 2000 yuan... Even when they were clearing stock, he still spent around 500 to 600 yuan. If it was not for him wanting to garner the favor of his granddaughter, he would not have been able to bear to spend so much money on a fish.

    Zhang Zian waved his hands to reject. ¡°There¡¯s no need. How can I ept that?¡±

    ¡°Store Manager Zhang, there¡¯s no need to be so polite. My house cannot rear such a fish, and neither can his house. We can only give it to people, but who should we give it to? Compared to giving it off and benefiting others, it¡¯s better to give it to Store Manager Zhang to thank you for taking care of us two old folks. I troubled you toe out here. We also never officially thanked you for the Palytoxin incident. If it was not for you, we would not have known how to deal with it...¡± Electrician Wu¡¯s attitude was firm.

    Welder Wu wanted to be thick-skinned and ask for the money he spent back, but he was red at by Electrician Wu. He forced his words back down.

    Zhang Zian saw that Electrician Wu had already made up his mind, and the two old folks¡¯ situations were not suitable for the blue tang. He did not reject anymore.

    ¡°Wu! Dory! My Dory! Grandpa, I¡¯m begging you¨C¨Cdon¡¯t give my Dory away...¡± The young girl wiped her eyes and cried. She hugged Welder Zhao¡¯s leg and begged him.

    Welder Zhao sighed, squatted down to pat her head, then pointed at Zhang Zian. ¡°Xuan, be good. This fish is not good to keep. It¡¯s not suitable for us to keep it. Let¡¯s allow this uncle to help us take care of it.¡±

    The little girl looked at Zhang Zian, teary-eyed.

    Zhang Zian smiled, squatted down, and said, ¡°Xuan, right? How about we make an exchange. Do you want to have Nemo from Finding Nemo? I¡¯ll use Nemo to exchange for your Dory. How¡¯s that?¡±

    The little girl blinked and stopped crying.

 Chapter 997: I Am Very Square

    <h4>Chapter 997: I Am Very Square</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Clownfish Nemo and blue knife snapper Dory were the protagonists of Finding Nemo. By poprity, Nemo was more popr than Dory, but when their market price was concerned, the clownfish was far less expensive than the blue knife snapper.

    Welder Zhao¡¯s granddaughter was still small and she had no concept of money. She didn¡¯t care which of the two were more expensive. She only knew that Nemo was also very cute, although she preferred Dory.

    ¡°Do you have Nemo?¡± she asked with a childish voice. Her eyes circled around Zhang Zian¡¯s hands.

    ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s not with me now. So if you agree, I will find someone to send it to you, or your grandfather can pick it up at my ce.¡±

    There are a lot of clownfish in Zhang Zian¡¯s store, which were all brought back from the seaside. He was confident that there was one among them that looked exactly like Nemo.

    The little girl looked up at her grandfather, and then at Grandpa Wu. She lowered her head; it was clear that she was unwilling to make the exchange.

    Zhang Zian easily saw through her thoughts, so he added, ¡°Then... What if I use Nemo and Marlin to change for your Dory. How about that?¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Her eyes immediately widened and her face was filled with joy that could not be concealed. Although it was true that she preferred Dory, the temptation of both Nemo and Marlin were too big. Even though she was young, she was aware that two were greater than one.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhang Zian promised. Zian thought to himself, This little girl is already so smart at such a young age. Hopefully she does not inherit her grandfather¡¯s character when she grows up...

    She seemed to be afraid that Zhang Zian would go back on his words, so she immediately stuck out her pinky finger and said, ¡°Then, let¡¯s exchange it! No going back! No lies! Pinky promise!¡±

    Zhang Zianughed, and also extended his pinky finger to seal the promise with her.

    Welder Zhao¡¯s heart ached because he had bought the royal blue tang to please his granddaughter; however, since the two clownfish were also able to achieve the same effect, he could onlyfort himself that it was a mission aplished.

    Electrician Wu finally got a load off his chest, but he wasn¡¯tpletely relieved. He pointed at the remaining fish in the fish tank and asked, ¡°Store Manager Zhang, for the remaining fish, could you take a look to see if there are any more that are dangerous? If there are more dangerous fish, you can just take them all. You don¡¯t have to feel reserved!¡±

    Not only Electrician Wu, but Zhang Zian was also concerned about Welder Zhao¡¯s ability to choose fish. There were more than a thousand ornamental fish species in the world, but he always seemed to run into the ones that were the most dangerous.

    Zhang Zian bent down and looked over the remaining ornamental fishes. Some of the fish had been diverted to other small tanks, so Zian was now able to observe them more clearly.

    He pointed to one of the smaller fish and asked, ¡°Do you know what fish this is?¡±

    Electrician Wu was instinctively nervous. He noticed that the fish was bright in color and a thought appeared, Is it true that all animals with bright colors are very dangerous?

    Welder Zhao shook his head. ¡°I just found this fish to be interesting, and it looked simr to the Japanese square watermelon on television. I bought it since the price wasn¡¯t expensive. I really don¡¯t know what kind of fish it is.¡±

    It was just like he said: The fish had a very interesting shape. It was square and boxy like it was cast from a factory mold. It almost looked like a cube, which waspletely different from other fish that had a streamlined shape.

    Its overall appearance was bright yellow with many ck spots. The ck spots were also pretty dense. It was to the extent where those with Trypophobia would even have been disgusted by it.

    Its yellow eyes wererge¨C¨Cdisproportionatelyrge¨C¨Cand they were located at the two corners on the top of the square. Its small mouth was protruding forwards, and it had thick lips that were as sexy as European and American celebrities. It was as if it was saying, ¡°Don¡¯t talk¨C¨Ckiss me!¡±

    In addition, its pectoral and dorsal fins were nearly transparent.

    It was dark when Welder Zhao went to buy the fish. He bought the fish because he found it very interesting, and to make his grandson and granddaughter happy.

    Electrician Wu red at Welder Zhao, then he carefully asked, ¡°Store Manager Zhang, just say it straight¨C¨Cis this fish poisonous, or does it have spines?¡±

    His straightforwardness was abrupt. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know whether to cry orugh, but he exined, ¡°This is a papaya fish. The golden yellow papaya fish is also known as the yellow boxfish, and it is you said... This fish is indeed poisonous.¡±

    Electrician Wu erupted. He really wanted to give Welder Zhao a few ps across his face. In just one d*mn tank of fish, there were two fish that were poisonous!

    ¡°However, don¡¯t worry too much. Although this fish is poisonous, as long as you don¡¯t eat it, its poison will only affect the other fish. It is not poisonous to humans,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Welder Zhao continued to act tough. ¡°I noticed that the fish was bright and scary when I bought it, so I had guessed that it was poisonous... I had ns to raise it alone...¡±

    Seeing that the two of them were about to quarrel again, Zhang Zian quickly interrupted, ¡°The scientific name of this fish is ostracion cubicus, and it¡¯s known as the yellow boxfish in foreign countries. Chinese fisherman call it a papaya fish... In fact, I just don¡¯t see where it resembles a papaya. Instead, the name yellow boxfish seems more fitting. Although it¡¯s small in size, when it gets scared, it secretes strong neurotoxins that could poison the whole tank. The most tragic thing is that even though it released the toxins in order to defend itself, it usually loses its own life due to its own poison because it can¡¯t immunize itself... If you don¡¯t wish to restart your entire tank, it¡¯s best not to mix this fish with other fish and corals.¡±

    When Welder Zhao heard what Zian said, he quickly picked up the fis and went to scoop out the papaya fish to prevent it from releasing its poison and killing all the other fish. He was quickly stopped by Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Master Zhao, don¡¯t take it out now. Wait for the other fish to be scooped out, then leave it alone. What if it gets scared while you are scooping it out?¡± Zhang Zian asked him.

    Welder Zhao hit his own head. ¡°That¡¯s right! I forgot all about it in a panic! Aye! After all, I¡¯m old now!¡±

    Electrician Wu then asked, ¡°Are the other fish not dangerous?¡±

    Zhang Zian looked again and nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the other fish are safe. There isn¡¯t any danger.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good then.¡± Electrician Wu finally rested assured.

    Electrician Wu was scolding him from the side while Welder Zhao was arguing with him as he scooped the fish out. The two old men took turns saying a sentence each, and although they seemed to be quarreling, both of them didn¡¯t take it to heart.

    Zhang Zian looked at the time. ¡°Master Wu, Master Zhao, you guys can continue. I have things to do so I need to head out.¡±

    Electrician Wu handed over the small fish tank that contained the blue knife snapper to Zhang Zian. He said, embarrassed, ¡°Thank you, Store Manager Zhang. I¡¯m sorry to have troubled you...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. It was on the way.¡± Zhang Zian called dimir, who was looking around in the house. ¡°dimir, let¡¯s go.¡±

    After Zhang Zian and the blue cat left, Electrician Wu couldn¡¯t help butugh. ¡°This Store Manager Zhang is really interesting. He actually gave the cat a foreign name...¡±

    ¡°Wu, didn¡¯t you learn the Russiannguage in high school? What does that name mean?¡± asked Welder Zhao.

    Electrician Wu said with emotion, ¡°It has already been so many years... Let me think. dimir, in Russian, means ¡®to dominate the world.¡¯¡±

 Chapter 998: You Only Need 998 to Bring the Blue Cat Back

    <h4>Chapter 998: You Only Need 998 to Bring the Blue Cat Back</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was holding the small fish tank. When he went downstairs, he did not dare to walk too fast, for fear that the water would shake out of the fish tank.

    dimir jumped onto the handrails next to the stairs and walked next to him. It said, ¡°I couldn¡¯t tell before, but you know quite a lot. You not only know about cats and dogs, but you also know about fish?¡±

    Zhang Zian chuckled. ¡°I am in the pet business, after all. If I don¡¯t constantly learn more, I would not know how to answer customers¡¯ questions. I don¡¯t want to be embarrassed.¡±

    dimir nodded in agreement. ¡°One¡¯s smartness is due learning, while their genius is due to amassing knowledge! We must definitelye up with this kind of mission for ourselves: One is to learn; two is to learn; three is still to learn!¡±

    Zhang Zian thought, I just want to earn more money and marry a wife in the future...

    When he got downstairs, Zhang Zian transferred the blue tang from the small fish tank into arge, stic collection box and used random things around it to fix it in ce. He covered the lid to prevent it from hitting anything while he was driving, and to prevent it from jumping out. After all, the fish was basically a walking yuan.

    ¡°Where are we going now? Are we going home?¡± dimir jumped back onto the back of the front passenger seat, lying on the headrest and looking around.

    ¡°No, we are going somewhere else before going home.¡± Zhang Zian started the car, left Welder Zhao and Electrician Wu¡¯s neighborhood, and headed towards the other direction.

    dimir did not question it further. Everywhere on Earth was its home¨C¨Cthat was why it could leave the capital without looking back and follow Zhang Zian to Binhai City.

    Zhang Zian drove the car into the alleys of the streets, leaving the old style streets anding to an area where the architectural style was newer¨C¨Cthe area where Lin Wenying, Zhao Qi, and Deng Jie lived.

    He was nning paying a visit to Liu Wenying to see if she had recovered from the sadness of losing her cat, and to see if her daughter, Yue Yue, had epted the fact that their cat had passed away.

    After all, Liu Wenying was one of his earliest customers. Without them, perhaps his shop would have closed down a long time ago.

    The neighborhood was mostly made up of high-rise buildings. There were a lot of residents, arge portion of which were young people, and their financial statuses were quite high.

    All the empty spaces inside the parking lot were filled by cars, so Zhang Zian drove around for a long time before he finally found an empty space to park his car.

    The empty space just happened to be under the sun. The good thing was that the weather was quite cooling. Otherwise, after a while, the temperature in the car would be high enough to cook a te of boiled fish.

    ¡°Do you want to follow me up? Or stay down here?¡± Zhang Zian asked dimir, pointing at the high-rise building that was around 30 stories high.

    dimir squinted its eyes and raised its head to take a look. He had yet to reply when he heard a bbergasted and husky female voice. ¡°Eh? Look who that is! What a rare sight!¡¯

    Zhang Zian looked towards where the sound came from and saw a white-cordy that was dressed fashionably standing behind his car. Although she was wearing arge pair of sunsses that covered half her face, Zhang Zian instantly recognized her. It was Zhao Qi!

    Zhao Qu was wearing a white windbreaker and a simr colored sunhat. Inside the windbreaker she wore a suitably colored shirt and high heels. She carried a handbag in one hand and a shopping bag with a famous brand¡¯s logo printed on top in the other. Her red lipstick under her sunsses was especially eye-catching, and her makeup was exquisite as always.

    With the breeze blowing by, the light perfume on her body drifted into the noses of Zhang Zian and dimir.

    Ahchoo! dimir sneezed, rubbing its nose. It moved to a position that avoided the wind in order to hide from the perfume scent.

    Hearing the sound of sneezing, Zhao Qi noticed dimir¡¯s presence.

    She pulled down her sunsses and looked at it, ¡°Aiya, a blue cat! This... is this an English Shorthair? It looks quite simr to my Lan Lan!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not an English Shorthair, it¡¯s a Russian Blue. It¡¯s different from the English Shorthair. Furthermore, how does it look like Lan Lan? What¡¯s with your eyesight?¡± Zhang Zian insulted her. ¡°Is it that you feel that every blue cat looks like your Lan Lan?¡±

    ¡°Tch! Russian blue? This is the first time I¡¯ve heard about this kind of cat...¡± Zhao Qi eximed. She was very interested in dimir. She bent down, wanting to observe it.

    Zhang Zian stretched his neck and took a look inside her shopping bag, ¡°You... you went shopping again?¡±

    ¡°Not really! I just went with Shi Shi to the newly opened caf¨¦ to drink a cup of coffee. We were nning to go to a concert together¨C¨Ca Tchaikovsky concert¨C¨Cbut in the end she got called away by her boyfriend. It angered me to death!¡± she said fiercely, but her tone was still bragging. ¡°So after that, I randomly walked around the shopping mall and ate lunch. I decided to go home to put my things down but this afternoon I¡¯ll go to the cat caf¨¦ to enjoy the cats. Tonight I¡¯m going to watch a movie, that way my weekend bes meaningful!¡±

    Zhang Zian paused then said, ¡°...But don¡¯t you have Lan Lan? Why are you going to go admire cats?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you men always say, ¡®The concubine is better than the wife, and cheating outside is better than the concubine?¡¯¡± She said self-confidently. ¡°And anyway, can going to admire cats really be considered cheating?¡±

    dimir suddenly sneered and said, ¡°Such a strong rotting scent of a small Bourgeois and a low-level sense of humor!¡±

    Zhao Qi said, ¡°... Did it just look at me sideways in disdain?¡±

    ¡°No, you saw it wrong. ¡°Zhang Zian insistently denied it.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Zhao Qi stared at dimir in doubt. She felt like, at that moment, its gaze was very hurtful.

    ¡°Of course I¡¯m sure. You¡¯re overthinking things.¡± Zhang Zian casually pacified her. Even though dimir really did have disdain for her, he could not admit it. Otherwise, she would continue to question until she found out everything; that was just her personality.

    ¡°It¡¯s just a cat. How could it look down on you?¡±

    Zhao Qi insisted. ¡°But I always see that gold cat in your shop looking at you with despise.¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    ¡°Anyway, although it has nothing to do with me, I wanted to check. What movie are you nning to watch tonight?¡± he asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s an artistic romance film. Even if I say it, you wouldn¡¯t know.¡± Zhao Qi put on her sunsses again.

    Zhang Zian seriously pointed out, ¡°You know the movie my shop¡¯s dog is the main lead in is currently very popr, right?¡±

    ¡°I know, but I¡¯m not interested in any kind of army or police movie!¡± she said honestly.

    Zhang Zian sighed soundlessly. He lowered his voice and muttered, ¡°She really is full of a strong rotting smell of a small Bourgeois and a low-level sense of humor!¡±

    ¡°What? What did you say?¡±

    Zhao Qi did not hear clearly but from Zhang Zian¡¯s expression, she knew he definitely did not say anything good. She was instantly so angry that her carefully drawn eyebrows furrowed downwards.¡±

    ¡°Nothing! It¡¯s nothing! Don¡¯t take it to heart! And definitely, don¡¯t condemn me!¡± Zhang Zian smiled bitterly.

 Chapter 999: Ninety-Nine Plus One Nine, Pets Are Not in Decline

    <h4>Chapter 999: Ny-Nine Plus One Nine, Pets Are Not in Decline</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Petite bourgeoisie, also known as petty bourgeoisie, pointed to a western lifestyle¨C¨Ca pursuit of inner experience, materialism, and spiritual enjoyment. The phrase ¡°Petite Bourgeoisie¡± was very old, and it had been popr in China since the first half of thest century. But in recent years, the term hadn¡¯t been used much.

    dimir seemed to have a bad first impression of Zhao Qi, as it bluntly ridiculed her exquisite lifestyle. It just couldn¡¯t understand her style, where she would constantly mention unpopr restaurants, concerts, and romance films.

    But it was no surprise. After all, dimir had almost no pursuit of material enjoyment. It had repeatedly refused Zhang Zian¡¯s proposal to make a small bed for it, and when it was sleepy, it could just sleep anywhere. Its lifestyle was theplete opposite of Zhao Qi¡¯s lifestyle.

    Moreover, Zhang Zian was aware that Zhao Qi¡¯s petite bourgeoisie lifestyle was based on her credit card, which was in overdraft. It may have looked like she was living well, but when her credit card bill arrived, she was going to cry.

    Zhao Qi still found it weird, because she had the impression that she was the type cats were attracted to. For ordinary cats that saw her, even if they didn¡¯te over and rub themselves on her leg, at the very least, they didn¡¯t show such open disgust. It made her feel very hurt. She didn¡¯t know how she had offended it.

    There could have been another possibility, which was that Zhang Zian had deliberately trained it to act in such a way just so she would embarrass herself... As long as he was willing to go through the effort of training it, he could definitely have pulled it off.

    Zhang Zian noticed that something was wrong based on the look in her eyes. ¡°Why are you staring at me like that?¡±

    ¡°Why the hell are you here? And you¡¯ve brought a cat along,¡± she said coldly.

    ¡°I¡¯m here to visit Liu Wenying. Is she home?¡±

    Zian didn¡¯t know how he had offended her. Why was she so mad?

    ¡°I¡¯m not too sure about that. She should be... Did you not call beforeing down?¡± she asked snappily.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t necessarily have to see Liu Wenying, but he just happened to have time.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯ll go up and take a look. If she¡¯s not home, then I¡¯ll juste back down again,¡± he said casually. Then he asked dimir again, ¡°Do you want to go up with me? We¡¯ll be taking the elevator, so there¡¯s no need to climb the stairs.¡±

    dimir looked at Zian, then looked at Zhao Qi. It shook its head. ¡°I¡¯ll stay down here and take a look around.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that dimir didn¡¯t want to be in the same elevator as Zhao Qi, so he didn¡¯t force it toe along. He let it y around themunity.

    Zhao Qi said, ¡°...Are you talking to the cat?¡±

    ¡°Haven¡¯t you spoken to Lan Lan?¡± Zhang Zian asked her back.

    ¡°I have, but...¡± Zhao Qi had talked to Lan Lan often, but... something just felt weird.

    Zhang Zian took a gift out of the car. After all, it wasn¡¯t good to visit empty-handed. He then walked into the elevator and pressed the button for Liu Wenying¡¯s floor. ¡°Are youing? If you¡¯re not then I¡¯ll head up first.¡±

    Zhao Qi came back to her senses and quickly ran into the elevator. She pressed the button for her own floor.

    The elevator door closed and began to go up.

    ¡°Right, you¡¯re really leaving the cat outside?¡± Zhao Qi asked in surprise.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It won¡¯t run away.¡± Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t bothered at all.

    ¡°No, I wasn¡¯t talking about that...¡± Zhao Qi knew that he had misunderstood, so she reminded him, ¡°Since Furry¨C¨CSister Wenying¡¯s cat¨C¨Cthe people in themunity have been chasing stray cats away with clubs. They say that they¡¯re doing that to prevent the stray cats from spreading rabies. I don¡¯t even dare to take Lan Lan out for a walk anymore... So, you leave your cat behind, and it also doesn¡¯t have a cor to prove that it¡¯s a domestic cat. Wouldn¡¯t there be... danger?¡±

    After Zhao Qi brought it up, Zhang Zian remembered that he had also encountered a big and tall young man who was looking for stray cats around themunity in an aggressive manner. He imed that he would kill one if he saw one. Not only that, but the olddies in themunity with too much time on their hands were also spreading around that stray cats were dangerous. They said that the stray cats would bite the elderly, bite children, and bite pregnant women. What would they do when they contracted rabies?

    At that time, Zian didn¡¯t agree with their ¡°rather kill a thousand innocents than let one off¡± method, but a weak arm couldn¡¯t win against a strong thigh. He had to have a death wish if he nned to go against them alone.

    He started to feel unsure. Would dimir be okay downstairs alone?

    But he soon changed his mind and thought that he was worrying too much. dimir¡¯s vignce was very high, and it was also always prepared for a battle... Not to mention that it had the courage to go to battle, and was good at fighting. It couldn¡¯t bepared to ordinary stray cats.

    ¡°Thanks for reminding me, but I think that it¡¯ll be okay,¡± said Zian.

    Instead of worrying about dimir, it was better to worry about the humans. He hoped that dimir wouldn¡¯t go too far with its Meow-Meow Doctrine iron fist... That was a punch that could even crash the game!

    ¡°It¡¯s up to you.¡± Zhao Qi shrugged her shoulders.

    The elevator stopped at Liu Wenying¡¯s floor, and Zhang Zian left the elevator. He was finally free from the perfume.

    He confirmed the house number, then pressed the doorbell, and cleared his throat.

    ¡°Who is it?¡± a muted response came from behind the door. It sounded like Liu Wenying was home.

    ¡°It¡¯s me, Zhang Zian, from the Amazing Fate Pet Shop,¡± Zian said loudly.

    ¡°Coming¨Cing!¡± With a click, the door opened. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s Xiao Zhang. How did you find the time toe over? Quick,e on in.¡± Liu Wenying was surprised, but she still passionately invited him into the house.

    They hadn¡¯t met for a while, and Liu Wenying¡¯s face was a lot morenguished. It was obvious that she had been deeply hurt by the loss of her beloved cat.

    Yue Yue stuck her tiny head out from behind the door. She looked tense and in a blur.

    ¡°Sister Wenying, sorry for dropping by without any notice. I was visiting a customer nearby, so I took the chance toe over here.¡± Zhang Zianughed. He then waved at Yue Yue and said, ¡°Yue Yue, do remember the handsome Brother Store Manager?¡±

    Yue Yue did seem to remember him. She stared at his face for a while before she murmured, ¡°The cat seller...¡±

    ¡°Yes, I sell cats. This is really a world that looks at appearances!¡± Zhang Zian was pleased, then he brought out the gift that he had hidden behind him. ¡°Yue Yue, this doll is for you. Do you like it?¡±

    The gift he had prepared was a limited edition Berlin bear doll that he had brought back from the Berlin Film Festival. It was no longer in production. Zhao Qi had tried to ask him for it several times in the elevator, with both threats and promises, but he had turned all of them down.

    Seeing the cute Berlin bear doll that was wearing a red scarf, Yue Yue¡¯s eyes lit up. She ran up to hug it, and didn¡¯t want to let it go.

    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re just here to visit. You didn¡¯t have to bring a gift...¡± Liu Wenying noticed that the Berlin bear¡¯s bag was full of German words, and she recalled that Zhang Zian had gone to Germany to receive the prize. She figured that it was a souvenir that he had brought back with him, which meant that it was definitely not cheap.

    ¡°Yue Yue, quick, thank uncle,¡± Liu Wenying said as she rubbed Yue Yue¡¯s tiny head.

    ¡°Thank you, uncle,¡± Yue Yue said childishly. She immediately hugged the Berlin bear and scurried back to her room to y.

    Liu Wenying looked at her daughter¡¯s back and sighed. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen her so happy in a long time...¡±

 Chapter 1000: The Story Reached Over 1,000 Chapters, Which Changed the Human Realm

    <h4>Chapter 1000: The Story Reached Over 1,000 Chapters, Which Changed the Human Realm</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian knew that it was sad to lose a pet. Although Fluffy had not been with Liu Wenying¡¯s family long, they had all treated it as an irreceable part of their family. They had gotten used to its presence.

    Liu Wenying suddenly returned to her senses, motioning to the inside of the house and saying, ¡°Xiao Zhang, don¡¯t stay out there. Come into the house and take a seat. What drink do you want to drink? Are you hungry?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to trouble you. I¡¯m just dropping by. I¡¯ll leave after a short while.¡±

    Zhang Zian did not enter the house; he just stood at the doorway and chatted about some daily matters. He smelled the fragrance of rice from a rice cooker and knew that Liu Wenying was probably preparing a grand lunch for the weekend. He did not want to disturb them anymore after chatting for a while, so he suggested that he should leave.

    Liu Wenying very sincerely tried her best to get him to stay. She invited him to stay for lunch, but he said that he had a lot of things to do in the shop and rejected her offer.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll send you down.¡± She realized that Zhang Zian was insistent on leaving, so she changed into her outdoor slippers so she could walk him downstairs.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need. You can just stay here,¡± Zhang Zian said, trying to convince her to stay.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing... I¡¯m out of seasoning, so I need to go down to the minimart to buy it anyway.¡± She was also insistent.

    ¡°Then all right... Yue Yue, Brother Store Manager is leaving. Bye-bye!¡± Zhang Zian walked to the entrance to Yue Yue¡¯s room and waved.

    Yue Yue was hugging and rolling around on her bed happily with the Berlin Bear.

    ¡°Yue Yue, quickly¨C¨Csay goodbye to uncle!¡± Liu Wenying urged.

    ¡°Bye, uncle!¡± Yue Yue smiled happily.

    ¡°Yue Yue stay at home by yourself for a while. Be a good girl and y with the small bear. I need to go downstairs for a while but I¡¯lle back very quickly,¡± Liu Wenying instructed. Yue Yue nodded.

    Liu Wenying locked the door and followed Zhang Zian to take the elevator down.

    Walking out of the door, Liu Wenying was not in a rush to go to the minimart. Instead, she followed Zhang Zian to where he parked his car, and on the way there, they continued to chat about some daily happenings.

    Suddenly, the mournful wail of a cat sounded, causing them to stop talking for a while. Their hearts stopped as they listened. They looked at each other, and at the same time, they started to walk quickly towards the direction where the sound came from.

    Zhang Zian knew sound did not sound like dimir, but he hoped that nothing bad had happened to it.

    They turned a corner and an empty space appeared in front of them. There was some exercise equipment that old people used in the space, while the rest was a green space with green grass and short trees.

    A very rough looking, tall young man stood there, holding a metal baseball bat. His back was facing Zhang Zian and Liu Wenying.

    The weather was quite cool, and the person was wearing a short-sleeved vest like he was scared of heat. In front of him, there was a kitten that was a few months old and probably had just been weaned off milk. It was curled up and so scared that it was continuously crying out mournfully.

    The kitten¡¯s whole body was white, and it had medium-length fur. It was amonly seen, ordinary cat, but it was still quite pretty. Its pale blue eyes were full of fear as it looked around helplessly.

    It was being forced into a corner by the burly man holding the metal bat. As it was not an adult yet, it could not jump very well and its escape paths had all been blocked. It was trapped like a turtle in a jar.

    The burly man seemed to be admiring its look of fear as heughed asionally.

    Zhang Zian suddenly remembered that he had seen that man before. It was the burly man that he sawst time he visited, and the baseball bat in the burly man¡¯s hand was Liu Wenying¡¯s.

    ¡°What is this person doing?¡± he lowered his voice and asked Liu Wenying.

    Liu Wenying frowned slightly then answered him softly, ¡°This person is called Liu Yonghui, but everyone calls him A Hui. He doesn¡¯t have a job, so ever since the stray cats started to increase in this neighborhood, he volunteered to take care of them. He even asked the property management group for a sum of money... From that time on, he just wanders around the neighborhood day and night, carrying a metal bat. He always looks fierce and calls the security guards brothers... He¡¯s like a dictator in this area. No one dares to provoke him...¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded, expressing that he understood.

    Liu Yonghui must have heard them talking; he suddenly turned his head back to look at them. His gaze stayed on Liu Wenying¡¯s face for a while before itnded on Zhang Zian.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± he coarsely asked Zhang Zian, pointing his baseball bat at towards him.

    Before Zhang Zian could answer, Liu Wenying took the opportunity to answer first. ¡°Yonghui, this is a friend of mine. He¡¯s visiting me.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s visiting you?¡± Liu Yonghui stared at Zhang Zian¡¯s face in suspicion for a long time. ¡°I think I¡¯ve seen you before...¡±

    He lost interest in Zhang Zian. He waved his empty hand and said, ¡°Go then! Go on! If you want to visit people, go and visit people. Don¡¯t condemn me!¡±

    Zhang Zian wore a cold expression before he smiled bitterly; he was thick-skinned, so he could handle the burly man.

    Liu Wenying pulled on Zhang Zian, meaning to say, ¡°Let¡¯s hurry and leave¨C¨Cwe don¡¯t want to provoke this person.¡±

    Zhang Zian stood still and did not move, learning from Liu Yonghui¡¯s actions. He imitated Liu Yonghui¡¯s tone and asked, ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    His courage stunned both Liu Wenying and Liu Yonghui.

    What a joke!

    If he were facing an old man and olddy, who were very used to falling and dirtying their clothes¨C¨Cthe kind who would lie on the floor as soon as there was a disagreement¨C¨CZhang Zian would have taken the initiative and admitted his loss, for he truly could not afford to provoke them. However, he was facing a burly man¨C¨Che was not scared at all!

    Liu Wenying anxiously pulled on his arm. She didn¡¯t want to make trouble and kept apologizing to Liu Yonghui.

    Zhang Zian did not practice martial arts for no reason; he had learned the basics very well. No matter how much Liu Wenying tried to pull, he would not move. He did not interact with Old Time Tea for nothing, so how could he leave that kind of ¡°strong bullying the weak¡± situation alone and pretend not to see it? How would he manage to face Old Time Tea when he went back?

    It was the first time someone had dared to go against Lu Yonghui. Because of his 1.9 meter height and 190 pound weight, no one had ever dared to use that kind of tone to speak with him.

    He was so angry that he smiled instead. He looked at Zhang Zian in disdain and asked, ¡°What am I doing? What I¡¯m doing is none of your business!¡±

    Zhang Zian calmly nodded, then pointed at the small white cat and said, ¡°What you are doing indeed has nothing to do with me, you¡¯re right. But what are you doing to this cat?¡±

    ¡°What am I doing? Don¡¯t you have eyes?¡± Liu Yonghui said, trying to provoke him. He tapped his baseball bat on his palm. ¡°The property management group asked me to clear the stray cats in the area, so I¡¯m working now!¡±

    ¡°The property management group asked you to clear them away, but that doesn¡¯t mean you hit them until they die, right?¡± Through observation and conversation, Zhang Zian could confirm that Liu Yonghui was a normal person¨C¨Cmeaning that his mindset and thoughts were not affected by the Holy Cat Statue. He just purely enjoyed abusing cats.

    ¡°It¡¯s none of your business! If I hit them, what can you do about it?¡± Wen Yonghuiughed coldly. ¡°You want to see it? Should I let you see how I beat it to death?¡±

    Saying that, he raised his baseball bat up high and aimed it for the white cat¡¯s head.

    Zhang Zian was just about to reach a hand out to stop it when he suddenly heard a loud voice. ¡°Red g roll up, meow meow halberd! ck hand hangs high, hegemonic whip!¡±

 Chapter 1001: Who Is Scared of Who

    <h4>Chapter 1001: Who Is Scared of Who</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian felt that dimir was quite interesting. It would often recite poems before it appeared.

    After hearing the poem being recited, he knew he did not need to do anything. Looking up towards the voice, he saw dimir crouching in the district¡¯s gas supply pipeline. What was more surprising was that there were several other cats beside it¨C¨Ca grey one, a calico one, and one that was ck under the nose with a Hitler-like mustache, which looked very funny.

    The three cats were grey-headed and dirt-faced. Their hair was messy. Several pinches of hair were stuck together and stranded. They all looked like stray cats that wandered around nearby. They were squatting next to dimir on the gas supply pipeline, their heads lowered to stare at the people below.

    The small white cat, whose life was being threatened, started to meow at them, as if it was asking for help. Although the other people did not understand dimir¡¯s poem, they had all heard their meows and saw the four cats on the gas supply pipeline.

    ¡°Haha! Now, this is interesting! There are so many stray cats all of a sudden! I thought that all the stray cats in themunity had been knocked out by me, but I didn¡¯t expect that there were still a few cats leaking out of the!¡± Liu Yonghuiughed and hid the bat behind him. He took out a stic, self-sealing bag from his jeans hip pocket, took out a few dried fish from the bag, waved them at dimir, and said, ¡°Come down and eat dried fish.¡±

    Liu Wenying stared at the cats, worried that they would really be tempted by the dried fish and would jump down.

    Her Fluffy had gotten rabies after it was scratched by stray cats, so there was a period of time when she also really hated the stray cat that had scratched and hurt Fluffy. She had even personally used a baseball bat and gone around the area to find it so she could prevent other house cats from getting scratched and injured. But after all, how can innocent people be killed indiscriminately?

    The most important thing was, the cats didn¡¯t seem like cats with rabies!

    Ever since that happened to Fluffy, she had learned from Zhang Zian that for animals infected with rabies, there was often a fear of light and wind. It was noon now, and the sun was strong and the breeze was blowing, but the cats did not care.

    She kindheartedly reminded him, ¡°A Hui, do you see that the blue cat¡¯s fur is quite orderly? It doesn¡¯t look like a stray cat. It could be a cat from someone¡¯s house that ran out. If you kill it, the owners mighte to find you and ask you to pay money...¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s there to be scared of? It doesn¡¯t even have a cor on it. Who can prove that it is a house pet? Furthermore, aren¡¯t cats that run away now stray cats? There¡¯s nothing wrong with that!¡± Liu Yonghui said, unmoved.

    Zhang Zian did not say anything; he had already gone into the spectator mode. The only worry was whether he should call the ambnce beforehand...

    dimir stared at Liu Yonghui. It lightly leaped from the gas supply pipeline onto the ground and moved closer slowly, as if it had really been attracted by the dried fish.

    Zhang Zian had to admit it¨C¨Cit really could act. The nervous and covetous look was precisely acted out. It was almost as good as Famous, but the unabashed banter in its eyes still made it a bit out of character. However, that was only because he knew that it was ying Liu Yonghui. Otherwise, he might not have seen it.

    Liu Yonghui had been tricked by its acting skills. It dangled the dry fish in front of it, and also shook it at the other three cats that were still seated on the gas supply pipeline. He said, ¡°Hurry and ask your other counterparts toe down too. I have as much dry fish as you want! Definitely enough!¡±

    dimir smiled coldly, then turned its head back to say to the other cats, ¡°God d*mn! If people don¡¯t provoke me, I won¡¯t provoke them. But if people provoke me, I¡¯ll definitely retaliate!¡±

    The rest of the cats seemed to have gotten their orders. They jumped down from the gas supply pipeline one by one, circling Liu Yonghui in a crescent shape.

    Liu Yonghui had backed the small white cat into a corner, and now he was being backed into a corner as well by the other three cats.

    ¡°Eh?¡± Liu Wenying was surprised by the actions of four cats, including dimir, because their well-trained performance was not like ordinary cats. She could not help but wonder if they were trained by Zhang Zian. But she knew that was not right. The cats that looked so messy were really homeless cats.

    Liu Wenyong also noticed that the actions of the cats were a bit strange. They were different from the stray cats he had killed previously. The look they were giving him seemed full of hate.

    They wanted to... take revenge?

    But he was not scared. He had so many cat lives on his hands. Even if they became elfins, they were just cats. What could they do to him? Wasn¡¯t it still that he would kill them one by one with one hit?

    ¡°Haha, all right. You guys want to y, right...?¡± Heughed. He tried to appear tough outwardly and threw the stic bag with dried fish on the ground. He quietly pulled out the metal bat from behind him, intending to wait for the stray cats to grab food.

    In the end, he did not think that dimir would flick its paws and sweep the stic bag aside. The other three cats were instinctively attracted by the smell of dried fish, but they insisted on staying where they were.

    Liu Wenyong had identified it: The blue cat was the leader. She had heard that there was an alpha in a group of dogs, and alpha in a pack of wolves, but she had never heard of a leader among cats. That was something new.

    ¡°You...¡± He used his baseball bat to point at dimir like how he pointed at Zhang Zian just now. ¡°You assh*le!¡±

    Before he managed to say what he wanted to say, dimir reached out its front paw at lightning speed, then used a w to hit the side of the baseball bat.

    The force in which dimir hit the baseball bat was extremely strong. It caused Liu Yonghui¡¯s wrist to break, and he could no longer hold the baseball bat.

    ¡°Aiya!¡± He held his wrist with his mouth open. Sweat from the pain covered his body as his bat fell to the ground with a bang and rolled a distance away.

    dimir raised his paw and shouted, ¡°Who is afraid of today¡¯s world when the east wind blows and the drums roll? Comrades meow, onward!¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    The other three cats got the signal. It was like they were injected with chicken¡¯s blood as they gave a mournful cry. They rushed at Liu Yonghui from different angles and directions. The calico cat climbed up to his waist along his legs. It was interested in the fat that appeared between the short-sleeved T-shirt and low-waisted jeans. The gray cat scratched his bare arms with its ws and caught blood. The little bearded cat jumped from behind to his shoulder, hugged his neck, and scratched and bit at his hair and head.

    Liu Yonghui did not think he would ever be met with such a situation. In the past when stray cats met him, they couldn¡¯t escape fast enough.

    His right wrist was in extreme pain. He had been caught off guard, so he could only use his left hand to protect his face. The rest of the ces they were attacking were rough and fleshy anyway, so he would not die from being scratched a few times.

    He shook his body, trying his best to get rid of the three cats. He frantically ran away in a random direction.

    What worried him was the pain on his body... The cats did not have rabies, right?

 Chapter 1002: We Dare to Call the Day and Night to Get a New Day

    <h4>Chapter 1002: We Dare to Call the Day and Night to Get a New Day</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    While the three cats were fiercely battling Liu Yonghui, dimir did not take part in it. Instead, it stood at the side watching the battle. That made Zhang Zian feel reassured, because he knew Liu Yonghui definitely could not stand against its punch full of gathered belief... It would probably cause him to be a man-made satellite.

    When Liu Yonghui really could not stand it anymore, he quickly escaped. The three stray cats happily jumped around to celebrate their victory. dimir, on the other hand, was not happy. He walked over to them seriously and had them gather together. He exined the strengths and weaknesses of the battle they just had, and especially critiqued the bearded stray cat¡¯s impulsive actions that went against the offensive doctrine and the opportunism doctrine dimir had taught them. If it was not for the fact that Liu Yonghui¡¯s right wrist was injured, there was a high possibility he would have caught the bearded stray cat and thrown it on the ground, which would have killed it.

    The three stray cats listened seriously and respectfully to dimir¡¯s lesson.

    Liu Wenying worriedly pulled Zhang Zian away, saying in a soft voice, ¡°These cats are so fierce. It can¡¯t be that they are... crazy cats, right? Let¡¯s not go too close, just in case they scratch us...¡±

    Zhang Zian did not admit dimir¡¯s rtion to him. Instead, heforted her. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. They don¡¯t seem like crazy cats. It could be that A Hui normally bullies cats too much, which caused stray cats to retaliate against him.¡±

    Liu Wenying had always believed in Zhang Zian¡¯s knowledge of pets, and on hearing that, a lot of her doubts were removed.

    At that moment, the small white cat was no longer in danger. It walked towards the grass patch at the side, meowing and lowering its head as it wandered about.

    Zhang Zian walked over and separated the grass. He saw that there was a white female cat lying in the grass, its body covered in blood. It had been dead for a long while.

    The small white cat was licking and pulling on the female cat, continuously wailing, but the female cat did not move. Its body became colder and colder.

    Zhang Zian saw that the back of the female cat had a part that was dented in. Its body was twisted in an unnatural way, and it was clear that it¡¯s backbone had been hit by Liu Yonghui¡¯s metal bat, which caused it to die on the spot.

    ¡°So evil! It¡¯s a cat with a kitten...¡± Liu Wenying had followed Zhang Zian over, and could not help but turn her head to the side when she saw the cat. She could not bear to look at it. She was also a mother, and what she could not stand the most was the separation of family members. Any bit of sympathy she had towards Liu Yonghui instantly vanished.

    The good thing was that the young white cat had already been weaned off milk. Otherwise, it would have been hard for it to survive without its mother.

    dimir and the other three stray cats heard the small white cat wailing and also came over to see the tragic scene. dimir clenched its teeth, its green eyes¨C¨Cthat had a tinge of gold at the sides of them¨C¨Chad a fire burning in them.

    It led the other cats to sit next to the body of the female cat. They all sat and lowered their heads like they were silently mourning.

    ¡°For the existence of those martyrs of lofty ideals, we dare to call the day and night to get a new day!¡± dimir said, pausing after each word. It ced its front paw on the body of the female cat, closing its eyes that had yet to be closed.

    The other three cats seemed to have gotten immeasurable strength from its words and raised their heads, their gazes full of sorrow. Their gaze made Zhang Zian¡¯s heart stop for a while.

    ¡°We can¡¯t leave the body out in the cold here, it will get germs. I¡¯ll get something to keep it in, then find a ce to bury it.¡± Liu Wenying sighed.

    ¡°I should have a stic collection container.¡± Zhang Zian walked quickly, taking out a suitably sized, empty collection container from the trunk of the Wuling Hong Guang MPV. They put the female cat¡¯s body inside the container then covered it with a lid.

    His original idea was that he could bury it himself, but Liu Wenying insisted that she would go and bury it. She wanted to bury it next to Fluffy¡¯s tomb so they could apany each other.

    Zhang Zian agreed, then passed the collection box to her.

    ¡°I¡¯ll bring it upstairs first. Yue Yue is probably hungry, so I¡¯ll do it after we eat. I just so happen to have some ice packs, too, so I can use them to help it lower its temperature,¡± she said in a low voice.

    ¡°Be careful. I¡¯m also going back to the pet shop now,¡± he said.

    ¡°Be careful driving on the way back,¡± Liu Wenying nodded and instructed.

    She hugged the collection box and walked for a short distance before she heard a sound from behind her. When she turned her head back to look, she saw the small white cat was following behind her. It stopped from time to time, not daring to get too close.

    When it saw that she stopped walking, it backed away a few steps. It noticed some dry fish that Liu Yonghui had thrown down to the side and it walked over to sniff it. It didn¡¯t seem to care that there was dust on the dry fish, and lowered its head to wolf it down.

    ¡°Poor child, you¡¯re hungry, right...?¡± Liu Wenying squatted down and picked up the leftover dry fish. She cleaned the dust off and put it in her hand to signal to it. ¡°Come and eat.¡±

    The small white cat did not dare to go near at first, but perhaps because it was too hungry, or it could be that when Liu Wenying was holding the female cat¡¯s body, it slowly came closer after a short while. It used its tongue to bring the dried fish into its mouth.

    There were very few pieces of dried fish, so its stomach was not full in the slightest. After it finished eating, it did not even hesitate to lick Liu Wenying¡¯s palm clean.

    Liu Wenying hesitated for a while before she muttered to herself, ¡°I think there is still quite a lot of cat food left at home. It¡¯d be a waste not to use it...¡±

    She stood up, walking towards the doorway of her apartment building. When she turned her head back, the white cat was even closer than before. When she stopped, it stopped; when she walked, it followed.

    ¡°I can¡¯t stop it from following me... This is a public space, anyone can walk here,¡± she said to herself as if she was trying to convince herself.

    After that, she did not turn back. Her gaze did not waver as she walked into the apartment doorway, and pressed the elevator button.

    The elevator doors opened, and she walked in, disappearing from Zhang Zian and dimir¡¯s sight.

    The elevator door did not close for a long time¨C¨Cit exceeded the time where the doors should have automatically closed, as if someone was pressing the button and not letting the doors close.

    The white cat reached the elevator doors, hesitated for a few seconds, then turned its head back to look at Zhang Zian and dimir. In the end, it carefully walked into the elevator.

    ¡°She¡¯s a good person,¡± dimir assessed.

    ¡°There are still a lot of good people in the world,¡± Zhang Zian added.

    dimir turned its head to look at him. ¡°But there are still quite a lot of reactionaries in the world.¡±

    ¡°About that...¡± Zhang Zian wanted to exin.

    dimir cut in, ¡°Often, the good people are the ones that remain quiet. Even though there are only a few reactionaries, they are just like some rat sh*t¨C¨Ca few spoil the whole pot of soup!¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. What it said was entirely true, especially the part about the good ones often remaining quiet. That phrase was too urate.

    Everyone knew that abusing cats was bad, and in all the online forums, the posts that talked about cat abuse were often full of people who were angry. But when cat abuse cases actually happened in front of their eyes, and a burly man like Liu Yonghui was doing it, then how many good people would be brave enough to go up and stop it?

    Even, Liu Wenying, who dimir had said was a good person, did not go up to stop Liu Yonghui.

    ¡°She¡¯s doing the most she can do. She¡¯s a middle-ageddy close to 40 years old... Even if she wanted to do the right thing, she needs to first protect herself,¡± Zhang Zian exined on behalf of Liu Wenying.

    Instead of saying anything harsh, dimir recited, ¡°When the Nazis came to catch the Communists, I kept silent because I wasn¡¯t a Communist; when they came to catch the Jews, I kept silent because I wasn¡¯t a Jew; when they came to catch the trade unionists, I kept silent because I wasn¡¯t a trade unionist; when they came to catch the Catholics, I kept silent, because I was a Protestant; when they came to catch me, there was also no one who spoke for me.¡±

    That was a phrase that a Jew in Boston had written on its gravestone, and it was spread around a lot. Zhang Zian had heard it before, and dimir¡¯s use of it there was quite suitable.

    The people who abused cats had very messed up minds. They abused cats one day, and then the next they would bemitting crimes against humanity.

    If arge portion of good people kept quiet and watched from the side when they saw a cat abuse case, the next day, they could be suffering through the bitter fruits that they had grown.

    dimir said, ¡°ording to my observations over the few days, the conclusion I came to was this: Hoping that humans would notice their own mistake and improve themselves on their own is not very possible. If stray cats want to help themselves, they can only use more severe methods¨C¨Cto change themselves!¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned. He was unsure what kind of change it was referring to.

    dimir waved its paws towards its back, calling the three stray cats over. It introduced them to Zian. ¡°They will be the contact points in this neighborhood in the future.¡±

    ¡°Contact points? What is there to contact them about?¡± He was even more confused.

    ¡°The reason why the stray cats were bullied by people was that, in front of the stray cats, there was always a te of scattered sand. There were even fights in the same nest, so I need to unite all the stray cats,¡± dimir said seriously.

    Every cat only had four toes on each paw, and it reached out a paw and used its other paw to cover a single toe of the previous cat so that only three toes were exposed.

    ¡°Anywhere that has three stray cats, we¡¯ll build a Meow Meow Branch Organization!¡± it announced. It put down a cat paw, and pointed at the grey cat and said, ¡°Its personality is stable, and it is suitable to be the head of the Branch Organization.¡±

    Then it pointed at the calico cat. ¡°Its ability to think is higher, and it is suitable to be the secretary of the Branch Organization.¡±

    Then it pointed at the bearded stray cat. ¡°It¡¯s too young, and its personality is impulsive. Itcks experience and practice in fighting, so it can only be a member of the branch organization and ept the leadership of the other two cats.¡±

    The three stray cats puffed out their chests, epting their assignments. The bearded stray cat was obviously not very satisfied, and it seemed to be forcing down its temptation to show off.

    Zhang Zian was speechless. You really know how to y!

    dimir had already finished sorting out the roles, and it very excitedly said, waving its paws, ¡°Every Meow Meow Branch Organization is a contact point, and we¡¯ll contact each other through these points. Each branch organization will be the face of the organization. The farmingmunities surround the city from all four sides! In the end, it¡¯ll be a full-scale in order to bury the Holy Cat Statue and those cat abusers into the deep sea of the cat citizens fight!¡±

    ¡°Meow, meow!¡±

    ¡°Meow, meow!¡±

    ¡°Meow, meow!¡±

    The three stray cats all happily called out.

    In the end, there was a burning fire in dimir¡¯s green eyes. They looked as if it wanted to burn everything. It said, ¡°I believe, that the fire of meow meow can burn and return!¡±

 Chapter 1003: Offline Activities

    <h4>Chapter 1003: Offline Activities</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Early morning.

    Zhang Zian woke up from his sleep due to his biological clock.

    He got up to put on his clothes and saw that the dimir, who was sleeping on the ground, opened its eyes and closed them again, then turned around.

    At present, dimir was experiencing the pain of adjusting its working and sleeping time, which was like the jetg after flying. It had juste back from outside and it was still energetic.

    Despite that, it decided to do its best to only go out in the daytime, because it had already fully familiarized itself with theyout nearby. It wanted to go to further¨C¨Cto understand Binhai City to a further extent¨C¨Cand it could only take Zhang Zian¡¯s car to look around in the morning. It did not request for Zhang Zian to drive around at night to bring it around. Instead, it was adjusting its sleeping schedule.

    The other elfins did not have much interest in familiarizing themselves with theyout of Binhai City¨C¨Cdimir was an exception. It was extremely interested in everything concerning Binhai City. Zhang Zian could understand, as it was trying to find the Holy Cat Statue, but he felt like there was a deeper meaning.

    Zhang Zian, who had finished putting on his clothes, was walking past it quietly when it suddenly asked him in a low voice, ¡°What time are we leaving?¡±

    ¡°Around one to two hours more. You can sleep for a little longer,¡± Zhang Zian replied in a low voice.

    The sky was getting bright earlier and earlier. Normally, at that time in the winter, it was still quite dark. Now the east had shown the first rays of the morning sun nting through the curtain. Although the light was not strong, it would still affect one¡¯s sleep.

    dimir squinted its eyes and turned its head to take a look. It found that there seemed to be a good spot to avoid the sunlight under Zhang Zian¡¯s single bed, and it hurriedly rolled to it.

    The other elfins started to wake up one by one.

    Zhang Zian entered the washroom and used the cool water to wash his face.

    Ssh!

    The calm water in the bathtub burst into waves, followed by a water ghost with a head of disheveled hair... No, it was Shihwa, but the disheveled hair was right.

    The clear water fell like a waterfall from her dark green hair. She wiped the water off her face and stared at Zhang Zian and said, ¡°I have something I need you to answer.¡±

    Her tone was so serious that it made Zhang Zian a bit ufortable.

    ¡°If you want to ask something, just ask it,¡± he answered.

    She pointed at his face and fiercely said, ¡°Did the Live Broadcast tform send me an invitation to sign a contract and you rejected it?¡±

    Zhang Zian paused. ¡°...Who told you that?¡±

    Sihwa noticed his words and his expression. His face had an expression like he had just been caughtmitting adultery, so she knew it was true. She instantly became even angrier. ¡°The staff of the Live Broadcast tform sent me a short message from the station through the app. I only knew it because of that! If I didn¡¯t see the message, were you going to hide it forever?¡±

    Although she was angry, with her good looks, it was really like what the ancient people said: ¡°Beautiful when angry or happy.¡± There were probably many guys who stayed at home a lot online that would rather spend money to be scolded by her.

    ¡°About that... Things aren¡¯t like what you think.¡± Zhang Zian hurriedly started to think and defended himself, saying, ¡°Signing a contract with the Live Broadcast tform is something very serious, and you can¡¯t hurriedly randomly make a decision. After you¡¯ve signed a contract, you are practically an employee of the Live Broadcast tform. Sometimes, the Live Broadcast tform has events that you would need to go to.¡±

    His meaning was very obvious: Sihwa was a mermaid... How would she take part in offline activities?

    ¡°I don¡¯t care!¡± Sihwa¡¯s two arms hit the water¡¯s surface. She was throwing a tantrum. ¡°I heard that after you sign the contract, the portion of the presents you get will be increased. There is even a fixed, basic sry! I want to earn money! I don¡¯t want to stay in such a pitiful and spoiled bathroom anymore! I keep getting teased byizens about this!¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°They are just joking. Don¡¯t mind it. There are often readers that tease Pi for being short and small and helpless, but look at it! It isn¡¯t bothered by that.¡±

    ¡°Zhi Zhi?¡± Pi had also woken up. From outside the bathroom, it heard them say his name, but he did not know what they were saying.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, it¡¯s nothing. We just randomly mentioned you,¡± Zhang Zian said ambiguously and moved on.

    Sihwa was not that easy to convince. ¡°Offline activities... I can ask for time off work. I can say that my body is ufortable, and I won¡¯t participate. It¡¯s not some kind of ck-heartedpany! You¡¯re saying they would never let me have a day off?¡±

    ¡°You can take a day off once, but could you continuously take time off work?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Actually, ever since Sihwa started to broadcast, her fame was really growing rapidly. Whenever there was a hot issue, the speed of transmission on the Inte wasparable to that of locusts¨C¨Cespecially on the live broadcasting tform dominated by the males that stay home all day. Suddenly, a super beauty like her had appeared¨C¨Cone that was extremely popr and didn¡¯t have a single bad angle. She could also always talk about highly popr topics.

    In the course of her live broadcasting, some people always questioned whether she went to Korea for cosmetic surgery¨C¨Cone of the four great magic arts in East Asia¨C¨Cthe art of makeup, or the beauty camera¨C¨Cone of the four great inventions of New China.

    In the short three or four years since the rise of live broadcasting, there had been more than one case of online, famous beauty anchors failing as soon as they were seen in real life. Clearly, in the live broadcasting room, beautiful women with big breasts and buttocks had bemon faces and figures in offline live activities. Every time the fans were shocked and they would shout, ¡°The f*ck! Who are you?¡±

    There were a lot of people in China, and although there were still arge number of new audience members who had juste into contact with live broadcasting, the old audience members who had repeatedly been injured had long been wary of love. They were instinctively suspicious of all the female anchors that were too beautiful and perfect.

    With all kinds of revealing cosmetics and teaching videos that exposed the fake beauty cameras circting on the Inte, many people had already disbelieved the so-called  beauty.¡±

    Of course, Sihwa was also one that was under suspicion, and the best way to fight back doubts was undoubtedly to participate in offline activities. Whether it was a beautiful woman or a passerby could be seen at a nce during offline activities. If one was still beautiful offline, at least not much less than online image subtraction, it was undoubtedly a shot of cardiac stimnt in the arm for hard-core fans. It was also a way to rally more loyal fans.

    But Sihwa could not possibly take part in offline activities. After all, she was a mermaid.

    Facing Zhang Zian¡¯s question, she answered thoughtlessly, ¡°If you can ask for leave, of course you have to! If you can¡¯t...¡±

    She pointed at Zhang Zian¡¯s face, ¡°You can take my ce to participate! Anyway, there are quite a lot of crossdressers these days!¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    Before he could say anything insulting, she looked at his face carefully, then shook her head in disappointment. ¡°As expected, it¡¯s impossible. Even if you crossdress, you would be seen through in one look. I don¡¯t want you to sully my image!¡±

    ¡°Wei! You say it like my reputation is not important! Even if you want me to take your ce to participate, I won¡¯t go!¡± Zhang Zian was very depressed. He felt like he was being looked down on.

    ¡°Leave it. Anyway, I can think about this thing slowly. I want to sign the contract. I want to earn money!¡± Sihwa expressed her strong desire. Her tone changed as she said, ¡°When are we going to the seaside again? You haven¡¯t taken me since we¡¯ve been back. I really want to y with the whales!¡±

    Zhang Zian thought about it. ¡°The seaside, ah... Let¡¯s go today.¡±

 Chapter 1004: Daily Practice

    <h4>Chapter 1004: Daily Practice</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian had been busy over thest few days dealing with the media that was trying to interview him. The reason why Zhang Zian went to the seaside every day was to deal with his official work¨C¨Cto y Sihwa¡¯s recording of her song¨C¨Cand after that, he would look for any rare animals that had been washed up shore. After hurriedly walking around, he would return back home. Depending on the day, the shop would sometimes be rushed and busy upon his return, while other times he would instantly have to go back to dealing with the media.

    That day, he had no ns with the media¨C¨Cat least they had no ns in the morning¨C¨Cso he brought Sihwa to the seaside to y for a while. It was not wasting much effort as much as it it was just using more time.

    When he brought the elfins to the capital, even Pi had tagged along and had gone to see many famous sights in the capital. Although Sihwa had gone over there with them, due to the restrictions of her condition, he could not bring her over to sightsee with them. He did feel guilty about it, so that was why he brought her to the seaside to y. She could consider it aspensation.

    Thest time they had gone out, dimir had expressed its interest in the assault boat in the car trunk. It had never been to the seaside, so he took the opportunity to bring it over as well. He just did not know whether it had motion sickness on the boat or not.

    On agreeing to Sihwa¡¯s requests, he went downstairs, and started his daily clean-up to prepare for the shop¡¯s opening.

    He was surprised to see that Fina had woken up early and hade down earlier than other elfins. It was normally veryzy and would be thest one toe downstairs.

    What made him more surprised was that it was not taking a nap.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± he asked, feeling troubled.

    Fina was squatting on the disy case, looking serious, and staring at the three Abyssinian cats. The Samoan puppies in the disy cab cheekily scratched on the top of the cab with their paws, but they were ignored by Fina.

    Snowy Li wanted to climb onto the cab to sit next to Fina, but its legs were too short. It had tried a few times but it could not leap up after trying multiple times.

    ¡°Can¡¯t you see?¡± Fina gave him a look.

    ¡°Clearly not, that¡¯s why I asked.¡± Zhang Zian did not know what kind of strange thing it was going to do; he just hoped that it would not start to randomly order him around.

    ¡°I announced when we were in the capital that I want to build an Honorable Cat Guards Of The Three Armies! Did you think that I was joking? I always do what I say, and I decided to start practicing today,¡± it said, puffing out its chest.

    Zhang Zian: ¡°...¡±

    I don¡¯t know if God had heard Fina¡¯s words in the New Year. Was it really going to make this year the Year of the Cat? dimir was going to have a Meow Meow Branch Organization, and Fina was going to have an Honorable Cat Guards Of The Three Armies. Maybe God should consider the feelings of the mice and dogs!

    ¡°Why are you stunned?¡± Fina stared at him unhappily.

    Zhang Zian pointed at his nose. ¡°You want toe up with a three cats honor guard, but what does that have to do with me? I¡¯m not a cat.¡±

    ¡°Even if you are a cat, you¡¯d just be a useless cat. I wouldn¡¯t choose you to join the three cats honor guard!¡± Fina gave a cold hmph.

    ¡°Meow, meow, meow! If you are a cat, I would have sterilized you forever a long time ago!¡± Snowy Li gave up on climbing up with Fina. Instead, it started to wave its ws and show its teeth, trying to scare him.

    Fina continued, ¡°I saw the g raising ceremony at the parade square. The honor guard of the three armies was stepping on time to the music and I felt that it was very impressive, so I want the three cats honor guard to also walk on time to the music.¡±

    Oh, so it just wants me to y music. Zhang Zian finally understood his standing.

    Before then, when he was doing the exercise broadcast, he had a small Bluetooth speaker¨C¨Cthe kind that a TF card could be inserted into. He found the speaker and started to y the apaniment music for Fina.

    ¡°Forward, forward, forward! Our troop is facing the sun! Our feet are stepping on the ground of the mothend! Carrying the hopes of the people! We are an invincible force!¡±

    Although there were no lyrics, the beat of the pure music edition was still strong, and the drum was clear.

    Fina was finally satisfied; it was the same music it had heard when watching the honor guard of the three armies.

    ¡°Onward!¡± It waved its paws at the three Abyssinian cats and signaled for them to walk forward in sync.

    However, they actually did not fully understand Fina¡¯s intentions. Although they followed orders to walk forward, they weren¡¯t in sync at all. Their 12 legs were all moving at different times, which made Fina very disappointed. It was entirely different from what it had seen in the parade square, where the steps were neat and coordinated.

    ¡°Stop! Again!¡± Fina said, annoyed. ¡°It needs to be neat, understand? Neat! You all dance very well, so why is it that walking is so hard?¡±

    The three cats walked back and forth a few times, but in the end, they were still very far from Fina¡¯s expectations.

    ¡°Actually, them not being able to walk well is normal. Do you think that orderly walking is easy? Randomly walking has always been natural for humans and animals, so forcing neatness is going against their nature,¡± Zhang Zian said from the side, his voice full of goodwill. ¡°Those soldiers that are in charge of the g, the main part of their daily training is walking¨C¨Cto walk as neatly as if they were linked by a string. Everyone that¡¯s done it has practiced for at least three years. If you want to imitate that, you can¡¯tplete that in a short while.¡±

    ¡°Do you think my cat citizens are as dumb as mere humans?¡± Fina stared at him unhappily. ¡°Again!¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. He felt like this year was not going that well; the frequency of him being looked at in disdain had increased.

    Why was it like that? He wanted to hold firmly in his hand a chain of pet shops and pet food shops! When was it that he fell to this state?

    Gxy meowed as it chased the American Shorthair and ran by.

    Zhang Zian noticed from the side of his vision that Famous was yawning and walking down the stairs. He said in a high voice, ¡°Famous, quickly call Pi toe down to y hide-and-seek!¡±

    ¡°Meow! Hide-and-seek!¡± Gxy happily stopped chasing the other cat.

    Famous was recalling his dream. Upon hearing Zhang Zian¡¯s words, it was very shocked. It was so scared that it hurriedly ran back to the second floor! No matter how Zhang Zian called, it hid on the second floor, refusing toe down.

    ¡°Ze! How cowardly! Right, Gxy? Hide-and-seek is a true man¡¯s game!¡± Zhang Zian proudly said.

    ¡°Meow!¡± Gxy did not understand.

    ¡°We haven¡¯t yed hide-and-seek in such a long time. Let¡¯s y to our hearts¡¯ content today! I¡¯ll let all of you know that I¡¯m the King of Hide-and-seek!¡± He threw his broom down and gave a fierce look that told everyone around to surrender. Besides Gxy, no one noticed, and that made him very hurt. He felt like he had pretended to be great for no reason...

    At that moment, dimir yawned and unsteadily walked downstairs.

    It had also heard the music Zhang Zian was ying, and saw how Fina was training the three Abyssinian cats. It had watched from the side for a while before it suggested to Fina, ¡°You can yell one-two-one. When you yell one, you can have them move their left leg, and when you yell two, you can have them move their right leg.¡±

    ¡°Will that work?¡± Fina asked doubtfully.

    ¡°Of course!¡± dimir was very confident.

 Chapter 1005: Secret Signal

    <h4>Chapter 1005: Secret Signal</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian and Gxy yed hide-and-seek for a while, then they suddenly heard dimir shout, ¡°One-Two-One, left, right, left! One-Two-One, left, right, left!¡±

    The three Abyssinian cats were following the rhythm of its cries, moving their left foreleg and right hind leg when it shouted one, and their right foreleg and left hind leg when it shouted two. Although it was still not very neat, but had improved and was much better than before. After more practice, they should be able to walk around in a very neat pace.

    Cats characteristically walked the easy walk, meaning that their four feet could step on the same line. A model on a catwalk walked the same way, but the model was trained. For cats, however, it was instinctive, and they hardly ever walked askew. While human soldiers walked in two straight lines, the cat was more ornamental when it walked.

    dimir said, ¡°What matters the most when doing things is doing it the correct way. This way, we canplete the same tasks with half the effort.¡±

    Fina finally felt satisfied. After a reserved nod, it said, ¡°Walking together is just the beginning. I still want to let them learn to walk forward. Turn off the music; we¡¯ll end it here. Don¡¯t disturb the pce, I¡¯m going to sleep.¡± After saying that, it jumped onto the highest level of the cat climbing rack, closed its eyes, and fell asleep.

    Zhang Zian said in his heart, This is one thing happening after another. They really knew how to mess with me!

    He switched off the music, then pulled opened the curtain door and let the fresh air enter the shop.

    Now was almost the most suitable season of the year. If one didn¡¯t go out for a walk, it would be a waste of fine weather.

    Famous peeked out from the top of the staircase to check if the hide-and-seek game was over before it dared to quietly sneak down.

    Zhang Zian was sweeping the floor and cleaning up the ce when he saw dimir stroll over. It raised its head to ask, ¡°Yesterday, with that dumb big guy and that middle-aged woman... What was the contagious disease they were talking about?¡±

    The dumb big guy was, of course, Liu Yonghui, and the middle-aged woman was Liu Wenying.

    dimir had arrived in Binhai after Liu Wenying¡¯s Siamese cat was infected with rabies, so he did not understand some details of the conversation between them yesterday. It was inconvenient for him to ask at that time. When he was free, he raised his doubts.

    ¡°You¡¯re asking about this...¡± Zhang Zian swept the floor while he told it about Liu Wenying¡¯s experience. When she was walking around the residential area, the Siamese cat was scratched by a stray cat that came out of nowhere and was infected with rabies. The incident made the residents of that area extremely angry, especially some old people with stubborn ideas, so they decided to kill the stray cats in the residential area.

    ¡°Oh. What¡¯s rabies?¡± dimir asked.

    ¡°It is an infectious disease that people and felines and canines share. Whether they are a human, a dog, or a cat, once someone gets infected, they will almost always die,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°People are very afraid of this infectious disease, and sometimes fear allows excessive behavior.¡±

    ¡°Now that¡¯s a problem...¡± dimir pondered.

    For domestic pet cats, the impact of the problem was very small. After all, most pet cats didn¡¯t leave their homes, and there was little possibility of infection. But for stray cats, the problem was more serious. The frequent cat abuse had made their lives difficult, and the terrible infectious diseases raged among stray cats like ghosts.

    ¡°If we want to fight a powerful enemy and win, we must try our best to preserve our vital strength,¡± it said. ¡°If we can¡¯t stop the spread of infectious diseases in time, the stray cats will be destroyed by the disease without the help of the Holy Cat Statue and the cat abusers.¡±

    ¡°It can be said like that, but it seems like there is no good solution,¡± Zhang Zian admitted. The rabies was an old andrge scale problem; it would not be able to be solved that easily. ¡°When you go out next time, you need to be careful. Although it is a good thing to be friends with a lot of cats, you need to be careful for your own safety.¡±

    ¡°Because someone has choked to death eating rice before, you won¡¯t eat rice again in the future?¡± dimir did not seem to care that much about its own safety and was not concerned about it at all. That part of it was quite simr to Fina.

    It thought for a while, then asked, ¡°After getting rabies, are there any obvious symptoms?¡±

    ¡°There are, like how they are scared of light, scared of wind, scared of water, and their mental condition is not clear. Individual cases might have arger sense of aggression towards humans and other animals,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    dimir¡¯s eyes brightened as if it had thought of a good idea. It confidently said, ¡°Then that¡¯s easy to tackle.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought in his heart, It is not like you are Bethune, an internationalist fighter. Could youe up with a special medicine?

    He saw it walk to the doorway of the shop and whistle.

    Not long after, a ck cat appeared from the top of the wall of the opposite housing estate. It jumped down the wall, carefully avoiding the cars, and ran towards them side.

    ¡°It¡¯s a member of the Meow Meow Branch Organization from the opposite estate,¡± dimir said.

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    It seemed like every night, while he was snoring and sleeping, dimir had secretly done quite a lot of things...

    After passing across the road, the ck cat kept a safe distance from the pedestrians on the road and walked to a ce that was about a few meters away from the pet shops. It squatted down, not daring toe any nearer.

    dimir turned its head to look a Fina.

    Zhang Zian was stunned for a while, but he understood it right after. The ck cat was a stray cat, and it had smelled Fina¡¯s scent so it did not dare toe too close.

    Since it did not dare toe over, dimir just walked out of the pet shop and over to the ck cat, then sat down.

    Zhang Zian was confused as to what it wanted to do.

    Before he asked, dimir actively exined, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that after the rabies illness kicks in, they have a confused mental state? I was thinking of a method...¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°What method?¡±

    An infected party being scared of light, wind, and water were all symptoms quite easy to identify if a human had rabies, but cats were nocturnal animals. They were also scared of water, and would also normally find ces to avoid the wind to rest. Using those symptoms to identify if a cat had rabies was not very reliable.

    But if it was delirious... How could they identify that?

    dimir smiled. ¡°The method is to use a secret signal.¡±

    ¡°A secret signal?¡± Zhang Zian thought what it said was quite interesting. ¡°Cats using a secret signal?¡±

    dimir nodded its head. ¡°That¡¯s right! There are often fights between stray cats over territory, and sometimes, even if it was not to fight for territory, they would still fight. From a neutral standpoint, this makes it easier for rabies to spread.

    Zhang Zian had to admit that what it said was very right. Fighting was verymon for stray cats. Although it was moremon for them to make noises at each other, to see which one made the loudest sounds, they would asionally use their ws.

    ¡°So I¡¯m going to let the stray cats in the vicinity signal to each other when they are close to each other. If the cat is not in its right mind, it would not be able to signal to the other, right? If the other party is right, it means that they are sane and have little chance of having the rabies infection. On the contrary, if the other party is not able to show the signal, they should not approach the other party,¡± dimir exined.

    The method was quite meaningful. To put it inly, it was for the istion of infectious sources. its method was very old, but effective. People thousands of years ago, without specific drugs and vines against infectious diseases, could adopt the method of isting patients from the general poption to control the spread of infectious diseases.

    ¡°Practice is the only criterion for testing how effective it is! I am going to cross the river by touching the stones, neither conservative nor aggressive. First, I will conduct a small-scale test in Binhai City. If it works, it will be further promoted to stray cats in the rest of the country in the future,¡± it said confidently.

    Zhang Zian felt that there were a lot of parts to attack, but for a peaceful society, it was better not to insult people.

    ¡°All right... then what kind of secret signal are you nning on doing? If you meow twice, it will meow three times? How¡¯s that? Or if you meow three times, it will meow four times?¡± he asked, half-jokingly.

    ¡°That¡¯s too simple. It¡¯s easy to just roughly pass the test, so it won¡¯t be effective in identifying the enemy.¡± dimir waved its paw and disagreed, saying, ¡°Let me and this cat give you a demonstration, and you¡¯ll understand.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at it seriously. Not only him, but the rest of the elfins in the shop sent curious looks over. Even Fina opened its eyes slightly and stared at the interactions between dimir and the ck cat.

    dimir took a few steps back to the shop entrance. It straightened its chest, raised its head, and sat upright. The ck cat did the same. There was roughly two to three meters of distance between them.

    It cleared its throat, raised its right front paw, raised the soles of its feet above its head, and said, ¡°The King of Heaven meows!¡±

    Pu! Zhang Zian almost choked on his own saliva!

    ¡°Where did you hear that sentence?¡± he asked, speechless.

    dimir had yet to reply. On the other hand, it was Old Time Tea who peeked out from behind the television, chuckling as it exined, ¡°I watched The Taking of Tiger Mountain with itst night.¡±

    The f*ck. It¡¯s using things it learned on the spot!

    The ck cat also did not really understand what dimir said. It was stunned and did not know what to do.

    dimir patiently taught it. ¡°Don¡¯t be anxious! Come, follow what I did just now.¡±

    The ck cat raised its right front paw, raised the soles of its feet above its head, and said, ¡°Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow!¡±

    dimir also raised its right front paw, raised the soles of its feet above its head, and replied, ¡°The demon kitten of Pagoda Town!¡±

    It paused. ¡°Do you understand now? This is the secret signal. After meeting up, one cat will say the first sentence, and the other cat will say the second half. Only when it matches can the other party can be trusted,¡± it exined.

    ¡°Come, again. This time, I¡¯ll speak first.¡± It raised its paw and said, ¡°The King of Heaven meows!¡±

    ¡°Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow!¡± the ck cat raised its paw and replied.

    ¡°Yeah, not bad. This time, you go first.¡± dimir put down its paw and signaled.

    The ck cat raised its paw. ¡°Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow!¡±

    dimir raised its paw. ¡°The demon kitten of Pagoda Town!¡±

    Zhang Zian did not know what kind of expression he had at that moment. The good thing was that dimir did not make the secret signal tooplicated. If there were a few more sentences, they would have to say, ¡°Why is your face so ck?¡± to which the response would be, ¡°Spiritual renewal!¡± From there, they would have to say, ¡°Why is it blue again?¡± to which the response would be, ¡°To prevent the cold, the wax pain!¡± If that was the case, he would never be able to watch The Taking of Tiger Mountain with a straight face again...

    After repeatedly practicing a few times, dimir waved its paw in satisfaction and said, ¡°All right, spread this signal to the other stray cats. In the future, when everyone meets, you must first do the secret signal.¡±

    The ck cat meowed, followed its orders, and left.

 Chapter 1006: Strange Things

    <h4>Chapter 1006: Strange Things</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian watched, his face full of ck lines, as the ck cat ran through the road and jumped on top of the wall, then disappeared into the neighborhood Lu Yiyun lived in. For some reason, his testicles were in pain and his whole head was full of, ¡°The King of Heaven meows, the demon kitten of Pagoda Town...¡±

    Although he could not understand the ¡°meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow,¡± he knew the two versions of the ¡°meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow¡± had some slight difference in terms of tone. It was probably not random meowing.

    The catnguage was not asplicated as the humannguage; it could not evenpare to the whale song. The stray cat likely did not understand the real meaning of this secret signal, but it was not a problem. They did not use the details in the signal to identify the enemy, and instead used the modtion of the ¡°meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow¡± to identify if the signal was correct or not.

    Perhaps the method was really useful, but it would cause the stray cats in Binhai City to be elfins...

    dimir had settled something that had been troubling it for a while. It rxed, opening its mouth to yawn.

    ¡°Master, why is your face so ck?¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun came to work at the shop together, and after they looked at Zhang Zian, they could not help but ask.

    ¡°Mental... What does it have to do with you!¡± Zhang Zian had almost spilled out everything and had reported Yang Zirong¡¯s catchphrase.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun withdrew their necks, and could not help but stare at each other. They wondered in their hearts why it was that master¡¯s temper was so explosive in the morning. Could it have been that his period came, or he had met some problems on his pursuit of religion?

    After a short while, Lu Yiyun came to work with two dark eye circles. She was probably up until veryte the night before drawing. She had a drawing board sped under her armpit, and as she walked, she turned her head back to look.

    ¡°When you cross the road, you need to look left and right.¡± Zhang Zian also stretched his neck to take a look. ¡°Did someone drop their wallet?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not that... I just saw something that was quite strange just now. It shocked me a bit.¡± Li Yiyun took out Jasmine from her bag and let it y by itself in the shop.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were also very curious.

    Lu Yiyun thought about it. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how to say it, but just now, I saw a ck cat raising its front paw at the entrance of the neighborhood. It was meowing continuously. Opposite of it was an orange tabby, and it had the same action and was also continuously meowing. It was like they were greeting each other...¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun said, ¡°What¡¯s there to find strange about that? Perhaps they were fighting, and they¡¯re arguing before they fight.¡± They were not very shocked.

    Li Yiyun shook her head to disagree with their thoughts. ¡°That¡¯s not right. I¡¯ve seen these two cats a lot¨C¨Cthey are probably stray cats in the neighborhoods. Normally when they meet each other, they are really fighting. They don¡¯t let each other win and continuously call out at each other to see which one admits defeat first. Sometimes, they even start fighting. The orange tabby often makes use of its weight andes out on top... But it was very strange today. The two of them didn¡¯t seem to be fighting, and were instead doing some kind ofplicated ceremony.¡±

    Wang Qian hit his forehead, instantly understanding. ¡°I understand now. It¡¯s spring! You understand!¡±

    Li Kun also had an expression that said, ¡°I know! I know!¡±

    Lu Yiyun said, ¡°...You¡¯re thinking too much. Those two cats are both males.¡±

    ¡°Ga ga! That¡¯s true love!¡± Richard hadete, but he just happened to hear their conversation and said as he gave looks at Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian pretended that he could not understand its looks. He waved his hand and said, ¡°All right, don¡¯t gossip anymore. Start to do your work. Right, Wang Qian, help me check if the battery has been fully charged. If it¡¯s fully charged, take it down and ce it in the car.¡±

    ¡°Store manager, you¡¯re going out to sea to see whales today?¡± Jiang Feifei asked as she came into the shop.

    ¡°En, these few days I¡¯ve not gone out to sea. It just so happens that I have time today, so I¡¯m going out to sea to enjoy the breeze,¡± Zhang Zian answered.

    ¡°How fortunate that you can go out to sea when you want to. I also want to go out to sea to admire the whales!¡± Jiang Feifei said, finding it a pity. ¡°But I don¡¯t have a driver¡¯s license, so I can¡¯t drive a car.¡±

    ¡°Find a time to get a driver¡¯s license. In the future, when finding a job, it could be useful.¡± Zhang Zian pointed at Wang Qian and Li Kun. ¡°Look at these two dumb people. They have a driver¡¯s license... It scared me so much that I bought a 2,000,000 yuan third party insurance, scared that they would hit some kind of luxury car and cause me to go bankrupt...¡±

    ¡°Master, you¡¯re looking down on us too much! Those kinds of rich cars can only be left behind in the dust by us!¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun carried the battery and said, not satisfied.

    ¡°Haha, I still want to find a job at an Underwater Sea World. It¡¯s a pity that Binhai City does not have an Underwater Sea World. I don¡¯t know if one will open in the future...¡± Jiang Feifei smiled. ¡°I heard that¡¯s a high possibility, though. After all, Binhai City has the advantage of being the only ce in China to view whales.¡±

    ¡°Then what kind of job do you want to have at an Underwater Sea World? A person in charge of rearing the fish? Or a trainer?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Jiang Feifei shrugged, then sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I can make it as a trainer. The only thing that is suitable for me is being the one to rear the fish... If it¡¯s some other kind of administrative job, I can do it anywhere. Why would I want to do it in the Underwater Sea World?¡±

    Right after that, sheughed at herself and said, ¡°I want to do a mermaid, but my figure is not good enough, and I don¡¯t have long enough legs. Even if I try to apply, they won¡¯t want me.¡±

    ¡°I also want to do a mermaid,¡± Wang Qian interjected.

    ¡°I also want to do one,¡± Li Kun added.

    Jiang Feifei was so angry she stamped her food, knowing that the two of them were purposely acting dumb. ¡°I mean to wear the mermaid costume and act like a mermaid in front of the Underwater Sea World¡¯s audience!

    ¡°Us too! Who said there were only female mermaids?¡± Wang Qian insistently asked back.

    Richard took advantage of the chance and called, ¡°Ga ga! So you want to do a male merman?¡±

    Wang Qian was speechless.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to ignore all of you. It¡¯s impossible to talk to you all!¡± Jiang Feifei was so angry she did not want to talk anymore. She was talking about her dream, and the two idiots and the dumb bird only knew how to keep joking.

    Jiang Feifei had... a verymon body shape among Chinese females. She was on the thin side and was not tall. Her looks were average and she did not have any curves. If she wanted to act like a mermaid to perform in the Underwater Sea World in front of an audience, it was true that she wascking.

    Furthermore, she came from the inner parts of China. Before that, she was a non-swimmer, and she had only learned how to swim when she came to Binhai City. Since the entrance fees to the public swimming pool were too expensive, she did not have that much spare money and time to practice swimming, so she only knew how to swim. Her swimming skills were definitely not very good, and the mermaids in the Underwater Sea World needed to know how to swim very well. They needed to hold their breath underwater for a long time, and when they were swimming they still needed to show a smile to the audience through the ss.

    Zhang Zian knew what kind of people (or birds) Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Richard were, and was not shocked at all.

    He gave a look at dimir, meaning to ask if they had prepared themselves. If they had prepared themselves they could go ahead and leave.

    dimir nodded. It had not slept wellst night, and had been feeling sleepy in the shop. It had wanted to leave a long time ago.

    Before they left, Zian still needed to go upstairs to bring the real mermaid along.

 Chapter 1007: Idea

    <h4>Chapter 1007: Idea</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sihwa was waiting on the second floor, and she had grown impatient. Zhang Zian finally put her in his phone, brought dimir along, and headed towards the beach.

    dimir had never gone to the beach before, and on the way there, it was leaping between seats, excitedly observing everything.

    Zhang Zian purposefully drove slowly, introducing it to the nearby ces that were more famous, and ces that the locals liked.

    The weather was quite good. It was slightly cloudy, and the temperature and humidity were just right. Since it was the weekend, along the way they saw many families driving to Binhai City and the surrounding parks and attractions.

    Not long after they left, they reached the beach.

    ¡°Wa! So this is the sea!¡± dimir eximed when it saw the sea from a distance away. Its eyes were wide.

    ¡°Is it your first time seeing the sea?¡± Zhang Zian stopped the car at his usual ce and asked.

    ¡°Thergest sea I have ever seen was Shicha Lake!¡± It stared at the sea, eyes unmoving. It was excited to get out of the car.

    Zhang Zian paused. ¡°...Shichake is not considered a sea, right?¡±

    When he opened the car door, it jumped up and down onto the nearby reef rocks. It faced the sea breeze, took a deep breath of slightly salty air, and chanted aloud, ¡°More than thousands of years past, Wei Wu used his whip. There is a legacy of the Tateishi in the east. The bleak autumn wind is here again, and it has changed to the human realm!¡±

    Zhang Zian let it continue its poetic mood. After all, it was the first time it had seen the real sea, and it definitely had a lot of emotions about it. He pulled out the assault boat from the car trunk and pumped air into it, checking if there was any ce that was leaking. That was normal; he had to do every time he went out to sea. It was something he could not afford to mess up.

    While he was checking it, he noticed that the frequency of people and cars at the Sea Wall was higher than normal; pedestrians and vehicles were usually scarce. There were also fully armed riders who bowed their backs like shrimp and sped by on handsome motorcycles. Sure enough, it was such good weather that everyone came outside.

    He wondered if there would be anyone out on their boats. He needed to pay more attention to make sure no one else would see Sihwa. However, the sea was so wide that the probability of meeting other people out at sea was quite low.

    After he was done checking everything, he called for dimir to get on the boat, and he got in the boat himself. He used an oar to push the assault boat off the shore, and then switched on the propeller when they were a little deeper.

    ¡°Wah!¡± dimir stood at the front of the ship and excitedly let the sea breeze mess up its blueish grey hair. The bubbles from the waves flew up andnded on its face. It rubbed them away, not bothered at all.

    ¡°Why did I not see any fishing boats?¡± it noticed that it was empty nearby, and it turned its head back to ask.

    ¡°Because there are no more fish in the area near the shore. If you want to fish, you must go further in. Also, fishing is illegal right now. There has to be a time to let the marine animals rest. During the time where fishing is restricted, you aren¡¯t allowed to go out to sea to fish,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    ¡°Really?¡± dimir felt a little sad upon hearing the words, but it instantly started to recite, ¡°Outside the coastal city fishing boats, there is a vast ocean and I cannot see a thing. Which side should I look at?¡±

    Reaching the deep waters, Zhang Zian switched off the motor and stopped the boat slowly. He took out some binocrs to observe the surroundings, and after confirming that there were no other boats or people nearby, he started the game and let Sihwa out.

    Ssh! She fell into the sea. Her tail moved about to push her head and her neck out of the water. The salty taste in her mouth and the waves made her instantly understand that she was in the ocean.

    ¡°Ah- Zian. Come in and y with me!¡± She happily swam around the assault boat and waved at him.

    Zhang Zian put his hand into the water to test, then shook his head and said, ¡°No. You can just y yourself. The water is quite cold, and I don¡¯t want to fall sick. Furthermore, I didn¡¯t bring my swimming trunks.¡±

    The most important thing was that if he went into the water, who would keep watch for any boatsing towards them?

    He had heard that when Wang Qian and Li Kun took the boat out to y, they had gone in the water and swam about. They were really silly fellows sleeping on a cold brick bed, and they were totally relying on their vigor.

    It was easy to enter the water, but after getting out, the sea breeze would blow and it would be cold. That was how one fell ill.

    ¡°Eh? Where did this cate from?¡± Sihwa pointed at dimir, who was at the front of the boat.

    ¡°Hello! I¡¯m dimir. I¡¯m a neer.¡± dimir waved its ws.

    dimir had a slovenly personality and it did not care about trivial matters. Plus, it did not need to eat, and of course, it did not need to go to the bathroom. Basically, it had no need to enter the bathroom, so it had not interacted with Sihwa at all.

    Sihwa looked at it suspiciously. ¡°Aren¡¯t you scared of water? I heard all cats are scared of water. Even Fina doesn¡¯t really like water.¡±

    dimir smiled. ¡°Because the rest of the cats are scared of water, I need to be scared of water? This logic doesn¡¯t make sense! A true Meow-Meow Doctrine Believer is not scared of anything. They can go to the nine skies to pluck the moon, and down the five seas to catch turtles! What is there to be scared of?¡±

    Sihwa was very confused. She could only somewhat understand its words. She pointed at its ws and said, ¡°I¡¯m not clear about going up to the nine skies to pluck the moon, but your ws don¡¯t look like they can go down the five seas to catch turtles! If you enter the five seas, you could be eaten by turtles.¡±

    dimirughed loudly. ¡°What you said is right. I really cannot go down the five seas to catch turtles, but perhaps other cats can. All cats under the sky are family, and I don¡¯t need to do everything by myself.¡±

    Sihwa¡¯s brain was quite simple, and she was insistently picking on its words and not letting go. ¡°Anyway, the sea belongs to the fish. No cat can go down the five seas to catch turtles!¡±

    ¡°Actually, that¡¯s not urate,¡± Zhang Zian interjected. ¡°It¡¯s true that most cats are afraid of water and hate getting wet, but as far as I know, there is a kind of cat that likes water. It feeds on fish almost every day.¡±

    ¡°Ah? Such a cat exists?¡± Sihwa was shocked, but at the same time, she was d that Fina was not the kind of cat Zhang Zian was talking about.

    Actually, dimir was also very curious. What it said about going down the five seas to catch turtles was just rhetoric. It did not think that there were really cats that went into the water to catch fish.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°That kind of cat is a very rare Turkish Van cat. It is said that it only lives near the Van Lake in eastern Turkey. It fishes in theke for its livelihood. There are fewer than 100 cats left. It is even nicknamed the ¡®swimming cat¡¯ because of its proficiency in swimming. When people talk about high-priced cats, they often think of cats such as the Serval cat, Ashera cat, and Savannah cats. Rich people also take pride in raising these cats, but in fact, the price of these cats is far less than that of the Van Cats, which are a Turkish national treasure. Van cats cost millions of dors and are priceless. The Turkish government does not allow anyone to take them out of the country. The only one that can match the price of Van cats is probably the legendary primitive Egyptian cat.¡±

    It was quite coincidental, but the Van Lake in Eastern Turkey was close to Egypt. It was only separated by a small part of the Mediterranean Sea, and he had considered as to whether he should take the opportunity during the Egypt expedition to pay for a trip down to Turkey to see the world¡¯s most expensive cat. However, it would be very hard to see one even if he went down there.

    Something that rare and expensive was not always a good thing. The Van Cat¡¯s poption had be so low that it was dangerous. There were not even 100 of them left.

    Biologically, there was a ¡®minimum viable poption.¡¯ Generally speaking, an independent species needed at least 1,000 of its kind to survive and reproduce in the long run. Even if it survived in the short run, it needed at least 50. If it was below that number, it meant that it was on the verge of extinction.

    As an endangered animal, Turkey was far less protective than China was in its protection of the pandas, so the Van Cat poption crisis had not been effectively alleviated. In a few years, it was possible that there would no longer be a cat that liked to fish in the water anywhere in the world.

    dimir shook its head. ¡°Cats are all equal. Why are they separated by expensive ones and cheap ones? All cats, or at least all the cats in the same country, or all the cats in the same society, should have the same government and social status.¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled and said, ¡°Indeed, cats cannot be ssified their worth. No matter if the Van cat or the mostmon local cat have equally valuable lives, the so-called price is imposed by people. After all, modern society is a thoroughlymercial society... Even people have hidden prices! Some people earn more money and make great contributions to society, and so he is worth money. On the contrary, some people earn less money and contribute very little to society, so they¡¯re not worth money... It sounds cruel, but that¡¯s the way it is. There¡¯s no need to pretend to be peaceful.¡±

    Sihwa heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°Fortunately, I am the only mermaid in the world... Hello! What¡¯s that look in your eyes? Does it mean that if there¡¯s another mermaid, I¡¯m the worthless one?¡± She pointed at Zhang Zian in anger.

    He shrugged, feeling very wronged. ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything!¡±

    ¡°Your expression says that!¡± she said angrily.

    ¡°If you want to condemn somebody, don¡¯t worry about the pretext!¡± Zhang Zian refused to admit anything.

    As dimir gazed towards where the sea and sky met, he murmured, ¡°Sometime in my life, I must build a world without exploitation, oppression, money, and equality between cats and cats!¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart was moved. He felt like Fina probably would not agree with that kind of world. In Fina¡¯s understanding, cats and cats were separated by different levels, much like how humans were separated into three, six, and nine levels. If that happened, would Fina and dimir start to fight because of differences in belief?

    The two of them were so strong-willed, there was no need to hope that they would ept the other¡¯s opinions and change.

    Fina had unparalleledmand over domestic cats, and dimir seemed to bebining stray cats with wild cats, which was half the battle in terms of strength.

    However, the good thing was that, even if that kind of world existed, it would probably only happen in the future. It could be that it would note about while he was alive. After all, even between humans, there was no perfect equality. How would equality between catse so easily? There was no need to worry about it then.

    At least for that day, it was better to put such things aside and enjoy the sea breeze and sunlight!

 Chapter 1008: The Strange Scent That Floated Over

    <h4>Chapter 1008: The Strange Scent That Floated Over</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sihwa¡¯s head went down and her tail went up as she rushed underwater. Herrge tail reflected the sun¡¯s light.

    She opened her eyes underwater, then opened her mouth and sang the whale song to her heart¡¯s content. Bubbles floated up from the corner of her mouth and burst at the surface of the water.

    The warm sunlight made them sleepy.

    dimir had, for the most part, not slept the night before night, and that morning, it had woken up very early. After enjoying the scenery, itid down at the bottom of the boat, enjoyed the sunlight, and slept.

    Not long after it fell asleep, a ssh sounded at the surface of the sea. A water pir sprayed out, reaching a height of about ten meters before falling back into the sea like a waterfall. Arge grey back separated the water¡¯s surface and floated up, like a solo ind that had risen out of nowhere.

    There was no need to question: 52 Hertz had heard Sihwa¡¯s call and had used its fastest speed to swim over.

    Sihwa happily climbed onto its back, but she could not stabilize herself. She changed herself around andid on its pectoral fin, letting it swim her around at its fastest speed. For such arge creature, Sihwa was about the size a seashell on its body.

    Zhang Zian was also a bit sleepy. The cell phone signal was not very good and the Inte keptgging, so he could barely look at QQ and WeChat. The photos would asionally not load, so he didn¡¯t even think trying other websites.

    Heid against the side of the ship and used his hand to support his lower jaw as he watched the humorous scene between Sihwa and 52 Hertz. He then yawned again and used his binocrs to watch for movement nearby.

    From his vision, he could see that the sea was very calm. He was nervous that another boat would pass by, but that did did not happen. If someone witnessed a mermaid ying with arge whale, it would not be easy to exin... Perhaps he could say that she was a normal girl that wanted to be a mermaid at the Underwater Sea Word and she was diligently practicing?

    The mother and son minke whales came over to them as well. They passed by the assault boat to say hello, sometimes swimming too close. They even bumped into the assault boat, causing the boat to shake left and right, but it did not affect dimir¡¯s sleep; it just turned its body and continued to sleep.

    After around an hour, the sun began to rise higher and higher, and dimir turned its body and woke up. It rubbed its eyes and asked, ¡°What time is it?¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at the time. ¡°It¡¯s only around nine o¡¯clock. It¡¯s not even 10 o¡¯clock yet, you can sleep a little while longer.¡± They hade out in the early morning. Even though they had yed for a long time, it was still very early.

    It shook its head. ¡°I don¡¯t need to sleep anymore. If I sleep too much, I won¡¯t be able to sleep at night.¡±

    Zhang Zian raised his hand to the side of his mouth and shouted, ¡°Sihwa! Are you done ying?¡±

    Sihwa wasughing and only heard him after he had yelled a few times... Perhaps she was purposely pretending not to hear him.

    ¡°It¡¯s still so early! I left that pitiful snail¡¯s home after much difficulty. I want to y a while longer!¡± She said angrily.

    Zhang Zian agreed. ¡°All right, you can y for half an hour more, then we¡¯ll head towards the shore.¡±

    ¡°Tch! Petty person!¡± She gave him a rude face, then continued to y with 52 Hertz.

    After around half an hour, Zhang Zian rushed her to leave. She was only willing after Zhang Zian agreed to bring her over often to y. She said goodbye to 52 Hertz, not willing to part.

    Sending 52 Hertz and the three minke whales off, she slowly swam back to the side of the assault boat. ¡°Really! You don¡¯t let people y to their heart¡¯s content when theye out to y?¡± She ced both her hands on the side of the boat, throwing a tantrum. She used force, causing the top half of her body and a part of her fish tail to appear out of the water like she wanted to flip into the boat.

    The assault boat tilted and almost lost its bnce because of her weight, scaring Zhang Zian so much that he moved his body to the other side to let the assault boat regain its bnce.

    ¡°Haha! Look at how scared you are!¡± Sihwa pointed at him andughed, loosened her hands, then her body returned back into the water.

    ¡°There¡¯s no end to your ying! No matter how long I give you, it¡¯s not enough,¡± Zhang Zian picked up his phone and urged, ¡°Stop causing trouble. I¡¯m putting you back into the phone now.¡±

    Sihwa seemed to have noticed something. Her small, yet sharp, nose twitched in confusion, and she turned her head to look towards the direction of the shore. ¡°What¡¯s that smell?¡±

    ¡°What smell? It¡¯s just the smell of the sea,¡± Zhang Zian said casually.

    However, Sihwa shook her head seriously and covered her nose. ¡°That¡¯s not right. It¡¯s not the smell of the sea, it seems to be... a very disgusting smell.¡±

    A very disgusting smell? Thankfully she did not say that while looking at him, otherwise he would think that she meant that he was very disgusting.

    ¡°Why is it that I don¡¯t smell anything?¡± He tried to take a few deep breaths but did not notice any disgusting smell.

    Sihwa red at him. ¡°Because your nose is ugly and no good!¡±

    He took out his binocrs and pointed them towards the direction of the shore.

    The wind was blowing west from the shore towards the sea. Perhaps was some neighborhood¡¯s property management group had gone on strike and the wind had blown the smell of stacked up rubbish over? But there did not seem to be any neighborhoods nearby... How strong was the smell?

    It was exactly because it was a west wind that was blowing that the wind blew the assault boat into a position that was further out to sea. The boat¡¯s position was even further from shore than when they came, and now, when he used the binocrs, he could practically not see the shoreline.

    After looking for a while, he did not see anything at all.

    He was not worried about not being able to go back, because he had a better grasp on the boat¡¯s battery power. He had confidence that he could go back to shore before the battery totally ran out, and at worst, all he needed to do was paddle a few times.

    ¡°You really smelled it?¡± He put down his binocrs and confirmed with Sihwa. He wondered whether she made it up because she wanted to y for a while more.

    ¡°I definitely smelled it! Stop thinking that I¡¯m that kind of sh*tty woman who only knows how to say flowery words!¡± Sihwa pressed her nose. It did not seem like she was lying; her acting skills were not that good.

    Zhang Zian was speechless. Must your hearing be so good?

    ¡°dimir, did you smell anything?¡± Sihwa asked dimir.

    It shook its head. ¡°Nope.¡±

    Sihwa ced her nose closer to the sea and came to a sudden realization. ¡°It¡¯s the sea! The smell is from the sea water. It¡¯s much stronger than in the air!¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless again. He did not have the ability to smell anything from the sea water, and dimir couldn¡¯t, either.

    He waved his hands to say, ¡°It¡¯s all right. If you can¡¯t even tell what kind of smell it is, and you can¡¯t tell where the smell came from, the scale of the shoreline is too big. Even if you want to find it, you can¡¯t find it... I think that someone probably poured some dirty water into the ocean, or somepany poured polluted water from their production. While this is hical, it¡¯s very hard to find out who did it. Let¡¯s just give up and go back home.¡±

    Sihwa pouted in disappointment.

    dimir raised its head, squinting its eyes to look at the sky. ¡°Actually, if you want to find it, it wouldn¡¯t be that hard,¡± it said.

    Zhang Zian was shocked. It could not smell that scent, so why was it so sure they could find it?

    ¡°How do we find it?¡± he asked.

    It pointed a front paw at the sky. ¡°Look at those seagulls in the sky. They all seem to be going in the same direction.¡±

 Chapter 1009: The Instincts of a seabird

    <h4>Chapter 1009: The Instincts of a seabird</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian looked up and saw several kinds of seabirds flying in the sky. They flew at different altitudes and were of different sizes, but, as dimir said, they were all flying in the same direction.

    It was rare for different species of seabirds to gather in the same direction, no matter if they were avoiding tropical depressions such as typhoons or otherwise...

    Although he was not familiar with the different species of the seabirds, he did, after all, grow up in Binhai City. He took up his binocrs to try to carefully identify them, and he recognized several distinctive scavenger birds.

    Combined with what Sihwa said about a disgusting smell, the situation was already very clear. It was not as he had originally guessed¨C¨Cdomestic or industrial wastewater¨C¨Cbut it was... the decaying carcass of some animal.

    But the question was, what kind of animal could produce a decaying smell that spread so far¨C¨Cand could attract so many scavenger birds? Was the body big enough for them to split it and eat?

    One must know that seabirds flew high, saw far, and had good vision¨C¨Cbut the earth¡¯s surface was curved. Just because Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t see anything with his telescope on the sea didn¡¯t mean that the seabirds couldn¡¯t see it from the sky. They were attracted like sharks to a smell and were ready to split it and eat.

    Or perhaps it was a group of animals...

    Zhang Zian thought, It could not be that some serial killer decided to massacre people at the beach, right?

    ¡°It could be that something has died,¡± he put down his binocrs and said, ¡°Do you want to go over and take a look?¡±

    dimir was very interested. ¡°Let¡¯s go take a look. Perhaps the Holy Cat statue has done so much injustice that it died!¡±

    How could that be possible? Even if the Holy Cat Statue died, it was bronze. It was probably going to break the seabird¡¯s beaks off...

    Sihwa¡¯s face turned green. She patted her chest and said, ¡°If you want to go, you can go yourselves. I don¡¯t want to see it... Just thinking about it makes me scared.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll put you back into my phone and dimir and I will go and take a look.¡±

    Zhang Zian put Sihwa back into the phone and gauged where the birds were congregating. He adjusted the ship, switched on the motor, and followed behind the seabirds.

    He connected the current position of the boat with the coast and the direction of the seabird¡¯s flight with the line and estimated it was an angle of about 30 to 45 degrees. He estimated that the battery¡¯s power would notst. He might have to use effort to paddle...

    Actually, thinking about it, if he had not put Sihwa back into the phone, when the boat ran out of battery, she could have pushed it from the back. Was that what they called... an old fish pushing the boat?

    But it was just wishful thinking. She had such a delicatedy¡¯s personality... She would not have been able to push the boat.

    dimir was still seated at the front of the boat, and Zhang Zian picked up his binocrs to look in front.

    The continuous coastline gradually appeared in his field of vision, and the seabirds changed from flying straight to diving down.

    He noticed that there seemed to be a congregation of people on the beach in front of them, and there were a few cars stopped near the beach. There was a big ck thing lying on the coast that was being washed repeatedly by the foaming sea water. They were still too far away to make out any details.

    The electric indicator of the motor shed a warning red light, indicating that the electricity could run out at any time. Zhang Zian, who suffered fromziness, could not help but recall a time that he was a child. He would y with the four-wheel drive, and whenever the battery ran out, he would bite it with his teeth a few times. The motion would exert his residual heat and allow it to run for about ten minutes more. The idea alone made him feel as though he had earned 100 million yuan!

    He looked at therge battery and paused. It was better to just leave it. He was scared that it would explode, so he gave up on the idea of taking a few bites...

    Sometimes, gentlemen needed to use actions and not just words.

    When it was less than a kilometer from the shore, the battery waspletely dead; the light did not even turn on.

    He took up the two oars hanging on the side of the boat, shook his hair in a handsome manner, and hummed softly. ¡°Let¡¯s swing the oars and push the boat away from the waves...¡±

    He had not been singing long when dimir, who was standing at the head of the boat, lowered its head to the sea, and said, ¡°The fish have all been scared away.¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. He had originally thought of humming a song to attract the gazes of the girls on shore, but now he was not even allowed to continue singing...

    From where he was, he had already clearly seen what the ck thing was: It was a whale.

    Perhaps it was because it was the weekend, but there were quite a lot of curious onlookers next to the whale, pointing to it and chatting. Another whale was beached? That was not right.

    Hungry seabirds hovered over the sky, and if there were not many people beside the whale, they would have rushed down and pecked at the food already.

    Animal intuition was much more sensitive than human intuition. Judging from the actions of the seabirds, it was probably a dead whale. He just did not know whether it died before it was stranded and was washed ashore by the waves, or if it died after it was stranded.

    Of course, there was a very small possibility that it was still in a dying state.

    After hearing the news, people drove over to see the bustle. After all, there were very few whales in Binhai City until recently. People wanted to use the opportunity to open their eyes and see what a real whale looked like.

    They were still a long way offshore. Zhang Zian had judged that the whale was much bigger than the minke whale that was stranded thest time. Although it was not as big as 52 Hertz, it was definitely an adult whale.

    They were about to reach the shore, and the onlookers near the shore noticed their small boat floating to shore from the sea. What especially intrigued them was that there was a blue cat standing at the head of the ship, full of vigor. They had never seen someone bring a cat out to sea before... Were they not scared that the cat would jump into the sea andmit suicide?

    Zhang Zian¡¯s attention waspletely on the whale. He was trying to identify the species of the whale, but because the waves kept washing on the whale¡¯s body, it was hard to see clearly.

    Suddenly, he heard someone calling from onshore, ¡°Aish! Young Man Zhang! Young Man Zhang! Look over here!¡±

    There were many people with the surname Zhang, and he felt that they were probably not referring to him, and so he did not take notice. The other party kept yelling, however, and there was another voice, a young child¡¯s, that was also yelling. ¡°Uncle Zhang... Wait no, Older Brother Zhang! Look over here!¡±

    Zhang Zian suddenly became alert, feeling that the voices were definitely calling for him. He hurriedly looked over to where the sound came from.

    He saw a middle-aged man onshore with a little boy. They were both waving at him. It was Huang and Xiao Zhi that he had met on the beach thest time a whale was stranded.

    It was the same asst time they had met. Huang held a kite reel in his hand, and Xiao Zhi put arge and rough whale kite on his head, despite that the tail of the whale was still dragging to the ground.

    Next to them stood a woman who was younger than Huang by a few years. She would help Xiao Zhi wipe sand off his clothes and sweat off his face from time to time; she was definitely a good wife and a good mother. She was likely Huang¡¯s wife, and the three of them came to the seaside to fly kites together during the holiday.

    Zhang Zian waved to them as a response. Huang excitedly pointed at Zhang Zian, telling the people next to him, ¡°Did you see? A highly skilled person is here! Now there will be no problem! Everyone can rx!¡±

 Chapter 1010: Fighting Poison With Poison

    <h4>Chapter 1010: Fighting Poison With Poison</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Huang seemed to know a lot of the spectators. There were a few that had brought little kids along and were happily running around barefoot on the beach.

    This beach was different from the beach Zhang Zian constantly went to. There was more sand and fewer reef rocks, and more people came there in the summer to swim or suntan.

    Huang continuously exined Zhang Zian¡¯s identity to the spectators and was describing the happenings of thest time they had met the stranded whale and Zhang Zian saved it. There were parts that he exaggerated, but in general, his overall meaning was that Zhang Zian was there, so the whale would be saved.

    Zhang Zian did not have much confidence. Based on his observations, the whale was not moving at all... It looked dead; the scavenger seabirds that were flying over it could prove that to be true.

    The assault boat got close to shore, and in the end was rushed onto the shore by a wave. dimir jumped onto the sand first, its body a bit off bnce; it had yet to fully adjust from the feeling of floating on the sea. It felt like it was stepping on clouds.

    A few mischievous, naughty kids saw it, and it was like they saw a new toy. They were happily calling out and circling around it, wanting to pull on its tail.

    ¡°Catch it! Catch this cat!¡±

    dimir was not easy to bully. Its motto was, ¡°If people don¡¯t offend me, I won¡¯t offend them. If people offend me, I must offend them back!¡±

    Itughed loudly and said, ¡°Haha, if you have the ability to,e and catch me!¡± It very nimbly made its way through the crowd, making the naughty children go around in circles. When they were almost out of patience, it purposely made itself seem weaker and reduced its speed, pretending to be out of energy.

    The naughty children saw that and were extremely happy. They chased after it with all their might.

    dimir used its side vision to observe their actions, and when the naughty kid that was leading the pack was close, it made his way behind a young girl who was dressed fashionably. It quickly made its way under the girl¡¯s long skirt.

    The naughty kid that was leading the way only cared about running; he could not stop in time. He did not manage to capture dimir, but instead, he hugged thedy¡¯s upper thigh. His face bumped into her butt, and it was possible that he managed to touch her butt as well.

    ¡°Little hooligan! Littlemunist! Little tramp!¡± The young girl was so embarrassed that she was angry. She turned around to push him away, then raised her hand to give the kid a loud p.

    The naughty kid covered his face and cried loudly. Heid on the floor and rolled around as he threw a tantrum and called for his mother. The rest of the naughty kids did not know what to do, so they just stood at the side and watched the drama.

    The mothers of the naughty kids were chatting about daily happenings while their kids chased the cat. When the mother of the kid throwing a tantrum saw that the woman hit her child, she did not take it lying down. She pulled on the young woman like crazy, not letting her go. ¡°What right do you have to hit my child? What right do you have to hit my child!¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t watch over your own child! Didn¡¯t you see that he touched my thigh?¡±

    ¡°If he touched it then so what? What do children know?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m helping you educate your child¨C¨Cto prevent him from going to prison once he grows up!¡±

    ¡°You hit my child to the point that he¡¯s like this! Don¡¯t think you can just walk away like this!¡±

    ¡°Everyone saw it. Your child deserves to be hit! He deserves it! If he was hit until he was dead it would be even better!¡±

    The two of them had people backing them up. The mothers of the naughty kids were all good friends and would stand up for each other. The young woman had a very sharp mouth¨C¨Cshe was not at all weak¨C¨Cand she did note to the seaside by herself. Her boyfriend, her close friends, and her close friends¡¯ boyfriends were all present, and all came up one by one to help support her.

    The fighting sounds from that group of people and the cries of the naughty kids made a very loudmotion¨C¨Cso much so that it even distracted the spectators¡¯ from the whale. There were people who went to try to mediate, but the fight was not easy to mediate. It was not good to provoke either side, and they both seemed to have logical arguments.

    While they were arguing, dimir jumped onto the top of an SUV. It was calm as it enjoyed the resulting farce. Its face was full of contempt, like a superior¡¯s contempt for the inferior.

    ¡°A small, small earth... There are a few flies dashing out and hitting the wall. Buzzing, a few sad and shrill sounds, a few sobs...¡± it muttered to itself.

    Luckily Xiao Zhi did not take part in the mess with the naughty kids. Compared to catching the cat¡¯s tail, it was more worried about the fate of the whale. While the naughty kids were chasing dimir, he had put down his kite and helped Zhang Zian pull the assault boat to the shore with Huang to prevent it from being washed away when the tide rose.

    ¡°Young Man Zhang, your cat...¡± Huang worriedly pointed at out that dimir was being chased.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. It can take care of itself.¡± Zhang Zian nced over at the scene and knew that dimir was trying to y with the naughty kids. It was not Gxy or Old Time Tea. With its personality, it would definitely not let itself be at a disadvantage to give way to others.

    ¡°Oh, then that¡¯s good... Right, this is my wife,¡± Huang pointed at the woman next to him and introduced them to each other.

    ¡°Nice to meet you. Huang and Xiao Zhi keep talking about you and saying how brilliant you are. Now it just happens that I managed to meet you today!¡± Huang¡¯s wife seemed quite easy going. She was not like she was thest time when Zian heard her on the phone with Huang. She was yelling and scolding him then, but perhaps she wanted to give face to her husband while they were in the outside world.

    ¡°Uncle Zhang, quicklye and help this whale. Is it about to die?¡± Xiao Zhi could not stand the polite conversation between the adults. He anxiously pulled on Zhang Zian¡¯s arm, wanting to pull him next the whale so he could save it whale.

    Huang added, ¡°Right, Young Man Zhang, just now, I was wondering about whether I should give you a call to ask you toe over to save this whale, but I thought that you would definitely be very busy opening your shop. I was a bit embarrassed to bother you... This child refused to listen and insisted on calling you over. I was feeling troubled when I happened to see you rowing a boat anding in from the sea. Isn¡¯t that very coincidental?¡±

    He pointed to a few people next to him and said, ¡°These are all my colleagues and their families. They are a group of friends who y well with each other normally, not regarding each other as outsiders. Today is not a holiday, right, so we agreed to take our families to the beach to y, and found another whale stranded here... Young Man Zhang, this whale is too big. If you need any help from us, just give us amand. We can certainly help as much as possible. We don¡¯t know anything about whales, but it¡¯s okay. We all drove here. If you need a car to tow it, just tell us.¡±

    Huang¡¯s colleagues were around the same age as Huang, or were slightly younger, and hence they were more mature and steady. They had their family members next to them. They smiled and greeted Zhang Zian, but obviously, they did not have as much confidence in Zhang Zian as Huang did. Despite that, they promised they would do their best to help.

    Zhang Zian nodded, telling them, ¡°I¡¯m very grateful for everyone¡¯s good intentions, so I¡¯ll have all of you to help me with something.¡±

    Everyone became quiet, waiting for his orders.

    He used his hand to point in the distance. ¡°Please keep a distance away.¡±

 Chapter 1011: A Warning Of Danger

    <h4>Chapter 1011: A Warning Of Danger</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As the saying went, ¡°Things gather in groups; people separate into groups.¡± Huang was a good person; he was very caring and very good with children. People who could get along with him were mostly simr in personality.

    They had heard Huang say that Zhang Zian was very skilled, and originally, they were waiting for Zhang Zian¡¯s instructions to send the stranded whale back to the sea. How could Zhang Zian sent them away? Wasn¡¯t it obvious that he was looking down on them?

    Huang was also stunned. From his perspective, Zhang Zian was not that kind of person. Even if they did not know about whales, they could at least they help in strength... Was it because Zhang Zian had achieved such great sess and had be arrogant?

    Zhang Zian waved his hands. ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand me. I¡¯m not looking down on you or anything! It is just that this time is unique¨C¨Cthere could be danger.¡±

    When he said that, he looked around the area, thinking, Welder Zhao is not nearby, right? That guy was practically the reincarnation of the God of Misfortunes. He was unlucky wherever he went!

    Danger? How could a beached whale be dangerous? Could it be that their eyes had a problem and it was a great white shark that was beached on the sand?

    Everyone was confused. Most of the people did not believe what he was saying, and the everyone else was a bit doubtful.

    On the other hand, Xiao Zhi totally believed in what he was saying. Upon hearing his words, he raised his head and asked, ¡°Then... then what should we do?¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet. I need to observe it closely before I can decide what we should do.¡±

    Xiao Zhi stared at the whale on the beach and asked, ¡°This is a gray whale, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a grey whale¨C¨Can adult grey whale. Xiao Zhi, you didn¡¯t waste your parents¡¯ money by reading popr science books about oceans.¡± Zhang Zian patted him on the shoulder approvingly. ¡°Well, stay with your parents and don¡¯te over unless I give you a clear signal.¡±

    Saying that, he signaled for Huang and his wife to bring Xiao Zhi a bit further away.

    Although Lao Huang was always low in front of his wife, he still had a strong appeal in front of colleagues. He waved and said, ¡°Everybody heard what Brother Zhang said. It might be dangerous. Let¡¯s believe Brother Zhang. Back up a bit! Take good care of your own children; don¡¯t let them run away.¡±

    After he spoke, his colleagues, even if they did not believe Zhang Zian, at least gave Lao Huang a face and took their families a little further away.

    Zhang Zian pointed at the cars that had stopped next to the sea wall and said, ¡°Back up to the wall. If there¡¯s a danger, hide behind the car.¡±

    When Huang and the rest had reached the safe area, he frowned and looked at the group of people that were arguing.

    ¡°I told everyone to stop arguing and be quiet!¡± he said in a loud voice. ¡°This ce is not safe. Everyone back away a bit.¡±

    In the end, no one acknowledged him at all. His voice had been drowned out in the argument.

    The naughty children¡¯s parents and the young girl¡¯s friends had exploded. All kinds of ugly, foulnguage was blurted out. The quarrel had entered a white-hot stage; with only a small spark, it would detonate.

    Zhang Zian shouted a few times, which was not useful at all.

    There were still pedestrians nearby watching the drama and filming it. They were preparing to publish it online for a big article, so they ignored his warning as well.

    He quietly sighed. He had already done his best, right?

    dimir jumped off the roof of the car, and it walked up to him and said, ¡°A monk cannot teach fools. You don¡¯t have to waste your time talking to them.¡±

    ¡°All right. You¡¯re right,¡± Zhang Zian agreed. Some people were stubborn and regarded other people¡¯s kindness as a donkey¡¯s liver and lungs.

    ¡°dimir, you too¨C¨Cstay away. I¡¯ll go over myself and take a look,¡± he said, pointing at the whale.

    It smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll follow you there. A true Meow-Meow Doctrine Believer is scared of nothing!¡±

    ¡°No. It¡¯s not about being fearless, it¡¯s about being unable to help even if you went over. There¡¯s no need to take any unnecessary risks,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    dimir thought about it for a while. ¡°What you said has logic. I¡¯ll wait for your news over here.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. It was about twenty meters away from the whale. Even if anything happened, dimir was fast and would be able to avoid it in time.

    He walked a few steps before he heard it say from behind, ¡°You also have to be careful. If you can fight it, then you do it. If you can¡¯t manage to fight it, then just run. Don¡¯t make meaningless sacrifices.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll weigh the risks and benefits. If things don¡¯t turn out well, I¡¯ll be sure to run.¡± He looked back at it andughed.

    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± dimir stared at him, a half-smirk on its face.

    Zhang Zian kept his spirits up. Instead of walking slowly like before, he ran quickly to the whale. If the situation really as he imagined, then the more they dyed, the more dangerous it was.

    Reaching it, he stopped and observed the whale from a closer distance. In fact, when he was still far away, he had smelled the rotten smell of the whale. He knew that the whale was absolutely dead. It was totally cool and had started to rot.

    It was just as what Xiao Zhi said¨C¨Cit was a mature gray whale. Its body is about 15 meters long. Its body was strong, its skin was grayish ck, and it was covered with medium-sized, white spots. That was a remarkable feature that distinguished it from other cetaceans.

    Grey whales were baleen whales and were widely distributed on both sides of the northern Pacific Ocean and in the northern part of the Antic Ocean. asionally, they could be seen along the coast of China, and the subgroups in the northwestern Pacific Ocean were listed as extremely endangered animals.

    He could not tell whether the grey whale was a subgroup of the northwestern Pacific Ocean, nor could he tell how it died; however, he did notice that it did not have any external injuries. It was quite possible that it died due to age, and thus was washed onto the shore. The reason for that spection was that the grey whale had reached its maximum size, and there were many stripes on the whale¡¯s whiskers. It also had a lot of body scars¨C¨Call old wounds¨C¨Cthat were traces of a long life.

    To know its true age, one could only dissect it and take out the ¡°earwax plug¡± from its ear canal, which was the keratinized sediment formed by thebination of exfoliated skin cells and earwaxyers. It was stored in a whale¡¯s ear canal for life, and one could look at the bright and dark ring stripes from its cross-section to calcte the true age of the whale.

    ¡°Whale fall¡± was the best destination for giant whales after they died. It was from the sea and it ended up in the sea. It was their gift to the underwater creatures. Not every giant whale died in the deep sea, however. If they died in the shallow sea, their bodies were washed onto the shore due to the wind and waves, just like the gray whale was.

    Whales belonged to the sea, and the whale bodies that were washed onto shore were no longer a gift, but a time bomb, which could bring danger to nearby creatures.

 Chapter 1012: Ebb and Flow

    <h4>Chapter 1012: Ebb and Flow</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian raised his head to look at the red sun that was still up in the sky. The temperature of the air was also increasing with the rise of the sun. He knew that the whale¡¯s grayish ck skin would absorb twice the heat of sunlight and that its thick fatyer would prevent it from releasing heat. Although the surface of the whale had not shown signs of decay, the decay in its body was probably elerating further under the heat of sunlight, which could not be stopped.

    After most animals died, they would start to rot from the inside to the outside. The first things that would rot were their internal organs, and it was the same with whales.

    Besides that, there was a unique part of whales: The whale¡¯s skin was too thick and tough.

    Whennd animals died, there would be all kinds of scavengers that would flock in. The carcasses would bepletely eaten out just after they showed signs of decay, regardless of whether they were the king of beasts or anything else.

    But if whales died on the beach, it was unique because there were rarely any great scavengers at the beach.

    Without shark-like, razor-sharp teeth, ordinary shrimp, crabs, and seabirds couldn¡¯t even break the whale¡¯s skin. Therefore, if a whale died on the beach, its body was often well preserved.

    Zhang Zian reached out his hand and pressed on the grey whale¡¯s skin. Its skin was hot and fishy; the moisture had dried, but the flesh still seemed to be stic when he pressed his palm down. It was somewhat simr to the feeling of pressing down on a water bed.

    He walked around to the other side of the whale, where part of the whale¡¯s belly was exposed. He tried to press the belly of the whale. Compared to pressing on the whale¡¯s back, it was even softer and even more stic; it seemed to be a bit too soft.

    When he helped the stranded minke whale leave the beach, he pressed the belly of the minke whale, which gave him a feeling of firmness and sticity. Although different species and ages of whales could not bepared, the difference in the feeling was too great.

    He walked over to the head of the grey whale next, then went close to the side of its mouth to smell it.

    The grey whale¡¯s mouth was slightly open, and the strong and nauseating smell slowly overflowed from the depth of its mouth. Zhang Zian coughed, staggered away a few steps, squatted down, and retched a few times.

    He was not the only person next to the whale¡¯s body; there were still five or six people taking photos with the whale¡¯s body so they could post it on Weibo and send it to friends to boast.

    Zhang Zian wiped his mouth and saw one of the person had happily finished taking his selfie, and was concentrating on editing it. They wanted to add some artistic filter to the photo and had added the words, ¡°Met a deer in the deep forest, and whale in the blue sea.¡± He was getting ready to send it to his friends to act pretentious.

    He walked over to start a conversation with him. ¡°Brother, sorry to bother you.¡±

    The other party was shocked. He looked at Zhang Zian, on guard after realizing that he did not recognize him. He asked in a monotonous voice, ¡°Is there a problem?¡±

    ¡°I wanted to ask¨C¨Cwhen did the whale get stranded here?¡± Zhang Zian pointed at the grey whale and asked.

    ¡°This... I¡¯m not sure. It was here when I got here... Eh, do any of you know when the whale was stranded here?¡± the person asked the people next to him.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± one woman answered.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± another said.

    ¡°I was also called over by a friend. She said that there was a whale that was beached, and had me hurry over to take a look,¡± a girl said.

    Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Then when did your friend see this?¡±

    ¡°Um...¡± The girl thought about it. ¡°This morning, maybe? She has the habit of running on the path next to the sea in the morning, and she told me after she finished running and returned to our shared, rented t.¡±

    ¡°Roughly what time was that?¡±

    ¡°What time was it... Ah... Probably a little after seven.¡±

    Zhang Zian took his phone out to check the time, then roughly calcted the time of the ebb and flow of the tides.

    Influenced by the moon¡¯s gravity, there were two ebbs and two flows every day. The time of each ebb and flow was not fixed, but they were scheduled with periodic cycles like the moon¡¯s waxing and waning. There were about 12 hours between the two high tides a day, and it was the same for the ebb tides.

    As a child that had grown up by the seaside, he was very clear about this rule.

    Thest time he had helped the minke whale, the high tide urred close to noon, and based on his guessing, the first high tide that day was most likely around 9:30 in the morning. At that time, however, the grey whale had already been stranded here.

    He had to make one thing clear first: The mature grey whale had definitely been pushed up on the beach during some high tide.

    Since it was not pushed up onto the beach by the high tide at 9:30 in the morning, then it was very likely to have been pushed up by the high tide at around nine the night before. It had been dark, and no one woulde to the beach at that kind of time, so it was found in the morning.

    As to whether it was even earlier... that was hard to tell, because yesterday afternoon when he came to the beach, he did not pass by that area. He was not sure if the grey whale was already there at that time.

    Based on the most conservative estimate, its body had already been there for about 14 hours. How long had it floated in the sea after its death before it was pushed up to the shore? No one could confirm.

    ¡°This whale is probably already dead, right? It¡¯s already smelly.¡±

    ¡°Probably.¡±

    ¡°Do you think there¡¯ll be some restaurant boss or something that will pull the whale¡¯s body away and sell its flesh?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so, right...? That¡¯s too disgusting. It¡¯s already so smelly...¡±

    Next to them, there were a few people that were chatting with each other.

    Zhang Zian asked again, ¡°Do you all know if anyone reported this whale to any relevant departments?¡±

    The young people looked at each other. ¡°I didn¡¯t,¡± one responded.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t either,¡± the other said.

    ¡°I feel like there should have been someone else who reported it already, right...?¡±

    Theyughed as they talked, their expressions rxed, as though they had all thought that there was probably someone who had reported it already and it had nothing to do with them.

    ¡°Furthermore, which department even qualifies as a relevant department?¡± One of them smiled bitterly. ¡°Are they supposed to call 110? Wouldn¡¯t that be considered a fake police report?¡±

    ¡°Hello? 110? I found a body at the beach, can youe over to take a look? Please protect the crime scene, and say where you are roughly. Is the body a female or male? Actually, it¡¯s a whale¡¯s body. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s a male or female... Get lost!¡± Another person imitated a police report, causing the girls present tough loudly.

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    ¡°Since no one has called the police, then let me call them. After you are done taking photos, leave this ce quickly. It¡¯s very dangerous to continue staying here. This whale¡¯s body could explode.¡±

    He gave them a warning, but he had no time to exin in detail. He took out his phone, then found a phone number in his contact list. The number¡¯s owner was Ke Shaohui, the fishery official who he had called overst time he rescued the minke whale.

    His hand shifted to Ke Shaohui¡¯s name and was just about to press it to make a call when he was suddenly shocked and hurriedly stopped.

    The irritating smell from the whale¡¯s mouth lingered around. Making a phone call next to a decaying whale carcass was even more dangerous than making phone calls at a gas station.

    He ran a small distance away before he called Ke Shaohui¡¯s number.

 Chapter 1013: Whale Explosion

    <h4>Chapter 1013: Whale Explosion</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The phone rang a few times before it was picked up.

    ¡°Hello?¡±

    ¡°Hello? Is this Ke Shaohui of the Fishery Bureau? I¡¯m Zhang Zian. We met before when we were saving that minke whale...¡± Zhang Zian was worried that the other party had forgotten him, so he introduced himself as soon as he picked up the phone.

    ¡°I remember. Is there a problem?¡±

    Zhang Zian nced at the body of the grey gray whale and tried to give a fast, but clear, exnation. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry for calling your personal phone number, but if I call the office number for the Fishery Bureau, it would take too long... It¡¯s like this¨C¨Ca little north of where the minke whale was beached, there¡¯s a dead mature gray whale.¡±

    ¡°Oh? It¡¯s already dead?¡± Ke Shaohui confirmed.

    ¡°I estimate that it¡¯s been dead for 14 hours. It could have been washed up on shorest night,¡± Zhang Zian answered.

    ¡°All right, I¡¯ll record it. I¡¯m currently dealing with a case of illegal fishing. I¡¯ll send someone overter. Thank you for calling...¡±

    There was a lot of background noise from Ke Shaohui¡¯s side. Employees of the Fishery Bureau could be heard arguing with fishermen.

    ¡°No, no, you don¡¯t understand.¡± He knew that the other party did not understand the seriousness and urgency of the situation.

    He understood. After all, in Binhai City, there had been no traces of whales at all, and the people in the Fishery Bureau probably did not have the experience to deal with such an urgent situation. They were not familiar with the unique features of the whale, and the efficiency of the public service system was known to be low, which was the case in any country. He was afraid it would take several years to establish effective countermeasures.

    ¡°Don¡¯t hang up,¡± he warned in a serious tone. ¡°It¡¯s dangerous to leave a dead whale on the shore! When whales die, their bacteria begins to dpose their cells and tissues. It breaks down their carbohydrates, fats, and proteins into carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and methane, which is the process of decay. But the problem is that whales have really thick, strong skin, too much fat and protein in their bodies, and such arge amount of gas cannot be discharged from the body. It will umte in their bodies, and the pressure slowly rises. When the pressure reaches a critical point...¡±

    ¡°What will happen?¡± Ke Shaohui asked. The background noise was softer. It seemed like he had moved to another area, and it was obvious that Zhang Zian¡¯s words and tone had caused him to ce a higher emphasis on the phone call.

    ¡°It will explode.¡± Zhang Zian was not exaggerating to scare people. It was not rare to see cases of a whale exploding after it died on the shore.

    After the death of most animals, the corpses went through the process of decay, provided that they were not eaten by other scavengers. The process of decay was much the same, but the bodies of other animals would hardly explode after death. There was too much fat in whales¨C¨Cno other animal umted so much fat¨C¨Cand it produced huge amounts of gas after dposition.

    There were rumors a few years back that in America a fat man that had a body mass above 500 pounds died. When he was cremated, the oil that spurted out from his body ignited a crematorium in Virginia.

    The truth of the news was unknown, but assuming it was true, the culprit was not oil, but gas, including methane, that was produced by the dposition of the oil. When the skin was heated and melted, the high-pressure gasses umted in the body eventually found vent channels and sprayed out with residual grease. Such instances led to fires.

    The 500-pound fat man was so ruthless in his death. What would happen when a whale that weighed tens of tons died? There were only three passages connecting the outside world in whales¨C¨Cthe cloaca, the throat, and the air vents on its back. Gray whales had two air vents, but there was no vital difference.

    When a whale was alive, it could control the opening and closing of the channels through its muscles. But when the whale died, the muscles lost control. Under the pressure of tons of fat, the channels were blocked. The gas generated in the body could not be vented anywhere. It happened that the skin of the whale was too strong, which caused it to be an intable balloon.

    No matter how sturdy the balloon was, if one continuously pumped air into it, it would eventually exceed the limit and explode.

    If a whale died in the deep ocean, that is not a problem because sharks and other fish with sharp teeth could quickly destroy the integrity of the whale skin. When gas escaped from the body, the body of the whale could not continue to float on the surface, so it would naturally sink into the deep sea, forming a whale fall.

    With a loud roar, Ke Shaohui ordered everyone present to shut up. He nervously asked Zhang Zian, ¡°Explosion? Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure. It¡¯s just a matter of time before it happens.¡±

    Zhang Zian simply exined to him the process behind the explosion. However, as to the results of the explosion...

    He took a look at the whale body and found out that the group of young people that was taking photos did not listen to his warning. They were still gathered near the whale¡¯s body. There was even a person who tried to climb onto the whale¡¯s body to take a selfie. It was as if they were seeking death... No one knew how high the air pressure in the whale¡¯s body was, and no one knew how much longer the whale¡¯s skin couldst. A person¡¯s weight could be the final straw.

    If the whale¡¯s body exploded below that person¡¯s legs... then he could really go up to the nine skies to take the moon¨C¨Cand bid goodbye to his balls.

    Truck tire explosions could cause serious injuries to people... Not to mention a whale carcass that was innumerable timesrger than a truck tire.

    Furthermore, the people that were arguing were still doing so; they had yet to leave.

    In early 2004, a sperm whale was stranded and died off the coast of TW Yunlin County. ording to local newspapers, there were about 600 bystanders gathered at the scene, enduring low temperatures and the severe cold, just to meet the whale to satisfy their curiosity. The situation even attracted arge number of vendors that sold melon seeds, drinks, and snacks on the spot...

    In the end, the sperm whale exploded in the downtown area on its way to Tainan for dissection. The scene was as bloody as a scene from a horror film.

    At present, the number of people gathered was far less than 600, but many people heard the news and wereing one after another. From time to time, new arrivals curiously ran to the whale corpse to take photos. It was a holiday, so everyone had time toe down and see the whale for themselves.

    If that continued on, the scene in 2004 could possibly ur again.

    The whale¡¯s body was not much smaller than the sperm whale; the explosion would probably be around the same level.

    Zhang Zian took a photo of the scene and sent it to Ke Shaohui, saying, ¡°The most troublesome thing is that there are still a lot of onlookers here. I¡¯ve tried to convince them to leave, but sadly, my words arecking in power. They won¡¯t listen to anyone.¡±

    On the other side of the phone, he heard Ke Shaohui¡¯s heavy breathing. He cursed angrily and said, ¡°I will rush over as fast as possible. On the way, I will inform the police to keep the order. Please try to persuade everyone to leave the scene!¡±

 Chapter 1014: The Sudden Entrance of a Group of Cats

    <h4>Chapter 1014: The Sudden Entrance of a Group of Cats</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When Zhang Zian hung up the phone, he did not know whether tough or cry, Ke Shaohui wanted him to convince everyone to leave the ce, but he had already tried, and everyone just ignored him.

    Those people that have not learned about the relevant knowledge would have a hard time imagining that the whale¡¯s body would explode, and science poprization has a long way to go.

    In the final analysis, whether the relevant departments of the coastal city or the people of the coastal city have no psychological preparation for the arrival of whales. After some time, people would be ustomed to the existence of whales, so that people would not be so interested in a dead whale stranded on the shore and gather around it.

    But what could he do now?

    He started to feel troubled by seeing the increasing audience and the whale¡¯s corpse.

    He turned his head and saw that dimir was still strolling around the surroundings, and waved his hand to call it over.

    ¡°dimir,e over for a while.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± It jogged over.

    Zhang Zian saw that there was no one watching him around, and asked in a low voice, ¡°Do you have any of your... Meow Meow Branch Organization nearby?¡±

    dimir¡¯s eyeballs turned, and vaguely answered, ¡°I think there are.¡±

    ¡°If there Is, then can you ask them if they cane over to help,¡± he pointed at the audience surrounding the whale, ¡°Chase these people who are so bored their balls are hurting away from here.¡±

    Instead of agreeing rashly, dimir asked, ¡°How can we get rid of them? If we use scratches, scratches, and bites, will we have a worse impression of stray cats? ss contradictions will deepen further... Although it¡¯s already very deep now.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to be so violent, you just need to do ask them to do this,¡± Zhang Zian exined what he was thinking.

    When dimir heard this, he squinted his eyes and said with a smirk, ¡°It is reasonable to say that the struggle is not a dinner party, an essay, a painting, and embroidery, and one cannot be so gentle and frugal, but it should also pay attention to tactics and methods, preserve our vital strength to the maximum extent, and make no meaningless sacrifices... I think it¡¯s quite interesting for you to do this, so I¡¯ll do it.¡±

    After saying that, it hurriedly ran off, jumping around and entering the grass, disappearing.

    Zhang Zian could only wait now, there was no need for him to waste his effort on talking anymore.

    It could have been a few minutester when the grass on the roadside suddenly shook a few times, and an orange cat with an ugly face rushed out like a tank opening up the road, followed by various kinds of stray cats, which were ck, white, grey and misceneous colors, dazzling to see, and if he roughly counted, the number was at least twenty or thirty.

    Seeing this scene, Zhang Zian was shocked, there were so many stray cats just nearby? And being gathered by dimir in a very short time, this scary operational efficiency can only beparable to that of the army.

    The sudden appearance of stray cats immediately attracted the attention of the bystanders. Not only were the young people busy with selfies suddenly looking very interested, but the two groups who were tired of quarreling were somewhat distracted by the stray cats. The troublesome mischievous children stopped crying and stared at the group of cats.

    There were a few of the bystanders, who had cats at home and were understood cat¡¯s habits quite well, and knew that cats were not group animals unless two cats grew up together, otherwise, adult cats that were strangers were very likely to fight on meeting each other.

    They were all very shocked, why was this group of stray cats gathered together, and why did they suddenly appear here?

    When the stray cats appeared, they did not approach the crowd one after another. Instead, they gathered near a high ground on the beach, adjusted their positions, those that were big in size and were slow runners stood in front and the small ones that ran fast and stayed behind, like trained soldiers waiting for orders.

    dimir was thest one to rush out from the grass, it reviewed the stray cat¡¯s array, nodded satisfactorily, raised its paw and pointed to the direction of the whale corpse, ¡°Comrade meow, onward!¡±

    Following its order, the fierce-looking Orange Tabby instantly rushed out, and the other stray cats followed closely behind.

    The passers-by that were standing near the whale corpse saw those stray cats rushing over like they were crazy, and they felt flustered in their hearts, and hurriedly moved to the two sides to give way.

    Of course, there are also people who had self-confidence that cats like them, and stayed in ce and not moving and bending down to carry the cat.

    ¡°Meow meow,e, meow meow.¡±

    The orange tabby rushed to the man and suddenly braked and flicked its tail. Although it was big and its center of gravity was steady, the little eyes seemed to be saying: Brother is strong, not fat!

    The man did not understand what was going on. He saw the orange cat lift its tail, reveal its cloaca, and puff out a stream of urine!

    And there was a lot!

    It was proportionate to the orange tabby¡¯s body size!

    Cat urine is well-known to have a strong urine smell and smelly. The smell left by cat urine is difficult to eliminate. It can¡¯t wash off the clothes. Even cats can¡¯t stand the smell of their own urine.

    Cat urine is divided into two kinds, one is normal urination, performance for a pool of urine, and the other is spraying urine caused by estrus, seize territory or mental nervousness, and the urine was one line.

    Spraying urine can be greatly reduced by sterilization, but these stray cats... they are basically not sterilized, and even sterilized cats do not necessarily not spray urine at all.

    The man bent over and stretched out his hand to reprimand the cat. Unexpectedly, what was waiting for him was a piece of urine splitting his head and covering his face. Suddenly, he was sprayed with one handful of urine. His face, neck, and clothes were also stained with it. It smelled terrible.

    The other man next to him is a fat house. He saw the tragedy of the first man, prepares in advance, runs away when the situation is not good and says no matter what, he could not be sprayed with a face of urine. If the other party is a beautiful woman, it could be discussed, but the orange tabby was also a fat house, so he did not want to let it do so.

    The urine sprayed out by cats in the family who eat good food and are clean is hard for people to stand already. What¡¯s more, these stray cats sleep in the open air and have nothing to eat, their urine is at least twice as lethal as the house cats. They are alreadyparable to biochemical weapons.

    Other stray cats rushed into the crowd and sprayed left and right, causing the bystanders to turn around and cover their noses to flee in a hurry. They came here to see the excitement and did not want to make themselves embarrassed to see the excitement. It was alright if cat urine sprayed on their faces and hands. If they were prayed on their clothes, the clothes would be ruined.

    The scene smelled so bad that even the rotten odor of the whale carcass was covered up, and it caused headaches more than a dozen meters away.

    When dimir stood at a high ce and judged the situation, it saw how brave the cats were. Especially the orange tabby with an ugly face was on another level. And so, it shouted in approval, ¡°Who dares to cross the knife, only my General Orange!¡±

 Chapter 1015: At The End of Oneâ€™s Rope

    <h4>Chapter 1015: At The End of One¡¯s Rope</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    That was what Zhang Zian thought of¨C¨Cto have dimir call the nearby stray cats and have them urinate at the spectators to drive them away. That could also have been considered a non-lethal weapon.

    It was definitely not okay to have the stray cats bite or scratch them directly... There were already undercurrents in Binhai City, and people were very vocal about the spreading of rabies in stray cats and dogs. It was best not to further intensify the situation. In the event that a horde of stray cats started attacking people, the call for an elimination of stray cats could potentially take ce.

    To urinate on them, however, was fine¨C¨Cthe person who got urine on them could only sigh about being unlucky. It was the same as bird dropping falling on one¡¯s head.

    Most of the seabirds in the air were also scared away by the strong stench of urine... Not to mention that cats were naturally the enemies of birds. They didn¡¯t want to lose their lives just over a few pecks of whale meat.

    Taking the opportunity, Zhang Zian shouted loudly, ¡°These cats may have been attracted by the smell of the whale. They¡¯re probably hungry and want to have some whale meat.¡±

    Although the exnation was a little forced, to the others, there didn¡¯t seem to be a better exnation.

    Soon, there was no one left within ten meters of the whale¡¯s body. Whichever direction the wind blew, it carried the smell of urine. Those standing on that particr side would cover their nose and retreat backwards; they were unable to stand the smell.

    Zhang Zian looked around, and it seemed as though people were far enough back. He gave dimir a look, and dimir whistled. Immediately, the cats quickly retreated as they came, and they disappeared into the grass, only leaving the smell of urine behind.

    They came like the wind, left like lightning, moved with great efficiency, and left after a sessful strike. Zhang Zian was impressed with the group of stray cats; it was just like they were ying guerri warfare.

    Those who were a little farther away were also amazed at the scene. It was just that the cats came fast and left fast. They just didn¡¯t have the time to record what happened. There were also those who managed to record it, but they were just too far away so the recording was all a blur.

    Zhang Zian walked up to dimir and said from his heart, ¡°Thank you. They were a really big help.¡±

    dimir smiled. ¡°It wasn¡¯t entirely to help you. It was mainly an opportunity to train the soldiers. It¡¯s okay if the soldiers do not participate in a war for a thousand days, but it¡¯s not okay for them to miss a day of practice. It¡¯s rare to get an opportunity to train them, so I should be the one to thank you for thinking of this.¡±

    While they were conversing, several speedboats appeared on the horizon, and they sped towards the shore.

    Zhang Zian lifted up his binocrs and took a look. The speedboat was painted with the words ¡°Chinese Administration of Fishery,¡± and the people on the speedboat were all wearing the same uniforms and life jackets. It was Ke Shaohui and his men rushing towards them with the fastest speed.

    At that moment, sirens also sounded behind the sea wall.

    Zhang Zian and the people present at the scene turned their heads around. Zian had initially thought that it was the police, but it wasn¡¯t. It was the fire department that had arrived. Two red fire trucks came to the front as the other vehicles on the road gave way.

    It made sense after he gave it some thought. It wasn¡¯t convenient for the police to be handling that kind of incident... Firefighters, on the other hand, had special clothes, safety helmets, high-pressure water guns, and a fire ax, so they were more suitable for handling such incidents.

    The fire department came slower, probably because of some problems with themunication between the administration of fishery and the firefighting headquarters. It probably took some extra time for the fire department to understand the urgency of the matter.

    The speedboat had to slow down and stop the boat, so the slower fire department arrived at the scene first. Before the fire truck came to aplete stop, the firefighters jumped out of the vehicle to set up the istion belt around the whale and to maintain the order of the scene.

    ¡°Comrade, please step back. There may be danger here,¡± a firefighter said as he pointed to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Wait! He¡¯s one of us. Let him stay!¡± Ke Shaohui ran over, covered in sweat, and his pants were almost all wet. He didn¡¯t wait for the speedboat to stop. Instead, he had jumped off the boat and waded through the water.

    The fireman nodded, and went off to persuade the others to leave.

    Although the spectators wouldn¡¯t listen to Zhang Zian¡¯s advice, in the face of the firefighters and fishery officials, they knew better. The two unrted departments¨C¨Cthe firefighters and the administration of fishery¨C¨Cworking together, however, piqued the interest of the spectators, and they were curious about what had happened.

    Ke Shaohui stared nervously at the whale carcass that wasn¡¯t far away, and exined, embarrassed, ¡°Mr. Zhang, honestly, I¡¯m no expert when ites to whales. I have gone through several books about whales in response to the call of my superiors recently... But I¡¯m getting on in age, so none of it really goes into my brain. I¡¯d like to ask for your guidance. What should we do right now?¡±

    ¡°I just happened to be here, so I couldn¡¯t just ignore it,¡± Zhang Zian said, ¡°Nobody knows when the whale¡¯s going to explode, so the first thing that we have to do is evacuate the masses from the scene to avoid havingrge chunks of whale meat drop from the sky; that could injure someone. The second is to find a way to dpress the whale. If we¡¯re able to let the gas out from its body, it won¡¯t explode.¡±

    Ke Shaohui took his advice. ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll go with what you said! How far do you think we should evacuate the masses?¡±

    ¡°The further the better.¡±

    However, the situation at the scene was not optimistic. It was a very wide space, and there was not enough manpower, even with the firefighters and fishery officials. Not to mention that the spectators all wanted to get closer to see what was going on, and more spectators were slowly gathering.

    The firefighters had put up a cordon with a radius of about 25 meters around the whale carcass, but to Zhang Zian, that distance was only the bare minimum. Huang and Xiao Zhi did heed Zian¡¯s advice¨C¨Cthey stood near their car, which was almost 50 meters away from the whale carcass.

    ¡°How do we dpress the whale?¡± Ke Shaohui asked the most critical question.

    Regarding that issue, Zhang Zian found it very tricky... There was no good solution. He was not sure there was anyone that would have a good solution to that problem.

    In the past, once giant whales that had been washed ashore died and began to rot, the local government would often iste the area and leave it to perish on its own. Those that were more extreme would use explosives to blow up the whales, but the result from was often worse than if they had just let it explode on its own. The explosives would detonate the high-pressure, mmable gas in the whale¡¯s body, and cause a big explosion.

    The current situation didn¡¯t give them the leisure to wait. Sooner orter someone would barge into the cordoned area, driven by curiosity. The natural decaying process of the smelly whale carcass was very slow, and it would cause serious pollution to the area.

    A firefighter took a fire ax from the truck and walked up to them. He said, ¡°I¡¯m going to make an opening on the whale¡¯s carcass to let some air out. Would that work?¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°Are you tired of living? Do you know how much air pressure is inside the whale carcass? If you want to use that ax on it, you can only hack at the belly of the whale where it¡¯s soft, easy to hack, and where the gas is gathered. But the moment you make an opening, the whale¡¯s intestines, which can weigh up to tons, would burst out from its body and all smash against your body. Unless you drive a tank to make the opening, it would be life-threatening.¡±

    Zian described the scene as he had imagined it would happen. After listening to him, Ke Shaohui and the firefighter felt the horror of the current situation. They didn¡¯t expect for the whale carcass to be so dangerous... It was something that could not be underestimated.

    ¡°We can¡¯t wait, and we also can¡¯t hack it open... What can we do? Why don¡¯t we just ask the police toe over? They could shoot it from a distance to let the air out,¡± Ke Shaohui suggested anxiously.

    Zhang Zian still felt that it wouldn¡¯t work. The biggest problem with that method was that the bullet hole would be too small... Even if the bullet prated the whale¡¯s body, the bullet hole would quickly be sealed under the heavy weight of its fat. No matter how big the bullet hole was, it wouldn¡¯t be any bigger than the whale¡¯s chrysanthemum and nostrils. Even its chrysanthemum and nostrils were sealed up by its fat, so realistically, what could a bullet hole do?

    If that method was feasible, then countries overseas with no ban on guns wouldn¡¯t be so helpless when it came to the whale carcass. Wouldn¡¯t they just pick up a machine gun and get it over with?

    Ke Shaohui also proposed several other methods while the firefighters worked to maintain order. They all brainstormed together, but all their propositions were turned down by Zhang Zian.

    ¡°This doesn¡¯t work, that doesn¡¯t work... We can¡¯t just leave the whale carcass here. Why don¡¯t we... drag it back into the sea with our boat? If it explodes out at sea, it would all going to be okay, right? Anyway, whales were originally meant to die in the sea, then its carcass would be eaten up by the fish and shrimp. If that happened, we wouldn¡¯t even have to worry about pollution.¡± Ke Shaohui was in a hurry to resolve the situation.

    As an official of the administration of fishery, he was most worried that the explosion of the whale would implicate the crowd in the vicinity and cause a bad social impact. Therefore, his bottom line was for no one to get hurt. As for the whale carcass itself, that was a secondary problem.

    The firefighters had the same thought process.

    Zhang Zian turned down the suggestion again. He pointed to the huge whale carcass and said, ¡°Do you think that your speedboats are able to drag the whale, that¡¯s already deep in the sand, out to sea? Let¡¯s take a step back. Even if you do bring over arge tugboat and sessfully drag it back into the sea, it¡¯ll still be full of gas, so it will remain afloat on the surface of the sea. We also don¡¯t have sharks here, and the ordinary fish and shrimp wouldn¡¯t be able to prate its skin. It¡¯s still going to explode. Also, if a ship is coincidentally passing by the vicinity, someone would still get hurt. In addition, it could also get washed ashore again by the waves.¡±

    Ke Shaohui and the firefighters felt discouraged; they could only sigh.

    Zhang Zian frowned. He looked around, and caught a glimpse of something sharp on one of the speedboats.

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± he asked, pointing to the object.

    ¡°Hm? Oh, that... It¡¯s a homemade harpoon gun that we confiscated from the fishermen. Some fishermen are still using this stuff to fish in the sea during the fishing ban, so we confiscated the harpoons because they just wouldn¡¯t listen. We didn¡¯t have the time to store it in the warehouse because we had to rush down here,¡± Ke Shaohui exined.

    Zhang Zian stared at the harpoon gun, then he remembered the minke whale that was stabbed by the harpoon. He asked, ¡°Does the harpoon alsoe with barbs?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Basically all harpoons are barbed.¡± Ke Shaohui was afraid that Zhang Zian would misunderstand, so he added, ¡°The fisherman didn¡¯t use the harpoon for whaling, otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t end with just the harpoon being confiscated. Also, no one in China consumes whale meat, so even if a whale was captured, it couldn¡¯t be sold...¡±

    Zhang Zian gestured with his hand to prevent him from continuing. ¡°How far is the range of this harpoon?¡± Zian asked. ¡°This harpoon may just be able to solve our current problem.¡±

 Chapter 1016: Abdominal Rupture

    <h4>Chapter 1016: Abdominal Rupture</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Leaving others to maintain the order, Zhang Zian and Ke Shaohui stepped onto the speedboat together.

    ¡°The harpoon is made by fishermen. I don¡¯t know how far it can shoot. I only know they are used to shoot tuna.¡± Ke Shaohui carefully picked up the harpoon, so as to not let the sharp end point at people. He did not want to shoot anyone by mistake. After all, it was made by fishermen, so the quality was not guaranteed.

    ¡°Tuna?¡± Zhang Zian found that interesting. ¡°Is there tuna in Binhai City?¡±

    He had grown up there and had never heard of any fisherman fishing for tuna before.

    Ke Shaohui shook his head. ¡°Well, as far as I know, there is no such thing, but ording to the fishermen, tuna has been spotted off the coast of Binhai City. You know, tuna weighs tens of kilograms and is full of muscle. It swims very fast. It can easily reach a speed of over 50 knots per hour in open sea. It has a strong impact. It needs ocean purse-seine fishing boats to catch it. The cost is very high. Our country¡¯s fishing boats are mainly offshore trawlers, which can¡¯t catch tuna. But it¡¯s not realistic to buy new boats for tuna fishing alone. The unit price of the fishing boat is more than 100 million yuan, so the fishermen try to make their own harpoon guns. They want to use the harpoon to catch the tuna to sell to local Japanese restaurants.¡±

    He then added, ¡°We confiscated their harpoon guns, but not because they caught tuna. After all, tuna is not a protected animal. They fished during the fishing ban so we took them.¡±

    Zhang Zian understood. The tunas was obviously attracted there by Sihwa. The fishermen knew that tuna had high economical value, but tuna swam too fast. Trawler boats sighed at it and were unable to do anything. They used the wisdom of working people to make harpoons to shoot the fish.

    Fishermen¡¯s self-made harpoon guns did not take into ount any quality assurance and safety. The only requirement was to shoot long distances vigorously. Otherwise, there was no way to get them. It was like farmers¡¯ self-made fireworks and firecrackers. The opening of each gun was thicker than that of the other, and they desperately stuffed gunpowder inside for fear that the explosion would not be loud enough.

    The shape of the harpoon gun was rtively simple. It was like putting a barbed javelin on a gun and attaching a cylinder gas tank for high-pressure gas emission.

    Zhang Zian pondered, This harpoon gun might solve the urgent problem.

    He told Ke Shaohui what he thought and asked the firefighters to discuss it. Everyone thought the n was feasible.

    They did it as soon as they said it. They found thick cables; one end was tied to the end of the harpoon and the other end was tied to the back of the speedboat.

    Just in case, firefighters and fishery officials cleared the scene again, that time to evacuate the onlookers behind the connection between the speedboat and the whale carcass. If the harpoon missed the whale and hit a person instead, it would have been troublesome.

    When everything was ready, an armed and trained firefighter stood at a distance of five meters and aimed carefully at the belly of the whale with a harpoon.

    The audience at the scene saw the situation and thought they had guessed the intentions of firefighters and fishermen. They would eventually drag the dead whale into the sea. They held their breath and many people held up their mobile phones to take videos.

    After aiming properly, the firefighter pressed the trigger. There was a slight tter.

    Driven by high-pressure gas, sharp harpoons burst out straight, leaving only a silvery shadow in people¡¯s eyes. It popped into the belly of the whale urately, revealing only half of it outside the whale¡¯s skin.

    After waiting for a while, everyone found that the wound had hardly sprayed blood; only a little blood oozed out. As Zhang Zian said, the thick fatyer quickly sealed the wound. Plus, the whale was dead, so the blood flow had stopped. Its blood pressure had dropped to zero, which was no match for the living whale.

    Living whales were usually stabbed through the back by harpoons. There were many muscles on their backs and not as much fat as there was on their abdomens. Whales would struggle violently under the pain, which then caused the wound to expand.

    The firefighter let out a breath of relief, giving a thumbs up towards the speedboat, and then quickly moved away.

    Under Ke Shaohui¡¯s orders, the speedboat¡¯s motor was switched to the maximum. The engine roared to drive the propeller, and the cable straightened out instantaneously.

    The speedboat shook violently. Its bow was raised high, and its stern and propeller plunged deep into the water like a furious Cobra snake raising its head high. The motion made the fishermen break out in sweat because the water on the shore was very shallow and the propeller could break at any time.

    People were crying out in low voices because it seemed to everyone that the speedboat was about to capsize and the people on board would be thrown into the water.

    Despite that, the whale¡¯s body did not move at all; it buried deeper into the sand.

    However, Zhang Zian and Ke Shaohui¡¯s goal from the start was not to use the speedboat to pull the whale corpse down to the water.

    Just when people thought that the operation was about to fail, arge, dark red, bloody rain burst from the belly of the whale carcass. It contained hundreds of kilograms of internal organs and spewed out nearly ten meters away. A disgusting smell filled the air!

    The whale¡¯s stomach had been pierced from the inside by the harpoon, which had formed arge hole. Practically all of its organs spewed out, and the scene was very bloody!

    Seeing the scene, a lot of girls were so disgusted that they turned their head away, not daring to look anymore. A lot of guys were bending and gagging continuously.

    With the loss of strength on the cable, the bow of the speedboat crashed into the water, sshed the water two or three meters high, and then rushed forward like a runaway, wild horse. The fishermen on the boat were stunned until they were dizzy. Fortunately, they were prepared in advance. Otherwise, they might have been thrown off the boat. They quickly shut down the motor, and the speedboat rushed out of a distance through inertia before slowly stopping.

    Zhang Zian and Ke Shaohui, who were observing the battle from the side, finally let out a breath of relief.

    At least the danger of the whale exploding had been lifted, and all that remained was to clean up the scene. Firefighters had aplete set of tools to dismantle the whale. As for how they nned to dispose of the carcass, it was not Zhang Zian¡¯s business. Whether they wanted to unload eight pieces on the spot or find a truck to lift the whole whale corpse away, he was not sure.

    He said goodbye to Ke Shaohui, and Ke Shaohui was very thankful. At that moment, he did not have the time to talk about any additional things. He needed to immediately report what had happened his superiors and wait for the instructions of the superior.

    Following that, he went over to Huang and Xiao Zhi to talk. Xiao Zhi was stunned by the scene. His mouth was unable to close for a long time. At the same time, he felt that it was a pity that the whale died in such a way. Xiao Zhi¡¯s mother was so disgusted by the scene; she had continuously rushed the father and son to leave so they could hurry home and eat.

    Following the spread of the rotting smell, the bystanders could no longer take it. They did not need to be asked to leave; they all left by themselves, or walked a further distance away to observe the drama.

    Zhang Zian called dimir and walked over to where the Wuling Hong Guang MPV was parked. After that, he drove the car to his assault boat and then returned to the pet shop.

 Chapter 1017: No God

    <h4>Chapter 1017: No God</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Into the night.

    ¡°Ah!¡± Jiang Feifei sighed with the bento in her hands. ¡°Store Manager, why is your luck always so good? Every time you go to the beach, you¡¯re always able to encounter whales, whether they are alive or dead. Why can¡¯t I meet one?¡±

    A ¡°closed¡± sign was hung on the shop door, otherwise, fans of Famous and customers would still visit in the middle of the night. Although Zhang Zian was happy to do more business, it was just like the famous saying that dimir often said, ¡°Those that don¡¯t know how to rest, don¡¯t know how to work.¡±

    Including Zhang Zian, everyone else was pigging themselves out on the bento in their hands.

    The evening news of the local television station was being broadcasted on the television, and the content was about the whale that got beached and died.

    The cameraman carried the camera on his shoulders and filmed the scene from above. The focus of the shot was not on the whale¡¯s carcass, and it was censored with mosaic. Even then, however, the bloodiness of the scene was clear to everyone; the entire beach was almost painted red with the whale¡¯s blood.

    Arge number of firefighters wearing full protective gear were constantlying and going. Some were cutting the whale meat with a cutting machine, while others pushed a small, sled-like cart and transported the whale meat away in batches, most likely to incinerate them in another location... The greatest exaggeration was that sometimes the firefighters had to use a chainsaw or a cutting machine to drill into the whale¡¯s belly to cut it up, and the pungent smell was just too overwhelming. Many people were probably going to stay away from meat for a very long time.

    In addition, the remaining firefighters took a high-pressure water gun to flush the blood and bits of meat into the sea. The sea water soon turned dark red and white whale blubber was floating everywhere.

    As the weather got warmer, soon enough, many people woulde to the beach for a walk. But after that incident, no one would want to swim in the water for a long time.

    A reporter interviewed Ke Shaohui on the spot. It was obvious that it was Ke Shaohui¡¯s first time being interviewed, and his first time to be on television. He stuttered through the interview, but he was still clear about the process.

    He gave a detailed recap on how he got a call from Zhang Zian and learned that a whale had been beached and was already dead. He then talked about the process from when he brought his men down, to how they solved the problem of the whale potential explosion. He then closed off the interview with an appeal to the public¨C¨Cthat if they were to encounter another incident of a beached whale, whether the whale was alive or dead, to please call the administration of fishery immediately. He added that no inexperienced person should attempt to deal with it alone, for there was a lot of potential danger. In closing, he repeated the contact number of the administration of fishery.

    The reporter was also affected by the bloodiness on the beach. He repeated Ke Shaohui¡¯s words to the audience again and again. He also mentioned that the administration of fishery had already started a project, and was prepared to set up new signs on the entire coastline of Binhai City to warn the public of the correct procedures to take if they encountered a beached whale.

    Wang Qian stuffed a mouthful of rice into his mouth, then said while chewing, ¡°Master, just tell us the truth¨C¨Cdid you chop open the whale¡¯s belly with your bare hands?¡±

    ¡°What? At most, he just used the fingernail on his pinky finger!¡± Li Kun corrected Wang Qian with rice spurting out from his mouth.

    Zhang Zian was toozy to entertain them, but his silence was taken as consent on their end.

    Lu Yiyun wasn¡¯t interested in the topic, and she wasn¡¯t courageous enough to look at the images on the news. She silently sat in front of the cashier counter as she dug into her bento, eating and checking the contents of the day¡¯s business statements to ensure that nothing was overlooked.

    Jiang Feifei pleaded repeatedly for Zhang Zian to call her if he ever came across another beached whale.

    Zhang Zian promised her that he would, but he said that he would decided whether or not to call her depending on the situation. Also, who was going to look after the store if she was gone?

    ¡°Right, Store Manager.¡± Jiang Feifei remembered something. ¡°Welder Zhao visited earlier today and took two clownfish home with him. He mentioned that he had an agreement with you and told me to let you know.¡±

    ¡°Well, we did have an agreement, but I forgot to tell you about it.¡± Zhang Zian nodded, and sincerely hoped that he wouldn¡¯t have any further involvement with Welder Zhao. If things were to continue on like that, then one fine day, he would be the next victim of the jinxed old man.

    A blueish gray figure shed by while they were talking. Zhang Zian nced over and saw that dimir was walking out of the store.

    Basically every night at that time, dimir always snuck out alone. It used to wander outside until morning, but it now came back before midnight as long as Zian left a little gap at the window. Anyway, the weather was warm now, so it was prettyfortable to sleep with the window open.

    Jiang Feifei had her full attention on the news while Wang Qian and Li Kun were gossiping about all kinds of things. Only Liu Yiyun, who was quietly eating, noticed what dimir was doing and told Zian, ¡°Mr. Manager, this cat is running out alone.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. You don¡¯t have to worry about it.¡± Zhang Zian waved his hand to reassure her. ¡°It¡¯lle back by itself.¡±

    He thought that dimir would return sometime during the middle of the night, so he didn¡¯t really bother. After he was done eating, he threw the bento box into the trash can. Just as he was about to go wash his hands, he heard Lu Yiyun say, ¡°Oh, it really dide back.¡±

    Zhang Zian stopped and turned around. He saw that dimir was back, but it didn¡¯t enter the store. It stood by the entrance and stared at Zian. The golden part of its eyes were sparkling under the light. It looked like it had something to say.

    Zian then gave dimir a look and followed it out of the store. When he saw that no one was around, Zian asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°Come here.¡±

    dimir took him to a nearby tree and said, ¡°That kitten seems to be trapped in the tree.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked up, but his eyesight at night wasn¡¯t as good as a cat¡¯s. After observing closely, however, he found a yellow and white kitten in the tree, and it looked like a stray cat.

    Zian turned on the shlight function of his phone and faced it towards the kitten. The kitten squinted its eyes and writhed its body uneasily, trying to avoid the re as it meowed softly.

    Zhang Zian noticed that the kitten wanted to get down from the tree, but it seemed to be afraid of the height.

    ¡°Let me bring adder over and carry it down,¡± Zian said as he turned off the shlight.

    ¡°Wait.¡± dimir stopped him.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    dimir seemed to be thinking about some difficult problem. It looked at the kitten in the tree. ¡°I want to know why it can¡¯te down on its own.¡±

    ¡°Why it can¡¯te down by itself?¡± Zhang Zian asked, not understanding what it meant.

    dimir nodded and said, ¡°When I left earlier, I saw this kitten, and I was about to ask if it would like to join the Meow Meow Branch Organization of the smallmunity opposite of ours, but I noticed that it was still too small. It isn¡¯t at the appropriate age to participate in our business, so I gave up on that thought. Indeed, it¡¯s still small and yful. It can climb up the tree by itself, but it can¡¯te down after climbing up. I asked if it required any help, but it didn¡¯t respond to me, so I went back to find you. It started to meow after you came here.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so it¡¯s like this... In fact, cats generally only call out to humans. They don¡¯t usually meow at each other,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    dimir was surprised. ¡°Is that the case?¡±

    Its question showed that dimir was indeed a fantasy elfin, and was not a real cat that had existed in history.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s because cats don¡¯t need tomunicate through their meowing; they can judge each other¡¯s intentions through their eyes, movements, and smell. Only when they¡¯re far away from each other do they scream with a sharp voice.¡± Zhang Zian thenughed and exined, ¡°How do you put it... meowing is like something cats intentionally do tomunicate with humans.¡±

    dimir started to think about what Zian said. It recalled the kittens in the pet shop, and in most cases, they didn¡¯t meow at one another, but theymunicated through their movements and their eyes. For example, they licked each other¡¯s hair, or rolled around while they clung onto one another, or they chased each other. When they saw humans that they wanted tomunicate with, they would softly meow to Zhang Zian, the staff, or customers.

    ¡°Then let me ask you¨C¨Cwhat if I were to let the stray cats use their meowing sound as a form of a secret signal between each other? Would it be against their nature?¡± it asked seriously.

    ¡°Why are you asking this?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    It gazed at the dimly lit streets and the endless vehicles, then slowly said, ¡°To have the stray cats unite and defend themselves against foreign enemies... It¡¯s a road that no men or cat has ever walked, and I am lonely on this road. I don¡¯t know if this is really good for them. Maybe it¡¯s just their nature to be free andx. Even if they are bullied and oppressed, haven¡¯t they lived for thousands of years that way?¡±

    Zhang Zian was surprised. He had always thought that dimir drove himself forward with his passionate beliefs, and never questioned whether or not it had made a mistake. But obviously, it did self-reflect asionally; it just didn¡¯t easily reveal it to others.

    But the problem was too big, and he was not a cat, so Zian couldn¡¯t put himself in the cat¡¯s point of view to think about the problem.

    He gave it some thought then asked again, ¡°If there¡¯s the possibility that you will make a mistake, does that mean that you¡¯ll not do it?¡±

    ¡°How¡¯s that possible?¡± dimir looked up and said firmly, ¡°Even if it¡¯s the wrong way, you would have to go through it to know!¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded in agreement. ¡°dimir, I hope that you can remember that you¡¯re not a god¨C¨Cyou¡¯re just an ordinary cat. As long as you¡¯re a cat, you may make mistakes. You¡¯re no exception. But so far, you¡¯ve done very well, so even if you make mistakes in the future, they won¡¯t erase your achievements.¡±

    dimir¡¯s eyes started to shine. It clenched a front paw into a fist. ¡°Yes! I¡¯m not a god! I don¡¯t want to be a god! There¡¯s no god in this world! Only fools and cowards put their hopes in god! I firmly believe that our cause is just! No enemy can break the cause of just!¡±

    Its former presence had returned, and it was even more vigorous than ever. The mes burning in its eyes showed its courage, which could match a thousand warriors. ¡°There has never been a savior! And we don¡¯t depend on the Deity Emperor! To create happiness for cats, we can only depend on ourselves!¡±

 Chapter 1018: Climbing Trees

    <h4>Chapter 1018: Climbing Trees</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After expressing the feelings in its heart, dimir suddenly asked Zhang Zian, ¡°Do you think there is a God?¡±

    ¡°This¡­ I sometimes feel that there is. Other times, I feel that there isn¡¯t. Sometimes I feel that there should be, while other times I feel that even if there isn¡¯t one, it¡¯s no big deal,¡± Zhang Zian answered truthfully. The truth was that was the same attitude most people had.

    He recalled the producer of the game Pet Hunter and added, ¡°I think there may be something higher in the dark, but that¡¯s not necessarily God.¡±

    dimir smiled and did not say anything.

    Zhang Zian did not know whether he was right or wrong to encourage it, but he felt that its efforts had really worked. It had encouraged a group of scattered, stray cats to unite and concentrate on major things.

    ¡°Speaking of nature, you just asked the kitten why it couldn¡¯t get down after it climbed up the tree, right?¡± He drew the topic back to the original question.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s afraid of heights¡­ How could it climb so high if it was afraid of heights?¡± dimir nodded with a strong thirst for knowledge. ¡°Is this the same nature that cats have when they meow at people?¡±

    Not everyone had kept a cat before, and even those that had kept a cat before only had one. Even if they had more than two cats, they seldom paid attention to the interactions between cats, especially when the cat owner was not present. Simply put, when there were no human beings present, cats would not meow at each other, because there was no need. Even if they did meow, there would not receive any food¡­

    Meowing was a cat¡¯s evolved skill to please humans. One had to admit that the evolution was undoubtedly sessful. It made humans willing to be sh*t shovelers, which was probably Darwin¡¯s theory.

    ¡°Wait for a little while.¡±

    When Zhang Zian returned to the store, he saw that the clerks had finished their meals and were packing up. He went up to the storage room on the second floor, found a foldingdder, and carried it down.

    The clerks were puzzled to see him carrying thedder out, but he exined truthfully that a kitten was trapped in a tree.

    He returned to the tree with thedder on his shoulder, set up thedder, then shook it firmly to check its stability. He then climbed to the top of thedder, pulled the branches and leaves away, and reached out to the yellow and white kitten.

    The kitten was a little scared. After all, it was a stray cat. It had not interacted very closely with people, nor had the mother cat taught it how to deal with human beings. It shrunk away to escape from him, but there was nowhere to hide between the narrow branches. Finally, Zhang Zian put his hands under its armpit and took it down.

    ¡°Why could it go up the tree, but it couldn¡¯te down? Look at its ws carefully.¡± Zhang Zian raised its front w to let dimir take a look.

    ¡°The ws of cats, including those of other animals, are mostly crooked and bent towards the palm, which is for hunting purposes. It prevents their prey from escaping, and it also helps their body when they climb and jump,¡± he said, bending his fingers like a hook.

    dimir raised its front paw and lowered its head to take a look. He nodded in agreement.

    ¡°It¡¯s very easy to climb the tree with such ws, so the kitten could easily climb to the top, even though it may not have climbed a tree at all before¡­ But when it wants toe down from the tree, it has a problem.¡± Zhang Zian twitched his lips towards the tree. ¡°dimir, you can try for yourself. Practice is the only criterion for testing the truth.¡±

    Without hesitation, dimir leaped to the edge of the tree, reached out his sharp ws, and climbed up the tree quickly.

    ¡°Now you cane down,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°Take note, you can¡¯t jump down. You need to slowly climb down the tree.¡±

    dimir instantly noticed what the problem was.

    It often leaped over walls and climbed trees, but it depended on its own flexibility. It always jumped down after it climbed to the highest point. If it was too high, it would use its strength to jump down onto a shorter branch, like a step. With its fierce temper, there had never been a precedent for walking down slowly.

    At that moment, it was trying to slowly climb down from the tree, and after changing to many positions, it felt that it was very awkward.

    Zhang Zian reminded it from under the tree, ¡°You climbed up with your head on top and feet below. If you want to climb down, you still have to have your head on top and your legs below, and back down. Only in this way can your ws grab the trunk and bark of the tree.¡±

    dimir listened to his advice and turned its body around. It was like it had recorded its actions when climbing the tree and rewound it, slowly backing down the tree.

    ¡°It¡¯s very awkward,¡± it said, totally ufortable. ¡°It¡¯s still morefortable directly jumping down.¡±

    ¡°Of course, but kittens like this do not dare to jump directly.¡± Zhang Zian put the yellow and white kitten on the ground. When he was carrying thedder, he dropped a can of cat food in his pocket, opened it, and pushed it in front of him.

    The yellow and white kitten wanted to run, but when it smelled the smell of fish in the can, it couldn¡¯t help bute over and sniff it. It plunged its face into the canned food and hurriedly ate it.

    ¡°But how did you know that?¡± dimir asked.

    He smiled and said, ¡°I run a pet shop. That¡¯smon knowledge. I¡¯ve seen many cats do this. They climb up and are trapped. They won¡¯te down by themselves if there¡¯s no mother cat to teach them.¡±

    This yellow and white kitten had probably been separated from its mother very early on. Its mother did not teach it the necessary skills to climb the tree, so it could only slowly learn things. When it grew up, it would directly jump down like dimir had wanted to.

    If a human were to climb up high, they would know that they should climb down the same way¨C¨Cwith their heads facing up and their legs down. Cats, however, were not used to retreating. Even when they came down from high ces, they always wanted to go down with their heads facing down and their legs on top. Their paws determined that they could only have their heads facing up and their legs facing down, and from there they could move their buttocks down slowly. Otherwise, their ws could not hook the tree bark.

    When the yellow and white kitten wanted to climb down the tree, it found that its ws could not hook onto the tree, and so it continuously slid downwards. It did not dare to jump, so it was just stuck in the tree.

    Zhang Zian gazed into the distance and recalled, ¡°When I was a child, my parents told me a story. It was said that long ago, cats were the most powerful animals in the forest. Even tigers, which are muchrger than cats, worshiped cats as teachers and learned from them the skills of foraging, fighting, and surviving. The cat was rigorous in learning and teaching, and the tiger was very serious in learning. He learned almost all the skills of the cat, but tigers had bad intentions. After learning their skills, they dominated the forest and even wanted to eat the cat. But the cat was already on guard. It didn¡¯t teach the tiger how to climb the tree on purpose. When the tiger came to eat it, it climbed to a very high tree and made the tiger stare at the trunk under the tree. Later, people made up an allegorical saying based on the story that cats taught tigers: ¡®Always hold back a trick when teaching others.¡¯¡±

    The story had spread very far, and many different versions had appeared, but the main story was simr.

    dimir listened very seriously and was very interested.

    Zhang Zian smiled and said, ¡°When I heard this story, I thought it was unbelievable. What¡¯s so difficult about climbing a tree? Why did they need cats to teach them? If a cat can go up, why can¡¯t a big tiger go up? But in fact, it really needs to be taught. Otherwise, it may be trapped after going up. Even the tiger, that is the king of beasts, is the same. After all, the tiger is also a cat. The person whopiles this story is not just making it up. He had observed life carefully.¡±

    dimir suddenly realized something. ¡°It¡¯s an interesting story. Later, when I encounter cats trapped at high altitudes, I can show them how to climb down. I don¡¯t have to specially go and find you to carry thedder over.¡±

    ¡°Master! Store Manager, we¡¯ve finished clearing up. We¡¯re going to go home! The shop is not locked.¡± The store employees had finished their work and found that Zhang Zian had yet to return. They walked out of the shop and saw him standing under a tree a distance away.

    ¡°All right. Be careful on the way back.¡± Zhang Zian also waved his hand in response.

    The shop employees left in groups, and like usual, they first sent Lu Yiyun back to her rented house, and the other three returned to the school dormitories.

    dimir turned to look in the distance and said to Zhang Zian, ¡°It¡¯s still early. You go back first. I have something to do. Just leave the window cracked as usual.¡±

    ¡°Well, you should also be careful. Don¡¯t put yourself in a bad situation. If you are confronted with something you cannot deal with, you cane back and ask us for help.¡± Zhang Zian was still worried about whether it would encounter the Holy Cat statue alone at night. Even though it was confident, the Holy Cat statue was not easy to deal with, after all.

    It smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Death does not belong to the Meow-Meow Doctrine Believer.¡± After saying that, it turned around and walked off with fast and light steps.

    ¡°Right, there¡¯s one more thing.¡± Zhang Zian raised his voice slightly, and said towards its silhouette, ¡°dimir, if you want to do anything, just go for it! Even if you make any mistakes, we will try our best to help you make up for it!¡±

    dimir stopped for a while and did not turn back. It just raised a front paw to show that it understood.

    ¡°Also, if possible, try toe back earlier,¡± Zhang Zian added.

    That time, it did not have any reaction and did not stop. It ran towards the darkness in a straight line.

    He did not know when, but Old Time Tea had appeared next to Zhang Zian and looked at dimir¡¯s back, holding its beard. Its eyes narrowed. It said slowly, ¡°It is true that a generation of new cats will rece old ones. I can only save a few cats, even if I put my all into it. With Famous¡¯ help, we can save thousands of cats at most, while dimir can save tens of millions of cats¡­ In this era, there is no need for warriors anymore.¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled and said, ¡°Grandpa Tea, you¡¯re too humble. This earth no longer needs warriors, but the warrior spirit will continue on forever, as long as you have a warrior in your heart. Everyone is a warrior.¡±

    Old Time Tea nodded happily, leisurely charmed.

    dimir suddenly stopped before running out of his vision. It turned around in the shadows of the evening and its voice floated from far away. ¡°I think you¡¯re wrong. There¡¯s no God on this earth at all! Even if a God appears in front of me, I¡¯ll let him taste my Meow Meow Doctrine Iron Fist!¡±

 Chapter 1019: Wandering Catâ€™s Journal

    <h4>Chapter 1019: Wandering Cat¡¯s Journal</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    dimir was in a good mood, and although it didn¡¯t know why, it felt that the burden on its shoulders had gotten lighter.

    The pet shop had already disappeared behind it when it suddenly noticed that something was following it. It looked back and saw that it was the yellow and white kitten. The kitten still had some bits of fish from the canned food stuck around its mouth, and it was licking its nose and mouth with its small tongue as if it hadn¡¯t had enough.

    ¡°Little one, you¡¯re still too young. You can join us after you reach adulthood.¡± dimir waved his forepaw and said, ¡°Go back. Don¡¯t follow me.¡±

    The yellow and white kitten stopped where it was. It seemed to have understood what dimir was saying, but when dimir continued to move forward, it turned back to see that the yellow and white kitten was following him again.

    dimir paused. ¡°What I¡¯m going to do is pretty dangerous, and I don¡¯t have the time and energy to take care of you if you follow me.¡± dimir repeated again, ¡°Go back.¡±

    The yellow and white kitten remained where it was.

    dimir was still not very good at interpreting the physical movements of cats. It was much more familiar with adult cats, but it was really unsure when it came to the bodynguage of the kitten. After all, it wasn¡¯t a real cat, so it had not experienced the growth process of a cat.

    ¡°Do you not know where to go?¡± dimir asked after giving it some thought. It lifted its forepaw and pointed behind him. ¡°Why don¡¯t you go back where you came from, find the person who just fed you, and maybe he¡¯ll keep you. Anyway, there¡¯s a lot of cats in his shop, so it wouldn¡¯t make much difference with you there.¡±

    The yellow and white kitten turned and looked, but it still didn¡¯t move.

    dimir tried to take a few steps forward, and the yellow and white kitten followed it again.

    ¡°Little one, I said not to follow me anymore. I¡¯m going to run now, and you¡¯re definitely not going to be able to keep up!¡± Having said that, dimir picked up its pace. With a spurt and a leap, dimir was soon a distance away.

    The yellow and white kitten was still trying its best to keep up, but the distance between them was getting further and further away. It didn¡¯t take long for dimir to disappear from its sight.

    The kitten suddenly stopped and looked at the surrounding environment. It was in apletely foreign ce¨Cpletely different from Zhonghua Road, which it was slightly familiar with. It was soon enveloped with all kinds of scents, and it got nervous. There were pedestrians bustling about all around it.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you that you wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up?¡± a voice came out from behind the wall.

    dimir suddenly appeared again. It jumped down from the wall and stared at the startled yellow and white kitten. It said, ¡°You¡¯re still too young and naive to adapt to theplex conflict situation.¡±

    dimir looked around. ¡°It¡¯s better if you head to the roadside and act cute in front of the pedestrians. Maybe someone will like you and take you home. At that time, you¡¯ll no longer be a stray cat, and you can live a life where you no longer have to worry about food and shelter. ¡±

    The yellow and white kitten lowered its head.

    ¡°What? You don¡¯t know how to act cute?¡± dimir stared at it, dumfounded. ¡°Aren¡¯t cats naturally good at that? Oh, I get it, you don¡¯t know what acting cute is, right?¡±

    dimir wanted to solve the yellow and white kitten¡¯s problem sooner so it could be free to help the other stray cats. It waved its paw and said, ¡°Come here. I¡¯ll teach you how to act cute. Although I¡¯ve never done it before, I see it every day.¡±

    The yellow and white kitten obediently followed behind it.

    They both came out from the patch of grass on the roadside and walked onto the sidewalk.

    ¡°Stay here¨C¨Cit¡¯s safer here... At least theoretically.¡± dimir brought the kitten to the tactile paving, then it pointed to the road and said, ¡°Have you seen such a special kind of road surface before? This is tactile paving, and it¡¯s meant for humans that are blind, so it should be a little safer than the other roads.¡±

    Although that was what dimir said, almost no pedestrians cared about whether they were stepping on tactile paving or not.

    The yellow and white kitten curled its body up uneasily, and its head swayed restlessly as it watched each pedestrian¡¯s movements.

    ¡°Okay, we can start acting cute now!¡± dimir nudged the yellow and white kitten. ¡°You need to pick the right target if you want to act cute, and it¡¯s best to target young men and women¨C¨Cespecially women. Don¡¯t go after those savvy-looking middle-aged women or a middle-aged man in a suit. It¡¯d be good enough news if they didn¡¯t kick you.¡±

    Because dimir made it sound so serious, the yellow and white kitten grew even more timid.

    ¡°You still don¡¯t know how to? Fine then, I¡¯ll give you a demonstration.¡± dimir was speechless. ¡°Watch carefully. I¡¯m only going to demonstrate it once¨C¨Cjust once.¡±

    dimir looked around and noticed a young girl who was looking down on her phone. It chose her as the target.

    The girl looked like an office worker who had just joined the working force and was on her way home from work. She was also quite attractive. She lowered her head to put her mouth close to her phone, then she softly grumbled, ¡°This unscrupulouspany made me work overtime again today. I really want to resign tomorrow! But if I resign, I will starve... and I¡¯ve already graduated from school. I can¡¯t be asking for money from my parents...¡±

    Another woman¡¯s voice came from the other end, ¡°Poor child. Let¡¯s go sing at a KTV tomorrow night. The other students in the dormitory areing, so everyone can gather together.¡±

    ¡°Sigh. I¡¯ll have to see how things are tomorrow. If I have to work overtime again...¡± She was still speaking when she suddenly saw a cat by the roadside. It seemed to be blue or gray¨C¨Cshe couldn¡¯t see too clearly at night, but it was definitely darker in color.

    ¡°Who¡¯s cat ran out from home...¡± She temporarily canceled her voice message and looked around.

    There were a lot of people rushing by in the area, and at least half of them were looking down at their mobile phone, like she was, while the others were rushing home, fatigued from work. No one seemed to be looking for any cat.

    Her friend sent her another voice message, but she didn¡¯t listen to it. She guessed that it was probably a message urging her to decide if she was going to the party the next day.

    She hesitated about whether to turn a blind eye to the cat, and also about if she should go to the party the next day. She had a feeling that it was too cruel to leave the cat all alone.

    Right that moment, dimir suddenly did a roll and revealed its soft belly, then it continued to wave its forepaw at her as if asking her to give it a belly rub.

    ¡°Wow! So cute!¡± Her heart felt like it had been hit by a bullet.

    dimir gave a look to the yellow and white kitten, who was hiding at the side. It meant, ¡°Do you see this? This is how you act cute! Keep learning!¡±

    She ran up to dimir and squatted down, then she slowly extended her hand and carefully touched its fur.

    ¡°So it¡¯s a blue cat. Its hair is quite clean, too! Did you run out from someone¡¯s house? Confess now¨C¨Care you being naughty?¡±

    dimir didn¡¯t want to be casually touched by her, but it had to in order to give a demonstration to the yellow and white kitten. To stop the kitten from following suit, it had to bear the humiliation, and hold back the impulse to p her hand away.

    Her best friend continued to send her messages, but she had already forgotten about her friend. All that was on her mind was giving the blue cat in front of her a belly rub.

    dimir felt that the timing was ripe, so it waved its paw at the yellow and white kitten to motion for ite over.

    The yellow and white kitten walked over, but it still hadn¡¯t learned how to act cute. It just sat down next to dimir thenid down.

    ¡°Hm? There¡¯s another kitten? Is it your child?¡± She asked naively.

    dimir almostughed out of it its abdominal muscles!

    The difference between their hair color and body shape could easily be seen. She was not blind, right?

    She finally noticed that something wasn¡¯t right after looking closely. The two cats were obviously not the same type of cat.

    ¡°It seems like I¡¯ve made a mistake. Are the two of you together then?¡± she asked apologetically. ¡°What a cute kitten!¡±

    She looked at her phone and felt that it wasn¡¯t good to not reply to her best friend for too long. It was gettingte, so she wanted to get home.

    ¡°Do you guys not have an owner? Then... would you like to go home with me?¡± she finally made up her mind and asked.

    dimir quickly rolled over and stood up, then ran a little further away.

    The woman was a little confused. ¡°You don¡¯t want to go home with me?¡±

    dimir ran back towards her again and pushed the yellow and white kitten to her.

    ¡°You¡¯re saying that... you don¡¯t want to go home with me, but you want me to take this kitten home instead?¡± She finally guessed what dimir meant.

    dimir nodded and breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to itself thatmunicating without being able to speak was way too tiring!

    She was amazed at the intelligence of the blue cat, but she said with much regret, ¡°Unfortunately, I¡¯ve just graduated from school and am currently doing an internship at a ck-hearted enterprise. I¡¯m both poor and busy. I¡¯m also being made to work overtime without pay, even on a holiday like today. I¡¯m still unsure about my future at thispany... So it¡¯s okay for me to raise an adult cat, but I heard that kittens are not easy to raise and require more care. I¡¯m afraid that I can¡¯t take good care of it...¡±

    What she was trying to convey was already very obvious. If dimir was willing to go back with her, then she would wee it. As for the yellow and white kitten, however, there was nothing she could do to help.

    dimir was very disappointed. It had just boasted in front of the yellow and white kitten, but the end result was unfavorable!

    dimir pushed the yellow and white kitten to her again. It really wanted to tell her that the kitten was very easy to raise. After all, it was used to wandering around, so as long as she was able to feed it even just a few mouthfuls, the cat would be fine. It didn¡¯t require any extra care.

    She stood up and pounded her numb legs. She said apologetically, ¡°Cheer up and try to find a loving owner. It¡¯s better if that person has plenty of time, and is not as poor as I am... Bye-bye!¡±

    She waved at them and took a few steps away, then reluctantly turned back again and waved at them. ¡°Bye Bye!¡±

    dimir was a little depressed. He let her touch him for nothing, and it didn¡¯t achieve its goal. But he couldn¡¯t me her... She was subjected to conditions out of her control.

    All the suffering cats in the world were a family, and all the suffering humans of the world were also worthy of sympathy. At least she wasn¡¯t like the woman named Zhao Qi, who was full of the low-ss interest of the petite bourgeoisie lifestyle.

    dimir also waved its paw at her.

    She smiled happily, and continued to walk in the direction of her house. She then raised the phone up to her mouth and said, ¡°Hey! Let me tell you something special¨C¨CI just met two cats on the road, and they were really cute, obedient, and very smart too...¡±

    dimir sighed. It stretched its paw out and picked up the yellow and white kitten by the back of its neck. ¡°Don¡¯t lie there anymore. It¡¯s just one little failure. The Meow-Meow Doctrine believer is never afraid of failure! Failure is the mother meow of sess!¡±

 Chapter 1020: The Wandering Cat Journal (2)

    <h4>Chapter 1020: The Wandering Cat Journal (2)</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    dimir was not sad because of its failure, and instead became more frustrated and brave. Following that, it opened its eyes wide and sought out the next target in the streets.

    It seriously reflected on the failure just then and thought of the words that the girl had said, ¡°Preferably one with plenty of time, and not as poor as I am.¡±

    It seemed to be quite logical.

    It recalled the customers who went into pet stores, excluding the children who came with their parents, the fans of Famous, and those who obviously were just looking and did not buy. Most of the customers who actually paid for them had the same characteristics¨C¨Cthey looked more rxed economically and had were leisurely looking. They were not rushing back and forth. In other words, they had plenty of money and leisure.

    It made up its mind and said confidently to the yellow and white kitten, ¡°Little devil! Cheer up! It will be all right next time!¡±

    The yellow and white cat still had a face that showed it did not care.

    dimir carefully observed the pedestrians that were walking around, then very quickly noticed a suitable target.

    It was a very fat young man, about the same age as Zhang Zian. He was a little shorter than Zian, but more than twice his width.

    In his left hand, the man was carrying arge stic bag from a supermarket filled with puffed and instant foods. He had arge bottle of coke under his arm, which he took out to drink it after every few steps.

    It was still cool at night, but he had on his short-sleeved t-shirt and knee-length shorts only. He wore a pair of flip-flops on his feet and a grey baseball cap on his head with the word ¡®telet¡¯ on the front. It seemed that he had written it himself. The font was crooked and worse than Zhang Zian¡¯s.

    What was the use of wearing a hat on a night between spring and summer? It neither provided shade nor protection from the cold.

    Could it be... his name was ¡°telet?¡± And to prevent the trouble of having to introduce himself, he put his name on his head?

    That was an eptable exnation.

    He walked very slowly; even the yellow and white kitten was faster than him. He looked down at his mobile phone and asionally gave out a disgustingugh.

    Ge! He belched loudly and for a long time, then drank arge mouthful of coke. The young girl passing by him turned her head away with her nose covered.

    dimir thought the person was strange, but it was in line with the ¡°rich and leisurely¡± standard. If he could raise himself to the point of being so fat, then a kitten should be no problem.

    ¡°Go! Now it¡¯s your turn! Imitate my movements just now and act cute in front of him. As soon as he¡¯s happy, he¡¯ll definitely bring you home.¡± It pushed the yellow and white kitten.

    The yellow and white kitten was not very willing. After being urged a few times, it leisurely ran in front of ¡°telet,¡± thenid down on the ground and rolled around.

    However, ¡°telet¡± was too concentrated on his phone, and did not notice the small cat under his feet. He was about to lift his flip-flop and step on the yellow and white kitten.

    dimir had to decide whether to hit ¡°telet¡± with an iron fist or remove the yellow and white kitten from under his feet, but it finally chose thetter. If he was sent to the hospital, he would not be able to raise a cat.

    It had a quick eye and ws. It grabbed the yellow and white kitten¡¯s neck in time and dragged it a few steps away from the man¡¯s flip-flop. It then said righteously and severely yelled, ¡°Stop!¡±

    ¡°telet¡± was skillfully sending bullet screens when he suddenly heard a cat sound. He put down his cell phone in surprise and saw two cats in front of him.

    As dimir was close, it smelled the strong stench of sweating off of him, as if he hadn¡¯t bathed or changed his clothes for several days. It did not have time to pay attention to such details. What it had to do was show the yellow and white kitten to it.

    It pushed the yellow and white kitten, urging it to begin its performance.

    The yellow and white cat repeated its actions. Although its imitation was not perfect, dimir felt that it was still passable.

    It totally thought that ¡°telet¡± would cry out, ¡°Wow! How lovely!¡± and then take the yellow and white kitten home in a logical way. Unexpectedly, he just nced at it lightly, took a step aside, went on, took a big drink of Coke from his armpit, and sent a bullet screen on his mobile phone.

    dimir was speechless.

    What was going on?

    Could it be that he did not like cats, or perhaps he did not like kittens that were too small?

    Among the customers who entered pet stores and were willing to pay for their pets, quite a lot of them came for dogs. People generally preferred a dog¡¯s loyalty and high levels of interaction, and they preferred to spend time walking dogs every day.

    Could it be that ¡°telet¡± was also a dog fan and did not have any feelings towards cats?

    dimir felt that it was not good to force people to do what they did not want to do. If he did not like cats, there was no need to force him to take the yellow and white kitten home. Otherwise, the yellow and white kitten would also not be happy.

    But, it needed to confirm¨C¨Cdid this person not like cats, or did it not like the yellow and white kitten?

    It ran two steps and stopped in front of the man. ¡°Wait!¡±

    ¡°telet¡± lowered his head and sent a bullet screen, then heard a cat sound in front of him again. He could not help but frown; he was clearly irritated.

    ¡°What do you want now? Does this cat have no end to it? Why is it bothering me again?¡± It looked at the blue cat in front of it coldly.

    dimir rolled around and acted cute. It stared at the man in anticipation.

    ¡°telet,¡± whose face had excessive grease secretion, was filled with impatience. He said to himself, ¡°Is this cat hungry?¡± He took out a bag of potato chips from the supermarket shopping bag and tore it open. First, he grabbed a handful of potato chips and put them into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed a few times and threw the bag of chips on the ground. ¡°Eat this since you¡¯re hungry. It¡¯s my favorite¨C¨Croasted meat.¡±

    The bag fell onto the floor with a sound, and a few chips came out from the opening.

    It was not that he was deliberately showing contempt, but that he was so fat that he could not bend over...

    The yellow and white cat smelled the strong roasted meat scent and jogged over. It sniffed the dusty potato chips, put out its little tongue, and tried to lick them into its mouth. Just as its tongue almost touched the chips, its body rose off the ground and was carried aside by its neck by dimir.

    Although dimir didn¡¯t need to eat himself, he knew what cats should eat and what they shouldn¡¯t eat. Potato chips were clearly on the list of things cats shouldn¡¯t eat.

    What was wrong with that person? Feeding potato chips to cats? Was it on purpose or because he did not know?

    Among the customers who came to the pet shop, quite a few people didn¡¯t know anything about pets. They always asked Zhang Zian to raise their knowledge and tell them somemon knowledge about pets. Some of them thought that cats could eat anything and even fed them leftovers. They were basically lowering cats to the level of dogs.

    But, if he knew very well that cats could not eat potato chips but still purposely fed it potato chips, then that would only mean that he had the tendency to abuse cats and was a potential enemy.

    Treatrades as warm as spring; treat work as hot as summer; treat individualism as the autumn wind sweeps the leaves; treat enemies as cruel as winter! Thinking about that, dimir¡¯s gaze became cold.

    Since it had been helping Fina train the Honorable Cat Guards of the Three Armies recently, it unconsciously adopted some of Fina¡¯s mannerisms¨C¨Csuch as the gaze Fina always used to stare at Zhang Zian. At that time, it unconsciously stared at the man with simr eyes.

    Pa! Dong!

    The supermarket bag full of junk food andrge bottles of c fell to the ground at the same time. Fortunately, the cap of the c bottle was twisted on so it did not spill everywhere.

    ¡°telet¡± stared at dimir, his eyes wide with shock, and his already red face suddenly had a rush of blood. It became as red as a cooked prawn.

    dimir, on the other hand, was scared. What was wrong with this person? Was he sick?

    ¡°telet¡± was so excited that he convulsed and knelt down in spite of the surprised eyes of onlookers. He knelt in front of dimir and cried out, ¡°Quick! Stare at me with your eyes again!¡±

    dimir was speechless. What was going on? When Zhang Zian was stared at with the same look, he seemed very helpless. Why was this person so excited?

    The man looked very disgusting and dimir did not know why.

    ¡°telet¡± ced his hands together, begging it, ¡°Please! Stare at me again with your eyes just now. You can make me do whatever you want. I can buy you a can of cat food every day!¡±

    dimir stepped back silently, pulling the yellow and white kitten back a few steps. Although the man in front of him did not seem dangerous in the conventional sense, it seemed that something in his mind was broken. It was possible that he wouldn¡¯t do something dangerous, but something very disgusting.

    ¡°telet¡± seemed to regard the pedestrians around him as air. Heid down on the ground in public, patted his trembling chest, and said to dimir, ¡°I heard that cats like to walk on people¡¯s chests? Come on¨C¨Cstep on me! Come and step on my chest! Step hard! The harder the better! It¡¯ll be better if you use that despising look when you step on it!¡±

    Next to him, someone kindly asked him if he was ill and wanted help up. Others wanted to call an ambnce for him. He pushed them away and stared at dimir with a strange smile.

    If dimir could sweat, it would have definitely had a head full of cold sweat.

    Even when it was facing the Holy Cat statue alone, it probably did not have such an ufortable feeling. What a scary enemy!

    As expected, in the night time, all kinds of strange ghosts and demons appeared. Although it was confident it could beat him with an iron fist, it felt that if he beat him, it might hit him in the ce he wanted...

    If the man could have understand it, it would have really liked to tell him that if he liked the look, then he could go to the Amazing Fate Pet Shop on Zhonghua Road where a cat could satisfy his requirements. He might even have a cat scratch his skin off.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care anymore. Let¡¯s take the strategic action of retreating!¡± dimir pulled the yellow and white kitten and hurriedly ran into the green area by the roadside, then disappeared in an instant.

 Chapter 1021: Wandering Cats Journal (3)

    <h4>Chapter 1021: Wandering Cats Journal (3)</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Meow! That bloody¨C¨C! The number of perverts among humans is really a-meow-lot!¡±

    dimir half-dragged and half-pulled the yellow and white kitten into the green area, then turned left and right to make sure that the ¡°telets¡± didn¡¯t keep up. It stopped to breathe a sigh of relief.

    The yellow and white kitten extended its tongue, and there was still a little bit of barbecue-vored potato kes on the tip. It didn¡¯t eat them, just licked them a little.

    dimir looked at the desireless kitten and said, resigned, ¡°Seems like it¡¯s not actually safe to find a rich and idle owner to raise you. Most of the rich and idle people are heartlessndowners. The man earlier whose brain was full of fat was probably one too. So, is it still necessary to have money and time to raise cats? This is harder than picking for shells in eggs!¡± dimir grumbled, then immediately realized that it was behaving inappropriately. It took a deep breath and said to itself, ¡°Excessive grumbling is detrimental to health. Broad-mindedness is what you should maintain. Behave like that pervert and sooner orter you¡¯ll be alone in the world!¡±

    ¡°Little devil, tell me, what kind of person do you want to take you home?¡± It nudged the yellow and white kitten and deliberately avoided mentioning the word ¡°owner.¡±

    The yellow and white kitten shook its head. It didn¡¯t seem to understand what dimir meant.

    That was nothing surprising. The yellow and white kitten was born as a stray cat, and hadn¡¯t reallye into contact with anyone.

    After dimir understood that, it realized that what it was doing was more difficult than it thought. They couldn¡¯t just continue to stand on the street and look into everyone¡¯s eyes just to find the ¡°chemistry¡± that Zhang Zian had mentioned, right? What was more, the yellow and white kitten had been looking around erratically¨C¨Cone moment to the left, and one moment to the right.

    dimir was not discouraged, but it was anxious because it had an appointment with the other stray cats to gather at a specific time and ce. Although the stray cats¡¯ concept of time was doubtful, it still didn¡¯t want to bete.

    ¡°Let¡¯s try again for thest time, and this time, we must have the perfect grasp. We need someone who has money, time, and is progressive. The standards of the first two can be lowered appropriately, but there¡¯s nopromise allowed for thest one! Even if we need to spend more time, we need to seed in one attempt!¡± dimir formted their course of action for their next attempt.

    But where could they find such a person?

    dimir was racking its brain when it suddenly saw a private car park on the side of the road. From the car, a young girl leisurely walked out.

    Even if it didn¡¯t recognize the brand of the luxury car or all the branded items that she was covered in, at the very least, dimir could see that the materials used, the workmanship, and design of the clothes were extraordinary. Within the simplicity revealed a hint of extravagance, and with those glittering metal and gemstone ornaments on her fingers and wrists, dimir concluded that she must be rich.

    As the saying went, ¡±The appearance stems from the mind.¡± Thedy had good features and a good temperament. At least she didn¡¯t look as abnormal as the ¡°telet.¡±

    She was also holding onto a phone, but she wasn¡¯t staring at it constantly. She would only look down when there was a message notification. She softly hummed a song as she walked towards a high-ss apartment that was just beside the road.

    dimir had scouted the route before and knew that the high-ss apartment was one of the top apartments in Binhai City. Although it wasn¡¯t as conspicuous as townhouses and garden vis, the security measures of the apartment were very tight. It was hard to get into the apartment for non-residents, and it was designed for the wealthy who liked to live in the city center.

    dimir immediately made up its mind and pulled the yellow and white kitten towards the youngdy. They had to stop her before she entered the apartment, otherwise, it would be troublesome.

    Even if the youngdy was also fond of the petite bourgeoisie lifestyle, they could only bear with it now.

    Just as she stepped on the steps in front of the apartment, the youngdy suddenly caught a ck shadow out of the corner of her eye, which shocked her; she thought that a bad person had appeared.

    However, it was actually just two cats that had jumped onto the steps, one big and one small. The big one was blue, and the small one was yellow and white. Whenever the yellow and white one failed to make it up a step, the blue one would always pull it by the hair on the back of its neck.

    ¡°Aiya! What a cute cat!¡± She covered her mouth and her eyes immediately turned into stars.

    dimir felt that there was a good chance. Thedy had something for cats, so now it had to see if she was a progressive person.

    dimir nudged the yellow and white kitten, gesturing for it to start acting cute.

    The yellow and white kitten was experienced now. Although it didn¡¯t understand why it had to act cute, it stillid down on the ground and rolled over to reveal its soft belly. It even meowed twice.

    ¡®What a good cat! What should I do? I really want to touch it!¡± She acted just like a child with a toy in front of its eyes that it was unable to y with. She was about to cry from being so anxious.

    dimir was confused. Just touch it if you want to... But of course, you can¡¯t just touch it for free! After you touch it, you need to take it home. You¡¯re a hooligan if you touch it with no intention of bringing it back home! it thought.

    It was clear that she was trying her best to restrain her urge to touch it, and she was almost at her limit. She bit her lower lip, then raised up her mobile phone and sent a voice message.

    ¡°Snowy, I found two cats at the door of my apartment. What should I do? They¡¯re so cute! I really want to touch them!¡±

    In just a few seconds, the phone received a reply. Another youngdy¡¯s voice was heard from the speaker, and she said sinctly, ¡°No touching!¡±

    ¡°Just a touch! Can¡¯t I?¡± She didn¡¯t give up. She wriggled her body and pleaded, ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be a problem if it¡¯s just a touch, right?¡±

    The other youngdy replied again, ¡°No! Sister Vivi, you need to be more conscious as an allergy patient! Do you want to be hospitalized after touching the cat? If you really want to touch one, go home and touch your own Siberian cat. You can touch it as much as you want!¡±

    dimir¡¯s heart dropped. Thedy already had a cat at home?

    ¡°But I really want to touch it! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!¡± The youngdy was making a lot of noise when she suddenly sneezed loudly. She then rubbed her nose, which was in pain, and the tip of her nose looked red.

    ¡°Sister Vivi! Go home soon! Otherwise, call your mother and let her go downstairs to pick you up!¡± the other youngdy sternly urged.

    ¡°Well... Okay then... Achoo! Snowy, don¡¯t make the call! I¡¯m going back now!¡± she said with a nasally voice.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, kitty cat,¡± she said painfully to dimir and the yellow and white kitten. ¡°I like cats very much, but I¡¯m allergic to them, so I can only look and not touch. I really wish I could bring you back home...¡±

    As she went on, she took two cans of cat food from her handbag, opened them, and ced them on the ground. ¡°Come and eat. If I still see the two of you here tomorrow morning, I¡¯ll bring you canned food again.¡±

    The person was also very strange. She was obviously allergic to cats, so why did she still carry cat food on her? It was like she¡¯s preparing for when she met stray cats on the road. Maybe it was just as she said¨C¨Cshe really liked cats.

    She noticed that dimir didn¡¯t eat any of the canned food, but she left the two cans to the yellow and white kitten. She then eximed, ¡±The older one really takes good care of the younger brother!¡±

    dimir was speechless.

    ¡°The two of you have to be good! Be careful on the road, and don¡¯t get hit by a car... I¡¯ll be leaving. Otherwise, Snowy¡¯s definitely going to call my mom...¡± She turned back and walked into the high-end apartment reluctantly.

    Although the yellow and white kitten was small in size, its appetite wasn¡¯t small at all, probably because it had been starved badly before. Not only did it finish the two cans, but it also cleaned the bottom of the cans with its tongue.

    ¡°Eat, eat, eat! All you know how to do is eat! Stop licking the bottom of the can!¡± dimir grabbed the hair on the back of its neck and picked it up. dimir had learned that action from Zhang Zian, because it had heard Zian say that the area on the back of the cat¡¯s neck was very special. No matter how naughty a cat was, as long as the back of its neck was pinched and held up, they¡¯d turn into an obedient doll.

    Of course, there was Fina in the store, so even the most stubborn cat would be nice and quiet when it entered the store. That was also why Zhang Zian didn¡¯t get much opportunity to disy the technique.

    One day, on the second floor next door, dimir saw a yful Abyssinian kitten try to sneak out of the door when the staff members came in to feed them. The mother then cat caught the kitten by its neck and carried it back. After being picked up, the yful kitten that seemed to have ADHD immediately quieted down, its four limbs dangling in the air. It looked as if there was no room for struggle and resistance.

    dimir was surprised at the time. Why were the kittens letting their mother catch them so easily?

    Zhang Zian then exined to it that the area on the back of a cat¡¯s neck was very special. When that spot was caught or pinched, it was like being ¡°acupointed,¡± and the kitten would lose the ability to struggle and move.

    As for the reason why, there were still many different opinions, and no unified exnation. There were two main parties: First, there was no nerve on the back of the neck, so it was the so-called ¡°dead meat.¡± No pain was felt if the cat was grabed or pinched. The second exnation was that it was a special kind of nerve reflex, because the feline mammals had always been caught by the back of their neck by their mother since millions of years ago. The kittens would have a specific reaction when they were picked up, such as, ¡°I¡¯m picked up, so I need to be obedient now.¡± It was like how babies stopped crying after they were rocked. That was also a conditional reflection written in the genes.

    The former was the traditional, old-fashioned saying, while thetter was the presumption of scientific research in recent years. Thetter was likely more reliable.

    After dimir knew about that, it recorded the knowledge in its heart, and that evening was actually the first time it really tried to use it. Sure enough, it worked every single time. Whenever it pinched the kitten by the back of its neck, it would obediently stay still.

    Would the Holy Cat Statue also have a special area like this on the back of its neck? Or was there any special area on the back of its own neck?

    dimir was very curious, but after all, it couldn¡¯t pinch its own neck, or pick itself up. That was against thews of nature. It could only leave that to future opportunities for it to be clear.

    ¡°Little devil, seems like there¡¯s no other way. I can¡¯t have everyone waiting on me, so you¡¯ll take a trip down with me. You can take this opportunity to see the world. We can treat this as our first... Meow-Meow doctrine supporter education.¡±

    dimir put the yellow and white kitten back on the ground. It softly poked its head with the tip of its w, then looked up to see the height of the moon. dimir estimated that time was starting to runte, and decided not to waste any more time with the yellow and white kitten. He had to join the big forces quickly.

 Chapter 1022: Secret Gathering

    <h4>Chapter 1022: Secret Gathering</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In the night, dimir ran ahead at a brisk pace. He could have jumped over the wall and cut corners, but the yellow and white cat had just eaten too much, and sometimes it could not run, let alone climb the wall.

    ¡°Little devil! Hurry up! Don¡¯t dilly-dally! We have to work hard to do this job. If you can¡¯t even ovee these small difficulties, how can we do big things?¡±

    Even though it had been nning to bring the yellow and white cat to see the world, dimir gave it a stricter requirement, treating it like a child soldier¡ªa soldier that was ready for war, not a pitiful stray cat.

    Before, when the yellow and white kitten had slopes and obstacles that it could not climb, dimir would pull it, push it, or simply take it by the back of its neck and put it down. But from now on, such preferential treatment would cease.

    dimir must let it know that this line of work was full of hardships, unimaginable difficulties, and potential enemy encirclement and suppression. Choosing this meant aplete farewell to food, drink, and pleasure. Even if it seeded, it would not have any material reward. All of the bloody sacrifices were for the equality and freedom of stray cats.

    The yellow and white kitten showed great perseverance. No matter how rough the road ahead was, it always tried to follow dimir withoutining or saying that it was tired, unless it lost sight of dimir¡¯s whereabouts. Whenever it seeded in oveing obstacles, it always won dimir¡¯s praise.

    The cats walked, one in front and the other behind, leaving the crowded main road and picking out secluded paths as they walked farther away from the pet shop.

    Later on, the yellow and white kitten really could not walk anymore, and dimir directly put it on its back, increasing its speed and walking again.

    They came to a semi-new residential area, and as soon as dimir jumped up the wall of the courtyard, it was alerted to what was staring at him in the darkness.

    An unknown civet cat came out of the shadows, vignt. It stared at dimir and the yellow-and-white kitten on his back. It suddenly raised a forepaw and called, ¡°Meow meow meow meow meow!¡±

    dimir also raised its forepaw and answered, ¡°The demon kitten of Pagoda Town! Is everyone here already?¡±

    The secret signal was correct, and the civet cat instantly rxed, turning its head to face the deepest parts of the residential area.

    ¡°Alright, then I¡¯ll go in. You should stand on thest shift and join us when you are sure that no other cats are present.¡±

    dimir understood its meaning and gave the order before it carried the yellow and white kitten to the meeting spot that had been set beforehand.

    If Zhang Zian had been here, he would¡¯ve been able to recognize that this was Liu Wenying and Zhao Qi¡¯s residential area.

    When dimir hadest time, while Zhang Zian went upstairs, he stayed downstairs and chose the route. He ran to a separate two-story building, which was the property office building of themunity. At night, people were gone, and the building was empty, leaving only a few security guards on duty.

    The security guards ate instant noodles while chatting. They patrolled the neighborhood every hour to deal with errands and came back to eat instant noodles and chit-chat. They never imagined that, just above their heads, a historic event would be unfolding.

    ¡°Hold on to me tightly,¡± dimir instructed the yellow and white kitten on its back. It climbed up to the roof along the drainage pipe.

    More than a dozen bright eyes looked at it at the same time. They were of different colors, but themon denominator was that they were full moons, all cats¡¯ eyes.

    dimir gently shook off the yellow and white kitten on his back and lifted up one of his forepaws. ¡°The King of Heaven meows!¡±

    The stray cats raised their forepaws at the same time and answered, ¡°Meow meow meow meow meow!¡±

    The young security guard downstairs had just put a mouthful of instant noodles into his mouth. It felt a little hot, and he spit it out and blew on the noodles, looking up doubtfully. ¡°Hey, did you hear that? Was there a cat meowing just now?¡±

    A veteran security guardughed and said, ¡°A cat meowing? Is your hearing all right? Didn¡¯t Liu Yonghui kill all the stray cats in thismunity? Where would there be cats? At most, someone who owns a cat let it run out of the house, so don¡¯t worry about it.¡±

    ¡°Speaking of Liu Yonghui, what is that boy doing these days? Why didn¡¯t hee out?¡± the former asked curiously. ¡°Didn¡¯t he used to wander around the neighborhood all day with a bat?¡±

    ¡°He, ah... It¡¯s said that he was scratched by a stray cat and is now wounded at home.¡± The old security guard lit a cigarette and sneered, ¡°If you walk by the river often, how can you not wet your shoes? If you think about it, if the rabbit is in a hurry, it would kick the eagle, not to mention the cat. He beat cats all day, and the cats scratched his face, which is karma!¡±

    ¡°Is that right? I used to want to take over the beating of cats,¡± the young security guard said. ¡°It¡¯s an easy and simple job. It¡¯s easy money. But Liu Yonghui has a good rtionship with the property management group, and he took it first. Now that he¡¯s injured, isn¡¯t there anybody doing the work?¡±

    The old security guard heard his implication and changed his face. ¡°Listen to this old brother¡¯s advice,¡± he said. ¡°This job must not be epted! Cats are evil animals! They are especially vengeful! That Liu Yonghui has harmed so many cats. This is the cats¡¯ collective revenge on him! I heard that several cats suddenly appeared together that day andunched an attack against him. If it had been just one cat, how could he be scratched until he had blood all over his face?¡±

    The young security guard felt somewhat guilty andughed, ¡°I was just joking, so don¡¯t take it too seriously.¡±

    Looking at the time, the old security guard put on his brimmed hat and asked, ¡°Have you finished eating yet? It¡¯s time to patrol. Otherwise, when the property management group watches the recording tomorrow, they will find that we didn¡¯t patrol on time and have to deduct our sry¡ªthe sry is not much to begin with. How can we stand constant deduction?¡±

    ¡°Ugh! What a pain in their eggs! If you get such a small sry, even if you really find something illegal and criminal, you have to just ignore it. It¡¯s not worth risking your life for!¡± Afterining, the young security guard quickly sucked all the noodles into his mouth, drank all the soup, and felt sweat at the tip of his nose as his whole body warmed up.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    The two of them took up their shlights and left the security office.

    As the two bright shes of light grew farther and farther away, dimir¡¯s eyes slowly swept across the faces of more than a dozen stray cats. It knew most of them, but there were a few he did not recognize.

    ¡°Sorry I¡¯mte. I was dyed by this little devil.¡± dimir motioned to the yellow and white kitten next to him and continued, ¡°Some of you may be meeting me for the first time. My name is dimir. Nice to meet you all! Those here are from all over the world, gathered here for the same purpose. I sincerely thank you foring!

    ¡°I announce that Binhai City¡¯s first Stray Cat Congress is now open!¡±

 Chapter 1023: Unity and Cooperation

    <h4>Chapter 1023: Unity and Cooperation</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The stray cats present quietly listened to dimir¡¯s speech, and didn¡¯t even respond when it paused. They didn¡¯t understand that it paused for them to give their apuse.

    But looking at their soft paw pads, there probably wouldn¡¯t even have been any sound even if they were to give apuse. It made dimir envious of Zhang Zian¡¯s two clever followers. Whether or not it was the right timing, they always shouted ¡°666¡­¡±

    ¡°Okay, now everyone can introduce themselves,¡± said dimir.

    There were a dozen stray cats¨C¨Csome from the eastern part of the city, some from the western suburbs, and the rest were from the surrounding suburbs. The one that came the furthest ran for several hours before it arrived. They were the leaders of eachrge-scale Meow Meow branch organization, and they were there as the representative for their own respective region to participate in the historic event.

    Although that was what dimir had said, there was actually no need for them to introduce themselves; they all remembered each other¡¯s scent and characteristics.

    A gray cat stood up first; it was the leader for the area they were in.

    Next, an orange tabby with a brutish-look stood up and raised its paw to point to the east. There were still grains of sand stuck on its paw. It was trying to to say that it was the representative for the coastal region.

    Then, a beautiful, short-haired, white cat stood up and pointed to the west. It drew a mountain with its paw, meaning to say that they were the visitors from Mt. Hidden Fog.

    A cat with folded ears stood up next. It seemed to have inherited the genes of the folded ear, and the scent from its body was veryplicated. It pointed to the south, indicating that it was often roaming around the vicinity of the dog market.

    There was also a ck cat that had a missing tip on one side of its ear, which seemed to have been cut off by a sharp tool. It was a stray cat that had been sterilized by animal protection organizations. It looked up at a bat flying through the night sky, indicating that it was from the north¨C¨Cthe Phoenix House region.

    The other stray cats also took turns introducing themselves.

    dimir was very satisfied to have such a broad base of foundation in their very first meeting. They had covered almost all the important areas of Binhai City. The meeting gave dimir confidence in their future prospects.

    dimir had done simr things in the capital, but the capital was too big, and the environment tooplicated. It took dimir a lot of effort just to bring the stray cats in Chaoyang District together. So, to bring together all the stray cats in the whole of Binhai City so easily was unthinkable. Even objective conditions didn¡¯t allow it.

    Sure enough, it was best not to ignite the Meow Meow¡¯s me in big cities. Medium-sized cities like Binhai City were the best. They could attack and retreat with ease. In dangerous times, everyone could easily disperse and take refuge in the suburbs or countryside to preserve their living force in order to make aeback. Of course, dimir didn¡¯t think that the situation would be that bad, but it was one of its backup ns.

    ¡°Okay, so everyone has already introduced themselves. Now let¡¯s talk about the recent cat abuse incidents. Who will speak first? Everyone can participate,¡± dimir said.

    Before dimir¡¯s voice died away, the brutish-looking orange cat started to excitedly wave its two front paws around. It pounced forward asionally, and then sometimes fell to the ground and acted like it was in great pain.

    ¡°Well, it seems that the stray cats by the beach have alreadyunched a fruitful counterattack against the cat abusers. Big Orange has done very well! But pay attention to the ways ofbat. For less drastic cat abusers, you may wish to use an approach like our urine attack.¡± dimir praised it and made suggestions for improvement.

    The orange tabby proudly retreated to the side.

    Then the shorthair, white cat stood up gracefully and shook its head gloomily, indicating that the cat abuse situation in Mt. Hidden Fog was quite serious. Due to theplicated terrain, they had met with temporary setbacks in unity and contact with the other stray cats.

    ¡°Little White has worked very hard! It just needs to be determined. Do not be afraid of sacrifices. You must ovee all difficulties to fight for victory!¡± dimir encouraged. It wanted it to try its best to ovee the difficulties.

    The grayish-white, soft-eared cat didn¡¯t borate on the difficulties it faced, but firmly swung its paw, indicating that it had the confidence to ovee the difficulties. But it bent down again and started to imitate a dog sniffing, then pretended to be horrified. It mped its tail between its two hind legs.

    ¡°Hm? Softy is saying that, in addition to the stray cats in the vicinity of the dog market, there are also many stray dogs that have escaped? And the situation of these stray dogs are even worse than the stray cats. Not only do they have to face dog hunters, but they¡¯re also frequently caught and stewed into dog meat stew.¡± dimir pondered for a moment. ¡°This is very useful information. You might be able to try and establish a cat and dog, anti-abuse, united front. After all, there¡¯s the saying, ¡®The enemy¡¯s enemy is a friend.¡¯¡±

    Before the other stray cats had the time to express their feelings, the brutish-looking orange tabby suddenly stood up excitedly, waving its ws indiscriminately with an indignant look. The other stray cats on both sides quickly moved away to avoid being identally injured.

    dimir frowned. ¡°Big Orange is saying that stray dogs are abhorrent. They always upy the stray cat¡¯s territory and food, and also bully stray cats all the time.¡±

    The orange tabby nodded. It was still filled with anger.

    Although dimir valued the orange tabby very much, it couldn¡¯t agree with its opinion, so it said in a grave tone, ¡°Although there are frequent conflicts between stray cats and stray dogs because of the fight fornd, we¡¯re currently being confronted by a formidable enemy. We should abandon the past and unite all forces that can be united. For those that are not neutral, we can strive for neutrality, and for reactionaries, they can be split up and exploited¡­ When I say this, I don¡¯t mean for all of you to submit to the humiliation of stray dogs, but to negotiate with them in a reasonable way in exchange for their cooperation. Unity andbat are not conflicting, nor are they mutually ipatible. If you strive to unite during struggles, you will unite and survive; if you strive to unite by making concessions, you will unite and perish. Do you all understand?¡±

    When dimir was speaking, the restless yellow and white kitten started to run around, but was immediately caught by dimir by the hair on the back of its neck and brought back.

    dimir¡¯s far-sighted views opened the stray cats eyes to an entirely new world. Before that, they had regarded stray dogs as their mortal enemy, and dimir¡¯s statement made them think for the first time about the possibility of stray dogs as their allies.

    If they were to look at the bigger picture, the conflict between the stray cats and dogs could actually be regarded as the internal conflict between stray animals. Although friction was constant, it didn¡¯t really affect their survival in the end¨C¨Cespecially not in the face of greater external conflicts, such as animal abusers. The internal conflict between stray animals could temporarily reach apromise, but there was no possibility ofpromise for the conflict with the animal abusers. It was kill or be killed.

    The stray cats present were still trying to digest its proposal, and the more they thought about it, the more they felt enlightened. Although they weren¡¯t aware of it themselves, their ignorant minds began to thaw slowly like a frozenke under the spring breeze.

    dimir didn¡¯t rush them. Instead, it gave them plenty of time to think, and smiled as it watched them ponder.

    Meow wisdom had opened! To regain the rights of meow, one must first spread the meow wisdom. Without any meow wisdom, how could they speak about rights?

    The yellow and white kitten couldn¡¯t understand the profound dialogue between them. It smelled the scent of instant noodlesing from the security room, so it repeatedly tried to climb down from the top of the building, only to be brought back by dimir every single time.

    Under the twinkling lights of themunity, many families had already gone to sleep. For most people who were used to modern life, however, there was still a long time before bedtime. Soap operas were still being broadcasted; people had yet to increase their rank in their mobile games; children were not done with their homework; many older couples were still fighting in a cold war; and young couples were still in a fierce battle. It was still too early to sleep.

    dimir looked up at the sky, and the stars were not separate entities. They were directly connected to each other in the form of a.

    At dawn, when all the stars connected and the eastern morning star rose, it was the signal of the start of the Meow Meow¡¯s me.

    Of course, the night was still young, and there was still a long time before the rise of the morning star. The stars had also only just begun to connect, covering only a small area above Binhai City. Covering the whole country, or even the world, required much patience and waiting.

    They could afford to wait because nighttime had originally belonged to stray cats.

    On a sudden impulse, dimir recited out loud, ¡°With the chains in my hands today, when shall the ck dragon be bound?¡±

    The stray cats present slowly came back to their senses. At that moment, their eyes were a little more lively and vibrant than they were earlier. The eyes were the window to the soul, which proved that their hearts and thoughts had also been thoroughly baptized.

    ¡°Big Orange, how do you feel?¡± asked dimir.

    The brutish-looking orange tabby was thest one to regain its senses. It was originally not good at thinking; it was good at solving problems with tonnage, even if it was against a stray dog ??that was several timesrger than it. As a result of that, dimir had criticized it several times. Although dimir advocated for fighting, it didn¡¯t support brainless battles. It was necessary to pay attention to the strategy, and exchange the smallest loss for the greatest victory.

    The orange tabby swung its front paw hard, expressing that it hadn¡¯t forgiven the stray dogs, but it understood that the bigger picture was more important. It was willing to cooperate with the stray dogs ??for a limited time, and after they solved the bigger conflict, then it¡¯d settle the business with the stray dogs.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to wait that long,¡± dimir said with a smile. ¡°When Sundayes, I n to organize a sudden attack on the stray dogs near the dog market.¡±

    The stray cats were all stunned. Didn¡¯t dimir just emphasize the need to unite and cooperate with stray dogs? Why were they picking a fight with the stray dogs again?

    dimir guessed that they had only understood the shallow meaning of its previous words, so it exined. ¡°When two sides cooperate, they must always pay attention to the primary and secondarymander. Who shall take on the role as leader for the cooperation between cats and dogs? Of course, the stray cats must firmly grasp the dominant rights! In order to gain dominance, it¡¯s necessary to let the stray dogs know how good we are. So first, we hurt them, then we talk about cooperation. This way, we can take the lead in the negotiations.¡±

    The stray cats then understood everything. They werepletely impressed! The orange tabby was eager to get in on the action. It was ready for a fight!

 Chapter 1024: Battle Plan

    <h4>Chapter 1024: Battle n</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    A thorough analysis of dimir¡¯s insights had opened the eyes of stray cats¨C¨Cespecially the discussion of seeking unity through struggle, which made them feel a deep sense of awe. They started to look at things with deep admiration and worship.

    As a daring vanguard, Big Orange could not sit still. He wanted to go to the dog market and teach dimir¡¯s teachings the stray dogs who always fought for territory and food with stray cats. dimir, however, made them calm down a little and then asked the grey and white, soft-eared cat about the number of stray dogs near the dog market.

    The gray and white, soft-eared cat did not know how to express the concept of quantity. It paced around in circles several times on the spot before it finally came up with a way to put one paw on the ground and then concentrate its other three paws on another spot.

    ¡°You¡¯re saying... there are more local stray dogs than stray cats?¡± dimir asked in a low voice.

    The gray and white, soft-eared cat nodded.

    It was not surprising. The dog market was aprehensive pet vendor, but most of the animals sold in it were dogs. Wave after wave ofw enforcement inspections of the dog market forced some vendors to be wary of being caught. They simply threw away the trafficked dogs and ran away, even though if they were caught, there was no evidence.

    Previously, of portion of the dogs that had run away from Love Lovely Pet Breeding Base did not meet the right owners. After smelling the same kind of scent, they also gathered near the dog market. After all, dogs were naturally social animals.

    Gradually, there were more and more stray dogs around the dog market, which had attracted the attention of the relevant departments. However, that was the area that was between the city and the countryside, and it was the area under no one¡¯s jurisdiction. There was no good way to solve the problem.

    dimir thought for a long time and said, ¡°There are clouds in military tactics: the tenth is encirclements, while the fifth is to attack and double it for war. The number of stray dogs is sorge that we can¡¯t underestimate theirbat effectiveness. We can¡¯t act rashly and fight unprepared battles!¡±

    Its eyes swept across the faces of the stray cats one by one. ¡°In the recent days, you have organized the stray cats under your leadership to conduct small-scalebat training, and you have achieved excellent results. Next, everyone can mobilize a group of frontline members in your respective Meow Meow Branch Organization, and bring arge number of young and strong stray cats to the dog market on Sunday. We can then get good positioning and circle to attack!¡±

    dimir still carried out the principle of strategically despising the enemy. It attached importance to the enemy tactically and arranged tasks in an orderly manner. The stray cats all nodded their heads and remembered its words at heart. They nned to organize it after they went back.

    ¡°You all don¡¯t need to just listen, you can alsoe up with your own opinions and suggestions. Three stinky cobblers are worth a Zhuge Liang!¡± dimir encouraged them to take full advantage of their ability to state their opinions, but the requirement was too high for them at present.

    The earless ck cat from the Phoenix Bird Housing Estate spit its tongue out in imitation of a dog. It meant to ask what they should do with the stray dogs after they defeated them.

    The earless ck cat had been sterilized by animal protection organizations. It was a little older and loved to keep the peace. It was not as hot-tempered as Big Orange. Although the n to crack down on the arrogance of the stray dogs was finalized, it was worried about the fate of stray dogs.

    Big Orange heavily swept its paw on the floor, meaning to say that they would sweep the stray dogs out and make them leave the vicinity of the dog market.

    ¡°No, Big Orange, have you forgotten? Driving out the stray dogs is not our goal. Dogs have advantages beyond cats. We need the help of the stray dogs. We should withdraw after the battle, regardless of the gains and losses of one city and one pool. Let them know how strong they are, avoid deepening contradictions, andy a foundation for future cooperation.¡±

    dimir looked at the ck cat without ears and said, ¡°Our principle is to give ¡®good treatment to prisoners and to not kill them with ws¡¯. We should allow stray dogs to surrender, and after surrendering, we should entertain them with drinks and food. ckie, you can take charge of the relevant things.¡±

    The ck cat without ears nodded in agreement.

    Big Orange was indignant and patted its stomach. It meant that stray cats were often not full. Why should they give the captured stray dogs good food and drinks?

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so petty! Big Orange, if you have the capacity for dogs, your belly can support a boat! As far as I know, stray cats are often fed by people, and life is much better than that of stray dogs,¡± dimir said with a smile.

    It knew that Big Orange couldn¡¯t rid itself of the shackles of its consciousness for the time being. It had a short-sighted view and it was safe with small riches. It believed that the purpose of the struggle was to eat well and to a have a safe ce to sleep. That was all. It was no wonder that Big Orange took time to ept the baptism of new ideas. No one was born with a global vision and a world in mind... Except for dimir.

    ¡°This little devil ate at least three cans of cat food tonight. If it were a stray dog instead, it might have eaten so much that it made itself lethargic.¡± dimir pushed the yellow and white kitten in front of everybody as an example.

    The yellow and white kitten burped at just the right time.

    The fact was that when one saw a stray cat or an ownerless cat in the street, many people, especially girls, would happily feed them. In somemunities, middle-aged aunts fed stray cats every day, but how many people would feed stray dogs? People were afraid that stray dogs would bite people, so they had always avoided them.

    Big Orange was speechless. The fact that dimir had praised its ability to prop a boat on its big orange belly made it very happy. It decisively decided to eat until it had a bigger belly...

    After doing its job of changing Big Orange¡¯s thinking, dimir waved its paw forcefully and added, ¡°Of course, if we encounter vicious dogs, we must resolutely fight them and let them die without surrender! Otherwise, it is a great threat to the stray cat and the local human beings!¡±

    The ck cat without ears did not raise any objection. Everyone knew that dogs were the greatest threat to human beings and stray cats. It was difficult to distinguish between dogs without ropes and mad dogs. When one met a biting dog, they didn¡¯t know whether it was caused by bad nature or a rabies infection.

    The gray and white, soft-eared cat made a gesture of attacking and biting, which meant that there had been many incidents in the vicinity of the dog market where stray dogs bit old people and children and had even killed several cats. The young and strong stray cats survived because of their flexible nature.

    Relevant departments had sent teams tobat the issue, but the dogs had gained so much experience that they had mastered some of the knacks of guerri warfare. They always fought against the teams with bravery and intellect. They always ran away as soon as the teams came back, which caused the local residents some headaches.

    The gray and white, soft-eared cat said it would scout near the dog market over the next few days in order to locate where the evil stray dogs often appeared.

    Big Orange was full of righteousness and indignation, while dimir sneered at the words and said, ¡°It¡¯s not easy for an ant to extend its powers to form a great country. How could it be easy for a bad dog to shake a cat? On this expedition, we must wipe out all these dogs!¡±

    The stray cats were in high spirits and one after another, they were prepared to fight!

 Chapter 1025: Lofty Sentiments and Grand Ambitions

    <h4>Chapter 1025: Lofty Sentiments and Grand Ambitions</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    dimir smiled and looked at the stray cats that had been reborn. Before then, they had all been muddling their way through life. Each and every day, they would eat then sleep, or sleep then eat. But under the threat of cat abusers and vicious dogs, they lived each day in fear. They did not know why they lived or why they died, but they now had a new goal: to fight for the liberation of stray cats!

    dimir taught them some skills for fighting, and from there, they led the stray cats under them to conduct some preliminary practical exercises. For example, Big Orange led the stray cats in the effort to drive off the crowds around the whale carcass. All of the drills were rtively small, and each time, there were only twenty or thirty stray cats¨C¨Cat most forty or fifty. They were the elite stray cats from various parts of Binhai City, and practicing drills allowed them to have experience. With such experiences, they were then able to teach other cats who didn¡¯t have the chance to participate in the drill. dimir wanted both the experienced and inexperienced stray cats to know how to ¡°pass, help, and carry.¡±

    The assault on the stray dogs near the dog market was the firstrge-scale exercise, and it was hundreds of stray cats were expected to participate.

    Cats were born with no team awareness and were used to fighting alone, so organizing hundreds of stray cats to fight together was not going to be easy. It needed to be carefully nned, otherwise it might form infighting amongst the stray cats.

    After careful consideration, dimir decided to divide the hundreds of cats into three groups. The first two groups were to close in from the left and right and encircle the dogs, while thest group would be a mobile unit that would standby to reinforce the first two groups.

    The attack on the stray dogs in the dog market had been decided. dimir observed the position of the moon and noticed that it was already in the middle of the sky; it was midnight. Most families in themunity had already turned off their lights and gone to bed, and the sound of the security officer snoring could also be heard from downstairs.

    In order to save time, dimir brought up another topic. ¡°Are there any new discoveries from our Meow Meow intelligence department about the Holy Cat Statue?¡±

    cing the Holy Cat Statue at the end wasn¡¯t because dimir found it to be important. On the contrary, it thought the Holy Cat Statue was a minor problem¨C¨Cjust a small hup on the stray cat army¡¯s path to sweeping the world.

    The strength of a single cat was very weak, but thousands of cats together was a powerful force that no one could ignore.

    Compared to people, cat¡¯s were more flexible. They could ess the high ground that humans couldn¡¯t; they could go through holes that humans couldn¡¯t; and if they were to openly walk the streets, tracking or stalking someone, they were not going to attract any attention. They were the best scouts, 24 hours a day. An adult stray cat¡¯s ability to stalk someone wasparable to the best human agents. To have countless cats working together was the best intelligence organization in the world!

    Again, Big Orange was the one who stood up first. Its eyes were wide open with anger, then with its two front paws, it scratched and wed left and right. It indicated that the Seaside Intelligence Branch had found the bodies of several stray cats that were mistreated and killed. It was currently suspected to be a work of the humans that were controlled by the Holy Cat Statue, but the location of the bodies were quite scattered, so they couldn¡¯t find any pattern.

    The shorthaired white cat also gestured, expressing that they had found a cat body that had fallen to its death under the cliff of Mt. Hidden Fog. It wasn¡¯t clear whether it was by ident, or if it was thrown off the cliff.

    The other stray cat representatives also added that stray cats that had been mistreated to varying degrees were found in the areas under their jurisdiction.

    The ck cat with a missing piece of its ear hesitated for a moment, then it raised its paw over its head to indicate a high position. It meant to say that a stray cat in its jurisdiction had found a cat abuser¡¯s home by tracking the cat abuser, and was now inquiring on how they should be dealt with.

    dimir sorted out what it meant. There were currently two situations when it came to cat abusers: One was those that were affected by the Holy Cat Statue, and two was those that abused cats on their own ord. For the former, stray cats could still tolerate them, but for thetter, after having their meow wisdom opened, they were less tolerable of them.

    ¡°All of you only have to believe that the unjust are doomed to destruction! Where there is oppression, there is resistance!¡± dimir said with confidence. ¡°Qu Yuanposed the poem Li Sao. With that, he wielded a knife that took lives! Stray cats don¡¯t exist just to be bullied, and we will never submit to such humiliation! Never will we jump into the surging waters!¡±

    dimir swept its gaze across the faces of all the stray cats that were present, then firmly swung its paws and said, ¡°If the humans don¡¯t think about repentance, we will rece them!¡±

    The stray cats gathered were all shocked¨C¨Ceven Big Orange, who wasn¡¯t afraid of anything, waspletely dumbfounded. In their minds, fighting with stray dogs was a daily thing, and fighting with the Holy Cat Statue was a challenge. But... they had never thought about fighting with humans. dimir voiced such lofty aspirations... Human beings were nothing in its eyes.

    dimir understood their concerns. After all, although they were stray cats, their ancestors were once pet cats. Their ancestors had once been intimate with humans, but they were abandoned for various reasons, only to be stray cats in the end. Theplex feelings of human dependence and fear were still engraved in them, so they were not as unruly as natural, wild cats.

    ¡°What are you afraid of? The thorough meow meow doctrine believer is courageous enough to fight against the heavens and earth! The fight with the heavens is endless fun; the fight with the earth is endless fun; the fight with humans is even more so!¡± dimir encouraged them.

    The wild nature in Big Orange was stimted. It let out a piercing scream and mmed its chest with its paws like an orangutan, indicating that wherever dimir went, it would follow!

    Under Big Orange¡¯s influence, the other stray cats had their hearts set ame. dimir¡¯s lofty words and aspirations had inspired their pride for the meow family, and for the first time since their birth, they felt that they could be equal to humans. The status of stray cats had a never before seen improvement!

    The stray cats exploded into a fric cheer, and even the two security guards that were dead asleep in the security room were briefly awakened. They just rubbed their eyes and went back to sleep.

    dimir stood up to face them. It was full of lofty sentiments and excitement.

    At that moment, the yellow and white kitten hugged its tail and yed around in a restless manner, trying to digest the food it had eaten. The yellow and white kitten had eaten three cans of cat food that evening. That might have been the first time it had eaten that much since its birth¨C¨Ceven its stomach was bloated.

    dimir looked at it, satisfied; it touched a tender part in its heart. It thought of Liu Wenying, the girl they had met that evening who was allergic to cats, and also of Zhang Zian.

    dimir admitted that most humans were good people. They were silent, but nevertheless good... However, the small number of cat abusers were like rat waste, spoiling the whole pot of soup.

    When their cheers subsided a little, dimir eased its tone and said, ¡°Of course, our short-term goal is still the cat abusers and the Holy Cat Statue. As for the humans, we can give them some time to reform themselves, but only a limited time. We can¡¯t dy it indefinitely!¡±

    Although dimir had repeatedly stressed for the stray cat representatives to work with their collective wisdom and concerted efforts to avoid bing an ultimate ruler, they couldn¡¯t worship dimir any more than they already were. They all felt that no matter how much they brainstormed, they could never bepared to dimir, who was always inplete control of any situation. So, they simply gave up on the strategic direction, and focused solely on how to effectively implement the guidelines it had set.

    dimir vaguely felt that it might be a hidden danger for the stray cat¡¯s progression, because it clearly knew that it wasn¡¯t a god; it was just an ordinary cat. dimir made mistakes, too, and once it made a mistake, it would lead the stray cats in the wrong direction. However, there were no other options at the moment. They were temporarily limited by intelligence, and could notmunicate as equals with it. It could only carry all the responsibilities alone.

    The ck cat with a missing piece of its ear hesitated before it made a request. The ck cat and the other stray cats that had been sterilized by animal protection organizations weren¡¯t really fond of fights, but they also wanted to contribute to the liberation of stray cats. It asked if they could stay behind and be responsible for taking care of the injured cats that had retreated from the battlefield, since the battle with the stray dogs would inevitably lead to stray cats being injured.

    Thinking about it, dimir knew that what it said was true, so it granted the ck cat¡¯s request and allowed it to select the right members and form a meow meow medical team.

    dimir looked at the sky again. It was alreadyte, so it asked if the other representatives had any other things to report.

    Big Orange was eager to bring dimir to the seaside to review its troop of stray cats. dimir was hesitant. It really wanted to see the elite stray cat troops led by Big Orange, but...

    ¡°Forget it. It¡¯s veryte, and all of you still have a long ways to travel to your respective branch bases, so we¡¯ll stop here today. Dismissed. After all of you arrive home, remember to rest and actively prepare for the attack on the dog market,¡± dimir instructed.

    ¡°This was a triumphant conference¨C¨Ca united conference! As for the location of the next meeting...¡± dimir looked around, and noticed that people were stilling and going, even thatte at night. There were many people getting off workte or going for their night shift, so it was not a good venue for them to gather at.

    ¡°The next meeting shall be scheduled at Zhonghua Road. There¡¯s a green space there, and many of ourpatriots seem to gather there already.¡±

    The other stray cats were somewhat disappointed; they didn¡¯t understand why dimir was going back so early. Previously, they¡¯d fought together until dawn. However, since it had spoken, they would definitely follow its instructions and disperse in all directions.

    Soon, it was only dimir and the yellow and white kitten left on the roof.

    dimir wanted to let one of the stray cats take the yellow and white kitten away, but it had forgotten to mention it earlier, so it had no other option but to keep it with it.

    ¡°Little devil, what can I do with you?¡± dimir shook its head. ¡°Forget it. You cane home with me today.¡±

    The yellow and white kitten had an indifferent look on its face. It was almost done with digesting its food. It stood up and trotted around in a random manner.

    dimir looked at the back view of the stray cats that had gradually disappeared. It said, ¡°Although I really want to follow all of you, I already promised Zhang Zian I¡¯d return home. A cat is only as good as its words, and after all... I¡¯m no longer a stray cat.¡±

    The yellow and white kitten didn¡¯t understand what dimir said. It just nudged dimir with its head, urging it to go.

    ¡°Okay then, let¡¯s go back. Should we go back the same way? Or should we look for a new way home?¡± It identified which that they were going to go in. ¡°Let¡¯s find a new way back. Taking the road that our predecessors have walked on is boring, isn¡¯t it?¡±

 Chapter 1026: The Howls In the Community

    <h4>Chapter 1026: The Howls In the Community</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°I¡¯m so bored!¡± Snowy rolled around on the bed again. She had already rolled on the bed multiple times after she ate her breakfast; her mother had urately described her movements as looking like a creeping cabbage worm.

    Snowballid on one side with its eyes narrowed. It yawned and did not feel bored¨C¨Cor it could be said that it went straight to sleep when it felt bored.

    Snowy was not like a cat. She could not sleep more than ten hours a day; she had too much energy. She was trying toe up with a reason to go out and y.

    Spending a good spring day at home was practically wasting one¡¯s life! But where should she go to y?

    At first, she had be an outdoorwork anchor at the spur of the moment, but then it gradually became her greatest interest and hobby. At first, she never thought that one day she would encounter the dilemma of not knowing where to do a live broadcast... There are so many interesting ces in Binhai City, so how could there be nowhere to go?

    But in fact, with her growing interest in live broadcasting and the rising standards of the tform, she was no longer satisfied with going to a slightly distinctive store to broadcast live. She felt sorry for the audience, so she did not want to just be perfunctory with them.

    She refreshed her Weibo and the background of her public ount with her mobile phone. Fans had made a lot of suggestions, but she had either been there before or they were too specialized for a certain audience. For example, someone suggested for her go to a reptile shop to broadcast live. Although she was not timid, she was not fond of reptiles.

    ¡°Nevermind. Let¡¯s just walk around the neighborhood,¡± she said to herself. ¡°Snowball, let¡¯s go together!¡±

    Snowball opened its eyes to look at her, then closed its eyes and put its head on her pillow and pretended to be asleep. It was not interested in going out.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Snowy did not allow for objections. She grabbed Snowball in her arms, walked out, and muttered, ¡°How heavy! You see, you are so fat, and you still want to stay at home? If you do not lose weight in May, it will be a problem. June is a sad month; July is a thunderstorm; and by August you will be even fatter! Do you understand?¡±

    Snowball shook its head and tail innocently. It did not want to leave thefortable and soft bed and it struggled to jump down. As for its weight, it just wanted Snowy to give up!

    Although Persian cats always looked fat because of their long hair, Snowball was really fat¨C¨Cmainly because it ate too well and moved too little. It rained for several days the other day, and she stayed at home with Snowball. While she was forced to stay home, Snowball actively wanted it. It was just like the poem ofnd travel: ¡°The creek firewood fire is soft and warm, and I and the cat ve do not go out.¡±

    It was just that, in this time period, it was hard to say who was the servant. It could be that in Snowball¡¯s heart, it was pondering, ¡°The creek firewood fire is soft and warm, and I and the human ve do not go out...¡±

    ¡°Where are you going to go?¡± As soon as her mother, who was baking a cake, saw her carrying Snowball downstairs, her face became long.

    ¡°I¡¯m not going anywhere! I¡¯m just going to stroll around the neighborhood! I can¡¯t constantly stay at home. I¡¯m so annoyed I could die!¡± Snowyined, full of grievances.

    Her mother took a look at her husband, Jiang Tianda. He was flipping through the newspapers and abstracts without making a statement or changing his expression. It was possible that he was quietly agreeing with her.

    ¡°Well, just wander around the neighborhood ande back to eat cake. Don¡¯t run outside! Don¡¯t run into the mud pit with Snowball thene back and trample all over the ground with mud marks...¡± her mother stressed.

    ¡°All right, all right! I¡¯ve just finished breakfast. How am I supposed to eat cake...?¡± Snowy impatiently asked.

    At that time, the greatest advantage of the weather was that one could wear whatever they wore at home without adding or removing clothes. Anyway, she was not going out to a faraway ce. One could wear whatever they wanted to wear anyway! It was just like those weird fish in the deep sea¨C¨Cno one saw them, so they could grow however they wanted.

    In fact, she did not know much about the fish in the ocean. Since she saw Zhang Zian¡¯s aquarium, she had gained some interest in it. When she was free, she searched for relevant information. The ugliness and ferocity of deep-sea fish made her speechless. Fortunately, she had no chance to meet the deep-sea fish onnd. They were used to the huge water pressure and would die whenever they came ashore.

    Leaving the magnificently decorated, but too quiet, vi, she rxed a lot. She put down Snowball and let it walk by herself, while she moved her sore arm, hummed an unknown tune, and walked at a very slow speed. Her mother told her to walk around and then go right back... Wouldn¡¯t it have been a loss if she walked too fast?

    The vi area was also quiet, and few people were walking about. Branches andwns were washed by the rain, and there were still some raindrops on the leaves of grass. The air was very fresh. The artificialke was supplemented by rainwater and the water levels rose. The breeze blew and the waves sparkled. asionally, one or two big fish jumped out of the water.

    Although the environment was very elegant, it was boring to look at it too much.

    She walked for a while, and suddenly there came a few long, wolf-like calls ahead.

    Of course, the neighborhood did not have wolves, and the only one that would call out like that was the Uncle Jin¡¯s husky, Good-For-Nothing.

    The Husky, who always did dumb things, was howling so proudly. It normally only barked in short spurts and whined when it was scolded by Uncle Jin, who regretted that it did not live up to his expectations. It would also whine when it was chased by Snowball. What kind of wind was blowing today? The farmers had overthrown the leaders and were going to be the new leaders?

    As soon as Snowball, who had beencking in energy, heard Good-For-Nothing¡¯s call, it instantly became alert. Without needing Snowy to give it orders, it started to move its little legs and run towards the direction the call came from.

    ¡°Well, go and y with Uncle Jin and Good-For-Nothing for a while,¡± Snowy said with augh. ¡°Uncle Jin is fishing again? Aiya! No way! Mother won¡¯t let you run into the mud pit by theke... Forget it. ¡±

    She changed her viewpoint. It was one of the rare times that Snowball left the house, and if it was willing to step into a mud pit, then let it.

    ¡°Eh? Snowy, where are you running to?¡± To her surprise, Snowball did not run to thekeside of the artificialke. Uncle Jin usually fished by theke, and where he could be found, Good-For-Nothing could also be found.

    Snowball stopped, then turned its head back to look at her. It continued to run towards the entrance of the vi area.

    If Snowball did not run in the wrong direction, then Uncle Jin and Good-For-Nothing were not fishing by thekeside... What were they doing at the entrance of the vi area? Could it be... they were waiting for someone? Otherwise, there was no other exnation.

    But who was Uncle Jin waiting for? A business partner?

    That was not very possible. Uncle Jin was kind of azy person. He had never received a business partner in the vi area before. They were probably some evil associates.

    ¡°Run a bit slower, Snowball. Don¡¯t run too fast!¡± Snowy did not want to go home too fast, so she hurriedly called for Snowball to slow down.

    Another howl, simr to the howl of a wolf, came. This time, it was even clearer, and it was indeed from the direction of the entrance of the vi area.

    Snowball did not listen to Snowy¡¯s orders. It ran quickly.

    How could they tolerate how arrogant they were, even though they were just defeated the day before? It had to be known whether the vi¡¯s surname was a cat or a dog.

 Chapter 1027: Classmate Reunion

    <h4>Chapter 1027: ssmate Reunion</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The vi area was just toorge, and the gardening masters hired by management were driving around with golf carts to prune the trees. Snowy followed Snowball for quite a distance, then turned two corners. Around the second corner, a man and a dog stood at the entrance of the vi. It was Jin Er and Good-For-Nothing.

    However, Jin Er was dressed differently than his usual,zy, middle-aged uncle attire. He wore a spirited leather safari jacket with a pair of camo jeans and a pair of high-cut riding boots. If it wasn¡¯t for Good-For-Nothing, who stood beside him, Snowy really wouldn¡¯t have been able to recognize him.

    Good-For-Nothing was also different from its usual self that day. Aside from its fur, which had been groomed, it wore a bow tie, as if it was ssy. Snowy wondered if that was taken from Famous at the Berlin Film Festival.

    Even so, Good-For-Nothing was still Good-For-Nothing. When it turned around, the look in its eyes gave it away.

    When Good-For-Nothing saw Snowy and its sworn enemy, it tried to rush over immediately, only to be kicked by Jin Er. It then let out a soft whimper and remained where it was.

    Snowy was really curious. Why was Good-For-Nothing being so obedient? What kind of magic did Uncle Jin possess?

    In addition, Uncle Jin was so dressed up... Who was he waiting for?

    Snowy bent over and hugged the eager Snowball, temporarily preventing the cat and dog from getting into a full-scale martial arts battle.

    ¡°Uncle Jin, good morning!¡± Snowy greeted him.

    Jin Er turned to the side and looked at her, then squinted his eyes and smiled. ¡°Good morning, Snowy. You¡¯re up early today!¡±

    Snowy noticed that he had actually shaved his mustache; he didn¡¯t have his usual unshaven look. He looked much younger. Could he possibly have been waiting for ady?

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not early anymore. I¡¯m taking Snowball out for a walk and getting some fresh air at the same time. It¡¯s too boring to stay at home!¡± Snowy rolled her eyes, then she grew curious. She asked, ¡°Uncle Jin, why aren¡¯t you fishing today?¡±

    ¡°Because I¡¯m waiting for an old ssmate. As for fishing, I can do that whenever I want,¡± Jin Er said heartily.

    ¡°Old ssmate? University ssmate?¡± Snowy asked.

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Jin Er nodded.

    Good-For-Nothing noticed that Snowball was in Snowy¡¯s arms, and because Snowball didn¡¯t seem to pose any threat to it, it got closer with a silly look on its face. It stuck out its tongue to deliberately provoke Snowball. It was only until it was kicked by Jin Er again that it behaved itself.

    So it was a reunion with his university ssmate. No wonder...

    Snowy heard that many university students that reunited after many years of separation would show the inconstancy and fickleness of human affection. Those that were doing well in life would be the focus of the party and the envy of everyone, and they would openly show off their branded car, branded watch, and their annual sry of millions of dors. Those that were just doing average in life would suck up to them, while those that were doing poorly would hide in a corner, quietly drinking by themselves, or they would simply just not participate.

    Regardless of the standards, Jin Er was obviously the kind who was doing well in life. Since he was doing well in life, did that also mean that he was unable to escape from the unhealthy cycle? Was he nning to show off his wealth in front of his old ssmate?

    Taking his usual character into consideration, he didn¡¯t seem like someone that would stoop that low.

    Besides, although he was dressed differently, it wasn¡¯t to the extent of showing off.

    ¡°Uncle Jin, you¡¯re dressed up nicely today! Are these new clothes?¡± Snowy was really curious, so she tried to dy the time, hoping to meet Jin Er¡¯s old ssmate. After that, she could return home with gossip for her mom and dad.

    ¡°Haha! It¡¯s just okay!¡± Although Jin Er was being modest, it felt good to receive apliment from a young girl.

    ¡°Good-For-Nothing is also looking very spirited today! It¡¯s spirited every day!¡± Snowy said with a smile.

    Jin Er coughed and softly mumbled, ¡°I actually want it to be a little less spirited...¡±

    As they were speaking, a ck, off-road Mercedes-Benz G-ss stopped at the entrance of the vi. Jin Er had notified the security guard in advance, so after going through the security check and registering the identity of the owner, the car was let in.

    The Mercedes-Benz G-ss drove into the vi area, and the owner of the car saw Jin Er waiting by the roadside. He slowly stopped the car.

    Through the privacy ss, Snowy wasn¡¯t able to see the owner¡¯s appearance, but by taking a nce at the license te, she noticed that it was from another province.

    Snowy quietly took a few steps back, so as not to hinder Jin Er and his ssmate. Who knew if they had something private to talk about... Still, she didn¡¯t intend to leave that easily.

    The door opened and a man wearing sunsses got out of the car.

    The man looked to be about the same age as Jin Er. He was tall and thin¨C¨Cthe type that was fit and lean, not the sickly thin type. In addition, hisplexion was very dark. He wasn¡¯t born dark but was tanned dark, just like the skin color of construction workers that worked at construction sites. Only someone who had worked outdoors for many years would be that dark.

    The man was also dressed up in a leather jacket and jeans. He looked very spirited and much younger than he really was. But when heughed, the crow¡¯s feet in the corners of his eyes revealed his true age.

    ¡°Haha! Old Jin! I haven¡¯t seen you for a long time! You seem to have a good state of mind!¡±

    ¡°You too, ckie! The older you get, the younger you be!¡± The twoughed as they hugged each other and patted each other¡¯s backs. It seemed that they had a good rtionship.

    Snowy didn¡¯t know whether ckie was his real name or just a nickname. It was most probably thetter, but it was really fitting, as he was indeed really dark.

    The two exchanged a few words, then ckie turned to Snowy. He pointed at her and asked, ¡°This is?¡±

    ckie had seen Snowy when he came in, but he wasn¡¯t sure of her rtionship with Jin Er. He knew that Jin Er didn¡¯t have a daughter.

    ¡°Oh, she¡¯s a neighbor that lives near my ce.¡± Jin Er briefly introduced them, and then said to Snowy, ¡°This is my ssmate. You can just call him ckie.¡±

    ¡°Hello, Uncle ckie, my name¡¯s Snowy. Uncle Jin usually takes care of me.¡± Snowy waved and greeted with a smile. Of course, she couldn¡¯t just address him as ckie as Jin Er did.

    ¡°You can just call me ckie. Uncle ckie gives me the goosebumps. It feels like I¡¯m really old.¡± ckie waved his hand and joked, ¡°I got the scare of my life earlier. I was wondering when Jin Er had such a beautiful daughter... It almost made me doubt gics.¡±

    Jin Erughed and said, ¡°If you see her father, you would be even more suspicious.¡±

    Snowy chuckled. ckie had a rtively straightforward character, and even if he was not as rich as Jin Er, he probably had no financial issues. It seemed like Jin Er was just trying to look younger with his attire.

    Since there was nothing to gossip about, Snowy was ready to go back home. Her mother would nag at her for returning homete again if she stayed.

    ¡°Uncle Jin, I won¡¯t impose on your reunion. I¡¯ll be heading home!¡± Snowy said as she bid her farewell.

    Jin Er suddenly said, ¡°Wait a minute, Snowy. My old friend may need your help.¡±

 Chapter 1028: Actually, Iâ€™m an Actor

    <h4>Chapter 1028: Actually, I¡¯m an Actor</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Snowy wondered if there was something wrong with her ears. How could Jin Er ask her for help? What ability did she have to be able to help Jin Er?

    But Jin Er did not seem to be joking, and her instincts told her that there was something else going on. She agreed without hesitation. As for her mother... After being nagged all day, she did not need one more nagging session.

    Not only her, but Hei Zi also found it strange. He controlled himself and did not ask any questions. Instead, he squatted down to observe Good-For-Nothing with interest, and asked, ¡°Second Brother Jin, is this the dog you were telling me about?¡±

    Jin Er was inspired and said very proudly, ¡°Haha, yes! It took me a lot of effort to train this dog!¡±

    Good-For-Nothing had no brains and liked to hide in its nest, and it was a little scared when it met outsiders that it was not familiar with; however, it was very good and did not move, and it would stare at its owner as if were asking for help.

    ¡°It¡¯s very good. I could not tell that you had such patience and abilities, Second Brother Jin! You¡¯ve made me look at you in a different light!¡± Hei Zi waspletely deceived by the disguised appearance of the Good-For-Nothing and kept praising.

    Jin Er was extremely happy, and added on and described how he had trained the dog effectively. He bluffed to Hei Zi into a daze.

    But while he was saying those words, Jin Er kept giving looks at Snowy, meaning to say, ¡°Life is so hard that some lies are better not to be exposed!¡±

    Snowy smiled. She needed to help Uncle Jin out. If she helped him hide the truth, then perhapster on he would pay her back.

    ¡°Aiyohei! Not bad. This dog is really quite good! I just don¡¯t know what will happen to it in the face of danger...¡± Hei Zi tried to pat Good-For-Nothing on the neck and head and found that the dog did not react excessively. It was very gentle.

    In some ways, it was really too gentle...

    ¡°Rest assured! It¡¯s that I¡¯m bragging. If it was not for me, you wouldn¡¯t be able to touch it at all. As a warning, if you dare to approach it again, it will jump on you and bite and not let go!¡± Jin Er boasted without changing his face.

    Snowy controlled her smile and did not speak.

    ¡°Really?¡± Hei Zi still had some doubts. He didn¡¯t understand dogs. He had wanted to buy a dog recently. Usually, Jin Er was always bragging about his dog in his friend circle. He always boasted about how well he had trained his dog, so he thought Jin Er was an expert. On this trip, he wanted to visit his old ssmate and ask Jin Er to help him choose a dog.

    He had been totally confused by Jin Er¡¯s praises, but he felt that there was a problem with the dog... And the problem was on its facial expression.

    Its expression gave him the impression that it was aedian, not the tough man that Jin Er imed it to be. It was like someone was pointing at Guo Daqiang and insistently saying that it was Jason Stensen. They were not linked by anything but baldness.

    Jin Er could let Snowy stay quiet, but he forgot that there was a cat there as well.

    Snowball did not care about the scheme and in the face of Good-For-Nothing¡¯s provocation, it could not tolerate it any longer. It had been twisting its body into Snowy¡¯s bosom, while Snowy tried to hold back herughter. She was on the verge of getting an internal injury. Her arm ckened a bit, and the cat suddenly started to slip from her arms and waved a w at Good-For-Nothing!

    Despite repeated battles and defeats, Good-For-Nothing had been through hundreds of battles. It had already trained its strong nerves and keen intuition. Its body moved before its thoughts. It hunched its back and jumped, spit its tongue, and jumped more than a meter so that it could avoid the w!

    The unexpected change in the situation made the three people stunned.

    Snowy made a sound of surprise!

    Hei Zi had originally been worried for Snowball, saying in his heart that the dog was so fierce. He hoped that it would not bite the cat to death. Otherwise, wouldn¡¯t the girl have been very sad? Furthermore, he was also worried that Snowy would try to save that cat without caring about anything else, and in the end, she would also be bitten and injured by the dog.

    What was out of his expectations was after she made a sound of surprise, Snowy said to Jin Er, ¡°Uncle Jin, I¡¯m so sorry. It jumped out itself...¡±

    Jin Er¡¯s face, on the other hand, was green.

    What was going on? Hei Zi was confused by the change of events.

    Following that, the dog and cat began to have a crazy chase on the grass, but it was not like what he imagined of a dog chasing a cat and biting it. Instead, the cat was chasing the dog and hitting, scratching, and pulling it!

    Under the attack of Snowball, Good-For-Nothing ran with its tail between its legs and tried to hide behind Jin Er. Even its cor was pulled off by Snowball.

    Jin Er angrily shouted, ¡°Good-For-Nothing! If you¡¯re male, then hit back!¡±

    Snowy chased behind Snowball, ¡°Snowball! Snowball! That¡¯s enough already!¡±

    She had, with much difficulty, caught up to Snowball and gathered it back in her embrace, but it still refused to give up. It bared its teeth, but Good-For-Nothing¡¯s problem had been solved.

    Hei Zi said, ¡°... Second Brother Jin, please exin. What¡¯s with the situation right now? You said that it was like Schwarzenegger... How did it be Mr. Bean?¡±

    Jin Erined incessantly and knew that he should not have persuaded Snowy to stay behind. Wasn¡¯t his image of a hard-working dog trainer destroyed all at once?

    Good-For-Nothing whined and rubbed its head on his owner¡¯s leg, expressing that it was very injured. It wanted to beforted with a chicken leg.

    Jin Er wished he could kick it into the artificialke, but theke had no effect on the rough and thick-skinned dog. It would just take it as it took a bath, and after bathing, it would be hungry and eat even more...

    ¡°Well...¡± With a dry cough, he patted the head of Good-For-Nothing and exined with great calmness, ¡°Actually, it¡¯s an actor. Today¡¯s impromptu performance was that of a woman. I¡¯ll show you the bully character another day. If you want it to act as Thanos, that¡¯s no problem!¡±

    Hei Zi was speechless. He still talked about Thanos... Who the f*ck was this bully that met such a chivalrous woman?

    He took off his sunsses and red. ¡°Second Brother Jin, do you really think I¡¯m mentally retarded? If you fool me once, shame on you. If you fool me twice, shame on me! Do you think you can continue to fool me?¡±

    Jin Er felt very awkward. Heughed dryly and said, ¡°Can¡¯t you tell that I¡¯m just joking with you? We¡¯re old ssmates that haven¡¯t met in a very long time. We can lighten up the atmosphere by making a joke... Haha!¡±

    The one feeling more awkward than Jin Er was Snowy. She felt that she really let Uncle Jin down by not controlling Snowball. She caused Uncle Jin to lose face in front of his old ssmate.

    Hei Zi raised his hand to point at Jin Er¡¯s face. ¡°Second Brother Jin, if you continue to do this, I¡¯ll leave now! And in the future, don¡¯t say that we are ssmates anymore!¡±

    When Jin Er saw that his old ssmates really wanted to fall out with him, he quickly said good words to ease the atmosphere, ¡°Don¡¯t, don¡¯t, don¡¯t! I¡¯m really kidding. Plus, a little bit of... wanting to save face. In fact, I really tried hard to train this dog, but I couldn¡¯t because I chose the wrong breed. This dog iscking. No matter how I trained it, it didn¡¯t do any good... The Bull was already blown out. What could I do about it?¡±

    Hei Zi was not totally convinced.

    Snowy acted as a witness from the side, ¡°Uncle Jin really worked very hard, but...ter on, he could only give up.¡±

 Chapter 1029: Financial Freedom

    <h4>Chapter 1029: Financial Freedom</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Jin Er desperately pushed the me onto Good-For-Nothing. He stressed that there wasn¡¯t a problem with his method of training, but instead there was a problem with the dog itself. Since Good-For-Nothing wasn¡¯t able to speak, it had no other option but to bear the me.

    In short, man was afraid of choosing the wrong dog, while a woman was afraid of marrying the wrong man. It seemed as though Jin Er had chosen the wrong dog.

    Snowy said a few good words for him, because she did see Jin Er trying to train his dog several times. But it was unclear if his training method was effective. Regardless, he did work really hard.

    ckie reluctantly epted his exnation, but still said with a sigh, ¡°Old Jin, because she¡¯s helping you, I¡¯ll let you off today... I¡¯ll remember this, though, and get you backter on.¡±

    Jin Er coughed and said softly, ¡°This... in your WeChat moments, can you help me out by putting in a few good words...?¡±

    ckie red at him. ¡°To let you cheat more people?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it like that... I¡¯m just a person who cares about his reputation...¡± Jin Er said various things and hoped that the ckie would not expose him in his WeChat Moments.

    ¡°Let¡¯s put this aside. What should I do now? I came all the way just for nothing!¡± ckie mmed his hand down on the hood of his car, and the sound startled Good-For-Nothing. When ckie saw Good-For-Nothing jump because of the sound, he was even more disappointed.

    ¡°No, no, do you know why I had Snowy stay? It was to help you! So you have to understand my efforts...¡± Jin Er said as he pointed to Snowy.

    When Snowy heard Jin Er bring her into the conversation, she was even more curious. What kind of help could she give?

    ckie also looked at Snowy doubtfully. He thought to himself that the little girl looked soft and weak... She was an expert dog tamer? Or, since she was living in such a luxurious vi area, could it be that her father owned a pet farm, so she knew a lot about pets?

    Jin Er said, ¡°Let¡¯s stop talking in riddles. Look, she¡¯s already confused... ckie, why don¡¯t you tell Snowy why you¡¯re here? Then she would understand.¡±

    ¡°Okay...¡± ckie had no other option. He lit a cigarette and took a deep puff. ckie was indeed Jin Er¡¯s university ssmate.

    His situation was simr to Jin Er¡¯s. After leaving school and entering society, ckie did well in the business world. He did not encounter any major setbacks and his career was booming.

    ckie himself had no great ambition. He had a unique understanding and pursuit of life. After entering his thirties and forties, he disregarded the opposition of everyone around him, and resolutely sold thepany he founded. From that, he gainedplete financial freedom and the freedom of life. After he faded out of the business world, he no longer remained in contact with his former business partners. He only remained in contact with a few close friends, and Jin Er was one of them.

    After realizing his financial freedom, he didn¡¯t buy a yacht or a sports car like other rich people. Instead, he began to exercise and systematically learn extreme sports such as diving, rock climbing, and rafting. After taking a year or two to master them, he did something that left others stunned: He went to survive alone in the wild.

    ckie said that surviving alone in the wild was not for show, nor was it suicide. People assumed that he had a lot of time on his hands so he wanted to challenge himself, but that was not the case. He did it because he wanted to experience life in the loneliness of the woods, and to stimte his full potential by confronting nature. He wanted to experience life.

    Few people understood him, because most people couldn¡¯t reach his level of wealth and freedom. They were still working hard for a living.

    There were also those that had achieved financial freedom, but even with the money they had, they still wanted to make more money¨C¨Cnot only to ensure that their children didn¡¯t have to worry about money, but so their grandchildren wouldn¡¯t have to, either. Those were the people who couldn¡¯t understand him.

    ckie was toozy to exin himself. They were just fundamentally different.

    Jin Er was his friend, his old ssmate, and one of the few who understood him. Although Jin Er didn¡¯tpletely abandon thepany he founded, he didn¡¯t do anything and didn¡¯t ask about thepany¡¯s daily operations.

    ckie was not looking for death by surviving in the wilderness alone. Every single time he went out into the wild, his route was carefully nned, and he had estimated the dangers and difficulties that he stood to encounter. He would also inform his old friends of his route and schedule, so if he didn¡¯t return as nned, his old friends were to notify the police.

    Aside from all that, ckie was also very cautious about his choice of location, and he had been progressing from easy to difficult. He learned from and absorbed the experiences of his predecessors; he was not just blindly taking risks.

    Generally speaking, he would enter the wilderness by foot, except for areas that were too vast and deste, where he would then drive. But the basic principle was the same: He had to be alone.

    As the difficulty level increased, he found himself facing an ever-increasing survival challenge: Anything could happen. He could run into a beast, a robber, or any other unexpected dangers.

    He wanted to experience life instead of looking for death. On the contrary, he cherished his life, and in order to improve his safety factors, he was now forced to make a decision: give up on his principle of being alone and find apanion for himself, or stop at the current level and no longer challenge himself with the more sinister wilderness.

    He was unwilling to ept either option.

    Just as he was facing his dilemma, a senior in the field of survival gave him a suggestion¨C¨Cwhy not bring a dog along? A single sentence was all it took to solve his problems. He suddenly saw the silver lining. He could do that!

    With a dog, not only could it dispel the loneliness of the journey, but it also didn¡¯t defy the purpose of being an individual wilderness survivor.

    More importantly, in the wild, a dog could y a veryrge auxiliary role. It could pick up the scent of beasts and strangers in advance, and it could also help him fight off the beasts and robbers. Who knew¨C¨Cit may even save him in the event of an earthquake, mudslide, orndslide! There was no need to worry about a well-trained dog betraying its owner.

    To some extent, a dog was definitely the best partner for an individual wilderness survivor. They couldplement each other¡¯s strengths, and it was even safer than taking another individual along. To enter the wilderness with a person one was not familiar with was in itself a very big risk. Just like the old saying went, ¡°You might know what a person looks like on the outside, but you can never know how he looks like inside.¡±

    But that was where the problem was... What kind of dog was suitable for him to buy?

    The senior who gave him the advice was also not able to answer the question. He could only advise ckie to seek professional help.

    Right that moment, ckie recalled that there was an idiot with the surname Jin who always showed off his dog on his WeChat Moments, bragging about how he had tamed the dog well and that it would listen to his everymand. He had imed that it never went against him.

    So, he drove a thousand miles to Binhai City to visit his old friend who he hadn¡¯t seen in a long time just to ask him for suggestions on what kind of dog he should get.

    However...

    ckie stared at Good-For-Nothing, who had just been beat up yet was still taunting Snowball. He could only let out a sigh. If he were to bring that dog along in the wilderness, his friends would have to collect their corpses.

 Chapter 1030: Recommendation

    <h4>Chapter 1030: Rmendation</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After listening to Jin Er¡¯s story about his friend, Snowy vaguely understood why he had invited her to stay. Although she did not know much about dogs personally, she did know someone who knew a lot about them.

    She really admired Hei Zi¡¯s bravery. Not everyone could give up on apany they had created themselves and go into the wild alone.

    People who wanted to make more money when they already had a lot of money reminded her of her father. He couldn¡¯t understand Jin Er¡¯sziness, and he definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to understand the life-risking adventurer, Hei Zi. They were too different from each other, so they would not work well together.

    She remembered that Jin Er had talked to her before, and said that having money did not make her better than another person. With money, however, one had more choices in their life. She would not have to run away and be busy with work like other people had to¨C¨Cshe could do what she wanted without having to worry about anything.

    If she had been born into an ordinary family, then instead of talking to Jin Er and his friend, she would have had to be at work. She probably would not have been able to do broadcasting.

    It was good to have money!

    Jin Er had known why Hei Zi wasing in advance. He wanted to gain face in front of his old friend, but he would not lose an old friend simply because he wanted to impress them; that was why he had Snowy stay behind. Even if Good-For-Nothing had made him look good, when Hei Zi asked him which dog breed he should get, he would have found an excuse to have Snowy take Hei Zi instead. He would not impersonate an expert; he knew the danger of that.

    Hei Zi touched his face and exined to Snowy, ¡°Although my nickname is Hei Zi, in the past, I was really not that ck. I got really tan during myst two years in the wild.¡±

    ¡°All right, stop it. You were that dark when you escaped from school in the middle of the night to eat at the snack booth. We couldn¡¯t even find you.¡± Jin Er rolled his eyes and scoffed.

    ¡°Rubbish! I was not at all that ck in the past, all right? I was whiter than you!¡± Hei Zi rebutted.

    ¡°Then why isn¡¯t my nickname Hei Zi?¡± Jin Er chuckled.

    The two of them argued with each other about who was cker in the past, but no one could find any evidence because they did not have many photos from that time.

    When Good-For-Nothing saw how fiercely they were arguing, it howled a few times to join in on the mess.

    Snowy saw that the two people had tempers like little children, and could not help butugh secretly. From that, however, she could tell that the two of them had a very good friendship.

    After arguing for a while, they finally realized that neither of them could win. All they were doing was amusing Snowy, so they awkwardly brought the conversation back.

    ¡°In short, you made me toe here for nothing, and you need topensate me for my loss. How can youpensate me?¡± Hei Zi grabbed Jin Er and refused to let him go. ¡°How about this¨C¨Cif you go with me several times to the wild, we¡¯ll be even.¡±

    It was Jin Er, and although it vited Hei Zi¡¯s original intention of surviving alone in the wilderness, Hei Zi could fully trust him. He was the second best choice, so there was no need to find a dog.

    Jin Er envied Hei Zi¡¯s carefreeness and sometimes wanted to learn how to let gopletely like Hei Zi did; however, he couldn¡¯t forget how difficult it was to start a business, and he could not bear to part with thepany he founded. Besides, many people in thepany still relied on him to eat. If he sold thepany, some people would beid off and unemployed. At most, he could only hide behind the scenes and not participate in the daily operations. He only appeared in public when thepany was dealing with a major proposal.

    He knew himself; he knew that his body was not as strong as a Hei Zi¡¯s. If it were a few years earlier, it would have been possible. At his age, however, if he wanted to learn how to rock climb, drift, and dive, it was a littlete. He would only drag Hei Zi down if they went into the wilderness together.

    Jin Er waved his hand. ¡°I can¡¯t do it. I can only shout 666 for you from the sidelines. But I definitely will make your trip worth it... In fact, before you came, I had thought about it. Although I don¡¯t know about dogs, and I chose the wrong dog that only remembers how to eat but not why it is hit, I do know someone who can help you.¡± Saying that, he pointed at Snowy.

    ¡°Her?¡± Hei Zi was stunned. Although it was said that one could not judge a person by their appearance, no matter how he looked at it, Snowy did not seem like someone who knew about dogs.

    ¡°Your family rears dogs?¡± he asked, testing the waters.

    ¡°Haha! No! What are you thinking...¡± Snowy smiled and said, ¡°Uncle Jin means that I can rmend you to a professional who knows about dogs. I just happen to know someone.¡±

    ¡°Oh...¡± Hei Zi understood, but still did not feel assured. ¡°This professional you know¨C¨Cis he reliable? You must know that, in the wilderness, a dog is practically half of my life. I definitely cannot randomly choose any dog.¡± He took a nce at Good-For-Nothing. ¡°And I especially cannot choose this kind.¡±

    Good-For-Nothing was not bothered by people looking down at it. Being looked down on definitely earned it a lot of chicken bones.

    ¡°Haha! Don¡¯t worry. Even if it¡¯s just for Uncle Jin, I¡¯ll introduce you to a very reliable professional¨C¨Cat least he¡¯s very reliable about pets. He will definitely help you choose a suitable dog!¡± Snowy said confidently.

    ¡°Really? That¡¯s amazing!¡± Hei Zi half-believed her and half-doubted her. He thought that there was a portion of her that was just boasting... After all, he had just met Snowy.

    ¡°En! That dog that got Best Actor at the Berlin Film Festival¨C¨Chave you heard of it? The person I¡¯m rmending is the one who trained that dog!¡± When Snowy talked about Famous, she felt proud of it.

    Hei Zi was shocked, and then, as if remembering something, he suddenly came to his senses. He said, ¡°Aiya! I heard about that dog. I vaguely remember that it was from Binhai City. At that time, I thought that he was actually in the same city as Second Brother Jin, but I didn¡¯t n on buying a dog at that time, so I forgot about it. As soon as you said that, I recalled it! ¡±

    Snowyughed and said, ¡°That¡¯s right! The owner of the dog is a pet shop owner that happens to know me very well. Uncle Jin asked me to apany you to this shop to choose a dog, right?¡±

    Jin Er nodded. ¡°Yes. If it was just choosing an ordinary dog, I wouldn¡¯t bother you¨C¨CI¡¯d just let him go and randomly buy it¨C¨Cbut this dog is linked to his life. I wanted to ask you to personally make a trip down with him.¡±

    Snowy willingly took the opportunity to leave the vi area.

    ¡°But, my dad and my mom...¡± she said, hesitating. After dying for so long, her mother was probably already crazy angry. As soon as she entered her house, she would be scolded horribly.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! I¡¯ll talk to your dad and mom,¡± Jin Er patted his chest and promised.

    ¡°That¡¯s great! Let¡¯s go now!¡± Snowy was scared that a long dy would mean many hitches. She uneasily turned her head back to look in the direction of her house, and then hurriedly rushed them to leave. Otherwise, if her mother left the house and came to find her, she would not be able to go.

    When she and Hei Zi got in the car and left the vi area, only then did Jin Er scratch his head and sigh. If he went to their home and told Jiang Tianda, he would probably be beaten to death... It was better to make a phone call, then block Jiang Tianda after he finished speaking with her.

 Chapter 1031: The Old Driverâ€™s Taking the Wheel

    <h4>Chapter 1031: The Old Driver¡¯s Taking the Wheel</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Snowy trusted Jin Er, and Jin Er trusted ckie, but that did not mean that Snowy trusted ckie. After all, they were basically strangers, and it was very dangerous to just hop into a stranger¡¯s car. The moment she got in the car, she quickly took out her mobile phone and said to ckie, ¡°Right, I¡¯m actually awork anchor, and I find your experience of surviving in the wilderness to be very intriguing. I¡¯m pretty interested in finding out what kind of dog you are going to choose, and I believe that my fans would also be very interested. Can I broadcast live throughout the process?¡±

    ckie was in a blur at first, but then he said, ¡°Network anchor? Oh, I understand. Will I be in it then?¡±

    ¡°Of course, you¡¯ll definitely be in it! After all, you¡¯re the protagonist of today¡¯s live broadcast!¡± Snowy replied.

    ¡°Then can you open the beauty function on your phone and make me look whiter?¡± ckie asked, half-jokingly.

    Snowyughed. ¡°Sure!¡± She really admired ckie¡¯s courage of surviving alone in the wilderness, so she wanted to share his experiences with her fans. Another hidden purpose, however, was for self-protection. A heart of vignce was indispensable. Under the eyes of tens of thousands of fans, even if ckie had some weird ideas, he would think twice before acting.

    Snowy quickly updated her Weibo and the public WeChat ount, then sent out messages and a new blog post to her followers. The content was very simple. It said, ¡°Dudu! The old driver¡¯s taking the wheel! Those sleeping, get up quickly! Those on the toilet, get off now! A sudden impromptu broadcast will be held today!¡±

    The fans who got the news responded quickly. ¡°Haha! The early bird gets the worm!¡±

    ¡°This early? I¡¯m not prepared! I was about to go to sleep...¡±

    ¡°Sleep your mom! Get up and get high!¡±

    ¡°After suddenly receiving a message from Snowy, I got so excited I identally mped off a record-breaking piece...¡±

    ¡°Be careful with that, you might get rectal prpse!¡±

    ¡°Where is Snowy going to broadcast today?¡±

    There were too many messages, and Snowy was eager to start the live broadcast. She had no time to reply to them one by one.

    ckie started the car, and while waiting for the security guard to open the gate, he curiously nced at Snowy¡¯s mobile phone and said, ¡°In fact, the seniors of the wilderness survivalmunity told me that, if possible, they want me to record some videos in the wild and upload them when I have the opportunity to. One reason they want me to is so I can gather some fans, and another reason is to attract more attention to the cause. If I were to encounter any danger or ident in the wild, more people coulde and help.¡±

    Snowy nodded. ¡°Yeah, I think that makes sense. You can also broadcast live!¡±

    ¡°The problem is that ordinary mobile phones basically have no signal in the wild, so I carry a satellite phone with me at all times. I¡¯m able to make calls and send text messages without any problem, but ess to the Inte is basically nonexistent.¡± ckie pulled out a mobile phone from his pocket, and it seemed to be a few years behind the trending mobile phones. It looked boorish and was very military-styled. It looked just like a brick. Just by ncing at it, one knew that it was definitely sturdy and durable.

    The thing was not something that could be afforded by ordinary people. The phone itself cost over tens of thousands of dors, and the cost of calling and text messaging was several times more expensive than that of a normal bill. In the era where unlimited data ns were the norm, the cost for browsing the Inte with satellite phones was shocking. One megabyte of data usage was already tens of dors, and the speed was very slow¨C¨Cnot to mention that it was limited to the most basicwork ess. To live broadcast was certainly not usible.

    Of course, the reason people bought satellite phones was for emergency usage in the wild, so the other additional features were optional to them.

    ¡°As for recording a video and uploading it to the video site...¡± ckieughed and said, ¡°I have no intention of bing an inte celebrity, and the purpose of me going to the wilderness for survival is just for my own experience. To record a video during the experience... feels ufortable, and would definitely destroy the mood.¡±

    Snowy thought about it and felt that his point was understandable.

    If ckie were to record his wilderness survival process and upload it on the Inte, he might just go viral. What could that give him? He was going into the wilderness for survival because he didn¡¯tck money, and was putting his own experience as the priority. That was a game exclusively for the rich.

    ckie drove away from the vi area, and Snowyunched the live broadcast app. ¡°Hello! Hello everyone! This is Snowy. Wee to my live broadcast room! Our slogan is, ¡®Eat, drink, and be merry at Binhai City!¡¯¡±

    With her signature opening, fans who received the news poured into the live broadcast room. Although it was a Saturday morning, there were still quite a number of fans.

    ¡°As soon as I received the news that Snowy was going live, I rolled out of the mermaid¡¯s live broadcast room. Please let me wipe off the slobber from the screen first.¡±

    ¡°What! That can¡¯t be true. I was just there! Why didn¡¯t I see you?¡±

    ¡°In the mermaid¡¯s live broadcast room the bullet screens are all hidden, so we can only silently lick our screens.¡±

    The hardcore fans who were familiar with each other said their greetings to one another. The mermaid live broadcast room that they were talking about was a newwork anchor on their tform. Snowy had also visited her live broadcast room after hearing about her, and after taking a look, all she could say was that her looks were really unmatchable. She couldn¡¯t even be jealous of her. Although the anchor¡¯s live broadcast skills were still quite immature¨C¨Cshe would get into fights with the audience just because of a difference in opinion¨C¨Ceveryone started out as an amateur. Even Snowy had times when her live broadcast room was empty, so she was still very optimistic about the newwork anchor.

    Although Snowy was filming herself with the front camera, fans with sharp eyes were able to tell that she was sitting in a moving car, and it didn¡¯t seem to be a taxi.

    ¡°Guess the car! Guess the car! Did Snowy take Didi cab today? Can anyone guess the model?¡±

    ¡°Sh*t! Guessing the car is so difficult! At least let us take a look at the dashboard and guess. We can only see a part of the headrest and half of the rear window. How are we supposed to guess?¡±

    ¡°Real fans can guess it by the paint finish!¡±

    ¡°Chubby Tiger, you¡¯re making things difficult for me!¡±

    ¡°From the perspective of the field of view, if it¡¯s not an off-road, then it¡¯s an SUV.¡±

    ¡°During the turn earlier, I think I saw a Harman Kardon sound system...¡±

    ¡°It looks like a luxury car... Is there really someone who would drive a luxurious car for Didi cab? It can¡¯t be to go after girls, right?¡±

    When Snowy noticed that they were having a good time guessing the car, she deliberately tilted the phone to the left and right, allowing more clues for them.

    ¡°The full-size spare tire behind the car... It has to be an off-road vehicle.¡±

    ¡°I saw a three-button differential lock... Sh*t! It¡¯s the new Mercedes-Benz G, right?¡±

    ¡°I also think that it¡¯s indeed the new Mercedes-Benz G.¡±

    ¡°This car costs more than one million in China, right? Whose car did you get in, Snowy?¡±

    The fans were in aplicated mood. For the first time, everyone saw Snowy sitting in the passenger seat of a luxury car, so it was unavoidable for them to specte. Some people even suspected that Snowy had found a tall, rich, and handsome boyfriend.

    Snowy smiled and stopped with her mysterious act. She pointed the camera at ckie, who was driving, and introduced him to the fans. ¡°This is our special guest for today¡¯s live broadcast. He¡¯s a man that is passionate about individual wilderness survival. He doesn¡¯t wish to be named, so you guys can just address him as ckie.¡±

 Chapter 1032: Special Request

    <h4>Chapter 1032: Special Request</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Although he was already middle-aged, Hei Zi was still quite handsome. He was wearing a leather jacket and sunsses. He was tall, tan, and thin, which was quite suited to a portion of the girls¡¯ tastes, and the fact that he was driving a luxury car showed that he had a lot of money.

    ¡°Wa! It¡¯s a handsome uncle!¡±

    ¡°Surviving alone in the wilderness? That is very handsome!¡±

    There were a few guys that said, their tone sour, ¡°Actually, men carrying bricks is also very handsome... It¡¯s just that there¡¯s no one looking.¡±

    Hei Zi smiled and waved his hand. ¡°Hello everyone. It¡¯s my first time being live broadcasted... I¡¯m Hei Zi, and I want to make it clear that before I went into the wild, I was not this tan.¡±

    After the fans heard that, they were very troubled. Why was Snowy going around with a middle-aged uncle who liked to survive in the wild?

    ¡°Snowy, is it that being a normal outdoor broadcaster was no longer enough for you? You wanted to take up the challenge of broadcasting in the wild?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t do it... Broadcasting in the wild sounds very dangerous...¡±

    Snowy chuckled, then turned the camera to herself again. ¡°Although this old expert is very cool, I want to make it clear: I didn¡¯t go with Mr. Hei Zi into the wild. Instead, I¡¯m bringing you guys to a very familiar ce! Can you guess where that is? That¡¯s right¨C¨Cit¡¯s the Amazing Fate Pet Shop! Today, because a friend asked me to, I¡¯m bringing Mr. Hei Zi to find a dog that is a suitable partner for him in the wilderness.¡±

    ¡°What the f*ck! We¡¯re going to see the horrible face of that pretentious store manager again? Thank goodness I did not eat breakfast...¡±

    ¡°Eh! No matter what, he¡¯s a popr person in Binhai City. He¡¯s really just using his dog¡¯s power to pretend to be mighty...¡±

    ¡°Snowy, go and trick Famous toe over. If Famous follows Hei Zi into the wild, Bear Grylls would have nothing on them! It sounds good!¡±

    Her loyal fans had seen several live episodes at the Amazing Fate Pet Store, and had even gone there personally. They knew a lot about it. Some of them also knew about dogs. They said, confused, ¡°It¡¯s not a mistake to buy a dog from a pet store... But the problem is that the dogs that go out into the wild cannot be ordinary sled dogs.¡±

    ¡°If you brought three of the stupid sleigh dogs out into the wild, you wouldn¡¯te back...¡±

    Other fans also said, ¡°I think it¡¯s better to get a big, fierce dog, but all the dogs in Amazing Fate Pet Store seem to be suitable for cities only.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Snowy, you might be making a wasted trip.¡±

    Seeing what they said, Snowy remembered that the dogs in the Amazing Fate Pet Store were either medium dogs or small dogs, and were dogs suitable for a normal city dweller... Perhaps some of the middle or small sized dogs could still be brought into the wild?

    Some kinds of small dogs, although they were small, had excited, loud barks. They would be able to keep watch, but of course, they were not able to deal with wild beasts or gangsters.

    She could not help but feel her heart tighten. Uncle Jin had specifically asked her to help him with this, and had even taken the heavy responsibility of telling her parents where she was. If she was not sessful, that would be embarrassing.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Hei Zi saw that her facial expression was strange, and thought that she was not feeling well.

    Snowy had no choice but to tell him the analysis from herizens and said, ¡°Uncle Jin and I totally forgot about it, so this trip might be in vain.¡±

    Hei Zi¡¯s reaction was very magnanimous, and he instead persuaded her. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. When I saw Jin Er¡¯s silly dog, I was ready for this trip to be in vain. Even if it is in vain, it¡¯d be cool to see Famous, the Best Actor of the Berlin Film Festival. That would make the trip worth it!¡±

    Hearing him say that, Snowy felt a little better, and took the opportunity to introduce Hei Zi to some famous scenic spots along the way. She had gone to all of the famous, scenic spots in Binhai City before, so she could give him a very good description of them.

    While they were talking, they arrived at Zhonghua Road. While Snowy gave directions, Hei Zi parked in front of the pet shop next to Wuling Hong Guang MPV.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun just happened to be outside taking out the trash. At a nce, they saw a magnificent Mercedes-Benz and hurried back to the store and cried, ¡°Master! Master! There¡¯s a Mercedes-Benz at the door! Is that the car you ordered? You¡¯re finally going to rece Wuling Hong Guang MPV?¡±

    Zhang Zian was also excited. He thought, When did I be so rich? How could I not know?

    He walked out of the shop and saw Snowy get out of the car with Snowball in her arms. He was shocked. He said in his heart that, as expected, online broadcasters were rich. He did not know whether or not Snowy had signed a contract with the live broadcasting tform. If she was really making that much money, he would have to reluctantly sign a contract for Sihwa. Even if he was misunderstood as a cross-dresser, he had no other choice...

    He was a man. He could not bend his waist for five buckets of rice, but he could bend his waist for a Mercedes-Benz. But now that he was looking carefully, Snowy was sitting in the passenger seat, and someone else was sitting in the driver¡¯s seat.

    Hei Zi got out of the car. He closed the car door with a bang, and took off his sunsses to look at the pet shop¡¯s sign.

    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Shopkeeper! It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve since you! I¡¯m here again to bother you!¡± Snowy smiled and greeted Zhang Zian. Snowball was getting heavier and heavier. Snowy was holding her phone in one hand, and she could not hold Snowball with a single hand, so she put it down onto the floor and let it go into the shop to y by itself.

    ¡°Wee! This is...¡± Zhang Zian looked at Hei Zi a few times and confirmed that he had never met him before.

    ¡°Let me introduce you to Zhang Zian. He¡¯s the shopkeeper and the owner of Famous, the Best Actor dog... Zhang Zian, this is a friend of a friend. He wanted to buy a dog, so I brought him over. I wanted to ask for your help, Mr. Shopkeeper, in choosing a suitable dog for him.¡± Snowy made sure she was clear about the reason for the trip.

    Hei Zi waved his hand, smiled and said, ¡°Store Manager Zhang, right? I¡¯ve heard your famous name! Just call me Hei Zi. Even though I¡¯m the kind of person that normally does not take notice of entertainment news, I heard that there was a dog in Binhai City that had the honor of winning the Best Actor award at the Berlin Film Festival.¡±

    Zhang Zian modestly replied a few words. When people first met him, he was always referred to as ¡°Famous¡¯ owner.¡± On the contrary, few people cared about his real name. Didn¡¯t that hurt people¡¯s consciences?

    Snowy was not reassured and cut in to say, ¡°Mr. Shopkeeper, don¡¯t me me for being nosy, but his requests are more unique. Please do your best to help out...¡±

    ¡°Oh? Tell me about it.¡± Zhang Zian was very confident. His pets had a certain premium, which included consulting fees. Many customers had special requirements for pets. Sometimes the customers themselves did not even know what they wanted. After his analysis of their desires and patience, the customers would realize that as long as they did not request a dog with asthma, they would return home satisfied.

    Hei Zi very directly stated his interests and hobbies, as well as his requirements for his dog.

    Zhang Zian was very shocked. He did not think that he was a man that loved venturing into the wilderness. His request was indeed very unique. Common, city dogs would not be able to satisfy his request.

    He pondered a bit more, then said, ¡°I understand now. What you need is a guard dog.¡±

 Chapter 1033: Tom and Jerry

    <h4>Chapter 1033: Tom and Jerry</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Currently, there was no globally adopted standard when it came to differentiating between different breeds of dogs. If we followed the American Kennel Club¡¯s standards, pet dogs would generally be categorized into seven different groups: sporting dogs, hound dogs, working dogs, terriers, toy dogs, herding dogs, and non-sportings. These categories were formed in order to makepetitions easier to handle, but dogs were generally split into two types: working dogs and non-working dogs.

    Working dogs were dogs that were able to assist humans in their daily life or work. The others fell into the non-working category. Most of them were small breeds, like Pekingese, Chihuahuas, and Pomeranians. Other than apanying humans and providing joy, they didn¡¯t have much use.

    Simply put, what working dogs could do, non-working dogs couldn¡¯t. But what non-working dogs could do, working dogs could, too.

    When humans first domesticated dogs, their sole purpose was to breed them for working purposes, to be the greatest ally to humans in the fight between homo sapiens and nature. With the development and growth of industrialization and tool-making, the need for working dogs had decreased, thus giving rise to non-working dogs.

    Within the umbre of working dogs, they could be further ssified. For example, hounds that helped people hunt, herders that helped humans keep an eye on their livestock, service dogs that helped humans with everyday tasks, snow-sled dogs that were in charge of transport in the bone-chilling cold, guard dogs that risked their lives every day for their owners, and specialized military and K9s. Some breeds might have fallen under several categories. German Shepherds, for one, were a ssic multi-purpose breed. They could be herd dogs, guard dogs, or police dogs.

    After hearing ckie¡¯s exnation, Zhang Zian immediately knew that he needed a guard dog. Only a guard dog would be able to chase away wild animals in a harsh environment, attack intruders, and be able to provide the greatest protection to their owner.

    ckie then asked, ¡°A guard dog? That sounds great, what kind of guard dogs do you provide?¡±

    His gaze swept past Zhang Zian then, looking into the pet shop.

    ¡°About that...¡± Zhang Zian was stumped too.

    Just like theizens had guessed, his shop mostly sold breeds that were most suitable formon families to have. Most of them were small toy breeds. He had some working dogs like Golden Retrievers and Samoyeds, but no one in the cities would buy them in order to make them work. They would mainly keep them as pets.

    He didn¡¯t sell the more ¡°aggressive¡± type of mid to big-sized dogs that he needed, but only those would be able to be a good guard dog in the wild. The needs of dogs within a city and the wilderness were vastly different.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you guyse on in? Let¡¯s not talk while standing outside.¡± He invited ckie and Snowy into his shop, giving the impressive Mercedes Benz G-ss another jealous look.

    ¡°That¡¯s great, I¡¯d wanted to see what Famous was all about too,¡± ckie excitedly exined.

    Snowy knew how Zhang Zian was. Seeing that he hadn¡¯t outright rejected them, but instead invited them into the shop, she knew that he had it settled, and rxed.

    But theizens were assuming the worst of Zhang Zian.

    ¡°I knew it, the stingy owner definitely wouldn¡¯t reject a sale that walked right up to his door...¡±

    ¡°I think he¡¯s trying to cook up something. Probably trying to talk him into purchasing a Chihuahua for a guard dog...¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t speak too soon. Chihuahuas are at least better guard dogs than the stupid sled dogs! They can¡¯t even protect their own arse!¡±

    ¡°What a tastefulment...¡±

    Snowy has been to the shop several times, and immediately spotted a new member added to the team with one look, squealing excitedly, ¡°Wow! Mr. Owner! Where did you get Tom?¡±

    ¡°Tom? Who¡¯s Tom?¡±

    Everyone¡ªckie, the employees, even the audience in the live-stream room¡ªwere all stunned. Who was that?

    Snowy giggled, pointing at dimir. ¡°Isn¡¯t this Tom?¡±

    dimir waszing in a corner, and the cream kitten kept climbing onto his back, pulling his tail, unable to sit still at all.

    That night, he had brought the defenseless and weak cream kitten back into the pet shop. Since then, the cream kitten had been just like a parasite. No matter how you swatted at it, it refused to go away.

    ¡°What the meow! What are you all looking at me for?¡±

    He was still recharging up on his energy for what he had to do afterward, but he suddenly felt everyone¡¯s eyes on him. His eyes opened then, surveying the people around him annoyedly, not knowing what had gotten into them.

    Lu Yiyun kindly corrected her. ¡°Snowy, this cat¡¯s called dimir. He was brought back by the owner from a friend he had in the capital, he¡¯s not called Tom.¡±

    ¡°No, no, no, this really is Tom, he looks exactly like him! Don¡¯t you guys think so?¡± Snowy squatted down, observing dimir with the utmost interest.

    ¡°Christ, who is Tom?¡± dimir was extremely confused, wanting to go rest in another spot. He wasn¡¯t too picky about his resting spot anyway, as long as he got to lie down.

    ¡°Tom... Is it the ¡®My Talking Tom¡¯?¡± Wang Qian guessed.

    Snowy shook her head.

    Instead, it was Zhang Zian who reacted first. ¡°Tom... you mean Tom from Tom and Jerry?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Don¡¯t they look alike?¡± Snowy pointed at dimir again. ¡°Just look closely!¡±

    Everyone was just confused.

    Zhang Zian chuckled, ¡°Trust you to think of that. But you¡¯re right. Tom in Tom and Jerry does look like dimir. To be more urate, he was modeled after the Russian Blue.¡±

    The employees, clients, and even the audience in the live stream heard something they had never heard before, and they knew that it was time to learn some general knowledge. No one interrupted, and they quietly waited for Zhang Zian to further exin himself. Even thements in the live stream had slowed to a trickle.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t disappoint everyone either. ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anyone who doesn¡¯t know about the cartoon, Tom and Jerry, right? But very few people know that Tom was actually made from the Russian Blue. If you recall, did Tom have a blue-grey coat and long limbs in the cartoon? Most importantly, Tom had green eyes with golden edges. That is definitely a Russian Blue trait.¡±

    Even though Russian Blues didn¡¯t have white ws, Tom did in the cartoon. This point had been taken by the English Shorthair supporters with a death grip to prove that Tom was an English Shorthair. But this was their only evidence. Other than this, all of Tom¡¯s other traits were miles and miles away from an English Shorthair, and was instead extremely close to a Russian Blue¡¯s.

    Besides, as an American cartoon, and a cartoon extremely popr during the Cold War, there was an unavoidable bias shaping the cartoon. Tom yed a stupid bully in the cartoon, while Jerry was a sharp and likable character. There was no dispute over who was more popr. Even now, most of the people being the ¡°bad guys¡± were either East European firearms smugglers or Russian Intelligence.

 Chapter 1034: Spare No Effort in Searching for Something

    <h4>Chapter 1034: Spare No Effort in Searching for Something</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Although the original Tom in Tom and Jerry actually was a Russian blue cat, many people did not think so. The reality was that whoever was loud, was reasonable, and whoever had the majority, had logic. Tragically, the number of people in favor of Russian blue cats was less than one percentpared to people in favor of British Shorthair cats. Especiallypared to the domestic blue cat, fans of the British Shorthair dominated the world. Saying ¡°Tom¡¯s original form was a Russian blue cat¡± in a forum or on Tieba could cause one to be besieged by the people in favor of the British Shorthair, so nobody really wated to trouble themselves.

    Zhang Zian was not afraid of catfights or of arguing in general. Anyway, he had a lot of time.

    There were British Shorthairs in the shop. If one randomlypared a British Shorthair kitten to dimir, anyone could see which was more simr to Tom in the animated film.

    ¡°The pretentious shopkeeper sessfully strikes again!¡±

    ¡°Although it¡¯s very logical, this information is really too boring...¡±

    ¡°Perhaps I can use this knowledge when my future children watch Tom and Jerry... But first I must find a girlfriend!¡±

    ¡°So that means that your children are still on your hand and paper?¡±

    There were alsoizens that asked curiously, ¡°Snowy, how could you tell? Why is it that I could not tell?¡±

    Snowy smiled and said, ¡°When I was young, my dad and mom had me watch animated films so I could learn English. I rewatched Tom and Jerry many times. I didn¡¯t manage to learn English, but I practically memorized the whole show. When I saw this cat, I felt that it really looked like Tom. I just found out that it was a Russian blue.¡±

    Hei Zi also recalled it and sighed. ¡°Actually, now that you say that, I¡¯ve seen it before too... Right, what is that very strong dog on that show? That dog that always locks throats with Tom to save Jerry.¡±

    ¡°The American Bulldog. It is also a type of working dog,¡± Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders and said meaningfully, ¡°Such is the Hollywood routine. It is always the United States that finally beats Russia and saves the world.¡±

    dimir did not know what they were talking about. He clenched his fist instinctively and shouted, ¡°The stray cats all over the world unite to defeat the American Imperialists, paper tigers, and all running dogs!¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    ¡°Then do you have American Bulldogs here? I think that dog is strong and brave. Can it be a guard dog?¡± Hei Zi looked around the store, trying to find the dog from the cartoon.

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°A bulldog is a shepherd dog. As a guard dog, it is not alert and flexible enough. I don¡¯t have any here, anyway.¡±

    ¡°Oh...¡± Hei Zi could not help but feel that it was a pity because, in his memory, the dog in the animated film was very great.

    His gazended on Zhan Tian, and he hesitated for a moment. He said, ¡°This dog... Like Famous, it¡¯s a German Shepherd, right? Are you selling this dog?¡±

    In the daytime when the shop was open, Zhan Tian alwaysid in front of the stairs dutifully to prevent customers from going up to the second floor. Sometimes customers threw empty bottles on the ground, and it would pick them up and throw them into their specific trash cans.

    Hei Zi knew that Zhang Zian would definitely not sell Famous, and he did not know what kind of background Zhan Tian had. Based on its appearance, however, Zhan Tian was even bigger and scarier than Famous, and it looked very domineering. Its gaze had a certain alertness to it.

    ¡°Unfortunately, this dog is a retired police dog. As an adopter, I can¡¯t buy and sell it freely. It suffered some mental trauma during its service. In the process of its gradual recovery, it is sometimes afraid of sudden, bright light. It needs a stable environment. It is not suitable for it to be too far away from home for the time being,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    ¡°Police dog?¡± Hei Zi¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°If it is a police dog, it would be a suitable guard dog, right? Do you know where else I can get a retired police dog?¡±

    ¡°A police dog would certainly be a qualified guard dog, but a police dog is very precious. They are usually old and frail, or injured and disabled by the time they retire. Young and powerful police dogs are not easily let out into themunity...¡± Zhang Zian saw that he was a wealthy man. If one had money, they often had connections, and so he dismissed his unrealistic idea in advance. ¡°Even if you can get a police dog through some connections, adult police dogs are often loyal to their former owners and may not listen to you.¡±

    ¡°Really... What a pity.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to find it a pity. In your kind of situation, it¡¯s best to rear it from a young age. If you start to train it while its young, you will bond with it. That way, it would be a reliable partner for you in the wilderness. There¡¯s no need to want a police dog,¡± Zhang Zian persuaded him.

    Hei Zi was not stubborn; he trusted the expert¡¯s advice. He said kindly, ¡°I see. Then can you rmend a dog that would be the best? I do not understand dogs, and I am afraid of being deceived or choosing the wrong one... Money is not a problem. As long as the dog is good, it doesn¡¯t matter if I have to spend a lot of money. Of course, it would be better if I could get it quickly because I won¡¯t be in Binhai City for too long.¡±

    Snowy said from the side, ¡°Hei Zi is not from around here. He came to Binhai City to visit a friend. Store Manager, please help.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought for awhile. ¡°First off, my shop definitely does not have the guard dog that you would need...¡±

    ¡°What about other shops?¡± Hei Zi asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m not very familiar with other shops, and the shops in the city normally do not sell these kinds of big dogs that have aggressive personalities.¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s tone changed and he said, ¡°But if you¡¯re in a rush to get it, there¡¯s a ce that you can try.¡±

    ¡°Where?¡± Snowy and Hei Zi asked at the same time.

    Zhang Zian answered simply, ¡°The dog market.¡±

    dimir looked at the sky; it was almost time to leave. He and the stray cats had concocted a surprise attack on the stray dogs near the dog market. It was the day they were going tounch the attack, but the dog market was far away from there and they had to set off long in advance. It intended to go by itself, and it did not want to bother Zhang Zian.

    It pushed the yful yellow and white kitten to the side and was about to quietly sneak out the door when it heard Zhang Zian mention the words ¡°dog market.¡± It stopped and carefully eavesdropped.

    Snowy and Zhang Zian had gone to the dog market previously to conduct live broadcasting in order to help Deng Jie seek justice. They exposed the deception of many ck-hearted and treacherous traders in the dog market. Snowy nodded, seeming to understand what he meant.

    But Hei Zi was a foreigner who did not understand the situation. Zhang Zian exined to him, ¡°The dog market is located in the urban-rural junction of Binhai City, which is a zone that is ungoverned. It is also thergest pet distribution center in Binhai City... Not to mentionrge dogs, even pets that are not allowed in some countries are for sale... So I think you can try your luck at the dog market.¡±

    Snowy said with a lingering fear, ¡°The pets sold in the dog market are really misceneous. There are all kinds of pets, but there are evil traders everywhere. Hei Zi and I will definitely be deceived if we go there... Mr. Shopkeeper, if you are free today, can you apany us?¡±

    dimir was also awaiting Zhang Zian¡¯s reply.

 Chapter 1035: Second Time at the Dog Market

    <h4>Chapter 1035: Second Time at the Dog Market</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Just like always, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have much nned today and was just as free as a jobless man. It shouldn¡¯t be too much of an issue for him to go to the dog market today. It was just a drive away, and he had a car.

    But he couldn¡¯t agree so easily. If he agreed the moment people suggested something, where should all his pride go?

    If he couldn¡¯t earn money at the dog market, then he at least had to gain some pride.

    He pointed to the Merc G-ss outside, asking a question he already knew the answer to. ¡°That car¡¯s yours?¡±

    ¡°Hm? Yeah.¡± ckie nodded his head dumbly.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind bringing you to the dog market, but I want to drive.¡± Zhang Zian was determined to at least experience driving a luxury car. Driving wasn¡¯t his motive, but instead, it was to take a few selfies in the driver¡¯s seat, showing off the logo ¡°unintentionally,¡± and then post it on his social media. Maybe some chick would be attracted.

    Of course, he couldn¡¯t hide his intentions from everyone else on site and the audience in the live stream, other than ckie. Especially the audience; they couldn¡¯t help but throw some sarcasm at him.

    ¡°Manager Weak Bird... I suggest you don¡¯t try it. Girls now don¡¯t take it that seriously, they might even think you¡¯re a worker from a car wash...¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! I think driving the Wuling Hong Guang MVP makes him look a lot cooler!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s his aura, he just doesn¡¯t match up to the car. A weak man driving a strong car, just like a bear trying to raw the earth!¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that the audience definitely had nothing nice to say, so he ignored them.

    ckie, still in the dark about the truth, brought out his key and threw it over, agreeing easily, ¡°No problem.¡±

    dimir, who was nning to leave at this time, went back to his original spot to lie down. Since Zhang Zian was going to the dog market too, he could just hitchhike, and he wouldn¡¯t have to break his legs walking there.

    Zhang Zian still had some things to finish first, and couldn¡¯t leave immediately. It wouldn¡¯t be appropriate for him to push everything to his employees to finish.

    It was great that Snowy and ckie were both not in a rush for time. Snowy stood behind Lu Yiyun, showing her audience the process of a professional artist¡¯s artwork. ckie gathered with the movie lovers by Famous. He didn¡¯t know much about dogs, but he just listened in as the movie loversmented, joining in the fun.

    After finishing up all of his work, Zhang Zian waved his hand. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    midir immediately bounced up, following behind them quickly.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t too surprised to see it follow after them. Every time he went somewhere further, midir would always enthusiasticallye with him, most likely to build his Meow Meow Branch Organization there.

    Seated in the car, Zhang Zian was still a little pumped and made sure he took enough selfies from every single angle before finally turning on the car and driving towards the dog market. ckie sat in the passenger¡¯s seat. Snowy left Snowball back at the pet shop and sat in the backseat with dimir.

    A luxury car was just different, and they had turned so many heads. He couldn¡¯t help but feel that all of the beauties on the road were turning their heads back to look¡ªof course, they might not be taking a second look at the car, but instead his sexy side profile. Mm, that must be it!

    ¡°Oh right, Snowy, I saw you in the Forbidden City recently when I went to the capital.¡±

    After the excitement had worn off, Zhang Zian joked.

    ¡°Huh?¡± Snowy¡¯s eyes widened in confusion. ¡°I didn¡¯t head to the capital, did you see that person wrongly?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t see ¡®a person¡¯ wrongly, but more like ¡®a cat¡¯ wrongly.¡±

    Since they had nothing to do on the way to the dog market, he had just spoken about how he had met the stray Snowy.

    ¡°What a coincidence!¡± Snowy was surprised and ted. ¡°I had been to the Forbidden City before, but all the houses seemed to be quite simr. It felt pretty boring, and I didn¡¯t notice whether there were strays too.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because strays don¡¯t like to be around tourists. You can either go there really early, or walk away from the crowd, to the quieter pces in the east and west to meet strays.¡± Zhang Zian told her what the Forbidden City staff had taught him. ¡°Of course, if you could enter the restricted areas like me, you could find even more strays there.¡±

    Snowy said that she was jealous, and she really was. When she went to the Forbidden City, she was only there to look at the scenery. She really didn¡¯t think that there would be all kinds of strays in there, and even a cat that shared her name.

    ¡°The next time I go, I won¡¯te back until I take a photo with the stray Snowy!¡± she dered.

    With the tales about the Forbidden City to pass the time, it felt like they were approaching the dog market not too longter.

    Zhang Zian and Snowy had both been born and raised here, and they had been here before. So, they had chatted all the way here, and Zhang Zian was also focused on the situation on the road, making sure to not get into any idents.

    It was the first time ckie hade to Binhai City, and the first time at a dog market too, so everything seemed new and interesting to him. Other than asionally jumping into the conversation with a few words, he spent most of his time observing this unfamiliar city through the ss.

    ¡°Speaking of strays... Does Binhai City have a lot of strays?¡±

    When there was a lull in Zhang Zian and Snowy¡¯s conversation, he suddenly cut in with a question.

    Strays had recently be a bit of a sensitive topic, due to the fact that the Holy Cat statue could always be linked to it.

    Both Snowy and Zhang Zian paused.

    ¡°Quite a lot, why?¡± Snowy asked back.

    ckie pointed outside. ¡°Look, there¡¯s at least two or three stray cats no matter where we look... Strange, they all seem to be moving towards the same direction, did something happen?¡±

    Zhang Zian slowed down the car, looking out the sides with Snowy.

    ckie wasn¡¯t exaggerating. No matter where they looked, in the streets, or on the roofs, a few stray cats would enter their view. The strangest part was that they all seemed to be running in amon direction. They weren¡¯t confined to roads like cars were, and they weaved in between the streets, going in a simr direction, the dog market, as quickly as they could.

    ¡°Weird, what are all these strays doing?¡± Snowy leaned her head onto the ss, muttering confusedly, ¡°Is someone feeding them at a fixed time, so they¡¯re all gathering there for food?¡±

    There was a certain usibility to her assumption, but the feeding must have been massive in order to attract this many strays. Unless it was an animal protection organization or a charity, a single person would most likely not be able to support feeding these many cats¡ªunless they were filthy rich.

    Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t been to the dog market for a long time, and he didn¡¯t dare to deny the possibility of her words. But ording to thew of parsimony, Snowy¡¯s exnation was way tooplex and required too many prerequisites. There most likely was a simpler reason to exin all of this. There might be a simpler reason for all of these.

    He looked at dimir through the rearview mirror. The reason for this huge gathering of troops might just be in the car.

    dimir looked silently out the window, a half-smile on its features, softly murmuring, ¡°A storm is brewing in the dog market, millions of catsing to its rescue!¡±

 Chapter 1036: A Quack Doctor

    <h4>Chapter 1036: A Quack Doctor</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was not convenient for Zhang Zian to ask dimir about its ns in front of Snowy and Hei Zi.

    There were many people near the dog market. Many people came on bicycles and tricycles, so the traffic was very bad. Zhang Zian stopped in front of the door of a shop nearby, and the four of them, including dimir, got out of the car.

    Snowy and Hei Zi were looking around in confusion. The stray cats did not run into the dog market, or gather at a fixed point. Instead, they spread out around the dog market, finding ces to hide.

    There were normally a lot of stray cats and dogs near the dog market, so the people that lived nearby were not as surprised as them and did not even notice the situation.

    Furthermore, the stray cats seemed to be unaware of dimir, who was jumping past them from the tops of the walls and the roofs of the buildings; they did not stop to observe it.

    That was the most obvious difference between dimir and Fina: dimir really was like an ordinary cat.

    Zhang Zian, on the other hand, was extremely afraid, because it proved that the stray cats were very organized. Their superiors and subordinates were basically single-line contacts assisted by a code, so that they could better conceal themselves. Even if a cat fell to the enemy, it could withstand torture without confession; it would not cause fatal damage to the top of the organizational pyramid...

    Of course, that was definitely him thinking too much. Who would torture a cat for information?

    dimir really wanted to ask dimir what exactly it was nning, but no matter what, they had solve Snowy and Hei Zi¡¯s problem first.

    Thest time they came to the dog market, they had caused a great scene. Even the news reports of local television stations used the live video of Snowy to expose the chaos of the dog market to the general public. It attracted the attention ofw enforcement departments such as the industry,merce, taxation, and urban management departments. They carried out several jointw enforcement actions on the dog market, which focused on cracking down on the illegal acts of evil business owners and hoodwinkers, and alleviated, to a certain extent, the turmoil of the dog market.

    But Rome was not built in one day, and the chaos in the area, which was not under the jurisdiction of any of the authorities, had been going on for a long time. The marketw enforcement departments could not stay there long; they came and went, and the vendors would fight guerri warfare withw enforcement departments. Their motto was, ¡°If youe, I¡¯ll run. If you go, I¡¯lle back.¡±

    Therefore, the situation of the dog market was better than before, but it was still not good. More time and patience were needed to thoroughly govern the ce. But chaotic order was not necessarily a bad thing¨C¨Cat least some people could buy pets that were not legal.

    Hei Zi very rarely came to such messy ces, and the many different types of pets around made him very confused. Everything he saw looked interesting and new, but his eyes were not big enough to take everything in.

    It had been a few months since Snowy hadst been there, and she sighed all over again. Although it was still messy, at least there was no longer anyone selling dyed chickens.

    Zhang Zian observed the direction dimir was walking in; it seemed to be totally immersed in the process of exploring the dog market. It would only asionally look at the sky, like it was waiting for the right time.

    dimir, Zhang Zian, Snowy, and Hei Zi walked in a line, and they upied the inadequate road space in the dog market. In order to y his part as the host and to let Hei Zi enjoy looking around, they walked slowly, and behind them, there was a voice urging them to make way. ¡°Make way! Please make way!¡±

    They instinctively separated to the left and right to create a pathway for the people that were in a hurry to go past them.

    The man behind them was carrying an iron cage with ck and tan puppies squirming on a straw mat. They were very small, like they had just been born, and had not yet opened their eyes.

    ¡°Eh? Mr. Storekeeper, what dog is that?¡± Snowy asked curiously. She had waited for the person to walk away and then pulled on Zhang Zian¡¯s sleeves.

    Zhang Zian also noticed them. There wereizens in the live broadcast room that were faster, and they sent out a bullet screen first. ¡°It¡¯s a rottweiler! Your luck is quite good. A Rottweiler is an extremely good guard dog!¡±

    Snowy looked at the bullet screen and asked, ¡°Theizens said it¡¯s a rottweiler. Is that correct?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s correct,¡± Zhang Zian answered confidently.

    Hei Zi¡¯s eyesight was quite good, and he saw the bullet screens from his position next to Snowy. He asked, ¡°A rottweiler can be a guard dog?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but these dogs have just been born, and they have yet to stop drinking milk. They haven¡¯t even opened their eyes yet. They are a bit too small,¡± Zhang Zian answered.

    Hei Zi felt that it was a pity when he heard that, but he did not give up. He said, ¡°Let¡¯s go and ask where that person bought them from. Perhaps we can buy a rottweiler that is slightly bigger.¡±

    ¡°Good idea,¡± Snowy said approvingly.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay to ask, but I think... that¡¯s the guy who sells them,¡± Zhang Zian said. The man brushed past him, and he smelled a strong odor that only people who frequently touched dogs embodied.

    It was the smell that both him and his store employees had, but it was not as strong. After all, the pets in his shop were mostly cats.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that better? Let¡¯s go!¡± Hei Zi said happily. ¡°If you don¡¯t spare any effort in searching for something, you gain nothing. Our luck is not bad! As soon as we came to the dog market, we met something suitable!¡±

    Zhang Zian waved his hand. ¡°Don¡¯t go and ask just yet. We need to see the situation first. I¡¯m very troubled as to why he brought such young dogs to the dog market... Hardly anyone would want to buy such young dogs. Being exposed to a ce like this while they¡¯re still so young makes them prone to strange diseases.¡±

    When he said that, Snowy felt troubled. The young puppies were too small, and they were sold too early. Customers were not dumb... A small dog like that could easily die if it was taken away from its mother too early, and it would be hard to hold the vendor responsible¨C¨Cespecially in the dog market, where there was no assurance contract signed.

    Zhang Zian gave a look and told the other two people and the cat to act casual. They followed behind the person with the puppies quietly.

    There were a lot of people moving around in the market, and that person did not realize that people were following him. He carried the cage and squeezed through the crowd, then came to the front of a stall. He loudly ced the metal cage on the table and said, ¡°Monk, help me with a few dogs again.¡±

    The stall was obviously very different from the others in the dog market. The stall did not have any pets or goods for pets; it was just a long table with a waterproof cloth on it, and there were stainless steel cutters that were glinting in the sun.

    The owner of the stall sat on a chair and was wearing a dirty white gown. He was a bald, middle-aged man.

    He raised his head to look at the other party. It seemed like he was familiar with them. Hezily pointed at the QR code hung in front of the table and said, ¡°Pay first.¡±

    The owner of the young dogs gave a hmph. ¡°Monk, can your hands be more agile this time? They¡¯re rottweilers, and they¡¯re quite expensive. I don¡¯t want them to get infected like the schnauzer didst time!¡±

    Monk rolled his eyes at him and said coldly, ¡°If you¡¯re scared, then go to a legal veterinarian. You want it both cheap and safe... Do you think such a good thing exists?¡±

 Chapter 1037: Abs

    <h4>Chapter 1037: Abs</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Snowy and ckie were stumped. What was this balding, middle-aged man trying to do with a dirty doctor¡¯s robe? Why had the young Rottweiler¡¯s owner brought them here too?

    Zhang Zian had a reasonable guess and lowered his voice to exin to them, ¡°They¡¯re here to do tail docking.¡±

    ¡°Tail docking?¡±

    This was apletely foreign term to them. They had heard of lizards dropping their tails for survival purposes, but even dogs would do it too?

    ¡°Have you not noticed? All the corgis, poodles, and schnauzers that you have seen in the market have really short tails. Some of them might even not have one,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°That...¡± Snowy gave it a thought. ¡°I thought they were born with short tails or without them. Wasn¡¯t there a saying that ¡®a rabbit¡¯s tail would never grow long¡¯?¡±

    ¡°A dog¡¯s not a rabbit. Why would they be born without tails?¡± Zhang Zian was almost speechless. ¡°They were born with tails, and not as short ones as you had seen. Why they had short tails or even no tails at all, was because they were docked short, orpletely removed after birth.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Why?¡± Snowy asked, slightly surprised.

    ¡°That was actually due to history.¡±

    Zhang Zian then exined to them how docking came to be.

    ¡°A long time ago, the Europeans raised dogs in order to hunt and catch mice.¡±

    ¡°Pft! Isn¡¯t that just unnecessary?¡± ckie couldn¡¯t help himself but blurt out, ¡°Why did they not use cats, but instead dogs?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a lot moreplicated. It might be because dogs were a lot more obedient and easier to train. It might also be because cats weren¡¯t treated well in Europe previously,¡± Zhang Zian continued. ¡°Anyways, many breeds, like small-sized terriers, were bred for the sole purpose of catching mice.¡±

    They wanted to wind through the shrubs and fields to catch mice, but their tail had be a burden instead. Their tails were fragile and easily fractured just by hitting the stray crops or getting tangled in a shrub. Therefore, dog owners of those times thought of a simple solution, which was to dock their tails.

    Fast forward to modern times. Even though people no longer used dogs to catch mice, the standards of beauty had already set in. For example, schnauzers. They had always had their tails docked, and usually only had one to two inches left. People had only seen schnauzers with that length of tail, and they might have been confused when they saw a schnauzer with a long tail, assuming that they were not ¡°pure breeds¡± or had a gic mutation.

    Besides, dog kennel organizations from around the world had also set standards for dog beautypetitions, and one of those was the length of its tail. Of course, they never mentioned that they must dock their tail, but what if they were not considered for the prize just because their tail was too long? Then just dock it off.

    ¡°But... Isn¡¯t that too cruel to dogs?¡± Snowy cast a worried look at the few plump Rottweilers in the metal cage. Not too longter, they would have to say goodbye to their own tails.

    ¡°That can¡¯t be helped. Both traditional standards of beauty andpetitions require short tails or no tails, or clients wouldn¡¯t ept it either... Besides, there is still debate around the subject. Tail docking isn¡¯t entirely detrimental to the dog, but the cons outweigh the pros. Just like these puppies,¡± Zhang Zian exined, pointing at the young Rottweilers. ¡°Because their nervous system hadn¡¯t fully developed yet, they don¡¯t need to be sedated nor given anesthesia to dock their tails, as they were said to not be able to feel pain.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good, if we sedated these young puppies, they wouldn¡¯t wake up from them too...¡± Snowymented, ¡°Actually, I still prefer dogs that can wag their tails.¡±

    ¡°They can. Most of tail docking procedures don¡¯t actually dock off the entire tail. For dogs like Rottweilers, they usually leave a section or two of its entire tailbone.¡± Zhang Zian measured the length with his fingers before turning to ckie. ¡°If you n to bring a guard dog into the wilderness, I would suggest docking their tails too. Tails are very fragile and prone to injury. If they got injured in the wild, it would be difficult to get them to appropriate care, and the wounds might get an infection.¡±

    ckie gave it a long thought, before raising up his T-shirt without any warning, pointing to his torso, ¡°Look.¡±

    The live stream room instantly exploded!

    ¡°Abs! It¡¯s the legendary abs!¡±

    ¡°I want to lick it... That should be alright, right?¡±

    ¡°A huge wave of fangirls iing!¡±

    ¡°Where are they?¡±

    ¡°Does he want a D-cup, fat, indoorsy woman?¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ckie was a lean yet ripped man, and his torso showed clearly his well-defined abs. But this was not the main point. He showed off his torso not for his abs, but for an old scar above his belly button. It was faintly red, and about two to three millimeters long, hard to notice if you weren¡¯t looking for it.

    ¡°I had asked for advice from my seniors in wilderness survival, and did a preemptive appendix surgery. Is that simr to docking?¡± He took a punch at himself for the joke.

    This was Zhang Zian¡¯s turn to be shocked. Both he and Snowy had never expected that ckie would go so far for wilderness survival. He didn¡¯t have appendicitis but had done a surgery pre-emptively. That was a lot ofmitment!

    People who often worked at sea for a long period of time or worked in the wilderness would often do a pre-emptive appendicitis surgery. Their work schedules were usually a mess, they didn¡¯t get to eat at fixed times, and their nutrition was even worse. This made them a high-risk group for acute appendicitis. The moment they got appendicitis in the middle of the sea or in the wilderness, without prompt treatment, they would get a perforation and end up with diffuse peritonitis, which might cause death.

    For a single-person wilderness survivor like ckie, the moment he got acute appendicitis in the wild, his death would be almost certain. He chose to do the surgery pre-emptively, proving his love for wilderness survival, and life, passionate, but notcking in logical reasoning.

    This was a true survival lover, someone rich and smart who had made proper ns and preparations¡ªmuch unlike passionate university groups that just dived into the mountains and forests, and ended up costing the country big money and manpower to save them.

    Zhang Zian gave him a thumbs-up out of true respect in his heart. ¡°Amazing! You do have a necessity to do such a surgery.¡±

    ckie smiled as he put down his T-shirt. ¡°So I agree with your advice. We shouldn¡¯t just say all docking is bad, but instead, analyze it based on each case and situation. A dog that¡¯s following me into the wild should have a docked tail.¡±

    With the disappearance of the abs, a wave of upsetments came through the live stream.

    Snowy had initially objected against tail docking, but after ckie¡¯s own example, she grudgingly epted that docking might not be all bad, at least for working dogs. But for toy breeds, it was just unnecessary.

    While they were discussing quietly, the balding middle-aged man in a doctor¡¯s robe prepared to do docking for the few young puppies.

 Chapter 1038: Communicating with Their Gaze

    <h4>Chapter 1038: Communicating with Their Gaze</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Despite that the ce was only a random stall in the dog market, this bald man working without a license had quite a booming business. After a short while, there was another person bringing cats and dogs to ask him to do the sterilization, and the amount he charged was obviously must lower than that of the official veterinarians.

    The sterilization surgery did not need much skill¡ªeven Snowy Li could do it¡ªbut the official veterinarians needed to pay for rent, electricity, and water, as well as pay their employees, so they could notpete with this kind of street-side stall.

    It was also the first time Zhang Zian found out that there were also people doing this at the dog market. Thest time he¡¯de, there hadn¡¯t been anyone doing this. This also proved that China¡¯s pet industry was advancing extremely fast.

    The bald roving doctor was quite bright himself, and he would tell the people who came to ask him to do the surgery clearly what kind of price meant what kind of service. If they felt that his skills were not good enough or the ce was not clean, they could spend more money to go to the official veterinarians to do it. Wanting to spend less money but still be satisfied in every way¡ªwhere else would they find that?

    He took out a few very thin rubber sleeves. He used a special tweezer to forcefully expand the rubber sleeve and dipped it into the alcohol, and then he used the alcohol to clean the tip of the young dog¡¯s tail. He put the tail into the rubber sleeve and pulled out the tweezer.

    The sleeve sprung back into its original shape and tightly covered the root of the young dog¡¯s tail to prevent the cirction of blood. If they sterilized the root of the tail every day, around one or two weekster, the tail would loosen and fall off because of the flesh spoiling and dying, and the injury would be very small. As long as they sterilized it well enough, there would be no danger of infection.

    Zhang Zian said to Snowy and Hei Zi, ¡°This is called the ligation and abscission method. It¡¯s suitable for young animals that have just been born. If they are more than a week old, the nerves in their tails will have started to develop, and they would feel arge amount of pain. But if the dog is too young, you cannot give it anesthetic, and you can¡¯t use this kind of method to remove its tail. You need to wait till the dog is at least three months old, and use the circumcision method and anesthetic to remove its tail. There is more skill needed for the circumcision method, and doing it at a roadside stall would be dangerous.¡±

    Circumcision and ligation? The maleizens in the live broadcast room all expressed that their balls hurt because these two methods were the methods that eunuchs in the past had used to cut off their testicles...

    The bald roving doctor seemed to hear his words and raised his head to look at him strangely, thinking that he had met someone doing the same line of work.

    The owner of the Rottweiler waited till all the young dogs¡¯ tails had been covered in the rubber sleeve, and only then did he happily take up the cage to leave.

    Hei Zi saw that he could not miss this opportunity. He instantly rushed over to ask, ¡°May I ask, are you selling Rottweilers?¡±

    That person was stunned and nodded, saying, ¡°I sell them! Why, do you want to buy one?¡±

    Hei Zi nodded. ¡°Um, do you have slightlyrger ones? These few are too small.¡±

    ¡°Yes! Follow me! My ce¡¯s Rottweilers are great. We have big ones and small ones. It¡¯s not far from here, and we will reach it in a few steps. Come and take a look. I guarantee that you will be satisfied!¡±

    That person¡¯s tone was weing, and he grabbed Hei Zi¡¯s arm and wanted to pull him away.

    Hei Zi¡¯s clothes were well-fitting, and he was wearing a branded watch that stood out. At first nce, it was obvious that he was rich.

    It was not rare to see rich peopleing to the dog market. After all, there were pets sold illegally here¡ªfor example, Snowy¡¯s rtive from a faraway ce, Lin Qi, had wanted to buy a wild leopard cat or a Servalst time.

    As for these kinds of dumb customers with a lot of money, of course, one could not reject them.

    Zhang Zian coughed and gave Hei Zi a look to signal to him not to follow.

    Hei Zi was a bright person. If he had not been, he would not have be a top talent in business. When he saw Zhang Zian¡¯s look, he knew that there could be some kind of problem here, and so, his expression unchanging, he patted away the person¡¯s hand, smiled, and said, ¡°I still have something to do¡ªjust leave me a way to contact you.¡±

    The person looked upset and tried to invite Hei Zi again, but Hei Zi directly rejected his invitations, and in the end, he could only add his WeChat and leave angrily.

    When that person had walked off, Hei Zi asked, ¡°Store Manager Zhang, does that person have a problem? Or is it that that person¡¯s dog has a problem?¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head, ¡°I¡¯m not sure about that. I gave you a look because he gave me a look.¡±

    Saying that, he pointed at the bald roving doctor.

    ¡°Huh?¡± Hei Zi was very shocked.

    Zhang Zian was also very shocked. After all, he was not rted to the bald roving doctor at all, and it was their first time meeting each other. Why was the roving doctor giving him looks to warn him?

    Just now, the owner of the Rottweilers had invited Hei Zi to follow him to see dogs, and Zhang Zian was not against it, because Rottweilers were really suitable guard dogs, and following him to take a look was also good. If he could see any suitable ones, it would have met the requests of Snowy and Hei Zi. However, he¡¯d suddenly noticed the bald roving doctor had stopped his work, moved his eyebrows, and given him a look, and he instantly knew that there was something wrong here.

    The bald roving doctor gave him another look to tell them not to go over and wait until he was done with this sterilization surgery.

    Zhang Zian understood. He did not want to let other people know about what had happened just now. Stopping someone else¡¯s business would offend them very easily.

    So he purposely brought Hei Zi and Snowy to walk around, and then he returned to the bald roving doctor and pretended to be a customer asking about the price of the surgery.

    The bald roving doctor just happened to be free, and he opened the thermal sk he had brought to drink some tea. He looked at Zhang Zian up and down and said, ¡°Shopkeeper Zhang of Amazing Fate Pet Shop?¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned. ¡°Have we met before?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve never met me before, but I¡¯ve seen you on television.¡± The bald roving doctor smiled. ¡°You¡¯re a famous person now. There aren¡¯t many in the pet industry in Binhai City who haven¡¯t heard of you. Appearing on television so often¡ªeven though it is the local television¡ªis very good.¡±

    Snowy also felt the glory when she heard it and gave him a thumbs-up.

    Zhang Zian touched his nose, feeling a little embarrassed. He had not thought that he would be so famous unknowingly.

    ¡°Just now...¡±

    The bald roving doctor interrupted him. ¡°I gave you that look just now because that person¡¯s reputation is not good. If you want to follow him over, it¡¯ll be tough to leave without your wallet taking a big hit.¡±

    Zhang Zian frowned. ¡°You¡¯re saying he forcefully buys and sells?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± The bald-headed doctorughed. ¡°If you don¡¯t believe it, you can go to the next booth and ask. If they dare to tell the truth, they will certainly tell you so. When he meets people who want to buy a Rottweiler, he enthusiastically pulls them to his house. In fact, his house is not even close to here. It¡¯s in a nearby vige. He has several Rottweilers and other big dogs. As soon as you enter his yard, he closes the door and leads the dogs out to block the door. If you don¡¯t pay, you don¡¯t get to get away.¡±

    Zhang Zian noticed his words and his expression and felt that he was speaking the truth. Such tactics were quitemon. For example, in theputer city in the past, newbies that did not knowputers at all were absolutely scammed when they went to buy aputer. If they found out that they¡¯d been scammed and wanted to return the goods, they would be surrounded by a few big men who did not listen to reason at all. Finally, the reputation of theputer city had been totally ruined.

    A few mature Rottweilers were a bigger deterrent than a few big burly men.

 Chapter 1039: Ear Cropping

    <h4>Chapter 1039: Ear Cropping</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Forced selling was unavoidable in unregted markets. The most ssic example was the world¡¯s IT hubs. In order to gain short-term profits, they were willing to lie, sell fake goods, pass off second-grade products as first-grade ones, and use forced selling. They had a plethora of methods to scam their consumers out of their hard-earned money. With the rise of emerce, IT hubs had, of course, be weaker. But even then, there were some individuals who rushed to IT hubs due to theirck of knowledge and ended up falling victim to their vicious ways.

    The pet market was quite simr to the early phases of theputer parts and DIY market, but it was worse. The same despicable methods existed in order for people to scam money out of consumers. But with the flexibility and unpredictability of the pricing of animals, there was no way for them to reason their way out of it, and they only had their own bad judgment to me.

    Zhang Zian gave it a thought and was d that he didn¡¯t make the choice. If he had followed that person and ended up getting sold to a deserted yard, forced to face several adult and vicious dogs, he might have had no other choice but to pay up.

    It wasn¡¯t because he wasn¡¯t alert, but because he wasn¡¯t a regr here, and he didn¡¯t understand what happened behind the scenes.

    ¡°But since we were strangers, why did you so kindly remind me? You¡¯re not afraid of that person finding out?¡± Zhang Zian asked. There was no love without reason, and there was no blind hate. He didn¡¯t believe that this bald wandering doctor had reminded him out of the sheer goodness of his heart.

    The doctor put down his ss. ¡°Of course I am. Why wouldn¡¯t I be afraid? But I¡¯m more afraid of you.¡±

    ¡°Me? What¡¯s there to be scared of?¡± Zhang Zian was puzzled. Could it be that he looked as fierce as a monster?

    ¡°You¡¯re quite a famous man in Binhai City. If a normal person was forced to buy something, they could do nothing much but take it. But if you were taken advantage of, would you ever let it go?¡± the doctor asked him.

    ¡°Of course not!¡± Zhang Zian dered. He could only take advantage of other people. How could he let others take advantage of him? He would definitely try to get them back for it.

    ¡°Youngsters nowadays don¡¯t watch much TV, but I watch TV every day. I¡¯ve seen reports about you, and I know you¡¯ve been to the dog market and caused a huge ruckus here. Even the rted authorities had gotten together to enforce thew, and had pretty much cleaned up this entire ce... I sure don¡¯t want you to call the authorities here if you were scammed¡ªI would be out of a job then. I only have a stall here to earn money, so I gave it a thought. I¡¯d rather ruin his business than ruin my own...¡±

    The doctor honestly talked about his reasoning.

    Zhang Zian said nothing.

    Even Snowy was stupefied by his words. ¡°You do make some sense...¡±

    ckie knew that Zhang Zian was famous, but not this famous. Even a random doctor operating his shop in the middle of the dog market knew about him. His impression of Zhang Zian became better, and he decided to forgive Jin Er just this once.

    ¡°Besides, I heard you mentioning that you want to buy a Rottweiler?¡± The doctor¡¯s eyes swept over the three of them once before he asked.

    ¡°Not just Rottweilers, but any dog that¡¯s suitable to be a guard dog.¡± Zhang Zian knew that this doctor had been in this dog market for some time, so he would definitely know more about the situation here. He asked, ¡°Do you know anyone else other than that person who sells such dogs?¡±

    The doctor replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know what a guard dog is, but you guys just want a fierce big dog, aye? I do know someone. She¡¯s nning toe here for ear cropping. Why not just wait for her for a bit?¡±

    ¡°Ear cropping?¡± Snowy¡¯s hands went to her ears subconsciously. This ear?

    Zhang Zian nodded. That ear.

    ¡°Why do you crop their ears? For the same reason as tail docking? In case they cause injury to the dog while it swerves through the bushes?¡± Snowy asked.

    ¡°No. The controversy surrounding ear cropping is even greater than tail docking. If we say that tail docking has more cons than pros, then ear cropping has almost no ¡®pros¡¯ at all, and is purely done for aesthetics,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°After animal protection organizations sterilized stray dogs and cats, they would mark them by cropping off the tip of their ear. But these two cases are vastly different. Ear cropping causes a far greater wound to the ear, and you need to tie it up with bandages afterward to keep the ear straight and upright.¡±

    Even though some people imed that ear cropping could increase a dog¡¯s sensitivity to sound and prevent the growth of parasites in the ear canal, these were just ims, and they didn¡¯t have much evidence to back them up. Whether you cropped the ear or not, it had very little effect on the dog¡¯s actual hearing, and the prevention of parasites could always be done by religious cleansing of the ear canal.

    ¡°That¡¯s so cruel. What difference is this from women tying up their feet in the olden days?¡± Snowy gaped.

    ¡°That is true. Therefore, many European countries had banned ear cropping for reasons outside of medical ones, but in China... We haven¡¯t had a singlew passed to protect animals¡¯ rights and well-being.¡± Zhang Zian sighed.

    ckie interrupted then. ¡°Should we wait? Or should we take a look elsewhere first?¡±

    ¡°How long do we have to wait?¡± Zhang Zian asked the doctor.

    The doctor took a look at the time on his phone. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be too long. She¡¯s usually punctual.¡±

    Zhang Zian immediately made a decision, and said to ckie, ¡°Then let¡¯s wait a while. Any dog that requires ear cropping would most likely be able to fulfill your needs.¡±

    ¡°You truly are knowledgeable.¡± The doctor gave him a thumbs-up and a sincere smile.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ckie and Snowy were still in the dark, and they felt as though Zhang Zian and the doctor had some insider code that they didn¡¯t know about.

    Zhang Zian put up eight fingers. ¡°Only eight breeds of dogs need to undergo cropping, and they are all middle- to big-sized breeds. Other than the giant Schnauzer, the other seven breeds are all stronger breeds that are suitable to be guard dogs. If we take out the rarer breeds in China, then we only have two or three left to choose from.¡±

    He already had an estimation as to which breed would be brought here for cropping.

    ¡°Haha! It¡¯s so much better to be talking to an expert. If you want to look for a guard dog, these would be the perfect fit!¡± The doctor smiled.

    Zhang Zian suggested to ckie that they wait. Ear cropping required a different age than tail docking. Docking usually happened a few days right after birth, but cropping usually happened seven to twelve weeks after birth. Puppies at this age were perfect for purchase, and they could immediately start building rtionships.

    While their conversation was going on, a woman in her thirties rode up on an electric bike, threading through the crowd with much difficulty, and finally stopped right before the doctor¡¯s stall.

    ¡°Look, she¡¯s here.¡± The doctor gave Zhang Zian a look.

    But even without the side eye, Zhang Zian had already noticed the puppies kept inside the metal cage in the basket of the electric motorbike.

    These few puppies were tall and lean, rmed as they observed what was happening around them.

    He could recognize the breed on sight. It was a Doberman.

 Chapter 1040: One Man Dog

    <h4>Chapter 1040: One Man Dog</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    If one were to say that a Rottweiler was a hero of strength, then a Doberman was a hero of agility. The differences in their appearances were very easy to see.

    Except for the dark brown on the mouth, nose, chest and limbs, the Doberman¡¯s whole body looked like a smooth ck brocade, which could only be described by the word ¡°sleek.¡±

    Zhang Zian was not the only one who recognized the Doberman. Even Hei Zi, who did not recognize dogs, eximed, ¡°Isn¡¯t this the zombie dog from Resident Evil?¡±

    For domestic dog fans, the first contact with the Doberman was often through the Resident Evil game or movie. Whether in the game or in the movie, the Doberman infected by the zombie virus impressed the yers and fans. In addition, the dog¡¯s hearing and smell were enhanced by the T virus. Once one was found by the zombie dog, it was an endless pursuit.

    In the game and the movie plot, the Roon City police station bought in a group of Dobermans to be police dogs, but they were infected by the virus. Although Dobermans were very rare in local police stations and armies, in other countries, it was a very popr breed of dog.

    Zhang Zian lightly tapped Hei Zi and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need to hesitate. If there¡¯s a chance, just directly take one of these.¡±

    Hei Zi hesitated. ¡°There¡¯s no need to look at the rest?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need. For your solo survival in the wilderness, the Doberman is the most suitable guard dog. There¡¯s no other,¡± Zhang Zian said confidently.

    The audience in the live broadcast room was split into two groups. The males were all eximing about how handsome the dog was, and most of the female audience felt that the dog was very fierce and very scary.

    Snowy belonged to thetter. She felt that this dog was an especially fierce dog and did not seem easy to get close to, and she started to miss Uncle Jin¡¯s little husky. ( Boxno vel. co m )

    The feeling that the little husky gave people was that it was alright to kick it a bit, and although these few Dobermans were young, the feeling that they gave people was that if you kicked them, they would bite you.

    Zhang Zian exined to Hei Zi, ¡°The most unique part about the Doberman is that it has a very high sense of awareness, and it is so sensitive it can sense emotions. As soon as there is any movement, it will react. While this could be problematic in the city, it¡¯s a good quality to have in the wild.¡±

    Hei Zi himself was thin, and seeing the Doberman that was also leanly built, he liked it a lot. But after seeing the strongly built Rottweiler, he felt that the Rottweiler was quite good too.

    ¡°Better than the Rottweiler?¡± he asked.

    Zhang Zian answered, ¡°Besides its sensitivity to danger being stronger than a Rottweiler, the two also have another difference. The Rottweiler does not like to bark. If it is angered or feels like it is threatened, it will instantly jump and bite the other. It¡¯s a dog that is used as an anti-riot dog overseas, and it¡¯s not as good as the Doberman in being a police dog, because the Doberman will first bark twice to warn the other party before it jumps and bites... I feel that it¡¯s better for it to bark twice, what about you?¡±

    Hei Zi understood his meaning. Whether it was in the wild or the city, it was never good to instantly jump and bite.

    ¡°In addition, the Rottweiler also has a minor drawback,¡± Zhang Zian added. ¡°Because of the shape of the mouth, they like to drool. As long as the mouth is open, it may drool, and some people may be concerned about this. Of course, the Doberman is not without shorings. For example, biting is in the Doberman¡¯s nature. If the husky, golden retriever, and Samoyed are the three giants of demolition, the Doberman¡¯s destructive power can top all three!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not a problem. I often treat the wild as my home. If it has the ability to, let it destroy that,¡± Hei Zi smiled, not caring at all.

    ¡°If you can ept its shorings, then it is the most suitable partner for you,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°The Doberman is called the One Man Dog abroad, which means that he only recognizes one master. Even if he and his wife raise him together, he will have a clear difference in familiarity and alienation and only regard one of them as his life. Once it admits that you are its owner, it will y the nature of the guard dog, pestering you all day and wanting to stay with you. The difference between the so-called guard dog and the ordinary dog is that when someone invades your house, the ordinary dog may rush towards the gangster, while the guard dog will protect you as the first priority, rather than fighting with the gangster.¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s description of the rtionship between the Doberman and the owner made Hei Zi listen with great fascination. Who wouldn¡¯t want to own something that belonged only to him? There was no doubt about the loyalty of the Doberman.

    ¡°Alright!¡± Hei Zi nodded his head excitedly. ¡°I¡¯ll listen to you and buy the Doberman!¡±

    However, there was another difference between these puppies and the Doberman in Resident Evil. Their ears were still soft, not as handsome as those in games and movies that had their ears upright.

    Their tails had been cut off from the second segment of the tailbone at birth, leaving only a short segment, but theyman could not see it, and Hei Zi was in need of a dog with a broken tail.

    The owner of the young dogs had brought them here because she¡¯d wanted to find the bald roving doctor to cut and tie its ears so that the ears would stand up handsomely. That way, it could sell for a good price. After all, everyone recognized a Doberman with cut ears.

    ¡°I want to check¡ªhow are you selling this Doberman?¡± Hei Zi walked over and asked thedy.

    She looked at him, not really wanting to bother with him, and used a strong local ent to say, ¡°Sell! Of course I¡¯m selling it! Dobermans are very expensive. Do you want to buy?¡±

    Hei Zi nodded. ¡°I want to buy one.¡±

    ¡°Then you pick one yourself.¡± The woman made her way to the side to haggle with the bald roving doctor.

    Hei Zi turned his head back and looked towards Zhang Zian with a gaze that was asking for help. He wanted Zhang Zian to choose one for him, but Zhang Zian shook his head slightly, saying, ¡°When choosing pets, you need to base it on your affinity. It¡¯s you who is buying a pet and not me, so it¡¯s better that you choose one yourself.¡±

    ¡°But...¡± Hei Zi was still a bit hesitant. He already knew that the dog market was veryplicated, and although he did notck money, he did not want to spend a lot of time and effort before he found that the dog he¡¯d chosen was not suitable.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll help you check it,¡± Zhang Zian said, encouraging him.

    ¡°Alright...¡±

    Hei Zi walked up to the cage, and the few Dobermans were all staring at him.

    How to choose?

    He was also very troubled.

    Then he touched his trouser pocket and remembered that there was a bag of beef jerky in there. Wildlife enthusiasts like him regrly carried chocte bars or beef jerky with them for asional use.

    The pants he was wearing today had a bag of beef jerky, and he¡¯d forgotten to take it out when he¡¯d washed his clothes. He took it out to take a look. Because the container was very tightly sealed, there were no openings, so the beef jerky probably could still be eaten.

    ¡°Come. I¡¯ll let you eat beef jerky.¡±

    He tore open the bag and stuffed the beef jerky into the cage to observe their reactions, wanting to choose the toughest one of the lot.

    Hei Zi did not know, but behind him, when Zhang Zian saw his actions, he shook his head silently.

 Chapter 1041: The Correct Way to Choose a Dog

    <h4>Chapter 1041: The Correct Way to Choose a Dog</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ckie¡¯s back was to Zhang Zian, and he was excitedly pulling open the beef jerky packet. He threw the jerky into the cage piece by piece and observed the reaction of the puppies. Even though he didn¡¯t know much about dogs, he did know thatpetition bred the best, and he wanted to choose the strongest one out of the bunch. There was no better way to do that than with food.

    Even the audience felt that there was nothing wrong with ckie¡¯s method.

    Snowy noticed that Zhang Zian clearly disapproved of ckie¡¯s method, though. On behalf of her audience, she asked, ¡°Mr. Owner, is there something wrong with beef jerky? Is it too salty?¡±

    She was considering it from the health point of view.

    ¡°That¡¯s not it. Dogs aren¡¯t as sensitive to salt as cats. And with just these few pieces of jerky, it¡¯s alright even if it¡¯s saltier. We have to talk about dose when ites to health.¡± Zhang Zian rejected her guess. He had wanted to exin further, but ckie seemed to have already made his choice.

    After the beef jerky fell into the cage, a few puppies rushed forward to snatch it.

    ckie realized that one of the puppies was significantlyrger than the others and was stronger than its siblings. With a nudge here and there, it had moved the rest of them out of the way and even bared its teeth to scare the other dogs into backing off. It had snatched up half of the entire packet of jerky, and the other half was left to be split amongst the rest.

    One of the puppies was clearly thinner than the rest of its siblings and had been squished to the corner of the cage. It didn¡¯t manage to even snatch a bite for itself.

    ckie considered the fact that the dog that he wanted would be bearing the elements with him in the wild and would have to face all kinds of harsh conditions. The stronger the dog, the better it was. The fiercer it was, the better it was. He had nned to choose the bigger puppy.

    ¡°Boss, how much is this one?¡±

    Ear cropping was difficult surgery, and expensive. Thedy was still haggling with the doctor when ckie asked the question. She turned back around to take a look, before putting out four fingers¡ª4000, she meant.

    For a Doberman with no proof of its lineage, 4000 wasn¡¯t an exorbitant price. It was actually reasonable.

    ckie had already made his choice, and if Zhang Zian didn¡¯t object to it, that was what he would choose.

    Zhang Zian walked over, waving his hand. ¡°Don¡¯t rush into a decision.¡±

    He saw that the jerky had been all consumed, so he put his hand out to the side of the cage, snapping his fingers.

    The puppies had different reactions to the snap.

    Some puppies didn¡¯t notice it at all and nervously stared at the crowd flitting past them. Some puppies continued looking at ckie, hoping that he would throw in a few more pieces of jerky. The rest of them, including the one that was smaller in size, immediately stared at Zhang Zian¡¯s fingers, twitching their ears.

    Zhang Zian then moved his fingers left and right randomly, constantly snapping his fingers and observing the puppies¡¯ reactions.

    The difference was then further illustrated.

    The puppies that hadn¡¯t looked earlier now turned to stare at the finger, and the puppies that had turned to look earlier realized that there was nothing going on, and turned their attention elsewhere. Some of them never reacted to it at all.

    But the smaller puppy exhibited an extremely strong interest in the snapping. No matter where Zhang Zian moved his fingers, it followed, its desire to investigate radiating through the gap in the cage.

    ¡°It¡¯s better to choose this one.¡± Zhang Zian pointed to the smaller puppy. ¡°Of course, this is only my suggestion. You have the final say.¡±

    ckie didn¡¯t quite understand. He didn¡¯t know what Zhang Zian¡¯s reason for this choice was, but he still asked the woman, ¡°What about this? How much?¡±

    The woman turned back again. A short, ented local phrase burst out.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ckie wasn¡¯t a local and didn¡¯t get what she said.

    Even though Snowy was a local, she had been speaking the mainnguage, and she hadn¡¯t learned the local dialect.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know how to speak the dialect either, but he could at least understand it, and he exined it to them. ¡°She said it¡¯s the runt of the litter. You can have it for 3000.¡±

    ¡°Runt of the litter?¡±

    Yet anotherpletely new phrase. ckie and Snowy were both confused, but from the woman¡¯s expression, it definitely didn¡¯t seem like a positive phrase.

    It was the first time the audience had heard this phrase too. Even those that had dogs at home hadn¡¯t heard it before.

    ¡°The runt of the litter is the weakest dog in the entire litter. The difference in size wasn¡¯t that big at the start, but as they couldn¡¯t fight with their littermates for milk and food, their size started to differentiate more and more with theck of nutrients.¡±

    ¡°I understand all that, but why choose this dog?¡± Snowy asked the question for ckie and the audience.

    Zhang Zian pointed at the beef jerky packet in his hands. ¡°Firstly, it¡¯s not that much useful to use food to bait puppies. As long as they¡¯re not sick, all animals will have a huge desire for food.¡±

    ¡°What was your standard when choosing them?¡± he asked ckie. ¡°To choose a dog that looks good? To choose a dog that can win the opponent in a dog fight? Why did you choose ¡®strong¡¯ as a trait?¡±

    ckie seemed to understand a little then.

    Zhang Zian answered his own question. ¡°Neither. You¡¯re choosing a partner for wilderness survival,¡± he said. ¡°To dogs, especially working dogs, intelligence, excitement, and focus are all traits way more important than strength. You have to know that in police dog training grounds, they spent a lot of money bringing in German shepherds from Germany. Many of them were disqualified due to theirck of obedience, but none of them were disqualified due to theirck of strength.

    ¡°It¡¯s just like people. Whether your strength is 100 or 120, what difference does it make? How many chances do you have to actually fight? But whether your intelligence is 100 or 120 makes a huge difference.¡± Zhang Zian pointed at the small puppy. ¡°This one¡¯s excitement and focus to sound was exemry. After I had stopped snapping my fingers, it quickly calmed down, and this showed that it was a very stable one too. Compared to other dogs, it will be a lot easier to train.¡±

    ¡°But... when clients go to your shop, you don¡¯t remind them of this...¡± Snowy had been to Amazing Fate Pet Shop a few times, and immediately saw the discourse.

    This was the first time she had heard of this. When clients went to the pet shop to purchase their dogs, Zhang Zian only made suggestions based on the breeds. He didn¡¯t interfere with which one they chose.

    The audience, especially those who had bought pets from him before, immediately protested. Why did Zhang Zian only help ckie with this but not them? Because ckie had abs?

    Zhang Zian answered smoothly, ¡°That¡¯s because I had already done that level of filtering at the breeders, and only chose dogs that are suitable for training. Did you guys really think that I had asked for a more expensive pricepared to other locations for no reason?¡±

 Chapter 1042: Primary Attribute

    <h4>Chapter 1042: Primary Attribute</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    For every customer that came into Zhang Zian¡¯s pet store wanting to buy a dog, he would tirelessly emphasize that dogs had to be trained. Untrained dogs did harm to themselves and to other people; they were worse than salted fish. If one bought a dog without training it, they might as well have bought a cat. That was especially the case forrge-sized dogs. If they were not properly trained, then sooner orter they would cause trouble and be a viinous dog that people despised.

    Dogs were generally divided into pet dogs and working dogs. What people looked for in pet dogs was overall condition and appearance, but what was the criteria for working dogs?

    For working dogs, its happiness, concentration, ability to do things, and personality were most important. Those were much more important than its conditions and appearance.

    Even if its conditions were great, its appearance was domineering, and its breed was pure, if its personality was not stable, it was not a good dog. There were too many dogs among them that just looked polished on the exterior. After all, it was a world based on looks, and many people only cared about looks.

    In the police dog nursing home, many of the German Shepherds who were eliminated in advance had excellent qualities and appearances, but they did not meet the needs for training and work.

    The little doberman puppy was not as strong as his brothers and sisters, and it had very general qualities. It had no excellent lineage. It was even looked down upon of as the runt of the litter. As a working dog, however, it was a lot better than the other puppies. What was stronger was its training ability.

    Its size could be made up forter on. Its body was small because it could not snatch food from its siblings, and it could not snatch food because its body was small. If one reared it alone, however, and they fed it well, then when it grew up, it wouldn¡¯t be all that much smaller than other dobermanns.

    As for its current owner, because it was the runt of the litter, she had set a low price for it. The look of the dog and the demand for the dog were very different. When ordinary people chose a dog, they would normally choose the biggest one there was, so it was no surprise that the runt of the litter was thest to sell. Thedy now had the opportunity to sell it ahead of time, so why would she not?

    For an ordinary person buying a dog, being able to understand the differences in condition was enough. Who would choose a dog based on how easy it was to train?

    Zhang Zian had asked for a screening in advance from the breeding base. Of course, the cost of screening was added to the price... If he hadn¡¯t, however, it could¡¯ve potentially been a loss for him.

    When Hei Zi heard Zhang Zian¡¯s exnation, he finally understood. He needed to walk away from the mindset that was caused by traditional thinking. Yes, dogs brought to the wild were not for others to see, nor were they meant to fight with wild animals. More importantly, Zhang Zian wanted to warn him before the appearance of wild animals and robbers. If they were really to fight, even a smaller doberman¡¯s fighting ability was not inferior to other dogs.

    He instantly made his final choice, and told the woman, ¡°I want this dog¨C¨Cthe dog that is the runt of the litter.¡±

    She coldly extended her hand. ¡°Pay me the down payment first. After a period of time, you cane back and take the dog.¡±

    Hei Zi was about to use Alipay to transfer the money, but when he heard her words, he was stunned. ¡°I can¡¯t buy it now? Why must I make a down payment?¡±

    He did not n on staying in Binhai City long, and he wanted to bring the dog home quickly to bond with it and train it.

    She pointed at the runt of the litter and said in a thick ent, ¡°It¡¯s too small, and its ears cannot be cut yet. If you need it in a rush, then choose another. The others are sturdy and can be cut now.¡±

    Hei Zi looked towards Zhang Zian for help, not wanting to give up on the runt of the litter that was very suitable for training. He needed help making the decision.

    Snowy asked, ¡°They are dogs from the same litter, and their birth times differ only by a few minutes. Why is this dog too small?¡±

    ¡°Because there¡¯s a certain amount of danger thates with cutting their ears. It¡¯s normally done around 7 weeks to 12 weeks. I see that this litter of dogs is only around 7 weeks¨C¨Cor maybe not even 7 weeks yet,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    When the woman heard him speak, she said proudly, ¡°My dogs are strong, and you can cut their ears as early as six weeks. Do you think that anyone would cut their ears earlier than that? The runt of the litter is too thin to undergo the surgery, so you might as well choose another one. A dog can be kept for many years. It¡¯s not like you arecking that 1,000 yuan!¡± She thought that Hei Zi chose the runt of the litter because he wanted to save money.

    Some dog vendors did sell their dogs by boasting that they were stronger, so their ears could be cut earlier.

    Theter their ears were cut, the moreplete the development of their ear bones were. It would be harder to keep their ears upright after cutting them. Ear-cutting needed to be done as early as possible. It was akin to the time that women used to tie their feet¨C¨Cthe earlier the better. The earlier they were tied, the easier it was to get a three-inch gold lotus. If it was toote, it would only result in a girl with big feet that peopleughed at.

    Zhang Zian raised his voice and said, ¡°It¡¯s no problem. This dog does not need to get its ears cut. My friend will take it straight away.¡±

    ¡°No need to cut its ear?¡± She thought she heard him wrong. ¡°If a doberman doesn¡¯t get its ears cut, that won¡¯t be good!¡±

    ¡°Whether it¡¯s nice looking or not doesn¡¯t matter. Listen to him,¡± Hei Zi expressed. ¡°I¡¯ll pay the full sum right now.¡±

    In fact, as a working dog, it was better to not cut a doberman¡¯s ears. Their drooping ears covered their ear canal, which could prevent rainwater from running in. A doberman that had gone through ear-clipping and ear-binding would be very ufortable on rainy days. If water entered their ear canal, and the owner did not clean them in time, in serious cases, it could lead to tympanitis¨C¨Cor even deafness if the ear-cutting process was done incorrectly.

    Foreign hunters sometimes usedrge dogs as hunting dogs, so they didn¡¯t cut their ears. That way, when they drilled into bushes and shrubs, grass seeds and insects didn¡¯t fall into in their ear canals.

    He had finally chosen a dog that he was satisfied with after much difficulty. Even if, in the end, he chose to cut its ears, he would go to an official veterinarian; he wouldn¡¯t cut them at a random roadside stall. If something happened, what were they to do?

    ¡°All right, whatever you want.¡± The woman saw that Hei Zi was insistent, so she agreed. In her heart, however, she was mocking them. How strange! Who would buy a doberman without cutting its ears?

    After receiving the money, she opened the cage and grabbed the runt of the litter, which she looked down upon, and pushed it into Hei Zi¡¯s hands. He used one hand to hold the dog, and the other hand to handle the money. There was no need to sign anything, and the sale wasplete. If anything happened after that, one could only consider themselves unlucky.

    Hei Zi carefully carried the puppy, and was even more anxious than when he was going into the wild. He was scared that he would identally cause it pain while he was carrying it, and at the same time, he was feeling a bit of regret. If he had gotten that bag of beef jerky, that would have been good... It could have been his present for his new puppy.

    He had gone to Binhai City to choose a satisfactory dog that could apany him to the wilderness; his wish was finally fulfilled. He chose a dog he was more satisfied with than he ever expected. He put aside his worries, and now he could easily explore Binhai City over the next few days.

    Zhang Zian reminded him to get vines and insect repellents as soon as possible. Infectious diseases were rampant in the dog market. He could not be careless, otherwise it would die before it managed to learn anything.

    Hei Zi nodded his head, taking Zhang Zian¡¯s words to heart. Later on, he needed to learn how to train a dog.

    While they were walking away, the woman finished discussing the price of the surgeries with the bald, roving veteranarian. The bald, roving veteranarian prepared his equipment, then started to cut the ears of the remaining puppies.

 Chapter 1043: Surgical Accidents

    <h4>Chapter 1043: Surgical idents</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was extremely dangerous to do tail docking by the roadside, with sedation being the bulk of the problem.

    In a proper hospital, there would be a dedicated anesthetist stationed in each operating room. Veterinary hospitals had specialized anesthetists, too.

    It was even more difficult to sedate an animal than a human, as different animals had different tolerances to sedation. If it was too low a dose, the animal would wake up before the surgery was over, but if they gave too much, the animal wouldn¡¯t wake up. Therefore, they would have to weigh the animals before surgery and administer the right amount of sedation ording to that.

    But this vet wasn¡¯t running an official clinic, nor did he prepare a scale. He had determined everything through his own experience and judgment. He picked up a puppy and estimated its approximate weight before preparing everything.

    With the amount of experience he had under his belt, his weighing method might have been urate, but it looked unreliable to its spectators. Just like thedies at food canteens preparing food, they might have to adjust the portion, but it would always reach the te with the right amount every time.

    ( Boxno vel. co m ) The vet drew up the appropriate amount of xzine with the syringe ording to the puppy¡¯s weight before putting the puppy onto the table and injecting the sedative. The drug worked quickly, and the dog was under in seconds.

    He shaved the hair from the puppy¡¯s ear, then used a cotton bud to disinfect the ear, both in and outside the canal. He threw away the cotton bud and, pinching both ears so that they were upright, measured their lengths with his finger. He mumbled under his breath, ¡°Effin¡¯ Christ, different lengths again...¡±

    Ears werepletely made out of skin and cartge, so it wasmon for them to be different lengths and sizes. After measuring the length, the vet picked up a pair of small scissors, nipping the ear as a mark, in case he ended up docking a pair of ears that had different sizes.

    Snowy couldn¡¯t bear looking anymore and turned her head away, still making sure that her phone was filming the scene.

    The vet fished out a face mask that had been washed god knew when, wearing it without much concern. It wasn¡¯t to be pretentious, but instead, it was because he didn¡¯t want to be caught on film¡ªsince he was doing something illegal here.

    The owner of the young pups was still constantly reminding him, ¡°Be careful, be very careful...¡±

    The vet mumbled, irritated, under his breath, asking her to shut up. He picked up the forceps specifically used for fixing the shape and clipped them onto the ears of the puppy tightly, fixing their shape and stopping the blood at the same time.

    After making sure that there was nothing wrong, he picked up the sharp scalpel, making two clean cuts down the sides, and parts of the ears plopped down onto the stic cover. The fresh cuts started to ooze with blood, but not too much, due to the forceps mping down on the blood vessels.

    While waiting for the blood to stop naturally, the vet did not just wait there. He swiftly went on to crop the ear of the next puppy, sedating, shaving, measuring, fixing its ear. By the time the preparations were done, the first puppy had already stopped bleeding.

    He took off the forceps, satisfied with the results after a brief check. The two ears were of about the same length, so he picked up thumb forceps and sutures to start suturing up the cut.

    He was clearly experienced, and he had done god knew how many of these surgeries on dogs on this table. Due to the fact that his fees were lower, he might have been even more experienced than Sun Xiaomeng. The entire process from the start to finish didn¡¯t even take ten minutes.

    The few puppies were lined up on the table, and the vet seemed to be working in a factory line, mechanically and uratelypleting the ear docking process. The number of ears in the stainless steel kidney dish grew as time passed.

    None of the dogs bled a lot, so the process wasn¡¯t as bloody as people expected it to be. He even had the time to joke, ¡°Do you want the ears that we cut off? You might be able to get a whole te of stir-fried dog ears from these...¡±

    The woman waved her hands in disgust. ¡°I rear dogs¡ªhow can I eat dog ears? It just disgusts me. I don¡¯t want it.¡±

    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s up to you. Someone else will want it, anyway.¡±

    The vet hummed a tune, but his expression suddenly changed, and he bent down to put his face near a young pup¡¯s muzzle. This young pup was thest one, and even before the surgery had started, the vet had found something off with its breathing.

    ¡°F*ck!¡± he swore, putting everything else down. He whipped out another needle, drawing out a set amount of a drug, and quickly injected it into thest puppy.

    ¡°What is it?¡± the woman asked nervously.

    The vet had no time to chat with her, so it was Zhang Zian who answered on his behalf. ¡°Maybe thest puppy was weaker, and the sedative was too much for it. He¡¯s injecting the reversing agent now to get it to wake up.¡±

    ¡°You monk! If you kill my dog, you¡¯ll have topensate me!¡± The woman immediately stiffened,manding him.

    The vet huffed, ¡°Rubbish! I told you that you have to bear the risks! Stop spouting nonsense! This dog¡¯s not dead yet, so don¡¯t dy me from giving it treatment. Keep yammering and it really will die!¡±

    The woman wanted to scold him more, but considering the dog and the truth in the vet¡¯s words, she decided to swallow all of her words first and hash it out with him if the puppy really died.

    She calcted in her heart, and felt the pain intimately. It was just around 300 dors to do ear cropping at a proper clinic, but with five dogs to crop, it would cost her 1500. But this bald veterinarian only charged 100 dors per dog, and she had only let him do it because she was stingy. If one of them really died, she would be losing a lot of money.

    By the time the vet had administered all of the reversing agents, he went on topress the puppy¡¯s chest and do CPR, little beads of sweat dotting his forehead from the effort.

    ckie hugged his puppy close to his chest, thanking the stars for the fact that he hadn¡¯t let them crop its ears. He would¡¯ve deeply regretted it if anything happened.

    Seeing its siblings lying on the table, the puppy seemed to feel for them too, whining constantly.

    Snowy didn¡¯t dare look, but she knew that something was up, asking if the dog was alive with her eyes covered.

    Zhang Zian observed by the side, noticing that the pup had pulled its tongue back into its mouth. Seeing that the bald vet didn¡¯t have any more hands to spare, he whipped out a pair of disposable gloves that he brought around with him and donned them. He pressed his hands onto the puppy¡¯s head then, opening its mouth and pulling its tongue out, preventing its contracting tongue from blocking the airway.

    The vet gave him a smile out of gratitude.

    Many surgeries were unable to bepleted alone, even with the most experienced of vets. If an emergency happened, it would be difficult for one person to handle the situation.

    Sun Xiaomeng was a proper graduate from a proper vet school. She was extremely experienced and had a ton of knowledge. The vet clinic had proper equipment present, too, but she still needed a vet nurse to assist her in surgery.

    But the vet here had a stall to earn some cash, and if he hired someone else to help, then it wouldn¡¯t be worth it anymore. He could only take the risk.

    Thank goodness the puppy was a hardy one. After the reversing agent started to work, its eyes flitted about as it woke up, albeit weakly.

    Everyone on site heaved a sigh of relief.

    Snowy finally asked to leave with her heart thumping in fear, since she didn¡¯t want to stay.

    Zhang Zian wanted to call dimir so they could leave together, but he realized that he had gone missing.

 Chapter 1044: Vladimirâ€™s Reflection

    <h4>Chapter 1044: dimir¡¯s Reflection</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian and the rest were nervously watching the fate of the puppies that were being operated on. dimir watched from the side, but it was not very concentrated and was instead observing its surroundings.

    Just as a puppy was having its ears cut off, it heard a gentle noise from the stic ceiling, as if something had jumped up on the roof. It looked up and saw a ck cat with no ears staring at it. The cat nced at the puppy, whose ears had been cut off on the table, and seemed to experience some unpleasant memories.

    Was it the set time already?

    dimir saw that Zhang Zian and the rest were not paying attention on it, so it quietly slipped away. It ran on the ground, and the ck cat without ears leaped from roof to roof; they ran towards the set venue together.

    There were a lot of people in the dog market, and it was very messy. On the way there, the people in the market saw a blue cat that seemed like it did not have an owner, and they wanted to capture it and bring it home. It agilely avoided everyone, and as to those that tried to capture it, it would y with them until the person gave up in despair.

    It saw a lot of cats that were kept in cages on the way there. They were not as lucky as the cats in the Amazing Fate Pet Shop that could y and run about in the shop freely as they waited for a suitable owner to bring them home.

    Was it better to be a house cat that had good living conditions, or was it better to be a carefree, stray cat? If one was not a cat, how would they know about the happiness of a cat?

    dimir had contradictions hidden deep in its heart. On one hand, it encouraged stray cats to resist oppression. On the other hand, it was not a stray cat itself. It slept in a fixed and safe ce every night. That was also reflected in its attitude towards the yellow and white kitten. It still hoped that the yellow and white kitten could find a master, and did not have to live the life of a stray cat. It knew how hard the stray cats had it. Although they had freedom, they lived a precarious life.

    It hoped that all stray cats could step on the other side of happiness¨C¨Cwhere they had freedom, but didn¡¯t have to worry about their safety. They could share food and happiness, and would never have to live without warmth... They would no longer need to beg, no longer need to hide under the hood of a car to avoid the wind, and no longer face the risk of getting hit by a car and killed while crossing the road.

    It firmly believed that one day its long-cherished wish could be realized. The future was bright and the road was tortuous. It could take several generations of cats¡¯ bloody struggle to achieve it, and the fulfillment of the dream would be resisted by arge portion of humans because humans would not agree with another species being on the same level as them.

    So... It stopped and turned its head back to look towards Zhang Zian. Although his figure was already covered by the many humans, it knew he was there and was shocked because of its sudden disappearance.

    If it wanted to lead the stray cats on the path of rebelling against humans, would Zian understand it or not? Probably not. After all, humans all said, ¡°Not my species! My thoughts arepletely different than anyone else¡¯s.¡±

    So, on that path, it was destined to be lonely.

    The number of people in front of them became fewer and fewer, and it seemed that they were slowly leaving the dog market. They had separated themselves from the strong smell of dog poop and cat urine, and could finally breathe in fresh air.

    The earless ck cat had already jumped down from the roof and was running next to dimir¨C¨Cor, to be urate, it was behind it by half a body to show its respect.

    dimir slowed its step multiple times, wanting the earless cat to go at the same pace as it; however, the earless cat would decrease its speed ordingly, always making sure dimir remained in front.

    It did not wish for that, and felt that there was a problem with it. It did not wish for the stray cats to be overly respectful of it; it did not want to be treated like a god. It wanted them to believe its beliefs and thoughts, but it did not want to be treated as a human... It wanted to be treated as a cat.

    But, what it could not deny was that it was not against it in its heart. Everyone liked being respected by their same species... No one was an exception.

    He was not a saint¨C¨Cat least not a saintly cat... It had already tried to control itself the best it could, but sometimes it was happy because of the respect the stray cats had for it.

    It often said, ¡°I¡¯m not a god,¡± because it was scared that it would forget that sentence one day and treat itself as a god. If the stray cats treated it as a god, then one day, if it lost its rity of mind, then it stood the risk of bing something it hated.

    Its whole purpose was to overthrow the gods. If it became a god itself, then what was the purpose? It was a never-ending circle, the cycle of emperor dynasties. It hoped that it would be able to break the cycle, not sumb to it.

    It hoped that there would be someone constantly reminding it, ¡°You are not god.¡± It wanted people to tell it, ¡°You can make mistakes,¡± and tell it that it did not need to take the burden of all the stray cats on itself. It needed to know that it could rely on the intelligence of the cats, and give full advantage to the subjective initiative of the cats.

    Zhang Zian seemed to be the best candidate. As long as dimir gave him sufficient time, then perhaps he could do it.

    As long as it gave humans enough time, humans could understand their own mistakes and repent. But dimir had no time, and it could not continue to watch stray cats get abused and ughtered by humans.

    It was a cat, so it knew the joy of cats, and it also knew how tough it was to be a cat. It could only bring forward the n it had established.

    The sudden attack against stray dogs was only practice for the actual battle. It did not care about the stray dogs at all... It was a definite victory for it.

    The Holy Cat Statue had not been put in front of its eyes. It is only a lifeless, paper tiger. The celestial targeting the Holy Cat Statue had gradually taken shape. The Holy Cat Statue was like a grasshopper after autumn. It could no longer jump, and it would soon fall into war with the cat citizens.

    Among the three mountains, the unattainable one gradually appeared in front of dimir¨C¨Ca mountain that no other species had ever climbed.

    There was a vige in front of it, and it could hear the sounds of barking from afar.

    The earless ck cat meowed loudly during while it ran, which meant that the vige had the most concentrated area of stray dogs and evil, domestic dogs. Children and old people were often attacked, and cats were often killed.

    dimir returned to its senses from its thoughts and followed the earless ck cat. They turned left and right, walked through a green wheat field, and ran lightly on thend to a teau full of wild grass.

    ¡°Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow!¡± A stray cat that was in charge of policing the area appeared from the wild grass, stopping them in their path. It raised up a front paw and said the secret signal.

    ¡°Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow!¡± The earless cat used the same posture to reply to the secret signal. Even though it sounded the same, there were some small differences in their tone and emphasis.

    The policing stray cat made way to let them pass, and the earless ck cat and dimir were able to continue their journey without anyone else stopping them.

    The area with the wild grass was an empty in, and it was already filled with a few hundred stray cats of different kinds and colors. The few hundreds of pairs of eyes turned to stare at dimir.

    It took a deep breath, and with its front paw in a fist, it shouted loudly, ¡°Eliminate human tyranny. The world belongs to cats!¡±

 Chapter 1045: This is the Fall of the Humans

    <h4>Chapter 1045: This is the Fall of the Humans</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Other than the few Meow Meow Branch Heads that were closer to dimir, this was the first time the normal strays had heard his statement. They were all stunned into silence, the tension in the air so thick it seemed to seep into everyone¡¯s pores.

    Many of the strays had been abused by humans in some way or another. For example, getting chased out by adults, or getting stones thrown at them by kids. Some cats had even gotten poisoned when they ate poisoned dead rats. But there were also good humans that fed them. They had a love-hate rtionship with humans, but whether the feeling was love or hate, they were all aimed towards humans as individuals. They had never considered viewing humans as an entire group before.

    To pull humans down from their throne on the top of the food chain¡ªhow would that be possible? Humans were so strong and had so many powerful weapons in their arsenal. With the meager strength of the strays, wouldn¡¯t they just be trying to block bullets with sponges?

    After the shock, the strays had finally regained theirposure, and a cacophony of meows rang out.

    dimir seemed unfazed by it at all, raising his voice over the ruckus. ¡°Before humans, many species had ruled the earth, but they merely rose to the throne and fell from it in time!¡± he said. ¡°Don¡¯t rejoice for anyone¡¯s rule, and don¡¯t be sad for one¡¯s fall either! Humans will not rule the earth forever, and they¡¯ve already passed their peak. They¡¯re reaching their doom, so it¡¯s time for strays to take over!¡±

    Another roar rushed over the strays, but it was no longer one of chaos. What dimir had said, they had witnessed it with their own eyes. They had witnessed the cold murder between humans in the safety of the night, and they had witnessed the cruelty that humans had shown to strays. These were things that no beast would do. Most beasts wouldn¡¯t even think about killing their own kind, but humans would.

    Therefore, their confidence grew, and they felt that dimir might be speaking the truth.

    ¡°Humans may seem to be strong, but they have their weaknesses and faults too. Their biggest weakness is that they are arrogant and ignorant¡ªarrogant enough to think that they¡¯re invincible, and ignorant enough to think that nothing can end their reign. Let me tell you, they couldn¡¯t be more wrong!¡±

    He raised a paw, pointing it at the blood-red sunset in the west. It was near evening, and the dark storm clouds had started gathering in the northwest, dimming the sunset so quickly it would be perceptible even to the human eye. The whole vige was shrouded in partial darkness, the shadows of the buildings were exceptionally long, and the dogs¡¯ barks were exceptionally piercing.

    Pairs of eyes started to light up in the dark, the cats¡¯ pupils as bright as the full moon, as spectacr as a sea of stars.

    ¡°This is the fall of the humans! The night is near, and the world belongs to the strays! We will definitely im the final victory, because we are doing what is right, we are exercising justice, and no one can bring down an empire built on it!¡±

    This was the time he had been waiting for¡ªmaking use of the exchange in between night and day, using the shadows as their cover to begin their attack on the strays and vicious dogs in the vicinity.

    ¡°Tonight, we will test our strength and strategy on strays. These strays often bully our cats, and some of them constantly prey on us!¡±

    dimir gave a look, and the ck cat with a chip in its ear brought over a few strays. They were either missing an ear or half their tail, or their skin was scratched so badly they had yet to heal. Some of them were so bad that bone was visible.

    ¡°Look at yourrades. Their injuries were the work of these vicious dogs!¡±

    Looking at how badly injured their fellow strays were, the group of cats burned with anger and were anxious to begin their retaliation.

    Seeing that most of them were adequately motivated, dimir raised a paw. ¡°We cannot sit back and just watch as we are bullied!¡± hemanded. ¡°We must give them a taste of their own medicine! If they don¡¯t surrender, then they must perish!¡±

    The morale of the strays was at an all-time high, their anger overriding their fear of the vicious dogs. They only wanted to flood in, to avenge their fellow cats with their sharp ws and teeth.

    Big Orange jumped over, adding on to dimir¡¯s speech. He expressed that these strays and vicious dogs were all servants of humans, but the stray dogs were more pitiful. They had been abandoned by humans too, so they could let them off easier, but the vicious dogs willingly reduced themselves to very at the hands of humans, and they deserved to be the target of this attack!

    The time hade. dimir determinedly gave Big Orange, the short-haired white cat, and the grey Scottish Fold a paw sign, and the three of them immediately brought their men out with them, advancing towards the vige silently in three different paths.

    The ck cat with a chip in its ear led a few cats that were sterilized and some other strays that had a more gentle disposition, leavingter than the rest. They were in charge of bringing the injured strays off of the battlefield.

    Not longter, there were only a few strays left in the field. Other than dimir, the rest of them were specially hand-picked. They were the most agile and alert of the bunch, the policemen and messengers. They were here to protect themanding base, and were also tasked with spreading information should the need arise, from the battlefield to dimir, and from dimir to the scene of war.

    dimir didn¡¯t need anyone else¡¯s protection, and he would have loved nothing more than to be involved in the fight itself. But the purpose of this fight was to train their troops. Only with experienced troops at their core would the strays have a good pir of support when fighting the humans.

    He sat on high ground, squinting as he observed the terrain of the vige, before drawing a crude map on the ground with his ws. The lines represented roads, and little stones represented buildings and houses. Three arrows represented the three directions in which the armies would be attacking.

    The messenger cats ran between themanding base and sites of conflict tirelessly, bringing thetest news from the war back to the base. dimir erased the arrows and drew new ones ording to the news. For each area where a vicious dog was defeated, he would throw away the corresponding stone with a huge sigh of relief and draw a cross in its ce.

    Its eyes scanned the messenger cat¡¯s face. In its rush to get to dimir, ayer of dust had covered its entire body and face. Both limbs and ws were dirty beyond belief as well. But its eyes were burning with a determination so very bright. They were burning with the desire to give itself up fully for a righteous cause.

    The map was simple, but it was alright. This was an army born out of the poorest of the poor, an army born from the mud. They had no tanks, no nes, and no bombs. They only had small dried fish and rifle guns, but they were determined to win their victory!

    dimir looked at the sun being devoured by the storm clouds and started to hum a song he had learned from Old Time Tea¡¯s television with a smile.

    ¡°The sun¡¯s setting in the west. The humans¡¯ end is near! ying my beloved old pipa, singing the musical melody...¡±

 Chapter 1046: Night Attack

    <h4>Chapter 1046: Night Attack</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The night wasing.

    Big Orange¡¯s heart was burning with anger. It would explode if it did not vent its anger to the enemy. Although it seemed to be broad and fat, its movements were quite flexible. A cat rushed onto the main road of the central axis of the vige first, followed by its subordinates: sleekly built stray cats.

    At that moment, arge portion of the vigers were at home eating, and there were not a lot of people on the road. No one would have thought that an army made up of stray cats would be sweeping through the vige.

    Because of the eleration of urbanization, like most viges in China, young people had gone to Binhai City or nearby coastal cities to work. Most of the vigers left behind were old, weak, and disabled, with few young and middle-aged people.

    The young and middle-aged people who were willing to stay did not stay because of filial piety or respect for the old and love for the young. They were justzy and idle. They did not engage inbor or produce anything. They lived grand lives off of the old. They scraped a small pension from their parents, but theyughed mockingly at the vigers who worked thousands of miles away because they thought it was foolish to get rich by working. Why did they have to leave home to suffer hardship? They would ultimately suffer from opportunistic ways of making money!

    If one was near the mountains, they ate from the mountains; if one was near the sea, they ate from the sea. The vige was very close to the dog market, and the carefree, young vigers wanted to do something with the dog market.

    The percentage of households that owned dogs in the vige was very high¨C¨Cto the extent that practically every house owned a dog.

    The old, the young, the sick, and the disabled owned dogs for the sake of guarding their homes and protecting themselves, while the young and the middle-aged owned dogs for the sake of economic benefit.

    ( B oxnovel.c om ) Ordinary dogs were not worth money and were sold everywhere, so vigers preferred to keep fierce dogs. They could satisfy their vanity and fight them against each other for money, or they could sell their domestic, fierce dogs to customers from the city. There were many cases where customers were forced into buying and selling fierce dogs. When businesses came to inspect them, they simply lied and denied their involvement. Industry and Commerce couldn¡¯t do anything about it.

    Therefore, in the nameless, small vige, practically every house reared strong, fierce dogs and were proud of it.

    They did not only rear purebred, fierce dogs, but they also let different aggressive breeds mix due to curiosity, hoping that it would result in a stronger breed of dog.

    In the vige, one could find dobermanns, rottweilers, cane corsos, pitbulls, Tibetan Mastiffs, German Shepherds, bulldogs, and otherrge-sized, fierce dogs from all over the world. On top of that, one could find the mixes of all of those breeds.

    Every time a dog gave birth to a litter of puppies, they took their puppies to the dog market and sold them. They thought it was a profitable business. In the countryside, raising dogs was not as exquisite as it was in the city, where they needed to prepare specialty dog food. Vigers fed their dogs whatever they ate¨C¨Cthey just added a bit more rice to the pot when they cooked.

    ( B oxnovel.c om ) Of course, for those dogs, it was not good to eat rice all day long. They did not sell well if they were too thin. Vigers knew that. Sometimes, they had to find ways to supplement their dogs with some meat. It was impossible to buy pork, beef, and mutton in the market; it was too expensive. People could not even afford to eat it, let alone their dogs. How could they feed the dogs? They would be scolded by their neighbors behind their backs.

    The good thing was they could still find other types of meat.

    Sometimes when the Industry and Commerce tax authorities jointly enforced thew, some pets, such as cats, dogs, rabbits, squirrels, hedgehogs, and other small animals would run away from the dog market. Those small animals were free meat.

    Some vigers made money by gambling. In order to make their dogs more ferocious and bloodthirsty, they never fed their dogs cooked food, but live animals. They fed their captured animals to the dogs alive. Theyughed and watched the dogs tear their prey to pieces.

    Some dogs were so ferocious that they couldn¡¯t even be tied down by a metal chain that was as thick as a finger. They would sometimes break free and run outside. Vigers spent a lot of time with dogs and knew how to deal with them, but passersby were unlucky; they were often bitten, asionally very badly.

    After a pedestrian was bitten, they would certainly not let it go, but the owner of the dog would not confess to it. In order to destory any evidence, the owner would often secretly put the dog down. Plus, the vigers often had each other¡¯s backs, so that the bitten party could only confess to their bad luck.

    There were a lot of gifs and images spread on the Inte about fights between cats and dogs, and more often than not it was cats bullying dogs. The dogs in the videos, however, had very mild tempers, and were not fierce dogs that had been trained.

    The truth was that even golden retrievers, which were normally very gentle and loyal in front of humans, had the potential to be evil monsters when they faced other dogs and cats. They were nicknamed ¡°the treasure of dogs,¡± and the number of golden retrievers that killed stray cats was not small. After all, golden retrievers were hounds, and they had a hunting instinct.

    If even a golden retriever could be like that, then fierce dogs that were born with a bloodthirsty nature were even worse. When stray cats encountered a fierce dog, if there was no wall or haystack nearby, it was often dangerous.

    No one owned cats in the viges; rich people in the city owned cats. They did not interfere with the predation of stray cats by fierce dogs, and they even encouraged them to supplement their meat.

    However, some sensitive vigers had recently noticed that the formerly silly stray cats seemed to have be more cunning and less vulnerable to predation. The fierce dogs in the vige were hungry, and the stray dogs around the vige were hungry¨C¨Cso much so that they even jumped into the vigers¡¯ yards to prey on poultry.

    It was all right if they preyed on stray cats, but if they preyed on poultry, then the vigers could not stand it. That was their livelihood!

    At dinner time, the smell of food was everywhere in the vige, and the hungry dogs and stray dogs barked loudly in hopes of attracting human attention.

    The troop of stray cats rushed into the vige against the wind. Even dogs with the most sensitive senses of smell did not notice their arrival. Even if they smelled the cats¡¯ scent, the fierce dogs did not care. They thought it was just dinner being delivered to their doorstep.

    Big Orange wriggled a few times, and used effort to climb to the top of the wall. It coldly stared at a rottweiler that was tied up in a viger¡¯s yard.

    The rottweiler raised its head and met its eyes, then licked its lips with its tongue. Sticky saliva dripped out from the corner of its mouth. The orange tabby was fat enough; it would fill its stomach for an entire meal.

    It started to bark loudly, hoping that its owner would release it from its metal chain; however, the owner of the house was eating at that moment, and did not care.

    Following after the orange tabby, stray cats jumped onto the top of the wall one by one, their eyes were shining with different kinds of light. They were staring at the rottweiler from the high ground, and the situation felt very strange.

    Big Orange had received very urate information and knew that the dog had at least crippled and killed three stray cats¨C¨Cit had even injured a child before.

    The rottweiler tilted its head, a bit confused. It had never seen stray cats gather in groups. But it didn¡¯t matter; stray cats were just food to it.

    The stray cats began to gather until there was at least 20 to 30 of them. They did not make any noise or run; they just stared at it quietly.

    Big Orange¡¯s ws were like knives. They ground into the wall, sending out an attack signal.

 Chapter 1047: A Tough Battle

    <h4>Chapter 1047: A Tough Battle</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Following Big Orange¡¯s signal, the strays started their long-awaited attack.

    Each stray had its own role to y. Some of them were the main attackers, and some of them were the lookouts, staying in their spots at the doors and windows and keeping a watch on the humans¡¯ actions, preventing them froming over to the scene of the fight as much as they could. Some of them were on the fence, as they were the support members.

    Swish!

    Nearly twenty cats dropped silently into the yard.

    The yards of countryside houses were bigger and were illuminated by just onemp underneath the overhang. There was a lot of trash in the yard, and this greatly affected the Rottweiler¡¯s field of view.

    But the dim lighting had no effect on the strays. They surrounded the Rottweiler and carefully approached it.

    The Rottweiler had never seen strays that moved in this manner, but it didn¡¯t care. The smell of cats had already triggered its bloodlust, and all it wanted to do was rush up and rip all these strays into ribbons.

    It growled loudly and pounced toward the fattest orange cat, just like a fast moving tank.

    Big Orange was considered big for a stray, but it was still a far cry from the muscled body of a vicious hound. Faced with the hound¡¯s sudden attack, the stray kept a tight rein on the fear in its heart. It didn¡¯t run, nor did it hide, estimating the distance between the hound and itself.

    Clink!

    Just as the Rottweiler was about to reach Big Orange, the thick metal wrapped around the Rottweiler¡¯s neck extended to its maximum reach, the tension holding the chain ramrod straight in mid-air, choking the Rottweiler badly. Its legs were still running forward, but its head and neck were restricted by the leash, its front paws just inches away from Big Orange¡¯s body.

    Big Orange let out a huge sigh of relief that the information he¡¯d been given was urate.

    The other strays¡¯ morale shot up at the sight.

    This dog was vicious, and they might have gotten their necks snapped in a second if they were facing it alone. But with the strength of numbers on their side, the hound was the one at the losing end here.

    Especially with the metal chain acting as its leash, its range of motion had be restricted to a small area. Even if the strays were not in good shape, they would at least be able to save their own lives by retreating out of the dog¡¯s range.

    The Rottweiler had finally caught its breath, barking wildly to the point of hoarseness. It wanted to call its owner over to take it off its leash, but the owner was having dinner with their family, watching television at the same time, and none of them bothered giving it any attention. They didn¡¯t think that the leashed dog in their yard could create or get into any trouble either. All they did was shout from a distance, ¡°Stop yapping!¡±

    The Rottweiler panicked, wanting to do more butcking the ability to. It turned around, trying to bite through its own metal chain with its strong jaw power. Teeth marks started showing up on the chains, but they weren¡¯t that easy to break.

    Just then, Big Orange rushed forward, reaching out its front paw and pping the Rottweiler¡¯s head with lightning speed. The Rottweiler was dumbfounded, dropping the metal leash in its mouth. It wasn¡¯t the strength of the p, but instead the shock from being so humiliated.

    Before it could get its bearings back, Big Orange quickly retreated out of the dog¡¯s range of attack.

    The Rottweiler waspletely enraged now. It tried to attack Big Orange again, but it was once more restricted by the metal chain on its neck. With experience under its fur, Big Orange quickly pped the dog once the metal chain had reached its limits. It even extended its sharp ws, scratching off a whole chunk of fur and nearly breaking its skin.

    The other strays stopped spectating, insteadunching a great attack on the Rottweiler from the sides while Big Orange drew the Rottweiler¡¯s attention.

    The Rottweiler was surrounded by cats. One of them was especially brave and jumped onto its back. No matter where it turned, it could see pairs of haunting cat eyes.

    It panicked. What was going on?

    With the anger clouding its brain earlier, it hadn¡¯t treated these strays seriously, due to its impressive win rate against them. But now it had no choice but to look at the strays in a different light. The pain radiating from all over its body forced it to.

    The anger vanished, and quickly expanding fear took its ce.

    The Rottweiler was of a stocky build and had immense attacking power. If it were just one or two cats, they wouldn¡¯t have been able to harm it much at all. But the sheer number of cats right now was just too much for it to fight against, and their methods were despicable too¡ªthose behind him especially, attacking its more...sensitive areas.

    Other than the prized and highly secretive move called ¡°Iron Crotch,¡± devised by Bodhidharma and highly revered and protected by the Shaolin Monastery, no other martial arts would be able to protect one¡¯s most sensitive and vulnerable parts. Even if you had made your entire body as tough as steel, your crotch would still be your Achilles¡¯ heel.

    It was said that when wolves attacked buffalos or simr big animals, the thick and imprable nature of the buffalo¡¯s skin caused the wolves not to be able to make any substantial damage to it. But some cunning wolves would go behind the buffalo, and dig out its intestines through its anus. The moment its intestines prpsed, the buffalo would no longer be as strong as before, and it could only wait for its moment of demise toe.

    With its sensitive areas under a huge threat, the Rottweiler was truly afraid too. It didn¡¯t want to die a horrible death via prpsed intestines, and neither did it want to spend the rest of its life infertile. All it could do now was to go on the defensive, tightly pressing its hind legs together to protect its anus and shaking its body as much as it could to get that cat off its back.

    It was over fifty kilograms in weight, and every single movement it made had a lot of power behind it. Even though the cat on its back tried its best to stay on by using its ws to dig into the skin, it could only ept its fate as it was shrugged off, hitting the wall with a great thud and rolling onto the floor with a pained meow.

    The Rottweiler¡¯s relief onlysted seconds, as another cat pounced onto its back, continuing its biting and scratching of its neck and head...

    The cat that had been shrugged off didn¡¯t get back up afternding harshly on the floor. It had scratches all over its body and head, and bruises had started to show up beneath the skin too.

    It justid there on the ground, its consciousness starting to blur.

    Just then, a ck cat with a chip in its ear showed up in its sights, and its nose picked up on an extremely enticing smell, so amazing that the pain on its body seemed to subside...

    The ck cat and two other neutered cats came to its side, one of them holding a cloth pouch in its mouth¡ªthat¡¯s where the mouth-watering scent hade from!

    The cat¡¯s mouth released its hold, and the cloth pouch dropped to the ground.

    The ck cat used its paws to open the pouch¡¯s mouth, and the scent rushed out, finally uncaged and free.

    Here, for you. It is what you deserve.

    The ck cat took out two pieces of small dried fish from it, cing it by the injured cat¡¯s mouth.

    The other two with the ck cat could only watch, swallowing their saliva constantly.

    This bag of dried fish was donated by the strays themselves. They couldn¡¯t bear to eat it, and left it for the brave soldiers on the war zone.

    The injured cat found its eyes flooding with tears.

 Chapter 1048: A Bag of Dried Fish

    <h4>Chapter 1048: A Bag of Dried Fish</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    A bag of dried fish may have been looked down upon by family cats, who slept in thetest cat bed and ate only the best canned cat food. Their owner¡¯s Simmons bed was open to them anytime they wanted.

    But for lonely, stray cats that had hard lives, dried fish was a luxurious, full course meal!

    asionally, stray cats found dried fish in garbage bags that were thrown away by humans. They would collect them and treasure them. They wanted to eat the delicious food right away, but they knew that some cats needed dried fish more than them!

    One by one, the precious cans of dried fish were sent to the ck cat without ears, and it had umted them over time. The ck cat without ears was responsible for thefort of the wounded warriors on the battlefield. Even if it was just a small sniff of the scent of the dried fish, the injured cat seemed to have forgotten its pain and gained back some strength.

    It struggled to move. Lacking in energy, it used one w to push the dried fish back. Its meaning was, ¡°I¡¯m fine. Leave the dried fish for other cats to eat.¡±

    The earless cat continued to push the dried fish to its mouth. ¡°There¡¯s no need to hold yourself back. Eat the dried fish and heal your wounds. The work of the good needs your effort, too!

    The injured cat could no longer reject it, and with hot tears in its eyes, it ate the dried fish. Although the dried fish had a lot of dust and sand on it, it was still very nice to eat.

    No, the dried fish was the best dried fish it had ever eaten, because there were heartfelt wishes from itsrades that came along with it!

    The dried fish, which had been torn into pieces,nded in its stomach and was dissolved by its gastric juices. A warm feeling was released throughout its body.

    It suddenly stood up all at once, seeming to have limitless strength in it!

    The nearby stray cats saw that it had stood up, and instantly, there was an explosion of happy yells!

    The rottweiler, which was caught in a battle, saw the scene and was almost so scared it urinated! The f*ck... Is this dried fish some Cat God¡¯s magic beans?

    The cat that could not even stand up suddenly became like a dragon and a tigerbined after it ate the dried fish... Its recovery was not scientific!

    In fact, the cat¡¯s wounds were still painful, but in order to ease the worries of hisrades, it suppressed its pain with a tenacity of will. Although it couldn¡¯t fight immediately, it could inspire otherrades, even if it only stood at the sidelines.

    The power of role models inspired the cats. They knew that they were not alone in their fight. They had strong backup behind them. Every cat was part of the group. No matter who was injured, they would not be abandoned.

    The stray cats went crazy and rushed at the rottweiler more fearlessly. The dog was covered with cats. Its skin was torn open and numerous wounds bled profusely. Even though it was as strong as an ox, its footsteps gradually staggered.

    The momentum of both sides was changing. The rottweiler no longer roared, but sobbed with fear. Even in the face of dobermann, pitbull, and bulldog, which were as strong as it was, it had never been so afraid. It felt that it was not facing a group of stray cats, but a group of desperate evil spirits from hell!

    There were cats that had gotten injured and had to retire from the fight, but there were constantly new cats that rushed in to take the ce of the injured.

    Some cats were seriously injured and could not fight again; even after they ate dried fish, they could not stand up. The ck cat without ears worked with other sterilized cats. It grabbed the injured by the back of the neck, then dragged them to a safe ce. That was the way dimir had taught them.

    They would attack the butt hole and the key parts of the dog, which were all methods dimir had taught them as well. They didn¡¯t know where it had learned such a trick... but it really worked!

    The earless ck cat ced the injured on the backs of other cats, and brought the injured away from the battlefield. It would then return to the battlefield.

    After dinner, the rottweiler¡¯s owner sat on his sofa and watched television as his food digested. The leftovers were left in the dishes and nobody was bothered to clean them up. Finally, the wife of the house stood up, poured the leftovers into the porridge, and stirred them slightly, getting them ready to feed to the dogter.

    ¡°Why does the dog sound so strange?¡± the wife asked, confused.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. What could be wrong with it?¡± The husband pretended to watch television, then took advantage of when his wife left to secretly look at his phone screen. He muttered in his heart, Why are the girls on TikTok so good looking? He was randomly pacifying his old wife that wascking in looks.

    ¡°That¡¯s not right. Go out and take a look. I feel like this sound is not right,¡± the wife insisted. ¡°It can¡¯t be that someone is stealing the dog, right?¡±

    ¡°Do you think that our dog is a Husky? Who would dare to steal it? Do they no longer want their life?¡±

    ¡°I asked you to go out and take a look, you should just go out and take a look! You could have already gone out and looked a long time ago with the effort you spent saying this bullsh*t!¡± The wife angrily shouted in a loud voice.

    The husband could not fight with his wife; he could only leave the sofazily and slowly walk out. The WiFi signal grew poorer the further away he got from the house, so the prettydies on his phone would morph into cartoons.

    After walking a few steps in the yard, he suddenly felt that something was wrong. Why was it so quiet? The dog had just called out... Why was it not calling out now?

    He stepped on a soft object under his feet, looked down, and found his rottweiler lying on the ground powerlessly and covered with scars. Although the wounds were shallow and not fatal, its fur was dyed red. It looked very scary.

    The rottweiler red at its owner in anger. If it had been stepped on in the past, it would have even dared to bite its owner, but at that moment, it did not even have the energy to open its mouth.

    ¡°What the... what the f*ck! What¡¯s going on here?¡± The male owner was so scared he almost dropped his phone. His dog seemed to have been attacked.

    There are messy paw prints¨C¨Cdog¡¯s and other animal¡¯s¨C¨Con the ground around them. Judging from the paw prints and the dog¡¯s scratches, the dog seemed to have been attacked by some kind of feline beast... There were no other animals besides felines that could silently injure an adult rottweiler like that.

    He didn¡¯t help his dog. Instead, he shivered and started the shlight function of his mobile phone. He shone a circle around him, frightened. He didn¡¯t find the so-called feline beast, so he put his heart back in his chest.

    ¡°My wife! It¡¯s not good! Our dog was attacked, almost to the point of death! Quickly, bring the red medicine and bandages!¡± he shouted as he rushed into the house.

    The wife anxiously grabbed the medical kit and ran out of the house. Seeing the pitiful state their dog was in in, her heart ached so much she almost cried. ¡°Who... who did this?¡± she asked angrily.

    The male owner was just about to say something when he suddenly heard a wail from the neighbor¡¯s dog. It was then quiet again.

    He met her eyes, and they shivered at the same time. They looked towards the darkness that hung like thick, ck ink.

    They had already entered May. It was at the turn of spring and summer, but they felt a chill pass over their bodies. The night was especially dark and long.

 Chapter 1049: You Are Our Power, Our Light

    <h4>Chapter 1049: You Are Our Power, Our Light</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    With the night fully in ce, the dark had settled across the town like a nket.

    Without the full moon, the lone stars could only shine sparsely.

    Right now, most people had only just finished their dinner and were watching boring soap dramas or variety shows on television, or browsing through their phones.

    dimir stood on high ground, watching the vige not too far away.

    A street light by the border of the vige was the first to go off.

    Was it just a coincidence?

    In this day and age, even unknown viges like these rarely had power outages, unless it was a season for high power usage, like summer. But it was barely May, and there was no need for air conditioning.

    Besides, all these streetlights were sr powered. Even if the main circuit was interrupted, these streetlights shouldn¡¯t have been affected.

    Then another one went out.

    Just like someone had flipped a switch, the streetlights and house lights started to go out one by one, and the darkness swallowed up the vige, starting from the corner.

    But the people had phones in their hands, and even with a power cut, they wouldn¡¯t be plunged intoplete darkness.

    The people roamed around with their phones in the dark,ining about the sudden power cut.

    The kids were d, because without light they wouldn¡¯t have to do their homework. But seeing their mothers light candles, the glee on their faces quickly dimmed and instead became dismay.

    dimir calmly watched everything as it happened, watching as the darkness fell over the whole vige like dominoes.

    ¡°Picking up the steel roads, plucking out electricity poles, raiding the cruises in the middle of the sea! Even the great America is afraid, Ennd, France, Russia, and Germany, crying constantly...¡±

    He hummed a riddle from god knew how many years ago, pleased with the executive ability of the strays.

    Electricity was the base of modern society.

    Without electricity, human society would be as easy to tear apart as paper.

    The first day, it would be alright. Some people might even be d.

    The third day, people would start toin, but they could still bear with it.

    The first week...

    The first month...

    With the darkness as their shield, the huge group of strays retreated from the viges after their sessful attack.

    Some of the families in the countryside had prepared their own generators in order to cope with the high usage during busy periods. Not longter, the roar of the generators rang sparsely, bringing light back into the world. But these bits of light couldn¡¯tpare to the vast darkness.

    People gradually left their hope, torchlights, and shlights in their hands as they roamed, calling those that knew electrical engineering to check on and repair the circuits. They would find some silly malfunctions in those ces, like a stinky pile of cat p*ss, or a dead rat.

    They would fix those malfunctions quickly and bring light back to the vige.

    But this was just a small experiment to observe the humans¡¯ reactions during the short break in electricity. And, predictably, humans were so fragile and helpless in the dark.

    As for attacking the strays and vicious dogs, this was just a precursor to their experiment, removing any form of possible variable.

    The strays gathered back at the high grounds. They¡¯d suffered different degrees of injuries, some of them needing the help of their buddies in order to stand and move around, but they were all extremely excited from the win. They had just taught a huge lesson to the vicious dogs that had used to terrorize and harm them, making sure that the dogs would tuck their tails in fear the next time they saw the strays.

    ¡°Comrades, you have worked hard!¡± dimir announced, a paw raised high. ¡°Let us adjourn for the day and go back to rest well and tend to our injuries, as a bigger challenge faces us in the future! Remember, we will definitely win the final victory, because death will not befall a believer of the Meow Meow Doctrine!¡±

    The group hollered excitedly, not calming down for a long time. Finally they went back to their own territories.

    Not too longter, the plot ofnd had gone back to the peace it once had.

    Several of the guard cats wanted to send dimir back, but had met with its rejection. It didn¡¯t need their protection, and...it still had some unfinished business.

    Some timeter, dimir was again left alone on the high ground...seemingly.

    It didn¡¯t leave, and it kept its eye on the vige not too far away. The electricity had been restored to most of the vige, except the streetlights, since they were too high up. Most of the families had returned to the light.

    The people weren¡¯t rmed by the sudden break in electricity, and continued toze on their beds or sofas, watching television or ying on their phones.

    ¡°Stop hiding. Come out.¡± dimir spoke without even turning his head.

    It was quiet up there, the only sounds those of rustling grass and insects.

    Was it talking to itself, or to the air?

    ¡°Meow! Gxy was right, dimir is really good at hide-and-seek!¡±

    A ck and white cat slowly walked out of the tall grass.

    dimir turned over, staring at Gxy as he asked, ¡°Are you here to stop me?¡±

    The me still burned in its eyes, green with a mix of gold, the burning desire gathering within its small frame.

    Due to the worship from all the strays, he felt his own power growing¡ªgrowing so much that it had almost reached its peak!

    ¡°We are justice!¡± it insisted. ¡°No one can stop justice!¡±

    In contrast to dimir looking like it was about to face a huge monster, Gxy was sitting on the floor casually, swatting at a mosquito that hadnded on its nose with a paw.

    ¡°Meow! Gxy¡¯s here to y hide-and-seek!¡± Gxy shook its head then, denying its guess. ¡°But there are so many mosquitoes here, it¡¯s not fun to y here. Let¡¯s go home.¡±

    dimir was confused. Gxy definitely didn¡¯t seem to be here to stop it, but certainly it was not here just to y hide-and-seek.

    It didn¡¯t know when Gxy had arrived here, but it had noticed that there was something or someone observing it, just like it had observed Zhang Zian on the ground. Back then, just by observing his actions and words, it had noticed that there was something else following them that it couldn¡¯t see.

    dimir was confident in its observation skills, or it wouldn¡¯t have been able tomand a whole army and gain victory in a battle so far away just by using a crude map drawn with its ws.

    If Gxy really was here to stop it, then this would definitely be a tough war to win, so it had quickly ended the pep talk with the strays and gotten them to leave first just in case things got out of hand.

    Even though the other seemed strong, it was still confident that it would win, because death did not befall a believer of the Meow Meow Doctrine!

    It had already lost all hope towards humankind because most of them were only silent bystanders.

    Gxy turned around without any reservations, walking towards the slope before turning back again. ¡°Meow! dimir, are you not going home?¡±

    ¡°Home?¡± dimir was stunned and immediately followed. ¡°For justice, the world is my home!¡±

    Gxy looked up at the starry sky. ¡°Meow! Gxy likes to be free and unrestrained too, but it¡¯s nice to have a ce to go back to after you¡¯re tired from running around.¡±

    dimir was silent.

    Gxy¡¯s eyes turned down andnded on its face. ¡°Meow! Maybe after a few days, you will change your mind.¡±

    dimir didn¡¯t think too much of that. It didn¡¯t think it would change its mind, and neither would humans change.

    ¡°Besides, dimir, did you not see? You and your strays will soon meet an even greater challenge, and not one from the humans.¡± Gxy¡¯s gaze went past dimir, staring at a certain spot very far from him, its gray eyes reflecting countless stars.

    ¡°What?¡±

    dimir immediately turned in shock, trying to see what Gxy was looking at.

    That was a ce even further south than the dog market, even further away than Binhai City. It was a plot of undevelopednd taking up a huge amount of space between Binhai City and the next city.

    It was too far away, and with theck of light, dimir couldn¡¯t see anything.

    ¡°What are you saying...?¡±

    He turned back, wanting to ask Gxy if it was just joking.

    But Gxy had already disappeared from its spot, as though it had never appeared in the first ce.

    The high ground was empty again, with only the sound of the wind rustling the leaves and shrubs. dimir really was alone this time.

    It hesitated a bit before looking back at the plot of emptynd.

    ¡°What the meow! Why did it say such mysterious random rubbish...? Forget it, let¡¯s just go back today...¡±

    It hadn¡¯t nned on going back today initially. The long road back was just discouraging. It seemed like afortable life had already made dimircent.

    Besides, after it ran all the way back, who knew if there would be a gap left for dimir on the second floor window?

    ¡°It¡¯s okay! No matter how tough it is, just think about where you came from!¡±

    It pumped itself up.

    dimir mumbled a myriad of jingles from years ago under its breath, walking off the high ground via its original route.

    This was the first time it had gone to the dog market and was unsure of its geography. If it wanted to go back, it could only walk the route that it hade from¡ªgoing back to the dog market and then from the dog market to the pet store.

    It started to run back, and thank goodness it wasn¡¯t going against the wind. That made things a lot easier.

    ¡°Run with the wind. Lend me the power to fly into the sky!¡±

    Even if so...

    ¡°Jesus meow, this really is tiring!¡±

    The route back wasn¡¯t actually too long, but dimir had burned off too much energy using his brain on the high grounds, making sure that they brought back the victory from the war. Each step that it took felt flighty and unstable, and it just wanted to find a ce to rest.

    A ck shadow appeared in front of him, and all kinds of smells from different animals floated in.

    The dog market was right in front of it, and it decided to hang on a little bit longer.

    The dog market had already ended its operations. People had left, leaving behind a mess of chicken feathers and cat and dog fur.

    asionally, a vehicle drove off full of metal cages, carrying pets that they hadn¡¯t sold off.

    dimir avoided the vehicles as it roamed around the dog market. It didn¡¯t know what it was looking for. Maybe a ride back?

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    dimir suddenly spotted a familiar car. There weren¡¯t many of these luxury cars in Binhai City, much less at the dog market. It was a Mercedes Benz G ss Jeep with a foreign license te.

    There was a weak lighting from within the car, and from the outside, it could vaguely see a man lying against the steering wheel as he fiddled with his phone listlessly.

    Don!

    dimir jumping on the hood gave Zhang Zian a shock, and after seeing who it was on the hood, he opened the door for it.

    dimir jumped into the car. ¡°Why have you not left yet? Where¡¯s the rest?¡±

    ¡°They called a taxi back,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°ckie was rushing back to give his dog the vine shot, worried that it would get sick. Snowy¡¯s mom called her multiple times. She was so angry she screamed Snowy¡¯s ear off several times. She was in a rush to go back too, so I asked them to leave first...Besides, I haven¡¯t had enough of this car yet! There were a lot of people on the roads during the day, and it was just not fun! Now I can finally go all out! I¡¯m the renowned God Of Cars of Binhai City, after all!¡±

    Zhang Zian exined where everyone else had gone, put his phone away, and started the car, driving towards the pet shop.

    The jeep was fast and stable as it ran down the road, the scenery on the sides of the road bing a blur as they zoomed past.

    ¡°Where is Gxy?¡± dimir looked around the car, and it didn¡¯t see Gxy. It even ran to the back seat and trunk just to check.

    ¡°Gxy?¡±

    Zhang Zian was stumped. ¡°Did you have too good of a nap? Gxy didn¡¯te with us!¡±

    ¡°Oh...¡±

    dimir wasn¡¯t too surprised by that answer.

    Gxy hadn¡¯te with, at least not by hiding on the car¡¯s roof or the trunk.

    But it didn¡¯t think it was dreaming. Its memory of the high grounds was clear. Every single grass and tree was carved in its memory. It could even remember the smell of the wind. It couldn¡¯t have been a dream.

    Back in the shop, it had noticed that Gxy was an elusive one. But as long as it paid a bit more attention, they could still find traces of Gxy.

    So, on the highnds, had Gxy purposefully distracted dimir with its words and then run away in the meantime?

    dimir didn¡¯t know, but it wasn¡¯t afraid.

    No matter if it was the Holy Cat statue, or humans, or unknown challenges, a Meow Meow Doctrine believer had nothing to be afraid of!

    So let the storm hit stronger!

    ¡°No matter whether the enemy has surrounded us, I am unafraid! The security is tight, and we will build a city for ourselves!¡± Its confidence was through the roof as it mumbled those words.

    ¡°What?¡± Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t heard him clearly. ¡°What did you say?¡±

    ¡°Nothing much.¡± dimir smiled. ¡°Oh right, don¡¯t you want to ask me where I¡¯ve been?¡±

    Zhang Zian eyed it for a short moment. ¡°Do you want to tell me?¡±

    ¡°Not for now,¡± dimir replied.

    ¡°Then I won¡¯t ask. You¡¯ll tell me when you want to.¡± Zhang Zian kept his eyes on the road.

    This person was definitely interesting.

    dimir regarded him with a half-smile.

    It was easy being with this man. There was no pressure from him to say things that it didn¡¯t want to say or do things that it didn¡¯t want to do. It could keep some secrets to itself.

    Not everyone had that kind of understanding.

    It looked at the scenery outside the window, once again humming the songs that it had learned from Old Time Tea¡¯s television.

    ¡°The waves of thekepping against each other, killing the previouskes on the sandy beach...¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help the panic in his heart at those words. He was this close to driving the car into the ditch.

 Chapter 1050: Calling a Cat a Leopard

    <h4>Chapter 1050: Calling a Cat a Leopard</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The second day, life was as usual. Zhang Zian woke up early in the morning, and then started his daily cleaning to prepare the shop for opening.

    ¡°ck Tiger Steals Heart!¡±

    Facing the sudden attack¨C¨CZhang Zian did not undergo Old Time Tea¡¯s education for nothing¨C¨Che was calm and unhurried. His legs were positioned in the horse stance, and he steadily stepped forward, bent down his arms, and blocked a cat¡¯s paw from attacking his crotch.

    That was ¡°ck Tiger Steals Heart?¡± The f*ck... That was more like a white cat attacking his pants, right?

    ¡°Tch! I don¡¯t know when the stinky man started protecting his crotch, but you know what that means? When dealing with enemies bigger than you, with one move, you can take over the world!¡± Snowy Li took back its ws and told dimir.

    dimir nodded. ¡°Thank you for your teachings.¡±

    ¡°Wait! Snowy Li, what are you randomly teaching?¡± Zhang Zian could not pretend to be oblivious. That kind of shady move could not be taught randomly. Otherwise, all the male animals on earth would be in trouble.

    ¡°Pei, pei, pei! Why do I need to exin what I¡¯m doing to a stinky man like you?¡± Snowy Li spit out saliva, and disdainfully jumped onto the cat climbing rack.

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    Although it spoke with great meaning, one couldn¡¯t change its dirty manners, could they? Simr to the teachings from Old Time Tea, the tactics were open and upright, and even would deliberately avoid the key parts of the enemy. Regardless of winning or losing, they had to remain upright, unlike Snowy Li...

    Zhang Zian was just about to mop the floor, so he took advantage of that to clean its saliva away.

    As the shop door opened, the cool morning breeze rushed into the shop.

    With the exception of Pi and Sihwa, the rest of the elfins had slowlye downstairs, and they assumed their normal positions.

    Old Time Tea pulled the plug out from the heated rug. The temperature was warm today, so there was no need for additional heat. It switched on the television, and as per its habit, it began to watch the local news.

    ¡°Last night, a strange thing happened in the Yinggang vige of our city. The dogs of vigers were attacked by unidentified beasts. Here¡¯s the detailed report that our reporter brought back from the scene.¡± The familiar anchor of the local news station smiled before the image changed.

    Zhang Zian was not watching the news originally, but upon hearing that, he thought in his heart, Isn¡¯t the Yinggang Vige the one next to the dog market? And what kind wild animal? The sea dragon brought by Sihwa finally came ashore? If that happened, I should tidy up my expensive valuables and escape!

    Of course, he first had to have expensive valuables...

    Richard could see his thoughts and slyly called out, ¡°Ga ga! You have valuables, both thin and soft...¡±

    Zhang Zian did not want to talk crap with it, so he raised the mop and tried to hit it. Richard avoided it, having been prepared beforehand.

    ¡°Ga ga! I was talking about the noodles you ate yesterday. This idi*t! What are you thinking about?¡± Richard pped its wings and avoided the swings, then chased Zhang Zian.

    ¡°My noodle being thin and soft... What does that have to do with you? At least it¡¯s still long!¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s spat.

    They messed around until the chicken was flying and the dog was jumping.

    After Zhang Zian tried to hit Richard a few times to no avail, he decided to temporarily give up; continuing would only upset Fina. Holding his mop, he walked up to the television and watched the news with Old Time Tea.

    The television showed pictures of an ordinary farmyard. A middle-aged viger wearing a duck-tongue cap gave interviews with reporters, acting somewhat reserved.

    ¡°What kind of wild animal attacked your dog?¡± the young female reporter asked. She ced the microphone up to the viger¡¯s mouth.

    ¡°Maybe it was a leopard? Look at this paw print. It must have been a leopard!¡± the viger pointed to the ground and said.

    The camera zoomed in, letting the audience see the paw print on the ground for themselves. Actually, the pawprint was not very clear, as it was very messy. After all, the vigers did not know that they had to keep the crime scene protected. There was no need for that.

    ¡°This is the paw print of a leopard?¡± the reporter asked.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that crazy? How can a cat¡¯s paw print be so big?¡± the viger thought that he was being doubted and asked back angrily.

    Zhang Zian carefully observed the television screen. Although there was no reference object to properlypare the print to, it was possible that a cat had such a big paw print... For example, some especially big orange tabby cat.

    The vigers did not keep cats and perhaps were not clear about that.

    ¡°What about these paw prints?¡± the reporter pointed at the nearby paw prints that were slightly smaller and asked.

    ¡°A young leopard¡¯s!¡± the viger said confidently.

    The young female reporter felt that there were some strange things in the case, and just wanted to confirm. ¡°Did you see clearly that it was a leopard?¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡± The viger nodded hard, stretched out his arms, and gestured. ¡°What a big one! I was almost scared to death! Others saw it too! Our guess is that a group of wild leopards passed through our vigest night and attacked the dogs that were watching the house. Now our families are strengthening the doors and windows to prevent the leopards froming back...¡±

    He described it in such a lifelike way that it was like he actually saw it, which caused the reporters that were doubting him to believe the story.

    The vigers blushed and argued roughly. ¡°By the way, the government has topensate for our losses, right? We know that leopards are protected animals, so we let them attack our dogs. We are very aware of this. The government cannot just watch us suffer losses, right?¡±

    The young reports coughed awkwardly, and said to the camera, ¡°Are there leopards near Binhai City? We are really not clear, so we will need the experts to tell us. Please cut back to the broadcast room now.¡±

    The image changed back. The host beamed and said, ¡°Although they have suffered some economic losses, we should give some praise to the vigers¡¯ awareness of environmental protection. We hope that this matter can be properly resolved. Up next¨C¨C¡±

    Zhang Zian was confused. Even though he thought that the pawprints were obviously a cat¡¯s, the viger seemed so confident, causing him to doubt his own deduction. Perhaps he was still a bitcking in knowledge... Perhaps some leopards¡¯ paw prints were simr to those of cats...

    When dimir heard the news, the side of its mouth trembled with the hint of a smile. It had really underestimated the vigers¡¯ ability to change a bad circumstance into a good one...

    Zhang Zian continued to clean and casually used the mop to chase Richard.

    After a while, the employees came to work one by one.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun wereining that their master had no sense of uprightness. They had waited until they were finished working the day before, but he never came back. He had said that he wanted to y with the luxury car, and in the end, he returned it overnight.

    Of course, Zhang Zian would not admit that it was his mistake. He could not let the two idiots drive that kind of luxury car! If anything happened, he would have to sell his shop.

    They chatted as they would normally, and the morning passed quickly.

    At that moment, the doors of the shop separated to the right and left, and a person that was normally a little hunchbacked shakily came in.

    ¡°Zian, I have some good news for you!¡± Grandma Gu from the residents¡¯mittee happily said in a loud voice. She wore a red armband.

    Richard did not miss its opportunity and called out, ¡°Ga ga! Congrats! Is it a boy or a girl?¡±

 Chapter 1051: Good Things Come in Pairs

    <h4>Chapter 1051: Good Things Come in Pairs</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Grandma Gu pushed her spectacles up her nose, looking at Richard as she spoke. ¡°Wow! This bird sure knows how to speak!¡±

    ¡°Gah gah! I¡¯m a big bird! He¡¯s the small bird!¡± Richard pointed at Zhang Zian with a wing.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have the time nor the energy to give Richard a good dressing-down, and he asked Wang Qian to quickly bring over a chair for Grandma Gu to take a seat. What if she lost her footing and fell in his shop?

    Grandma Gu still looked the same, wearing a sheepskin vest over a thick button down, a red armband on her arm, ck pants, and a file mped under her armpit, the picture of productivity.

    ¡°Grandma Gu, what brought you to our shop? There¡¯s nothing exciting happening, and I remembered I¡¯d paid all of my maintenance and management feesst month.¡± The moment Zhang Zian saw Grandma Gu, he naturally thought of all kinds of fees or fines that she might have been there for.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m here to congratte you today.¡± She gleefully opened her file, picking out a document. ¡°Previously, didn¡¯t I nominate you for our city¡¯s model worker? You¡¯re a hardworking child, you kept showing up on TV to ept interviews, and didn¡¯t your dog win that, what was it, Berlin International Film Festival? You brought glory to our country, so you naturally won! Here, the documents are all done!¡±

    Zhang Zian was surprised at first, before he remembered that Grandma Gu had brought this up previously. But he hadn¡¯t expected to actually get the prize. He couldn¡¯t help but feel it was unbelievable.

    ¡°Grandma, you didn¡¯t get something wrong, right? Didn¡¯t you nearly nominate me for the Women¡¯s Pacesetter Program?¡± He made sure to confirm, worried that Grandma Gu had had a moment of folly. If he had gone on stage as a member of the Women¡¯s Pacesetter Program, that would have been embarrassing...

    ¡°Ugh! What rubbish are you saying? I definitely didn¡¯t get it wrong!¡± Grandma Gu grumbled. ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me, just look at all these documents. They¡¯re all approved.¡±

    Zhang Zian took the documents, perusing them for a while, and he did find his own name on them. But the list was very long¡ªalmost two to three hundred names long. Thank goodness it was arranged in alphabetical order, or it would have been quite difficult to find one name.

    ¡°So many winners?¡±

    Even though he was d that he had won the prize, it was just a little disappointing. If this many people had won the prize, then it wasn¡¯t really a valuable prize to win, was it?

    Grandma Gu immediately exined, ¡°Lad, you don¡¯t understand. We only pick winners once every three years. All these names you see are people that had made ground-breaking contributions to Binhai City¡¯s economy and society. They¡¯re all workers, farmers, researchers, managers, engineers, and other workers of our society.¡±

    Oh, once every three years. Then that wasn¡¯t too bad...

    Zhang Zian understood that he was categorized under ¡°Other Workers.¡± But he didn¡¯t fit in all the other previous categories anyway.

    ¡°After the list was confirmed, I wanted to tell you right away,¡± Grandma Gu added. ¡°But the name list had to be on disy for a week, and only after there was no disagreement on it could it be official. I was afraid that you would be let down afterward, so I only came to you immediately after the week was over.¡±

    ¡°Then... This... Do I have any...?¡± Zhang Zian wanted to ask, but he was a little ashamed to.

    Grandma Gu pped her own thigh. ¡°You wanted to ask whether there¡¯s a mary reward, right? I¡¯m here to send you some money!¡±

    Zhang Zian immediately perked up at hearing that, as though someone had given him a shot of adrenaline. Who wouldn¡¯t be excited about money literally falling from the sky? Was there anything happier than this?

    ¡°Master, you have to treat us to a great meal tonight!¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun immediately called out, wanting in on the good news. They wanted a proper good meal today, and not just any fast food.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! I will!¡± Zhang Zian patted his chest. ¡°You choose the ce!¡±

    Grandma Gu whipped out her wallet from her pocket, picking out four notes and passing it to Zhang Zian. One fifty dors, three ten dors. ¡°Here, the subsidy as the model citizen. 80 dors every month, this is this month¡¯s.¡±

    Zhang Zian said nothing.

    He stared at the few notes as though he didn¡¯t know what they were.

    Grandma Gu waved the few notes around, wanting him to take them. ¡°It¡¯s not much, but I didn¡¯t take any of it! That¡¯s what the country set. For the country-wide role model, it¡¯s 150 dors a month. 100 dors for the state-level role models, and 80 for city-level state role models. These are tax-free too.¡±

    Well, they wouldn¡¯t have been enough to hit the taxable levels anyway!

    Wang Qian and Li Kun stuck out their tongues. Looked like their dinner would be rice with chilli and preserved vegetables tonight...

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯tcking these 80 dors, but he couldn¡¯t help but feel upset. It was already the year 8012, so shouldn¡¯t their subsidies have caught up with the times?

    What could they do with 80 dors a month now? Was it even enough to buy two kilograms of raw beef?

    For those that could win this prize, even if it was only at the city level, they probably all didn¡¯t need these 80 dors a month. It would have been better to just not give it at all and make it a purely reputation based prize...

    Maybe in the more poverty-stricken west side, these 80 dors might be useful, but in the cities just by the sea in the east side, the thieves might not even want these 80 dors.

    Zhang Zian gave it a thought before deciding to just use it at least for the greater good. He pushed the money back. ¡°Grandma Gu, I¡¯ve decided to donate this to our neighborhoodmittee. Buy some ice cream when it¡¯s hot out and a few bags of tea if it¡¯s cold. Consider it my gratitude for all you have done.¡±

    Grandma Gu stared at him through the lenses of her spectacles for a while. ¡°Alright, then I thank you on behalf of the whole neighborhoodmittee.¡±

    She put the 80 dors back in her wallet.

    Even the spectating employees were a little disappointed. Not towards Grandma Gu, but because of the fact that some things should start to change.

    Zhang Zian thought that Grandma Gu had finished all that she wanted to say, but she didn¡¯t look like she was about to leave. She took out another document from her file.

    ¡°Actually, this was just the first thing. The second is actually a bigger, better thing.¡± She smiled as though keeping a secret.

    Zhang Zian and the employees no longer had any expectations for ¡°good things.¡±

    He forced a smile, asking politely, ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Due to your exemry actions recently, the neighborhoodmittee, city government and city security council have all agreed to appoint you as one of the members of the Municipal Consultative Conference.¡± Grandma Gu kept her smile as she announced it.

    Neither Zhang Zian nor his employees understood what was going on.

    Grandma Gu gave him the document, and he took it on instinct.

    ¡°Zian, you¡¯ve made it! To be nominated as a member of the Municipal Consultative Conference means that you have the authority and responsibility to be a part of the governing process.¡± Grandma Gu stood up, patting his shoulder, her hands awfully heavy. ¡°You have to grasp this opportunity tightly and make lives for themon folk better.¡±

 Chapter 1052: The Darkness Before the Dawn

    <h4>Chapter 1052: The Darkness Before the Dawn</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The second floor of the pet shop, in a dark room.

    The surroundings were quiet. Every once in a while, there was the sound of the elfins breathing, and bubbling sounds from the bathroom.

    Most of the elfins had good sleep habits, but there were a few elfins that made people speechless¨C¨Clike how Snowy Li liked to chatter its teeth and grind them in its sleep, then mutter ¡°tasty¡±; Sihwa would be scared awake by nightmares sometimes, then she would make a lot of noise and cause everyone else to wake up; Famous often kicked its legs while it slept, so nothing movable could be put near it; Richard was the most dangerous... It would suddenly urinate or poop while it slept...

    dimir slept under Zhang Zian¡¯s bed. Ever since it decided to sleep there, Zhang Zian often cleaned up under the bed so that it was not dirty.

    It heard a creaking sound and knew that Pi had turned over in its sleep. The basket hammock chair was shaking a bit.

    What time is it? Even though its eyes could see very clearly in the dark, there was no clock in the house. It did not know the exact time, and could only guess from the slight light through the window that it was theter half of the night. It would be morning soon.

    The rest of the elfins did not care about the time. After Zhang Zian woke up, they would get up one by one. If Zhang Zian woke upter, they would happily sleep longer.

    Swish... swish... The sound of the cleaners sweeping the floor came in through the window.

    dimir did not really sleep that night. It kept opening its eyes to stare at the ceiling¨C¨Cor the bottom of Zhang Zian¡¯s bed¨C¨Cin the dark. It had a lot of things on its mind, and kept thinking of detailed ways to deal with them.

    Its work with the stray cats had already advanced to a vital point, and every move it made from then on out would be impactful. It could not afford to be careless.

    But it did not have anyone to discuss its ns with, and everything could only be decided after it had thought about it multiple times. If a single move went wrong, it was possible that everything would be ruined.

    There was another soft, creaking sound. But that time, the sound did note from the basket hammock chair; instead, it came from Zhang Zian¡¯s bed frame.

    He had probably turned his body in his sleep, pulled out his phone from under his pillow to check the time, then gone back to sleep. After all, it was too early for him to wake up. Although it could not see his exact actions from under the bed, dimir could roughly guess.

    However, the bed shook a bit, and two legs came down from the side of the bed as he tried to find his slippers in the dark. He was getting up to go to the toilet? That was probably the only exnation...

    After that, he was probably going to walk to the doorway, push open the door, then go to the toilet next door because Sihwa had taken over the bathroom that was connected to the bedroom.

    That was what dimir imagined, but it was shocked when Zhang Zian did not walk towards the doorway. Instead, he walked towards the window with light, careful footsteps.

    Could it be that he did not close the window before going to sleep the night before? That was not right... If that was the case, it would have felt the wind.

    Was there something by the window?

    Its continuous wrong guesses made it a bit depressed, so it decided to just stop guessing. It pulled up a corner of the nket, then looked towards the window in the dark.

    There was a desk in front of the window, and there was aptop on the desk. Next to it was Pi¡¯s basket hammock chair.

    Zhang Zian, who was wearing his sleeping clothes, yawned, and lightly pulled out the chair and sat down. His movements were purposefully slow so that he would not disturb the elfins¡¯ sleep.

    Was he sleepwalking?

    dimir had been in the pet shop for a while, and it did not know that Zhang Zian slept walked. It had never heard any of the other elfins talk about it before.

    Zhang Zian really did not have any reason for waking up so early, and even if it was to open shop, there would not be any customers at that time... That would make Fina angry.

    dimir stared at him, both confused and curious.

    Zhang Zian opened theptop and pressed the ¡°on¡± button. The oldputer exuded the soft whirring sound of the fan.

    Taking advantage of the time it took to power theputer on, he closed his eyes for a couple seconds until the light from the screen shone through his eyelids.

    Could it be... dimir thought what Richard had said to tease Zhang Zian. Could it be that he wanted to use the quiet of the night to enter a mysterious website called ¡°Zong Duo?¡±

    Before dawn was when people were the most sleepy. He was really dedicated to visiting Zong Duo...

    However, after Zhang Zian lowered the brightness, he did not open the web browser. Instead, he opened Word. dimir recognized this symbol because, every morning after Pi woke up, it would also click on the same symbol.

    Could it be that it wanted to help Pi correct its mistakes in its story?

    That confused dimir. Everyone had their own specialties... Zhang Zian sold pets and fooled customers. If he was changing Pi¡¯s story, then he was causing unecessary trouble... It wasn¡¯t like he was trying to show off.

    If it was just changing a wrong word here and there, why didn¡¯t he do it in the daytime?

    Then something out of its expectations happened: Zhang Zian did not open the document that Pi normally used, but instead created a new, empty document.

    It couldn¡¯t be, right? Could it be that he was jealous of Pi, and also wanted to write a novel?

    He stared at the monitor and thought for a while, then started to type. He typed very softly, and besides the whirring sound of the fan, all else was silent.

    dimir emerged from under the bed. Zhang Zian¡¯s face reflected the light of the screen, and he was very attentive. He not aware of dimir¡¯s movements. That was good...

    dimir wanted to talk to him, and did not really want to let the other elfins hear.

    It wanted to tell him that the storm¨C¨Cand chance¨C¨Cwasing. If Zhang Zian wanted to survive the unprecedented storm safely, it was better to close the shop and hide in the countryside or in the wilderness. He would have time to stockpile some supplies.

    No matter what, he had taken dimir in for so long... It did not want to owe him too much, so it decided that was the best way to pay him back.

    That was one of the questions it was thinking aboutst night. After making its decision, it became a lot calmer. It nimbly jumped onto the desk andnded next to theptop.

    Zhang Zian was shocked, and his fingers stopped typing. dimir¡¯s golden-edged, green eyes, which seemed to be burning with fire, startled him.

    Using the light from the screen, he saw that it was dimir, and he let out a breath of relief. ¡°Did I wake you up?¡± he lowered his voice to a whisper and asked.

    dimir shook its head. ¡°I woke up by myself. No one woke me up.¡±

    ¡°Then continue to sleep for a while more. It¡¯s still a while until daylight,¡± he said.

    dimir did not say anything. It looked sideways at the Word document on the screen and asked, ¡°Are you an insomniac? Why did you get up so early?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m an insomniac. I just can¡¯t sleep, so I woke up,¡± Zhang Zian smiled and said.

    ¡°Oh, then what are you writing? A novel?¡± it asked again and saw that the document had a few paragraphs on it.

    ¡°Stop joking. How could I write a novel?¡± Heughed mockingly at himself, then scrolled to the top of the document. He pointed at therge words written at the top of the document: ¡°A proposal calling for the establishment of an effective Small Animal Protection Act.¡±

 Chapter 1053: Bill

    <h4>Chapter 1053: Bill</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    dimir briefly looked over the slightlyplicated title, asking, ¡°What are small animals?¡±

    ¡°The definition of ¡®small animals¡¯... In general, most animals like cats, dogs, rabbits, hamsters, anything smaller in size that can be domesticated and reared by humans,¡± Zhang Zian answered.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that just pets then? Why not just write ¡®pets¡¯?¡± it asked.

    ¡°The concepts of pets and small animals ovep a lot, but they are notpletely identical,¡± Zhang Zian patiently answered. ¡°For example, the country has ruled that most types of parrots cannot be reared as personal pets. If we only protect pets, then most parrots would be ruled out of it... Besides, the scope of ¡®pets¡¯ is too narrow. If a cat reared in a home by a human is a pet, it would be protected. But if it ran out or got lost and became a stray, then it wouldn¡¯t be protected. That¡¯s not right. Should thew be protecting the cat itself or the family? Bad people would be jumping through loopholes all day if we phrased it this way.

    ¡°The most important part of anyw that is proposed is that it is stringent and able to be enforced. If we makews that are unclear in their definitions and conditions, it will be difficult for ourw enforcers to work too.

    ¡°Pets don¡¯t actually need much protection. Pets are considered private property under thew and are already under thew¡¯s protection. No one is able to illegally harm them. The ones that really need protection are those small animals that are not pets.¡± Zhang Zian clicked the mouse, minimizing the document and opening another one. This one was full of pictures¡ªnot those of prettydies, but instead those from his trip to Germany.

    ¡°Before you came to the pet shop, I went to Germany. Their animal protectionws in ce were very memorable to me.¡±

    He clicked on the photos, scrolling through them for dimir to see. Most of them were photos that he had taken when he visited pet shops and the aquarium, as well as the photos of Reina and Karl.

    ¡°Back then I thought it would be great if China could have animal protectionws asprehensive as Germany¡¯s,¡± he said. ¡°Right now, we have wild animal protectionws, and they are well enforced. People¡¯s understanding of wild animal protection has been increasing too, but we are stillcking when ites to small animals... The vige beside the dog market that you saw yesterday on the television? Their vigers are in the threat of being harmed by leopards, but they are enthusiastically in support of the country¡¯s wildlife protection measures.¡±

    dimir opened and closed its mouth, wanting to say something but swallowing the words back into its throat.

    ¡°Why did you suddenly think of writing this?¡± it asked. Could it be that he had heard what Gxy had said and was trying to reverse the definite end of humans¡¯ reign?

    Zhang Zian scratched at his head in embarrassment. ¡°The pressures of life are too great right now¡ªbuying a house, buying a car, studies, employment, geriatric healthcare, kids¡¯ education...all these stresses fall on the shoulders of our youth,¡± he said. ¡°Many youngsters are not interested in our issues in politics, and I¡¯m basically a jobless man now. I only have to feed myself, so there¡¯s not much pressure on me. Even if I don¡¯t earn much, I always pay my taxes on time... Most importantly, I will always vote when there¡¯s an election going on. You may think that that is naive, but I always feel that my one vote could possibly make a difference to this country and possibly this world.¡±

    dimir listened carefully, shaking its head. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s naive.¡±

    ¡°Previously, I was just amon man, no one special,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°I knew that I didn¡¯t have much authority, and the most I could do was to uphold my responsibility to vote, but...Grandma Gu just informed me that I am officially a part of the Municipal Consultative Conference as an additional member, and now I have the authority to take part in their political discussions. So I gave it a thought and felt that I should take the chance to do something with it. They say if you¡¯re not in a position of power, don¡¯t get involved in its politics. But now that I am in a position of power, if I still don¡¯t get involved, then aren¡¯t I just wasting this chance? I might as well just sell sweet potatoes at home... Oh no, I mean, sell pets.¡± Zhang Zian easily joked and smiled.

    ¡°I checked online yesterday. A mere member of the Municipal Consultative Conference has no right to make newws, but at least they can express their opinions through the organization and be a part of discussions on the direction that the country is taking and major events and changes that will happen. So I wanted to write a bill and present it during my first meeting.¡± He changed the documents again.

    dimir¡¯s eyes scanned through every single sentence of the document.

    ¡°Do you think it would work?¡± it asked. ¡°A bill like this would be able to push the country¡¯sws forward?¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but if we never try, we¡¯ll never know,¡± he said. ¡°And I believe that as China¡¯s amount of pets increases, there will one day be a neww specifically geared towards pets and small animals. Someone has to push that first domino down. That person might not be me, but I at least have to try. There¡¯s no sess without failure as its foundation, after all.¡±

    Honestly, China was too huge, and the ie gap between the rich and poor was beyond anyone¡¯s imagination. Different counties also had different cultures and people. The small animal protectionw would definitely be challenging to enforce, but it would be impossible for China, such a huge country, to not have such aw in this, the 21st century. It was just a matter of time.

    It was exactly because there were challenges that they had to prepare for the worst.

    dimir raised a front paw, pointing to one of the lines in the document. ¡°I feel that this phrasing isn¡¯t too urate.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s attention was piqued. ¡°How do you think I should write it then?¡±

    It gave it a thought before saying, ¡°I think it can be more direct, and the wording can be stronger. Compared to others, you are considered an expert in the field, so don¡¯t sell yourself short.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded and tried to make changes ording to dimir¡¯s suggestions, and the document did turn out better. The previous wording had depicted him as a humble nobody, but being humble in this situation might end up getting him dismissed.

    As time passed, the sky started to be brighter.

    When the first streak of light started to shine in the window from the east, Zhang Zian had just typed the final full stop.

    The document wasn¡¯t long in the first ce, and it was shortened even more with dimir¡¯s help further entuating the main point. There was a huge empty space left at the end of the document too.

    He rubbed at his sore eyes, looking at the time. It was already his usual time to wake up, so he no longer purposefully stayed quiet. He connected theputer to the printer and printed the document out.

    ¡°What are you doing now?¡± dimir asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s just a bill, and not a draft for a neww. Besides, I¡¯m a newbie to the Municipal Consultative Conference. How can I make sure that my bill will be taken seriously?¡± He pointed to the empty space below the document. ¡°I want to try and get as many people¡¯s signatures as possible. This is my biggest task today.¡±

    Finishing, he first wrote his own name down neatly.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how many people will be willing to sign this bill...but I hope I can at least fill up the empty space.¡±

    He perused the paper, not too confident about it.

    ¡°Alright.¡± He stood to stretch and have a big, big yawn. ¡°I¡¯m a little sleepy, but we have a lot of ces to go, so let¡¯s leave earlier. I¡¯ll go wash up and change first. You woke up pretty early too, dimir. Go back to sleep.¡±

    dimir shook its head. ¡°It¡¯s alright, I¡¯ll go with you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯reing along? We¡¯re going to visit all of the households in the neighbourhood, and we won¡¯t be driving,¡± he reminded it. ¡°It would be a hassle to start and stop all the time anyway. It¡¯s going to be really tiring.¡±

    dimir showed a light smile. ¡°A cat¡¯s not afraid of a tough journey. The world¡¯s waiting for us.¡±

    ¡°...Alright then.¡±

    Seeing that dimir had already set its mind to it, Zhang Zian no longer tried to convince it. He ced the bill on the table, going off to wash up.

    ¡°Jerk! I was just dreaming that I was staying in a pce! Why did you have to wake me up right now?¡±

    Not too longter, Zhang Zian re-emerged from the bathroom amidst Sihwa¡¯s rage, his pajamas damp with water spots, looking rather unkempt.

    ¡°We¡¯ll leave after I change... Be careful. Don¡¯t dirty the bill.¡± Seeing that dimir was still standing on the table, he plucked out the bill from underneath its feet and blew on it. dimir was an outdoor cat, after all, and it wasn¡¯t as much of a neat freak as Fina. It wouldn¡¯t look good if the bill got dirty.

    He took a look and found that it had still been stained. There was a paw print beside his own signature, but it was faint. If you weren¡¯t specifically looking for it, you might not even notice it, so he probably wouldn¡¯t have to print a new copy, right?

    Even printer paper cost money. It didn¡¯t just fall from the sky.

    After changing, he folded the bill and ced it in his pocket, leaving the second floor with dimir.

    After they had left, all of the other elfins woke up as well.

    Pi rubbed at its eyes and put on its spectacles. When it saw that theptop was still on, it jumped off its rattan hanging chair and sat in theputer chair that still retained some body heat.

    Its work today was a little heavier. Other than the usual updates, it had wanted to organize the plot summary. For an online novel with over a million words, if there wasn¡¯t a plot summary, it would be easy to forget the content in the beginning chapters the moment they got to theter parts.

    All of the other elfins started to wake and wash up, livening up the area and passing by it. But all of this hadn¡¯t distracted it. It had gotten used to the noise in here, and they would start quieting down anyway. The battleground would soon move downstairs.

    Time ticked by.

    It focused on the outline, organizing the timeline ording to each elfin¡¯s order of showing up. All the way from Zhang Zian downloading till today. Each elfin had their own important part in the outline, independent and yet interconnected with one another.

    When it started to flesh out the details of dimir¡¯s part, Pi started to get a little tired, and it decided to get up and move around. There was still some time before they would get to this part, so there was no need to make a detailed outline. Just a rough outline would do.

    So it gave it a thought and summarized the whole portion with a simple sentence. It was pretty satisfied, so it jumped off the chair and went to roam around indoors.

    The bright logo said, ¡°Chinese cats are strangely ambitious, daring even to change night and day!¡±

 Chapter 1054: Domineering Shopkeepe

    <h4>Chapter 1054: Domineering Shopkeepe</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian and dimir went downstairs. Zhang Zian had woken up very early, and had busily typed the whole morning. He opened the door eventer than usual, and the job he needed to do was more troublesome. He had no time to help the shop employees clean up.

    When he opened the door, Wang Qian, Li Kun, Lu Yiyun, and Jiang Feifei were already waiting outside.

    ¡°Master, why did you open the door sote today?¡± They all rushed in. ¡°Is it that you were trying to be a deity and did too much yesterday? You have to watch out for your health!¡±

    ¡°Whatever! Wait,e over to sign.¡± Zhang Zian saw that they were gathering to supplies they needed to clean the shop. He stopped them, and had all of them gather next to the cashier counter.

    ¡°Sign?¡± They curiously circled around. ¡°What¡¯s this? A contract to sell our bodies?¡±

    ¡°Why are you asking so many questions? I asked you all to sign, so you all should sign!¡± Zhang Zian said arrogantly.

    Jiang Feifei gave a thumbs up. ¡°The shop manager just became a member of the Municipal Consultative Conference, and is already showing his domineering CEO aura!¡±

    ¡°Haha! That¡¯s confirmed. In the future, I¡¯ll be the domineering shopkeeper. Whoever doesn¡¯t listen to me, I¡¯ll deduct your sry!¡± Zhang Zian flipped his hair.

    ¡°Tch! Admiral Zhang, you have such a big, official authority!¡± Jiang Feifei said, imitating the tone from Stephen Chow¡¯s movie.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun stretched their necks and took a look. ¡°Oh! Small Animal Protection Act? Master, you¡¯re applying strict measures as a new official!¡±

    The content of the proposal was not long; it was very concise. After a few nces, they had a general idea of the content.

    ¡°Master, you¡¯re... collecting signatures?¡± Li Kun asked.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right! Selling insurance has to start from rtives and friends, and collecting signatures has to start from shop employees. Stop talking rubbish and sign!¡±

    ¡°...Isn¡¯t it said that a good rabbit doesn¡¯t eat the grass by its nest?¡± Wang Qian asked hesitantly.

    While they were chatting, Lu Yiyun picked up a pen and signed her name behind Zhang Zian¡¯s name.

    ¡°If there had been such aw before, the former tenant might not have abandoned Jasmine.¡± She took Jasmine out of her bag and let her run into the shop and y freely. ¡°So I¡¯m d there was no suchw before, but I don¡¯t want cats to be abandoned in rental houses anymore.¡±

    ¡°Admiral Zhang, what counts as a ¡®small animal...?¡¯ Does it include fish, turtles, prawns, crabs¨C¨Cthose kinds of animals?¡± Jiang Feifei asked.

    ¡°About this... I haven¡¯t totally thought everything through yet, but from the sessful cases overseas, they are normally not included,¡± Zhang Zian said, ¡°Everything must be done from easy to difficult. The more things we include, the greater the resistance. Besides, fewer people eat cats, dogs, and parrots, but many people eat fish, shrimp, and crabs. How to define them is a difficult problem.¡±

    Jiang Feifei smiled. ¡°I was just asking. Even though I like aquatic animals, asking people to not eat fish is a little drastic. It¡¯s good that the poor have fish to eat. There¡¯s nothing to be picky about.¡± After saying that, she signed her name as well.

    ¡°Tai! Eating me?¡± Richard suddenly swooped in and pressed his w on Zhang Zian¡¯s head. ¡°Somebody wants to eat me?¡±

    Zhang Zian rolled his eyes. He turned around, wanting to deck it, but it had already escaped.

    Jiang Feifei¡¯s question was not unreasonable. In fact, some countries did extend the definition of ¡°small animals¡± to aquatic organisms. For example, Switzend stipted that it was illegal to own only one goldfish, because goldfish often felt lonely... Likewise, if one owned a cat, they had to make sure that they let the cat outdoors, that it could see through the window, or that they owned two cats.

    But that kind ofw in China was obviously unrealistic. There was no way it could be implemented.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were done ying around and signed their names.

    Jiang Feifei took the key for the aquarium next door from Zhang Zian, and the four of them split up to clean.

    ¡°I might be out the whole day today, and I won¡¯t be too close. You guys just watch the shop,¡± Zhang Zian instructed. The shop employees were now able to hold the fort down, and there was no need for him to stay in the shop to watch them.

    Zian headed towards the door, and dimir quietly followed behind him. Zian gave it a look to signal that they could leave.

    However, as soon as he walked out of the shop he saw two short, small figures run over from a distance.

    ¡°Brother Store Manager! Good morning!¡± Little Celery ran in front of him, full of energy, and turned her head back once in a while to call out, ¡°Yaning,e over quickly! Run faster!¡±

    Wang Yaning was an indoor person, and what she hated most was physical education and running. She was very far behind Little Celery, holding her stomach and continuously panting, like she had run out of breath.

    ¡°Wait... wait for me. Why did you need to run? Isn¡¯t walking to school good too?¡± she yelled, her face full of pain.

    Zhang Zian also greeted them. ¡°Good morning, Little Celery! You two are going to school? Isn¡¯t it Golden Week? Why do primary school students need to go back for additional lessons during the holidays?¡±

    ¡°No! It¡¯s our turn to take care of the hamsters today! Yaning and I are a group!¡± Little Celery said, full of energy. Her gazended on the paper Zhang Zian was holding. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I wrote a proposal to protect small animals, and I am preparing to go and collect more signatures,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°There are a lot of people who hurt little animals for no reason, and I want to stop them from doing that.¡±

    Little Celery¡¯s eyeballs turned back to his face. ¡°Does that include hamsters and rabbits?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Zhang Zian nodded.

    ¡°Then... Can I sign?¡± Little Celery raised her hand and said.

    ¡°You can.¡± Zhang Zian thought about it. It seemed like there was no rule that primary school students could not sign a proposal, so passed her a pen.

    ¡°Ah! I almost wrote it as Little Celery again! I¡¯ve written it wrong a few times on my schoolwork, and I¡¯ve been scolded by the teacher!¡± She poked out her tongue, and noticed that there was something wrong when she was going to write. She hurriedly changed it to her actual name, Cai Xiaoqin.

    ¡°Yaning! Come over quickly! You sign too!¡± She turned around to call out.

    Wang Yaning had run until her forehead was dripping with sweat. She stopped in front of them, panting heavily. ¡°Sign... sign what?¡±

    ¡°Oh, Brother Store Manager is collecting signatures for the protection of small animals.¡± Little Celery pointed at the proposal, then forcefully pushed the pen into Wang Yaning¡¯s hand.

    When Zhang Zian saw Wang Yaning, his head started to hurt. He thought she was probably going to mock him again. He did not expect for her to look at him, look at the proposal, then sign without saying anything.

    What the heck! This little girl changed her personality? That¡¯s impossible, right? Zhang Zian was staring at her, stunned. He wondered if he was dreaming.

    People were influenced by close association. Maybe because of how often she hung out with Little Celery she somehow became more polite.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be too arrogant and forget yourself! I just heard that you became a member of the Municipal Consultative Conference, so I gave you the bit of respect that is suitable for your position,¡± she said, gesturing to the nail of her little thumb.

    The f*ck! As expected, the mischievous child was not cute at all!

 Chapter 1055: Scholarly Aura

    <h4>Chapter 1055: Schrly Aura</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was a big enough headache to deal with one brat. But it was a bigger headache to deal with a brat that only acknowledged authority, one that automatically categorized people into different castes ording to their job.

    Zhang Zian had thought he had finally won her over with his amazing personality and morals, but what had won her over was his new title... That was just infuriating.

    Wang Yaning took a look at the bill before confidently announcing, ¡°I suggest you not do these things that are out of your capabilities. You¡¯re just wasting your time! It¡¯s alright if your failed generation can¡¯t do these anyway. By the time my generation grows up, we¡¯ll inherit your regrets and make them all better! The world is yours, and the world is ours, but it¡¯s ours more than it is yours! Just retire peacefully!¡±

    That was just AOE damage... The most infuriating thing was that the ending sentence was an edited famous quote. Even the spectating employees had exploded in excitement!

    Thank goodness both Little Celery and Wang Yaning were rushing to go to school as it was their turn to take care of the hamster, and they couldn¡¯t stay here for long. They rushed towards Zhonghua Road Primary School after signing, and they could still hear Little Celery asking Wang Yaning, confused, ¡°Yaning, what¡¯s the many consult conference?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t run, and be careful of cars when crossing the road!¡± Zhang Zian reminded them from the back.

    Little Celery waved her hand in acknowledgement.

    Zhang Zian tossed the thought over his mind. Could it be that it was in style to use famous quotes now? Well, it wasn¡¯t impossible. Theirnguage teachers always gave them extra marks for using a famous quote in their essays, as long as it wasn¡¯t an overused one.

    Just then, amon sedan slowed to a stop at the shop door.

    Zhang Zian looked up. Maybe because he had driven a Mercedes-Benz before, he wasn¡¯t that interested in any normal cars at the moment.

    The car window rolled down.

    ¡°Xiao Zhang, good morning.¡±

    What surprised Zhang Zian was that it was actually Professor Wei Kang that was driving, so he rushed up.

    ¡°Professor Wei, good morning!¡± he greeted him casually. ¡°Isn¡¯t it the Golden Week holiday? Are you going to take care of a hamster this early in the morning too?¡±

    Wei Kang was stumped. ¡°Hamster? What hamster?¡±

    ¡°Nothing. I was just saying nonsense.¡± Zhang Zian dismissed it.

    Wei Kang knew that he was just an entric person. Just as he was about to bring up a serious matter, he saw a blue cat behind Zhang Zian, watching him with bright eyes.

    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s a...Russian Blue, isn¡¯t it?¡± Wei Kang blurted. ¡°It¡¯s a rare cat to see in China.¡±

    Zhang Zian gave him a big thumbs up. ¡°Wow, you¡¯re amazing, Professor Wei. You recognized it in one go!¡±

    Since he¡¯d brought dimir back to Binhai City, this was the first time someone had actually recognized its breed. No wonder he was a biology professor¡ªWei Kang was especially taken to cats and had researched them more. Other biology professors might not have been able to do what he¡¯d just done.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like a purebred. Maybe there¡¯s a Chinese local cat in its ancestry?¡± Wei Kang, with his sharp observation skills, noticed the difference between dimir and a purebred Russian Blue.

    ¡°If you retire one day from the university, you can consider opening a pet shop. Who knows? You might earn more than what you do now.¡± Zhang Zian praised him in awe and respect.

    Wei Kang waved his hand. ¡°Stop your sweet talk. I won¡¯t fall for it. If I really opened a pet shop, I would lose all of my money in a month,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m out on an errand, and your shop was on the way, so I wanted to ask how your preparations for the Egypt trip were going.¡±

    Zhang Zian had more or less guessed Professor Wei Kang¡¯s reason for being here, and smiled. ¡°What is there for me to prepare? Just give me the word, and I¡¯ll be ready to go by the next day!¡±

    Even though he dered it so, he was still concerned about the Holy Cat statue. If he left Binhai City before he settled that, the situation might be blown out of hand by the time he came back. But it was something that he couldn¡¯t quite tell Professor Wei Kang.

    ¡°That¡¯s good...¡± Wei Kang noticed the paper he was holding in his hand. ¡°What¡¯s that in your hand...?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I obnoxiously made a proposal, and I was looking for people to sign. Professor Wei, why not help me sign it?¡± Zhang Zian half-joked as he passed the bill over.

    Wei Kang took it and perused it. ¡°Mm, this is a good thing that would benefit us! It¡¯s a bit of a shame. We experts should be doing things like this, but...no one wants to put themselves out there. It¡¯s already busy enough doing your research daily, and we have to publish a set amount of journals every year to keep our titles... Do you have a pen? Lend me one.¡±

    Even though Zhang Zian called him ¡°Professor,¡± Wei Kang was actually just an assistant professor, and he had been ving over promoting himself to professor. Besides better treatment, they should be able to get better research resources too.

    Wei Kang picked up the pen, writing his name before passing everything back to Zhang Zian. ¡°If you need more signatures, the PhD students and fellows should be able to sign for you too, and I can call up some of my colleagues.¡±

    ¡°Then thank you in advance!¡±

    Zhang Zian was more than d to gain the support of all these experts, and it boosted his confidence greatly.

    ¡°No problem. It¡¯s a simple task. I¡¯ll contact them when I¡¯m back. Then I¡¯ll be off, so remember to prepare carefully for our trip to Egypt!¡± Wei Kang reminded him.

    His eyes went past Zhang Zian and dimir to the smudge of gold on the cat tower in the pet shop before he stepped on the gas reluctantly.

    It was an excuse that he was just passing by. In reality, he had wanted to take a look at Fina, the only confirmed cat that was from Egypt. He felt that Fina had to be there for their trip to Egypt.

    After Wei Kang had left, dimir finally opened its mouth to ask, ¡°The old man earlier had a strong schrly aura around him. You know him?¡±

    ¡°Yes, he¡¯s an assistant professor with Binhai City University¡¯s biology faculty. He¡¯s a nice guy, and I owe him a lot,¡± Zhang Zian answered truthfully.

    dimir hummed, seemingly not having a good first impression of Wei Kang.

    ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± Zhang Zian asked, confused. Had Wei Kang offended dimir earlier?

    Could it be that dimir was upset about him saying that he was a mix between a Russian Blue and China¡¯s own cats? But that would be weird. dimir had never expressed its displeasure when Zhang Zian said that to their customers on more than one asion.

    ¡°Nothing much.¡± dimir shook its head. ¡°Let¡¯s continue gathering signatures.¡±

    Since it was unwilling to speak, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t force it to. When it was willing to speak, it naturally would.

    His signature collection had been going a lot more smoothly than expected. Zhang Zian gave it an extra thought. Where should they go next?

 Chapter 1056: Public Opinion

    <h4>Chapter 1056: Public Opinion</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    For a joint proposal, the ideal situation was to collect signatures from people of all walks of life and different stratas of society, so as to cover a certain degree of public opinion.

    Zhang Zian pondered for awhile before he decided to stop putting so much thought into it. He randomly walked around the area surrounding the pet shop to collect as many signatures as he could. Wasn¡¯t it said that a certain western country randomly chose its survey participants from the street when they did research about people? Randomly meeting people seemed like a good choice.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, dimir. I haven¡¯t walked around randomly on the street in a very long time.¡± He waved at dimir, signaling for it to follow him.

    ¡°It¡¯s not bad. You¡¯ve collected... eight people¡¯s signatures in a short period of time.¡± It counted the names on the paper, and said meaningfully, ¡°But this doesn¡¯t mean anything.¡±

    ¡°Eh, I know.¡± Even without it reminding him, Zhang Zian knew what it said was true.

    Wang Qian, Li Kun, and the rest signed because they were his shop employees; Little Celery signed because she had a pure, child¡¯s heart, and Wang Yaning signed it because of Little Celery; Professor Wei Kang signed for him because he was familiar with him, and had asked him for favors before.

    In other words, how much of them signing his petition was truly them supporting him, and how much was just them signing because he was a familiar person? It was hard to clearly differentiate it, and it was possible that it was more because of thetter.

    Even if Wei Kang called for his colleagues to sign for him, that was also due to Wei Kang.

    That did not represent anything, however... After all, who didn¡¯t know a few familiar people? They were just signing their name, it was not like they were borrowing money.

    The real challenge was collecting signatures from strangers. Being able to get signatures from strangers was something entirely different, and it would better reflect public opinion.

    Zhang Zian took a deep breath. Although he often talked to men and women in his shop, he was not good at chatting with strangers. In fact, in his bones, he was still conscious of how others viewed him. Even when it was difficult to take over the pet store, he did not have the courage to run around on the street to attract customers or to advertise. Even if the pet store failed, he still had a way out and could roll back to work.

    But the petition was not for himself, and he had no way out.

    He could leave and continue to live his safe and peaceful life, but what about the small animals that were being abused? Everyone was silent, but someone had to step up and break the silence.

    dimir stared at him from the side, seeing through his rxed facade. It saw the nervousness that could not be hidden.

    ¡°Hello! I wrote a proposal concerning the protection of pets and small animals. I want to ask for your opinion and signature...¡±

    Zian saw a middle-aged man passing by and ran over. Before he managed to finish his sentence, the other party waved his hand impatiently. ¡°There¡¯s no need. There¡¯s no need!¡± Actually, the middle-aged man did not even hear what he was saying clearly; he thought he was someone giving out flyers on the side of the road. The man increased his speed and left quickly.

    Zhang Zian had gotten the cold-shoulder treatment. Although he had some psychological preparation, the taste of being brutally refused in person was very ufortable. If he was really advertising for the pet shop that was one thing, but that was not what he was doing.

    Heughed at himself mockingly, and shrugged his shoulders at dimir. He pretended to be rxed and said, ¡°What did you say that once? Failure is the mother cat of sess!¡±

    dimir did notugh. In fact, there was a bit of sadness hidden in the depths of its eyes.

    Zhang Zian adjusted his emotions, and squeezed out a smile he did not even use to greet customers in the pet shop. He approached a young girl walking by. ¡°Hello! Do you like pets and small animals?¡± He had learned his lesson from the first time, so he did not start off the same way.

    The young girl was stunned for a bit, then looked up at him and pinched her bag tighter. Instead of turning around and leaving like a middle-aged man did, she said cautiously, ¡°They¡¯re okay...¡±

    Zhang Zian rxed a little and showed her the proposal. ¡°I have written a proposal for the protection of small animals. I want to solicit your signature in order to get the attention of the relevant departments and enact legition on the matter. Look, can you sign your name for me? If you have any helpfulments on the content of the proposal, I will try to revise it, as long as they are reasonable.¡±

    The young girl stared at him like she was looking at an alien, then showed an expression of disbelief. Zhang Zian felt that his smile was very stiff.

    Everyone had been forced, at one time or another, to ept flyers on the street. She had been chatted up several times by strangers for micro-signals and cell phone numbers, but for the first time, she has been asked to sign a proposal by a stranger.

    She began to wonder if it was some kind of new scam... She was afraid Zhang Zian would scam her into signing, then use her signature to ess her credit card.

    There was nothing wrong with wanting to protect oneself by being wary of people.

    ¡°This... nevermind. I¡¯m sorry, please go and find someone else.¡± After two to three seconds, she returned to her senses and lowered her head, then hurriedly left.

    Zhang Zian stood in the same spot for a while, and dimir could not see his expression from behind. It could only see his shoulders fall, as if he had no more energy.

    After a short moment, he turned his head back, forced himself to smile, and said, ¡°It¡¯s an improvement fromst time, right?¡±

    dimir was quiet, and did not respond.

    It was a day in the Golden Week holiday¨C¨Calthough, it did not matter to Zhang Zian whether it was a holiday or not. For him, if he wanted it to be, any day was a holiday.

    There were quite a few of pedestrians on the road. They were taking advantage of the weather before it got too hot to go out and y.

    Zhang Zian chose his targets carefully. He could not choose someone too old or too young. Those that were too old typically did not care about that kind of thing, and if they were too young... he would probably be treated as a pervert.

    A family of three walked towards him. It was a pair of parents that were between young and middle-aged, and their child, who was a few years old. The dad was holding a bag and carrying a water bottle, and the mother was holding the child¡¯s hand. The child¡¯s other hand was holding a balloon.

    They were all smiling, and the balloon moved with the wind. They looked warm and happy.

    ¡°Hello! Hi, little kid! Can I ask¨C¨Cdo you all like pets and small animals?¡± Zhang Zian went up to them, smiling at them and waving to greet them. He felt like his fake smile had be more and more realistic.

    The man and woman looked at each other, and the mother blocked the child from Zhang Zian¡¯s view; they were slightly suspicious of him. The dad was in charge of speaking. ¡°Can I help you with anything?¡± the man asked.

    Zhang Zian repeated his words again, and even let him see the proposal.

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry. We don¡¯t keep pets at home, and we aren¡¯t familiar with them. We are not interested.¡± The man took a look at the proposal, and politely but forcefully shook his head. He then turned to his wife and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°If you want to understand more, I can exin it to you...¡± Zhang Zian unhappily chased after them a bit.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need. Leave it. Please stay where you are.¡± The middle-aged man blocked the road, and red at him in warning.

    Zhang Zian was smart and stopped walking.

    The child noticed dimir and was staring at him; he evenughed happily. Perhaps it was the child¡¯s peculiar way of loving the new and hating the old. His little hand unwittingly rxed, and the balloon began to float upwards.

    A human¡¯s reaction time was not fast. Before the people present reacted, they saw a blueish-grey shadow jump and fall. The newly released balloon was mped between dimir¡¯s ws. It reached out a w and passed the balloon to the child.

    The childughed and took the balloon, trying to curry favor. He smiled at his mother. ¡°Mom! This cat knows how to catch balloons!¡±

    The man and woman had strange expressions on their faces; they were shocked at dimir¡¯s reaction. They found it strange... That was not something a normal cat could do. The blue cat¡¯s eyes and movements seemed a bit strange.

    ¡°Darling, let¡¯s go.¡± They did not even say thank you, and they hurriedly carried the child away.

    The child¡¯s small face rested on the father¡¯s shoulder. He opened his bright eyes and stared at dimir. His small hand loosened his grip again, and the balloon once again left his hand and flew up.

    That time, however, there was no one to help him catch the balloon.

    dimir turned to look at Zhang Zian and said, ¡°Enough.¡±

 Chapter 1057: Persistence

    <h4>Chapter 1057: Persistence</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    People walked up and down the streets, but Zhang Zian felt helpless amidst all of the hustle and the crushing defeat of wanting to do something but not being able to. He had felt this before, back when he had just taken over the pet shop and people had kept walking past his store front, but not a single person had stepped inside.

    dimir walked a few steps towards the pet shop before turning back and looking at him. ¡°Are you not going back?¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°I want to try again¡ªif sess were easy to achieve, someone else would have done it already.¡±

    He didn¡¯t dare say for how long he would persist, and he might give up in the end and not be stubborn. But no matter what, it was too early to give up now. Thinking back, he guessed his patience might have been nurtured back when he had taken over the pet shop.

    dimir observed him before opening its mouth. ¡°I have a suggestion.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the suggestion?¡± Zhang Zian perked up. The thing he needed the most right now was suggestions. Maybe the way that he¡¯d spoken to that man earlier had been wrong. Maybe his expression, actions, and tone weren¡¯t quite right, and he hadn¡¯t shown his sincerity to the others.

    It seemed to smile. ¡°They aren¡¯t paying real attention to you. They aren¡¯t even willing to stay for a second. Maybe it¡¯s because they don¡¯t trust you.¡±

    ¡°Probably,¡± he admitted. If it were him, he would also be afraid and alert if a stranger approached him on the street.

    ¡°You can tell them your identity¡ªtell them that you are a member of the Municipal Consultative Conference and you would like them to help you with a survey. You should be able to gain their trust then.¡±

    Before Zhang Zian could answer, it continued, ¡°There are other ways. For example, you could bring Fina¡¯s trained cats out to dance or something. You¡¯d definitely be able to attract a crowd then. Before they leave, you can tell them your proposal, and someone will definitely stay to listen to all of it.¡±

    What it said would definitely work, but after Zhang Zian had given it serious thought, he still shook his head.

    ¡°It¡¯s a good way, but I don¡¯t think we should do it,¡± he said.

    dimir was a little surprised and asked, ¡°Oh? Why? ording to what I know, Gxy was the one that brought the first customer into your shop, wasn¡¯t it? If so, why are you so stubborn? There¡¯s no difference either way, right? As long as you open your mouth and ask, Fina should agree. It¡¯s just a simple thing for her anyway.¡±

    ¡°I feel that these two things are different, and we can¡¯t talk about them together. They¡¯repletely different issues.¡± Zhang Zian hesitated as he mulled over his words. ¡°I am thankful to Gxy for bringing customers into the shop, but that was my personal issue. Zhao Qi said that she had wanted to get a cat to disgust the coworker that she didn¡¯t like, but she had been thinking of getting a cat for a long time subconsciously... For this, we can say that we¡¯re doing a public survey, but what purpose would it have if the survey was not sincere? I didn¡¯t write this bill just for fun, and if no one really cares about the well-being of small animals, then even if the bill was proposed, it would never pass either... History has proved to us time and time again, and will continue to do so, that people¡¯s approval gathered through force and bribery is just an illusion.¡±

    dimir met his eyes for a short moment before nodding. ¡°Alright, then do as you will.¡±

    It didn¡¯t continue walking towards the pet shop and stepped back.

    Zhang Zian determinedly announced, ¡°There are so many people that have pets and love animals online, and I don¡¯t believe that all of them are just keyboard warriors!¡±

    As he said that, three boys who looked like university students wereughing and chatting as they walked down the street. They looked like foreign students from Binhai City who hadn¡¯t headed home during the awkwardly-timed Golden Week. They had made use of the break time to walk around Binhai City.

    Zhang Zian went up to them, starting a new conversation. ¡°Hello! Do you like pets and small animals?¡±

    Maybe it was because all of them were male and were in a group, the three university students didn¡¯t show any signs of fear or alertness, just a little surprise.

    ¡°They¡¯re alright, I guess. I quite like them, but I¡¯ve never had a pet,¡± one of them said.

    ¡°So-so for me. I can¡¯t say I like them a lot, but I don¡¯t hate them either,¡± another said.

    The third person pointed at the second, saying, ¡°I¡¯m the same as him. I wouldn¡¯t walk into a pet shop to buy a pet, but if you gave me one, I would consider.¡±

    The first two peopleughed and gave the third man a punch on the arm, scolding him and chuckling, ¡°You mean you¡¯re just poor! Did you spend all of your money on chasing girlfriends?¡±

    ¡°No! Stop saying rubbish! I don¡¯t have a girlfriend!¡± the third person argued back, indignant.

    Seeing that the atmosphere was pretty good, Zhang Zian chuckled, ¡°Can you spare a few minutes of your time? I am doing a public survey and a proposal with regards to protecting pets and small animals, and I would love to get your opinions on it. If you think it¡¯s not bad, it would be best if you could sign it... Of course, there¡¯s no obligation to do anything, but I hope you can at least take a look at it.¡±

    Then he passed his proposal over, nervous.

    The third person was the first one that snatched the proposal, and the other two could only read it with their necks craned.

    Zhang Zian anxiously watched their expressions change.

    The proposal was short and easy to read, and they quickly finished scanning it over.

    ¡°What do you guys think?¡± Zhang Zian asked. ¡°If you have any opinions, you can tell me.¡±

    The first person snickered. ¡°I think it¡¯s not bad. What do you guys think?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m alright with it.¡± The second person shrugged their shoulders.

    The third person read the proposal again, looking at Zhang Zian with curious eyes. ¡°You wrote this?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhang Zian nodded. Even though dimir had helped to edit it, he had written the bulk of it.

    ¡°Why did you decide to do it?¡± the third person asked.

    Zhang Zian answered, ¡°Have you never heard of it? There are a lot of cat abuse incidents happening in and around Binhai City. I think these acts are too cruel. Small animals have lives too, and we should give them the respect they deserve.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t afraid of them asking questions. He was more afraid of them not asking.

    The first person nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of that before, and I¡¯ve posted it on my WeChat Moments reminding everyone to not let their cat out.¡±

    ¡°I gave his post a like,¡± the second person said.

    ¡°It must have been a hassle. You look like you n to collect a lot of signatures.¡± The third person spoke up.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. I¡¯m not afraid of trouble.¡± Zhang Zian mocked himself. ¡°This was something that I brought on myself anyway.¡±

    ¡°You weren¡¯t afraid that you would be wasting all this time?¡±

    ¡°My time isn¡¯t that precious. Besides, everyone has some wasted time. We waste 60 seconds every minute,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    The second person murmured under his breath, ¡°Why do I feel like we¡¯re wasting 61 seconds every minute?¡±

    The third person gave it a thought. ¡°Do you have a pen?¡±

    Zhang Zian immediately passed him the pen, suppressing the euphoria in his heart.

    The third person quickly wrote his name on the document.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, can you write your phone number underneath your name? Of course, it¡¯s alright if you don¡¯t. I just don¡¯t want people to think that I forged all of these names.¡± Zhang Zian carefully requested something else from them.

    ¡°Why do all these people before us not write their phone numbers then?¡± The third person pointed at the previous eight signatures.

    Zhang Zian answered truthfully, ¡°Because all these are people I know personally, and I know their phone numbers too. If need be, I can always contact them for verification.¡±

    The third person didn¡¯t hesitate anymore, and pen tip touched paper.

    ¡°Wait!¡± The second person stopped him, and gave him a meaningful long look, lowering his voice as he spoke. ¡°Are you not afraid that your personal information will be leaked?¡±

    ¡°For what?¡± the third person scoffed, uncaring. ¡°It¡¯s the f*cking big data century. As long as you are online, you¡¯re giving out your personal information every second. Besides, my information has already been sold away by the Student Council, inte businesses, and deliverypanies, so this is nothing.¡±

    The other two went silent and couldn¡¯t deny it. They heard that the immoral members of the Student Council had long since sold all of their students¡¯ information to others, and they constantly received message ads about student loans.

    As for inte businesses, the moment you secretly viewed adult websites online, you would be flooded with adult ads whenever you to go other websites, and it would be extremely awkward...

    The third person generously wrote his own phone number under his name, seeing that the other two had shut up, and passed both the pen and paper back to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Bro, truthfully, I¡¯m not that invested in animal protection or whatever, nor do I know enough about it, but I trust that you would not scam me. I won¡¯t do something this troublesome anyway. I¡¯m willing to sign because there aren¡¯t many idiots like you that are willing. People now are all too smart,¡± he said without holding back.

    The second person snatched back the pen and paper. ¡°You don¡¯t know enough because you¡¯re stupid. What¡¯s there to not understand? I understood, and it made sense. We should be protecting small animals.¡±

    He signed his name and left his phone number before passing the pen and paper to the first person.

    ¡°What?¡± The first person stared at it.

    ¡°What do you think?¡± The second person rushed him. ¡°You either sign it or give your opinion. He talked so much, so you should at least return the courtesy.¡±

    The first person took over the pen and paper. ¡°How would you know if I nned to sign it or not? Now it looks like I¡¯m being forced... I¡¯m different from you guys. I genuinely like pets...¡±

    ¡°Stop dilly-dallying!¡± The third person rushed him too.

    After signing, the first person passed the pen and paper back to Zhang Zian, and he sincerely suggested, ¡°Bro, I suggest you go collect signatures in Binhai City. There are a lot of chicks there that like cats and dogs. It¡¯s a lot better than just waiting here.¡±

    Zhang Zian took the materials over, smiling. ¡°I know, and I know that it¡¯s faster that way. But I would like to collect signatures from people from all walks of life, and not just university students.¡±

    The three boys¡¯ smiles disappeared, and they looked at each other with respect in their eyes. They wanted to say more, but all they ended up doing was patting Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder and saying only one sentence: ¡°Good luck.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t much, but it warmed his heart nheless.

 Chapter 1058: Confusion

    <h4>Chapter 1058: Confusion</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was inspired by the three new signatures on the proposal, which meant as much as the moment Zhao Qi first entered the store.

    It was not a matter of human rtions, one¡¯s face, social status, or an even exchange of interests. It was purely a matter of his sincerity in exchange for the trust of the other party.

    The most important thing was that it caused him to have an increased sense of confidence. If there was a first time, couldn¡¯t there be a second time, too?

    ¡°How is it, dimir? Not bad, right?¡± He watched the three people leave and chuckled.

    dimir was nomutative. He looked up at the sky and vaguely reminded him, ¡°It¡¯s been almost half an hour since you came out, and you¡¯ve only gotten three signatures.¡±

    The proposal still had arge amount of empty space on it.

    ¡°It¡¯s slow and inefficient, but it feels very good! Don¡¯t you think so?¡± Zhang Zian, with a high-spirited look, swept away his previous decadence and said excitedly, ¡°Although, dimir¨C¨Cyou always say that you should fight physically instead of with words. In the past, when reading novels, such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms, I always felt morefortable with fights on the bridge that were won by wisdom, or that touched each other with words, rather than the bridge section that oppressed people by force. Fighting may be quicker and more direct, but it¡¯s easier to fight and win the throne than to sit on the throne. In the end, we should persuade people by virtue.¡±

    dimir was silent.

    ¡°Hello! Do you like pets or small animals?¡± Zhang Zian saw a white-cordy walk past and quickly went to follow her. That time, his whole face was full of confidence. He could withstand being rejected by a few more indifferent people before his self-confidence depleted.

    As dimir looked thoughtfully at the bustling street and the peopleing and going, it murmured in a low voice, ¡°Faithfulness is a meowing sorrow. Why were you ever afraid of breaking your head? The world is red all over the world. Who is the guardian of the rivers and mountains?¡±

    It was confident that it would overthrow the rule of mankind as swift as lightning, but what would happen after the overthrow? Did it depend on stray cats taking over civilization? Or would it have to watch the glorious civilization created by mankind disappear in the dust of history?

    dimir had never thought about it before. He always thought that it was logical to destroy an old world and build a new one. But did he build a new world with the limbs of a stray cat? It was bound to be a new world that was innumerable times behind current human society. Its productivity would be extremely low. Large beasts would run rampant. There would be crises everywhere. The average life expectancy of stray cats would be greatly reduced. Was that really what it wanted to pursue?

    It was not an immortal god¨C¨Cit also had a lifespan. When its body was tired, and it recalled autumn, would its long-cherished desire go to waste?

    It was suddenly confused.

    ¡°dimir?¡± There was someone calling it.

    dimir returned to his senses, and saw that Zhang Zian was staring at it in concern.

    ¡°dimir, are you all right?¡± he asked worriedly. ¡°I called you quite a few times, but you did not respond at all.¡±

    It shook its head. ¡°I¡¯m fine. I was just distracted.¡±

    ¡°Distracted?¡± Zhang Zian was still not reassured. ¡°You¡¯ve been standing there lost in thought for a while. I thought that you had a heatstroke.¡±

    ¡°Was it very long?¡± It tried its best to make its mind clear again.

    ¡°...Look, I collected four signatures just now.¡± Zhang Zian let it see the proposal. There were four new signatures and phone numbers on the paper. The handwriting for each name was different. Some were clear, and some were messy. They were obviously from different people.

    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± it forced itself to smile and say.

    Zhang Zian raised his head to look at the sun. The spring days in Binhai City were getting shorter. He felt like winter had just ended and summer had already arrived.

    The sun was very strong that day and there were no clouds in the sky. The temperature was rising very fast. dimir¡¯s blueish-gray fur had a high heat absorption efficiency. He saw that it did not look well, and he was worried about it having a heatstroke.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go into the shop and rest. I recognize the owner of that shop,¡± he pointed in front of them and said. It was the snack stall of the Li couple.

    dimir did not oppose. Zhang Zian led it, and they entered the snack bar one in front of the other.

    It was still a while until noon, but there were many customers in Li¡¯s Supreme Snack Bar for Cat Fanciers. They were upying two to three tables in the corner, and were using toys to y with cats excitedly.

    dimir looked at the cats in the house, and could not help but be stunned.

    It spent some time in the pet shop, and it basically knew which cat was purebred and which cat was mixed-race. It could recognize the different at a nce. All the cats in the shop were not valuable, mixed-race cats; they were all mixed-race cats that would have normally been stray cats.

    Although there were asionally purebred cats among the stray cats, they were ones that had escaped from their owner¡¯s houses. The proportion of purebred cats to stray cats as a whole was very low¨C¨Calmost negligible.

    Why were the mixed-race cats in the small shop? Their fur was shiny and slippery. It was easy to see that they were eating well¨C¨Ceven eating until they were very fat¨C¨Cand they yed with customers like they were happy.

    Zhang Zian had never brought it there before, and of course, it was not aware of the reason why.

    ¡°Store Manager Zhang! You haven¡¯te to our small shop in very long! Why did you have time toe here today?¡± Aunt Li smiled and came over to wee him.

    Zhang Zian randomly found an empty table to sit at. He smiled and said, ¡°I just happened to pass by. I realized that I hadn¡¯te to contribute to your business in a long time, so I came in to take a look.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re all in the same neighborhood! If you have time in the future, juste on in! But you¡¯re busy now. I don¡¯t feel good wasting your time...¡± Aunt Li¡¯s gazended on dimir behind him. ¡°Oh, this cat is... a stray cat you brought?¡±

    ¡°Nope, this a cat from my shop. I brought it out today for a walk so it could recognize its surroundings,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    ¡°Oh!¡± Aunt Li nodded. ¡°Store Manager Zhang, do you want anything to eat?¡±

    It was not yet time for lunch, and Zhang Zian was not hungry at all. He was just a bit thirsty and a bit hot.

    He took off his jacket and put it to the side. ¡°I¡¯m not hungry. Let¡¯s have a cup of sour plum soup. I want a cold one.¡±

    ¡°All right!¡± Aunt Li returned to the kitchen at the back, then brought out a cup of iced sour plum soup after a short while. She brought out a te of small dried fish and put it on the ground in front of dimir. That was the special treatment that Zhang Zian received there; if the other customers only ordered a cup of sour plum soup, they would not have received the dried fish.

    ¡°Come¨C¨Ceat,¡± she told it, smiling.

    dimir was speechless. It did not eat dried fish, but it knew how much stray cats liked it.

    Aunt Li saw that it did not move and asked in shock, ¡°Why is it not eating?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not hungry. It ate before it came out...¡± Zhang Zian had yet to finish speaking when he saw dimir open its mouth and eat a piece of dried fish.

 Chapter 1059: Sharing the Small Dried Fish

    <h4>Chapter 1059: Sharing the Small Dried Fish</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian had never seen dimir eat anything, and he knew that it didn¡¯t need to either.

    Aunt Li¡¯s eyes scrunched up in glee seeing the blue cat eat the small dried fish. ¡°I have never seen a cat that doesn¡¯t eat dried fish. They eat it even when they¡¯re extremely full.¡±

    She didn¡¯t notice that dimir had only tasted the small dried fish and opened its mouth again to spit the fish back out into the dish.

    ¡°Oh right, shopkeeper Zhang, you can bring us another two or three strays or any abandoned cats at the clinic. These cats with me are mostly adopted, and they will be leaving the shop within half a month.¡± She pointed at the few strays ying with the customers.

    ¡°Okay, I got it. I¡¯ll get them sent over within the next two days.¡± Zhang Zian drank a few sips of the sour plum drink. The cold, sour yet sweet, deep purple liquid flowed through his throat, calming his pte and his heart and flooding his body with energy.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be waiting for them then,¡± Aunt Li happily chirped.

    When Zhang Zian was drinking the sour plum, he was afraid that the drink would pour onto the proposal, so he left it off to one side. Aunt Li noticed it and squinted at it, asking, ¡°What is this?¡±

    Since he had nothing else to do anyway, Zhang Zian exined his thoughts simply while drinking his drink. He had exined it so many times that morning, he had practically perfected the speech by now, sinct and fluent.

    ¡°Oh.¡± Aunt Li understood. ¡°Then I¡¯ll help sign too! These strays are pitiful. I always felt bad for using them to earn money, and it would make me feel better if I could help them out.¡±

    Zhang Zian passed her the pen. ¡°Please do.¡±

    Aunt Li cleaned her hands on her apron, solemnly signing her name on the paper. She apologized, ¡°My man¡¯s helping out in the kitchen, and it¡¯s a smelly and smoky ce. His hands are dirty too, so he can¡¯t help you sign.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. Go ahead and do your things. You don¡¯t have to keep entertaining me.¡± Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°I am more than grateful for your signature.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll be going in.¡±

    Someone ordered their meal right at that time, and Aunt Li quickly went over to serve them.

    The other patrons felt Zhang Zian was weird the moment he stepped through the door. It was normal to bring drinks into a restaurant, since the restaurants usually sold drinks at a way higher price than others, and they might not even be the real deal. But it was weird to bring your own cat to a cat cafe. Why not just y with your own cat at home? Did it feel better to have a bunch of cats instead?

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know any of theirplicated thoughts and concentrated on summarizing what he had learned before, strategizing how he could get more signatures more efficiently.

    One of the patrons had finished their meal and was about to walk out contentedly. When he passed by Zhang Zian¡¯s table, he kindheartedly reminded him, ¡°Hey, your cat ran out. You should go after it.¡±

    The weather wasn¡¯t too hot or too cold, and the air quality was great too. There was no need to turn on the air conditioning, so the door was only half-closed, leaving the other half open for better venttion. The cats in the shop were under Fina¡¯s orders to not leave the shop without approval, so there was no need to worry about them running out of the shop.

    Zhang Zian hummed, uncaringly, ¡°Alright, I got it. Thank you.¡±

    dimir often disappeared, and he¡¯d long since gotten used to it.

    ¡°It ran out with the te in its mouth. You lose your cat and you still have to pay for the te.¡± Seeing how calm the other was, he couldn¡¯t help but speak a bit more.

    Zhang Zian looked down subconciously. The te really was gone.

    He downed the rest of his sour plum drink and rose. ¡°Thank you. I¡¯ll go get it back now.¡±

    That just solidified his image amongst the other patrons further more as a weirdo. He wasn¡¯t afraid of losing his cat, but he was afraid of losing the te...

    He took his jacket as he walked out, turning around in search of his cat. He soon found that dimir hadn¡¯t gone far and was squatting on the roof of a building nearby. Nearby it was another few stray cats, chewing on something. He didn¡¯t need to ask to know that they were definitely snacking on the dried fish.

    dimir didn¡¯t eat it itself, but it didn¡¯t want to waste them either, so it had taken the entire te out and shared the goodies with the strays in the area.

    Zhang Zian went over slowly, waiting under a shady area.

    Not too longter, dimir jumped down with the te in its mouth. It turned to look at him, but with something in its mouth it couldn¡¯tmunicate, so it ran back to the shop to put the te down before running back.

    ¡°Corruption and wastefulness are hideous crimes,¡± it exined.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t agree more.

    In reality, even if it hadn¡¯t taken away those dried fish, he had been considering whether he should put all those dried fish in his pocket and bring them back. If he left those dried fish there, other patrons would definitely pick them up and use them to attract the cats for free.

    ¡°Those cats in the shop were all strays?¡± it asked.

    ¡°Some of them are, but not all of them¡ªsome of them are cats that were abandoned at the clinic when their owners didn¡¯t want to pay for their treatment. If no onees back for them, they¡¯re basically strays too. Since the clinic couldn¡¯t house them forever, we could only get the help of the people or the shelters,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°The two owners of this shop nned to open a shop where customers could dine while ying with cats, so it helps to connect the two. Some of the customers felt bad for ying with the cats excessively, so they adopted those that they liked back home. It was a triple win situation.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not a bad solution.¡± dimir nodded.

    ¡°Butpared to the number of strays, this is just a drop in the bucket.¡±

    It turned to look at the signage then, asking questions in its confusion. ¡°Businessmen only care about profits. By your words, the bosses of the shop should be against thisw, right? She wouldn¡¯t be able to get free cats then.¡±

    Other than pleading for the protection of small animals in the bill, there was also a suggestion for the country to regte the buying and selling of pets to ensure that customers only purchased pets after understanding the pros and cons and the methods of taking care of them. This was to prevent customers from abandoning those pets shortly after purchase. These were all the lessons they had picked up from Germany¡¯sws.

    Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°Not all businessmen are profit-driven. I¡¯ve known these two owners for a long time, and they were never greedy for money. They had opened this restaurant because they had no other skill they could use to earn their ie, and it wasn¡¯t entirely because they were chasing profits.¡±

    dimir stared at it. ¡°What about you? Why did you start running your own business?¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± Zhang Zian mulled over the question before answering, ¡°Even though a job is stable, it¡¯s like caging yourself up. Running your own business has risks, but it is free.¡±

    ¡°Just like home-owned cats and strays,¡± dimir pointed out.

 Chapter 1060: Coming Up With a Nickname

    <h4>Chapter 1060: Coming Up With a Nickname</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    e

    Zhang Zian felt that it was not as pitiful as a stray cat, but opening a shop was really quite high risk. If he was not careful he would have lost all his savings and be a homeless person under a bridge. That would have made him very simr to a stray cat... Or even worse. After all, there was no one who would create a Branch Organization for the Homeless...

    Having his own shop was quite all right. If it was a rental shop, there was an 80 percent chance of losing money, and only thendowner stood the a chance to win anything.

    But at least he really liked the freedom; that was not wrong.

    dimir asked again, ¡°The pet shop you were talking about... Is it the one you guys always mention?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the one to the north of here. Did you not go over?¡± Zhang Zian pointed to the north.

    dimir thought about it. ¡°We passed by it a few times, but did not enter. This is a ce where house cats are treated for their illnesses. It has nothing to do with stray cats.¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°Perhaps you have some misunderstanding... Let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll bring you in to take a look, and we can hopefully gather a few signatures.¡±

    Zhang Zian stopped strangers on their way and exined his proposal to them. Although most people still refused because they were indifferent, disgusted, and worried about their personal information getting out, a small number of people did generously sign and leave their mobile phone numbers. Besides Zhang Zian¡¯s rapid improvement in conversational skills, another reason was that they saw that there were more and more names on the proposal. They subconsciously gave in to a herd mentality¨C¨Csince so many people had signed it, it was okay for them to sign it.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t we bing more and more like professional salespeople?¡± Zhang Zian smiled and said to dimir casually. ¡°Perhaps I can even go and sell insurance in the future.¡±

    ¡°The idea of selling goods is very simr, but it¡¯s not the same thing at all,¡± it pointedly said, ¡°The promotion of goods is limited by thew. No matter how many goods they manage to sell, they are just a sessful businessman that is good at marketing... As long as there are enough people that ept your idea, it ismon to amend or even deny thew.¡±

    Zhang Zian was not as bold as it. As long as he worked to push thew for the protection of small animals, he was satisfied.

    The street was not very long, and they very quickly reached the doorway of the Spirit Curing Pet Clinic.

    The working ss people normally did not have time, but the Golden Week holiday allowed them the flexibility to bring thier pets in for check-ups and surgeries. The clinic¡¯s parking lot was full of cars, and there were people asionally entering and leaving with their pets.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go in.¡± Zhang Zian pushed open the door to let dimir enter.

    ¡°Please take a number and queue up. We are quite busy today, so please wait patiently.¡± Long Xian¡¯s head was lowered as she dealt with a file about a pet¡¯s medical history.

    ¡°I¡¯m not here to see the doctor. I just came to take a look. There¡¯s no need to take a number, right?¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Long Xian heard the familiar voice and raised her head. She said in shock, ¡°Ah, isn¡¯t this Shopkeeper Zhang! You came just in time. You can take these stray cats back fromst time. It would save the trouble of these two women carrying them down.¡±

    ¡°All right, then it looks like I¡¯ve sent myself to your door to be your coolie...¡± Zhang Zianughed bitterly.

    ¡°What are you holding in your hand? Pamphlets?¡±

    The smell of disinfectant was very strong¨C¨Cmuch stronger than in the pet shop. It was a bit stifling. dimir looked at all the cats and dogs brought by the people in the clinic; there were of various kinds. The faces of the owners were shining with love and care and worry, and they were waiting patiently for the nurse to call out their numbers. It was obvious that they loved their pets.

    ¡°What happened to your dog?¡±

    ¡°What happened to your cat?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on. It suddenly became listless, so I hurriedly brought it over to get it checked out. I¡¯m hoping it¡¯s not some major illness...¡±

    Some owners were bringing pets for their routine check-up, or for deworming¨C¨Cthose sorts of normal things¨C¨Cso they seemed very rxed and would talk about pet rearing with the people next to them. Through the topic of pets, they would branch out to other topics, and after chatting, they would even exchange WeChat ounts.

    Because there were too few doctors and too many customers, the wait time was long. The veterinarian office was a small version of a pet salon.

    There were a few customers that knew Zhang Zian, as they had bought pets from his shop. They had brought their pets in for their injections or for their fixed physical examination, and they all greeted him.

    After they finished greeting each other, Long Xian brought Zhang Zian to the hospital room behind them, and dimir followed.

    Passing through the clinic, the door to the back was not closed tightly. Out of curiosity, it pushed the door wider and looked inside. It was filled with strange instruments. An adult American Shorthair was tied to a stainless steel operating table with its legs spread open. Its face was emotionless. A young woman wearing surgical clothes and a mask was holding a surgical knife that was glistening coldly in her hand. She looked at the American Shorthair and gestured around its crotch...

    Long Xian noticed dimir¡¯s actions. ¡°This cat... doesn¡¯t seem to be a stray cat, right?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not,¡± Zhang Zian answered, ¡°It¡¯s a cat from the pet shop. There¡¯s nothing going on today, so I just brought it out for a stroll so it would begin to recognize its surroundings.¡±

    Long Xian smiled and said, ¡°I can practically identify stray cats and house cats now. Even if they are of the same species, their looks are not the same. The stray cats always have a cowering, fearful look. They look sensitive, and disy a fear of not knowing what tomorrow holds. But recently, the stray cats have changed a bit.¡±

    She brought him to the hospital room all the way in the back and pushed the door open.

    Although the venttor had been on, the smell in the room was still a little strong. There were several rows of iron cages on the wall¨C¨Csome empty, some with small animals such as cats, dogs, rabbits, birds, and othermon pets. When they saw people, they would chirp, meow, and bark, which made the ce very lively.

    One of the cats scratched the iron cage and attracted dimir¡¯s attention. It thought that it had seen the cat before¨C¨Cthe night when it came to the pet shop. It was out all night familiarizing itself with the nearby terrain and had met some strange stray cats. It used its ideas to enlighten them and raise their awareness. In the process, it had seen the cat in the cage.

    dimir recognized many of the stray cats. Even if they only counted the main members in the Meow Meow Branch Organization, there were around more than 100, and adding on to the outstanding and well-behaved stray cats, then they were innumerable.

    There were so many stray cats, and they were all stray cats without names. dimir wanted to remember them. He could only give them nicknames based on their physical characteristics, such as the fat, orange cat, which he nicknamed ¡°Big Orange;¡± the short-haired, white cat, which he nicknamed ¡°Little White;¡± the small, white, soft-eared cat, which he nicknamed ¡°Softy;¡± the grayish white, soft-eared cat, which he nicknamed ¡°A Que;¡± and so on. When he saw the stray cat in the cage, he immediately gave it a suitable nickname: ¡°Scald-head.¡±

 Chapter 1061: Catâ€™s Ringworm

    <h4>Chapter 1061: Cat¡¯s Ringworm</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The first time it met Scald-head, it had an immediate bad impression due to the several spots of balding on the cat¡¯s head and body. The exposed skin was red and swollen or had rashes. It was ugly. Those particrly bad spots were even scabbed over with pus. Even the other strays didn¡¯t like it, and they didn¡¯t y with it even if it was a purebred American Shorthair¡ªcats didn¡¯t care about breeds after all.

    Even though Scald-head was ugly, it loved to learn, and it was determined to improve itself. It was always able to understand dimir¡¯s preaching during lessons quicker than other strays, and dimir had high hopes for it. Though it disappeared after onlying for lessons once, and dimir couldn¡¯t help its disappointment.

    He didn¡¯t expect to see Scald-head after some time had passed in this vet clinic.

    The nickname ¡°Scald-head¡± no longer suited it, as its rashes had healed, its scabs fallen off, and the balding spots had short baby hair growing out of it. It was a little uncoordinated with the rest of its body, but it was a great improvement. It would go back to looking like any other American Shorthair in no time.

    But it was wearing an Elizabethan cor now, and it looked just a little funny in it.

    It seemed to recognize dimir, and it wed at the cage in its excitement, wanting to leave this ce and go back to its team.

    Zhang Zian observed it before asking, ¡°The cat¡¯s ringworm¡¯s all better?¡±

    ¡°It can be discharged. There are a few other strays too, so you can bring them all back...¡± Long Xian took the Elizabethan cor off Scald-head.

    Its first action was to turn around and lick its body. After so many days of not being able to do so, it couldn¡¯t think of anything else but the relief of being able to lick its own fur again.

    ¡°Alright, then I¡¯ll bring all these cats with me.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a trolley there.¡± Long Xian pointed at the trolley stashed in the corner for the loading and unloading of goods.

    Zhang Zian put the strays, Scald-head included, onto the trolley before pushing it out.

    When they passed by the clinic, he saw Sun Xiaomeng still busy with her operations. There was a different cat getting tied onto the table in a spread-eagle position, looking simrly defeated. There were still a lot of clients in the waiting area, so he asked Long Xian to thank her on his behalf instead of going in to interrupt her work.

    Back at the nurses¡¯ desk, Long Xian got Zhang Zian to wait for a bit while she fetched a bottle of medicine from their pharmacy.

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± he asked.

    Long Xian picked out another card from the nurses¡¯ desk. It was a short doctor¡¯s note that Sun Xiaomeng had written. She read it aloud. ¡°The next time you feed strays, add some VB in their food. Look at the dosage in the user manual. This can prevent ringworm and will lighten our workload. Also, let the cats out in the sun often. UV rays can kill bacteria and prevent ringworm... Well, that¡¯s what Xiaomeng had written in the doctor¡¯s note, but she seems to have forgotten that these are strays.¡±

    Zhang Zian put down the proposal he held in his hands and put the note, along with the VB, into his jacket pocket.

    ¡°What¡¯s this? Advertisement flyers?¡±

    Long Xian was quick to pull the proposal towards her in her curiosity and read it over.

    ¡°Wow, it¡¯s actually a proposal to protect small animals? Did you write this? It seems pretty good... All these are others¡¯ signatures? That¡¯s awesome! You must have spent a long time making this.¡± Her eyes widened exaggeratedly in her surprise.

    ¡°Heh, it¡¯s alright...¡± Zhang Zian chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m free either way.¡±

    ¡°Hey! Come over here! Does anyone want to pledge to protect animals?¡± Long Xian hollered at the few clients they had in the waiting area.

    The clients were bored too, and some of them came over to the nurses¡¯ table to read the proposal.

    ¡°It¡¯s good! I said a long time ago that this should have been implemented!¡±

    ¡°I think so too. That news about cat and dog abuse had my blood boiling. Why had no one stopped them?¡±

    ¡°I support it! Where can I sign?¡±

    Even though asionally people abandoned their sick pets at the clinic, it was undeniable that the clients that were willing to spend money at a clinic to provide medical care for their pets, and were willing to spend time waiting, were people that really loved their pets. They came from all walks of life and had a certain financial freedom. They were the main pirs to the protection of small animals and pets.

    With the few of them setting the momentum, the rest of the clients came over to take a look and sign their names under the proposal. The phone number was not that important, since the clinic¡¯s records had their phone numbers anyway.

    Not too longter, the empty space had almost beenpletely filled up.

    Long Xian signed too, but she didn¡¯t sign her own name. Instead, she signed ¡°All medical professionals of the Spirit Curing Pet Clinic¡± and wrote the clinic¡¯s number.

    ¡°Xiaomeng would definitely approve of me signing it this way if she heard about it. Even though there are only two people in the clinic now, we would definitely grow bigger and better!¡± She beamed at him as she passed him the proposal.

    ¡°Thank you. Thank you so much, everyone.¡±

    He took the proposal back into his hands, sincerely expressing his gratitude to everyone. He hadn¡¯t expected to achieve his target so quickly here, but neither did he regret walking the streets earlier. It was a rare opportunity and experience to have.

    Long Xian opened the door for him, and he left the clinic with his trolley, the sounds of the clients¡¯ well-wishes following him out.

    ¡°What¡¯s with all these cats?¡±

    The moment they went out the door, dimir impatiently asked a question after seeing that there was no one around. It was referring to the strays in the trolley, especially Scald-head, who¡¯d mysteriously disappeared and suddenly reappeared again.

    Zhang Zian exined while he pushed the trolley along.

    Ever since a huge amount of strays had begun congregating in the patch of grass behind the pet shop, he had been worried that they would disturb the neighboring area in their search for food and that it would worsen the rtionship between people and strays. So he¡¯d asked the employees to give them some cat food every day.

    asionally, when they saw a sick or injured stray, they would bring it to this clinic so that Sun Xiaomeng and Long Xian could care for it. They would only charge him for the medication and one-time-use equipment.

    Scald-head was brought to this clinic in that manner.

    When it was discovered, the ringworm infestation had been at a pretty bad stage. This illness was extremely contagious, not just to other cats, but to dogs and humans too. If it was not cured in time, a lot of the cats in the area would be infected.

    If the ringworm infestation hadn¡¯t been that bad, there would have been no need to bring it to the clinic. The owner could do the treatment themselves. All they had to do was shave off the fur on the affected areas, buy some medication to apply it on those spots, and make the cat wear an Elizabethan cor to prevent it from licking at the affected spots. But Scald-head had a bad infestation, and oral medications were needed, so it had been a lot more convenient and safe to send it to the clinic for a full checkup.

 Chapter 1062: When We Meet, We Laugh Away Our Hatred

    <h4>Chapter 1062: When We Meet, We Laugh Away Our Hatred</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Cat ringworm was a verymon skin disease. It was caused by fungal infection. It urred mostly in cats with malnutrition that experienced a sudden change of environment. Kittens that had just been brought home were mostmonly affected.

    Although it was rare that cat ringworm was dangerous, it was a very troublesome illness. It was a long-term illness that was hard to cure, and it was very infectious. If Zhang Zian did not guess incorrectly, Scald-head, which was a purebred American Shorthair, was most likely a house cat in the past. Later on, when it developed cat ringworm, either the owner looked down on it, or it had infected the owner or the owner¡¯s family members and was then abandoned.

    Preventing cat ringworm was not difficult, as was the case with most skin diseases. The main methods for treatment were spending more time in the sunshine, supplementing VB, and keeping its indoor environment dry. It was not so easy to implement, however¨C¨Cthe lighting conditions of houses was generally not good, and the sun did not shine for more than several hours every day. On top of that, the dose of VB could not be overdone. It needed to be calcted ording to the cat¡¯s weight, down to each kilogram. It was more troublesome to keep the indoors dry¨C¨Cespecially in coastal areas like Binhai City, which was adjacent to the sea. It was wet and rainy in the winter, the spring, and the summer. The humidity in the air was rtively high, which created a good environment for the growth of fungi.

    The main method for treating cat ringworm, on a small scale, was to buy medicine and shave the cat, and on arge scale, it was to take professional medicinal baths in a pet clinic. If that did not work, it needed to be supplemented by an injection. Thest way was to take medicine, because the injection was for muscle absorption, while actually ingesting the medicine was for gastrointestinal absorption. Oral antifungal drugs had side effects on a cat¡¯s liver and kidney.

    Ordinary people needed to wear gloves when touching cats with cat ringworm, or if they were smearing them with medicine¨C¨Ceither that or they needed to wash their hands after touching them to prevent infection. But like Zhang Zian and his shop assistants, as well as Sun Xiaomeng and Long Cian, they interacted with all kinds of cats all day long; they had all been infected with cat ringworm before. After one or two infections, they developed an immunity, simr to chickenpox, and they barely got infected anymore. From that point on, it didn¡¯t matter if they touched cats that had cat ringworm with their bare hands.

    dimir understood it now, and it turned its head back to look at the clinic. It asked, ¡°They¡¯re already so busy. Do they still have time to do these kind of things that don¡¯t earn them any money?¡±

    ¡°First of all, you have to understand that they chose the veterinary industry as their lifelong career because they like animals. Making money is secondary to them. If it¡¯s just to make money, why not be a doctor? The ability to make money is much higher, and the social status is higher¨C¨Calmost any aspect of being a doctor is better than being a veterinarian,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    As he was speaking, there was a figure that suddenly cut in in front of them.

    Zhang Zian closed his mouth and raised his head to take a look. He was shocked to find that the person blocking the road was Aunt Liu, who he had not seen in a long time.

    Shortly after he caught Fina, Aunt Liu, who ran aundromat down the street, came to the pet shop to bathe her American Shorthair, but she didn¡¯t do it because she thought it was too expensive. Fina saw that she was rude to the cat¨C¨Cbeating and scolding it¨C¨Cand she ordered the American Shorthair to bite her and then run away. After the American Shorthair ran away, it went to the pet shop and stayed there indefinitely.

    Aunt Liu bent down and stared at the cat on the pushcart¨C¨Cshe was staring at Scald-head.

    ¡°Aunt Liu, we haven¡¯t met in a very long time!¡±

    Although there had been points of contension between them previously, Aunt Liu was also a neighbor and an elder that Zhang Zian had known since childhood. Zhang Zian greeted her with a smile.

    ¡°Is this the cat that I lost?¡± Aunt Liu nodded as a response, then asked in confusion.

    Scald-head was also an American Shorthair, and it had around the same fur color as the one she had lost. After such a long time had passed, her memory was a bit fuzzy.

    ¡°Nope. Did you remember incorrectly? This is another cat,¡± he answered.

    Aunt Liu was suspicious, and she kept staring at Scald-head. She muttered, ¡°How could it not be? I¡¯ve searched for so long, and I finally found one that looks like it. It could be this one.¡±

    ¡°It really isn¡¯t. I remember very clearly what your cat looks like. It¡¯s different from this one, and this is a male. Yours was a female. You remember that, right?¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    Aunt Liu was stunned. ¡°It really isn¡¯t mine?¡±

    ¡°It really isn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°All right... Then I¡¯ll continue searching. Perhaps I¡¯ll see it again one day...¡± Aunt Liu sighed and turned around, wanting to leave.

    Zhang Zian pushed the cart towards her, then used his key to press the proposal onto the metal cage to prevent it from being blown away by the wind. When the wind blew, the proposal was blown so much that it was rustling.

    Aunt Liu noticed the proposal, and stopped walking to ask curiously, ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±

    Zhang Zian instinctively repeated the contents of the proposal.

    ¡°Oh,¡± Aunt Liu nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll sign. Do you have a pen?¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned, suspecting that he had heard her incorrectly. ¡°You want to sign?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t sign?¡± A look of anger shed across her face.

    ¡°No, no! You misunderstood me. I just wanted to ask for the reason... You¡¯re concerned with protecting small animals?¡± Zhang Zian hurriedly asked.

    Everyone else he was familiar with signed because they were his friends, but Aunt Liu would not, so he really wanted to know the reason.

    Aunt Liu stared nkly at Scald-head and said, ¡°I lost my American Shorthair. Now there¡¯s an 80 percent chance that it is also a stray cat. I feel regret when I think about it. Only after losing it do I know how to cherish it. I didn¡¯t take good care of it, so now I can only hope that it isn¡¯t mistreated as a stray cat...¡±

    Zhang Zian observed her expression and her words and felt that she was not randomly saying things. She did not need to put on an act with him.

    ¡°Ha, why am I randomly saying things?¡± Aunt Liu returned to her senses and smiled. ¡°My cat was naughty and sturdy. It probably wouldn¡¯t let itself be bullied. It has probably given birth to many kittens and is living a carefree life!¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°It really could be doing that!¡± He took out a pen and passed it to Aunt Liu. ¡°Then will you still sign?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll sign.¡± Aunt Liu sighed and grabbed the pen. She found a t surface to put the proposal against, signed her name, and left her phone number.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll go now. I have to buy groceries. My son and daughter-inw are bringing their family over today, and I have yet to make lunch.¡± Aunt Liu passed the pen and proposal back to him.

    ¡°There¡¯s a lot of people on the road today. Walk slowly,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°En.¡± Aunt Liu took a few steps and stopped again. She looked back as if she was embarrassed and said hesitantly, ¡°Zian... your aunt¨C¨CI am old and close-minded, and I speak quickly. It is not as easy to ept new things as it is for you young people. If I did something wrong towards you in the past, don¡¯t take it to heart...¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled, relieved. ¡°Aunt Liu, you¡¯re too polite. You¡¯re my senior, and I¡¯m your junior. You saw me grow up. It¡¯s right that you scolded me a bit. I won¡¯t take it to heart too much.¡±

    ¡°All right, then I¡¯ll go. I hope your business gets better and better... When you have time,e over to visit me.¡± Aunt Liu let out a breath of relief. ¡°Then I¡¯ll go now.¡±

 Chapter 1063: A New Path

    <h4>Chapter 1063: A New Path</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Aunt Liu took another few steps. Zhang Zian watched as she stepped away. He suddenly raised his voice. ¡°Oh, Aunt Liu, I think I saw an American Shorthair pretty simr to yours a few days ago near here. Don¡¯t give up. You might just find it.¡±

    She turned back, asking in surprise and glee, ¡°Where?¡±

    ¡°Just nearby. It was on the roof, and I couldn¡¯t see it too clearly, but I thought it looked simr to yours.¡± Zhang Zian pointed in a random direction. ¡°I was still trying to decide whether I should tell you about it, but it ran off.¡±

    ¡°The next time you see it, make sure to tell me. I wrote my phone number on that piece of paper,¡± Aunt Liu anxiously reminded him.

    ¡°No problem.¡± Zhang Zian waved. ¡°Take care.¡±

    Aunt Liu was still worried and only left after nagging him a few more times.

    ¡°Who is she?¡± dimir asked.

    ¡°A neighbor.¡±

    Zhang Zian pushed the trolley as he started moving forward, exining his experiences with Aunt Liu. It wasn¡¯t a long time ago that these things had happened, but it sure felt that way.

    dimir gave it a thought. ¡°You¡¯re saying that the adult American Shorthair in the shop was that woman¡¯s?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Then you told her that you saw her American Shorthair nearby because...¡± dimir could guess what he was nning to do.

    ¡°I feel she had received her punishment and seemed to want to atone for her mistakes, and I think we can pass her cat back to her so she can take care of it,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°But...I¡¯m not sure if she would go back to her old ways...¡±

    ¡°So you mean...?¡± it asked.

    ¡°So I wanted to ask for your help, to get the strays to keep an eye on her. She lives in a two-story shop house, and that should be easy to spy on for strays, right?¡± He chuckled. ¡°Cats have the brightest eyes after all. We cannot let a bad person off easily, but we can¡¯t use a good person, either.¡±

    dimir¡¯s mouth moved, but no words came out.

    This would certainly be an easy feat for strays. Strays were the best informants, after all. Information that humans felt would be as difficult to obtain as the passcode to the President¡¯s home would be easily obtained by strays.

    Returning to the pet shop, Zhang Zian eyed the corner of the wall on the opposite street and reminded dimir, ¡°Your partners are here for you.¡±

    dimir looked over to see a few strays, led by Big Orange, waiting there.

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll be gone for a bit.¡±

    It looked left and right before crossing the street and jumping onto the wall.

    Big Orange pointed its front paw towards the north in its excitement, after waiting for a long time.

    ¡°Oh? The representative of the Meow Meow Branch in the capital is here? That was fast!¡± dimir perked up. ¡°Bring me there, quick!¡±

    It followed Big Orange, weaving through the alleyways, past the plot ofnd behind the pet shop, and to an old house waiting to be torn down. This had be the rendezvous spot for strays.

    A few strays were lying on the ground, their faces caked with dust. A few empty cansy before them, filled with clean water. There were a few pieces of small dried fish too. The strays were starving and parched, their energy almostpletely drained. They didn¡¯t bother eating the dried fish andpped at the water like their lives depended on it.

    Seeing dimir walk in, they had wanted to stand up to greet it.

    ¡°No need to stand. Just lie down. The journey has been tough for you. You have worked hard toe all the way here to Binhai City.¡± It made a gesture with its front paw, meaning they should rest where they were.

    Gratitude shone in their eyes as they dered that it was never tiring to serve for the greater good of the cats.

    They were all dimir¡¯s troops from when it had been in the capital. It had followed Zhang Zian down south to Binhai City, and it had given them a few important tasks before leaving.

    When they had finally regained some of their strength, dimir asked, ¡°How are the tasks going?¡±

    One of the strays¡¯ eyes shot to Big Orange, suspicious.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, these are all trusted people here. You can say what¡¯s on your mind.¡± dimir pacified it.

    The cat immediately dropped its guard and yanked on a sealed stic bag that was tied around another cat¡¯s neck with a rubber band.

    It passed the stic bag to dimir.

    dimir held onto the stic bag with a solemn expression, cutting it open after a moment¡¯s thought.

    Every single cat on site watched its motions with curiosity.

    It picked up the bag with its w, shaking it, and a piece of paper dropped from it, floating onto the ground.

    Every single cat¡¯s eyes were on the piece of paper. Even though it was dark, they could all clearly see theplicated and random lines of words and letters.

    They couldn¡¯t read words or letters, and they had no idea what the sentence meant. In reality, it didn¡¯t mean anything.

    Only a small amount of cats knew what it really represented.

    dimir sank into deep thought while staring at the line of characters before tearing it into shreds.

    Big Orange freaked out, its plump body agile as it pounced, looking at the shreds of paper on the ground in pity and trying to get them back to how they used to be. It pawed at the shreds, but since it didn¡¯t know how to read numbers and letters, it was an impossible task.

    They had gotten this information through such huge efforts, so why destroy it?

    Big Orange made a lot of gestures, meaning, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that we¡¯re going to hit them hard, that we¡¯re going to dere nuclear war? By the way, what¡¯s ¡®nuclear¡¯?¡±

    dimir shook its head slightly. ¡°Don¡¯t get agitated. The paper is already useless. I had memorized the passcode. If the paper was left the way it was, it could bring us future trouble and provide an express pass to our enemies.¡±

    Finally understanding, Big Orange took a few embarrassed steps backward in its apology.

    dimir¡¯s eyes scanned the crowd. It cleared its throat. ¡°I re-evaluated the situation, and I feel that our previous decisions were too left-winged and dangerous,¡± it said. ¡°It was too rash to try and break the humans¡¯ rule over the world in one go. But our preparations are still not enough. We don¡¯t have Meow Meow Branch Organizations all over the country yet, and everyone¡¯s thinking might still be too amateur. If we start now, we might not get the victory we want, so I decided to dy our ns.¡±

    It looked at the strays that came over from the capital and forced its next few words out with difficulty. ¡°You have worked hard. You can go back to the capital after some rest and tell the Meow Meow Branch Organization there of our next target.¡±

    The cats from the capital sprung up with energy, listening intently for its instructions.

    dimir was silent for a few moments before summarizing, ¡°Other than setting up Meow Meow Branch Organizations all around the country as per our n, our next actions can be split into a few sections. ¡®To dig a great hole, to stock up on resources, to train our soldiers¡¯...¡±

    Thest few words were already at the tip of its tongue, fighting toe up, but they were still swallowed back. dimir still hadn¡¯t decided whether they should ¡°take over the world¡± or ¡°not fight with their reign.¡± The road they would take would eventually depend on the humans¡¯ performance.

 Chapter 1064: Kingâ€™s Bureau

    <h4>Chapter 1064: King¡¯s Bureau</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Other stray cats werepletely convinced by dimir¡¯s charm, vision, and broad mind. They listened to its words. Since it decided to postpone the n temporarily, there had to be a reason for it. Only the belligerent and warlike Big Orange, upon hearing that there was no war to fight, felt restless and helpless.

    dimirforted it. ¡°Big Orange, in the future, there are going to be a lot of big and hard battles. There will be nock of fighting. For example, the Holy Cat Statue has yet to be retrieved, and our next step is to deal with that.¡±

    Big Orange waved its w excitedly, expressing that the branch organization near the sea had a lot of brothers and sisters that had been harmed by a strange creature that looked like a Holy Cat Statue. It had wanted to take revenge a long time ago, and it was finally getting the chance!

    It asked dimir to quickly say what they should do. As long as there was a battle to fight, it was all right. Whether it was against humans or other things, its fat stomach had been hungry, and it was growing impatient. It wanted to sit on the Holy Cat Statue and kill it instantly!

    Before, dimir did not regard the statue of Holy Cat Statue as a priority. First, it didn¡¯t look at the paper tiger as an opponent at all. Second, it adopted the method of using full solutions and not half-solutions. Since the statue of the Cat God was born of the belief of human cat abusers, as long as human beings were eliminated, the statue of the Cat God lost its source of belief, and it would defeat itself without a battle.

    But now that it had started to reevaluate its scheme against humans and was not going initiate anything, it needed toe up with other methods of dealing with the Holy Cat Statue. It was ¡°listening to what one said and watching what one did.¡±

    dimir was confident, and told the stray cats to go and rest, and to tell the other stray cats about their new n. After it was done nning, it would gather them to start the fight against the Holy Cat Statue.

    The local stray cats followed its orders and left, and dimir then gave its old friends from the Capital some words of encouragement. It turned to leave, not wanting to disturb their rest anymore; they still needed to take time to return to the Capital. It was a long journey.

    Of course, they did not use their four legs to run over¨C¨Cthat was too dumb. Anyway, the humans had ready-made transport vehicles, so it was a waste not to use them.

    Despite that, it was tiring toe all that way, and they were fearful, too, of the journey.

    The stray cats were about to spread out and leave when dimir had a strange feeling and ordered everyone to stop moving. It suddenly turned its head, stared at the empty doorway, and said, ¡°Who is it? Come on out!¡±

    It thought that it was Gxy; however, a golden paw appeared in the doorway. Fina walked in slowly, its chest puffed out, like the owner of the four seas.

    It looked around the windy, windowless room, then looked at the old bottles of water and dried fish before its gaze finallynded on dimir.

    dimir¡¯s pupils instantly erged! ¡°It¡¯s you!¡± it said, confused and surprised.

    Fina had actually personally made a move!

    The stray cats trembled with fear because of the sudden appearance of Fina. Even Big Orange, who was normally arrogant, trembled like a piece of fat. The only thing that kept them from running away like ordinary stray cats was the belief that dimir had rooted in their hearts: There was never a savior, nor an immortal emperor!

    Their beliefs were still small and fragile, fluttering like candles in the wind, and could have been extinguished at any time¨C¨Cbut the beliefs of millions of stray catsbined were enough to form a prairie fire.

    ¡°Even though your actions are very secretive, did you really think you could hide your ns from me?¡± Fina said arrogantly. It lightly lifted up a front paw and stepped on a flying scrap of paper. It looked at the words written on it, then released its w and let it fly away.

    ¡°You know about my ns already?¡± dimir asked, trying to test the waters.

    Fina sighed, and asked a question in response. ¡°Does a stray cat escape the eyes of a domestic cat when it spies on information?¡±

    Instead, dimir put down a stone in his heart. It was somewhat puzzled. The action was so smooth that Fina seemed to bepletely in the dark, which was very unusual.

    Fina did not seem to notice anyone else; it did not consider the stray cats presence at all. ¡°I¡¯m here to tell you that your previous n was too dumb.¡±

    dimir did not agree. Perhaps its n had some areas that werecking in consideration, but it was not dumb, right?

    ¡°Then what¡¯s your great opinion?¡± it asked back.

    Fina said confidently, ¡°Rather than getting rid of humans, why don¡¯t we make humans ves? We could make them cows and horses to serve the cat race.¡±

    dimir was speechless.

    ¡°This is the cat¡¯s millennium n. For thousands of years, the royal family of the cat has been striving to achieve this goal. People think that they have domesticated our cat family, and even feelcent about it. In fact, our cat family is domesticating them!¡± Fina raised one of her forepaws and pointed to dimir. ¡°As the saying goes: ¡®Even when beating a dog, you must see who the owner is.¡¯ I will never allow you and the stray cats to destroy our ves! I want to leave their lowly lives alone to create a better living environment for the cats. Otherwise, nobody will pay tribute and shovel sh*t!¡±

    It was not clear what the humans would think if they heard what Fina said. dimir shook its head and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we won¡¯t destroy them at the moment. I feel like the time is not right yet. Human beings are declining, but their purpose has not been exhausted yet.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good. I also do not want to see house cats and stray cats fight each other. We are the same species.¡± Fina slowly turned around. ¡°Since it¡¯s like this, I do not have any reason to stay here. This ce is full of the smell of urine and poop. It¡¯s so smelly my head is hurting.¡±

    ¡°Leave slowly. I won¡¯t be sending you off,¡± dimir said, its tone even.

    When Fina reached the doorway it paused. Without turning its head back, it said, ¡°On that certain night, did Gxy run off to find you?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± There was nothing dimir wanted to hide, and so it just told the truth.

    Fina huffed. ¡°I guessed as much... It must have left the Sacred Pce quietly to talk to you. I am not interested in what it wanted to say to you, but I shall give you a piece of advice: It¡¯s better not to ignore what it says. I¡¯ve said what I wanted to say, and I¡¯ll return to my pce now.¡±

    The gold figure swished its tail and disappeared out the doorway. The light in the room diminished slightly when it left.

    The stray cats present didn¡¯t return to their senses until Fina had been gone for more than 30 seconds. They were more tired than if they had fought a tough battle, and were about to copse. Big Orange turned around, and with its face to the sky, it exposed its tummy andid on the ground, panting loudly. It was like it had just gone to the gym and worked out with iron weights.

    Actually, there was no need for Fina to remind it: dimir did not ignore Gxy¡¯s warning. Being weak andcking knowledge was not what hindered survival; it was arrogance that hindered survival.

 Chapter 1065: Save the World

    <h4>Chapter 1065: Save the World</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Without food and without clothes, humans would naturally give us some!¡±

    ¡°Without guns and without bombs, humans would make them for us!¡±

    ¡°We were born here, and every bit ofnd is ours!¡±

    ¡°No matter who wants to take it from us, we will fight to our death to defend it!¡±

    In order to break the rest of the strays from Fina¡¯s influence, dimir loudly sang the songs he had heard from the television. The cats were all extremely into it. Even if they didn¡¯t quite understand the lyrics, they were still deeply touched and inspired by the burning fire of desire and the bravery of daring to fight the world.

    Right then, their sense of self started to wake too. This was the territory of strays all around the world¡ªno longer tiny pieces of segregatednd separated between each stray, causing fights between one another for rights to a trash can. Rather than dealing with endless internal conflicts, why not gather together to protect the rights of strays all around the world?

    As their singing went on for a while, a few of the stray cats even tried to mimic it clumsily, following its tune. Big Orange absolutely howled through all of it, and the morale of the strays rose as their out-of-tune voices did too.

    ¡°That¡¯s all for today. You¡¯re dismissed!¡±

    dimir was pleased with the effects of their singing and mused over the thought of starting a tradition. If two teams started singing out of nowhere, it would be a great scene.

    The cats scattered, going back to where they¡¯de from to tell others about their new aim.

    dimir hurried out of their secret rendezvous spot too, heading back toward the pet shop.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were helping Zhang Zian bring out all of the strays to release them in the plot ofnd before bringing the metal cages and trolley back to the clinic.

    Fina had returned a long time ago, and she was taking a nap on the highest level of the cat tower. Since it was Golden Week, there had been a lot of people going in and out of the shop. No one would notice its brief absence since it usually took a lot¡ªa lot¡ªof persuasion and bribery to get it out of the pet shop.

    Zhang Zian brought Aunt Liu¡¯s American Shorthair down from the second floor, brushing its hair for thest time.

    The first time it hade to the clinic, the cat had been a little malnourished, but its coat was glossy and shiny now, and its body had bulked up after numerous sessions of hide-and-seek with Gxy. But in hide-and-seek games with Gxy and the Abyssinian cat, it was often on the losing end due to the limitations of its mortal body, and it often lost its target in the midst of the chase since it couldn¡¯t keep up with their tempo.

    ¡°Are you nning to return it to that woman now?¡± dimir asked.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhang Zian looked up to answer it. ¡°It¡¯s been here for long enough. It¡¯s time for it to go home.¡±

    ¡°Meow! Bye-bye! Come back when you¡¯re free to y with us!¡±

    Gxy came rushing over out of nowhere, raising a paw to say goodbye.

    The cat still wasn¡¯t aware of what was happening. It observed its surroundings, confused.

    ¡°We¡¯re leaving. Say bye-bye to everyone!¡±

    Zhang Zian picked up the American Shorthair, raising one of its front paws and waving it back and forth at Gxy and the other elfins.

    When he brought it past Fina¡¯s cat tower, Fina scoffed, eyes opening into narrow slits. ¡°Where are you bringing my subject?¡±

    Zhang Zian had already thought of a way to deal with this situation and answered calmly. ¡°Its previous owner had already been punished and had shown genuine signs of remorse and change, so I felt it would be appropriate to send it back to enjoy the dedicated offerings of one human.¡±

    This answer pleased Fina. ¡°Hm, you make sense. If one of my subjects ever gets hurt again, I will hold you responsible!¡±

    Zhang Zian shrugged, guessing he just had to take up that responsibility now.

    He carried the American Shorthair out, finding a short wall and standing on his tip-toes to put it there.

    ¡°Be good and stay here.¡±

    He picked up the proposal then, looking for Aunt Liu¡¯s name and calling her phone number.

    ¡°Hello? Is this Aunt Liu? It¡¯s Zhang Zian. I saw another stray that looks like your American Shorthair. Do you want toe over and take a look? Be quick¡ªit might just run off! My location? I¡¯m at...¡±

    He told Aunt Liu his location before moving into the shade of the wall, ready to prevent people from taking the American Shorthair away while he waited for Aunt Liu to show up.

    dimir followed him, watching silently.

    Not too longter, Aunt Liu ran out just wearing house clothes and slippers, anxiously searching around while she rushed through the streets, looking for any signs of her cat.

    ¡°Ah! Don¡¯t move! Don¡¯t move! I¡¯ll carry you down!¡± She instantly recognized that the American Shorthair sitting on the wall was her own.

    The wall was a little tall, and she couldn¡¯t reach the top of it no matter how much she tiptoed and stretched her arms out.

    Zhang Zian was still hesitating as to whether he should help out, but he was worried that the American Shorthair wouldn¡¯t leave with Aunt Liu the moment he did and follow him back to the pet shop instead. That would ruin all of their hard work.

    Right then, the American Shorthair seemed to recognize Aunt Liu, mbering for a moment before leaping down right into a full-body hug.

    ¡°Ah! My poor baby! Where have you been all this time? I¡¯ve been searching for you for so long!¡± Aunt Liu nagged constantly, but the relief was evident on her face, as though a heavy weight had been taken off her heart.

    She inspected it for a bit, pleased to find that the American Shorthair wasn¡¯t injured or sick, and it wasn¡¯t too dirty either. ¡°Let¡¯s go home. I just brought fish back from the market, and I¡¯m steaming it right now on the stove. You¡¯re getting a treat today!¡±

    She just kept on talking as she carried the American Shorthair back home.

    ¡°Alright, the show¡¯s over. We can go home... With such a busy afternoon, even I¡¯m hungry. I want to eat steamed fish too...¡±

    Zhang Zian walked out from the shadows, stretching his back and mentioning it to dimir.

    dimir regarded him with a half-smile, its next few words holding more meaning beneath the surface. ¡°Did you know? You just saved the world!¡±

    ¡°Saved the world?¡±

    Zhang Zian stopped andughed.

    This wasn¡¯t some Hollywood movie. What ¡°saving the world¡± was it talking about?

    ¡°Alright, since I saved the world, do I get any benefits?¡± he teased. ¡°For example, being reincarnated as a tall, handsome, and rich man? I don¡¯t need to be super rich¡ªjust as much as Principal Wang would do. But I have to at least be more handsome than he is.¡±

    dimir shook its head in regret. ¡°Pity, it¡¯s impossible to be reincarnated. The most precious things bestowed upon humans and cats are our lives, and they are given to us only once.¡±

    Its eyes lit up with the fire of desire, and it clenched its paw tightly as it dered determinedly, ¡°Cats should live their lives like this. When looking back to the past, they must not regret the wasted years and youth and not be ashamed of their busy periods. In the end, they should be able to say: My entire life, and all of my energy, was given to the most noble mission on this world¡ªfighting for the rights and freedom of strays!¡±

 Chapter 1066: Who Is the First to Dream

    <h4>Chapter 1066: Who Is the First to Dream</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Early morning.

    Zhang Zian was woken up by his natural clock.

    He yawned. He didn¡¯t sleep well the night before, not because of anything in particr, but because he had been dreaming. In his dream, he stood on the street, holding a piece of paper and pen in his hand, and stopped pedestrians walking by to ask them to sign his petition. For some reason, however, he could not say anything in his dream; the only thing he could do was say ¡°ah¡± over and over again. He was very anxious in his heart, and in the end, he woke up.

    Whatever one thought about during the day, they dreamt about at night. He knew why he had that dream. It was, of course, because of the proposal for protecting small animals. Over thest two days, his thoughts had been consumed by it. Even when he was sleeping he dreamed about it.

    The temperature was getting warmer and warmer, and even the mornings were not cold. Zhang Zian stood up, wearing his pajamas, and grabbed a piece of paper from his desk.

    The empty spaces in the proposal had been filled with names¨C¨Ceven the back was totally filled with signatures. There were not only signatures from people he was acquainted with; there were actually more signatures from strangers. He had not tricked them into signing. If they wanted they could randomly call to check on the status of the proposal, they were more than wee to.

    When the next meeting of the Chinese Peoples¡¯ Political Consultative Conference was held, he intended to read the proposal in the meeting. He hoped to get the attention of the people there.

    Anyway, he could only do so much. The rest was based on the people¡¯s decisions... But there was one thing he did not doubt: China would one day have aw for the protection of small animals. It was just a question of time.

    When he put down the proposal and turned around, he found that Famous was already awake and in a daze. The light from the nightlight had been buried in the sunlight of the morning.

    The other elfins also woke up one by one. Zhang Zian walked over to ask, ¡°Famous, did you not sleep well?¡±

    Famous shook its head and said in confusion, ¡°I had a very strange dream.¡±

    ¡°All dreams are very strange.¡± Zhang Zian smiled and said, ¡°I often have dreams about marrying a wife!¡±

    ¡°Ga ga! You already feel that it is strange to dream of marrying a wife? You should dream of marrying a husband! That would be more urate!¡± When Richard heard their conversation, although it waszing around on the bed, it jumped up like it had been injected with chicken blood. Its face was full of excitement.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s facial expression did not change as he threatened it. ¡°I love killing birds in my dreams. You better be careful.¡±

    ¡°Ga ga! Are you sure you¡¯re not killing your own small bird?¡± Richard called out slyly.

    ¡°Meow, meow, meow! I can help you!¡± Snowy Li added, rolling over like a ball of fur.

    ¡°You live afortable life right now. Be careful, or I¡¯ll bring up the list to use against you in the future!¡± Zhang Zian stared at Richard. There was no point in arguing with Richard. It would often pull Zhang Zian down to its level, then use its rich experience to attack him. Only using a chicken feather duster could let him fully express his anger!

    As for Snowy Li, it was better to just ignore it. He really could not stand it trying to sneak attack him at night.

    ¡°Ga ga! I¡¯m so scared! I want to poop green pills now!¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. He turned to Famous and asked, ¡°What did you dream about?¡±

    Famous said, ¡°I don¡¯t know how to describe it... Dreams I¡¯ve had in the past have been very lifelike, but I was always just a bystander. Whatever I did was destined to be unchangeable. The dream I just had was different... I forgot what happened, but the most important thing was that it was like a half-dream and half-awake event. I knew I was dreaming, and I felt as though I could control something, such as when to wake up. So I tried it, and I woke up.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought about it. ¡°Hmm... I seem to have heard something about this before... Let me try to remember... Have you heard of ¡®Qingming dreams¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Ga ga! Qingming dreams? There¡¯s rain at the Qingming Festival, and the Zhang family children want to break their backs. Ask where there are calcium tablets, and I point at America!¡± Richard came out of the bathroom with a stink and joked. ¡°Speaking of that, when are we going to visit Ennd? I want to buy you a Scottish skirt to wear... Scottish men are so happy that they can wear women¡¯s clothes!¡±

    ¡°I thought about that. Someone in one of my dreams said that China¡¯s greatest and longest art form is men crossdressing...¡± Famous recalled.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°These words... There really was someone who said that before.¡±

    ¡°Right. What is a Qingming dream?¡± Famous did not care who had such foresight and was instead concerned about its dream. It was the first time it had heard such a foreign phrase.

    ¡°Qingming dreams... They are metaphysical and controversial. People who believe in them are highly respected. People who don¡¯t believe in them sneer at them. There is hardly any intermediate transition zone.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment and began to talk about what he had heard. Many boys were interested in mysterious things when they were young. For example, he had a pile of UFO Exploration magazines left at home that were collecting dust somewhere. At that time, he was quite addicted to the magazine and spent his pocket money on them.

    Qingming dreams, to put it simply, were when one was in an awake state while they were dreaming. They were also called lucid dreams.

    For a normal dream, the person having the dream would not know that they were dreaming, even if the dream was very unbelievable. The person dreaming would keep moving on in the dream like a wooden puppet being controlled by strings, and would forget the dream entirely upon waking up.

    There were different levels of Qingming dreams. They were generally more realistic. The dreamer could vaguely realize that he was dreaming, but the feeling of powerlessness still existed. It was just like watching a movie with a fixed plot. Even though they knew the movie was going to have a tragic ending, they were unable to do anything. The sober state was often fleeting and elusive.

    At a higher level, the dreamer knew that he was dreaming. If it was a good dream or a wet dream, of course, he was willing for it to go on. But if it was a terrible nightmare, the dreamer would be anxious to wake up. Sometimes, when the dreamer was in a hurry, he could wake himself up and break away from the nightmare.

    Most people had more or less experienced the above three dreams, but they may not have remembered them after waking up, which was not out of the ordinary. But the controversy of Qingming dreams was in that it could be further controlled by repeated practice, which could not only end nightmares in advance, but also prolong good dreams... and wet dreams. Even further, people could control their actions in their dreams, as well as change the direction of their dream. It was said to practice reality at the highest level, and even ignore the boundaries between dreams and reality to reach the metaphysical level.

    ¡°Ga ga! Qingming Dreams¨C¨Cthe gospel of premature ejaction, and the secret of women¡¯s climax!¡± Richard sneered at the slogan, imitating the small advertisement. ¡°Only an idiot like you would believe in this!¡±

 Chapter 1067: One Billion

    <h4>Chapter 1067: One Billion</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Lucid dreaming sounded like a shady thing. No proper research organization had done any extensive research on it. The human brain was extremelyplicated, and scientists hadn¡¯t even figured out how consciousness hade to be. Needless to say, subconscious consciousness was even less understood.

    Zhang Zian rified with Famous, ¡°Of course, I don¡¯t believe in this. That repeated practicing can make you forget the boundaries between dreams and reality... This is just like something out of a fantasy novel. Only Wang Qian and Li Kun would believe in something like that. But saying that repeated practice would be able to help you control the oues of your dreams... I wouldn¡¯t dare deny itpletely.¡±

    ¡°So you mean to say that there¡¯s such a possibility?¡± Famous asked.

    Zhang Zian hesitated for a bit before nodding. ¡°I don¡¯t think we canpletely rule it out.¡±

    Famous sank into deep thought.

    ¡°Even though scientists haven¡¯t researched lucid dreaming much, there is something simr¡ªthe VR games that many fantasy books mention,¡± Zhang Zian added. ¡°Both of these allow the human body to experience things that they would never be able to in real life, or to experience something that has a high cost in real life easily in VR...¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that great?¡± Famous asked. ¡°Since a very small amount of people in the real world can take control of a huge amount of resources and wealth, isn¡¯t it a good thing to let normal people experience power and wealth through things like lucid dreaming and VR games?¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s just once or twice, just asionally, then it¡¯s fine. But, in most fantasy books, most VR gamers eventually end up too immersed in the virtual world, unwilling to surface,¡± Zhang Zian warned. ¡°Because of how amazing the virtual world is, the real world bes boring to them, unappealing and unattractive. Some of them willingly let go of the real world... You can only experience VR games once or twice, but in order to be good at lucid dreaming, you have to continuously practice it, and it has a risk of addiction, causing a disappointment in reality.¡±

    Even though some dreams helped people to calm down, dreams were just that¡ªdreams. They were not reality, and it wouldn¡¯t be good to be too obsessed.

    Famous understood the message between the lines. ¡°I got it. I will be careful.¡±

    In its dream, it knew that it was dreaming, but it had always been hesitant about changing the direction of the dream. For example, there was the dream that showed up ording to Old Time Tea¡¯s memories. What was outside the scope of its memories? Was it white, unfinished pictures like an upleted video game, or was it a deep abyss of which you couldn¡¯t see the end?

    It didn¡¯t know, and it hadn¡¯t tried to find out.

    But it didn¡¯t know what had happened to cause its hesitation to decrease and its confidence to inte drastically, pushing him to venture into the unknown. For example...

    In Old Time Tea¡¯s memories, there were definitely no traces of 20th century Europe. If Famous kept walking west while in the dream, what would happen? What would it see?

    If Famous had really sesfully reached Europe, in the midst of the war, would it see its young self?

    No! Not its young self¡ªit was the young Rin Tin Tin!

    Famous jolted, shaking its head to wake itself up. It was too deep into the character, and it had almost mixed itself up with Rin Tin Tin again.

    It had yed Rin Tin Tin for too long. The moviepany staff had asked it to imitate Rin Tin Tin in every breath and every step. Deng Ken often carried it to repeat how it had carried the young Rin Tin Tin out of the fire years ago... After some time, it became almost like brainwashing.

    The other elfins started toe downstairs too. Zhang Zian opened the curtains and windows to air the room out before picking up his phone from beside his pillow to check his unread messages.

    He had been pulled into several groups and had a lot of unread messages. Nearly twenty to thirty people added him as friends every day. Some of them were customers, some of them fans of the films, some of them reporters, and some of them government officials. He had to filter through them before adding some of them as friends.

    Peng Xuan had sent him several messages at around one in the morning.

    Zhang Zian thought he might have some important issues to discuss, so he opened those messages first.

    Peng Xuan: ¡°Hey Zhang, are you asleep?

    Peng Xuan: I have good news. Our movie finally premiered after getting dyed twice. The preliminary numbers for our box office sales are out. Guess what the number is!

    Peng Xuan: Alright, guess you¡¯re already asleep. There¡¯s not many youngsters that sleep so early like you. I wanted you to guess, but I suppose I should just tell you directly. I¡¯ll get insomnia if I keep it to myself.

    Peng Xuan: One billion!

    Peng Xuan: Isn¡¯t it shocking? Everyone in the production crew was extremely shocked. Our budget for production and marketing wasn¡¯t even half a billion, and a part of it was additional marketing fees that we got after the award. This is like a dream!

    Peng Xuan: Alright, I¡¯m going to sleep. My wife nagged at me several times, but I think I¡¯ll still lose sleep tonight.

    Peng Xuan: The crew¡¯s preparing for a celebration dinner. Are you able toe?

    Peng Xuan: Hope to see your reply! Tell Famous hi for me! Good night!¡±

    Zhang Zian finished reading the messages, surprise and excitement bubbling in his heart. Even though they had all thought that the box office results wouldn¡¯t be bad¡ªthey could see this from the number of fansing into the shop to take photos with Famous every day, some of them evening from miles away just to tell Famous how impactful the movie had been for them¡ªno one had guessed that they would have one billion sales!

    One billion¡ªthey could almost squeeze into the top ten movies in China for the year. For a movie with a dog as its main character, this was a never-before-seen aplishment.

    Besides, even though those results were nothingpared to extremely popr movies, the response from the overseas market was surprisingly good. Several countries had already brought the movie in. If everything went well, they could get another wave of profit from overseas.

    The other messages were mostly congrattions from the production crew or other directors or producers that had wanted to work with them. Even the main producer Nie Yuan had sent him a few customary congrattions... It was fine just skimming through them, since he could just send all of them a general message back. Some of them were just fair-weather friends, after all.

    After reading all of his messages, Zhang Zian had wanted to lock his phone, start washing up, and tell Famous the good news too.

    Right then, another message popped up.

    [Game notice]: Congrattions! Your reincarnated dog has collected enough belief points and can level up now!

 Chapter 1068: The Gale Has Rise

    <h4>Chapter 1068: The Gale Has Rise</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian saw the game hint. He felt that it was unexpected, but it also made sense. When Famous won the prize at the Berlin Film Festival, he gained a lot of belief power and was upgraded to the epic level. The power of belief was the experience value of the game. Although there was a gap between each level, it couldn¡¯t hold up therge poption of China. It was not boasting that it was much greater than the whole of Western Europe... Even if someone only had a little bit of strength, they could condense it into a super vigorous bomb...

    Wait a minute, it seemed like he had changed to another scenario. Following that, the game disyed two more hints.

    [Game Hints]: Your reincarnated dog is epic right now. After leveling up, it will be epic/legendary.

    [Game Hints]: Do you want to level it up now? If you choose ¡°no,¡± you can level it up at any time.

    [Yes, No, Remind Me Later]

    Seeing the game hints, Zhang Zian could not help but think. Famous had mentioned that it had a strange dream. It felt that its body was full of strength and confidence. Famous had thought that it could control the direction of its dream while it was still in its dream. Was that rted to it reaching the standard for upgrading? Wasn¡¯t that too much of a coincidence?

    If he let it level up, it would mean that he would be setting it free for the next step... Was it a good thing or a bad thing to let it have stronger control over its dreams?

    He knew the danger of being addicted to dreams. After all, many science fiction stories used VR games as an example to illustrate that point. If people indulged in dreams, it was really dangerous, because people¡¯s desires were too strong and tooplex. Any one of the seven emotions and six desires could make people sink forever. But... would Famous indulge in them?

    Famous had been addicted before and had risen from hell to a happy heaven. It had fallen from heaven to a hell of amnesia. It had suffered and experienced prosperity. It had gone from a whipping dog that was an understudy to a superstar riding in the most luxurious cars, chewing the most delicious western food, tasting 1882 Lafite, wearing the most expensive diamond nes, and living in a luxury house that was like a pce... It could be said that whatever a dog could enjoy, it had enjoyed, and whatever a dog could suffer, it had also suffered¨C¨Cnot in its dreams, but in reality.

    But all of that did not make it feel happy. Instead, it felt pain because humans called it by a foreign name. It had had a multitude of different roles in movies but had lost itself in the end.

    If every movie was a dream, then it had dreamed enough¨C¨Cso much so that it could describe the fickleness of the world in a sentence. As a result, Famous could probably resist the temptation of falling into its dreams. There was nothing in the dream world that could cause it to be immersed... Or, taking a step back, even if it could not resist the temptations of the dream world and was immersed in it, Zhang Zian had confidence that he could pull it out of its dream.

    After hesitating a bit longer, Zhang Zian pressed ¡°Yes.¡±

    Once Famous had leveled up to epic/legendary, it did not have any strange feelings. It ate a dog biscuit that cleaned its mouth and then yawned as it went downstairs. Perhaps it would only notice the difference when it dreamed again.

    ******

    The other end of Binhai City. Early morning.

    Jiang Tianda buttoned up his sleeve as he walked downstairs. He had already changed into his suit pants and a white button-up shirt. After he put on his suit jacket, he could leave.

    You¡¯re reading on B o x n o v e l  Thanks!

    A western-style breakfast consisting of sd, toast, fried eggs, roasted sausage, and coffee had been arranged on the table, and for Snowy¡¯s breakfast, the coffee had been reced by orange juice.

    ¡°Snowy! Are you out of bed yet? Hurry! Come downstairs and eat!¡± Shi Rong yelled towards the stairs.

    About half a minuteter, Snowy¡¯szy reply came from upstairs, ¡°All right.¡±

    After a few minutes, she slowly came downstairs wearing her pajamas and carrying Snowball. A few strands of Snowy¡¯s hair curled up disobediently. It could only be imagined how bad her sleeping posture was.

    Snowball¡¯s breakfast had already been prepared in the form of ready-made canned cat food poured into a stic bowl. Snowy put Snowball down and sat on her seat heavily, closing her eyes to continue to doze. Shi Rong started to scold and nag Snowy for going to sleep toote the night before. She nagged her until all her sleepiness was gone.

    The Jiang family¡¯s situation was simr every morning. If Snowy married into someone else¡¯s household one day, there would be a very cold atmosphere in the morning. The old husband and wife tacitly understood each other like one¡¯s left hand understood their right. It was unnecessary to say a word during the entire breakfast. Jiang Tianda was wondering if he wanted to recruit a son-inw to marry into the home, but the question was, which promising boy would be willing to marry into his wife¡¯s household?

    Sigh... His expression did not change as he sighed.

    Jiang Tianda had always eaten quickly. It was a habit left over from when he was in the army, and even when Shi Rong reminded him to eat slowly, he still ate his breakfast very quickly. When he was done, Snowy¡¯s breakfast had yet to be touched at all.

    He ate very cleanly and did not waste any food at all. After eating, he did not instantly leave the dining table. Instead, he held up his coffee and flipped through the newspaper. Reading newspapers was his dailypulsory chore. Although it was convenient to read news through mobile phones, some things could only be seen in newspapers¨C¨Cespecially the core publications of the party and government agencies, which had always been an indicator of where politics and the economy were heading. Policy adjustment and economic transformation often began with signals that could be seen in the newspapers.

    A cold wind had yet to move, but the cicada had already been awakened, and uncertainty would cause it to die without knowing why. In other words, a sessful entrepreneur had to understand the hints between the lines. Otherwise, he would not even know he had died.

    He was about to take a sip of coffee, but his hand stopped. His eyes were fixed on the article on the front page of the biggest newspaper in China. The headline read, ¡°Ten Batches of Online Literature,¡± and the article had been written by an author by the name of Zhu Jisheng.

    Jiang Tianda quickly looked through the article and put down the unfinished coffee. His heart had a shadow over it. He had nothing to do withwork literature, but many of the views in the article were applicable to new things such aswork literature and live broadcasting.

    ¡°What are you looking at me for? Is it just that my hair is sticking up?¡± Snowy noticed he was looking at her and pressed down heavily on the curled hair.

    ¡°Are you still going to live broadcast today?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I don¡¯t n to right now.¡± She thought he wanted to scold her and pursed her lips unhappily.

    Shi Rong hurriedly said, ¡°Don¡¯t go out today¨C¨Cit could rain. If you get wet ande down with the flu, you¡¯ll be crying again!¡±

    Snowy pouted. ¡°When did I cry?¡±

    Jiang Tianda picked up the napkin covering his legs and ced it on the table. He stood up and said, ¡°I¡¯m leaving. You two eat slowly.¡±

    ¡°Workaholic!¡± Snowy muttered.

    Shi Rong walked him to the door and helped him put on his suit jacket. She pulled the ends of his shirt to straighten the non-existent wrinkles.

    The car was already waiting outside, and his assistant helped him open the car door. The assistant said, ¡°The speech for the Chinese People¡¯s Political Consultative Conference has been prepared. It¡¯s in the car. Please have a look.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Before getting into the car, Jiang Tianda looked up at the sky and saw that it was filled with gray clouds. The sky was changing.

 Chapter 1069: The Disappearing Recommendation

    <h4>Chapter 1069: The Disappearing Rmendation</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Half of the calm day passed by in the blink of an eye.

    From morning to afternoon, everything pretty much went on as usual. The store was busy, and there were people walking in and out.

    Following the end of Dog Warrior¡¯s airing, the fever brought on by the movie started to wane, too. But Famous would never be forgotten by people. It would only fade until its next movie blew up the box office again.

    Zhang Zian ran back and forth between the two shops, helping clients choose their pets at the pet store one minute and helping the clients at the aquarium with their man-made decorations the next minute. Even his lunch time was reallyte in the afternoon.

    Just because aquariums were slow moving goods, that didn¡¯t mean they would be a burden. Their profit margin was rtively high since they were usually sold in a whole set. With the aquarium machinery, corals, sand, and aquatic animals sold in a package, they could usually sell them for thousands of dors.

    After he finished his lunch, it was alreadyte afternoon. This time period was usually the quietest in the shop. Everyone was resting, and very few people came in at this time, even the ever zealous reporters. Besides, the weather wasn¡¯t too good today. It had been cloudy for the whole period, and the threat of rain hung over their heads, so their customers were even fewer.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were ying mobile games in the corner. Lu Yiyun was focused on her drawing with Jasmine in her hands. Due to the fact that there had been too many customers recently, her illustration work had been piling up. Jiang Feifei next door was chatting with her ssmates about employment, exams, love, and gossip¡ªsuch topics that university girls liked to talk about. Even though she wasn¡¯t that interested in those, it wouldn¡¯t be good to seem too uncooperative.

    Even the elfins were all napping. It was quiet in the room.

    The ever-carefree dimir wasn¡¯t in the shop either. Who knew where it had gone? But that was amon urance too.

    Seeing that there was nothing much to do in the shop now, Zhang Zian nned to return upstairs to take a nap and recharge his drained batteries.

    Even the second floor was quiet. There were no soundsing from the bathroom. Sihwa might still be asleep too.

    ¡°Pi, don¡¯t always sit and stare at theputer. Everyone¡¯s napping, so you should too. Resting never gets in the way of doing productive work.¡± Zhang Zian sat on his bed, getting ready for his nap.

    But Pi didn¡¯t reply to him with its usual ¡°Cheep cheep,¡± and neither was it focused on typing. Instead it stared at theputer, spacing out.

    Sensing that it seemed a bit off, his desire to sleeppletely dissipated. He stood up again immediately even though he had alreadyy down, walking over to it to ask, ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Pi?¡±

    Pi looked up at him, lost, and pointed at theputer screen, helplessness filling its eyes.

    Zhang Zian took a look. The Chinese version of the Qidian Website was open. There were many fixed ¡°Rmended¡± spots on the website. The more visible the spot, the more effective the advertisement¡ªthat, he already knew.

    He thought initially that something had gone wrong with the website, but it seemed to be working normally.

    ¡°What is it, Pi? What¡¯s wrong?¡± he asked again.

    Pi finally came back to reality, taking the mouse to click on the author¡¯s tform.

    There was a message from two days ago, saying that at 2 p.m. today, its work would be put onto one of the ¡°Rmended¡± slots on the website, and for it to continously update. If there was anything urgent, it should contact the editor in charge.

    He looked at the time on the bottom right hand corner of the screen. It was already past 2 p.m.

    Pi went back to the main page again.

    This time, Zhang Zian finally understood. Pi¡¯s book should have showed up on one of the rmended pages, but those spots were all taken by other books.

    ¡°Cheep, cheep?¡±

    Pi gestured, meaning to ask, ¡°Was there a mistake somewhere?¡±

    Zhang Zian pulled a chair over, double-checking the time in the message and the novels on the ¡°Rmended¡± slots. He gave it a thought before consoling Pi. ¡°Pi, don¡¯t panic. There might be some dy since it¡¯s only a little past 2 p.m. Maybe your novel will only be updatedter.¡±

    These situations could happen asionally. There were too many novels on the website, after all. Hundreds of thousands of books were updated every day, and the change of novels in the ¡°Rmended¡± slots had to be personally done by the editors and staff. It was entirely possible that something might have happened to cause the dy.

    Pi nodded, epting his exnation, but it still continuously refreshed the webpage, its eyes staring at the position where its book should be appearing.

    Zhang Zian hadpletely lost the urge to nap and sat by it, chatting asionally, hoping to at least soothe some of its anxiety and uneasiness.

    But even after half and hour of waiting, there was no change on the webpage at all.

    Pi got more and more panicked, and even Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t sit still anymore. There was a limited time they could have the ¡°Rmended¡± slot, after all. They couldn¡¯t just sit there and wait like idiots.

    ¡°Pi, contact the editors,¡± he suggested. ¡°Didn¡¯t the message say to contact the editors in case of any emergencies? Besides, the editors are there to help authors with their problems.¡±

    Pi still hesitated.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll contact them for you.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that it was not familiar with interacting with people, so he volunteered to aplish the task.

    Pi jumped off the chair and waved its hand, asking him to sit before theputer.

    Zhang Zian found the picture of the bald monk in its list of contacts. This was the editor in charge of Pi. Every editor had a few hundred authors under their care, and they were bombarded with work every day. They didn¡¯t have time to chat with their authors, so Pi tried to not bother them.

    He drafted a message summarizing the problem, subtly trying to hint at whether it was a mistake made by one of the staff, and asking them to take care of the issue on its behalf.

    After the message was sent, he consoled it again. ¡°Most likely it¡¯s a member of the staff that missed it and forgot to put your novel up. We should be able to solve it soon.¡±

    Pi nodded, but it was still nervous, and it couldn¡¯t help but feel that it wasn¡¯t that simple.

    Not too longter, the bald monk¡¯s photo lit up, and the ping from the message box rang from the speakers.

    ¡°There¡¯s a reply!¡±

    Zhang Zian and Pi both perked up, immediately clicking on the message to open it.

    The thing that shocked them both was that the editor didn¡¯t reply to them with words or emojis. He had instead had sent a photo over.

    What was with that?

    Zhang Zian opened the photo, puzzled, to look at it more clearly.

    The photo was taken with a phone. It was the front page of a newspaper.

    He knew this newspaper. It was the most influencial newspaper in the entire country. The main headline was clearly printed out: ¡°Ten Criticisms of Online Writing.¡±

    Zhang Zian and Pi looked at each other. What was with the cryptic message?

    Even though they hadn¡¯t understood what was going on, the issue was clearly on this newspaper.

    The photo wasn¡¯t too clear, and it didn¡¯t show the whole article.

    Zhang Zian patted Pi¡¯s shoulder,forting it. ¡°Wait here. I¡¯ll go out to buy a newspaper. I¡¯ll be back. Don¡¯t worry, the world isn¡¯t going to end.¡±

 Chapter 1070: Ten Sins

    <h4>Chapter 1070: Ten Sins</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Wang Qian was extremely tired. He was handling a customer that was difficult, and upon seeing Zhang Zian walk down the stairs, he hurriedly called him over.

    Zhang Zian waved his hand. ¡°I have something to do. Just deal with it however you deem fit.¡±

    When he passed by the cashier counter, Lu Yiyun took up a stack of printer paper and said, ¡°Mr. Shopkeeper, I just checked the stock in the storeroom. Take a look...¡±

    Zhang Zian did not stop walking. ¡°Just deal with it however you see fit. Things that need to be ordered, order them; things that need to be dealt with, deal with them.¡±

    He quickly walked outside the shop, then jogged towards the north side. There used to be a newspaper stand that was open all year round, but he did not know if it was still there. After all, he had not bought newspapers in very long time.

    ¡°Mister, do you have the newspaper for today?¡± After he reached the stand, even though the newspaper stand was still there, what was on disy were colorful manga magazines. They were mostly targeted at young women and secondary and primary school children. There were very few newspapers.

    ¡°What kind do you want?¡± the old man stretched his head out and asked as he flipped through a magazine.

    Zhang Zian said the name of the magazine, and was confident the newsstand would definitely have the biggest newspaper that was the most distributed in the country. He did not expect the old mister to shake his head and say, ¡°There¡¯s no more. It¡¯s sold out.¡±

    ¡°What? You don¡¯t even have a single copy?¡± Zhang Zian felt disappointed in his heart and confirmed with the man again. He thought, Such a serious newspaper is so popr? Logically, besides middle-aged and older people, no one read it...

    The man said, ¡°Nope! That newspaper is hard to find, so I only order two copies every day. The nearby old people buy them. After it sells out every day, there aren¡¯t anymore.¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°No wonder... Do you know if there are any other ces that sell newspapers nearby?¡±

    ¡°That I¡¯m not so sure about. Go and find someone else to ask about that.¡± The man¡¯s gazended on the newspaper again, and he ended the conversation.

    Nobody read newspapers anymore. Newspapers and kiosks could no longer be described as a sunset industry. They were already dying sun industries. It was not easy to find another kiosk. Moreover, even if he found one, they may be sold out as well. He usually bought newspapers in the morning because they were organized by importance.

    Zhang Zian was a bit troubled standing at the head of the street. He wondered whether he should use his public ount to ask for help from his customers, like thest time when he was trying to find fresh crucian carp to help the mother cat produce milk... Out of all the people that followed his public ount, there had to be one or two people that ordered that newspaper, right?

    ¡°What are you here for? Are you contacting the underground cats?¡±

    When Zhang Zian heard a voice from behind him, he turned his head back and didn¡¯t see anyone. He then lowered his gaze and saw dimir.

    ¡°What the heck are underground cats? I want to buy a newspaper, but this newsstand has sold out,¡± he replied.

    ¡°Newspaper? You still read the newspaper?¡± dimir looking down on him made him feel defeated, but he could not argue. He normally did not read the newspaper.

    Zhang Zian coughed dryly and exined, ¡°The main thing is that today¡¯s newspaper has a piece of very important news. I want to find it to take a look.¡±

    ¡°What news? Did the country approve of the protecting small animalsw?¡± dimir asked curiously.

    ¡°No... Not that fast. It¡¯s actually something concerning Pi.¡±

    Talking to a cat on the streets drew too much attention. He brought dimir to the alleyway and simply exined to it what had happened before it arrived.

    ¡°Oh, I understand now. You wait here for a while.¡± dimir understood. It instantly jumped onto a wall and disappeared.

    A few minutester, it jumped back down from the wall, a newspaper in its mouth. ¡°Is it this one?¡±

    Zhang Zian took the newspaper from its mouth. Although there were bite holes from its teeth, it was indeed the right newspaper.

    ¡°You really helped me a lot! Let¡¯s go back. We can talk about it in detail when we get back.¡±

    He did not ask about where the newspaper came from. He and dimir walked back to the shop, and when they passed by the cashier counter, he instructed Lu Yiyun, ¡°I have something to do now. If someone is looking for me, say that I¡¯m not here. I went out.¡±

    Lu Yiyun nodded.

    He whistled, and Zhan Tian, who had received orders, obedientlyid at the bottom of the stairs to stand guard.

    Upn entering the room, he first asked Pi, ¡°Pi, how is it? Are there any changes?¡±

    ¡°Zhi zhi.¡± Pi was unable to sit still while it waited, and it anxiously shook its head.

    Zhang Zianid the paper down on the table, and Pi came over to take a look with him. dimir also jumped onto the table.

    At the beginning of the article, the author briefly reviewed the birth and development of cyber literature and affirmed the influence of cyber literature. Followed by a turn of the pen, he listed ten crimes of cyber literature, such as overemphasis on entertainment, theme hollowness, subject repetition, vulgar content, simr details, strict style,ck of criticism,ck of correct values for teenagers, etc. It was even mentioned that website features were not clear, and editorial quality needed to be improved urgently.

    What shocked him the most was what he saw at the end of the article. It had listed a few books that needed to be heavily critiqued, and one of the books was Pi¡¯s short story.

    After reading it carefully, Zhang Zian skimmed through it quickly again to prevent himself from missing anything. He was deep in thought.

    To be fair, the ten crimes criticized in the article were not entirely empty. After all, flies did not bite seamless eggs. There were many people in society whoined about the vigorous development of online literature. It was not wrong to put forward criticisms. It took time for a new thing to move from disorderly to normal. But all the books that the article focused on were written by gods of literature, except for Pi¡¯s novel. How could Pi¡¯s novel be juxtaposed with them?

    Besides, there were so many books on the website that clearly conformed to the ten counts. Why did the article focus on Pi¡¯s novel? In Pi¡¯s novel, besides Richard¡¯s suspected vulgarity, other characters, including Zhang Zian, were all great and glorious characters that were not considered distasteful...

    Anyway, the article used Pi¡¯s novel as a target and harshly critiqued it, which was strange and unconvincing.

    Pi read the article halfway and could not bring itself to continue reading. It was so sad it squatted in the corner and drew circles on the ground.

    It was clear that the reason the rmendation was reced at thest minute by other books due to the fact the article named and criticized Pi¡¯s novel.

    That was hard to deal with... An arm could not manage to squeeze more than a thigh, but that thigh was like an elephant¡¯s leg. Its thin arms could not win the author over.

    Zhang Zian sighed and wanted to find words tofort Pi, but he could not find any suitable words no matter how hard he tired. Any book critiqued like that by a person that was such a famous figure in the country, even if it did not die, it would surely be skinned.

    dimir finished reading the article slightly slower, then raised a paw and pressed it onto the name of the author. It asked, ¡°Who¡¯s this person called Zhu Jisheng?¡±

 Chapter 1071: History Repeats Itself

    <h4>Chapter 1071: History Repeats Itself</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    With dimir¡¯s reminder, Zhang Zian took a look at the author of the article. But even though he did so, it was useless. He didn¡¯t know this person, and he had never heard the name.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter who they are. Anyone who can publish an article in a newspaper of this scale will definitely be someone with a lot of influence.¡± Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°I think we should confirm with our editors how bad the issue is...¡±

    ¡°No, something¡¯s not right,¡± dimir interrupted him, insistent. ¡°We should check first who this person is, and what his motive was for doing something like this.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that dimir had a strategic mind, and there was no harm in checking either, so he opened the browser and entered that name.

    They immediately got a shock from the results.

    Zhang Zian sucked in a cold breath, muttering, ¡°This is the ex-principal of the Nameless Lake University, and he is currently retired. He¡¯s said to be a descendant of Zhu Xi, and his predecessors have always been schrs. He¡¯s a smart and hardworking guy and has been since he was young. He had a lot of expectations from his family from a young age, and they had even broken tradition and named him ¡®Ji Sheng,¡¯ meaning ¡®To learn the ways of the honored, and to bring peace to the world.¡¯¡±

    If Zhang Zian were to write his own resume, it might only be a few sentences long. But the information that you could check online about this person was at least a few thousand words long. Just his positions and responsibilities that he had held, or was currently holding, were around thirty, a dizzying amount. If you included the awards and honors that he had received too, you would lose the motivation to even be jealous and envious of him.

    ¡°Hahaha! That¡¯s hrious!¡±

    Zhang Zian still hadn¡¯t finished the whole list of titles, but dimir had already copsed on the floor inughter.

    Pi was even more dumbfounded, even upset, thinking that dimir was making fun of it.

    ¡°This... dimir, why are youughing? What¡¯s so hrious?¡± Zhang Zian asked, hinting to him to consider Pi¡¯s feelings with his eyes.

    dimir finally ended its maniacalughter, standing up and saying a little hoarsely, ¡°He¡¯s just a schr, and he dares pride himself on ¡®To learn the ways of the honoured, and to bring peace to the world¡¯? How dare he?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand. ¡°Don¡¯t belittle this man,¡± he said. ¡°A person with a great reputation definitely has some skills in them. From what we¡¯ve checked online, this person¡¯s definitely well-read and well-respected. He has students all around the world, within and outside of China. Many of them are working in the government, big organizations, or even the Fortune 500. He doesn¡¯t have many public speeches, but each one would cause a ripple through the world!¡±

    dimir¡¯s smile gradually turned colder and colder. It raised a paw and mmed it firmly onto the tabletop to punctuate its next words. ¡°I only know that if you walk the wrong path, the more you know, the more they will work against you!¡±

    Zhang Zian said nothing.

    It turned to Pi. ¡°I respect authors because authors are engineers of the human soul,¡± it exined. ¡°But I don¡¯t like schrs because some of them only know how to twist the truth, write some weird passages thate from the depths of hell, and throw shade at people they don¡¯t like! What ¡®learning the ways of the honored¡¯? These old men haven¡¯t understood that times have changed and only care about upholding tradition even if they know better!¡±

    Both Zhang Zian and Pi had their mouths hanging open.

    He recalled dimir¡¯s response the first time he saw Professor Wei Kang and itsment about Professor Wei Kang¡¯s strong academia vibes, and he finally understood why... It had never liked schrs much in the first ce.

    But Wei Kang¡¯s main focus was natural sciences, and those would never be outdated.

    The more dimir talked, the more agitated it got, and it mmed its paw on the newspaper again, the fire in its eyes almost shooting out in a torch-like fashion.

    ¡°F*ck this! From what I see, he wants to f*cking make use of history!¡±

    Pi had initially been very upset, but with dimir¡¯s thunderous outburst, its shock had instead washed away those feelings.

    ¡°History has proven time and time again, and will keep proving in the future, that anyone who tries to stop the world from moving on will be unceremoniously run over by its wheels, no exceptions!¡± dimir dered, hysterical. ¡°People like these should be f*cking released into Siberia to get their heads straight!¡±

    It was weird¡ªthe fractious Zhang Zian had calmed down now. Maybe it was the influence of dimir¡¯s bold spirit of wanting to fight against the world.

    ¡°How about this. Now that we know who did this, let¡¯s contact the editor first and get to know the details, hm?¡± Zhang Zian was worried that dimir would be too excited and tried to suggest something to cushion its feelings.

    He was worried about Pi too. No one would know better than him how much Pi had put into this novel. He couldn¡¯t just take this beating that came without rhyme or reason. But what could knowing who the culprit was do? All they could do was try and salvage what was left of the situation and see if they could recoup some of their losses.

    Pi nodded in agreement. It was calm, unlike dimir, who blew up with the smallest flicker of a spark.

    Zhang Zian clicked on the editor¡¯s icon and started typing. ¡°I¡¯ve seen the newspaper. Is the situation dire?¡±

    After a moment, the bald monk disy picture blinked again, and the notification bell rang.

    The editor replied, ¡°It¡¯s not looking good. Even the editing team has been receiving pressure from all around. We have to take care of this situation subtly. We will also try to tell our higher-ups about the situation, and I believe they will bring us justice.¡±

    Zhang Zian read the paragraph a few times, trying to peel back all itsyers to understand what it truly meant. First, due to the fact that the article had also brought up the fact that the editing quality still left much to be desired, the editing team had gotten significant pressure too. Next, taking care of it subtly meant that they would have to lie low, and the novel wouldn¡¯t get into any ¡°Rmendation¡± slots in the near future. Lastly, the editing team was trying their best to use their connections to report the situation back to their superiors, hoping to turn the situation around.

    Even though the arrow was pointed at Pi¡¯s story, this wasn¡¯t actually aimed at Pi. Instead, it was a jab at the whole online novelmunity, and none of the online authors could escape from it. It was just that Pi had ended up as the sacrificialmb to put on a demonstration for the rest of themunity...

    The impact to them was too sudden and too heavy. As for whether they could turn the situation around, they didn¡¯t seem too confident either.

    ¡°Cheep cheep?¡± Pi asked Zhang Zian about the situation.

    Zhang Zian tried tofort it using the bright side of things and encourage it to not give up. But even he found his words empty, since the situation had already been blown out of their hands and control.

    It was only after doing his best that Pi¡¯s emotions finally crawled out of the pit.

    Wang Qian had already called him from downstairs several times, and he had to go downstairs to take a look. But he suddenly realized that dimir had gone missing yet again.

 Chapter 1072: Warrant for Arrest

    <h4>Chapter 1072: Warrant for Arrest</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Dusk.

    With the exception restaurants that were still insisting on business, shops were closing one after another. Amazing Fate Pet Shop was no exception.

    After the store employees cleaned up and arranged everything back to where it was supposed to be, they started to leave in groups.

    After dinner, people from all stages of life went out for a walk. They had spent the majority of winter and spring in their homes, but the temperature was finallyfortable and there were no mosquitoes. The weather was nice enough to walk in.

    It was not just humans enjoying the nice weather¨C¨Ceven nocturnal animals began to wander about.

    Although Binhai City was urban and a medium-sized city, there were still many animals that liked to move around at night. At night, dogs out for walks with their humans would often encounter such animals. They would suddenly get excited and rush in a certain direction, then bark at the grass or at flower beds. If one were to pull apart the grass and leaves, they would often find some small animals shaking, such as hedgehogs, squirrels, and wild rabbits.

    Of course, the kinds of dogs with that sort of ability were small torge-sized hunting dogs. Small dogs like chihuahuas and pomeranians could not be counted on to do that.

    Not far from the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, two acquaintances met outside and began to talk. One of them had an adult golden retriever that was not on a leash. After all, there were few cases of golden retrievers biting people. During their enthusiastic conversation, the golden retriever smelled something and ran down an alleyway.

    During the Spring Festival, it was said that there were people stealing dogs from around there. The owner of the dog anxiously started to shout at it, but the excited golden retriever ignored his master¡¯s shout. He plunged into the alley and snorted at a stray kitten that was hidden in a corner.

    The golden retriever was considered a treasure of the dogs, but the blood of the hunting dog ran through its body. It was very aggressive to small animals. If the owner pulled on it, it was still all right, but if it was free to roam about, then it often brought back surprises to its owner.

    At that moment, the golden retriever was staring at the yellow and white kitten and continuously howling, pondering what sort of posture he should use to use to grab the cat. He wanted to gift it to his owner. Of course, it was not as gentle as a mother cat.

    The strange thing was, the yellow and white cat did not show any fear. It just looked at it once, then tried to leap onto the wall.

    The golden retriever was about to open his mouth to bite it, when suddenly the direction of the wind changed. He raised his head and looked up, only to see a dozen full moon-like eyes shining upon the wall, staring down at his movements. If they were somewhere else, he would have thought that some ancient god had been revived.

    The owner arrived in the alleyway, only for the golden retreiever to run by, whimpering with his tail between his legs. He circled around his owner¡¯s legs to ask forfort.

    The owner was confused. He did not know what kind of situation it had met, but upon seeing the dark alley, he decided to not try to find out. After all, curiosity killed the cat.

    Hundreds of stray cats were gathered on the roofs of the cottages and two-story buildings in the area. Normally, they would have been noisy, but at that time they were unusually quiet and hardly heard, even by the inhabitants under the roof.

    dimir looked at the faces of the representatives of the stray cats. Every time there was a meeting, there was an increase in the number of unfamiliar, new faces. That meant that the power and strength of the stray cats was increasing again.

    The fire of the cats was setting the prairie aze.

    However, with the expansion of the sphere of influence,munication problems had caused serious bottlenecks. They could only double the number of cats whomunicated and try their best to maintain the smooth flow of information.

    ¡°I want to tell everyone something,¡± dimir opened its mouth and said, ¡°I have a friend¨C¨Ca national fighter that feels for the situation of stray cats. They have been met with very unfair treatment!¡±

    The stray cats listened quietly. Pairs of eyes shed in the dark¨C¨Csometimes bright, sometimes dark.

    ¡°A reactionary academic authorityunched a despicable insult and attack on my friend. It was not only an offense to my friend, but also a provocation to all stray cats!¡± it gripped a forepaw and said angrily.

    The stray cats straightened up their bodies and angry mes burned in their eyes. Theyined about the suffering of their brothers.

    dimir waved his front paw passionately. ¡°I¡¯m now officially issuing the highest warrant for arrest! Please sufficiently mobilize the stray cats under your leadership and maximize their ability to collect information. Even if you dig three feet, you need to bring this reactionary academic authority out to me!¡±

    The stray cats were so angry that they broke the silence that they had kept for so long. They called for battle one after another.

    The family that was watching television below them heard soundsing from the rooftop and muttered, ¡°Spring is over, and the cats are still making noise.¡± After that, they increased the volume of their television like nothing was happening.

    dimir nodded in satisfaction and waited for the cats to vent their emotions and calm down a little. It said, ¡°The focus of this work should be on big cities such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen in the north. ording to my estimation, reactionary academic authorities like that live in big cities and lead a decadent life as they exploit their ss¡¯s extravagant desires.¡±

    Several cats that were as light as a sparrow nodded their heads, indicating that they would be responsible for conveying the matter to Meow Meow Branch Organizations in big cities.

    ¡°In addition, the stray cats in other areas should not rx their vignce. After all, the world is not absolute. Our root is in small and medium-sized cities and rural areas. The basic principle of rural areas encircling the city cannot be shaken!¡± dimir added.

    Some representatives of stray cats asked, ¡°What is the reactionary academic authority and what does it look like? Is it as grim as a pitbull? Is it wearing a gold chain around its neck? Does it have tattoos on its body, and a knife too? Who will cut everyone when ites out of the BMW?¡±

    They needed a target. If they did not know what the person looked like, it would have been like finding a needle in the haystack.

    dimir shook its head. ¡°It¡¯s not that simple. The enemy is sly, and is good at acting. They are very good at hiding and cheating. They will not easily slip up and give out their location.¡±

    It recalled the pictures it saw on theputer screen and described him. ¡°The old man is very old, tall, and thin, and has a good appearance. I have seen several pictures of him wearing old-fashioned, traditional clothes... What is old-fashioned, traditional clothing? Well... Anyway, it¡¯s different from what young people wear! Any other questions?¡±

    If it could give each stray cat a picture, it would have... But that was impossible. It could only increase the size of the, and search out every possible suspicious character.

    The stray cats became quiet again; there were no other questions.

    ¡°Good!¡± dimir smiled in satisfaction, then his eyes shone with a cold light. ¡°Now it¡¯s time to discuss the Holy Cat Statue. It¡¯s time for us to catch fish in the far-reaching! For all the cats in the Five Ridges of Tianlian, the earth moves and the three rivers move as the cat paw shakes. If one asks where the statue is going, then the candles of the paper boat will burn in the sky to show the way!¡±

 Chapter 1073: Street Racers

    <h4>Chapter 1073: Street Racers</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was almost midnight.

    The bustling of Binhai City had finally started to settle down.

    The people who still had to study or go to work the next day showered, brushed their teeth, scrolled through their social media on their phones in their beds, and finally put their phones down reluctantly to sleep.

    The hermits sat before theirputers, fighting their own intense battles, faces shining with oil. The night was still young for them.

    The people doing night shifts yawned, fighting the sleep bug.

    But for another group of people, the night was just beginning.

    Zoom!

    Zoom!

    In a certain building on a nearby street, the residents were already on their merry way to dreand, but they were rudely shaken awake by the loud noise. They turned over in bed in frustration, muffling their ears with their pillows, and muttered under their breath, ¡°The rich kids are racing the streets in their sports cars again! They seriously have issues!¡±

    Yup, who knew where these rich kids hade from¡ªthere might have been another group of people nearby who were forced out of their homes and received a huge sum of money inpensation, making them rich overnight. They made use of thete night, when traffic police were not around and there were few cars on the street, to race cars, and they rammed their elerators to the maximum. Some of them had even modified their cars, changing up their mufflers to make the sound even more piercingly annoying then it had been previously.

    They were just rich kids in the lowest sense. Their sports cars were just the entry-level, $1- to $2-million sports cars. But they were still unattainable for most normal people.

    They might have watched too many movies or yed too many games, coupled with having too much spare cash on their hands. They had gathered here like flies on this long, wide, straight road, racing their new sports cars, turning their music to the maximum volume, howling in excitement asionally. They didn¡¯t have much in terms of driving skills. They only knew how to step on the elerator to gain speed, getting a sense of satisfaction and burning away their adrenaline.

    The people who lived nearby were all troubled by it, often getting rudely woken up right as they are about to fall asleep. They could probably still deal with it if it were winter or spring, when they closed their windows at night to sleep. But with spring transitioning into summer, everyone had their windows open during the night to enjoy the nice temperatures, and the noise was just intolerable. Some people with heart issues might have even been shocked by the sudden burst of noise, their pulses elerating suddenly, and the students preparing for examinations had it extremely tough too.

    The residents had conveyed the issue to the relevant authorities, but there had been no signs of the situation improving at all. The rich kids were always out in the middle of the night, but they didn¡¯t show up every night, and it wouldn¡¯t be possible for the traffic police to wait here every day until the night. Besides, they would always send a few people to drive by normally and survey the area before their races, and if they saw traffic police, they would either move elsewhere or change their date.

    ¡°Do you know what this is called? This is gueri warfare!¡±

    After racing back and forth several times, the rich kids gathered all their cars in a circle along the empty roadside. They sat on the hoods of their cars and discussed their races loudly, expressing how satisfying they were.

    One of them had a baseball cap on, worn skewed to the side, and a ck-and-white-striped leather jacket. He had a can of beer in his left hand and his soft girlfriend in his right. He eximed loudly to the others. From his looks, he seemed to be in his early twenties, but you could see signs of his endeavors on his face.

    ¡°To retreat if they advance, to disrupt if they rest, to attack if they¡¯re tired, to chase if they retreat! If the policee after us, we run. Our car license tes are all fake anyway, and their cars can¡¯t catch up to us. If the police are here, we¡¯ll change ces. If they¡¯re tired and retreat, then this will be our territory! Those stupid police can¡¯t do anything about us anyway!¡±

    He showed off his knowledge to the other rich kids, getting a wave of admiration from them.

    ¡°Boss is so amazing to even know about this!¡±

    ¡°Boss doesn¡¯t just have amazing driving skills. He knows a lot of things too!¡±

    ¡°Ha! I asked you bunch of brats to not only think of women. You should study more. If you study more, women will automaticallye to you, just like my baby here. She loves hearing my talk!¡±

    The rich kid with the baseball capughed loudly. His right hand pinched at his girlfriend¡¯s waist, eliciting a filthy moan as she snuggled into his hold again.

    They say that in the world of the blind, the cyclops is king. Even though he was only a high school graduate, amongst this group of people who on average were middle school dropouts, he was shockingly smart.

    As theughter died down, someone asked him cheekily, ¡°Boss, where are we going next? To run a few more rounds? Or should we go to karaoke and see if we can pick up any drunk chicks?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go a few more rounds!¡± Another person patted the Porsche 911 beneath his butt. ¡°I didn¡¯t have energy early on, and I didn¡¯t step on the elerator fully, but this time I definitely won¡¯t lose!¡±

    ¡°Tch! Stop lying, you pussy!¡± the others shouted at him.

    ¡°I¡¯m sleepy. Let¡¯s get a room,¡± the girlfriend yawned, whispering to the baseball hat kid.

    He had long since had a fire burning deep in him for his girlfriend, unsatisfied with just touching and kneading at her and wanting to satiate that fire by getting a room. But his ego was too inted for him to be okay with the other rich kids looking down on him.

    As he was hesitating, there was a sudden burst of snickering from the darkness not too far away.

    ¡°Who? Who the f*ck¡¯sughing?¡±

    The kid thought that someone wasughing at him. He knew his own skills. He could show off in front of these stupid followers, but it wouldn¡¯t look good on him if anyone else heard him.

    Theughter was soft and disappeared after a short period of time.

    The other kids had stopped theirughing, asking, ¡°What... What is it?¡±

    ¡°Not talking about you guys! Didn¡¯t you guys hear someoneughing earlier?¡± the baseball-hat rich kid said.

    The rest of them regarded each other. They hadn¡¯t been paying attention at all.

    ¡°No, I hadn¡¯t heard anything.¡±

    ¡°Someone¡¯sughing? Boss, did you hear wrongly? It¡¯s already sote, and there aren¡¯t many people around here...¡±

    ¡°What about you? Did you hear anything?¡± The kid squeezed the girlfriend in his arms again.

    She was so tuckered out she could barely open her eyes, and she shook her head.

    ¡°Tsk! You just take a nap in the car. I¡¯ll be back soon.¡± He threw away the beer bottle, leaving his girlfriend in the sports car. He closed the door and stomped in the direction of theughter, the alcohol acting as liquid courage.

    ¡°Boss, what are you doing?¡± the others asked.

    ¡°I drank too much, so I¡¯m going to pee! And to see who dared tough at me!¡± he said without even turning back.

    ¡°Wait! I¡¯ming too!¡±

    ¡°Boss, you didn¡¯t do it too much and get weak kidneys, right?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡±

    Almost all of the kids came over, some of them wanting to pee, some of them wanting to burn off extra energy, and some of them just going to support the others.

    Even though the night waste, they were all young men, gaining confidence in numbers. There wasn¡¯t much they were afraid of.

    If any one of them were to raise their head now, they would find a cat, but not a cat, sitting on a three-story building nearby, shining brightly like metal under the moonlight.

 Chapter 1074: Defeat

    <h4>Chapter 1074: Defeat</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Many people at the age of 20 did not fear heaven or earth. They weren¡¯t really afraid of anything, especially when they were in a group of people. If they evengged behind by a few steps, they feared being mocked by their friends.

    The guy in the baseball cap brought a group of wealthy, second generation heirs to the ce where he had heard theughter. They were standing near the wall that bordered an oldermunity. Themunity was open, and bicycles and electric cars were often stolen from there. There were a few broken bicycles that had not been ridden for many years. There were also several shared bicycles that had been locked up.

    It was very humid near the wall, and it was covered in dark green moss. There was the slight smell of human waste.

    ¡°Big brother, are you sure it¡¯s here?¡± someone asked.

    ¡°I think so...¡± The guy in the baseball cap couldn¡¯t be sure because themp was dark, but his ears were still very keen. Theughter had surelye from that area, but there was no way forwards unless he went over the wall.

    ¡°Big brother, you definitely heard it wrong! Ai, I don¡¯t know about you guys, but I can¡¯t hold it anymore!¡± The other personughed. He walked in front of the foot of the wall, then unzipped his pants and started began to urinate. ¡°Oh, oh! Feels great!¡±

    The rest of the guys did not want to be left behind. They chuckled as they stood in front of the foot of the wall, then lined up and started to pee, too. The strong, disgusting smell of urine overtook the area.

    ¡°The f*ck! Are you heaty? Why is your urine so smelly?¡±

    ¡°Do you want toe over to help me disperse my heatiness?¡±

    ¡°Get away!¡±

    The urine at the foot of the wall flowed horizontally, and the guys who had just finished peeing were very rxed.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go. We¡¯ll go back now!¡± They were just about to return to where they had stopped their car when they suddenly heard lightughter not far away.

    That time, they had all heard it. They looked over at the same time, but it was too dark. They could not see anything clearly.

    ¡°Who is it? If you have the guts to,e on out!¡± the guy in the baseball hat increased his voice and shouted. He felt safe with his group.

    It was very quiet; there was no response.

    They switched on the shlight function on their phones, but the light could not reach far enough. It could not show them what was happening.

    ¡°It can¡¯t be a ghost, right?¡± someone muttered. Everyone looked at him angrily, so he hurriedly added, ¡°I¡¯m just joking, brothers. Don¡¯t take me seriously! It¡¯s broad daylight. How could there be ghosts...?¡±

    He had yet to finish speaking when he immediately thought about how it was not broad daylight¨C¨Cit was actuallyte at night, and it was the best time for ghosts to be out. He forcefully swallowed his words back down.

    ¡°Such a scaredy-cat! Ghosts aren¡¯t real!¡± the guy in the baseball hat said loudly.

    There was someone who said, ¡°It¡¯s probably some loser who hates the rich and is jealous that we have money. They are pretending to be a ghost!¡±

    ¡°Of course! It must be like that!¡± The others agreed.They all felt extremely angry. ¡°That group of stinky losers! What right do they have to be jealous of us?¡±

    They were not in the city center, but the area was still quite popted. There were a lot of lights on in the nearby residential buildings. No matter how it seemed, it was not a ce that would be haunted.

    They prepared themselves and walked over towards theughter together, their phone lights shining all over.

    ¡°Aiya? It¡¯s a few cats!¡±

    There were no ghosts there, and there no people there, either. It was just a mother stray cat and a young kitten; they were probably scavenging in the trash cans. Their eyes reflected the light from the phones.

    ¡°Like I said, ghosts don¡¯t exist.¡± The guy in the baseball hat spit.

    The others rxed, then scolded the person that said there was a ghost severely.

    ¡°But... Can cats smile?¡± someone asked, having a bit of a big mouth.

    The rest of the people quieted, as if they had been sshed with cold water. Thatughter really did not seem like it was made by a cat.

    ¡°...I¡¯ve never owned a cat before. How would I know?¡± the guy in the baseball hat said impatiently. ¡°If you want to know, isn¡¯t there a readily prepared cat here? Won¡¯t you know after trying?¡±

    He even shocked himself when he said that. The sentence didn¡¯t go through his mind at all; it just naturally left his mouth.

    Try...? Try how?

    The female stray cat seemed to see that their group was not well-intentioned, but they were standing in the way of the kittens. It looked around helplessly, trying to find a way out of the encirclement. It was easy for it to break out of the enclosure alone¨C¨Cit could just jump up to the wall and run away¨C¨Cbut what about its children? It could only pick up one of them and run away, but as for the rest...

    ¡°Right! Big brother is right! It just happens that there¡¯s a cat. We can try to see if a cat will smile or not. How¡¯s that?¡± someone added.

    ¡°Haha! Good idea! When we go back we can boast to girls!¡±

    Some people with them hesitated, saying, ¡°This... this isn¡¯t very good, right? I think we should just stop dying. We need to hurry to the second ring...¡±

    Suddenly someone fiercely jumped up and said, ¡°The f*ck is the second ring? I want to know if cats can smile!¡±

    As they were arguing, there was the third round of lightughter.

    The stray cat suddenly raised its head when it heard the sound. Humans¡¯ eyes were blind and dull at night, but its eyes were keen. The cat saw a light, smoky figure passing by in their vicinity. Itughed when it was closest to it.

    Even though it was between spring and summer and the temperature wasfortable and a bit warm, it felt that there was a chill in the air. It felt like they were in an ancient tomb.

    The rest of the people did not notice that figure, and that time, they were sure that it was this stray catughing, not some kind of ghost.

    ¡°The f*ck! It¡¯s so evil! Even cats dare tough at me?¡± The guy in the baseball hat was actually quite cowardly in his heart and was all talk. He might have been scared of humans and ghosts, but he was definitely not scared of a cat.

    ¡°Watch carefully. Today I want to see if cats know how to smile or not!¡± He folded his sleeves up and walked towards the stray cat quickly.

    The mother cat and the kittens could not escape. They could only wail bitterly.

    At that moment, a fierce wail emitted from the darkness. A few seconds after, a second wail sounded loudly, and it was obviously much closer than the first one. A third one and a fourth one sounded, alling from different directions.

    Sou! Sou! Sou!

    Suddenly, quite a few stray cats appeared on top of the wall, their eyes shing as they stared at the rich, second generations heirs. Their calls were continuous. Moreover, loud whistling sounds rang continuously, proving that even more stray cats were approaching.

    ¡°The f*ck! What¡¯s going on? Are these stray cats elfins?¡± The rich, second generation heirs watched in shock. The stray cats¡¯ eyes stared at them until their hearts felt cold.

    ¡°I... I think that we should probably just go race to the second ring?¡± someone asked shakily.

    That time, he said what everyone else was thinking; no one disagreed. They did not know who led them, but everyone ran off in a herd. They had not run that fast since secondary school.

    When they returned to the roadside, they were panting. They were bathed in the light of the streetmps again. They suddenly smelled the piercing smell of the urine from under their sports car. The smell was even stronger than their urine by ten times over, and the smell refused to go away for a long time.

 Chapter 1075: Infiltration

    <h4>Chapter 1075: Infiltration</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It stood on the roof of the three-story building, observing the racers who only knew how to brag. It felt extremely disappointed in them. They had actually been scared away by a bunch of strays just like that? They didn¡¯t even talk about how silly they looked as they merely flipped their hoods open, cursing and screaming at the gift of cat pee that they had received.

    Useless!

    It didn¡¯t bother with those useless things anymore. Stiffly raising its head, it judged the time by looking at the moon¡¯s position.

    The nights were bing shorter and shorter. It got darkter than before, and became bright earlier than usual. The night had almost half passed, and yet it still had gotten nothing.

    This situation had happened often recently. Sometimes it could roam for the entire night, unable to find a suitable target. Even if it did, its ns were ruined by a bunch of strays that hade out of nowhere, just like today.

    Something didn¡¯t seem quite right.

    It tried its best to recall how smoothly everything had been at the beginning. It had stalked Binhai City at night as though there was no one there to stop it. It could easily find weak-willed targets and sessfully influence their thoughts, using their hands to torture and kill strays. It would sit nearby enjoying the show, basking in the feeling of its strength improving.

    Just a little bit more time...

    It raised a front paw, keenly observing it.

    Its body was still a little heavy and stiff, far from an actual cat¡¯s¡ªflexible and agile. It would still make a sharp sound if you knocked on its skin, making it clumsy in its every action.

    Just a little bit more time and it could bepletely renewed, changing the heavy skin for a better one. Then it wouldn¡¯t have to make use of other people and could instead do the dirty work itself. Even though it didn¡¯t really need the help of humans, it could kill the old, young, and injured sessfully. But if the other was an adult healthy cat, it could barely catch up, unless it was an ambush.

    But its previously sessful ns had been taking a nosedive recently. It didn¡¯t know what had gone wrong, but the cats seemed to have achieved some sort of cooperation. The moment they heard the cry of help from one of their mates, they no longer ignored it or walked away as they had used to. Instead they gathered there from all directions and used their utmost speed to bring aid to theirrade.

    It couldn¡¯t think of anyone that would possibly give them such courage to do such a thing, even if it used all of its limited brain capacity.

    It observed the group of strays in the dark. They surrounded the queen and its kittens to keep guard, keeping their distance so they didn¡¯t stress out the queen too much. Only one of the cats got close to the queen, seemingly trying to exin or advocate something to the queen with gestures.

    The queen was initially wary of the strays, but not too longter, she seemed to be taken in by the other stray¡¯s words as its eyes shone with a different glint.

    It wanted to go closer to have a listen instead of hiding in the dark, wanting to know what these strays were preaching to her. Instinct told it that it would be closely rted to the change in situations recently.

    But its gut was warning it not to go closer to listen, since it might just bring more harm to it than good.

    It was just words and gestures. How could those possibly harm it?

    It didn¡¯t understand.

    After some time, as it was still debating whether it should go ahead to listen or not, more pitiful meows came from the distance.

    The meows were extremely heart-rending and sounded far away. If not for the silent night, they definitely wouldn¡¯t have been audible. Humans wouldn¡¯t be able to hear them at all¡ªonly animals with acute hearing would.

    It narrowed its eyes at the distance, the pitiful meowing akin to the most beautiful piece of music to it.

    What was happening?

    It was still here, so what was with the call from far away?

    It quickly understood that there was some human torturing strays of their own ord, without its influence and guidance, but through their own effort and want.

    Its lips twitched up in glee. It loved such initiating humans. They gave it so much more power than the puppets that it had to control.

    Those puppets often got cold feet at the most important time. What was the point of torture if you didn¡¯t kill eventually? Such spoilsports.

    The strays on site had heard the calls too and panicked for a moment, but one of the cats called loudly, getting them to quiet down. It was the cat that had beenmunicating with the queen earlier.

    The cat quickly split the strays on site into two, one group to stay behind to protect the queen and its kittens, and the other to rush toward the calls. They clearly intended to go there to save the tortured cat.

    Interesting!

    It became excited, euphoria bubbling up in its heart.

    These cats didn¡¯t have to split themselves into two¡ªit had already lost interest in the queen. There was clearly a better target waiting for it.

    So it tailed after the strays, running toward the calls.

    Slower!

    It called in its heart: Just a little slower!

    It wasn¡¯t to get the strays before it to run slower, but calling at the brave warrior torturing the cat. The essence of torture was ¡°slowness¡± to let the strays taste the suffering to the maximum before dying, just like Ancient China¡¯s ¡°Death by a Thousand Cuts,¡± or Ancient Egypt¡¯s mummification of live cats. There was no point in killing them directly.

    It wished for the brave warrior to be a little slower, or at least leave the best part till its arrival so it could graciously give pointers to the brave warrior and gain more strength, too.

    Since it had not gotten new energy for the past few days, it could feel its powers gradually slipping away. If it continued on this way, it would sooner orter end up back as a copper statue, so it viewed this mission with utmost regard, hoping to turn the tides.

    It had even decided that if the brave warrior who hadn¡¯t shown their face yet had exceptional performance and could impress it, it was willing to groom it long-term so it could help start a more effective torture movement¡ªgoing on at least until it hadpletely evolved. It had had enough of this life, not knowing when its next full meal would be!

    As to how it would take care of them after its goals were met...

    One thing was for certain¡ªit was a god, and a god only needed offerings. It didn¡¯t need owners!

    It excitedly made its ns, running toward the east with the bunch of strays.

    The cries got closer and closer, clearer and clearer, and it was getting more and more exciting too.

    Hm?

    This...

    Where was this ce?

    Why was it so familiar?

    It stopped, observing its surrounding buildings, lost, its memories from not too long ago resurfacing.

    The Amazing Fate Pet Shop¡¯s sign was tall and unyielding, stopping it right in its tracks.

 Chapter 1076: Bronze Body

    <h4>Chapter 1076: Bronze Body</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The scene in the film kept reying in its brain.

    It had been in the shop for so long¨C¨Cso long that it seemed like time had stopped.

    It could blurrily remember some things¨C¨Ca lot of cats, a lot of dogs, a lot of humansing and going like a trotting horsemp... There were a few people¡¯s faces, both men and women, that kept appearing again and again. They seemed to always be inside the shop, so it could not really remember their faces.

    There were also a few very special cats and dogs, and there was a scent that it was very familiar with there. It was fighting against that cat and had suffered some losses, but it had yet to be totally defeated. It could still be called back to the world by secret believers.

    It was a very painful day. It watched the kittens and adult cats walking around in front of it, but its body could not move. It could not kill them or abuse them, nor could it even turn its head and look behind it. No one could feel its fear and anger except for it...

    The most humiliating thing about it was that it was often patted on the head and hugged around its neck. Many people took photos with it, treating it as a mascot or something of the sort.

    What were those idiots thinking? It was a god, not some kind of mascot!

    It did not know when its consciousness was revived, but it had been confined in its heavy body in that pet shop since its revival. Then, one night, its body suddenly moved. Its sworn enemy was not there that night, so it fled the pet shop as fast as possible because it knew its strength was too weak and insufficient to fight against them.

    As soon as its sworn enemy came back, it could very possibly notice that something had changed, and then try to deal with it like it had a few thousand years ago.

    After it escaped, it had been wandering around Binhai City. Sometimes there were a lot of people in the city, so it would run further away, while other times it would go to the eastern urban area. It instinctively avoided the pet shop, however, because the time was not right yet, and it did not have enough power. It was patient and could afford to wait.

    There were a lot of negatives to having a bronze body, but there were also positive things about it. The biggest positives were that it was not easily injured, and it was not weak.

    It had waited for 2,000 years. If the timing was not right, what was waiting for 2,000 more? It could wait until the end of time¨C¨Cuntil all its enemies were rotting in the mud!

    So, the next time it saw pet shop again, its first reaction was to turn its body and leave. If it stayed there and wandered around, there was a very high possibility it would meet its sworn enemy from 2,000 years ago.

    However... The loud sound of a cat rang out again and again, and it was so tempting.

    It listened carefully. What made it feel very at ease was that the sound did note from the pet shop, but from behind the pet shop. It remembered that there was an empty, abandoned green space, and there were a lot of stray cats that gathered there.

    It was a ce that was naturally suitable for cat abuse. The stray cats were like delicacies, and it was salivating. Due to its fear of its sworn enemy, it had never dared toe close to the shop.

    Should it leave? It raised its head to look at the sky. It was already theter half of the night. Soon, the sky would brighten.

    If it missed its chance, it would have all been in vain. It was not resigned¨C¨Creally not resigned! What was it scared about? Was there anything to be scared about?

    It lowered its head and stared at its front paws and chest. The bronze body was infinitely strong, and even if it met with its sworn enemy, its bronze body was enough to protect it.

    As for that motley crew of stray cats¨C¨Chow could they injure its bronze body, even if they were inrge numbers? When it thought of that, it could not bear to part with its body that was heavy and clumsy.

    The long confrontation that hadsted for thousands of years was sooning to an end. When it was reborn, it would take care of its sworn enemy in person. It would make sure that its sworn enemy would feel the mes of hell a hundred times over!

    It did not hesitate anymore and jumped on top of the wall. It slowly walked around the pet shop, then ran towards the green space that the horrible screaming sounds wereing from.

    The vegetation was very luxuriant, so the wetness of the green space was even greater than that of other ces. It did not like ces that were too wet because it then faced the danger of rusting.

    Just to be careful, it hid between the branches of the pine and cypress trees and observed the movements in the green space.

    Pa! Pa!

    It heard it, then saw it¨C¨Cin the deeper part of the green space, there was a brave soldier that was abusing cats. They hit the cat in front of them, using all their strength, and pitiful wails sounded out.

    The person had their back to it, and it could not see what they looked like. What they looked like was unimportant, anyway. They were only a tool that it was using.

    What was strange was that it did not see any of the stray cats that hade to the rescue the other night.

    Nevermind that. No matter what, the stray cats could only frighten the trash that raced cars illegally. They could not do anything against people who abused cats.

    It decided not to wait any longer. It jumped out of the branches and deliberately failed to control the force of the fall. Itnded heavily on the ground, disturbing the surrounding soil.

    Pa! Pa! The person was still using a lot of strength to hit the cat in front of it, as if it had not heard the sound of itnding on the ground.

    Were they deaf? It was a bit unhappy, and was even a bit awkward, because it had very high expectations for its shy entrance. It had wanted the person to be shocked and fearful when it saw it.

    Heh-heh! Heh-heh! Itughed dryly a few times. Although itsugh was not loud, it had a high, prating power. There was a cold feeling that prated the green space.

    At that time, the person heard theughter. Their arm, which was raised in the air, stiffened suddenly. They did not continue to hit the cat.

    Turn around! Let me admire your fear!

    Just as it wished, that person slowly turned around. But their face did not have the fear it expected. They just wore a mocking facial expression.

    At their side, a yellow and white kitten was calling out again and again, like it was having fun. There was not a single injury on its body.

    What was going on? It was stunned and extremely confused.

    Wait! It suddenly realized that it had seen that face before¨C¨Cit had seen it a lot of times. It was not the ordinary kind of familiar... It could call out his name easily because it had heard it many times. ¡°Zhang... Zhang Zian!¡± It finally yelled out its name fiercely, its voice scratching people¡¯s ears like metal. For the first time, it was able to speak.

    But it was not happy. The situation had advanced in such a strange way, and it had already exceeded its control and understanding.

    Suddenly, there was a loud chant that came from all around the green space!

    ¡°Long nights are hard to see in Binhai City!

    Millennium Old Devil Dances!

    Cat citizens 500 million are not reunited!

    Long nights are hard to see in Binhai City!

    Millennium Old Devil dances!

    Cat citizens 500 million are not reunited!¡±

 Chapter 1077: Lying in Wait

    <h4>Chapter 1077: Lying in Wait</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The chanting was firm with energy, just like the first church bell in the morning. It was echoing and unyielding, containing the anger of a volcano within it, like they were testifying against its evil ways with their very tears and blood.

    It was shocked. It was usually the one doing the shocking, and yet it had been shocked today.

    The sounds were making its ears ring with their shockwaves. But that was odd. It didn¡¯t have eardrums, so why would they ring?

    It wasn¡¯t just its ears¡ªits entire body was ringing, like a resonance had been made.

    Wait!

    This wasn¡¯t ringing, and neither was it resonance. It was trembling.

    Run!

    Its instinct roared at it to hurry up and get out of here, because it seemed like its predator was hiding here.

    Not enemy¡ªpredator!

    ¡°Enemies¡± often meant that they had equal strength, and there was a chance for the battle to go either way. But ¡°predators¡±... They had an absolute advantage.

    An eagle wouldn¡¯t treat a rabbit as its enemy, because the eagle was the rabbit¡¯s predator. The moment the rabbit was faced with the eagle, it could pretty much just wait for death.

    There was another word to call one¡¯s predator, and that was ¡°bane.¡±

    Maybe the difference in strength and abilities weren¡¯t great¡ªthey might even be quite be simr¡ªbut due to a special ability or characteristic on one side, they would be the predator, or the bane, of the other¡¯s existence.

    But how could this be?

    Where could this predator havee from?

    It had roamed and ruled the rolling desert of Egypt for thousands of years, and it had nevere across its predator, nor had it imagined that it would have one.

    It couldn¡¯t understand that times had changed and its rule was already over. Trying to repeat history would only result in failure.

    Even if the real Cat God were toe to earth, it would be surprised by the changes.

    This world was no longer one they were familiar with!

    With the end of the chanting, countless strays shot out of the thicket, silent and disciplined. They quietly surrounded the whole green area, packing the center of it with hundreds, maybe even thousands of cats.

    How could this be?

    Were these still the disorganized strays that had used to fight each other for territory?

    It was suspicious of everything it saw in front of it.

    Maybe it was hallucinating?

    ¡°Honestly, even though I look calm on the outside, I¡¯m actually really surprised. You can actually speak, and you shouted my name... You¡¯ve really changed a lot in such a short time.¡±

    Zhang Zian finally opened his mouth to speak.

    He was the one who had nned this with dimir¡ªluring the Holy Cat statue here with strays so they could catch the mouse in the trap. When they were nning this, he hadn¡¯t had confidence that it would work, but surprisingly, it had, and on the very first night.

    He had made sufficient mental preparation for the Holy Cat statue to show up, so he wasn¡¯t surprised, but he was surprised that it could actually speak now. If it continued to grow, it might eventually be a true elfin.

    ¡°How should we greet each other?¡± Zhang Zian scratched his head, chasing away the mosquitoes with branches he¡¯d picked up. ¡°Should we say, ¡®Long time no see¡¯? Even though I¡¯ve never thought we¡¯d meet again in this manner.¡±

    The smattering of lights in the plot ofnd were only half lit, and some of them were off. With the help of the fuzzy moonlight, he observed the...should he say ¡°statue,¡± or should he say ¡°cat¡±?

    Well, he observed it, anyway.

    After a few months of being in the pet shop, he and the employees were both familiar with the Holy Cat statue.

    It was simr to how it had looked months ago, but there were differences.

    The previous statue had been ck in colour, shining copper green under the lights. Even though it looked a little gloomy, it had still been an exceptional art piece.

    But now there were several obvious cracks along its body and hairline cracks lining its entire self. It might have just been his imagination, but it looked as though there was dark smoke seeping out from those.

    The nose ring that Old Time Tea had cut off and Zhang Zian had sent to the gold shop to recycle had showed up on its nose again, seeming to shine even brighter than it had before.

    Zhang Zian spaced out for a moment, thinking that if the gold nose ring would regenerate on its own, it would be a great way to generate ie...

    Its purity wouldn¡¯t reach 24K, but if it worked, then he wouldn¡¯t need his bike anymore!

    It opened its wide mouth, exhaling sharply and showing off its fangs in a threatening way, interrupting Zhang Zian¡¯s thoughts.

    The biggest difference was in its face. The previous Holy Cat statue hadn¡¯t had eyes, only two deep-set holes. But it had eyes now, a pair of bloodred ones that showed its bloodlust and cruelty...reminding Zhang Zian of the Terminator T-800.

    Its chest was t now too¡ªit wasn¡¯t that it had lost G-cup-sized breasts, but the Wadjet Amulet that had previously been carved into it was missing. Even though the protective Wadjet Amulet was important and significant to it, it still wasn¡¯t the Holy Cat statue¡¯s.

    ¡°Look, let¡¯s negotiate. You¡¯re already backed into a corner, but I¡¯m a nice guy, so would you consider surrendering?¡± Zhang Zian proposed, waving his stick around. ¡°If you agree to surrender and promise to never do bad things again, maybe I can plead for you... Of course, I can¡¯t just help you for nothing. If you are willing to help me research on how to properly use your nose ring, I¡¯ll call it even.¡±

    It was surprised and stuck out its tongue to lick at its nose ring, not knowing what he was nning.

    But his confusion was quickly buried under all of his exploded anger.

    It was a god! How could gods surrender to mere mortals?

    It red at him with its blood red eyes, straining its mouth wider and baring its copper fangs as intimidation.

    ¡°It¡¯s no use struggling meaninglessly,¡± Zhang Zian said and shook his head. ¡°Do you still not get it? You¡¯ve been caught right in the middle of the man-cat war, and it would be easier to sleep on clouds than to escape from us. Why not just work together with me and add to the foundation of science research? Give me a Holy Cat statue, and I can crash the entire gold market!¡±

    It couldn¡¯t be bothered to listen to his ramblings, observing its surroundings keenly instead.

    It didn¡¯t think that it was backed into a corner at all. Even though it was surrounded by countless strays, no matter their numbers, what could they do about it?

    ¡°Where... Where is Fina Paris? Now... Which generation of Fina Paris is it?¡± it squeezed out using its hoarse voice. Compared to these mortals, it was more concerned about whether its enemy was here.

    ¡°Which generation? Oh, let me think. I think it¡¯s the thirteenth?¡± Zhang Zian tried his best to remember. Fina¡¯s full name was pretty unfamiliar to him since he had always addressed it with a nickname.

    ¡°It¡¯s here? Let Fina Paris the Thirteenthe out to meet me!¡± it roared.

 Chapter 1078 - Ruthless Characte

    <h4>Chapter 1078 - Ruthless Characte</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Hearing its roar reminded Zhang Zian of a question¨C¨Cwhich generation of Fina Paris XIII was that? It was a strange question, but maybe the statue just learned to speak and didn¡¯t understand grammar.

    ¡°Fina is not here at the moment. It is probably sleeping in the shop.¡± He shook his head. ¡°If you want to see it, you must first surrender. Don¡¯t worry, we are very lenient. We will not kill you if we pay with your ws. If you pay with your nose ring, we will punish you for your merits!¡±

    When it heard his words, it was suspicious, doubtful, and angry. It was confused as to why its sworn enemy was not there. Could it be that sleep was that important? It really wanted to tell its sworn enemy personally that there was no need to sleep. There would experience a naturally long sleep after its death!

    What made it angry was that its sworn enemy had not appeared. Could it be that it was looking down on it? What right did it have? It was a real god, and its sworn enemy was only the spokesperson for Bastet. To say it in a ruder way, it was just Bastet¡¯s dog!

    But regardless of that, it was definitely more at ease. Its sworn enemy was not there, and it was not fearful of the rest!

    It knew that it had identally fallen for the enemy¡¯s scheme and was surrounded. Zhang Zian abusing the kitten was just a ploy to get it there, but despite that, staying there was just wasting time. It did not have long until it was daylight.

    It was not naturally fearful of daylight like ghosts or vampires were, but in its heart it felt ufortable. The sunlight made it feel like it was burning and like it was going to melt. The daylight caused its movements to be obvious, and at that moment, it was not good for it to be exposed in front of everyone.

    It needed to quickly get around the cats that were surrounding it!

    It pretended to look around, and created the illusion that it intended to break out of its surroundings. It nced at Zhang Zian, then it rushed towards him without hesitation.

    It knew it had to capture the ringleader in order to capture all its followers.

    It was not in a good situation. Usually, it was in the dark and others were in the light, but its current situation was reversed. In the shadowy woods and weeds around it, it did not know whether there were other enemies lurking. Therefore, it had to hold Zhang Zian hostage to ensure its safe departure.

    Although its speed was not particrly fast, the distance between it and Zhang Zian was only about 56 meters. Human eyesight at night was limited, so even if Zhang Zian wanted to avoid the Holy Cat Statue, it was going to be toote. Needless to mention its tusks and ws, even if he was hit by such a heavy bronze lump at a high speed, he would be sputtering blood.

    The five to six meters of distance was decreased by half in a blink of his eye, and red traces were left behind where its eyes used to be. It could see from Zhang Zian¡¯s facial expression that he was caught off guard.

    The muscles in his body moved before his mind. He bent his knees slightly and tried to jump, but it was still toote.

    Just when the Holy Cat Statue thought that it would definitely seed, the grass to the side of it suddenly separated and a figure jumped out at the speed of lightning. It jumped and stopped it while it was in the air. A cat that was dressed like a human rushed out of the grass towards the statue.

    The figure was wearing a hat. Its gown and jacket were pulled tight against the wind. Two brass-colored eyes projected from beneath the hat, and its speed was astonishing.

    ¡°You evil creature¨C¨Chow dare you do this!¡± This figure erupted in a burst of anger, and then stopped in front of Zhang Zian.

    Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

    The two figures met in the air at a speed that the human eye could not perceive. They wiped out a series of dazzling sparks, and five crisp dings of shing metal rang out into the green space.

    The two figures, exhausted, turned away from each other. The statue of the Cat God weighed a lot, so it went backwards only about a meter, while the other figure in the air turned a somersault and lightlynded back in its original position.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± The Holy Cat Statue used its blood red eyes to stare at the figure that had just appeared. The other party¡¯s strength exceeded its imagination. Even though there was a great difference in their weights, when they met each other midair, there was no way to borrow strength. The other party used an extremely high-level technique to remove the strength of its attack and then attack it back.

    The figure wore a hat, and its face was hidden under the rim. Its robe swayed slightly in the night wind. It stood there calmly, with theposure of a schoolmaster.

    ¡°I am Old Time Tea,¡± Old Time Tea spoke.

    When the Holy Cat Statue was disyed in the shop, it was facing outside to wee the customers. Old Time Tea was a low-key cat, and it always watched television in the corner of the shop. It very rarely went out, and, because of that, the Holy Cat Statue had very little impression of it. It had not known that it was so strong. After all, when Old Time Tea showed off its strength in the past, the statue was still being disyed in a second hand antique shop.

    Although Old Time Tea pretended to be calm and unaffected on the surface, the w it had hidden in its long sleeve was swollen and aching. It was somewhat shocked at its strength as well, and therefore did not look down on the newly incarnated elfin.

    One had to know, the power of faith gave it a steel body. A cat¡¯s sharp ws could easily cut off its golden nose ring, but when it shed with the Holy Cat Statue¡¯s body, Old Time Tea became acutely aware of how strong its body was. Some of Old Time Tea¡¯s strength had dimished, mainly because the other party¡¯s body was heavy and strong. It felt like a lightweight sword tried to cut a hammer. Even though its ws were sharp, it was impossible for them to cut off through a hammer. Too much force would break the sword itself.

    ¡°Old Time Tea, are you all right?¡± Zhang Zian hurriedly asked.

    ¡°There¡¯s no problem.¡± Old Time Tea shook its head. Its eyes never left the Holy Cat Statue.

    Zhang Zian thought that it was lucky that Old Time Tea hade along¡­ Otherwise trying to deal with that hit would have been nearly impossible.

    On the other hand, the Holy Cat Statue was shocked. Old Time Tea¡¯s ws had managed to scratch several wounds onto its bronze body. The battle may not have been anything extreme, but if it was not for its heavy and strong body of bronze, it would have died.

    It had napped for 2,000 years. During its time away, the world had produced so many strong characters¡­ They were like mushrooms springing up after the rain.

    It could not help but feel fear in its heart. It was one thing if there was only Fina¨C¨Cit probably could have dealt with that¨C¨Cbut if Old Time Tea, whose true power was not known, was added in, it was going to have to fight hard for its survival.

    With Old Time Tea protecting Zhang Zian¡¯s side, capturing the ringleader in order to capture all its followers was not possible anymore. Continuing to dy things was not beneficial to it.

    So it repeated its trick. It bowed backwards, pretended it wanted to attack Zhang Zian again, then suddenly turned its head and rushed towards the entrance of the green space.

    ¡°Move out of my way!¡± it yelled angrily at the stray cats that were blocking its path.

    However, the stray cats that would have avoided it in the past all stood still and did not move. Even though their faces still showed a look of fear, their eyes were burning with a belief that was enough to totally suppress life and death.

    Death did not belong to a Meow-Meow Doctrine Believer!

 Chapter 1079: A Disgraceful Fight

    <h4>Chapter 1079: A Disgraceful Fight</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The Holy Cat statue wasn¡¯t pitying the strays. It had asked them to get out of the way just to prevent them from slowing it down. Since they refused to, their only option was to be crushed into dust under its weight!

    The ground shook with every single step it took.

    Its heavy body and its high speed run made it a reckless tank rushing at full speed. Even if a brick wall were to show up right in front of it now, it was confident that it would be able to put a hole through it. Even Old Time Tea and Fina would have to beware of him. A strong person could defeat 10 skilled fighters, after all.

    It turned its head back a little to spy on the situation behind them. Seeing Zhang Zian and Old Time Tea staying where they were and not chasing after it, it was secretly relieved. Even though it was not afraid of Old Time Tea, it would still be a hassle if it was ever involved in a fight with it.

    As long as it could break out of this trap today and go back to its secret base to gather itself, when it finally reached its peak performance, both Old Time Tea and Fina would be about as significant to him as two ants.

    Of course, the best course of action would be to leave Binhai City for another ce. It was quite dangerous, a fact it hade to understand in its short period here, roaming the darkness.

    The entrance to the grass patch was finally within its reach, and as for all those pesky strays, since they weren¡¯t afraid of death, they could just die!

    Suddenly, its entire body was pushed down, as though it were carrying a heavy load on its back. Due to how unexpected the impact was, it almost broke its poor old back.

    Its suppressed anger all burst out in one go. Who dared to attack it at this time?

    He turned to see a fat orange cat bravely jumping onto its back, raising its fat paw, and pping its face, twice!

    It was dumbfounded, not because of how powerful or strong the p was. Even if it was stronger than usual cats¡¯, it wasn¡¯t strong enough to warrant putting it into such a trance. It was because it had never received such humiliation as the humiliation of actually getting pped by a stray.

    Even though the cat was fat, it was rtively agile. It hit just once and immediately retreated, not wanting to prolong the fight. Even before the Holy Cat statue could react to it, the orange cat immediately jumped off its back and rolled into the long grass.

    It knew that it should hold it in for the sake of the big n. But it really couldn¡¯t. It was a god. If a god didn¡¯t punish anyone that dared treat them this way, who would still be afraid of them?

    So it dug its paws right into the soft soil, digging four deep holes into it. It didn¡¯t wait for its sprinting body topletely stop before changing courses and rushing towards the orange cat.

    Its eyes were almost bleeding red with how angry it was. It swore to itself that it would chop that fat orange cat into a thousand pieces!

    No matter how agile the fat cat was, it was still a normal cat. And no matter how clumsy the Holy Cat statue was, it was still about to be an elfin. Their speeds were as different as night and day.

    But the period of eleration and deceleration had given all of the other strays a short window of opportunity. Just as it was about to catch up to the fat cat, another brave stray jumped onto its back.

    This was a white-grey floppy-eared cat, cute and cuddly but just as fierce when it came to its attacks, aiming directly for its eyes with its sharpened ws.

    It was the natural instinct of every living being to protect their eyes, and the Holy Cat statue was no exception. It turned around, closing its eyes and evading the attack before bending its body to swing the grey cat off its back, opening its mouth and aiming directly for the grey cat¡¯s throat.

    Right then, its body froze up as though it had gotten electrocuted. It opened its eyes wide again, jerkily backing off several steps and gaping unbelievingly at the assassin that was hiding in the dark.

    A pure white ball of fur rolled to its side.

    The white ball opened up, and Snowy Li brought its paw to its nose and gave it a sniff, its face scrunching up and turning away as though it had smelled something absolutely vile. ¡°I¡¯ve checked its crotch, and it¡¯s a male¡ªyet another stinky male!¡±

    Even though the Holy Cat statue was strong and sturdy, it still hurt a lot to be groped like that by Snowy Li. Its body was notpletely made of copper after all. It was really close to being an actual elfin.

    The pain kept radiating up from his crotch, almost making him want to curl up and lick at its crotch to soothe the pain from its testicles. But to protect its image and ego as a god, it didn¡¯t do so.

    Even Zhang Zian, watching from the side, silently closed his feet together.

    ¡°Who... Who are you?¡± It hurt so much, even its voice changed.

    It was supposed to recognise Snowy Li, since Snowy Li was Fina¡¯s loyal follower, but the pain had really clouded its brain function.

    ¡°Meow meow meow! I¡¯m the ever lovely, ever popr Snowy Li, the castrator of toms and men! I see you¡¯re very special. I¡¯m willing to castrate you for free. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Wha... What?¡±

    The Holy Cat statue¡¯s head was bursting with pain, and it didn¡¯t understand the whole line of words it had just spoken.

    Snowy Li kept looking at the space between the Holy Cat statue¡¯s legs, speaking its next few words with much interest. ¡°I¡¯ve castrated a lot of cats, but I haven¡¯t castrated a statue yet... I¡¯m in a good mood today and wanted to have a good meal. Not only will I castrate you for free, I can also carve RBQ into your inner thighs. Aren¡¯t you d?¡±

    The Holy Cat statue didn¡¯t know what RBQ meant, but its instinct told it that it wasn¡¯t anything good, and as a god, it shouldn¡¯t go anywhere near those three words.

    ¡°Ridiculous!¡±

    It roared, ¡°Do you know the consequences of insulting gods like this?¡±

    ¡°Gods?¡± Snowy Li looked around, confused. ¡°Where are they? I only see a statue very suitable as an RBQ!¡±

    Faced with such a shameless cat with filthy words spewing out of it at every second, the Holy Cat statue was about to blow through the roof!

    This could be the most unlucky day since its conception. If it was defeated by Old Time Tea or Fina, it would have been more epting of it. But as a god, how could it be humiliated by such a no-name?

    Its teeth were all bared now, ck smoke spewing out of every single crevice in its torso as it leapt at Snowy Li with its ws out and teeth sharp. This time it would do it, no matter the distraction. It had to tear this white cat into a thousand pieces and chew on the meat on its bones as a reward!

    Snowy Li had long been prepared. It knew that after males were attacked in this manner, they could react in one of two ways: either lose all of their energy and flop into a useless pile on the floor, or let their anger cloud all of their logical thinking abilities.

    It curled itself onto a ball and rolled away, hiding underneath a stone chair.

    The angered Holy Cat statue hit the stone chair, crushing it into pieces, but Snowy Li had rolled beneath another one by then.

    It leaped up high, nning to smash both the chair and Snowy Li into dust.

    ¡°Meow meow meow! Save me, my queen! Your loyal subject¡¯s getting bullied by stinky men!¡± Snowy Li shouted.

    ¡°Who daresmit crimes before my holy self?¡±

    They could only see a ray of gold shining down from the sky, falling onto the Holy Cat statue¡¯s neck and pressing it into the dirt and dust.

 Chapter 1080: Last Fight

    <h4>Chapter 1080: Last Fight</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The soil in the green space was soft, and the Holy Cat Statue was heavy and strong. It lost its bnce in the air, then fell to the soil and ate sh*t.

    When it raised its head again, its face was covered in mud, green leaves, and grass roots.

    It no longer cared about cleaning its face. It looked around for the location of the one who had attacked it, because the moment it was attacked, it smelled a very familiar scent; it was the scent of its sworn enemy from 2,000 years ago.

    When Fina suddenly appeared, it kicked the Holy Cat Statue in the back of its head, and used the power of the kick to change its direction. It jumped onto the railing of the streetlight, then stared at it from a high point. Even though it was dark, the fur on its body still showed a dull, grand, golden color.

    The Holy Cat Statue red at Fina fiercely. It was not wrong¨C¨Cit was its sworn enemy that had tortured it for thousands of years.

    It then turned its head to stare at Zhang Zian. It asked, ¡°Did you not say that Fina was not here?¡±

    Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders. ¡°The soldier¡¯s crafty! Why should I tell you the truth when you won¡¯t surrender? What good is it for me to keep you on guard?¡±

    The Holy Cat Statue felt like it was being choked until it was mute.

    When two soldiers fought, the the more crafty they were, the better.

    It suddenly remembered that when it used to live in the pet shop, Zhang Zian had managed to confuse everyone just using his mouth. He had even confused Fina before, and now it had fallen prey to Zhang Zian¡¯s trickery.

    It really wanted to beat Zhang Zian up and release its anger, but at that moment, the situation was disadvantageous for it. It could not be bothered with such a useless man.

    It reevaluated the situation. There was Fina on the streetlight, Old Time Tea on the ground, and the unscrupulous Snowy Li waiting for an opportunity to attack. Its odds were basically zero, but it still had no fear.

    Perhaps they could hit it until it was in pain, or humiliate it, but as long as it had a bronze body, they could never defeat it. As long as it wanted, it could retreat alive; it had that assurance.

    They just needed to wait for it to regroup¨C¨Cnone of them were his opponent.

    ¡°It¡¯s you!¡± Its gaze turned back to Fina. ¡°The b*tch¨C¨CBastet¡¯s spokesman¨C¨Care you here to challenge me?¡± it said scornfully. ¡°Unfortunately, you¡¯re toote! It¡¯s toote! You should regret that you didn¡¯t notice my recovery in time at the pet store. It was toote. When I fully recover my strength, every cat, domestic or stray, will be killed! Then you will live to be mummified!¡±

    Facing its threats and provocations, Fina was unmoved. It said calmly, ¡°I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t have that chance, you self-righteous fellow. You talk about crazy ideas... I am very willing to bury you again andpletely end the long-standing feud thatsted for thousands of years. The old hatred is hard topare to the new feud, and there is an owner who wants to collect your debt to them. I came today just to watch you die. I will then add a piece of loess to your grave, which is my sign of respect for my former rival...¡±

    The Holy Cat Statue was stunned at first, then itughed wildly. It said, ¡°What a joke! Who¡¯s the one talking about crazy ideas? Who would dare to kill me? Who would dare to kill me?¡± Its voice was like rusty pieces of metal rubbing against each other. It was hoarse and chilling.

    No wonder it spoke out wildly and fearlessly. With its iron-walled like body, no one could contain it if it wanted to run.

    At that moment, in the dark forest, someone sighed disdainfully and chanted slowly, ¡°Green water and green hills are in vain. What is the true God to do to the false god?¡±

    The phrase ¡°false god¡± seemed to have angered the Holy Cat Statue¡¯s sensitive mind. It stared in the direction the sound came from and yelled, ¡°Who is it?¡±

    It remembered that sound. When it first arrived in the green space, that voice had said some very strange words¨C¨Csomething about ¡°Millennium Old Devil Dances.¡± At that time, it had been very angry because it was a god, not some kind of devil. It seemed that the owner of the voice was finally going to appear.

    There was the sound of leaves crunching, then dimir slowly walked out of the woods.

    ¡°You?¡± The Holy Cat Statue suspiciously judged dimir. It had some blurry recollections of Old Time Tea and Snowy Li, but it was definitely its first time meeting the cat in front of it.

    Old Time Tea wore a bamboo hat and a long flowing robe, which was different at first nce; Fina was luxurious and dusty, with markings that were very different from modern cats; even Snowy Li had a strange appearance¨C¨Cit had a ck line running through the top part of its forehead... The three cats were unusual looking, but the new blue cat, apart from the fact that it could talk, was nothing more than an ordinary cat... And it was not purebred. It looked like a stray cat with its face covered in dirt.

    ¡°Who are you? Report your name!¡± the Holy Cat Statue said.

    dimir answered, ¡°I¡¯m called dimir.¡±

    ¡°dimir?¡± The Holy Cat Statue thought for a bit. The name sounded foreign, and the statue was unsure of its meaning. ¡°Where are you from? Who was your original owner? What kind of outstanding background do you have?¡±

    dimir shook its head. ¡°I¡¯m from a group of cats, and I¡¯ll leave from a group of cats. I¡¯m just an ordinary cat.¡±

    The Holy Cat Statue¡¯s conjecture was confirmed, and its heart was no longer fearful. It pointed to dimir andughed loudly. It roared, ¡°You¡¯re a nobody. You had the courage to show up, and you dare to speak out, even though you¡¯re a nobody? I might just die fromughter! Thank you for bringing me heartfelt joy. Get out of my sight before I get angry! Do you know who I am? When the primitive people of this country were still ying with mud, I existed in this world! People worshipped me earlier than Bastet! Who do you think you are?¡±

    dimir said, half-smiling, ¡°Then, why are you pretending to be Bastet to confuse people¡¯s minds?¡±

    This sentence injured the Holy Cat Statue to its core.

    When people saw the Holy Cat Statue, they thought that it was a statue used to worship the Cat God Bastet. The followers of evil gods carved it almost identically to the real Bastet statue. They added a golden nose ring in order to deliberately confuse the public¡¯s vision and draw some worship to it.

    Because of that, it built its reputation muchter than Bastet, and its name was not feared for that long.

    ¡°You¡¯re courting death!¡± Its lies being revealed embarrassed it greatly. It yelled loudly as it jumped towards dimir.

    Every step it took went deep into the soil. Straw stalks, fallen leaves, gravel, and mud were thrown high with its steps, and its healthy body was agile like a panther.

    Whether it was Fina, Old Time Tea, Snowy Li, or any other elfin, they could only use their nimble body to avoid the sharp edges of the statue. If they faced it head-on, it could be dangerous for them.

    But dimir did not have any ns on avoiding it. It stared at it calmly, as if it had already epted its fate.

    The distance of more than ten meters decreased in the blink of an eye.

    The Holy Cat Statue was happy in its heart. Itughed, thinking that the blue cat was an idiot. Even if dimir wanted to hide, it would not have enough time.

    It stepped on the ground, then leaped with all its strength and opened its mouth to bite dimir¡¯s neck. Its bronze tusks glistened in the moonlight.

    dimir did not do much. It just raised up a front w, not using its ws to attack like other cats did. Instead, it tightly curled its paw into a fist, took a deep breath, and yelled loudly, ¡°Take my fist! Meow Meow Doctrine Iron Fist!¡±

    As far as the Holy Cat Statue could tell, the punch was asmon as the blue cat itself. It was neither as fierce as Old Time Tea, nor as agile as Fina, nor as shameless as Snowy Li. It had neither speed nor strength. It was absolutely impossible for such a weak punch to do any harm to it. Its mass, inertia, and speed had reached their limits..

    Just as its tusks were closing in on dimir¡¯s neck, dimir¡¯s fist hit it in the chin from the side.

    Its fist looked as though it should have been weak andcking in energy.

    The Holy Cat Statue suddenly had stars in its eyes. dimir¡¯s body became two repeated afterimages, then it disappeared from its vision.

    The Holy Cat Statue heard the sound of its teeth breaking. It heard the sound of its jaw breaking. It heard... It could not hear anything temporarily because its ear became warped and changed shape, causing its ear canal to be blocked and its eardrum to be torn.

    Its heavy body flew like a broken kite in the hazy moonlight, hovered in the air for two or three seconds, then tumbled andnded on the ground. Its remaining momentum did not disappear. It traversed a pile of thorns, crushed pieces of grass, broke several shrubs, and was finally blocked by a strong pine tree. Pine needles sprinkled all over its body.

    At that moment, the pain that camete was finally transferred to its brain by its nerves.

    What kind of scary fist was that! It was like being hit by a crane¨C¨Cand the crane was operated by excellent graduates of Lanxiang!

    Wait a moment! Blue cat... Lanxiang... was there some kind of rtion there?

    The Holy Cat Statueid in the pine needles and weeds, staring dully at the sunken moon. It was shocked, frightened, and humiliated. It was overwhelmed by the pain, and had lost its mind somewhere.

    How pitiful! How could such an ordinary cat make such a mess of a god? It could not figure it out, no matter how much it thought.

    But it was still not dead. Even though its body had been badly injured, it still had the power to fight. A god would not die lying down! It forced itself to disregard the pain that was thundering through its body. It struggled to stand up, shaking away the pine needles on its body. ¡°I¡¯m not done yet! Be prepared to experience the anger of a god!¡± it said, panting. Its words were not clear because its mouth was injured.

    No matter what, it had already gone through a hundred battles thousands of years ago, and had a rich experience in battle. Its followers had been encircled and suppressed by Pharaoh¡¯s army countless times. They were killed and wounded. They had to retreat into the deepest part of the desert in order to make aeback.

    It had seen that the blue cat had tremendous strength, but its agility was not as good as Fina¡¯s. If it used its advantages wisely and did not directly take dimir, then it had a small chance of sess. After all, the blue cat¡¯s body was flesh and blood. As long as it was struck by its tusks and ws, the other party would be dead or injured.

    dimir took a look at it, then said with pity, ¡°Since you aren¡¯t willing to surrender, then I¡¯ll destroy you!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a god! Who has the right to make me surrender? Who will dare to destroy me?¡± The Holy Cat Statue yelled angrily like it was going crazy.

    ¡°Open your eyes wide, and look at your surroundings.¡± dimir smiled lightly. ¡°You have fallen into a war with the cats, and you are struggling. It seems that you are going to die at the hands of cats and cat people.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± The Holy Cat Statue turned around and saw that the enclosure formed by the stray cats had been furtherpressed. It had changed from arge circle to a small one. It was surrounded by almost all kinds of stray cats. Its attention had beenpletely focused on dimir, so it hadn¡¯t noticed them closing in.

    Numerous eyes were staring at it, their gazes burning. Their eyes disyed the revenge they wanted to enact. Many cats had rtives or friends that had suffered due to the Holy Cat Statue, and it was time to get its blood in revenge.

    dimir lightly jumped onto higher ground, raised its paw, and then waved it. It called out loudly, ¡°Fellow cat! Onwards!¡± Then it rushed in first.

    Upon hearing the order, thousands of stray cats rushed towards the Holy Cat Statue, epassing it from all sides.

    Their figures blocked the moonlight. Their sounds covered the Holy Cat Statue¡¯s yell, and their anger overwhelmed their fear towards it.

    dimir was in the middle of the fight, and one could not see its figure. Only its clear battle song was heard through the green space.

    ¡°Stand up! Hungry and cold cats!

    Stand up! All the cats that are suffering in the world!

    Bosom full of blood that has boiled!

    We need to fight for what is right!

    Totally beat up the old world!

    Cats stand up! Stand up!

    Don¡¯t say that we have nothing. We are going to own the world!

    This is thest battle. Let¡¯s unite to see tomorrow!

    The International Cat¡¯s Dream must be realized!

    There has never been a world savior, and we don¡¯t rely on gods or emperors!

    To create the happiness of cats, it is reliant on ourselves!

    This is thest battle, let¡¯s unite to see tomorrow!

    The most hateful poisonous snakes and dangerous beasts have finished eating our blood and meat!

    As soon as we totally extinguish them, the bright red sun will shine on the whole world!

    The International Cat¡¯s Dream must be realized!¡±

    The wails of the Holy Cat Statue became lesser and lesser, but it was still making itsst struggle. The stray cats faced the danger of its sharp tusks and ws.

    Old Time Tea stroked its beard softly, its expression faltered a bit, and it sighed. It said, ¡°I haven¡¯t moved my bones in a long time...¡± Before itsst word was fully pronounced, its figure shook, and it joined in the battle.

    The bnce tiltedpletely. A momentter, the cries from the Holy Cat Statue were silent forever.

    Gxy stood on the roof of the second floor of the pet shop and looked towards the green space, as if it felt something. It turned its head to look to the east.

    Dawn broke the darkness as Gxy said, ¡°Meow! A singing cat will cause the whole world to turn white!¡±

 Chapter 1081: A Curse

    <h4>Chapter 1081: A Curse</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    An ordinary night passed by just like that. But in an unknown ce, something extraordinary had happened.

    An amazingly tragic war had ended just like that.

    Feeling the first rays of sunlight from the east, the few street lights in the patch of grass turned off automatically, saving sr energy to fuel the next night¡¯s light.

    Zhang Zian moved his sore legs about only to find that his clothes and shoes were all moistened by the morning dew, chilly when the breeze blew past.

    The center of the grass patch was a mess, the shrubs and vines all squashed t and the grass looking like a de had gone through it, folded and broken. Even the tree trunk as thick as a fat person¡¯s thighs was scarred. Two or three stone chairs were smashed to smithereens. If the police saw it, they would definitely arrest Zhang Zian for destruction of public property and want him to pay the damages fully... Thank goodness there had never been police here.

    The most central area of the grass patch was an even more spectacr sight. The grasses were all pressed to juice, not a single piece of grass let off from a cruel fate. There was a hole two meters deep in the mud, made when the Holy Cat statue had been struggling for its life.

    At the edge of the hole, the strays were all still panting, on the verge of passing out from exhaustion with des of grass and mud in their fur. No matter their original color, they were all mud cats now, only the light in their eyes showing how excited they were after their victory.

    Even dimir was so. It swiped at the mud on its face, but that only made it worse.

    Old Time Tea brushed off the grass on its clothing, smiling softly. ¡°Satisfying!¡±

    It had been some time since such a satisfying fight, since there had never been anyone strong enough.

    They had won the fight due to their strength in numbers, and it seemed like an unfair win, but faced with a cruel perpetrator, there was no need to consider morality when dealing with them. Old Time Tea wasn¡¯t someone so deep in its stubbornness that it couldn¡¯t understand that.

    ¡°Excuse me, excuse me.¡±

    The hole had been surrounded by strays. Zhang Zian wanted to see how the Holy Cat statue was looking now, but he¡¯d been blocked. With his horrendous skills, he would have been seeking death if he dared go a step closer in the midst of the fight. Old Time Tea still had to spare some energy to protect him. Now that the fight was over, he wanted to take a look.

    The strays gave him a look, wiggling to the side to give him a space wide enough to amodate one foot.

    Zhang Zian could only cat-walk then, heel to toe, slowly inching towards the middle.

    With great effort he finally reached the hole, looking at the once-arrogant Holy Cat statue lying there quietly and merging together with the broken grass and mud as though it were dead. The only sign that it was alive was the faint red of its eyes.

    Its eyes shifted, ring at Zhang Zian with no bite behind it, using all of its strength to gasp out itsst words. ¡°I will not lose. Never! One day I will be back and give you a taste of your own medicine!¡±

    As it spoke, its eyes filled with hate and insanity, as though it were cursing this world, Zhang Zian, and all the elfins there.

    ¡°You¡¯re knocking on death¡¯s door, and yet you¡¯re still so stubborn?¡± dimir chuckled, its paw curled into a fist. ¡°With my holy sword, I¡¯ll chop you into three! See how you seek revenge! Take this¡ª!¡±

    Zhang Zian waved his hand. ¡°Don¡¯t waste your strength. It¡¯s already dead.¡±

    The Holy Cat Statue¡¯s red eyes gradually faded away with the rest of its life. But its curse still hung around in Zhang Zian and the other elfins¡¯ hearts.

    ¡°Dead? How boring!¡± dimir said inappropriately, unclenching its fist.

    Zhang Zian could tell from its eyes, right before the spark went out, that it had not just been bluffing. It had really hated them with all of its guts. After all these thousands of years, this wasn¡¯t the first time it had failed, but it would always lie in wait until its next revival. As long as there were cat torturers in the world, it would never truly die.

    There wasn¡¯t really a good solution to this problem. The most important thing at the moment was to bring the Holy Cat statue¡¯s body out instead of just leaving it there, in case someone picked it up thinking it was scrap metal.

    The statue was heavy. With its body being made of solid copper, they would have to enter the hole in order to bring it out, but Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to dirty his new shoes.

    Just as he was debating whether to wait until Wang Qian and Li Kun started work so he could get them to bring over a trolley and shovels, Old Time Tea gasped, pointing at the hole. ¡°Zian, look!¡±

    Zhang Zian immediately focused on the hole, but all he saw just made his jaw drop.

    The body was actually fading away. It faded slowly at first, and it was hard to see, but it faded away faster and faster until it disappeared from the hole in a wisp of smoke.

    ¡°Sh*t! Where did it go?¡±

    He rubbed his eyes and searched the area, bbergasted. ¡°It¡¯s gone invisible?¡±

    He knew that elfins could be invisible, though that wasn¡¯t how they usually did it. But what other exnations were there?

    Even dimir was surprised. ¡°Thed looked to be quite sturdy, but it was unable to take even a few hits?¡±

    Old Time Tea took a deep breath in, shaking its head. ¡°Even its scent has gone away. It didn¡¯t go invisible.¡±

    Zhang Zian scratched his head. ¡°Forget it. If it¡¯s gone, it¡¯s gone. I really should have taken its nose ring before it disappeared... It¡¯s toote to regret it now, but I feel like I¡¯ve lost a huge fortune!¡±

    Fina jumped down from the tree, its expression serious. ¡°Even though the rock has sunken, its ripples are still there. Logically speaking, it should take many, many years for it to revive. But with how turbulent things are now, we have to be mindful of it reviving sooner.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that with how proud Fina was, it was a huge deal for it to say something like that. It must have had a hard time with the Holy Cat statue two thousand years ago.

    dimir said uncaringly, ¡°Just let ite again. If we can defeat it once, we can defeat it twice, thrice!¡±

    ¡°Even if we defeat it countless times, it will still rise from the dead.¡± Fina didn¡¯t agree with it.

    Old Time Tea looked at the sky. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t be talking here, and we need to do a lot of nning. From what I see, we have had a tough night, so let¡¯s go back and rest first.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going back to my pce.¡± Fina turned, easily jumping onto the wall and running toward the pet shop.

    ¡°Your highness! Wait for your humble servant!¡± Snowy Li¡¯s short legs didn¡¯t allow it to jump onto the wall, so it could only take the long route.

    Old Time Tea spoke up. ¡°I¡¯m heading back too. After such an intense fight, I need a good cup of tea to quench my thirst.¡±

    It too jumped onto the wall, quickly disappearing behind the house in a few long leaps.

    Zhang Zian was nning to return to the shop too. The sky had only just gotten bright. He could still sneak in a small nap before his employees came to work.

    dimir didn¡¯t leave. It jumped onto the wall before turning around to face the sea of strays and clearing its throat as though it had something to say.

 Chapter 1082: Appoint

    <h4>Chapter 1082: Appoint</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian saw that dimir did not have any intentions of leaving, at least for the time being. He stopped walking, wanting to see what it wanted to do.

    Hundreds of stray cats seemed to have anticipated something. Under the leadership of dozens of branch managers, they regrouped and arranged themselves in an orderly line. Although it was not particrly neat, it was enough to shock Zhang Zian.

    The stray cats were no longer a disorderly crew, but a fledgling army. Thousands of cats did not run and scream, but instead looked up at dimir, waiting for its speech.

    ¡°Everyone did well! You fought a fight that we won! We overthrew the evil thing that very arrogant and bullied us for so long! Without the help of every cat here, we would definitely not have won the battle so easily!¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s gaze flitted through the faces of the stray cats. They had muddy faces, but high morales.

    ¡°My stray cats¨C¨Cthis is thest time I can call you that! You have no clothes, no food, no ce to live¨C¨Cyou spend every day in vagrancy; you were abandoned by your owners; and for some of you, you were stray cats from birth. You could only watch the domestic cats be loved by human beings, but you had nothing!¡± dimir said with strong emotions.

    Its words resonated with the stray cats. Some of them bowed their heads in spite of their grievances. Some of them stared at the clouds in the sky. Others were puzzled as to why it would never call them stray cats again.

    ¡°Even though you all have nothing, look around you, look around you, look around you! Look at yourpanions¨C¨Cyou have each other. You share the same beliefs. All stray cats are a united and selfless family. You will save food for needier stray cats; you will give homes to stray cats that are smaller than you; you will care for each other and help each other! This is more important than any kind of fine clothes or precious food!¡±

    The stray cats looked at each other. Some of the stray cats had fought hard for territory in the past, but right then, they were standing side by side like actual brothers, feeling the warmth from each other¡¯s bodies.

    dimir took a deep breath and announced, ¡°From now on, you guys are no longer stray cats, but non-propertied cats!¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    Although it was just changing the way it addressed them, the stray cats were especially excited. It was like they had received new life. They hugged each other and rubbed against each other.

    dimir looked at them with a smile and waited for their emotions to calm down a little. It then said, ¡°After my analysis, the root cause of our bullying and oppression is the backwardness and decay of human thought. Many people refuse to admit that we are the same as them as they wantonly injure and kill our fellow species!¡±

    The stray cats were angry. dimir¡¯s words reminded them of their sad past. They were vagrant wanderers... Which stray cat had not been bullied by human beings? Whether it was adults or mischievous children, they often threw stones and drove them away from their sought after hiding ces.

    dimir clenched one of its front paws into a fist, but did not wave it. Instead, it raised it up high and yelled out, ¡°Eliminate the violent tendency of humans, and the world belongs to the cats!¡±

    Its powerful slogan made the stray cats boil. They could no longer restrain the wild excitement in their bodies. They screamed endlessly. The whole green space became a sea of excitement and craziness.

    Zhang Zian was stunned. That was the first time he had heard dimir¡¯s slogan. The screams that sounded like the sound of a tsunami made his eardrums ring, and the birds around the green space were so frightened that they flew away.

    So, that was the true meaning of ¡°As cats meow about the changing sky.¡± He had thought it was referring to the Holy Cat Statue in the past, but had always had some doubts about it. He understood it for the first time that day.

    It was not just that... He suddenly felt numerous piercing gazes gathered on him.

    A lot of stray cats that hade from afar had not met him before, and did not know him. Upon seeing that he was there, they were naturally angry at him.

    There was a fineyer of sweat on his back, and sweat on his nose. The example of the Holy Cat Statue was still in front of him. Would he be the next g worshiper? If he had known earlier, he would not have stayed to see the excitement...

    dimir changed its tone and said, ¡°That is our ultimate goal. But there are some humans that have already reflected, and a few humans that have higher ideological awareness and sympathy for us. Some spare no effort to shout for our liberation cause, such as the human being standing amongst you. We will all certainly be willing to give them a chance with a clear mind and a clear sense of gratitude, right?¡±

    Its words touched the hearts of the stray cats. They had been bullied by humans, but also helped by humans. Many stray cats were picked up and adopted by humans. Many humans, though unable to take them all due to objective conditions, bought cat food every day to feed them so that they could not suffer from hunger and starvation.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes became very gentle. The stray cat sitting next to him patted his shoes with its paws and rubbed his trousers to express its friendship and gratitude.

    ¡°Our road to liberation still has a long way to go. The future is bright and the road is tortuous, but our cause will surely win the final victory. No one can stop us!¡± dimir said, cheering up the hearts of the cats.

    All the cats quieted down again, waiting for dimir¡¯s next order.

    It looked around the room again and dered, ¡°In order to convey instructions more efficiently and defend our homnd more effectively, I have decided to restructure our team.¡±

    ¡°Big Orange!¡± it yelled. The fat orange tabby stood up. ¡°I appoint you as the First Commander of the Meow Army, in charge of the Eastern War Zone!¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. You stray cats really know how to y!

    Big Orange puffed out its chest and was touched as it backed away.

    ¡°Softy, I appoint you the Second Commander of the Meow Army, in charge of the Southern War Zone!¡± The grey and white soft-eared cat confidently received its orders.

    ¡°Little White, I appoint you the Third Commander of the Meow Army, in charge of the Western War Zone!¡± The elegant, shorthaired, white cat lowered its head to bow.

    ¡°As for the Fourth Commander of the Meow Army.¡± dimir looked at the earless ck cat and Scald-head. Although it had always been the earless ck cat that was in charge of the north side, the earless ck cat had a very soft personality and did not like to fight. It needed another cat to help out.

    dimir announced, ¡°A Que will take up the position as the Fourth Commander of the Meow Army, and Scald-head will be the vicemander. You two will be in charge of the Northern War Zone!¡± The two of them looked at each other and nodded to ept the order.

    dimir was done giving out the orders and said in a serious tone, ¡°This is an honor, and even more so, a responsibility. You guys need to do your job properly, and not let down everyone¡¯s trust.¡±

    The stray cat leaders nodded their heads.

    ¡°Then...¡± dimir¡¯s gaze moved away, and it stared at Zhang Zian. It seemed to be smiling, yet also not. ¡°I also have an important task for you. Are you interested?¡±

 Chapter 1083: Liberator

    <h4>Chapter 1083: Liberator</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was a little lost. If the missions tomand the North, South, East, and West were all given out, only the Central area was left. Could it be asking him tomand the Central? It sounded cool, but there was definitely something wrong. He wasn¡¯t a freakin¡¯ cat!

    He¡¯d been through a rollercoaster of emotions, from getting scared sh*tless when he thought he was going to follow in the Holy Cat statue¡¯s footsteps, stamped into the ground, his life snatched from his bare hands... After being spared from imminent death, he was d to return to the pet shop safely. What else could he possibly want?

    dimir cocked his head, rushing him. ¡°Landlord, rich farmer, counter-revolutionary, bad-influencer, Rightist. Choose one.¡±

    Zhang Zian nearly vomited blood. ¡°None of the above! None of those has anything to do with me, okay? I¡¯ve been poor all my life, and I was born into a good family! If you want me to choose from these options, I¡¯d rather go die!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! I¡¯m just joking!¡±

    dimirughed loudly before schooling his expression back to neutrality. ¡°Actually, I had wanted to appoint you as ourmunicator to facilitate themunication between us and humans,¡± it said. ¡°In general, the purpose of that is to tell the humans our needs and wants and to tell us the difficulties and considerations that humans have in order to prevent misunderstandings due to thenguage barrier and the difference in our stances. Are you willing to take up the role?¡±

    If all cats could talk and express their happiness and their pain, humans would definitely treat cats a lot differently. Even though this was impossible, if someone could express cats¡¯ wants on their behalf, it would be a good enoughpromise.

    Zhang Zian knew that it wasn¡¯t joking and that this was a very important mission. dimir had only asked him because it trusted him. His job would directly affect the rtionship between humans and strays and would y a huge role in determining whether the conflict would worsen¡ªor maybe one day escte into war.

    As a member of the humans, he didn¡¯t want to see something like this happening. The moment that war was dered, it would be futile for cats to try and defeat the very-well-armed humans.

    After a moment of thought, he slowly, determinedly answered, ¡°It would be my honor to.¡±

    dimir nodded in approval. ¡°I trust you.¡±

    After that, its mouth spread into a wide smirk. ¡°But just calling youmunicator doesn¡¯t sound good. I have to find you a good position. Otherwise, those cats that have never seen you before won¡¯t know who you are, and that will be an obstacle to our work.¡±

    That was true. Many of the cats here had never seen Zhang Zian and didn¡¯t know who he was. Even the name ¡°Zhang Zian¡± held no meaning for them. But if he had an official position, they might be able to better understand.

    Zhang Zian perked up, thinking that for once in his life he would be able to enjoy the perks of sitting up high in an organization. Was he going to be Director of International Rtions? Even if it was a Director of cats, he could still say ¡°Don¡¯t say that we didn¡¯t warn you¡± righteously then.

    dimir gave it a thought before finally saying, ¡°Zhang Zian, I officially nominate you as the President of the Strategic Fooyou Agency¡±!

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t say anything.

    It exined, ¡°I heard about this position on TV, and it seemed really amazing. I think it really suits you. What do you think?¡±

    Zhang Zian sighed, convincing himself that it was just a name and therefore no big deal.

    ¡°Alright, I agree.¡± He epted begrudgingly.

    dimir hopped off the wall, walking toward him and putting a paw out. It wasn¡¯t clenched into a fist. Instead it was extended out like a human shaking hands.

    Zhang Zian paused before grabbing onto the paw.

    ¡°From now on, we arerades!¡± It looked into his eyes, smiling.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart skipped a beat. ¡°Comrade¡± held a very different meaning for dimir than for Richard. To be called a rade¡± by dimir felt like an exceptional honor.

    Right then, his phone rang.

    He thought it was his employees who messaged him when they came to work only to find the door shut, but a message from ¡°Pet Hunter¡± popped up instead.

    [Navigation Elfin]: Congrattions! The likability of the Warding Off Evil Cat is promoted to the friendly level! Unlocking its real name!

    [Game Tips]: Pet Characteristics

    [Known As]: Warding Off Evil Cat

    [Rarity]: Epic/Legendary

    [Characteristics]: To defeat all that is fake!

    [Unlock Origin]:

    Naturalism is a belief about the natural world and the rtionship between humans and nature. It is one of the basic pirs of philosophy.

    Thousands of years ago, when idealists dominated, the first sprouts of materialism had already begun to show. The natural philosophers of ancient times had keenly observed and understood that nature was alive and had an organic body that was continuously growing and developing.

    As time passed, with the arrival of industrialization, there were many breakthroughs in natural science, and materialism and naturalism became the foundations of natural sciences.

    Coupled with the facts provided by natural sciences and the experiences of their ancestors, philosophers finally broke through the theory of idealism and made their case for naturalism.

    The first wave of modern philosophers, headed by Karl Marx,bined materialism with naturalism and proposed a school of thought called ¡°dialectical materialism.¡± It garnered billions of supporters due to its modernity and quickly swept through the entire globe with a tremendous speed, igniting a revolution of a global scale and deeply and permanently changing politics around the world.

    Believers of dialectical materialism watched the natural world and society with development in mind and had grown up with knowledge of human science. Dialectical materialism was developing as well, continuously absorbing new information and being added to and perfected by people.

    The believers of dialectical materialism wereplete believers of materialism as well, thinking that materials¡¯ interactions determined their consciousness, not the sky or earth, not gods or ghosts. They had overthrown many myths and superstitions.

    Born by the passionate belief of the materialists from the whole world, it had gained the glow of ¡°skepticism¡± and had a 100% chance of dealing a fatal hit to elfins born from imagination, myths, and superstition.

    Gods do not exist!

    Ghosts do not exist!

    Mysteries do not exist!

    Supernaturals do not exist!

    Idealism does not exist!

    Liberator dimir¡¯s true rarity was ¡°Legendary,¡± and it should¡¯ve had powers akin to those of gods. But it would never be one, as after bing a god, it would deny its own existence.

    Therefore, it suppressed its true level through its force of mind.

    [Unlock Read Name]: Dialectical Materialism¡¯s God-ying Cat!

    [Navigation Elfin]: Congrattions! The likability of the Warding Off Evil Cat has been promoted to Trusting, and it will gain the ability to walk freely!

 Chapter 1084: Philosophy

    <h4>Chapter 1084: Philosophy</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Upon seeing dimir¡¯s real name, Zhang Zian felt that it was out of his expectations, but reasonable.

    It was not a cat of a certain person. Since philosophy was different from natural science, Newton¡¯s threews were put forward after Newton¨C¨Cno one could take that away. In other words, natural science could be urately described with mathematicalnguage, but philosophy could not be described with mathematicalnguage. Any amount of philosophy that was first introduced by someone would be perfected and supplemented byter generations.

    Whether it was Newton¡¯s Three Laws or quantum theory, although they were always talked about, there were only a few people who were really qualified to improve and supplement the theories. For philosophy, however... even a university professor dared to randomly whisper their opinions on the matter.

    In that respect, dialectical materialism was no exception. Although Marx first put it forward, the philosophy relying on natural science kept pace with the development of natural science, and was constantly improved upon and supplemented by others.

    So dimir was not a cat that was born of a single person¡¯s ideas, but a cat that was born from the intelligence of a group.

    As for why cats were not other animals... Perhaps it was because those who had made great contributions to philosophy had either raised cats and loved them as much as their own lives, or had said well-known, cat-rted sayings.

    Besides that, there was also a detail that got Zhang Zian¡¯s attention: The game used the word ¡°fanatic¡± to describe the strength of dimir¡¯s faith.

    That was his first time seeing an elfin¡¯s faith described as ¡°fanatic.¡±

    Whether it was Fina, who was ¡°epic/legendary,¡± or Gxy, whose ranking was unknown, the game used the words ¡°extremely big¡± to describe their strength of faith. Of all the many elfins he had collected so far, only dimir was described as ¡°fanatic.¡±

    There were two possibilities: One was that, since dimir was actually a legendary elfin, perhaps all the legendary elfins¡¯ strength of faith was ¡°fanatic.¡± Secondly was... perhaps the strength of faith was not rted to the amount of faith, but instead was rted to the quality.

    There were a lot of people¨C¨Chundreds of millions¨C¨Cwho loved cats... However, how many people were actually willing to die for cats?

    Likewise, there were hundreds of millions of people who were well-known or knew a little about quantum theory, but how many of them were willing to die for quantum theory?

    However, dialectical materialists were willing to shed blood in order to realize their beliefs. That was the difference. That was the difference between ¡°extremely big¡± and ¡°fanatic.¡± It was so big that it was like a natural ravine.

    Zhang Zian could not judge which of the two possibilities was right, but there was no doubt that, although there was only a half a level difference between legendary and epic/legendary, the belief power of that half a level was unimaginable to most elfins.

    That could exin a lot of the questions concerning dimir.

    Why could it choose when it appeared on the game radar? Why could it break the confinement set by the game with its own strength? And why could it defeat the Holy Cat Statue that the other elfins were helpless against...?

    Because it had the power of a legendary elfin, and because of the difference in levels, it was like a university student going to kindergarten to show off.

    Zhang Zian was still staring at his mobile phone in a daze. He heard a voice behind him say, ¡°Are you interested in sex philosophy?¡±

    He had yet to be pulled back to reality, and was immersed in the world of dialectical materialism. He responded casually, ¡°Of course. After all, the Marxist philosophy is apulsory course in universities...¡±

    Before he had finished, he noticed that something was wrong. He looked back quickly and saw Richard turning its little ck eyes and staring at him with malice. ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of horse philosophy?¡± it asked. ¡°Let¡¯s learn from Uncle Ben about sex philosophy!¡±

    Zhang Zian looked around his feet. There seemed to be nothing but mud that could be used as a weapon. He did not want to dirty his hands, so he scolded it, ¡°You¨C¨Cshut your mouth! Don¡¯t you know that Pi¡¯s novel has beenbeled as vulgar? It¡¯s all your fault!¡±

    ¡°Ga ga! How can this be med on me? You were already very vulgar before I came along, all right? Don¡¯t think that I don¡¯t know!¡± Richard said unhappily. ¡°Ai! In this time period, not many people can understand sex philosophy. It¡¯s a tragedy to be a bird that has time traveled!¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to talk to it. It was already toote to go back to sleep before it was time to open the shop. It was estimated that the shop assistants would being to work soon. He was going to be very sleepy that day, so he could only catch up on his sleep at noon.

    ¡°By the way, aren¡¯t you normally still sleeping at this time? What are you doing here?¡± It suddenly urred to him that Richard always stayed in bed until thest elfin got up. Why did he fly down so early?

    ¡°Ga ga! Without you to warm my bed, I kept feeling like I was missing something. I could not sleep well...¡±

    Zhang Zian saw that it was talking bullsh*t, so he red at it. He said, ¡°If you have nothing to do, then hurry and go back upstairs!¡±

    ¡°I came here because I have something to do. Do you not have any bit of gratefulness? It¡¯s like ying the piano to a cow!¡± Richard shook its head in pity. Its dark pupils suddenly stopped moving. ¡°Ga? What did I want to say?¡±

    Zhang Zian was so angry he almost threw his phone at it. ¡°You fooled around for so long that you forgot!¡± He was already extremely angry. Richard never had anything important to say. It was probably a dream about sex philosophy. When it woke up, it wanted to talk about it to someone.

    Richard patted his head with its wings and suddenly said, ¡°That¡¯s right! I remembered! You¡¯d better go back to the store as soon as possible because it¡¯s a mess! They were so noisy that I could not sleep. I had to volunteer toe to you. It turned out that you were saying something about philosophy, so I wanted to tell you... I thought you could carve dead wood!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Zhang Zian thought that he had heard wrong. The shop was a mess? Could it be that some thugs hade to make trouble?

    But that was not right... Old Time Tea was in the shop. No matter how many people came, they were not his opponent!

    Furthermore, he had locked the door when he went out the night before and had not opened the shop door until he went to the green space. What kind of trouble could there have been?

    The most annoying thing was that Richard did not know exactly what happened. Zhang Zian kept asking for more details.

    After being woken up on the second floor, it flew out of the window in confusion, heading to the green space to find Zhang Zian. When it heard the words ¡°sex philosophy,¡± however, it lost its train of thought.

    There was nothing else to do in the green space, so Zhang Zian decided to instantly return to the pet shop to figure out what exactly had ured.

 Chapter 1085: Regain What Was Lost

    <h4>Chapter 1085: Regain What Was Lost</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    dimir dismissed the strays after giving all of them their new missions, and they all returned to their base. The daytime was when the cats rested, after all. The nighttime was their territory.

    Richardnded on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder carelessly and, seeing that he didn¡¯t want to give it attention, babbled on about ¡°sex philosophy.¡±

    After finishing up on the stray cats¡¯ end, dimir followed Zhang Zian back into the pet shop.

    The moment they entered, they saw Fina, Old Time Tea, and Famous all gathered near the door, discussing something solemnly.

    He surveyed the shop and found nothing out of ce. The door was still locked, the metal grill was still down, and there was no sign of an invasion, so he red at Richard for making a mountain out of a molehill.

    ¡°What are you guys doing?¡±

    He walked to the cash register. ¡°We¡¯ve been busy the whole night. Are you guys not tired?¡± he asked, confused. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you guys going to sleep?¡±

    Famous had stayed in the shop without going out yesterday, but Fina and Old Time Tea hadn¡¯t slept the whole night like they did. Fina had always been fond of sleep, and Old Time Tea needed more sleep, considering its age. What could they be discussing instead of going to sleep?

    Fina gave him the side-eye, but Snowy Li interrupted her before she could say anything. ¡°Meow meow meow! Are your stinky men¡¯s eyes for decoration? Don¡¯t you see that we have an extra thing in the shop?¡±

    ¡°Huh? An extra thing?¡±

    Zhang Zian was even more puzzled. If they¡¯d said something was missing, that would have made more sense. It might have been lost, stolen, or forgotten, but why would there be something extra? Could it be that a customer had left something of theirs here yesterday? But would the elfins care about something like that?

    He looked at the register and at the shelves, but he noticed nothing missing and nothing extra.

    ¡°Idiot!¡± Richard pped his wings, pping his head with them. ¡°You¡¯re so tall! Can¡¯t you just bend down and look in the lower ces? Even I can see it, but you haven¡¯t!¡±

    Zhang Zian silently added Richard to the little ck book in his heart before bending down to take a look. The moment he did, he instantly took a few steps back in his shock, stammering, ¡°Wha-What¡¯s going on? Why...it... Why is it back?¡±

    He hadn¡¯t noticed anything that seemed off earlier because he was tall. He saw things from a higher level and didn¡¯t notice what was on the floor.

    Now that he had seen it, his hands were trembling as he gripped the register, so shocked he had run out of words to say.

    The Holy Cat statue that had disappeared into wisps in the green patch earlier was now properly sitting right there. Since it was ck in color, with the lights off and the room shrouded in darkness, Zhang Zian nearly wet his pants the first time he saw it, his heart almost leaping out of his chest.

    The enemy had already infiltrated their base?

    ¡°-dimir! Hurry! Punch it with your Meow Meow Doctrine Punch!¡± He finally got his bearings and started shouting.

    dimir had already seen it and shook its head. ¡°This is a lifeless statue. I¡¯m not going to abuse my paw!¡±

    Richard pped its wings in Zhang Zian¡¯s face again. ¡°You still dare judge me for being jumpy? You¡¯re even jumpier than me, you idiot!¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Zhang Zian gaped and stared at the statue for a few more seconds before realizing that it wasn¡¯t much different from any other object¡ªunmoving, its eyes no longer shining red. It was only then that he finally ced his heart safely back into his chest.

    He turned on the lights, carefully inching closer to take a look.

    There was no mistaking it. This was definitely the Holy Cat statue¡ªthe one that had been raging on earlier in the grass patch, the one that had gone missing from the shop¡ªbut it had lost all signs of life.

    The way it sat and the vibe it gave off were exactly the same as before it had disappeared, exactly the same as when it had still been in the British Museum. It had been ced in the same spot for a long time, the ground right underneath it staying white for that reason. Its position now was exactly on that white spot, as though it had never moved in the first ce.

    But other than its position and aura, its external appearance had a massive change.

    The change that was the most obvious was under its left chin, where it was caved in, destroying its depressing beauty. The caved-in portion had a few gentle waves too, looking like...a cat¡¯s ws, like it had been punched hard by a certain cat.

    It hadn¡¯t crushed the statue, but it had left the deep impression of a fist on a solid block of metal.

    Other than that, it was also covered in scratches and scrapes, as though it had been dragged across a rough floor or cut by a really sharp object. Even one of the tips of its ears was chipped off.

    Also, its disappearing nose ring was gone again, and the Wadjet amulet had shown up on its chest.

    ¡°What¡¯s...going on?¡±

    No one could answer that question.

    Everything seemed like a dream.

    Even Zhang Zian had begun to suspect that this was just a long dream. Maybe in reality, the Holy Cat statue had just been stolen away by someone, but the thief didn¡¯t know the value of the statue and had thrown it away like trash. They¡¯d finally picked it back up after great effort, and it no longer had its shine.

    Even though this exnation made sense, it clearly wasn¡¯t real.

    If this was real, then all of their efforts before this would¡¯ve been for nothing.

    The simpler exnation would be that the heavily injured Holy Cat statue had lost its right to be an elfin and had been sent back to its rightful owner by the game.

    ¡°When... When did it appear?¡± he asked the elfins on site.

    ¡°Since Her Highness was waiting for Snowy Li, I stepped into the house before she did, through the second floor window,¡± Old Time Tea exined. ¡°I felt a little fatigued, and I was nning to sleep after reading the morning news. When I came to the first floor, I felt that something was off. Her Highness came back at the same time and felt the same way that I did, so we searched around the room together. Not too longter, we found this Holy Cat statue.¡±

    After hearing that, Zhang Zian didn¡¯tment, instead looking over at Famous. It had been in the shop the whole night, after all, and if anything was off, it should have been the first to know.

    Famous lowered its head. ¡°I¡¯m ashamed to say that before Old Time Tea and Fina returned from the second floor window, I was already napping in the reclining chair on the first floor. I didn¡¯t hear anything weird from start to finish. I thought they were insane when they started their search. Who knew...¡±

    It was apologetic because something so weird had happened in the shop, and it had known nothing.

    Zhang Zian saw how guilty it felt, so he pacified it. ¡°This wasn¡¯t your fault. The Holy Cat statue isn¡¯t just any other statue, so it¡¯s fine that you didn¡¯t notice it.¡±

    As for the two elfins on the second floor, Pi and Sihwa, he didn¡¯t even bother asking. Even if he did, they would both bepletely lost and might even get scared.

    But the issue now was... What should they do with this reappearing statue?

 Chapter 1086: Fail to Come to an Agreement

    <h4>Chapter 1086: Fail to Come to an Agreement</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As to how to deal with the statue, the elfins disagreed. While Zhang Zian was gone, they were arguing about it, which woke Richard up.

    Famous said, ¡°I roughly understand the situation. My opinion is, since this is an unlucky object, we might as well figure out a way to take it apart. We could cut it into eight pieces... That, or we could just throw it into the furnace and melt it, like in Terminator 2. I don¡¯t see how it could still make trouble after that.¡±

    dimir agreed with its opinion. ¡°I said it before¨C¨Cif I could draw my sword overtop heaven, I¡¯d cleave it in three! One piece for Europe, one for America, and one to keep in the east!¡±

    Old Time Tea was very serious. It said, ¡°Zian, from what I know, this is not the only statue that exists, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, this statue is only a duplicate. Although it is modeled with modern technology after the original, it is a duplicate. The original is located in the British Museum. I do not know how many of these kinds of perfect duplicates exist, and I do not know where they are all at,¡± Zhang Zian answered.

    ¡°That¡¯s it. It¡¯s easy to destroy this statue, but after destroying it, how do you know that other statues won¡¯t return its soul from the dead using their body?¡± Old Time Tea stated. ¡°The other statues are not under our control. If one of them resurrects, I¡¯m afraid that by the time our generation perceives it, it will be too big to kill off...¡±

    Old Time Tea¡¯s fears were justified. Other replicas were scattered all over the world. If they destroyed the statue, then the evil it represented may be quietly transferred to other statues... Once it seeded in bing a genuine elfin, things would be very troublesome.

    ¡°From my viewpoint, it is better to keep this statue. Although it has lost its breath of life on the surface, I have an intuition that evil still remains in it.¡± Old Time Tea pointed to the Holy Cat Statue and said, ¡°Keep it here and watch it closely, so we are able to keep an eye on it. Once it shows signs of recovery, we can make a move to deal with it in advance.¡±

    Old Time Tea¡¯s suggestion was logical, factual, and got the agreement of everyone.

    Not only Old Time Tea, but Fina and dimir also vaguely felt that the evil did not leave the statuepletely, but remained in its depths. Instead of destroying the statue and causing it to escape and transfer, they might as well watch over it. With the elfins sitting watch, the first signs of revival could be easily detected.

    The curse that the Holy Cat Statue gave before it died was chilling. Although neither Zhang Zian nor dimir believed in the superstition of the curse, there was a knot in their hearts.

    ¡°I have a suggestion.¡± Fina, who had been quiet all along, suddenly opened its mouth.

    Out of the elfins present, no one was more familiar with the Holy Cat Statue than Fina. After all, 2,000 years ago, they had fought multiple times. Fina¡¯s opinion was very valued.

    ¡°What suggestion?¡± Zhang Zian asked. The other elfins listened attentively.

    ¡°I think that Old Time Tea¡¯s words have logic. This statue is really not easy to destroy. We should prevent the evil from transferring to other statues,¡± Fina said slowly.

    Zhang Zian was stunned. He thought that it was about to express a different opinion... Could it be that it agreed with Old Time Tea?

    Fiona¡¯s tone changed, and it unexpectedly asked, ¡°It¡¯s feasible for us to monitor it, however... can we really monitor it for a lifetime?¡±

    Zhang Zian and the other elfins were speechless. Fina had brought up a vital point.

    The Holy Cat Statue, the annoying bronze lump, could wait. It had time. It could lie dormant for ten years... It could lie dormant for a hundred years, or even for thousands of years. Its greatest advantage was waiting.

    How long could Zhang Zian and the elfins stay alive for? How long could they watch it for?

    Perhaps, at that time, the evil ill in the cat god statue was still wantonlyughing at Zhang Zian and the elfins. They could win for a short while, but not for a lifetime!

    Of course, the elfins could say, ¡°Do whatever you want. After I die, I don¡¯t care about anything!¡± But they did not have those kinds of personalities. Neither their glory nor their beliefs allowed their former defeated rivals tough in the end.

    dimir struck the ground heavily with its ws and sighed with emotion. It said, ¡°Who is the guardian of the statue? Not yet done, body tired, temples autumn! Our generation, long-cherished wishes, pay to the east!¡±

    Zhang Zian did not know about the Holy Cat Statue, but he knew about Fina¡¯s character. Since it raised that question, it was because there were corresponding countermeasures.

    ¡°Then do you have any good ideas?¡± he asked.

    Fina nodded hesitantly. It stared at the Holy Cat Statue and said, ¡°There is one way, but I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯ll work...¡±

    ¡°Oh? Say it anyway. Everyone can judge whether or not it¡¯ll work. Perhaps we can change it from an impossible method to something that can work,¡± Zhang Zian urged.

    The other elfins also regained their confidence. Even Richard, who liked to make jokes at critical moments, did not mess around.

    Fina¡¯s expression darkened. ¡°As far as my pce knows... From the beginning of the copse of the kingdom of God till now, there has not been a cat abuse incident on a scale simr to this except in medieval Europe. Why do you think that is?¡±

    The cat abuse movement in the Middle Ages was initiated by the Catholic Church, because the Catholic Church connected cats with devils and witchcraft.

    Pope Gregory IX issued the famous oracle, The Voice of Rome, and in that oracle, he severely condemned a group of evil worshippers living in Germany and described in detail what they had done.

    It was said that the worshippers had made a statue of a big ck cat. Through a series of evil rituals, the statue of the big ck cat had been revived. The worshipers crawled on the ground, kissed its butt, and showed their loyalty to it.

    The Church was deeply shocked and, of course, could not stand for it. Out of fear of evil heresy, the Church resolutely issued an order for the ughtering of cats andunched a cat massacre, which reduced the number of cats in Europe to the point of near extinction¨C¨Cespecially ck cats, which were wiped out entirely.

    The cat god statue in the shop was dark and almostpletely faded into the darkness. Only when strong light shined on it did the surface of the cat turn dark green, which was caused by it being buried in the damp ground for a long time.

    But if it had been dug out a thousand years prior, or had been buried in a dry ce, perhaps it would have been pure ck, and only a little green.

    It was unconvincing to say that the statue of the big ck cat, which caused panic in the church in the Middle Ages, had nothing to do with the Holy Cat Statue. Most likely, the Europeans dug up a simr cat god statue and then returned to Europe, which eventually led to a catastrophic disaster in Germany.

 Chapter 1087: Additional Mission

    <h4>Chapter 1087: Additional Mission</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    To predict what would happen today, one only needed to look into history.

    If one carefullypared the cat torture incident this time with the cat torture incident in the middle centuries, it would be easy to find some simrities between the two.

    The statue in their shop was modeled after the original one in the British Museum, but was there only one original statue? There was only one such statue, and the humans were so lucky as to dig it up? Would anyone believe these kinds of odds?

    The more logical exnation was that there was actually more than one of these Holy Cat statues, and that a thousand years ago, Europeans had dug one up. They had then dug up another at the beginning of the 20th century and ced it in the British Museum.

    ording to the olden text The Voices of Rome, the first Holy Cat statue was a little luckier. It didn¡¯t meet dimir and sessfully gained life from being just a lifeless statue. The only things that were unclear were how much it had gained and whether it hadpletely broken free of its copper body.

    The church had definitely never seen something that paranormal and nearly sh*t their pants. This led them to implement a solution that was way too extreme¡ªthey wanted to exterminate all of the cats in Europe, not knowing that was exactly what the Holy Cat statue wanted.

    The tragedy wasn¡¯t only happening to cats.

    Due to the extensive influence of the church and the amazing prowess of their executive abilities, they nearpletely extinguished all cats from Europe. But due to that, there were not enough cats around to hunt rats, and with how unhygienic they were, rats soon overran the streets. The fleas on the rats ended up spreading the ck Death, and the Europeans had to suffer a great consequence.

    Millions of lives were lost, and the world became a living hell then. The ck Death killed almost half of Europe¡¯s poption and changed Europe¡¯s history. It inevitably weakened the church¡¯s influence on Europe too. Who knew what would have be of Europe if this hadn¡¯t happened?

    This war had caused casualties in both the church and cats, and the rats and fleas ended up as the winners instead.

    But the thing that Zhang Zian was more interested in knowing was how they had dealt with the living statue. Even without dimir and its Iron Meow Meow Doctrine Fist, the Holy Cat statue was still eliminated in the end. But by whom?

    That was surely a question to ponder.

    The church had had great power back then, definitely on par with the royal family. The church must have had their own share of talented and strong individuals, one of whom might have been an expert in killing demons. Maybe it was these Christians who had destroyed the German extremists, ending the previous Holy Cat statue¡¯s life and ruining the statue.

    They thought that everything would be fine after they destroyed it and that there would no longer be problems. They would have never thought that thousands of yearster, a simr thing would happen yet again.

    When Fina brought this up, it clearly wasn¡¯t to help Zhang Zian revise his history knowledge.

    The simrity between the two was that humans were the ones that dug up the Holy Cat Statue.

    After Zhang Zian gave it a thought, he understood but wanted to rify. ¡°You mean...¡±

    ¡°Some things should just remain buried forever,¡± Fina dered.

    Zhang Zian asked, ¡°You¡¯re saying we should dig a hole and bury it, not allowing it toe into contact with any humans? Bury it where? How deep? Is it okay if it¡¯s the grass patch?¡±

    Fina nodded its head before shaking it. ¡°We should bury it. But we can¡¯t just do it anywhere.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought so too. It would be dangerous to bury it anywhere in the city. Someone might just dig it up again one day if they needed to build something or repair the subway lines... Even if they wanted to bury it, they had to find somewhere with few people.

    ¡°Then where would be suitable?¡± he asked, running through all the possible ces nearby that people didn¡¯t go to and that wouldn¡¯t be moved for a long time.

    ¡°Not anywheremon. We can only bury it in a ce where many gods are protecting it,¡± Fina ordered.

    ¡°A ce where many gods are protecting it?¡±

    The moment he heard that, he knew this wouldn¡¯t be simple.

    ¡°Yes. Right in the middle of the pyramids. Let the gods of Egypt look over it.¡± Fina¡¯s words nearly made his jaw drop.

    Zhang Zian deadpanned, ¡°I¡¯m not hearing wrongly, right? You¡¯re saying that I should bring the Holy Cat statue to Egypt and bury it in the pyramids? The great pyramids in Egypt? Not the one in the Louvre Museum? Well, even if it¡¯s the Louvre Museum, it¡¯ll be difficult.¡±

    Fina nodded. ¡°Not just the big pyramids¡ªany another one should work.¡±

    Zhang Zian had no idea anymore. This mission was really too difficult. Even though Egypt had discovered more than 110 pyramids, all of them were protected. It would be insanely difficult to smuggle the Holy Cat statue in and leave it there permanently.

    ¡°What are your opinions?¡± he asked the other elfins.

    Old Time Tea hummed, ¡°I feel that even though it¡¯s difficult, it¡¯s worth giving it a try. Even if it doesn¡¯t work, we¡¯re not losing anything. We just brought a few extra things on the way to Egypt.¡±

    Zhang Zian groaned. This wasn¡¯t as simple as bringing a few extra things. Such a heavy piece of statue would definitely be expensive to ship by ne! Plus, Professor Wei Kang¡¯s exploration team probably wouldn¡¯t cover these expenses under their budget...

    dimir didn¡¯t care for these gods whatsoever and didn¡¯t think those gods could protect it, but it didn¡¯t want to waste its time protecting the statue in the shop. It had so many more important things to do.

    So it curled its front paw tightly into a fist. ¡°We should eliminate our escaping enemies and not let them off easily!¡± it dered. ¡°If you all think it¡¯s alright, then I do too. Majority rules, after all! As long as we eliminate all of the evils and never let them harm the world ever again!¡±

    Famous agreed to the n too, since this was the only way left. It would be a lot better to bring the evil statue to Egypt than to leave it by their side. If it really didn¡¯t work, they could just bring it back.

    As for the other elfins, there was really no point in asking them.

    ¡°Oh, right. What do you mean, ¡®On the way to Egypt?¡¯ You¡¯re going to Egypt?¡± dimir asked Old Time Tea, curious.

    Zhang Zian replied for Old Time Tea. ¡°Yup, we¡¯d been too busy previously, and it wasn¡¯t time to leave yet, so we hadn¡¯t had the opportunity to tell you. We¡¯re going to Egypt with a team of scientists. It was supposed to be an easy and fun trip, but now we have a mission to aplish. dimir, do you want toe with us?¡±

    If Wei Kang heard something like this, he might just vomit blood.

    ¡°Egypt...¡± dimir hummed, thinking.

    Zhang Zian gave it ample time to think about it, not rushing it into anything.

    Quickly, it raised one front paw, waving it about determinedly and eximing passionately, ¡°Of course I¡¯m going! Even though the strays in Binhai City already have great lives, two-thirds of cats in the world are still suffering, waiting for us to liberate them! Asia, Africa, Europe, America, Japan! We¡¯ll erect our g all over the world!¡±

 Chapter 1088: Language Foundation

    <h4>Chapter 1088: Language Foundation</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian and the elfins agreed to take the statue to Egypt, in hopes that they could seal it in a pyramid with the power of the ancient Egyptian gods.

    It was not difficult to find a pyramid in Egypt; it was, however, difficult to leave the statue in the pyramid without it being swept out as garbage by the pyramid managers.

    ¡°Ga ga! When people go on holiday, the most they do is leave writing that says ¡®XX was here.¡¯ You idiot want to leave a whole bunch of rubbish? If people caught you on the spot, wouldn¡¯t you embarrass the people of China?¡± Richard called out as it pped its wings.

    Zhang Zian wanted to punch it, but if he thought about it carefully, that was actually a real problem. If the manager stopped him on the spot, he could not embarrass his mothend, right?

    He brainstormed and said, ¡°Richard, here¡¯s your chance to show off. I¡¯m going to study Japanese hard for a short time before I leave! Fortunately, I¡¯m already familiar with Japanese, so I should learn it very fast!¡±

    Richard paused. ¡°...Did you learn Japanese from movies? Your idiot brain is moving fast!¡±

    Zhang Zian was full of confidence. ¡°If someone found out, I would first say ¡®ya bai,¡¯ then say ¡®guo mie¡¯ in a very shameful manner, and then ¡®ha ci ka xi.¡¯ If the other party wanted to grab me, I would shout ¡®yi tai,¡¯ then ¡®ao nei gai,¡¯ and ¡®ha na xi tie.¡¯ If the other party did not let me go, I would have to shout ¡®suo kuo, da mie...''¡±

    The other elfins listened with nk faces. Only Richard said, very shocked, ¡°There¡¯s nothing I can teach you about Japanese...¡±

    Zhang Zian was delighted to hear that. He felt that learning thenguage by means of teaching and enjoying was a double sess. Before he had the chance to boast about it, his mobile phone suddenly sounded a new message.

    He took a look. It was a message from Wang Qian.

    Wang Qian: ¡°Master, about that... We¡¯re at the shop. How much longer do you need?¡±

    Zhang Zian paused.

    Following that, Li Kun also sent a message. ¡°Master, you don¡¯t need to rush. We can wait longer.¡±

    To prove his innocence, Zhang Zian used the fastest speed to pull up the shutter door. The cool, morning breeze floated in from outside the shop.

    The shop employees were all waiting outside. Wang Qian and Li Kun had arrived at work first and were acting very strange. They all put their ears on the shutter door and looked at each other mysteriously. They did not know what they were eavesdropping on... It was as if they had discovered some terrible secret.

    The door to the shop was normally open by the time the employees arrived. That day he did not open it, however. Li Yiyun and Jiang Feifei thought that Zhang Zian was suddenly ill and wanted to call to ask him about it, but Wang Qian and Li Kun stopped them and said that they could not disturb Zhang Zian.

    Their words were confusing and their exnations were full of loopholes. The two girls didn¡¯t believe them at all. They had to make a phone call or at least send a message to ask. Wang Qian and Li Kun couldn¡¯t help but send two meaningful messages to him...

    Zhang Zian knew that they had misunderstood, but could not exin it in front of two girls. Even if he did exin, the two would not believe it, and he would definitely make the situation worse.

    While Zhang Zian and the elfins were discussing things, the shop employees had arrived for work. He was too absorbed with practicing his Japenese, however, and did not notice that it was time to open.

    The pet shop had ss doors in addition to the shutter doors, so unless the people inside spoke loudly, they could hardly be heard outside.

    Act smart and you¡¯ll be struck by lightning! he thought.

    Lu Yiyuan and Jiang Feifei had been stopped a bit further away by Li Kun, and he tried to think of ways to exin to them that he could not let them go near the door yet. As the shutter door suddenly rose, Wang Qian, with an embarrassed face, moved his ears away from the door and said with a grin, ¡°Master, you... finished so soon?¡±

    He and Li Kun looked at Zhang Zian with strange eyes. They then looked at his trousers... There was an inexplicable amount of pity in their eyes.

    Even though Zhang Zian was thick-skinned, at that moment, he could not help but sweat. He was unsure of how to exin himself.

    ¡°The f*ck do you mean? I¡¯m not that fast!¡± It was important to rify the misunderstanding, but it was even more important to rify that aspect of things. After all, it was about the dignity of men.

    ¡°Don¡¯t randomly think things. I was practicing Japanese just now. Didn¡¯t you hear the teacher say when you were in high school that it¡¯s most efficient to recite words in the morning?¡± he exined. Technically, he didn¡¯t lie.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun made an expression as if they hade to a realization, but their acting skills were not good enough. They were very clearly faking it.

    ¡°Master, you must take care of your health! It¡¯s bad to hold it in!¡± Wang Qian had a hidden meaning behind his words, but his eyes were clear. ¡°Master, don¡¯t exin! We¡¯re all men. What can be exined? An exnation is just a disguise!¡±

    Li Kun sighed. ¡°Speaking of, I have used that excuse before as well... If I¡¯m being honest, it¡¯s not a very good one...¡±

    Li Yiyun and Jiang Feifei walked over. They had sunscreen applied to their faces, for the weather in Binhai City had gotten increasingly warmer.

    Lu Yiyun often drew things that happened in real life and had a keen sense of observation. She found that Zhang Zian¡¯s clothes were quite neat¨C¨Ca bit too neat¨C¨Cwhile he had grass leaves and mud on his shoes. He looked like he had juste in from outside, and had walked on a muddy road. In addition, he looked tired and seemed to have not slept well the night before.

    ¡°Mr. Shopkeeper...¡± She wanted to ask Zhang Zian if he was sick, or if something was wrong. They would be happy to lend a hand if he needed help. Nevertheless, just as she began to speak, Jasmine poked its head out of her backpack. It reached over Lu Yiyun¡¯s shoulder, noticed the Holy Cat Statue, and meowed.

    As it meowed, Lu Yiyun also noticed that the Holy Cat Statue was back. She could not help but cover her mouth. She said in a soft voice, ¡°The Holy Cat Statue... When did ite back?¡±

    No one knew better than her. After all, she sat at the cash register every day. When the clerks left work the night before, the opposite side of the cash register was clear and empty. Now the Holy Cat Statue was sitting there again. That obviously meant that something had happened the night before.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun also saw the Holy Cat Statue and were shocked.

    ¡°Master, this... Is this the original statue, or did you buy another one? If it¡¯s a new one, it¡¯s good craftsmanship!¡± They pointed to it and stuttered.

    ¡°Am I so cheap that I need to make a statue look old after I buy it?¡± Zhang Zian knew that they were being dumb again, and so he insulted them before he gave them a serious answer. ¡°That¡¯s the original one. I found it.¡±

 Chapter 1089: Promotion

    <h4>Chapter 1089: Promotion</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Other than Jiang Feifei, who had joined the shop a littleter and had never seen the Holy Cat statue herself but had merely heard about the loss of it from the others, the rest of them were old employees and had personally witnessed the Holy Cat statue¡¯s journey¡ªfrom being presented to them as a gift from Snowy to its mysterious disappearance.

    Previously, they had never thought much of the Holy Cat statue. They guessed that it was just another weird thing that Zhang Zian did. Other shops disyed a copper cow statue to bring in good luck, but Zhang Zian disyed a copper cat.

    After the Holy Cat statue disappeared, Zhang Zian had put out a great reward, saying that anyone who gave him useful information would be able to get a free pet from the shop. That was when they had realized that this Holy Cat statue might be different, but they couldn¡¯t figure out how.

    The Holy Cat statue had also disappeared in a bizarre manner. There were no signs of breaking and entering at all, and there were people guarding this ce all day and night, but it had disappeared just like that. With how much Zhang Zian had valued it, it was even stranger that he hadn¡¯t called the police. All of this had given them suspicions about the statue.

    Now that the statue that had been missing for months had returned to them looking so different from the previous one, tattered and ruined, they weren¡¯t even sure if it was the same statue at all.

    Wang Qian saw the dip on the statue¡¯s lower jaw and put out his own fist topare them. ¡°Why does this look like someone punched it?¡± he muttered, puzzled. ¡°But it¡¯s way too small. Even a child¡¯s fist is bigger than this...¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid,¡± Li Kun retorted. ¡°How can there be anyone who can cave a statue in like this with just a punch? Even Tarzan couldn¡¯t do it! I think it was just made when the copper was poured into the mold!¡±

    Lu Yiyun and Jiang Feifei both observed the lost and found statue closely, their shock evident on their faces as they asked the same questions as Wang Qian and Li Kun.

    ¡°Mr. Shopkeeper, how did you find this statue again?¡± she asked.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t tell them the truth. He could only lie. ¡°About that... After you guys left the shop after closing, someone added me on WeChat and sent me a message saying that they found a simr statue in the grass patch,¡± he said. ¡°They asked me to go over to take a look. There were many people who said something simr, since they were all trying to get the attractive rewards, but I thought since it was close, it wouldn¡¯t do any harm to just walk over and take a look. So I went over. It really was the statue that we had lost. I had wanted to wait for you guys toe to work so we could bring the statue back together, but I was worried that I would lose it again during the night, so I brought it back myself. Now my back and thighs are sore from torturing myself the whole night.¡±

    The four employees didn¡¯t quite believe him, and Wang Qian couldn¡¯t help himself. ¡°Teacher, I believe you when you say that your back and thighs are sore after torturing yourself the whole night.¡±

    Zhang Zian red at him. ¡°Would it kill you to not talk?¡±

    ¡°Who was that person? When are theying to pick up their reward?¡± Lu Yiyun asked. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I wouldn¡¯t recognize the person if they came over to pick up their reward when you weren¡¯t here.¡±

    Of course, this person didn¡¯t exist, and Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to actually give someone the reward, so he just brushed it off. ¡°That person said there was no need. He doesn¡¯t like pets, and he doesn¡¯t want to have one. He only heard about it through the grapevine and saw something simr to the statue. Since he had nothing to do anyway, he informed me... After I found the statue, I sent him a red envelope as thanks.¡±

    This answer didn¡¯tpletely remove all of their doubts, but it was at least logical. Some people really didn¡¯t like pets or couldn¡¯t have pets due to their physical situation. To them, a free pet wouldn¡¯t be as attractive as a red envelope.

    dimir nodded its head. He really did fit well into the role of President of the ¡°Strategic Fooyou Agency.¡± Not just anyone had the ability to lie with a straight face.

    ¡°Gah gah! I heard earlier that an idiot like you was actually promoted!¡±

    Richard jumped onto Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder, gawking away.

    Zhang Zian wanted to grab onto its beak and make it shut up, but it slipped through his grasp.

    ¡°Promoted? Were you promoted into the City Political Consultative Conference National Committee?¡± Jiang Feifei really thought that Zhang Zian had seeded in life.

    ¡°Gah gah! That¡¯s not it! He was just promoted to the position of President of the ¡®Strategic Fooyou Agency,¡¯ so you can call him Mr. President!¡± Richard flew to a high spot, cheekily telling everyone the news.

    ¡°No, no!¡± Wang Qian waved his hand. ¡°There¡¯s only one President Zhang in the world, one who has done amazing and unquantifiable things for our country¡¯s defense!¡±

    ¡°Then you can call him Mr. P*ss-ident!¡± Richard sang. ¡°Stopping the car in the middle of the night, your butt redder than the flowers of February!¡±

    Zhang Zian had already started to look for the feather duster to give Richard the beating it deserved.

    Richard had had a great night of sleepst night, and Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t slept a single wink. Their energy levels were as different as night and day. Zhang Zian soon gave up after only a few swats, letting it off easy.

    The employees could all easily see how tired Zhang Zian was. They stopped asking him more about the Holy Cat statue and let him head upstairs to rest. They would be taking care of whatever happened in the shop and promised to only call him if there was something that they couldn¡¯t handle.

    Zhang Zian really needed the sleep. He could barely keep his eyes open, so he didn¡¯t reject their offer.

    Fina, Snowy Li, and Old Time Tea had allid down in their usual ces to catch up on sleep.

    Back on the second floor, Zhang Zian saw that Gxy was asleep too. That was weird. He hadn¡¯t called Gxy to follow themst night. Could it be that their conversation downstairs had woken it up?

    He made his footsteps lighter and took off his jacket by his bedside.

    He would¡¯ve loved to fall asleep just like that until lunchtime, but seeing that Pi had already woken up and was spacing out in front of theputer, so out of it that it hadn¡¯t even noticed him walk in, Zhang Zian got up again to stand by the study table. He asked softly, ¡°Pi...has there been any news?¡±

    On the screen was a nk document, filled with only the chapter number and no words.

    Pi whipped its head back, shaking its head and panicking. It ced its hand on the keyboard, trying its best to pretend to type, but it wrote and deleted, deleted and wrote, only to leave ¡°Morning, Zhang Zian¡± on the screen.

    Something was weighing heavily on its mind, and it couldn¡¯t focus on the words at all. With its heart so full of worry, it couldn¡¯t calm down to think about the plot.

    Seeing how hard it was trying to pretend to be okay, Zhang Zian knew to not ask more. This level of politics had already gotten out of hand for a small civilian like him. Other than sitting and waiting, there was no better way.

    dimir came to the second floor too, yawning.

    Suddenly, it seemed to hear something and forced itself to jump onto the window so it could watch the outdoors.

    The temperature was nice, and a light breeze blew through thend. The second floor window had been open from day to night to facilitate the movement of air.

    A graceful white cat sat on the wall opposite their street, waving its paw at dimir at the sight of it, meaning that it had new information to report.

 Chapter 1090: Wait Under The Tree, Hoping That a Hare Will Kill Itself by Crashing into a Tree Trunk

    <h4>Chapter 1090: Wait Under The Tree, Hoping That a Hare Will Kill Itself by Crashing into a Tree Trunk</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    dimir also stayed up all day and night. It was very sleepy and wanted to catch up on sleep. But Little White, the Third Commander of the Meow Army, came to see him personally. There must have been something important to discuss or some important information to report to it.

    It saw Zhang Zian stillforting Pi at his desk, so it did not say hello. It jumped out of the second-floor window and shocked a customer who was just about to enter.

    It took advantage of the fact that there were no cars to the left and right, hurriedly ran across the road, and jumped onto the wall.

    The short-haired white cat raised one of its front paws to sign and was interrupted by it. ¡°No, it is convenient forrades who do not know each other to meet and confirm their identities. There is no need to sign between meows. It saves some red tape and spends time on better work.¡±

    Little White nodded and looked at the pet shop opposite the street, and its face had some fear.

    dimir knew it was scared of Fina, and so turned to bring it further away, and made a turn, until they could no longer see the pet shop, that Little White rxed.

    ¡°Do you have something important to find me for?¡± dimir stopped to ask.

    In order to fully mobilize the subjective initiative of stray cats and improve their ability to find and solve problems, it encourages them to arrange their own work as far as possible. Only really difficult things wille to them. Otherwise, there were so many stray cats that they would have to take care of everything and die of fatigue.

    Little White made a few actions with its paws, to describe a tall and thin man with a long beard, and it just looked like a random waving of paws to outsiders.

    ¡°What is it? Did you find the reactionary?¡± dimir understood what it was saying, and asked, half believing half in disbelief.

    Little White was hesitating and did not continue to use its paw to give a sign, and from its look, it was not sure.

    Before dimir spected that Zhu Jisheng, who published ¡°Ten Batches of Network Literature¡± in the newspaper, should be in a luxury residence in a first-tier city in China, so he actively urged Meow Branch members of the first-tier city to search, especially the capital branch. It believed that Zhu Jisheng was most likely to live in the capital. After all, he had lived at the Weiming Lake College before. After many years as Dean of the Academy of Literature, the capital had be his second home.

    Of course, this kind of person who had a reputation and power could be living in some popr tourist spot or even in another country.

    There was no way to reach out of the country currently, the power of the Meow Meow Branch Organization had yet to reach outside the country, but soon, the g of the Meow Meow Doctrine would be ced throughout the world, starting from Egypt.

    Zhang Zian had searched on the web before, but to his and its surprise, this person seemed to be extremely low-key, or very concerned about protecting personal privacy, almost never appear in private, no ce to live at all, which made them extremely difficult to find, like finding a needle in a haystack.

    dimir was confident in the ability of stray cats to investigate, but also expected to face difficulties, so he did not go with Zhang Zian for this matter, but arranged for the stray cats to search privately, and be mentally prepared for the long-term war.

    However, just a few dayster, Little White said that it might have found the target, which made dimir confused because if it could find the target in such a short time, it could only mean that the target was nearby.

    There was another possibility, which was that the stray cat had found the wrong person. There was a high probability that was what had happened, because they had no pictures and could only find it based on its description.

    ¡°Where is the target?¡± it asked. If the distance Little White gave was quite far, it could only tell Zhang Zian the situation, then have him drive them over in the car.

    Little White raised a paw and pointed in a certain direction, but the distance was hard to clearly describe. dimir could only tell that it was in the city.

    ¡°It is actually in Binhai City?¡± dimir felt that that was too coincidental. Based on probability, the stray cats finding the correct target was a very low possibility.

    It really wanted to go back to sleep, but still waved a front w. ¡°Let¡¯s go, bring me to take a look.¡±

    Little White instantly turned its body around to lead the way, and dimir followed behind.

    They walked in a straight line. In addition to a few steps around tall buildings, they climbed on the walls and flipped over the houses. It was the same distance, but they saved a lot of timepared to humans.

    On the way, they met a lot of stray cats. Most of them had been incorporated into the organization. They were very alert to foreign cats and strangers but had no intention of attacking them actively. When they confirmed their identity with the code, the other side showed a very friendly attitude.

    A small number of stray cats may have recently started to roam, or foreign stray cats, had not yet joined the organization, still in the state of stray warriors, but they believed that they would soon join therge family of non-propertied cats.

    Little White was running in front and stopped suddenly. dimir, who was napping while running, almost hit it and knocked it off the wall. It rolled sideways and stood up gray-faced.

    ¡°What is it?¡± dimir was unbothered and just wiped its face.

    Little White raised its front paw and pointed in front.

    ¡°We¡¯re here? That was quite fast.¡± dimir looked back and they had not been able to see the pet shop for a long time already.

    This was a fairlymon alley in Binhai City. There were not many pedestrians, the road looked clean and tidy, and the environment was quiet.

    In front of them was an antique two-story building, simr to the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, but the decoration was more exquisite and elegant.

    Like ordinary cats, dimir shrunk his pupils in the sun to reduce light intake, avoid the damage to the retina caused by too much sunlight, and carefully look at the store¡¯s signboard¡ªBack to the Old Days?

    The name of this shop had more artistic conception and connotation than most of the shops. It seemed as if you could see an object changing from new to old, losing its owner¡¯s favor, being thrown into the corner full of dust, and finally picked up by a pair of talent scout¡¯s hands in the sunset, gently wiping away the dust, and rediscovering its value.

    Literary aplishment, especially the ordinary people with insufficient ancient literary aplishment, would find it difficult toe up with such an extraordinary name.

    dimir didn¡¯t have much hope for this trip, but when he saw the name of the store, he thought of Zhu Jisheng¡¯s status as a master of Chinese culture. He believed it a little more and was no longer as sleepy as before.

    It was just that he did not know what kind of shop this was.

    The shop was wide and spacious, and it was a bit dark inside. There were a few pedestrians that hurried past the shop and did not stop to enter the shop.

    dimir always despised the enemy strategically, attached importance to the enemy tactically, and in the face of unknown circumstances, he did not choose to rush forward. Instead, it gestured to Little White and had Little White stand by the same spot while it ran around the shop.

    What made it a bit disappointed was that the shop did not have a back door, and the windows were closed. It was not able to quietly sneak in, and could only wait under the tree, hoping that a hare would kill itself by crashing into a tree trunk.

 Chapter 1091: Deja Vu

    <h4>Chapter 1091: Deja Vu</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The weather was good, and the sun was shining warmly, coaxing sleep into people¡¯s minds.

    dimir and Whiteyy down on the wall inconspicuously. Even if people did notice their presence, they would only think of them as sunbathing cats.

    Whitey could see that dimir wasn¡¯t very alert and signed to it, telling it that it should call other strays toe take over the surveince of this area so that dimir could go back to sleep.

    dimir shook its head. ¡°I¡¯ve alreadye all the way here, so it would be a waste to go back with nothing to show for it,¡± it said. ¡°Besides, the other cats are tired too. Everyone¡¯s equal in the liberation. I can¡¯t give myself special privileges either. They should rest well. If you¡¯re tired, you can go back to rest too.¡±

    Whitey showed that it wasn¡¯t tired and was willing to stay.

    dimir hadn¡¯t seen it with its own eyes and had only heard in passing that when Zhang Zian first took over the pet shop, his business was so bad that not even a handful of people had stepped into his store at the start. Making sales had been impossible.

    But in the half-hour that it had been here observing, this shop named ¡°Back to the Old Days¡± had been horrifyingly quiet. Not a single customer had stepped in, not even out of curiosity.

    Its patience was running out. Wasting time was the same as frittering away one¡¯s life, and it decided not to just lie passively in wait and instead try to make something happen.

    Just as it was making ns, its ear twitched, picking up the crisp cking of high heels. It was still far away, and humans might not have been able to hear it clearly, but cats had far superior hearing.

    It turned to look and spotted two young women making their way down the alley.

    Just like most fashionable young women, their hands were filled with bags, some of them from brand-name shops. They looked like they had just finished a shopping trip, and were seemingly unsatisfied even though they could hardly have carried more bags.

    The most important thing, though, was that dimir had seen one of them before, just in the area that Zhang Zian had brought it. The woman just screamed petite bourgeoisie. Her name, if it recalled correctly, was something like...Zhao Qi?

    As for thedy next to her, she seemed pretty close to Zhao Qi, most likely her friend.

    They were chatting away as though there was no one around them, discussing the happenings of their shopping trip today¡ªwhere they¡¯d gotten a great deal on a pair of shoes, which shop had a new dress that was way too expensive, one they could only buy next month, since the weather hadn¡¯t really turned warm anyway.

    The alley was pretty peaceful, but their presence had ruined it.

    Their topics changed by the second. They chatted about clothing essories, about hair salons, about restaurants, their topics seemingly never-ending as they neared.

    dimir usually didn¡¯t like these petite bourgeoisiedies. There was not a single bone of humility or work ethic in them. But they were here at the right time, so it could try getting them to enter the shop.

    It got Whitey to stay in ce, waiting for Zhao Qi to walk closer before suddenly jumping off the wall and dashing in front of Zhao Qi.

    Ever since Shi Shi had gotten into a rtionship, Zhao Qi hadn¡¯t gone out shopping with her for a long time. She¡¯d definitely teased her a lot about prioritizing her partner over her friend, and with such a rare asion to be able to relive the good old days, they definitely had to go out and have fun.

    ¡°Ah! A cat!¡±

    Shi Shi saw dimir first and pointed at it so Zhao Qi would see too.

    Zhao Qi stopped talking, giving it a nce. She lowered her sunsses and took a closer look. This cat seemed a little familiar...

    Where had she seen it before?

    She couldn¡¯t recall right then, but when she noticed the look of unbridled disgust in the blue cat¡¯s eyes, her heart was yet again pierced sharply!

    ¡°This is Zhang Zian¡¯s cat! Why did it run here?¡±

    She was just talking to herself, and she didn¡¯t expect Shi Shi to answer at all.

    ¡°Zhang Zian?¡± Shi Shi¡¯s braingged a little before she figured it out. ¡°The pet shop owner that you were talking about?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s so far away from home. How did it run here? Did it run away from home?¡± Zhao Qi guessed, ¡°It¡¯s probably because Zhang Zian¡¯s too petty and didn¡¯t feed it wet food, and now it can¡¯t stand it anymore, so it ran out in search of a new life!¡±

    dimir regarded her with dead eyes, judging the petite bourgeoisie for assuming the worst of others.

    It sauntered before them before turning toward the side of the shop. It didn¡¯t enter. Instead, it jumped onto the roof, even pushing out a paw and hooking it towards them as though trying to wave them in.

    ¡°Hehe! This cat knows how to wave!¡± Shi Shiughed.

    ¡°What¡¯s so special about that? Zhang Zian¡¯s cats are all weird,¡± Zhao Qi scoffed at her best friend¡¯sck of knowledge, and by the time she turned back to look at dimir, it had already run off.

    ¡°This shop¡¯s name is so weird. What does it sell?¡±

    Zhao Qi was still debating whether she should inform Zhang Zian where his cat had run to when Shi Shi suddenly pointed at the shop¡¯s name.

    ¡°Back to the Old Days?¡±

    Zhao Qi read the shop name, not knowing what they sold at first nce either.

    ¡°We have nothing else to do anyway. Let¡¯s go in and take a look!¡± Shi Shi pulled at her elbow, coaxing her.

    Zhao Qi held many things in her hands and was tired of walking so much. She had wanted to look for a hair salon to do her hair and rest at the same time. She didn¡¯t want to spend even more than what she already had, but she was defenseless against Shi Shi¡¯s persuasion. Their outing was a rare one to begin with, and she didn¡¯t want to dampen the mood, so she got pushed into the shop by Shi Shi.

    With the very first step she took into the shop, she had a strong sense of deja vu, like this had all happened before. Like she had once stepped into a store when she had never intended to in the first ce.

    But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn¡¯t recall when or which shop it was. Before she could give it more thought, she felt her vision turn dark and Shi Shi¡¯s tugged to pull her in.

    ¡°Wow! What are all these? They¡¯re so scary!¡±

    The moment they stepped in, Shi Shi saw bird masks painted in angry red and white and decorated with bird feathers, looking fierce where they hung on the walls.

    The room was dark, and their eyes still hadn¡¯t gotten used to the sudden change in luminance yet. They thought it was a monster at first.

    Since Zhao Qi went overseas more often than Shi Shi, she was wiser too, and she exined after a closer look, ¡°This looks like a mask from the Aztecs. I¡¯ve seen something simr before.¡±

    After the huge scare, Shi Shi had no interest in staying anymore. She frowned as she observed the weird things disyed all around her, tugging at Zhao Qi and muttering under her breath, ¡°Qiqi, why don¡¯t we leave this ce? It¡¯s dark here, and they didn¡¯t even turn on the lights. It feels weird. What if there¡¯s some cruel serial killer here?¡±

    Zhao Qi pinched her back in anger. ¡°You¡¯re the one that kept yapping abouting in, and now you¡¯re the one that wants to leave. You¡¯re not toying with me, are you?¡±

    Shi Shi sucked in a sharp breath from the pain.

    But Shi Shi was right about one thing. Zhao Qi felt something simr too, like she was being watched from somewhere... It was ufortable. Besides, where was the owner?

 Chapter 1092: Obsidian

    <h4>Chapter 1092: Obsidian</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhao Qi did not waste her money traveling. She soon recognized that it was a shop dealing in antique articles. Just ncing at it at random, she could see that there were ancient utensils from all over the world in this shop. Of course, they were all imitations. If they were genuine goods, they could not be disyed casually, even without someone to look after them. Were they really not afraid that someone woulde in quietly and pick up a few pieces?

    However, the ordinary thief would really not be tempted by these things. After all, it was hard to change it to cash, and even if they stole it, it would be wasted in their hands. It was better to steal a few Apple phones and to disassemble them and sell the parts.

    Just then, a figure shook behind the screen deep in the shop, and a thin old man came out with a feather duster in his hand. He had pressed a button somewhere, and all the lights in the shop switched on.

    The dark and depressing feeling was totally gone in an instant.

    ¡°I did not know that you twodies came, and I waste to wee you. Please feel free to look around,¡± the old man said with a smile.

    Shi Shi was straightforward, and her mouth was quick. She asked, ¡°You¡¯re the owner of the shop?¡±

    ¡°Eh, my small shop has very few peopleing here, so I was reading books behind just now, and I came over because I heard people talking,¡± the old man answered.

    The truth was, whether it was Zhao Qi or Shi Shi, they were both not very interested in the things in the shop. But this was quite good as well, for when they shopped in shops selling premium products, they could not control their own hands. It was not like that here. They would definitely only look around but not buy.

    Shi Shi randomly picked up a sharp shard of ck stone. Its surface seemed to have been polished before and was bumpy. It was very roughly made and did not seem like something that was worth money.

    She asked, ¡°Shop owner, what is this? A gemstone?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not wrong to call it a gemstone,¡± the old man said, ¡°but more urately, it¡¯s actually obsidian fragments used by Aztec warriors to stab enemies, inserting them into grooves in wooden sticks, and m them at enemies or prey, which is very effective against targets without armor protection.¡± He made a chopping gesture with his hands.

    Shi Shi blinked. ¡°This is definitely not a real one, right?¡±

    The old man smiled slightly. ¡°This one is a real one. The wood stick that had been embedded in it has already rotted away, and the stone itself has been left behind.¡±

    Shi Shi¡¯s facial expression changed a bit, her gaze continuously flitting to the obsidian. ¡°You¡¯re saying... this thing killed people before?¡±

    ¡°This, no one knows,¡± the old man answered. ¡°Perhaps it has killed people before, perhaps it has killed wild beasts before, perhaps it had yet to get bloodied after being produced before the Aztec people became extinct... These are all possibilities.¡±

    Shi Shi hurriedly threw the obsidian back, a face full of disgust as she said, ¡°How disgusting!¡±

    Zhao Qi red at her, thinking in her heart, You are so careless, aren¡¯t you scared that it would be shattered? What if this thing is very expensive, can you afford to pay for it?

    ¡°Shop owner, do you think the obsidian is really an antique from the Aztec? You aren¡¯t deceiving us, right? Is there any proof?¡± Zhao Qi asked doubtfully. After all, if it was true, it would be of great value. How could such an unknown shop in Binhai City possibly have real antiquities?

    ¡°Proof, ah... There isn¡¯t. This thing was also given to me by someone else. It would not be good for me to chase them for evidence.¡± The old man smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯ll use an old phrase¡ªif you believe it, it is, but if you don¡¯t, it¡¯s not.¡±

    Zhao Qi was speechless. She felt that this old man¡¯s attitude was too casual, and no matter how she looked at him, he did not seem like someone who was actually doing business. No wonder his business was not doing very well.

    ¡°Who would buy this?¡± Shi Shi asked. ¡°What would they buy it for? To put it in the house to admire? But it¡¯s not good looking!¡±

    ¡°There are people who will buy this,¡± the old man answered confidently. ¡°This obsidian fragmentes from the tiger warriors of the Aztec tribe. Although it is an absolute evil, it can y a certain role in warding off evil spirits. If one¡¯s house is not at peace, cing one in the house can possibly have the use of cleansing the house... But when I look at the faces of you girls, you two don¡¯t seem to be bothered by evil spirits, so you don¡¯t need to buy it.¡±

    Zhao Qi said nothing.

    The more the old man talked, the more mysterious he became. At first, she had a good impression of him. Now, it seemed that he was infinitely closer to a chatan...

    Shi Shi patted her chest. ¡°Don¡¯t scare me, I¡¯m very scared of ghosts! I don¡¯t even dare to watch horror films!¡±

    The old man smiled and exined, ¡°Little girl, you don¡¯t need to be so fearful. You need to know that while humans are 30 percent scared of ghosts, ghosts are 70 percent scared of humans. As long as your actions are upright, and you walk on the correct path, there is no need to fear evil things bothering you.¡±

    Zhao Qi could no longer stand to listen. She was different from Shi Shi, this little girl. She was only scared of overdrafting on her card and was not scared of ghosts. She could not help but cut in and say, ¡°What ghosts? Why have I not seen them before even though I¡¯m already this old?¡±

    ¡°There are a lot of things humans have not seen before. How can youe to a conclusion there isn¡¯t? Words concerning ghosts and gods are weak and floaty, you can¡¯t totally believe it, but you can¡¯t not believe it.¡± The old man did not defend himself and smiled lightly.

    Zhao Qi shook her head and pulled Shi Shi. ¡°Let¡¯s go, it doesn¡¯t seem like they are selling things here. Instead, it seems like they are looking at geomancy and predicting your future.¡±

    Shi Shi had wanted to leave a long time ago, and apologetically said to the old man, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, we still have something on, we¡¯ll leave now.¡±

    ¡°Please walk slowly as you leave. I apologize for not being able to send you off too far.¡±

    The old man¡¯s words towards Zhao Qi were not angry or annoyed, and he walked to the doorway, watching their figures leave. He was just about to return to the shop when he suddenly saw a white cat with short fur lying on the top of the wall.

    He had often fed the stray cats near here in the past, but he had never seen this one before. Furthermore, after he returned to Binhai City, the stray cats seemed to have all disappeared, like they had been scared away by something.

    He squinted his eyes and looked up at the sky. He seemed to feel something. He whispered to himself, ¡°Yi? Half an acre of square pond opened, the sky and clouds wandered together. Why is it that the evil atmosphere that has been hanging over the city for many days has been swept away? No wonder the stray cats are back in action...¡±

    After thinking for a while, he still could not understand what was going on, but this was something good for his cats. Ever since he went back to Binhai City, his cats had always been hiding in the shop and not daring toe out.

    He took out the remote control from his sleeve, once again switched off all the lights in the shop, and returned to behind the shop.

    Shortly after he left, dimir jumped down from the eaves of the shop and onto the opposite wall. He said to Little White with a serious face, ¡°Tonight... No, let me think about it, it¡¯s better to go tomorrow night,rade cats have just been busy all night recently. They are too tired. Tomorrow night, pick out some of your elites ande here to join me¡ªremember, it¡¯s the quality, not the quantity.¡±

    Little White nodded and made some gestures to ask if the old man just now was the target it had ordered them to find.

    ¡°We must spare no effort in finding things. We cannot waste any effort!¡± dimir¡¯s eyes were lit with a me. ¡°Little White, you¡¯ve done a good job. He¡¯s the one I¡¯m looking for! What a surprise! He lives in Binhai city, too! How small the world is!¡±

    If the Holy Cat Statue was still alive, it would definitely agree with its enemy¡¯s thoughts, because when it walked around at night in the dark of Binhai City, it had deeply felt that point.

 Chapter 1093: Nobody

    <h4>Chapter 1093: Nobody</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    For Zhu Jisheng and his ¡°Back to the Old Days,¡± there wasn¡¯t much difference between the day and the night, since he never had customers. Well, not never¡ªthere were a few loyal customers, those youngds that liked new and fascinating things. They knew a little about everything, from Angkor Wat statues to Crete Ind¡¯s cave drawings. They were quite knowledgeable and seemed to identally on purpose show off the fact that they had nock of money.

    But in actual fact, they never bought anything. Every time they came, they expressed undying love for all the weird objects around them and would say that their wallet was a little tight before they left. They would promise the heaven and earth that they would buy what they liked the next time they came and wanted him to reserve the items for them.

    But the next time they came, they hadpletely forgotten about the promise and picked up other objects, nothing but praises on their tongues, taking nothing but photos. They posted all of them to their WeChat moments, most likely pretending that they were rich people that owned all of these things.

    This was like the popr saying online¡ª¡±The poor people know how to live.¡± Even if they couldn¡¯t afford it, they knew the best!

    He didn¡¯t really mind whether they bought things or not, since they always brought someughter and conversation to the shop.

    They hade today as well, and after a whole afternoon of frolicking, they had finally left with satisfied smiles.

    The antique shop had be peaceful again.

    He didn¡¯t usually speak much, and every time they came, he felt like he had used up his entire week¡¯s worth of words.

    The sun was setting, the alley shrouded in a dull sunset and the tempting smell of the neighbors¡¯ dinner.

    ¡°It¡¯s time to eat.¡±

    He talked to himself, turning to the kitchen in the back to cook a small pot of noodles with his tiny pot. He cut up some minced meat in the meantime, beating up two eggs, and put down some daylily, ck fungus, mushrooms, garlic, thickening the sauce after passing it through oil. Adding a few more ginger and spring onions after it¡¯s done and a sprinkle of sesame oil, a bowl of aromatic, and extremely authentic Lor Mee was done.

    It was pretty hot. He changed into a thinner shirt upstairs and came back down to enjoy the delicious bowl of noodles.

    Every time he ate Lor Mee, his life back in the capital seemed to sh right before his eyes. He reminisced, but he didn¡¯t miss it, because he would never return to that life. Even the old city had been drowned by the business of modernization, so there was nothing much left to miss.

    He ate slowly, enjoying one bite fully, chewing it to savor everst drop of vor before picking up the next bite of noodles.

    Something moved behind the divide.

    ¡°Come out and y,¡± he said. ¡°The thing you¡¯re afraid of is gone.¡±

    A white Persian with ck markings on its top, back, and tail came out carefully only after nervously checking out the surroundings. It walked out, its bright eyes scanning through the shop and making sure that there was nothing dangerous around.

    Looking at it, he couldn¡¯t help but pity it and feel guilty for it.

    They passed the harsh winter by escaping to the south, so he¡¯d brought it back to Binhai City. The moment they arrived, it could feel the evil enveloping the city and had warned him against it. Maybe he should have just made the decision to leave this ce back then instead of leaving it in so much fear for all these days.

    ¡°Come, you should eat too.¡± He ced a small te on the floor, beef as thin as cicada wings on it.

    He cooked a very small amount of noodles, and it was soon gone even though he ate slowly.

    He was only half full, but he had no ns to eat more and stood to clean up.

    ¡°Meow.¡±

    The Persian had finished its beef too, and it licked its lips and stared at him. It wasn¡¯t full either and wanted to eat more.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have to bepletely full. The elders have reminded us, ¡®Control our eating and we won¡¯t fall sick. Control our desires and we will live longer.¡¯¡± He smiled. ¡°I still want to live a few more years. You too, right?¡±

    The Persian was persuaded, and it no longer begged for food, quietly leaping onto the table and lying down on it.

    He washed up quickly, wiping his hands dry, and sat at the table. He picked up his phone to look through his unread messages. Even though he¡¯s old, that didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t good with technology. He was amazing at epting new things, and the many applications he had installed on his phone were a testament to that fact.

    It was only after some time that he put down his phone, his face solemn.

    There was an old newspaper on the table, and the headline was the article that he had written. Before publishing it, he had read it countless times, mulling over and editing the words to convey his points and tone correctly, but it still wasn¡¯t up to his standards.

    ¡°It still sounds really rushed. If we had more time, it would be a lot better, don¡¯t you think?¡± He sighed, picking up the newspaper and reading the article yet again.

    This was a deration of war, the first horn to signal the assault of the traditional world of literature against inte literature. Predictably, within a few days, they had all gradually posted their responses to it¡ªsome of them on traditional media, and some of them on Weibo and their own social medias, quickly trending the topic on several sites.

    In these posts, most of them were clear about supporting him with a minority still sitting on the fence, saying words that were ambiguous and unclear¡ªmost likely feeling that it was inappropriate to not say anything, yet not wanting to offend anyone. There were some that seemed to reprimand both but still supported him in reality.

    But there were also some articles that clearly stated their support for inte literature. He mostly didn¡¯t know these authors. They might¡¯ve just been budding authors from thesest few years. But their voices were weak and held no weight in the heirarchical literary world.

    ¡°It gets harder and harder to persist in your own dream. I can¡¯t believe I stillnded myself in this pool at my age.¡± He shook his head, the heaviness in his heart pressing on his chest.

    He was too rushed in writing the article, and most of what he had written was his impression of inte literature from other people¡¯s words. He knew that he should at least finish reading the stories he was criticizing before writing it so that the article would be even more specific and guiltless.

    But as well as eating slow, he read slowly, too. He liked to savor and feel every single word and sentence. But to finish reading the online novels with millions of words at this speed would be impossible. He had even brought up ten different inte novels in his article whose total word count was in the tens of millions.

    Reading was just like eating. If you savored something slowly, it wouldst longer. If you consumed it quickly, you wouldn¡¯t know what it felt or tasted like.

    To read and eat slowly¡ªthis was an old teaching that one could not disobey.

    Even though he had only read a little, he had clearly seen that inte novels were just empty meals, about as nutritious as a cup of instant noodles.

    One had to study, one had to know etiquette, and one had to educate their kids.

    The kids today would rather read online novels than read ancient texts and learn etiquette. They only consumed instant noodles as their go-to meals. As time passed by, they would definitely grow weaker and weaker due to theirck of nutrition. How could they do better for the country and themselves that way?

    So he didn¡¯t think that he was wrong. He was just nervous about the fact that he had only read a little bit.

    He looked outside again. The sky hadpletely darkened. The peak rush hour in the evening had ended, and the already-quiet alley had be even more deserted.

    ¡°Alright, it¡¯s time to close up shop and go to sleep.¡± He put down the newspaper and stood.

    To most of the city dwellers, it really was too early to go to sleep. Most people working were only starting on their dinners, and the students had just begun their homework. Many people¡¯s night lives had only just started.

    ¡°To rest when night falls, lock up the doors and check personally.¡±

    ¡°To wake when dayes, clean up the house and keep it clean, inside and out.¡±

    To sleep when the night came and wake to study when the first streams of light came in¡ªthese were ancient teachings and his habit of many years. Unless more important things demanded his attention, he would never stray from it.

    The Persian cat had been lying on the table taking a nap when he was reading the newspapers, but it seemed to suddenly detect something. Its ears twitched, and it stood up, eyes shining as it stared at the darkness past the window.

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    He walked to the door and was about to close it before noticing its weird actions. His chest tightened. Could it be that the evil wasing back again?

    There was a shadow moving on the opposite wall.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous. They¡¯re just strays.¡±

    Under the light from the streetlights, he saw that it was just a few stray cats with differing fur coat patterns.

    A scoff seemed toe from the wall.

    He scrunched up his brows. ¡°Who? Who is there?¡±

    Right then, the street lights suddenly went out.

    And just like a tsunami, the entire street and the alleys beside it were suddenly devoid of light¡ªnot just the streets, but the households too.

    Something wasn¡¯t right. Streetlights were separately powered using sr power, so why would they go out at the same time?

    Suddenly, a powerful hymn started on the edge of the wall.

    ¡°Even if the soul is dead, the Qin is still around! The Zhu school of thought may be popr, but it¡¯s actually low in quality!¡±

    ¡°Hundreds of generations follow the Qin¡¯s rules. The ¡®Ten Critiques¡¯ is not a good article!¡±

    His face instantly fell at that, his heart feeling as though someone had smashed it with a hammer. He stumbled backwards, his brain humming in shock.

    ¡°What... You dare say that the Zhu school of thought is...low in quality? Who are you? I dare you toe out here! You¡¯re just a lowlife hiding in the shadows!¡± he screamed at the darkness.

    The voice in the shadows said, ¡°Hiding? Then what are you? Hiding in the shadows and criticizing others? You¡¯re an expert in the Zhu school of thought. Have you never heard of Zhu Xi¡¯s saying, ¡®If you attack someone anonymously due to your hatred, you will be harming your descendants¡¯?¡±

    He could hear the threat in those words, and he could hear that the other was here for his article, ¡°Ten Criticisms of Online Literature.¡± But he had only told a very small group of friends where he lived, so how did they know?

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to threaten me. I have no qualms about my article. Online novels have no nutrition. I, Zhu Jisheng, will right the wrong!¡± He puffed out his chest, determined. Youths should be reading the ssics of Confucianism, learning the teachings of legends, and striving to better the world, to serve the people!¡±

    ¡°Haha, you sure make it sound nice.¡± The voice in the dark fell. ¡°You are just pained that traditional literature is getting less and less prized, while inte literature is getting more and more popr. You don¡¯t like what the world likes¡ªWho are you to criticize it?¡±

    Just as his anger was about to burst out of his chest, just as his retort was about to spill from his lips, that voice started again.

    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t have to answer.¡±

    He was stunned. Didn¡¯t have to answer what?

    That voice was cold, just like the bone-chilling breeze of winter. ¡°I know who you are! You¡¯re just a nobody!¡±

    Even though it was just a normal word, Zhu Jisheng¡¯s heart thumped harshly, his entire chest hurting.

    His pupils dted, his sweat pouring out like rain. The most painful memory he had from tens of years ago was painfully yanked to the forefront again, pressing onto him like a Boeing 707, threatening to crush him into dust anytime.

    He felt as though his body had been dunked in a pond in the peak of winter.

    He thought he had long since forgotten that memory, but it had always just been repressed in the deepest recesses of his heart. If any part of it were to see the light of day, it would crush all of his dignity and glory.

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    The one simple word didn¡¯t just cause him huge trauma. Even his Persian was trembling in fear in the corner, ring out the window in shock. Even when facing the scariest of evils, it had never been this afraid.

    ¡°Seeing that you aren¡¯t too bad at your core, I won¡¯t press you too much. But you¡¯d better be more careful and read inte literature without your prejudice. Don¡¯t step into the same mistakes as your ancestors did! Don¡¯t only think of tradition. Otherwise, the next time we meet, the Zhu school of thought will end with you!¡±

    The voice in the dark went silent after finishing this sentence.

    It was only after some time had passed that the streetlights lit up again and electricity returned to the neighborrhood.

    There was no one by the walls. All he saw was a few strays sauntering away with a flick of their tails.

    He couldn¡¯t support his weak body anymore. His shivering legs gave way, and he ended up with his butt on the floor, his t-shirt soaked with sweat, gasping desperately for air.

    ¡°Hey, old man, are you alright?¡±

    After the electricity came back, a neighbor walked past, ncing over by chance and noticing the usually calm andposed old man lying on the floor with his face as white as a sheet. He came in after slight hesitation and didn¡¯t dare touch him. ¡°Do you want me to call you an ambnce?¡± he asked, worried.

    ¡°No... It¡¯s okay...¡±

    He waved his hands weakly. ¡°I... I just tripped after the sudden ckout.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± The neighbour observed him. He didn¡¯t look like he¡¯d just fallen, but it was the truth that there had been a ckout.

    ¡°Really, please, don¡¯t bother with me. I¡¯m alright. I¡¯ll be better after some rest.¡± He forced a smile.

    Seeing that some color had returned to his face, the neighbor nodded, nagging some more. ¡°If you feel unwell, call an ambnce. Don¡¯t be stubborn! If you¡¯re done resting, get up from the floor. It¡¯s too cold here.¡±

    ¡°I got it. Thank you.¡±

    The neighbor walked out of the door, looking back asionally to check up on him, when the voice behind him suddenly called, ¡°Mister, right before you came in, did you hear anyone speaking?¡±

    The neighbor pointed at him. ¡°I only heard you talking to yourself in the shop. I was puzzled, so I came over to take a look and saw you lying on the floor.¡±

    He seemed to understand something and asked, ¡°Mister, you only heard me speaking?¡±

    The neighbor nodded, chuckling. ¡°That... Don¡¯t call me ¡®Mister.¡¯ It sounds weird.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I got it... Oh, right, I have another question. Sir... Do you read online novels?¡± he asked.

    ¡°asionally, but I read the pirated versions.¡± The neighbor chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ll be going now.¡±

    Peace returned to the shop.

    He looked at the streetlight in the alley,ughing at himself. ¡°The world¡¯s so huge, but where can we hide from strays?¡±

 Chapter 1094: The Problem With Long Fur

    <h4>Chapter 1094: The Problem With Long Fur</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In the early morning, Zhang Zian was woken up on time by his biological clock.

    The day was brightening earlier and earlier. At this time during winter, it had still been dark, but now it was already totally bright. The elfins were not as unwilling to get up as they had been during winter, and when they heard the noise, they woke up one by one.

    However, dimir, under the bed, did not move. It had run off somewhere yesterday night and had onlye back at 12 o¡¯clock midnight, face covered in dust and dirt, like it had run a very long distance. When it came back, it hid under the bed and slept peacefully.

    What was shocking was that Fina had woken up so early.

    With the date of their trip to Egypt approaching, it seemed to have some anxiety and excitement. It had been very energetic these days. Unlike before, it had not been napping all day or on the way to nap all the time.

    This was the so-called ¡®feeling more timid closer to home,¡¯ right?

    In its timeline, it had probably just had a dream and came to the modern world as soon as it opened its eyes. But in reality, two thousand years had passed. It must have wanted to go back to its homnd and see if the pyramids and the Sphinx could withstand the wind and sand for two thousand years.

    Snowy Li had originally wanted to sleep, but seeing Fina get up, it also stood up unsteadily, following Fina downstairs.

    ¡°I must ask, when are you nning to cut your fur?¡± When Zhang Zian went to the toilet, he just happened to pass by, and just casually asked.

    ¡°Meow meow meow? You stinky man! You dare to think of doing the cutting fur y with me?¡± Snowy Li widened its eyes, threatening as it bared its teeth and waved its ws.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Be a bit quieter. Don¡¯t keep saying these kinds of words that would cause people to misunderstand! For Pi¡¯s short stories, in the future, we need to abandon vulgarity and embrace elegance!¡±

    Snowy Li licked its sharp ws, and gave a cold ¡°hmph¡± as it said, ¡°Anyway, if you dare to touch even a single fur on me, I¡¯ll first cut off all your fur!¡±

    ¡°Do you know how hot Egypt is at this time? Could it be that you are nning to bring a body full of long fur to Egypt? You¡¯ll get heat stroke as soon as you get off the ne!¡± Zhang Zian said, pointing out its misunderstanding.

    Snowy Li was half in disbelief at his words. ¡°You stinky man, are you trying to confuse me again?¡±

    Zhang Zian said helplessly, ¡°I¡¯m a noble person, a pure person, a person who has left behind poor taste. When did I ever fool you guys before?¡±

    ¡°Do you yourself believe those words?¡± Snowy Li¡¯s face was cold.

    ¡°I won¡¯t say anything else for now, but if you want to go to Egypt, you really do need to first cut your hair short before you can go,¡± Fina said.

    ¡°It can¡¯t be that bad, right?¡± Snowy Li¡¯s cold expression became one of despair.

    Zhang Zian added, ¡°Egypt is not only hot, but it is also windy and full of sand, and as soon as the wind starts, your whole body of long fur will be full of sand. You will be extremely ufortable.¡±

    Snowy Li¡¯s full body was full of white fur, and its length was abhorrent. The fur was thick and often shedding. Others called it Mauritius, but for it, it was hiding eggs in its fur. That had shot down Zhang Zian¡¯s idea of buying a floor-sweeping robot because it would certainly entangle the wheel axle.

    Egypt¡¯s climate had both Mediterranean and tropical desert climate. The best time to travel was during autumn and winter. It was windy and sandy in spring and hot in summer. It took a lot of strength to go to Egypt at the end of May. However, for a science team, it was not a holiday. It was a good thing to avoid the crowded tourist season.

    Egypt¡¯s temperature difference between day and night was well known. It could easily exceed 40 degrees in direct sunlight during the day, and the surface temperature was even higher. With such intense sunshine on Snowy Li, and because heat umted in the long hair could not disperse, it could have heatstroke in minutes. If it were serious, it could even die.

    In Egypt, long-haired cats were virtually not seen unless they were kept at home by wealthy people and served by air conditioners 24 hours a day. Such cats did not run outdoors, so they were still not seen.

    Zhang Zian repeated the necessity of shaving several times. The more the snow lion listened, the more panicked it was. Its watery blue eyes were almost crying.

    ¡°Your Majesty! I don¡¯t want to cut my fur! If you really need to cut it, can Your Majesty cut it for this servant?¡± It pulled on Fina, crying so much it could not pronounce its words properly.

    Fina pushed it away. ¡°Egypt¡¯s climate is bad. Maybe it¡¯s really not suited for you, or you¡¯d better stay here. We¡¯ll be back very soon.¡±

    Snowy Li was not happy, and turning around to see that Old Time Tea had also gotten up, it pointed at Old Time Tea and said, ¡°Old Time Tea is wearing so much, isn¡¯t it about the same as this servant? Could it be that it needs to strip to go to Egypt?¡±

    Zhang Zian answered, ¡°There¡¯s no need at all. Grandpa Tea¡¯s dressing is the most suitable one. Do you think it¡¯s necessary to strip off when it¡¯s hot? It¡¯s so hot that your skin would be sunburned and peel off every minute. Even if humans with barely any fur go to Egypt, they can¡¯t walk around without wearing anything. No matter how hot it is, it¡¯s better to wear long-sleeve clothes, a hat, and sunscreen.¡±

    Snowy Li did not understand what he was saying, but it was still not happy, mumbling that it was not happy to cut its fur.

    Anyway, they were not going to leave today, and there was still time to do its ideological work. But if it didn¡¯t want to shave off its fur, it could only stay in the shop, or Zhang Zian could leave it in the mobile phone and not let ite out. Otherwise, it would be seeking death going to Egypt.

    ¡°Ga ga! Then what about me? I¡¯m saying first, the feathers on my body cannot be cut!¡± Richard heard their conversation, and turning its body to emerge from under the small nket, he fluttered his wings andnded on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder to yawn with bad breath.

    ¡°I can¡¯t cut them, I can only pull them out.¡± Zhang Zian threw it aside in disdain. He did not know why the bird was eating vegetarian all day. How could its mouth smell so bad? Could it be that it was eating sh*t quietly?

    ¡°You can¡¯t pull them out either! I feel like I might be put into the oven casually by you idi*t!¡± Richard used its wings to cover its body. ¡°I don¡¯t want Orleans Roast Chicken Wings.¡±

    Actually, Richard¡¯s problem was easy to solve. He could just find a cage and cover it with a white cloth. It would be ventted and could act as protection against the sun. It was also convenient to carry.

    He exined it to Richard with gestures and washed his mouth and saliva to finally let it understand that he was not doing a captivity y.

    ¡°Meow meow meow! The stinky man is deliberately favoring one over another, right? Prepare a cat cage for me too and cover it with white cloth!¡± Snowy Li was instantly alert when it heard that there was a possibility of not shaving its fur.

    Zhang Zian red. ¡°If I¡¯m carrying a bird in my left hand and carrying a cat in my right hand, how can I do anything else? And you¡¯re also very heavy! Ten Richards added up together would not be as heavy as you. Adding on the weight of the cage itself¡ªam I going to Egypt to be fit?¡±

    ¡°Ah!¡± Snowy Li¡¯s eyes rolled. ¡°Then hang the cage on your middle leg. Can¡¯t you spare one hand then?¡±

    ¡°Sorry, my middle leg can¡¯t hang a bird cage!¡± Zhang Zian was insulted.

    ¡°Hmph! Looks, strength, money, being gentlemanly, you don¡¯t have any of those qualities! Sure enough, you are a good-for-nothing stinky man!¡± Snowy Li was disappointed.

    ¡°Find me someone who can hang it to let me see!¡± he retorted.

    Even if he could hang it, he did not dare to hang it. As soon as he left the house, he would be sent to the police station. The secr etiquette in Egypt was much stricter than in China.

    Of course, that did not mean that he could hang it in China either.

 Chapter 1095: Right the Wrongs

    <h4>Chapter 1095: Right the Wrongs</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was really tiring to start dissing someone so bright and early in the morning, but Snowy Li made people want to diss it. Did it think that everyone was like Ximen Qing¡¯s ¡°Pan Lu Deng Xiao Xian¡±?

    Amongst all of the elfins, only Snowy Li had long fur. All of the other cats, dogs, and monkeys had short hair, so only it had to shave it off. Of course, that didn¡¯t mean that it had to shave so much that it looks like a Sphinx cat,pletely hairless and helpless against the violent rays of the sun, but it had to at least shave it short. With how long Snowy Li¡¯s fur was right now, it would at least have to make it one-tenth its current length.

    But Snowy Li didn¡¯t want to. It hadn¡¯t been easy getting its fur so long and pretty. It had eaten so much cow¡¯s stomach to get it to shine this much and be this soft!

    If ady had long, ck, straight, outright gorgeous hair, she would grieve if she had to cut it too.

    But if Snowy Li wanted to follow them to Egypt, it had to cut it short.

    Zhang Zian gave it time to think about it instead of hovering over it, thinking that constantly talking to Snowy Li would just lower his level.

    Snowy Li and Richard¡¯s ruckus was loud enough to wake all of the other elfins from their sleep.

    After Famous woke up, ity there spacing out for a few moments, as though trying to differentiate between dreams and reality. Only after it snapped out of it did it pick up a mouth-cleansing doggy biscuit and ran downstairs. Zhang Zian felt that Richard should take a page out of its book.

    Usually, Pi wasn¡¯t the first one to wake up, but it didn¡¯t purposefully sleep in, either. It usually turned on theputer the moment it woke up, making use of the time theputer needed to start up to rush to the bathroom and wash up. The moment it was done washing up, theputer was done starting up too.

    But for the past few days, it had been down all morning. Even if it woke up, it merely stared at the ceiling, its eyes devoid of life and feeling, spacing out.

    Zhang Zian knew that it was worried for its novel¡¯s life and tried his best tofort it, to get him to believe in the website and its employees¡ªthey would bring him justice. But even he knew that emptyfort was about as useful as a two-legged table.

    Many fans of the book had heard of the issue through other means and sent over messages to encourage it as well, thinking of ns for it. It was relieved, but nothing could be done. Most of its fans were teens and young adults around twenty years of age and were not people with real power. The ns that they could conjure up had been thought of by Zhang Zian already, and they had all been rejected.

    Pi was epted by readers through its novel. Now that it had finally gotten rid of its gloomy mood, it was at risk of getting back into it at any time.

    Zhang Zian walked over, lightheartedly persuading it. ¡°Pi, why not take a long leave? Let the website take care of the matter. Let¡¯s go for a walk in Egypt. Maybe by the time we¡¯re back, all of thements and conflict will have gone up in smoke...¡±

    Pi turned over to face the wall, shriveling up even smaller and drawing its knees to its chin.

    Zhang Zian sighed. He wanted to do more, but there was nothing he could contribute. This had already gotten out of his and their readers¡¯ jurisdiction.

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    Even Gxy had woken up, rubbing its eyes and leaping out of the baby cot. The moment it turned over, it saw Zhang Zian, still worrying about Pi. With a few effortless leaps, it quickly came to the swinging bed and stood up on its hindlegs, its front pawstching onto the bed, pushing it like a swing.

    ¡°Meow! Pi, wake up!¡±

    Pi still didn¡¯t turn over. It merely waved its hand, wanting them to go away and leave it alone.

    Zhang Zian gave Gxy a look too, hinting to it to stop bothering Pi and give it some time to itself.

    But it seemed like Gxy hadn¡¯t seen his look at all, and it didn¡¯t give Pi the chance to lick at its wounds as it pushed the bed again. ¡°Meow! Pi, wake up! The sun¡¯s going to roast your butt red!¡±

    Pi frantically pulled the nket over its butt.

    ¡°Meow! Wake up! You still haven¡¯t written your new chapter!¡± Gxy kept pushing at the bed. ¡°Gxy will keep swinging you until you wake up!¡±

    Pi was getting dizzy with all the swinging. It would end up vomiting if it really kept that up. So it could only turn around and sit up, holding onto the string to stop it from swinging.

    ¡°Cheep cheep!¡±

    Pi was angry, gesturing at Gxy wildly to ask it why it didn¡¯t just leave it alone.

    Zhang Zian was afraid they would end up fighting and immediately cut in, ¡°Pi, since you¡¯re awake,e out and take a walk ore y with everyone. You can tell us anything that¡¯s on your mind. Don¡¯t keep it to yourself.¡±

    Pi shook its head. There was nothing to say.

    Zhang Zian knew that it was introverted and that introverts usually had a harder time letting go of their frustrations.

    Besides, he was confused too. Gxy wasn¡¯t an annoying personality like Richard was. Knowing that Pi was feeling horrible right now, why did it keep pestering Pi? Even Richard could see that PI was in a slump, and wouldn¡¯te disturb Pi at this moment.

    Gxy gracefully jumped onto the table with one leap.

    Since they used it every day, theptop had always been turned on. Gxy put out its front paw, pressing the power button.

    Whirr...

    Theputer turned on with a ding, and the hard drive started whirring to life, the startup screen shing on the disy.

    ¡°Meow! Pi, if you don¡¯t write, then Gxy¡¯s going to write for you!¡±

    Gxy didn¡¯t seem to be joking around. It really was fiddling with the mouse and smashing at the keyboard randomly.

    Pi viewed its novel as something bigger than its life, and it was afraid that Gxy would destroy theputer too. In its panic, it put aside its gloominess, hurrying out of the rattan bed and onto the chair, protecting theptop with its arms out, like a mother eagle with its chicks.

    Gxy had already jumped aside.

    ¡°Meow! That¡¯s the spirit!¡±

    Gxy swished its tail, happily rushing downstairs to y hide-and-seek with the Abynissian cats. It had used to warm up in the second floor with the American Shorthair, but since the cat had been returned to Aunt Liu, it no longer did that.

    Pi was troubled and helpless. But since it had already gotten up, it should just sit before theputer as it had used to.

    After a moment, theptop booted uppletely, automatically logging into the messenger app.

    Ping!

    The bald monk disy picture of the editor in charge of them was blinking, showing that they had unread messages.

    Pi hesitated, not daring to open it. Bad news had been constantlying these past few days, and it had lost almost all of its courage in the constant barrage.

    Zhang Zian had seen from the side as well. As a bystander, he could tolerate the stress and pressure better.

    ¡°Take a look. It might be good news.¡± He put his hand on Pi¡¯s shoulder, encouraging it.

    Pi lowered its head, silent.

    ¡°Alright, then I¡¯ll look at it for you. If it¡¯s good news, I¡¯ll tell you.¡± He sighed. If it was bad news, then there was no point in saying it. They had been riddled with too much bad news recently.

    He held onto the mouse in Pi¡¯s ce and clicked it.

    There was only one sentence that the editor in charge had left for them: ¡°Wait for the clouds to pass to see the brightness of the moon.¡±

 Chapter 1096: Recurrence of the Storm

    <h4>Chapter 1096: Recurrence of the Storm</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian saw the messagepiled by the editor. He savored it several times carefully, and in his heart, he felt an inexplicable sense of expectation. Had something changed?

    Now the weather was warm, and he could go out wearing just a singleyer. Without saying a word, he asked Pi to wait for a moment. He ran downstairs, opened the shutter door, and trotted to the Northside newsstand to buy newspapers.

    He had gotten there early, and as expected, he managed to buy morning newspapers fresh off the printing press, smelling of ink.

    Not in the headline, but in the corner of the front page, he found an article about the size of a tofu block, signed by Zhu Jisheng. The title of the article was ¡°Literary Criticism Should Not Exceed the Proper Limits.¡±

    It seemed to have been written in a hurry. It was rather short¡ªnot as long as thest one, but the overall meaning was very clear. It expressed that rather than being all-inclusive towardwork literature, there should be specific analysis of specific issues to guide and support the healthy and orderly development ofwork novels. Traditional literature andwork literature were not antagonistic toward one another and could y a mutually reinforcing role.

    The end of the article obscurely indicated that the content of the previous article had contained a mistake. Pi¡¯s novel should have been put on the list of rmended reading. However, due to the errors in writing and typesetting, it suffered unfair grievances. Here, the author wanted to express his sincere apologies to the novelist.

    Zhang Zian finished reading in one breath and let out a long breath of relief. The dark cloud that had been pressing on his mind for many days was finally cleared away.

    However, the exnation seemed suspicious. Was it really a mistake in writing and typesetting? With such a big name and such arge cirction of newspaper headlines, how could you send the manuscript to the editor without first proofreading it yourself? Considering this man¡¯s age, it was not entirely impossible to make such a mistake, but... He kept feeling that it was quite weird.

    He could not consider all of that now. He trotted all the way back to the pet shop with the newspaper, went up to the second floor, took the newspaper excitedly on his desk, and pointed to Pi to read it.

    ¡°Pi, there¡¯s no need to worry, your novel¡¯s situation has been reversed!¡±

    ¡°Zhi zhi?¡±

    The listless Pi was frightened by him, and he read the article carefully under his continuous urging.

    ¡°Unexpectedly, you were injured by mistake, which is unfortunate enough¡ªbut thanks to good luck that came out of bad things, this person¡¯s influence is great and you were rmended by name. The effect should be enough topensate for the loss of the rmendation that was taken away before.¡±

    ¡°Zhi zhi?¡±

    Pi was confused by a sudden twist and still did not dare topletely believe it.

    Zhang Zian exined the stakes to it. This kind of newspaper was absolutely no joke. The obligatory message could also be used as side proof. In short, there was no longer any need to worry about it.

    Pi repeatedly confirmed with him several times and got a positive answer. The expression on its face changed from dark to bright, and its whole body was full of energy. It remembered that today¡¯s chapter had not been written yet, sat upright, and began typing with clicking-cking sounds.

    Among the elfins, only dimir was still sleeping, and at this moment, he was woken up by their speaking. He quickly rolled out from under the bed, scratching the back of its head with its ws and yawning, and asked, ¡°It¡¯s so early, what are you guys so excited about?¡±

    Zhang Zian wanted to tell everyone the good news, and immediately answered, ¡°Sorry, dimir, we woke you up. Pi¡¯s novel was readdressed. The man who wrote the article published another, indicating that he had made a mistake before.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s very good.¡±

    dimir was unmoved, like he had heard very ordinary information.

    ¡°The only part that is strange is that this man¡¯s attitude changed from arrogance to humility,¡± he whispered while Pi wasn¡¯t paying attention.

    dimir smiled faintly. ¡°It¡¯s not surprising. People always change. Besides, he may have made a mistake before. Anyway, it¡¯s good that everything is alright now.¡±

    ¡°It should be alright.¡± Zhang Zian hoped that it was.

    The matter of Pi hade to an end for the time being. He just had to wait to confirm it with the editor-in-charge when the editor-in-charge came to work.

    dimir randomly wiped its face, then flicked its tail and ran downstairs.

    Zhang Zian looked at his cell phone. He had several unread messages fromst night. In addition to the interview requests of media reporters, there was an email from [Copse The World], who had not contacted him in a while.

    He had met [Copse The World] in Wang Haige Forum. This person had coded a web crawler program and had first discovered that cat abuse cases were spreading in the country.

    That web crawler program had been ced in the automatic-startup list of theptopputer. As long as Pi opened theputer to write a novel, the program would be running in the background, automatically collecting, analyzing, and sorting out cat abuse incidents in forums all over the country.

    Now that he no longer needed this program anymore, he could find a time to delete it.

    [Copse The World]: I had some doubts at first, but you¡¯re right. Through these days of observation, I found that cat abuse across the country is rapidly subsiding. The rate of its subsiding is like pouring a basin of cold water on a charcoal fire, almostpletely extinguishing the fire. There are only a few embers still burning, which should be an apt example. I¡¯m curious, how did you know in advance? Previously, you said that this is because the construction of socialist spiritual civilization has achieved results in phase. You were not serious, right?

    [The Hottie]: [Comical face] Of course I¡¯m serious.

    He thanked the other party for sharing the crawler program generously, but it was inconvenient to exin the situation.

    After the email was sent out, he did not expect the other party to reply to another email immediately. It seemed that this person had just woken up, or had not slept yet¡ªwith Zhang Zian¡¯s understanding of the technological group of people, it was probably thetter.

    [Copse The World]: [Cryingughing face] Alright, since you aren¡¯t nning on saying, I won¡¯t chase you for answers anymore. After all, everyone has secrets.

    [The Hottie]: [Comical face][Comical face]

    Zhang Zian took this as a daily chat. He had never met [Copse The World] before, and he knew little about the other, but he had met them in the forum due to the cat abuse incident. Now that the cat abuse had subsided, he expected that this may be hisst contact with the other, and that they would slowly forget each other.

    This was like friends in online games. No matter how lucky they were to meet each other, most of them would stop contacting each other with the decline of the game¡¯s poprity, and they would finally forget each otherpletely with the closure of the game. The game was the link between them, just like the cat abuse incident was the link between Zhang Zian and [Copse The World].

    Zhang Zian had thought that, and used two [Comical face] as the ending, feeling that was quite good.

    Unexpectedly, just as he put down his cell phone and was going downstairs to do his daily cleaning work, another email came from the other side.

    [Copse The World]: Although the cat abuse cases already have hints of ending, I want to remind you, the world is still in the state of copse.

 Chapter 1097: The Crazed Revenge

    <h4>Chapter 1097: The Crazed Revenge</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian¡¯s brows furrowed, understanding that [Copse the World] was hiding more behind those words, so he decided against going downstairs to clean, instead choosing to reply.

    [The Hottie]: The world¡¯s still in the state of copse? What do you mean?

    The other replied quickly.

    [Copse the World]: Did you not pay attention to the news?

    Zhang Zian deadpanned. He¡¯s been busy with his small animal protection bill, ¦Ð¡¯s novel and the Holy Cat Statue, he really didn¡¯t have time to take note of the society¡¯s news. Could it be that something really did happened?

    [The Hottie]: I¡¯ve been busy, what news are you talking about?

    [Copse the World]: Right now, including Binhai City, there had been cases of dog poisoning with Isoniazid all around the country, and they are getting more and moremon. I heard that you¡¯re a pet shop owner, you shouldn¡¯t need me to exin what is isoniazid, right?

    Zhang Zian suck in a cold breath.

    Of course he knows what isoniazid is. It¡¯s a very effective drug used to treat tuberculosis, first sold on the markets in 1952, just after World War II.

    Since tuberculosis has been effectively contained and controlled around the world, and is no longer a huge threat to human¡¯s life, there are aims topletely eradicate tuberculosis around the world within the next few years. Therefore, isoniazid became widely known, not because of its abilities to cure tuberculosis, but because of its potent poisonous characteristic to dogs, just like arsenic, and would be used by people to poison the dogs.

    Very little people used to know about the drug, but the era of the inte brought on the information boom. Anything and everything would be spread between people at breakneck speed.

    Zhang Zian knows about isoniazid, and knows about the fact that people use it to kill dogs, but he didn¡¯t know that it has been happening frequently recently.

    [The Hottie]: I know about isoniazid. As to the dog poisoning cases, can you tell me more? I haven¡¯t been catching up on news.

    [Copsing the World]: I had reprogrammed the inte bug that I made earlier, and changed the ¡°Rted phrases¡± from ¡®cat torture¡¯ to ¡®dog poisoning¡¯, do you need me to send you another copy? Or can you reprogramme it yourself?

    It¡¯s not the time to pretend to be amazing, and Zhang Zian obediently replied, ¡°Send me a copy.¡±

    He quickly received an email with an attachment.

    [Copse the World]: I¡¯ll exin it simply, I only knew this after I had analysed the figures. In the beginning, dog poisoning cases were only sporadically happening, and neither did they bring in much attention. But, after rted news had been reported, a lot of people had learned that isoniazid could poison dogs, and they seemed to act as though they had found newnd. They started to purchase isoniazid to poison dogs, and the entire situation spiralled out of control.

    [Copse the World]: The dog poisoning and cat torture cases seemed to be simr, but they have definite differences. The huge scale of cat torture started out from Binhai City, and spread all over the country. Since we had experience from the cat torture cases, I thought the dog poisoning cases were simr too, starting from one city and spreading around the country. So, I tried using many statistical tools to analyze the data that we know about the dog poisoning cases. But, the disappointing thing was that there¡¯s no pattern at all, and are all just happening spontaneously... Or maybe, there¡¯s a pattern, but I just hadn¡¯t found it yet.

    After reading their email, he understood the gravity of the situation. Topare the dog poisoning cases with the mass cat torture situation that they had back then, it must mean that it was huge.

    The thing came too unexpectantly, he has absolutely no idea how to even begin tackling the situation, he can only try to understand it after his emotions settled.

    [The Hottie]: Why are you telling me this?

    [Copsing the World]: Because you were very concerned with the cat torture situation, so I thought you would want to know about this too. I was curious too, you said that the cat torture situation would be resolved soon, and it really did happen. If you were to call this a coincidence, I wouldn¡¯t believe you either. I would love to know if you can resolve this situation like you did with the cats. Even though I¡¯m a homebody, I am still a pet lover, and a nosy person.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help butugh at the email.

    The one that settled the cat torture cases was dimir and its Meow Meow Doctrine Punch, he doesn¡¯t have such powerful abilities. [Copsing the World] has too much unreasonable expectations of him.

    Besides, the cause of the huge scale cat torture was the Holy Cat Statue that revived after thousands of years.

    To fight a human, kill their horse, To fight the bandits, capture their king. As long as they captured the Holy Cat Statue, the entire cat torture situation would naturally die down with it. The remaining cases were unable to be helped, and could only wait for the country¡¯s animal protectionws to be moreplete.

    The dog poisoning cases... could there be a simr cause to it as well?

    From [Copsing the World]¡¯s words, even though they can¡¯tpletely rule out the possibility, the chances are low.

    That¡¯s troublesome.

    At it¡¯s roots, as long as the small animal protection act is passed, all the cat torture and dog poisoning cases could be solved as easily as a hot knife through butter ¡ª as a normal citizen, who dares to go against thews of the country?

    But, the small animal protection act is still in its proposal stages, and there¡¯s still a long way to go before it is officially passed as aw. If they only counted on thew to be passed, all of the dogs might have been poisoned to death before it was illegal to do so...

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help the feeling of helplessness that welled up again. Both the criticism of ¦Ð¡¯s novel and the dog poisoning cases were well out of his jurisdiction and control, it¡¯s a situation that the country has to solve.

    But, the culprit for ¦Ð¡¯s novel¡¯s criticism was only one person, but they wouldn¡¯t be so lucky for the dog poisoning cases.

    Following the increase in quality of life across the country, more and more people are getting pets.

    Up till 2014, out of all of the families in the city, 30 million of them have dogs, that¡¯s 7% of the entire country¡¯s poption. There¡¯s one household with dogs in every 14 households.

    The China¡¯s pet market is growing at a rapid rate of 12% per year too, and would soon take first ce in the entire world.

    Right now, the biggest conflict for the pet market is the growing amount of dogs and the unthoughtful actions of the dog walkers. Some of them don¡¯t leash their dogs, allowing them to pee and poo everywhere, allowing them to bark as they wish, or even bite when they want to. They have greatly influenced other¡¯s lives, and caused hatred against dogs and dog owners in their heart.

    Some people might have been scared by dogs, or even harrassed by them previously, or they might just purely not like how the dog owners do things, but they didn¡¯t dare do anything to the dog owners, so they can only deal with the dogs.

    But, their target for revenge might not always been dogs with a bad track record, many innocent dogs and dog owners were dragged into it as well.

 Chapter 1098: Argument

    <h4>Chapter 1098: Argument</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    [Copse The World] did not continue to send new messages. He was probably asleep.

    Zhang Zian temporarily borrowed Pi¡¯sputer to delete the web crawler used to search for cat abuse and rece it with the new one used to search for the dog poisoning incidents.

    Whether it was cat abuse or dog poisonings, the newspapers and the media always reported just the tip of the iceberg. Most of them stopped in the local forums of small and medium-sized cities. A stay-at-home man who suffered from idleness posted in the middle of the night, ¡°Posting out of boredom. Our neighbor¡¯s dog has been poisoned,¡± or something simr to this. The following posts were two or three kittens expressing their feelings. Most of them were mocking, saying that it deserved to be poisoned to death.

    These kinds of random postssted for a day or two at most. They might have even been drowned out by other posts in the daytime, provided that no dog owners could let it go, and clicked on it to quarrel with the original poster, and then it would evolve into cursing at each other, mutual greetings to each other¡¯s female rtives, and finally an invitation to fight at the door of the school... That was generally the process.

    The main reason for the poprity of isoniazid was that it was in the grey area of thew.

    When Zhang Zian and Famous were filming the movie before, the pyrotechnician Guan Biao had tried to poison Famous and the two other police dogs with props and cigarettes. The principle was that sulfur dioxide produced by sulfur burning was heavier than air. People with their heads at a higher distance from the ground would hardly inhale it, but dogs with a lower head distance from the ground would inhale it. In addition, sulfide would cause a hidden hemolytic reaction when it entered the bodies of dogs.

    Finally, Guan Biao, who had failed in his quest to harm the dogs and was harmed instead, was transferred to the public security organization as he was suspected of putting dangerous substances in public ces. This was his deserved end. It was not controversial because sulfur dioxide in any country was a dangerous substance.

    But isoniazid was different. It was a real anti-tuberculosis drug with very few side effects. It was harmless to people even if they took it by mistake. Whether putting it in a public ce could be judged as putting dangerous substances in public was highly controversial.

    There was a ¡®judicial precedent principle¡¯ in thew, which meant that the legal principles in previous judgments were binding on simr cases in the future. This was to safeguard the authority of thew, so that in the same case, if City Court A convicted and City Court B acquitted it, that would make it such that thew is not valuable, and whether a decision of guilty was reached or not depended on whether City A¡¯s judgment or City B¡¯s judgment came first.

    The key to the current dog poisoning case was that no dog poisoner had been caught and prosecuted for the crime of putting dangerous substances in public ces yet. If there was a first case, and in the court statement, isoniazid could be qualitatively defined, all subsequent simr cases could follow the principle of the first case.

    No amount of legal education was as effective as the actual judgment as a precedent. For example, when the news that the person privately rearing and illegally selling grey parrots was sentenced to five years¡¯ imprisonment came out, it shocked many previously uncaring bird-keepers, who then washed their hands and no longer raised grey parrots without a license. This was the power of thew.

    Large and medium-sized cities were full of surveince cameras. Was it difficult for people to catch dog poisoners? It wasn¡¯t difficult.

    The problem was that there were too many people who kept dogs¡ªmany more than those who kept grey parrots. Both the dog captors and the dog owners had a lot of anger. The authorities concerned did not want to offend anyone, so they adopted an attitude that was to settle the difference bypromising, making the matter from something big to a small one, then making it not a problem from something small. They were reluctant to set a precedent.

    To be honest, this matter could not be entirely med on the relevant departments, because whether it was convicted or acquitted, a lot of other issues would arise.

    But could this kind of thing really be made into nothing? Not necessarily.

    History had proved countless times and would continue to prove that contradictions were always umted in ces that people did not notice, and might erupt at any time.

    Unlike the cat abuse incident, Zhang Zian had no clue about it and did not feel that he could have any impact on this kind of thing. Although he felt regret and pity, he did not have too high a sense of urgency.

    The regret and pity were because dogs biting, hurting, scaring, disturbing people and other acts were indeed wrong, even viting thew, but this did not mean that evil was the right way to control evil. Superheroes who acted as punishers should only exist in the capitalist world¡ªthis did not conform to the core values of socialism.

    At present, the storm caused by cat abuse and Pi¡¯s novel had temporarily subsided, the date of going to Egypt was approaching, and the poisoning dog incident could only be left tillter. He would think about it after returning from Egypt.

    And it took time for a web crawler to collect, analyze, and cote information about rted events. After all, his was an oldptop and a home broadbandwork with limited performance.

    He went downstairs. The store employees went to work like normal and did not wait for his instructions before they began their own work. While working, they made impromptuedic remarks.

    Lu Yiyun was thest to enter. She hurriedly stepped through the shop door and ced her backpack on the cashier counter, taking out Jasmine from her bag and letting her enter the shop by herself to y, then hurriedly apologized, ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m sorry! I waste!¡±

    Her rental ce was in the neighborhood opposite the pet store, and she was the nearest to the pet shop¡ªthe distance was only a few steps away. Usually, she arrived on time or in advance, but today she was a littlete. Of course, pet stores did not have fixed working hours, so they did not deduct money. After all, Zhang Zian boasted that he was the conscience of the industry.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s still early. There are no customers this early,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°Everyone has times they wake upte. I woke upte two days ago too.¡±

    Wang Qian held his broom and coughed, wanting to say something, but looking at Zhang Zian¡¯s face, he swallowed it back.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t get upte, but something happened in themunity and blocked the door. I couldn¡¯t get out. Finally, I had to go around to the side door.¡± She picked up a rag and wiped the desktop and monitor, exining. She didn¡¯t want to be misunderstood by everyone, and did not want them to think that she was deliberatelyte and pushed all the work to others.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Li Kun came over, very gossipy. ¡°Is it that the adulterer or the adulteress were caught and found in bed with a third party? Or is there a master whoes to themunity to light up the women who have lost their shine?¡±

    He had given too much information in one sentence, and Lu Yiyun could not react for a long time. She shook her head and said, ¡°That¡¯s not it. It seems like some owner¡¯s dog was poisoned. The owner was so angry that he blocked the guard room at the entrance to themunity with rtives and friends and asked the security guard to show the surveince video.¡±

    Zhang Zian had originally not been listening, but when he heard that it was actually another dog poisoning incident, and one in his vicinity, he could not help but be alert again.

    Although he had heard [Copse The World]¡¯s description, he kept feeling like the dog poisoning incidents were far away from him. He did not think that he would actually instantly meet a real-life incident.

    ¡°What happened? Say it out loud for me to hear,¡± he said.

 Chapter 1099: The Poisoned Dog

    <h4>Chapter 1099: The Poisoned Dog</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When ites to gossip, most people are nosy, no matter their gender. It¡¯s just that some people are more open about it, while some keep them hidden.

    Zhang Zian was interested in the fresh dog poisoning news that Lu Yiyun¡¯s area just had. Wang Qian and Li Kun were even more curious, and came crowding around her, pressing for more information.

    Jiang Feifei was cleaning up next door, and know nothing.

    Lu Yiyun gave it a thought before saying everything she knew of the situation.

    After closing shop at the pet shopst night, Wang Qian, Li Kun and Jiang Feifei sent her back to her area just like usual, and she asked them to just drop her off at the entrance so as to not bother them for too long. It¡¯s quitete now, so probably nothing will happen.

    She entered the neighbourhood herself, her head lowered as she entered her own rented apartment quickly. She could actually afford a ce better than this apartment, but this ce is close to the pet shop and she¡¯s toozy to move. Even though her ce right now is small, it¡¯s more than enough for one human and a cat.

    A few familiar faces walked by her, they¡¯re all residents of the area. She has been staying here for some time, and basically knows everyone, but since she¡¯s naturally shy, she would almost never proactively greet other people. Even if others greeted her first, she would only lower her head shyly.

    Usually at this time, it¡¯s exactly the time where the working ss had just finished their dinner. Some of them are ying theputer, some of them ying on their phone, some of them guiding their kids at their homework, and some of them walking their dogs.

    No matter the season, she would always meet people that are walking their dogs on her way back from work.

    After working in the pet shop, she got a lot more familiar and knowledgable about dog behaviour and dog mentality, and no longer gets afraid when she sees dogs. In fact, most of the time, dogs calm her down more than humans do.

    She may not know the owners of the dogs, but she¡¯s extremely familiar with the dogs in the neighbourhood.

    ¡°Good evening.¡±

    When she walked to the lobby of her apartment, she heard a greeting while her head was still down, and a husky rushing towards her in its glee ¡ª though it was restrained after a few steps by its owner.

    She recognizes the husky, the owner¡¯s a woman in her mid-thirties living right below her floor.

    She raised her head slightly, it really was that woman walking her dog.

    There¡¯s no one around her, the greeting was for her.

    Lu Yiyun had conversed with this woman once,st year end. This woman was walking her dog back then too, but she hadn¡¯t put her dog on her leash. When Lu Yiyun walked past her, she couldn¡¯t help but blurt out ¡°Huskies like to bolt, if you don¡¯t leash them, you will lose them.¡±

    It was the year end back then, and the dognapping cases were getting more and moremon, Zhang Zian was also busy settling it. That¡¯s why she had initiated the conversation despite her quiet self.

    Her reminder was soft, she couldn¡¯t even hear herself properly, and she ran off like a bolt immediately after that, not confirming whether the other had heard her.

    But, from the next day on, the woman would always leash her husky when she brings it out for a walk, and would always greet Lu Yiyun when they meet even if she had never replied once,

    She hadn¡¯t repliedst night either, and they were used to it, walking past her after only dropping a greeting.

    But what she had never thought would happen, was for this to be thest time she would see the husky,

    This morning, Lu Yiyun had woken up and washed up as per usual, eating her breakfast and preparing Jasmine¡¯s. She seemed to hear amotion happening outside, but ignored it, assuming it was just another couple having one of their spats.

    After packing up, she carried Jasmine out on her back like she always had. When she walked to the entrance of her neighbourhood, she realised that there was a bunch of people blocking the entrance and stopping everyone from moving in or out, most of them just spectators.

    Actually, if they really wanted to squeeze their way out, they could. But Lu Yiyun didn¡¯t want to brave the crowd for fear of squeezing Jasmine in her backpack. So, she decided to take a detour, and walk from the side door instead.

    Right then, she heard a vaguely familiar voice. That voice had furiously shouted, ¡°My dog was poisoned in your neighbourhood, how can you not take responsibility for it? Trying to push it clean off of you?¡±

    The tiptoed to look over, realising that the person that¡¯s shouting was the woman that lives below her.

    Then the dog that was poisoned, could it be that husky that she had seenst night?

    Her footsteps stalled, watching from a distance from where she was, trying to understand what had happened from the bystander¡¯s gossiping and the people involved.

    Apparantly, when this woman was walking her dogst night, her dog seemed to be sniffing at something, or had eaten something from the floor. It was too dark at night to see clearly, but she had dismissed it since her dog does this regrly. It had even picked up shit to eat before.

    After walking the dog, she had brought it back home. It still hadn¡¯t shown any weird signs yet.

    Back home, she went ahead to take a shower. Women usually take really long showers, blowing their hair dry, moisturizing, putting on their masks. During this period, her usually noisy husky was unusually quiet, but she thought it was just tired, and didn¡¯t think much of it.

    After an hourter, she had finally finished her routine and was nning to watch television for a while. She called her dog¡¯s name, expecting it toe bolting towards her at the speed of light, leaping onto the sofa to snuggle with her like it always did, but there was nothing. No matter how many times she called the husky, there was nothing at all.

    She felt uneasy, and went to look for her dog in the other room, only to find her dog¡¯s body lying on the floor, white foaming out of its mouth, its breath stopped.

    She had nearly broken downpletely, hugging her dead husky, wailing for its life.

    Only after her sobbing had gradually stopped, did she start to think about the reason for its death.

    Foaming at the mouth clearly showed that it had been poisoned to death. She has seen enough old pce shows to know that, that¡¯s how everyone that was poisoned to death was shown.

    But, what it had eaten today was all what it had eaten before, there¡¯s no chance of poisoning.

    In the midst of her pain, she quickly remembered the unknown object that her husky had eaten during the walk, and confirmed that that was the source of the poisoning.

    She was quick to act, and immediately ran to the police station in their neighbourhood and asked to see the CCTV footage to find the culprit that had put the poison down. But, the person in charge of the police station had already finished their shift, and the policeman on shift now couldn¡¯t make that executive call, so they rejected her request.

    Early morning the next day, she felt that she was too weak alone, so she made some calls to gather her family and friends to block the opening to the neighbourhood to find the person responsible for the poison. And if they couldn¡¯t, or the police were not willing to cooperate, they would escte this to the manager in charge of the neighbourhood.

    The person in charge of the neighbourhood police station came to work, seeing that the other party is here and extremely aggressive, he didn¡¯t want to carry a me that wasn¡¯t his. So after checking with the owner of the neighbourhood, he agreed to show the CCTV footage.

    Lu Yiyun only stood to watch for a while before leaving. Even until her departure, the crowd standing at the door still hadn¡¯t left. Most probably, they still hadn¡¯t found the perpetrator from the CCTV.

 Chapter 1100: New Comrade

    <h4>Chapter 1100: New Comrade</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After Lu Yiyun finished speaking, Zhang Zian and the shop employees were all speechless.

    They did not know how the woman walked her dog, but huskies were not likely to hurt people normally. At most, it would have urinated and defecated everywhere. No matter what, it should not have been poisoned.

    If the unfortunate person in this situation had been an honest person, it would have just ended there. After all, in these times, honest people always suffered from losses because they did not speak up. It happened that the woman was not the kind of person who was willing to give up, so things had be a big mess.

    When thew could not solve the problem fairly, many things were distributed ording to how much trouble people caused.

    Zhang Zian thought about it carefully and told Wang Qian and Li Kun to take their puppies to walk in the green space every day. First, they should be fed until they were full before going there. Second, they should pay attention to whether there were any suspicious objects on the ground, so as to prevent the puppies eating it by mistake.

    They did not have the heart to harm anyone, but they also did not have the heart to defend them.

    The green space was deste, mosquitoes were plentiful in summer, and nobody went there, but you could not defend against these things. Even if one had tremendous property, those that had fur did not count toward it¡ªthey might be gone at any time. If the puppies ate poison by mistake, he would return to the pre-liberation period overnight.

    As for the Zhan Tian, it didn¡¯t matter. It was a retired trump card police dog and had received strict anti-feeding training.

    This was really just in case. In fact, the probability of idents was very small because the green space was the base of stray cats. If any changes were made, dimir would know.

    Zhang Zian cleaned up the ce with the store employees. It was already past eight. Once the cleaning was done, he had Wang Qian and Li Kun go buy breakfast, and at that time, he got a notification on his phone again.

    Wei Kang: Xiao Zhang, do you have time today?

    Zhang Zian: Professor Wei, what is it? If it is about money, I have time all day long.

    Wei Kang: Xiao Zhang, you¡¯re joking again. It¡¯s not about money. If you have time now, why don¡¯t you make a trip down to my office to get to know the members of the expedition group and to do some preparation work before setting off.

    Zhang Zian pretentiously checked his schedule for the day. It was empty as usual.

    ¡°Fina, I need to make a trip down to Binhai University to get to know the members of the expedition group. Are you going?¡± He went to the cat climbing rack, his arms drooping. He covered his crotch with both hands like a football yer who made up a free-kick wall to prevent Snowy Li from attacking out of nowhere and asked Fina with his head up.

    Finazily opened its eyes by a slit, coldly saying, ¡°You¡¯re asking me to lower myself to meet a few lowly beings?¡±

    This answer was what Zhang Zian had expected.

    Anyway, it did not matter. It would be better to wait until they reached Egypt to talk.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun bought breakfast and came back, and Zhang Zian talked with them, then took his breakfast. He did not drive the car, but instead ate as he walked.

    This time, dimir did not request to go. Binhai University was very near, and it had already gone there a long time ago.

    When he walked to the housing area Lu Yiyun lived in, he took a look across the road, and saw that there was no one at the entrance. They had probably separated¡ªthose that had to go to work had gone to work, and those that had to go to school had gone to school. As to how this thing would be solved in the end, he would only be able to find out in the future.

    He was on a familiar road, and it was an easy journey for him. When he reached Binhai University, he wolfed down thest few mouthfuls of his food and threw the wrapping into the garbage bin¡ªin a ce where there were so many girls, he needed to pay attention to his image. What if some white, rich, and beautiful girl fell for him?

    Jiang Feifei had mentioned earlier that the stray cats of Binhai University had disappeared almost overnight. Today, Zhang Zian entered Binhai University again and as soon as he entered, he saw a stray cat lyingzily in the sun on the roof of the guard room at the school gate.

    It met the eyes of Zhang Zian, then yawned and turned its head to stare at other people, uninterested.

    This stray cat was probably a member of the Meow Meow Branch Organization of Binhai University, and it was its shift today. No matter who entered the university, they would not escape its eyes.

    The campus was full of students, and he could not help but recall his youth. His biggest regret was that he¡¯d spent all his time in the university ying games, and he hadn¡¯t spent any time picking up girls...

    Entering the central teaching building, he took the elevator directly to the floor where Wei Kang¡¯s office was.

    He had just approached the office and had yet to knock the door when he heard some chattering and happy talking sounds inside. It seemed that there were quite a lot of people there. There was an explosion ofughter once in a while.

    The door was not closed tightly, and there was a small gap. He knocked twice, and pushed the door open to enter.

    ¡°Professor Wei, I¡¯m here.¡±

    The office instantly quieted down, and the speaking andughing sounds stopped. A few pairs of eyes turned to look towards Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian also nced at the people present. These were thepanions who would spend time together for a period in the future.

    Wei Kang was sitting at his desk, all smiles as he held a thermal sk and drank tea, not participating in the conversation andughter of the young people.

    The other four young people present were three men and one woman¡ªa fat man who looked to be very loud, a tall, thin, shy boy with sses, a medium-sized, muscr, dark boy who looked like he had been working out, and a girl with long hair that was like a shawl. There were freckles on her face.

    When Wei Kang saw Zhang Zian, he put down his thermal cup, stood up, and said to the others, ¡°Come, let me introduce you. This is the special adviser I mentioned to you for this expedition. His name is Zhang Zian.¡±

    He introduced them to Zhang Zian: ¡°These four are graduate students of mine. You guys can get to know each other. Don¡¯t be too polite. Don¡¯t be restrained.¡±

    The freckled girl hurried to ask, ¡°You¡¯re the one who rears cats? Why didn¡¯t you bring your cat over? We really wanted to see! We were still talking about that just now!¡±

    Wei Kang coughed lightly, scolding her for being rude in his heart.

    It was true that these four were all graduate students that he had brought with him. Among them, this freckled girl had just been recruited this year. Although her grades were eptable, her main purpose was to bnce the gender ratio.

    Because Wei Kang often led the team to the field for expeditions, even many boys were tired and unwilling to take part in his postgraduate exams, let alone girls. It was rare that someone like the freckled girl was willing to take the initiative to apply for the exam. So she had been given preferential treatment in the process of applying for the exam and enrolling. Normally, Wei Kang also took care of her more.

    In addition to that, her face was not unattractive, so the other three boys were like stars holding the moon. They would rush to do all of the chores for her, and she became the center of the four. After a long time she could not help bing a bit spoiled and arrogant.

    However, Zhang Zian was not one of Wei Kang¡¯s graduate students, nor had he never seen a woman before. He did not care for her tone, but he was happy for Wei Kang, who had been worried about no one to apply for his graduate ss. Now there were at least four.

    As for her looks... He felt apologetic saying it, but after bing used to Sihwa¡¯s looks, it was really a bit of the feeling of ¡°having sailed the seven seas, there was nothing new under the sun.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m the cat owner. As for the cat... It didn¡¯t want toe, and I didn¡¯t force it,¡± he said lightly.

 Chapter 1101: Catâ€™s Shadow in the Ancient Tomb

    <h4>Chapter 1101: Cat¡¯s Shadow in the Ancient Tomb</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The cat was not willing toe over?

    Zhang Zian had answered truthfully, but the four young people felt baffled by what he¡¯d said and didn¡¯t know how to reply.

    Wei Kang was worried that they would get into a conflict the first time they met due to their differences, so he immediately changed the topic. ¡°Well, cats are all pretty stoic. You guys know that as well. Why don¡¯t we have a round of introductions... Gao Ke, you go first.¡±

    Gao Ke was that male student with a strong and buff body.

    Now that the temperature had gradually gotten warmer, he had already started to wear sleeveless shirts, showing off his muscles unknowingly. He smiled. ¡°I¡¯m Gao Ke. I¡¯m in my third year of my Master¡¯s course. I like to go to the gym and y video games. I have been looking forward to this trip for a while, since I wanted to see if Egypt was really like what Assassin¡¯s Creed: Origins showed. If possible, I want to do a leap of faith also! Haha!¡±

    Wei Kangined, ¡°If you had as much passion for studying as you do for gaming, your studies wouldn¡¯t be as treacherous as they are now. With the way you¡¯re going, you¡¯re going to end up dying your graduation.¡±

    Gao Ke stuck out his tongue.

    The fatty pointed at Gao Ke, exining to Zhang Zian, ¡°Don¡¯t listen to his lies. He likes to game, but his skills are horrible. He¡¯s always using mods when ying single yer, and he¡¯s often the most burdensome one if we y multiyer. If he asks you for a game, don¡¯t ept it! Hey hey hey, don¡¯t get physical with me!¡±

    Halfway through, Gao Ke pretended to throw punches at him for exposing him.

    The two of them yed around for a while before the fatty introduced himself. ¡°My name is Xiao Tianyu. I¡¯m in my second year in my Master¡¯s. I¡¯m a male, and I like females. I¡¯m 175cm tall, my weight is a secret, I¡¯ve been single since birth, and I have lost hope for this superficial world. It would be great if I could bring back an Egyptian beauty from Egypt...¡±

    Zhang Zian sighed inwardly. The tall, skinny bespectacled man followed closely after Xiao Tianyu, introducing himself too. ¡°I¡¯m Du Xuetao. I¡¯m in the second year of my Master¡¯s. I... I don¡¯t have any special hobbies.¡±

    Xiao Tianyu put his arm around Du Xuetao¡¯s shoulder, adding, ¡°This is our level¡¯s smartest man. His hobby is studying. Before meeting him, I really didn¡¯t know that there were people out there that genuinely liked studying.¡±

    Wei Kang interrupted unhappily, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with liking studying? A student¡¯s greatest mission is to study. You should take a page out of Xuetao¡¯s book.¡±

    Du Xuetao seemed to be a bit of a nerd, and he was way too skinny. Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help but be worried that this man wouldn¡¯t be able to stand the trials of a field trip.

    Lastly, the freckled girl talked. She had already met some trouble conversing with Zhang Zian earlier, so she wasn¡¯t too happy. ¡°I¡¯m He He, year one in my Master¡¯s. Don¡¯t you dare call me Hee Hee.¡±

    They had finished their introductions and were getting interested in Zhang Zian, bombarding him with questions. Since he was the special consultant of their team, he definitely should have some really amazing skills.

    Zhang Zian answered honestly, ¡°Actually, I¡¯m just a pet shop owner, selling cats and dogs, and all kinds of aquatic animals and nts. I didn¡¯t major in biology in university either. I am very honoured and surprised to join the trip as your consultant, I have to thank Professor Weikang for his rmendation for that... Oh right, if you or your friends and family would like to buy a pet, you cane to my shop, I promise to give nothing but the best.¡±

    The four youngsters looked at each other. Zhang Zian¡¯s introduction was way too..moner-like. He wasn¡¯t not particrly aplished academically, and he didn¡¯t have any special jobs, so how had Wei Kang thought to pick him? Could there have been some under-the-table transaction there?

    Since that was so, he most likely hade on the trip just because he had a native Egyptian cat.

    He He pursed her lips unhappily at that, forgetting that she had gotten into the Master¡¯s program because of her special identity as a female.

    Even though the other three students didn¡¯t say anything, they were clearly looking down on Zhang Zian.

    Wei Kang frowned slightly. He had been paying attention to Zhang Zian, and he knows that other than the most usual identity of ¡°shop owner¡±, he has a few others that would floor these four naive studentscking real life experience the moment he mentions it.

    Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t mentioned them himself, and Wei Kang was thinking about whether he should mention it for Zhang Zian. Right then, there was a knock on the office door, and a man in his mid-forties came in with a book in his hands, his dress and aura those of a professor at Binhai University too.

    Weikang immediately rushed up to wee him, introducing him to the rest of the people. ¡°This is Mr. Luo, a professor of history at our school. I invited him here specially to teach you guys more about Egypt¡¯s history for the next few days, so that you don¡¯t get overwhelmed after reaching Egypt. You have to pay close attention! I¡¯m joining in the ss too!¡±

    ¡°Good evening, Mr. Luo.¡±

    The four researchers greeted the teacher, while Zhang Zian merely nodded in acknowledgment.

    Mr. Luo nodded in response. After going through the pleasantries with Wei Kang, he found a random chair to sit in and addressed the group, slightly ashamed. ¡°I couldn¡¯t really reject Professor Wei Kang¡¯s invitation, but it is difficult for me to summarize and exin Egypt¡¯s history clearly in just a few hours,¡± he said. ¡°Egypt is the country with the longest history. It was the first country that humans made after all. How about this¡ªsince this is our first day, what questions do you have for me?¡±

    Not waiting for the rest to speak up, He He started again with her sharp and crisp voice. ¡°Mr. Luo, I have a question.¡±

    ¡°Please do, as long as it is about ancient Egypt,¡± Mr. Luo said.

    He He gave a look to the three men and Zhang Zian and smugly stated, ¡°Mr. Luo, I heard a rumor. It mentioned that at the start of the 1990s, Egyptian archeologist Dr. Masu and his colleagues dug out and opened a 4000-year-old coffin only to find a long-extinct species of cat guarding it. They said that the coffin belonged to the old pharoah Tcbotsk the Fourth and was discovered eight meters below the Valley of the Kings.

    ¡°Professor Masu opened the stone door to the grave, entering with antern in his hands, only to find a big gray cat watching them with yellow-emerald eyes. It had the physique of a small leopard, and it hissed at them in an attempt to scare them away and tried to attack them with its teeth. Professor Masu and his colleagues sessfully fought off the cat and managed to capture it to bring it back to thebs. But after it was brought back to thebs, its health took a sharp turn for the worse, and it died not a few hourster. Professor Masu had nned to do more research with the cat¡¯s body.¡±

    She took a breath and continued, ¡°What I want to ask is, if the main aim of our trip is to find the tracks and evidence of Egyptian cats, then isn¡¯t this cat the target of our trip? If so, why don¡¯t we directly contact this Professor Masu and ask him for the details on this cat?¡±

 Chapter 1102: Starting a Rumor with a Mouth, Running Your Legs Off to Stop Rumors

    <h4>Chapter 1102: Starting a Rumor with a Mouth, Running Your Legs Off to Stop Rumors</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    He He finished her question and waited for Teacher Luo¡¯s answer. Wei Kang scolded her lightly, ¡°Xiao He, you are also a student of biology, and you¡¯re even a graduate student, so don¡¯t talk about such ridiculous things as soon as you hear them! There were cats in the tomb 4000 years ago? And they even attacked people? What a joke! It¡¯s obviously crap! How would they treat our biology department if someone else heard it?¡±

    Wei Kang would normally care about his only female disciple in private, but in front of Zhang Zian and Teacher Luo, these two outsiders, his face felt quite heated.

    But Gao Ke and Xiao Tianyu, two of the boys, enjoyed this kind of anecdote of unofficial history. They found it very exciting. They even wished that they had been there at that time and could take a look at the cat who had stayed in the ancient tomb for 4000 years.

    Du Xuetao pushed up his sses and said solemnly, ¡°That¡¯s impossible. A cat living in an ancient tomb for 4,000 years¡ªwhat would it eat? Would there be enough oxygen? Would its lifespan be that long?¡±

    He He instantly replied, ¡°This was a cat from 4000 years ago! Perhaps it was some very rare species, and could hibernate, sleeping for 4000 years. It was shocked awake by a human who opened the tomb!¡±

    Her eyes were bright and she said longingly, ¡°4000 years! A cat apanied its owner and endured 4000 years of loneliness in the tomb just for the moment when the owner was reincarnated!¡±

    Gao Ke and Xiao Tianyu, two boys with no principle, immediately echoed each other, praising the kinds of loyalty to the cat patron, and these sorts of praise.

    However, He He did not appreciate this. She looked at them contemptuously and said, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s even a female cat. Even a cat can do it to this standard. If it were a man dominated by his lower body, it¡¯s estimated that it wouldst for four years... No, he would not be able to stand it for even four months. He would already have dug up the grave and run out to find a new lover. So men are really big pig hooves!¡±

    Gao Ke and Xiao Tianyu, seeing their attempt to curry favor fail, could not help butugh awkwardly a few times.

    Zhang Zian shook his head, saying in a low voice, ¡°am¡¯s Razor.¡±

    ¡°What? What did you say?¡± He He had not heard clearly what he¡¯d said, but from Zhang Zian¡¯s expression, he did not seem like he was agreeing with her.

    ¡°I said, am¡¯s Razor.¡± Zhang Zian raised his voice. He didn¡¯t have to be as careful as the other three boys and simply said, ¡°The simpler the idea, the better¡ªrather than assuming that there was a hibernating cat that existed only 4000 years ago and is now extinct, why don¡¯t we use a simpler answer to exin it¡ªit¡¯s just another rumor about ancient Egypt.¡±

    Wei Kang hit the table and eximed, ¡°Right! That¡¯s the attitude of science!¡±

    The mention of ancient tombs always gave rise to a lot of reckless reveries. Whether it was a once popr tomb robbery novel or an enduring action game, the word ¡®tomb¡¯ in the name alone could increase sales by at least 20%.

    As mankind had not yet fully grasped the internal structure of the Great Pyramid, rumors about the Egyptian Pyramid were probably as many as those of the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor in China. There were even stories like, ¡°A man r*ped a X3000-year-old mummy, causing it to be eight months pregnant.¡± The news said that the mummy was an Egyptian mummy, but the apanying picture was a mummy from Central America. Newspapers fabricated by third-rate magazines were also exported for domestic sale.

    ¡°Besides, the pharaohs of ancient Egypt did not have the tradition of burying live animals,¡± Zhang Zian added. ¡°Otherwise, why would they invent mummies? In my opinion, it is possible to say that the cat got in through a crack in the grave, but it is a cat that has lived for 4000 years... It probably should be called a turtle cat.¡±

    Teacher Luo nodded, smiled, and said, ¡°This fellow student is quite right. At present, no record of an ancient Egyptian burial with living animals has been found. Perhaps I¡¯m ignorant, but I¡¯ve never heard of a Cherubze IV 4000 years ago, and if this Dr. Masu was a fellow historian, I¡¯ve never heard of him either.¡±

    Zhang Zian did not spend so much time with Fina for nothing. Sometimes when he managed to make it delighted, or when it saw how developed the world was today from the news broadcasts, it would mutter in disdain about the memory of how great ancient Egypt was and how long its history was. He could learn something about ancient Egypt from its words, even if he did not specialize in the history of ancient Egypt. He was no scientist, but at least he was better than the ordinary person.

    ¡°In addition, 4000 years ago, that is, 2000 BC, when the capital of ancient Egypt was being transferred from Memphis to Thebes, if there was such a pharaoh, then his tomb must be in one of these two ces,¡± Zhang Zian added. ¡°How could he run to King¡¯s Valley hundreds of kilometers away? King¡¯s Valley was still a wilderness at that time. Which Chinese emperor was not buried near the capital? It¡¯s convenient to guard mausoleums, and it¡¯s also convenient for future generations to worship and have pics and tour around at the same time.¡±

    Teacher Luo was slightly shocked. ¡°Does this student do research on ancient Egyptian history?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a ssmate, and I¡¯m not a student here,¡± Zhang Zian said and shook his head.

    Wei Kang hurriedly introduced Zhang Zian individually to Teacher Luo and made it clear that he was taking the role of special consultant in this expedition.

    Teacher Luo pointed at Wei Kang. ¡°Professor Wei, you are wrong in this case. Someone on your team clearly knows the history of ancient Egypt. What did you pull me over for?¡±

    Wei Kang had not thought at all that Zhang Zian was that knowledgeable about the not-well-known history of Egypt. This was an unexpected surprise.

    ¡°Teacher Luo, you are overpraising me. How can I be said to understand it all? I just understand a bit and have a bit of general knowledge.¡± Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders.

    He He¡¯s face heated upon hearing that, because wasn¡¯t he just saying that she did not even have any general knowledge?

    ¡°Knowing a bit of general information is enough. You guys aren¡¯t specifically going there to learn about ancient history. So don¡¯t be too modest. How many ordinary people can tell the transition between times and ces of the ancient Egyptian capital at will?¡±

    Teacher Luo also let out a breath of relief. He had been wondering how he could squeeze around 7000 years of ancient Egyptian history into a few hours, and since Wei Kang¡¯s group already had someone who knew a bit of general history, that would save some trouble.

    ¡°Who knows if he only has that bit of knowledge in his brain and just happened to pour it out.¡±

    Being embarrassed in front of the three boys and scolded by her teacher, He He was very unhappy and muttered in a low voice.

    She remembered that Zhang Zian owned a pet shop and a suspected primitive Egyptian cat. Maybe he had heard the legend of the cat shadow in the ancient tomb before and had gone to check the authenticity of the tomb so that he could say the right thing and frighten everyone else.

    Wei Kang was also not very sure about the extent of Zhang Zian¡¯s knowledge about ancient Egypt in his heart and did not dare to let Teacher Luo return just like that.

    Teacher Luo could tell what they were thinking. He smiled, flipped open the book he brought along everywhere, and said, ¡°That¡¯s good. Then let me test you.¡±

 Chapter 1103: Hieroglyphs

    <h4>Chapter 1103: Hieroglyphs</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The moment a test was mentioned, the four research students suddenly got excited. The one that was getting tested wasn¡¯t them after all, so they were more than d to witness this happening. He He even said, ¡°Mr. Luo, don¡¯t let him off easily!¡±

    Wei Kang was instead worried that Mr. Luo would make the questions too difficult and embarrass Zhang Zian. He really wished that Zhang Zian could answer these questions correctly. It would really be a great final addition to their Egypt trip then.

    Mr. Luo smiled but remained silent, flipping through the book that he had brought. Hended on one page, pushing it towards Zhang Zian. ¡°What does this picture mean?¡±

    Zhang Zian, Wei Kang, and everyone else there came to surround the book, stretching out their necks to see what was happening.

    Wei Kang sucked in a cold breath, eximing, ¡°These...these are Egyptian hieroglyphs!¡±

    Mr. Luo nodded. ¡°When talking about Ancient Egypt, we can¡¯t possibly leave out Ancient Egypt¡¯s ancientnguage and alphabet. Language and words are the basis to every single civilization. If you know Ancient Egypt¡¯snguage, even if your knowledge is rudimentary, it is great proof of understanding.¡±

    ¡°This... Isn¡¯t this too difficult...?¡± Wei Kang sneaked a nce at Zhang Zian worriedly.

    Mr. Luo looked over at Zhang Zian as well. ¡°What do you think? If you think this is too difficult, I can change it into another question.¡±

    Zhang Zian stared at the picture emptily.

    First of all, all of the hieroglyphs were circled up with an elliptical border, a symmetrical support beneath it, looking like a long oval makeup mirror.

    In the border, a right angle triangle was at the very top, with its hypotenuse looking more like steps.

    Under the triangle was an animal that was lying down. It had a head, a tail, and four legs, much like a lioness.

    Under the lioness was an upside-down U shape with one of its openings connected to a circle, somewhat simr to a fishhook.

    There were a few other symbols¡ªtwo birds, a feather that was like a dagger, squares, semicircles, and a few other symbols that were too hard to describe.

    The four students started to try deciphering the hieroglyphs, guessing everything under the sun. Every time He He guessed something, she received great praise from Gao Ke and Xiao Tianyu.

    ¡°How about it? Do you know what this photo means?¡±

    After some time, Mr. Luo questioned him, mouth curved into a smile.

    ¡°If I am not wrong,¡± Zhang Zian answered confidently, ¡°this photo came from the Rosetta Stone, and it means ¡®Cleopatra.''¡±

    ¡°Cleopatra?¡± He He repeated. ¡°Why does this name sound...ah! It¡¯s the Beautiful Queen of Egypt?¡±

    ¡°No, the one on this sledge is Cleopatra the First, and the Queen of Egypt is the Seventh. There¡¯s a huge difference between them.¡± Zhang Zian corrected her without any consideration.

    Wei Kang couldn¡¯t help his excitement and nervousness at Zhang Zian¡¯s firm answer, asking for Mr. Luo¡¯s opinion with his eyes.

    Even Mr. Luo was surprised. ¡°Have you seen the Rosetta Stone before, or have you learned Egyptian hieroglyphs before?¡±

    ¡°About that... I have a friend that¡¯s very interested in Egypt, and I learned a bit from them.¡± Zhang Zian answered as vaguely as he could.

    ¡°Oh, then what else do you know about Egyptian hieroglyphs?¡± Mr. Luo asked. He really couldn¡¯t believe that a normal person would actually be able to read the elusive and confusing hieroglyphs.

    Zhang Zian gave it a thought, pointing at the picture. ¡°Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs are allbinations of sound and meaning,¡± he exined. ¡°The one in front shows its pronunciation, while the one behind shows its meaning. You could write it from left to right, right to left, up to down, or even from the middle towards the left and right¡ªthis is usually determined by where the faces of the animals or humans are pointing. The sentence structure usually goes verb-subject-noun, and ispletely opposite to Japanese, which goes subject-noun-verb, and they¡¯re pretty non-intuitive.¡±

    Don¡¯t ask him how he learned Japanese. He would be more than d to teach you personally.

    Wei Kang and his four students were allpletely confused and had no idea whether he was right or not. But seeing how calm Zhang Zian was, it didn¡¯t seem like he was pulling this out of his *ss.

    Mr. Luo closed his book, smiling. ¡°Alright, I can end the ss early. I hope everything¡¯s sessful in your expedition! Remember to bring me some souvenirs!¡±

    Finishing, hepletely ignored Wei Kang¡¯s attempt to hold him back, waving his hand and leaving the office with much ease.

    His actions had already shown everything.

    ¡°Zian, when did you learn how to read Egyptian hieroglyphs?¡± Wei Kang couldn¡¯t hold in the bubbling excitement in his heart, and he tugged on Zhang Zian¡¯s elbow.

    Zhang Zian removed his elbow from his death grip calmly, answering, ¡°I didn¡¯t really ¡®learn,¡¯ I only know a bit. Ever since I knew I was following the team to Egypt, I¡¯d been using my free time to read some books about Egypt. I had nothing to do anyway. You know my shop doesn¡¯t have much business...¡±

    ¡°Look at him! He¡¯s already been out of school for so long, but he hasn¡¯t forgotten to use his free time to study. This is lifelong learning! You guys should learn from him!¡±

    In the midst of his excitement, he didn¡¯t forget to chide the four students, pinning down especially thezy Gao Ke with his eagle eyes.

    Gao Ke shot Zhang Zian a pained smile and hid behind Xiao Tianyu¡¯s wide torso, hiding from his mentor¡¯s piercing gaze.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s understanding about hieroglyphs was entry-level at best. He wasn¡¯t even a novice in a real expert¡¯s eyes. He did use his free time to learn about Ancient Egypt¡¯s words andnguage, since he had a free teacher in his shop anyway. The only thing was that this teacher was a little temperamental, so if he pronounced or recognized the word wrongly, even if it was just a small mistake, he would end up getting scoffed at.

    The first thing that Fina had taught him was how to read ¡°Cleopatra,¡± including the pronunciation and writing. That was why he was able to recognize it on sight from Mr. Luo¡¯s picture. That was why he could act cool for a bit.

    No matter how he tried to exin that he was just a novice, Wei Kang couldn¡¯t seem to ditch the idea that he was just being humble.

    The four students had apletely different impression of him now. Other than Du Xuetao, who genuinely liked studying, the other three had merely wanted to get an easy Master¡¯s certificate to get a job. Even though they didn¡¯t say it, they were all a notch more confident in their Egypt trip.

    Even He He¡ªshe had already been proven wrong several times, and it wouldn¡¯t bode well for her if she continued to question him. It might instead negatively impact the others¡¯ impression of her.

    Only with true strength would one be able to gain true respect from the people around them.

    It is a good thing that they are more confident now, and seeing the situation, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t fight their words anymore. When they reach Egypt, if there are situations where the knowledge of Ancient Egypt¡¯s words,nguage, culture and knowledge are needed, they could just ask Fina for guidance. It is the walking dictionary and encyclopedia for Ancient Egypt after all, no one could be stronger than it.

 Chapter 1104: Playing with a New Toy

    <h4>Chapter 1104: ying with a New Toy</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Professor Wei Kang was most worried about how unfamiliar they were with Egyptian culture and living conditions. Although he would definitely hire a guide after arriving there, the guide was only a guide in geography. It would be too extravagant to expect them to know the culture andnguage of ancient Egypt. He probably could not afford a guide who had such knowledge.

    When it came to Chinese history, it must be said to be 5000 years in length, and when it came to Egyptian history, it must be said to be 7000 years. But in fact, the history of ancient Egypt was actually only 5000 years long. When the era of Cleopatra ended, it waspletely interrupted. Thetter 2000 years were no longer the era of pharaohs. The inheritors threw the culture and heritage of ancient Egypt into the rubbish heap of history, and the Arabs reced the real Egyptians to be the masters of thatnd.

    The Chinese people of today were still the people of China from 2000 years ago, but the Egyptians of today were no longer the Egyptians of 2000 years ago. The officialnguage was Arabic now.

    The reason for this was probably that China was in a better geographical location, with a teau and the sea as natural barriers in the east, south and southwest direction. China could also ensure that there were suitable exchanges with other countries in other directions, so as not to be isted from the outside world.

    Egypt was at the strategic juncture of three continents and two seas. Since ancient times, it had been a battleground for military strategists. Especially in ancient times, everyone had coveted this rich world granary. The unfortunate ancient Egyptians were rotated every few decades. Not only was their cultural heritage interrupted, but their ancient buildings were damaged by war. It was said that the nose of the Sphinx figure had been bombarded by Napoleon and ruined.

    One of the main objectives of this scientific examination was to find the primitive Egyptian cats of thousands of years ago and to find decisive evidence for the domestication process of cats, which was bound to intersect with archaeology and history. Wei Kang had no knowledge of these subjects. Hence, he had invited Teacher Luo at thest minute to hold make-up lessons for the expedition team, but he also knew that it would be of little significance. Still, ever since he had found out that Zhang Zian knew ancient Egyptiannguage and history, he felt as if he had been injected with a cardiac stimnt and had managed to put down something that troubled him.

    ¡°Come, let us familiarize ourselves with the equipment for the journey this time and try on the clothes to see if they fit.¡± He pointed at the stack of equipment and clothes at the corner of the room.

    Wei Kang had made aplete set of clothes for each member of the team. Short-sleeved shirts and shorts and long-sleeved shirts and long pants, sun-proof clothes, cold-proof clothes and matching baseball caps. The logo of Binhai University was printed on their clothes and hats. Wearing these clothes to Egypt would look very official, and if they met with a messy situation, they could easily find theirrades in the crowd to keep from being separated. After all, Egypt¡¯s current situation was not very stable.

    Zhang Zian simply tried it on. The size was suitable.

    His gaze moved, and he saw a very special thing in the box. He could not help but walk over and ask, ¡°Professor Wei, what is this thing?¡±

    Wei Kang was also trying on clothes, and when he took a look, he answered, ¡°Oh, this is the newest model of a UAV.¡±

    ¡°UAV?¡± Zhang Zian had heard of this thing before, but it was his first time seeing it with his own eyes.

    Wei Kang nodded. ¡°During this scientific research operation in the field, there will be UAVs to follow the whole journey,¡± he said. ¡°One reason is to record the details of the whole journey as valuable information for the future. Another is for safety. If there is any movement around us, the UAVs hovering in the air can find it ahead of time. The third is to search for wildlife more effectively. After all, it can fly high and far.¡±

    In a portable suitcase, a highly technological and aesthetic UAVy quietly. The silver-white magnesium-aluminum alloy body and carbon fiber arm were light and strong. The four propellers were thin and sharp, twisted in beautiful angles.

    A pan tilt camera, which looked like a high-end camera lens, was ced in another small box. Its big, agile eyes were coated with green film, reflecting Zhang Zian¡¯s figure.

    Besides that, there was also a remote control and a backup battery, as well as a lot of other parts.

    He could see that this thing was quite expensive with one look. Zhang Zian was thinking that Professor Wei had really prepared well for this expedition.

    ¡°Xiao Zhang, I just wanted to tell you about this¡ªwhen we go out into the wild, we all have other things to do, such as collecting samples of wildlife and taking photos, so I want to arrange for you to operate this UAV. What do you think?¡± Wei Kang asked.

    ¡°Me? But I¡¯ve never yed with this kind of thing before.¡± Zhang Zian really wanted to y around with it. If it was an entry-level UAV worth thousands of yuan, it was not that bad, but this was a professional UAV with all kinds of essories that added up to at least tens of thousands of yuan. If it fell... He really could not afford it!

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. It¡¯s very simple,¡± Wei Kang said. ¡°You can just follow the operation instructions. The supporting software of the UAV is very intelligent. It can detect collisions from top to bottom and avoid obstacles automatically. You just need to make sure that the UAV is hovering overhead all the time and use the eyes of the UAV to find the wild animals we are looking for.¡±

    Zhang Zian understood it was because only he was quite free and suitable to do that.

    ¡°Alright, I understand,¡± he said. He did not try to push the responsibility any more and straightforwardly epted his task.

    ¡°Ah, when you go back in a while, take the UAV back as well and get familiar with using it,¡± Wei Kang said. At the same time, he did not forget to remind him, ¡°Right, when you are testing it, remember to find an empty space. It¡¯s better to be somewhere in the suburbs. Don¡¯t fly in the no-fly zone!¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    Zhang Zian was also very happy, like a child who had gotten a new toy. It was expected that the shop assistants and elfins would be surprised to see him take the drone back to the pet shop.

    As for the test flight site, was there not a ready-made space behind the pet shop? Although it wasn¡¯t the suburbs, it was usually not visited at all and was probably not a no-fly zone.

    Then Zhang Zian noticed a box of strange equipment. It was not as exquisite as the UAV, but there was arge number of camouge-coated rectangr boxes arranged neatly in the suitcase. Each box had embedded lenses and sensors right in front.

    ¡°What is this?¡±

    He was like Grandma Liu, continuously asking questions when she entered the Grand View Garden. Everything was fresh.

    ¡°You¡¯ve never seen it before, right? This is an infrared trigger camera.¡± Xiao Tianyu, a plump man, struggled to take off his sunscreen clothes. Although they were the biggest size, they were still tight on him.

    ¡°All of these?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s useless to take only one,¡± Xiao Tianyu exined. ¡°We can ce many units in the area where wildlife may appear. When warm-blooded animals or moving objects pass in front of the camera, they will take photos automatically. Because lots of wildlife are afraid of people, and we have limited time, we cannot always wait in one ce. But we can put down a good infrared camera, and we can then go to other ces to do other things. We cane back to check on it after we are done with the matter.¡±

    Zhang Zian inwardly clicked his tongue. Wei Kang really had put down a lot of money this time. It seemed that the possibility of the sess of this mission was very high. As long as there were still primitive Egyptian cats in Egypt, there was an 80 percent chance they could be found.

 Chapter 1105: Test Flight

    <h4>Chapter 1105: Test Flight</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The grassy area right behind the pet shop.

    The first rays of the sun had just peeked through the east horizon, little beads of morning dew still clinging to the des of grass.

    The stray cats that usually hung out around there weren¡¯t back yet. They all had missions on hand and were patrolling the surrounding area.

    Fina yawned,ining unhappily, ¡°What do you want, calling me out here this early instead of letting me rest?¡±

    Actually, this was the time that she usually woke up, but Fina had the habit of waking up and then going back immediately for a second round.

    All of the other elfins other than Sihwa and Pi had been called here by Zhang Zian early in the morning. He hadn¡¯t revealed any information.

    ¡°You¡¯ll find out. I¡¯ll let you guys see something unique.¡±

    Zhang Zian opened the luggage he had been carrying, showing the drone in it. He followed the instructions to mount the camera on its spot on the drone, checking again to make sure he hadn¡¯t missed anything.

    ¡°Zian, what is this peculiar being?¡± Old Time Tea stood by his side, carefully observing the smooth and cold outer covering of the drone.

    ¡°Old Time Tea, what do you think this looks like?¡± Zhang Zian asked him.

    ¡°I think this looks like those bamboo hopters that kids y with, but this is a lot bigger and moreplicated,¡± Old Time Teamented after observing the drone¡¯s des.

    ¡°Well, it does look a little like those.¡± Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°This is called a drone. It is a machine that, to a certain extent, can fly and take photos and videos without a human controlling it.¡±

    ¡°Gah gah! So what?¡± Richard scowled at him from his shoulder. ¡°Give me a pinhole camera, and I can do better than this toy! Can I be called a drone then? Be honest, you idiot, who are you nning to sneak photos of?¡±

    Famous mulled it over, finally saying, ¡°So this is a drone... The production crew talked about this before, saying that they used it a lot to take outdoor shots in Tibet, and they had even lost one or two of them due to the horrible climate and tough terrain.¡±

    ¡°Yup, that¡¯s it.¡± Zhang Zian had heard of that too. Drones had be essential in the filming of movies.

    dimir was jealous of it. ¡°This can fly? It can go into the sky to capture the moon?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re a long way from that, but we can at least look over a whole mountain range.¡± Zhang Zian smiled, looking back at Gxy. ¡°Gxy, do you know why I called you over too? With this, I am unbeatable at hide-and-seek!¡±

    Gxy scrunched up its nose. ¡°Meow! Zian¡¯s a cheater!¡±

    ¡°How is this cheating? Xun Zi has said before: A good man should use his surroundings to his advantage in a new ce.¡± Zhang Zian defended himself vehemently. ¡°Is doing what a good man does cheating?¡±

    dimir gave it a thought before replying, ¡°Xun Zi was not a bad man. Kong Zi and Meng Zi were both idealists, representing very and royalty systems, and should be heavily criticized. But Xun Zi practiced Confucian philosphy and was a leftist, and he stood for the abolition of the very system. His words can be taken into consideration. I agree with the words that you have spoken. Even proletarians have to be proficient with using their surroundings, breaking the self-contradicting belief.¡±

    Zhang Zian could only awkwardly smile. He had merely used a famous quote that he learned in school. He didn¡¯t expect to cause dimir to go on a rant. He didn¡¯t even know whether Xun Zi was an idealist or materialist, and he didn¡¯t care. They had all long passed anyway.

    Richard flew off and perched on Zhang Zian¡¯s head while he wasn¡¯t paying attention, squawking, ¡°Gah gah! You¡¯re a good man? I think you¡¯re more like the Jun Zi Sword!¡±

    ¡°A good man reveals his eggs, and a bad one hides their machines.¡±

    The napping Snowy Li suddenly perked up with interest. ¡°Where are the eggs?¡±

    ¡°The eggs are in the fridge, if you want them go get them yourself.¡± Zhang Zian subtly shifted to stay a little further away from Snowy Li. He hadn¡¯t even called Snowy Li along, but she¡¯de anyway without being invited. She followed Fina everywhere it went anyway.

    Snowy Li stared at his crotch. ¡°I want to eat fresh, piping hot eggs!¡±

    Zhang Zian smartly ignored Snowy Li, starting to provoke Gxy again. ¡°I had wanted to determine a winner between me and you once and for all this morning. Are you chickening out? If you¡¯re scared, you just have to admit that you¡¯re not as good as me in hide-and-seek!¡±

    ¡°Meow! Gxy¡¯s not afraid!¡± Gxy was itching for some action now.

    ¡°Good. I¡¯ll let you see how amazing I amter!¡± Zhang Zian was fully confident. ¡°Don¡¯t cry if you lose!¡±

    ¡°Meow! Gxy won¡¯t lose!¡±

    After the drone went up, this entire grasnd would be within his sight, and it would be impossible for him to not catch Gxy.

    Zhang Zian was prepared to take revenge for his previous humiliation. He had wanted to ask Famous if it wanted to join in as well, but by the time he found Famous, it had already run to the entrance to the grasnds and could run off at any moment.

    ¡°I¡¯m here to watch your back for you,¡± Famous said, alert, honestly feeling that it was understanding their hide-and-seek less and less. Even a drone was involved now. Was this hide-and-seek in a sci-fi movie?

    Zhang Zian checked the drone over several times, making sure that everything was normal.

    The drone looked extremely futuristic when finally put together, like it was a fighter from some bug-like country. It had four thin legs on the floor, exquisite and fragile. It was a little worrying whether it was reliable, actually.

    Not even Zhang Zian was confident in it. He had already read the user guide cover to cover several times, but this was the first time he was properly flying it. Real-life trials were the only way to confirm a truth, after all.

    To prevent troubles from flying a drone in the city, he had specifically chosen the quietest time of day to test it.

    He took a deep breath, using the remote control in his hands to make the drone fly.

    The four rotors started spinning at an impossible speed, letting out a low whirring sound as it broke the air around them, even the des of grass around them bending from its force. It finally left the ground gently, hovering about ten meters above the ground like a metal dragonfly.

    ¡°Gah? It actually did take flight!¡± Richard eximed with a wide mouth.

    The other elfins were all surprised too. They hadn¡¯t thought that something this metallic and clumsy would actually be able to fly.

    ¡°What do you think?¡± Zhang Zian was pretty nervous, his palms sweating, but he was satisfied at their stupefied expressions, pretending to be calm as he pointed at the hovering drone. ¡°Should we pick a name for it? It doesn¡¯t seem right to keep calling it ¡®drone.''¡±

    Fina stared at the drone, suddenly speaking up. ¡°Nekhbet. Let¡¯s call it Nekhbet.¡±

 Chapter 1106: Eye in the Sky

    <h4>Chapter 1106: Eye in the Sky</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Nekhbet was the goddess of vultures, the goddess of the sky, and the patron of the pharaoh in ancient Egyptian mythology. She soared high in the sky and knew everything about the past and the future.

    The roots of the legend of Nekhbet were very old and had existed since at least 6000 years ago.

    Ancient Egyptians living in desert areas had worshipped falcons and vultures a lot. They had regarded them as their ancestors and envied them for their vast vision.

    The name Fina came up with for the UAV was especially suitable.

    Other elfins didn¡¯t understand what Nekhbet meant, and Zhang Zian exined it to them. The elfins thought the name was good, so they decided in favor of it.

    Richard fluttered its wings and flew curiously over to observe Nekhbet¡¯s way of flying at close range. Zhang Zian had to warn it not to get too close. If it touched Nekhbet¡¯s rotor directly, it would definitely break its skin and flesh.

    In fact, Nekhbet¡¯s movement was much more agile than Richard¡¯s. Nekhbet¡¯s left and right movements were very agile, and it was most skilled at hovering. Richard¡¯s hovering trajectory was simr to that of an ECG.

    Zhang Zian concentrated on familiarizing himself with the operation of the remote control. He had a hunch that Nekhbet would be a great help during his trip to Egypt.

    He tried to control Nekhbet¡¯s flight to the wall, slow and ready to retreat at any time, but Nekhbet did, like the instruction manual had said, stop at dangerous distances automatically without waiting for his instructions.

    After experimenting with the wall, he raised the difficulty and controlled Nekhbet to fly toward the trees. The trees in the green space were evergreen coniferous trees, pine and cypress. Obstacles were difficult to detect. Nekhbet showed some hesitationpared with the previous test, but it still stopped in time.

    Egypt, which was in the tropics, did not seem to have coniferous trees, and so Nekhbet should have little trouble avoiding obstacles, he thought. Of course, the dust storms in Egypt would be a problem, but he could only think about thatter.

    He controlled Nekhbet¡¯s movements and vision as well and managed to look at the whole area near the pet shop.

    This was a very rare experience for the house that he had stayed in for decades, the house he had thought he was very familiar with. How many people could use a different angle and height to casually observe it?

    His ability to control it was bing better and better, and he was bing better able to synchronize what he was thinking and his controlling of the UAV. Nekhbet was ascending, and with the help of the long-range lens, everything more than a hundred meters away could be zoomed into so he could view it.

    The elfins were curiously gathering by his side, looking at the monitor, all so shocked they could not close their mouths.

    dimir saw stray cats patrolling and training in the vicinity under the leadership of the captain of a small group and the branch head. Fina saw Uncle Li¡¯s electric tricycle parked at the entrance of the snack bar as he moved fresh fish from the market into the back kitchen basket by basket. Old Time Tea saw several old people in nice clothes ying Taijiquan calmly in the small park on the corner.

    Snowy Li was drooling. Its eyes were fixed on a long-legged girl who had put on her ultra-short hot pants early in the morning. Gxy looked like it had discovered the New World and found many ces nearby for hide-and-seek. Famous watched the cinema level pictures with a leisurely fascination. Richard fluttered his wings as he saw two boys under the wall of Binhai University who thought they were out of sight quietly holding hands...

    ¡°Turn to the left!¡±

    ¡°Turn to the right!¡±

    ¡°Fly higher!¡±

    ¡°Fly downwards, let me see it clearly!¡±

    They all wanted to see different things. Theymanded Zhang Zian, saying various things and issuing opposite orders. This made Zhang Zian feel at a loss. In the end, he decided not to listen to anyone at all. He decided to move in a circle around the pet shop ording to the established route and record the scenery along the road in the form of images.

    People looked at eye level or down in their daily life.

    When you looked down, you could see the ground clearly and would not be tripped by stairs or small stones on the floor.

    At eye level, you could observe the expressions and teams of the people around the area, and could also observe the traffic situation, looking at girls and handsome men.

    Nobody would look up at the sky idly, because there were only invariable white clouds and blue sky. Almost nobody noticed a drone flying quietly overhead.

    He saw Wang Qian and Li Kuning out from the direction of the boys¡¯ dormitory building, joining Jiang Feifei at the entrance of Binhai University anding to the pet shop together. He saw Lu Yiyun walking out of the unit building with her shoulder bag, and Jasmine seemed to have felt something, peering out of her shoulder bag and looking into the sky.

    He saw Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s private car park at the door of the pet clinic and the shutter door open to start the day¡¯s business. He saw cat lovers lining up at the entrance of Li¡¯s snack bar early. He saw the sea foaming, wave after wave rushing onto the beach...

    He also saw the curtains of the living room on the second floor of the pet shop being lifted by the breeze and the fluorescence of theptop screen shining for a bit before disappearing.

    He also saw the small window in the pet shop bathroom being pushed open. A beautiful face yawned against the window and then retracted, leaving only speckled water stains on the ss.

    He could even them, squatting in the green space and staring at the screen of the remote control, concentrating...

    Nekhbet continued to rise, already reaching a height beyond Richard¡¯s grasp of flying, as Richard was not good at flying. The silver body of magnesium-aluminum alloy could not be seen from the ground and turned into a silver spot under the rising sun.

    Around half of Binhai City was in its vision, and he saw that the coastal city was awakening from its slumber like a giant.

    This was really too miraculous!

    Even the critical Fina had nothing to say and waspletely immersed in the wonderful visual experience. At this moment, it finally understood why the ancient Egyptians were so obsessed with the worship of falcons and vultures, even more than the worship of the Cat God, because of this feeling of being omniscient and looking down on all living beings...

    It was really the same as being a god!

    ¡°Make it go even higher!¡± it said, still unsatisfied.

    Nekhbet could still continue to climb, but Zhang Zian did not let it continue for many reasons. First of all, it was the first test flight. It was already very good to fly like this, and to sail for thousands of years, one needed to be careful. Secondly, it was possible to enter the airspace of civil aviation and interfere with takeoff andnding aircraft, which was dangerous. Third, and mainly due to horizontal hovering, batteries. The power consumption had been considerable. Nekhbet needed to be allowed tond and rece the battery...

    ¡°There¡¯s no rush when we reach Egypt. We have a lot of opportunities,¡± heforted Fina. ¡°In the endless desert, however high you want to fly it, I can assure you, you¡¯ll be totally satisfied.¡±

    Fina hmphed, unhappily saying, ¡°Since you had this kind of thing earlier, why didn¡¯t you take it out?¡±

    Zhang Zian could only smile bitterly and helplessly. ¡°This thing is quite expensive. It¡¯s not like picking Chinese cabbage up on the street.¡±

    Perhaps after they came back from Egypt, he could buy a UAV that would belong to him.

 Chapter 1107: Other Tests

    <h4>Chapter 1107: Other Tests</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Electronics had bepact with more and more functions, but the biggest limitation was battery life.

    Even iPhones had to be charged three times a day, and portable chargers, no matter how heavy, had be a necessity in people¡¯s lives.

    After half an hour of flight, even before the elfins had had their fill, Nekhbet¡¯s battery had dropped to a mere quarter of its capacity, and it was getting dangerous to fly.

    After it gave themand, Nekhbet automatically returned to its original person and almost perfectlynded on the spot where it had taken off, its des quicklying to a stop.

    The elfins no longer looked at it with skepticism and disdain. Instead, it was with shock and envy.

    Since Wei Kang had a higher demand for this drone and wanted it to constantly be hovering over their heads whenever they were out in the field, he had very generously attached a few extra sets of batteries so that they could use them in turn. Binhai University was covering their expenses, and this was a reasonable demand as well anyway.

    Zhang Zian switched out Nekhbet¡¯s battery for a spare one. He was worried that the machine would be too hot after continuous flying, but he was pleased to find that it was only a little warm.

    Making use of the time, he brought out another attractive piece of electronics.

    ¡°What is this?¡± they all asked. With their experience earlier, they didn¡¯t dare look down on these unsuspecting technological products.

    ¡°This is an infrared camera that I borrowed from Professor Weikang,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°I heard that this thing can take photos automatically. As long as a warm-blooded animal or live being walks before its camera, it will automatically click the shutter and take a photo.¡±

    Even though this thing was rarer, it wasn¡¯t as enticing to the elfinspared to the drones. It was just photography, anyway. What was the difference between humans taking a photo and the machine taking it automatically?

    Zhang Zian patiently exined his thoughts.

    When he saw the infrared camera in Wei Kang¡¯s office, he immediately had a concern. Could this thing be effective against invisible elfins?

    After learning how infrared cameras worked from Wei Kang, he got even more worried. Infrared cameras could be designed to be on standby in the wild no matter whether it was day or night for a long period of time. It would take a photo of any warm-blooded animal or moving object the moment it detected one, and the LED would sh red.

    Then if an invisible elfin were to pass before the camera and activated the sensor of the camera, causing it to take a photo automatically, would it capture the elfin?

    Even if it didn¡¯t, it would cause the team to think that there was a supernatural cause to it, and it would bring panic.

    It wouldn¡¯t be practical to say that the camera was broken, since they were nning to bring several cameras. It couldn¡¯t be that they were all broken, right?

    So he shamelessly asked for an infrared camera, nning to give it a try beforehand just in case.

    Only then did the elfins understand why.

    Old Time Tea volunteered himself. Zhang Zian made it invisible, and it walked before the infrared camera several times and with several different speeds.

    Zhang Zian pulled out the memory card for the infrared camera and inserted it into his phone.

    Thank goodness¡ªthe memory card was still empty. The camera hadn¡¯t detected invisible elfins.

    Only then could he really rx.

    His worry had mixed reactions. Old Time Teaplimented him for being careful and thoughtful, while Snowy Li scolded him for being paranoid and wishy-washy...

    He kept the infrared camera then. Touching the surface of Nekhbet, he found it to be cold, and he prepared to start the second round of testing.

    The first test was purely for its flying ability. Now he was going to test its ¡°follow¡± mode, getting Nekhbet to use him as a target and continuously hover over him in a simtion of their expedition.

    ¡°Gxy, are you ready to be defeated by me? Now¡¯s the time to end your winning streak!¡±

    With everything prepared, he confidently challenged Gxy, not at all ashamed about the fact that he was cheating.

    ¡°Meow! I¡¯ve been prepared for a long time!¡±

    Gxy had been excited for a while, wanting to try the few hiding spots that it had seen earlier.

    ¡°Alright then, I¡¯m going to start counting! This time I¡¯m really counting with my eyes closed! One...two...three...¡±

    He closed his eyes, not even avoiding the fact that he had once cheated by opening his eyes before.

    ¡°Meow! You cheater! You¡¯re counting too quickly!¡±

    Gxy continuouslyined while its voice started to drift left and right, seemingly near one second and far away the next.

    After nearly half an hour, the elfins that had woken up so early had started to get hungry. Fina had seen through the drone earlier that Mr. Li had already sent breakfast to the pet shop and was rushing back for her breakfast with Snowy Li close at her heels. Old Time Tea and Famous liked to eat piping hot food, so they went back as well. The strays had gradually returned to the grasnd, and dimir rushed off after receiving some fresh news straight out of the oven.

    Richard didn¡¯t leave. It didn¡¯t need to eat hot food, and it could freely pee and poop here anyway.

    ¡°98...99...100! I¡¯ming to find you!¡± Zhang Zian quickly counted up to 100 and opened his eyes.

    He gave Richard beside him a look, asking him where Gxy had gone, but all he got back was an eye roll.

    ¡°Gah gah! You idiot! You think you can dominate the world just with a drone? If it were up to me, this drone would be nothing but a manless chicken!¡±

    Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t wanted to count on it anyway. Through the screen on the remote control, he reyed video of when he was counting. This was already tantly cheating.

    But Gxy was really too fast. One second it was there, and the next second it had turned around, disappearing by the third.

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    Looked like Gxy was finally getting serious for once.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t admit defeat this quickly. He started looking back at the video frame by frame.

    The camera fitted onto the drone could record 4K videos at the speed of 60 frames per second, which meant that within the span of the snap of a finger, it could record 60 incidents.

    Sadly, he had looked through all 60 frames and didn¡¯t manage to capture the process of Gxy¡¯s disappearance.

    It was there in the 30th frame and gone in the 31st.

    It looked like it was time to send feedback to the manufacturingpany, to request a lower video quality but with higher frames per second. What about 1080p with 960 frames per second?

    But he had his reservations. Even if they increased the speed all the way to 9600 frames per second, could it capture Gxy¡¯s actions?

    He rounded the greend twice, startling countless bugs and getting countless pine leaves on his head, and still he came back with nothing. He could do nothing but admit defeat at the end. His employees had already started work, so he couldn¡¯t continue wasting time here.

    ¡°Forget it, Gxy. I didn¡¯t prepare well enough this time. Count it as though I¡¯m giving this round to you!¡±

    He was still stubborn as hell.

    ¡°Meow! I won!¡±

    Gxy came out from the middle of nowhere, celebrating its victory.

 Chapter 1108: Globe

    <h4>Chapter 1108: Globe</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Hello, everyone! Your dazzling beauty makes the fish sink and wild geese fall, a beauty so stunning that the moon hides her face and the flowers blush for shame at sight of me, a national beauty with flesh of ice and bones of jade. The beautiful little mermaid Sihwa has begun to broadcast live! Are you looking forward to it? Do you want to give gifts to support me?¡±

    Sihwa smiled as she gave a peace sign in front of the camera on the phone.

    The broadcast room was full of insults.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen anyone rushing fans for presents! How about being more reserved? It¡¯s such a waste of your face!¡±

    ¡°Ah, when I was in elementary school, I couldn¡¯t wait to pile up some idioms that I¡¯d learned in myposition ss just like this...¡±

    ¡°That... who is in elementary school?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s unreasonable. Actually, those phrases were used quite well...¡±

    With Sihwa starting her live broadcast, the broadcast room quickly became lively. In ordance with the usual practice, the neers first raised various doubts about her appearance, and old fans used cynical tones to mock the neers,menting that when they had firste, they had also thought the same. Some neers couldn¡¯t stand the mocking and left the broadcast room, but most neers chose to observe silently.

    Most anchors broadcasted live in the afternoon and evening because there were more idle people in the afternoon and evening, but conversely, thepetition in the morning was not so fierce, and people could avoid the time of super anchor. Sihwa did live broadcasting every morning and managed to attract arge number of regr fans. After all, the live broadcast app was nationwide There were always people who were more leisurely in the morning, too.

    Sihwa¡¯s live room should have been regarded as a very strange live room. She didn¡¯t y games, she didn¡¯t have much talent, she never went out, and she even just soaked in the bathtub. She read a fairy tale, stumbling over the words, when she was happy, and when she was not happy, she lost her temper and argued with the fans.

    The only way tomunicate with fans was to be insulted by them, because her tone of voice was like the main character of a Mary Sue story, constantly having the feeling of being the best in the world. There was no shortage of points for people to use to attack, and some people even deliberately provoked her to make angry and enjoy the pleasure of being attacked by her. This was like the way primary school boys behaved to girls they liked, not to please them but to pull on their braids and frighten them by catching insects.

    Still, who had asked her face to be so good looking? Besides, she was also a foreign sister who could speak fluent Chinese, which was a very rare attribute. But some carefulizens had found that she had a slight ent when she spoke Chinese, which was hard to detect if they didn¡¯t pay attention to it. It seemed to be the ent of the eastern coastal areas.

    ¡°I¡¯m telling you guys, I¡¯m just living temporarily here to experience the life of the ordinary people. The luxury bathroom you saw before was my real home!¡±

    It was Sihwa¡¯s millionth time repeating that sentence, and even she herself believed it sometimes, but sadly she could not manage to trick theizens.

    ¡°Oh, alright, next.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t lower your head, your crown will fall off.¡±

    ¡°This is the so-called clueless young woman, right? She was probably corrupted by Korean dramas. When will she be given an electric shock by Professor Yang?¡±

    ¡°I have a question, broadcaster. You are always soaking in the bathtub. Won¡¯t your skin wrinkle? I was in the swimming pool for half a day and my fingers were already bumpy.¡±

    Sihwa automatically ignored the mocking and proudly showed her ten fingers that were like jade onions, shaking them in front of the camera.

    ¡°Don¡¯tpare yourself to me. I am born beautiful like a fish in water!¡± she said triumphantly.

    ¡°F*ck! I have a hand fetish! I can¡¯t stand it!¡±

    ¡°I could y with this hand for a year!¡±

    ¡°I could y for ten years!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m already done, what about you guys?¡±

    Sihwa was constantly confused by the neverending online phrases, and asked, ¡°What¡¯s already done? Does that mean that you¡¯ve already added money into your ount and are preparing to send me gifts?¡±

    Her natural tone and expression were not made up. They were very attractive and made people want to tease her. They also attracted a barrage of insults using bullet screens byizens.

    At that moment, someone knocked twice on the bathroom door.

    She turned her head to look. It was Zhang Zian who was standing at the doorway. He pointed at his own mouth¡ªof course, he did not mean that he wanted to drink the water in the bathtub. Instead he was expressing that he wanted to tell her something. He wanted to ask her if it was convenient for her to speak now.

    She showed a cold expression. In her heart, she did not want to speak because every time when she spoke with him, she was angered because of his pettiness.

    ¡°I seem to have heard the sound of the door. Anchor, aren¡¯t you going to open the door?¡±

    ¡°Right, anchor, go and open the door. I have never seen how the anchor looks below her shoulders.¡±

    ¡°Haha, you guys came toote. As an old timer in the live broadcast room, I¡¯ve seen how she looks wearing a mermaid cosy.¡±

    Zhang Zian did not leave upon meeting trouble and still stood at the doorway of the bathroom, as if he wanted topete with her on patience.

    Sihwa did not want to waste phone battery just like that, and so she told the camera, ¡°Is there still anyone who wants to give gifts? If there isn¡¯t, I¡¯ll go offline for a while. We can continue in a while! Five, four, three, two! Is there really not one? Really no one? Three, two, one, zero. Five...¡±

    When she was speaking normally, people gave gifts once in a while, but when she specially asked for a present, no one gave any. She was so angry she bit her lower lip softly, and, throwing a tantrum, she left the live broadcast room before reaching zero.

    ¡°What do you want?¡± she asked, not politely.

    ¡°It¡¯s like this. We¡¯re going to Egypt, and I wanted to ask if you want to go.¡± Zhang Zian got straight to the point and said the reason why he hade.

    Her eyebrows scrunched up, and her face was full of suspicion as she asked, ¡°E-Egypt? Where is that? Why haven¡¯t I heard about it before? You cheapskate, is it that you want to sell me to be a s*x ve?¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°If you don¡¯t know anything, can I ask you to shut your mouth and stop randomly guessing? Don¡¯t always y with your cell phone. Read books, learn geography and history, and don¡¯t be ignorant all day.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the ignorant one!¡±

    Before he finished, with Sihwa¡¯s angry yell, a ssh of water aimed for his head and face headed towards him.

    Fortunately, he was prepared and stepped out of the bathroom, shutting the bathroom door without sshing water outside.

    ¡°Annoying! B*stard! Cheapskate!¡± She lost her temper alone in the bathroom and sshed water around. ¡°Why should I learn? Anyway, no one taught me!¡±

    It seems like even a salty fish had her own pride.

    Zhang Zian waited outside for her to stop for a moment and rummaged through the storage room to find the globe from his childhood.

    The globe was quite old and creaked when it was rotated. The division of some countries and regions was slightly different from that of today¡¯s world, but it was still useful.

    He knocked at the door again, then pushed it open a crack and said, ¡°Alright, I said a little too much just now. I apologize. I¡¯ll teach you some geography now¡ªcan Ie in?¡±

    It was not realistic to expect Sihwa to actively learn and absorb knowledge. After all, everyone hadziness. When was it morefortable to study than y? From elementary school to university, once people left school, without outside supervision and pressure, very few would continue to take the initiative to learn. Not to mention this fish¡ªshe had too many things to learn, a myriad of thoughts, and no elementary school teachers. It was normal for her to not know where to start.

 Chapter 1109: Geographical Knowledge

    <h4>Chapter 1109: Geographical Knowledge</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sihwa was still grumpy, but at least she didn¡¯t have any intention to continue spraying him with water.

    She gave Zhang Zian a side nce as a silent agreement.

    Zhang Zian had wanted to give her a proper education from the start instead of only teaching her the things that she needed to learn when she needed them. But he had been too busy these few days and hadn¡¯t had the time. He didn¡¯t even know what he¡ªan unemployed, useless man¡ªhad been busy with.

    He used her phone to find some primary school courses, hoping that she would be able to pick up on this information by herself. But, like he¡¯d said earlier, without stress and someone to monitor them, no one would have that strong of a desire to learn new things. Not even a schr would be able to do so, let alone such a yful Sihwa.

    Now that the time to leave for Egypt was near, he could only still teach her what she immediately needed to know, which was geographical knowledge. She at least needed to know where Egypt was.

    Looking at the globe he was holding, her face twitched slightly, curious at the round thing in his hands but unwilling to put down her ego to ask.

    Zhang Zian put the globe on the side of the tub, lightly pushing at it to turn it. The rusty axles screeched as it turned before finally stopping with East Asia right before her eyes.

    ¡°This is China.¡± He pointed at China on the globe before turning the globe almost 180 degrees around, and he pointed at Germany¡¯s shore on the Baltic Sea. ¡°This is Germany, the shore at which we met. And then...this is Egypt.¡±

    His fingers went diagonally, pointing at Egypt, which was right in between the intersection of Asia, Europe, and Africa.

    ¡°So far away!¡± She was extremely surrprised and forgot all about being grumpy. She had known previously that China was very far away from Germany, but it wasn¡¯t until she saw it with her own eyes on the globe that she understood the difference between them. They were practically on opposite sides of the earth.

    ¡°Of course it¡¯s that big. If the Earth isn¡¯t this big, how do we support billions of humans and countless lives?¡± Zhang Zian turned the globe back to the East half, looking carefully before pointing at an empty spot on China¡¯s east coast. ¡°This should be where Binhai City is. But since we¡¯re not a big city, we don¡¯t have the privilege of beingbeled on the globe.¡±

    ¡°So sad!¡± She pouted before suddenly asking, ¡°Oh, right, where is Korea? What about Seoul?¡±

    Zhang Zian pointed them out to her.

    ¡°You¡¯re not lying to me, are you? Korea¡¯s that small?¡± she asked him.

    Zhang Zian was speechless. ¡°Why would I lie to you? Korea¡¯s only this big. This isn¡¯t even considered small. There are a ton of countries a lot smaller than Korea.¡±

    Sihwa observed the globe with extreme curiosity, using her finger to lightly push at it. The mountains and ridges, rivers,nd, seas, and the big and small countries went by her eyes slowly.

    ¡°There are actually so many countries in this world. No wonder all the girls in those television shows love traveling so much...¡± she mused.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help but think, annoyed, that they could only do so because they didn¡¯t have to buy a house...

    ¡°A globe is really a good thing!¡± She seemed to suddenly recall something, her mood switching and turning angry in the blink of an eye. ¡°You stingy monster! Why didn¡¯t you bring this for me earlier?¡±

    ¡°Because I forgot! It¡¯s not toote for me to give it to you now!¡± He tried to defend himself. The globe really wasn¡¯t that precious. It wasn¡¯t like it was lined with gold. There was no reason for him to hide it.

    To soften her temper, he graciously said, ¡°Since you like it so much, it¡¯s yours now.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± She hugged the globe, worried that he would snatch it back, and snuffed at him skeptically. ¡°Why is the stingy monster suddenly generous? Is it because this thing isn¡¯t actually worth a lot of money?¡±

    Zhang Zian coughed, quickly changing the topic. ¡°Anyway, now you know where Egypt is.¡±

    Sihwa found where Eygpt was on the globe through her memory, staring at the edges of the countries. ¡°Weird. Why is it that some of these borders between countries are so straight, as though they were cut out with knives?¡±

    That was true. Northern Africa did have a very special geography. Their country borders were extremely straight.

    ¡°This is due to history. You don¡¯t have to know that yet.¡± Zhang Zian wanted to exin, but the exnation was really tooplicated to condense into a few words. They probably wouldn¡¯t be done with it half a dayter. It would be better to just tell her more about it when they had more time.

    ¡°What¡¯s so fun about Egypt?¡± she asked dismissively, her interest in Egypt far less than her interest in the globe.

    ¡°Egypt... It¡¯s the first country that humans ever made. It has a huge amount of ancient ruins and attractions, and there¡¯s great scenery too. For example, the seemingly endless Sahara desert, which is the biggest desert in the world,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Sihwa¡¯s eyes seemed to say: Are you kidding me? Asking me to go y in the desert? Do you want me to be dried fish?

    Seeing that she was going to blow up again, Zhang Zian immediately continued, ¡°Of course, that¡¯s not all. Egypt is also surrounded by two great seas¡ªthe Mediterranian Sea and the Red Sea. They are both seas with great biodiversity, and there are a lot of tourist attractions near the coastline as well.¡±

    ¡°Tourist attractions...¡± she muttered under her breath. ¡°Does that mean that there are hotels that we can stay in?¡±

    ¡°Of course. We can¡¯t possibly sleep out in the open. I still have to maintain my appearance, you know,¡± he answered. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to go, you can stay here, or you can go back to the phone to sleep. No pressure.¡±

    She used her hand to support her chin while she gave it a thought before determinedly dering, ¡°Alright, then I¡¯m going too!¡±

    Zhang Zian was confused. Why had she suddenly changed her mind?

    ¡°Alright, you can go out now.¡± She waspletely heartless as she pointed at the door. ¡°I¡¯m going to continue the livestream. Don¡¯t get in the way of me earning money!¡±

    Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders. Since he had said everything that he wanted to anyway, he had other things to do, so he turned and left.

    As for the water sshed all over the bathroom floor... It would dry eventually.

    ¡°Close the door! What a long tail!¡± Sihwa called unhappily from behind him.

    She kept her ears open, making sure that Zhang Zian had gone downstairs before she turned on the live-streaming app again.

    ¡°Hello, everyone! Your dazzling beauty that makes fish sink and wild geese fall, a beauty so beautiful that the moon hides her face and the flowers blush for shame at the sight, a national beauty with flesh of ice and bones of jade, the beautiful little mermaid Sihwa is back!¡± she boasted. ¡°Have you guys been waiting for me in anticipation?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m sh*tting right now. My sh*t is thick today, so it might clog up the toilet.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m reading a novel. Wait for me to finish this chapter.¡±

    ¡°I just won one round of PUBG!¡±

    ¡°...Was I the only one that read thest two words the other way around?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not alone! I saw it the other way around too! I thought even this livestream had been taken over by gays!¡±

    Sihwa was confused too, not knowing which two words were seen wrongly, but she had something even more important to announce.

    ¡°Let me tell you something! I¡¯m going to go Egypt soon! Egypt! The Egypt that¡¯s on the other end of the globe, super far away from China! The Egypt where only rich people get to go!¡±

 Chapter 1110: Becoming a Fan

    <h4>Chapter 1110: Bing a Fan</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sihwa saw that China was far away from Egypt and assumed that few people could afford to go to Egypt.

    ¡°This subordinate iscking in talent. I just came back from Egyptst month. Does this mean I¡¯ve already been promoted to a rich person¡¯s level? The money I¡¯mcking¡ªwho will give it to me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never gone to Egypt before, but using my butt to think, I know that going to Egypt would definitely be cheaper than going to Europe!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s already May, bing June, now. It¡¯s already past the peak holiday period for Egypt. Anchor, you are going now to take advantage of the cheaper price, right?¡±

    ¡°Anchor, be mindful of protecting yourself from the sun! If your skin bes tanned, you will definitely lose fans!¡±

    Sihwa gritted her teeth and red at the bullet screens that were embarrassing her, but she was quite thankful toizens for their sun protection reminders. She nned to call Zhang Zian in a moment to force him to buy sunscreen. It must be high-ss and something she could boast about!

    ¡°I¡¯ve been to Egypt, where there are many famous scenic spots for swimming,¡± someone suggested using the bullet screen, ¡°but I can¡¯t swim and dare not go into the water. Since the host is cosying a mermaid, do you want to broadcast it live after you go? You¡¯re bound to have an increase in fans.¡±

    Sihwa held her jaw, and seriously considered that question.

    Broadcasting underwater? It sounded quite interesting.

    ¡°There haven¡¯t been any outdoors broadcasters who have done this before. There will definitely be a lot of fans giving gifts,¡± that person added.

    It was decided. She would do that!

    Sihwa¡¯s eyes showed the symbols of American dors and RMB, and instantly, her concerns were gone. Anyway, her phone was waterproof, so it should be fine for her to broadcast underwater right?

    ¡°No problem!¡± she said confidently. ¡°I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll bring you live underwater broadcasts that no one before or after me will do! Everyone, take advantage of these few days to add more money to the app! If you don¡¯t give gifts, I won¡¯t do it!¡±

    It was verymon for her to ask fans for gifts with different methods, and of course, fans started to insult her using bullet screens.

    ¡°The anchor is just like a mudslide in this app. What a waste of such a beautiful face!¡±

    ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t feel it¡¯s very bad. She¡¯s asking for gifts straight out. It¡¯s better than those white lotus flowers that look like fairies who don¡¯t eat human food and make customizedrge-scale videos for local rich people behind the fans¡¯ backs.¡±

    ¡°I feel the same way. Right, anyway, what broadcaster has the guts to do down to the sea while broadcasting?¡±

    Sihwa was confused when she heard this. What white lotus flower? What did it mean to go down to the sea?¡±

    ¡°Is a white lotus flower a kind of flower? Is going down to the sea going into the sea to swim?¡± she asked, troubled.

    Whenever she asked for words she didn¡¯t understand, the barrage of bullet screens always became very dense. The people who were posting bullet screens seldom exined directly and always misled her intentionally. She was often made a joke of, and theyughed at her inexplicably.

    This time was not out of the ordinary when she asked the question, and the bullet screens became very dense.

    ¡°That¡¯s right! The anchor is very smart, already knowing how to answer her own questions!¡±

    ¡°A white lotus flower is an especially beautiful flower! Anchor, if you wear it on your head, you will definitely be very beautiful!¡±

    ¡°Going down to the sea when you reach Egypt?¡±

    She had yet to return to her senses when she saw a bit of gold from the side of her eyes, and then the camera on her phone was covered by a w.

    Fina red at her, exasperated at her failure to be good. ¡°What are you randomly saying?¡±

    ¡°Fina, you came in just in time! I was asking theizens just now what a white lotus flower is, and what going down to the sea means, and they always refuse to answer me properly!¡± Sihwa was very upset.

    Fina managed not to lose her temper and said as calmly as she could, ¡°You¡¯re being yed by them! Although it may not be malicious, they are actually secretly sneering at your ignorance.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Sihwa¡¯s eyes widened, and she said angrily, ¡°This group of *ssholes! They dare to mess with me!¡±

    Compared with Sihwa, who was always immersed in her own world, Fina spent most of her time on the first floor every day. All kinds of customers and fans streamed by under the cat crawler. They were mostly young people. They often spoke trendy Inte expressions that Fina couldn¡¯t understand, but it could judge whether those Inte expressions were good or bad from the expressions and dialogue of other people. Or sometimes the words themselves were malicious, but they could be said in a kind tone and have a funny effect.

    It had heard of a white lotus flower and had also heard of going down to the sea. It did not know the exact meaning, but it knew that these two phrases had a certain level of ill intention towards females. It had never heard anyone say a girl was a white lotus flower or tell her to go down to the sea in front of her face.

    Because of that, when it passed by the washroom and heard Sihwa mention white lotus flowers and going down to the sea inside, it knew that she was probably being teased by theizens again.

    Because of the anonymity of thework, people¡¯s use of words on thework could be more unbridled than in reality.

    Theizens were just teasing Sihwa, but if anyone dared to tease Fina like that in real life, it would definitely let them know why flowers were so red!

    It told Sihwa its guess about these two online phrases, and she was so angry that she exploded on the spot, but she was not very good with words. Even when cursing people, she could only use the words ¡®hateful¡¯ and ¡®*sshole¡¯ over and over again. Moreover, with her natural angelic voice and extremely beautiful appearance, it had no effect at all.

    ¡°Then what should I do? I need to retaliate!¡± She curled her hand into a fist.

    Fina thought about it, and gave her confidential instructions.

    ¡°That will do it?¡±

    She was half in disbelief, but when Fina red, she did not dare to ask anymore.

    Fina removed her w from the camera.

    ¡°Anchor, you have a cat? I seem to have seen a cat w, and heard the call of a cat.¡±

    ¡°Anchor, bring out your house cat to show it off!¡±

    ¡°Other people¡¯s cats series! My cat does not even dare to enter the bathroom and runs when it sees water!¡±

    Fina was outside the range of the camera and did not make noise. It used its gaze to signal to Sihwa, so Sihwa could follow what it said.

    Shihua nodded slightly, took a deep breath, pointed at the screen with a scallion-like finger, and said earnestly, ¡°Just now, the one who said white lotus flower, I hope you find a beautiful girlfriend like a white lotus water and go down to the sea everyday! No, those fat people that stay at home all day can¡¯t find a girlfriend. What a pity! How about you go and find a boyfriend instead?¡±

    The broadcasting room was quiet instantly.

    That was the idea that Fina had given her, because every time it saw Richard persuading Zhang Zian to find a boyfriend, his expression was like wanting to cry andugh, and it knew that this move was big and very useful. Especially in Sihwa¡¯s live broadcasting studio, it was obvious that males were the main audience.

    ¡°F*ck! The anchor has managed to understand? And even knows how to attack back?¡±

    ¡°Were you acting before?¡±

    ¡°Us fat people who stay at home all day are crying. Who did we offend? Even if we were to be forever alone, we would not go find a boyfriend!¡±

    Sihwa took advantage of the situation to announce, ¡°I¡¯m called Sihwa, not anchor! Furthermore, if anyone dares to use online phrases that are offensive towards women, I will announce his name and then hope for him to find a boyfriend that keeps trying to court him!¡±

    As soon as she said that, several IDs with an obviously feminine feel to them sent out the most valuable gifts on the tform, bear paws and hairy crabs, and left messages one after another:

    ¡°As women as well, we¡¯ve be fans of Sihwa!¡±

 Chapter 1111: Letâ€™s Go

    <h4>Chapter 1111: Let¡¯s Go</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Morning.

    ¡°Master, don¡¯t forget to bring your things! I mean, don¡¯t forget to bring souvenirs.¡±

    ¡°Master, are you really bringing this statue to Egypt?¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun helped Zhang Zian pack the statue up, asking noisily.

    As the two of them were the ones in charge of packing and sending aquariums to customers, they had a lot of experience with packing up fragile fishbowls and aquariums.

    Zhang Zian found a cardboard box just about the right size for the statue along with some bubble wrap, and he put the Holy Cat statue into it. He even found some waste newspaper to ball up and stuff into the gaps in order to prevent it from shaking.

    There was actually no need to be this careful with the Holy Cat statue. It would be alright even if it was scratched or damaged in the process of transportation, since it was already battered beyondprehension. But it was the airlinepany that had requested that he make sure the packaging was secure. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t be allowed on the flight. He could only abide by their rules.

    Today was the day they were leaving for their expedition. The flight was set to leave at night, so there was no need to rush.

    He would bring Fina and Famous along and meet up with the other team members at the airport before leaving for Cairo on the same flight.

    Fina definitely had to show her face. This was what they had agreed on beforehand. But Famous was too famous and might be eyed by paparazzi, so the two of them had to suffer from the tougher journey.

    It wasn¡¯t the first time that Famous had been transported as a pet, and it had physically and mentally prepared itself for that. It would stop eating and drinking at the right time to prevent its biological functions from hindering it on the flight.

    Fina definitely would not allow itself to be closed into a cage like a pet. But it was luckier. Binhai University had already proven Fina to be a scientifically important animal for research, so it could take the flight together with the team and even have its own seat.

    The other elfins would sleep in his phone first, and they would arrive in Egypt when they woke up.

    After they expended a lot of energy, the Holy Cat statue was finally packaged securely. Wang Qian and Li Kun had even installed wooden supports outside the hard cardboard box to prevent any issues.

    Zhang Zian wiped at the sweat from the top of his nose. The weather was getting warmer and warmer, the long summer was right around the corner, and yet he was about to go somewhere that was a lot hotter than here.

    He and the other male employees had already opted for short sleeves, while his female employees were still wearing long sleeves.

    ¡°Mm, I don¡¯t think it seems too prosperous to leave the Holy Cat statue in the shop, so I n to bring it back to its hometown. There¡¯s a small museum there that¡¯s willing to take it in, so we used the chance to ask for their cooperation in the expedition,¡± he offered the excuse that he had made up beforehand. Otherwise, with his personality and how well his employees knew him, they would definitely doubt that he was willing to give someone something for free.

    ¡°Master, you still believe in that?¡± Li Kun asked. Zhang Zian had never bothered with these superstitious things like good luck and prosperous objects. If he didn¡¯t, he wouldn¡¯t have taken the Holy Cat statue in as a gift in the first ce.

    Zhang Zian shot him a re. ¡°Nosy! It¡¯s there if you believe in it, got it?¡±

    Lu Yiyun interrupted, ¡°It¡¯s been here for some time, but I¡¯ve never really gotten used to it. I feel it¡¯s too spooky. Thank goodness there are other people here during the day. If I was by myself, I definitely wouldn¡¯t dare to stay here alone. It¡¯s better to give it away.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I won¡¯t say too much. Watch the ce carefully. I¡¯ll bring back presents,¡± Zhang Zian dusted his hands off, nagging.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Master, we¡¯ll definitely be okay!¡± Wang Qian patted his chest confidently.

    ¡°Boss, can we drive the speedboat out to whale watch?¡± Hearing that Zhang Zian was leaving today, Jiang Feifei ran over as well. There were a lot fewer customers next doorpared to the pet shop, especially in the morning.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°As long as you¡¯re careful.¡±

    His employees could now stand on their own feet. Even if Zhang Zian weren¡¯t around, they wouldn¡¯t create trouble for him. Instead, they were looking forward to Zhang Zian leaving¡ªsince he had already silently agreed to reduce their workload, allowing them to go out and have some fun on the sea, to watch some whales.

    ¡°Oh, right¡ªduring the period when I¡¯m away, take note of the dog poisoning cases in the area,¡± he said. ¡°Be especially careful not to let the dogs in our shop get poisoned.¡±

    They told him that they¡¯d take note.

    There wasn¡¯t much left to remind them of, and Zhang Zian went upstairs to pack.

    On the second floor, all of the elfins were there with varying levels of excitement for this Egypt trip.

    Richard was constantly squawking away, preparing to show off his skills speaking Arabic in Egypt.

    ¡°Gah gah! Have you prepared my holy carriage?¡±

    The holy carriage he was referring to was actually just a birdcage covered in a white sash. The cage wasn¡¯t big, but it had had its door uninstalled so the upant could go in and out of its own will.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t bother answering him and asked Snowy Li a very important question. ¡°Have you considered whether you want to shave your fur short?¡±

    Snowy Li bared her teeth and admitted dryly, ¡°I¡¯d like to be by Her Majesty¡¯s side at all times, but I can¡¯t bear to part with my fur...¡±

    Fina shook its head. ¡°It¡¯s okay. You can stay here. It¡¯s just for a few days.¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°If you really do want to go, and yet you¡¯re unwilling to shave your fur, then there is a way to meet in the middle. We can leave you in the phone during the day, and when we are in a cool sheltered area, we¡¯ll let you out. What do you think?¡±

    Snowy Li had no way around it and could only ept this less-than-ideal n.

    ¡°Pi, I¡¯m packing now. Turn off theputer and get ready to go,¡± seeing that Pi was still typing away, he reminded.

    ¡°Cheep cheep?¡±

    Pi gestured to ask whether he was going along, a little surprised.

    ¡°It¡¯s best toe along as well. You can type in the hotel after we arrive. It won¡¯t affect your uploading process,¡± Zhang Zian tried to convince it. ¡°Traveling a thousand miles is better than reading a thousand books. Don¡¯t shut yourself in. Even though you can get information for everything under the sun in books, it¡¯s still best to use your eyes to see, use your ears to hear, and use your own body to experience things. All these are more genuine than what the books tell you. Don¡¯t you agree?¡±

    ¡°Cheep-chee¡ª¡±

    Pi hesitated a little, but it was eventually convinced. It nodded its head before saving its iplete file, turning theptop off, and passing theptop to Zhang Zian along with the charger so that he could pack it into his luggage.

    Actually, Zhang Zian had convinced Pi toe along with him because thest time Pi was left in the shop alone, the whole fiasco with the Holy Cat statue disappearing had happened. He was worried for Pi back then and decided that no matter where they went, he would always try to bring Pi with him.

    Without the Holy Cat statue, it wasn¡¯t that there was no chance of a Holy Dog statue or something popping up again. Egyptians were known for how much they loved dogs as well. He¡¯d seen a wall painting before where an Egyptian man had fed his beloved dog water mouth-to-mouth just because there wasn¡¯t a cup for it.

    Plus, Anubis had a jackal¡¯s head and a human body. The jackal wasn¡¯t a wolf, but a wild canine that foraged for rotten food in cemeteries.

    ¡°Alright, if there¡¯s nothing else, do your final preparations. We¡¯re moving out!¡±

 Chapter 1112: Hunting

    <h4>Chapter 1112: Hunting</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Because he had brought more things this time, and because they were heavy things and even pets, it would be very troublesome to call a taxi, so Wang Qian drove Zhang Zian to Binhai Airport in the Wuling Hong Guang MPV after lunch.

    ¡°Master, do you need me to help you move things in? It won¡¯t be convenient to bring them in alone, right?¡± Wang Qian asked.

    The Holy Cat Statue was too heavy. In addition, Zhang Zian had his own luggage, UAV suitcase, essories suitcase, pan tilt camera suitcase, and small bag with infrared trigger camera. All unloaded from the car and piled up into a small luggage hill, it was a headache to look at. No matter what, it would be impossible for a person to move them all at one time. Left outside unattended, wouldn¡¯t they be stolen? What¡¯s more, Zhang Zian had to go through the pet consignment formalities with Famous.

    Zhang Zian nced to the side and said, ¡°There¡¯s no problem. You can go back now. There¡¯s someone here to fetch me already.¡±

    Wang Qian looked out of the window and saw an older middle-aged man in simple clothes and three young men of different weightsing to his side quickly. That was Professor Wei Kang and his three male disciples. They had taken the first step to find out that Zhang Zian had a lot of luggage. He He, the only female disciple, was responsible for keeping watch over the luggage in the terminal hall. Four of them hade to take care of the luggage.

    ¡°Alright then, master, you take care. Have a safe trip.¡± Wang Qian waved his hand, driving the Wuling Hong Guang MPV back to the pet shop.

    When Wei Kang and the others came to Zhang Zian, the four people and eight eyes did not look at him. Instead, they all stared at Fina. The looks made Zhang Zian want to say, ¡°Don¡¯t look into its eyes and not be able to pull yourself out...¡±

    Not only were they looking, but other passengers arriving at the airport were also looking at Fina strangely. First of all, it wasn¡¯tmon to bring cats to the airport and not keep them in cages. Second, Fina¡¯s fur color and markings were too rare.

    Fina yawnedzily, used to these kinds of looks. As long as they did not use their hands, everything was alright.

    Wei Kang exchanged nces with his several disciples. Although he did not make aplete examination, he was at least 80% sure that it was a living fossil which upied a key position in the domestication history of domestic cats. It was in the transitional stage between African desert wild cats and modern domestic cats.

    Nature magazine had mentioned that the Ashmolean Museum in Britain had a tomb mural from Thebes, ancient Egypt. It showed a cat enjoying fresh fish under the hostess¡¯s chair. It was noteworthy that the patchy pattern on the cat¡¯s body was quite different from the patchy pattern on a modern Egyptian cat. It was called a mackerel pattern.

    Zhang Zian told Wei Kang that the ancient Egyptian capital of Thebes had been moved in 2000 B.C., and before that, it had been Memphis, so the age of this mural was less than 4000 years.

    Where was the transition between spots to mackerel markings over the long 4000 years?

    However, Fina had mackerel markings and spots on her body, which were simr to modern Egyptian cats in terms of appearance, yet not exactly the same. Everything seemed to show that her origin was mysterious and extraordinary.

    It was wrong to say that it was a wild cat, but it was not a modern Egyptian cat, so Wei Kang and others believed that even if it was not a primitive Egyptian cat, it must have been very close.

    Previously, because Zhang Zian had made it clear that he did not want to send Fina as a research sample, nor would he agree to the visit the Department of Biology of Binhai University, they had to adopt the principle of curve salvation to observe Fina through video.

    Where would the videoe from? Of course, in the footage from Snowy¡¯s live video, when she showed the whole picture of the pet store to the audience on her mobile phone, there would always be a sh of Fina.

    Thebination of videos and screenshots made up the first-hand information that Wei Kang and the rest were researching.

    However, the videos and screenshots were not especially clear, and could notpare to seeing it with their own eyes.

    Wei Kang and his three disciples hade to pick up Zhang Zian, but now they had left him and were arguing around Fina that its mackerel markings and spotted coat were most likely the representative of the primitive Egyptian cat of how many years ago?

    Wei Kang concentrated on learning and was a good speaker. Xiao Tianyu and Gao Ke were not very ambitious about learning, but they were willing to prove that they were still learning by arguing and throwing out some fantastic spections during arguments.

    ¡°Teacher, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s toote for the mackerel and spots pattern to be mixed, otherwise it¡¯s not conducive to the spread of the primitive Egyptian cat to Eurasia, so I think this pattern should have appeared... about 3,500 years ago,¡± Xiao Tianyu said. As for how these 3,500 years hade about, of course, he¡¯de up with the number spontaneously.

    ¡°That¡¯s not right.¡± Wei Kang shook his head. ¡°During the New Dynasty, 3500 to 3000 years ago, another tomb mural was unearthed which depicts the ancient Egyptians bringing cats to far away ces to go hunting...¡±

    ¡°What? Bringing cats to far away ces to hunt?¡± Gao Ke cut in, to take part in the fun. ¡°Don¡¯t you bring dogs to hunt? What can cats do?¡±

    Gao Ke¡¯s words were obviously discriminatory against cats. Fina red at him angrily. Unfortunately, he did not own cats. He was unconscious of it and thought it liked him.

    Wei Kang also red at him, exasperated, and said, ¡°Cats are natural hunters, especially good at catching birds and fish in marshes and wends. These areas are not conducive to the development of dogs. How did you learn your previous biology?¡±

    Gao Ke knew Wei Kang was going to nag again about the same things, and hurriedly spoke first to exin, ¡°No, I don¡¯t mean that. I mean... Cats are natural hunters, but when they catch their prey, they eat it. As a result, the cat is full and the owner is hungry... Eh? Does this cat seem unhappy?¡±

    When he was talking about it, he found that Fina¡¯s eyes were wrong, its body was puffed up in a circle, and its ears were standing up. Even if he was bad at biology, he had studied cat evolution with his teacher, and vaguely remembered that it was a sign that the cat was about to attack.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to witness a bloody airport tragedy before they departed. He dared not stand by and just watch the drama. He interposed, ¡°You¡¯re wrong. You haven¡¯t had a cat, have you? Are these things you say casually based on impression and hearsay?¡±

    Gao Ke coughed dryly, ¡°I currently don¡¯t have ns to keep a cat...¡±

    In order to calm Fina¡¯s mood, Zhang Zian exined before he finished. ¡°Dogs will take their prey back to their owners and cats will also do so, provided you have a good rtionship with the cat,¡± he said. ¡°When the cat catches any insects, birds, mice or other small animals outside, it will bring the prey back to you... Of course, modern people may not need these prey, and even feel sick at the sight of the bloody corpses of small animals, but this is enough to prove that cats can be used for hunting purposes.¡±

 Chapter 1113: Scarab

    <h4>Chapter 1113: Scarab</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Many cat owners have simr experiences: their own cats running outdoors to y anding home when they¡¯ve had enough fun. But they didn¡¯t alwayse back alone. There might be a bug or the corpse of a small animal in their mouths, like a dragonfly, butterfly, rat, or lizard, cing them at the feet of their owners like they were presenting a gift.

    Even indoor cats that never went out had that same kind of hunting instinct. They would use any and all opportunities to brush up on their hunting skills and then gift the prey to their loving owners. For example¡ªcockroaches.

    Even with houses that didn¡¯t have cockroaches, those perceptive cat owners would also notice that after getting their cats, the number of mosquitoes indoors would also greatly be reduced. That was because the cats had used mosquitoes as their practice targets. They would also present the mosquitoes to their owners as gifts, but due to the small size, most of them wouldn¡¯t notice it.

    No matter what kind of corpse they received, most owners wouldn¡¯t be too happy about it, especiallydies. The sight of bloody rat corpses and cockroaches wasn¡¯t the best thing to see. They might even wonder whether their cats were scaring them on purpose, taking revenge on them because they bathed them too violently...

    When receiving these gifts, most owners might wonder whether the cats had gone hunting because they didn¡¯t have a full meal, and that was why they were pressed to go hunt. Many of them ended up trying to tell them not to do so anymore. Some might even hit or punish them, telling them to not make the same mistake again.

    This time, cats really weren¡¯t at fault.

    When receiving punishment, the cats must be confused¡ªwhy was their kindness being punished?

    No one actually knew why cats did this.

    There was a possibility that cats didn¡¯t actually treat humans as their owners, but instead as really stupid cats¡ªstupid enough that they couldn¡¯t even catch mosquitoes and cockroaches and were relying on the cats to feed them. If they didn¡¯t bring food back for the humans, they would starve to death.

    Cats that brought back gifts for their owners definitely had a really deep bond with them. To cats, it was the greatest honor for a human to be treated as one of their own. Cats were solitary animals after all, so if they were willing to share their space with another stupid cat and willing to take up the responsibility of caring for this stupid cat, it showed that despite the owner¡¯s clearlycking intelligence, they had gained its attention and it was fond of them.

    So if cats often brought back gifts and prey for their owners, this was a piece of their sincerity. The owners shouldn¡¯t be angry, and even more shouldn¡¯t punish them for it, for they would be lost and confused, not knowing what they had done wrong, and this might affect their rtionship.

    If the owners really didn¡¯t need rats and cockroaches as gifts, the thing that they should¡¯ve been doing was throwing the rat¡¯s or cockroach¡¯s body outside right before the cat¡¯s eyes, opening a pack of cat food, and pretending to consume it. Their cats would then understand that even though the owners were stupid cats, they didn¡¯t have to eat rats and cockroaches to survive.

    Conversely, if their cat had never brought home gifts, they should be looking into how they had been taking care of their cat.

    Zhang Zian exined the reason carefully and logically to Gao Ke, and he had an epiphany¡ªcats really could be used as hunting partners.

    Besides Gao Ke, Wei Kang and the other two researchers were also very absorbed in his exnations, nodding their heads subconciously. Even though they researched cats, they did specialize in the area that they researched in. Their focus was the biological change and evolution of cats through time, not cat psychology. Most importantly, none of them had actually had cats.

    Gao Ke looked at Fina and then back at Zhang Zian, his eyes shimmering with admiration. ¡°I get it now. Then this cat has definitely brought back a lot of prey for you, right? Like rats or cockroaches?¡±

    Zhang Zian said nothing.

    ¡°What is it?¡± Gao Ke realized that Zhang Zian looked more like he was constipated.

    Even though Zhang Zian knew about all of these things in theory, he sadly recalled that Fina had never actually brought back anything for him. It had instead taken away diamonds and money from him...

    This showed that knowing the theory didn¡¯t mean that one could recreate it in practical situations, and the ones selling the cats weren¡¯t the most proficient in rearing them.

    He forced out a smile. ¡°Of course! It¡¯s brought back a lot of things for me! It even brought me a dung beetle this morning!¡±

    Now it was Gao Ke¡¯s turn to look constipated. He could ept cockroaches and mice, but dung beetles...

    Zhang Zian suddenly felt a cold wind blowing at his back, a piercing gazetched onto his back. ¡°Dung beetles are just what we call them. Their official name in Egypt is scarabs!¡± he added. ¡°Legend says that ancient Egyptians saw that the sun rose and set tirelessly everyday and were confused by that, wondering where the sun got the energy to do so. Then they saw dung...I mean, scarabs pushing along balls of dung and had an epiphany. Weren¡¯t dung balls were pretty simr to the sun? They¡¯re both round in shape. So they thought that the sun must be pushed around by an extremely huge scarab every day. Look at its forehead. Doesn¡¯t it look like it has a scarab on it?¡±

    Everyone¡¯s eyes suddenly focused on Fina¡¯s forehead, and they really did find what looked like ancient Egyptian scarab wall drawings on its forehead. They nodded in agreement.

    Zhang Zian sighed, continuing, ¡°So, we¡¯re going to Egypt now. That¡¯s its hometown. It has a scarab on its forehead, and it brought me a...scarab this morning. I think this is a sign! Like a sign of sess, telling us that we will definitely seed this time and bring back a victory! Professor Wei, what do you think?¡±

    Wei Kang was almost thrown off track by his words, and he snapped back, avoiding his real words and intentions. ¡°Well...about that. I think you have good intentions and good thoughts. But we are scientists and look at everything from the viewpoint of science, so let¡¯s not talk about all these superstitious beliefs.¡±

    Zhang Zian hadpletely pulled that out of his *ss from his will to survive. Other than the myth of scarabs being true, not a single word that he had said was. But after hearing what Wei Kang said, he couldn¡¯t help but think of dimir. It must approve of this man, since he was not superstitious at all.

    The cold re on his back had finally dissipated.

    Gao Ke noticed his expression and asked, concerned, ¡°Are you feeling unwell? Look at all your sweat.¡±

    ¡°No, no, I¡¯m alright.¡± Zhang Zian was just d to still be alive and wiped his sweat with the back of his hand, ¡°My luggage is too heavy. I worked up a sweat moving all of it in. It¡¯s no issue.¡±

    The exnation was barely passable, but all their energies were focused on Fina. All they could think right now were the cat rearing facts that Zhang Zian told them earlier, and didn¡¯t muse over his words more.

 Chapter 1114: Trip Itinerary

    <h4>Chapter 1114: Trip Itinerary</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As the conversation got further and further off topic, Wei Kang quickly drew it back. ¡°As I mentioned earlier, it was during the New Dynasty that someone drew the scenes on the walls of ancient Egyptians taking cats to hunt in marshes and wends,¡± he said. ¡°This wall drawing dates between 3,500 to 3,000 years ago, and the cat in the drawing is still full of mackerel markings. There seem to be no spots to the naked eye, which proves that the spots did not appear earlier than 3,000 years ago.¡±

    Wei Kang turned to Fina again. ¡°So, although there is no direct evidence for the pattern of mackerel markings merging with the dots, I personally think it appeared between 2,500 and 1,500 years ago.¡±

    There was still a long time before the ne took off, and Zhang Zian was not in a hurry. He watched their quarrels and admired Wei Kang in his heart. He had narrowed the scope of spection greatly without direct evidence.

    He really wanted to tell them the answer directly. There was no need to guess anymore¡ªit was 2,000 years ago. But he couldn¡¯t say that. Even if he said it, they would not believe him, because he couldn¡¯t exin how he knew. If possible, during this trip to Egypt, he intended to find a way to prove the period of time in which Fina¡¯s two markingsbined.

    Du Xuetao, a nerd, pushed up his sses and asked carefully, ¡°Teacher, isn¡¯t Egypt just and full of yellow sand? Where are the swamps and wendsing from?¡±

    Wei Kang shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure about that. That concerns geography.¡±

    Zhang Zian cut in. ¡°I¡¯ve heard one or two things about climate change, and with poption growth, the original cultivatednd couldn¡¯t support so many people,¡± he said. ¡°People cut down a lot of forests and turned grasnds into cultivatednd, and eventually that led to uncontroble desertification. Long ago, the Sahara was a grasnd, not a desert, just like Lop Nor was once China¡¯srgest saltwaterke. It is said that there were elephants in the Central ins during the Shang Dynasty, which is unimaginable to modern people. Now elephants are in zoos, and you can only see them by buying a ticket.¡±

    Wei Kang and the rest sighed, all speechless. This was a natural disaster, but it was also a human-caused one. Of course, they studied biology and knew how many magical species would disappear quietly in the course of climate upheaval as if they had never appeared before. It could only make people sigh.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s stop standing here,¡± Wei Kang said. ¡°Xiao Zhang had a lot of formalities to go through, right? You go through the formalities. We¡¯ll help you carry your luggage in. A lot of the luggage is our equipment, so be careful when you move it.¡±

    After all, they were all men, and rough work was easy for them. Even the thinnest, Du Xuetao, carried the boxes for the pan-tilt cameras, while the strongest, Gao Jie, carried the boxes one by one.

    Zhang Zian took Famous to the toilet first¡ªthe men¡¯s toilet, of course, so that it could excrete whatever needed, and then he took it to check in. After that, he brought Fina to meet everyone in the departure lounge.

    He He was sitting on the luggage, her head lowered and ying her game. She only reacted after Wei Kang called her a few times.

    ¡°Why did you guyse only now? I thought that you went on the ne yourselves and left me here alone,¡± sheined as soon as she opened her mouth.

    ¡°How could that be? Our luggage is still here.¡± Gao Ke grinned, put down the suitcase, and went up next to her to see what game she was ying.

    ¡°Ah! It¡¯s this cat? How cute!¡± He He noticed Fina, switching off her phone screen and jumping down from the luggage. She reached out her hand, wanting to touch Fina¡¯s head.

    ¡°Don¡¯t touch it!¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s head hurt when he thought about these kinds of people who wanted to touch a strange dog or cat without saying a word. How arrogant were they? Did they really think that they had the so-called constitution that was popr with cats? Who was to me if they were bitten or scratched?

    Fina had already raised one of her forepaws. Her eyes were round, and she gave a threatening howl, gesturing to scratch.

    He He was so scared, she retracted her hand quickly. ¡°This cat is so fierce! It isn¡¯t a wild cat, right?¡±

    In fact, if Fina had really wanted to scratch her, she wouldn¡¯t have even been able to retract her hand, but Fina was eager to return to Egypt and did not want any unexpected things to crop up.

    ¡°Not all cats have a good temper, especially this cat,¡± Zhang Zian solemnly warned. ¡°Its favorite thing is to scratch people. If you don¡¯t want to get hurt, you¡¯d better not provoke it. I¡¯m saying this first: I¡¯m not responsible for paying money, so don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t warn you.¡±

    He He pouted. ¡°What a disappointment! By the way, isn¡¯t that best actor doging along with us?¡± she asked. ¡°Where is it? It¡¯s said that the best actor dog has a good temper and never refuses the fans¡¯ request for a photo.¡± She looked around but did not see any dog.

    ¡°Famous will be checked in by pets air travel and will stay in the aerobic cabin used to transport pets during the flight, so if you n to apany him...¡± Zhang Zian stopped talking, not wanting to offend her too much.

    He He said nothing.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to take a picture with that dog, too. I forgot until just now,¡± Gao Ke said with regret. Previously, all their attention had been focused on Fina. Famous was very low-key, and the attention waspletely on Fina¡¯s peculiar coat color and markings.

    Wei Kang cut in just in time. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not toote to wait for the photo to be taken in Egypt,¡± he said. ¡°There¡¯s plenty of time. Before the ne takes off, let me talk about the itinerary for after we arrive in Egypt. Otherwise, when we get on the ne, if we talk about that again, it will affect other passengers.¡±

    Everyone quieted down and listened to Wei Kang¡¯s exnation, but not everyone was listening very seriously. He He was looking down and ying with her phone, and Gao Ke was watching her.

    Actually, the trip itinerary had been set beforehand, but sometimes, ns could not match up to changes, so Wei Kang wanted to emphasize it again. ording to the n, when they reached Egypt, their first day would be free time, used to reverse jetg.

    The next day, Wei Kang would be visiting Cairo University with his four disciples and meeting with local biologists to discuss the evolution of domestic cats. This stage wouldst about three days, depending on the situation. Only when Zhang Zian and Fina were needed would he participate in the meeting. At other times, he could move freely.

    On the fifth day, they would invite local schrs to introduce reliable guides and rent off-road vehicles. All of them would enter the field investigation stage, the duration of which remained to be determined. That is to say, Zhang Zian had almost four or five days to move freely, which was the envy of the other young people.

    It was emphasized that this was only a pre-arranged n, which would be flexible to change and flexible to implement.

    Wei Kang urged Zhang Zian to go out as little as possible. After all, he himself was not familiar with Egyptian ces andnguage, and the local situation was unstable. In case of trouble, things could be terrible.

    Of course, Wei Kang was more worried about Fina. Because Zhang Zian did not have a leash on Fina, he was afraid that Fina would run away and be lost, and the loss would be too heavy.

    Zhang Zian promised verbally, but in fact, he had already begun to n the tourist routes.

 Chapter 1115: Landfill

    <h4>Chapter 1115: Landfill</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    If you started from Binhai City and head south, past the dog market and a few sizable viges, you would end up at a plot of wastnd near the sea.

    This wastnd was situated between Binhai City and the other cities around it and took up a huge area. This area was a barren piece ofnd as the soil had too much alkaline. There was only a thinyer of soil on top. If you dug further down, all you would get were small stones. Other than the very few species of grass that were hardier, almost nothing ofmercial value could grow here.

    The value of this piece of barrennd was extremely low, but there was something that this plot ofnd was very suited for. The government had build a gigantic waste disposal and burial facility here, and garbage trucks came here every day on the only road. They brought along a massive stench, kicking up a storm of dust, and upended Binhai City¡¯s trash into the huge hole before burying it.

    Predictably, no one was willing to stay here for long. Other than the workers¡¯ dorm at the waste disposal facility, there was no other residential area around here. The employees of the waste disposal were mostly males, up to 99% of them, and finding a partner had be extremely difficult for them. Both Binhai Citydies anddies from the other city would often leave with their hands on their noses and even delete and block them on social media if they heard that the other worked at the waste disposal.

    Thank goodness the waste disposal didn¡¯t have a lot of employees. Other than the drivers of the waste trucks, there were only about twenty to thirty of them staying here long-term. They didn¡¯t leave this ce often either, since there was barrennd around them for miles¡ªwhat was there to see? They were exhausted enough by the troubles of survival and finding a partner, so they would rather stay in their dorms and sleep when they could.

    Only when they had a long break would they don on their clean clothes and take the bus to the city to y or attend a blind date for the nth time.

    Since a long time ago, there had been an abundance of wild and stray dogs in the wastnd. Even though there was nothing here for miles, garbage trucks brought them more than enough food. There were always a lot of strays and wild dogs foraging for their next meal in the mountain of trash. Their noses were sharp, and they didn¡¯t have to worry about not finding food as long as they started trying.

    Recently, there seemed to be more and more strays and wild dogs around here, as there was a huge influx of straysing from Binhai City.

    These new strays had been chased here by the stray cats near the dog market.

    Previously, stray dogs had had the upper hand in the long struggle between stray cats and stray dogs. But there had been a weird shift recently,pletely changing the whole situation around. The cats that were usually solitary started to prowl their territory in groups, attacking all stray dogs on sight without fear, turning their long-standing rivalry on its head.

    In a battle not too long ago, a huge group of stray cats had begun their attack,pletely annihting the whole group of stray dogs and forcing them out of their homes until they left the borders of Binhai City. Until then, the strays had not stopped.

    The cornered dogs found the piece of abandonednd, the hugendfill, and realized that there were no heart-thumping strays in the area, and so they decided to settle down here long-term¡ªit was embarrassing, but they had no other ce to go.

    But the original residents of this piece ofnd wouldn¡¯t just let the new strayse take over their territory and snatch away their food without a fight.

    So, the war ys out every single day. Sometimes it was one-on-one, and sometimes it was a group fight, the mountains of trash filled with howls and barks of strays in the midst of their passionate fight for dominance.

    The true owners of this ce, the employees of thendfill, were troubled over the situation too. The groups of strays had clearly be a hidden threat. But they usually went around in their huge vehicles, like excavators, loaders, padders, tip trucks, et cetera. As long as they didn¡¯t leave the driver¡¯s seat, they wouldn¡¯t get into much trouble.

    But even so, there had sporadically been a few cases of strays injuring people, usually happening when the driver was in a rush to use the washroom. They couldn¡¯t possibly answer the call of nature in the driver¡¯s seat, right?

    The moment they left the driver¡¯s seat to take a dump beside their car, the stray dogs would have their eyes on them. Well, not them per se, but their freshly expelled sh*t. It was well known that dogs did eat sh*t, and some of them were more than happy to do so.

    But the workers didn¡¯t know that. While doing their business, they suddenly heard rustling around them, only to find one, or even several, big dogs surrounding them, looking at their butt as though it was a 5-star hotel¡¯s international buffet line.

    Faced with a situation like this, the workers would definitely panic. The smart thing to do was to not wipe and immediately put on their pants and hide in the driver¡¯s seat.

    But there were some stubborn people that refused to do so. They picked up any stick or stone or other trash around them to throw at or threaten the strays, wanting to scare them away so they could wipe their butts in peace.

    If it were one stray, it might be scared away. But if they came in a group, such an act would only agitate them. Even if they had no intention of attacking a person, they wouldn¡¯t care that much when the adrenaline rushed to their heads.

    After getting bitten several times, they had finally learned to be smart. As long as they had to drive out, they had to have at least two employees in a single vehicle. So if they ever encountered a situation where one of them desperately needed to go, the other person could keep watch while they did so in peace¡ªthey were all men anyway. The moment they found stray dogs lingering nearby, the guy keeping watch would then quickly alert his partner to hurry up and get in the car.

    Not just the employees, but the drivers driving the trash in every day were threatened by the dogs as well.

    Other than the call of nature, they had another issue. In order to prevent inconveniencing the general public, most rubbish trucks only operated at night.

    With how dark it was in the middle of the night, the drivers often had limited vision. If a dog were to suddenly rush across the front of a truck, the driver would usually m on the brakes on instinct. However, with such a heavy load on board, it wasn¡¯t easy for the vehicle toe to a smooth stop. A jammed brake could cause the whole car to topple over, endangering both the driver of the truck and any other car and its driver beside them.

    There had already been more than one case of a garbage truck toppling over. It was great luck that no one had gotten injured during all these cases, since there were basically no other cars using this freeway, especially during the night.

    But not having a single incident up to now didn¡¯t mean that it wouldn¡¯t happen in the future.

    The moment someone got injured, or worse, died, it would be an even more troublesome situation to handle.

    So the supervisors of thendfill had been getting together to discuss how to deal with the strays and wild dogs in the area. Yet the strays and wild dogs had no idea what was about toe and continued to fight their fights, dig through their litter, and eating their excrement.

 Chapter 1116: King of the King of Dogs

    <h4>Chapter 1116: King of the King of Dogs</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Saline-alkalind.

    Refusendfill.

    Most of the stray dogsing from the dog market wererge dogs. It could be said that onlyrge dogs could survive thepetition of the jungle. Although their blood was not so pure, if they had been small dogs like Pomeranians or poodles, they would have basically all been carried home and raised already.

    The rest were odd mongrels, some of which were the second generation of stray dogs mated with each other, and some of which were experimental products that vigers near the dog market had intentionally crossed with purebred dogs in order to beat their opponents in dog fighting and earn money.

    When outsiders first came to thendfill, they had already been frustrated by stray cats, and they were also hit head-on by the Aborigines.

    For a very long time, wild dogs wandering nearby had long regarded this ce as their own territory. Although they were all mixed dogs, not purebreds, they had umted abundant fighting experience in the cruelpetition, especially in group fighting. They were even crazier than pure,rge, fierce dogs when fighting.

    More importantly, dogs were social animals that spontaneously created ss distinctions in the poption. Whoever had great strength and fought desperately would overwhelm other wild dogs and be the dog king here.

    A motley crew, beaten up by stray cats and temporarily gathered, were already weak and hungry. Suddenly, they met a group of organized and experienced bandits. Even if the former had been an official army, they might not have been able to do well against thetter.

    In fact, the new stray dogs were driven out of thendfill by Aboriginal wild dogs and dared to wander around.

    Outside thendfill was far less abundant than the central area.

    Every day, a garbage truck dumped fresh rubbish near several garbage hills. The garbage was mainly domestic garbage, including construction garbage like bricks, tiles and ceramics. There was also harmful garbage, which was theoretically non-recyble, but there was also a good deal of recyble garbage mixed in, because sometimes the cost of recycling and reusing garbage was higher than making a new thingpletely.

    Domestic garbage mainly consisted of organic substances, such as leftovers, bones, and peels, which were treated by biotechnology to elerate degradation and then buried in the soil, waiting for dposition.

    However, there was another ¡°biotechnology¡± at work¡ªthat is, before the garbage was buried underground, the wild dogs would find the bones and meat that had not yetpletely decayed and have a good meal.

    It was just that the stray dogs that were waiting around the outer ring of thendfill could not enjoy that sort of good treatment.

    It had been some time since the stray dogs had been driven out of the dog market and arrived here. They wandered around and gradually formed several small groups, each of which had its own leader.

    Animals gathered by species. Dogs separated by groups.

    Stray dogs that were alone had to join these small groups. Otherwise, they had little room to survive.

    Among the stories handed down byndfill workers, there were four well-known groups of stray dogs: the Pit Bull Band, the German Shepherd Club, the Fierce Dog Group, and the Local Dog Circle.

    These names, of course, were jokes. They were nicknames given by workers for convenience. They did not mean that the Pit Bull Band was full of Pit Bulls. Where would so many Pit Bullse from? In fact, they were named after the leaders of the four small groups.

    The leader of the Pit Bull Band was a strong pit bull. It was said that when fighting, the dog would ignore the pain under the stimtion of adrenaline. It was extremely bloodthirsty and crazy. Whether it bit its own kind or bit people, once it had bitten, it would not let go. It had be a terrible legend of thendfill.

    The leader of the German Shepherd Club was a cunning German shepherd. The German shepherd and its subordinates seldom hurt people. It was more like a wolf than a dog. It used simple strategies and often led its subordinates to surprise other small groups, and it came and went like the wind.

    The head of the Fierce Dog Group was arge ck mastiff dog with unusually long hair. It roared like a ck lion. It was said that Tibetan mastiff¡¯s blood flowed through its veins. Relying on its rough meat and long, thick hair, even in one-on-ones with the bloodthirsty pit bull, it did not lose.

    Finally, the leader of the Local Dog Circle was a mixed breed dog, whichbined the genes of several fierce dogs and their special characteristics. It was a fighting dog specially bred by a viger. But because the dog had bitten people in the vige, the owner was afraid of being punished and implicated, and had abandoned the dog. It became a stray dog, so, as expected, it had a strong fighting force.

    Friction and fighting often ured between small groups, and sometimes, with wild dogs upying a central position, there were fights. After the emergence of leaders and organizations, the fighting power of these foreign stray dogs had increased rapidly and gradually began to encroach on the territory of wild dogs.

    Landfill workers asionally talked about this after dinner, and they were specting that of the four leaders in the four small groups, which one would be chosen by fate, and unify these foreign stray dogs?

    Several employees who liked to bet in private also made secret bets on which leader would eventually unify the stray dogs and be the real dog king.

    Once all of the stray dogs were united, they could absolutely have the power to stand up to wild dogs and might even overpower their excellent genes.

    Everyone could see clearly that if the German shepherd of the German Shepherd Club became the final winner, it would certainly bring the greatest improvement to the stray dogs as a whole. After all, it was very tactful. It liked to attack and circumvent in battle, and seldom rubbed shoulders with other small groups or leaders.

    However, the contest for the dog throne was not decided by strategy, but by teeth and flesh, one on one.

    In terms of individualbat effectiveness, the German shepherd was slightly inferior to the other three leaders and had the highest betting odds among employees.

    Of course, theoretically speaking, it was also possible for them to be unified by dogs other than these four dogs, but everyone knew that the probability of this was extremely low. Because fixed groups and sses had been formed, it would be difficult to break through.

    Dogs within a group were subject to the leader. A challenger could only be brought in from the outside, but if a new stray dog wanted to unify the world, it would be necessary to challenge the four leaders one by one and win. From the beginning to the end, it would have to win an overwhelming victory and could not be seriously injured, because if it was a single dog, there would be no time for an injury. If it barely beat a leader and suffered a serious injury, it would immediately be torn to pieces by other stray dogs.

    But if it could beat the four dogs in an overwhelming victory... Was it still a dog? Even a lion might have found it hard to do so.

    Thest possibility was that no stray dog would be able toplete the reunification before thendfill leaders took measures to denounce them.

    That day, from the direction of the sea, came a unique stray dog.

 Chapter 1117: It Came from the Sea

    <h4>Chapter 1117: It Came from the Sea</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was a normal day.

    The sun was shining brightly, and there was good weather for miles.

    The few big vehicles were busy at work. The roller truck driver seemed to be making magic, turning the piles of rubbish from 3D to 2D. The forklift driver then picked up the sheets of trash and dropped them into thendfill, filling it upyer byyer. This was their job every day.

    The wild dogs that could be seen everywhere didn¡¯t seem to be afraid of people, boldly yet cautiously digging through the trash piles tens of meters away from the vehicles.

    Even further away, the strays outside of thendfill area were also showing each other love through their teeth like they did everyday.

    Could one dare believe that all this was just because of a bag of pork ribs that hadn¡¯t gone bad?

    This pack of ribs might have been forgotten by its owner in a corner of the refrigerator, who only realized that it was still there one or two yearster. It had already been frozen into ¡°zombie¡± meat by then and thrown away sadly by the owner, ending up here in thendfill.

    When it was thrown away, the bag of ribs was still frozen solid. Through the long journey from the trash bin to thendfill, it had only just thawed. Strays didn¡¯t care whether it was zombie meat or not. This bag of meat wasparable to the finest delicacies on earth whenpared to the stinky, rotten food that they usually got.

    First, a dog from the mutt group found the bag of ribs. It followed the scent, digging around the heaps of trash, and finally fished it out of the whole pile to tear it open, devouring the first slightly chilly rib free of any weird taste or smell excitedly. It even chewed the bone into tiny pieces without any consideration, swallowing the whole mess of meat and bones, before reaching for the next piece of ribs.

    But this dog had forgotten that it had enemies all around it. The moment the packaging was torn open, the smell of ribs had taken a ride on the wind and spread all around thendfill. For the dogs that had an extremely keen sense of smell, it was just like a shark that had smelled blood.

    Just as the second rib had entered its mouth¡ªeven before it could bite on it¡ªthe dog could feel the hostilitiesing at it. It abandoned the ribs on instinct, quickly rolling away.

    A stocky ck Tibetian mastiff pressed firmly onto the bag of ribs with its front paw, iming it as its own. Its copper-colored eyes red at the mutt coldly, its long fur swaying with the breeze, saliva dripping out between its teeth, and a deep growl rumbling from the depths of its chest.

    The mutt quickly recognized this dog, simr to a lion, as the head dog of the mastiff pack.

    Its own size was way too different from the Tibetian mastiff, and it didn¡¯t stand a shred of chance. Even if it rushed up to snatch its own food back, it would only be inviting death to its door. Besides, there were still a few other dogs behind the lead dog.

    The mutt swallowed its saliva. There was only one thing it could do, and that was to run away with its tail between its legs, treating the bag of ribs as something merely from its imagination.

    The mastiff clearly thought so too. Under normal circumstances, the mastiff would¡¯ve chased the enemy away before enjoying its food, but the smell of the ribs was too enticing. It couldn¡¯t wait anymore. The dog before him was of no threat to it anyway, so it lowered its head, enjoying the delicacy before it. Even the other dogs that it had brought with him were salivating behind it, waiting for their alpha to finish eating before it threw a few bones for them to chew on.

    But faced with such humiliation, the mutt didn¡¯t flee in terror like that mastiff had anticipated. Instead, it raised its head, howling at the sky constantly.

    Even before its howls ended, a furious roar ripped through the air, and a mixed-breed that looked extremely ripped came rushing over. That was the mutts¡¯ leader along with a bunch of buddies behind him.

    The mastiff could look down on the mutt, but, hearing its old enemy¡¯s roar, it could not help but give up enjoying its meal for the time being, replying with a ground-shaking growl of its own and staring at its enemy. Its packmates knew that another war was about to start and gathered their energy, waiting for it to begin.

    The mixed-breed dog had a lot of hunter dog genes in it, and it had the external characteristics of a Rottweiler, so one could just call it a mixed-Rottweiler. It rushed forward first, and it understood what had happened when it saw the pack of ribs.

    It shed its bright, sharp teeth at the other dogs, giving the other members of its pack an encouraging eye, meaning to say, ¡°Good job! We mutts can break our heads or bleed out, but we can¡¯t lose our ribs!¡±

    The rottweiler-mix and mastiff didn¡¯t tumble together in a fight the moment they met, because that¡¯s what wild dogs would do. They were civilized dogs and had to trash-talk each other first.

    The mastiff noticed that the other party had more dogs, so it constantly sent out angry growls to both scare the other party and gather its other pack members.

    The Rottweiler-mix didn¡¯t want to lose either, and it simrly growled, its other buddies rushing to the scene.

    The amount of dogs gathering here was growing by the minute, with a clear line separating them in between. Across the dividing boundary, all of the dogs were noisily barking at each other, supporting their leader it was like a party.

    But since they had already dered war, the winner had to be decided. Just trash-talking each other didn¡¯t solve the issue. If this were a human society where whoever was the loudest was the winner, the great mastiff would have won, but strays didn¡¯t go by that rule.

    The mastiff and Rottweiler-mix instead quietened down, maintaining their eye contact like their lives depended on it. They carefully approached each other, looking for an opening.

    One move, and war would erupt.

    Even though they couldn¡¯t exin it, the both of them had a premonition, a premonition that could only be honed by years of battle. No matter who won this battle, it might be theirst one.

    This battle happened in the southeast side of thendfill near the sea but still a good distance away from the ocean¡ªsince they had to prevent thendfill from contaminating nature¡¯s water.

    The mastiff and mutt packs were too focused to notice that a dog had showed up in the midst of the ocean while they were at odds with each other.

    This was a middle-sized dog. It didn¡¯t look very strong, and its fur was a creamy white, an adequate length. It was just a normal mutt.

    No one had seen how the dog had emerged from the sea, but it had, stepping onto the shore with poise and leaving footsteps in the sand, proof of its existence.

    Finally...it was back again.

    It smelled the humid air, saturated with the scent of the sea, and shook its entire body to fling all of the seawater from its fur into the air.

    Just shaking it wouldn¡¯tpletely dry it, and it had to dry itself in the sun.

    It jumped onto a dry reef stone, watching the white clouds as they floated past, enjoying the first rays of summer¡¯s sun leisurely.

    But there was a cacophony of barkinging from a distance away, severely disrupting its enjoyment.

    It tried its best to bear with it, but the barking showed no signs of stopping, instead getting worse and worse.

    It finally couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. It jumped up from the reefs, ring at the direction where all the barking wasing from and scolding under its breath, ¡°Barking hell!¡±

 Chapter 1118: Instant Win

    <h4>Chapter 1118: Instant Win</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The white dog did not know why it was here, but it could vaguely feel that its destined enemy seemed to be here, waiting to fight with it.

    It didn¡¯t know who its enemies were, but it believed that when they saw each other, it would recognize them¡ªand it was definitely not the rabble of dogs barking in the distance.

    Its fur had yet to be totally dried by the sun, and it was wet and stered to its body, very ufortable. Its good mood waspletely ruined.

    So he started to run and bark in the direction of the dog calls. He wanted to bring down the little guys who didn¡¯t know good from bad by a bit.

    A worker driving a forklift noticed the white shadow running by and shouted to another worker driving a rolling mill, ¡°Look! Another stray dog! I haven¡¯t seen this one before!¡±

    Thetter nced at it and yelled disdainfully, ¡°It looks like he¡¯s just run out of his house. Look at that little body. I bet the dog won¡¯tst three days in thendfill! Do you want to bet?¡±

    ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s not gamble. My sry for this month is going toward a blind date.¡± The former shook his head and refused. He also felt that the thin dog would be bullied if it came here. If it sailed with the wind, it might survive. Otherwise, it would starve to death.

    The white dog did not pay attention to what they were saying. It ran, carefully avoiding the broken ss, the truncated steel bars, and the crushed cans exposed on the ground. The odor of thendfill made it nauseous, and it found it hard to understand why so many dogs gathered in such a dpidated ce.

    It ran and ran, and suddenly it heard the loud wail of a dog from nearby. The sound seemed to be directed at it.

    Sure enough, a dirty and stinky wild dog appeared in front of the white dog, with rotten vegetable leaves hanging on its body and a cut made by a sharp object on its shoulder, which was turned out and showed bright red flesh and blood.

    More than a dozen flies buzzed around the wild dog,nding on its eyelids, back, and wounds from time to time. The dog just shook its body and tail at will, temporarily driving away the flies, but after a moment, theynded again.

    The white dog paused doubtfully, wondering why the other had stopped him.

    ¡°Woof!¡±

    The wild dog showed its dirty teeth and barked at it. With the sound, it emitted bad breath, and its eyes looked at the white dog unkindly.

    ¡°A road robbery? Sorry, I have nothing to give you.¡± The white dog shook its head. ¡°Get out of here before I lose my temper.¡±

    The wild dog was irritated by the white dog¡¯s contemptuous attitude. It thought the thin white dog was easy to bully. If it frightened it, it could take the white dog as its younger brother. Or at least it would frighten the white dog till it begged for mercy and ran away with its tail between its legs.

    It suddenly rushed up, opening its mouth and wanting to bite the white dog.

    The white dog did not avoid it or hide, just turned its head a bit in disgust, like it was totally disgusted by the wild dog¡¯s smell.

    Until the wild dog rushed to a close distance, it was not in a hurry and lowered its head. Taking a deep breath, its waist and abdomen gathering strength, it roared loudly, ¡°I attack!¡±

    It attacked the wild dog like an artillery shell, but used an extremely rare method of attack for a dog¡ªusing its head to hit the enemy.

    This wild dog was just a little character in the wild dog group. Even so, it had fought many times, winning or losing, single-handed and scuffling. It had never seen a dog attacking head-on.

    The wild dog meant to bite the white dog on the neck, which would have been lethal to most animals. Once bitten by enemies, it would be difficult to ovee and win. But the white dog just happened to use its own bowed head to protect its vulnerable neck, so that the wild dog¡¯s bite missed.

    Not only that, but the white dog¡¯s head hit the wild dog¡¯s chest heavily. It almost made the wild dog feel like it had been hit by a hammer. Without even humming, it flew up from the ground, turned over several times in the air, and then fell to the ground like a broken sack, struggling to stand.

    The wild dog¡¯s eyes showed that it was unwilling to admit defeat. ¡°You... Why don¡¯t you y the cards you¡¯re supposed to?¡±

    ¡°I warned you before.¡± The white dog looked at it in disdain. ¡°Next time, before you try to block the road, look clearly at who you¡¯re blocking!¡±

    After that, it went on without turning its head back and left the wild dog behind it.

    The whole episode didn¡¯t take much time. A momentter, it came to the confrontation between the Local Dog Circle and the mastiff group.

    By the time it arrived, the battle between the hybrid Rottweiler and the giant mastiff was already on the horizon, and sparks were almost bursting from the eyes of both sides.

    The white dog strolled idly around and actually walked between the hybrid Rottweiler and the giant mastiff, as if it paid no attention to the two vicious dogs and the other supporting stray dogs.

    The Local Dog Circle felt that this new dog probably belonged to the mastiff group, and to the mastiff group, it was the opposite.

    So every dog showed their teeth to the white dog and barked wildly, meaning: ¡°Don¡¯t stand in the way! Get back to your side! If you walk ahead, we will bite you in minutes!¡±

    ¡°Pieces of sh*t!¡± the white dog scolded. ¡°How dare you little chipmunks and piggy heads shout at me? Take a second to shut your stinky mouths!¡±

    The dogs were stunned for a moment. They didn¡¯t know where its confidence wasing from. Was it not scared that they would rush up and tear it to pieces?

    ¡°Woof!¡±

    The mixed breed Rottweiler was enraged. He was nearest to the white dog and rushed toward the white dog with the force of a tiger. It nned to kill the white dog that was not scared of death in a matter of seconds. It would be an appetizer. After eating the dish, it would eat the main meal to y with its old opponent.

    ¡°I attack!¡±

    The white dog repeated its old trick, hunching its neck and bowing its head, avoiding the sharp teeth of the enemy, and aiming its head between the two front legs of the mixed Rottweiler, hitting its head on the enemy¡¯s chest.

    The mixed-breed Rottweiler was hit and flew, but it was better off than the wild dog, and it staggered back several steps before falling to the ground. It felt that the air in its lungs was sharplypressed and squeezed out of its body through its throat, while the sternum and pectoral muscles had suffered a hard hit and had yet to return back to their original shape, making it feel like it could not breathe.

    The local dog circle looked between the white dog and the mixed blood Rottweiler in disbelief. Their boss...lost? And lost so badly, without even being able tost past the first hit?

    Not only were they shocked, but the Fierce Dog Group opposite was suddenly silent. The ones who knew you best were not your friends, but your enemies¡ªno one knew more about the fighting power of this hybrid Rottweiler than the members of the Fierce Dog Group. He had bullied and bitten several members of the Fierce Dog Group before, which had made them dare not speak out, but the overwhelmingly strong dog had lost so quickly?

    Their gazes toward the white dog again were full of fear. This kind of gaze was only enjoyed by the four great leaders ordinarily.

    This white dog that had suddenly appeared¡ªwhat sort of god was it?

 Chapter 1119: Dog King Conquers the Country

    <h4>Chapter 1119: Dog King Conquers the Country</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After the Rottweiler-mix was beaten down with one hit, the original fight between the mastiff and the Rottweiler-mix became unimportant.

    The mutts were starting to get worried. With their leader down and unable to support them, what will happen to them in the future?

    The mastiff¡¯s pack was not rxed either, as all of the stress was now on them.

    ¡°Woof!¡±

    ¡°Woof woof!¡±

    They didn¡¯t know who started it, but the mutt pack started passionately cheering for the white dog. They felt that since this white dog could defeat their boss, if it defeated their enemy¡¯s boss as well, then wouldn¡¯t it show that their boss wasn¡¯t so useless?

    The mastiff looked at the white dog in a different light, finally seeing it as their equal.

    When it came to their sizes, the mastiff could easily take on three or four of the white dog. The white dog didn¡¯t seem to have a winning chance at all.

    The white dog seemed to be unaware of that fact, sniffing at the air and picking up on the scent of ribs. ¡°That smells amazing. Where did the ribse from? Should we make them sweet-and-sour or braised?¡±

    How could the mastiff just allow a random new dog eye the prized fresh ribs that were so hard toe by? It decided not to wait anymore, raising its head to let a roaring growl rip from its chest and puffing its entire body out, the flowing fur making it look even bigger than it was.

    ¡°There¡¯s a good saying that a biting dog doesn¡¯t bark. You should really learn from the dog earlier. If you want to fight,e over silently,¡± the white dog patiently exined.

    Even before it finished talking, the mastiff had already made a giant leap, pressing towards the white dog with the force of Mount Everest.

    The mastiff had learned a lesson from the Rottweiler, who had been defeated even before it could get a single hit in, and decided to press the white dog underneath itself before trying to go for the neck.

    The white dog didn¡¯t react too much either. Its body had sprung up from the floor like a spring, reusing the same trick and cleverly worming its way into the mastiff¡¯s hug, using its head to collide with the mastiff¡¯s soft tummy.

    ¡°Another headbutt!¡±

    The mastiff was knocked off bnce with a crying whine, and it flopped onto the ground like a ragdoll, its mouth opening and closing, before regurgitating its undigested food in a mushy mess with a grunt, stinking up the entire ce.

    The scene had quieted down again. All of the dogs had shut their mouths, watching the unbelievable miracle with wide eyes.

    How was this possible?

    Two of their leaders had beenpletely defeated by a neer dog?

    The white dog raised its front paw as though nothing had happened, brushing away the few strands of ck hair on the top of its head. ¡°Is there anyone that still wants to fight? Come!¡±

    Dogs naturally looked up to the strong, and the mutt and mastiff packs were both as silent as a winter¡¯s night, not even daring to exhale a breath, as orderly and obedient as a bunch of primary school kids.

    A new leader was born¡ªa new leader for both the mutt and mastiff packs.

    Maybe not only these two.

    The wind changed directions and the white dog smelled something odd in the air. When it turned back, it saw a pack of dogs gathered not too far away. It didn¡¯t know when this pack of dogs had showed up, but they had been very disciplined, obediently keeping quiet the entire time.

    Standing right in front of the pack was a German shepherd.

    Without a doubt, this was the leader of the German shepherd pack. The German shepherd was infamous for being cunning and alert.

    The white dog narrowed its eyes, observing the German shepherd. ¡°Hm? You want to try too?¡±

    The clear challenge caused a ripple of anger amongst the members of the German shepherd¡¯s pack, speaking out against the injustice against their pack leader and feeling that this white dog was just an ignorant brat.

    The German shepherd was observing the white dog too. It had a higher IQ than most of the other strays around here, and it vaguely sensed something different about the white dog. Even though it wouldn¡¯t be able to exin or articte it clearly, there was an innate sense of respect and fear that welled up from within, as though what it was facing wasn¡¯t a dog, but something higher than their existence.

    It started to head towards the white dog.

    The strays around the area perked up, thinking that a new action scene was about to start again. Could this dog, known for its smarts rather than its strength, show them a miracle?

    But something unexpected happened.

    Even until it had neared the white dog, there was no signs of aggression from the German shepherd, as it kept its head and eyes low, finally lying on the ground on its side, showing its fragile belly in submission.

    The leader of the German shepherds waving the white g without even trying to fight was even more shocking to everyone than the two of them fighting viciously for three hundred rounds before someone won by a narrow margin. Especially for the German shepherd¡¯s pack, besides shock, there was also confusion¡ªtheir pack leader was going to admit defeat just like that?

    The white dog smiled. ¡°Rise. You¡¯re a smart one.¡±

    The German shepherd flipped over but still showed submissiveness, grunting twice at its pack members toe over and pay respects to their new leader.

    ¡°No need.¡± The white dog raised a front paw, stopping the troublesome proceedings of what was toe. ¡°Do you have any other strays around here?¡±

    The heavily injured Rottweiler-mix and mastiff had somewhat gotten their breath back, struggling to stand from the floor. They hadpletely lost their arrogant stance, and they copied what the German shepherd was doing, lowering their heads before the white dog to show their submission.

    The German shepherd barked twice in a certain direction, meaning to say, ¡°There¡¯s another group there. Boss, do you want to go and teach them a lesson?¡±

    The white dog looked up in the sky in deep thought. ¡°I had originally nned to just dry my fur in the sun and take a nap, but I came along to shut you guys up since you were so noisy... But I have a new thought now. Since I¡¯ve already done it, I might as well go through with it all the way and gather all of the strays here into one group to do bigger and better things with my buddies.¡±

    It couldn¡¯t exin the reason, but it had a feeling that its archenemy was extremely strong, so strong that not one single dog would be able to win against it. So it needed friends¡ªa lot of friends.

    The strays all looked at each other. They hadn¡¯t understood what it saidpletely, but they at least got that it had wanted to find more strays.

    The German shepherd barked, starting to move towards a certain direction, before turning back to look at the white dog instead. ¡°Boss White, it¡¯s here. I¡¯ll bring you there.¡±

    The white dog nodded before taking a look at the other strays around it, dering, ¡°Everyone within the country is ourrades! Since everyone¡¯s willing to follow me, from today onwards, we are one family! You treat me as one of yours, and I will treat everyone as such too! As long as we are always there for each other, I promise that I will bring you a better life! If I have a bite to eat, I¡¯ll make sure that none of you will starve!¡±

    Ever since these strays had been chased out of Binhai City, they had been having irregr meals, even having to skip some of them, and were often attacked by wild dogs. They were living the life of poor beggars, pushed to the edge of society by its harsh waves.

    Hearing what the white dog said, their excitement was hard to contain and rose in a cacophony of howls and barks, as though they had finally witnessed the arrival of their savior.

    The white dog used its front paw to pick up the bag of ribs, but it didn¡¯t send it into its own mouth, but instead threw it up high, sharing the delicious ribs with the strays. Now, it¡¯s just a matter of who was able to snatch it up.

 Chapter 1120: Dog King vs. Dog King

    <h4>Chapter 1120: Dog King vs. Dog King</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    A bag of spareribs could barely fill arge dog¡¯s stomach, and a single sparerib could only plug the gap between the teeth.

    The white dog unreservedly distributed the bag of spareribs to everyone. Although it was only a small favor, when did these stray dogs ever see this? The ss separation of dogs was strict, and it had always been only after the leader had eaten enough, patted its butt, and left before the other dogs could eat any leftovers.

    Whether they managed to snatch the spareribs or not, the stray dogs had regained the shine in their dark and grey eyes, and they looked admiringly at the white dog. They had never seen such a leader. Now they were willing to die fearlessly at the white dog¡¯smand.

    The white dog was very satisfied with their looks, and looked towards the German shepherd. ¡°Okay, now let me go and see what other stray dogs can be our brothers.¡±

    The German shepherd was first, leading the white dog and the big group, and ran in a certain direction. Its territory was closer to the pit bull¡¯s territory, and it was very clear about the movements of its old enemy.

    ¡°What the f*ck? What¡¯s going on?¡±

    The eyelids of the forklift driver, who had finished his work and was resting, twitched, and he dropped half of his cigarette on his trousers, almost burning a hole in his overalls.

    He watched in shock as a swarm of stray dogs ran like a dark swarm of locusts through the area, raising a great cloud of dust where they ran. He had never seen so many stray dogs gather together before.

    ¡°Close the door! Bring the door up quickly!¡±

    After a moment, he finally reacted and shouted desperately to the driver of the road roller, who was on the running route of the stray dogs that practically seemed to want to attack thetter.

    ¡°What?¡±

    The driver of the road roller was peeing next to his car, and he was almost done, still calmly shaking.

    There was a distance between the two cars and he didn¡¯t hear very clearly.

    ¡°I¡¯m telling you to get in the car quick! The dogs havee!¡±

    The forklift driver pointed in a direction and yelled.

    The driver of the road roller turned his head to look and instantly felt cool under his hips, identally spraying the machine gun onto his pants.

    ¡°Oh my god!¡± He did not care about whether he pulled up his pants or not. He stumbled into the driver seat of the car, closed the door, and stared in horror as his two hands fumbled around in a panic, touched a metal crowbar, and held it tightly, palms sweaty.

    The vicious stray dogs rushed toward the road roller and toward him.

    If a group of stray dogs that were of a very high number started to attack them, the ss of the car definitely could not protect him against them, and the metal crowbar may or may not be helpful. It could only be used tofort himself in his heart.

    He noticed that the leader of the German Shepherd Club was in front of him. So it had really broken the ice. Was it that this German shepherd had unified four groups of stray dogs? Coincidentally, he had bet on the German shepherd.

    The odds were against the German shepherd, and the vi was by the sea. It seemed that he could win some liquor money this time.

    He admired himself very much. At that time, he still cared about winning or losing in the gambling game. He did not know if the money was enough to buy himself a box for his ashes.

    As the dogs approached, the forklift driver broke out in sweat and wondered if the group of dogs would target him after attacking the driver of the road roller.

    However, the stray dogs came and went in a hurry. They did not stop by the road roller at all. They rushed past without even looking at the driver, leaving only a cloud of choking dust and stinking smell.

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    The two drivers were shocked after surviving the disaster. Hadn¡¯t the dogse to attack both of them?

    They could have driven with them to find out the truth, but they were sweating all over and practically going to copse. They were already extremely thankful that they had managed to keep their pitiful lives. How could they care about other things?

    Thendfill was veryrge, the aggravation of the urbanization process in the city had made more people gather there, and more and more garbage was being produced. It was not feasible to reserve more space. In theory, thisrge area of saline-alkalind belonged to the scope of thendfill, but most of it was still empty.

    The German shepherd ran in front for a while before it slowed down and turned around to give a signal to the white dog. The Pit Bull Band¡¯s territory was in front of them.

    The white dog¡¯s forelegs did not touch the ground, and it stood up for a short time to get a better view.

    It saw a lot of dogs gathering in front of it. The numbers were not smaller than its side, but it was divided into two groups, onerger than the other. It seemed that they were also confronting each other.

    The other stray dogs stopped one after another.

    ¡°What is going on?¡± the white dog asked. ¡°Are these two groups of dogs all stray dogs?¡±

    The mastiff and mixed-blood Rottweiler also slowed down, barking to reply that the smaller group was made up of stray dogs, while the opposite group was arge group of wild dogs that had been forcibly upying this space for many years. In each other¡¯s eyes, they were each a thorn in the other¡¯s side. In this situation, it seemed the wild dogs hade to make trouble again.

    Of course, the mastiff and the mixed Rottweiler did not say that very clearly, but many of the meanings could be deduced from their angry expressions and tones of voice.

    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is.¡± The white dog nodded.

    The wild dog it had just met had made it clear what kind of things the wild dogs were¡ªlike bandits who took up residence on the the mountain and did all kinds of evil things for the king.

    Of the four stray dog heads, the bloodthirsty pit bull may not have been the strongest, but it was absolutely the most ruthless. It dared to exchange blood for blood and life for life. It might injure itself by 800 points but still harm its enemy by 1000. It was for this reason that its territory was also thergest of the four leaders¡¯. It not only encroached on the territory of the other three leaders, but it also expanded into the territory of the wild dogs, fighting day after day.

    But the pit bull had not initiated today¡¯s confrontation. The king of the wild dogs had. It had beenining about this for a long time, and led its subordinates, wanting to destroy the bloodthirsty pit bull in one fell swoop.

    The king of the wild dogs rarely came out directly, and even thendfill workers seldom saw it. There had been repeated rumors that it had died¡ªdied of injuries, challenges from other wild dogs, or old age¡ªbut the emergence of the King of the Wild Dogs caused the rumors to copse on themselves.

    The dog king was also a local dog. Its whole body was ck, and itcked one ear. One side of its eyelid had been gnawed off by other dogs. All over its body, it had scars, which was proof that it had experienced a hundred wars.

    It did not look very strong, but there was a chilling breath emitting from inside its body. When others met those cold eyes, it seemed they were being stared at by the god of death.

    Even the fierce, bloodthirsty, and fearless pit bull, faced with the legendary dog king, showed unprecedented caution and dyed its initiative to attack.

    Among the white dog¡¯s newly recruited subordinates, only a few of the original German Shepherd Club kept quiet while moving, while the other dogs were running and barking excitedly. The wild dogs and members of the Pit Bull Band discovered their arrival very early.

    It was also because of the arrival of this unknown force that the King of the Wild Dogs, who was supposed tounch an attack, temporarily postponed the original attack n and stared at the white dog coldly. Perhaps humans would misunderstand who the leader of the dogs was, but it would not.

 Chapter 1121: Sweep Through the Landfill

    <h4>Chapter 1121: Sweep Through the Landfill</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Since the dog king had held onto its position for such a long time, it was clear that it had extraordinary fighting capabilities. At the same time, it didn¡¯t only know how to fight, but it was also more intelligent than the other dogs, easily picking out the true leader of the pack amongst the mess of canines¡ªthe seemingly normal white dog.

    No matter whether it was the cunning German shepherd, Rottweiler-mix, or mastiff, they had all subconsciously made the white dog the center of their attention, obeying its everymand. This clearly showed that the white dog hadpletely earned their respect.

    But even with the wealth of experience the dog king had under its belt, it couldn¡¯t find anything special about this white dog.

    The other wild dogs didn¡¯t care that much, the bloodlust driving their bodies to do what their instinct wanted them to. They would never care about trying tomunicate with the other party. It was just a lot easier to give them a bite to end their life. What were all the useless words for?

    If not for the fact that the dog king hadn¡¯t given the order yet, they would have rushed up without waiting a single microsecond.

    The bloodthirsty pit bull saw its three old nemeses in the midst of the stray dogs and tilted its head in confusion, not able to understand why the three of them would be together.

    There were three groups standing at odds with one another now.

    No matter how reckless the pit bull was, it wouldn¡¯t pull a thoughtless move now. It had the smallest amount of members in its group now and was the weakest one amongst all three.

    The white dog assessed the situation, quickly understanding what was going on, and walked towards the dog king without any protection.

    The stray dogs started to bark like mad, wanting nothing more than to rush up and tear the white dog into pieces.

    The stray dogs were all tensing up, barking back in response to the wild dogs under the lead of their three pack alphas. The mastiff had an especially loud and reverberating bark and could match ten dogs on its own. ¡°So what? Trying to fight us with numbers when you couldn¡¯t win a one-on-one? Come, more than d to! You¡¯re a pussy if you don¡¯t dare to!¡±

    The pit bull and its members didn¡¯t want to be left out, and they joined in with a mess of barks. But they didn¡¯t know which side to support and merely barked to show that they were still there.

    Even since the beginning of thendfill, there hadn¡¯t been this much activity. The hundreds of dogs¡¯ barks were absolutely deafening and could be heard from miles away, even from the workers¡¯ dorm on the other end of thendfill.

    The white dog opened its mouth to speak, but its voice waspletely drowned out by the barking. It could only stop, raising a paw and making a sign after half-turning back, signaling to them to stop barking¡ªit was going to go deaf.

    Right then, the previously silent dog king moved.

    The dog king had grasped the split-second opening that the white dog had created while it was half turned around to attack, urately picking the best time to attack.

    The reason why it became the dog king and ruled the pack for several years was not its superior fighting skills and higher-than-average IQ, but also that it was willing to fight dirty.

    The wild dogs seemed to be injected with shots of adrenaline, barking even louder than they had been before and cheering for their own king. ¡°Our king¡¯s the best! Our king¡¯s super dope!¡±

    The strays instead were screaming curses at the other in barks. ¡°We agreed on one-on-one! How dare you do sneaky things! Shameless b*stards!¡±

    Even the pit bull watching by the side couldn¡¯t stand it anymore, giving a shout to remind the white dog to watch its front.

    By the time the white dog turned to the front, the dog king was already inches away from it, its mouth wide open and the stench assulting its senses. The other¡¯s teeth were ck and yellow, absolutely filthy, aiming towards its neck to bite harshly.

    It didn¡¯t panic or lose its footing. It curled all of its limbs in and lowered its torso, bowing its head and chest towards the ground and missing the bite by mere milimeters.

    Then it sent strength all the way down to every single muscle in its body, releasing them in one go along with a shout of, ¡°Headbutt!¡±

    Right then, the white dog¡¯s head was right below the dog king¡¯s lower jaw. This could just be the white dog...closing the dog king¡¯s mouth for it?

    The dog king had no intention of closing its mouth at all, though, and it could only hear the crisp crack of its lower jaw connecting with its upper jaw, its mouth closing against its will¡ªthe only issue was that its tongue was still hanging outside!

    In the end, its sharp canines pierced two holes in its tongue, its blood pouring out of thecerations, so painful it could keel over.

    The impact didn¡¯t just cause great injury to its tongue. The rest of the shockwave traveled through its bone into its brain, causing it to have a horrible concussion. It convulsed violently on the floor, the blood from its tongue flinging everywhere.

    The white dog shook its head, its tone full of pity as it continued, ¡°You should be happy that you don¡¯t have front teeth like a human, or you would only be left with half a tongue, not able to taste much of your food in the future.¡±

    Neither the strays nor the wild dogs expected this plot twist at all. They had all thought that the white dog wouldn¡¯t be able to get an edge, and yet it hadpletely turned the tables. Not only had ite out unscathed, it had even caused a huge injury to the dog king, causing the dog king to bepletely unable to continue the fight.

    K.O.!

    The white dog looked at the wild dog pack. ¡°Anyone not happy with this oue? Come on out!¡±

    All the wild dogs that had been cheering loudly earlier were now allpletely dejected, like a rat caught in a trap,pletely losing their motivation to fight. All of the dogs that were looked at by the white dog had lowered their heads, hunching in on themselves to make themselves smaller.

    The stray dogs were instead over the moon. ¡°Dog king! Dog king! New dog king!¡±

    The white dog broke into a smile, looking over at the pit bull. ¡°What about you? Do you believe in my strength? If not, why note and try it yourself?¡±

    All eyes suddenly turned to the pit bull. They could still remember its bloodlust and craze for violence, and no one dared to underestimate its power.

    Even though it knew that the opponent had unnaturally great strength, the pit bull refused to just give up like that. It didn¡¯t matter whether the other was a person, a dog, or an iron tank. It dared to go up and try to give it a few bites.

    ¡°Woof!¡±

    It knew who it was and didn¡¯t want to stoop as low as the dog king of the wild dogs, making sneaky attacks. It gave a bark first before opening its wide mouth, a few streaks of blood marbling its saliva and clinging to its teeth. It crouched then, firing itself towards the white dog with all of its strength.

    The white dog was impressed by the pit bull that dared to face its challenges up front. ¡°Good, you are a respectful one!¡±

    The white dog had rushed towards the pit bull as well. The moment the two dogs crossed paths, it intentionally leaned to one side, veering away from the other¡¯s teeth and knocking its head into the pit bull¡¯s chest.

    This time, the white dog hadn¡¯t used its full strength, merely a fraction of what it had used before. But even so, the pitbull couldn¡¯t handle it either, flipping around in the air before smashing back to the group, the mud and sewer water dirtying half its face.

    Thank goodness the pitbull had a strong enough chest with developed chest muscles. With the white dog going easy on it as well, it merely needed a few moments to gather its breath back enough for it to stand again. The bloodlust and craze hadpletely bled out of its eyes, reced by respect and submission¡ªbut this was only for the white dog, an admission that the white dog was stronger that itself.

    Yet another K.O.!

    All of the other dogs on site were allpletely taken aback, looking at the white dog as though it were a god.

    Not the dog king but the God of War!

    As for the previous dog king that was still convulsing on the floor, not a single dog had given it another look¡ªas though it didn¡¯t exist at all.

    Dogs only looked up to the strong!

    The white dog leaped onto a tall stone and looked down at the sea of dogs, the pride blooming in its chest.

 Chapter 1122: Counterattack

    <h4>Chapter 1122: Counterattack</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Yearster, when retired workers fromndfills were pulled by their grandchildren and begged to tell stories, their stories would often begin like this: ¡°It is said that the dogs¡¯ power in the world, after being shared for a long time, had to be separated, and after being separated for a long time, had to be brought back together...¡±

    Privately, when employees talked about this matter, they always shook their heads and sighed. ¡°I didn¡¯t think, I didn¡¯t think...¡±

    Unexpectedly, the one who ended thendfill mess was actually a medium-sized, locally born white dog.

    The white dog stood on the stone, and the group of dogs below did not dare to howl loudly. The only sounds that could be heard were the sounds of breathing.

    ¡°Brothers¡ªno matter what hatred you had among yourselves before, from now on, we are brothers, anyone who is willing to follow me!¡± it called out loudly.

    The dogs were so excited that they started to bark and howl together. For the first time, they felt that their eldest brother looked upon them highly. They had used to be called back and forth like ves, and now they were willing to follow this dog with all their hearts.

    Hundreds of dogs had gathered together. They were still stray dogs and wild dogs who didn¡¯t know what bathing was. The smell was inconceivable.

    The white dog had a headache from the strong smell. Looking at the vastndfill, it could not help showing its disgust when it saw the overwhelming garbage hills and countless mung bean flies buzzing around.

    It looked down at the heads of the dogs and said doubtfully, ¡°But what I don¡¯t understand is why my brothers came into this field. There are good rivers and mountains outside, but you don¡¯t want to go there and are instead gathered in this dirty ce?¡±

    ¡°Woof woof woof woof woof woof woof!¡±

    The stray dogs rushed to answer, and in the end, it became a mess. It could not hear anything clearly.

    ¡°Stop shouting! You cane over to speak.¡±

    In the end, the white dog ordered the German shepherd toe over to speak, because the German shepherd¡¯s intelligence was quite high, and it had quite good logic.

    The other dogs slowly quieted down.

    The German Shepherd came out andined about its grievances, facing the direction of Binhai City with indignation.

    ¡°What? You mean you were bullied by stray cats? And you were even driven to homelessness by stray dogs and could onlye here? No, you were all originally homeless.¡± The white dog was shocked and scolded, ¡°What a group of cowards! Good-for-nothings!¡±

    The stray dogs all lowered their heads in embarrassment.

    The wild dogs sniffled disdainfully, which meant: ¡°The boss is right, really. Cowards!¡±

    Of course, the stray dogs were not convinced. They kept a clear distance from the wild dogs. They were barking and scolding each other, which meant: ¡°Why are you guys being so pretentious? If you have the ability to, you can go and try it out! Even if you guys go, you¡¯ll be beaten up and return!¡±

    The wild dogs had looked down on the stray dogs for a long time, and at that time, they had been even more unhappy.

    The white dog was pondering. It knew the fighting power of the stray dogs and had experienced it personally. The four leaders were strong, courageous, and resourceful, while the other stray dogs were worse than the four leaders, but at least their physique was there. No matter how bad they were, they were not that bad. How could they be bullied by stray cats so miserably?

    There was definitely something off here.

    The mastiff felt that the white dog¡¯s eyes had fallen on it. It was also ashamed. It worried that the white dog would scold it for being so big. It rushed out to argue loudly: ¡°Big Brother White! It¡¯s not that this dog doesn¡¯t give enough strength, it¡¯s just that the enemy has a cat bully!¡±

    The white dog was shocked. ¡°A cat bully? What¡¯s that?¡±

    The German shepherd barked and exined that the stray dogs had never paid attention to stray cats before, but one day, the stray cats had changed and be as organized as dogs. They attacked the stray dogs suddenly in many areas of Binhai City, and the stray dogs were defeated. Later, there was a rumor among stray dogs that a cat bully had appeared among the stray cats. The cat bully was clever, cunning, and brave. The reason why the stray cats had seeded was that they were under themand of the cat bully.

    ¡°Oh? That cat bully, what does it look like? Could it have three hands and six limbs?¡± The white dogughed coldly, itspetitive heart moved.

    The German shepherd shook his head. ¡°Few dogs have ever seen the real body of the cat bully. There are rumors that it looks like a mad tiger, with a fierce face, teeth with knives stuffed in between them, sharp ws like beds, wings on its back, a tail like a steel whip, and infinite strength...¡±

    The white dog could no longer listen anymore and cut its description short. ¡°Do you really believe these words with no evidence?¡±

    The German shepherd and the other three leaders looked at each other. They hadn¡¯t seen the cat bully, but they tended to believe the rumors. Otherwise, how could they exin the fact that they had been defeated by stray cats? If the cat bully was actually an ordinary cat, where would that put them?

    ¡°So the city over there is called Binhai City?¡± The white dog raised his forepaw and pointed out the direction of Binhai City. Although you couldn¡¯t see Binhai City from there, the dog¡¯s sense of smell was extremely sensitive. The smell from that direction was extremelyplex, which meant that there was a city over there.

    The stray dogs scrambled to bark so that they would get approval.

    The white dog thought a little and soon got an idea. There was no mistake. The so-called cat bully should be its destined enemy!

    This cat was definitely like it, a seemingly ordinary but not ordinary cat!

    ¡°Brothers! Are you really willing to continue staying here? Fighting over the rubbish that is not even as good as hogwash every day?¡± it roared with all its might.

    ¡°Woof woof woof! Not willing!¡±

    ¡°Are you willing to die of old age here, to be bullied by stray cats all your life?¡± it roared again.

    ¡°Woof woof woof! Not willing!¡±

    ¡°Then, are you willing to follow me and fight back?¡± it roared even louder.

    The stray dogs missed the days of the past very much. They had lived in the city. Although they had often been threatened by the reigning dogs¡¯ team, they had at least been 100 times morefortable than they were living in the garbage dump.

    They all wanted to go back even in their dreams, but when they thought of going back, they knew they had to face the terrible stray cats, and they couldn¡¯t help but tremble.

    But they had a new dog king who was like a god that hade to earth. It would definitely be able to bring them toward sess, win over the cat bully, and snatch back the territory they had lost.

    ¡°Woof woof! We are willing! We are willing!¡±

    The white dog held up a front paw and waved it vigorously, shouting, ¡°Get rid of the cat bully and restore woof power! Get rid of the cat bully and restore woof power!¡±

    ¡°Woof woof woof woof! Woof woof woof woof!¡±

    The stray dogs and wild dogs, though not really able to understand, were infected by the white dog¡¯s momentum, and they barked furiously as a group.

    The white dog hit the iron while it was hot, pointed to the direction of Binhai City, and roared, ¡°Brothers! Starting today, let¡¯s fight hard and recuperate! If they eat our food, we¡¯ll make them spit it out for us! We¡¯ll make them return things that they took from us!¡±

    Its eyes swept over every dog present, and it roared hoarsely: ¡°An inch of Binhai, an inch of blood, 100,000 woof woof 100,000 troops! When everything is ready, my brothers, follow me to counterattack the coastal city!¡±

    The roar of dogs shook the surroundings and even covered up the roar of the tide.

    If Zhang Zian had been present, he would surelyment¡ªwhat the heck, this was another elfin who liked to change famous sayings randomly!

 Chapter 1123: Birdâ€™s Eye View of Egypt

    <h4>Chapter 1123: Bird¡¯s Eye View of Egypt</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Seriously, sometimes Zhang Zian was really jealous of the elfins. They could just go back to the phone when they were on the ne and would reach their destination after a night¡¯s nap. The long flight could be hard to bear, especially if the quality of the flight attendants was not high.

    Wei Kang was like a primary school teacher who was afraid of their kids going missing during an excursion and had been constantly reminding them to move in a group ever since they had reached the lobby. They had to go to the toilet in pairs, and he only stopped with his nagging when they reached the ne.

    You could guess with your kneecap that Fina would be attracting a lot of the fliers¡¯ attention with how brazen it was getting on the ne. Very little people had seen cats being brought onto the ne, or even if they had, most would at least keep the cat in a carrier. Was it really okay to just let the cat walk freely like this?

    The flight crew had received the notice before hand, as well as the proof of scientific significance, and they had mentally prepared themselves for Fina¡¯s arrival. A few of them had even prepared cat toys to entertain it, but Fina waspletely uninterested in them, hopping into its seat to catch up on sleep.

    More than one passenger hade over to ask Zhang Zian whether he was rted to one of the higher-ups on the airline, if he was allowed to bring a cat onto the ne like this.

    After the ne took flight and went into cruise, the passengers would grab their phones or cameras to take a picture of Fina when they walked past Zhang Zian¡¯s seat.

    They finally waited to the point where the passengers had their curiosity sated. Seeing that Fina had already fallen into a deep sleep, Zhang Zian could feel his fatigue catching up with him too. He had wanted to take a nap as well, but Gao Ke and He He, who were sitting behind him, were constantly chatting. He wanted nothing more then to hide in the phone as well for some peace and quiet.

    Wei Kang took out hisptop to browse some articles and papers.

    After a while, having eaten the on-flight dinner, the four youths behind them finally ran out of things to say, and Zhang Zian fell into sleep groggily.

    By the time he woke up, Fina was also awake. Its seat was the window seat, and it was squatting on the seat, watching the scenery outside.

    Most of the other passengers were also sleeping or taking a rest with their earphones. Even Wei Kang had closed theptop to take a nap.

    Fina turned around to look at him. ¡°Thest time I sat on an airne, I didn¡¯t think much of it. But after experiencing how amazing Nekhbet was, it¡¯spletely different, taking a ne.¡±

    It was just describing how it felt, not asking a question, so Zhang Zian had no real need to answer. There were quite a few passengers around them as well, so it wasn¡¯t exactly possible for him to answer it either.

    The impact that the drone had on them was a lot more than the ne. Since the ne was flying at a much higher altitude, they could only see clouds,nd, and the sea out the window, and it just looked fake. But the drone waspletely opposite. It had provided a different view of the scenery that they usually saw, an impactful view.

    The speaker suddenly rang with the captain¡¯s voice, reminding the passengers that they were about to reach their destination¡ªthe capital of Egypt, Cairo.

    Fina cocked its head slightly, watching where the ne was flying through the window.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t see its face directly, but he could vaguely see its anxiety through the reflection in the window, as though it wanted to go back to its hometown in the snap of a finger.

    This was a return after two thousand years of being away¡ªsadly, they couldn¡¯t return in a more grand manner.

    The ne flew past from the Sinai Penins¡¯s airspace. In theory, they had already entered Egypt¡¯s airspace, but all they could see from this height was endless desert and the horizon in the north, its waves rolling in the Mediterranian Sea.

    The passengers that had been woken up by the announcement started to collect their belongings, making preparation fornding.

    Wei Kang woke up the rest of the members, continuing to nag about staying together and not losing anyone.

    A whileter, the ne started its descent at an undetectable angle, and the passengers that had nevere to Egypt before were all looking out the window.

    ¡°Look! Pyramids! Those are pyramids, right?¡± Someone whisper-shouted, asking their friends toe take a look.

    Fina lightly shivered, looking out the window with even deeper concentration.

    Zhang Zian put out his neck as well. Even though they had seen many pictures and videos of the pyramids on television, there weren¡¯t many chances for them to watch from the sky.

    Fina¡¯s mouth dropped open in shock, the disappointment in its eyes detectable from miles away.

    ¡°This...this is the sacred pyramid? This... What¡¯s all this trash around it?¡± It gritted its teeth in anger.

    Zhang Zian saw it too. Even though it was in passing, he did see the pyramids.

    He couldn¡¯t fault it for being disappointed. The pyramid right before it waspletely different from what she remembered. She remembered the pyramids being covered with ayer of smooth white limestone, reflecting the sunlight like a mountain covered in eyes would, pristine and beautiful, easily seen from miles away. But the pyramids now barely had any limestone around them. There was only a glimpse of it left on the Pyramid of Khafre, but all of the limestone around the other pyramids had disappeared without a trace, the ugly yellow stones underneathpletely exposed.

    Besides, what was even more preposterous was the fact that dozens of low-rise buildings had popped up not far away from the pyramids. These were hotels and hostels, popping up like bamboo shoots after the rain. They had been built there hastily in order to attract tourists who wanted convenience.

    Zhang Zian was worried that it would throw a tantrum on the ne, so he could only pretend to be talking to himself while he exined, ¡°A long time ago, in order to build up Cairo, the descendants made a limestone mine out of the pyramids for convenience... Just like how Chinese people took bricks from the Great Wall of China to build their homes.¡±

    The pyramids had already disappeared from their view in the window. Fina turned back to him, the fury in her eyes not dimmed but instead burning brighter¡ªthese acts of disrespecting their ancestors should be punished with death.

    Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders. ¡°The Egyptians of that time were not Egyptians of the past.¡±

    Fina understood the meaning between the lines. The true Egypt had already ended even before A.D. started. Thest generation of kings, the Ptolemy family, weren¡¯t Egyptians either, but instead Greeks. Even if so, the Ptolemy family, which included Cleopatra, hadpletely adhered to the rules and regtions of Ancient Egypt, so they could be considered as a part of Ancient Egyptian history.

    Only after the great Cleopatra had died in her youth did they note the true end of Ancient Egypt. However their descendants had tortured the pyramids, even if it was surrounding it with toilets, wasn¡¯t disrespecting their ancestors, since their ancestors weren¡¯t Ancient Egyptians anyway. It was alright to dig up other families¡¯ graves, as long as they weren¡¯t one¡¯s own family¡¯s.

    This attitude was clear in the protection strategy of Egypt¡¯s ancient artifacts and culture as well. Even though modern Egypt was pretty passionate about protecting the artifacts, they somehow just gave off a weird feeling about it. It was like they were protecting the artifact¡¯s value rather than the artifact itself.

    Fina¡¯s mouth hung open as though it wanted to say something, but no words came out. She could only close her eyes in shame andck of eptance.

    If she hadn¡¯t died...if she hadn¡¯t made that choice... The world today would have been drastically different.

 Chapter 1124: Disastrous Cairo

    <h4>Chapter 1124: Disastrous Cairo</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When they had flown over the Sinai Penins just now, Zhang Zian¡¯s heart had been in his throat. The flightnded safely at the airport, and only then did he feel relieved. He thanked all the immortals of the East and West and Buddha once. Fortunately, no missile hade from the horizon to shoot down the flight.

    After all, these kinds of things happening in the Middle East were not shocking. When the news came to China, people would only say, ¡°See? There¡¯s a nice home to stay in, but you insisted on going to Egypt to seek death! Serves you right!¡±

    Tourism was one of Egypt¡¯s most important economic industries, so the Egyptian government spared no effort to promote the development of tourism. Of course, it would not neglect China, a big, new country, and implementednding visas for Chinese tourists because the stories of rich Chinese tourists who spent huge amounts of money had spread all over the world.

    Unfortunately, the local rich tourists who loved luxury goods usually did not go to Egypt, because Egypt would not sell mummies and golden coffins, and they could not show off their wealth that way.

    After getting off the ne, Zhang Zian had to apply for anding visa as well as an entry certificate for Fina. Otherwise, it would be easy to bring cats into Egypt and difficult to take them out of Egypt. In addition to purchasing traffic cards for Inte ess, he had to go pick up Famous, who had been holding it the whole way. As soon as it was let out of the cage, it could not wait and requested to go to the toilet.

    Wei Kang kept busy with this and that, scared that someone would go missing or lose the valuable equipment. He was not reassured until all of them got into the hotel taxi.

    Truthfully, the interior of the Cairo airport was still very clean, but with taxis heading southwest toward Cairo, the veil of modern Egypt was slowly drawn back.

    As thergest city in the Middle East with a poption of 20 million, Cairo¡¯s urban outlook might not be as good as that of an ordinary city in China, and it was suitable to be described as dirty, chaotic, and poor.

    As for the traffic situation in Cairo, the website of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had written in their ¡°Notes for Chinese Citizens Going to Egypt¡± that the traffic facilities in Cairo were old, the traffic order was chaotic, and tourists had to pay attention to traffic safety when they went out. The main means of transportation in Cairo were taxis, buses, and metros. Buses usually only slowed down without stopping at the stop signs. Passengers needed to climb up and down off the fast-moving vehicles. It was very unsafe. Tourists were advised not to try.

    Excuse me?

    Passengers needed to climb up and down off the fast-moving vehicles?

    Were they sure it was not a cheat trip towards India?

    After seeing it with his own eyes, Zhang Zian realized that in order to avoid hurting the great friendship between the Chinese and Egyptian people, the wording of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had been very polite¡ªbecause what the f*ck, there was no traffic at all here!

    After departure from the airport, there was hardly a traffic light on the way. Only the traffic police at the intersectionmanded the traffic and acted as human traffic lights. Choking exhaust and endless loudspeakers were distracting. There were so many cars on the road, it was like dumplings. Every car moved like a snail, and roads that were clearly threene roads often ran parallel with five cars.

    Drivers tried their best to get to their destinations as soon as possible, crossed the intersections without slowing down, and turned without signaling, overtaking on the left or rightpletely depending on their mood. It caused people to doubt whether a driver¡¯s license here could be obtained just by paying money.

    There were few luxury cars on the road and also very few new cars. There were many cars that had been out of production for many years and could not be seen anywhere in China. It was like a museum of old cars. Egypt had no rules on the number of years before vehicles had to be scrapped, so everyone drove their cars until they couldn¡¯t be used at all.

    Here, new Japanese cars such as Toyotas were already luxury cars. asionally, they could see several domestic cars, which were popr among local people because of their low cost and durability.

    Whether a new car or an old one, a private car or a taxi, the surface of each car was pitted and scratched, and there was not even one piece ofplete paint. Here, when a car was scrapped, it could only be considered unlucky.

    Because it did not rain all year round, Cairo was covered with ayer of gray-yellow color where dust and automobile exhaust gathered near the surface, unable to disperse. Under the strong sunlight, there were lines like ripples in water that shook.

    Zhang Zian and the rest hade in the middle of summer and felt that it was even hotter and more unbearable to see this scene.

    He took Fina and Famous in a taxi with Wei Kang. The three men and one woman rode in the other two taxis because they had too much luggage and had to do so.

    When Fina saw how far behind modern Egypt was, she was even more worried.

    ¡°Eh? Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Egypt?¡± Wei Kang observed the scenery of Cairo, and suddenly asked curiously.

    ¡°Unfinished buildings?¡± Zhang Zian had not noticed that.

    It happened that the taxi was stopped because the road ahead was blocked again, and Wei Kang pointed to a slightly higher position. ¡°Look, these three- or four-story buildings don¡¯t seem to have roofs, and some of them have exposed steel bars, as if they were half built and then abandoned.¡±

    After he pointed this out, Zhang Zian looked up and found that, as Wei Kang had said, there was a row of small buildings next to them that looked that way. But unlike the unfinished buildings in China, these small buildings were obviously inhabited by people, and there were clothes hanging from the balconies.

    Zhang Zian was also not clear about what was going on and guessed, ¡°Is it that they were building it and ran out of money halfway?¡±

    Wei Kang inquired about this to the taxi driver in English, but the driver¡¯s English was not very good. The taxi driver stuttered word by word and was not grammatically correct at all. However, with gestures, he managed to exin the situation clearly.

    It turned out that in Egypt, after building a house, you had to pay taxes, but you didn¡¯t have to pay for an unfinished house, so ordinary people¡¯s houses would never bepleted to avoid taxes legally. Of course, the premise was that Egypt¡¯s climate was extremely dry, with almost no rain. If they¡¯d done this in a ce where it rained a lot, they could have rowed boats in the houses...

    Zhang Zian and Wei Kang looked at each other on hearing that, and could not help but exim, ¡°The ordinary working people¡¯s intelligence is really unlimited!¡±

    But was it really economical to do so? After all, the top floor was half covered, without a roof, so who would be willing to sleep there? Whether it was rented or sold, there would probably be no one who wanted the top floor. Even if it could be rented out, it would probably be very cheap.

    The driver then exined that Egypt had entirely privatend ownership, and thend would always be bought by individuals. You could build as many floors as you liked on thisnd. A family lived in those three or four stories of small buildings, and it was not for rent or sale. There was a strong sense of n in the Arab world, and families needed to live together in a neat way¡ªas the family poption grew, they would not separate, but would build the buildings upward level by level. They would neverplete the roof.

    Wei Kang prepared a walkie-talkie for each of the members in the team to make it easier for them to contact each other. He told the other four people these things through the walkie-talkie, and everyone was fascinated listening to it.

 Chapter 1125: Nile River

    <h4>Chapter 1125: Nile River</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Listening to the driver¡¯s introduction of Egypt¡¯s unique culture, the endless traffic jam had be less intolerable. But the driver¡¯s ent and proficiency in English had be a big issue. They had to mostly get by with guessing and gestures, and both Zhang Zian and Wei Kang were worried about whether they had heard or understood something wrongly.

    He He started toin through the walkie-talkie, ¡°Mr. Wei, where¡¯s the hotel that we booked? Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s just like these dirty and broken hotels. I¡¯m going to go back!¡±

    Wei Kang shared a helpless look with Zhang Zian before answering. ¡°Xiao He, we have to be prepared to tough it out since we¡¯re here on a scientific expedition. Don¡¯t be so spoiled...¡±

    After some exinining, He He was still extremely against staying in these hotels, saying that she didn¡¯t feel safe.

    Actually, she wasn¡¯t in the wrong either. Up until now, all of the hotels that they had seen by the street side were all really old and dpted, and the people that were going in and out of the hotels seemed a little shady too. Safety really was a concern.

    In the end, Wei Kang could only say, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the hotel that we have booked is different from all of these. It¡¯s legal and safe.¡±

    Before he had finished speaking, the road before them finally cleared. The driver took advantage of the chance to m on the elerator, rushing through the most jammed part of the road.

    Not too longter, after a sharp turn, the scenery beside the street that they were driving on had be drastically different. There were Mercedes-Benz cars, or even higher-tiered sports cars being driven on the street. The ensemble of luxury hotels and high-ss buildings made them wonder if they had stumbled onto the wrong set.

    The driver exined that Cairo had been split into old and new segments. The old city was dirty and messy. The new city was a lot better.

    Rather than saying that these two parts were ¡°old¡± and ¡°new,¡± it was more urate to say that they were the ¡°poor man¡¯s street¡± and the ¡°rich man¡¯s area.¡± The ie gap existed everywhere in the world.

    The taxi drove across the Nile River on a bridge. Seeing the Four Seasons Hotel right in front, He He finally stopped herining, feeling that Wei Kang was pretty generous.

    Wei Kang had chosen to stay here for two reasons. One was safety. Secondly, it was because this hotel was very close to Cairo University. They were only seperated by the southeast corner of the Giza Zoological Garden, and they would be able to reach it just by going down Murad Street.

    For the next few days, he would bring the four students to do a series of exchanges with Cairo University¡¯s teachers and students in the biology major, so it was more convenient to be staying near there.

    They hadmunicated with the hotel beforehand with regards to Fina and Famous¡¯ stay. They attracted some attention but, thankfully, no trouble.

    He He was staying in her own room. Wei Kang and the three male students were sharing two twin rooms. Zhang Zian had shamelessly asked for a single room with the excuse of having to take care of Famous and Fina. Wei Kang had originally nned to share a twin room with him.

    Wei Kang knew that these youngsters wouldn¡¯t be able to stay still and would definitely grasp any chance they can to go out and sightsee while they were in Egypt, so he continuously nagged at them to not leave the hotel alone and to hurry up and pack their luggage before sleeping off the jetg. If they wanted to sightsee, they had a full day to do so tomorrow.

    Zhang Zian brought Fina and Famous into their own room and hung up the Do Not Disturb tag. The three boys were already loudly discussing ying Mahjong or trying out their luck at the casino on the top floor tonight, but he really had no interest in following them.

    The facilities of the hotel weren¡¯t too bad. The central air system had sessfully shielded them from the harsh summer heat of the outdoors. More importantly, his hotel room¡¯s balcony directly faced the Nile River. As long as he pulled the curtains back and walked out, he would be able to enjoy the pulsing waves of the Nile River while leaning on the railing.

    There was a pair of chairs along with a small round table on the balcony. Fina unceremoniously picked one of the chairs, curling on the soft seat and falling into deep thought as she watched the Nile River.

    After Zhang Zian finished packing his luggage, he picked up his phone to release all of the elfins.

    ¡°Meow meow meow! Tokyo¡¯s hot! Egypt¡¯s hot too! I can only strip!¡± It was as though Snowy Li had had a nightmare and was spouting nonsense the moment it came out. Not a split secondter, it realised that it was actually very cool indoors, and it ended up rolling all over the floor in glee.

    Zhang Zian gave it a look.

    ¡°What? Filthy men! Let me tell you, don¡¯t you dare pull this on me! I¡¯ll cut off your balls if you do!¡± it threatened, all teeth and ws.

    What could Zhang Zian do but pout and return to the balcony?

    Snowy Li turned its head back in confusion only to see Fina¡¯s lonely silhouette. Only then did it understand what Zhang Zian was trying to tell her. Go be with Fina, he meant, don¡¯t let Fina get too caught up in her memories.

    Snowy Li spat silently at Zhang Zian. So annoying. It had already nned to do so from the start.

    It teetered over to the balcony, jumping sessfully onto the chair that Fina was on only after several tries and enthusiastically calling out, ¡°Your Majesty! You must be exhausted after your trip! Let me, your humble servant, have the honor of grooming you!¡±

    It pushed its face desperately toward Fina¡¯s. All it got back was Fina pushing its face away with a paw in rejection after it snapped back to life, but it had finally gotten out of the slump of its memories.

    dimir immediately rushed to the balcony after getting released too, jumping onto the table and enthusiastically dering to the whole world, ¡°The poor catizens of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, it¡¯s time to band together!¡±

    ¡°Meow!¡± Gxy stared at dimir before speaking, seemingly under its breath. ¡°dimir, good luck!¡±

    dimir clenched its fist tight in confidence. ¡°No problems! Our cat-g will be flown all over the world!¡±

    Gxy nodded. ¡°Meow! Gxy means good luck as well when we¡¯re back in Binhai City!¡±

    dimir didn¡¯t understand. The strays of Binhai City had already banded together, and the Holy Cat statue was taken care of as well as brought over to Egypt. There was no imminent danger of it reviving again, and the cat torture incidents had already been stopped. Their only mission left was to spread their mission to the whole country or even the whole world. The wildfire of the cat nation had already been sparked. What else would they need good luck for?

    It had wanted to ask more questions in its confusion, but Gxy had already run off to check out the other rooms.

    It was used to the ambiguous way that Gxy liked to speak anyway, so it gave up on asking for more answers. They were already here in Egypt, and they couldn¡¯t go back on short notice. It was here to at least set up a Meow Meow Doctrine branch in Egypt before going back, using Egypt as a springboard to bring their ideals to the entirety of the Middle East and Africa, or it would be a wasted trip. No matter what happened in Binhai City, it wouldn¡¯t be toote to settle it after finishing its mission here.

    After Old Time Tea was released, it spread its limbs to rx its muscles, stumbling upon Gxy and dimir¡¯s conversation too.

    Right then, Zhang Zian ced the box with the Holy Cat statue off to the side.

    Old Time Tea looked at the statue and at dimir again, muttering under its breath in thought. ¡°Nothing is all-powerful. Everything has a weakness, and someone will always be able to defeat you.¡±

 Chapter 1126: Overly Hot

    <h4>Chapter 1126: Overly Hot</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Ha-ha-ha! Your cutest, most beautiful, smartest, and gentlest Little Mermaid Sihwa has started to broadcast live! Do you know where I am? You¡¯re right! It¡¯s Egypt! I stayed at the top Four Seasons Hotel in Cairo. Only a wealthy person like me can afford to stay in it, a hotel that can be stayed in all year round! Wait till I send you my location, and see if you still dare to not believe me!

    ¡°How is it? Are there any other friends that are in Egypt? You¡¯re wee toe and find me! Remember, the Presidential suite in the Four Seasons Hotel! Don¡¯t get it wrong!¡±

    The first morning in Egypt came apanied by Sihwa¡¯s self-satisfied noises.

    Sihwa didn¡¯t get up so early when she was at the pet shop. Last night, the others had kept hearing the sound of water flowing from the bathroom, probably because she was so excited that she couldn¡¯t sleep. She had long wanted to start live broadcasting but did not dare to disturb Fina sleeping off her jetg, and she had endured until now.

    ¡°What? You guys want to take an afternoon nap? Wait...wait a minute! Why are you guys wanting to sleep when the sky¡¯s just brightened? Hurry and wake up, you group ofzy bums!¡±

    She had just started to brag irrelevantly, and very quickly she got exasperated.

    Zhang Zian yawned and opened his eyes. He had forgotten to remind Sihwa that there was a six-hour time difference between China and Egypt. At that time, the idle people watching live broadcasts really should have been taking a nap.

    The elfins also began to wake up one by one. It was rare that they would be able toe to Egypt, so everyone did not want to waste time in the hotel.

    Zhang Zian woke up and turned his head, noticing that Fina had seemed to get up even earlier and was already seated on the chair on the balcony.

    That wasn¡¯t right for the Fina that liked to fight for the bed. Yesterday, it surprisingly had not announced its ownership over the bed and had slept on the chair on the balcony the whole night.

    Snowy Li had slept in another chair and was still sleeping soundly now.

    The chairs in the hotel were veryfortable, but after all, they were chairs. In any case, they couldn¡¯t be morefortable than beds. Fina had notpeted for the bed, probably not because of conscience, but because she¡¯d wanted to sleep alongside the sound of the Nile.

    The sun rose very quickly because the air was extremely dry, there were no clouds for miles in the skies, and the sun covered the whole balcony through the fence.

    ¡°Meow! Meow meow meow! There¡¯s a fire! There¡¯s a fire!¡±

    When Snowy Li woke up, it stuck out its tongue and tried to escape in a fluster. Its mind was still not clear, the direct sunlight had caused its body temperature to rise rapidly, and its thick long hair umted heat in its body that could not be released. It was so hot that it thought it was on fire.

    It jumped onto the back of the chair. The weight of its body made the chair lose its bnce. It tumbled over and rolled several times. Fortunately, it was blocked by a railing, otherwise, it would only fall from the high altitude.

    Zhang Zian was speechless, pushing the door open and taking it indoors from the balcony. He ced it under the air conditioner. Its eyes blurred like those of a salted fish as it slowly returned to its senses.

    ¡°Got... Got rescued!¡±

    Snowy Li felt weak. Even though it was Zhang Zian who was carrying him, it was unable to struggle. Usually, it would have seized the opportunity to spit at him, but at this time its mouth was as dry as fire, and even if it had wanted to spit out saliva, it was unable to spit.

    ¡°Water... Give me some water,¡± it said weakly.

    Zhang Zian wanted to take the chance to make fun of it, but when he had picked it up just now, he had found that its hair and body were burned by the sun, and it might be dangerous for it not to drink any water.

    He made his fingers wet first, sprayed water at its face to cool it down, poured some cold water into the coffee dish, and put it on the carpet to drink.

    ¡°Ha! I realized that this idiot was bing more and more crazed. Spraying some unknown liquid at a cat¡¯s face... What a moral degeneration of the world!¡± Richard had also woken up. When it watched drama, it was not worried about things getting out of hand, and it pped its wings and called out.

    Zhang Zian red at it. ¡°If you keep blindly saying sh*t, I¡¯ll throw you off the balcony and let you join the KFC luxury lunch menu!¡±

    The threat worked. Richard saw the power of the Egyptian sun and said sadly, ¡°Big birds need to be able to bend and stretch, and I won¡¯t lower myself to your level...¡±

    Zhang Zian started to boil water, nning on making tea to drink.

    As soon as Pi woke up, without even washing its face, it sat down at its desk, opened itsptop, and began to write a novel. It felt that Zhang Zian was right. Reading ten thousand volumes of books could notpare to traveling ten thousand miles. Therefore, it wanted to visit the local scenery with all of everyone, but it didn¡¯t want to dy the daily updates, so it could only make use of what time it had to type.

    When the water was switched on, Zhang Zian walked to the balcony, stretching.

    After he had slept all night in a cool room, the heat waves hit him as soon as he opened the sliding door. Egypt¡¯s climate was dry, and the vegetation coverage was very low. The temperature difference between day and night wasrge, and the night was not considered too hot, but after the sun rose, the temperature rose very rapidly.

    Fortunately, this kind of heat was a dry heat, not the stuffy heat of China¡¯s hottest days. Even when he was sweating, the sweat would evaporate quickly and take away his body¡¯s heat. In addition, the temperature in a shaded and cool ce was eptable.

    Fina squinted to look out at the Nile River, its golden fur shining in the sunshine. It could be seen from far away.

    Last night they had enjoyed the night scenery of the Nile River. Cairo¡¯s new urban area was worthy of the status of an international metropolis. Both urban nning and architectural design were above the standard. Modern buildings on both sides of the Straits lit up at night, reflecting the night sky like it was still daytime. The brightly lit ferry sounded its long whistle as it carried passengers roaming over Africa¡¯s mother river.

    But sometimes the darkness helped to cover up all kinds of ugliness. Night could cover up many small shorings that would be exposed in the daytime.

    The Nile River in the daytime was not ugly but was slightly ordinary. It had no essential difference from any big city with big rivers flowing through it. In other words, there were fewerndmark buildings, which was less memorable. However, Egypt did notckndmark buildings, although they were not modern buildings.

    Moreover, the daytime visibility was broader, and the old urban areas of low and tattered buildings also could be seen, making people clearly aware of the city¡¯s two sides.

    Zhang Zian did not know how long Fina had been looking out into the distance, but as the sun rose, even if it was a short-haired cat, it would probably be hot and ufortable. After all, cats¡¯ skin couldn¡¯t perspire like that of human beings, and it would still get heatstroke after a long time.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go down to eat,¡± he said. ¡°There¡¯s still a lot of time.¡±

    That was right. It was just the first day since they had reached Egypt. Whether it was for reminiscing or taking revenge, there was still time.

    Fina did not look at him but continued to stare into the distance, still out of it, muttering, ¡°This queen is back...¡±

    Zhang Zian responded softly, ¡°Wee back.¡±

 Chapter 1127: Jack

    <h4>Chapter 1127: Jack</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Counting everyone in their party¡ªZhang Zian, Fina, Old Time Tea, Snowy Li, Famous, and Richard¡ªthere was a total of eight mouths to feed. Even though they could have eaten their breakfast in the hotel, street food was definitely the best way to go if they wanted to experience the local culture. Gxy, Sihwa, dimir, and Pi didn¡¯t need food, but other than Sihwa, the elfins wanted to go out to experience Egypt¡¯s beauty as well.

    Zhang Zian and the elfins discussed briefly, eventually deciding not to eat their breakfast at the hotel and instead settling on having food outside while sightseeing.

    He kept Sihwa and Snowy Li in his phone since they weren¡¯t suited for the outdoors and made the elfins other than Fina and Famous invisible before bringing everyone downstairs in the elevator.

    The hotel staff could clearly remember the man who¡¯d checked in with a cat and a dog and greeted them politely while eyeing Fina and Famous.

    With Fina¡¯s unique fur pattern, it would definitely be the focus of all crowds no matter where it went.

    Famous looked just like any other German shepherd and was usually ignored in the presence of other elfins, but it was different today.

    A pair of extremely handsome sunsses shielded its eyes. It was exactly that pair of sunsses that their German friend, Leina, had gifted them.

    This pair of sunsses was used by the U.S. Army¡¯s canines in the Afghanistan area, made specially for army dogs that were working in deserts and hilly areas, and they had exceptional functionality. The lenses were made from polycarbonate. Not only were they great for repelling sand and wind, they were even bulletproof. The coating on the lenses could also reduce the damage of overly strong UV rays on the cornea. Dogs were far less adept than cats at adjusting to different light levels, and overly strong sunlight would cause the dog¡¯s vision to be affected, even damaging the eyes.

    This pair of sses was definitely a huge help. Without it, Zhang Zian could only get a pair of normal sunsses for Famous, enough to block the sunlight but not enough for the wind and sand.

    Famous had really wanted to wear this pair of sses out a long time ago, but Binhai City didn¡¯t have really strong sunlight, and people would just say that it was showing off if it wore it out. But here in Egypt, it could wear it as much as it wanted to, and it was definitely willing to.

    Other than this pair of sunsses, Reina had also gifted them a pair of anti-wind and -sand earmuffs and a tactical vest for dogs, all essentials for work in the desert, but they didn¡¯t need to use it yet.

    Famous looked extremely handsome with the sunsses on, definitely just as eye-catching as Fina.

    Of course, with everyone¡¯s eyes on the cat and dog, the people that noticed Zhang Zian became few and far between. Even the pretty receptionist at the front counter kept stealing nces at Fina and Famous when finding a reason to chat him up, and it was infuriating.

    ¡°Hey!¡±

    Zhang Zian was preparing to leave the hotel, and he heard someone calling in English. But he thought they were talking to someone else, so he didn¡¯t reply and continued walking forward.

    ¡°Hey! Hold up a bit!¡±

    The sound of hurried footsteps drew closer, and the invisible Richard used its wings to p at his head, signaling to him that there was someone calling him.

    Zhang Zian stopped to turn back, watching as a big-eyed man with thick eyebrows and an adequately sized young man rushed towards him.

    The man seemed to be in his twenties, a handsome young chap. He looked to be local, but there were hints of Western features on him, so he might have just been of mixed blood.

    Seeing that there was no one around him, only then did Zhang Zian confirm that the man was calling him, but he didn¡¯t know this person, and he didn¡¯t know what he wanted with him.

    ¡°Hi! My name is Jack! Where are you from?¡± The other passionately asked him in slightly ented English.

    Before Zhang Zian came to Egypt, he had heard many tales about tourist traps. There were many locals that approached enthusiastically, passionately bringing people to a photo spot and asking them for tips right after.

    He mused, wondering whether this Jack was nning the same.

    Just in that moment¡¯s hesitation, Richard, who was still invisible on his shoulder, mimicked his voice, answering for him, ¡°Czechoslovak!¡±

    ¡°Uh...¡±

    Jack was stunned, wondering if he had recognized the wrong person? The other was clearly a ck-haired, ck-eyed East Asian, so how could they be from Czechoslovakia in Europe?

    Zhang Zian pretended to scratch at his head while actually flicking at Richard on his shoulder, causing it to squawk in pain. But he was prepared for that and coughing violently for a few moments to cover it up.

    Only he understood that what Richard said was absolutely not ¡°Czechslovak,¡± but instead ¡°Jack-Slow-F*ck¡±...

    God d*mn, this stupid bird kept trying to make dirty jokes at any chance it got, and always at these handsome strangers.

    Richard gave him a hurt look. How could he me it? It was helping him! If it made dirty jokes at females, he would be treated as a sexual harrasser!

    Zhang Zian knew that this stupid petty bird was just trying to get back at him on purpose for threatening to turn him into roasted poultry for dinner.

    But he couldn¡¯t do anything about it now. The revenge would have to wait for when they were alone.

    ¡°Cough! I was thinking of my experience in Czechslovakia earlier, and it just came out... Actually, I¡¯m Chinese. My name is Zhang Zian, and I¡¯m from Binhai City in China,¡± he answered in English.

    He knew that it might be hard for foreigners to pronounce ¡°Zian,¡± so he added, ¡°You can call me by my English name, Jeff.¡±

    He had kept in constant contact with Tim and Laurin from the Blue Climax. His conversational English wasn¡¯t that big of an issue, and there was one more universalnguage¡ªhand signs. Anything that they couldn¡¯t express with words, they could convey with hands and expressions.

    ¡°That¡¯s great! Jeff! I thought I recognised the wrong person! I¡¯m a student at the University of Cairo.¡± Jack enthusiastically introduced himself. ¡°My professor knows that you are new to Egypt and sent me here to be your guide. If you n to go around Cairo, I can bring you there.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew what he¡¯d said was true. People that weren¡¯t acquainted with them wouldn¡¯t know their purpose for being here and wouldn¡¯t pretend to be a student of the University of Cairo.

    ¡°Oh, then thank you very much.¡±

    They really didn¡¯t know the area well, and it would definitely be better to have a local student as their guide.

    Jack looked at their surroundings. ¡°Hm, where are the others? I heard that there are six of you in total.¡±

    ¡°They might still be asleep. I was nning to have my breakfast outside,¡± Zhang Zian answered. ¡°I can inform them for you.¡±

    ¡°Breakfast? I can bring you there. I know a few good restaurants!¡± Jack said.

    ¡°No need. I¡¯m going to just walk around nearby, so you can bring them there when they¡¯re down.¡±

    Zhang Zian rejected his goodwill politely, since if he followed them, he wouldn¡¯t be able to talk to the elfins easily.

    He sent Weikang a message to inform him about Jack¡¯s arrival and purpose, before bringing the elfins along with him out of the hotel.

 Chapter 1128: Dirty

    <h4>Chapter 1128: Dirty</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When going overseas, it was good to have a reliable guide who was familiar with the local conditions. They could understand the local customs and avoid causing trouble. This had a hundred benefits but not a single harmful effect. But Zhang Zian refused Jack.

    One reason was that there were elfins present. The other was that there was still plenty of time. When he came to a new ce, he could explore it by himself without knowing anything about it. It was simr to how when ying a game, one should not look at the strategies from the start, because that would reduce a lot of the enjoyment.

    Since Famous had already put on sses to protect its eyes, Zhang Zian could not fall behind. He took out a pair of big sunsses from his shirt pocket, feeling like his handsomeness had increased by 20 times.

    ¡°What should we do? Where should we go to eat? Would you want to go and eat in a restaurant or buy something on the street?¡± He consulted the elfins.

    Old Time Tea expressed its opinion first. ¡°Based on what I¡¯ve seen, it¡¯s better to walk around on the streets to experience the local life. What do you all think?¡±

    The other elfins did not have any opinions. After all, there would be a lot of restrictions in restaurants.

    ¡°Alright, then let¡¯s go to Khan el-Khalili Market. There should be a lot of street snacks there.¡± Zhang Zian took out the necessary map for travelers and looked at it.

    Starting from the Four Seasons Hotel, crossing the bridge eastward and not far northeast, Khan el-Khalili Market, Cairo¡¯srgest market, was a good ce for tourists to buy souvenirs and local products. Although Cairo also had luxury stores with international brands, it wasn¡¯t necessary to buy things made in China when they traveled abroad.

    Richard was standing on Zhang Zian¡¯s right shoulder when it felt the strong sunshine. It jumped on his left shoulder and hid in the shadow of his head, crying, ¡°Gah! My flesh... Where¡¯s my jade cushion? Did you forget to bring it, you idiot?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t forget the birdcage. What are you in such a rush for? It¡¯s not that hot now!¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°By the way, I haven¡¯t settled ounts with you yet. What did you say about Czechoslovakia just now...¡±

    ¡°Gah! I just heard that that person was called Jack, so I was inspired.¡± Richard changed the topic and said, ¡°Look at these people, they are too covered up!¡±

    Indeed, the Egyptian natives who were walking towards him still wore many clothes in such hot weather,pared with Zhang Zian, who wore only a long-sleeved shirt and jeans. In particr, from time to time, they could see the local women wearing ck robes that covered their entire bodies. Besides eyes and fingers, they could not see any part of the body. Even the eyes had ayer of gauze over them.

    In this kind of hot sun, wearing long white gowns could be thought to be for preventing sunburn, but a long ck gown was too able to absorb heat, and it was probably ufortable to wear it.

    Of course, there were a lot of local women who did not dress so conservatively, and only wrapped a cloth around their head. The delicately designed head cloth was quite nice. There were even young girls who did not wear any cloth around their head.

    Zhang Zian whispered, warning Richard to shut up at the suitable time, especially not to joke with these women wearing ck burqa robes. Men could not have any physical contact with these women covered in ck. Otherwise, it would cause a lot of trouble.

    Before his departure, Wei Kang had also given orders emphasizing the need to respect the local customs, which was both for courtesy and safety.

    Richard could speak Arabic and had no door on his mouth. It would be easy to get people upset and make trouble because of his jokes.

    It saw his expression and tone was extremely serious when he was speaking and knew there was no way to bargain about this. He expressed that he understood, feeling like it was a pity.

    Not only was he observing the locals, but the locals were also curiously looking at him.

    The appearance of yellow skin and ck hair was very rare in the region because Egypt was not a popr tourist destination for Chinese, Japanese, or Korean citizens. Most of the tourists here were Europeans and Americans. It was just like the feeling of Chinese people watching foreigners at the beginning of the reform and opening up in thest century. What¡¯s more, this one had a cat and a dog with him.

    ¡°This ce is so dirty.¡±

    After passing the bridge, Famous carefully avoided some rubbish under its feet. These kinds of rubbish were increasing ahead of them.

    Fina shook its ears. Obviously, it did not feel good listening to these words. Even though it had not been back here for many years, it was still its hometown. Being told by other people that your hometown was very dirty in front of your face, most people would not feel happy.

    But the facts were all there, and they couldn¡¯t be refuted, because they were the truth. It really was dirty, even dirtier than it had been two thousand years ago, and the air quality was poor. It was extremely dry and mixed with the choking odors of gasoline and exhaust.

    It suddenly realized that, before it knew it, it had gradually be ustomed to the wet and slightly fishy atmosphere of the coastal city, to the four distinct seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, to the clouds, wind, frost, rain, and snow, to the clean streets and the taste of the pet shop¡¯s disinfected water...

    In its heart, it also disliked the dirtiness and chaos here and felt ashamed because of this. It knew that it shouldn¡¯t think that way, because no matter what, this was its home.

    It practicallyid its head on the ground.

    ¡°It¡¯s really quite dirty. Everyone take notice of where you are stepping as you walk,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°There is hardly anyone here to clean up the garbage, and it doesn¡¯t rain all year round. There is no way to wash away the garbage by rainwater, and the garbage can only keep building up.¡±

    Famous was speechless for a moment. ¡°The people of Egypt are really toozy. They¡¯re willing to live in a garbage dump. Even in the past when I lived in a dog den in an American farm it was cleaner than here!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the modern Egyptians who arezy, not the ancient Egyptians,¡± Zhang Zian corrected. ¡°Don¡¯t forget that modern Egyptians and ancient Egyptians arepletely different. Whether hard-working or intelligent, the ancient Egyptians were absolutely no less than the ancient Chinese, or any other ancient nation. Otherwise they would not rely on crude tools to build amazing pyramids, and a series of other miraculous buildings, while other civilizations were still eating dirt. The mystery of the method has not yet been thoroughly solved.¡±

    Famous nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of the pyramids for a long time. You are right. I¡¯ve said the wrong thing.¡±

    Fina was moved in its heart.

    Right!

    Why did it need to feel embarrassed?

    This was indeed its hometown, but its hometown had been upied by foreigners. What was the rtionship between it and the foreigners who had made a mess of it?

    Why did it need to take responsibility for the foreigners¡¯ mistakes?

    On the contrary, the more ruthlessly foreignersid waste to this ce, the more it could show the greatness and splendor of the Holy ck Land!

    Thinking about that, its embarrassment and humiliation were totally gone.

    It secretly took a nce at Zhang Zian. This useless servant was quite good at speaking sometimes.

    So it proudly raised its chest and head, and instead looked at everything it could with a critical andpassionate eye.

    ¡°It is really dirty here,¡± it said in a rare show of agreement.

 Chapter 1129: Cat and Dog

    <h4>Chapter 1129: Cat and Dog</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Modern Egyptians were famous for beingzy, matched only by the Indians in the developing countries.

    It was okay to be poor. Everyone had been at that stage at one point in time. One could just work hard to make riches, using your hard-working hands to build a beautiful home. But, to be honest, modern Egyptians didn¡¯t have the luck of Europeans, though they had their problems.

    Even the most basic form of courtesy in a modern society, punctuality, was followed by few. Other than people in certain industries, like the government, travel, shipping, and finance, it was normal for Egyptians to be more than half an hourte for any sort of meeting, and they weren¡¯t even embarrassed by it. One could imagine how low their work efficiency was.

    Of course, everything had exceptions, just like Jack, whom they¡¯d met earlier. He was one of the rare punctual people, waiting for Zhang Zian and Wei Kang since the morning. It might¡¯ve been due to his mixed blood and higher education. That was why he was different from most locals.

    It looked like the professors of the University of Cairo still treated Wei Kang and his expedition team seriously and had chosen a smart and capable young man to help them.

    After Fina finally got past the knot in its heart, it went back to its holier-than-thou attitude, nitpicking at every single thing it saw.

    Gxy wasn¡¯t afraid of the heat or dirt either. No matter how thick ayer of dirt it had just walked over, its four paws were stillpletely spotless, and it didn¡¯t have a singleint about the burning sun. It rushed forward enthusiastically, looking at every interesting thing that came in its way curiously, but still careful to avoid all of the people that were walking down the streets.

    Pi was curious too, its beady eyes widening as it absorbed every single small detail of this foreign country like a sponge as a reference for its novelter. It was more timid and shier than Gxy, and it stuck to Zhang Zian¡¯s side like a tick, grasping his shirt for dear life, worried that it would lose itself in the hustle and bustle.

    Old Time Tea instead liked leaping through the tall areas, getting a better view, and using the shade of the buildings to block the sun.

    ¡°Meow! There¡¯s a cat.¡±

    Gxy suddenly stopped in its tracks.

    Cat?

    The moment he heard that, Zhang Zian immediately thought of the most important mission that they had here in Egypt¡ªlooking for traces of the original Egyptian cats. The first thought that ran through his head was that their luck could actually be through the roof and they were about to meet an Egyptian cat.

    Then he immediately dismissed that impractical thought. Even if the aborginal Egyptian cats really did exist, they wouldn¡¯t show up in this extremely big city of over twenty million people. The cat that Gxy saw was most likely a stray.

    ¡°Cat? Where? Where?¡±

    dimir immediately perked up at the mention of a cat.

    ¡°Right in front.¡± Gxy raised a paw, pointing forward.

    Zhang Zian was taller and could see further, and he spotted the cat.

    There was an adequately sized orange cat,zily lying on a shady spot in front of a shop and yawning.

    It seemed to have noticed Zhang Zian and Fina too, immediately standing up, eyeing them alertly, and watching their every move.

    With this attitude, it was most likely a stray.

    Zhang Zian had seen too many strays back at home. Most strays were afraid of humans and would run at the first sight of them. Unless they saw the humans that had forged a bond with them by feeding them, they were definitely more cautious than friendly toward humans.

    But this cat from Cairo didn¡¯t seem to be afraid of people. No matter how close the people walked to it, it barely even twitched.

    Even with the change in time, a catastrophic change in the world, and though the Egyptians living on thisnd were no longer the same Egyptians as two thousand years ago, cats still did receive exceptional treatment here.

    Even in the ¡°Notes for Chinese Citizens Going to Egypt,¡± they had also specially mentioned this: Egyptians respected cats, regarding them as they would gods, and treated them as the spirits of gods. In Egyptians¡¯ hearts, cats were a representation of the female god. They were a symbol of luck and a national animal that demanded respect.

    In other words, one needed to take note of what they said in Egypt. It didn¡¯t matter whether one liked or hated cats.

    They were the national animal!

    You could think of cats in Egypt like the Great Pandas in China.

    If modern Egyptians were so, one could imagine just how reverent the Ancient Egyptians were of cats.

    Exactly because of that, not only was this stray not afraid of humans, it was in fact a little fierce.

    But when it saw Fina, it shivered on the spot before fleeing in a cloud of dust.

    ¡°Wait! Hold up!¡±

    dimir couldn¡¯t let it just run away. Every single cat was a possible member of the Meow Meow Doctrine, so it ran after the cat as soon as it could.

    ¡°dimir, don¡¯t run too far! Remember toe back!¡± Zhang Zian knew that it would take off like that, so he could only call a reminder after it.

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Its voice came from far away.

    The further they walked, the more often they started to see strays, but they all fled in a hurry at the sight of Fina.

    Fina wasn¡¯t bothered by it at all. It cared more about where it could go to fill its tummy.

    ¡°There are so many strays here.¡±

    Famous pointed in another direction.

    ¡°Woof woof!¡±

    Zhang Zian looked over there, and he saw two or three strays darting out of a temple and squeezing through the streets. They weren¡¯t tiny dogs either. A few female tourists scrambled out of the way in fear.

    This was almost Cairo¡¯s city center. If this had been China, it would¡¯ve been almost impossible to have stray dogs running around.

    These three dogs weren¡¯t a rare case. The more they went into Cairo¡¯s alleys, the more packs of dogs they saw running around with their tongues out or gathered together to rummage through the trash bins. Even on the busy roads, some dogs would ignore the fact that there were cars around and rush across the road. Thank goodness the situation on the road was too bad for the cars to be going fast, or it would be dangerous for the people and the dogs.

    Even though the dogs didn¡¯t get the same worship as cats, they didn¡¯t have to worry about food or shelter. There was enough rubbish around to provide enough food for them.

    Very few people knew that Egypt was the country with thergest amount of stray dogs.

    Egypt had more than 15 million stray dogs, but with more than 95% of itsnd being desert, most of the dogs were concentrated near the suburbs and cities. Cairo only had a poption of 20 million.

    Dogs and cats were different. Cats would only destroy the environment, but thewless dogs would pose a huge threat to humans themselves.

    These strays weren¡¯t afraid of people either, and they would even bare their teeth threateningly if people got too close.

    Other than that, they brought with them a lot of dog sh*t.

    Dogs weren¡¯t as clean as cats, who would bury their own poop. Dogs would instead just walk off after finishing their business.

    Of course, that was just a generalizing statement. Some dogs would instead poop, eat it, and leave.

    From these strays, it was clear just how much of a mess modern Egyptians¡¯ management of the city was.

 Chapter 1130: Cooling Ointment

    <h4>Chapter 1130: Cooling Ointment</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian stopped for a moment and waited for the stray dog in front to run away before he continued to move on.

    Different organizations had different assessments of the epidemic status of rabies in Egypt, some of which gave the same high-risk rating as China. Others believed that only wild animals in Egypt had been found to have rabies, and thus the country had a lower risk than China. But it was not clear that in this standard, stray animals were not considered wild animals.

    In short, Zhang Zian did not want to test the effectiveness of the rabies vine in Egypt himself.

    After a few minutes¡¯ walk to the northeast, passing by one dazzling temple after another, the number of pedestrians suddenly increased in front of him. ncing at the map, he confirmed that he had reached the famous Khan el-Khalili market.

    The Khan el-Khalili market was not ¡®one¡¯ market but a smallmodity marketposed of thousands of small shops in dozens of narrow streets and alleys. It mainly sold various handicraft products to tourists from all over the world. Of course, there was absolutely nock of special snack shops for a full feast.

    Whether it was the Hussein Square next to it or here, the Arabic-style buildings had reced the high-rise buildings. If poets with romantic sentiments had been here, they would have marveled that they had entered the world of One Thousand and One Nights.

    However, it was like a house in the Forbidden City. The first few times seeing it, it looked fresh and new, and one would be busy taking pictures, but it was the same after looking at it several more times. Plus these buildings were very old. Outdoor air conditioning units at least 20 years old were hanging shakily on the second floor, which was very worrying.

    ¡°Ahchoo!¡± Famous sneezed loudly, breathing through its nose, and said, ¡°What a strong smell of essence!¡±

    It wasn¡¯t just Famous who had a very sensitive scent of smell. Even Zhang Zian felt the overly strong essence smelling towards him. He also felt that that the reason could be that the locals had strong body odor and did not bathe often, so it was verymon to use essences here.

    Perhaps because they did not like the smell of the essence, the stray dogs here had practically vanished.

    Zhang Zian arrived early. There were not many pedestrians here because Egyptians usually had two meals a day, one at nine or ten in the morning and another at four or five in the afternoon. Dinner was the main meal, which was rich, and breakfast was just casual.

    ¡°Hullo!¡±

    He heard a strangely pronounced greeting being called out.

    Zhang Zian looked toward where the sound hade from and saw several local men in white robes sitting at the door of the shop on the street, bubbling as they smoked from water pipes. The silver water pipes were exquisite in craftsmanship, but the ces they were often held were oxidized and ckened. They noticed Zhang Zian had ck hair and yellow skin, and excitedly breathed out a cloud of smoke.

    He hesitated for a while whether he should use Japanese, Korean, or Chinese to respond. In the end, he used Chinese as he waved and responded, ¡°Hello.¡±

    His opponent repeatedly gestured and muttered something, like they were praising him for having a good cat and a good dog, and then invited him toe and smoke a water pipe.

    Zhang Zian had no interest in smoking a water pipe, but he still politely went over to take a look.

    These men knew how to enjoy life¡ªsmoking water pipes, drinking red tea, and ying Egyptian Mahjong. Seeing Zhang Ziane over, they enthusiastically invited him to sit and y Mahjong.

    Zhang Zian could not even y Chinese Mahjong, much less to say Egyptian Mahjong. He hurriedly waved his hands to reject them.

    But these men were still very enthusiastic¡ªmaybe a little too enthusiastic. One even took out the water pipe that was in his mouth and pushed it towards Zhang Zian¡¯s mouth, as if to let him smoke.

    Were all the Egyptian citizens this warm-hearted towards foreigners?

    But no matter how warm-hearted they were, Zhang Zian could not bring himself to use the water pipes that had been smoked for an unknown number of years.

    It had to be made known that in addition to the world¡¯srgest number of stray dogs, Egypt also had the world¡¯s highest incidence of hepatitis C¡ª15%. At least 3 million Egyptians carried hepatitis C virus, and almost every family had hepatitis C patients. Although theoretically, hepatitis C did not usually spread through saliva... One could be a coward at some essential times.

    Therge-scale spread of hepatitis C virus in Egypt had begun in the 1950s, when the Egyptian government used unsterilized needles to vinate the whole poption. Since then, it had been irremediable, a typical example of a man-made disaster.

    Some foreigners who had stayed in Egypt for a long time for business or personal reasons, or who were short-term travelers but had a cleanliness habit, even got hepatitis C vines before they left their home country, just in case.

    Zhang Zian had not vinated himself against hepatitis C, and he did not want to take the risk. He counted the number of Egyptian men who smoked cigarettes in this row. There was a 15 percent chance one of them would be a carrier of the hepatitis C virus. It was almost like Russian roulette, exciting.

    He was being entangled by these men and could not separate himself. He suddenly thought about the fact that he had followed online guides to purchase a lot of cooling ointment before he set out. ording to the online strategy, it was said that Egyptians were extremely fond of Chinese cooling ointment, and he could even use it as tips sometimes. It was practically a hard currency.

    And so he took out a few boxes of cooling ointment from his pocket, smiling and giving it to them.

    Richard wasted no time in dubbing in Arabic, ¡°Gah! Come here! The Emperor¡¯s version of cooling ointment from China is for you all!¡±

    The men were stunned all at once, and there were incredible looks of surprise between their thick eyebrows and big eyes. They put down their water pipes and teacups and surrounded them. They did not y Mahjong anymore, either.

    They were not surprised that Zhang Zian could speak such fluent Arabic. They were more more interested in the so-called Emperor¡¯s version of cooling ointment.

    Egypt¡¯s heat and dryness was well known. It was not that the local people living here for a long time could fully adapt to this weather¡ªthe local people also felt hot, and they wore too much. It was just that they had no other way out. Not everyone had the money to emigrate.

    The efficiency of the cooling ointment was very magical to them. It could not only relieve summer heat, but also cover their overly strong body odor. Much better than essence!

    Zhang Zian could not understand Arabic, but he looked at them and noticed that the faces of these Egyptians were different. They stared at him with hunger and thirst as if they were wolves that had smelled blood. His chrysanthemum tightened, and he felt in his heart that being too handsome was not good. The f*ck? The sh*tty bird wanted to trouble him again, right? It looked like it was really going to be sent to KFC¡¯s kitchen!

    After he cursed the one next to him, he thought that if these five big three thick men crowded around him, then he really could be covered all over with big men!

    However, he very quickly realized that he was wrong. The one they were eyeing was not him, not his chrysanthemum, but instead, it was the cooling ointment in his hand!

    He thought in his heart, he had known earlier that Egyptians liked cooling ointment, but they actually liked it this much? This was practically stealing in broad daylight!

    Or was it that the cooling ointment he was holding was especially well liked by the locals?

    In order to maintain the friendship between the people of China and Egypt, he had specially purchased a precious batch of cooling ointment and spent a lot, carrying it to Egypt in his suitcase.

    It wasn¡¯t not the so-called low-end trash from the Taobao Explosion, but the stuff from the Pinduoduo Explosion!

 Chapter 1131: Female Emperor of China

    <h4>Chapter 1131: Female Emperor of China</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It wasn¡¯t just Egypt¡ªthe entire Arabian culture didn¡¯t have the most¡­fair of gender equalities.

    These few men just smoked here all day, drinking their tea, ying mahjong, and leaving all of the housework to women. The worst part was that even the women thought that¡¯s how it should be.

    Well, it wasn¡¯t quite right to say that they hadn¡¯t been doing anything all day. They greeted the tourists that walked by, inviting them for a smoke, some tea, a round of mahjong. But the tourists couldn¡¯t smoke their hookah for free or drink their tea for nothing, right? They had to pay for every single smoke and every drop of tea that they drank. As for mahjong¡­ If you could win in Egyptian mahjong against Egyptians, then you must be a genius. Otherwise, you might even lose your pants.

    Most locals in Egypt¡¯s hot tourist spots felt that tourists were just chickens running across their yard, free for the taking. They had nowhere to air their grievances after they were scammed or cheated, anyway.

    Tourists were rich, too. If they weren¡¯t rich, how could they go overseas? One RMB was about three Egyptian pounds. It wasn¡¯t too ridiculous to ask for two hundred Egyptian pounds for one smoke, right? If the tourists were blinded by their enthusiasm or smoked and drank out of curiosity, it was practically impossible to leave without paying.

    These few men sat here every day,nguidly eating, sleeping, and scamming tourists, but they earned a sizable ie still, justifying their position of breadwinner at home.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what they were nning, but he still rejected their offers out of hygiene considerations, so they were unable to take a single penny from him.

    They¡¯d scammed other Chinese tourists as well and were not strangers to cooling ointment, but they hadn¡¯t heard of the emperor-edition cooling oil. Their curiosity was piqued, and they put aside their ns for the moment.

    After close inspection, they realised that the packaging on the cooling ointment in Zhang Zian¡¯s hands really was different from what they usually saw. Within its usual light and subtle packaging was a different aura, and their eyes darkened with want¡ªthis was actually just because the other Chinese tourists weren¡¯t insane enough to buy a stockpile of cooling ointment to gift to their foreign friends.

    ¡°What¡¯s ¡¯emperor-edition¡¯ cooling ointment? The ointment specifically for Chinese emperors?¡± They cut in, asking questions in Arabic, words tumbling all over one another.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand what they were saying, but Richard did. Not just these words, but also the disgusting words that they¡¯d been throwing around between themselves before they¡¯d reached out to Zhang Zian. They thought that Chinese tourists were easy to bully and would take it silently even after they were bullied. They were basically walking ATMs that didn¡¯t need a card and password to draw money from.

    That was why it butted in with Arabic. ¡°Exactly! This is the cooling oil that is exclusively for the female Emperor of China¡¯s use! Ci Xi! Have you heard of Ci Xi? She¡¯s pretty much thest female Emperor of China, just like your Cleopatra the Seventh!¡±

    They didn¡¯t know who Ci Xi was, but they understood the moment Cleopatra the Seventh was mentioned, eximing in surprise, ¡°This is the oil that Ci Xi exclusively used?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand, but to prevent himself from giving it away, all he could do was mime some random mouth shapes. These people didn¡¯t have their attention on him anyway.

    He lowered his head by chance, but sweat started bursting out on his forehead. F*ck! He hadn¡¯t noticed this when epting the parcel. This¡­ This¡­ This¡­ This wasn¡¯t cooling ointment at all!

    When the parcel arrived, he hadn¡¯t been at home. He might have been at the beach. Wang Qian and Li Kun were the ones who had epted it for him, and those two idiots had signed the receipt without even checking the items. He hadn¡¯t noticed it after he reached home either.

    Only now did he realize that what was written on the packaging wasn¡¯t ¡°Cooling Ointment,¡± but instead ¡°Cooling Oil¡±! F*ck, what the hell was Cooling Oil? Would it kill them if they put it on? He was lost for words,pletely upied with thinking about how to pull himself out of this situation¡­

    ¡°Yes! Yes! It is exclusively for her! The emperor edition of the Cooling Ointment isn¡¯t any normal ointment¡­ Not only does it cool you down, it will also give off a naturally minty fragrance. It even has¡­a special side effect!¡± Richard was certainly getting into it, drawing these three men in with its words.

    ¡°What¡­ What special side effect? Is it¡­that kind?¡± The few men swallowed their saliva nervously, looking at their surroundings before asking in hushed voices.

    ¡°Um! Well, about that¡­I can¡¯t say, can¡¯t say!¡± Richard pretended to string them along.

    ¡°What can¡¯t you say? We¡¯re all men! We know! Egyptians and Chinese are good buddies! I have a cousin working in China¡¯s capital, and my brother-inw is studying there too! China and Egypt are friends for life!¡± They weren¡¯t above lying through their teeth to get the answer.

    Richard didn¡¯t reveal the secret. Seeing that Zhang Zian still hadn¡¯t taken any action, one of the men silently muttered under his breath, picking up a silver-coated hookah and passing it to Zhang Zian. ¡°This is for you, to exchange for the Emperor¡¯s Cooling Ointment¡¯s secret!¡±

    Zhang Zian was still panicking over the Cooling Oil, but he suddenly ended up with a hookah in his hands. He had absolutely no idea what they were doing, but seeing their expressions and tones, it didn¡¯t seem like they were angry. Instead, it was more like they were desperate for information¡­

    That¡¯s why he snapped out of it, pretending to bepletely at ease. If even he, a true-blue Chinese, hadn¡¯t noticed the typo, these Arabians, who couldn¡¯t even read Chinese, shouldn¡¯t be able to notice it either.

    He used his finger to gently flick at the silver hookah, extremely satisfied at the gorgeous low hum that it made. Glory to Pinduoduo! This pile of silver should be pretty valuable too¡­

    Richard feigned mysteriousness, dropping its voice low, soft enough that only the four of them would be able to hear. ¡°Alright, since we have such a great rtionship, I¡¯ll make an exception for you! It¡¯s exactly the side effect that you think! Women can¡¯t fight against the Emperor¡¯s Cooling Oil at all. They¡¯re brimming with desire the moment they smell it, easily seduced into your bed without you having to lift a finger. They¡¯re yours to please and y with!¡±

    The few of them had their eyes open so wide, they were at risk of having them drop out. Even though Arabic women were traditional, there were a ton of foreign tourists here! In the thousands of shops in the Khan el-Khalili Market, other than their main products, some shop owners would also sell aphrodisiacs to their loyal customers.

    When these Arabian shop owners bragged to one another, they all quantified it by how many different skin-toned female tourists they had f*cked with. But female tourists weren¡¯t that easy to seduce, even with an aphrodisiac¡¯s help. Even if they were sessful, they were usually ugly. But with the magical Emperor¡¯s Cooling Ointment¡­

    ¡°Gah gah! Thest female emperor of China, Ci Xi, used this Emperor¡¯s Cooling Ointment to debut in the center position, fighting her way up and seducing the emperor to the point where he couldn¡¯t live without her! That¡¯s how she became emperor!¡±

    Richard made use of the fact that they knew jack about China¡¯s history to slightly edit Cleopatra the Seventh¡¯s story, leading them to believe every single word of it!

 Chapter 1132: Chinaâ€™s Magical Oil

    <h4>Chapter 1132: China¡¯s Magical Oil</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    China¡¯s Magical Oil

    At the mention of mysterious ancient Egypt, many Chinese people immediately spouted a series of sensational rumors, such as the curse of the pyramid, endless treasure, the resurrected mummy.

    Simrly, when many Westerners mentioned China, they had many unrealistic fantasies. For example, the Chinese were all martial arts masters or table tennis masters with tied braids behind their heads, and other stereotypes.

    Modern Egyptians were kind of considered Westerners, but Egypt¡¯s economic level and urban style were basically equivalent to that of China in the 1990s or so. Few Chinese tourists went to Egypt, so their impression of ancient China was more exaggerated than what Chinese people thought of ancient Egypt.

    In other countries, Richard¡¯s trick may not have deceived people, but because of the magical impression of the cooling ointment and the fantasies of ancient China, the Egyptians really bought it!

    Zhang Zian could not understand Richard¡¯s conversation with the six Egyptian men, but he could read the greed on their faces.

    But he was very troubled. How had Richard managed to make them feel greedy? Could it have been this Pinduoduo¡¯s explosive-level cooling ointment?

    Richard was chattered by Zhang Zian all the way to make sure that it could not speak without hindrance, so as not to offend the local customs. It had already been chattered by him till it was impatient. It had just so happened that those people were unjust first. Was it not wrong for him to y tricks on them?

    ¡°Since we have such an affinity and are friends, I¡¯ll tell you another secret!¡± it said, pretending to be mysterious. ¡°I¡¯m telling you guys, besides expelling mosquitoes, clearing away heat, and relieving summer heat and indulgence, the emperor¡¯s version of cooling ointment has an ultimate effect. I wouldn¡¯t tell the ordinary person!¡±

    The six Egyptian men, whose appetite had grown higher, said impatiently, ¡°What is the ultimate effect? The friendship between China and Egypt willst forever. Let this cooling ointment be a witness to the friendship between the Chinese and Egyptian people!¡±

    Richard saw that they were all in a hurry to start grabbing. Knowing that they could not hold back anymore because they were already very interested, he whispered, ¡°This is started with Cixi¡¯s husband. Do you know who Cixi¡¯s husband is? The Emperor of China? Isn¡¯t that obvious? Let me tell you, her husband is the Xianfeng emperor. You may feel that the name is unfamiliar, but it¡¯s okay. You just need to know that he was a greedy emperor. This emperor of China had 72 concubines in three pces and six courtyards and 3,000 beautiful women in the back pce. As a result, the Xianfeng emperor overindulged and the iron pestle was ground into embroidery needles. How unlucky is he to see so many beautiful girls but not be able to eat them?¡±

    Six men showed unspoken smiles, winked, and made signs at each other.

    ¡°And after that?¡± they asked.

    Richard continued: ¡°Later, Cixi appeared. There are seven levels in the Chinese Imperial Pce. It took Cixi only five years to get ahead. She leaped from the fifth level to the second level. What was the reason? It was the emperor¡¯s cooling ointment!¡±

    The six men seemed to have understood. ¡°Could it be...¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! The ultimate effect of this emperor¡¯s version of cooling oil is to solve your unspeakable hidden problems, prolong fighting time, increase the intensity of the fighting, and let you revive the male spirit!¡± cried Richard.

    Zhang Zian mechanically copied Richard¡¯s words with his mouth shapes. Before he could recover, he saw the big Arab men stretching out their hands hurriedly and robbing several bottles of cold oil from his hands, carrying them in their arms like treasures, and even guarding against each other vigntly.

    The f*ck?

    What kind of situation was this?

    Zhang Zian was shocked. His fingers had almost been bent and broken by these few people.

    He was speechless for a moment, but since all the cooling oil he wanted to give out had already been given out, there was no need to stay any longer. Besides, Fina was impatient, and her anger rose one point with every minute of hunger.

    ¡°Wait, wait! Wait, wait!¡±

    He turned and wanted to go, but he heard someone behind him murmuring to him. He thought it was the guys who had found out that this cooling ointment was not actually cooling ointment and wanted to beat him. They were just about to pull out their legs and run away. They heard Richard whisper, ¡°Stop, you idiot!¡±

    He could not understand, so he stopped walking.

    Those few men ran over, pointed at the cooling ointment, and asked, ¡°All the words here are Chinese, and we can¡¯t understand. How do we use it so that we can...increase our manly power?¡±

    Zhang Zian could not understand, and Richard answered, ¡°Have you heard of Indian divine oil? What? Never heard of it? Well, using it is the same as Indian divine oil. Just put it there. Don¡¯t be greedy¡ªjust a thinyer. The effect of the Chinese Emperor¡¯s version of the cool oil is 100 times stronger than that of the Indian divine oil. That sour and good feeling...heh.¡±

    Several men understood that it was like they¡¯d hit the jackpot. They did not smoke cigarettes, drink ck tea, or y mahjong anymore and dispersed in a hurry. They would go home or find a woman to test the effect.

    Now, suddenly, Zhang Zian was left alone. He was at a loss and carrying a silver water pipe.

    ¡°You idiot! What are you doing standing here?¡± Richard said, patting his head with his wings. ¡°Hurry up and run! When theye back, I¡¯m sure your chrysanthemums will be rotated into sunflowers¡ªif they cane back, my uncle estimates that they won¡¯t be able to get on the ground for at least one day!¡±

    When Zhang Zian heard it, he knew that this b*tch bird had made trouble again. He just did not know what kind of trouble.

    Anyway, a wise man did not fight when the odds were against him. Even if he wanted to teach Richard a lesson, he must leave here first.

    He beckoned the elfins to leave together, bypassed several alleys, and came to a rtively quiet ce before he stopped to ask Richard about what had happened.

    Richard talked about how it had heard that they were nning on cheating Zhang Zian because they felt that Chinese tourists would not dare to make trouble and were easy to bully, until it told them the reason why they left in a hurry.

    Zhang Zian and the elfins all felt very speechless after they heard it.

    Old Time Tea grinned. ¡°The wicked have their own wicked downfall,¡± he said. ¡°Richard¡¯s actions are very good. He punished them slightly so that they could know that we are of a great country with its own capable people. Henceforth, they dare not underestimate the world! When we first met, this person always thought that their appearance was faithful but cunning, and their behavior seemed warm, but it was hypocritical. I wanted to remind you, but I was worried that the faces and actions of the people here might naturally be like that. So, I did not say much. I have bad judgment.¡±

    The rest of the elfins all praised Richard¡¯s ability to adjust to changing circumstances.

    ¡°Gah! My smartness and talents have finally been realized!¡± Richard started to jump up and down between Zhang Zian¡¯s head and shoulders, extremely excited.

    ¡°Don¡¯t praise it any more. Its tail is already up in the sky, can¡¯t you see?¡± he said helplessly. ¡°But anyway, we aren¡¯t staying here for a few days. In this he vast sea of people, even if they wanted to find someone, they couldn¡¯t find us. We can just pay more attention in the future... Now let¡¯s find a ce to eat.¡±

 Chapter 1133: Tastes Amazing

    <h4>Chapter 1133: Tastes Amazing</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    A Chinese man holding a silver Arabian hookah with a cat and dog following beside him was extremely out of the norm, but all of Zhang Zian¡¯s focus was on looking for food and not on noticing the weird looks that he had been getting from the passersby.

    With this many strays in Egypt, it was evident that they had basically no petws at all, so there was absolutely no issue with him walking Famous down the streets even without a leash.

    Zhang Zian kept looking back as he walked, worried that the few Egyptian men would look for revenge after they applied the Cooling Ointment to ces that they shouldn¡¯t. Besides, those weren¡¯t Cooling Ointment at all, they were some unknown substance called Cooling Oil, and only God knew what would happen to them.

    Richardughed at him for being a coward, swearing on its life that those few men definitely would note after them.

    Along the way, they did see a few people selling Egyptian biscuits, the price unbelievably low. The flour, oil, and sugar used to make these biscuits were all sent to them for free by the richer Arabian neighboring countries after all. Since the cost was zero, their price naturally dropped under thepetition. Even one penny earned was money too, after all.

    This was to stabilize the situation in Egypt and to make sure that the Egyptians, surviving on an average ie of a few hundred Egyptian pounds per month, wouldn¡¯t riot due to hunger. As the country with the highest poption in the Middle East, and as an important Arabian country, if there was any rioting in Egypt, it would be a disaster.

    The Egyptian biscuits were actually named aish bdi. They didn¡¯t look delectable, but more like bread that hadn¡¯t been leavened, and they did nothing for Zhang Zian¡¯s appetite at all. The elfins showed disinterest towards these starchy foods too.

    Aish bdi was the staple of poor people¡¯s meals here. It was extremely filling, and the poor usually bought a few at a time, eating them with a sesame dipping sauce with lemon, garlic, salt, and pepper. This was usually their breakfast or even dinner every day.

    When Zhang Zian and his group walked past, they saw a few poor people ripping open the aish bdi and dipping it in something before devouring the piece. They ate it with a ss of fruit juice, since Egypt¡¯s fruit juice was ridiculously cheap too. Most fruits weren¡¯t even selling for more than one dor per kilogram.

    Other than aish bdi, there was another smaller type of bread called pita. Pita bread was a thousand times more delicious than aish bdi. It looked like a tbread that had a hollow center, and you could add in fillings based on your own preference. Grilled meats, vegetables, tomatoes, and a sauce, and it would taste just like a mix of a burrito and a hamburger.

    Zhang Zian remembered that while on the streets of Berlin, he had eaten Turkish grilled meat. In Egypt, they had Turkish grilled meat too, but these weren¡¯t authentic. Instead, they had been modified to suit Egyptian tastes. It was called shawarma here, or the Egyptian hamburger.

    The elfins had a great impression of the Turkish grilled meat, so he stopped to order a few sets of shawarma when he saw a street vendor selling it.

    The shawarma wasplete when the vendor expertly shaved off pieces of grilled meat from the spinning grill and mixed it with pickled vegetables, raw vegetables, and bean paste, sping it within a skin that was crispy yet soft, and a spicy red sauce was drizzled on.

    It was sweet and spicy, and an extremely appetizing sourness filled your pte when you bit into it, proving to its devourer why it was one of Egypt¡¯s most popr street foods.

    Of course, the true most popr food in Egypt was koshari. Koshari was a mixture of rice, macaroni, broad beans, peas, vinegar, and chilli sauce. You could also add sausages and olives ording to your own tastes. It seemed a little like fried rice, but not quite stir-fried.

    Koshari was also very popr with the poor people, as it came in a hefty portion despite being cheap. It could satisfy the carbohydrate and vegetable requirements at once, and it was one step higher-ss than aish bdi, but it was also a bit more expensive.

    Zhang Zian wanted to try, but he had heard that the street vendors¡¯ food, though authentic, may not be the most hygienic, and had caused several instances of diarrhea. That was why he¡¯d decided against trying it now, instead heading to a restaurant.

    Famous had just ingested one portion of shawarma, licking its lips in reminiscence of its taste, when it suddenly caught an amazing scent that was difficult to ignore. It took in a deep breath. This aroma was foreign. It should be from some sort of meat, but this was the first time it had smelled an aroma like that.

    Zhang Zian was tall and could see past the crowd, noticing the stall right in front of them. He shrugged the shoulder that Richard was on, teasing, ¡°Richard, did you see? Your buddy has already be roast duck. Why don¡¯t you join them?¡±

    ¡°Gah?¡± Richard had stolen a piece of vegetable from Zhang Zian¡¯s shawarma earlier on, and it was so startled by his words that its beak opened, dropping the vegetable with sauce on it and almost dirtying his shirt.

    ¡°What kind of barbaric country is this? How dare they eat parrots?¡± it eximed, unable to believe what was happening before its eyes.

    Old Time Tea chuckled. ¡°Do not scare him, Zian. From what I see, that is neither a parrot nor a duck, but is instead a pigeon.¡±

    The stall before them was selling another famous type street food in Egypt: roast pigeon.

    Egypt roasted their pigeons by removing the butt and innards, putting in oats, rice, spices, and chopped foie gras, and roasting it on charcoal. Fina and Famous saw it too. The aroma of roast pigeon floated towards them, tickling their noses and causing them to drool, their feet fixed to the floor.

    The charcoal was a burning red, the pigeons a deep brown caramel color. Plenty of oils had seeped through the skin, gathering together before falling off with gravity¡¯s help and sttering onto the charcoal. The mes, fueled by fat, grew taller with each drip, the licks of mes leaping into the air and missing the pigeons by a hair¡¯s breadth.

    These pigeons were pretty fat, and the charcoal fire was just the right temperature too. They looked like roast duck, but they had an exotic charm to them. Most importantly, these kinds of roasted foods were, in general, more hygienic.

    The carnivorous cats and dogs were thirsting over it, and even Zhang Zian had to consciously swallow his saliva. He fished out money without second thought to buy a few roasted pigeons for the elfins there, as well as two more for Snowy Li.

    They had only explored a small fraction of the Khan el-Khalili Market, but their hunger had driven them to leave the market prematurely to find a quiet ce to feast. Fina couldn¡¯t wait anymore, sinking its teeth into the pigeon before Zhang Zian could remind it that it was still hot. It was immediately scalded by the heat, and it sent a searing re Zhang Zian¡¯s way, ming him for not reminding it.

    Oh well. Zhang Zian could only rip apart the pigeon with his hands to dissipate the heat within so that they could eat quickly. After a moment¡¯s wait, the elfins could finally feast.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t be bothered to monitor his image anymore either. He picked up the pigeon with both his hands, the juices painting his face with an oily sheen.

    The skin of the pigeon was crispy and aromatic, the pigeon just the right ratio of meat to fat, and the scents of oats and fois gras wafted up. He and the elfins couldn¡¯t stop themselves, devouring pigeon after pigeon.

    After they were done, he couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°Tastes amazing!¡±

 Chapter 1134: Dressing Up

    <h4>Chapter 1134: Dressing Up</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian and the elfins were full, burping and wiping their mouths, beaks, and ws with paper towels. On the ground, there was a messy pigeon bone.

    Leaving garbage on foreignnd and causing a mess to foreign people was not what a dignified tourist did. He wanted to tidy up, but when he looked up, he noticed that a few stray dogs were not far away, smelling the smell and looking at it eagerly. He was sure they would solve the garbage problem for him.

    At that moment, his phone rang. It was a message in the expedition WeChat group.

    Gao Ke: @The Hottie, we want to go sightseeing with Jack. Are you going?

    Zhang Zian pondered it for a while and thought, why not? It was not bad to go sightseeing. The most important thing was to connect with hispanions, just like all kinds of collective activities at a university. Maybe you preferred to y games in the dormitory, but if you kept staying in the room all the time, you probably could not even recognize all the students in your ss. It would be better to thicken your skin and take part in them.

    Following this, he would spend some time with hispanions. It would be good to get to know each other better. Plus there was Jack, who could be a local guide.

    So he replied, ¡°I¡¯m going. Where are you? I¡¯m next to the Khan el-Khalili Market now. Where can I go to meet up with you guys?¡±

    After waiting a while, he received a response.

    Gao Ke: We discussed it for a while. Just stay there. We will be going to find you¡ªJack also suggested that we walk around the Khan el-Khalili Market. Wait for a while. We¡¯ll take a taxi over, so we¡¯ll reach you quickly.

    Zhang Zian sent a location in the group, and then he told the elfins about the team members and Jack¡¯s arrival. He told Richard not to talk too much, because that b*tch bird was crazy when people came. The more people there were, the more fearless it was, and the more likely it would make trouble.

    The elfins had just finished their meal and were happy to wait for a while, to digest their food.

    They waited in the shade for around ten minutes, and two worn-out taxis stopped in front of him.

    Gao Ke and the rest got out one after another. Wei Kang did not follow them. He had probably stayed in the hotel to rest and liaise with people. Jack was responsible for negotiating fares because Egyptian taxi drivers also liked to cheat tourists out of their money. There were normally two sets of meters in the taxi. One was for local people and the other was for cheating tourists. If the passengers were not fluent in Arabic, or could not be thick-skinned and bargain cheaply, they would pay at least three times in extra fare.

    ¡°Wah! So this is the Khan el-Khalili Market! How great!¡±

    As soon as He He jumped out of the car, she took pictures and selfies with her mobile phone. Gao Ke and Xiao Tianyu, the two boys, also looked at the vast and busy market curiously, and nced at their mobile phones from time to time, trying to be the first liker of He He¡¯s posts in her friend circle.

    Zhang Zian looked at the way He He was dressed, and he could not help but frown.

    He He was keenly aware of his eyes but did not take it seriously. She was used to gazes from men. Although Zhang Zian never gave in to her, he was just a man.

    ¡°Hey, your clothes are too exposing. Go back and change into something else,¡± Zhang Zian could not help but say.

    It turned out that He He felt the temperature was so hot that she¡¯d gone out wearing a pair of shorts and a sleeveless T-shirt. Her white legs were moving until they were dazzling.

    This kind of dressing was no problem at home and would not be a problem in developed countries in Europe and the United States, but in the Middle East, the problem was bigger.

    No woman in the Khan el-Khalili Market was as exposed as she was¡ªnot to mention the local women who covered their bodies tightly. Most foreign women tourists still wore proper clothes, at least three-quarters pants and short-sleeved shirts, even when they were hot.

    He He made a few poses and took selfies, drawing some strange gazes.

    ¡°What is it? What¡¯s wrong with my clothes?¡± she asked unhappily.

    Zhang Zian pointed around randomly. ¡°Do you see anyone dressed like you? You may arouse the criminal desires and impulses of the local people.¡±

    When He He heard, she immediately raised her eyebrows. ¡°How us women dress, it¡¯s our own power. Why should we me women for men¡¯s dirty thoughts and actions?¡±

    Her hands were on her hips, and her voice was very loud, like she wanted to fight.

    At this time, Jack and the driver of two taxis finished negotiating the fare, heard the noise, and looked back at He He¡¯s clothes. He was startled.

    ¡°Miss... No, it seems that we can¡¯t call people Miss in China. Then... Madam? That doesn¡¯t seem to work either. Madam sounds very old. That¡¯s... Big sister?¡± he stammered.

    The inadvertent humorous lines cooled the tension of people brandishing swords at each other, and everyone present could not helpughing.

    Jack¡¯s Chinese was good, and his regr conversation was especially fluent, but he obviouslycked practical experience. When he needed to use it flexibly, he revealed hisck.

    Jack, a person of mixed blood with big eyes and bushy eyebrows, had He He feeling good towards him. Sheughed and said, ¡°Just call me Xiao He.¡±

    Jack looked around nervously and said, ¡°Xiao He, you can¡¯t wear that. You¡¯d better wear more clothes.¡±

    He He frowned unhappily. ¡°Why do you say that? I know that women in the Arab world have very few rights, but I am not an Arab woman. I don¡¯t even have the right to dress myself?¡±

    Jack waved his hand in a panic. ¡°No, you don¡¯t understand... Here, the men here are all... Thirsty? Yearning? Hunger and thirst?¡±

    Zhang Zian said more directly, ¡°Do you think that you are the only smart person in the whole world? That the other foreign women tourists don¡¯t dress like you because they are all silly?¡±

    ¡°You... Why are you speaking like that?¡± He He heard the irony in his words and spoke angrily.

    Gao Ke felt a headacheing on. Wei Kang was not here. He was theoretically the deputy leader of this team. He had the responsibility to maintain unity within the team. But Zhang Zian and He He had seemed not to be getting along from the beginning. How could they maintain unity this way?

    He felt that what Zhang Zian had said was not unreasonable. He He¡¯s outfit was indeed a little too exposing, but what He He had said seemed to be more reasonable¡ªwomen had the right to choose how to dress. It was not breaking thew. What right did other people have to control that?

    Furthermore, he felt that...He He¡¯s outfit looked quite good. His gaze could not help floating towards her upper thighs.

    So he took an attitude to patch up a quarrel and reconcile and said, ¡°Forget it. Stop quarreling¡ªit doesn¡¯t matter. Look, there are so many grown men here. When we go to the market in a moment, we will surround Xiao He. We can just wander around a while, and then we¡¯ll leave. I¡¯m sure nothing will happen.¡±

    The fat Xiao Tianyu held the same view, while Du Xuetao was silent and did notment.

    Zhang Zian shook his head helplessly. ¡°Then I¡¯ll just let you do whatever you want.¡±

 Chapter 1135: Domestic Sales of Commodities Originally Produced for Exports

    <h4>Chapter 1135: Domestic Sales of Commodities Originally Produced for Exports</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The small argument seemed to have ended with He He¡¯s win. She showed off a victor¡¯s smile, sweetly chirping, ¡°I just knew Senior Gao treated me the best!¡±

    If that didn¡¯t just make Gao Ke¡¯s legs weak. If only a few more idiots woulde their way and give him a chance to save the damsel in distress.

    ¡°Come,e. Let Xiao He walk in the middle. Let¡¯s go see the market.¡± He showed off his leadership abilities with all he could. ¡°I¡¯ll walk in the front. Tianyu, stay by her left, Xuetao by her right, and Zian...you can be at the back. As for Jack... Do as you see fit.¡±

    He regretted it the moment the words came out of his mouth. If he arranged it in this manner, he wouldn¡¯t have much of a chance to talk with He He since he¡¯d be standing in front. He¡¯d instead given Xiao Tianyu and Du Xuetao an advantage. But as the vice-leader, it wouldn¡¯t be good for him to take his words back either, so he could only go with it.

    Zhang Zian had to admit that he was pretty satisfied with this arrangement. He had wanted to walk in the back anyway, since it was more convenient to talk to the elfins that way. He shot Jack a look, and Jack understood, slowing his footsteps to match his.

    Jack initiated the conversation, exining himself. After Zhang Zian had left the hotel, Gao Ke and his crew had graduallye down too, but they chose to have their breakfast at the hotel. During this period of time, He He didn¡¯te down at all. Gao Ke exined that she was still sleeping in, plus she had to put on makeup, so it took up a lot of her time. After they had decided toe to the Khan el-Khalili market, Jack had offered to get two taxis for them. He and Xiao Tianyu got in the taxi in front, leaving first, and they hadn¡¯t seen He He¡¯s outfit.

    Zhang Zian could only shake his head. Thisss had really been spoiled rotten by Wei Kang and her three seniors, and she¡¯d most likely been spoiled like a princess back at home too.

    She wasn¡¯t wrong. Females did have the right to wear whatever clothes they wanted, as long as it was still publicly decent¡ªat least in theory.

    The UN Women¡¯s wing had done a survey in 2013, indicating that 99% of women had suffered from some form of harrassment in Egypt. Some of them mentioned that they would be harassed no matter whether they were in their traditional garb or Western clothing.

    But anyone with two functioning brain cells would be able to deduce that the more revealing your clothes were, the higher the chance of getting harrassed. The more traditional and conservative a culture was, the more pent-up frustration and twisted psychology there was underneath theyers. The women had a choice to wear whatever clothes they wanted here, as long as they were willing to shoulder the rtive risk. Their bodies were theirs, after all.

    Jack noticed the silver hookah in Zhang Zian¡¯s hands, seemingly used, and asked where he¡¯d gotten it from out of curiosity.

    Zhang Zian answered that an Egyptian friend that he had met had gifted him the hookah, but Jack didn¡¯t quite believe him. Most Egyptian men viewed the hookah as their lifeblood. How could they just gift it to a random stranger like that?

    After a few words, before Jack could ask any further, He He called him over to bombard him with questions, brimming with curiosity for everything.

    Zhang Ziangged behind so that it was easier to observe what was happening. Even though he didn¡¯t like what He He was doing at all, he still didn¡¯t wish for anything bad to happen to her. Everyone was Chinese, after all. They should look after each other when overseas. Secondly, he didn¡¯t want the trip to prematurely end because she had an ident. That would be a huge regret for both him and Wei Kang.

    Jack was very familiar with this ce. He tried his best to bring them to ces with great value and even helped them to bargain.

    The group had attracted a lot of attention, especially He He, walking in the middle. Those long, pale legs of hers were just like walking hormones. Zhang Zian could almost hear the men around them swallowing as they walked past.

    Egyptians liked sparkly things. Most of the Khan el-Khalili market was selling sparkly things: traditional Arabian gold and silver jewelry, gold containers, and a whole array of gold products. It was a dizzying sight.

    These youngsters were interested in anything and everything and wanted to bring everything back home, since the things weren¡¯t expensive either.

    All of the store owners that they had walked past had tried to greet them with ented Chinese, asking them toe in. Sometimes it sounded like ¡°Helleow,¡± and sometimes it was ¡°Hell,¡± but not one person had said ¡°Hello¡± correctly.

    This ce wasn¡¯t bigger or more posh than Yiwu¡¯s trinket market, but the things that they were selling were Arabian and Egyptian in nature, so the few Chinese thought they were interesting. If the things that they sold were instead Chinese in nature, like dragons and phoenixes or fat kids hugging carp, they probably wouldn¡¯t even have spared them a pity nce.

    ¡°Wow! Is this a statue of a cat? So cute!¡± He He saw a shop selling all sorts of Egypt¡¯s godly creatures¡¯ statues, like hippopotamuses, crocodiles, dingoes, eagles, and of course, cats. She immediately rushed over, wanting to buy a few as gifts for her friends.

    The one that she¡¯d seen was a statue that had been made to look just like the Holy Cat statue. This small statue, along with a few others, had been cartoonified and had lost the ferocity of the real Holy Cat statue.

    ¡°Don¡¯t buy, don¡¯t buy.¡± Jack hurriedly stopped her. ¡°Unless you want to bring back something from China from Egypt. This is China¡¯s product.¡±

    ¡°What? This is China¡¯s product?¡±

    He He didn¡¯t believe it, and the others couldn¡¯t either. A statue like this was so full of Egypt¡¯s specialty, so how could it have been made in China?

    He He picked up the statue, inspecting it all over. ¡°This doesn¡¯t say ¡®Made in China¡¯!¡±

    Jack lowered his voice, exining in Chinese. Most of the items here were made in China. In the beginning, the items all said ¡°Made in China¡± in Chinese, and it was changed to English after they realized that Chinese people wouldn¡¯t buy the products. But they saw that most tourists were able to understand some basic English and still didn¡¯t buy their products, so they ended up writing ¡°Made in China¡± in Arabic. Finally, Chinese people didn¡¯t understand it and really thought that the products were made in Egypt, so they bought them enthusiastically.

    He pointed at the curved sentence in Arabian at the bottom, meaning ¡°Made in China.¡± Everyone was speechless.

    He He hesitated with the statue in her hands. She quite liked this cartoon Holy Cat statue and thought it would make a great present.

    Jack added on that it was okay to buy it back since most of the things sold here weren¡¯t sold back in China, so they weren¡¯t really losing out.

    He bargained for He He, cutting the seller¡¯s price by 70% the moment he started and settling the price at around 40% of the original. He He felt like she had gained a huge deal since her friends didn¡¯t know Arabic anyway.

    But although Egypt was conservative, it wasn¡¯t as if they didn¡¯t sell raunchy things. There was actually one shop that sold bikini swimsuits just to earn tourists¡¯ money.

    As they walked, Zhang Zian noticed that Fina had stopped. It was staring at something in the shop¡¯s window, so focused that it was as though it had forgotten about everything else in the world.

    That was a woman¡¯s statue¡ªCleopatra the Seventh.

 Chapter 1136: Cleopatraâ€™s True Looks

    <h4>Chapter 1136: Cleopatra¡¯s True Looks</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Indeed, as Jack had said, many things in the Khan el-Khalili market had been made in China, but they were absolutely not avable in China, probably because there was no market.

    The shop window showed a series of ster statues or reliefs, such as Ramesses II, Tutankhamun, Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and other famous ancient Egyptian pharaohs and queens.

    Of course, it was hard to convince people that there was no trace of Cleopatra VII¡¯s face in there. After all, she was no less well-known than any of the others.

    In fact, there were several pieces of her ster statues, all in striking positions in the window.

    ¡°Habibi, what do you need?¡±

    A plump shopkeeper with a mustache greeted them with a smile. His eyes paused slightly on Zhang Zian¡¯s hair, and he stared at Fina¡¯s fur with slight surprise.

    The meaning of ¡°Habibi¡± was ¡°dear friends.¡± Although the tone was very warm, they might stab this friend in the back with their prices.

    Gao Ke and the rest, who were walking ahead, found that Zhang Zian had fallen behind and returned to check the situation.

    Jack told the shopkeeper, ¡°We want to look at your goods for sale.¡±

    ¡°Wee, wee! The goods in our shop are of high quality and low price. It¡¯s perfect to buy them as souvenirs.¡± The shopkeeper gestured, weing them in. ¡°Where are my distinguished guests from?¡±

    ¡°My friendse from China,¡± Jack said.

    ¡°China!¡± The shopkeeper stared. ¡°Very few customers from Chinae to our shop. My humble shop is honored by your presence!¡±

    Those words were true. Not many Chinese tourists went to Egypt. Although many people would buy some souvenirs to return, basically no one would buy these ancient leaders¡¯ ster figures. Most Chinese people were not interested in such things as ster statues. It also conflicted with standard norms to buy them and put them in their homes. The most suitable ce for disy would be art ssrooms or European castles.

    Zhang Zian was ayman. If it had been his decision, he would not have gone into this kind of shop of his own ord. Its style was too elegant.

    ¡°Our products are handmade, and the quality is impable. Please choose at will.¡± The shopkeeper was confident. He raised his hand to block He He¡¯s mobile phone, smiled, and said, ¡°Our shop does not allow customers to take photos, and I must ask the guest to put down her mobile phone.¡±

    ¡°Why? It¡¯s not like it¡¯s something rare!¡± He He was very dissatisfied.

    Instead of tranting her words, Jack exined to her that when people arrived in Egypt, they had toply with Egyptian rules. Photographs were not allowed in many parts of Egypt. A while ago, some foreign tourists had been put in a police station for a month after they refused to listen when someone advised them not to randomly take photos.

    ¡°Hmph! How meaningless!¡± He He put down her phone, losing her temper. She pulled on Gao Ke and said, ¡°Elder Brother Gao, let¡¯s go look at other shops.¡±

    Gao Ke and the rest were also not interested in the shop because they didn¡¯t know any of them. Ancient people¡¯s aesthetic outlook had been quite different from that of modern people. These ster statues had neither handsome men nor beautiful women. They felt uneasy when they looked at them. They did not feel as happy looking at them as the stic figurines in the houses. At least they would show off their fatness and bestow fortune on them.

    But it was not good for them to leave Zhang Zian like that. It would seem that the team was too disunited and would be seen as a joke to outsiders. So Gao Ke coaxed them with a few sentences in a low voice and finally managed to pacify He He so she would stop making noise about leaving.

    When they were finally quiet, Zhang Zian pointed to the disy cab and asked, ¡°Are these the only ster figures of Cleopatra VII?¡±

    Jack tranted his words over.

    The shopkeeper was shocked in his heart, but he did not show it. He smiled and said, ¡°This guest has a good eye. These are the ster figures of Cleopatra VII. I wonder, which one do you like?¡±

    ¡°What? This is Egypt¡¯s Cleopatra?¡±

    When Gao Ke and Xiao Tianyu heard it, they immediately became interested. After all, Egypt was famous for its beautiful queen. They wanted to know exactly what the famous historical beauty had looked like.

    He He, who had just been making a fuss about going, was also curious. Out of the psychology ofparison, she wanted to see how beautiful Cleopatra was such that she could overthrow all sentient beings.

    In the disy window, a row of gypsum works of arty quietly on the red velvet fabric, elegant and exquisite against the soft light.

    The first was not strictly a head or chest image, but an enchase made on gypsum board. The subject of the enchase was a woman wearing a high feather crown, holding a cup-shaped object in her hand. Beside her, there was a little boy. The woman¡¯s face was turned to the side, facial lines smooth, but that was all. There were no distinct personal characteristics. If this was Cleopatra, the boy next to her must be her son with Caesar¡ªCaesarion.

    ¡°What! I can¡¯t see what she looks like at all!¡± He He said what everyone was thinking.

    ¡°This is a mural from the temple of Dendera,¡± the owner said with a smile. ¡°The theme is Cleopatra VII¡¯s sacrifice to the cow goddess, Hathor. So this picture represents the connection between man and god. It has a very deep moral meaning.¡±

    But they didn¡¯t care about the morals at all. They just wanted to know what Cleopatra VII looked like, so they went on looking.

    The second was the ster full-body statue¡ªa woman¡¯s bare body, hands holding a scepter to watch the distance with dignity, crown in the middle, and three fierce cobras standing side by side. Although the woman¡¯s face was three-dimensional, it basicallycked feminine features and looked very fierce. It was not so much a woman as a deified ruler to deter the enemy.

    Xiao Tianyu eximed, ¡°If this were my wife, I might be sexually apathetic.¡±

    Gao Ke joked, ¡°Sexually apathetic is not a major thing. If this was really your wife, it would be estimated that you will always be in the sage model in the future!¡±

    Zhang Zian was worried that Fina would be angry when it heard their jokes. He looked at it quickly, but strangely, it was not angry and did not even pay too much attention to the statue at all.

    The third one was a gypsum enchase. On the round gypsum board was a woman¡¯s profile with a bun. Compared with the other two, this woman was more like a person than a god. She had a high nose, deep eyes, slightly protruding chin, and typical European characteristics. It also conformed to Cleopatra VII¡¯s Greek identity. But the problem was...the face was not really good-looking. It made people wonder, ¡°Is this the true face of Cleopatra?¡±

    ¡°How ugly! This is Egypt¡¯s Cleopatra? It really makes me disappointed!¡± He He could not help but insult it. ¡°The beauty standards of the ancient people were really so strange?¡±

    Gao Ke and Xiao Tianyu also had a disappointed feeling they could not hide.

    Fina¡¯s eyes were frosty, and it showed a wave of intolerable anger.

 Chapter 1137: Point Out the Wrong Person

    <h4>Chapter 1137: Point Out the Wrong Person</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The shop owner didn¡¯t know Chinese, but he could easily guess what they were saying from their expressions and tone. He pointed to another disy cab, smiling. ¡°Distinguished guests, if you would like to see beautiful women, you could instead head there. There is the most beautiful woman that the Egyptians are very proud of, the true beauty that captured that hearts of millions¡ªQueen Nefertari!¡±

    After Jack tranted for them, the foreign name had them confused. Who was this Queen Nefertari? This was the first time they had heard the name.

    Zhang Zian exined, ¡°Nefertari is one of the queens of Ancient Egypt¡¯s most famous pharaoh, Ramesses the Second, and is publicly acknowledged to be Ancient Egypt¡¯s most beautiful woman. Nefertari means ¡®the most beautiful woman.¡¯¡±

    In front of Jack and Fina, he didn¡¯t finish the rest of his words.

    The current Egyptians didn¡¯t actually like Cleopatra that much. Firstly, she wasn¡¯t Ancient Egyptian, and neither was she Arabian. She was Greek. Secondly, she had used her body as an exchange for the temporary independence of their country. It may have been a nice story to tell, but it was not a nice one to hear. In the eyes of the Arabians, who believed in male chauvinism above all others, this was just a...disgrace! What ¡°bear the shame to save a country¡±? That could go to hell!

    Gao Ke and He He immediately shifted their interest from Cleopatra to Nefertari, rushing over to the other disy cab in a quest to know what the most beautiful woman in Egypt looked like.

    The shop owner took the chance to garner more interest, continuing to introduce other items. ¡°Distinguished guests, if you are interested, we also have a statue of Queen Nefertiti. Nefertiti is a woman whose beauty is only surpassed by Queen Nefertari, and I believe she will not disappoint you.¡±

    Out of curiosity, Gao Ke and his crew immediately rushed over to the next disy cab to spectate,menting on Nefertari and Nefertiti¡¯s looks.

    Only Zhang Zian didn¡¯t move from his spot. He has no interest in what Nefertari and Nefertiti looked like. If he really wanted to look at beautiful women, there were a bunch of them waiting for him on TikTok.

    In the disy cabs before him, there was one more stone statue that they hadn¡¯t seen.

    This was a woman¡¯s statue, her curly hair done up in a bun and secured with a hair tie. This looked just like an adult woman from Europe. Even though her beauty wasn¡¯t shockingly overwhelming, she was at least a pleasant sight.

    The stone statue that Fina had been staring at was this one.

    The shop owner had run this shop in the market for quite some time and still had some skill in watching people. Even though Gao Ke¡¯s crew seemed interested in everything, he could see that they were just normal university students without big wallets, and they clearly had no intention of forking over any money. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t talk much, but his eyes had never left the disy cab for Cleopatra the Seventh. The customers that really had an intention to purchase were are like him.

    So the shop owner came pattering over, asking, ¡°Distinguished guest, which statue has taken your fancy?¡±

    Jack came over to help him trante.

    ¡°Where did thise from?¡± Zhang Zian asked, pointing at the fourth statue.

    ¡°Oh, the real version of this statue is in Berlin Museum, and it was said to be the statue that is closest to how Cleopatra the Seventh looked. But to me, this is also the most uninteresting statue. Any art school student would be able to recreate a simr statue just using their pinky. If you are interested, why not consider the other three? As the shop owner, I strongly rmend the second one.¡± The shop owner pointed at the whole-body sculpture, the statue where she was wearing naught but her crown.

    He introduced it. ¡°This whole-body statue¡¯s original is kept in Saint Peter¡¯s Museum, and it expresses every single drop of Cleopatra the Seventh¡¯s strength and power as a pharaoh. It is the most valuable.¡±

    ¡°Ha, stupid idiot! How dare this lowly person criticize Her Holiness¡¯ image and even point out the wrong person!¡± Fina suddenly burst into a snort, its words full of scorn.

    The shop owner obviously didn¡¯t know what Fina had said and merely treated the cat as though it had sneezed.

    Zhang Zian knew that no matter how arrogant Fina was, it definitely wouldn¡¯t say words that it thought were untrue. He mused over Fina¡¯s words for a moment before pointing at the whole-body statue, asking, ¡°Are you sure about the background of this statue?¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡± The shop owner smiled. ¡°Distinguished Chinese guest, I have operated the shop here for tens of years. If I can get this wrong, then I might as well close shop and go home!¡±

    Zhang Zian continued calmly, ¡°Is that so? But if I remember correctly, Ancient Egypt only has one official Pharaoh, and that was Hatshepsut. Even though Cleopatra¡¯s name had spread far and wide, she was a ruler of Ancient Egypt, the queen of the Ptolemaic dynasty, but she wasn¡¯t a pharaoh.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± the others asked, confusion scribbled all over their faces. ¡°Cleopatra wasn¡¯t a pharaoh?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Zhang Zian answered definitively. ¡°You have to go through a specific ceremony in order to be a pharaoh. Cleopatra the Seventh had risen to the throne at a pressing time, with internal and external conflicts, and so there wasn¡¯t time to prepare and carry out theplicated ceremony. Of course, this doesn¡¯t contradict the fact that she was one of the most outstanding leaders of Ancient Egypt and in history. Even if she wasn¡¯t a pharaoh, she fulfilled the role of one perfectly.¡±

    Thest sentence was, of course, to appease Fina.

    The shop owner¡¯s face was a little stiff, and heughed a little to buy some time. ¡°Haha! This distinguished guest definitely did make his preparations beforeing. You sure are well-versed in Ancient Egypt¡¯s history. I know that Cleopatra the Seventh isn¡¯t a pharaoh, but everyone thinks that she fulfilled the role and was justcking a title. That¡¯s why it isn¡¯t wrong to say that she is a pharaoh.¡±

    Well, that wasn¡¯t an unreasonable exnation either. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t get caught up in that situation. He¡¯d merely asked to gain some time to think about what Fina had meant by ¡°point out the wrong person.¡±

    He suddenly recalled that when Gao Ke and Xiao Tianyu had beenmenting harmlessly about the statue¡¯s figure and art, Fina waspletely immune to it. If this statue had really been a statue of Cleopatra the Seventh, it definitely wouldn¡¯t have tolerated theirments and would have treated their legs like the world¡¯s best scratching post.

    Only Fina had seen the real Cleopatra the Seventh in this world, so its judgment must be correct. Which meant this nude statue with three snakes on its crown and a staff in its hand wasn¡¯t one of Cleopatra the Seventh. Then who could it be?

    A memory shed through his mind. Back when Fina had been muttering under its breath, it had mentioned one name before, and it hadined about the fact that people often mixed this person up with Cleopatra.

    What... What was that name again?

    He scoured all of his memory before it suddenly pounced on him, and the hard-to-remember name surfaced. He pointed at the statue again. ¡°You¡¯re wrong. This statue isn¡¯t actually one of Cleopatra the Seventh. It¡¯s Arsinoe the Second.¡±

 Chapter 1138: Proper Name

    <h4>Chapter 1138: Proper Name</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Whether it was Gao Ke and the rest or Jack, the name of Arsinoe II was so strange that none of them had heard of it.

    ¡°Jeff, Arsi... How do I pronounce the word ¡®nuo¡¯ for Egyptian?¡± Jack asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to trante it.¡±

    ¡°Arsinoe II, that is, Arsinoe the second¡ªthis pronunciation, I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s urate or not, but it¡¯s this meaning,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Jack tranted his words for the shopkeeper.

    The shopkeeper shook his head like a rattle drum. ¡°If you¡¯re kidding, distinguished Chinese guest, this joke is not funny at all¡ªI¡¯ve never heard the name of Arsinoe II, let alone confused her with Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt.¡±

    When Zhang Zian spoke, he had already searched for the owner of the name on his mobile phone and said, ¡°This person lived 200 years earlier than Cleopatra, a queen in the early Ptolemaic dynasty. She is not famous, but she does exist in history. This full-body statue is based on her.¡±

    ¡°What evidence do you have?¡± The shopkeeper frowned, finally leaving out the ¡®distinguished guest¡¯ term.

    Zhang Zian pointed at the three fierce cobras at the front of the crown of the figure. ¡°Pharaohs and queens in ancient Egyptian history would wear cobra crowns, but there was only one cobra in the early stage, two in the middle stage, and three in the Ptolemaic dynasty,¡± he said. ¡°So we can judge that the real body of this must be a female emperor or queen of the Ptolemaic dynasty, which is the scope. It¡¯s much smaller.¡±

    ¡°Besides, Cleopatra looks like this.¡± He pointed to the fourth ster head. ¡°Although she is not the most beautiful woman imaginable, she has nothing inmon with the third body image. The head of Arsinoe II is printed on some gold coins. If youpare them slightly, you can find that the facial outline of Arsinoe II coincides with the third full body statue.¡±

    Everyone had smartphones. They could find relevant information about Arsinoe II on the Inte. They couldpare the gold coin with the ster body image. As Zhang Zian had said, Arsinoe II¡¯s broad and t face was far from Cleopatra VII¡¯s three-dimensional face and closer to the ster full body statue.

    Xiao Tianyu sighed. ¡°So if ancient Egypt had not perished, the queen would have be Medusa¡ªa head full of cobras!¡±

    Fina listened to Zhang Zian¡¯s words and nodded slightly. It felt that this servant was not humiliating it. When it heard Xiao Tianyu¡¯s nonsensical speech, it turned its head and stared at him fiercely, angered at him for talking too much.

    As a matter of fact, the shopkeeper was silent atst. Although the Egyptians had many shorings, and they liked all kinds of tricks, such as kidnapping tourists in pits and cheating money and people to have s*x with them, they still loved face, and they would not randomly say these things in this kind of situation.

    ¡°Ha ha! Honorable guest, you are so knowledgeable! As a native Egyptian, I was taught a lesson by you instead! As a thank you, I¡¯d like to sell you the gypsum head you see at the most favorable price!¡±

    The shopkeeper caught sight of a white European couple walking to the door of the shop. They seemed to have the intention to go shopping. He wanted to send Zhang Zian and the rest away sooner. Otherwise, it would affect business too much. After all, European people were the real main force of consumption here.

    Zhang Zian did not believe half a word that this unscrupulous Arabian merchant had said. Although the shopkeeper had repeatedly imed that it was the most favorable price, he still adhered to the principle of halving the price when bargaining, otherwise he would not leave.

    The shop was narrow, their group plus a cat and a dog blocked inside. Outside, the white couple simply could not enter, and the shopkeeper had no choice but to admit his bad luck. He pinched his nose and agreed.

    Because of the fragility of the ster figurine, it needed to be shipped back, and so Zhang Zian let the shopkeeper use doubleyer packaging, in which sponges and waste newspapers were stuffed to absorb the impact. He left after that in satisfaction.

    ¡°I did not make you buy it. Don¡¯t say that I forced you to buy it,¡± Fina said, humming.

    Zhang Zian held the heavy box and expressed that he had been with it for so long. If he could not figure out what it meant, then what was he doing? Since it was eyeing this ster head figure and refusing to leave, he must buy it. The difference was whether he wanted to buy it on his own initiative or if he wanted it to open its mouth. It was better to choose the former, of course.

    Of course, it was impossible for him to admit his indignation. He only said, ¡°I have long felt that even after the renovation of the shop, there has still been ack of finishing touches. In other words, the ster head should be enough to solve this problem and attract more young bourgeois-aura girls!¡±

    Fina was satisfied with the answer and nced at him. ¡°Do you think she¡¯s not as beautiful as she thought? And doesn¡¯t fit the definition of beauty for humans?¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart felt cold. It was a question that would get him in trouble either way!

    If he just went with the flow and admitted that Cleopatra VII was not very beautiful, just randomly picking a beauty on TikTok who could totally win over her, not to mention the 361-degree Sihwa without a bad angle, it was estimated that he would not be able to return to his country alive...

    However, if he ttered her without thinking, praising her as the first beautiful woman in the world, it was estimated that his fate would not be better.

    ¡°Gah! Why is your face so ck?¡± Richard asked, gloating at the situation. ¡°You¡¯re even sweating so much behind your back!¡±

    He had quick wits in an emergency and said, ¡°In terms of appearance alone, in terms of modern aesthetics, Cleopatra VII can only be regarded as someone whose looks are slightly higher than average...¡±

    Fina¡¯s face became cold.

    He dared not keep the listeners in suspense. ¡°But unlike in the Hollywood movies and the rumors, her outstanding charm did note entirely from her appearance, but more from her profound knowledge and wisdom,¡± he added. ¡°It is said that she had extensive knowledge of philosophy, mathematics, architecture, and alchemy, and that she was also proficient in ninenguages as head of state. Whether Caesar or Anthony, they were both heroes. They were never stunned by women. They nevercked beautiful women. If she was just a beautiful vase, how could she turn those two Roman figures upside down?¡±

    ¡°Gah? Are you speaking carelessly, idiot? She really knew ninenguages?¡± cried Richard.

    ¡°It¡¯s true. She not only knew ninenguages, but she could also switch among them freely in conversation, any of which could rival her native Greek,¡± Zhang Zian said truthfully. ¡°In addition, she was supported and loved by the people of ancient Egypt at that time because she was the only person who could use the ancient Egyptiannguage among the rulers of the Ptolemaic dynasty for more than a dozen generations, which was quite powerful.¡±

    Cleopatra of Egypt, the word ¡®gorgeous¡¯, causing her to suffer a lot of misunderstandings and mockery.

 Chapter 1139: Accident

    <h4>Chapter 1139: ident</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian sneaked a look at Fina after he expressed his views about Cleopatra¡¯s looks, only heaving a sigh of relief after seeing that it wasn¡¯t hopping with anger. It instead lowered its eyes.

    Fina let out a deep sigh. ¡°You¡¯re not wrong, but this is still on the surface. Her beauty can only be truly appreciated when you see her with your own eyes.¡±

    That was probably referring to her aura. No matter how perfect a statue was, it would be impossible to model someone¡¯s aura into it. A single look, a single action, couldpletely revamp the image of a dull, stiff person. What about Cleopatra, with her beautiful face? With the education that she had received and the knowledge and wisdom that she possessed and wielded, Cleopatra definitely had an aura that¡¯s one of a kind. It would have separated her from the rest of a crowd.

    He would¡¯ve loved to see Cleopatra with his own eyes too, but that was clearly impossible. His best bet was to imagine what one of the most outstanding women who lived two thousand years ago could look like.

    While he was negotiating the price with the owner and nagging at him to carefully pack the statue up, Gao Ke and He He lost their patience, leaving the shop and walking about 20 meters before him and his elfins. 20 meters was not long and not short.

    With the passing of time, more and more people came to the market. It was the usual time for the locals to have their breakfast.

    Just as he finished his conversation with Fina, he heard Old Time Tea¡¯s cough. ¡°Zian, there seems to be a situation ahead...¡±

    The streets of the market weren¡¯t too wide, and the intersecting alleys were even narrower. Old Time Tea didn¡¯t stay on the ground most of the time. It instead traveled by the rooftops, gaining a wider field of view.

    Zhang Zian was still wondering what was going on when a woman¡¯s shrill shout pierced the air.

    ¡°Ahhh!¡±

    Maybe due to the climate andnd, like the sand particles that they often found in their food, the local young women didn¡¯t have the same brightness and sharpness in their voices that Chinese young women did, but instead sounded low and raspy. That was how Zhang Zian knew in a split second that this was most likely He He screaming.

    What he¡¯d feared had reallye to pass. This stupidss was getting taken advantage of. Without more words, he gave Famous a look, and the two of them rushed through the crowd.

    There were a lot of spectators before them, most of them locals, while a few ck-haired Chinese were surrounded in the middle. The situation looked quite grim.

    Old Time Tea had reached it first, sitting on ampshade to watch. It was invisible right now, which prevented it from stepping in to help. Besides, the situation right now wasn¡¯t dangerous to the point where he had to cut in.

    Jack was trying his best to exin to the locals and to plead for their understanding, hoping that they would be forgiving towards a few Chinese tourists, but his voice had been swallowed by the rage of the crowd.

    More and more locals started to gather, most of them buff young men. All of them seemed to be agitated as though they had just seen their greatest enemy, shouting at the top of their lungs and spewing their saliva everywhere.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what was happening, and he couldn¡¯t even squeeze into the inner circle. He shouted ¡°excuse me¡± several times, but the locals blocked his way even more when they saw his skin and hair color.

    ¡°Help! Please, help!¡± He He sobbed, voice thick with tears.

    Old Time Tea could see clearly what was happening, its beard twitching in anger. It saw that not only did these people have dirty mouths, their hands were unclean too. They had reached out, their dirty hands grasping at He He, pinching, shoving, grabbing, and trying to rip her sleeveless shirt open.

    He He¡¯s hair had be a rat¡¯s nest, her light skin marred with bruises and lined with scratch marks, her phone long snatched away. All she knew how to do was hug herself tightly and scream her throat raw for help.

    The three Chinese men had already tried their best to protect her, but how could they fight against a whole barrage of people?

    Gao Ke was strong, and he would¡¯ve already been throwing punches if he¡¯d been in China. But right now, he was overseas and in an unfamiliar ce, and he was worried about the bacsh, so all he could do was take a defensive stance.

    Xiao Tianyu was more plump and naturally sweaty. He was pushed and prodded and squashed just like a rubber ball would be, sweat pouring out of every single pore, in danger of getting dehydrated.

    Du Xuetao¡¯s sses had been lost in the scuffle, and his spectacle frames had been crushed beneath so many feet that they were closer to dust than a metal frame. He was basically blind right now since he was very myopic, and everything was blurry to him. His skinny body was just like a kayak in the middle of the sea during a thunderstorm, at the risk of being submerged at any time.

    Zhang Zian looked up at Old Time Tea, realizing that he couldn¡¯t wait anymore. He had to act right now, or this situation would get out of hand.

    ¡°Famous! It¡¯s up to you now!¡±

    Famous understood what he meant, observing the buildings around them before leaping like a coiled spring being let go.

    It could just as easily leap over the wall of human heads, but it considered that that would be way too shocking for most to ept, so it decided to be a bit more low-key. It jumped to the side first, using the wall as leverage to take another step, twisting its body in midair andnding right in the middle of the crowd urately.

    He He had already be delirious due to fear, her eyes red and wet with tears. When something furry suddenly brushed across her naked thigh, she was so taken aback that she nearly peed her pants.

    Famous had spent a lot of time with Old Time Tea in its imagination and learned even more high-level techniques to use its strength in more ways than just from its muscles. It took a deep breath, redirecting all of that strength to its core before releasing it all out in a sharp bark. ¡°Woof woof! Woof woof!¡±

    The explosive bark immediately suppressed all of the noise. Even the sobbing He He had stopped her tears.

    The locals interacted with dogs every day, and they immediately knew that this angered dog was not to be agitated more. Famous¡¯ eyes were big and round, its sharp incisors showing in broad daylight while it bowed into an offensive stance. There were noplete animal protectionws here, and they could onlyment their fate if they were bitten by a stray.

    All of Famous¡¯ fur stood up, its body seemingly two times bigger, looking exceptionally fierce and intimidating. Whichever direction it decided to bare its teeth in, all of the people there scrambled to backtrack, not willing to be the first to rush out.

    Zhang Zian took the chance, leaving all of the elfins outside the circle while he squeezed inside and shouted at the top of his lungs, ¡°I have already called the police! The people from the Chinese Embassy will be here! What do you want?¡±

    Jack heaved a sigh of relief, immediately tranting his words into Arabic. The locals¡¯ arrogance lessened at those words, but they were still unwilling to leave, calling out to them in apletely uncoordinated manner.

    Zhang Zian quickly asked Jack in a whisper, ¡°What happened?¡±

    The moment He He saw a savior, even if this person had always taken jabs at her, she couldn¡¯t help the huge burden that was taken off her shoulders, as well as her tears of relief.

    The three men were also extremely disheveled, with mussed hair and clothes and a dirty appearance. It was as though they were refugees.

    Gao Ke harshly swallowed before speaking of what had happened from the beginning to the end.

 Chapter 1140: Harassment

    <h4>Chapter 1140: Harassment</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    He He felt that Zhang Zian and the shopkeeper¡¯s process of packing the ster figurine was too slow, and she did not want to wait anymore. She called Gao Ke and the rest to leave first.

    Gao Ke was worried at first about whether her overly showy outfit would cause trouble, but after a while, they gradually rxed their vignce and thought it was alright to leave first.

    As they were walking along, a local girl skipped up to her, gesturing with her hands, wanting to take a picture with He He.

    He He quite liked young girls, and, seeing that this young girl looked honest and cute, she very happily satisfied her request.

    After that, some young boys and girls ran over, asking He He to take a photo with them one by one.

    He He felt very happy in her heart, feeling like this was a confirmation of her looks, and she did not reject them.

    As if there was some kind of unspoken agreement, young men and women also started to gather around and wanted to take pictures with her.

    She was really ttered. She had been abroad several times before, but no matter where she went, she was always the one who invited local people to take photos. She had never been so popr. She just felt like a superstar, like she was floating, and thought that the Egyptian sense of aesthetics was great.

    Gao Ke and the rest were asionally asked to take pictures, but it was much less frequent for them than He He. They were not jealous either, and they were even happy for her. After all, she really had outstanding looks.

    He He took a picture with a young man and was trying to move on with a smile when the young man suddenly shouted something to her.

    She looked towards Jack, asking what that person had just said.

    Jack looked troubled. He coughed dryly and said, ¡°He said... He likes you and is asking you if you are willing to be his girlfriend.¡±

    He He and the rest were stunned, thinking they had heard wrongly.

    In China, she would asionally get hit on by men, but normally they just wanted her phone number or WeChat contact. She had never seen someone so direct.

    ¡°Tell him, thank you for your kindness, but I¡¯m here to travel and I don¡¯t want to find a boyfriend for the time being,¡± she said in a way she considered polite. Although the little brother looked quite cute and handsome, she really dared not take an Egyptian boyfriend home. Otherwise, her dad would certainly break her leg.

    Jack tranted her words over.

    He He and Gao Ke and the rest did not take it seriously. They just took it as a joke and teased each other that the Egyptians were really straightforward.

    Before they had taken a few steps, another slightly older local man asked to take a picture with her. After the photo was taken, he kept talking to He He sincerely and excitedly and stopped in front of her, not wanting to let her go.

    ¡°What is he saying?¡± He He asked half-jokingly. ¡°Could it be that he wants me to be his girlfriend, too?¡±

    Jack felt even more awkward and hesitatingly said, ¡°He said... You¡¯re his dream girl, and he wants to marry you...¡±

    ¡°...A proposal?¡±

    Even if it were a joke, it was too much, and this man¡¯s expression and tone were not humorous.

    Gao Ke had always had good feelings towards He He, and he could not help but feel sour in his heart when he heard that. Heined, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the local people? Have they not seen women before?¡±

    When he said that, he felt that something was wrong, because Jack was also a local. He instantly smiled and said, ¡°Sorry, Jack, I¡¯m not talking about you...¡±

    Jack shook his head slightly. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± he said. ¡°In fact, I can¡¯t be considered a real local. When I was a child, I followed my parents abroad. When I grew up, I returned to Egypt and went to Cairo University. I don¡¯t know some of the customs here...¡±

    He He¡¯s good mood was ruined, and she impatiently waved her hand. ¡°Never mind, let¡¯s leave first. Let¡¯s just ignore these people. I haven¡¯t seen anyone so shameless before. Why doesn¡¯t he take a good look at himself first?¡±

    She wanted to walk around that man, but he kept bothering her without stopping, continuously blocking her path and insisting that he wanted to marry her.

    He He was extremely angry. She reached out and shoved him, wanting to push him aside.

    At that time, she was using her right hand to take selfies all the way and pushed at him with her left hand, but she didn¡¯t know that most Egyptians thought right was better than left. Right was auspicious. Whether dressing, eating or going out to pray, they started with their right hand and right foot, while their left hand was considered unclean. When solving physiological problems and doing dirty work, they used their left hand to shake hands with others or delivered things with the left hand. It was extremely impolite, even insulting.

    Egyptians knew that foreign tourists did not understand this etiquette and had a certain tolerance for foreign tourists. They might have forgiven He He if she had identally handed something to him or shook hands with his left hand, but she pushed him with her left hand, which angered the man¡ªand there was a possibility that he was purposely finding trouble with her.

    Anyway, the man shouted at the people around him, iming that He He had deliberately humiliated him with her dirty left hand. He drew the support of others, surrounded He He and her party, and refused to let them go.

    Many of them, in the name of solidarity, trying to take petty advantages, had long had an eye on He He¡¯s shiny exposed thighs. Where had they seen this in the local area? Now there was an excuse to acquire this sort of profit in times of trouble.

    Gao Ke and the rest, who had at first put on a tough look, wanted to be heroes in front of He He, but they were hard-pressed to fight four fists with two hands, and they were soon overwhelmed by the local people¡¯s imposing manner.

    After Zhang Zian heard what Gao Ke was saying, he was also quite speechless.

    In this case, the main reason was that He He was wearing revealing clothes and had be the focus of attention of the local people. Otherwise, such troubles would not have found her.

    Simr to the situation in China before, many local Egyptian men wanted to emigrate by marrying foreigners and leave Egypt because Egypt was too poor, with a per capita monthly ie of about 500 RMB. The domestic political situation was unstable, and there was frequent unrest, political-military rule, andpulsory military service¡ªall men of the right age had to join the military service.

    And so, as long as it was an okay-looking young man, they all wanted to find a foreign female tourist to be their springboard to emigration, walking toward the peak of their lives.

    However, Egyptian men were not foolish. Foreign women tourists were ssified by various grades and ranks. First-ss tourists were women with American passports, second-ss tourists had European passports, and third-ss tourists had Asian passports, including China, Japan, and Korea. In addition, women tourists from the United States and Europe were more likely to be hit on sessfully than those from Asia, who were slightly more conservative.

    However, Egyptian men did not really want to live in a strange foreign country for a long time. Their routine was to trick a female tourist into marrying and obtain a foreign passport, then force her to return to Egypt to live with him. Or, after siphoning enough money from abroad, they would then abandon their foreign wives to return to Egypt and marry a local virgin.

    Because of the Muslim religion and customs, Egyptian men did not need to go to the government to register for marriage. They could have a wife from abroad and a wife from home, and polygamy was quite eptable.

    Obviously, the man had just seen He He dressed in cool and refreshing clothes and thought she was a very casual and easy-to-get foreign female tourist, so he¡¯d started to have the thought of using her.

 Chapter 1141: Unexpected Aid

    <h4>Chapter 1141: Unexpected Aid</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian exined what he understood about Egypt¡¯s culture to the members of the team and specifically mentioned two points. One, He He was way too exposed in her outfit and gave the local men an impression that she was very casual¡ªthis was the root cause. Two, she shouldn¡¯t have shoved the person with her left hand. This was the direct cause and the lit fuse.

    They couldn¡¯t me the men for being too straightforward and asking for her hand in marriage at first sight. There were too many monks and too little porridge. Everyone wanted to marry a foreigner so they could migrate overseas. There was no time for romancing at all. They had finally met a female tourist who was open, and if they were too slow, someone else might have gotten to her first.

    He He had been crying earlier on, but her face shed with shock, shame, and anger at Zhang Zian¡¯s words, flushing red. She finally burst out in anger, ¡°I just wanted it to be more cooling. I¡¯m not some cheap woman!¡±

    Gao Ke and his friends felt awkward. If they had known that the situation would end up this way, they would have just banded together and persuaded her to change into another set of clothes. But what was done was done, and it was toote for regrets.

    As for the right and left hand issue, Wei Kang did seem to have reminded them about this before they left the country, but they couldn¡¯t really just change a habit of a lifetime in the snap of a hand, and it would be normal to forget it in moments of panic.

    He He was frustrated and sorry. Her new phone had been snatched away in the mess, her sleeveless top had been smeared in dirty handprints, and her elbow had been pinched red by some particrly violent men. She really hadn¡¯t expected to encounter such disgusting things on their first day here. No wonder Chinese people liked to travel or migrate to European countries. These third-world countries really did have the worst people.

    In terms of the scenery, Egypt didn¡¯t lose to any other country. In terms of ancient artifacts, they were one of the top countries in the world. But when it came to the quality of the citizens, they were definitely at the bottom of the pile.

    With Famous¡¯ fierce eye scaring the locals, Gao Ke and his crew kept coaxing He He with their words before finally asking Zhang Zian, ¡°When are the people from the embassying?¡±

    Zhang Zian remained expressionless, his mouth twitching as he lowered his voice as much as he could. ¡°I didn¡¯t have time to make the call, seeing as how the situation was getting out of hand, and I don¡¯t know the number for the embassy.¡±

    Gao Ke¡¯s panic rose again, and he asked nervously, ¡°Then...what do we do? Call them now?¡±

    Du Xuetao¡¯s sses had been crushed, but as a myopic person who knew he couldn¡¯t survive without sses, he¡¯d brought along a spare set. He pulled out his spare sses to wear, but the moment he heard that the thing wasn¡¯t over yet, he hesitated to put his spectacles on again. If they were crushed again, he would really be blind as a bat.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t reach a decision either. The Egyptians around them all felt that their buddy had been insulted or were using the chance to make sure they couldn¡¯t leave easily. If they saw them calling now, there was a possibility that they would just be adding fuel to the fire and intensifying the conflict.

    He wasn¡¯t afraid of a fight, even if it was a messy one. The more chaotic it was, the more chances Old Time Tea had to help. The thing that they were afraid of was the situation getting blown out of proportion, creating trouble for their own country. He He getting harmed in the process would be another disaster too.

    Just as they were hesitating, there was suddenly a hugemotion, attracting the attention of the locals. Zhang Zian and the crew were all stunned. This sound was extremely familiar. Weren¡¯t these the festive firecrackers?

    Yup, those were definitely firecrackers. Smoke had started to rise. What was happening? Was someone marrying off their daughter?

    There seemed to be firecrackers thrown onto the spectators¡¯ long robes and clothes. The extremely dry climate caused the little sparks that leaped off the firecrackers to burn little holes in the robes, potentially causing them to go up in mes. The spectators scrambled to put out the sparks while they cursed the heavens, looking for the perpetrator.

    The team couldn¡¯t figure it out at all, but before they could make heads or tails of the situation, someone grabbed Zhang Zian¡¯s left wrist tightly.

    So someone was finally making a move? It would be best if they could avoid fighting, but if they were getting attacked, they couldn¡¯t just stand there and take it.

    Old Time Tea had trained him to reflexively respond to violence by breaking free before reciprocating. His right fist had already been lifted to his chest area. When he finally took a look at the other party, he realized that the other person was a young local woman, around twenty years of age, with huge eyes and defined features, and quickly stopped his punch. What was going on?

    Zhang Zian was too shocked for words. He wouldn¡¯t even be this shocked if Wang Qian or Li Kun had held on to him. Arabian women were very conservative, and it was impossible for them to just make contact with a stranger on the street.

    Even though he thought he was handsome, he knew his own limits, and he knew that he wasn¡¯t so handsome that ady would break her deep-rooted culture to save him.

    ¡°Shh!¡± The woman put her index finger to her lips.

    She was small and purposefully bent down so that her entire body was hidden in the dark robes. All those other people, distracted by the firecrackers, wouldn¡¯t have known how or when she had squeezed herself in.

    Even He He, beside Zhang Zian, had noticed thedy, confused about how Zhang Zian had actually gotten to know a local woman.

    Thedy let go of Zhang Zian¡¯s hands and took out a brown piece of cloth about the size of a bathrobe from underneath her robe, like magic. She covered He He with it without any more words, covering her from head to knee, before signaling to her to ¡°Come with me quietly.¡±

    No matter if they were Caucasian, Asian, or African, they would all look the same after getting dressed in such a personality-killing garment. That made it harder for them to differentiate her from the rest of the crowd.

    Right now, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have the time and energy to consider why this woman was here or why she wanted to save them. Their first priority was getting out of there.

    Zhang Zian gave the others a look as well, and they understood the cue to shut the hell up, bend down, and follow behind the woman, getting out of the crowd while they were still in chaos. Famous had stopped barking and followed behind silently too.

    Seeing that they were free from danger, Old Time Tea heaved a sigh of relief before running off to tell the other elfins.

    The market spanned a huge area, its main roads and alleys crisscrossing each other randomly, making it easy to get lost. Jack had brought them in along the main roads since even he wasn¡¯t too familiar with the small alleys.

    Thedy seemed to know the spiderweb-like structure of the alleys like the back of her hand and brought them in and out of them like mice running through tunnels. After several bends, she brought them into a shop.

    The students still hadn¡¯t gotten over the shock of what had transpired. They didn¡¯t even get to see what this shop was all about before they saw that Fina had already arrived, arrogantly sitting on a chair with a local elderly man in a short-sleeved T-shirt standing at attention beside her.

 Chapter 1142: Dying Language

    <h4>Chapter 1142: Dying Language</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When Zhang Zian and the others entered the shop, the girl from earlier stayed outside the shop to watch the happenings. The old person wearing short sleeves covered the shop door and waved their hands at them, gesturing to them not be in a hurry to ask questions first.

    Gao Ke and He He were worried. Although the old man and his sister had kind faces, nobody had the words ¡°I am a bad person¡± written on their faces. How could they know whether they had just left the wolf¡¯s den only to enter the tiger¡¯s?

    Zhang Zian wondered when Fina hade. Just now, when he had gone to rescue He He, he¡¯d acted with Famous, because he knew that Fina could not lower itself to saving a woman who was not rted to it and had gotten into trouble all by herself.

    He thought that Fina had stayed with Gxy and Pi. Unexpectedly, Fina, Gxy, and Pi had all arrived here. He He and Gao Ke and the rest just could not see them.

    In fact, the shop was quite close to the ident site, and they could still hear the noise of the ident site. The onlookers seemed to find that they had slipped away, and they were cursing a bit before they scattered.

    The door was pushed open, and the girl from before came in with another local boy. She closed the door again, nodded to the old man, took off the robe covering her body, and threw it aside at will.

    Under the long robe, her outfit was the same as Zhang Zian¡¯s and everyone else¡¯s, abination of a polo shirt, sneakers, and jeans.

    While they were at the door, Old Time Tea also leaped in. He had not managed to find Fina and the rest just now and had chased them by following their scents. He had found that Zhang Zian and the elfins¡¯ scentsbined here.

    The old man looked at the crowd with a sigh of relief and a smile. He said in English, ¡°Wee, you all must be surprised. Take a rest first. I know you must have a lot of questions to ask, but it¡¯s safe now. Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll exin to youter. Sit down, please! ck tea, or coffee?¡±

    Their ears were sore because of the loudmotion and speaking in Arabic just now, and now, hearing someone speak English, they felt a sense of closeness. Gao Ke and the others had made it to graduate school, so their English was certainly good. Zhang Zian¡¯s daily conversation in English was not a problem, and then there was Jack, who had traveled to many countries when he was a child.

    Zhang Zian and the rest did have a lot of questions to ask, but the guests followed the rules of the host, and, affected by the old man¡¯s calmness, they gradually rxed.

    After going through that mess for so long, they were thirsty, and they found chairs to sit down, asking for the drinks they wanted.

    After a few minutes, the young man and woman carried a tray out from inside, ck tea and coffee arranged on it, and gave it out to Zhang Zian and the rest.

    Zhang Zian had asked for ck tea, and after taking a mouthful, he could not help but grin in secret. How sweet! Was the white sugar free of charge here?

    Egyptians, men and women alike, were fond of sweets to the point where they did not like things that were not sweet. Most of the food and drinks were especially sweet, presumably because they felt that under the cover of their robes, nothing could be seen, so their figures did not matter, and they could do what they wanted.

    After the young man and woman served their drinks, they stood next to the old man. The old man said, ¡°I¡¯m called Lazart. These two are my daughter, Kate, and my son, Chris.¡±

    Zhang Zian and the rest looked at each other. The young brother and sister¡¯s names... They did not sound local at all. They were verymon European and American names.

    Jack was a mixed-blood who had grown up in a foreign country. His parents¡¯ name choice wasn¡¯t surprising. But all three of them looked like very ordinary local people. Why was it that...

    Could it be that they were like Zhang Zian, who had felt that foreigners pronouncing ¡®Zian¡¯ was not very urate and hade up with an English name like ¡®Jeff¡¯ for himself?

    It wouldn¡¯t be very good for them to ask them straight out, and so they were all randomly wondering, but Lazart¡¯s next sentence made them understand instantly.

    Lazart could see their confusion. He smiled and said, ¡°Oh, right. We are Copts.¡±

    Zhang Zian was moved in his heart and looked at Fina, then at Kate and Chris, who were frank and unflinching, and carefully observed their looks. Although they looked roughly like the local people, under careful observation, he could find that their thick eyebrows, deep eyes, and high cheekbones were slightly different from those of the ordinary local people and closer to the characteristics of the Southerners of Egypt.

    So it was like that...

    That was understandable.

    Copts were Egyptian minorities, ounting for about 10% of Egypt¡¯s poption. They imed to be descendants of ancient Egyptians and pharaohs. Most importantly, they were followers of Christianity, so they didn¡¯t care about physical contact between men and women who were strangers.

    Lazart took a sip of ck tea and said, ¡°I¡¯ll talk about what happened, and perhaps I can answer your questions after I¡¯m done speaking if you have anything you want to ask.¡±

    After He He and the rest got in trouble, Zhang Zian had rushed to help, and Fina and the other elfins had stayed where they were.

    On the other side, Lazart hade back from the church with his two children and heard the noise of riotsing from the street ahead. He was nervous about the political instability, so he had his daughter Kate stay beside him and told his son Chris to go ahead and check the situation.

    When Lazart interacted with his daughter and son in private, so as not to forget the origins and history of his nation, he normally spoke Coptic, and their conversation was coincidentally heard by Fina.

    The origin of the Coptguage was veryplex. It was the final form of the ancient Egyptiannguage and the product of Hellenization of the Egyptiannguage under the rule of Rome and Byzantium.

    Thisnguage system was founded in the third century A.D. It was based on Greek and borrowed some letters from the ¡°secr¡± style of writing that had evolved from ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs to express pronunciations that did not exist in the Greeknguage, and it was considered abination of Greek and ancient Egyptian.

    At present, the Coptguage was close to extinction. Few people used it. Only a small number of Copts still used it privately, and people did not know how long it would be before the official extinction.

    Historically, however, thisnguage had yed a great role¡ªChampollion, a French philologist, was proficient in Coptic so he could discover the secrets of the Rosetta Stone and ultimately to crack the hieroglyphs of ancient Egypt. Coptic was like Chinese Pinyin, while ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs were like Chinese words. When Pinyin and glyphs corresponded one by one, the secrets of hieroglyphs were revealed.

    As Zhang Zian had suspected, Fina was not interested in helping He He, who had gone to make trouble for herself. It satzily and yawned. It was still secretlyining about Zhang Zian being a busybody.

    At that moment, however, it heard a pronunciation very simr to that of ancient Egyptian, like hearing the local ent of its home town again after many years. Its whole body suddenly became stiff.

    It turned around, alert, and just happened to meet Lazart¡¯s gaze.

 Chapter 1143: Fringe Society

    <h4>Chapter 1143: Fringe Society</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The sounds and sights of his hometown had not changed one bit since he¡¯d left when he was young.

    Despite that it had been more than two thousand years since the dawn of Egyptian civilization, Fina could still hear the authentic Egyptian ent amongst the people who spoke it. Granted, some of the differences were highly detectable. Sybic sounds and intonations had evolved drastically from old Egyptian, and sentences were structured differently. The influence of the Greeknguage and other foreignnguages were present in this dialect that Fina now heard. She could not understand it, and she definitely had not expected it.

    Thend of Egypt had many dialect groups which not many could understand, and the difference in ents was normal.

    Lazart and his daughter Kate stayed in the same ce, and Lazart told his son Chris to check up on the situation. He was worried that the vast number of people in front of him was a sign of looming turmoil. The Copts always caused the worst unrest around the region.

    Deep in thought, he absently turned his head, only to lock eyes with Fina. Looking at her stirred up memories buried deep in his mind.

    Like many other ethnic groups, the Copts were a proud group. They valued their traditions and their way of life, and they refused to be assimted into mainstream Egyptian society. They held on strongly despite having to live through trying times, carving out a tiny bubble of life where they understood how to live.

    And it was precisely the will to exist and maintainance of their culture that became the driving forces for the Copts to thrive. They worked much harder than the Egyptians to attain wealth and social status. They knew that these were the ingredients that guaranteed their ce in modern society.

    Perseverance and hard work were the hallmarks of changing one¡¯s fate. Although Copts ounted for only 10% of the total poption of Egypt, their educational level was significantly higher than that of average Egyptian. Many Copts had also gone on to receive higher education and be highly qualified professionals. Copts made up a huge proportion of doctors,wyers, and engineers.

    The Saviles family, one of Egypt¡¯s richest households, was of Coptic origin. At the height of their wealth, before the dawn of World War II, more than 40 of thergest 100ndlord families in Egypt were Copts.

    Even more impressive was Boutros Boutros-Ghali, a Copt who had eventually be a United Nations Secretary-General, a highly coveted position. Not many ethnic groups in the world could im this important position.

    Early Copts also emigrated abroad and put down roots in other countries. They thrived in these foriegnnds as well. ording to statistics, Copts ounted for the highest proportion of minority poption doctors in the United States, exceeding even the sum of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean doctorsbined.

    Lazart had not been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but he too had been able to make something of himself out of nothing. He opened his own jewelery store in the Khan el-Khalili market, dealing in gold and silver. The store provided his family and himself with afortable life. They did not need to worry about basic necessities. It also had the added benefits of maintaining harmony amongst his family and cing his household¡¯s economic position in the top 1% of Egyptian households. He was contented.

    The passing down of culture from one generation to the next was important for the survival of one¡¯s tradition. Lazart and his family had attached the utmost importance to this. In private gatherings, family members had to converse in the Coptguage. Their shared history was also passed down via word of mouth, with the elders sharing stories and folk legends to children once they understood how to read and write.

    When Lazart was a young boy, his grandpa had told him a story¡ªa story about cats.

    However, the story had been grossly distorted after two thousand years of being passed down by mouth. Each narrator added his own narrative to the story, and it was now indistinguishable from the original. The current story sounded more like a fairytale rather than a serious story. Yet while the story had changed, the protagonists had not. The story revolved around a family that, for unknown reasons, had been trapped in the desert. They were eventually rescued by a passing cat.

    Such a story was lousy, with neither a spectacr moral nor a colorful ending. Its only saving grace was that the story did not allow a lousier ending where the cat transformed into a beauty and married the prince. Such colorful stories, if spread widely, would almost certainly be added to any book collection of folktale stories.

    s, this story, along with many other folktales, had not been circted widely, and had stayed heavily confined within Lazart¡¯s family. When he was ten, Lazart had truly believed that the story had actually happened, but once he grew older, he came to his senses in the blink of an eye. Despite all this, he continued the age-old tradition of reading the same story to his children in the Coptguage. He knew that nothing sparked children¡¯s interest in anguage like a fascinating, albeit ridiculous, story.

    Yet looking past the absurdity, deep in his heart, Lazart believed that his ancestors had had some connection with cats. The source of his belief came from a beautifully handcrafted tapestry made out of linen and wool. It depicted that very same cat.

    When Lazart had first seen Fina, he¡¯d instantly connected her with the cat depicted on the tapestry. The uncanny resemnce had drawn up memories of his own childhood and the absurd folktale. Fina was exactly what the tapestry showed. They had the same golden hair and unique spots. To Lazart, it was as if the cat had jumped out from the tapestry and entered the real world.

    He could not take his eyes off Fina. He almost stopped breathing, but suddenly, his daughter Kate held his hands.

    ¡°Dad, are you okay?¡± Kate asked in fear. She¡¯d noticed that her father was pale and sweating profusely. She thought that the riots were causing him all that stress.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m fine,¡± Lazart muttered, raising his chin to signal her to look at Fina. ¡°Remember the story I told you and your brother?¡±

    Kate stared at Fina. ¡°What a beautiful cat! Dad, are you seeing the cat in the story in this cat? I think it is simply a coincidence.¡±

    Lazart shook his head. He had seen many cats throughout his life, but none of the cats had had such fur coats and markings.

    He decided to ask his shop-owner friend about the cat because he did not think that this was an ordinary stray cat.

    The shop owner was also a Copt. He told Lazart that the cat had been brought in by several Chinese tourists. Now these Chinese tourists were caught in themotion and unable to get out.

    Suddenly, his son Chris ran back and told his father what he¡¯d found out about the situation.

    Lazart was relieved to hear that the unrest was unlikely to be a precursor to something greater.

    He thought to himself, ¡°Shall I leave since this is not my business?¡±

    He stood firmly in his spot. However, Fina kept staring at him, as if expecting something to happen. Not only were its coat and markings simr to the cat in the tapestry, but its eyes and aura also mirrored that picture.

    Lazart gently walked toward Fina. The cat stood firmly in its spot, not moving one inch.

    ¡°Hello. Can you understand me?¡±

    Lazart immediately felt stupid talking to the cat. He thought only children talked to cats.

    Yet he could swear that the cat gave a slight nod of its head. He could not discern whether this was an illusion.

    He pointed to the riot happening and asked, ¡°Are your friends in trouble?¡±

    The cat turned its head to the side, as if signaling to Lazart that this was too troublesome a question to answer. Nevertheless, the cat still nodded its head just slightly.

    At this point, Lazart decided that not only would he help the Chinese tourists in the distance, but he would also ask them about the cat.

    ¡°Come. I want to help your friends get out of trouble.¡± He pointed in the direction of his shop.

 Chapter 1144: Land of Gold

    <h4>Chapter 1144: Land of Gold</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Lazart walked towards his family shop a few steps, then stopped and turned around to look, not sure if that cat had understood his words or not.

    The cat rose from its squatting position and meowed twice to the side, as if to greet other cats¡ªbut there were no other cats nearby.

    The cat followed him back to the store, and when he opened the door and turned on the light, the beautiful gold and silver ornaments seemed to make its eyes brighter. Without waiting for him to say anything, it jumped into a chair and looked around with a critical eye.

    Hearing the sound of dogs barking from the streets, Lazart wondered: what method could he use to help the Chinese tourists?

    He intended to help but did not want to have a head-on confrontation with the local people. After all, many of them were doing business in the Khan el-Khalili market. As part of a minority group, it was better to keep a low profile. Otherwise, it could lead to a hatred for the rich. It was important that for a long time, the wealthier, more epting Copts were stigmatized by the Egyptians as ¡°fake, foreign devils.¡±

    The situation in Egypt was calm for the time being, but who knew when the next unrest would happen? Locals who hated the rich might take the opportunity to retaliate.

    For the safety of his family, he could only do his best to secretly provide aid.

    His gazended on the calendar, and he suddenly thought of a method that could work.

    It was already June, and the weather was getting hotter and hotter. It was about to be Ramadan in Egypt.

    Firecrackers were imported from China. The custom of setting off firecrackers had also been influenced by China.

    Egyptian people had a tradition of setting off firecrackers at weddings and holidays, and Ramadan was no exception. The time of setting off firecrackers usually began at the time when they started to fast every evening.

    Because of frequent terrorist attacks and unrest, the sound of firecrackers was easily confused with the sound of guns, and because of a series of security incidents caused by setting off firecrackers, the government did not encourage them. Still, local people felt that there was no feeling of festivity without firecrackers, so they refused to stop.

    Although Ramadan had not officially begun, firecrackers had quietlye onto the market. There were several firecrackers in the Khan el-Khalili market.

    Thinking about that, Lazart started toe up with a n.

    There were many people who knew Lazart in the Khan el-Khalili market, so it was inconvenient for him to show his face, and his old feet and legs were not very agile. So he called his son Chris and asked him to run to a farther-away store to buy firecrackers and set them off to attract the local people¡¯s attention. Then he called his daughter Kate and let her slip into the crowd and bring out Chinese tourists, taking advantage of the messiness.

    His son and daughter were smart and did not need him to give any more instructions. They followed his orders and left.

    Lazart himself waited at the shop, and when the sounds of firecrackers began, he began to feel worried, not knowing if this n would be sessful.

    Kate was afraid of being recognized by acquaintances, and she covered her face tightly with her headscarf, scared of causing trouble to her shop. She took Zhang Zian and the rest into small streets and made unnecessary turns even though the distance was actually very short, and she made sure that no one was following them before she was at ease and brought them back.

    Chris, too, had taken a shortcut to an unfamiliar store to buy firecrackers, and after he set them off, he took the long route back.

    Seeing his daughter lead Zhang Zian and the rest safely to the shop, Lazart finally felt at ease.

    After they¡¯d listened to Lazart¡¯s story, Zhang Zian and the rest nodded and praised Lazart¡¯s wisdom in bringing up his children. From the details of the action, they could see that brother and sister were smart and brave, and that they would definitely be excellent talents in the future.

    Lazart himself was even more admirable. He was willing to risk offending the local people for Chinese tourists he did not know. This was not something ordinary people would do.

    Zhang Zian, Gao Ke, Xiao Tianyu, Du Xuetao, and Jack all stood up to express their thanks to the father, as well as his daughter and son. He He, who had almost been stripped of ayer of skin, was even more grateful.

    At that moment, Zhang Zian and the rest fully rxed and were in the mood to look around the shop.

    If they had not been nervous before, they would have noticed the dazzling variety of gold and silver jewelry in the shop¡ªmainly gold, but also tinum and silver, bracelets, headwear, earrings, rings, nes, jewelry, and so on. There were almost three walls full in addition to the direction of the door, and there were many ss counters. The number put on disy in them was astonishing, and wherever they looked, it was a sea of gold.

    The Egyptians really loved gold. That was one of the few traditions that had been passed down from a few thousand years ago.

    Ancient Egypt went without saying¡ª11 kilograms of gold masks and 111 kilograms of gold coffins had made people used to this kind of thing. After all, ancient Egypt, as the world¡¯s granary, was really rich.

    Now, with an average monthly ie of 500 RMB, 95% of the country was desert, unable to support an exploding increasing poption. Flour, sugar, and oil were funded by their brother Arab countries. They were clearly so poor that they needed to eat dirt, but they had an unusual obsession with gold. This was modern Egypt.

    The Egyptian principle was that their ancestors were once wealthy, and they could starve and live on the streets, but gold must be bought!

    When a local woman got married, she would wear all her gold ornaments on her body, even such that all ten of her fingers were full of rings, and she would wear several heavy nes around her neck. The traditional thought was that the more gold ornaments a woman wore, the more her husband would love her.

    Under such a custom, Egypt¡¯s gold and silver jewelry shops were not worried about sales.

    Of course, Egyptians were very poor. They could not afford pure gold. Pure gold was soft, and it was not easy to create beautiful jewelry with it, so most of the gold jewelry bought by the local people was 18K gold.

    In recent years, with the further deterioration of the Egyptian economy, the devaluation of the currency, and the rise of prices, Egyptians could not even afford 18K gold. But even so, they had to do something in order to be impressive. They quietly pawned their 18K gold jewelry at home and bought simr-looking gold-ted jewelry from China instead.

    People from other countries probably could not understand why Egyptians were so obsessed with gold.

    Although there was a saying in China that went, ¡°antiques in prosperous times, gold in troubled times,¡± it was used to engage in all sorts of illicit trading and referred to pure gold. If you had to rely on aid to eat, why were you still thinking about gold?

    Zhang Zian held his breath and gazed at the store¡¯s gold jewelry that was so heavy and so expensive that it would make an ox sweat wearing them. Even the pupils were reflecting the golden light. Although it was known that the gold was about 18K gold, 18K gold was also valuable!

    He He instinctively wanted to pull out her mobile phone to take pictures and then post it to her friend groups. She touched her pocket before she realized that her mobile phone had been stolen by someone. She could not help feeling sad.

    In dazzling golden light, Fina sat calmly in the middle of a chair, the golden color of fur fully integrated into the brilliant background.

 Chapter 1145: Family Heirloom

    <h4>Chapter 1145: Family Heirloom</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Most people would develop feelings of shock, appreciation, greed, or even nervousness at the sight of so many gold essories. Even if they didn¡¯t like gold, they were bound to have these feelings. But Fina seemed to bepletely ustomed to it and even seemed to be judging them for their expressions...

    Gao Ke and his team wanted to take photos to upload to social media so they could show off to their friends. But with what happened earlier, they were worried that they might identally vite some other cultural no-no, and they kept their phones firmly to themselves.

    If they offended the Lazart family, they really would end up right smack in the middle of the Egyptians¡¯ war.

    Zhang Zian and the others looked at all the gold essories without blinking, but the Lazrt family had their eyes constantly on Fina, unable to help but feel that Fina was extremely simr to the cat in the carpet art.

    Lazart coughed. ¡°Friends, if you don¡¯t have any other questions, could you tell us why you havee to Egypt? You don¡¯t seem like our usual tourists. Normal tourists wouldn¡¯t bring their cats and dogs on their trip.¡±

    Zhang Zian finally snapped out of it, remembering that they had awkwardly not introduced themselves even after the other party had. They were too nervous and then shocked to introduce themselves, and they¡¯d presented themselves as rude people. They had just disgraced the reputation of the Chinese and their politeness.

    That was why Gao Ke had spoken on behalf of the expedition team, expressing without reservation who they were and why they were here to the Lazart family. He mentioned that they were the expedition team from China¡¯s Binhai University, here to conduct investigations and biology research, specifically regarding the lost ancient Egyptian cats, so they could break the mysterious gap between wild and domesticated felines.

    Jack introduced himself as a Biology major at the University of Cairo, sent here to guide the expedition team due to his proficiency in Chinese. The others introduced themselves too.

    ¡°Oh, so this cat belongs to Binhai University?¡± Lazart nodded, pointing at Fina.

    ¡°Not actually.¡± Gao Ke looked over at Zhang Zian, inviting him to speak.

    Seeing that he couldn¡¯t avoid it, he could only introduce himself. He mentioned that he ran a pet shop in Binhai City and was joining the team as a special consultant. He¡¯d picked up Fina by chance one day.

    Lazart was a little taken aback at how a cat as beautiful as Fina had been picked up off the street. He was confused as to why Binhai University hadn¡¯t wanted to just purchase Fina instead of spending even more money to let Fina¡¯s ownere along with it... But he was old and wise, and he knew better than to stick his nose into things that didn¡¯t concern him. Maybe this was just how the Chinese did things.

    Kate loved Fina, squatting by its side so that she could keep looking at it. But Chris looked contemtingly at Famous, suddenly cutting in, ¡°Sorry¡ªI heard you say this dog is called Famous. Could it be the dog that won the Best Male Lead award at Berlin¡¯s Film Festival?¡±

    Receiving Zhang Zian¡¯s nod of affirmation, he burst out in surprise, running back into his room to bring out a set of CDs. ¡°I had just borrowed ¡®Dog Warrior¡¯ from my friend, and I hadn¡¯t had the chance to watch it yet! Can I take a photo with Famous?¡±

    The set of CDs was the overseas version of ¡°Dog Warrior,¡± the Arabian version. It looked like the filmpany¡¯s marketing strategies had been sucessful.

    Famous was, of course, more than willing to fulfill his fan¡¯s wishes.

    While Chris was taking photos with Famous, Lazart got Kate to chit-chat with the guests. He returned to his own room, carefully taking out the prized family heirloom, the carpet art, that he had delicately stored in a hiddenpartment.

    The carpet had been made a long, long time ago, and he had always been very cautious with how he handled it, seeing that it was a family heirloom. He had never brought it to the relevant authorities to get it authenticated. The goat¡¯s hair and rattan had been oxidized over the years, the fibers losing their sticity and turning fragile, easily broken at the slightest bend. That¡¯s why they had put it in a gigantic frame. Because they couldn¡¯t bend it and it was too big to be put into a safe, he could only hide it in the hiddenpartment in his bedroom.

    Lazart tried to wipe away the dust that had settled on the ss, looking at the carpet through it.

    He had always thought this carpet was purely a family heirloom, one that had been stitched together based on someone¡¯s imagination, as the cat in the building wasn¡¯t one that could be found in reality. However, he¡¯d found out today that his ancestor¡¯s skills were way better than he imagined, and the carpet was aplete reflection of reality.

    After thinking for a while, he ced the frame back on the floor, using his phone to take a photo of it. He retook the photo several times at different angles, from the full picture to its details, before cing the carpet back in the hiddenpartment carefully.

    It¡¯s not that he didn¡¯t trust these Chinese tourists. Lazart was just worried that if word got out, it would attract the Egyptian government¡¯s attention, and he would end up between a rock and a hard ce. He couldn¡¯t possibly give a family heirloom to the country. Besides, as a Copt, he didn¡¯t approve of this country.

    Lazart left his bedroom, returning to the shop downstairs. Kate and Chris had a conversation going on with the expedition team, asking them questions left and right.

    The Chinesess andds were all extremely interested in Egypt and Copts as well. Copts didn¡¯t have as many cultural restrictions as normal Egyptians did, so the atmosphere of their conversation was easygoing and rxed.

    Both sides used English, coupled with a few hand signs. If they really couldn¡¯t express themselves, they would ask Jack to trante for them, and bursts ofughter came asionally.

    Lazart watched them with aforted smile. It looked like his kids had made new friends.

    The siblings asked Zhang Zian many questions after hearing that he ran a pet shop and had even been in a movie before. Zhang Zian understood that in the Khan el-Khalili market, there were pet shops as well, and they even sold a unique product of the Nile river¡ªyoung alligators. Who knew what they did with the grown alligators. Did they put them back in the Nile River?

    ¡°Hey! Kids, I have to borrow Jeff. I have some things I want to discuss with him. Jeff, I have a photo here that you might be interested in.¡± Lazart waved a hand to beckon Zhang Zian over.

    The siblings were clearly unhappy about the fact that their conversation had been interrupted. Chris shrugged his shoulders while Kate made a face, and they resumed their conversation with the other youngsters.

    The serious, mysterious expression on Lazart¡¯s face concerned Zhang Zian, and he immediately walked over. ¡°What photo?¡±

    What kind of photo could catch his interest? Bikini-ddies from the Red Sea¡¯s beach? He didn¡¯t know that Lazart had such a hobby even at his age...

    ¡°Look. Does this cat look simr to your Fina?¡± Lazart showed him the photo on his phone.

    After seeing the photo, Zhang Zian was shocked. The cat in the photo did look simr to Fina, from its fur color to its fur pattern. Even if it wasn¡¯t Fina, it was definitely the same breed.

 Chapter 1146: The Clue in the Desert

    <h4>Chapter 1146: The Clue in the Desert</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian carefully observed the photographs that Lazart showed him. From the hairy knitted surface, it could be seen that the subject of the photograph was a carpet or tapestry. Judging by the size, thetter was more likely true.

    The tapestry was surrounded by a circle of red decorativece, which could be ignored.

    This picture was a narrative from a first-person perspective.

    Most of the tapestry was upied by rolling yellow sand. The dark yellow sun hung overhead. Some parts of the sky had faded badly, but there were still traces of earthy yellow.

    The yellow sand, the yellow sun, the yellow sky.

    A cat walked in the middle, leaving a trail of paw marks on the yellow sand. It was looking back as if impatiently urging the person behind to hurry up.

    As it was from the first-person perspective, one hand stretched forward, like the person was crawling behind the cat in the desert desperately.

    In the far horizon, the desert and sky met. Several ck branch-like things that looked like palm trees and yet like green bristlegrass swayed, and there was a deep greenke, probably representing an oasis.

    The theme of the tapestry was abnormally distinct. It was about a cat leading a dying man in the desert to an oasis.

    One of the details attracted Zhang Zian¡¯s attention. The wrist half-buried in yellow sand was tattooed with a pattern, which was obscure due to the level of weaving skill at that time, but it could still be seen that it was a cross.

    Lazart smiled and reached out his wrist. The inside of his wrist had a simr cross tattooed on it, representing their Christian beliefs.

    Zhang Zian finished looking at the image and looked toward Fina, mostly able to guess Lazart¡¯s meaning. Still, to confirm, he said, ¡°Your meaning is...¡±

    If Lazart wanted to say that Fina was the cat in the picture, Zhang Zian had to deny it, because Fina lived in the decades before B.C., when Jesus had not been born, and it would be impossible to give religious meaning to the cross.

    Lazartughed. ¡°I saw this tapestry from an acquaintance. I thought it was interesting, so I took some pictures. It is said that the ancestor of the acquaintance knitted the tapestry ording to an even earlier family legend. Today, when I saw Fina, I thought it was very simr to the cat in the tapestry, so I wanted to show it to you.¡±

    This statement was somewhat credible¡ªthat it wasn¡¯t a tapestry woven by those who had experienced the event, but byter generations based on earlier legends, tomemorate their ancestors. The descendants of Christianity, out of pride in their family history, would have casually added the tattoo of the cross into the tapestry.

    ¡°Can you send these photos to me?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Lazart sent the photos to Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian took advantage when the others were not paying attention and secretly showed the photo to Fina. ¡°Are you the one in this picture?¡±

    Fina seriously looked at it for a while. It impatiently shook its head and said, ¡°I¡¯ve long forgotten. Who would remember this kind of minor matter?¡±

    This answer was very much its style.

    Zhang Zian thought for a while. He walked to Lazart¡¯s side and asked, ¡°Your acquaintance¡ªdoes he know where this situation in the tapestry happened?¡±

    ¡°Where, ah...¡± Lazart tried to recall. The family legend only mentioned that it was a desert in the west and did not mention the specific location, let alone the fact that the ancient ce name must be different from the modern name, and so there was no meaning in knowing it either.

    ¡°It seems like a desert in the west,¡± he answered.

    ¡°A desert in the west...¡±

    Zhang Zian felt vaguely that this might be a clue to the search for the primitive Egyptian cat. If this picture was not of Fina, but of one of her kind, it may have once inhabited the desert in the west. As for whether it was still there, that could only be known after the field investigation. The hope was certainly slim.

    Ny-five percent of Egypt¡¯s territory was desert, with Eastern desert in the east, Nubian desert in the South, and Western desert in the west. Trying to find creatures from the desert that had existed two thousand years ago would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

    The oasis in the tapestry may have been a clue, but it may have changed greatly after two thousand years. The oasis could have evaporated a long time ago.

    Zhang Zian consulted Gao Ke with his ideas. Gao Ke and the others, although feeling that their hopes were slim, agreed that this was a clue. It was always better to have clues than not to have clues. At least they could temporarily lock their target in the western desert.

    He He did not participate in their discussion, but she was attracted by the beautiful and exotic gold and silver jewelry. She pulled Kate aside and asked her to help introduce her to them. She nned to buy some jewelry to take home. She could not only keep it as souvenirs for herself but also give them as gifts to her close female friends and rtives. Most importantly, the price of gold here was cheaper than it was in China. 18K gold was even cheaper. Wasn¡¯t it great that she could get gifts with Egyptian characteristics for not a lot of money?

    After their discussion, Zhang Zian thought about how the shop assistants and his friends in China had repeatedly advised him to bring gifts back before he left. He might as well take care of Lazart¡¯s business at the same time as a way for thanking him for helping.

    They exined their willingness to buy to Lazart, and Lazart readily agreed to introduce them personally to the various types of jewelry in the shop.

    There were many kinds of jewelry in the shop, but since Zhang Zian wanted to buy the most Egyptian-style jewelry, he could exclude the ordinary jewelry, which was exquisitely crafted and popr with local women but had no special meaning.

    ording to Lazart, jewelry with Egyptian characteristics and popr with foreign tourists could be roughly divided into three categories¡ªimitations of famous cultural relics, statues of famous figures, and protection amulets.

    Imitations of famous cultural relics, those that were more representative of Egypt, included the Rosetta stone tablet pendant. In ordance with its original proportions, it was made smaller, and with artistic treatment, it could be used as a key pendant. It could also be used as a ne to hang around the neck, and it could be ced at home as decoration.

    As the key to cracking the hieroglyphs, the significance of the Rosetta stone tablet was obvious. Such a pendant was very popr with foreign male tourists.

    Gao Ke and the rest bought two or three Rosetta stone tablet pendants and Tutankhamun gold mask pendants each.

    The most popr statues of famous figures were, of course, the three famous beautiful women in ancient Egypt: Nefertari, Nefertiti, and Cleopatra VII. The most popr statues were the jewelry with Nefertiti¡¯s head carved into them.

    Compared with famous cultural relics imitations, foreign female tourists usually preferred the pendants of three beautiful women¡¯s heads, and He He was no exception. She knew that Nefertari and Nefertiti were more beautiful than Cleopatra, but since they were going to be given to their domestic friends, they must be well known. How many people in China knew who Nefertari and Nefertiti were?

    But what made her hesitate for so long without buying was the fierce cobra behind Cleopatra¡¯s crown on the pendant.

 Chapter 1147: Amulet

    <h4>Chapter 1147: Amulet</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Just like many females, He He hated snakes and wanted nothing more than to get as far as physically possible from them. Her best friend was full of nothing but hatred for them too. If she were to ever gift them a pendant that had a carving of a snake on it, their friendship would be as good as over.

    But all of the Cleopatra merchandise that they sold had cobras. They might be slightly different in style and pattern, but they were all full of life. There was no way that He He would be buying these, unless she was looking for a good dressing-down.

    She could only buy Nefertari and Nefertiti¡¯s pendants then. The two of them didn¡¯t have snakes on their portraits, but they definitely were way too unknown in China...

    ¡°Isn¡¯t there a Cleopatra pendant without snakes?¡± she asked timidly.

    ¡°The cobra represents ultimate power in Ancient Egypt. This is the greatest difference between Cleopatra and our other two beauties,¡± Lazart exined. ¡°I regret to say so, but all of our Cleopatra pendants have snakes. If you insist on having one without snakes, you can custom-order one.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you ept custom orders?¡± He He perked up. ¡°It must be...expensive to have one custom made, right?¡±

    Lazart¡¯s quote was less than a thousand RMB, and it was a lot cleaper than her expectations. Besides, if she ordered more than one piece, it could be even cheaper.

    He He silently calcted. Even friends were separated by how close they were to her. There were only two or three closest to her heart, and with her added into the mix, she eventually requested four snake-less Cleopatra pendants.

    Other than importing their goods from other sources, Lazart¡¯s store also fulfilled their customers¡¯ customization requests in-house. He and his son, Chris, were in charge and responsible for that, and they had made it a family business.

    They had a work shop connected to the back of the shop so that the clients could even watch their own customized product getting made.

    The charcoal burned a vibrant red as its mes licked at the gold, and the iron hammer nked periodically, sparks flying everywhere. The golden liquid was poured into the mold, and the final touches and carving woulde after the gold cooled down. Atpletion, it would be an exquisite handmade pendant, made from a process not any different from thousands of years ago.

    That certainly piqued an interest in the youngsters¡¯ hearts, beckoning them to try and witness the process with their own eyes and their own cameras. But Lazart had no intention to start work now, and it would be rude to demand the other to change his schedule.

    Just as Zhang Zian was contemting the desert, he felt something hit his leg.

    He looked up and brought his line of vision right into Fina¡¯s, a sugar cube missing a corner by its w.

    The sugar cube came from a small te on the table, provided for the guests should they want to have more sugar in their already-really-sweet coffee.

    Fina seemed to have carved the corner out using her w and flicked it at Zhang Zian, clearly signaling to him, ¡°Make a move while you can. Do you still need me to remind you of such a thing?¡±

    Zhang Zian sighed, picking up the Cleopatra pendant to purchase it. Right then, another sugar piece hit him, stopping his actions.

    Turning around, he found Fina¡¯s fiery eyes ring holes at him. What? Didn¡¯t it want this?

    Only after a moment had passed did he btedly realize that Fina wanted the snake-less version of the pendant too. A poisonous snake had killed Cleopatra, so it hated snakes.

    As a servant, of course, he always had to try to understand Her Majesty¡¯s thoughts, unless he would like to see his head rolling away from his body.

    He put down thepleted pendant, adding one more pendant to He He¡¯s order. Gao Ke and the rest even teased him, pushing him to reveal which girl he was actually buying it for.

    Speaking of girls, his employees and friends had been bugging him about bringing back some souvenirs. How dare they think he would be too petty to bring back gifts. What horrible friends!

    When it came to presents, it was best to treat everyone equally and not be biased. Otherwise, people might feel that you were being unfair to them, and it might lead to misunderstandings. That was more trouble than it was worth.

    Zhang Zian contemted buying a few Rosetta stone ques, pyramids, Tutanka masks, or the three beauty¡¯s pendants back as presents, but he can¡¯t help but feel these giftsck originality.

    Right then, Lazart continued. Other than the replicas of their famous artifacts and prominent figures, another gift that tourists did like was an amulet full of Ancient Egypt¡¯s vor.

    ¡°Actually, Cleopatra¡¯s pendant is believed to help ward off some evils and can be used as an amulet too,¡± he said. ¡°You might think that Egyptians aren¡¯t afraid of poisonous snakes and that¡¯s why we put cobras on Cleopatra¡¯s crown, but that couldn¡¯t be further from the truth. No one knows better than Egyptians how terrifying poisonous snakes are. We¡¯re afraid of them too, but our culture is to fight fire with fire. The more afraid of snakes we are, the more we wear them on us, to ward off bad things.¡±

    Something seemed to click in all of their minds. They really had thought previously that Egyptians weren¡¯t afraid of snakes. Who knew that Egyptians were just as afraid of them as Chinese were? But no matter how Lazart exined, everyone still didn¡¯t want to buy the ready-made Cleopatra pendant and asked him to show them the real amulets.

    Lazart took out a few essories again, like the pendants and rings showing Scarabs pushing the ¡°Sun,¡± Fatimah¡¯s Hand. These were pendants all very well-received by tourists. The females usually wore the pendants, while males wore the rings.

    The scarabs were a representation of the sun gods in Ancient Egypt, a symbol of justice and immortality. But no matter how good it was at being an amulet, it was still not a suitable present in China. Even if he wore it himself, it would just attract others¡¯ weird stares. On the other hand, Fatimah¡¯s Hand carried too much religious connotation. It was an amulet from a religion, which was not too good for China, where people were mainly atheist.

    As a businessman, Lazart was patient, listening to his clients¡¯ every single need. He took out another two essories, one pendant looking simr to the symbol ¡â, while the other one was a thin, golden oval te, bald as a middle-aged man.

    ¡°This is for females only?¡± Gao Ke pointed to the ¡â shaped pendant.

    ¡°No.¡± Lazart shook his head as he exined. Even though the ¡â symbol represented women internationally, in Ancient Egypt, this symbol meant the Key of Life¡ªAnkh. It was the oldest rune in Ancient Egypt, and it meant immortality. Wearing it brought in the good while warding off evil, disease, and disaster.

    As for the other golden te, a customer could trante their name into hieroglyphs and carve it into the golden te before making it into a bracelet. It was said to protect its wearer and bring a magical strength to them.

    Both of these essories were very unique to Egypt, the former suitable for females, thetter suitable for both.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t believe that one simple essory could ward off evil, but it was good as a gift and great as a memento too. He could support Lazart¡¯s business as well, so he custom-made one for himself and all his employees and bought a few Ankh pendants as presents. He really had dug a hole in his wallet today.

    When Wei Kang heard that they had gotten into an ident, he was hopping with anxiety, calling them dozens of times to ask them toe back. Zhang Zian and the rest could only leave their contact methods behind so they coulde back for their essories after they were done.

 Chapter 1148: Ramadan

    <h4>Chapter 1148: Ramadan</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Second day.

    ¡°Gah gah! I¡¯m not happy! Where are there only female amulets and no male amulets? As expected, there has been gender discrimination since 6,000 years ago!¡±

    Early in the morning, Richardnded on the table and fiddled with Zhang Zian¡¯s amulets, bought from Lazart¡¯s jewelry store. It put two amulets in the shape of the female sign side by side and was very noisy.

    ¡°Your Highness! This must be the will of the gods, to represent that this servant and Your Highness should be happy together for a hundred years, or to put it simply, be lesbians!¡± Snowy Li happily hugged the other two amulets and rolled around on the mat.

    Zhang Zian brushed his teeth as he used his phone to check the news, long ago having lost the energy to spit out insults at their words.

    ¡°Wah! Cheapskate Zian! Why isn¡¯t there one for me? I also want a gold bracelet with my name written in hieroglyphs! Those souls in the broadcast room don¡¯t believe that I came to Egypt. I must prove it to them! Hello! Did you hear that? I¡¯m talking to you!¡±

    Sihwa saw that he was ignoring her and angrily sshed water from the bathtub on him.

    Snowy Li and Sihwa had slept on their mobile phones all day yesterday. Richard was full of energy. Although it had followed them all the way, it had been standing on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder all the time. It was not tired and had begun to make a lot of noise from the early morning.

    As for the other elfins, they were tired when they visited Khan el-Khalili Market in the morning and other ces nearby in the afternoon, but they had seen a lot of new things and gained a lot of new knowledge, although the people and things they met had not been 100% pleasant.

    Travelling was like that. They would meet with good things, and they would meet with bad things, but as long as the good was much greater than the bad, the trip would not be a waste.

    The most tired was dimir. Yesterday, it hade back in the evening, face covered in gray dust, and fallen asleep, which reminded Zhang Zian of the days when he¡¯d first arrived at Binhai City.

    After brushing his teeth and washing his face, he announced to the elfins, ¡°Let¡¯s go somewhere far away today, starting with the Great Pyramid, and see if there¡¯s any way to leave the Holy Cat statue in the Pyramid while we¡¯re sightseeing.¡±

    One of their reasons foring to Egypt had been to solve the problem of the Holy Cat statue once and for all, and they could not just keep ying.

    ¡°Gah gah! Who is going with us today? I saw that Jack was exchanging love nces with you yesterday. Was there any adultery?¡± Richard asked mischievously.

    Zhang Zian automatically ignored the second half of the sentence and said, ¡°Today we are the only ones. The others are going to follow Professor Wei Kang to Cairo University for academic exchanges. But I¡¯m going to attend their morning meeting first. You all wait in the room. I¡¯ll bring breakfast back.¡±

    ¡°Meow meow meow! You stinky man, the roast pigeons you brought back to me yesterday were all cold!¡± Snowy Li protested with ring eyes.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Just put it out in the sun and it¡¯ll be fine. You don¡¯t even need a microwave.¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s answer left Snowy Li speechless. After all, Egypt¡¯s summer sunshine at noon was more than enough to cook eggs on stones.

    ¡°Meow! There were so many people yesterday...¡± Gxy said timidly.

    In the Khan el-Khalili market, people came and went, and Gxy had to avoid them left and right, trying to stay away from people. It had little leisure time to y.

    ¡°Actually, the Khan el-Khalili market is not the most crowded in the daytime. It is most crowded during the night after sunset,¡± Zhang Zianforted it. ¡°But rest assured, it will soon be Ramadan in Egypt. During Ramadan, the custom here is that you can¡¯t eat or drink water from sunrise to sunset. As a result, most of the local people will go out less during the day and lie at home to save energy. They will only start to wander and eat after sunset. So during Ramadan, there aren¡¯t so many people out there.¡±

    ¡°They can¡¯t even drink water?¡± Famous looked sideways at the zing sun outside. ¡°Won¡¯t people die?¡±

    ¡°Actually, many people are not so pious now. They will eat a little and drink a little in private, rather than go on a total hunger strike in the daytime,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°Even so, people still go out less.¡±

    During Ramadan, there would be a strange phenomenon. During the day, the city was cold and quiet. Many shops were closed, or the opening time was dyed to nine o¡¯clock at night, and the closing time was dyed to three o¡¯clock in the morning. People went to sleep at three o¡¯clock in the morning when they had had enough food and drink.

    Civil servants couldn¡¯t stop working, but they also finished their day¡¯s work ahead of schedule and came home from work around three p.m.

    As soon as the sun set, people came out to look for food like hungry wolves. Aside from those who secretly ate during the day, those who followed the custom piously had eyes that were almost green from starvation.

    The streets were aze with lights and long tables that even took up whole streets. This was a free meal for the rich to give alms to the poor. It was like the kind of dinner that was served separately as the guests arrived one by one for weddings and funerals in rural China. The poor who had been hungry for a day swept away all the food on the mat in ten minutes, almost like the locusts had passed by. They could not hear anything but loud chewing and swallowing sounds and the jingling of bowls.

    Ordinary people with passable financial status fought with the poor for food, but they ordered takeout or ate in restaurants. They talked to their neighbors while eating. A meal couldst several hours.

    Why didn¡¯t they cook by themselves? They¡¯d been hungry for a day, and they could smell the aroma of fooding from outside. One could spend an hour or two cooking by themselves. That was too inhumane. It was torture!

    Inrge international cities like Cairo, it would be quiet in the daytime during Ramadan, while in other small and medium-sized cities it would almost be a ghost town. It was appropriate to shoot Hollywood blockbusters, and it didn¡¯t even have to be cleared.

    Ramadan had an impact on foreign tourists, but it was a very small impact because Ramadan was the off-season of tourism, and facilities such as restaurants that were open to foreigners would not be closed. Outdoor tourist attractions such as temples were all open as usual, but there were fewer noisy locals.

    One could not forget that 10% of the Copts in Egypt didn¡¯t have to observe the Ramadan custom. If they couldn¡¯t find food during the day, they would go to the shops opened by the Copts. The convenience would not be affected by too much.

    Zhang Zian exined the characteristics of Ramadan to the elfins, who were finding the ritual of showing devotion by torturing themselves inconceivable.

    When Gxy heard, it was very happy. This meant that it could y as much as it wanted on the empty streets.

    Nevertheless, Zhang Zian nned to take advantage of today to stockpile more food.

    He asked the elfins to obediently wait in the room for him toe back and then left to attend the morning meeting hosted by Wei Kang.

 Chapter 1149: Expedition Plan

    <h4>Chapter 1149: Expedition n</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Wei Kang opened the door for Zhang Zian so that he coulde into the room. All of the other members of the expedition team had arrived as well.

    He He sat in the corner ying with the hem of her shirt, seemingly unhappy about something. Wei Kang had probably scolded her again.

    ¡°My apologies foringte.¡± Zhang Zian apologized first.

    ¡°No worries. You¡¯re right on time. We were previously discussing the academic exchange that we will have today. You didn¡¯t have toe in the first ce.¡± Wei Kang invited him to sit, sighing. ¡°Gosh! I was too rxed yesterday and overlooked things. We nearly got ourselves into deep trouble! I had been spoiling her too much!¡±

    To the careful Wei Kang, yesterday¡¯s events were a huge deal. Thank goodness they hadn¡¯t brought the Chinese Embassy into the situation, or he would definitely have to face some sort of repercussions when they returned to Binhai University. He might even lose the chance to ever bring another team overseas for expeditions.

    Before Zhang Zian had helped out, they¡¯d had a chance to call the Chinese Embassy. Even if they hadn¡¯t known the number, they could¡¯ve just as easily looked it up online. But it was exactly because of the repercussions that they decided not to call¡ªto prevent Wei Kang from being wrongly punished due to He He¡¯s stubbornness. It wasn¡¯t fair, but it was definitely a lesson to remember.

    After a night of painful consideration and thought, he¡¯d finally decided that from today onwards, no matter where he went, he would bring his students with him and forbid them from moving out on their own.

    ¡°Let me just reinforce the discipline. We are about to enter the month of Ramadan in Egypt. We should try to not eat or drink anything in public in the day, or it will just be extremely rude, and we might anger the locals,¡± he said sternly, looking at He He. Just like manydies, she liked to snack.

    After receiving a horrifying number of calls from Wei Kang, He He had returned to the Four Seasons Hotel and hadn¡¯t gone out since. She had been forced to write a 5,000-word letter of reflection after she showered and changed, and she had to read it out in front of everyone else.

    She really had learned her lesson this time. Not only had she emerged from the situation with a myriad of bruises, but her newly purchased phone had been stolen as well. She¡¯d be a lot more obedient, nodding her head silently to show that she understood.

    Seeing how down He He was, he wanted to make the mood a little lighter, so he pulled up the sleeve of his T-shirt and showed off his well-toned biceps, announcing loudly, ¡°That¡¯s nothing. After we enter the month of Ramadan, the locals won¡¯t be eating or drinking. They¡¯ll definitely be weak from starvation. If anything like yesterday happened again, I could take on ten men by myself!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so confident,¡± Zhang Zian reminded him. ¡°Some of the locals still eat in secret, and their sickly appearance might just be a fa?ade. Besides, don¡¯t you know that people get easily irritated when they¡¯re hungry and thirsty? It¡¯s best not to try and pick a fight with anyone during Ramadan.¡±

    Gao Ke chuckled, brushing him off. ¡°You get strong by eating and exercising, and I really haven¡¯t starved before. How do you know that they will be agitated when hungry?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought that Fina must be the best example of this. It was extremely cranky in the morning before it had its breakfast...

    ¡°Xiao Zhang is right. As much as you can, don¡¯t go to crowded ces like the Khan el-Khalili market,¡± Wei Kang reminded them. ¡°There have been more than one case of assault towards tourists in that area. Even if you have to go, make sure to stay away from European tourists so you don¡¯t get dragged into it. The locals are still friendlier towards the Chinese tourists. They mainly attack the European tourists.¡± The only thing on his mind was self-preservation.

    Wei Kang¡¯s words dragged everyone back into the harsh, cold reality.

    On the streets of Cairo, it wasn¡¯t umon to see police with loaded handguns or even semi-automatics patrolling the streets or standing at a vantage point. It merely showed how bad Egypt¡¯s terrorist situation was, and the serious attitude that Egypt had towards fighting terrorism. Oddly, the presence of police didn¡¯t bring peace to the people. It instead made them more nervous.

    Wei Kang took a look at the time, finally deciding that they had spent enough time harping on this issue. If he continued nagging, he might just cause these young adults to turn back into rebellious teenagers.

    ¡°Alright, go back to the room to make preparations. We¡¯re about to head out towards Cairo University.¡± Wei Kang waved his hands, dismissing his students temporarily.

    ¡°Oh, right. Xiao Zhang, hold back for a bit?¡± Wei Kang beckoned for Zhang Zian to stay.

    When all of the students had left the room, Wei Kang took out a map of Egypt and spread it out on the bed. ¡°Xiao Zhang, the few photos that you brought back yesterday were worthy of investigation.¡±

    Zhang Zian had sent the photos that he¡¯d taken of Lazart¡¯s carpet yesterday to Wei Kang, thinking that it might be of some use, but he hadn¡¯t expected Wei Kang to value the photos so much.

    Weikang pointed to a vast, open area in West Egypt and said, ¡°I had a preliminary estimation to start looking for the original Egyptian cats. After referencing all kinds of sources, I found that this desert with an area of 700 thousand square kilometers is where many secrets are kept, and the information that you brought to me boosted my confidence.¡±

    His finger pointed at the line between Libya and West Egypt, where the Siwa Oasis and the ck and White Desert met to form a triangr, people-less area.

    Ancient Egypt¡¯s actual sphere of influence was anywhere within the Nile River, and it was in actual fact a lot smaller than Egypt¡¯snd now. Ancient Egyptians used to call Egypt the cknd, while the desert area anywhere outside Egypt was called the rednd¡ªespecially the vast areas of desert due south of the Nile River, where the God of Storm, Seth, liked to y.

    Water was the provider of life. Without water, mammals weren¡¯t able to survive on such a huge scale. The ancient documents from the age of the pharaohs didn¡¯t have records of this oasis, but the small yet thriving oasis had been interpreted in the carpet art.

    With an oasis came life.

    Besides, ording to Wei Kang¡¯s judgement, this oasis shouldn¡¯t be the Siwa Oasis. Ancient Egyptians knew about the Siwa Oasis. Though they couldn¡¯tpletely rule out the possibility that they needed a cat¡¯s guidance to find it, he felt that it was more probable that this was an oasispletely unknown to humans.

    Zhang Zian agreed with Wei Kang¡¯s judgment, but he still carefully pointed out that this long, triangr area really had no other humans around in it, and it would be dangerous for them, an inexperienced expedition team, to actually venture deeply into it.

    Wei Kang seemed to be really confident, on the other hand, since they had done enough preparation before they had set out for this expedition. Current technology had allowed them to make up for theirck of experience, and they would be able to take down this area without many problems as long as his team didn¡¯t make any mistakes. The bigger question was whether they could aplish the goal for their trip¡ªfinding the beginnings of the original Egyptian cats.

    He nned to discuss with the local students in the next few days¡¯ exchanges, to glean more information about this area. He¡¯d heard that there had been other expedition teams from Egypt and other countries that had tried to conduct archeological research in this area and hadn¡¯t met any trouble. If they were able to enter and exit without much issue, then what did they have to be afraid of?

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t too sure about that. The thing about deserts was that one could only really understand how dangerous they were after entering one. But expeditions carried their own risk, and if they were afraid of them, they should have just stayed home.

 Chapter 1150: Big Pyramid

    <h4>Chapter 1150: Big Pyramid</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Wei Kang told Zhang Zian his ns. Although Zhang Zian felt they were quite unstable, he could not find any serious problems. After all, Wei Kang was not on his first field trip. He had umted a lot of experience in the biological examination of deep mountains, forest, swamps, and the Gobi Desert in their home country and abroad. At least, he had much more experience than Zhang Zian did. No matter in theory or practice, it was not his ce to pick at Wei Kang¡¯s n.

    What¡¯s more, the operation not only had high-tech equipment but also had elfins following, especially Fina, an Aboriginal who had once roamed the ck and rednds. They would certainly not stand idly by at critical moments... Probably.

    After finishing the discussion, Wei Kang took hisptop and printed out the document, following his students to Cairo University to do a cultural and educational presentation.

    Zhang Zian had nothing to do at that moment, and he could not waste time for no reason, so he followed his original n to bring the elfins to visit the pyramids.

    If they could only visit only one tourist spot in Egypt, 99% of people would choose the pyramid. If one came to Egypt but didn¡¯t go to the pyramid and take a few selfies, they would be embarrassed to tell others that they had been to Egypt when they returned to their country.

    Apart from Fina¡¯sck of interest because of the destruction of the pyramid, other elfins were eager to witness one of the seven wonders of the world, the man-made buildings that had held the world¡¯s highest height for 4,000 years before the Eiffel Tower was built.

    Zhang Zian went out to buy food and brought it back, and when the elfins were done eating and drinking, they got ready to set off.

    Keeping the elfins in his phone that should¡¯ve been in his phone, and turning those invisible that should¡¯ve been invisible, they left the hotel and sat on the taxi.

    There was also a brief episode when they left the hotel. A couple from the West were also staying in the hotel. Today, they¡¯d wanted to take UAVs outside for aerial photography, but they had been stopped by the lobby manager on duty. They¡¯d told them that UAVs were contraband in Cairo because of the severe anti-terrorism situation. If they were seen by the police, they would probably be detained with the UAVs. If they wanted to y with UAVs, they could only go to the wild or less popted areas.

    The Western couple felt that it was a pity. Zhang Zian also felt that it was a pity because he had been considering using aerial photography to take photos of the pyramid. After all, the feeling of having new toys at hand, yet not being able to y... It was not good.

    The temperature seemed to be several degrees higher than it had been yesterday. It was said that the temperature could reach nearly 50 degrees Celsius at noon in midsummer. It was really hot.

    He did not know if it was because Ramadan was approaching, but he felt that there were fewer pedestrians on the street todaypared to yesterday, and the traffic was not so bad.

    The hotel was not far from the pyramid, as the distance was less than 10 kilometers as the bird flew. Besides, there were no tall buildings around it. You could see the ancient buildings in the shapes of tetrahedrons from very far away.

    Reaching the bottom of the pyramid, Zhang Zian spent five minutes haggling with the driver about the price. After all, he had a lot of time, but he was spending more and more money so that he had less and less of it left.

    As this was an international tourist resort, the local people who were basically rted to the tourism industry could speak English. Although their level was about the level of junior high school in China and the ent was strange, simplemunication or bargaining was not a problem.

    ¡°These are the pyramids...¡±

    They had not felt very much when they¡¯d driven over to this side in the taxi, but standing close by, every elfin except Fina was deeply shocked, even Zhang Zian, who thought he had seen a lot of things and was knowledgeable.

    The giant pyramids stood proudly above the wilderness. To the East was Cairo, a prosperous city with a huge gap between rich and poor, and to the west was the Sahara Desert. It had witnessed the rise and fall of ancient Egypt, the invasion from the East and the northern foreigners, the process of desertification in Egypt, and the turmoil in Egypt today... It would continue to witness everything andugh and look at the scenery until the end of time.

    Just like that ancient saying in Egypt: Humans feared time, but time feared the pyramids

    The wind blew up the yellow sand nearby, a destion that was eternally unchanging.

    ¡°A tower pierces the green sky. The heavens desire to fall, and it relies on them!¡± dimir muttered, once again changing a poem crazily.

    This was a poem that had originally been used to describe mountains, but it was very suitable here.

    The magnificent pyramids were like stone mountains rising out from the ground, holding up the tens of thousands of miles of blue sky like the needle of the Sea God.

    Beforeing to Egypt, Zhang Zian, who had only seen pictures on the inte, had held an uncaring attitude in his heart, but when he stood at the foot of the pyramid, any contempt was torn to pieces. He could only think that one of the seven wonders of the world was truly worthy of being so famous.

    His eyes fell on one side of the Great Pyramid, where there was a stone-sealed hole, which was said to be the entrance to the Pharaoh¡¯s tomb in the center of the Pyramid.

    ¡°Wait for a while, everyone. I¡¯ll go and buy tickets. Coming to the pyramids requires a ticket, and entering the pyramids requires additional tickets.¡±

    Zhang Zian walked to the ticket counter and bought one of each of the different kinds of tickets.

    Fortunately, perhaps because of the protection of cultural relics, tickets to the Great Pyramid were sold in limited quantities. They sold 300 tickets a day and would stop when they were sold out. Today, there were fewer tourists, so he had bought one of the few remaining tickets.

    ¡°Taxi! Taxi!¡±

    He had just walked a few steps, pressing on his tickets when he heard that there was a taxi behind him trying to solicit business. He thought, I could still take a taxi on the broken-down road? They would probably need to suspend the business for big repairs after driving a few days.

    Looking back, however, he saw that it was not a taxi at all, but a local teenage boy holding a camel and waving warmly to him. ¡°Taxi! One dor!¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless, waving his hand to show that he did not need the ancient kind of four-legged taxi. He had heard that it was a very ck-hearted scheme: they said that it was only one US dor, but actually, after one got on and got down, it was already no longer just one US dor.

    Returning to the elfins¡¯ side, he waved the tickets in his hand. ¡°Done. We can go in now.¡±

    They trampled on the gravel and rubble that covered the ground and soon came near the Great Pyramid. They also saw another ck hole under the closed entrance of the tunnel. It was said that the hole left by a burr had be the entrance to the pyramid. At the entrance, there were scenic workers checking tickets and tourists who had bought tickets.

    ¡°Meow! Must I go into that hole?¡±

    Gxy nervously stared at the entrance of the cave. The narrow, dark, winding entrance like that of a sheep¡¯s intestines made it feel resistant.

    ¡°If Gxy doesn¡¯t want to go in, you can stay outside.¡± Zhang Zian knew that its ustrophobia had not yet been cured. Heforted it by saying, ¡°Something must be done here and I must go in. I don¡¯t want to have spent this money wastefully. I heard that the experience is not especially good, and the curse of the pharaoh hangs over people¡¯s heads like the sword of Damocles.¡±

    ¡°Curse? Haha, it¡¯s just a paper tiger!¡±

    dimirughed contemptuously and said nothing.

 Chapter 1151: Dealing with Richard

    <h4>Chapter 1151: Dealing with Richard</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    One had toe look at the pyramids when one came to Egypt. Buting to look at the pyramids didn¡¯t mean one would enter the pyramids. First of all, there were limited tickets to enter, and second of all, it was said that the experience wasn¡¯t the best inside the pyramids. Many people chose not to spend money on something that they wouldn¡¯t enjoy. Even the Chinese guide for tourists explicitly told tourists this: ¡°Regret for one hour when you enter the pyramid; Regret for your whole life if you didn¡¯t enter the pyramid.¡±

    Their situation today was a bit more special. Zhang Zian made all of the elfins that weren¡¯t in his phone invisible. They would definitely not be able to enter the area with all these cats and dogs.

    ¡°Gah! Hot!¡± Richardined tiredly. ¡°You idiot, why are you not going in? Are you drying your balls in the sun?¡±

    The sun was getting higher and higher, and the sunlight was getting stronger and stronger. They were standing on the wide ins with barely any shade.

    Richard was hopping on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder, but the sun directly shining down on them made sure that no matter where it tried to hide, it would always end up getting shined on. All it could do was use its wings to block the sun from its face so that it could get some shade, but even the sun was making its wings heat up so much that it was getting unbearable.

    Zhang Zian was wearing a baseball hat and sunsses and could bear with it even though it was hot.

    ¡°Be patient.¡± He looked at the time. ¡°Wait a bit longer.¡±

    ¡°Wait for what?¡± Richard was almost getting roasted by the sun. ¡°Are you waiting for me to die from the heat? Hurry and take off your baseball hat so I can wear it! Or... Old Time Tea! Lend me your straw hat!¡±

    Famous¡¯s tongue was all the way out, and it was panting constantly to let off the heat that had gathered in its body. Even though Gxy didn¡¯t want to enter the pyramid, Famous couldn¡¯t wait to go in so they wouldn¡¯t have to bear the harsh heat of the sun. It looked at Zhang Zian, not able to understand why they were waiting for nothing here.

    The most carefree out of all the elfins, Old Time Tea, with its long, light robes and straw hat, was unwilling to watch the other elfins suffer under the heat. ¡°Zian, what are we waiting for?¡±

    Zhang Zian wiped his sweat, exining, ¡°I gave it a thought. Since there¡¯s a limited number of three hundred tickets a day, it also means that after these three hundred people have entered, no more tickets will be sold.¡±

    That didn¡¯t answer any of their questions.

    He pointed at the entrance to the pyramid, getting the elfins to look at it carefully¡ªthe tourists with the tickets were bending down to file into the pyramid. Those bigger Western tourists might even have to bend at the knees to head in. It was ufortable just watching them. It might have been easier to just get on their hands and knees and crawl.

    ¡°Gah... Are you worried about getting f*cked in the *ss?¡± Richard was going off the rails again, but it had also perked up because of it.

    Zhang Zian exined again, ¡°I mean, we would barely be able to see anything if we entered now and everyone was pushing around. Why not just wait for the other 299 people toe out before going in to take a look? Then it would be as though we have rented out the whole space, and we can look at whatever we want.¡±

    The elfins finally understood. In theory, that would work.

    ¡°Gah... Alright, you¡¯re smart for once, you idiot. But I¡¯m not following you. Hurry and get me back into the phone. If I stay in the sun any longer I¡¯m going to end up a specimen...¡± Richard started to sway on his shoulder.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s face was stiff as he continued, ¡°I can¡¯t allow that. I heard that the air in the pyramids is extremely bad. I was nning on grabbing onto your legs while you scout out the road ahead. The tomb raider stories always have scenes where, in order to prevent getting suffocated in an ancient tomb unknowingly, they carry cages of sparrows or doves to test the air quality. If the sparrows and doves suddenly up and die, that means that they can¡¯t continue walking forward... Even though we don¡¯t have sparrows and doves, we do have you.¡±

    It was swelteringly hot right now, but a chilly shiver went down Richard¡¯s spine. ¡°Gah! Are you the devil? Is this the reason why you brought me to Egypt? Trying to deal with me silently?¡±

    A joke was a joke. After finishing, Zhang Zian fished out a white cloth from his pocket, putting it on his head like the locals did, covering his head and his shoulders and even Richard. If they were to enter a bank in China looking like this, they might be dead even before they could take a second step.

    ¡°Do I look like the Oil Prince of UAE? I¡¯m only missing a ck band,¡± he joked.

    Richard had regained its strength after getting the chills. ¡°Gah gah! I have revived! You idiot, you¡¯re still three American Presidents away from being the Oil Prince of UAE!¡±

    Outsiders must¡¯ve felt that it was extremely hot for Arabic men to wear a full robe of white. But under the forty-degree-Celsius sun, the white material reflected light, and it didn¡¯t absorb the heat like dark-colored clothes did. When the wind blew, it gently lifted the fabric, and the robe gently guided the wind downwards. That helped to move the air around the body. When the wind stopped, thest flutter of the robe still brought along a bit of breeze with it.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go a little bit closer. We might get some shade by the side of the giant stone,¡± Zhang Zian suggested as he pointed at the west side of the pyramid.

    It was the off-season for tourism. Due to that and the heat, there weren¡¯t many tourists in the area. The locals didn¡¯t have much motivation to move either. They called out to Zhang Zian several times, but, seeing that he barely lifted a brow at them, they gave up on trying to attract his attention. Unlike China¡¯s vendors, though, they would always put hospitality first, and they always ended things with ¡°Wee to Egypt.¡±

    The foundation stones of the pyramid were taller than normal people. Thousands of years of being out in the open and the constant barrage of firearms from war had caused many of the stones to have cracks in them. Sometimes, neighboring stones might even be able to fit a person in between them.

    There really was a shady area on the west side of the foundation. The elfins each found a ce to rest, hiding within the cracks to shield themselves from the burning heat.

    Even with such weather, there were still a few excited tourists trying to climb up the pyramid. But they often stopped after six or seven stones.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t rest. Even when he was talking, he was also focusing on the entrance, silently counting how many people had gone in and how many people hade out. Not only was there a limit to how many tourists could be inside, there was also a time limit on their ticket. If they didn¡¯t go in before the doors closed, their tickets would have been a waste.

    But something was weird. He had been observing for half an hour. In theory, there shouldn¡¯t have been much to see in the pyramid, and if they were fast, they should¡¯ve been done in ten-plus minutes. Even if they were slow, they should¡¯vee out within half an hour. But no matter how he counted, he¡¯d seen 60 people going in, and only 50 hade out. Other than the people that were currently walking out, the numbers didn¡¯t seem to tally.

    Where had the rest of the people gone?

    Now that they were getting closer and closer to closing time, there were fewer and fewer peopleing out of the pyramid. He decided to stop waiting, asking Gxy to wait outside for a short while and beckoning the other elfins to enter the pyramids with him.

 Chapter 1152: Traveling Around, Visiting Quiet and Secluded Scenic Spots

    <h4>Chapter 1152: Traveling Around, Visiting Quiet and Secluded Scenic Spots</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As he walked along the steps to the entrance of the burr¡¯s hole, Zhang Zian stopped to check tickets and quietly gave looks to the elfins to let them slip in first.

    ¡°No bag! No camera!¡± the doorman said repeatedly as he checked the tickets.

    Zhang Zian had initially been traveling light today. When he¡¯d gone out, he had only taken a bottle of mineral water. He had shared it with the elfins just now when he¡¯d had a hard time waiting in the sun, so there was no suspicion of contraband. As for cameras, they had all been reced by mobile phones now. Few people carried heavy and troublesome cameras with them.

    The elfins had already sneaked in, and Zhang Zian turned his head back to look. There was no one else behind him. He could be thest one, and that meant he was the 300th visitor to the pyramid today.

    As he walked inside, the huge stones above his head pressed down like dark clouds. In fact, they were a good distance from his head, but he still bowed his head and arched his back instinctively.

    It was dark in front of him.

    The darkness inside was a strong contrast to the strong sunlight outside.

    Although it was not as sunny, the imagined coolness did note about. It could have been because the big stones absorbed the heat from the sun, causing this ce to be a heat instion box.

    Although Egypt had imported German venttion equipment into the pyramid, the air was still stifling.

    This was a burr¡¯s hole. It was dark and narrow. The light was not clear. He could only go forward with one foot stepping deeply and one foot stepping shallowly.

    The elfins were waiting for him here.

    ¡°No wonder Gxy did not want toe in. It is indeed ufortable here,¡± Famousined in a low voice.

    If people felt that it was stifling, animals like cats and dogs that were short would feel that it was even more stifling.

    Richard was d it was standing on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder. Although its eyes made it almost blind, it was better than being a living air detector.

    ¡°Shh! Hush!¡±

    Old Time Tea had good ears and eyes and was very alert, and it was keenly aware that someone wasing. Thene was so narrow that any small sound would be amplified. It wouldn¡¯t be good if people heard a dog barking in thene.

    A dark shadow appeared in front of him, and before Zhang Zian could even see the other, he was badly hit. Someone bumped into him, and he staggered and took a step or two backward.

    ¡°Sorry!¡±

    A golden-haired white woman¡¯s face appeared, full of unease, and she rubbed her painful shoulder and whispered apologies. The other hand was on the wall of the cave, and her feet did not stop. She hurried out next to Zhang Zian, and the elfins moved aside to make way.

    What was going on?

    Why was she walking so fast even when the lighting was not good? Was she not scared that she would knock into people or fall?

    Zhang Zian stared at her back in puzzlement and saw her moving out of the hole at a near jog until she was bathed in the intense sunshine. She stopped like she had been relieved of a burden and gasped heavily.

    He recognized her from her clothes. She was the one who had just entered the pyramid not long ago.

    ¡°Godd*mn! What¡¯s she doing?¡± dimir was almost speechless because it had been avoiding to the left and right just now, but she had still almost stepped on it. Because her steps were very messy, it was not possible to predict her route at all.

    ¡°Gah! Did this woman drink too much water and need to urinate urgently?¡± Richard muttered. ¡°If she was really in a rush, she could¡¯ve just relieved herself here...¡±

    Zhang Zian red sideways at it, meaning that if it dared to test that out on the spot, he would sacrifice it alive here.

    Anyone with a littlemon sense knew that it was not appropriate to drink too much water when traveling so as to avoid not being able to find a toilet at thest minute. And it was so hot today that drinking water all the time might not make up for the loss of sweat.

    Rather than saying that she needed to use the toilet urgently, it was better to say that she seemed to have met with something...that made her nervous and uneasy, causing her to leave the pyramid earlier.

    The elfins also found it strange. This kind of tourist spot that was popr, but people could not even bring bags into it. What could happen here?

    Zhang Zian could not help but remember his worries before this, about terrorist attacks and the curse of the pyramid, but the situation did not seem to be that serious.

    If there was a terrorist attack, it would only happen in those messy neighborhoods and areas in the city. What was the use of attacking the pyramids? Dozens of pounds of stic explosives thrown in might not be able to affect these ten thousand tons of boulders.

    As for the vague curse, neither Zhang Zian nor the elfins believed it.

    ¡°Cheep cheep.¡±

    Pi seemed to have been affected by the nervous emotions, its ws holding the corner of Zhang Zian¡¯s shirt even tighter. Unlike dogs and cats, it had good night vision. It wanted to y a drum to announce its retreat facing the dark road ahead, and it also wanted to quit and stay outside with Gxy.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, there are lights that will light the way in front of us,¡± Zhang Zian said and patted its head.

    Famous said, ¡°I think the woman just now may have slight ustrophobia. She insisted on walking inside for a while, but the attack of ustrophobia forced her to withdraw halfway.¡±

    This statement was generally epted by everyone. After all, the tunnel was dark and narrow. Even if normal people entered, they would feel constrained and imagine that the huge rock overhead maye down at any time. If people with psychiatric disorders such as ustrophobia came in, their panic would surely get worse.

    Pi nodded and was slightly more at ease.

    The small tunnel the tomb robber had dug quickly merged with the tunnels originally existing in the pyramid.

    There were lighting facilities and wooden walkways installed by the Egyptian government to facilitate visitors¡¯ ess, and there was still enough light to illuminate everything around them.

    There was a 20-30 degree incline uphill road with huge granite strips on both sides of the passage, which were intact and strong,rger than those weathered and fractured boulders outside the pyramid.

    Just like the rumors, the cutting of the granite strips was incredibly skilled, and a needle could barely be inserted in the gaps between the stones.

    One of the mysteries of the ancient Egyptians¡¯ pyramids was how these huge granite tes came from Aswan 500 miles away and how they were cut so neatly. Cutting tofu with a knife was not the same.

    Scientists had researched and came up with an exnation, but this was still hard for people to believe.

    The top wall of the passage was about 20 meters high. It was magnificent. It was probably the passage of ascension that the pharaoh had reserved for his soul.

    The granite strips on both sides wereplete, but if one looked closely, one could see that many of them were engraved with fine handwriting on the surface¡ªnot the curse left by Pharaoh, of course, but the engraving of ¡°someone was here¡± in variousnguages.

    Fina looked at the traces of the words left behind by these inconsiderate tourists, and her face became long instantly because it was like sphemy against Pharaoh.

    Zhang Zian shook his head secretly. The pyramid was the tomb of Pharaoh. Was it a good thing for them to engrave their names in the tomb?

    Everything was possible in this world. Who dared to say that gods really didn¡¯t exist? If one day Pharaoh came back to life and saw this graffiti, he would explode in anger, and it would be necessary to pull out all the masters of these names one by one.

    The strange part of this was, as of now, besides meeting thatdy who had walked out, where were the people that had yet to leave?

 Chapter 1153: Lost Tourists

    <h4>Chapter 1153: Lost Tourists</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The tunnel continued stretching upwards. This was the legendary corridor. In architecture, the legendary corridor¡¯s structure and artistry were all soplicated it was hard to believe it had been made by humans.

    The gigantic pyramid was mostly solid in its interior and had very little open space. It was a huge problem to let an enclosed space endure tens of thousands of tons of weight above it without copsing on itself.

    The Egyptians had beautifully solved that problem. They had set up stones by the two sides of the slope seven levels high. Each level protruded out seven centimeters from the one below it. By the time they reached the top level, there was only a meter¡¯s worth of space between the two stacks of stones.

    The corridor was covered with a gigantic stone te, a groove carved into the area where the wall met the stone te so that the te could be slotted into the stones and fixed there. The tes ovepped each other, supporting each other¡¯s weight, but they were, at the same time, independent. If one of them were to loosen or be detached, it wouldn¡¯t affect the other stone tes at all.

    Looking at the breathtaking work, Zhang Zian could almost see the Ancient Egyptians carrying their pharaoh¡¯s coffin with stern faces, walking up the corridor step by step and finally cing the coffin in the king¡¯s grave.

    Electric light hadn¡¯t existed 4,500 years ago. The ves had to have been carrying fire torches to chase the darkness away, sweat pouring down their youthful cheeks, the pine oil burning to form suffocating smoke, eating away the already-scarce oxygen in the chamber even more. Their breaths were heavy, but they said not a word, worried that they would disrupt their pharaohs¡¯ well-deserved rest.

    The devoted priests walked around the coffin, humming foreign and hard-to-understand hymns and prayers. The burning mes were reflected in their eyes, as though the fire would never go out.

    The once all-powerful pharaohs were mummified, heavy golden masks on their bodies, lying quietly in their stone coffins and waiting for the day when they would awake again to lead the Egyptian army to world domination...

    Of course, all these were products of his imagination. There was only a broken and dpidated stone coffin in the King¡¯s grave now, and the body of the pharaoh was nowhere to be found. Neither was his queen¡¯s body. Not a single mummy was in the huge pyramid, nor were other items usually buried with a dead pharaoh. Some might even think that this pyramid was an unfinished one, and that created a huge buzz.

    Walking down this corridor to the peak, it was as though they were walking alongside the people of 4500 years ago during Khufu¡¯s reign. Even the usually-noisy Richard was affected by the solemn atmosphere and kept quiet, taking in the whole scene.

    At the end of the corridor was the King¡¯s tomb, its entrance facing northeast.

    The moment he stepped into the chamber, Zhang Zian was stunned. It wasn¡¯t because he had seen something. Instead, it was because he hadn¡¯t seen something¡ªsomething that should¡¯ve been there but wasn¡¯t.

    ¡°Gah gah! What is it?¡± Richard rushed him. ¡°Why are you standing here like an idiot? Hurry and go to the stone coffin. See whether a zombie is lying there.¡±

    ¡°Weird,¡± Zhang Zian muttered under his breath. ¡°Where are all the people?¡±

    When he had bought the tickets, he¡¯d counted that there were about sixty people that had entered the pyramid, but only fifty or so hade out. He thought that there would still be some tourists inside, and he had made some guesses as to why they hadn¡¯t left yet, but he hadn¡¯t expected to see absolutely no one in here.

    There was only one entrance and exit to the King¡¯s chamber. Who knew why the grave chamber would need venttion, but the square vent cut into the wall was only big enough for a human to fit their head through. If anyone said that there was someone hidden in there...that would be scary.

    His fists were clenched tightly, palms sweaty, as he walked towards the only ancient artifact in the room¡ªthe stone coffin.

    When he saw what was inside the coffin, he let out a sigh of relief. It was just as he had heard. There was nothing in the coffin, not even someone suddenly jumping out to scare him.

    The stone coffin was missing a corner. It had already been lost when the coffin was found, so there was nothing to look at. It did look simr to the stone feed boxes that Chinese farmers used to feed their cows or horses, though.

    Other than the lights and surveince equipment, there was nothing else in the King¡¯s chamber.

    Zhang Zian traced his finger along the walls made out of stacked granite stones and walked once around the coffin as he mulled over the mystery, unable to stop thinking about the number of tourists.

    He really wished that a primary school student wearing spectacles would jump out and point out that this was a mysterious, closed-door, missing-persons case, insisting that there was only one truth.

    ¡°Zian, what is it?¡± Old Time Tea asked quietly, seeing his confusion.

    He turned his back to the surveince camera as he told them their dilemma.

    ¡°Did you count incorrectly?¡± Fina asked.

    ¡°Definitely not. Even if I missed one or two or miscounted, I wouldn¡¯t be this wrong,¡± he answered confidently.

    He turned to contemte, looking at Richard.

    ¡°Gah...what?¡± Richard shivered, a bad premonition creeping up on him. ¡°Are you trying to harm me again?¡±

    Zhang Zian walked next to the vent, looking inside. But the light didn¡¯t travel far in there, and they could barely see anything.

    He rubbed his chin. ¡°Why don¡¯t...you fly in to take a look?¡±

    ¡°No! I refuse to go in! Not even if you beat me to death! It¡¯s so dark! It¡¯s scary!¡± Richard protested violently, pping its wings.

    Old Time Tea volunteered itself. ¡°Why don¡¯t I head in to take a look?¡±

    The flexible cats really were the most suited for these tasks. Even if other mammals were able to go inside, it might be difficult for them to turn around ande back out.

    Zhang Zian was only joking, trying to scare Richard. Adults couldn¡¯t possibly fit into a vent that tiny unless they were extremely flexible.

    ¡°Forget it. Let¡¯s go. There¡¯s nothing much to gain from this trip.¡±

    Since they couldn¡¯t understand it, there was nothing else they could do. They could only turn back the way that they¡¯de from.

    Even the elfins were a little unsatisfied. How could more than 10 living humans just disappear into thin air?

    Walking back the corridor, they reached the starting area. Something tugged on Zhang Zian¡¯s calf. Lowering his head, he found Old Time Tea tugging on it.

    Old Time Tea didn¡¯t speak as it pointed in a certain direction.

    Fina and Famous seemed to have felt something weird too. Their ears stuck up straight as they looked in that direction.

    Zhang Zian was confused until someone suddenly popped up from there.

    ¡°Wannae in?¡±

    His eyes focused sharply. That was an employee wearing the pyramid¡¯s uniform and looking at him, scheming written all over his face as he gestured towards him, pointing at his back.

    When he had passed by this area, Zhang Zian had seen this employee blocking the way to a restricted area, guiding the tourists to the King¡¯s chamber instead.

    ¡°Only 10 dors! Good value!¡±

    Worried that Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand him, he pointed at the pitch-ck side corridor, the salesman look on his face not much different from the looks of the vendors outside the pyramid.

 Chapter 1154: Wrong Time, Wrong Place

    <h4>Chapter 1154: Wrong Time, Wrong ce</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Since the Egyptian government had announced the introduction of the floating exchange rate system at the end of 2016, Egypt¡¯s intion rate had reached 34.2% in 2017. With the rapid devaluation of the Egyptian dor, the real ie level of the local people in Egypt further declined. The bottom-level civil servants could only barely maintain food and clothing.

    It was no wonder that the Egyptians thought up all kinds of ways to cheat. It was really because they couldn¡¯t afford to live on their stiff, unchanging wages alone. The sideline ie outside the basic wage determined their living standard.

    Chinese people who had just arrived in Egypt were not used to the Egyptians always asking for tips with a shy face. Even when they just gave directions, they also asked for tips because tips were an integral part of their ie in the Egyptians¡¯ eyes.

    Even in ces where there was no reason for tipping, Egyptians would concoct various ways. For example, when they visited luxury stores in Cairo, if they paid in cash, brand-name clothes priced 299 and 298 would be charged 300. The cashier¡¯s uniform line in response was, ¡°There is no change.¡±

    Obviously, the staff of this pyramid scenic area in front of Zhang Zian were very good at opening up sources and saving money and hade up with a good way to increase their ie. They would cash in their power and sell tourists entrance to unopened areas, which they should be prohibited from entering, at high prices.

    But he did not dare to do that so obviously in front of many people, and he could only wait until the 300 visitors every day were mostly gone. Only then would he jump out to promote it to the few visitors left.

    And he was quite smart, not epting the Egyptian dor that could depreciate in value and directly demanding the stable currency of American dors.

    The truth was, as long as you were willing to spend money, employees and even police officers in most of Egypt¡¯s scenic spots were amodating.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s doubts were immediately answered. The missing ten tourists must have loosened their purse strings generously and paid to enter the restricted area.

    Then should he pay or not?

    Of course he should pay.

    This could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to enter the Great Pyramid. It would be worth paying a little money to enter a restricted area that few people could enter.

    In addition, the faces of the elfins were all strange. It seemed that something unusual was happening in the side channel. But in front of the outsiders, he was not able tomunicate with the elfins, which aroused their curiosity.

    The principle of doing business with Egyptians was: ¡°Ask for a lot of money and have them pay on the spot.¡±

    He held out a finger. ¡°One dor.¡±

    The employee was speechless. He had never seen someone who bargained to the ground directly like that.

    ¡°No! No! Five dors! Good value! No cheaper!¡±

    The employee put on an expression like his meat was being cut and waved his hands to show that it could not be cheaper.

    Would Zhang Zian be deceived by him? He was blocking the road and collecting money in a way of business that was pure profit and did not cost him anything. Every bit of business he solicited was pure profit.

    ¡°Two dors and these, or I will leave.¡±

    He took out a few Pinduoduo cooling ointments and shook them in front of the employee.

    ¡°Okay! Deal!¡± the employee agreed, beaming.

    Keeping the two US dors and the cooling ointment, the employee pointed at the tunnel. ¡°No time! Quick in! Quick out!¡±

    With little time left for the closing of the Great Pyramid, the employee feared that his wealth-gathering tactics would be found out by other employees and urged Zhang Zian to go in and out quickly.

    Zhang Zian entered the side channel, and the staff resumed their solemn manner to guard the entrance of the channel.

    Like the Forbidden City, ever since modern archaeologists had entered the pyramids, most of the excavated passages and tombs had not been open to tourists. People were always full of curiosity about the unknown. The mysterious unopened areas in the mysterious pyramid aroused people¡¯s imaginations.

    This was a very long tunnel, and there was only a single light after a long distance. It seemed that many of the lights were broken, causing the tunnel to be very dark.

    Zhang Zian walked for a while. He turned back to see if the employee had followed, and on seeing that the employee had not followed, he asked in a low voice, ¡°Did you find anything yet?¡±

    Old Time Tea¡¯s brass eyes were bright as he looked ahead and said, ¡°There seem to be quite a lot of people in front of us.¡±

    Famous agreed and said, ¡°I heard it too. They seem to be talking, but their voices are like buzzing. I can¡¯t understand what they are saying.¡±

    ¡°Gah gah! At this time, it¡¯s better to see me show my might!¡± Richard jumped with excitement.

    At least one thing was for sure. Zhang Zian had not counted wrongly, nor had the tourists disappeared. They had also entered the long passage like him.

    The passageway was mostly t ground. At least, he could not see any obvious incline.

    After walking for around 50 meters, even he heard the speaking voice that was like buzzing.

    That was not right. It did not seem to be normal speaking. Instead, it seemed to be...praying.

    Richard twisted its head. It could hear that they were reciting the same passage in many differentnguages.

    At the end of the passage, another stone chamber was connected. When Zhang Zian stepped in, he suddenly saw the light.

    He had guessed correctly. This was the legendary Queen¡¯s Tomb.

    Whether it was the King¡¯s Tomb or the Queen¡¯s Tomb was only spection. The real purpose of building these two stone chambers had not been determined.

    The King¡¯s Tomb had a sarcophagus to impress people. But there was hardly anything left by the ancients in the Queen¡¯s Tomb. The floor was unexpectedly rough, like they had notpleted the building, but the walls and ceilings were meticulously built.

    However, it was not empty here. A dozen tourists of different ages, skin colors, and types of dress sit cross-legged in the center of the tomb, forming a circle. They were holding hands with each other, which made them seem to be very close.

    In the middle of the circle, that was, the middle of the tomb, there was a lighted candle. The pale yellow mes rose straight up, and the candlelight shone on the faces of each of them.

    Their faces were filled with indescribable joyful smiles, which came from the bottom of their hearts as if they had been freed from all the troubles of the world.

    In this stuffy tomb, it was like they were in heaven.

    This strange scene made Zhang Zian practically stop breathing.

    These people didn¡¯t look like ordinary tourists. What were they...doing here?

    Zhang Zian¡¯s sudden entry had also disturbed these people, who had been chanting some scriptural sentences in unison before he came in, and his arrival made their voices stop abruptly like powering off a tape recorder. They raised their eyes to stare at him.

    The gentle breeze from his action then blew on the candles, causing the little mes to tremble slightly, and the shadows cast by the candles on the walls of the tomb shook as if they were dancing in a magical way.

    There was a premonition in his mind that he¡¯d appeared in the wrong ce at the wrong time.

    The elfins also held their breath, looking at these people strangely, and Pi hid behind his leg and did not dare show its head.

    It wouldn¡¯t be good for him to continue walking in or to retreat, and so he stood frozen on the spot and could not help but feel his heart ache for the two US dors just now. If he had known earlier, he would not havee in.

    ¡°Ko...Konnichiwa?¡±

    In the silence that caused people to hold their breath, he imitated Japanese.

 Chapter 1155: Secrets of the Tomb

    <h4>Chapter 1155: Secrets of the Tomb</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian actually had not wanted to say ¡°digging empty.¡± Instead, he¡¯d wanted to say ¡°Sorry to interrupt¡± and then make a slow retreat. However, he was feeling anxious, and in the heat of the moment, he could not remember what that word was in Japanese. To make matters worse, Richard was not cooperating and kept his mouth firmly shut, making no attempt at speaking.

    He suddenly thought of the Western female tourist who¡¯d bumped into him when he¡¯d entered the pyramid. It was no wonder she¡¯d hurriedly walked away from the pyramid. Perhaps she had also witnessed the strange behavior of these people, which made her feel uneasy and disgusted. Rather than feeling unsafe, she might¡¯ve been better off leaving early.

    It was at this moment that a ck-haired, yellow-skinned tourist stood up. He could not be more than fifty years of age. He easily removed the hands of the two men supporting him, his gaze fixed firmly on Zhang Zian. Slowly but surely, his gaze moved to his clothes.

    ¡°Oh, no,¡± Zhang Zian thought to himself.

    Wei Kang had ordered a set of clothes for his workers. They each had a UV protection suit to counter the scorching sun and a thick coat to wear in the cold nights. The clothes had ¡°China Binhai University Biological Science Research Team¡± printed on them, both in Mandarin and English. The idea was to convey a sense of professionalism and at the same time to hint to potential terrorists not to hurt any Chinesepatriots.

    Zhang Zian had seen that it was a really hot day, and he¡¯d decided to wear his UV protection suit. Yet this decision firmly exposed who he was and who he represented as well.

    That tourist he¡¯d met smiled and spoke to him in Mandarin. ¡°Binhai City? I have been to Binhai City before. This is such a coincidence! Everyone is from China, so please don¡¯t speak Japanese.¡±

    Zhang Zianughed heartily. ¡°Please carry on with your work. I shall not bother you.¡±

    ¡°Oh, please, don¡¯t rush to leave. Pleasee on in,¡± the tourist said kindly. ¡°It is amazing that we have such an opportunity to meet here, of all ces. It must be fate. Besides, we are almost finished.¡±

    As he spoke, he walked over and stood beside Zhang Zian, gesturing ¡°please¡± in an borate hand movement. His behaviour mirrored that of a master of the house.

    Zhang Zian was not afraid of him, nor was he afraid of those who were pretending to be ghosts. He simply did not want to involve himself in a scuffle. This was, after all, a restricted area of ??the Great Pyramid. He knew he could be seen as bribing the staff on duty to offer him ess to areas that are strictly forbidden. If word spread on Weibo or any other social media tform, he would certainly get the heat from individuals operating as Moral Police.

    And if that happened, there would be nothing he can do.

    Therefore, he devised an ¡°Ie in peace¡± n. He calmly took a few steps into the tomb, pretending to observe the architecturalyout of the Queen¡¯s chamber. As he proceeded with his inspections, he could not help but feel other people¡¯s eyes on his back.

    The ancient Egyptians had not decorated the Queen¡¯s chambers, yet this did not mean that the Queen¡¯s tomb wascking in grandeur. On the contrary, the Queen¡¯s tomb carried the reputation for being the most mysterious ce within the Great Pyramid.

    Like the tomb of the king, there was a vent on each of the north and south walls of the Queen¡¯s tomb¡ªin fact, they were not exactly vents, because the venttion ducts were not connected to the outside. One could not help but wonder¡ªwhat was the use of these vents? Had they been created out of fear that the pharaohs and queens of the mummies might feel stifled in their small rooms?

    However, unlike the tomb of the king, the two vents of the Queen¡¯s tomb had originally been hidden under the wall. They were only discovered some timeter when people assumed that the Queen¡¯s tomb should also have two corresponding vents, much like the King¡¯s tomb. They¡¯d cut open sections of the wall before eventually finding them.

    On September 17, 2002, CCTV broadcasted a sensational screening of the secrets of the Great Pyramid. They employed a remote-controlled crawler robot that was able to go deep into the airway on the south vent. The goal was to find what existed at the end of the air duct.

    This mammoth event attracted the attention of many people. Many people fantasized about what was to be found at the end of the vent, from long lost mummies to piles of pharaohs¡¯ treasures. Some simply hoped for an awe-inspiring discovery that they simply could not believe.

    As the broadcast was to be done live and in real time, CCTV ran a ton of publicity campaigns even before the show aired. Thus, the eventual live broadcast ratings wereparable to spring festival screening ratings.

    However, the ending of the live broadcast was a gross letdown. The crawler robot anti-climatically stopped in front of a stone gate at the end of the air passage. It tried, using its pinhole camera, to peek through small cracks on the stone gate. However, it merely returned images of yet another ordinary stone. The stone was rough and full of crack marks, with no indication of decorations. This was unlike the first stone door, which had copper handles on it.

    The greater the hype, the greater the disappointment. The interest in the probe cooled very quickly amongst the many viewers.

    Zhang Zian stood in front of the vent and tried to use the probe to see further in. Of course, he saw nothing but darkness.

    ¡°Can you feel it?¡± said the Chinese-speaking tourist.

    Zhang Zian turned around and nced at him. ¡°Are you talking to me?¡±

    The tourist nodded and repeated, ¡°Can you feel it?¡±

    ¡°Feel what?¡± Zhang Zian asked forcefully.

    The tourist pointed at the vent and said seriously, ¡°The pure energy from the universe.¡±

    It was rare for Zhang Zian to not have a rebuttal to anyone, but this response left himpletely stumped.

    ¡°The pure energy of the universe?¡± he murmured. If it had not been for the other person¡¯s expression, what a bad joke that would¡¯ve been.

    The man used his fingers to point to the north and south vents. He said excitedly, ¡°Yes! These are the two ¡®constetion passages,¡¯ one pointing to the big dog and the other pointing to the Orion. Their purpose is to receive pure energy from the universe!¡±

    Upon hearing this, Zhang Zian knew that they were both operating on different wavelengths.

    However, as much as he wanted to refute these ims, he found it difficult to do so. The four ¡°venttion roads¡± on the walls of the tombs of the kings and queens were not constructed to conduct the flow of air. So what was the real purpose of their construction? There were currently no conclusive reasons for their existence, and therefore, it might¡¯ve been usible for them to receive the energy of the universe, though that was a weird im.

    There were a total of 88 constetions appearing throughout the day, and their positions rtive to each other were close. It would be easy to use two bamboo poles ced on the ground to align any two constetions. The four venttion holes were indeed directed towards the big dog and Orion constetions. Yet to im that it was to capture pure energy was simply absurdity for the modern man.

    Zhang Zian stood silently while he processed these thoughts. However, his silence was understood by the man as approval for the concept. He got more excited and extended his arms out like wings. He said with enthusiasm, ¡°We alle from all over the world and share the same purpose. Come here to feel and absorb pure cosmic energy!¡±

    Others may not have understood thenguage he spoke, but they could understand from his expression and tone what he sought to convey. They let out satisfied smiles, as if they really had absorbed the universe¡¯s pure energy.

    Seeing their reaction, even Zhang Zian doubted his own rationality. Did pure energy really exist, and was he the only one unable to feel it?

 Chapter 1156: Occult Science

    <h4>Chapter 1156: ult Science</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Actually, Zhang Zian had already guessed the identities of these people.

    Beneath the seemingly peaceful appearance of the world, people with different hidden ideas, such as believers of mysticism and agnostics, lurked. Such people were particrly abundant in Western countries as well as in Eastern countries. They were rtively fewer in Eastern countries, possibly because Western countries were rich and had good social welfare, which allowed these people to have the leisure time to think about those random things.

    They were just ordinary people in ordinary lives. They could be your elegant university professor or your honest neighbor. They denied science and religion in private, and they had an extraordinary curiosity about meditation, divination, constetions, ancient legends, mysteries, and other things. They often devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the study and forgot to eat and sleep. They needed to put some things that they had learned into practice.

    Maybe they were good at dealing with each other, but in private they looked at the world with pity and mockery. They felt that people were ignorant and muddled around aimlessly. They believed that they were the only ones sober in a world of people who were all drunk. They were sort of the senior version of the teenage syndrome.

    Human beings were collective animals, and these people were eager tomunicate and share their research results with their peers. This was very difficult in reality. The total number of believers of mysticism and agnostics was not small, but ording to the average distribution it was very rare.

    In the past, they had only been able tomunicate through letters, but the inte had given them more convenient ways ofmunication, which also allowed them to organize more effectively and even form cross-border groups.

    Obviously, the people that Zhang Zian had seen in the pyramid were a group of believers of mysticism.

    Zhang Zian did not intend to try to reason with these people because they were irrational. They had their own inherent knowledge that was ingrained deep in their bones. They looked down on religion and science, and trying to reason with them would eventually evolve into a quarrel.

    The man who¡¯d spoken to him saw his expression shift slightly and thought he was moved by his words. Heughed. ¡°So do you feel the pure energy from the universe?¡±

    In fact, Zhang Zian had juste in out of curiosity and wanted to find a ce to put the Holy Cat statue, but he thought it was too boring, to tell the truth. So he followed the flow and suddenly opened his eyes, putting on a very shocked look. He looked down at his hands as if there was something in his palm and eximed, ¡°I feel it! I feel it! My god! It is beyond logic and above reason! Such a powerful and pure energy...¡±

    He looked up at the venttion duct and opened his arms, squinting with intoxication.

    ¡°Powerful and pure cosmic energy fell from the sky and prated my body, apanied by my blood flowing through my body, washing my bones, strengthening my internal organs... It¡¯s like a new life!¡±

    He opened his eyes a crack and secretly observed these people¡¯s reactions.

    He was worried that his performance just now had been a bit too much. After all, he was not like Famous, someone with a Best Actor prize. It would probably cause people to mock him a bit.

    However, the ideas of the believers of mysticism could not be guessed bymon sense. They seemed to believe his improvisation, showing surprise and excitement and apuding loudly.

    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡±

    The Chinese speaker excitedly reached out his hand towards Zhang Zian. ¡°From the moment you came in, I felt that you were different. You were filled with pure energy from the universe in the deep of your body, so you could respond to the distant cosmic energy so quickly that you reached the realm of harmony between man and nature!¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned and shook hands mechanically. What the f*ck¡ªhe¡¯d bragged so freely and yet someone believed him?

    There were too many idiots in this day and age and not enough swindlers!

    Furthermore, what did he mean by the realm of harmony between man and nature?

    When ordinary people withmon sense saw these gatherings of those who believed mysticism, they usually stayed away from them, avoiding them out of fear. They did not want to get involved with them, just like the Westerndy who¡¯d bumped into Zhang Zian and left in a hurry. That was the normal reaction.

    Zhang Zian had deliberately done the opposite, which made these people think that his talent was extraordinary, and they somehow came to the conclusion that he had some pure energy from the universe in his body...

    Goodness knows that his body only had hormones with no ce to be released!

    After shaking hands, the man pointed to the others and said, ¡°My name is Peter Lee. I¡¯m the director of the Cosmological Information Society in Greater China. You can call me Lee Peter. These are all members of our society.¡±

    ¡°You are really especially mischievous,¡± Zhang Zian almost blurted out, but, still strangled, he said, ¡°My name is Jeff Zhang. You can also call me Zhang Jeff.¡±

    No one would see that Lee Peter was a strong believer of mysticism unless they heard his delusional words. He was somewhat overweight in middle age, but he was well dressed, with huge gold rings on his fingers and a Rolex on his wrist. He was not vulgar in his speech, so he was probably rtively rich.

    In fact, there were mainly two kinds of people who believed in mysticism. One group was made up of middle school students and college students. The other was the upper and middle ss. Theirmon characteristic was that they had plenty of leisure time and didn¡¯t have to worry about money. If ordinary people were working hard all day to support their families, how would they have enough leisure time to study this?

    Many high school students and college students who were keen on mysticism would gradually forget it under the pressure of work and life after they entered society. Therefore, the main force of mysticism was the wealthy people in the upper and middle sses.

    Zhang Zian nced at them. Although these people were not all the same age, they were basically all over 30 years old. They did not look like poor people in dress and temperament.

    They also smiled and waved at him to express their happiness in meeting him.

    Lee Peter asked, ¡°So, do you have any interest in joining our organization?¡±

    Zhang Zian had no interest in joining such an inexplicable cult and did not know what he could learn in a cult. He would probably learn astrology until it filled his brain and he ran to the wilderness every night to look up at the stars.

    ¡°This...¡± He deliberated on his wording and tried to find an excuse to decline.

    Lee Peter then eagerly tried to convince him again. ¡°Zhang Jeff, you are very talented and have a rare sensitive constitution. It¡¯s a waste to not join us! We have activities from time to time. We have been to the Mayan Pyramids, the Stonehenge, the Easter Inds Moai statues, the Stone Spheres of Costa Rica, the Peru Nazca wilderness, the Sacsayhuaman Fortress, China¡¯s Longyou Caves, and other ces to experience pure energy from the universe, but none of them has such pure and rich energy as the Great Pyramid! As long as you join us, you cane with us on the journey of pursuing cosmic energy!¡±

    ¡°What I want to know is... What exactly is cosmic energy, and why is it worth your running all over the ce for it?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

 Chapter 1157: Energy from the Universe

    <h4>Chapter 1157: Energy from the Universe</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Communicating with fanatical individuals could not be based onmon sense. They were usually already convinced of their own theories. Pretending to understand their worldview might end up causing them to resent you. If you instead came across as curious and with humility, they were more willing to share their thoughts with you.

    Sure enough, Peter Lee, as if ovee by an itch, asked,ughing, ¡°You really hit the nail on the head... Have you heard of dark matter?¡±

    Dark matter. Zhang Zian had definitely heard about this energy within scientific literature. However, it was currently only a theory, and no substantial evidence of its actual existence had been found.

    Many scientists tended to think that it was because of the existence of dark matter that the universe was constantly expanding rather than contracting. ording to theory, mysterious dark matter upied about 70% of the total material of the universe, and it was the unconstrained master of it all.

    Yet it was precisely because dark matter was so mysterious that besides scientists¡¯ many spections about the nature of dark energy, civilians also conjured up a wide variety of whimsical exnations for its existence. Upon hearing this statement, Zhang Zian knew that Peter and the School of Cosmic Information believed an absurd lie about the nature of dark matter.

    Sure enough, Peter said firmly, ¡°Yes! Dark matter is actually the original waves of energy that the universe first released before the dawn of modern civilization. They transcend normal life to a higher stage of being and can leave our current universe. However, dark matter could not bear seeing how unintelligent life struggled through daily living and thus generously dedicated their knowledge to all civilizations in the universe in the form of dark matter!¡±

    Zhang Zian was left speechless.

    He would like to brush this off as nonsense. However, the nature of dark matter was something the scientificmunity could not exin. It was highly simr to God in that one could choose not to believe in God, but no one could prove whether God existed or not.

    Peter Lee continued, ¡°The mandate of the School of Cosmic Information is to study the dark matter in the universe. As long as it can break down the information carried by dark matter, human beings can reach a new evolutionary height...¡±

    Zhang Zian nced at them and said, ¡°In other words, the heavy responsibility of human evolution falls on your shoulders?¡±

    ¡°You could say that.¡± Peter nodded his head. ¡°But I have to correct you. It is on our shoulders, yet you can also feel and receive pure energy from the universe. Did you not feel the sense of calling within you? As if you are responding to something ancient?¡±

    As there were simply too many people crowded into the small tomb, Zhang Zian only felt that the air in the room was getting more and more stifling. Nevertheless, he decided he should y the part. ¡°It seems that...my body is getting lighter, as if it is floating.¡±

    ¡°Yes! That is the feeling! That is why I said you are talented. Even our most senior members have had to sit quietly on their knees and hold each other¡¯s hands just to let pure energy blend into their bodies before feeling the same sensation! Yet you felt it so easily!¡± Peter smiled brightly, as if truly happy for Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian nced at them and then looked at the vents sideways. He asked, ¡°You have been to so many ces, so why is the cosmic energy here more intense? I mean, isn¡¯t there a king¡¯s tomb with a simr structure?¡±

    ¡°This...¡± Peter took a moment before replying with a sense of uncertainty, ¡°We are still learning at the very initial stage. The information about the universe that has been uncovered so far is very limited. We are focused more on the body, on what we feel. We can feel more of that energy here. More intense and pure... If I am toment, I think it is because this is the center of the Great Pyramid.¡±

    What Peter said was true. The Queen¡¯s tomb was indeed located in the center of the Great Pyramid, while the King¡¯s tomb deviated from the center. The idea was that the tombs of the pharaohs, kings, emperors, and Khan should be at the center of a whole mausoleum or a certain central area of ??the entire tomb. The ancient Egyptians had unquestionably superior architectural skills and were unlikely to make a low-level mistake. A more reasonable exnation was that the real use of the two tombs had not yet been discovered.

    Zhang Zian looked at the time and decided he was not going to go further. He could only fault the fact that he¡¯d bumped into this group of people and wasted two American dors.

    ¡°I shall wish you all the best in your research. I still have something else to tend to and will make a move first.¡± He smiled politely and sincerely hoped that they would not force him to stay.

    Luckily, as he had hoped, Peter did not ask him to stay. Instead, he also looked at the time and said, ¡°It is also about time we go out, so let¡¯s leave together. Although I really want to stay here and use the energy of the universe to purify the body and mind, we cannot be so selfish. We must continue to invest in scientific research and strive to crack the mystery of the energy of the universe as soon as possible for the benefit of all mankind!¡±

    Zhang Zian almost cried. He thought, ¡°Please, please be selfish!¡±

    The others stood up and started dusting off their trousers. They smiled and followed Peter Lee and Zhang Zian out of the chamber. The clueless outsiders who saw this unity amongst them would think that this was a great, friendly tour group.

    The elfins had long been unable to stand the stifling air, and they could not wait to stop listening to weird conversations. When they heard that people were leaving, they rushed ahead to leave as well.

    The staff member responsible for guarding this passage saw a huge group of people wanting to leave. It might have been that he did not care for chatter and shouted, ¡°Go! Go! Go! Do not talk! Do not talk!¡±

    He deliberately did not allow them to talk about the Queen¡¯s tomb, fearing that the fact that he had epted the bribe would be overheard by other employees, and that they would definitely ask for a cut of the money.

    He¡¯d gotten used to the dim light of the pyramid, and when he walked out of the hole, he was re-exposed to Egypt¡¯s strong summer sunlight. He took in a big breath of fresh air. Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes were slightly stung by the sudden strong light, but he felt a sense of revival.

    ¡°Jeff, you are very talented,¡± Peter Lee said. ¡°Come join us to learn and let us carry forward our teachings together for the benefit of all mankind!¡±

    However, Zhang Zian felt no sincerity at all. He felt that he should have at least taken out some sort of Buddhist scriptures to further his pitch.

    ¡°Sorry, I have no money. This is my first time going abroad. My economic conditions do not allow me to travel with you everywhere... Oh, sorry, I meant to go about feeling the energy of the universe,¡± Zhang Zian said in an attempt toe up with an excuse to refuse.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. We are not the type of organization that deceives people and collects their money. All members are equal. The rich members voluntarily provide the funds. You don¡¯t have to worry about money,¡± Pete said. He continued, ¡°Money. What is its use? Once the secrets of cosmic energy are made known, we will enter an advanced stage of living, and money will just be waste paper.¡±

    He saw Zhang Zian shaking his head, and he decided that he would not insist further. He smiled and said, ¡°We are not leaving Egypt for the time being. The Great Pyramid is only our first stop. We will also visit other pyramids. If it is fated, we will meet again.¡±

 Chapter 1158: Wasteland

    <h4>Chapter 1158: Wastnd</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Birth reincarnation was an activity that required skill. Some people were born with means. They could devote their limited lives to eating, drinking, entertaining, and all kinds of ostentatious wealth. They could also pay for their strange hobbies.

    The believers of mysticism Zhang Zian had met in the Great Pyramid were typical representatives of people who knew how to reincarnate. They were rich and idle and willing to search the world for the so-called pure energy of the universe.

    Until he walked out of the pyramid, Lee Peter was still chattering on and on, trying to convince him to join their organization.

    But Lee Peter said that they would visit the other pyramids in Egypt, which made Zhang Zian feel moved.

    Fina said that only the pyramids could hold the Holy Cat statue, so he could try to find out if there was such a pyramid that would allow him to keep the statue for a long time, but to be honest, he did not hold much hope¡ªevery known pyramid was guarded, not necessarily open to the outside world. It would be very difficult to get in, let alone leave the Holy Cat statue inside.

    As the saying went, if you had the money, you could have the devil push the millstone for you.

    Especially in Egypt, you might even be able to have the millstone push the devil for you.

    There was very little that money could not do. If there was something, most of the time, it was because the money you had given was not sufficient.

    Perhaps the Egyptian government would be happy to sell an unknown pyramid to private buyers if hundreds of millions or billions of dors were spent.

    But this was just his wishful thinking.

    Zhang Zian had no money and could not even bring out a few hundred million Japanese yen, and he also doubted that the members of the Cosmological Information Society would bring out hundreds of millions of American dors to help him fulfill his wish.

    After meeting up with Gxy, Richard asked, ¡°Gah gah! Where will be going next?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s too hot. Let¡¯s go back to the hotel. It¡¯s almost time for meals.¡± Fina was hungry, and it was already used to seeing both pyramids and sphinxes.

    It was enough to visit one big pyramid within the Pyramids of Giza. It would be meaningless to stay any longer.

    It was near noon and too sunny today. The sun was shining on the elfins, putting them in a bit of a slump. The peddlers around them kepting over to harass them one after another.

    Zhang Zian regarded himself as a self-respecting person and disdained taking all kinds of weird pictures with the Sphinx like other tourists, and if he continued to stay here, he would unavoidably meet those weird people again.

    ¡°No need to go back to the hotel. How can we waste the day in the hotel? I think we might as well rent a car and visit another nearby city in the afternoon,¡± he suggested.

    ¡°If you want to go, just go to the pce. Send me back to the hotel and you guys can go out yourself. Everywhere we go, there are these vendors and hawkers. The noise gives me a headache,¡± Fina yawned. The implication was that you guys have never seen the world before, so I would rather go back to the hotel and have an afternoon nap.

    Zhang Zian resolutely shook his head and refused. ¡°No, let¡¯s go together! You can rest assured that the next ce is not a popr tourist attraction but an unpopr ce of unpopr ces. People whoe to Egypt will rarely go there. There will be no hawkers without tourists. I promise you that you will not be disappointed.¡±

    Rarely did he so tly rebel against Fina¡¯s will, and Fina and the other elfins were surprised. Richard patted his head with its wings. ¡°Did burn your head in heatstroke, you idiot?¡±

    Fina squinted. ¡°Don¡¯t think that I can¡¯t see. You¡¯re tricking me again! I will no longer be tricked by you!¡±

    ¡°I really am not tricking you!¡± Zhang Zian said, not knowing whether tough or cry. ¡°I¡¯m rarely so sincere, and you all have this kind of reaction?¡±

    ¡°Then tell me, where exactly are we going?¡± Fina still refused to believe him.

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t say! If I say it, there¡¯ll be no meaning.¡±

    ¡°No matter where we are going, let¡¯s leave this ce first. Let¡¯s not stand here and let the sun shine on us!¡± Famous¡¯ tongue was out, and it was panting.

    This sentence was really too logical, and even Fina expressed its agreement silently.

    Zhang Zian picked up the phone, hesitated a little, and dialed a number left by Lazart from the el-Khan Khalili Market. It was the group of the scientific investigation team, saying that if they needed help in Egypt, they could ask him for help.

    After the call went through, Zhang Zian gave a straightforward exnation of his intention. He wanted to ask Lazart to help him rent a car. The cost would be borne by Zhang Zian.

    Renting a car was the best way to travel on your own, but Zhang Zian did not know the traffic rules of Egypt well and dared not rent it rashly.

    Now it seemed that there was no need to obey trafficws in Egypt. He even doubted that trafficws actually existed. One couldn¡¯t expect to obey trafficws when driving in a country without traffic lights.

    Lazart did not say anything else and agreed instantly.

    When he hung up the phone and waited for the car, Fina said, ¡°I am giving you a chance now. If you take back the deception, I can regard it as not having heard it.¡±

    Zhang Zian insisted that he was not trying to deceive her.

    ¡°Well, if you say that I will be satisfied, then do you dare to bet with me? If I¡¯m not satisfied, you will be handed over to Snowy Li and let her do what she wants to you, how about that?¡± Fina asked contemptuously.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Alright, but you must promise not to say that you are not satisfied even though you are obviously satisfied.¡±

    His calm attitude convinced Fina a bit. ¡°Hmph! What is my status? I¡¯ve always stuck to what I say. Would I lie to a lowly servant like you?¡±

    Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders. He had been with it for so long that he knew that sometimes it was not so honest, especially when the topic was rted to its experience two thousand years ago.

    Not long after, the car arrived.

    It exceeded Zhang Zian¡¯s expectations in that it was a fairly new station wagon, not an old one that could be seen everywhere on the streets of Egypt.

    And the person driving was was Lazart¡¯s son, Chris.

    It turned out that Lazart had decided to lend his family¡¯s car to Zhang Zian to use because he had more than one car in his house.

    Zhang Zian was very embarrassed, but he also felt the hospitality of the Copts. He was willing to trust the Chinese people who he¡¯d only met once.

    He wanted to pay for the use of the car, but Chris waved his hands to reject that idea, just wanting him to drive carefully. He rented a car to go back home himself.

    Zhang Zian could not stand at ceremony anymore. He greeted the elfins to get in the car, then turned the air conditioner in the car to full st and finally isted himself from the heat outside.

    He took out the map and followed the electronic map on his phone, and he drove the car northeast.

    After driving about seventy or eighty kilometers, he checked the road signs against the map, stopped the car, looked out, and said, ¡°Here we are. Get out.¡±

    ¡°Gah? This kind of ce that birds don¡¯t sh*t at?¡± Richard called. ¡°Looks like you really want to be a eunuch!¡±

    No wonder he¡¯d imed that there were no tourists and no peddlers. It was almost a wastnd outside.

    Fina was stunned, its lips trembling slightly. It couldn¡¯t speak.

    Because 2000 years ago, this had been a city called Bubastis, and where they were standing was the lost address of the Cat God Bastet¡¯s Holy Temple.

    This was Fina¡¯s pce.

 Chapter 1159: Temple of Bastet

    <h4>Chapter 1159: Temple of Bastet</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zagazig was a city situated northwest of Cairo. As the capital of the governorate, Zagazig should not be considered a small city, but whenpared to the big city of Cairo that had a poption of 20 million, Zagazig¡¯s poption of 200,000 looked like child¡¯s y. It would be at most a district in China.

    This city was located on the fertilends of the Nile River delta, with one river flowing through the heart of the city. Its great geological position had helped it to be one of the most important agricultural trading cities in Egypt. Other than that, Zagazig University was also quite famous within Egypt and other Middle-Eastern countries.

    But not many foreigners knew about this small city. Even if it had an important museum, it would be difficult to attract tourists to this ce. If they wanted to see artifacts in Egypt, they had so many more choices.

    About three kilometers to the southeast of Zagazig, there was a piece of abandonednd filled with a mess of stones. Anyone that drove past might not even stop there, thinking that it was just a dumping ground for all the architectural trash that they had.

    But right at this spot was one of the holiest, most prosperous ces in the world 2,000-3,000 years ago. Back then, this city hadn¡¯t been called Zagazig¡ªit had been called Bubastis.

    Thisnd held the ruins of the Temple of Bastet.

    In the Ptolemaic dynasty, Bubastis had held the biggest, most grand festival in the whole of Egypt. When the festival day drew near, more than 700,000 came from all over Egypt, even from outside the country, into Busbastis to attend the grand party, religiously presenting their offerings to pray for the goddess¡¯ protection.

    They said that the amount of wine that Busbastis consumed during the festival was more than the other parts of Egypt¡¯s consumption of wine for the entire year added together.

    While other countries were still cultivating their cultures, Bubastis had already been partying like no other for 2,000 or 3,000 years, truly a city that never slept. Even the Paris, New York, or Tokyo of today couldn¡¯tpete.

    The day after the celebration, the streets were lined with copsed drunkards. They didn¡¯t freeze to death only due to the warm weather and their goddess¡¯ protection.

    Their glorious days were over, and Busbastis had been washed away by the tirades of time. The morous Temple of Bastet had been reduced to a pile of tiles.

    Combined with the time needed to have their lunch and the bumpy drive on Egypt¡¯s roads, it waste afternoon by the time Zhang Zian reached the ce. The sun had be less harsh.

    The gentle breeze blew through the broken walls, the overgrown grass cascading through the wind. The palm trees and date palms covered a corner of the building, the sound of insects chirping fully expressing just how quiet it was.

    This sight reminded Zhang Zian of Yuanmingyuan Park¡¯s rubble. Yuanmingyuan had been dubbed the best garden of all. It had also been ruined due to the invasion of enemies and the fire of war.

    Fina left the car by itself and walked slowly to a square stone, seemingly a broken stone pir. Its front paws lightly grazed the surface of the stone, feeling the rise and fall of its surface.

    There was still a little evidence of the carvings on the pir, but its contents had been polished down by thousands of years of weather and was no longer distinguishible. It held nearly no value to archeologists. It was more like a headstone for the Temple of Bastet, for the masses to know that the once-prosperous temple had dwindled into a ruin.

    The other elfins had all thought that this was just any other ruin, but they understood the specialty of this area after Zhang Zian¡¯s soft exnation, and they understood the special meaning that this ce held in Fina¡¯s heart.

    It stood far, far away, on the border of the ruins. Fina must¡¯ve wanted to be alone.

    This was Fina¡¯s pce. This was Fina¡¯s home.

    It was finally home.

    ¡°It¡¯s evil...¡± Old Time Tea shook its head. ¡°How many wonderful works of art have humans ruined through fights and wars...? Just looking at the scale of this ruin, the Temple of Bastet must have been just as big and just as luxurious as the pce.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°ording to records, the Temple of Bastet was built in a square shape, and every side was just as long as an open sports stadium. The main path through the temple was actually 120 meters long, just as long as the diameter of Chang An. I believe this is urate, or this ce wouldn¡¯t have been able to hold 700,000 worshippers.¡±

    That shocked the elfins even more. They had all been to the capital and had seen the g-raising ceremony on Chang An Street. The memory of the extremely broad roads was still fresh in their minds. But they didn¡¯t expect that 2,000 or 3,000 years ago, the Temple of Bastet already had a main road just as grand as Chang An Street¡¯s.

    Zhang Zian continued, ¡°It¡¯s not just that. The Temple of Bastet¡¯s floor n was extremely beautiful too. The ancient Egyptians had redirected two channels of the river that cuts through the whole of Bubastis, each channel around 30 meters in breadth, so that they could surround the Temple of Bastet. They run parallel to each other and never cross paths, so the only way of entering the temple was through its opening.

    They built this temple using the same standards and concepts one would use to build a city. The temple doors were 20 meters tall, with three meters of relief sculpture. When you walked through the doors, the relief sculptures looking down on you, you could really feel how small you were and just how glorious Bastet was.¡±

    Just those numbers were enough to let them understand just how massive the Temple of Bastet had been back in the days.

    And a temple like that was actually Fina¡¯s home! Everyone felt that shock deep in their bones.

    ¡°Gah gah! If it were me, after living in such a luxurious home, I would definitely rather die than stay in your small and poor pet shop!¡± Richard pped his wings at Zhang Zian¡¯s head in sympathy.

    ¡°No worries. You can stop staying there, and you can go die too.¡± He red at it.

    ¡°Gah gah! I think dying standing is better than living on my knees!¡± Richard squawked shamelessly.

    No wonder Fina had never stoppedining about the pet shop, about the food, about its living space... They sometimes thought that Fina was just being too picky, but if any one of them was in its shoes, having to stoop to living in amoner¡¯s home after staying in the most luxurious pce and having the world¡¯s most scrumptious foods, having to experience such a huge gap in treatment, anyone would feel anger, indignance, or maybe even like dying. Just like those princes whose rich and noble families were taken down by others in the olden days.

    Fina had tried its best to get used to life in the pet shop with few words ofint, but this was definitely not something that someone without an extremely strong resolve would be able to do.

    Today, returning to the temple again after 2,000 years, what kind of emotions had bubbled up in its heart again?

 Chapter 1160: The Two Thousand Yearsâ€™ Agreement

    <h4>Chapter 1160: The Two Thousand Years¡¯ Agreement</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Fina!¡±

    Fina hurriedly raised its head.

    Who was calling its name?

    The sound was so far away yet so familiar, causing it to miss it immensely.

    It looked around in all directions. The sound had vanished, and only the light wind blew past its ears.

    Where was this?

    Where on earth was this rubble-strewn, grassy wastnd?

    It did not recognize this ce, but why had ite here?

    It was inconceivable. It should turn around and leave, so why could it not move at all?

    ¡°Fina!¡±

    Fina suddenly turned its head, but all it saw was rubble and weeds.

    The westward-inclined sun pulled long shadows out of the walls in the ruins, and the sound seemed toe from the shadows.

    Its head hurt very much. It must be because it had been under the sun for too long.

    In this kind of hot weather, it should be lying in the hotel and taking an afternoon nap. Why was it that it hade to this foreign wastnd?

    ¡°Fina!¡±

    It turned its head again but was still unable to tell where the sound came from. Its head began to hurt even more.

    Who was it?

    Who was ying this kind of meaningless game?

    If they wanted to y hide-and-seek, there was an obviously more suited party here.

    ¡°Fina!¡±

    It suddenly opened its eyes wide, and this time it heard clearly that the sound did note from one direction, but from all directions!

    The wind brought the sound to pass by its ears, the tone circling around its body, like it had missed her and refused to leave.

    ¡°Fina! You¡¯re back!¡±

    It must have been that sand had gotten into its eyes, because it suddenly wanted to cry.

    Who was it?

    It wanted to speak, but its voice seemed like it was stuck in its throat, and it could not make any sound at all.

    After trying a few times, it said something that was against its own will.

    ¡°I...am back.¡± It opened its mouth and muttered, not of its own will.

    ¡°Wee back. Are you here to visit me?¡±

    It remembered this voice...this voice...

    Its head was hurting even more.

    D*mn it! Why was its head so painful?

    It was her! This was her voice!

    A drop of water fell from the sky, but it caused the dam to go beyond its storage limit, like the straw that broke the camel¡¯s back.

    The door of memory was shattered by the floods, and the scenes from two thousand years ago appeared in front of it like a movie.

    The wind that had blown here two thousand years ago was this gentle too.

    Bastet¡¯s Holy Temple!

    This was Bastet¡¯s Holy Temple!

    This was its home!

    The torrent of memories took away the headache, but its body trembled violently.

    This was Bastet¡¯s Holy Temple?

    What about the canals winding around the temple, elegant as fine gauze?

    What about the great gate that humbled mortals like ants?

    What about the tall walls around the temple and the ancient trees within the walls?

    What about the main road that had once led Bastet countless times to walk down during rites and to be worshipped by thousands of people?

    What about that pce that was full of precious jewels worth cities, and the ce where it had made countless precious memories?

    And...what about her?

    Fina looked around nkly. The eternally unchanging wind was still there, but everything else that it knew had vanished.

    Everything, whether it was what it once liked, or what it disliked, hated, treated as ordinary...all of it had disappeared.

    All that was left was the ruins with their broken down walls and weeds.

    Since it was like that, why did it need to return here?

    Why didn¡¯t it turn and leave?

    Anyway, there was no reason to stay here anymore.

    ¡°Fina!¡±

    The voice sounded again.

    That was not right.

    Fina shook its head. This was a hallucination. She had already disappeared with Bastet¡¯s Holy Temple.

    The wind whirled around it a few times and then moved forward again.

    It sent the wind off with its gaze, let the wind carry its hallucinations away.

    It was time to go.

    ¡°Fina!¡±

    It raised a front paw, and it was about to turn and leave when it heard the voice again.

    What was going on?

    Why could it still hear the voice?

    ¡°Fina! You just got here! Are you going to leave already?¡±

    Fina suddenly exploded in anger and yelled, ¡°You aren¡¯t here anymore, so what am I here for?¡±

    Its voice was very sharp and resounded in this barrennd and sky for a long time.

    Another breeze blew past.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Fina! I¡¯m sorry!¡±

    The voice sounded again, full of never-ending regret.

    Fina choked and said, ¡°You said you woulde back. You actually said you woulde back! I am back. Where are you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry! Fina, I did not fulfill the agreement.¡±

    Apologies? But apologizing could not make up for anything.

    ¡°Fina, I should not have left, but I am the pharaoh of the ck earth. I could only leave. You understand, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Yes, Fina understood.

    If it had been in her position, it would likely have left too.

    She had not wanted to leave, but she could only leave to protect the people of ancient Egypt, to protect the brilliance of ancient Egypt. She¡¯d known that she had very little chance of winning and only managed to fight for ancient Egypt to keep a piece of soil between tworge powers that were fighting.

    She¡¯d tried her best, but she¡¯d failed.

    The winner, the prince, the loser, the bandit.

    The grand and beautiful ancient Egypt was extinguished just like that.

    The magnificent Bastet¡¯s Holy Temple was ttened.

    She, grandiose and talented, died.

    And now, foreigners roamed thend, enjoying the glory of the winner.

    She could have lived, but rather than living pitifully as a loser, she preferred to choose death.

    It understood. No one else understood her better than it.

    The reason why Fina felt so much pain and bitterness was not that she¡¯d left or that she¡¯d broken her agreement. It was because it regretted that it had not fought with her as a soldier until thest moment. It had been thrown into the whirlpool of time by a force that might¡¯ve been stronger than the ancient Egyptian gods and appeared in the world two thousand yearster.

    ¡°Fina, don¡¯t cry.¡±

    Fina raised its head, tears in its eyes.

    ¡°I am not crying. I won¡¯t cry because of a dumb person!¡±

    The voice sounded like it wasughing.

    ¡°Fina, you didn¡¯t change at all! I¡¯m very happy that you came to visit me. I¡¯m very happy that you did not change at all!¡±

    Fina shook its head.

    That was not right. It should have changed a lot.

    ¡°Fina, are you well?¡±

    The voice gently questioned it, full of sincere caring.

    Fina¡¯s thoughts were pulled back to the recent happenings, bits of events at the pet shop shing before its eyes.

    Used to the quietness of Bastet¡¯s Holy Temple, sometimes it would find that the pet shop was very noisy, but it did not dislike that.

    ¡°So-so.¡±

    Fina chose those words to answer because it felt that if it answered that it was doing very well, it would harm her.

    ¡°You...¡±

    It also wanted to ask her how she was doing, but she realized that this question did not have any meaning at all.

    ¡°I¡¯m also very lonely, so I¡¯m very happy you came to visit me.¡±

    The voice sounded very happy, and even a bit mischievous.

    ¡°But I¡¯m not here. You know, this is Bastet¡¯s Holy Temple, not the ce where I choose to sleep.¡±

    Fina was stunned.

    ¡°Fina, I want to see you. I miss you so much I¡¯m about to go crazy. Can you let me meet you once?¡±

    Fina did not respond, and the voice stayed silent.

    It turned its head, looking to the west, the direction the wind was blowing from.

 Chapter 1161: The Book of the Dead

    <h4>Chapter 1161: The Book of the Dead</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The sun continued setting in the west.

    Egypt¡¯s poor vegetation coverage made the earth¡¯s capability to retain heat to be almost zero. When the sun was strong, the ground heated up rapidly. Just as the sun rays weakened, the heat would dissipate equally quickly.

    It was only at this time of the day that local Egyptians came out from their homes and offices to start outdoor activities. These wouldst until three o¡¯clock in the morning.

    Foreign businessmen who had just arrived in Egypt generally found it difficult to adapt to the Egyptian work and rest cycle. Yet in a foreignnd, one had no choice but to fit in and do as the locals did.

    Therefore, if you were traveling to Egypt during the peak season and wanted to avoid the bustling groups of tourists, the best way was to get up early.

    Zhang Zian, mimicking the other elfins, squatted amongst the ruins and silently watched Fina¡¯s back.

    It sat alone amongst pieces of the broken wall, sometimes giving off a stupid look, sometimes an angry one. It made the group feel for Fina, yet it was a seemingly unbearable feeling¡ªa feeling reminiscent of the loss of love.

    Zhang Zian could not decide if bringing Fina here had been the correct choice. He was worried that he was being cruel, deliberately re-opening Fina¡¯s wounds and making it bleed once more.

    Yet even as it continued to put on a strong front, it should seek to remove the armor protecting its inner, weak self. By letting the sorrow flow out, one could preserve oneself much better. Much like a dam, storing too much water would only lead the dam to copse one day.

    Since arriving in Egypt, Fina had been behaving normally. Yet the normalcy in behavior was in itself abnormal. It should not have been so calm. It was precisely this sense of calm that had led it to firmly decide toe to this ce, which had the effect of removing the disguise.

    It had simply...been too long in the ruins.

    Not even Zhang Zian had expected the pain in Fina¡¯s heart to run so deeply. Would today¡¯s venting get it settled, once and for all?

    ¡°In my opinion, if the Temple of Bastet had not been destroyed, it would¡¯ve been the best ce to store the statue of the cat god,¡± Old Time Tea said. ¡°A powerful pseudo-god is nevertheless still a false god. If we ce it in the Temple of Bastet and under the supervision of the goddess, it should no longer be able to cause trouble.¡±

    ¡°This is not necessarily true.¡± Zhang Zian offered a different opinion. Although he had a great deal of respect for Old Time Tea, he would not allow his mistake to simply slide away out of respect.

    ¡°Oh? I want to hear the details,¡± Old Time Tea said, asking humbly without flinching.

    Zhang Zian took a moment to organize his thoughts and exined his views to them.

    The ancient Egyptians had a veryplex rtionship with the cat god Bastet. On one hand, their belief in Bastet was very strong. There were many legends about Bastet, especially inter periods of ancient Egypt, such as the era of the Ptolemy dynasty. Almost every household had a statue of Bastet, and they worshipped the god every day and night...

    The Temple of Bastet was not the grandest of temples, and the initial Bastet Carnival was not very grand. It was only when generations upon generations of pharaohs supported and built it up that the worship of Bastet reached its peak.

    Yet on the other hand, if Bastet had been an important cat god, it was puzzling as to why it was not included in the ancient Egyptian book of gods. In other words, Bastet was not an official god of ancient Egypt, which was difficult to exin.

    As for the ancient Egyptian book of gods, the most authoritative source at present was the Book of the Dead.

    The Book of the Dead was not a book but a verse written by the ancient Egyptian clerk for the deceased. It included spells, hymns, lengthy essays, various ceremonial mantras, and the original names of important gods.

    Simr to the game system devised in ¡°Pet Hunter,¡± the ancient Egyptians valued the real names of the gods. For example, they viewed the sun god as immortal because Zeus had given him a name that no one knew about or guessed.

    When pharaohs or important officials were buried, scrolls of scripture would be ced next to their mummified self. Alternatively, the scripture would be carved on the walls of the sarcophagus or the pyramid. Later, when tomb raiders dug up these tombs and discovered these verses, they often coined them as ¡°The Book of the Dead.¡± This was because they could not understand ancient Egyptian writings.

    There were different versions of the Book of the Dead, but in any version found so far, there was no mention of the cat god Bastet. However, the name of one lioness god, Tvnut, was found instead. There was a possibility that both Bastet and Tvnut referred to the same god.

    Yet in any case, the list of gods in the Book of the Dead reflected all the gods identified by the ancient Egyptian priests of Pluto Osiris. Their authority on the matter could not be questioned. There simply was no Bastet, the cat god.

    Therefore, for many ancient Egyptians who valued real names, the absence of a name meant that Bastet was not an official god.

    It was then worrisome for a non-god to have the powers of one.

    Perhaps this was why the statue of the cat god had been restored and ravaged at least twice. It was an indication that Bastet was not powerful enough to control its powers.

    Thus, unless a modern, moreplete, authoritative version of the Book of the Dead was found by future archaeologists, it would be difficult to see how this cat goddess could transcend from being a folk legend for the people into a formal,plete god...

    Before leaving from China, Zhang Zian, in his quest to look for the statue of the cat god, decided to focus his efforts on locating the Temple of Bastet. s, after a quick search, he discovered that the Temple of Bastet had been ravaged by the fires of war. A further search revealed that even if the Temple of Bastet had existed, it still would not have sufficed to seal the cat statue.

    Perhaps Fina had known this conclusion for a very long time. Therefore, very early on, it had pointed out that the statue of the cat god should be ced inside the pyramid and under the protection of the gods. Not in the Temple of Bastet.

    Zhang Zian exined what he had learned to the other elfins. After they heard it, they understood that the rtionship between the gods of ancient Egypt was highlyplicated...

    ¡°So we can only continue to look for a pyramid that has been very well preserved so far and has yet to be discovered by man. This is ridiculously difficult...¡± Famous said with a sigh.

    Zhang Zian shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but there is no other way. I do hope that the expedition team can find something in the western desert. Otherwise, we will have to return the cat god statue to Binhai City. This is not only a waste of effort but also a waste of shipping fees.¡±

    Everyone knew that the possibility of achieving their goals was minuscule. Although more than 100 pyramids had been discovered in Egypt thus far, finding an option that fit their goal was like finding a needle in a haystack. One could have better luck winning the lottery than this.

    After wrapping up his conversation with his team, Zhang Zian looked at the time and noticed that Fina seemed to have calmed down. It stood between the broken walls, casting a figure that looked as fragile as porcin.

    He hesitated as to whether to say a few words. He wondered if he should instead release Snowy Li and let it handle Fina instead.

    At that moment, Richard patted his head with his wings and motioned him to look back. ¡°Hey! We seem to havepany!¡±

 Chapter 1162: Coincidental Meeting

    <h4>Chapter 1162: Coincidental Meeting</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Richard¡¯s voice was still in the air, and other elfins with good hearing had also realized that two SUVs wereing down the pitted roads, kicking up dust. The destination seemed to be the site of the Bastet¡¯s Holy Temple. After all, there was no other ce worth stopping at near here.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that there are no tourists here just now, you idiot?¡± Richard asked and patted Zhang Zian¡¯s head again. ¡°Aren¡¯t you just making a fool of yourself?¡±

    Zhang Zian forcibly defended himself and said, ¡°Is your ear used for breathing? I meant that there are usually no tourists! Maybe some senior cat ves came here to cherish the past!¡±

    ¡°Gah gah! Bullsh*t! You did not say ¡®usually¡¯ at all!¡± Richard did not let him off, grabbing onto his words and refusing to let go.

    Zhang Zian was quite troubled as well. They hadn¡¯te early orte, so why were touristsing at this moment?

    Normally, few tourists came to Zagazig, a city not famous for tourism. After all, there was only a museum and the ruins. There were many museums in Egypt. Who woulde to see the ruins on purpose?

    Of course, the site of Bastet¡¯s Holy Temple was not his home. He coulde, and others could alsoe. Could people not touch what a monk had touched?

    But now the timing was not right. Fina was in a period of emotional ups and downs. Once disturbed, no one could tell what it would do.

    A joke was just a joke, and the other elfins understood that too.

    Old Time Tea picked up a stone and asked ¡°How about I break the headlights of the car, to dy them a little?¡±

    For Old Time Tea, it was not hard to use a stone to break the headlights of a car, but it was invisible now, and moving to attack would show itself. If it was seen by the people in the car, the situation would probably not be easy to exin.

    Zhang Zian waved his hand. ¡°Never mind. I¡¯ll go and stop them.¡±

    ¡°Gah gah! Did you get a heat stroke or a fever? Are you going to use your face to stop them?¡± Richard asked, looking down on him.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll stop them with my face. If they stop here, I¡¯ll go up and try to hit on them to dy them for some time. Show you the power of a handsome man! Maybe there are beautiful foreign girls in the car!¡±

    After saying that, he straightened his cor, full of confidence.

    Richard looked towards the sky. ¡°Magnificent Goddess Bastet above, please give him a gay man!¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t say anything.

    If not for the fact that he might be seen, he would really punch this stupid bird to death. Could he randomly wish for things by the temple? What if it came true?

    As expected, the two SUVs slowed down as they approached, parking one after another at the roadside.

    Zhang Zian used a white headscarf to cover his mouth and nose to keep from breathing in the dust that appeared with the cars.

    The people inside the car waited until the dust settled a little before pushing open the car door and walking out.

    Huh?

    Although these people were mainly Western Caucasians, there were also some local people, but their clothes did not seem to be those of ordinary tourists, nor did their skin color. Even though they were Caucasian, their skin was tanned and brown. At first sight, it was easy to deduce that this was the result of long-term work in the field.

    In addition, instead of picking up their mobile phone cameras and snapping photos like ordinary tourists, they opened the trunk of their car and took out folded tables, chairs, and a suitcase.

    Their ages were generally on the older side. Several people who seemed to be in charge looked over 40 years old, and there was not a single young girl there.

    Strange. What were these people doing?

    Zhang Zian had originally nned on going up to make small talk, but this kind of situation made him stay and carefully observe. At least there was one point he was sure of: these people were probably not terrorists.

    One of the middle-aged people noticed Zhang Zian, or rather, noticed that his clothes had both Chinese and English printed on them. He gave a few words to the others and came towards Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Hi! Are you from Binhai University?¡± the middle-aged man asked in English.

    Zhang Zian was stunned again. Was Binhai University of any special significance to them? Or had the reputation of Binhai University somehow surpassed that of Beijing University and Tsinghua University to spread overseas?

    ¡°Yes. And you are...?¡± he asked.

    The middle-aged man held out his hand to him enthusiastically and said, ¡°Oh, hello! I¡¯m Hans. Nice to meet you! We are full of expectations for this cooperation. If I¡¯d heard you wereing earlier, I would have sent someone to wait for you in advance...¡±

    Zhang Zian listened and got even more confused. He mechanically shook hands with Hans. ¡°Hello, I am Jeff Zhang. But wait a minute, is there some misunderstanding here?¡±

    ¡°Misunderstanding?¡± Hans looked at his clothes again and smiled. ¡°If you¡¯re from Binhai University, there¡¯s no misunderstanding.¡±

    What was going on?

    Had two teams from Binhai University arrived in Egypt for field work at the same time?

    Zhang Zian tried to rify that he hade with the Binhai University Science Investigation Team, but his visit to Bastet¡¯s Holy Temple was just for pleasure, so Hans had probably mistaken him.

    While supervising and urging the others to work, Hansughed and listened to Zhang Zian¡¯s narrative. He said, ¡°There is no misunderstanding. My Chinese friend, maybe your professor didn¡¯t tell you. In fact, this is a tripartite cooperation¡ªyou from China, us from Germany, and schrs from Cairo University. We Germans are indirectly involved, so your professor probably thought it was unnecessary to go into detail about it.¡±

    It turned out that Hans was leading an archaeological team from Germany. He and his colleagues were archaeologists. They¡¯de to Egypt to work with local schrs to excavate Bastet¡¯s Holy Temple.

    The University of Cairo had received an invitation to cooperate with Binhai University and informed Hans about that as well because the archaeological team led by Hans was also indirectly linked to the objectives of the Chinese team.

    As Hans reminded him of this, Zhang Zian recalled that Wei Kang had mentioned that he would cooperate with archaeologists when he arrived in Egypt. He had not asked about it, and Wei Kang had not borated on it. Maybe he¡¯d thought that after all, Zhang Zian was not specializing in biology, so there was no need to tell him.

    ¡°Oh, I understand,¡± Zhang Zian said and nodded.

    It was really like fate that they had met even though they were thousands of miles apart¡ªthat they were actually meeting with the German archaeology team at Bastet¡¯s Holy Temple.

    ¡°Then you¡¯re here to look in the ruin for...valuable murals and enchases and those sorts of things?¡± he asked. What else could be found between the ruins?

    The wastnd was deserted, and even the poorest thieves would not visit it. In Zhang Zian¡¯s opinion, the enchases on the surface of the broken stones and pirs had be indistinguishable, but it was uncertain whether the professional archaeologists had any special skills or special instruments.

    ¡°No, no, my friend. It¡¯s a pity, but this is a wastnd and no longer has any value for archaeology.¡± Hans shook his head, pretending to be mysterious as he blinked and pointed at the ground beneath his feet.

    ¡°Our archaeological target is hidden under the ruins.¡±

 Chapter 1163: Archaeology at the Temple

    <h4>Chapter 1163: Archaeology at the Temple</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Back in China, when Wei Kang had brought up the fact that they would need to work together with the local archaeologists for their expedition to Egypt, Zhang Zian had thought that the archaeologists had found wall paintings or relief sculptures containing the original Egyptian cats and had taken photos of them to send to Wei Kang. But if it were just photos, there would be no need to share them only after they reached Egypt, and they could have easily done it before. So he didn¡¯t quite understand what Hans and Wei Kang meant by a coboration.

    In a normal person¡¯s eyes, archaeologists looked and worked like Indiana Jones or Laura ud, toying with the edge of death every day, pumped full of adrenaline, discovering a new shocking truth of the world every second.

    In actual fact, archaeology was extremely boring. It was a job best suited to test someone¡¯s patience. The things that they discovered might not shock the world. They might not even make it into a small indie newspaper.

    As for ass with a figure as good as Laura¡¯s? Mmm... Well, by the looks of all these gruff men walking down from the jeep, even the parasites in their bodies might all be male.

    They set up a tent and their table,ying a white sheet over it. Tools kept getting disyed on the table as well, seemingly starting a huge operation.

    Hans introduced them. ¡°Due to the onset of summer and the month of Ramadan, we were nning to stop work for two months and resume work after the harsh summer. But in order to work with you, we have decided to work a bit more.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Zhang Zian took a look at the time. ¡°You are...starting work now?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Egypt¡¯s sun setste, and the day is too hot to work in. We always start in thete afternoon and work until the sun sets. We sometimes work in the dark too, but most importantly we adapt our work timing to the locals¡¯.¡± Hans pointed to the Egyptians on his team.

    The locals acted asborers on the team, mostly doing some rough hard work. They were in charge of digging up objects and doing the preliminary cleanup. They couldn¡¯t use excavators to dig things up here, so they had to do it carefully by hand.

    ¡°Come. Follow me.¡± Hans waved at him, asking him toe along.

    Zhang Zian was initially worried that they would go bother Fina, but he found out that their site of work was not within the broken walls, but the side wall of the rubble.

    The Temple of Bastet spanned arge area. Other than the portion where broken walls and stone were piled up, there was another huge area that belonged to the Temple of Bastet too.

    Hans walked in the front with Zhang Zian following him, carefully making his way through the ruins toward the east, until they finally stopped in a huge hole dug out within the plot ofnd.

    Earlier, they hadn¡¯t even noticed the giant pothole by the side. There were some locals working down there, half-squatting, half-kneeling on the floor as they used tiny brushes to clean out the artifacts that had peeked out from the floor. They couldn¡¯t see clearly what they were, since there was too much loose dirt covering them. As they cleaned off the dirt, they carefully dug further down, their actions light and gentle. With the speed they were going, they probably wouldn¡¯t even be able to dig an inch of dirt out in an hour.

    Hans continued, ¡°If you specifically came here to look around, you must love cats, huh? The Temple of Bastet is a very important archaeological spot. We had once found a statue of Ramesses II carved out from red granite and other precious artifacts, including over 600 cat statues made from limestone, most of them offerings for Goddess Bastet.¡±

    Since they had the luxury of meeting an archaeologist who seemed to know their stuff and was extremely experienced, Zhang Zian thought that he should ask him whether he knew anything about the Holy Cat statue.

    ¡°Hans, do you know anything about the Gayer-Anderson Cat? Have there been statues simr to that discovered here?¡±

    Hans chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re interested in that statue? No, we haven¡¯t had simr statuesing out of here. Rumor has it that the Temple of Bastet used to worship an extremely huge holy statue of Bastet, but it might have been destroyed by the fires of war or by humans... As you know, in the early 19th Century, Egyptians wanted more convenience when building their houses, so they treated the temples nearby like mines, picking out the stones in the temples to use in their homes. They are known to have destroyed 13 temples in this way.¡±

    ¡°Pity.¡± Zhang Zian sighed.

    ¡°But the statue of Bastet that they worship here should look differently from the Gayer-Anderson Cat.¡± Hans¡¯ expression suddenly showed confusion and uncertainty. ¡°The Gayer-Anderson Cat is really a weird statue. It is the only cat statue found so far that is wearing a nose ring. The statue was donated to the British Museum by Major Anderson. Before that, the statue was photographed in Cairo, and the earring that it was wearing is drastically different from the earrings we see today.¡±

    ording to Hans, in 2007, the British Museum had a grand expedition named ¡°Divine Cats: Speaking to the Gods in Ancient Egypt,¡± which the younger Hans had attended.

    Before the exhibition had started, the scientists had checked and analyzed the Gayer-Anderson Cat with shocking discoveries.

    ording to their tests, the statue had been reconstructed in 1930, and the gold nose ring and earrings were not there when it was first made. They had actually been added on afterwards by someone for some reason. They were still unsure of when the nose ring and earring were made, but they were definitely ancient.

    Zhang Zian understood what he hadn¡¯t said. The statues of gods were all holy entities, and there were rules as to how they should be made. There shouldn¡¯t be any changes made to them without reason post-production. For example, if there was a statue of Daode Tianzun, but someone added a nose ring and earring to Daode Tianzun, that would be an act of extreme disrespect.

    If something like this were to happen in China today, everyone couldugh it off or even turn it into a sticker or emoji to be used online. But in ancient times, the consequences must have been catastrophic. It would¡¯ve been catastrophic in Western countries too. If someone were to vandalize a statue of Jesus, there would be riots.

    Clearly, there was a strong veil of mystery surrounding the Holy Cat statue that even scientists and archaeologists were unable to pry open.

    Zhang Zian could guess, though. The people who had added the nose ring and earrings to the Holy Cat statue were most likely the devoted followers of the evil and immoral and had turned the real Holy Cat statue into the God of Evil that they believed in through the addition of nose ring and earrings.

    It wasn¡¯t something that he could freely share with Hans. Even if he did, Hans probably wouldn¡¯t believe him. Maybe one day, in the future, archaeologists would be able to find new evidence that could finally reveal the mystery.

    As they were speaking, a local working in the pit suddenly propped up a stick-like object, calling out, ¡°Come here! Another one!¡±

    The thing in his hands was a mummified cat.

 Chapter 1164: The Mystery of the Color of Fur

    <h4>Chapter 1164: The Mystery of the Color of Fur</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    These archaeologists and local workers had worked together for a long time, and immediately, someone jumped into the pit with a special container. They carefully loaded the freshly unearthed cat mummy into the container and brought it up for Hans to see.

    Zhang Zian was surprised to see the cat mummy for the first time. He even felt Richard¡¯s ws sink slightly into his shoulder, which showed that he was deeply shocked.

    The other elfins next to him were the same.

    The body and limbs of the cat¡¯s mummy were wrapped in a linen fabric, like a woven mat, with only the head exposed. The whole body looked like a bowling pin.

    It was difficult to distinguish a cat by only its exposed head because its face was blurry and one of its ears was even missing. It was said to be a cat¡¯s head, but it looked more like a pig¡¯s head. Only the painted outline could show a little of the cat¡¯s shadow.

    Hans was already used to looking at these kinds of things and waved his hand to have the mummy moved away and carefully kept.

    ¡°Surprised? The first time people see the mummy of a cat, they always have the same expression as you. There are at least tens of thousands of mummies buried beneath the ruins of this temple,¡± Hans said and shrugged.

    ording to Hans, the underground tomb of Bastet¡¯s Holy Temple had been first discovered by a local peasant in 1888. About 19 tons of mummies were unearthed and piled up into a 60-meter-long and 21-meter-thickyer. Cat mummies ounted for most of the mummies. There were 80,000, which included mongoose, dog, and fox mummies. The farmer sold most of the mummies and ground them up for fertilizer, and only a small portion was preserved and transported to the British Museum.

    The pit Hans and the rest worked in was another, smaller underground tomb, and mummies were found only asionally¡ªrtive to the figures of 80,000 and 19 tons.

    In ancient Egypt, when a cat died, the owner would send the body of the cat to Bubastis as soon as possible, and the priests would make it into a mummy to be buried and dedicated to the goddess Bastet. In order to keep cats from getting hungry in the underworld, mummies of mice and wooden fish-shaped toys were often buried with cats.

    Over the years, numerous cat mummies had been buried around Bastet¡¯s Temple.

    ¡°Do you think I¡¯m here to look for murals and enchases? No, we are looking for these mummies, and it is the existence of these mummies that has contributed to the cooperation among the three countries,¡± Hansughed.

    Zhang Zian was still not able to understandpletely and asked, ¡°What is the use of these mummies? I mean, besides the use of cultural relics.¡±

    These mummies could have some archaeological value, but for Wei Kang and the scientific research team, what was the use of mummies? After all, they were looking for live cats rather than dead ones.

    The process of making a cat mummy was simr to that of making a human mummy: First, the cat¡¯s body was dipped in a special saline solution to dissolve the grease and wash the skin and hair. After 40 days of soaking, the body was taken out and dried. Then, the body was preserved, filled with perfume ingredients in the abdominal cavity, and coated with vegetable glue to prevent the body from touching the air. Finally, the body was wrapped in linen cloth.

    The brain and internal organs would have already been removed before this and ced into funeral urns for eternal preservation.

    It was precisely because the skin would be washed away during the treatment process that these cat mummies were not good-looking. Because of this, it was impossible to judge the evolution of Egyptian cat fur color from the mummies.

    So, what was the meaning of the mummies for the investigative team?

    Hans smiled mysteriously. ¡°The answer is DNA.¡±

    Zhang Zian seemed to understand a bit.

    Egypt¡¯s hot and dry climate, coupled with the special methods used by ancient Egyptians to make mummies, often kept corpses intact, and even after thousands of years, DNA could still be extracted from the mummies.

    The ¡°Nature¡± magazine had once published an article called ¡°Paleogics of Cat Transmission in the Ancient World.¡± Scientists had studied cat migration by investigating DNA from more than 200 mummies or remains of cats.

    The mummies and remains were from Europe, North Africa, East Africa, and Southwest Africa, spanning the middle of the Stone Age to the 20th century.

    But considering such a long time span, the sample size was actually still a little small.

    The real spirit of science was reasonable doubt and not blind obedience to authority, which was the reason for science being able to change with each passing day.

    Hans was skeptical about the conclusion of the article, ¡°Paleogics of Cat Transmission in the Ancient World.¡± They thought that the number of samples in this article was insufficient to support the corresponding conclusion.

    Local Egyptian schrs also disagreed with the conclusion of the article because the article said that cats were first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent, not in ancient Egypt.

    With an attitude of doing things themselves if they were not satisfied, Hans and the rest matched well with the Department of Biology at Cairo University on the same research, and through DNA research in mummies, they intended to find a more reasonable exnation for the domestication and migration of cats.

    There was no tradition of humans using cats as food, so it was difficult to find the remains of cats in ancient human settlements. This brought great difficulties to the research. However, Egypt¡¯s unique climate, geographical advantages, and ancient customs made it possible to preserve arge number of mummies of cats and their naturally formed corpses, which had be the source of Hans¡¯ confidence. They believed that the conclusion of the article would be overturned in time.

    When Wei Kang contacted the Department of Archaeology at Cairo University, he was overjoyed to learn about the study, because the evolution of cats¡¯ fur color could be found through DNA in the mummy.

    The coat color of wild African desert cats was rtively fixed. How had it evolved into hundreds of coat colors in domestic cats inter generations?

    Even though science had flourished to the ce where it was today, the gic mechanism of cats¡¯ fur color was not yet fully understood.

    The gic mechanism of cats¡¯ coat color was veryplex, and it was an abnormal species in mammals. It was quite different from most other mammals.

    For example, the calves of two ck-and-white dairy cows must be ck-and-white, but the location of the patches could be different.

    But the offspring of the two reddish-brown cats might be a bunch of tortoiseshell kittens¡ªnot green, of course.

    Two Siberian forest cats with keynote colors could also produce a litter of kittens that were not the same color as their parents.

    Therefore, it was very difficult for breeders to breed new types of domestic cats. It often took generations or even dozens of generations of lineage and condition stabilization to produce a new breed with a stable coat color gene.

    Although Wei Kang was not a breeder, he knew this very well as an expert on cats, so he sent an invitation to cooperate to Hans and asked them to provide the corresponding DNA research report, wanting to discover the key events of the evolution of the primitive Egyptian cat from the mummy of the cats.

 Chapter 1165: Moving in Tandem

    <h4>Chapter 1165: Moving in Tandem</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian suddenly thought of Cathy¡¯s Abyssinian cat breeding manual. The contents within the manual were very difficult and technical. It made him regret returning all his biology knowledge to his junior high school teacher. Zhang Zian felt that Cathy sometimes deliberately took a longer detour in her breeding process when she could have taken a shortcut. Much like the mathematical sum of 1+(1¡Á1-1¡Á1), Cathy deliberately calcted the numerals in the brackets despite that it was absolutely fine to ignore them.

    It was only at this moment that he realized howplex the gic codes for cats¡¯ coat colors were. It was not as simple as 1-1=0. It would be silly of him to try to find shortcuts.

    Hans took out a small U disk from his pocket and handed it to Zhang Zian. ¡°This is the information your professor asked for. You can take it to him since I just so happened to bump into you here. Also, send him my regards. I mean, if I ever head down to China for some archaeological dig, I may need him to look out for me too.¡±

    ¡°Sure thing. No problem at all.¡± Zhang Zian took the U disk. He watched as the other archaeologists ced the mummified cat in a sealed box and locked it in the trunk of the car.

    He thought that he could observe, on the spot, how DNA was extracted. At the same time, he was curious as to what the mummies beneath the linen looked like. This would definitely help when he needed to brag about his work, yet it seemed that nothing was going to happen, and all of the work would be carried out after shipment.

    Hans saw Zhang Zian¡¯s face and smiled. ¡°The process of extracting DNA from bones more than thousands of years old is very troublesome,¡± he said. ¡°Whatever DNA remaining in the mummies is often stored inside the bones and needs to be carefully extracted in theboratory. We do this by freezing the bones in a liquid nitrogen environment before grinding out a tiny bit for testing. The high temperature generated by the grinding has the potential to destroy DNA, so everything must be done in an ice-cold environment. If we get lucky, after all that work, we might be able to get a small piece of DNA. We then have to put these different pieces together so that we can get aplete strand of DNA for further research.¡±

    Zhang Zian listened and thought to himself that archaeological research was indeed tedious. Those who had no patience would probably not continue in this line of work.

    Suddenly, some of the locals dug something up and called Hans over to take a look. Zhang Zian saw that they were very busy and decided not to disturb them any further. In addition, he noticed that Fina was no longer in a state of ecstasy and was back to its usual calm self. He prepared to leave and said his goodbyes to Hans.

    ¡°What were you doing earlier?¡± Fina asked fiercely as soon as she appeared

    ¡°Talking to these foreigners.¡± Zhang Zian pointed towards Hans, directing the responsibility away from himself.

    Fina was not interested in those people. She threw them a casual nce and continued her line of questioning. ¡°Talking to them the whole time? What happened before then?¡±

    Zhang Zian innocently lifted up his mobile phone. ¡°Before, I was browsing Pinduoduo. The items on disy were simply too attractive...¡±

    ¡°And I can prove that¡¯s what he did! In his search history, there¡¯s a huge catalogue of colored silk...¡± Richard added. ¡°It¡¯s a pity that he didn¡¯t expect men to be the ones wearing silk now!¡±

    ¡°Actually, I only wanted to search for fish-vored pork,¡± Zhang Zian rified.

    Fina was not easily distracted by their efforts to change the topic and asked coldly, ¡°So have you heard anything?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Zhang Zian and Richard replied in unison, shaking their heads with perfect synchronization.

    ¡°Really?¡± Fina asked.

    ¡°Really! We hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil, and didn¡¯t see evil move!¡±

    ¡°Correct!¡±

    Zhang Zian and Richard spoke in tandem.

    It was then that they discovered that the other elfins had been slowly getting farther away from them. Only the two of them were left to deal with Fina¡¯s anger.

    Fina¡¯s face grew a little darker. ¡°If you dare lie to me...¡±

    ¡°Then bury Richard alive as a sacrifice!¡±

    ¡°Then have the snow lion castrate him!¡±

    Even when betraying one another, Zhang Zian and Richard were still in sync.

    They knew why Fina refused to let up on her line of questioning. It was because she did not wish to expose her most vulnerable side to others. Even when exposed, she wished for no one to see it because she felt that it would greatly hurt her dignity. So in order to avoid being silenced, they could only make the same choice.

    Fina snorted and looked at them with a face full of suspicion. ¡°You better be speaking the truth. Otherwise, if I find out that you are lying...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s absolutely true!¡± Zhang Zian and Richard tried their best to give Fina innocent looks. They also sensed the opportunity to take on various personal oaths that were highly detrimental. Only with these efforts did Fina decide to, albeit reluctantly, drop her questioning.

    ¡°Well, I shall believe the both of you.¡±

    Both Zhang Zian and Richard heaved a sigh of relief, knowing that their worthless lives were saved. They looked at each other, and although it was mere moments ago that both had betrayed each other, they had looks of appreciation for one another. They were indeed great Chineserades.

    Like the Chinese saying that if, during the questioning just now, either one of them had sung a different tune, they would¡¯ve both been outed and could await a painful death. Therefore, the only option for both of them was to tly refuse to speak the truth.

    The other elfins, seeing that the crisis had passed, ran back briskly, all carrying innocent looks on their faces.

    Zhang Zian looked down on them for running away at the first sign of trouble. He was, after all, their master, and therefore their leader. Should the followers let their leader be the first to go instead?

    However, he knew that this would not be something he could speak of outright. s, he and Richard would have to swallow their anger and keep quiet about it.

    ¡°I overheard that both of you are you going over to the western desert,¡± Fina suddenly said

    ¡°Ah? That is correct.¡± Zhang Zian took a moment to react. Up until now, Fina had not taken an interest in his scientific experiments and returned to Egypt purely for sightseeing.

    ¡°The western desert is highly inessible. Where exactly are you going?¡± Fina asked again.

    ¡°About that...¡± Zhang Zian scratched his head. ¡°It seems that there is no final decision. We may cut through it, walk past it, or take a winding detour. The specific route depends on Professor Wei Kang¡¯s arrangement.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Fina nodded quietly.

    Zhang Zian paused to analyze the situation. Fina would not be asking for no reason. Zhang Zian decided that he would need to be the one to figure out what her actual intentions were, so he asked, ¡°Is there somewhere you want to go?¡±

    Fina took her time before shaking her head. ¡°There is nowhere special that I would like to go.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t reply. It was obviously an insincere response. Fina had lived in Egypt for so long. How could it be that she had no special memories of any ces?

    Whether or not one could curry favor with his lord depended entirely on his ability to guess what the lord¡¯s true intentions were. In many cases, subjects spoke without much thinking. Such examples included, ¡°My lord, you have worked for half an hour today. You should take more rest!¡± or ¡°For the sake of the country¡¯s long-term stability, you need to have more children. Why don¡¯t you choose a few beautiful girls and bring them into the pce?¡± The emperor would usually half-heartedly agree with these lousy suggestions in the hopes that his decisions would appease his citizens.

    These efforts were nothing but part of a devious n!

 Chapter 1166: Speciality Meal

    <h4>Chapter 1166: Speciality Meal</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The third morning in Egypt arrived.

    ¡°Meow meow meow! You all went to the holy temple of Goddess Bastet? Is the goddess pretty? Is her chest big?¡±

    In the morning, Snowy Li was already continuously chattering, feeling deep regret that it had not been able to see the Goddess¡¯ bountiful chest with its own eyes yesterday.

    ¡°We did not see anything at all. That ce has already be a wastnd.¡±

    Zhang Zian pushed open the door and entered.

    He had just gone to Khan el-Khalili Market to buy breakfast and thank Lazart and his family for their generous car lending. Unfortunately, there was nothing on hand that could be a gift other than the Pinduoduo version of cooling ointment. He got over it and inquired about the address of Lazart¡¯s family secretly. He nned to send a gift when he returned home. After all, he was from a country of etiquette, and he couldn¡¯t let the Copts underestimate them.

    In addition, when he went to the market, he was more careful. He was as sneaky as a burr because he had inquired about it. The vendor nearby said that the local men he met on the first day who drank ck tea and yed mahjong had note out for two days. The vendor wondered if they were sick.

    Zhang Zian knew what kind of illness they had. The illness of the gentlemany in his p*nis. If they didn¡¯t cure it, it might, regrettably, be worse!

    ¡°Meow meow meow! This servant does not need any other goddess! Your Majesty is this servant¡¯s goddess!¡± Snowy Li saw that Fina had alsoe in from the balcony and instantly expressed its loyalty.

    Fina could not be bothered with Snowy Li right now. It took deep breaths and stared at the bag Zhang Zian was holding in his hand. It asked curiously, ¡°What smells so nice?¡±

    ¡°It seems to be something called a kofta and roast fish. I guess you¡¯re tired of eating roast pigeons, so I bought something else for a change.¡± Zhang Zian opened the bag and began to share breakfast with the elfins.

    Kofta was another national meal to be ordered in Egypt. It was made with mincedmb, beef, or sometimes chicken, seasoned spices, and onions to make them into sticks or balls. It was then baked with iron sticks. After baking, it was served with celery or other seasonal vegetable dishes on the bottom of the dish. The dish was very filling, supplemented by potato chips or Egyptian pancakes. It would fully satisfy one¡¯s deep desire for meat.

    The elfins besides Richard were carnivores, and when they smelled the kofta, they salivated. Even Snowy Li, who had been moring for raw brisket all day, wiped its mouth.

    Nothing was wasted. Richard ate seasonal vegetables, and the elfins ate barbecued meat, French fries, and pancakes... What about Zhang Zian?

    ¡°Meow meow meow! What kind of sh*t is this? You stinky man! Are you trying to harm me?¡±

    Snowy Li, who had a fanatical pursuit of meat, was not satisfied with eating kofta alone. It stealthily extended its ws towards the roast fish Zhang Zian had bought. In the end, it took a bite, wrinkled its face like it had eaten coptis chinensis, and spat out the roast fish.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t split that for you yet! Who asked you to make a move on it?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Snowy Li kept spitting and ran to the bathroom to wash its tongue under the faucet, and it looked like it was very bitter.

    The water made the long fur on its face and neck wet by quite a bit. If it had been in China, they would need to blow dry it instantly. However, this was Egypt, and it just needed to go to the balcony and lie in the sun for five minutes.

    Fina carefully observed the roast fish for a while and asked in confusion, ¡°This fish... Why aren¡¯t the scales removed?¡±

    ¡°I only found out after I bought it. I can¡¯t throw it away,¡± Zhang Zian said helplessly. ¡°Who knew that the roast fish in Egypt wouldn¡¯t have their scales removed...¡±

    Besides still having the scales, the grilled fish did not look very attractive. It looked like it had been cooked. Its skin and tail fins were burnt ck. If it had been in China, it may have been rejected by picky eaters. But this was the specialty of Egypt. The cooking temperature was always a bit high.

    The elfins were not very interested in the roast fish. It was not as good as the roast fish made by Uncle Li, so the task of finishing the roast fishnded on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulders.

    The local people in Egypt usually ate roast fish with fried rice. Zhang Zian was eating roast fish with a big pancake and fries. It was not really Chinese cuisine and not really Western cuisine, and it was quite bitter. If he had known earlier, he would have bought one more set of kofta.

    He could not do anything about it. He had to eat the food he¡¯d bought himself even if he had tears in his eyes. Otherwise, he would be throwing away the money he¡¯d spent.

    The elfins finished their breakfast quickly andy down to digest. Zhang Zian put the leftover soup in the trash can so the customer service staff wouldn¡¯t think that they had been robbed.

    Fina ran back to the balcony and bathed in the early morning sun to digest its food.

    Snowy Li followed Fina. This was the only time it could interact with the sun throughout the whole day.

    After returning from the ruins of Bastet¡¯s Holy Temple yesterday, Fina spent more time alone meditating, gazing at the Nile at night for a long time.

    However, sadness did not knock it down as Zhang Zian had expected. It had a strong heart. After venting the emotions that had been umting for some time, it became calm again, like it had managed to understand something.

    He did not rush to ask what it was thinking and why it had gone so crazy in the ruins. Anyway, it would not say even if he asked. They were staying in Egypt for a long time, and he still had time to figure out the Holy Meaning.

    ¡°The number of people seems to have decreased a lot today.¡±

    Old Time Tea looked toward the main street and found that the pedestrians and cars had decreased a lotpared to yesterday.

    ¡°Eh, because Egypt¡¯s Ramadan started yesterday at midnight, most of the people are resting at home instead of going out.¡±

    Zhang Zian raised his finger to the sky. There was still a very thin crescent moon in the sky, which was about to be submerged in the light of the sun. This was the sign of the beginning of Ramadan.

    ¡°What effect does this have on us?¡± Famous asked curiously.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter much to us. In fact, I think it¡¯s a good thing,¡± Zhang Zian said. Even if the local men who¡¯d used the cooling ointment as Indian divine oil returned to their senses, they, dazzled by hunger, might not be able to catch up with him or win a fight against him.

    ¡°Ah! Zian! Hurry ande over!¡±

    Sihwa¡¯s sharp voice came from the bathroom, so sharp that Zhang Zian felt itchy all over. It was just like the sound of fingernails scratching ss.

    To preventints from the guests next door, he hurried from the terrace to the bathroom and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Sihwa angrily put her hands on her hips. ¡°You said that you would take me to the beach to broadcast live,¡± she said. ¡°How long are you going to put it off? Those horrible fans always mock me, and some people have written a paragraph to say something like... ¡®As soon as Sihwa opens her mouth, she¡¯ll directly say some words that are hard to understand. What ¡°Egypt¡±? What ¡°five-star hotel¡±? The live studio has a happy atmosphere¡¯¡ªI can¡¯t remember the specifics. Is this mocking me? Don¡¯t think I can¡¯t understand!¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°This is really not mocking. The guys that stay at home all day and sit online are the best ating up with these things.¡±

    She gritted her teeth in anger and hit the water¡¯s surface to express her anger, causing the water to ssh everywhere.

    ¡°Then how about today? With theing of Ramadan, there are fewer people by the seaside, and we can go to the beach today to fulfill your wishes,¡± Zhang Zian decided.

 Chapter 1167: The Whole Way North

    <h4>Chapter 1167: The Whole Way North</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The biggest problem with fulfilling Sihwa¡¯s request to do an outdoor livestream was the fact that she couldn¡¯t be invisible, or a live stream would be footage for paranormal activity. So they decided to bring her to a beach that had fewer people.

    Maybe having fewer people wasn¡¯t enough. Unless it was in the middle of the desert, they couldn¡¯t guarantee that someone wouldn¡¯te out from nowhere, especially in the northeast part of Egypt, which had a lot of tourist attractions. Just like the Sham El-Sheikh and Dahab, which were both world-famous diver ygrounds.

    A blue hole in the seaside of the small town of Dahab had been dubbed the grave of the divers. More than 130 divers had gotten into idents there, but there were still a lot of adventurous divers rushing to challenge the blue hole.

    Zhang Zian opened the map. With the experience of having driven to Zagazig, he had a rudimentary understanding of Egypt¡¯s roads and driving speed.

    The highways in Egypt were a rare show of Egypt¡¯s morality. No matter the distance, the toll was always within five to 10 egyptian pounds. After a currency conversion, it was basically free.

    ording to the distance marked on the map and the average speed that they drove, it would take about two hours to drive from Cairo to the Red Sea, and it would take about four hours to drive north from Cairo to the Mediterranian Sea. Neither was too far away.

    But beaches near Cairo definitely had more people. Even though there weren¡¯t many locals there, seeing that it was the month of Ramadan, the tourists from other countries were barely affected.

    The further away they got from Cairo, the fewer tourists they would run into, but the journey would be longer. It would be best if they could find a sweet spot between the two.

    ¡°Everyone,e over here! To fulfill Sihwa¡¯s request, let¡¯s go y by the beach, but which beach? Do you have any opinions? Where do you want to go more? The Red Sea or the Mediterranian Sea?¡±

    He gathered all the elfins together to get their opinions, but most of them didn¡¯t have a preference. There wasn¡¯t much difference to most of them whether it was the Red Sea or the Mediterranian Sea. Cats, monkeys, and parrots weren¡¯t too interested in swimming in the sea, after all.

    But Famous was absolutely itching to go. The weather had been extremely hot, and a swim in the sea would bring down their temperature. It didn¡¯t have a preference as long as there was a sea involved.

    The fewer opinions they had, the harder it was to choose.

    Zhang Zian gave an initial proposal. ¡°I feel that we should go somewhere with fewer people so we can have more fun.¡±

    The other elfins had no objections, but the oddly sharp Sihwa started shouting in the bathroom again, ¡°No! It must be a beach that is full of Egyptian specialties! Otherwise, who will know that I havee to Egypt?¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Comining too much is bad for your health!¡±

    dimir gave him a thumbs-up.

    If Sihwa had been a real person, she definitely would¡¯ve been the kind of girl who took selfies for memory at famous tourist spots and inte-viral cafes, and she might even n an entire trip around this goal.

    Seeing how pitiful she was for having to stay in the bathtub all day, they decided to try their best to fulfill her wish. But where would be better?

    As he was worrying over it, a cat paw pressed onto the map.

    ¡°If you go here, she should be satisfied.¡±

    Fina pressed her paw down sightly before taking it back, turning around, and going back to the balcony as though she didn¡¯t care.

    Its paw was clean, not even leaving behind a paw print.

    Zhang Zian looked at where she hadnded her paw. It was the Mediterranian shoreline to the northwest of Cairo.

    Even though cats¡¯ paws weren¡¯t too big, they still covered a fair bit of space when pressed onto the map. This small area contained dozens of small and bigger cities, so which one had it specifically been talking about?

    If he went to ask, he would definitely get a re in return. Now he needed to put on his thinking cap to try and understand Her Highness¡¯s meaning.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s eyesnded on the few cities near the shoreline. All these names were pretty foreign to him. On the third time looking it over, he suddenly felt a sense of familiarity with one of the city names.

    He picked up his phone to check online, and through the results, he immediately decided on their destination¡ªthe Port of Mersa Matruh.

    ¡°I¡¯ve decided. Let¡¯s go to Mersa Matruh!¡± he announced, carefully sneaking a nce at Fina to check its reaction.

    Fina was neither angry nor happy, but it was already a win in his book if it hadn¡¯t jumped up in anger.

    ¡°Me...Mersa Matruh? What tourist attractions are there?¡± Sihwa asked.

    Zhang Zian answered, ¡°Cleopatra¡¯s bath is there. It¡¯s just like Yang Guifei¡¯s Huaqing Pool.¡±

    ¡°Wow! Thank you Fina!¡± Sihwa was satisfied with that and immediately livestreamed the news to her room.

    From Cairo to Mersa Matruh, they had to go past Alexandria. These two cities had left behind many a great legend about Cleopatra. Zhang Zian knew that Fina had probably not chosen Mersa Matruh for Sihwa, but he kept silent on that.

    The journey there and back was not short, so they had to make sure to leave as soon as they could, or they might not be able toe back on the same day.

    ¡°Make your preparations. I¡¯ll go inform Professor Wei. Then we can leave.¡±

    If they were just looking around in Cairo or in the satellite towns nearby, he wouldn¡¯t have to specifically go inform Wei Kang. But the distance that they were traveling this time was greater. He had to be responsible to the team, so he couldn¡¯t just leave and act on his own.

    When Zhang Zian came to Wei Kang¡¯s room, the door was lightly ajar, the sounds of talking drifting out. Wei Kang and his students must¡¯ve been having their daily meeting.

    He knocked before entering.

    ¡°Xiao Zhang, you¡¯re here.¡± Wei Kang nodded at him, stacks of documents beside him, annotated with marker. These were all documents in the thumbdrive that Hans had given him, but Zhang Zian had absolutely no idea what those symbols all meant.

    The other four people all held photocopies of the documents in their hands and listened to Wei Kang¡¯s instructions attentively.

    He He seemed to have perked up a lot since yesterday. It seemed like the effect of the incident had slightly diminished, but hopefully she wouldn¡¯t forget about the pain once the scar was gone.

    Gao Ke rolled up the sleeves of his short-sleeved polo t-shirt, showing off his well-defined biceps. He¡¯d been working out in the hotel¡¯s gym that morning and came for the meeting after a brief shower.

    The third day of their Egypt trip hadn¡¯t even passed, but Xiao Tianyu was already looking rounder than before. He definitely hadn¡¯t missed out on Cairo¡¯s good food, and the effects of the high-calorie, high-fat diet of the Egyptians were already showing on him.

    A saying that wasn¡¯t quite like a joke went like this: If you wanted to know how long a person had been staying in Egypt, you just had to see how much sugar they put in their red tea. Someone who put only one or two teaspoons was just a tourist. Three to four teaspoons were for people who for some reason stayed in Egypt long-term. Those that carried the entire sugar tin up to pour sugar into the tea cup were definitely locals.

    Du Xuetao hadn¡¯t changed much. He was still a silent person.

    ¡°Xiao Zhang, is anything the matter?¡± Wei Kang asked, since Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have to join the meeting this morning. He wouldn¡¯t understand anything anyway.

    Zhang Zian told the team of his ns, asking for Weikang¡¯s permission.

 Chapter 1168: Alexandria Port

    <h4>Chapter 1168: Alexandria Port</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Other than Du Xuetao, who was the top-scorer type, when the three other young people who liked to y heard of Zhang Zian¡¯s itinerary, they all showed envy and jealousy. They were anxious to throw away the dull academic documents and let the Department of Biology at Cairo University go to hell, to go sightseeing with him to Alexandria Port and the Port of Mersa Matruh, to soak in the beautiful bathing pool of Egypt, and maybe to beautify their faces.

    Because of the long distance, Zhang Zian thought that Wei Kang would oppose it. However, Wei Kang just nodded and said, ¡°Well, in two days our field scientific research route will take us to Alexandria and Mersa Matruh, and then we¡¯ll enter the western desert from the Siwa Oasis. It¡¯s good that you can first make a trip. It¡¯s a way for us to explore the route.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhang Zian was scared that Wei Kang would go back on his words, so he agreed instantly.

    ¡°Then you guys continue working. I¡¯ll go off first.¡±

    After Zhang Zian said goodbye, he jogged back to his room and announced, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Cairo was the capital and thergest city in Egypt. It had a pyramid, which was the first of Seven Wonders of the World. It was the tourist center of the whole Middle East and North Africa. Alexandria Port was thest capital of ancient Egypt and the secondrgest city in modern times. It had the Alexandria Lighthouse, which was at the end of the list of the Seven Wonders of the World. It was a famous seaport and industrial city. Many multinational corporations were headquartered in Alexandria Port. These were the two most important cities in Egypt and could be called Egypt¡¯s Two Walls.

    Because of that, the main road between Cairo and Alexandria Port was in quite good condition. It was the model road of Egypt¡¯s city roads, and it was wide and not rocky. Heading out from Cairo, Zhang Zian drove northwest.

    The arrival of Ramadan had dramatically reduced the number of vehicles on the highway. He drove as fast as he was allowed to save as much time as possible. The household car he¡¯d borrowed from Lazart was racing along the highway.

    On both sides of the road, there was rolling yellow sand, but the nearby ces had quite a lot of greenery nted. Rows of tall date trees and low shrubs formed an endless green passage. It caused people to temporarily forget that 95% of the country¡¯s territory was desert.

    One of Cairo¡¯s specialties was dates. Because the sun had been shining for a long time, local fruits, including dates, were so cheap that it was insane, and they were very sweet. Many people bought bags of dates before leaving Egypt and brought them back as local specialties. Zhang Zian also had that n, but there was still quite a long time before he would be going back, so he was not in a rush.

    The elfins watched the date trees skimming quickly across the windows for a few minutes with interest before they got bored and started to take naps.

    After more than two hours of driving, the car approached Alexandria Port. On both sides of the road, besides date trees, there were asionallyrge banana ntations, as well as orchards nted with grapes, apples, and oranges. The scent of fruit overflowed, and the air was full of sweet smells.

    The closer they were to Alexandria Port, the more colors there were. In addition to red, orange, yellow, and other colored orchards, industrial development zones began to emerge on both sides of the highway. The blue ss reflected the sunshine, giving a modern city feel. It waspletely different from the grey buildings and the appearance of the old city of Cairo, and the roads were also very clean.

    The Free Industrial Zone in Alexandria Port was the equivalent of Zhongguancun in China and Silicon Valley in the United States. Relying on the tourism industry to fuel their economy carried the hope of Egypt¡¯s industrial revitalization¡ªbut the hope is still slim.

    Zhang Zian woke up the elfins and told them that they had arrived at Alexandria Port. It would be better to have a simple tour here, have lunch in advance, and go to the Port of Mersa Matruh.

    This suggestion suited Fina¡¯s stomach, and the other elfins did not have many opinions on it. The only one that could have a problem with it, Sihwa, was still sleeping in the phone. But where should they eat lunch?

    As the van entered the city of Alexandria, the familiar smell of the sea prated the car through the closed windows.

    ¡°Follow them.¡±

    dimir¡¯s eyes suddenly brightened, and it patted Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder so he would look upward.

    There were quite a few stray cats that ran quickly across the roofs. They wereing from different directions, but they seemed to be running in the same direction.

    dimir squinted its eyes to observe their reaction and muttered, ¡°They seem to want to go and eat lunch...¡±

    Anyway, they were unfamiliar with this ce, so Zhang Zian listened to it and drove the car to follow those stray cats. The stray cats took them northwards, and the smell of the sea became stronger and stronger. Zhang Zian did not stop until a crowded market appeared ahead.

    ¡°So many ces selling fish.¡±

    ¡°So many...stray cats.¡±

    They observed the market in surprise. It had more fish than cats and more cats than people. The strong scent of fish, prawns, and crabs could be smelled clearly through the car window. This was Alexandria Port¡¯s fish market and the canteen for the stray cats in this city.

    There was more than one fish market on the seaside avenue of Alexandria Port. They were usually smaller, but they were all very crowded, even during Ramadan. As long as you followed the stray cats, you could easily find these deeply hidden fish markets. As the biggest port in Egypt, this city¡¯s specialty food was fish.

    Alexandria Port was probably the city most tolerant of stray cats in Egypt. The tolerance level was around the highest in the world, either first or second.

    When people walked in the alleys of the fish market, cats often rubbed at their feet. Humans and cats went to the fish market together. There were more cats than people. Everyone was ustomed to this.

    At roadside restaurants, the stray cat entered the ce and jumped on the dining table in a magnificent way, like royalty. First, it looked at the diners, and when it saw that the diners had no intention of driving it away, it was brave and dared to eat the fish on the te.

    The waiter of the restaurant walked between the table holding tes and ignoring the existence of stray cats. As long as the diner did not have an opinion, or it did not like the stray cats, the waiter would not meddle.

    When the diner left the table after eating, if there was any food left on the table, the waiter would wait until the stray cat on the table had filled its belly, was satisfied, and left.

    Few people knew that while people in other countries spent money to feed cats in cat cafes, in any restaurant in the fish market in Alexandria Harbor, one could have free meals with cats.

    Local people were indifferent to this, but a few foreign tourists were surprised, and they barely ate a few mouthfuls of their own meals while they concentrated on taking pictures of the cats eating fish on the table. Their dishes all benefited the stray cats that ate them.

    Unfortunately, there were very few foreigners in the fish market because the fish market was well hidden. Generally, only those who had visited Egypt several times and liked cats knew this little secret.

    This was practically heaven for the stray cats.

 Chapter 1169: The City with a Glorious Past

    <h4>Chapter 1169: The City with a Glorious Past</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    More than 2,000 years ago, Alexandria Port had been a small and insignificant city in ancient Egypt. It was only after Alexander the Great conquered it that the city rose in prominence.

    The city was close to the Nile River Delta system, yet far enough away to avoid the annual floods caused by the Nile. At the same time, it was easily essible with Africa to the south, the Mediterranean to the north, and the Middle East to the east. Outside of the harbor, a group of inds called the Faros Inds surrounded it, providing a natural shelter for the port. These factorsbined provided the city with an unfair and unique geographical advantage.

    It was so unique that Alexander the Great decided that he would build a new city here and name it after himself.

    After his death, his general, Ptolemy, seized the opportunity to separate ancient Egypt from the rest of the greater empire and dered himself the Pharaoh of Egypt. He situated this ce as the capital of ancient Egypt, and this continued for many generations until the death of Cleopatra the Queen. After that, Egypt was annexed and captured by the Romans, thereby bing one of the many provinces of Rome.

    In the three hundred years of Alexandria¡¯s existence as the capital of Egypt, the Ptolemy family had built up the nation¡¯s power and vastly transformed the city. The family had constructed the Alexandria Lighthouse and the Great Library. Unfortunately, both buildings wereter destroyed in natural disasters and man-made disasters, more severely by thetter. Although it was not included in the Seven Wonders of the World, the loss of the Great Library was a significant loss to the progress of humanity.

    It was also during this period that the worship of cat gods in ancient Egypt reached its peak. Although the Temple of Bastet was located in the city of Zagazig, the tradition of love and respect for cats in Alexandria remained up until this day.

    Like Cairo, Alexandria was divided into the old and new parts of the city. The fish market where the stray cats ran rampant was located in the old city. Although the overall condition of the city was betterpared with the city of Cairo, it was still rtively run-down whenpared to a small city in rural China. Many low-rise buildings were reminiscent of China in the 1990s.

    Although the elfins were lured to the fish markets by the stray cats, they were not interested in Egyptian grilled fish. Zhang Zian still had a bitter taste in his mouth, left behind by the scaled grilled fish he¡¯d eaten in the morning. He had no intention to eat another grilled fish.

    There was a saying that, while overseas, when in doubt of what to eat, one should look for a KFC or McDonald¡¯s and add a cup of fizzy soft drink. These fast food joints were simr across the globe, and one was unlikely to die from eating at those ces.

    Zhang Zian found a KFC and ordered a ton of takeout for the elfins and himself. While they were eating, dimir took the opportunity to run about and mingle with the local stray cats.

    There was not much time left for dimir to establish a local branch for the Meow Meow organization.

    Although Alexandria had a long history, her glorious past had all but vanished. Buildings that could¡¯ve been destroyed had been destroyed. Those who could emigrate had already left for other countries. The current Great Library that stood at the original site was a copy, though it was difficult to call it an exact replica. This was because no one knew how it had looked before.

    In addition, the original site of the Alexandria Lighthouse had even been taken over by the Magpie. Two obelisks of the lighthouse, called ¡°The Arrows of Cleopatra,¡± had also been moved to the Thames in London and Central Park in New York. Therefore, the city seemed to have nothing of worth to visit and did not give Fina a ce to reminisce in, making her a little disappointed.

    Zhang Zian drove to the beach and found himself a remote corner to enjoy the scenery while eating his KFC.

    The advantage of a coastal city was that the air was not as dry as it was ind. The sky was covered with just the right amount of clouds and helped to shade people from the harsh Egyptian sunshine. It had the further advantage of a sea breeze that helped to dissipate heat left over from the previous few days.

    By the coast, there were two breakwaters that surrounded the eastern port. The breakwaters left a small gap that ships used to enter and exit the port. However, in the 8th century A.D., the eastern port had been abandoned due to a massive earthquake. The port could now only be used as a spot for leisure. Currently, the city¡¯s main port was the western port.

    Many private yachts, both small andrge, floated gracefully in the deep blue sea. Their presence further reflected the gap between the rich and the poor of Egypt.

    On the breakwater, couples walked together. There were also a few parents along with their children, running happily in the sand. As a city that bridged the three continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe, the blend of these three cultures was reflected in the skin color of the local children. Many of them were beautiful mixed-race children, and couples often had different skin tones.

    Farther away from the beach, dense umbres packed the area like mushrooms sprouting in the forests after the rain. Arge number of tourists from Europe came here for their vacations, to enjoy the exotic culture of the city as well as the cheaper prices on just about everything.

    There was a significant difference between the beaches here and the beaches in other parts of the world. The beachgoers, both men and women, generally wore a little too much. Zhang Zian was sorely disappointed. He even saw several locals wearing robes and headscarves as they dove straight into the sea. They stood waist-deep in the sea water to y with their children. One could not help but think that they might be going into the water tomit suicide if one did not understand their cultural practices.

    Fina half-squatted on a stone and looked out into the vast sea where the sails were moving. No one knew what was on her mind.

    More than 1,600 years ago, Cleopatra¡¯s pce had sunk into the seabed after a massive earthquake. It happened right under the steady stream of waves crashing on the shoreline. Many archaeologists and divers were interested to find the pce and repeatedly organized diving archaeological expeditions. They hoped to find the secrets of the Ptolemy dynasty from the ruins on the seabed. Of course, they were most eager to find Cleopatra¡¯s mausoleum or the sarcophagus.

    There were many spections about the exact location of Cleopatra¡¯s mausoleum, but there was no evidence to support it.

    After Cleopatra disappeared, all information rted to her disappeared. Even her death, whether it was a suicide or murder, was aplete mystery. All remaining relevant descriptions were written by the historian Plutarch. His writings formed the basis of the famous biographical movie about Cleopatra. Therefore, unless the man could¡¯ve been resurrected, the truth of her life would almost certainly remain hidden.

    However, logically speaking, although she was thest ruler of ancient Egypt, the ruler¡¯s mausoleum or sarcophagus was generally not known to be located in the pce. Therefore, the search on the seabed for their existence was probably futile.

    Octavian would have given her a decent enough funeral because Egyptians at that time had loved her very much. He would not have risked angering the Egyptians over the improper burial of a dead woman.

    Fina¡¯s golden fur was highly suitable for reflecting the sun¡¯s rays, and the sea breeze made it sway smoothly. She attracted the attention of many passersby. This was not something to be surprised about. In this cat-loving city, many had seen cats, but none as majestic as Fina.

    Fina might have known some secrets behind the queen¡¯s death, but she had no intentions of making that known. As long as the trip to Egypt continued and she was satisfied with how she was serviced, perhaps she would share some secrets with Zhang Zian. Hopefully it would be enough to satisfy his curiosity and provide him with some gossip to speak of.

    After dinner, dimir rushed back to join the group. Zhang Zian, together with the elfins, continued their journey to the west, leaving the harbor city that was now nothing but a shell of its glorious past.

 Chapter 1170: Port of Mersa Matruhâ€™s Beach

    <h4>Chapter 1170: Port of Mersa Matruh¡¯s Beach</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Alexandria Harbor was basically located in the center of the road between the Port of Mersa Matruh and Cairo. After a simr journey, Zhang Zian and the elfins finally arrived there.

    The Port of Mersa Matruh was totally a tourist city. There were only around 15,000 locals living there. In China, this would be considered a small town. Perhaps some bigger viges would have arger poption than this ce.

    If you wanted to visit the inner parts of Egypt and historic sites, the hot summer would certainly be inconvenient for the journey, but in the Port of Mersa Matruh, summer was the peak season of tourism here. The number of tourists far exceeded the local poption, so all the hotels would be full. Fortunately, summer and Ramadan were just beginning, so there weren¡¯t so many tourists.

    The tourists here were mainly Egyptians and Europeans. Asian tourists were extremely rare because there were only beautiful beaches here. If it was just for stepping on the beach and swimming, there was no need toe all the way to Egypt.

    ording to legend, the establishment of the Port of Mersa Matruh was also rted to Alexander the Great, who had ordered some of his men to build the town when he passed by on his way to visit the Amun Temple in the Oasis of Siva.

    Zhang Zian followed the map and guide for tourists and drove along the shoreline.

    By Egyptian standards, the streets of this small city were surprisingly clean and tidy¡ªso clean that it did not feel like Egypt. They had few vehicles and pedestrians, but when the sun went down and the bell that indicated breakfast rang, there would be as many hungry locals in the streets as in other cities.

    ¡°What a pretty beach!¡±

    Zhang Zian stopped the car. A big U-shaped beach had appeared in front of their eyes.

    They had to admit that the beaches in the Port of Mersa Matruh were much more beautiful than those in Binhai City. It was like seeing a beautiful, elegant, richdy, and it amazed the elfins at first sight.

    Old Time Tea eximed in admiration, ¡°The color of the distant sea is quite different from that of the nearby sea. The sea nearby is the color of jade, the sea in the distance is like sapphire, and the yellow-white beach surrounds the bay like a jade belt... The wonder of creation! This is really an eye-opener for me!¡±

    Just as Old Time Tea had described it, this beach had a touching beauty. Standing at a high altitude, the sea water was extremely clear, and they could even see the rise and fall of the seabed¡¯s topography. The color of the sea water gradually transitioned from light green to dark blue.

    Zhang Zian observed carefully for a moment and said, ¡°The topography of the seabed here seems to be quiteplicated. The irregr dark color in between the green and blue is the oceanic range¡ªtrenches and reef rocks that rise close to the sea surface and bulge out.¡±

    This was the famous Agiba Beach. The beach was not very long, and there were not many tourists walking on it. There were cafes on the mountain cliffs to provide drinks for tourists. But very few people went swimming in the sea, and most of them were concentrated in shallow water. Only a few people snorkeled in deep water.

    Zhang Zian looked at the deep colors in the sea from high up and felt a bit worried. They seemed to be hiding some kind of evil creature.

    He said, ¡°This part of the beach, while pretty, is not very suited for swimming.¡±

    ¡°Oh, why?¡± Old Time Tea asked, troubled.

    ¡°This...it¡¯s a bitplicated to exin. Let¡¯s first find a suitable beach to let Sihwa out before we talk.¡± Zhang Zian took a few photos for mementos, called the elfins to get in the car, and continued to drive onwards.

    The famous beaches in the Port of Mersa Matruh were Agiba Beach and Gharam Beach. Thetter meant ¡°Beach of Love¡± in Arabic. These two public beaches were picturesque, but they were both ces where tourists are concentrated. They were definitely not suitable for live broadcasting for Sihwa.

    About 15 kilometers away from the city, there was another more unknown beach that people called ¡°Cleopatra¡¯s Bathroom.¡± As for whether she¡¯d really bathed there, no one knew. It was more likely a method that the local people used to try to attract tourists.

    When Zhang Zian reached the destination, he understood why this beach was not very famous.

    Unlike Agiba Beach, with its delicate white sand and magnificent and magical water color, the beach where Cleopatra¡¯s bathroom was located was totally unsuitable for ordinary people to swim. There was no sand on the shore¡ªonly strange rocks, reefs, and rugged shallows.

    But at every famous tourist beach, there must be sand, and the sand must be gently submerged in the sea. The sea could not be too deep. Unfortunately, none of those conditions were met here.

    The seawater was very beautiful, but it was not as pretty as Agiba Beach¡¯s. The water was deeper, and the light blue and dark blue sea water was inteced. There wererge submerged reefs under the surface.

    The wind was very strong, and so were the waves. The waves crashed against the reef rocks at the sandy area near the sea over and over again.

    Seeing such scenery, Zhang Zian was 99% sure that the rumors that Cleopatra had bathed here were false. Instead of the picturesque Agiba Beach or Gharam Beach, she¡¯de to swim on this windy and dangerous beach? Had Cleopatra been tired of living?

    Of course, the greatest advantage here was that there was not a visitor in sight, and the cafe on the shore seemed to have dyed its opening due to Ramadan. For the time being, Zhang Zian¡¯s car was the only car on the big beach.

    ¡°We¡¯ll do it here.¡±

    He got out of the car, took out a folding parasol and several folding chairs from the car trunk, and set them up at a ce where thend was rtively t. He had rented these from local vendors as he passed Agiba Beach.

    Fina, Old Time Tea, and Pi took one chair each and stayed in a cool ce to admire the sea.

    dimir could not rest even for a moment and ran off again to find the stray cats nearby.

    With an umbre to shade the sun, Zhang Zian released Snowy Li. This was the first time that it hade outdoors in Egypt. Once it came out, it squeezed into the same chair as Fina.

    ¡°Gxy, how about we go into the water to y hide and seek?¡±

    Zhang Zian sat down on a rock and began to take off his shoes and socks.

    ¡°Meow... Going into the water?¡± Gxy timidly watched the blue water, shrinking away from it and not going forward. Although it liked ying hide-and-seek, it didn¡¯t think it could y in the water.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s not go too far out. It¡¯s dangerous in deep waters. We¡¯ll only y here in the shallows,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°I¡¯ve just taken a look at it. The water on the shore is very shallow.¡± Heughed. ¡°You can go and try it.¡±

    Gxy carefully ran near the water and extended his head to look into the water. The surface of the water reflected its face, so clear it was like a mirror.

    It stretched out a forepaw and tried to stretch it into the water. As soon as it touched the surface of the water, it pulled back. The ripple of the sea made its reflection ripple.

    The warm yet cooling water gave it a very novel experience.

    The first time, it was new to it. The second time, it would be used to it. With the first-time interaction over, it had more courage, and it reached out its forepaw again, pressing it onto the reef rock underwater.

    The sea water here could only cover the feet of an adult.

 Chapter 1171: Giant Reef Rocks

    <h4>Chapter 1171: Giant Reef Rocks</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Even though the beach of Cleopatra¡¯s Bathroom didn¡¯t have sand as white as snow, it did have a specialty in that it wasn¡¯t that attractive. Just a few centimeters below the water¡¯s surface were reef rocks, and it was slippery for humans to step on them with their bare feet. But it barely affected the four-footed animals at all, especially cats with their extraordinary bncing skills.

    Gxy put one front paw into the water experimentally, realizing that the water didn¡¯t evene up to its knee. Waves of chill started to spread up from its paw pad, cooling it down from the heat of the summer.

    Famous had wanted to get down into the water for a long, long time and leaped into it without a shred of hesitation. It wasn¡¯t satisfied with only having its paws drenched and went ahead to roll in the water so all of its fur was soaked. Then it shook its body violently, spewing the water droplets everywhere.

    ¡°Meow!¡± Gxy was sshed by the water droplets since it was nearby, and it quickly retracted its paw so that it could shield its face.

    ¡°Feels great!¡± Famous shouted, turning back to the rest. ¡°Come down to the water!¡±

    The other elfins had thought that the waters were deep and that the sand in the water would give way the moment they stepped onto it, so they did not n to go into the sea at first. But seeing Famous y around so happily, and even Gxy bravely frolicking in the sea, they were all more willing to try.

    ¡°Pi,e down and y! The water¡¯s shallow. This a once in a lifetime opportunity.¡± Zhang Zian stood in the water, his arms out as he tried to maintain his bnce. He saw Pi sitting on the chair, squirming uncertainly, scratching at its head and chin as though its entire body itched. It clearly wanted to go into the water, and yet it was too shy to do so, so he raised his voice to call out to it.

    ¡°Meow! Pi,e y! The water¡¯s cool, and it¡¯s so fun!¡± Gxy called out.

    ¡°Cheep cheep.¡± Pi leaped off the chair to the water¡¯s edge, wanting to see if Gxy was right and test out the waters first, but a spray of water suddenly assaulted it.

    ¡°Haha! Don¡¯t be so cowardly!¡±

    So it was Famous fooling around. Seeing Pi drag its feet, it used its paw to spray a jet of water at Pi. But itsughter stopped abruptly as Pi took its revenge by cupping a bit of water to spray back at Famous and hit its target spot-on.

    ¡°Cheep cheep!¡± Pi danced with glee at its sessful revenge.

    ¡°Bleugh!¡± Famous pped at the sea again to spray water, and Pi sshed back. The former was stronger and could make bigger sshes, but thetter had two hands to cup water, so they could spray more water.

    ¡°Meow meow meow! Your Majesty! Let¡¯s go down and wet ourselves... I mean, y with water!¡± Snowy Li could barely contain itself, rushing to drag Fina into the water with it.

    Sadly, Fina¡¯s sense of self-importance was stronger than its determination, and it didn¡¯t have much interest in ying with water. With Snowy Li¡¯s mane of hair, it would definitely get oddly heavy after going into the sea. Who knew if it would even be able to move afterwards?

    Old Time Tea didn¡¯t go down either, so it didn¡¯t wet his long robes. It drank tea while watching the sea, the very picture of rxation.

    Zhang Zian, of course, hadn¡¯t forgotten the reason why they hade to the harbor. He quietly went to a deeper area of water, observing the surroundings to make sure that there was no one around, before releasing Sihwa.

    Ssh! Sihwanded in the sea.

    The water was merely as deep as an adult¡¯s thigh. She sat on the reef with her neck and head exposed, her seaweed-like olive-colored hair swaying as she looked around. ¡°Where is this?¡±

    ¡°This is the ce I was talking about¡ªCleopatra¡¯s bathroom,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°Liar! Where¡¯s the bathroom? Is this what your bathroom looks like?¡± Sihwa felt cheated.

    She had already bragged about it online to her fans, saying that she was going to livestream at Cleopatra¡¯s bathroom, but this didn¡¯t look like a bathroom at all.

    It was Zhang Zian¡¯s fault for not exining clearly. She had matter-of-factly assumed that Cleopatra¡¯s Bathroom would be a luxurious, beautiful, exquisite ce and had boasted as such. But now, this was just a disappointment, and she could only redirect her anger at Zhang Zia

    ¡°Why are you so impatient? Do you see that giant rock over there?¡±

    Zhang Zian pointed to a dull yellow-colored rock not too far away. The rock was t, and it seemed out of ce. Its bottom was submerged in water, like a castle that had gone through thousands of years of rain and sunshine, with no other rocks or reefs beside it.

    ¡°What is it? I want a bathroom. Don¡¯t dismiss me with some stone!¡± Sihwa lost interest with just one look and demanded an exnation from Zhang Zian.

    ¡°That¡¯s Cleopatra¡¯s bathroom. Hurry and go livestream it.¡± Zhang Zian fished out her phone from his pocket and passed it to her.

    ¡°What? That piece of stone is Cleopatra¡¯s bathroom?¡± Sihwa was nothing but skeptical.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°Absolutely. No matter whether the fable was true or fake, this is definitely the spot. If you don¡¯t believe me, just start the livestream. If there¡¯s someone in your room that knows what they¡¯re talking about, they will definitely recognize it.¡±

    Seeing how confident Zhang Zian was, Sihwa started to believe him, but only a little.

    ¡°How about this¡ªI¡¯ll bring you there.¡±

    Zhang Zian asked Gxy to stay in the shallow region. He raised his trousers up so he wouldn¡¯t get them wet and followed the water flow towards the giant stone. Sihwa then swam beside him, raising the phone up.

    The rocks underneath the water were slippery and would cause someone to fall if they weren¡¯t being careful. That would be one painful fall, seeing that it was all rocks underneath.

    When they reached the giant rock, Zhang Zian pointed at a big hole in the bottom. ¡°Do you see that? That¡¯s the entrance. They say that there¡¯s another smaller hole on the other end, facing the sea, but I haven¡¯t seen it myself yet.¡±

    Sihwa frowned. ¡°This water is too shallow. Are you asking me to climb in?¡±

    Even if it was the side facing the sea, the sea level was only around the knee of an adult. If Sihwa wanted to go into the hole, she¡¯d have to use her hands to prop herself up on the rocks and drag herself in. The rough rocks would definitely cause a lot of injury to her tail.

    ¡°Don¡¯t rush.¡± Zhang Zian looked out into the sea. ¡°The tides will be rising soon.¡±

    As a person who¡¯d grown up by the sea, he was familiar with how the sea was. Even if this was the other side of the globe, the sea was still the sea. The coldnessing from his ankles urately told him that it was rising tide right now, and the waves were getting stronger.

    If Sihwa had been a normal person, he wouldn¡¯t have rmended that she go into the water right now. During rising tide, the rocky reefs around the shore would be dangerous when the waves pushed people into them. Besides, this was a foreign beach that they were not familiar with, so they had to be even more careful as they didn¡¯t know what was beneath the water¡¯s surface.

    But she was a mermaid and had swimming abilities tons of times stronger than humans, and she would never drown, so whatever.

    Finishing, he walked back to the shore using his original route, not wanting the rising tide to wet his clothes.

    Sihwa initially didn¡¯t believe him at all and was thinking that Zhang Zian was just dismissing her like he had Fina. But after a moment¡¯s wait, she realized that Zhang Zian was right¡ªthe tides had risen.

 Chapter 1172: A Secret Place

    <h4>Chapter 1172: A Secret ce</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    With the surging tide, Sihwa felt a great forceing from behind that pushed her to the huge rock.

    She was not afraid of the sea. She was more familiar with water than anyone else. She didn¡¯t need to think at all. She flicked her tail instinctively, producing a slightly smaller reaction than the power of the waves, and controlled her speed to slide toward the entrance of the huge rock and towards the sea.

    Nevertheless, she had to hold up the hand holding her phone tightly, to keep the phone above the sea surface. She had to be careful to make sure that it was not swept away by the fierce waves¡ªif that happened, the stingy Zhang Zian would never give her a new mobile phone.

    Although the mobile phone had a certain waterproof capability, this was sea water and not the fresh water in the bathtub. She seemed to have heard someone say that the sea water was corrosive, and she wanted to take as few risks as possible.

    This was her first time broadcasting outdoors. It was hard for her not to be excited.

    She started up the live broadcast room, smugly smiled at the camera, and said, ¡°Haha! I, Sihwa, will keep my promise. You guys that stay at home all day and do not go out much¡ªwho can tell where I am now?¡±

    She had just started broadcasting. There were only a few people in the broadcast room, but the many fans that had heard the news quickly entered the broadcast room. The afternoon in Egypt was the popr and golden hour during China¡¯s evening time, and the people who liked to stroll around randomly in the live broadcasting app were usually online.

    The fans knew that she¡¯d gone to Egypt, but they found it amusing to tease her. They kept deliberately saying that she was tricking them and that the truth was that she¡¯d just changed the bathtub. They kept asking her to show evidence of her being in Egypt.

    Additionally, the fans were actually also very curious. They had never seen Sihwa leave that humble bathroom and that old bathtub. Sihwa¡¯s natural way of talking was like a child that hade out of a deep mountain or old forest. With her breathtaking appearance, they guessed her identity in their hearts. Some even suggested calling the police, saying that she must have been hidden by a wealthy Chinese person from childhood as a s*x ve...

    When Sihwa made the announcement that she would be broadcasting live outdoors, it aroused their interest, as atst, they could see the parts under her neck and shoulders, and the rumor of her being a s*x ve... It would also be destroyed on its own.

    So a lot of people were awaiting this live broadcast.

    It was really outdoors!

    As soon as the live broadcasting started, a row of waves surged in, making the watchers instinctively move backwards from behind their screens.

    The sky was connected to the sea, the sea was connected to the sky, and the sea and the sky were all blue. Only the spray of foam and Sihwa¡¯s skin were as white as snow.

    Unfortunately, everything under Sihwa¡¯s neck and shoulders was still submerged underwater, and because sometimes the waves were too big, even her face was half submerged in the water.

    ¡°Sihwa, are you crazy? You¡¯re in the water even with such big waves?¡±

    ¡°Quickly get back onnd! You¡¯ll be washed away by the water!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re using your life to broadcast!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you gifts now! Hurry and go back tond!¡±

    Theizens could not be bothered to tease her as usual and were instead sending bullet screens to urge her to go ashore. The turbulent waves caused even them, who were behind the screen, to be frightened.

    From their point of view, her soft and weak body could be washed away by the next wave anytime.

    Fans with high ounts were considered the elders of live broadcasting tforms. They had seen live broadcasters seek death in various ways, such as exploring ghost houses, cemeteries, field explorations, and so on. Compared with Sihwa¡¯s situation at this time, those so-called explorations were like ying house in kindergarten.

    It was the first time they had seen people broadcast live by the seaside like this. They had watched the huge wavesing in session from a near-first-person perspective. Each time, the camera¡¯s view was shaken violently. The surging tide sounded like thousands of troops galloping on the battlefield, and the strong sensory impact was like being immersed in the situation themselves.

    For such a precious experience, wealthyizens were not stingy in rewarding gifts, and even fans who never spent money were infected. They had recharged their money and be generous and passionate.

    The tform-wide news caused by the continuous reward of high value gifts attracted more of an audience. Every neer was immediately captured by the broadcast and asked others what was broadcasting live.

    Sihwa was totally unconcerned as she wiped seawater off her face and raised her voice in order to overwhelm the tide. ¡°Let me tell you all, I¡¯m now in the Egyptian Mers... Cleopatra¡¯s bathroom in the Port of Mersa Mat! I never lie. I always follow through! Now you all believe me, right?¡±

    ¡°What Mersa Mat? I¡¯ve only heard of the Port of Mersa Matruh before!¡±

    Despite the fact that they were worried about her safety, theizens did not forget to insult her.

    ¡°I just said Port of Mersa Matruh! You just misheard it!¡± Sihwa defended and changed the subject. ¡°Did you see this huge rock? This is the bathroom of Cleopatra! You haven¡¯t been here, have you? You haven¡¯t seen it before, right? Ahaha! Thanks to me, you can open your eyes and broaden your worldview, you bunch of bumpkins!¡±

    There was aizen who said, ¡°It seems like it¡¯s really Cleopatra¡¯s Bathroom! I went there the year before in October, but the water was a bit cold then, so I did not go into the water or walk into the cave.¡±

    Sihwa was even happier and raised her phone to turn a half circle, letting them see how the big stone looked as a whole. She said, ¡°I¡¯m going in now! If it were not for me, you would never be able to see the ce where Cleopatra bathed in the past!¡±

    Netizens were extremely worried at first, and while they were still very worried, they noticed that Sihwa, although seemingly in danger, was actually very stable. Despite the impact of the wind and waves, she could always keep her body stable, and even if she spoke loudly in the waves, she did not choke on the water.

    Her ability to swim in the water was that good?

    Netizens couldn¡¯t believe it, but they had to believe it because there was no other exnation.

    Sihwa held up her mobile phone with one hand and supported herself against the rock wall with the other hand. She entered the cave under the push of the waves.

    The light suddenly darkened.

    ¡°Be careful! If you can¡¯t do it,e out!¡±

    ¡°We trust you! Don¡¯t push yourself!¡±

    Netizens¡¯ hearts tightened again in fear that there was some danger in the cave, but Sihwa did not see it.

    After following along the zigzag path a few steps, she came to the center of the giant rock and saw a wonderful sight¡ªthe ce which was supposed to be a dark cave actually had bright sunshine prating from the top of the cave, making the center of the cave bright while the area around it was dark, like a stage illuminated by a spotlight.

    Sihwa swam forward a bit and bathed in the sunlight again. She looked up and saw that there was a hole at the top of the huge rock that could not be seen from outside.

    Obstructed by the rock wall, the strength of the water in the cave decreased. The water in the cave moved very slowly, and the whirring sea wind passed through the cave, gushing out from the entrance of the cave to the coast.

    Because of the twists and turns of the path and the darkness in the cave, the sea could be seen from the cave, but the inside of the cave could not be seen from the outside. It was a well-hidden ce.

    When they saw this scene, whether it was Sihwa or theizens, an idea arose in their hearts¡ªperhaps the Queen of Egypt really had once bathed here.

 Chapter 1173: Flying Again

    <h4>Chapter 1173: Flying Again</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In fact, Zhang Zian also wanted to see what the so-called ¡°Cleopatra¡¯s Bathroom¡± looked like. However, being a responsible adult, he decided that he would not rob Sihwa of her desires to broadcast.

    He could be seen on the same screen as her, for fear of being recognized by the people that knew him. For those who might have wanted to introduce pretty girls to him, upon seeing him with Sihwa, they might have thought that he had already found one. That would certainly hurt his chances of finding a beautiful, white, rich girl...

    ¡°Hey! I thought the waves would be really big, but what is this?¡± Richard said while standing on his shoulders, looking at the rising tides of the sea.

    Zhang Zian stood in the same ce for a little while and found that the tide there was rtively low. The waves were not as fierce whenpared to those in Binhai City. It was probably because the Mediterranean was a semi-ind sea and therefore had weaker tides. In addition, all the coral reefs in the sea provided additional barriers to the raging waters.

    The entrance to the cave suddenly narrowed. It might have caused the waves to be a lot stronger, but because Sihwa was a mermaid, it had little effect on her pace. Zhang Zian was satisfied that she would be in no danger and left her behind.

    ¡°Hey! It¡¯s said that the sea is the source of romance for many poets. I want to take this opportunity to write a poem!¡± Richard took the opportunity to break into a creative mode while there was no one in sight.

    ¡°Save it. You are probablying up with a load of crap, and I am sick of hearing it.¡± Zhang Zian was clearly not interested. ¡°In addition, howe I have never heard of that saying before?¡±

    Richard ignored what Zhang Zian said, took a deep breath, and shouted, ¡°On the Western end of Egypt, seeing the roaring waves!¡±

    Ah? This line sounded unexpectedly normal.

    However, just like that, it took a turn for the worse and became, ¡°The waves will dirty you, so you dirty the waves!¡±

    It fluttered to the sea. ¡°I can¡¯t hold it anymore! Now it¡¯s going to be really dirty!¡± Out came a series of green, white, and yellow bird droppings,nding neatly in the sea. ¡°Haha! That was really satisfying!¡±

    Richard, having cleared his bowels, wanted to fly back to Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder. However, it saw Zhang Zian¡¯s menacing re and knew to immediately change tack and fly in a different direction. Itnded on top of a sun umbre and used it to clean its *sshole.

    Zhang Zian could only hope that when they returned the umbres, the hawkers who rented them out would not be too thorough with inspecting them...

    Back at the shore, Pi and Famous yed until they were really tired. Pi was especially drained, since it seldom left home to exercise outside. It spread itself out on the rocks and made itselffortable.

    Famous sprayed a lot of seawater on its body. The sun¡¯s strong rays caused the water to evaporate quickly, leaving a stray of sea salt on its body. Perhaps it was affected by taking on the physical appearance of a monkey, and it instinctively pulled at its own fur to get the salt out.

    Although tired, they had a great time ying together.

    It was advantageous for Famous to y the water, as it wore goggles. It did not have to worry about sea water stinging its eyes. Seeing howfortable Pi was, Famous wanted to bask in the sun to dry its fur, but Zhang Zian stopped it.

    ¡°Famous,e and y hide and seek! Don¡¯t even think about running away today!¡±

    Famous said nothing. At this moment, it realized that it had taken its opponents too lightly. Gxy and Zhang Zian had already taken up positions on its left and right. To escape, it could only run towards the ocean.

    ¡°Hey,e y hide and seek!¡± Gxy jumped around excitedly, creating small puddles wherever it stepped. Gxy was now very ustomed to the cool feeling of its feet immersed in water and did not want to get stuck in the nasty sand.

    ¡°Okay... I will only y for a while. Also, I reserve the right to admit defeat.¡± Famous stated its terms in advance, for it did not want to be drained of its life ying.

    ¡°How can you admit defeat? You should y hide-and-seek with the spirit of never giving up! Look at me. Don¡¯t I set a good example for you?¡± Zhang Zian asked with a look of pain on his face.

    ¡°You just don¡¯t want to hit rock bottom.¡± Famous had already read what was on his mind.

    Richard sighed. If only he could be with the rest, lying out and enjoying the sun and breeze in peace.

    ¡°When will it start?¡± he asked reluctantly.

    ¡°Wait a minute. I will prepare something first.¡± Zhang Zian opened the trunk of the station wagon and took out Nekhbet, the unmanned drone.

    Sinceing to Egypt, however, due torge-scale anti-terrorism movements and strict quotas on air control, Nekhbet had no chance of leaving its suitcase and taking flight. ording to his experience, if electronic products were kept and not used, in the long-term, they would easily damaged, and it would be difficult to get them working again.

    The drone was especially important for this expedition. If the need for it arose and it was unable to fly, that would be highly disastrous. Therefore, Zhang Zian wanted to use this opportunity, while they were in a small seaside town, to try it out. Doing so allowed him to check on its flying capabilities. It would also allow him to observe whether anyone cheated in this game. To add on a third bonus, it would allow him to observe the immediate surroundings for any sign of movement, in case any tourists chanced upon Sihwa. It was indeed killing three birds with one stone.

    Seeing Zhang Zian take out the drone, Famous almost wanted to admit defeat immediately.

    Zhang Zian found a t rock and installed the rotor and battery on the fusge. The data transmitted through the remote control was normal, and the battery was full.

    Whiz! Nekhbet took off lightly and positioned itself in the sky above Zhang Zian while in tracking mode. Everything around him could be seen.

    ¡°Okay! Let¡¯s get started! This time I am confident that I will beat you!¡±

    Gxy challenged and replied, ¡°Yeah... Bragger!¡±

    ¡°Please! Cheating is cheating. Can¡¯t you at least be quiet about it?¡± Famous snorted.

    Its words went in one ear and out the other to Zhang Zian. He felt that in this day and age, the honest man always lost out, so why should he not cheat if he could?

    ¡°I am in a good mood today, so we need not pick who is the catcher via a game of rock-paper-scissors. You guys go and hide. I will be the catcher first.¡± He graciously waved his hands while looking for a rock to lean on. He covered his eyes with his hands and started counting down. He counted quickly, and numbers came out of his mouth.

    ¡°100, 99, 98, 97...¡±

    Famous had more things toin about, but since Zhang Zian would nevertheless ignore it, it will no doubt be a meaningless affair. Rather, it would be better for it to start hiding.

    As soon as it turned around, Famous realized that Gxy was long gone. There was no time to waste, and with a heavy heart, it nced around looking for a suitable spot. Yet it found nowhere that was worthy as a hiding spot.

    Zhang Zian quickly finished counting to 100. He¡¯d probably skipped a few numbers in between, but he could not be bothered. He opened his eyes and shouted, ¡°I am starting now! All of you better hide well! I don¡¯t want to win so easily!¡±

    Although the crashing waves were loud, his voice was certainly louder, and it traveled across the entire beach. He believed the elfins had heard him.

    ¡°Now let me see where you all are hiding...¡± He looked down at his drone remote control and looked for traces of Gxy and Famous with eyes in the sky.

    Eh?

    It was in this moment that he saw, albeit identally, a car driving toward them.

 Chapter 1174: Surfer

    <h4>Chapter 1174: Surfer</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The beach of Cleopatra¡¯s bathroom was rarely visited, but it was not entirely empty all the time. Some tourists were curious to see the legendary ce where the queen bathed. Others just found that there were too many people on the two popr beaches, Agiba Beach and Gharam Beach, to find a quiet ce.

    Zhang Zian was not in a hurry to find Gxy and Famous, and he instead observed the movement of the car to see whether the people in the car belonged to the former or thetter. If thetter did not matter, if it were the former, he would go ahead and put Sihwa into his mobile phone.

    The car caused dust to fly up around it as it drove closer and closer.

    Other elfins, like Fina and Old Time Tea, also heard the sound of the car engine, but they had not yet seen the car itself, while Zhang Zian could see the reflection of the front window ss.

    Fortunately, the car did not continue to approach. It stopped at a distance where he could barely see its shape, about one or two kilometers away from Zhang Zian. It did not seem to being to Cleopatra¡¯s bathroom for sightseeing.

    Zhang Zian adjusted the focal length of Nekhbet¡¯s camera. Through long-focus lens observation, he saw a middle-sized young man get out of the car wearing a tight swimsuit, take a surfboard out of the trunk, mp the surfboard under his armpit, and walk to the beach.

    So it was a surfer.

    Surfing was not very popr in China, but it was very popr abroad. Adventure-loving young people danced with the waves on surfboards. Sometimes they stood proudly on the waves and made various difficult movements. Sometimes they passed through the tube-shaped curtain hole formed by huge waves and enjoyed the pleasure of elerating adrenaline secretion. They even became addicted to it because of this and made bystanders sweat for them no matter what. Whether it was in terms of just for fun, being watched, orpetitiveness, both were very strong.

    However, while this sport looked very shocking and scary, it was not as dangerous as it looked.

    Surfing was the safest of all extreme sports. It was many times safer than skateboarding, cross-country cycling, bungee jumping, skiing, parkour, parachuting, diving, rock climbing, and other extreme sports. Even if one fell, they would only fall into the gentle embrace of the sea. The probability of sports injury and direct physical injury was close to zero.

    Even if it was a young girl new to this with not much experience and only knowing how to swim, they could easily learn how to surf.

    Of course, just like anypetitive sport, it took a certain amount of talent and a lot of time to practice surfing and amaze the spectators and attract the attention of the girls.

    Some wealthy surfers would even travel all over the world to experience the huge waves in different sea areas, which required courage. After all, in the face of unknown sea areas, everything was unknown.

    There were three kinds of dangers that surfers may face. One was sudden bad weather, the second was sharks, and the third was overestimating their ability to challenge the huge waves that they couldn¡¯t cope with.

    There were definitely no sharks in the Mediterranean sea, at least no man-eating sharks, but news of shark bites or injuries to divers had urred more than once near several famous tourist attractions in areas of Egypt near the Red Sea. Thetest incident had happened in August of 2018.

    That surfer seemed to also have seen Zhang Zian and raised up an arm to wave at him from afar, as a way of greeting.

    Zhang Zian also waved his hand in response.

    The surfer paused for a moment, then waved and carried his surfboard to the beach. He made several warm-up preparations, carefully wet his body to adapt to the temperature of the sea water, and walked into the sea.

    Surfers would lie t on the board and paddle with their hands and feet alternately, driving the board to deeper waters, and observe the movement of the waves. When the appropriate waves had formed and were approaching, the surfer adjusted the direction of the board so that the head of the board was facing the shore. He would paddle along the direction of the waves.

    When the board reached a high enough speed, he would stand up from the board, both knees bent slightly with one foot in front with the other foot behind, adjust his center of gravity with both arms to maintain bnce, control the direction of the board through the strength of the legs and shoulders, and sessfully ride the wave.

    The surfer held his hand in a fist and yelled out happily.

    This person was not a novice but was not very skilled. He should be a surfing hobbyist. Of course, he was much better than Zhang Zian, who could not surf at all.

    Zhang Zian observed for a while and made a judgment that the surfer would not cross paths with Sihwa, because he would evidently avoid the rocks on the seashore in order to avoid danger when surfing.

    Since it was like that, there should be no problem leaving it be.

    Furthermore, the surfer was totally engrossed in his shocking and dangerous exercise and did not have time to observe the ce near the shore.

    Thinking about that, Zhang Zian no longer observed the surfer and continued to y hide-and-seek.

    It didn¡¯t take him long to catch Famous, who had a helpless expression on its face. It had thought it was hiding, but it didn¡¯t know that he could see half of its tail from its hiding ce through the sky eyes of Nekhbet.

    ¡°You¡¯re too weak. You have to practice hard in the future,¡± he said sadly, encouraging it.

    ¡°Please let me off. I don¡¯t need this kind of practice at all,¡± Famous muttered in its heart, lying back under the parasol, its whole bodycking in energy.

    Finding Gxy was the real challenge. Zhang Zian pulled himself together and made up his mind to win hide-and-seek this time.

    He looked down at the remote control as he walked past the parasol and suddenly heard Fina spit out a strange word.

    ¡°Harmattan.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    He thought he had heard wrong and asked, ¡°What did you say? Denmark?¡±

    Fina squinted her eyes, gazed into the distance, and repeated the word again. ¡°Harmattan.¡±

    This time, he heard it clearly, but he still did not understand it.

    Zhang Zian looked to Richard. The reason for keeping a bird for a thousand days was for its use for a moment. The stupid bird, which was known to be proficient in thenguages of all nations, should know what the word means, right?

    ¡°Gah gah! Even if you make seductive eyes at me, I can¡¯t help even if I want to...¡± Richard spread out its wings, expressing that it did not know either.

    Since it was like this, then it was probably not a kind of foreignnguage but some kind of fixed phrase.

    ¡°Zian, there are winds starting up in the far distance, and their strength is not small.¡± Old Time Tea also squinted its eyes and looked in the same direction as Fina.

    Zhang Zian looked in that direction only to see that the sky over there had lost its original blue, turning gray like that of Cairo. It was a growing trend.

    With frost in her eyes, Fina murmured, ¡°The raging desert and the raging god Seth have brought a harmattan to the world! This is a demonstration to warn me away from the western desert... Hmph, why would I be threatened by him?¡±

    Zhang Zian understood now after being troubled for such a long time. Harmattan was the name of a kind of wind.

 Chapter 1175: Harmattan Wind

    <h4>Chapter 1175: Harmattan Wind</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The sky in the southwest was a dusky yellow, even a little hint of red on the far horizon. The red clouds looming over the city were like the foreshadowing in exploration movies, the few heart-thumping moments before some monster jumped out at the lead characters.

    The iing storm reminded Zhang Zian of the sandstorms in the northern parts of China.

    Right then, dimir rushed over,ining, ¡°What the meow? What is with all the cats here? I had just gathered them all and was getting ready to inform them of the superiority of the Meow Meow Doctrine, and yet they all scattered into the wind the moment they saw the sandstorm in the distance!¡±

    ¡°You came back at the right time. The storm ising, so don¡¯t run off on your own,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°The local strays must know how terrifying the storm is, so that¡¯s why they all ran away.¡±

    dimir had a whole lot of energy with nowhere for it to go, but there was nothing it could do about it anyway.

    ¡°What do we do now?¡± he asked Fina a little nervously. Amongst their group, only Fina truly understood storms like these.

    He took his phone to open the live-streaming app, only to find that Sihwa was still live-streaming. If the storm started to get too violent, he could only forcefully end her live stream and take back her phone.

    Fina was calm. ¡°No worries. Even though the harmattan winds seem strong, they aren¡¯t actually that dangerous. As long as we stay here and wait for it to pass, we¡¯ll emerge unscathed. Expect a bit of dust and sand on us.¡±

    Zhang Zian definitely wasn¡¯t as confident as Fina was. On sight, this storm was enveloping everything it passed through, and it definitely wasn¡¯t a ¡°No worries¡± sort of thing.

    Fina red at him. ¡°What are you worried about?¡± it asked. ¡°The harmattan winds were blown here from the deserts in the rednds, umting a lot of sand along the way. That¡¯s why it looks dangerous. The visibility drops significantly in a sandstorm, but it actually isn¡¯t that strong. It won¡¯t blow a person away, and it definitely won¡¯t bury a city. It¡¯s just the god of deserts and storms, Seth, showing off a bit of his strength to its enemies, but that doesn¡¯t scare me. The idiots that die during harmattan storms die because they insist on walking around even if they can¡¯t see anything, so they end up lost in the depths of the desert.¡±

    ¡°Rednds¡± probably meant the Sahara desert. The ancient Egyptians had called all the deserts outside of ancient Egypt ¡°rednds¡± anyway.

    ¡°Oh.¡± Hearing the logic behind her words, Zhang Zian finally rxed. ¡°But how are you so sure that this was the work of that...Seth or something?¡±

    Fina knew he didn¡¯t believe in the existence of Seth and huffed, ¡°The harmattan winds usually only blow in Egypt during the winter, and the khamsin winds blow once every fifty days in the spring. It¡¯s already summer now, but the harmattan winds, which only blow in winter, are blowing right now. If it¡¯s not a message for me, what can it be?¡±

    dimir perked up then, clenching its fist tight. ¡°Ever since storms have terrorized the world, there have been spirits rising from the graves! No matter what devil tries to fool around, they will have a taste of my Meow Meow Doctrine Iron Fist!¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to think about it too much. No matter whether this storm was a message for Fina or not, it was more important to deal with the storm before them first.

    Wait! It had said that the harmattan winds wouldn¡¯t blow someone off their feet, and they wouldn¡¯t bury cities, which meant that there were other insanely strong storms in the desert that could blow people away and bury cities, didn¡¯t it?

    Now he definitely couldn¡¯t be at peace. He could only pray to Bastet that the expedition team wouldn¡¯t meet such a storm while in the desert...

    But, the more urgent task at hand now was to let Nekhbete back. Even though the storm wasn¡¯t that dangerous to humans, there was no reason for a drone to bear the danger.

    Before hended Nekhbet, he took another look at the surfer in the sea. That man seemed to be focused on surfing and hadn¡¯t noticed the dangerous harmattan winds. Even though the harmattan winds would decrease visibility, it couldn¡¯t be too dangerous for a surfer.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go back to the car first so we don¡¯t get covered in sand,¡± Zhang Zian suggested. No one objected to that idea, and they all leapt off their chairs, running towards the SUV.

    Zhang Zian stayed to keep the chairs and the parasol. If the winds blew their parasol away, they wouldn¡¯t be able to get their deposit back.

    Only Gxy and Sihwa were outside now. The other elfins had all entered the car.

    ¡°Sihwa¡¯s in the cave, so the sandstorm won¡¯t reach her. I¡¯ll go look for Gxy. You guys stay here,¡± he said, almost closing the car door.

    But where was Gxy hiding? It was already a challenge to find Gxy in the pet shop, and now they were on the endless shoreline.

    ¡°Gxy! Where are you? The storm ising! Let¡¯s pause hide-and-seek!¡± He cupped his hands by his mouth, shouting through them so his voice traveled farther.

    The storm hadn¡¯t reached them yet, but the howling of the wind could already be heard. His voice didn¡¯t go too far with both the wind and the waves interfering with it.

    Gxy didn¡¯t respond, nor did it show up. Maybe it really hadn¡¯t heard him, or it was too immersed in its game of hide-and-seek and thought he was just trying to trick it toe out.

    Famous pushed open the door and jumped out. ¡°I¡¯ve already said that you guys take hide-and-seek too seriously. Forget it. I¡¯ll look for Gxy with you.¡±

    With the military grade sunsses, Famous wasn¡¯t afraid of the wind and sand. This was, in fact, a great chance to test how well they worked. It wasn¡¯t afraid of water either, so even if its entire body was full of sand, it could just get it all off by rolling in the sea.

    Famous¡¯ help was definitely much-needed. Its sense of smell was much better and would bring better results than Zhang Zian, running around like a headless chicken.

    dimir and Old Time Tea would¡¯ve liked to help as well, but Zhang Zian felt they wouldn¡¯t be of much help, and it would be even more troublesome if they got lost in the sandstorm, so he asked them to stay in the car. As for Pi, Snowy Li, and Richard, they would definitely only create more trouble in the sandstorm, so they were better off in the car.

    Fina just felt that they were being too paranoid. It was just a small sandstorm. Having grown up here, it was more than used to something like this and didn¡¯t think that there was any reason to overreact like they did. Besides, Gxy didn¡¯t need them to look for it, did it? If they all got separated, Gxy was probably the one least likely to get lost.

    But this was the first time that Zhang Zian had seen such a huge storm, and he still felt unsettled about not bringing Gxy back.

    He discussed with Famous. As they didn¡¯t know which direction Gxy had run off to, it would be better for them to go separate ways. Using the car as their anchor, Zhang Zian would look to the east, while Famous headed towards the west. No matter whether they could find Gxy, they had toe back to the car before the storm reached them. Their visibility would be extremely low in the storm, and smells would be blown away, too. There would be no reason to stay in the storm.

    With their decision made, they went their separate ways, shouting for Gxy to stop hiding as they walked.

    ¡°Gxy! Where are you?¡±

    ¡°Woof woof! Woof woof!¡±

    Zhang Zian moved east along the coastline, watching his surroundings carefully, not missing a single reef or bush. He got closer and closer to the car that the surfer had driven over. Famous¡¯ barks were getting further and further away, until he finally couldn¡¯t hear any of it anymore.

    ¡°Gxy! Where are you?¡± he continued screaming. ¡°We lose! Come out!¡±

    The storm was getting closer and closer. The forefront of it had already reached the coast, and Zhang Zian¡¯s clothes billowed in the wind. Every time he opened his mouth and closed it, he could feel his mouth lined with sand. He spat it all out, but he received another mouthful of sand when he opened his mouth again to shout.

    The sand that harmattan winds carried were different from the sands on the beach. This sand was extremely fine, only marginally coarser than dust, and was very hard to deal with. Thank goodness he was wearing sunsses too, or he would¡¯ve been blind by now.

    He took a white scarf out of his pocket, covering his nose and mouth like Arabians did, and immediately felt relief. It looked like there was a reason the nomads of the deserts could survive in such harsh conditions.

    If he couldn¡¯t find it, he could only head back first and hope that Famous had better luck than him.

    He turned past a promontory only to suddenly find Gxy. It was just sitting between two rocks, not hiding itself at all.

    ¡°Gxy, the storm is here. Let¡¯s go back to the car first.¡± He finally rxed. He didn¡¯t have the time to ask why it was just sitting out in the open. The more important things had toe first.

    Gxy turned its head to look at him before turning back to the sea. ¡°Meow! That man might be in danger.¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned, looking out at the sea. The surfer was still surfing and didn¡¯t seem to be in any sort of imminent danger at all.

 Chapter 1176: Salem

    <h4>Chapter 1176: Salem</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Intense heavy metal music reverberated in this old off-road vehicle that had been sold and changed hands many times. Salem nodded his head along with the drum beat and hummed to the tune, anticipating today¡¯s surfing.

    Not long ago, he¡¯d learned to surf with his cousin who worked in Alexandria Harbor and immediately became fascinated with this exciting sport. As long as his work allowed it, he would always find time to run to the seaside to practice.

    On the outside, he looked quite tanned and like a shy adolescent, but deep inside, he was passionate and rebellious like rock music.

    Coming out to surf on his own was a way for him to express the intense emotions that he had suppressed for a long time.

    Unlike his fellow tribesmen, he hated deserts and the smell of camels, and he liked the sea, the smell of gasoline, the lifestyle of big cities, the trendy digital equipment, and the foreign girls roaming the streets of big cities.

    But his father often had people pass on the message to ask him to go back and take over the family business.

    Goodness knows, what sort of family business did he have to take over? It was just a few broken down huts!

    It was already the new era. Why did they have to keep holding onto those ancient living traditions?

    He rebelled against his father in silence, stayed stubbornly in the Port of Mersa Matruh to work, and was determined to go to Cairo and even other more prosperous ces one day to work there.

    Surfing was his way of rebelling.

    He dared not practice surfing on crowded hot beaches because he knew that his poor skills could hurt people, and he¡¯d feel humiliated if he failed in front of beautiful girls.

    The familiar shoreline appeared in front of him. Salem stopped the car and switched off the engine, taking off his jacket and exposing his swimsuit.

    He had been to this seaside several times. There were few tourists, and it even had a few cafes and restaurants nearby, but they were not open now. It was a good ce for surfing¡ªat least he himself felt that way.

    He rushed out of the car and took out the surfboard. He wanted to plunge into the sea immediately, enjoy the gentle embrace and cooling feeling of the water, and enjoy the feeling of conquest of trampling the waves under his feet.

    Huh?

    He noticed that there was a car parked a little farther away, and there was a man standing there with a parasol beside him. As for the other details, because the distance was too far to see clearly, he could not even see if that person was a man or a woman, but judging from his clothes, it seemed that he was a man.

    It turned out that someone hade. It was probably an ordinary tourist. Looking at his clothing, it looked like he did not n on going to sea. It should not affect Salem¡¯s surfing.

    Salem averted his gaze and closed the door, but he just so happened to look into another pair of eyes.

    Nearby, in the grass, a ck-and-white kitten crouched furtively as if hiding from something.

    What beautiful eyes!

    Salem was slightly startled. He had seen many cats, but none of them had such silver-gray eyes. For a long time, he seemed to be sucked in by them. It was like lying in the desert, looking up at the stars in the dark sky.

    Where had this cate from? Was it someone else¡¯s cat or a stray cat?

    It was a pity that his workce did not let people keep pets. He really wanted to bring it back and keep it.

    He smiled widely, raising his arm to wave at it. ¡°Hello!¡±

    The ck and white cat was still staring at him. The man a good distance away thought that Salem was waving at him and also waved his hand.

    That was awkward.

    Out of politeness, Salem could only wave his hand at the other man.

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    The ck and white cat softly called out, as sweet as milk rice with ice cream.

    He had always missed the milk rice meal he¡¯d had in Alexandria Port. His cousin had treated him to a meal. It was cooked with milk, butter and rice, and they poured ice cream onto it, along with crushed nuts and coconut.

    Was he imagining things?

    The ck and white cat was shaking its head at him, like it was saying, ¡°Don¡¯t.¡±

    Don¡¯t do what?

    Don¡¯t go to the sea and surf?

    Heughed. How could a cat talk? How could a cat understand the enjoyment of surfing?

    ¡°Goodbye. I hope that you will still be here when I get on shore.¡±

    He lowered his head, carrying the surfboard and running towards the sea.

    He threw the surfboard into the sea. Jumping onto the surfboard, he rowed towards the middle of the sea.

    That familiar feeling came back again, and his excitement in his heart increased even more.

    At that moment, he forgot everything else. The tribe, work, girls, dreams, and money were no longer important. He just wanted to surf and conquer the sea, a person and his surfboard!

    The wave rose, and the wave fell.

    His concentration was high, and his brain shed with the techniques of surfing. He only had eyes for the wave.

    In his eyes, the waves seemed to have a life. They were born at different trajectories, grew strong, aged, and finally broke into pieces and died.

    No two waves were exactly the same.

    His cousin had praised him and said that he had a lot of talent and learned things very fast. He felt that that was not wrong. He had always been very smart.

    The surfboard became an extension of his limbs, rising and falling with him in the water.

    asionally the bitter sea water that sshed into his mouth made him more excited. The inheritance in his blood was stimted, and he made a mid-level-difficulty turn while cheering.

    He has be more and more familiar with the waves in this area, and after he practiced a few more times, perhaps he could try to go to a public beach and perform in front of beautiful girls.

    Surfing time always passed very quickly. If he was extremely focused on surfing, he noticed that the sky seemed to be getting dark when he was paddling. Now it was the period of time with the longest daytime in a year, and it should not end so quickly.

    The people in other countries might¡¯ve felt that it was going to rain as their first reaction, but please, this was Egypt!

    He nced westward and saw the towering walls of sand and dust and the dark red in the dusk.

    Oh...this was the harmattan wind that was rarely seen in this season.

    As a child who¡¯d grown up in the desert, he recognized the name of the storm at a nce and had no fluctuation in his heart, because he was very familiar with the characteristics of the wind. He knew that the harmattan wind was not dangerous, and furthermore, he was at sea and not in the desert.

    Should he go back to shore?

    Never mind, it was still too early. He would find a slightly calm sea surface and continue surfing until the wind passed. He was not drenched in seawater, and if he went back onshore and was blown by the wind, he would be covered in mud. Getting in the car to seek shelter from the wind with his whole body wet would not be very good. The car was not his, and if he got it dirty, it would be difficult for him to borrow the car next time.

    He looked around and suddenly noticed an area of unexpectedly calm waters on the undting sea not far away.

    Actually, he had noticed that area before, but if the sea was too calm, it was impossible to surf, so he¡¯d never gone there before.

    The passion and aplishment he felt from surfing was still in his body. He didn¡¯t think much about why that part of the sea was different, so hey down on the surfboard and used his limbs to row toward it.

 Chapter 1177: The Fall to Wan Litao

    <h4>Chapter 1177: The Fall to Wan Litao</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Salem had grown up in the desert. He dared not to im that he knew everything about the desert, but perhaps he knew at least 70 to 80 percent of its happenings. However, it was a vastly different story with the sea. He knew little about the sea. Yet he didn¡¯t feel that he needed to know more. For Salem, as long as he could swim in the waters, he was satisfied. Under the guidance of his cousin, he¡¯d learned to swim in a few hours. His cousin was extremely proud of his remarkable learning abilities.

    Salem didn¡¯t n to work on an ocean liner and merely did surfing near the beach. That probably didn¡¯t warrant a deeper understanding of the sea, did it?

    Harmattan winds were not considered intense. However, they seemed to be full of vigor because they carried arge amount of floating sand from the Sahara and the Libyan deserts. Without these sands, a harmattan wind would not have its magnificent sand walls. If you removed these vast deserts, the harmattan winds would be no more ordinary than a typical monsoon wind.

    Nevertheless, while not mega beasts of wind speeds, harmattan winds were still strong. When there was a sandstorm, the waves in the sea went crazy.

    When Salem was surfing, he felt the sea getting choppy. It was clearly supposed to be time for low tide, yet the waves behaved as if high tide had returned once more.

    Although the high tide in the Mediterranean Sea was not much different from the high tide in the open sea, with the help of the sandstorm, it had certainly gotten a lot more violent. The strange thing was that there was a small patch of sea that seemed rtively calm with small ripples on its surface. Compared with the choppy waters surrounding it, it was a slice of heavenly calm.

    Salem did not grow suspicious of what he saw. Presently, he was only focused on getting there for his own safety.

    He did not think that he would be in any danger. He could swim, and he had his surfboard. The board kept him floating. Even if he got tired and couldn¡¯t continue swimming, he would not drown from merely lying on the board.

    20 meters... 10 meters... Five meters...

    The wind and the waves were now getting bigger and stronger, though not yetpromising his ability to stay in control. Although it wasn¡¯t directly affected by the wind, he found that his field of vision was bing increasingly limited. The shoreline became blurred and shrouded in the dim yellow of the sandstorm. Salem did not know if the man he¡¯d met earlier on the beach, as well as the ck-and-white cat, had left for safety.

    Finally, after giving his surfboard onest hard push, the board mmed into the peaceful block of seawater. The waves here were much smaller, and he was able to rx after all that paddling. His arms were sore at this point.

    Heid t on his surfboard and gasped for air. He waited for his strength to return and wished that the storm would hurry and disperse. He wished to continue surfing.

    This part of the sea was very calm, so calm that it could give a person the illusion of sunbathing at a luxury hotel, despite lying on a surfboard.

    Salim turned his head and faced the horizon. This allowed him to breathe normally in the storm and not have his nostrils be filled with sand. He didn¡¯t rest for too long, or at least that¡¯s what he thought, before taking a deep breath and turning back to look at the shore to see if the storm showed any signs of stopping.

    However, he was immediately shocked. He could only see a sea of dim yellow. The shoreline was no longer in sight. Even if it had been blurred, he had still been able to see the outline of the shore earlier on!

    What was going on? His first thought was that the surfboard had been blown out farther by the wind. What he saw was actually the sea, and that the shore was in the other direction.

    So, with squinted eyes, he looked forward, back, left, and right, but in each direction was the same scene¡ªblue sea and the dim yellow air.

    Stories of folk legends he¡¯d heard when he was a child shed through his mind. The travelers of the desert had encountered the harmattan winds but felt that the wind was not too strong to stop them. So they continued to move forward, but they quickly lost their way. Deep in the desert, they never came out, and they were never seen by anyone again.

    Salem panicked. He¡¯d always thought that this was the sea, not the desert, but now he realized that the sea was just a desert formed by drops of seawater.

    He knew how to identify directions in the desert, how to find water, and how to survive in an emergency. Yet this was the sea, a new form of desert, and his previous experience all but failed him.

    ¡°Calm down! Don¡¯t panic! Think of a way! There must be a way!¡± He silently told himself this, but it was useless. His breathing became fast and heavy, and his blood pressure and heart rate rose sharply.

    He thought to himself, ¡°You must find a way back to the shore, or you will be a lost traveler in the desert.¡± But where was the shore? And how had he gotten to where he was now?

    Perhaps he was not too far from the shore and was still in the same position. It might be only the poor visibility that had led him to think that he was far from the shore.

    Ironically, the part of the sea that was calm turned out to be a bane. Now, he could not determine which direction he was facing by observing the ups and downs of the waves.

    At this moment, he seemed to hear something. It was very far away, very weak, and could easily be overwhelmed by the sound of the waves and the whistling of the storm. He held his breath and listened carefully.

    Beep beep! Ah yes, it was a car horn! Someone was pressing their car horn to guide him towards the shore! He was relieved. A sense of direction was the most important thing in the desert, be it a desert of sand or one of water.

    Even though the sound of the horn was weak, as long as it could still be heard, it proved that he was not too far away from the shore. He tried not to have pessimistic thoughts. Thoughts like how the sound of the horn was carried to him by the sandstorm and that it was in fact very far away.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go!¡± He adjusted the direction his surfboard was pointing in and aligned it with the direction of the horn. He used his hands and feet as paddles.

    The horn had not stopped ring. The good Samaritan must have known that he had encountered danger and was offering him hopes of help.

    He was not expecting the good-hearted person to call the police. The efficiency of the police force in Egypt was low, and it was much better to help yourself than to wait for them to arrive.

    However, after three or five minutes of paddling, his hands and feet were getting tired and the horn was not getting any closer. It seemed to be farther away from him and became intermittent.

    What was happening? Was this the wrong direction? No¡ªif the direction was wrong, he would not have heard the horn.

    Salem thought for a moment and felt that he had found the reason¡ªhe was like a piece of wood floating on the water, and the storm was blowing him into the sea. Hand paddling on the surfboard was not efficient, and the power of each of his strokes could not ovee the strength of the storm.

    What if he jumped into the water and swim to the shore? With only his head bobbling on the surface of the sea, would he be shielded from the effects of the storm blowing him farther from the shore?

    He didn¡¯t think too much, but he didn¡¯t have much time to think anyway. Once the storm was over, there might be high tide, and that would further elerate his drift outwards. If that happened, he would be trapped on his surfboard. Then he could only wait helplessly for a great period of time to be rescued.

    Even if rescue wasing soon, he did not want to wait and rm the police. He would probably end up on the news and made aughingstock, and he might even lose working opportunities. Then his father would bring him back to the vige, and he would be stuck there for life, just like his ancestors. He would have nothing to face but the yellow sand and sky. He would probably have a few wives and a ton of babies, and he¡¯d grow increasingly dim-witted and would never be able to set foot in the big city ever again.

    With that thought, Salem, without much hesitation, undid the rope that tied him to the surfboard, took a deep breath, and jumped into the sea. He could swim, but when he surfaced, he felt something was wrong. The surface of the sea was still so calm, but under the surface, the currents were moving rapidly.

    The undercurrent that carried a lot of sand was like an invisible hand. It pulled on his calf and dragged him in the direction of the open sea. It was extremely powerful and stronger than the storm. It was not a power that ordinary men could resist.

    He suddenly understood that it was this invisible undercurrent that had quietly taken him and the surfboard out from the coast. It was like...the sand dunes flowing in the desert, or perhaps something more terrible than that.

    Salem was aware of the approaching danger and used all his strength to desperately paddle away. Yet the more anxious he got, the more disoriented his paddling got. It got harder for him to gasp for air.

    His heart was beating so fast it felt like it was about to explode. His chest felt like it was on fire and like his internal organs were burning to ashes. Because he was so anxious and he¡¯d overexerted himself, his leg muscles started shaking uncontrobly.

    The horn sound had slowly been reduced to almost nothing, and he might not even be hearing it anymore. Whatever sound that he thought he was hearing might simply be an illusion at this moment in time.

    Salem regretted his decision to dive into the water and turned back to find his surfboard. He would settle for wherever the surfboard brought him. It didn¡¯t matter if he drifted to the other side of the Mediterranean. Even if the police were called in, even if he had to return to his vige, even if he could never ever leave the desert in the future, those things mattered no more. As long as he could continue to live.

    As long as he was alive, there was hope. However, the surfboard had all but disappeared.

    As he stopped paddling while finding his surfboard, his legs sank deeper into the sea. The force dragging him downward got stronger, despite his best efforts to stay afloat.

    Cough! A wave of water mmed down hard on his face and he drank his first sip of water, followed by a second...

    Driven by the desire for survival, his hands and feet tried hard to keep his head above water. Yet his efforts proved to be useless. The turbulent waves were simply too forceful. As though by a pair of strong invisible hands, he was pulled into the bottom of the sea. The air quickly escaped from his lungs and emerged in the water as a string of bubbles.

    He eyes narrowed in desperation as the light on the surface of the water gradually weakened and his body sank into the boundless darkness.

    Just as he was about topletely lose consciousness, a ck shadow passed over his head.

    What...was that thing?

    Within seconds, his hand was caught by an unknown hand, and with that, Salem lost consciousness.

 Chapter 1178: Bully the Mountain, but Donâ€™t Bully the Water

    <h4>Chapter 1178: Bully the Mountain, but Don¡¯t Bully the Water</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian looked where Gxy was looking and saw that the surfer did not n on leaving the water anding ashore, but he did not seem to be meeting any danger.

    ¡°Gxy, you said that that person could meet with danger?¡± he asked.

    Gxy stared at the wave-splitting figure with burning eyes and nodded. ¡°Meow. He will be washed away by the water and sink forever, and people will never find him again...¡±

    It turned its head to look towards him. ¡°You will be detained and questioned by the police because you called the police. The police will suspect that you killed that person, and you will lose the chance to go into the desert with the professor...¡±

    Saying that, Gxy looked towards the rental car that was far away.

    Zhang Zian felt cold in his heart. He knew that Gxy would not make jokes, let alone make jokes about such things. Since it had said that the surfer would be in danger of his life, it must be something that is about to happen.

    Based on Gxy¡¯s description, the surfer would be washed away by the seawater, and even his body would not be able to be found.

    As no other witnesses could be found here, he would be detained by Egyptian police as a homicide suspect because he reported the case to them. He did not know how long he would be detained. But it was obvious that Wei Kang¡¯s scientific research team couldn¡¯t miss the opportunity to wait for him, a non-staff member, so they would go into the desert by themselves.

    That was very possible. Egyptianw enforcement was already rotten to the core. They could not hope that they would be very good at their jobs.

    It also seemed like Gxy had not finished saying everything. It had kept some things to itself and didn¡¯t say them out loud.

    Since it did not say, there must be some reason why it did not say, and he did not ask, because he knew it very well. The things that Gxy did not say out were definitely even worse and scarier¡ªcould the science investigation team walk safely out of the desert after leaving him behind?

    Gxy took another look at the car. Who was it looking at?

    These days, Fina seemed to be interested in the investigation team¡¯s itinerary for some reason. Other elfins would certainly not, but would it follow the team into the vast desert, and then would it be that it had gone but could not return?

    A whole series of bad things in his imagination started here and now.

    Of course, Zhang Zian had a choice. He could choose to turn around and leave, pretending that he did not see the surfer. Anyway, the surfer was in good shape now and was not in danger for the time being.

    As long as he did not report it to the police, then that series of things would not happen after.

    When the surfer¡¯s family and friends found him or her missing and called the police, and after the police found his or her car here, ten days to half a month would likely have passed. After all, Egypt had no surveince cameras over the streets and alleys, and there are only a few traffic lights. By that time, Zhang Zian may have already left Egypt and returned to China.

    A situation that was even more likely was that the Egyptian police would not take the disappearance of the surfer as something major after receiving the police report from the surfer¡¯s family members, and they would try to find some excuse to exin that the surfer had left home. After all, they had more important things to do, such as collecting protection fees and ckmailing tourists for their own pockets. The surfer would disappear forever just like that. When a rock sunk into the sea, not even a ripple would appear.

    In 2013, a mother and daughter pair from China who¡¯d traveled to Egypt disappeared in Dahab, a famous diving tourist spot in the Red Sea. In order not to affect tourism, the local government of Egypt said at first that they had secretly gone over to Israel. It was not until 2017, four yearster, that the real culprits were found. Their ashes were long cold, and it was even a case solved under the supervision of the Chinese Embassy.

    A missing local young man¡ªbesides his family members, who would care?

    However, if Zhang Zian had not known that the surfer was going to encounter danger, that was one thing, but since Gxy had already told him, if he watched the surfer be swept away by the sea without taking any action, he would be condemned by his conscience in the future.

    Gxy had told him about what was going to happen beforehand, and so he had other choices besides calling the police.

    ¡°Gxy, wait for me. I¡¯ll call him back.¡±

    Before he had finished saying thest word, Zhang Zian had already run near the sea, stepping on the slippery rocks and walking into the slightly deeper water. He let the sea wet his trousers, gathered his hands around his mouth and shouted to the surfer, ¡°Hello! Come back here quickly!¡±

    Under the loud sounds of the wind and the waves, his voice was weak andcking in energy.

    Zhang Zian yelled quite a few times, but the surfer did not hear at all andy on the surfboard, rowing in another direction.

    Why was he rowing in that direction?

    Zhang Zian did not understand what the surfer was thinking, and he could only continue to wave his hand and yell, hoping the other party would turn his head and look in that direction.

    The storm further reduced vision and blurred the surfer¡¯s figure. It was as if he was tired and resting on the surfboard.

    At this time, Zhang Zian noticed an unusual scene¡ªthe surfboard was carrying the surfer away from the coast at an unusual speed.

    What was going on? Was the wind that strong?

    As a child growing up by the seaside, Zhang Zian knew nothing about the desert but much about the sea. He knew that there were many unknown dangers hidden in the sea. So there was a proverb, ¡°Bully the mountain, but don¡¯t bully the water,¡± meaning that the danger in the water was much greater than that in the mountains.

    He observed more before it finally dawned on him.

    It was a rip current!

    Rip currents, also known as offshore currents, were responsible for 80 to 90 percent of coastal drowning.

    As the name implied, offshore currents were undercurrents flowing in the direction of the sea. They were often hidden beneath the surface of the water and could hardly be seen from the surface.

    However, the offshore currents were not without characteristics. On the coast, if most areas were surging and one area was unusually calm, there might be fierce offshore currents hidden beneath the water in this area.

    But people often instinctively felt safe when they saw calm waters. Swimming in that area could lead to tragedy because of inadequate preparation.

    Offshore currents were formed by topography, and most of them were funnel-shaped. When arge amount of seawater was poured into one, the flow back from the funnel mouth would be elerated.

    No matter how strong the swimmer was, once he was pulled into the offshore current, it was like he¡¯d had his legs pinched by a water ghost. If he did not use swimming props such as fins, if he wanted to resist the offshore current by his own strength, it would be a fool¡¯s errand.

    What was worse was that offshore currents were affected by weather and other currents, and they carried a lot of sediment. When sediment was deposited, the position and direction of offshore currents would even change, making them unpredictable.

    If one was unfortunately involved in an offshore current, the most important thing was to keep calm and not try to swim back to the shore out of panic. It was impossible. One would only sink into the sea because they¡¯d exhausted all their physical strength. The only way to survive was to swim sideways and try to escape in the direction perpendicr to the offshore current, but the chance was still quite slim because sometimes the offshore current would be hundreds of meters wide, which made it very difficult to understand the direction it was going in.

    Zhang Zian did not have any ns to go into the water and swim this time when he came to the Port of Mersa Matruh, and he definitely had not brought flippers. If he were too rash and jumped into the sea, he would probably also meet the same fate.

 Chapter 1179: The Courageous in Fairy Tales

    <h4>Chapter 1179: The Courageous in Fairy Tales</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In 2013, there had been a simr tragedy that happened here, at the beach that was famous due to Cleopatra.

    Four Chinese students studying in Egypt came together as a group to Mersa Matruh. They didn¡¯t go to the famous Agiba Beach or Gharam Beach. Maybe they didn¡¯t like the fact that the other beaches had a lot of people, or maybe they wanted to see Cleopatra¡¯s bathroom too. But all four of them had ended up drowning here.

    As there had been no other witnesses then, no one knew how they had drowned, leaving behind nothing but regret and remorse.

    Seeing that the tragedy was about to repeat itself and that it was an emergency, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t just leave the other man to die. He couldn¡¯t call the police, and he definitely couldn¡¯t jump in to save him, or he would just be sending the Grim Reaper another gift.

    An idea shed through his head. Even though he couldn¡¯t save the person himself, there might still be a chance of survival for the surfer. There was someone nearby with naturally webbed feet.

    ¡°Gxy, wait here for me. I¡¯ll go find Sihwa so she can save a life,¡± he said and immediately went back the same way.

    Right now, his entire face was full of sand, just like a construction worker who had just finished work. The visibility had lowered so much that he couldn¡¯t even see the silhouette of the car. At least he remembered the general position of the car, and he finally found it after a while of trying to reach it.

    ¡°Cheep cheep.¡± Pi opened the door for him, looking behind them and making a hand sign of questioning, meaning to ask where Gxy was and whether he¡¯d managed to find it.

    Famous had alreadye back too. Even though it was also covered in sand, it was much better than Zhang Zian.

    The moment the door opened, the sand started flooding into the car.

    Zhang Zian made his instructions quick. ¡°That surfer earlier might drown, so we have to find a way to save him. I¡¯ll go find Sihwa. Pi, you have to keep pressing on the horn. Hopefully the surfer can hear it.¡±

    Pi nodded.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have time to borate further and ran towards the giant rock where Cleopatra¡¯s bathroom was after closing the door. Even though they were in a rush, he still slowed down his footsteps when stepping into the sea. It would be more troublesome if he fell down now.

    The giant reef had two openings, one facing the sea and one facing the shore. Sihwa hade in from the former, while Zhang Zian had gone in from thetter.

    The sound of the car horn came, seemingly far away.

    The undercurrent that had swept the surfer away was angled towards the car. If the surfer tried to swim back parallel to the shore, he would definitely not be able to get back. But if he tried to swim back in the direction of the car, there might be a chance of him being able to swim back to the shore, or at least not getting swept farther and farther away. Of course, this was all only possible if he didn¡¯t be an idiot and abandon his surfboard to jump into the water...

    Zhang Zian was pretty confused. The howling of the wind had already be haunting outside, so why was Sihwa still so calm in the cave?

    It was only after he entered the cave that he saw that due to the thick reef rocks and the winding path, the sound of the howling winds was greatly reduced, evenpletely covered by the sound of the tides. Because of that and Sihwa¡¯s continuous bragging to her inte fans, she had absolutely no idea that a storm had been raging outside.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to show up in her livestream in case someone recognized him, so he picked out a small stone from the rock wall and threw it at Sihwa, hitting his target spot-on.

    ¡°Hey! Which annoying b*stard threw this at me?¡± She turned around in anger only to see Zhang Zian poking his head out, acting suspicious.

    ¡°Ah Ze An, you¡ª¡± She wanted to scream, but Zhang Zian kept making weird hand signs, as though doing an odd rendition of signnguage.

    He was really d that she always called him ¡°Ah Ze An¡± now, or he might already have exposed himself.

    ¡°Someone fell into the water just now! Hurry up and go save him, Sihwa.¡± Zhang Zian whisper-shouted in a really awkwardly strained voice, sounding horrible.

    He had originally wanted to drag Richard out to speak on his behalf, since it was able to imitate other people¡¯s voices, but that stupid bird seemed to have guessed his intentions from a mile away and refused toe out from the corner of the SUV that it had hid itself in.

    Besides, remembering that Richard had just released its excretions all over, he was a bit reluctant to put Richard onto his hand...

    Sihwa¡¯s eyebrows went up in confusion. ¡°Which idiot¡¯s that careless?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about who it is. If you don¡¯t go save him, that man will drown!¡± Zhang Zian still spoke with that strained voice.

    ¡°But...¡± Sihwa bit her lip, unable to make a decision. She had never saved someone before, and she didn¡¯t know how.

    ¡°Remember the white whale?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Sihwa stalled, understanding.

    When she was about to freeze to death in the Baltic Sea, that beluga whale had brought her near a submarine volcano where it was warm, so that her body temperature could return to normal. Without it, she would never have lived to see today.

    Zhang Zian meant that just as the beluga whale had helped her, she should help others as well.

    Hearing him talk, theizens in the livestream exploded.

    ¡°Hey! Who is that talking? It seems like a guy! Godd*mn it! All the good vegetables have been eaten by pigs!¡±

    ¡°Who fell into the water? Who asked to you save them? Why should you? Why didn¡¯t that guy who asked you go himself?¡±

    ¡°Sihwa, you have to think about it! Don¡¯t force yourself into a bout of foolishness. A lot of people have died trying to be a hero saving the princess in distress!¡±

    ¡°Sihwa, call the police! Don¡¯t go down yourself!¡±

    Theizens had suggested that out of goodwill. As normal people without professional training, it was too dangerous for them to try to save a drowning man.

    It would be better if the drowning person had lost consciousness. If they hadn¡¯t, they would grab onto their lifesaver and not let go, causing the other person to not be able to swim either and resulting in both of them drowning. Many people who tried to save others from drowning had met such a fate.

    Even though he was panicking, Zhang Zian did not push Sihwa, hoping for her toe to her own conclusion. If she didn¡¯t want to help, even if he forced her to, she wouldn¡¯t do her best.

    Looking at thements that theizens sent, Sihwa could recognize many words. Even if there were words that she didn¡¯t recognize, she could easily guess them from the context clues.

    One of thements that floated past the screen caught her eye. To be a hero...

    ¡°Thank you for your good wishes,¡± she said.

    Theizens sighed a sigh of relief, thinking that she finally understood.

    She said instead, ¡°But I want to go help save that man, as I want to be a hero. I have read many fairy tales, and there¡¯s always a courageous person who shows up. I...I want to be that courageous person who ovees all the odds and dragons to save the princess from the tower.¡±

    Theizens were all speechless then, not knowing whether to scold her for being childish or praise her for being naive.

    She smiled at the camera and confidently announced, ¡°Don¡¯t worry! I will not die¡ªat least not in the water! Today, I¡¯ll let you all see what I, Sihwa, can do! If you think I¡¯m amazing, make sure to send me a present!¡±

    Theizens wanted to diss her for still thinking about presents at this darned time.

    The sea seemed to start retreating.

    ¡°I¡¯m going! This is a livestream you have never seen!¡±

 Chapter 1180: Whether We Are Rich or Poor and Whether We Live or Die

    <h4>Chapter 1180: Whether We Are Rich or Poor and Whether We Live or Die</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Before Sihwa set out, Zhang Zian pinched his voice, making it sound different, and asked her to turn the camera elsewhere. He whispered to her that the surfer¡¯s condition was unknown. He might be trapped on the surfboard or might have fallen into the water. If the former was the case, she would not have to show up, just carry the surfboard from underwater to bring the surfer to the safe sea. If thetter was the case... It was just a matter of letting her y it by ear.

    Sihwa impatiently waved her hand, finding that he was too naggy, and waited for him to point in the rough direction of where the surfer was. She used the time when the tide was low to swim out of the cave.

    She wanted to go and save the person, but she did not want to stop broadcasting. What should she do?

    She tried to hold her phone in her mouth, the camera facing forward, but she could not. Her mouth was not open wide enough, but she lowered her head to take a look and had an idea.

    She was wearing the top half of the bikini bathing suit that Zhang Zian had brought back. The bathing suit was very close to her body and showed lines. Her chest was very big, and of course, it was tightly wrapped.

    So she tucked her cell phone into the swimsuit on one side of her chest, adjusted its position, tried to keep the camera in front, and flicked her strong tail fin, shooting forward like a sharp arrow.

    Thankfully, this phone was waterproof.

    Netizens had never seen this kind of broadcast before in their lives, and they probably would not see it in the future.

    First, a group of rich audiences solemnly issued a ¡®let go of that mobile phone and let me do it¡¯ barrage, and then they were sent to the hospital because of nosebleeds. Then other survivingizens saw two white arms alternately splitting waves from the first person perspective, moving at a stunning speed.

    The sky was yellow, the sea was blue, and there was no other reliable object reference. No one could tell how fast the world was swimming, but it was definitely very fast. The foam produced by the arm hitting the water had just been thrown away. It felt like sitting in a high-speed train and looking out the window.

    Someizens were confused because they estimated that the frequency of swinging their arms in swimming was simr to Sihwa¡¯s. Why couldn¡¯t they swim so fast? This was practically a world champion speed!

    From this perspective, they could only see Sihwa¡¯s two arms and asionally a long dark green hair drifting through the camera. They could hear her breathing, and from the sound, she seemed to have a lot of energy left.

    The smartizens began to argue fiercely about how fast Sihwa was going, but no one could convince anyone. After all, there was no reference.

    Because the offshore current itself might¡¯ve been as wide as 100 meters, and it was not known how far the surfer had been washed away by the offshore current, nor whether the surfer had sunk to the bottom of the sea. Even if Sihwa wanted to find him, it would be very difficult.

    Sihwa swam for a distance, and then she stretched her head out of the water to look around. She then continued to swim forward.

    To try to increase the search radius as much as possible, she swam forward in a Z shape, and at the same time she listened for suspicious sounds in the sea.

    Her hearing was very sensitive¡ªa lot more sensitive than humans¡¯.

    Blub blub blub...

    She heard the sound of a lot of bubbles in the water. Normally there would be no bubbles in the water like this unless there were volcanoes at the bottom of the sea, but it was the coastline, and there could not have been volcanoes here.

    Then this could be... When a person drowns, he was sinking to the bottom. This was the sound of the air in his lungs being reced by sea water.

    This also meant that the surfer had already entered the water, and there was not much time left for Sihwa.

    So she flicked her tail fin and swam at a higher speed in the direction the bubbling sound came from.

    When she came to the rough location the sound came from, she instantly dove toward the seabed.

    From the audience¡¯s point of view, this scene was practically like that of a nightmare, very scary.

    Deep in the sea, it was dark. It felt like something terrible was hiding and waiting for Sihwa toe, with its big mouth full of sharp teeth open wide.

    Many people dreamed of their own experience of falling off a cliff, which was like following Sihwa into the endless dark abyss.

    In fact, the sea here was not very deep, but many people had a deep-sea phobia, covering their eyes and not daring to take a look, afraid of any monsters that woulde out.

    Sihwa was not afraid of anything in the sea. The sea was like her back garden. Although she couldn¡¯t see the bottom of the dark sea, she could hear that there was nothing on the bottom of the sea. There was no so-called monster, only the sound of the waves rolling up on the sand.

    A stream of bubbles came out from the deeper part of the sea. It was very weak.

    Sihwa was sure the surfer was below.

    Netizens knew that at this critical moment, either Sihwa would seed in bing a hero or she would be dragged by the drowning person to sink into the bottom of the sea, and the world would lose a beautiful young woman of the top standard.

    When Sihwa dived down strongly, some carefulizens began to calcte the time. They were worried about how deep she could reach in one breath, because she had to leave half of the oxygen for her return journey.

    10 seconds... 20 seconds... 30 seconds...

    Even though they knew that Sihwa could not see, the bullet screens in the broadcast room were mostly telling her to go up now, telling her that she could not dive any deeper.

    The light became dimmer and dimmer in the dark waters, and Sihwa opened her eyes wide. She finally saw a blurry figure.

    The young man in his tight-fitting diving suit was sinking slowly, looking up at the sea with a few bubbles gushing out of his nostrils and holding his right hand high as if he were full of reluctance and attachment to the world.

    He was still so young, with fresh stubble growing on his chin. His eyes were still open, but he had lost his spirit, and the fire of life in his pupils was about to be extinguished.

    All of theizens in the live broadcasting room, whether they were watching it live at home or in ss or even at work, were so excited that they jumped up and roared to cheer for Sihwa. Many people even cried.

    Online broadcasters also heard about it. Regardless of their own live broadcasts, other broadcasters had flocked to Sihwa¡¯s live broadcasting room to watch this unprecedented move!

    The number of people in Sihwa¡¯s live broadcasting room had increased to a scary number and was practically somersaulting upwards.

    They saw Sihwa stretching her hand out towards him,ing closer and closer to the hand he was raising up.

    Three meters... Two meters... One meter!

    The audience clenched their fists tight and held their breaths, and the bullet screens vanished temporarily.

    She grabbed onto him!

    Sihwa tightly held the surfer¡¯s hand!

    ¡°Quickly float up!¡±

    Everyone was yelling and posting bullet screens, wishing they could transmit their power from tens of thousands of miles of water and a thousand mountains away to Sihwa¡¯s body.

    Sihwa knew that time was short. After holding the surfer¡¯s hand firmly, she used all her strength to flick her tail fin, stopping her sinking, and started to float upwards.

    However, because of her violent movements and the slippery screen and back cover of her mobile phone, the mobile phone slipped from her swimsuit and flipped and fell into the deep sea.

    Actually, although her phone was waterproof, the fact that it had been able to hold on until now was a miracle.

    Under the extremely high water pressure, the screen darkened.

    In that moment, the live broadcast was cut off.

 Chapter 1181: The Rescue

    <h4>Chapter 1181: The Rescue</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When Sihwa felt the phone slip, she instinctively tried to reach out to catch it, but she missed and could only watch the phone sink into the water.

    The mobile phone was heavy, with an outer casing that was slippery. This made it easy for it to sink. The bright screen stood out against the stark contrast of the dark water.

    If she moved quickly, she might still have the opportunity to grab the phone, but the surfer whose life was at risk might not be able to hold on. She could only stop looking at the phone, rush to grab on to the limbs of the surfer, and quickly surface.

    While Sihwa tried saving everyone, Zhang Zian had also started the live app with his mobile phone and watched the whole process through her live broadcast. When he saw her sessfully grasping a surfer¡¯s hand, he heaved a sigh of relief. However, the broadcast was suddenly interrupted and like many others watching, he blurted out countless swear words.

    There was nothing else he could do right now. He could only wait anxiously with the others. The only difference was that he was waiting at the scene of where it was happening.

    The strongest of the harmattan winds seemed to have passed, carrying with them arge amount of sand and heading to the north. The winds would significantly weaken upon crossing the Mediterranean and would not affect much in Europe.

    Sihwa resurfaced at a high speed. She was so fast that her entire upper body was out of the sea too. Her speed was faster than when she¡¯d dived back in. This was because she¡¯d had to search extensively for people when diving for fear of missing them. Now that she had found them, she could go as fast as she wanted.

    Under normal circumstances, the rescuer should use their arm to support the neck of the drowning person, lift his head out of the water, and swim to the shore in this position.

    However, Sihwa had not learned how to appropriately save people in the water. She¡¯d merely chosen the fastest way to bring the surfer back to shore so that she could pass them onto Zhang Zian. Then she wanted to search for her cell phone and dry it in hopes that it was still usable...

    Such a method of surfacing was dangerous for humans, yet under the guidance of Sihwa, they glided like torpedos across the surface of the sea all the way to the shore. This was also the only possible method, as Sihwa did not know how to swim sideways.

    Zhang Zian and Gxy were on the shore and saw her flying toward them with a long tail of white water behind her. If this had been a horror film, she could¡¯ve added a triangr dorsal fin on her back.

    ¡°Gxy, you wait on the shore. I will pick them up.¡± Zhang Zian took a knee and proceeded forward. The water on the shore was too shallow, and the bottom of the water was all rock. Sihwa would not be able to make it this near.

    Sihwa swam very close to the shore and, with a twist of her waist, twisted her tail out straight above at 180 degrees. She came to an instant stop, with her speed dropping to zero almost immediately. However, the waves could note to a simr stop and started forming a half-meter-high wave wall. The water mmed down hard into Zhang Zian, and the impact pushed him back a few steps. Fortunately, he had learned the art of holding steady in a position from Old Time Tea. If he hadn¡¯t, he would probably have been swept all the way back to shore.

    Zhang Zian felt that she was too presumptuous in her actions. Or was she using this as an opportunity to get back at him?

    ¡°Quick! Take this guy! I lost my mobile phone! I have to go back and find it!¡± Sihwa screamed in a hurry, carelessly pushing the surfer to Zhang Zian and turning around.

    ¡°Forget it! It¡¯s probably broken. Let me buy you a new one,¡± Zhang Zian said as he grabbed the surfer¡¯s arms and dragged him to shallow waters.

    ¡°What?¡± Sihwa stopped in her tracks and turned back in disbelief. ¡°What did you say?¡±

    ¡°I said I will buy you a new pher. Do not go out and look for the old one anymore,¡± Zhang Zian said casually while putting a stone under the head of the surfer. He leaned over and put his ear on the surfer¡¯s chest to listen for a heartbeat.

    ¡°I don¡¯t believe it! Did water get into your brain? You are such a miser. You mean you will not scold me for losing my phone and you will even buy a new one for me? What sorcery is this?¡± Sihwa looked at him suspiciously, as if not knowing who this person was at all.

    ¡°Your brain has water in it! In your eyes, am I that stingy?¡± Zhang Zian shot back. He had been known as the ¡°bringer of gifts¡± and ¡°protector of all¡± by many. How was it that in her eyes, he was nothing?

    He made a gesture for Sihwa to keep silent. His hearing was not as good as hers.

    Sihwa indignantly kept quiet, her face clearly showing it all. She whispered, ¡°What? You can¡¯t just ask me to shut my mouth...¡±

    Although the surfer¡¯s heartbeat was weak, it was still there. Zhang Zian had studied cardiopulmonary resuscitation for first aid in college. Although he had never actually practiced it, he generally remembered how to do it. With both hands on the surfer¡¯s chest, he started pressing down the way he¡¯d been taught.

    Perhaps it was the force from Sihwa¡¯s tail. Or perhaps the surfer was young. With a few hard presses, the seawater in the surfer¡¯s lungs came out with a few violent and painful coughs.

    He was in desperate need for air and instinctively wanted to inhale deeply. Yet his lungs wanted to push all foreign objects out as well. Theck of coordination for these two functions led the surfer to breathe and spit water out at the same time. It sounded very painful.

    ¡°Do you mean it? Are you lying to me?¡± Sihwa asked. ¡°If you lie to me, heh...¡± Sheughed for a long time, unsure of how to effectively punish Zhang Zian.

    ¡°I am absolutely not lying to you. You should go back to the phone first. He ising to.¡± Zhang Zian had no time to say more and put Sihwa into the phone. He turned the surfer to his side and pped his back, helping him to clear the water in his lungs.

    When the surfer finally stopped coughing, Zhang Zianid him t, gently patted his cheek, and asked in English loudly, ¡°Hey! Can you hear me?¡±

    After several attempts, Salem finally opened his eyes and looked at the dim sky again.

    ¡°I... Am I dead?¡± he asked weakly.

    Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°It¡¯s still early.¡±

 Chapter 1182: Longing For

    <h4>Chapter 1182: Longing For</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Salem had really thought he had died. Thest memory he had before he opened his eyes was his body sinking towards the dark depths of the water, continuously sinking, like he could never stop sinking, and then...

    His memory was cut off there.

    Some of the memory fragments seemed to have a strange figure rushing towards him from above. The figure was like a fish yet also like a human with a huge tail. It was also like a human holding a big fish.

    It was originally dark in the water, and the yellow sand was also covered by the sun, and he could not see much at all.

    Other memory fragments did not have that strange figure¡ªthere was the bright light shining on his head, his body floating lightly. He was drifting towards the strong light. It was not painful at all, but veryfortable, like the tribal legend when a person was about to ascend to heaven after death.

    He did not know which was the correct memory. Perhaps all of them were real. Perhaps all of them were his imagination.

    Oxygen-deficient brains could create all kinds of hallucinations, and it wasn¡¯t surprising to see himself turning into a fish.

    He raised his headboriously and saw Zhang Zian¡¯s purely Oriental face, and he tried to activate his stiff brain to think about it. It seemed that he remembered. ¡°You are that...¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°I came over here before you. At that time, we had waved to greet each other.¡±

    Yes, Salem recalled. His thoughts were like water trickling into depleted wheat fields. He remembered his purpose ining to the beach, the ck and white kitten he saw, the pleasure of galloping on the waves, the harmattan wind and the yellow sand all over the sky, and... The pain of drowning and remorse for abandoning his surfboard.

    ¡°Can you stand up? Do you need me to help you call an ambnce?¡± Zhang Zian pretentiously lifted his eyelids to observe his pupils.

    ¡°No! Don¡¯t call an ambnce!¡±

    Salem¡¯s dazed eyes were suddenly bright, and his body tensed up as he yelled, worked up.

    Zhang Zian was scared, thinking that he had gotten a seizure. He hurriedly pressed on his body andfortingly said, ¡°Alright! Alright! I won¡¯t call an ambnce! I won¡¯t call an ambnce!¡±

    He thought, Could it be that this person cannot pay for the ambnce fees and is very against an ambnce?

    That was also possible. After all, Egyptians were very poor. Although Egypt had implemented free medical care for all, with Egypt¡¯s economic level, the effect of free medical care could be imagined, but those with better economic conditions would choose private hospitals.

    Egypt had also implemented free education for all. Except for a few majors, such asw, medicine, and tour guides, no tuition fees were charged for other majors. As for why these majors were exceptions, it was because other majors could not earn money, and these majors could really earn money after graduation.

    And it was like a public hospital. The public university standard was also...er, it was hard to talk about it.

    Receiving the confirmation from Zhang Zian, Salemy down without energy again and muttered, ¡°I can¡¯t let people know that I almost died. Otherwise, I can¡¯t surf again...¡±

    Zhang Zian said in his heart that this person was really strong, having almost died and still thinking about surfing, but he must be reminded. Otherwise, he may encounter simr dangers in the future, and at that time he would not be so lucky to encounter Gxy.

    ¡°Do you remember what happened just now? Do you know why you met with danger?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Salem shook his head in confusion. ¡°It¡¯s like there was a torrent under the sea, pulling me to the bottom...¡±

    Zhang Zian gestured repeatedly to exin the characteristics and dangers of offshore currents to him. Especially when encountering offshore currents, he should never abandon his surfboard and try to swim back by himself.

    Salem tried his best to understan and continuously nodded, and he remembered this thing in his heart.

    ¡°Ah! I haven¡¯t thanked you yet... You¡¯re the one who saved me, right?¡± He suddenly remembered the most important thing and looked around at his surroundings, and as expected, he did not see other people.

    Zhang Zian hesitated for a while and still shook his head to say, ¡°I gave you CPR. The one who saved you from the sea was not me.¡±

    Salem also noticed that Zhang Zian¡¯s shirt was still dry, and only his pants were half wet.

    ¡°Ah? The person who saved me¡ªis it ady?¡± he asked.

    Before he woke up, he seemed to have heard two people talking, a man and a woman. They were speaking anguage he did not understand, but that female voice was very gentle and nice, as nice-sounding as the sounds of nature.

    ¡°Ady...I guess so,¡± Zhang Zian said vaguely.

    ¡°Where is she...? I want to thank her...¡± Salem¡¯s movements were bigger, and he tried his best to raise his head to look around again.

    When Zhang Zian saw that his strength had recovered a little, he held his back and helped him sit up. ¡°She has something to do, so she left already. You don¡¯t have to look for her anymore. She asked me to tell you there¡¯s no need to be thankful. Anyone in that situation would¡¯ve tried to rescue you.¡±

    Although Sihwa did not say those words, she used her actual actions to show that point in the situation when everyone was trying to convince her not to go.

    ¡°So it¡¯s like that...¡±

    Salem looked down at his right hand and felt sad. There seemed to be some soft touch in his palm.

    Teenagers were always longing for a romantic encounter with a beautiful girl in their hearts, especially when the girl saved him. It should have been the beginning of a rtionship. This is what happened in movies.

    Zhang Zian could not bear to tell him the cruel truth and break his fantasy. He would¡¯ve said that it was actually a mermaid and that it was only a mermaid who liked rich, tall, and handsome men. The poor boy who couldn¡¯t even call an ambnce should give it up.

    ¡°Come on, let me help you to the shore. It¡¯s not a good thing to always soak in the water. Are there any other diforts for you?¡± Zhang Zian put his arm out and helped him up.

    Salem looked like he¡¯d woken up from a dream. ¡°Ah, no! I should also thank you! It¡¯s the two of you who saved me! Right, I¡¯m called Salem.¡±

    Zhang Zian casually said, ¡°Call me Jeff. I¡¯m a tourist from China.¡±

    ¡°China...¡± Salem¡¯s eyes were filled with longing. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of that ce, far away. The great Great Wall of China, the great pce, the great country... Is the girl who saved me also from China? I hear that you seem to be speaking Chinese...¡±

    ¡°That...I guess so.¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled bitterly. It was really not that he intended to perfunctory¡ªhe did not know how to answer this question.

    Salem was silently helped ashore by Zhang Zian and sat down on a rock. Suddenly, determined, he said, ¡°I will go to China in the future!¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhang Zian saw that he had not given up on Sihwa. He smiled and said, ¡°Don¡¯t you need me to call your family and let them pick you up?¡±

    ¡°No, don¡¯t!¡± Salem shook his head. ¡°They won¡¯t like the fact that I¡¯m surfing at the seaside, and they will drag me back into the desert, like our Bedouin ancestors.¡±

 Chapter 1183: Guide

    <h4>Chapter 1183: Guide</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Bedouins were ancient nomads who had lived in deserts for generations, chasing after water and life. They originally lived in an Arabian penins and were considered a side branch of Arabians, or ¡°non-ssical Arabian.¡± They¡¯d started to expand towards other areas due to war or unrest, but they had kept to the deserts still.

    There were mainly four kinds of Bedouins that resided in Egypt. First were the western Bedouins. They still maintained their ancient lifestyle and were closest to how they lived thousands of years ago. The second were those living near the Red Sea. They retained some of their habits, but they were influenced by current technology.

    The third kind stayed in the northern shore of Egypt. They were more modern, living along the Port of Mersa Matruh and Alexandria Port, their lifestyle pretty much identical to the local Egyptians¡¯. Lastly were the Bedouins that lived in the desert oasis, making a living through agriculture and asionally as guides for recreational or expedition teams.

    In summary, a portion of Bedouins insisted on continuing their heritage and had no intention of changing, while others had a longing for metropolitan life due to their exposure to modern technology.

    Salem was clearly thetter. Having seen the prosperous outer world, he refused to go back to his primitive life back in the desert, where they kept their heads low and showed their backs to the sun.

    When Zhang Zian heard that Salem was a Bedouin, a thought formed in his head. Professor Wei Kang had wanted to employ a Bedouin to be their guide for their expedition in the desert.

    Salem was sitting on the rocks looking dejected. Heined continuously about how behind andcking his tribe¡¯s living conditions were, as well as how ridiculous those rules were for stopping them from keeping up with the times and how boring the repetitive days of primitive life were...

    ¡°Salem, you said you¡¯re Bedouin?¡± Zhang Zian confirmed.

    Salem raised his head, his features etched in pain. ¡°Yes, our tribe stays near the Siwa Oasis, but I would rather not be a Bedouin or not have left the tribe at all.¡±

    Zhang Zian had no time nor interest to listen to his teenage angst. He¡¯d even been troubled by why he wasn¡¯t the heir of a rich or powerful family. ¡°Salem, I have a thing I would like to share with you¡ªI¡¯m not just some tourist, I havee here with China¡¯s Binhai University¡¯s expedition team to conduct a series of on-site and outdoor research.¡±

    Salem listened, all ears.

    ¡°Two days from now, we¡¯re entering the great desert of the west, and we want to find a local who is familiar with the desert to be our guide,¡± Zhang Zian continued. ¡°So I wanted to ask you for a favor. Do you know anyone reliable who can help us?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t bet all of his hope on this young teen, but he could at least have him as a reference.

    Salem replied without even a thought. ¡°Jeff, you saved my life, so I¡¯m willing to do everything I can to help! If you want to enter the desert, any Bedouin in my tribe can be an excellent guide!¡±

    It was better to just treat these words of self-praise with a grain of salt. They were just about as trustworthy as someone who said every single Chinese person could y ping-pong.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°Then what is your suggestion? Which person is more experienced? If you could give me a few candidates, that would be a huge help.¡±

    Salem hummed, ¡°If we¡¯re talking about experience, my uncle Nabari is the most experienced in my tribe. He has entered the desert by himself countless times, and he has safely guided tourists like you into and out of the desert several times. People have said that he¡¯s the only person that can enter the desert without any food or water and stille out alive!¡±

    He was excitedly describing his uncle¡¯s heroic acts, describing every bit of detail with a smattering of exmations, going on and on about how amazing he was. Even though there were definitely exaggerations, he was able to speak clearly of the details, and it didn¡¯t seem to be made up on the spot.

    As for calling him ¡°uncle,¡± there was no reason to think that Salem was trying to promote his own family member. Most Bedouins married within the tribe, and almost half of the people in a tribe were connected by blood rtions. Any random adult male was Salem¡¯s uncle.

    Zhang Zian gave it a thought. As he didn¡¯t know whether Wei Kang had already found a suitable guide, he decided it wasn¡¯t too appropriate for him to override his authority and make a decision. So he let Salem rest while he sent a message to Wei Kang to exin the situation.

    Wei Kang had just finished his exchange today with Cairo University and had just arrived back at the hotel. He exined that he hadn¡¯t settled on a guide when he saw Zhang Zian¡¯s message. He had nned to hire a Bedouin guide anyway, and this would save them a lot of trouble. But, for safety¡¯s sake, he will ask his colleagues at Cairo University to understand more about Nabali. If he¡¯s trustworthy, then they can officially hire Nabali as their guide.

    Additionally, Wei Kang had decided that Zhang Zian need note back to Cairo today. Instead, he could represent the expedition team and try to understand the Bedouin tribe near the Siwa Oasis. He coulde back to Cairo and report tomorrow night or the day after.

    With Wei Kang¡¯s approval, Zhang Zian felt confident enough to ask Salem more information about Nabari¡¯s age, personality, likes, and dislikes, and felt that this man was suitable enough.

    Of course, they couldn¡¯t just make the decision themselves. Nabari might have something important to do, so he couldn¡¯t, or he could be unwilling to bring the expedition team into the desert. These were possibilities. Salem had been working outside for some time and was out of touch with the tribe.

    Zhang Zian knew that Salem didn¡¯t want to go back to the tribe, but he still hoped that he could rmend them. It would definitely be easier if someone they knew talked to them.

    To make it more attractive, he told him the ludicrous budget that the team had for employing guides¡ªlike a daily sry of 200 USD per day after entering the desert, with all materials covered by the expedition team and additional bonuses afterpleting the expedition.

    The moment Salim heard the amount of 200 USD per day, he immediately jumped off the rocks, his eyes wide as saucers as he eximed, ¡°200 US dors? A day? Are you sure it¡¯s not 200 Egyptian pounds?¡±

    Considering the risk and danger that one had to shoulder when entering the desert, 200 USD per day wasn¡¯t a lot, but it was a huge amount in a Bedouin¡¯s eyes. Besides, this was in USD, the globally-used currency, and not some Egyptian pound that always fluctuated to the point of worthlessness!

    Zhang Zian answered affirmatively, telling him that he hadn¡¯t heard wrongly. It really was 200 USD a day. This was actually the lowest amount that the expedition team was ready to work out. If the guide was extremely good, they could still discuss furthermore. Safety first.

    Salim was so excited that hepletely forgot about the fact that he had just escaped from the gates of hell, his head full of nothing but the green of American currency.

    200 USD a day¡ªthat was 1000 USD for five days! In a ce where the average monthly ie was not even 1000 RMB, where four-star hotels were 180 RMB a night, how long did he need to work to earn 1000 USD?!

 Chapter 1184: Agreeing to Sign the Contract

    <h4>Chapter 1184: Agreeing to Sign the Contract</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Although the 200 US dors daily sry was for the guides, Salem thought that no matter what, he should be able to split some money, right?

    He felt that he was seeing things in a new light. Bringing tourists into the desert was such easy money to earn?

    The desert that he had totally hated and wished to forever escape was actually a gold mine that was producing great amounts of US dors?

    Then why was he still working in the Port of Mersa Matruh? Being so tired every day, working so hard yet earning those very little spending money, and still having to stand the customers that made trouble and the stingy shopkeeper...

    He worked to save money to live in big cities, such as Alexandria and Cairo, and even o other countries, such as...the distant China.

    Anyway, it was all about making money. How about he...used his Bedouin identity to take tourists into the desert and earn a guide fee!

    The door to the new world opened, and he suddenly realized that the identity that he had hated for so long was actually a not bad way of earning money!

    When Zhang Zian saw Salem¡¯s face darkening and brightening, he didn¡¯t know that there were so many thoughts in his head. In fact, even if he knew, Zhang Zian could also understand it. It was like a rural dweller who always wanted to buy a city house. One day, he found that the rural house was much better than the urban house. Once the vige was demolished, he could get 1.8 million yuan... He wouldn¡¯t want to talk. He¡¯d go and cry for a while first.

    Salem had always insisted on resisting a return to the tribe. He copsed in the face of the money instantly. Before Zhang Zian said anything, he took the initiative to say, ¡°Jeff, you saved my life, and I will do my best to help you! How about this¡ªI¡¯ll take you back to our tribe and introduce you to my uncle Nabari.¡±

    Zhang Zian was still trying to convince Salem to take him to the Bedouin tribe, but all his ideas were in vain. It was a little unexpected, but it was easy. As for the reason why Salem had changed his mind, he didn¡¯t want to investigate it.

    ¡°Um...¡± Salem guiltily looked around, feeling very uneasy as he lowered his voice to say, ¡°Jeff, I also have something to ask you to help with.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Please speak.¡± Zhang Zian thought that he was bargaining, that 200 US dors of daily pay was not enough.

    Salim scratched his head in embarrassment. ¡°Well, could you say to the chief and Nabari, when you enter the tribe, that you were introduced by me? So my people will think better of me.¡±

    Zhang Zian understood that this young man had his own small calctions in his heart, but it had no effect on the investigation team, so he nodded quietly and agreed.

    They became good friends easily and agreed to meet outside the city of Port of Mersa Matruh in the morning. They would not leave until they saw each other.

    Salem needed to return to where he was working at in Port of Mersa Matruh to clear up his things, change his clothes, and fire his boss at the same time.

    Zhang Zian, on the other hand, nned to return to Alexandria to find a ce to stay. Although there were hotels in the Port of Mersa Matruh, the hotel conditions in such a small city were obviously not very good, which would cause Fina and Sihwa to be picky.

    Salem drove his car and left first, and only Zhang Zian was left on the beach alone.

    While they were chatting, the raging winds had totally stopped, but there was still a period of time needed for the sky to totally brighten up.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Gxy. Let¡¯s return to the car.¡±

    Zhang ZIan called for Gxy. It had been ying not far from here just now.

    ¡°Meow!¡± Gxy ran over and turned its head to look at the shadow of the car that was going away. ¡°It¡¯s not fun to y hide-and-seek in the sea.¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°Eh, thankfully, you reminded me. Otherwise, the humans would not have been able to find him already.¡±

    He vaguely guessed the rtionship involved in this... If he and Sihwa had not seeded in rescuing Salem, no one would have introduced Nabari to the team. Without this experienced guide, he would have been detained in the police station because of the rm. Wei Kang¡¯s and the others¡¯ desert trip would likely have gone bad...

    The yellow sand of Egypt had already buried too many Chinese people¡¯s lives. It was better if there were no more lives taken away.

    Returning to the rental car with Gxy, he stood beside the wagon and dusted himself off while telling the elfins the story and his own guesses.

    Old Time Tea nodded happily and sighed slightly. ¡°What is destined is destined. Is it not decided beforehand? You and Sihwa saved Salem, and in turn, they were helped and instructed by Salem. The cycle of causation and retribution is not good.¡±

    The other elfins were also concerned.

    ¡°You know, Sihwa has achieved something great today. Zian, your teaching for days has not gone to waste, really,¡± Old Time Tea said with a smile.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, Grandpa Tea. You¡¯re the one who constantly gave personal advice.¡± Zhang Zian was also very happy. Looking back on Sihwa¡¯s obstinate, self-centered appearance when she¡¯d firste to the pet store, it seemed that she¡¯d really grown up.

    While they were talking, his phone suddenly rang.

    The caller was the worker of the station who¡¯d called to sign a contract with him on the live broadcasting tformst time and then passed it on to another executive.

    The executive started off by asking about Sihwa¡¯s safety and what happened after saving the person.

    Today, the whole live broadcasting tform was bubbling with noise, andizens felt that it was boring to watch other live broadcasts.

    At the same time, the executives also asked in a veiled way about the authenticity of the rescue event. Were they making a show or something like that? Now the audiences were arguing and discussing the authenticity of the event in the rooms of other anchors. If it was just a show, it would be better to exin it to the audiences sooner orter.

    Zhang Zian said that Sihwa was safe and well and that the drowning person was saved. As for the question of making a show, he could record a video for them tomorrow. And he would ask Sihwa to y it to theizens so that the drowning person could meet theizens.

    Hearing Zhang Zian promise, the executive felt as if he had been relieved of his burden. Something that could make the live broadcast station gain reputation could have be a troublesome situation.

    Finally, senior executives earnestly offered an invitation to sign a contract, hoping that Zhang Zian would not refuse. They expressed that they understood Zhang Zian¡¯s concerns. As long as he signed the contract, all other conditions were negotiable, even if he did not participate in offline activities organized by the tform.

    ording to the statistics of major app distribution channels, today, their daily download of their live broadcast apps had increased several times more than usual. Obviously, the new people who¡¯d downloaded the app and registered were all doing so due to Sihwa. Following that, Sihwa was sure to be lured by other tforms with a high sry. Rather than letting that happen, they were willing to offer her a special contract that was different from the neer anchors.

    They viewed Sihwa¡¯s future very well, feeling that she was a star of tomorrow who was rising up and hoping that she could work together with the tform to advance.

    These conditions were very good.

    Zhang Zian thought it over for a while and agreed in principle, but he still had to ask for Sihwa¡¯s own opinions. Although he could anticipate Sihwa¡¯s reaction, she would probably be excited to agree.

    Hanging up the phone, he took a final look at the giant rock where the legendary Queen of Egypt had once bathed and drove to Alexandria Harbor.

 Chapter 1185: The Fraud Show

    <h4>Chapter 1185: The Fraud Show</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Morning. Zhang Zian was not woken up by the whistle of the Nile River ferry, but instead by the roaring tides at Alexandria¡¯s main port.

    Yesterday, he and the elfins had returned from the Port of Mersa Matruh. It was already nightfall when they arrived at Alexandria. When they entered the city, they heard the bells ringing to indicate breakfast. The locals, much like river tides, came rushing out of their houses and started looking for a ce to eat. Unluckily for Zhang Zian, this led him to be stuck in a traffic jam thatsted for an eternity. It was a very long time before he eventually found a hotel for everyone.

    The elfins had also lost their patience with the noise and exhaust from the traffic jam. They went back into the phone and slept. This saved Zhang Zian the trouble of having to exin to the hotel why he had dogs and cats with him. Hepleted the hotel check-in by himself.

    The sky was still radiating some light. Zhang Zian gave a huge yawn and got up. It was not that he wanted to. However, Sihwa might have slept more than enough while in the phone. Sensing any sort of light, she immediately took the opportunity to whine for a phone. Zhang Zian suspected that she had a serious case of phone addiction and thought that perhaps he should send her to Professor Yang for shock therapy to cure it.

    The Egyptians had a wide variety of mobile phones, and thetest models of high-end mobile phones could be seen while roaming the streets. However, many people still used the old-fashioned phones that were merely functional. Smartphones were, after all, too expensive for the general poption. One could also find domestically-produced Egyptian phones. The rationale was that as long as you had money, you could buy any type of phone.

    Zhang Zian thought to himself, ¡°In any case, I was going to get up early today. I will have to drive to the Port of Mersa Matruh to meet with Salem, then go to the Bedouin tribe near Siwa Oasis with him. Then, I will have to return to Cairo and report to Professor Wei Kang. It is a packed day, and I¡¯ll probably only return to Cairo at night.¡±

    Zhang Zian woke up the elfins, but he did not expect them to get up immediately. While waiting, he went out alone to buy some breakfast as well as buy Sihwa a mobile phone from a nearby mobile phone shop.

    s, it was too early. After buying his breakfast, he found that the phone shop had not opened yet, and the staff were still setting things up. Ramadan had probably caused the shop to push back its opening hours.

    He estimated that it was not long until opening time and that it wouldn¡¯t be worthwhile toe out after. Zhang Zian decided to wait at the store front. In any case, given Egypt¡¯s temperature, his food would take a long time to cool.

    It was already noon in China. He first checked the work report from his clerks. Everything was normal, and the clerks were looking forward to the gift he was bringing back.

    Judging from the photos Wang Qian and Li Kun had shared with their friends online, they¡¯d taken advantage of his absence to head down to the beach to y. They looked highly burnt from too much sun exposure.

    China had already entered summer, although the heat there was nothingpared with Egypt¡¯s.

    Casually browsing, heunched the live app and enter Sihwa¡¯s live broadcast room. Of course, Sihwa, who¡¯d lost her mobile phone, was not broadcasting. In her room, one could see her previous videos. The video of her rescuing a person had a massive amount of views, and the numbers were still increasing.

    When Sihwa had rescued the surfer yesterday, Zhang Zian saw that the live broadcast was interrupted and thus left the broadcast room. He waited for Sihwa at the beach for her to drag Salem back. Later, he was talking to Salem and had no chance to turn the app on.

    He remembered that tform executives had mentioned to him that many viewers questioned the morality of the show. He decided he wanted to check whatizens were saying.

    Each anchor on the live broadcast tform had a correspondingmunity, simr to Post-It notes. Even if the anchor was not online, fans would continue talking to one another on the channel.

    He clicked on Sihwa¡¯s small mermaidmunity, and when he entered, he saw a tall building with the words ¡°Talk about yesterday¡¯s live broadcast of the rescue.¡±

    In general, posts that were perceived to have high-quality content tended to have prizing arguments. This method helped to attract a fair amount of supporters and detractors.

    Sure enough, after clicking on this post, he saw that the user had written:

    ¡°Firstly, let me dere that I am one of Sihwa¡¯s earliest fans, as early as when she first started broadcasting. It does not matter how she treated fans in the past. After all, it was merely entertainment. However, I feel that yesterday¡¯s broadcast was too much. It is so obvious that the producer behind the camera was manipting the entire show and maliciously tagging on viewer¡¯s sympathy to garner views. Sihwa has an absolutely beautiful and magnificent physical appearance. With time she will make it big. Come on, she really did not need to do this to gain fans, right?¡±

    Zhang Zian also saw a lot of high-profile posts in the Wang Haige Forum. Many imed to be old fans of Sihwa, though this could not be proven easily. Then, with a seemingly calm and objective position, they swayed public opinion quietly and imed that the whole thing was a fraud show. Yet none bothered to show any evidence. The logic went that the show was fraud, and now the show must prove that it was not a fraud!

    It was simply ridiculous and illogical. Shouldn¡¯t it have been that ¡°those who put forth an argument provide the evidence¡±? Without that, it was simply empty words using the innocent.

    The replies to the posts were mixed with support and opposition. They were furious with one another, and on any points on which they didn¡¯t agree, they started quarreling.

    ¡°Did you see Sihwa putting on a show? Are you courting death to your family?¡±

    ¡°I believe in Sihwa. She doesn¡¯t seem to be so scheming. If you were an old fan, you would understand.¡±

    ¡°My cousin is a tform employee. He told me personally that this show was nned by the tform.¡±

    ¡°Doubtful. A, she is an anchor who does not usually leave the house. The first time she is out, she¡¯s so lucky to meet someone drowning? B, the sea is huge, so how did she even find that man who was already drowning? And C, who was the man who told her someone was drowning?¡±

    ¡°Those who ask these questions are neither stupid nor bad, but stop beingzy and go search for your answers. A, the beach has aplex geography, and there are no lifeguards. There were drownings there before. B, the mobile phone was in front of Sihwa¡¯s chest and held by her swimsuit. What we saw and what Sihwa saw were different. How do you know that she didn¡¯t see other clues? C, I reallyughed at this. A girl wearing a bikini to a remote location in the Middle East without anyone to go with her? Your worldview is really narrow!¡±

    ¡°Are you a troll? Did I say I haven¡¯t checked it? If you can¡¯t say anything good, don¡¯t say anything at all!¡±

    ¡°You are the troll yourself. You resort to calling me a troll because you can¡¯t beat me in a debate!¡±

    ¡°Oh, I also have a cousin who is tform employee. He also told me personally that other female anchors are worried about Sihwa¡¯s superior position and specially hired online ghostwriters to smear her reputation!¡±

    ¡°You are the ghostwriter. Your whole family are ghostwriters!¡±

    After flipping a few more pages, many of theter replies were filled with all kinds of meaningless swear words directed to one another¡¯s families. Zhang Zian also saw a few familiar User IDs joining the conversation, such as [Mr. Grape], [killme], [F*ck The Wildest Dog], and so on.

    However, one reply made him pay special attention. That was the post that imed that other female anchors were worried about Sihwa¡¯s superiority and had sent someone to ckmail her.

 Chapter 1186: Ancient Port

    <h4>Chapter 1186: Ancient Port</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In retrospect, Zhang Zian had experienced simr incidents before. Some pet stores did not try to improve the service quality and the quality of their pets but secretly used tricks. They used fake ounts to attack other pet stores, including his Amazing Fate Pet Shop. After all, the cost of creating rumors on the inte was very low. Fortunately, the inte trolls that were trolling at that time¡ªZhao Qi returned the favor.

    Looking at Chinese television and the big screen¡¯s shows about pce drama in which one person had just finished and the other came on screen, one could understand how serious the war between females was. They would do everything they could for the sake of getting what they wanted.

    Art came from life. Pce fighting drama was so popr that viewers might¡¯ve been able to put themselves in the lead role, take full advantage of theirpetitors, and stomp on them.

    Because of that, Zhang Zian felt that the person who replied might know something. After all, there was no such thing as a totally impermeable wall.

    The emergence of Sihwa had created a sense of crisis for other popr hostesses on the tform. Originally, she had an unparalleled appearance. This time, through the rescue event, she was upgraded from ¡°na?ve little sweetie¡± to ¡°na?ve little sweetie who does brave acts of righteousness.¡± The poprity was predictable.

    Alright, perhaps it wasn¡¯t ¡°na?ve little sweetie,¡± but she was at least na?ve.

    So...perhaps there really was some female broadcaster who¡¯d gotten jealous and wanted to use lowly methods to oppress Sihwa.

    If so, it would be ridiculous, because Sihwa had not signed a contract with the live broadcasting tform at present, and it could actually cause jealousy. That made Zhang Zian make up his mind to sign the contract. Showing weakness on the inte never got good results, and blindly tolerating would only make the other party worse.

    Sihwa rarely did a good deed and began to move on the right path. It was just the time when encouragement and reward were needed. If she was beaten down and became depressed, wouldn¡¯t his previous efforts with Old Time Tea have been in vain?

    After he made up his mind, the mobile phone store was also opened. Zhang Zian went in and bought a new type of waterproof mobile phone, and then he returned to the hotel.

    Sihwa was so excited that she almost jumped out of the bathtub when she saw himing back with his new mobile phone box.

    Zhang Zian was worried that once she knew she was being attacked, she would be furious, so he decided not to tell her for the time being.

    While the other elfins had breakfast, Shihua opened the box and urged Zhang Zian to install the live broadcast app for her, but when it started, it prompted, ¡°Can¡¯t connect to thework. Please check thework connection.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± She pointed at the screen in confusion.

    ¡°Oh, because the SIM card that you had used to go online before sank into the sea with your phone, you can¡¯t use the inte at the moment,¡± Zhang Zian pacified her as he ate.

    Sihwa cried out angrily, ¡°Then I will go back to the sea and pick up my old mobile phone. You can insist and say no! I don¡¯t care! You mustpensate me!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. There¡¯s no SIM card seller here. When we get back to Cairo in the evening, I¡¯ll buy you a new one. Tomorrow morning at thetest, you can broadcast it live. Let¡¯s endure a day first,¡± Zhang Zian said half-truthfully.

    Sihwa would only use her phone to broadcast, watch videos, and these sorts of things, and she did not know anything about the settings of the phone. It was very easy to trick her.

    She was very unhappy when she heard it and lost her temper randomly with Zhang Zian, but she was also helpless.

    After breakfast, he put the sulky Sihwa and the Snowy Li, who could not tolerate the heat, in his mobile phone and turned the other elfins invisible. He reported to Professor Wei Kang that he was safe. He went to the front desk of the hotel to check out and drove to the Port of Mersa Matruh.

    This time, he was familiar with the road and didn¡¯t always look at the navigation. There was more leisure to enjoy the scenery outside the window.

    Fina was sitting on the front passenger seat and turned its head to look out of the window.

    In fact, Zhang Zian had had a question yesterday. When Sihwa had wanted toe to the seaside, Fina had suggesteding to Port of Mersa Matruh, but she had no special interest in the huge rock called Cleopatra Bathroom. If it was really interested, it would certainly wade in even if it hated being wet.

    Then why had it suggesteding here?

    ¡°Fina, this is a rare trip. Do you not have any ces you want to visit near here?¡± To prevent any future regrets, he asked.

    Fina mildly turned its head back to look at him. ¡°What I want to see¡ªI¡¯ve already seen it all before.¡±

    This answer made Zhang Zian even more puzzled. Everyone had a nine-yearpulsory education. What could it see that he could not see?

    The rental car reached a ce that was close to where Salem had set the meeting point. If it hadn¡¯t been for the fact that Salem waved his hand to greet them, Zhang Zian almost would not have recognized him.

    Salem had worn a trendy one-piece swimsuit yesterday, but today he¡¯d changed into a long gown. The upper part of his body looked like an ordinary shirt.

    ¡°Hi! Jeff, we¡¯re going today, right?¡± Salem was so energetic that he couldn¡¯t even tell he had just picked up his life from Death yesterday. ¡°Or are you going to hang around? I can take you there. I know all the sights nearby.¡±

    Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t this ce famous for its beach? What other famous attractions are there?¡±

    Salem pointed at the faraway beach. ¡°For example, that ce.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at it with his neck stretched out, but there seemed to be nothing special about what he could see. It was only a broken stone wharf by the sea with nothing but its outline left.

    ¡°What is that ce?¡± he asked.

    ¡°In ancient Egypt, it was the dock of the mooring fleet. It is said that Cleopatra VII came to Matruh by boat from Alexandria every time. She got on and off there,¡± Salem exined.

    Traffic had been inconvenient in ancient times. Ancient Egyptians basically only settled along the Nile River. There was nothing but desert between Alexandria Port and Matruh Port. There was no road. A boat was indeed the most convenient and safe means to travel. Even in modern times, it took about two or three hours to drive between the two ces.

    Zhang Zian seemed to have some insight and looked at Fina. He was looking at the broken-down wharf. It must have been here by boat in that year. No wonder it had seen everything it wanted to see.

    ¡°Do you want to go and take a look? Actually, there is not much left to see.¡± Salem shrugged.

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°There is no need. What I want to see, I¡¯ve already seen. Let¡¯s go to the Siwa Oasis.¡±

    Salem jumped into the car he¡¯d borrowed and led the way forward, in the southwest direction.

    The two cars drove through the public road in the desert, one in front and one behind, hardly meeting any other cars.

    This route had been traveled by Alexander the Great more than 2,000 years ago. In order to be a pharaoh recognized by the ancient Egyptian people, he¡¯d led the army all the way into the desert and finally arrived at the Temple of Amun in the Siwa Oasis, where he had been inspired to establish thest generation of Empire in ancient Egyptian history.

    It was said that if you prayed in the Temple of Amun, your wishes woulde true.

    Fina watched the road ahead. She could not wait to reach the Siwa Oasis and make her wish in the Amun Temple.

 Chapter 1187: Siwa Oasis

    <h4>Chapter 1187: Siwa Oasis</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    There were a few powerful people in history that had died early. One of them was Alexander the Great, one of the greatestmanders ever to live, mentored by Aristotle. Back then, after Alexander the Great entered ancient Egypt after defeating the Persians, he had personally led an army deep into the great western deserts to visit the Amun Temple and learn how to be a pharaoh whom Egyptians would follow.

    Before that, the Persians had mulled over this issue too. Even though they had upied ancient Egypt for 200 years, the ancient Egyptians didn¡¯t agree with the legality of their rule, and they refused to recognize the Persians as their pharaohs. They had resisted them for 200 years.

    To solve this issue, long before Alexander the Great hade, the Persians had sent out a troop with as many as 50,000 people to enter the great western deserts, looking for the Amun Temple in the Siwa Oasis. If they couldn¡¯t get God¡¯s divine guidance, then they might as well burn the temple to the ground.

    The straight distance between Alexandria Port and the Siwa Oasis was about 500km. Today, it didn¡¯t seem too far away, but in the first few hundred years of B.C., this was one treacherous journey, one which a person might never return from.

    Legend says that after the Persian army entered the great west desert, they were met with a scary storm, and all 50,000 people were buried alive in the sand, none of them making it out alive... This sounded just like how the Mongolian army had all met with tragedy on the seas while trying to reach Fusang.

    Despite the previous experience of the Persians, the bold and ambitious Alexander the Great was not deterred and embarked on the same journey.

    His army had gotten lost in the desert, but two crows appeared before him to lead the way, as though he really had been blessed by the Egyptian gods. They finally reached the Siwa Oasis after a mythical journey. He had received divine instruction before the Amun Temple and was recognized as a Son of Amun by the priests, which is to say the son of the Sun God, and he had officially be a pharaoh of ancient Egypt.

    Why was the Amun Temple held in such high regard? Because the Amun Temple¡¯s predictions were extremely urate. Sadly, no one knew whether Amun had seen Alexander the Great¡¯s early death.

    The road from the Port of Mersa Matruh to the Siwa Oasis was extremely boring, no views other than endless deserts and low bushes.

    At the end of the in desert, a bit of greenery started to show. Tall coconut trees had new fruit growing on them with two months before bing ripe, turning from green to yellow and then a wine-colored brownish tone.

    The calmkes reflected the bright sunlight, the white reflections around thekes looking like snow or frost. These were salt deposits that had collected on the sand after the water had evaporated.

    They had reached the Siwa Oasis.

    Zhang Zian had used a few hours to go past the desert that had buried 50,000 people and nearly imed Alexander the Great¡¯s army too. But that was also the end of the highway. From here on, there were no more roads to the south, nor the west. At least, there were no smooth roads, just the endless Sahara Desert.

    They started to see more and more people on the roads. Other than the asional tourist bus, the other mostmon mode of transport was actually donkeys. The Berber men that lived in the Siwa Oasis sat on carriages, cracking their whips to move the donkey. When Zhang Zian slowed down the car to look curiously, a middle-aged man showed him a shy smile before whipping the poor donkey to hide how shy he was before strangers.

    If one were to say that there were still a few tourists who went to Mersa Matruh for its beautiful beaches, then the amount of tourists here was almost nonexistent. It was almost 700km away from Cairo and closer to the Libya border than the city center.

    But that didn¡¯t mean that there was nothing to look at here. It was, in fact, the opposite. The Siwa Oasis had been ranked 17 on CNN¡¯s list of the World¡¯s Top 50 Natural Attractions, and it was the highest-ranked amongst all of Egypt¡¯s attractions.

    Due to the fact that there were fewer tourists here, the locals, Berbers, weren¡¯t as verbally talented as the Egyptians in Cairo and Alexandria Port, and they mainly retained their simplicity.

    A hill stood beside the Siwa Oasis, and Zhang Zian noticed many holes in it, like parasites in a piece of fruit. This was the famous Gebel al Mawta, or the Mountain of the Dead, where many of the graves from the Ptolemaic Dynasty and Rome Dynasty resided.

    The Siwa Oasis was around 10 kilometers in length with six to eight kilometers in width. Its local poption was around 20,000, with rich Eurasiansing to stay during the winter. A yellow mud house stood beside the main road, with ¡°Wee to Siwa Oasis¡± written in ck on its walls. There were no tall buildings in the town. Even their tallest building was only four stories high. They all looked really dull and dirty.

    It was currently not the peak season for tourism. There weren¡¯t many people on the streets, and most of the hotels were empty. The donkey carts, motorcycles, motor tricycles, big buses, pickup trucks, and even convertibles all crisscrossed each other on the road without rhyme or reason. Seeing the roads, they knew they hadn¡¯t left Egypt yet.

    Salem stopped the car in front, asking Zhang Zian whether he wanted to take a look around as tourists after getting out of the car. He was familiar with this ce and was willing to be their free tour guide.

    Zhang Zian wanted to tour the Siwa Oasis to see if the ce that CNN had so highly spoken of really lived up to its name, but he had a mission to fulfill today. He had to go to the Bedouin to get a tour guide for their expedition first. He could tour all he want after he¡¯d finished work if he had time.

    Salem understood, reminding him again of what they had agreed on earlier before he got back into the car and continued driving.

    Going past the small town, they entered the deserted desert.

    There were no more proper roads, and the sand seemed to stretch on for miles before them, with h¨¹gend dispersed amongst them, devoid of life. The two cars rushed up the sand dunes and dived down the sand valleys, as though they were surfing in the sea of sand. A long trail of sand dust was kicked up behind each car. It looked like a mini tornado was following them.

    Zhang Zian was still all right with his seat belt on, but the elfins in the car weren¡¯t. They were all dizzy from getting rattled about all day,ining about whether he really knew how to drive.

    No one knew how long they had been driving in the desert. Zhang Zian had long lost his sense of direction. Everything around him looked the same, and he couldn¡¯t differentiate between the h¨¹gend and sand dunes at all. Hopefully, Salem hadn¡¯t lost his navigation instinct as a Bedouin and wouldn¡¯t lead everyone into the middle of the desert with no way to get out of it.

    Salem¡¯s car slowed gradually, and he stuck his arm out of his car window, a signal that they were about to arrive.

    A row of low houses showed up before them, the Bedouin men wearing long robes holding onto their camels as they trekked across the roads, the bells on the camels ringing every now and then. It seemed just as though they had gone back to the world of ¡°One Thousand and One Nights.¡±

    Zhang Zian and Salem both stopped their cars.

    There were a few other jeeps parked near the entrance to the vige. Could they belong to other touristsing to thend of the Bedouins to pay their respects?

 Chapter 1188: Primitive Life

    <h4>Chapter 1188: Primitive Life</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The Bedouin people, known as the Sadi, were a branch of the Bedouin people in the Qattara Depression in Northwest Egypt and near the Siwa Oasis.

    If tourists wanted to visit Bedouin tribes out of curiosity, they usually went to the Red Sea or the ck and White Desert to explore the Bedouin people living there rather than travel all the way here. Anyway, there was no difference between Bedouin people and Bedouin people for tourists.

    Salem also felt a little puzzled when he saw these SUVs. He had not returned to the tribe for a long time. Was it the block-headed chieftain who¡¯d finally gotten the hang of it and was ready to develop tribal tourism?

    From not far away came a string of crispughter. Several Bedouin children chased after each other, enjoying a carefree childhood. Children of this age should be in school, watching cartoons on TV, or ying puzzle games downloaded by their parents with tablets. These Bedouin children¡¯s toys were stic empty bottles with string. It was hard for others to understand the fun of running with stic bottles, but that was their only entertainment.

    The elfins couldn¡¯t really bear looking at it. The gap in lifestyles was too big, and it would only get bigger and bigger. No wonder Salem hadn¡¯t wanted to go back here before.

    What was the meaning of insisting on this kind of lifestyle?

    Adults might¡¯ve been able to choose, but the future of these children was basically doomed. Even if they grew up to learn from Salem and moved out of the tribe, the educational gap made them the bottom of the big city.

    Seeing Zhang Zian¡¯s strange Asian appearance, the children stopped fighting and looked at him curiously as he looked at them. The clothes they wore were dirty, and they dared not get too close. They stood a little far away to watch.

    Zhang Zian touched his trousers pocket and wanted to give them some small gifts, but he only found the cooling ointment from Pinduoduo, which was obviously not suitable as a gift.

    However, in order to cope with the food inconvenience of Ramadan, he¡¯d prepared some chocte, sausage, orange bread, milk, and other food in his car. He opened the trunk, took it out, and waved to the children.

    The children were still slightly scared and did not dare toe over.

    Their eyes were big, like those of puppies, staring at Zhang Zian¡¯s brightly packed food and licking their lips constantly until Salem said something. They cheered and immediately surrounded Zhang Zian, raising their hands high.

    ¡°Don¡¯t snatch. Everyone has a share.¡±

    Even though he knew that they did not understand him, Zhang Zian kept muttering and putting snacks into each child¡¯s hands in turn. The children were not greedy, so they didn¡¯t ask for more after they got one.

    The food might not have been a brand name for children in big cities in China, but the children here acted like they were seeing precious treasures, holding it in their hands and reluctant to tear it apart. Or they did not know how to tear it apart, or... This was their Ramadan. The sun had not set, and even if it were good food, they could not eat it.

    They had lost their suspicious attitude towards Zhang Zian, and they were all smiling brightly.

    Zhang Zian had not prepared a lot of food. This was only emergency food, and it was given out very quickly, but each child had a bit.

    When they came over the next time, he needed to prepare more snacks.

    Out of the tribe came a woman in a dark blue robe. He could not see her face, but her voice was very young. She shouted, and when the children heard it, they waved to Zhang Zian and hurried away.

    She carried a cloth bag on her back¡ªthough it was not very urate to say that it was on her back, because the strap was not on her shoulder but on her head. A young hand was stretched out in the cloth bag, where a baby was still asleep.

    Although only her eyes could be seen, Zhang Zian felt that her eyes are full of kindness. He wondered if it was because she¡¯d seen him distributing food to the children.

    She also carried a woven bag in her hand. After a few steps, she squatted down, picked up some yellow things, and put them in the woven bag.

    Salem introduced her and said that that was his younger female cousin. She picked up the sun-dried camel dung, which was used as fuel.

    Zhang Zian was not clear how Salem could recognize that this was his younger female cousin. Could it be that he had X-ray eyes? Being able to see what she looked like under the long cloth gown?

    Or was it that every young female here was his younger female cousin, just like how most adult men were his uncles?

    The primitive culture here had refreshed Zhang Zian¡¯s bottom line time and again.

    These Bedouins couldn¡¯t leave here. They just chose to live this kind of life, or they were chosen.

    There was a well at the entrance of the vige, and a circle of stones had been built around it to keep out the wind.

    More than a dozen camels were queued up in front of the well for drinking water, a uniform single-humped camel.

    Unlike the secr Bedouins who¡¯d evolved for tourism in the east, the Saudi Bedouins here still retained their aboriginal life to a considerable extent. It was hard to say whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. Maybe it was a good thing for tourists.

    Salem said that the camels may have just returned from the outside or were about to leave for the outside. The camel troupe traveled between tribes and towns, sold their livestock products or gathered spices in the desert, and bought necessities such as dates, flour, vegetables, and simple tools.

    Fina stared at the camels that seemed quite thin and weak, and her eyes were full of curiosity.

    While Salem went to ask for information, Zhang Zian asked in a low voice, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Have you never seen a camel?¡±

    When he¡¯d bought the tickets next to the Great Pyramid, there was a local small seller who had been trying to sell Zhang Zian a camel ride, but Zhang Zian had rejected it. However, the elfins had not been not around him at that time. They had been waiting for him at a distance.

    Fina stared at him unhappily. ¡°Why would you think that I have seen one before?¡±

    That was strange. Wasn¡¯t the desert often associated with camels? Camels also had a nickname, ¡°Desert Boat.¡± He¡¯d taken it for granted that Fina had seen camels.

    Fina saw that he was really not understanding and asked, ¡°Have you ever seen a camel in the murals of ancient Egypt?¡±

    When it put it that way...

    Zhang Zian carefully considered this. He had not seen many ancient Egyptian murals. Ancient Egyptians liked to depict all kinds of animals and animal gods on murals, but it seemed that there were really no camels or camel gods among them...

    It suddenly urred to him that there were no camels in ancient Egypt. In about a few hundred years AD, nomadic Bedouins had brought camels from the Arabian Penins to Egypt.

    Camels were also considered imported goods here.

    If he¡¯d known earlier, he would have spent a few dors on the Great Pyramid for Fina to ride a camel, but there should be a chance here too.

    After inquiring about the matter, Salem ran over and waved to Zhang Zian, signaling for him to follow him into the vige.

 Chapter 1189: Making Inquiries

    <h4>Chapter 1189: Making Inquiries</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In the remote viges of China, families often lived close to each other so that they could help one another if needed. However, the Bedouin houses were scattered out far and wide. Yet this was understandable. Chinese vige houses, even the poorest, were at least made of mud. The houses here were made of open air thatch material. Get too close and one could smell someone else¡¯s fart, not to mention that if one needed to have privacy and do funny business...

    Here, there was no electricity, no power generators, no Wi-Fi, no running water, no books, and no newspapers. Even if there had been, few people were literate. There were also no conveniences of modern society. What could one do after the sun sets? Of course, s*x.

    The consequence of not having protection readily avable? Many children. From the very young to somewhat bigger, they ran freely around, looking a tad dirty but innocent.

    For the girls, they quietly gathered in groups of two or three to weave handicrafts. The younger ones would then y with colorful ss beads.

    Every man here had three or four wives and a dozen or more children. The way the children were raised mirrored that of sheep rearing.

    In the vige, teenagers like Salem were few and far between. It may have coincidentally been that the nomadic tribes had ventured to the vicinity of the Siwa Oasis, and many of them went to town or the farther-away Port of Mersa Matruh to work and earn money.

    Those left behind were young children and mostly middle-aged or elderly people over the age of 30. In some ces, a 30-year-old was not considered to be middle-aged¡ªhere, the harsh environment and longboring hours made one age rapidly. A person in their twenties was simr to one in their forties.

    Salem led Zhang Zian to one of the shacks and whispered, ¡°I just asked my cousin about it. It seems that just before we came, there was another group of guests who arrived. They seemed rich but somewhat rough. He didn¡¯t know what they wanted, but they went straight to the chieftain.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. The few off-road vehicles parked at the entrance to the vige must¡¯ve belonged to this group of guests.

    While the purpose of their visit was unknown, the hope was that they would not cause any trouble and affect the operations of the expedition team. Yet Zhang Zian had a feeling of unease, fearing what might happen.

    They approached another shack. Salem did not knock, as there was no door to knock on. The shack was made out of date palm branches and reed stems. Only three sides of the shack were built, and the roof was covered with palm leaves. A rag hung on the open side, functioning as a door.

    By heading to thergest shack in the entiremunity, Salem indicated that this was the home of the vige chief. Despite this being the chieftain¡¯s shack, it was only a little bigger than the ordinary people¡¯s shacks. Other additional features included pirs made of trunks or mud bricks to make the sheds stronger.

    The door was more spacious with no curtain hanging. It was possible to make out who is inside, but because the shack was dark and the outdoors were very bright, it turned out to be quite difficult.

    Salem shouted at the house in his tribalnguage. Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t understand clearly what he was yelling, but he seemed to hear the word ¡°Nabari.¡±

    Zhang Zian guessed that Salem probably said that he woulde in with the guests. It acted like a warning that if one was having intercourse during the day, one should stop and pull on his pants.

    Just a joke.

    After shouting, Salem raised the curtain and entered, indicating that Zhang Zian should follow.

    Because Egypt was dry and hot, no matter how hot it got outside, it was always cooler indoors. The airy house was now a clear advantage.

    Sitting in the house was a middle-aged man, likely about 40 or 50 years old but whose true age was unknown. He was smoking a hookah.

    In addition, there was a middle-aged woman wearing a long bluish-ck robe. Only her eyes and her hands were visible. She sat cross-legged on the nket, skillfully ttening dough with a rolling pin. A pit was dug in the ground next to it and surrounded by stones. A red me shone brightly in the center.

    There were two three- or four-year-old children crawling up and down on the nket, staring at Zhang Zian with bright eyes.

    A few stic water dispenser containers lined the side of the house. They contained liquids of different colors. They probably contained water and camel milk, although one looked like milk wine.

    Zhang Zian guessed that this middle-aged man was probably the legendary guardian of the tribe¡ªNabari, as well as his wife and children.

    Salem whispered something and introduced Zhang Zian to Nabari.

    Nabari put down the hookah. He stood up, looked at Zhang Zian, stuck out his hand, and said in English, ¡°Wee, friends from China!¡±

    Zhang Zian noticed that Nabari was wearing a sr-powered watch that looked quite nice. This might¡¯ve been the most technologically advanced thing in the entire tribe. Plus, hismand of the Englishnguage was better than most Egyptians¡¯. Nabari was obviously a person who had seen much. Salem said that he often took expedition teams or tour groups into the desert and returned safely. This might actually be believable.

    The Bedouins provided warm hospitality to their guests. Men had to shake hands but also hug.

    After the hug, Nabari smiled and asked, ¡°What can I help you with, friends from afar?¡±

    Zhang Zian spoke openly and talked about the expedition team¡¯s request for him to take the team into the desert. He also did not forget Salem¡¯s request, repeatedly mentioning that it was because of Salem¡¯s rmendation.

    Salem also helped on the sidelines. He said Zhang Zian was like a good friend who¡¯d gone through trials and tribtions with him for many years. He also said that Zhang Zian had helped him a lot and begged Nabari to help him return this favor.

    Nabari silently considered their question and did not rush to agree. He first asked specifically where the expedition team nned to go, because the western desert was part of the Sahara Desert, and it was not possible to enter like a headless fly without a n.

    Zhang Zian nodded secretly. Nabari had not agreed immediately upon hearing about the generous reward. This proved that he was a calm and cautious person.

    In fact, Nabari zeroed in on the difficulty of the expedition team. The expedition team did not have a clear goal. Wei Kang wanted a Bedouin as a guide, as they were familiar with the desert. The hope was to hear from them whether they¡¯de across other types of Egyptian cats. Without them, it would really be searching for a needle in a haystack.

    ¡°Cat?¡± Nabari frowned and thought for a while. ¡°You¡¯re going to the desert to find a cat?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but no ordinary cat,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    As it was difficult to exin what the original Egyptian cat was, he simply turned around to Fina and said, ¡°A cat like this.¡±

    Fina did not walk into the shack. Itzed outside and looked around.

    Nabari stared at Fina. After a while, he said with uncertainty, ¡°I...I might have seen it.¡±

 Chapter 1190: Karaburan

    <h4>Chapter 1190: Karaburan</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As people who had lived in the desert for thousands of years, Bedouin people often had excellent memory and observation. The better the guide, the more so. It had been integrated into their blood as a survival instinct.

    They could tell the difference between a dune and another dune, remember the shape of a date palm tree they¡¯d seen two or three years ago, and even judge the age and sex of a camel from its footprints, as well as whether a man was riding it or not and how much it was carrying. They could guess where the camel hadst eaten grass from its dung.

    Since Nabari was the best guide in the tribe, it was reasonable to be excellent in both observation and memory. Otherwise, it would be a bit of an embarrassment to his name.

    He said he had seen a cat like Fina, but his tone was not very sure. It was unusual unless it was seen in a very special situation or he had seen it a very long time ago.

    Salem was also surprised. He had always believed in Uncle Nabari¡¯s abilities and said, ¡°Uncle Nabari, please try your best to remember. Have you seen it before or not? Have you ever seen it before? Where did you see it?¡±

    For an instant, Nabari¡¯s face shook with fear, and his body trembled as if this had evoked terrible memories.

    ¡°That was a long time ago, when I was your age.¡± Nabari looked at Salem, but his eyes seemed to be looking at himself many years ago. ¡°I followed my father into the desert and served as a guide to a group of people. As a result, I encountered a terrible Karaburan...¡±

    It was his past that was unbearable to remember, and Nabari still had palpitations when he recalled it.

    He had never seen such a terrible Karaburan in his life. At noon, he could see his own hand in front of him. The storm was so fierce that it could blow people away. The camels were panicked. They spent a lot of energy to pull the camels and keep them from running away, and then they let them lie down in a circle while they hid within the fence made by the camels, praying for the storm to pass quickly...

    But the storm did not let them go so easily.

    Not long after, they were horrified to realize that the sand had practically covered the camels that were lying down. If they waited any longer, all of them would be buried here.

    In this case, they could only forcefully pull the camels up, without even caring about their goods, and head forward in the direction to leave the desert, based on their memories.

    Even with the best guide, they still lost their way. The violent storms changed thendscape around them, countless dunes disappeared, and countless dunes emerged from the sky, moving like living beasts and masking all the familiarndmarks.

    When the storm finally stopped, there were a lot fewer people on the team. They disappeared into the desert just like that, and no one saw them ever again.

    That night, as they lit a bonfire and silently ate the little food left, young Nabari noticed that the edge of the fire lit up a few eyes. It was some kind of animal.

    They clutched their weapons and stared in horror at the eyes, thinking that the devil in the desert was not willing to give up and had sent groups of jackals to reap their lives.

    The animals came closer, and then they could see that the owners of the eyes were not ferocious jackals, but cats they had never seen before.

    These cats were a bit scared of fire, but they were also very curious about firelight and these humans and kept walking at the edges of the light.

    The remaining people in the team staved off their hunger by drinking urine and killing camels, and they finally walked out of the desert. By then, everyone was so thin they looked entirely different and had only half a breath left in them when they were saved.

    Nabari, who had experienced the devastation, seemed to have matured at once and became a guide like his father. He traveled through the desert with tourists and science teams. He could calmly deal with any situation and never let anyone die in the desert. The worst situation could not be worse than that one.

    He went into the desert countless times and lit bonfires at night. Sometimes the bonfires would attract other small animals, but he never saw those elfin-like cats again. He even doubted whether he had actually seen them that night.

    Since he had not observed them closely for a long time, he could not be sure whether the cats were exactly the same as Fina. He only vaguely remembered that their fur was yellow as sand, with dark stripes and spots on their backs and limbs, long tails, andrge ears. He could not remember the other details.

    Zhang Zian understood that Bedouin people¡¯s observation and memory were well-known. It was a startling glimpse of a night twenty or thirty years ago of which he¡¯d kept so many details in his memory.

    Salem was very engrossed in listening and said in shock, ¡°Uncle Nabari, you¡¯ve never told me these things before...¡±

    ¡°Why would I tell you?¡± Nabari gave him a mild look. ¡°You young people like big cities and are no longer interested in the legends of these deserts. You don¡¯t know about the desert, and you don¡¯t want to know about the desert. You just know a little bit, and yet you boast about it everywhere. You don¡¯t know the real danger and horror of the desert. If you young people encounter such a Karaburan, you will surely die in the desert.¡±

    Salem scratched his head sheepishly. ¡°I was wrong in the past, Uncle Nabari. I¡¯m very interested in the desert now. I¡¯d like to learn everything about the desert from you...¡±

    Anyway, it was all making money. He felt it was faster and easier to be a guide for the tourists and earn money, and he would also get the respect of tourists. It was much better than working in the city and getting eyes rolled at him all the time. It wasn¡¯t not toote to open a small shop in a big city and enjoy life when he made enough money.

    Nabari seemed to see through his thoughts, smiled, and pointedly said, ¡°People with impure minds will not be blessed by a true god when they enter the desert.¡±

    Zhang Zian also heard the chilling from his back. He recalled Fina¡¯s contempt for the Harmattan wind because this sort of wind was not even scary in the desert at all.

    Nevertheless, Nabari had experienced a nightmare twenty or thirty years ago. At that time, the level of science and technology was not so developed as today. This time, Wei Kang came with many high-tech instruments. Besides, a strong storm probably happened once a century. It seemed unnecessary to worry about it.

    Most importantly, Wei Kang would be delighted to find the trace of the primitive Egyptian cat atst.

    When the conversation between uncle and nephew came to an end, Zhang Zian interposed, ¡°Nabari, do you remember where you met those cats?¡±

    Nabari¡¯s frown became deeper. ¡°At that time, I was still too young and very scared. I had walked out of the desert totally by stepping on my father¡¯s footprints, so I could only remember...¡±

    He paused, and swallowed the second half of his words, shaking his head, not wanting to continue speaking.

    ¡°Then your father...¡± Zhang Zian looked around.

    ¡°He died,¡± Nabari said.

 Chapter 1191: Accept the Invitation

    <h4>Chapter 1191: ept the Invitation</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Living in such harsh conditions, the average lifespan of Bedouins wasn¡¯t long. Nabari was forty-plus years of age, so it wasn¡¯t shocking that his father had already passed away. But this also meant that the only person that knew the route was gone.

    Zhang Zian observed him, and he didn¡¯t think Nabari seemed to be lying. That kind of fear that came from the depths of the heart and the unwillingness to revisit the memory was impossible to fake. There was no reason for him to lie about it, anyway. Why would he reject a business deal that had basically walked voluntarily through their door?

    Fina quietly took a step closer, watching Nabari with interested eyes while sitting at the door to the house. It wasn¡¯t sure whether it was interested in his story, or him as a person.

    Different from the arrogant and cold Fina, Famous was exceptionally popr with the kids. Even though there were many stray cats and dogs in the cities, for these children, who hadn¡¯t left the tribe since their birth, they had never seen a dog before either.

    There were no pets in the tribe. Camels and goats weren¡¯t really their pets. They were more like their property, livestock, and wealth.

    It wasn¡¯t just the kids¡ªeven some of the teenagers kept looking at Famous. Some of them had been to the cities nearby, like Siwa Oasis and Mersa Matruh, and had seen stray dogs, but there definitely hadn¡¯t been a pure-bred German shepherd amongst all of those dogs. Especially with Famous¡¯ extremely handsome sunsses, it looked just like a movie star.

    Back in China, in order to not scare the kids, it had always closed its mouth when there were children around. But Egypt was really too hot, so it had to asionally open its mouth to dissipate the heat that was gathering in its body.

    In the beginning, the kids were a little afraid of Famous¡¯ fangs and didn¡¯t dare get close, but they realized that Famous was really kind and that there was no aggression in its eyes after some observation. Some of them gathered their courage to get closer to it, and their confidence grew after seeing that it didn¡¯t run or bark. They started to touch its back, and it responded by rubbing its entire body against them.

    Famous started ying around with the kids. It bit onto the string that had bottles connected to it, running in the front with the bottles dragging behind it. The kids chased after him,ughter bubbling from their lips.

    Even though it seemed to be having a lot of fun, Famous was actually really down. It had always thought only the children in the midst of war in Africa were still suffering from starvation andck of proper education. It had never expected that in a not-that-poor country like Egypt, there were still kids who had to live a primitive life due to the wishes of adults.

    If it had just been due ack of money, it was willing to film more movies so it could donate the funds to help the kids. But it doubted that there would be any change even if they had a lot of cash.

    The other elfins were invisible right now, and they each found a shady spot to cool down, but they all thought that living such a lifestyle in this modern day and age was ridiculous.

    Old Time Tea sighed, ¡°Is insisting on tradition really that important?¡±

    ¡°Gah gah! In my opinion, they just need a good shower in my pee to know how wrong they are!¡± Richard fussed at the feathers at the front of its chest. ¡°Sadly, it¡¯s too hot here, and I don¡¯t have the need to go yet!¡±

    dimir huffed, ¡°These people are even worse than those traditionalists in China that pretend to have moved on from ancient times even though they haven¡¯t, full of bullsh*t like ¡®We can¡¯t go against the holy words of our ancestors!¡¯¡±

    ¡°Cheep cheep,¡± Pi sighed.

    They couldin all they want, but the elfins couldn¡¯t change anything. This was how the Bedouins had decided to live. Maybe when Salem¡¯s generation grew up and gained control of the tribe, some changes could be made.

    In the house, Zhang Zian believed Nabari¡¯s words, but he also believed that he hadn¡¯t told the full story and was still holding back. But since he wasn¡¯t willing to tell it, there was no reason to force him to.

    Nabari was still staring at Fina. Even after so many years, he could see that this cat should bepletely different from the one he had seen in the desert, but there were many details that were simr. Their long tails, big ears, stripes, and spots¡ªthey must be rted in a special way.

    Zhang Zian mused over it. Even though Nabari couldn¡¯t remember the exact location where he¡¯d seen the few cats, he should be able to remember the generic location. The great western desert was so huge, it would be a significant help if they could lessen their search area by ?, ? or even ?... Nabari was their best bet.

    He sincerely said what he was thinking, hoping Nabari would agree to it. Salem joined in, trying to convince Nabari to help these Chinese tourists who¡¯de from so far away.

    ¡°I¡¯m no longer as strong as I was, and my eyesight is getting blurry. I had nned to retire and no longer ept jobs as a guide,¡± Nabari said calmly.

    The sun in Egypt was too strong, and even scarier was the invisible UV light. The UV rays were extremely harmful to one¡¯s eyes, and without the habit of wearing sunsses, many Egyptians¡¯ eyes failed before they grew old.

    Zhang Zian felt down. If Nabari wasn¡¯t willing to ept the invitation, it would be difficult to find another guide on such short notice. His brain started scrambling for their next course of action. They could either convince Nabari to change his mind or find a viable backup n.

    For safety¡¯s sake, if they couldn¡¯t find a reliable guide, it would be better to just convince Professor Wei Kang to cancel their expedition into the desert or try their luck at the borders of it. But would Wei Kang agree to that? Unlikely. Wei Kang had prepared so much for this trip. He wouldn¡¯t give up just like that. Besides...

    He sneaked a look at Fina. If they didn¡¯t enter the desert, would Fina feel regret? Nothing showed on Fina¡¯s face, as though Nabari¡¯s answer had no effect on its feelings.

    Salem was disappointed. He had bragged too much before his savior, and he felt that Zhang Zian must now look down on him. He had wanted to get a cut of that cake too, and now the whole n was in the toilet.

    He wanted to convince Nabari, but Nabari suddenly changed his tone. ¡°But I am willing to bring you into the desert onest time.¡±

    Zhang Zian was surprised in a good way, not knowing why Nabari had suddenly changed his mind.

    Nabari¡¯s eyesnded on Fina¡¯s gently. ¡°I think God has lent your hands to bring this cat to my eyes and bring certain memories back to me. They must have ns for me, so I wish to go back into the desert one more time and end my work without any regrets.¡±

    No matter how Nabari felt, as long as he agreed, Zhang Zian finally could rx. He could answer Wei Kang then.

    Fina instead huffed. The god he was referring to wasn¡¯t the same god it had.

 Chapter 1192: New Problems Crop Up Unexpectedly

    <h4>Chapter 1192: New Problems Crop Up Unexpectedly</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Nabari agreed to the invitation without much concern over details such as remuneration, which relieved Zhang Zian.

    While waiting for the business discussions following that, Salem suddenly said, ¡°Uncle Nabari, I also want to go with you guys!¡±

    Nabari and Zhang Zian were both stunned.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you working in the Port of Mersa Matruh now? Before, when your father asked you toe back, you refused no matter what. Why do you want to follow me into the desert now? Don¡¯t you know that the desert is dangerous? It¡¯s not a ce for you to hang out.¡± Nabari reprimanded him in a solemn tone.

    Salem had made up his mind to go with Nabari, who was the best guide in the tribe, and this was thest time he would lead a team into the desert.

    One couldn¡¯t learn to be a desert guide by studying things being closed doors with textbooks. He must be taught and pass down knowledge from generation to generation, precious experiences that could not be described easily. Nabari had gone into the desert with his father to learn how to be a guide. If he missed this opportunity, it would be an uneptable loss for Salem, who wanted to be a guide.

    Salem pleaded pathetically, ¡°Uncle Nabari, you¡¯re the best guide in the tribe, but you¡¯re going to retire soon. If someone wants to go into the desert, who¡¯s going to be the guide? Wouldn¡¯t it be a pity to lose lives in the desert because there were no qualified guides?¡±

    Nabari¡¯s heart was moved. He looked at his children that were on the floor mat just mumbling and learning thenguages, crawling on the floor on all fours. He was silent and did not speak.

    He had several children. The first few were daughters. His daughters had grown up and gotten married, but his sons were still young. He did not have the opportunity to wait for his sons to grow up and then pass on the experience of desert guide to his sons. Would he then just have to watch as the experience he¡¯d had for many years was not passed down?

    After thinking about it, he finally nodded. ¡°Okay, but you have to get your father¡¯s consent before I can take you into the desert. If he doesn¡¯t agree...¡±

    Salim jumped a foot high and embraced Nabari. He almost knocked Nabari into a stumble. ¡°Thank you, Uncle Nabari! As for my father, don¡¯t worry. As long as I am willing to return to the tribe, whether it means going into the desert or herding sheep, he will agree¡ªin my opinion, he would rather I learn from you than be a shepherd!¡±

    Nabari shook his head helplessly. ¡°It¡¯s not enough to get my consent. You have to get the consent of the science team. After all, they are the main yers in this trip.¡±

    Salem looked towards Zhang Zian with wide eyes.

    Zhang Zian knew what he wanted to do in his heart, wanting to be a guide and easily earning a lot of money, but the reality was not as simple as he thought it was.

    As for letting him follow the science team into the desert... Zhang Zian estimated that it wouldn¡¯t be a problem. As long as he told Wei Kang the meaning of the guide, he thought Wei Kang would not have anyments. Plus, an additional person would only spend a few dors more.

    ¡°In the scientific research team, my words don¡¯t hold any weight. I¡¯m only responsible for the misceneous work, but I can help you to tell the principal person in charge. As for whether the person in charge agrees or not, I can¡¯t say.¡± Zhang Zian held himself back and did not say anything too confidently.

    ¡°That¡¯s great! Jeff! I knew you were the best!¡±

    Salem was not foolish. Since the scientific examination team had entrusted Zhang Zian with such an important task as finding a guide, Zhang Zian must have had a great deal of speaking power in the scientific research team. As long as Zhang Zian was willing to help, this matter would definitely be confirmed.

    He also wanted to hug Zhang Zian, and at that moment, Fina looked sideways. It heard a lot of footsteps approaching. Its pupils shrank slightly, and it saw someone it knew.

    ¡°Look at who this is! Jeff! We met again! And it¡¯s actually at this kind of ce! This proves that we have a lot of affinity between us!¡±

    A familiar voice sounded from the doorway of the shack house.

    Zhang Zian, Nabari, and Salem all looked over at the same time.

    It was Peter Lee, or Lee Peter, whom Zhang Zian had met in the Queen¡¯s Tomb of the Great Pyramid.

    Behind him was a group of middle-aged people, men and women, members of the Cosmic Information Society, who had been hand in hand in a circle in the Queen¡¯s Tomb.

    Zhang Zian instantly understood. The rough terrain cars parked at the doorway of the vige were driven by this group of people.

    But what were they doing in the deserted Bedouin tribes?

    There were only yellow sands and the Gobi desert¡ªno pyramids and no ancient, mysterious buildings. Bedouin itself was not old. Although it was somewhat mysterious, it was absolutely not the most mysterious people on the, and it was only independent.

    By right, there was no special reason for these believers of mysticism to be here, unless they had other reasons.

    Lee Peter wore a casual white suit that would be very easily dirtied in this environment with pink scarves in his chest pocket, white pointed leather shoes, crystal sunsses, a decorative stick, and a refined, old-fashioned gentleman¡¯s demeanor. No one could have imagined that his mind was full of mysterious self-created theories.

    Others also looked like they were notcking money. They wore happy smiles on their faces, like a family, with their eyes on Zhang Zian. They stared at him.

    Zhang Zian had a headache when he saw these people. He didn¡¯t want to mix with these fanatical mystics. He couldn¡¯tmunicate normally with them at all. But the doorway was blocked. He couldn¡¯t break the wall forcibly to leave. Although the wall, made of branches and reeds, was easy to break, it was Nabari¡¯s home. He could not be too rude in people¡¯s homes, and there were some details he had to discuss with Nabari.

    Salem and Nabari did not understand Chinese, and they did not know what the origins of these people were. They did not know what their rtionship with Zhang Zian was, either, and so they did not speak rashly and stayed silent.

    He had a way out, and Zhang Zian said calmly, ¡°So it¡¯s Mr. Lee Peter. This is really a coincidence. What brings you here?¡±

    While saying that, he raised his head to stare at the infinitelyrge blue sky. ¡°Or are you saying... That there is strong pure spiritual energy here as well?¡±

    As if he had not heard the mocking in Zhang Zian¡¯s words, Lee Peter spread out his hands and said lightly, ¡°Jeff, what are you joking about? With your sensitivity to the pure energy of the universe, I¡¯m sure you know there¡¯s nothing here except stinky camel dung.¡±

    As evening was approaching, Zhang Zian did not want to spend the night here and had no time to speak in riddles with him. He said, ¡°Mr. Lee Peter, since there is no pure energy here, what are you going to do here?¡±

    Lee Peter smiled, and his gazended on Nabari. As if he had everything in his control, he said, ¡°Of course I¡¯m here for the same thing as you¡ªto find a guide to go into the desert.¡±

 Chapter 1193: The Only Solution

    <h4>Chapter 1193: The Only Solution</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In fact, when Peter Lee appeared, Zhang Zian had a hunch. Why had Petere and visited Nabari? Nabari was neither a sleek fashionista nor a skilled healthcare technician. He had no special skills, and his only specialty was being a desert guide.

    As expected, Peter also wanted to hire Nabari as a guide.

    Peter and Zhang Zian spoke in Chinese so that Nabari and Salem couldn¡¯t understand. However, Nabari observed their tone and demeanor, and he could guess what was happening. Usually he did not enter the desert for a few months, and most of the time he entered in the winter. He had not expected that, given that he would retire very soon, he would still be sought after.

    Zhang Zian was angry, but his face remained rxed and dull. ¡°Mr. Lee, do you mean to ask Nabari to be your guide?¡± He was asking the obvious but preparing for countermeasures in his head.

    Peter Lee nodded. ¡°Yes, I have inquired, and Nabari is the best desert guide. And it is not only me. Mypanions will also enter the desert.¡±

    Zhang Zian showed a face of regret. To let Nabari understand, he said in English, ¡°Is it? It¡¯s a pity. You came a step toote. Mr. Nabari has promised to be my guide. I am afraid you will have to find someone else.¡±

    Pete Lee was not fazed and asked quietly, ¡°Is that the case?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I have already agreed to Mr. Zhang¡¯s invitation to go with the expedition team as a guide,¡± Nabari confirmed.

    Zhang Zian heaved a sigh of relief, but he was notpletely relieved. Where was that look of confidence on Peter¡¯s faceing from?

    Peter Lee said to Nabari, ¡°I can pay you double the price.¡±

    Salem was stunned. This neer didn¡¯t even know the bid of Zhang Zian¡¯s expedition team, and he¡¯d rushed to double the price?

    ¡°Sorry, we Bedouins have no money, but we are very proud of our reputation. This is also thew of survival in the desert. If I am a money-seeker, are you not afraid that I will rob you of your money when we are in there?¡± Nabari tly refused his offer.

    Zhang Zian listened in secret and nodded. It was a wise choice to choose Nabari as a guide.

    The Bedouin people were most familiar with the desert. Nabari could deliberately lure tourists into the desert, rob them of their food and water at night, and return to steal their money and jewelry after they died. That would be really hard to prevent. As for how to exin this to others, he could merely insist that the team had been split up by the sandstorm. It would be very difficult for others to verify his words.

    Peter did not seem discouraged. Rather, he gave him a thumbs-up, smiled, and said. ¡°Good! Very good! I like you! I like you very much! Now I am even more certain that I want you to be our guide!¡±

    ¡°But...¡± Nabari frowned. Was he incapable of understanding human words? He rejected him for the third time, but what Peter said after stunned him entirely.

    Peter smiled and said, ¡°Your vige chief has already agreed to my request. Are you going to defy the orders of your chieftain?¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart jumped, and he knew things had gone out of his favor. This was Peter¡¯s trump card!

    Unlike Zhang Zian, Peter did not have Salem as an introduction. He felt that approaching Nabari directly was a surefire way to get a rejection, so he changed tactics and first went to convince the vige chief first. In this way, with pressure from the top, Nabari would find it difficult to say no.

    The group gathering at the chieftain¡¯s shack was probably discussing this matter. As for the method used to persuade the chief, it couldn¡¯t be known. What they did know was that they¡¯d certainly made an offer the chieftain could not refuse.

    The Bedouins were a very strange group. Due to thousands of years of customs and historical reasons, they did not recognize any country or regime, nor did they recognize anyws.

    Although they lived in Egypt, they still did not recognize the Egyptian government. There were no border customs in the Sahara Desert, and the Bedouins could be in Egypt today and leave for Libya tomorrow. The total number of Bedouins was difficult to estimate when countries sought to do a poption census.

    The Bedouins in the tribe only obeyed the orders of the chiefs, and the chief¡¯s orders werew. Even though Nabari was unhappy about how things had gone, hearing that Peter had the chieftain¡¯s permission, he did not dare question the orders.

    He looked helplessly at Zhang Zian and showed him his palms. It was his way of telling him that he had no choice but to ept the orders of his chief.

    In other circumstances, Zhang Zian would certainly not make it difficult for others. Yet there was really no other way. He was unwilling to let a deal that he had already secured fly away.

    ¡°Mr. Lee, let¡¯s honor the firste, first serve concept, shall we? I was obviously the first one who invited Nabari,¡± Zhang Zian argued. He knew that it was unlikely that he could convince these people by logic, especially when they were fanatical mystics. He could only try.

    Peter interrupted him. ¡°You are wrong. We arrived first. You should have seen the cars we parked at the entrance to the vige.¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless for a moment. Strictly speaking, Peter was not wrong. They¡¯de for the chief while Zhang Zian hade directly to Nabari.

    Things were at a stalemate, but such a stalemate was only beneficial to Peter. Unless Zhang Zian kidnapped Nabari, he would certainly be the loser. He racked his brain to think of countermeasures while Peter basked in a sense of achievement.

    At this moment, Salem, who had been silent for a while, suddenly said, albeit without much confidence: ¡°I have a proposal, but I don¡¯t know if it is suitable...¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± Zhang Zian gestured to him. At this moment, he was willing to try anything.

    Salem looked at Peter and said, ¡°Zhang Zian, since your expedition team has no specific goals, then you might as well cooperate with these people and go into the desert together with Uncle Nabari. What do you think?¡±

    Zhang Zian and Peter shuddered at the same time.

    Nabari frowned. These two groups of people were obviously not going for the same thing. Without amonnguage and goal, wouldn¡¯t there be tons of conflicts after entering the desert? Besides, he had never brought so many people into the desert.

    Peter wondered why Zhang Zian wanted to enter the desert without a specific ce to go. What was going on here?

    Zhang Zian thought about it and couldn¡¯t think of a better way. This was hisst opportunity to make something out of a dead deal.

    He cast his doubts aside, faced Peter, and gave him the kindest smile he could. ¡°Good idea! I agree! Mr. Lee? Are you willing to travel with us?¡±

 Chapter 1194: Appearing Friendly on the Outside but Actually Divided

    <h4>Chapter 1194: Appearing Friendly on the Outside but Actually Divided</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was amused when he offered the invitation. If he seeded, it would be the most ridiculous expedition in history: the Scientific Examination Team and a group of believers of mysticism entering the desert together.

    Since it was like that, whether the suggestion worked or not would depend on Lee Peter¡¯s expression. There was no way. Who¡¯d let Lee Peter have a hold of the deciding power, using the leader of the vige to forcefully find a guide?

    If Lee Peter directly rejected it, then he had no other method. Zhang Zian could only go back to convince Wei Kang to cancel the original n, and whether Wei Kang would agree or not would be hard to say.

    Lee Peter did not hesitate for too long. After a little muttering to himself, he nodded happily. ¡°Great! I like this n! I had hoped to further explore with you the knowledge of the pure energy of the universe, and finally I got what I wanted! And I also want to meet the members of the science team. We must have manymonnguages!¡±

    That would be strange!

    Zhang Zian was insulted in his heart, but he also let out a breath of relief.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you need to discuss with the other people before making a decision?¡± He indicated those believers behind Lee Peter.

    ¡°No, the members of the Cosmological Information Society are like brothers and sisters. Any member¡¯s decision can represent everyone¡¯s opinions.¡± Peter turned his head back with a smile. ¡°Are you guys willing to go with Jeff and the members of the Chinese Scientific Examination Team?¡±

    The believers all nodded.

    ¡°We are willing!¡±

    ¡°We would be honored to!¡±

    ¡°We would not wish for anything else!¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t say anything.

    Forget it. When the car reached the mountain, there would be a road. If there was a road, there must be a Wuling car. Take things one step at a time.

    Lee Peter announced, ¡°To sufficiently express our sincerity, all the costs the Chinese science team incurs after entering the desert, we will pay. There is no need to take a single cent from the Scientific Examination Team!¡±

    The believers did not have any opinions towards this decision, as if the money being spent was not their money.

    Zhang Zian did not go through the meaningless process of acting modest. No matter how generous Lee Peter was, the team still had to prepare its own materials. It could not ce the life-giving supply of food and water in the hands of others.

    ¡°Now that we are grasshoppers on the same string, can you tell me where you are going?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Since Lee Peter had specially came to Siva Oasis to ask for a guide, there was no need to ask. It must be the same as the science team, the western desert, but the exact area must be made clear first.

    ¡°Of course.¡± Lee Peter took out a folded map from the inside pocket of his suit and showed it to everyone.

    Zhang Zian and Nabari extended their necks to look over.

    ¡°It¡¯s roughly this area. Is there any problem?¡± Lee Peter drew a circle with his fingers.

    The area he drew was also located in the triangr shape formed by the border between Egypt and Libya, the Siva Oasis, and the ck-and-White Desert.

    Nabari¡¯s eyebrows trembled a bit, his pupils slightly shrinking before he returned to his original state quickly.

    Although this was an extremely small action, it did not escape Zhang Zian¡¯s notice. Could it be that there was a problem with this area?

    ¡°No problem. I can take you there,¡± Nabari said, bending down, picking up a burnt piece of charcoal, and handing it to Lee Peter. ¡°But the area you¡¯ve drawn is still veryrge, and it¡¯s better to narrow it down so that we can prepare supplies and camels.¡±

    Lee Peter waved his hand without taking the charcoal, looked at Zhang Zian, and said, ¡°When we get into the desert, I will give a more precise location, but for now, that¡¯s fine, isn¡¯t it? As for camels and supplies, the more the better. The money is not to be worried about.¡±

    Nabari nodded. ¡°Alright.¡±

    Zhang Zian understood that Lee Peter was on guard against him, but this also aroused his curiosity. Did the ce where Lee Peter wanted to go need to be so secretive?

    The Bedouin hut roof was simply made of thatch and twigs. After all, it did not need to be rainproof. It only needed to protect the inhabitants from the sun. The slight shadows of sunshine prated into the house.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s eyelids twitched, noticing that the shadows on the ground seemed to have moved a bit.

    He slightly lifted up his head, not noticeable by the others, and just happened to meet Fina¡¯s eyes.

    He did not know when, but Fina had quietly run to the roof of the shed, and its green eyes were staring at the map in Lee Peter¡¯s hand.

    It seemed to be surprised just now. Its ears moved and the shadows formed by its ears trembled, which was what Zhang Zian noticed.

    Fina red in warning, signaling for him not to make any noise.

    Zhang Zian quietly averted his eyes and became more confused. Was it that not only Lee Peter and Nabari, but Fina was also interested in that area?

    ¡°Peter, what is there in this area of the desert? Can you tell me?¡± He asked, pretending to be close.

    Lee Peter smiled. ¡°Is there a need to ask? Of course, it has something to do with the pure energy of the universe.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t say anything.

    Just now, they had beenmunicating in English, but Lee Peter suddenly switched to Chinese and said mysteriously, ¡°Jeff, if you really want to know, why don¡¯t you join us? There are no secrets in our institute. Any information can be shared within us.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to join that bullsh*t society. He said, ¡°I can think about it, but you also need to show some sincerity. If it¡¯s something I¡¯m really interested in, it¡¯s not impossible to join the society.¡±

    Lee Peter pondered and did not say anything.

    ¡°If it¡¯s not convenient to say, then just leave it.¡± Zhang Zian adopted the strategy of allowing him to be atrge and then capturing him and pretended not to be very interested.

    As expected, Lee Peter was fooled. Heughed and said, ¡°Nothing is inconvenient. It¡¯s alright to tell you. There are talented people from all walks of life in our society. Some of them have identally obtained an ancient map, which specially highlights an area. After carefulparison, this map should be a map of ancient Egypt. That area is located deep in the western desert, marked by an inverted triangle. We specte that this inverted triangle may be an undiscovered pyramid.¡±

    Hemented, ¡°The Great Pyramid has been open for a long time. Every day, too many touristse to visit it. The cosmic energy in it is almost exhausted. If there is an undiscovered pyramid, it must contain tremendous energy that has never been seen before!¡±

    Zhang Zian kept frowning on hearing that. What kind of nonsense was this? Do you think you¡¯re Indiana Jones? That so-called ancient map sounds suspicious, too.

    But Lee Peter had his own theory. ¡°Do you know? The people who first entered the Great Pyramid died one after another because of various strange diseases,¡± he said. ¡°People say that it is the curse of Pharaoh, but in our view, it is because the Great Pyramid umted thousands of years of cosmic energy, and they had not been trained. Their bodies could not bear such pure and huge amounts of cosmic energy. After that, with the loss of cosmic energy, the so-called curse disappeared as well.¡±

 Chapter 1195: Business Collaboration

    <h4>Chapter 1195: Business Coboration</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian had always thought that he was pretty good at maintaining a straight face while saying absolute rubbish. Now he understood that there was always someone or something better out there, and Peter Lee clearly outperformed him in this.

    Seriuously though, the words he kept spouting might actually find an audience at a magazine stall or newspaper stand by the train station. He might even be a bestseller if he published a book.

    But, there¡¯s no definite in this world. If Peter Lee¡¯s ancient map is actually real, and there really was a pyramid hidden within the deserts for thousands of years, then that would be the best ce to ce the Holy Cat Statue.

    Even though Peter Lee and his gang were all obstinate people, these individuals were often also very proactive. Plus, they had nock of money, and they all had status and fame. It wouldn¡¯t be shocking to hear that they had cooked up something exotic.

    Even though he didn¡¯t hold much hope, Zhang Zian asked, ¡°That...ancient map of yours¡ªyou wouldn¡¯t just show it to anyone, right?¡±

    Peter Lee chuckled. ¡°That map was sewn onto sheepskin and has been damaged through the years. I definitely can¡¯t bring it with me. So, Jeff, any other questions?¡±

    ¡°When are you leaving?¡± Zhang Zian asked again.

    ¡°The sooner the better, we can¡¯t wait to reach our destination to absorb the purest energy that the universe has to offer to upgrade ourselves, and to evolve into a higher-level being! As long as we prepare the food and water, we are ready to leave any time. But, we can amodate to your schedule.¡± Peter Lee said, pretending to be generous.

    The sun was setting, and the evening came to them. The desert, without any nts around, was quickly decreasing in temperature.

    Zhang Zian took a look at the sky. He estimated that the team would need one full day to prepare their materials, mainly food and water. The scientific equipment and jeep were easier to settle.

    ¡°The day after today. That¡¯s the earliest we can make it,¡± he said.

    ¡°Sure. At noon two days from now, let¡¯s meet here again.¡± Peter Lee put his hand out with a smile.

    Zhang Zian shook his hand out of courtesy.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go back to the city together. We have to use all the avable time to prepare. Is there anything you need? We can help out.¡± Peter Lee put his hand out in a ¡°please¡± gesture.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I have some things I still need to do, so I need to stay a bit longer,¡± Zhang Zian said, rejecting them.

    Peter shot a warning look at Nabari, as though warning him to not slip off without them, or he would be going against his chief¡¯s orders.

    Nabari remained silent.

    Zhang Zian really did have something he needed to settle and wasn¡¯t nning to slip off secretly. He knew the Bedouins¡¯ culture, and he wouldn¡¯t force them to do something against their will.

    He wanted to ask Salem to record a video to prove that Sihwa really had saved him, and it wasn¡¯t a show. That was important. It was bad enough that he hadn¡¯t gotten a reward for saving them. He definitely couldn¡¯t have a bad reputation for something like this.

    Peter Lee led his members off first in their jeep, the Bedouin tribe finally returning to peace and quiet.

    Smoke started to peek out of every house¡¯s chimney. The people who had starved the whole day could finally eat with the sunset.

    Nabari insisted on inviting Zhang Zian for dinner. The Bedouins were all hospitable people. Even though their walls were bare, they were willing to give everything for their guests.

    Dinner was a biscuit that Nabari¡¯s wife had made, eaten with a red sauce that had garlic in it. The sides were tomato slices, cucumber slices, and date slices. There was also milk wine. It was simplepared to what they could get outside, but that was all the food they had in the house, so there wasn¡¯t much toin about.

    Nabari even asked Salem to go out with him to cull a goat to roast for dinner, but Zhang Zian stopped him. There was no fridge here. How could the three of them finish a whole goat? It would be a waste if they couldn¡¯t finish it.

    The biscuit was alright when paired with the sauce, but since they¡¯d had the good food in the city, they could detect that there was a little sand mixed in the biscuit.

    After dinner, a bonfire was started in the middle of the vige. The men gathered around the fire with their song and dance, most likely to celebrate another end of the month of Ramadan. They didn¡¯t have instruments and drummed out beats with only their hands. The children ran around the bonfire, bubbling with gleefulughter, while the women watched from far away.

    Nabari didn¡¯t join in the festivities. He smoked his hookah and watched the bonfire, something on his mind.

    Due to how dry the air was, and without the light and air pollution from the cities, the air in the desert was extremely clean and pure, much more than other ces Zhang Zian had been to before. He could raise his head up and see a sky full of stars.

    Lending light from the bonfire, Zhang Zian took out his phone, exining the situation and his request to Salim, but only the bare minimum. He only told him that thedy that had saved him had met with trouble back in China, and the people had suspected that her heroic act was just a scam, and hoped for him to record a video to tell the Chinese audience that that was the truth, and to return thatdy her innocence.

    Salem was jumping in anger at that, his face flushed red, and he shouted, ¡°Thatdy risked her life to save me, and yet she¡¯s getting ndered by others? That¡¯s injustice! Jeff, you said thatdy is named Sihwa?¡±

    ¡°Yes, this is a screenshot of her livestream.¡±

    When Salem saw Sihwa¡¯s face, his eyeballs were close to falling out of their sockets, his face almost turning blue from not breathing.

    God! This was the most beautiful woman he had seen in this life, his previous life, and his next life! Those female tourists from overseas and young locals who hadn¡¯t covered their faces in Alexandria Port all added together wouldn¡¯t be as beautiful as one of her eyshes!

    This woman must have saved the world in her past life for God to have blessed her with such beauty!

    Such a gorgeous woman was actually his savior? If this wasn¡¯t fate, then what was? He stared at the photo nkly,ughing like an idiot.

    Honestly, Salem¡¯s reaction didn¡¯t surprise Zhang Zian. He could open the livestream of any streamer out there who had a filter on, and he would have his jaw blown off his face.

    ¡°Okay! For Sihwa, I would agree even if you needed my life!¡± Salem would¡¯ve dug his heart out of his chest and given it to Sihwa if he could.

    Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°That¡¯s too much. Your life is your own, and no one has the right to take it from you. You just have to tell the camera your name, race, where you work, and what happened that day. The more detailed, the better. Also, try not to bring up my name in the video. If you have to, just say it¡¯s Jeff.¡±

    Salem didn¡¯t understand why Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to tell the audience his full name, but never mind, all he could think about right now was how his lifesaver looked...

    ¡°Oh right, will Chinese parents ept a foreign son-inw?¡± he asked stupidly.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have the heart to reject him. He probably already had their children¡¯s names picked out and ready to go...

 Chapter 1196: Counterattack

    <h4>Chapter 1196: Counterattack</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The situation was roughly like that.

    The fourth day after reaching Egypt.

    Early in the morning, Zhang Zian came to Wei Kang¡¯s room to report, talking about how he¡¯d met Lee Peter when he was sightseeing in the Great Pyramid. Then he met Salem in the Port of Mersa Matruh. Salem took him back to the Bedouin tribe to visit Nabari, a tour guide, and he met Lee Peter again in the tribe. Finally, he agreed to work together and enter the desert. He picked some major points in the series of events to tell the whole story.

    He especially emphasized the actions of Lee Peter and the actions of the people in the Cosmological Information Society and reminded Wei Kang to properly consider.

    This was a lot of information. He He, Xiao Tianyu, Du Xuetao, and Gao Ke were all dumbfounded listening.

    ¡°Wait wait wait wait wait wait! Just these few days, and you¡¯ve met with such interesting stuff?¡± Xiao Tianyu looked down at his stomach in sadness. ¡°And all I managed to get was more fat!¡±

    ¡°Teacher! I also want to go out to y!¡±

    Gao Ke roared with grief and indignation, ¡°I¡¯ve had enough of holding academic meetings with those Egyptians all day long. I can¡¯t understand anything! The coffee is so sweet! My muscles are warning me! All my fitness achievements have been destroyed at once!¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t understand it because you don¡¯t study at all normally.¡± Du Xuetao pushed up his sses. ¡°I, on the other hand, have learned a lot...¡±

    Gao Ke waved his hands and interrupted, ¡°There¡¯s no need to curry favor with the teacher in front of us. Anyway, no one is fighting with you for the position of a research student.¡±

    Du Xuetao said nothing.

    It¡¯s just that Du Xuetao was an introvert and his temper was good. If it had been someone else, they would probably be arguing.

    He He felt extremely jealous when she was listening, but the bruises on her body had just disappeared, and she was still scarred from what had happened before.

    Zhang Zian was helpless. He had talked until his mouth was parched and his throat dry, but they had all missed the point. The key point was exploring the desert with people who were totally unknown and could notmunicate normally, which contained many uncertain factors.

    Wei Kang thought for a long time and nodded. ¡°I see. The information you provided is valuable,¡± he said. ¡°However, we should not emphasize risks unterally. We should also see the factors that are beneficial to us. We are small in number, and we are all alone. With the participation of people like Lee Peter, we can take care of each other. As for their views... Well, seekmon ground while reserving differences!¡±

    He emphasized to his disciples: ¡°When you meet with those people, don¡¯t argue with them. They can say whatever they want. You can just ignore it¡ªjust consider these words as important as aw. If anyone breaks thatw, you¡¯ll never want to graduate.¡±

    Wei Kang¡¯s voice was calm, but the weight of this sentence was emphasized through the calm. He never threatened these students with graduation, but this time it was a big deal. Any ident in the desert could lead to irreparable losses. He had to make students understand his determination.

    The students all looked at each other and stopped smiling andughing.

    ¡°Xiao Zhang is right. Although Lee Peter promised to provide us with food and water, we can¡¯t rely on whatever they say. When our academic conference is over, we will use the rest of the day today to buy what is needed,¡± Wei Kang said.

    The students shared excited looks. They could finally go and shop.

    ¡°How about Xiao Zhang? Do you want to go shopping with us or go to Siva Oasis first to check it out?¡± Wei Kang asked Zhang Zian for his opinion, but his tone obviously favored thetter.

    How could Zhang Zian not understand the meaning between the lines? He had no interest in shopping with them. It was just the ordinary happenings of the goddess of stay-at-home guys and three dogs that licked at her feet.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go check around first,¡± he said, offering his services.

    ¡°Alright, then you can arrange your time freely. Let¡¯s pack up and go shopping in the street and rent a car. Tomorrow we¡¯ll meet in the Siva Oasis,¡± Wei Kang said, satisfied.

    Zhang Zian withdrew from the room and let them discuss what to buy and where to buy those things. He didn¡¯t need to care about these trivial matters. In addition, Nabari had given him a list of necessary items, which he had sent to Wei Kang.

    Back in their room, most of the elfins were still sleepingzily. After all, they hade back veryte yesterday and arrived at the Four Seasons Hotel in the middle of the night. It was one or two o¡¯clock in the morning when they finished tossing and turning and fell asleep.

    Anyway, he could arrange his time freely, and he really wanted to lie down and make up for lost sleep, but now was not the time for recuperation. He must prove Sihwa¡¯s innocence before the rescue event continued to be twisted.

    On the inte, silence was not golden, because silence would only be regarded as weakness and justification. Now many fans were spontaneously defending Sihwa, but if she did not show up all the time, it would chill the hearts of fans slowly, and her poprity would be quickly lost.

    ¡°Pi, how¡¯s it going?¡±

    Besides Zhang Zian, there was another elfin who¡¯d woken up early¡ªit was not too urate to say that, because Pi practically had not slept the whole night.

    ¡°Cheep cheep.¡±

    Pi raised up its head, taking off the sses on its nose, and rubbed its aching and bloodshot eyes, nodding at him.

    A book was open in front of him, a book that, to Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes, was fully empty. It was a wordless book that could not be flipped through to the end¡ªthe Book of Pi.

    The whole night, it had been flipping through and reading the Untitled Book.

    An arrow shot from a hidden ce was difficult to guard against, while a gun in the light was easy to avoid.

    To prove that Sihwa¡¯s innocence was not enough, it was necessary to pull out the one who did it from behind the scenes, so as to show muscle, the power to knock down mountains and shock tigers, and deter the foolishpetitors on the live broadcasting tform. This was to warn them that Sihwa was not easy to provoke. If anyone wanted to trouble her, they must first weigh their own weight.

    But how could he catch the one who was behind this? Who was the one who¡¯d bought fake ounts to cause their fans toe and attack Sihwa?

    Zhang Zian considered asking for help from the live broadcasting tform. As long as he traced the IDs of those fake ounts, it would be easy to find clues.

    However, the executive who contacted him carefully found many ways to get around it, such as saying that this was the spontaneous behavior of users and citing the need to protect users¡¯ privacy, all kinds of superficial words and all kinds of reasons.

    Zhang Zian could also understand the tform¡¯s hopes to peacefully reconcile, let Sihwa prove her innocence, and stop it at that. As for those anchors who were trying to ruin Sihwa¡¯s reputation... It was supposed to be an anchor who was quite famous, so it was better not to go into it.

    For the tform, whether it was the back of their hand or the palm, it was all flesh. How could they pick one to help?

    The tform probably had concerns. Was Sihwa¡¯s rescue real? If it was fake, it would be a ck history of Sihwa¡¯s life, and it would make the tform reconsider the issue of signing contracts with Sihwa.

    Normally, big anchors would be worried for their own hide and would not do such sly things.

    Therefore, Zhang Zian, who could not take it lying down, could only turn to Pi and his nameless book of life, the universe, and everything.

 Chapter 1197: Investigation

    <h4>Chapter 1197: Investigation</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Pi¡¯s nameless book could, in theory, search for anything in the universe, including the past, present, and future of the universe. However, in general, Pi looked more at past events because the future was uncertain, and there were too many possibilities. Furthermore, it was more difficult to find out exactly what was happening now, as there were restrictions to doing so. For example, one could not involve other elfins. Like the previous case of cat abuse, the nameless book was unable to provide much of a trace of the Holy Cat statue.

    Last night, Zhang Zian had tried to get Pi to do a preliminary inquiry using the book.

    Although it involved Sihwa the mermaid, the restriction could be bypassed by pitching that the act could save a country and not checking directly who ckmailed Sihwa. The goal was to find out what happened two months after the incident, whether any small to medium anchors behaved abnormally.

    The so-called small and medium anchors referred to anchors who had their own fan base or arge number of Weibo followers. These anchors were the biggest suspects.

    Although the number of these anchors was not particrly high, it was definitely quite a few. It was a very time-consuming task to find all the details of their daily affairs.

    But this matter could no longer be dragged on. The longer it dragged on, the more momentous the task was.

    Pi indicated that it was possible to proceed with the check, but Zhang Zian knew that time was tight, and the task was time-consuming. Pi still had novels to write. Would this be too much trouble for Pi?

    Pi gave him a gesture indicating that not only was it willing to help, it also wanted to.

    Pi nced at dimir, saw that he did not understand the gesture, and typed: ¡°All for one, and one for all.¡±

    Since it had made up its mind, Zhang Zian let Pi proceed. It ended up taking all night. Every time Zhang Zian woke up, he saw that Pi was still reading the nameless book by the light of themp, entering all useful information into theputer. Pi was only done when he finally returned from Wei Kang¡¯s room.

    ¡°Are you done with your search? You don¡¯t have to be too detailed,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°And don¡¯t worry, there is still time.¡±

    Zhang Zian was rtively free for the whole day and wished to finish this faster. The hope was to go to the Siwa Oasis earlier rather thanter, but rushing Pi because of this was not an option.

    ¡°Yeah...¡± Pi yawned a few times, gesturing that the checks had already beenpleted. Previously, it had been rechecking the work to see if anything had been left out.

    It clicked the mouse and sent the edited document to Zhang Zian¡¯s mobile QQ viaputer QQ.

    ¡°You worked hard. Why don¡¯t you go back to the phone and sleep?¡± Zhang Zian had watched Pi yawn for a long time and knew that it was extremely sleepy. But he knew that in a while, Sihwa would wake up and make a ruckus. Later, he would also have to travel by car, and Pi would definitely sleep poorly while they were outside.

    Pi, indeed very tired from working furiously thest few days, nodded.

    Zhang Zian took it back to the phone and opened the document it had sent.

    ¡°Sure enough, I didn¡¯t guess wrong. The few ck spots that jumped the most were sent by other anchors...¡±

    Sihwa¡¯s rescue incident had sensationalized the entire live broadcast tform. Many online anchors had suspended their live broadcasts. They ran to her room and watched the grandeur of the spectacle, which inevitably created feelings of envy and hate. They were veterans of the live broadcast tform, and some even had multiple tforms. They quickly noticed that Sihwa was an unsigned anchor, which meant that Sihwa would not be protected by the tform. They immediately thought of ways to bring her down.

    After the live broadcast came to an abrupt end, most of them neither broadcasted to their own fans and talked bad about Sihwa nor bought ghostwriters. Doing so could make them seem too petty, so what most did was influence their fans or post about their doubts about the video. They did nothing more than that.

    The rest of the smaller anchors¡ªactually mid-level anchors of the tform who were not in need of money and had been enjoying the fans¡ªin their chat rooms that day, fans started talking about Sihwa. This was intolerable for many of them, and many felt threatened¡ªseeing Sihwa¡¯s wless appearance and her feat of saving someone in the water, they feared their status would be eroded.

    These were the people who used ghostwriters and mary sums to influence fans to talk bad about Sihwa. Zhang Zian thought about possible countermeasures and went to the bathroom to wake Sihwa up.

    ¡°Sihwa, get up,¡± he said, staring at the surface of the bathtub.

    Sihwayfortably at the bottom of the bathtub, still sleeping, her eyes closed. If one only looked at her torso, one would have thought a beautiful woman had died in the bathtub.

    She didn¡¯t respond to Zhang Zian¡¯s voice, but he knew she would have heard it. She merely did not want to get up.

    ¡°Sihwa, the inte card is here.¡± He changed tack.

    Ssh! Like a spring, Sihwa raised herself up and looked left and right, swaying her long, wet hair. ¡°Where is the card?¡±

    Fortunately, Zhang Zian was prepared and managed to move out of the trajectory of her sprays. Otherwise, he would¡¯ve inevitably been drenched.

    She suffered from being highly addicted to the inte. A day without the inte was like losing a soul. She was highly restless without it.

    ¡°Are you lying to me again?¡± she cried angrily.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t lie to you.¡± Zhang Zian pulled the inte card from his pocket and waved it at her.

    ¡°Give it to me!¡± She stretched out her arm, anxious enough to jump out of the bathtub.

    Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Why should I give it to you? Do you know how to install a mobile phone card? Do you have a pin that allows you to insert it into your phone?¡±

    Sihwa was left speechless by his questioning but refused to be humiliated. ¡°You...what about you? Do you know how to install a mobile phone card? Do you have a pin?¡±

    ¡°Ha! Zhang Zian can prove that he really does have it! When he has it up and running, be careful not to faint!¡± Richard shouted as he poked his head at the bathroom door.

    Zhang Zian took a piece of soap and tried to stuff it into Richard¡¯s mouth, but it was also prepared and moved swiftly away. ¡°Hey! Bend over yourself and pick up your own soap!¡± it said.

    ¡°What is the meaning of ¡®fainting¡¯?¡± Sihwa asked, not having heard of this word.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t mean anything! Don¡¯t listen to this ostrich¡¯s nonsense! Pass me your cell phone.¡± Zhang Zian decided he would deal with Richardter. He would probably tie him to the roof of the car and sun-bake him into dried bird meat.

    He took out the pin¡ªit was a real pin for mobile phones and not a needle that induced fainting. He used it to put the inte card into Sihwa¡¯s phone and reboot it. The phone could now be used to go onto the inte.

    Sihwa, ecstatic, took the phone and immediatelyunched the live app to enter her chat room. However, she immediately saw the allegations. She became shocked and angry, her good mood dissipating.

    ¡°What is going on?¡±

 Chapter 1198: Thanking

    <h4>Chapter 1198: Thanking</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian knew that Sihwa would surely explode on the spot when she saw those nderous words.

    Although she was a mermaid and did not risk her life when she was saving people, there was nothing false about the rescue itself. Anyone who was ndered would be angry.

    She had never had a filter on her words, and at this time, she was so angry she was even tongue-tied. Her poor vocabry was not enough to express her anger.

    Her chest was about to explode. She wanted to yell. Only then could she express the anger that was continuously rising in her heart.

    ¡°Don¡¯t get worked up. We are going to fix this situation now.¡±

    Zhang Zian was afraid that she would really yell. Although the sound-proof measures of the hotel were very strong, the high-frequency sound waves she shouted at were very prating. If she got extremely angry, the ss of the whole hotel could probably be shattered.

    ¡°Fix it? How do we fix it? I didn¡¯t fake this situation! I didn¡¯t stage it!¡± She raised her red face, trying to control the tears in her eyes, feeling so wronged she wanted to cry.

    ¡°I know. It¡¯s not just me. Everyone knows.¡±

    Zhang Zian turned his body a bit to let her see what was behind him.

    This kind of luxury hotel bathroom ss was either transparent or could be converted to a matte effect, as electro-optical ss, so that guests, when they checked in, could... Help to make the atmosphere more suitable for romance?

    He made the ss transparent, and Sihwa saw that the elfins were all already awake and looking at her in pity, standing outside the bathroom.

    When she¡¯d saved people that day, the elfins had all been present. Although the wind and sand had been too strong to see clearly, Pi¡¯s continuous honking of car horns had been enough to prove the urgency of the situation at that time. Even Fina¡¯s hatred of annoying and noisy elfins did not prevent Pi from honking its horn.

    Old Time Tea said calmly, ¡°Sihwa, people that are clean are clean, and people that are dirty are dirty. You saved someone out of your own goodwill. You must not be dismayed by the viin¡¯s nder. I believe Zian will manage to prove your innocence.¡±

    If it were Old Time Tea itself, it was righteous in mind and worthy of the world. It did not care about other people¡¯s views, but Sihwa was different from it. She was now in need of encouragement.

    dimir sneered, ¡°The mugwort is flourishing while the fragrant peppers and orchids arecking. It is because good people keep silent that bad people run rampant! These people only dare to show their sense of existence on the inte. If I was in China now, hm hm... I would definitely pull them out from the inte one by one and let them fall into therge sea of the Meow people¡¯s war!¡±

    Fina knew more about Zhang Zian¡¯s character than she did. It guessed that since he had made this clear, there must be some countermeasures. Itzily said, ¡°Speak. Who will be fooled today?¡±

    Sihwa saw that Fina was calm, and she calmed down a little. She looked at Zhang Zian and saw that he looked as if he would be able to cope with all measures.

    ¡°Ah, Zian, what ways do you have to prove my innocence?¡± She was grasping at a life-saving thread.

    ¡°I have no method.¡± He shook his head, not waiting for her to look in despair. He continued, ¡°But Pi can help you prove your innocence.¡±

    ¡°Pi?¡±

    Sihwa was stunned.

    She and Pi were the two elfins that stayed in the pet shop the most. The other elfins could cover the first floor in their range, but she and Pi hardly ever left the second floor. The difference is that she was forced to stay, while Pi stayed voluntarily.

    Sihwa, who was outgoing and unwilling to be lonely, did not interact much with Pi. When she broadcasted live and was bored, she only took the sound of Pi¡¯s typing as background noise.

    In her eyes, Pi¡¯s sense of existence was not high. Only when it went into the bathroom in the morning to wash its face would it show a shy and restrained smile.

    So when she heard that Pi could prove her innocence, she was both surprised and suspicious. She looked unconsciously at the desk, looking for Pi, but she did not see its figure hitting the keyboard as usual.

    Zhang Zian also did not stop the story at the climax to keep her in suspense. He exined to her and other elfins what he had learned in the past two days, as well as the fact that Pi had stayed up all night to collect evidence for her.

    In spite of her grievances, Sihwa was forcefully holding herself back and not letting her tears fall, because she felt so humiliated and did not want Zhang Zian and the elfins to look down on her. At that time, her nose was running and her tears were trickling down.

    She lowered her head, trying to hide it as she said, ¡°How hateful. The water in my hair has yet to be dried...¡±

    But when had she ever dried her hair?

    She seemed to know that this statement was not convincing, so she simply retracted her head back into the water. When she came out again, the tears and water could not be separated.

    Zhang Zian also did not expose her little lie. He took up her cell phone and said, ¡°The evidence gathered by Pi is in my cell phone. Now let¡¯s go over the lines and prepare for a good y!¡±

    ¡°Go over the lines?¡± she asked, her voice a bit nasally.

    ¡°Yes! Let¡¯s not only prove that you are innocent but also pull out the person behind the scenes!¡± Zhang Zian nodded to dimir. ¡°The respected Qu bestowed pain and disturbance in that year with a killing knife in his hand! We can¡¯t just let ourselves be beaten passively¡ªif the old cat doesn¡¯t show its ability, do you really think it¡¯s a sick tiger because of that?¡±

    Fina was satisfied with this edited proverb.

    dimir agreed, ¡°If one does not offend me, I will not offend them. If one offends me, I will definitely offend them!¡±

    Sihwa did not really understand, but judging from the attitude and the tone of the elfins, they would not let her be bullied like that.

    ¡°Thank... Thank you.¡± She lowered her head and used a voice that was so soft it was like the buzzing of a mosquito.

    As for Pi, she would thank it when it was done sleeping.

    ¡°Pi collects evidence for you, not for your thanks. Because it has been helped, it uses the same way to repay others, so you don¡¯t have to be too concerned about it,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    He recalled that not long ago, when Pi¡¯s novel was attacked, he¡¯d felt powerless, but suddenly there was a 180-degree reversal. At that time, he¡¯d wondered if there was anything fishy with the situation.

    Judging by Pi¡¯s attitude today, it seemed that it had found the truth of the matter. After all, it was a thing of the past. Even if it involved other elfins, it could also find out.

    There weren¡¯t many candidates for an elfin who could do this quietly and were unwilling to speak out. He didn¡¯t need to ask Pi to know.

    Sihwa was unsatisfied as she clenched her fist. ¡°Don¡¯t look down on me! If Pi needs help, I¡¯ll also do my best to help it!¡±

    She was too embarrassed to mention the other elfins because she thought they were so powerful that they didn¡¯t need her help at all. As for Zhang Zian... If one day he was in trouble, she would have tough at him first, and then help him reluctantly and slightly¡ªif she was in a better mood at that time.

    Zhang Zian could not guess herplicated feelings. He exined his n to her once and rehearsed it twice in order to avoid making mistakes.

    Everything was prepared, and Sihwa started to broadcast.

 Chapter 1199: Restarting the Livestream

    <h4>Chapter 1199: Restarting the Livestream</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    There were many people waiting on the livestream application¡ªfans, admins of the app, thepetitors of the admins, watchers from other apps, bystanders¡ªand all these people were waiting for Sihwa toe online and exin herself.

    Even though she doesn¡¯t live stream every day in the past either, it¡¯s an extremely important period right now. Her two days of disappearance had given everyone ample time to guess what is going on. Some said that she¡¯s ashamed to face the public again after forging the saving. Some said that she¡¯s discouraged by the cyber bullying she had experienced. Some said that she¡¯s just waiting for the worst of the storm to pass first. But, not many people believe in the true truth ¡ª that she can¡¯te online the past two days.

    When Sihwa started her livestream again, the audience that received the notification immediately flooded in.

    It was afternoon in China right now. A fair number of home-stayers were online right now, all wanting to get the first-hand information at the earliest possible second.

    Sihwa was surprised at the amount of people in her livestream. She had never had this many people watch her stream at any one point in time. She was worried that the room would be too full. In her understanding, a livestream was just a bigger room.

    All she was thinking of right now were the lines that she had practiced with Zhang Zian. With how nervous, angry, and even shy she was, she barely said a word for dozens of seconds.

    This wasn¡¯t like her at all. She¡¯d used to start praising herself the moment the livestream started, showing off how much money she had and then getting angry because of her fans¡¯ teasing and yful questioning.

    This abnormal activity just made her fans more worried, and the bystanders had guessed whether she was going to take out an apology letter to read.

    ¡°Sihwa! Say something! What are you spacing out for?¡±

    ¡°Has it started? I thought I had it muted!¡±

    ¡°Holy sh*t! What a beautiful streamer! How high does she have her filter?¡±

    ¡°Hehe, hurry and tell the truth to everyone. Give your supportive fans an answer.¡±

    ¡°Can you all shut up? Don¡¯t you see she¡¯s scared?¡±

    The crowdedments made her even more lost. She shot Zhang Zian a look, not knowing what to do.

    He guessed she might be ufortable with the other elfins looking at her, so he adjusted the window into a matte finish, blocking her from the elfin¡¯s eyes, but they can still hear her words.

    Clearly, she was significantly less stressed, as though she was back to the simple yet familiar bathroom of the pet shop¡¯s second floor.

    ¡°Hm hm! Your beautiful and rich mermaid, Sihwa, is back online! Did you miss me? I¡¯ll give you three choices¡ªmissed me, missed me a lot, missed me to death! I know you all want to choose number three, haha, so don¡¯t die! Since I¡¯m the savior of your life, you should send me some gifts, right?¡±

    She pointed at her own face, shamelessly hinting, ¡°I¡¯m a person of the sea, so it would be best if you can gift me something that¡¯s of the sea too!¡±

    Something of the sea¡ªthat, of course, pointed to the most expensive of the gifts, the Chinese Mitten Crab.

    She was back, clearly piss-poor yet always trying to make herself seem richer than she was. Sihwa was back, and so was a whole slew of teasing.

    Of course, a lot of people gave her gifts. They knew that this was when Sihwa needed the most support, and they had made fan groups of their own ord, giving money, time, and effort when they could, gathering their cash together to buy gifts for her.

    ¡°Sihwa, good luck! We will always support you!¡± [Sihwa¡¯s fan club]mented and gifted her a Chinese Mitten Crab.

    ¡°Sihwa, you are the best!¡± [Sihwa¡¯s fan club]mented and gifted her a Chinese Mitten Crab.

    ¡°Beautiful and kind, often a little silly!¡± [Sihwa¡¯s fan club]mented and gifted her a Chinese Mitten Crab.

    ¡°Thank you for always bringing us happiness and warmth!¡± [Sihwa¡¯s fan club]mented and gifted her a Chinese Mitten Crab.

    ¡°All antis can go die now! Thank you!¡± [Sihwa¡¯s fan club]mented and gifted her a Chinese Mitten Crab.

    ¡°Wow! Are there really, really, really, really, really this many gifts?¡±

    Sihwa¡¯s eyes shone at the gifts that exploded across her screen. This was what her dreams were made of¡ªit was so dreamy that she could barely imagine she was actually in reality.

    She read every singlement, feeling like she would cry again. What was up with that ¡°often a little silly¡±? That was just extra!

    With the fan club¡¯s lead, the usual fans also generously gifted presents within their own means.

    Under the rain of presents, even more bystanders were attracted here, and the number of people watching the livestream just grew exponentially!

    This was a wonderful beginning¡ªa perfect sequence of events for the grand show.

    She waited for thements to calm down before taking a deep breath, ¡°The presents are great! I love them! I¡¯ll be better if you can give me more! But I know you¡¯re here not just to give me presents, right?¡±

    The audience understood the message between the lines. She was finally going to give an exnation for what had happened that day.

    The fans that like and care for her quickly sent morements, asking her to get on with her usual livestream, whether it be reading fairytales, or being an idiot, anything but giving those weird people in the room more attention, to tide the event over naturally with the sea of presents, to deal with it by not dealing with it. So what if it was not a genuine event? She¡¯s still so young, maybe not even twenty years old based on her looks. Which youngster doesn¡¯t like fame? Which youngster doesn¡¯t make mistakes? Does she deserve to die just because of one thing she had done wrongly?

    Sihwa didn¡¯t understand their intentions. Even if she had, she probably wouldn¡¯t do as they said anyway.

    She held her smile, speaking with rare seriousness. ¡°That day, by the beach of Mersa Matruh, I saved a drowning surfer,¡± she said. ¡°I did not know him before that day, and I didn¡¯t know him after I saved him either. I don¡¯t even know his name. My phone dropped into the sea while I was saving the man. You all saw that too. That¡¯s why you didn¡¯t see what happened afterwards. Now, let me tell you what happened afterwards. I brought him to the shore, and my friend who¡¯de with me took over. As the winds were strong, I was worried I would catch a cold, so I left first to put on clothes, and the rest of it was taken care of by my friend, as I never learned CPR.¡±

    That was what had happened after the livestream. She knew that her audience would not believe her words, so she turned the phone¡¯s camera to theptop screen sitting beside her. The video yer was open on theptop, and a young man whose skin was tanned to a dark brown showed on the screen.

    ¡°I am good at swimming, and I didn¡¯t risk my life to save this man like you said. But, I didn¡¯t think someone would take the chance to incriminate me either! I asked my friend to visit the surfer, and to record this video, this is the man you guys saw on that day.¡±

    Finishing, she pressed ¡°y.¡±

    ¡°Hello! I am Salem¡ªSalem Ebeid. I am a Bedouin.¡± In the video, Salem looked at the camera straight on, speaking from the bottom of his heart. ¡°This is the second day after I regained my life.¡±

 Chapter 1200: Second Chance at Life

    <h4>Chapter 1200: Second Chance at Life</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Salem¡¯s opening remarks seeded in attracting the curiosity of the audience. Why had he said it was the second day of his rebirth?

    Instead of eagerly exining, Salem in the video turned halfway to point at the shack and the campfire behind him and the people singing and dancing around the campfire. ¡°This is my tribe. These are my rtives and friends. At present, our tribe stays near the Siwa Oasis and will stay here until winter. If you want to visit, my tribe and I are very weing. In winter, we will start to migrate again. We don¡¯t know where we will go.¡±

    Salem was speaking English, and Zhang Zian added subtitles to the video, allowing the audience whose English was not good to be able to understand as well.

    The Bedouins¡¯ unique way of life had further attracted the audience¡¯s interest. Some audiences had heard of the Bedouins, but most of them were hearing of this especially independent tribe for the first time.

    Salem paced leisurely, with video cameras and viewers walking around the tribal vige randomly.

    The endless desert, the stone wells more than ten meters deep, the burning bonfires, the ventted shacks on all sides, the ethnic minorities who stuck to their tradition in peace and contentment, the ruminating humpback camels, the men smoking water cigarettes, the masked women baking the cakes, the silver bellughter of the children, and the amazing pure starry sky could not be fabricated. The cost of fabrication would¡¯ve been much too high.

    The audience watched intently. Except for the paid ounts who were still moring, they forgot everything else. The bullet screens were full of amazement at the primitive beauty.

    Salem showed this not just to surprise the audience, but to prove his identity. The implication was: if you have doubts, feel free toe here and see for yourself.

    He stopped walking, and he once again said shocking words. ¡°I have betrayed the tribe.¡±

    Audiences had been entirely attracted by the video, and every word Salem said seemed to touch their hearts.

    Salem exined, ¡°Before, I didn¡¯t like tribes and hated living the primitive life day after day. I wanted to flee the tribe to work in big cities and yearned to settle there one day. Of course, maybe in your opinion, the Port of Mersa Matruh is not a big city.¡±

    His words resonated with many audiences from rural areas and small areas. Like him, they wanted to escape from that life, facing the yellow mud and back facing the sky. In order to earn more money, they left home to work in big cities. They preferred to face several times more hardships than the local residents. They were eager to buy houses in big cities and let their children have a different fate. Let them live the same happy life that children in big cities live.

    They were no different from Salem.

    Salem smiled. ¡°In addition to working to earn money, my biggest hobby is surfing. As long as I can get a vacation from the ck-hearted boss, even if it¡¯s only for half a day, I will borrow a car and drive to the beach to practice surfing. Yesterday, I went surfing too. It was at an open beach famous for Cleopatra VII¡¯s bathroom.¡±

    The audience was pulled back to reality by his words, guessing that he was the protagonist of the rescue event and listening attentively to his next words.

    ¡°I went to that beach several times, and everything went well before. I never knew there was an unknown danger beneath the sea.¡± With a stern look and difficulty breathing, he recalled the thrilling moment again.

    ¡°Suddenly there was a storm, a unique storm in the Sahara Desert called the Harmattan Wind. It was not very strong, but it especially affected sight. I had not enjoyed my rare holiday, so I didn¡¯t want to go back. I wanted to find a calm part of the sea and wait for the storm to pass. I found it, swam happily on the surfboard, and then... I was carried off by the offshore current.¡± His face was twisted by pain. It was not easy for him to recall the near-death experience.

    In editing the video, Zhang Zian inserted subtitles exining the offshore current and the fact that the beach had imed the lives of four Chinese students a few years ago, as well as rted reports.

    The audience watched, feeling deep regret for the four Chinese overseas students.

    The bits and pieces of the jigsaw puzzle were reassembling to form the truth of the event.

    Salem shook his head and reflected, ¡°I am not familiar with the sea. I forgot two crucial rules. One is that I should not swim in unfamiliar waters, and the other is that I should not abandon my surfboard... I jumped into the sea and tried to swim back on my own, but the offshore current took hold of my feet like a devil and dragged me under the water... I struggled and resisted but to no avail. The seawater passed over my neck, chin, mouth, and nose, and I sank...¡±

    He swallowed his saliva with difficulty. ¡°If you want to ask me what I was thinking, I had regrets, and I did not want to resign myself to my fate. I prayed to God. I said, I want to live, I still have a lot of things to do, I want to see the world further from here... I thought I was going to die. No one knew that I hade to this beach, and it would take a long time for my family to know about my death, but even my body would not be found. They would not be able to bury the bones in the sand ording to tradition, but the sea...¡±

    Salem¡¯s face showed visible longing and overwhelming fear of memories. ¡°Just then, a blurry figure appeared on top of my head, slender and soft. Something was shining in front of her chest. I thought it should be an angel who¡¯de to pick me up, and I could finally get rid of the pain... She held out her hand to me, and then I lost consciousness. When I woke up again, I thought I was in heaven.¡±

    He stared at the camera and said, ¡°Iter learned that the person who saved me was an inte anchor from China. She has a very beautiful name, which is as beautiful as her face. She is called Sihwa.¡±

    Salem personally confirmed it, and the supporters of Sihwa immediately felt exaltation and took great pride in Sihwa.

    ¡°She and her friend came to the beach to broadcast live, and her friend guessed that I might be in danger, but he could not swim, so they informed Sihwa, who was good at swimming... You all know what happened after. God is above me, and I swear that everything I say is true!¡± Salem vowed solemnly.

    Although the majority of Chinese society were atheists, people withmon sense were all aware that swearing to God was a very serious matter for these religious minorities. It was not a joke.

    Salem¡¯s tone turned to indignation, and he red at the camera. ¡°My parents gave me life, and Sihwa gave me my second chance at life!¡± he said. ¡°I thought I would never get a chance to repay her, but if her friends hadn¡¯t told me, I wouldn¡¯t have believed that such an angel-like pure and beautiful girl would have been ndered on China¡¯s inte by evil people!¡±

 Chapter 1201: The Online Battle

    <h4>Chapter 1201: The Online Battle</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian had to admit that those words that had Salem said were notpletely original. This segment of the video was also not the first to be taken. Salem¡¯s thinking was free and came across as slightly random. If one allowed him to speak freely, in just a few sentences, the topic would shift to how much he admired Sihwa.

    Although this video had not been edited, it took multiple attempts before a sessful shot could be called. Zhang Zian had guided Salem in what to say in the first paragraph and what should be said in the second paragraph¡ªthis should not be constituted as cheating. It was like howwyers would try to appeal to the sympathy of the jury. While the court was not truly fair, it was already the fairest ce in the world.

    Zhang Zian was outside the bathroom and used his own mobile phone to enter the live chat room. As a third-party onlooker, he observed the audience¡¯s reaction. Unsurprisingly, Salem tugged at the audience¡¯s heartstrings. With his narration, he made people tip towards Sihwa¡¯s side. As for Sihwa¡¯s original loyal fans, they were already in a blissful ce, hearing him speak beautifully about her.

    After the video was over, there still was one of Salem angrily rebutting unpleasant remarks online.

    As for this video, now, whoever made ims that the video was fake would definitely be seen as unreasonable and as deliberately sowing confusion. This would undoubtedly lead to wide condemnation.

    The skeptics disappeared immediately and didn¡¯t dare show up.

    Under normal circumstances, the saga could have ended after this. As long as Sihwa grievously wiped a few tears and yed her fans¡¯ feelings to her advantage, she could get arge number of gifts in exchange. Yet she did not intend to end it. She would never be able to swallow the pain caused by the users. For Sihwa, whoever provoked her must face retaliation!

    She re-aligned the camera to her and closed the video yback window. The screen now showed the Word document that had been prepared earlier, but it was visible only to her. The audience in the live broadcast could not see it. It was like a prompter that allowed her to say what she wanted to say, as it would have been impossible for her to memorize all the lines in such a short period of time.

    ¡°All of you should know that I am a magnanimous person and not calcting, but some of mypetitors on this tform seem to think I am an easy target to bully. To all these people, I want to let you know that you are gravely mistaken!¡± Sihwa angrily announced to her audience.

    Many of the clueless, upon learning the truth of the rescue incident, had nned to leave the live broadcast room. When they heard what Sihwa had just said, they felt that a lot of drama was looming, and they hurriedly decided to stay. The thought of more juicy gossip made them a highly engaged audience.

    Sihwa nced at the Word document and said, ¡°[Gluttonous Something Fish], as a gaming anchor, you reach a different audience than I do. Why did you ask fans to discredit me?¡±

    When the words came out, the audience in the live broadcast was stunned. Who in their right mind would name themselves as such?

    Zhang Zian wanted to get back at the perpetrators and let Sihwa do the same. He wanted to point out people who were manipting things behind the scenes, but he did not want Sihwa to get into any more troublesome disputes. If he named the person, he or she would be indignant at these charges. The person may ask fans to help with a rebuttal or, worse still, apply for awyer to sue Sihwa. Although on that matter, he was not afraid. As long as he had Pi, he would be able to find incriminating evidence.

    However, Sihwa was, after all, a mermaid. If there was awsuit, she could not go to court. For simply venting and pointing out the perpetrator, it was not worth having to deal with all the possible aftereffects.

    So he thought of an eclectic strategy¡ªrece a word in the other ID with X, letting Sihwa read ¡°X¡± as ¡°something.¡± For example, she would read [Gluttonous X Fish] as [Gluttonous Something Fish]. In this way, they would avoid trouble, but the audience that hung out often on the live tform would know who she was referring to.

    Sihwa did not wait for the audience to react. She read out the messages that [Gluttonous X Fish] used to incite fans, including [Gluttonous X Fish]¡¯s personal QQ and WeChat chats with diehard fans.

    The live room exploded with activity.

    ¡°[Gluttonous X fish]? Who is this? Why haven¡¯t I heard of this?¡±

    ¡°I know! I know! [Gluttonous Blue Fish]! I have seen her live broadcast before! Later I thought she was too beautiful and stopped following her! I didn¡¯t expect her to do this kind of thing.¡±

    ¡°How does Sihwa know so much detail? Even [Gluttonous Blue Fish]¡¯s personal QQ and WeChat ID?¡±

    ¡°She did not broadcast live thest two days, but she was certainly not idle. She was probably investigating the other party¡¯s information!¡±

    ¡°Hey! Who could have known that this silly, cute sweetie had these sorts of skills?¡±

    ¡°She may not have the skills, but did she not have such a ¡®friend¡¯? Think about the earlier video of that Bedouin.¡±

    ¡°Wow! Human search?¡±

    ¡°She is simply all-knowing!¡±

    ¡°[Gluttonous Blue Fish], room number 14752219, is now broadcasting live! hurry and watch!¡±

    A lot of people suddenly left Sihwa¡¯s room and headed to room number 14752219. Zhang Zian joined the exodus as well.

    [Gluttonous Blue Fish] was a female gaming anchor and rather famous on the tform. She had a face that was a beauty standard of popr web anchors. At least based on the quality of her looks in the live room, one would know immediately that she was a ravishing beauty.

    She had entered the game, but the game had yet to begin, and both were choosing avatars. She took the time to rant to her fans, letting them know she was not too pleased with the small number of viewers.

    Suddenly, there was a huge influx of viewers. It stunned her for a few moments before she got secretly pleased, thinking that perhaps there was a major anchor who¡¯d rmended her to the audience, or that the live broadcast tform had decided to promote her actively and boost her viewership.

    ¡°Yeah! New friends, you are...¡± she greeted them with her false voice. Halfway through her sentence, she saw the strings ofments on the feed.

    ¡°Shameless! You don¡¯t have the ability, so you went to discredit others!¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you lower the beauty filter on your face? The powder is so thick!¡±

    ¡°Disgusting thing! We should just throw you overseas!¡±

    The outpouring of usations and insults stunned her.

    ¡°You...who sent you all? I warn you, get out of my room, or I will get the administrator to kick you all out!¡± She quit the game, screaming.

    ¡°The Sihwa Army came to watch!¡±

    ¡°The people of the capital came to watch!¡±

    ¡°You still have the cheek to ask? Why don¡¯t you tell them that you sent someone to smear Sihwa?¡±

    When she saw thesements, her face changed dramatically. Her heart got heavy, but she did not want to admit to anything. She replied defiantly, ¡°Who is Sihwa? I have never heard of this person. Go back to where you came from! If not... tform administrator, get down to it and do your work!¡±

    The fact was, the management was already kicking people out of the live room. However, every time a person was removed, hundreds more poured into the room. It was impossible to kick everyone out!

 Chapter 1202 Malice

    <h4>Chapter 1202 Malice</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    [Gluttonous Blue Fish], on facing the questioning and scolding of the audience, had sweaty palms, and she gritted her teeth, not letting her expression be ugly.

    Her eyes flickered and she racked her brains to think. What went wrong? Who sold me out? Why do these people know?

    Recently, her poprity in the live broadcasting room had declined dramatically, making her more and more anxious. She was a full-time anchor and had no other work or ie. She just relied on audience gifts to support herself and maintain a decent lifestyle. A decline in poprity meant that her ie was declining.

    She did not reflect on whether she was too old-fashioned in dress, not funny enough when she spoke, or needed to improve her skills. She unterally med other anchors for stealing her poprity.

    As for her face and body, there were beauty cameras anyway. If she became fat, she just needed to adjust it higher. Did it matter?

    On the day of Sihwa¡¯s live broadcasting, she was also broadcasting live, but she watched the poprity of her room drop rapidly until the freezing point. The fans who often came to support her left her broadcasting room to watch Sihwa¡¯s broadcasting room. Some of them nevere back, including several room managers who had rewarded her with many gifts.

    Even the signed anchors¡¯ group on the tform was stirred up. Everyone was talking about this girl named Sihwa.

    She had never heard of Sihwa before. She thought it was the live broadcasting tform that started a new round of a movement to build a next popr broadcaster. While she was envious, she alsomented that she did not have such good luck.

    Anyway, there were only two or three kittens left in her broadcasting room. She simply shut down the live broadcasting out of curiosity and went to Sihwa¡¯s broadcasting room to explore.

    Seeing Sihwa at first nce, she was not concerned about Sihwa¡¯s rescue action, but about Sihwa¡¯s face and figure. She knew immediately that she was not on the same level as her.

    Women tended to look at women more poisonously and harshly than men¡ªwhether there was makeup, whether there was a beauty camera, whether there was cosmetic surgery. In fact, there were traces to follow, unlike men, who were only concerned with what they saw, seeing a popr broadcaster who had gone through a lot of stic surgery and could still shout out that she was the goddess of the guys who stayed at home.

    No matter how close she got to the screen, she couldn¡¯t find any ws in Sihwa¡¯s face, nor any traces of makeup, beauty, or cosmetology. It was like a lotusing out of clear water, carved by nature.

    She lowered her head, squeezed the threeyers of fat on her stomach, and felt the thick foundation on her face. The jealous mes burned her heart.

    She thought maliciously, This coquettish girl has a certain beauty. Maybe she had already done the casting couch with the high-level executives of the tform early on!

    What saving people? She¡¯s probably just faking it! The funny thing is that so many people are supporting her!

    She could not stand looking at it anymore, and she angrily left the live broadcast room, still angry and unable to calm down.

    What right did she have to be able to be chased by people because she was beautiful?

    She couldn¡¯t stand the torment of jealousy. She wanted to divert her attention. She opened her QQ and WeChat and saw that the small group she had set up was also talking about it.

    As a customary rule of live broadcasting tform, only those who had given arge number of gifts to the anchor could be the live broadcast room manager and further to the host¡¯s personal QQ number or WeChat ount. As to what rtionship would develop in the future, it was their own free wish, and the live broadcasting tform did not care.

    There was nock of rumors that some seemingly poor female anchors who were pure and lovely in the live broadcast room had been secretly kept by some big rich man or provided customized private videos to some small local rich men. These were not rumors that came out of nothing.

    [Gluttonous Blue Fish] had also added the QQ and WeChat of a few rich fans¡ªsaying that they were rich was an exaggeration. ording to her observation, they were at most ordinary people with a solid family background. Perhaps they could send her a few hairy crabs every month, which was iparable with the real rich person, who could smash a dozen or even dozens of hairy crabs in a live broadcast studio.

    Nevertheless, she still called them ¡°boss so-and-so¡± or ¡°rich so-and-so,¡± because the real rich people often had a fixed anchor they followed and could not be asked for. For example, she heard that there was a famous, generous, mysterious rich man in the tform called [Binhai Native] who only supported a certain outdoor female anchor and would not go to other live broadcast rooms.

    No matter how jealous she was, she did not dare to provoke those anchors who had real rich backers. A real rich backer was either rich or had power, or had both money and power. How could she dare to go and seek misfortune for herself as a civilian?

    In contrast, Sihwa did not seem to have a real rich backer, but if the momentum continued, there might be a real rich backer one day. That would drive her mad with jealousy.

    When she saw that her rich backers group was talking about Sihwa¡¯s beauty, she immediately typed some words sourly and sent several voice recordings, saying that the anchor named Sihwa must have had cosmetic surgery. The incident was probably a show. Then shemented why she was depressed.

    The rich backers in the small group immediately changed their words and praised her, echoed her words, used all kinds of ugly and malicious words to insult Sihwa, and said something like ¡°there are people on her¡± and these sorts of things.

    Some of these rich backers really believed the words of [Gluttonous Blue Fish]. Others just appeased her on the surface. But the truth was that their hearts were like bright mirrors. They still chose to tter them against their will because they knew that for [Gluttonous Blue Fish], it was likely that if they spent money they could manage to have s*x with her, while Sihwa was too high in rank for them to spend money to have s*x with, with their financial resources. That was the difference. They had this self-awareness.

    If they did not agree to what she said now, then wouldn¡¯t their investment before this have been wasted?

    Their ttering caused [Gluttonous Blue Fish] to feel somewhat floaty, as if she was as good as they were making her out to be, but that alone was not enough. She consciously or unconsciously implied that if someone could help her out, they might be her best friend in the future.

    These few little rich men continued to tter her in the group,and they even privately messaged her to express that they knew people who specially did this sort of work, and they wanted to buy over some ounts to help her express her anger.

    She alternately responded to each of their private chats, eximing in her heart that if she had such a level of multi-operational strength in the game, she might be able to y professional games.

    And so, these few rich backers, who did not know what the others were doing, went to find people to insult Sihwa to prove that they were doing their best, and they even took screenshots of the conversation of the price for the paid posters and sent them to her to get the praise of the person they liked.

    [Gluttonous Blue Fish] thought that her scheme had worked and made use of these men who only had s*x on their mind to secretly attack herpetition for free.

    She knew what they thought, but she wouldn¡¯t let them get her easily. If they met her face and figure offline, their loyalty would instantly die.

    But what she didn¡¯t know was that she wasn¡¯t the only one who did that. Without knowing what the others were doing, other anchors did the same thing.

 Chapter 1203: 360-Degree Surveillance

    <h4>Chapter 1203: 360-Degree Surveince</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    [Gluttonous Blue Fish] seemed strong on the outside, facing these bystanders that kicked down the door and disrespected her, but she was actually panicking inside.

    She remembered those streamers that had used to be so popr half the world knew their names, the streamers who were attacked by the masses after they¡¯d said one wrong word or sentence. The streaming tform had had to shut them down in order to deal with the pressure. Would she have to deal with that even though she wasn¡¯t popr yet?

    The thing that she was most confused about was the person who¡¯d leaked all of these out.

    It definitely wouldn¡¯t be her, but those small rich people... They wouldn¡¯t be this stupid, right?

    ¡°Not me! I didn¡¯t! Stop saying rubbish!¡± She denied everything from the get-go, but the bystanders didn¡¯t believe it at all.

    ¡°This QQ number and Wechat ount are yours, aren¡¯t they?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s her! I checked! The Wechat profile picture and photo album contain her selfies, heavily edited, of course!¡±

    She was stunned, but she insisted on being stubborn. ¡°What a joke! Any Wechat ount that has my face as their profile picture is my Wechat ount? So then you ugly people can be Leonardo DiCaprio if you all change your profile picture to his face?¡±

    She was using herputer to game and livestream. Her phone was beside her. As she spoke, she quietly went to touch her phone and unlock it, wanting to delete all of her chat records and her photos in her moments as well as change her privacy settings to ¡°friends only.¡±

    Her arm was in the shot in the first ce, and it was difficult for the audience to notice when she does anything sneaky. She often replied to her rich fans¡¯ messages while streaming or sneakily turned on cheats while gaming.

    ¡°Take note! She¡¯s about to delete her Wechat records!¡± [Watermelon]mented.

    She internally swore. ¡°What the f*ck?¡±

    What was going on? This person had seen? How had they seen?

    Her hand had only just touched her phone, and this person had sent ament at the same time, as though they¡¯d known even before she did it.

    No one could type that quickly¡ªunless the person had been typing from the moment she¡¯d moved her hand!

    In an instant, all kinds of delusions formed in her mind, like this person had installed a pinhole camera in her room and was watching her every move, or theputer she used to livestream had been hacked.

    That... That was impossible, right?

    It was only a coincidence. That was right. That was definitely it!

    ¡°Rubbish! With which eye did you see me deleting my chat history? I don¡¯t do such useless things! There¡¯s nothing I can¡¯t show the world in my chat history!¡± She pretended to still beposed.

    Her right hand carefully put down her main phone before she purposefully reached out with her left hand, picking up her backup phone and showing it to the camera.

    ¡°All you antis shut up! Do you see this? This is my phone! Don¡¯t you want to see my Wechat logs? I¡¯ll unlock it and show you right now!¡±

    Saying this, she unlocked her phone, showing the Wechat main screen to the camera so the bystanders could see everything clearly.

    ¡°Even if I deleted my chat records, I wouldn¡¯t be able to delete them so quickly, right? What do you haters have to say now?¡±

    She clicked on each chat one by one, showing that she had nothing to hide. One by one, until she¡¯d showed all of the records before Sihwa had saved someone.

    Even though she did it quickly, the audience could still see that every single chat was fine. Even though a few chats were suspiciously flirty, they were still normal. She didn¡¯t proim that she had a boyfriend, after all. It was normal to have a few backups on hand.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know whose Wechat ID you were referring to before, but it¡¯s not mine. It¡¯s most likely someone among one of you who applied for another Wechat ount, changed their profile picture and photos to mine, and used that to defame me! You guys are too much!¡±

    She put down her spare phone in a huff, doing her best to squeeze her eyes so some tears would drop, even wiping the corner of her eyes. Internally, though, she let out a sigh of relief, giving herself a pat on the back for her intelligence.

    A portion of the bystanders were understandably swayed in their conviction, some of them agreeing that she was framed, and another person bringing hate onto Sihwa.

    ¡°Forget it! You have two phones, and each one of them has a different Wechat ount!¡± [Watermelon] kept sendingments.

    ¡°You¡¯re using the spare phone that you use to contact your parents, rtives, ssmates, and real-life friends!¡±

    ¡°Your main phone is ced 20 centimeters in front of your right hand. If you dare to, pick it up and show everyone!¡±

    Her heart nearly stopped, the blood rushing away from her face. With how powerful her filter was, she looked just like a sheet of white paper now!

    What...what was going on?

    Her palms were wet with sweat, her right hand shaking uncontrobly. The main phone, 20 centimeters from her right hand, was just like a ticking time bomb. She didn¡¯t even dare give it one more look.

    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t dare to. You will say that there¡¯s no phone at all and sneakily swipe the main phone before picking up the external webcam you have attached to yourputer and pointing it at that exact spot on your desk.¡± [Watermelon] sent anotherment.

    She swore. This thought had just popped into her head, and before she could even mull over the details of it, this person with the ID [Watermelon] had sent thatment at the same time!

    ¡°Who is this person?¡± she wondered silently. ¡°They not only know every move I was going to make, but even every thought that I have in my brain... This... This must be a monster!¡±

    Sweat started to form on her forehead, but her back was chilly, as though there was some sort of monster watching her with a sickening grin, bony fingers reaching out towards her shoulder, just waiting to strike...

    The webcam filmed most of the area of her room behind her form and projected it onto the screen, but the small portion hidden by her body was not visible to her.

    No! She couldn¡¯t! She couldn¡¯t turn around to take a look!

    She forced herself not to turn back. The moment she did, she would just be proving that she had something to hide. But the feeling that someone was watching her from 360 degrees around was so scary!

    She had to think. What could she do? Oh, right! As long as she insisted that there was no phone there, then it should be fine, right?

    She couldn¡¯t fall into the other¡¯s trap! Why should she prove that there was no phone there?

    Unless that person really did show up in her room, picked up her main phone and showed it to the audience, there was no way to prove that she had two phones at all, was there?

    That¡¯s what she would do!

    It was daytime right now. There was no such ¡°monster¡± at all, and she could not let her imagination run wild!

    ¡°Hehe! I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about. I only have this one phone, and I don¡¯t have the spare phone you¡¯re talking about...¡± Sheughed, feigning calmness.

    In the next second, herugh stopped abruptly. Another sound started ringing through the room.

    It was the phone¡¯s ringtone.

    The spare phone¡¯s ringtone sounded first, and then the main phone started ringing as well.

    Someone with two phones usually set two different ringtones in order to prevent confusion when calls or messages came in. She was not an exception.

    Two different ringtones yed in the room.

 Chapter 1204: Real Hammer

    <h4>Chapter 1204: Real Hammer</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The onlookers that were busybodies were all well-versed in these kinds of things that had been mixed up on live broadcasting tforms for a long time. They had witnessed several popr anchors fall from the altar overnight because of cheating fans, ying games while using cheating devices, personal morality problems, patriotism problems and so on.

    These anchors often kept denying things when they first ran into problems and tried their best to justify themselves, and fans would proactively defend them, and then things would get worse and worse. Hidden masters among the people who are watching found clues and gave real hammers, which ruined their reputation totally and made their fans sad and disappointed. Finally, the live broadcast tform was forced to close them down under pressure.

    But the audience had never seen real hammerse so fast!

    It wasn¡¯t a real hammer. It was a hammer that came in seconds!

    Two different cell phone ringtones echoed in the room, and even if she¡¯d had a glib tongue, she would not have been able to exin this.

    Of course, maybe she could say that the other mobile phone was dropped by a friend who was a guest, by andlord, or by a cat next door, but would anyone believe it even if the reasons were put forward?

    She couldn¡¯t insult the intelligence of the audience!

    Even the fans that had been protecting her all along also went quiet.

    After all, there were only a few rich backers who could add her on WeChat. Most of her fans were only floaters or just gave a small number of gifts, but one could not say that they were not suitable fans because they gave fewer gifts. They were inclined to believe that what she¡¯d said was true, believe the pure image she created, that she had only one mobile phone, that she did not incite others to attack another anchor...

    She had heartlessly stepped on their trust.

    Trust, once cracked, would soon crash down like an avnche.

    If she was not guilty, why had she purposely hidden the truth that she had another phone?

    Many people had two mobile phones for work reasons¡ªone to contact family and friends and the other to contact business partners at work. They shut one down after work so as to avoid interfering with life at work.

    Why hadn¡¯t she admitted truthfully that she had two mobile phones? The reason was that there was a secret on the other cell phone. Once she admitted that she had another phone, it would be necessary to show the audience the chat record on that cell phone.

    Now, the masses were no longer interested in the chat content on her other mobile phone. There was no need to look at it. It was easy to guess. Whether they really attacked it or not was meaningless.

    In various ways, her future as a broadcaster was truly over.

    Her eyes were ssy and her mouth was open. She kept her mouth shape as she had just spoken. She let the ringing of both cell phones go on and on. She was so desperate that she had no thoughts of pressing the mute tone or rejecting the call.

    Now there was only one question left in her mind: How did the person know her two cell phone numbers?

    As a broadcaster, she did not let her personal and her work lives intersect at all, because she was not particrly well-known herself and the beauty camera changed her image too much. Even if her mother saw the live broadcast, she may not recognize her.

    In life, she was just an ordinary person. Her parents only knew that she did not have a formal job and earned money online. The money she earned was a good ie in this small city. They didn¡¯t know exactly what she does. She hadn¡¯t disclosed to her rtives and friends.

    So, how had her personal phone number gotten leaked?

    The more she thought about it, the scarier it got!

    For her two mobile phone numbers, one was telmunications, and the other was Un. Even if that person was a telmunicationspany employee, it was impossible to be an employee of bothmunicationspanies, right?

    Unless...

    A phrase appeared in her mind.

    Online police.

    Perhaps only online police could do it to this extent, right?

    Unexpectedly, her ringtone went silent.

    She looked at the missed call on the phone. The beginning of the number had some unknown area code¡ªan international phone call from Egypt.

    If she knew that such a scary character was hidden by that Sihwa girl¡¯s side, even if it scared her to death, she would not dare to provoke Sihwa...

    But it was already toote to regret it.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with having two phones? Fishy, we believe in you. Take out your other phone to see the chat history!¡±

    ¡°Exactly, Fishy! Take out your other phone to reveal the truth and shut their disgusting mouths up!¡±

    Some fans were still talking at her, but she couldn¡¯t believe anyone now. Who knew if the person speaking was a real fan or someone disguised by the other party? Would she be deliberately provoked to take out her cell phone?

    Even if she suffered aplete defeat now, she should at least try to maintain her final face. If the audience could see her ambiguous and even explicit chat records with her rich fans, as well as those selfies full of teasing, it wasn¡¯t just a matter of telling lies and smearing other anchors... She didn¡¯t want to be an inte celebrity in that sense.

    Every female web anchor, whether it was real or not, would maintain a pure image in front of a vast number of fans, or at least not act like a sl*t, which was the bottom line of personal morality.

    Most fans had already totally turned against her.

    ¡°Refund our money! Refund my gifts!¡±

    ¡°Cheater! Return my money!¡±

    ¡°Bye-bye! Pretend the gifts I sent you before were just feeding dogs!¡±

    ¡°I misjudged you!¡±

    The hurt fans left the live broadcast room one by one, leaving very hurtful words before they were gone.

    It could not be med on them. How deeply they¡¯d loved before, they hated as strongly now.

    Even more of the onlookers had already left. She had lost all the ability to fight back and was like a beached salted fish. There was no meaning in continuing to watch it.

    There were still quite a few onlookers left too. They stayed to see the end.

    ¡°Sorry.¡±

    She suddenly opened her mouth, feeling weak, like a shell that had lost her soul.

    Theizens were suddenly alert, all guessing what she was about to say.

    ¡°I let everyone down. I let down the fans who love me.¡± She lowered her head to say, ¡°It¡¯s my mistake. I betrayed everyone¡¯s trust.¡±

    On the desk in front of her, the backup and main cell phone screens disyed a message just received from an unfamiliar number with an unfamiliar international area code.

    The content of the information was: Tell the truth and receive a lenient punishment. If you resist, the punishment will be harsh.

    Without a doubt, this was obviously a threat, and it was not an empty threat. The person who¡¯d sent the message definitely had the ability to carry out the threat. She believed that.

    The other party¡¯s abilities were so strong that they could expose her private life whenever they wanted to. They could publish her real name, her telephone number, her address, her ID number, and her death in a social sense.

    She raised her crying face, sniveling, and sobbed, ¡°Sihwa, I¡¯m sorry. I apologize to you. You¡¯re a good girl. I shouldn¡¯t have incited fans to smear you... Please forgive me!¡±

    After saying that, she lowered her head and made a deep bow towards the camera.

 Chapter 1205: The Warning

    <h4>Chapter 1205: The Warning</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Following the apology of [Gluttonous Blue Fish], some viewers continued to scold her and say nasty things. However, a small group of viewers had slowly started to take pity on her. They reasoned that she was probably too obsessed with numbers and fame. It was too bad that she¡¯d finally met her match¡ªa match that made her the victim of her own actions. Some predicted that this was the demise of a once-promising career.

    The audience had lost interest in her incessant crying. The reason they were not leaving the live room was that they now had a strong interest in the person whose ID was [Watermelon].

    Who was this person? How could this person be so all-knowing?

    She got a good smack on her face. Pow, pow!

    The focus was on the speed of the smack. She had yet to finish speaking and the hand was raised and started smacking. Was it even possible for her to continue to speak well?

    Obviously, this person was well-prepared, but however well-prepared, it was just simply unbelievable that the timing could be grasped so well!

    Just like with [Gluttonous Blue Fish]¡¯s look of horror, this person seemed to be able to know her every move and even predict her next move!

    To say that this person waswork police was, in fact, unlikely. Awork police officer would not risk losing his job by abusing his powers to help a female online anchor. Besides, it was very unlikely that he would be able to reach this level of sophistication.

    ¡°[Watermelon], what is your job?¡±

    ¡°Yes, you are so skilled!¡±

    ¡°[Watermelon], talk to us! We are waiting to see what you can do next!¡±

    ¡°Is [Watermelon] a man or a woman? Are you Sihwa¡¯s friend? Can you also be my friend?¡±

    ¡°Whatme questions! If he wasn¡¯t Sihwa¡¯s friend, how would he be able to help her?¡±

    However, no matter how the audience asked, [Watermelon] did not reveal any further details about his identity. This created huge levels of gossip amongst the audience.

    ¡°In this live room, there must be other anchors,¡± [Watermelon] typed. ¡°Especially those anchors who once badmouthed Sihwa¡¯s stream¡ªyou all won¡¯t be lucky. You will also enter my cklist. I advise you to be aware of the consequences and confess.¡± [Watermelon] followed with a second warning.

    [Gluttonous Blue Fish] was not the only perpetrator. Other anchors had incited fans to attack Sihwa while others personally hired ghostwriters. They had been quietly paying attention to this matter, with several of them entering the stream to join the discussion. They had expected more drama, only to realize that they were on the chopping block as well.

    Seeing the unpleasant oue for [Gluttonous Blue Fish], they were simply d and content that they had not been targeted. Who could be med for [Gluttonous Blue Fish]¡¯s downfall but herself?

    They could not be bothered about the ending of [Gluttonous Blue Fish]¡¯s career. This was because having one lesspetitor benefited them too, although the fact of the matter was that they were more curious than the typical audiences about the true identity of [Watermelon]. They had hoped that after her identity was revealed, this mysterious character would stop there and not pursue them as well.

    The anonymity of the inte made them feel safe. They felt that they were able to go online and talk trash to destroy other anchors, but what [Watermelon] had done made them feel highly exposed!

    They were deeply regretting their actions. They knew they had chosen the wrong target and were content to simply survive the current saga. They knew they would no longer dare to incite controversy about Sihwa in the future. On the contrary, they would try their best to have a good rtionship with Sihwa. Being able to get to know this mysterious character would be very helpful to them. At the very least, he would not be an enemy to them, for that would be really scary!

    Seeing the warnings from [Watermelon], they, situated in various parts of China, could not help but feel a sense of deep dread.

    [Watermelon] did not let them go. He did not intend to let them go.

    If they would be dealt with in a simr fashion as [Gluttonous Blue Fish]... How were they going to counter?

    How could they be sure that he would not use dirty tactics to deal with them? After all, he¡¯d easily dealt with an insidious anchor. Way too easily. Within the anchormunity, how many of them were really upright and not corrupt?

    When would [Watermelon] deal with them? To what extent was he aware of their private affairs? Should they delete all of their chat history?

    These questions echoed in their minds, making them shudder. It was as if they were waiting for a death sentence but did not know when it wasing.

    The general audience, on the other hand, were loving every second of the drama. They were not affected by the chaos that was developing¡ªrather, they were finding it simply enjoyable. It was like witnessing history. They wanted [Watermelon] to publish the names on the cklist immediately.

    When Sihwa had used [Gluttonous X Fish], they had not really believed her words. However, now, as long as [Watermelon] named someone, even if no evidence was provided, they would likely believe him.

    ¡°[Watermelon], who else? Just say it in one breath!¡±

    ¡°Stop teasing us!¡±

    ¡°Come on! I¡¯m dying to know!¡±

    s, [Watermelon] simply left the live broadcast room after giving out two warnings. His mysterious style grew on the audience, who were increasingly impressed.

    Since [Watermelon] had left, there was no need for the live broadcast room. It was also not interesting to see a woman crying by herself. Who knew what others would think if they heard her? They might have thought that a funeral was being yed on the stream. That would be highly unlucky!

    Arge number of viewers left the live broadcast.

    Not all left. In fact, a dozen or so of spectators stayed on. The reasons for their not leaving wereplicated. Some of them had temporarily left their screen and did not know that the matter was over. Some people had obsessivepulsive disorder and needed to see if [Gluttonous Blue Fish] would continue to struggle.

    As for the rest... Some served up words of encouragement, and some gave gifts while others encouraged her to change channels and return once more. They imed that they would follow her to the new channel and continue to support her.

    These words were impassioned and touching, but how many of them were really intended to encourage her? How many were opportunistic and using her current vulnerability to upy an important position in her heart? It was highly unclear...

    [Gluttonous Blue Fish] had been utterly destroyed. Because of this saga, her reputation had been severely tarnished, and most of her fans had abandoned her.

    She considered changing tforms, but she had already signed a contract with this tform. She would face a huge fine of liquidated damages, and she would not be able to settle it even if she sold herself. Many anchors who¡¯d quit in the past had not been able to recover from their jumps either.

    She told herself that she could not quit. She would press on with this tform and wait until the current saga blew over. Alternatively, she would stop broadcasting indefinitely and return to real life to find a job.

    No matter the choice, she regretted it. How she wished she could go back to herself a few days ago and beat herself until she woke up from her nonsense.

 Chapter 1206: Gain Fans

    <h4>Chapter 1206: Gain Fans</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sihwa was still broadcasting live. She had no idea what had happened in [Gluttonous X Fish]¡¯s live broadcast room. She only saw many fansing and going from her studio, one moment sending out the sentence, ¡°Refusing to admit it no matter what!¡± and after a while, sending a phrase like, ¡°Real hammer! Quickly go and watch!¡± and the next moment saying, ¡°Don¡¯t whip the corpse! It¡¯s over!¡± She was puzzled by such bullet screens, but fans always said things she didn¡¯t understand. She was used to it.

    Not long after, the big group that had left temporarily all rushed back into her live broadcast room one by one.

    ¡°Where¡¯s [Watermelon]? Did [Watermelon]e back yet?¡±

    ¡°Sihwa, who else verbally attacked you online? Say it all at once!¡±

    ¡°Sihwa, you know that [Watermelon] right? Are they your friend? Male or female?¡±

    These bullet screens made her feel very confused.

    She knew that an ID [Watermelon] asionally came to her studio, but the problem was that this person was very disgusting, always criticizing her tastes and expressing all kinds of dissatisfaction, often making her extremely angry. The most important thing was that they never gave gifts. How could such a person be her friend?

    As for the others who attacked her online...

    Actually, she wanted to know, too!

    In the Word document opened on theptop screen, the name [Gluttonous X Fish] was written, along with information such as the person¡¯s personal chat with some fans at some time of the day.

    Sihwa could only y with mobile phones, not operateputers. Even mouse clicks had been taught to her by Zhang Zian at thest minute, not to mention the operation of page turning in Word.

    She was also very anxious. She kept sshing water at the bathroom door during the live broadcast, which meant she was asking Zhang Zian where he had gone off to and to hurry in and help her turn over the pages of Word. The problem was that no matter how much she gave secret signals, he didn¡¯t respond, as if he had fallen asleep and never showed up.

    The other elfins were also very quiet. She did not know what they were doing.

    Just when she was about to lose her patience, Zhang Zian appeared at the door of the bathroom.

    He frowned and looked at the water all over the floor, and then he looked at Sihwa, who was drowning and looking like she was about to explode in anger. He raised his hand to hold up a paper, and on the paper, it said: ¡°[Gluttonous X Fish] has publicly admitted her mistake.¡±

    Sihwa was stunned at first. After processing the meaning of these words, she smiled happily, feeling like her anger was gone.

    Serves you right! Who asked you to nder me? Now you¡¯re suffering karma!

    Sihwa was delighted to announce her victory to her fans. Zhang Zian turned the paper over, and on the back of it, there were more words written: ¡°Generously announce your forgiveness for her.¡±

    Forgive her!

    Why?

    Sihwa, taking ount of the fact that he brought good news to him, did not intend to pursue his disappearance just now, but when she saw this, she could not calm down.

    I did not provoke her at all. She was ndering me and my innocence out of nowhere, so why do I need to forgive her?

    Sihwa used her gaze to express her anger to him. There was no need to use words to exin.

    Zhang Zian raised another piece of paper, which said: ¡°It¡¯s no fun beating a dead horse. She¡¯s finished. This is your best chance to gain fans.¡±

    Sihwa¡¯s heart was moved, and her emotions that had been adding oil to the fire calmed down a bit.

    She didn¡¯t know [Gluttonous X Fish]. There was no deep hatred. It was only because she¡¯d insulted her that she¡¯d gotten angry. As Zhang Zian had said, beating a dead horse was not interesting and would not bring her economic benefits. It would be different if she could use the opportunity to gain fans.

    Could she really?

    She raised her eyebrow, expressing her suspicion.

    Zhang Zian put down the paper and gave a thumbs-up to express that there was no problem.

    Sihwa lowered her head, half in disbelief, and continued to look at her phone.

    ¡°Who was Sihwa making eyes and moving her eyebrows at? Why wasn¡¯t she talking?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Are there some secret words that are inconvenient for us to hear?¡±

    ¡°Sihwa¡¯s expressions are so vibrant and cute!¡±

    Bullet screens like that made Sihwa so angry she gritted her teeth. What were these people randomly thinking of?

    She wanted to rify these misunderstandings, but she also remembered that Zhang Zian had said that his existence and identity could not be known to fans. Otherwise, fans might stop being fans and fewer people would give gifts, so she swallowed the words again.

    ¡°Cough! I heard, that [Gluttonous X Fish] admitted that she did it, right?¡± she asked.

    The fans started to send out bullet screens, all suddenly very talkative.

    ¡°It¡¯s already set in stone! She¡¯s already totally dead!¡±

    ¡°She can change her name from now on to [Gluttonous Salty Fish]!¡±

    ¡°Sihwa, report it to the broadcasting tform. The broadcasting tform shouldn¡¯t let it be. Have the tform ban her!¡±

    ¡°Right! I don¡¯t want to see this kind of disgusting anchor ever again!¡±

    Sihwa cleared her throat and announced, ¡°I roughly understand the situation now. Since she admitted her mistake, the... I¡¯ll not continue to pursue it further.¡±

    A stone stirred up a thousand waves, and fans reacted more than when she had revealed [Gluttonous X Fish]¡¯s ID.

    ¡°Ah?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you pursuing it further?¡±

    ¡°She was backstabbing you, and yet you choose to forgive her?¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be right! This isn¡¯t how Sihwa normally does things...¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Chasing after her and scolding her is the kind of Sihwa I know...¡±

    Most fans did not understand her choice, but there was a small portion of fans who praised it.

    ¡°I feel that what Sihwa did was right. Go easy on people!¡±

    ¡°Sihwa is really great. If it were me, I could not forgive her that easily.¡±

    ¡°Before this, I felt that Sihwa was a na?ve little sweetie, but after this situation, I have to rethink my impression of her...¡±

    At this time, they needed guide the public opinion. Otherwise, it would be very chaotic. But those closely involved could not see clearly, and Sihwa could not remember what to say for a moment.

    She looked at the bathroom door again as if seeking help. This time, Zhang Zian did not disappear. He took a marker pen and wrote several lines on the paper to have her follow it and read it out.

    ¡°I think... Everyone makes mistakes, but knowing them and correcting them, great... for the greater good... I hope you will stop refusing to let her go, and not don¡¯t go going... Going out for blood because... Everyone deserves a second chance...¡±

    She stumbled over the words on the paper and finished reading them.

    At this moment, the live broadcast room was quiet temporarily, and when the bullet screens started to appear again, thements were totally leaning towards her side.

    ¡°Sihwa is really too kind!¡±

    ¡°Eh, I knew it when I saw her risking herself to save others.¡±

    ¡°Well, since Sihwa said so, I will not go to Weibo to do things. Originally, I had searched for that salted fish¡¯s Weibo, ready to mount an attack...¡±

    ¡°Everyone is Sihwa¡¯s fan. Don¡¯t do anything that will harm Sihwa¡¯s image!¡±

    The fans were especially touched by Sihwa¡¯s words, and they were very generous in giving a lot of gifts.

    Most of the people that were passing by just wanted to see an interesting drama. At that time, they were conquered by Sihwa¡¯s kindness. They thought that she was not only beautiful, but also had a beautiful heart. They paid attention to Sihwa¡¯s live broadcasting room.

    Suddenly, there was a gift notification that attracted everyone¡¯s attention.

    ¡°Thank you, Sihwa. I¡¯ll always be your fan.¡± [Gluttonous Blue Fish] sent out a bear paw and left ament.

 Chapter 1207: New Friend

    <h4>Chapter 1207: New Friend</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Everyone was surprised that [Gluttonous Blue Fish] had suddenly showed up in Sihwa¡¯s livestream. She might have been moved by Sihwa¡¯s benevolence, and her sincerity ining personally to apologize had spoken for itself. The fans didn¡¯t say anything too harsh to trouble her. They merely asked her to learn her lesson and fix her attitude, not give up, try harder, ande back again.

    She seemed epting of everyone¡¯sments. Even if there was an asionalment that was still angry about what had happened and was harsher with their words, she let it go it silently instead of trying to fend for herself.

    The attitude that [Gluttonous Blue Fish] had surprised Sihwa¡ªwas this really the person who¡¯d tried to throw her under the bus? She didn¡¯t seem like it.

    Outside, Old Time Tea watched the whole event unfold from behind Zhang Zian, nodding approvingly. ¡°Feuds between two people are better untied than not. Zian, your suggestion was good. Sihwa has gained one more friend rather than another enemy. Of course, if [Gluttonous Blue Fish] is only apologizing on the surface but still holds hate in her heart, she won¡¯t be able to do much now anyway.¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°All this is thanks to your teaching, Old Time Tea.¡±

    ¡°What about the others?¡± Fina asked, not moving an inch.

    ¡°She¡¯s an example to deter the rest from ying the same tricks. The others have received their warnings and will be on their guard. It wouldn¡¯t be as easy to go and deal with them now...¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°Besides, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s good for Sihwa to be in the spotlight so much. If we make so many enemies in such a short time, we might attract the attention of the super-streamers.¡±

    Old Time Tea nodded. ¡°I agree. The person that stands out dies first. After this incident, Sihwa¡¯s name will be out there. We should try to lie low right now and use the chance to grow ourselves. We aren¡¯t looking for viral growth. She¡¯s still young, and she isn¡¯t a match for those long-running popr streamers.¡±

    dimir agreed too. ¡°Sow our seeds, widen our horizons, and don¡¯t im King! Even though I don¡¯t quite understand online streaming, that principle can be applied to all aspects of life! Sihwa should use peace and love as her guide to gather all the small streamers together and fight for the diversification of the streamer circle!¡±

    Zhang Zian was silent. That seemed a little far-fetched, but it made sense.

    There was not a single other streamer who¡¯d stood up for her despite her trouble, and that meant that she had no other friends in the streamer circle. If they could use this opportunity to make some friends in the meantime, they could turn this bad period into a good one.

    Using [Gluttonous Blue Fish] as the sacrificialmb was a decision he¡¯d made after ample thought.

    Pi had given him a detailed list of the IDs and real names of the streamers who had bad-mouthed Sihwa, as wells as the details of the fans who had coerced other people or employed keyboard-warriors, listing everything carefully in the Word document. Anything that it thought might be useful was in there.

    But it wasn¡¯t good to have too much information, either. It was messy. It was already a great feat that it had used one whole day to find out all of this. He hadn¡¯t expected it to organize all of it, too.

    The question now was how to make use of the information that he had before him.

    It would be stooping too low to just expose all of these people¡¯s chat logs and personal information, and it would just make a hugemotion that they couldn¡¯t control. The best way was to make a sacrificialmb out of one of them.

    After filtering through, he found out that the streamer [Gluttonous Blue Fish] was a more organized one. She had her things in their ces at home. Everything had its own spot. Even the tissue box had a fixed location.

    She had a series of habitual actions that she went through while she was streaming, like always cing her spare phone on the left while the main phone was on the right and always needing to check her messages while gaming. Her eyes would always drift toward the phone, whether it was a conscious action or not.

    So he had his target locked on [Gluttonous Blue Fish] and made Sihwa read out her name while he prepared behind the scenes. He borrowed a phone from Du Xuetao, changing the SIM card in it to one of Egypt¡¯s SIM cards and keying each number from [Gluttonous Blue Fish]¡¯s phones into each of the phones. He waited for her to deny that she had two phones. She had a huge chance of that, since in previous streams, she¡¯d had the conversations in her spare phone to make up a pure and innocent image before the camera.

    If it hadn¡¯t been for Pi¡¯s detailed investigations of her habits and details of her livestreams, it wouldn¡¯t have been easy trying to make her admit to her dirty deeds.

    As for the other streamers who¡¯d tried to defame Sihwa, they were usually more casual in their habits, their phones left anywhere. Some of them had dual SIM cards with two Wechat ounts in one phone, so it would be difficult to target them. Even Pi wouldn¡¯t have been able to predict their reactions after getting exposed, so it would be better to just leave after dealing with [Gluttonous Blue Fish], leaving behind a powerful image to strike fear in the others¡¯ hearts.

    Right then, another wave of action swept through the audience.

    ¡°Did you hear? A streamer came to apologize to Sihwa of their own ord!¡±

    ¡°Really? Which one? What¡¯s the room number?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a singing male streamer called [Golden Throat Monkey]! Go look it up yourself!¡±

    ¡°Hurry and go watch!¡±

    ¡°Leave no man behind! Leave no stone unturned!¡±

    Zhang Zian had a vague impression of the ID. It was a part of Pi¡¯s list, but he¡¯d never expected the threat to leave such a huge impression, so much that someone immediately apologized and acknowledged their mistake.

    Plus, after this person, there were another two or three streamers who publicly apologized. Even though this was only a small part of the list, it had caused a ripple to go through the livestream app.

    They initially admitted their mistakes, maybe not only because of the threat, but because of the big-hearted forgiveness they saw that [Gluttonous Blue Fish] had received after her apology. If Sihwa had chosen to strike [Gluttonous Blue Fish] at her lowest, the others might have chosen to fight till the end instead.

    As for the other streamers who had yet to show their remorse, they could give them some time to think and mull over it. Even if they eventually chose silence, they would definitely still live in fear for the rest of their lives.

    They could say that a curtain had been drawn on this chapter.

    Sihwa had a pleasant conversation with [Gluttonous Blue Fish] in her livestream and had long forgotten about all the unhappy things. Of course, it was because the other had epted her as she was and treated her with respect and admiration, so she felt better than before.

    Zhang Zian looked at the time. Sihwa had had her fun, but he had wasted an entire day in the hotel. He walked to the bathroom door, giving her a hand signal, asking her to end the livestream.

    Sihwa was still happily chatting and didn¡¯t want to end it right then. She pretended not to see him and didn¡¯t end the livestream until Zhang Zian had promised to bring her elsewhere to stream.

    He kept her in his phone, and then he made all of the other elfins other than Famous and Fina invisible. He brought them in the car towards Siwa Oasis to make the final preparations to enter the great desert in the west.

 Chapter 1208: Refresh Oneself

    <h4>Chapter 1208: Refresh Oneself</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Last time, Zhang Zian had taken the arc route of Cairo-Alexandria-Matruh-Siwa Oasis. In order to go sightseeing in Alexandria and Matruh, he¡¯d chosen the route from Cairo along the highway westward and through Faiyum Oasis to Siwa Oasis.

    If one went south rather than west at the fork in the road, it led to a famous scenic spot in Egypt, the ck and White Desert.

    The ck and White Desert was made up of two adjacent deserts. One was the ck Desert, and the other was the White Desert. Many visitors to Egypt would visit it and spend the night in the desert, lighting bonfires, living in tents, eating barbecue, drinking beer, and enjoying the desert sunrise and sunset as well as the pure and pollution-free starry sky, which brought new experiences to people who lived in big cities.

    Recently, the situation in Egypt had been unstable. Tourists were not allowed to stay alone in the ck and White Desert for the night. However, Zhang Zian had no intention of visiting the ck and White Desert in the south. He would turn westward at the fork in the road. The ck and White Desert was just the edge of the Sahara Desert. When they entered the Great Western Desert, some people spent the night in the desert. Even if they wanted to leave early it was probably impossible.

    The scenery on this road was extremely monotonous and boring. There were boundless deserts on both sides. On a road that was so long the end of it could be seen, he woulde across a bus carrying tourists once in a while. After all, it was the off-season now.

    The elfins had slepttest night and gotten up early again today, and they soon fell asleep because of boredom. Fina in particr, seated in the front passenger seat, could hardly stop yawning, and Zhang Zian began to feel sleepy.

    Feeling sleepy while driving was a big taboo. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to get into an ident on a road in another country. Moreover, the ce was so deste that if an ident really happened, he would not be able to get help for a very long time.

    To wake himself up, he could not help but use a miraculous weapon¡ªPinduoduo cooling ointment!

    He had given out quite a lot of the cooling ointment, and he only had a few stored up in his hands. He¡¯d been nning to give everything out before leaving Egypt. If he really could not give it away, he would have to throw it out. Anyway, he couldn¡¯t bring it back to the country.

    When he opened the cap of the small container of cooling ointment, a strong smell started to spread throughout the car.

    He dipped his fingertips in a little and applied it to his temples on both sides. He was immediately refreshed and felt that the sticky paste absorbed the heat of the skin like a bottomless hole.

    ¡°What is that?¡±

    Fina was the closest to him and instantly smelled it.

    ¡°Cooling ointment. Do you want a bit? You won¡¯t be sleepy anymore after you put it on,¡± Zhang Zian courteously said, but he couldn¡¯t read the first word, so he had to rece the pronunciation of the word with the word ¡®cool¡¯.

    Fina looked at him like he was an idiot. ¡°Are you dumb? Why would I need to put that on? Can¡¯t I just sleep if I¡¯m tired?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m driving, so I can¡¯t sleep. Besides, it contains mint. It¡¯s a close rtive to your favorite catnip,¡± he said.

    Although mint and catnip both had the words ¡°mint¡± in them, and they looked quite simr, they were not closely rted. Catnip was not even a type of mint nt.

    Fina pulled a long face and instantly denied it. ¡°Who said I like catnip? Don¡¯t group me in with those ordinary cats!¡±

    Well, catnip didn¡¯t work for all cats either. About 50% of cats responded to catnip. It seemed that Fina belonged to the other 50% of cats.

    Some cats also reacted to ingredients containing peppermint, but as for the box of cooling ointment in his hands... Who knew what its ingredients were? Anyway, if it didn¡¯t eat it, it shouldn¡¯t kill anyone.

    Since the cooling ointment had no effect on Fina, she began yawning again. Zhang Zian thought for a moment and said, ¡°Right, there seems to be a crystal mountain in the ck and White Desert.¡±

    ¡°Crystal...mountain?¡± Fina opened its eyes wide in an instant, suspiciously asking, ¡°Is it that kind of crystal mountain that I take it as? You aren¡¯t tricking me again, right? Like the diamond town in Germany...¡±

    When they were in Germany, Zhang Zian had just said it casually. He had not thought that it still remembered the incident of the German diamond town. That was awkward.

    ¡°No, of course I¡¯m not tricking you. There is really a crystal mountain in the ck and White Desert. The ground is covered in crystals as big as fists. You can pick crystals up whenever you want,¡± he said confidently.

    Fina straightened herself up and said with her eyes wide open, ¡°What are you waiting for? Start going towards the Crystal Mountain! If we¡¯rete, they¡¯ll all be picked up by people!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a pity we aren¡¯t going on that road, past the Faiyum Oasis. We need to turn westwards,¡± Zhang Zian shrugged.

    ¡°What?¡± Fina angrily sat up straight and said in a loud voice, ¡°You, a mere mortal, dare to go against my orders?¡±

    Old Time Tea coughed once. ¡°Your Highness, calm down! There must be some hidden reason in this. That crystal mountain was probably not just found recently, and it has been standing there for many years. Why is it that no one has gone there to pick things up?¡±

    As soon as Fina heard about the crystals being all over the ground, she ignored other problems. At this time, she was reminded by Old Time Tea and carefully pondered, as if it were a truth. Just like the German diamond town, if there were diamonds everywhere in the town, why hadn¡¯t they been picked up?

    ¡°You¡¯re tricking me again!¡± It was utterly angry as it reached out its ws. ¡°I¡¯ll give you a chance to admit the truth. Are there crystals there or not?¡±

    Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t expected such a response. He¡¯d just wanted to y a joke. He didn¡¯t want to lose his life. He quickly exined, ¡°I didn¡¯t fool around. There is a crystal mountain over there, and it really has crystals all over the floor that can be randomly picked up... It¡¯s just that the purity of the crystal is not high and it¡¯s not worth money.¡±

    If there really had been a valuable crystal mountain over there, Fina probably would¡¯ve forcefully filled up the car with crystals, and he and other elfins could only buy tickets like the Indians.

    Fina heard what he said, and it did not seem like he was randomly speaking. It calmed down a bit. ¡°Not worth money?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re not worth money. Crystal is essentially no different from ss. It¡¯s all silicon dioxide, which can be synthesized artificially. In fact, speaking of crystal, even diamonds are hyped up...¡±

    When Zhang Zian talked about diamonds, he totally abhorred them. What diamondssted forever? An advertisement that had been circting forever was really popr. This evil little stone fooled not only women, but also cats!

    He tried to reverse Fina¡¯s view that diamonds were not valuable by themselves so that it would not value its diamonds so much, like the dragons guarding treasures all day long in Western legends. He might as well sell them secondhand while they were still valuable.

    ¡°Shut up!¡±

    Fina scolded him with a cold expression. ¡°Since you were not lying, I won¡¯t bother with you about the crystal mountain for the time being, but you can¡¯t go too far! Otherwise, I will calcte what you owe me for that time at the diamond town!¡±

    Zhang Zian shut his mouth in an agreeable manner, but at least the goal of refreshing his mind had been achieved, and he was no longer sleepy. From his temples to his back, it was cold and depressing...

 Chapter 1209: Sudden Attack

    <h4>Chapter 1209: Sudden Attack</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Not long after, the sleepy desert was suddenly reced by lush crops and date palm trees, and the farms on both sides of the road were nted with peanuts, wheat, cotton, corn, and other crops, including mint.

    Egypt was rich in mint, and it could also be exported to China. In China, the mint was further processed into cooling balm before being re-exported back to Egypt. Egyptians especially enjoyed the cooling balm, but strangely, no one thought of making it a national product.

    They¡¯d reached the Faiyum Oasis.

    Zhang Zian slowed down and decided to stop and rest for a while here. He would have his lunch here as well. After all, this would be thest...city before reaching the oasis¡ªif a permanent poption of 20,000 was considered a city.

    The road was still very long, and he was the only driver. No one else could rece him so that he could rest. The long-term fatigue of driving was dangerous and not good for one¡¯s physical or mental health. It was said that sitting in the driver¡¯s seat for a long time also ced undue pressure on the prostate. He did not want to have severe issues with his prostate without using it much, peeing uncontrobly wherever he went...

    Faiyum was one of the oldest cities in Egypt, but there were not many tourists visiting it. Most tourists rushed by it while heading towards the ck and White Desert.

    It was no wonder that there weren¡¯t any attractions of particr interest here, the most famous being the Whale Valley.

    Just like how the colorful eggs of the whales were presented in ¡°Assassin¡¯s Creed: Origins,¡± the Faiyum Oasis had been a vast ocean a few million years ago. With the passing of time and the retreat of sea waters, the oasis had slowly risen above sea level and bend. Much of the marine life that had died here became precious fossils, especially the colorful whale fossils.

    However, unlike dinosaur fossils, the average person was not that interested in whale fossils. After all, the whale had not gone entirely extinct, and it was still possible to see live ones. Thus, only professional archaeologists and the rare asional tourist visited this ce.

    In fact, many people visited Egypt without a good reason. After truly being in Egypt, they discovered that it was a boring ce. They usually painted the narrative that it would be a pity not to visit such a historic ce but always followed by saying that they would not, however,e a second time.

    Egypt was not known for its natural beauty. The most important sites were man-made. At first nce, the temples of various sizes looked nice, new and very appealing. However, if one saw too many, it would be easy to get bored of them quickly. Most temples had the same shape and an interior that mirrored the others.

    Without much knowledge about Egypt¡¯s past, it was difficult to see past just the name of the ce. Yet there were many Egyptian gods, and the rtionships between the gods wereplicated. It made one wonder how many tourists actually did any form of reading before visiting these ces.

    The Whale Valley was a popr destination for archaeologists. Recently, some of them had found a fossil that was reasonably intact. The fullness of the fossil allowed them to plot out the evolutionary journey of the whale more precisely, much like Professor Wei Kang¡¯s efforts to find the missing link in the evolution of domestic cats.

    Today¡¯s ind areas of Egypt were still rtively cloudless. They did not deviate much from zero annual precipitation.

    Zhang Zian parked the car on the side of the road. He nned to find a ce where no one was around so that he could relieve himself. The elfins also wanted to get out of the car and stretch.

    When he got off the bus, he immediately felt the intensity of the sun. He thought he had adapted to the sun in Egypt, but he realized now that such a thought was naive.

    For unknown reasons, the sun at Faiyum was more intense than anywhere else. The sun¡¯s rays felt like they put weight on people and made it difficult for anyone to breathe. More drastically, Richard was out only for a split second before wanting to get back into the car.

    ¡°Hey! This is way too hot! This must be at least 60 degrees!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it is more than that.¡±

    Zhang Zian was wearing sunsses, so it was slightly better for him. Yet it was indeed very hot, so much so that he felt the high heat seeping into the soles of his feet. His feet felt like they were soaked in warm bags of water.

    The temperature at the ce where the sun was shining was estimated to be likely above 60 degrees. Yet the worst was yet toe.

    Fina and Famous, as if poked by something, were shaking from head to toe, twisting their bodies and alternating waves of their paws.

    ¡°Get back in the car! Close the door!¡± Fina couldn¡¯t help but shout.

    ¡°There are a lot of mosquitoes!¡± Famous also shouted.

    Richard screamed even more. ¡°Hey! Help! Help! We are under attack!¡±

    Zhang Zian also realized that, when they left the car, countless mosquitoes emerged from cracks in the nearby rocks, and they were heading straight for them.

    It was strange that the densely-popted city of Cairo had virtually no mosquitoes, while the sparsely-popted areas were teeming with them.

    Generally, mosquitoes did not move about during the day¡ªonly in the early mornings and evenings. The mosquitoes here were different.

    Mosquitoes that could survive in desert areas were fiercer thanmon mosquitoes. The idea was that there were not that many animals to feed from, so when they finally found one, the mosquitoes must suck as much blood as possible, and fast. If the animals didn¡¯t run off in time or find a good ce to hide, they might even be entirely sucked dry.

    The desert mosquitoes overwhelmed the elfins, and they focused on the fragile but capiry-rich parts of the body¡ªnose, mouth, eyes, ears, and ws. It made the elfins very miserable. Once bitten, those ces would be very itchy but unfortunately difficult to reach. They would not be able to scratch them.

    The first to be attacked were Fina and Famous, as the other elfins were invisible. The main force of the mosquitoes rushed toward them. Other mosquitoes smelled the other elfins but couldn¡¯t see the elfins¡¯ bodies. They did not give up. They hovered around the invisible elfins, trying to approach andnd.

    The number of mosquitoes was simply too much. It was like a locust crossing. Two visible streams of what looked like ck smoke rapidly approached Fina and Famous. They surrounded them with lightning speed, much like how demons appeared in ¡°Journey to the West.¡±

    It was now toote to get back into the car. The mosquitoes would definitely follow, and in the narrow confinement of the car, there would be no way to deal with them.

    Old Time Tea and dimir saw that Fina and Famous had been targeted, and their bodies were covered fully in mosquitoes. They decided to break stealth and emerge to join the fight. A swarm of mosquitoes changed targets immediately and headed for them.

    As part of the mosquito army headed for Old Time Tea and dimir, the pressure on Fina and Famous was slightly reduced.

    However, as the breeze dispersed the scent of the elfins to a greater distance, more mosquitoes smelled blood. Like a bloodthirsty great white, they rapidly rushed in, and before they knew it, all their ears could hear was the sound of the mosquitoes¡¯ buzz.

 Chapter 1210: Run for Their Lives

    <h4>Chapter 1210: Run for Their Lives</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Under the attack of the mosquito army, the intimidating Fina, mature Old Time Tea, collected Famous, and chatty dimir were all forced to be frantically fleeing subjects.

    They called out for help at first, but they ended up not even daring to open their mouths. The moment they did, hundreds of mosquitoes might just rush in. And it wasn¡¯t just their mouths¡ªthey didn¡¯t even dare to open their eyes too wide, as the mosquitoes might try to get underneath their eyelids!

    Even the invisible Richard had been eyed by a small ball of mosquitoes. None of the warm-blooded animals were able to escape the mosquitoes¡¯ warm-blood radar at all.

    Richard pped its wings frantically in an attempt to escape but spread its smell out even more. Especially that butt that it never wiped clean helped the mosquitoes to confirm their target¡¯s location even better, and they made use of the small window of time when it was pping its wings to squeeze underneath to its armpit area. That part had lesser feathers and was suitable for blood-sucking.

    ¡°Gah gah! Do you think I¡¯m easy to bully? I¡¯m usually vegetarian, but I¡¯m feasting on meat today!¡± Richard purposefully called loudly, even opening its beak to peck at the mosquitoes swarming around its head. It did take the lives of a few mosquitoes due to how densely packed they were, but it had shed its cloak of invisibility due to its attack and ended up getting swarmed by even more mosquitoes.

    Fina, Old Time Tea, Famous, and dimir all had a set of powerful skills, but they were just as flustered as Richard. It just further proved that using a cannon to kill mosquitoes was a waste of energy.

    No matter how they swatted at them, the mosquitoes would alwayse back secondster just as intensely. They might be able to kill tens of mosquitoes in one swat, but this was just a drop in the oceanpared to the tens of thousands of mosquitoes attacking them right now. They might copse of tiredness before they could kill all the mosquitoes and end up as dried meat from being sucked dry...

    They weren¡¯t able to have one second of breath, since these desert mosquitoes were too powerful. If there wasn¡¯t a good location to suck their blood, they might evennd on fur, finding their way through their coats until their proboscis was able to inject into their skin and suck up their blood.

    Gxy had it the easiest out of all the elfins. The other elfins¡¯ pride had led them to choose not to back away when the mosquitoes first attacked them¡ªthey put out their ws to defend. But when the mosquitoes came flying towards Gxy, it chose to run without a moment¡¯s hesitation.

    ¡°Meow! Meow!¡±

    It ran around in circles at a speed that could rival light, insisting that as long as it ran fast enough, the mosquitoes wouldn¡¯t be able to catch up to it.

    In the midst of the mess, Zhang Zian stood there, stock-still, like a statue.

    He didn¡¯t have a thick coat to protect him like the elfins did, and he was right at the peak of his health. He should¡¯ve been the prime target for the mosquitoes to feast on. He should¡¯ve been the one who was getting bitten the worst, and the mosquito army did treat him as their biggest target. But weirdly, the mosquitoes would automatically move away after flying towards him, like a wave that met reef rocks. They would instead go around him and fly towards the elfins instead to attack them.

    What was going on? Why were the mosquitoes not biting him?

    Could it be...that they were afraid of the blood of the ancient gods that he actually had in his veins or the golden finger that defeated all other moves?

    If not that, then what?

    The intense sun had caused a thinyer of sweat to form on all his skin, more sweat dripping off his forehead. He wiped it off casually, taking a whiff of the faint minty smell on the back of his hand.

    It had been almost half an hour since he had applied the cooling oil, and he had long forgotten about it. Thinking about it more now...could it be...that the Pinduoduo version of the best-seller cooling oil had mosquito-repellent properties?

    These scarily cheap fake goods with unknown ingredients actually had such amazing effects? It seemed to be even more effective than the original version of the cooling ointment. God only knew what weird things they¡¯d mixed into that!

    Seeing that the elfins were all getting tired out, he had no more time to think about it. He took out the box of cooling ointment, applying even more onto every single inch of exposed skin.

    He screamed, ¡°Let go of those elfins! Come at me!¡± He gathered his courage before rushing into the sea of mosquitoes.

    If he¡¯d guessed wrongly and angered the mosquitoes, then he would just be mosquito food for a day. But miracles happened¡ªno matter where he went, the mosquitoes got out of the way like he was Moses and they were the Red Sea.

    Seeing that the effect was great, he felt much more rxed, chasing away the mosquitoes with his limbs iling everywhere, like a superhero in aic where they defeated ten thousand enemies.

    ¡°Come to my side, quick!¡±

    He retreated as he fought the mob, finally opening a path for all of them. He backed himself into the SUV, opening the door and signaling for all of the elfins to rush into the car to hide from the mosquitoes. He even applied the cooling oil all over the door and the surrounding areas to prevent the mosquitoes froming in.

    The elfins were all confused from the fight with the mosquitoes. They didn¡¯t know how he¡¯d done it, but they all perked up.

    ¡°Retreat first! I¡¯ll take the rear!¡±

    Old Time Tea let the other elfins go first while he stayed at the back, using its front paw to swipe at the sand and sending a curtain of sand to block the mosquitoes¡¯ relentless chase for a split second.

    There was no time for pleasantries now. Old Time Tea¡¯s hat and robes provided it with an extrayer of protection against the mosquitoes too.

    The other elfins rushed to the door of the car, leaping in one by one. Old Time Tea was thest to join them.

    Zhang Zian had already turned the car on, and he quickly closed the door and mmed on the elerator, using the fastest speed possible to rush out of that area. No matter how powerful the mosquitoes of the deserts were, they were no match for a car.

    The elfins were all still distraught from the fight, panting as they tried to catch their breath.

    ¡°I have sailed the great oceans ande back safely, but just now I nearly drowned in a mere drain...¡± Old Time Teamented, the danger of the events not leaving its thoughts.

    ¡°What the meow!¡± dimir looked into the rearview mirror. ¡°I can¡¯t believe we identally entered the ambush of the devils. Just wait. When I have united all of Egypt¡¯s stray cats, I will definitelye back here to eliminate all of these pests!¡±

    ¡°Gah gah! Why is this idiot not afraid of the mosquitoes?¡± Richard pped,nding on his shoulder after floundering.

    Zhang Zian turned to sneak a look. ¡°Holy sh*t! Who are you? Since when did we get a cockatoo?¡±

    Richard had a huge bump on its forehead, its feathers in a mess after the fight, looking much like the Old Man of the South Pole from the ancient paintings. It didn¡¯t even look like an African grey now. It looked more like the blue-eyed cockatoo.

    ¡°Shut up! Look at the road, you idiot! Stop looking at me!¡± Richard raised a w to press onto his cheek, forcing his face forward instead.

    Famous took a whiff, and when its sharp nose picked up the strong scent of cooling oil on him, it had an epiphany. ¡°Is this the stuff that previously...¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhang Zian fished out the several boxes of cooling ointment from his pocket, throwing them into the glovepartment. ¡°I didn¡¯t think this stuff would be so powerful either. I wanted to sell it off cheap initially, but it looks like it is still useful!¡±

 Chapter 1211: Ancient Mosquito Repellent

    <h4>Chapter 1211: Ancient Mosquito Repellent</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Until they left the Faiyum Oasis, the elfins constantly looked behind them while still in the car. They were badly shaken by the encounter with the mosquitoes. Even the lunch that Zhang Zian brought had no effects in cheering them up. They were in no mood to eat.

    Richard had a big bump on the spot where it had been bitten, and it had swelled to arge red spot. It was very itchy. s, it had no arms to scratch and would¡¯ve been unable to reach it even if he had. It could only poke its head under its wings, but the wings themselves were soft and the feathers fluffy. They did nothing to relief the itch, and Richard ended up stumbling around the car. It tried other ways, from finding hard objects to use to scratch, hitting the roof, hitting the seat, hitting the dashboard, and even hitting Zhang Zian for a while. It could not stop.

    ¡°What the hell are you doing? Don¡¯t block my view! I still have to drive!¡±

    When Richard flew in front of Zhang Zian, he reached out and shoved it aside.

    ¡°Quick! Help scratch me a bit. I am itching to death!¡± Richard called out.

    ¡°Scratch? Just endure it, for goodness¡¯ sake. The more you scratch, the more it¡¯ll itch. I still have to drive as well. I can¡¯t spare you a limb,¡± Zhang Zian said from experience

    ¡°How can there be other cars in this vast desert? You could even drive with your eyes closed! Quick! Itchy! Itchy!¡± Richard was rolling in the air like a drunkard.

    It pained Old Time Tea to see this. ¡°Do you want me to help you scratch?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t! Your ws are too sharp! I am too young to be scratched bald by you!¡± Richard tly refused.

    Zhang Zian gave a look to Old Time Tea, suggesting, ¡°Did you not hear? He is obviously not itchy enough!¡±

    But letting it continue to toss around was a problem. Its actions had filled the space with small fluffy feathers, and the feathers in turn gave off tons of dust.

    All parrots and pigeons were born with downy feathers. The dust particles they carried on their feathers were about 2.5PM in size. Long-term inhtion of these dust particles was harmful, especially in such a confined environment. Many people who raised pigeons for a long time and did not pay attention to indoor venttion had problems with coughing. In serious cases, they might even suffer from pneumoconiosis.

    Zhang Zian had no choice. He parked the car on the side of the road and said, ¡°Stop bumping around. Let¡¯s put some cooling balm on your head, and it won¡¯t itch for a while.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡± Richard was horrified. A few days ago, it had tricked a few Egyptian men to use the oil as Indian prayer oil. It hadn¡¯t expected his actions toe back and haunt it that fast. Its actions were probably a bad move to God, and this was retribution.

    ¡°Do you want me dead? That stuff kills birds!¡± it cried.

    ¡°Rubbish. It is not that serious. I just applied it on myself. No problem at all.¡± Zhang Zian opened the bottle and used his index finger to scoop up a thick blob of yellow creamy liquid, stretching towards Richard to show it.

    Richard was so affected by the strong pungent smell that it couldn¡¯t open its eyes. It wanted to escape, but its body was held by Zhang Zian, and it could only wriggle in his hands as it struggled to break free.

    ¡°Hey! I¡¯d rather die then... Eh?¡±

    Zhang Zian moved the short feathers around its forehead and tried to apply the oil to the swollen bump.

    The effects of the cooling oil with unknown ingredients were almost instantaneous. With just a smear, the itching was greatly reduced.

    ¡°That¡¯s fantastic! Put some more on it!¡±

    Moments earlier, it had been like a virgin dead-set on keeping its virginity even in death. Now, it was asking for as much of the balm as possible. Theck of a coherent position was somewhat shameful.

    Perhaps Zhang Zian and the other elves had be ustomed to its shamelessness. It was not surprising to them.

    Zhang ZIan picked up more ointment with his index finger and, besides the bump on its forehead, smeared the surrounding areas as well. Then he wiped his hands on a paper towel and capped the bottle.

    ¡°Hmmmmmm! Good! I am now invigorated!¡±

    After Richard¡¯s itching was relieved, itidfortably on the dashboard. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect this cooling balm to be so powerful!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s really amazing. If you dare to be naughty again, I will put a thick blob of this balm up your *ss!¡± Zhang Zian said as he re-entered the car.

    Richard was shocked. ¡°Hey! You are so mean! Ten years of friendship has got to mean something. After all, we slept on the same pillow...¡±

    ¡°If you make any more noise, I will do it now!¡± Zhang Zian threatened.

    Richard softened its stance immediately and relented. ¡°Okay, okay! I will stop talking, and I am going to close my eyes for a while. I am so tired! Remember, wake me up after 18 minutes and I will be an excellent bird once more!¡±

    With that, ity on the dashboard and went into a deep slumber.

    ¡°Zhang Zian, why were there so many mosquitoes earlier?¡± asked Old Time Tea.

    Since they¡¯de to Egypt, they had barely encountered mosquitoes. The mosquitoes in the Faiyum Oasis had caught them off guard.

    Zhang Zian spected, ¡°Mosquitoes like water and humid ces. There are no mosquitoes deep in the desert. Mosquitoes will always gather in the oasis of the desert. Like the Faiyum Oasis, there is thergest saltwaterke in Egypt, the Garonne Lake. Although theke is a saltwaterke, there are many fish, shrimp, and algae that have adapted to the saltwater in theke, so mosquitoes gather in the vicinity.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Old Time Tea nodded. ¡°After we enter the desert, if we encounter an oasis, we must be careful.¡±

    Fina was too tired from earlier and didn¡¯t care for the exnation like Old Time Tea.

    ¡°Hmph! I was merely careless earlier on and allowed these pests to bother me so much. This will not happen next time!¡± she said, grinding her teeth tightly.

    Zhang Zian, however, did not seem to agree. The situation from earlier on showed that, regardless of one¡¯s size or ability, a swarm of those pesky mosquitoes were very difficult to handle.

    ¡°Do you want to have cooling balm on yourself too?¡± he asked.

    Fina squinted at him. ¡°How can I have that stuff on me?¡±

    ¡°What happens if wee across more mosquitoes?¡± he asked again. ¡°Speaking of which... Were there no mosquitoes in ancient Egypt? How did you deal with them?¡±

    Fina proudly said, ¡°Of course there were mosquitoes, but we had a way.¡±

    ¡°What way?¡± Zhang Zian was very curious. Had the ancient Egyptians had rich biological knowledge in addition to their superb knowledge of mathematics, architecture, and astronomy?

    ¡°It¡¯s very simple. This is the method that Pepi II, from the Sixth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, came up with. The method can be traced back to 4,200 years ago!¡± Fina said with confidence. ¡°Pepi II found that by wiping honey on ves, the mosquitoes would go to the ves instead of him.¡±

    That was horrible! The ve was treated as if he were not a person.

    Zhang Zian was horrified by what he¡¯d heard. He felt very sorry for those ves who¡¯d sacrificed their flesh to mosquitoes 4,200 years ago.

    Eh? Wait a minute!

    He suddenly recalled what she¡¯d said. ¡°You said...this will not happen next time...¡±

    Fina nodded and pointed a w at him. ¡°In the next town, buy some honey and bring it with you!¡±

 Chapter 1212: Return to Siwa

    <h4>Chapter 1212: Return to Siwa</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    So the amazing idea that Fina had was to let Zhang Zian carry a few bottles of honey on him, break the bottle, and drip all of the honey on himself when they met the Great Mosquito Army, sacrificing himself to save Fina...like a stupid loyal servant.

    The ¡°ancient mosquito repellent methods¡± were just redirecting the mosquitoes from yourself to others, asking others to take the bites for you. Zhang Zian felt the method was seriously immoral, since it used others for one¡¯s own benefit. He was still pitying the ves of ancient Egypt, but he¡¯d ended up as one in the blink of an eye, destined to sacrifice himself for his master.

    But with Fina¡¯s w pointed at him, he didn¡¯t dare fight the order directly, and he was still contemting how to sweep the whole thing under the rug. Maybe it would forget about it momentster.

    Unfortunately, Richard jumped up, squawking away. ¡°Gah gah! I think this solution is great! You can just apply more cooling oil anyway! At the smell of sweet, sweet honey and spicy cooling oil, the mosquitoes would bepletely helpless! It makes me happy just thinking about it!¡±

    ¡°Easy for you to say. What if the attraction of the honey was stronger than their revulsion for the cooling oil?¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°Why don¡¯t I pour the honey on you instead, and you can lure the army of mosquitoes away? I¡¯ll make sure to burn some nuts and fruits for you every special asion as offerings...¡±

    The two of them traded insults back and forth, throwing shade at each other with colorfulnguage, so the long journey was not boring at all.

    They drove west for yet another long time before finally reaching the Siwa Oasis in thete afternoon.

    When they¡¯d gotten to the Siwa Oasis yesterday, they had merely passed by. They hadn¡¯t had the time to settle down and sightsee then. But today, they had all the time in the world. If nothing went wrong, they could find a ce to rest for the night, meet up with Professor Wei Kang tomorrow, and head out to the Bedouin tribe together. They would meet Salem, Nabari, Peter Lee, and the members of the Cosmological Information Society. Then they¡¯d venture deep into the desert.

    There weren¡¯t many chances left for them to enjoy the modern civilization.

    The sun gradually settled behind the horizon, and Zhang Zian decided to find a hotel to rest his feet first before thinking about going out to y and find food.

    This hotel definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to satisfy the picky Fina, but there was no other choice. It would only be for one night anyway. After they entered the desert, they wouldn¡¯t be able to find a ce to stay as nice as this.

    ¡°I have a little donkey, one that I never ride! One day I changed my mind and rode it to my farm! With my little whip, I had a great time!¡±

    There were a lot of donkey carts going back and forth in the city. Right in the city center was a crowded market, simple tarps covering many trinkets that the merchants were selling. Richardnded on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder, singing the luby. But there seemed to be something a little weird with the song being sung into his ear...

    The cooling oil¡¯s effect at calming the mosquito bite was obvious. It was impressive how Richard went back to being an African grey after transforming into a blue-eyed cockatoo, though he did miss Richard looking like the Old Man from the South Pole.

    Zhang Zian chose a hotel near the city center. It had three stories and didn¡¯t seem too old from its outer appearance.

    Before they¡¯d entered the city, to prevent any troubles with checking into the hotel, he had made all of his elfins invisible.

    He stopped the car, asking the receptionist for the biggest room that they had on the third floor. It was the off-season anyway, so most of the rooms were empty.

    After they checked in, he moved his luggage into the room on the third floor. The elfins had alle up first, opening the windows to look at a group of weird concrete buildings¡ªor, more urately, a pile of rubble, just like those eroded buildings in the ancient paintings of China. But these buildings didn¡¯t seem to be eroded at all. Eroded buildings had specific traits. Wind blew parallel to the horizon and would leave erosion marks horizontally.

    ¡°Weird. How did these buildings end up so dpidated?¡± Old Time Tea was surprised.

    Zhang Zian had done his homework beforeing. As he put down his luggage, he exined, ¡°That area is called Shali. It¡¯s from the 13th century and was the first residential area in this city. As Egypt¡¯s average rainfall in a year is nothing, they had not considered rain when constructing these buildings. In 1926, it rained for three days in a row... The people then did not destroy Shali. Instead, they left the rubble behind as evidence for past history and built new houses around it.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Old Time Tea understood. It was the rain that had destroyed the buildings, and some people might have even died.

    In a ce where it never rained, was it logical to take rain that happened once every hundred years into consideration when constructing buildings? That was a question to ponder.

    Even today, the residents still built their houses from mud bricks, betting that the next big rain would note soon.

    The sun set, the ancient city of Shali was built by the mountains, and it was the first to wee the sunset and sunrise in all of the Siwa Oasis¡¯s cities. The sunlight shrouded the ruins in a mysterious orange glow, the broken walls and pirs forming dark patches of shadows. This gave it a nostalgic look, just like a headstone.

    The reason why the ancient city of Shali had been built was for protection from the nomads of the city¡ªthe Bedouins. Maybe the Bedouins from years ago hadn¡¯t been as harmonious as they were today.

    ¡°Since the sun hasn¡¯tpletely set yet, let¡¯s go out and take a walk. We can have our dinner there too.¡±

    The elfins, of course, didn¡¯t have much reason to protest.

    In a forgotten city near the border of the country, there was nothing too famous, just all sorts of roast meat. There wasn¡¯t much variety for vegetables either. It was just exciting enough to fill their bellies and nothing more.

    Even though this was just a small city, they had almost 2,000 undeveloped hot springs scattered around the city, still mostly natural.

    In the morning, Zhang Zian had convinced Sihwa to quickly end her livestream so he could bring her here, a spring that had no one around, so she could livestream there.

    There was no suitable hot spring around them, so he drove further south, out of the city, past the dense forest of date trees, and to a huge round pool lined with cement stones. A few local teenagers were cooling down as they yed in the pool, and a few tourist-like people took photos by the side.

    He looked at Fina, saying, ¡°Previously, the giant rock by the shore of Mersa Matruh was called Cleopatra the Seventh. This ce is called Cleopatra the Seventh¡¯s bathroom, and it is the most famous hotspring in Siwa.¡±

    Fina didn¡¯t show much emotion. ¡°She wouldn¡¯t bathe in a ce like this.¡±

    Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders. ¡°I don¡¯t think so, either.¡±

    All these tales were just merchants using famous people from history to attract tourists.

 Chapter 1213: The Secrets of the Oasis

    <h4>Chapter 1213: The Secrets of the Oasis</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Snap!

    Getting out of the car and standing next to the spring surrounded by the circr pool, Zhang Zian quietly killed a mosquito that was buzzing in front of him.

    While this was also an oasis, the number of mosquitoes in the Siwa Oasis was significantly lower than in the Faiyum Oasis. It was strange, as the Siwa Oasis had more than 2,000 natural springs and a saltwaterke. The environment was simr to the Faiyum Oasis. Therefore, there should not have been arge difference in the number of mosquitoes.

    If one really needed reasons, the first might¡¯ve been that the area covered with ??nts and crops here was much smaller. Second, although the Garonne Lake was a saltwaterke, it was not too salty, and fish and shrimp in theke could survive. However, the salt content of the Siwa Lake was too high. Even the beaches along theke were covered with salt, and mosquitoes could noty eggs and hatchrvae in theke.

    The water in the spring was moving and crystal clear. Mosquitoes liked toy eggs in stagnant, still, and stinky water.

    Fina had not heard him killing that mosquito. When they passed the market, they could not find a vendor selling honey, which made her regretful but him grateful.

    Standing by the pool and watching the children y for a while, Zhang Zian finally confirmed, albeit disappointedly, that the several European female tourists did not swim naked. However, there were several young men who wanted to take off their clothes.

    At the same time that he was staring at other people, Fina seemed to beb worrying about something. She couldn¡¯t help but look at the khaki-coloured building shaded by the dense date palm trees.

    From where they were, it was only possible to make out the roofs of the buildings. However, as they had no fixed destination anyway and Zhang Zian was not particrly interested in looking at men swimming, Zhang Zian proposed that they go there.

    While passing under the date palm tree, Richard licked a few palm dates but immediately spit them out. It almost dirtied Zhang Zian¡¯s clothes.

    ¡°So sour and bitter! Gross!¡± it murmured.

    ¡°Nonsense! The fruit is not ripe yet and you ate it? I heard that coconut cooling balm has a nice vor. Do you want that instead?¡± Zhang Zian knew it was bored and spitting out gibberish from its mouth. Richard had to constantly find something to do, be it eating or talking.

    They passed through the woods as they spoke. There was a building like a broken castle in front of them, but it seemed like a castle should not exist in the vicinity.

    Zhang Zian thought and immediately understood the identity of the building¡ªhere was the temple of the gods that Alexander the Great hade to seek. It was not far from the temple of Amon.

    Now, when it came to the temple of Amon, it was generally referred to as therge temple of Amon in Luxor, and few people came here. Whether it was the Temple of God or the Temple of Amon, they were a dedication to the half-goat-half-man sun god Amon. s, the ce was in ruins now.

    The two temples and shrines were not destroyed by heavy rains. This was because ancient Egyptians used stones instead of mud bricks for the entire construction¡ªperhaps it might¡¯ve been better with mud bricks. Had it not been built tost, the locals would not have blown it up with explosives in 1896. They did it so that they could use the stones to build a police station and other facilities.

    After listening to Zhang Zian¡¯s exnation, dimir apuded and said, ¡°Although it is a pity, I still support sweeping the old for the new! The people are masters of thend, and the temple is demolished to be houses for ordinary people. This should be a good thing! As for God, this is the chance for him to go out for a few days!¡±

    ¡°This is...¡± Zhang Zian began. ¡°This has no link to the removal of feudal superstitions. It is only because the local people don¡¯t believe in this god...¡±

    dimir understood his words and could note up with a rebuttal.

    The shrine had been built on top of a small hill. The surroundings were cold and clear with no one around.

    Zhang Zian and the elfins came to the ruins of the shrine hall, where a stone monument stood. The stone monuments used English and Arabic to describe the voyage of Alexander the Great. Together with a small number of followers, they¡¯d entered the desert to seek the gods.

    This was considered to be a high point in Siwa. After all, gods always needed to be in an elevated spot.

    Standing here and looking around, one got a panoramic view of the whole town. The town was surrounded by a dark green date palm forest, and farther away was a saltwaterke.

    Across the town, the Hill of the Dead stood in the distance.

    The sun was slowly setting, and it was no longer ring into their eyes. This was a good ce to think about the history of life. Standing alone in front of the temple, the mind found nirvana. Whether it was a dynasty thatsted for 1,000 years or a temple that was worshipped by thousands, the inevitable was a return to the earth as yellow dust.

    Zhang Zian took his time to y pretend so that he had a quick moment to himself to stare out at nothing. He thought to himself that while he needed to work and make money for his future wife, children, and perhaps grandchildren... The fact of the matter was that the only certain thing was the continuation of the bloodline.

    To his surprise, Richard had suddenly be silent and had been in deep thought since they got to the shrine.

    It was so silent that Zhang Zian thought something had happened.

    ¡°Did you eat the wrong medicine?¡± he asked. ¡°Or did you eat so much that you need to sh*t? I am warning you, if you dare to drop your sh*t on me and my clothes...¡±

    Richard shook its head and said seriously, ¡°You idiot, stop bothering me. I am thinking about a problem.¡±

    What?

    Zhang Zian stared at it incredulously. He could not believe that such serious words wereing out of a bird¡¯s mouth that was only known for saying crappy things.

    ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± he asked curiously. What important question could make this bird have such deep thoughts?

    Richard snorted. ¡°I told you not to bother me! What would be the use even if you knew?¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t say that.¡± Zhang Zian yed humble so as to be able to satisfy his curiosity. ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard? Two heads are better than one. Why don¡¯t you tell me the question and I will see if I can be of help?¡±

    ¡°Ha! Just based off your ability? Letting you join will only lower the average IQ level between the both of us!¡± Richard rolled its eyes as it spoke.

    It seemed that the soft tactic was not working. Time to go hard!

    Zhang Zian rolled up his sleeves and prepared to use violence. Richard saw it and immediately changed its tone. ¡°Hey! I have no problem telling you! Perhaps you are indeed the destined one to solve this problem!¡±

    ¡°Oh? Actually, I think so too!¡±

    He was happy but just a tad skeptical. After all, this bird rarely gave praise without a reason.

    Richard lowered his voice and said mysteriously, ¡°Did you notice? From the time we left the hotel until we got here, we met no women while on the road.¡±

 Chapter 1214: Unique Culture

    <h4>Chapter 1214: Unique Culture</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Women?¡±

    At the mention of women, Zhang Zian immediately perked up, but he didn¡¯t immediately understand what Richard meant, since he had clearly seen women at Cleopatra¡¯s bath. Or...what if Richard had seen the truth¡ªthat the few European tourists that he had seen earlier were actually crossdressers?

    Richard nodded solemnly. ¡°Stop thinking of weird things, idiot! I meant local adult females. Tourists and local girls don¡¯t count!¡±

    Well, if that was the case... Zhang Zian gave it a brief thought. He hadn¡¯t really paid attention to that yesterday when he¡¯d passed by quickly, but it seemed they really had not seen a single local adult woman. The local market was packed full of men, merchants and buyers alike.

    ¡°What¡¯s so weird about that? This is the most conservative ce in all of Egypt. The local women must cover themselves from head to toe. Even if you did see them, you wouldn¡¯t know what they looked like anyway. Besides, this is such a short road. How can we treat what we see as standard?¡±

    ¡°You idiot! You still don¡¯t understand what I mean!¡± Richard pped its wing, making sure to hit Zhang Zian¡¯s head on every downward swing. ¡°I have considered that situation. But even if so, there are way too few women out here, and most of them are men! Especially young, strong men!¡±

    Zhang Zian gave it a thought again. That really did seem to be the case. In a ce where there was no nned Parenthood, the ratio between the sexes should¡¯ve been equal. In other areas of Egypt, they also saw women walking by in their long robes. Even if the women here didn¡¯t like to show their faces, there were many situations where they still have to walk outside. They couldn¡¯t possibly stay indoors for their whole lives like the princesses of Ancient China.

    Even though they had only walked for a short while within the city, it was clear from their short time out there that there were significantly more men in the city than women.

    ¡°What are you trying to say? Even if there are more men than women, what¡¯s wrong with that?¡± he asked.

    Richard broke into a smile. ¡°It¡¯s not just about the amount¡ªwhen we were at the hot springs and you were eyeing the female tourists with abandon, I was watching the few young men. There were locals and tourists. From their eyes, words, and physical actions...they were definitely not just normal friends!¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t say anything. This ¡°not just normal friends¡± deserved more investigation.

    He rejected thinking in the way that Richard was trying to guide him to and said instead, ¡°You must have seen wrongly.¡±

    ¡°Definitely not! You have to believe in my intuition, idiot! My intuition is always right!¡± Richard said confidently.

    ¡°You mean only when ites to ¡®that,¡¯ right? Why are you always talking about ¡®strong young men,¡¯ anyway?¡± Zhang Zian retorted.

    ¡°Gah gah! You idiot, you didn¡¯t notice it at all! One of the really manly ones even smiled at you!¡± Richard squawked excitedly.

    Zhang Zian said nothing and thought, ¡°Thank goodness I didn¡¯t notice.¡±

    He had a vague grasp of what Richard actually wanted to say.

    In a town where there were more men than women and a fewds that had a deeper rtionship than just friends... These rtionships could be seen everywhere. The time they had spent watching them was too short, but was it really just a coincidence?

    He turned back to look at one of the few things left rtively unharmed. It was the tip, tall and imposing, shrouded in the light from the sunset.

    There had always been rumors that the famous Alexander the Great was bisexual. It was actually pretty normal in Europe in the past and even now. They had greater freedom in the expression of sexuality.

    Alexander the Great¡¯s right-hand man, Hephaestion, was also his lover. Alexander the Great had done a strange thing back then. Before he¡¯d married his second wife, he had given his first wife¡¯s sister to Hephaestion, a baffling move to get closer than ever before...

    When Alexander the Great overcame all odds to reach the Siwa Oasis, no one knew that he had let the clergy of the Amun Temple trust an outsider, but he was undoubtedly sessful.

    Alexander the Great had died young. Before his death, word got out that he had left behind an extremely shocking will. He didn¡¯t ask for his body to be shipped back to his hometown to be buried, nor did he ask to be buried in the harbor city named after him. He had instead asked to have his final resting ce to be in Siwa Oasis.

    Even now, some archaeologists were firm in their belief that the grave of Alexander the Great was somewhere in Siwa Oasis, waiting for the day that it would return to the eyes of the people.

    This interesting history had now crossed paths with reality thousands of yearster, and this led to Zhang Zian¡¯s understanding that Richard¡¯s question wasn¡¯t without reason. There was an actual reason why there were more men than women here.

    ¡°Gah gah! Understood? Of course, I wasn¡¯t wrong. You seem to be exceptionally sharp at things like this!¡± It pped its wings on the back of his head approvingly.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know! And I¡¯m not sharp!¡± He pushed its wings to the side, having no interest in pursuing the topic any more.

    Richard chuckled evilly. ¡°Back when we were at the hotel, you probably didn¡¯t notice it either, but there was a European man living on the same floor as us. He greeted us once, he¡¯s a handsome chap, and he seems pretty interested in you, too!¡±

    Zhang Zian said nothing.

    He couldn¡¯t determine whether what Richard had said was true or false. Due to the unique culture of this ce, there were clearly a lot of tourists who hade looking for...a special encounter? European men had the advantage of being nearer than Chinese men, so they visited here more often.

    ¡°Gah gah! Listen to my well-intentioned words: make sure to lock the door properly before you sleep! If you want to be able to get out of bed tomorrow, consider applying some of the cooling oil to your backside! Protect its smile!¡±

    It had finally reached the words it wanted to say the most, after beating around the bush. Clearly, it was just taking revenge for the threat that he made towards it in the car. Without waiting for Zhang Zian¡¯s retort and revenge, it spread its wings and took to the sky, leaving the dangerous ce.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t be bothered to deal with it now. He had to recall whether there really had been such a man who¡¯d greeted him back at the hotel...

    There could¡¯ve been one, but there could¡¯ve been none, too... Ah, forget it! He would just have to lock the door tightly tonight!

    There wasn¡¯t much to see in the midst of the ruins. They could climb up to the peak, but that would be dangerous. There was nothing interesting to see anyway. It would be more useful to find a deserted spring and let Sihwa out.

    He called out for the elfins, suggesting that they leave now.

    When he¡¯d been talking with Richard, the other elfins had been freely going around the rubble. Now, they were back to his side, but he hadn¡¯t seen Fina at all.

    Where had Fina gone?

 Chapter 1215: The Two-Thousand-Year-Old Guardian

    <h4>Chapter 1215: The Two-Thousand-Year-Old Guardian</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Fina wasn¡¯t interested in listening to Zhang Zian and Richard talk about boy-girl rtionships. During that chat, she went straight into the ruins alone.

    Although there were no tourists, every inch ofnd and every broken brick and stone pir here was a part of history. Walking amongst the ruins seemed to bring one back to an era more than 2,000 years ago.

    The ruined wall carried small glimpses of its former glory.

    What was worrying was that it did not seem to be properly protected. Many walls had cracked, and the iconic spire had been severely weathered. It would not be long before it was entirely eroded, although the measurement of time here was fairly long. In fact, as long as there was no torrential rain or earthquake for 100 years, it would not be a problem for several decades.

    What surprised Fina was that it found some traces of life amongst the ruins. These were not the traces left by rare tourists, but the subtle traces of those who¡¯d stayed for a very long time.

    It jumped onto a broken wall and turned to look around. Coincidentally, Zhang Zian was also looking around, but his gaze was on the distant town of Siwa instead of checking out the vicinity.

    Yes, someone should have lived here.

    It saw a few houses at the foot of the hill on the other side. These were houses built in modern times, each of which was boxy and surrounded by a small wall that seemed to have no effect on keeping unwanted guests away.

    Who lived here? Fina had no idea.

    Even if it was an outdated pagan god, even if this was only a ruin, this was still a sacred ce. How could mere mortals live here?

    It looked back at Zhang Zian and Richard. They were still gossiping, though the details were unintelligible. It seemed that they would not be leaving any time soon. So it jumped off the wall and ran to the houses at the foot of the hill.

    The hills were very short, about 20 or 30 meters high, far lower than the high-rise apartment buildings in the coastal city. They copsed between several broken walls but soon came back as one approached the houses.

    One of the houses seemed to have its door open. However, there were no movements or signs of anyone living in the space. The other doors were locked, and they were equally silent.

    Fina cautiously jumped onto a windowsill without a window.

    Indoors, it was very dark. Fina¡¯s pupils adjusted, and everything in the room came into view.

    There was no one there. The house was empty.

    Obviously, no one lived here. Thick dust was everywhere, setting off an eerie vibe. Fina¡¯s sudden appearance frightened the bugs residing in the house, making them crawl around. The furniture in the house held no value. The former owner seemed to have led a simple, normal life.

    Why had the person chosen not to live in a big town that was highly convenient for daily living and lived in such a remote area instead?

    Fina thought of the olddy who picked bottles up. She¡¯d brought a dog to the pet shop to help him. Perhaps the people here survived by picking up bottles and therefore could not live in town.

    It shook its head slightly. This did not make sense. There was no indication that the price of housing in this small town was expensive. One could also choose to live at the edges of town, where the prices would definitely be affordable. Was there any reason to live out here, so far away?

    At this moment, it suddenly noticed a mark on the wall. The mark was not very clear. Someone who did not know what to look for might¡¯ve dismissed the mark as a random scratch or something left behind by children.

    It jumped into the house, and its pupils quickly adjusted to the darkness. It walked to the edge of the marked wall and used her ws to remove the ash and dust covering the surface of the mark.

    So this was it.

    Fina immediately understood what was going on. Its initial displeasure for the owner changed to respect and admiration.

    This was the mark of a temple guard.

    Over the past 2,000 years, the family of the temple guards had been living here, silently guarding the temple of God and the temple of Amon. Even after the destruction of the shrine and temple, they were still doing so...

    Judging from the details of the room, the temple guard may have lived here for several years, but for some reason they¡¯d abandoned these responsibilities that hadsted for more than 2,000 years.

    Fina did not me them. Even if the pharaoh was around, they would not be qualified to me them either.

    Their persistence in guarding the temple for more than 2,000 years was beyond the typical moral obligation of mere mortals. Even if they¡¯d decided to give up, they could not be med.

    Besides, they may not have given up. If they¡¯d wanted to give up, they could have given up long ago. It was more likely that they¡¯d...run out of offspring to take on the work.

    Fina looked at the rundown house again with respect.

    Human beings were social animals, and their instinct was to live in a society and havemunal lives. The amount of discipline and perseverance one needed to have to stay in a chamber, alone, for more than 2,000 years, was unfathomable.

    Who would be willing to marry and have children with a guardian of the temple, only to live in such an environment?

    In the past, they could rely on the power of religion. The faithful believed that the pharaohs would walk out of the pyramids once more to rule between good and evil. The guardians of the temple could capitalize on the faith that people had in good prevailing. These traits would be highly attractive to women who believed that the guardians had good moral standards. They would be willing to marry and carry the next generation of temple guardians.

    However, in today¡¯s era, the faithful had all but disappeared, or at least those who believed in ancient Egyptian religions. No woman today would be willing to marry a temple guardian and stay here for the rest of her life. Therefore, when thest temple guardian died, theck of an heir apparent to take over was to be expected.

    The duty of the temple guardian was to guard the shrine and the temple of Amon, but now that the shrine and the temple of Amon were in ruins, they did not do their jobs.

    Fina did not me them. Secr power and the tides of history were not things that could be resisted by several temple guardians. When the local government bombed the temple more than a hundred years ago, they may have tried to stop it, but they¡¯d apparently failed. They lived with the humiliation of not being able to do their jobs. That alone was worthy of admiration and a sign of their loyalty.

    Few tourists came to visit, but there would always be peopleing. Uncivilized tourists usually left behind their rubbish, yet not much could be found within the ruins of the shrine hall. These were signs of the temple guardians¡¯ diligence and work.

    A family unit consisting of dozens and even hundreds of generations stayed at the foot of the hills, bearing a responsibility that would never have an end. The hardships they had to bear were unfathomable.

    Fina felt pity for them. If they hade a few years earlier, perhaps it could¡¯ve had the chance to thank an actual guardian for his work.

    Fina hade in from the window but chose the door for its exit. Standing at the door and looking at the empty room, it whispered, ¡°Thank you to all of you! Your duty is done!¡±

    A gust of wind blew from the open door and hovered in the room for a few moments. Then it exited from the window, bringing with it gusts of dust as it rose into the sky.

 Chapter 1216: Oracle

    <h4>Chapter 1216: Oracle</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Fina walked out of the house. When it turned back to take a look at it again, the feelings in its heart tangled together, unable to be distinguished from one another.

    Two thousand years ago, it had been here before. But then, no matter where it had gone, it was surrounded by a loving crowd, and it had not noticed the low-profile generations of temple guards. Maybe it had seen¡ªbut it hadn¡¯t noticed. It didn¡¯t even know their names.

    There had been so many people in the crowd, words of respect spilling from their lips, every single one of them more respected than the temple guards. It hadn¡¯t even given the crowd much regard. Why would it have paid attention to the silent temple guards lingering outside the crowds?

    Besides, it didn¡¯t usually take a second look at these normals. It had more important things to do, like being by her side.

    But it was regretting its actions now. If it had just taken one more look, just one more look at them, it would¡¯ve been respect that was long due.

    They would never know now which pharaoh had ordered them to begin protecting the temples.

    The pharaoh asked them to guard the temples, but they didn¡¯t tell them when they could stop. So they just, stupidly, with their whole lives, across many, many generations, protected thend with all they could.

    What foolishness!

    Back then, no one had thought the prosperous dynasty would end. Even if they had, they wouldn¡¯t have dared express it either. Everyone had said that the Ptolemaic dynasty wouldst for thousands of autumns and millions of generations so that they didn¡¯t have to think about when to stop guarding the temples.

    There was no dynasty thatsted forever. Even the pharaohs of ancient Egypt had different surnames. When one fell, another one would surely take their ce.

    There had been many wise people back in the days. Pharaohs, clergy, Head Secretary of the Kingdom, or the Head Librarian¡ªthese people were all wise beyond their years. Maybe someone had thought of this problem, but it didn¡¯t seem very auspicious to tell the temple guards when to stop guarding the temples, so they all avoided the problem.

    Something overlooked or intentionally ignored by their current person in power, and a family was sentenced to an endless cycle of misery.

    Today, their cycle ended here. It represented all of the pharaohs to give an order that should have been given long ago and set their spirits free.

    Even though their lives may have ended years ago, life was life, and fate was fate. Maybe the ¡°soul¡± seemed like a joke to Zhang Zian, but Fina was willing to believe in its existence.

    The souls of the pharaohs would never disappear, so...hers would not either.

    Fina went back onto the hill. Richard and Zhang Zian¡¯s bickering still had not ended. They were debating a question that only fools would consider.

    The other elfins were exploring the surroundings with nothing else better to do, flipping over broken gravel and sniffing at broken pirs. Fina didn¡¯t rm them, but it followed a treacherous path up, avoiding several teetering walls to reach the top of the temple¡¯s ruins.

    It noticed that there were a few lights installed in the ruins, and the lights were all pointed towards the ruins, long electrical cords leading to somewhere unknown.

    Most likely, in the night, all these lights would turn on and bathe the ruins in light, so that the tourists staying in the Siwa Oasis could admire the ruins from thefort of their rooms, just like a clown in the spotlight of the stage.

    When it had firste to the pet shop, it had been reminded that the wires were dangerous, and it shouldn¡¯t try to bite through or scratch the wires. What the heck? Did they think it was an idiot? It wasn¡¯t just any normal cat!

    So it didn¡¯t n to destroy these lights and wires. As this was equipment that would significantly affect their tourism, it would be repaired quickly, so there was no point in destroying it now.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t climb up, since he saw that the tip was already teetering dangerously, and it would be risky to try and climb it. But that risk was nothing to Fina.

    It leaped onto the tip in a few strides easily, not even alerting the rest of the elfins with how light its jumps were, and easily scaled upward to the inside of the tip.

    Fina closed its eyes, starting to pray for a divination.

    ¡°Ah! Oh Holy Amon! You¡¯vee to heaven and be the Father of all the Gods, the Creator of all on Earth. Youring has brightened Santa Maria. Maria weed you with devoted arms, and Ma¡¯at and Nut embrace you passionately. Please bestow upon us prosperity, glory, sincerity, and holiness!¡±

    Praying for divine intervention was aplicated and holy process, often needing a long period of preparation and the assistance of priests.

    Priests were no longer around, and it didn¡¯t have the time to do preparations. They didn¡¯t even know if Amon was protecting this piece ofnd that had long ago been ruled by a foreign power. But it could only pray, hoping for a miracle, just like what Alexander the Great had done 2,000 years ago.

    ¡°Oh Great Amon, please let me see her one more time.¡±

    To see her one more time might not be difficult, since she had seen that the mark on Peter Lee¡¯s map was exactly where her body rested. If everything went smoothly, they might really be able to reach that ce.

    But what it wanted to see was not the mummified version of her.

    ¡°Oh Great Amun, please let me see her...alive again, even if it¡¯s just for a second.¡±

    The wish was too absurd. With so many noble pharaohs throughout ancient Egypt and its 6,000 years of history, none of them had been granted the wish of reincarnation. She was not any more noble than those great pharaohs, so the holy Amon would most likely ignore this joke of a wish.

    ¡°No matter what method needs to be used, no matter what price there is to pay, please, oh Great Amon, please grant me this wish.¡±

    After its silent prayer, it kept its eyes closed, instead focusing on her hearing, touch, and other senses. Any movement within the tip, any...signs of God Amon¡¯s response would be detected by her.

    But not a single breeze of wind had blown in. The tip was deathly silent.

    What exactly did godly intervention look like? How had the ancient priests determined that they had gotten the blessings of the god Amon?

    Fina waited and waited and waited, not knowing how many minutes passed. It could hear Zhang Zian calling its name from afar, but it couldn¡¯t respond. It was worried that the moment it did, it would miss Amon¡¯s signs.

    ¡°Come! Please,e!¡±

    It knew that a prayer was meant to be done calmly and devotedly, not for selfish reasons. But it couldn¡¯t be calm at all. All it wanted to do was shut Zhang Zian¡¯s mouth with stones!

    As for selfishness... Could it be that Alexander the Great had note here for selfish reasons at all? He¡¯de for a country, while it hade for one person.

    The Godly Divination didn¡¯te.

    Fina opened its eyes, disappointed. God Amon¡¯s powers may have already left this wretchednd.

    When it leaped off the tip, it was spotted by Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Fina, where did you go? I¡¯ve been calling out for you,¡± heined.

    Fina was already down in the dumps, so it gritted back at him, ¡°Call, call, call. What¡¯s the point? I won¡¯t go missing, anyway!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t mean that.¡± Zhang Zian pointed to the sunset. ¡°We just discovered something weird. The sun seems to be hovering at the horizon, but it hasn¡¯t set even though it¡¯s been too long.¡±

 Chapter 1217: Divine Condemnation

    <h4>Chapter 1217: Divine Condemnation</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Fina listened to Zhang Zian¡¯s narrative. Its first reaction was that he was talking nonsense. The sun rose daily in the east. How could it not set and return the next day? Even if he wanted to spout lies, he should at least follow the basicws of physics.

    Zhang Zian saw that Fina did not believe him and felt very hurt. Why didn¡¯t she believe him even when he spoke the truth?

    ¡°Really, it is the truth! I was not the only one that discovered it. If you don¡¯t believe me, go and ask the rest!¡± He pointed to the sky, wanting to take an oath to prove his innocence. Yet even if he took an oath, he doubted Fina would believe him...

    ¡°It was the first thing that was noticed by the old man.¡± Old Time Tea backed Zhang Zian up.

    At that time, Old Time Tea was standing beside a copsed wall. He was casually admiring the beautiful scenery when he heard Zhang Zian calling for them to gather. He was just about to leave when he was suddenly alerted to something that did not seem right.

    His level of vignce had always been very high. He nced in all directions but failed to notice anything amiss. As they were at the top of the hills, neither man nor animal would escape his eyes.

    Old Time Tea, despite not finding anything, kept up his alertness. He scanned thendscape in greater detail.

    When his eyes fell on the shadow of his feet, his beard trembled. He saw something that horrified him. Earlier, when he¡¯d jumped on the wall, his shadow had been at the edge of the wall. It had since been about ten minutes. Within those ten minutes, much like him, the position of his shadow had not moved at all.

    Old Time Tea was cautious. At first, he thought that it was a mistake. Perhaps he had unconsciously moved and thus the shadow stayed in the original position. However, he thought hard and found this impossible. He had a known stance for standing and sitting. He would never twist and turn when he had no business moving around.

    Thus, he decided to tell Famous and dimir about his discovery and asked if they were aware of this abnormality.

    After listening, Famous and dimir did not believe him either. However, Old Time Tea looked very serious, and it did not seem like a joke.

    Even if the sun had set, it was still not directly visible, despite its rays being considerably weaker than they had been at noon.

    Zhang Zian and the elfins didn¡¯t want to leave. They did not know where Fina was, and they couldn¡¯t leave for the time being.

    The three elfins then stood in formation, held their breath, and watched each other¡¯s shadows. They held their positions for more than 10 minutes. They noticed that the three shadows pointing in three different directions had not changed a bit.

    They looked at each other. After a little discussion, they thought that this matter was extraordinary. They quickly went to Zhang Zian to discuss further.

    Zhang Zian was ying with his mobile phone, and from time to time, he shouted Fina¡¯s name. He wanted to send a message online, such as, ¡°If your boyfriend ims that he is going to Siwa to pursue the glory of Alexander the Great, then you must be careful.¡± His intention was to catch the attention of his friends online in the hopes of getting many young girls to notice him...

    He listened to Old Time Tea and the other elfins. At first, he could not believe what they said, but upon closer scrutiny, he could not think of anything wrong with their exnation. He also felt like today¡¯s sun was taking a very long time to set.

    It was at this time that he saw Fina jump out of the spire. He quickly told her about the discovery. Fina didn¡¯t believe Zhang Zian, but the elfins were unanimous in what they said. That made it difficult not to believe.

    Was this...was this the work of the god Amon?

    She used her peripheral vision to quickly nce at the sunset near the horizon. They were at the highest point in the vicinity, and it was the best ce to enjoy sunrises and sunsets. Was this the reason, therefore, that the temple had been built here?

    Fina¡¯s heart beat fast, and bursts of ecstasy poured into her heart. The god Amon had responded! Her prayers had really been heard!

    So... Was it possible to see the living god once more?

    The elfins were engaged in deep discussion about the phenomenon, but they reached no conclusion despite all that chatter.

    ¡°God... This is really God...¡± Fina murmured. ¡°Back in the old days, Alexander the Great must have seen such a god...¡±

    Zhang Zian sighed and said, ¡°In my opinion, this has nothing to do with gods.¡±

    Fina, who had been secretly happy, felt like she was being doused in cold water. She asked coldly, ¡°Why?¡±

    Zhang Zian did not notice the strangeness in her tone. He immediately said, ¡°In my opinion, this is simr to a mirage. It¡¯s nothing to be rmed about.¡±

    He knelt down, picked up a small stone, and drew two concentric circles on the ground. ¡°This is the surface of the earth and the atmosphere.¡±

    Then he drew a triangle at the end of the inner arc. ¡°This is the hill that we are currently at.¡±

    ¡°This is the sun.¡± He drew a small circle at the other end of the outer arc, and the circle did not touch the arc.

    From that small circle, he drew a dotted line to connect to the triangle. ¡°It is reasonable to say that the light from the sun has been blocked by the ground. We cannot see this, but...¡±

    He drew a solid line starting from the small circle that intersected the outer arc, and then he changed the direction to connect with the triangle.

    ¡°Unusual atmospheric conditions will cause the light to refract, so the sun that has already set can still be seen by us. From how we see it, the sun seemed to not be moving, though it still is.¡±

    When he¡¯d finished, he threw the small stone on the ground. He felt immensely proud.

    Old Time Tea was stunned and said, ¡°This is akin to watching fish in the water from the shore. Where we see the position of the fish is not the real position of the fish.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Old Time Tea is very smart.¡± Zhang Zian deeply admired his practical wisdom¡ªwhen he was young, he must have caught many fish in the mountains.

    Famous and dimir also understood his schematic diagram. It made sense to them. They were relieved and did not worry about any abnormal happenings.

    Only Fina¡¯s face became increasingly distorted. She said, ¡°This is merely your guess. Is there any abnormality in the atmosphere? How do you know?¡±

    Zhang Zian spoke enthusiastically, like he was solving an extremely difficult elementary mathematics problem. ¡°The extreme environment of the desert is inherently prone to rare weather phenomena, such as the super storm that can make the sand dunes shift, the rainstorm from the past three nights, the mysterious mirage, et cetera. The most reasonable exnation will be as such. Otherwise, can there be any other exnation?¡±

    Fina, deep in her heart, did agree with what Zhang Zian said. After all, she had lived much longer in Egypt than he had. Yet for this exact reason, she could help but feel defensive and angry towards him.

    She probed further. ¡°Even if it is as you imed and this is caused by abnormal formation in the atmosphere, why, out of all the possible times for it to ur, did it ur now?¡±

    In fact, she left out an important point¡ªwhy was there an abnormality just after she had prayed to the god Amon?

    ¡°Well, this...¡± Zhang Zian shrugged. ¡°Maybe it is just a coincidence. In fact, simr anomalies often ur here, but few people notice them. After all, there are few tourists here, and no one will stare quite as long at the sunset. The locals may be as ignorant about this as well.¡±

    The more he said, the more he felt that his guess was reasonable. He felt a sense of superiority towards the elfins, as he thought that he was smarter, and he grew more smug about himself.

    The other elfins secretly observed the exchange, and all of them stayed silent. They noticed that Fina had an extraordinary attachment to this anomaly. Usually, Fina would not care about anything out of the ordinary. Yet only Zhang Zian failed to understand her unusual behavior.

    ¡°I...don¡¯t believe in coincidence,¡± Fina said stubbornly. ¡°You don¡¯t believe in coincidence, either. So why do youe to such a conclusion so casually?¡±

    ¡°Because sometimes there is just such a coincidence! The type of coincidence that I don¡¯t believe in is that between people. How can one predict the weather? Perhaps you have a better exnation?¡± Zhang Zian said with a slight smirk across his face. He crossed his arms and held them tightly across his chest. He was confident in his argument.

    Old Time Tea and Famous gave him a stern look. It was a hint to him to indulge less in Fina¡¯s stubbornness. If he took a step back, it would be no blow to his ego. However, the arrogant Zhang Zian failed to notice them.

    Fina was furious just looking at the smirk across his face. She reluctantly suppressed her anger and tried to maintain herposure. She said, ¡°Perhaps there are other reasons that cannot be exined bymon sense. You see, we are standing in a sacred ce...¡±

    She did not finish what she wanted to say before Zhang Zian interrupted her.

    ¡°No, no. I know what you want to say. Let me repeat myself. This is not the work of god. am¡¯s razor¡ªthe simpler the exnation, the better. Instead of adding an unknown factor to exin the problem, we are better off exining things with known facts,¡± he said, vigorously shaking his head.

    Fina finally couldn¡¯t bear it and screamed, ¡°I will skin you alive!¡± Before she finished, her sharp ws cut through the wind, shing across the sunset like a streak of light.

    Zhang Zian was extremely frightened. However, he was quick to respond. It was lucky that he was not very close to Fina as well. He instinctively took a step back to escape her ws. He did avoid significant harm, with only his jeans shredded a little. He did not spill a single drop of blood.

    ¡°Hey! What are you doing? Please be more civilized!¡±

    He squinted his eyes and ducked his head. He ran to Old Time Tea and hid behind him.

    ¡°Please calm down! I also think that it is too far-fetched to exin it by sheer coincidence. There are no absolutes in this world, and there are still many things that cannot bepletely exined by science.¡±

    Old Time Tea hurriedly came in to save Zhang Zian.

    dimir also offered his two cents. ¡°Where the matters for debate are purely ideological, regardless of man or cat, we can only approach it through discussion, criticism, and persuasion. We cannot use force or repression. That is no way to solve it.¡±

    ¡°The truth is out there!¡± Famous quoted the ssic line from ¡°The X-Files,¡± suggesting that the truth was still somewhat inconclusive.

    ¡°Meow!¡± Gxy offered his sympathies as well.

    Fina was still angry. She shot him an angry look and, with a rapid movement, flicked her tail, turned around, and walked away. ¡°I am going back!¡±

    She meant what she¡¯d said. Within seconds, she had walked off the hill and disappeared in the direction of the small town.

    ¡°Absolutely unbelievable!¡±

    Once Zhang Zian could confirm that Fina had left, he heaved a sigh of relief. Earlier, his heart had been all the way up in his throat. He had been very nervous. He pped his sleeves and shouted out indignantly, ¡°I will not stoop to your level ever! Or else... Ha!¡±

    He looked down at the fresh cuts made in his jeans. Heforted himself. ¡°With these new cuts, I look so much more on point! Oh yes, by the way, who made Fina angry?¡±

    The rest of the elves were speechless upon hearing this. They didn¡¯t know what to say.

    ¡°Hey!¡± Richardnded on his shoulder and said rather sympathetically, ¡°No wonder you lived for so many years and are still single. This is the exact behavior of a singleton!¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhang Zian replied, somewhat stunned.

    Richard sighed. ¡°Don¡¯t you understand? You cannot reason with any female creatures. They will force you to lower your IQ to their level and thereafter beat you with their own unreasonable reasoning!¡±

    Zhang Zian carefully thought about what he¡¯d said. He understood the meaning and said, nodding, ¡°That seems to be the case...¡±

    ¡°So men should be with men! Let all the females go to hell!¡± Richard said while he pped his wings.

    ¡°Well, that makes sense... No, wait!¡± Zhang Zian finally realized that he¡¯d been just about to fall into Richard¡¯s trap!

    He remembered a previous score that he had not settled with the bird and was just about to grab at his ws to beat him silly. However, Richard was ready and immediately took flight.

    ¡°Hey! You fit young man, run toward the setting sun! We shall have the fight of the century in the town below! However, make sure to take protective measures!¡± Richard said as he fluttered his wings and flew up high, circling the spires of the ruins.

    Zhang Zian picked up pebbles from the ground and held them in his hands. He hesitated, debating whether he would throw them at Richard. He was not afraid to take him out. He was more worried that his pebble would hit the spire, causing it to crumble in the midst of their fight. With the copse of the spire, two thousand years of antiquities would go with it as well...

    In a logical sense, he did not think that the gods truly existed. However, as Fina had said, they were standing on a piece of sacrednd. It would be better for him to stay cautious than risk everything.

    What if he incurred the wrath of the gods, and he was cursed to be alone forever?

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Richard had just circled the spire two to three times and suddenly felt an urge to pee.

    To reduce weight while flying, many birds, including parrots, did not control their bowel movements and released them whenever and wherever. When Richard was at home, he tried his best to do it in a civilized manner. However, once he was in this wilderness, he couldn¡¯t care less. A bright arc appeared across the sky, and peended amongst the ruins.

    Zhang Zian and other elfins hurried to find a ce to hide from the pee.

    ¡°Ah! Ah! Feels so good!¡±

    He did not finish speaking before a sea of ck rose up in front of his eyes. It was very sudden. Apparently, he had identally mmed into the steeple. It was a hard knock, so hard that he felt giddy. With a scream, he fell toward the ground like a rock.

    Fortunately, Richard was able to slow his descent with the help of his wings. He ended up not falling too badly. Nevertheless, it was still a reasonably significant impact. He fell directly into his urine, and his feathers were entirely covered in that liquid.

    Zhang Zian and the elfins felt sympathetic to the self-serving bird, yet they were highly amused by his actions. Suddenly, right in front of them, their sight turned ck.

    He and the elfins looked towards the west in unison.

    The sun, which had been on the horizon for a long time, had suddenly setpletely, all within the blink of an eye. It was rapidly changing from bright to dark. This caused Richard¡¯s night blindness to surface.

    He and the elfins faced each other. Had they just seen what they thought they¡¯d seen? Had Richard peed on the holynd only to immediately suffer retribution?

    Was this a coincidence or... God¡¯s condemnation?

 Chapter 1218: Blindly Optimistic

    <h4>Chapter 1218: Blindly Optimistic</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Morning.

    Due to theck of natural foliage and the extremely poor heat retention of the earth, the desert¡¯s climate was extremely hot during the day and freezing at night. Zhang Zian wore a long-sleeved shirt and pants, and he could finally warm himself up after practicing his moves with Old Time Tea and ying hide-and-seek with Gxy.

    Siwa was a tiny town, but it still had a vibrant nightlife due to the fact that it was a tourist attraction. The moment lights came on in the city, the Shali ruins and temple were also bathed in strong light. The month of Ramadan was also when the timing of activities were opposite¡ªthe local people were out at night, while they went back home to feast and eat right before the sun rose.

    Very few tourist groups would put the out-of-the-way Siwa on their itinerary, so most of the tourists here were on free-and-easy tours. With no tour guides to wake them up and bring them everywhere, they sleptte and woke upte too. That was why there was barely anyone out there during the day in Siwa, even less so on the outskirts of town.

    Zhang Zian wanted to sleep, but he couldn¡¯t. They had wasted too much timest night, and they hadn¡¯t gotten to find a secluded hot spring to let Sihwa out for her livestream. He¡¯d decided to sleep early and wake up early to fulfill his promise to her during the day.

    Besides, he also wanted to avoid locals and tourists as much as possible¡ªall thanks to Richard and his potty mouth. Whenever he met a young male who showed him a smile, he couldn¡¯t help but clench his *ss a little bit...

    In a small hot spring not too far from him, Sihwa¡¯sughter could be heard. She was clearly in a good mood. The hot spring that he¡¯d chosen could overlook the top of the temple, so she could clearly show that she hade to Siwa to travel, stroking her ego to the fullest extent.

    His phone rang. It was Professor Wei Kang who¡¯d sent him a message, telling him that they had already left. Besides He He, everyone else drove towards Siwa in a jeep, each car filled to the brim with food, water, and other perishables.

    Zhang Zian replied that he would wait for them at Siwa and reminded them not to stop at the Faiyum Oasis.

    Every tourist they¡¯d met in Siwa looked extremely rxed, like they had no troubles on their minds, and life was going great. But he wasn¡¯t. He might¡¯ve looked rxed, but he was actually pretty anxious.

    Thinking about having to enter the dangerous Sahara desert with a bunch of loons, he couldn¡¯t help but be so. The people in his group were either old schrs or naive students who hadn¡¯t taken a single step into society. He couldn¡¯t rely on them at all.

    The closer they got to the time of departure, the more erratic his heartbeat became.

    The only ones he could rely on...were the elfins. Even then, he couldn¡¯t trust all of them.

    For example, Fina. Fina had been acting a little weird since yesterday¡ªthat wasn¡¯t quite urate. It was more like it had been weird ever since they hade to Egypt, and it had just gotten weirder yesterday.

    It hadn¡¯t slept so much yesterday night. It had instead tossed and turned. Every time Zhang Zian woke up, he could see its sparkling green eyes watching the ceiling, ring at him sharply from time to time...

    Even though it said it was because the mattress provided by the hotel was too low in quality and not soft at all, it could sleep on the hard wood of the cat tower.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what he¡¯d done to warrant such deep hatred. He had just educated it in somemon knowledge.

    Seeing that it was about time, he picked up a small rock and threw it in the direction of Sihwa¡¯s hot spring, reminding her that it was about time to wrap up. If he let her be, without a limit to how much battery she had, she would definitely stream the whole day.

    The stone plopped into the hot spring, causing water to spurt up.

    Sihwa turned to regard him with a re before speaking to the camera, ¡°Alright! An idiot is rushing me again! Your beautiful, sweet, kind, hardworking mermaid Sihwa is going to go offline for now! The next time I livestream... Hmm... Let me tell you some good news! The next time I livestream, it will be in the mysterious desert oasis! Prepare your gifts, and anticipate it with all your heart! Hahahaha!¡±

    Finishing, she ended the livestream reluctantly, her phone already reaching a dangerous battery level.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Wait, aren¡¯t we already in the desert oasis? To which desert oasis do you still want to go?¡±

    ¡°What a silly question! Of course it¡¯s the real desert oasis! The kind where there is no one for miles!¡± Sihwa leaned both her elbows on the stones by the periphery of the hot spring and spoke without hesitation.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Drop the thought. Where am I going to find such an oasis? Don¡¯t make promises you can¡¯t keep. You¡¯ll lose fans that way!¡±

    ¡°Are you going into the desert? Aren¡¯t there oases in the desert? Aren¡¯t therekes in the oasis?¡± Sihwa hadn¡¯t heard what he said at all and took it all for granted. ¡°Those that are more natural would be good. It¡¯s best if no one has been there before. I¡¯ve promised my fans, anyway! You have to take responsibility and find one for me!¡±

    Zhang Zian thought it must have been some fan who¡¯d mentioned this to Sihwa, and she¡¯d just believed their word.

    ¡°Forget it. Come back to the phone first. People might being.¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t be bothered to speak too much. As a mermaid who had been in the sea all her life, she had no concept of what a desert looked like. She thought that finding an unmarked oasis in the middle of the vast desert would be as easy as flipping her hand.

    He put Sihwa back in his phone.

    It wasn¡¯t just Sihwa¡ªthe other members of the expedition team were overly enthusiastic about the desert, thinking that just because they had enough materials, great equipment, an experienced Bedouin as their guide, and enough people on their team since they¡¯d teamed up with Peter Lee, everything would go fine and dandy. That the worst case scenario would be notpleting their goal.

    But hearing what Nabari had said about the things that had happened years ago, he deeply understood how scary the desert was, and he understood that humans were far from conquering and understanding the desert.

    He called the other elfins to return to town together.

    Fina was still angry at him and maintained a set distance from him. Even though he bought roast meat for it, it still looked really grumpy as it devoured all of the meat.

    Just as they walked to the town¡¯s opening, a handsome Land Rover stopped beside him with a cloud of sand and the heavy smell of diesel.

    The window rolled down. Peter Lee wasn¡¯t wearing his white suit today. Instead, he wore a canvas shirt with a hunting vest. Even though he was no longer young, his body still looked firm and toned.

    ¡°Jeff, what a coincidence! Are you going back to town or to the Bedouin tribe? Do you need a ride?¡± Peter Lee smiled at him through his yellow-colored sunsses, his eyebrows quivering as his eyes passed over Famous and Fina.

 Chapter 1219: Pilgrims

    <h4>Chapter 1219: Pilgrims</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was not surprised to meet Peter Lee. After all, they had an appointment with the Bedouin tribe today, and Siwa was the only way to go to the Bedouin tribe. It was also their final stop.

    Following behind thend cruiser were several other cars. They were identical and apparently belonged to members of the Cosmological Information Society.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I have to wait for the other members of the expedition team. They will still need a little while to get here.¡± Zhang Zian shook his head, refusing.

    He did not have a good impression of the members of the Cosmological Information Society. They had not done anything bad or out of the ordinary. The thing he took issue with was that they thought very differently from ordinary people. In fact, from their outer appearances, they looked more friendly than themon man. Perhaps that was the expression of those who had firm belief in their hearts.

    If they met while going about their daily affairs, Zhang Zian would probably not pay them too much attention andugh them off. In any case, they probably had nothing they needed from one another. However, when it came to entering the desert, suddenly, the personalities of one¡¯s teammates were very important.

    ¡°Are all of you going in?¡± he asked, counting the number of cars.

    ¡°No, there are doctors in our ranks. We had a physical examination yesterday and are leaving a few people behind¡ªmerely those with poor physical fitness. The rest of them will enter the desert together,¡± Peter Lee said as he stuck his head out. He blew a whistle towards the cars behind them. ¡°Come, let me use this opportunity to introduce everyone.¡±

    Six people emerged from the back of the car, five men and one woman. They were all from different countries with different skin colors. As Peter Lee had said, these six people were in their prime, both physically and mentally.

    Zhang Zian had seen them before, but he didn¡¯t know their names.

    ¡°I am a consul. I used to be in politics. Hello,rade.¡± A middle-aged man with a Mediterranean hairstyle introduced himself. The first words he uttered were those of a high-level official. They carried the weight of one who was in power.

    Zhang Zian was shocked and thought that this person was a former diplomat. Why didn¡¯t he say his name?

    The other five people also spoke in the same format. They imed to be priests, colonels, poets, and schrs. The only woman on the team imed to be a detective.

    The female detective had a temperament simr to Sun Xiaomeng, but she was about ten years older. She was most likely the doctor that Peter Lee had mentioned. Yet she imed to be a detective. Perhaps she was responsible for searching the human body?

    The other people also had characteristics simr to their self-proimed identities. For example, the colonel¡¯s eyes and movements indicated that he was a former soldier, and the poet had curly hair that is somewhat romantic. The schr wore thick sses and looked somewhat like Wei Kang. Finally, the priest was a solemn man and had an awe-inspiring look.

    The strange thing was that they did not introduce themselves by their names.

    The more he heard, the more Zhang Zian got confused. He was just about to ask about this, but he saw Pi quietly gesturing to him not to do so.

    He had been with Pi for a long time, and Pi often asked him questions about the novel, so he was familiar with the gesture he was seeing. He saw Pi spread his hands out like a book, and its mouth parted to form a square. Pi seemed to be sending him some type of message.

    Wait a minute! Consul, priest, colonel, poet, schr, and detective. Was this peculiarbination...

    It suddenly became clear to Zhang Zian. He immediately knew their intentions.

    After the six introduced themselves, Peter Lee smiled quietly while observing Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian turned and looked at Peter Lee. He said quietly, ¡°So, you must be a saint.¡±

    ¡°Haha! Brother, you guessed it!¡± Peterughed. Everyone else also smiled.

    Consul, priest, colonel, poet, schr, detective, and saint. Wasn¡¯t this thebination of the pilgrimage team in the science fiction novel Hyperion? That was quite something!

    Just like the pilgrimage team in Hyperion that had gone through hardships to form the core shape of the pyramid, Peter Lee and his team used the same professions as their code names. It indicated that they had a simr purpose¡ªto find the pyramid deep within the desert. The hope was that through their journey, they would also be able to discover the great secrets of the inverse entropy field.

    Zhang Zian had a copy of this novel in his house. He had shown it to Pi before. He himself had seen it a long time ago, but if Pi had not reminded him, he may not have associated Peter Lee and his team with this science fiction novel.

    He searched his memory for more information, although he had already forgotten many of the details of the novel. He only remembered that the story was set at the day before the prophecy. A team of seven, each with different statuses, identities, and experiences, got together to uncover the secrets of Zhong Guangyin.

    What impressed him the most was Zhong Guangyin.

    Zhong Guangyin was like a pyramid and was surrounded by inverse entropy. In the realm of time, it flowed backward instead of forward.

    In the prophecy, when the saga was over, a great sorrower would emerge from the tomb. They came from the other side of time. Their sole purpose was to dere the end of mankind.

    To be honest, the narrative of this novel was somewhat difficult to understand. Its style was typical of a hardcover book: highly suitable for inducing sleep. However, it would not work as well with online literature. At the time, when he was reading the book, he had to force himself to finish it. The curiosity he had for Zhong Guangyin kept him reading till the end. However, when the pilgrims finally reached the valley where Zhong Guangyin was, the novel ended abruptly. He was furious.

    He could not be bothered thereafter to read the sequels. He regretted buying a full set and wasting his money.

    However, when he gave this set of books to Pi, it was originally intended to let Pi slowly pass time. However, Pi loved the novel very much and soon finished it. Pi even finished the sequels. It made Zhang Zian wonder how Pi derived so much pleasure from reading this novel.

    In addition to being obscure, the novel gave Zhang Zian the feeling that Zhong Guangyin as a concept was highly unscientific. If, as described in the novel, it connected the past and the future, then what advancements in technology must the world have had to create such a thing?

    Was this therefore not a hallmark of a fantasy novel?

    It was just... If he was to read this novel again now, he may not make such a statement.

    He nced at the sea of stars. Things that were less scientific than Zhong Guangyin were right there in front of him. To add on the strange sunsets of yesterday evening and the experience of retribution after Richard¡¯s pee...

    So if one did not see it, could one simply ignore it?

    He was unable to ascertain if Zhong Guangyin truly existed. Even if it did, he was sure that if a pyramid could be found in the depths of the desert, it should merely be just an ordinary pyramid. There could be no such thing as pure universe energy and mysterious things. Peter Lee would be grossly disappointed.

 Chapter 1220: Speculation

    <h4>Chapter 1220: Spection</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian observed the six people other than Peter Lee, finding that the difference in strength between both teams was extremely huge. His teamprised of all kinds of jobs, able to handle both physical and mental work, while their own team... Well, they were basically sick, old, young, and disabled.

    The thing that he couldn¡¯t understand was that as elites in their own field, how had they ended up so caught up in Peter Lee¡¯s gibberish and believed in it so much that they¡¯d decided to join the Cosmological Information Society?

    Back then, there had been a period in China¡¯s history where everyone was obsessed with Qigong, from babies all the way to the elderly. Everyone rushed to the nearest open area to follow some master who¡¯d popped out of nowhere to practice all kinds of Qigong advertised to be able to cure all illnesses. There were many people who¡¯d gone bankrupt for these too, as well as scientists and government bodies that helped further the craze.

    Compared to that, Peter Lee¡¯s actions were minor.

    ¡°So, I should call these followers by their jobs?¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes brushed over them.

    Peter Lee smiled. ¡°That would be great. It¡¯s hard to remember names, isn¡¯t it? The Spanish man who looks like the Father¡ªhis real name is really long. I can¡¯t remember it even after knowing him for so long.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I will inform Professor Wei Kang and his team as well.¡±

    Zhang Zian agreed. Names were just identities. It was as Peter Lee said. It would be difficult to remember six different names from differentnguages and match them up to their faces too. It was easier to just call them by their upations.

    ¡°So you¡¯re trying to find Zhong Guanying in the desert?¡± he asked again.

    Peter Lee didn¡¯t mind the mockery in his voice, answering solemly, ¡°We have considered it before. If the sheepskin map is real, that pyramid must belong to an amazing pharaoh. Only then would people have exerted so much human energy and so many materials to build a pyramid in the deepest depths of the desert to hide this secret.¡±

    Peter took a quick nce at their surroundings before lowering his voice. ¡°I won¡¯t hide from you. We have done investigations on the age of the sheepskin map,¡± he said. ¡°The results show that ites from the end of the Ptolemaic dynasty to the beginning of Rome¡¯s rule. In this period of time, you could count the number of people that had great capabilities, great determination, upheld the culture of Ancient Egypt, and had amazing understanding of math and architecture on one hand...¡±

    Zhang Zian tried his best to hide the great shock that he felt in his heart. If Peter wasn¡¯t lying, then there was clearly only one person that the pyramid had been built for¡ªCleopatra the Seventh. There was no one else who fit that criteria.

    Zhang Zian put his focus on Peter Lee and the six other people, not noticing how Fina¡¯s ear twitched as it quietly shuffled closer, its green eyes fixed on Peter.

    ¡°You mean Cleopatra? That¡¯s impossible. Why would she build a pyramid there?¡± Zhang Zian asked him.

    Peter shook his head. ¡°No one knows why. We are inclined to believe that that spot is where the purest energy in the universe collects, and she chose that spot after detailed calctions.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t think they were on the same wavelength at all.

    ¡°I know you don¡¯t quite believe me, but the tales that people have passed down through time are even more unbelievable.¡± Peter Lee guessed what he was thinking. ¡°The impression that people have of that time periode from Plutarch¡¯s ¡®Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans,¡¯ but Plutarch was born a hundred years after Cleopatra. This book is more like a piece of literature rather than a record of history.

    ¡°How did Plutarch know about the extremely secretive meeting of Cleopatra and Caesar? It¡¯s just like how Sima Qian had recorded many conversations that happened between two people. Since they would never reveal the contents of the conversations, how did Sima Qian know what was talked about? Most likely, he looked at the results and guessed what was said from their personalities.¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t refute that, since that was how history was. Even as an official scribe, the author was bound to use their own imagination to fill in the gaps. How else would everyone know what conversation had taken ce between two people? Even if the scribe knew what was said, they couldn¡¯t possibly write every single word down. Scribes were people, not gods.

    ¡°After Cleopatra and Anthony met, to win her heart, Anthony gifted Rome¡¯s colony, Libya, to her. So, as a schr, she had the ability to build a pyramid there. We just don¡¯t know whether she managed toplete it before her death... Such a big operation. It shouldn¡¯t be hard to keep it a secret in the depths of the desert.¡± Peter Lee smiled easily. ¡°Besides, at the very least, we¡¯d have toured the desert.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. Peter had certainly done his homework beforeing. His words seemed fleeting and unreliable, but it was hard to find a loophole in them.

    ¡°I had wanted to ask previously, brother, but the dog and cat are yours? You n to bring them into the desert?¡± Peter Lee pointed at Fina and Famous. As for the other elfins, he couldn¡¯t see them.

    ¡°Yes, they are rted to our main aim for the expedition,¡± Zhang Zian answered vaguely.

    Peter Lee nodded, not asking anything more. ¡°Alright. As long as we are able to, we will fully support your expedition team and research work. We did enter the desert to research the purest energy in the universe, so we are doing the same work.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought, ¡°What shamelessness!¡±

    ¡°Then we¡¯ll be heading off first. Let¡¯s meet at the Bedouin tribe at noon.¡± Peter Lee asked the others to return to their cars first.

    Zhang Zian felt that Professor Wei Kang and the rest would be able to arrive before noon, so he agreed on behalf of them.

    Peter Lee whistled, and his team left Siwa in style, the sea of sand that they kicked up not dissipating for a while.

    ¡°Let¡¯s return to the hotel,¡± Zhang Zian suggested. ¡°We can still rest for a few hours before Professor Wei Kang and the rest will arive. We won¡¯t be able to sleep on such soft beds from now on.¡±

    dimir spoke confidently. ¡°No issue! A believer of the Meow Meow Doctrine isn¡¯t afraid of difficulties. The sky is our nket, the earth is our bed, guns are our pillows, and the sand is our canteen!¡±

    ¡°Gah gah! Good! The sky¡¯s our nket, the earth our bed, with a wild couple in between! We have to be confident. Even if we meet men in between more men, we have to advance towards the men, to face the men as they are, and eliminate the men!¡± Richardnded on his shoulder, squawking away. It still had a bump on its forehead, not from the mosquitoes but from banging its headst night.

    Even though it was trying to cheer everyone up, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help but feel that some words were pronounced a little strangely!

 Chapter 1221: Reunion

    <h4>Chapter 1221: Reunion</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The sun started rising, and the temperature rose rapidly. Zhang Zian took the elfins back to the hotel where they were staying. When they went upstairs, they passed by a muscr white man with a hearty smile. Fortunately, he¡¯d tied Richard¡¯s beak in advance. Otherwise, he might have let out a whistle...

    They¡¯d woken up too early. Wei Kang and the rest still needed a few more hours to get there. They could thus use the time to get some much-needed rest.

    Zhang Zian turned on the air conditioner, tied Richard down with a rope, stretched out, andid down on the bed. At this moment, he made eye contact with Fina. It was not clear when Fina had jumped onto the bedside table and began looking down on him.

    ¡°What... What¡¯s up?¡± Zhang Zian looked fearfully at her ws. Was she still angry about yesterday¡¯s incident? She was simmering too long about this, he felt. She¡¯d barely spoken to him sincest night. She muttered nothing more than ¡°hungry,¡±¡±thirsty,¡± and ¡°sleepy.¡± He was merely directed to serve her.

    ¡°I want to ask you, what is that ¡®Zhong Guangyin¡¯ thing that you were talking about earlier?¡± Fina¡¯s eyes were burning bright, and she shed her two white tiger teeth when talking.

    Knowing that he was in a somewhatpromising position, Zhang Zian swallowed, smiled, and said carefully, ¡°It is nothing. It is a fictional thing in a novel.¡±

    ¡°Oh. Why did you be so surprised when you heard the word?¡± Fina asked.

    ¡°That is...because the shape of the thing is a bit like a pyramid.¡± Zhang Zian saw that Fina was interested and decided to share with her the legend of Zhong Guangyin, albeit entirely from his memory of it.

    The elfins other than Pi were also interested in this topic. They¡¯d intended to take a nap but were now interested to hear the story.

    ¡°What is ¡®Inverse Entropy Field?¡¯ What is ¡®going against the flow of time?¡¯ Speak English!¡± Fina was impatient and mmed down hard with her ws.

    Zhang Zian saw a deep scratch on the countertop and was so scared he almost peed his pants.

    ¡°Science fiction is always like that. They always deliberately put together some pretentious vocabry and make it sound fancy.¡± He defended himself before continuing. ¡°In fact, what it means... is that deep within the coffin lies a unique space that connects the past and the future. That is the rough gist of it all.¡±

    ¡°Connecting the past and the future?¡± Fina repeated. ¡°It means... will you be able to see someone who has died and someone who hasn¡¯t been born yet?¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded and then shook his head. ¡°In theory, yes. But don¡¯t take it seriously. It¡¯s just a setting in the novel.¡±

    Fina thought seriously for a moment. ¡°Do you really think this thing does not exist?¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°It¡¯s just the setting of the novel. I won¡¯t dare to say that it ispletely impossible. But the possibility of it really existing is low, very low, indeed... The chance of that happening is even lower than that of me winning the lottery every day.¡±

    Fina looked out the window facing the southwest. She said thoughtfully, ¡°I believe it exists.¡±

    Zhang Zian almost blurted that line out, ¡°Where did you get the confidence to say that?¡± but for the sake of his own life, he swallowed it back. If he had not done that, perhaps the hotel would¡¯ve had to deal with a corpse.

    He waited for a while, but Fina did not seem to intend to exin her idea in detail.

    Just then, the rope holding Richard¡¯s mouth tightly came loose. Not wanting to be left out, he cried, ¡°Hey! I haven¡¯t read this novel, but I heard things from people! They said that this idiot cannot and does not like to read this novel!¡±

    ¡°Oh? Why? What are you talking about? If you dare to talk nonsense once more, I will use 502 to tape up your whole mouth!¡± Zhang Zian threatened.

    ¡°It¡¯s very simple. This is a novel about love. You haven¡¯t fallen in love, so of course you don¡¯t understand it!¡± Richard said and even sang. ¡°Zhang Zian, you don¡¯t understand love. You will fall down...¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Just you wait! It¡¯s just not convenient for me to deal with you right now!¡±

    Fina seemed to have finished asking her questions and jumped back to her bed. She squatted in her corner quietly, as if she was going to sleep. However, her tail slid off the edge of the bed while flicking around, suggesting that she was having a rare moment of deep thought.

    This scared Zhang Zian, and he momentarily forgot about his sleepiness. He nced at the elfins and suddenly realized that they were able to form a pilgrimage team simr to Peter Lee¡¯s. dimir was a consul, Pi could be a poet, Richard was a schr, and Famous was a colonel. Fina would be a detective. However, the remaining priest and saint roles seemed to have no suitable candidates. If Old Time Tea was counted as a (martial) saint, it seemed the role of the priest was still vacant.

    ¡°Priest... Priest... Priest...¡± As he murmured the word, slowly but gradually, he fell asleep.

    Gxy squinted and nced at him with silver-gray eyes. It yawned, and before long, itid down to sleep as well.

    They didn¡¯t know how long they had slept. Zhang Zian was woken up by the buzz of his phone. He¡¯d received a message. He stumbled up and saw that it was from Wei Kang. He had finally arrived in Siwa.

    ¡°Get up! Professor Wei Kang has arrived. Let¡¯s check out now. If we check out after noon, we have to pay for an extra day! That will not happen, as I¡¯m paying for this with my own money!¡±

    He woke up the elfins, cleaned up a little, and immediately brought the elfins to the hotel lobby to greet them. The weather was very hot, and the sun was still as strong as it had been before.

    Several Prados were parked in front of the hotel. Wei Kang and his four disciples got out of the cars, and each had an expression of anticipation and excitement.

    The four youngsters, including Gao Ke and He He, were very interested in this historic town. However, time was not on their side, and they could not explore the area. Wei Kang hurried them to help Zhang Zian with his luggage.

    Zhang Zian and Wei Kang spoke briefly because Peter Lee and Nabari were still waiting at the Bedouin tribe. Although Wei Kang was rtively fast in arriving here, they still had to leave immediately.

    Zhang Zian left the RV that Lazart had loaned him at the hotel. He could not drive the car into the desert, as it could easily get stuck in the sand. If he could return from the desert smoothly, he would drive the car back to Cairo and return it.

    With a little rest under his belt, Zhang Zian took over navigation and led Wei Kang and the others to the Bedouin tribe. After arriving at the tribe, several of the young people were inevitably stunned by the raw and somewhat backward lifestyle of the Bedouins.

    Peter Lee waited for them at the entrance of the tribe. Zhang Zian introduced them and Wei Kang to him, while Peter Lee introduced Nabari and Salem to Wei Kang. Salem got along with the young people, and they quickly got together, talking andughing.

    Wei Kang, Nabari, and Peter Lee gathered together to re-confirm the preparations before entering the desert. They scrutinized the route once again.

    Zhang Zian quietly observed all that was urring. If Nabari was considered a neutral referee, both sides of the team were even at seven people. Fifteen people with different goals, hastily put together to form a group, would now enter into the unknown of the desert.

 Chapter 1222: All Set, Ready To Go

    <h4>Chapter 1222: All Set, Ready To Go</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Just like a giant stone dropped into the heart of theke, the originally calm Bedouin tribe started to liven up, the roaring sound of the generators starting to ring through the whole vige like ancient war drums.

    ¡°Zhang, Zhang, get in. We¡¯re leaving.¡± Wei Kang rushed him through the walkie-talkie.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Zhang Zian finished giving out thest of his snacks to the Bedouin kids surrounding him before putting up his hands in a surrendering motion, showing that he had no more.

    He had prepared beforeing back to Siwa and had brought a bunch of snacks to make sure that every single kid had one.

    All of the kids in the vige were here, surrounding him inyers uponyers of kids. No matter whether they were older or younger, they all had a colorful packet of snacks in their hands. Even if he showed that he had finished giving out his snacks, they still surrounded him, refusing to let him out.

    Maybe due to their gics, the kids¡¯ eyes were big and bright, reminding him of the young pups in his shop when they watched him through the ss of their disy case.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know how many of them would like to leave the tribe like Salem had and go out into the bigger, broader world. There definitely must be some, but they would not say so. They could only express it silently through such eyes, just like how young pups tried to entice customers to bring them home.

    But he couldn¡¯t help. Kids were not young pups. He couldn¡¯t just bring them away after paying some cash. That would be human trafficking.

    In Western movies and television, those child protective services seemed to have a lot of power, able to take away parental rights to a child, but those organizations didn¡¯t have the same powers here.

    ¡°I¡¯m leaving,¡± he signed, pointing to the group of cars.¡±Everyone¡¯s waiting for me.¡±

    The kids didn¡¯t speak, nor did they move. Their eyes just drifted to the cars as though they didn¡¯t understand.

    Wei Kang rushed him again through the walkie-talkie.

    He was extremely sorry, and he wanted to leave immediately too, but in this situation, he couldn¡¯t actually push the kids away, right?

    ¡°That...¡± He patted his own chest, pointing far away and then pointing back to where they were. ¡°I wille back. I will bring more gifts when Ie back.¡±

    The few big boys blinked, silently giving way and pulling the kids aside so they made a small pathway. They¡¯d actually understood, or at least, they understood the hand signs.

    After being seperated from society for so long, they had an instinct akin to small animals. They knew who was good to them, who ignored them, whoughed at their clothes and dirty faces. They would instinctively avoid thetter and approach the former.

    Salem and Nabari were riding in the same bus. Seeing that Zhang Zian was unable to separate himself from the crowd, he thought something bad had happened and rushed out of the car to help him out.

    He shouted loudly using their localnguage, and the kids ran off at the speed of light. Only when he got closer did he notice the snacks in the kids¡¯ hands. Then he understood why Zhang Zian was surrounded.

    He shook his head. ¡°Jeff, you shouldn¡¯t give them these things. They¡¯ll know how good the outside world is. But most of them don¡¯t have the courage to leave, and it will only bring them more suffering. I don¡¯t return to the tribe often, and every time Ie back, they only see me with empty hands. They don¡¯t have to live like me then, between traditional and modern society.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t wrong, but Zhang Zian said, ¡°But at least they now look forward to the outside world. Without anticipation, it¡¯s even less possible that they will leave the tribe. So even if it¡¯s just one kid who is curious about the outside world and has just the same recklessness as desire as you, they might act on it like you did. After all...times are changing. While they are growing up, different things might happen to the world and your tribe.¡±

    Salem lowered his head before smiling. ¡°Maybe you are right, but you¡¯d better not let our chief hear that.¡±

    Zhang Zian shrugged. ¡°Maybe they already have.¡±

    Salem was stunned for a moment before he realized that Zhang Zian was referring to one of the kids here who might be the chief of the tribe in the future¡ªthat was extremely possible, since all of the kids in the tribe were here.

    Beep! The leader of the convoy pressed on the horn, rushing them to hurry up and get in the car so they could go.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t give more thoughts on the situation. He shared a look with Salem before running to their respective jeep, closing the door and shutting off the noise from the convoy.

    ¡°Car Four in ce! Sorry for the wait!¡± he reported through the walkie-talkie.

    ¡°Group 2 all in ce!¡± Wei Kang announced.

    ¡°Group 1 all in ce! All cars report. Check your equipment. Check your car,¡± Peter Lee said into the walkie-talkie.

    ¡°Car One OK!¡± Nabari said.

    ¡°Car Two OK!¡±

    ¡°Car Three OK!¡±

    ¡°Car Four OK!¡±

    The sounds of reporting traveled through the walkie-talkie with different ents and genders, all of them confirming how ready they were to go ording to their car¡¯s number. They sounded extremely in order.

    Zhang Zian was getting more and more excited too, like he was personally getting involved in a huge project.

    No matter how Peter Lee thought or how he thought of Peter Lee, he had to admit that their team had a wealth of experience when it came to team expeditions. With a veteran on their team, they really had be organized and extremely efficient, moving immediately at everymand.

    On the other hand, on Wei Kang¡¯s side...they were exactly like a group of free sheep.

    Gao Ke and Xiao Tianyu had even fought over who would be able to get He He in their car. In the end, Wei Kang decided that neither of them were reliable. If He He were to decide to selfishly act again, the two of them would definitely let her after pretending to stop her. So he went ahead to discuss with Peter Lee, letting He He enter the female detective¡¯s car so she could control her.

    Wei Kang and Peter Lee only conversed for a short while before he was convinced by Peter Lee and his team¡¯s actions and words, so he agreed to Peter Lee being the leader of their team. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t disagree either, since the other party was better at organizing a team than they were.

    ¡°Car 12 OK!¡±

    ¡°Car 14 OK!¡±

    Silence settled over the walkie-talkie. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t miss one¡ªthere were only 13 cars in the convoy, but there was no Car 13. Probably because the foreigners thought that the number 13 was inauspicious.

    Peter Lee had asked Zhang Zian before whether he wanted to change his car to Car 5, but he didn¡¯t care about that kind of thing at all.

    ¡°All cars OK! Let¡¯s go!¡±

 Chapter 1223: Full of Vigor

    <h4>Chapter 1223: Full of Vigor</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Upon hearing the orders from Peter Lee via the walkie-talkie, Nabari and Salem drove Car No. 1 like a wild horse.

    ¡°Ten, nine, eight, seven...three, two, one! Car Number Four, depart!¡±

    After waiting for 10 seconds, Zhang Zian, who got the order to go, stepped on the gas pedal and rushed out, chasing the smoke emitted by Car No. 1.

    ¡°Ten, nine, eight, seven...three, two, one! Car Number Five, depart!¡±

    Another car waited for 10 seconds before following Car No. 4 and driving out of the vige.

    Zhang Zian rolled down the car window. The children who had not left waved goodbye to him. He only rolled up the window after he could no longer see the vige.

    Thirteen cars set off one after another. The distance between each car was about 10 seconds. This was Peter Lee¡¯s idea.

    Driving in the desert, one should worry less about losing the car in front but fear driving too close. The cars naturally kicked up tons of dust and sand. Get too close and it would be impossible to make out anything else.

    In particr, the road conditions near the Siwa Oasis were not very bad. Every car was driving at a high speed to save time. Therefore, there needed to be enough braking distance to guard against any unexpected situations. Once they entered the desert, the cars would all slow down, and the distance between each car would be reduced.

    Although Zhang Zian¡¯s car was number four, he was in the second position while driving, followed by Nabari¡¯s car.

    The convoy was long. As the respective captains of each team, Peter Lee and Wei Kang took the No. 2 and No. 3 cars and drove in the center of the team. This was to prevent loss ofmunication and to reach everyone on the team.

    The mighty 13 high-powered off-road vehicles were like an unruly dragon screaming into the desert.

    Each car was loaded with enough supplies to sustain a person to survive in the desert for 15 days. If food and water quotas were set, it was more than enough to sustain each person for 30 days.

    Everyone was filled with optimism. From time to time, people sang in differentnguages ??across themonmunication channel, from American country songs to European folk songs and Chinese public dance songs. People were cheering andughing.

    Although the public channel was meant for regr reporting of current situations or to report special circumstances, as this was the beginning, there seemed to be no danger yet. There was also no need for regr timely reporting. Therefore, no one bothered to break up the party on the channel.

    Both Peter Lee and Wei Kang were feeling confident. Even if they didn¡¯t achieve their goals, at least they could safely return home.

    To be honest, even Zhang Zian, who¡¯dcked confidence before departing, was amazed to see such a spectacr team. He came to the conclusion that perhaps he was worrying unnecessarily. Also, his self-confidence was raised to the extreme, not to mention the rest of the team.

    Even Famous joined the party and barked on the inte to sing a song. It made everyoneugh.

    The only one who was calm was probably Nabari.

    As a guide and sitting in the first car, Nabari had a heavy responsibility. He scanned the road ahead with weather-beaten eyes and informed those in the rear of the road conditions. He reminded the cars to slow down or pay attention to avoid holes. Besides thosements, he spoke of nothing else.

    Salem sat in the co-pilot position of Car No. 1 and was full of excitement. He asked Nabari all kinds of questions, but Nabari only answered a few, about 10 questions. To some questions, he thought that there was no need for him to answer. Rather, Salem should observe with his own eyes, ears, and heart. A truly outstanding guide was not taught by others but self taught.

    Salem sang a traditional folk song of the Bedouin tribe on the public channel, which attracted everyone¡¯s apuse. It made him very happy, and he swayed in his seat, simr to how one rode a surfboard on the waves of the sea.

    ¡°Uncle Nabari, do you need to take a break?¡± he asked bravely. ¡°I can take over for you.¡± He did this for two reasons. The first was to please Nabari, because he felt that Nabari was a bit cold, and he worried that he would not share knowledge of the desert with him. Secondly, he wanted to satisfy his urge to drive. He had yet to drive such a great off-road vehicle yet.

    Nabari shook his head, continued staring straight ahead, and said, ¡°I am not tired.¡±

    Since he had not been able to get what he wanted, Salem listened to the sweet singing from that Chinese girl over the inte. It reminded him of Sihwa. He¡¯d heard from Zhang Zian that the previous online saga involving her had died down. Rather than losing fans, she¡¯d gained a lot more instead. Zhang Zian had been told to thank him on behalf of Sihwa.

    Salem didn¡¯t want her thanks. He would much rather see her himself while deep in the desert so that he could send her his regards and deepest admiration. If only she could smile at him just a little, he would die with no regrets.

    However, Zhang Zian told him that Sihwa was currently traveling around the northern areas of Egypt, likely around the vicinity of the Aswan Dam. He was rather upset when he heard this.

    Ancient Egypt was divided into Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt, but not by drawing a straight line down while referencing a map. Rather, it was divided ording to the upper and lower reaches of the Nile. Upper Egypt was in the south and Lower Egypt was in the north.

    ¡°It may be time for me to learn Chinese,¡± he murmured. ¡°When we stop and make camp, I must ask Zhang Zian to teach me Chinese so that I canmunicate with her alone. It is strange, though. Sihwa clearly has a European face, so why did she say she is Chinese? It¡¯s a pity. It would be so much better if she spoke English...¡±

    Sihwa was like a mystery to him, and everything about her made him extremely fascinated.

    Not far away, a camel team slowly approached. A bell on the camel rang. Fellow Bedouinpatriots, tanned dark by the sun, looked at the team, albeit without much expression. Although they were basking in the sun while riding camels and Nabari and Salem were driving in air-conditioned cars, they did not have the slightest envy in their eyes.

    Nabari sighed and said, ¡°The Chinese are too anxious.¡±

    Upon hearing this, Salem¡¯s face froze. He thought he was talking about Sihwa. He didn¡¯t even think about how Nabari might know Sihwa. He immediately said, ¡°Uncle Nabari, Sihwa is a good girl. She is not in a hurry!¡±

    Nabari was equally stunned when he heard this. They both looked at one another with big, open eyes.

    In a high-pitched voice, Nabari said, ¡°I was referring to Mr. Lee and Mr. Wei. Who is Sihwa?¡±

    ¡°Ah? Oh! No one!¡± Salem smiled quietly and hurriedly changed the subject. ¡°Uncle Nabari, why do you say they are in a hurry?¡±

    Nabari sighed. ¡°I proposed to them that¡ªI don¡¯t object to driving into the desert, but it is best to bring a few camels. They tly refused. They said that bringing camels will slow down the journey, so they will need to carry more supplies. To them, staying in the desert for a longer period of time increases the chance of encountering danger.¡±

    With that, he clenched the steering wheel and added, ¡°But in the desert, I still trust the camel. Now more than ever.¡±

 Chapter 1224: Empty Bottle

    <h4>Chapter 1224: Empty Bottle</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Salem thought that Nabari was a little old-fashioned. He agreed with Mr. Wei and Mr. Lee. The jeep was clearly so much more better than camels, as it was faster and morefortable. A 30-day expedition could be shortened to just 10. If the time was shorter, wouldn¡¯t they meet fewer dangers too?

    Bedouin¡¯s camels weren¡¯t the same camels provided near the pyramids for the tourists to ride. They were almost never bathed, and they emitted a heavy stench. You could even find parasites like ticks and fleas in the camels¡¯ fur. Most people from the cities in overseas countries definitely weren¡¯t used to them. Each camel couldn¡¯t bring too much with them, either¡ªat most a bit of water and food. The expedition team had a lot of heavy equipment with them, and the other group had a lot of high-end technological devices.

    He didn¡¯t think much of it, but he still wanted Nabari to teach him all he knew about the desert. He didn¡¯t openly go against him, hoping that as long as Nabari was leading the way, they wouldn¡¯t meet any danger.

    The convoy drove towards the south, the cars and people that they met along the way bing fewer and fewer. The openness of this space guaranteed that it was a nk spot on any map.

    The excitement the team had had when they¡¯d first set off had dwindled, the songsing to a stop, the main channel quieting. No matter which direction they turned, the only things they saw were sand and rocks, monotone and boring.

    After about two hours of driving, a female voice came through the main channel¡ªthere were only two females on the team, so they were easy to tell apart. She asked to take a break to go to the washroom and said that she would catch up with the team after going.

    The person that wanted to go to the washroom wasn¡¯t her. It was He He. He He had drunk a tad bit too much water before setting off, so she couldn¡¯t quite hold it anymore.

    Some of the men on the team wanted to pee too, but they were able to hold on for a bit more.

    Peter Lee didn¡¯t reply immediately, but Nabari had also spoken through the main channel to tell them to stop so he could better navigate. So Peter Lee just ordered the whole convoy to stop and take a break for 15 minutes before setting off again.

    The thirteen jeeps slowly came to a stop, kicking up clouds of sand. Everyone got out of the cars to stretch, taking care of their biological needs even if they didn¡¯t want to pee. They understood now that even if only one person wanted to pee, they would drag down the whole team. Peter Lee and Wei Kang were firm on this¡ªto go and stop together. They would rather take a longer time than leave one car behind.

    When thedies requested to use the bathroom, everyone was more tolerant of it. If one of the men asked to use the bathroom when they were unable to hold it...even though they wouldn¡¯t say much, they would feel it was weird.

    Zhang Zian got out of the car too, picking up the half-empty mineral water bottle from the center console and getting out to stretch his body.

    When he drank his water, he looked behind him unintentionally. He saw the Schr who drove Car 5 leaning on the door, watching the distance as he finished the remaining water in his bottle in one fell swoop. He didn¡¯t throw the empty bottle away. Instead, he kept it in his palms as he fiddled with it, crackling noises following its maniption.

    The Schr noticed Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes, shooting him a knowing smile. It was something all men would know¡ªthe Great Water Bottle Trick!

    Zhang Zian returned the smile before throwing away the bottle in his hand, to the Schr¡¯s great shock.

    ¡°Gah gah! Why did you throw it away? Everyone else is leaving it! Do you need me to teach you the right way to use the water bottle?¡± The invisible Richard stood on his shoulder, threatening him.

    As the cars were spaced pretty far apart and everyone else was conversing, listening to music, or humming along, he didn¡¯t have to worry about Richard being heard by anyone else unless they had ears like Sihwa¡¯s.

    Zhang Zian calmly said, ¡°The opening of the bottle is too small. It doesn¡¯t fit me. I only use Mizone bottles.¡±

    ¡°Gah gah! Brag all you want!¡± Richard teased. ¡°Remember to open the bottle cap when using the bottle. Don¡¯t just stab it with your needle! You¡¯ll poke a hole in it!¡±

    Other than the two girls and Nabari and Salem, all of the other men drove their own cars. Of course, they had one hand on the steering wheel while the other hand steadied the water bottle. It was just like...using one hand to hold the gas pump when topping up the gas tank in their car!

    But...with how rocky the roads were, it wasn¡¯t easy to hold it stably and at the right ce. They could wet their pants easily.

    It was a good thing that they didn¡¯t have to worry about car crashes while driving in the canyons. It was a lot more stable when they could hold the bottle with two hands.

    When the bottle was filled with mysterious yellow liquid, they could just secretly roll down the windows and pour it out. The distance between the cars was prettyrge, and with the sand kicking up into a trailing cloud wherever they went, the others shouldn¡¯t notice it. Even if they did, it didn¡¯t matter, since everyone was doing it anyway.

    Zhang Zian wanted to do that too. It would be a lot better than holding in his pee, but sadly, he wasn¡¯t alone in the car.

    What kind of humiliation kink would he have to have to undo his pants and pee under the watchful eyes of his elfins?!

    Thank goodness Snowy Li was in his phone, or it would definitely take a shoot at him¡ªno wait, a shot! Anyway, he was a man in the car but a eunuch outside of it...

    So even though he didn¡¯t want to, he still threw the bottle away. He would rather take the humiliation of having to be the man who asked for a bathroom break.

    Zhang Zian opened the door, speaking to his elfins. ¡°I¡¯ll go relieve myself. If you want to, you should take the chance. Even if you don¡¯t want to, you cane down and take a walk.¡±

    He¡¯d said that to take care of the elfins¡¯ egos, so that they coulde down to relieve themselves under the guise ofing down to take a walk.

    ¡°And you! I let you go pee now, so what are you waiting for? Do you want to end up peeing in the car?¡± He turned to re at Richard on his shoulder.

    ¡°Gah gah! I¡¯m going with you! Going with you!¡± Richard had no intention of flying off. ¡°The people that have good rtionships go to the toilet together! Or...¡± It cocked its head, watching the water bottle that he¡¯d thrown away. ¡°Maybe we can try peeing into the same pot?¡±

    Zhang Zian made a motion threatening to give it a hard p. ¡°Who has a good rtionship with you? Go yourself! If you insist on following me, I¡¯ll make sure to pee and make a pit to bury you in!¡±

    Richard pped its wings, scrambling to fly off, ¡°Gah gah! With that useless thing of yours, you¡¯ll be lucky if you don¡¯t pee your pants!¡±

    Zhang Zian really wanted to smack it, but it had already flown away, so he could only wait for it to fly back to deal with it.

    There were a few messy rocks to their left and right. The men went behind one side to relieve themselves, leaving the other side for the females. They were still pretty gentlemanly.

    Zhang Zian turned to the left and right, making sure that Richard had flown off before relieving himself on a piece of rock.

 Chapter 1225: The Smuggling Route

    <h4>Chapter 1225: The Smuggling Route</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Although it was already the afternoon, as long as the sun had yet to set, the desert was still extremely hot. Zhang Zian witnessed his own urine stains staying on the stone for less than ten seconds before evaporatingpletely.

    He was about to leave when, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed that something on the edge of the stone seemed to be moving in the shadow.

    What was that?

    He was curious, but the stone was short and narrow. In addition, the outdoor light was very strong, while the indoor light was dim. It would be difficult to see what was inside unless he squatted down.

    Of course, there was another way. He could simply pry the stone open.

    Zhang Zian looked at the stone that had just been covered in his urine. He could not bear to touch it. In fact, he convinced himself he might not really be that curious after all.

    Finally, he decided he would simply use his foot to kick the stone. He wanted to see if he could dislodge whatever was hiding beneath it. He kicked very hard, so hard that he felt the bones in his legs tremble.

    Just as he stopped to take in a breath of air, a small ck animal came running out of the stone. Although it was small, it crawled very quickly and rushed over to him.

    Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t seen what kind of animal it was. He hesitated in deciding if he should back off or step on it to kill it. However, his head sounded with danger signals, and instinctively, he moved backwards!

    At the same time, a sh of light shot from a point behind him and urately nailed the little animal to the soil. It was a tactical dagger, and the little animal that had been killed was a ck scorpion.

    Although the dagger was obviously directed at the scorpion, Zhang Zian had no intention of killing the scorpion. He unwittingly started sweating cold sweat.

    The dagger almost cut the scorpion in half. However, the scorpion had a strong will to live and kept up its struggle to survive. It flicked its tail around, trying to attack the dagger.

    Zhang Zian turned his head and looked in the direction of the dagger. He saw that Peter Lee and Nabari were slowlying to his side, and Salem followed. Peter Lee¡¯s hand held an empty scabbard, suggesting that the knife was his.

    ¡°Brother, be careful. The scorpions in the desert are very poisonous. If you are stung, we can only turn around and send you back. Even if we did that, I do not know if you would survive.¡± Peter came forward to stand beside Zhang Zian and bent down to retrieve his dagger. The scorpion was still struggling.

    Zhang Zian frowned. He could not believe that Peter Lee had actually entered the desert with a dagger.

    Although, it must be said that it was a legitimate reason to carry a dagger. There were some dangerous animals in the desert, and there might have been terrorists hiding in the desert. There were also many other uses for the dagger. However, to him, it was a very dangerous weapon. He felt that he and Wei Kang should have been notified about it prior.

    On the other hand, he and Wei Kang had not thought that they should bring some weapons for self-defense. At this juncture, it was toote for regrets.

    Nabari was not surprised that Peter Lee was carrying a dagger. The Bedouins also carried a dagger or a waist knife to defend themselves in the desert. Nabari had also brought a waist knife, but he¡¯d left it in the car.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Salem asked, running over.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I am fine.¡± Zhang Zian nodded.

    ¡°It is the orthochirus innesi. Although it is a small scorpion, it has a very bad temper.¡± Nabari could easily identify the scorpion with a simple nce.

    Peter Lee smashed the scorpion with the bottom of his boot.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Zhang Zian was not entirelyfortable with what he¡¯d just witnessed, but he should nevertheless be thankful to them for saving him.

    However, even if Peter Lee had not intervened, this scorpion could not hurt Zhang Zian. After all, he was wearing desertbat boots, and he was unlikely to be easily pierced by its tail. It was quite likely that he would have trampled it to death before it approached.

    ¡°Ah ah. We are all partners on this team. It is basic courtesy to help each other. Don¡¯t mention it.¡± Peter Lee took out a paper towel and wiped his dagger clean before putting it into the scabbard.

    Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t realized that Peter Lee had such skills. He carefully recounted what had happened earlier in his head. Peter Lee must have high uracy. The scorpion was very small and moved very fast. To hit it in just one throw was not exactly the easiest thing to do. Or at the very least, not something that he could.

    ¡°You are here to...¡±

    Zhang Zian thought to himself that they were probably not here to apany him for a pee, right? They couldn¡¯t be friendly to the extent that they were willing to pee together, could they?

    Peter Lee nced at Nabari. ¡°Nabari is looking for the way. I have heard about the abilities of the Bedouins to find directions, and I followed to satisfy my own curiosity.¡±

    Nabari walked between the rocks. He seemed to be walking aimlessly, stretching out his hand from time to time to touch the stone. It was as if he were trying to retrieve his previous memories from the touch.

    The stones looked simr to Zhang Zian. He didn¡¯t know how Nabari differentiated them.

    After a while, Nabari pointed in one direction. ¡°We go there.¡±

    That direction was no different from other directions, and there was no road on the rugged ground.

    Before, they¡¯d been heading to the south. Now, they were going to the west.

    ¡°Uncle Nabari...?¡± Salim couldn¡¯t help but ask. If Nabari did not speak, he couldn¡¯t learn anything useful.

    ¡°Mark.¡± Nabari patted a stone.

    In this moment, they noticed that there was a vague marking on one side of the stone. It was pointing in the direction that Nabari had just pointed. This mark was very old and very secretive. It was like a certain kind of ancient text, worn out by wind erosion.

    In fact, the answer was very simple. Nabari had found the way because he¡¯d found the mark. If he hadn¡¯t known the mark, he could never have found it.

    Nabari looked back at Salem and said, ¡°This is a sign, left behind by our people a long time ago. Thousands of years ago, people smuggled lion skin, ivory, spices, gold, and ostrich eggs from the Kufra Oasis in Libya and passed through the Siwa Oasis or the Dak Oasis. Their goal was to transport these goods to the other side of the Mediterranean Sea or the ancient cities of Egypt. Our people also came to the desert, and relying on their familiarity with the desert, they got a piece of the transportation economy.¡±

    Zhang Zian and Peter Lee were very surprised. Nabari was actually leading them on an ancient smuggling road.

    Whether it was ancient or modern, smuggling was a crime. After all, the way to make big money was written in as criminalw. This was especially so in ancient times, where smuggling was the equivalent of stealing the pharaoh¡¯s money. Once caught, a person would¡¯ve definitely been beheaded.

    The ancient Egyptian pharaohs hadn¡¯t wanted the gold of the national treasury to be lost, but their actual control was limited. They were basically confined to the cknd on both sides of the Nile River, and the more extensive rednd was beyond the sphere of influence of the pharaohs. They knew that there was an invisible smuggling path, but they could not do anything more.

    The road used for smuggling had stood the test of time. It was, at least to some extent, more reliable than walking blindly in the desert.

 Chapter 1226: Rocks and Sand

    <h4>Chapter 1226: Rocks and Sand</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Not only was Nabari not hiding his secrets¡ªhe wasn¡¯t even wary of Zhang Zian and Peter Lee when he was imparting his knowledge to Salem. He even let them write down the GPS coordinates of the stone, making them embarrassed.

    So what if they knew the GPS coordinates? It was clearly not possible that they were going to give up on theirfortable lives and jobs in the city to snatch work away from them anyway.

    Peter looked at the time. Their fifteen minutes were almost up. He spoke through the walkie-talkie then. ¡°Everyone, return to your cars, and get ready to go.¡±

    Zhang Zian returned to his car too. Seeing that all the elfins were back, he asked, ¡°The road is still long ahead of us, so does anyone want to go back into the phone? I¡¯ll let you all out when we stop to set up camp for the night.¡±

    The journey was dull and boring, the desert looking the same no matter where they went. The scenery looked as though it stood still no matter how fast they drove. The moment they entered the sandy area, the car would dive up and down like a small boat in the middle of the sea. It was nauseating.

    Even though it was already past mid-afternoon, the temperature in the desert was still more than 40 degrees Celsius. Right at noon, it was as hot as 55 degrees Celsius, the surface temperature of the desert reaching 80 degrees Celsius, hot enough to cook an egg. Even though they were wearing thick-soled shoes meant specifically for the deserts, the heat would travel to their feet after less than a minute of standing outside. It got really hot and humid in the shoe, feeling just as horrible as stepping in melting butter.

    The smell of the diesel-powered engine was nauseating to the sensitive elfins too.

    The sun reflected off the hoods of the cars. Without sunsses, human eyes would be damaged quickly.

    The most annoying thing was that under such high heat, the air conditioning in the car was significantly weaker. They couldn¡¯t even keep it on constantly, or the rapid powering of the cooler would cause the engine to have lower output. They could only turn the air conditioning on when they really couldn¡¯t stand the heat, enjoy the coolness for a moment, and turn it off again.

    The moment the air conditioner stopped, their bodies poured out sweat again. The heat dissipation capabilities of humans were very efficient, but the pets, with their entire bodies covered in hair, had a hard time.

    dimir, Gxy, and Old Time Tea all nned to go back into the phone to rest, their curiosity sated. Pi had originally nned to write its novel on the way with theptop in itsp, but it was too difficult to type during a bumpy ride. There was no road, after all, and the car would jerk significantly whenever they met a small stone or a divot, and theptop had almost flown out of its hands a few times. So it gave up and requested to go back to the phone too.

    Zhang Zian would¡¯ve loved to drive stabler too, but the strong reflection of light from the desert caused him to be unable to see any details in the road too far away. If not for Nabari reminding them of divots to avoid in front, the jerkiness would be worse. They might even have a car breaking down on them.

    Now, he realized why Nabari¡¯s eyesight had deteriorated so much despite that he was only in his mid-forties. Having to bring people into the desert so often and having to stare at the sand and drynd, it was a miracle that his eyes hadsted this long.

    As for Fina and Famous, it wasn¡¯t that they didn¡¯t want to, but they couldn¡¯t go back to the phone. If they had to stop for any emergencies, it would certainly cause amotion if anyone found them missing.

    The one that Zhang Zian wanted to keep in the phone the most was Richard. That damned bird was really annoying, and it wasn¡¯t afraid of getting jostled around. With its two ws firmly grabbing onto his shoulder, he couldn¡¯t even swipe it out of the way. It absolutely refused to go back in, too. When he tried to point the camera in its direction, it turned away, even using its wings to cover its head so he couldn¡¯t do anything about it.

    If he could¡¯ve, he would¡¯ve really loved to keep all of the elfins in his phone so he could properly use the Great Water Bottle Trick...

    After he dealt with the elfins, the car became much more spacious. The convoy continued forward.

    Another hour passed. The in scenery made people easily tired. The good news was that the sun was already approaching the horizon, and the horrible heat was starting to dissipate. Zhang Zian opened the car window, letting cool air blow through the car, not even caring about the sand that the wind carried with it as long as he could enjoy the cool breeze.

    The bad news was that the dry and rocky road that everyoneined about wasing to a stop, and there was an endless sea of sand before them.

    Everyone had the same thought¡ªwhy not just set up camp here and enter the desert for real tomorrow?

    But the main channel was still quiet, and the order to slow down and stop the cars never came. It looked like Peter Lee and Wei Kang both nned to keep moving forward while it was cooling off.

    ¡°All cars slow down. Close the gap. We¡¯re getting ready to enter the desert, so drive carefully,¡± Peter Lee instructed through the walkie-talkie.

    There was no distinct line between the dry, rocky roads and the sandy desert. The only way to know was through the feel of the wheels on thend, gradually going from hard to soft as an indication that they had entered the sandy sea.

    Sand dunes surrounded them, and there was no chance that any kind of marking could be left here. But Nabari¡¯s car was still constantly going forward, and his voice was confident, giving reassurance to the rest of the team.

    Every sand dune looked like a roof, the wind causing the sand to pile up naturally into a triangr shape with two slopes. While on one side of the dune, the other face of the dune was aplete mystery. There might be an even taller sand dune there or an even deeper valley.

    The most troublesome thing was that every sand dune¡¯s height, angle of slope, and softness of sand were slightly different. It was difficult for a driver to estimate the eleration that they would have to use.

    If the eleration was too much, they would have too high a speed when crossing the top of the sand dune, and they would end up airborne. They could only pray to God that they would be able tond safely then. If it was too steep or the angle was too different on the other end of the sand dune, the car could flip. If they didn¡¯t put in enough eleration, the car wouldn¡¯t have enough speed to climb up the sand dune and end up sliding backwards, either flipping or crashing into the car behind them, or even sinking into the sand.

    They could only rely on their experiences then, only able to tell by feel and not something that can be taught verbally. Even Nabali could only hint them by saying things like ¡°high sand dune,¡±¡±middle sand dune,¡± or ¡°low sand dune.¡± But what were the standards for ¡°high,¡±¡±middle,¡± and ¡°low¡±? How much eleration did they have to give for the high sand dunes? How much for the low ones?

    It had already gotten cooler, but every single driver ended up sweating due to how nervous they were. Every single sand dune was a toss-up with their lives, and they didn¡¯t know whether they woulde down safely after going up.

    The most depressing thing was that there were tens of thousands more waiting for them.

    Sitting in the passenger seat of the first car in the convoy, Salem held onto the handles tightly, his knuckles turning as white as his face with the effort. He seemed to understand then why Uncle Nabari preferred camels to jeeps¡ªeven though camels walked slowly, they could scale the sand dunes as though they were tnd.

    ¡°Stop! Stop! Everyone stop! Car 10 has broken down!¡±

    An emergency call suddenly broke through the silence of the main channel.

 Chapter 1227 - Escape from the Sand Dunes

    <h4>Chapter 1227 - Escape from the Sand Dunes</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Modern technology had given people unparalleled convenience, and the world had be a ¡°global vige.¡± However, some areas were still rtively unconnected, such as the deep seas, snowy mountains, and depths of the desert.

    Many people had entered the desert and even crossed the desert, but they often followed a proven, safe route. There were cities, oases, recharge points, and even roads in the desert. The entire journey had been captured by the media, making it somewhat of an entertaining show.

    However, Zhang Zian¡¯s team had entered the desert along an ancient smuggling road that had probably not been used for hundreds of years. This might perhaps be the true forbidden fruit.

    The area where they were was highly remote. Although they had brought a satellite phone, they could not expect the inefficient Egyptian officials to rescue them in times of danger. It was, in fact, no different from waiting to die. There was also another big question mark¡ªthey would not know whether they were still in Egypt or had already crossed into Libya. The border between the two countries was blurry.

    If something went wrong, they could only count on themselves.

    A few members of the team, including Zhang Zian, heard a vehicle breaking down, and they got nervous. They came to a stop before jumping out and running to the rear of the team.

    Who was driving Car No. 10?

    Since the two teams had just met and the order of the team was mixed, most of them did not know who the driver was. Yet no matter who the person was, they needed to check out the situation.

    Zhang Zian made Fina and Famous wait in the car while he followed the crowd and ran to the back. Without getting too close, they saw an off-road vehicle anchored on the sand ridge. The engine was still running. The front and rear wheels raised a lot of dust, but the vehicle could not move forward. It was like an overturned turtle.

    Nabari, with his wealth of experience, frowned. He said, ¡°The throttle is small. The front wheel has moved, but the rear wheel has not. The sand ridge just happened to cover and press on the base frame, lifting it upward. The front and back wheels cannot gain enough power to move¡­ Luckily, this is not a big problem.¡±

    They could then make out who the driver was as they got increasingly closer. The driver of Car No. 10 was Du Xuetao. After he got trapped, he started screaming and sweating. He twisted his steering wheel and stepped on the gas to get out of trouble, but to no avail.

    ¡°Turn it off! Turn off the engine first!¡±

    The rest yelled and waved their arms to catch his attention. They didn¡¯t dare to get too close, because everyone saw that the situation was very dangerous. The tires were not engaging the ground, and if the vehicle moved suddenly and reengaged with the terrain, it may suddenly run into them. The car was running close to full throttle, and any sudden movement could possibly be devastating if it hit somebody.

    The roar of the engine muffled everyone¡¯s shouts, and everyone was on high alert. Du Xuetao was probably too embarrassed to ask anyone for help.

    ¡°Little Du! What are you doing? Hurry and turn off the engine! Immediately! Immediately!¡±

    Fortunately, Professor Wei Kang arrived in time and used the inte to shock Du Xuetao into action. It was only after this that he released the throttle and turned off the engine.

    Du Xuetao opened the door in frustration and jumped out of the car. However, he had forgotten that he was on sharp sand ridges, and the sand on the ridges was the lightest, thinnest form of sand. It was the easiest to slide off. His feet slipped when theynded, and everyone eximed. His whole body rapidly rolled down the sand dunes.

    The person closest to him quickly rushed to the foot of the sand dune to stop his fall.

    ¡°Cough! Cough!¡±

    When he emerged from the sand, Du Xuetao had be a sandman. He had been sweating a lot, and the sand clung to his skin. His face was covered with sand.

    He opened his mouth, only for his tongue to be covered with sand.

    ¡°Eyes¡­ My eyes¡­¡± he cried, his voice very muffled.

    Everyone was shocked, thinking that his eyes had been injured or even blinded during the fall. The situation was troublesome. He might interrupt the trip and be sent back to the Siwa Oasis. From there, he would be sent back to the big city for treatment.

    Zhang Zian bent over and picked up a pair of sses. He blew off the sand and handed them to Du Xuetao. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Your sses are here!¡±

    Du Xuetao was highly myopic, and losing his sses was no different from losing his eyes. It made his heart panic.

    After putting his sses back on, he was much better. He looked at the crowd and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡±

    ¡°This is not the time for an apology. How is your body? Are you injured?¡± The female Detective ran to him with a first-aid kit.

    Fortunately, the sand was soft, and Du Xuetao¡¯s body was thin and light. Despite falling from such high sand dunes along the slopes, there were no obvious injuries. He was just scared and flustered by the saga.

    ¡°Prepare the rope and drag the car up,¡± Peter Leemanded, rushing to the scene.

    To drag a car, the traction rope must first be hung on the towed vehicle.

    The sand dune was rtively tall. In addition, Du Xuetao was still unsettled and unable to stand up straight. He had only stepped on the throttle at regr pressure, and therefore, the car had gotten stuck in the sand ridge.

    Because Du Xuetao was considered part of the team, Zhang Zian and Gao Ke volunteered to take the leash and climb to the sand dunes to rescue him.

    The sand was very soft, and when one stepped on it, one sank right in. Shoes immediately filled with hot sand and became heavy like a piece of lead.

    To make matters worse, the sand was still flowing. With any slight vibration, it would move. Moving forward by three steps pushed you backwards by two. Climbing a sand dune was quickly bing simr to climbing a hill.

    Zhang Zian and Gao Ke were very tired when they finally finished climbing the sand ridge. The people underneath the ridges reminded them to approach from the side and not the front or back of the car. If too much sand got dislodged, the car would slide down with it.

    They carefully walked to the side of the car and closed the door that Du Xuetao had opened before. They explored the exterior before they hung the leash on the trailer hook. They then took a few steps back and gave an ¡°OK¡± gesture.

    The others were far away.

    Another off-road vehicle slowly pulled on the traction rope, and when the rope was stretched taut, the trapped car finally moved.

    At this time, the trailer could not loosen the tension on the rope. Instead, the throttle should be increased so that Car No. 10 could elerate on its descent. Otherwise, if Car No. 10 was free to roll down by itself, it was likely to be unbnced and flip over.

    Only when Car No. 10 was finally down from the ridges, and the car and everyone was safe, did everyone heave a great sigh of relief.

    They had been scheduled to cover a great amount of distance for the rest of the day. However, the unexpected ident had taken up some time. Peter Lee saw that the sky was slowly turning back and the sun was setting. It would not be suitable to continue moving forward. He ordered everyone to set up camp.

 Chapter 1228: Camp

    <h4>Chapter 1228: Camp</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Hearing the order to set up camp, everyone seemed to have a heavy weight lifted off their shoulders. Thinking back to their excitement when they had first left, their moods had taken such aplete 180-degree turn despite that less than half a day had passed, going from extreme excitement toplete dread.

    Nabari chose the spot to set up camp. Even though they said that there wasn¡¯t much difference no matter where they chose to set up camp in the desert, whether it would befortable and safe was up to the capabilities of their guide.

    Nabari chose a tall sand dune¡¯s tter surface, away from the wind, to set up camp, which was the sand dune that Car 10 was stuck on.

    With the location chosen, everyone started getting busy.

    Setting up camp was more of Peter Lee¡¯s team¡¯s thing. With how often they went to all sorts of archaeological and natural spots to experience the...purest energy in the universe, they had a lot more experience in outdoor camping.

    On the other hand, the expedition team was made up of mostly rookies, other than Wei Kang with his personal outdoor expedition experiences. Most of them had never actually set up a tent.

    When Peter Lee¡¯s team saw that Wei Kang¡¯s team was too inefficient, they quickly came over and helped them set up their tents. Other than their more extreme thinking, these people were pretty helpful. As long as one didn¡¯t step on their bottom line, everything could be negotiated.

    They had brought tents of all kinds of sizes¡ªsingle, twin, three- and four-person-sized tents. Most tents were twin and three-person tents. Only Zhang Zian had insisted on bringing a four-person tent in order to take care of the elfins.

    After simple discussion, it was decided that He He and the female Detective would share one twin tent and set it up right in the middle of their camp so they would be surrounded by the others.

    The 13 jeeps were parked in the periphery of their tents, surrounding the tents in an oval shape, along with the tall sand dune. They left a route in and out of the tents at each end, one for males and one for females to relieve themselves at night should they need to.

    Peter Lee and Wei Kang solemnly announced their rules¡ªother than going to relieve themselves, no one was allowed to leave the internal circle of their camp, and the females had to go in pairs.

    Next was their night patrol schedule. There was a total of 15 people on their team. Other than the two females who were exempt from night patrol, the other 13 males were going to take turns patrolling in two-hour shifts, ording to their car sequence, until they finished their mission and left the desert.

    The female Detective wanted to protest and join in the night patrol as well, and she didn¡¯t want to be protected by the men. But Wei Kang had spoken to her individually, mostly asking her to take care of He He, so that the spoiled child wouldn¡¯t go out and create trouble for all of them. Only then did she reluctantly agree.

    By the time the tents were set up, the sun had gone down. There was only a sttering of light lefting up from the west, the sky full of stars slowly showing itself.

    The temperature had taken a nosedive as well, letting them really experience the extreme difference in temperatures of the desert. They had still been drenched in sweat moment ago by the tents, and now they were all chilly from the breeze.

    They were at most chilly now. Even the one most afraid of the cold, He He, merely had just one thin jacket on. But when they turned to look at Nabari and Salem, they actually had thick fur coats on, as though it was winter.

    With the generations of Bedouins that had stayed in the hot and dry climate of the desert, their adaptation to its temperatures was extraordinary. Water was a precious resource in the desert. If they sweated as much as normal people in the heat, they probably couldn¡¯t make the desert their home. So they had evolved in some way, their bodies bing used to the high heat.

    Humans were warm-blooded animals, so they couldn¡¯t possibly get used to both the heat and the cold. When the temperature dropped, Nabari and Salem both felt the cold in their bones and needed to keep warm.

    This was exactly what adaptation looked like.

    In theory, with the tents ready and the night patrols set up, they could rest, right? Nope. Their next mission was to check the remaining fuel levels of the cars and the amount of food and water consumed, then report that amount to Peter Lee and Wei Kang. This was their job every day from now on too.

    As Zhang Zian¡¯s tent was the tent in their base closest to the sand dunes, and due to its size, he took a long time setting it up. When he had finally set it up and taken stock of the amount of fuel and perishables left in his car, he brought all of his numbers to report to Wei Kang and Peter Lee.

    He seemed to be thest one to report. Everyone else had already done so. Wei Kang¡¯s notebook before him showed that only Car 4¡¯s row was empty.

    Wei Kang entered his numbers into the form. Excel would calcte the total fuel consumption of all of the cars, total remaining fuel, and average fuel consumption. It also gave them the number of days that their water and food wouldst.

    Peter was there too, standing behind Wei Kang. When the both of them saw the numbers that showed up, they frowned.

    ¡°What is it?¡± Seeing that their expressions were weird, Zhang Zian asked about their concerns.

    Wei Kang and Peter shared a look, speaking only after a moment¡¯s considerations. ¡°Nothing much, but the fuel and water consumption is a bit faster than expected... But no worries, we considered overconsumption when preparing our materials, so there shouldn¡¯t be any problems.¡±

    To their team, water was the most important life resource, while fuel was their way of getting into and out of situations. These two things were the most important to have¡ªeven more important than food.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart plummeted at that, and seeing that Wei Kang didn¡¯t disagree, he poked his head over to take a look at the spreadsheet too.

    When his eyes skimmed over the column for average fuel consumption, he was rather surprised. If there was no mistake in the data, each car¡¯s average fuel consumption was up to 30 liters per kilometer!

    Diesel jeeps were strong, hardy, and even more fuel-efficient than gasoline cars. Diesel had less smell when ignited, and it wasn¡¯t as easy to ignite, so they¡¯d all used diesel vehicles whening into the desert.

    Even though they had all kinds of advantages, there was still an abnormal rate of fuel consumption.

    Wei Kang had already analyzed this before Zhang Zian came. There might be three reasons for this. First, they had brought a lot of perishables and equipment, which increased their load. Second, the road conditions were extremely bad. Third, the air conditioning had been taking up too much fuel.

    The second point was the lethal one.

    Driving in the desert, the tires had to fight against the resistance. A quarter of the tire was submerged in sand at any point of time, so the fuel efficiency definitely wasn¡¯t going to be as good as when the car was on a freeway. Especially when they were passing sand dunes, the engine was pretty much gobbling up fuel.

    Half of their journey today was on the dry, rockynds too. Even though the conditions were bad there too, it was a great improvementpared to the desert and had lowered their average fuel consumption. If they were to keep driving in the desert every day from now on, they could definitely predict a huge increase in their fuel consumption.

    The situation definitely wasn¡¯t as optimistic as Wei Kang said it was.

 Chapter 1229: The Difficulties Mount

    <h4>Chapter 1229: The Difficulties Mount</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian carefully looked at the Excel spreadsheet. Besides the appalling average fuel consumption data, there was some surprising information.

    The information pertained to Car No. 1, which Nabari and Salem had taken. It was loaded with two people, but the fuel consumption and the consumption of drinking water were much lower than the other cars. The reason was nothing more than this: Nabari had rich experience in desert driving and controlled the car well. Secondly, the Bedouin people adapted well to the high temperatures and rarely need air conditioning. They also did not need to drink a lot of water to replenish sweat, since they did not sweat much. This helped to save fuel and water.

    However, the oil and water they¡¯d saved were not enough for the rest.

    He took a closer look at other people¡¯s data. The fat man Xiao Tianyu was the most afraid of heat. His water consumption was also thergest. ording to the data, his drinking water was twice the average daily drinking water of ordinary people. For thergest fuel consumption, that title went to Du Xuetao... The ruthless facts proved that the data of the members of the believers team was rtively average, while that of the expedition team was lower.

    Zhang Zian looked towards Wei Kang and Peter Lee. As captains, they had toe up with a solution and not let the situation continue to deteriorate.

    Now, while there was still a surplus of fuel and water, they needed to n ahead. If they followed things as they were, no one could guarantee the future situation, especially after what had happened to Car No. 10 on the sand ridge.

    His opinion was very clear: the safety of the team members muste first. If the situation deteriorated, regardless if it was the pure energy of the universe or the scientific research, these would be secondary goals. Their option was a full retreat, which meant that they would retreat when they still had that option, and not when it was absolutely impossible.

    They were standing next to a buggy to talk. Theptop had been ced on the hood. The hood, which had been hot enough to melt anything during the day, was now cold enough to hold it.

    It had only been a half-day of work. Yet the dramatic temperature change, plus the thermal expansion and contraction, had caused the paint on the car to start cracking.

    Peter Lee knocked on the hood with his knuckles and said, ¡°From tomorrow onwards, we move early and overnight. We try to cover as much ground as possible. We stop moving from eleven o¡¯clock a.m. to three o¡¯clock p.m. to avoid the hottest time of the day.¡±

    From 11:00 a.m. onward, the sun was almost vertically above the desert, and the temperature reached the highest peak of the day. The car would be hot like a furnace, and it would be impossible to turn off the car¡¯s air conditioner. This would likely overload the engine and increase fuel consumption. The strong reflections caused by the sun¡¯s blinding rays could also affect a driver, increasing the chances of mistakes. Driving during this period of time just did not make sense.

    Wei Kang nodded and agreed to the n. He added, ¡°I also want to mention that what happened to Car Number Ten today is too dangerous. Fortunately, the car is safe and sound, but I can¡¯t say it will be in the future. So I suggest that when encountering higher sand dunes, we alle to a stop, walk up the sand dunes, check out the situation on the back of the sand dunes, and then finally walk along the sand ridges to find the best location where the sand density is high and the slope is gentle.¡±

    Before, regardless of who it was, whenever one drove over the sand ridges, everyone¡¯s heart was in their throat. This was because it was almost impossible to make out what was behind the sand dunes. Without knowledge, no one could adequately prepare for the steep difference in height when trying to cross them. Therefore, it was understandable that Du Xuetao was unwilling to step on the gas pedal¡ªmade more extreme, whaty after the sand dunes might even be a cliff.

    Wei Kang¡¯s proposal called for a stable approach, but it had its advantages and disadvantages. The problem that came with it was that it would greatly slow down the itinerary.

    Peter Lee decided to agree with Wei Kang. After all, even if it was slowing down the journey, it was better than a car facing a simr issue as Car No. 10. It may have led to aplete car failure, and it would definitely dy the entire trip, affecting the morale of the entire team as well.

    Zhang Zian did not interrupt. He also felt that Wei Kang¡¯s proposal was a double-edged sword. The speed of consumption of diesel and supplies was not optimistic. Dying the itinerary would definitely aggravate this concern, but there was no other way. They had to ce safety first. Even if they eventually ran out of supplies, the bottom line was still everyone¡¯s safe exit from the desert.

    Food consumption was currently normal. They had prepared extra food, and there was plenty to go around. Besides, with the weather being so hot, no one had much of an appetite.

    As for the consumption of drinking water, it was still somewhat eptable. In the future, however, by avoiding the hottest time of the day, the amount of drinking water consumed should be reduced. Even if they maintained current consumption levels and there was no reduction, it did not matter.

    They were apologetic to the Egyptians. Empty mineral water bottles and cans were thrown away in the desert in order to minimize the weight of the off-road vehicles. They could not be civilized tourists for this trip. Besides, any sandstorm that came along would soon bury everything.

    At the center of the camp, the team had already lit the camping stove and started to make dinner. Although their food was all fast-food meals, the scent nevertheless whipped up an appetite for the people who hadn¡¯t eaten during the day.

    They sat around the camping stove and talked andughed. They chatted about the experience of the day and talked about their past experiences. It temporarily allowed them to put the difficulties of the day behind.

    ¡°The status of the supplies¡ªdon¡¯t tell the rest for the time being. I don¡¯t want to affect morale.¡± Wei Kang nced at the fire while speaking to Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°I know.¡±

    ¡°Well, you should go ahead and settle down Fina and Famous,¡± Wei Kang said.

    Zhang Zian guessed that Wei Kang and Peter Lee had other things to discuss and left. He had just walked a few steps when suddenly he heard a girl scream. It seemed toe from the direction of the camp.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    The sound was crisp and sharp, and it was far-reaching in the silent desert.

    It was He He!

    Regardless of whether it was Zhang Zian, Wei Kang, Peter Lee, or the rest of the team members, when they heard the scream, they left whatever they were doing, jumped up like a spring, and ran in the direction of the screams.

    Why had she screamed? What had happened? Everyone was full of doubts, but it was important to save people if they needed help.

    ¡°What the...¡±

    Someone saw a faint ck shadow shing out of a tent. It was faster than everyone else, but because it was too dark to see what it was, it was only possible to know that it was an animal.

    This ck shadow moved swiftly. Once it saw the tents, it went straight for it without even taking a detour. The members of Peter Lee¡¯s team were stunned.

    Of course, that was Famous.

    Peter Lee¡¯s team members had known that Zhang Zian had brought a cat and a dog into the desert, but what they had not known was that the dog was the famous actor in the film ¡°War Dog¡±!

    It is very difficult to run at high speed in the desert and especially easy to fall into the sand. Famous was not as fast as its usual self, but it nevertheless still caught people by surprise. Before long, people started reaching the ce where the scream hade from. It was a space that the team had deliberately reserved for women.

    He He was paralyzed with fear and shivering. The female Detective held her in her arms,forting her, and wiped her tears.

    A skull was half buried in the sand, and from its hollow eye socket, out climbed a desert scorpion.

 Chapter 1230: Thoughts of Leaving

    <h4>Chapter 1230: Thoughts of Leaving</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When Famous heard the screaming, it immediately rushed out from the tent, thinking that something horrible had happened, like meeting a wild beast or terrorists hiding in the desert. When it did rush over, though, other than the smell of p*ss in the air, there was nothing strange going on.

    As for the human skull half-buried in the sand, Famous wasn¡¯t a person anyway, so it didn¡¯t really care. Maybe it would look twice if it was a dog¡¯s skull.

    Right then, the other men rushed there as well, the younger and fitter in front while the older and weaker were at the back.

    Zhang Zian shot Famous a questioning look. It shook its head, showing that it was nothing much, probably just a scare.

    Gao Ke rushed over with a shlight in hand, nervously illuminating their srroundings. When he didn¡¯t find any danger, he immediately rushed to ask He He, ¡°Xiao He, what¡¯s wrong? Don¡¯t cry. Tell me what happened.¡±

    He He sniffled, unable to form a coherent sentence, but the female Detective described what had happened briefly.

    After they had finished building the tent, He He mentioned that she had drunk too much and wanted to go relieve herself. The female Detective didn¡¯t have much need for the restroom, but she still followed her to the designated spot.

    The big jeeps blocked the lighting from the center of the camp. Even though the light was weak, they could still see the road clearly due to how much the sand reflected light.

    He He wanted to go further, but the Detective convinced her to just settle it here and not go too far away. She reassured her that she would keep a lookout and wouldn¡¯t let the men near.

    She certainly couldn¡¯t hold onto a shlight while relieving herself, or they would be able to see it no matter how far away they were.

    The Detective held onto the shlight, but she didn¡¯t point it towards He He. She walked back a few steps, back facing her, staring at the men moving around in the camp grounds and preventing them from approaching either intentionally or unintentionally.

    Even though they were both females, and they both took good care of each other during the ride, they had only just gotten to know each other. He He didn¡¯t want her to hear her peeing, so when the Detective turned around, she silently took a few more steps back.

    It was easy for men to relieve themselves. They just needed to loosen their belt or pull down a zip and they could get it over and done with. As long as they didn¡¯t have any issues with their prostate, they wouldn¡¯t get it all sttered on themselves, but women had a lot more considerations than that.

    He He looked at her surroundings, making sure that there were no other people around her. She didn¡¯t rush to take off her pants. Instead, she wanted to squat down and dig a hole in the sand, pee in the sand, and then cover it up.

    She had yed with sand back when she¡¯d yed at the beach too, so she didn¡¯t give it much thought, reaching out to dig. The moment she did, her fingers hit something hard.

    She thought that it was a stone at first, but it didn¡¯t seem quite like cold, hard stone. She was toozy to shift ces, so she decided that instead of digging deep, she would dig widely. There was no need for it to be too deep anyway, since this spot would be used by the females only.

    That one push of hers revealed a round white object right in the middle of the hole.

    With the light and visibility low, she couldn¡¯t quite see what the item was, but she could confirm that it wasn¡¯t a stone then. Out of curiosity, she ran her finger along the object and dug lower, wanting to see what exactly it was.

    When she saw that one side of the white object showed two ck eye sockets, her brain short-circuited.

    In the next second, she let out a blood-curdling scream.

    Maybe due to how hard she¡¯d screamed or from the scare, she could feel warmthing up her belly, as though she had leaked a little.

    Hearing the scream, the Detective was shocked too, thinking that a beast had attacked He He, and rushed over to check the situation. He He leaped into her hug the moment she saw the Detective like she was her savior, letting herself sob freely.

    Before then, He He had already felt regret. She felt that she never should have joined them on their expedition. She¡¯d thought that the Egypt trip was going to be a chance to be a tourist, sitting infortable jeeps, finding a few cute cats in the middle of the desert, snapping a few pretty photos, and then going back to China and adding a beautiful line to her resume.

    Unfortunately, reality was often a lot more brutal than her imagination. The half-day schedule was already torture to the spoiled girl, and her sweat had already destroyed her carefully-applied makeup. Her delicate skin was made itchy by her sweat, but the worst thing of all was that she couldn¡¯t shower.

    The men didn¡¯t seem to care about whether they could shower or not. Even the Detective was manly about it. He He was alone in her struggles. Even when she tried asking whether she could shower, she was met with nces that people used to regard idiots...

    If she¡¯d been given another chance, she would¡¯ve rather stayed at home in her pajamas, turning the air conditioner to full st, lying on the sofa, scrolling through her social media, and watching variety shows while eating her mom¡¯s delicious food... She really had been insane back then to ept Professor Wei Kang¡¯s invitation toe on the trip. Even her phone had been snatched away!

    With this scare, she seemed to be releasing all of her greviances in one go, her tears not stopping.

    After hearing the Detective¡¯s exnation, they understood that it was just a scare. They didn¡¯t me He He either. She was young and female. It must have been horrifying to dig up a skull at night.

    ¡°Xiao He, don¡¯t cry. It¡¯s just a skull. Did you not see the mannequins when you were studying in school? There¡¯s no difference. Don¡¯t be afraid,¡± Wei Kang said.

    ¡°Professor...I...I...I want to go home...¡± He He wailed, her sobs increasing in volume.

    ¡°That...¡±

    That was diffcult for Wei Kang. He did regret bringing He He along as well. But now that they had already entered the desert, they couldn¡¯t possibly send another car just to bring her out, could they? What about the other people? Would they wait here or keep going? Who would they send to bring He He out? After she left the desert, would it be safe for her to stay alone in a foreign country?

    These were all questions without answers.

    The fatty Xiao Tianyu¡¯s mouth twitched. He wanted to volunteer himself to bring He He out. He had been having second thoughts too. He could barely stop sweating during the day!

    ¡°No, we became a team after we entered the desert. We went in together, and we¡¯ll get out together! Not a single person is allowed to move on their own!¡±

    Peter Lee separated the crowd toe into the inner circle. His words punched with finality. He would not be swayed.

    He He could still deal with Wei Kang, still whine at him, but she didn¡¯t know how to deal with Peter Lee. She couldn¡¯t help but feel he wasn¡¯t what he seemed on the surface.

    She shot Wei Kang a pleading look, hoping that Wei Kang could put in a word for her to send her out of the desert.

    Wei Kang was caught between a rock and a hard ce, but he still shook his head, averting his gaze. Peter Lee was the leader here, he meant, and he had nothing he could do.

    The disappointment crashed into He He, and her tears, which had finally stopped, felt like they were going to rush out again.

    Zhang Zian agreed with Peter Lee¡¯s refusal topromise. Someone had to step up and be the bad guy today. If not, today she¡¯d back out, and tomorrow another person would back out. How would that look? That would be a huge blow to their morale! The desert wasn¡¯t one¡¯s house, where one coulde and go as one pleased!

    He wanted to get rid of the burden, He He, and he believed that Peter Lee thought so too. But they couldn¡¯t make an exception, or everyone would scatter, and the team would be impossible to lead.

 Chapter 1231: Mysterious Identity

    <h4>Chapter 1231: Mysterious Identity</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Morale was one of the most important factors, whether it was for marching or fighting. It was impossible to win any battle with low morale.

    Wei Kang also understood this logic and therefore did not plead for He He. He advised, ¡°Xiao He, the conditions are really hard, but you should think about it. How many people can experience this? The situation is not so bad. You have juste to the wilderness and are currently not used to it. That is all. I have experienced difficult situations before, and I have endured them. With time, you will get used to it. After we get back, we will definitely have a great celebration.¡±

    Gao Ke also chipped in. ¡°Xiao He, you saw it too. The road conditions when entering the desert are very poor. Even if someone drives you out, you will be the only vehicle in the desert. What if the car breaks down? What if you roll the car? What will you do if you get lost? Who will save you? It is too dangerous! It¡¯s safer to stay with everyone!¡±

    They spoke with great reason and wisdom. He He was slightly convinced and managed to calm down a bit.

    What had happened to car No. 10 was still vivid in her mind. A single car driving in the desert¡ªit was highly dangerous. If nothing happened, that would be the best. If something indeed happened, she could only wait for death. That would be more problematic than following everyone and continuing on.

    She tried to convince herself. ¡°Just regard this experience like the military training when I first entered the university. I have to endure it, and after a while, it will be over. Although I did fake a stomachache trying to get out of it...¡±

    ¡°Okay, I understand. I will try to adapt and move forward with everyone.¡± She wiped her tears and gave in.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right!¡±

    Wei Kang heaved a sigh of relief as he turned his worries into joy. They had finally resolved the issue.

    Many people also came around and expressed constion and encouragement. They told her that there was nothing to worry about. As long as everyone was united, there was no difficulty that couldn¡¯t be ovee.

    Being surrounded and being the center of attention, He He felt a sense of security. She felt cared for. She could not help but feel a little happier.

    Compared to He He, Zhang Zian and several other people were more interested in the skull buried in the sand. They circled around the sand tomb and pointed a shlight at the skull.

    The desert scorpion that had climbed out of the eye socket had already slipped back into the sand. However, no one was sure if there were any more cockroaches or other creatures left in it.

    ¡°How did this person die?¡± someone asked in English.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. There is no observable trauma on the skull, which means at least the person did not die from a blunt instrument,¡± the female Detective said as she left He He toe see the skull.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t Nabari say that this is an ancient smuggling road? This is probably a poor smuggler who got sick in the desert, had no drinking water, got lost...the possibilities are endless,¡± someone said.

    At that time, someone walked over and said, ¡°Definitely not a smuggler.¡±

    The crowd looked up, and it turned out to be Nabari.

    Nabari took out his hookah, and his eyes stared at the skull through the lingering smoke from his pipe.

    ¡°If this is not a smuggler, who else could it be? Who woulde to this godforsaken ce?¡± someone asked.

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s a fool like us,¡± another person said whileughing at himself. It made everyone elseugh too.

    Nabari didn¡¯t smile. He said indifferently, ¡°I have seen human remains more than once in the desert, but this skull looks different from our Bedouin skull.¡±

    Theughter came to an abrupt halt.

    No one doubted the observation and memory of the Bedouin guide. Otherwise they would be fools to follow the Bedouin into the desert.

    This smuggling road had not necessarily been opened first by the Bedouins, but after the Bedouins came here, they had be the masters of this path and had been active on this path for at least a few hundred years. Many Bedouins had died on this path. If the remains were not of Bedouin origins, who might it be then? Perhaps it belonged to someone who¡¯de even earlier?

    The man who called himself the Schr on Peter Lee¡¯s team, who drove car No. 5, also stood by and watched. He frowned upon hearing what Nabari said. It made him move closer to the skull. He asked to borrow the shlight from the female Detective. He closely observed the outline of the skull. He gasped.

    The Schr said, ¡°Mr. Nabari is right. This is the skull of a modern European male. If it was a skull called the Asian robust male, the arches where the eyebrows are would be thicker.¡±

    Zhang Zian did not know what kind of upation the Schr had in real life, but going by the reactions of the others, who seemed convinced by his conclusions, he was not going to question further.

    This was even more strange. What business did modern European men have in a remote ce like this? Was it that a member of a scientific expedition team had been buried here?

    ording tomon sense, even if a member of a scientific research team did die in the desert, hispanion would not abandon his body like this. They would at least record the GPS coordinates, leave a conspicuous mark, and then return to pick up the body. It was the most basic and humane thing to do for a deadpatriot.

    The other possibility may have been that hispanion hade back to find it, but had not managed to do so as the sands shifted the position of the body. They had to return home empty-handed.

    Wei Kang finishedforting He He and walked towards the group upon hearing them having a conversation. After listening for a while, he shook his head and said, ¡°As far as I know, no scientific research team hase here. At least, no scientific research team that does biological research has been here... In my opinion, perhaps they were here for oil exploration?¡±

    The Mediterranean man, known as the consul, had been smoking silently in the corner. At this time, he stepped on his cigarette butt, stood up, and said, ¡°It¡¯s better to dig up the body and see if you can find the other parts . Let¡¯s look for clues! Come, everyone go to your car to get tools. We have nothing to do now anyway!¡±

    Several people ran back to their cars, took out folding shovels, and began to dig up the sand around the body.

    What had happened to He He was now in the past. The movements of these people had attracted the attention of the rest. Everyone hade around to specte about the identity of the remains.

    With so many people around, He He was no longer afraid. She squeezed through the crowd, but she was still unable to look straight-on at the skull.

    Digging holes in the desert was not as easy as it seemed. Although the sand was very soft, each scoop simply got reced with sand from the surrounding area.

    Fortunately, there were many people, and the remains were not buried deeply. Within a few digs contributed by everyone, a rtivelyplete human skeleton appeared. The upper body was mostly exposed, while the lower body was still buried.

    There were also a few khaki rags between the bones. These were obviously the clothes that the person had worn when they were still alive.

    The Schr jumped into the dug hole and carefully looked for clues between the bones. Suddenly, he noticed something shining.

    He plunged his hand into the ribs of the skeleton and groped for a silvery metal ornament¡ªck inked words with an image. It depicted something hanging in the middle of a palm tree growing on thewn.

    Someone immediately recognized it. This was the symbol of the Wehrmacht Afrika Korps.

 Chapter 1232: Memories of the War

    <h4>Chapter 1232: Memories of the War</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The voice that broke the mystery was that of a soldier on Peter Lee¡¯s team.

    ¡°Wehrmacht?¡±

    ¡°Afrika Korps?¡±

    The two foreign names didn¡¯t ring any bells, and they tried to recall any simrly-named modern German troops.

    The Soldier added, ¡°The Desert Fox Rommel.¡±

    Anyone who¡¯d been exposed to World War II videos, novels, or shooting games, even if they weren¡¯t military fanatics, would be able to recall this legendary name.

    ¡°That can¡¯t be. Why would the Nazis¡¯ symbol be here?¡±

    Everyone was naturally confused.

    The Schr used a dagger to pick up the few shredded pieces of cloth lying in between the bones. The color and material of the cloth looked military-issue.

    The question was answered, but the answer was an unbelievable one.

    The group used the foldable shovel to reveal more of the bone and cloth, picking them up from the remains. One of them even still had the golden diamond insignia sewn on it, but the color had faded so much that it would be easy to overlook.

    The Soldier¡¯s eyebrows shot up. ¡°It¡¯s the insignia of the 90th Light Infantry Division of the Afrika Korps.¡±

    He pointed to the sand below the man¡¯s corpse. ¡°If we continue digging, we might even dig out the VW82 used in World War II called the ¡®Boat of the Desert,¡¯ or even the Horch 901¡ªof course, it would be nothing short of a miracle. Maybe they¡¯re even still in working condition.¡± The Soldier rolled up his sleeves, enthusiastic, as though he really wanted to try and dig it up.

    Even if there really was a car from WWII underneath all of this sand, it would be a huge operation to unearth itpletely. They didn¡¯t have any amazing people from Bluefly anyway, and the rest of them were toozy to work. There was no guarantee that there would be a car down there, either.

    ¡°Looks like this corpse should belong to a German soldier from the World War II period that is buried here for unknown reasons,¡± the Schr summarized using their clues on hand.

    No one contradicted that.

    They didn¡¯t know where the Detective had procured a toothbrush from, but she started to brush the light sand away from the bones, observing them carefully. ¡°There¡¯s no obvious injury on the skeleton,¡± she said.

    Due to the unique climate and geographical conditions of the desert, the corpse was preserved rtively well, almost as well as the skeletal specimens in medical schools. The body hadn¡¯t been discovered by big scavenger animals after its death, and the skin and muscles had been eaten clean by bugs, leaving behind a clean skeleton.

    Seeing that no one was responding to his request to dig up the car, the Soldier felt a pinch of regret. ¡°It¡¯s normal. The Afrika Korps were not ustomed to the horrid environment, and disease and illnesses spread within the camps. They had a bad case of soldiers dying of nonviolent causes.¡±

    ¡°Why did he die here?¡± someone asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s not weird. In World War II, the Allies and Axis countries had a fewrge-scale operations on Egypt and Libya¡¯s borders. Mersa Matruh used to be themand center for Rommel. There¡¯s even a Rommel museum built in one of the caves.¡± When it came to war, the Soldier was right in his element.

    ¡°But would it be this far south?¡± another person asked.

    ¡°About that...¡± The Soldier recalled something before shaking his head. ¡°Not likely. Huge deserts like these are not great for tanks, and there¡¯s no value in battling here. This person is either an escapee and had gone the wrong way into the desert or was sent here on a special mission. There¡¯s no other possibility.¡±

    Everyone knew that this most likely wasn¡¯t an escapee. Escapees would take off their uniforms and insignias and change intomoners¡¯ clothes as a disguise to prevent being brought back. Any escapees would definitely be sent on a one-way trip to death if caught, so this person had likely been here on a special mission.

    But even so, he couldn¡¯t have possiblye here himself. That would be suicidal. He wasn¡¯t James Bond, so he definitely must have had friends.

    Would his other friends be buried here, too?

    They didn¡¯t want to continue digging. They weren¡¯t here for archaeological purposes, anyway. World War II wasn¡¯t even very far back.

    Seeing that everyone else wasn¡¯t really interested, the Soldier got even more down.

    Peter Lee had been listening to everyone¡¯s discussion silently. The moment the soldier had mentioned a special mission, he stared at the skeleton, deep in thought, his eyes shining brightly.

    ¡°Could it be... That the ce he¡¯s going is the same as ours?¡± Someone else had that same thought.

    In the second half of World War II, Germany was engaged in war in many different ces. With the Allies¡¯ strong resistance, the war had be more difficult to handle, and it wasn¡¯t going as smoothly for the Nazis as when the war had started. Their resources and money were also dwindling.

    Many rumors started then¡ªin order to turn the tide of the war, Germany had looked towards things other than war and tried borrowing supernatural abilities to win against the Allies. If the rumors were true, then Hitler might be the greatest nutjob in the world. Peter Lee and his team were just small fries.

    No matter whether the rumor was true or not, the fact was that Germany had plundered the most valuable things from every country and shipped them back to Germany in order to make up for the huge financial burden that war machines were.

    If Germany hade to know through certain means that there might be treasure buried in the depths of the desert, it was understandable that they would turn their eyes to it and send a secret team into the desert in search for it.

    There was no absolute answer as to why ancient Egyptians built pyramids, but to its descendants, pyramids were pharaohs¡¯ graves. Within these graves was a huge number of treasures, every single one of them priceless.

    Using treasures to garner money for war wasn¡¯t a new practice in history. Many civilian armies liked to plunder previous emperors¡¯ graves, too.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Mr. Peter Lee, we¡¯ve already entered the desert, and we¡¯re all in the same boat. You can reveal information about your sheepskin map now, right?¡±

    If Peter had been able to get a sheepskin map that seemed to record a mysterious location, then Nazi Germany, so much richer and more resourceful than Peter, must have been able to obtain it, too. Who could swear that there was only one map?

    Peter didn¡¯t sway. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll definitely let you see it when the time is right. We¡¯ve only just entered the desert, and we¡¯re a good distance away from our destination, so don¡¯t be impatient. Our most important mission now is to proceed safely under Nabari¡¯s lead.¡±

    He refused to go into detail, and Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t do anything about that.

    Peter diverted the conversation. ¡°It¡¯ste. Let¡¯s not gather around here. Hurry and go back to your rest. Those who should be patrolling, do your job.¡±

    Most people had already lost interest in the body and left the scene.

    The Schr recorded the GPS coordinates for the body, reburying it in the sand with Zhang Zian¡¯s help.

    When they aplished the mission and returned there, they would want to dig up the bones again and try to discover their identity before returning the body to its family as a tribute to that fateful war.

 Chapter 1233: Holding Vigil Through the Night

    <h4>Chapter 1233: Holding Vigil Through the Night</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    There was a white bone buried in the sand. He He would not dare go to the bathroom where it was located. In order to make her feel better, the locations of the men¡¯s and women¡¯strines were swapped.

    Of course, even a man would try to avoid the position of the bones when he was relieving himself. If one peed on it without knowing, there would be no further issue. Yet doing it knowingly would definitely leave marks of regret on anyone who did that.

    Zhang Zian and the Schr hoped that they would still be able to locate the bones when they returned. Not only did they record the GPS coordinates, they also marked the spot with empty food cans, which they filled up with sand.

    Peter Lee¡¯s team was also equipped with a metal detector. It would not be difficult to find the white bone with the cans and the GPS coordinates.

    This little episode gave everyone more to talk about over dinner. Everyone made up stories about the identity of the person and his purpose in entering the desert. Although many of them were nonsense, they still boosted everyone¡¯s morale. They felt so much better that they momentarily forgot about the problems they faced during the day.

    Nabari did not participate in their conversations. He sat silently smoking his hookah. Salem wanted to participate, but he couldn¡¯t keep up with the topic. He didn¡¯t even know the difference between Germany during World War II and Germany today.

    Peter Lee and his team did indeed have significant funds supporting them. They¡¯d actually set up a satellitemunication terminal with a hotspot in the camp. This provided everyone with half an hour of free inte service to send and receive mail as well as engage inwork chat.

    Although limited by poor bandwidth and too many people, with many pictures hardly loading, for the modern users with severe inte addiction, this move would undoubtedly further improve morale. This was despite the fact that it was only possible to browse webpage texts.

    Dinner was a meal of fast food. After eating, they threw the boxes into the desert and put out the camping stove. There was nothing else to clean up.

    Everyone was almost done chatting, and they went back to their tents to wash and rest. ording to Peter Lee¡¯s request, everyone had to get up before sunrise and set off immediately, so those who did not have the task of the vigil would go to bed early and get up early.

    Potable water was very valuable. It was only to be used for cooking, drinking, and brushing. If one wanted to wash their face, they could only wipe it with a wet towel. The conditions were difficult, but they could only endure it.

    Zhang Zian was in Car No. 4 and was tasked to hold vigil in the middle of the night. He¡¯d slept wellst night and had also had to chance to catch an extra wink in the morning. He was not feeling very tired.

    He returned to his four-person tent, and Famous was already there. He was chewing on a mr stick to clean his mouth. On the other hand, Fina had fallen asleep on the mat, but upon hearing him enter the tent, she opened her eyes.

    It was a silent night. Those who hadn¡¯t slept got together to talk quietly. One could just about make out their blurred shadows through the tent.

    After a while, there was some wind outside, and the temperature dropped even lower. Everyone turned off the lights and went to sleep, and the camp calmed down.

    Zhang Ziany on the moisture-proof pad and closed his eyes. He had a lot of thoughts in his mind. He first thought of the white bones. Then he thought about Cleopatra. Then he thought of the Holy Cat statue in the trunk of Car No. 4. Suddenly his thoughts drifted to Binhai City and the pet shop. His thoughts were all over the ce.

    Just as he was losing consciousness, the sound of shoes stepping on the sand came from outside the tent. He opened his eyes. Famous and Fina had heard it even earlier.

    ¡°Xiao Zhang, you have to watch the night,¡± Wei Kang whispered, using his fingers to touch the tent.

    ¡°Okay. I know.¡± Zhang Zian unzipped the zipper and poked his head out, responding softly.

    Wei Kang stood outside and shouted, ¡°It¡¯s cold in the night. Wear more clothes, and don¡¯t freeze. I will go back to sleep first. After two hours, call the Schr of Car Number Five to take over for you.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I will. You should go to sleep soon.¡±

    After Wei Kang left, Zhang Zian had to get up for his duty. Famous and Fina were not feeling tired either, and with swift movements, both got up to apany him.

    As for Richard, it was sound asleep. Besides it was almost blind at night, it might¡¯ve just been better for it to sleep anyway.

    The vigil was done by sitting on the roof of the off-road vehicle at the edge of the camp. This way, one got a better view of things. If anyone or any animal came close, they could spot it as soon as possible.

    When he passed through the camp, he felt that basically everyone was asleep, and he heard different buzzing sounds in different tents. Of course, some tents were silent.

    He stepped on the hood and jumped onto the roof of the off-road vehicle, where there was a night vision telescope for the night watchman.

    Zhang Zian stood on the roof of the car and looked at the surroundings with the telescope. He saw no abnormalities. Everything was quiet. Only the cold wind rolled up the fine sand and stered his face with it.

    From this position, it was also possible to see the entire camp. If anyone left their tent, he would know immediately.

    He used his mobile phone and faced it between the ground and the roof. Then he released all the elfins except Sihwa to let them feel the desert night.

    ¡°Meow meow meow! You must have missed me!¡± Snowy Li rushed to Fina as soon as it appeared on the roof of the car.

    ¡°Hey! Quiet! Don¡¯t let other people hear you,¡± Zhang Zian warned.

    Although it didn¡¯t matter. None of them could distinguish between Snowy Li¡¯s and Fina¡¯s voices. He merely did not want to disturb other people¡¯s sleep.

    ¡°Hey... Hey! Why is my mouth full of sand? Hah!¡± Snowy Li was trying to spit out saliva, only to have its mouth covered in the sand.

    Zhang Zian handed theptop under his arm to Pi. Pi took it with joy and looked around to find a ce to type.

    ¡°Achoo!¡± Pi sneaked a small sneeze, holding theptop tightly against its chest to keep out the wind.

    Zhang Zian opened the door of the off-road vehicle to let Pi go into the car to type. He also pulled out the snow lion, who wanted to pull Fina into the car.

    ¡°Smelly man! Just you wait! I will definitely castrate you one day!¡± Snowy Li fiercely bared its teeth. ¡°Hey... Hey!¡±

    ¡°Wow, what a big ce!¡± Gxy looked around at the endless sand sea in surprise. It rushed to the sand dunes and ran around, having a good time.

    Old Time Tea quietly observed the surroundings and said, ¡°Zhang Zian, you should also go to the car to sleep for a while. I will watch the night for you. If someonees over, or if something is abnormal, I will wake you up.¡±

    Zhang Zian was very grateful, but he was really not very sleepy. He decided to recount the story about what happened after the elfins returned to the mobile phone, including what happened to Car No. 10, the white skull dug out of the sand, and the team¡¯s current encounter. He did so to pass time, and it helped him to clear his mind a little.

    dimir did not care for his story, saying, ¡°Zhang Zian, do not emphasize the difficulties. Guide your thoughts and actions with a fearless revolutionary spirit. As long as the mind does not slip, they will always be more solutions than problems!¡±

    ¡°I hope so,¡± Zhang Zian replied and smiled, albeit forcefully.

 Chapter 1234: The Journey Continues

    <h4>Chapter 1234: The Journey Continues</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, good morning! It¡¯s time to wake up! Or do you want to sleep here forever like that skeleton?¡±

    Zhang Zian was sleeping soundly, wrapped up in his warm nket, when he was woken up by the sound of a loudspeaker.

    Who was he? Where was he? What was he doing?

    He sat up in a daze, taking a look at the interior of the tent, not quite awake yet. He only gradually found his bearings after a few seconds.

    He hadn¡¯t slept wellst night. The sand may be soft when one stepped on it, but it was a hard surface when oney down on it. It was not a t surface either. After sleeping in a bed for the past few days in the hotels, his poor old back had definitely suffered. He¡¯d woken up stiff, in pain, and miserable. It was easy to adapt from a poor man¡¯s life to a rich man¡¯s life, but it was hard to go from a rich man¡¯s life to a poor one!

    The worst thing was that they had sweated the entire day and couldn¡¯t shower. The temperature dipped drastically in the second half of the day, as though they were entering autumn, and they hugged their nkets close in order to retain body heat. The dirt on their skin now stuck to the nket. Right then, he really envied the animals that didn¡¯t sweat.

    He pulled down the zipper of his tent. The sky was still mostly dark. Only a sliver of orange had broken through in the east, and the cool morning breeze flooded the tent.

    The camp started waking up like a newborn beast, the tents being pulled open one by one, people stumbling out still half-asleep. Only Nabari waspletely awake.

    Peter Lee had already dressed. He was walking around the campground with the loudspeaker, waking everyone so that they could go wash up for the day. If any tent didn¡¯t respond to his initial calls, he would point the loudspeaker towards the tent and scream unceremoniously.

    Those that were already awake started heading to their designated areas to take care of their biological needs¡ªbrushing their teeth, wiping their faces with wet towels, making breakfast. They filled up with any food that they could find before taking down the tents, ttening the moisture-proof pads, folding everything back up neatly, and strapping it into the metal luggage holds on top of their cars.

    It took a fair bit of time to set up and take down their tents every day, but it was a lot better to sleep in the tent than in a car. They had all of their fuel, materials, and equipment in their cars, after all. They barely had any space to stretch in them.

    The speed of everyone¡¯s actions varied a lot¡ªfor example, taking a sh*t. Some of them squatted down and were done within three minutes, but some of their sessionssted more than 10 minutes, and they almost couldn¡¯t stand up from how numb their legs were.

    Peter Lee kept rushing everyone as he watched the time. Anyone who was taking too long would get an earful from him. Even He He was on the receiving end of it, forced to the brink of tears.

    In an expedition team thatcked quality and experience, someone had to be the bad guy, usually the person that had the most power.

    Zhang Zian could not imagine at all what would have happened if the research team had gone into the desert by themselves. They might take one entire hour to get ready and would have to rest after just a few moments of walking.

    Not too many minutester, there was nothing else left in their campground other than trash and a mess of footprints.

    Each person entered their own jeep, following Peter Lee¡¯s instructions and checking the condition of their cars.

    The sun finally peeked out on the horizon in the east, shooting out millions of sharp orange swords through the sky, the shadows formed by the sand dunes shifting as the sun did.

    The sunrise in the desert was a breathtaking sight¡ªa full, red sun that seemed to be alight with a zing me, like the ball was burning with all its might. The ripples that formed on the sand with the breeze showed themselves with startling rity when they were illuminated, as though they were made out of gold.

    Everyone raised their phones, recording the rare sight.

    But they didn¡¯t have much time to admire the view. Just as the sun rose, Peter Lee also ordered them to set off, trying to make as much progress as they could before it started getting hot.

    In reality, the moment the sun hit everyone¡¯s skin, even if it was from the sunrise, everyone could clearly feel the heat of its rays. The sun in the desert had never been gentle.

    The 13 jeeps roared as they set off one by one, heading east or west under Nabari¡¯s lead. What was different from yesterday was that today, the cars were all arranged in rows of three or four instead of moving in one straight line, and they formed a square.

    The eastern sun gradually rose behind them, the sunlight seeming to chase after them. Remembering the horror of yesterday¡¯s intense midday heat, everyone could feel the rush and pressure, hoping for time to go a little slower so they could move farther.

    The temperature surely and gradually increased. Not too longter, whether they liked it or not, the heat wave came again.

    ording to what they had discussed yesterday, every time they met a higher sand dune today, the team would stop and all the drivers would get out of their cars. They would climb the sand dunes before splitting into two groups to walk across the sand dune¡¯s spine in search of a less steep way down the sand dune.

    Yesterday, it had just been hot. But having to climb the sand dunes today, they were both hot and tired.

    Zhang Zian had already experienced yesterday that climbing sand dunes was a lot more tiring than one would think. Not only did they slide back with every step they took moving forward, the sand would also flood into their shoes, making the two shoes heavier and heavier.

    Considering that they might have to walk in the sand, the team had prepared two to three sets of snow boots for everyone, and they hade into y this time.

    Snow boots were meant for use in the snow, but they were equally useful in the desert. They both tied all the way up to their knees with velcro, and the shoces were covered. So unless the sand was higher than their knees, they could pretty much eliminate the issue of sand getting into their shoes. But even though they did so, it was still extremely tiring to climb a sand dune in this heat.

    Faced with the first sand dune, everyone eventually made it to the top and found a less steep area toe down from. One person was left behind, while the rest went back to their cars at the base of the sand dune and drove safely over the sand dune from the spot they had identified. The procedure was safe, but it was a huge waste of time and energy.

    By the time they were met with the second sand dune, everyone wasining. They said that they would die of exhaustion before they even reached their destination, and that they would rather try their luck by rushing up the sand dune like they had yesterday.

    Even though it was mainly the research team that wasining, and Peter Lee¡¯s team didn¡¯t agree with their words, it was evident from their faces that they were also unsatisfied with this arrangement, wiping their faces clean of sweat.

    It definitely wasn¡¯t good to just rely on luck. They didn¡¯t have much room for error. Every single car carried valuable equipment and materials. Any single car that ended up breaking down in the middle of the desert would cause the whole mission to fail.

    Wei Kang tried convincing everyone to try a bit more, while Peter Lee¡¯s face was set, preparing to force his way through and fight against every sentence of disagreement.

    Zhang Zian logically agreed with what Peter Lee wanted to do, but emotionally he felt that that wasn¡¯t the way to solve this issue either. They weren¡¯t army troops. Not every conflict could be solved through orders.

 Chapter 1235: Showing Off Oneâ€™s Abilities

    <h4>Chapter 1235: Showing Off One¡¯s Abilities</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian had not expressed his position for now. He had been thinking about a solution that gave the best of both worlds. If he could find a way that guaranteed everyone¡¯s safety and also maintained everyone¡¯s strength, that would be the best way out.

    But he couldn¡¯t think of a better solution.

    The way to safely climb the sand ridge had been proposed by Professor Wei Kangst night. When Peter Lee¡¯s team set up the satellite inte ess, while others were chatting or writing emails, Zhang Zian searched the inte for the method proposed by Wei Kang. After all, since it was about safety, he could not possibly blindly follow.

    As a result, he found that the method Wei Kang had proposed was not an original idea, but a tried routine used by oil exploration workers in the desert.

    This was troublesome. Very troublesome.

    The methods used by oil exploration workers must have been the result of experience and wisdom umted over the years.

    The wisdom of countless workers was infinite. On his own, and with this being the first time he entered the Great Desert, how could he possiblye up with a better solution?

    Oil exploration workers could adopt this method because of their superior physical strength, will, and hard work. The expedition team was iparable with them. Peter Lee¡¯s team wasn¡¯t even much better either. Therefore, this method would not necessarily work with this expedition team, or at least the 100% copied method wouldn¡¯t.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes turned to the suitcase with his drone. Perhaps the drone could be used to improve a certain number of their attempts?

    If he used the drone to survey thend to find a gentle slope first, could he then relieve everyone of the effort of climbing all the sand dunes? He thought about it and felt that this approach seemed to be feasible.

    The drone couldn¡¯tpletely rece the human eye, because the human eye created a three-dimensional visual. With the human eye, the smoothness of the sand dune was visible with just one nce. The drone, on the other hand, needed to find a suitable shooting angle and height while flying along the sand ridge.

    Also, using the drone¡¯s visuals to judge the steepness of the slope was not necessarily urate. However, in any case, it could save everyone from running around. A ssic move of using the brain and not the brawn.

    ¡°Wait. Stop fighting. I have a proposal.¡±

    Having thought through the details, he shared his idea via the walkie-talkie public channel.

    Amongst the entire team, except Nabari and Salem, were highly educated people, and they understood what he meant almost immediately.

    ¡°You brought a drone?¡± Peter Lee was surprised.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Wei Kang¡¯s tone was full of excitement. ¡°This method is very good! I think it¡¯s all right. Although the drone may not find the most gradual route, as long as the path is rtively t, we will be fine.¡±

    Peter Lee sighed. ¡°We also brought drones, but they were detained by customs. They said they were dangerous goods and could not be brought into the country.¡±

    The grim anti-terrorism situation in Egypt had made the customs control of drones very strict. A toy drone would not be much of a problem. However, if it was a high-performance drone, the authorities were worried that it would be used to carry out terrorist operations.

    The expedition team could smoothly bring the drones in because they had official documents stamped by the University of Binhai and an official invitation from Cairo University. Peter Lee and his team had not gone through these procedures, and it wasn¡¯t surprising that their drones had been detained.

    Everyone thought that this method was feasible. The atmosphere of themon channel instantly got better. Several people also jokingly asked Zhang Zian why he had not thought of this before they climbed a sand dune.

    Whether the drone could survive long hours under a high temperature and direct sunlight was another matter. Zhang Zian did not have an answer and was worried that the drone might be damaged.

    Wei Kang was also unsure, but now was not the time to consider this. To choose between the team facing a split and morale setback versus the possibility of drone damage, he could only choose thetter.

    Zhang Zian got off the bus and opened his suitcase on the hot hood. He started assembling the drone in the sun.

    Everyone prayed that this method would seed. Otherwise, it would be a huge hit to their morale. The newfound hope would then once again bring disappointment.

    The battery was full, and the parts of the drone were well-maintained. The drone¡¯s self-test was also normal.

    On the wing of the drone, the name ¡°Nekhbet¡± had been written with a marker. This was the name that Fina had given it. Nekhbet was the goddess of the sky in ancient Egyptian mythology, much like a female falcon. They all hoped it could really rule the sky like its name.

    Zhang Zian returned to the car with his remote control and issued amand for the drone to take off. Nekhbet¡¯s four propellers started spinning at high speed, and it rose to the sky briskly, reflecting silver light when the sunlight hit it.

    Everyone in the team looked up and stared at its flight path.

    ¡°Xiao Zhang, steady! Don¡¯t fly too low!¡± Wei Kang reminded Zhang Zian over the walkie-talkie. He was starting to sweat.

    ¡°I know. Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    Zhang Zian calmly maneuvered the drone to fly directly above the sand dune, and the real-time picture taken by the drone was disyed on the remote-control screen.

    ¡°There is a big drop here. Fortunately, we didn¡¯t risk driving directly up here...¡±

    He scanned thend behind the sand dunes and heaved out a breath of cold air. The sand dunes facing them were windward. However, the leeward side of the dunes tended to be steeper than the windward side. Although the height was not that significant and the expedition team members had the idea of ??rushing straight up, it would have been significantly dangerous.

    Although there was no way to measure it urately, the angle of the leeward side of the sand dune was almost 30 degrees.

    Thirty degrees may not seem like a lot, but it was already quite steep. The maximum angle at which sand could remain stationary on sand dunes was about 35 degrees. A 30-degree sand dune could bepared with a 30-degree paved road. The tire couldn¡¯t bite into the sand on the sand ridge. If a vehicle moved slightly faster than the sand dune could withstand, it would fly off headfirst andnd in the sand.

    Zhang Zian operated the drone so that it would maintain a fixed height and fly along the sand ridge. This allowed the camera to look down at it at a 45-degree angle to find a suitable overtaking location.

    After flying for a few minutes, the drone identified several alternative locations that they could consider.

    Although the desert environment was open and undisturbed, and the remote control could control the drone over a long distance, Zhang Zian dared not allow the drone to fly too far. When the drone was almost done, he brought it back towards him. On its way back, the drone observed the alternate locations once again and then chose the most gentle slope based on visual inspection. At that point, he let the drone hover over it to act as a mark.

    Zhang Zian sent a signal through the inte, and everyone started their cars and drove to the location where the drone was.

    When everyone was in ce, he quickly let Nekhbetnd and took it back into the car. At this time, its shell was so hot that it could blister his hand. In addition, the battery was so hot that he worried it would suddenly explode.

    He described the situation on the other side of the dune so that everyone could anticipate what was toe. Then, to take ownership of his decision, he drove across the sand dune first.

    The other cars swiftly and sessfully climbed over the sand dunes after him.

    With the help of the drone, the most troublesome problem had finally been solved.

 Chapter 1236: Torture

    <h4>Chapter 1236: Torture</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Just as dimir said ¡ª as

    Difficulty and morale are inversely corresponding to each other ¡ª the more difficulties they meet, the lower the morale will be. Conversely, each difficulty that they ovee would boost morale by a significant amount too.

    After the method of using the drone to check on the sand dunes before driving past them worked, every one breathed a sigh of relief. They don¡¯t have to climb up the sand dunes on their tired breaths with their hands and knees in the sand anymore, and their moods lifted significantly.

    Even though the sun is still boiling and the heat is still unbearable, everyone¡¯s feeling much lighter.

    Just like that, every time they meet a sand dune, everyone would stop before the sand dune. Those that wanted to go to the washroom will do so, and those that don¡¯t will head out to stretch their limbs. When Zhang Zian found a suitable spot to get down from the sand dune, everyone would then get back into the car and follow the path that the drone had found. Even though it takes more time than just driving up the sand dune, but it¡¯s definitely a lot more safer and morefortable than the alternatives.

    10am in the morning, when the team hade to a rtively t piece ofnd, Peter Lee gave the order to stop and rest, and they would rest here until 3pm, where they will set off again.

    So how do they waste five hours of their time?

    It¡¯s not realistic to set up tent again. Under the direct attack of sunlight, the tent is as hot as an oven, as is the car. While driving, they can still turn on the air-conditioning asionally, or there would at least be hot air blowing through the car. But, when the cars are stopped, they definitely can¡¯t turn the air conditioning on.

    Thank goodness they had considered the problem of having to stop and rest in the middle of the day, and had prepared a few H-shaped copsible alloy frames and a few rolls of long white cloth. They can be used in this situation.

    Setting up a pair of alloy metal frames up a few meters apart, with it¡¯s base lodged firmly into the sand and white cloth strewn over the top, it formed an easy shelter.

    Don¡¯t think that just because it¡¯s simple, it¡¯s useless. It¡¯s effects were instantaneous. It¡¯spletely different having shelter in the desertpared to when they were exposed to the sun, it¡¯s almost 10 degrees colder in the shelter. It¡¯s why those Arabian men wear long white robes despite it being scorching hot.

    A few of these shelters were built quickly, and everyone parked their cars under the shelters, sitting in them with all their door wide open for air cirction. Or, they would bring out foldable chairs and hang out beside their car.

    With a white cloth above their heads blocking the direct sunlight, they wouldn¡¯t have to worry about sunburn anymore, and can remove their extrayers fo clothing.

    The men were either topless or only with their singlets on, while the twodies have also taken off their sun-protective clothing and only had their sports bra on. No one gave too much attention to them. Even though they say that lustes after satisfying basic needs, it¡¯s too hot to think about anything sexual now.

    The weather is too harsh and most of them don¡¯t have much appetite, forcing themselves to eat something before scattering to do their own things.

    Some of them are reading novels on their kindles, some watching videos on their tablets, some gathering together to y poker, while some closed their eyes for a short rest. But, with how hot it is, everyone felt like vegetables being left out in the sun to sun dry, and it¡¯s hard to fully calm down.

    There¡¯s no wind at all, not even a sherd. The air ispletely still. The sand would fall straight down if you grabbed a bunch and let it stream through the gaps of your fingers. Everyone¡¯s internally cursing the damned weather, wishing for someone that could shoot the sun down with an arrow.

    Zhang Zian brought a small fan that could be powered with a powerbank, and could just barely enjoy bouts of hot wind.

    On the intable mat, Fina upied the space closest to the small fan, Famous lied down in the middle with it¡¯s tongue hanging out, and Zhang Zian could only sit furthest away, barely any wind at this distance.

    Of course, he still has his buddy Richard, perched on his shoulder nearer to the fan, its wings wide open to cool down, much like a statue.

    The sun seemed to be drawn into the sky, everyone anticipating it to start dipping towards the west, but it¡¯s barely moving.

    Resting in the desert while it¡¯s nearly 60 degrees celcius, it¡¯s barely resting at all. Only the cars have any reprive, this is another form of torture for the humans.

    Time slowly passes, and the sun surely sets.

    At three in the afternoon, the sunlight has already dipped so much that it could shine directly onto the cars and people within the shelter, so Peter Lee gave orders to start leaving again.

    Everyone wore back their sweat-logged clothes, keeping the white cloth and frames sluggishly. No one spoke, merely obeying the orders given to the,.

    It¡¯s already hard to handle the Sahara Desert in the midst of winter. With it being the peak of summer now, it¡¯s even more unbearable. One day under the sun could melt even the toughest metals.

 Chapter 1237: Trying to Hide

    <h4>Chapter 1237: Trying to Hide</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    At this time, the sun still showed a little. Richard¡¯s night blindness had yet to be activated. During the daytime, he had almost been cooked into New Orleans roasted chicken wings. He saw that Zhang Zian and Xiao Tianyu were somewhat intimate. That had the effect of reviving him.

    Zhang Zian was afraid that it would say something disgusting. He already had no appetite. If it said something disgusting, might he then have to forgo dinner?

    Without waiting for Richard to speak, he picked up the towel on his other shoulder and put it on its head. By doing this, he caused Richard to suddenly only see darkness.

    Xiao Tianyu was wearing a sleeveless top, which revealed two fair, fatty arms. Although he was somewhat thicker, his fair skin was particrly conspicuous in the evening glimmer. In addition... his ¡°breasts¡± were also very big. The only issue was the sweaty smell... although Zhang Zian was not faring any better, either.

    ¡°Who?¡±

    Xiao Tianyu was shocked by the sudden sound. The fat on his body jiggled like jelly. He had just looked into his car and seemed to be looking for something. He had not noticed Zhang Zian.

    ¡°It¡¯s me,¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    ¡°Oh, my brother. You suddenly popped up. That scared me a little... What¡¯s the matter?¡± Xiao Tianyu said with a smile, breathing a sigh of relief.

    However, Zhang Zian caught that he¡¯d been slightly flustered before and felt that he was hiding something. ¡°What are you doing? Looking for something?¡± Zhang Zian looked into his car.

    ¡°No... Ah, yes, I¡¯m looking for underwear to change. Hey, it¡¯s good that they are all single-use underwear. Wear one and throw one away. You get to save on the washing,¡± Xiao Tianyu said, trying to move his obese body to block Zhang Zian¡¯s line of sight.

    There was no way to wash clothes in the desert, so everyone¡¯s underwear was disposable. While there was nothing weird about this, if he was merely looking for underwear, why did he look so panicky? Even if he had a big chest, he was also not a big girl.

    Zhang Zian thought of Xiao Tianyu¡¯s material consumption and euphemistically said, ¡°We have a shortage of materials in the desert. We are a group. If you use more, others use less. Try to reduce your usage.¡±

    ¡°I know, I know.¡± Xiao Tianyu nodded, but it did not seem genuine. He did not seem to internalize the message.

    The heat of the day was already irritating, and his attitude made Zhang Zian somewhat angry.

    Zhang Zian acted like he wanted to go and casuallyined randomly about the weather. He took two steps to the side. When Xiao Tianyu rxed and lowered his guard, he suddenly ran towards his car door and peeked inside. He said, ¡°Hey, I¡¯m thirsty. Let me borrow a bottle of water to drink...¡±

    ¡°Oh! No! Wait! I will give it to you!¡± Xiao Tianyu reacted instinctively and tried to pull Zhang Zian away from his car, but it was toote.

    When Zhang Zian looked into thepartment, he found nothing unusual except for the strong sweaty smell. However, he was thinking about supplies, so his eyes turned towards the trunk carrying the goods. The oil drum was opaque, so he could not make out how much oil was left in it. However, the mineral water was in a transparent box, and the amount of water left could be seen at a nce.

    Because the light was dim, the water seemed to be at reasonable levels. However, Xiao Tianyu screamed at him with such guilt that it made him firmly believe that there must be some problem.

    The light from the setting sun was almost on the same horizontal ne as the car window, and it shone on the bottles of mineral water. He suddenly realized that some of the mineral water¡¯s light refraction did not seem the same. He picked one up and immediately became furious.

    It was an empty bottle!

    There was more than one empty bottle, and as he grabbed them randomly, he found more than four or five lying around.

    He finally understood what was going on. Xiao Tianyu had not thrown away the used mineral water bottles, but merely put them back in their ces, pretending that they had not been used up.

    Xiao Tianyu¡¯s face turned pale, and he put on a smile to try to wiggle his way out of the situation. ¡°So what? They are all used to hold urine, you know, yeah...¡±

    Since changing the strategy for crossing the sand dunes, everyone had more than enough time to relieve themselves. The need for mineral water bottles to hold their pee was minuscule. At most, he should leave one empty bottle in the car to act as a spare. Who in their right mind would keep so many bottles like Xiao Tianyu?

    And even if one kept the empty bottle for a spare, it was usually ced in the glovepartment or in the cup holder next to the driver¡¯s seat. This would make it convenient for use at any time. Who would take the trouble to return all the bottles neatly to their original positions?

    There was no doubt that this was merely a cover!

    Zhang Zian mmed an empty bottle onto the ground and said angrily, ¡°Honestly, when you reported your consumption of drinking water, did you count these empty bottles?¡±

    Xiao Tianyu¡¯s reported drinking water consumption was thergest in the team, but the gap between his and others¡¯ was not too big. Therefore, Wei Kang still spoke up for him. However, if these empty bottles were counted, Xiao Tianyu¡¯s drinking water consumption was way too high to be tolerated.

    Seeing that the cat was out of the bag, Xiao Tianyu panicked and waved his hands around again and again. He was trying to hint to Zhang Zian not to rm the others. He lowered his voice and begged. ¡°Brother Zhang, I am afraid of heat! Fat people are afraid of heat. I am especially afraid of heat! This car is like a smoldering stove. Any longer and I am going to be a roasted duck... I beg you not to tell the rest. I won¡¯t dare to do this anymore, okay?¡±

    If this had been daily life, then a few bottles of mineral water, even a few boxes of mineral water, that were wasted would mean nothing. At most, Zhang Zian would lose a few dors, but here in the desert, water was life!

    Zhang Zian mustered the greatest amount of patience he could to restrain his anger. He wanted to understand things first, because one couldn¡¯t possibly drink so much water, either. After all, Xiao Tianyu was not a water tank.

    ¡°Tell me, how did you use this water?¡± he asked loudly.

    ¡°I... Isn¡¯t it too hot? I sweat a lot, and my body was too sticky. Every time I leaned back, my back stuck to my seat. So I drove with a towel soaked with water. As I drove, I used it to wipe my body, so that it could be cool...¡± Xiao Tianyu exined with great detail.

    Zhang Zian was so mad he almost exploded. He squeezed his fist and screamed. He couldn¡¯t wait to punch Xiao Tianyu¡¯s fat face.

    Xiao Tianyu was scared just by looking at Zhang Zian¡¯s expression. He nodded and nodded. He pointed to the sky, swore that there would be no next time, and begged Zhang Zian not to tell the others. Otherwise, he would be ashamed to see anyone.

    ¡°Do you know that even if I don¡¯t say anything, these horrible things you do will be discovered sooner orter? You ruined your own water supply, so what are you drinking?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Xiao Tianyu said with a sullen face, ¡°So what? The rest can¡¯t just openly watch me die of thirst, can they? Besides, there are so many people. If each of them saved a sip of water, I would have something to drink...¡±

    Zhang Zian turned his anger intoughter. So that was what he¡¯d been nning all along. When the water in his car was gone, he would ask for help from the rest.

    They were also lucky that they were traveling with Peter Lee and his team. They had more manpower together. Besides, with this issue being discovered while it was still early, there were ways to remedy it. If not, he would have really done everyone in!

    Only one sentence could urately describe Zhang Zian¡¯s mood at this time¡ªhe had never met such a brazen person!

    ¡°I am so done with you!¡±

    Suddenly, without waiting for Zhang Zian to think about how to deal with him, a ck shadow emerged next to Xiao Tianyu. A huge fistnded squarely on him and brought Xiao Tianyu to his knees.

 Chapter 1238: Itâ€™s Not Too Late To Fix It

    <h4>Chapter 1238: It¡¯s Not Too Late To Fix It</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The person that suddenly jumped in with with punches flying is none other than his own buddy ¨C Gao Ke.

    Gao Ke had nothing to do at night, and was nning to find Xiao Tianyu to y card games, but overheard Zhang Zian and Xiao Tianyu¡¯s conversations. When Xiao Tianyu admitted that he had secretly used their drinking water to wipe down his body and kept it a secret, he could no longer hold in his anger and rushed up to serve up some punches to Xiao Tianyu.

    He wasn¡¯t just doing it for show, but really putting his energy into those moves, making Xiao Tianyu grunt like a pig on its way to ughter.

    The horrible climate in the desert makes it heart to keep calm, and the high temperature has been grinding on everyone¡¯s patience and sanity. There¡¯s a bundle of explosives in everyone¡¯s heart, waiting for just the right time to explode. Some people have greater self control, while some of them don¡¯t, igniting at the slightest spark.

    Gao Ke was thetter.

    He had been proud of being the assistant leader of the expedition team, and he was the one that had initiated the protest against Peter Lee for having to climb sand dunes.

    Right now, seeing that Xiao Tianyu has done something so embarassing, he couldn¡¯t hold in his anger anymore. The dynamite in his heart had found a spark and ignited.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help but feel satisfaction seeing Xiao Tianyu getting punched, but Gao Ke gyms often and is a strong man. It¡¯s alright if the punches only made Xiao Tianyu call out in pain, but it would be out of hand if Xiao Tianyu really got injured. The expedition team already has too many burdens, they can¡¯t add on to it anymore.

    So, after observing for a few seconds, Zhang Zian moved to pull Gao Ke¡¯s fist back, convincing him to let it go.

    Xiao Tianyu¡¯s cries of agony and Gao Ke¡¯s cursing alerted the whole camp, and everyone put down the things on their hands to rush over, not knowing what had happened.

    When Weikang saw Xiao Tianyu, his face swollen and nose bleeded, and Gao Ke, his knuckles rubbed raw, he was so ovee with anger he had to punch his own chest, nearly vomitting blood.

    ¡°You... You guys... What are you guys doing!? Can¡¯t you pick a fight in a better ce? Are you trying to drive me to my grave?¡± Weikang pointed at them with a shaky finger, his face pale.

    Gao Ke¡¯s eyes were red. If not for Zhang Zian holding onto him from the back, he would definitely try and continue punching Xiao Tianyu. He doesn¡¯t even know why he¡¯s so angry, and he knows that violence can¡¯t solve their issues. But, the moment he punched for the first time, his entire self seemed to be overtaken by anger.

    ¡°Ask him!¡± Gao Ke spat on the floor, pointing at Xiao Tianyu, jaws clenched.

    Xiao Tianyu was lying on the floor, skin covered in sand, his fat torso curled into a ball, holding onto his head. He was afraid to stand, worried that he might get beaten up again, and could only cry his eyes out, snot and tears running down his face, unable to utter a single word.

    Thank goodness he was fat and could take those punches better. Even if Gao Ke punched him, his forcended on soft meat. If it was any other person, they might not be able to handle Gao Ke¡¯s insanity.

    With Gao Ke not willing to exin, and Xiao Tianyu unable to exin, Zhang Zian let go of Gao Ke, thinking that he wouldn¡¯t attack anymore with everyone here. He picked up the empty mineral bottle water from the floor, exining what had happened to everyone.

    Humans naturally pity the weak. Seeing that Xiao Tianyu was attacked so badly, they had all pitied him. They thought that the two of them had a normal argument, and they thought that Gao Ke had gone too far, throwing such hard punches.

    But, after hearing what Zhang Zian exined, everyone¡¯s pity went up in mes and shot Xiao Tianyu disgusted looks, thinking that he deserved those punches, even that he deserved more than this.

    Weikang really was ashamed. His own team members kept having issues, and he had lost his dignity as a teacher. His members were really low in quality this time.

    The mess that He He had gotten into at Khan el-Khalili was due to her personality and herck of knowledge for local culture. The shock she had gottenst night was due to the scare of the skeleton. Du Xuetao had gotten stuck on the sand dune due to ack of skill. These were all understandable, but Xiao Tianyu is purposefully hiding his mistakes. If not for the fact that hey had discovered it early, this might cause the whole team to fall into danger.

    Peter Lee respected Wei Kang¡¯s authority and stood aside, allowing Wei Kang to handle the situation himself. Weikang raised his hands, wanting nothing more than to p Xiao Tianyu too, but he¡¯s a teacher, and his morals didn¡¯t allow him to put a hand on his students.

    Zhang Zian knows that it¡¯s hard for Weikang, so he suggested, ¡°Professor Wei, I think Xiao Tianyu has learnt his lesson. There¡¯s no need to

 Chapter 1239: Nocturnal Animals

    <h4>Chapter 1239: Nocturnal Animals</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The sun had already set, and there were only remnants of its rays in the west. People started lighting up their camping lights and brightening up the camp.

    Doubt was written on everyone¡¯s faces. They did not understand the meaning of Zhang Zian¡¯s proposal. Did he really want to kill Xiao Tianyu?

    Normal people drank about two liters of water a day. This was in addition to the moisture in food. This helped them to keep the thirst away. Besides, since they were in the desert and sweating throughout during the day, any conservative estimate of the amount of water needed had to be doubled.

    Xiao Tianyu listened until he was dazed. Fear overtook him, and he rushed over to Zhang Zian, crying, ¡°Brother Zhang, let the past be the past! This is like wanting my life!¡±

    Zhang Zian ignored him and exined to the others, ¡°I didn¡¯t make it clear. What I meant is that you cannot give him bottled water. For the next three days, he can only drink filtered wastewater.¡±

    Everyone finally realized what he meant. Some people evenughed.

    Even if you tried saving water, bottled water couldn¡¯t be used only for drinking. It would also be used when brushing teeth and cooking. After filtering the domestic wastewater, it could actually be safe for drinking. It would be a pity to throw it away. It would therefore be better to collect it in an empty bottle just in case there was a need for it during an emergency.

    The team had carried a simple filter device into the desert, and in critical situations, it could filter salt water or even urine into a drinkable state. Of course, the taste was not good.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s suggestion had three objectives. First, it could reduce the consumption of the remaining bottled water. Second, it allowed him to utilize the wastewater, and third, it sent a message to Xiao Tianyu about how precious water was in the desert.

    Everyone thought that this proposal was good. Some people even worried about theck of wastewater because the ratio of filtered water to wastewater was very low. One liter of wastewater might have only filtered out about two or three hundred milliliters of filtered water. They generously expressed their willingness to contribute their own urine.

    Xiao Tianyu made a bitter face and he did not know if he shouldugh or cry. Although his life had been saved, this would definitely be a ck mark in his life.

    At this time, no one cared much about his feelings. In order to maintain team stability, everyone needed to vent their anger. He must be punished, and it could just be a flesh-and-blood injury. This was his own doing.

    ¡°Brother Zhang... Xuetao, Brother Tao... Teacher Wei...¡± Xiao Tianyu tried pleading for himself. However, seeing that everyone ignored him, he turned his gaze to He He, whom he had a good rtionship with. ¡°He He, you probably will not want to see me like that...¡±

    He He looked into his eyes with extreme disgust. She certainly didn¡¯t want to see his face again. She said strongly, ¡°I haven¡¯t even used my drinking water to wipe my own body. You are really good... Don¡¯t talk to me ever again. I don¡¯t know you!¡±

    The matter was settled. Xiao Tianyu was banned from essing bottled drinking water for the next three days. In addition, he would receive dedicated supervision from others in the future.

    Although this problem had been solved, Zhang Zian did not feel all that good.

    As the saying went, fear not an opponent like God, but fear a teammate who was like a pig. It didn¡¯t matter if there were difficulties. If everyone was united, there would definitely be a solution. However, if one was stabbed in the back by teammates, there was no way they could y.

    He did not dare to fully trust Peter Lee and his team. However, his teammates were too unreliable, and this made him feel weak.

    Next, they re-checked the supplies, ate dinner, and chatted. Their activities were simr tost night, but everyone could feel that something was different. Perhaps it was due to the influence of Xiao Tianyu or the fact that it seemed to be a difficult journey and everyone was losing confidence. In any case, the atmosphere was a lot worse than yesterday.

    Zhang Zian had no good ideas. He was not built to be a political leader. He couldn¡¯t possibly gather everyone together to sing and dance, either.

    It didn¡¯t take long for people who were tired to return to their tents to sleep.

    Zhang Zian did not have to keep vigil that evening. He also returned to his tent and wiped his face with a wet wipe. He then brushed his teeth before covering himself with a nket.

    He was very confused, and his mind lingered on the various events that had happened while they were on the road. With so many thoughts, he thought he would have insomnia. However, perhaps because he had been too tired during the day, or because he did not have the burden of keeping watch, he fell asleep almost immediately.

    He did not know how long he¡¯d slept. While in a daze, he felt like he was pushed.

    He suddenly woke up. The tent was not too dark, and there was a camping light in the center of the camp, with some light passing through the tent.

    Famous stood next to his intable cushion and whispered, ¡°There seems to be some action outside.¡±

    He was awake at once. He turned over and sat up immediately. He saw that Fina had already woken up and was staring in a certain direction through the tent.

    Zhang Zian strained his ears to listen, but, as expected, he heard nothing.

    ¡°What happened?¡± he whispered as he got dressed.

    Famous was not sure. ¡°I seem to smell some kind of animal...¡±

    ¡°Animal? What animal?¡±

    Zhang Zian hoped that it was the original Egyptian cat or other simr cats that would let Wei Kang quicklyplete his scientific research. Even if it was not, he could use it to nudge the scientific research team to leave earlier. Otherwise, he would not know what was going to happen either.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I have never smelled this smell.¡± Famous shook its head regretfully.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s go out and see.¡±

    Zhang Zian put on his clothes, opened the zipper of the tent, and saw that the sky was still full of stars. The night was as deep as a gleaming ck gem.

    Both Fina and Famous came out with him. Looking at his watch by the light, what surprised him was that it was now only a little past 12 o¡¯clock. He thought he had slept for a long time.

    The camp was quiet, and the buzz from the tent did not break the silence. However, the camp seemed to be empty.

    The night wind was like water, very cooling. It took away the rest of his sleepiness.

    ¡°Where?¡± he asked.

    Famous looked to the side of the camp and said with uncertainty, ¡°Maybe it¡¯s there. The wind is too chaotic, and the smelles and goes...¡±

    Zhang Zian stood on his toes and looked in that direction, but his line of sight was blocked by off-road vehicles and tents.

    Who was keeping vigil? Were they sleeping?

    Just as he had this thought, a bunch of white shlights cut through the darkness and shone all over him. They shrouded his body, and he had to squint.

    The shlight came from the edge of the other side of the camp. It was the night watcher who¡¯d found him leaving the tent and acted abnormally. Thus, he used the shlight as a way to ask what was going on.

    He could not see who the other person was, but the other person could see him, and the other party also had a night-vision telescope.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to create too muchmotion and pointed to thetrine. He was indicating that his actions were nothing interesting. He merely had to go to the toilet.

    The shlight was extinguished.

    Who was keeping vigil right now? He was indeed on high alert.

    He thought about it for a moment, but he couldn¡¯t remember who it was. Yet it didn¡¯t matter. The diligence of the night watcher would make him sleep more peacefully.

    He took Famous and Fina around the tent and used the tent to block the sight of the night watcher. Then they ran quietly into the night.

 Chapter 1240: The Desert Fox

    <h4>Chapter 1240: The Desert Fox</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In the desert that seems to be a killer of life, there¡¯s quite a lot of animals that live here. But, most of them are nocturnal animals, avoiding the high heat and direct burn of the sunlight in the morning, anding out only at night when the temperatures are gentler.

    Before fully understanding the situation, Zhang Zian doesn¡¯t want to disturb anyone ¡ª they had all used a lot of energy in the day, and it¡¯s rare for them to be able to rest. There¡¯s no reason to wake everyone up for something this minor when there¡¯s an even longer way to go tomorrow.

    But in the desert, it¡¯s really difficult to keep your footsteps light. Every step you take, half your feet sink into the sand, and they rustle of sand as they fall off sound exceptionally loud at night.

    Instead, Fina seems to bepletely at ease, and its footsteps barely made any sound at all.

    The padding on the base of a cat¡¯s paw can decrease the sound of its footsteps not only on t ground, but also in the desert. Besides, the exceptional bnce of a cat works well for them in the desert too. When they walk, their weight is bnced amongst three legs, while humans have their weight bnced on one, so they sink into the sand easily.

    Cats are naturally lighter, even if Fina did gain some weight aftering to the pet shop...

    Fina walked in front, suddenly turning back, ring at Zhang Zian sharply, ¡°Are you cursing me?¡±

    ¡°No! I¡¯m wondering about what animal Famous might have smelled...¡±

    Zhang Zian quickly waved his hands, trying to clear up the misunderstanding.

    It¡¯s the cooling midnight, but his back is drenched with sweat, thinking about whether Fina has any mind reading abilities, or a eye on the back of its head.

    ¡°Hngh! Hngh!¡±

    Fina clearly doesn¡¯t believe in his exnation, but due to its pride, it can¡¯t do anything about Zhang Zian without any evidence, and can only huff. No matter what he¡¯s contemting internally, he didn¡¯t say it out loud. If it keeps harping on it, it will only seem petty.

    Famous swept its head left and right, focusing on looking for the source of the smell.

    ¡°It seems to be behind that sand dune,¡± He started at a nearby low sand dune.

    Zhang Zian took the chance to change the topic, ¡°okay, let¡¯s go and take a look.¡±

    Fina suddenly stopped, ¡°You walk in front so you won¡¯t put your eyes where you shouldn¡¯t.¡±

    Zhang Zian has no choice, and made a hand signal at Famous. He squat down to take a handful of sand, letting it go to confirm the wind¡¯s direction. In order to prevent alerting the animals behind the sand dune, he bent down as he walked, walking against the wind towards the sand dune, so the wind can take away as much of their scent and sound as possible.

    He took a look back at their camp, and the camping lights were still shining brightly, shiningfortingly, just like a candlelight in the middle of a never ending darkness.

    The small sand dune is not as steep as others, and it¡¯s not hard to climb. When they were reaching the top, he got on all fours to finish the distance.

    He carefully poked his head over the spine, showing only his eyes to see what¡¯s on the other side.

    What is that?

    With the stars not providing much visibility, he could barely see anything at first. After his eyes had gotten used to the light and distance, he could vaguely see a few pairs of eyes lighting up in the night.

    He regretted not taking his binocrs when he had left his tent, his brain still half asleep and not sharp yet. He can barely see anything in the dimness of the night.

    Fina reached the spine after them, it¡¯s eyes focused on the other side, sniffling the air, before scoffing, ¡°It¡¯s just a pack of foxes.¡±

    ¡°Foxes?¡±

    Zhang Zian remembered that they were just discussing the Desert Fox, Hommel, yesterday, and today they have met actual foxes in the desert.

    He was initially worried whether these were dingoes or hyenas, or something simr to those, but even dingoes and hyenas weren¡¯t prone to attacking something bigger than them for no reason. After knowing that it was a pack of foxes, his worriespletely dissipated, and curiosity reced it instead.

    He had only seen foxes in television before, and hadn¡¯t seen them in real life.

    Famous lowered its voice, asking, ¡°What do we do now?¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t decide whether they should leave or not, so he asked Fina, ¡°What kind of foxes are they?¡±

    Fina¡¯s even more disdained, ¡°What else can they be? Smelly and acrid, of course.¡±

    ¡°I mean their looks.¡±

    ¡°Looks...¡± Fina took a look there again, ¡°Their bodies are small, their ears are big. Oh, they seem to have heard something, and are nning to run... They have sharp ears.¡±

    Small body and big ears...

    Zhang Zian immediately thought of a species of foxes that does fit that description, and they do live in the Northern African Sahara Desert. Many countries even treasure them as rare animals ¡ª the fennec foxes.

    Many people often misunderstand foxes. Foxes are a branch of the canine genus on the phylogic tree, and they don¡¯t have their own genus, and the fennec fox is the smallest canine in the whole world. Or, the smallest wild canine in the whole world. Certain teacup breeds of toy dogs are now smaller than fennec foxes, but only after years of breeding.

    Fina wasn¡¯t exaggerating, Zhang Zian did see a few pairs of bright eyes turning their way, as though hearing the sound that they had made and was hesitating whether they should make a run for it.

    Fennec foxes are in the middle of the food chain of the desert, and mainly survive on small mammals, bugs, or lizards. They are hunted by bigger animals like eagles and dingoes. Therefore, in order to survive in the desert, they have evolved aicallyrge ear inparison to their face, like two high-sensitivity radar constantly taking in information about their surroundings. Even if it was just one bug crawling underneath the sand, they would be able to hear too.

    If Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t approached them against the wind, and the wind had taken away a portion of his smell and scent, these fennec foxes might have already run off even before they could scale the sand dune.

    Zhang Zian thought, Professor Weikang didn¡¯t only want to investigate the ancient cats of Egypt in this expedition, but had also nned to do a study on the survival conditions of animals here. He doesn¡¯t know whether Professor Weikang is interested in fennec foxes, since some countries have sessfully tamed and domesticated fennec foxes, but wild ones are still hard toe by.

    He silently moved his body backwards so that the sand dune was covering him, and told Fina and Famous, ¡°It¡¯s rare toe across fennec foxes, let¡¯s think how we can catch a few for ourselves.¡±

    Fina¡¯s face stretched in disgust, rejecting his ideas, ¡°I refuse! You do it yourself! All foxes are smelly and acrid, I refuse to touch one with my own paws!¡±

    ¡°Shh! Quiet!¡±

    Zhang Zian desperately waved his hands to get Fina to quieten down, or those fennec foxes will really run off.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mean to let you do it, just for you and Famous to help out while I catch them. I definitely can¡¯t do it by myself.¡± He exined.

    Fina didn¡¯t seem too happy about it, skeptically asking, ¡°Then, what¡¯s your n?¡±

 Chapter 1241: Surrounded

    <h4>Chapter 1241: Surrounded</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian could understand Fina¡¯s resistance to his suggestion. This was because cats liked to be clean. Even their own excrement was buried. Comparatively, the fox was sexy and smelly, and ¡°fox¡± was amonly-used word to describe people who used beauty to charm others.

    The fox had a pair of nds on its tail. When it encountered an enemy or was frightened, it released a strange smell, which was used to disgust the enemy in hopes of repelling it. This was simr to weasels and skunks, but the fox did it better. As those two animals looked less pleasing to the eye than the fox, their names were rarely used to describe things. Phrases such as ¡°sexy weasel¡± or ¡°sexy skunk¡± were unheard of. This was, after all, a superficial world.

    As a pet, the fox would often have the stench nd removed. Otherwise, it would be inevitable that one would smell it even if they were at home. One probably would not be able to stand it, and the house would be difficult to live in. It may even affect the neighbors.

    In addition, even if it was a pet fox and had its stench nd removed, not all was well. Although the fox produced no smell, the smell of fox urine was quite pungent!

    To this point, foxes were actually very simr to cats. They¡¯d both originated in arid desert areas. In order to adapt to the dry and water-deficientndscape, their ancestors could not urinate as freely as humans. They must concentrate their urine or risk losing valuable water when relieving themselves.

    In a desert where the living environment was extremely harsh, without this ability, they might have been extinct by now.

    Concentration was the essence of the game. As for the smell of concentrated urine... It was easy to imagine how pungent it was.

    However, the two animals treated urine differently. Although the scent of cat urine was also very pungent, the cat would bury the urine once done so as not to have the smell scare away prey. This would also prevent themselves from being the prey...

    Cat litter and sand were essentially the same. Pet cats would naturally approach cat litter in the same manner and did not need to be taught. Thus, it would be easier to handle.

    Foxes, however, did not do this. They didn¡¯t care about burying their urine. Of course, foxes were canine-like animals, and it would be somewhat demanding for them to behave like cats.

    Although it may not matter. Since they were a canine species, might it be possible to bring them outside so they could relieve themselves outdoors, much like a dog?

    s, humans had had tens of thousands of years to domesticate dogs. It was only then that they¡¯d taught this and made it instinctive for dogs to behave in such a fashion. The fox had never quite be the mainstream pet of human society. To buy a fox and expect it to pee like a dog did would be highly unwise...

    Therefore, raising a fox as a pet was not impossible. After all, even more exotic pets were raised by humans in a cage or at home. However, it was best to prepare a separate living space for it, otherwise the sofa, bed, and other furniture would be full of its pungent smell.

    Putting aside how to raise foxes, the other issue was how to catch them without rming them. Once rmed, they always released chemical bombs. As the saying went, never fail to catch a fox, for you will be sprayed with strong smells!

    The hunting instinct within Famous made him very eager to try. However, upon listening to Fina and her disdain for fox smells, he was affected as well. After all, he was a public dog figure and had an image to maintain.

    Zhang Zian nced up a little and found that the group of fennec foxes had not left. He said to Fina and Famous, ¡°The Fennec Fox has strong athletic abilities, and it runs like a fly in the desert. It will be hard to catch up. Even if you do catch up with them, you probably will be very tired. Plus, it may attack you with those smells when you catch it. So we should not be fighting them. We should think of how to use our wits to catch them.¡±

    Fina didn¡¯t say anything, but her eyes suggested that she was skeptical about his IQ.

    Zhang Zian drew a topographic map on the sand with his fingers.

    An arc represented the sand dunes they were currently at. A circle and two points behind the arc represented their three positions. A distance from the arc, he drew a few ¡°X¡± symbols, representing the group of fennec foxes.

    ¡°Let¡¯s use a primitive hunting method. You two are going around from the left and the right.¡± He drew arrows on the left and right of the arc, pointing to the back of the x.

    ¡°After you are in ce, you don¡¯t need to catch them. Simply bluff and drive them to the sand dunes. If they run elsewhere, you will simply block their way and make sure they run only here,¡± he exined. ¡°Direct them to me, and I will finish the capture.¡±

    Early men had used simr methods to huntrge animals, such as flocks of bison. It was not difficult to directly surround and kill the buffalo, but because they only had sharp-pointed stones tied to their spears, it was difficult to prate the thick skin of the bison. Even if they cut through the skin, it may not significantly injure the bison. Rather, such attacks may end up injuring them, or they might be killed by the counterattack of the bison.

    Therefore, early men would surround the bison from three sides, leaving only one direction for the bison to run. The entire group would run up the slope, but when they reached the edge of the cliff, they were unable toe to a quick stop. They ended up falling off the cliff. Even if first few bison saw the cliff, the rest would not have and would simply push every single bison off. Therefore, the men would only have to go down the cliff to pick up the meat and use it to make dumplings for the New Year.

    Zhang Zian also intended to use a simr method by asking Fina and Famous to y the role of early men. As for himself...he yed the cliff.

    ¡°Are you sure this method is feasible? It does not sound very reliable!¡± Fina was doubtful.

    ¡°This is the wisdom of real hardworking people who were on the ground doing it!¡± Zhang Zian said confidently. ¡°Come on, don¡¯t wait for them to run away!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d better be sure. If I get coated in that smelly fox smell...¡± Fina snorted and reluctantly went to the left. It soon disappeared into the night.

    Famous then went to the right to lurk.

    Zhang Zian saw that despite how unwilling it was, Fina still trusted in his n, likely out of goodwill to him. Like a light streak of smoke, it quickly made its way to the foxes without alerting them.

    Famous was slower because it was worried that it would be discovered. After all, it was slightlyrger. Therefore, it used a technique it had learned while filming ¡°War Dog.¡± It listened for the foxes first. Upon sensing nothing amiss, it took a few small steps before stopping. The whole process then repeated again. It ended up taking ten minutes to get in ce.

    With everyone in ce, Zhang Zian was ready. He did not have a cup to sound off the start of the mission. Thus, he took out a shlight from his pocket, turned it on, and quickly extinguished it. It was the signal to start the action.

    At the same time, Famous and Fina came out from their hiding ces. They did what Zhang Zian nned and did not make any sound. This was so as to not wake up the people in the camp. They ran swiftly towards the foxes.

    The fennec foxes reacted very quickly. They started panicking and fleeing in the opposite direction of Fina and Famous.

    A desert chase was about to begin.

 Chapter 1242: Operation Catch The Fox

    <h4>Chapter 1242: Operation Catch The Fox</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    There¡¯s a reason why it exists.

    If fennec foxes were able to survive in the desert for so long, they must have their own tricks up their sleeves.

    For a person that is used to afortable, safe life, when danger suddenly dawns upon them, they would usually first pause, hesitate, their brain would short circuit, or would try to see what exactly is the danger first before deciding whether to fight or flight. But, by then, it¡¯s often toote.

    The fennec fox had skipped through the whole hesitation period, and at the moment that Fina and Famous and jumped out, or when Zhang Zian had lit up the torchlight, they had shot out reflexively, running first before anything else.

    They¡¯re light and agile, and have great explosive power. They¡¯re as quiet as a frozenke, but can also be as explosive as a rabid dog, moving along the desert as though it barely touched the sand, jumping tens of meters away in the blink of an eye, it¡¯s speed jaw dropping. If they didn¡¯t know that they were foxes before hand, they might even think these were rabbits running amok on a field.

    As elfins, Fina and Famous have exceptional athletic abilities. But, even with their head start, they couldn¡¯t even narrow the gap between them and the foxes.

    If they were racing on a straight line, the foxes¡¯ speed were definitely not as great as Fina and Famous, but they¡¯re not idiots. When they realised that their enemy¡¯s speed were extremely quick, they started zig-zagging their running pattern.

    This trick is a fail-safe against predators. They have a huge, fluffy tail that can help them maintain their bnce and speed even when changing directions at high speeds, and a light body meant their inertia isn¡¯t as great, so they can dart around sharper corners. Even if their enemies got close to them, they have theirst line of defence ¨C their anal nds.

    Fina and Famous aren¡¯t as good at changing directions as they are, and if they really wanted to catch them, it¡¯s still a huge challenge, they could at most catch one fox each. Thank goodness they¡¯re only in charge of chasing them, and if anyone of them ran out of line, they would rush up to scare them back into the predetermined route. They made sure to stay a good distance away so they don¡¯t get sprayed by their anal nds.

    Most foxes are solitary animals, but fennec foxes are one of the rare animals that live in a group. This pack is about ten members strong, of different sizes. It doesn¡¯t matter whether they¡¯re in a pack because they¡¯re biologically rted, since they run in a group anyway in order to confuse their chaser.

    Zhang Zian could see everything clearly from where he¡¯s lying on the top of the sand dune, and he¡¯s secretly happy about it. If the group ran in seperate ways, they might not be able to save the situation even if they brought out Old Time Tea and dimir.

    Just like that, under Fina and Famous¡¯ purposeful guidance, they ran towards Zhang Zian¡¯s sand dunes like rats scuttling down a drain.

    Zhang Zian had already activated the ¡°Pet Hunter¡± game, preparing to catch the foxes.

    He¡¯s not too sure whether fennec foxes fall under the game¡¯s definition of pets. If it doesn¡¯t work, then the catch would be invalid, so he had a back up n ¡ª he took off his warm jacket, getting reading to cover it over the foxes¡¯ head when the get close and count his blessings.

    Even the extremely adept fennec foxes had to slow their speed climbing up the sand dune, but they¡¯re still light and agile, far more responsive than humans could ever be.

    He might not even be able to capture a clear, un-blurry photo of them with how fast they are going and how agile they are. If the game can¡¯t capture them, he certainly can¡¯t with his jacket either.

    Zhang Zian had considered that before hand already, so he was not just blindly optimistic, he has another trick up his sleeve ¡ª his simple shlight.

    The leading male fennec fox is sporty and strong, and it might be the leader of this group. It rushed all the way in front, rushing up the sand dune with the other foxes following behind him, spread out into a fan shape.

    Zhang Zian was holding his breath, not daring to let out a single bit of sound to prevent them from getting a shock and turning directions. When the leading fennec fox rushed up the sand dune spine, he suddenly stood up from his hiding spot behind the sand dune spine.

    The leading fennec fox wasn¡¯t flustered by the sudden road block, and it¡¯s body reacted before it¡¯s brain could. Its tail turned, and it¡¯s body was about to follow.

    Right that, Zhang Zian turned on his shlight, and a powerful cone of light shone at the leading fennec fox and the foxes behind it, bathing them in strong luminance.

    If fennec foxes could speak, they would definitely cover their eyes, screaming, ¡°Eyes! My eyes!¡±

    As nocturnal animals, the fennec foxes don¡¯t only have extraordinary hearing, it¡¯s eyes are also very simr to a cat¡¯s, able to converge all of the light it received and shine it onto it¡¯s retina, so the fennec foxes¡¯ eyes will shine like a cat¡¯s does in the night, and are able to see in the night like night-vision googles.

    So, what does it feel like to watch a sh bomb go off before you while wearing night vision goggles?

    These fennec foxes have their pupils dted, trying to gather as much light as they can in order to adapt to the low light situations of the night. They would never expect such bright and densely packed light to show up in the night.

    Split secondter, their eyes went momentarily blind.

    The leading fennec fox isn¡¯t afraid of the suddenly appearing enemy, but the sudden blindness is something that it had never experienced before. It¡¯s body had already turned, but it hadn¡¯tpleted it¡¯s action yet. The animal that relies on its sight suddenly lost its sense of direction and bnce, and lost its control over it¡¯s body. It¡¯s four limbs lost control, causing it to trip on itself,nding right below Zhang Zian¡¯s feet.

    Zhang Zian raised his phone, pointing it right at the fennec fox, clicking on the ¡°Capture¡± button.

    [Game Notice]: Sessful capture! Fennec Fox!

    Even though the other fennec foxes were further away from the shlight, but their eyes were also focused on Zhang Zian, and were simrly blinded by the shlight. There¡¯s a ck area in the middle of their vision, only able to see slightly on the edges of their vision, and could no longer differentiate left from right. Some of them tripped over themselves like their leader, while some of them rushed forwards blindly and ended up head first in the sand. Some of them skidded to a stop, standing there, not knowing what to do, widening their blinded eyes.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s more than pleased with this result. It isn¡¯t even as easy to pick up drunk people at the door of the club. This is just like plucking carrots in the field.

    He shook his shlight in his left hand, trying to capture and dizzy evne more foxes, while his right hand held onto his phone, constantly clicking onto ¡°Capture¡±, keeping all the fennec foxes into his inventory. When his usual pet¡¯s section is full, he activated n B, using his jacket to grab onto the stunned fennec foxes.

    Other than a few foxes that have managed to get away because they were standing at the corners, most of them were captured by him. Professor Weikang doesn¡¯t need these many fennec foxes anyway.

    He was still proud of himself, when he suddenly heard a sharp rip, followed by a chill along his thigh. When he lowered his head, there was yet a few more holes in his tortured jeans.

    Fina rubbed at its eyes, ring at him, ¡°What are you shaking it so much for! You¡¯ve made me dizzy!¡±

 Chapter 1243: Bountiful Rewards

    <h4>Chapter 1243: Bountiful Rewards</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian¡¯s shlight could only brighten up a very small area. The strong contrast between light and dark momentarily blinded him, and he was unable to see things clearly.

    However, he persevered. In order to blind as many fennec foxes as possible, he swung his shlight wildly. Inevitably, the light swept across Fina and Famous¡¯ faces asionally. After all, he couldn¡¯t see them in the dark.

    Famous could understand, and as a dog, his night vision was not as good as that of a cat. He was rtively far away, so it would only temporarily affect him. However, Fina couldn¡¯t bear it.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it!¡± Zhang Zian screamed again and again. He was originally mature and stable. He was dressed as somewhat trendy, yet even in the current situation, this was not going to save him from Fina¡¯s anger.

    ¡°How dare you? What kind of ideas did you have? Couldn¡¯t you say it in advance? It sucks that I almost bumped into a fennec fox. Now, you are even trying to blind me!¡± Fina was full of grievances, rubbing and blinking her eyes rapidly.

    ¡°Hey! Does that mean that you attacked while you were somewhat blinded too?¡±

    Zhang Zian was shocked. He¡¯d thought Fina was just being nice and did not want to leave a few blood marks on his thighs. He hadn¡¯t expected that it was due to her poor vision. That meant she was angrily swaying her ws around with no intention of showing mercy...

    ¡°Why should I see properly before attacking?¡± Fina asked matter-of-factly, blinking her eyes to recover more of her vision.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t reply. What she¡¯d said made sense. He decided he had better get farther away from her. He quietly moved away and put more distance between himself and Fina, lest she be angry and use her ws again.

    The fennec fox in the mobile phone could be left alone for a while. However, the one covered by the jacket was constantly struggling and screaming. It was close to the shlight, and its vision should not have recovered.

    Earlier, Zhang Zian had said he was going to pee as an excuse to leave the tent. Even if he had constipation, he might have left for too long. If he did not go back, he was afraid that the night watch would think that he had disappeared or gotten in some kind of trouble. It would be a hassle if the night watch woke everyone up just to find him.

    ¡°Do we chase those that got away?¡± asked Famous.

    Although a few had escaped, they may be reluctant to leave the family and the group. They had not run off too far and were waiting nearby. After he¡¯d turned off the shlight, their sight was slowly recovering.

    If they really wanted to give chase, having lost their leader, it was likely that all the foxes would be caught.

    ¡°Forget it. We left camp for too long. Let¡¯s go back to the camp first. Those who ran away, let them be. It doesn¡¯t matter.¡± He picked up the jacket covering the foxes and squeezed them into the sleeve of his own jacket. After all, they were small in size. By fastening the cuffs and putting the jacket on his shoulder, it acted like a sack.

    Perhaps because of blindness, the auricle fox in the jacket did not release any odor. Otherwise, besides losing a pair of jeans, he would have to lose the jacket too. That would be damning for him.

    Upon returning to the camp, a beam of light shone on him. The night watch was probably waiting anxiously for him. If he hadn¡¯t returned, he would¡¯ve really had to go and find him.

    He waved his hand to the shlight, indicating that he was fine. The shlight turned off.

    It wasn¡¯t a good idea to keep the fennec fox in the jacket. He didn¡¯t enter the tent but instead went to his car, opened the trunk, and took out several folded wire cages.

    In order to capture the original Egyptian cats and other valuable animals encountered on the road, the expedition team had purchased wire cages in Egypt and folded them when not in use. This helped to save space.

    Zhang Zian first ced the fennec fox in the jacket into the cage. Then he released the fox in the mobile phone into the empty cage. Two or three foxes would have to share one cage. It was a decent living arrangement, since they were small in size and had lived together for a long time.

    In this new, strange environment, the timid foxes whimpered uneasily. They also exposed their sharp teeth and bit the cage, trying to bite off the wire.

    Zhang Zian let Fina and Famous go back to the tent to sleep. He then took out a small dish, poured some water in it, and ced it in the cage.

    When he opened the cage door, he was cautious in preventing the foxes from escaping. However, they all retreated into the corner until he closed the cage door. They then carefully approached the clear water, first sniffing, maybe smelling him. The smell was a bit scary to them, but the desire for the clear water quickly overwhelmed their fear. They surrounded the water andvished in drinking it. They quickly finished all the water.

    The fennec fox often found it difficult to find a clean water source. They usually relied on the water in food to maintain themselves. Also, their bodies were unique and could preserve water well.

    The clear water in the other cages was also gone. Zhang Zian poured some fresh water into the lids, but it was gone in a mere blink of the eye.

    At this point, their vision had returned to normal. They licked their lips and stared at him.

    It wasn¡¯t good for them to drink too much water at once. After all, they had adapted to the dry terrain. Rather, drinking too much water may cause them to have diarrhea. Instead of adding water, he tore the leftover roast chicken breast he fed Fina into a small bowl.

    Like cats, the ear foxes drank little water and urinated even less. The high salt in the food could damage their kidneys, so they couldn¡¯t eat foods high in salt.

    The foxes had never seen such soft meat, and the meat exuded a fragrant smell. In addition, the meat had no annoying hard shell or rough outer skin. Except for the dryness, there was no shorings. Besides, they¡¯d just drunk water. So even if the food was dry, it was okay.

    Although the chicken smelled of Zhang Zian, they werepletely unable to resist the temptation of delicious food. After a little hesitation, they rushed to eat the chicken. In order to grab the food, they even had a little scuffle between them, thought it was somewhat of friendly as well.

    Zhang Zian tore up some more chicken breasts and put them into the cage. Basically, Fina¡¯s daily food consumption could fill the stomachs of two or three fennec foxes. After this thought came up in his mind, he quickly nced at the tent. He was worried that Fina would appear and criticize his actions...

    However, Fina didn¡¯t show up. She probably had already gone to sleep, or she was toozy to jump out and me him.

    After eating the chicken breast for the second time, the fennec foxes were no longer afraid of him. They even gathered at the cage door and stared at his hand that was full of the smell of chicken. They were waiting for him to put a few more pieces of chicken in.

    Wild animals rarely encountered enough food. Once they chanced upon food, they would keep eating with no sign of stopping. Zhang Zian estimated that they were about 80% full and decided not to feed them any more food.

    After a long night, he was also sleepy. When people saw the sudden appearance of a group of ear foxes tomorrow morning, they were sure to be amazed.

 Chapter 1244: Spectating

    <h4>Chapter 1244: Spectating</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Wake up!¡±

    ¡°Wake up!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s time to wake up, sleepy heads! Don¡¯t make mee in there to kick your butts!¡±

    Morning, Zhang Zian was bundled in his tiny nket, woken rudely by Peter Lee¡¯s rough voice.

    Can¡¯t it be a sweet, gentle, voice like Zhi Ling¡¯s?

    ¡°Zian~ Wake up~ The sun¡¯s warming up your butt~¡±

    A sweet, gentle voice just like Zhi Ling¡¯s rang by his ears.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes were closed, his lips splitting into a heavenly smile, before... pping Richard away with a back-hand.

    ¡°Gah!¡±

    ¡°Go away!¡±

    You could figure out with your knee caps that Zhi Ling would not appear in this desert!

    ¡°How boring... I know you don¡¯t like women, but you have to be gentle! Geez, you¡¯ll have someone wake you up to wrestle tomorrow, look forward to it!¡± Richard groomed its feathers with its beak, gleefully torturing Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian only managed to sleep after rushing about for nearly an hourst night, and the sleep isn¡¯t even of great quality. He can¡¯tpare at all to this wretched bird that had a great sleep. Maybe he should just off the bird while he has the chance.

    ¡°Wow! What is this? Foxes? Where did theye from?¡±

    ¡°Amazing! These foxes are so cute! Look at them sleeping, my heart¡¯s melting!¡±

    ¡°Come look, there¡¯s a few amazing foxes here!¡±

    Themotion came from outside, those members that had already woken up to wash up or relieve themselves found the fennec foxes in the cages, and started shouting in shock.

    It¡¯s no wonder, waking up to find a few strangely cute foxes that popped out of nowhere in their camp, anyone would be surprised.

    Zhang Zian let Richard off for once, donning on his coat as he got out of his tent.

    He¡¯s not afraid of losing it in the desert anyway, leaving the cage right beside his tent is no issue, and it is extremely visible.

    The fennec foxes had a good mealst night. With their sharp ears, they could hear the humans waking up one by one, but they seemed to have epted the fact that they were locked up. Since they couldn¡¯t leave, then they could only ept what came by their way so as to prevent losing too much energy.

    It¡¯s cold at night, and with the sun not fully up yet, the morning breeze is still cooling.

    Every cage has two or three fennec foxes squashed together as they slept, curling up with their ears, bigger than their face, cushioning their furry tail that¡¯s almost as long as their body. Only when the humans got too noisy, did theyzily open their eyes, before closing them again. asionally, they flicked their tail about or scratched at their head, or opened their mouth wide for a yawn.

    Their bodies are small, and seemed even less harmless than usual domesticated cats or dogs, as though they could just pick them up and y with them.

    Everyone gathered around the cages, increasingly curious about these mysterious small foxes.

    ¡°Where did these foxese from? They couldn¡¯t have possibly ran into the cages themselves right?¡±

    ¡°Even if they did, how can they lock the cage up themselves? They aren¡¯t that smart.¡±

    ¡°I really do with the turkey in my fridge would run into the oven by itself and cook itself...¡±

    Jokes aside, everyone knew that the foxes would never run into a cage and lock it up themselves, so someone must have went out and caught them after everyone had slept. But who?

    The Soldier squatted beside the cages, thinking before talking, ¡°I know who it was. Someone left their tent for a long timest night during my guard shift. They didn¡¯te back for a long time, and I thought they were taken away by some monster in the desert. Just as I was going to find someone for help, he came back... So it must be him, only he has the time to.¡±

    He looked towards Zhang Zian¡¯s tent, meeting Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes straight on.

    ¡°Jeff, you have vited the first rule of the group, that we cannot leave the camp grounds by ourself, especially without informing anyone before hand,¡± The Soldier sternly reprimanded him.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it was my fault.¡± Zhang Zian raised his hands up in surrender, ¡°I promise I will never do it again next time.¡±

    He didn¡¯t try to provide excuses, because rules are rules, and there shouldn¡¯t be exceptions for anyone or anything.

    Seeing that there were a lot of people gathering in one area, Peter Lee and Weikang came over to understand what was happening too.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Peter Lee asked.

    The people automatically split into two groups, leaving a path in the middle.

    ¡°Eh? It¡¯s the fennec fox!¡± Weikang immediately recognized the rare Sahara Desert animal, rushing over to observe it closely.

    Even though fennec foxes aren¡¯t part of the endangered animal list, they still are rare animals. Their numbers and distribution in the desert is still a mystery, and no one knows exactly how many there are. There might be a lot, or might be only a few. It¡¯s too difficult tracking down these nocturnal animals in the vast desert.

    Weikang¡¯s four students followed behind him. The four of them, usually a pretty harmonious bunch that would gather together to y games, have now distanced themselves from each other, as though bearing a grudge. True friendship really does show in the midst of trouble.

    ¡°How did these fennec foxes end up here?¡± Weikang asked, confused.

    The Soldier pointed at Zhang Zian, ¡°Jeff didn¡¯t follow the rulesst night, and had left the camp by himself for more than half an hour. He was the one that brought these foxes back.¡±

    Peter Lee frowned, but Weikang didn¡¯t have the time to care about these rules, gaping in shock, ¡°Xiao Zhang, you...¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded, ¡°I didn¡¯t leave camp purposefully. My stomach was hurtingst night, so I got up to use the washroom. When I reached the spot, Famous heard somemotion behind the sand dune near us. I was worried whether it would be some dangerous animal, so I quietly made my way there, and found these fennec foxes. Professor Wei, you should know that these animals have amazing hearing. Under those circumstances, if Ie back to the camp to call for someone else, these fennec foxes definitely would have run off. So, I made the decision and tried to catch them by myself.¡±

    Even non-experts would know that these fennec foxes would have amazing hearing just by looking at thoseicallyrge ears.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s words weren¡¯t contradictory at all, and strictly speaking, he didn¡¯t even leave the camp by himself, Famous was with him. In many times, especially outdoors, a dog is much more useful than another human.

    ¡°Then... how did you catch them? These foxes are really agile.¡± Weikang was still very confused.

    Zhang Zian fished out his shlight, ¡°I used this. I coordinated with Famous and Fina. They chased the fennec foxes towards me, and I dazed them with the intense light, it¡¯s that simple.¡±

    They definitely thought that Famous must have yed the greatest part in this, as there¡¯s a type of dog called hunting dogs.

 Chapter 1245: Scientific Research Work

    <h4>Chapter 1245: Scientific Research Work</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Although what Zhang Zian narrated grossly understated the effort of his work, everyone knew that even with the help of a dog, it was still difficult to capture a few fennec foxes. In addition to the bold and careful n, Lady Luck must have been on his side as well.

    Wei Kang did not care about the process of Zhang Zian¡¯s capture. His attention was firmly on the fennec foxes, and he urged the four disciples behind him, ¡°What are you all doing? It is rare that we get toe out to the field. Hurry and start work now!¡±

    The three boys responded in unison and ran back to the car to get their instruments.

    He He had never seen this type of work before. She squatted on the side of the cage and gently tapped the wire to tease the cute little foxes. She was fascinated by the small and cute fennec foxes and momentarily forgot her identity as a biological researcher. She really wanted to take them home as pets.

    ¡°Be careful with your fingers!¡± Zhang Zian reminded her.

    He He slightly retracted her hand, and just in time, too. A fennec fox fiercely and quickly opened its mouth and bit down. It was the leader of this group of foxes and the strongest one among them.

    Fortunately, she retracted her hand with moments to spare. It only bit the wire. The fox kept giving off low growls, warning her not to make any unwise moves.

    ¡°It¡¯s so fierce!¡± She was a little scared, but her love for the foxes was not diminished.. After all, even cats and dogs sometimes bit their master, not to mention little foxes who lived in the wild.

    ¡°Teacher, are we going to bring these little foxes back?¡± she asked Wei Kang joyfully. If she could bring them all back to China, she could definitely attract the envy of her girlfriends.

    Wei Kang shook his head. ¡°What are you thinking? We are scientific researchers whoe to the field to inspect animals and not to hunt animals. These animals live in the wild and belong in the wild. We will release them back into the wild after we have finished the research.¡±

    He He pouted in disappointment, but she knew that when it came to work, Wei Kang was very stubborn. He would not change his mind once he decided.

    Zhang Zian had simr questions. If Wei Kang found the original Egyptian cats, would he catch them and bring them back to China?

    Bringing the animal back to China would definitely stir up a lot of sensation, but would it be a good thing for the animal?

    Wild animals lived in the wild. If they were raised by humans, they would have a morefortable living environment. Their life expectancy would also tend to be longer. However, this was unlikely to be favorable to the wild poption, especially rare poptions, where the loss of one or two animals could cause the species to go extinct entirely.

    Real scientific research workers would not give up the forest for their own benefit. What was more, the desert environment was so special that it was difficult for humans to simte a simr environment for any animals that they hoped to rear.

    Bringing wild animals back to an artificially constructed environment was only considered in extremely special circumstances in order to not vite the scientific code of ethics. For example, if it was determined that only one animal was left in the wild, that the poption could not naturally multiply, then the animal could be reared by humans.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s tent door opened. Fina walked in, giving a huge yawn. She had heard what Wei Kang said and was looking at him with thoughtful eyes.

    At this time, the three followers also came back with a bunch of instruments.

    Wei Kang solemnly said to Peter Lee, ¡°Mr. Lee, we may have to postpone our departure. This is our work. We will catch up with you as soon as possible after we have finished.¡±

    Peter Lee gently waved his hand. ¡°I said that the whole team is a group, and we are going back together. I am very supportive of your research. This is what we agreed in advance. We will wait for you before leaving. It doesn¡¯t matter if you stay here until the next morning.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Thank you.¡± Wei Kang nodded and asked his students to start working.

    The others soon learned that they had to postpone their departure this morning, so they were no longer in a hurry. Some people went back to their tent to sleep, some leisurely listened to music over breakfast, and others surrounded the team to observe them working.

    Wei Kang first photographed the fennec foxes with a camera and a camcorder. Then he took down the location where they were discovered. Following that, he anesthetized them with ketamine. After the anesthetics took effect, he took them out of the cage,id them t on the ground, and measured and recorded a series of vital signs. These included body length, body weight, body temperature, and heart rate.

    Besides the application of anesthetics, the other things to do were notplicated. After watching the demonstration, Zhang Zian and the other people present also gave a helping hand.

    From time to time, Wei Kang guided everyone on what to do and gave suggestions on what they should be noticing. For example, he made everyone wear disposable gloves because the wild animals¡¯ fur may contain parasites such as fleas and may also carry germs. He reminded Zhang Zian not to let Fina and Famouse in contact with these foxes.

    Zhang Zian was secretly relieved. Fortunately, Fina and Famous had not caught the foxes yesterday. It would be a problem if they got infected. They could even transmit any germs to the entire pet shop upon their return.

    After these things were done, the next step was to put on GPS wirelessunch cors.

    The GPS cor was very light, and its tightness could be adjusted. It weighed only about 100 grams and did not affect the animal¡¯s activities. It was a very functional product with built-in GPS, wireless transmitter, body temperature sensor, activity indicator, and battery.

    The GPS location was recorded every hour. The capturing of this information would continue for one year. When it eventually ran out of power, it would automatically fall off the animal. Even without power, it would still transmit wireless signals for one month after falling off, so that researchers could find the cors through the wireless receiver and bring back the data recorded on them.

    This field work was often done over long durations and often counted in years. Data was hard toe by, and the working environment was difficult. Despite the harsh working environment, the researchers neither got flowers nor any apuse. Ordinary people often could not understand the boring data that they had obtained from the research.

    ¡°Does this mean we will have to return here in about a year¡¯s time?¡± Zhang Zian asked while putting a cor on the fennec fox.

    Wei Kang smiled and said, ¡°If we have the chance, we can do it, but I don¡¯t think we will have the budget. Even if we don¡¯te, our colleagues at Cairo University will pick up these cors for us.¡±

    ¡°Oh. Okay. I understand.¡± Zhang Zian nodded. It seemed that Wei Kang had already arranged this in advance.

    After putting a cor on each fennec fox, Wei Kang adjusted the setting of the cor to check whether the data and signal were working normally. From his expression, everything seemed fine.

    After breakfast, Wei Kang looked at the time. The efficacy of the anesthetic may soon wear off. He instructed Zhang Zian and his team to take the cages to the sand dunes where they¡¯d first encountered the animals. Then they should prepare to return them to nature once more.

 Chapter 1246: Return to Mother Nature

    <h4>Chapter 1246: Return to Mother Nature</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian brought Wei Kang and the students to the sand dune where they¡¯d caught the fennec foxes. They brought the anesthetized foxes out of the cage and ced them on the sand, giving them some water and food as repayment for what they had done to them. It was just like the milk that a person got after donating their blood.

    The anesthesia was wearing off. Even though they hadn¡¯tpletely woken up yet, their bodies were starting to wriggle. asionally their tails swished, or their ears twitched.

    Zhang Zian and the rest grabbed onto the empty cages as they retreated to the other side of the sand dune, waiting for them to fully awaken before they could leave in peace. Before they regained their strength, they had to take responsibility for their safety and health and prevent any eagles or other animals from taking advantage of their weakened state.

    The sun was up. Yet another hot day had begun.

    They raised their binocrs, observing the fennec foxes¡¯ actions. The morning sun drove away the chill of the night, enveloping the fennec foxes in its glow. The breeze rifled through their sandy fur, nearly a perfect camouge. If they were paying less attention, they would have lost the foxes in the blink of an eye.

    Suddenly, the fennec foxes¡¯ leader¡¯s eyelid twitched before opening. It struggled to stand. Due to the remaining anesthetic in its body, its muscles had yet to fully regain control, and its actions were still clumsy. It observed its surroundings, confused.

    It was the strongest one out of all the foxes in the group, and therefore it should wake up first.

    It picked up on the fragrance of food nearby, giving it a hard sniff, and noticed the food and water sitting a few meters away from them.

    But as the leader, it did not keep the good things for itself. It ignored the temptation of food and water and ran first to itspanions¡¯ sides, using its snout to nudge at them and using its tongue to lick at their faces.

    Itspanions gradually woke up too. With their strength not yet fully recovered, they walked about like drunk men in the dead of night.

    They all smelled the food and drinks. Even though they had eaten quite a lotst night, theck of food and water in the desert meant that they would eat anything they could find as soon as they could. They quickly gathered around the food, fighting to have some of it.

    Out of respect for their leader, they left one te alone for the leader to have.

    Wei Kang gave the others a satisfied smile, meaning to say, ¡°They sure are canines. Even though other foxes are solitary animals, these pack fennec foxes exhibit pack behavior simr to other pack canines.¡±

    Gao Ke held the camera, filming this precious sight.

    In some countries, fennec foxes could be reared as domesticated pets. Even in China, you could do it after someplicated procedures. But no one would keep an entire pack of fennec foxes, so many of their behaviors could only be seen in the wild, and their habits also changed when the environment they were living in changed too.

    This was survival of the fittest.

    For example, tigers were solitary animals. There were barely any exceptions in the world. They were extremely territorial, and other than during breeding season, it was difficult to find two tigers living together in one space.

    But in 2002, China¡¯s Save China¡¯s Tigers Association and a few international organizations gathered together to protect China¡¯s South Chinese tigers. In consideration of the fact that there was barely any remaining natural habitat for tigers in China, they started the Save China¡¯s Tigers Rewilding project, cing five South Chinese tigers from zoos in Africa¡¯s Tiger Nature Reserve.

    People didn¡¯t think that the project would work at first, as these five tigers had been born and raised in zoos, and there were no tigresses around to teach the cubs how to hunt and fight. When they first reached the reserve, they were afraid of the smallest breeze. How could they return to nature and survive there in the long term?

    Besides, everyone knew that tigers lived in the forests and not on the t ins. Wasn¡¯t there a saying that ¡°tigers in Pingyang get bullied by dogs¡±?

    These few South Chinese tigers would most likely just get bullied by the local wild dogs in the African ins and wouldn¡¯t be able to survive at all, and the entire project would just be aughingstock.

    But the project was surprisingly sessful. By 2017, the number of South Chinese tigers in the Tiger Reserve had grown to 17.

    Everyone had belittled the survival capabilities of the South Chinese tigers. Just as Michael Crichton said in Jurassic Park, ¡°Life finds a way.¡±

    The most surprising thing was that these 17 tigers had actually changed their habits and became colonized animals. They had grouped themselves together, hunting for therge herbivores of thend.

    As for being bullied by wild dogs... It had been proven that that was just an unfounded worry. In reality, the group of tigers was even chasing the domestic lions out of their ownnds...

    Tigers, being from mountainous forests, hadrger hearts than lions, had stronger hind limb strength, enabling them to stand on two legs, and were able to jump three meters high. They could p and were even able to climb trees, even if there weren¡¯t many trees to climb on the ins.

    They bullied the lion prides on the ins, climbed the trees to steal the cheetahs¡¯ food, and became one of the scariest predators in Africa, bringing much hope to their future!

    The only regret was that this project wasn¡¯t headed by the Chinese government, and it had nownded in the hands of other organizations to keep it going. These South Chinese tigers might never be able to return to China.

    That wasn¡¯t necessarily a bad thing. China¡¯s natural habitats were no longer suitable for South Chinese tigers to stay in. Even if they were brought back to China, they could only keep them in zoos. It would be better to just leave them there as a spark of hope that one day might be able to light up the whole ins.

    The survival tactics of fennec foxes were simr to these South Chinese tigers. With the harsh survival conditions of the desert, it was like an extremely difficult RPG boss. No matter how strong one person was, they wouldn¡¯t be able to kill it by themselves. Only in a party would there be a chance of victory. This was why other foxes were solitary, while only fennec foxes were colonized.

    Wei Kang and the rest raised their binocrs as they watched the foxes silently, afraid that they might scare them.

    Right then, Zhang Zian nudged Wei Kang with his elbow, asking Wei Kang to watch further away, and patted Gao Ke¡¯s shoulder, asking him to move the camera.

    Slightly further away, another small group of fennec foxes seemed to have popped out of nowhere, showing themselves suddenly. No one saw where they hade from. Maybe they had a nest near this sand dune.

    The rest of them didn¡¯t know, but Zhang Zian knew that these fennec foxes were the foxes that had gotten awayst night. Seeing that their leader and friends hade back after being missing for one whole night, they came out of their hiding ce excitedly.

    Seeing that the two groups were about to reunite sessfully, the small group of foxes suddenly hesitated in their forward footsteps, watching the others carefully.

    Wei Kang and the rest had guessed the reason correctly. These captured fennec foxes had the scent of humans on them, so the other foxes felt that it was something foreign.

 Chapter 1247: Letâ€™s Step Aside for a Chat

    <h4>Chapter 1247: Let¡¯s Step Aside for a Chat</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When capturing wild animals for scientific observation, it was difficult to avoid contaminating them with human odors. Under normal circumstances, this was not a big problem as long as the animal cubs were not affected.

    Zhang Zian had caught this group of fennec foxes without any cubs. In addition, it was currently not their breeding season. Even if they were teenagers, they were no longer being fed by their mothers.

    The hesitation of the small group of foxes seemed to irritate the lead fennec fox. It screamed and rushed over, fiercely screaming at each individual fox. It was as if it were saying: Who is not convinced of who I am? Come and challenge me if so!

    The small group of fennec foxes was frightened by its aggression and shivered. No one dared to defy it and obediently followed the leader.

    The head fox once again circled the group of fennec foxes. Wei Kang had expected this.

    Once the group elected a leader, it would not be easy to change it unless the leader got old or seriously injured in a fight. In this situation, the leader obviously had none of those troubles.

    The two groups integrated smoothly and started enjoying the water and food together. They polished off everything and licked the tes until they shone. They ate until their stomachs were very bloated.

    As the sun rose, thend gradually heated up.

    Fennec foxes, who were nocturnal, had to get back to their nest to avoid the sun and sleep. Otherwise, they would quickly be dehydrated in the sun and die of heat stroke.

    The head led them away and into the distance. They ran with it and reluctantly looked back at the empty dishes, as if they expected water and food to reappear. After running over another sand dune, they disappeared from the telescope¡¯s field of vision.

    Wei Kang and the others finally heaved sighs of relief. Earlier, they hadn¡¯t dared to speak and were also very cautious when they breathed.

    Gao Ke stopped the recording and checked the yback. He nodded to Wei Kang, indicating that all the footage was captured.

    ¡°Teacher, let¡¯s just leave the dishes here and put some water and food in them! These little foxes are so cute and pitiful. Just so cute!¡± He He said excitedly, thinking that Wei Kang would definitely agree to her suggestion.

    ¡°No.¡± Wei Kang shook his head and tly refused. ¡°You can¡¯t let them have the idea that they will get food and water when theye here. They live very well in the desert and don¡¯t need our extra help.¡±

    He seemed nonchnt about their well-being, but this was, in fact, his way of showing care for the foxes. The group should¡¯ve been able to determine how they chose to live instead of anticipating that food would always be served to them.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go. A year from now, someone wille to pick up their cors,¡± Wei Kang said, waving.

    Zhang Zian had doubts and asked, ¡°Can the fennec fox build a nest underground? What happens if the cor falls underground? Will it block the radio signal?¡±

    ¡°If that happens, there is nothing we can do about it,¡± Wei Kang said. ¡°In any case, they are social creatures and wander on the surface more often. Not every cor will fall underground. In fact, some more advanced radio cors can send data to satellites every day, and the data can be collected every day.

    ¡°The GPS coordinates are uploaded to Google Earth, and you don¡¯t have to wait for it to fall off to get the information. However, those cors are forrge and medium-sized animals and are equipped withrge-capacity batteries and high-power radio transmitters. This makes the cor itself bigger and heavier and therefore not suitable for small mammals.¡±

    Zhang Zian understood. It could only be so.

    When they went back to the camp, Wei Kang had already exined the situation to Peter Lee via the walkie-talkie. He said that they would return to the camp immediately and were ready to go.

    People who had stayed in the camps earlier began to demolish the tents. With the departure time postponed, everyone was inexplicably happy. They felt like they had earned hundreds of millions of dors.

    Zhang Zian was walking when suddenly he was pulled aside by the person next to him. He looked at him and saw that it was Xiao Tianyu.

    Xiao Tianyu¡¯s face had several Band-Aids, and it looked like he lost while ying cards and this was his punishment. He looked very funny. One of his eyes was swollen, and the corners of his mouth and eyes still had huge bruises that had yet to disappear. It would probably take a few more days for everything to heal. It also showed that Gao Ke had not gone easy on him.

    Zhang Zian wanted to ask him what was wrong. However, Xiao Tianyu quietly made a gesture, telling him to slow down and not say anything, for he had something to tell him.

    Xiao Tianyu was acting suspiciously, but with such a face, it was difficult to adequately describe the scene.

    Zhang Zian thought that perhaps he wanted to appeal the punishment that he¡¯d been subjected to. This was not possible, as it might anger the rest. Nevertheless, he stopped to listen to what he wanted to say.

    The rest were happily discussing the fennec foxes and did not realize that Zhang Zian and Xiao Tianyu had been left behind.

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Zhang Zian asked after making sure no one else could hear him.

    Xiao Tianyu sneaked a ¡°you know¡± look to him, stretched out his palm that was badly bruised, and whispered, ¡°Let¡¯s...let¡¯s step aside and chat!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Zhang Zian sighed and gave him a look that said ¡®everyone else is gone!¡¯ What was there that needed to be kept in such secrecy?

    Xiao Tianyu smiled and pretended to be friendly to Zhang Zian. He rubbed his ribs with his elbows and whispered, ¡°Oh! I have also heard it! Why do you still pretend? Let¡¯s step aside and have a chat!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you mean.¡± Zhang Zian listened and felt that perhaps they were talking about different things.

    Xiao Tianyu patted his thigh and pointed at him. ¡°You refuse to speak the truth! I passed by your tent when I had to pee in the morning, and I clearly heard the voice of Zhiling¡¯s sister in your tent! Those sounds that I heard... I almost peed my pants!¡±

    Zhang Zian wanted to say that he was sick and needed to go see a doctor!

    Xiao Tianyu squinted his eyes and said with a smirk, ¡°How did you get Zhiling? Teach me!¡±

    Oh, so that was what it was all about!

    ¡°It is not like that. Plus, you are already...however you are. You still want to try? Are you not afraid of blood in your urine?¡± Zhang Zian fiercely rebutted him.

    Xiao Tianyu realized Zhang Zian was raising his voice. He was afraid that other people would hear and wanted to use his fat hand to cover his mouth. However, Zhang Zian managed to dodge it.

    ¡°Hey! These are long nights in the desert, and my body is always in need! I cannot fall asleep. Quick! Teach me! Tell me!¡± Xiao Tianyu squinted and moved closer to him.

    ¡°You¡¯ve got it wrong. I really don¡¯t have the skills to cast a spell over Zhiling! It¡¯s time to go. Don¡¯t think about this any further! You should focus on how to heal faster!¡± Zhang Zian wiped off his hand and ran forward to catch up with the others. He walked briskly towards the camp.

    ¡°Hey! You are horrible! There is little of the sharing spirit here!¡± Xiao Tianyu looked at Zhang Zian¡¯s back, stomped his feet, and dismissively said to himself, ¡°I won¡¯t give up! I will hide next to your tent tomorrow morning. When I hear Zhiling¡¯s voice, I will catch you on the spot!¡±

    He momentarily forgot that this was the desert. As he stomped on the sand, tons of it filled his shoes. He could only scream at his bad luck, sit down to take off his shoes, and pour the sand out.

 Chapter 1248: Conflict

    <h4>Chapter 1248: Conflict</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The team set off again, the morale of the team having grown significantly. One is due to meeting the group of cute fennec foxes, helping everyone realize that they aren¡¯t alone in this vast, dry desert. Secondly, setting off two hourste meant that they would be able to suffer two hour lesser in this hellish heat.

    At 10 a.m., the convoy stopped for a rest.

    Everyone used the aluminium frames and white cloth to set up a simpleThe team set off again, the morale of the team great significantly. One is due to meeting the group of cute fennec foxes, helping everyone realize that they aren¡¯t alone in this vast, dry desert. Secondly, setting off two hourste meant that they would be able to suffer two hour lesser in this hellish heat.

    At ten am, the convoy stopped for a rest.

    Everyone used the aluminium frames and white cloth to set up a simple cover, letting the exposed jeeps were able to get some rest too, so that they will not be running over-capacity under the high heat. Everyone spread out to rest too as well then.

    The sr-powered rechargable batteries were set faced towards the sun, with countless usb lines linking out from it, charging all kinds of electrical devices, from phones to notebooks, tablets, cameras, portable cargers, ecetera.

    Zhang Zian wanted to charge his drone, phone and notebook as well.

    With the strong sun of the desert, the charging efficiency was really high, and all their electronics revived with full health soon after. Sadly, they didn¡¯t get the inte buff, so something still seemed to becking.

    With the urge to get onto the inte scratching at their brains, everyone watched Peter Lee with intense desire in their eyes. If eyesights weresers, Peter Lee would be cooked through by now. They all hoped he could bring out the satellite receiver, so that they could satisfy their addiction.

    Peter Lee finally caved into their looks, and ordered someone to set the device up under the tarp. The signal under the tarp isn¡¯t as good as when it¡¯s exposed, but they would rather a weak signal than a dead receiver.

    Everyone cheered in glee, their tiredness from travelling for so many days seemed to have flown to space, as though they finally had rain after years of drought.

    Zhang Zian opened his notebook too, nning to upload the few chapters that ¦Ð had written for these past few days onto the website, and to schedule it for future postings.

    Everyone rxed under the tarp as they surfed the web in all kinds of positions, even Salim, after being exposed to the wonders of modern technology, was no exception. Throughout the whole camp, only Nabali and Peter Lee didn¡¯t have electronics on their hands.

    Peter Lee held a map in his hands, discussing something with Salim as they walked about, the two of them pointing at some far distance in the desert as they chatted.

    The inte was slow, and the ;website was famous for having a horrible server too, Zhang Zian¡¯s several tries all failed to up load, so he¡¯s refreshing and trying again almost mechanically.

    Peter Lee and Nabali walked near him, and he looked towards the location that they had pointed as well. Other than miles of sand, there¡¯s nothing.

    But, Peter Lee¡¯s map did catch his attention, as that isn¡¯t a standard map, but instead one that he had printed out himself. It even has some strange symbols on it. On the flipside was a standard modernized map, with a scale ruler. He pointed the maps at the sun, and both maps ovepped each other.

    Was this a copy of the sheep skin map that he had?

    Peter Lee and Nabali seemed to disagree on something in their conversation, and their conversation turned aggressive shortly after, even with hand gestures and stronger words.

    ¡°No! No! That¡¯s too dangerous! We absolutely cannot!¡± Nabali waved his hands as he insisted.

    His voice was loud. Not only Zhang Zian, but the few other people nearby heard it too. Only some of them wearing earpieces, watching movies, or ying handheld games didn¡¯t hear it.

    Peter Lee, with his tea-coloured crystal spectacles, seemed to have guessed Nabali¡¯s reaction already, and instead simply said a few words. Even though Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t hear what he said, but he guessed that it was most likely an offer of repaying his efforts with cash. Many a brave soldiers only step up after there was adequate rewards after all.

    But, Nabali was not swayed at all, only shaking his hands, refusing to agree no matter what Peter Lee said.

    After finally uploading ¦Ð¡¯s script sessfully, Zhang Zian could no longer ignore the whole situation, since it could endanger the whole team. He closed hisptop, before standing up to ask, ¡°Mr. Nabali, what¡¯s going on?¡±

    The others also put down their items in their hands, crowding over in curiosity.

    Nabali shook his head, ¡°Up until now, we have been following the ancient smuggling routes. This is also a proven one. But, Mr. Leader here wants me to deviate from the proven road and head towards the Devil¡¯s Sea. That is where countless devils scour the area, and where even Gods have abandoned. My apologies, but I cannot ept this request, I cannot bring you there, as that¡¯s just a one way ticket to heaven. Legend says that not a single person that has been in there has been able toe back out.... Jeff, help me to convince him?¡±

    Everyone looked at Peter Lee, waiting for his next words.

    Peter Lee smiled, not thinking much of it, ¡°Mr. Nabali, I respect your tribe¡¯s legends and customs, but you also know that my team has the mostprehensive set of equipment. I believe that no matter is it the Devil¡¯s Sea or the Sea of Death, they¡¯re nothing to us.¡±

    Zhang Zian frowned, ¡°Why do you have to go there?¡±

    Peter Lee raised the map in his hands, ¡°Because that is our final destination. Here, haven¡¯t you been wanting to see the sheep-skin map? You can look freely at it now.¡±

    He generously gave Zhang Zian the map then.

    Zhang Zian took the map into his own hands, flipping it back and forth. Honestly, he doesn¡¯t see anything special from it. On the modern map, there is only a nk space, with longitudinal lines running through it to show their current position. On the ancient map though, things simr to oases andkes were drawn on it. But, whether this map is real or fake, and whether the oases andkes still exist in modern days are both mysteries to be uncovered.

    ¡°What is it? What happened?¡±

    Weikang realised that a few people were gathered here after sending Cairo University¡¯s colleagues emails, and they seemed to be fighting with how loud they have gotten too.

    Zhang Zian passed the map to Weikang, and simply exined the situation to hinm as well.

    Weikang was silent for a few moments before asking, ¡°Mr Nabali, you said that you have seen cats simr to Fina before in the desert. Are you able to tell me how far away is the ce that you had seen those cats from here?¡±

    Nabali¡¯s face twitched, hesistating to answer, ¡°If I didn¡¯t remember wrongly, it¡¯s near the Devil¡¯s Sea, but not in it. Back then, my father had insisted on not getting near the Devil¡¯s Sea too, but the ce that the tourists wanted to go to needed us to go through the Devil¡¯s Sea. If we were to take a detour, we might run out of water and food. In the end, my Father felt that as long as we didn¡¯t enter the Devil¡¯s Sea, there shouldn¡¯t be much problem, so we embarked on the journey. In the end....¡±

    Weikang believed in science, and he doesn¡¯t believe in the ¡°legends¡± of the Bedouin tribe either. But, he was respectful enough to not express that.

    Besides, since the ce where they found the cats were on the outskirts of the Devil¡¯s Sea, the expedition team does not need to brave the danger of going in.

    He took a look at Peter Lee, ¡°Mr Peter Lee, Mr Nabali is extremely against going into the Devil¡¯s Sea, I feel that we shouldn¡¯t force him against his own will, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Peter Lee¡¯s words were determined, ¡°I will not force him to do something he doesn¡¯t want to. I¡¯m fine as long as Mr Nabali brings us near the Devil¡¯s Sea. The expedition team can stay outside to fulfill your mission that you havee here for, while we enter the Devil¡¯s Sea. We can arrange a time and date to meet outside, then leave the desert together, what do you think?¡±

    That certainly is a viable way.

 Chapter 1249: Undecided

    <h4>Chapter 1249: Undecided</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    While Peter Lee and Wei Kang talked, Zhang Zian looked at the map once again. ording to the modern map, the area of ??the so-called Devil¡¯s Sea was not huge. In addition, the shape reflected on the ancient map suggested that it was a piece ofnd or a valley. If Peter Lee was right, it would take only two days to get in and get out.

    The expedition team could then use these two days to find the traces of the original Egyptian cat on the periphery of the Devil¡¯s Sea.

    That sounded good. But... This also meant that the two groups would be temporarily separated.

    The expedition team was somewhat undecided on whether this was the correct course of action to take. Most of the trip up until now had depended heavily on Peter Lee and his team. They were like a child who needed a babysitter to take care of them. It was not Peter Lee¡¯s team that needed the expedition team, but the expedition team that needed Peter Lee.

    If nothing happened after Peter Lee¡¯s team went deep into the sea of ??the devil, that would be excellent. However, if something did go wrong... The expedition team could only depend on themselves to leave the desert.

    After a few days of getting along, he learned a lot about Peter Lee¡¯s team members. They always liked to talk about mysticism when they were resting. Besides that, they were excellent individuals and more reliable than Wei Kang¡¯s four pupils. Observing this made him very jealous of the team Peter Lee had assembled.

    If the expedition team tried to leave the desert on their own, it may prove to be highly difficult.

    Wei Kang had already epted Peter Lee¡¯s proposal. Nabari wanted to add to his thoughts, but Peter Lee mentioned it first. ¡°Mr. Nabari, if you are afraid to enter the Devil¡¯s Sea, it doesn¡¯t matter. You can stay outside and wait for us toe out.¡±

    Nabari was obviously disturbed by what he had said. He raised his voice and said, ¡°I can¡¯t bear to see your team walking into death! You simply don¡¯t know how scary the Devil¡¯s Sea is!¡±

    In the eyes of Wei Kang and Peter Lee, Nabari¡¯s world view was very narrow. He had never seen the world. When he imed that the Devil¡¯s Sea was a scary ce, they did not really take him seriously.

    ¡°Mr. Peter Lee, what if you didn¡¯te out of the Devil¡¯s Sea as nned?¡± Zhang Zian suddenly asked the question, point-nk.

    Peter Lee answered lightly, ¡°What dangers do you think we will encounter there? Perhaps...the actual devil?¡±

    His teamughed at hisments.

    ¡°I mean, we have to consider this possibility,¡± Zhang Zian said matter-of-factly. ¡°We have limited supplies. The expedition team can¡¯t wait outside indefinitely. There must be a time limit.¡±

    Peter Lee discussed with his team members and showed three fingers. ¡°Three days. You will wait for us for three days. If we haven¡¯te out after seventy-two hours, you should leave first.¡±

    Along the way, although Peter Lee¡¯s team had also suffered bouts of low morale, they had never had doubts about the goal they were seeking to achieve. Even when Nabari described the Devil¡¯s Sea as terrible, they merelyughed it off.

    Nabari tried his best to persuade them, but both Wei Kang and Peter Lee had already made up their minds. However, Wei Kang¡¯s pupils were uneasy. If possible, they would rather return home now to what they were used to. They had already had enough of this desert, where unfortunate things happened.

    Zhang Zian was one who was most uneasy. On the one hand, he would prefer to stay with the expedition team, as this was the safer option. On the other hand, he had also considered following Peter Lee into the Devil¡¯s Sea.

    He stole a nce at Fina, only to see it squinting. Its eyes gazed in the direction of the Devil¡¯s Sea.

    Even if he did choose to stay outside, it seemed that Fina would go in anyway. On that note, he would certainly not be able to take it with Fina risking her life inside.

    In addition, the problem of the cat god statue that was sitting in his car had not been resolved. If there was an undiscovered pyramid in the Devil¡¯s Sea, it would be a good ce to house the statue.

    Helping Peter Lee might actually be a way of helping themselves. This was because to safely leave the desert, the expedition team would have to rely on Peter Lee.

    Based on estimates made on the map, it took about one and a half days to reach the Devil¡¯s Sea. Zhang Zian would have that amount of time to decide on his course of action.

    Nabari saw that they had already made up their minds. He sighed and gave up trying to persuade them otherwise. He muttered a few words to God.

    After lunch, at about 3 p.m., the intensity of the sun had decreased. The team decided to continue moving ahead.

    The closer they were to their destination, the closer they were to returning home. Although nothing else seemed to have changed, most people¡¯s moods were rtively buoyant.

    At the request of Peter Lee, Nabari led the team to deviate from the ancient road and go into the depths of the unknown desert.

    From now on, even Nabari would not be sure what was in front of him. He had started walking on the ancient road with his father a few decades ago. However, with this new path, he had little experience. In addition, the path may constantly change in as little as a few days.

    Time passed slowly, and in the summer heat, the sun slowly set. The sky soon turned from bright to dark, indicating that it was the evening.

    Nabari, who was at the front, stopped his car and spoke to Zhang Zian through the inte. There was another tall sand dune in front of him. He asked him to get out and use the drone to check the situation.

    The other team members heard the conversation and stopped as well. They got out of their cars to stretch. They gathered together to talk andugh, and some talked with great interest about the Devil¡¯s Sea.

    It was gettingte. They were likely to camp just after scaling this sand dune. Also, with the high temperature subsiding, everyone¡¯s mood lightened a little. It was much like getting off work on a Friday evening.

    Zhang Zian manipted the drone to take off. He had done this many times, and it had be a routine. With each additional time he sessfullypleted the task, more people had seen it and therefore lost interest.

    Nekhbet flew over the sand ridge and first gave a 360-degree panoramic view of the terrain. It then transmitted the image to the remote control¡¯s screen in real time so that Zhang Zian could roughly estimate which side had lower terrain. ording to his experience, the side with a lower height also had gentler slopes.

    The evening light was not very good. The ce where the sun was shining was still rtively bright, but the ces that had no light were very dark. To make matters worse, the contrast between light and dark was very strong.

    The sunset from the west had too much influence on the line of sight. Zhang Zian fine-tuned the height and shooting angle of Nekhbet to minimize the interference of the sunset.

    Halfway through the 360-degree panoramic view of thendscape, something suddenly shed on the screen of the remote control. When Zhang Zian looked again, the sh did not happen.

    ¡°Strange. What was that?¡±

    He used his joystick and manipted Nekhbet to turn back in the opposite direction.

    There was another sh.

    There was no mistake this time. Something was shing in the distance on the back of the sand ridge.

    He let Nekhbet hover in the same ce and aimed the camera in that direction. He then adjusted the focus and erged the picture.

    A blurred ck dot appeared in the picture. s, it was too dark. Even if the focal length had been pulled to the farthest, it would still be impossible to make out what it was.

 Chapter 1250: Mysterious Shadow

    <h4>Chapter 1250: Mysterious Shadow</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    With the low level of human activity that the desert saw, a sudden bright light didn¡¯t automatically mean that there were humans around. The sunset¡¯s light might be reflected if it hit a certain reflective rock with the right shape at the right angle. When Zhang Zian saw the reflective light, he was really excited at first, but he managed to calm himself down.

    Still, with the endless sea of sand around them, it was really weird for a rock to suddenlye out of nowhere.

    The other members were gathered together, happilyughing and chatting. Some of them took the chance to walk further away to answer to Mother Nature¡¯s call, while some of them stayed in their cars with their headphones on to y games. Only Nabari noticed the weird flying pattern of the drone, hovering in midair for some time without moving when it usually would have started flying across the spine of the sand dune.

    The first time Nabari saw the drone, he was extremely shocked. He couldn¡¯t figure out for the life of him how such a tiny metal thing could actually fly freely in the air like an eagle. At the same time, he was extremely impressed with Zhang Zian, who was able to control the drone with ease. To him, this was nothing short of a miracle.

    The others had already lost interest in the drone, while Nabari always watched its takeoff andnding with his full devotion and respect.

    The evening sun reflected off the white metal covering of the drone, making it shine like a star.

    He didn¡¯t know anything about these high-tech things, so even if he had questions, he kept them to himself without rushing Zhang Zian, patiently waiting for its next action.

    Other than Nabari, even if Peter Lee wasn¡¯t fully paying attention to the drone, he could acutely feel that this search was taking longer than usual.

    ¡°Jeff, have you found a suitable ce for us to cross?¡± Peter Lee asked through the walkie-talkie.

    Zhang Zian picked the walkie-talkie up. ¡°Mr. Peter Lee, Professor Wei Kang, Mr. Nabari, I think it¡¯s best if youe over and take a look.¡±

    In order to maintain constant contact and prevent any mishaps, everyone brought their walkie-talkie with them wherever they went, even if they went to the toilet. Other than those with their headphones on, everyone else heard what Zhang Zian had said.

    They weren¡¯t stupid, and they immediately heard the weirdness of his words. Clearly, the drone had found something out of the ordinary.

    Therefore, it wasn¡¯t just the three people that Zhang Zian had called¡ªeveryone else came toward him too.

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    Peter Lee and his team came to Zhang Zian¡¯s car. Zhang Zian showed them the screen on his controller, exining the situation simply.

    Nabari squinted as he looked at the bundle of ck dots, asking, ¡°Could it be a wild camel?¡±

    That was certainly a possibility, no matter whether it was a wild camel or a lost camel. But there were two weird things in that case. One, did camels reflect light? Two, this ck dot didn¡¯t seem to be moving at all. Even if it was a camel, it was probably a dead one.

    Peter Lee took off his tea-colored crystal spectacles, taking a closer look. ¡°I think it looks more like a house.¡±

    Well, that guess was even more improbable. How could a lone house be in the middle of the desert? Even if it was, it was probably a haunted house that no one dared to enter.

    ¡°We¡¯ll know if we fly the drone closer, won¡¯t we?¡± Wei Kang suggested.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°I thought so too. We can fly the drone in that direction to take a look.¡±

    ¡°Just be careful and take note of the distance. Don¡¯t let the drone go out of control,¡± Wei Kang reminded him.

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Seeing that they did not object, Zhang Zian flew Nekhbet in that direction. Their heads all crowded around the small screen, close enough to hear each other¡¯s breathing.

    The others crowded outside, passing on the information that they heard to the others. The mysterious ck dot had piqued their interest, and they passionately discussed what it could be.

    With the drone getting closer, the ck dot on the screen got bigger. But the sunlight was constantly changing as well, so it was still rtively blurry.

    Beeeeeep!

    The remote control gave a warning signal, reminding them that their connection with the drone was pushing its limits.

    If it were a t desert, their range could still be wider. But before them was yet another huge sand dune. When the drone flew over it, the sand dune stood in the way of the connection between the drone and controller, preventing effective signaling between the two.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t dare risk it and immediately made the drone stop its path forward. He instead flew it upwards instead to avoid a blocked signal. The connection between the controller and drone got stronger, but their distance from the ck dot became greater.

    Right then, the ck dot became a vague shape, turning into a ck blob instead.

    Everyone usuallyined about how the sun was too bright, but now they couldn¡¯t help but wish the sun would shine a little longer, a little brighter. The few of them were inches away from having their eyes stered directly onto the screen, and they were finally able to see the true form of the ck blob.

    ¡°It... It¡¯s a car?¡± they said, looking at each other, confused.

    The ck blob was clearly a jeep, half-buried in the sand. And the light was the reflection of the rearview mirrors, the car¡¯s body itself, and the windshield and other ss panels.

    But thereiny the question. Other than them, who would drive all the way out here to the desert in the middle of nowhere?

    Zhang Zian watched Peter Lee¡¯s face. ¡°Other than you guys, who else has seen the sheepskin map?¡±

    Peter Lee quieted as he thought, shaking his head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. I know that before I got my hands on it, it had already passed through countless hands, but no one has treated it seriously, and no one has really investigated where the spot on the sheepskin map was...¡±

    ¡°Maybe someone has and you weren¡¯t aware of it,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°That is a possibility,¡± Peter Lee admitted.

    The sheepskin map was clearly ages old, and the previous owners hadn¡¯t realized its potential value or weren¡¯t insane enough to believe a map that hadn¡¯t been proven to be true. It could just as well be a prank that someone had left behind or a random scribbling that some naughty kid had done¡ªPeter Lee had thought of those things as well, but he had also considered the opposite.

    ¡°It might have been from other expedition teams or the oil miners.¡± Wei Kang pointed out another possibility.

    Nabari is more inclined to believe Wei Kang¡¯s suggestion and pointed to the west. ¡°They might be expedition teams that set off from the Kufra Oasis.¡±

    The Kufra Oasis was within Libya¡¯s borders, the start of the ancient smuggling routes. Their team might have chosen to start from the Siwa Oasis, but other expedition teams were free to start from the Kufra Oasis.

    Nabari was the best guide from the Siwa Oasis, but he dared not say that he was the best guide in the whole Sahara Desert. There might be a guide just as good or even better than him in the Kufra Oasis.

    The possibility of the existence of oil miners wasn¡¯t out of the question either¡ªthey couldn¡¯t underestimate the desire that the oil conglomerates had for looking for more oil mines.

    The only kind of people that he was more jealous of than the ones who had mineral mines were the people who had oil mines.

    If they wanted to know the truth, they definitely couldn¡¯t just stand around guessing.

 Chapter 1251: Facing Danger

    <h4>Chapter 1251: Facing Danger</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Let¡¯s drive over and take a look.¡± Someone said what everyone was thinking.

    Nabari frowned, looked at the sky, and objected, ¡°It¡¯s going to be dark right away. We should wait for daytime...¡±

    Peter Lee shook his head. ¡°No. The victims may still be alive.¡±

    No matter who drove the car into the desert, it was not possible to ignore it. Everyone wanted to know what happened. Besides, not doing anything went against the basic humanitarian spirit, although it was too dark and they could not make out what had specifically happened. They could only make out that the car was half buried in the sand. Perhaps the driver was still nearby but not entirely out of trouble. He might merely be waiting for people to save him.

    Time was of the essence. If there was a victim, a night of waiting could kill him. Moreover, with an off-road vehicle in an unknown situation nearby, no one would be able to sleep well this evening.

    After a little discussion, everyone quickly drafted a n¡ªthe drone would return and look for a gentle slope on the sand ridge. They would then drive across the sand ridge, head for the car, and find out what had happened before making camp for the evening.

    Everyone was very curious about the car. They scattered and returned to their cars, ready to go.

    Zhang Zian withdrew the drone andnded it on the sand ridge that had a gentle slope. Everyone soon smoothly crossed the sand ridge and arrived at the other side of the sand dune.

    At this time, the sky waspletely dark, and all the cars turned on their headlights. It became a sea of white.

    If one was hiking through the desert, the best choice was to move at night in order to avoid the daytime when the sun was strong and very hot. It was best to rest during the day to avoid the loss of water.

    However, driving in the desert at night is very dangerous. Generally, one should try to avoid driving at night. This was because the sand was rugged, and the surroundings were pitch dark. The strong contrast between light and dark and sharp changes in light and shade could easily cause visual fatigue. It made drivers unable to react to danger in time.

    Nabari spoke over the walkie-talkie and asked everyone to stop.

    ¡°Mr. Wei Kang, Mr. Peter Lee, the situation ahead is unknown. If you insist on going to see it, I think it is best not to let everyone go together. It is better to send a few cars forward to do reconnaissance.¡±

    Although Wei Kang and Peter Lee thought that this was unnecessary, they still respected Nabari¡¯s opinion.

    After some consultation, it was decided that Nabari, Peter Lee, Wei Kang, and Zhang Zian would drive forward to check out the situation. The other cars would be on standby.

    This was despite the fact that everyone wanted a sneak peek. However, they knew that this was not possible, and they could only listen to the live broadcast through the inte.

    The four cars decided to travel ahead side by side and drive to the approximate area where the car was. This was so that their lights could cover arge area together, ensuring safety without missing any clues.

    The images from the drones couldn¡¯t urately show the location of the car. While they felt that the four cars covered quite a bit of distance, they still didn¡¯t quite spot the car.

    From time to time, they nced at their rearview mirrors. The lights from the rest of the team behind them were very bright. Despite them being very far away, they were still visible, though the lights flickered. This also proved that the undtions of the sand ridge were veryrge.

    Suddenly, the high beams illuminated a slightly reflective object. It might have been the off-road vehicle.

    ¡°Stop! Stop! Hurry and stop!¡± Nabari suddenly shouted.

    Zhang Zian reacted quickly and was the first one to step on the brakes. The moment he stepped on the brakes, the tires brought up a huge gust of sand beforeing to a quick halt.

    Peter Lee also stepped on the brakes, but unlike Zhang Zian, his vehicle slid a few meters before stopping.

    Wei Kang¡¯s reaction was slower. He went forward a dozen meters beforeing to a stop. Although the car had stopped, the vehicle¡¯s position seemed to be problematic, with the front wheel on one side appearing to sink.

    Wei Kang had only just stopped the car but did not turn off the ignition. He swayed violently in the car. Fortunately, he was wearing a seat belt, otherwise his head might have been caught on the steering wheel.

    He noticed that the front wheel seemed to be stuck in a pit and instinctively switched to the reverse gear to try and get the car out.

    ¡°Don¡¯t move! Don¡¯t move!¡± Nabari shouted. He jumped out of his car and ran to Wei Kang¡¯s car.

    s, it was toote.

    Not only did Wei Kang not get the car out of the pit, his actions also proved counterproductive. His entire vehicle¡ªnot only the front wheel on one side, but also the rear wheel¡ªsank deeper into the sand.

    ¡°Professor Wei Kang! Leave the car now!¡± Zhang Zian saw that the situation was dire and screamed into the walkie-talkie.

    ¡°Prepare the leash!¡± Peter Lee said. ¡°Don¡¯t let the car sink in!¡±

    Wei Kang¡¯s face was pale, and his body was sweaty. He shifted around and loosened his grip on the steering wheel and throttle.

    A word suddenly jumped into everyone¡¯s mind¡ªquicksand!

    They now understood why the off-road vehicle was trapped in the sand. It was probably the quicksand.

    Quicksand was terrible. Like an insatiable bottomless pit, it tried to swallow any object that fell into it. The most terrifying thing was that the surface of the quicksand was often no different from ordinary sand. Therefore, it was only noticeable when things started sinking in.

    The off-road vehicle was heavy, and it was sinking very quickly. In a blink of an eye, the lower end of the car doors were covered in sand. It could no longer be opened for Wei Kang to get out of the car.

    ¡°The window! Come out from the window!¡± Nabari shouted.

    Wei Kang waspletely in panic mode. It was only now that he thought of escaping from the window. He was thin and could easily squeeze through it.

    He lowered the window and struggled to get half of his body out of the window. Then he sat on the window frame, hesitating as if contemting whether to jump or not.

    ¡°Don¡¯t jump! Get to the top of the car! If you jump, you will be buried with the car!¡± Nabari shouted again.

    Wei Kang gritted his teeth and used a great amount of strength to ascend to the roof of the car. He often went to the wilderness, and that gave him good physical fitness. He sessfully climbed from the window to the roof of the car. He crouched on top and grabbed the luggage rack with both hands. His face was as white as paper.

    At this time, Zhang Zian had taken out a rope from his car and thrown it towards Wei Kang. He didn¡¯t know howrge of a range the quicksand had, and he didn¡¯t dare to stand too close. However, the rope itself was very heavy. It was only on the third throw that Wei Kang managed to catch it.

    Peter Lee had already adjusted his car. Zhang Zian tied one end of the rope to the trailer hook behind Peter Lee¡¯s car and instructed Wei Kang to jump.

    Wei Kang gnashed his teeth and jumped, albeit with his eyes closed. His legs immediately fell into the sand, and he felt a suction in the depths of the sand, dragging his feet down. He was now entirely dependent on the rope. He used all the strength left in his tank to pull on the rope and wrapped it around his wrist several times for additional support.

    Peter Lee stepped lightly on the pedal. The rope went taut, and the power from the car¡¯s engine easily defeated the pull from the quicksand. Wei Kang was quickly dragged to safe territory.

 Chapter 1252: Ladder

    <h4>Chapter 1252: Ladder</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Many times, only when humans had a brush with death did they realize how fragile human life was.

    It took mere seconds to go from smooth driving to falling into quicksand. Between climbing out of the window and onto the car and getting out of the quicksand with the lead rope, barely two minutes had passed, but he felt like he had visited hell ande back to Earth again. He was trembling hard, the beads of sweat on his forehead falling as though it had just rained.

    The others who had stayed behind could guess that something bad had happened from what transpired over the walkie-talkie and abandoned everything toe to their rescue.

    Seeing that the convoy had driven closer and closer, he was afraid that someone might fall into quicksand again, so he ordered them to stop.

    Wei Kang had escaped the grasp of death, panting for barely a few seconds before he pushed away Zhang Zian¡¯s helping hand, struggling to point at his own car. ¡°I¡¯m alright! Save the car!¡±

    In the blink of an eye, almost half the car had sunk into the sand, just like the other jeep. But, maybe because this car was bigger, and because it had its car doors closed, it didn¡¯t sink into the sand as quickly as before. It was oddly beautiful how the car was slowly sinking in, just like the moment a sugar cube was dropped into coffee in slow motion.

    The others had realized what had happened earlier on. Even though they hadn¡¯t witnessed the life-threatening situation with their own eyes, the mere thought of it sent shivers down their spines¡ªthe desert had opened its monstrous mouth and tried to swallow both the car and human whole.

    The few students ran over to help Wei Kang up.

    Salem swallowed his saliva nervously. This sight seemed oddly familiar, just like the hidden currents underneath a calm surface, reaching out their ws silently to drag someone into the unknown beneath.

    The sea and the desert were startlingly simr!

    Dozens of car headlights focused on the trapped car. The car in itself was valuable, but even more important were the resources and equipment kept in it. Losing those would have a huge impact on their mission.

    If they wanted to drag the car out of the quicksand, someone had to go over to clip the lead rope onto the hook at the rear end of the car. But no one knew how big the area of quicksand was, and it was dangerous to approach without enough knowledge. It was sinking slowly now, but no one could guarantee that it would not suddenly sink in again with any additional movement.

    No matter what, a decision had to be made. Once the car was mostly sunk into the sand, they wouldn¡¯t be able to save it even if they wanted to, unless they could get a crane out here.

    Just as everyone was searching their brains for ideas, Zhang Zian¡¯s eyesnded on the luggage on the top of the cars. Everyone¡¯s jeep had tents, anti-moisture pads, white cloth, and aluminium frames tied to the luggagepartment on the top of the car. These things were bulky, so it was convenient to leave them on top of the car. They also prevented the car from getting direct sunlight, so it helped lower the temperature a little.

    He took the aluminum frame out of his car before curtly exining, ¡°Build adder. Go in through the air.¡±

    The others were stunned for a moment before realizing what he meant.

    The aluminum frames that they¡¯d brought were meant for free extension, so in theory, they could extend these frames forever if they had enough connectors. Of course, that was just in theory.

    But in order to reduce their weight, the frames were hollow. These were used for building tarps. Whether they could hold a grown man¡¯s weight...no one could be sure

    Everyone helped in their own way, connecting the four frames together to form a long H-shapeddder. One of the ends was set up on the roof of the jeep closest to them, while a few strong men held onto it as they bypassed the area of quicksand to carefully ce the other end on the roof of Wei Kang¡¯s jeep.

    Now that thedder was set up, who was going to go over? It was a dangerous job, and were the perishables and equipment in Wei Kang¡¯s car worth the risk?

    ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡±

    The one who bravely stood up was Salem. At his age, this Bedouin young man was barely an adult, but the look on his face made him look years more mature than the young men his age from the city.

    ¡°I¡¯m the lightest here, and I am quite athletic. Let me try.¡± He puffed up his chest.

    Without counting the Detective and He He, he was definitely the lightest amongst everyone on the team.

    Throughout the trip, Salem had learnt a lot from Nabari¡¯s teachings. Most importantly, he¡¯d realized how ignorant he was¡ªhe¡¯d used to think that, as a Bedouin, he knew a lot about the desert. Now, he realized that he had been arrogant.

    This young man, still undergoing the hormonal teenage phase, was growing at an incredible speed under such harsh conditions.

    Some people felt that it wasn¡¯t right for him to do it, seeing that he was still a child, and he shouldn¡¯t be the one taking this risk. But Nabari patted his shoulder, simply saying, ¡°Be careful.¡±

    Salem shed his jacket, spitting into his palms and grabbing onto thedder with sharp precision. Both his hands and feet wrapped around the aluminum frame while his body dangled below.

    Zhang ZIan wrapped the lead rope around his waist as a security measure. As long as their luck wasn¡¯t rubbish, even if he fell from the frame, he shouldn¡¯t lose his life.

    With everything in ce, Salem moved his hands and feet, starting towards the other end of thedder. As half of Wei Kang¡¯s jeep had already sunk into the sand, it was at a lower height. With their jeep being higher up, Salem¡¯s climb wasn¡¯t extremely difficult.

    His actions were small, and he crawled slowly too. The aluminium poles were circr, and they weren¡¯t the most stable things when locked on the top of the car. Even if a few men were holding onto one end, if he crawled too quickly, he could still cause the pole to roll sideways or start jumping. Then it would be a lot more dangerous.

    Everyone watched his actions, their hearts in their throats, not even daring to breathe too harshly, worried that he would fall into quicksand if he lost his grip. He He even turned her head away, not daring to take a single look.

    When he crawled to the middle of the pole, the long aluminum was clearly bowed from his weight, and its swinging got worse too. But the metal was still a rtively flexible and resilient material, so it did not break.

    Salem quickened his actions, trying to get through the most treacherous middle portions. When he finally reached the other end of thedder, he flipped around to get a grip on the luggage barriers on the top of the jeep before using it as leverage to get on top of the car. Only then did everyone get to breathe a sigh of relief.

    The car had sunk into the sand headfirst, so the trunk was facing up.

    Salemy on top of the car, one hand grasping on the solid luggage railing while the other hand went to unravel the rope tied around his waist. After tossing it a few times, he finally got ittched onto the hook on the back of the jeep.

    Right then, he had to go back before the others could start pulling the car out. No one could be sure whether they could sessfully do that. After all, they might just cause the quicksand to drag the entire car further down.

    The road back was like climbing a slope. Other than being more tired, he had also lost the protection of a safety rope.

 Chapter 1253: Fighting in Unison

    <h4>Chapter 1253: Fighting in Unison</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    While Salem was alone and in danger, no one looked at him.

    During this time, everyone assembled several sets of brackets to form another pair ofdders. The difference now was that the two long aluminum alloy poles that formed the H-typedder were covered with white cloth. This was no longer adder. It was an extra-long stretcher.

    Salem began to climb back, as he had expended a lot of energy during the journey. The way back was achievable only through sheer willpower.

    When he climbed to the center, the longdder started swaying under the influence of his weight and movement.

    Suddenly, there was another torrent of activity. The off-road vehicle trapped in the quicksand suddenly fell.

    The aluminum alloy bracket with a circr cross-section was slippery at the other end, and it was ced on the roof rack. When the off-road vehicle moved, the bracket also slid.

    Salem was caught off guard, and his body swayed along with the long pole. His hands were full of sweat, and he could not catch the long pole. His hand slipped, and he fell.

    Any fall less than two meters in height would cause minimal damage, even if it was not sand but a cement road. The key was that he did notnd on his hand first. However, whaty below Salem was not ordinary sand¡ªit was sinister quicksand.

    Everyone eximed out loud over what they saw. Salem could only see the endless night sky above him as his body entered free fall.

    The stars in the night sky seemed to form Sihwa¡¯s face. She was smiling at him. He reached out to grab her face but could never touch it.

    ¡°It¡¯s a pity that I haven¡¯t seen her yet...¡±

    Salem thought that he would die. Despite escaping the seas the previous time, he was now destined to be swallowed by quicksand.

    His back touched the ground first. However, the sensation of the ground did not feel like sand. It was more like bouncing on a trampoline. He felt a strong recoil as hended.

    ¡°Hey! Use some strength!¡±

    Zhang Zian and several others were divided into two groups. Each group carried a long pole. Using all the muscles in their arms, they raised the poles high and held them steady in ce.

    The extended supportdder, despite being severely bent by Salem¡¯s body weight, was nevertheless strong enough to catch and hold him.

    ¡°Pull back! Pull back!¡±

    They saw that was Salem was safe and lifted the poles while walking backwards. They continued doing so until they had brought him to safend. It was only then that they lowered the poles.

    The unsettled Salem was saved by the others and wanted to thank them. However, Peter Lee interrupted and shouted, ¡°Pull!¡±

    Another off-road vehicle started its engine, and the traction rope was stretched taut. They were trying to pull the trapped off-road vehicle out of the sand.

    If it was on solid ground, the tires might have enough grip. However, in soft sand, the power generated from the off-road vehicle was reduced to only about 30% to 40%, possibly even less. A lot of sand was thrown into the air. The off-road vehicle that was stuck moved a little. s, it only sank in deeper.

    If this continued, even the new vehicle might be dragged into the quicksand.

    ¡°Everyone, pull together!¡±

    Peter Lee ordered that all the idle people, including Salem and Wei Kang, who had just escaped tragedy, line up along the leash and engage in a tug-of-war. They held the rope with both hands and dug their feet in the sand. Their buttocks fell backwards, giving them extra strength to help pull. Some people put the rope on their shoulders and faced backwards, much like pulling a tracker.

    The female Detective and He He also came to help. There was no more space on either side of the rope. Instead, they decided to help contribute and push the vehicle. Even Famous bit the rope and tried to help.

    ¡°One, two, three!¡±

    Everyone shouted and made a concerted effort. The ropes had, by now, dyed their palms and shoulders red.

    The off-road vehicle trapped in the sand moved again. This time, it moved forward a little, oveing the suction of the quicksand.

    Everyone took another step. With every step they were able to take, it meant that they were closer to seeding.

    The entire body of the off-road vehicle was now out of the sand. However, rxing now would make it sink back in again.

    Everyone clenched their teeth and tried their best. Suddenly, the rope became feather-like, and everyone fell forward like bowling pins. They were all covered in sand.

    The trapped off-road vehicle was finally dragged out to solid ground. Everyone was on the ground, panting hard and sweating profusely. Their throats were extremely dry and no one could say a word. Although they were tired, there was a sense of aplishment.

    Together, they hadpleted an incredible feat. United, they were able to ovee the power of nature and the distance between them. Whether in the physical or spiritual sense, they had never been so close.

    They really felt like a team.

    Someone had rested enough and, struggling, went forward to open the door of Wei Kang¡¯s car. The sand in the car rushed out. He tried turning on the engine but sounded something wrong. It didn¡¯t start smoothly.

    Everyone decided to wait until tomorrow to try again. It would be best if it could be repaired. If that was not possible, they could at least transfer the materials and instruments to other cars.

    As for the off-road vehicle that had attracted them here, they now knew that the car was also trapped by quicksand. However, despite all their activities through the night, there seemed to be no movement from the car. Even if there were survivors, the person might have already left the car. There might be no need for concern.

    In addition, everyone had adjusted the direction of the front of the car and concentrated a high-beam light on the car. They then observed the car through a telescope and found that it was a heavily modified Toyota off-road vehicle. They could not make out the production year, but it looked like it had been stuck in the sand for a long time. The possibility of survivors was already very low.

    Peter Lee ordered that, for the sake of safety, all vehicles were to retreat 50 meters before making camp, Wei Kang¡¯s car included.

    Usually at this time, everyone had finished their dinner and started to rest. Today, it had been dyed.

    Wei Kang sighed again and again, regretting his own rashness.

    Zhang Zian and the students triedforting him, as it would be difficult toy the me entirely on him. It was normal to react slower because he was older. Besides, Wei Kang¡¯s vision was not very good, and he still wore sses.

    The sense of excitement had not passed. They first set up their tents, and then they talked about the thrilling scene while cooking dinner. The same was true of Zhang Zian, though he was both excited and worried.

    It was difficult to fend off quicksand. This time around, only one car had been trapped. Also, they¡¯d managed to save all the materials and equipment. It was a blessing in disguise.

    Before reaching the legendary Devil¡¯s Sea, it had already been very dangerous. Was the area really as terrible as Nabari said?

    Besides, who was driving the modified off-road vehicle stuck in the sand? Where had its owner gone?

    Everything was an unknown. They would only know when the day broke tomorrow.

 Chapter 1254: A Different Morning

    <h4>Chapter 1254: A Different Morning</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Morning.

    Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep¡ª

    The third time that the phone¡¯s rm rang, Xiao Tianyu finally sat up from the anti-moisture mat with a huge yawn, his eyes not even open.

    The most infuriating thing was that these weird-tasting water filters were limited-edition. Otherwise, he would have spat out that mouthful of water a long time ago. Now, he could only suffer through the taste as he gulped it down.

    ¡°Ah!¡± With half a bottle of water down, his thirst was kept at bay for the moment.

    The camp was quiet, as no one had woken up yet.

    Xiao Tianyu was used to waking up half an hour earlier than everyone else, as he took a longer time on the toilet. He¡¯d gotten used to ying with his phone on the toilet, so he ended up taking at least half an hour every day.

    He has witnessed how scary Peter Lee is. If he took too long while relieving himself and ended up dying the whole team¡¯s progress, that person woulde over to him. Not to scold him, not to rush him, but to squat down right in front of him and stare at him. That was way too scary!

    So since he couldn¡¯t change his habit, and he didn¡¯t want to go through that kind of horror again, he could only adjust his rm to be half an hour earlier than everyone else¡¯s.

    Even though he was sleepy, the feeling of being at the washroom by himself was pretty great. Under the barest conditions, right under the sky and right above the sandy earth, without any form of dividers at all, a few men squatted beside each other with their behinds bare, and beneath them were a few potholes that they¡¯d dug themselves. If he went toote, he might even unearth someone else¡¯s fresh excretion... Way too disgusting!

    If he went early, then he would leave all of the risk to others.

    Every time Xiao Tianyu relieved himself, he would carefully use the sand to bury it, even smoothing out the surface to make it seem as though no one had touched it. Maybe someone would unearth the mine then...

    With evil thoughts in his mind, he started chuckling to himself like an idiot, the thrill of revenge satisfying.

    His tummy was starting to grumble, and the urge to go came right on time. He picked up a roll of toilet paper in one hand with his phone in his pocket. With the theme song of his newest favorite show on his lips, he pulled open the zipper of his tent before stumbling out of it.

    Unsurprisingly, the others had yet to awaken, and the sky was still dark. There was only a silhouette seated on the top of the outermost jeep. That was thest person on duty for night patrol.

    Xiao Tianyu waved his toilet paper at that person to indicate that he was going to relieve himself and went around the line of jeeps to their designated spot to go to the bathroom.

    In order to be safe against something like someone having diarrheast night, he used his shoes to dig a shallow hole in the sand first before using his hands to dig further when it was safe. When it was all said and done, he took off his pants and squatted, content.

    He raised his phone, ying the shows that he had downloaded onto his phone before they¡¯de to Egypt, proud at himself for how smart he was. There was no inte here, so what could he do to pass the time on the toilet? He didn¡¯t like reading novels either, and there were no ants around to spray his pee at.

    An episode of anime was 20-plus minutes long. If he skipped past the opening and ending songs, it was about 15 minutes long, so he could enjoy two episodes while on the toilet. Of course, he had to change his position throughout his time at the washroom, or his legs would go numb and weak, and he¡¯d end up knee deep in his own sh*t.

    When he¡¯d changed to his third or fourth position, and with the sun a little brighter now, he saw a ck blob in the distance¡ªthe jeep that they had discovered yesterday evening, half sunken in sand.

    ¡°I wonder if there¡¯s any clean bottled water in there...¡± he muttered under his breath.

    But even if there was, he didn¡¯t dare go near it anyway, with all the quicksand around it. He¡¯d rather drink oddly-vored filtered water than to give up his life to Hades.

    He¡¯d heard that they were going to further investigate the car today, but that waspletely unrted to him. He was just here for a nice line on his resume and bragging rights, so he could say that he had been chosen to be part of their expedition to Egypt. If they could get ground-breaking results from their expedition, it would be a huge advantage to his job search after graduation, while the other biology students struggled to find employment.

    ¡°Wake up! Wake up! Wake up, youzy *sses!¡± Peter Lee¡¯s screaming cut through the whole camp.

    Time sure passed quickly. Half an hour was over so soon...

    He turned off his video yer and wiped his butt with the toilet paper, gritting his teeth as he worked against the soreness of his legs to stand up. He pulled his pants up, using his feet to kick at the sand and cover up his smelly excretion, then carefully created some natural waves on it.

    People said that cats had the habit of covering up their own excretions too, but he didn¡¯t have one, and he hadn¡¯t seen it, either.

    ¡°Tch! Perfect! Heh heh, let¡¯s see if I can prank someone today...¡±

    He patted his tummy, satisfied, walking back to the camp grounds.

    ¡°Gah!¡±

    When he walked past the biggest tent, he suddenly heard a weird cawing from it and stopped. He knew that this was Zhang Zian¡¯s tent, and that there was a cat and a dog in there, but what was with that weird noise?

    Oh right, that reminded him. Was this brat secretly enjoying his magic trick to bring up Ms. Zhi Ling?

    Holy sh*t! He had to catch him in the act today and make him teach him his trick! He reached his hand out, and just as he was about to touch the zipper of the tent, he heard another foreign male voice.

    ¡°Hey buddy, I think you¡¯ve got the wrong door. The leather club is two blocks down!¡±

    What the heck? Xiao Tianyu was stunned. He had already slowed down. Had Zhang Zian still heard his footsteps? But who was this man? Why was he in Zhang Zian¡¯s tent this early in the morning?

    Besides, that sentence seemed to be a little familiar, like a passingment on a video. Where had he heard it before?

    ¡°Like embarrassing me, huh?¡± Another sentence came out from the tent, from the same owner as the previous one.

    Xiao Tianyu was even more surprised. How had this person known that he was going to expose Zhang Zian while he was making magic and used it against him?

    ¡°You like that, huh?¡±

    ¡°Yes sir!¡±

    Xiao Tianyu was a hundred percent sure that thest sentence had been spoken by Zhang Zian, but it seemed like there was a special meaning hidden in it...

    Sweat started beading on his forehead and the tip of his nose. He felt like the shut door of the tent would lead to a whole new world that he hadn¡¯t been to before.

 Chapter 1255: Misunderstanding

    <h4>Chapter 1255: Misunderstanding</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The camp gradually shifted from quiet to noisy as everyone woke up. They diligently took down the tents, brushed their teeth, and relieved themselves. Each person¡¯s expression was one of fatigue.

    Xiao Tianyu had always had a good impression of He He. However, this morning, she walked past him without saying a word and had very sloppy hair. She¡¯d gone from a very pretty girl to a somewhat untidy one. She did not look like the same person. If he¡¯d met her on the street, he certainly wouldn¡¯t have recognized her.

    Therefore, his interest in her was slowly waning.

    They walked away from Xiao Tianyu and did what they had to do. Most people didn¡¯t care about him standing where he was. asionally, some people wondered why he was standing in front of Zhang Zian¡¯s tent as if he wanted to open the zipper but did not dare.

    People naturally thought of Zhang Zian¡¯s punishment for him¡ªmaybe he was going to protest to Zhang Zian or simply fight. However, he did not look like he was asking for forgiveness. Rather, it looked like he¡¯d just eaten a living fly.

    If he wasing to fight, everyone would probably stop him. However, since he appeared to be in a daze, everyone was toozy to take further notice of him.

    ¡°You got me mad now.¡±

    There was another indiscernible male voice in the tent.

    What was this? Was the person angry because he had been disturbing them at the door of the tent for a long time?

    Xiao Tianyu started ncing around, trying to see which man was missing from the team. Which man had gone into Zhang Zian¡¯s tentst night? But there were too many men on the team, and it was chaotic in the morning. He could not be sure even after so long.

    Two men in the tent... What could they do?

    What could they do? What? Oh no. He shuddered. Might they both be doing something intimate?

    So... So Zhang Zian was actually this type of guy! Scary!

    Once again, he was d that he¡¯d gotten up half an hour earlier. If he¡¯d gotten up normally and pass motion with Zhang Zian, it would be hard not to think that he was eyeing his big white butt...

    ¡°Who¡¯s strong now?¡±

    The person in the tent seemed to be able to read his thoughts and asked the question in a timely manner.

    Xiao Tianyu had to admit defeat. He¡¯d rather not continue to drink filtered water with a strange smell, but he no longer wanted to have anything to do with Zhang Zian.

    He should no longer stay where he was!

    Perhaps the others already knew about Zhang Zian¡¯s sexual orientation, and, seeing him standing here, they might think that he was also...

    That would be terrible. If this spread, he may not find a girlfriend. Xiao Tianyu decided to leave and maintain a safe distance from Zhang Zian in the future!

    He was just turning around when the voice in the tent said, ¡°ve, get your *ss back here!¡±

    What? They still weren¡¯t letting him go? They wanted him to stay? In addition, how had he be a ve?

    Xiao Tianyu absolutely did not dare to stay and ran away.

    Another sentence came from the tent. ¡°Give up? Give up? No! No! Give up or I¡¯ll take you apart!¡±

    ¡°I give up! I give up!¡± Xiao Tianyu screamed and fled. He trembled in his tent.

    What was going on?

    Last night, Zhang Zian had worked a full night shift. In addition, they had workedte as a team the previous night. He was very sleepy this morning and really didn¡¯t want to get up. However, Richard kept screaming in his ear and always spoke some incongruent English. He was so noisy that Zhang Zian could not fall asleep again.

    He took a towel and aimed it at Richard. He put his head under the towel. The sudden darkness made him react to his own night blindness, and he couldn¡¯t care less about making weird sounds anymore.

    However, just as it spoke thest line, there was the sudden thud of heavy footsteps outside the tent and the same inexplicable sound.

    Zhang Zian put on his clothes, opened the tent zipper, and looked outside. Everyone was busy. No one was at the door of the tent except for a few messy footprints.

    Strange. Was someone eavesdropping outside the tent? Morning time was precious. Who could have that free time to just stand there?

    It might have been a coincidence or a misunderstanding.

    Zhang Zian did not dig deeper. He returned to his tent. He poured water from the bottle for Famous and Fina and drank what was left.

    Yesterday had been exceptionally thrilling. Professor Wei Kang¡¯s off-road vehicle might no longer be able to drive, and they didn¡¯t know if it could be repaired. This was bad news, but in a way it was also good. Observing the reported statistics of fuel consumption, it showed a wee decline for the first time.

    The reason was that everyone¡¯s desert driving had improved, and they had better control of their cars. Second, with the continuous consumption of drinking water and materials, the load on each vehicle was reduced, and fuel consumption would naturally also be reduced...

    Famous and Fina also woke up. They had heard the movement outside the tent, but they were toozy to check what it was.

    ¡°Who was outside?¡± he asked.

    Fina was toozy to open her eyes. She licked the water in her special basin and said, ¡°An idiot.¡±

    Famous also agreed.

    Seeing them like this, he knew nothing serious was going on. He poured out a half cup of water, took some toothpaste and his toothbrush, and went out to brush his teeth.

    Wei Kang passed by his tent and looked backwards while walking. He muttered to himself, ¡°What happened to Xiao Tianyu? He seems to have lost his soul so early in the morning...¡±

    ¡°Professor Wei Kang, how did you sleep yesterday?¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s mouth was full of toothpaste foam, but he greeted him nheless. ¡°Where are you going?¡±

    Wei Kang was dressed neatly and turned to the other side. He did not seem to be going to thetrine.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s okay. I went to see if my car could still be started and tried to fix it, but I am not good at repairing cars...¡± Wei Kang stopped.

    ¡°You should take a break. The others should be able to repair it for you.¡± Zhang Zian spat out the bubbles in his mouth and gestured to Peter Lee and his team. ¡°Ask them to help. You don¡¯t need to be polite.¡±

    Wei Kang¡¯s face did not look very good. He may not have slept wellst night, because Wei Kang was generally more responsible, and he was likely regretful towards his own negligence.

    Wei Kang nodded and sighed. ¡°Okay. You are right. Oh yes, after you are done washing up, take your drone to the other side.¡±

    He pointed to the off-road vehicle that was trapped in the quicksand.

    The process of Salem climbing thedder was very exciting to watch. However, if it was not necessary, it was not worth the same danger again. After all, life was precious.

    They¡¯d had a quick discussion over dinnerst night. They felt that it would be difficult to safely approach the off-road vehicle in the usual way. Even if there were other methods, they would likely prove too time-consuming. It would be better to use a drone to probe.

    Drones didn¡¯t have to be afraid of quicksand as long as they maintained a proper, safe distance. If they did not fly too low, it was quite safe.

    But drones also had some limitations. It was difficult to probe the interior of the vehicle, but it did a better job than the telescope.

    ¡°Good,¡± Zhang Zian promised immediately. Manipting the drone was his job, and he would do what he needed to.

 Chapter 1256: Missing Personâ€™s Call for Help

    <h4>Chapter 1256: Missing Person¡¯s Call for Help</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When Zhang Zian finally finished cleaning everything up, the sun had risen past the horizon, brightening their next extremely hot day. As if the curtains had been opened on a stage and the darkness chased away, the surrounding structures were quickly bathed in light.

    He ced the drone on the hood of his car to assemble it, using the remote to send it into the sky.

    Actually, by now, the others were lending the morning light to see the half-sunken car in the sand some distance away, but they all expressed noises of shock.

    The drone quickly flew to the top of the jeep, suspending itself in the sky before circling it. It uploaded the video footage onto the remote control¡¯s screen.

    How could this be...?

    When he saw the charred body of the car, Zhang Zian was extremely surprised too. This car had clearly been burned to a crisp.

    ¡°What happened? Did the car catch on fire?¡±

    ¡°Maybe it was too hot and the sun¡¯s rays were too strong, so it just caught on fire?¡±

    ¡°We have to be careful and not end up like this car.¡±

    Everyone wasmenting on it, sorry for the loss of the car.

    The night before, everyone had just been illuminating it with their car headlights, so they had noticed the ck on the car. But they had just assumed that it was decoration and never expected that the ck was due to a fire.

    It was umon for cars to catch on fire by themselves, but it was by no means rare. It could be caused by a long time spent in a high-heat environment, but usually it was due to old wires malfunctioning and catching on fire. These stories often appeared in the news.

    Usual people can¡¯t imagine the heat that the Sahara Desert is under at the peak of summer. Under the direct shine of the sun, even dry branches will catch on fire by themselves. If this car had been caught in the quick sand and was subjected to the harsh light of the mes, heat may umte within the car and it¡¯s not too ridiculous to guess that it had caught on fire by itself.

    ¡°No! Look at the traces of the fire! This car doesn¡¯t seem to have self-ignited!¡± Some of them were more sharp-eyed and noticed some abnormal points.

    Other than thepleteness of the frame, all of the windshields and ss were broken ¨C not just shattered, but even melted. This meant that this isn¡¯t just an innocent self-ignitation, as a natural fire would never be able to reach these kinds of temperatures, so a fuel must have been used.

    The fuel might have been petrol, since diesel wasn¡¯t as easy to burn inparison.

    The weird thing was that judging from the stains of the ckening and, the point of ignitation didn¡¯t seem to be near the fuel tank, but instead from the roof of the car, as though someone had poured fuel onto the top and then started the fire.

    So, ording to these details, this car hadn¡¯t been destroyed by self-ignitation, but instead someone had purposefully set it on fire.

    In the desert, there was almost nothing more important than the car. Once the car was destroyed, the driver would immediately be faced with a myriad of problems.

    Of course, in the middle of the desert, no one would be driving by themselves. Normally, they would have partners, and the ruin of one car didn¡¯t mean that they were in danger.

    Just like Wei Kang¡¯s car¡ªit was wrecked, and a horrible thing had happened to the team, but they had at least managed to save their equipment and perishables. This would not deal a lethal blow to their safety and progress.

    But even if so, why burn the car?

    Besides, even if it was a malfunctioning car, it could still be a ce of rest and a ce to hide from the elements. Burning a car also had to use up precious diesel or petrol. No matter how they thought about it, it didn¡¯t make sense.

    Wei Kang and Peter Lee both saw the unbelievable sight. The former had been a part of more than one expedition team, and thetter had been to many strange ces, but neither of them was able to provide an exnation.

    ¡°With the car burnt to a crisp, is there anyone...still in the car?¡± Someone nervously asked the question that everyone had been wanting to ask.

    If there was someone, or even a corpse, then this might have been the scene of a murder. If someone had destroyed the corpse in the middle of the desert, even the best police wouldn¡¯t be able to find the corpse.

    Zhang Zian adjusted the view of the drone, letting the camera look into the car from an angle. Some of them couldn¡¯t bear to look, worried that they might see one or even a few corpses burnt beyond recognition in there.

    Thank goodness, wherever the camera caught, they hadn¡¯t found a single corpse at all, only the bare metal support of the seats, and a thickyer of sand settled on it. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

    As Nabari had been doing his morning prayers, he showed upte. He spread the crowd out and walked to Zhang Zian¡¯s side. He took a long look at the screen, frowning. ¡°This is a cry for help.¡±

    A cry for help? Everyone was stunned.

    Nabari had a lot of experience, and this wasn¡¯t the first time he had seen something like this, so he exined the situation to the rest.

    With the car half-sunken in the quicksand and the driver escaping the ws of death by the width of a hair, this was an SOS that the driver had sent to his buddies nearby or any passing camel groups.

    The methods of making an SOS in the wild were just that few ¨C sending a signal re, shouting or using a whistle, using stones to spell out SOS and hoping for passing nes or ships to notice. Not everyone has signal res, and whistling or shouting has a limited range, and is affected by the wind. As for using stones to write SOS, that¡¯s even more limiting.

    There was one more method, which was to call for help by lighting branches or shrubs on fire to create smoke when they saw boats or nes going past them.

    In the vast, sunny, bright, and extremely visible desert, if a smoke column were to rise, it would be able to be seen from far away, and is one of the most effective methods of asking for help.

    But it was hard to find firewood in the desert, and it was even more impossible to find stone. The only thing that could be set on fire now was this car in front of them.

    When they heard Nabari¡¯s words, a vision of absolute despair shed before their eyes.

    One, or a few, explorers managing to escape from the danger of the quicksand, but the car is stuck with no way to be removed, so they could only wait for help on that same spot. Maybe they did manage to wait for assistance, but their assistance didn¡¯t see them and were about to pass by them, so they poured diesel all over the car and lit it up in desperation. Their car had turned into a bright, burning torch, the ck smoke from the rubber and stic bing their saving grace.

    Desperate, with theirst spark of hope.

    Had they finally been saved? No one knew.

    Peter Lee coughed. ¡°After setting up camp yesterday night, I went online to check the police records for the area. But I didn¡¯t see any rted response for helps in the past one or two years.¡±

    No one cared.

    The desert imed the lives of people every day without a single sound, and every day, people went missing without a trace. The owner of this car might have be one of them. Maybe no one even knew that they had gotten lost in the desert.

    The owner of the car and their motive can only be one of the many mysteries of the desert.

    Maybe it¡¯s because the death is by one of their own species, everyone¡¯s not feeling too well after that too, feeling pity, and also wariness. Hoping that their own team would not fall into the same tracks that these missing people did, and turn into the next ¡°Missing Person¡¯s Case¡±.

 Chapter 1257: Goodwill

    <h4>Chapter 1257: Goodwill</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Since they could not identify the owner of the car or its purpose in the desert, they could only ignore it and continue with their journey.

    After inspection, the engine of Wei Kang¡¯s car appeared to be seriously damaged after being stuck in the quicksand. It could not be repaired now while they were in the desert. It was also impossible to drag it out of the desert. It had to be abandoned.

    Everyone distributed the materials and equipment to the other cars. Wei Kang joined Du Xuetao and took the same car. They were both thin, and together, they weighed about the same as Xiao Tianyu.

    Before leaving, Wei Kang suddenly stopped everyone and said, ¡°Wait a minute. We can¡¯t just leave.¡±

    ¡°What else is there to do?¡± asked Peter Lee.

    Wei Kang pointed to the car and said, ¡°You can¡¯t let this car be there. If there are other people passing by, like another expedition team or oil exploration workers, they will see this car. They will definitely do some type of rescue and exploration work, and they may also fall into the quicksand...¡±

    Everyone agreed that this was indeed a problem. The off-road vehicle buried in the quicksand would be like a death trap, attracting people like moths.

    If they hadn¡¯t seen the car and gone ahead to check it out, they wouldn¡¯t have lost Wei Kang¡¯s vehicle.

    The deep ends of the desert were indeed inessible, but they were not entirely unvisited. There would always be people entering it for scientific expeditions, oil exploration, and other types of explorations. In order to prevent other people from encountering the same danger, it would be necessary to dispose of this car.

    But how should they do so?

    Everyone thought of a way. First, they would tie a spare rope to a small heavy object and toss it at the car. Since the ss of the car waspletely broken, as long as the rope was wrapped around or hooked to the steel frame of the car, with another vehicle applying some pulling force, the quicksand would be tricked intopleting the rest.

    If the surrounding quicksand was disturbed, the idle car would slowly be swallowed despite not moving for a very long time.

    Everyone executed the n. They then cut the rope. In front of everyone, they saw the quicksandpletely engulf the wrecked car. It didn¡¯t take long for the quicksand to settle. No traces of a car could be seen.

    As for Wei Kang¡¯s car, as its shell was still intact, they closed the door and the window but did not lock it. Then they wrote with big, eye-catching words on the inside of the windshield: ¡°Be careful! There is quicksand ahead!¡±

    Everyone wrote the same words in othernguages in addition to English to act as a warning to others. This was the greatest goodwill they could give to all who dared venture.

    After that, everyone got back on the road again.

    Travel, rest, travel. Just as everyone went numb from the familiarity of the rest-work cycle, Nabari spoke nervously over the inte.

    ¡°We are near¡ªnear the Devil¡¯s Sea.¡±

    Everyone seemed to have woken up from the monotony of travel. However, for a moment, they seemed unable toprehend what he¡¯d said.

    Had they really arrived at their final destination, thend marked on the map, the area that the Bedouin called the Devil¡¯s Sea?

    Everyone stopped their cars. It was already evening.

    Nabari stood on a slightly higher sand dune and stared into the distance while muttering away. His eyes were full of helplessness, because he knew that even the true God had abandoned thisnd.

    Everyone jumped out of the car and ran to Nabari. They looked in the direction he was gazing in.

    There were two distinctndforms. The desert they¡¯d driven in before had waves of parallel sand dunes, high and low, big and small. However, here, the magnificent sand dunes disappeared and were instead reced by strange, small, honeb-like sand dunes. They had never seen a simrndscape before.

    Between the honeb sand dunes, there was a tiny whirl of wind. It blew up a small amount of fine sand, like a tomb strolling along with yellow blurred figures.

    However, no one could feel the wind.

    The terrain did not show an obvious decline, which should be therge depression as shown on the map.

    The good news was that the sand here seemed to be tight and unlikely to sink with each step.

    Many years ago, it might have been an oasis. Currently, there was still dead wood struggling to rise out of the sand and waving branches around.

    There was an increased likelihood of man-made buildings here, because when there was an oasis, human activities would arrive. More likely, there might be arge-scale construction project.

    Tightly-packed sands may also indicate that the ground beneath was made up of solid soil or rock. Even after the oasis was desertified, there were still some springs and rivers underground that had notpletely dried up.

    Just a few steps away from everyone, there was a set of white bones, likely belonging to arge animal. The set was notplete. There was only one long spine. It did not look like a camel and might have been a cow or a sheep. It might have also been arge wild beast that lived in the oasis¡¯kes, such as a hippo.

    The ancient Egyptians had used cattle to cultivate thend, donkeys for transportation, and sheep to harvest crops. However, camels had not been used. Camels had only been brought in by the Bedouins after the copse of ancient Egypt.

    Nabari said, ¡°I can only bring you up to here. Up ahead is the devil¡¯s territory. If you want to go, you can only go by yourself. However, I advise you to stop here. No matter how big a secret is, it¡¯s not worth risking your life.¡±

    Everyone heard him but brushed off hisments. After all, they¡¯d managed to arrive here after a lot of hardships. If they went back just like that, why even bother toe?

    This was especially true for Peter Lee and his team. They had had sufficient psychological preparation for this, and therefore, they could not be scared off by a few unfounded words from Nabari.

    Zhang Zian looked back and was surprised at how calm He He was. After seeing the animal¡¯s bones and hearing Nabari¡¯s warning, she was slightly scared, but not too frightened. Perhaps she¡¯d grown while traveling on the road?

    Wei Kang did not intend to go deep into the Devil¡¯s Sea. He was more concerned about where Nabari had encountered the cats.

    Nabari shook his head. ¡°That was a long time ago. The terrain has changed. I can¡¯t find it now, but I am sure it is nearby.¡±

    Wei Kang and Peter Lee looked at each other and nodded. There was a sense of mutual understanding on both of their parts. Both had their own purposes for being here, and no one would leave easily.

    ¡°Tonight we make camp here. We will discuss everything else tomorrow morning,¡± Peter Lee ordered, and everyone set up camp on the outskirts of the Devil¡¯s Sea.

    When Nabari saw that he could not discourage them, he sighed and whispered, ¡°All of you will regret it.¡±

 Chapter 1258: Stunned

    <h4>Chapter 1258: Stunned</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The next day, everyone got up very early. Even without Peter Lee rallying them, everyone got out of the tents. Everyone was either excited or anxious. They felt that the key moment of their expedition had arrived.

    After breakfast, everyone got together. The difference was that Peter Lee¡¯s team had packed up the tents and were ready to go, while the expedition team¡¯s tents were still intact, as were Nabari and Salem¡¯s tents.

    It was time to separate.

    ¡°ording to what we said before, my team and I will enter the Devil¡¯s Sea, and Professor Wei Kang¡¯s team will stay here. If we haven¡¯te back after seventy-two hours...¡± Peter Lee looked at Nabari and continued. ¡°Just ask Mr. Nabari to take you out of the desert first. When you return to the tribe, tell your chieftain that you have fulfilled your promise to me.¡±

    Nabari nodded with a heavy heart.

    ¡°Of course, I don¡¯t mean that we will be in danger in the Devil¡¯s Sea. It is more likely that we will encounter something interesting and stay behind longer, thereby dying our return.¡± Peter Lee may have felt that his words were rather unlucky and decided to reassure everyone. ¡°Along the way, we have recorded the GPS coordinates and can safely return on our own. Even if we are a few days dyed, we will implement a quota on the supply of food and water. We will be able to endure it, no big deal.¡±

    He chuckled and continued. ¡°This is also not the first time we have starved. We faced situations in which we had ack of food before, and we survived those. What say you, my team?¡±

    ¡°Well said!¡±

    ¡°No problem!¡±

    His team members were confident in his leadership.

    For both teams, the preparations before entering the desert were abundant. They both carried a lot of water and food. Just as he¡¯d said, a few additional days in the desert merely meant a period of supply rationing. Without any other major idents, they would still be able to safely leave the desert.

    A quota on supply would unfortunately be a blow to morale. If everyone chose to operate as individuals, there would be civil strife due to insufficient food or water. There had been many such cases. Unless absolutely necessary, Wei Kang would hope not to do so.

    However, Peter Lee¡¯s team was a tried-and-tested team. Each team member had the same beliefs, and the possibility of civil strife was very low.

    To be honest, the expedition team should focus solely on themselves and not add to the worries of others. That would be a job well done by itself. Wei Kang knew this, and he nodded slightly.

    The adventurous Salem wanted to follow Peter Lee¡¯s team to the Devil¡¯s Sea, in the hopes of earning bragging rights¡ª¡±I am the only Bedouin who dares enter.¡±

    However, as soon as Salem saw the look on Uncle Nabari¡¯s face, he knew that he would not be able to make that trip.

    Zhang Zian had thought for a long timest night and still couldn¡¯t make up his mind. ording to his own analysis, the probability of facing danger in the Devil¡¯s Sea was not high, but there certainly must be a reason for the Bedouin to avoid the area. Nevertheless, he felt that since he was here, why not enter the ce?

    ¡°Zhang Zian, teach me more Chinese over the next three days!¡± Salem ran over and wrapped his arms around Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulders.

    Along the way, Zhang Zian taught him some sporadic Chinese greetings, but Salem was not satisfied. If he wanted to learn greetings, he could go to the small business hawkers who sold goods to Chinese tourists. He wanted to learn what he deemed ¡°real Chinese.¡±

    Zhang Zian did not know what to do. Having learned a few greetings and swear words, Salem seemed to think that Chinese was an easynguage to learn. That was not true at all. Merely learning all the correct names for rtives and how to address them was such a headache!

    Except for Zhang Zian himself, the others did not know that he considered entering the Devil¡¯s Sea. Thus, once Peter Lee finished his speech, he asked his team to get in the cars and prepare to leave.

    Zhang Zian could only keep it to himself, as it would be troublesome to exin his motives. Fina or the Holy Cat statue would be difficult to exin. People might even think it was an excuse for him to follow Peter Lee¡¯s preaching.

    Then...the only remaining option was to, over the next three days, find an opportunity or an excuse to enter.

    Another reason that was somewhat less righteous to talk about was that, by letting them go first, they would help clear the road and make sure it was a safe path. They would bear the brunt of any danger... If anything were to happen up front, he would be able to pause and head back to safety.

    He nced at Fina, who was also very calm. She did not seem to care much about entering or not.

    The expedition team watched Peter Lee¡¯s team line up and send dust flying into the air as they drove into the hive like sand dunes. They soon disappeared over the horizon. They could only gauge where they¡¯d gone by the sand that was disced.

    After a while, the dust settled, and the team waspletely gone.

    Wei Kang wiped his palms and woke the expedition team up. He said, ¡°Stop staring and start working. There may be animals in the vicinity. Set up the infrared camera. Zhang Zian, use your drone and observe the terrain.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    Everyone replied in unison and went to take care of their respective tasks.

    Nabari and Salem were not assigned tasks. The former sat down on a nket and smoked while looking out at the Devil¡¯s Sea. Thetter kept bothering Zhang Zian, asking him to teach him Chinese.

    Zhang Zian manipted the drone to take off. Although Peter Lee¡¯s team was invisible to the naked eye, the drone could still spot them.

    He noticed the route they took and secretly took note of it in his mind. His mouth then kept talking to entertain Salem.

    ¡°Zhang ZIan, I want to learn the most authentic Chinese, not writtenmunication. Do you understand what I mean? I find that you Chinese people rarely say ¡®hello,¡¯ so how do you usually say hello?¡± Salem asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t say ¡®hello¡¯ with my friends. That would be rather strange. As for with strangers...we don¡¯t say it much either,¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    ¡°Yeah! I noticed. So when I first meet Sihwa, what should I say? Do you have any suggestions?¡± Salem said. ¡°I want her to be amazed by me!¡±

    Zhang Zian was deep in thought over other things. He replied offhandedly. ¡°For that...usually we say, ¡®What are you looking at?¡¯¡±

 Chapter 1259: Never Tired of Teasing

    <h4>Chapter 1259: Never Tired of Teasing</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    While Salem was learning the Chinesenguage, Zhang Zian was curious about the semi-transparent miniature whirlwinds that he saw between the dunes. How did they form? Why didn¡¯t they dissipate after a while?

    Was it due to the unique geographicalndscape? When the wind blew through the honeb sand dunes, it changed direction because of the shape of the sand dunes. Might this be simr to how water formed a vortex after flowing through a reef?

    In order to learn the authentic Chinesenguage, Salem diligently helped Zhang Zian by carrying the drone suitcase. Wherever Zhang Zian went, he followed and tried to learn from him.

    The strange phrases that Zhang Zian said made him curious. He had never heard them before while interacting with Chinese tourists.

    ¡°Zhang Zian, can you say it again? I didn¡¯t hear it clearly,¡± he begged.

    ¡°What are you looking at?¡± Zhang Zian repeated.

    ¡°You... stinky prawn?¡± Salem tried to imitate the pronunciation.

    ¡°No, it is ¡®What are you looking at?¡¯¡± Zhang Zian corrected him.

    ¡°What are you looking at?¡±

    Salem had a lot of talent learning a newnguage. After all, he was a young man and could learn things quickly. In addition, he had a high degree of enthusiasm and motivation. After he repeated it several times, he had learned the pronunciation.

    ¡°That... If someone else said it first, how can I respond? Do I reply by saying the same thing?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Of course not! You have to respond, ¡®I¡¯m lookin¡¯ at you. You got a problem with that?¡¯¡± Zhang Zian said seriously.

    Salem imitated him. ¡°Hey... mud?¡±

    ¡°The ent should be ced on thest word. When you say it, you should have an imposing manner. It is best to stare at the person as you say it. ¡®I¡¯m lookin¡¯ at you. You got a problem with that?¡¯¡± Zhang Zian broke it down and taught him slowly.

    Richard¡¯s ws suddenly grabbed his shoulder. It meant, ¡°You are teaching him wrong things!¡±

    ¡°¡®What are you looking at?¡¯... ¡®I¡¯m lookin¡¯ at you. You got a problem with that?¡¯... ¡®What are you looking at?¡¯... ¡®I¡¯m lookin¡¯ at you. You got a problem with that?¡¯...¡± Salem muttered repeatedly and carefully tried to remember the newly learned greetings. He wanted to use them when he eventually went to China. Even if he could not go to China for a while, he could at least make a video call to Sihwa.

    He didn¡¯t quite understand why he had to stare when he said, ¡°¡®I¡¯m lookin¡¯ at you. You got a problem with that?¡¯¡± Maybe this was the custom of the Chinese when talking. The staring was probably to suggest friendliness. After all, it was said that the eyes were the window to the soul, and staring opened the window. The wider it was, the more likely Sihwa could see his true feelings.

    ¡°Zhang Zian, I am done learning! Help me practice!¡± Salem said with great interest.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°Good! What are you looking at?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m lookin¡¯ at you. You got a problem with that?¡± Salem stared at him with a face full of rage.

    Perhaps because it was gic, the Bedouins had facial features that were highly pronounced and big eyes. Salem¡¯s actions made his alreadyrge eyes even bigger.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the spirit!¡± Zhang Zian said and raised his thumb.

    Salem had gotten apliment, and he was feeling really good about himself.

    Richard covered his face with wings and couldn¡¯t imagine what kind of troubles Salem would encounter if he came to China. He was afraid that he would be killed before even leaving the airport...

    Famous and Fina knew that he was being yful again and could not be bothered with Zhang Zian. They picked up their matszily and ran to a cool and ventted ce under the car to rest.

    Having learned how to greet others, Salem was very satisfied. He then remembered he had another question and asked, ¡°Oh, yes, Zhang Zian, you taught me how to eat, drink, watch movies, and sing. These are phrases. I don¡¯t quite know how to use them in sentences,. Can you teach me? Why can¡¯t you eat water and drink rice?¡±

    Zhang Zian was not anguage teacher. Could he really exin this well? These were the phrases that the Chinesemonly used and did not give much thought to how to use them.

    He was annoyed when asked, but he didn¡¯t want to say that he didn¡¯t know. He replied, ¡°These usages are all used to teach foreigners. In fact, the Chinese are not soplicated! Since we have such a great bond, I will let you in on a secret. One word is all you need to settle everything. That is the word ¡®whole¡¯!¡±

    Salem was shell-shocked from what he¡¯d heard. He¡¯d thought that it would be difficult to learn Chinese, especially so theplicated verbs. In the end, was all this simply to make things difficult for foreigners? Were they so unwilling to let others learn theirnguage? If that was true, it was simply horrible!

    Fortunately, he had a good rtionship with Zhang Zian, and therefore, he¡¯d learned this secret so easily. He now had a word that could rece all adverbs, and it truly made things easy.

    A ¡°whole¡± word¡ªmagical!

    He still didn¡¯t dare to believe itpletely. He tried to ask, ¡°That can be for eating...¡±

    ¡°Whole bowl of rice!¡±

    ¡°Drinking water is...¡±

    ¡°Whole ss of water!¡±

    ¡°Watch a movie... I know, the whole movie?¡±

    Salem seemed to have gotten it. Yet he did not know that he had been fooled...

    ¡°Yes! No wonder your cousin praises you for being smart!¡± Zhang Zian once again gave him a thumbs-up.

    Salem smiled modestly. Although it was necessary to add additional nouns, thebination of new nouns was rtively fixed, making it way easier to learn.

    In the spirit of helping people all the way, Zhang Zian added, ¡°If you really don¡¯t know what to do, just say ¡®Whole what?¡¯ or ¡®What whole?¡¯ is good enough. Others can understand what you mean.¡±

    Salem was almost moved to tears. Chinese was so simple to learn!

    ¡°Forgot to mention that if you talk like that to a Chinese, they will definitely ask if you are a Northeastener.¡± Zhang Zian remembered a loophole.

    Salem replied, ¡°A Northeasterner?¡±

    ¡°Well, you see, isn¡¯t Egypt in the northeast of Africa? So if the Chinese ask you if you are a Northeastener, you just say yes,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    Seeing that Salem believed whatever Zhang Zian said, Richard quickly criticized him. ¡°You idiot! You are really horrible. I am clearly incapable of doing these bad things like you have done!¡±

    Richard felt that he had to say something after seeing Salem whispering to himself all the new knowledge that had been given to him, revising things that would not truly prove useful to him.

    Zhang Zian did not back down. ¡°What do you know? I am helping him take shortcuts!¡±

    Richard mmed his wings into Zhang Zian¡¯s head. ¡°To hell with your shortcut! Don¡¯t you know? The Northeastern way of speaking is very contagious. Put a Northeasterner in the university dormitory and four yearster everyone is going to speak like that! When Salem returns to the tribe...it¡¯ll be all your doing!¡±

    Zhang Zian shuddered. After a few years, would the Bedouin tribe speak like the Northeastern Chinese?

    That might just be a beautiful scene. s, it was also difficult to imagine...

 Chapter 1260: New Arrangements

    <h4>Chapter 1260: New Arrangements</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Since entering the desert, the expedition team finally had an opportunity for afortable day with nothing major going on. They did not have to sit in the furnace-like cars, and they did not need to endure Peter Lee¡¯s roll call every morning. The male students followed Wei Kang to set up the infrared cameras. With that, they could rx.

    Several fat, thin, tall, ck, and white bodiesy on mats without their tops. They wore only beach pants and sunsses. They had a few cans of hot beer on hand andy in a daze, thinking of nothing and merely waiting for the sun to set.

    It was a fabulous day, fit for a king. This was the research life that scientific personnel expected.

    The cat was a nocturnal animal, and it would onlye out at night¡ªassuming there were cats nearby.

    Wei Kang did not enjoy life like his students. Instead, he talked to Nabari about the desert. Nabari had seen all kinds of strange things in the desert for decades, and that was more interesting than any storybook.

    Salem had constantly stalked Zhang Zian, asking him to teach him Chinese, so much so that he did not know what he had taught him. He He didn¡¯t mix with anyone. She merely sat alone and sighed. Sometimes Gao Ke came over to chat, but she did not seem interested in having a conversation.

    Perhaps she was a pampered young girl who hade to Egypt and suffered hardships. She might have been frightened. She must have been eager to return to her parents.

    Time flew by, and it was soon evening.

    A few days ago, everyone had been tired and took every opportunity to sleep. After dinner, they could only think of sleep. However, today, no one was tired, since nothing much was going on. The rtionships of the students were also not as cordial as before. Whatever conversations they had were rather awkward. In the end, no one spoke, and all made excuses to return to their tents and use their mobile phones to pass time.

    Zhang Zian was annoyed. In order to force Salem to stop bothering him, he taught him tons of Chinese (in the Northeast Chinese ent) and then let him slowly digest it. He finally got some time to himself.

    During the day, the drone was used to explore the nearby terrain. As the sand in this area was tighter, it was conducive to driving vehicles. In addition, there was no undting parallel sand dune blocking the outer area of ??the Devil¡¯s Sea. It was expected that the speed of the fleet would be greatly improved. In addition, the expedition team was not following them as well. With a full day of driving, Peter Lee¡¯s team would likely have made it to the central area of ??the Devil¡¯s Sea by tomorrow morning at thetest.

    What would they see there? Saying that Zhang Zian was not curious at all would be a lie.

    The students returned to their tents, and he sat there alone with the camping lights, deep in thought.

    ¡°Xiao Zhang, what are you thinking about?¡± Professor Wei Kang walked over with a cup of coffee to chat.

    ¡°I¡¯m not thinking about anything, just zoning out.¡± Zhang Zian straightened his body and said, ¡°Did you have a good rest, Professor Wei Kang?¡±

    Wei Kang looked for the folding chair to sit down. ¡°I miss Peter Lee¡¯s team. Will they meet with danger in Devil¡¯s Sea? I also worry about whether the location of the infrared camera will work. Finally, I also want to discuss vigil duties for the night.¡±

    They had originally shared the vigil task with Peter Lee¡¯s team. However, now that they had left, the expedition team could only rely on themselves.

    ¡°Now that we have a small number of people and there is no abnormality along the way, do you still think the vigil is necessary? After all, there seem to be norge beasts around,¡± Wei Kang said.

    Although it sounded like a discussion, Wei Kang had, in fact, indicated his preference on night vigil.

    Zhang Zian thought about it and raised his objection. ¡°We should be prepared for danger. In this wilderness, anything can happen. It always gets more dangerous when we let our guard down. I think it is better to stay up through the night.¡±

    Wei Kang attached great importance to his opinion and nodded. ¡°You are right. I asked Mr. Nabari. He also thinks so. Since your opinions are the same, I will inform everyone of our intention. Come over, and let¡¯s discuss the rotation order of the vigil.¡±

    With that, Wei Kang got up and was about to call everyone.

    ¡°Wait, Professor Wei Kang.¡± Zhang Zian stopped him. ¡°You don¡¯t have to discuss with the others. I can take on tonight¡¯s vigil alone.¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡± Wei Kang said, ¡°You alone? The whole night? No! No! How can that be? Everyone takes turns, and we rotate shifts.¡±

    ¡°Professor Wei Kang, listen to me¡ªyou have scientific research tasks, while I have nothing to do during the day. Since I am fairly idle and can make up rest during the day, let me do it. It is merely three nights. It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    In fact, Zhang Zian felt that his four students were fairly unreliable. To let them keep the night was like handing their lives to them. In addition, he could put the elfins out during the vigil and ask Old Time Tea and dimir to help him.

    Wei Kang did not know this and merely felt it was unfair for him. However, he said nothing.

    ¡°I will help you too.¡± Nabari walked over with a hookah. ¡°Zhang Zian and I each take half the night, so it should be fine. Let the rest of you rest.¡±

    Obviously, Nabari also had simr concerns.

    Along the way, Nabari stood by and evaluated the performances of everyone on the team to determine who was reliable and who was unreliable. He was a quiet man, but he was crystal-clear on his judgments.

    Camping on the edge of Devil¡¯s Sea had made him very uneasy. He was unwilling to hand his safety and life to a few unreliable young people.

    If two people kept the vigil, it was unlikely to be too stressful for either. Wei Kang reluctantly agreed and did not say anything else. However, he felt indebted to the both of them.

    Nabari and Zhang Zian hit it off and talked about the n. They decided on who should start the vigil and who would take the second shift. They also agreed to swap this arrangement for the second night.

    After deciding, Zhang Zian returned to his tent to rest and wait for his shiftter at night. He also advised Wei Kang to return to the tent to rest.

    The camp was half empty, and it was very quiet at night. If you listened closely, even the sound of the wind blowing the sand could be heard.

    Everyone felt vaguely that not only were the people gone, but also their sense of security. People were social animals. The more people there were, the more peace of mind they would have, for there was power in numbers.

    Zhang Zian soon fell asleep soon. Suddenly, there was a slight banging sound at his tent door, and he opened his eyes.

    ¡°Zhang Zian, are you awake?¡± Nabari asked softly.

 Chapter 1261: Missing

    <h4>Chapter 1261: Missing</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Since he had just woken up, Zhang Zian¡¯s mind was still somewhat fuzzy. In addition, he had this constant fear that something was wrong, that perhaps something bad had happened. He looked at the time and realized it is time to change shifts with Nabari. This might be a sign that perhaps nothing was wrong and everything was still normal.

    ¡°I am awake,¡± he replied as he got dressed. ¡°Mr. Nabari, please go take a break.¡±

    Nabari¡¯s footsteps indicated that he was slowly walking away.

    Zhang Zian yawned and saw that Famous was awake too. He said, ¡°You can continue to sleep for a while if you want to.¡±

    ¡°I will go with you. I slept a lot during the day, and now I am not sleepy.¡± Famous stood up, looking very well rested.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Zhang Zian got dressed and was about to leave the tent when he sensed that something was wrong. He used a mobile phone to illuminate the space and looked around the tent, but he found nothing unusual.

    Subsequently, his gaze fell on the small mat that Fina slept on.

    Fina sometimes slept with a thin nket and sometimes without it. Today she had covered herself with it, and the nket could be seen bulging.

    Zhang Zian had already been doing two nights¡¯ worth of shifts. Every time he was woken up by someone in the middle of the night, Fina wouldin, then turn over and fall asleep again. However, today, the nket had not moved at all.

    Fina loved to sleep, but it is impossible that she had not heard Nabari¡¯s voice. For her to be woken up without making a ruckus was not possible. Zhang Zian¡¯s instincts were clearly onto something.

    ¡°Fina, do you want to go together? Don¡¯t just eat and sleep all day,¡± he said.

    If Fina was there, he would certainly get another hole in his denim pants, but the nket remained motionless.

    Famous also noticed something wrong. He sniffed and said, ¡°Fina is not in the tent.¡±

    Zhang Zian slowly went forward and cautiously picked the nket up. This was a dangerous action. If he was wrong, he could get a lot more scratches.

    There was no Fina under the thin nket, only two empty water bottles.

    Empty bottles could not simply magically appear in the tent. That was definitely the doing of Fina, who had deliberately used the empty bottles to pretend that she was still sleeping. In fact, she had already secretly left the tent.

    Where could Fina have gone?

    When he thought back on her recent abnormal behavior, the answer was obvious ¨C she had likely gone to the Devil¡¯s Sea all by herself.

    He was secretly angry at Fina. Why had she not discussed this with him before making such a decision?

    The fact of the matter was that he had always wanted to go in, yet he did not want to go in with Peter Lee and his team. He wanted to find another more opportune way to enter. Why couldn¡¯t Fina have waited a little longer?

    ¡°I slept too much and didn¡¯t notice anything...¡± Famous said angrily.

    ¡°I don¡¯t me you. If she really wants to hide something from us, she will always seed.¡± Zhang Zianforted Famous.

    He was feeling very anxious, but in times like this, it was even more important to stay calm.

    He looked at the time and said, ¡°She can¡¯t drive and shouldn¡¯t have run far. We have time to catch up.¡±

    Pulling down the tent zipper, he and Famous rushed out.

    The surroundings were silent, and Nabari had already returned to the tent to rest. They were the only ones awake.

    Famous bent down and started sniffing. However, Fina seemed to have anticipated this and thrown about many conflicting areas around the tent. This made Famous sniff around the ground in circles, unable to determine which was the actual recent smell of Fina.

    s, it was a good n, but there were loopholes.

    Although Zhang Zian was not as sensitive as Famous, he could guess what Fina was doing. If he were to work as Fina had nned, he would most certainly be fooled.

    He patted Famous and brought him to the edge of the camp closest to the Devil¡¯s Sea. There, they found the fresh smell of Fina and even saw her footprints. They were visible on the sand, albeit rather shallow. They disappeared into the darkness of the Devil¡¯s Sea. Had it not been for Famous, Zhang Zian would most definitely have missed them.

    Fina¡¯s tricksid around the tent were supposed to dy Zhang Zian¡¯s search. However, that did not happen, and it had instead made her lose precious time.

    In addition, her footprints had not been buried in the fine sand by the night wind, further adding proof that Fina had just left.

    ¡°Are we going to chase after Fina?¡± Famous stared into the dark, eager to go. He felt that it was his responsibility to keep an eye on Fina, and he wanted to make up for his mistake.

    ¡°Wait.¡± Zhang Zian looked back at the camp. If he were to chase after Fina, wouldn¡¯t the camp be without a vigil?

    He had volunteered to take over the duties of the vigil, and everyone trusted him. Now, he was ditching his job. What if something bad happened?

    Asking someone to take over may prove more difficult. Luckily, he could turn to his elfins for help.

    Facing the air, he released Old Time Tea, dimir, Snowy Li, and Gxy. He left Sihwa and Pi in his mobile phone, as they were still sleeping. Not waiting for the elfins to ask, he quickly exined the situation at hand.

    ¡°Fina ran into an area that could be dangerous. I am going to chase after her now! Master Old Time Tea, please help me to take care of the camp...¡±

    He had yet to finish his sentence, and Old Time Tea hadn¡¯t responded. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his calf, as if he had been pinned.

    ¡°Oh no! I have been stung by a scorpion!¡± He immediately remembered the Orthochirus Innesi that he had encountered before, and he got so afraid that his legs went soft!

    He could not believe that despite all that he had been through, perhaps this was the day that he died.

    The scorpions in the desert were often highly toxic. Even if one was lucky enough to retain their life, they were more than likely to lose their mobility for a day. If that happened, who would search for Fina?

    If this thing was made known, how could he keep up his own reputation?

    ¡°Hey hey hey! There is no scorpion!¡±

    Zhang Zian turned and saw that there was no scorpion behind his calf. He was instead stepping on Snowy Li.

    It licked its ws and looked at him fiercely. ¡°Smelly man, bring Old Time Tea with you to chase down Fina. I will watch over the camp!¡±

    Snowy Li knew that its legs were not built for speed and would likely slow everyone down. Thus, it volunteered to rece Old Time Tea to look after the camp instead.

    Zhang Zian, seeing that it was not a scorpion, heaved a sigh of relief.

    He decided to take Snowy Li¡¯s suggestion. After all, he doubted that anything would happen at the camp. Making Old Time Tea guard the camp seemed like overkill as well.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go. I will fill everyone in on the details as we go!¡±

    Time waited for no one. He rushed the elfins to prepare to set off immediately. As for Richard, he would be left to sleep in the tent. Anyway, with his night blindness, it would be cumbersome to bring him along.

    ¡°You stupid man, you better bring Fina back unharmed. If she loses a single strand of hair... I will turn you into a human meat patty!¡± Snowy Li snarled as she gnashed her teeth.

    Zhang Zian had no time to bicker with her¡ªalthough he hoped it was just bickering that they were having.

    At the front of the pack, Famous sniffed for the smell of Fina. Zhang Zian and the other elfins followed behind. At the deepest time of the night, without saying goodbye to anyone, he ran into the horrornd described by the Bedouin as the Devil¡¯s Sea.

 Chapter 1262: Disturbance

    <h4>Chapter 1262: Disturbance</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The light of the camp got farther and farther away. After he passed a small honeb-like sand dune, it finally disappeared.

    Zhang Zian was worried that someone would get up in the middle of the night and see him leaving the camp. He had been walking barefoot in the dark. Now, he could finally use his shlight, but even so, Fina¡¯s footprints were difficult to spot.

    Her stride was sometimes long, sometimes short. It was long when walking straight, but rather short when turning. Sometimes, she would jump to the side, as if avoiding something.

    In general, her footprints coincided with Peter Lee¡¯s squad car prints on the ground. This meant that they were all heading into the depths of the Devil¡¯s Sea.

    Zhang Zian judged that Fina had not gone far and decided not to drive. Driving would make it harder to track her and likely wake up the other members of the expedition team.

    Fina might have been to the Devil¡¯s Sea before, but 2,000 years had since passed, and it was now a strange ce to her. Thus, she proceeded with caution and did not move too fast.

    Famous walked in the front, and the other elfins fanned out to expand the search area.

    He simply told the rest about Fina¡¯s disappearance without giving too much detail. He also said that she had been behaving abnormally recently, including eating and drinking a lot. Perhaps she was storing fat in her body like a camel.

    Old Time Tea sighed a little. ¡°Fina is stubborn. What she wants to do, she will get done immediately.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s okay, but she should at least mention it to us and not leave quietly. Won¡¯t her actions simply make us worry more about her?¡± asked Zhang Zian. His shlight was shining only on his feet. The elfins didn¡¯t need the lighting.

    ¡°I would definitely not sit around to wait for her. However, ording to the Bedouin guide, the Devil¡¯s Sea is a dangerous ce. You will not want to be involved in the danger,¡± said Old Time Tea.

    Old Time Tea seemed to be able to understand Fina¡¯s train of thought very well. Everyone could picture Fina saying this. ¡°This is my own business. What business do you have getting yourself involved?¡±

    ¡°It is dangerous... Yet howe I do not see any danger?¡± He used his shlight to illuminate the surroundings. He couldn¡¯t care less about Nabari¡¯s warning.

    At night, dead branches that struggled toe out of the ground were like ghosts¡¯ ws scratching thendscape. Miniature whirlwinds whispered and blew, and dust that rolled up often got in his eyes. The scene reminded him of horror flicks he¡¯d seen. If he had to walk through here alone, he would probably feel very afraid. However, with the elfins around and talking merrily, he did not feel that afraid.

    Besides, dimir couldn¡¯t wait for ghosts toe out so he could fight them.

    He prayed hard that ghosts did not appear, for he would worry about his own safety if they did.

    A sudden sound startled Zhang Zian. Everyone looked at him, as the sound seemed to havee from him.

    He groped his body and touched the walkie-talkie at his waist. It seemed to being from the walkie-talkie.

    Who was talking? The research team? Peter Lee¡¯s team?

    Thetter was unlikely because it was reasonable to say that they had driven far away, out of the coverage of the walkie-talkie. This was, of course, unless they headed back to camp.

    He took off the set off his waist and put it next to his ear.

    He was not sure if he was far enough away from the camp and didn¡¯t want to wake up the expedition team. Thus, he didn¡¯t speak, just listened silently.

    There was another sharp whistle.

    This time the walkie-talkie was close to his ear. He heard it clearly. Although it was not high-pitched, the sound nevertheless stabbed his eardrum like a fine needle, and it hurt.

    He hurriedly removed the walkie-talkie from his ear. The elfins stared at him, full of curiosity.

    ¡°It seems to be electromaic interference,¡± he said, but the elfins apparently did not understand.

    ¡°There may be metal mines nearby, like iron ore, copper, tin mines, et cetera,¡± he exined. ¡°A lot of metals generate maic fields that interfere with radio signals. The noise is just informing us that the radio waves have been disrupted.¡±

    The elfins seemed to get what he¡¯d said.

    During the day, Wei Kang had tried to contact Peter Lee with a satellite phone during the usual routine break time. He wanted to know if their team was in good condition. However, after trying several times, Wei Kang concluded that there was interference and decided to wait until tomorrow morning.

    However, it seemed that the interference might not being from the dunes.

    Zhang Zian grabbed a handful of sand from the ground and spread it on his palm. He noticed that there were many particles with a metallic yellow hue. This should be a dust-like unrefined copper powder.

    He felt that the springs or underground rivers might have flowed through a copper mine before the oasis shrunk. Thus, the sand had a particrly high copper content.

    Going a little further, the electromaic noise from the walkie-talkie got louder and more frequent. He could not stand it any longer. He simply turned off the walkie-talkie. In any case, it was difficult to talk properly through it.

    It seemed that the expedition team was unlikely to be able to get in touch with Peter Lee¡¯s team before they emerged from the Devil¡¯s Sea.

    ¡°The smell of other animals,¡± Famous said and stopped.

    ¡°Oh? What animal?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Famous sniffed carefully. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I haven¡¯t smelled this scent before. It¡¯s not a fox or a scorpion. There are a lot of them, and they just passed through here.¡±

    ¡°Are they following Fina?¡± asked Old Time Tea.

    Famous was not sure. ¡°Possibly. Their smells head in the same direction.¡±

    Everyone was alert now. What animal was tracking Fina? Would they do bad things to her? Fina was a super-powerful elfin, but even she could not take on an entire group of wolves!

    They went around a few more sand dunes, although, from a straight-line distance, they did not go far from the camp. By making detours, they had already walked several times more than if they had gone in a straight line.

    Since he knew that there was a maic field, without Famous, Zhang Zian did not dare to go deep into the Devil¡¯s Sea. This was because the field would also affect thepass and make it easy to get lost in the sand dunes. Even some animals that used the maic fields to get a sense of direction also got lost around the area.

    Perhaps this was one of the reasons why the Bedouins called this the Devil¡¯s Sea.

    Famous suddenly stopped and raised his front leg, indicating that everyone should stop moving forward. He shook his head furiously.

    Everyone knew what this meant. He¡¯d found something. They kept quiet, took gentle steps, and eliminated all sounds.

 Chapter 1263: Block

    <h4>Chapter 1263: Block</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Famous pointed to a slightlyrger sand dune in front of them, meaning that the smell was very fresh. Fina was likely to be on the other side of the sand dune, but since she¡¯d left without saying a word, perhaps she did not want to meet with everyone. Thus, if she knew that everyone wasing, she was very likely to run away again.

    Zhang Zian turned off the shlight and made a gesture, indicating that everyone was to scatter against the direction of the wind to prevent Fina from having the opportunity to escape.

    The elfins chose different paths and silently made their way to both sides of the dunes.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s goal was obvious. However, it was not easy for him to stay hidden. He had to rely on the dead branches lying around to act as a cover. Without any shlight to aid his movement, his actions appeared slightly clumsypared to the elfins¡¯.

    His only advantages were his height and field of vision. He stood behind a dead tree and looked at the dunes through the branches. When his eyes finally adjusted to theck of light, he first saw a few bright eyes, followed by their respective outlines.

    The first figure¡¯s outline he recognized was Fina¡¯s. Although it was very dark and the figure was the farthest away, based on his intuition, he knew that it was Fina.

    Fina stood on a slightly higher sand dune and looked at the other pairs of eyes.

    What surprised Zhang Zian was that the other pairs of eyes were also those of cats, but not domestic cats. At least, they weren¡¯t domestic cats in the modern sense, but some kind of wild cats simr to domestic cats.

    Were these cats the ones that Nabari had encountered?

    Fina said impatiently, ¡°Don¡¯t follow me. Go back to your own life.¡±

    She turned and walked a few steps, but upon looking back, she saw that the other cats were still following her.

    ¡°I do not intend to live here. I just...came back to see that all of you have a good life. I am now relieved by the knowledge that this is indeed true, so go back,¡± Fina said.

    But no matter what she said, the cats continued following her.

    Fina coldly looked up. ¡°I still have other things to do and don¡¯t have time to y with you. Don¡¯t follow me!¡±

    With that, she took a bow, umted strength in her legs, and ran deeper into the Devil¡¯s Sea, apparently wanting to get rid of these cats.

    However, just at this moment, she could sense something amiss. She stopped and asked, ¡°Who is it? Who is hiding there?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you left without saying goodbye. I missed you very, very much.¡± Old Time Tea emerged from the darkness, and behind the respectful attitude, he was determined to block Fina¡¯s escape route. It would take a lot of effort to get past him.

    ¡°Is there more than one of you?¡± Fina was very annoyed and started to scan the area. With a nce she saw Zhang Zian, who was hiding behind the dry tree.

    Zhang Zian knew that he couldn¡¯t hide anymore. He stood up with a cheeky expression and greeted Fina. ¡°Haha! Fina, you also like to sleepwalk!¡±

    The other elfins also ran out of their hiding ces. The wild cats hurriedly turned around, frightened by the sudden appearance of humans and other animals. They did not know where to go.

    Fina looked at them and said, albeit a little too proudly, ¡°Do you think that this will stop me?¡±

    She nced fiercely around and was ready to forcibly break through the group.

    ¡°Of course they can¡¯t stop you, so I will be the one doing so,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°You?¡± Finaughed. Just relying on Zhang Zian would not suffice. Even Snowy Li by herself could not do it. How could he, a mere human, stop her?

    ¡°Because I have a magic weapon!¡± Zhang Zian took out a thick and hard object from his crotch... No, he took out the shlight from his pocket.

    ¡°The power of this gadget... Have you not already learned about it?¡± he said, ying with the shlight.

    Fina¡¯s face changed dramatically. ¡°How dare you shine the shlight in my eyes?¡±

    Zhang Zian had used the shlight with the desert foxes before, and it had left them in pain. He had also identally hurt Fina a little in the process, and it had left a deep impression on her. She knew that the shlight had a huge impact on animals that were highly dependent on their night vision to move around.

    Knowing was knowing, but she had no way to counter it. This was because she could not control how her pupils moved and could only try to dodge the light. However, the speed of light was known to be extremely fast, faster than cats could move. If the light really hit her eyes, temporary blindness was inevitable.

    Unless absolutely necessary, Zhang Zian was also unwilling to do this. He knew that the consequences in the future would be more dire if he did so. However, if Fina insisted on doing things her way, then he could only proceed with this n and worry about what would happen in the future...

    ¡°I can understand your feelings. I believe Zhang Zian also can understand. If something is bothering you, we can talk about it, but everyone will definitely not sit and watch you settle it alone.¡± Old Time Tea was afraid of things going crazy. The one who would suffer the most if that happened was Zhang Zian, and therefore, he sought to build a consensus early on to reduce the tension.

    Fina was jealous of Zhang Zian¡¯s shlight. If she really got blinded by it, she would be embarrassed, wandering around like a headless fly. How could she continue facing the world?

    Looking at this situation, neither Zhang Zian nor the other elfins intended to let her leave. In addition, the possibility of a forcible breakout was almost nonexistent.

    Although Fina was stubborn and proud, she also knew how to recognize a situation where she could not win.

    After a moment of contemtion, she softened and said, ¡°Well, I really shouldn¡¯t have left without saying goodbye.¡±

    Everyone heaved a sigh of relief and thought that Fina had decided to go back with them.

    However, she immediately said, ¡°Now let me tell you what I want to do. I intend to reach the center of the so-called Devil¡¯s Sea. This is a private matter of mine, and it has nothing to do with you. I also do not think that there will be any danger. So will this count, therefore, as me saying my goodbyes?¡±

    Everyone was at a loss for words for a moment.

    Zhang Zian stood up. ¡°I don¡¯t know your specific ns, but I am actually very curious as well,¡± he said. ¡°I also want to see what is inside. I just haven¡¯t found the right time. Let¡¯s allow Peter Lee and his team to go and explore the inside first. If there is danger, they will encounter it first. However, if you insist on going... Well, since we are going to go there anyway for sightseeing, that will be alright with you? It also has nothing to do with you, of course.¡±

    He replied to Fina with the exact words she¡¯d used, and it irritated her to no end.

    Zhang Zian then pretended to smile cheerfully. ¡°Plus, we are going by car, so we will definitely arrive earlier than you. How long will it take you to walk all by yourself? So why don¡¯t youe with us? Let¡¯s go back to the camp and drive.¡±

    He signaled to the elfins and turned to make a move.

    ¡°Stop!¡± Fina screamed at Zhang Zian and stared at him.

    She had be ustomed to the ease of living in a car and house. To suddenly travel through a desert might prove too ufortable for her. Merely thinking about it made her uneasy... In addition, she¡¯d eaten a little too much in the morning and, to be honest, found it difficult to move.

    Fina lifted her front paw and mmed it into the sand. She said indignantly, ¡°I also want to take the car!¡±

 Chapter 1264: The Show Must Go On

    <h4>Chapter 1264: The Show Must Go On</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Since Fina had promised to go back to the camp with them, everything else would be easy to handle. As for how to find a reason to convince Professor Wei Kang, that could be resolvedter.

    ¡°These cats are...¡± Zhang Zian pointed at the cats, who were huddled together and seemed to be ready to escape.

    ¡°They have been living here always...¡± Fina¡¯s eyes held rare sorrow and nostalgia. ¡°I also lived here at the beginning. It was still an oasis of abundant water and grass, and it was inhabited on both sides of theke. There were all kinds of animals here, with small animals hiding amongst date palm trees and bushes. asionally, the lost travelers found this ce. Before drinking from the clearke, they always thought that this was a mirage...¡±

    It had been an idyllic era. Or at least it had been for Fina.

    ¡°What happened next?¡± Zhang Zian asked, although he could guess.

    ¡°Later, people discovered the gold mines. The reason seems to be that a traveler got a big piece of gold in his fist from theke.¡± Fina looked slightly angry.

    Was it actually a gold mine?

    Both ancient and modern Egyptians had an unusual obsession with gold. After someone discovered gold, the ce would be designated for the pharaoh, and no one else could touch it.

    That was when it was all over.

    They could imagine the events that followed.

    The mining of gold had caused deterioration of the environment. The ?kes and oases rapidly shrunk, and it had be deserted in the days that followed.

    Large animals had disappeared, and only cats and other small animals that had adapted to these harsh environments had survived.

    Thus, these honeb sand dunes may not have been formed naturally, but rather, they had been caused by mining activities.

    ¡°Can we let them follow us back to the camp? Professor Wei Kang definitely wants to see them. I am not sure this is what he is looking for, but at least he can carry out some scientific examination.¡± Zhang Zian spoke up for Wei Kang¡¯s work.

    It was normal for scientific research to fail more often than seed. However, not everyone could ept failure. For example, the leaders of Binhai University were not necessarily promoted because they were top-grade lecturers. Most of them were promoted because of their ability to produce results.

    If Wei Kang¡¯s costly scientific research couldn¡¯t produce any decent results, it would be hard to get a research budget in the future. Without a budget, it would be even tougher to publish a paper with sufficient influence. Adding to these difficulties, it was impossible to expect a promotion without these. It might not be possible to remove the word ¡°deputy¡± from his official work title in a lifetime.

    Although this had nothing to do with Zhang Zian, he felt like he owed this to Wei Kang. If he could help, he still wanted to help.

    Judging by how Wei Kang had treated the foxes previously, Fina felt that Wei Kang was a very principled person and agreed after some thought.

    ¡°Well, anyway, they always follow me, and they will not leave,¡± she said indifferently with a snort.

    On the way back, the cats fell far behind. Zhang Zian thought that they¡¯d run away, but after a while, he saw their bright eyes.

    Before returning to the camp, he hid the remaining elfins and thought about what to say to Wei Kang.

    ¡°Meow meow! I missed you so much! Let me lick your fur for you!¡± Upon reaching camp, Snowy Li rushed out and stuck out its tongue. It desperately wanted to lick Fina, but she lifted a front paw to hold its face. Snowy Li¡¯s legs were short, and it was unable to reach her.

    Zhang Zian nced at the camp. It was still quiet. There was no difference when he left. Only Xiao Tianyu¡¯s tent gave a steady, low hum.

    Looking at the time, he saw that he had been gone for almost an hour. A few wild cats were afraid of the lights, but a few lingered around the periphery of the camp.

    To put on a show, one had to go all-in.

    He asked Fina to instruct the wild cats to go around the infrared camera ced by the expedition team and leave some images in the camera, so that it would be easier to win the trust of the other scientists when Wei Kang published papers in international journals.

    When he was ready, he hurried to the side of Wei Kang¡¯s tent and pped the tent door. He said eagerly, ¡°Professor Wei Kang, wake up! This is urgent!¡±

    Wei Kang immediately responded, ¡°What happened? What happened?¡±

    He stumbled out of the tent, wearing his sses. He had not had time to put his jacket on.

    Wei Kang thought that something serious had happened, and his face turned pale. He¡¯d brought his team to a foreign country thousands of miles away and gone deep into the wilderness. If something really happened, how would he exin to their parents?

    Zhang Zian pointed into the darkness. ¡°I was watching the night and used a night-vision telescope to check the area. I saw a few animals running towards the infrared camera, so I woke you up to ask if you want to check it out.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Is it? Well, that¡¯s fine, but you did scare me...¡± Wei Kang first calmed down, and then he was awake. ¡°Did you see what animal it is?¡±

    ¡°No. They are furry but seem to be some kind of small animal,¡± Zhang Zian replied vaguely.

    ¡°Go! Go over there and check it out!¡± Wei Kang went back to his tent to get a camera and waved his hands in the air.

    Their voices woke Nabari. Nabari never dared to sleep soundly, fearing the devil from the Devil¡¯s Sea. He slept in his clothes.

    He entered the tent and asked, ¡°What happened?¡±

    Zhang Zian briefly exined the situation. Nabari heaved a sigh of relief and decided to go with them.

    Years ago, he had met some wild cat nearby. On his final guide mission, if he could see it again, it would be a perfect ending to his career.

    As for the others, they were all sleeping soundly. Some sounds came from He He¡¯s tent, suggesting that she might be awake. Nevertheless, she stayed in the tent. After all, she was the onlydy left.

    The three made their way through the camp and ran to the location where the infrared camera was set up.

    Wei Kang rushed to the forefront. He could not wait to reach them, but he was afraid of scaring those little animals away.

    When he was close, he gestured to the two men behind him, indicating that they should proceed quietly. They first saw Fina and a few pairs of bright eyes ying around it.

    Wei Kang was on the ground, holding up his camera and observing the cats through the camera¡¯s lens.

    His heart rate suddenly increased. He had found a rare species of sand cat. It had never been discovered by modern humans ever.

 Chapter 1265: Finally Rewarded

    <h4>Chapter 1265: Finally Rewarded</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Nabari squinted his eyes. His vision was no longer as good as when he was in his prime, but it was nevertheless still much stronger than the average person¡¯s.

    He didn¡¯t know the names of the wild cats, but theypletely coincided with the image in his memory andplemented the blurry parts that he could not remember.

    At this time, the usually stern Nabari suddenly smiled. His mood became clear and rxed, as if he had set down all his responsibilities and burdens. He felt that he was now closer to the true God then ever before.

    He now felt that his life was almostplete. As long as the others were taken out of the desert safely, it would then be trulyplete.

    Wei Kang¡¯s mood was different from Nabari¡¯s. He was so excited that he feared he would have a heart attack.

    He set up a tripod and kept pressing the shutter. However, due to the low light setting, there was a timeg between each picture. Nevertheless, each one was extremely precious.

    Was this the original Egyptian cat?

    He was not sure¡ªwhat exactly was the original Egyptian cat? There was no exact definition.

    Human beings began to consciously engage in breeding of domestic cats, producing the colors and shapes that people liked. This had not been going on for long¡ªlikely no more than 200 years. This was in starkparison with breeding dogs, which had started as early as thousands of years ago.

    What he was looking for was a transitional cat species in the history of cat evolution. He believed that such a cat species most likely existed in Egypt.

    Just as the fennec fox was the smallest canine, the sand cat was also one of the smallest felines. Perhaps mammals in the desert could only try to reduce their size in order to survive the heat.

    The sand cat was a close rtive to the domestic cat¡¯s bloodline. There were four known subspecies. Among them, the Pakistani subspecies had gone extinct decades ago. The North African subspecies was previously thought to exist only in the southeastern parts of Egypt. Now, Wei Kang had discovered a new subspecies at the junction of Libya and the western parts of Egypt.

    It was deep in the Sahara Desert, far away from the Siwa Oasis and the Kufra Oasis. This ce should have been an oasis as well many years ago, as described in folktales. There was reason to believe that these sand cats had lived here for thousands of years. Having been isted for a long time, just like Australia, they retained the most original bloodline of the species.

    It was probably exaggerated to say that these sand cats were fossils, but they were indeed quite an origin species.

    Simr to other kinds of sand cats, their ears wererge. They wererger than those of ordinary domestic cats. The ears of the fennec foxes were more exaggeratedpared to theirs, but they had more sensitive hearing than the typical domestic cat.

    Their faces were neither pointed nor round, and the hair made their chins look like the longitudinal section of the bowl, very simr to the inverted trapezoid. They had a faint squid pattern on their bodies, which was almost invisible in the night. They also had two prominent ck circles on both their forelimbs.

    Although Wei Kang¡¯s movements were very quiet, it was inevitable that the tripod and the camera would make sounds. He thought that these sensitive sand cats would have already heard them, but somehow they did not choose to escape.

    It was probably because of Fina.

    Wei Kang looked at Fina with relief and worry. Fortunately, he hade to Egypt with her. Otherwise, he would definitely return empty-handed. At the same time, he also hoped that Fina had not had physical contact with the sand cats, for fear that she might be infected with germs. These sand cats had lived here for a long time and likely produced antibodies to counter the germs, but Fina would not have that immunity.

    He did not know that Fina had lived here before.

    There were a lot of low, dead tree branches in the position where the infrared camera was ced. These sand cats were not interested in climbing. Even if they were on the tree to y, they simply clung on to the trunk before letting go with their ws and jumping. They didn¡¯t seem like they were able to climb trees or good at it.

    On the contrary, Wei Kang found that they were not just ying around, but they were doing so to smash their weight into the sand. asionally, they ended up pulling some small animals out of the sand to eat. Sometimes, they even drilled a shallow hole for food and then crawled into the hole. Then they emerged from the sand, usually with a sand dune gecko in their mouths. With a few bites, they were able to swallow the gecko in full.

    A cat that was not good at climbing trees but was good at digging in sand.

    In order to deal with the high temperature of the sand, the cats had thick hair on their ws. Their ws could not be retracted like those of domestic cats and were constantly exposed. It might be for them to be able to dig into the sand.

    In theory, sand cats were widely distributed across the Asian and African continents. However, people had not seen living sand cats in the wild for several years. They had almost no knowledge of the poption of this rare animal, and no scientists specialized in studying them.

    The research done on their group behavior and habits was basically zero¡ªit was not because scientists were not working hard to study them. They could not find wild sand cats. Even photos of sand cats were used repeatedly for several years, since they recycled old photos taken from the past.

    Wei Kang did not think about the fame and honor brought by this discovery. He focused on recording every move with his eyes and camera because no one knew when they would disappear.

    He had only one small regret. He wished he had woken up his students so that they could see these rare creatures in real life.

    He didn¡¯t think about capturing them and bringing them back to the country, because the habit of digging in sand was different from that of ordinary domestic cats. They couldn¡¯t adapt to the air outside the desert, and a slight cold could probably kill them.

    They should live here without being disturbed by others.

    Therefore, he turned off the GPS information for the photos in the camera settings. Not doing so would encourage hunters and smugglers, who would hunt this unknown subspecies to extinction in a short time.

    The sand cats were rather cowardly. However, this may be the first time they hade across human beings. They didn¡¯t know how terrible humans could be. One of the bolder sand cats ran toward the camera out of curiosity. Once closer, it stared at Wei Kang with wide eyes.

    Wei Kang pointed the lens at it and pressed the shutter repeatedly. After a while, it lost interest in the middle-aged bald man and returned to itspanion.

    At the moment of its turn, the shutter captured a clearer picture of its spots. A faint line of spots existed on its side.

    There were sand cats with squid lines and spots?

    Wei Kang¡¯s heartbeat momentarily stopped. He wanted to announce his joy to the world because other subspecies only had squid lines but no spots.

    Although he still had to erge the original picture on hisputer for confirmation, he had considerable confidence that he had reached the goal of this trip.

    He turned his head and smiled at Zhang Zian. He seemed to want to express what he meant. Or maybe he wanted to mouth a ¡°thank you.¡±

    Just then, there was a thunderous bang in the depths of the Devil¡¯s Sea. Even the earth was shaking.

 Chapter 1266: The Hidden Truth

    <h4>Chapter 1266: The Hidden Truth</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    While Wei Kang and Nabari focused on the sand cat, Zhang Zian was thinking about finding an excuse to drive Fina into Devil¡¯s Sea. If he insisted, Wei Kang would not stop him, but it would invariably invite suspicion.

    The loud noise from the center of the Devil¡¯s Sea shocked the three men. Even the sand under their feet trembled a little. The timid sand cats were even afraid and scattered immediately. They ran into the forest or dug holes in the ground. Perhaps they thought an enemy wasing.

    What had happened? Was it thunder?

    The sky was clear tonight, so how could it be thunder? Was it an earthquake?

    This was possible. Earthquakes were often apanied by abnormal noises. The abnormal sound from the earth could be a precursor to the earthquake. Egypt had a history of earthquakes, so this possibility could not be ruled out.

    Yet how could it be so coincidental? Why had it happened in the Devil¡¯s Sea when they were in the Devil¡¯s Sea?

    Their faces showed signs of anxiety. Wei Kang was upset that the sand cats had run away. Nabari shuddered and said, ¡°Not good! Not good! Someone opened the door to hell, and the devil wants toe out... The world is going to fall into the sea of ??blood...¡±

    ¡°Devil? Where is the devil?¡± dimir suddenly said. However, at this time, everyone was in a mess and did not pay attention to the fact that he¡¯d spoken.

    Nabari¡¯s professionalism could not be argued. However, he nevertheless had limited formal education and strong religious beliefs. Thus, it was natural for him to attribute the urrence to the power of ghosts and gods.

    At this time, Gao Ke, Du Xuetao, and Xiao Tianyu ran out of the camp. They were not dressed properly and hurriedly shouted, ¡°Teacher! Teacher! Earthquake? Is it an earthquake?¡±

    He He was also behind them. She was neatly dressed and more calm than the boys.

    ¡°Don¡¯t panic! The situation is still unclear. Act like educated individuals and calm yourselves down. Do not embarrass yourselves...¡± Wei Kang said to them. ¡°You arete. There has been a new species of cat. It is a subspecies of the sand cat, and I think it is very likely that it has an important part in the evolution of the cat.¡±

    The boys had not yet fully woken up, and their minds were still in a daze.

    Fina stared into the distance. She suddenly said, ¡°It is not an earthquake.¡±

    Not an earthquake?

    Zhang Zian suddenly remembered something and asked, ¡°Professor Wei Kang, have you kept track of the remaining drinking water and food? Let me see.¡±

    Wei Kang did not understand why he suddenly wanted to see this, but he still took out his mobile phone and handed it to him. ¡°I entered it into my phone. You can see it for yourself.¡±

    Zhang Zian found the Excel spreadsheet on Wei Kang¡¯s mobile phone and opened it. Instead of paying attention to the remaining percentage and consumption, he quickly browsed through the team¡¯s initial stock of drinking water, food, and diesel.

    Peter Lee¡¯s off-road vehicles were bigger and more powerful, and they didn¡¯t need to carry a lot of instruments and equipment like the expedition team¡¯s. However, their average drinking water, food, and diesel consumption was simr to the expedition team¡¯s. With the consumption of drinking water and food, the average reduction in diesel consumption per 100 kilometers was simr.

    So what was stored in the remaining spaces in their cars? Each of their cars could take two people, but they drove one car per person...

    At the beginning, Zhang Zian had just thought that they were rich. However, after observing the speed of their material consumption for the first two days, he saw that they were more adaptive than the expedition team. They should consume less diesel and supplies. Yet from the supplies consumption recorded in the Excel spreadsheet, they did not seem to do better.

    He inferred from this that they were likely carrying other items in their cars. Those items were not light.

    After the incident with Xiao Tianyu wasting water, the team stepped up the investigation of supplies. However, the inspection list had been arranged by Peter Lee, so it was basically an internal investigation by the expedition team. The two teams exchanged inspection of supplies.

    There were indications that there was more to this than met the eye.

    Was it...

    Zhang Zian suddenly had an inconceivable thought. No, Peter Lee would not be that crazy...

    He had always neglected a problem¡ªthey were prepared for this trip and believed that there was an undiscovered pyramid in the Devil¡¯s Sea. They were also determined to take pure cosmic energy from deep within the pyramid. Assuming that there really was such a pyramid, how were they going to go in? By chanting ¡°open sesame¡± at the door?

    This was an Arabic folk legend. It was unlikely to work in the face of an actual pyramid.

    How could an ancient tale help with modern needs? Peter Lee was well-prepared and must have considered this. There could only be one jaw-dropping answer¡ªexplosives.

    They¡¯d carried a lot of explosives into the desert! They wanted to st the pyramid open!

    It was not an earthquake at all, but an explosion.

    The sound that had thundered through the area just now was their sting operation.

    Having figured this out, Zhang Zian was feeling shaky and unable to stand up straight.

    Who could have thought of this? They¡¯d gone along with a group who¡¯d carried at least a few hundred kilograms of explosives!

    Crazy! It was just crazy!

    This was the desert, where the temperature is close to 60 degrees Celsius. However, Peter Lee and his team had unassumingly carried a ton of explosives along the way. It was like literally traveling with hell!

    The irony was that the expedition team had thought that they¡¯dnded a trophy traveling with them when they were the trophy instead.

    If the temperature had risen too high, or if there had been an ident such as a rollover or a crash, the consequences would¡¯ve been unimaginable. They may have already turned into blue smoke on the yellow sands...

    In the Middle East, it was difficult to get high-tech equipment such as high-performance drones, but it was not difficult to get earth-made explosives. Everyone knew this.

    Of course, Peter Lee may not have carried the finished explosives. He might have brought them in the form of raw materials. After arriving at the destination and cooling at night, he could mix them together. Nevertheless, it was still an extremely crazy idea.

    They had money and technology. The person nicknamed ¡°the Colonel¡± may also be proficient in sting technology. These were not difficult for them. Yet the pyramids were not their home. They could not simply walk in and say that they wanted to st a hole. Was that any different from robbery?

    Calling the police was impossible. It was not clear whether thisnd belonged to Egypt or Libya. It would take the police more than ten days to reach here. Furthermore, they may not even take on this case.

    Then, at the center of the Devil¡¯s Sea, a second, dull bang roared.

 Chapter 1267: Transformation

    <h4>Chapter 1267: Transformation</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Wei Kang and others had already epted, albeit reluctantly, that the loud noise was from the earthquake. It may be a small earthquake with some thunder and heavy rain. However, after hearing the second loud noise, no one could stay calm. What earthquake made sounds at such regr intervals and pitches? The direction and volume of the sounds were almost the same. It did not sound natural.

    ¡°This... What is going on here? Still an earthquake?¡±

    They looked at each other suspiciously.

    Wei Kang was also speechless.

    The expedition team consisted of individuals with high academic qualifications. Their IQs may not be much higher than those of ordinary people, but they were unlikely to be lower. However, they had lived in their ivory towers for some time and did not have much experience. With time, they would get better.

    ¡°It¡¯s not an earthquake.¡± Zhang Zian simply pointed out the situation. ¡°I think it is Peter Lee and his team, who are blowing something up with explosives.¡±

    ¡°Dynamite?¡±

    Much like being smashed with a thinyer of window paper, everyone¡¯s faces changed dramatically. They started sweating profusely despite the cool night wind.

    Taking into ount the various behaviors of Peter Lee and his team, the exnation of explosives was reasonable.

    The expedition team had not brushed shoulders with death. In fact, they had always been with the god of death!

    ¡°What? Are they a group of terrorists?¡± Xiao Tianyu obviously could not take what was happening.

    Gao Ke scolded him. ¡°Terrorists bomb big cities. Why would they do so in the barren desert?¡±

    ¡°Stop arguing! At this juncture, the both of you still want to argue!¡± Wei Kang was angry and scared. He stomped his feet and stopped the two men from bickering.

    He wiped his cold sweat with his sleeves and said, ¡°Now, go back to the camp and pack up. Let¡¯s get out of here.¡±

    ¡°We are not going to wait for them?¡± He He suddenly spoke up. Her thin body looked especially weak at night.

    ¡°We won¡¯t wait for them! They are wolves hiding under sheepskins! They must havee to the Devil¡¯s Sea with an ulterior motive, doing things that could not be made known. If we wait for them toe out, they may kill us!¡± Wei Kang said with anger.

    ¡°Yes! Let¡¯s go first and quickly leave the desert for home. Don¡¯t wait for Peter Lee and his team!¡± Xiao Tianyu echoed. He had long been looking forward to leaving.

    Gao Ke saw that He He was standing there in a daze. He thought that she hadn¡¯t woken up yet, and he reached out and tried to pull her. However, she avoided his touch.

    ¡°You guys can go. I want to stay behind by myself.¡± Her pitch was low, and her tone was quiet.

    ¡°What?¡±

    Everyone else was stunned and thought they¡¯d gotten it wrong.

    Usually, He He was the first person to retreat. She¡¯d regretted the first night after she entered the desert. She¡¯d cried and wanted to go home. The others had to pacify her before she was persuaded to continue with the journey. Now, she was choosing to stay and not leave. Had something happened to her?

    He He looked up at the night sky, extended out her hands as if to hug the stars, and murmured, ¡°Don¡¯t you feel it? This...rich and pure cosmic energy...¡±

    When the noise was caused by the explosion, everyone had merely been shocked and scared. There had been a sense of powerlessness. But now that they heard He He¡¯s words, which mirrored what Peter Lee preached, fear was entrenched in their hearts.

    ¡°Xiao He... You... What¡¯s wrong with you? Don¡¯t scare us!¡±

    The powerful Gao Ke started retreating from He He, who was physically much weaker than him. He looked at her, re-examining her as if he did not know her.

    He He chuckled and pushed her hair behind her ears. Such an action would usually charm a few youngds. However, at this current moment, she came across as a female ghost.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t try to scare you. I just found a new direction in life and felt more fulfilled than ever before.¡± She smiled and looked at Wei Kang. ¡°Oh, sorry, Teacher Wei, thank you for your long-term care, but I am not suited to scientific research. You realized this, didn¡¯t you? You are not young anymore, and you still have to do research and look after us. For all the troubles I gave you, I am so sorry... After you return home, can you cancel my student status? The reason is...too much absenteeism on my part? As for my parents... I will find a way to exin it to them, so you don¡¯t have to worry about it.¡±

    Since Zhang Zian had first met He He in Wei Kang¡¯s office, she had never been that polite. People did change with time, and it was difficult to tell.

    People changed, but the speed of He He¡¯s transformation was too...amazing and scary. In addition, this series of changes had happened under everyone¡¯s noses.

    Over the past two days, she had been quiet and calm, and she¡¯d often had a thoughtful look on her face. Everyone thought that the journey had made her grow up...

    It seemed that she had indeed grown up. She was so sessful that perhaps she had gone somewhat off on a tangent.

    ¡°Xiao He, howe you... How did it be like this? What happened to you? What are the difficulties? I can try to help you solve them...¡± Wei Kang was distraught. He was literally begging her to ept his help.

    ¡°I am good. In fact, I have never been so good, and it really is not that difficult... Oh, if you can, leave me a car, for I also want to follow Peter Lee and enter the Devil¡¯s Sea. The energy inside must be more intense,¡± He He said casually. ¡°If not, I will walk in by myself.¡±

    The calm and sincere expression on her face made Zhang Zian think back to what he had seen. It was the same expression he had seen on Peter Lee¡¯s face when he entered the Queen¡¯s Tomb of the Great Pyramid.

    ¡°Did...the female detective indoctrinate you?¡± he guessed vaguely.

    Only the female detective ate and lived with He He. She even went to the toilet to apany her and take care of her. To outsiders, she seemed like a big sister who was patient and kind... However, while driving and camping at night, it was uncertain what she had said to He He privately.

    ¡°Traveling with her, I learned a lot. More than what I have learned in the past twenty years. The previous years are like a lie...but it doesn¡¯t matter.¡±

    He He gave a slight grin, tilted her body slightly, and said, ¡°If you want to go, you should hurry and pack up! Oh yes, Teacher Wei, congrattions on your research progress. After your masterpiece is published, I will definitely read it!¡±

    Wei Kang couldn¡¯t have, in all his nning, foreseen that things would turn out like that. If he had known, he would not have agreed to travel with Peter Lee and his team. He would rather let the expedition end in failure than have things as they currently stood.

    Nabari¡¯s eyes widened, and he stared at He He in amazement. He walked backwards, murmuring, ¡°The devil... She is possessed by the devil...¡±

    Zhang Zian looked sideways at the dark Devil¡¯s Sea. He could no longer joke about Nabari¡¯s superstitious thoughts.

    Maybe the devil really existed, a devil that was stronger than dimir.

    It existed in the depths of people¡¯s hearts.

 Chapter 1268: Going Separate Ways

    <h4>Chapter 1268: Going Separate Ways</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The Devil¡¯s Sea was hidden in the depths of vast sands. It had always been known that even if one arrived in a modern off-road vehicle, one would have to face many difficulties and obstacles. It would have been even more difficult in ancient times, when the Bedouins had to use camels and their feet to travel.

    Without an old map and an experienced old guide to lead the way, who could find it in the desert?

    The journey tested one¡¯s physical strength and willpower. Even if one was lucky enough to arrive, one may be exhausted andcking in supplies.

    In this case, despite the strangendforms and scenery, the knowledge about pyramids and gold mines, the already fragile mind may no longer be able to suppress the various desires in the heart. Then one may choose to part ways with teammates and try to monopolize the treasure.

    The Bedouin ancestors referred to this as the Devil¡¯s Sea, perhaps because this ce brought out the deepest desires within a person¡¯s heart.

    If even He He, who lived in peaceful Binhai in peacetime, could be changed within a short few days, that was indeed scary. Her sense of self had already left her in the face of the cruel natural environment, and she urgently needed a spiritual exnation to help her. She could thus be easily swayed by this type of rhetoric.

    Seeing He He like that was extremely distressing for Wei Kang. Although she came across as stubborn, arrogant, and pampered, she was, after all, his student. He med himself for being careless towards her. He felt that he had not fulfilled his responsibility as a teacher.

    Salem couldn¡¯t understandplex Chinese, but he could understand the atmosphere. He could see that He He was in a strange state of mind. He anxiously scratched his head.

    The three male students stood still and were overwhelmed by what they¡¯d just experienced. They asked Wei Kang with their eyes, ¡°What should we do? Leave her here?¡±

    They used to have a good impression of He He, but now...the good feelings had long since disappeared.

    Wei Kang also wanted to ask He He to go back with everyone, but he was interrupted by Zhang Zian. To him, it was no longer feasible to deal with this the soft way. As the situation was somewhat urgent, they did not have time to argue with He He further.

    Fina heard two explosions and was already anxiously jumping up and down. She was worried that her mausoleum had been damaged, along with her sarcophagus and remains... If they did not go in now, she might never have the chance to see the Devil¡¯s Sea again.

    ¡°What are you doing? She wants to leave you? Even if you have to tie her up, do it! She is in a mess! She is now gone, but we will bring her back home and send her to psychiatric therapy. We will return her to normal!¡± Zhang Zian said, staring at the three students.

    The three boys were still hesitant about forcibly bringing her back. Wasn¡¯t this illegally restricting personal freedom? If they got sued, wouldn¡¯t they then be criminals? This couldn¡¯t be done...

    If Zhang Zian was good friends with He He, he would have already tied her up. He urged, ¡°Hers is a mental disorder. You will be protected under the Chinese legal system. I promised her parents we would bring her home safely. They will only be grateful to you and will not me you. They may even ask you to marry her for your actions!¡±

    The three boys were scared. They dared not think about marriage at this point in time...

    Wei Kang took the initiative and said, ¡°Do it! I will bear all the consequences!¡±

    With his words, the three boys seemed to have found their backbone. They tuggged on He He¡¯s arm and did not let her go.

    ¡°What are you doing? Why are you doing this to me? Let me go!¡± He He struggled but was no match for a three-man team.

    Zhang Zian stood aside and spoke words that agitated her further. ¡°If you really have the ability, you will quickly absorb the energy of the universe and then transform into a superwoman. Then you can push them away... You simply don¡¯t have that ability, so stay here and be a good girl!¡±

    ¡°You... They clearly said that you can feel the energy of the universe and are very talented. I secretly admire you, so why don¡¯t you speak up for me? Why go against me?¡± she yelled and red at him.

    Zhang Zian brushed his hair back and sighed. ¡°I have long wanted to say this. Now I have a chance. Sorry, but I am undercover!¡±

    ¡°Put her in the car!¡± Wei Kang waved his hand. ¡°Leave someone to look after her. Lock the door! Don¡¯t let her run!¡±

    The three students agreed in unison and forced He He into a vehicle, pushing her into the middle seat at the rear. Gao Ke and Xiao Tianyu sat on either side and sandwiched her, much like, well, a sandwich.

    Wei Kang realigned the cars. In addition to Nabari¡¯s vehicle, they had initially had a total of five cars. However, Wei Kang¡¯s had been damaged in the desert, and the remaining four were now driven by Wei Kang, Salem, Du Xuetao, and Zhang Zian, respectively.

    ¡°Hurry and pack up. Take all that you can take. If you don¡¯t take it, you will lose it,¡± Wei Kangmanded.

    Zhang Zian also packed up his things with the others and tied tents and moisture-proof mats to the roof rack. However, he did not get into his car.

    ¡°Xiao Zhang, what¡¯s the matter? Why don¡¯t you get in?¡± Wei Kang asked from his car.

    ¡°You go first. I want to go inside and see what Peter Lee is doing. If they are partaking in illegal activities, I must stop them. I can¡¯t risk damaging the friendship between China and Egypt...or the Chinese and Liberian people!¡± he said, full of pride.

    Wei Kang heard it and hurriedly said, ¡°Oh! Xiao Zhang, don¡¯t be a hero! Those people are crazy, and you saw the knife they have. If you try to stop them, they will definitely not allow you to. You might get into serious trouble...¡±

    ¡°You can rest assured that I am not a fool. I will secretly look at the situation first. If I can stop it, I will stop it. If it doesn¡¯t work, I will not force myself. I have a sense of proportion,¡± Zhang Zian promised.

    Wei Kang sighed. ¡°I have lived many years, but I dare not think as recklessly as you...¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Leave with everyone. I will catch up with you as soon as possible.¡± Zhang Zian had no time to lose and urged him to leave.

    The two of them, together with Nabari, discussed the GPS coordinates of the meeting ce. They decided that Nabari would lead the expedition team out but not via the original route. This was out of fear of bumping into Peter Lee. They would then wait for Zhang Zian.

    They had limited supplies and could only wait for him for up to 48 hours before they had to leave.

    Zhang Zian recorded the GPS coordinates. Under his repeated urging, Wei Kang started the car, left, and slowly disappeared into the darkness.

 Chapter 1269: Travel through the Night

    <h4>Chapter 1269: Travel through the Night</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The lights of the expedition team¡¯s car disappeared, and Zhang Zian waved to the elfins. ¡°Let¡¯s get moving too.¡±

    ¡°Why all the nonsense? Stop talking! Are you deliberately going against me?¡± Fina snarled in anger.

    ¡°Meow! Meow! He did it on purpose! You can do anything to me!¡± Snowy Li finally caught the opportunity and screamed its side of the story as soon as it got the chance.

    ¡°Calm down. The situation is not as serious as you think.¡± Zhang Zian picked up the sleepy Richard from the driver¡¯s seat and threw it to the back. When the elfins had gotten on, he put on his seat belt and started the car.

    ¡°The situation is not serious? There were two explosions. How serious must it be before it is actually serious?¡± His attitude made Fina even angrier.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°At first I thought that Peter Lee had gotten what he wanted. However, when I heard the second explosion, I was relieved.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Fina asked.

    His words seeded in making her curious. However, if he couldn¡¯t make a convincing statement, he might have to pay for his failure.

    It was dangerous to drive a car at night in the desert. This was especially true when in such aplicated environment. Zhang Zian stared at the road ahead and analyzed it in an orderly way. ¡°Let¡¯s visit the pyramid, as you know it better than me. The pyramid is made up of full boulders. It¡¯s very strong and not easy to st through.

    ¡°Besides, I think that even if Peter Lee is brave, he is unlikely to be using high-performance military explosives. He is probably using some better-quality earth-based explosives. He likely had to mix it on site for it to be activated¡ªthe use of earth-based explosives to st holes is not something that can be done easily with two tries.¡±

    The giant granite built into the pyramid was thick and strong. Without modern sting and cutting tools, it was very inefficient to break through the wall, especially with only earth-based explosives.

    Zhang Zian could already imagine what Peter Lee and his team were currently doing.

    ording to his analysis, Peter Lee must have learned about the structure of the pyramid through the visit to the Great Pyramid. The location of the pirate hole in the Great Pyramid had also be an important reference. It was likely that the chosen location of their heist was simr.

    They would have ced the explosives on the selected boulder, detonated them, and manually cleaned up the broken gravel for further sting.

    As they went in deeper, with every explosion, the ceiling and the wall needed to be carefully checked to prevent sudden copse. This could bury them alive. If necessary, they needed to be reinforced with wood or brackets.

    These meticulous andplex tasks should not be taken lightly.

    ¡°If I¡¯m guessing correctly, there will be a third, fourth, or even more explosions. Even if they work all night, they may not be able to blow out a passageway by morning. Let¡¯s hurry now, or we might be toote,¡± he concluded.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Fina asked.

    Zhang Zian replied, ¡°I have a lot of confidence, but unless I see it with my own eyes, who can be 100% sure?¡±

    ¡°Hmph! All shy talk from the stinky man!¡± Snowy Li replied with great disappointment.

    Fina finally calmed down a bit. She agreed that there was some truth to what he said. Besides, she was a somewhat reasonable cat.

    Due to its remoteness, her pyramid was certainly not asrge as the Great Pyramid. The stone was not as heavy, but it was still very strong. This was because the construction process was more advanced than it was for the Great Pyramid. After all, the Great Pyramid had been built more than 2,500 years ago.

    She could only console herself. What had been blown up had already been blown up. Even if they flew over right now, the exterior damage was already done. If her stone throne was not damaged, that would be a blessing. If they could arrive in the nick of time, they could think of a way to seal the passage¡ªthe easiest way was to blow it up again, destroying the supporting beams of the passageway.

    Driving around dense, hive-like dunes, especially at night when it was pitch-dark, it was easy to get lost and confused.

    The tire tracks left by Peter Lee and his team were difficult to discover. After all, they had left in the morning. Zhang Zian had to stop frequently to let Famous find their route using his sense of smell. It was safer then to follow their route.

    Sure enough, after they¡¯d driven for about an hour, there was a third explosion. It might have been because they were closer to the st, but the shockwaves were stronger than before.

    Along the way, the car¡¯s lights often shone on some small animals, including sand cats. They were not shocked by the lights, but they were shocked by the high-frequency noise and vibration that apanied the explosion.

    Every explosion mmed into Fina¡¯s heart like a hammer. She was very anxious and couldn¡¯t wait to reach her destination so she could make those people pay dearly.

    ¡°Come on, just a little faster! Just a little faster!¡± she kept urging.

    Zhang Zian was already driving very quickly, and he really could not speed up any more.

    ¡°Do calm down! There is no prize for being fast!¡± Old Time Tea advised. ¡°It would be bad if we went so fast that the car tipped over.¡±

    ¡°Why would that happen? The ground here is tter and more solid than the desert outside...¡± Fina had not finished her sentence when the car suddenly trembled.

    Old Time Tea, Fina, and dimir reacted quickly. At the moment of the tremor, they had already used their ws to grip the seatbelts to stabilize their bodies. Fina even had time to spare to help Snowy Li.

    Gxy was shocked and fluttered in the air. He used his limbs to do a somersault on the roof of the car before returning to his seat. Famous, being a regr user of safety belts, was not affected.

    The unlucky one was Richard. It had woken up, but as it was pitch-ck, he could not see clearly. He mmed into the roof of the car. After falling down, he had a small bump on his big head...

    ¡°Hey! What happened? Do you know how to drive? I¡¯ve had enough!¡± Richardined, wrapping his arms around his head.

    It was a big tremor. Zhang Zian was worried that perhaps the chassis or suspension was damaged. He hurried to stop the car and check.

    He took a shlight and inspected the car. The chassis and suspension did not seem to be a big problem. After all, the ground was sand and not tarmac. Such bumps were unlikely to kill.

    Earlier, he had indeed been careless. This was because the tracks here were more obvious. He had simply been following the track and had not truly been paying attention. He stood up and shone the light down the road he had just driven.

    A number of deep tire tracks were printed on the sand¡¯s surface, along with those that he had left behind. The rest were from Peter Lee and his team.

    A slightly sunken sand pity between the tracks. However, as its color merged with the rest of thendscape, he had not noticed it earlier and simply driven over it.

    Yet, how could there be a sand pit here?

 Chapter 1270: Danger All Around

    <h4>Chapter 1270: Danger All Around</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°How can there be a sand pit here?¡±

    Zhang Zian was not only thinking about this problem. He also verbalized it.

    Him talking to himself did not escape the sensitive hearing of the elfins.

    ¡°Why can¡¯t there be a sandpit? Don¡¯t just stand there! Hurry up! Are you deliberately dying us?¡± Fina snarled violently.

    ¡°Hey! What¡¯s wrong with you? There are pits on thend, stone pits on the stones, sand pits on the sand, and many pits all over. Why do you still ask about this?¡± Richard, though blind, could readily run his mouth with useless talk.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not strange for there to be a sand pit. The strange thing is where the sand pit is.¡± Zhang Zian gestured. ¡°Look carefully.¡±

    Several cars had shot straight forward and were cut off by the sand pit for a short portion of their journey. The tracks then extended forward until they reached the sand dunes out front and then turned.

    ¡°What is strange?¡± The elfins still didn¡¯t understand.

    Zhang Zian analyzed: ¡°I just rolled into this sand pit because I could not see it. However, Peter Lee and his team passed here with plenty of sunshine and good visibility. Why did he miss the bunker and roll directly onto it? Even if the driver of the first car was distracted and didn¡¯t see it, what happened to the other cars? Why did they roll over it as well? Do they enjoy the thrill of going over one?¡±

    When a normal person drove a car, they would try to avoid these issues on the road, unless they did not see it or if there were other peculiar reasons. Doing so prevented damage to the vehicle or personal injury.

    Peter Lee drove well, and there was sufficient light. They could avoid this pit, but why had his entire team chosen not to?

    After he said this, the elfins felt a little embarrassed. They could not understand why.

    Zhang Zian silently recalled what Fina had said and asked her again, ¡°You said that the ancient Egyptians used to mine gold here?¡±

    Fina thought that he was looking for gold. ¡°So what? I heard that the copper mine is next to the gold mines. They are all long gone. Good luck finding them!¡±

    ¡°I have no ns to mine gold here!¡± Zhang Zian argued. ¡°It¡¯s just that, if that is the case, then the situation is not good...¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Fina asked.

    Zhang Zian stared at the sand pit. ¡°It means that this pit did not exist during the day when Peter Lee passed. It was only when the explosion happened that it appeared.¡±

    Peter Lee had not deliberately driven into a sand pit. It simply had not existed when he¡¯d gone past the area.

    ¡°Since the mine has beenpletely harvested of materials, the underground may have been left with holes. The vibration from the explosion caused the structure of the mine to be damaged. The rock on the top wall may have copsed, so this pit appeared...¡± He could feel a chill down his spine as he thought about the consequences.

    ¡°Peter Lee does not know that there is a mine underground. If he continues to blow things up... The worst-case scenario is that some or even the whole area will copse...¡±

    The ancient Egyptians had not had environmental awareness. After the mine was finished, they would not have backfilled the mine with rocks and sand. It was probably left as it was. This would not normally have been a problem. After all, the region was inessible. However, no one would have thought that someone would use explosives unscrupulously here more than 2,000 yearster.

    No one knew how deep the mine was below the surface. It could be tens of meters deep, or it could be only a few meters deep. Two thousand years had already caused the artificial support within the mine to decay, and it was unlikely to be able to withstand further shakes.

    Once the copse started, the entire Devil¡¯s Sea may sink into the ground, and everything along the surface would go down with it.

    The elfins finally understood the consequences. It made their faces change.

    ¡°We must inform Peter Lee as soon as possible and get him to stop, or it will be toote,¡± said Old Time Tea. ¡°Difficult.¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°Peter Lee has been nning this for a long time. After so many hardships, they have finally arrived here. They are determined to get what they want. Even if the ground really does copse, they may choose to continue on with their mission. They may seek to reach their goal before evacuating.¡±

    ¡°What should we do?¡± Famous asked. ¡°Do we have to y along with this group of crazy individuals?¡±

    Famous preferred to leave danger when he sensed it. However much they wanted to suffer, he¡¯d let them be. If they did eventually make it out alive, he could always deal with them in the future.

    This was the safest n, and he intended to stand his ground.

    ¡°Whether you go or not, I am going to go anyway,¡± Fina said with a stone-cold face.

    Snowy Li said immediately to express its loyalty, ¡°Wherever you go, I will follow! Life will never be the same without your leadership. I would rather die with you to show you my loyalty!¡±

    Zhang Zian automatically ignored whatever it said.

    dimir waved his fists. ¡°In my opinion, whether we go or not, they kind of ovep one another. I say we take it step by step, react to things as they happen. That is a much better n!¡±

    What he meant was that they should simply continue forward but be cautious at the same time. This is what Zhang Zian had in mind, though only the second portion.

    Richard shouted, ¡°It has nothing to do with me. It doesn¡¯t matter. As long as the sky doesn¡¯t copse, I can always fly. The sky is high, and the bird will always fly! Those who cannot run fast or fly will be real idiots...¡±

    Zhang Zian let them fully express their opinions, because once the ground copsed, even they would be affected. Thus, they all had the right to express their opinions.

    Old Time Tea yed with his white whiskers and listened. He obviously had a dilemma. He needed to think hard. One wrong step, and they may simply fall into a deep abyss, never to return.

    Now the elfins were two and a half votes in favor, one vote against, one abstained. One vote left.

    ¡°Hey! Gxy wants to see what is going on!¡± He leaped around at the back seat, doing a little dance.

    Zhang Zian did not expect to get useful opinions from Gxy, but his decision was quite unexpected.

    This meant that there were three and a half votes in favor of going forward. Even if Old Time Tea voted against, even if Pi was released for its opinions, the end result would not change.

    ¡°Gxy, what do you want to see? Did you not see the pyramids in Cairo? It may be dangerous to move on,¡± Zhang Zian said, as he was worried that Gxy might not understand the gravity of the situation.

    Gxy nodded his head, smiled slightly and closed his eyes. He appeared smug. ¡°There are people ahead that Gxy wants to meet!¡±

    Who did he want to meet?

    Zhang Zian and Fina were stunned. Might Gxy be a loyal fan of Cleopatra?

 Chapter 1271: Golden Pyramid

    <h4>Chapter 1271: Golden Pyramid</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Gxy had always been afraid of people. Even after Zhang Zian had tried hard to help him, he could only lower his guard towards people a little. However, he had not been close to a human yet. Now that he said that he would actually like to meet a person, might this be a dead person?

    It was unlikely that it was Peter Lee and his team. This was because Gxy had already seen them, and there was no need to see them again. Furthermore, Gxy may not particrly like them.

    Then, following this logic, the only ¡°person¡± whoy ahead was Cleopatra, who was lying within the stone sarcophagus.

    Time was short, and Zhang Zian has no time to fret about the details. He told everyone, ¡°If we go by the principle that the minority follows the majority, since most of us want to move forward, we will continue to move forward. Of course, we must be careful and not take unnecessary risks. If the situation is critical, we must retreat decisively. Anyments?¡±

    There was no need to release Pi and Sihwa. If Sihwa was released, she would quickly be a dried fish wrapped in sand.

    The other elfins had no objections, including Famous. After all, he judged the situation at hand and not the person. He also did not have such a deep connection to Cleopatra like Fina did.

    Everyone got into the car and prepared to leave.

    Remembering the lessons he had learned earlier, Zhang Zian focused on the ground in front of him to prevent himself from falling into a sandpit again.

    He chose to follow Peter Lee¡¯s tire tracks because it seemed to be safer, although even now, it may not prove to be safe anymore.

    The elfins didn¡¯t want the car to be damaged. This could slow down their trip. Thus, they all sought to help him by staring hard at the road. If the car broke down in the middle of the desert, regardless of how loud they screamed, they would probably be stuck forever.

    At about four o¡¯clock in the morning, the fourth explosion came rumbling. This time, the sound was even louder, and the shock was stronger.

    Under normal circumstances, the shocks caused by the local explosives would likely not have been so strong. However, they knew now that the ground had many empty holes, and this helped to amplify the tremors.

    As they moved forward, there were many deformations on the road¡¯s surface. In addition to the sand pit, there were sandbags set up to block the way. Although the sandbags did not cause huge differences in the ground, they still contributed to the unevenness. They did not know how long it would be before the holes were filled in.

    To make matters worse, due to the deformation of the road surface, Peter Lee¡¯s tire tracks were sometimes interrupted and sometimes disappeared. They had to stop more frequently to let Famous sniff the air.

    It was now the earliest time in the northern hemisphere, and it was earlier than six in the morning. The first streaks of light appeared from the east. Since entering the desert, Zhang Zian had never been so eager to see the sun.

    He had not slept a wink through the night, and he had strained his eyes. They were now bloodshot, dry, and painful. He could only persevere and tolerate the difort.

    ¡°Look!¡± dimir pointed into the distance.

    Heavy sand dunes blocked the sky, and the distant scenery could not be seen clearly. However, they could make out gray smoke drifting toward the sky.

    It must have been caused by an explosion¡ªa fine mixture of smoke, limestone, fine sand, and dust. This clearly indicated the location of Peter Lee¡¯s team.

    Richard finally recovered his sight. He looked at the strangendscape around him, as well as the distorted surface of the road and the rising smoke. He murmured, ¡°Hey, is this hell?¡±

    Even if it was not hell, it was unlikely to be far from it.

    Now there was no need to rely on the tire tracks to guide the way. Zhang Zian changed direction and headed towards the smoke. They drove for about another half an hour.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    Suddenly, a dazzling golden light pierced Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes without warning. He raised his hand in pain and covered his eyes. Subconsciously, he stepped on the brakes.

    Was this retribution? He had used this on the fennec foxes and Fina before, so was it now his turn to have a taste of his own medicine?

    The elfins were also stunned by this ray of light. However, as he was the tallest, he suffered the brunt of it.

    ¡°What is that?¡± everyone eximed in unison.

    Zhang Zian rummaged through the glove box and found a pair of sunsses, which he immediately put on. However, the strong light took a while to get less intense. It was only after a minute or two that he could start to see clearly again.

    They saw...a sharp spire that pointed into the sky like a spear. There was no doubt that this was the pyramid, a pyramid that was not known to the world. The most shocking thing was that the pyramid¡¯s outer shell was golden and glowed in the morning sun.

    At the beginning, the outeryer of the Great Pyramid of Giza was purely white because it was made out of polished white limestone. However, after thousands of years of natural disasters and man-made damage, the shell had gradually peeled off. Today, thest remaining pieces of the shell could be found at the tip.

    However, this pyramid, hidden deep in the desert, had remained as it was when it was built thousands of years ago. The only Bedouin who had the ability to arrive here dared not go deep into this ce because of fear of the unknown.

    Thisyer of gold casing had likely been made from locally sourced materials. Gold sand and other types of gold were mixed with other building materials. Then they were used to cover the body of the pyramid before being polished. This was the reason that the structure was so shiny.

    It was indeed an actual golden pyramid¡ªmade out of gold!

    Although it was not as big as the Great Pyramid, it could im to be one of the most extravagant structures!

    This was the most beautiful andplete pyramid that had been preserved to this day. If it appeared before of the world, it would surely make all archaeologists crazy. In addition, the cultural relics and literary works in it could rewrite history as we knew it.

    Even just to look at this pyramid, the trip to Egypt was well worth it!

    It was precisely because of the magnificence of this pyramid that the actions of Peter Lee, driven by poisonous arrogance, were all the more unforgivable.

    How could they even bear to damage this structure?

    The elfins looked so stunned that they could not speak a single word.

    It was impossible to urately describe the beauty of this pyramid in anynguage. If they really had to, this must be what was called a ¡°human miracle¡±!

    Zhang Zian nced at Fina.

    Underground gold mine. Golden pyramid.

    In addition, the huge amount of gold that might have been in the pyramid could not be estimated. He finally seemed to understand why Fina, who lived here, would be called a golden cat. She certainly lived up to the name.

    He silently pulled out his cell phone, took a few photos, and saved the precious images.

    It was not until the fifth explosion that everyone was brought back to reality.

    The smoke that rose this time was several times more than the previous times. The reflectioning off the pyramid seemed to be shaking. Then the reflections started to dim. Presumably, the golden shell had been shattered and was gradually breaking down.

    It was the scene of a beautiful creature being killed and screaming out loud just before its death. Such a scene, even for Zhang Zian, was extremely sad. It was even more painful for Fina, who was deeply invested in thend.

    There were tears in her eyes, and her body trembled with anger and grief.

    ¡°Peter Lee!¡±

    She gnashed her teeth and screamed Peter Lee¡¯s name. She could not wait to eat him alive.

 Chapter 1272: Detour

    <h4>Chapter 1272: Detour</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    A beautiful piece of art was copsing in front of their eyes. This was a huge loss for human society. Neither Zhang Zian nor the elfins could stand sitting around doing nothing.

    The bigger the thing, the more powerful it was when it died. This was much like a whale, except the pyramid was ten timesrger than a whale.

    Zhang Zian restarted the car and tried to figure out how to stop Peter Lee and the rest. However, they had a lot more people, explosives, and maybe even weapons. Reasoning might not work on them. If he used force by himself, he would definitely lose. He could only seek to borrow the elfins¡¯ power.

    Old Time Tea patted his shoulder and suggested, ¡°Zhang Zian, we should not appear directly in front of the other party. If we do not speak the samenguage, it is very easy to have conflicts. We will surely have to retreat.¡±

    Zhang Zian had also thought of this point. Whether it was through negotiation or brute force, he could not show them all his cards at once.

    So he made a slight detour and did not head straight toward the golden pyramid. Instead, he went in sort of a crescent-shaped arc. He intended to go in from the back of the pyramid and catch them off guard.

    They traveled south to reach the Devil¡¯s Sea. The area where Peter Lee¡¯s team was working was also located on the north side of the pyramid. As the entrance to the pirate cave of the Great Pyramid was also on the north side, that guided their decision. Their gamble was that the golden pyramid had the same internal structure as the Great Pyramid.

    Zhang Zian sneaked around the honeb dunes on the south side of the golden pyramid.

    The gold-colored outer shell on the south side was less affected by the explosion. Although several fine cracks had appeared, it had yet to copse, highlighting the superb craftsmanship of the past.

    The average annual rainfall here was near zero. Rain and snow, which posed the greatest threat to the building, were basically nonexistent. With no one to disturb the structure over the past thousand years, the pyramid still stood here safely.

    ¡°Stop! Something happened ahead!¡±

    Famous was wearing military-grade windproof goggles. They helped to filter ultraviolet rays and allowed the wearer to see better. He poked his head out of the open window in the back seat and looked out.

    Zhang Zian wanted to pay attention to the road ahead to avoid driving into a sand pit again. He left the elfins to take care of looking further out, despite them having varying degrees of vision under strong light.

    He instinctively stepped on the brakes and asked nervously, ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°Look there. What is that?¡± Famous asked, staring at the side.

    Now they knew that the honeb-like sand dunes were actually sandstones that had been piled up during ancient mining. There was hope that perhaps it could also contain scraps that were discarded when the pyramid was built.

    There was a circle of open space around the pyramid, about 20 meters wide. There were no sand dunes.

    Famous saw it first¡ªfew tall pieces of things buried in the yellow sand.

    Zhang Zian picked up the telescope. What surprised him was that it was actually a few cars... No, more like a pile of scrap copper and iron.

    It was a VW82 bucket car that was almostpletely buried in yellow sand. There was also a military truck painted in desert camouge with a ck iron cross on the door. Seeing this striking sign, he immediately remembered the bones of the Wehrmacht soldier.

    Obviously, as early as at the middle of thest century, an army had secretly visited here. However, with these abandoned vehicles here, it might mean that...no one had made it back home.

    The equipment of these soldiers was iparable with that of the modern expedition. However, perhaps their tenacious willpower had been enough to make up for this shoring, especially since they should be carefully selected elite troops.

    What unexpected situation had they encountered? Zhang Zian felt it necessary to drive closer and check things out.

    ¡°Be careful,¡± Old Time Tea reminded him. ¡°It may be a trap set by the tomb guard.¡±

    Zhang Zian felt that there was little possibility of it being a trap. What kind of trap could still be in such good condition after 2,000 years? This was not a novel. The barren desert that stretched for thousands of miles was, by itself, the best trap.

    However, he was still cautious and slowly removed the aluminum alloy bracket from the roof rack. He assembled it to form a long stick to explore the structure¡ªhe was not worried about traps, but thest encounter with quicksand had really made him feel more wary.

    After a while, he decided to move forward, albeit carefully.

    ¡°Hey! Look at you!¡±

    Richard, taking full advantage of the fact that it was not too hot yet, spread his wings and decided tond on the roof of the VW82.

    The other cars were buried too deep in the sand, with only their roofs revealed above the ground. It would be possible to dig them out, but that would take too much time. But with this car, the sand did not cover it entirely, as it was blocked by the truck next to it. One side of its door was exposed to the elements.

    After safely approaching the vehicles, he tried to open the door. It was not locked and took little effort to open.

    A dry corpse in a military uniform rolled over and fell face down in the sand.

    ¡°Hey! There are dead people!¡± Richard flew up in shock. ¡°That scared the hell out of me!¡±

    ¡°Quiet!¡± Zhang Zian red at him. ¡°Do you really need to let everyone know how loud you are?¡±

    The base of the golden pyramid was only about 100 meters long, only a quarter of the size of the big pyramids in Cairo. This meant that 100 meters away, Peter Lee and his team were just around the corner.

    Although the pyramid could block their noise, they had to try to stay rtively quiet. Nevertheless, it would be difficult for the sound to travel. In addition, they were setting up their removal efforts to enter the pyramid. Cleaning up the broken gravel generated a considerable amount of sound as well. It was quite unlikely that they would suspect Zhang Zian was on the other side of the pyramid.

    Richard closed his mouth.

    Zhang Zian endured his nausea and tried not to look at the exposed corpse. He checked it and found no holes in the military uniform. This meant that the person had not been killed by trauma.

    There were too many ways to die in the desert. To urately find out the cause of death of this person, an autopsy was needed. Zhang Zian had neither the technology nor the time. He decided that this person had probably died of illness.

    Of course, he couldn¡¯t help but think of the so-called ¡°curse of the pyramid.¡± Nevertheless, this was not the best time for such thoughts. Voicing it would merely make everyone more uneasy. Even worse, dimir might despise him.

    He was worried that this person had been poisoned. There could be germs left on his body. He did not dare to touch it directly. Instead, he took the rod and knocked on the dried body to see if he could find any documents. Any documents could help him find out the purpose of the army.

    When hitting around the waist, there was the sound of metal hitting metal.

    He carefully lifted up the corpse¡¯s uniform. Underneath the uniform, he found a pistol in a holster.

 Chapter 1273: Unexpected Discovery

    <h4>Chapter 1273: Unexpected Discovery</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Richard also saw the pistol and screamed, ¡°Hey! Let me remind you that you should not y with a pistol!¡±

    Zhang Zian pulled a wet wipe from his pocket and took the pistol out of its holster. He¡¯d seen this pistol in a war movie before. It seemed to be from a brand called Browning, and it felt heavier than he¡¯d thought it would.

    ¡°Zhang Zian, this...¡± Old Time Tea opened his eyes wide, indicating that he was very worried.

    He nodded. ¡°I know that this thing has been in disrepair for a long time. A lot of dust has gotten inside it. If I use it to fire a bullet, it may blow up in my hands. However, it is still possible to scare people off with it.¡±

    After inspection and making sure the pistol¡¯s safety was on, he decided to keep it. He rubbed the Browning pistol down with a wet wipe and attached it behind his back, much like in the movies...though he was petrified by this action.

    Fina had been getting increasingly impatient. She had been trying her best to keep it in. Now, she could tolerate it no longer and said angrily, ¡°What are you doing? If you are afraid, just stay here! I will show them who¡¯s boss around here all by myself!¡±

    She jumped out the window and ran to the north side of the pyramid.

    ¡°Meow meow meow...¡± Snowy Li also tried to jump out of the window...but suffered a great fall.

    Fortunately, it was sand, and it was not a big problem except that it was somewhat embarrassing.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so anxious. Listen carefully¡ªthey are still digging around at the north side and have yet to enter the pyramid,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°I can even hear it. You should try to hear it clearly as well.¡±

    Old Time Tea also chimed in. ¡°Yes, please calm down. There is no need to rush.¡±

    Fina really did hear the sound of gravel being cleareding from the north side. However, amidst all that was happening, she had lost her cool and could only think of how to stop them. Why was everyone seeking to prevent her from entering the pyramid?

    ¡°Knowing ourselves and knowing the enemy is key. Let us first find out what their situation is, and then we can draw up a safe n to guarantee our win,¡± Zhang Zian said and returned to the car. He took out the drone, which had proved to be highly useful for this expedition.

    He already knew that there was strong maic interference in the area. Flying the drone was a risky move and could cause it to crash. However, in any case, his and the elfins¡¯ safety was more important.

    The drone was quickly assembled and took off with amand given on the remote control.

    Usually there was a lot of noise and rippling on the screen of the remote control. This indicated that there was interference to the signal transmission. However, this was a high-performance professional drone. The signal transmission and receiver were powerful, and the interference could reasonably be dealt with. This was no ordinary toy drone.

    He didn¡¯t dare let the drone fly in a crazy manner. He kept it within his field of vision and only allowed it to climb vertically.

    The top of the pyramid slowly appeared on the screen. He slowed down the drone and carefully raised his view just a little bit.

    The situation on the north side of the pyramid appeared on the screen. Peter Lee and his team¡¯s off-road vehicles were parked in the open space just by the north side. There were severalrge suitcases thaty open on the ground. It was impossible to see what was in the boxes, but it was likely the explosive materials they¡¯d brought.

    They were usually well-dressed, but now they looked like a group of hooligans. Everyone was dirty and covered in mud. It was difficult to make out who was male and who was female. They used the suitcase as a wheelbarrow to carry loose gravel out, with two carrying a suitcase.

    They¡¯d driven for a full day and worked for another night. At this time they were likely highly exhausted and moving by sheer willpower.

    The site of the passageway was not visible, but a faint sound could be heard. It might have been that the sted passage was being trimmed with a tool, perhaps a chisel, to widen the hole.

    As they worked, they looked towards the north from time to time. They were discussing something, perhaps discussing whether the expedition team had heard the explosion and whether the expedition team would follow up to see what would happen.

    As the sun rose higher, the temperature rose rapidly. High-intensitybor in the sun was suicidal, which is why they¡¯d worked through the night.

    They knew this, but they hadn¡¯t stopped working yet. It seemed like the final sprint.

    Zhang Zian was worried that the drone had stayed in the air for too long. They would likely see it if they looked up. He made a quick final sweep andnded the drone on the hood of his vehicle so that it could take off at any time if the need arose.

    ¡°How was it?¡± asked Old Time Tea.

    Zhang Zian frowned. Although the situation was clear, there was no cover around the pyramid. No sand dunes existed, and there was nothing that could serve as cover. Once they moved from both ends, they would be discovered immediately.

    The base of the golden pyramid was 100 meters long. Even if Fina was agile, even if Old Time Tea was invincible,bined with Famous¡¯ and dimir¡¯s strength, they still needed to run more than 50 meters to reach Peter Lee and his team. There were no barriers within these 50 meters.

    Stealth was also not feasible because the elfins were full of hostility and intent on attacking the group.

    Also... What if they had guns?

    This was not impossible. Since they could get explosives, it would not be difficult to carry a few guns. There are rumors that AK47s and RPGs were sold in bulk in Africa.

    Fina saw his face and knew that the idea in his mind wasn¡¯t a good one. She said coldly, ¡°Forget it. You can retreat to a safe ce. I will go by myself.¡±

    ¡°Fina...¡± Old Time Tea wanted to persuade Fina yet again.

    Zhang Zian also wanted to say something. Suddenly Famous shouted, ¡°Hey! Come over and see!¡±

    Everyone¡¯s attention fell on Famous.

    They hadn¡¯t seen when he had run to a spot slightly farther away. At a slightly raised sandpit, he was digging with his front paw. It was as if he¡¯d discovered something.

    Zhang Zian and the elfins ran forward and looked at what he¡¯d done.

    In the sand pit, a small corner of a military uniform was exposed. It was another corpse buried by the yellow sand. Famous had found the corpse because it smelled the same as the previous one.

    However, what would be the point in finding it? Even if he took a gun from the corpse, Zhang Zian did not dare to use it. Besides, at more than 50 meters, the pistol¡¯s uracy greatly diminished.

    Famous continued digging. ¡°There is something next to it.¡±

    Zhang Zian, seeing how sure he was, decided to chip in and help with the digging as well. Soon, his fingers touched a cold, hard object. It felt like metal, but it was much thicker and longer than a pistol. Might it be an assault rifle?

    As they dusted away the sand, they revealed the unknown object.

    It was not a gun but a copsible metaldder. It was both strong and heavy.

    Zhang Zian and the elfins were stunned. What were these soldiers doing, bringing such a heavydder to this ce?

 Chapter 1274: The Climb

    <h4>Chapter 1274: The Climb</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    This irondder embodied man¡¯s belief in steel during thest century. It had a simple structure and felt firm. It was adder designed with pragmatism in mind. Little mind had been paid to its aesthetics.

    If it had been buried in other ces for more than half a century, it may have visible signs of rust. However, the desert had close to zero humidity. Blowing off the sand, it looked as if it had been freshly made in a factory.

    When a person went deep into the desert, they wouldn¡¯t bring extra things, especially not such a heavy and space-consumingdder.

    Zhang Zian knocked on the steel skeleton with his knuckles. He thought of the aluminum alloy bracket they¡¯d brought along on their vehicle. Might this irondder have been brought in for...the same purpose?

    This seemed a bit unreasonable. Bamboo poles could achieve simr results. The Germans were not stupid. Why would they choose a more difficult way of doing things?

    He was deep in thought. Suddenly, he heard Richard groaning. ¡°Hey! Like I guessed, htisdder is, of course, for climbing!¡±

    Was this stating the obvious? If thedder was not used for climbing, what else could it be used for? For sitting?

    Obviously, he hadn¡¯t understood when Zhang Zian had told him earlier to keep quiet. This made him really mad. He grabbed a bunch of sand from the ground and tried to stuff it into his mouth.

    He fluttered his wings and flew up close to the pyramid. He reached a sufficient height before he then kept his wings. However, he did not fall to the ground like a stone.

    What had happened?

    Zhang Zian and the elfins were standing at the foot of the pyramid and looked up. Although the entire polished golden exterior couldn¡¯t be seen, it was nevertheless rather smooth. There wasn¡¯t likely a tform that Richard couldnd on...

    He turned and lifted his buttocks, and his upper torso disappeared from everyone¡¯s field of vision.

    ¡°There is a hole here. As long as there is a hole, I will always go in... Ah!¡±

    With a scream, he suddenly disappeared.

    Zhang Zian and other elfins are stunned. Wait a minute! This was the south side...

    Recalling his visit to the Great Pyramid, he noticed that there were two so-called ¡°venttion holes¡± on the north and south sides of the tombs. The holes were about 21 cm x 21 cm, extending at an angle of 45 degrees. It started from the tomb and stopped when it reached the outer pyramid wall.

    What were the ¡°venttion holes¡± used for? There were many different opinions, and there was no doubt that it would stay an unsolved mystery.

    Might Richard have fallen down one of these holes? Who, then, had opened them?

    He looked down at the rest of the irondder that was still buried. He felt that may be his answer.

    Although Richard had been rather annoying throughout the trip, not saving him would feel wrong.

    They had yet to see how the venttion holes looked, as they were always at the foot of the pyramid. From there, they could not make out anything significant.

    Zhang Zian started the drone and flew it to the position where Richard had disappeared. Sure enough, he saw a dark hole. The edge of the hole had some irregr gravel. Perhaps these had been left behind by sts caused by the German soldiers.

    The drone faintly captured Richard¡¯s screams. The sound echoed through the entire passageway.

    Retrieving the drone, Zhang Zian took the folding shovel from his car and cleaned the sand off it. He then said, ¡°I have an idea.¡±

    With great effort, he dug the irondder out of the sand.

    The irondder was quite heavy. Its structure was simr to that of a Russian Matryoshka doll. A smaller piece was nested inside arger section, and therger piece was nested inside an evenrger section.

    Before using thedder, he needed to extend it to the appropriate length. There were fixing bolts at the joint between the two sections. After he tightened the bolts, the smaller section would not automatically retract into therger section.

    Steady, strong, and simple, it was an efficient design. Thedder was a clear representation of German engineering prowess.

    Lighter aluminum was not used. If thedder was stretched out long, it would feel too light to those climbing thedder. In this manner, they may choose not to climb it instead. Thus, it could not simply have a heavy base for support. The entire structure must be made of solid steel to provide stability.

    Zhang Zian visually measured the height and stretched the irondder out close to its maximum length. He then used all his strength to put it on his shoulder and set it up on the pyramid. The irondder was extremely heavy, close to a hundred kilograms. For him to be able to do it all by himself was an incredible feat.

    Unfortunately, his estimated height came up short.

    Why had he not extended thedder to its maximum length? The issue was where thedder would rest. In addition, the longer thedder, the more difficult it was to carry and set up.

    He was about toy down thedder and pull it out, but the elfins had already figured out his intentions.

    Fina said, ¡°Don¡¯t bother! Go away. I am going up!¡±

    Zhang Zian turned red and wanted to put thedder down again. However, before he could speak, he felt something stepping on his back. Then he felt the same sensation on his head.

    He was prepared to sprout vulgarities. However, he saw that Fina had leaped high, directly to the pedal about three meters off the ground. She then jumped again. Each time she jumped, she skipped a few rungs. In a blink of an eye, she was more than ten meters up.

    Her tail was erected like a saber, swaying in the air to maintain bnce.

    The pedal was designed for people wearing shoes with rubber soles. The surface had a pattern to prevent slipping, but the anti-slip effect was not great for a cat. The iron te itself was rtively slippery, and it was narrow. It could barely amodate all four of her legs. Fina rarely needed to, as she only ced two legs down before jumping up almost immediately.

    Fina¡¯s movement was thrilling to watch. If she missed a step, she may simply fall off thedder. If she was lucky, she would roll down the slope of the pyramid¡¯s outer wall at an angle of more than 50 degrees. If she was not, she may continuously hit the cold, hard iron pedal during her rapid descent...

    Everyone watching was breaking out in sweat. They wanted to scream for her to climb more slowly and stay safe. However, they were also afraid that any noise would merely distract her.

    He and the other elfins looked up. Just as their necks started to ache from the angle, Fina stepped on thest step, jumped thest two meters, and glided into the vent.

    Fina seemed to have misjudged the distance, or, perhaps because of the continuous high-intensity jump, she was physically weak. In the end, only her two forelimbs caught the edge of the hole, and her two hind legs did not find ground.

    ¡°Your Majesty!¡±

    Only the face of Snowy Li had originally been white, but this scene was enough to scare even its spots white.

    Old Time Tea reacted immediately and rushed to the rescue.

    However, Fina only stopped for a moment. Her physical strength recovered slightly, and with a twist of her waist, she disappeared down the ¡°venttion duct.¡±

 Chapter 1275: Follow the Light

    <h4>Chapter 1275: Follow the Light</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was initially quite worried. Could Fina bridge the gap of 21 by 21?

    However, it seemed that the cat was indeed made of water. Her movable ribs allowed her to get into the narrow gaps. In fact, the passage was really not that narrow.

    ¡°Zhang Zian, I have nothing to do standing here. It¡¯ll be better if I head in as well. If anything is to happen, I can also assist,¡± Old Time Tea said.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°That makes sense. Please be careful.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Old Time Tea smiled slightly and climbed down the irondder.

    Compared with Fina¡¯s speed and aggressive nature, Old Time Tea was more rxed. He still had some energy left over with every jump. The distance of each jump was also consistent, and hended steadily on each step.

    He only added force on hisst leap. He did a somersault in the air beforending right in front of the hole.

    Old Time Tea didn¡¯t rush in. Instead, he observed the width of the hole, listened for any sound inside, and slid his nose in slightly to smell.

    Before, he had followed Zhang Zian into the Great Pyramid and vividly remembered the stale and dirty air inside it. He feared that the air in this pyramid was the same. However, perhaps because of the existence of this ¡°venttion channel¡± that the German soldiers had opened more than half a century ago, the air inside would not be as bad as he thought.

    Richard was still desperately calling out for help. The absolutely dark space inside proved to be extremely difficult to maneuver, even for cats and their strong night vision.

    Old Time Tea could not hear Fina because Fina was not as loud as Richard. In addition, even if she couldn¡¯t see, she would remain quiet.

    Fina entered the hole headfirst. However, as Old Time Tea was a little older and heavier, he went down feet-first. In case anything changed along the way, he could still try to climb out.

    In addition, his bamboo hat was somewhat inconvenient. It could enter the hole ifid t and could only enter at an angle. Thus, he decided that his legs would have to enter first.

    At this moment, the drone took off again and carefully flew a few meters away from where Old Time Tea was.

    Old Time Tea knew that Zhang Zian was looking at himself via the drone and that it could also transmit sound. He first waved his paw at the drone and exined, ¡°The pyramid is extremely dark, and the air is not satisfactory. I will continue moving in to find Fina.¡±

    After that, he took off his bamboo hat and dragged it behind him, using it to create friction with the wall to control the speed at which he descended.

    ¡°The tower is very dark indeed...¡±

    Zhang Ziannded the drone as he spoke to himself. Then...

    ¡°Hey! Next in line is Gxy!¡±

    Zhang Zian unexpectedly turned around and saw Gxy saying that with a very serious look.

    ¡°Gxy, you want to go in as well? The passage is very narrow. Old Time Tea also said that it is very dark, so dark that you can¡¯t even see your fingers...¡± he warned.

    Darkness and narrow spaces were Gxy¡¯s natural enemies. If only one was present, that would be better for it. However, when both elements were present, even ordinary people would find the situation extremely ufortable, let alone Gxy.

    A 21x21cm square space was much like the breadth of a piece of A4 paper. Although a cat could easily squeeze in, there was little remaining space thereafter. To then slip into an endless stream of darkness... It was a feeling worse than being buried alive in a coffin. Thus, he reminded Gxy not to force it.

    Gxy cringed for a moment, but nevertheless, it still reluctantly said, ¡°Hey, Gxy wants to try! There are people inside who Gxy wants to see!¡±

    This was the second time it had mentioned someone whom it wanted to see. This was understandable. After all, if they used the Great Pyramid as a temte, the passage should be connected to the tomb where mummiesy. Although it was not clear whether it led to the tomb of the king or queen, with enough luck, it mightnd right next to their resting ces.

    Suppose Gxy really wanted to see Cleopatra, and she was indeed lying inside.

    ¡°Well, although I can¡¯t solve the problem of the narrow passageway, I can help with a temporary solution for the darkness.¡±

    Zhang Zian, sensing he could not talk it out of this, went back to the car and took out a light stick.

    The light stick was not only used in concerts. It was also an essential item in the wilderness. It was very light, easy to carry, and it could continue to glow in water. The light was omnidirectional, soft, not ring, and could illuminate arge area. It had a wide and diverse range of uses and was more practical than a shlight.

    He bent one to make it light up and demonstrated to Gxy how to use it.

    ¡°Wow! Great!¡±

    Gxy opened its mouth in surprise, its pupils reflecting the pale green glow of the light stick.

    ¡°It¡¯s very simple. You can fold it, you can step on it, or you can drop it. You can do just about anything to light it up.¡±

    Zhang Zian tied a string around the light stick. ¡°Fina and Old Time Tea will also need some lighting. I will throw the stick down the passageway.¡±

    ¡°Hey! Gxy will do it! Zhang Zian is too slow!¡± Gxy took the initiative and, at the same time, gave him a look that was somewhat condescending to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°...Okay.¡±

    Fina and Old Time Tea must be waiting anxiously. It was a longdder... It did make his legs turn to jelly. Furthermore, the end of thedder was more than two meters away from the hole, and he couldn¡¯t jump in directly. To get closer, it would take him a lot of effort to extend thedder.

    He handed the light stick to Gxy, and it carefully opened its mouth.

    ¡°Oh, oh, oh!¡±

    Gxy made a few sounds, meaning, ¡°I am leaving.¡±

    ¡°Be careful. Don¡¯t be too anxious when climbing thedder. Be careful when you go in. Think before you act...¡± He tirelessly shouted out instructions. After all, Gxy was different from Fina and Old Time Tea.

    ¡°Oh, oh, oh!¡±

    Without waiting for him to finish, Gxynded on thedder and leaped up lightly.

    Its movements are neither as big as Fina¡¯s nor as light as Old Time Tea¡¯s. However, it still jumped naturally and looked very rxed.

    Soon, it came to thest step. It looked up and casually jumped forward.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart tightened at this point. His vision turned blurry, and he could not see what had just happened. By then, Gxy was already directly in front of the hole.

    Gxy put down the light sticks, held them with its front paws, and then used its mouth to pull one out and gently bite down on it.

    The light stick bent with a slight snapping sound. Yellow light emerged.

    It plunged its head into the hole and loosened its mouth, and the light stick slid down.

    ¡°As long as you run fast enough, you can even catch light!¡±

    As it talked to itself, it bowed its head, picked up the remaining light sticks, and jumped into the hole. It chased after the yellow light, escaping the darkness behind it.

 Chapter 1276: Unlucky Richard

    <h4>Chapter 1276: Unlucky Richard</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Today was the most unlucky day for Richard.

    He had hoped that the others would not find the hole on the side wall of the pyramid. However, he had clearly failed. Now he had to roll down the slope of the airway. The journey made him lose his sense of direction, and he could not tell what he was looking at. His head hit the wall countless times, and he was worried that the impact would turn him stupid...

    He decided to use his two wings to protect his head. Anything would be better than being a fool¡ªafter all, he depended on his wits, not his wings, to find food to eat. Unlike what Zhang Zian had said, that he used his mouth to eat, he felt he relied entirely on his own skills.

    He was grateful to this slope because it extended downward at a 45-degree angle. If it was any steeper, he would¡¯ve simply been freefalling.

    At the same time, Richard hated the slope. Why was it so long? It felt like a neverending tumble.

    When the slope finally ended, he felt like he was discharged like sewage into arge tank. He mmed into something hard before hitting the ground.

    He thought he would die like this. There seemed to be a thousand flies flying in his brain, and a splitting headache was emerging fast...

    He¡¯d never imagined dying in a pyramid... Empty... Lonely... Cold...

    After waiting for a while, his whole body was in pain. It seemed like he would not die. It was probably because a bird¡¯s bones were rtively light and would not easily fracture.

    ¡°Ah...¡± He heaved a sigh of relief and tried to stand up. However, his head once again hit something hard, like a metallic item. It made a loud sound that echoed through the space.

    He fell again. He tried to stand, got hit, and fell again...

    He thought that he kept hitting the item because he did not open his eyes. Now, he opened them wide, but there seemed to be no difference.

    ¡°Hey! Hey! Is it... Is it that I am blind? Did I be an ostrich? What should I do? The handsome me is so damn embarrassed...¡±

    Thest section of the air duct had a turn at a 45-degree angle to the horizontal level. That caused the light from the entrance to be almostpletely blocked in the tomb.

    ¡°Hey... Zhang Zian, you brat,e and save me! I am blind now! You need to look after me till I die!¡± he growled sadly.

    He had suppressed his desire to speak the entire day. Every time he¡¯d spoken, he had been criticized. Now he could finally speak.

    Yet no matter what he said, no one responded.

    He pped his wings and tried to wave them in front of him. He ended up hitting a very hard metal vessel. It was also there on the left, but on the right, it seemed to be empty.

    So he rolled to the right, then stood up carefully. This time he finally seeded.

    ¡°Hey! Zhang Zian, you brat, how can you simply abandon me? You must be celebrating that you finally got rid of me... No! I won¡¯t give you that! Even if I have to climb, I will get myself out of here! Then, I will sh*t on your head with... Hey!¡±

    Richard had not finished speaking when he heard soundsing from the airway... A squeaky sound, like a sharp object such as ss or ws rubbing on a stone.

    He didn¡¯t have time to react before a fluffy object pressed into him and pushed him towards a stone.

    ¡°Who? Which idiot is it...¡±

    He jumped a little. He did not get to finish what he was saying before he heard the same bored tone. The voice said, ¡°So very dark.¡±

    ¡°Hey! It is Fina, Her Majesty! You came here to rescue me! I am really grateful... Ah, you...did you get hurt on your way here? I was able to be of service to you. It is really my blessing...¡±

    Richard was starting to sound rather incoherent. He spoke nicely in an attempt to please Fina, trying to make Fina ignore his disrespect.

    It was clear, though, that no creatures hade into this tomb for thest 2,000 years. Now there was only Fina and him. If they were trapped here, he may well be eaten by her...

    So he could not provoke Fina and give her a reason to eat him. He decided what he would do and tried to shift Fina¡¯s attention away from him.

    Fina did not pay attention to Richard¡¯s nonsense. It seemed that it was too dark. Even Fina had not been able to judge the position when shended and hit the wall. She gave a resentful sigh.

    The pain gradually disappeared. She tried to locate the position of the door with her front paws.

    However, it seemed like there were all kinds of metal utensils around. There seemed to be no ce without one, and it was very annoying to keep kicking things away.

    Wait a minute, even Fina had said the ce was dark, hadn¡¯t she? Richard secretly pondered. He had hope in his heart again.

    ¡°Oh... Fina, you are here to save me?¡± For the sake of survival, he yed the humble card.

    Fina responded very coldly. ¡°Go out yourself. I have no time for this.¡±

    If he could have, he would have¡ªRichard wanted to rebut, but he did not have the guts to do it.

    ¡°About that...¡± He wanted to plead again, but suddenly he heard a rubbing noise from the airway again. Something then quickly jumped to the side.

    s, this person chose the wrong direction and ended up hitting Richard.

    ¡°Cough! Who is it that Old Time Tea hit?¡±

    Old Time Tea slid out of the air duct at high speed. It was very dark at the bottom, but he was prepared. He took his bucket from his back and put it in front of his body.

    Therefore, although it also hit the wall, there was a slight buffer, and the pain from the collision was less painful. In addition, Richard also helped to cushion the impact.

    The air almost left Richard. He felt that he could no longer breathe. Heid t on the ground and made no more attempts at moving.

    ¡°I... I will show you that I can die!¡± he cried in anger.

    To be eaten by one cat was bad enough. Now two cats? It would be better to go like this, rather than to be eaten alive by two cats.

    Old Time Tea also wanted to explore, but the tomb was too dark. Although a cat¡¯s eye could greatly gather light, there had to be light first.

    ¡°I have already told Zhang Zian about the situation. He will find a way. Everyone will be safe, so do not panic,¡± he said.

    Not longter, there was another sliding sound.

    Again? Who was it this time? These idiots were alling in one after another without giving it any thought?

    Richard was simply lying on the ground. He thought that if he stood up, he would be squashed or knocked down. It was way better to just lie there and wait to die.

    Suddenly, a light tumbled over the top of his head, hit the wall, and fell to the ground. It dazzled all around him.

 Chapter 1277: Fear of Heights

    <h4>Chapter 1277: Fear of Heights</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After seeing Gxy disappear, Zhang Zian looked back and saw that only he, Famous, dimir, and Snowy Li were left.

    To his delight, besides him, Snowy Li also saw thedder.

    It always followed Fina wherever she went, but...thisdder was too steep! It med its own short legs. At the maximum height of ten stories, it would probably fall. Not to mention that the distance at the end was more than two meters. Even if the distance killed it, it would still be unable to jump across it. Sadly, it could only watch.

    In addition, the sun was rising across the sky and was now south of the pyramid. It was already very hot. Now, Snowy Li felt that its hair was almost on fire.

    No... It smelled a whiff of burnt air. It really was scorched!

    A few strands of its white and straight hair were now ckened and distorted at the ends. Any further exposure, and it would certainly be cooked.

    Afraid, he quickly jumped back into the car. He did not want Fina toe back to a charcoal-ck cat.

    dimir noticed Zhang Zian¡¯s gaze and said, ¡°I won¡¯t go up anymore. I saw a lot of wild cats on the road. It may be more appropriate for me to stay outside.¡±

    WIth that, he ran into the sand dunes and disappeared.

    As for Famous, even if he wanted to enter, he could not, because he was too big. Since there were no other elfins that could go in, it was Zhang Zian¡¯s turn.

    Of course, he didn¡¯t want to go into the air duct, as he did not think he could twist his bones to fit the hole. However, he had to go in. He needed to deliver something¡ªthe Holy Cat statue.

    Sending the Holy Cat statue into a pyramid was because the ancient Egyptian gods could guard it so that it did not have the opportunity to resurrect again. This was one of his main goals ining to Egypt.

    He observed that the size of the air duct seemed to just amodate the statue of the cat god and decided to give it a try. Besides, Peter Lee and his team were still working at their site and had not yet entered the pyramid.

    The north side of the pyramid was currently in the shadows. It was not too hot, but by noon, it would also receive sunlight. At that time, no matter whether they had seeded in entering, they must stop working.

    Heid thedder t¡ªit was very simple. He just pulled it up and let go. Thedder did not make much noise when it fell on the sand.

    He stretched out thedder before fixing it. It took a lot of effort toy thedder back on the pyramid walls. The collision between the iron of thedder and the stone made some noise, but he made sure only to do so when Peter Lee and his team were chiseling away. This provided excellent coverage.

    He took the Holy Cat statue out of the trunk and stuffed it into a big hiking backpack. Carrying the bag on his back, he bravely stepped on thedder.

    One step, two steps... His hands held onto thedder tightly, and he was sweating profusely.

    Thedder had a stable design. In addition, thedder was leaning on a slope that was more than 50 degrees, a rtively safe angle for any sort of climbing. Thedder was of reasonable weight as well. Thus, it was unlikely that he would fall, unless he tripped and his weight shifted, or a truly unfortunate event happened.

    However, theory and practice were two different things.

    Zhang Zian constantly told himself not to look down, never to look down. He could take it at first, but after climbing a while, he felt as if he had been climbing for a long time and still had not seemed to reach the end. He¡¯d obviously seen Old Time Tea, Fina, and Gxy reach the end in record time...

    So he looked up. Immediately, he felt faint. Why was he still so far from the top of thedder?

    He involuntarily looked toward his feet...¡±Oh my God!¡±

    He started sweating profusely, though the sweat immediately evaporated due to the high heat.

    The feeling was hard to describe. In the past, when watching Jackie Chan movies, he¡¯d merely felt rtively thrilled by the actions he saw, such as rolling across a roof while lightning struck. Now, he was doing something simr, climbing up a slope with no safety rope, performing a scene that toyed with his own life.

    The difference was that no one was going to be aware of his heroic feat.

    The heavy statue of the cat god behind him was like a big hand with bad intentions. It kept mming into his back and pulling his center of gravity backwards. He might fall back anytime.

    He gritted his teeth and held thedder tightly. He didn¡¯t dare move.

    Famous looked worried standing below, but he couldn¡¯t help him. He was anxious, but all he could do was to run in circles and stare. He couldn¡¯t even yell because he might be heard by Peter Lee, and that would be even more dangerous.

    Zhang Zian, who could not go forward and could not get back to the ground, was now like a cuffed prisoner on adder. He looked very weak.

    ¡°This stupid stinky man.¡± Snowy Li poked its head out of the car¡¯s window and snorted. ¡°He didn¡¯t look at the way up attentively. Everyone else jumped and did not climb up.¡±

    Jump? Famous stood still for a while, recalling Fina¡¯s movements. It suddenly seemed clear. He ran to the foot of the irondder, lifted a front paw, and tapped it lightly.

    The sound was somewhat soft, but Zhang Zian felt the vibration and nced down just slightly. He saw Famous retreating a few steps and running. He ran four or five meters up the outer wall of the pyramid, and then, using gravity, he slid down. He seemed to be telling Zhang Zian something.

    Famous¡¯s posture was a bit weird. His body waspressed, almost sticking to the wall, so he could not run up too high.

    Zhang Zian gritted his teeth, bent his elbows, and let his body stick to thedder. His eyes were now level with thedder and level with the outer wall.

    In his subconscious mind, he¡¯d always thought that he was climbing ¡°up.¡± However, as the outer wall had more than a 50-degree slope, he actually needed to climb ¡°forward¡± rather than ¡°up.¡±

    He psyched himself up to climb forward.

    Looking beyond thedder and to the outer wall, he imagined himself to be an army recruit who was learning to move forward. Such a body position was more tiring, but with his body¡¯s center of gravity closer to the wall, he was more stable.

    The second half of his climb was much better than the first. At least, it felt that way to him.

    He finally arrived at the entrance, and sticking his head in, he shouted: ¡°Fina, Old Time Tea, Gxy, annoying bird, are y¡¯all there? I have to throw the Holy Cat statue in, so be careful not to be squashed by it!¡±

    The sound stayed in the duct and did not escape.

    After shouting, he listened carefully for any reply. He then repeated it several times, but there was still no response. Perhaps they had left the tomb.

    He carefully removed the backpack from his back, opened the zipper, and stuffed the bag down the hole. The cat god statue slid smoothly out of the bag and into the pyramid.

    He prayed that the sound created from the statue rubbing the wall was not too loud.

    As he prayed, a louder sound rang from the north side of the pyramid. It overwhelmed the sound of the friction. It was loud cheering.

    Peter Lee and his team had finally seeded in opening a hole in the pyramid.

 Chapter 1278: Escape

    <h4>Chapter 1278: Escape</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Since they¡¯d gotten used to the darkness, any bit of light was precious.

    Richardy on his back on the ground, staring at the yellow glow stick rolling past him. He was suddenly filled with fresh joy.

    He secretly made up he mind to evolve into a noble, pure bird. No longer would he be willing to be a low-level type of bird...

    In the blink of an eye, a ck shadow followed the glow stick.

    Gxy¡¯s jaw loosened, and bundles of fluorescent sticks fell to the ground. ¡°Hey! Gxy ising!¡±

    Old Time Tea and Fina had their attention fixed firmly on the magnificent tomb.

    In contrast to the bare, almost empty burial chamber of the Great Pyramid, there was arge number of funerary objects stacked in the tomb. The gold-ted wooden cabs were decorated with bracelets, head ornaments, nes, and other ornaments made of gold and precious stones. It was as if they were cheap children¡¯s toys for daily home usage.

    There were also various utensils and pottery of various sizes and shapes. They were piled high and were everywhere. Animal-themed gold products dazzled with exquisite craftsmanship and luxury materials. The inferior imitations sold in the Khan el-Khalili Market were easily dwarfed by these.

    However, these items were piled up messily, as if they had been hurriedly brought in, thrown into the burial chamber, and left there.

    Under the walls on one side of the tomb, there were two small boats that had been hollowed out and painted with goldcquer. There was no seam or shackle in the hull. If taken out, it would be possible to go fishing on theke at any time. Of course, theke that could have been used for boating had already dried up.

    There was some colored powder on the floor near the wall. There may have been murals on the walls. As the air ducts were opened, they may have been weathered down. What was left was some debris, suggesting that there might have been beautiful murals here.

    Although the weathering of murals was unfortunate, if the air ducts had not been opened more than half a century in advance, they would soon die from ack of air.

    The most important thing was the stone sarcophagus in the center of the tomb. The sarcophagus was open, and the heavy covery on one side.

    When Fina saw this situation, she guessed that it was most likely empty. Nevertheless, there was a possibility that she was wrong.

    She took a deep breath, jumped on the edge of the sarcophagus, and looked in. Unsurprisingly, it was empty.

    It was no wonder that she had married three men in her lifetime. These three men had died earlier than her. Furthermore, one of the men was a brother whom she did not like. As for the other two, she was not in a position to control how they were buried. Leaving them empty was her best option.

    Fina could not wait to go to another burial chamber. She wanted to know if the gods she¡¯d seen in front of the Siwa Shrine were real.

    If they were real, she would see her alive. If they were not real...then it must be Zhang Zian¡¯s foul mouth!

    She wanted to go but was afraid... Much like how college students feared knowing the results of their college entrance examinations, she did not dare to find out the truth. She was afraid that all her fantasies of how things should have been would be entirely ruined.

    However, she was the guardian of the kingdom of eternity. She could not be scared off that easily. How could she choose to run from the truth out of fear?

    Fina¡¯s eyes narrowed, and she walked to the exit of the tomb, determined.

    ¡°Meow! Wait!¡± Gxy ran forward and tried to stop her.

    ¡°What?¡± Fina was very upset because it had been difficult for her to muster that courage. She did not want there to be any other reasons for her to falter.

    ¡°It¡¯s too early. Not yet,¡± Gxy said seriously.

    Fina snorted. ¡°What is too early?¡±

    ¡°Nothing! Those people areing in from the north. Won¡¯t you think of stopping them?¡± Gxy evaded her question.

    Fina was reminded that it was something more urgent. She had momentarily forgotten after being so focused on finding those gods. Peter Lee and his team could break through the wall at any time. It they were allowed to enter her tomb and perform a ritual that absorbed the pure energy of the universe, that was tantamount to a major embarrassment for her!

    Gxy grabbed a light stick with his front paw and ced it under his feet. ¡°Hey! You need this.¡±

    Fina really needed it, because once she left this tomb, it would be very dark.

    Yet how would she bring it with her? In her mouth or with her ws? Either way was not suitable for her to face uing fights.

    It nced at the tomb. If only she could find the ne she used to wear. It had a cat god statue carved on it. However, the gold ornaments in the tomb seemed to be for humans. They probably would not fit on her neck.

    Finally, her eyes fell on Richard.

    Richard was not lying on the ground as she¡¯d initially thought. He curiously used his ws to y with all kinds of gold jewelry around him. He said, ¡°Oh! If Zhang Zian the idiot sees this, he may have a heart attack on the spot!¡±

    Suddenly, his back felt cold. It was as if a predator was staring at him.

    Richard turned back and saw Fina, who was very close to him. ¡°Hey... Your Majesty, you...are you hungry?¡±

    He must have been made stupid from the fall earlier if he was speaking his mind. Was he trying to get killed?

    Sure enough, Fina pulled out her ws and picked him up. She brought him closer and closer to her mouth.

    ¡°Oh... Your Majesty, I do not taste good! I have too much bone. My meat is very little! It is also very tough to chew. Plus, my feathers may clog up your throat on their way down. And...and... I did not poop today. I am dirty and smelly. You will definitely lose your appetite...¡± Richard was scared. He thought that he would actually die.

    ¡°Old Time Tea, do we not have a good rtionship? Gxy, I always y hide-and-seek with you... Come and help me, quick! I do not want to be eaten! Ah ah ah ah ah!¡± He screamed desperately.

    Fina blinked coldly. ¡°What are you talking about? Put this stick in your mouth and follow me.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡± Richard was stunned. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to eat me?¡±

    Fina impatiently put the light stick in his mouth. ¡°Do as I told you. Stop with all your nonsense!¡±

    After narrowly escaping death, he didn¡¯t dare to let go of the light stick in his mouth and desperately nodded. He thanked Fina for not eating him.

    Fina turned and walked to the exit of the tomb, and Richard followed closely.

    Old Time Tea sniffed and said, ¡°Hey, what is this strange smell?¡±

    He quickly found the source of the scent¡ªwhere Richard was lying, there was a pile of yellow-green and white bird droppings. They must have been released out of sheer fear or, otherwise, forcefully squeezed out.

    Old Time Tea was speechless. He did not want to be near that pile of droppings. He said to Gxy, ¡°Gxy, let¡¯s proceed forward together so we can look out for one another.¡±

    Gxy nodded and picked up the bundle of light sticks from the ground. He then left the tomb with Old Time Tea.

 Chapter 1279: Tomb Passage

    <h4>Chapter 1279: Tomb Passage</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As soon as he left the tomb, without waiting for Fina to speak, Richard automatically used his beak to snap the light stick and illuminate therge tomb.

    ¡°Ahooooooo!¡± Having saved his own life, he broke into song. ¡°Love is a streak of light, so green it makes you panic!¡±

    Unfortunately, only he knew what he was singing about.

    What surprised Fina was that the passage connected to this tomb was straight, with no obvious slope. If this golden pyramid was simr to the internal structure of the Great Pyramid, it meant that she¡¯d chosen the tomb of the king as her resting ce. Not the queen¡¯s tomb.

    This...might just be her style.

    Although not officially enthroned as a pharaoh during her lifetime, she must at least get what she wanted after her death.

    Fina and Richard walked in front while Gxy and Old Time Tea followed. They were surprised to see this gorgeous yet solemn tomb.

    The stone statues of various animal gods were ced in pairs on the sides of the tomb. Some were animals, while some were half-man, half-beast. They were all carved out of ck rock. They were covered in dust and looked at one another with forlorn expressions. They looked like they were waiting for the moment when the owner of the mausoleum would be resurrected.

    In the eyes of those who did not understand Egyptian mythology and tradition, the atmosphere seemed a bit strange.

    There were also some lower-quality gold utensils and ornaments scattered between the tombs. The way the gold was disyed made one feel like they were made of worthless metal like brass and could be simply thrown away.

    The tomb itself was also covered in dust, like the early snows of winter. No one had stepped into this tomb for more than 2,000 years, and there was not a single footprint here.

    As they walked between the stone statues, the statues gazed at them with their cold eyes. They inadvertently quietened their footsteps and held their breath. This was done out of fear of disturbing the sleep of these stalking beasts.

    Richard was creeped out and couldn¡¯t even sing. He wanted toment on why they were all stone beasts. Had the ancient Egyptians living in Africa not known about the cuteness of the African Grey parrot?

    It didn¡¯t take long for them to reach the end. There was a fork ahead, one road leading up while the other led downward. The former should lead to the tomb of the king, and thetter should lead to the entrance.

    Fina looked up in the direction of the former. She really wanted to go that way first. However, she knew she had to solve the problem of Peter Lee.

    From the depths of the path leading downwards, there was a faint screaming sound. It was probably from Peter Lee and his team as they made a final effort to enter the pyramid. It sounded like the stone wall had been thinned and may open at any time.

    ¡°Ahooooo!¡± Richard took the light stick and flew to the top of the stone wall by the forked roads. He scratched the wall with his ws. He found some words, but as they were covered in dust, he could not quite make out what they said.

    When he finally cleared the dust, he discovered that it was an ancient Egyptian hieroglyph that he could not understand.

    Fina narrowed her eyes and nced at the handwriting. ¡°The death of the physical body opens the door to eternal life for the soul¡ªthis is a sentence from the Book of the Dead.¡±

    Richard flew down and thought that he¡¯d found something incredible, such as a spell. He wanted to get praised by Fina, because ording to his understanding of Fina, Fina lost her temper faster than flipping the pages of a book.

    Suddenly, they heard the sound of heavy objects sliding in the tomb behind them, followed by the loud sound of heavy objects falling. The sound would normally not have been loud, but in a silent tomb, it was.

    Almost at the same time, there was a loud bang and loud cheers up front.

    Fina¡¯s face changed. Peter Lee had breached the final wall.

    ¡°Hey! Spooky! Spooky! What¡¯s that sound? Were those animal beasts resurrected?¡±

    Richard was so scared that he fluttered his wings, trying to fly up and almost hitting the ceiling. The light stick in his mouth fell to the ground.

    Old Time Tea, who was walking at the back and could hear clearly, said, ¡°No! It seems to being from the previous tomb that we were in.¡±

    ¡°From the tomb?¡± Richard looked around. ¡°So it was from the corpse?¡±

    After saying this, he immediately felt something was wrong. Worried that Fina might be angered by his words, he quickly changed them. ¡°I think it is probably a bottle jar that has fallen. However, it is a pity it is not haunted. If it is, that will be good. We can have it fight Peter Lee, and we can sit back and watch the fight!¡±

    Fina roared. ¡°Your mouth is used to talk rubbish?¡±

    Richard quickly flew up and took the light stick. He felt small. Why could he not use his mouth to say anything he wanted?

    ¡°Follow!¡±

    Fina took a big step and quickly ran to the lower passageway in order to stop Peter Lee and the others as soon as possible.

    Most parrots were not very good at flying. Richard¡¯s wings couldn¡¯t keep up with Fina¡¯s speed, and he was soon left behind.

    Old Time Tea was deeply fearful that Fina would get lost. He made a sound to Gxy, ran past Richard, and went to follow Fina.

    They came to another fork in the road. ording to theyout of the Great Pyramid, the lower part should be an underground tomb, and the higher part should be the entrance. The underground burial chamber likely contained vast treasures, but Fina did not hesitate to choose thetter route. She was adamant about stopping Peter Lee.

    Richard flew so fast that he got dizzy. He had just reached the fork in the road when he was stopped by Gxy, who was waiting there.

    ¡°Hey! Richard, don¡¯t fly forward,¡± Gxy said.

    ¡°Ahoooooo!¡± Richard whispered in anger. He meant to tell Gxy to quickly get away. Otherwise, Fina would not spare him.

    Gxy shook his head. ¡°The entrance to the front has been opened, so you don¡¯t need to illuminate it with a light stick anymore.¡±

    ¡°Ah? Really?¡± Richard loosened his mouth. He did not really want to get involved in Fina¡¯s feud with Peter Lee. What if he got injured or even died in the process?

    ¡°Really,¡± Gxy responded.

    ¡°Then can I leave first?¡± Richard said. With the light stick, he could fly out easily.

    ¡°Hey! Not yet. You have to go there first!¡± Gxy lifted his ws and pointed at the ramp leading upwards. It led to the tomb of the king.

    ¡°Go over there? I may be a big man, but my courage is still very small!¡± Richard looked at the dark tomb and trembled.

    Gxy pushed his bundle of light sticks toward Richard. ¡°Hey! Put light sticks with a reasonable distance between them. Fina will need that...and she will be very thankful for your service.¡±

    Richard didn¡¯t want to take on this errand, but if he could make Fina owe him a favor, perhaps this could save him if he ever did something wrong in the future.

    ¡°Ah! I really cannot say no to you. I will go then!¡±

 Chapter 1280: The Guardian of the Underworld

    <h4>Chapter 1280: The Guardian of the Underworld</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    On the north side of the pyramid, an irregr hole appeared at the bottom of the cracked outer wall. The hole was ck andcquered, and a pitted passage extended into the interior of the pyramid.

    The smoke had yet to settle. Those wearing masks and protective sses were soaked in sweat. They all felt a sense of satisfaction from their work.

    Peter Lee was delighted and gave everyone a thumbs-up as appreciation for their hard work. His efforts and sacrifices had finally paid off.

    This was virginnd that no one had set foot on for more than 2,000 years. It must be filled with a lot of pure cosmic energy. If he was able to absorb this energy, he would likely reach a higher level of living.

    The bald schr¡¯s face was covered in gray dust. He looked like any construction worker who had just left work. He ran to the hole and carefully observed the smoke. s, he could not help but sigh.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What¡¯s wrong?¡± asked Peter Lee.

    He tried smelling the chemical reagents and used the palm of his hand to fan the air at the hole a few times. Frowning, he said, ¡°This... It is reasonable to say that the pyramid has been closed for more than two thousand years, and the air inside should be musty. However, I cannot get much of that smell...¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Peter Lee was also stunned.

    The members of the Society had worked hard for a day and night, and they had finally seeded in breaking the wall. He was nning to let everyone rest for a while and let the air in the pyramid mix with the outside air before entering. He feared the dangers that a deficit in oxygen could bring. For this reason, he also carried a miniature blower and a small oxygen-filled canister.

    The schr pointed to the dispersing smoke. ¡°As you can see, this smoke has a tendency to diffuse outwards. This means that the pyramid itself has flowing air.¡±

    The people present were outstanding experts in their various fields. Everyone knew this was simplemon sense¡ªif the pyramid had only one external opening, it would neither produce air convection nor blow the smoke out.

    In addition, the air in the pyramid did not seem all that toxic. The situation was different from what they¡¯d expected.

    ¡°Is it true than that the seal of the pyramid is not tight?¡± someone guessed. ¡°After all, this is thest pyramid of thest dynasty of ancient Egypt. It may have beenpleted in a hurry. Maybe there are problems with the construction quality at some locations, or damage caused by the earthquakes from the previous years. Maybe even cracks...¡±

    ¡°Maybe the German soldiers did something?¡± Other spections were raised.

    After they¡¯d arrivedst night, they had driven around the pyramid and seen the military vehicles buried in the yellow sand on the south side. However, they had not checked it out carefully. It had been nighttime, and the light had not been good. When they¡¯d seen the outer wall on the south side intact, they had driven back to the north side and prepared explosives for sting.

    Was it what the Germans had done before they died, but they¡¯d failed to discover it because they were in a hurry? These two possibilities could not be ruled out.

    Peter Lee thought for a while before addressing the others. ¡°Everyone has worked hard in the past few days. Now we havee to thest step. We have to work harder. Instead of guessing, why not follow me into the pyramid to see what is going on?¡±

    Curiosity about what was inside overwhelmed everyone¡¯s sense of tiredness. They threw down their digging tools and dusted off their hands, ready to enter.

    It was definitely not possible for everyone to enter. There must be someone left outside to guard the vehicles and the unused explosives. Now, while they were currently under the shadows of the pyramid, they would soon face the sun for a long time. The remaining explosives that had been prepared but not used up must be disposed of as soon as possible.

    This was supposed to be done while they waited for fresh air to enter the pyramid. However, their ns had now changed.

    The so-called disposal, of course, was just not to bring them back to their vehicles. It was too dangerous and would jeopardize their desire to reach a higher state of life...

    Everyone wanted to enter the pyramid and absorb cosmic energy. However, it was necessary to follow the n. Peter Lee decided that the Consul and Colonel would stay outside to settle the explosives. Others would slowly rece them as they exited the pyramid.

    The Consul and the Colonel nodded, despite being slightly unhappy with the arrangement.

    The remaining five people each carried a shlight, headlight, a small oxygen cylinder, a gas mask, and other items that may be useful for entering the pyramid. They lined up in order and entered the sted hole.

    Peter Lee walked in the front. His shlight illuminated a white passage full of dust. Countless dust particles danced in front of the light.

    The cool environment inside provided some relief from the scorching heat. By concentrating, it was possible to feel a slight breeze flowing through the entire structure. This proved that there may be small holes or gaps on the other side of the pyramid.

    The floor of the passage appeared to be casuallyid, with sharp corners scattered throughout. They tried to make it as walkable as possible by removing some of the loose stone. However, they did not did too much work. After all, they would only enter and exit at most two or three times, and it was not necessary to make it perfect.

    Suddenly, the shlight seemed to cast light on something shiny. It had a metallic luster, but what it was could not be seen clearly through the smoke.

    Peter Lee held a shlight in one hand, the other hand on his dagger. He made a gesture, telling everyone to be alert and to move forward carefully.

    After they¡¯d taken a few more steps through the sted passage, a ck stone statue appeared a few meters away.

    Peter Lee heaved a sigh of relief while frowning, because the shape of this stone statue was a bit horrible. It had a human body and a snake head. It had more than one snake head, in fact. It was a three-headed cobra.

    The three snake heads were carved vividly. They were ring and screaming, as if indeed being aggressive toward a person.

    The body of the stone statue was slightly longer than the average person, showing obvious feminine characteristics. It worse an off-shoulder robe covering a bulging chest. The arms, shoulders, and other visible parts were carved with snake scales.

    Obviously, this was a deterrent left for tomb raiders when the pyramid was built.

    The people behind him were also walking through the passage, and the five shlights were concentrated on the stone statue. No one spoke. Everyone was silently observing the horror of this statue.

    The Schr walked forward and looked closely at the stone statue for a moment. He turned back and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry. This is the guardian of the underworld in ancient Egyptian mythology, Meredith Segar. The Turin Museum also has a stone structure with her appearance engraved on it. It has the same three-headed snake, but this should be the first time she has been discovered in the form of a stone statue... Ah, priceless treasure...¡±

    His exnation did not help much inforting the rest. In any case, it proved that the ancient Egyptians had ced the stone statue here to guard against tomb robbers. It was indeed a shock to them, but it was now toote to withdraw.

    Peter Lee made a gesture. ¡°Be careful. Don¡¯t touch this stone statue. Don¡¯t get too close. Walk around it...¡±

    Before he could finish, he suddenly saw something moving in the smoke behind the stone statue.

 Chapter 1281: Frightened

    <h4>Chapter 1281: Frightened</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The stone statue of the half-human-half-animal god, Meredith Segar, was indeed scary. Peter Lee and his team¡¯s shlights were concentrated on it.

    In this group, besides Peter Lee and the Consul, who were Chinese, the rest were foreigners. They had been influenced by various religions since childhood. Seeing this image of the gods, which was no different from the devil, made them pray to their God, who had been forgotten for many years.

    The Consul and the Colonel dealt with explosives outside. The schrs were obsessed with examining the stone statue. The rest did not think much about it. Only Peter Lee noticed something strange amidst the smoke.

    ¡°What is that...?¡±

    He wanted to ask ¡°who is that,¡± but he decided to swallow his words. It wouldn¡¯t be a good thing to ask that. To find other people in a pyramid that, supposedly, no one had entered for 2,000 years was a spooky event...

    After he spoke, he moved his shlight and looked in the direction of the strange urrence. However, it seemed to have moved and disappeared. Only the smoke lingered.

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    The others were shocked by his voice, thinking that the fearsome guardians of the underworld had really appeared. The shock made them sweat profusely, and they shifted the direction of their shlights.

    Peter Lee hesitated for a moment. He saw something out of the corner of his eye, and he could not be sure if it was a mistake. This was because smoke naturally glided in the air. In addition, the air in the pyramid was rather messy and went in all directions. For there to be weird shapes within the smoke was not too abnormal. With them using their shlights to illuminate the space, it was more likely than ever to cause visual errors.

    In this dull and depressing environment, human nerves were particrly sensitive to strangeness.

    ¡°No, nothing is going on. I may have seen wrongly.¡± Peter Lee decided not to say it so as not to scare everyone.

    When the others were petrified and randomly shining their shlights around, the Schr looked at the stone statue again. He held his shlight under his arm and took out his mobile phone to take pictures.

    The moment his finger pressed the shutter, he suddenly saw on the screen... There was a pair of wild green eyes between the three snake heads, staring at him.

    ¡°Ahhhh!¡± He screamed and screamed and screamed. His hand slipped, and his mobile phone slid out of his hands. It fell facedown, and the shlight under his arm dropped as well.

    The rest were shocked. Goosebumps appeared on their arms, and they turned their shlights toward themotion.

    ¡°How are you? What did you see?¡± Peter Lee rushed over and pulled him up. He could feel him shaking like a leaf.

    The Schr pointed to the stone statue and said with a pale face, ¡°Just...just now, those eyes were staring at me...¡±

    Everyone heard it and was seriously creeped out. Their shlightnded on the stone statue once more, alternating between the three snake heads.

    ¡°Which eyes?¡± Peter Lee asked, as three snake heads had three pairs of eyes.

    The Schr was not sure. After all, he¡¯d seen it through the screen of his mobile phone, and it was very dark. However, he was quite sure it did not belong to the statue.

    He picked up his phone. Although there were visible cracks, it was still functioning. He opened the albums folder and found the photo he¡¯d taken.

    His hands had been shaking when he took it, and thus it was blurry and did not focus on the statue. However, they could see that at the shoulder of the stone statue, there was a pair of green eyes that became a streak of green light. The eyes had probably moved as he took the picture.

    This means that the owner of the green eyes, regardless of who it was, had already moved. It was no longer next to the stone statue and may have been anywhere in the darkness.

    ¡°What the hell is that?¡±

    To them, this creature was rather tall. The eyes appeared to be about two meters from the ground. It was impossible for such arge animal to live in the pyramid. Perhaps then...it was a human?

    Or...

    This time they didn¡¯t illuminate one position all at the same time. Rather, they raised their shlights and unconsciously stood back-to-back to form a circle. They stared at the darkness, as if to prevent unknown enemies from attacking.

    They¡¯d brought camping lights. However, they were not able to prate the air and could only illuminate a small area.

    ¡°Damn dust!¡± They cursed quietly. If they were not obstructed by the smoke, they would not have been as paralyzed as they were right now. However, they could only me themselves for this, as they were the ones who had caused the dust with their explosions.

    Brush brush...

    Several of them took out the pistols that they carried with them. The muzzles slowly moved with their shlights. They looked quite professional. They were obviously trained and not at all rookies.

    The sound of something rolling came from the distance. It seemed toe from the small angled slope.

    In an instant, their shlights were concentrated in that direction, and everyone¡¯s palms were damp with sweat.

    Peter Lee kept calm and yelled, ¡°Stabilize! Stabilize! Don¡¯t fire casually!¡±

    A pottery jug rolled out of the darkness and slowly rolled to them. Peter Lee stepped on it with his foot.

    The pottery jug wouldn¡¯t roll on its own. Someone or something must have done it.

    They lifted their muzzles and shlights and pointed them into the distance through the diffuse smoke. They were waiting for the unknown enemy to appear.

    ¡°We are simply waiting, and that is not ideal. Let¡¯s go out first, wait until the dust settles, and thene in again,¡± someone said nervously.

    Peter Lee also had this intention. He¡¯d thought that everything would go smoothly after entering the pyramid. He hadn¡¯t expected to encounter such a strange event. In this case, it would be better to withdraw first and prepare for it. After the preparation was done, the Consul and the Colonel would enter again. Whether it was a man or a ghost, all of them would be killed.

    He was about to issue an order to retreat when suddenly¡ª

    ¡°Ooooooooo¡ª¡±

    A string of screams came out from deep within the darkness, and the voice echoed through the empty tombs. It sounded like countless ghosts crying.

    Any ounce of self-control and determination to pull through left the group. They could no longer control their fears or, by extension, their fingers.

    They didn¡¯t know who pulled the trigger first. The first shot was like a signal for them to let their fears loose.

    They thought that someone really had seen the enemy, and therefore, they were fiercely fighting the enemy. Or they tried to at least make themselves think so. It was a better deal than dealing with invisible enemies.

    Everyone with guns in their hands pulled the trigger and shot into the darkness aimlessly. The dazzling fire came relentlessly, one shot after another. The deafening gunshots were echoed and magnified many times throughout the pyramid, covering up all other sounds.

    ¡°Stop firing! Stop firing! Stop firing!¡± Peter Lee screamed desperately to try to stop them, but his voice was drowned out by the gunshots.

    Everyone finally stopped when their guns ran out of bullets. They nevertheless stayed in their positions.

    Peace and quiet descended on the tomb once again. Only the group¡¯s heavy breathing and swallowing could be heard.

 Chapter 1282: Non-Human

    <h4>Chapter 1282: Non-Human</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Peter Lee and his team had excellent abilities and tenacious willpower. They had all received basic military training. Nevertheless, they were not regr soldiers or special police. They had not practiced shooting together. If they had been well-trained soldiers or special police officers, they definitely would have fired alternately and changed the clips in turn, avoiding ineffective collective fire on a single spot.

    In the chaos, they emptied the bullets in their magazines desperately into the darkness and collectively misfired. They were slow to reload and stayed in shooting positions despite running out of bullets. Some quickly put away their shlights and hurriedly tried to put in a fresh magazine. It was utter chaos.

    In addition to the indiscriminate shooting, their firepower was mainly concentrated on the Meredith Segar stone statue. This was because they subconsciously felt that this stone statue was strange and that there was hidden danger. The stone statue was hit repeatedly, especially the three snake heads. Even the poisonous teeth were destroyed.

    Peter Lee screamed for them to reload faster. If he were an enemy, he certainly would not not let this rare period pass during which no one was firing.

    His mind was moving quickly. Suddenly, a gray shadow suddenly smashed through the smoke. This time, amongst the five, two to three of them saw it clearly. It was a gray cat.

    Gray might not be the true color of this cat. However, its body was covered with dust, just as they were also gray-faced. Regardless of whether they had ck hair or blond hair, it was now simply gray.

    Seeing that it was a cat, they were relieved. It was fine as long as it was not a human or an unknown supernatural thing.

    There was nothing strange about seeing a cat. There were many wild cats in the Devil¡¯s Sea. They had seen a lot of them en route. But how had the cat entered the pyramid?

    Perhaps it was from the gaps in the pyramid¡ªthe gap that allowed air to flow through the structure.

    They heaved sighs of relief, only to immediately discover that the cat seemed to be in a bad mood. After rushing out of the smoke, it did not stop. Instead, it flew up to the nearest gunman¡¯s wrist and sank its ws in. It left a few bloody wounds.

    ¡°Ah!¡± The man was in so much pain that he couldn¡¯t hold the gun anymore. He dropped his gun.

    This cat would attack people?

    They immediately recalled the rumor of the ¡°Tomb Cat Shadow.¡± Archaeologists had opened the tomb of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh in 1990 and found arge gray cat in it, only to be madly attacked by it.

    People with a littlemon sense might dismiss this as nothing but a folk legend. However, if they had not believed it previously, they did now. This was a mausoleum and there was a big gray cat. It had also attacked them... They had to believe the story.

    This gray cat was also quite knowledgeable. It seemed to know what a pistol was and focused on attacking the person who was changing the magazine. Its ws were heavy and sturdy, and they could cut into any protection suit or tactical vest.

    Peter Lee held a dagger in his hand and stared at the gray cat. When it attacked another person, he flicked his wrist and threw the dagger. It flew at the speed of light towards the cat.

    His flying daggers had been observed before by Zhang Zian. He could urately stab a crawling scorpion a few meters away. Although the gray cat was agile, it was a hundred times bigger than the scorpion, and it was within a close distance of three or four meters. It was possible to strike it even with an eye closed.

    Seeing that this gray cat was about to be nailed to the ground by his dagger, at a critical moment, a rock came flying out of nowhere to intercept the dagger¡¯s path. It was sessful. The dagger hit the ground and missed the cat.

    With a clunking sound, the dagger changed directions. It did not stab the gray cat and instead almost identally injured his teammates.

    Peter Lee was shocked. Were there other enemies hidden behind the smoke and in the dark?

    This thing or person could use a small piece of loose gravel to intercept his deadly dagger. The strength, agility and speed disyed was simply incredible!

    The most important thing was his eyesight.

    The enemy couldn¡¯t have known the timing and angle of his shot. That was to say, after he threw the dagger, the enemy had to have judged the speed and angle of the dagger and urately thrown the stone.

    Peter Lee had practiced throwing his dagger for many years, and he was very proud of it. He¡¯d tested it once with a speedometer. The dagger flew as fast as 150 kilometers per hour, which was equivalent to the pitching speed of a professional baseball pitcher.

    This was not to say that his physical condition wasparable to that of a professional athlete. It was about the air that the dagger had to move through. With its smaller and more aerodynamic shape, it faced little wind resistance.

    The upper limit of the speed that the human eye could detect was about 170 kilometers per hour. This was also only possible when there was enough light.

    At this time, the dust was beginning to settle in the pyramid. Despite this, the lighting was still poor. Thus, it was absolutely impossible to see a dagger traveling at 150 km per hour with human vision and promptly intercept it.

    In other words, whoever was hiding in the dark and throwing the stone...was not human.

    For the first time, the others saw that Peter Lee¡¯s flying knife had failed to strike its prey. They were at a loss for words.

    ¡°Who is it? Show yourself! What kind of hero hides in the dark?¡± Peter lee yelled into the darkness. However, none of them, including himself, would like to see something, or anything, for that matter, rising from the dark...

    In response to his screams, an avnche of stones struck the group.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    ¡°It hurts!¡±

    The gravel that followed came like bullets from a machine gun, with the stsing out of nowhere. It forced the group to stand back-to-back against one another.

    It may just be small gravel, but because of its speed, strength, and uracy, each strike hurt as if it had been released from a slingshot. In addition, the gray cat was still sneaking around trying to attack, making them highly miserable. Bruises rapidly appeared on their skin, and soon, blood flowed.

    They could only raise their hands to protect vital areas such as the head and neck. They had no way to fight back.

    ¡°Retreat! Retreat!¡±

    Peter Lee finally issued the order to retreat. They would go out first and wait for the dust to settle. Then they would bring in more powerful lighting equipment and firepower. He would alsoe up with a more effective battle n. Regardless of who the enemy was, he vowed to annihte them all at once.

    In the Devil¡¯s Sea, the wireless radio was rather useless. This was especially true inside the pyramid, where there was no signal at all. There was no way he could call the Colonel and Consul in for reinforcement.

    His team longed to leave. It was like a nightmare being inside the pyramid. With their hands covering their heads and faces, they lined up and ran out of the pyramid with their backs bent.

    When they finally reached the sted entrance, the ring sun shone into their eyes. They immediately felt alive once more.

    Yet before they even had time to regroup, the earth suddenly trembled.

 Chapter 1283: Stalemate

    <h4>Chapter 1283: Stalemate</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The Colonel and Consul, who¡¯d stayed outside to deal with the explosives, were envious of the people who got to go into the pyramid first. However, they knew that the work outside needed someone to take care of it. They could only seek to work faster and finish so as to join up with everyone as soon as possible. Or perhaps they could wait for someone toe out and take over, as they had to juggle guarding the vehicles and equipment as well.

    But was there a need to guard the vehicle?

    There were norge beasts nearby. The wild cats that they encountered on the road may be the biggest beasts they¡¯d met. What could they do to the vehicles? They probably could, at most, urinate on the tires.

    As for people... The Germans were already dead. The only others were the scientific expedition team and the Bedouin guide. The Bedouin people were afraid of entering the Devil¡¯s Sea, and the research team did not seem to have the courage to enter. Even if the expedition team heard the explosion, came in to see, and thereafter disagreed with their work, they would not think of destroying their vehicles, would they?

    The Consul pointed to the explosives that had not been used and asked, ¡°Where should we move them to?¡±

    The Colonel had absolute control over the explosives. He looked up at the sky and spit out a mouthful of sand and stone shards. He said, ¡°To the sand dunes a little farther away from the car. God, this sun rises really fast!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s finish early and rest early,¡± the Consul advised.

    To prevent the direct sunlight from excessively heating up the explosives, they put them back into the luggage and carefully carried them together to a nearby honeb sand dune.

    The homemade explosives were less stable than military explosives. The quality of the materials obtained through the ck market was also suspicious. Excessive temperature or impact might cause the explosives to detonate.

    They headed for the shade on the north side of the sand dunes and gently lowered the suitcase. The Colonel squatted on the ground and began to power up the remote control.

    Under normal circumstances, the explosives should be buried and detonated. However, they were pressed for time. In addition, there were sand dunes that would block the dust and gravel, and they would notnd on the vehicles.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    The two men hurriedly ran to evacuate the scene.

    ¡°Stop! Don¡¯t move!¡±

    Suddenly, a person was standing next to the vehicle waiting for them. This person was holding a pistol.

    It was Zhang Zian.

    ¡°You...¡±

    The Colonel¡¯s and the Consul¡¯s faces changed slightly, and they looked at one another. They smiled and said, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Let¡¯s talk about it and not have that gun around. You could identally fire it.¡±

    Zhang Zian was unmoved and continued pointing the gun at them. He said, ¡°Hand over the remote control, and then go back and remove the explosives.¡±

    ¡°Is there a misunderstanding? Didn¡¯t we get along well before?¡± The Colonel and the Consul were slowly moving to the left and right without leaving any traces, slowly encircling him from both sides.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°It¡¯s okay to get along with each other. I thank you for your care throughout our journey. However, these are separate things. Do you know that it is illegal to destroy a masterpiece of human civilization?¡±

    ¡°Whatw did we vite? Which one?¡± the Consul said with a smile. ¡°Is Libya¡¯sw still an Egyptianw? Could it be Chinesew? China¡¯sw does not apply here... Oh yes, I heard while on the road that you run a pet shop. Life isn¡¯t that easy, is it? Do you want to go to the pyramid with us? You can take whatever you like. Anything here canst you a lifetime, even for your sons and grandsons. To tell you the truth, we can¡¯t be bothered with these things. We would not snatch it from you. Let¡¯s work together. It¡¯s better to get what you want. If you can¡¯t, in the future, sell these goods. We can help you sell them as well. How about that?¡±

    The colonel said, ¡°Did you take that gun from those goddamn Germans? I advise you to put the gun down. That gun is more than half a century old and should be sent to a museum as a cultural relic! It would be bad if you hurt yourself using it.¡±

    They kept talking as a means to distract Zhang Zian. As they spoke, they formed a circle around Zhang Zian. If they could note to an agreement, they would attack from both sides.

    ¡°Stop your nonsense and dismantle the explosives now! Then scatter everything everywhere!¡± Zhang Zian urged. ¡°You don¡¯t know, but beneath the Devil¡¯s Sea was a copper mine. While this pyramid is golden, the minerals underneath have long been gone. What stands below our feet is nothing but emptiness. Your previous sting has made the mine highly unstable. If there is another explosion, this entire ce may simply copse!¡±

    The Colonel and the Consul thought what he¡¯d said made sense but didn¡¯t believe him at all. If it was true, it could exin their radio failure and their other electronic equipment being disrupted.

    But the other things were simply too bizarre to them. They were more inclined to think that Zhang Zian was merely trying to scare them so that he could monopolize the treasures in the pyramid. They could not tell, but this person was very greedy and still so young. If the wealth in the pyramid was converted into money, it was estimated to be equivalent to the gross national product of a small country.

    On the way there, Zhang Zian had felt the vibration of the explosion and witnessed the deformation of the ground. However, they had not. The ground deformation urred only after they¡¯d arrived, and as they were close to the explosion site, the vibrations were normal to them.

    ¡°Oh? So how do you know about these things?¡± the Colonel asked. ¡°We can listen to you. It is not impossible. But you have to make it clear.¡±

    ¡°This...¡± Zhang Zian had no way to exin. Telling them that Fina had told him about it would simply make them dismiss it as nonsense. It would make them believe in him even less.

    ¡°If you want proof, I can give it to you, but you must first remove the detonator!¡± Zhang Zian urged again. If they agreed to cooperate, he would take them to see the uneven ground.

    The colonel squinted and looked up at the sky. ¡°It¡¯s a pity... It¡¯s toote.¡±

    ¡°Late?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    It was noon. The entire Devil¡¯s Sea was bathed in direct sunlight.

    The colonel smiled and revealed the remote control in his hand. ¡°Even if I give it to you now, it is useless. Now no one will dare to remove the detonator. Let us verify your ims right now. Are you really speaking the truth?¡±

    The air stagnated briefly.

    Bang!

    An earth-shattering bang filled the air. Half a dune was blown up into the sky, raising a dust cloud.

    The three men were shaken and could not stand stable. The Consul and the Colonel, who were prepared, rushed towards Zhang Zian with the intention to snatch his gun. Yet as they began to take their first steps, they felt nothing but a sense of falling through space.

 Chapter 1284: The Ground Cracks

    <h4>Chapter 1284: The Ground Cracks</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Geological studies is aplicated science. A single action can trigger an entire tsunami. For all its years of development, the science at present is still unable to urately predict theing of earthquakes. Even a less precise measurement is difficult toe by. Thus, for many people, they could be dancing and singing in a minute, but in the next, their lives are destroyed by a sudden earthquake strike.

    The structure of ancient mines however, is not scientific. It was able to survive for two thousand years simply because there is no rainfall in this area. Hence, its structure is rtively stable and intact. Had it been another type of climate, it would have beenpletely eroded by now.

    Even so, the sessive sts had overwhelmed the load-bearing structure of the mine and numerous cracks had appeared inside the structure. The final straw that broke the camel¡¯s back was the final vertical explosion. Previous sts had impacts that were horizontal as it was meant to st a hole in the pyramid. s, the disposal of explosives was a fatal blow to the entire underground system.

    Everything happened very quickly.

    Just as the colonel and the consul rushed towards Zhang Zian to try to wrestle the gun from him, Peter Lee and the rest also emerged from the pyramid. They were prepared to gather more tools to re-enter the pyramid.

    The big shake-up broke out at this time.

    The colonel and the consul did not see it. However, just behind them, half of the sand dunes were blown up into the sky. Like how it is in film stunts, a few deep cracks appeared and sand on the surface poured down into them like water seeping through cracks. One of the cracks edges towards them and sprang out under their feet.

    They didn¡¯t see it, but Zhang Zian, who was standing opposite of them, saw what happened. The vibration from the explosion made him lose his bnce, and he squatted down to lower his center of gravity. He raised his finger behind them and shouted. ¡°Be careful!¡±

    Peter Lee, who just got out of the pyramid, also saw it. Although he did not understand what happened, and why was Zhang Zian here, he could nevertheless understand the gravity of the situation immediately.

    The Colonel and the Consul thought that Zhang Zian was swearing at them and did not take his words to heart.

    How could people¡¯s speed bepared with the speed of the ground cracking beneath them?

    The colonel stepped forward, but he merely stepped on air. He subconsciously looked down and was suddenly stunned¡ªthe earth had opened. His footnded in the abyss.

    Fortunately, he reacted quickly, and clung on desperately on the edge of the crack. He was not swallowed in immediately after all. The earth was shaking violently and the cracking were multiplying rapidly. Falling sand covered his entire face. He looks like he is not going to make it.

    The Consul, who was closest to him, saw that his teammate was not going to be able to hang on much longer. He ran to him and leaned over. He grabbed the Colonel¡¯s arm and tried to pull him up.

    However, it is very difficult to stand on the sand where the vibration is very violent. It is even more difficult to save someone. In the end, the consul only dyed the inevitable; the colonel fell into the abyss. Even the consul himself was somewhat in trouble with half of his body pulled into the crack.

    The cracks constantly multiplied, first into two, then each crack into two more cracks and continued on. There are now numerous new fissures on the ground. The earth that was originally t is now like a cake has been divided into spider-like pieces. Some are bulging up while some pieces sunk in. The surface is highly uneven and looked very much like a doomsday scene.

    Even the golden pyramid was in danger. There were several cracks that had made their way under the pyramid. The pyramid shook a little and tilted a few degrees, but it temporarily stabilized in its new position.

    Even if the ancient Egyptians knew that a pyramid weighing millions of tons cannot have its base dugout. Thus, the ground where the pyramid sits is solid ground. However, this can onlyst for a while. If the entire area around the pyramid continues to break down violently, just like a small boat in a rough sea, the pyramid will not be spared either. Nothing in Devil¡¯s Sea will be spared.

    Peter Lee¡¯s horrorsted only for a moment. They had been through many difficult times. He knew what to do. Man and willpower would always crumble in the face of Mother Nature¡¯s wrath.

    ¡°Detective! Poet! Schr! You all go start the cars! Priest! Come with me to save people!¡± Peter Lee shouted out his orders.

    They usually cooperated with each other in a calm and tacit manner. However, in the current situation, they were shocked and reacted much slower than before. They took a while to gather themselves before proceeding.

    The Detective, Poet, and Schr threw down the things in their hands and rushed to their cars.

    In order to prevent being crushed by stone dislodged from the explosion, they had parked their cars a little distance away from the pyramid. Now, perhaps it was time to regret their decision. They have to cross countless cracks and undting terrain to reach their vehicles. Not to mention, they also had to avoid being swallowed by the abyss. The usual short trip is no less than a marathon.

    Bang! Even before they could run, a car rolled into the abyss in a blink of an eye. A long time passed before the sound came.

    The condition of the other cars was not much better. Some of the wheels were trapped in big cracks. Others had sand piling up on their left sides, forcing them to lie on their right or bepletely overturned.

    The Detective, Poet, and Schr only found two vehicles that they could drive normally and immediately jumped into the cars to start their engines.

    On the other hand, Peter Lee and the Priest ran to the Consul and Colonel. They tugged at the Consul¡¯s arms and legs. They hoped to save him and the Colonel.

    Suddenly, the earth shook violently once more.

    At this point, the colonel was only grabbing onto the consul¡¯s hand. However, their hands were sweaty and very slippery. With the sudden violent shake, they lost the strength to give a concerted pull.

    The Consul saw a smile on the Colonel¡¯s face. At the next second, the Colonel¡¯s hand slipped from his.

    ¡°No!¡± The Consul yelled as he watched the Colonel be swallowed up by the bottomless abyss.

    Peter Lee and the priest were upset. They had just witnessed the death of one of their teammates. Yet they must hardened their hearts and not feel. They had to get out. Immediately. Or everyone will suffer the same fate as the colonel.

    Without the weight of the Colonel, they managed to quickly pull the Consul out. The Detective, Poet, and Schr had also parked the two cars next to them. They yelled at them to quickly get in the cars.

    ¡°Start driving. Hurry and start driving!¡±

    The throttle was stepped on till its maximum. the engines roared and the two cars moved out of the area in tandem.

    After Peter Lee got onto the bus, he looks out at his side mirrors. He saw that Zhang Zian was still standing in front of the pyramid. He wanted to ask him to get on the car as well, but immediately realised he only had two cars left. There were six of them right now. He is not sure how will they leave the desert alive. How can they possibly manage with another person?

    And... Peter Lee was surprised to see that Zhang Zian did not chase after them. He turned to face the crumbling pyramid. Was it... Perhaps he wanted to grab some treasure before the entire pyramid copsed?

    Heughed. If he ever left the desert alive, he had a story to tell if anyone used him of being crazy. Today, he had found someone crazier than him.

 Chapter 1285: Proceed, Regardless

    <h4>Chapter 1285: Proceed, Regardless</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Although Zhang Zian had expected the explosion to cause the copse of the earth¡¯s surface, he was still shocked to see such a scene, a Hollywood-blockbuster-only scene, happening in front of him.

    Ordinary people may not be able to witness such a scene in their lifetime. Unfortunately, he had not managed to stop the explosion. He¡¯d tried it and hadn¡¯t seeded.

    Although the Colonel had not pressed the button on the remote control, the high temperature of the sun hadpleted his work, and the Colonel himself had paid a price for his actions.

    He saw Peter Lee and his team drive, save people, and flee to their cars. As for him, he jumped left and right to avoid the cracks in the ground. He was exhausted.

    There was a crack that came too fast. He didn¡¯t manage to avoid it, and one foot stepped on the edge of the crack. He tried his best to maintain his bnce.

    ¡°Run! It¡¯s going to copse!¡±

    Famous rushed over and grabbed his cor. He pulled him backwards, causing him to fall down. However, doing so allowed him to escape the crisis. Famous had outstanding athletic ability, and with four legs, he could stand firmer than someone on two legs. Between the cracks, he was able to jump around with ease.

    Seeing that Zhang Zian was still not standing up, he grabbed his clothes and dragged him backwards once more.

    ¡°Wait a minute! Fina and the rest, are they leaving the pyramid?¡± he screamed.

    He had to scream. The sound generated by the copse of the earth was too loud. If he did not scream, Famous probably would not hear him.

    ¡°It seems that they haven¡¯t! They didn¡¯t return to the car when I came over! Only Richard flew back along the way!¡± Famous responded equally loudly. ¡°I saw that danger wasing and none of you wereing out, so I came to you!¡±

    Zhang Zian stumbled up from the ground and said, ¡°You go back to the car and wait for me. I will go in and find Fina!¡±

    Famous was anxious. ¡°The pyramid is so big. Where will you look? Also, as you go in, they may being out. Won¡¯t that then be a wasted trip?¡±

    That was indeed possible. There was more than one passage into the pyramid. He didn¡¯t know where Fina and Gxy had gone. If he got lost, that would be terrible.

    But... Since entering the desert, he had been worried about Fina¡¯s mental state. The regrets from 2,000 years ago had always been on her mind. With the mental stress umting up until now, she must be hoping to settle things today.

    The only uncertainty was how she intended to settle them.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter! The pyramid will not sink yet¡ªit¡¯ll hang in there for a while! I have to go in and have a look! You wait for me back at the car! If...the situation is critical, you go with the rest first. I will definitely find a way out!¡± Zhang Zian shouted.

    Famous was anxious. ¡°Then I will go in with you! At least I can smell Fina. It is better than you looking for her yourself!¡±

    Zhang Zian hesitated. ¡°Well that¡¯s true. Then when you find the smell of Fina, leave first!¡±

    Time was short. Although they had differing opinions, there was no time to dispute. They ran towards the pyramid.

    As there were no mines in the underground of the pyramid, the closer they got to the pyramid, the smaller the cracks were. However, as the surrounding areas were all copsing, the heavy weight of the pyramid would make the ground sink as well. This was because it had once had underground rivers and springs. The geological conditions of the area were just not stable.

    Famous rushed to the front, and Zhang Zian turned on a shlight. They went in via the passage that Peter Lee had carved out.

    He was also shocked when he saw the stone statue of Meredith Segar, the patron saint of the underworld. However, as the stone statue had been eroded by the rain, it was less horrible-looking than when Peter Lee and his team had first seen it.

    The dust had settled, but pieces of stone and empty gun shells were everywhere. The smoke had yet to dissipate, showing just how fierce the gun battle had been.

    When Famous came in, he bowed his head and sniffed. He smelled the scent of Fina nearby, but the scent track was very messy. It seemed that Fina had repeatedly jumped around the area. He could not pick up a fresh scent at this moment.

    ¡°Who is it?¡±

    Suddenly there was a cry from the darkness. It was the voice of Old Time Tea.

    ¡°It¡¯s us!¡± replied Famous.

    The sound instion effect of the pyramid was remarkable. Even as the outside environment was badly destroyed with deafening copses and cracking sounds, it was still possible to speak at a normal volume here.

    Old Time Tea jumped out of the darkness.

    ¡°Tea Master, are you okay? Are you shot? Are you injured? Why are you still here? Where are Gxy and Fina?¡± Zhang Zian asked, his questionsing out of his mouth like bullets. He used his shlight to scan the area. He could not be bothered now even if he shone it straight into Fina¡¯s eyes.

    Old Time Tea lifted his ws and pointed to the channel that was tilted upwards behind him. He sinctly described the situation. ¡°I am fine! Fina went to the tomb of the king, and Gxy followed. I was worried that you would find the wrong way when you came in, so I waited here.¡±

    Even if thend was copsing outside and the pyramid was in jeopardy, Old Time Tea firmly believed that Zhang Zian woulde in to find them. Thus, he stayed put.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°Tea Master, you go out first with Famous. There is only one road ahead, and I won¡¯t get lost. I also won¡¯t miss Fina and Gxy this way.¡±

    Old Time Tea was worried, but Zhang Zian said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry. Please leave first so that I have one less worry!¡±

    ¡°...Okay.¡± Old Time Tea sighed a little, knowing that he was right. In the face of nature destroying the earth, the power of both humans and elfins was small.

    Famous also wanted to chime in, but Zhang Zian waved his hand to stop him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t say anything else. The longer we drag our feet, the more dangerous it is! I wille out with Fina and Gxy as soon as possible! Wait for me next to the car!¡± He sought to end the conversation by raising his tone firmly.

    Famous and Old Time Tea looked at each other and knew that he had made up his mind.

    ¡°We will wait for you outside,¡± they said matter-of-factly with no words of ¡°be careful¡± or ¡°take care.¡± To truly be safe, they would have to leave the pyramid together. That action by itself would be care enough.

    ¡°If the situation is critical, you leave first!¡± Zhang Zian shouted at their backs, but he wasn¡¯t sure if they heard it or if they would truly internalize it.

    He turned his shlight and let out a long sigh while looking over the route to the king¡¯s tomb. He took a deep breath and rushed up.

    When he passed Meredith Segar¡¯s stone statue, he took a picture and said, ¡°If you are truly the patron saint of the underworld, tell the goddess Bastet to bless her great follower!¡±

 Chapter 1286: A Different Type of Waiting

    <h4>Chapter 1286: A Different Type of Waiting</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    While Peter Lee and the others were evacuating the pyramid, Fina heard what they said. They were going to wait for the dust to settle, regroup outside, and then enter once more.

    This time, with the help of Meredith Segar and home-field advantage, Fina could easily push them back. Unfortunately, it would not be as easy the second time around. It was likely to be a bloody battle.

    Therefore, Fina intended to use the current peace to go to the tomb of the king and see what was going on in there. No matter what happened next, at least she would have no more regrets.

    When Peter Lee¡¯s figure finally disappeared from sight, she turned around and ran towards the dark. She rushed up the slope connected to therge corridor. It was the only way to the tomb of the king.

    She had to move fast, for Peter Lee and his team could return at any time with better equipment. She hoped that Old Time Tea could help dy them for her if she wasn¡¯t back yet.

    It was a pity for Peter Lee and his team. Despite all the preparations they¡¯d made for entering the desert, they had failed to consider that the pyramid in the Devil¡¯s Sea had empty mines all around it.

    Fina felt the earth tremble violently. Even the pyramid was shaking. She immediately knew that she would no longer have to worry about a battle with Peter Lee.

    Now, without many worries, she moved forward much more calmly and slowly.

    The corridor she walked through was unlike those in the Great Pyramid. The corridors there had beenrge¡ªthat was all. Here, on both sides of the corridor, there were pairs of animal god statues. They faced each other with stern looks.

    On the ceiling, about a dozen meters up, stars were carved. The stars were iid with gems, and they were all connected with a gold wire that sparkled.

    Jewels and gold were piled up between the stone statues. Both the quantity and the quality were vastly superior to those found in the queen¡¯s tomb. Despite having been covered in dust for 2,000 years, their sparkle could not be entirely hidden.

    Fina was surprised that she was able to see the items so clearly. She had been prepared to face a pitch-dark corridor. However, with every few steps she took, a glowing light stick was thrown in front of her to illuminate the path. Yellow, green, red, and blue¡ªall colors were present. The dull and depressing corridor suddenly mimicked a shop window that sold lights on Christmas Eve. Looking at the lights... One could not help butugh.

    There were light sticks on the ground, but there were no obvious footprints. Old Time Tea would not have been able to achieve this. The light sticks had probably been dropped from the air.

    There was a dull bang outside the tower. The pyramid shook violently once more. The dust collected on the ceiling became dislodged. The stone statues in the corridor also slid a little, moving slightly away from their original positions.

    Fina instinctively adjusted her body¡¯s center of gravity to avoid a stone statue that had slipped. However, she could not be bothered to shake off the dust that fell on her head. She was, by now, covered in gray anyway.

    A pyramid that weighed more than a few million pounds would find it difficult to maintain its original position once tilted. The tilt ced undue stress on one side of the entire structure and increased the weight on one side of its foundation.

    The pyramid¡¯s foundation was not mud, but abination of solid rock fragments bunched together. It was less capable of supporting heightened pressure on a single side of the pyramid. Unlike mud, whichpressed under pressure, rock fragments had the tendency to crack and break instead.

    Would she be resurrected? Would she appear alive, as prophesied by the gods?

    Fina knew that the chance of this happening was slim. However, since the gods gave hope, she was determined to hang on to that hope. She had to find out for herself before leaving.

    After all... She looked past the row of colorful light sticks in front of her. After all, there was a bird that died and was then resurrected.

    However, the pyramid was not in good condition. If she was really resurrected, wouldn¡¯t she die again soon?

    Fina kept thinking about her life and death. She couldn¡¯t take it. It felt like her head was going to explode. She suddenly thought of Zhang Zian. Would he stupidly follow her here?

    Fina dared to venture deep into the pyramid, as she was a cat. Even if the passageway created by Peter Lee got blocked, she had considerable confidence that she could escape from the air passage where she¡¯de in.

    Clumsy Zhang Zian wouldn¡¯t have this skill, and thus, he shouldn¡¯t be stupid enough to follow her. However, when he was being really stupid, he was impossible to reason with. He might indeed follow her in...

    She had a lot of thoughts in her mind. She was so preupied that she failed to notice Gxy, who was just behind her.

    Gxy kept a distance roughly about half the corridor length. He hid behind the stone statues disced by the shaking. His ck-and-white coat also provided good camouge in this environment. His gaze passed Fina, and he looked to the far end of the darker corridor. He was full of expectation of what is behind.

    While Fina was still trying to sort out her thoughts, Gxy already knew what would happen. It would be entirely different from whatever she guessed, even her craziest guess. Perhaps many yearster, people would recount it as one of the most important events in history.

    Gxy thought he heard a voice and turned around. His silvery-gray eyes stared at the red granite boulders by the stone wall. Although the gap between the boulders was tiny, and even a pin could not get through, he still managed to see beyond it. Through the boulders and the darkness, he saw Zhang Zian and Famous stumbling and running towards the pyramid.

    The timing seemed to be just right.

    Fina¡¯s mind was all over the ce. However, she did not slow her pace. She soon came to the end of the big corridor, where there was a small stone gate. Behind the gatey the tomb of the king.

    Stone gate¡ªthat was what it should have been called. It was, in fact, nothing but an opening in the stone wall. In order to drag the pharaoh¡¯s coffin into the tomb, it had been built with a very low ceiling. Regr adults had to bend or crawl to get in.

    She looked up at the stone gate, where three lines of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics were carved.

    ¡°Death is simply a gateway to a new life. We die today, but we will be born again. We will return in many forms.¡±

    Fina muttered these three sentences. They were also prayer words used in resurrection ceremonies in ancient Egypt. It captured humans¡¯ resistance to death and longing for eternal life.

    Those who had carved these three prayers might not have really believed that the pharaoh would ever be resurrected. Throughout the long history of ancient Egypt, no great pharaoh had ever walked out of a pyramid alive.

    Fina sighed and dragged her feet into the tomb of the king, preparing to face the cruel truth that she felt she already knew.

    She had to go in and take a look. Her mind would not be at peace if she didn¡¯t at least look.

    Just as Fina entered the tomb, Gxy also reached the side of the stone gate. However, he did not enter. He merely sat down beside the stone gate and waited quietly.

    He was waiting for someone, and he was willing to endure the narrow dark passages in the pyramid.

    Just as Fina had people she wanted to see, he also had someone whom he wanted to see.

    And that person would soon appear.

 Chapter 1287: Life and Death

    <h4>Chapter 1287: Life and Death</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    If Fina¡¯s heart still had at least one-tenth of the hope she had before arriving at the stone door, it entirely disappeared when she saw the faint glow of the light in the tomb of the king.

    Richard had just flown into the tomb. If there was an ancient man 2,000 years old inside, he would never be so quiet, and the whole pyramid would have heard him.

    Fina went into the tomb deep in thought.

    Unsurprisingly, the smaller tombs were empty. Although there were countless treasures around, there were no signs of life. It was as quiet as 2,000 years ago.

    A heavy stone sarcophagus divided the tomb into two areas, east and west. The ratio was about one to five. The west side was wide and was used for stacking funerary objects. The east side was rtively narrow.

    Fina walked between the funerary objects. The burials here were different from those in the tomb. The amount of gold and jewels was greatly reduced, with the quality being more exquisite. In addition, there were manyrge and small y pots. Some pots were shaking with the vibrations. Bread that had be ck lumps and other dposed items were also visible.

    The ancient Egyptians had believed that the human soul wasposed of ¡°cards¡± and ¡°bars.¡±

    The ¡°card¡± was the energy of life. When a person died, the ¡°card¡± would remain in the mausoleum and rely on the food to be preserved to maintain their existence. This is why there were many pots to hold food in the tomb.

    The ¡°bar¡± represented human personality, simr to the soul in the modern sense. The ¡°bar¡± was given the image of a bird, with the ability to move freely from the body and the ability to change shape. When a person did, their ¡°bar¡± would leave the mausoleum during the day and return to the mummies at night.

    Thest prayer written outside at the stone gate read, ¡°We will return in many forms.¡± The so-called ¡°many forms¡± referred to one¡¯s ¡°bar¡± after death.

    Fina looked up at the ¡°air duct¡± on the north and south sides of the walls.

    It was now noon. If her ¡°bar¡± really existed, it may have already flown out of the air duct. Perhaps that day, when it had heard sounds in the ruins of the Temple of Bastet, it might¡¯ve been her ¡°bar¡± whispering to it.

    However, in any case, her ¡°bar¡± would definitely return here at night and enter via the ¡°air duct.¡±

    Thinking of this, Fina gave a slight smile. Would her ¡°bar¡± be happy seeing her here?

    Fina jumped onto the stone sarcophagus and noticed that there was a pair of red loafers on the east side. The style was simr to modern-flip flops. It looked as if the pharaoh would suddenly push the lid open at any time and wear them out of the mausoleum.

    Pharaoh¡¯s loafers had a high status in ancient Egypt. They symbolized that the pharaoh had the enemy under his feet. Thus, the pair of loafers was very beautiful and embroidered with borate patterns.

    Fina jumped to the side of the shoe and took a closer look at it. These were her loafers.

    Her ws suddenly felt the small vibrations passing through the floor. They were caused by the sudden breakage of the rocks beneath.

    How long could the pyramidst? Probably not till the evening.

    Knowing this, Fina squatted down and even closed its eyes. The chaotic thoughts in its head were gone at once, and its mind was clearer than ever.

    It was so tired. It wanted to just rest like this!

    ¡°You are not dead. You merely left alive,¡± it muttered. This was the promise of the dead to the living during ancient Egyptian funerals.

    It was at this time, outside the stone gate, that Gxy heard some kind of movement and turned its head. It saw her. She smiled and waved at it. It lifted a front paw and responded.

    This was her first encounter with it. The look they gave one another was like that of close friends who had known each other for many years.

    She pointed to the tomb and mouthed some words. Her meaning: ¡°Is Fina already inside?¡±

    Gxy nodded.

    She waved and mouthed words again: ¡°Bye, Gxy! see youter!¡±

    Gxy also responded silently and ran away briskly.

    Huh? Fina¡¯s ear seemed to have caught some sound. It was very subtle, like the breeze brought by the airflow. If it had not been so quiet, she probably would not have heard such a subtle sound.

    What happened? The cracks were moving across the pyramid so quickly!

    Fina¡¯s heart skipped a little. If the pyramid did not stand through the night, then what was the point of waiting? Even if her ¡°bar¡± came back, she may not be able to find a way in.

    Wait! It strained its ears. Something wasn¡¯t right!

    Why were there footsteps? These were the footsteps of human beings! Was it Zhang Zian? That fool...

    No! His footsteps were far more powerful than this, and it didn¡¯t sound like the desert boots he wore.

    Was it...her? Had she really been resurrected?

    Fina opened its eyes at once. However, it was on the east side of the tomb, and the stone sills blocked the view from the entrance to the west side.

    ¡°Fina! Don¡¯t move! I don¡¯t have much time!¡± Someone was calling its name. It was not an illusion, not an auditory hallucination. It was a real voice, and it even had a slight echo.

    Fina was first so happy that its heart beat rapidly, but then it quickly slowed down. Because this was not her voice. She couldn¡¯t speak Chinese.

    The sound was crisp and sweet, but it is younger than hers. It was the voice of a girl. It was very certain that this sound did not exist in its memory.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± it screamed. ¡°Why do you know my name? Who allowed you toe in?¡±

    ¡°I came from a very distant ce to tell you something.¡± The voice was fast and clear, with a hint of yfulness. ¡°Your wishes will be realized, just¡ªnot at this time and ce.¡±

    Fina jumped up onto the stone sarcophagus, staring fiercely at the stone gate. It wanted to see who was so daring as to break into her burial chamber.

    And it saw her. There was a person standing outside the stone gate. However, as the stone gate was low, it could only see legs. It was a pair of very slim legs, wearing a modern short skirt and boots.

    Her upper body and face werepletely invisible from Fina¡¯s point of view.

    ¡°Bye-bye Fina! I miss you very much!¡± A white hand waved at her, and thedy stepped away from the stone gate, as if to leave the pyramid via therge corridor.

    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about running away!¡± Fina snorted, absolutely furious. They were obviously trying to make a fool out of it!

    If it let her leave like that, how could she be known as the guardian of the kingdom of God?

    She quickly rushed out of the stone gate. It could not have been more than two seconds after thedy said her goodbyes.

    s, there was nothing.

    On the floor, a pair of human female shoes were imprinted, and the shoe length was about 37 centimeters.

    There was only a pair of imprints. This told Fina that what had happened was real and not an illusion.

    The person, who had seemed to appear out of thin air, had disappeared into thin air as well.

 Chapter 1288: Missing Talisman

    <h4>Chapter 1288: Missing Talisman</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    A burst of vibration, albeit less intense, came once more.

    A mighty bull cast in copper was affected by the vibration and slid abruptly. Its four hooves rubbed against the floor and made a harsh grating sound. The horns on its head reflected the light.

    If a person got poked by these horns, they would inevitably bleed. Even if they only got hit by the bull¡¯s head, it was likely to leave a fracture.

    Zhang Zian was so scared that he jumped aside and hid behind a bronze statue of a sphinx.

    The copper bull mmed into the stone wall. Both got damaged in the process. A corner was chipped off, and the bull lost a horn.

    This was way too dangerous! He was sweating profusely, and he took the opportunity to wipe his sweat on the sphinx.

    This sphinx was not in the squatting posture. Unlike the one found in front of the Great Pyramid, it stood on four feet. With its more slender body and beautiful face, it depicted a woman plus a lioness, with a vulture-and-cobrabination on the crown.

    Some wooden boxes had also been opened by the vibration. Robes, short skirts, ils, short sticks, ivory tes, anti-corroded cattle tails, and more fell out of the boxes. These were all of the symbols of royal power.

    There were jewels everywhere on the floor. Stepping on one guaranteed a slip. Then a moving statue or stone could hit you and crush you. The jeweled tomb had be a dangerous ce.

    Zhang Zian used the stone statues and walls for support. He then ran down the corridor and tried to seek refuge in the tomb of the king.

    He still had a lot of self-control. He didn¡¯t bend over to grab the jewels. First of all, he did not have a free hand to do it. Second, the situation was very unsafe. What if a certain copper bull¡¯s horn poked his anus?

    He was too young to go around with an exterior urine bag. Even a golden urine bag would not be worth it!

    The light in the tomb was not strong. The light sticks swayed and flickered. One had to pay attention or one could easily find themselves in a dangerous position.

    Suddenly, a ck shadow appeared over his head. Zhang Zian subconsciously wanted to hide, but he took a closer look. It turned out to be Gxy.

    ¡°Gxy, did you see Fina?¡± he asked quickly.

    ¡°Meow! Fina went to the tomb of the king.¡± Gxy pointed back with his ws.

    ¡°Well then, go out first. It is very dangerous here. Famous and the rest are waiting by the car. I will meet you after I find Fina!¡± Zhang Zian said in a hurry.

    ¡°Meow! Let¡¯s go together!¡± Gxy had obviouslye from the tomb of the king. Now, he was heading back once more.

    Besides, they were merely a few steps away from it. Zhang Zian said nothing more. Instead of wasting time talking, it would be better to focus on finding Fina. Fast.

    He and Gxy passed through the big corridor one after the other. They stepped over all kinds of burial objects. They ran to the entrance of the tomb of the king. There, they spotted her. Fina. Yet she stood there, a suspicious look on her face.

    Zhang Zian asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    The gray-faced Fina looked very different from her usual bright and beautiful self. It was as if she had been transformed from a princess into a vige dweller. Her golden coat had been dyed gray by the smoke. Without observing her size and her eyes, he¡¯d almost mistakenly thought that it was dimir, whom he¡¯d met earlier...

    Fina was silent. Seeing that she had no intention of speaking and would probably use her ws instead, Zhang Zian quickly changed the topic. ¡°Sorry, the light is not good. I just didn¡¯t recognize you!¡±

    ¡°...Why did youe?¡± Fina reluctantly lowered her paws.

    Zhang Zian said adamantly, ¡°Why do you still ask? You didn¡¯te back, so of course I had toe and find you! This ce can¡¯t hold any longer! Let¡¯s leave together!¡±

    Fina looked in the direction he¡¯de from and asked a strange question. ¡°When you came over, did you see someone running?¡±

    If there was a secret passage or secret room in this pyramid, it certainly was not here. Only arge corridor led to the king¡¯s tomb.

    Zhang Zian was stunned. Thinking that it might have been Peter Lee or his team, he replied, ¡°No, Peter Lee and the rest left already. One of them fell into the cracks in the ground and probably did not survive...¡±

    ¡°What I want to ask is, was there a young girl running past you?¡± Fina interrupted him.

    ¡°Young girl?¡± Zhang Zian was spooked! He knew he should have brought dimir along with him to fend off ghosts. Was this pyramid haunted? Why would there be a young girl? Images of the various horror games he¡¯d yed suddenly came to mind.

    Speaking of which, where had dimir gone? He hadn¡¯t gone into the pyramid, and looking for him was more troublesome than looking for Fina.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t see anything.¡± He shook his head.

    ¡°Oh, really?¡± Fina was suspicious of his words. ¡°Might your eyesight be just that poor?¡±

    ¡°How would that be possible?¡± He felt insulted. There was clearly only one passageway. If someone passed him, wouldn¡¯t he have seen them?

    ¡°Fine.¡± Fina seemed not to care about questioning him further. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Huh? Zhang Zian had prepared a lot of persuasive words on the way in. He hadn¡¯t expected her to agree to leave so easily. It made him feel as if he¡¯de here in vain.

    ¡°Wait a minute. I still want to look for something.¡± Fina suddenly seemed to be reminded of something and returned to the tomb of the king.

    Zhang Zian followed, crawling into the tomb. Since he was here, he might as well take a look.

    However, he was somewhat disappointed. There was less jewelry herepared to the outside, and it was mainly made ofrge pieces. There was a gold chair, a gold-ted box,rge numbers of bowls, tes, cans, etc. Basically, they were all daily necessities. In terms of value, they might lose to what he saw outside.

    Fina rummaged through the cab but couldn¡¯t seem to find what she was looking for. She threw the jewelry onto the floor, making Zhang Zian¡¯s heart ache.

    ¡°What are you looking for? Let¡¯s go! There is no more time!¡± he urged. ¡°Would you like me to help you find it?¡±

    Fina had rummaged through the entire cab but couldn¡¯t find what she was looking for.

    ¡°My amulet is the Wajit amulet with the Eye of Horus¡ªthe one on the neck of the cat god statue.¡± She had nced around the entire room. Only the cab was a possible ce to hide the amulet.

    ¡°If you can¡¯t find it, forget it. We really don¡¯t have time. Your life is important. Everything else is secondary!¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°If you really want to wear one, go to Pinduoduo and buy an imitation. It might even work better than the real one!¡±

    It is not an easy task to open the stone sarcophagus. It¡¯s cover is heavy. It will take a skilled man with a piece of metal handle to lift it... Besides, Fina does not want to open it. If she sees a mummy wearing a golden mask, whatever hopes that she might have would have been dashed.

    ¡°Forget it.¡± She sighed. ¡°Go.¡±

    ¡°Gxy, let¡¯s go,¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    Fina cast a final nce at the tomb of the king, etched the image of the tomb in her mind, and reluctantly followed Zhang Zian out the stone door.

 Chapter 1289: Road to Survival

    <h4>Chapter 1289: Road to Survival</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    On the way back, it was obvious that the vibration was slowly easing.

    Gxy ran at the front. Zhang Zian had to monitor both the front and back. He had to make sure Fina was keeping up, look after his own safety, and beware of any young female ghosts suddenly appearing to take him back to the pyramid. He could only do so much!

    It was a journey filled with anxiety all the way back to the entrance. The sted entrance now looked nothing like it had before.

    The earth had already broken into numerous tes. Many of the honeb-like sand dunes had copsed or disappeared. The few cars left behind by Peter Lee and his team fell into the abyss.

    At the bottom of the widest and deepest abyss, a car that had fallen in was distorted, and the rm was ringing.

    On the surface, the most intense of the shockwaves seemed to have passed. However, it wasn¡¯t a moment to rx, for the real danger had yet to arrive.

    The golden pyramid itself had been tilted, and the degree of inclination was gradually increasing. Once the bnce was lost, the impact of its huge weight wouldpletely break thend. That would be the beginning of a catastrophe.

    They skipped the smaller cracks at the foot of the pyramid and circumvented the corners.

    The rupture of the earth was caused by the final explosion. However, the crack originating from the north side was blocked by the pyramid, so the condition of thend on the south side was better than the north.

    Seeing that their off-road vehicle was safe and sound, Zhang Zian was relieved.

    The elfins waited anxiously at the car. When they saw all three of them came back, they jumped up and down, urging them to run faster.

    ¡°Hey! I thought you were an idiot who wanted to live with the treasures in the pyramid!¡± Richard said while hiding under the shade of the roof rack.

    Richard was the most calm at present. He felt that way because he could fly even if the earth cracked.

    ¡°I have no time to exin! Get in the car!¡± Zhang Zian almost jumped into the driver¡¯s seat, and the other elfins also entered the car. He looked back and counted. He was missing only dimir.

    ¡°Did anyone see dimir?¡± he yelled, but he knew that they likely wouldn¡¯t give him a correct answer.

    Every time dimir arrived in a strange ce, he liked to be alone. He would run off after a while and mingle with the local stray cats.

    The pyramid had blocked the cracks, but more cracks had already bypassed the pyramid from both sides, forming a left and right perimeter. The south side of thendscape was about to fall.

    They could not wait any longer. If they did, everyone would be dead meat.

    It wasn¡¯t that Zhang Zian was biased. He knew where Fina was and could find her. However, he didn¡¯t know where to find dimir and could only hope that he was safe.

    He mmed on the gas, and the car roared to life.

    ¡°Where did you run to?¡±

    He observed the surroundings. The road to the north had beenpletely sealed off. He couldn¡¯t get through there. East, west, and south. Which directions would he choose?

    ¡°dimir is here!¡± cried Famous.

    Just in time. Just as Famous finished crying out, dimir jumped into the car from the open window.

    ¡°Follow the wild cats!¡± he shouted, pointing outside the car.

    Zhang Zian saw several sand cats fleeing and immediately turned to follow them.

    When natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, heavy rains, and wildfires struck, wild animals often had an intuition regarding the event. They could hear high- or low-frequency noise and knew which direction to run. Rats in the city, as well as cats and dogs, also had simr intuitions. When one encountered natural disasters, following these animals vastly improved the odds of survival as well.

    Soon after their car left their spot, the area roared with deafening sounds and was swallowed by the cracked abyss.

    Zhang Zian tried not to look at the terrible scene in the rearview mirror and followed the sand cats closely for fear of losing them.

    Sometimes, they abandoned the t sand and ran to areas with smaller cracks. However, after a while, the t sand suddenly twisted, copsed, or bulged. If the car had not followed these cats, it may have gotten caught in the unfriendly terrain...

    ¡°Slow...slow down... I am...¡± Richard was stunned by the bumps and was starting to see double.

    The other elfins were also upset by the bumps on the road. However, as they could not fly, they knew that they couldn¡¯t slow down now. If they did so, they would risk their own lives.

    Snap! There was an unusual sound behind the car. The sound was not loud, but it was so clear that even the roaring engine sound could not cover it.

    It sounded like something had broken.

    In the rearview mirror, the pyramid jerked and tilted further into the abyss. It was not a copse but a slip.

    The pyramid might have been the most stable building in ancient times. Itsrge foundation made its center of gravity very low. The extremely dense boulder gave the structure strong integrity. Even with this disaster, the building did not fall apart and merely slipped into the abyss.

    Seas of sand rose into the sky and covered most of the pyramid.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes were wide open. It was an incredible scene¡ªthe sinking of the pyramid caused a strong rising tide, much like a huge sand wave, to sweep across thend. The waves must be at least a dozen meters high and could swallow everything in their paths.

    Once caught up by the sand waves, they would be buried under the sand. They would not see the sun tomorrow.

    He had already stepped hard on the gas pedal. The car could, at this point, overturn at any moment. That might be better than being buried by sand waves.

    The sand cats seemed to be aware of the urgency of the situation and fled more desperately.

    More animals came out of unknown ces. Lizards, snakes, foxes, small rodents... They joined the escape team. Some gerbils even jumped on the roof of the car, trying to hitch a ride.

    Usually, when some of these animals met, they tried to eat one another. This time, they seemed to berades-in-arms. Themon goal was survival.

    Thendscape grew even more chaotic. The level of destruction had suddenly increased. Now, everything on the ground had been swallowed into the abyss.

    Even...everything above ground.

    There was a ck spot in the sky. It might have been a falcon, vulture, or some other bird. However, this ck spot was being sucked into the abyss. It struggled but nevertheless failed. The air was clearly affected by the destruction.

    Upon witnessing this, Richard jumped onto Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder, poked him hard, and screamed, ¡°You idiot! Drive faster!¡±

 Chapter 1290: One Disaster After Another

    <h4>Chapter 1290: One Disaster After Another</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    A group of random animals apanied the car¡¯s escape to the west. Zhang Zian sneaked a nce at his rearview mirror. Although the dust storm covered the entire sky behind them, he knew that these ferocious storms could notst forever and would gradually calm down.

    Eh? Would it happen soon? This was too fast... He had to be a man andst for at least 30 seconds!

    Something didn¡¯t seem right.

    The range of the rearview mirror was limited. He grabbed Richard by the ws and raised him out of the window. ¡°Fly and see what happened back there!¡±

    ¡°Are you the devil? Didn¡¯t you see the vulture and the falcon being sucked in?¡± Richard resisted. He didn¡¯t want to die.

    There was no other way. Zhang Zian could only forcefully throw him into the air.

    Richard fluttered his wings and followed the car. He kept cursing at Zhang Zian. He saw his enemies¡ªcats, foxes, lizards, and so on¡ªjust beside the car. He peed on them. As of now, their lives were at stake, and they did not bother with him. However, what would happen after that, no one could say.

    ¡°You don¡¯t find out what¡¯s happening behind us, don¡¯te back!¡± He tried to close the window.

    Richard was helpless. As a parrot, he was not good at flying. A few ps and he was out of strength to continue. Nevertheless, he knew he needed to get back in. He would temporarily endure this.

    He looked back and got scared. He let out a scream, wanting to fly away from what he saw!

    The sand waves did not calm down¡ªat least, they did not calm down by themselves. Instead, they were caught up in the speed of the sand waves behind them. The expanding abyss swallowed the sand waves.

    The location of the Golden Pyramid, the center of the Devil¡¯s Sea, has be a huge funnel for sand. It greedily swallowing hundreds of millions of tons of sand. Even the pyramid had not been spared. What was left aboveground was the tip. It would soon bepletely buried.

    There was little sand left near the pyramid, so the sand had to havee from other areas. It was like a hollow spot in the ocean where the surrounding sea water had gotten sucked in.

    Richard hurriedly flew back into the car and told everyone what he¡¯d seen.

    Zhang Zian also felt that their vehicle was facing more and more resistance, like an invisible hand was pulling them backwards. This was because the surrounding sand was flowing backward, but the car was trying to drive forward. He had failed to notice this earlier.

    Fina poked her head out of the window and stared at the distance. It was very clear to her. She would never see this pyramid again. It would be buried in the depths of the desert for a long time. It might be dug up by human beings after 100 years, or it may never be seen again. The Devil¡¯s Sea would disappear after this disaster, and it would be no different than the surrounding sand sea, even to a Bedouin.

    This was also good. It would save her from being disturbed by modern humans. This was better than her being brought to a museum, ced in a showcase for people to visit. She had not been willing to live in the hands of the Romans then and hadmitted suicide. If she had to face the same fate after death, where anyone with money could pay to see her, it would be tragic.

    She was not as nervous as the other elfins. Being nervous did not help her. At most, they would merely jump out of the car and run with their four legs. At long distance, their legs would certainly lose to a car.

    Comparatively, she was immersed in what had happened earlier with the mysterious woman she¡¯d met in front of the tomb of the king. How had she appeared, and how had she left? Why did she know its name? Why did she know how she felt?

    Also, what had she meant by what she¡¯d said?

    Not now, not here.

    Fina tried toe up with other exnations, but in this context, it seemed she was telling her that she could fulfill her goals anytime and anywhere.

    Yet her only wish was to see the living Cleopatra VII, even if she only got one more chance to see her. At least she could say her goodbyes.

    But how was this possible? She couldn¡¯t see her alive in her pyramid. Where else could she see her?

    Fina suddenly felt very sorry for herself. Maybe she really should have opened the sarcophagus to see if her mummy was inside. After all, she¡¯d learned about the mummification process from movies and TV shows. Yet what if they were wrong?

    It was toote for regrets. The conditions then had not been correct for the sarcophagus to be opened. There was no chance of opening it in the future.

    Regardless of whether the young girl was an enemy or a friend, regardless of the real purpose of her words, they nevertheless brought hope back for her. She was clearly not an ordinary person. Had she deliberately entered the crumbling pyramid to deceive her? Was that necessary?

    After some painful but helpful analysis, Fina decided to believe her. Besides, there would be no loss to her.

    She would definitely appear again in the future. She would have no more chances to slip away.

    The farther away from the center of the Devil¡¯s Sea, the less the power of the mine¡¯s copse. After all, the ancient Egyptians had been unable to dig in the mines for long distances. They had slowly but surely left the disaster radius.

    Zhang Zian rxed slightly. He followed the animals, as he could no longer differentiate north from south. The interference of the maic field underground also made thepass unreliable. The only reliable sign was the position of the sun.

    Now, the most important thing was to identify the direction they were heading in and break away from the interference of the maic field. Then they could head to the scheduled location to meet the expedition team.

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Richard¡¯s scream interrupted Fina¡¯s thoughts.

    ¡°What¡¯s happened now?¡±

    ¡°Did you hear that? What¡¯s that sound?¡± Richard said. ¡°Why does it sound like ghosts crying and gods weeping?¡±

    Zhang Zian strained his ears to listen, but the noise from the engine was too loud. He did not hear anything.

    Other elfins seemed to hear it as well. Richard was clearly not making this up.

    Fina¡¯s face changed dramatically. ¡°No good! It¡¯s a ck storm!¡±

    From Nabari¡¯s narrative, everyone had learned about the horrible ck storm. However, this was a rare and extreme meteorological disaster with a low chance of urring. Could they be that unlucky?

    ¡°ck storm? Are you sure?¡± Zhang Zian asked without hesitation. He looked at the sky. It was still sunny, and it didn¡¯t look like a storm.

    Fina was angered. ¡°Are you questioning me?¡±

    ¡°No! I wouldn¡¯t dare... It¡¯s just that...¡± Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t finished talking, but now he could hear an abnormal sound.

    It was a whistling sound, sharp and stinging, like countless monsters and ghostsing out of the depths of the Devil¡¯s Sea. It came from behind him.

    Richard squinted. His night blindness was returning. ¡°Is my eyesight failing me? What happened? Is it going to rain?¡±

    The sun disappeared, and the sky turned yellow. With his naked eyes, he could see the sky rapidly dimming to ckness.

 Chapter 1291: Escape

    <h4>Chapter 1291: Escape</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was not that Zhang Zian and the group were particrly unlucky. Thendslide and the ck storm that they¡¯d just escaped from were linked. The ck storm had originally been caused by the violent disturbance of the air. The water vapor and cool air that were umting in the underground cavity for many years had flooded out of the Devil¡¯s Sea. The hot air and water were mixed together, and the violent mix formed the storm.

    Thus, the arrival of the ck storm was not idental. It was inevitable.

    Zhang Zian already had some good feelings for the wild animals that had fled together with them, regardless of whether they were cute or ugly. After all, they had escaped tragedy together. He nned to give them some water and food before everyone dispersed.

    Thus, with the sudden appearance of the ck storm, these wild animals immediately abandoned him and fled. What an abrupt end to a rtionship forged in difficult times.

    Zhang Zian recalled Nabari¡¯s words. When the storm came, the usual practice was to stop, wrapped oneself in a robe or nkets and stay close to camels. He should not hide in the sand dunes, as there was the danger of being buried by sand. Camels were able to cope with the storm. They would shake their bodies from time to time so that the sand did not umte on their own bodies.

    However, this set of practices was not feasible in the face of a ck storm that was enough to change thendscape. If one stopped and didn¡¯t move, even if there was no sand dune, it was likely that they would be buried regardless. Even the sand dunes would be blown apart.

    The only way was to drive forward. While they may get lost, as they were equipped with technology, they still might be able to cope with that.

    The ck storm was moving faster than expected, and the sky was darker than it had been five minutes before. A ck wall appeared in the northern sky¡ªa wall formed by a storm.

    It got windy. Zhang Zian rolled up the car¡¯s windows, and the elfins¡¯ faces were stuck on the ss, staring at the storm that struck.

    ¡°Hey! It¡¯s going to rain! Is it going to be cool when it rains?¡±

    Before the stormpletely blocked the light, Richard saw silver dragon-like lightning lingering across the sky.

    ¡°To hell with your rain!¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°If it is not raining, how can there be lightning?¡± Richard was not convinced.

    ¡°Lightning is a phenomenon caused by electric charges. Clouds carrying a lot of electric charge may discharge it. Sand that is rubbed together may also discharge electricity,¡± Zhang Zian said and nced through the rearview mirror. ¡°If normal lightning is wet lightning, then this kind of lightning formed by the friction of sandstorms is dry lightning. No water droplets will fall from the sky. Though if I offer you as a sacrifice, perhaps the heavens will indeed make it rain...¡±

    ¡°Eh? Did you already lose your conscience in the desert and feed the devil?¡± Richard cried out in protest.

    Despite bickering with Richard, Zhang Zian was very nervous. If they were hit by the lightning, they would indeed be very unlucky.

    In the blink of an eye, the wind started blowing a lot of sand onto the window. It made them worry that the window would break.

    Zhang Zian was wrong. It was really raining. A lot of water vapor rose into the air. However, the raindrops did not fall to the ground and instead evaporated in the hot updraft.

    There were few obstacles in the desert, and wind speeds could reach incredible levels. The sand blown by the wind could cut through human skin at these speeds. If the wind carried stones, it would be even worse. If a person did not weigh a lot, they could get significant fractures. As for cars, it could potentially smash all the windows.

    The visibility was extremely poor. The windshield wipers tried in vain to brush the sand away, but they could not keep up with the speed of falling sand. Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes were fixed on the windshield, and he turned on the headlights as well. However, he could only see dust. Only when there was a streak of lightning that shed across the sky could he see just a little further.

    Their vehicle hadpletely lost its sense of direction. In order to keep from being buried by the yellow sand, they could only slow down and keep moving forward. However, no one could be sure that it was not circling around aimlessly.

    The gusts of wind came one after another. The car suddenly became light, as if someone was holding it up by the rear wheel. It then trembled heavily and fell back to the ground, churning everyone back and forth. The sound of the sand hitting the roof was different from before. The wind had taken away the tents, mats, and nkets kept on the roof.

    The most terrible thing was yet toe. The dust that had been rolled into the air with the updraft was now experiencing a downdraft. It suddenly came down on their car. A lot of it would be enough to bury a team of camels.

    ¡°Be careful! There is something up ahead!¡± cried Famous.

    Zhang Zian also saw it. A streak of lightning illuminated the dark blue sky. There were several rows of masonry houses ahead. Judging by the style of the house, it should be an ancient product. All of them had copsed. Nevertheless, between the ruins, there just might be enough space to amodate their vehicle.

    He estimated that this was a stopover station built by the ancient construction group of the pyramid, as many building materials and tools needed to be transported from the city. Or it might have been a ce for ves and workers to rest. Building a pyramid required a lot of manpower.

    Nevertheless, no matter what it had used to be, it had once been buried in the desert, but now it had been blown out into the open by the wind.

    Some wild animals were also in the ruins taking refuge. They did not budge even as the car approached them.

    Driving aimlessly forward was not a good idea. The car could be hit by huge stones, not to mention the risk of being buried alive by the sand.

    He stopped the car, turned off the engine, and pulled his clothes up to cover his nose and mouth. Finally, he put on his hat.

    The strong winds from the outside inevitably blew dust into the car. Lots of fine dust entered through the gaps in the car. His mouth was full of sand. Even the insides of his nostrils were ck.

    Nothing could be done now. The storm was so loud that no one can be heard. They could only eat something to fill their stomachs and wait for the storm to stop.

    After god knew how long, the wind seemed to get weaker. The group had been on high alert for a full day. Slowly, they started adjusting again to their surroundings.

    ¡°Hey! Wake up! The wind has stopped! The sun is out!¡± Richard¡¯s voice woke everyone.

    The windows on all sides were covered with sand, and only the reading lights in the car were turned on. However, one of the windows revealed a warm, soft beam of sunlight.

    Zhang Zian had a bad headache, and his mouth was very dry. The elfins were not feeling any better and looked rather disheveled.

    He tried to open the door. The door only opened a little but did not budge further. It seemed to be blocked by the outside sand. It was the same with the other doors. In the end, he could only carefully force down a window and climb out like Professor Wei Kang.

    The sun was slowly setting, and the storm had stopped. Their car was half-buried in the sand.

    They seemed to have reached the edge of the Devil¡¯s Sea.

 Chapter 1292: Two Choices

    <h4>Chapter 1292: Two Choices</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian had fled to the edge of the Devil¡¯s Sea, but he was not very sure where he was. First the ground had broken up, and then the ck storm had arrived. Thendscape had changedpletely. The unique honeb dunes had disappeared, reced by therge parallel dunesmonly found in the desert. The Devil¡¯s Sea was now like a dream.

    In the wake of the storm, the light of the setting sun was extraordinarily soft, and the air was exceptionally clear. The temperature was cool, and everything felt new. The elfins jumped out of the window and shook the sand off their bodies to revel in the new joy they felt.

    Looking at their car, everyone was shocked. Except for the half that was buried, the car¡¯s body paint had been stripped away by the violent sandstorm to reveal its iron shell. The ss was full of scratches, much like sandpaper. The things stacked on the car¡¯s roof had long since disappeared.

    Although a sunset was much appreciated, it was nearly dusk. Zhang Zian did not have much time to appreciate the scenery. He had to dig the car out of the sand while it was still cool. He was the only one able to do this work¡ªno one else would be able to help.

    He asked Famous to get the folding shovel from the trunk. He then took off his shirt and started digging.

    It was not easy to dig a half-buried car out of a sand pit. Each scoop disced some sand, but more than half of it always flowed back in. It was somewhat of a wasted effort.

    ¡°Come on! Come on!¡± Richard cried as he watched, enjoying the scene.

    The sun set, and after a rushed dinner of random food, he took out a camping light and continued digging. His torso was covered in sweat.

    It was a pity that he hadn¡¯t brought gloves for this trip. His hands quickly got sore from the friction. He could only tear off pieces of cloth from a shirt, wrap them around his hands, and continue working.

    He hadn¡¯t slept for over a day. He¡¯d only gotten slight relief earlier from dozing off in the driver¡¯s seat.

    It wasn¡¯t that he wanted to rush. However, food and water were severely limited. In addition, he did not know where they were. It would be dangerous to stay an extra day where they were.

    He only knew that he was not leaving the Devil¡¯s Sea from the north side. It could only be east, south, or west. To find the expedition team, he could no longer pass through the Devil¡¯s Sea¡ªhe needed to make a detour. Without Nabari, the desert waspletely strange to him.

    The expedition team would only wait for him for 48 hours at the scheduled location, leaving after that for the safety of their team members. Twenty-four hours had already passed. He only had another 24 hours before he had to find his own way out of the desert.

    Although the members of the expedition team were not all reliable, people were social animals. Traveling as a group provided a sense of reassurance. In case of unexpected situations, having more people meant there was always someone looking out for you.

    So he dug. He dug until the sun rose again. Finally, the car was out of the sand. He also dug a slope in front of the car. He found a few bs from the ruins andid them under the tires. This was to provide sufficient grip to the tires when he started the vehicle.

    The elfins had already fallen asleep. After finishing his tasks, his body extremely sore, he went to the driver¡¯s seat, sat down, and slept.

    While sleeping, he felt pain on his chin. It was itchy as well. He stumbled awake and saw a bird¡¯s buttocks in his face. It seemed to be trying to poop in his mouth.

    He pped Richard away. He wiped the corner of his mouth¡ªhopefully it was just saliva. Then he sat up straight, his eyes wide, and looked around.

    The bones in his body felt like they had been horribly split up. He had a splitting headache, muscle pain, dry mouth, mouth ulcers, and a stomachache. He did not feelfortable at all.

    The elfins had all gotten up. They were not feeling very well either. Fatigue was written all over their faces. Zhang Zian had made a lot of noise as he¡¯d workedst night, interrupting their sleep. They felt that they should have returned to the mobile phone. This way, they would¡¯ve slept soundly and saved food and water.

    ¡°Zhang Zian, how are you?¡± Old Time Tea asked, concerned.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. I can still handle it.¡± Zhang Zian reluctantly put on a brave face and waved to the elfins to get in the car.

    They were lucky¡ªthe car started up sessfully. With the help of the te blocks, they sessfully got out of the sand pit.

    After a period of aimless driving, the navigation device was finally working normally. This meant that they had left the maic field of the Devil¡¯s Sea. They now knew that they were on the southeast side of the Devil¡¯s Sea, far away from the original route. They were even farther away from the arranged meeting ce.

    When he saw this, Zhang Zian¡¯s heart sank. Even in the most optimistic scenario, it would be difficult to reach the arranged location by this evening.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Famous asked, noticing his expression. ¡°It¡¯s no good?¡±

    Zhang Zian sighed and stopped the car.

    Everyone was in the same boat. He should not hide anything from the elfins. If he talked to them about their situation, perhaps everyone could contribute ideas and help.

    He got out of the car, took note of the food and fuel, and then squatted in the sand to sketch thendscape.

    ¡°We are currently here. This is the Devil¡¯s Sea, and this is the meeting ce...¡± He drew two points and a circle, two points on the north and southeast sides of the circle. ¡°Right now, it will be very difficult for us to arrive at the meeting ce at the scheduled time, so there are two choices in front of us. The first is to execute the original n and go to the arranged ce to meet with the expedition team. However, this n assumes that they will continue waiting for us despite the deadline. If they leave on the dot, then it will be a wasted trip. It will also consume more time, food, and fuel. The second choice...¡±

    He drew another point in the distance. ¡°This is the Siwa Oasis. The second choice is that we don¡¯t go to meet the expedition team and go straight back from here to the Siwa Oasis.¡±

    As for the so-called near road, the line between the two points was the shortest. However, this wasn¡¯t a path they¡¯d taken before. It was an entirely new road.

    If only Wei Kang, Nabari, and Salem were waiting for him, they would likely wait a little longer. However, the expedition team could not wait to return home. He couldn¡¯t count on them to wait for him.

    He couldn¡¯t me them, either. After all, he was the one who had suggested 48 hours. From their point of view, he could extend the time, but for how long? They could not possibly wait forever for him.

    In this extremely harsh situation, people always made their own safety the first priority. Everyone was eager to go home. It was not wrong to think this way. It was human.

    The various situations that they¡¯d encountered along the way had also allowed the elfins to learn about how the expedition team thought and operated. To put their hopes on those people would be an invitation to disappointment.

    Old Time Tea took a deep look at his exhausted face. He did not wait for the other elfins to express their opinions and made a decision. ¡°Don¡¯t say any more. Option two. Zhang Zian, you¡¯ve slept too little. Rest until the afternoon.¡±

 Chapter 1293: Illness Strikes

    <h4>Chapter 1293: Illness Strikes</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The elfins did not object to Old Time Tea¡¯s final decision.

    Everyone could see that Zhang Zian was exhausted. He had not slept well over thest two nights, and he¡¯d worked tirelessly for long periods of time. Added to that, the work was hardbor. He was beyond tired and struggling to stay awake. Even if he fell asleep driving, it would not be a surprise at all.

    How could he possibly drive for another ten hours in this state? To rush when the temperature was a scorching 60 degrees?

    Even if he could push through, would the car be able to withstand it? Out of sympathy to him and from a safety perspective, it would not work.

    Even if they arrived at the scheduled ce on time, if everyone had left, they probably would not be able tost beyond that. In this case, they should not rush and give themselves a more generous timeline.

    The second option could lead them to face material problems. They were going to take an unknown, new road, and without Nabari leading the way, they were likely to travel slowly. Whether their existing supplies couldst until they got out of the desert, no one could be certain.

    Lack of food could be somewhat tolerated, but there must be no water shortage. Ack of water in the desert meant death.

    Old Time Tea could see that Zhang Zian had been drinking as little water as possible. Today, his lips were dry and bleeding. Last night, after such high-intensity physicalbor, he needed to drink more water to rece the water lost through sweat.

    After the discussion, Famous voluntarily returned to the mobile phone. This was because the other cat elfins did not have high demand for waterpared to dogs. As for Richard, the water it drank was negligible.

    The elfins could understand his difficulties, and Zhang Zian felt very grateful. His spirits recovered a little, and he was overwhelmed by his tiredness.

    He really wanted to go back to the car and sleep. He did not mind sleeping in a sitting position. Yet that was not possible. Without the items on the ceiling, the car would be as hot as a furnacee noon.

    The white cloth and aluminum alloy bracket had been lost in the storm, and there was no shelter around. He could only shovel the thick sand and pile it on the hood and the roof as well as the front windshield. Using ayer of sand to block the direct sunlight on the car prevented excessive heat buildup in the car.

    After doing this, he drank some water, returned to the driver¡¯s seat, tilted his seat back, and fell asleep.

    He fell into a deep sleep, waking up a few times in between. He drank some more water, then went back to sleep.

    He had a lot of dreams, dreaming of many people and many things. When the morning sun shone from the side windshield into the car the next morning, he struggled to wake himself up.

    Although his sleepiness had subsided, his forehead was very hot and cheeks very red. It seemed like he had a fever.

    Wind. Was it windy in the desert?

    Was it that the ck storm wasing back again?

    As soon as he moved, a warm, damp towel dropped off his forehead.

    What a waste... To use clean water to wet a towel... He suddenly remembered what Xiao Tianyu had done.

    Richard stood beside the headrest of the seat, flicking his wings and fanning him. However, when he saw Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes open, he put his head under his wings and pretended to scratch them.

    ¡°Zhang Zian, how do you feel?¡± Old Time Tea looked at him worriedly.

    The elfins are more sensitive than humans. As early asst midnight, they¡¯d noticed that something wasn¡¯t right with him. They could tell from his heavy breathing and abnormally elevated body temperature. However, they couldn¡¯t do anything, as there was no medicine. There was nothing they could do except pour some water from the bottle onto a towel to cool his forehead.

    Zhang Zian twisted his stiff neck. His eyes were bloodshot. The elfins all looked at him with sleepy eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Maybe I have some heatstroke... Did you sleepst night?¡± he said in a hoarse voice.

    He had heat stroke before and knew how it felt. However, then, it had not been as serious. This time around, his head hurt as though it was about to burst. The rushing and bumps experienced over the past few days, the fear and hard work they¡¯d done in the Devil¡¯s Sea, had greatly reduced the resistance of his body. Night after night of poor sleep had made the effects of his fatigue emerge.

    ¡°Drink water,¡± Fina snorted and opened a bottle of water with her ws.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine.Let¡¯s go.¡± He licked his hot lips and rubbed his eyes.

    ¡°Drink water.¡± Fina raised her voice impatiently.

    ¡°Hey! I ask you to drink water, you drink! If you do not drink water, do you want to taste my golden water instead?¡± Snowy Li raised its paws and threatened him.

    Richardnded on his head and said, ¡°He is a cockroach. He keeps wanting to move forward and doesn¡¯t beat a retreat! I say we beat him up!¡±

    Old Time Tea shook his head. ¡°Rest today. You are in no state to drive. Wait for the body to recover, and then we can go.¡±

    Zhang Zian also knew that his physical condition was extremely poor. He should continue to rest and drink more water. However, waiting here was not going to do much for him. Their water supplies were dwindling to almost nothing.

    ¡°Drink, get better first, and then we can consider other issues,¡± Old Time Tea advised.

    dimir clenched his fist and said forcefully, ¡°The body is the source of life! If the body copses, how can the cat kingdom spread across the world?¡±

    Gxy also said, ¡°Hey! Zhang Zian must get better ande and y hide and seek with Gxy!¡±

    ¡°Okay...¡±

    If his eyelids were not so dry, he might have actually been moved to tears. The elfins knew that if they stayed for another day, they would have less hope of making it out of the desert. However, they didn¡¯t mention it, simply urging him to drink.

    He unscrewed the cap and resisted the urge to drink the whole bottle of water. He drank only about a quarter and licked the remaining droplets on his lips.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you drink it all?¡± Fina asked, staring at him.

    ¡°If I drink it all at once, a portion of it will be wasted as urine. It is better to drink it little by little.¡± He put down the water bottle.

    ¡°Hmph! Smarty pants!¡± Fina turned her head and ignored him.

    For this trip, the expedition team prepared Patchouli drinking medicine, Nittan, and other anti-heat drugs. However, these drugs were not in his car. Also, they had forgotten to grab them when rushing around¡ªin urgent times, heat stroke medicine was thest thing on anyone¡¯s mind.

    Zhang Zian searched the supplies in the car several times to see if there was anything that could be used.

    Nothing.

    When he twisted his body, something in his trousers poked his thigh. He took it out and saw that it was a few bottles of scented cooling oil.

    He¡¯d wanted to bring the oil to Egypt as a tip to his Egyptian friends. However, a series of misced events had led him to keep the oil instead, and now he was the one using it the most...

    There was no choice. He could only see if the oil would help with the symptoms of heat stroke.

 Chapter 1294: The Search for Water

    <h4>Chapter 1294: The Search for Water</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian started wiping off the cooling oil. The elfins would rather sleep at the base of the car then smell the oil. They found it rather pungent. Zhang Zian had been generous in using it. He¡¯d applied it to his forehead, temples, pressure points, neck, and wherever else he wanted to apply it.

    Also, after one applied the oil, it instantly prated the pores on the skin. The strong minty scent on the nostrils went straight to one¡¯s head. The kick one could get from such application was fantastic.

    In addition, he also drank more water. His mouth constantly held a sip of water as well. This was a trick he¡¯d learned from Nabari. It helped to relieve thrist.

    He should be calm and resting, but he couldn¡¯t calm down. He was always calcting the consumption of drinking water in his head. It made him anxious.

    From the moment they¡¯d made the decision to stay here and recuperate, he¡¯d begun to collect his own urine and filter it. He would salvage any bit of water¡ªeven if it was his own. However, he gave up on cat urine. After all, the urine was concentrated enough that the filter could not remove much water.

    As Xiao Tianyu hadined, filtered water did have a strange smell. However, as things currently stood, he could not be picky.

    Just like that, they stopped for another day. When the sun rose again the next morning, symptoms of his heat stroke had been greatly alleviated. It was difficult to tell whether the cooling oil had yed a part. Perhaps it was his strong physical strength. It could also have been abination of both.

    Despite recovering slightly, they faced a serious problem¡ªnot enough water.

    After careful calction, he discovered that it was not sufficient. Reducing consumption to a bare minimum would unlikely get them out of the desert. Not to mention that he needed more than a minimum consumption of water to prevent further heat stroke.

    The expedition team had probably decided to leave the scheduled meeting ce. They would assume that he was dead and wait no more.

    The expedition team had a satellite phone, but he did not. He couldn¡¯t contact them even if he wanted to.

    If a person wanted to survive in the desert, they could only rely on themselves.

    While he was resting yesterday, he hadn¡¯t been idle. He¡¯d been thinking about ways to find water in the desert.

    An area with moss and grass may have water underneath it. There was a chance to dig water out. However, there were no green nts nearby. Digging randomly would be useless¡ªit would waste physical strength and drinking water.

    People trapped in the desert sometimes dug a sand pit and put ayer of stic cloth over it to condense evaporated vapor. In the morning, some dew could be collected on the underside of the stic sheet. However, this was only feasible if the sand itself was not dry. Otherwise, hardly any water could be collected.

    Zhang Zian decided that when night came, he would try this method, even if it was not likely to be sessful.

    The elfins saw that he was looking better. However, he always had a frown on his face. They guessed that he was worried about the drinking water.

    They all knew that water was the source of life, especially so after entering the desert. They understood, but they were unable to help find a way to solve their current problem.

    ¡°Hey! I propose that you use your drone to look from the air. Maybe you can find an oasis or meet Peter Lee. They may be nearby. Then you can get some water from them,¡± Richard said casually.

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°Peter Lee? Don¡¯t count on it,¡± he said. ¡°They have two cars¡¯ worth of supplies. It¡¯s not enough for them. Their situation may not be better than ours. I¡¯d rather not meet them. Let¡¯s be careful. We might be the ones getting our water stolen instead. However, the drone reminds me of something.¡±

    When the pyramid copsed, he¡¯d seen some ck spots in the sky. They could be falcons or vultures. Unfortunately, they¡¯d gotten caught in the storm and had likely perished.

    However, where had the falcons or vulturese from?

    They were different from sand cats and fennec foxes. Birds could not concentrate their excretions and release them whenever they needed to. Therefore, they could not live in extremely dry deserts. They needed branches and leaves that were not dried up like those in the Devil¡¯s Sea. This meant that, within flying distance of the Devil¡¯s Sea, they must have built nests.

    Although there were other problems. Vultures wererge birds that could fly hundreds of kilometers a day. Falcons had short flight distances, but tens of kilometers were no issue to them. They would need tob arge range to find the nests. It would be a difficult task. Yet this was a viable lead for them.

    He told everyone his thoughts and made everyone pay attention to the sky while he drove. If there was a ck spot in the sky, he must be informed.

    ¡°Oh! If it weren¡¯t for me, you idiots would never have thought of this!¡± Richard unceremoniously took credit.

    If they could find an oasis, all their problems would be solved.

    They were already out of the maic interference of the Devil¡¯s Sea. He released the drone into the sky and let the camera spin 360 degrees around them. He asked the elfins to pay attention to the images uploaded to the remote control screen. If they spotted any suspicious flying object, they were to tell him immediately.

    He drove down the road toward the Siwa Oasis, heading north.

    Around noon, he parked and rested. He used the old strategy of piling sand on the car and brought back the drone to charge before waiting until three in the afternoon to continue on with their journey.

    ¡°Look! Is that a ck spot?¡± dimir suddenly pointed to the screen.

    It was tiring to stare continuously at the remote control screen. Thus, the elfins took turns. It was now dimir¡¯s turn.

    The other elfins, who were resting, were alerted at once. They went to the screen.

    In order to save fuel, Zhang Zian did not m his foot on the brakes. He let the car slowly slide to a stop.

    He picked up the remote control, saw the ck spot that dimir had pointed out, and manipted the drone to point the lens in that direction, adjusting the focus to the maximum.

    It was indeed a bird, but the details were difficult to make out. It was too far away.

    ¡°Can you catch up?¡± Old Time Tea asked worriedly. ¡°Is it too far?¡±

    Birds flew in the air without stopping. However, on the ground, they often had to bypass obstacles in the desert. As this bird was far away from them, they might lose it halfway through their chase. Then their efforts would be nothing but a waste of fuel.

    ¡°We always have to try!¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at the sky, roughly estimated the position of the sun, and decisively started the car again. He headed towards the ck spot.

 Chapter 1295: Amazing Oasis

    <h4>Chapter 1295: Amazing Oasis</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The elfins did not really agree with Zhang Zian. The bird was too far away, and the probability of catching up with it was not great. Instead of wasting energy on futile attempts to catch it, it might have been better to wait for the next bird to appear.

    Nevertheless, he still decided to chase after the bird. He was not sure if another one was ever going to appear.

    Old Time Tea prudently put forward another possibility. ¡°Zhang Zian, how do you know that the bird is returning to its nest? If it is out of the nest to search for food, shouldn¡¯t it head for the south instead?¡±

    The other elfins had a revtion. They wanted to track the bird to find an oasis, but if the bird was flying away to look for food, it would bring them further from the oasis.

    Zhang Zian did not stop working his brain despite his fever. He had reasons for his actions.

    He gestured for them to look outside.

    It was already afternoon, the sun was obviously westward, and the light was much weaker than it had been at noon. ording to his experience, there were only two to three hours left before the sun set.

    He exined, using Richard as an example. ¡°Most birds have night blindness. This means that it will return to the nest within three hours. Otherwise, it will be dangerous tond at night when it can¡¯t see things.¡±

    He had considerable confidence that the bird was returning home.

    The elfins realized that what he was saying made sense. As they had good night vision, they tended to ignore the night blindness of birds.

    With the exception of migratory birds, most birds would return home during the night. Besides, it was currently summer, and migratory birds did not undertake the journey during this season.

    As long as they did not lose this bird over the next two to three hours, they were likely to find its habitat, and they hoped that there was an oasis where it resided. Even if there was no oasis, there would likely be some cacti. Cutting them for some cooling cactus juice would also suffice.

    The elfins and Zhang Zian were all staring at the bird. The drone tracked its flight path in the air, followed it off the original route, and headed east.

    As time passed, the sun gradually sank. However, the bird was always flying with no sign of trying tond. This made Zhang Zian question his own judgement.

    That was not right. Could it be...that the bird was also a drone? Or was it a mirage?

    There were a few times that they had to go around sand dunes and lost the bird. Had it not been for the wide vision of the drone, they might have truly lost where the bird was heading.

    As the sunlight dimmed, it became increasingly difficult for the naked eye to follow the ck spot.

    Just as the sun was close to setting, as Zhang Zian had begun to doubt life itself, the ck spot suddenly began to fall¡ªthe angle of the drop was smooth. As the light was waning, he did not realize it immediately.

    ¡°Look over there! Reflection!¡±

    dimir jumped on top of the car. He was able to see farther, and his eyes caught a shining reflection on the horizon.

    Reflections found deep in the desert were generally from rocks or even...ake.

    Zhang Zian and the elfins were excited. If there was ake, despite it only being a small spring, it couldpletely solve their water problem.

    This area was indicated as nk on the map and did not show the existence of an oasis. Nabari had not mentioned it either. It could be an oasis of springs that had been emerging from the ground.

    The drone¡¯s battery was running low, but on itsst glimpse beforending, it captured an area full ofrge ck shadows. These were suspected to be tall trees. It also captured a shimmering sh in the sunset.

    Zhang Zian stopped, took the drone back into the car, and discussed with the elfins. ¡°Since we have found an oasis, why don¡¯t we camp here and go towards it in the morning when there is sunlight?¡±

    He now felt somewhat secure and less anxious. He was now more worried. Might there be any dangers around the oasis? If the desert oasis did not be a gathering ce for humans, it would be a gathering ce for animals. Some of them¡ªlike the ferocious birds, snakes, and other dangerous animals¡ªmight just roam the area.

    The water in the car could stillst them another two to three days. There was no need to head to the oasis tonight.

    The elfins were daring and did not mind heading in at nightfall. Nevertheless, they followed his n to rest for the night first.

    The so-called camp, with their tents and intable mats gone, was not much of anything. Zhang Zian took the chance to change his position, stretch his stiff body, and watch some pre-downloaded movies on his phone before getting back in the driver¡¯s seat and sleeping.

    At least he could now drink to his heart¡¯s content. However, he had to keep every single water container.

    Sleep early and wake up early the next day, he thought.

    The sun was now shining. The elfins and Zhang Zian woke up.

    The drone¡¯s power had been used up. He decided to stand on the roof of the car and raise his telescope to look at the sun.

    Last night, he¡¯d had a nightmare and woken up in the middle of the night. He¡¯d dreamt that the oasis was actually a mirage, and there was not even a drop of water. The desperation he felt in that dream made him wake up in a cold sweat.

    He was worried that the nightmare woulde true. Fortunately, what he saw with his eyes showed that it was just a dream.

    Although it was not a wide area, he could just make out the oasis using his telescope. Tall palm trees, low bushes, asional birds, and a deep blueke. These were the things people hoped to see most in the desert.

    This was by no means a dream. No mirage couldst all night.

    ¡°Hey! I don¡¯t know if there is any fresh fruit in this oasis, but I have not eaten fresh vegetables and fruits for several days. Even my gums are swollen!¡± Richard shouted.

    ¡°You have to have teeth to have gums. In any case, you better be careful not to be eaten by the predators around here.¡± Zhang Zian was in a good mood today, and he was willing to banter with him.

    Thinking about vultures and falcons scared Richard. He hurriedly snuck back into the car and said, ¡°Oh! I certainly cannot pick my fruits myself. If I could, what would be the use in having you?¡±

    After breakfast and some simple tidying, he drove to the oasis. Considering that there could be mosquitoes in the oasis, he also applied mosquito repellent, although he did not think it would be as effective as the cooling oil.

    They didn¡¯t travel long before they came to the edge of the oasis. The air here was more humid than anywhere else.

    Without waiting for the car to stoppletely, he and the elfins couldn¡¯t wait to jump out of the car and rush to theke. He sshed his face with water, wet his hair, and coated his body with the liquid.

    He had not had this much fun in a long time.

    He knows his actions are somewhat boorish, but he couldn¡¯t care less. Only those who had experienced thirst in the desert could understand how he felt.

    There should not be any crocodiles here in this smallke, right?

    He suddenly felt itchy and really wanted to take a bath.

 Chapter 1296: Beautiful Cat Bathing

    <h4>Chapter 1296: Beautiful Cat Bathing</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Ever since entering the desert, no one on the team, male or female, had taken a proper bath. At the beginning, people who showered every day were ufortable. They noticed their own smell and disliked it. Every night, they would be scratching themselves vigorously. However, as time passed, they got used to it. They reportedly could not smell themselves. It could only be said that humans had a strong sense of adaptability.

    Still, at the sight of this clearke, the impulse to take a bath could no longer be suppressed.

    He had just undone two shirt buttons when he felt something sharp poke his calf.

    Looking back, he saw a stunned Snowy Li. It was tugging at his pants with its ws. Luckily it was short¡ªotherwise, it just might be tugging on something else that was more important.

    ¡°Hey! What are you nning to do, you stinky man?¡± It tried to make a fierce look, but it was too cute to make it convincely. If its expression could be put on the inte, many would be attracted to how adorable it looked.

    ¡°I am going to take a bath.¡± Zhang Zian spoke the truth.

    Snowy Li¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Hey! How can you go into the bath with the queen? You will pollute the water when you jump in! Find a ce to die instead!¡±

    Zhang Zian turned his head and looked. Fina was indeed standing by theke and staring at it with an irritated look.

    He wanted to take a bath. Fina also wanted to take a bath, more so than he did. She was no longer her former radiant self. She was covered in gray dust. As someone who loved cleanliness, she could not tolerate this. She had even rejected Snowy Li¡¯s offer to lick her fur clean...

    Fina used a front paw to push the water back and forth, as if observing the depth and rity of it. She hesitated to get into the water.

    ¡°Wait a minute...¡±

    Zhang Zian just wanted to remind Fina of something, but he was again interrupted by Snowy Li.

    ¡°Hey! Let me warn you. Only after Fina has bathed can you go in and wash your armpits. Do not interrupt me admiring beautiful cats emerging from the baths. Otherwise...¡± As a warning, Snowy Li showed more of its ws and bit him through his pants.

    ¡°No, I am not sure if this water is clean or not. Yet what I cannot further ascertain is if there is any danger beneath the surface. You wouldn¡¯t want to let Fina encounter any dangerous animals after entering the water, would you?¡± he asked coolly.

    In apletely strange environment, he was worried about the unknown danger in the water? The probability of a crocodile being in theke was basically zero, but there could be a snake.

    Any snake living in the desert would best not be provoked. They were lucky to find an oasis. If they got bitten for simply taking a bath, it wouldn¡¯t be worth the find at all...

    Fina and the other cat elfins were not afraid of snakes onnd. In the water, however...

    Snowy Li was undecided. It wanted to watch beautiful Fina emerge from the clear water, but it did not want her to face any unnecessary idents while in theke.

    ¡°What should I do? Hurry up and think of a way! Aren¡¯t you usually full of crazy ideas?¡± Snowy Li stuck its ws in him once more.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We must do things in order. One at a time.¡±

    Zhang Zian saw that it was distracted and took the chance to move abruptly away. Its ws were hurting increasingly while they were in contact with his skin.

    Snowy Li wrinkled its nose and ran towards him as a way to threaten Zhang Zian. It then circled theke, prohibiting any elfins from bathing before Fina did. It was especially wary of Richard.

    Zhang Zian took out all the containers he could find in the car. Then he took out the water-purifying tablets and filters. He intended to fill whatever he could find with water. Then, taking into consideration the total additional weight they would add to the car, he intended to throw things away. This was, in his opinion, the way to go to get out of the desert.

    As for the bones of the German soldier encountered on the first night, he had a GPS coordinate for them. However, now that he had been separated from the expedition team, there was no way he can go back and retrieve them. He hoped the Bedouins would do it.

    Since there was no longer a shortage of water, he released Famous from the mobile phone. He was amazed by this oasis out in the middle of a barren desert.

    Of course, Sihwa was next. Where there was water, she could be found.

    To answer the question of what lurked beneath the surface of the water, she was the most suitable. In addition, she had previously boasted to her followers that she would carry out a livestream in the desert. She could fulfill her promise now.

    Sihwa appeared out of thin air and fell into theke, creating arge ssh.

    ¡°Meow meow meow...¡± Snowy Li heard the sshes. It was highly paranoid. Had someone taken the opportunity to enter theke when it wasn¡¯t paying attention? It was just about to explode when, as he stood by theke, he saw Sihwa.

    Although Snowy Li was highly dissatisfied that its n was not adhered to, it did not mention it. It made sense to send her into the water. Also, she was a big-breasteddy who was extremely attractive. It did not mind¡ªafter all, it was contented to live in this world where looks were all that mattered. No problem at all now!

    ¡°Oh! Where is this?¡± Sihwa emerged from the water, her long green hair swaying as she looked from side to side. The scene in front of her was like something out of an Arabian fairy tale. ¡°Zhang Zian, you stingy man, did you sell me to an Arabian prince?¡±

    ¡°What the hell? Didn¡¯t you ask me to bring you to an oasis so you could broadcast live?¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°And here you go. An oasis.¡±

    ¡°Oh...¡±

    Sihwa had a look of disappointment on her face. Was she really destined to marry an Arabian prince? In addition, there were hundreds of Arabian princes around. Not every prince was tall, handsome, and rich. Only the prince who inherited the oil fields had money. The other princes were only princes in name. Yes, they still probably would have more money than themon man, but even if this was a prince with oil money, this life was not as good as she had imagined...

    Besides, she was a mermaid. How could she dream of marrying human royalty? This was highly absurd!

    ¡°Where¡¯s my mobile phone? Give me my mobile phone! I want to start broadcasting to my friends! Let them see a real oasis and let them envy and hate me!¡± Her tail ppedzily in theke while she stretched out her hand.

    ¡°Wait! Before you broadcast live, you should first look for any dangerous creatures in the water, like snakes,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°If a snake appears in the live broadcast, it will definitely scare your female fans. You will lose fans if that happens.¡± He lied as he said this. He failed to mention that she was to check the water so that he could safely take a bath. She would be furious if she knew.

    Sihwa, who was not aware of the situation, thought about what he¡¯d said. He was right. Although she was not afraid of snakes herself, she had seen sea snakes in the sea. These were not cute animals suitable for a livestream.

    ¡°Okay then!¡±

    Concerned about how her fans would react, she agreed. With a huge somersault, she dived in headfirst with her tail following. Soon, she was deep in the water.

 Chapter 1297: Fish in the Lake

    <h4>Chapter 1297: Fish in the Lake</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The oasis itself was not that big. Theke was even smaller. Its area was equivalent to half a standard yground, give or take. However, the depth of theke was somewhat unclear, and it would take some time for Sihwa to find out.

    Zhang Zian scooped water from theke, filtered it, and added disinfecting pills before capping the bottles. He then threw all unnecessary items out of the car. Even the roof rack was removed. Since there were no tents or mats, he might as well do away with it.

    After the problem of water was solved, what remained was the fuel problem. There was no solution. He could merely drive forward regardless of what happened. With this in mind, he decided it was best to travel light and simple.

    When the next desert traveler identally arrived at this oasis, they would find a pile of rubbish beside the palm trees by theke. He wondered how that would feel.

    Of course, an oasis in the desert was often a random urrence, especially a small one like this. When the groundwater changed course, the spring would dry up. Or if a ck storm raged over the area, this oasis would disappear forever.

    Richard could no longer hold in his pee, but he did not want to do his business in theke. He decided to do it under the car. He noticed that there were not only palm trees but also date trees by thekeside. He urged Zhang Zian to pick the dates and feed him.

    The other elfins ran into the shade to cool down. Although there were no nkets or mats, there were thick and dense palm leaves that made the environment cool andfortable.

    Sihwa emerged from the water and eximed excitedly, ¡°Look! See what I found at the bottom of theke!¡±

    If one could look past her unique thoughts, her appearance and body (upper body only) were top-notch. Perhaps her lower body was also top-notch in fish terms. She looked very beautiful when she broke through the water. In this pure and pollution-freeke, her appearance was reminiscent of a fairy.

    ¡°It can¡¯t be a curry stick...¡± Zhang Zian groaned. He had not stopped working since getting here. He looked at herzily.

    Stunned.jpg

    Zhang Zian was stunned, and the other elfins were as well.

    In Sihwa¡¯s arms was a thick, long...fish.

    When they first saw the fish, they thought it was a snake going in the wrong direction. This just went to show how long the fish was.

    The big fish continually twisted and struggled in her arms, flicking its tail and trying to escape. It sshed water everywhere.

    Sheughed, hugged it, and kept it from getting away.

    ¡°Haha! Today, I am feeling very kind! Let me treat all of you to fish, free of charge!¡± she said gleefully as she tantly betrayed her fish-mates.

    As she finished speaking, she mmed her tail hard towards the shore and threw the fish onto the sand. It was still struggling and sshed the sand around with its strong and powerful tail. Soon, it was covered in sand.

    Upon closer inspection, the fish was not struggling about mindlessly. It was trying its best to get back into the water¡ªnot to mention that it crawled forward at a fast pace, much faster than the average fish.

    The fish was at least one meter long measured from its head to tail. It was simr in shape to an octopus, though it was much thicker. The most striking thing was that it had a pair of long beards near its gills and cloaca.

    ¡°Eat! Eat! You¡¯re wee! Let me treat you!¡± Sihwa pretended to p her chest. ¡°Choose how you want to cook it¡ªsteam or fry!¡±

    No one would have thought that there was such a big fish in this smallke. They didn¡¯t know if the fish was aggressive. Otherwise, Fina¡¯s rushing in to take a bath in theke might be a tad dangerous... Of course, even if Zhang Zian himself went in to bathe, he might have his privates bitten as well.

    Ordinary fish struggled in the sand for a while because theycked oxygen and eventually stopped. However, this fish struggled a lot more and was close to re-entering theke.

    Zhang Zian took the aluminum luggage rack that had just been thrown away and pressed it on the fish so that it could not move forward.

    He knelt down for a while, pointed to it, and said to Sihwa, ¡°Do you know what fish this is?¡±

    ¡°What fish? This is an edible fish! Cats eat fish, dogs eat meat, and bumpy men eat little monsters! There are fish and meat underneath thiske. You don¡¯t have to be polite. Let¡¯s eat!¡± Sihwa did not think deeply as to why there were fish in the water. She didn¡¯t consider that a desert surrounded them for more than a thousand miles in all directions. Where had the fishe from? The fish could not be born out of nothing.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°If I didn¡¯t guess wrong, this should be a lungfish¡ªas the name implies, it¡¯s a fish that can breathe with its lungs. This fish is quite rare.¡±

    ¡°Lung...lungfish? Isn¡¯t that the same as me?¡± Sihwa opened her eyes wide and asked this with amazement. Although she couldn¡¯t understand him, she felt that it sounded extremely astonishing.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what you use to breathe.¡±

    The lungfish was a very old fish. It could be said that there were six species of living fossils. Four of them lived in Africa, and only four kinds of lungfish in Africa could survive for a long time outside of a body of water. The other two could be found in South America and Australia, but they could only be out of the water for a short period of time.

    Aquatic pets were usually small animals, and few people raised lungfish. Moreover, few people had even heard of lungfish. However, this fish had be a new luxury in the ornamental fish market in recent years. There were two types of lungfish that were generally avable in the domestic ornamental fish market. They were lungfish that lived in Africa. One was the Victorian lungfish, and the other was the tiger-spotted lungfish.

    The former was called the Victorian lungfish, as it had first been discovered in Lake Victoria in Africa. However, its scientific name was actually the stonefish.

    As for why China called it the Victorian lungfish... It was probably because the former was a foreign name and sounded more impressive? Thetter sounded terrible, and the first impression made it sound like a kind of fish food.

    The scientific name of the tiger-spotted lungfish was the African lungfish. However, as it was easy to confuse it with the ¡°lungfish living in Africa,¡± they were generally referred to based on the patterns seen on their skin.

    Victorian lungfish could grow to up to about 1.8 meters long. Since they could be sold as ornamental fish in the aquarium market, it was the mostmon type of lungfish. However, even the mostmon lungfish, as long as it reached more than one meter long, could be sold for thousands or even tens of thousands of dors.

    The most expensive lungfish on the market was the Australian lungfish, which was an extremely endangered species. It only survived in Australia and was banned from being exported. There were only about 10,000 left in the world. Those being sold on the market, if any, had likely been born out of artificial insemination by human intervention.

    The lungfish that Sihwa had fished out from theke was neither a Victorian lungfish nor a tiger-spotted lungfish. It was also unlikely to be an Australian lungfish. From the look of the fish, it seemed to be a fine-scale African lungfish. Due to its slender body, it was known as the long-legged lungfish. It was also extremely rare in China¡¯s aquarium market.

 Chapter 1298: Golden Fingers

    <h4>Chapter 1298: Golden Fingers</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Sihwa repeatedly expressed her enthusiasm for the rest to eat the fish. She invited Zhang Zian and the others to eat. She imed that the fish had had too much sun and had heat stroke. She did not seem to have given much thought to whether the fish agreed with her.

    Although Zhang Zian had never eaten a lungfish before, he really wanted to know how it tasted and if it had thorns on its skin. He¡¯d never had the chance to taste such an expensive delicacy. Thus, to him, eating this fish would be like eating money!

    In order to adapt to the changing environment in Africa, ancient fish had evolved a unique means of survival. When the environment was dry, they would dig holes in the soil and use mud and secreted mucus to form a protective shell to prevent water loss. Only a thin tube in their mouth was used to breathe.

    Although they had lungs, they still needed to emerge from the water every half an hour to breathe. Otherwise, they would die.

    How long a lungfish could survive in such a semi-mummified state depended on how dry it was. If it was extremely dry, once the spring hadpletely evaporated, it would be dried fish within half a year.

    However, lungfish were generally found in rivers andkes in central and southern Africa. It was rare to find them in North Africa. It might have been that the underground spring that formed this small oasis was a small artery that flowed through central Africa. Some groundwater asionally flowed here, bringing with it some lungfish eggs. They would hatch here given the rightbination of environmental factors.

    When Zhang Zian was filling his containers with water, he also noticed that there were some unknown fish in the water. Some fish had no eyes. They might also be fish that hade here via the groundwater artery. When an earthquake struck and shifted the entirendscape, the artery was cut off and changed direction. Slowly, without a feeder and end to deposit the water, the water slowly emerged from the ground to form an oasis.

    This lungfish must have fed on small fish to grow to such a size. He was also fairly certain that there were no other lungfish in theke, as there would not be enough food to support a second one.

    The lungfish that was pressed under the luggage rack still did not give up its struggle. When it realized that it could no longer move forward, it tried digging a hole in an attempt to escape.

    The pair of long beards on its face were actually evolved fins. They had evolved so that the lungfish could better dig holes in the ground. Although the beards were simr in look to those on ornamental fish, their usage was entirely different. In addition, their flexibility and strength were highly different as well.

    Zhang Zian stared at the lungfish that was trying to escape with reverence. The fish had a strong desire to survive.

    Instead of leaving it to fend for itself, it would be better to bring it back to the pet shop to raise it. At least then the fish would not have to depend on the random nature of the desert for food.

    In addition, the vultures nearby were also a serious threat to it. When it came up to the surface for air, it could easily be grabbed, so that it would be a bird¡¯s next meal.

    It was such a lonely lungfish. Alone, it could not breed. In addition, its own safety was in question as well.

    If it was the Australian lungfish, as listed in the Washington Convention, Zhang Zian would not dare bring it back to China. If he did so, he would have to surrender it to the authorities for proper care and maintenance. However, the long-legged lungfish was only on the IUCN¡¯s red list as a non-endangered species. Thus, it would not be a problem to bring it home.

    The long-legged lungfish werebeled as non-endangered, not because their numbers were abundant, but because it was difficult to determine their actual numbers in the wild. These fish lived asionally in the mud and asionally in the water. How easy was it to count them? Besides, when hungry Africans managed to dig these fish out of the mud, they would cook and eat them. Naturally, their numbers would alsoe down.

    He took the lungfish by its tail and pulled it out of the sand like a radish. The irritated lungfish used its strong muscles to twist its body into a U shape and tried to bite him.

    The lungfish was usually very gentle, but when threatened, it could be extremely hostile. The teeth of an adult lungfish were strong enough to rip off an entire human finger.

    Fortunately, he was prepared. Once he pulled the fish out, he threw it back onto the ground. Then he took out his mobile phone and put it inside. This could count as a national souvenir from Africa.

    Back at the pet shop, he would put it in the aquarium during the day to attract shoppers. At night, he would observe its behavior¡ªit was said that Zhang Sanfeng observed the turtles and snakes fighting in order to create the art of Tai Chi. Perhaps he could, through observing the lungfish, dig his way into the adult film industry. Then, every day, he could see the world with beautifuldies from all over. He would dedicate his life to this endeavor. Perhaps one day, he could truly be a legend and overtake all the masters who¡¯de before him...

    That would be legendary!

    Of course, the elfins didn¡¯t know what he was thinking. They weren¡¯t that interested in eating this fish either. In addition, there was no seasoning around to enhance its taste. A simple roast without any onions would probably not taste too good.

    Sihwa tried hard to feed everyone, but Zhang Zian simply kept the fish away. She was angry and used a few swear words with him. She then started her livestream. However, she realized that she had no wirelesswork connection. She had to rely on video recording to rece her live broadcast. In her recording, she showed off her oasis, iming that only the ultra-rich got to enjoy this special lifestyle. She intended to upload this once she got back to civilization.

    Now that they¡¯d determined that theke held no danger, Fina took a bath in the shallow water and washed away the contaminated sand on her fur. She did so without any shower gel. After emerging from theke, she shook off the water droplets on her fur. Then she squatted by the palm leaves to bask in the sun.

    The advantage of taking a bath in the desert was that one didn¡¯t have to use a hair dryer. Staying out in the sun for a while, one could get very dry very quickly.

    Then came Snowy Li. Perhaps it had heat stroke or had gotten too excited observing Fina¡¯s bath. It looked highly animated, with big eyes and tongue sticking out. Zhang Zian had no choice but to return it to the phone and let it calm down inside.

    He also wanted to take a bath, but after all, he was a man with morality and status. He was unwilling to strip naked and jump in the water in broad daylight. Besides, Richard the noisy bird was still around. He did not want him to watch and speak of this incident in the future.

    Anyway, he was not in a hurry. He put all the water-filled containers in the car, and then he ate and drank until he was full. He rested for a full day in the oasis.

    The next morning, Zhang Zian, who had bathed in the middle of the night, greeted the arrival of dawn with a radiant smile. His symptoms of heat stroke hadpletely subsided due to adequate drinking water.

    He ushered the elfins into the car before reluctantly bidding this oasis goodbye. He took down the coordinates of the oasis. He would give this to Salem as a gift¡ªas a desert guide, he might be able to use this to start a unique tourist route and earn money. It could also double up as a source of supplies if anything happened.

    Now, he could finally leave the desert without stopping.

 Chapter 1299: Reunited

    <h4>Chapter 1299: Reunited</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Xiao Zhang! Xiao Zhang! This is the expedition team. Please reply!¡±

    ¡°Xiao Zhang! Xiao Zhang! This is the expedition team. Please reply!¡±

    At the water well within the Bedouin tribe, Wei Kang looked towards the south with a telescope. From time to time, he picked up the walkie-talkie to call Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Teacher, forget it. Drink a ss of water first. Do not overwork yourself.¡±

    Gao Ke ran forward and handed a bottle of water to him. ¡°We have been here for three days. If Zhang Zian wanted to be here, he would havee by now. I will say something that you won¡¯t want to hear¡ªsince he did not arrive at the scheduled ce at the stipted time, he likely did not make it. Because such an epic ck storm and earthquake urred in the Devil¡¯s Sea, the chances of him escaping all of that are extremely low. You must be prepared for the worst.¡±

    Wei Kang sighed, passed the telescope to Gao Ke, and took a few mouthfuls of water.

    ¡°Though that is the case, he is alert and resilient. He may not be trapped in the Devil¡¯s Sea. Let¡¯s wait a while for him,¡± Wei Kang said.

    Gao Ke wiped his sweat and looked up at the hot sun. Since they left the desert, Wei Kang kept the expedition team here, waiting for Zhang Zian to return safely from the desert.

    The members of the expedition team were somewhat dissatisfied with this decision. They¡¯d finally gotten out of the desert. What they needed the most now was soft beds, showers, air conditioners, buffets, ice cream, Wi-Fi, friends, and sand sculptures. They should not be waiting here aimlessly like idiots for someone who was most likely not going toe back.

    After saying goodbyes at the Devil¡¯s Sea with Zhang Zian, the expedition team arrived, with Nabari¡¯s help, at the scheduled location to meet up. Then they said only to wait 48 hours.

    However, they did not stay at the ce for 48 hours. They did not even stay there for 24 hours.

    On the first day, they set up their canopy to rest and took turns looking after the restless He He. However, at noon, there was a sudden sound of thunder from the direction of the Devil¡¯s Sea, followed by a huge wall of dust. They were overwhelmed and did not know what to do. Nabari, on the other hand, was on his mat praying to his god.

    Then the ck storm appeared. It came from the direction of the Devil¡¯s Sea and quickly spread to them.

    As the ck storm arrived, they could not stay put, or they might be buried in the sand. Thus, they were forced to leave the scheduled ce in advance and briefly lost their way in the ck storm.

    When the sandstorm stopped, they found that they were off-course. At this time, they faced a choice¡ªto return to the scheduled location to continue to wait for Zhang Zian, or to return directly to the Siwa Oasis. Wei Kang and Salem chose the first option, while the rest chose the second. Nabari was so scared by the Devil¡¯s Sea that he was unable toment.

    He He¡¯s mental state was unstable. They also had a principle of the minority obeying the majority. Wei Kang had no choice but to agree not to wait for Zhang Zian, as he felt responsible for the overall safety of the expedition team. So they left the desert, though he constantly felt very guilty. If Zhang Zian arrived at the scheduled ce within 48 hours but found no one, it would be disappointing.

    The return journey was not smooth. Even with the help of the drone, there were even more difficulties and dangers when crossing the sand dunes. On the way back, one of their cars rolled over the sand dunes and down the ridges. Fortunately, Du Xuetao was only slightly injured from the ident.

    As they were already exhausted, the expedition team took a longer time leaving than when they had entered the desert. When they finally saw the Bedouin¡¯s camel team, everyone was half gone. They also did not have many supplies left.

    Under such circumstances, the rest didn¡¯t particrly appreciate Wei Kang insisting on waiting for Zhang Zian.

    Gao Ke pointed to a Bedouin cottage. ¡°Teacher, you should think about Xiao He. She must be counseled as soon as possible.¡±

    He He didn¡¯t have much to do throughout their journey and kept insisting on returning to the Devil¡¯s Sea to feel the pure cosmic energy. She even tried to steal a car. Fortunately, they watched her closely with 24-hour surveince to prevent her from escaping.

    Wei Kang shook his head. ¡°I have contacted her parents. They are on the way here. Let them decide how to treat her... I insist on staying here. In fact, I also considered her status. If she is allowed to return to the Siwa Oasis, she will make a report and insist that we illegally imprison her. We are in a foreignnd. We will not be able to defend ourselves properly.¡±

    They were fully aware of how the Egyptian police force worked. Thus, Wei Kang felt that it is better to stay in the Bedouin tribe, which was outside of their jurisdiction. He would wait until her parents arrived and hand her over to them to avoid any other issues.

    ¡°Then do you think that, instead of waiting for Zhang Zian, we¡¯ll end up waiting for Peter Lee instead?¡± Gao Ke said as he looked into the distance.

    On the return journey, the expedition team¡¯s satellite phone rang once, and the number was disyed as Peter Lee¡¯s satellite phone. After getting connected, the other party said nothing, and neither did Wei Kang. After waiting for a while without speaking a single word, he hung up.

    This silent phone call contained a lot of information. Peter Lee and his team had escaped the Devil¡¯s Sea¡ªat least, some of them had made it. However, Zhang Zian was not with them. If he was, he would have said something.

    Wei Kang and Peter Lee had nothing to say to each other. Wei Kang¡¯s impression of them had changed dramatically. He felt that they were simplywless. He mainly wanted to know about Zhang Zian¡¯s situation when he got on the phone. Once he had his answer, there was no need for further conversation.

    As for why Peter Lee called, why he didn¡¯t say a word, it wasn¡¯t clear. Perhaps it was a farewell to the expedition team who had gone through difficult times with them.

    Wei Kang sincerely hoped that in the future, he would not have any further interactions with them. He drank a few more mouthfuls of water and picked up the walkie-talkie to continue his calls.

    ¡°Xiao Zhang! Xiao Zhang! This is the expedition team! Please reply!¡±

    He had said this a zillion times within thest three days. He was now reciting it like a machine. As time went by, he knew that the possibility of Zhang Zian returning safely was getting smaller and smaller. This is because he calcted that the drinking water and food in Zhang Zian¡¯s car were not enough to support him for so long.

    Unless...

    He did not want to imagine any cruel possibilities of what he might do. However, if Zhang Zian chose survival, he could understand whatever actions he chose to take and would not me him. Nevertheless, he did hope that this would only be undertaken at the point of utmost desperation.

    In any case, when He He¡¯s parents arrived, they must leave, as there was then no further reason to wait.

    ¡°Xiao Zhang! Xiao Zhang! This is the expedition team. Please reply!¡±

    This time around, there was a sudden response.

    ¡°Expedition team! Expedition team! This is Zhang Zian! Received! Please speak!¡±

 Chapter 1300: Arriving in Style

    <h4>Chapter 1300: Arriving in Style</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Hearing the sudden sound from the inte, Wei Kang, who did not believe in ghosts, almost threw the receiver away. He thought he¡¯d heard a voice that belonged to ghosts. He thought perhaps he was hallucinating, the source being his own sorrows. However, when he saw Gao Ke¡¯s equally astonished face, he knew this was no hallucination.

    ¡°Xiao Zhang... Zhang Zian? Are you really Zhang Zian?¡± Wei Kang asked again, his heart beating so fast it could almost jump out of his chest. He nervously awaited his answer.

    Gao Ke also had his mouth open out of shock and put his ear to the other side of the walkie-talkie, listening equally nervously.

    The dangers of the desert were clear to them now, as they had experienced them throughout their journey. It was no longer an understanding from textbooks, films, or shows. They¡¯d found it challenging even with adequate supplies and Nabari as a guide. Besides, Zhang Zian had left them with much less drinking water and fuel. How had he managed to pull through?

    Gao Ke decided that even if Zhang Zian was not dead, he was close to being dead. He was likely to be as thin as a twig.

    Wei Kang also had simr concerns. He gave Gao Ke a nce and asked him to take the phone. If the situation was not good, he would call an ambnce immediately.

    In the t, unobstructed desert, the range of a handheld walkie-talkie could reach several kilometers or more. Wei Kang was not sure what Zhang Zian¡¯s specific position was, which direction he wasing from, or how much longer before he arrived.

    ¡°Professor Wei Kang, this is Zhang Zian, and I will soon arrive at the Bedouin tribe. Over!¡± The inte rang again.

    ¡°Xiao Zhang, how is your situation? Do you need an ambnce?¡±

    Gao Ke ran to Wei Kang, handing him the phone.

    ¡°Zhang Zian is back? Are you for real?¡±

    Salem, upon hearing this news, ran over quickly. Zhang Zian was his savior. He didn¡¯t want Zhang Zian to die in the desert. After returning to the tribe, he¡¯d also discussed this with his uncle. Should the both of them enter the desert again to find him? The desert was vast. Where should they start looking?

    Xiao Tianyu and Du Xuetao also heard the news. If they hadn¡¯t been responsible for guarding He He, they would have also wanted toe out and meet Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian said via the inte, ¡°Professor Wei Kang, I am fine. You don¡¯t need to call an ambnce... Oh, but my diesel has already run out. I am not sure if I can drive to...¡±

    Wei Kang was somewhat curious as to what he¡¯d said. ¡°Would you like me to pick you up?¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°No need. I guess I can almost reach the Bedouin tribe with what I have left. I wanted to borrow a camel from the Bedouins so I can head to the Siwa Oasis. Since you are also here, that saves me a lot of trouble!¡±

    When he heard Zhang Zian¡¯s voice, Salem grabbed the walkie-talkie from Wei Kang and shouted strings of unfamiliar Chinese: ¡°Oh, my mother! Brother Zhang, what crap happened?¡±

    Zhang Zian said nothing.

    The three of them stood by the well and looked out. They were as anxious as ants on a hill. They could not wait to see him appear in front of them and hear how he had been.

    Not too longter, Gao Ke spotted him using a telescope. ¡°He¡¯sing! He¡¯sing!¡± he said excitedly as he pointed into the distance.

    Wei Kang and Salem tip-toed over and saw that there was a burst of smoke in the direction where Gao Ke was pointing. It seemed that a car was approaching them.

    They took turns looking through the telescope, and the outline of the car gradually became more visible. It was indeed one of the team¡¯s vehicles. However, the luggage rack on top of it was no longer there, nor were the tent and mat that were supposed to be attached to it. The car had no paint job either. It had been rubbed clean due to the violent sandstorm.

    The expedition team had only been hit by the edges of the ck storm. Zhang Zian, on the other hand, had been running away from the center of the ck storm. The damage to their cars would naturally be of varying degrees.

    The car was finding it tough to move forward. It had slowed down even though it was not supposed to. Slowly but surely, it began toe to a stop. Wei Kang and the rest hurried over to it.

    As the car came to aplete stop, Wei Kang and the rest also reached it. The front windshield had been scratched badly by wind and sand. It was not possible to see through it. They shifted their attention to the door. In their hearts, they felt varying degrees of regret.

    The door opened. It was the front passenger¡¯s door that opened first. Fina jumped out with her chest puffed up. She looked like a proud figure with no eyes for anyone else.

    Then the driver¡¯s door opened.

    They saw Zhang Zian walk out, seemingly unscathed. They stared at him, their eyes almost rolling out of their sockets. He did not look how they had imagined: a shriveled and exhausted man. Unlike how they must have looked when they themselves came out of the desert, he looked like he¡¯d simplye back from a tourist resort.

    Even his clothes were neat and tidy, with little body odor. His hair, too, was neat and tidy...

    They did not know that Zhang Zian had found an oasis. Not only had he filled himself up with water, he had also bathed and washed his clothes.

    Seeing Famous also jump out of the car safely, Wei Kang finally calmed down. The worst thing he¡¯d thought of had not happened. This, however, made him even more curious. After the separation with the expedition team, what had Zhang Zian experienced?

    Salem cheered and eagerly rushed over to hug Zhang Zian. Wei Kang and Gao Ke, as Chinese, did not go forward to hug him. However, their emotions were highly visible in their eyes.

    ¡°Zhang Zian, how did you get out of the desert? Tell us!¡±

    ¡°Xiao Zhang, what happened in the end?¡±

    ¡°Brother Zhang Zian, you... This is amazing!¡±

    They went on randomly, asking him all the burning questions that they had. However, this was not the ce to talk.

    The three men brought Zhang Zian back to the Bedouin tribe.

    ¡°Professor Wei Kang, did Peter Lee and his team make it out?¡± Zhang Zian ignored their questions for him and asked his own instead.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. They may have made it, but I didn¡¯t see them.¡± Wei Kang shook his head and briefly told him about what happened after they¡¯d separated.

    Zhang Zian also spoke of the main events that he¡¯d experienced while trying to get out of the Devil¡¯s Sea. He did not talk much about the pyramid, merely saying that it was an ancient relic that Peter Lee had bombed. That was the source of the earthquake andndslide.

    He did this to prevent others from wanting to return out of their desire for the treasures that were hidden beneath it. He also did not want to disturb Cleopatra and her sleep. Besides, the environment there was highly treacherous. Anyone eager to grab the treasures hidden underground would likely be hurt. He hoped to prevent that.

    He focused on the subsequent escape, the earthquake, and the ck storm. He spoke highly of the oasis. Without it, he might not be alive.

    Although it was just a simple narrative in a in tone, the other three were shocked simply hearing about what he¡¯d experienced.

 Chapter 1301: En Route Home

    <h4>Chapter 1301: En Route Home</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After they reunited with the expedition team, the rest of the journey was to be much easier. Zhang Zian and Wei Kang waited for He He¡¯s parents and watched as the elders tearfully brought her away and back to China for psychiatric treatment. They could only hope she had not sunk in too deep and could still be saved.

    Before leaving, they thanked the Bedouin people for their care over the past few days. They also asked the Bedouins toplete their unfinished work¡ªto find out the identity of the bones found in the desert.

    They bid farewell to Nabari and Salem and invited them to go to China as guests. Nabari thought it was unlikely that he would go, as he had no such interest. However, since Salem was still young, he could do so in the future.

    Zhang Zian also deliberately pulled Salem to the side and stuffed a note in his hand. On it were a few mysterious numbers. Even though Salem repeatedly asked what it was, Zhang Zian alwaysughed. Let him find the answer by himself.

    They then drove back to Cairo.

    Wei Kang and his students took the data and video materials from the expedition and headed to Cairo University to conduct in-depth academic exchanges with their peers. They also entrusted their peers to go to the desert to pick up the GPS cors in a year. Their peers at Cairo University were extremely pleased andmended Wei Kang on his achievements.

    Zhang Zian drove the family RV that Lazart had loaned to him. He cleaned it, topped it up with petrol, and handed it back to Lazart. He thanked him for his generosity and the help of his brothers and sisters. They also invited them to go to China for a holiday.

    Lazart had alreadypleted the custom-made jewelery and handed it over to Zhang Zian so he could pass it on to the rest.

    With that, they could say that they had nothing more left to do in Egypt. There were some lingering regrets, but those would be difficult to solve. In any case, they could no longer stay, as they did not have the finances to continue. There were also still many things waiting at home.

    On the ne, when the Great Pyramid was beneath them, Zhang Zian felt a sense of reluctance. Although there were many ces not worthy of visiting in Egypt, this experience had left a deep impression on him. This was probably what most tourists felt when they left a unique ce.

    He hadpleted what he¡¯d wanted to do. He¡¯d returned the statue of the cat god, and it nowy with the stone and bronze statues of the many animal gods in the pyramid. Presumably, the cat god must not be too happy. It could no longer roam freely. The pyramid had sunk into the abyss and could no longer be easily found, much less opened.

    He suddenly remembered that a lot of light sticks and gun cartridges had been left in the pyramid. He wondered what archaeologists would think when they rediscovered the ce more than a hundred yearster...

    Fina was already asleep in the seat next to his. She¡¯d been less unwilling to leave Egypt than to Zhang Zian. Perhaps her wishes had been fulfilled. Or perhaps she was able to hold on to her hopes and beliefs.

    Wei Kang finished up the details in his report of the trip on hisptop. He nned to submit it when theynded.

    Although he hadrgelypleted the expedition and was praised by his Egyptian counterparts, Wei Kang did not appear to be happy. He was very sorry about what had happened to He He and offered to take responsibility. He He¡¯s parents wanted him to keep quiet about what had happened. In the report, he only wrote that she was sick because of theck of water and poor nutrition. He left out her psychiatric issues to prevent them from affecting her future study and life.

    Gao Ke, Xiao Tianyu, and Du Xuetao had slowly became strangers since they came out of the desert. They maintained minimum cooperation and exchanges for the sake of writing the report. Presumably, they would be extremely awkward if they bumped into one another in the researchbs back home...

    Peter Lee and his team did not reappear. Whether they had managed to escape the desert was unknown. They had suffered huge setbacks, but they were unlikely to have learned their lesson. If they were still alive, they would definitely look for the next secret that contained pure cosmic energy. They would definitely try to spread their words to more people, but this had nothing to do with Zhang Zian. After all, they operated overseas and not in China. Chinesews did not apply to them.

    Shortly after takeoff, thend of Egypt disappeared from the window. Zhang Zian was feeling drowsy and soon fell asleep.

    When he woke up, the ne had alreadynded in China. He was deeply asleep and had to be woken up by Wei Kang.

    Next they transferred nes and took a domestic flight to Binhai. They exchanged pleasantries and hoped to see one another again¡ªalthough some probably hoped not to. They then parted ways.

    The taxi arrived at the pet store.

    Zhang Zian paid the fare and stopped for a short while before he got off. He watched the customersing in and out of the pet shop. They went in with empty hands, then left the shop with pet food or a pet storage box. Nothing seemed different from before he left. He could not help but smile. He was not too far from his goal now.

    Some regr customers recognized him, but many more did not recognize him. They first recognized Fina and Famous and then guessed his identity.

    As for the reason...

    When he stepped into the pet shop, Wang Qian, who was ying with his mobile phone, looked up at himzily and asked, ¡°What is this big ck brother looking for?¡±

    Although he¡¯d worn a baseball cap or a fisherman¡¯s hat when he was out in Egypt and even applied sunscreen, it was inevitable that he got tanned. His skin was dark and bright red in some spots. He stood out.

    The biggest lesson he learned was not to go to Egypt in the summer.

    He¡¯d used to have fair skin, but now he was extremely dark. No wonder many customers couldn¡¯t recognize him.

    Zhang Zian cracked his knuckles, hit Wang Qian hard on his head, and picked up the remote control to turn off the air conditioner.

    ¡°Master! You are back! You must have missed us! That... Why did you turn off the air conditioner? It is so hot!¡± Li Kun said. He did not recognize Zhang Zian immediately, but his attitude and the way he carried himself were a dead giveaway as to who he was.

    ¡°How hot can it be? It is so cool. Why turn on the air conditioner? Stop wasting your electricity!¡± Zhang Zian said with a stone face, unwilling to ept his exnation.

    ¡°Cool?¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun looked at one another. It was 30 degrees. How was this cool? What then counted as hot?

    Since it was in the northern hemisphere, the coastal city had entered the summer. In June, the temperature was slowly rising, making it hotter.

    ¡°Good, cool weather! There is wind all around!¡± Zhang Zian closed his eyes and spoke these words with firm belief in his heart.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were speechless. They seemed to have some kind of hunch. A hunch that perhaps this would be a very difficult summer...

 Chapter 1302: I Trust the Work You Do

    <h4>Chapter 1302: I Trust the Work You Do</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Although Zhang Zian had already slept on the ne, he still fell asleep quickly and soundly at night. When he woke up, it was already dawn. He did not have to deal with jetg.

    When he opened his eyes, he immediately forced himself to wake up. He thought that this was some kind of illusion, that he was still sleeping in a tent in the Egyptian desert. Peter Lee was snoring in the tent next to his. In the next moment, he heard the sound of the tent unzip, the sound of feet running on the sand, and the sound of toilet paper ripping. A voice kept muttering, ¡°I can¡¯t hold it... I can¡¯t hold it...¡±

    Yet there was none of that. The surroundings were quiet, very quiet. There were only the sounds of the elfins breathing, the sounds of cars parked along the sidewalk, and neighbors waking up and greeting one another.

    Above him was not a tent, but a ceiling that had already turned yellow. There was also an old-school ceilingmp.

    His eyes were wet and unlikely to be dry. His mouth did not have the taste of dryness either. The air he breathed in was moist and cool¡ªthere was no need for the air conditioner.

    With this, he slowly rxed. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m home.¡±

    It was still early. He closed his eyes andy down for a while. It wasn¡¯t that he was tired, just that he simply wanted to savor thefort he was experiencing at this moment.

    After a few minutes, he got up.

    The elfins were still sleeping, even Famous and Fina. They had followed him almost the entire journey in Egypt and were very tired. They¡¯d fallen asleep immediatelyst night when their heads hit the pillows.

    After he got out of bed, he often drank a cup of warm water. Sometimes he couldn¡¯t finish the cup. With the cup seemingly half full, he would often pour it out. However, today, he looked at the half-full cup for half a second, tilted his head backwards, and drank it all down.

    Whether it was running water, wooden beds, sturdy houses, toilets, the cool air from the refrigerator, or the lights that could be turned on with a button, one tended to value these things more after a close shave with death. These dailymon events and things had be seemingly more precious.

    Of course, there was also electricity.

    The weather was cool. After he¡¯d returned yesterday, Wang Qian, Li Kun, and the customers in the storeined that it was too hot. He had just turned off the air conditioner before it was switched on again. This forced him to hide the air conditioner¡¯s remote control. He thought this would solve the issue once and for all. However, he forgot that manufacturers had developed mobile apps that allowed phones to act as remote controls instead. Why would they do that?

    When he hid the remote control and ran to the aquarium to monitor the situation, he saw several smart customers using their mobile phones to turn the air on. The other customers quickly learned to do the same. Were they trying to go against his wishes?

    It seemed that he would have toe up with a new method today. Should he use tape to cover the receiver on the air conditioner or simply pull the plug?

    He washed his face while pondering this. After washing, he saw a strange man in the mirror and, startled, took a tube of toothpaste to defend himself. He realized then that it was only himself.

    ck, thin, dry hair, unshaven. No wonder Wang Qian and Li Kun hadn¡¯t recognized him. He didn¡¯t even recognize himself.

    The trip to Egypt had had a huge impact on him, both inside and out. Before the tan went away, he would have to settle for the title of ¡°Binhai¡¯s popr dark-skinned guy.¡±

    ¡°Hey... Four Seasons Hotel... Oh...¡±

    There was a bubble in the bathtub. Sihwa was murmuring away while dreaming. She turned over in her sleep, and her tail was sshing water all around.

    She must be educated to save water. Since she¡¯d arrived here, the monthly water bill had reached a new high.

    After washing his face, he returned to his room. dimir was woken up by the sounds he made. He rolled out of the bed, rubbed his eyes, yawned, and moved to the windowsill.

    Now early summer was bing midsummer. It was very cool. It made Zhang Zian miss the woolen vest worn by the Bedouins. His windows only had a screen to cover things up, but air could pass through freely.

    dimir used his w to open the window. He heard footsteps and lifted his w to the ear. He looked as if he were giving a polite greeting. ¡°I shall hand over everything to you now! I trust the work that you do!¡± With hardworking eyes, he would take a bow and then leave.

    Having been gone for quite a while, he was not sure how everything had been, or whether the foundations of the organization were stable. He¡¯d gone to sleep immediately upon returning. He decided to inspect only after he had woken up. Previously, he would have definitely gone out at night. Going out the next day was a big step for him.

    He felt that he had a lot to worry about. After all, the Holy Cat statue had been sent back to Egypt, and more than a dozen animal gods were looking after it. In addition, it was imprisoned in a pyramid of several million tons, buried under tens of millions of tons of yellow sand. Unless it was dug up, it would not be able to do nasty things again. In this case, what else could threaten dimir and his stray cat army?

    But anyway, he was unstoppable. He would y. Eventually, he would return.

    With the window opened, the noise from the outside got louder, and the elfins, with their sensitive hearing, gradually got up. When they woke up, they looked somewhat confused. They had a look of ¡°Am I still dreaming or what?¡± on their faces. It took quite some time for them to be fully awake.

    In Egypt, Pi had spent most of the day sleeping in the mobile phone. At night, it used aptop to write novels. The yellow sand and high temperatures had no effect on it. It quickly jumped back onto the familiar desk, opened the Word document, and started typing. It was nevertheless morefortable typing at home then in the mobile phone.

    The same was true for the other elfins. In their home, they could bezy, rx, and simply be as kings.

    In the bed of the princess, Fina woke up. However, she did not lift the veil.

    ¡°Look at you. Congrattions. You seem to have lost weight,¡± Zhang Zian said casually, quickly running downstairs before Fina internalized what he¡¯d said.

    There were fewer familiar faces in the pet shop now than there had been before they¡¯d left. There were a few new cats and dogs. Those they knew had grown older, their fur a little thicker and denser. The new ones were observing them, even letting out low growls to act as a deterrent.

    Other than that, there were no visible changes in the store, and everything was about the same as when he¡¯d left.

    He opened the shutter door and stood by it. He thought that, rather than driving those jeeps in the desert, it would have been less troublesome if they¡¯d drivenrge tanks. They could withstand almost anything thrown at them, carry heavy loads and lots of people, and travel through treacherous terrain and undting slopes. That would have been so much better.

    ¡°Mr. Manager, good morning!¡±

    As always, Lu Yiyun was the first toe to work. While the boys wore short sleeves, she wore a long-sleeved shirt and long pants. She made Zhang Zian believe once again that the weather really was not that hot.

 Chapter 1303: Short and Fat Boy

    <h4>Chapter 1303: Short and Fat Boy</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Lu Yiyun put down the drawing board, took Jasmine out of her bag, and picked up a rag to start sanitizing the checkout counter.

    ¡°Good morning, Xiao Yun. This is an Egyptian product for you.¡± Zhang Zian handed the gift box to her along with a tote bag. The gift box had custom-made jewelry from Lazart inside. The bag contained date palms he¡¯d bought before boarding the ne.

    Considering that customs might check what he carried, the jewelry ordered from Lazart only had a box, without gift wraps and ribbons. After waiting for the store to be closedst night, he¡¯d specially gone to the gift shop to wrap it. By spending some spare change, he could make the gifts look more expensive. It was a cost-effective strategy.

    Lu Yiyun was shocked by the exquisite gift and asked, ¡°For me?¡±

    ¡°Well, everyone is getting something. You are the earliest in today. Open it and see if you like it... Even if you don¡¯t, I can¡¯t return it anyway,¡± Zhang Zian said as he picked up the key to the aquarium next door. He nned to quietly find an empty tank for the long-legged lungfish.

    This was the first time Lu Yiyun had received such a beautifully wrapped gift. The shiny ribbons and colored paper made the gift look like a piece of art. She was reluctant to open it.

    The packaging was so beautiful¡ªthe gifts inside would definitely not be too bad.

    She wanted to know what was inside but was worried that the gift was too expensive. After a while, she took her phone and snapped a photo to remember it. Only then did she pull the ribbon apart gently.

    The ribbon slipped off, and she carefully removed the colored wrapping paper. She saw a long, transparent stic box with a long strip and a palm. A glittering gold tey inside, engraved with strange words. She did not recognize them.

    Although she did not go out often, she could still tell the difference between copper and gold.

    At this time, Zhang Zian had also ced the lungfish in a tank and returned to the pet store. This lungfish was highly durable and could be raised easily without too much hassle.

    ¡°Mr. Manager! Did you make a mistake? This...this... Is this for me?¡± Lu Yiyun tried to sort out her thoughts. How could she get such a valuable gold te as a gift?

    ¡°Don¡¯t panic. It¡¯s not pure gold¡ªit¡¯s only eighteen-karat gold. It¡¯s not worth much.¡± When Zhang Zian saw her unease, he exined further. ¡°The text is Egyptian hieroglyphics¡ªa transliteration of your name, which is an Egyptian tradition. This is their traditional amulet. Although we don¡¯t believe in this, it is nevertheless very meaningful as a souvenir.¡±

    Hearing that it was not pure gold, Lu Yiyun was somewhat relieved. She would cherish this gift. She ced it in her bag and said, ¡°Thank you, Mr. Manager. I will keep it well.¡±

    With that, Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Jiang Feifei also came in together. They all went to school at Binhai University and always walked together.

    ¡°Wow! Something delicious!¡± Wang Qian saw the date palm immediately and was just about to grab one when Zhang Zian pped his hand away.

    ¡°You will have your own share! Don¡¯t take someone else¡¯s!¡± Zhang Zian stared at him before proceeding to give them the gifts.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Let¡¯s eat together,¡± Lu Yiyun offered generously.

    Zhang Zian pushed her date back and said inly, ¡°You can send some to your family. Let them taste fresh Egyptian dates.¡±

    He knew that she had dropped out of college because of painting, and that had caused her to fall out with her family. However, it had been some time ago, and blood was thicker than water. It might be time to mend the rtionship.

    Lu Yiyun looked awkwardly at him and nodded silently. She took the date back.

    Wang Qian and the gang gave no thought to the beautiful packaging. Once the gifts were in their hands, they tore the ribbons and wrappings off in mere seconds. What a wasted effort.

    They were amazed at the amulet. Of course, the most amazing thing was that Zhang Zian had been willing to spend such money. They kew that although 18K gold was not expensive, the part that was expensive was the handicraft done on it. In addition, he¡¯d bought a few pieces, it must have cost him an arm and a leg.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun took out the gold te and respectfully held it in front of Zhang Zian. ¡°Thank you for the gift, Master! Can you give this gift another light?¡±

    ¡°Open your light! You are not a lost woman! To hell with light!¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°Hurry up! Keep the gift and get to your job! Are you waiting for me to kick you?¡±

    Jiang Feifei was the rare one who believed normally in the store. She happily epted the gift.

    ¡°Right¡ªthere is a new member in the aquarium,¡± Zhang Zian said to her.

    Jiang Feifei was highly interested in aquarium pets. She asked excitedly, ¡°What is it? Forget it¡ªlet me see it myself!¡±

    She quickly ran next door, and Zhang Zian reminded her from behind, ¡°Be careful! That thing is grumpy and may bite!¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun didn¡¯t care much about hygiene. While cleaning, they kept stuffing dates into their mouths.

    Zhang Zian stood at the door and looked around for a while. He greeted a few passing acquaintances, but strangely, he did not bump into Little Celery.

    Was it currently summer vacation? So early? No, it couldn¡¯t be summer vacation.

    He thought about it for a moment and looked at his mobile phone again. It was only after some thinking that he realized that it was the weekend, and that primary school students did not attend sses on weekends.

    Of course, there was also a gift for LIttle Celery. It was not too expensive. It was a bag of dates, which she could take to school to share with the students. She could use this to boost her rtionship with her fellow students, although their rtionship was already good to begin with.

    Zhang Zian remembered that when he was a child, if he brought something delicious to school, he would soon have a few of his friends asking to share.

    He decided to go back to the store to help clean. He temporarily ced Little Celery¡¯s date in the refrigerator. Then he heard a savage yet tender child¡¯s voice. ¡°What reason do you have for not letting me y with my phone?¡±

    It was a short and fat boy. He looked like a primary school student, and his face was round and red. He looked radiant. He wore a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, though the short-sleeved shirt was a little small. His belly button was visible.

    Zhang Zian had this boy before and knew he lived nearby. He might also be attending Zhonghua Road Primary School. However, he had never spoken to him before.

    ¡°Based on what? Based on the knowledge that once you start, you cannot stop! Your eyes must be so damaged! Your mother has already spoken to you about it. How dare you talk back to me? Let me tell you, young man, no more mobile games today! Don¡¯t you even dare touch the phone! Go out, go out, and find your friends to y!¡±

    An adult man nearby rebutted the short, fat boy.

    The boy shouted out indignantly, ¡°My ssmates are all ying the game! They are opening a room for everyone! If you don¡¯t give me the phone, I will be looked down upon by them!¡±

    Zhang Zian was dumbfounded. Primary school students were crazy about mobile games. He could understand the parents¡¯ feelings¡ªas a child, one shouldn¡¯t be addicted to ying games all day.

 Chapter 1304: Observation Work

    <h4>Chapter 1304: Observation Work</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The arguments between children and parents over games had probably existed in China for about 40 years.

    Starting in the 1980s, lots of game halls sprung up across cities, followed by Inte cafes, personalputers, and the rise of broadband. Today, one could y games in thefort of one¡¯s home. Currently, mobile games seemed to be slowly recingputer games. However, the argument over games continued despite the changes in devices.

    Zhang Zian himself was also part of this wave of change. He had frequented Inte cafes. He¡¯d used to y online games with college ssmates. He had also been attracted to single-yer turn-based games on his personalputer. This was only until he had to enter society and work, and he did not have time for games. His phone was the only thing he could use to y a game¡ªa game that had truly changed his life.

    Even this father, who seemed very bitter about games, might have been a bad kid when he was younger and frequently hung out at game halls then. Now, however, he was trying to stop his own son from ying too many games. There was somewhat of a continuation of history. When he was younger, perhaps his own dad had gone to the game hall, pulled his ear, and said something simr. Deja vu.

    How did that expression go? Oh yes. ¡°When I grow up, I will be like you.¡±

    This was not a matter for Zhang Zian to bother himself with. Regardless of all the imaginative stories he cooked up in his head, he was merely a bystander watching them argue. However, perhaps of how tan his trip to Egypt made him, he¡¯d been caught in the gunfire.

    ¡°ying games all day and not caring about learning, what can you do when you grow up? You can¡¯t work for a bigpany or be a civil servant. You will end up like your dad, having to work for a boss. Even on the weekends, you will have to work overtime. You will get so damn tired! Or...you might be like this shop, having to live day-to-day and having no future! Is this what you want? Do this and don¡¯t even bother thinking about finding a wife!¡±

    The man could try to educate his own child, but to use Zhang Zian as a negative example... That was rather uncalled for.

    Zhang Zian found the situation rather stifling. Despite being in his own home, he was still being attacked.

    Yet what the man had said was not too wrong. The instability of his shop was known only by Zhang Zian himself. No matter how morous the shop was on the surface, it could be easily ripped apart if unexpected things happened. While parents did not expect their children to be rich, they must at least have enough food and clothing. They also wished for them to have peace of mind, work in argepany, and be a civil servant. These actions would ensure their future.

    The fat boy nced at him and suddenly showed him a disdainful look. Looking away, he said, ¡°I won¡¯t open a roadside shop! You don¡¯t know, but I y my game really well. All my friends are rushing to be on my team so that we can win! I will be a professional esports yer in the future and take the world championship. I will retire as a game anchor and earn millions in a month! I will never be single again. All the pretty girls will flock to me!¡±

    Horrible! Father and son were too alike!

    Zhang Zian wanted to cry, but no tears flowed out.

    ¡°Girls! Why are you thinking about girls at your age?¡± The man poked the boy¡¯s head with his finger, but his tone was full of joy. Perhaps he thought his son was very ambitious. ¡°But I don¡¯t want you to y with your phone anymore today. Boys should run outside and y, not stay alone at home ying games!¡±

    The boy¡¯s jaw dropped, but he muttered, ¡°What is the use of running outside? I can¡¯t even practice my finger speed...¡±

    The man got into a boxing stance. He was merely trying to scare him. ¡°What¡¯s the use? Do the assignment that your teacher has assigned you! Stop dying and procrastinating. Let me tell you, young man, I can¡¯t help you write, and don¡¯t you dare ask your mother. It¡¯s useless! Write it yourself!¡±

    The man¡¯s mind had been made up. No matter what kind of tantrum the boy threw, he would not give him the phone back. He kept it in his pocket. Just then, the bus came. The man hurriedly got on the bus and stared at the boy from the window.

    The fat boy was bitter and kept on sighing. The meat on his tummy heaved up and down.

    However, Zhang Zian was happy to witness his downfall¡ªwell deserved! Who had asked them to diss him? He hoped that the observation work assigned by the teacher was as difficult as possible. Hopefully, it asked him to observe the moon for 30 days and draw it or count 100,000,000 grains of rice!

    Jiang Feifei ran out of the aquarium to ask him what the strange fish was and its habits. It was necessary so that she could make a sticker and stick it on the tank. This way, customers could have their questions answered.

    Zhang Zian followed her into the aquarium and introduced her to the long-legged lungfish. In the meantime, he took the opportunity to see how his baby corals were breeding.

    The air conditioner could be turned off in the pet shop, but not in an aquarium. After all, there were Sea Angels, Antarctic Sea Anemones, and Sea Butterflies that could only survive at low temperatures. They needed the air conditioner more so during summer. If he turned it off, they would certainly die.

    When renovating the room, he¡¯d deliberately enhanced the thermal instion of the walls and roof to keep the indoor temperature constant.

    After telling Jiang Feifei about the necessary things, he walked out of the aquarium, nning to head back to the pet shop to help clean up.

    At this time, he saw that the little punk had yet to leave. He had merely shifted to a new ce and was now standing at the door of a neighboring closed shop. He stared inside, looking very serious. While watching, he whispered under his breath.

    What was he looking at? Was there money on the ss or a treasure map?

    Zhang Zian was curious. He hesitated. He looked around his store but found that the staff had mostlypleted the cleaning and seemed not to need his help. Rightly so¡ªafter all, they¡¯d had to handle everything while he was in Egypt.

    So he pretended to pass by, walked over to the boy, and said, ¡°This shop closed a few days ago. The owner returned to his hometown for a wedding. He won¡¯t being here to open the shop, so don¡¯t wait.¡±

    The fat boy was staring hard and didn¡¯t see Zhang Zian approaching. He was startled, but after seeing who it was, he stared at Zhang Zian with a look that said, ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you, that lousy prick.¡± A rather disdainful look. He snorted and said, ¡°I know! I don¡¯t need your reminder! The big word ¡®transfer¡¯ is written here. You think I am blind?¡±

    Through eavesdropping on the conversation between father and son, Zhang Zian already understood what kind of character the boy had and resisted the urge to smack him. He asked instead, ¡°What are you looking at?¡±

    ¡°What has this got to do with you?¡± The boy eyed him with suspicion.

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. It¡¯s not something worthwhile to keep to yourself anyway.¡± Zhang Zianughed.

    The fat boy frowned, raised his head, and said, ¡°If you want to see it, just look at it. Look until you cannot look away.¡±

    Zhang Zian followed the boy¡¯s gaze and looked inside. It was a fat caterpir.

 Chapter 1305: Caterpillar

    <h4>Chapter 1305: Caterpir</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t expected him to be staring at a caterpir.

    The average person was afraid of caterpirs, weren¡¯t they? At least, most girls were probably like this. Even guys may not want to look at it for too long. After all, it was somewhat disgusting.

    ¡°You are watching caterpirs?¡± he asked.

    The fat boy nodded and didn¡¯t say anything, as if he was unwilling to talk to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°You are interested in this fat bug?¡± Zhang Zian deliberately changed the question.

    The fat boy shot him a stern look. ¡°Don¡¯t say that! Don¡¯t call a fatty ¡®fat¡¯ in front of it!¡±

    ¡°Well then, are you interested in this not-thin caterpir?¡±

    ¡°You are the one who is interested in caterpirs! So disgusting! Who would be interested?¡± The fat boy was annoyed at him. ¡°Our silly teacher gave us observation homework for us to monitor the process of caterpirs bing moths. We then have to write an observation report. Do you really think I would be here in my free time?¡±

    Compared to observing the cycle of the moon or counting hundreds of millions of rice grains, this was rather normal. After all, the process of caterpirs turning into moths had several stages¡ªeggs,rvae, pupa, and finally adults. The morphological differences were very marked between stages, and the process of change was amazing. Not only could the exercise improve children¡¯s observation skills, it could also increase their interest in the world around them.

    This was obviously a long-term observation and could not bepleted in a short time. The length of time would be different ording to the different types ofrvae, but it would take at least a month. That was, of course, unless the parents interfered.

    It was not a good thing for parents to do homework for their children, especially this kind of homework that was meaningful for quality education. However, those who understood the meaning of the work would not do so. Besides, the fat boy¡¯s father fully supported the work and insisted that heplete the assignment all by himself.

    This caterpir here was considered to be good-looking in the caterpir family. First of all, it was not very fat, and it could only be regarded as being a reasonable caterpir size. Secondly, it was very green, ancient green. The color was rather translucent, much like a piece of jade. Finally, and most importantly, it had no disgusting long hair. The hairs were, at most, very short or invisible.

    A pair of sesame-sized ck eyes grew on the sides of its head. The head wasrge, while its body was slim and smaller. Its size was rather animated and cute.

    ¡°Hmph! My horrible dad took my mobile phone away. If he hadn¡¯t, I could take some photos,¡± the fat boy said as he took out a pen and paper. He tried to write down a description of the caterpir he was looking at

    However, the boy¡¯snguage was rather poor. After a long time, he only wrote a few words: ¡°This is a green caterpir.¡±

    He felt embarrassed about it and tried to cover it with his hands, for fear that Zhang Zian wouldugh at him.

    These few words were inadequate as a work of observation. His teacher would probably read to the ss what he¡¯d written, and the whole ss wouldugh at it. He couldn¡¯t afford to lose face in such a situation.

    Yet this was all that he could think of writing. He couldn¡¯t think of anything else to add. He could only me himself for choosing to game rather than pay attention innguage ss.

    He held firmly to his work and looked sternly back at Zhang Zian. ¡°Why don¡¯t you leave? Did your lousy shop ran out of business to do?¡±

    Zhang Zian ignored the boy and did not look at him. Instead, he said seriously, ¡°This caterpir is a good-looking caterpir in the caterpir family. First of all, it is not very fat...¡±

    He spoke about his observations calmly.

    Initially, the fat boy could not react to what he said. He thought Zhang Zian was crazy. Why had he started talking to himself? After a while, he suddenly thought, ¡°Isn¡¯t this suitable as an observation record? It¡¯s just perfect!¡± Anyway, he couldn¡¯t think of these descriptions by himself anyway.

    ¡°Wait a minute! Wait a little longer! I haven¡¯t written it down!¡± He rushed to write it all down. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t pay attention to the beginning, and he could only start halfway through whatever Zhang Zian had said.

    He was already writing at his fastest speed, but even this was not enough to keep up with Zhang Zian¡¯s normal speaking speed. He also could not write a few words and had to rece them with pinyin. He had written even more words incorrectly.

    ¡°What is ancient green? Is that ck?¡±

    ¡°How do you write ¡®jade¡¯ in Chinese?¡±

    As he wrote, he also swore. He did not seem to be apologetic about his behavior and attitude. He neither apologized nor thanked Zhang Zian, though Zhang Zian was seemingly helping him.

    Zhang Zian did not flinch. He would answer all questions asked. He exined things to the fat boy and replied to his queries about green or ck or why the Chinese word for jade was written as it was. He also corrected the words that the boy wrote incorrectly.

    After Zhang Zian stopped talking, the fat boy looked up and asked, ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it,¡± Zhang Zian replied. After all, that was all he knew. Nevertheless, it was much more than what the fat boy coulde up with.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s too little. Come up with more.¡± The fat boy was still not satisfied. Scratching his head, he suddenly remembered something and asked, ¡°Can I eat this worm?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t reply at first.

    ¡°No?¡± The fat boy saw that he was hesitating and did not answer.

    ¡°Probably...yes,¡± Zhang Zian replied reluctantly.

    ¡°What does it taste like?¡± he asked.

    Zhang Zian gave a thumbs up. ¡°Chicken. Very crispy!¡±

    The fat boy was suspicious. He licked his lips. How could this soft thing be crispy?

    He added another sentence at the end of his work: ¡°This caterpir can be eaten and taste like chicken.¡±

    He finally finished it. He counted the number of words he wrote and said triumphantly, ¡°About one hundred eighty words. It¡¯s okay, I guess! If I write a bit more, maybe I can get a high score and make my dad get me a new phone!¡±

    The more he thought, the happier he got. He smiled wide and showed his teeth. It was as if he saw his teacher reading his work andmending it, thereby allowing him to attract the hatred of fellow male students and the admiration of beautiful female students.

    ¡°You are quite good.¡± The fat boy didn¡¯t know how to thank him. Instead, he red at Zhang Zian. ¡°Is there no business at your store, so you came over to watch the bugs here?¡±

    Zhang Zian shrugged and said nothing.

    ¡°Right. Since you are so good, what kind of moth will this caterpir morph into?¡± he asked, pointing to the caterpir.

    ¡°The Swallowtail Butterfly,¡± Zhang Zian replied calmly.

    The fat boy was stunned. He thought he¡¯d heard wrongly. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Swallowtail Butterfly.¡± Zhang Zian repeated the name.

    The fat boy¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°But the teacher makes us record stuff about moths.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°I know. I did this on purpose.¡±

    Revenge sessful! It felt so good!

 Chapter 1306: Temperament Change

    <h4>Chapter 1306: Temperament Change</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Even though the fat boy¡¯s reaction was slow, he knew that Zhang Zian was deliberately ying with him. Suddenly, his face turned red, and he looked like he was about to explode. Zhang Zian had yed his cards well to tell him only when he was almost finished. The fat boy thought that with 180 words written today and an additional three to five more days of observation to wait for the hatching, he would be done.

    ¡°You... How could you do this?¡± he asked with hatred, pointing his fat finger at Zhang Zian¡¯s nose.

    If Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t helped, it would not be that bad. However, having helped, he was now deliberately crushing his spirit. How could he not be furious?

    ¡°What did I do?¡± Zhang Zian feigned innocence.

    The fat boy was beyond angry. ¡°I said it! I said it clearly! Our teacher let me observe the moth! Moth! The teacher also specifically emphasized that we are not to observe a butterfly! Why didn¡¯t you remind me that this is a butterfly?¡±

    ¡°Would you like me to remind you?¡± Zhang Zian smiled. ¡°You can observe, and so can I. When I have nothing to do in my store, I like toe out and see Swallowtail Butterflyrvae and talk to myself. Why did you take the initiative to write down what I said?¡±

    ¡°I...¡± The fat boy was stumped.

    From the beginning, Zhang Zian had never said that he would help him with his observations. The fat boy had merely assumed that Zhang Zian was voluntarily helping him.

    In fact, if this fat boy¡¯s attitude hadn¡¯t been so bad, Zhang Zian would have reminded him early on that this was not a moth. However, the boy knew nothing about manners. Not only was his attitude poor, he also talked poorly. He scolded his teacher and imed he was silly. It was normal to be assigned observation work by a teacher. Also, the work was not something like observing the moon for 30 days or counting hundreds of millions of rice grains. What then was the basis of him scolding his teacher?

    Since his parents could not teach him well, Zhang Zian would give him a little lesson to let him know that no one owed him anything.

    The fat boy thought about it for a long time. In the end, he could not think of anything and merely felt very indignant. With tears in his eyes, he stomped hard on the ground and screamed, ¡°Why did you do this? Isn¡¯t it just a caterpir? They are everywhere! I can find lots of them in other ces! Don¡¯t you dare follow me!¡±

    This simply didn¡¯t make sense. Why would Zhang Zian follow him?

    With these words, the fat boy turned and walked away. From observing where he walked, it seemed that he was heading to the greenspace behind the pet shop. There were many trees in the greenspace. There were many caterpirs there in the summer, but could he distinguish which were butterflyrvae and which were mothrvae?

    Anyway, this was not a matter of concern for Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian looked up again and nced at thervae before thinking about his shop. It was the weekend, and he would soon have customers.

    As soon as he turned around, he saw a person pointing a mobile phone at him. They seemed to be taking a video.

    ¡°Hello... Is it... Mr. Manager?¡± Snowy asked, sticking her head out from the side of the mobile phone.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t say anything.

    ¡°Hey, I am joking! Although physically, Mr. Manager has changed a lot, and I can¡¯t recognize you anymore, I see that the habit of bullying children is still the same!¡± Snowy said,ughing.

    ¡°I am not going to agree with you! When did I bully the children? This is an exception!¡± Zhang Zian argued. ¡°Also, ain¡¯t I just a little darker? That¡¯s all! You don¡¯t recognize me anymore?¡±

    Snowy held the mobile phone in one hand, and the other hand held his chin and frowned. She stared at him for a while and said, ¡°Well...you did not change too much. You¡¯re only slightly darker and slightly thinner. But I feel your temperament changed.¡±

    Temperament? A thing like temperament was difficult to quantify. Any discussions on it would lead to nothing.

    ¡°In any case, why are you here? And so early?¡± Zhang Zian changed the subject.

    ¡°It¡¯s because I got insider news that I can eat native Egyptian products if Ie to the pet shop! Firste, first served, so I rushed here immediately after breakfast!¡± Snowy smiled and stuck her hand out. ¡°Souvenir?¡±

    Needless to say, it must have been Lu Yiyun who¡¯d spread the news. Otherwise, people would not have known already.

    That¡¯s right! Snowy¡¯s mother had woken her up this morning. Then, Snowyy in bed scrolling through social media. There, she saw that Lu Yiyun had just posted an update, happily showing off the gifts that Zhang Zian had given her, including the gold te amulet and fresh dates.

    She knew that Zhang Zian had gone to Egypt. After all, he¡¯d said on social media that he would go to Egypt with the expedition team of Binhai University. If something urgent came up, they should convey it to his staff at the pet shop or wait for him toe back.

    In Egypt, he¡¯d posted tons of updates as well as selfies. He¡¯d shared things such as the pyramids, Alexandria, and the port of Mersa Matruh. However, he¡¯d suddenly disappeared online and posted no new updates. He also had not given the expected date of return.

    So she didn¡¯t know that he had already returned. After seeing Lu Yiyun¡¯s update, she thought she might as well visit since she was free. She wanted to get some local Egyptian products. After all, fresh dates were difficult toe by. Plus, recently on her live broadcast tform, the mermaid called Sihwa had caused quite a ruckus. She seemed to have also gone to Egypt at the same time as him. She would like to ask if Zhang Zian had seen Sihwa in Egypt.

    Thus, she¡¯de here early in the morning, only to see Zhang Zian bullying a small boy. She quietly started a live broadcast.

    ¡°Souvenirs... I have something for you. Go get it in the store. However, those people who said bad things about me in the online chat rooms, you get nothing! Don¡¯t even dream about it!¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have to look. He knew people there were making fun of him.

    However, as today¡¯s live broadcast time was rtively early and there had been no advance notice, the audience in the live broadcast room was rtively sparse. Only hardcore fans were online.

    ¡°Hey, who is this big ck brother who obviously feels confident about himself?¡±

    ¡°What big ck brother? It is obviously a ck uncle!¡±

    ¡°Yes, he looks like someone who beats old people! He is merely wearing adult clothes to terrorize small children. He just demonstrated to us how to do it!¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen the store manager for a while. I still...don¡¯t want to see him at all!¡±

    ¡°Haha, the ck uncle is still willing to give souvenirs? Did you get the dates? Maybe you have to pay for them!¡±

    Compared with the nonchnt attitudes of theizens, Snowy was curious about what Zhang Zian and the fat boy were talking about. She¡¯d only heard thetter half of the conversation and knew nothing of the rest.

    ¡°Then let me first thank Mr. Manager.¡±

    She thanked him but did not immediately walk into the pet store. Instead, she took up the spot where the fat boy had stood and looked up at the caterpir.

    As Zhang Zian had said, this caterpir was somewhat pleasing to the eye. However, she still felt like puking up the breakfast she¡¯d just eaten.

 Chapter 1307: Yamete (Please Donâ€™t) and Injured Chrysanthemum (Anus)

    <h4>Chapter 1307: Yamete (Please Don¡¯t) and Injured Chrysanthemum (Anus)</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Although Snowy was lively, cheerful, and unpretentious, perhaps even perceived as easy to bully, she was indeed rather soft. She¡¯d had no particr good thoughts of caterpirs since her childhood.

    In the area where she lived, except for the area around ??the artificialke, about 90% of it was covered in lush greenery. There were trees everywhere, perhaps too many trees, which was not necessarily a good thing. For example, in summer, when a gust of wind blew, many caterpirs fell out of the trees... It was rather disgusting to some.

    Thus, every summer, she tried to avoid passing under the trees. If she had to pass under one, she always ran quickly past it.

    She had heard Zhang Zian say to the fat boy that this caterpir was arva of the Swallowtail Butterfly. She was surprised and in admiration of him. Not only could he easily recognize cats and dogs, he could do the same for caterpirs? This... This...could only be possible if he had seen many types of caterpirs!

    However, she was somewhat suspicious, doubting whether Zhang Zian was bluffing. After all, he had a known history of doing just that.

    There were manyizens in the live room, men and women, from all walks of life. When she¡¯de to the pet store for the live broadcast, some viewers had also known about pets. They merely had not known as much as Zhang Zian¡ªalthough this was understandable. After all, this was his job.

    Thus, she nned to capture the caterpir using her phone camera to see if anyone in the audience could confirm its species. This was to make sure Zhang Zian was not bluffing. Even if she asked him, he would not readily confirm that he was.

    However, considering the many female viewers in the live chat room, she warned, ¡°Next, I will show you all the caterpirs mentioned by Mr. Manager. People who are timid or hate caterpirs should close their eyes or block the screen!¡±

    The females in the chat room hurriedly shifted their gazes or put down their mobile phones to do other things. However, the males were curious, and they all urged Snowy to shoot it clearly.

    She held her phone close to the caterpir, giving it a close-up.

    ¡°Oh wow! So disgusting!¡±

    ¡°I overestimated my ability to withstand this scenery!¡±

    ¡°Hey! It¡¯s too close, Snowy!¡±

    Some viewers couldn¡¯t stand it because all of a sudden, a huge caterpir, albeit rather cute, appeared on their screens.

    ¡°Sorry! Sorry!¡± Snowy repeatedly apologized and moved the phone back a little.

    ¡°Mr. Manager said that this is therva of a Swallowtail Butterfly. Who can confirm this?¡± she asked.

    Butterflies, moths, or both could be collectively referred to as lepidopteran insects. It was also a ssification of pets. It was considered to be a ¡°worm¡± in the ¡°flowers, birds, and fish¡± category, but it was a very small subgroup. They could bepared to the poprity of cats and dogs. Even aquatic pets were likely more popr than them.

    Despite this, many people had raised silkworms when they were young. Whether it was done by the primary school or parents, many had a great time raising them. These silkworms would also eventually evolve and be moths.

    Things that didn¡¯t disgust a person as a kid often disgusted them in adulthood. For example, children liked to use branches to poke at these insects, or y in their own pee and excrement. However, when did anyone see adults doing that?

    The only contact between ordinary adults and silkworms may be...to eat fried silkworm cocoons?

    If the silkworm baby and thervae were put together, thervae might look slightly better. However, the silkworm baby would do a better job of making everyone happy.

    Despite the audience¡¯s reaction, this was necessary to ensure that the information was correct. She needed to make sure that this was a Swallowtailrva.

    If someone could recognize it immediately, the answer would have been shared by now. However, this time around, it took some time. Someone probably searched for the answer on Baidu, China¡¯s Google.

    Snowy asked in surprise, ¡°Mr. Manager, you¡¯ve actually read up on insects as well?¡±

    Zhang Zian said modestly, ¡°I can¡¯t say I am an expert. I am not as good as an entomologist. If you have nothing to do, just read the books about these creatures. There is no harm in more knowledge.¡±

    This kind of humility was the most appealing, attracting waves ofmotion from the audience.

    ¡°I know! I know!¡± Someizens rushed to answer. ¡°Sexual-harassment manager is studying the butterfly while studying Japanese p*rn that says ¡®yamate¡¯!¡±

    ¡°If there arervae of the butterfly, I also want to masturbate to that!¡±

    Snowy asked in admiration, ¡°Is it... Mr. Manager, are you going to expand your business?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Zhang Zian replied simply.

    ¡°Eh? Why not?¡± Snowy asked, puzzled.

    ¡°Because no one buys these things. It is a waste of time and energy, and it doesn¡¯t make money.¡± This was what Zhang Zian had learned after his own research.

    The insect market was too small, and the number of followers of insects on Baidu was significantly fewer than cats. Besides, insects formed thergest poption of living things in the world. To make a business out of insects, he would need a massive investment and amount of energy. He was not that stupid.

    ¡°Oh, the focus is on thest sentence. It really speaks to your character, Mr. Manager,¡± Snowy said.

    ¡°Wait a minute, what is my character?¡± Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t pretend he hadn¡¯t heard that.

    Snowyughed it off and did not answer this question. Theizens answered for her.

    ¡°What is your character? Don¡¯t you already know?¡±

    ¡°You only know how to make money all day long. Come up with some ideals and passion instead!¡±

    ¡°If you are doing it, just say you are. Isn¡¯t it time to shout that you will take the lead and bring the Chinese insect industry into the World Cup?¡±

    Zhang Zian took a look at the screen and saw the barrage ofments from theizens. How could ideals and passion feed a person? They shouldn¡¯t just talk without thinking!

    What did this have to do with the World Cup? This had nothing to do with football teenagers...

    It had to be emphasized that he had not studied any butterfly (or Japanese p*rn), nor had he had his chrysanthemum studied.

    Standing at the door for a while, Snowy proposed entering the store to see the native Egyptian products and taste the fresh Egyptian dates.

    As his staff hadpleted cleaning of the store, Zhang Zian invited her in.

    At this time, not far away, there was a sudden cry. Zhang Zian, Snowy, and also the pedestrians passing by looked in the direction of the cry.

    They saw the fat boy running from the green, grassy area behind the pet store and falling. He was crying loudly, his pen and book long gone. Tears and mucus covered his face. Added to that, his crying was really loud.

    Zhang Zian and Snowy looked at each other, puzzled. What had happened to this little fat boy? Who was bullying him?

 Chapter 1308: Allergies

    <h4>Chapter 1308: Allergies</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Snowy listened to the child crying. He sounded very distressed. She ran over and tore open a pack of paper towels to wipe away his tears and snot. She said, ¡°Child, don¡¯t cry. Continue crying, and you will lose your voice.¡±

    The fat boy cried constantly when there was no one around. When a beautiful big sister came over tofort him, he knew he¡¯d had good luck and instead cried harder. He also gasped loudly, which simply added to the noise pollution.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s rationale for these type of children was that the more he reacted to their crying, the more they cried. Thus, he refrained from reacting to it.

    He would wait to see how long the child could cry. Wouldn¡¯t he stop once he got tired?

    To speak the truth, this was like taming a dog. One must let them know that crying wouldn¡¯t get it extra attention. Also, they could not get treats for doing that, or they would be much more difficult to handle in the future.

    However, even if this was the case, the specific situation should be analyzed. For example, this situation was ratherplex. This was not a normal child. He was rather thick-skinned. His verbal attacks earlier had been unable to make him cry to this extent. Had someone really hit him after he¡¯d left this area?

    Although the boy was chubby and spoke without hesitation or thought, he nevertheless would not resort to violence with adults. When faced with peers of the same age, he could easily crush them with his weight.

    So why was he crying? Was he hurt?

    Since summer arrived, many people in the street had put on short-sleeved shirts. The fat boy was no different. Thebination of a short-sleeved shirt and sandals meant that he was not afraid of the cold.

    Children were anxious and often ran about without looking at the road. Perhaps he had fallen and scraped his knee. That would really hurt, as the knee was made of fragile cartge.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s gaze bypassed Snowy, and he nced at the boy¡¯s knees. They were meaty, but they were not red or swollen, and there was no broken skin.

    It wasn¡¯t a fall. So... Had he gotten itchy fingers and gone to tease a cat or dog, only to be bitten? This was very likely.

    Children around the boy¡¯s age knew little about the behavior of cats and dogs. They would, out of the blue, pull a cat¡¯s tail or a dog¡¯s ears. s, if they were scratched by a cat or dog that had an owner, they would have topensate the kid. However, if the animal was a stray, then the kid was merely unlucky.

    The fat boy had run from the greenspace, which was the base camp of stray cats living nearby. Perhaps he had angered some of them. Although dimir¡¯s stray cats would not take the initiative to cause trouble, they had a creed of ¡°Don¡¯t bother me, and I won¡¯t bother you.¡± If someone bothered them, they would not take it lying down and would always retaliate. For the fat boy to be injured in the scuffle was likely to be rather reasonable.

    As for stray dogs, they were quite rare in the city. When someone had been scratched by a cat or bitten by a dog, it was usually an injury to the hand.

    Zhang Zian looked at the boy¡¯s meaty hands. Besides a ton of mucus, there was no scratch on them. This was strange.

    ¡°Child, don¡¯t always cry. Tell big sister, where are you feeling unwell?¡± Snowy was unable to wipe his tears faster than the tears were flowing out. Soon, her pack of paper towels had been used up.

    ¡°Ah! Ah! My neck hurts!¡±

    The fat boy had cried until he was very tired. His hands were trembling, and he wanted to reach to the back of his neck. However, his fat hands were small, and his arms could not bend. He could not reach it.

    ¡°Oh, your neck hurts... Let big sister see.¡± Snowy refrained fromughing, nudging the fat boy to turn around.

    ¡°What?¡± Zhang Zian and Snowy eximed at the same time.

    Originally, they¡¯d thought that the boy¡¯s neck pain was nothing more than a muscle strain or the result of being poked by branches. That would not have been a big deal. However, once he turned around, they both got a shock.

    At the portion where his neck met his back, there was a huge swollen area. Even his shirt had a big bulge. The red rash spread all the way to his neck.

    It wasn¡¯t only the two of them, but also theizens in the live broadcast, who were shocked.

    Snowy¡¯s scalp turned numb, and her hand trembled. She almost dropped her phone.

    ¡°This...this... What is going on?¡± She had not seen such a serious injury and was suddenly very shocked. She turned to Zhang Zian for help. ¡°Mr. Manager, this...¡±

    The boy¡¯s incessant crying attracted the stares of a few passersby. After all, it was the weekend, and everyone was rtively idle. Seeing this situation, everyone was stunned.

    ¡°Do you want to call an ambnce?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it looks like a terrible injury...¡±

    ¡°Looks scary...¡±

    There was no business in the store, and everything was also clean. The staff, upon hearing the crying, also ran out to take a look.

    ¡°Whoa! Is he allergic to anything?¡± Wang Qian asked.

    Zhang Zian had already walked to the fat boy¡¯s side, pulled up the short-sleeved shirt from the back, and rolled it up.

    The short-sleeved shirt had beenpletely soaked by his sweat. When Zhang Zian rolled it up, it rubbed against the red and swollen parts. The fat boy, who had stopped crying, started once more.

    The red patch was located under his neck, next to his shoulder de, and it had swelled to about half a centimeter to one centimeter. It was distributed like several adjacent inds, and it was so red it looked like it could catch fire anytime.

    Everyone took a deep breath. Snowy was scared and almost cried out, but she quickly covered her mouth.

    ¡°It seems to be an allergic reaction.¡±

    ¡°Yes, he might have touched something that he¡¯s allergic to...¡±

    ¡°Looks like it.¡±

    ¡°Hurry up and call his parents and send him to the hospital.¡±

    ¡°Allergies are dangerous...¡±

    The allergy argument dominated the mainstream, and Wang Qian was somewhat proud that the rest had jumped on his evaluation.

    Many people were allergic to certain things to varying degrees. Common allergies were pollen, cats and dogs, certain meats, certain fruits, and certain metals.

    Redness and swelling of the skin was a typical symptom of an allergic reaction.

    Zhang Zian also thought that this was a symptom of an allergy, but if it was an allergic reaction, part of it could not be exined. The red and swollen portion of his skin was covered by a short-sleeved shirt. If it was a strong allergic reaction caused by skin contact with allergens, why hadn¡¯t all of his exposed skin been affected? How had the allergene into contact with the red and swollen parts through his clothes?

    The weather was fine today, and the morning sun shone on the fat boy¡¯s back.

    Zhang Zian stood beside the boy. When his line of sight shifted slightly, he suddenly noticed something on the red skin.

    ¡°Don¡¯t move!¡±

    Because the pain was unbearable, the boy could only struggle on the spot. Zhang Zian increased the force applied on his shoulder and held him in position.

    Now, Zhang Zian could see it clearly. On the red and swollen skin, there were dozens of thin, sharp, transparent hairs. If he hadn¡¯t gotten closer to observe, he would not have seen them.

 Chapter 1309: Only the Source Can Solve the Problem

    <h4>Chapter 1309: Only the Source Can Solve the Problem</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The neighbors standing around were enthusiastic about helping. An aunt saw the fat boy¡¯s swollen back and immediately ran home to get an ice pack. She wanted to help apply it to his back before his parents arrived to reduce the redness.

    Just as she was about to press it to the skin, Zhang Zian stopped her.

    ¡°Don¡¯t touch! This is not an allergy!¡±

    Not an allergy? The people around are stunned. This is obviously an allergic reaction. If it is not an allergy, what can it be?

    ¡°Look at it from the side, closer. Do you see some transparent fluff on the red and swollen part?¡± He pointed.

    Everyone was curious. The fat boy was like a rare animal being viewed for free by the people who took turns to look. Zhang Zian continued holding the boy down and not letting him move.

    Snowy also brought the phone closer,ing close enough to capture it. This was so that the audience in the live broadcast could also have a look. However, after all, the rity of the webcast was limited, andizens could only get a glimpse. This was somewhat of a blessing. Those who were physically here could see it clearly, and they were freaked out by what they saw.

    ¡°This... What is this thing that is on him?¡± Wang Qian asked tentatively.

    ¡°You will have to ask him.¡±

    Zhang Zian turned the fat boy around and said sternly, ¡°Don¡¯t cry. What touched your neck?¡±

    With so many people around, the fat boy was very embarrassed. It was even more overwhelming than the back pain, and his face had gone all red. Some people wondered if the rash had spread to his face...

    ¡°It seems...it seems to be a worm... I walked under the tree, and something fell on my neck... It slipped down from my cor, I shook my clothes, and the worm fell off...but then my back started to hurt... Ah...¡± The fat boy sobbed and spoke intermittently of what happened.

    Some wanted to take the boy to the hospital, while others wanted the parents¡¯ phone numbers to call them.

    ¡°Xiao Yun, go back to the store to find tape. Or Scotch tape. That¡¯s fine too.¡± Zhang Zian rushed Lu Yiyun to do his bidding. If he asked Wang Qian or Li Kun, they would not be able to find it without trashing the entire store.

    Lu Yiyun nodded and quickly returned to the store. A short whileter, she found a roll of ordinary medical tape and a pair of scissors in anticipation of other requests from Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian cut a piece of tape and told the boy to brace himself, and then he stuck it on the red and swollen part. The tape touched the transparent fluff, causing the fat boy to grit his teeth hard. He felt like crying again.

    Before everyone could react to what he was doing, Zhang Zian grabbed the tape and quickly pulled it off. There was a crackling noise, and everyone felt like something had cracked in them, too.

    He¡¯d torn off the tape that he¡¯d just applied.

    ¡°What are you doing?!¡± The fat boy was furious and wanted to turn around and get back at Zhang Zian. However, he saw that the piece of tape in Zhang Zian¡¯s hand was covered with fine fluff, and the pain in his back seemed to ease.

    ¡°I told you not to move!¡±

    Zhang Zian turned him over again. Lu Yiyun had already cut the second piece of tape. He put it on again and quickly pulled it off.

    Regardless of how nonchnt the fat boy was, he also knew that Zhang Zian was helping him relieve the pain. Besides, he had cried enough. He gritted his teeth tightly once more. His face was an expression of heroic bravery. He made few attempts at sound, but a few whimpers still escaped his mouth.

    Zhang Zian repeated this several times to ensure the fluff waspletely removed. The pain was greatly reduced, but it was still very painful for the fat boy.

    Everyone looked on and saw that the fat boy¡¯s situation had greatly improved. It seemed that there was no need to send him to the hospital.

    Neighbors had also brought along some topical anti-inmmatory drugs such as iodine, which were usually applied to red and swollen skin.

    ¡°Don¡¯t apply these things. They are useless. They won¡¯t solve the problem and aren¡¯t too effective,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°What should I do?¡± asked Snowy.

    ¡°Yeah, if you need to buy medicine, there is a pharmacy nearby,¡± the enthusiastic neighbors said.

    Zhang Zian had been squatting just now and stood up. He pped the other shoulder of the fat boy and said, ¡°You need the source to solve the problem. I already roughly know what the bug is, though the best way is to find it again. Go and bring me to where the bug just fell on you.¡±

    The fat boy was now being very honest and showed him the path. Zhang Zian, Snowy, the passersby, Wang Qian, and Li Kun curiously followed behind. Lu Yiyun and Jiang Feifei needed to look after the store and did not follow.

    Everyone followed the fat boy to the corner of the street. As Zhang Zian had expected, the fat boy indeed took them to the green space.

    In order to write his teacher¡¯s observation work, the fat boy had felt that the greenspace could easily allow him to find thervae of the moth, and he¡¯d rushed over, thinking that he would not need Zhang Zian¡¯s help.

    ¡°It is that tree up front.¡± Once in the greenspace, the fat boy looked around before raising his finger and pointing to a tree.

    Now being summer, no one tended to this green space, and the grass had grown to ridiculous heights. It had almost covered the entire space. The space was indeed green, albeit with tons of mosquitoes.

    From time to time, mosquitoes flew over and rushed into everyone¡¯s faces. Everyone kept waving their hands, but they would inevitably be bitten.

    The mosquitoes in the grass were very powerful. One bite and a huge red bump developed. Although Zhang Zian liked red things, particrly red envelopes, he didn¡¯t fancy this red thing...

    The more tender the skin, the more mosquitoes were attracted to it. Snowy and the fat boy attracted tons of them. Snowy had her mobile phone in one hand and did a poor job of swatting the mosquitoes away. Her swaying about left her audience in the live broadcast room rather dizzy.

    Zhang Zian quietly took out the scented oil from his pocket, a gift he¡¯d found in Egypt. He wiped a little on himself and smeared some on Snowy¡¯s clothes when he pped her shoulder.

    It was an amazing tool indeed, and its effects were immediate. Even the super-toxic mosquito army that had overwhelmed the Egyptian oasis had to retreat, to say nothing of the mosquitoes here in the greenspace.

    All of a sudden, the number of mosquitoes was greatly reduced, especially the mosquitoes around Zhang Zian and Snowy.

    Zhang Zian walked under the tree pointed out by the fat boy and saw a green caterpir on the ground. It was trying to climb back to the tree.

    He took paper towels from Snowy. One was not enough. In order to avoid idental injuries, he took several paper towels and put them on his hands. Then he cautiously picked up the caterpir and wrapped it in a paper towel.

    ¡°It¡¯s this thing.¡± He showed it to everyone. ¡°The worm¡¯s scientific name is Cnidocampa vescens, or, moremonly, the Western Chili. It is one of the most notorious caterpirs that you can interact with daily. This child is not allergic. He has merely been stung by it. There is some poison in its sting. Now, we need to use its own fluid to treat the child.¡±

 Chapter 1310: Invasion

    <h4>Chapter 1310: Invasion</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Like the Western Chili, the Swallowtailrva was like Gu Tian Le and Huang Bo, like Leonardo De Caprio and Nichs Cage¡¯s rotten movies. These were things that some found rather disgusting and ugly. Letting it touch one¡¯s body was gross. Merely looking at it could make one¡¯s eyes water.

    This bug may be more suitable to grow in the depths of the ocean. If no one could see it, it could grow in any way it wanted.

    The Western Chili was covered in defensive burrs which were thick and hard. Its bottom was covered in thin and dense burrs. The most concise description of it was a moving prickly pear.

    The fat boy should¡¯ve been thankful. When the bug had fallen on him, it was probably the thin and dense burr that had hit him. If it had been the thick and hard burr, he would probably be in such pain that he would be rolling on the ground.

    After the pain, it would begin to itch, and people couldn¡¯t help but scratch. Once they scratched the skin, they may have an infection and eventually bruise. Fortunately, the boy¡¯s arm was short and couldn¡¯t reach the red and swollen patch. Otherwise, he would only set off circles like Queen Elizabeth¡¯s neck puff around his neck...

    Everyone saw the ugly shape of the Western Chili, and they felt sick. At the same time, they were suspicious. This worm should be toxic. How could applying its body fluid to the red and swollen part work? Would it not aggravate the symptoms? It sounded like a folk remedy that was not reliable.

    As the saying went, where there was poison, there must be an antidote within five steps. This was wrong most of the time, but it couldn¡¯t be entirely dismissed. In some unique cases, it made sense.

    In old-time novels and folklore, it was often said that after a fierce man was bitten by a poisonous snake, he immediately seized the poisonous snake that had bitten him. He cut open the snake and swallowed it all. It was said to neutralize the toxin. Obviously it was based on rumor, because after the snake bit, the venom entered the blood. Eating a snake brought it to one¡¯s digestive system instead. If they waited until the snake was fully digested, the person may be long dead. If the person wasn¡¯t dead, perhaps the snake wasn¡¯t poisonous at all.

    The situation of the Western Chili sounded somewhat simr to the above example, but it was also somewhat different. This was because the part that was affected was the skin, and the fluid would be applied directly to the wound. There was no contradiction, in theory.

    As for the practicality of the method, there was very little research on this aspect. After all, one would not die after an ident with the Western Chili. The toxins of many even more poisonous organisms had yet to be studied, much less those of the Western Chili. The guess was that there were some ingredients in the body fluids that could neutralize or break down toxins, in the event that the Western Chilis poisoned themselves with their own toxins.

    Zhang Zian looked up at the dense canopy and reminded everyone, ¡°This is not the ce to talk. Let¡¯s leave here first. If there are other Western Chilis falling on us, it will be disgusting.¡±

    Everyone agreed, and he didn¡¯t have to repeat himself. Everyone was afraid to have the same fate as the fat boy.

    They quickly left the greenspace and returned to the front porch of the pet shop.

    Zhang Zian made Lu Yiyun prepare things such as soapy water and alkaline water. These were in case the fluid did not work. He also asked for thick rubber gloves that parents used to bathe cats. Only then was he willing to touch the Western Chili.

    He used a knife to slice up the body of the Western Chili. A green fluid slowly flowed out. It was enough to fill a small box.

    If a human lost all their blood, they would have died. However, the Western Chili wasfull of vitality. It continued to struggle and did not die. There was a chance that it may even survive if it was returned to the tree.

    Zhang Zian threw the half-dead Western Chili aside, picked up the green fluid with a cotton swab, and smeared it on the fat boy.

    He was not sure this would work. After all, he had never had such an experience before. It was only because he¡¯d heard students speak of this as an antidote when he was in college.

    He¡¯d grown up in Binhai City, and he had often yed around in his childhood. In his memory, he had not encountered the Western Chili before, and neither had his childhood friends.

    There were old and young people in the crowd, neighbors who had lived in this neighborhood for half a lifetime. They had also never heard of this bug. Otherwise, they would have had experience in how to deal with its sting. They would have intervened by now and not waited for Zhang Zian.

    Was this the so-called invasion of alien species?

    With the increasing convenience of transportation, some animals and nts that had originally lived in specific areas would be brought to areas that they werepletely new to. These new areas may also be more suitable to their living habits, so they would thrive. What was even more troublesome is that they may have had natural enemies in their original habitat but no such predators in the new area. Without this, their numbers would explode rapidly.

    The release of snakes, fish, and turtles exacerbated this problem. Even niche pets, ditched by humans who no longer wanted to raise them, contributed to the problem as well.

    Zhang Zian had this worry, but it was obviously too early to make such a judgment. With only one Western Chili, the sample size was too small and unscientific. He decided to keep this to himself and not rm others.

    The fat boy didn¡¯t care much when dealing with adults, but when faced with a disgusting insect, he was a changed boy. Seeing the green fluid, he almost peed his pants. His face turned pale, his legs wobbled, and he pleaded, ¡°Ah... Send me to the hospital instead...¡±

    ¡°You have to go to the hospital for at least three days. Maybe you will hurt your ass in the process as well.¡± Zhang Zian held him down with one hand because he was twisting his body and resisted him applying the fluid to his body.

    ¡°Why... Why would my butt hurt?¡± The boy did not understand. ¡°Transfer?¡±

    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s because your dad will spank you. Do you think that going to the hospital does not cost money?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    The fat boy was suddenly speechless because it was very possible. Even if his father did not beat him, at least some of his money would be confiscated.

    ¡°That... Thene!¡± He gritted his teeth, and the fat on his body jiggled. ¡°Light...lightly... Yes, let the pretty sister do it, not you!¡±

    He stared at Snowy, his eyes wide open.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Nonsense! What¡¯s wrong? Don¡¯t you know that the more beautiful the nurse is in the hospital, the more painful it will be? Just stay still!¡±

    The crowdughed, and Snowy covered her mouth andughed as well.

    Helpless, the fat boy closed his eyes. He could only wait.

    Under the watchful gaze of the public, Zhang Zian used the cotton swab that had absorbed the body fluid of the Western Chili to draw a circle on the red and swollen patch. When the cotton swab touched the fat boy¡¯s skin, he tightened up his shoulders.

    The fluid had an immediate effect. The fat boy felt the pain on his back disappearpletely.

 Chapter 1311: Taking Advantage of Dad

    <h4>Chapter 1311: Taking Advantage of Dad</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The pale green body fluid of the Western Chili was used over and over again. With every application, the pain lessened a little. The swelling subsided as well.

    When the fluid was used up, the fat boy felt rejuvenated.

    ¡°Haha! Haha! Come to me! Come to me! If you cane at me again!¡± He jumped up and mmed his foot on the struggling Western Chili. His weight crushed the bug, and its internal organs flowed out. He was not satisfied and stomped two more times before wiping his shoe clean by the roadside.

    Snowy and the others were disgusted and didn¡¯t look.

    Zhang Zian had wanted to take a photo of the Western Chili to check what species it was, but the fat boy had reacted quickly. He¡¯d been unable to stop him. The bug was now nothing but a pile of vomit-like substance. He could only sigh. What a child! Once the pain was gone, he¡¯d forgotten his ordeal. If he got poisoned again after stepping on the corpse of the Western Chili, he would indeed be unlucky.

    ¡°Zhuang! Zhuang! What are you doing?¡±

    A man holding a briefcase rushed out of the crowd and held the boy¡¯s shoulders. He looked him up and down.

    This man must¡¯ve been the father. After he had confiscated the mobile phone, he¡¯d gone to work overtime. However, some of the passersby had managed to get his phone number by asking the fat boy and called him. They had not told him much about what had happened, merely mentioning that it was an allergic reaction.

    He didn¡¯t care about what his boss thought and hurriedly ran back. He had just alighted from a taxi when he saw his son being surrounded by many people. His son was standing, and that made him more relieved.

    He noticed the suspicious pale green substance on his neck and wiped it with a finger. He smelled it, but it was a strange smell he did not recognize. Maybe he should lick it...

    Everyone quickly stopped him. Like father, like son, but he should not be bullied too!

    He didn¡¯t even know what this was, and he wanted to lick it?

    Everyone chimed in, and he lowered his head to look at the crushed Western Chili. He then carefully examined the rash that had notpletely subsided on his son¡¯s back.

    ¡°So naughty! You were almost skinned alive! You y around at home and even do so outside?¡± He raised his hand, preparing to hit the boy.

    The fat boy held his neck and yelled, ¡°Beat me! Go ahead! If you dare to beat me, I will tell Mom! You will have to kneel down before her tonight with no dinner!¡±

    Everyoneughed. This kid was really overbearing, even to his dad.

    The man was so embarrassed that he couldn¡¯t wait to find a hole to hide in. After he raised his hand, he didn¡¯t hit the boy. No one knew if it was because he cared about the boy or perhaps because of what was waiting for him when he returned home.

    Zhang Zian nodded sympathetically. Without a wife, there would be no such troubles.

    The man thanked everyone and took his son back home. Besides, he had already taken leave, and it didn¡¯t make sense for him to go back to thepany. It would be better to go home and discuss whether to bring the boy to the hospital with his wife.

    The fat boy refused to go. He made up an excuse that he needed to go back and find his pen and notebook. He knew that when he reached home, his mother would discipline him, perhaps even spank him.

    His dad knew that he was looking for an excuse. He had never seen him so serious about his homework. He often instead deliberately forgot to do his homework. There was no way he¡¯d turned over a new leaf today.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I will help you get it back,¡± Zhang Zian said and smiled. ¡°You can go with peace of mind. When you have time,e to my store and get it.¡±

    The fat boy was furious and stared hard at him.

    He had no choice. His dad took him away.

    With nothing exciting to watch, the neighbors left as well. They went back to their families or their own mothers.

    An ant found the body of the Western Chili. After returning to the nest, it quickly brought arge group of ants with it. Together, they picked up the body and returned with it to the ant nest. This fat meat could be eaten for several meals.

    Theizens in the live room were also talking about the Western Chili. This kind of creature had different names in different ces, but those who had suffered from it were talking about it in horror.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the store and eat some Egyptian date palms.¡± Zhang Zian ushered Snowy into the house.

    Snowy smiled. Having seen what had happened to the Western Chili, she was still feeling somewhat nauseated and couldn¡¯t eat anything.

    In the store, Zhang Zian found the gift he¡¯d prepared for her. It was a female symbol, the ankh amulet, which symbolized life in ancient Egypt, plus a bag of dates.

    When Snowy had gone out today, she¡¯d told her parents that she would be home after a while, so she could not stay for long.

    She talked with Zhang Zian and the staff. She also listened to Zhang Zian¡¯s experience in Egypt. However, Zhang Zian had a bragging expression when he told the story, making it impossible to confirm whether he was speaking the truth or making things up. However, everyone was used to it, as he always spoke with a mix of 70% truth and 30% falsehood. It was like mixing wine with water. Luckily, it was not with sh*t.

    Snowy asked him about Sihwa. Her fans and Sihwa¡¯s fans ovepped. They were very curious as to why he and Sihwa had gone to Egypt at the same time, since Egypt was not among the top 10 preferred tourist destinations for the Chinese.

    They were mainly interested in the mysterious Sihwa. They wanted to know why she spent most of her time in a small bathroom and why her body was soaked in water for a long time. Wouldn¡¯t her skin wrinkle?

    Zhang Zian certainly denied it, emphasizing that he had not gone to Egypt for leisure, but to assist Binhai University with research. The goal had been to conduct research on primitive Egyptian cats in the desert. Relevant research reports might be published soon.

    Snowy had no hope of getting an answer from him and had simply asked it at random. After the question, she got up and left.

    The store was quiet for a while.

    Lu Yiyun buried her head in her work and made a few paintings. Wang Qian and Li Kun ate the date palms one by one, and Jiang Feifei toyed around with the marine life next door.

    Zhang Zian thought about the Western Chili just now. There was a lingering uneasiness in his heart because seeing one meant that there were at least a few hundred in the area. Fortunately, the residents rarely went to the greenspace, and the impact of the species being there was rtively low. However, if it continued to spread... The consequences were unpredictable.

    He looked at the time. Sihwa had returned to Binhai City, which meant that the ocean life would be attracted here again. He had to go to the seaside to y Sihwa¡¯s songs and drive them away. He would also inspect the ocean.

    In the days when he¡¯d been in Egypt, some of the aquarium¡¯s pets had been sold. However, Jiang Feifei didn¡¯t know where to import goods from, so there were no new pets in the store. He decided to head to the beach and see if there were any rare marine creatures that had washed ashore.

    At this time, a person outside the door looked in and asked, ¡°Here... Is this a pet shop?¡±

 Chapter 1312: I Want Everything

    <h4>Chapter 1312: I Want Everything</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    With someone at the door, Lu Yiyun, who was closest to the door, replied, ¡°Yes.¡±

    There were two young girls standing outside the door. They looked like college students or college graduates. One was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, a short skirt, and ck over-the-knee socks. The other was wearing a sleeveless shirt and three-quarter jeans. On their calves, both of them had the same bracelet. They also had a few of the same small essories. They were likely very good friends who went shopping together on weekends.

    They stood at the door and hesitated, whispering something to each other. They didn¡¯t dare enter.

    There were no monsters in the store, so why didn¡¯t they enter?

    In fact, this situation was verymon. They probably wanted to raise a pet but not casually adopt one. They¡¯d seen on the Inte that some pet shops were fake and mere fronts for scams. Thus, they did not know what to expect and hesitated. They might be morefortable raising a normal stray instead.

    Such customers often came by. Thus, the staff and Zhang Zian had no unique reaction. They did not stare at them and instead let them go about freely. If they were too enthusiastic, they would feel pressured. They may turn around and leave.

    Since they¡¯d found the ce, it meant that they were willing to enter the store. They had probably had the idea that since they were there, they might as well walk around and take a look.

    ¡°Master, turn your head. Your face is dark. Stand there and people will think you are a robber. Don¡¯t scare people,¡± Wang Qian said.

    If he weren¡¯t worried that he would scare the two girls away, Zhang Zian would have already hit him. He had only been away for a short while. Now even the staff was willing to bully him?

    However, the two sisters did not have the guts to enter. They hesitated for a long time at the door of the store and did not go inside. From their expressions it seemed they had decided not toe in¡ªthis was rare, but it was also normal.

    The elfins had already returned to their usual ces. Famous was ying by the lounge chair. Old Time Tea was watching TV in the corner of the shop. Fina and Snowy Li upied the upper and lower floors of the cat tree, respectively. Richard was everywhere. Gxy had gone to chase the other Abyssinian cats. Sihwa and Pi were on the second floor, while dimir ran outside.

    At this moment, Fina, who was already falling asleep, suddenly opened her eyes and looked at the two girls. However, she could not quite see them clearly, as her vision was somewhat blocked.

    Thus, she quietly jumped from the cat climbing frame to the ground, walked to the door, and greeted the sunshine outside the store. She squinted and looked carefully. The legs and feet of the two girls...were indeed legs and shoes.

    Fina had always been an open book. When in a good mood, she had a proud look. When in a bad mood, she could not be bothered with anyone, not even for a blink.

    The staff had long been ustomed to her cold attitude. Therefore, for her to suddenly show an unusual interest in the two strangers stunned everyone.

    Snowy Li detected this first and quickly followed. Its little short legs caused it to stumble and almost fall.

    ¡°Hey! Your Majesty, what are you looking at?¡±

    Snowy Li looked at Fina and found that Fina was staring intently at the legs and shoes of the two girls. It ran to block Fina¡¯s line of sight and used all its strength to lift up its paw.

    ¡°Hey! Your Majesty, I didn¡¯t know you loved legs so much. What do you think of mine?¡± It smiled charmingly, swaying its hind legs of white hair, deliberately making a sultry...cat posture.

    Fina had already seen it clearly. The legs and the size of the two girls outside the door did not exactly match the legs and shoe size of the mysterious woman she had seen in the golden pyramid. She then lost interest.

    When Snowy had entered the store just now, she¡¯d blinked and looked at her casually. However, she did not recognize her voice and did not know that it was her.

    The only value of the two girls outside the door to Fina was their legs and shoes. If they were not who she was looking for, then they were useless. Thus, she went back to the resting spot and continued her snooze.

    ¡°Hey, Your Majesty, do you like ck silk? I¡ªI am just that silky ck you like!¡± Snowy Li cried in anger and screamed. ¡°Where is the dyeing tank? I will jump in to cken my fur, and I will be a ck lion from now on!¡±

    It had nowhere to vent its annoyance, and it nced at Zhang Zian and shouted, ¡°Hey! Stinky man who is so dark! You made Fina like ck silk!¡±

    Zhang Zian raised his hands, expressing his innocence. He had never had a special preference for ck silk and would not despise white silk either. However, he was a mature adult now and could choose whatever he wanted, unlike young students!

    Wang Qian and Li Kun felt that Zhang Zian had changed after having gone to Egypt. Not only had his own temperament changed¡ªeven Fina seemed to have undergone some changes. However, why was Snowy Li going crazy too?

    Fina and Snowy Li¡¯s actions attracted the attention of the two girls outside the door.

    In the eyes of ordinary people, one cat was soft, one had short hair, one had long hair, one was cold and aloof, and one was a cat that they could not wait to hug. Although the girls could not differentiate their species purely from looks, these were high-grade cats.

    So they dyed their n of finding a homeowner to buy a cat and mindlessly walked back into the shop.

    ¡°Wee,¡± Lu Yiyun said. ¡°If you want to see cats and dogs, please go inside. If you want to see aquarium pets, please go next door. Pet supplies are on the shelves.¡±

    ¡°Oh... We want to casually take a look.¡± The two girls were still staring at Fina and Snowy Li. They merely paid lip service to Lu Yiyun.

    ¡°Please feel free.¡± Lu Yiyun adjusted her painting.

    The staff knew that at least seven or eight out of 10 customers who entered a store would say they were ¡°just looking.¡± This meant that they did not want to be pressured into buying and didn¡¯t want the employees to be too enthusiastic.

    Looking through the ss from outside the store and watching it in the store, feltpletely different.

    Although the two girls were very fond of Fina and Snowy Li, the various kittens in the store and the various puppies in the showcase were also dazzling. They didn¡¯t quite know where to look.

    They had initially been hesitant about entering the store, but after entering the store, they felt that their choice was correct. Had they gone to a breeder, they would¡¯ve only had at most two or three choices. Here, they had plenty to choose from.

    For the girls, it was always a good thing to have options. Even if it was difficult to choose, that was also a difficulty born from a good thing.

 Chapter 1313: I Can Only Admire You

    <h4>Chapter 1313: I Can Only Admire You</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Many men preferred online shopping, especially for clothing. After all, they could choose at random without leaving the house. The cheap price was an added bonus. If the clothes did not fit them...erm, they could easily alter their self-image in their heads. They could easily rece their faces with the face of Chow Yun Fat and think their bodies were that of Peng Yuxi. However, their actual faces and bodies may be those of Zhao Benshan and Fan Wei; rather fat and unappealing. The difference between the buyer and the seller was the image one saw in the clothes.

    Women were more inclined to head to a physical store. Whether or not a thing was good, they had to touch it with their own hands. They also wanted to use their bodies to try the item. They would bring their girlfriends or husbands to help. Everything must be carefully selected andpared before they were somewhat satisfied with their purchase.

    Therefore, women always hoped that the more things there were in a store, the better it was. They would not feel tired in a fitting room.

    If a man really had to go to a physical store, especially if he was being dragged there by his wife, he would wish the store has fewer things. The best-case scenario was that it only sold one thing, and there was no need to choose. Then they could hurry home and y games or watch the game.

    But who cared what men thought? No one.

    Regarding the ability to consume, women were greater than children, children were greater than dogs (and other pets), and pets were greater than men. The order of the first three could be exchanged under certain circumstances, but the man was always sitting inst ce.

    Therefore, the two girls, having seen all kinds of cats and dogs in the store, threw away their inhibitions. Theyughed and opened their eyes wide. They were driven by the surprises and novelties of the store. They could not get enough of it.

    The staff have seen all types of customers and are not bothered by now. With one look, they could tell that this is the first time they came to a pet store with a ton of different pets. Most of the first timers have not decided which kind of pets to buy. They may have done some homework beforeing, but they would forget all of it when they arrived.

    A few cases may be impulse shopping. For example, a person may mention raising a pet through casual chatting. Then, they might pass by a pet shop. Excitedly, they might buy a pet on impulse. This situation was verymon amongst young people, though less so when the purchase was a living thing.

    They strolled around the store and thought all the pets looked really good. However, they were not truly paying attention. They could only remember Fina and Snowy Li. It was love at first sight.

    When they walked back to the cat climbing frame, they admired Fina and Snowy Li at close range. The more they looked, the more they liked them. They finally couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°That... I would like to ask... How much do these cats cost?¡±

    Besides Lu Yiyun, who was sitting at the counter, the girls did not know who else was staff. This was because Wang Qian and Li Kun were ying games, Zhang Zian included. They could not tell the purpose of those three guys here in the shop, so they asked in general, waiting for anyone to reply to them.

    This was not the first query after Fina and Snowy Li. Almost every new customer asked about the two cats. Only when they understood that they could not own these cats would they move on to other cats.

    So the answer awaiting them was...

    ¡°Sorry, these two cats are not for sale. Please look at other pets,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°Besides, they are adult cats. If you want to raise cats, won¡¯t you have more fun raising kittens?¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun heard his sales pitch and gave a thumbs-up. It seemed that Zhang Zian had learned a thing or two from the small business hawkers in Egypt. They were probably experienced from the throngs of tourists visiting every year. If it had been left to the both of them, they would¡¯ve simply replied coldly, ¡°Not for sale.¡±

    When some customers heard that Fina and Snowy Li were not for sale, they would try to pay a higher price or eventually leave, disappointed. Neither made Zhang Zian feel good. Thus, after careful consideration, he decided to guide the customers to something else, albeit quietly.

    These two girls were disappointed at first, but after they thought about it, what Zhang Zian had said made sense. Everyone who wanted to raise pets wanted a young pet. The idea was that raising the pet from a young age made the pet closer to the person. That was true in most cases. Even if the animal was a cool and aloof cat, it seemed to work the same way.

    Besides, these two seemingly beautiful cats were really expensive. As college graduates just out of school, they may not be able to afford it.

    However, there were so many different cats in the store. Which was better? They began to hesitate again.

    At this time, the store door opened, and a person with wind behind them strode in. This person wore a strong fragrance.

    ¡°Dear Mr. Zhang the store manager, where is my gift? Don¡¯t you dare say you didn¡¯t buy mine!¡±

    Every time Zhao Qi appeared in the store, she was decked out in meticulous, exquisite makeup. Although it was not heavy makeup, one could tell she¡¯d put in the effort. Given her clothes, she could, at any moment, give a presentation to her colleagues.

    However, as soon as she entered the shop, she stuck out her hand and forcefully demanded a gift from Zhang Zian.

    Zhao Qi was willing to spend money on herself. Whether it was tourism, fitness, or shopping, themon goal was to enhance her own value. However, this was not to say that she was profligate. If she could have a discount, she would take it. Therefore, every time she came to the pet store to buy imported cat food, she was always thick-skinned enough to ask for a discount.

    Zhang Zian was toozy to talk with her and immediately handed her a bag of gifts prepared in advance. He handed it to her and made a gesture for her to leave. ¡°Here. Please leave.¡±

    To those who did not know, it might look like Zhao Qi was a bully and asking for protection fees.

    Zhao Qi heard that Zhang Zian had returned from Egypt. She had initially prepared many things to say to get what she wanted. However, she had not expected it to bepletely useless.

    She already had several shopping bags in her hand, and she wouldn¡¯t have to make much more effort to add another.

    But now that she¡¯d gotten the gift, she did not want to leave immediately. She nced at the two girls. Their youthful vitality and age made her a little envious.

    She did not know, but the girls were quietly observing her as well.

    They were also envious of Zhao Qi. She was the kind of white-cor city beauty that they idolized¡ªdesigner clothes, designer bags, high-end perfumes, popr lipsticks, bright high-heeled shoes, well-cared-for fluffy hair, and just the right jewelry... She looked just like the cover model on a fashion magazine. She was bedazzling.

    After a few years of work, if they could be as beautiful and decked out as her... That waswhat the two girls aspired to be.

    The young envied the wealth of the old, while the old envied the youth of the young. People never got want they wanted. That was what being human was.

 Chapter 1314: Vanity

    <h4>Chapter 1314: Vanity</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhao Qi had left her house very early today. She nned to go shopping for something urgent and then take a trip to the pet shop to ask for souvenirs. Following that, she would go to poetry appreciation, shop for a second time, and eat lunch at an eatery before thinking again about what to do in the afternoon.

    Because she had gone out very early, she hadn¡¯t expect other customers to be in the pet store. If she¡¯d known, she would have been more reserved. Normally, her behavior was moredylike in front of strangers, rather than exposing her true self.

    Fortunately, her foundation was thick enough. Even if she was blushing, it couldn¡¯t be seen.

    However, this also seemed to indicate that the pet store business was getting better and better.

    In order to keep up herdylike image, Zhao Qi, who was clearly pressed for time, pretended to be generous. ¡°I have something to ask you, but you should deal with your customers first. I am not in a hurry.¡±

    The two young girls, who had regarded her as an idol already, quickly said, ¡°Oh... No, we are not in a hurry. You go first!¡±

    It was currently early summer, roughly the period when fresh college graduates left school. Zhao Qi saw herself in these two girls. She concluded that they¡¯d probably moved out of the school dorms and rented a room outside by themselves. They may have just entered the workforce or were still studying for an exam. In any case, having left the strict rules set in a dorm, they could finally raise a pet in their rental t. Thus, they were here today to look at pets.

    Zhao Qi¡¯s guess was spot-on. The girls were Wang Yan and Zhou Jiena. They had just graduated from Binhai University this year. They were from the same dormitory and were best friends. Even though they did not get jobs at the samepany upon graduation, they¡¯d decided that they wanted to stay together. Thus, they¡¯d chosen a house halfway between their twopanies. This was how they continued their friendship.

    Nowadays, young people liked meme cats and dogs. They were also part of themunity that followed these animals. Whenever they browsed social media or forums and came across cute cat pictures, they could not help but download the pictures.

    Then one day, someone¡ªthey didn¡¯t know who¡ªproposed that they buy a cat and raise it together.

    As freshmen who had just found jobs and were still in the probationary period, they had limited financial resources. With the meager sry they earned, they were barely able to support themselves after paying the rent. They didn¡¯t even have money to spend to doll up. All their cosmetics and skin care products were popr Taobao products. Their quality could notpare to Zhao Qi¡¯s.

    Despite this, they were considered to be living independently. They were embarrassed to ask for money from their parents. They didn¡¯t want their parents to worry about them anymore, much less provide them with the money to buy a cat.

    Also, justst week, they had been informed by HR that they had sessfully passed the probation period and officially be members of thepany. Being official employees, their wages would rise a lot next month, although it still couldn¡¯tpare with old-timers in the workce. Nevertheless, their budgets would not be as tight.

    Although the sry from next month had not yet arrived, Jack Ma had kindly increased the amount of money they could borrow from Alibaba first. As long as they paid him back with next month¡¯s sry, all would be fine.

    When discussing cats, they considered adopting. They also thought of trying to catch a stray on the streets. However, after much consideration and out of vanity, they decided that they wanted a purebred cat.

    Yes, they admitted that they were vain. What was the problem with that?

    They used cosmetics and skin care products from Taobao and wore secondhand professional clothes they¡¯d gotten bargains on. However, in their online shopping carts were items that they currently could not afford. When stressed by life or work, they would sneak a peek at their shopping carts and feel rejuvenated.

    It was vanity that motivated them to struggle followed in life. They aspired to the life that Zhao Qi had.

    In fact, weren¡¯t most people like this? Was there a big difference between name-brand clothes worth thousands of dors and A-grade counterfeits from Pinduoduo? Why did everyone want the former option? This was because it represented a higher quality of life.

    They wanted to buy purebred cats as they can get more attention when they take photos. They also want to capture simr pictures as those they see on the inte. They wanted to show it off to people and, in the process, tell themselves, ¡°Hey, I am living well. In the future, my life will be even better.¡±

    Overall, the difference between purebred and mixed-breed cats wasrge. The three necessary elements to a great photo were: 1. The model was pretty; 2. The model was very pretty; and 3. The model was extremely pretty.

    Very cruel, but very true.

    The model could not be too in. If they were, the photograph would not attract everyone¡¯s attention.

    Therefore, the purchase of a purebred cat had be the only choice, though the difference was where to buy it¡ªa cat hostel or a pet shop? Or should they buy a domestically-bred one?

    There were many friends on the Inte who advised them to buy and breed kittens. The price was low, there was no certificate of bloodline, and they were more suitable for casual raising.

    They had concerns for this arrangement, as most private breeders lived in rtively remotemunities. Two young singledies going to these ces to see a cat was rather...unsafe. To ask a guy to apany them was also rather troublesome.

    Some private breeders would breed cats in an apartment building in an urban area. They didn¡¯t pay attention to venttion and disinfection, leading to a ton of cat smells during the summer. If pest control measures were not taken, fleas would appear and be a source of neighborhood conflict. Much like raising arge group of pigeons on the roof, such actions benefited no one.

    Of course, neighbors were not willing to be taken advantage of. Once they discovered such operations, they would immediatelyin to the property owners or even the police.

    With this being an issue, private breeders were forced to settle in the suburbs or rural houses. The distance was less of an issue than the privacy and safety of their work.

    It was purely idental that they¡¯d entered the pet shop. They had been attracted by the two beautiful cats at the door. When Zhao Qi came in, they¡¯d decided to observe her manners and behavior. This was because she seemed to be on good terms with the owner.

    Zhao Qi was in a rush to head to her poetry recitation. Since these two girls insisted she ask first, she would dly take the chance. She pulled Zhang Zian aside and said in a low voice, ¡°About... About Lan Lan, I have something to ask you.¡±

    She always spoke her mind and rarely whispered things to others. This stunned Zhang Zian a little. Something was amiss.

    ¡°What is it?¡± He carefully took a step back and put some distance between himself and her. This was just in case of an attack from her.

    What could have happened to Lan Lan?

    He thought about it. Zhao Qi would not take her British Shorthair outside. Also, she had been careful raising it and only fed it with imported cat food. She would neither be lost nor poisoned by food. What problems could she have? Could it be sick?

    This was very likely. Despite eating good food, people still got sick. Cats were likely to be the same.

 Chapter 1315: Quirks

    <h4>Chapter 1315: Quirks</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Humans had various gic diseases. Cats would have them too, and this was not restricted only to purebreds.

    Humans would have headaches and brain issues. So would cats.

    Humans would be identally injured. So would cats. Although cats were said to have nine lives, they would lose eight due to their sense of curiosity. Giving them more lives would not help them hold off death...

    It was more dangerous for cats to be sickpared to humans. This was because when cats did not feel good, their first choice of action was not to express their difort to their owners. Neither would they roll around or cry out loud. Rather, they would choose to hide quietly in a corner. This wasthe survival instinct that they had inherited from wild cats¡ªphysical difort meant losing the ability to fight and escape. They must rely on their own instincts.

    Many people had heard that cats would quietly hide when they felt that they were about to die. This was especially so for cats that had been raised in rural ces. They would often disappear suddenly on a certain day and never return. This was the same as when they were not feeling well. They all acted on the same instinct.

    Cats didn¡¯t know that humans now had the ability to cure them. Expressing to their owner, ¡°I am not feeling well. Please take me to see a doctor¡± would be more effective than finding a corner to hide.

    s, that was because animal medicine was only a few years old. The cat¡¯s way of dealing with these issues was ¡°If you are sick, you can only depend on yourself.¡± This was deeply ingrained.

    Besides, cats were notpletely domesticated like dogs. They continued to maintain independence, as if they lived in the wild.

    Zhang Zian thought that Zhao Qi¡¯s Lan Lan was sick, and thus, she hade to him for advice on how to treat it. However, it didn¡¯t seem to be about this. Given Zhao Qi¡¯s personality, if Lan Lan was sick, she would definitely take it to a professional vet. She would not spare any expense.

    Zhao Qi seemed hesitant to say it, as if embarrassed for others to hear what she had to say. With every step that Zhang Zian took backward, she took a step forward.

    ¡°About that... My Lan Lan, recently, it seems...has some kind of quirk,¡± she whispered.

    ¡°Eh? Quirk?¡± Zhang Zian was somewhat stunned.

    His voice was a little high-pitched. His staff and the two customers heard it. Although they did not show that they did, they all adjusted their bodies slightly. They perked up their ears to listen more carefully. Gossip clearly captured attention.

    Zhao Qi was so angry that she couldn¡¯t wait to give him a punch. She whispered so that others would not know.

    She coughed twice and tightened the muscles on her face. She might get a face twitch at any time with that look. She lowered her voice further and said, ¡°Ever since Lan Lan grew up, it hasn¡¯t followed me it as much as when it was younger. Except when...¡±

    ¡°When?¡± Zhang Zian asked curiously.

    In general, cats tended to be more active when they were younger. When they grew up, they becamezy. Especially after they were sterilized, they ofteny in a ce to sunbathe and could do that for at least half a day.

    The British Shorthair was not a very active cat. Zhao Qi had chosen Lan Lan because it was like a virgindy. When Lan Lan became an adult, it no longer stuck beside her as it had when it was younger. She was often alone, which made Zhao Qi somewhat sad. It was now like a grown-up child whom she¡¯d painstakingly raised, entering the ¡°rebellious teenager¡± phase of life.

    But at certain times, Lan Lan liked to stick by her side and didn¡¯t even want to leave her. This should have made Zhao Qi very happy, but it actually...made herugh and cry at the same time.

    Wang Yan and Zhou Jiena pretended to be choosing cats, but they were listening carefully. Hearing Zhao Qi¡¯s narrative, they recalled Zhang Zian¡¯s previous statement that raising kittens would be more fun. They could not help but understand what he meant now.

    Cats were different from dogs. Dogs got closer to a person as they raised them. Regardless of their age, they wanted to be with their owners all the time. When cats grew up, they gave their owners some private space. This was not necessarily a bad thing.

    By raising a young cat, one could not only enjoy the attention from them when they were small, but also their desire for independence when they grew up. There was pleasure to be derived from both experiences. Missing either part would be an iplete experience.

    ¡°When is it inseparable from you?¡± Zhang Zian got more and more curious. When a cat grew up, it generally did not follow the owner as much as when it was young. This he knew, but he did not know what quirk Zhao Qi was referring to. After all, cats had different personalities.

    ¡°This...¡± Zhao Qi nced around nervously. Finally, she whispered, ¡°When I am in the bathroom...¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t reply. Although what he would ask next was rather embarrassing to ask ady, he had to ask, since Zhao Qi wanted an answer from him.

    ¡°You mean it will follow you as soon as you enter the bathroom?¡±

    In the bathroom, it was possible to brush your teeth, wash your face, wash your clothes, use the toilet, take a shower... There were too many possibilities that could happen inside.

    ¡°No... It¡¯s...when I have to use the washroom.¡± Zhao Qi¡¯s voice was getting softer and softer. The eavesdroppers listened more attentively.

    Since she had already said it, she might as well give all the details.

    ording to her description, she did not know when this had started. However, every time she entered the bathroom and squatted by the toilet bowl, Lan Lan would follow her in. This was regardless of what it was doing at the moment, even eating. It would simply abandon the food bowl. In the bathroom, it would look at how she relieved herself. No matter what she did, it would not leave. It would only leave once she was done and follow her out.

    If it caught her while she was having constipation...um.

    Thinking about Zhao Qi sitting on the toilet bowl with a cat staring at her, the staff and the two girls could only try their hardest to hold back theirughter.

    Ha! Zhang Zian did not hold back. Heughed until there were tears in his eyes.

    She¡¯de to the pet shop to ask for help. Thus, Zhao Qi had already been prepared to beughed at. However, hisugh was highly exaggerated. Besides, there were those two girls in the shop as well. She was really embarrassed.

    However, she couldn¡¯t help it. She had been gued by this problem for a while. Had Zhang Zian not gone to Egypt, she would have alreadye by to ask for help. She¡¯d waited anxiously for him to return ande over as soon as she knew he was back.

    She lived alone. Unless there were guests, she did not have a habit of closing the bathroom door. Since Lan Lan had this quirk, she closed the door so that Lan Lan would not stare at her. However, every time she did that, Lan Lan would stand by the door, scratching and meowing nonstop. She would do so in a highly miserable manner. Those who didn¡¯t know might think she was abusing a cat.

    As long as she didn¡¯t open the door, it kept scratching.

    She could not bear it and had to open the door. Once she did, it immediately stopped calling, jumped to the washing machine opposite the toilet bowl, and stared at her with wide eyes. Even with her favorite can of cat food, she could not be enticed away.

    She also tried to divert its attention, such as using her phone while on the toilet. She thought if she ignored it, Lan Lan might stop. s, that did not work, either.

    She thought of those horror flicks. Might Lan Lan be possessed by time travelers or creatures that had been resurrected? To make matters worse, was this new creature a pervert that enjoyed staring at girls while they used the washroom?

 Chapter 1316: A Way of Guarding You

    <h4>Chapter 1316: A Way of Guarding You</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Using the toilet was a very private matter. Even if two persons were husband and wife, it was weird to stare at someone continuously while they used the washroom. That would likely be a source of argument.

    Initially, Zhao Qi hadn¡¯t taken it seriously. She¡¯d thought that Lan Lan might be thirsty. It might have heard the sound of water and thus followed her in. However, when she left the bathroom, she realized that Lan Lan¡¯s water bowl was full! This meant that it had no intention of drinking water at all.

    After repeated trips, she couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. Whether she woke up in the morning or in the middle of the night, as long as she went to the bathroom, Lan Lan would follow her to the toilet and stare hard at her.

    Really...really weird.

    Fortunately, Lan Lan was a cat. She would be tolerant. If this were a person, she would have lost it.

    But even so, she felt like she was going to lose it soon. The burden on her psychological state was great. She had to try to relieve it through crazy mindless shopping¡ªthis was, of course, an excuse. To be precise, she wanted to minimize the number of times she used the toilet at home.

    Her best friend was Shi Shi, and she was one of the few who knew what was going on. She had suggested to her that she should hit it a few times when Lan Lan stared at her in the bathroom so that it would not dare to do this again the next time.

    Ever since Shi Shi had been corrected by Zhang Zian for her wrong way of raising a dog, she no longer pampered her Labrador as much. She rewarded it when it deserved it and punished it when it deserved to be punished. If it continued to be mischievous and did not change, she would hit it a few times on the spot where it made the mistake. This forced it to recognize its mistake, and it did not dare to do it again.

    Since then, her Labrador seemed to have had aplete change. It was no longer a dog that barked, peed, and sh*t at random. Instead, it was now a dog that others praised when they were outside, sat when asked to sit, and stood when asked to stand. Her neighbors, who raised, dogs asked her about how she trained her dog. She and her boyfriend glowed when they heard this.

    Therefore, Shi Shi, who had experienced sess with training her pet, told Zhao Qi to use punishment as a way to teach her cat.

    Zhao Qi was torn. On one hand, this behavior was too strange and could not continue. On the other hand, she was reluctant to beat Lan Lan. Besides, would it even be useful? The cat was not a dog. It may only destroy her rtionship with Lan Lan. Instead, she would rather it continue liking her. It could just go ahead and stare. Perhaps she would get used to it after a while.

    In fact, there was something even more embarrassing to mention. Lan Lan sometimes not only stared. It even ran over...and pulled on her pants. Usually the pants were very tiny and expensive. It could very easily use its ws and pull threads off.

    Zhang Zianughed and said, ¡°There is nothing wrong with it. Lan Lan may think that you are hiding good things in the bathroom and eat them when no one is looking. Thus, it stares at you for that.¡±

    The clerk and the two girls could no longer hold back. Theyughed andughed.

    Zhao Qi was angry, yet she found it funny at the same time. She said awkwardly, ¡°Stop rubbing it in! Isn¡¯t it shameful enough for me? What the hell is going on?¡±

    ¡°This is...¡± Zhang Zian shrugged. ¡°In fact, this situation is not umon. It is not only seen in cats. Sometimes dogs do it too. It¡¯s just that people think that dogs seek humans¡¯ attention a lot, so when the dog follows someone into the bathroom, most people don¡¯t think much about it. As for the reason why they do it... People are not cats and dogs. What are they thinking about? We are not sure. We can only guess.¡±

    ¡°A guess is fine. I just want to know the reason,¡± Zhao Qi said stubbornly.

    ¡°Some people say that this is because the cat is afraid of water, and the bathroom is full of it. Thus, it is afraid that you will fall into the toilet and drown... From another angle, it can also mean that you are very important to it,¡± he exined.

    After Zhao Qi listened, she was in aplicated mood. Lan Lan was worried about her, which made her happy. However, her method of handling this worry also troubled her.

    ¡°There are also people who say that the cat wonders why you don¡¯t use cat litter when going to the toilet. It wants to help you cover up the excrement after you finish to prevent the smell from attracting natural enemies,¡± he said. ¡°This is because in the eyes of the cat, human beings are a sort of stupid cat. A cat that is not good at hunting prey and not good at hiding. If they do not look out for humans, they worry that humans may starve to death in minutes or be eaten by natural enemies.¡±

    Zhao Qi couldn¡¯t decide if she wanted tough or cry more.

    ¡°But I don¡¯t think these two statements are necessarily urate,¡± Zhang Zian continued. ¡°The loophole in the former saying is that dogs are not afraid of water. Why do dogs follow then? Thetter loophole is that when the cat is in the bathroom, the person may not pass motion. So how will it know when that will happen? Thus, there are many, many spections. Some people even say that the cat can smell the ammonia in the excrement, so it wille over...¡±

    Zhao Qi thought about it. At times, Lan Lan did follow her just as she entered the bathroom and didn¡¯t take off her pants.

    ¡°What do you think is the reason?¡± She humbly asked for advice.

    ¡°I personally prefer another exnation,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°Whether cats, dogs, or humans, all are the most vulnerable when using the bathroom. They are vulnerable to natural enemies, so cats and dogs follow people to the toilet. They want to...watch your back, to help look out for you. There is some truth to this exnation, but there are also some loopholes. The real reason may be abination of a few or perhaps none at all.¡±

    Zhao Qi listened to him carefully and was even somewhat mesmerized by what he said. However, after some thought, she realized that the behavior still could not be exined.

    Zhang Zian advised, ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry too much. Whatever the reason, we know this¡ªLan Lan is very concerned about you and also values ??you. It is not what you think, that it grew apart from you when it got older. It is simply another way of showing care and concern for you.¡±

    After a pause, he said, ¡°When it was young, it merely wanted you to y with it. Thus, it would always stick close to you. Now that it is older, it does not want to y as much. Isn¡¯t this simr to humans? If I brought you toys from your childhood, would you still want to y with them?¡±

    The rest thought the same. Yes, those beloved toys in childhood, even if they had not been thrown away, were probably collecting dust in a corner of their homes.

    Zhang Zian gave one final example. ¡°Or imagine this is like a child. He was once very close to you,¡± he said. ¡°You were dependent on each other. However, he has grown up quickly, but your impression of him continues to be that of a young boy. You did not notice how fast he grew up. You then only focus on the fact that he is slowly growing distant from you. You get sad thinking of this. However, he has already grown into an adult, fully capable of independent living. He is no longer as close to you, maybe even deliberately distant from you. However, when he thinks you may be in danger, he will appear by your side and guard you in his own way.¡±

    Zhao Qi, Wang Yan, Zhou Jiena, and the staff were already mesmerized by what they heard.

 Chapter 1317: The Pains of Growing Up

    <h4>Chapter 1317: The Pains of Growing Up</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It wasn¡¯t only the people present¡ªthe elfins were also listening to Zhang Zian¡¯s exnation.

    Everyone got different things out of the same speech. People and elfins felt differently about what they heard.

    In the eyes of parents, the child grew up in a blink of an eye, not to mention the cat, which grew several times faster than a human. When a person was still stuck in the memory of a plush dumpling that they¡¯d just brought home, the pet had indeed grown at a staggering speed...so much so that it needed sterilization.

    In fact, Zhang Zian had thought all of these up on the spot. He based it off the feelings he¡¯d witnessed between Fina and Cleopatra while in Egypt.

    He looked back at the counter of a disy cab in the corner of the store, where there was an Egyptian ster sculpture of Cleopatra. It had been bought from the Khan el-Khalili market. He then looked at the cat tree with contemtion. Fina also looked up at the sculpture at the same time.

    Zhao Qi hadn¡¯t gotten a reliable exnation, but she didn¡¯t need it. She no longer needed to guess, because she knew that it was Lan Lan¡¯s way of protecting her. That was good enough.

    She picked up the shopping bags and handbags that she had just ced on the ground because her hands were sore.

    ¡°Oh, yes, there is one more thing that you misunderstood,¡± Zhang Zian added. ¡°You said that Lan Lan has grown up, but it has not. The British Shorthair¡¯s puberty period is longer than most cats. Most cats need one year to reach adulthood, but the British Shorthair needs about three years. Lan Lan is still a kitten.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Zhao Qi was surprised and happy.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhang Zian replied. ¡°If someone tells you that all cats mature in a year, then don¡¯t hesitate to turn around and go. This person must be ayman or pretending to know things. He is clearly not aware of the uniqueness of each cat. Experts willugh when they hear this.¡±

    ¡°Cough!¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun repeatedly coughed and reminded Zhang Zian not to say this. This is because they¡¯d also said this to customers before. Wasn¡¯t he rubbing it in again?

    ¡°That... Can I ask whether this is only observable in the British Shorthair?¡± Wang Yan asked curiously.

    ¡°Nope. It is the same with the Ragdoll.¡± Zhang Zian gestured for them to look at the yful ragdoll kittens in the store. ¡°The ragdoll is arge domestic cat, and it takes about three years to grow up into an adult. Thus, many customers who bought the cat when it was cute did not expect the cat to be so big and heavy. So I always remind the customer that the ragdoll can weigh up to 20 kilograms when it is an adult. Do not underestimate howrge it can grow.¡±

    As college students who had just left school, Wang Yan and Zhou Jiena had no social experience at all. How heavy was 20 kilograms? They did not have a clear estimate.

    It wasn¡¯t just them. Many people had no understanding of that number.

    The solution was simple. Zhang Zian gestured to Wang Qian to go to the kitchen on the second floor and bring a 20-kilogram bag of rice.

    ¡°Try it. See how heavy the twenty kilograms are,¡± he said.

    Wang Yan and Zhou Jiena were thin girls. They tried to lift the bag of rice... They gritted their teeth and just barely moved it a little. They simply could not carry it like Wang Qian could.

    ¡°So heavy...¡±

    They tried to imagine a big cat that weighed 20 kilograms. They could only think of leopards and tigers.

    ¡°The ragdoll is very beautiful, but choosing it also means that it will be difficult to pick up after three years,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°In addition to this, there is also the American Shorthair.¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute! Master, we have been reading. You cannot lie to us!¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun expressed dissatisfaction.

    Li Kun said, ¡°My family has raised an American Shorthair before. They stop growing after a year!¡±

    Wang Qian nodded and asked, ¡°Master, you are addicted to this, right?¡±

    Zhao Qi¡¯s issue had been resolved. Now it was easy for her to sit back and observe themotion as a passerby.

    Zhou Jiena and Wang Yan were somewhat shocked. The average staff would not dare to question the shopkeeper like that, would they? Like thepanies that they¡¯d just joined, they would not dare speak to the big bosses like that. They even trembled in the face of lower-ranked leaders. When they were scolded, they did not dare to breathe, much less rebut. This was the same even when they were in the right. At the beginning of their internship period, they were always instilled with the concept that ¡°superiors and customers are always right.¡± Sometimes they felt like a robot that only nodded.

    Observing here, the employer-employee rtionship in this store was rather harmonious...

    Zhang Zian calmly expressed that he didn¡¯t know how he could make such a low-level mistake. He saved himself by saying that he¡¯d deliberately done it to test them. Surely, Wang Qian and Li Kun were easily hooked.

    ¡°Do you think that only this kind of cat is called the American Shorthair?¡± He pointed to a beautiful short-haired cat running around the store.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun¡¯s brains had not processed what he¡¯d said. They thought he was referring to American Shorthairs with different-colored coats. They said, ¡°Even if the coats are different colors, they are still the same cat...¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you know? The so-called ¡®American Shorthair¡¯ is actually the abbreviation of two kinds of cats. One is the ¡®American Shorthair cat¡¯ and the other is the ¡®American Short-tailed cat.¡¯¡± Zhang Zian revealed his answer.

    ¡°Ah? There is such a cat?¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun both somewhat perked up at this. This was the first time they had heard this strange name.

    ¡°Of course, even if you don¡¯t know about it, that doesn¡¯t mean it doesn¡¯t exist.¡± Zhang Zianughed. ¡°American Short-tailed cats are also cats with a long development period. They also take three years to fully develop into adults. Their hair length is considered to be of medium length, not short. Their tails are short. They¡¯re considered to be an emerging cat species. They were recognized by the CFA in 2000. It is said that their short tails are the result of gic mutation.¡±

    ¡°Master, you definitely did this on purpose!¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun reacted. Zhang Zian had deliberately used the term ¡°American Shorthair¡± to confuse them and set traps. Inevitably, they became a source of teaching material and a source of acting like know-it-alls.

    ¡°Haha! Just giving you a lesson.¡± Zhang Zian did not deny that he was indeed intentionally using them.

    Under normal circumstances, the word ¡°American Shorthair¡± was the default short form of the ¡°American short-haired cat.¡± The American Short-tailed cat was rarely heard of in China. To avoid misunderstanding what the speaker meant, the full name of the cat should be used.

    Zhou Jiena and Wang Yan are fascinated, although they thought that cats should have long tails. They did not think that short-tailed cats were cute, and they didn¡¯t know why such cats were so popr. However, entering this pet shop had been an eye-opener. They had heard a lot of pet knowledge that they hadn¡¯t even known before. It seemed that entering this store to buy pets had been the right choice.

 Chapter 1318: Moving Forward Together

    <h4>Chapter 1318: Moving Forward Together</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was important to emphasize that people who were unfamiliar with pets tended to confuse ¡°sexual maturity¡± with the plete developmental period¡± of an animal. They usually mixed these two concepts up and talked about them as if they were the same.

    Take humans, for example.

    Thirteen- or fourteen-year-olds, or even younger children, would have already reached sexual maturity. They could have an early marriage, early pregnancy, early childbirth, and also go out early in the morning to y. However, they could not be said to have grown up. They still needed the Minor Protection Law. It was not until they were the age of 18 that they were legal adults. It was then not until their early 20s that their brains and bodies finally stop developing. This marked theirplete developmental period.

    If an owner didn¡¯t let their cats have an early marriage, early pregnancy, early birth, and go out early to y, they could be sterilized when they reached sexual maturity. It was the equivalent of a 13-year-old human being entering the pce to serve the emperor as a eunuch. However, the body would continue to develop.

    Most cats stopped developing after a year or so, while a few cats had a full developmental period of up to three years.

    Zhao Qi secretly felt that, although she had been raising a cat for a long time, she was a newbie in this pet shop. She was always learning new things. This was despite the fact that she could speak on and on about her cat at work and earn the envy of many young female colleagues.

    At the same time, she was d she¡¯de. She did not take Shi Shi¡¯s advice and implemented her suggestions. This would undoubtedly make Lan Lan sad because it simply wanted to protect her. The misunderstanding was entirely because human beings always spected on the cat¡¯s psychology from their own perspective.

    This was how things were. As for Wang Yan and Zhou Jiena, it was like opening doors to a new world for them. Slowly, they had let down their guard.

    Cats that were bred at home, even at CFA-certified cat houses or ordinary pet stores, legitimate or unscrupulous businesses, did not have their personalities determined by the ce where they were born. Rather, it was dependent on the owner¡¯s qualities and actions.

    ¡°Well, this is no longer a time for lessons on a beautiful weekend. I shall leave now,¡± Zhao Qi said. Although it was a lesson, it was not boring. She felt very fulfilled.

    ¡°Are you meeting Shi Shi?¡± Zhang Zian nced at her shopping bag. They were both humans, but why did she seem to have so much money?

    Zhao Qi looked a little stiff. ¡°Oh yes, she is still waiting for me... Forget it. Let her boyfriend apany her. I woke up a little too early today. I am a bit tired. I think I shall go home.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t reply to that. She would turn down a meeting with her best friend so easily?

    Zhao Qi was not in the mood to continue shopping. The root cause of her excursion today was that she did not want to stay at home to use the bathroom. She did not want Lan Lan to stare at her. However, she was now no longer bothered by its behavior. Thus, there was no need to tire herself out over the weekend. She could now go home and take a long rest so that she could face work and overtime on Monday.

    Most importantly, before Lan Lan really grew into an adult cat, she wanted to spend more time with it. This was something that she thought she had lost but had suddenly gotten back. She had not known how to cherish this in the past. Now, she did not want to lose it again.

    From the pet shop, she gged down a taxi and told the driver her home address. Once in the cab, she sent a message to Shi Shi, telling her that she would not be meeting her. Then she turned off her phone. She could imagine how furious Shi Shi would be when she realized that she would not be meeting with her. Thus, telling her by text allowed her to avoid dealing with her anger, unlike if she had called.

    The taxi stopped at the door of her house. She paid for the cab and quickly walked to the building where she lived.

    ¡°Hey, Zhao Qi, didn¡¯t you go out early in the morning? Did you juste back?¡±

    Zhao Qi looked to her side. Liu Wenying took her daughter to walk around the area. In their hand was a leashed white cat. She smiled and greeted them.

    This white cat was a little smaller than her family¡¯s Lan Lan. It was a local cat. Unlike Liu Wenying¡¯s previous lively Siamese cat, this cat was a little timid. When it saw Zhao Qi, it hid behind Liu Wenying and kept staring at her.

    ¡°Yeah, I just came back from outside.¡± Zhao Qi smiled, bent down, and said, ¡°Are you out for some sun, Yue Yue?¡±

    The sunshine in the early summer morning was very bright, though the weather was not as hot. It was rather breezy, so one did not need to worry about catching a cold. There were also not as many mosquitoes, so it was a good time to take the children out for some sun.

    Yue Yue was also very shy, but she was familiar with Zhao Qi, as they often met. She nodded and said softly, ¡°Good morning, Sister Qi Qi.¡±

    ¡°Good girl!¡± Zhao Qi scratched her nose a little with her fingertip. Then she noticed that Yue Yue had several unknown yellow flowers in her hand.

    ¡°Yue Yue, where did you pick these flowers? Is it dirty there?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Under the tree...¡± She turned around and pointed, speaking very sweetly and softly.

    ¡°Do you like flowers?¡± Zhao Qi asked.

    Looking up at her mother, she replied, ¡°It¡¯s to go and see Fluffy.¡±

    To go and see...Fluffy? Fluffy was the name of the cat that had died from rabies. Zhao Qi was stunned and looked up at Liu Wenying.

    Liu Wenying nodded and said calmly, ¡°Yue Yue misses Fluffy, and so she decided to take some flowers to her grave. We will also visit Whitey¡¯s mother and give her some flowers.¡±

    Whitey was the name of this little white cat. Its mother was a stray cat and had died in a notorious cat abuse incident. A good-for-nothing had abused her to death. Liu Wenying had then decided to bury the mother¡¯s body next to Fluffy.

    Zhao Qi had heard about the cat abuse. It had used to be reported on the forum or Weibo, but these reports were rare nowadays.

    ¡°Sister Wenying...¡±

    She admired Liu Wenying. Although she did not know how Liu Wenying had exined the death of Fluffy and the white cat to her daughter, parents generally deliberately avoided the concept of death.

    Liu Wenying smiled faintly. ¡°I used to bring the children out for the tomb-sweeping holiday to pay respect to their elders.¡±

    Zhao Qi looked through her shopping bags and took a fake flower from the outer packaging of a piece of clothing. She handed it to Yue Yue. ¡°Yue Yue, my Lan Lan and Fluffy were good friends. Help Lan Lan give this to Fluffy, will you?¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Yue Yue stuck her hand out to receive it. She held it tightly in her palm. She had met Lan Lan before and had used to bring her cat to Zhao Qi¡¯s house to y. In the past, it had been Fluffy. Now, it was Whitey.

    ¡°Good girl.¡± Zhao Qi gently rubbed the top of Yue Yue¡¯s head.

    Looking at Liu Wenying and Yue Yue holding hands, as well as the little white cat, Zhao Qi grew more attached to her own Lan Lan.

    Lan Lan would grow up, grow old, and die one day. This was the inevitable ending of everything.

    But before that day, she and Lan Lan had a long long way to go.

 Chapter 1319: Beyond Love at First Sight

    <h4>Chapter 1319: Beyond Love at First Sight</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Wang Yan and Zhou Jiena watched Zhao Qi leave, their eyes fixed on her lively footsteps. They listened to the sound of her high heels slowly drifting away.

    Before they graduated, besides the asional photo taking, they had no experience in wearing high heels for a long period of time. Now that they were in the workce, the first thing they did when they returned home was get rid of their high heels. Then they aggressively massaged the areas that were sore and stiff. Nevertheless, they still felt that the way Zhao Qi carried those high heels was way better than the way they did it.

    Zhang Zian was quite puzzled. Why did the two girls have such hungry looks in their eyes?

    ¡°So, do the two of you want to buy any pets? If you haven¡¯t decided, you can look around again,¡± he said.

    ¡°Uh...¡±

    The two of them snapped out of their daze and remembered that they were here to buy a cat that they wanted. It was not to admire and learn from a senior like Zhao Qi.

    However, there were too many cats here, and they were not kept in the disy cab. The cats ran around them, and they were simply too distracted. They felt that all the cats were really cute.

    Of course, besides Fina and Snowy Li, the next cat in line in terms of value was the ragdoll. Before they¡¯de here, they had already known that the ragdoll would be very expensive. Now that they knew the cat would grow to be veryrge and heavy, although they could not bear it, they nevertheless dispelled the idea of getting one.

    As for other cats...

    ¡°What kind of cat did thatdy own?¡± asked Zhou Jiena.

    ¡°She has a British Shorthair. This is it.¡± Zhang Zian knew that a name was not concrete for them. He pointed to a short-haired kitten that had just run forward for them to see.

    ¡°It¡¯s very cute. It looks dignified and strong.¡± Zhou Jienaughed and pulled her friend over to see.

    The head of the young cat was slightly longer, making it seem like it had arge head and a small body. With such a round head, it could sometimes seem awkward.

    ¡°The British Shorthair looks good.¡± Wang Yan nodded her head.

    What Zhao Qi had experienced with her cat had deeply touched them. Thus, they had a good impression of the species. In addition, the price was also within the range that they could afford.

    ¡°Shall we just get the British Shorthair?¡± Zhou Jiena asked Wang Yan.

    Wang Yan was hesitant. It was not that she preferred other cats. It was just that to decide just like that...felt a little rushed. To her, it was simply like carelessly ticking a point on a to-do list.

    Or, to put it another way, she was not entirely smitten with it. Of course, the British Shorthair was a really good choice.

    Wang Yan didn¡¯t want to rush her. She had seen many experiences of so-called older women on the Inte. As they got older, they were forced to marry and simply settled for a man. They both got married for the sake of getting married. Thus, they had a weak foundation when it came to emotional support, and their marriage was rather nd.

    She and Zhou Jiena were still young and, at least for now, could choose. They did not need to have an arranged marriage.

    ¡°Let¡¯s reconsiderter?¡± she said.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Zhou Jiena nodded and agreed. She then apologized to Zhang Zian. ¡°Sorry, boss, we still want to see more.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Just look around. If you can¡¯t make up your mind today,e again tomorrow,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    He didn¡¯t want them to rush into their decision either. If they did not get a cat that they were satisfied with, he would rather they hold their purchase. He did not want returns or for the girls to give the cat to someone else. Choosing a suitable pet required fate and love at first sight, much like how humans dated.

    Perhaps before a person met that particr pet, they didn¡¯t know it existed. Neither would they know when they took it home. However, once their eyes met, they knew it was the one¡ªmuch like howputer viruses went about searching forputers to infect.

    ¡°Or... Do you have any specific requirements? For example, you don¡¯t want a long-haired cat, you don¡¯t want a short-haired cat, or you like a quiet cat. A lively one, perhaps? You can bring them up, and I will find it for you,¡± he suggested.

    Although love at first sight was important, what decided if a marriage could happen depended on more than that. This was because love itself could not fill one¡¯s stomach.

    Although rather unromantic, it was necessary to consider the material wealth of both parties. Both parties¡¯ parents giving their consent was best, although if not possible, they could only negotiate some form ofpromise.

    The same was true for cats. If one felt strongly attached to a cat but was unable to raise it properly as it was too expensive, burdensome, or time-consuming, or if someone had allergies to the pet or a natural gic disease so that they could not have a pet... s, even if the person liked it, it was best to not get it. More likely than not, everyone would get hurt. It was better to put that love back into one¡¯s heart.

    ¡°This... If the cat is too expensive, we cannot afford it. We don¡¯t have any special requirements...¡±

    They looked at each other and nodded.

    The two of them teaming up to look after a cat was possible. They had an abundance of time and would not be unable to care for it. As long as it was not too expensive, they could raise it. They had no preference for long-haired or short-haired cats.

    ¡°Okay, then please do continue looking around.¡±

    Having no requirements ironically made it the hardest to choose, much like eating ¡°anything.¡±

    Zhang Zian would¡¯ve loved to help, but it was better for them to pick the pet themselves. In order not to pressure them, he sat on a lounge chair and yed with his mobile phone. The staff were busy with their own things.

    Zhou Jiena and Wang Yan whispered a little and walked from the front door to the back of the store. They looked attentively at every kitten they met, hoping to find the cat that made their hearts linger.

    Although they kept reminding themselves that they couldn¡¯t afford a ragdoll, whenever they passed one, they could not help but look at it a little longer. Then they continued looking and had to rely on one another to pull each other away from it. If they didn¡¯t, the conclusion was that they would have to use all the credit that Jack Ma had given them, plus borrow money from friends. It was only June. At this rate, they would have to eat peanuts for the next half of the year.

    As for the other cats, anything went. Each had a type they loved.

    They had not seen pictures of some of the rare cats, such as the Abyssinian cats and the Siberian forest cats, online. Their reasoning told them that the less they had seen these cats, the more expensive they would be.

    They couldn¡¯t afford to buy a ragdoll. It was also very difficult to buy these cats.

    They looked around as they walked. Carefully, they walked past the seemingly scary and intimidating Famous and Zhan Tian. They came to the store¡¯s window.

    They¡¯de at the right time. If fans of Famous knew that it had returned, the store would not be as quiet.

    Zhou Jiena suddenly noticed that there was a kitten in the corner. It did not y with the other kittens. Instead, it sat alone on a small cat climbing frame by the window and looked out. Its temperament was different, somewhat mncholic.

    She used her elbow to poke Wang Yan, gesturing her to look at this kitten.

    At this time, the kitten seemed to have heard their footsteps. It looked back at them. Suddenly, it burst into tears.

 Chapter 1320: Tear Stains

    <h4>Chapter 1320: Tear Stains</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhou Jiena and Wang Yan watched the kitten cry and panicked. They knew that they were not beautiful and only had only drawn their eyebrows before leaving the house. After all, it was only the weekend. However, they were somewhat average. They didn¡¯t look so bad as to make a kitten cry, right?

    Its watery eyes stared at them, its eyes having a sorrowful, pitiful look. It looked as if it were being bullied by them.

    The kitten was a little shorter than the British Shorthair. It also had a small body and short legs. The limbs were short, and it looked like a plush doll. It made people want to try to protect it. Its head and back were mainly covered in dark blue fur. Its neck, chest, abdomen, and limbs were white.

    It did, in some way, look like a British Shorthair dyed whiter, but its facial features were slightly unique. Besides its gorgeous bronze eyes that oozed water droplets, the next most striking feature was its t nose. When it stared at someone, it had an ¡°innocent¡± look, very popr due to the numerous sticker packs with that look.

    Its tears drenched the hair under the eyes, and the hair clumped together. It made its round face look rather awkward.

    ¡°Erm, this cat... I seem to have seen it a lot in a sticker pack...¡± Zhou Jiena first discovered this.

    ¡°Uh-huh! Yes! Although it is not the same kind of coat color, this expression... I really do always see it in sticker packs. It looks like a poor little stepdaughter.¡± Wang Yan chimed in. ¡°But why does it cry? Is it okay? Is it feeling ufortable?¡±

    ¡°This... Shall we tell the boss?¡± Zhou Jiena said.

    Wang Yan nodded and said, ¡°Boss, this cat...¡±

    Zhang Zian heard them calling him and lifted his head. Before he could say anything, Li Kun, who was nearest to them, immediately jumped from his seat like a squid. He picked up a small bag of things and walked towards the kitten.

    Li Kun took a few things out of the bag and lined them up on the disy case.

    Zhou Jiena and Wang Yan looked curiously and saw that there were small scissors, paper towels, cotton pads, cotton balls, and a small bottle of transparent unknown liquid. The shape of the small scissors was rather strange. They were not as straight as ordinary scissors. Instead, they had a slight curvature, and the tips were blunt.

    When Li Kun got up, Wang Qian also moved. He put down his mobile phone and walked into the pet bathroom, located on the first floor. He washed his hands slightly, only washing his fingertips with soap. This was because his hands were washed several times a day, so if it was not necessary, he would not wash his entire palm. It did not matter as much in the summer, bute autumn and winter, the skin on the back of the hand was prone to frostbite, or it could easily be chapped.

    Once Li Kun took out all the things, Wang Qian had finished washing his hands and walked over. The former held the body and head of the kitten to prevent it from moving. Thetter used a clean finger to pick up the blunt scissors. First, they used a small pair of scissors to cut the wet hair under the kitten¡¯s eyes. Then they used a paper towel to dry the tears.

    They were not done. Wang Qian put down the scissors, threw away the paper towel, opened the cap on the bottle of unknown liquid, dampened the cotton pad with it, and carefully wiped the kitten¡¯s short hair.

    Finally, he took a cotton ball, soaking it in warm water before wiping away the unknown liquid.

    The whole process seemed a bitplicated, but the staff did this several times a day and were used to it. It took at most three to four minutes.

    The rejuvenated kitten suddenly became more radiant. Moisturized by its tears, its big bronze eyes were brighter and shinier than other kittens¡¯. They even held the reflection of the two girls.

    The two of them looked at each other. They asked Wang Qian and Li Kun, once they¡¯d packed up their tools and returned to their seats, to continue ying their game. ¡°What is this...all about?¡±

    ¡°Cleaning tears,¡± Li Kun replied briefly.

    ¡°That is...?¡± They pointed to the clear liquid in the vial.

    ¡°Boric acid.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Acid... It is actually acid?¡± The girls were in a daze and looked at one another. They each felt that the other person¡¯s expression was like this kitten¡¯s.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about its acidity. Boric acid is not sulfuric acid. It does not irritate the skin,¡± Wang Qian said casually.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun then went to take out the trash. Zhang Zian continued. ¡°The cat needs to secrete tears to keep the nose moist, but sometimes the nascrimal duct will get blocked and the tears will overflow. Our human skin is smooth, and the tears can be easily wiped off with no issues. However, when cats¡¯ tears get into their hair, with time, it will be a tear stain. With normal cats, cleaning it once will be enough. However, for this type of cat...¡±

    He raised his finger and pointed at the t-faced kitten. ¡°This Exotic Shorthair needs cleaning every one to two days due to the structure of its nascrimal duct.¡±

    ¡°This is the Exotic Shorthair?¡±

    They both had heard of the Exotic Shorthair, but their impression of it was an exaggerated animated image. Besides its mncholic eyes, they found it difficult to see a resemnce to all the memes they¡¯d seen about it.

    Compared with the animations, online sticker packs of the Exotic Shorthair were moremon. It always made people feel likeughing.

    ¡°Well, it is a very unique cat in every sense,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    It wasn¡¯t the animated memes that attracted the girls to this cat¡ªit was its big eyes. They appeared warmer and brighter than other cats. They simply looked like two gleaming gems. Other cats had nice eyes, but none as full of vitality as those of the Exotic Shorthair. Anyone who first saw the Exotic Shorthair would definitely be attracted to its eyes first.

    Its bright and mncholic eyes, together with its thick and sturdy appearance, made it look like a vulnerable creature deserving offort. It excited them very much. Even if they looked at other cats, they would still think about it.

    The two of them looked at each other again and read each other¡¯s thoughts from each other¡¯s eyes. ¡°Shall we...just get this one?¡±

    ¡°How much is the Exotic Shorthair?¡± They had decided and will not hesitate further.

    Out of responsibility, Zhang Zian reminded them, ¡°The cat itself is not expensive, but not many people buy it because it requires more effort to take care of than other cats. You also saw this earlier¡ªit needs to have its tears cleaned every day. Otherwise, if the hair under the eyes is wet for a long time, it may cause infection or inmmation. Other cats also need to have their tears cleaned, but far less frequently. Many customers like the Exotic Shorthair, but they are all persuaded otherwise because of this. If you can tolerate this shoring, you will find that the Exotic Shorthair has many strong points.¡±

    This shoring did not seem to be a problem for Zhou Jiena and Wang Yan. The both of them were very diligent and loved cleanliness. Otherwise, they would not have been such good friends.

    They noticed that Wang Qian and Li Kun worked together toplete the cleaning. One had to hold the cat in ce while the other cleaned. If the cat moved, the cleaning would beplicated and dangerous. This might be the main reason that the other customers were dissuaded¡ªmany of them were single owners. Where would they find someone to help them every day?

    However, this was not a problem for them.

 Chapter 1321: Exotic Shorthairâ€™s Health Problems

    <h4>Chapter 1321: Exotic Shorthair¡¯s Health Problems</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The more they listened to Zhang Zian, the faster Zhou Jiena and Wang Yan¡¯s hearts beat. The Exotic Shorthair seemed to be the cat for them.

    Generally speaking, single people were more suitable to raise cats than dogs, but the Exotic Shorthair was an exception. Due to the need for people toe together and help clean their tears every day, this cat was more suitable for families to rear.

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    As if it had heard their discussion, the kitten cried out.

    ¡°Wow! It sounds really nice! I am smitten with this good sound! Can you meow again?¡± Wang Yan asked with a fascinated look.

    She looked at Zhang Zian, who did not object. She then reached her hand out and tried to rub its chin. It gotfortable and snorted quietly.

    ¡°It sounds so good!¡± Zhou Jiena praised.

    The Exotic Shorthair¡¯s voice was low, soft, and subtle. When humans heard it, it pleased them to no end. Themon man might not recognize it, but someone sensitive to sounds would immediately recognize its uniqueness.

    Zhang Zian gave a thumbs-up. ¡°Good ears! The Exotic Shorthair has the best call sound, second to none. They do not call out often, and even when they do, it is soft. They will never disturb people.¡±

    The reason why the Exotic Shorthair was suitable for family breeding, besides that it didn¡¯t make too much noise, was that they were extremely docile. They might have been the most docile cat species. They did not bite and scratch people, even when angry. At most, they would gently nibble at the owner¡¯s finger to protest their unhappiness. They were especially suitable for families with children. s, also because they were too docile, once they went missing, they could almost never survive in the wild.

    Some pets, such as the golden retriever, were there to protect. When faced with other cats and dogs, they would reveal their instincts and be extremely aggressive. Thus, they were often nicknamed ¡°treasure dogs.¡±

    In contrast, the Exotic Shorthair was not only docile to humans but also friendly to other cats and dogs. They wereplete pacifists.

    There was currently an economic recession, and the girls had just entered the workforce. They¡¯d chosen to head home to recharge their batteries. Thus, they had decided to raise a cat now for that purpose. However, a year or two from now, when they cleared their student debts and were matured workce beauties, they might decide to raise another cat. After all, raising a cat was like opening a pce harem. A person loved every single one they saw. Then they would have to deal with getting the first cat to befriend the second cat, which could be a headache. However, it would not be a problem for the Exotic Shorthair. It would not bully new cats and would love to share its owners with another cat.

    They exchanged opinions again with their eyes: This one? Okay, I agree.

    ¡°We want this kitten,¡± Zhou Jiena said on behalf of both of them.

    ¡°Well, go to the checkout counter and go through the formalities.¡± Zhang Zian gestured to let Lu Yiyun handle the rest.

    ¡°Right, do you want rted pet supplies?¡± he asked in an attempt to upsell them. ¡°Like a litter box, a food bowl, a drinking fountain, et cetera. Because the Exotic Shorthair is a t-faced cat, it needs an adjustable food bowl. Same with the drinking fountains. Even if you buy these online, they will need time to arrive, right?¡±

    Zhou Jiena went to the checkout counter to go through the formalities, and the remaining Wang Yan turned red. Zhang Zian knew what they were thinking ¨C they wanted to buy pet supplies online to save some money.

    Since he was spot-on, Wang Yan said, ¡°Then please help us to choose. We do not know how to.¡±

    People who hadn¡¯t raised a t-faced cat were likely to make mistakes when choosing a food bowl and a drinking fountain. They would buy utensils suitable for ordinary cats, but t-faced cats needed special utensils. Otherwise, they would get water and food all over their faces when eating and drinking, adding to the burden on the owner.

    Zhang Zian was pleased to take the lead and pick out the utensils suitable for t-faced cats from the shelves. He ced them on the checkout counter.

    ¡°Ah, I almost forgot something. Do you have a water purifier where you live?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Water purifier... We have ns to install one.¡± Wang Yan did not want to talk about this further and hurriedly gave a reply.

    In the past, they¡¯d been worried about whether they could be full-time employees and dared not install water purifiers in the house they were renting. If they did not pass the probationary period, they might have to find another job and move to another house. Now that they had passed the probationary period, it was settled. They only intended to job-hop after at least one or two years in their respectivepanies, so they would stay in their current house for at least one or two years. A water purifier, which would not be given to them by andlord, would have to be prepared by them.

    ¡°That¡¯s good. The Exotic Shorthair¡¯s genes determine that they run the risk of having kidney stones or urinary calculi. Regardless of the eventual type of stones that develop in their bodies, they will always damage their kidneys. Thus, it is best that they drink purified water and drink as much as possible so they will urinate more,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    Domestic cats originated in the arid zone of the Middle East. Like the fennec foxes, in order to save hard-won water, they would concentrate their urine and then excrete it. This was a very unhealthy habit, causing a heavy burden on the kidneys. This also allowed for the easy formation of kidney stones. Thus, every cat should drink plenty of water, though they were already used to only getting it from food.

    ¡°Oh. I got it. We will buy water over the next few days, and then we will install a water purifier as soon as we can,¡± Wang Yan said.

    In fact, a cat couldn¡¯t drink much water. It didn¡¯t cost much to buy pure bottled water every day, but since they had ns to install a water purifier, that was fine.

    In view of the fact that they were new to raising cats, plus the fact that they¡¯d chosen a more challenging species to care for, when they were settling the paperwork, Zhang Zian decided to share as much knowledge as he could with them.

    ¡°Also, we are close to the sea in Binhai, which is rich with cheap seafood. However, it is best not to feed saltwater fish to your cat. If you want to feed it fish, ordinary freshwater fish will do. Of course, the best option is chicken breast or packaged cat food.¡±

    ¡°Ah... Why?¡±

    They were somewhat amazed. The concept of cats eating fish and dogs eating meat had been deeply rooted in their minds. Furthermore, the seafood in Binhai was cheap ¨C cheaper than freshwater fish. Experts on TV, as well as health guides on the Inte, also encouraged people to eat more fish. if Zhang Zian had not told them this, they would¡¯ve definitely fed their cat saltwater fish.

    ¡°It still involves stone formation in the body,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°Saltwater fish contains a lot of magnesium salt, which will lead to the formation and aggravation of stones. In addition, the fish also contains a lot of thiamine enzymes. Cats who eat saltwater fish for a long time will have a vitamin B deficiency, which may cause cervical spondylosis.¡±

    ¡°Cats are not people,¡± he continued. ¡°They do not get bored eating chicken breast or the same kind of cat food all the time. Don¡¯t use human logic to deal with them. For cats, fresh-cooked chicken breast and high-quality cat food are the safest option. You can¡¯t go wrong with them.¡±

 Chapter 1322: Catnip

    <h4>Chapter 1322: Catnip</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Cats ate fish, and dogs ate meat. The origin of this phrase was unknown. Nevertheless, it had an influence on humans. To many, it seemed that cats loved to eat fish and that they should eat fish.

    In fact, this was the opposite of what the domestic cat¡¯s ancestors had eaten. The wild cats that lived in the deserts in the Middle East... Where could they find fish to eat? Desert wildcats fed on small mammals, small reptiles, and birds. Their diet did not include fish.

    It was very dangerous to eat fish, both for people and for cats. Numerous cats had had their throats poked by fish bones that they¡¯d swallowed. Fish with sharp bones and tough skins were especially unsuitable for eating. It was alright to eat fish asionally, although, for the Exotic Shorthair, which could easily develop kidney stones, it was much better to avoid fish. This was because the treatment of stones may require surgery. It could bring about unnecessary worry for people, both in terms of the cat¡¯s safety and the cost.

    After listening to Zhang Zian¡¯s reminders and exnations, Zhou Jiena and Wang Yan were somewhat frightened. They¡¯d almost done their cat in.

    After the formalities werepleted, he gave them a booklet on pet feeding for novices. It contained a summary of all the mistakes and misconceptions that novices made or had. He¡¯d had to update it quite often as time had passed. This booklet was extremely popr amongst his customers, and they praised him highly for it.

    The two sisters excitedly and nervously left with a cat carrier. In it was the Exotic Shorthair.

    They¡¯d sealed the deal. As he saw small amounts of money entering his ounts, Zhang Zian was happy. After all, even though the trip to Egypt had been fully sponsored, he¡¯d still spent quite a bit from his own pocket. For example, all those gifts that he¡¯d bought. He¡¯d also had to use his own money to buy Nekhbet, the drone, as well.

    For Binhai University, scientific research items that were not used for a long time were very troublesome because there were not many applications for wilderness explorations from the university. Most of the research work can be done within the city. Even if there are professors who apply for a grant to head to the outdoors, they will definitely ask for funds to buy new equipment. They will certainly not want to use these second-hand goods. Who knows, if there is any problem with them?

    Therefore, the usual practice of the University is to sell these used items at low prices to at least cover the cost of purchasing them.

    However, Zhang Zian has no simr concerns about whether the item has problems. He has been responsible for operating the drone and knew that its performance is very reliable. It had even withstood the extreme environment of the desert, which makes it much stronger than toy drones that aremon in the market. For him, this drone is brand new, not a second-hand.

    He has been thinking about this for a while and finally decided to buy it through his rtionship with Wei Kang. His purchase includes backup batteries and various lenses. Although it is already discounted, it is still expensive and blew a hole in his pocket.

    As for why he bought a drone... It is because it ys a big role whilst he was in the desert. That counts as a teammate for him. Perhaps he can also use it in the future. Even if such an opportunity does not ur, he can still take it out and y it from time to time.

    As the sun rose, the number of customers in the store gradually increased. Fans of Famous heard the news that it is back and came to take photos with it.

    Zhang Zian handed over the store to the staff to look after and ran to the beach. He yed the voice of Shihua and at the same time, caught some rare aquarium creatures to bring back to the shop.

    Time flies. it was now evening.

    The staff cleaned up and left.

    It was early summer and there were more people walking and running about at night. In the distance, there was faint musicing from people dancing at the town square. Old uncles and aunties sat around and fan themselves whilstining about daily life. Of course, there were also young people who came out and walk their dogs after work.

    After the staff left, Zhang Zian pulled down the shutter door and ended the day¡¯s business.

    He returned to the second floor where the kitchen is and made himself a bowl of noodles. He added a few green vegetables, made two poached eggs, sprinkled with chopped green onion and finished it with a few drops of sesame oil. It was a nice piping hot dish that can easily wipe one¡¯s appetite.

    Whilst they were in Egypt, they always ate foods with Egyptian characteristics. This means that the food is either sweet or greasy or sweet and greasy. In the desert, they often had food that were reheated, which are rather dry. Either those or they have dehydrated dry food. He ate that food until he felt really ufortable and had long missed the taste of authentic,mon and affordable Chinese food.

    So today, he didn¡¯t order takeaway but indeed, specially made himself some noodles to relief himself. After eating, he was sweating profusely.

    He opened the window on the second floor. he did not rush to clean up the tableware but stood by the window to enjoy the cold breeze.

    dimir has not returned yet. In the future, when there are more and more mosquitoes, it will be a problem getting in and out of the window. He can¡¯t always keep the window open. During the day it is fine, bute nighttime, the mosquitoes will fly everywhere.

    Pet stores attract mosquitoes because of the many cats and dogs, as well as cat and dog excrement.

    For themon person, if mosquitoes enter their house, they would deal with it with mosquito sprays or mosquito coils. Unfortunately, these two things will not only poison the mosquitoes but also cause cat poisoning.

    When filming in the winter, the makeup artist of the ¡°War Dog¡± crew had a hairless cat at home and also liked to apply makeup for the hairless cat. At that time, Zhang Zian reminded her not to use mosquito coils, especially not in an enclosed indoor environment. It may not poison the mosquitoes but will definitely poison the cat. Thus, the solution is to nt some catnip indoors, which can both repel mosquitoes naturally and make cats obsessed with the taste of catnip.

    Of course, not all cats are obsessed with catnip. It can only be said that many cats can¡¯t pull themselves away from it when they smell catnip.

    He stood by the window and thought of the mosquitoes whilst thinking about dimir, and then thought of the catnip whilst thinking about the mosquitoes. Now, he thought of the source of the mosquitoes.

    Mosquitoes have always liked to gather in ces where trees are rich in grass and water. The ce with the most grasses in the vicinity is obviously the greennd next to them. The grass is long and unmanned. Summer and autumn will be thergest source of mosquitoes for their area.

    This morning, when he followed the fat boy and the neighbors to the green area, he noticed that the mosquitoes there were rampant. Fortunately, he had already been tested in Egypt.

    The overwhelming number of mosquitoes they faced there are powerful and they had experienced that in Egypt. Now, back home, facing an army of mosquitoes here, even for Fina and Old Time Tea, is nothing much already.

    That green area was the base for the stray cats, so the stray cats are certainly miserable.

    So... Should he nt some catnip over there?

    Outdoors, one or two pots would not work. If he wanted to nt, he had to nt it on arge scale.

    It was not difficult to nt catnip. It would only get toughter in the process. They could buy more flower pots and move them once the catnip was nted. Then they wouldn¡¯t need to worry that even the pot would be stolen by thieves.

    However, it should be possible to ask the stray cats to help out and guard them.

    The specific details can be slowly thought out. In order to prevent mosquitoes from entering, he once again covered the window. As long as dimir pushes it with his paws, he will be able to enter. As for whether thieves can easily enter, that was not within his scope of consideration.

    Downstairs, he randomly discovered that Fina was not in its usual position, but was instead sitting on a disy case.

    ¡°You just had a lot of food for dinner. Shouldn¡¯t you rest now and try to digest your food?¡± he asked rather passive-aggressively.

    Fina nced at him unhappily. ¡°Do I have to read between the lines?¡±

 Chapter 1323: Counterattack

    <h4>Chapter 1323: Counterattack</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Wise words were difficult to hear.

    Zhang Zian merely spoke the truth. After all, Fina usually said this¡ªit did not move much before a meal to prevent that from affecting its appetite. After dinner, it also did not move much, as this aided digestion and helped to prevent the development of a sagging stomach. However, whenever he chose to use Fina¡¯s words back at it, her reaction was not pleasant. It was instead highly malicious.

    ¡°Hey! Your Majesty, this stinky man says one thing but actually means another. He is best at shooting silent arrows and insulting you! Do you want me to act on your behalf and shut him up forever?¡±

    Snowy Li, who was next to her, threatened to let chaos descend if the approval was given.

    ¡°Hey! From what I see, your skin is itching for a scratch,¡± Richard said as hebed his feathers with his beak. He was happy to watch the drama unfold.

    ¡°No, you misunderstood.¡± He sincerely rified the misunderstanding. ¡°After all, you did lose quite a lot of weight in Egypt and are really skinny. Your current self is less graceful and royal. You have to make up that lost weight as soon as possible.¡±

    Fina was not sure if he was telling the truth or saying this while he meant otherwise. If her judgment was wrong, it would damage her authority. When in doubt, she ignored it temporarily. Instead, she asked, ¡°Where is that device that can make sounds?¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned. ¡°Are you referring to a plug-in speaker? Why are you looking for that?¡±

    Fina lifted her ws and pointed at the kittens who were ying in the store. ¡°The day I left, there were old cats leaving and new catsing in. These neers do not know how to dance, and I should hurry up and teach them.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    He understood. No wonder she was suddenly so active. It had turned out to be rted to money.

    In fact, whether it was dancing or giving tips to attract customers, it was icing on the cake. It may not be fresh after a few times. The most important factor for raising a cat, besides affinity, was whether the cat was suitable to be raised by that particr customer.

    Of course, many customers dide in after hearing the rumors of kitten dancing. Then, after arriving, they were influenced by Zhang Zian to choose a cat suitable for themselves. The choice was usually between a good-looking exterior or a cat with a funny bone. If the cat didn¡¯t have good looks, which individual would have the patience to understand the personality of the cat?

    When it came to money, he would think of the golden pyramid. If he had taken one or two pieces of gold jewelry from the pyramid, then would he no longer need to fret about money? He could, by now, easily enjoy the luxury life of fast cars and beautiful girls.

    However, those were, after all, cultural relics. It was difficult to deal with if one was not careful. His actions could easily tarnish the good friendship between China and Egypt or the Chinese and Liberian people. It could even affect the grand ns of the Belt and Road Initiative. How could he do this, winning the battle but losing the war?

    Thus, he still needed to work hard and make money. Although he would have fewer chances to get ady, he could at least be at peace with himself. He could get arrested for stealing and reselling cultural relics. If that happened, it would no longer be a problem of him getting fast cars and beautiful girls, but of things entering his *ss when he went to jail...

    He found the small speaker and put on some music for Fina. He watched Fina teaching the new kittens to dance while using his phone. In any case, this was physical activity for Fina, so she wasn¡¯t lying down the entire day.

    After a while, Fina had taught the kittens the dance several times. The kittens had barely learned it, but revisions over the next few days would be enough. They would be able to perform in front of customers in a few days¡¯ time.

    Fina jumped back to the cat climbing frame with great satisfaction.

    ¡°To meow with the cats! I am so mad!¡±

    At the same time, angry cries came from the direction of the second floor. It was dimir.

    Zhang Zian looked back and saw it rushing down the stairs. It was gray-faced, and pine needles were hanging in its hair. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know where it had gone to y and ended up looking as crazy as this.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What happened?¡±

    Zhang Zian spoke as he put down his phone.

    dimir had always been very calm, and it always seemed to have a pair of wisdom beads on hand, but not so much this time around. Usually, it did things with an understanding of what would happenter. When dealing with the Holy Cat statue before, it had never seemed to panic. With the mentality that ¡°I will take whateveres my way,¡± it was therefore rare to see it in such a fit.

    The other elfins were also very curious as to what had happened. Even Fina temporarily dismissed the idea of snoozing and opened her eyes.

    dimir did not answer immediately. It instead turned a few rounds indoors before finally jumping onto the checkout counter. It raised a front paw and mmed it on the table, screaming while ring hard. ¡°Things are changing!¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t reply at first.

    ¡°What actually happened? You didn¡¯t say anything, and nobody can understand you,¡± he said. ¡°Is it yet another cat abuse incident?¡±

    Although the Holy Cat statue had been sent thousands of miles away and was buried under a pyramid, never to be seen again, this did not mean that there would no longer be any cat abuse cases. This was because the Holy Cat statue would only induce those who already had some distortions in their minds to abuse cats. However, there were also people who would abuse cats regardless of the presence of a cat god statue.

    What¡¯s more, the statue of another cat god had been dug up during the Middle Ages in Europe. At that time, it had caused a lot of trouble. Together with the one found in the city of Binhai, might there be a third or even a fourth?

    dimir gasped for a while and said with a voice full of hatred, ¡°That¡¯s not what happened.¡±

    Come to think of it, if there was yet another Holy Cat statue or a cat abuse incident, it would certainly not have been as flustered.

    ¡°Then you are like that because?¡± he asked.

    dimir struggled to calm down. ¡°It¡¯s those stray dogs! What the hell!¡± it said. ¡°When I left the city of Binhai, the stray dogs that had already been expelled from the coastal city suddenly attacked and upied the entire area in one swoop. The cats are under a lot of pressure now that they do not have a ce to roam. They are also being broken up into smaller groups... Several catmanders are even injured in varying degrees!¡±

    ¡°Uh...¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that dimir had led the stray cats to expel the stray dogs in the vicinity of the dog market and driven the stray dogs to the outer suburbs of Binhai City. This was so that the stray cats in the city were not threatened by stray dogs. The beneficiaries of that action were not only stray cats, but also many pedestrians passing by in the area, who had been bitten by the stray dogs. Since the stray dogs had been driven away, the area had been rtively calmer.

    ¡°This is normal. Since you are not around, the stray cats have no leader. The stray dogs ??will naturally enter and fill the gap...¡± he said, trying tofort dimir.

    ¡°No! ording to my experience, this is not an ordinary attack, but a premeditated, organized counterattack! It is the dying struggle of the reactionary forces and an arrogant attempt to douse the revolutionary fire in the cradle!¡± dimir mmed a paw on the table once more, interrupting him.

    ¡°This is rather exaggerated.¡± Zhang Zian forced a smile. ¡°Things are not as serious as you say...¡±

    dimir shook his head. ¡°In the beginning, I thought so too. However, today, I went deep within the cats to investigate, to better understand the situation. I found that it was not like this. Those stray dogs are absolutely organized!¡±

 Chapter 1324: The Big Gamble

    <h4>Chapter 1324: The Big Gamble</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After returning from Egypt, dimir had been in a good mood. This is because this trip can be said to be helpful in spreading the Meow Meow Doctrine to the remote areas of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Although there is no obvious benefit to the domestic affairs of the group in China in the short term, it nevertheless can be a source for future development.

    Egypt was the bridge into Africa. As a fulcrum, it could ignite the passion of Africa as a whole, as well as spread to West Asia and Southern Europe.

    This was a step-by-step game. It seemed to be dull and silent. However, those who had a strategic vision could listen to the impending thunder in silence.

    One couldn¡¯t care about the gains and losses of a single game. One had to look at the big picture!

    However, this so-called ¡°single game¡± did not include Binhai.

    Although the city was not the original birthce of the Meow Meow Doctrine, it was nevertheless the ce where it had been set up and given structure. With it being the ce of growth, it will be impossible to give it up entirely.

    dimir had already thought that the stray cats in Binhai, which had just undergone baptism, were not mature enough. When it left, they might be a little confused and encounter various problems. To be harassed by the stray dogs was at least within its calctions. After all, the city is a ce rich in fresh delicious food. The dogs will definitely stay around in other to feed.

    Before leaving, he had instructed them to stand their grounds and do not try to get more than what they already had. It was simply not worth the risk. However, if the pressure to retaliate is too much, they can strategically retreat. At most, they can easily take back their former positions in the future.

    However, the n could not keep up with the changes that were happening on the ground. Even dimir did not expect that the trip to Egypt would be so long, and there were many twists and turns throughout the trip. It even thought that it could note back. When dimir could finally return to the coastal city, it found out... to its horror, everything had changed drastically.

    After leaving the pet shop in the morning, he soon noticed that the stray cats on the street seemed to have lost consciousness about the Meow Meow doctrine. They failed to observe and notice the behavior of passerby¡¯s even time one walk across their field of vision. Instead, they seemed to be constantly on edge. They also do not seem able to react to secret codes. A few of them even had injuries.

    Looking deeper, it found that most of the stray cats were hanging out in the city center. That is, they instinctively thought that the downtown area was safer. Much like a group of defeated deserters, they seemed to have lost the will to fight. Now, all they know is the blindly and aimlessly run away from the battlefield.

    This is not a strategic retreat but an unprecedented big defeat!

    dimir stopped a few stray cats and wanted to ask them what happened. However, these stray cats seemed to have been beaten until they are stupid. They either turned a blind eye to his inquiry, silently walk past him or walked around looking flustered.

    The unexined big defeat caused dimir¡¯s rare but chaotic response. It wandered around the green space behind the pet shop because there is the area that used to be where a lot of stray cats gather. There must be a few who can tell him what¡¯s going on right?

    Even more unexpectedly, the number of cats left in the green space is few and far between. However, there are numerous buzzing mosquitoes and various caterpirs that drops around randomly.

    dimir had no choice but to take the few cats that he came across with him, and then piece the story together as he went along. He also started looking for hismanders, hoping that they would be safe.

    He first ran to the beach and inquired from the stray cats he met on the road. Finally, he managed to find Big Orange next to a beachside shoal.

    Big Orange¡¯s body had many injuries and he was hiding in a cave covered with wild grass. He licked his own wounds, trying to ease the pain. It heard movement outside and immediately thought that the stray dogs wereing. He was not willing to give up and surrender. With a loud howl, he rushed out of the cave, ready to fight with the stray dogs outside.

    ¡°Big orange! You...¡±

    dimir saw the wounds on Big Orange¡¯s body, and his heart ached. Trembling, he said: ¡°You... how did you be like this? Didn¡¯t I instruct you to immediately retreat if there is a battle that you cannot win?¡±

    When Big Orange saw that it was dimir, it was as if he saw his own savior. His tensed seld immediately rxed and his footsteps lightened. He also gave in and copsed on the ground slightly. He was caught by dimir and the other stray cats just in time.

    Big Orange used his paws to make a few gestures and told dimir what happened, albeit in pieces.

    The first few days after dimir left the city of Binhai, the life of stray cats carried on as usual. However, one day, the situation changed very suddenly. A huge number of stray dogs surrounded Big Orange and his team of stray cats. The dogs were savage looking and had big, fierce and red eyes. They seemed to be full of hatred. They quickly surrounded the stray cats.

    In the face of a sudden attack by the stray dog, ? the stray cats were caught off guard. They were passively guarding their own territories and did notunch an attack. Everything seems to be lost.

    Big Orange has always been the bravest stray cat. It can obviously run away first and no one can catch up with him. One to two stray dogs will not be able to stop or catch up to him. However, in order to assist the other stray cats and cover them while they retreat, he chooses to stay and help. It was a struggle indeed. Without carrying much about his own safety, he vigorously attacked and got into a battle with the stray mutts. He was finally sessful in helping the stray cats break up the surrounding stray dogs¡¯ forces. However, he was extremely beaten down by the saga and was covered in battle scars. He even lost a ton of cat fur.

    After the stray cats were able to breakout, Big Orange was close to copsing. Nevertheless, he strategized further. He told the cats to spread out and seek a safe haven toy low. This is because, after the battle, almost every cat had injuries on themselves. In addition, dogs have a strong sense of smell. if the wounded cats gathered together, they can easily be sniffed out. Surely, if that is to happen, the group will once again be surrounded. When that happens, they will certainly all perish.

    In order to allow the other stray cats to escape safely, he deliberately left a trail of his own urine. He chose to expose his own location to protect hisrades. He tried to lure the stray dogs ??to the beach.

    Big Orange was already prepared to sacrifice himself. This is simply unimaginable in the past. However, he chose to do so now, and voluntarily so, because he bought into the doctrine that dimir spoke of. Before he knew dimir, he would never have done this. Now, he hopes to help the entire cat poption reach a higher level of enlightenment. He had decided firmly in his heart that he will follow in the footsteps of dimir all the way, albeit if doing so entails great sacrifice. He is willing to put down his own ego and self, in order to help every cat reach a higher purpose.

    ¡°Big Orange...you are...too stupid!¡±

    When dimir learned of the pain and suffering Big Orange had to go through, he started sobbing and was unable to speak for a while. Big Orange, upon seeing this, only had a big smile across his face. It was his way of saying that he was merely doing what he was supposed to do.

    Big Orange had hidden in the cave for quite a while. In addition, he had multiple wounds on his body and had not ate for several days. These had contributed to his inability to move. He relied on the umted rainwater between the reefs to maintain his own life. Fortunately, it is fat and strong. Had it been another cat who had to go through what he did, that cat may not had made it through alive. Nevertheless, he was already close to his limit. Had dimir beenter by a day or two, he may not have met an alive Big Orange, but meet his corpse instead.

    dimir told the other stray cats to lift him up and take him away. He would not allow a badly-woundedrade to lie here and await death. He must find a way to save him.

    He thought hard on how to do this. He went in circles before realizing that perhaps only Zhang Zian could help.

    As for dimir himself, he was going to learn the whereabouts of the other stray catmanders.

 Chapter 1325: Emergency

    <h4>Chapter 1325: Emergency</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Listening to dimir speak, Zhang Zian was stunned. He looked past the shutter door and said, ¡°Is it... Is Big Orange outside?¡±

    dimir nodded. ¡°I had no choice. I could only bring him here. Please help me save him. I don¡¯t want to see the death of myrade.¡±

    ¡°Oh... Well, I¡¯ll try my best. Bring him in quickly.¡±

    Zhang Zian quickly got up from the chair and walked to the door. He raised the shutter door halfway to let them in.

    At that time, the sky waspletely dark. It was almost nine o¡¯clock at night. The aunties and uncles with bad backs had already returned home to watch anti-Japanese dramas or mother-inw soap operas. The young men and women who walked their dogs had also gone home to enjoy the nightlife. asionally, a guy ordy who had just finished working overtime hurriedly walked past.

    Binhai was a small city, after all, with a somewhat slower pace of life. It would not be a match forrge metropolitan cities that never slept.

    To his surprise, not only was Big Orange outside by the door, there were also at least a dozen stray cats squatting by outside. They all had their bright eyes fixed on him.

    ¡°Of course there are other cats. There are too many injured cats. These here are just those with the most serious injuries,¡± dimir said behind him. As he needed Zhang Zian¡¯s help, his tone was not as confident as usual. After all, he was already troubling him a lot to help him out.

    This situation was somewhat strange, with more than a dozen stray cats gathering outside a closed shop. It was inevitable that there would be bad associations with such a scene. Passing pedestrians may choose to avoid the area entirely.

    ¡°Come in, all of you,e in. I am, after all, also one of the directors of the Strategy Bureau. Of course I will be able to help you with this small matter,¡± Zhang Zian said as he looked around. He confirmed that there was no one paying attention to him before greeting every living thing around him.

    dimir used his eyes to gesture at the cats. The injured stray cats supported each other and slowly made their way into the store. However, they had just barely entered before stopping. They had smelled the scent of Fina.

    If they hadn¡¯t been baptized by dimir, they might have long since fled the store. Despite that, the natural instinct to escape was still there, and they had to try hard to resist it.

    Fina nced at them with sharp eyes. ¡°Forget it. I rule everywhere, and every piece of earth is mine. You are fallen soldiers and will inevitably follow mymand, albeit indirectly. I will make an exception and allow you to stay by the door.¡±

    dimir nodded. ¡°Well, whether it¡¯s a domestic cat or a wild cat, it¡¯s a good cat as long as it can catch a mouse! Everybody, please rx. Breathe!¡±

    The injured stray cats rxed somewhat upon hearing this. They eithery on their sides or sat down firmly with their paws on the ground. They still stayed close to the door, afraid to step in further.

    dimir wasn¡¯t upset that Fina did not allow the stray cats to enter further. After all, a stray cat was a stray cat and must be treated as such. Now that they were able to find shelter from the rain and dangers outside, they must already be thankful.

    The stray cats themselves did not feel that they were being treated differently. They knew that their bodies were filthy since they had run around in the wilderness all day. Inevitably, they would be carrying germs and parasites in their fur. If these diseases were transmitted to the kittens, which was highly likely given their poorer resistance, it would be no different than killing innocent children in order to save their own lives. Now that they had already attained some level of enlightenment, they refused to allow such a tragedy to ever happen. If the kittens were to die because of them, they would rather die outside as well than seek refuge in the shop.

    When the pet shop was refurbished, they¡¯d put in an additional door between the checkout counter at the entrance and the store itself. This gap provided a good area for the stray cats to sit. The stray cats waited in this gap, which was the former position of the Holy Cat statue. The additional inner door acted as a natural barrier between them and the kittens.

    Zhang Zian also knew that the stray cats were dirty. He shot Fina a look, indicating to her to bring the kittens deep within the store. He does not want them toe in contact with the stray cats either. He also instructed her to fetch some insecticides to apply on the inner door to prevent fleas and other insects from ever having a chance to invade the store.

    He was also fully armed and prepared for what was toe. He¡¯d worn the long trousers he¡¯d gotten in Egypt to protect him from the sun. He also tightened his shirt and trouser sleeves and put on rubber boots used for rainy days. Finally, he put on some gloves and a hat. He did all this because he knew that his body was a potential transmitter of germs and diseases to the kittens. To protect the kittens, he must first protect himself.

    As for dimir, he had already considered this when he¡¯d gone to look for Big Orange. Like a chess yer who nned well ahead of his next few moves, he had given some thought to what woulde next and decided on the appropriate course of action. Therefore, instead of helping Big Orange directly, he had assigned this task to the other stray cats. Thus, he would not be contaminated and would help prevent bacteria and parasites from being brought back to the pet store.

    After protective measures had been taken, Zhang Zian went to the upper floor to fetch the first aid kit. Then, with that under his arm, he opened the inner door and closed it immediately once he saw the stray cats. He carefully examined the stray cats¡¯ injuries.

    He was not a professional veterinarian. If a customer brought in a wounded pet, he would certainly not dare to start treatment on it because he was not a licensed veterinarian. Nevertheless, having worked extensively with pets, he had some knowledge about treating pet injuries. He could still perform basic first aid on those that needed help.

    Big Orange and some of the stray cats had seen Zhang Zian before. They knew that he had a unique rtionship with the stray cat poption. However, the few stray cats who had never seen him were a little nervous, and some even bowed their backs and got into a defensive pose.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. He is ourrade. Although he is a human, he believes in our cause and supports it. He is a progressive who sympathizes with our struggles,¡± dimir reassured the cats.

    The stray cats heard these words and rxed once more.

    Nevertheless, what was the meaning of ¡°Although he is a human¡±...?

    Zhang Zian could only give an awkward smile. In this shop, which was obviously his own, human beings seemed to be the most despised...

    Big Orange had the most and the deepest wounds. There were several that ran deep. A nce was enough to determine that it had been bitten by the stray dogs. Had it not been as strong physically and had enoughyers of fat as a buffer, the bites would have prated its bones and nerves. If that had happened, it would¡¯ve been beyond Zhang Zian¡¯s ability to treat it.

    After the initial examination, he trimmed the hair near the wounds with small scissors. This made it more convenient to treat the injuries and prevent infection.

    A huge amount of fur on Big Orange had been ripped off in its struggle with the stray dogs. With a few more snips of his scissors, Big Orange was close to being bare. Nevertheless, Big Orange did not depend on its looks to survive, unlike Snowy Li. The loss of hair could thus be its way of dealing with the summer heat.

    After checking its injury, Zhang Zian weighed the situation and decided not to use the povidone-iodine solution to disinfect the wound. This was because Big Orange had been injured for several days. The wound had already started to heal as its strong body tried hard to recover. Using a solution now to disinfect the wound may not be helpful, as it may also cause damage to the epidermal cells and fibrosts along with the bad bacteria. This may not be that conducive to recovery.

    Although Big Orange was strong, it had not eaten for a few days. Its body¡¯s natural ability to heal was slowly declining. While there was currently no infection, it did not mean that it would not be infected in the future. It was therefore essential to do some minimal disinfection.

    After thinking about it, he chose to use normal saline to treat it.

 Chapter 1326: Treatment

    <h4>Chapter 1326: Treatment</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Saline water would be less irritating to the wounds. Zhang Zian applied it to Big Orange¡¯s wounds and then wrap them with clean gauze. This was to prevent further infection by parasites and bacteria. This treatment may touch the wounds, causing Big Orange to feel pain. Nevertheless, throughout the process, Big Orange neither made a single sound nor moved around. It was indeed a good cat.

    After finishing his work, Zhang Zian took a can of cat food from the shelf. He hesitated and took two cans instead. He opened them and ced them in front of Big Orange.

    If they wanted the wound to heal as soon as possible, the most important thing was to improve the body¡¯s immunity. If the body did not have enough food, no immunity could be built.

    Big Orange had been hungry for a few days. Upon smelling the scent of canned cat food, he was already salivating. However, he looked at the other stray cats around him, and they looked equally hungry. He decided to give it to them instead and pushed the can towards them.

    The other stray cats then pushed the can back to him.

    ¡°No need to push. Everybody... Wrong, every cat will get one,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Hearing this, Big Orange was able to eat his food in peace. He eagerly plunged his head into the canned food. Perhaps two cans would not even be enough.

    ¡°Do you want to wear this?¡±

    Zhang Zian picked up an Elizabethan cor and posed the question out loud. It was unclear if he was asking dimir or Big Orange.

    ¡°No need. I have told him not to lick the wounds,¡± dimir said.

    dimir had stayed in the pet shop for a long time and listened to Zhang Zian¡¯s exnations to customers about pet health. For example, after a pet was injured, it had the tendency to lick its own wound. Many uneducated individuals thought the pet¡¯s saliva could help to sterilize the wounds. Perhaps it could even elerate the healing process. This was, however, a big mistake. Saliva did contain some bactericidal ingredients, but it contained more deadly bacteria that caused greater harm to the wounds. If saliva was such a great tool to fight bacterial infection, why would there be a need to develop various antibiotics?

    Thus, pets licking wounds would not help the healing process, but would cause further infection.

    It wasn¡¯t just pets. It was also unsuitable for people to use animal saliva to treat wounds. People sometimes got injured but did not pay much attention to taking care of the wound. They then yed with their cat or dog, and the cat or dog instinctively licked the owner¡¯s wound. This was not a good thing.

    The first problem was that of rabies. Some cats and dogs had this parasite, but it did not erupt. However, it could be transmitted to humans via open wounds.

    Even if the cat or dog did not carry rabies, their saliva also contained other germs that were harmless to them but harmful to humans. There were even rumors that they carried some germs that had the potential to lead to amputations in humans.

    Many dogs liked to eat their own droppings. Most cats also liked to lick their own anus. They carried fecal matter on their tongue and used the same tongue to lick their owner¡¯s wound... Good things couldn¡¯t possiblye from this interaction.

    When dimir had found Big Orange in the cave, he¡¯d immediately stopped it from licking its wounds and let the other cats bring it back to the pet store.

    Zhang Zian nodded and kept the Elizabethan cor. He continued his check on the other stray cats.

    Some of the stray cats¡¯ injuries did not seem to be too severe. However, it was often the case that the injury was not that bad, but the subsequent infection was worse. These cats were not physically as strong as Big Orange, and their wounds were in varying stages of infection. After all, the weather was already hot and humid. This was ideal for the growth of parasites and bacteria on their wounds. Thus, they were in more critical situations than Big Orange.

    There was a calico cat which was, naturally, female. Its right hind leg had been bitten heavily. Although it only had this single wound, the tooth imprint was deep. The wound had be severely infected, and it was limping.

    The most troublesome thing was that the calico cat had fleas. The blood-sucking fleas had made it slightly anemic due to over-extraction of its blood. Physically, it was not in a good ce.

    Among the dozens of stray cats, its situation was the most critical.

    Zhang Zian had not dealt with such a serious injury before. It was reasonable to say that this kind of injury should be treated at a pet hospital or a pet clinic. Only professionals should handle cases like this.

    The problem was... Professionals may very likely choose the easiest method to solve the problem. In this case, it would be to amputate the cat¡¯s leg. This was the best choice, as it ensured the highest possibility for recovery...and the surgery fee was the highest.

    Zhang Zian shared his concerns with dimir. Should he go for a more dangerous but conservative treatment here or send it for a moreprehensive but safer oue at a pet hospital?

    dimir thought about it. He was also in a dilemma. In the end, he said firmly, ¡°Conservative treatment. If a stray cat has one leg missing, it might as well be dead in the wild. I believe it can survive this. If not, it will not belong to the Meow Meow Doctrine!¡±

    Zhang Zian understood his decision. In fact, even human beings might choose the same option. Many people preferred to risk death and attempt conservative treatment. They would not choose an amputation and acquire a disability.

    For stray cats, the consequences of amputation were even more dire.

    First, he thoroughly cleaned the wound and cut off the hair near the injury. Then, he used a knife to remove the damaged and infected tissue.

    In the absence of anesthesia, the pain of this process wasparable to that of Guan Gong scraping meat off his own bone.

    He had originally wanted to tie the cat to a sturdy object with a rope. This would prevent it from struggling too much during the operation. However, dimir had said it was unnecessary. The calico cat was tenacious and could bear it.

    So he went ahead and operated on its leg. The calico cat was in such pain that it twitched. Nevertheless, it bit down hard and tried its best not to move at all.

    He was both sympathetic and full of admiration for the calico cat. If he had been the one going through this operation, he would not have been able to stomach such pain. It seemed that this cat was suitable to be a Meow Meow Doctrine believer after all.

    Both doctors and nurses were tough in front of patients. This was because if they were not, they could cause more pain to the patients instead.

    He did his best to clean the rotten tissue around the wound with a sterile knife and scissors. Then, he repeatedly disinfected the wound with hydrogen peroxide and chlorhexidine. After that, he rinsed the solutions off and dried the wound with sterile gauze. Finally, he applied a medical gel to the surface of the wound. It would help to promote healing. He finished up by wrapping the wound with more gauze.

    s, this would not be enough. As the wound had be infected, the cat needed to be given antibiotics. However, Zhang Zian did not have the qualifications to prescribe medicine and thus did not have ess to these pills. Without antibiotics, he could only wait to send it to Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s clinic the next day. He would ask her to help the cat.

    With this painful treatment, the calico cat was close to fainting. At least eight and a half of its nine lives had probably been lost by now. It was hanging on its final half breath. Nevertheless, it still held on.

    Zhang Zian took the anti-flea spray and sprayed all the stray cats that had parasitic fleas on them. This included the calico cat.

    The effects of the spray were very good. After ten minutes, the fleas on them had all died. The dead fleasnded on the ground as ck spots.

    He continued with his treatment and treated the other injured stray cats. He sterilized and bandaged their wounds before getting them cans of cat food to eat.

    With these stray cats, a life saved was a life saved. As long as it had been bitten by a stray dog, regardless of the presence of infection, it would be sent to the pet clinic for a rabies vine tomorrow.

    It seemed that his wallet would have to bleed again.

 Chapter 1327: Surprise Attack

    <h4>Chapter 1327: Surprise Attack</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    While Zhang Zian treated the stray cats¡¯ wounds, dimir went ahead and shared how he¡¯d found Big Orange. After all, he was unable to help with the treatment.

    He¡¯d gotten the other cats to help bring Big Orange from the beach to the pet store and continued to look for other stray catmanders along the way.

    The journey to the pet store was not a short one. Although cats could jump onto walls and make detours, unlike humans, Big Orange had been unable to do so. Even when he was healthy, this was not possible, much less now, when he is severely injured. Thus, they could only faithfully walk by roads. asionally, when they came across a tricycle, they would hop on for a free ride. Most of the time, the owner didn¡¯t notice. Sometimes the owner did discover the presence of several cats on his vehicle. However, he did not chase them off as he found it rather amusing. A good Samaritan even tried to ask where they were going. Big Orange replied by pointing in the direction of the pet shop.

    dimir had been concerned about whether Big Orange could reach the pet shop safely. However, he was also concerned about the safety of his other stray catmanders. They were all capable cats and upied simr positions in his heart.

    They had not traveled far before a strange stray cat had suddenly appeared on the dark corner of the roadside. It looked at them a few times, then raised a front paw. ¡°Meow meow meow!¡±

    dimir raised a front paw and replied, ¡°The demon kitten of Pagoda Town!¡±

    He was excited and, at the same time, grateful. His tense self could momentarily give in to the wave of relief he was experiencing. This was because this cat was able tomunicate to him via secret code. This meant that his army had not beenpletely lost. There was, at least, still a handful of them who had survived as an underground resistance organization.

    The stray cat was very young¡ªless than one year old. This was probably the first time it had had to perform the task of standing guard. It seemed very nervous. However, after dimir¡¯s reply with secret code, it immediately rxed.

    ¡°Which division are you from?¡± dimir asked.

    Big Orange was in charge of the eastern theater. Softy, the gray, soft-eared cat, was in charge of the southern theater. Little White, the short-haired white cat, was in charge of the western theater. Finally, A Que and Scald Head, the ck-haired cats, were in charge of the northern theater. dimir was eager to know Softy¡¯s situation. This was because Big Orange had told him that the stray dogs hade from the southeastern parts of Binhai City. Thus, the first areas to experience conflict were the eastern and southern theaters.

    Originally, in order to prevent the stray dogs¡¯ counterattack, dimir had assigned thergest number of troops in the eastern and southern theaters. He hadn¡¯t expected that they¡¯d be unable to defend against the attacks of the stray dogs. This further cemented the idea that the attack was an extraordinary show of force by the stray dogs.

    As for the northern and western theaters, based on the current situation, the fledgling stray dogs would not dare to attack the downtown area where humans resided. That would be purely suicidal. Thus, the north and west theaters should be temporarily safe. However, the risk could not bepletely eliminated, as the dogs could travel long distances from the outer suburbs.

    The stray cat hesitated for a long time. it was not sure how to express what it wanted to say. Finally, it lifted a paw and covered one of its ears.

    ¡°Lost one ear... Is it A Que the ck-haired cat?¡± dimir guessed.

    The stray cat nodded vigorously.

    ¡°Take me to find it.¡±

    dimir heaved a sigh of relief. Although it was not Softy, whose safety he was most concerned about, meeting A Que was better than nothing. This would be better than searching for a needle in a haystack if A Que knew where Softy was.

    It followed the stray cat and moved east and west, passing through severalnes and winding around a dpidated building.

    If Zhang Zian were here, he would definitely recognize that this was the unfinished building that he¡¯d used to visit with Famous, Old Time Tea, and Gxy to trace the Holy Cat statue.

    There were a lot of stray cats around the unfinished building. Every cat¡¯s mood was somewhat dampened. Some of them were also injured. However, many of them knew dimir. Upon seeing him, they immediately came forward and surrounded him. They were excited to see him. This was much like an army finally meeting theirmander.

    dimir wondered why every cat gathered here. The environment was not ideal. Even humans tended to avoid the area. Only those who wanted to do bad things came here.

    ¡°Has everyone been good? Has anyone seen Softy, Little White, A Que, and Scald Head?¡± he asked loudly.

    The group was a mess. Every cat had something to say. In the end, with every cat saying something, ironically, nothing was said.

    At this time, several shadows jumped from the second floor of the unfinished building. dimir looked at them. It was indeed those that he was looking for: Softy, Little White, A Que, and Scald Head.

    There were a few minor injuries on Softy, but they had begun to heal. It did not seem to be a huge issue. As for the other three, they were uninjured.

    It turned out that after the stray dogsunched the attack, the damage done at Big Orange¡¯s theater had been the most serious. His entire team had been broken up after the dogs¡¯ first wave of attacks. However, Softy¡¯s southern theater had the most troops and thus was able to hold on much longer and put up greater resistance.

    The first time that Softy¡¯s theater had been attacked, three cats had been dispatched to alert the other three theaters and ask for backup.

    Big Orange had been unable to defend his own area and hadn¡¯t responded. Little White¡¯s reinforcements had arrived at the fastest speed from the western end. Ultimately, they had still been unable to defend the southern theater. Nevertheless, their presence provided cover for the retreat of their friendly forces so they could preserve as many lives as possible.

    The northern theater, guarded by A Que and Scald Head, had received the news thetest. Although they had immediately sent reinforcements to support Big Orange, it was toote. The eastern theater was overrun by stray dogs. In the end, they had to beat a slow retreat to their own line of defense to preserve their own lives.

    dimir gathered with themanders and got them to repeat to him the entire story of the stray dog counterattack.

    They were surprised to find that the attacks had been remarkable in terms of nning, the timing of the action, execution intensity, etc. In addition, the high degree of organization and discipline of the dogs was highlymendable. If they hadn¡¯t been the enemies of the dogs, they would have certainly given them a thumbs-up for a job well done.

    The stray dogs had not chosen to break their numbers up and attack all four zones at once. Rather, they had chosen to concentrate their numbers and attacked via a gap from the southeast. Most of the stray dogs had stayed in the zone to wage war against the stray cats, while a few carried out kamikaze warfare across the zones. This was an attempt to smoke out themand center of the cats and bring down the leader for an easy victory. Their scouts had been so eager in their mission that they¡¯d gone close to the pet shop.

    Fortunately, dimir had not been in Binhai City at the time, and the othermanders had been scattered everywhere. Thus, the stray dogs hadn¡¯t been sessful in smoking them out.

    The stray dog elite hadn¡¯t found themand center of the stray cats from this attack. They¡¯d had to beat a retreat when the humans were rmed to see so many strays on the street and someone had called the stray animal management center.

    The tactics used had been refined and deliberate. This was not ordinary behavior expected of stray dogs.

    dimir knew in his heart that a fearsome and powerful opponent, greater than the Holy Cat statue, had already arrived in Binhai.

    The Holy Cat statue may have been powerful, but ultimately, it had done things that could not be said to be upright and moral. However, this time around, the opponent was equally tactical in its approach. This was much like how dimir chose to run things.

    Zhang Zian heard this and understood what it meant.

    ¡°You mean... Behind the scenes, the stray dogs¡¯ counterattack on the coastal city was directed by...another elfin?¡±

    dimir nodded with a heavy heart.

 Chapter 1328: Metamorphosis

    <h4>Chapter 1328: Metamorphosis</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The next day.

    Early in the morning, as Zhang Zian opened the shutter door, the staff saw more than a dozen stray cats lying down in various postures. In addition, several of the cats were covered in thick bandages. They were stunned by what they saw.

    ¡°Master, these cats are...?¡± Wang Qian asked wonderingly.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s exnation to him was that he¡¯d heard cats crying outst night. They¡¯d sounded like they were injured, so he had gone out to look. He was right. He¡¯d seen this group of stray cats. If he had simply left them there, they surely would¡¯ve died. Thus, he had brought them into the store and performed simple first aid.

    ¡°Might there be another cat abuser?¡± Lu Yiyun asked ufortably, hugging Jasmine tightly.

    ¡°This may not be the case... They seem to have been fighting with stray dogs. They have bite marks and scratch marks on them,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    ¡°Stray dogs? Fighting with stray cats? To gain territory?¡± Li Kun asked.

    ¡°Probably. They may be fighting for territory or perhaps food.¡± He was not giving random answers to their questions. Regardless of dimir¡¯s theory, what was observable was that it was apetition between two groups of animals.

    ¡°Speaking of stray dogs...¡± Jiang Feifei interjected. ¡°A few days ago, near our shop, I saw severalrge stray dogs. All of them were dirty and had saliva dripping from their mouths. They were very ferocious and scared me, so I ran off quickly.¡±

    ¡°When you encounter a stray dog, if they are far away from you, it is best to hurry away and find a ce to hide. If the stray dogs are very close to you, you should not run. This is because when you run, stray dogs think you are weak and will chase you. Thus, you should retreat slowly and then find a ce to hide,¡± Zhang Zian told them. In fact, this was also thew to observe when encountering other beasts in the wild.

    It was estimated that Jiang Feifei¡¯s encounter with the stray dogs ??had happened around the time that the stray cat had been attacked.

    Lu Yiyun also said thoughtfully, ¡°I heard this from the customers as well. Many said that the stray dogs are behaving rather savagely these days. Although no one has been injured by them recently, this is nevertheless not the way to go... Perhaps someone will act on the stray dog poption soon...¡±

    Zhang Zian knew very well what she meant. Although most people would simply ask for action to be taken online, a few would actually do something about it. The most likely scenario was the use of poisonous fumes to drug the dogs.

    Modern Chinese society was a legal society, or at least trying to be one. Vilgantes like the Punisher and Batman, American heroes, were not celebrated. These only existed in cartoons and movies. These superheroes imed to uphold justice, when in fact, they were dispensing their own version of justice. Justice should follow thew and not be decided by individuals.

    In order to vent their anger, these perpetrators would not only poison stray dogs, they would also harm innocent pet dogs. Even the person providing the drugs would be indicted. After all, in this big city, everyone and everything was monitored everywhere.

    In January 2019, a person in Shenzhen had been arrested on the spot for cing poison on sausages. He¡¯d ended up having a criminal record and had his studies affected all to get back at someone he disliked. When he looked back at his own actions, he only had himself to me.

    In short, the conflict between people and dogs in the city was now intensifying. It was tantamount to ying with fire when the stray dogs chose to carry out their ns now.

    Zhang Zian instructed his staff to tidy up the store. He borrowed a trolley, ced the injured stray cats into cages, and brought them to Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s pet clinic. He then asked her to give them rabies vinations. He had something else to attend to and would be backter to grab them.

    As for why he used a trolley and not the Wuling Hong Guang MPV, this was because he was afraid of introducing residual fleas to it.

    The staff had long been ustomed to Zhang Zian¡¯s absence from the store. At most, some of the tougher business transactions would be lost. There would be few other effects. In any case, the lost money was not their money...

    While the staff cleaned, Zhang Zian inadvertently saw a familiar figure passing slowly as he went out of the store.

    Wasn¡¯t this the little fat boy who¡¯d been hurt by caterpirs yesterday?

    The boy¡¯s bruises were notpletely gone, but he had tried his best to milk sympathy for his wounds. Along the way, he made tons of noise and walked with heavy footsteps. He¡¯d probably whined to his mom and dad about how painful it was and said he did not want to attend school. However, his parents had probably seen through his ploy and insisted otherwise. Thus, his face was as bitter as a gourd now.

    ¡°It is Little Zhuang, isn¡¯t it? Let¡¯s go. Don¡¯t bete for school. If you are deliberatelyte, your parents will not sympathize more with your injuries anyway. They may even give you a few kicks in the butt...with shoe imprints. Haha.¡±

    Zhang Zian strolled out of the store and deliberately cracked a joke at the boy.

    Speaking of the day, it was Monday. Monday was writing day and came with a hell of a lot of reading.

    Almost every student and office worker hated Monday. However, Zhang Zian, who was somewhat an idle worker in society, couldn¡¯t care less.

    The fat boy heard his voice. Zhang Zian¡¯s words were spot on. He looked up at him and immediately recognized him.

    ¡°Yes, is your moth observation report finished? Actually, the metamorphosis of moths and that of butterflies are almost the same. You can refer to that...¡±

    Zhang Zian looked to the side and discovered that therva of the Swallowtail butterfly was still on the ss door of the shop next door.

    ¡°You can refer to that Swallowtail butterfly,¡± he said.

    ¡°Pervert transformation... Metamorphosis?¡±

    The fat boy was shocked by this novel word. To be precise, he was shocked by the front word of ¡°metamorphosis,¡± which really meant ¡°pervert.¡±

    ¡°Haha.¡±

    Just as the fat boy wanted to know the exnation of the word, Zhang Zian deliberately didn¡¯t give him an exnation andughed instead. He was toozy to exin to him what metamorphosis was.

    The boy wanted to know because this could be useful for his writing observation report. However, he did not want to ask Zhang Zian for it. He merely opened his eyes and stared hard at Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian had time to waste. After all, he didn¡¯t need to go to school anyway.

    ¡°Hey! Good morning, my brother, Mr. Store Manager!¡±

    Little Celery, who had not been around for a while, saw Zhang Zian standing by the front of the store. She eximed in surprise as she walked past.

    ¡°Hey, if it isn¡¯t Little Celery! I haven¡¯t seen you for a long time! Good morning! Come. High five!¡±

    Zhang Zian bent over and stuck out his palm. Little Celery sprinted over and followed that with a small hop. He came over and returned a high five.

    ¡°Brother Manager, I heard from the big brothers and sisters here at the store that you went to Egypt?¡± she asked with wide eyes.

    ¡°Yeah, I went to Egypt.¡±

    Zhang Zian let her wait for a while as he walked into the store to fetch her a bag of stuff. He handed it to her.

    ¡°Open it. This is a gift I brought back from Egypt.¡±

    Little Celery hesitated for a moment because her mother had told her not to take things from strangers. However, Zhang Zian was obviously not a stranger. She dly took the bag from him.

    ¡°Thank you, Mr. Manager! Wow! What is this? Dates?¡±

    She opened the bag and fished out a date palm.

    ¡°Yes, authentic Egyptian date palms. Taste it and tell me if it is good or not,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Little Celery put a date in her mouth and chewed it. Her face was full of surprise at the taste. ¡°It¡¯s delicious! It¡¯s crisp and sweet!¡±

    The fat boy, hearing all this, cried.

 Chapter 1329: Bully

    <h4>Chapter 1329: Bully</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian knew that the fat boy was an upromising foodie. He¡¯d even asked if he could eat thervae. Now that Little Celery was here, he would use the dates to entice him. He could see them, but he could not eat them.

    Unexpectedly, the boy was thick-skinned enough to walk over, stretch out his fat little hand, and shout to Little Celery. ¡°ssmate, do you know him? Didn¡¯t the teacher teach us not to eat things given to us by strangers? Give it to me. I will help you throw it away.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought, ¡°What an outrageous maniption! Please wipe your saliva before you speak!¡±

    Simple-minded Little Celery was almost fooled. She didn¡¯t know the fat boy but seemed to have seen him on campus. After all, from the first grade to the sixth grade, all of them studied on the same campus. On the square where they all gathered, the body shape of the fat boy was very eye-catching.

    ¡°Oh... I know the store manager. He is not a stranger,¡± Little Celery replied seriously.

    ¡°Whatever. Adults are not good. He opened a small shop by the side of the road. I am almost eighty percent sure that he does something illegal inside. Since you ate the date, you just might faint, and then he will traffick you. He will send you to old people in viges who cannot have children of their own... Ah!¡±

    This fat boy could¡¯ve been an actor. Not only did he use his limbs when he talked, he also spoke with all manner of facial expressions. He made many scary faces to try and terrify Little Celery. When he spoke of fainting, he even rolled his eyes backwards to make it more dramatic.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t stand the outrageous stories that the fat boy conjured up. Thus, he took a date and shot it at his forehead.

    ¡°You... Why are you hitting people?¡± The fat boy rubbed his forehead and red at him.

    ¡°When did I hit people? Who saw?¡±

    Since he was so shameless, Zhang Zian decided to y along as well.

    ¡°You... I don¡¯t care! You hurt me. You have to pay me money!¡± the fat boy yelled.

    ¡°Crazy boy! As if I will pay you a single cent!¡± Zhang Zian picked up another date and pretended to throw it at him again.

    The fat boy had learned to be smart and quickly covered his head. However, his actions were hurried and awkward. His bag fell to the ground. Books and stationery scattered all over.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you! Are you Xu Zhuang Zhuang?¡±

    Little Celery saw the name on the book and cried out in surprise.

    ¡°What? You know him?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Little Celery had a look of disgust on her face. ¡°I heard that there was a very special naughty fat boy in other sses. He always likes to pick up worms to scare girls. He will put it into the girl¡¯s pencil case and throw it on the girl¡¯s desk. This boy¡¯s name seems to be Xu Zhuang Zhuang.¡±

    ¡°You... Who are you? Don¡¯t talk nonsense! I don¡¯t know you! I...I am also not Xu Zhuang Zhuang!¡± The fat boy, flustered, put the books and stationery into his bag.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Do you dare say this in front of your dad?¡±

    Xu Zhuang Zhuang didn¡¯t reply.

    Little Celery hid on the other side, using Zhang Zian to block her from Xu Zhuang Zhuang. Then she pleaded her case to him. ¡°The weather is hot now, and this year our school has a lot of bugs on the trees. There is this especially disgusting bug that produces silk. I think it is called the ¡®hanging ghost¡¯ worm. When the wind blows on the branches, they fly everywhere. This horrible boy will pick these bugs up to scare the girls. Several of us were so scared, we cried. He simply stood there and mocked us, calling us gutless. However, when he picked up the bugs, he didn¡¯t dare do it with his bare hands. He had to use tissue paper as a barrier...¡±

    Her voice was very crisp, her narrative organized. Zhang Zian heard it clearly, but so did the staff in the store. They came out to see the so-called hero who was so dedicated to bullying primary school girls.

    ¡°Don¡¯t... Don¡¯t talk nonsense! I am not that kind of person! I... I am going to school!¡± Xu Zhuang Zhuang was guilty, and he didn¡¯t want to stay any longer. He ran away quickly. He might be fat, but boy, could he run.

    In fact, even if he had stayed, Zhang Zian could not do much to him if he kept his thick skin on and repeatedly denied the allegations. After all, there was aw that protected minors. Zhang Zian¡¯s hitting him would be a crime. He could y Zhang Zian up by ying the ¡°I¡¯m a young boy and I can be senseless at times¡± card.

    ¡°Little Celery, have you been bullied by him?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Little Celery shook her head, and her two ponytails followed through with the motion. ¡°No, he is not in the same ss as me.¡±

    ¡°Does the teacher not care?¡± he asked.

    ¡°The teacher criticized him several times and called his parents, but... The teacher said that he is a dead pig that is not even afraid of boiling water!¡± she said, quoting the teacher.

    ¡°Oh, all right. Then stay away from him. Don¡¯t bother with him.¡±

    Zhang Zian quietly ended the conversation, but he felt that Xu Zhuang Zhuang was a ssic bully in the making. In addition, he was rather vengeful. Although the boy probably would not do much to him, he worried that Little Celery would be subjected to his hatred. In the future, he might use every opportunity to deliberately make fun of her.

    How should he teach this kid a lesson?

    Yesterday, he¡¯d been made very miserable by the caterpirs. He had at least had some sympathy for the boy. Now, he merely regretted that he hadn¡¯t hurt him for a while longer when treating him. He often used insects to scare girls. Now he was being shackled by insects. This was retribution.

    Counting on the teachers to deal with him would be useless, as the teachers were also afraid of thew that protected minors. The era of strict teachers being able to smack naughty children¡¯s palms had long gone. Nowadays, it was not possible to do that. They might lose their jobs if they did it. For many teachers, it was simply not worth the trouble. Rather, they would choose to carry out verbal criticism or simply direct the disciplinary issue to the parents themselves.

    Xu Zhuang Zhuang¡¯s father seemed to be very busy and often had to work overtime on weekends. He had no time to manage him, and he was superficially fierce. He may actually shower him with a lot more love than required.

    The situation of Xu Zhuang Zhuang¡¯s mother was unknown. However, she was unlikely to be much better than the father. If not, she would not have produced such a naughty child.

    The teacher¡¯s dilemma and the indulgence of the parents allowed Xu Zhuang Zhuang to take advantage of the situation and be more mischievous.

    He could probably reach out to dimir and his stray cats to teach him a lesson. This would not directly vite thew regarding the protection of minors. After all, thew was directed at people, not cats. However, this might make the school and its principal have an adverse reaction to stray cats. It may further lead to the reurrence of the deportation of strays to the outer areas of the city.

    It seemed that he could only do it himself.

    Zhang Zian thought about Little Celery¡¯s words. Xu Zhuang Zhuang liked to pick up worms to scare girls but always used paper towels to pick them up. He was not too courageous after all.

    Okay...

    After a while, Zhang Zian had an idea. He would think about the detailster.

    Not every bug was safe to be picked up with a paper towel.

    ¡°Right, Little Celery, are there many bugs in the trees that grow by your school?¡± He suddenly remembered another detail that she¡¯d mentioned and asked her again.

    Little Celery looked up from thervae of the Swallowtail butterfly, nodded, and said, ¡°Yes! A lot!¡±

    ¡°Have there been a lot of them over the past few years?¡±

    Little Celery thought carefully. ¡°Based on what I heard from the teachers... Not so much.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case...¡±

    Zhang Zian looked thoughtfully into the distance.

    The situation he had worried about before seemed to be turning into a reality. The insects had not only invaded the greenspace behind his store, but had quietly spread to other ces.

 Chapter 1330: Growth

    <h4>Chapter 1330: Growth</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    While Zhang Zian thought about the problem, Little Celery kept looking at therva of the Swallowtail butterfly. From the look on her face, she was both curious about and fearful of the caterpir at the same time.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, why doesn¡¯t this bug move? Is it dying?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Zhang Zian snapped back to reality and walked to the shop next door. He stood next to Little Celery and watched the bug with her.

    Caterpirs moved very slowly. After all, they relied on creeping. If they could run as fast as rabbits, that would be astonishing indeed.

    Yesterday, when he¡¯de across this Swallowtailrva, it had still been able to crawl slowly by the wall. Today it was stiff, almost motionless. It had taken almost a full day to climb from the conspicuous position of the ss door to a small corner. This corner allowed it to avoid the strong sunlight that came in at noon. However, it would not be able to avoid the morning sun that shone down on it.

    A person didn¡¯t need to touch it with their fingers. Just by visual inspection, it was possible to tell that its body was not as soft as it had been yesterday. It seemed to be losing a little water and bing quite stiff.

    Zhang Zian looked at it and said, ¡°It is not dead. It is merely getting ready to enter the next stage of life.¡±

    Little Celery blinked and asked, ¡°Is... Is it like silkworm babies that be silkwormrvae?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    He shook his head. ¡°You¡¯re confusing the butterfly with the moth. Only thervae of the moth will spit out a web and build a cocoon. However, this is thervae of the swallowtail butterfly. It will only spit out a few strands of silk to fix itself in the shade. For example, it may do so at the back of a corner or on a branch. Then the body will slowly harden and form a pupa. In other words, the moth wraps itself in an outer shell, while the butterfly makes its body into a shell. In the simplest terms, moths build shells, while butterflies be shells.¡±

    Little Celery seemed to understand what he¡¯d said. In her mind, images of moths building shells came to her mind.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I guess this Swallowtail butterfly is going to settle down here to prepare for its metamorphosis. You can observe it on the way home every day and observe the process. Maybe one day, you may even see a butterfly emerging,¡± he said.

    If it was not observed for the utilitarian purpose ofpleting a piece of homework, the task would definitely be a much more enjoyable experience.

    ¡°Yeah!¡± Little Celery nodded hard.

    ¡°A phrase often mentioned in daily life and novels, ¡®Emerge from cocoons and be butterflies,¡¯ is actually wrong,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°The only thing that can do so is the moth. It will never be a butterfly. More appropriately, they transform from pupae into butterflies. However, it does not sound as lyrical as the first phrase. Moths are not always dull-looking. In fact, some species of moth are more beautiful and majestic-looking than butterflies. This is, therefore, the source of confusion. This mistake is shared with everyone. It is fine in daily living where we talk about them in casual conversations. However, in science, we must call a spade a spade. There must not be cause for confusion.¡± He further delved into the topic.

    ¡°Oh... This seems to be something I could write about for my homework.¡± Little Celery caught on to what he¡¯d shared.

    ¡°Yes, you can definitely get a good score if you write this in yourposition.¡± He smiled. ¡°Yournguage teachers don¡¯t necessarily know this... Ah, are you going to take the final exam? If the finalnguage andposition exam is open-ended, where you can write about ¡®Interesting Things in My Life,¡¯ perhaps you can write about this mix-up that most people have. The teacher reading it will find your writing especially refreshing.¡±

    The final examinations at primary school would be at the end of June. Little Celery was not the best writer. She paled inparison to the best student, Wang Yaning. Herpositions were frequently read out by the teachers as model answers. Little Celery always envied her for that. When she heard Zhang Zian¡¯s suggestion, she was so happy that she had already begun to ponder how to write theposition.

    Wang Yaning¡¯sposition, in terms of her use of literary devices and tonality, was rather standard. She employed the frequently-used sequential method of storytelling. Although it allowed the story to flow and looked very good on paper, it was rather forgettable. If Little Celery wrote about the mistakes people made about butterflies and started her story off with the phrase, ¡®Emerge from cocoons and be butterflies,¡¯ herposition would at least win on the novelty of her writing style.

    Anyway, there was nothing to do in the store. The staff had merelye out to see what the excitement was all about with Xu Zhuang Zhuang. Before he went back, Wang Qian said, ¡°If I was back in elementary school, even if I wrote this essay, I would definitely be suspected of giarism by the teacher...¡±

    Li Kun agreed, ¡°It is not really like something a child ranked close to the bottom of the ss would be able to produce.¡±

    ¡°Idiot! You are second-tost in ss. Who gave you the authority to look down on me?¡± Wang Qian retorted.

    ¡°You two get back into the store and don¡¯t make a fool out of yourselves here.¡± Zhang Zian rushed the two goons back into the store. Listening to their conversation was simply detrimental to the store¡¯s image.

    The two guys continued bickering and reluctantly headed back in. They imed that the store was too stuffy, and Zhang Zian did not allow them to turn on the air conditioner. It was, therefore, better toe out and breathe fresh air.

    Little Celery was excited with all the thoughts about how she would write her essay. She stared at therva and said, ¡± It¡¯s amazing! An ugly caterpir turns itself into a cocoon. After it emerges, it bes a beautiful butterfly. It¡¯s like an ugly duckling turning into a white swan!¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s lips moved. He wanted to say something, but he swallowed it back.

    ¡°Ah! I will bete! Elder brother, I¡¯m going to school first! See you tomorrow!¡± Little Celery looked down at the children¡¯s watch on her wrist, eximed, and ran away with joy.

    ¡°See you tomorrow! Don¡¯t run too fast. Be careful not to fall and scrape your knees.¡± Zhang Zian also waved goodbye.

    The lively Little Celery had changed into workout shorts and sweatshirt. Without the two ponytails at the back of her head, she did look like a tomboy.

    ¡°Master, what did you want to say to her?¡± Li Kun observed his face and was keenly aware that Zhang Zian had unfinished words lingering on his tongue.

    ¡°That you are awful!¡±

    Zhang Zian gave him a look.

    ¡°Say it, Master. I also want to hear! It¡¯s good for our experience!¡± Wang Qian also pleaded, unwilling to give in.

    Zhang Zian gave in to them and said, ¡°There was a mistake in what Little Celery said. She said that caterpirs be cocoons and will break out and be butterflies, much like an ugly duckling turning into a white swan. In fact, this is not true.¡±

    ¡°Where is it wrong?¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun looked puzzled.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s face grew serious and he exined, ¡°After the caterpir¡¯s pupation, there is a drastic metamorphosis process within the cocoon. Almost all the organs in the caterpir are digested into the cytosm by enzymes. Then, a microcellr structure called the ¡®imaginal disc¡¯ uses these digested organs as a source of nutrients to regenerate various organs of the butterfly.¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were still puzzled and did not understand what he¡¯d shared with them.

    ¡°For example, in the sci-fi movie ¡®Alien,¡¯ A person is unknowingly injected with the egg of an alien creature. After a while, he enters a hibernation cabin to cope with the long duration of space travel. This helped to save on unnecessary energy exertion. During his hibernation, the egg quietly hatched in his body, feeding on his flesh and blood... When the hibernation cabin reopened, he was no longer a human being, but an alien monster. This is the same process of transformation that caterpirs and butterflies undergo.¡±

    Zhang Zian pointed to therva that was currently going through the process. ¡°You would think that this caterpir would turn into a butterfly. Actually it will not. It is merely a feeding machine responsible for collecting nutrients. The real butterfly is currently residing as a parasite within it, much like an egg. It waits for the caterpir to fatten itself and then feeds on it. Person enters, alien emerges. Caterpir in, butterfly out. So how can this beparable to ugly ducklings bing beautiful swans?¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun finally understood what he meant, and their faces changed color. It was a hot summer, but they felt chills down their spines. They even had goosebumps.

    ¡°There is no poetic or aesthetic sense to this, is there? The truth is, indeed, cruel and brutal.¡± Zhang Zian smiled bitterly. ¡°The phrase ¡¯emerge from cocoons and be butterflies¡¯ is fundamentally wrong. Even ¡®transform from pupae into butterflies¡¯ is somewhat incorrect. After all, the caterpirs are digested while inside and have already disappeared.¡±

    Wang Qian understood. ¡°So you didn¡¯t tell Little Celery...¡±

    ¡°Yeah, because these truths are too dark and cruel. At her age, there is no need to know this. Let her think that caterpirs can really turn into butterflies.¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun understood his reasoning.

    Zhang Zian stared at therva. What kind of butterfly was hidden in the body?

 Chapter 1331: I Canâ€™t Let Go

    <h4>Chapter 1331: I Can¡¯t Let Go</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After cleaning up the store, Wang Qian and Li Kun borrowed a trolley and sent more than a dozen stray cats to Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s pet clinic. After Zhang Zian came back, they went downstairs andid out two exquisite and heavy suitcases. They then went outside the store and put them in the Wuling Hong Guang MPV.

    ¡°Master, are you going to y with your drone?¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun knew that the suitcase was carrying a drone and looked envious.

    ¡°Now, even an assault boat is not enough for you? It seems that you don¡¯t just want to go to the sea. You also want to go to the skies!¡±

    Zhang Zian nced at them. ¡°Why are you talking nonsense? Look after the store!¡±

    ¡°We also want to y with drones...¡± They stared at the suitcase.

    ¡°To hell with ying with drones! Just take nes!¡± Zhang Zian waved them off impatiently and drove them back to the store. ¡°I have serious things to do.¡±

    Of course, Wang Qian and Li Kun did not believe him. They whispered, ¡°He obviously wants to y. He¡¯s probably using it at the girls¡¯ dormitory...¡±

    Zhang Zian pretended that he was about to choke both of them. They hurriedly ran back into the store.

    He looked up at the window on the second floor.

    dimir, who was waiting there, pushed open the window, leaped down, andnded on the roof. He did not make any noise before entering the car from the rear window.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go.¡±

    Zhang Zian started the car and headed south.

    ¡°You¡¯re saying that those stray dogs came from the south of Binhai?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yes. Myrades at that time ousted the stray dogs from the vicinity of the dog market to the south and expelled them to the outer suburbs. I don¡¯t know where exactly they ended up setting up camp, but it is definitely in the south,¡± dimir said.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°Well, let¡¯s go find it.¡±

    dimir had no clue what they would find. ¡°It is unwise to go alone. Are you sure you don¡¯t want me to call up myrades? After all, these horrible dogs injured my tribe. They must pay!¡±

    Zhang Zian was quiet. Calling them horrible dogs here seemed to be correct indeed!

    ¡°Don¡¯t get excited yet. Let¡¯s scout for now. Once we know what they are truly up to, we can make further ns,¡± he said. ¡°Additionally, I don¡¯t rmend that you get into a fight immediately. Although the stray dogs caused a lot of damage, where will the end of revenge be? In fact, the entire dispute started when some stray dogs ousted some other stray dogs. If we can, we should try to resolve the entire issue amicably... If not, both sides will suffer heavy losses.¡±

    Yesterday, after dimir had described the entire incident, he¡¯d felt that this matter was not as simple as it seemed. If the leader of a stray dogs was really an elfin, then this would be very troublesome.

    Just as dimir would lead the stray cats to liberation, this elfin had be the leader of the stray dogs. It certainly wouldn¡¯t sit idly by and observe the plight of the stray dogs. It was destined to sh with dimir¡¯s stray cat army.

    Two tigers... No, two dogs... That wasn¡¯t right. In short, when cats and dogs fought, one would definitely be wounded.

    And it was not just dimir and the elfin that might be injured. Hundreds of stray cats and stray dogs would be involved.

    If there was arge-scale all-out battle, their rivers might be filled with corpses and blood.

    Fina would not sit by and let that happen.

    Although it is not clear what Famous thought, it was a dog, after all. How could it bear watching its own kind die?

    Besides, if there was such arge-scale cat-and-dog fight, it would certainly rm humans. How they would react to the situation was difficult to predict.

    In short, too many parties would be involved in this conflict. It would likely lead to a serious chain reaction.

    Thus, if possible, the two sides should take a step back and aim for a peaceful resolution. That would be the best.

    dimir knew that Zhang Zian¡¯s concerns were valid. However, he could not take this attack on his kind lying down. In addition, a peace process required both parties to agree and adhere to it. The willingness of the other party to make peace was unknown.

    Unexpected major setbacks and unknown opponents made it anxious. It had lost its calmposure that it had been known for in the past.

    ¡°Right. As you said before, the stray cats have withdrawn from the greenspace. Why is this so?¡± The conversation from earlier was unresolved, but he changed the subject anyway.

    dimir was stunned for a while and wondered why he¡¯d suddenly mentioned this. Although it was a pity to give up their base, this was not the focal point for him right now.

    Nevertheless, he thought about it and replied, ¡°I heard from the other stray cats that, after we left for Egypt, the city was bombarded with heavy torrential rains. The temperature soared, and it was hot and humid. The grass in the greenspace grew to over a foot high overnight.¡±

    This was not surprising. After all, the city¡¯s soil had not been cultivated by crops and was moistened by domestic sewage all day. It was rich in organic matter, which provided sufficient nutrients for the growth of vegetation.

    dimir continued, ¡°I don¡¯t know when it started, but there were suddenly many caterpirs in the greenspace. Many of them seemed to be poisonous. When myrades walked through the grass, they¡¯d often get these creatures caught in their fur. Sometimes, a cat could have dozens of caterpirs on its body. This made it very painful for them. I heard that some of them were stung to death. Nonbat deaths... What I most hope won¡¯t happen had happened. Because of this and the increasing number of mosquitoes, the cats felt very ufortable. After collective deliberation, some stayed behind, though only at the edge of the space to prevent the enemy from upying it. Others hadpletely withdrawn from the greenspace.¡±

    It added, ¡°However, this is only a temporary retreat. When the harvest is over, we will go back.¡±

    Zhang Zian said nothing.

    He listened while driving and frowned slightly. He hadn¡¯t expected the caterpirs in the green space to be so abundant. If this were true, his n to nt mint in the space may face strong hindrance. Some caterpirs, such as the Looper, would eat mint leaves. Growing mint in the area would be the equivalent of feeding them.

    ¡°Why ask this?¡± dimir asked.

    ¡°Nothing. I just think that if the caterpirs are so rampant, they will cause some inconvenience to daily life,¡± he said. ¡°Walking on the road and suddenly having a caterpir fall on you... How disgusting.¡±

    dimir did not care. It only thought about how to fight against the stray dogs.

    ¡°Look! That dog is sneaky! It must be a horrible dog! Keep up with it!¡± It suddenly saw a stray dog ??trotting into the alley and shouted indignantly.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Forget it. The alley is too narrow, and our car won¡¯t be able to turn around when we drive in. If there is a car on the opposite side, we will be blocked.¡±

    dimir had to give up the pursuit, though he was full of regret.

    It was the afternoon of a workday. The peak traveling period had long since passed, and there were not many cars on the road.

    The Wuling Hong Guang MPV drove south smoothly. The buildings on both sides of the roads became lower and lower. They also started to look rather derelict. They had arrived in the suburbs.

 Chapter 1332: The Eagle Spreads its Wings

    <h4>Chapter 1332: The Eagle Spreads its Wings</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Although dimir understood Zhang Zian¡¯s concerns, he did not think it was something to worry overmuch about.

    In recent years, perhaps due to the rapid changes in climate, there were gues in many cities across China. These disasters were caused by caterpir outbreaks and happened in cities such as Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Huizhou. Guangzhou was the hardest hit. It was the epicenter of the caterpir outbreak, with cases happening every one-to-two years.

    The outbreak of insects often had no warning. During the summer and autumn, amon torrential rain could trigger it.

    Unlike insect pests in the general farnd areas, the insect pests in the city did not greatly affect grain production. In addition, it was rarely prioritized by city officials. Even if it was reported, it was also in the corner of the news page and was often ignored.

    However, because the city was a highly popted ce, insect pests could cause great inconvenience to people¡¯s daily lives.

    At its most severe, trees were covered with insects and worms crawling all over the ground. The leaves were all gone, having been eaten by all those insects, much like a locust storm invading the area. Pedestrians tried their best to avoid walking under these trees. Those whose upations did not offer them this luxury, such as those cleaning the streets, traffic wardens, and delivery drivers, were simply unlucky.

    At present, ording to the information observed and learned by Zhang Zian, the coastal city ticked all the pre-requisites for an impending outbreak of insects. When the next rain fell, it will be hard to predict what happened next...

    He thought about it silently. As he saw the pedestrians and vehicles around him getting sparse, he found a ce to park before getting out of the car to assemble the drone.

    He did not dare let the drone fly freely in the urban area because it might mistakenly enter some sort of restricted area, such as the location of a government agency, and then he might be mistaken for a terrorist. Thus, it was better for him to only assemble the drone once outside the city.

    The drone was needed because dimir was not aware of the specific location of the stray dog army, and the southern suburb was arge, sprawling area. The stray cats¡¯ line of sight waspletely outdone by the taller stray dogs, meaning that they would not be effective in finding them. Thus, to speed things up, they needed to go higher. If not, they would probably have to search until at least the Year of the Monkey.

    During his trip to Egypt, dimir understood how big the drone was. It was like an eagle flying over arge area. It could see everything within the scope of its camera. Whether it was used to find enemies or to flee from one, it was a trustworthy tool,pletely irreceable. Thus, dimir waited patiently by its side.

    ¡°All right, all done.¡±

    Zhang Zianpleted the assembly with ease and started the drone with the remote control. He set it to ¡°follow¡± mode so that the drone always hovered over the Wuling Hong Guang MPV whilst in the air.

    The drone roared as it soared into the sky.

    The human and the cat re-entered the car, and Zhang Zian fixed the remote control on the dashboard like a navigation phone. This made it convenient for viewing at any time. The Wuling Hong Guang MPV continued its journey south.

    A slightly damp and hot wind blew in from the open window. It messed up Zhang Zian¡¯s hair, and dimir¡¯s fur fluttered in the wind.

    After leaving the city of high-rise concrete structures, the t and vast suburbs provided a wee alternative. Their vastness had a simr effect on one¡¯s world view. The wind managed to somewhat lighten the tightness that had built up in dimir¡¯s chest over thest two days.

    dimir poked his head out the window, squinted, and nced at the drone in the air. The loyal drone, named after the falcon god Nahkbet, followed them, and its silver shell shone against the sunlight.

    From the screen of the remote control, the alreadyrge Wuling Hong Guang MPV had be a slow-moving millet grain.

    dimir sighed and sang softly whilst giving himself a beat:

    ¡°Travelling through the city in a small car¡ª¡±

    ¡°The river flows eastward¡ª¡±

    ¡°The eagle spreads its wings¡ª¡±

    ¡°Apany me to fight¡ª¡±

    ¡°The Meow Meow generation will surge forward¡ª¡±

    ¡°Going forward along with me¡ª¡±

    ¡°Going forward along with me¡ª¡±

    ¡°To smash the leaders of the stinky dogs -¡±

    ¡°The vastnds are good and great¡ª¡±

    ¡°Good and great!¡±

    ¡°...¡± said Zhang Zian. Although dimir had changed the words of a famous Chinese riddle, it made sense in the current context.

    Anyway, there was nothing going on. Might as well let him sing and join him.

    ¡°Travelling through the city in a small car¡ª¡±

    ¡°The river flows eastward¡ª¡±

    ¡°The eagle spreads its wings¡ª¡±

    ¡°Apany me to fight¡ª¡±

    Even in the suburbs, there were traffic lights on individual roads. Sometimes when waiting for the lights to turn green, other drivers parked next to them looked curiously at Zhang Zian. They were wondering what time it was¡ªhow could there be people singing this old revolutionary song at this time of the day? It was fine to sing it, but why change the lyrics? Had it not been a familiar melody known by many, they might not even be able to make out what song it was.

    Most importantly, the singing was simply horrible! Was there no sense of shame in this person¡¯s heart?

    A man with a tone insufficiency, crying out non-stop, plus a screaming half-gray and half-blue cat. The man and cat seemed happy in their own world.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t care. No one knew him here. He might as well take the opportunity to show off his singing skills and save the money on going to a KTV.

    As he sang in his off-tune pitch, he temporarily put the threat of insect damage behind him. After all, it was only a possibility, not a confirmed disaster.

    As the car continued southward, it finally arrived at the outer suburbs of Binhai. Here, even low-rise buildings were rare, and there wererge areas of wilderness and fields everywhere.

    As they were not on the main road, there were few cars around, and road conditions were not ideal.

    Zhang Zian and dimir, who sang wholeheartedly throughout their journey, finally stopped to catch their breath and stopped the noise pollution.

    ¡°Look over there!¡± dimir pointed with his front paw at the corner of the remote-control screen. ¡°That is a team of dogs patrolling!¡±

    Dog patrol.

    Zhang Zian first observed the vehicles in front, then those at his rear, before slowing down. He then looked at the screen.

    Indeed, the lens edge of the drone captured a group of dogs walking through the field. However, they did not seem to notice the presence of the drone.

    Yet dogs were considered social creatures. It was normal for dogs to gather and help one another whilst living as a group. Could they not just call this a patrol, then?

    ¡°Follow them and see where they are going and what they want to do,¡± dimir said.

    Zhang Zian had the same intention. Although the drone had broad vision, the world was huge, and they should not blindly search for clues.

    He turned the steering wheel, left the t main road at the next fork, and turned into the undting slip road.

    With Nahkbet observing from the sky, he could follow the dogs from far away without worrying about being discovered. He also did not have to worry about losing them. After all, even if the road conditions in the country were terrible, they were no worse than those he experienced in the Sahara Desert. Tall parallel sand dunes and quicksand traps that could appear at any time were much worse elements to deal with.

    There were several small settlements of houses and warehouses up front, and several cars parked nearby.

    The team of dogs stopped and looked around. When they noticed that there was nothing around them, they sneaked in and disappeared.

    Zhang Zian and dimir looked at each other and had the same thought: We will find out what you all are up to!

 Chapter 1333: Stealing Food

    <h4>Chapter 1333: Stealing Food</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In order to avoid the attention of the stray dogs, Zhang Zian made the drone climb higher. Because the dog¡¯s hearing was very sensitive while people couldn¡¯t hear the sound of the propeller, a dog could easily sense it. He flew it to the outskirts of the city, zoomed in and tried to capture an unobstructed view of what was happening on the ground.

    This seemed to be a small-scale cooked food processing nt. The raw meat from other ces was processed into various cooked food products here and then sold to all parts of the country.

    The dogs were hiding in the corner and staring at a truck that had just stopped.

    The truck door opened, and several staff members pushed a string of sausages out of the workshop line to the truck. They loaded up the truck, then prepared for further shipment.

    The truck slowly filled up with sausages.

    Perhaps the weather was hot, or perhaps the dogs were hungry for a treat; they all had their tongues out. They had a famished look on their faces but because there were people around, they wouldn¡¯t dare to go and grab the food.

    The team¡¯s leader gave another dog a look. The other dog picked up on the signal and went from the back to the other side of the workshop. It was clear that this was not the first time they did this.

    Boom!

    Woof, woof!

    Woof, woof!

    ¡°Oh! There are wild dogs!¡±

    The other side of the workshop suddenly became chaotic. It seemed that the dog responsible for it was deliberately creating havoc by overturning something. In addition to that, it was barking loudly.

    The staff members loading the truck were worried that their colleagues were in danger. They left the work at hand and rushed in to help.

    The remaining terriers took advantage of this distraction and rushed to the side of the truck. Each dog pulled out a long string of sausages from the truck and ran away.

    Zhang Zian was speechless. Stray dogs now know how to create distractions?

    dimir shouted disdainfully, ¡°That dog is indeed a wild one! What¡¯s the difference between him and the thief who steals things? Look at us catspared to them; we never take a single needle or money from themon man!¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. You have no need to take needlework, huh?

    The treatment of stray dogs in the suburbs certainly couldn¡¯t bepared with the stray cats in the city. No one dared to feed stray dogs whilst they are in groups. Therefore, they could only find other ways to get food. If they wanted to have something good to eat, they could only get food by stealing.

    After the dog responsible for the bluff was done with his job, he immediately turned and ran away. When the staff came back, they found that the sausages had already been stolen.

    The local dogs thought they were sessful. They feared that people would chase them and rushed away with the sausages in their mouths.

    The dogs didn¡¯t see the aftermath of their distraction, but Zhang Zian could guess from what he saw through the drones: The staff members were not mad at each other, but instead pped each other on the backs with gloating smiles on their faces.

    Their reaction was unexpected. Something else must have been going on. Zhang Zian immediately guessed that the sausages the dogs took away probably had extra ingredients in them.

    Judging from the action of the dogs, this was not the first time they did such a thing. How could the humans in the cooked food processing nt be fooled again and again?

    Although these dogs seemed to be smarter than ordinary dogs, they were simply no matchpared to the crafty humans.

    The long strings of sausages would be eaten, and they will likely take these dogs¡¯ lives as well.

    The car¡¯s engine was still running. Zhang Zian immediately drove in the direction that the stray dogs took off in.

    Regarding the group of the stray dogs, they were also very powerful. They were able to resist the temptation of the sausage. They would eat them only when they were far from the nt.

    The car passed a direction sign, which read: Binhai City Landfill, two kilometers ahead.

    Landfill?

    Looking at the direction the team of dogs was running in, it was indeed the one indicated by the arrow on the sign. Does the elf lead the stray dogs to thisndfill? Then that is a good ce to hide.

    As for why this elf was not detected by the game, the answer was not surprising. This was because when in the capital, dimir did something simr and relied on his own willpower to control when he appeared. This was because it had powers equivalent to a god. This elf¡¯s powers were likely simr.

    Sure enough, several stray dogs dragged the sausages into thendfill.

    Thendfill was huge, and the terrain was extremelyplicated. Garbage pits and hills of varying sizes were everywhere. Without the assistance of drones, one could get lost going in.

    Unsurprisingly, there were hundreds of stray dogs in thendfill. They were of different sizes and colors. Some were strolling whilst some searched for food. However, there was no fighting going on between them. When several dogs were together, it would be natural to think that they would fight often.

    The elf that Zhang Zian and dimir were looking for must be a dog. There was no doubt about that, but there were so many dogs here. Which one was it?

    He couldn¡¯t search for it by pointing his mobile phone at every dog he passed by, could he?

    He didn¡¯t dare to leave the car. If ten dogs rushed toward him, let alone hundreds of dogs, they could tear him into pieces within mere seconds.

    dimir also looked somewhat surprised. The strength of his opponent was beyond its expectations. They were all fierce bulldogs, not Teddy bear dogs or Chihuahuas.

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment before maneuvering the drone to go lower. It reached a very low point, about twenty or thirty meters from the ground and slowly passed over the dogs.

    He thought that if the elf saw the drone and reacted to it, then it would mean it was certainly different from the ordinary dogs.

    The stray dogs heard the sound of the propellers and looked up at the silver drones. However, from observing their expressions, they appeared to be slightly weirded out and confused. They then realized that the drones did not pose a threat to them and continued to do their own thing. This was because there was often strange machinery being used in thendfills; they have already gotten used to it.

    Not only did the stray dogs notice the drone, but thendfill workers maniptingrge machinery did as well. They didn¡¯t care much about it either, thinking that it was merely another toy of a rich second-generation person in China.

    Zhang Zian patiently controlled the drone to perform an S-shaped sweep over thendfill, trying to get the attention of each dog.

    At that moment, he saw the group of stray dogs with long strings of sausages in their mouths. They had stopped running as they met up with another group of dogs. They snorted and let go of the sausages.

    The dogs they met up with were female dogs that had just given birth. There was a German Shepherd, a Mongrel and a Mastiff. There were also a lot of puppies around them. Some were waiting to be fed, while others did not even have their eyespletely open.

    It turned out that these dogs were risking their lives to go to the cooked food processing farm to steal the sausages for these puppies. Instead of filling their own stomachs, they wanted to feed them to the female dogs who had just given birth. This was so that they could have clean food rather than soiled food that the other dogs would find in the garbage.

    Although what they were doing was wrong, it felt as if their actions could be forgiven.

    At the sight of this, even dimir was silent and did not speak.

    At that moment, the lens of the drone suddenly caught the figure of a white Mongrel. It stood proudly on a garbage dump, looked out over the north, the direction of Binhai City, and spoke in a long and deep tone:

    ¡°The all-knowing has passed!¡±

    ¡°Yet the sorrows in my heart yearn for my fellow citizens!¡±

    ¡°When the armyes again...¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget to tell your elders!¡±

 Chapter 1334: Poisoned

    <h4>Chapter 1334: Poisoned</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Shi Er¡±, a famous poem by the famous patriotic poet Lu You of Nanning was widely known by all who attended middle school in China. Zhang Zian has certainly learned it as well.

    This poem was the perfect way for Lu You to die. It was believed to be a will intended to be read by his descendants. If the mothend was unified in the future, he must tell him this good news when they worship him.

    But was this poem appropriate in this situation? After all, this elf didn¡¯t look like it was going to die... However, if the female dogs that just gave birth to their puppies ate those poisonous sausages, they could indeed die. Their deaths could also cause the subsequent deaths of the puppies altogether.

    ¡°Don¡¯t eat the sausages!¡±

    Zhang Zian said through the speaker of the drone.

    ¡°Who is it?¡±

    The white dog also saw the drone and screamed.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about who I am. If you don¡¯t want your dogs to be poisoned, don¡¯t let them eat those sausages! The sausages are poisoned,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    The white dog squinted and turned back to look at the female dogs. They have not yet regained their strength. It was just the right time for them to get some nutrition. They coveted after the taste of the sausages. Had they not been feeding their puppies, they might have already eaten them.

    Zhang Zian saw the white dog hesitating and said, ¡°Trust me, I mean it! I saw it with my own eyes. Didn¡¯t they steal those sausages from a food processing nt? Also, this wasn¡¯t the first time they stole from there. The people had already been prepared for it; they deliberately let you steal poisonous sausages so that your group would be poisoned.

    A female dog had already been fed milk, stood up and couldn¡¯t wait to take a bite in the sausage. Her sharp teeth immediately broke through the sausage¡¯s soft casing.

    Wolf!

    The white dog barked and rushed over to snatch the sausage away. The female dog was so rmed that she immediately ran off to hide.

    The other dogs didn¡¯t know what was going on, but they were afraid of the white dog¡¯s authority and didn¡¯t dare to fight against it.

    The white dog didn¡¯t eat the sausages himself, but spit it out on the ground. He then bowed his head and sniffed. Although this strange machine in the air seemed to have witnessed everything, he was nevertheless suspicious of its words. After all, it couldn¡¯t smell anything off from the sausage and merely snatched the sausage away as an act of caution.

    ¡°You can¡¯t smell anything,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°If I remember correctly, it should be a kind of chemical called isoniazid which is colorless and tasteless. However, it is highly toxic to dogs. Ordinary people will find it difficult to get their hands on these chemicals. However, it is a food processing nt so they must have the channels for buying these chemical products.¡±

    The white dog stayed quiet as the hungry female dogs stared at the sausages he stepped on.

    ¡°How can you prove that your words are true?¡± It looked up at the drone.

    Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t had time to speak when dimir couldn¡¯t help himself and interjected. He said, ¡°To meow with you! If you don¡¯t believe us, then go ahead and eat the sausages! It¡¯ll save us both the trouble!¡±

    The white dog¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Rubbish! And what the hell are you?!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here to take your dog life!¡± dimir called.

    ¡°Wait! Wait!¡±

    Zhang Zian quickly stopped their meaningless verbal quarrel and said: ¡°If you want proof, you can tear the sausages apart. Maybe you can find white pills in them or other kinds of chemicals. However, the chances of there being small pills are very high; they aren¡¯t things you wouldmonly find in a sausage.¡±

    The white dog suspiciously shredded the sausage. No abnormalities were found in the first sausage. Neither were there any in the second. It was not until he tore open the third that a few small white pills rolled out of the sausage.

    ¡°This is isoniazid?¡±

    At that moment, the white dog finally believed him.

    ¡°Yes, it should be,¡± Zhang Zian saw the whole process through the drone¡¯s lens.

    The white dog pulled at the few small pills with his ws. ¡°What happens when you eat it?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought a little and replied, ¡°The toxicity is high and affects your body rapidly. When you eat it, your muscles will be paralyzed, your breathing will be difficult, you lose control of your bowels and finally die whilst foaming at your mouth. If the dosage is high, the whole process will take less than two hours.¡±

    ¡°And...¡± He looked to the side at dimir. ¡°Isoniazid is also toxic to cats.¡±

    dimir, who looked as if he thought it had nothing to do with him, was stunned when he heard this. ¡°What?¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. He did not hear wrongly either.

    The white dog said no more and shredded all the remaining sausages. Afterward, he then threw a few bunches of sausages that were not mixed with isoniazid to the female dogs that had puppies. Still reluctant to throw away the sausages with isoniazid in them, he carefully examined them for any further tablets and removed them. This was because even if he threw them away, the other dogs woulde by and eat the sausages anyway.

    At that moment, a riot suddenly urred in a certain direction of thendfill. Several dogs of various colors ran over and barked crazily at the white dog.

    ¡°What? Hurry and take me there to see!¡±

    The white dog said anxiously and followed that group of dogs. He ran in the direction they came from.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what was going on either. Nevertheless, he was curious and manipted the drone to follow them.

    The white dog ran to the northeast of thendfill, where several dogsy on the ground, twitching, rolling, and wailing.

    ¡°What is going on?¡± shouted the white dog.

    The other dogs that were fine barked senselessly at the sight.

    ¡°What? Did they be like this after eating the sausages that were found in the garbage?¡± The white dog was shocked and angry.

    It looked up at the drone and stopped talking.

    Zhang Zian has observed the symptoms of the dogs through the drone and said with a sigh, ¡°It seems that they have been poisoned by isoniazid.¡±

    ¡°Then... will they die?¡± asked the white dog.

    dimir was concerned about this problem as well since isoniazid was also toxic to cats. If stray dogs could be poisoned by eating sausages, so would any stray cats that eat them.

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment. ¡°If the symptoms are just starting to act out, there is a chance to save them... We are next to the sea. Drag these sick dogs to the beach and fill their stomachs with seawater. Make them vomit out everything. Make them spit out as much of the isoniazid as possible. Try to clean out their stomachs to avoid further poisoning.¡±

    The white dog had no other choice. He had no ideas of his own either. To at least give these dogs a chance to live, he needed to take drastic measures. He would try out Zhang Zian¡¯s suggestion.

    As soon as it was ordered, the other dogs dragged the poisoned dogs to the beach.

    The drone continued to follow them.

    Being rather savage in their actions, the stray dogs dragged the poisoned dogs to the sea and held them down as they tried hard to struggle. The waves filled their stomachs with seawater.

    The various salts in the sea greatly irritated the dogs¡¯ stomachs. In a short while, the poisoned dogs¡¯ stomachs swelled and it caused them all to begin vomiting.

    ¡°And then? What should I do now?¡± The white dog rushed to the drone and howled.

    Zhang Zian said. ¡°Go to the west of thendfill. There is a Wuling Hong Guang MPV. I will be here waiting for you. Come alone. I have medicine that might save their lives.¡±

 Chapter 1335: Antidote

    <h4>Chapter 1335: Antidote</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian threw the ball to the white dog¡¯s group. What happened next was now entirely up to them.

    He wasn¡¯t pretending to be righteous and of high status. This was a practical decision. The Wuling Hong Guang MPV couldn¡¯t enter thendfill. Without getting too far in, their tires may have been ttened by sharp debris. The vehicles in thendfills were all crawler arm type vehicles with reinforced wheels. He wasn¡¯t willing to abandon his vehicle and walk through thendfill with hundreds of thousands of stray dogs... He really couldn¡¯t.

    He made it clear that if the white dog wanted to save hispanions, he needed toe out to take the medicine himself. If he came out with arge group of subordinates surrounding the Wuling Hong Guang MPV, then all he could do was leave. Besides, the drone was monitoring from the sky, thus making this unlikely to happen.

    The white dog hesitated, but the isoniazid was very toxic and there wasn¡¯t much time left.

    He looked at his poisonedpanions who were vomiting, shitting and crying out in sorrow. He didn¡¯t hesitate for too long. Filled with determination, he looked up and said to the drone, ¡°Bring me there!¡±

    Dogs are social animals. Seeing their leader heading off elsewhere made the dogs instinctively want to follow. However, the white dog howled at them to stay. They obeyed his orders, and if a stray dog stupidly insisted on following, he gave it a head butt.

    Zhang Zian issued amand for the drone to return and the drone automatically began to fly towards the Wuling Hong Guang MPV. The white dog followed closely behind.

    After a short while, the drone arrived at the roof of the MPV. It continued to hover in the air, acting as a directional aid for the white dog in the distance.

    It would¡¯ve been faster to fly than to run. After a while, the white dog finally appeared with his tongue out.

    He cautiously stopped to observe the situation. His eyes moved down from the drone and fell on Zhang Zian and dimir, who were both next to him.

    ¡°You are the two that spoke over that thing?¡± he asked, alert to the situation.

    Zhang Zian and dimir were also eyeballing him. This was an ordinary white mongrel. He was medium in size and average body shape with brown eyes. He had a bald spot on its scalp; perhaps he always used his head to head butt the other dogs.

    Compared to the other stray dogs, this one was quite clean and dazzling. While other white stray dogs became grey after a few days in andfill, he remained white.

    ¡°It¡¯s us.¡±

    Zhang Zian pulled out a few small bottles from the car and threw them through the window.

    The small pill bottlesnded, bounced a few times, and rolled to his feet beforeing to a stop.

    He looked down but the instructions on the pill bottles were tooplicated and difficult for him to understand.

    ¡°This is...the antidote?¡±

    ¡°Antidote ... This isn¡¯t a martial arts story, this is vitamin B6. It has a certain detoxification effect in cases of isoniazid poisoning. In theory, the best treatment is intravenous injections. However, based on the current conditions, that is not possible. We can only force those poisoned dogs to take massive amounts of these pills. Do not allow them to vomit these out once swallowed. How to do it is entirely up to you,¡± Zhang ZIan exined.

    The white dog looked down at the small pill bottles and hesitated.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If I wanted to poison the dogs I would have just left you all alone. Why bother, then?¡± Zhang Zian urged, ¡°The longer you wait, the less likely the dogs will be to survive.¡±

    The white dog was still uneasy. He asked further, ¡°I don¡¯t doubt that you do not want to poison them, but are you a doctor? Is this medicine going to detoxify them?¡±

    dimir muttered impatiently. ¡°What the hell is with all this nonsense? Just get on with it!¡±

    The white dog wanted to say something but decided not to. This is neither the time nor ce for that.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°I am not a doctor, but I know the principle of isoniazid poisoning. The molecr structure of isoniazid is simr to that of vitamin B6. After entering the body, they willpetitively inhibit each other¡¯s effects. To be precise, Vitamin B6 isn¡¯t used to detoxify the body but instead helps to prevent the isoniazid frompletely taking effect. The remaining isoniazid will have to be excreted from the body. Vitamin B6 is rtively harmless since it is also non-toxic with few side effects. In any case, those side effects would be much better than poisoning.¡±

    What he said made sense and seemed to be built on a well-versed knowledge of medicine. It was not a scripted reply. That made it easier for the white dog to believe his words.

    ¡°I have onest question. Why do you have Vitamin B6 with you?¡± It was indeed suspicious. He probably suspected that Zhang Zian first poisoned the dogs, then deliberately offered to help them.

    ¡°Because before this, someone already reminded me that the whole country, including Binhai City, has quietly seen a rise in the poisoning of stray dogs. This was because some people had been bitten by dogs or were scared off by others. However, it is more likely that it¡¯s because they do not want to see others raising up a dog. I own a pet shop and often interact with cats and dogs. I always keep a lookout on things and have Vitamin B6 on hand most of the time. This is just in case the need for it arises.¡± he exined further.

    Speaking of which, before going to Egypt, theizen ¡°Copse The World¡± has keenly discovered the issue of dog poisoning through the inte. He then warned Zhang Zian about it so he was able to make corresponding preparations. He reminded the staff every day not to let the dogs eat anything once they went out for a walk in the park. At the same time, he instructed them to buyrge quantities of Vitamin B6. If the dogs in the store were poisoned, they were to use hydrogen peroxide to induce vomiting and carry out an intravenous feeding of Vitamin B6.

    The white dog¡¯s doubts still weren¡¯tpletely dispelled, but he couldn¡¯t quickly find obvious contradictions in Zhang Zian¡¯s words. Besides, the poisoned dogs urgently needed treatment, so there was no other way but to take his word for it.

    ¡°Then I will trust you this once. I hope you are telling the truth.¡± He lowered his head, grabbed the few small bottles into his mouth, turned around and ran off to the beach.

    Zhang Zian controlled the drone and continued following him.

    The white dog ran back to the poisoned dogs as fast as he could. By the time he returned, they had been repeatedly fed seawater. The other dogs stretched out their front paws and stepped on their stomachs. With each step, water was squished out. However, as the dogs lost control of their bowels, water flowed out from two holes instead of one.

    The white dog dropped a small pill bottle out of his mouth and ordered the dogs to stop the induced vomiting. He then bit down on the bottle to open it before pouring the pills into the poisoned stray dogs¡¯ mouths. He then pressed their mouths shut to prevent them from spitting the medicine out. The remaining medicine was split up and each dog was given a dose of Vitamin B6.

    Vitamin B6 and isoniazid were mutually exclusive. Since it wasn¡¯t clear how much isoniazid these dogs had ingested, they had to rely on taking arge dosage of Vitamin B6 to inhibit the reactions of the isoniazid.

    Now, they could only wait.

    If all went well, they may have been saved by his actions. However, since isoniazid was very toxic to dogs, it would¡¯ve been highly understandable if they didn¡¯t survive the ordeal.

    The other dogs didn¡¯t know what to wait for, they only knew that their leader was particrly anxious today, and they kept prancing around.

    Ten minutes passed.

    The muscle spasms on some of the poisoned stray dogs had eased.

    Another thirty minutes passed.

    The symptoms of most of the poisoned dogs were significantly reduced. However, two of the dogs were foaming at the mouth. They might have eaten way too many poisonous sausages.

    After waiting longer than an hour the other poisoned dogs have slowly but surely opened their eyes except for the two dogs that were too heavily poisoned and died.

 Chapter 1336: The Poisoner

    <h4>Chapter 1336: The Poisoner</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Illnesses struck hard and fast but took a longer time to heal. The stray dogs that just woke up from their poisoning were extremely weak. They couldn¡¯t even stand up. The white dog ordered the other dogs to take care of them. With a heavy heart, he turned around and headed back to the Wuling Hong Guang MPV. Although he couldmunicate directly with Zhang Zian via the drone, he did not want the other dogs to hear the tone of his panicked voice.

    Zhang Zian was still in the same position waiting for him to arrive.

    After the long run, the white dog took a few deep breathes and said, ¡°...Thank you. Although I don¡¯t know why you would help us, I should thank you. Thank you for saving mypanions.¡±

    Besides a sense of sympathy towards them, Zhang Zian helped these stray dogs hoping that doing so would help with the peaceful resolution of the conflict between stray cats and stray dogs. To achieve this goal, he had at least get rid of the hostility that the white dog may have held towards him.

    Now, the white dog was close to the car. If Zhang Zian wanted to capture him, he could¡¯ve just simply raised his phone and started the game.

    However, Zhang Zian chose not to do so for two reasons.

    Firstly, regardless of which elf he met for the first time, if the elf had obvious unfinished business, he allowed them to do so. For example, Old Time Tea wanted to finish tasting all the fine teas, ¦Ð wants to find the Untitled Book in the Binhai Library, Famous wanted to find his lost memory in the Hollywood Wax Museum, Shihua wanted to go to South Korea to see the Korean stars she adored, and dimir wanted to go to Binhai and eliminate all the creatures that threatened his kind... He preferred to patiently wait for them to finish their tasks or even assist them in aplishing the things. This was to prevent them from having any regrets. Besides, a forceful capture wasn¡¯t the right thing to do. Thus, he waited for them to willingly return to him. When that happened, he would press the ¡®capture¡¯ button.

    This still held true this time around.

    Secondly, dimir was able to establish his squadrons after he came to the pet store. However, this white dog was already able to make the other stray dogs abide by hismands. If he forcefully captures him, the remaining stray dogs would remain leaderless. The group would be bound to fall apart into disorder and chaos.

    Based on his observation, the white dog should have given hispanions several rules on how to behave. Even when tasked to steal sausages, the dogs did not hurt people. He also disyed a warm friendly attitude to the female dogs after they gave birth. These were not the natural qualities of stray dogs.

    Without these rulesid down by the white dog, these hundreds of stray dogs were bound to have a bad influence on the lives of the people staying in the surrounding areas.

    In the words of a game: there must always be a king that will use underhand methods to seed.

    Throughout history, the worst centralized governments were nevertheless still superior to a group of disorganized warlords.

    Therefore, he couldn¡¯t capture the white dog until everything was properly arranged.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°It was nothing, they were just a few bottles of Vitamin B6. They are not worth a lot of money. However, you deliberately avoided bringing the other dogs toe to me. Do you have more to say than just a thank you?¡±

    He was spot on. The white dog replied, ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Are you here to surrender? I highly wee this. Our military¡¯s policy toward captives has always been very good; we promise not to kill you!¡± cried dimir.

    The white dog was angered. ¡°Who would surrender to you? If you can, get off that car ande fight me!¡±

    ¡°If it is a fight you want, then it is a fight you get! Do you think I¡¯m afraid of you?¡±

    dimir had a short fuse. He was about to get off and challenge the white dog to a one-on-one fight.

    ¡°Wait! Wait! Let¡¯s talk first. True gentlemen do not use their fists to discuss matters,¡± Zhang Zian hurriedly interrupted the two. He also didn¡¯t know why it was so difficult to handle a cat and a dog.

    They both scowled at each other for a long time. It took a while before the white dog could just barely suppress his anger and said, ¡°I was thinking, the sausage that poisoned my brothers... Who threw it?¡±

    ¡°Who threw it?¡± Zhang Zian sighed. ¡°This is andfill. The garbage in Binhai and neighboring cities are generally shipped here. Perhaps the sausage used to poison dogs was shipped here from another area.¡±

    ¡°No,¡± The white dog shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡±

    He looked back at therge construction machinery vehicles that ran between the garbage hills. ¡°It was those workers. I have heard them talk about poisoning us. They thought I wouldn¡¯t understand them and said it while I was nearby. They deliberately threw poisonous sausages where we often would go.¡±

    The workers have long been harassed by the stray dogs flowing into the garbage dump. Although the white dog managed toy down rules on the entire stray dog poption, the workers¡¯ inherent impressions of the dogs have already taken shape. It also didn¡¯t help that the stray dogs wererge or medium-sized with sharp yellow teeth. They were also rather dirty and smelly. It made the workers feel scared even if they were sitting in the cabin of their vehicle. If they wanted to urinate or defecate, they were often scared off by the mere thought of having to get out to do that.

    Therefore, the workers discussed ways to kill the stray dogs and solve the issue once and for all.

    The daily work of thendfill involved interaction with chemicals. It is therefore not difficult to buy the isoniazid through thework of businesses that interact with thendfill. However, it was one thing to sit by a couch and talk about doing something. It was another thing to act on it and kill off a thousand dogs. Both required a very different mindset.

    Dogs were not considered poultry and livestock in modern society. They wererge in size and often said to be close kin of humans. To kill so many dogs at once, they would¡¯ve inevitably been haunted by their own actions even if they didn¡¯t believe in ghosts. Thus, the workers would¡¯ve most likely pushed the responsibility of dealing with them to the rest and take a backseat. They certainly didn¡¯t want to dirty their own hands. However, as the situation got so dire that it became difficult to ignore, a few leaders were then picked to carry out the act. Everyone contributed some money to buy the necessary ingredients, ce them in the sausages and then dump them into thendfill.

    These so-called leaders have not done this kind of thing before, but now that they were selected to do so, their options were limited. They had to do it. What just happened was merely a test for them. They wanted to test how many pieces of isoniazid were needed to kill off arge and medium-sized dog. After they got their answer, they would¡¯ve carried out their operations on arger scale.

    Thus, when the white dog learned that the dogs were poisoned, he immediately thought that the workers had done it. However, what good could he have done even if he had known it beforehand? The dogs would¡¯ve eventually had to choose between starved or poisoned to death.

    The stray dogs grazed in the garbage dump all day. With more than hundreds of these dogs, daily food consumption was simply astonishing. If they did not salvage food from the dumps, what measures would they have taken to feed themselves? Besides, puppies were constantly being born, so there were more mouths to feed. Every time you added a mouth, there was more pressure on them to survive.

    The white dog had to attack Binhai City. Even if it wasn¡¯t to fight against the stray cats, it needed to do so. Otherwise, these stray dogs would not be able to survive. Only in garbage-rich cities can they have survived.

    When he became the dog king, he was full of ideas. However, he was now left with nothing but a bruised ego.

    ¡°Oh, it turns out the workers did it...¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. He couldn¡¯t really me the workers. After all, who was able to take having to work on a side by side with stray dogs every day? Besides, the stray dogs ??had also bitten the workers before.

    Who was right and who was wrong depended on whose side you were on.

    ¡°So, what are you going to do? Dod you hope that I would plead for you to the workers?¡± He asked.

    The white dog looked at him and said indignantly. ¡°No, even if you ask them for sympathy, they won¡¯t care. This ce is not a long-term solution. I want to move my brothers out of thendfill.¡±

 Chapter 1337: Finding Treasures in a Garbage Dump

    <h4>Chapter 1337: Finding Treasures in a Garbage Dump</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Upon hearing from the white dog that the poison sausage was the work of thendfill workers, Zhang Zian could more or less guess what he would follow up with next. Thus, when he heard that the white dog wanted to lead the stray dogs out of thendfill, he was not all that surprised.

    However, with so many dogs, where could they move to? Where would they find enough food besides thendfills?

    In addition, there was another important reason why the white dog wanted to move out of thendfill. Summer wasing. The sour, smellyndfill would be even more pungent, enough to make people faint. There were tons of mosquitoes, germs, and diseases. Many dogs had already fallen ill due to these issues.

    ¡°My preferred location, of course, is the coastal city,¡± the white dog continued.

    ¡°Oh, dream on!¡± dimir shouted. ¡°Binhai is a ce for non-propertied cats. You dirty dogs, don¡¯t you even dare to sully the ce!¡±

    Seeing that another quarrel was looming, Zhang Zian hurriedly interrupted, ¡°You don¡¯t have to think about Binhai City first. You are now facing a catastrophe that may strike anytime. Binhai City is not a ce where you can simply go in and settle down. Let¡¯s not even talk about... But dimir and his stray cats will definitely not agree to your suggestion. Even if humans see such arge group of stray dogs flooding the city, they will definitely be afraid. When that happens, people will take extreme measures. You had kind intentions of bringing the stray dogs into the city, yet it is tantamount to taking them to their deaths.¡±

    ¡°I have also considered that, so I can ept a temporarypromise in terms of the solution. I wanted to ask if you have any suitable locations,¡± the white dog said.

    ¡°Suitable locations... As long as they are not in the city, there are actually many suitable locations to choose from. However, the question is, how do you n to solve your food issue?¡± Zhang Zian raised the most critical point.

    Food was the top priority for any species. Any animal had to first meet the needs of eating and drinking in order to even think about something else bigger than themselves.

    The white dog realized this and said after a long pause, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I think I will probably steal it.¡±

    ¡°The dog can¡¯t change its instincts!¡± dimir was stunned. ¡°Do it yourself! Get enough food to feed yourself, you know?¡±

    ¡°Oh, so are you saying that you stupid cats are farming food for yourselves and not begging for it from humans?¡± the white dog retorted.

    Zhang Zian was starting to get a headache. The two of them must have been enemies in their previous lives. They could argue about literally anything.

    ¡°Ah! Wait a minute! Actually, I have a way to solve the problem of getting food.¡± He pulled them back to the topic at hand.

    The white dog was shocked and happy. ¡°You? What do you have in mind?¡±

    It wanted to believe him but could not quite do so. This was because it had already thought hard on the problem, almost to the point of breaking its own head. He still was not able toe up with a good solution to the food issue. There were too many stray dogs. Regardless if they stole or snatched food, it would be barely enough.

    ¡°There is really a way, although I just figured it out. However, I think it is feasible, as dimir said. Asking for help is not as good as helping yourself, doing it yourself, and getting enough food.¡±

    Zhang Zian opened the car door.

    ¡°You are getting out? Be careful with this dog. This thing might bite you!¡± dimir saw his intention and warned him.

    ¡°Hmph.¡± The white dog turned his head disdainfully.

    ¡°No.¡± Zhang Zian opened the door and got out of the car. He had confidence this would not happen.

    Judging from how the white dog had performed earlier, it had the bigger picture in mind. It valued ??the lives of itspanions and even chose to take risks for them. Therefore, after hearing that there was a solution to the food problem, it chose not to attack¡ªat least for now.

    dimir did not trust the white dog at all. He followed Zhang Zian and got out of his car. He raised a front paw and said, ¡°You¡¯d better know what you are getting into. If not, you can just try the Meow Meow Doctrine¡¯s iron fistbination!¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡± The white dog squatted on the ground and lifted a front paw to rub his forehead. ¡°I don¡¯t know you and don¡¯t care to deal with a stupid cat like you today. But fear me, for I will let you try my iron paws in the future!¡±

    Zhang Zian covered his nose and walked into a stall of garbage to find something he had identally picked up on when he¡¯d looked through the drone camera.

    The white dog and dimir stared at each other like battle cocks. If the other party moved, they just might engage in a fight at any time.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± asked the white dog.

    ¡°None of your business!¡± dimir muttered. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare get any horrible ideas!¡±

    ¡°I am looking for something I just saw. It should be the key to solving the problem,¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    The white dog was confused. What could be found in the garbage? The stray dogs had ??lived in thendfill for quite some time, grazing in the garbage all day. Never had they thought that awesome things could be found here...

    The idea of ??garbage in the garbage field was entrenched in his mind.

    ¡°Ah, found it,¡± he said to himself.

    Both dog and cat opened their eyes wide and looked at him. The former was full of doubts, while thetter had been born with curiosity.

    Zhang Zian used his feet to push away the remaining garbage that prevented him from reaching the item he wanted. He bent down and picked up a...color-printed cardboard box with a transparent stic piece. One could see the contents through the stic piece.

    ¡°Just this? How can this solve the problem of eating and drinking for hundreds of my brothers?¡±

    The white dog didn¡¯t believe that the item could help. Not even dimir thought that it would work. How could such a seemingly cheap thing be so powerful?

    ¡°You underestimate this thing,¡± Zhang Zian said as he took a closer look. The outer packaging was intact, although it was slightly stained. It would be fine if someone wiped it down.

    ¡°Do you know what this is?¡± He lowered the carton to their field of vision and let them see what was inside through the transparent stic sheet.

    The white dog said, ¡°A stic man that looks full of vitality?¡±

    The outside of the box was covered in Japanese words. It contained a three-dimensional model of a girl, called a figure by some professionals. Her eyes wererge, her looks were typical, and her entire identity was determined by her signature clothing and hair color.

    In addition, the clothes that she wore were very skimpy, with the top unable to cover all her assets. Her chest was disproportionatelyrge, and her thighs were deliberately divided to have a slender look. Her eyes and posture were built for seduction and temptation.

    She stood on a round stic chassis and proudly showed off her figure to the audience.

    The white dog sighed. ¡°The world is constantly changing, and man¡¯s desire changes with time. They used to rip open underwear to be able to look at buttocks. Now they are looking for underwear but opening up butts...¡±

    ¡°It is this kind of stic viin that you look down on that will help you. This is almost brand-new. If you sell this at a secondhand store as an almost-new item, you can easily make a few hundred dors off it from an otaku. If you use that to buy dog food, one dog can easily be fed for two to three months. If we purchase food at wholesale prices, it will go even longer.¡± Zhang Zian shared the facts of the item with them.

    ¡°What?¡±

    The white dog and dimir both opened their eyes in surprise and said in unison, ¡°Are those otakus idiots?¡±

    ¡°There is a market for these things as long as there is demand.¡± Zhang Zian shrugged. ¡°The point is that this junkyard may be full of treasures. You justck a pair of trained eyes. For example, this figurine¡ªalthough I don¡¯t know how it got here in the dump, I can perhaps try to guess. It might¡¯ve originally belonged to an otaku who already had a lot of possessions. One day, he suddenly got really lucky and managed to find himself a girlfriend, a MILF or a really hot girl. Then, as time passed, this girl of his visited him. However, tragedy struck. They found a dead man¡¯s body¡ªthe otaku had died from excessive gaming in his home. The body had already started dposing and it was the neighbors who informed the police. In any case, the woman saw this... She seemed to be unable to bear the temperament of the figurines and went crazy on the spot. Perhaps in order to return the dead house to a more normal way of life, or perhaps because she was threatened by the looks of the doll... She decisively made the decision to throw it all away. Then, of course, the figurine came here to us... These are, of course, my spections. There is also a possibility that when the house was being redesigned and transformed, on the one hundred and first attempt to do so, the decision was made to throw everything away without much thought. However, ny-nine-point-nine percent of the time, the person regretted it after a while. However, Lady Luck might not be on their side, and the garbage truck might¡¯ve moved too quickly for the person to retrieve it. When the otaku, wearing slippers and shorts, ran downstairs to salvage the situation, the garbage truck may have grabbed it already. What was left was the otaku left by the roadside, crying out at the truck pathetically and loudly...¡±

    Zhang Zian hade up with a very long-winded story on what could¡¯ve happened. Both the white dog and dimir were bewildered by what they heard.

 Chapter 1338: Scavenging

    <h4>Chapter 1338: Scavenging</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After the long speech, Zhang Zian stopped to catch his breath and felt that his oral eloquence had improved.

    However, he immediately noticed that the white dog and dimir were looking at him in a rather strange way.

    ¡°How did you know so clearly what happened?¡± the white dog asked suspiciously.

    ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand me,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°Though, do you need to see pigs walk before eating pork? I am merely sharing what I have heard. Let¡¯s focus on the issue at hand. Thisndfill is veryrge. Not only does it process the domestic garbage of Binhai City¡ªit also deals with rubbish shipped in from neighboring cities. However, China has not established an effective garbage sorting system, so here, there is aplete mixture of trash. Although ny-nine-point-nine-nine percent of the things here are truly garbage, there must be hidden treasures. The so-called ¡®blowing off the dust to reveal the gold¡¯ will hold true here.¡±

    The pressure of survival made the white dog unable to be too optimistic of things. It thought for a moment and shook his head. He said. ¡°This kind of stic figurines is notmon. It is even rarer for it to be entirely well preserved in a box like this. Even if what you said is true; pick one and feed a dog for two to three months, I cannot put all my hopes on doing this. What happens if myrades and I cannot find this item? Won¡¯t we have to go hungry?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not just stic figurines,¡± Zhang Zian said. ¡°There are a lot of items that people simply keep in their homes to collect dust. They may not know that the items are valuable. Then, they may throw them away when they clean up their homes. However, in the eyes of the experts, these may be valuable things. In addition, sometimes, old people pass away unexpectedly. They keep a lot of things, even valuable cultural relics. Yet to their children, these are not relics but trash. I have also heard that some elderly people do not trust the banks, thinking that there are corrupt officials there. Simrly, corrupt officials do not use the banks either. They choose to hide their money in quilts, pillows, et cetera, and then these are inadvertently thrown away... These things and money will all gather in the garbage dump. I would like to say that if we find gold, it should be returned to the original owner. However, it will actually be difficult to find the owner. If you do not go and pick these things up, they will only be crushed and buried deep underground, which is a waste.¡±

    The white dog listened. He was tempted.

    For a long time, the stray dogs had only known how to salvage food from the garbage dump. They hadn¡¯t even thought that some ¡°garbage¡± that they had just pulled apart might fetch them tens of thousands of times more than the expired and potentially poisonous sausages...

    ¡°Of course, your concerns are not unreasonable. If you are not lucky, and nothing like this is found, what should you do?¡± Zhang Zian added, ¡°In fact, a single dog may experience bad luck, but if the number of dogs swells to a few hundred, the possibility of a few hundred dogs with bad luck is almost nonexistent. However, let us first assume that this situation is true.¡±

    The white dog listened carefully.

    Zhang Zian recalled the person he¡¯d met not long ago and said slowly. ¡°You know that I run a pet shop. Generally speaking, I sell cats, dogs, fish, and pet supplies. Just a few months ago, there was a clean but very poor-looking grandmother who brought a puppy to me. I think it was a Pomeranian. Anyway, she came to my store not to buy a pet, but to ask me for advice. The point here is that she picks up empty bottles for a living, much like this empty drink bottle here.¡±

    He kicked an empty c bottle with his shoe.

    ¡°She relies on picking up these bottles every day to support herself and that Pomeranian. I want to say that the empty bottle is equivalent to a subsistence allowance. Even if you have really bad luck, your efforts will not be entirely wasted. A dog can spend a few hours picking up empty bottles, and the money that can be exchanged with it can allow it to fully support itself. If you find something worthwhile through the process, you can eat delicious sausages for at least a few months.¡±

    The white dog looked at the empty bottle that was rolling around and asked, ¡°How can I exchange an empty bottle for money?¡±

    ¡°Probably, after collecting it, you send it to a special waste-collection station,¡± Zhang Zian said, though he was not absolutely sure, ¡°and then charge by the weight.¡±

    ¡°Is there a limit? How many?¡± it asked.

    He smiled and said, ¡°Of course there is no limit to the number. The more the better. The people will not reject your collection because the waste-collection station is not a charity. If you give them more, they will sell more bottles and earn more money.¡±

    The white dog thought for a moment, ¡°But they definitely won¡¯t ept dogs to sell them bottles, will they?¡±

    ¡°That is true. If the scrap collection station saw a dog dragging a sack of bottles to the door, they would probably take the bottle and not give the money. That would be a wasted effort,¡± Zhang Zian admitted.

    The white dog looked at him. ¡°So, I need an agent.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°I can help.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you do this for nothing. I will pay you a certain agent fee on a prorated basis. In addition, we will need your help to buy food and water. We also don¡¯t know what is worth money, so you need to help us identify it.¡±

    The white dog seemed to have made up his mind. He also didn¡¯t want hisrades to live day by day, from one meal to another. It may be better to always have something to do. If, by doing so properly, they could get some money to buy clean food and water, that would be the best.

    ¡°Well, I will try.¡±

    Zhang Zian did not reject the proposal, as he could not possibly be a charity and help them for nothing. It would notst for a very long time. The enthusiasm definitely would notst. Even if he was willing to work without pay, he would not be able to do it all by himself. He would definitely have to ask the staff to help or even employ more help. To do that, he certainly must pay.

    However, it was also interesting to think about it. If this method was feasible, it could not only solve the stray dogs¡¯ livelihood problem but also solve the problem of what stray dogs...did?

    If they were picking up bottles and searching through rubbish every day, where would they have time to steal chickens and harass the surrounding residents?

    Whether it was a dog or a human, there was always a desire for a morefortable life.

    When people didn¡¯t have enough to eat, the only wish was to have a full meal. When they had a full meal, they¡¯d want to eat all the delicacies from the highest mountains and deepest seas. They would also want to eat food from all around the world. To do that, they could only work harder for their bosses.

    The same was true for dogs. Every day until now, they had been eating garbage. Once they had eaten and tasted clean dog food, when a meal that could warm up their bellies would no longer be a problem, the desire for a much better meal would set in. They would eventually want to try the taste of a delicious and juicy chicken drumstick. To achieve that, they would have to work even harder, pick up more bottles, and earn more money.

    The peasant uprisings of the past had been caused by the fact that the poor did not have full bellies, warm bodies, or anything to do during their working hours.

    If someone had a job where the sry was not very high but could provide them with enough food and clothes, who in their right mind would want to start protesting? Wouldn¡¯t that be risking everything?

    The white dog nodded. ¡°That¡¯s a deal then. Let¡¯s try it first. There are still a lot of details that need to be sorted out.¡±

    ¡°Okay, it is a done deal.¡±

    Zhang Zian also nodded. ¡°Then I will leave now. I will visit again in theing days.¡±

    It was gettingte, and he had been out here for far too long. It was time to go back.

    ¡°Right. By the way, my name is Zhang Zian. How do I address you?¡± he asked, stopping in his tracks.

    ¡°Little White¡ªjust call me Little White,¡± the white dog said.

    That was a very grounded name, much like the breed of dog it was.

 Chapter 1339: A Small Business That Earns a Few Cents

    <h4>Chapter 1339: A Small Business That Earns a Few Cents</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The next day.

    Life carried on as usual.

    Zhang Zian felt very fulfilled. If his proposal could be realized without a problem, hundreds of stray dogs that terrorized people would disappear, and in their ce would be hundreds of diligent pick-up dogs...

    dimir was a little envious of whatever he had witnessed. He kept asking if there was anything that the stray cats could do to improve their own situation. Doing so would allow them to worry less about food and shelter. Most of the stray cats couldn¡¯t eat much good food. Even small dried fish had to be collected and fed to the soldiers who needed it the most. If only stray cats could also pick up bottles...but this was not realistic. After all, the cat¡¯s mouth was small and couldn¡¯t hold a bottle in ce. In addition, the garbage dump was currently upied by stray dogs.

    After breakfast, Zhang Zian made a few phone calls and asked about the location of and route to the nearby waste-collection station. He asked about pricing because he did not know how many bottles the stray dogs could pick up every day. Thus, he needed some form of rity. How much could a few hundred bottles earn? How much could a few thousand bottles earn?

    Because he only had one precious Wuling Hong Guang MPV that was used for carrying cargo and aquarium creatures, it was impossible to use it to carry garbage. Thus, he hoped that the other party could send a car to the designated ce to pick up the bottles. He would not mind even if the vehicle came once every few days. The other party said that it depended on how many bottles were collected. That would allow him to determine if the trip was worth making. However, Zhang Zian could not give him an exact number at the moment.

    Then, he also called up a manufacturer who provided dog food for the pet shop to discuss the price of buying dog food inrge quantities.

    The staff listened to him making one phone call after another. They secretly spected with one another as to what business he was going to carry out. It sounded like he was...picking up scraps?

    The business in the store was not so bad that he needed to do this...

    People who did big business and made calls discussed millions of dors with every invoice. However, Zhang Zian¡¯s was a small business. Even so, it did not make sense to bargain so hard over the price of an empty bottle, did it?

    The only possibility was that the store manager¡¯s problem with stinginess had be more and more serious. Now, he was not even willing to give up on garbage.

    Zhang Zian offered no exnation for the time being. If things went well, they would knowter, as inevitably, he would need them to help. Of course, they would also receive correspondingpensation. Although their work was not directly in contact with garbage, it was, after all, dealing with garbage. If thepensation was not high enough, everyone¡¯s work enthusiasm would be somewhat diminished.

    As for the price of empty bottles, perhaps at a few cents for a bottle, it might not be worth bothering. However, if there were thousands or even tens of thousands of empty bottles per week, the umtion of a few additional cents could end up being a lot more. If he could keep this in his own pocket, why must he give it to others?

    After making calls for almost an hour, his mouth was dry from all that talking. He grabbed a cup of tea and stood by the door.

    It was the afternoon¡ªexactly four o¡¯clock. The sun was no longer hot, though the air was still a bit stuffy. However, it did not mean much to Zhang ZIan, who¡¯d managed to survive much worse in Egypt.

    He looked up at the sky. The weather was fine, and there was no sign of rain, though he was not sure. The weather forecast in summer was not reliable at all, and a gust of wind might cause heavy rain.

    The swallowtailrva on the ss door next to the store had moved two times in the morning, and by now, it seemed to have begun to slowly digest the caterpir inside.

    ¡°Ha ha ha ha!¡±

    There was loud and arrogantughtering from the end of the street.

    Zhang Zian followed the sound and turned his head. He saw Xu Zhuang Zhuang and a few boys around his age yelling and joking around. It seemed that they had just left school. They were heading for the pet store.

    Xu Zhuang Zhuang spoke to them animatedly. ¡°Hey! When I went to school this morning, I met two dogs.¡±

    ¡°Whose dogs?¡±

    ¡°What happened to the dogs?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, did they bite you?¡±

    Xu Zhuang Zhuang smiled proudly and said, ¡°They¡¯re my neighbor¡¯s. However, there was no adult around at the time. I saw that the two dogs¡¯ buttocks were glued together as they walked and shook weirdly. So I went forward to kick their butts and separated them!¡±

    ¡°Great!¡±

    ¡°So unfortunate that I didn¡¯t get to see it!¡±

    ¡°Now that I¡¯ve done a good thing today, I should go back and tell my neighbor about it. Maybe he will even praise me and give me some pocket money!¡± Xu Zhuang Zhuangughed.

    Zhang Zian said nothing.

    At this time, Xu Zhuang Zhuang also saw Zhang Zian. His expression turned slightly embarrassed. However, he immediately turned away, pretending not to have seen him. He continued tough and bicker with the other children.

    This was really a child who is overbearing and could not be controlled.

    Zhang Zian sighed and shook his head. He tilted his head back and finished his tea in one gulp. Sure, he could go ahead and seek credit from his neighbor. He¡¯d see if the neighbor would actually beat the kid instead.

    He looked at the time. It was almost three. Any further dys and the neighborhoodmittee street office might have been closed. He ced the cup back in the store, said goodbye to the staff, and walked alone out to the street.

    The street office was in a residentialpound on Zhonghua Road, and it was only a short distance away.

    ¡°Excuse me, is Grandma Gu around?¡±

    The door of the street office was open. Although many offices had turned on the air conditioners at this time, the street office was different. It was dominated by middle-aged and elderly people. Their bodies were weak and could not take much cold air. Thus, they opened the door to let natural warmer air circte in.

    He knocked on the door and nced inside. He was lucky. Grandma Gu was in the office.

    As the director of the street office, Grandma Gu was always busy collecting various fees from the shops on the street. She also dealt with a lot of trivial things, and she often needed to run about outside. She was only in the office when arriving at and getting off work.

    ¡°Hey, if it isn¡¯t Little Zhang Zian. Have youe to pay me money?¡±

    Grandma Gu was counting change when he came in. She pulled down her reading sses to look at Zhang Zian, who was standing by the door.

    ¡°No... I have already paid the fees for this year. Ie to you today for a different reason...¡± He exined quickly. It was obviously not that hot, but a drop of cold sweat had already emerged on his forehead.

    ¡°Haha! Grandma is only joking with you. I am not yet that forgetful... Come in. It is hot outside. Come in and enjoy the fan.¡± Grandma Gu greeted him warmly.

    Zhang Zian heaved a sigh of relief. He saw several other people in the office, but he was not familiar with them, and so he did not say hello.

    ¡°Grandma Gu, you are... Are you very busy? Do you need me to help you with the counting?¡±

    He looked at therge amount of small change on the table. There were dor coins or even smaller denominations. Being coins, they were difficult to ount for when one had to tally them up.

    ¡°No, no, Grandma is used to it... Most of the businesses on this street are small businesses. I always get a lot of change. I am almost finished. You should sit down and wait.¡±

    ¡°Okay, then I will make myself wee.¡±

    Zhang Zian pulled out a chair and sat across from Grandma Gu. He patiently waited for her to finish her work.

    After a while, Grandma Gu finished counting the money and recorded the number in a book ledger. Then she ced all the money in a drawer.

    ¡°Alright, Little Zhang Zian. What is the reason that you are looking for me?¡± She took off her reading sses.

    Zhang Zian coughed and pointed his finger in the direction of the greenspace. He said, ¡°Grandma Gu, do you know that there are a lot of caterpirs in the greenspace? And it¡¯s not only the greenspace. It¡¯s also Zhonghua Road Primary School. They are even on the trees by the roadside. They are everywhere.¡±

 Chapter 1340: Sharp-Tongued Woman

    <h4>Chapter 1340: Sharp-Tongued Woman</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian felt that the threat of insect gues had risen significantly. After heavy rain, an outbreak could ur. In recent years, there had not seemed to be any insect disasters in Binhai, so he couldn¡¯t give specific details. However, when it did happen, it would definitely cause a great inconvenience to people¡¯s daily lives.

    To deal withrge-scale pest problems, it was certainly not possible to rely on him alone. Who knew how widespread the problem was?

    Therefore, he¡¯de to the street office hoping that they would take the lead on this issue. The office could unite the shops on the street, along with the neighborhoodmittees of variousmunities, to take precautionary measures against the insects. If they waited for the outbreak to happen and then reacted to it, it might be already toote.

    If necessary, they should also rope in themittees of the surrounding streets.

    He was about to exin what he knew to Grandma Gu when a phone next to him rang.

    ¡°Hello?¡±

    Another middle-aged woman who was in the office picked up the phone.

    Zhang Zian recognized this person as the deputy director of the street office. She was a few years older than Grandma Gu, and her surname was Yan. However, he did not know her, as they¡¯d never had the chance to interact before.

    If there was a street-smart young person around, he might have taken the initiative to take the phone outside of the office, or at least to lower the volume of his speech. This was so as not to disturb the others. However, this was the deputy director. She would speak however long she wanted.

    The daily work of the street office wasplicated and cumbersome. It often dealt with elderly people who were frail and alone or malicious merchants who had arrears of their healthcare management fees. Therefore, besides the few young civil servants who had just joined the office, many of the old staff members close to retirement age were often loud and bad-tempered.

    The office was not big. Director Yan spoke on the phone as if no one was around her. The whole room was filled with her loud voice, and it seriously interfered with the others¡¯ work.

    A few young people in the office probably had gotten used to this. At the beginning of Director Yan¡¯s call, they immediately put down the work at hand, smiled reluctantly, and used their phones. Others packed up to get off work.

    Zhang Zian was here to do things. He would not havee here to interfere with the office¡¯s internal matters. Even though he did not think he was all that strong, he knew, at the very least, when to keep his mouth shut. He could wait for a while. In any case, he was not in a hurry.

    Grandma Gu also felt very embarrassed. She poured a cup of tea and took two pieces of mung bean cake to serve him.

    ¡°Hello? Ah, yes, I heard that. What is it?¡±

    ¡°Well, yes. Getting off work soon.¡±

    ¡°What? The old man who stays next door refuses to turn off his radiator? Whatever you say is useless? What a useless piece of crap! How did I give birth to a son like you? If he does not want to turn it off, then go to his ce and refuse to leave! See if he will turn it off or not! Don¡¯t you know that thing gives off radiation? If you do not care about your wife, at least think about the baby in her womb!¡±

    ¡°Everything has got to wait till I am back? Then what is the use of a big man like you? Just here to eat? Can¡¯t you do something, for goodness¡¯ sake? Always such a wuss!¡±

    ¡°Shut up! Don¡¯t tell me useless things! You go to the old man and say that if he does not turn it off, if your wife¡¯s baby has any issues, see how he can sleep at night in the future!¡±

    m!

    She hung up the phone, mming it hard on the table and muttering to herself. ¡°I am so damn mad... What the hell? How did I give birth to such a useless son...?¡±

    With regard to other families¡¯ private affairs, Zhang Zian did not intend to interject and talk too much. He feared that he would merely be digging his own grave if he did that. Such a spicy, sultry middle-aged deputy director... He would not be able to handle her rage.

    At that time, Deputy Director Yan seemed to discover his existence. She gave him a courtesy business smile. ¡°Oh, sorry to bother you. Please go ahead and continue with your conversation.¡±

    Zhang Zian suddenly felt somewhat humbled and short of breath. He swallowed and was just about to speak when he heard her shouting again. ¡°Yeah, y¡¯all! What are y¡¯all doing?¡±

    He was almost frightened by thisrge outburst of noise. He felt like he was going to have a heart attack. He turned around and saw that she was not yelling at him, but at a tel engineering car that was passing by the window.

    Deputy Director Yan jumped up from her chair, rushing out of the office and into the street. The sounds she made could be heard clearly from far away.

    ¡°You! I am talking about you! I¡¯m telling you that Donghua Community does not allow new tel equipment rooms. Those things produce radiation... What? This was assigned by your supervisor? Did your supervisors ask the public for their opinion? Huh? The residents of the Donghua Community have unanimously demanded that this equipment can no longer be installed! Who said it? I said it, and I represent the public opinion of Donghua Community! I want toin to you on behalf of all residents of the Donghua Community!¡±

    The staff in the tel engineering car were probably stunned by this treatment. Being berated in such a manner, the woman did not dare to even let out a fart. She said that she would ask her supervisor once more and obediently turned around and left.

    Like a fighting dog who¡¯d won the match, Deputy Director Yan went back to the office with satisfaction. She flicked her hair and returned to her seat.

    ¡°About...¡±

    As if he were afraid of her hearing him speak, Zhang Zian deliberately lowered his voice and reported his recent observations to Grandma Gu. He stressed that arge-scale pest disaster was likely to ur in this area.

    ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s it. Let me think...¡±

    Grandma Gu went quiet for a little while.

    Binhai had never had an insect disaster before. Thus, she had no direct understanding of the dangers of arge-scale pest invasion.

    Now, as an elderly person, she knew that she had experienced many hardships in the first half of her life. She did not feel that there was any seriousness in this matter. She even thought that young people and children were too delicate and pampered. Weren¡¯t these merely caterpirs? How was it worth making a fuss about?

    However, Zhang ZIan, a child she¡¯d known growing up, was not part of the strawberry generation. Still, though he was a grown man now, he was still a child in her eyes.

    So, out of diligence, she asked, ¡°In your opinion, if we want to deal with this, what should we do?¡±

    ¡°That is...dependent on the severity.¡± Zhang Zian tried to use a gentle tone to talk about it. ¡°If the situation is not serious, you can use some basic soil treatment methods to control the pests. If the situation is serious, then...¡±

    ¡°What if the situation is serious?¡± Grandma Gu asked.

    Zhang Zian gritted his teeth. The situation must be fully exined. Otherwise, he was afraid that it would not catch the attention and vignce of Grandma Gu, though he must admit that this was not his style.

    ¡°If the situation gets very dire, I am afraid we can only spray Trichlorfon on the trees... If we want something more targeted, we can use... Cypermethrin on the trees,¡± he said.

    ¡°What? What are those?¡± Grandma Gu was highly puzzled about what she¡¯d heard. First, Zhang Zian was already speaking rather quietly, and she could not hear him well. Secondly, she had never heard this strange vocabry before.

    ¡°It is...a pesticide.¡± Zhang Zian spoke even more softly.

    ¡°Pesticide? No way!¡±

    Grandma Gu did not say anything, but Deputy Director Yan yelled first. She mmed her hands hard on the table.

 Chapter 1341: Digging Your Own Grave

    <h4>Chapter 1341: Digging Your Own Grave</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When Zhang Zian ryed the situation of insects and gues to Grandma Gu, he tried to keep his voice down so that Deputy Director Yan would not hear it. He often sneaked a peek at her, fearing that she would jump up from her seat,e over, and oppose the idea.

    s, what he was afraid of hade. He¡¯d merely mentioned the word ¡°pesticide.¡± Deputy Director Yan was like a cat that had just had its tail stepped on.

    ¡°Spray pesticides on the street? No! No! No! No!¡± She shook her head vigorously. Without reason, she rattled off her four nos.

    ¡°It¡¯s not spraying on the street, it¡¯s spraying the trees next to the street...¡± Zhang Zian tried to exin.

    ¡°No!¡± she said. ¡°There are so many pregnant women, old people, and children on this street. Their physiques will not be as strong as those of young men. How can you spray pesticides? Are you trying to harm people and make a fortune off this?¡±

    With this point mentioned, Zhang Zian was left rather speechless, unable to give a rebuttal.

    However, why would the pesticides be so terrible? When they were applied, it was always in a diluted form. In addition, pesticides were strictly not meant for consumption... Besides, the fruits and vegetables that people ate on a daily basis were already treated with pesticides. Did people not wash them off before eating them? How many people could afford to eat organic vegetables for three meals every day?

    The young civil servants in the office stared at theirputer screens with a dull look, pretending not to hear themotion.

    Only Grandma Gu tried the defuse the situation. ¡°Oh, Little Yan, you are too easily riled up. At least listen to everything that he has to say...¡±

    ¡°Big Sister Gu, it is not that I don¡¯t want to give you some respect. However, as long as I stay in this office, I will never spray pesticides on the streets!¡± Deputy Director Yan¡¯s face was like steel. After saying this, perhaps even she thought that it was rather dramatic. She followed up and added, ¡°It won¡¯t work for now, at least in the short term. In three months...you can discuss it again.¡±

    People in the office knew what she meant. Her daughter-inw¡¯s expected date of birth was within the next three months.

    Three months...

    Zhang Zian smiled bitterly.

    In the summer, there was rain for at least half the days of every month here in the coastal city. When rain fell, the insect outbreak may ur. How could they possibly wait for three months?

    ¡°This... Then the pesticides that are used on food¡ªare they non-toxic versions as well?¡± Grandma Gu gave Zhang Zian a look as she said this.

    ¡°No poison? A pesticide that is non-poisonous?¡± Deputy Director Yan said with a sneer. She turned around and said to a young civil servant, ¡°Xiao Jing, you check online and see what information is there. Do such pesticides exist?¡±

    After assigning the task, she also deliberately smiled at Zhang Zian and said, ¡°You young people like to check things online, so we shall do that too. Whether or not there is poison, let¡¯s see what is said online.¡±

    Xiao Jing did not dare to work slowly, immediately searched for the cypermethrin Zhang Zian had mentioned, and read. ¡°Heated over 220¡ãC, this substance dposes to form cyanide gas... Moderately toxic, highly toxic to fish, highly poisonous to bees and silkworms...¡±

    ¡°Cyanide!¡±

    Deputy Director Yan was now clearly agitated. Her eyeballs looked like they were about to pop out of her eye sockets. To her, cyanide was just like arsenic. What damage could it cause if it was rampantly sprayed on the streets?

    ¡°No! No! No! Absolutely not! I don¡¯t agree with this at all!¡±

    She mmed another table and kicked its leg. Her behavior absolutely did not allow others to speak or exin.

    Was cypermethrin toxic? Of course. If it weren¡¯t, how could it poison caterpirs? The description also mentioned that it was highly poisonous to bees and silkworms, which was why this pesticide was the most effective for eliminating various caterpirs.

    Dosage aside, if they just talked about the toxicity, they were missing the point. Besides, how big were the caterpirs? The cypermethrin could be diluted with water to the extent that it could only poison caterpirs. At that level of concentration, it was arguably less toxic than smog in the sky. After all, people would at most inhale it, not drink it...

    Moreover, there were still many ways to reduce the impact on people. If they sprayed it in the middle of the night, it would hardly affect anyone. After a few hours, when the sun started rising, the residual pesticides would have already been blown away by the wind...

    Or they could pay attention to the local weather forecast. They could choose to spray it once before the rain came so that the rain could wash away the residual pesticide.

    As for cyanide, it was necessary to heat the cypermethrin to more than 220 degrees Celsius to dpose it into cyanide gas. Who would do that?

    As long as the mind did not engage in slippery-slope facy thinking, there were always more solutions than problems. However, if the director refused to hear them out and seriously consider the feasibility of spraying pesticides, then there was really no way to do so.

    Deputy Director Yan kept up her refusal and disyed an attitude that suggested she may be highly unreasonable. She imed that her responsibility was to pregnant women, the elderly, and the children, but her actions suggested otherwise. Yet Zhang Zian could not say this to her.

    He and Grandma Gu reluctantly looked at each other. Since the director was a tough nut to crack, there was no need to talk further. After all, there was no requirement to stay longer and quarrel with this crazy woman.

    ¡°Well...then, Grandma Gu, I shall make a move first.¡± He stood up to get ready. However, he had not given uppletely. He nned to wait for the day when the strict director was absent and try again.

    ¡°Well, Little Zhang Zian, you have many things to settle in your store. Please go ahead. After what you¡¯ve told me, Grandma Gu will seriously consider your proposal.¡±

    Grandma Gu did not feel good about what Zhang Zian had experienced. She stood up to walk Zhang Zian out.

    ¡°Huh? Wait.¡±

    Deputy Director Yan suddenly stopped Zhang Zian and looked at him suspiciously.

    He thought she¡¯d changed her mind. s, it was not what he¡¯d expected. She said, ¡°You are the one who opened a pet shop on this street? Do you know that the parasites on cats and dogs are harmful to pregnant women as well? Someone reported that there were some stray dogs on the streets some days ago. Did they run away from your store?¡±

    Zhang Zian was quiet for a second.

    He¡¯de here for public welfare and asked for help from the street office. If they were unable toe to an agreement, he had no choice but to ept the decision. A disagreement was a disagreement. He could only wait and see what the oue of the inaction would be... However, he hadn¡¯t expected that he himself would be persecuted as well.

    ¡°No no. No dog from my shop ever got lost. The stray dogs are not the dogs in my shop. I have small and medium dogs in the store. There are no especially big dogs... Besides, the dogs and cats in my shop are vinated. They are dewormed. They are usually kept in the store and do note in contact with pregnant women...¡±

    He quickly defended himself, albeit rather incoherently. He did not think of arguing that the parasites on cats and dogs had no effect on pregnant women. Instead, he insisted that the cats and dogs in their stores had no parasites and would not be in contact with pregnant women.

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    Deputy Director Yan didn¡¯t believe him. However, seeing that Zhang Zian and Big Sister Gu seemed familiar with one another, she did not pursue it further. After all, the pet shop was quite far from the Donghua Community. It probably wouldn¡¯t have any impact on her area. She would take it as a show of respect to Big Sister Gu. Besides, she would rather save her energy forter to deal with the old man who was her neighbor.

    Zhang Zian hurriedly left. He felt like he was a squirrel trying to escape the Devil¡¯s Sea. He did not take up Grandma Gu¡¯s offer to see him out.

    When he left the small courtyard of the street office, he was finally able to calm down a little.

    Forget it¡ªhe¡¯d tried to be kind and help themunity. Yet people did not seem to care, so what else could he do? He should just honestly and kindly look after himself.

    He shook his head and turned around to walk back to the pet shop.

 Chapter 1342: Reward System

    <h4>Chapter 1342: Reward System</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was yet another day.

    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Store Manager!¡±

    Early in the morning, Little Celery saw Zhang Zian standing by the door of the store and immediately ran over to say hello.

    ¡°Hey, Little Celery. Good morning.¡±

    Zhang Zian was observing the swallowtail butterflyrva by the store next door. He took the opportunity to wave at Little Celery.

    Little Celery ran forward and copied him. She also went to take a look at therva.

    ¡°Has it be arva?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great! How long will it take for a beautiful butterfly to emerge from it?¡± She was looking forward to it.

    ¡°Well, it won¡¯t take long.¡± Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°Did Little Celery give some thought as to what she will be writing for herposition?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I did, and I am done!¡±

    Little Celery shared her idea with Zhang Zian. He corrected her on some of the factual and rhetorical errors along the way but did not modify her main content. After all, thisposition needed to be written by her, not him.

    After sharing, Little Celery did not intend to go to school immediately, nor did she intend to enter the store to visit the hamsters and rabbits. Instead, it seemed like she had something else to say.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? What else?¡± Zhang Zian saw her hesitating.

    ¡°That...¡± She groaned. ¡°The caterpirs by our school are growing in number. Even the walls are filled with them. They are everywhere. The students are very scared. The teachers are also getting headaches about this issue. So I told the teacher that Mr. Store Manager is very capable. Perhaps you may have a way to solve the caterpir problem.¡±

    ¡°Oh... So, if I¡¯m not wrong, you rmended me to your teacher?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Well... I didn¡¯t ask you in advance, so I don¡¯t know if Mr. Store Manager has the time...¡± she said as if she had made a mistake.

    ¡°I have a lot of time, and if it¡¯s anything to do with eliminating pests, leave it to me!¡±

    If the issue was controlling stray cats and dogs, he likely wouldn¡¯t be as boastful. However, this was merely some caterpirs. However many there were, as long as he set off to work on them, he would definitely be able to eliminate all of those filthy caterpirs!

    Although he had not made the street office budge to his request, something he was highly frustrated about, now that he had the time to think about it, it was not a big deal. The street office was merely a coordinating department. For example, the internal affairs of the school could not be controlled by the street office. Why not take this opportunity and try out what he wanted to do at Zhonghua Road Primary School? It may be wiser to start off with a smaller area. If he had to treat the entire Dongcheng District from the get-go, he may not do such a great job.

    ¡°Great! I have already told the teacher. The teacher also informed the guards about it. Mr. Store Manager cane by anytime he wants!¡± Little Celery was so happy she skipped a little. ¡°Then I will go to school first!¡±

    ¡°Okay, go ahead. Don¡¯t run too fast.¡±

    Little Celery ran away happily, and Zhang Zian saw her slowly disappear around the corner of the street.

    He thought through it. Even if he were heading for the school, he should not go in the morning because the school was busy then. There were many parents there to pick up the children. If he wanted to go, it would be better to go in the afternoon.

    As for the afternoon, besides his usual practice of ying Sihwa¡¯s songs at the seaside, he¡¯d also made an appointment with the white dog to observe the results of the stray dogs¡¯ collection.

    From two days ago in the afternoon till noon today, the time given to Little White to mobilize hisrades was about 48 hours.

    How many bottles could stray dogs collect in 48 hours?

    Although there were often people in the city who were short on money, who couldn¡¯t afford things, or were simply bored, who picked up bottles, they could not possibly pick everything up. People such as the old grandmother who came to the pet shop for help would be unable to pick up bottles for 24 hours a day. Thus, most of the bottles would still go to thendfill. They would be further sorted and recycled by thendfill operators or simply crushed.

    The stray dogs were going to grab the empty bottles and transfer them to other ces before the material in thendfill was sorted. In other words, was this a collective act to profit off the state?

    ¡°Come, help me move this into the car.¡±

    Zhang Zian greeted Wang Qian and Li Kun and asked them to help.

    ¡°Master, how much dog ??food are you going to move? You are going to empty your entire shop!¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun asked the inevitable question.

    Sustainedbor couldn¡¯t rely on coercion, temporary enthusiasm, or mere idealism. It must have appropriate incentives. For Little White, despite how strong he could be, nothing would matter if they used amunist method of feeding. Everybody knew from the history books what happened when food was distributed in such a manner.

    In order to mobilize thebor enthusiasm of the stray dogs, they must be allowed to see the real benefits in front of them. Clean dog food was a good option.

    Other than that...

    Uncle Li came over on a tricycle, and the car was filled with foam instors.

    ¡°Store Manager Zhang, the roast chicken legs that you ordered are finally baked,¡± Uncle Li said as he wiped away his sweat.

    ¡°Thank you for your hard work. I am sorry to make you roast it overnight. Really sorry,¡± Zhang Zian apologized.

    ¡°Ah! Don¡¯t mention it!¡± Uncle Li smiled boldly and nced at the pet store with curiosity. He asked, ¡°Hope you don¡¯t mind me asking, but isn¡¯t this a little too much? Why do you want so many roast chicken legs?¡±

    Having suddenly received such arge number of orders from Zhang Zian, the old couple were both happy for their business but nevertheless worried about not being able to deliver.

    The two old folks, Uncle Li and his wife, had started preparations yesterday night. They¡¯d thawed the frozen chicken legs bought from the wholesale market, marinated them with honey, and then, in order not to dy their normal business, they¡¯d gotten up at three in the morning and cooked the chicken legs. It was very hard work and thus hard-earned money.

    After exhausting all the free time they had toplete the order, the tiredness had finally ovee them. Auntie Li had, by now, gone back to catch up on sleep.

    Uncle Li¡¯s question was also very normal and expected. After all, the puppies in the pet shop were fed dog food most of the time, and only a few dogs, such as Famous and Zhan Tian, were fed chicken legs.

    Zhang Zian exined, ¡°I don¡¯t intend to feed the dogs here in the store. It is... The nearby pet breeding base needs... Well, yes. Grandpa Li, I may need so many chicken legs in the future. If you can¡¯t do it, please hire someone so you don¡¯t tire yourself out.¡±

    ¡°Good, good.¡±

    Although Zhang Zian had not given him a direct answer, Uncle Li was old-fashioned, and he did not invade the privacy of others too much. Anyway, it was impossible to use chicken legs to do crimes. It was most important to make money off this.

    Dog food was something that everyone had, more or less. It could fill the stomach. However, to truly motivate people¡ªor dogs¡ªto work, it was important to rely on chicken.

    Dogs were very human-like animals. They would observe and learn, and they could be conditioned to react in a certain appropriate manner. They would soon find out that whoever brought in more bottles would also have bigger pieces of chicken to eat.

    The reward and punishment mechanism was not very effective for cats, but it was very effective for dogs.

    Dogs who didn¡¯t work hard would have to lick the chicken bones left behind by the other dogs. They would only be able to look and drool. If there was no leadership or system, it would be highly chaotic and disorderly. There would be aimless fights and robbery. However, with Little White around to restrain the dogs, he didn¡¯t have to worry about this issue.

    Soon, the Wuling Hong Guang MPV had been fully filled except for the driver¡¯s seat. Fortunately, the car could take on everything. If it hadn¡¯t been able to, he would¡¯ve needed more than one vehicle.

 Chapter 1343: From Trash to Food

    <h4>Chapter 1343: From Trash to Food</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Although dimir and Little White seldom saw eye-to-eye, when Zhang Zian was about to leave, dimir jumped into the co-pilot seat and went along with him, iming he wanted to see how the stupid dogs could pull themselves out of the rubble.

    Zhang Zian thought that cats and dogs were not naturally born with hostility towards each other. Rather... It was a type of love-hate rtionship. Might he be wrong?

    In short, after he¡¯d settled things with his staff, he started the car, drove onto the road, and headed back to thendfill again.

    Of course, the drone was also with him in case of an emergency.

    When he came to thendfill, he saw that Little White was waiting for him under a road sign by the side of the road.

    ¡°You¡¯ve been waiting long.¡± He parked his car on the side of the road without turning off the engine.

    Little White nced at dimir in the co-pilot position and deliberately turned a blind eye to him. He turned to face Zhang Zian and said, ¡°Follow me.¡±

    It ran in front, and Zhang Zian drove slowly behind.

    He had thought of letting Little White into his vehicle. However, he was afraid that this would merely facilitate a fight between a cat and a dog in his car.

    Running along the road for a while, Little White suddenly veered away and ran into the wilderness next to them.

    Although the Wuling Hong Guang MPV was not a special off-road vehicle, it had no trouble with wild road conditions. Zhang Zian maneuvered the steering wheel and followed the road.

    He continued to follow Little White for a little longer. There was a forest in front of him. It was an artificial forest. The distance between the trees was almost equal.

    Hundreds of thousands of stray dogs gathered in front of the woods¡ªdogs lined up over arge area. They were like an army waiting to be reviewed.

    In front of them, there was a sea of...stic bottles.

    ording to Zhang Zian¡¯s instructions, Little White had not let the stray dogs mix the empty bottles they had picked up. They had piled them in front of their feet. This was so he would know how many bottles each dog had picked up at a nce.

    The stray dogs themselves didn¡¯t know why they were doing such boring things. When they were hungry, they went to the garbage dump to see if there were rotten leaves or pan-salt rotten meat. Sometimes they could even find half a hamburger and fill their stomachs. Was it not good to fill up and then lie in the sun by the sea? With a close of the eye, another day would pass.

    However, since Little White had instructed them to do it, they didn¡¯t dare not listen. However, this did not necessarily mean that they were willing.

    Woof!

    Woof! Woof!

    Woof! Woof! Woof!

    It might¡¯ve been that the wind blew the smell of dimir to the dog group. A dog began to bark, and the other dogs followed. They were allrge- and medium-sized bulldogs. If one were to take out one dog, its barks would be loud enough to make children cry. Hundreds of dogs were now crying out together. The sound was deafening. It was as massive as a tsunami.

    Zhang Zian was also shocked. If so many dogs swooped in at the same time, unless they were sitting in a tank, no car would be absolutely safe.

    However, dimir was calm. It carried the temperament of ¡°even if the enemy has thousands of soldiers, I am not moving.¡±

    Little White rushed over and cried out at the group. Only then, did the barking of the dog group was suppressed, leaving only a few whimpers.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t get too close or turn off the engine. He got out of the vehicle, feeling rather afraid for his own life.

    He often dealt with dogs and always reminded others not to show fear when encountering stray dogs. However, when it came to actually facing so many stray dogs, it was self-deception to say that he had no fear.

    Now he could only pin his hopes on the power of Little White and his ability to suppress them all.

    Zhang Zian had always been working with people without a doubt and did not suspect them. Despite his heart beating quickly, he still bravely walked toward the dogs.

    Little White was amazed by his show of bravery. He had not expected that. He decided to restrain hisrades in the future so as not to allow them to shackle him. Otherwise, he would lose face in front of the stupid cat, something he did not want.

    The closer he got to the dogs, the more sour and acidic the smell was. It was mixed with the smell of rotten food and fecal matter, so every stray dog ??was surrounded by a lot of mosquitoes and flies on its head, body, and mouth. Water dripped from their teeth, and their burning breath was mixed together, generating waves of heat.

    They were like a group of primitive beasts from the wild.

    If they suddenly became mad and resisted themand of Little White, Zhang Zian, as a piece of meat, would not be enough to feed them all.

    ¡°In just two days, you managed to get so many bottles?¡±

    Zhang Zian nced around a few times and found that the number of bottles was generally arranged from the most to the least. The dogs with the most bottles were standing at the front. Each dog had more than 50 bottles in front of them, with empty 500-milliliter drink bottles the mostmon item. There was also a small number of cans and a few rather useless ss bottles...

    Dogs with fewer bottles stood at the back row. Yet they had at least 20 empty bottles.

    If the count was 500 dogs, taking the median of 40 bottles, there were...20,000 empty bottles.

    Zhang Zian and the waste collection station had negotiated a good price. If the number collected reached 10,000, then the price of ordinary 500-milliliter stic bottles was five cents, the price of each can was one cent, and the guaranteed price was more than $1,000. The actual amount would be no less than $1,500. The wholesale quantity of dog food was almost four or five hundred kilograms, which should be enough to fill their stomachs.

    ¡°How? Is it enough?¡± Little White peered at his face.

    ¡°It¡¯s enough. As the first time you all collected bottles, this is very good,¡± Zhang Zian affirmed. ¡°If you can improve on the details, it will be better. For example, as much as possible, pick up empty bottles, then tin cans. Do not pick up ss bottles.¡±

    Considering that the stray dogs had done this for the first time andcked motivation, this, in fact, had exceeded his expectations. He had intended to pay out of his own pocket for their first few meals.

    Little White rushed to the dogs and cried out a few times. He picked up the cans and empty drink bottles to indicate to them that these were the valuable things to collect.

    The stray dogs were not very interested. He could see that they couldn¡¯t be bothered much.

    ¡°Let them line up in a team and take turns toe to my car to eat.¡± Zhang Zian returned to the car, opened the trunk, and pulled out a 20-kilogram bag of dog food. He tore it open and took out a pile of stic bowls. He let Little White line the dogs up for food in the order he desired.

    The stray dogs, who had originallycked interest, smelled the dog food and immediately perked up. They anxiously spun around, wishing to rush to the dog food and own it.

    Little White was worried about the chaos that could happen. He reprimanded them a few times before lining them up to take turns to pick up the food bowls. They lined up and did so, approaching Zhang Zian.

    Every time a dog came to the front, he ced a spoonful of dog food into their bowl. He felt like an olden-day disaster-relief squad, and these dogs were the hungry people he was helping.

    The big, fierce, stinky stray dogs ??made him very nervous, and his hands were damp with sweat.

    The dogs in front swallowed the food immediately and left the food bowl behind for the dogs standing behind them. In the beginning, this caused a bit of confusion, but fortunately, Little White kept busy and maintained order.

    A bag of dog food was soon finished. Another bag of dog food was opened.

    With hundreds of dogs and every dog getting some dog food, his arms were soon tired. He must, in the future, find a way to let the stray dogs feed themselves, much like a buffet.

    The next step was the highlight of why he¡¯de here.

    When he opened the foam instor and the smell of the honey-roasted chicken legs came out, all the stray dogs went crazy.

 Chapter 1344: The Two Armies Confront Each Other

    <h4>Chapter 1344: The Two Armies Confront Each Other</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Some of these stray dogs had been driven away from the dog market by the stray cats. Some had been born and raised inndfills. How long had it been since they had tasted a delicious and juicy chicken drumstick?

    It was not a spoiled chicken leg but a fragrant, hot, honey-roasted chicken drumstick. The skin was an attractive caramel color. The tender and baked chicken waspletely marinated. The rich and sticky honey ran along the skin, and it slowly but surely slid down the entire chicken leg...

    In an instant, almost all the stray dogs rushed forward together. There was nothing else in their eyes but the chicken. Even the orders given out by Little White could not be heard.

    Zhang Zian thought, ¡°My magic weapon has now instead be a weapon against me!¡± He hadn¡¯t expected the temptation of roast chicken drumsticks to have such effects on stray dogs. He¡¯d specially waited for the stray dogs to fill their stomachs with dog food before taking them out. He hadn¡¯t expected to continue seeing such ravenous ghosts.

    At that moment, dimir rolled down the window and jumped to the top of the car. He shook his paws and shouted, ¡°Comrades! Rush forward!¡±

    There were a lot of stray cats around, and many of them were familiar with Zhang Zian. He was not certain when they¡¯de, but while the stray dogs¡¯ attention was concentrated on the dog food and Zhang Zian, they¡¯d sneaked into the vicinity, waiting for dimir to give an order.

    The stray dogs had won before, but the shadow of being bullied by stray cats had notpletely dissipated from their minds. Now, with their enemies directly in front of them, they no longer cared about chicken drumsticks. Instead, they all got into an attack position.

    Stray dogs and stray cats stood on each side. They may engage in a scuffle in this wilderness at any time.

    Taking advantage of this opportunity, Little White disciplined the few dogs that had led the disturbance and disorder amongst the dogs. Only then was the situation somewhat stabilized.

    In contrast, the stray cats had been orderly since the beginning of the fight.

    To highlight the difference, the stray cats may be headed by dimir, but the core of their unity was the Meow Meow Doctrine that they shared. The stray dogs purely relied on Little White, a single individual.

    Comparing the two sides, perhaps the cats maye out slightly on top for now.

    Though it was somewhat premature for such aparison. After all, the stray dogs were still struggling to solve the problem of food and clothing, while the stray cats in the city nevercked food.

    dimir had prevailed in this invisible contest.

    However, this t and unobstructed terrain was not good for stray cats, and there was no overwhelming advantage in quantity. Once a conflict urred, the stray cats would likely suffer.

    ¡°Everyone, calm down!¡±

    The two armies confronted each other. Zhang Zian, who was standing in the middle holding a chicken drumstick, felt like he was under a lot of pressure.

    He was very grateful to dimir. Had he not set this up, he might already be in trouble. However, it was not necessary to try to mediate as much as possible.

    The stray dogs had calmed down. He mouthed a few words to Little White and followed with a nce. He handed the chicken drumstick to him and allowed him to ce it into one of the food bowls. Then it would be enjoyed first by the stray dogs with the most bottles.

    They ate the chicken hurriedly. After three big mouthfuls, the chicken was gone. They also continued to chew on the bones.

    Dogs with fewer bottles were drooling, some of them indignant with the situation. Why did those dogs have chicken drumsticks to eat?

    Little White used his front legs to push down on the dogs¡¯ heads and made them take a closer look at the bottles they had picked up, and then look at the bottles of the highest bottle collectors. This was to let them know, perhaps, that empty bottles equaled a chicken drumstick.

    This was exactly what Zhang Zian hoped to promote¡ªto make the stray dogs enthusiastic about picking up bottles through rewards.

    Scavenging was a technical activity, part of arger industrial supply chain.

    The garbage mountain, in the eyes of ordinary people, was just a garbage ce. However, it was a treasure mountain in the eyes of professional scavengers.

    There was a ce in China called Lengshui Vige where there were hundreds of vigers, each of whom was a professional scavenger. The average person could earn $3,000 to $5,000 a month by scavenging. Even if there was a slight discount for stray dogs every month, with an ie of a few hundred to a thousand, it was more than enough for them to support themselves.

    Three to five thousand dors, in the eyes of white-cor workers in big cities, may not be worth mentioning aloud. However, looking at the whole of China, a monthly ie of $3,000-5,000 actually exceeded the median wage. However, it must be said that the price for that wage was hard work and health.

    The scrap collection station Zhang Zian had contacted was actually just a middleman. The district-level acquisition of waste was sold to the municipal level, and then the municipal level was resold to the regional level. Finally, at the regional level, it was sold to the provincial level. At every level, someone earned something. Those scavengers, who were unwilling to be exploited and ambitious, may choose to start their own businesses. They would be waste purchasers, smelt the purchased cans into valuable aluminum ingots, and then sell them directly to the factory. This was the equivalent of the production of raw materials.

    Although Zhang Zian did not have the ambition to do this and it was tough to entirely change one¡¯s profession, he could try to find a nearby smelting factory and talk directly to the factory about the price. Then he could send the cans over. The price would definitely be much higher than the purchase price now. The difference earned could then be put back into his own pocket.

    As long as the amount of bottles collected wasrge enough, he would have bargaining power. However, this was something to consider in the future.

    Everything he did was to make sure the stray dogs in the suburbs would live and work in peace and contentment instead of rushing into the city to make trouble. This was for the good of all.

    In fact, what was so good about the city? Traffic congestion, poor air quality, expensive housing prices... Even when going out, one had to keep a lookout for dangers everywhere...

    The peasant woman, the mountain spring, some paddy fields¡ªthis should be man¡¯s ultimate dream!

    In the blink of an eye, the few boxes of chicken drumsticks he had brought with him had been eaten. Even the bones were gone.

    The dogs who¡¯d eaten the chicken drumsticks stared at him with their tongues out. The fierceness in their eyes had dissipated more than half, and some of them wagged their tails like good dogs raised at home.

    The dogs who hadn¡¯t eaten the chicken legs were twitching on the spot. Their saliva, tempted by the scent, was oozing out. They couldn¡¯t eat the chicken drumsticks, so they tried to snatch the remaining chicken bones and lick the foam instor for the chicken juice. However, these instors would be used often in the future, so they couldn¡¯t be made dirty by their tongues.

    Even ordinary dog food was much better than the rancid food they usually ate.

    Zhang Zian believed that at this time, as soon as Little White gave the order, the dogs would definitely rush to the garbage dump and scavenge all the cans and empty beverage bottles that they could find...

    Even the stray cats that dimir had brought to help were sorely tempted.

    Zhang Zian picked up the empty dog food bag, shook it, and turned the empty foam box over. This was to let the dogs know that all the food had been eaten, and there was nothing left.

    Stray dogs were hard to disappoint, and their spirits perked up by a lot. Now that they were fed, they would soon be thirsty and want to drink water. They looked back at the artificial woods and rubbed their thirsty lips with their tongues.

    Little White did not order them to drink water. It was not to deliberately abuse them, but it was in a dilemma.

 Chapter 1345: Battle of the Beast

    <h4>Chapter 1345: Battle of the Beast</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian found that Little White had a different look on its face. It was obvious that the stray dogs were thirsty after eating dog food. It was time for them to drink water, but it did not order them to drink water.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Something up?¡± he asked.

    Little White said, ¡°...I can¡¯t really say what it is. Follow me.¡±

    ¡°Be careful, he could be out to trick you! The dog cannote up with anything good!¡± dimir reminded him.

    Little White¡¯s lips parted, and it said, ¡°Do you have spit in your mouth? Try to spit and let me see, will you?¡±

    ¡°Alright, alright. Don¡¯t quarrel. I believe that Little White is not being malicious toward me.¡± Zhang Zian was actually worried, so he used the chance to smother Little White. This was in case he had other ns. He should at least consider being polite to Zhang Zian.

    Little White left the dogs where they were and led Zhang Zian into the artificial woods.

    dimir did not trust him. He also left the cats with the dogs and followed Zhang Zian.

    This artificial forest was dominated by tall por trees and supplemented by other low-lying trees. They might have been nted to act as a wind and sand barrier. This was to prevent the wind from blowing the smell of the garbage dump to the coastal city and neighboring cities.

    There was no natural spring or freshwater source on the seashore, so there was an artificial ditch in the artificial wood to irrigate the trees.

    The cross-section of the artificial ditch was an inverted trapezoidal shape. It was wide at the top and narrow at the bottom and made of cement and masonry. The main body extended several branches out. The fresh water from the raft flowed through the ditch, and the water was still clear, albeit with some fallen leaves in it.

    None of the above was the main point. The point was that this artificial forest was also upied by arge number of caterpirs.

    When Zhang Zian walked into the woods, he found that out. Even when there was no wind, the woods echoed with a low rustling sound. Just as poets described the melodious sound of spring silkworms munching the mulberry leaves, the actual experience of hearing it seemed rather far off from imagination.

    He stared up and saw a caterpir creeping on the back of almost every leaf. At least half of the leaves were eaten with many holes on them.

    ¡°My brothers are all irond men, not as spoiled as cats,¡± Little White said in a low voice.

    dimir sneered disdainfully, but there was no rebuttal from him this time around.

    ¡°We can survive in harsh environments such as garbage dumps. Everywhere wend, there may be sharp ss and wire, and they will scratch our bodies and limbs... So even if the trees are full of caterpirs, we will not be bothered very much,¡± Little White continued. ¡°It¡¯s good to say that we can survive through thick and thin, but...¡±

    Zhang Zian listened.

    Little White went to the artificial ditch and looked down. ¡°But to drink the water and have it in our mouths, we really cannot bear that...¡±

    Zhang Zian heard what it was saying and followed it to the ditch.

    In the waters in the ditch, there were not only leaves but also a lot of fat caterpirs crawling and bobbing up and down on the surface.

    Apparently, the caterpirs on the tree had fallen into the ditch.

    ¡°Seawater can only induce vomiting, and we cannot drink it. In this neighborhood, the only source of fresh water that can be drunk is here. However, now...there is no way to drink this,¡± Little White said. ¡°When some of my brothers drink water, their tongues and mouths catch the caterpirs, and their mouths get swollen¡ªso swollen that they can just barely open up a tiny slit. They can¡¯t eat anything for a few days, and they finally starve to death... Even if we then take precautions and try to avoid the caterpirs floating in the water, many of them are transparent. They are like invisible poisons. Once consumed, they flow straight into our throats and stomachs. The pain inside is worse than having them on our tongues...¡±

    Little White spoke painfully about the trouble caused by caterpirs.

    Zhang Zian listened to him and frowned again and again. He could imagine the picture he¡¯d described, and he started getting goosebumps.

    Even dimir, who stood on the opposite side...felt a chill down his spine upon hearing all this. He did not follow up and speak of horrible things.

    Zhang Zian tightened his cor and sleeves and cautiously lifted his head to look up at the dense branches of the trees.

    No wonder. After the dog food had been eaten, Little White had not let the stray dogse here to drink water. As it said, it was really dangerous to drink water in the open ditch where the caterpirs floated.

    But water was the source of life. He had already experienced this and acknowledged it deeply while in the deserts of Egypt. One could temporarily not drink for a while. However, over a long duration, no one could take that¡ªhumans, dogs, cats, or even birds.

    Little White and the stray dogs were already being pushed to their limits¡ªstaying inndfills, where poorly-disciplined stray dogs might eat poisonous sausages. Moving to the artificial woods near the water source was their best choice for survival. However, here, they would be tortured by these abominable caterpirs, and that was a fate even worse than death.

    ¡°If we stay here, we die. If we don¡¯t, we die. We wait and die. When we die, will the country care?¡±

    Little White said this with deep pain and raised his eyes. He stared coldly at dimir.

    There was no hatred in his eyes. He was a beast full of the ambition to survive.

    Zhang Zian instantly understood.

    They could not stay, but they could not live. They were close to their wits¡¯ end. The only way to survive was to expel the stray cats and upy the coastal city. This was a battle for survival. There was no way out. No matter how many casualties, if they won, at least they could survive. Even if they lost, they¡¯d had nothing to begin with. They were bound to die.

    The fearless dimir was taken aback by this look.

    The stray dogs could push all the chips to the table. Even if they only had one dog left, they must also upy Binhai. Were the stray cats willing to pay the same price?

    They could do it once with all they had. Do it a second time, and sorrow would set in. Do it a third time, and they would be exhausted.

    The most important thing was the momentum of the two armies. Even if the stray cats¡¯bat ideology was very advanced, the stray dogs¡¯ need for survival was vastly superior to the stray cats¡¯.

    dimir had a wealth of experience with regards to struggle. He knew that facing an army that did not surrender, did not escape, and only knew death was the most terrible one to face. Even if they won, there would be heavy casualties.

    Zhang Zian deeply felt the seriousness of the situation. Since Little White had showed his hand, he knew that there was no turning back on the matter. An attack from the stray dogs was imminent. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow¡ªit was impossible to know when they would strike. In any case, they would not wait until the stray cats recovered from their injuries.

    What was even more frightening was that he suddenly felt the killing intent from both sides. It slowly filled the atmosphere.

    Since things had gotten to this point, both Little White and dimir were thinking of the same thing: Kill the king, and kill the army. If they destroyed the leader here, then the chance of winning would undoubtedly improve.

    ¡°Cough! Wait a minute! I want to say a few words.¡±

    Zhang Zian dry-coughed a little and gathered the courage to get between the two. He steeled himself against the hostile look in their eyes.

    ¡°The world¡¯s bitterness all lies in these caterpirs! In fact, not only are stray dogs affected, but humans and stray cats have also been deeply troubled by them... As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is a friend, so then... Let¡¯s abandon all hostility for the time being and go against amon enemy. Shall we now form an alliance and fight against the caterpirs? What do you think?¡±

 Chapter 1346: Ritual of Daily Living

    <h4>Chapter 1346: Ritual of Daily Living</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Little White and dimir, who were on opposite ends of the spectrum like fire and water, were stunned upon hearing Zhang Zian¡¯s words. Their intention to kill momentarily dissipated. This was not what they had expected.

    Cats and dogs actually had amon enemy now¡ªthat was rather ridiculous-sounding and unbelievable!

    Little White was deeply skeptical. Cooperation must be based on amon foundation. Where was themon foundation with the stray cats?

    ¡°No! Impossible! We can never cooperate with these stupid cats! There needs to be mutual understanding for cooperation. Even if you want to deal with caterpirs, wait for us to deal with these stupid cats first!¡± Little White said, showing his fangs.

    dimir sneered at him. ¡°What the hell? Look at who will deal with who first!¡±

    ¡°Wait! Listen to me.¡±

    Zhang Zian blurted this out in a hurry without much thought. However, after he said it, it made sense to him. The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. He couldn¡¯t help but praise his own smarts.

    ¡°The first and most important base for stray cats is the greenspace, located behind the pet shop, which was upied by caterpirs. The stray cats were forced to migrate to a poorly-developed unfinished building,¡± Zhang Zian exined. Nevertheless, he tried very hard not to expose the strategic locations of the stray cats.

    dimir silently agreed and did not interrupt.

    Since returning from Egypt, it had also been very surprised at the fact that the stray cats had voluntarily given up the important strategic location of the greenspace. Later, they realized that because the greenspace had been upied by caterpirs and mosquitoes, it would be almost impossible to win it back. They could only wait for the weather to cool down and allow the caterpirs and mosquitoes to fight for their own survival. However, that was more than a few months away.

    ¡°And as for us humans, we do not have thick hair covering our bodies like cats and dogs, so we are more vulnerable to caterpirs,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Little White looked at him and at dimir and thought about it.

    ¡°I know that you are hostile toward each other. It will take a while to resolve the entire situation. I do not intend to try to cure the hostility between you. However, I hope that you will put each other¡¯s hatred aside and concentrate on expelling the caterpirs first. After the city of Binhai is cured of this issue, you can have a good time settling scores with each other. I will not interfere with that or stop you. Think about it. What if, after the fight, the caterpirs end up being the ones sitting at the top?¡±

    This was a temporary truce. However, currently, there was no time to think about the best solution, and perhaps there may be no such thing as a perfect solution. The only option then was to dy the battle between them.

    As for what would happen in the future... Only the future knew what was in store. Maybe good solutions may emerge in the future. Maybe, just maybe, they would go from being enemies to being friends after fighting amon enemy. After all, they seemed to have the ability to love and hate each other at the same time...

    ¡°The exponentially-multiplied caterpirs have be amon problem for all three of us. In addition, this is merely the precursor to an outbreak. After heavy rainfall, that will be the real disaster,¡± he said.

    The street office did not intend to provide help, so he could only try to unite with all the forces that suffered from them to deal with the caterpirs together.

    Both Little White and dimir were silent.

    They were very certain in their hearts that the two sides were almost evenly matched. Both intended to and would battle fiercely. The ending would be nothing more than one losing and the other winning. No matter who won or lost, the casualties would be heavy. The loser would withdraw, and the winner would not be able to control Binhai City. A power vacuum would form in the city. This was the perfect time for the caterpirs to proliferate rapidly and take over.

    Though they were clear of the consequences, they both found it difficult to put their animosity aside and work together.

    Zhang Zian saw that their attitudes had softened and continued persuading them. ¡°In fact, there is no deep hatred between us,¡± he said. ¡°Stray cats have driven out stray dogs, and the stray dogs have also counterattacked stray cats. Humans have also treated cats poorly and poisoned dogs, yet there are many who are scratched and bitten by cats and dogs... We can build a united front between us. Although you are a cat, you are a dog, and I am a human, but we are all mammals. We can¡¯t even call caterpirs a distant rtive...¡±

    Little White and dimir were speechless over what they¡¯d heard. It was a rather far-fetched argument, to say the least...

    Though the example given was rather absurd, the ideology behind it was sound. Stray cats and stray dogs were hostile to each other, but they could at leastmunicate with each other. Even if theymunicated with their ws and teeth, that was some type ofmunication after all. At least they knew that the other party was angry, happy, or sad... How would onemunicate with caterpirs? One didn¡¯t even know what they were thinking!

    Little White sighed and said, as if talking to himself, ¡°When I first came to this junkyard, I was very ambitious and determined to lead the stray dogs to something greater than themselves. At that time, I thought that civil... No, that is not right. I meant that race is the most important, followed by civil rights, but now... The people¡¯s livelihood that allows us to survive seems to be the most important...¡±

    This sounded familiar to some people, but Zhang Zian had no time to think about it in detail. He quickly said, ¡°Yes, survival is the foundation of everything, and other things can be der. As long as it is for the continuation of life, even if it is cooperation with the enemy, it does not matter!¡±

    Little White nodded. ¡°Well, if the other party has no objections, I agree to a form of limited cooperation.¡±

    Zhang Zian heaved a sigh of relief and turned to dimir to see what he thought.

    dimir had quietly analyzed the situation. If he did not cooperate, he would face a hard-to-win battle. This would be very unfavorable for the stray cats, who had not yet recovered.

    Knowing that the current situation was not ideal for him, in order to preserve the strength of his team and strive for the final victory, he could choose a temporarypromise.

    ¡°Okay, I agree,¡± he replied. ¡°The duration of the cooperation will be until the caterpirs are defeated. During this period, the stray cats will not take the initiative to provoke a dispute and will provide a certain level of assistance. However, if the stray dogs ??dare to provoke us, tearing up the hard-won temporary peace treaty, the stray cats will not sit still. We will fight back!¡±

    ¡°Haha. Oh, likewise.¡±

    Little White did not show weakness in his choice of words.

    Since both sides were willing to temporarily stop the fighting, Zhang Zian was feeling much better. At least he would not feel like he was caught between both of them.

    ¡°It seems that it will be unrealistic to sign a piece of paper for the agreement. However, I believe that you are all elfins who honor your words. Then... Shall we seal the deal with your paws and my hand?¡± he said, kneeling down and extending his hand. His palm faced the sky.

    Little White and dimir looked at each other, both rather reluctant to approach. Eventually, they did, and two pawsnded on Zhang Zian¡¯s palm, ovepping one another.

    ¡°Good! A gentleman¡¯s word¡ª¡± he said.

    ¡°Cannot be broken!¡±

    Little White and dimir responded at the same time. Their voices were very loud as they tried to overpower each other and prove their mettle. Since they couldn¡¯t beat each other temporarily by force, they would fight in other areas.

    Seizing the opportunity while their paws were still on his palm, Zhang Zian added, ¡°I heard from girls that life requires a sense of ritual, and we have finally reached a truce after many twists and turns. I think it¡¯s a very memorable moment¡ª??let¡¯s take this time tomemorate it. Let¡¯s give our cooperation today a name and call it ¡®the first cooperation between cats and dogs.¡¯ What do you think?¡±

    ¡°There will be no second time!¡±

    Little White and dimir said this in unison.

 Chapter 1347: Stalker

    <h4>Chapter 1347: Stalker</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian was merely making a joke, keeping with his personality. To hell with talk about cats and dogs cooperating! In this battle against caterpirs, human beings were the dominant yers dictating the moves. This was an indisputable fact.

    In the face of caterpirs with venomous hair, both cats and dogs had some weaknesses, not to mention the fact that the number of caterpirs was almost toorge to calcte.

    After much discussion, Little White, Zhang Zian, and dimir walked out of the woods. The stray dogs and stray cats waiting for them had been a little worried. Seeing their respective leaders safe and sound, they were reassured.

    Little White and dimir went over to the stray dogs and stray cats respectively and announced the temporary armistice agreement to them. It caused a lot of sudden conversations andmotion.

    The living thing that had always been regarded as a deadly enemy had suddenly be an ally. This sudden change was hard to ept all at once, both for the cats and the dogs. They were affected by the surroundings where everyone was gathered. They had all regarded each other as a thorn in their sides. Now, they¡¯d changed it to the idea that they needed to shake hands and work together. Even though it was short-term cooperation, such a mind-boggling thought was too much for their rtively simple brains to process.

    Little White and dimir tried hard to convince the stray dogs and stray cats respectively. The former relied more on individual authority to suppress all objections and doubts. Whoever dared to stir things up would be attacked with an iron hammer. Thetter employed talking. He encouraged everyone to speak their minds freely and then he patiently exined the issues to them.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help in this regard. He found the nearestmissary on the map and drove in to buy twenty boxes of mineral water. It was imperative to solve the problem of what they would drink first. Before this, they had all been looking for drinks left behind by humans in the garbage dump to quench their thirst. Whether it was Coke, Fanta, or Sprite, as long as it was drinkable, they would drink it.

    When he drove back with water, Little White and dimir had already done their best to persuade their own teams. The groups of cats and dogs were not as hostile to each other by now, but they definitely were not close partners. Theyy in their respective areas and rested.

    He poured the bottled mineral water into the food bowl and let the stray dogs take turns to drink it. Now that they were fed and hydrated, the dogs started to be slow andzy in their movements. Their anger dissipated a lot.

    However, it was not possible to rely on his daily purchase of mineral water to solve the problem. First, it cost him a lot of money, and secondly, it cost him time.

    As the stray dogs ??drank the water, he went into the woods and looked in the direction of the ditch. He came up with a temporary solution¡ªhis aquarium had a lot of fish, and the fish needed a pump to let the water circte. He would bring two less-efficient pumps that used more than 100 watts of power to work here and install the filter at the ditch. He would select an area that had fewer caterpirs to pump the water. The stray dogs could then line up to drink.

    Of course, he would have to buy a small generator. One with a few hundred watts of power would be enough. It would use either gasoline or liquefied gas, which was not expensive. For a few hundred dors, it would provide up to 220 volts of power for the pumps to work.

    It was also necessary to cover the generator with a rainproof cover to prevent it from short-circuiting in the rain.

    Although it wouldn¡¯tst, when transporting food, he could bring along gasoline or rece the liquefied gas bottle. He would not need to buy water and then transport it.

    If no one was guarding them, the pump and generator would likely be stolen in a few days, but fortunately, the stray dogs could be responsible for this. After all, it ensured the survival of their kind.

    Zhang Zian went to see the various things the stray dogs had picked up, like felt pens without the caps, broken headphones, broken speakers, empty sses cases, vibration equipment with unknown uses, etc.... There was nothing valuable.

    The stray dogs didn¡¯t know what was worth money, and it was like finding a needle in a haystack. There was a low chance that they would find something of value. They were not to me. Even if a person walked into the garbage dump, it wasn¡¯t so easy to find something that was worth some money. If it were that easy, wouldn¡¯t more people do it? Everyone would then be there picking up garbage rather than going to work in an office.

    He told Little White about the pump and generator. He nned to find time to install it tomorrow. If he didn¡¯t have time toe, he would send the staff to do it. He told him to act as a friendly guide for the Wuling Hong Guang MPV and help restrain the stray dogs so as not to scare the people away.

    As for the empty bottles on the ground, he had to wait until tomorrow when he or the clerk was present and bring the person from the waste collection station here to collect them. They would ount for them and pay on the spot.

    The matter here was temporarily settled. He said goodbye to Little White and, together with dimir, got back into the Wuling Hong Guang MPV. He also asked dimir to dismiss the stray cats.

    He could see that Little White was an authoritarian who could suppress the stray dogs. He could not easily leave the dogs. Otherwise, the entire dog group would fall into chaos. They may even wreak havoc and attack people around the area. Thus, he could not take him away. He could only wait for the situation to stabilize before doing anything else.

    And...to make dimir and Little White live together under one roof... Wouldn¡¯t that mean bringing the war to his pet store?

    Back at the pet store, he asked the staff to pick up the spare water pumps and went to the outdoor equipment store to buy a small generator.

    In the afternoon, he took a short nap before leaving the store. He walked over to Zhonghua Road Primary School.

    On the way there, he observed that there were all kinds of caterpirs crawling on the trees on both sides of the road. They were not abundant, and pedestrians who had passed by the trees did not notice.

    Upon arriving at the school gate, he exined his intention to the school guards. The guards who were informed in advance confirmed his identity and then let him enter.

    He found the teacher¡¯s office. A teacher who was preparing for ss received him. She¡¯d heard that he hade to help the school eliminate the caterpirs. Upon hearing this, she rambled on and talked about the impact of caterpirs on daily teaching and life. The children did not dare to leave the ssroom during the break, especially the girls.

    Most of the primary school teachers were also females. Upon seeing the caterpirs, they were both disgusted and scared. They had long wanted to eliminate the caterpirs in the school, but no one had taken the lead, and the leaders in the school were slow to act. Every other day, a meeting was called toe up with a n. Yet nothing happened. Finally, help seemed to have arrived.

    The teachers were more open-minded to ideas, unlike the strict director of the street office. Zhang Zian briefly shared what he had in mind, and they quickly agreed to his n to remove the insects.

    His n was very simple. He would either rent or buy a batch of pesticide, inject the diluted cypermethrin inside, and wait for the weekend or after school. Then, several people in protective clothing would start spraying the areas that had the most caterpirs in the school. There would be no further impact on the students who came to school the next day.

    The teachers said that they could buy the things that they needed, and Zhang Zian would not have to pay for them. However, they insisted that he do the job. If they got into close contact with so many caterpirs, they would be sick and suffer from sleepless nights.

    Once discussions wereplete, Zhang Zian stood up and left.

    Just as he got out of the ssroom office, the school bell rang.

    Little Celery was pulling Wang Yaning out of a ssroom. They looked like they were going to the back of the building. Another figure quietly followed them. It was Xu Zhuang Zhuang.

 Chapter 1348: The Naughty Boy Seeks Trouble

    <h4>Chapter 1348: The Naughty Boy Seeks Trouble</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In the eyes of the students, Xu Zhuang Zhuang¡¯s goal was obvious. After all, the boy was ratherrge. In addition, the look of satisfaction over his stealthy actions said it all.

    However, Little Celery and Wang Yaning did not discover the boy as they walked. This was because most people did not look behind them when walking. Who would be cautious and think that someone was following them? Besides, they were young and innocent primary school students... Well, perhaps Wang Yaning may be capable of deeper thoughts, but her mind was mainly on pleasing the teachers and not engaging and deterring spying activities.

    However, behind a predator was another predator that saw it as prey. Xu Zhuang Zhuang did not expect it, but he was being followed by someone else. This person was, of course, Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian could see clearly what was happening. After the ss bell rang, Xu Zhuang Zhuang had rushed out of the ssroom like a cannonball. He¡¯d run to the ssroom where Little Celery was studying and waited for her to emerge. When she finally left the ssroom, he¡¯d quietly followed... However, Wang Yaning was walking along with Little Celery. He hadn¡¯t anticipated this.

    The direction Little Celery and Wang Yaning were headed was toward a special area for hamsters. It was behind the ssrooms. The route there was filled with trees. Even though the area was considered to be heavily infested with caterpirs, they felt that they were responsible for caring for the hamsters. Even if they were afraid, they must hold in their fear and proceed.

    Fortunately, they¡¯d prepared a folding umbre. When they walked out of the ssroom, they shared an umbre. They shielded themselves from the caterpirs that might fall on their heads. They¡¯d also changed into rain boots before leaving the ssroom.

    Xu Zhuang Zhuang quietly followed. He carefully surveyed the situation. He obviously wanted to get back at Little Celery for making him lose face in public. His choice of doing so? Well, it was nothing more than picking up a bug and throwing it on her to scare her. This was the trick that he used most often in scaring girls.

    Zhang Zian saw through his intentions and immediately increased the pace of his footsteps. He took another, more direct route to reach the room where the hamsters were raised, moving much more quickly than the girls. Although the ce was a good distance away, he was, nevertheless, an adult. He could walk faster and would get there first.

    The trees around the ssroom were as Little Celery had described. There were many ¡°hanging ghosts¡± on them.

    The term ¡°hanging ghost¡± was amon name for thervae of the moth. Thervae would pull a long silk thread from the branch and hang themselves in the air. When the wind blew, it would sway slightly. If the gust of wind was strong, it may be blown onto the ground...or even onto the human body.

    Most mothrvae were not toxic, but a few species are toxic.

    Zhang Zian looked at them carefully. After all, he hadn¡¯t brought an umbre and didn¡¯t want to be poisoned by one of theservae.

    There were too many ¡°hanging ghosts.¡± He couldn¡¯t see all of them at a nce. Nevertheless, based on whatever he managed to see, he could tell that the ones here were ck in color and had bodies full of grayish fluffy hairs. It looked rather horrifying. This type of caterpir was called the Macrobrochis Gigas. The hairs on their bodies were not poisonous. Even if itnded on one¡¯s body, there was no possibility of getting poisoned. It would feel disgusting at most. This was unless the person had allergies and could develop redness swelling of the skin.

    The Macrobrochis Gigas had once ravaged Kai Ping City and Nan An City in 2014 and 2017 respectively, causing very bad experiences for local residents. At that time, the number of people visiting the hospital in these two ces for skin infections increased exponentially. This happened despite the insects being non-toxic in nature. If they¡¯d been poisonous, then perhaps the local hospitals would have had to treat issues more significant than skin infections...

    Seeing that it was therva of the Macrobrochis Gigas, Zhang Zian was relieved.

    ¡°Yaning, about today¡¯s homework...¡±

    Little Celery¡¯s voice came from a distance. They were already very close to their destination.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes widened. He ignored the Macrobrochis Gigas and looked around carefully for other types of caterpirs.

    Soon, on the leaves of a potted nt, he found what he¡¯d been looking for.

    It was a blue-green caterpir covered with pale yellow hairs. The most visible sign of its species was a smallvender-colored tuft of hair at the eighth abdominal section of its tail. The vivid color acted as a signal to its enemy that it was a poisonous creature: advance with caution.

    Although some non-toxic caterpirs also had bright protective colors to deceive natural enemies, that was not the case with this caterpir.

    Zhang Zian looked down and picked up a branch from the ground. He picked up the caterpir from the nt with it and took it to the back of the breeding room.

    Little Celery and Wang Yaning appeared. They both walked closely together under the umbre and shut their eyes so tightly that only slits were visible on their faces. They tried hard not to look at the ¡°hanging ghosts¡± and the other caterpirs and quickly walked towards the breeding room.

    Later, Xu Zhuang Zhuang also appeared. He looked around, probably looking for the props that he intended to use to scare Little Celery.

    Zhang Zian took advantage of the moment that he was not paying attention and used the branch to ce the caterpir with thevender-colored spot on the ground directly in front of Xu Zhuang Zhuang.

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Its bright colors made it difficult for Xu Zhuang Zhuang to ignore it. He saw it almost immediately.

    ¡°This bug seems to be very powerful. It will definitely scare those little girls until they scream like there is no tomorrow...¡± he muttered to himself as he took out toilet paper from his pocket. He intended to use it to pick up the caterpir.

    A naughty boy would always be a naughty boy. When he saw two dogs walking together, he had to go forward and kick their buttocks. Simrly, now that he¡¯d seen such a brightly-colored caterpir, one that even birds knew to avoid, he still intended to pick it up. He would never learn his lesson and would continue to seek out danger.

    ¡°Don¡¯t get close to it!¡±

    Seeing that Xu Zhuang Zhuang was not yet that close to the caterpir, Zhang Zian jumped out of his hiding ce immediately and stopped him.

    Zhang Zian had merely intended to use this to teach him a lesson. He had not really nned to let the boy get injured. This was because this caterpir was the notoriousrva of the velvet moth. It was very toxic. Although it could not kill someone, the pain it could inflict was very terrible. It was somewhat like a scorpion as well. When faced with dangers, it would actively eject poison from pores on its skin. Thus, if one even approached it, it was still very possible to be attacked by it.

    ¡°Who is it?¡±

    Xu Zhuang Zhuang was shocked and could not help but take two steps back.

    Seeing that it was Zhang Zian, he widened his eyes and screamed hysterically. ¡°You... Why are you here? Who let you into our school? I... I¡¯m telling the teacher!¡±

    He screamed, and Little Celery and Wang Yaning, who were in the room, ran out to check the situation upon hearing themotion.

    ¡°Ah! Mr. Shop Manager, you are here!¡±

    Little Celery was happy and wanted to run over to greet him. However, she did not have an umbre and was held back by Wang Yaning. Zhang Zian also waved his hand to tell her not toe over.

    Wang Yaning had a tight expression on her small face, emphasizing that she was thinking hard. Like a little adult, she took a look at Zhang Zian before she nced at Xu Zhuang Zhuang. Finally, she raised her finger to thetter and said, ¡°You are Xu Zhuang Zhuang, aren¡¯t you? What are you doing here? You are not a member of the hamster-breeding team, are you?¡±

    ¡°I... I think this man is very suspicious. I am eighty percent sure that he broke into our school. He was following both of you. I followed him because I think he is up to no good. If he really wants to do something bad, I will stop him immediately!¡±

    Xu Zhuang Zhuang was scared out of his wits. He came up with an excuse to leave on the spot.

    Unfortunately, Wang Yaning was not Little Celery. She could not be easily fooled.

 Chapter 1349: Courting Your Own Death

    <h4>Chapter 1349: Courting Your Own Death</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Wang Yaning had long known that Little Celery had invited Zhang Zian toe to the school to control the caterpir poption. Thus, she was not easily deceived by Xu Zhuang Zhuang. Besides, even if she didn¡¯t know that, her ability to observe andprehend was far beyond the level of standard primary school students. Had this not been the case, she would not have delighted the teachers so much.

    At a nce, she saw that Xu Zhuang Zhuang¡¯s eyes were darting all around, and he was very obviously lying.

    ¡°What is that?¡± She pointed to the creepy caterpir in front of him.

    Although she was not in the same ss as Xu Zhuang Zhuang, she knew that he was somewhat notorious in school. As the popr girl in school, she knew who the troublemakers were, as she used them as tools when she sought the praise and admiration of the teachers. They were the best tools for highlighting the contrast she brought to ss, and thus, she hoped for more of them. There were many children, but there were also as many teachers in the school¡ªthey taught different sses and different grades, and they were responsible for different things. These included teaching, logistics, and administrative tasks... Any of these teachers may be the ones teaching her in the future. To start currying favor now would be helpful for her.

    Therefore, she stared at Xu Zhuang Zhuang¡¯s eyes. They were clearly the eyes of the hunter staring at his prey as if to say, ¡°Come,e,e. If you dare, show me how naughty you can be again...¡±

    Not waiting for Xu Zhuang Zhuang to answer her question, she pointed to the crumpled toilet paper in his hand. ¡°What do you intend to do with that toilet paper? Do you want to pass motion anywhere you like? I am going to report this to the teacher!¡±

    Zhang Zian really felt that if anyone could make the strict director of the street office obey, it would be Wang Yaning.

    The sudden attack on Xu Zhuang Zhuang made him panicked. He could carry the mark of bullying a girl on his back, but he wouldn¡¯t dare carry the mark of defecating in random ces. If this was made public, it would be a stain on his reputation for a lifetime, and it would follow him forever. Wherever he went, people would talk about that and only that.

    ¡°No! Don¡¯t talk nonsense! I am not!¡±

    Seeing that Wang Yaning was already taking photos of this on her mobile phone, Xu Zhuang Zhuang quickly put the toilet paper back into his pocket. When he looked down, he saw the caterpir on the ground and immediately kicked it aside.

    Well, this naughty child had some form of ADHD. Usually, when he walked on the road and encountered pebbles, empty bottles, or other things, he enjoyed kicking them for a bit. Xu Zhuang Zhuang took this even further and kicked dogs when they walked together. So he didn¡¯t think much of it, and he subconsciously did the same to the caterpir.

    It was summer now, and the active boy who was afraid of heat had already started wearing his sandals. He was smart enough not to kick the caterpir with the exposed parts of his toes but used the soles instead¡ªif it were a normal caterpir, it wouldn¡¯t have been much of an issue. However, he did not know that this venomous creature would automatically eject venom when ced under stress.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    The caterpir flew into the air, and he screamed. He held his feet and awkwardly stumbled to the ground.

    ¡°You are courting your own death!¡±

    Zhang Zian, who was standing on the sidelines, was left speechless. No matter how hard he tried to prevent him from suffering, the boy seemed to seek suffering all by himself.

    Little Celery and Wang Yaning didn¡¯t know what was going on and thought that he was deliberately acting pathetic to earn their pity. This was so that they would go forward and help him. This was not the first time he¡¯d used this trick on others.

    Zhang Zian knew that he was really in pain. The boy¡¯s face was bright red, and beads of sweat appeared on his face. If he had not cared that he was in school, he would have cried even louder. Here, he held his mouth shut tight and tried very hard to hold back the tears...

    He ran over, pried open Xu Zhuang Zhuang¡¯s hands, took off his sandals, and saw that the toe on his right foot was already red and swollen. If one looked closely, one could see a fewvender bristles on his skin. Luckily, the skin on the big toe was thick and rather hard. It helped to reduce the number of bristles that actually prated the skin, and the pration was also rather shallow. Had this been another part of the body, there may have been more bristles.

    ¡°Don¡¯t move. I will pull it out for you.¡±

    As a result of the rapid growth of the number of caterpirs, he carried a small roll of medical tape with him all the time. With his fingers, he first pulled out thevender bristles, and then he used tape to adhere to those that could not be seen by the naked eye.

    Little Celery and Wang Yaning realized that Xu Zhuang Zhuang was not pretending to be in pain. They walked over with their umbre to see themotion. Amidst themotion, Wang Yaning took a picture of Xu Zhuang Zhuang¡¯s rather pathetic crying face.

    ¡°This is... Was he stung by a caterpir? What caterpir is this, and why is it so powerful?¡±

    Wang Yaning did not care about the injury and pain of Xu Zhuang Zhuang. She asked an academic question due to her desire to do well in school.

    ¡°That is thervae of the venomous moth,¡± Zhang Zian exined while treating the wound. ¡°There are two kinds of caterpirs¡ªone that can be a butterfly and another that can be a moth. The caterpirs that can turn into butterflies are all toxic, and most of the caterpirs that can be moths are not poisonous, such as those ¡®hanging ghosts¡¯ over our heads.¡±

    She carefully looked up at the hanging ghosts swaying in the wind and asked, ¡°Which are poisonous?¡±

    ¡°There are three kinds of poisonous ones¡ªnamely, the Slug Caterpir moth, the ?Tussock moth, and the Tent Caterpir moth,¡± Zhang Zian continued. ¡°As long as you don¡¯t touch them or let them fall on your body, there will be no problem. Thetter two are more troublesome. Their hair is not as stiff and as attached to their bodies, and when the wind blows, it can be loosened. In addition, some caterpirs may voluntarily eject their hairs, such as this one that has done so on him.¡±

    The ditch in the artificial woods was popted with the ?Tussock moth and the Tent Caterpir moth. This had caused the water to have a lot of invisible bristles floating on it. They entered the water because of the wind. Once the water was drunk...the pain that came with it would be unimaginable.

    How Xu Zhuang Zhuang felt at this time was probably like a patient with his surgeon standing next to him with a surgical knife. The surgeon then exined all his pains and ailments to the graduate students.

    Wang Yaning also wanted to know what obvious characteristics differentiated between these three poisonous mothrvae. Unfortunately, it would be difficult to talk about these things in a short period of time. When faced with caterpirs, it was best not to act like a hero and just take unnecessary precautions. One should treat them as if they were all toxic.

    Although the hairs had been removed, because the venom had already prated the skin, Xu Zhuang Zhuang¡¯s big toe would be swollen for a while. He obviously couldn¡¯t walk, let alone ce his foot on the ground. It was even highly unbearable to even wear shoes at this point.

    ¡°Bug... Where is the bug? Quickly squeeze its juice out and wipe it on my feet...¡± Xu Zhuang Zhuang squinted and looked around, looking for the caterpir that he¡¯d kicked.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°This is not a Western Chili. Doing that will only make your wound even more painful.¡±

    The venom of caterpirs was generally acidic and needed to be neutralized with an alkaline liquid such as soapy water, light ammonia, or urine. Zhang Zian certainly did not intend to take off his pants and smother him in urine. He also could not find the other liquids around him. Thus, he could only carry the boy on his back, ask Little Celery to lead him to the school¡¯s health room, and call his dad to ask if he could pick him up.

    Xu Zhuang Zhuang¡¯s dad was a frequent visitor to the school. When he heard his son was in trouble, he rushed over immediately with much anger. He did not say much. He instead made a fist and wanted to beat up Xu Zhuang Zhuang. Luckily, the teachers stopped him in time.

    No matter whether Xu Zhuang Zhuang could attend school the next day, at least for today, the naughty boy who did not enjoy school could finally leave early.

 Chapter 1350: Exterminate the Pests

    <h4>Chapter 1350: Exterminate the Pests</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Over the next few days, Zhang Zian temporarily handed the pet shop and the aquarium over to his staff. In addition to the fact that he had to be the one to carry out the job, he still had to find time to travel between thendfill and Zhonghua Road Primary School.

    He first installed water pumps and the small power generator for the stray dogs, sent them their daily food supplies, and arranged for the people at the waste collection station to take the cans and empty beverage bottles in exchange for money. The enthusiasm of the stray dogs and thebor for their food had increased greatly. In addition, they were bing more and more skilled, and the number of cans and empty bottles that they picked up every day was increasing. Thus, the money earned also correspondingly increased as well.

    There was also an unexpected positive side effect¡ªthe stray dogs had used to do nothing all day, fighting and causing unnecessary trouble. In addition, with nothing to do, they would engage in mating behaviors, creating more puppies. Now, with chicken drumsticks to work for, they¡¯d literally beborers overnight. Besides resting when necessary, they ravaged thendfill all day long for bottles.

    In order to improve efficiency, there was no need to go back and forth to pick up only one bottle. Zhang Zian gave them arge pile of sacks. Each dog was given a sack, filled it with cans and empty bottles, and then dragged it back to the artificial woods. In any case, the sacks were light, and these were big and medium-sized dogs. They could drag them without much of a problem. As long as they were careful and looked out for passing vehicles when crossing the roads, they would be fine.

    As for how to distinguish which sack belonged to which dog, this was simple as well. A dog could simply urinate on its sack. The urine smell of each dog was unique and allowed their work to be differentiated.

    In the beginning, the money to buy dog ??food and chicken drumsticks and the money earned from selling empty bottles and cans were roughly the same. He could only break even. Adding to that the cost of buying the generator, he had a small loss. However, soon, he would likely see some profit. Little White discussed it with him, and they decided to use the surplus money to buy some chicken drumsticks for the female dogs that were feeding puppies. They had to take care of the puppies and obviously could participate in the scavenging. However, they must maintain adequate nutrition to continue feeding the puppies.

    This was a very reasonable request, and Zhang Zian had no reason to object to it.

    The only problem was the water source. Although there were pumps and generators, the generated power was limited. At most, it was able to run about three or four pumps at the same time. The stray dogs must queue for water, and the efficiency of doing so was very low. Sometimes when they were too thirsty, fights would break out and there was a scuffle over who had the right to drink the water.

    There was no way to improve this. The idle high-power pumps that Zhang Zian had contributed from his store were all that he had. In addition, high-powered generators were expensive and heavy, and they needed to be taken care of by experts. It was also unnecessary to buy additional pumps and high-power generators. There may be a need for them now, but they would certainly be idle in the future. In addition, they were not easy to sell as secondhand goods either.

    Zhang Zian had decided to take advantage of the opportunity to solve the caterpir problem for Zhonghua Road Primary School. Along the way, the caterpirs in the artificial woods would also be cleaned up. Besides, the money for protective clothing and pesticides was given to them by the primary school. It was more than enough. He should seek to maximize their usage. As for the caterpirs in the greenspace, the situation there wasplicated and not very urgent. Thus, it was not a priority at the moment.

    However, he also stated in advance to the primary school teachers that this was a palliative act.

    The efficacy of the pesticides could onlyst for about 15 days and may not be enough. When the pesticides that remained on the branches, trunks, and leaves disappearedpletely, the caterpirs woulde back again. This was because, while the caterpirs in the school would have been wiped out temporarily, there were still a lot of caterpirs in the trees surrounding the school. After the caterpirs became butterflies and moths, they would fly everywhere toy eggs. A moth could produce at least 300 eggs throughout its lifetime. Even if only a third of the eggs eventually hatched, that was still arge number of offspring...

    Therefore, the only solution would be to kill all of the caterpirs in the entire city. This... Without gathering enough objective and subjective arguments, it would be difficult to push the initiative forward now.

    The primary school teachers were very reasonable, and they were satisfied with a 15-day buffer period,e what may. This was because the primary school students would take the final exams soon, and they would have a holiday after the exam. The teachers would have a holiday then as well. Who knew¡ªperhaps, within 15 days, there would be a directive to kill all the caterpirs throughout the city.

    There were several male teachers and school workers who taught sports in school. They volunteered to help. This made the process of killing the caterpirs extremely smooth. As smooth a process it was, it was somewhat shocking.

    One afternoon, after the students left the school, they wore protective clothing and gas masks. Carrying sprayers, they then sprayed the diluted cypermethrin solution on the trees within the schoolpound.

    Cypermethrin was a special insecticide that was highly poisonous to bees, silkworms, and caterpirs. After a white mist filled the air, the caterpirs on the tree fell down like rain droplets, hitting the ground and their protective clothing.

    With every step forward, they stepped on the soft caterpirs and felt their bodies smashed under their feet. The body fluids and smashed internal organs covered their soles... People who were psychologically weak would find this difficult to bear. There was a male teacher who couldn¡¯t stand it after a few squirts. He ran to the side, took off his gas mask, and began to vomit.

    Zhang Zian and several other male teachers endured the nausea they felt, pushed through with their work, and finally cleared up the caterpirs in the school.

    As for the bodily remains of the caterpirs, fortunately, he wouldn¡¯t have to deal with them. They would have to trouble the cleaners to clean them up the next day.

    Next, he did the same for the artificial forest. One afternoon, he closed the store early and brought Wang Qian and Li Kun to the forest to spray the area.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were very courageous. In addition, they couldn¡¯t see caterpirs after dark. They did not feel like vomiting throughout the work but neverthelessined a lot. It was rare for them to get off work early, but instead of enjoying their time off, they had toe to a forest to work hard. They also had to wear protective clothing, which made them sweat a lot. They felt very ufortable and sweated profusely. How was this evenparable to ying mobile games in thefort of their homes, which had air conditioners?

    Theirints were easy to solve. Zhang Zian promised to give them some grilled meat and ice-cold beer. Summer was the best time to eat barbecue and drink beer.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun also called Lu Yiyun and Jiang Feifei to enjoy the feast with them. This led Zhang Zian to spend a considerable amount of money...

    The next morning, the surface of the ditch had been filled with caterpir bodies, almost blocking the entire ditch. The pump could not function until noon, when the remaining bits were finally washed away.

    The stray dogs, who were working harder by the day, were finally free to drink water whenever they wanted. This was very important in the summer, when the weather was getting hotter.

    After patrolling both the primary school and the artificial forest, Zhang Zian found that the pest-control effect was good. Having run around two ces for several days, he was starting to feel very tired. He was d that he could finally take a breather.

    However, his breathersted perhaps less than a single day.

    While he was eating dinner at night, the familiar and sweet voice of the announcer came from the television. While Old Time Tea found it to be pleasant, what she said made Zhang Zian lose his appetite.

    ¡°Because of the weak cold airing from the south, it is expected that, starting tomorrow morning, the city will experiencerge amounts of rain. This will stretch across the entire city from the north to the south. We remind the public to be vignt and prepare for the heavy rain...¡±

    It was going to rain whether they liked it or not. No one could prevent it from happening.

 Chapter 1351: Wisdom

    <h4>Chapter 1351: Wisdom</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The next morning.

    Zhang Zian hoped that the weather forecast, which had been getting increasingly urate, would trip up for once. However, the power of nature was not dictated by the will of the individual. When he woke up in the morning and opened the curtains, he looked outside at the sky. The heavens had pulled open the veils holding raindrops. Passing pedestrians were holding colorful umbres, like a bunch of moving mushrooms.

    It had, indeed, started to rain.

    Even if he didn¡¯t consider the outbreak of caterpirs, the rain would have a negative impact on the business of the pet shop and aquarium. No one was willing to go shopping during rainy days. Thus, the staff could happily y on their phones.

    There was, unfortunately, no way around this. Even if he knew that there was no business, he should open the business as usual. This was a matter of professional ethics. It was just like Pi, knowing that no one would read his novel but still updating it every day.

    The staff arrived on time with umbres over their heads. They started the daily cleaning of the store. After they had finished, they found a ce to rest.

    Zhang Zian leaned by the doorway and looked at the pedestrians passing by. He started thinking about the caterpir problem.

    Sun Xiaomeng drove past slowly in her car, winding down the window and making a gesture to him. What she meant was, ¡°It is the end of the month. The money for vinating the injured stray cats is due, so please transfer it to me. I am waiting to pay my nurses their sries.¡±

    Zhang Zian yawned and pretended not to see it. After all, with the money sitting in the bank for a few extra days, he could earn a few extra dors in interest...

    Due to the bad weather¡ªor perhaps because it was the day for college final examinations¡ªthe frence actor who passed by the store every morning was not to be seen.

    The Swallowtailrva at the entrance of the shop had not changed its position for several days. At this time, the dust outside the store was being washed away by the rain and fog. It could now be seen clearly, and it was very green.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, good morning!¡±

    It was Little Celery, wearing a translucent child¡¯s raincoat. She had reached the store on time.

    ¡°Good morning, Little Celery. Do you want toe into the store to avoid the rain? There is a towel you can use to wipe your face.¡± Zhang Zian saw her little face stained with rain droplets and invited her into the store.

    Little Celery wanted to visit the hamsters and lop-eared rabbits. However, she shook her head and wiped the rain off her face with her hands. She said, ¡°No, today is the final exam. I have to hurry and do somest-minute prep.¡±

    ¡°Oh, the final exam... Little Celery must have prepared very well for the exam and is taking it seriously.¡±

    Zhang Zian suddenly realized that in the blink of an eye, they had already reached the end of June. The students would have a break after they finished the test. Because of that, he would not be able to see Little Celery here in his store every morning.

    ¡°Well! I hope that the prepared article about the caterpirs can be used in thenguage test,¡± she said with a nervous look.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you can¡¯t use it. In the process of carefully preparing the article, your ability to write has also improved. The store manager believes that you can do well,¡± he encouraged her.

    ¡°Okay! Alright, I will leave now. Mr. Store Manager, goodbye!¡± Little Celery waved, ran a few steps, stopped, and said, ¡°Oh, yes, the teachers asked me to thank you!¡±

    ¡°It is alright! Go on now to school, and be careful on the road.¡±

    Zhang Zian wanted to say that the thanks were not necessary. However, if any of the teachers knew a young, beautiful girl, it would be good for them to introduce him to her...

    Little Celery was now very far away. Her figure disappeared in the direction of Zhonghua Road Primary School, and he was still where he¡¯d stopped, leaning by the doorway in a daze.

    dimir soon appeared next to him, sitting by the door and staring thoughtfully at the rain.

    It would be very difficult to go out today.

    Over the past few days, stray cats and stray dogs had followed the armistice agreement very well, and the stale situation between the two groups had eased somewhat. Besides going to the pet clinic to visit the injured stray cats, dimir did not have much to do.

    Thanks to the professional care of the pet clinic, Big Orange had recovered very well and showed no signs of rabies. He should be discharged soon.

    ¡°I was thinking...¡± dimir suddenly said: ¡°Why Binhai City?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Zhang Zian woke up from his thoughts and did not clearly hear what he¡¯d asked.

    It turned back, staring at the opposite side of the checkout counter, where the Holy Cat statue had once been ced, and noticed that there was still a scratch that had since turned white.

    ¡°I mean, why did the Holy Cat statue appear in Binhai City?¡± it asked.

    ¡°This...¡±

    Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t thought about this problem before. He also didn¡¯t know why it had suddenly asked this, but since it was raining... He was idle, so he said casually, ¡°Because the Holy Cat statue happened to be in Binhai?¡±

    ¡°So, what are the chances of the sudden revival of the Holy Cat statue, which has been dormant for so many years?¡± it asked.

    Based on some known intel and some information from Pi, he guessed, ¡°It should be a cat abuse incident... Before, there was a cruel cat abuse incident in Binhai, and a stray cat was dying. The great resentment that the cat had in it woke the statue of the cat god from its sleep.¡±

    ¡°Resentment...¡±

    dimir thought for a moment, then shook his head again. ¡°The so-called resentment should be something as illusory as the soul, shouldn¡¯t it? I don¡¯t think there is such an abstract thing in the world.¡±

    ¡°Resentment is illusory, but it is not necessarily abstract. After all, there are still many problems in the world that cannot be exined by our current sciences... Or you can try to approach it from another angle. For example, resentment may be some kind of electromaic wave. It was released by that stray cat before its death, and it was transmitted to the Holy Cat statue...¡±

    These were all spections. If they were wrong, he didn¡¯t have to be responsible for them. Zhang Zian was simply letting his imagination run wild on this issue.

    dimir listened very seriously and suddenly changed the subject. ¡°Caterpirs... Do they have a brain and wisdom?¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned a moment by its questions and tried to keep up with the topic. He said, ¡°The brain... It should be there, but the caterpir¡¯s brain is small and is not capable of producing enough wisdom on its own.¡±

    ¡°So is the caterpir without wisdom?¡± it asked.

    ¡°This is not necessarily true.¡± Zhang Zian recalled some sort of saying that he had heard before. ¡°Insects, although too small to produce individual wisdom, can form a certain degree of group wisdom. They are each an individual brain cell, and themunication between them is like the current in the brain...such as in bee colonies and ant colonies, which contain typical insects with group wisdom.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    dimir nodded and tried to digest his exnation.

    Zhang Zian thought that the conversation was over. He didn¡¯t expect it to ask another weird question. ¡°If the stray cat¡¯s resentment before the tragic death caused the Holy Cat statue to be resurrected, then...the caterpirs that you massacred with pesticides... If they have group wisdom, will there be...some kind of resentment as well?¡±

    He could usually speak eloquently ande up with an argument. However, this time around, he could not think of aeback and was left speechless.

 Chapter 1352: Insect Disaster

    <h4>Chapter 1352: Insect Disaster</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The rain was sometimes heavy and sometimes lighter. It rained a full day and night and only stopped the next morning. It had people feeling upset. The pet store¡¯s business report could also directly copy that of the previous day. There were unlikely to be new sales today. That would cause some headaches for Zhang Zian as well.

    Even though there was rain, the environment was not cooling. The sky over the city was affected by the low air pressure. The air that lingered was hot, and the humidity was extremely high. There was no wind at all. It seemed like a tropical storm was brewing.

    The day after the rain stopped, the thing Zhang Zian was most worried about had happened.

    ¡°Ah! It¡¯s disgusting!¡±

    ¡°Gross! Why are so many caterpirs?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to vomit...¡±

    Early in the morning, when he¡¯d just raised the shutter door, he saw passersbyining, especially young women. They walked around as if they were dancing¡ªdancing around to avoid certain things. They were also screaming from time to time. There was no need to ask what their screams were for. It was definitely the hairy caterpirs that were falling on their bodies.

    On the wall, on the ground, and on the trees, there were all kinds of caterpirs crawling everywhere. Looking at them gave everyone goosebumps.

    In the summer, everyone liked to walk in the shade of the trees to avoid the sun. However, now, the shade had be a source of fear for people, and everyone tried to avoid it. As long as someone walked in the shade of the trees, they would almost certainly be caught up with some caterpirs.

    Many people were not prepared for it. They went out for a while only to be hit hard by this. They had to go home and get their umbres before heading out again.

    On the roads where there were cars, the caterpirs were turned into t blobs of fluids. The stench of bodily fluids and internal organs attracted flies and ants to feast.

    Not only on the ground, but also in the air, colorful butterflies and moths flew around. Although beautiful butterflies and moths were usually pleasing to the eye, the number of butterflies and moths now had reached the level of overwhelming. People with pollen allergies were suffering from the allergens on their bodies. They had somehow already managed to survive flower pollen from spring. Who would have thought that they would face a simr ordeal in summer?

    They did not have enough time to prepare masks. They were sneezing, had runny noses and watery eyes, and some even had serious asthma attacks.

    Cyclists, who felt many caterpirs falling on their bodies, had to constantly shake their clothes and p them off...

    Drivers were suddenly swarmed with moths and butterflies on the windshields of their cars...

    The harsh horns and the sounds of brakes applied on the street were endless, and there were big and small traffic idents on every street. This further led to even more serious traffic jams...

    Fortunately, now that the primary school students had finished their final exams, there were fewer parents who needed to send their children to school in the morning. Otherwise, the parents who were worried because their children werete for school would make the situation even worse.

    The leaves of the trees by the sides of the road had almost been eaten bald. With any slight vibration, strings of...yes, that¡¯s right, strings of caterpirs would fall from the air...

    Early in the morning, there were people waiting by cat lover Li¡¯s snack shop. However, now, there was no one standing at the door. The other shops selling food and beverages in the vicinity had the same issue. No one was around. It was obvious that the caterpirs had affected everyone¡¯s appetites.

    Overnight, Binhai City had be highly chaotic, as if the impending doomsday had finally arrived.

    Although Zhang Zian had guessed that the insect disaster might break out, he had not expected that the situation would be so serious. It seemed that...today¡¯s business at his store was not going to be good again.

    Not long after, the staff arrived at the pet shop on time with umbres.

    ¡°What the...? What is going on? Is the caterpir alien invading the Earth?¡± Wang Qian cursed while shaking the caterpirs off the umbre at the door. ¡°We left the dormitory just for a little while and we thought we¡¯d been teleported somewhere else!¡±

    ¡°Master, you have finally turned on the air conditioner. If, in this weather you¡¯d still refused to turn it on, we would certainly have been roasted to death!¡± Li Kun said as he entered the store. He was surprised to find that the air conditioner was actually running. The store and the streets outside felt like two different worlds.

    Zhang Zian, who had returned from Egypt, seemed to be heat-resistant. However, he could withstand the dry heat of the Egyptian desert, but not so much the humid heat that made people feel very restless.

    Lu Yiyun and Jiang Feifei were afraid that the insects would fall on their bodies. Everyone was in long-sleeved trousers, plus a mask and hat. They were armed to the teeth.

    ¡°Both of you are going to take final exams soon?¡± Zhang Zian did not pick up on their conversations. ¡°Over the next few days, juste in in the morning to help tidy up the ce. Then you can go to school to prepare for the exam. Don¡¯t fail and have to retake the exam.¡±

    Both Wang Qian and Li Kun had about a year before graduation. Although they were reluctant, they still had to face the pressures of final exams.

    He knew their nature. They did not enjoy reading books on a daily basis and chose to burn the midnight oil. Over thest few days, they had uploaded and forwarded various blessings and supernatural things among their online friends. They thought that by doing so, perhaps they could pass the test...

    ¡°I don¡¯t have to. I only have to get my graduation certificate and I am done,¡± Jiang Feifei said and waved.

    Jiang Feifei was in her fourth and final year. She had alreadypleted her thesis and submitted it. It had been approved. She did not need to take any further test. However, she was worried about finding a job. She had sent her resume to various aquariums in major cities but gotten no response. However, she had gotten some from other fields of work. She was vexed over whether she wanted a job that she was interested in or a job that could support her family. This was also the trouble that many fresh graduates had.

    Lu Yiyun neither had to worry about the final exam nor nned to stay alone in the rental house.

    ¡°Master, do you want to show me some of your magical powers and help us to get the answer to the final exam?¡± Wang Qian said with a bitter face. ¡°So...we can stay in the store to give you a hand...¡±

    ¡°Do you think that, given the situation outside, there will be any business in the store these days? How can I do that without any business? To give you a sry to y games?¡± Zhang Zian red as he looked out at the streets.

    Once the insect disaster had broken out, the situation couldn¡¯t be easily reversed. This kind of situation would definitely make everyone do everything possible to avoid going out. If one can take time off, one would take time off. If one couldn¡¯t leave, one wouldn¡¯t go shopping either.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun could not find other excuses. They could only sigh.

    ¡°What is the situation at Binhai University?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°There are not many trees at the university. The situation should be alright...¡±

    ¡°Shut up. I did not ask the both of you.¡±

    When Wang Qian and Li Kun started to speak, they were interrupted by Zhang Zian. This was because he knew that the two of them were oblivious to the outside world and were glued to ying their games.

    Jiang Feifei said, ¡°The teaching area and the boys¡¯ dormitory are still alright. However, there is a forest next to the girls¡¯ dormitory... Very disgusting.¡±

    In the past, there had been a lot of stray cats in the woods, and the girls who fed the cats also generated some resentment among their ssmates.

    Zhang Zian nodded and cleaned the store with them.

    When they were almost finished, a figure suddenly appeared at the door.

    Zhang Zian thought that he actually had a customer. s, once he had a clear look, he saw that it was only Grandma Gu.

    Grandma Gu held a small umbre and said with an anxious look, ¡°Little Zhang Zian! What did you tell me about before? That thing that can cure the bugs? Ah! Look at me and my memory! Quick! Come to the office with me now!¡±

    She said her piece in pieces, all while grabbing Zhang Zian by the wrist. She pulled him out of his store.

 Chapter 1353: Careless Talk Leads to Trouble

    <h4>Chapter 1353: Careless Talk Leads to Trouble</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Grandma Gu hurriedly pulled Zhang Zian to the door of the street office.

    Zhang Zian was quite resistant. He didn¡¯t want to face the unpleasant Deputy Director Yan. He stood at the door and didn¡¯t go inside. He said, ¡°Grandma Gu, what do you want to say? Please say it. If there is no need, I will not go in with you. I still have things to do in my store...¡±

    ¡°We are already here! What¡¯s the point of standing outside? Come on, let¡¯s go in! Let¡¯s go in!¡±

    Grandma Gu took advantage of the fact that she was a senior and deliberately did not hear him out. She forced him into the office.

    The office had not changed, and Deputy Director Yan was there. However, she did not look all that normal. Her face was swollen from crying, and she was packing up. It was not as simple as getting things to leave work. After all, it was just the beginning of the workday. She was packing all her personal belongings into a storage box.

    Grandma Gu gently pulled Zhang Zian aside and whispered, ¡°Hey! Nowadays, it is important to know when to shut your mouth! Little Yan¡¯s work ethic is still okay, but she just doesn¡¯t seem to know how to shut her mouth. It finally got her in trouble...¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand what was going on.

    Grandma Gu whispered, ¡°It was just that day. Weren¡¯t you here? Xiao Yan ran outside, stopped a tel engineering vehicle, and prevented the tel workers from going to Donghua Community for construction work... The issue was what she said then. She told the workers that she represented the public opinion of Donghua Community. A staff member from that team recorded what she said with a mobile phone. The video was then posted online. It created a massive discussion online... A lot ofizens ridiculed her for saying what she said, iming that they were being misrepresented...and then...this morning, our boss informed her that she was to go through the formalities of leaving thepany... Oh, what a pity. She was only a few more years away from her pension. So that is why I say that you must watch what you say. God knows when you may be deliberately recorded by someone...¡±

    The office was not huge. Even if Grandma Gu lowered her voice, former Deputy Director Yan would have heard what she said. However, she was already like an empty shell who had lost her soul. Faced with other people¡¯s remarks andments, she was unfazed. Even when she brushed against Zhang Zian as she packed, it did not seem to matter. She did not make eye contact with him and quietly ced everything into the storage box before leaving.

    When she was out of the office, Zhang Zian did not know if it was an illusion or not. However, the young civil servants in the office seemed relieved.

    It seemed that sharing an office with her was an unpleasant experience.

    ¡°Xiao Zian, don¡¯t worry about her. Let¡¯s talk again about whatever you told me the other day. I have to record it. Our superior has ordered everyone to act on this issue immediately and kill off those pests!¡± Grandma Gu instructed Zhang Zian to sit down and put on her reading sses. She took out her small copybook.

    ¡°Cypermethrin,¡± he replied. ¡°Didn¡¯t someone check that online that day?¡±

    ¡°Hmph! That person is on vacation today! Hisputer has a password, and the others can¡¯t turn it on, so they can¡¯t read the record!¡± Grandma Gu shook her head and sighed, ¡°Cyper... What is it?¡±

    Zhang Zian simply took the small book and wrote the word out for her.

    Grandma Gu looked at it. ¡°Oh, so this is how it is spelled...¡±

    ¡°Yes. After proper dilution, put on protective clothing and a gas mask and then spray it on the bugs.¡± He nodded.

    ¡°That... What is the proper dilution?¡± Grandma Gu was cautious and afraid of making a mistake. She was constantly asking questions.

    ¡°The instructions should be there in the instruction books.¡±

    ¡°Okay...¡±

    Zhang Zian felt that there was nothing else to say, and he nned to get up and leave.

    ¡°Wait, Little Zhang Zian, don¡¯t rush to go.¡± Grandma Gu pulled him back and said with a joyful look, ¡°If I had listened to you that day, it would have been fine. However, now it is toote for regrets. The person in charge has already...been dismissed, so, Little Zhang Zian, please do not feel so indignant from now on.¡±

    For Zhang Zian to feel no sense of indignation about what he had experienced before would be a lie. He was kind and had voluntarily shared a way to prevent the insect outbreak. However, when he¡¯d done so, he had been verbally attacked for no reason.

    However, as Grandma Gu said, the chief culprit in obstructing this matter had been dismissed. This could be considered some kind of karma.

    Moreover, as soon as the pests were eliminated, his pet shop could also operate normally as soon as possible. If that did not happen, he would soon lose everything.

    ¡°I know, Grandma Gu. I won¡¯t take it to heart,¡± he said.

    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s good...¡± Grandma Gu smiled with satisfaction. ¡°Little Zhang Zian, from how you spoke the other day, you seem to be very knowledgeable about these caterpirs. From what I heard, everything you spoke of was very logical.¡±

    ¡°I have a slight understanding of it.¡± He didn¡¯t want to over-report his credentials.

    Since he¡¯d discovered that an insect disaster may happen, he had checked for a lot of relevant information.

    ¡°These are caterpirs outside? Where did theye from? What kind of caterpirs are they? When our superiors asked us, we were all unable to answer their questions...¡± Grandma Gu smiled bitterly. ¡°Little Zhang Zian, if you know, you have to tell Grandma Gu.¡±

    Zhang Zian had taken notice of this on his way to the office and immediately replied, ¡°Grandma Gu, I don¡¯t mean to hide this information from you, but there are too many types of caterpirs outside. I can¡¯t finish telling you all their species now... I can only say that here, near the street office, the most abundant caterpirs are thervae of the oak processionary moths, which used to cause great trouble to London and Belgium in 2018 and 2007 respectively. On the bodies of each moth are sixty-three thousand strands of poisonous hair. The poisonous hair is very toxic and will drift around with the wind. The Belgian government had to send twenty-four soldiers with methrowers to destroy all of them...¡±

    Grandma Gu was shocked. She hadn¡¯t expected the small caterpirs to be so resistant, forcing foreign governments to dispatch armed soldiers to deal with them.

    ¡°What? So powerful?¡±

    ¡°Because thervae of the scorpion moth have evolved strong resistance, the general insecticides have no effect on them.¡± Zhang Zian nodded.

    ¡°Even that... Cypermethrin is useless?¡± Grandma Gu asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but we can try.¡± Zhang Zian was not confident. After all, he could only confirm it after he had experience using it in a practical situation. Nevertheless, he felt that it would not be effective. This was because cypermethrin had not been invented in recent years. If it were useful, Belgium would not have sent in their armed soldiers.

    May and June of every year was therval development stage of the oak processionary moth. After this, they would emerge and turn into moths.

    ¡°What if it doesn¡¯t work?¡± Grandma Gu frowned.

    Zhang Zian thought about it, wrote a phone number down, and handed it to her. ¡°This is Professor Wei Kang from the Department of Biology at Binhai University. You can try to call him. Maybe there is some special research being done in the researchboratory on some really strong insecticides. Alternatively, we can try some form of biological control.¡±

    ¡°Good, good! It makes sense!¡± Grandma Gu was delighted with what she¡¯d heard and carefully wrote it down in her notebook. ¡°I will exin it to my superiors, but Grandma Gu is old. If there is something I can¡¯t say clearly, I may have to ask you to tell it to my superiors instead.¡±

    ¡°Sure, no problem,¡± Zhang Zian immediately promised her.

 Chapter 1354: Millions of Hearts United

    <h4>Chapter 1354: Millions of Hearts United</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The disaster hade from the words spoken. That was Grandma Gu¡¯s evaluation of what had happened to former Deputy Director Yan. Zhang Zian agreed.

    He walked out of the office and looked at the insects that had covered the wall. Some of the bugs had a natural protective color, and the various colored outlines were like many eyes staring at him.

    He remembered dimir¡¯s chat with him before¡ªif the caterpir had some kind of group wisdom, would it be willing to be destroyed like this?

    If they were not willing, would they have some kind of grievances?

    And... Who would be angered by this?

    This was not a problem with hundreds of thousands of worms. There were tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of caterpirs in all of Binhai City.

    Well, his proposal to eliminate the caterpirs... Might it not be the same...? Would troublese from the words he spoke?

    Zhang Zian was quiet for a moment.

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be...¡±

    He whispered to himself to provide gentle relief.

    Then again, now that the situation was like this, even if the caterpirs had huge resentment, their rage would be spearheaded to the city leader who presided over the pest control work. It should not be him. He was at most...the one who¡¯d given a good idea. He would not be considered the principal offender. Following the principle that he who did not kill was not a murderer, he was willing to let the city leaders take full responsibility for the caterpir massacre.

    ¡°What are you afraid of? The ants hold up the entire colony, and without them, there is no country to speak of!¡±

    He decided to change his way of thinking. He straightened himself up.

    So what if the caterpirs felt resentment? Anyone who was in his way of making money must be eliminated!

    To hell with their resentment!

    No problem at all!

    However, this caterpir invasion did have some suspicious points

    Just now, he¡¯d deliberately ignored the problem Grandma Gu had asked about. That is, where had so many caterpirse from?

    This was because he did not know the answer.

    Whether it was domestically or in a foreign country, a caterpir invasion was not a new thing. However, it had been out of the mainstream news¡¯ line of sight because it did not cause severe consequences.

    However, in general, only one type of caterpir invaded a ce. The city of Binhai seemed to have been invaded by the Eight-Power Allied Forces... No, eight countries were too few. It was more like 80 countries. Basically, every kind of caterpir could be found in different areas of the coastal city. That by itself was rather unusual.

    So, faced with Grandma Gu¡¯s question, he could not answer because the situation was unusual.

    Faced with things that he didn¡¯t understand, his approach was not to think about it. Why waste his brain cells on them? He would leave them to the smart people, and he would instead focus on how to make money.

    Over the next few days, with the sessful hatching of caterpir eggs, the pest disaster in the whole coastal city would reach new heights. People¡¯s daily lives would be seriously affected, especially in the Dongcheng District, where the pet shop was located. It was the epicenter of the entire disaster, and most of the strange and hard-to-kill caterpirs were concentrated in this area.

    For example, the numbers of the oak processionary caterpir that Zhang Zian had talked about earlier were simply staggering. Also, with each caterpir producing 63,000 poisonous hairs that could be blown away by the wind, it would be difficult for anyone to escape it.

    Although the bristles could not prate the skin and were not poisonous if they were not touched directly, the venom itself nevertheless contained a protein called thaumetopoein. This was a type of protein that did not need to prate the skin to cause allergic reactions and rashes. These symptoms would arise as long as it touched the skin.

    The flying poisonous hair could also fall into the eyes or be sucked into the lungs when breathed. This caused unbearable pain and could lead to blindness or asthma. In more severe cases, those who were allergic may even die.

    Those who had a lot of money would think that they would not be affected. They could choose not to go to work and hide at home. However, they would be clearly mistaken. This was because they would still have to buy ingredients and cook. To buy these things, they would still have to be outside.

    Even if they ordered takeout, under the attack of the poisonous hair in the air, the number of food delivery drivers would also be significantly reduced. An order of takeout made at noon may not even be delivered until night. Making money is important, but it couldn¡¯t be done using one¡¯s life.

    The same was true for the couriers.

    All major hospitals andmunity health centers would be full, and the situation would be more serious than any flu outbreak. People who¡¯d been stung by caterpirs or had an allergic reaction, plus people who were in car idents due to caterpirs... They would have to be admitted. To add on to those, there would be people who had heart attacks because they were scared by the caterpirs, people who miscarried... Doctors and nurses must cancel all their leave and work 24-hour-long shifts. Even so, they were grossly inadequate to handle the massive amount of patients constantly pouring into the hospitals.

    There would also be those who would temporarily uproot themselves and move overseas for a brief respite. This might be the best solution, but not everyone would able to do so.

    Besides important departments that maintained the national economy and people¡¯s livelihoods that must continue to operate, Binhai City would be otherwise paralyzed.

    Except perhaps the artificial forest near thendfill. As the efficacy of the pesticide had notpletely subsided, the stray dogs would maintain the normal pace of scavenging. In addition, as the olddies who picked up empty bottles in the city could not work normally, the number of empty bottles and cans in thendfill would skyrocket. The number of bottles collected every day by the stray dogs would be several times that of the usual... They may be the only ones benefitting from the insect disaster.

    It was also because the issue had be such a hot topic that it finally caused the city leaders to pay enough attention to it.

    The city leaders issued a televised speech. Everyone in Binhai City would be involved with enterprises, institutions, and agencies taking the lead. All private enterprises and public enterprises responded to the call to action. The university organized volunteers to help the most affected areas. The residents¡¯mittees knocked on every door to ask every resident to contribute a little...The entire city of Binhai carried out a vigorous campaign to control the insects.

    It was no exaggeration to say that the ability of socialist countries to get such efforts rolling was one of its greatest and was reflected in this matter.

    The Department of Chemistry of Binhai University had produced a new type of insecticide, thought it was only in the testing stage. The Department of Biology where Wei Kang worked had proposed a biological control method for killing caterpirs. This was done by using pathogens to carry pathogenic microorganisms. Other research institutes had also offered suggestions ande up with a variety of ways to deal with the caterpirs.

    The garrison and armed police soldiers of Binhai City were all dispatched to spray pesticides in the dense forests across Binhai City. At this time, no one could care about the effects of pesticides on the human body. Anyone who spoke against pesticides would be gravely subjected to verbal abuse.

    Binhai¡¯s Sister Cities sent experts to support the efforts, and the municipal government also hired foreign experts with experience in controlling pests to assist the city.

    Reporters from all walks of life also came to Binhai.

    The phrase ¡°Insect Disaster in Binhai City¡± even appeared as one of the hot search terms on Weibo.

    Zhang Zian participated in several expert meetings organized by the municipal government because of the strong rmendation put forth by the street office. He went for them and shared his own opinions at these meetings. He also met with his old acquaintance Professor Wei Kang in the meetings due to Wei Kang¡¯s trip to Egypt. The results were quite fruitful.

    Everyone had the same philosophy¡ªthat they must stop further deterioration of the situation.

    The number of caterpirs that had appeared had simply be too overwhelming. If they continued to let them proliferate, the consequences would be unimaginable.

 Chapter 1355: Revenge

    <h4>Chapter 1355: Revenge</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°This is today¡¯s report. I will go back first if you have nothing else for me.¡±

    At seven or eight o¡¯clock in the evening, Lu Yiyun finished eating her takeout and made a copy of the sale report for the previous few days. After changing the date, she took today as the day she handed in her work. It wasn¡¯t that she waszy¡ªit was just that the shop really didn¡¯t sell anything.

    ¡°I have to go back to school. My ssmates are discussing finding a ce to gather together and have a meal... Ah, I don¡¯t really have an appetite at all.¡± Jiang Feifei did not eat any takeout, but she was not that eager to pack up her things anyway.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were not there. They¡¯d gone back to school in the morning after tidying up the shop a little. At this time, they should be studying for their exams. That was the theory. In fact, only God knew what they were doing.

    ¡°Okay, goodbye! Be careful on the road. Look where you are stepping. Tomorrow, you two do not have toe so early. This insect disaster will not end over the next two days,¡± Zhang Zian said as he stuffed rice into his mouth.

    He did not say this to them out of politeness. Anyway, there was no business in the store. There was nothing for them to do except help out with cleaning and managing the store. There was no difference whether they did it early in the morning orter at night.

    ¡°There is nobody left in the dormitory. I am staying alone there, and I do get bored. I think it is better for me to juste over here regardless... Oh yes, Little Yun, are there any empty houses for rent in your area? I have to move out of the dormitory to find a ce to live... I really do miss the cheap amodations in college...¡±

    Jiang Feifei was at a turning point in her life. Her job search had not been very sessful. She faced the issue of graduating and being unemployed at the same time. She frowned all day¡ªsince she worked in a pet shop, although the ie was still manageable and the work could be somewhat leisurely and fun, it was difficult for her to view it as a form of legitimate employment. Despite that she had a good rtionship with everyone in the store, if her parents back in her hometown asked what she did for work, she¡¯d find it difficult to tell them about her job.

    ¡°I will help you keep a lookout for anything good.¡± Lu Yiyun put Jasmine into her backpack and nodded.

    Zhang Zian wanted to say to her that it was better to share a big house. There would be two bedrooms and one living room with one bedroom for each person. This would be more economical for them. However, if Jiang Feifei suddenly found a job, she might need to move. Then the spare bedroom would need another tenant to upy it. Lu Yiyun, who did not take well to meeting strangers, much less stay with one, would be forced to face an unfamiliar situation... This did not sound like a good idea, so he swallowed his words back.

    The two of them tightened their trousers, propped up their umbre, turned on their shlight, and said their goodbyes to Zhang Zian.

    The pet store had once again returned to silence... Although it had been quiet for a few days already.

    Except for dimir, the other elfins were not affected by the insect disaster. They each enjoyed a rather peaceful and smooth-sailing lifestyle¡ªthis was because the other elves were otakus and preferred staying indoors.

    Zhang Zian pulled down the shutter door and locked it. He sat in front of theputer at the checkout counter and checked the sales report. He found no problems. He archived them all and left them.

    He then started another form, one that recorded the number of empty bottles and cans picked up by the stray dogs, the money exchanged, the initial start-up money he¡¯d provided and what was left, the cost of buying dog food, the chicken drumsticks, the generator, etc. In addition, he also roughly estimated the birthrate and mortality of stray dogs. These were rted to the long-term arrangements he had in mind.

    Fina yawned, jumped off the cat climbing frame, and walked to the second floor.

    It was like a signal from her to let the elfins know that it was time to sleep.

    Snowy Li followed close behind.

    The other elfins also went back upstairs.

    Zhang Zian, a young man, should¡¯ve been enjoying the rich and vibrant nightlife. However, he seemed to have entered old age in advance. He went to bed early every day. If he did not do so, he would not be able to wake up early the next morning and would be sleepy all day long.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun had used to be unrestrained night owls. They often yed games untilte at night. Since they¡¯d started working in the pet shop, they had to go to bed early so as to wake up early. This was one of the positive effects the pet shop had on them. Otherwise, it would be difficult to say if they¡¯d y till they died in their chairs...

    Old Time Tea stayed downstairs because it hadn¡¯t finished watching the news. It always waited till the news and weather forecast were broadcast before going upstairs and sleeping.

    ¡°Next news bulletin: The city¡¯s tough battle against pests and diseases has achieved some results in its current phase. Please see the detailed report below...¡±

    The voice of the announcer and the words she said sounded from the TV.

    Zhang Zian saved the form, closed theputer, and moved beside Old Time Tea so they could watch the news together.

    This news, whether due to its choice of words or the format of its narration, had a strong positive vibe to it. It was the main idea that it hoped to send to the viewers.

    On the television screen, the city leaders wore protective clothes and carried pesticide sprayers to personally spray chemicals on the trees in the forest. When the pesticides were sprayed, the caterpirs fell from the trees and died. There were tons of dead bodies of various colors beneath the trees.

    The lens turned from the high-ranking officials to the grassroots masses, focusing on the determination and actions of the various industries of Binhai City. They¡¯de from the industrial, agricultural, business, and educational sectors to fight against insects. In the video taken, Zhang Zian seemed to be in the frame, albeit only for a short second. Perhaps they had used him as the representative of the pet industry business.

    There was not much exaggeration in the news. In the battle against insect pests in Binhai, the city had indeed turned from a defensive to an offensive position. In the beginning, when the city had been unable to adequately respond,pared to now, when there was aprehensive n to fight back, the transformation had been huge. They seemed to be able to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Nevertheless, it was still too early to say whether they would seed in eliminating the pests.

    The news broadcast was over, and the weather forecast indicated that tomorrow was yet another sunny day.

    Zhang Zian waited for Old Time Tea to head upstairs before turning off the lights on the first floor.

    Before going to bed, he routinely messed with Richard and Snowy Li in the bedroom for a while, then turned off the lights and went to bed.

    This night was no different than usual.

    Nothing happened in the night.

    Until the morning, which also looked like it was no different from usual.

    The sky was still not yet bright. Due to the problems with the insect pests, the elderly who got up early in the morning, as well as the stall vendors, had note out these days.

    The street was surprisingly quiet, and there were very few vehicles on the road. Only the flickering street lights sprinkled orange light that was just about to go out. Many moths flew around the street lights.

    In the east, after the summer solstice, the sun rose a littleter. It slowly brought forth the first light of the day.

    At the corner of the door to the shop next to the pet shop, which had been closed and was awaiting a new buyer, was the recently-neglected swallowtail butterfly. It hung down from the ceiling, basking in the first light that shone in.

    The sunlight transferred heat and humidity to the swallowtail.

    On the days that Zhang Zian and others did not notice it, its cocoon had been quietly turning from green to brownish yellow, much like ripe fruit. Under the yellowish color, there were hints of spots.

    The motionlessrva that had not moved for a few days suddenly trembled.

    The lower part of the cocoon cracked from the inside, and a splendid swallowtail butterfly pushed out from it. The shell had be a ppy piece of protein. It struggled a little to emerge from the shell.

    The first thing that came out was its fillers, followed by the rest of its body.

    It turned andpletely left the shell. Its six legs climbed onto the door,pletely exposing its body to the sun. It allowed the light to dry any remaining water or fluid from the surface.

    Itsrge eye, made up of countless smaller retinas, glowed in the sun. It looked like it was observing its surroundings, looking around for something.

    After a few seconds, it unfolded its colorful wings and took off. It was so beautiful that it did not look like something from Earth.

    It flew toward the wall, and its figure quickly faded. Before hitting the wall, it disappeared from the environment.

    In the dimly lit bedroom with the curtains, Zhang Zian, who was still asleep, was suddenly awakened by the sound of the mobile phone.

    He didn¡¯t blink, as his own biological clock told him that it was still early, and he did not need to get up just yet. Thus, he kept his eyes closed and put a hand under his pillow. He groped around, searching for his mobile phone. Had he forgotten to turn on silent mode before going to sleepst night?

    Before he touched the phone and brought it closer to his face, he could barely open his sleepy eyes. He wanted to see who¡¯d sent him a message so early in the morning.

    The [Pet Hunter] game started automatically.

    [Game Tips]: It has been detected that rare pets have appeared in your city, and it is up to the yer to decide whether to capture them.

    [Game Tips]: The following is pet information.

    [Pet Type]: Elfin.

    [Rareness]: Epic/legend level.

    [Capture difficulty]: Very high.

    [Danger]: Very high.

    He was stunned because it was the first time he¡¯d seen the ¡°difficulty of capturing¡± and ¡°danger¡± fields as ¡°very high.¡± In addition, on the game¡¯s electronic map, the center of the light representing the position of this new elfin almost coincided with the center of the cross that represented his location.

    He hadn¡¯t gotten enough sleep, and his brain didn¡¯t react as fast as it did during the day. He stared at the game, confirming that he was not mistaken. He had a few thoughts in his slow brain. What did this mean? The position of the elfin coincided with his position? Was the elfin right beside him?

    Wasn¡¯t it simply delivering itself to him?

    This would make things much easier.

    As for the difficulty and danger of capturing this elf, he did not feel too worried. It was nothing more than a pet elfin. It could not be a lion or a tiger.

    He turned his head and nced at the elfins on the second floor, who were still asleep.

    He would get up first. He would catch this elfin and make up the lost sleepter. Besides, there was nothing to do today¡ªor so he thought.

    So he got up.

    However...as opposed to before, when he¡¯d been asionally woken up before getting up, he felt particrly sleepy and weak today. His eyelids felt heavy and kept trying to sink down over his eyes.

    He thought about getting up quickly, but...he was so sleepy¡ªso sleepy that it felt rather unbearable.

    He had never felt so sleepy in his life.

    His quality of sleepst night had been good, and it did not make sense for him to be so sleepy.

    He struggled in bed for a long time, much like a salted fish out of water. He barely got up from the bed and managed to prop his torso up with his elbows.

    ¡°Okay, now, just move your legs off the bed...¡±

    However, he failed. His legs were as heavy as lead, and he could only move them a few centimeters, no matter how hard he tried.

    ¡°Forget it...¡±

    He would lie down again and just close his eyes for a while. This elfin was so close that even if hey down for a while, there would still be time.

    He could lie down for more than a while. Even if he slept hard again, he would still have time.

    This thought just popped into his mind. After he rxed, his whole body suddenly became soft and weak. His two arms could no longer hold his body up, and his upper body copsed.

    It was useless. He closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

    Then...

    His biological clock, which had worked for nearly a year, failed in waking him up.

    At the time he usually woke up, he didn¡¯t wake up at all.

    And still had not woken up.

 Chapter 1356: Who Am I in My Dream?

    <h4>Chapter 1356: Who Am I in My Dream?</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Buzz...

    Buzz... Buzz...

    Buzz... Buzz... Buzz...

    The phone vibrated on the tabletop for a long time before Zhang Zian opened his eyes even a little.

    So sleepy...

    Really sleepy...

    He wiped his face with his hand, picked up the phone, and saw the screen. It showed that the caller was... Mom.

    His heart twitched inexplicably as he stared at the word for two seconds. He swiped the phone with his finger to connect.

    ¡°Hello...¡± His voice was a little dry.

    ¡°Hello? Zian, are you at work? Or are you still sleeping? Mom didn¡¯t bother you, did I?¡±

    There was a familiar voice on the other end of the line, but he didn¡¯t know why. Perhaps he hadn¡¯t heard it for a long time. He felt somewhat distant from it.

    ¡°No...¡± His throat was really dry, and he felt like something was stuck in it.

    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± his mother said with relief. ¡°I sent you a few messages, but you have not replied to me. I was afraid that you were asleep. I wanted to call you again tomorrow, but I am afraid that tomorrow will be toote...¡±

    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t go to sleep... I just didn¡¯t see your text. What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    He was awake and looked around subconsciously.

    This was an ordinary one-bedroom and one-living-room rental house. The ce was notrge and there were not many things in it. However, it was more than enough to live alone.

    His usualptop was on the table, and the screen had automatically hibernated because the mouse and keyboard had not been operated for a long time.

    His other hand moved the mouse, and the screen lit up, showing unfinished work reports brought back from thepany during the day.

    It seemed that...while he was sitting in front of hisptop, he had fallen asleep.

    He grabbed at his hair angrily and looked at the time in the lower-right corner of theptop screen. It was already around 10 o¡¯clock at night, and the work report would be due and needed to be handed over to the boss tomorrow.

    His parents should have already gone to bed at this time, so why had they called today?

    He stood up with his mobile phone in one hand, went to the water dispenser, and brewed a cup of coffee with hot water to refresh himself.

    ¡°Zian, it is the long, eleven-day golden holiday week. Will you being home?¡± his mother asked rather tentatively over the phone. It was as if she was afraid that he would give a negative answer.

    He clipped his phone between his cheek and his shoulder and walked to the window. He pulled up the corner of the curtain and looked out into the night.

    It was not his hometown of Binhai, but another city. He had gone to college here and easily found apany that would hire him. He¡¯d stayed on after graduation.

    This was a big international city with many more job opportunities than Binhai City. In addition, the sry offered was much higher. It attracted young people from nearby areas, much like a ma.

    ¡°Oh... Yes, I should being back.¡± He took a sip of coffee and tried to get his mind back on the right path.

    There was a calendar issued by thepany on the wall. It was now at the end of September, and there were not a few days left before the Golden Week holidays started.

    ¡°If you areing home, remember to buy tickets in advance. The tickets for the eleventh are hard to buy. If you don¡¯t buy them soon, you won¡¯t be able to get them.¡± His mother heaved a sigh of relief over the phone.

    ¡°Yes, I know that. Is there anything else?¡± he asked absentmindedly.

    Was his mother calling because of this?

    Even if the ticket for September 30th was difficult to buy, the ticket for the 11th would be much easier to buy. It also did not matter if he reached home in the morning or evening.

    Perhaps because he had dozed off sitting in a chair, his brain was not fully awake.

    ¡°There¡¯s one more thing...¡±

    His mother was hesitating on the other end of the line.

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

    There was an ufortable feeling in his chest.

    ¡°That... Auntie Liu from our street, do you remember her? She runs aundry business from her home,¡± his mother said.

    His brain froze for a while as he slowly remembered this piece of information. ¡°Yes, I remember. What is it?¡±

    ¡°It is like this... Auntie Liu heard that you are not dating yet and intends to introduce you to a girl. Shall we take advantage of the Golden Week holiday and meet thisdy? I have seen the photos. She looks really nice. She works in a good ce too. Come back and see her?¡± His mother¡¯s voice was almost pleading.

    He was rather disturbed by what he¡¯d heard. Like many young people, he was disgusted with the idea of going on arranged blind dates. Upon meeting the person, the conversation would often get awkward. After the chat session, he always had to foot the bill as well...

    If everything had been normal, he would most definitely will reject it and may not want to go back on this long vacation. However...

    The words of rejection came to his lips, but they did not make their way out.

    ¡°Okay, fine.¡± He spoke softly.

    He promised so readily that his mother was very surprised.

    ¡°That... Then that¡¯s it?¡± She eagerly confirmed with him and exined, ¡°I called thiste mainly because Auntie Liu has been rushing me. I will definitely let her know by tonight. If not, the girl might go off and meet someone else... I think the girl is good. You can try interacting with her. Take it as making a new friend...¡±

    ¡°Yes, I know. Just a meeting... But let me say this first. Whether it seeds or not, I cannot promise anything...¡± He said. ¡°Even if I like the girl, she may not feel the same way, you know?¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, it is like this. That¡¯s why I said to meet and try it out. Who knows? Both of you might just get along well.¡± His mother happily replied to him on her side. ¡°You are no longer young. The neighbors in our neighborhood who are your age... Most of them are already married or are at least dating. If you don¡¯t pay attention to this, you may be left all alone... I heard that there are more than thirty million more Chinese marriage-aged men than women. Thirty million! What can I do? The more you drag your feet, the harder it is to find someone...¡±

    Usually, he was very disgusted with this kind of talk. It was not the first time he¡¯d heard this. However... As he heard his mother continue on and on with such talk, he felt a sense of peace. As long as this feeling did not stop, he was willing to listen to it all the time.

    ¡°Oh, the old man is urging me already. Should you go and sleep? I will not bother you. Go to bed early, and remember to buy the tickets, both ways. Don¡¯t forget to buy the ticket for the trip back to your own ce. Buy the ticket for the seventh and stay at home longer. Mum will prepare a lot of delicious food for you. Do you understand?¡±

    ¡°Well, yes, I know. I will go to sleep after I buy the tickets.¡±

    He had already returned to his desk, nced at the unfinished work report on the screen, and told a small lie to his mother.

    ¡°Okay, then I will hang up first. Rest early. I will call Auntie Liu to confirm this.¡±

    ¡°Okay. You also go to bed early.¡±

    His mother hung up the phone with great enthusiasm.

    He stared at the call record on the screen. However, when he blinked, it seemed like the call record disappeared.

    After a moment, heughed.

    He must have slept until he had gone mad...

    The caffeine made him more awake. He sat down in front of theputer and bought the round-trip ticket for Golden Week to Binhai City. After that, he hurriedlypleted the work report that was to be submitted tomorrow.

    The night was still long.

 Chapter 1357: Dreaming Is Good; Momentarily Forget Its Illusion

    <h4>Chapter 1357: Dreaming Is Good; Momentarily Forget Its Illusion</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Sir, we are here.¡±

    The taxi stopped slowly by the side of the road, and the driver reminded him.

    ¡°Ah? Oh, thank you! How much?¡±

    Zhang Zian suddenly returned to his senses.

    He noticed that he was sitting in a taxi that was rather typical. In the back seat, faint smoke from the driver¡¯s seat could be seen and smelled. The driver was also looking at him through the rearview mirror.

    It must be because he¡¯d had to work continuous overtime for thest few days. He was rather tired. Every time he was in a daze, it seemed that time had passed quickly. Even the impression of him taking the train was now nothing but a vague memory in his mind. Much like a montage in the movies, he was constantly switching between scenes. Within a short while, he was in a new locality.

    s, this was not what he wanted. Initially, he might have been too smitten with whatever his boss said to him and believed everything. He also had tons of passion and full of dreams as a young person joining a startup. However, upon joining thepany, he¡¯d discovered that the so-called startuppany was merely a ce where women were treated as men, while men were treated like animals. Every day, he had to get up earlier than a chicken, sleepter than a dog, and take care of arge workload every day, and he still earned very little money. The enthusiasm he¡¯d had for his work, fueled by the imaginary concepts of dreams and passion, was waning. He did not know when he would truly ever add real value to anything...

    Many of his colleagues who joined thepany at the same time couldn¡¯t stand this kind of life, and they all left their jobs. What he thought was that he was still young and had no girlfriend. He should be able to do this and strive hard. Perhaps thepany would get bigger and more powerful one day. With that, he would be rich and could achieve financial freedom.

    He used his mobile phone to scan the QR code provided by the driver. He thanked him again, asked the driver to open the trunk, and got out of the car, taking his suitcase.

    The taxi drove off.

    That was right.

    It was here.

    Zhonghua Road.

    Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

    He looked up at the pet store¡¯s signboard and nced back and forth, making sure it was the right ce.

    Then he chuckled again. How could it be wrong? Binhai City was not a particrlyrge city, and taxi drivers generally did not pull up to the wrong ce.

    Many shops had promotional billboards on the doorstep, and they nned to use Golden Week to generate a ton of sales. Even at the door of his pet shop, there was a sign reading ¡°Golden Week! Pet Bath 20% Discount Off!¡±

    He remembered that tomorrow would be the start of a seven-day-long holiday. Although four days were simply weekends, a holiday was nevertheless a break. On the streets, men, women, and children were rxed and had happy looks on their faces. Some were heading home to reunite with their families or dragging their suitcases like him and taking a long vacation.

    m!

    The shop next to the pet shop with the sign ¡°China Road Shoes Store¡± was pushed open, and Grandma Gu said with a sigh, ¡°Little Taozi, didn¡¯t Grandma tell you that you can¡¯t always owe health and management fees. The other stores here have already paid. If you keep on dying the payment, aren¡¯t you putting me in a spot?¡±

    Xie Tao, who was a few years older than Zhang Zian, looked like a poor man. He nodded and sent Grandma Gu out. ¡°Okay, okay. Next time, I will not default on my payment. Grandma Gu, please leave slowly...¡±

    The two of them noticed Zhang Zian, who was dragging the suitcase, and cried in surprise, ¡°Oh! It¡¯s Little Zhang Zian. You are back!¡±

    ¡°Well, yes, I came back.¡± Zhang Zianughed. ¡°Grandma Gu, Brother Tao, how are you? Is everything okay?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Grandma Gu smiled and nodded. ¡°If youe back, you should stay for a few more days. Your father and your mother have long been hoping to see you. Alright, no more talking. Grandma Gu still has to go to other stores to collect fees. You have been sitting on the train for a long time. You must definitely be tired. Hurry home and rest.¡±

    ¡°Okay, Grandma Gu. You, too, and please walk slowly...¡±

    Zhang Zian watched Grandma Gu turn around and leave. Then he felt his shoulders being rubbed by Xie Tao.

    ¡°Hey, Little Zhang Zian, we haven¡¯t seen each other for a long time. We must get together this time around! Let¡¯s go out and have a few drinks together tonight! Don¡¯t you dare say no!¡±

    The two shops were right next to each other. Both of them had grown up together. Although they¡¯d grown apart when they pursued different studies and work, the foundation of their friendship still existed.

    ¡°Okay, but I can¡¯t drink too much.¡± Zhang Zian nodded and smiled.

    Xie Tao suddenly lowered his voice and said with a satisfied smile, ¡°Yes! Anyway, we are good buddies, so I won¡¯t keep it from you. Let me tell you a piece of good news. You are the first one to know besides my family¡ªI have a girlfriend. And it¡¯s already at the point where we are talking about marriage.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Congrattions! Please remember to inform me when you have your wedding!¡± Zhang Zian was very happy for his good brother.

    ¡°You can¡¯t miss it for anything!¡± Xie Tao smacked his chest with his fist. ¡°You must hurry up! My future wife and I are waiting to drink at your wedding too!¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t seem to find the right one...¡± Zhang Zian reluctantlyughed at himself.

    His eyes crossed the body of Xie Tao and fell on the signboard of the shoe store. He asked, ¡°How has the business been recently?¡±

    ¡°Rather okay... It can¡¯t be that you don¡¯t know. I haven¡¯t been business material since I was a child.¡± Xie Tao obviously didn¡¯t want to talk about this topic. He took out his mobile phone and looked at the time. ¡°I am leaving. You have to go home.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t that Zhang Zian wanted to deliberately spoil the mood. He asked because he really cared about this good buddy of his. Since he was getting married, he must definitely be in need of money.

    However, Xie Tao¡¯s mind had already drifted to other things. He was overwhelmed with the joy of his uing marriage.

    Looking at Xie Tao¡¯s back as he hurried away, Zhang Zian sighed slightly. The man was in love...

    The local ent, the nostalgia... The sense of uncertainty in his heart had finally disappeared. This was indeed Binhai City. How could it be wrong?

    He took his suitcase and walked a few steps to the door of his house. Suddenly, his eyes seemed to catch something.

    Butterfly.

    A butterfly, like a diamond that had just drilled out from its cocoon, fluttered its wings and flew from the door of a nearby store.

    It flew up into the sky, and even though its flight was affected by the turbulent airflow above the roof, it still persevered and flew even higher into the sky.

    With respect for life, he followed the butterfly with his eyes.

    Tomorrow was the eleventh. This may be thest wave of butterflies in the local area this year... It was not easy to break out of the cocoon before it got colder. So strong and tenacious.

    His heart was filled with warmth, and his lips could not help but form a smile.

    Going to the door of the pet shop, he saw a familiar figure through the ss. His father was packing things, and his mother was standing next to the checkout counter and talking to a customer.

    The kittens and puppies were kept in the disy cab, and there was a row of iron cages on the wall, which contained severalmon parrots.

    Opposite the checkout counter was an ote fish tank with a pair of goldfish chasing one another between the grasses. The store did not sell fish. Raising these worthless fish was merely to attract luck to the store.

    There was noputer at the checkout counter because his parents did not really know how to operate theputer. They are ustomed to using paper notes and did not want to spend extra money to hire people. There were only WeChat and Alipay QR codes avable.

    He suddenly hesitated. There was an inexplicable sense of disobedience in his heart from watching other people¡¯s lives through the ss screen.

    His mother, who was talking to the customer, turned her eyes and saw him standing outside the door. She pleasantly gestured for him to hurry in.

    His hesitation was instantly defeated. It was as if he could not resist and subconsciously pushed open the door.

    ¡°You are back? Are you tired from traveling on the train? Go upstairs and go take a break.¡± His mother smiled and looked at him from head to toe. It was not the professional smile given when facing customers. It was the smile that said, ¡°I have a customer here. I can¡¯t talk more now.¡±

    ¡°Go upstairs. I will cook in a while.¡± His father held a small shovel to clean up the pet droppings. He stood up, stretched himself, and hit his own back.

    He could see it clearly. The white hair on his mother¡¯s head, their overworked and chapped hands, and the wrinkles of the father¡¯s forehead. There was also their familiar voices and joyful eyes...

    So real, so...nostalgic.

    ¡°I am not tired.¡±

    He pushed the suitcase to the corner and rolled up his sleeves to pick up the shovel. ¡°Let me do it.¡±

    ¡°No, no, you go upstairs and rest!¡± His father waved him off and hid the small shovel behind him.

    ¡°I am not tired...¡± he argued.

    ¡°If you are not tired, go to a corner and rest anyway. You don¡¯t know how to do it, and you will only make a bigger mess.¡± His father guided him to the recliner.

    He couldn¡¯t argue with his father and so he had to sit awkwardly in the chair. This was because his parents hadn¡¯t let him get involved in the daily affairs of the pet shop and only let him concentrate on his studies.

    However, he felt awkward when he sat in a chair. It might¡¯ve been because two old people were busy and he was a young man who sat like a grandfather and watched the show.

    His eyes looked at the cat tree, which was empty. Usually, the cats in the showcase would be released at the end of the business day so that they could be active and move around.

    He didn¡¯t know what he had expected to see on the cat tree.

    The sides of the recliner were also very empty. If one have a dog, it was better to have a bigger dog, like in an old-fashioned western American film. A ssic cowboy, after retiring, brought an old dog to wander around the world.

    ¡°Uing news...¡±

    The television was on and broadcasting local news. The sound was rather quiet. When there were no guests in the store, his parents did not have much to talk about and watched the shows to relieve boredom.

    He got up and walked over to the TV. He looked at the news but did not stand in front of the TV, as if he were used to leaving some space out front for others.

    ¡°Then I will go upstairs first.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t much help downstairs anyway. It was better to quickly put away his luggage and then help to wash vegetables and cook.

    He picked up his suitcase and went to the second floor.

    The second floor was quiet. The meows and barks from the first floor seemed to be miles away.

    Anyway, he would only stay at home for seven days. He hadn¡¯t brought back too many things. He ced his change of clothes in the closet in his bedroom, set theptop on the desk in the living room, and opened it. This was so that, if he wanted to turn on theptop, he simply had to press the button.

    But why was it necessary to do this? He thought about it and closed it once more.

    Whoosh!

    It got windy.

    The open windows rattled in the wind.

    He closed the window without locking it at first. This was so that if anyone was left outside, they could just open it from the outside ande in.

    He couldn¡¯t help butugh, and then he returned to his senses. Who, besides a thief, came in from the window?

    Soon it would be dark. In order to avoid forgetting to lock the window at night and openly inviting thieves, it would be better for him to close it now.

    After finishing up with his things, he went to the bathroom to wash his face. He raised his hand and tried to knock on the door, but after thinking about it, with his parents downstairs, there was no one in the bathroom. He pushed it open and looked down at the bathtub...

    Bathtub cleaning was too cumbersome, and so the bathtub was not used very often. At this time, there was some debris in it, but there was not a drop of water.

    After washing his face, he returned to the living room, pulled a chair over, and scanned the entire second floor.

    He had a feeling that... He seemed to have lost something very precious, but he couldn¡¯t remember what it was.

    He felt as though he were missing something in his heart.

    The dinner was very sumptuous. The food was too much for the family of three. He couldn¡¯t finish his food, but his parents kept urging him to eat more.

    ¡°Mom, the second floor of the house... Has it changed?¡± He took a bite of his meal and asked vaguely.

    ¡°Changed?¡±

    His parents looked at each other and shook their heads. ¡°No. What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Nothing. Just asking.¡±

    He scooped the rest of the rice into his mouth and soon finished it. ¡°Come, let me wash the bowls.¡±

    After dinner, his parents sat on the second-floor sofa to watch TV.

    He packed up the dishes, dried his hands, and sat down on the sofa with them.

    His mother moved to his side. Full of anticipation, she passed him a note.

    ¡°What is this?¡±

    On the note was a string of phone numbers.

    ¡°The girl that Auntie Liu wants to introduce to you. It is easier to talk by adding her as a friend via text, although it is best to chat face-to-face,¡± his mother said. Afraid he would be angry, she hurriedly added, ¡°Don¡¯t feel too burdened by this. Just take it as going out for a while, making a friend... I heard that this girl¡¯s family is very well-to-do. Her standards are rather high as well. If nothing works out, it is fine. We can find someone else.¡±

    Before Zhang Zian came home, he had been mentally prepared for this. He didn¡¯t say much. He merely nodded and added her number.

    He sent the friend request. The other party soon epted it.

    He first looked at her profile picture and her circle of friends. They were all photos of the scenery. He couldn¡¯t see any details about her life. So he typed: ¡°Hello, I was introduced by Auntie Liu. Did she mention me to you?¡±

    The reply from the other party came very quickly: ¡°Let¡¯s meet up and talk tomorrow at 10 a.m. at the foggy hidden teahouse. What do you think?¡±

    Zhang Zian stared at it in silence.

    In his heart, the first impression that this girl gave him was good. She was clear, did not drag her feet, and could make her own decisions. However, if the man decided for her, she may be slightly dissatisfied in her heart...

    But what was this about the foggy teahouse? When had the hidden hill opened a teahouse? It hadn¡¯t been here thest time he was home.

    Well, tomorrow was the 11th. The city would be full of people, and there would be long lines everywhere. Every shop would have a queue. Perhaps there would not be so many people in the suburbs of the hidden fog.

    So he replied, ¡°OK, see you tomorrow.¡±

    The other party did not speak again.

    He put down his phone.

    ¡°How was it?¡± His mother pretended to watch TV, but she was always peeking at his face.

    ¡°I will meet her at eleven o¡¯clock tomorrow morning,¡± he replied.

    ¡°Good! Great! Sleep a little more tomorrow morning. I will wake you up,¡± His mother happily said as she skinned an apple.

    His father didn¡¯t say anything, but he took a sip of his tea and heaved a sigh of relief.

    The family of three sat on the sofa and watched a variety show that was not very educational. They burst outughing from time to time.

    He evenughed so hard that he started tearing up.

 Chapter 1358: Plausibility

    <h4>Chapter 1358: usibility</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Brother Famous, wake up.¡±

    Famous opened his eyes and gave a big yawn.

    ¡°Is the team leaving soon?¡±

    It stood up, shivered, and nced randomly at the surrounding environment.

    Famous had long been ustomed to the switch between the real and imaginary space created in his mind. This was unlike the past, when it had always been unclear about which space he was in.

    ¡°I think they areing soon,¡± Old Time Tea said casually. Then it arranged its facial expression a little, made fists with its paws, and made a bow toward Famous. ¡°Along the way, if it had not been for the help from your people, I am afraid that I might not have been able to reach my destination safely.¡±

    Famous knew that Old Time Tea is being modest again. This is because Old Time Tea in the real world had single-handedly escorted others to the coastal city before. It did not matter, nor did it make a difference whether or not it was there.

    Yes, he¡¯d heard that Binhai City was already in sight. They were finally about to reach the end of this long journey to send rtives to this ce. They no longer needed to worry about all the difficulties and obstacles faced on the road.

    The surrounding area was no longer an inessible wilderness. Viges and towns were scattered all over the ce. The travelers taking the chariot were driving on the official road. After one arrived here, there was basically no danger ahead.

    ¡°After arriving at Binhai City, where does Brother Famous want to go?¡± asked Old Time Tea.

    ¡°No thoughts on that yet,¡± Famous said and shook his head.

    What to do after arriving in Binhai City? Famous was toozy to think about it. Anyway, he would just have to follow Old Time Tea. If Old Time Tea was willing to stay in Binhai City, he would follow it. If it got a little bored of the ce after a long time, they could then cross the Asian continent and head towards Europe. More specifically, they could head to Germany to take a look. That would be an even longer journey, and they may never be able to reach the end, but it beat simply idling around.

    The team was about to continue on with their journey. The servants of the Wu family and the people they¡¯d hired were busy tidying up their things.

    Wu Ning had recently started to appear less frequently in public because she was now a bride. ording to customs, the bride should be hidden and cut off from the world. They should not be seen often, or they may be brushed off by others as being rather ¡°loose.¡±

    She was not a very special girl, but she was quite versatile and knew how to take care of her family¡¯s feelings. Thus, she was willing to suffer this treatment in silence.

    The food and drinking water brought to Old Time Tea and Famous had never been so little.

    ¡°I am going to take a leak. Call me before you leave.¡±

    Famous felt that his dder was a little bloated, and after informing Old Time Tea of where he would be going, he headed into the woods to relieve himself.

    After a quick pee, he was satisfied. Just as he was about to head back and await departure, he inadvertently caught a glimpse of the figure of Gxy.

    Next to an open space in the forest, Gxy was in a daze.

    Gxy had never been a cat that liked to be in a daze. He was so lively that he made Famous suspect that he was suffering from ADHD.

    But...this Gxy¡ªhow should he put it¡ªwas slightly different from the real-world Gxy.

    Old Time Tea, besides being younger and less knowledgeable than the Old Time Tea in reality, behaved as in the real world.

    Gxy was different.

    In reality, Gxy liked to y hide-and-seek and y with the kittens in the pet shop. He constantly asked Zhang Zian and Famous to y with him. Even if he was by himself, he would choose to chase his own tail.

    The Gxy in the imaginary world had never yed hide-and-seek. It had never even asked Famous or Old Time Tea to y hide-and-seek with it. Since its appearance in this world, its greatest pleasure was catching butterflies. It did this every time the convoy stops for a while and only didn¡¯t do this when they were busy traveling. It always looked for butterflies in the woods and grasses and enjoyed ying with them.

    It didn¡¯t need to drink water or eat, so it used all its spare time to catch butterflies. Its behavior was much like students repeatedly doing worksheets in preparation for their exams.

    Therefore, the existence of this Gxy always made Famous feel a bit awkward.

    Famous even had a bit of wariness about this Gxy, because this was not the Gxy he knew.

    But whether it was this Gxy or the Gxy in reality, being in a daze was never an option they liked.

    ¡°Gxy, what are you doing? We will be leaving in a short while.¡±

    Famous shouted from behind Gxy.

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    Gxy turned around and looked at Famous.

    No!

    Famous shivered a little and came to attention. Those eyes, that look...it was not like the Gxy in reality.

    ¡°You...¡±

    He wanted to ask, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°Meow! Gxy¡¯s journey will end right now,¡± Gxy said very seriously, turning around.

    Although he did not feel the intent to kill from this Gxy, Famous nevertheless still took a half step back and prepared. He tightened his muscles in anticipation of anything that may happen. He also tried to figure out a way to inform Old Time Tea.

    ¡°You can do that. You can call Old Time Tea. Old Time Tea being here is better. Then at least Gxy does not need to specially go to him and say goodbye.¡± Gxy seemed to be able to read his mind.

    ¡°Oh, do you really think that I will not call him?¡±

    Famous really did not believe what this Gxy was gloating about. He knew that the entire team had already let their guard down. If anything happened now, then they would have really lost.

    So he screamed, ¡°Old Time Tea!¡±

    With a few howls, a yellow-and-ck figure jumped between the trees and immediatelynded at Famous¡¯ side.

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    Old Time Tea looked around and did not find the enemy. However, Famous¡¯ call sounded very urgent, so he took in air and activated his diaphragm. He raised his vignce.

    Famous pointed his ws at Gxy. ¡°Gxy seems to be acting rather strange...¡±

    ¡°What is wrong with it?¡±

    The problem was that this Old Time Tea did not know the Gxy in reality, so despite staring him down, he did not find anything wrong with this Gxy¡ªhis eyes were clear, there were no signs of injury or poisoning, and it was overall in a very good state.

    This made Famous very angry. He could detect the difference, but s, he could verbalize it clearly.

    Gxy raised a front paw and waved at Old Time Tea. ¡°Meow! Old Time Tea, Gxy must go first.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    Old Time Tea hesitated and said, ¡°Binhai is not far off. If it is not an emergency, why not wait till we arrive there and then you can go? Also, we can stay to watch Miss Wu get married. That will definitely make this a worthwhile trip.¡±

    Famous was anxious. At a time like this, Old Time Tea was actually trying to ask him to stay? Faced with such a guy like Gxy, who was not actually like the real Gxy, Famous did not want to get along with it anymore.

    Gxy shook his head. ¡°Meow! It¡¯s an urgent matter¡ªvery urgent!¡±

    ¡°Oh, if that¡¯s the case...¡±

    Old Time Tea inquisitively looked at Famous and asked for its opinions. Old Time Tea itself had already decided to let Gxy leave.

    Gxy was the first to open his mouth and say, ¡°Meow! Famous, you don¡¯t have to be afraid of me!¡±

    This time, Famous couldn¡¯t bear it. He knew that Gxy was a very strong cat. This Gxy was also very strong, but he would never admit that he was afraid of this Gxy.

    He tried to refute that, but Gxy said, ¡°Because I am what you created!¡±

    Famous was stunned. What did this mean?

    Gxy hit his forehead and nced at the empty sky. ¡°Meow! Famous, you should wake up. The sun has risen!¡±

 Chapter 1359: Deep in Sleep, Not Knowing How to Return

    <h4>Chapter 1359: Deep in Sleep, Not Knowing How to Return</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Famous woke up. It was hard to say whether his own biological clock had awakened him, or...the Gxy in his mind had awakened him. Whatever the case, he was now awake.

    This seemed to be a very ordinary morning. The only difference was... When he woke up, he unexpectedly discovered that Zhang Zian was still lying in bed.

    If the indication that the business had closed for the day in the pet shop was Fina jumping off the cat tree and returning to the second floor, then the signal for the beginning of the day at the store was definitely Zhang Zian getting up. Although the movements he made when waking up were rather light, the sound-sensitive elfins could often hear them. As soon as they heard them, they would either wake up immediately or wait a little longer. The choice was entirely theirs.

    Famous was a little confused. Had it woken up a little too early?

    No¡ªnot only was he awake, the rest were awake as well.

    There was also a figure sitting in front of Zhang Zian¡¯s bed. It was...

    Famous, who was still rather confused having just woken up, suddenly became alert and immediately stood up. His muscles were tight, as if he were awaiting an enemy.

    Upon seeing them, he realized that the figure was exactly the same one he¡¯d seen in his own dream. The figure sitting in the open space beside the forest... It was exactly the same one.

    It was Gxy.

    But he was not sure if this was really Gxy...

    Famous¡¯ movements were loud, and the other elfins were woken up by them.

    Immediately, they also noticed that Zhang Zian was still lying in bed.

    ¡°Hey, useless servant, it is already sote, and you still don¡¯t want to get out of bed?¡± Fina sat up from her princess bed and asked this with a cool look. ¡°Do you need me to invite you to wake up?¡±

    ¡°Hey? Who is that again? I only know of a lousy man! Is this idiot lovesick again?¡± Richard usually got upte but was extremely sensitive upon hearing certain keywords. The words he heard got him up out of his bed.

    With the ruckus Richard made, all the elfins woke up.

    dimir climbed out from under the bed and looked up at Zhang Zian with a puzzled expression. ¡°Eh? I thought I heard the him getting up. Did he wake up and then fell asleep again?¡±

    The weather was hot, so Old Time Tea¡¯s electric nket was not plugged in. He simply used an ordinary padded nket and wore a shawl. He nced at Zhang Zian and found something strange.

    ¡°Zhang ZIan seems to sleep very little...¡± he said quietly.

    ¡°I know why.¡± Snowy Li licked its paw and said with some hints of hatred, ¡°This stinky man¡¯s ability to skive has gotten better and better. He can now be ranked among the top seven... However, I will castrate him soon!¡±

    ¡°Hey.¡±

    Pi opened its eyes and jumped from the hanging basket wicker chair to another chair. The lid of theptop was open. It pressed the power button, and theputer started up. It ran to the bathroom to wash its face while waiting for theptop toplete its startup.

    The sound of the water that it used to wash its face woke Sihwa up as well.

    She emerged from the water, wiped her face casually, stretched her neck, and shouted, ¡°Zhang Zian, give me a hair dryer to blow-dry my hair. Today I want to broadcast myself! My hair is all stuck on my head. It does nothing to reflect my beauty. I look like a female ghost now!¡±

    Before, when Sihwa had gotten up in the morning, she¡¯d waited for the hair to dry naturally before starting to broadcast live. Later, she¡¯d found an artifact called a ¡°hair dryer¡± in someone else¡¯s live room. After asking around, she realized that Zhang Zian also had one and that it was downstairs. In addition, after their showers, the cats and dogs also enjoyed the treatment of this hair dryer. She was furious knowing this. She finally realized how much precious time she had wasted waiting for her hair to dry naturally.

    She asked for the hairdryer to be ced on the bathroom cab so that she could get it when she reached her hand out, but Zhang Zian did not agree to it. It was very dangerous to use a hair dryer in the bathtub. Once her hand slipped and the hairdryer fell into the bathtub, she would be fried fish... She did not quite believe him, but there was no other choice. Thus, she could only ask him to grab the hair dryer for her every morning so that she can blow-dry her hair with it.

    Her voice was sharp and brittle, and the decibel level was very high. Even if Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t hear the sounds the other elfins made while sleeping, he would at least be awakened by her voice.

    However, he was still lying in bed, not waking up.

    ¡°Ah! Zhang Zian!¡±

    She raised her volume to a very harsh level and waited for a while. However, he did not respond. He was often worried that her voice would spread outside of his ce, causing his staff to think he hid prostitutes in his house. Thus, he would alwayse in to get her to stop.

    ¡°Hey! Hey?¡±

    Pi was sitting in front of theputer and started typing a few words. However, he stopped typing upon sensing the weird atmosphere in the room.

    Besides Famous eyeing Gxy¡¯s back closely, and Sihwa, who was in the bathroom, all the other elfins were concentrated on Zhang Zian.

    The air was silent.

    There seemed to be something wrong with it.

    ¡°Gxy? Are you Gxy?¡±

    Famous¡¯ question stunned the other elves. What was the problem?

    Gxy turned his head.

    For a moment, Famous rxed himself. His body was also a little weak after the abrupt tension he¡¯d subjected himself to. He confirmed once again that it was the Gxy he knew, no doubt about it.

    Famous cared about the authenticity of Gxy, while the other elfins cared more about the abnormal state Zhang Zian was in.

    There seemed to be an ominous premonition in Old Time Tea¡¯s heart. He walked to the bed, carefully observed Zhang Zian¡¯s face, and prodded his nose with a front paw. He looked for signs of breathing and, through his breathing rate and body temperature, tried to find out his physical condition.

    People who ate random and bad food would inevitably get sick. Although Zhang Zian had been very good with his diet and looked no different from his boxing days, over thest few days, he had been running around to solve the problem of the insects. He may have gotten a cold or a fever from all that running around.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s breath blew on the hair on the tips of his ws.

    His breathing rate was normal, and his body temperature was also normal. He did not appear to be sick.

    It quickly recalled that Zhang Zian had still been normal before going to sleep yesterday. He¡¯d been alive and kicking, as usual. He had been talking rubbish as usual and showed no signs of being sick.

    It had heard that many caterpirs were more or less toxic. Zhang Zian¡¯s protective measures had always been top-notch. However, perhaps he may have missed a spot and been stung by one of the many caterpirs. The ailment had been lying dormantst night and only just acted up.

    However, this situation was very unlikely, because when attacked by caterpirs, humans would be in pain immediately. It was unlikely that they would not feel the pain. If he hadn¡¯t, he must be really numb to it to finally feel it after so much time had passed.

    Old Time Tea used his w to pull at his eyelids, and the state of his eyelids and his eyes looked normal.

    It gave dimir a look, and thetter knowingly jumped to the window and pulled the curtains apart.

    The morning sun spilled into the room.

    His pupils¡¯ response to light was also normal.

    The other elfins were aware that Old Time Tea knew some traditional medicine, and they waited for its judgment silently. Only the uninformed Sihwa yelled from the bathroom.

    ¡°Hey! Why aren¡¯t you talking? Ah, where is Zhang Zian? Are you going traveling and intending to abandon me here?¡±

    Old Time Tea retracted its ws and lowered its head.

    ¡°What happened to him?¡± Fina asked coldly. ¡°Is he sick or is he trying some method to fool me?¡±

    After thinking about it, Old Time Tea looked up and replied, ¡°Your Majesty... He seems to be...asleep.¡±

 Chapter 1360: Sneaking into the Dream

    <h4>Chapter 1360: Sneaking into the Dream</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The answer from Old Time Tea was rather puzzling to the other elfins. Everyone could see that Zhang Zian was sound asleep. It did not need to state the obvious to them.

    ¡°ording to my analysis, he does not have any physical problems. He is merely asleep, although...this kind of sleep is very abnormal. Sihwa¡¯s voice is so loud that he should have been awoken by it a long time ago.¡±

    Old Time Tea exined while using his ws to open his eyelids again. ¡°You see, his eye is moving quickly. Humans have given this kind of sleep a name. It is called ¡®rapid eye movement sleep,¡¯ which means he is dreaming some sort of lifelike dream... The problem is that it is a rather shallow type of sleep. He should have already woken up.¡±

    ¡°So why didn¡¯t he wake up?¡± Fina suppressed her anger. ¡°Is this possible that he¡¯s deliberately pretending to be asleep when, in fact, he is already awake?¡±

    ¡°This... I believe that this is unlikely because the human eye is very sensitive. I just used my ws to pull up his eyelids. He should...have an instinctive dodge response,¡± Old Time Tea said. ¡°However, he seems to be able to restrain this instinct, and to do that, you have to practice for a long time. However, I don¡¯t think he would have spent so much time practicing just for a joke...¡±

    This analysis was reasonable, and Fina couldn¡¯t find anything wrong with it. This was because Zhang Zian had always adhered to the principle of maximizing the benefits per unit of time, and so he would not waste so much preparation time to crack a joke that would only work once...

    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t he wake up?¡± Fina¡¯s anger disappeared. She turned to the bathroom and said, ¡°Shut up! So noisy!¡±

    Sihwa was shocked and shut her mouth.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Old Time Tea shook his head and looked around. ¡°Who was the first to wake up?¡±

    ¡°I woke up once, but I didn¡¯t know what time it was. I heard the sound of the quilt on the bed, but it was still early. I thought he was getting up to go to the bathroom and didn¡¯t care. Then I fell asleep again,¡± dimir said, raising his paw.

    ¡°Apart from dimir?¡± Old Time Tea asked with a nod.

    Famous took a step forward. ¡°When I woke up, I saw Gxy sitting on the edge of the bed. You all shouldn¡¯t have been up yet.¡±

    Everyone¡¯s eyes focused on Gxy.

    ¡°Meow!¡± Gxy shook his head in a rare way, and his eyes held a look of confusion and helplessness. ¡°Gxy felt great sadness and woke up. Zhang Zian... He himself chose to be asleep.¡±

    What?

    Old Time Tea¡¯s words had been puzzling enough, and Gxy¡¯s were even worse.

    ¡°He chose to sleep? Why does he want to sleep? Who gave him the right to sleep? Did I not treat him well, so much so that he decided to go on a strike?¡± Fina was furious. Originally, she¡¯d still been a little worried, but now that she¡¯d heard that he had chosen to sleep... What did this mean?

    ¡°Hey! You idiot, get up and shove sh*t away!¡± Richard jumped onto Zhang Zian¡¯s back and stepped all over his back, neck, and head.

    The other elfinsughed a little and rxed a lot after hearing this.

    ¡°Maybe he is really tired. Then we should let him sleep for a while. Take a rest now and work harderter!¡± dimir said.

    Old Time Tea still had a puzzled look on its face. Whether or not he chose to sleep, his being asleep despite all this noise was absolutely not normal.

    ¡°Then... When will he wake up?¡±

    Old Time Tea generally did not ask Gxy about issues about the future, but today the situation was special. It must be asked clearly so that it could decide what to doter.

    ¡°Meow... Gxy does not know. He may wake up, or he may not wake up... It all depends on whether he wants to wake up.¡± Gxy sadly lowered his head.

    Anyone present would know that Gxy¡¯s power was unfathomable. If anyone wanted to harm Zhang Zian, or if something around him may lead to his injury or death, Gxy would definitely be able to predict it and stop it from happening in advance. If he could not do that, he would guide other elfins to stop it.

    However, if Zhang Zian chose to sleep, who could stop it?

    ¡°Is there another way?¡± asked Old Time Tea.

    ¡°Meow... Gxy does not know.¡± Gxy shook his head.

    Gxy could see the future, but if it was something that had already happened, it could not be traced back.

    ¡°Scratch!¡±

    Pi patted its chest and volunteered its service.

    It put on some sses and began to flip through the Untitled Book.

    Everyone knew that Pi¡¯s Untitled Book recorded everything that had happened in the past. It, of course, recorded everything in the present and the future, but thetter was too difficult to query because there were countless possibilities for the future.

    Everyone stared at it moving furiously and was eager to get an answer from it.

    Pi flipped to one of the pages. To everyone else, it appeared to be a nk page, but after it stared at the book for a long time, confusion and surprise surfaced on Pi¡¯s face.

    ¡°What is it?¡± asked Old Time Tea.

    Flip flip! Flip flip!

    Pi¡¯s fingers seemed like they were dancing. However, besides some signnguage that only Zhang Zian could understand, to the other elfins looking at it, it was tantamount to gibberish.

    Pi noticed the puzzled looks on everyone¡¯s faces and suddenly remembered that Zhang Zian was not there to help it trante, so it typed on itsputer. The book said that because other elfins were involved, the relevant information could not be queried.

    Other elfins?

    Everyone started getting suspicious and exchanged looks with each other.

    Zhang Zian had been sleeping soundly throughout. If this had been caused by other elfins, did that mean... a strange elfin had invaded this room without their knowing it?

    From the very beginning, everyone had ruled out this possibility. As for why... One simply had to look at all the elfins in the room. They were like a solid wall of iron and maybe even more secure than the safest vault in the world. To quietly enter into this room and do bad things... Such a feat would be even harder than going to heaven!

    Although everyone had sufficient confidence in their ability to secure the room, in order to y it safe, everyone leaped into action without asking. They checked every window on the second floor, checked the doors and windows on the first floor, looked for strange smells and footprints, and even inspected the drains of the bathroom and kitchen.

    However, there was nothing. There was no sign of a break-in.

    Pi¡¯s Untitled Book would not be wrong. Certainly, an elfin had quietly invaded the room when everyone was unaware of it. That had put Zhang Zian into a sound sleep. However, why had it done so?

    What they did know is that it had not invaded the house via the standard method. It was theoretically impossible. Even a stealth elfin could not fully hide its scent, sound, and footprints.

    Elfins that could cross the physical barrier of space... There was only one that everyone knew. That was Gxy. However, even if it were Gxy, he would still leave behind his scent and footprints.

    The unknown elfin...was like a ghost.

    Sihwa had guessed that something happened, but everyone was toozy to exin it to her. She was anxious and going crazy without knowing what was going on.

    Throughout the discussion, Famous remained silent. When everyone¡¯s discussion came to an end and there was no conclusion, it suddenly said: ¡°I have to sleep again.¡±

 Chapter 1361: The Ruler of the World

    <h4>Chapter 1361: The Ruler of the World</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Since another elf was involved, everyone knew of the urgency and seriousness of the issue at hand.

    Nobody knew what kind of elf is was or what kind of abilities it had. All they knew was that it could quietly cross the physical barrier and cause people to fall asleep. This was the time when everyone needed to work together, but now Famous abruptly said that he wanted to go to bed...

    This... this was unreasonable!

    Had the rest not known that Famous¡¯s concern for Zhang Zian wouldn¡¯t affect one of the elves, they might¡¯ve started to fight over it.

    However, everyone needed him to give a reasonable exnation.

    Famous also knew that it wasn¡¯t a good time to be sleeping. He could only vaguely exin, ¡°There is an elf who may know the clue. I don¡¯t know the specifics, sot I have to go to my imagined world and ask them.¡±

    Everyone believed that Famous wouldn¡¯t lie, but everyone knew that there were only two elves in Famous¡¯s Imaginary World: Old Time Tea and Xinghai. Whom was he referring to?

    Famous nced at Xinghai and said, ¡± Please look after Zhang Zian for now. I¡¯m going to sleep.¡±

    His tone suggested that he wasn¡¯t asking, but rather demanding. He had made up its mind even if the other elves opposed it. He needed to sleep so he could be closer to the truth.

    Everyone saw that his will was unshakeable and thus said no more.

    However, the problem was that Famous never tried to sleep over a short period of time. Besides, in such a stressful situation, he couldn¡¯t sleep!

    Upset, Famous tried to lie down, first on his side, then looking up at the ceiling. He tried all the possible postures so many times, yet he still couldn¡¯t fall asleep. The more he couldn¡¯t sleep, the more anxious he became. The more anxious he was, the less sleepy he felt. It was a vicious cycle that insomniacs constantly experience; it was quite painful.

    ¡°If we¡¯re too loud, do you want to sleep in another bedroom or the storage room?¡± dimir asked, meaning well.

    Famous shook his head. If he left his familiar sleeping ce, he might¡¯ve not been able to sleep at all.

    Just as his anxiety grew as if he were an ant on a hot pot, he suddenly heard a familiar voice in his ear.

    ¡°Forgive me, for I have sinned...¡±

    With a sudden shake, his neck was poked numerous times without giving him a chance to react. Back and forth, back and forth... The blood supply to the brain seemed to have been briefly interrupted each time.

    He saw ck in front of his eyes as his consciousness quickly dissipated. He lost control of his body and went limp. His final thought before then was, ¡°What the hell?! Old Time Tea, you¡¯re so cruel!¡±

    With that, he fell asleep.

    ...

    Famous sat up, enraged.

    He was no longer on the second floor of the pet shop he knew of, but in a quiet woond.

    The younger version of Old Time Tea stood in front of it and asked with a stern look, ¡°Brother Famous, what is the meaning of this?¡±

    ¡°Forget it, it¡¯s nothing,¡± Famous said.

    He turned around and saw Xinghai, who looked suspicious.

    Xinghai had an unexpected expression.

    Famous took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, ¡°I know that you have an urgent matter to attend to and must leave. I don¡¯t want to stop you, but I hope you can exin it not only to me but to the other elves that are waiting. Do you understand?¡±

    Famous had many questions. Besides wanting to ask about what happened to Zhang Zian earlier, he also wanted to know what Xinghai meant before when he said, ¡°Famous, you are the one that created me.¡±

    Xinghai nodded. ¡°Meow... Xinghai will wait here for you to return.¡±

    ¡°Brother Famous...¡±

    Only Old Time Tea knew nothing about the current situation, much like Shihua in the real world. However, this Old Time Tea was cultured and wouldn¡¯t yell like she would.

    Famous exined about the situation to Old Time Tea in detail; since the flow of time between the Imaginary World and the real world was different, it didn¡¯t make much sense to try to save himself time here. It is better to let Old Time Tea in on the situation. Perhaps he coulde up with some useful suggestions and help him out a little.

    ¡°Oh... so it¡¯s still going on...¡± Old Time Tea was shocked after hearing what Famous shared.

    Famous looked at Xinghai again. ¡°That is all I know. Xinghai over there should tell you the rest.¡±

    Xinghai looked up as if staring at something in the distance.

    ¡°Hey~ Famous, do you remember when I first appeared here?¡±

    Famous certainly remembered. How could he have forgotten?

    He used to choose to forget everything because it was too painful except for this one thing. He would rather bear the pain it brought him and thus continued to remember it.

    That night in Berlin...

    It was the most glorious moment of his life. For the first time, he stood on the highest podium of the festival using its own name. He enjoyed the spotlight, listening to his name resounding throughout the world and listening to Zhang Zian speaking on his behalf, of what he wants to do the most: to donate the earnings made from the movie to benefit the hungry children in Africa.

    It was precisely on that night that he became close to Zhang Zian.

    It was also on that night that Xinghai appeared in his Imaginary World and joined him and Old Time Tea on their journey towards Binhai town.

    ¡°Meow... Famous, do you think your ¡®crisis predictor¡¯ can only predict a crisis a few seconds before it happens?¡± Xinghai smiled. ¡°You are wrong! At that moment, when you truly trusted Zhang Zian, you were also subconsciously worried about his safety. Unlike the simple-minded Xinghai in the real world, you thought more about the future. You knew that no matter how strong Xinghai, Fina and Old Time Tea were, they can¡¯t fight an enemy that attacks from dreams. Thus, you created me in your Imaginary World!¡±

    ¡°I am Xinghai, but not Xinghai... I am born your subconscious, based on your hopes, enhancement, and support of Xinghai~¡±

    Famous was stunned as his brain was filled with this series of shocking facts. He needed a moment to process it all.

    ¡°You... are you kidding me?¡±

    Xinghai spread his arms as if embracing the whole world.

    ¡°Hey... Famous, why are you so surprised? Although this world is based on one of Old Time Tea¡¯s memories; this is a world you created! You are the creator of this world! You are the ruler of this world! ¡±

    ¡°So, Famous, please don¡¯t get cocky,¡± Xinghai stared deeply into Famous¡¯s eyes. ¡°You can do all this on your own, but youck self-confidence and admire Xinghai so much that you created me to do it for you...¡±

    Famous has always had this kind of attitude in this world, much like in the real world. He disliked the limelight, especially whenever he was in the presence of many powerful partners. He didn¡¯t mind giving them the flowers and apuse instead.

    That was unless he was the protagonist of his own movie.

    Xinghai put down one of his front paws and waved with the other. ¡°Meow... Before you go, Xinghai wants to say something to you; your heart will be as generous and open as the world!¡±

 Chapter 1362: Realizing That It Is All Just a Dream

    <h4>Chapter 1362: Realizing That It Is All Just a Dream</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Far away from the woods came the sound of the families there to fetch the bride. Famous looked in that direction and realized that they were very close to Binhai. Even if he could not catch up in time, he doubted anything would happen. Even if something did happen, he could always catch up from behindter. Everything should be fine.

    His suspicion for this Gxy had, unconsciously, slowly disappeared. This was not because it liked to be fooled by it, but because this Gxy had pointed out something that it had long thought of but had been avoiding¡ªit was not surprising because this Gxy was what it had created. It was part of it, was born from its will, and knew its heart better than anyone else. It was not the same as Old Time Tea, who was very close to itself in the real world.

    ¡°Are you leaving?¡± asked Famous.

    Gxy nodded.

    ¡°But...how do you get out? This is my imagined world, or...should I say that this is a closed-loop system formed by my spirit? It is not a real space that exists. No matter whether it is you or the real Gxy, you don¡¯t really have a way to leave, do you?¡± Famous asked.

    However, if it did not leave the imagined world, how could it enter Zhang Zian¡¯s dream world?

    ¡°Meow! You will need to send me out,¡± Gxy said.

    ¡°You need me to send you out? How do I do that?¡± Famous was clueless. It had never done this kind of thing, or even thought about doing so.

    Gxy shook its head,ughed, and teased, ¡°Meow! You will have toe up with a solution then. But I know you will eventuallye up with one!¡±

    Famous thought, ¡°I hate two things most. One is using my brain, and the other is when people deliberately do not tell me something!¡±

    ¡°Then.. Will youe back?¡±

    On this journey, Famous had always believed that the one ying the leading role was Old Time Tea, while he was in a supporting role. Gxy was merely a sort of lucky charm that existed. However, even if that were the case, he was already ustomed to Gxy¡¯s existence. He was used to having it around and watching it catch butterflies while he rested.

    Gxy tried to look like he was thinking hard, but then he smiled and said, ¡°This is the world you created, Famous.¡±

    Famous didn¡¯t reply.

    There was too much information in his mind, and he was feeling too overwhelmed to use his brain further. ¡°In short, you will be able to deal with the other elfin, right? Although you said that I created you, and you are, therefore, not the original Gxy, I feel that you are very strong too!¡±

    Gxy held back a smile and said, point-nk, ¡°The other elfin is very strong. The dream is its home ground! Any foreign object that invades the dream will be suppressed by it, and it may lose most or all of its power. So, whether it is me or you, while we may try our best, we will merely act as guides. Whether or not he can wake up depends on Zhang Zian¡¯s own willpower!¡±

    Famous sighed. ¡°So we will have to let him fend for himself after all... What I understand the least is why he willingly let himself go into a deep sleep and then into the dream? If he had not done so, then we wouldn¡¯t have to deal with such a big mess right now.¡±

    While Famous talked with Gxy, the younger version of Old Time Tea had been thinking about what Famous had told him. Although the current version of it was subject to historical limitations and, therefore, it couldn¡¯t understand some of the things said, it nevertheless had a general understanding of what had happened.

    ¡°I have a few guesses that I can think of.¡± It narrowed its eyes and smiled.

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    Famous was stunned. The Old Time Tea in the real world, be it in terms of knowledge or wisdom, was far superior to this younger version of Old Time Tea. In addition, the real-life Old Time Tea was diligent and eager to learn. It had learned a lot of new human knowledge from watching TV, such as the information about ¡°rapid eye movement sleep.¡± Famous knew none of these things... Therefore, how was it possible that both he and the Old Time Tea in the real world had no clue how to handle the situation, but this younger version of Old Time Tea could guess what had happened after listening to a mere few sentences?

    The younger version of Old Time Tea saw its thoughts and smiled. ¡°That is because I do not know Zhang Zian, while the real Old Time Tea knows him. This is the difference¡ªif it does not bother you, you won¡¯t be affected by it. If it means something to you, you will be affected and cannot focus on the solution. Bystanders can always see the situation more clearly than those involved. I can be a true bystander, but the real-world Old Time Tea cannot.¡±

    Famous listened carefully. What this Old Time Tea was saying made a lot of sense.

    Old Time Tea lifted a front paw and looked down carefully. ¡°Brother Famous, you always say that this is your imagined world and that I am just a projection of Old Time Tea from the real world. However, I do not fully agree with this. This is because I have observed this world very carefully. This world is highly realistic. Every de of grass and every tree, every breath taken... They do not seem to be something created fictionally. So, I will insist that, Brother Famous, you must have made a mistake. This so-called imagined world you speak of is actually a dream...¡±

    Famous wanted to refute this, but Old Time Tea lifted its ws and stopped him. ¡°Reality and illusion are merely separated by a single thin line. I don¡¯t want to believe that I am a false existence. I don¡¯t want to believe that everything I experienced as a result of life and death is fictitious. I refuse to believe that my fate is sealed. I want to see what Binhai looks like, and I want to witness the happy marriage of Miss Wu Jia. Therefore, I¡¯d rather believe that all this is true... Presumably, Zhang Zian is also thinking the same way.¡±

    ¡°Because the dreams are too good, I am willing to believe that it is true. Because there are things that are embarrassing, I don¡¯t want to wake up.¡±

    ¡°Because of feelings involved, I am trapped in this dream... However, a dream is a dream. If you don¡¯t notice it is a dream, then once you do notice it, even if the dream is good, you will not feel as nostalgic towards it, because it is destined to be false.¡±

    ¡°There are feelings?¡±

    Famous did not understand. Where was the connection between sentimentality and trapped dreams? It does not seem to make sense.

    Old Time Tea gave a slight smile. ¡°Brother Famous, I wonder if you have ever heard this before... ¡®If you do not know how to pity and cherish, no one will be willing to be with you.¡¯¡±

    Famous shook his head. How should it put this... For a foreign dog to understand ancient Chinese poetry, that might be a little too difficult...

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯t understand it. You need to know that you can only be trapped in a dream if you value rtionships. So I am very envious of you, that you are able to know such a human friend.¡±

    Old Time Tea smiled and looked at it.

    On the horizon in the east, the top of a mountain loomed high. The mountaintop was blurred by the passing of a group of clouds.

    Although the mountain did not seem to be too far away, to even try going toward it was likely to be a great distance.

    Was that... Mt. Hidden Fog?

    Binhai. They were almost there.

    Famous suddenly remembered. He had been very confused as to why he had created such an imagined world. Why had he created it in this country and specifically this era? What was its purpose in loitering through this imagined world that it had created?

    It seemed to be somewhat clear on that reason now.

    Everyone had a town of Binhai in their hearts, a holy ce in their hearts and minds. It was a peacefulnd that could allow them to escape reality.

    The process of arriving here was a process of learning about yourself all over again.

    Famous¡¯s eyes became clearer than they usually were. It stared at the young version of Old Time Tea and said, ¡°Old Time Tea, you said something wrong.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Would you care to tell me the details?¡± asked Old Time Tea.

    Famous suddenly raised his voice and snarled loudly, ¡°Don¡¯t confuse my imagined world with those who mess around with other people¡¯s dreams!¡±

    With that, it woke up.

 Chapter 1363: Itâ€™s Difficult to Find People Who Think Alike

    <h4>Chapter 1363: It¡¯s Difficult to Find People Who Think Alike</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Old Time Tea pulled back its front paws and watched Famous softly fall to the ground. He said apologetically, ¡°Famous, we are in a hurry. Please forgive me.¡±

    Unfortunately, Famous had been sleeping and could not hear what he said. In addition, it was poor sleep that he was getting.

    Old Time Tea looked at the sky and said to the other elfins, ¡°It¡¯s already quitete, and I¡¯m afraid Zhang Zian won¡¯t wake up for a while. Although the customers may note into the store due to the impact of the insect disaster, the staff wille to workter. Boss Li from the snack store will also be sending some food... How do we exin the situation to them? We will have to make proper arrangements and perhaps a long-term n moving forward.¡±

    The other elfins also agreed because they had a dilemma in front of them¡ªshould they inform everyone else that Zhang Zian was in deep sleep?

    If the staff found out, their first reaction would be to call an ambnce and send Zhang Zian to the hospital.

    But could this solve the problem?

    Zhang Zian was not naturally in a deep sleep. His dream state had been induced by an unknown elfin. In addition, he¡¯d chosen to stay in the dream. This situation... Could modern medicine cure it?

    It probably...wouldn¡¯t work.

    Therefore, the staff should not be allowed to know the situation that Zhang Zian was in right now. They must cover up this issue and let them think that Zhang Zian was all right.

    Richard jumped a few times on the windowsill, looked into the distance, and said, ¡°I seem to spot two of the staffing over and heading in our direction. We will have toe to a decision as soon as possible.¡±

    The staff walked up to the door of the store. If they found that the shutter door was not up, they would be somewhat confused. Then they would likely give Zhang Zian a call to ask about the situation.

    Old Time Tea said, ¡°Richard, you shall fake Zhang Zian¡¯s voice. Just make up some reason. Tell the staff that you have something to go out and settle today and let them tend the store.¡±

    However, what method should they use to inform the clerk? It must not be done in person.

    ¡°Hey.¡±

    Pi hurriedly ran to the bedside, pulled Zhang Zian¡¯s mobile phone out from under his pillow, gave a thumbs-up to everyone, and then picked up Zhang Zian¡¯s hand. Pi used his finger to unlock the mobile phone via fingerprint identification.

    The phone was unlocked and could now be used normally.

    The screen still showed the ¡°Pet Hunter¡± interface, but there was no light on the electronic map that represented the elfin to be captured.

    The elfins knew that Zhang Zian used WeChat to contact the staff, but they didn¡¯t know how to use WeChat, except for Sihwa.

    Pi, holding the phone, staggered into the bathroom. The other elfins followed.

    Sihwa was angry and felt wronged. It was obvious that she had not been informed of the situation at hand, but she had nevertheless been shouted at by Fina.

    ¡°Hey.¡±

    Pi handed Zhang Zian¡¯s mobile phone to her.

    ¡°What?¡±

    Her face had an extremely p*ssed-off look to it. She nced at the phone but didn¡¯t pick it up. She crossed her arms over her chest. ¡°This is that stingy guy¡¯s phone. Where is he?¡±

    Although she tried to pretend she was calm, all the elfins had poured into the bathroom together. She had never had so many elfins in the bathroom with her, and thus, she was somewhat flustered.

    Her ears were, in fact, very sharp. She could hear the elfins talking outside. She knew that Zhang Zian had had an ident, but she didn¡¯t understand how. He¡¯d merely slept through the night, so what could have possibly happened?

    Old Time Tea coughed and stood up. ¡°There will time to panic in the future,¡± it said. ¡°I will also exin things in detail to you then. It¡¯s just that too many things are happening at once, and we have to deliberately conceal what is happening... Nevertheless, because of an unknown elfin, Zhang Zian is temporarily unable to wake up. In order to conceal this matter, please help us send a voice WeChat to the staff. As for what to say and how to say it, Richard will do the talking.¡±

    Sihwa¡¯s brow was furrowed. It was clear that the situation was urgent. As Fina¡¯s face had a more serious expression than hers, she decided to reach out and take the phone. ¡°Well, you have to go through all the details with meter.¡±

    She found WeChat, found the group chat for the pet store, ced her index finger on her lips to tell everyone to keep silent, then pressed the voice button. She made a signal to Richard.

    Richard cleared his throat and imitated Zhang Zian¡¯s voice. ¡°Ahem! The matchmaker of True Love Network informed me that I must go on a blind date, so today you can do whatever you want! I have hidden the door keys...by the front tire of the Wuling Hong Guang MPV. Go grab them and open the door yourself.¡±

    dimir ran back to the first floor, found the door key, jumped out of the window from the second floor, hid the door key by the car¡¯s tire, and returned to the room from the second-floor window.

    Sihwa released her finger, and the voice message was sent to the group.

    Wang Qian: ¡°Wow! Master, since when did you sign yourself up on the True Love Network?¡±

    Li Kun: ¡°No wonder... The only thing that can make you abandon your business is dating, I guess...¡±

    The staffughed as they replied to the voice message.

    ¡°Those fools!¡± Richard shook his head regretfully and looked somewhat dejected. ¡°Since it¡¯s Zhang Zian, the idiot will definitely find out what is going on and respond with disgust...¡±

    ¡°Respond to what?¡± the other elfins asked inexplicably.

    Richard patted his wings. ¡°Why is it the True Love Network? Of course, it is...that there is only true love between the same sex! Whatever it is creating then is merely heresy!¡±

    The other elfins didn¡¯t reply to that.

    Richard sighed and looked towards the sky. ¡°There are so few who know the truth. What is the point of a broken back?¡±

    Old Time Tea stepped up, wanting to correct Richard. It clearly remembered that the idiom talked about ying an instrument until the string was broken, so how was it now a broken back? Besides, who could continue ying an instrument when their back was broken? The person could not even live!

    However, it felt that whatever came out of Richard¡¯s mouth might not be good knowledge. Thus, it decided not to correct him and swallowed back the words...

    The elfins rushed out and sat in a row by the windowsill on the second floor. They watched the staff look for the door key by the front tire of the Wuling, open the shutter door, and start the daily cleaning of the store.

    Everyone except Sihwa, because she could not leave the bathtub.

    However, the other elfins were anxious to see if the staff believed the voice message. In their rush, they left Zhang Zian¡¯s mobile phone with Sihwa and did not take it away.

    Sihwa returned to the main page and unexpectedly noticed a familiar icon on the screen.

    It was the live broadcast app.

    When had the petty guy downloaded the live broadcast app? He must be secretly watching the youngdies dance sultry dances. Who knew¡ªhe might have even sent them little rewards! How uncivilized!

    She pouted, and suddenly she had a mischievous thought. She would quietly use his ount to pay attention to her live room, and then she would use the bnce in his ount to buy gifts for herself. Given his character of being stingy with his money, he would definitely be very angry when he finally woke up!

    The more she thought of this, the more she thought that it would be very fun. She tapped on the app with her finger, waited for it to start, searched for her live room number, and clicked on ¡°Follow¡±...

    Her fingers stopped because it showed ¡°Followed.¡±

    ¡°Oh, at least he still has a conscience!¡± She was a little proud and happy. ¡°Forget it. Then I will only reward half of my bnce to myself... Now how do I reward myself?¡±

    She had not sent rewards to others before. She switched to the ¡°About Me¡± page to see how much money was avable.

    At the top of the page, she saw a very familiar nickname: [Watermelon].

 Chapter 1364: Bridge

    <h4>Chapter 1364: Bridge</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian might say that the staff were fools, but they weren¡¯t that stupid after all. For example, after Wang Qian opened the door and entered the store, he snorted and said, ¡°It¡¯s strange. Let¡¯s say that Master is traveling or, for some other reason, is not in the store for a few days. He always brings his pets with him or give them to a friend to look after them. Howe when he goes on a date, he still brings them with him?¡±

    He¡¯d noticed that Zhang Zian was absent, but so were the pets. Fina and Snowy Li, who were usually on the cat tree, Gxy, who always ran around the store, Old Time Tea, who watched TV and drank tea, Famous, who alwaysy beside the lounge chairs, Richard, whose sexual orientation was different from the average bird, and the Russian blue cat, dimir, who often ran out, were all absent as well.

    Li Kun shrugged. ¡°Do you really believe whatever Master says? Those are merely excuses. You must know that those who practice immortality often have some hidden rings or belts that can store things?¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡± Wang Qian pped his forehead and actually epted this exnation.

    Lu Yiyun and Jiang Feifei were doing their own things and ignored the conversations of the two fools.

    However, they also vaguely felt that Zhang Zian had temporarily left the house in a hurry. Last night, he had not disclosed anything about what he was intending to do. In addition, why had he gone on a blind date early in the morning? Did the girls on the True Love Network not sleep at all?

    Moreover, wasn¡¯t the city full of bugs at this time?

    The other party must be somewhat kinky...

    To walk around and shop while appreciating the bugs everywhere... Thinking about that was somewhat gross.

    The elfins didn¡¯t care what they thought. Everything would be fine as long as they didn¡¯t n to go upstairs and didn¡¯t call an ambnce.

    At this time, Pi remembered that Zhang Zian¡¯s mobile phone was still in the bathroom. It knew that the mobile phone was very important, and so it used all four limbs to run back into the bathroom and take it.

    ¡°Hey?¡±

    It saw that Sihwa¡¯s expression was a little weird, staring at Zhang Zian¡¯s cell phone rather hard.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Do you want the mobile phone?¡±

    Sihwa returned to her senses and handed Zhang Zian¡¯s mobile phone back to Pi.

    Pi took the phone out of the bathroom and stuffed it back under Zhang Zian¡¯s pillow.

    Suddenly, Famous woke up.

    The other elfins didn¡¯t have much hope for a solution toe from Famous¡¯s imagined world. However, with no further clues to guide them forward, they were willing to try anything and everything at this point in time. They asked, ¡°Famous, how was it?¡±

    Famous didn¡¯t rush to answer. He stared at Old Time Tea andined, ¡°Can you tell me the next time you do that so I¡¯ll least have some form of mental preparation?¡±

    Old Time Tea apologized. ¡°I know I have done you wrong. However, if you knew beforehand, your body would naturally be on the alert. Then it wouldn¡¯t be so easy to put you to sleep.¡±

    Famous didn¡¯t immediately reply.

    ¡°Forget it. I will talk about thister.¡± It shook its head and nced at the elfins. ¡°This time I went to my imagined world. Although I still haven¡¯t fully figured out the truth of the matter, I have a helper. It may be able to help Zhang Zian get out of his dream.¡±

    Helper?

    Everyone looked around. Where was this helper? Had Famous slept until everything was a blur?

    Famous¡¯ eyes fell on Gxy. ¡°Gxy, it all depends on you.¡±

    The other elfins were even more puzzled. Even if Gxy was powerful, what could it do in the face of an unknown elfin that could not be seen or touched?

    Gxy¡¯s big silver-gray eyes blinked a little. It had seen what it had to do next.

    Famous returned Gxy¡¯s gaze without hesitation.

    In the beginning, Gxy had appeared in the wax museum in Hollywood. From the start, Famous¡¯ gaze hadnded on Gxy. Then its consciousness had inexplicably been rolled into his imagined world, and they¡¯d ended up in a dark box with random cyanide traps. By now, they had gone thought countless episodes of life and death together.

    Now that he thought about it, he was the one who¡¯d entered Gxy¡¯s imagined world. Then he had entered that of Old Time Tea. The way that he had done so was always by gazing into the other¡¯s eyes.

    The eyes were the window to the soul, and they seemed to be a bridge between the consciousness and the imagined world.

    This time, it was not Gxy¡¯s imagined world that he wanted to enter. Instead, he wanted to send something from his own imagined world to Gxy¡¯s consciousness.

    He¡¯d never tried it before, and he didn¡¯t know if he would seed. If it was unsessful, it would be very embarrassing... It was like staring into a person¡¯s eyes and saying, ¡°I want to hypnotize you.¡±

    However, this was the only method he could think of.

    The other spectators on the sidelines found the entire situation rather absurd. They only saw Famous and Gxy looking hard at one another.

    Famous didn¡¯t feel anything, but Gxy¡¯s silver-gray eyes had ripples in them. It was much like a calmke being disturbed by a pebble that had been thrown into it. His eyes looked this way for a while before returning to calmness.

    ¡°Meow! Gxy wants to sleep for a while.¡±

    Gxy yawned and walked to Zhang Zian¡¯s bed sleepily. He squatted down.

    Without the help of Old Time Tea, he coiled his body into a ball and quickly fell asleep.

    Could they consider this a sess?

    The other elfins also had this question.

    Famous had no idea either, but it seemed to be a sess.

    On the streets, the number of caterpirs, which had reached a peak over thest few days, had slowly decreased. The air was filled with odors, which might have been from the smell of the pesticides or the smell of rotten bugs.

    There were still not many pedestrians on the streets, and those who could take time off had already done so to head home. People who had to go out were wearing masks, hats, boots, and trousers. It was summer right now, but they were wrapped up like dumplings.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun cleaned up the store. After a while, they went back to school. They¡¯d used to take the puppies to the greenspace. Now even this step could be temporarily skipped for a while.

    The store was quiet.

    Lu Yiyun yed some soft music in the pet shop. In the aquarium, Jiang Feifei eagerly browsed the recruitment sites, modified her resume, and chatted with her ssmates, who were also looking for stable employment.

    Uncle Li sent in the roast chicken breasts that were meant for the elfins. Hearing that Zhang Zian had brought them out with him, he also felt that it was not normal at all. Before, when this had happened, Zhang Zian had always informed him in advance. This was so that he would not have to send in food on that day.

    The elfins on the second flood who needed to eat smelled the scent of the roast chicken breasts, and they were hungry.

    Snowy Li slid into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator door, pulled out a piece of frozen raw beef, took a bite, and almost broke its teeth.

    ¡°Hey! Why doesn¡¯t this stinky man know how to unfreeze this raw beef in advance?¡± Snowy Li shed tears and noticed that one of the functions of the microwave oven was ¡°thaw.¡± However, the microwave oven was in a special cab. The space could only hold the microwave oven and nothing more. Snowy Li could not jump onto it. Even if Fina followed suit, she would not be able to stand on it either. She would fall off immediately.

    In the bathroom, Sihwa¡¯s mobile phone battery was low¡ªlow enough to rm. However, the other elfins didn¡¯t know where the charger was.

    Zhang Zian had merely slept for a few more hours, and the elfins¡¯ lives were already in chaos.

    They¡¯d used to live lives in which food appeared whenever they want it. They had never thought that one day he would ¡°strike¡± in this form.

    Although they didn¡¯t want to admit it, they knew how to cherish many things only when they were lost.

 Chapter 1365: Natural Talent

    <h4>Chapter 1365: Natural Talent</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian opened his eyes. The light was dim. He saw a familiar bedroom ceiling.

    It was very quiet around him, and there was nothing, sound or light, that could have woken him up. He didn¡¯t know how he¡¯d woken up. It was as if he¡¯d known it was time to wake up naturally. He felt no sense of sleepiness.

    Was it the biological clock formed by his work?

    He thought a little while lying in bed. Although he worked hard and often worked in the 996 system, at least he got to work at 9:00 in the morning. It didn¡¯t seem like he needed to be up so early. In addition, he could disrupt the excessively regr work hours on Sundays. The natural wake situation he was experiencing now seemed to be the inertia of the biological clock that would be put to work when he got used to waking up at a fixed time every day.

    Of course, maybe it wasn¡¯t soplicated at all. It might have been that he¡¯d gone to bed earlyst night, so he had woken up early today.

    The door next to his room opened, and quiet footsteps came from the hallway. It seemed that his parents had also gotten up at this time.

    What a coincidence.

    Anyway, he was not feeling sleepy, so he also turned around and got up. He put on some clothes, went to the bathroom, and washed his face.

    In the middle of the night, he¡¯d stumbled to the toilet, but his eyelids had been too heavy. He should have gone straight from the bedroom to the bathroom. However, when he came back, he found that he had taken a few small bends, as if he were instinctively avoiding some obstacles. However, everything seemed to be clear and empty here...

    As he wiped his face, he looked at the reflection in the mirror and noticed the bathtub, in which there was debris stacked.

    He did not really enjoy what he saw, and this feeling lingered in his heart. However, it was not as strong as what he¡¯d felt the day before. He seemed to have slowly but surely gotten used to this slightly-empty room.

    People¡¯s ability to adapt was so scary.

    In a few days, this feeling of his may disappearpletely, and even the existence of it may bepletely forgotten.

    There was nothing wrong with this. Anyway, the root cause of this feeling could not be found.

    He opened the door and happened to bump into his mother, who was busy in the kitchen.

    ¡°Howe you didn¡¯t sleep more?¡± his mother asked in surprise.

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t sleep, so I got up.¡± He smiled and rolled up his sleeves. ¡°Is there anything I can help you with?¡±

    ¡°No, you go back and lie down. It¡¯s too early!¡± his mother eximed, squinting at him.

    ¡°Then I will go downstairs and see if Dad has anything for me to do.¡±

    He ran down the stairs with a smile, only to hear his mother nagging in the kitchen: ¡°Really, this child...¡±

    His father had opened the shutter door, and he stood outside the door and greeted the neighbors who passed by him. When he turned around, he found that Zhang Zian had already picked up a ?British shorthair cat that a customer had sent in for a bath yesterday. He intended to take it into the pet bathroom for a bath.

    ¡°Put it down! Put it down! Don¡¯t do it! That cat is amazing! It will go crazy when you try to give it a bath!¡± His father rushed over and took the ?British shorthair cat from his arms.

    ¡°Then I will help you do something else.¡±

    When his father took the cat back to the cage, he picked up the small bag with professional tools in it and helped the Garfield kitten clean its tears.

    ¡°Don¡¯t¡ªyou don¡¯t know how to do that. Don¡¯t fool around...¡±

    After his father said the first half of what he wanted to say, he swallowed thetter half, because Zhang Zian¡¯s movements suggested a sense of familiarity with this work. It was as smooth as a stream of moving water. It often took two people toplete the work of cleaning up the tears, but he was nowpleting it alone.

    ¡°You... Are you raising cats outside?¡±

    ¡°No. How could I have time...?¡±

    No wonder his father was suspicious. Even Zhang Zian himself was surprised. He didn¡¯t remember that he had cleaned up the cat¡¯s tears before. However, with the tools in hand and the Garfield cat here, his muscle memory reacted on its own. It was as if he did not need to involve his brain to remember how to do it.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t take much time to raise a cat.¡±

    His father shook his head in disapproval. He still thought that he had a cat, and that he might have a Garfield cat. Otherwise, he could not exin this unusual skill.

    ¡°I really am not raising one. Maybe... I have talent?¡± Heughed.

    Although it didn¡¯t take much time to raise a cat, his work, which often required overtime, made him very tired when he reached home at the end of the day. He would have no further energy to look after a cat.

    His father snorted. ¡°Where would you get such talent? What nonsense!¡±

    Zhang Zianughed a little and changed the subject.

    ¡°Aunties, uncles, good morning...¡±

    A small girl was jumping around outside the door. With a pair of asymmetric ponytails on her head, she looked like a lively elementary-school girl.

    She rushed into the store but found that besides the auntie and uncle shemonly saw in this shop, there was another young man she did not know. Suddenly, she softened her greetings and stopped at the door of the store. It seemed like she wanted to retreat back outside.

    Zhang Zian saw that the little girl was familiar, but when he thought about it, he didn¡¯t remember anything. He turned around and asked quietly, ¡°Who is the child?¡±

    ¡°Oh, she lives nearby. She likes the hamsters and lop-eared rabbits in the store, but her family won¡¯t seem to let her raise one. So she wille over when she has free time to look at them.¡±

    His father¡¯s lips moved quickly as he quickly exined the situation. He then said, ¡°Little Celery, don¡¯t go. Come in and see the animals. Don¡¯t be afraid. This is my son¡ªisn¡¯t it the holidays right now? He just came back from the big city yesterday.¡±

    Zhang Zian chuckled a little. Little Celery. Was that her real name or a nickname?

    Little Celery bowed cautiously. ¡°Good morning, Uncle. Good morning, big brother... I...I was merely passing by...¡±

    Zhang Zian also waved and said, ¡°Hello, Little Celery. If you want to see the animals, juste in and see them. It¡¯s okay.¡±

    Little Celery peeked at Zhang Zian, and his father saw that both of them were cleaning up the store. She knew that she hade in too early today. Even though she would like to visit her hamsters and lop-eared friends, in order to avoid disturbing them while they worked, she still cautiously waved her hand. ¡°No, no. I will disturb you if Ie in... I wille again tomorrow...¡±

    Zhang Zian handed a rag to her and said. ¡°Then...do you want toe in and help me? After cleaning, you can stay and see the animals for however long you want. Besides, you don¡¯t have to go to school today, do you?¡±

    His father felt something is wrong. How could he ask someone else¡¯s child to help in his store?

    Little Celery was also stunned, but then her eyes lit up. ¡°Really? I can see them for however long I want?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, because you have contributed to the shop,¡± Zhang Zian said seriously, telling her through his eyes that he wasn¡¯t kidding.

    ¡°Then I will help you!¡±

    Little Celery happily took the rag, went to the pet bath and soaked the rag, then ran out to wipe the checkout table, the door, and the ss window.

    As she was short, she couldn¡¯t reach the higher parts. However, wherever she could reach, she wiped it down. She put in more effort cleaning here than cleaning in her school.

    ¡°That¡¯s very good. Do you always help your mother at home?¡± Zhang Zian talked with her while cleaning.

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Little Celery nodded hard. She felt that this strange big brother was very gentle and did not behave like an adult. Although the auntie and uncle in the pet shop were nice people, they did not like to talk very much. They also did not speak to children like equals.

    She quickly dismissed the wariness she had of him and talked relentlessly.

 Chapter 1366: Be Calm When Meeting Someone Alike

    <h4>Chapter 1366: Be Calm When Meeting Someone Alike</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Although Little Celery was supposed to be good to have added help, three pairs of hands were always faster than two. When his mother finished making breakfast and went downstairs to help, she found that there was nothing left to do.

    ¡°Little Celery, did you have breakfast? Wash your hands and have breakfast with us.¡± His mother smiled and invited her.

    ¡°Good morning, Auntie! No worries. I have had breakfast already!¡± Little Celery responded politely, ran to the pet bath, and washed her hands. She ran to see her hamsters and lop-eared rabbit friends and felt very much at ease today. She did not have to feel afraid that she would be affecting the business of the pet shop with her presence.

    Zhang Zian and his father also packed up their cleaning tools, washed their hands, got their steamed buns and homemade soy milk, and started eating their breakfast.

    ¡°Child, you already work outside till you are exhausted. It is rare that you get a few days to rest. Why can¡¯t you just do nothing?¡± his mother nagged as she ate.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Anyway, I am awake. In any case, the both of you don¡¯t even have a rest day, do you?¡± Zhang Zian gulped down his soy milk and stuffed his mouth with the buns. He called out to Little Celery, ¡°Little Celery, would you like a cup of soy milk since you had breakfast already?¡±

    ¡°No! I am not thirsty!¡± Little Celery responded. ¡°Thank you, big brother!¡±

    The mother shook her head. ¡°We are different. We are used to it. Do you want to go back to sleep after you have finished eating? It is still early.¡±

    ¡°No! No! I am not sleepy. I can¡¯t sleep,¡± Zhang Zian muttered as he downed two sses of soy milk.

    His father gave a look to his mother, meaning, ¡°It must be that although this kid appears rather unwilling, because the girl on the blind date is pretty, he is looking forward to it!¡±

    His mother also grinned andughed a little. If this was a sess, it would be great. Perhaps she would see a grandson around this time next year...

    Zhang Zian pretended not to see them exchanging nces with each other.

    Little Celery stared at the hamsters and lop-eared rabbits and was sometimes attracted by the family¡¯sughter. Ever since she¡¯d met uncle and auntie, she had never seen them so happy. This was such a happy family.

    She had seen enough of the animals today. Not only had she looked at them with her eyes, she had also gotten to feed the hamsters and lop-eared rabbits by herself. She stayed in the store for almost an hour before she left, beaming with satisfaction.

    The appointment with the girl was set for ten o¡¯clock. However, just after eight o¡¯clock, his parents urged him to set off quickly. They said that today, the roads were not easy to travel on and it would be easy to get stuck along the way. Besides, he had a mountain to climb, so he should seek to arrive earlier. He should not keep the girl waiting.

    However, just as he took a step out of the store, he was pulled back by his mother. Shebed his hair and patted his shoulders, satisfied, before letting him go.

    He nced at the pig bristleb in his mother¡¯s hand that they used on short-haired cats. He was left rather speechless.

    After leaving the house, he took the bus.

    The traffic on 11th was indeed somewhat slow-moving. However, most of the vehicles were heading for the train station and the airport, and there were not many driving to the suburbs.

    He sat in a seat near the window, and his sights slowly but surely fell on the scenery and pedestrians outside the window as the bus traveled.

    When a person was alone, the sense of something missing was once again felt. It made him somewhat annoyed. Had this blind date not been set up by Auntie Liu, he might have wanted to head outside alone, go to a cinema, and watch a movie. After that, he would go home, lie that the blind date failed, and im the other party did not fancy him. Then, with that, his job would be done...

    However, Auntie Liu was a headstrong woman. Once she found out that he¡¯d deliberately stood the girl up, she would definitely harass him to no end. She would appear at his door and ask him to plead guilty in front of his parents. If that happened, he would have disgraced his parents. He had better honestly and purposefully go on the date.

    About half an hour or soter, the outline of Mt. Hidden Fog appeared before them.

    It was not a very high mountain, but the top of the mountain was always hazy, hence the name.

    The bus stopped at the foot of the mountain. This was the terminal stop. It would turn around here.

    Zhang Zian looked up at the top of the mountain and sighed. He really hadn¡¯t expected to be climbing the mountain on his first day of being home.

    However, there was no other way to do this. Since he had to, he might as well see it as a form of exercise. As he climbed the mountain, there were many grandfathers and grandmothers in training clothes climbing with him as well. Obviously, mountain climbing was a daily pastime for some.

    The mountain road was made up of countless steps. It seemed never-ending.

    Zhang Zian took a break for a while, as his body, which sat in the office often, could not keep up with this physical activity. From time to time, he had to give way to aunties and uncles behind him who had caught up. Theyughed hard, smiled and cheered him on with, ¡°Little chap, keep it up!¡± He was a little embarrassed.

    As for this girl, whom he had never met, was she a sportswoman? Otherwise, why choose the top of the mountain as the meeting ce? He had never heard of any young men and women in Binhai City who¡¯d chosen this to be their first meeting ce...

    Could it be...a test?

    He had heard that some girls nowadays liked to have some strange methods to test boys. Some tested for the physical strength, perseverance, or sincerity of the boy... He hoped that he would not meet such a girl on this date. He would not be able to take it. After all, his work sapped a huge portion of his energy already.

    So he proceeded, stopping once in a while to catch his breath. In his mind, he was thinking of all sorts of random things. Suddenly, the road ahead turned back. He saw that the stone steps came to an end. He¡¯d finally reached the top of the mountain.

    The top of the mountain was foggy, and an elegantly designed and upscale restaurant loomed in the fog. It eclipsed the other buildings, such as the canteen, on the top of the mountain.

    ¡°Teahouse in Hidden Fog...¡±

    He muttered the name on the que.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t climbed this mountain for a few years. Someone actually built a tea house here... Can it make a profit?¡± he muttered.

    The aunties and uncles he¡¯d met along the way were all holding their own bottles. They would definitely not enter the teahouse. After they reached the top of the mountain, they would chat with the people they know and then go back down. There were also some old men who were addicted to ying Chinese chess, and so they¡¯d brought up a set, set it up, and yed a few games with their old friends.

    He looked at the time. It was not yet ten o¡¯clock.

    He would wait for a while.

    He hoped that the girl would not be toote.

    After ten minutes, the sweat on his body evaporated, and when his body temperature slowly dropped, a short-haired girl with a porcin face and fair skin suddenly appeared on the mountain road.

    She wore a bright red jacket and hiking shoes. She carried a backpack with a bottle of mineral water on the side. There was something about her and how she carried herself that told people she was not a courier delivering things.

    Was she the one?

    Zhang Zian looked behind her, but no one else followed her. She seemed to be alone.

    He would be a little thick-skinned and go forward to ask her.

    He was about to step forward and ask, but then he noticed that she was holding up her mobile phone and smiling at it. ¡°Everyone... I, Little Snow, did not let everyone down! I have finally climbed to the top of the mountain... Ah, so tired!¡±

    She leaned back against arge stone. Although she was a girl, her physical strength was better than that of Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Wow! Is this the Teahouse in Hidden Fog? It looks very good! What do you guys think?¡±

    She asked this question to the phone. Her attention was on the teahouse itself, and she did not look at Zhang Zian.

    It seemed that it was not her.

 Chapter 1367: The Charming Girl Arrives [Chinese Poetry]

    <h4>Chapter 1367: The Charming Girl Arrives [Chinese Poetry]</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian thought that this girl who had juste to the top of the mountain was somewhat familiar. However, he thought about it but could not think of anyone.

    By observing her face while she talks to her phone, no one else seems to be replying to her. It seems to be some live broadcast or video, it is very popr now, so she is probably some slightly popr host online. He might have asionally seen her content when he uses his phone on and to work.

    She imed to be Little Snow in front of her mobile audience, so that should be her nickname online.

    Several elderly people at the top of the mountain also noticed her. Although she did not say anything, her speech broke the silence of the top of the mountain. Therefore, on their faces, they showed different degrees of dislike, disdain, and rejection of something new.

    She also seemed to have felt the unfriendly atmosphere but tried to focus on the screen of her mobile phone. She only squatted at the door for a while, showing the audience the appearance of the foggy sky and the sea and the Teahouse In Hidden Fog. With that, she then entered the tea house.

    Zhang Zian continued to wait outside.

    The online viewers may not be able to see clearly, but as a bystander, he can see that she is still a little nervous and not rxed enough in front of the camera. This was to be expected. After all, there is something about every job that isn¡¯t easy.

    It¡¯s about to be ten o¡¯clock soon.

    He began to seriously consider the possibility of the other person not turning up, although he is quite looking forward to that happening, what might then be a good time for him to leave?

    The fog makes his clothes wet. His skin and hair are also wet, and he did not feel veryfortable, although the air is really fresh.

    He will wait until 10:30. If the other party does not turn up, he will leave. At least he will have something to tell Auntie Liu and his parents. It clearly isn¡¯t his fault if that happens.

    After making up his mind, he felt more at ease.

    Standing in the cold at the same spot, he decided to pace back and forth in a small area and asionally watched the old men ying chess.

    At this time, his cell phone rang. He took it and saw that it was ten o¡¯clock. It was a message sent by the other party.

    He thought it was ¨C ¡°Something cropped up, I can¡¯te, I will see you next time,¡± but it is actually ¨C ¡°I am here.¡±

    Arrived?

    He turned his head to look at the mountain road.

    In the haze, a woman¡¯s silhouette gradually emerges, from being vague to increasingly clearer. She walks out of the fog with a step that is not deliberate but graceful.

    Not only Zhang Zian but also the other people who noticed her on the top of the mountain all looked at her.

    ¡°Checkmate...¡± A grandfather half-opened his mouth and randomly ced a chess piece that he picked up.

    ¡°To hell with your checkmate! Your horse hasn¡¯t crossed the river yet!¡± Another old man who yed against him was annoyed and immediately threw the chess pieces back.

    It¡¯s not that they haven¡¯t seen a woman, but the appearance of this girl is really amazing.

    If the female host from earlier brightened up everyone, then this girl¡¯s looks mirrors that of top movie stars who do their makeup for three hours.

    Not only does she stand out, but it is even more surprising that she is wearing a traditional Chinese dress with a long-sleeved shirt and a long skirt.

    Nowadays, they can asionally see a girl in a Chinese costume posing for a photo or shopping on the streets. However, what is such a girl dressed in this manner climbing a mountain?

    The important thing is that she is not wearing a simple Han Chinese costume that is easily bought from the streets. It is the moreplicated, more gorgeous, and more formal-looking dress. She looks like she is wearing the dress of either a queen or a princess from the movies. The band around her waist and the jade across her entire body, the ck and smooth hair that flowed freely in the wind, all held together with a single hairpiece...

    She looks like she came out of a Chinese drama film about a past Chinese dynasty. If there is music that can apany her arrival, one will definitely feel like they are watching a drama.

    Common Chinese traditional outfits are rather basic, and even if there are bright colors such as red or yellow on it, the designs will not be tooplicated, under normal circumstances, it will not be tooplicated. For example, red and bright yellow colors will not appear at the same spot, because it requires a very slim figure and beautiful face to pull off the look. This is because the colors are very vibrant and can easily overshadow the person wearing it. If anymondy wears it, she will probably look like a vige maid.

    But this girl¡¯s dress is extremely colorful, including ck, white, red, bright yellow, dark green, dark blue, pale purple, and many other colors. It is like pulling the rainbow from the sky and putting it on the body... it is truly marvelous. Yes, the ingeniousbination of colors, lines, and styles have produced a magical effect on her. It is not as loose as the usual traditional dresses but is instead a tight fit for her body. It was like her second skin, at least for her torso.

    As she walked and swayed the wide sleeves, the mist that flowed around her slowly made her look like some...angel that had just emerged on earth.

    Next to the background of a group of old men wearing translucent white exercise clothes and Zhang Zian in a casual outfit, the girl is like a phoenix flying into a chicken coop.

    The old men ying chess stopped, held their hands together, and whispered in a low voice ¨C Are they going to make a movie here today? Which big star is this? Can we make extra money as an extra actor? They seemed to have forgotten the disdain shown to the female online host from earlier.

    Zhang Zian also looked at her till his jaw dropped. However, it wasn¡¯t so much as he was shocked. He was more puzzled. Wearing such a dress, how did she go up the mountain?

    Although the long skirt does not cover her shoes, she wears a full set of what makes a traditional Chinese costume. Her shoes match the outfit and are not sports shoes or hiking shoes.

    As a man, he got tired and panted hard when he climbed to the top of this mountain. Although this has a lot to do with his usual neglect of exercise, this girl is wearing a Chinese dress that is not suitable for hiking but appears so calm and cool as she emerges. How did she do it, to be able to stroll like that...

    Unless... Is she a professional mountaineer?

    Or perhaps he is truly an embarrassment?

    She also appeared to be alone. It seems that she did not have other people behind her. However, Zhang Zian knew what he has to do and went forward, taking the initiative to talk. This is because the girl is not only beautiful but also the dress is worth a lot of money. The number of guys around her who will want to date her will probably berge enough to form a dog brigade. She does not need to go for blind dates at all.

    However, what he could not have expected was, she casually nced around at the mountain top, ignored the white-haired or bald old men, and decided to look at the only young male around. That was Zhang Zian. Then, she took small little steps and slowly moved towards him.

    Up close, she is a very natural melon face, pearly white teeth, thick and neat eyebrows, those really big round eyes with clear demarcation of ck and white. She looks very goddess-like.

    ¡°Is it Zhang Zian? Sorry, you must have been waiting for a long time. The mountain road is rugged, and I am a littlete.¡± She slightly parted her lips and said with a gracious look.

    Zhang Zian instantly created stunned.jpg the picture. Her performance so fixated him that he even forgot to talk.

    ¡°Oh, yes, I forgot to introduce myself. my name is Zhuang Xiaodie.¡± She smiled.

    It may be that she is too bright and animated, or perhaps it is difficult to breathe with her so close. Shepletely bedazzled Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes with 24k Titanium. He did not even hear what she said, and he only had one thought left in his mind ¨C This is simply unbelievable.

 Chapter 1368: Ravishing Beauty

    <h4>Chapter 1368: Ravishing Beauty</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian had been stunned for almost ten seconds. It took a while before his brain that seemed to be stoned was finally able to react to the situation.

    ¡°Ah... what¡¯s that... I am Zhang Zian.¡±

    He is incoherent, and this is normal ¨C her appearance, her dress, her calmposure... She was like thedy who stayed on the moon decided toe down to earth andnd on the top of Mt. Hidden Fog. The most important thing is that she ims to be his blind date. Waves after waves of astonishment kept on hitting him hard.

    ¡°I amte. I am really sorry to make youte.¡± She apologized once again.

    ¡°No, no. I didn¡¯t wait long. Besides, you weren¡¯tte.¡±

    This is not him trying to be polite. Although he didn¡¯t bother to take out his mobile phone to see the time, he had an estimation in his heart. Even if she waste, she would at most bete for a minute or two. This is not a city with convenient transport. A date on a mountain that requires some climbing; being a few minuteste does not count aste.

    ¡°Well, the fog is big here, let¡¯s go in and have a cup of tea and talk.¡± She raised her finger and pointed at the tea house. ¡°I heard that the tea in this tea house is good. I have long wanted to taste it first, but it is rather boring and lonely for one person to enjoy tea. Come, let¡¯s just take the opportunity of this date to try their tea and see if it is as good as it is rumored to be.¡±

    Zhang Zian wanted to cry out his difficulty and share that he knows nothing about tea appreciation. Even if he had the best tea in his mouth, it is tantamount to wasting it. He foresees that he will be unable to sustain a conversation with herter. Should he, whilst she is not paying attention, ask to go to the washroom and do a Baidu search online?

    She has already moved towards the tea shop. He can¡¯t just stand here and so rather reluctantly followed her.

    The old man who pats his shoulder earlier on the way up, encouraging him to keep walking, now once again brushed against his shoulder and whispered, ¡°Young people are so full of potential! So envious¡±

    They don¡¯t know his rtionship with the girl, but since a single man and a singledy is at a tea house on the 11th, it must mean that they have a somewhat unique rtionship together. Though they im to be envious in a light-hearted manner, they really do indeed feel envious of the two. Although it is not so much for themselves but for their children and grandchildren, they were, by now, old people who have seen it all. They can tell, from the demeanor of Zhang Zian and the girl that they are not yet familiar with each other.

    A few old men have secretly made up their minds. Tomorrow...No, throughout the Golden Week, they have to bring their own single sons and grandsons to climb the mountain!

    Zhang Zian is unaware that a group of young men are about to say goodbye to their afternoon naps because of him. He had a lot of thoughts running through his mind as he followed Zhuang Xiaodie into the tea house.

    There are only six tables and chairs in the tea house. The female host who came in earlier took up a table, and the other five tables were empty.

    It may be that the dehumidifier is concealed when the decoration ispleted. The indoor air humidity is nice andfortable. It was not as humid as outside.

    The interior of the tea house is fresh and elegant, and the tables and chairs are separated by ssh screens to provide privacy. There were a few windows, albeit kept to the minimum. The entire interior decoration is that of a ssic Chinese teahouse set in the olden days. If one is to nip pick, the shop merelycks a ssical beauty to serve the tea.

    Today, the only shoring is made up for.

    When Zhuang Xiaodie stepped into the tea house, the whole room seemed to be illuminated by her ¨C it was not an illusion or an exaggeration, but her clothes seemed to be a brocade texture, and it was suddenly illuminated by the light in the room.

    The shopkeeper and her tea servers are both females. When they saw her, their degree of shock was not any lesser than when Zhang Zian first met her. Little Snow has not yet sat down as well and was busy shooting the interior decoration details for her audience. Only now did she notice everyone¡¯s expressions, and she too was equally stunned.

    If Zhuang Xiaodie was wearing ordinary clothes, then even though she is pretty, the impression she creates on people will not be as strong. The point is that her clothes are simply stunning, and it looked perfect on her. Both her beauty and the fitting dress creates a duobination of perfection.

    The audience in the live broadcast room was even more shocked and hurriedly ask Little Snow to take a closer shot. This level of beauty is not something that can be easily encountered.

    Zhuang Xiaodie seems to have not noticed their gaze. She randomly chose a table and asked Zhang Zian. ¡°How about sitting here?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s fine.¡± Zhang Zian nodded, hesitating about whether to pull out a chair for her to sit down like how a Western gentleman does. However, this is Western etiquette, if as a Chinese, he copies such a move, given that this is the first time they meet, might it seem like he is trying too hard? In other words, is he licking her boots so early on in the game?

    However, as he hesitated, she had already readily settled down herself. It saves him from having to make a decision on what to do.

    She even had the perfect posture when she was seated. It was as if she was grown up following Chinese ssical etiquette since she was a child. In addition, every move is natural and not deliberate.

    The female shopkeeper pushed her waitress a little, and this helped her to snap out of her thoughts. She quickly took the menu over and stared at her without blinking. She asked.¡±Miss, You are so beautiful... Which store did you buy your clothes from?¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°...¡±

    ¡°Cough!¡±

    The female shopkeeper coughed a little and red at her waitress. She meant: Is it your business to ask about where people buy their clothes? I meant for you to ask them to order tea and to serve them!

    The waitress was also very embarrassed, and hurriedly gave a smile and handed over the menu. She said. ¡°Ah! Sorry! Because your clothes are really amazing, so I got curious and about it... then let¡¯s proceed. What do you want to order?¡±

    Zhuang Xiaodie smiled slightly, turned her body slightly, and offered the menu to Zhang Zian. ¡°Please help me to order. As for my clothes, I didn¡¯t buy it. I made it myself. Does it look good on me?¡±

    ¡°Did it yourself? Wow, Wow, Wow, Wow! That is simply amazing!¡± The waiter was so impressed that she started been incoherent to the level of stuttering.

    Zhang Zian is also very surprised. If this dress is done by herself, it must be extremely difficult and time-consuming. If it is true, this exins her ingenuity, and also shows that she has a lot of time.

    The menu was given to him. He wanted to let her choose, but she had already discussed the style and how her dress was made with the waiter. Although he does not understand how to make such a traditional dress, judging from the expression of the waitress, she seems to be an expert on this subject matter.

    No choice. He opened the menu and nned to browse through it first.

    At first, he didn¡¯t think much when he had looked at it. When he opened the menu, his eyeballs almost popped out!

    The cheapest jasmine tea and rose tea are 388 dors a pot!

    The cheapest refreshment is 588 dors per serving!

    As for the other teas and refreshments, they are easily in the thousand dors range!

    He stared at the price tag and looked at it several times, wondering if he had missed the decimal point.

    However, the so-called decimal point does not exist at all.

    Zhang Zian slowly raised his head and stared at Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s side face and re-examined her.

    Some of the hot, excited moods that he had earlier had now slowly but surely turned cold. He had new spection on what her identity is. Might she be a gold digger?

    She deliberately set the meeting ce to be here. She must definitely be taking the opportunity to make me spend a lot of money!

 Chapter 1369: What a Waste to Cheat Others

    <h4>Chapter 1369: What a Waste to Cheat Others</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian stared at this expensive menu, and the more he thought, the more suspicious he was.

    How is this tea house that is built on the mountains and not in the busymercial areas in the city sustaining itself?

    Why did she choose to meet here?

    How can she wear such a gorgeous andplicated traditional dress and climb up the mountain?

    What is a girl of her caliber doing at a blind date?

    There is only one possibility ¨C Zhuang Xiaodie must be friends with the female manager already. She wore this dress in advance, hide somewhere on the top of the mountain, chooses the opportunity to show up, and then takes the man to drink tea on the pretext of a blind date. She makes him spend the money, and after that, she makes the excuse that they are notpatible and looks for another man. She will continue with this system with every man she meets. The tea house profits from the money the man spent here, and there will always be a silly man bedazzled by her beauty who will spend the money.

    This makes more sense and is a more logical exnation than that of an angel falling from the sky.

    I am really such a smart person!

    After he figured it out, faced with Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s restraint and demure form, he threw that all aside and even felt a little disdained by her actions. He stared at her interaction with the waitress andughed in his hear ¨C fake, continue faking it! I shall see how long you will fake it till!

    There are two choices in front of him. One is to get up and leave immediately, but what excuse can he give? Urgent and need to pee? What if the toilet in this restaurant is inside and there is only one exit? The second is to continue to stay and y along, and then react ordingly to what happens.

    Thinking about it for a while, he decided to choose the second choice. This is because he nced around and saw that the online host who imed to be Little Snow had already taken a seat. She chose to sit at a table that has a good view of them and is not blocked by the screen. She kept staring at Zhuang Xiaodie and looked up and down. It seemed that she was attracted by her and nned to stay here for tea.

    Although this is not something that involves Zhang Zian, he can¡¯t bear to watch others be taken advantage of. He has to find a way to stop it.

    He set the menu up to block Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s line of sight and desperately turned his eyes to Little Snow, which meant for her to leave quickly. At least, what she should do is to take a look at the menu at least first. If she ordered the tea and then found out, she could not afford to pay, that will be counted as having a free lunch...s, she was not paying attention at all.

    Are girls all like that? Once there are beautiful clothes, they can seem to function and do other things?

    He was wondering what other methods he should use to remind her when suddenly he felt a line of sight looking at him through the menu ¨C yes, it is through the menu. The feeling is very strange.

    He quicklyid down the menu and saw that the dialogue between Zhuang Xiaodie and the waitress hade to an end, and they were staring at him.

    ¡°Sir, are you done looking at the menu? Are you nning to order?¡± asked the waitress.

    ¡°Oh... I haven¡¯t decided yet...¡± He ns on using dying tactics.

    Zhuang Xiaodie interrupted and said, ¡°What are your signature teas and snacks? What will you rmend?¡±

    The waitress immediately replied, ¡°I rmend the superior Tieguanyin tea set meal and the superior Longjing tea set meal. The snacks are made by us, very delicious!¡±

    ¡°Okay. Then I will order the Longjing tea set meal,¡± Zhuang Xiaodie decided quickly.

    ¡°Okay! A set of the superior Longjing tea set meal!¡± The waitress turned back to the store manager and said.

    ¡°I want a superiorTieguanyin tea set meal.¡± Little Snow raised her hand.

    Hey! Hello, look at the menu first!

    Zhang Zian is anxious for her! This is really...if you really seek death, I can¡¯t stop you!

    ¡°Are you ufortable? You don¡¯t look so good,¡± Zhuang Xiaodie stared at him and said.

    ¡°No, no, not ufortable...¡±

    In fact, it was the opposite. After reading this menu, he was ufortable everywhere.

    ¡°Look at the sir¡¯s face. You don¡¯t look too good. Do you work overtime often? Your face is not good, must be working overtime often? We have the Wolfberry Poria tea. It is especially good for health!¡± The waitress strongly rmended the tea.

    Health tea? This tea sounds so expensive that if I drink it, I have to die on the spot!

    He opened his mouth and asked if there was any white water. Although it was a little shameful but is his pride important or his wallet more important?

    ¡°Okay, Let¡¯s have that.¡±

    Before Zhang Zian can refuse, Zhuang Xiaodie decided for him.

    ¡°Ok. Please wait for me to return with your tea.¡±

    The waitress turned back to the counter with a satisfied look.

    Zhang Zian was secretly feeling pained in his heart.

    The main reason is that Auntie Liu is somewhat involved in the entire issue. This restricts his choices. If he directly stood up and walked away, he will be scolded by Auntie Liu when he returns. She will probably say that he was unwilling to spend money to drink tea at a blind date, no wonder he cannot find a date. He will then implicate his parents, who will feel shameful as well.

    Now that he is home, he does not want to add further burdens to his parents.

    At this time, Little Snow smiled and came over from the table next to him. She gently asked: ¡°Hello, miss, I am a host doing a live broadcast. The audience thinks you are beautiful and the clothes you wear are even more beautiful...Do you mind if I take a video of you and screen it in my show?¡±

    If it is any of the other hosts, they will go ahead and capture her without asking. Perhaps they might be thinking; me videoing you is helping you to get famous. However, Little Snow is different and alwaysmunicates with the subject before shooting them. This is to prevent any unnecessary invasion of their privacy by others. Of course, if it is unintentionally photographed, there is no way to handle that. After all, it is a live stream.

    ¡°Yes, of course, you can. Little sister, you are also very beautiful.¡± Zhuang Xiaodie smiled, and perhaps intentionally or unconsciously, she nced at Zhang Zian and gave a natural and appropriate pose.

    Zhang Zian feels that this nce of hers seems to contain the meaning of showing off. However, he does not know what she has to show off; isn¡¯t she merely a gold digger?

    Obviously, she is a beautiful girl. She can do anything she wants in life. Why did she choose to gang up with others to cheat people...

    Little Snow, on the other hand, doesn¡¯t feel like she is showing off. Although she was not ugly, and her fans often politely praised her as a beautiful woman, she is nevertheless very self-aware. This other girl here is of a beauty standard far superior to her. She is inferior when ced next to her.

    She asked Zhuang Xiaodie about the same questions as what the waitress asked; where did the clothese from, and the jewelry that looked very beautiful, where did she buy them from...

    Zhang Zian is feeling somewhat agitated. How can one not ask the most critical question ¨C how much is it?

    Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s answer is still that she makes the clothes and that the jewelry is a family heirloom.

    Little Snow has a good eye for detail. Although her fans still have a lot of questions to ask, with a lot trying to suck up the Zhuang Xiaodie, she nevertheless could tell that the two individuals are here for a date. Excessive use of their time and be a lightbulb does not seem to be a good thing to do. After a few questions, she knowingly went back to her seats and waited for her tea.

    Zhang Zian hoped that she would stay because facing Zhuang Xiaodie directly was a little awkward for him. He doesn¡¯t know what to say.

    Fortunately, Zhuang Xiaodie did not stare at him but watched the female shopkeeper use some traditional techniques to make the tea. Sometimes she nodded slightly with approval. Sometimes her eyebrows unconsciously came together slightly, and she gave a little frown. He doesn¡¯t know if she understood what was going on or if she was pretending.

    As there weren¡¯t many people around, they did not have to wait long ¡ª the three sets of tea and refreshments were soon delivered to the respective tables.

    ¡°Please, slowly enjoy your meal,¡± the waitress said as she set down the tea. Then, she headed back to the counter.

    Zhuang Xiaodie did not follow the order of ¡°Snap, Send, Eat¡± like many modern girls, but instead naturally picked up the teacup.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s hand also reached out for the cup and wanted to drink the tea to make up for the awkwardness.

    When he looked down, he noticed a yellowish-brown cat hair was lying quietly on the table.

 Chapter 1370: I Am Mistaken [Chinese Poem]

    <h4>Chapter 1370: I Am Mistaken [Chinese Poem]</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Before Zhang Zian¡¯s brain gave him instructions on what to do, his hand had shifted from the teacup to the cat¡¯s hair. He picked the cat¡¯s hair up by pinching it, and fixedly watch it.

    Compared with the cat hair that can be found in the pet store, this yellowish cat hair feels dry and seemed to have lost its luster. If he is not mistaken, this should be a hair from an old cat.

    Does this restaurant own cats?

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Ah? What?¡±

    Zhang Zian returned to his senses. It seems that Zhuang Xiaodie has said a lot to him, but he had not spoken a single word. At this time, he can only give a cursory response.

    When the words left his mouth, he knew that he did really bad already.

    To be distracted whilst on a blind is a big nono. It will be difficult for him to defend his own actions. If the girl he is meeting is a temperamental girl that fuses easily, she might have already left. He will have no one to me but himself.

    He is also very annoyed at himself, why is he sopletely attracted by an ordinary strand of cat hair? This is really rude of him.

    At this time, Zhuang Xiaodie also noticed the cat hair in his hand, and suddenly her face changed immediately.

    ¡°Sorry, I...¡±

    At this time, he can only profusely apologize to her. It is useless to find an excuse. Even if he suspects that the other party is a gold digger, he still did wrong on this matter.

    However, Zhuang Xiaodie interrupted his apology and said, ¡°Waitress, pleasee over.¡±

    Her voice changed immediately from being very soft and sweet to one that sounded very strict.

    The waitress and the store manager both heard the anger in her voice, and both ran forward and asked, ¡°How may we assist you...¡±

    ¡°Why do you have animal hair in the tea? How are you doing business like this?¡± Zhuang Xiaodie asked while pointing at the cat hair in Zhang Zian¡¯s hand.

    Her face is frosty, and her voice is so sharp that she transformed from a fairy that descended from the heavens to a strict human empress dowager.

    Zhang Zian was stunned; this script seems to be wrong? If she is a gold digger, she should be on the side of the tea house. Why did she deliberately take the initiative to make such a ruckus? What kind of games is she ying?

    The store manager and the waitress looked at the cat hair in amazement, and he does not know what to make of their expressions.

    Little Snow heard themotion and turned to look. She wondered what all the excitement is about ¨C she didn¡¯t like to watch when people argue, but this time she brought her fans with her to explore the store. Thus, food safety and hygiene is an important part of the review.

    ¡°This is a cat hair, do you have a cat?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Do we have a cat? No! This cat hair has nothing to do with this store...¡± The waitress hurriedly argued, ¡°Is it brought in by you?¡±

    The store manager pulled the waitress, indicating to her not to carry on further. She said sullenly, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it¡¯s our mistake,e, let me change your meal for free.¡±

    ¡°What? Let¡¯s go and check the CCTVs. It must be them...¡± The waitress is still not convinced, and she continued to shot her mouth off. It is obvious that these two customers are deliberately deceitful. She cannot believe that thisdy in such a beautiful traditional customer would employ such underhanded methods.

    Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s facial expression turned colder. If it wasn¡¯t for the store manager using her hand to cover the waitress¡¯s mouth, she might have mmed the table and started a brawl.

    ¡°You all misunderstood me.¡± Seeing that the two sides were ready to quarrel, Zhang Zian had to stand up and mediate. ¡°First of all, this cat hair is not brought by us, and secondly it is not found in the refreshment, but on the table. So, please, everyone. Calm down.¡±

    Now, as things stand, he began to question his previous judgment. This is because it does not seem like acting to him. If this is indeed an act, then these threedies deserve an oscar for their efforts.

    It was not found in the refreshment. This has nothing to do with food safety and hygiene. He tried to exin the misunderstanding to both parties. It is only a small matter and is nothing too serious. With himing forward to exin clearly the issue at hand, it is much better than arguing and asking to view the CCTV.

    The cat hair was found on the side of the table near him. However, he was sure that there was no elderly cat in the pet store, so it would not be brought by him.

    He came forward to mediate, proving that he and Zhuang Xiaodie did note to ckmail deliberately. This made the store manager and the waitress rather embarrassed, and their face had a significant change.

    ¡°There is no cat in this store, but the cat hair on the table is still the mistake of the store. Aspensation, the two tea sets are free from us. Please take it as our apology from us to both of you.¡± The store manager gave a slight bow and took on full responsibility for the matter.

    It makes sense to say that this situation is very interesting. There is no need to do this at all. The cat hair in the food, and it is difficult to prove the source of the cat hair. An ordinary shop will certainly argue that it is not at fault and will not give in so easily.

    ¡°No, since it is not the cat hair in the refreshment, you can take it that I was wrong.¡± Zhuang Xiaodie also moderated her tone in a timely manner, but her face still not looked all that good. She magically pulled out a credit card that has a butterfly print printed on one side and said, ¡°Bill, please.¡±

    ¡°How can this be. Let me do it...¡±

    Zhang Zian doesn¡¯t want to pretend that he wants to pay for the tea, but sometimes he has to do this. He now believes that Zhuang Xiaodie is not a gold digger. Since this is the first time they meet, there is no reason to make the girl pay for the meal.

    Despite him feeling for his own pocket, he was not putting on a show to insist on getting the check. He really did pull out his phone and intended to make payment.

    ¡°No, this location is my choice. By right, it should be me treating you. You can pay for me the next time.¡± Zhuang Xiaodie still held the credit card out with her hand.

    Next time?

    Zhang Zian smiled in his heart, thinking...I couldn¡¯t be hearing the wrong words, can I?

    This time, he hadmitted all the taboos on a blind date. If he could have a second date with her, that would be crazy.

    The store manager did not provide them with a QR code and did not take the credit card. She took a step back and said firmly. ¡°This time, the tea is free of charge, and the two of you don¡¯t have to pay. If you think the store is OK, wee toe again next time.¡±

    After that, she pulled the waitress, who was stillining away, back into the counter.

    If people don¡¯t want to collect the money, there is no way to force them to. Nowadays, people do not bring physical cash out with them, much less thousands of dors. They can¡¯t possibly stuff them the money, can they?

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Zhuang Xiaodie gently wiped her red lips with a napkin. ¡°I really shouldn¡¯t choose here. Even basic hygiene is not done properly. Besides a well-known name, it stands for nothing else.¡±

    She had only eaten a few mouthfuls from her tea set, and Zhang Zian¡¯s refreshments were not touched at all.

    It¡¯s a waste leaving it all behind.

    He wanted to finish up the meal at least because corruption and wastage are the worse crimes. However, she had already got up, and he is too embarrassed to sit on.

    Little Snow whispered to theizens to describe the scene. From her tone, it seems that she is more appreciative of the attitude of the store manager, but she did not think that Zhuang Xiaodie was unreasonable. After all, for such a high-end restaurant, customers are likely to scrutinize the ce more.

    The two of them went out of the teahouse.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go down the mountain together.¡± She swayed her sleeves and pointed to the mountain road.

    ¡°Ok.¡±

    Zhang Zian stepped on the mountain road with her. Just as they were leaving the mountain, he suddenly stopped and looked back at the Teahouse In Hidden Fog.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± she asked.

    ¡°It seems like...something has fallen,¡± he said nkly.

 Chapter 1371: Conversations with a Beauty

    <h4>Chapter 1371: Conversations with a Beauty</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t urately describe this feeling of loss in his heart. He always felt that he had left some form of regrets behind in the teahouse In Hidden Fog.

    Is it because he did not taste the high-end refreshment that ended up being free?

    In fact, he is not a foodie. He does not have any attachment to searching for extraordinarily tasty food. The tea set is good, but it is nothing more than that.

    What is this feeling of loss in this his heart?

    Zhuang Xiaodie noticed that he is hesitant to leave. She stopped and asked, ¡± Did you leave behind your mobile phone?¡±

    He touched his pocket. His phone was still there. He shook his head. ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°If there is nothing, then let¡¯s go,¡± she urged.

    Zhang Zian: ¡°...¡±

    On one side, is a yearning for something that he might have left behind. What it is is impossible to say. On the other side, is a beautiful woman who chose to walk with him down the mountain road, amongst the mist clouds. If anyone was ced in the same situation, might they not choose thetter option?

    Although he knew in his heart that this beautiful woman does not belong to him, even if he had not disgraced himself earlier in the teahouse, he still felt bad to let a girl dressed so beautifully in a traditional customer to head down the mountain alone. What if she identally tripped on her dress and fell? That will be horrible. It is always more difficult to go down the mountain than to go up the mountain.

    ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s go.¡±

    He tried not to think about the feeling of loss he felt and went down the mountain with her.

    The teahouse In Hidden Fog gradually drifted away behind them and was finally hidden in the mist.

    Pedestrians who went up the mountain encountered the two of them on the mountain road, and they would be in awe by her illustrious brilliance. They often stopped in their steps and looked at her with eyes wide open. Others choose to hide away in a corner and admire her. Even the elderly looked at her.

    She, however, paid no attention to the treatment by the people to her. Instead, she said indifferently, ¡°We did not have much time to talk in the tea house. Let us take this opportunity to get to know each other. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Ok.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded and felt that he should at least finish up with the formalities of the blind date.

    ¡°I am a local. The university I attended is not a top-notch university. I am currently working in a startuppany that is based in the city...Oh, yes, my family runs a pet shop along Zhonghua road. I believe Auntie Liu mentioned all these to you?¡±

    He is now calm, because knowing that she and he will unlikely be together, so he opened up and talked freely. It was much like talking to a random stranger on the street.

    ¡°I know all of this, but I want to know more about you ¨C what kind of person are you?¡± she said.

    ¡°Me?¡±

    It¡¯s hard to be fair when judging your own self. One often over or underestimate one¡¯s score. In addition, this question is simply too broad...

    ¡°In my life, the most brilliant achievement I¡¯ve had would be when I won the 2008 China Special Person of the Year Award. Other then that, I have nothing else,¡± he said modestly.

    Zhuang Xiaodie is amazed.

    ¡°Just kidding! I am joking!¡± He was afraid that she believed it was true, that he was some really big shot. He quickly exined, ¡°The special prize of that year was awarded to ¡®all Chinese people,¡¯ since I am Chinese, I got the award. Who knows, perhaps you have one too! It doesn¡¯t count as bragging!¡±

    He didn¡¯t know if she could ept this kind of joke. Could it be a bit too much for a first meeting? However, he ispletely rxed right now. He no longer feels a desire to win or lose here. Therefore, he is able to joke around like he normally does. So what if she looks down on him?

    She was silent for two or three seconds, and suddenly, she smiled.

    This smile was as if ice and snow melted, and a hundred flowers bloomed. It was bright and beautiful.

    Even if Zhang Zian has already rxed, he still saw her smile. He suddenly understands why there is a king who abandons the entire nation and ignores it, all for a single woman. He will even start a war to win a smile from her.

    She onlyughed softly at first, but the more sheughed, the more sheughed. Sheughed so loudly it echoed throughout the mountain.

    Herugh makes Zhang Zianugh as well. Is this joke so funny? Or do she easilyugh at anything?

    ¡°Interesting! Interesting! Very interesting!¡±

    When theughter stopped, she hadughed until her tears almost flowed out.

    ¡°Well, I learned a joke today. So this is not a bad trip,¡± she said.

    Zhang Zian wondered if this statement contained some hidden meaning that he did not understand. However, he will never know.

    Then he simply yed to his own strengths, create bombastic stories and jokes and let the words flow out relentlessly from his mouth. He was entirely letting himself go in front of her. Compared to when he first met her, he was apletely different person.

    She sometimes listened, sometimes smiled, and sometimes thought about the joke and double meaning of his jokes. She often needs him to exin it after the delivery of the joke so that she understands itpletely. This also means that she was not faking herughter.

    As they walked down the mountain road, Zhang Zian is basically performing a stand-upedy, especially for her. He told her some of his past experiences and past events. Of course, most of them are ck humor or self-deprecating jokes. The otherwise boring journey down was made more enjoyable. After all, there is a beautiful person on his side ¨C although she is a beautiful person not meant for him.

    The winding mountain road seems to be much shorter than when going up the mountain.

    While he was still enjoying his small little performance, the foot of the mountain was already in sight.

    Under the mountainside, the fog has disappeared. On one side of the mountain road, there is a mountain valley, and on the other side is a quiet and dense forest.

    Suddenly, the sun is out.

    After a while, like magic, countless butterflies took off from the des of grass, much like a moving fog.

    Zhang Zian closed his mouth and stopped with her to watch this beautiful scene.

    Thinking about it, when there is no sun earlier, these butterflies are covered with heavy dew on their wings. They can only rest on the des of grass as the dews are heavy. When the sun dries their wings, they can collectively p their wings and take off.

    ¡°It¡¯s beautiful!¡± he eximed.

    ¡°Who would say otherwise?¡± She smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s a pity that the flowers don¡¯t open often, and the good times do notst.¡±

    There seems to be something hidden between the lines, but Zhang Zian doesn¡¯t understand. Neither did he bother to think about it much.

    The colorful fog of butterflies silently hovered in the air for a while. Most of them headed back into the forest. However, a small group that is particrly beautiful flew over to her and danced around her. It may be that her gorgeous costume that hasrge flower prints on it, or the fragrance emitted from her body attracted them to her. They evennded on her shoulder.

    She stretched out her palms, and theynded on her palms as well. They flickered their wings one by one.

    He looked at them with astonishment and couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°The butterflies seem to like you very much.¡±

    ¡°Maybe because I like them too.¡±

    She lifted her palms lightly, and the butterflies take off collectively. However, they didn¡¯t fly far, and they follow her or, more precisely, them.

    Zhang Zian is very curious and would like to ask what brand of shower gel she used so that butterflies are so attracted to her. However, this seems like a rather random question, and so he decided not to ask it.

    At the foot of the mountain, a ck limousine that looks very expensive is waiting for her. It seems to have a personal chauffeur. This also confirms his guess ¨C she, or her family, is very rich.

    ¡°How did youe here? Do you want me to send you?¡± she asked.

    ¡°No need. I came by bus. Please go back first.¡± He smiled.

    ¡°OK, bye.¡±

    She did not insist, got into the car, and left.

    Zhang Zian stood alone in front of the bus stop and waited for the bus.

    To his surprise, there are still butterflies lingering around him.

 Chapter 1372: Blessing and Bad Luck

    <h4>Chapter 1372: Blessing and Bad Luck</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When Zhang Zian reached home, his parents had already had lunch because they thought that he and his blind date would have had lunch outside together before heading back. Perhaps they may watch a movie ande back. In short, theter they came back, the better because this means that that had moremon topics to talk about and felt positive about each other...They did not expect him toe back so early.

    This may mean that the blind date did not go smoothly.

    ¡°Have you eaten? Would you like me to cook you a bowl of noodles?¡± His mother observed his expression, but his face was calm, and she could not make out any sense of disappointment, frustration, depression, or other forms of anger.

    ¡°No, I am not hungry. I got up early in the morning, and I want to go upstairs and lie down for a while,¡± he said.

    The afternoon of Golden Week is the golden opportunity for the store to do business. If only the father is left to tend the store on the first floor, it will get really busy, and he cannot manage. Besides, he is indeed not hungry.

    The parents looked at his back as he headed upstairs, then looked at each other with concern. They then shook their heads discreetly and sighed secretly. It seems that the blind date did not proceed smoothly, and they will have to try again.

    Zhang Zian was not very sleepy, but he slept very well. When he woke up, he found that the sun was already heading westward. It seemed he had slept till it was the evening.

    How did he manage to sleep for so long?

    He sat up from his bed, feeling rather puzzled. He had only nned to take a nap for a while, then helped his parents with the store¡¯s business. Although it was likely he would be rejected; he still did not expect to sleep until this time.

    After going downstairs, there was already no longer any guest in the store. What puzzled him was that his parents were not in the store, but instead leaning by the door, looked northwards, whispered something to each other, and sighing from time to time.

    Hearing his footstepsing down the stairs, they turned and looked into the store.

    ¡°I identally slept.¡± He snorted and brushed his hair.

    ¡°No problem. Sleeping more is good. You are always tired from your work, and you should rest more when you go home.¡± His mother asked while feeling sorry for her son. ¡°Hungry? You only had a meal in the morning and should be hungry now.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m still feeling alright, only a little hungry. It¡¯s no problem. I can wait until dinner.¡± He rubbed his stomach and didn¡¯t feel the hunger pangs. ¡°Right, what were y¡¯all looking at by the door?¡±

    If it is in the morning, it may be that the neighbors in the neighborhood are getting married and so his parents join in the look at the proceedings. However, as it is nowte, no such wedding proceedings will be happening.

    ¡°Oh,¡± His mother sighed.

    The father pointed to the street in the north and replied: ¡°It was just that there was a car ident. A little boy was mad at his mother. He walked across the sidewalk and suddenly crossed the road. He was hit by a car...Your mother and I heard a cry and ran out to look. There are already many people around him by then.¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°...Is it a very bad ident?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. The situation does not look very good... Just now, the ambnce came, and the boy is already taken to the hospital.¡± His father¡¯s tone had some reservations. ¡°The driver was also unlucky. At that time, he was so stunned by the whole saga. He was driving normally. Who could have thought that the child would suddenly cross the road? The boy was also running very fast...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s really bad for the golden week holidays...Oh...¡± his mother sighed.

    Zhang Zian also walked to the door of the store. Not far from the north road, a small car was parked in the middle of the road, causing traffic jams. The suspected driver was sitting on the road and was interviewed by the police.

    He walked over there, bend over and pick up a shoe from the side of the road. There was only one of the boy¡¯s shoes.

    ¡°Hey, Young man! Here! Here!¡±

    Someone shouted a few times before he realized that they were calling him. He followed the cries and saw that a couple of middle-aged couples who were about the same age as their parents or were a few years old were selling barbecues by the roadside.

    The auntie, who was responsible for the staff, was also holding a shoe in her hand and waving to him.

    Zhang Zian looked around, confirmed that there were no cars around and ran across the road.

    The shoes in his hand were handed over, and the two were an exact match.

    ¡°I went around searching but could not find it. Fortunately, you found it. This belongs to that child that was hit by the car. When the motheres over, give it to her, or wait until the child is discharged... maybe he can wear it again,¡± the auntie said with a sigh.

    Zhang Zian nodded. He was not feeling too hungry, but now, he smelled the smell of the skewers. His stomach changed tact, and suddenly he was hungry. He said, ¡± I will like a few skewers. Takeaway, please.¡±

    He returned to the pet store with the meat skewers but unexpectedly found that his parents seemed to be preparing to close the store.

    It¡¯s just getting close to the evening, and it¡¯s too early to close for the day.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Why are we closing so early? Is something the matter?¡± he asked and handed the skewer over.

    ¡°No, you can eat it yourself. We may have dinnerte today, just nice, and the skewer can fill you up for a while.¡±His mother put her coat on. ¡°Your father and I are going out, and the pet in the store is almost gone. There are some problems with the breeding base where we brought in some new pets, so we are going to look elsewhere.¡±

    ¡°Oh, then don¡¯t close the store. Let me look after it,¡± he volunteered.

    ¡°No, you don¡¯t know the specific price of each pet. How do you look after the store? Besides, there are no customers now. Go back upstairs and rest,¡± the father replied and drove him upstairs.

    Zhang Zian still insisted. Suddenly, he thought of something and ask. ¡°How are you going there?¡±

    ¡°Drive...¡± Father pointed to a car parked outside the store.

    The car didn¡¯t stop at the door of the pet shop but stopped at the door of another store next door. This is because the owner had borrowed the car to carry things, and it was convenient to stop at the door of his shop. In any case, the two houses were close by. He only needed to return the car keys.

    At this time, Zhang Zian remembered. He heard that his house bought a Golden Cup Bread Van to facilitate the moving of goods. It cost thirty to forty thousand dors and is not restricted to be used by his family. asionally, the neighbors will borrow it. Besides a few individuals with bad moral values, most people will fill it with oil when they are done, and some will even wash the car.

    His parents are very generous to the neighbors and basically will get help if they ask for it.

    It is also because of the frequent borrowing, so the mileage increase on the van is also faster.

    Suddenly, he felt very flustered, and unconsciously put down the skewers as if he was being pulled by something. He went to the store next door and looked at the Golden Cup Bread Van.

    His line of sight swept a few times across the exterior of the van before looking down.

    He knelt down, staring at the right front wheel, then trembling, he reached out to touch it with his hands.

    He doesn¡¯t know why he is doing this, but he just can¡¯t stop himself...

    From what he felt on his finger, the wear and tear of the tires were serious. In addition, due to the high impact of small stones on the wheels when driving, there are a lot of bumps and pit on the tires and its rim.

    The former will cause the emergency braking distance to exceed the vehicle design standard, and thetter problem is even more serious.

    When the car turns, the pressure on both sides of the tire is different. If the sidewall on one side is weak or has a pit, it may cause a sudden puncture during cornering. If the turning speed is fast, the vehicle will certainly rollover. The consequences could be disastrous.

 Chapter 1373: The Only Difference is the Person

    <h4>Chapter 1373: The Only Difference is the Person</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When Zhang Zian squatted on the tires, the parents had already gotten dressed and went out. They urged, ¡°We are leaving. You should hurry and get back to the house.¡±

    ¡°No! This tire has a problem! This tire here; the right front wheel!¡± He stood up in a hurry and hit the tire from the side. He struck it very hard as if trying to dete the tire on the spot.

    ¡°Is there a problem? What is the problem?¡±

    Usually, his father is responsible for driving, so he bent down to look and said, ¡°No problem at all. The car was fine when they drove it earlier.¡±

    ¡°No problem? The tracks on the tires are almost smoothed out. How can it be okay? They are fine driving this before, but if you drive this now...¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s volume suddenly increased. He never yelled at them so loudly before. Yet, at this moment in time, before he had said much to them, he started choking up. In his brain were fragments of memories. Another way of depicting it is that he hit a brick wall in his thoughts, and he cannot continue speaking.

    His parents didn¡¯t know why he was so emotional and were very puzzled. They secretly wondered if it was because the morning blind date was not sessful and so he was in a bad mood.

    ¡°But, this tire has to be changed, and it will notst for a few more days.¡± It may be because of the boy¡¯s ident; his father softened his tone and agreed with his son. ¡°Zhang Zian is right. We cannot be sox with driving. It is fine if there is no ident, but when one happens, it will be a terrible thing. Besides, the auto repair shop is just nearby. Let¡¯s change the tires first, then go look at the pets.¡±

    ¡°If you want to change it, you might as well change all the tires. The others are also near their end.¡± Zhang Zian walked around the car again and saw that the condition of the other tires was not good as well.

    It takes a lot of money to change four tires all at once.

    The mother was somewhat distressed by the money but did not object.

    ¡°Be sure to change it! You must! You can¡¯t promise me now, only to turn around and only do it a few dayster!¡±

    Zhang Zian is not like himself suddenly and continued nagging, much like an old man.

    ¡°I know what I promise you I will do. I will not fool my children.¡± His fatherughed cheerfully. His son behaving like that reminded him of all the interesting things he did when he was younger.

    Zhang Zian is not in the mood to crack a joke. ¡°Be careful when driving on the road. I would rather you slow down and drive slowly, don¡¯t rush. Also, don¡¯t fight with others on the road for space.¡±

    ¡°Haha, I had a driver¡¯s license much earlier than you! Don¡¯t worry!¡±

    Although the father sounded like he didn¡¯t care from his words, the boy¡¯s ident was still fresh in his mind. It gave him enough reminders to watch the road, so he listened carefully to Zhang Zian¡¯s warning.

    Zhang Zian was still restless. Even when his parents drove to the nearby auto repair shop, they were asked to send a location pin to confirm that they were actually changing tires at the auto repair shop.

    That evening, his anxious mood was only relieved when his parents returned safely.

    After his parents came back, they were very happy. They talked veryte and sleptter. They had found a good pet breeding base and will buy pets from the new one in the future.

    The next day...

    Zhang Zian woke up earlier than yesterday. This time he can¡¯t me his biological clock. It is really something in his heart that is bothering him. In addition, yesterday, he slept a lot more in the afternoon as well.

    Even in his sleep, Zhuang Xiaodie, in her traditional Chinese costume walking down the mountain road appeared in his mind.

    This does not mean that he fell in love with her at first sight. It only proves that the visual impact and presence are extremely strong. If it was someone else and not Zhang Zian, be it a man, woman, or child, they will not forget her as well even only after spending a short time with her.

    The experience from yesterday was like a big stone in his calm and ordinary life. It caused a wave of ripples. If it wasn¡¯t for this blind date, he would definitely not be able to make an intersection with a girl of such caliber. This made him very puzzled. How did Auntie Liu, who opened aundry shop, found such ady whose social status far outdid them?

    Dreaming of Zhuang Xiaodie is no problem at all. After all, she is an amazing beauty. However, his dreams were repeatedly interrupted by shes of his parents leaving the pet shop in the Golden Cup Bread Van. He did not know why he was particrly concerned about this van, so much so that he even dreamed about it.

    He sat up and opened pulled back a corner of the curtain, confirming that the Golden Cup van was parked by the door of the store. Hit by the morning light, his heart felt instant relief.

    In the morning, he helped his parents to do more cleaning and business preparation. He was so skillful that they were stunned, as many of his techniques were more scientific and efficient than their old-fashioned techniques. He was asked to teach them.

    Little Celery came to report on time, but Zhang Zian first questioned her some aspects of traffic safety in the form of games. Seeing that she gave good answers and answered fluently, she was allowed to y with the hamsters and rabbits.

    ¡°Zhang Zian, yesterday¡¯s blind date... How did it go?¡±

    During a break between work, his mother sensed that his mood seemed to be very good. Thus, she carefully asked what she wanted to ask yesterday.

    ¡°Not very good. I don¡¯t think we will work out. The other party is also not very suitable.¡±

    He said calmly.

    A blind date is different from an ordinary love rtionship. It is clearly for the purpose of marriage. Therefore,patibility is very important. However, the other party obviously did not seem thatpatible with him. She might even look down on him.

    ¡°Oh...nothing, no hurry. There are always others to introduce to youter.¡± His motherforted me, but still felt sorry and regretful, and perhaps also secretly worried for him ¨C another three months will be another year, and then he would have grown older by a year. What can we do?

    ¡°Right, aren¡¯t the both of you going out today?¡± he asked. With his mother¡¯s positive reply, he was a lot more rxed as well.

    In fact, he wants to stay in the store to help them, but first, they do not let him intervene in the day-to-day operations in the store. Second, they always will have a chance to pull him aside and ask for more details about yesterday. That was not something he particrly looks forward to.

    He understands why his parents don¡¯t let him intervene in their work. This is because they feel that there is no future for running a pet store. It is better to work outside and live an enviable white-cor life, much like in the TV series.

    In fact... This is obviously a misunderstanding. Just as the Korean drama is not the daily life of Koreans, the real Chinese urban white-cor workers are not living it up as in the TV dramas. However, this is difficult to exin to them clearly in a few words.

    ¡°Then, I want to go out for a walk.¡± He put on his coat.

    ¡°Ok... You aren¡¯t really going out for a second date?¡± His mother still did not give up hopepletely.

    ¡°No. I¡¯m really not.¡± He smiled helplessly. ¡°I n to go to the library to borrow some books. Although it is a holiday, I cannot bepletely idle. I should try to upgrade myself to prevent being eliminated by society.¡±

    ¡°Oh, yes, go.¡±

    Parents expressed understanding that they also know that thepetition in big cities is stressful and he should do all he can to upgrade himself.

    ¡°Right, the old library in Binhai City has been closed. If you want to go, go to the new library.¡± Father reminded, and handed the car key to him, ¡°Drive there.¡±

    Zhang Zian just didn¡¯t want to stay at home and get repeatedly asked about the details of the blind date. He simply found an excuse to go out. He didn¡¯t n to drive, but he changed his mind and will drive anyways. By doing so, they would not have the chance to drive, so he nodded and epted the car keys.

    After asking clearly about the location of the new library, he drove away from the pet shop in the Golden Cup Bread van.

 Chapter 1374: What a Coincidence

    <h4>Chapter 1374: What a Coincidence</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The shape of the new library in Binhai is like a horizontal bookshelf. The windowpanes of different sizes are like different books that are opened. The outside has a small fountain square. There is a circle of benches around the square for people to rest on.

    When he saw the new library, Zhang Zian felt familiar. The design was modern, but he seemed to have seen it before. He stopped the car and thought for a while. A library with such a distinctive character should not be easily forgotten if he saw it before. However, he couldn¡¯t remember it.

    He decided not to think further and drove the car into the parking lot. He soon found an empty space to park.

    Entering the library, he first signs up for a library card at the front desk, then walked to the map and observed theyout of the library.

    The basement is a ce for rare and ancient books, and the first floor is mainly a reading room for children and teens. To enter these ces, one needs to have authorized letters or supporting documents. He is old and cannot go to thetter. He also does not look important enough and cannot go to the former as well.

    On the second floor is the Chinese book area while the third floor holds original foreign books and photocopying book services. The fourth floor is the Chinese and foreign journal literature area, and it also provides miniature literature reading. Finally, the fifth floor is the digital reading and exchange area.

    He is here to pass the time today. However, when he is alone and deep in thought, he always feels a sense of uneasiness. So much so that he is unable to sit down and browse through professional books. When there arerge sections of texts, he doesn¡¯t want to read them. He kept on thinking. Perhaps it might be better for him to look at color printed pictures or illustrations, such as travel photography collections or popr science books. Perhaps books such as national geography, scientific history, astronomical space, biological sciences, and others. Even if just to browse through the beautiful pictures, it is still a form of appreciation activity. Doing so might even allow him to acquire knowledge that may prove to be useful in the future.

    So, should he go to the second floor or the third floor?

    The Chinese books on the second floor are much easier for him to read, but the foreignnguage books on the third floor are definitely more beneficial. In terms of time and knowledge gained, foreign books will be much better for him. If he waited for a professional trantor to trante that foreign book into Chinese, then wait for it to be published, by then, the knowledge may have already been outdated.

    He was standing in front of the floor guide and thought about it. He heard someone saying. ¡°Comrades, people are making a ruckus on the fifth floor, can you please handle it?¡±

    Zhang Zian took a nce and saw a 70 to 80-year-old senior standing in front of a desk. He was carrying a cane, his hair was white but was well-groomed and neat. His clothes were old fashioned but washed till they were very clean. His appearance gave off the vibe that he is a righteous person, like the kind of person who likes to study and convey words of wisdom.

    Is someone causing trouble?

    Causing trouble in the library?

    Zhang Zian listened and was stunned. The people whoe to the library are all likely to be cultured individuals. People in society who like to cause trouble are unlikely toe to the library. Who could be causing trouble then? Children?

    The staff at the service desk revealed a difficult look on his face and whispered, ¡°I am sorry, some people have already informed us. After the investigation, it seemed that someone has hacked into our system, but today is the Golden Week holiday, so our technical staff is on leave. Thework inside the museum is restricted and cannot be connected remotely... We are already thinking of a solution. Please wait patiently.¡±

    The old man using a walking stick obviously couldn¡¯t understand the words of restrictedwork ess and remote connection. However, as he saw that the employee¡¯s apology was sincere, he did not me the staff any further and merely shook his head and sigh. He used his walking stick and slowly walked towards the barrier-free elevator.

    Did someone actually hack into the library wirelesswork?

    Is someone really so bored?

    It is estimated that it is some naughty child who had just learned some hacking skills and is eager to practice it out. Thus, he used the library¡¯swork as practice.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t care too much. He decided to go to the foreignnguage library area on the third floor. Apart from the previous considerations, another reason is that there are definitely lesser people on the third floor than on the second floor. Since he wants to read, it will be quieter and better for him.

    He got up to the third floor. Most of the seats are empty, but there are also a lot of people upgrading themselves on the golden week holiday period. From the old, middle age and young children, there are even a few teenagers holding thick foreignnguage books. Witnessing this scene, he cannot help but feel slightly anxious. He fully understood the meaning of ¡®Rome was not built in one day.¡¯

    He decided to choose a book and then find a seat.

    As he has no specific goal, he ispletely choosing a book at random. He strolled between the bookshelf and browsed the vast sea of books. His nose is filled with the smell of fresh ink and incense that is unique to paper books. He browsed, touched, and held various books. He grabbed a few picture books and unknowingly, made his way into the tools section of the library.

    It makes sense that the tools reference book is not included in his reading ns. He merely identally walked into the area as it is easy to get lost between the bookshelves.

    There are already enough books in his hand, and he may not be able to finish reading them within the morning. It is like eating a buffet. It is always easier to take more than one can eat. He decided to find a ce to sit down and read.

    Just as he turned around, the corner of his eye slid into a position on the shelf on his side, as if there was a book there. However, no book was there as it was taken away, leaving a narrow gap...

    Or... there is an invisible book in its ce.

    He didn¡¯t know why he suddenly came up with this weird thought. Maybe it was because the book was taken away, but the ¡°Royal Academy Dictionary¡± and ¡°McMin English Dictionary¡± on its left and right sides did not fall and tilt towards the empty space between them. It was as if there is still an invisible book that upies the empty space, and merely ordinary people can¡¯t see it.

    This ridiculous thought is obviously unrealistic. The books here are thick and heavy, with a solid and strong cover and back cover. This makes them stable on the shelf, even if the book next to it have been taken away. They are unlikely to slump or tilt, unlike thin books.

    Someone actually borrowed this kind of reference book...

    This row of bookshelves is cramped full of English books and English dictionaries. Only readers with a master¡¯s degree in English literature will find this section relevant to their needs.

    But...perhaps of his obsessivepulsive disorder. If he doesn¡¯t verify if there is an invisible book in that empty space, he feels that his heart will not find peace.

    The method of verification is very simple, just use his hand, ce it between the two books, and reach out into the empty space.

    If you can provide a solution to the disorder with a little effort, why not?

    So he reached out...

    Just when the finger was about to reach the empty space, the ¡°McMin English Dictionary¡± next to it was suddenly taken away. Of course, it was not taken away by him, but by the person standing on the other side of the bookshelf...

    And his hand subconsciously stopped in its path.

    With two books missing, the gap became bigger, and a pair of eyes were seen on the other side of the gap. Those big and attractive eyes left him a strong impression.

    Even if he can only see a part of the face, he recognizes it immediately. There was no doubt about it ¨C The person is Zhuang Xiaodie.

    What a coincidence! Is she actually in the library too?

    She also looked at him through the gap from across the bookshelf.

 Chapter 1375: Heart Issues are Hard to Expect

    <h4>Chapter 1375: Heart Issues are Hard to Expect</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    This is like a ssic scene in youth idol dramas. For example, two people go to the library to pick the same book at the same time. Their fingers touch one another, and the sparks fly immediately.

    Although it looks the same, it is also different. This is because Zhang Zian did not want to take the McMin English Dictionary, and Zhuang Xiaodie is on the other side of the bookshelf. Thus, their fingers will not touch.

    ¡°What a coincidence, you are here at the library too?¡±

    It¡¯s awkward to continue looking at her in such a manner, and he felt embarrassed. He subconsciously retracts his hand, lowered his voice, and says hello.

    As for the idea of whether there is an invisible book in the space next to the dictionary, it had been temporarily forgotten with the revtion of a surprise like this.

    She took her time, deliberately looked around and whispered. ¡°I can¡¯te here?¡±

    ¡°...that is not what I mean.¡±

    Zhang Zian quickly exined himself because she misinterpreted what he meant.

    Judging from the current interactions they have had, Zhuang Xiaodie is obviously rich and wealthy. There is an eighty percent certainty that she is a second-generation rich kid. He has no prejudice against the second-generation rich kids. They can alsoe to the library to read books because ¡®rich¡¯ and ¡®unskillful¡¯ does not have direct causation. To talk about being unskillful, perhaps the children of poor families are more likely to be so.

    His focus was on the word ¡®coincidence¡¯. However, perhaps because he lowered his voice, she misunderstood him as if he is implying that second-generation rich kids cannot be here to learn. She might have always been misunderstood by others before and therefore is very sensitive to any suggestion of something simr. Thus, she merely picks up on these and focuses on the second part of his sentence earlier.

    At this time, there were other people who were picking books between the bookshelves. It was strange to see two people talking across the bookshelf. They looked at them even more.

    Zhuang Xiaodie nced to the side with her eyes, meaning to find a ce to sit down and talk.

    Zhang Zian also had the intention of looking for a ce to sit down. He nodded and looked at the original empty space in the bookshelf. He then turned away from the bookshelf and went to the reading area in the center of the third floor.

    Zhuang Xiaodie had changed her clothes today, but she is still in a beautiful traditional Chinese dress that makes it difficult for anyone to look elsewhere. Even if she is sitting in the library and reading a book, she still looks like a cultured person with a high level of intellect. It is inevitable that she will attract so many stares. There are some that even stopped reading and kept their eyes firmly on her.

    It¡¯s not a sparsely popted mountain top, and it is brave of her to be able to take on so manyplicated stares at her ¨C One must know that not all the stares are that of admiration. Mixed between those are some of disgust and disdain. What is missing are these peopleing up to her nose and scolding her for attracting attention. After all, not everyone can ept someone wearing a traditional Chinese costume around, much less such a gorgeous looking piece.

    Zhang Zian, who was sitting next to her and whispering to her, naturally was worried for her about those piercing stares that are not friendly.

    He nced around quietly and saw her cing a stack of books on the table. In addition to the McMin English Dictionary, there was another book, the Oxford Interactive Graphical Dictionary. Was this Is this book that originally upied that empty space?

    It is very likely. Given the thickness of this book and the width of the space, It should be able to fit in just nicely.

    Probably, before Zhang Zian came, she first extracted the Oxford Interactive Graphical Dictionary and left an empty space. After he came, she pulled out the McMin English Dictionary.

    He was relieved and concluded that his weird thoughts were too ridiculous. How could there be invisible books in the world?

    However, he cannot believe that she is the type of person who would read such difficult reference books.

    She did not read the two English dictionaries immediately. Instead, she opened another book, which is simr to the book selected by Zhang Zian. It is also a well-known scientific map, the World Insect Ecology Big Picture Book. It was a very thick book.

    This is a little weird. Why did she choose these two books that arepletely unrted at the same time?

    It seems that she heard the question in his heart. After opening the book and viewing the insect illustrations, if she encountered an English word that she did not understand, she would flip open the dictionary and look up the word.

    It turned out to be so...

    This book is in English and will definitely involve a lot of biological vocabry. The trantion software on the phone may not be urate.

    She actually didn¡¯t say anything. Zhang Zian made the above exnation based on his own observations and thought he guessed it all.

    The looks given by others around him made him a little embarrassed. Thus, he opened the book he chose and pretended to read it. However, nothing was going in. He was always thinking about something else, mainly thinking about what to say to her. They can¡¯t always be so silent, can they?

    Instead, she nced at the World¡¯s Rare Pets Encyclopedia he was ¡®reading¡¯ and asked, ¡°Are you interested in pets?¡±

    ¡°This is...because my family runs a pet shop.¡± He told her again, thinking that she had forgotten.

    ¡°I know, I mean, do you have to take over the business from your family in the future?¡± She asked again. There was no hint of her looking down on him in her tone. Rather, it sounded as if Zhang Zian was inheriting a big family business.

    ¡°This... no, I¡¯m a little interested.¡±

    Even if he wanted to take over the pet shop, his parents would certainly not agree. There was no other way about this.

    What¡¯s more, he had not reached the point of giving up his job in the city. He should work hard while he is still young.

    ¡°What about you? Are you interested in insects?¡± he asked. With that, he felt like he was on the road to an awkward and dead-end conversation with her.

    ¡°Yes,¡± she admitted without any hesitation.

    ¡°Ok...¡±

    Zhang Zian has nothing else to say, and the surrounding sight has be even more debilitating.

    They have already lowered their voices and talked. In fact, they basically weren¡¯t affecting the others, but there are still people who can¡¯t stand the sight of them. This is, of course, out of jealousy. After all, not everyone gets to talk and joke around with a beauty.

    For the next hour, Zhang Zian was not able to calm down. He merely pretended to be reading.

    After an hour, he was finally able to rx a little, and his attention was gradually drawn to the book itself.

    She never talks again and has been reading attentively.

    As soon as noon came, she stood up, leaned over, and whispered to him, ¡°I will go first. Goodbye.¡±

    This is a normal social etiquette because it is a library, and everyone needs to be quiet. There were also, at this point in time, no longer strangers. However, the breath from her mouth and the sound of her voice made his heart tremble.

    He suspected that this was not a coincidence. He thought that perhaps she came to the library to see him... but it was really just him making things up in his mind. It seems she was merely here to read. Otherwise, why didn¡¯t she take the initiative to talk about other things?

    Looking at her back view, heughed silently in his heart, thinking: Zhang Zian, Zhang Zian, what do you really think of yourself? People juste to read books.

    His stomach was a little hungry, and he was beginning to feel uneasy again. He might as well leave and go home to eat.

    When he passed by service desk on the first floor, he stopped and asked: ¡°Yes, about that someone on the fifth floor causing trouble, now...¡±

    The employee smiled, ¡°It has been settled.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± He nodded and left the library.

 Chapter 1376: Hope Amidst Difficulties

    <h4>Chapter 1376: Hope Amidst Difficulties</h4>

    Sitting in the Golden Cup Bread van, Zhang Zian headed in the direction of the pet shop.

    The van traveled very slow, slower than usual. It was often honked at by other vehicles at the back of the car, urging him to go quickly and not hold up traffic.

    He is very calmly ignoring these horns ¨C you have the ability to overtake, why should you care so much about me? I am going to travel at this speed no matter how many times you honk at me.

    Especially when he is making a turn, he took the principle of ¡®look left, look right then proceed¡¯ to the extreme. He will rather y it safe and was driving with a great amount of caution.

    He was so careful because although the tires of this car were changed recently, he still could not trust them.

    It was also because he drove slowly, that when he was close to the pet shop, he noticed that there was a cardboard box by the side of the road.

    It¡¯s no surprise that there are cardboard boxes on the side of the road.

    However, the problem is ¨C he also saw a grandmother riding an old small tricycle. She was riding very slowly, and there is a Pomeranian in the tricycle basket. With it, there were some empty bottles and waste cardboard boxes. She was obviously an elderly that regrly scavenges for recybles. The grandmother also saw the cardboard box, and she had no reason not to pick it up having seen it.

    As expected, she stopped the tricycle, patted the Pomeranian¡¯s head as a way to tell it to stay put, not to run away and not to bark. Then, she walked over and picked the cardboard box.

    Everything is logical up to this point.

    However, when she bent over to pick up the cardboard box, she appeared to be astonished by what she found. She waved the cardboard a little before cing it back down. She had a difficult look on her face, and she looked around as if looking for help.

    Zhang Zian can turn a blind eye to this, but it is now noon, and there is no pedestrian on the road. The grandmother seems to need help, so he stepped on the brakes.

    The Golden Cup Bread Van that was already traveling at turtle speed stopped at the roadside and parked very close to the grandmother¡¯s tricycle.

    Zhang Zian got off the van, went over and asked, ¡°Grandma, are you feeling alright?¡±

    The old grandmother turned her head slowly. There were patches of stitched cloth on her clothes, but she was not dirty or stinky.

    Zhang Zian seems to have seen her somewhere, perhaps when he usually passes by the area.

    The Pomeranian in the tricycle barked twice, thinking he was a bad person.

    ¡°Ah... I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m fine.¡± Grandma gently rubbed her chest and pointed to the cardboard box on the floor. ¡°I was shocked when I was about to pick up the cardboard box. It suddenly moved. It seems like there is something inside. Perhaps a living thing...¡±

    Living thing?

    Zhang Zian looked down and stared at the cardboard box.

    This is obviously a courier box, about 30cmX30cmX60cm in size. There is still a courier seal that has not been torn off on the upward side. As for the sender, the recipient, and the contents, it had already been blurred off.

    Just as he watched the box, the cardboard box moved again. He was taken a little by surprise and stepped backward.

    The Pomeranian barked even more, but it was left in the tricycle and couldn¡¯t do anything other than calling.

    ¡°Young man, be careful...¡± Grandma was worried and said, ¡°I have been picking garbage for more than ten years. Many people throw anything and everything. I heard that some people raise snakes or poisonous spiders, and then after a while, they don¡¯t want to raise them. The poisonous spider is very big. You have to be careful...¡±

    She was worried about Zhang Zian. What if he opens the cardboard box and suddenly a poisonous snake or poison spider bites him?

    Zhang Zian also has the same concerns.

    It¡¯s like...

    Like... What is it...

    There is a noun buried in the depths of his mind, but he can¡¯t remember what it is at this moment. The general idea is... Before you open this box, you never know what is inside.

    ¡°We still have to open it and see if there is anything dangerous inside. What if it hurt someone else?¡± he said.

    ¡°That is true... but in any case, be careful!¡± said the grandmother.

    She hurriedly hobbled back to her tricycle and pulled out a pair of dirty cloth gloves. She was embarrassed to hand them to him. ¡°Would you like to wear gloves? It will, in some way, protect you...¡±

    Zhang Zian epted her kindness, put on her gloves, and said, ¡°You stand back a little. I am afraid that I will hit you when I dodge.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    The old grandmother took a few steps back and was so worried that she broke out in a cold sweat.

    This cardboard box does not open from the top, but two boxes are cupped together from the top and bottom. To see what is inside, the top box must be lifted up.

    Zhang Zian carefully lifted the top box but did notpletely remove it. He only revealed a narrow gap, so if there is some dangerous animal inside, he can immediately close the box.

    Judging from the movements of the animal inside, it is not very small, so it should not be able to emerge from this narrow gap.

    He nced into the dark gap using the midday sunlight.

    The unknown thing hidden in the ck box may be anything. However, if he can just get a look at what it is, then...

    Then what is it?

    He can¡¯t remember, but he has already seen something, and so there was not further guessing needed.

    Inside is a pair of shiny eyes.

    He recognized it at once; this is a cat¡¯s eyes. There will be no mistakes. If he, as a pet shop¡¯s son, cannot make out a pair of cat¡¯s eyes, he can go ahead and call it a day.

    The eyes, shining in the dark box, was silver-gray in color. However, beneath those eyes lies a deep bottomless fear and a desire for light.

    ¡°Meow...¡±

    It whispered quietly in the box as if to say: let me out.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s mind suddenly seemed to be hit hard by something, and all the blood in his body suddenly rushed to his head. His whole body was in a state of rigidity as if two waves of turbulence had collided in his mind.

    ¡°Young man, what¡¯s inside... the box?¡± The Grandma was worried. Even though he kept her away, but she watched him standing stiff as a rod and came over to pat him on the shoulder.

    Zhang Zian came back to his senses and quickly said, ¡°It is not a dangerous animal. It is a cat.¡±

    With that, he opened the box.

    A ck and white bicolor kitten cringed in the corner of the cardboard box and squinted its eyes in the face of strong sunlight.

    ¡°Yeah! It turned out to be a kitten! It made me worry for such a long time!¡±

    The old grandmaughed, sighed, and said, ¡°The older the person, the smaller the size of their courage! Sigh, I am not longer useful...¡±

    With that, she turned to her tricycle, walked towards it, and slowly got on the seat.

    ¡°This cat...¡± Zhang Zian turned around and said.

    The old grandmother turned back, looked at Pomeranian in her tricycle with love, and said, ¡°I, with one puppy, am finding it difficult to raise it properly. The cat, if you like it, take it home... the weather is getting colder by the day. If it¡¯s staying here, it¡¯s going to be bullied. I¡¯ve heard that some little punks like to torture cats... If you can¡¯t raise it, then there¡¯s no other choice but to leave it. However, don¡¯t cover the box, maybe If a good person sees it, he will take it home.¡±

    When she finished, she slowly went away in her tricycle.

    The Pomeranian no longer barked. It kept looking back at him, with... that cat.

 Chapter 1377: Difficult to Express How I Truly Feel

    <h4>Chapter 1377: Difficult to Express How I Truly Feel</h4>

    After the grandma had left, Zhang Zian¡¯s line of sight fell back onto the cardboard box.

    Judging from all the evidence within this box, this kitten is likely abandoned. This is verymon and all toomon. It may be because of various reasons, like someone in the family is pregnant, a guest is allergic, can¡¯t afford it, or doesn¡¯t want to raise it. Most of the pets that were abandoned are swept out of the house. In contrast, the kitten at least had a cardboard box to shelter it from the wind and rain.

    However, the person who raised it before may have been a child who was put under the pressure of his parents to get rid of it and then kindly prepared a box for the kitten. However, the child forgot to put a few holes in the cardboard box.

    If it is discovered a littleter, it may suffocate inside.

    There is nothing in the carton except for the cat.

    Zhang Zian groaned and looked around.

    At noon, people stayed at home to eat, and there were very few people on the street.

    He remembered the words of the grandmother. Some people abused cats nearby. If this kitten was left alone, it is likely to fall into the hands of those people. Even if it didn¡¯t encounter this situation, it may eventually escape from the cardboard box, then get knockdown by cars when crossing the road. That will be like that unlucky little boy... the chance of being taken home by a good-hearted person is not high.

    If he brings it back... there seems to be a problem.

    Whether it has been vinated or dewormed is unknown. Considering that it was abandoned and not bred, the answer is likely to be negative. However, If it is brought back to the pet store, the cat lice or parasites on it can be transmitted to the other cats. What can he do when that happens?

    His family is living well but cannot extend it to all. For the pet, poultry and livestock industries, it is necessary to be very cautious when bringing in external animals.

    The pet shop is the center of his parents¡¯ life, and he can¡¯t afford the risks.

    But...

    ¡°Have I seen you before?¡±

    Zhang Zian touched his chin and fixedly stared at it. He suddenly blurted his thoughts out.

    The kitten certainly didn¡¯t answer and looked around ignorantly.

    ¡°It¡¯s strange to say. I don¡¯t know if I have been sleeping too little or am too tired recently. When Ie home this time around, I saw several familiar faces. Every time I see them, I have this feeling in me, as if a voice buried deep in my heart, saying: Ah, I seem to know this person, isn¡¯t that who...¡±

    Anyway, there¡¯s no one around, and he does not need to hurry home. Thus, he simply talked freely.

    ¡°It¡¯s obviously familiar faces, but I can¡¯t remember their names them anymore. It¡¯s like... I have been seeing them for a long time, but thinking for a while, I don¡¯t think so. This is because women change a lot as they grow older. In a blink of an eye, they would have grown a lot taller. With two to three years passing, they will be beyond recognition. So it¡¯s impossible for me to have seen them from a long time ago... even if I indeed had seen them a long time ago, it must be because they have had some interaction with me and therefore I still remember them. However, I don¡¯t even have any impression of these interactions...¡±

    After stopping, he smiled andughed. ¡°Is this the so-called D¨¦j¨¤ vu? Because even though I look at them and recognize them in some way, they do not seem to remember me and treat me as if I am a total stranger, that type that they have never met before... including that old grandmother.¡±

    He turned his head and stared at the back of the grandmother riding her tricycle.

    ¡°Not only people but also ces. Some ces, I should be there for the first time, but it seems like I have been there before...¡±

    For example, when he opened the menu of the Teahouse In Hidden Fog, he felt like he should have been more surprised. However, he seems to have expected it in his heart and guessed that it would be very expensive.

    ¡°So, this should be my own illusion.¡± He poked his own temple with his fingers. ¡°I have thought of many possibilities, such as there being a tumor in my brain that has affected my cognitive ability... ...but I have just had a physical examination not long ago, and it is not very likely. This is not a Korean drama in any way...¡±

    After a moment of silence, he rubbed his own face and said, ¡°I can¡¯t tell others about these, including my parents. This is because I am afraid that they will treat me as if I have a mental illness. They will start to gossip, and it will spread. They will say that I had too much work pressure, and it leads to mental disorders... Really, I am not joking. An old town like this ce, any gossip spreads like wildfire. Some people are very idle, and they like to spread and grin on other people¡¯s issues... I don¡¯t really care about what they say about me, but my parents will definitely be worried about me.¡±

    ¡°So I can only tell you, do you think... that there is a problem here?¡± He poked his own temple and smiled at it.

    ¡°Meow...¡±

    The kitten certainly didn¡¯t answer. He didn¡¯t expect it to answer. If it really talked, then he could only confirm that his brain had a problem...

    He has kept these words in his heart for a while, and he has not said anything to anyone because he can¡¯t say it.

    He doesn¡¯t know if he has a mental problem, but in general... a mentally ill person does not think that he has a mental problem, just like a drunk person will not admit that he is drunk.

    By always keeping these issues in your heart, even if there is no problem, one day sooner orter, you will have problems.

    It¡¯s okay to tell this kitten that can¡¯t talk.

    When the holiday of the Golden Week is over, after returning to hispany in the city, will these strange feelings disappear?

    ¡°Okay, thank you for listening to me. After talking to you about it, I feel morefortable in my heart.¡± He really did feel a lot more at ease. ¡°So, as a way of saying thank you, I will take you back first, although I may not be able to raise you. After all, I am too busy with my work, but I can try to help you find the right adopter, how about that?¡±

    ¡°Meow...¡±

    The kitten was quite obedient and didn¡¯t jump out of the box and run.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s go home... but before I go home, I have to take you to a ce.¡± He took out his cell phone, opened the map app, and looked for a pet clinic or pet hospital nearby.

    ¡°Well? The Spirit Curing Pet Clinic? When did this ce open... also, it¡¯s quite close by.¡± He picked up the cardboard box and put the kitten and the cardboard box into his van.

    ¡°I will take you for a vine and deworming before I can bring you back. This is for your own good.¡±

    He got back into the van, turned around, and said, ¡°Be good and stay in the box, we will arrive soon.¡±

    The kitten seemed to understand him and quietly squatted down in the cardboard box.

    ¡°Right, are you hungry?¡±

    He said whatever is on his mind and did not expect it to answer. It was as if he aplished his task by simply asking it the question.

    When he passed by the pet shop, he parked his van on the side of the road and told his parents that he was going to top up on gas. He took advantage of when they were not paying attention and took two canned food from the shelves. He then quietly scanned the barcode at checkout and paid the money.

    When he got back into the car, he opened a can and put it in a cardboard box. ¡°Eat it. See if it suits your taste.¡±

    The kitten first stared at him and nced at the food. The canned scent attracted it. It bowed its head into the can and ate with small bites.

    ¡°You are surely hungry.¡± Heughed, restarted the van, and drove to the pet clinic.

 Chapter 1378: The Cat Catch Butterflies

    <h4>Chapter 1378: The Cat Catch Butterflies</h4>

    Perhaps because it is the Golden Week holidays, the customer in the pet clinic... to call them customers is a bit strange, perhaps the patient? In fact, that is a bit strange as well... Anyway, just people. There are so many people, and they have to wait in line to get a number.

    Zhang Zian held the cardboard box and sat in the waiting area. Everyone else has at least a cat bag or a pet box. It is unique to have someone like him holding a cardboard box.

    The kitten has finished eating the first can of food and is eating the second one.

    ¡°No. 34?¡±

    The nurse was busy collecting payment, and a female veterinarian wearing a white coat shouted from the treatment room.

    The person sitting next to Zhang Zian replied and took his cat bag over.

    ¡°Let me tell you quietly, this veterinarian and nurse, I also feel that they are very familiar.¡± Zhang Zian lowered his voice and squinted his eyes on the kitten.

    ¡°Meow?¡±

    It seems to be questioning: she wears a mask, and you can¡¯t even see her face. How do you know that they are familiar? Disguised porcin masks?

    ¡°Oh, although the face of the real person is covered by a mask, isn¡¯t there still photos?¡± He pointed to the wall at the entrance, where a veterinary license and a business license with a photo of the vet were attached.

    ¡°No. 35? No. 35? Nobody? No. 36?¡±

    ¡°Here.¡±

    Zhang Zian stood up with his cardboard box and followed the female veterinarian into the treatment room.

    Unsurprisingly, she treated him in a professional manner. It was not like she had seen him before or know him prior. For him, he was already used to this.

    When she saw the kitten¡¯s silver-gray eyes, the female vet¡¯s eyebrows were raised in surprise because she had never seen a cat with such eyes. She was about to take it out of the cardboard box for further inspection when the kitten that had been very obedient until now suddenly jumped out of the cardboard box and ran out of the clinic.

    ¡°Wait! Don¡¯t run!¡±

    Zhang Zian was caught off guard and had to apologetically make a sorry gesture to the female veterinarian, indicating that he would chase the kitten himself.

    The kitten ran back to the waiting area at the door, and someone coincidentally pushed open the door. It slipped through the gap of the door and went out.

    When Zhang Zian reached the door, he found that it had disappeared.

    He sighed, got into the van, and went home.

    The third day of the Golden Week Holidays.

    Morning.

    ¡°Dad, Mom, let me help you walk the dog.¡±

    After breakfast, Zhang Zian took the initiative to find something to do. He was idle anyway.

    Walking dogs require no technical expertise, and he will not get tired as well. It is nothing more than taking the puppies in the store to go for a walk outside. If they defecate while outdoors, that is even better.

    ¡°Okay. Just a walk nearby will do. There is no need to go far.¡±

    The father found for him a special traction rope. It was a rope that was further separated into a number of strings from the middle section. They were all stic. They were especially used for walking dogs. Of course, they were not suitable forrge and medium-sized adult dogs. Otherwise, it will be a dog sled rope...

    Zhang Zian put all the puppies in the store on the leash, held the end of the buckle firmly in his hand, and took them out of the pet shop.

    Being able to go for a walk, the puppies are, of course, very happy, and they are jumping and screaming.

    The preferred destination for walking dogs is, of course, the green space behind the pet shop. It does not disturb people, and the puppies¡¯ excrement can be easily buried with a small shovel. Even if you don¡¯t consider the issue of practicing socially eptable behavior, you can at least avoid stepping on the excrementter by burying it.

    ¡°What?¡±

    When he just arrived at the green space, he noticed a familiar figure.

    A ck and white bicolor kitten was running around in the greenwn and trees.

    ¡°It turns out that you havee here.¡±

    Seeing that it was safe, he felt a lot more rxed. After it ran away yesterday, he was quite worried, because once domestic cats get lost, they often die because they could not adapt to the external environment. It is not easy to be a stray cat.

    The puppies also saw the kitten and barked at it.

    ¡°Meow...¡±

    The ck-and-white kitten sensed his appearance in the space, stops and stares at him. It tentatively approaches him but seems to be afraid of the puppies¡¯ barking. It stops after taking a few steps.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. They won¡¯t bite you.¡± Zhang Zian put the leash to the longest, and then tied it to a tree so that the puppies could only y around the tree.

    As it had run away yesterday, he wondered if it would run again today. However, when he was fastening the rope, it simply sat there staring at him.

    In autumn, the vegetation in the green is not as lush as in summer, and the number of mosquitoes is greatly reduced.

    ¡°Do you have a name? What is your name? Who was your former owner?¡±

    He sat down on a stone bench and talked freely with it. Of course, he didn¡¯t expect it to answer.

    ¡°Meow...¡±

    Ok, maybe it answered, but he didn¡¯t understand.

    There is no pressure or to hold back anything when he talks to it. He can simply say whatever he wants to say.

    ¡°You don¡¯t like to be restrained? Like freedom?¡± he guessed. ¡°So you don¡¯t want to go back to the pet store with me? There are a lot of cats in the store, and you won¡¯t feel lonely.¡±

    ¡°Also... you don¡¯t want to be adopted? Because you have been abandoned, you don¡¯t trust people?¡±

    Some abandoned pets are like this. After being abandoned for no reason, they lose trust in people. Even if they are adopted by others, they always keep a distance from the adopters, so that they can avoid being hurt for the second time.

    Adopters are also very confused. Why are they not familiar with them even after raising them for so long?

    ¡°Meow...¡±

    It tilted its head, and its line of sight seemed to move.

    Zhang Zian also turned his head and looked.

    Butterfly.

    Behind him, a few butterflies danced around him.

    He tried to take a few steps, and although the butterflies did not keep up, they seemed to be following him.

    ¡°Oh, this is amazing.¡±

    He lifted his sleeves and smelled it, but there was no smell.

    In his two meetings with Zhuang Xiaodie, she did not have physical contact with him, but he thought it might be that the smell on her body had passed to him, like... a certain pheromone.

    A pheromone is a very broad concept. It refers to apound that acts as a form ofmunication. It is generally expressed as an odor molecule that is diffused in the air.

    Many animals can secrete and receive pheromones. For example, adolescent boys can smell body fragrance from their favorite girls, or girls can be enchanted by the sweaty smell of sporty teenagers. If the brain damage factor and shower gels are excluded from the equation, It may be that a certain pheromone is working.

    Of course, humans and more intelligent mammals have many modes ofmunication, and the information transmission efficiency of pheromones is too low. It has never been the main means for humans to transmit information, and do not even count as secondary methods ofmunications.

    However, for insects, pheromones are a very important means ofmunication.

    Zhang Zian witnessed Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s attraction ofrge amounts of butterflies, so he guessed that some of the shower gels or perfumes she used contained pheromone ingredients that attracted butterflies. It was just like humans adding to their own charms and use perfumes to attract the opposite sex.

    However, he hasn¡¯t used a new shower gel recently, nor has he had physical contact with Zhuang Xiaodie. Howe...

    He was thinking about it, and he suddenly saw that the ck and white kitten seemed to have found its prey. It lunged towards the butterflies.

 Chapter 1379: Cracks

    <h4>Chapter 1379: Cracks</h4>

    Cats species, from big cats such as tigers, lions to small cats such as the Lynx, have always been at the top of the food chain in theirnds. Even domestic cats that have adored by countless people reside at the top as well.

    The disorderly breeding of stray cats is often referred to as ecological disasters because they can indiscriminately hunt all small animals that they can prey on, even if they are not hungry.

    Cats raised at home will also bring small gifts such as dead mice, dead cockroaches, and dead geckos to the master.

    Cats in a free-range state, when bored, may engage in catching butterflies. That is not a rare thing, but in general, butterflies are small and potentially poisonous bugs that are generally not in their hunting options.

    Butterflies are usually not toxic, but if they feed on toxic flowers, they are likely also contaminated with the same toxin.

    When the ck and white kitten suddenly rushed over to the butterflies, Zhang Zian thought that the prey was himself, but when he looked carefully, he found that his target was actually the few butterflies.

    It makes sense. The butterflies are very beautiful, and the scales on their wings are colorful under the sun. If the kitten smothers it, it is a pity. After all, it is a world that idolizes beauty. If it is an ugly moth, no one will give it a second thought.

    The butterflies noticed the arrival of enemies, flickered their wings, and flew around. Some were flying around the trees, and others were flying into the leaves of nts. Some also flew high into the sky. No butterfly stayed around to die.

    People who have caught butterflies by hand have experienced that, although butterflies seem to fly slowly, trying to catch them is not as easy as imagined. This is because their wings are big. If your movements are too slow, you won¡¯t be able to catch it. However, move too fast, and the generated wind by your action can blow the butterfly away ¨C of course, catching butterflies with insects is not counted.

    These butterflies are different in color and seem to be of different species.

    In general, butterflies with low-key colored wings such as ck, gray, and brown are often smaller, faster, and more agile. This is because they have no other means of saving themselves except to outrun, outwit, and oust their opponents.

    If the butterfly is brightly colored and can be seen at a distance, it will often useplicated colors to confuse the enemy. They may even pretend to have a pair of big fierce eyes on the wings to scare the enemy away, although this is not very useful towards humans. After all, humans don¡¯t include butterflies in their diets, but they are still useful against birds and other creatures.

    Their flight trajectory is irregr, and they go up and down or suddenly turn left and right. In this way, the enemy is distracted, and their vision goes haywire. They don¡¯t know which one to catch.

    The ck and white kitten did not seem to be affected too much by their tactics. After rushing into the butterfly group, he suddenly waved his paws and pulled a bow like Li Yuanba. It first waved its right paw and brought the butterfly that was the slowest to the ground, then using its left paw, brought down another butterfly that flew slowly onto the grass. Finally, by flicking its tail, it took down one that was hiding behind it and was spinning around in the air for a while. Its actions are well-rehearsed as if it had done this often.

    If it is not a limitation by its body size, it is much like a little tiger.

    The butterflies saw the enemying to the forefront and immediately changed their strategy. They flew high, intending to avoid the predator temporarily. Even if the kitten is more powerful, it doesn¡¯t grow wings, does it?

    Unexpectedly, this kitten makes good use of the terrain. It ran into a small tree, climbed halfway up it, and traversed to the side of the rooftop. It ran fast, volleyed on the edge of the roof, and urately grabbed a butterfly. It then rolled forward andnded into a haystack on the ground.

    When its head emerges, there were still a few des of grass on the head.

    ¡°Wow, great!¡±

    Zhang Zian was delighted with what he saw. It can even be said that it got his eyes wide open. He really hasn¡¯t seen a cat so good at catching butterflies.

    The kitten licked its head and flicked off the des of grass on its head. Suddenly, without much warning, it leaped to the side. Before, there was a dead leaf butterfly disguised as a dead leaf and stayed motionless whilst the other butterflies flew around. Even Zhang Zian did not realize that it was alive, but the ploy was still discovered by this kitten.

    The dead leaf butterfly is pressed by it between the bottom of the kitten¡¯s w and the grass.

    Zhang Zian doesn¡¯t know if it is hungry and wants to eat a butterfly or just to catch it as a form of ying ¨C if the former, it will definitely put the butterfly into the mouth; if it is thetter, it should release the butterfly again.

    Cats are not really suitable to eat butterflies as they can cause diarrhea, so he wants to stop it from putting the butterflies into its mouth.

    But it lifted the ws, which seems then it is thetter option.

    Zhang Zian was shocked to see the incredible scene ¨C after it removed its ws, there were no fluttering butterflies at the bottom of the ws, and there were no crushed bodies. However, there was a little light that fluttered from the bottom of its ws, like the fireflies at night. The glow of the fireflies then slowly fade into the air and eventually disappeared.

    He rubbed his eyes.

    What the hell!

    ¡°Just now... what happened? Is there something wrong with my eyesight?¡±

    ¡°Meow...¡±

    The kitten went on and chased other butterflies.

    Zhang Zian went to the position where the dead leaf butterfly was just now and stepped at the grass with the tip of his shoe. He did not find the butterfly¡¯s body. Of course, the body may have been stuck on the kitten¡¯s w. The light spot he saw maybe ...reflection of the surrounding window ss.

    In fact, there is another possibility, that is, his cognitive ability is really bing a problem.

    The butterflies did not have the ability to resist, and they were driven away by the kittens and left the green space.

    It is only when that ispleted that the kitten ran back and sat down on thewn with satisfaction.

    ¡°You just... how did you do it...¡±

    Zhang Zian wanted to ask a question when his vision suddenly seemed to tremble a little. The world briefly appeared to be in reboot, but soon returned to normal.

    At the same time, there seems to be something in his heart that is trying to get out between the cracks of a rock that formed inside. Before that, the rock was perfect, but now there are subtle cracks, and the power of its repression is slowly loosening up.

    ¡°Did I miss something?¡± He tried hard and rified his thoughts by muttering to himself. ¡°In the Teahouse In Hidden Fog and in the library... Should I go back and see?¡±

    ¡°Meow...¡±

    The kitten shook its head.

    Zhang Zian was stunned again. ¡°Did you just shook your head?¡±

    Is it a coincidence?

    It is just a kitten. How can it understand his words and respond? Besides, it was all the things that he had done before it appeared, so it is impossible that the kitten will know.

    ¡°Can you understand me?¡± He tried again.

    ¡°Meow...¡± It nodded.

    It actually nodded again...

    To confirm that it was no coincidence and to avoid misunderstanding, he said, ¡°If you can understand, lift your right front paw...¡±

    As soon as the words left his mouth, he was a little embarrassed with himself. How can a kitten understand what is left or right?

    However, it really lifted its right front paw.

    Zhang Zian picked himself in his face. It hurts. It seems that he is not dreaming. This kitten can really understand what he says.

 Chapter 1380: The Loophole in the World

    <h4>Chapter 1380: The Loophole in the World</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It is rare to find kittens that understand humannguage.

    A cat has a certain degree of intelligence, but can its intelligence reach a level that can understand people? This... this is incredible.

    ¡°Why shouldn¡¯t I go back and see? Do you know the Teahouse In Hidden Fog and the Binhai City Library?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Meow...¡±

    The kitten nodded.

    ¡°You know?¡±

    Nod.

    ¡°Do I have to go there again? I always feel that there is something there... like something that was missed by me, such as wallets...¡± he said, but he was still doubtful in his heart that the kitten understands his words.

    He said all this, more because he needs to get things off his chest.

    It shook his head.

    He was silent and smiled. ¡°That is right. Once you missed something, it will note back.¡±

    The ck and white kitten neither nod nor shook its head.

    It can¡¯t speak and can¡¯t tell him ¨C if he missed anything.

    Even if he stayed in the Teahouse In Hidden Fog for a long time, even if he reached out and touched the empty space on the bookshelf, nothing would happen because it was a world without the game of ¡°Pet Hunter,¡± and there was no elf in this world... maybe except the butterfly elf.

    As for the kitten itself, it is a foreign object that forcibly invaded this world, and will, of course, be suppressed and rejected by the power of this world.

    This is a world where there is no Old Time Tea and ¦Ð.

    Even if he decides to stay in the Teahouse In Hidden Fog for a longer period of time to find the source of the cat hair, he will not find Old Time Tea. He will only find a stray old cat with yellowish hair on the top of the mountain.

    Even if his finger touches the empty space back at the library, he will only find that it is really merely an empty space. There is no such thing as an invisible book, and the digital reading area on the fifth floor is really disrupted by a kid who is a beginner hacker.

    The Butterfly Elf is neither worried that he will stay in the Teahouse In Hidden Fog, nor is it worried that he will reach out and touch the empty space because it does not make any sense. Otherwise, if she is worried, why should she risk setting the blind date in the Teahouse In Hidden Fog? Why not distract him and make him change ns before he enters the library?

    On the contrary, she wants him to arrive at the Teahouse In Hidden Fog and wants him to enter the library.

    Her power blocked his rted memories, but the memory still exists. That is obviously a hidden danger.

    These memories are precious memories for him in his heart. He met Old Time Tea in the Teahouse In Hidden Fog and encountered ¦Ð in the library. There is no such existence of her in these memories.

    So in order to eliminate these hidden dangers, she has to create new memories to rece the old memories.

    In these new memories, there is her existence, but there is no existence of the other elves.

    Who he met in the Teahouse In Hidden Fog was not Old Time Tea, but her.

    What he encountered in the library was not ¦Ð, but her.

    So he will slowly realize and ept these facts ¨C he is impressed with those ces because he met her there.

    Who would not be impressed by such beauty? Who will not have asting impression after seeing her?

    The kitten knows what will happen next. She will go with him to other ces toplete the changing of all his precious memories.

    She and he will go to the capital to visit the Forbidden City in the bleak autumn wind.

    She and he will go to the United States to take photos with Hollywood stars in the Wax Museum.

    She and he will go to Germany, apud the award-winning stars in the auditorium of the Berlin Film Pce, and then squat by the beach by the sea, picking up beautiful shells...

    In this series of journeys, he will still detect that there is something amiss and have a sense of deja vu. However, no matter what decision he makes, whether or not he wants to find out the truth, as long as he goes with her to those ces, his memory is naturally updated with her inside.

    She doesn¡¯t even have to do anything. As long as she stays with Zhang Zian, his rationality will do all the work for her.

    Yes.

    It¡¯s not that she trapped Zhang Zian in this world, but Zhang Zian¡¯s own personality trap himself in it.

    This is aplete and self-sustaining world. It is built on Zhang Zian¡¯s life experience and memory. The skeleton of it is his scientific knowledge and rationality. If this was someone¡¯s dream who has no knowledge of science, there would be a lot more details in this world that do not make sense. This world will then not be so close to reality.

    When encountering unexined things, ordinary people may attribute it to ghosts or supernatural forces, but Zhang Zian will try to exin it with science and reason. Thus, this world will be as unbreakable as the real world.

    However, even for someone as rational as Zhang Zian, there is a loophole in his outlook on life and world view, that is, the game ¡°Pet Hunter¡± and the elves.

    The existence of the game and the elves forces him to confront his own inherentmon sense.

    He now knows that cats and dogs may talk. He now knows that monkeys can type out Shakespeare¡¯s poems. He knows that there is love in the parrot¡¯s heart. He knows that there may be mermaids in the sea...

    Without this loophole, no one can wake him up from a dream.

    The dream world is too real, and such things would have made him ufortable because the real world... should not be so boring.

    The butterfly elf knows this loophole, but it can¡¯t mend it up. She can¡¯t let this world y the ¡°Pet Hunter¡± game, nor can she let the elves appear in this world. She can try to create something simr, but even so, It may also awaken his true memory.

    Fortunately, time will eliminate all loopholes for her. As long as there is enough time, she can create a more exciting and interesting experience to satisfy him.

    The kitten knows what will happen next.

    The phone will ring.

    Ring Ring¡ª¡ª

    His cell phone suddenly rang and interrupted his thoughts.

    ¡°Hello? Mom, what is it?¡± He saw the caller ID, and it was from his mother.

    ¡°Hey, Zhang Zian, where did you go and walk the dog?¡± the mother asked, her voice filled with anxiety and joy.

    ¡°Just behind, at the green space. What happened?¡± he replied.

    The mother heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°Come back! Come back soon!¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡± He looked at the yful puppies. They didn¡¯t seem to have exhausted their excess energy, and the excreted feces had not yet been buried. However, his mother sounded so anxious. Might something bad happened?

    ¡°Dad is okay?¡±

    His heartbeat suddenly sped up. What happened to his father?

    ¡°Your dad? What can possibly happen to him?¡± The mother groaned. ¡°He is clumsily bathing the cats... Quickly bring the dogs back, then change your clothes! I tell you, I just gave Auntie Liu Wei a call on the phone and she said that the girl is very satisfied with you. However, you never contacted her back. She is a young girl, can¡¯t you put aside your ego and just call her? Auntie Liu Weiined to me for a long time, saying that you are so old yet still so ignorant! You almost blew the whole thing, you know!¡±

    Zhang Zian listened to what she said. What is wrong with Zhuang Xiaodie, that she is still quite satisfied with him?

 Chapter 1381: Unexpected Windfall

    <h4>Chapter 1381: Unexpected Windfall</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    There are many loves and marriages in this world that cuts across social ss, but the chances of such beautiful things happening are slim.

    Zhang Zian doesn¡¯t hate Zhuang Xiaodie. She didn¡¯t do anything annoying to him. As long as he can ept her hobby of traveling around in traditional costume, who would hate such a peerless beauty?

    To say how much he likes her... If in other situations, maybe he will like her very much. However, now the situation is a bit special, and he has been feeling uneasy about some things in his heart. It is difficult for him to find the answer orpletely forget about it and go all out to love her.

    His mother¡¯s excitement and joy overflowed with each passing word, and her voice increased in octaves. She urged, ¡°Child, you are really... you obviously got along well with her, but still kept it from your dad and me... Don¡¯t be embarrassed,e back quickly, then go out shopping with her. Boys should take the initiative, do you understand?¡±

    Zhang Zian doesn¡¯t know whether to cry orugh. These words sounded really familiar. Putting the pressure of the blind date on the man¡¯s body, and do not check in detail whether the woman truly does not resent the guy or was simply too shy to say anything bad.

    However, blind dates are like this. Everyone came through like that. If you have the ability to find a girlfriend, you don¡¯t have to go through a blind date.

    No choice. He hurriedly buried the puppies¡¯ feces, then took them by the leash and prepared to go home.

    ¡°You also want toe home with me? Or do you want to stay here?¡± He asked the ck and white kitten.

    ¡°Meow...¡±

    For this kind of problem that it cannot simply give an affirmation or negation, it neither nods nor shakes its head.

    When he returned to the pet shop, his parents forced him to change into his clean clothes, and then he was driven out of the store. They ordered him not toe home before nighttime. It was then when he saw that the kitten was quietly waiting for him outside the store.

    He looked down at his own clothes, and reluctantly said to him, ¡°Ordered to date.¡±

    ¡°Meow...¡±

    It certainly knows.

    Although he is not willing, he does not want to make his parents anxious and angry.

    With his keenness and tact, there is a certain chance that the truth of the world can be discovered by his own willpower. However, with his parents still alive in this world, perhaps in his subconscious, he is deliberately avoiding certain things.

    If you have a sweet dream at night, you will not want to wake up in the morning. Even if you know that it is a dream, and hope to sleep for a while and continue the dream. This is human nature.

    Maybe his subconscious mind has already guessed something, but he has been saying to himself: Even if it is a dream, I want to sleep a little longer.

    ¡°Well? Do you want to follow?¡±

    He took a few steps to the bus stop and found it following behind him.

    ¡°I am going by bus.¡± He pointed at the bus stop.

    Seeing that it did not respond, he added, ¡°It seems that it is not allowed to bring pets on the bus... Besides a guide dog. You should be able to understand what I mean? I can find a ce to let you wait...¡±

    He intends to send it to the pet clinic.

    ¡°Meow...¡±

    It looked like it understood, but it didn¡¯t n to stay, and so quickly approached him.

    ¡°Okay... let¡¯s go together.¡±

    Seeing its grieved look, he changed his mind and called for a taxi.

    ¡°Come up here.¡±

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    He sat in the co-pilot position, and it happily jumped into the back seat.

    The taxi started. When Zhang Zian was busy assuring the driver that the kitten would not mess up the cab with its urine, it squatted on the backrest of the back seat, and its silver-gray eyelids stared through the rear window.

    There are several light spots floating behind the car. The red light of the car starting, elerating, decelerating, turning, stopping, etc., The light spots are all close, but the light spots are very dim and are even lighter than the reflection of the window ss. It¡¯s hard to notice them if you don¡¯t pay special attention to it.

    The taxi stopped at a corner in the downtown area.

    Zhang Zian paid the fare and got off the cab with the kitten.

    ¡°The thing that gives me a headache is shopping,¡± he said to himself. ¡°She has set the meeting ce here, but it is better to look for a movie in the cinema, at least we don¡¯t need to talk.¡±

    The kitten knows why the butterfly elf chose here because she would look for a chance to take him into a jewelry store and rece the memory when Fina appeared.

    However, there is a problem here. Zhang Zian will not buy a diamond ring for a girl whom he had just met. Put aside first, the issue of whether he is willing or not. In normal people¡¯s view, this is mentally abnormal.

    So how will she deal with this problem?

    Ring Ring¡ª¡ª

    Zhang Zian¡¯s cell phone rang again.

    He took it out, and a look of distress and helplessness was all over his face.

    He didn¡¯t want to pick up the phone, but he had to pick it up.

    ¡°Hey? Boss, what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    In the face of the call from the boss of his startuppany, he did not dare to express dissatisfaction with being disturbed during the holidays. He even tried to create a positive and capable attitude, in the case at the next meeting the boss emphasized the collective sense of teamwork, and use him as a sort of bad case study for this.

    Is it because of the sudden receipt of orders that he had to end the holiday in advance?

    Overtime pay is estimated not to be given as well...

    ¡°What?¡±

    However, the boss brought a message that made him feel at a loss.

    ¡°... This is what¡¯s happening. That industry juggernaut judged that ourpany¡¯s products have great value and potential. They think that it is the next industry for growth and so they proposed an acquisition n. After I considered it, I decided to agree to it. Thepany¡¯s other big shareholders have also agreed, after all, such opportunities are hard toe by. The other party will carry out massyoffs next time because they are only looking at the product itself, so you don¡¯t have to go back to work after the holidays, and I don¡¯t think you will think of working here again... Yes, your options have been converted into cash on a pro-rata basis, and you have been entered into your bank ount. Thank you for your contribution to thepany and hope that we can work together next time. Goodbye.¡±

    Zhang Zian hasn¡¯t reacted to the news yet, and the boss has already hung up the phone. It is like a recording from beginning to end. He didn¡¯t even have time to ask.

    Just as he stared at the phone and tried to figure out the situation, he received another text message from the bank, reminding him that his ount had just received a remittance. It changed his bnce from five digits to eight digits¡ªNot counting the numbers after the decimal points.

    Seeing this string of numbers, the first thought in his mind is ¨C did the bank remit him the wrong amount of money? The bank¡¯s money can¡¯t be spent casually. He had heard that someone carelessly spent the bank¡¯s money and was eventually sent to prison.

    Then, his WeChat sounded, and there were strings of messages. All the former colleagues who had left the job because they couldn¡¯t stand the harshness of the boss, including colleagues who had not contacted him for a very long time, sent messages to him to ask if thepany was really sold. They also asked how much money he was allocated with, and some directly asked to borrow money. Some even half-jokingly ask him whether he stillcks a girlfriend and boyfriend...

    It seems that even when the holiday is over, he will not leave Binhai City.

 Chapter 1382: Fragile Agreement

    <h4>Chapter 1382: Fragile Agreement</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Meow meow meow!¡±

    Snowy Li struggled to bite off a piece of the bloody beef from arger piece of the raw calf. She chewed on it for a long time and swallowed it.

    ¡°This stinky man! Why don¡¯t you buy meat that has already been cut into pieces in advance? It¡¯s just a few dors more expensive. It¡¯s causing me to waste so much effort!¡±

    At least Snowy Li got to eat. The other elfins who needed to eat had been hungry for two days. They were not willing to drink blood like Snowy Li, and they were not willing to sneak out to eat ordinary cat food and dog food. Thus, they could only starve.

    This was the second day of Zhang Zian¡¯s sleep. The elfins¡¯ lives had be a mess. They usually only had to open their mouths when they were hungry. Now they had to wait on him instead.

    Affected by low air pressure, the weather was getting hotter and more humid. If one just slept peacefully, it was still fine, but Zhang Zian seemed to be struggling in his dreams. From time to time, he frowned, ground his teeth, and turned over, and his expression was very tense. His forehead was often sweaty.

    Yesterday, the elfins had noticed that his lips were dry and cracking. They tried to pour him a ss of water and then let Pi feed him, but because his mouth was shut tight, they spilled more than half a cup of water.

    At first, everyone tried to find a solution, but then they¡¯d all said what they wanted to say and tried everything. However, Zhang Zian never woke up. Richard even put a fart next to his nose, expecting to wake him up. s, this was still a failure.

    Gxy had been lying on the edge of the bed, sleeping like him, but it slept very quietly.

    The clerk took care of the cleaning on the first floor and did not notice any abnormalities, at least for the time being.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s cell phone rang several times. It was someone who wanted to discuss the countermeasures against the bug gue with him. Richard responded to both of them, disguising his voice.

    Grandma Gu also came to the door to find him. She spoke with the clerk only to find out that he¡¯d gone out. She left regretfully andined quietly about why Zhang Zian had chosen to go out suddenly and at this time.

    The elfins had finished all the countermeasures that they could think of, and then they went silent. They stayed quietly on the second floor, lying down or getting up and lying back down due to the anxiety in their hearts.

    When Zhang Zian was around, they were never so bored. He would bicker with Richard and Snowy Li for a while, and then he¡¯d boil water for Old Time Tea. After being instructed by Fina for a while, he would take time to y hide-and-seek with Gxy. In those rare moments when he got to sit down and take a break for a while, he sat at the desk to help Pi check for any typos and see if his sentences flowed...

    Famous and Sihwa were rtively satisfied with themselves and did not need him for muchpanionship. However, as Famous¡¯ manager, he had to deal with people in the film industry, reading the scripts they sent and the contracts for shooting. Sihwa had used his identity to sign up on the live broadcast tform, so he also had to discussmercial cooperation with the live broadcast tform, and he would report these to them.

    The only elfin that didn¡¯t need him to worry was dimir, though...

    On the windowsill, dimir, looking bored, suddenly stood up and said, ¡°What the hell! I know this gang is up to no good...¡±

    It looked back at Famous and changed its words. ¡°I know that this white dog can¡¯t be trusted! It¡¯s only been a few days, and it now wants to tear up the armistice agreement andunch an attack again!¡±

    The other elfins didn¡¯t know what was going on. They jumped on the windowsill and turned to look outside. They saw a white dog sneaking around the walls. It was wandering around the buildings, looking at the surrounding buildings as if looking for a pet shop.

    They didn¡¯t know the dog, but having heard dimir and Zhang Zian¡¯s talked about it, they guessed it was the elf opposing dimir.

    Stray dogs and stray cats have signed a temporary armistice agreement under the assistance of Zhang Zian, stating that before the problem of insect pests is resolved, stray dogs will not step into the coastal city again. However, the threat of insect pests still exists. Why then, Is iting here again?

    Old Time Tea advised, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it seems to be here alone. Listen to what it has to say and make a decisionter.¡±

    dimir saw that as well. The other party did not seem to want to fight. However, because Zhang Zian was asleep, he was worried that the white dog was very anxious to find someone to fight with so that he could vent his anger.

    ¡°What are you doing? Here to spy on our army?¡± he shouted from the window.

    Little White heard the sound and looked up. He said in a deep voice, ¡°I have something to say.¡±

    dimir saw that the other elfins had no objections, and he waved his paws. ¡°Thene up. I will not forgive you if you dare y any tricks!¡±

    Little White had quietly entered the city this time around. While people were busy dealing with caterpirs and could not bother with stray dogs, it hade alone to negotiate.

    It saw no one nearby. It first jumped on the roof of the Wuling Hong Guang MPV and then jumped onto the windowsill.

    Before it spoke, it looked through the room, and it couldn¡¯t help but feel a little stressed.

    It had thought that dimir was the only one up here. It hadn¡¯t expected that there were so many elfins in such a small house, and each elfin seemed difficult to get along with. The most troublesome of all was that a lot of them were cats...

    There was also a dog, but that dog obviously did not care much about Little White¡¯s appearance. It merely looked up and nced at him before looking down at Zhang Zian on the bed again with a concerned expression.

    ¡°If you want to break into our army and then divide us, then I advise you to dispel this thought,¡± dimir warned. ¡°We have allowed you to enter the house as a form of greatest goodwill. Let me first ask why you did notply with the armistice agreement and made unauthorized ess to Binhai City?¡±

    Little White snorted. ¡°I have not obeyed the armistice agreement? It is obvious that you are the ones that did not obey,¡± it replied. ¡°Did you not say that you woulde every day to count the garbage? Now, my brothers have been hungry for two days, so hungry that their eyes are red. I have tried my best to persuade them not to worry and that I wille to negotiate with you. Instead, you¡¯re saying that we have not abided by the agreement? You cannot smear others in such a manner!¡±

    The stray dogs had been in a bad situation for the past two days. They had been ustomed to getting clean dog food and chicken drumsticks. They¡¯d suddenly lost this food supply and could only go to the garbage dump to find food, causing great resistance and almost mutiny...

    This was the so-called insufficiency of strong-man leadership with a reward system. After all, they had followed Little White because he could provide them with good food and good water. This was unlike the stray cats, who were held together by amon belief.

    The stray dogs had tasted the sweetness of picking up waste. However, now, no one was helping to recycle the rubbish that they¡¯d been working hard on for two days. No matter how much they picked up, they could only head back to the garbage dump to fill their stomachs. Such differences in treatment. What dog could bear it?

 Chapter 1383: The Invasion of the Dream

    <h4>Chapter 1383: The Invasion of the Dream</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Little White¡¯s trip to the pet shop is thest resort. It even feels that it seemed to be trapped unconsciously by the whole situation. If the stray dogs did not choose to scavenge for recybles from the beginning but continue their previous way of life, the situation may not be so bad right now.

    However, it is toote to say all this. The stray dogs have be ustomed to the way of more work more food, less work less food. You work less, and you get lesser. They know that as long as they work hard, they will get to eat chicken drumsticks, but now they suddenly, in a matter of one night, they are returned to as they were before. Don¡¯t even talk about chicken drumsticks, no matter how much work orbor they put in, even dog food is unattainable now.

    Now, the weather is hot, and the food in the garbage dump is rancid and decays too fast. There are also poisonous sausages that kill dogs. In the past two days, several stray dogs have died because of poisoning or acute diarrhea.

    They endured a day of hunger yesterday, and today they found that no one came to give them food. The situation could no longer be controlled.

    Even if Little White¡¯s iron fist control over them is powerful, it is impossible to beat hundreds of dogs, so several of its loyalists stand on its side and help it to suppress the riots. However, this is not a long-term policy.

    Little White was forced toe to the pet store to check on the situation.

    It thought that this was the trap that Zhang Zian deliberately set. To do one thing and do another thing behind its back. The stray dogs are now used to living a good life, and then suddenly have it all turned against them as an attack against him. However, after arriving here, it found that this was not the case ¨C The elves were bitter and frowning, and the key figure, Zhang Zian, was still asleep. Even though it was arguing loudly with dimir, he still closed his eyes.

    ¡°So what is going on here?¡± it asked.

    dimir did not bother with it, so old-fashioned and kind-hearted Old Time Tea gave a rough brief of the situation to him.

    ¡°Do you understand? If it is not to help you, he may not be so unlucky!¡± dimir used him.

    Zhang Zian was trapped in a dream, and it couldn¡¯tpletely be separated from Little White. After all, he tried to help the stray dog ??to solve their drinking problems. He killed a lot of caterpirs, which may be one of the fuses of the situation.

    If it was in the past, Little White will definitely be rebellious and attack back, but it is in a very awkward situation. It is unable to fight for so many elves. There are a lot of stray dogs waiting for dog food back at home. Besides, it now knows that he has wronged Zhang Zian. Instead of setting a trap and causing harm, he got into trouble himself for helping the stray dogs. It silently endured the usation and asked, ¡°How long will he wake up?¡±

    No one knows the answer to this question.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s position in the pet shop is very low, but he is the link that connects all the elves. This is because the elves have only limited interaction with each other, and they all have their own pride and have their own territories. They are more respectful of each other, and they arepletely different in how they get along with Zhang Zian.

    Therefore, when he stopped working, much like a machine, the atmosphere between the elves became different.

    Old tea relies on its own high moral standards to step in and barely shoulders the leadership function, but it is far from being able to rece the existence of Zhang Zian.

    Famous stood up from the lying position and looked around at the elves. He said, ¡°I have been thinking for a long time. I think we must start thinking about the possibility that he may never wake up again.¡±

    In fact, the elves have asionally emerged from this possibility, but they have always avoided thinking deeply about it and are unwilling to ept it.

    ¡°Hey! I do not believe that! Silly people have always been lucky! This idiot has been stupid to the extreme, and he definitely will not sleep like this!¡±

    Richard, who was very bothered by the thought, suddenly jumped up, fluttering his wings, and fell to Zhang Zian¡¯s chest. He scratched him with his ws, poked him with his private parts, and tickled him with his wings... but no matter what it did, he continued sleeping.

    Now, they are feeding him water to maintain his life, but how long can people survive without eating food?

    In a few days, they will have to call the emergency number and take him to the hospital, but can the hospital resurrect him? If not... Who would be willing to pay for the medical expenses and apanying care fees?

    Richard experienced death before and never woke up after sleeping. He also almost experienced a second death, but it survived because Zhang Zian and the doctor stayed back and workedte to bring him back to life.

    Now, he is facing death, but it can¡¯t do anything.

    ¡°Hey! Why don¡¯t you go find a beauty, let her kiss him, perhaps then he will wake up immediately! All fairy tales are written like this. Why do we have to wait stupidly for him just to wake up?¡±

    Shihua shouted in the bathroom and suddenly sobbed. Everyone didn¡¯t know why she was crying because she always looked down on Zhang Zian. However, today, she stood up her fans and pushed away the already scheduled live broadcast. She also did not provide any exnations to the fans.

    ¡°Ha! All I want to do is to castrate him while he is still alive!¡± Snowy Li grinned.

    Fina squinted at the bed, lowered her head in a majestic manner, and screamed whilst looking at his face. ¡°Get up! Sit up! I have not allowed you to rest!¡±

    ¦Ð was in a corner curled up and buried his head in its arms, as if like a child abandoned.

    dimir clenched a front paw and cheered everyone up. ¡°Whatever we seek to do, we always believe in repaying goodness. We cannot let go of any enemy, and we can¡¯t abandon anyrade! This is not the time to give up. If we gave up, then there is really no hope!¡±

    Famous nodded. ¡°I agree, so I want to ask everyone, do you want him to wake up?¡±

    This question is really superfluous. The elves who are present, even including Little White, want to wake him up.

    Everyone looked at it inexplicably and waited for its exnation.

    ¡°I thought about it. We can¡¯t pin our hopes on Xinghai.¡± Famous looked at the sleeping Xinghai and remembered the encouragement of the Xinghai in his world. ¡°So, I want to use the power of everyone, and everyone enters his dream world together and brings him back safely!¡±

    It is no longer hesitant about its ability. Since it can create another Xinghai and send it into Zhang Zian¡¯s dream, why not send all the elves including himself into that world?

    Xinghai can break through the loopholes in the dream world, so if it shares this power with the others, he just might be able to expand the loophole further.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I can do it, but I want to try it,¡± Famous said firmly. ¡°But I want to remind you that this is likely to have huge risks. Once you die in the dream world, in the real world, your body may die along with it...¡±

    ¡°So what are you waiting for?¡± Fina interrupted it and proudly looked straight at it. ¡°Anyone who dares to betray me, I must personally punish this person. Even if in a dream!¡±

    ¡°Unity is power!¡± dimir clenched his fist with excitement: ¡°A dream is a dream, the world of dreams is undoubtedly the ideal world, and it will be crushed by the iron fist of materialism!¡±

    ¡°Hey!¡± ¦Ð patted his chest.

    ¡°Ya! I have long wanted to see this idiot¡¯s dream. In the end, which little goblin has charmed him? Then I will shower him in urine, telling him that men should be with men!¡± Richard cried.

    Old Time Tea smiled a little, ¡°Wandering the rivers andkes to recall the journey, for life and death are different. The old robes have long been made ancient; the old is old, and the dead are dead. I have long looked past being alive or dead, but if we can bring Zhang Zian back, what is the value of an old life like mine?¡±

    ¡°Good...¡± Famous nodded.

    ¡°Wait a minute! I have to go too!¡± Shihua called in the bathroom. ¡°I want to see it too. I don¡¯t believe that there is a fairy who is more beautiful than me!¡±

    When Famous asked Snowy Li of her decision with his eyes, thetter squinted and said, ¡°Hey, I don¡¯t want to enter the stinky man¡¯s dream, it must be very disgusting.¡±

    In other words, besides Snowy Li and the already sleeping Xinghai, everyone is willing to follow Famous to enter Zhang Zian¡¯s dream world, even if they have to risk their own lives.

    Little White sighed and knew that he should leave. Otherwise, if he doesn¡¯t leave, they will definitely not implement the n. After all, it is difficult to know if they are friends or foes, and even he cannot say if they are enemies or friends.

    It stared at dimir and said deeply, ¡°You know that peace is only temporary, and you and I will have a battle in the future.¡±

    dimir smiled contemptuously. ¡°Be reassured that I wille back because death is not certain!¡±

    ¡°Thank you, and good luck. It is best to bring him back alive.¡±

    Little White nced at Zhang Zian and, with that, jumped out of the window.

    It ran all the way back to the rubbish dump in the suburbs, and carefully avoided the few pedestrians and vehicles on the street, but repeatedly remembered the scene of the pet shop.

    It suddenly had a sense of curiosity that could not be curbed. The charm of the man named Zhang Zian, would make those elves so eager to bring him back to life?

    If he can, he really wants to know more about him.

    When he was resting on the way back, he went to a higher point and looked back at the pet shop that had disappeared into the night.

    Famous took turns to look into the eyes of each elf, and his pupils reflected in their eyes.

    This time, it is not necessary to enter the world in their minds. They do not need to understand their hearts in such aplicated way. It is only necessary to take a piece of their spirit and will and then send them to Zhang Zian¡¯s dream world.

    It is also a good thing to keep Snowy Li out in the real world. If not, who will take care of their bodies when they all go into sleep?

    Famous abandoned this distraction and concentrated on doing his thing.

    The enemy is indeed the master of dreams, but this does not mean that it is invincible.

    The elves, except Snowy Li, suddenly widened their eyes because they saw a strange scene ¨C the ck vortex that had appeared in Famous¡¯s pupils. It was constantly rotating.

    They instinctively want to remove their eyes, but they can¡¯t move, and the ck vortex seems to have strong suction.

    So sleepy...

    The uncontroble impulse to sleep ising.

    The elves, one by one,id down on the floor.

 Chapter 1384: Miscalculation

    <h4>Chapter 1384: Miscalction</h4>

    When Zhang Zian saw a group of people in front of him, he thought it was a car ident, but when he approached, he found that it was not that. There was a group of people who were watching Zhuang Xiaodie. There were not only locals but also foreign tourists.

    ¡°Wow! Amazing!¡±

    ¡°So beautiful!¡±

    Some foreign tourists also asked the people next to them and asked if the girl was wearing a kimono. They were immediately corrected and told that it was a traditional Chinese costume.

    Some onlookers are disgusted with the dress and especially dislike the idea of walking around in traditional outfits. This is because they feel that they are sensational pieces worn to garner attention deliberately, but the dresses are not pleasing to the eye. However, in this case, out of national pride, they are still very happy to see the expression of foreigners.

    Most people don¡¯t know how to describe the dress in English. They simply to say that this is a ¡°Chinese princess suit.¡± This made the foreigners even more astonished when they heard this, and they pick up their mobile phone cameras to take pictures of Zhuang Xiaodie.

    Everyone whispered about her, with some specting that this may be cosy. Some guessed that it might be the activities of the traditional costumemunity, and some guessed it might be a forfeit she is doing...

    The clothes are gorgeous, and the person is even more morous. Just in time, it is the Golden Week holiday, and the number of onlookers gathering here got more and more.

    Even the police came by because traffic jams have formed.

    The police saw this scene and got a headache. People were just standing around here, doing nothing. How can they force people away? It is really a puzzling thing for them to do.

    Therefore, the police can only use soft persuasion and persuade her to leave. They also persuaded the onlookers to leave, or at least not to hinder traffic.

    Zhuang Xiaodie, who is in the center of the spotlight, is indifferent and unmoved by the attention. Her eyes, bright like crystals, did not move one bit. No one can quite make out what she is thinking.

    ¡°You came.¡±

    Zhang Zian just approached her, but she turned her head like a sensor, staring at his face.

    The onlooker¡¯s gaze instantly shifted to him. This makes it seem almost three degrees hotter than the autumn sun, and sweat appeared across his forehead.

    ¡°Comrade, are you her boyfriend?¡± The police came over. ¡°I¡¯ve waited for you toe. You should do what you should do, don¡¯t stay here, even the car can¡¯t move...¡±

    ¡°About this...¡±

    Zhang Zian is also very embarrassed, but now the most important thing is to leave here first. He waved and greeted Zhuang Xiaodie. ¡°Let¡¯s find a ce to sit down.¡±

    Zhuang Xiaodie smiled slightly, but when she noticed the ck and white kitten behind him, her face turned serious.

    ¡°What is the cat doing here?¡± she said.

    ¡°Oh, I picked it up on the way here. I was going to see if anyone would like to adopt it. However, it always followed me,¡± he exined.

    Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s eyebrows tightened. ¡°I hate cats.¡±

    ¡°Uh...¡±

    Zhang Zian found it quite unexpected because most girls usually like cats. Even if they don¡¯t like it, they can¡¯t say that they hate cats. However, she did nothing to hide her dislike of cats.

    Except for money, I am afraid that there is nothing that everyone will like.

    Some people like to hate people for no reason. It seems that hate does not need a reason, much like love.

    The police are urging the two of them to leave quickly, and they can find a ce to talk slowly. Just don¡¯t stand here and block traffic.

    ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t know you hate cats.¡± He apologized first, then smiled and said, ¡°But it has alreadye with me, and I can¡¯t send it back. That will waste a lot of time, won¡¯t it? This kitten is very well trained, and it will not disturb you. Just let it follow behind. It will not affect our shopping.¡±

    He has discovered that this ck and white kitten is more afraid of people and always hiding. It may not want to enter the pet shop with him because of this reason.

    He waited for her reply, what if she insisted not to go shopping with this cat?

    It¡¯s impossible to send it back, and it¡¯s impossible to leave it here ¨C if she insists that he must throw it away to continue to get along... then there is no need to continue to get along.

    If she is allergic to cats, it may be justifiable, but if she only hates cats, and she asks someone she barely known to abandon a kitten, that will be forcing him to do something he does not enjoy.

    Zhang Zian is also principled. He will not give in to her because she is rich. Otherwise, even if she bes his girlfriend, what should he do after she asks for more excessive demands?

    For example, what if she is not willing to get along with his parents because she hates cats? After all, his parents have looked after cats and dogs for half their lifetime. Even if they don¡¯t open a pet store in the future, he is afraid that they will notpletely give up their pets.

    Yes, after getting that unexpected windfall, he is already considering whether to persuade his parents to retire ¨C they have been working all day long. Even if the 996 work system is good, there is still a weekend to rest. However, they have never rested and worked too hard all year round.

    ¡°Are the two of you quarreling?¡±

    ¡°Is it a possible showdown between both of you?¡±

    The onlookers saw that the atmosphere between the two of them was not right, and the interest in what is happening was even stronger.

    Some people also advised Zhang Zian, isn¡¯t it merely a cat? Is it important to get a girlfriend or a cat? It¡¯s not a choice between your mom and a girlfriend who fell into the sea...

    Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s gaze swept across his face. Although he smiled when he spoke, the smile was obviously a polite one, and further pressure could lead to unexpected results.

    She nced at the Longfeng jewelry store, not far away. The jewelry store must not allow pets to enter. Even if the cat followed him, it should not be a problem.

    ¡°Okay, but this is an exception ¡ª no more in the future. Also, you must look after it, don¡¯t let ite close to me,¡± she said.

    Her heart is far less calm than on the surface ¨C on the contrary, her heart is like being thrown a huge stone, causing tons of waves and ripples. This is because she knows that this cat should not be able to enter the dream world. She knows this by reading Zhang Zian Memory. It simply does not have this ability.

    So how did ite in?

    Where is the loophole in the dream?

    She is thinking hard.

    Because of the first vulnerability, there may be a second one. She must secure the world to prevent further expansion of the vulnerability.

    She thought about it and decided to send thousands of butterflies to visit every corner of the dream, but she could not find the answer.

    Despite this, she is not in a big mess, because she has sufficient confidence in her own strength. She is the master of dreams, and here is her home ground. In addition, this cat is not here in its actual body, and its power has been weakened by a lot. It is at least not as powerful as in the real world.

    She had a good n before this. Zhang Zian wouldn¡¯t buy jewelry for a girl whom he just met, but she should be able to persuade him to buy a pair of jewel-like amulets for his parents. She knew he bought some in Egypt. If he buys some in 18k gold, he will be more willing to buy them for his parents.

    If it was before, he would be more careful about buying things for his parents. This is because his parents are likely to feel bad about the money he sent and ask him to pawn the jewelry. However, now that he had a sudden pot of gold, this concern is greatly reduced.

    In any case, as long as it can rece the memory associated with that golden cat...

    Oh?

    Zhang Zian raised his arm and stopped her.

    ¡°Wait a minute... there is a cat upfront...¡±

 Chapter 1385: Besieged From All Sides

    <h4>Chapter 1385: Besieged From All Sides</h4>

    There are stray cats in the city, and it is not umon in the streets of the downtown areas. Stray cats don¡¯t care whether you are on the street or in the streets.

    Zhuang Xiaodie heard that there was also a cat upfront and thought that it was just an ordinary stray cat. She casually looked at it but saw a golden cat sitting on the counter in the Longfeng jewelry store.

    It seems to have fallen from the ceiling vents and adjusted itself whilst in the air. It fell onto the counter without hesitation, and a pair of college students who were choosing rings was shocked, thinking that they had been robbed.

    ¡°That scared me! Where are the catsing from?¡± The girl was stunned and patted her chest.

    The boy looked up andforted, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. It may be that this orange cat stepped on the vent, and it copsed... I think this ring is good. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Me dear, don¡¯t talk when you can¡¯t tell the difference between colors...¡± The girl saw the cat seemed to have changed its look, and it was somewhat elongated. She hurriedly advised her boyfriend.

    Before she finished her sentence, the mobile phone in the boyfriend¡¯s hand was pushed away. It hit the wall and fell to the tiled floor, and the entire screen was broken, resembling a spider web.

    ¡°My new mobile phone! I just paid two weeks of sry on it!¡± The boy hit his chest,

    and his heart was broken. His phone was picked up distressedly, but the cat had a nonchnt look, as if this had nothing to do with it and that it had done nothing wrong.

    ¡°What is wrong with your cat? It broke the screen of my mobile phone, and you have to pay for it!¡± The boyfriend rushed to the store staff angrily.

    ¡°But...but this cat is not from our store, we don¡¯t know where it came from...¡± The clerk rushed to rify the store¡¯s responsibility.

    The girls also helped her boyfriend and went forward to quarrel with the clerk. However, no one noticed that the cat, the culprit in this matter, had already swayed out of the store, and was staring at Zhang Zian and Zhuang Xiaodie.

    Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s face changed dramatically. She knew that this cat was not to be provoked. The key point was that it wouldn¡¯t even listen to Zhang Zian¡¯s words. It would not follow the ck and white kitten and follow obediently at the back. Maybe it would rush straight up and tear her clothes up with her ws. That will be such an ugly sight...

    ¡°Go.¡± She couldn¡¯t care about her appearance anymore, and grabbed Zhang Zian¡¯s wrist, and brought him into an alley.

    ¡°Wait, that cat...¡±

    Zhang Zian feels that the rare golden cat is very familiar, not only the shape is familiar, but the key is that its eyes are familiar. It was full of contempt... The most terrible thing is that these contemptuous and disdainful eyes seem to make him want to obey them. Is he unconsciously awakened to his Masochistic desires?

    ¡°I said, I hate cats!¡±

    In desperation, the image of the intellectual woman deliberately created by Zhuang Xiaodie copsed. She did not know what went wrong. How did the elves break through the barrier of dreams?

    She can sneak into Zhang Zian¡¯s dream, connect with his dreams, and guide his dream process because she has this ability, but what did those elves that came in based their abilities on?

    ¡°Wait a minute, where are you going?¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help but look back and see that the golden cat was slowlying over with a calmness of prey that could not escape from the palm of its hand.

    ¡°In short, let¡¯s find a ce without cats,¡± she replied casually.

    In her rush to get away, there are scattered spots, that are difficult for ordinary people to notice, flowing out of her pair of colored sleeves. After drifting away for a while, they will be a vivid butterfly in a hidden ce. The pheromone passes her will to the butterfly and moth army distributed throughout the city.

    This is Zhang Zian¡¯s rational dream. The butterflies and moths in the dreams must also abide by the same Basic Law. They can¡¯t know what she is doing, and they must use the pheromones to transmit information, much like the real world.

    She wants to order them to detect if there are other signs of elves. Once the elves are found, she will pull him away to avoid the ce.

    However, the ideal world is wide, but a realistic world is much secure and small. With the ck and white kitten always behind them, once the tiny spores are shaped into butterflies, they will immediately be caught by it, and once again be more fine and unformed spots. This seriously interfered with hermunication.

    The ck and white kitten jumping up and down is very attractive, and the process of turning butterflies into light spots after catching butterflies has been witnessed by many people. Some good people can¡¯t help but follow it and take pictures with their mobile phones.

    Seeing this scene, Zhang Zian¡¯s heart had two opposite emotions ¨C a sense of reassurance but also a sense of worry ¨C the former is because it proves that his brain is working alright and that he does not see a butterfly emerge from a light spot. Thetter is because he knows that this ck and white kitten is very afraid of people and does not like being surrounded.

    ¡°Have you seen it? It¡¯s such a weird thing!¡± He turned back excitedly. ¡°What is going on? Why is a good butterfly turning into a light spot?¡±

    Zhuang Xiaodie didn¡¯t want to pick up on this conversation. She pulled Zhang Zian to walk faster and wanted to get rid of the two cats. The hateful thing is that it is difficult to get a car in the downtown area during the Golden Week. Otherwise...

    Suddenly, there was an opposite force pulling Zhang Zian¡¯s other arm, and it almost made her fall as well.

    ¡°You... I said, I hate cats!¡±

    She turned back and red, but the so-called perfect woman, even when angry, do have an intoxicating charm.

    ¡°What the hell are you afraid of?¡±

    He asked in a positive manner.

    ¡°I am not afraid!¡± She seemed to have her tail stepped by something and almost jumped up.

    ¡°Why is your hand cold and sweaty, and shaking?¡± He looked down and stared at her slightly trembling hands, and her palms are cold.

    ¡°What...¡±

    She subconsciously pulled back her palm and saw that her hands were indeed shaking.

    She has never admitted that she is afraid. She always believes that she has absolute dominance over her dreams. Now, regardless of her acknowledgment, her subconscious mind has already begun to panic.

    ¡°I always wanted to ask, what is your rtionship with Auntie Liu Wei? How did she know you?¡± He did not give her time to think but asked immediately.

    It stands to reason that although the princess can have at will any kind of rtionship they want, though any social ss difference is still obvious. It can easily be seen with a discerning eye. Auntie Liu Wei is just a simple citizen who opens aundry shop. How can she possibly find such a qualitydy for a blind date?

    Even if Auntie Liu Wei met Zhuang Xiaodie for some unknown reason, Auntie Liu Wei is a very snobbish person. She has a saying in her heart; If Zhuang Xiaodie is ced at one end of the spectrum, it is absolutely impossible to put Zhang Zian on even the other end. Even a simple try is also not possible because she would be afraid to offend the nobles.

    ¡°...It is not suitable for this now.¡± Zhuang Xiaodie took a deep breath and sighed to calm herself.

    ¡°Why not suitable?¡± Zhang Zian looked around. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we try to know each other better? I think it¡¯s quite suitable.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s better to find a ce to sit down and talk...¡± She took a dying tactic.

    She didn¡¯t expect him to agree. ¡°Oh! What about a movie?¡±

    He pointed to the giant poster next to him ¨C the winner of the Berlin Film Festival! The highly anticipated Dog Warrior is now in cinemas!

 Chapter 1386: Real Name

    <h4>Chapter 1386: Real Name</h4>

    ¡°Watch a movie...¡±

    There being a movie theater in the downtown area is very normal, and it is not something out of the blue.

    Zhuang Xiaodie felt that watching a movie was a good choice, but when she turned around, she came face to face with that pair of fierce ckcquered pupils.

    In the raining background of the poster, a majestic and powerful German Shepherd stared at the front, as if staring straight at her.

    Intriguing ¨C the word is not a simple adjective. She really thinks that the pupils in the poster have a kind of suction power, much like a whirlpool. It was like sucking her into a bottomless abyss.

    She is keenly aware that the end of the abyss seems to be another world, simr to dreams, but not the same.

    She sneaked into the dreams of others and controlled them subtly by quietly guiding the process of their dreams. However, in that abyss... it was as if it wanted to suck in a part of her consciousness. What would happen afterward, she would not know.

    ¡°Look at the introduction. This is a dog-oriented movie. You possibly do not hate dogs too. Even if you hate them, it is not actual contact with you. There are many people who buy tickets for the show, so this film is probably quite good. Would you like to go in and see?¡± he asked.

    German Shepherds all look almost the same, but she is almost certain that she has seen this particr German Shepherd somewhere ¨C not only it, but also the names of the directors, producers, and dramatists on the poster.

    As well as...

    ¡°Do not look!¡±

    She took a step and blocked his sight by standing in front of him ¨C this action was not suitable for a girl wearing a gorgeous traditional costume, because the tight cloth around her waist made a ton of squeaky noises as she took that big step, making her lose the grace of ady. The goal of restricting big movements is to remind the wearer of how to properly advance and to retreat from other things.

    s, it was toote. He has seen a part of it.

    Leading starring: Lightning (Fama...)

    He had not finished seeing it when the poster was blocked by her. Theplete one should be ¨C (Fei Ma X)

    In addition...

    The drama crews upy only a very small corner on the huge poster. These behind-the-scenes heroes have contributed a lot to the sess of a movie. They are no less than starring actors, producers, and directors. They should never upy only a small space.

    The space they upy is not only small, but the words are even smaller. In these inconspicuous small words, he seems to see a line that does not appear in other movies ¨C the chief dog trainer: Zhang Zi...

    He didn¡¯t have time to see it clearly.

    And thest few lines...

    Special thanks:

    Coastal city government

    Binhai City Police Dog Brigade

    Binhai Film City

    Binhai City Spec...

    He did not have enough time to finish up thest portions.

    In general, the names of these behind-the-scenes heroes, organizations, and individuals who have helped the filming will not appear in the posters but will usually sh through on the final scrolling subtitles of the movie.

    However, it may be because this is a film shot in Binhai City and starring a dog from Binhai City. This increased the reputation of Binhai City and is a film closely tied with Binhai. Thus, the poster would have these words added.

    So, what are the words that he did not read clearly? What is it?

    Zhuang Xiaodie never imagined that of all the things that could go wrong, Murphy¡¯s Law decided to strike here. This is by far the biggest loophole, and it is even more serious than the consequences of ck and white kittens and golden cats.

    This is a loophole that almost could make a hole in the sky!

    As far as she knows, Zhang Zian never wrote the real names and nicknames of the elves down. Even if the monkey wrote in the book, it was a modified fake real name and a fake nickname, so she was very reassured in this regard.

    She blocked the rted memories of the elves and reced them step by step. Even if Zhang Zian saw the yellow cat hair, and saw someone on the street holding a German Shepherd dog and seeing other ck and white kittens, he will merely feel a sense of familiarity ¨C This feeling is entirely normal, after all, cats and dogs are simr in shape and color. How can theypare with butterflies and moths that vary a lot more in color?

    But...

    The name, which is of great significance to him and the elves, is at the heart of the game. He thought about their names hard in order to know a lot more about their histories... this is especially true for Famous. The importance of its name cannot be emphasized.

    This poster reveals three key names at a time ¨C Famous, Zhang Zian, Amazing Fate Pet Shop, and a bunch of less critical but important names!

    Those names, whether they were the ones who had had a conflict with Zhang Zian or who had a good rtionship with the crew or the names of the police dogs borrowed from the police dog brigade, were with him during the filming.

    This mistake was not made by Zhuang Xiaodie. When she guided him through his dreams, she added going to the cinema to watch a show as one of the options. After all, the cinema is also one of the preferred ces for dating and dating parties.

    However, even if she is somewhat stupid, she will not be that stupid to arrange for it to be ¡°Dog Warrior¡± that is released at this time. She clearly would have arranged a series of sweet and cringy romance films. It is not possible that she will choose such an exciting and adventurous feature film.

    So how did this movie appear here?

    How did this poster appear here?

    This is not as simple as the Elves appearing from the sky. The elves appearing by their own ord is fine. However, for the posters to be quietly reced, this means that the dream she built is quietly being modified!

    Although this is only a very small part of a huge dream, she can confirm that an elf has the ability to modify dreams to a certain extent!

    Which... is this elf?

    She racked her brains and searched through Zhang Zian¡¯s memory, but no one in his memory possessed this ability... To say that he has the ability to hide his memory; she does not believe so. If there is such a skill, from the very beginning, he would not be so confused by her.

    ...

    Real world.

    The second floor of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

    After the elves fell asleep, they were quietly lying down in their respective spots.

    Once Snowy Li confirmed that everyone was asleep, she creepily used her ws and reached out to touch Fina¡¯s chest...

    ¡°Meow Meow Meow! What on Earth! No wonder you asked to stay outside. This time I can finally see why! In fact, you are also very curious about what the dream world is like, but the real world has a bigger reward for you...¡±

    Humph!

    Snowy Li was shocked. She quickly took back her paws and turned her head. It was Famous who slept very painfully like Zhang Zian. He suddenly turned over and barked a few times. It seemed likely to wake up at any time.

    ¡°What the hell? These stinky men are all not good things. They keep on wanting to disturb me...¡± Snowy Li snarled.

    Famous¡¯ eyes are closed, but unlike other elves, it is in a wonderful half-awake, half-asleep state of mind.

    In this state, knowing that you are in a dream, but not waking up easily, some people im that through persistent training, you can try to guide the direction of the dream, and even extend the duration of the dream.

    People have given this state the same wonderful name, called Qingming Dream.

 Chapter 1387: Dream Butterfly

    <h4>Chapter 1387: Dream Butterfly</h4>

    Famous sent the elfins to Zhang Zian¡¯s dream, but he did not enter it¡ªor he entered, but he did not appear in it physically.

    Famous was invisible and floated in the sky above Binhai City, surrounded by butterflies and moths that covered the sky. It was like a stealth camera that could go high up into the sky or view the dream from a third-person perspective.

    This was the first time it had sessfully had a Qingming dream, and it was not its own dream. Everything around it was very novel.

    It was shocked by the grandeur and perfection of the dream. If it had not known in advance that this was a dream, it might really have thought that this was the realm of God.

    It wanted to fly¡ªthe higher the better. So it flew high up into the sky. Binhai City was rapidly shrinking at its feet, and even the infinite sea was not much different from a bathtub. The foamy waves were like thece found on princess dresses.

    It passed through the clouds, and the sky became a deep blue. The sun was particrly ring, but the thin air up high did not affect its breathing.

    The earth became a sphere.

    It wanted tond, so it elerated. The speed of its descent frightened it and even made it want to wake up from the dream.

    No matter where it wanted to go, it could do so in the blink of an eye.

    A normal dream was fragmented and incoherent, but this dream world had been built by the butterfly elfin. It was beyond imagination and urately removed the existence of the elfins, winning Famous¡¯ admiration for its work. It knew the difficulty in engineering such a world.

    In contrast, its mind had not changed anything in the world. It had simply added its own existence.

    This project had not beenpleted by the butterfly elfin alone¡ªit was a dream that she had woven together with thousands of butterflies and moths. The butterflies and moths that had been born in the real city of Binhai but died because of Zhang Zian¡¯s intervention all appeared in this dream world in their most beautiful forms.

    Famous could feel their desire for survival, and the group wisdom of countless butterflies and moths seemed to be telling.

    The feeling of a Qingming dream was so wonderful. No wonder many people tried to guide dreams. Even if they ruined real life and work in the process because things in real life were even more unpleasant, they would continue to do so, as they could do whatever they wanted in their dreams. Even if Famous was just trying to understand the Qingming dream, he could truly understand this feeling they had.

    It wanted to experience more, but there was not enough time. It had to find Zhang Zian as soon as possible and try to wake him up.

    Zhang Zian had clearly warned it against falling too deeply into a Qingming dream. The dream was often too good, and it would be easy to be disappointed with reality. However, now he himself...

    Compared to anger, sadness, and remorse, Famous was more indignant about things as they stood. He thought that it was unfair. Life at the pet shop was so interesting and never boring. It did not believe or want to believe that Zhang Zian was desperate enough to fall into and stay in a dream because he was disappointed with reality.

    When it thought about it, it appeared in the sky above the downtown area and found Zhang Zian and a woman who was morous and irresistible by human standards.

    Gxy was trying hard to catch butterflies in a little ce farther off. It had worked very hard, but Famous could clearly see hundreds of millions of butterflies and moths hanging over the city of Binhai, being hatched in the form of light spots. Once they all hatched... Maybe no one would be able to stop the butterfly elfin. She would be the god of this world.

    The world was too real. The butterfly elfins excluded the existence of other elfins and games, but they subtly preserved the power of faith. Only she had the power of faith. All the butterflies and moths that had died in the real world would be for her. A powerful arm controlling the world.

    Therefore, Famous must wake Zhang Zian up as soon as possible. Otherwise, he would be...a skin sac, like a caterpir, who would consume nutrients with his dreams. When he ran out of energy, he would be nothing but a dry, empty shell. From his dreams, he¡¯d hatched a butterfly with unprecedented power.

    What would this butterfly do next?

    Zhang Zian was the pioneer of the fight against insects, but almost everyone in Binhai City was involved. Would she make all the citizens of Binhai City involuntarily fall asleep because of revenge?

    When her strength was further enhanced, would people in the rest of the country and even the world fall asleep?

    Almost everyone had a past that they couldn¡¯t bear to let go of. There would always be a time when a person would be dissatisfied with reality. She could fully take advantage of this weakness in humanity and gain a lot from it.

    Famous was not sure about her ultimate purpose. It didn¡¯t have time to think about it now. It couldn¡¯t manage that much. It just wanted to awaken Zhang Zian and cut off her source of strength. Maybe doing so would stop her.

    Famous saw Zhang Zian and the butterfly elfin walking toward the cinema. He tried to use this rare opportunity to change the content of the poster and rece it with a poster that he had seen in the real world. Perhaps he could use this to stimte Zhang Zian¡¯s locked memories.

    Then... It was toote to wait to see the effect, as it had to quickly evade the overwhelming light spots. They were like the early warning system of the dream world. Once an unexpected change urred in a certain ce, they swarmed toward it and tried to expel it from the dream.

    Famous¡¯ efforts were not in vain. Although Zhuang Xiaodie blocked the poster, if Zhang Zian was not suspicious at all by this time, then he really must be a fool.

    ¡°Famo...¡± he muttered. ¡°Is it a Famosa? No, there should be another sybus in the back. No one would give a dog a meaningless name like ¡®Famo.¡¯ That sounds like some random English word. Famo...¡±

    Because of anger and despair, Zhuang Xiaodie was shaking all over. With such arge loophole, Zhang Zian, who was, by now, very skeptical, could no longer be at her mercy.

    Zhang Zian circumvented her and walked to her side to see the poster behind her.

    But unfortunately, in the small areas of the poster that he had not seen before, the text above had been blurred by the infiltration of water.

    He looked up and saw a leak at the top of the poster.

    A coincidence?

    He tried to think. When he¡¯d first seen the poster, it had seemed to be intact. Just as she had moved forward to block him, the top portion had coincidentally leaked water. This...

    It should apply in this context that there had been a deliberate attempt to cover something up.

    She bit her lower lip, stayed silent, and did not argue her point. Her face was full of unwillingness and humiliation. She knew that he was very clever and flexible in his thinking. The most important thing was that luck was on his side. Otherwise, it would¡¯ve been impossible for him to collect so many strong elfins.

    What would he do next?

    She was as uneasy as a suspect on the stand.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go. Since you don¡¯t like it, then let¡¯s not watch a movie. Let¡¯s go somewhere else.¡±

    To her surprise, he was not angry, not anxious, and not tearing his hair out painfully because some of his memories were masked. Instead, he offered her an invitation in a calm and peaceful manner.

    She looked up, and he looked at her calmly. He also offered her his hand.

 Chapter 1388: Where Did This Self-Confidence Come From

    <h4>Chapter 1388: Where Did This Self-Confidence Come From</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Where are we heading?¡±

    Zhuang Xiaodie stared at his hands. This was the first time he had taken the initiative to reach out to her. They were like a pair of ordinary people on a blind date, from being acquaintances to mutual attraction.

    ¡°I can hear from your ent that you are not a native of Binhai City,¡± he said. ¡°Come. I will take you to visit Binhai City.¡±

    What was up with him? Was he really so obsessed with her? Would he rather give up the huge doubts he had and get along with her?

    This...was not impossible.

    People had seven emotions and six desires, and even a strong mind would be weak at some moments. Even heroes who supported the skies might also be addicted to the gentle touch of ady.

    Computer games were also virtual worlds. How many people knew that they are not real but were still addicted to them? Also, her dream world was iparable toputer games.

    She could not help but reach out and take his hand.

    He seemed to walk aimlessly, and he enthusiastically introduced the various attractions in Binhai City, as well as famous restaurants. He was really like an ordinary man shopping with his girlfriend.

    They walked through the streets, not only the lively streets but also the remotenes to feel the old vibes of the city.

    Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s appearance and clothing were too eye-catching, and his seemed...rather sloppy. The two of them, in this world that was very close to the real world, naturally attracted the stares of those who did not care about them being together.

    The sea breeze was getting stronger and stronger. They had left the downtown area and walked back to the edge of Dongcheng District. In order to cut down on unnecessary traveling, they walked through a run-downne.

    Zhuang Xiaodie couldn¡¯t help but nce behind her to look not at the ck-and-white kitten that followed him, but at the few young men who had been following them from the beginning.

    The butterflies and moths had already told her about this, but Zhang Zian was ignorant and had been talking fervently about thend.

    If it hadn¡¯t been for the ck-and-white kitten blocking this information, she could have known this earlier. When they¡¯d had the thoughts of robbing them, she would have let them cross the road and get hit by trucks. Unfortunately, they were very close when she finally received the message.

    Zhuang Xiaodie was certainly not afraid of them. As long as she was willing, she could make the gas pipeline under the road suddenly explode. She could make the poles on both sides of the road fall, so as to block their path or kill them all with her thoughts. s, doing this in front of Zhang Zian would undoubtedly increase his suspicion, and...destroy the lively atmosphere.

    If she was leading the way, she could choose other ways to get around them, but he had been walking by her side and pulling her, not allowing her to choose which way to go.

    Zhang Zian talked about the past of Binhai City, but she had already known about this from his memory. However, she didn¡¯t know why, but listening to him telling her about it felt very different from reading his memory directly.

    Finally, she decided to choose a rtively peaceful means to settle the issue. She made the nearby police officers receive a phone call from an anonymous caller, saying that someone was robbing people on the road and asking them toe over as soon as possible.

    ¡°Stop!¡±

    One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

    The seven young men who had hair dyed in different colors and looked very much like gangsters, suddenly appeared, blocking the front and back of the alley. Seven pairs of fascinated eyes stared at Zhuang Xiaodie and could not help but look her up and down.

    ¡°Hi!¡±

    Zhang Zian actually raised his hand and said hello to them.

    ¡°I seem to have seen you somewhere, but I¡¯ve forgotten where.¡± Heughed as if he were being very funny. ¡°Can you introduce yourselves?¡±

    The seven young men looked at him like he was a fool.

    Even if he didn¡¯t havemon sense, couldn¡¯t he read the atmosphere? Why had they dyed their hair? To tell to dogs that they were dangerous?

    This person... Was he a psychotic individual?

    Instead, it was their turn to feel fear in their seven hearts. They had heard that psychotic individuals killing other people was not considered a crime. It did not count as murder.

    ¡°Hey you, if you know what¡¯s good for you, go take a walk. We want to y with thisdy over here,¡± the one with the red hair said, jumping out.

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°I am sorry. She does not want to y with you, so please leave.¡±

    ¡°Oh, how do you know that she doesn¡¯t want to y with us?¡± said the one with yellow hair behind him. ¡°Maybe she would be very happy to do so!¡±

    Zhuang Xiaodie stood by and watched. She wouldn¡¯t know what Zhang Zian was thinking. Was he counting on the ck-and-white kitten behind him? She was afraid he would be disappointed because the kitten was being suppressed by her strength. Perhaps it may have some power remaining or some additional abilities, but it was impossible for it to have the ability to change the future as in the real world.

    Zhang Zian still shook his head. ¡°Even if she agrees, I don¡¯t. Because I am currently her boyfriend, of course, I can decide for her.¡±

    Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s hand trembled, and her mood, which had just calmed, was disturbed again.

    Was he serious...? Was he deliberately doing this to enrage them?

    She was confused and did not know how to describe her mood at this time. She had never had such feelings.

    Perhaps he felt her trembling. He turned back andforted her. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. It is nothing more than a few small thugs who don¡¯t know what they¡¯ve gotten themselves into. The security of Binhai City still needs to be strengthened.¡±

    The words he said made them feel insulted instantly.

    ¡°Your boy is looking for death!¡±

    ¡°Beat him!¡±

    ¡°Cripple him!¡±

    They¡¯d hung around today from a distance, smitten with Zhuang Xiaodie. They had immediately been fascinated by her and followed without thinking. As they had not prepared in advance, they were all unarmed. Carrying arms would make them easily spotted and reported to the police. However, even though they were unarmed, there were seven of them and one of him. Wasn¡¯t it clear that they had the upper hand?

    ¡°You...¡±

    Zhuang Xiaodie was anxious because it was not convenient for her to make coincidences happen in front of him, and the police had not arrived. They should deliberately stall for time, but he had deliberately angered them. Had he done this to force her to interfere?

    If she didn¡¯t do so, he would definitely be beaten until he was miserable.

    He let go of her hand, pushed her to the side, waved his arms and legs, stretched his muscles, and smiled. ¡°Although I don¡¯t know why, my heart is full of confidence. I feel like they are seven weaklings.¡±

    He didn¡¯t have memories of the daily business of the pet shop. However, when there were pets in his hands, he worked naturally andpleted his tasks with them at lighting speed. Even his parents, who had been in the pet industry for many years, were amazed.

    In the same way, his physical strength was very poor, and he could be very tired from climbing a mountain. He also had no memories of learning self-defense, but...

    The memory in one¡¯s mind may disappear, but the memory of the body, or the conditioning that was formed by long-term training, was not so easy to forget.

 Chapter 1389: One Punch One Cry

    <h4>Chapter 1389: One Punch One Cry</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhuang Xiaodie learned from Zhang Zian¡¯s memory that he had practiced a few self-defense techniques with the tea-colored cat. However, she only briefly browsed and blocked these memories, as they were rted to the elfins. She gave them no further thought. She looked down on this so-called kung fu; she thought it was nothing more than a way of exercising, simr to the gymnastics exercises on TV. Besides, she also felt that the elfin called Old Time Tea was the most overrated one among them.

    Under her horrified gaze, Zhang Zian took two steps forward and smiled at them while she moved her hands and feet. ¡°What? Are you alling together, or one at a time? In other words, is it a one-versus-one fight or a free-for-all?¡±

    ¡°Yah!¡±

    The red hair spat on the ground. He was cautious about how to proceed but was nevertheless inclined to. This was because Zhang Zian was too calm. He was not sure whether the guy was really psychotic or had a hidden trump card.

    ¡°We are seven heroes of the sea, and we all fight together. Even if we fight one thousand opponents, we also do it together!¡± The red- and yellow-hair guys were on the same page and unwilling to jump ship as of now.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t say anything. This time it was not an illusion. This sentence was very familiar!

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    The red-haired guy rushed over and cranked back his fist to hit Zhang Zian¡¯s face.

    In Zhang Zian¡¯s opinion, all of the red-haired guy¡¯s movements were wed, and his form was also ridiculous. In addition, he was thin. A master fighter could easily strike him down. Even an ordinary adult man needed not be afraid of him. It was unlikely that he would prevail in any fight. However, when ordinary people encountered this kind of situation, they often did not fight first and only thought of running away. In addition, his sixpanions were waiting for the opportunity to move, but they were also unable to focus on the red-haired dude¡¯s movement.

    When the red-haired dude¡¯s fist was close, Zhang Zian simply moved to the side, dodged his fist, and used his foot to strike his calf. He had already seen that the red-haired guy was vain and only focused on building his upper body. He was merely using his arm to generate the force and not his entire body.

    The red-haired dude didn¡¯t pay attention to his foot at all, and the force was too strong. In the next moment, he¡¯d already been beaten to a pulp and fell heavily on the ground. When he fell, he saw stars, and his whole body was in severe pain. He couldn¡¯t stand up.

    ¡°So now... Are you the Six Immortals of Binhai?¡± Zhang Zian looked at the remaining six.

    The remaining six people saw the red-haired dude¡¯s defeat. They became more vignt and learned from the mistakes of the red-haired dude. They gave each other looks, shouted, and scattered. They evenly surrounded Zhang Zian, each person about three meters apart. They slowly approached.

    Zhang Zian certainly couldn¡¯t wait for them to get close to him. By that time, as long as they got close enough to each grab one of his limbs, he would likely be beaten because he¡¯d been so passive.

    His body moved involuntarily, striking the yellow-haired dude and then quickly twisting his body and kicking the purple-haired dude in the stomach. This might not have been a real move but a response to the situation. He focused on finding the weaknesses of his opponents and used the quickest method he could to subdue them.

    This move was no problem, and the execution was very beautiful. However, after kicking the purple-haired dude, he felt a dull pain in his waist, just like the feeling a person who sat in the office for a long time but suddenly engaged in highly rigorous exercise might get. Thus, he had to be more reserved in his subsequent attacks to prevent further injuries.

    When one was being besieged, each second is precious. He could have escaped the punch of the next guy, the green-haired dude. The result was that, because he reacted more slowly, he could only be struck by the fist on his face.

    Fighting a group of men, he did not expect to retreat. However... How should he say it... He at least did not want to be humiliated under the fist of this green turtle-head!

    He really couldn¡¯t figure out why someone would be willing to dye their hair green. It must be the barber at the barbershop who¡¯d used the wrong bottle to dye his hair!

    There were 10,001 ways for Zhuang Xiaodie to help Zhang Zian block the punch, ranging from natural meteorites to the green-haired dude having a sudden heart attack, but none of them seemed natural.

    She was anxious and angry. If she had not cared about tantly revealing her powers in front of Zhang Zian, she¡¯d really want to send all these guys into the depths of the sea to feed the fish.

    Just then, a fierce cat screamed from the wall next to the alley. A group of brownish-yellow figures with ck stripes fell from the sky. They quickly came together and became a bunch of blurred outlines. They thennded on the green-haired dude¡¯s shoulder.

    Zhang Zian was close by, and he looked at the object. It was an old-fashioned Chinese roon cat. Although it was old, its movements were still flexible. It tried to use its ws to forcefully scratch the green-haired guy. The deep scratches caused him much pain, and he cried and screamed. He twisted his body from side to side, trying to reach behind him to grab the roon cat.

    The roon cat seeded in its goal and jumped to another person. In the air, it seemed to give Zhang Zian a look. He couldn¡¯t understand it, but there was a weird feeling in his heart.

    A person and a cat could cooperate with each other very subtly. That was the tacit understanding that only a long-term rtionship could create.

    At the appearance of the roon cat, Zhuang Xiaodie did not know what it was. She had be ustomed to Zhang Zian¡¯s elfins, who broke through the barriers and entered the dream world. She still felt indignant and humiliated, but the appearance of the roon cat made her feel relieved. She was even d that its appearance helped solve her problem... Although they were somewhat contradictory.

    The roon cat was still very intelligent and quick, as it was, after all, a cat. It didn¡¯t have any special ability that surpassed the cat itself. It used the dynamic vision of the cat family and the agile body of the cat family to jump back and forth between the men, scratching their hands and smashing their feet. It seeded in making full use of the concept of harassment, and Zhang Zian used the opportunity to continuouslynd a few more blows. He quickly seeded in bringing them down.

    Seven people with different hair colorsy on the ground, moaning in pain and holding various body parts.

    In fact, Zhang Zian felt that his fists and his feet had no strength. He hadn¡¯t thought that the guys would stay down for a long time after being hit. For example, the red-haired dude who had been knocked down first should stand up soon, but perhaps the red-haired dude saw that the situation was disadvantageous to him and did not want to be beaten again, so he cried out louder to fake an injury.

    Zhuang Xiaodie thought that Zhang Zian would follow the roon cat... But once again, he simply gave a fist-bump to the roon cat, and the roon cat returned it. It then ran towards the courtyard wall and disappeared.

    In the face of her confusion, he smiled casually and said, ¡°The many people who travel on the road, when they see injustice, wille forth and help. Where will there be any red tape around offering assistance?¡±

    He took her hand again. ¡°Let¡¯s go. The police shoulde soon. Let the police handle them. This is a rare moment of a good time for us to spend together. I don¡¯t want to spend it making a statement at the police station.¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to go to the police station, stop pretending and run quickly,¡± he said to the seven people on the ground.

    He dragged her away again.

 Chapter 1390: The Reminders

    <h4>Chapter 1390: The Reminders</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Where do you want to go?¡±

    Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s clothes were not the best-suited for the quick pace at which they were walking. However, it would have been inappropriate to slow down their travel pace. When Zhang Zian was not paying attention to her, she took advantage of that in order to change into sneakers.

    ¡°You¡¯ll know in a minute,¡± he said without looking back at her.

    The butterflies and moths in her stomach were a tell-tale sign of how she was feeling. Nevertheless, she looked forward to enjoying the unknown ce that Zhang Zian was going to bring her to.

    After they had turned a few corners, her eyes went wide at what she saw.

    The sea!

    A long coastline suddenly appeared.

    Foamy waves washed onto the beach, and the strong wind blowing from the sea made her hair dazzle.

    Seagull calls emerged from the air as they used the updraft to fly high in the skies. Their motionless wings looked very rxed.

    Perhaps it was because of the cold October weather or the water, which made swimming unsuitable, but there were few tourists by the sea.

    Some figures could be seen flying kites in the distance. They resembled a family of three bringing their children with them.

    ¡°Why did you want toe here?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Look! Is that girl over there in danger?¡± Zhang Zian pointed to a figure between the rocks. From behind, she appeared to be a young girl wearing a light-blue sleeveless dress, her white arms and shoulders shining in the sun like flowers.

    Her slim back was sufficient to excite anyone about seeing her face.

    However, the beauty in this was that the girl was not walking amongst the rocks. She was seated in a wheelchair. It seemed that her legs were paralyzed, a fact that could make anyone feel injustice towards the creator.

    The girl was wearing a dark green broad-brimmed hat, covering some parts of her face and her hair.

    She needed to take good care of the hat. The strong sea breeze could have easily blown it away at any time, so she had to hold it firmly with one hand.

    Had shee alone?

    Had she rolled her wheelchair to the rugged rocks alone?

    Maybe someone had pushed her there and left. This person had left her, a girl who couldn¡¯t use either of her legs to walk, alone on the beach. All by herself.

    There was no one else around her, and Zhang Zian could only assume or, rather, imagine another possibility. Maybe she could not bear the torture or the inconvenience of being unable to walk and nned tomit suicide.

    The tide was rising.

    The tide surged, and each wave was rushing up the shore, one after another. The water had already passed the bottom of the wheelchair, submerging her feet and legs, and the water was still rising.

    The wheelchair was now being hit by the seawater and in danger. If a fierce wave came, it could overturn it.

    Whether she wanted tomit suicide or not, Zhang Zian could not possibly let her die here. Furthermore, even if she wanted tomit suicide, she would be regretting the decision by now. In addition to her hand holding the hat, the other hand was trying to shake the wheelchair. It seemed that she wanted to turn the wheelchair around and wheel back to higher ground on the coast. However, the wheel was stuck deep in the sand, and the wheelchair was constantly being shaken by the seawater. Her efforts were proving to be futile.

    Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s clothes were not suitable for running on the beach. Zhang Zian let go of her hand and hurriedly said, ¡°Wait here for me. I¡¯ll push her back to the shore.¡±

    At that moment, there was no time to say more or argue with him. Without waiting for Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s response, he had already rushed to the girl, taking off his shoes while running towards her. He was ready to save her before she was swept away by the sea.

    Arger wave hit. The wheelchair was shaken and tilted nearly 45 degrees.

    The girl struggled so hard that the hand holding the hat ended up letting it go. She waved her hands frantically to try and maintain her bnce on the wheelchair.

    Her dark green hat was blown away by the wind, her long ck hair fell down like a violent waterfall, and the wheelchair was about to topple...

    A hand reached out in time, tightly holding the handle on the back of the wheelchair, followed by another hand.

    Zhang Zian stood knee-deep in the water, resisting its impact and supporting the wheelchair with all his might, his head and face wet from the spray.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid! I¡¯m here to help you!¡± he cried loudly over the deafening sound of the waves as salty water gushed into his mouth.

    There was a short pause between the tides. He steadied the wheelchair against each wave and pulled it back vigorously before the next wave came.

    The girl¡¯s hair had also been made wet by the water from the sea. She covered her cheek with her palm to avoid being hit by the spray.

    As the sea rose rapidly, Zhang Zian pulled the wheelchair to the bank. The water had remained at knee level. He pulled the wheelchair back ten meters, and the water level was soon at his feet.

    Now, they were finally out of danger. He pulled the wheelchair back a few meters until he stepped on the somewhat-dry beach. There he stopped breathlessly, his strength nearly all gone.

    He didn¡¯t care to talk. He could only breathe heavily.

    Probably because of her inability to move freely, the girl had not turned around to look at him. She wiped the water away from her face and continuously looked left and right as if searching for something that she had lost.

    Zhang Zian noticed that her wide-brimmed hat had been blown to the shore by the wind. Ity quietly on the beach a few feet away, so it only took him a few steps to get it back and hand it to her.

    ¡°Are you looking for this?¡±

    The girl reached out for the treasured hat, stretched out her arms, and ced it on her head.

    As her light blue dress was drenched in seawater, it had be translucent and figure-hugging. Zhang Zian deliberately did not look at her directly, so he did not see her body, although he supposed she was a very beautiful girl based on his view of her back.

    After taking a deep breath, he looked at Zhuang Xiaodie and saw that she was also slowlying over. He waved to her. It might be more appropriate for Zhuang Xiaodie to attend to the girl because her clothes were dripping wet.

    ¡°Are you okay? Do you feel any difort anywhere?¡±

    Before Zhuang Xiaodie reached them, he looked around her and asked this.

    Looking at her out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw her shake her head.

    ¡°Did youe to the seaside alone? It¡¯s extremely dangerous to be so close to the sea! Don¡¯t you know that the sea will rise at high tide?¡± he asked.

    This time around, she did not shake nor nod her head. Instead, she raised a jade-like arm and pointed into the distance.

    Zhang Zian stood on tiptoe and looked in the direction she pointed. Far into the ocean, barely visible, a small boat was rocking back and forth with the waves. It seemed to be engine-powered. A figure sat in the boat, but because it was too far away, no other details could be seen clearly.

    ¡°Oh, did youe with that man?¡± Zhang Zian guessed what she meant.

    She lowered her arm and nodded. ¡°So you will stay by the sea until hees back?¡± he asked her.

    She nodded again.

 Chapter 1391: The Phantom on the Ocean

    <h4>Chapter 1391: The Phantom on the Ocean</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Even an ocean with no breeze had waves, not to mention that at the moment the wind was gusting and it was high tide. Wind and water worked in tandem as the waves raged against the sea. Zhang Zian watched the tide from the shore, feeling a bit nervous for the man aboard the raft.

    The vessel had seemingly lost all mobility and was being jerked up and down atop the waves. It looked like it had lost all power or gas, so it was stuck.

    The silhouette of the man aboard the raft was constantly being jerked back and forth by the storm, but he never ceased his efforts to get back to shore. He continued to row despite the wind, but whenever he managed toe a few yards closer to shore, an errant wave would bring the raft right back to where it started.

    So...the man had brought the girl in the wheelchair to the shore and had gone out to sea alone aboard the raft. He had nned to be back before high tide, but due to poor nning, the raft had lost power and was trapped by the waves, with the girl almost being swept away.

    She was young. The man on the raft was probably her brother, father, or someone else whom she trusted. That¡¯s why the pair had visited the shore, but now he was in a predicament.

    Now that Zhang Zian could rationalize what had happened, he let out a sigh of relief. The girl in the wheelchair wasn¡¯t trying tomit suicide. As for the man on the raft, though he was stuck for the time being, it didn¡¯t look like he was in any immediate danger. As long as he didn¡¯t do anything foolish, like jumping overboard and trying to swim to shore, he would be fine once the storm died down.

    One thing that Zhang Zian noticed was that the girl in the wheelchair never seemed to speak but instead pointed a lot. Even when she had been searching for her lost hat, she¡¯d done nothing but frantically nce left and right.

    Could it be that, aside from not being able to walk, she couldn¡¯t speak either?

    Then surely the heavens had been much too cruel to her.

    It was like...a fairy tale he had read long ago. What was it... Cindere? Snow White? It had been about a girl living under the sea who, due to something or someone, had wanted to live onnd, so much so that she was willing to pay the price of her vocal cords in order to feel the sensation of the ground beneath her feet.

    He remembered the tale, but why the girl in the story was living under the sea he couldn¡¯t quite recall.

    Seeing the silent girl in the wheelchair reminded him of this fairy tale.

    Many people, including Zhang Zian himself, hadmented the fact that they hadn¡¯t born with a silver spoon to a rich family with only afortable life ahead...but, now seeing the girl in the wheelchair, he began to think that all one really needed was good health and two living parents in order to lead a happier life than most.

    ¡°Hey! Are you guys okay?¡±

    Zhuang Xiaodie hadn¡¯te yet, but someone else was rushing over.

    It was a middle-aged man with a sharp look in his eye. Though he was wearing casual clothes simr to Zhang Zian¡¯s, his demeanor suggested that he was shrewd and skillful.

    Zhang Zian did not know him, but he looked familiar. He was used to this sort of feeling by now.

    ¡°I saw what happened from far away, but unfortunately my legs aren¡¯t what they used to be. Good thing you were fast enough, otherwise this littledy would have been washed away,¡± the middle-aged man gasped while trying to catch his breath.

    ¡°It was nothing. Just d I could help.¡± Zhang Zian pointed to his mouth and made waving motions with his hands, hoping to signal to the man that the girl was mute.

    The man looked surprised for a second but then nodded.

    ¡°And that man. Looks like he¡¯s with the girl, but he¡¯s stuck on the water right now. Should we call some sort of department and ask for help?¡± Zhang Zian pointed at the sea.

    ¡°What man?¡± the middle-aged man gazed towards the water.

    ¡°That...¡±

    Zhang Zian figured he must have pointed in the wrong direction, but then he turned his eyes toward the sea, which was now vast and empty, with no raft or man to be seen.

    He rubbed his eyes and looked again Still nothing.

    ¡°Um...¡±

    He was speechless, and his outstretched arm, which had been pointing to the water, began to drop.

    That was odd. Where had the raft and the man aboard it gone?

    They had disappeared in the blink of an eye.

    Had the raft flipped over with the man trapped beneath? No...even if it had capsized, the raft was inted and would have simply been floating upside down instead of vanishing altogether.

    Besides, the wind at this point wasn¡¯t strong enough to overturn the raft, and the man¡¯s rowing motions before had looked fairly skilled, so he definitely had to know what he was doing.

    Then where had he gone?

    The middle-aged man¡¯s gaze went between Zhang Zian and the sea, slowly bing suspicious.

    ¡°Maybe...I was mistaken.¡± Zhang Zian mustered an awkward chuckle.

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    The middle-aged man crouched down and asked, ¡°Youngdy, is there anyone else on the ocean?¡±

    The girl in the wheelchair shook her head.

    Zhang Zian was speechless. ¡°I can¡¯t believe this. Then what were you pointing at on the water before?¡± he thought to himself.

    But she really wasn¡¯t to me. All she had done was point at the sea without saying a word. It must have been his own mistake...but how had he managed to see a raft?

    ¡°So...you came to the shore all by yourself?¡± the middle-aged man inquired.

    The girl did not respond.

    ¡°Can you tell me where you live? Or do you have your phone with you? I can call someone for you to pick you up. How about that?¡± the middle-aged man asked.

    The girl shook her head.

    The middle-aged man looked her over. She was wearing a form-fitting dress with no pockets and did not have a bag. There was no ce to hold a phone, nor a purse with identification, so it was to be expected that she wouldn¡¯t be able to answer.

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    The middle-aged man stood up. The girl¡¯s clothes were all wet and, not wanting her to catch a cold in the sea breeze, he removed his jacket and draped it over her. He turned to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Thank you for your bravery,rade. Leave her to me. I¡¯ll find a way to get in touch with her family.¡±

    Though this man looked perfectly trustworthy, Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t about to hand over the girl just like that. After all, who knew if his heart matched his benevolent exterior?

    The middle-aged man reached into his pocket and took out a wallet adorned with a police badge. He flipped it open for Zhang Zian to see.

    ¡°Forgot to mention that I¡¯m a police officer. I brought my family to the beach for the holiday and just happened toe across you two...¡±

    As he spoke, the man pointed not far away, where a woman and a little girl stood by.

    The woman looked annoyed and impatient, as if she was silently reprimanding her husband to mind his own business while on a rare holiday, all the while still carrying an air of dignity.

    The man handed over a slip of paper with a phone number written on it. ¡°I¡¯ll take her to the station first and ask the female officer on duty to take care of her while I find a way to identify her and get in contact with her family. My name is Sheng. If you¡¯d like to follow up, please call me at this number.¡±

 Chapter 1392: Reluctant to Leave

    <h4>Chapter 1392: Reluctant to Leave</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Ordinary people couldn¡¯t tell if a police officer¡¯s card was real or fake. Even if the officer used a fake document right in front of their eyes, they probably couldn¡¯t recognize it. Nevertheless, there weren¡¯t that many people carrying fake police IDs, were there?

    He didn¡¯t know why. Perhaps it was his temperament and the way he carried himself. Zhang Zian thought that this police officer, who imed his surname was Sheng, could be trusted.

    The police officer picked up the phone and made a call. It seemed that he was contacting the police station and asking them to send a car, telling them that there was a lost girl.

    After the phone call, Sheng, the police officer, said to Zhang Zian. ¡°You should also find a ce to dry off your body. You are all wet. Be careful that you don¡¯t catch a cold...¡±

    He stared at Zhang Zian and stopped talking. He seemed to want to say, ¡°It is best to go to the hospital to get your eyes checked.¡±

    After all, Zhang Zian was young and strong... Well, he was not that strong, but he was at least a young man, and he did not feel cold. His clothes, which had originally been wet with seawater, were being blown around by the wind. Adding to that his own body temperature, his clothes were basically halfway dry.

    The other party was merely being kind, so he nodded.

    He turned back and saw Zhuang Xiaodie standing a few meters away. She looked at the back of the girl in the wheelchair, but she had no intention to approach her. It may be because the tide was still rising. She may also be worried that the skirt of her costume would be stained by wet sand. That would be difficult to remove when washing.

    As for theplicated look on her face...maybe it came from thepetition between two beauties? Was she worried that her looks were less superior than the other party¡¯s?

    Zhuang Xiaodie was undoubtedly a great woman. If the physical appearance of the wheelchair girl was as stunning as her back, then her level of beauty would be almost the same as that of Zhuang Xiaodie. However, the dressing styles of the two girls werepletely different. The former wasplicated and gorgeous, while thetter was simple and pure. There was noparison. Besides, thetter was rather inconvenient to move around. Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s sense ofpetition waspletely redundant¡ªat least, that was how Zhang Zian thought.

    Zhang Zian had light conversations with the police officer. He saw a police caring close to the road and stopped at the side of the road. Two female police officers got off the car. He was reassured when he finally saw them.

    Police Officer Sheng greeted them and told them what had happened while pointing at the surrounding area.

    ¡°Police Officer Sheng, I am leaving now.¡± Zhang Zian waved the note at the police officer, meaning that he would call to ask about the follow-up actions to the situation.

    He took a step, and his clothes suddenly became tight. When he looked down, he saw that the wheelchair girl was tugging on them.

    ¡°...What¡¯s wrong? Is there anything else?¡±

    He asked this, but he remembered that the wheelchair girl could not speak. Even when asked, she could not answer.

    She used her other hand and pointed to the ground.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    He saw a few Chinese characters on the ground: ¡°Thank you, Watermelon.¡±

    It made sense. This was China. Was it not normal to see a message written in Chinese characters? But his mind shed a thought in an instant: someone had actually written Chinese characters?

    He was sure that there hadn¡¯t been any words on the beach before, so these must have been written by her, but how had she managed to write these words on the beach?

    She did not have the same long arms as Liu Huangshu, and her arms were of a reasonable length. It would have been impossible for her to write on the beach while sitting in a wheelchair, and he had not seen her bending over to write.

    Then... There was only one possibility¡ªthat she had written the words with her toes.

    This showed that although her legs are paralyzed, it was only temporary. At least she could write with her toes, so her condition was not as serious as he¡¯d imagined.

    He was sincerely happy for her and hoped that her inability to speak would also onlyst for a while.

    But what the hell was Watermelon? Did she like to eat watermelon?

    He smiled and said, ¡°No need to thank me. Anyone who saw this situation would run over to help. The police are good people. You should cooperate with their work, and they will help you find your way home. Also...the pain is only temporary. You have to work hard to recover.¡±

    Thetter sentence was his spection. After all, he was not sure about the real reason that she was in a wheelchair.

    She listened quietly, but her hand still held onto his clothes.

    Zhang Zian scratched his head. What could he do? He couldn¡¯t stand here the whole time, and there was no need to go to the police station with her. Should he forcefully pry away her hand?

    His gaze fell on the word ¡°Watermelon,¡± and he got inspiration from it. He said, ¡°I still have something to do now, but when I have time, I will call the police officer and go to the police station to see you... When I get there, I will bring you a big, sweet watermelon, how about that?¡±

    After a moment, she gently nodded her head and let go of his hand.

    She really liked to eat watermelon...

    Zhang Zian do not know whether tough or cry. A girl so crazy in love with watermelon would be easy to satisfy.

    ¡°So then, goodbye. I will see you whenever I have time.¡± He waved, but he felt that she might soon find her family after she got to the police station, and they would take her home.

    She also waved her hand.

    Zhang Zian turned and walked a few steps toward Zhuang Xiaodie. He said, ¡°Sorry, you have waited for a long time. I saw that you are troubled by something and decided to take you to the beach to distract you. I didn¡¯t expect to encounter such a thing, and it interrupted our time together.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± She still had an indescribable look on her face, and her mood was a bit sunken. ¡°Let¡¯s go. I have already felt enough sea breeze.¡±

    Since he¡¯d left her alone on the beach for so long, it was normal for her to be unhappy. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know how tofort her, but if he were to choose again, he would still choose to save the wheelchair girl.

    ¡°Right...just now, did you see an assault boat on the sea? It is near that part of the sea.¡± He pointed to the sea as he spoke, trying to find a new topic. In addition, his mind was still fixated on it.

    ¡°No.¡± She shook her head.

    He¡¯d probably seen it wrongly... Might this be the legendary mirage?

    ¡°Then forget it. Anyway, recently, there have been quite a lot of strange happenings that can¡¯t be exined. Adding this one is not a big deal.¡± He smiled helplessly.

    Since she didn¡¯t want to stay at the beach, he took her towards the sea wall and headed back in the direction of the city.

    After walking for a while, he vaguely felt that there was something behind him. When he looked back, he saw that the wheelchair girl who had been facing the sea had been turned around by the police officer. He was looking at her, but he was far away. Her facial expression was already blurred and could not be seen clearly.

    He waved to her again, and she waved back.

    So close!

    Famous swept through the area as invisible, inorganic matter. Countless spots of light were chasing after it behind its back.

    ¡°Sorry, I can only help you so much.¡±

    It hurriedly nced at the rising and falling tides of the sea.

    After all, this was a world where there were no games or elfins. Appearing in this world in the form of fantasy creatures that existed in fairy tales might cause it to be violently rejected by the world itself. That would be beyond the scope of Famous, and it would have to improvise. It had chosen for her a human figure who looked very simr to her.

    Fortunately, it had listened to her reading the fairy tale to her fans in the live broadcast room before. It hoped it would prove to be useful.

    In this critical situation with many enemies chasing after it, it did not care to observe the results and hurriedly flew to the next ce.

 Chapter 1393: The Butterfly Reaction

    <h4>Chapter 1393: The Butterfly Reaction</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Where are we going next?¡±

    The sounds of the sea tide got quieter, and Zhuang Xiaodie asked this question.

    In fact, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t determine where he really wanted to go, but he always felt that as long as he kept going, he would definitely be able to go to where he wanted to go and see the people he wanted to see.

    So he just vaguely replied, ¡°It¡¯s just ahead¡ªnot too far away.¡±

    Regarding the ce in Binhai that was the most beautiful in autumn, besides the hidden foggy mountains inte autumn, the old street between the Dongcheng and Nancheng Districts was a good ce that only the old Binhai residents knew about. Before the liberation, there had been several foreign constes and offices. Almost all the streets had had Western-style architectural buildings. Today, there were still normally-operating churches. Thus, the area had be a ce to hold weddings and cosys and for couples to take a stroll.

    Many people who loved photography went to the streets with their cameras during Golden Week holiday and captured good happenings there.

    Of course, with this so-called photography, the most important thing was that the model was beautiful. Cats were also popr, precisely because there were very few ugly cats.

    Zhang Zian and Zhuang Xiaodie did not leave the seaside from the original road. They strolled to the southeast. Unwittingly, they entered the ??Nancheng District, passing through several small alleyways. When they came out of the alleys, they came face-to-face with buildings constructed in typical European architectural styles. It made one wonder if they had crossed into Europe instead.

    The sleek and dense French paulownia was nted on both sides of the wide but sparsely popted street. Western-style houses were everywhere. Fountain gardens could often be seen through the iron fences typical of European houses. There was a half-naked statue of some god standing next to the fountain. The little angel had wings and a bow and was flying.

    The autumn wind picked up, and the apricot leaves on the street were blown around like water moving downstream.

    On the street, there were just a few old gentlemen who were holding cameras, trying to find a subject to shoot. Because they did not have a hired model and Binhai City was not running any auto shows, they were bored to tears taking photos of lotuses. Thus, they could onlye here during the holidays to take street photos of passersby.

    When Zhuang Xiaodie, wearing a gorgeous Chinese costume, appeared, the amalgamation of the East and the West, the ssic and the modern, the two different cultural styles formed a strong visual impact.

    The photographers suddenly felt like sharks that had smelled blood. They hurriedly carried over their heavy pieces of equipment such as aperture lenses and DSLR cameras, and even before asking if she agreed to have her photo taken, they started taking shots with their cameras.

    Zhuang Xiaodie continued walking without paying them much attention, but Zhang Zian had been repeatedly despised by them. What they meant was: ¡°You are like a stick that is trying to steal the limelight! Go further away!¡±

    Zhang Zian was also feeling rather helpless. Not everyone respected the portrait rights of others, like the female broadcaster he¡¯d met at the top of Mount Hidden Fog. There was no way around it if they insisted on taking photos. He might as well let them take the photos, but for them to hint that he was blocking their shots...

    Zhuang Xiaodie was slightly fascinated but turned a blind eye to the photographers who flocked to her like flies. Instead, she was thinking about the wheelchair girl whom she¡¯d met at the beach.

    She didn¡¯t dare to be absolutely certain, but the wheelchair girl¡¯s light blue dress, dark green wide-brimmed hat, and skin, which was surprisingly white and not like Asian skin color, all reminded her of that mermaid in the pet shop¡¯s second-floor bathtub.

    As for why her hair was ck, it was presumably because no one in the real world had dark green hair, and the girl, dressed in such simple terms, was not suitable to have her hair dyed.

    So, it might have been that an elfin had quietly modified another detail of her dream.

    Who would have this ability? She thought about it hard. She felt that it might be the dog that had appeared in this dream.

    Oddly enough, as she read Zhang Zian¡¯s memory, putting aside all the other elfins, the mermaid should be the one that despised him the most. Why had she joined the dream with the other elves?

    Was it because after Zhang Zian had fallen asleep, something had happened to her in the pet shop that she didn¡¯t know about?

    What worried her more was the dream itself.

    Guided by her and using the memory of Zhang Zian to build this dream world, although it was just a dream, it was an iparably realistic dream. Once this dream world had been created, it was no different from reality.

    This was also the perfect dream she¡¯d created.

    There were too many illusions and arbitrary desires in the dreams of the ancient people. Such dreams were too different from reality. It made her soberly aware that it was a dream, so she preferred this dream. Even she herself was sometimes confused and couldn¡¯t figure out if she was a human, or if she was a...

    Because it was iparably realistic, it couldn¡¯t be easily modified. Otherwise, one wrong move and all would be gone, much like that phrase in his memory... A butterfly on the Amazon River in South America pped its wings and may cause Texas in the United States two weekster to experience a tornado.

    This knowledge was very novel and interesting to her, but after careful thinking, she felt that it was logical and fully made sense. It even helped her clear up her own thinking, and therefore she could create a more realistic dream.

    In this respect, she was very grateful to Zhang Zian. Thest piece of the puzzle was from him, though it was an ident, and it had helped her to make a highly realistic dream.

    However...that arrogant elfin, the stupid dog named Famous, dared to interfere and alter two details of her dream without her prior knowledge. This allowed the elfins who should not appear in this world to appear and caused a film that should never have been released to be released. This was shown even before Zhang Zian could experience the filming process. What kind of chain reaction would these events trigger? Even she was not sure.

    In the worst-case scenario, the dream may go in an unknown direction that she couldn¡¯t control...

    Zhang Zian awkwardly dealt with the ming eyes of the photographers. Zhuang Xiaodie silently thought about the means of repairing the dream world. The two did not speak, so they walked silently together until a Gothic church appeared in front of them.

    This church was not too big. It was about three stories high. It had a red-brick-and-wood mixed structure. There was a towering Gothic bell tower on the left and right sides and a pure white cross on the spire of each bell tower. The impression it gave was one of seriousness, serenity, and a defender of the olden times.

    A photography association or a society that seemed to be from a university was doing cosy in front of the church. Several boys were surrounded by several girls. Some of them were responsible for the lighting, some responsible for taking photographs, and some responsible for using fans to create the effect of wind blowing on clothes...each of them had a task.

    Amongst them, the girl who was responsible for the modeling was wearing an antique dress, which may have been that of a cosy character in a domestic martial-arts video game. Whenpared with Zhuang Xiaodie, whether it was her figure, looks, or the exquisiteness of the clothing, she waspletely defeated.

    They were shooting by the church door and cried out loudly from time to time. This actually interfered with the normal peaceful order of the church. The members of the church were affected by the ruckus they made, and the quiet atmosphere was broken.

    When Zhang Zian and Zhuang Xiaodie walked past the church door with the photographers following them, such a strangebination naturally attracted the attention of themunity.

 Chapter 1394: Natural Socializer

    <h4>Chapter 1394: Natural Socializer</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The leader of the society was a tall, thin, long-legged young man built like a bamboo pole. He had a mature face but was deliberately dressed up like a college student who had been retained in college numerous times.

    He had a DSLR around his neck and saw Zhang Zian and Zhuang Xiaodie from the corner of his eye. He gave the boys near him a look. They stopped fanning the girls who were working hard with the costumes and stepped forward to surround the two.

    ¡°Howe you are here now? Everyone has been waiting for you!¡± said the leader, who was a big man. He looked Zhuang Xiaodie up and down. ¡°However, your costume and make-up are on point, so it is fine that you are a littlete. No one will me you. Hurry and go pose!¡±

    Zhang Zian was overwhelmed with what he heard.

    He looked at the young man carefully and felt that his face was familiar, but he still couldn¡¯t name him.

    However, many people whom he thought looked familiar did not seem to know him. From what he was hearing, this man actually did know him.

    Not only was he overwhelmed, even Zhuang Xiaodie felt the same way. She was aware that Zhang Zian knew the president of the photographymunity, Luo Qingyu, in reality, but he should not know him in the dream world. Was there another loophole?

    Zhang Zian stepped forward, grabbed Luo Qingyu¡¯s arm, and asked excitedly, ¡°You know...¡±

    Luo Qingyu quickly covered his mouth, pretending to be close to him and pulling him aside, and whispered, ¡°Friend, cooperate with me a little. Ourmunity is taking photos to publish, but the model quality is not very good. The only one of good quality is also not very professional. If this goes on, it will affect the prestige of my presidency... So help me! I will pay!¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°How much are you paying?¡±

    Luo Qingyu stretched out his palm. ¡°Fifty.¡±

    ¡°Are you dreaming?¡±

    Even if Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand the market, he knew that Zhuang Xiaodie was a superb girl beyond the standard levels of beauty and was currently in a stunning traditional outfit. The cost of helping him was definitely worth more than 50 yuan.

    Fifty yuan was simply to be used to shoo away a beggar, wasn¡¯t it?

    Was it enough for people to do hair, makeup, skincare, clothes, and take a taxi ride home?

    ¡°Then how much do you want?¡± Luo Qingyu reluctantlyid out his cards. ¡°I am still a poor student. I don¡¯t have much money...¡±

    ¡°No interest. I do not wish to entertain you further.¡±

    Zhang Zian waved him off and refused.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be like that... Help me, big brother...¡± Luo Qingyu¡¯s disappointment was beyond words. A stunning beauty like Zhuang Xiaodie was a rare encounter, and it was even rarer to have a chance to meet her. How could he let it go so easily?

    Luo Qingyu was disappointed, but Zhang Zian was even more disappointed. He thought he had finally encountered a person who truly knew him. However, the other party was merely pretending to be familiar with him. How was that reasonable?

    Although they had specifically avoided other people when they spoke, Zhuang Xiaodie had given herself extraordinary hearing, and so she could still hear their conversations. She couldn¡¯t help but be speechless. He gave her a needless sense of worry.

    Luo Qingyu was continuing his persuasion when someone who looked like a priest emerged from the church, coughed, and said, ¡°Children, your energetic voices make God feel gratified, but a group of church members is gathering here now. Can you please temporarily move to other ces?¡±

    The priest was about forty years old, was dressed in a ck dressing gown, and had a gentle and courteous smile.

    Luo Qingyu immediately disyed a dissatisfied look. He had managed to organize a filming outing and just so happened to meet a beauty named Zhuang Xiaodie. Of course, he did not want to give up the church door as a free background and sought to maximize his use of it.

    Zhang Zian looked at the church and saw that there were many men and women who were 50 or 60 years old and even some who were younger sitting in the church. They were also staring back at Luo Qingyu with dissatisfaction.

    Other church members walked into the church one after another, and the priest smiled at them one by one.

    ¡°Why should we go? Is thisnd yours?¡± asked Luo Qingyu, sticking his neck out.

    Zhang Zian felt ashamed for him. They were standing on the stone steps at the door of the church and yet he still had the cheek to ask if thend belonged to the church.

    ¡°It is indeed under the jurisdiction of the church.¡± The priest smiled and nodded.

    Luo Qingyu was not convinced and wanted to argue again. A boy under him quietly tugged his clothes and whispered, ¡°The girls seem to have a lot of opinions. They don¡¯t want to shoot anymore...¡±

    It turned out that Luo Qingyu and the boys had originally touted these girls hard for them to cosy, praising them for their appearance and professionalism. However, now that Zhuang Xiaodie hade on set, they had been cast aside immediately. Wasn¡¯t this a little too realistic?

    The harsh reality of the world made them feel greatly insulted. Even if they wanted to lie to themselves, they couldn¡¯t lie, and they would not do it.

    Zhang Zian was asking for too much, and Zhuang Xiaodie would not budge. There was also a fire in the backyard. Luo Qingyu was so bothered by all the problems that he could not care to quarrel with the priest. Instead, he hurriedly ran to stop the girls from leaving.

    ¡°Don¡¯t go! Don¡¯t go! It is all a misunderstanding!¡± He yelled as he ran, and the heavy DSLR camera swayed back and forth across his thin neck.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to continue to talk with this kind of person. As he left, Zhang Zian gave Zhuang Xiaodie a look, which meant they would continue to move forward.

    Zhuang Xiaodie nodded and agreed.

    Unexpectedly, the priest suddenly stepped forward and stopped them.

    ¡°We are not with them.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought that the priest had assumed that the two of them were with the group. He hurriedly exined his position.

    The priest did not look at him or Zhuang Xiaodie. Instead, he stared at the ck-and-white kittens not far behind them. He said with concern, ¡°This kitten... Is it your pet?¡±

    The ck-and-white kitten had been behind them all along. Sometimes it had been nearby, and sometimes it had been far away. It had kept on catching butterflies, including at the seaside, but at this time, as Zhuang Xiaodie had be the center of attention, its existence had often been neglected.

    It was as if it was a little tired. The ck-and-white kitten stopped catching butterflies. It sat in a ce a dozen steps away and stared at the priest.

    ¡°Oh... That¡¯s sort of it.¡±

    Zhang Zian wanted to exin his rtionship with the kitten but felt that it was too cumbersome to exin and simply admit it.

    ¡°It¡¯s a cute kitten... If so, please leash it or at least hold it, lest it be lost.¡± The priest met his gaze again, seemingly suggesting something to them.

    ¡°Lost... What¡¯s wrong?¡± Zhang Zian noticed the priest¡¯s tone and found it a little weird. He wondered if the priest was being kind, but perhaps he was overthinking it. He was worried about a kitten getting lost?

    The priest nced at him and said, ¡°Actually, there have been incidents of cat abuse in the vicinity. I can¡¯t bear to see such a cute kitten being poisoned. It is against the benevolence of God, so I shall specifically remind the both of you.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned. It had turned out to be as such.

    Zhuang Xiaodie instead furrowed her brow and suddenly interjected, ¡°Is the cat abuse incident very serious?¡±

    The priest smiled. ¡°Children, don¡¯t worry. I have reported the incident to our American church members. I believe they wille over to solve such incidents soon.¡±

 Chapter 1395: The Foreign Monk Chants Better

    <h4>Chapter 1395: The Foreign Monk Chants Better</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The priest¡¯s words made Zhang Zian feel awkward. There were rumors of cat abuse in the neighborhood. He had heard that from the old grandmother who had been scavenging, and it was not the first time that cat abuse had urred. There was sporadic news about this all over the country and even around the world. Therefore, it was not something new. The freshness of it was... Why, when there were cat abuse incidents in Binhai City, the priest now had to report it to American church members and ask them to solve this problem?

    Was it true that...the American cleric referred to by the priest was the international warrior Bethune? That guy was Canadian!

    To Zhuang Xiaodie, the priest¡¯s words were not worthy of hearing, because this was a memory that Zhang Zian did not have!

    The incident of cat abuse, or the incident of malicious abuse of small animals, had existed in ancient times. It would be illogical to remove this from his memory, so she¡¯d reserved somemon knowledge about cat abuse incidents, but only limited to hismon sense. The memory of ¡°arge-scale cat abuse incident in Binhai City¡± had been blocked. Otherwise, it would remind him of the cat god statue and the Russian blue cat.

    But the priest had just said that the cat abuse incident urred in the vicinity. This was actually very close to the ¡°massive cat abuse incident.¡±

    Even in a dream, Zhang Zian tended to say hello to those whom he had known in reality. This was because he felt that they were very familiar and naturally felt attracted to them, besides those like taxi drivers, whom he would only speak one or two sentences to. Zhang Zian would speak more with everyone else, as if he did indeed know them.

    However, she repeatedly checked his memory and determined that he had never seen this priest in reality.

    When he¡¯d firste to this street in reality, he had also met this photography society and the guy named Luo Qingyu at the entrance of the church. However, he had not met this priest, nor had he been stopped by the priest.

    How was this happening?

    Had the dream been modified by that dog yet again?

    ¡°Child, you don¡¯t look very good. Do you want toe in and sit for a while?¡± The priest noticed that Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s face was a little tense and pointed to the church. He was much older than Zhang Zian, and it was, therefore, normal to call them ¡°child,¡± although for him, calling the person ¡°child¡± had another meaning.

    Perhaps afraid that Zhuang Xiaodie would think otherwise of his intention, the priest hurriedly exined, ¡°Just sit for a while. We will not preach the doctrine to you against your wishes.¡±

    Zhang Zian asked her, ¡°Would you like to go in and sit for a while?¡±

    ¡°No need to.¡± She nced at the church and felt that there was something...a strange feeling. ¡°I really want to know about the cat abuse incident. Can you please tell me more?¡±

    The priest nced at the ck-and-white kitten again. Following conventional thinking, he thought that she was worried that her cat would get hurt, so she was concerned about the cat abuse incident.

    ¡°Of course. The sporadic cat abuse incident was discovered nearby by church members. At first, we thought it was just one case. However, since that time, cat abuse incidents have be more frequent, and the methods have be more and more cruel... I am afraid to scare you and will not borate on the specific details. In short, it is horrible, and it is not like something human beings would do.¡±

    The priest finished on a sad and sorrowful note, and he sighed again and again. He made a cross sign across his chest, his lips moving slightly. it seemed he was saying a prayer.

    ¡°So serious...¡± Zhang Zian also frowned. What did he mean by ¡°not like something human beings would do¡±?

    Since the cat abuse incident had been made known to him, Zhuang Xiaodie had no way to hide it. She wanted to find out how this nonexistent memory had appeared in her dream.

    ¡°So, you said that you have to ask the American church members to solve the cat abuse incident. What is this about?¡± she asked.

    Zhang Zian was also very interested in this topic. He knew that the cat abuse incident would be difficult for the government to solve in a short period of time, but it was clearly happening in Binhai City. Why did the priest want to ask for help from abroad? Was this the origin of the phrase ¡°Foreign monks chant better¡±?

    The priest smiled and looked at their faces. He said, ¡°I don¡¯t have anything to hide from you children if you really want to know. However, this will involve some...of the past that may sound incredible when you first hear it. You might think that I am here to preach the doctrine to you and feel resentful. This is against the original intention of my conversation with you. Even so, do you want to hear it?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have anything against it...¡± Zhang Zian said. After all, he was an adult. He should have already formed his own opinion. This world was full of temptations. If a person was moved by a mere few words, then, in the end, they only had themselves to me for not being determined to stand their ground and being easily convinced by others.

    In addition, he was basically an atheist¡ªmore convinced of science, and less convinced of things like gods and ghosts.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind,¡± said Zhuang Xiaodie.

    ¡°Okay, then let me talk about it.¡± The priest smiled and said awkwardly, ¡°ording to feedback from the members of the church, we judged that the series of cat abuse incidents in the vicinity were not that simple. More than one abuser imed that he was being tempted by an evil statue and thenmitted the horrendous act against stray cats. We also conducted private investigations. Themon characteristics of the abusers are that they are introverted and lead unsatisfactory lives, but there had not been any abusive behavior in their lives prior.¡±

    Evil statue?

    Somewhere, something in Zhang Zian¡¯s brain suddenly jumped, and some of the dusty memories seemed to being out.

    The priest continued, ¡°Actually, simr incidents have happened before. We immediately call to mind the past events. In the thirteenth century, the Germans dug up an equally strange statue. After that, they carried out an evil sacrificial activity, which triggered the wrath of the Holy See. Pope Gregory IX promulgated the teachings as ¡®The Voice of Rome,¡¯ which is equivalent to the release of the cats...¡±

    He looked dejected and said, ¡°God is omnipresent, but our followers may misinterpret his meaning and therefore make irreparable mistakes. I have no intention to justify the mistakes of the past, but this incident and those of the past are extremely simr. Thus, we don¡¯t want the same mistake to be made again.¡±

    Zhang Zian was impressed by this rumor he heard. He seemed to have heard of it before, but several versions he¡¯d heard had amon w. It was not clear how the matter ended. The statue that had been dug up by the Germans... What had happened to it in the end? The different versions of the legend did not address it. He did not know whether it had been deliberately concealed or that outsiders truly did not know anything about it.

    ¡°How was this solved at that time?¡± Zhuang Xiaodie asked the same question he wanted to ask.

    The priest smiled, made a cross over his chest, and looked up at the sky. ¡°The Almighty God did not abandon his children and sent us a sacred object to suppress the evil statue.¡±

 Chapter 1396: Holy Relics

    <h4>Chapter 1396: Holy Relics</h4>

    A sacred object that could exorcise things?

    Zhang Zian¡¯s first reaction to the words was tough and think of the various amulets that the monk in the temple had made, but in front of others, he held back hisughter.

    Zhuang Xiaodie wanted to know what the so-called exorcism was, but the priest had no further exnation, so it was obviously supposed to be a secret.

    The priest nced at the ck-and-white kitten again. ¡°More and more people in China have cats, and more and more be stray cats. This time, in order to avoid further deterioration of the situation and to prevent the nightmare of hundreds of years ago from happening again, we decided not to sit back and ignore it. We must stop the devils from hell, so we immediately sent a message to our American church members. You must be wondering, why the United States? This is because...for some veryplicated reasons, the sacred object was, many years ago, transferred from Europe to the United States.¡±

    Zhuang Xiaodie made an ¡°Oh!¡± sound and said, ¡°Since there are such powerful things, I think we can solve this series of events very quickly. We should be relieved.¡±

    She said this for Zhang Zian to hear so that he would not think more deeply about it.

    The priest was slightly addicted to talking and added cautiously, ¡°We are sure that as long as the holy item arrives here, the devil can be suppressed in a short time, but... Besides the approval of the team from the United States, we must also obtain approval from the Vatican church. Due to the many problems that have urred before, the Vatican is now very strict in reviewing the exorcism ceremony. It is often necessary to send people to investigate and collect evidence before agreeing to the ceremony, so the process of going back and forth may take a lot of time... Thus, before the arrival of the sacred objects, you should take good care of your cat.¡±

    When she heard this, Zhuang Xiaodie seemed to understand the entirety of the matter.

    Zhang Zian was not the only wise man in this world. The massive cat abuse incident in Binhai City had not only caught the attention of Zhang Zian but also attracted the attention of the church. The two had taken different approaches to solving the issue without informing one another about it.

    The church had sent people to the United States to seek exorcism and applied to the Vatican for an exorcism ceremony, but this series of bureaucratic procedures was time-consuming and dyed the process.

    At the same time, by sheer coincidence, Zhang Zian had first gone north to the capital to obtain the Warding Off Evil Cat and returned to Binhai City. He solved the cat abuse incident before the church did and calmed the entire saga.

    This raised another question. Before and after the cat abuse incident had subsided, had the sacred objects arrived in Binhai City ording to the n of the church? Or had the church realized that the cat abuse incident had unexpectedly subsided in advance, decided that there was no need to make such a big move, and simply stopped? Had they left the holy items in the United States?

    Both situations were possible, and currently, one couldn¡¯t get an answer in this dream.

    Even back in reality, if they headed to this church to ask the priest, because the cat abuse incident had subsided, the priest may not say anything.

    This was actually not her business to care about. She just wanted to figure out that this unexpected episode had not been Famous modifying her dream world.

    ¡°Thank you. We will be careful.¡± She thanked the priest politely and then pulled Zhang Zian. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Father, thank you for your reminder.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded and walked down the steps of the church with her.

    The priest smiled at their backs and silently prayed to God to bless the young.

    Since the two of them had spent a lot of time at the door of the church, the photographymunity and the other photographers had already left to find their new subjects. The surroundings were once again quiet.

    ¡°You said that you hate cats, but I didn¡¯t expect you to care about cat abuse.¡± It was not good to always stay silent, and Zhang Zian tried to find a topic.

    ¡°I am just curious about what the exorcism is.¡± She casually shifted the subject to something else.

    Zhang Zian had only used the priest¡¯s words as an anecdote to listen to. As for what to make out of holding the exorcism ceremony in Binhai City, it was really not in line with the socialist core values of the country. It would be best, in his opinion, not to hold it.

    ¡°Holy things... The holy things of the church. They are probably the Holy Communion and the Holy Water...¡±

    Heughed, wanting to show off his knowledge and exin to her the origins of the Holy Communion and Holy Water.

    ¡°Eh? Holy water? Is the second cup half-price?¡±

    To his surprise, a sudden hoarse scream came from the side and interrupted him.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t reply. The sound was very screechy!

    ¡°Sorry! I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    On the roadside, a well-groomed young man with an artistic re had just gotten out of a taxi and was paying the driver a fee. Arge birdcage was beside his feet. The birdcage was covered with ck cloth and could not be seen. There was something inside.

    The young man was stunned. He had dark circles under his eyes. At first nce, it seemed that he was short of sleep. After paying the fare, he apologized to Zhang Zian and Zhuang Xiaodie.

    Just now, had this young man responded to Zhang Zian¡¯s words? Not likely, as there was a difference in the tone. In addition, the young man looked very calm and steady, not like the kind of frivolous character who would interrupt strangers.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry! I just bought a parrot. I didn¡¯t expect it to suddenly pop up and say some...uh, inexplicable words.¡± The young man was very embarrassed and apologized repeatedly.

    ¡°Parrot?¡± Zhang Zian felt a slight shiver in his heart. ¡°What type of parrot speaks so well? I thought it was a man who was talking. I couldn¡¯t tell it was a parrot.¡±

    The young man shook his head and smiled. ¡°I bought it at a pet store a distance away. I said that I wanted to buy a talking parrot. The owner then mysteriously took this one out and promised me that it would speak very much. He seemed very eager to get rid of it. I saw that it was not very expensive, and so I bought it... Who would have thought that after I bought it, I found out that this parrot would talk regardless of whether I talked to it. However, it speaks no proper words and always goes on sprouting vulgarities and saying awful things...¡±

    He was full of grievances. However, as he had already reached his home, he was relieved. He finally got a chance toin and continued, ¡°On this road, it has caused me a lot of trouble. When I bought it, I was very anxious and did not sign the contract. So when I went back and wanted to get a refund, I could not get one. I feel very bad just releasing it. I don¡¯t even know if it can survive in the wild. s, I can only bring it back. Now that I think about it, the owner was so anxious to get rid of it, it may be because this is a parrot that someone else has lost. He might have been afraid that the original owner woulde knocking on his door, so he sold it at a low price. I don¡¯t know what kind of horrible master taught a parrot to say such dirty things...¡±

    ¡°Ah-choo!¡±

    Zhang Zian suddenly felt that the inside of his nose was itchy and turned to sneeze in the direction where no one was standing.

    ¡°Caught a cold?¡± Zhuang Xiaodie asked.

    ¡°No. Maybe someone is cursing me behind my back.¡± Zhang Zian wiped his nose, and the feeling of wanting to sneeze disappeared slightly.

 Chapter 1397: I Volunteer

    <h4>Chapter 1397: I Volunteer</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian thought that this young man with an artistic ir also seemed familiar, but he had no time to think about it. This was because, while listening to hisints, Zhang Zian kept on sneezing and sneezing.

    Had Police Officer Sheng really gotten it right? Walking around while his body was wet with seawater without letting himself dry out would cause him to have a cold?

    The young man, tired fromining, bent over and tried to pick up the birdcage to go home. At this moment, he nced over and he saw a figure from the alley.

    It was a kind-faced middle-aged elderly woman, but he could not tell her specific age. Her eyes were as clear as a teenager¡¯s but sometimes violent and tepid as those of someone who had seen everything in the world.

    As she walked to the end of the alley, she expectantly looked at the intersection, as if waiting for someone.

    The young man saw the figure. His hand got shaky, and he hurriedly dropped the birdcage and ran over. He pulled her over and said, ¡°Mom! Why did you run out by yourself? Where¡¯s the nanny?¡±

    She nced at him nkly and said, ¡°Dong Yue is about to be done with school. She doesn¡¯t let me go to the school to pick him up, so I will stand here to wait for him toe back...¡±

    The young man didn¡¯t say anything.

    The birdcage that he¡¯d dumped on the ground rolled to one side. It was about to roll onto the road and might have been crushed by a car. The parrot inside panicked and screamed. Zhang Zian walked over and stopped the cage with his feet.

    The ck cloth on the outside of the birdcage was covered with dust, and thetch was loosened from the rolling. A corner of the ck cloth was lifted, and a gray bird feather appeared in the birdcage, along with a pair of ck eyes that were looking everywhere.

    ¡°Hey! Imprisonment y! Blindfold! Mouth restraint!¡±

    It fluttered its wings in a random way, and it constantly spit out vocabries of unknown meaning.

    Zhang Zian was silent.

    He couldn¡¯t agree more with the young man¡¯sints. This parrot really could leave someone speechless. The young man had been able to carry it with him and walk a distance. He must have suffered many staring eyes. What a shameful y this was...

    ¡°What is this nonsense... I don¡¯t know what the bird is saying! Can you understand?¡±

    In order to avoid Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s misunderstanding of him, he rified immediately.

    Zhuang Xiaodie didn¡¯t respond.

    Other pedestrians passed by and heard the words from the cage...that were not understood by ordinary people. They also turned to look at the source of the devil making all that noise.

    ¡°Mom! How many times have I told you? Don¡¯t run around! Don¡¯t go out on your own! Why are you always... Ugh!¡± The young man sighed. His face was full of helplessness.

    He took her by the hand and didn¡¯t dare let go. He was afraid that when he let go, she would run across the road and get hit by a car. Looking back, he saw that Zhang Zian had helped him stop the birdcage and said, ¡°Friend, can you help me and bring the birdcage over? Thank you very much!¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded, picked up the birdcage, and walked over. He handed it over and asked, ¡°Do you know what kind of bird is this?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it a parrot?¡± The young man said.

    ¡°It is a parrot, but this is an African grey parrot. It is an endangered protected animal that the country has banned from private buying and selling. This parrot cannot be privately raised unless one applies for a permit,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°And the number of cases in which someone raised an African grey parrot privately and was thereafter prosecuted...¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Three years to start with. The death penalty is applicable!¡± The African grey seamlessly picked up where he¡¯d left off.

    ¡°Is it worth it to be sentenced to death for raising a parrot?¡± Zhang Zian subconsciously argued with the parrot but immediately realized that this was not the time and ce for that.

    Strangely, once he heard the parrot talk, he could help but lose the image of a proper and well-educated man.

    ¡°Oh... I really didn¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t know anything about this.¡± The young man frowned and nced at his mother with a worried look. ¡°My mother is a bit confused, always thinking about the one she raised before. I don¡¯t know exactly what kind of parrot it was, so I just went to the pet shop and bought one. No wonder this parrot was not ced on the brighter side of the shop. I said that I wanted to buy a parrot that could talk, and the owner sneakily went to the back. He picked up this one, and the price was especially low. It turned out to be a protected animal that is not allowed to be traded... What can be done?¡±

    Zhang Zian roughly understood the situation, and he could also see that this older woman unfortunately suffered from Alzheimer¡¯s disease, which was currently incurable by medicine. The hippocampus, in charge of memory, had developed lesions, so her memories often came up confused. She sometimes could not recognize her own son...

    Wait a minute, the memory was confused?

    He felt that his memory seemed to be a bit confused as well. It seemed that he couldn¡¯t remember some things that he should remember. Was it true that he...it shouldn¡¯t be. Was it?

    ¡°You didn¡¯t ask the owner where did this parrote from?¡± he asked.

    The young man nodded. ¡°I saw him being sneaky and got suspicious, so I asked. The owner said that he was watching a movie on theputer when this parrot flew in through the window and started watching the movie with him. He caught it with ease...¡±

    ¡°Yah! Calcium tablets! Calcium tablets!¡± The African grey parrot shouted again.

    ¡°Look, it always likes to pick up on other people¡¯s words, but they do not mean anything. Where are the calcium tablets?¡± The young man shook his head helplessly.

    Zhang Zianughed twice. ¡°I don¡¯t understand either... Which pet shop is this? I will go around it in the future...¡±

    The young man looked at him in confusion.

    ¡°No, I mean, letting the olddy raise a parrot that is banned in this country isn¡¯t very wise. Besides, this parrot keeps saying dirty things...¡± Zhang Zian hurriedly changed the subject.

    ¡°You are right. If the country bans the private raising of this bird, I certainly can¡¯t let my mother raise it. She is already like this. If she gets awsuit because she is raising a banned parrot, it simply won¡¯t be worth it... I can¡¯t raise it either. If I get awsuit, who will take care of her...?¡± The young man sighed.

    He held the birdcage in one hand and held his mother in the other hand. It seemed to be a dilemma. On the one hand, he had to send his mother home, because she would get lost if she had a rpse in her illness. On the other hand, if he brought the bird back and sent his mother home, and if the neighbors or the nanny heard the grey parrot in the cage, word would spread... Maybe they didn¡¯t know that it was illegal to raise a grey parrot, but some people may know.

    The most important thing was that he¡¯d bought this parrot because it could talk, but what it was saying...was obviously not suitable for his mother to hear.

    ¡°Friend, do you know how this parrot should be handled?¡± he asked. ¡°Since I can¡¯t raise it, I can¡¯t take it home. Fortunately, I didn¡¯t spend much money. I shall just consider that I bought a lesson. However, to simply leave it here... I don¡¯t know if it can survive in the wild. Maybe it will be taken home by other people, and they will get awsuit instead.¡±

    ¡°We should contact the relevant departments, such as the zoo.¡± Zhang Zian was not sure. However, seeing that the young man was stuck, he volunteered and said, ¡°If you trust me, give it to me. I will help you to contact the relevant department and send it where it should go.¡±

 Chapter 1398: Making a Choice

    <h4>Chapter 1398: Making a Choice</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian saw the deep and heart-wrenching feelings between the mother and the child, and he felt sympathy for them, so he took the initiative to help the young man deal with the problem of this grey parrot.

    In addition... He¡¯d always felt that this gray parrot may be rted to his constant sneezing. Maybe he was allergic to parrots? However, there were two or three ordinary parrots in his own pet store. How could it be that he was fine there?

    The young man nced up. ¡°Sorry to trouble you...¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I don¡¯t have anything to do anyway.¡± Zhang Zian opened his WeChat. ¡°Add me as a friend. I will inform you of the process and results. If you feel unsatisfied, you can alwayse back and get it.¡±

    ¡°Thank you so much.¡±

    The young man was really out of options. Just a few hours after he¡¯d left home, his mother had almost lost her way. If someone helped him deal with the grey parrot, it would be much better.

    After adding him as a friend, Zhang Zian took over the birdcage and arranged the ck cloth outside to avoid being seen by other people on the road carrying a grey parrot.

    ¡°Little Purple... Yellow Pea Cake...¡± the older woman muttered at the birdcage.

    ¡°Mom, this parrot is not a Little Purple or Yellow Pea Cake. Let¡¯s go home first. I will take time to go to other pet shops to find you something else,¡± the young man said softly, trying to persuade her.

    Zhang Zian interjected, ¡°Well... If you want to buy a certain kind of parrot, it is best to go to a professional aviary. There are not many parrots in general pet shops.¡±

    ¡°An aviary?¡±

    ¡°Well, I remember that the city of Binhai seems to have one, but I can¡¯t seem to remember the name... Do go back and check it out online,¡± Zhang Zian suggested. ¡°When you go, tell the breeder what parrot you want. Be clear, or simply go with your mother and let her choose.¡±

    ¡°Okay, thank you.¡± The young man nodded gratefully. ¡°I only knew that there was a breeder for cats. I didn¡¯t know that there was an equivalent for birds as well. After I go back home, I will check it out... Now, I will head home.¡±

    ¡°Bye-bye.¡±

    Zhang Zian waved goodbye to him.

    Looking at the young man supporting the older woman as they disappeared into the depths of the alley, Zhang Zian felt that Zhuang Xiaodie might have been left out of the entire situation. He decided to deliberately start a conversation with her. ¡°Have you seen a grey parrot? This type of parrot is very big and often only seen in the zoo. Do you want to see?¡±

    With that, he picked up the corner of the ck cloth and let her watch the gray parrot.

    The grey parrot¡¯s little ck eyes turned and looked for the light. It stared at Zhuang Xiaodie and suddenly cried, ¡°Same sex, true love! The opposite sex, future generations! You two, no y!¡±

    Zhang Zian listened, quickly let down the ck cloth, smiled, and said, ¡°This parrot... I don¡¯t know who taught it, but its mouth should be taped up.¡±

    Zhuang Xiaodie had already seen that this grey parrot was the elfin named Richard. However, it was only when the ck cloth, which was covering the cage, was pulled away did she realize this. It was already toote. If she had known earlier, she would have found ways to prevent it from approaching Zhang Zian.

    ¡°You are going to take it...¡± she said.

    ¡°As I said before, I will take it back and call the Wildlife Bureau or the zoo and ask them to receive it.¡± He added that this was also a normal process.

    She nodded and asked no further questions. This parrot, besides its mouth, could not possibly cause much trouble. She would quickly find a way to encourage Zhang Zian to send it away. Its ability had also been suppressed in the dream world. It could only speak a small number of words and short sentences. It could not say things that were as savage as what it said in reality.

    As a result of the priest¡¯s special reminder, Zhang Zian often looked back while walking around with the birdcage. This was to prevent the ck-and-white kitten behind him from being lost.

    However, what he was afraid of would happen. After a long walk, he looked back and found that it was standing still, its eyes fixed on a remote alley next to him. Then, as if it had found something there, it crawled into the alley.

    ¡°Wait! Don¡¯t run around!¡±

    Zhang Zian shouted at it, but its movements were too fast, and it disappeared into the alley in the blink of an eye.

    He stepped up to chase it, but his empty hand was being held by another soft, slippery hand.

    Looking back, he saw that it was, of course, Zhuang Xiaodie who was holding him.

    ¡°It may be trying to find apanion. Just give it some freedom,¡± she said as her eyes turned from calm and indifferent to a little pitiful. ¡°It is not even your cat. Other cats will at least allow you to touch them, but this one doesn¡¯t even allow you to do that. You will not be able to properly raise this cat!¡±

    Her voice was very earnest, almost begging. Her bright eyes were covered with thin water vapor, which made people feel pity for her.

    For a girl with such a face and figure, few men could refuse to ept her plea. This was a world that worked in superficial signals.

    Zhuang Xiaodie was the most perfect matchmaking object he had ever seen. He couldn¡¯t even believe that he was holding hands with someone of this caliber.

    Her appearance was dignified and beautiful, and her body was graceful and slim. She was also generous with her money and had actively paid the bill at the Teahouse in Hidden Fog. She was also quite reasonable and did not look down on his family background and the ordinary work that he did.

    Such a wonderful girl¡ªhow many could he possibly find?

    Someone who could pair with him so well was something that he¡¯d never thought he would find. She brought joy to his family and the envy of those around them.

    Since he¡¯d met her, she had never explicitly asked him to do anything. Even if she hated cats, she had not forced him to drive the cat away.

    Only this time had she asked for him not to chase the cat.

    Only this time.

    Among 100 people, at least 90 people would not hesitate to agree with her request. Nine of the remaining ten people may agree after weighing the pros and cons. Thest one was either likely to be a fool or perhaps like men.

    Her hand gripped his tighter, and a slight trembling came from her palm. ¡°Let¡¯s go back to the city center. I want to taste the food in Binhai. Do you have any rmendations? I want to go to the park to see the flowers. I want to go to the amusement park to take the Ferris wheel. I want to go to the Grand Theater to watch a movie. I want to go to the zoo to see the animals... I think... I want to be with you. Let.s go together. We will definitely be very happy!¡±

    The travelers on the road saw this scene, heard her request, and shook their heads and sighed. They felt that this man was worthless to her. They didn¡¯t think this man deserved to be with her. It was like a flower stuck in cow dung.

    A proud, cool beauty had suddenly showed her weak side. It was enough to dazzle anyone. It was the same for Zhang Zian.

    He temporarily put down the birdcage, sped her hand with both of his, looked into her eyes, and said calmly, ¡°It is really not my cat. Maybe, as you said, I will never raise it, no matter how hard I try. I may never get to touch its fur. However, my choosing to raise it is not to touch it. I bring it home because I like it. A like is a like. It does not mean that I have to get the same treatment in return.¡±

    Then he gently broke free from her hand.

 Chapter 1399: Watching the Show

    <h4>Chapter 1399: Watching the Show</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    If only there was enough time...

    If she didn¡¯t let these elves break into the dream...

    Zhuang Xiaodie felt deeply humiliated and filled with frustration and remorse, as well as some otherplex emotions.

    Zhang Zian picked up the birdcage. ¡°I know that some people who find sick or injured cats outdoors will take care of them, but stray cats may have been abused or harmed by humans. They will never be able to get close to any human and will always keep their distance... This is not the cat¡¯s fault. Even human beings who are hurt when they are young will have a shadow of that abuse. This is its self-protecting instinct, but it doesn¡¯t mean that it doesn¡¯t like you if it does not get close to you. It is merely choosing to express its like for you in another manner.¡±

    ¡°In addition, do all the things that you want to doe in conflict with me chasing cats? When I get it back, if you want to go to those ces, I will definitely apany you,¡± Zhang Zian said softly. ¡°But now, I am going to get it back in case it falls into the hands of the cat abuser. Or do you want to go with me?¡±

    She shook her head in disappointment. ¡°If you go chasing cats now, you don¡¯t have to do the other things.¡±

    This was no different than a final warning from her.

    Zhang Zian seemed to smile unconsciously and waved. ¡°I believe we will meet again.¡±

    Looking at him carrying the birdcage into the back of the alley, she stood alone, not knowing where to go.

    She didn¡¯t understand what he was thinking. Under normal circumstances, there would never be a man who refused to abandon a cat and left a blind date. But if he already knew that the cat was not a normal cat, but one that he was deeply connected to... If he already knew, why not just make it clear?

    Since the ck-and-white kitten had already run away, hermunication with the butterfly was no longer obstructed. She did not need to follow him personally to know his every move.

    Zhang Zian ran to the end of the alley and saw the ck-and-white kitten sitting not far away, as if waiting for him.

    ¡°Hey! Is there anything here?¡± He raised his hand to say hello, and his body, whichcked exercise was aching slightly from all that running.

    This was a very quiet alley. If they went farther south, they would reach the suburbs where the dog market was. North of the dog market were a few viges. Beyond that, wasplete wilderness.

    ¡°Meow!¡± The kitten looked behind him.

    ¡°She didn¡¯t follow me. Only I am here.¡± He looked back and saw nothing behind him. ¡°Although I feel bad for her... In all senses, she should be able to take care of herself, and there is no need for me to worry for her.¡±

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    For this kind of conversation, when it was unable to answer with a nod or shake of its head, the kitten lowered its head and drew on the ground with its ws.

    ¡°No, you don¡¯t have to be sorry. As this horrible parrot said, she and I probably will not meet further,¡± heforted it. ¡°It is a dream to be able to get along with such a girl for three days. Nothing to regret. She can definitely take care of herself, and I have more important things to do. This was the purpose of bringing me here, right?¡±

    ¡°Meow!¡±

    The kitten suddenly became happy, as if it had regained its vitality, and it turned and ran two steps, then stopped and looked back at him.

    ¡°Well, I will follow you.¡±

    He followed the kitten on down the alley, turned into another alley, and walked through it as well.

    Knock knock knock!

    On a patch of open space at the urban-rural junction, he heard a crisp knocking sound.

    ¡°Come on! Look at it! Take a look! If it doesn¡¯t look good, I will not take your money! Young and old, all good folk,e to see something new!¡±

    There was someone creating a lot of noise and soon gathered a lot of bystanders around him.

    During Golden Week, everyone was on holiday. In the daytime, besides ying mahjong and using their mobile phones, many people had nothing to do. Once there was something lively going on, they could gather like flies.

    The kitten sat down, stared at the crowd, and looked back at him.

    ¡°What is so lively?¡±

    Zhang Zian was also very curious. Was it that the Jiangnan Leather Factory, whose boss had run away with his mistress, was here to open a shop to clear his warehouse of goods?

    The bystanders surrounded the area, and the crowd was about three people thick. He couldn¡¯t get to the front with the birdcage in his hand. He had to find a high tform on the outskirts to be able to see.

    The one making all that noise was a middle-aged man. He had a foreign ent and looked rather unkempt as if he had not washed his face for many days.

    There was also a middle-aged woman next to him. She used a rope to circle a small open space, preventing people from entering. It was meant as a demarcation of where the performance would be.

    In the open space, she held two big dogs with ropes. In addition, there were...a few monkeys.

    The onlookers were smiling and pointing.

    ¡°It¡¯s a monkey!¡±

    ¡°Haha! I have heard of monkeys, but it is the first time I¡¯ve seen one.¡±

    ¡°Take the phone and record it! Put it on TikTok and gain some fans!¡±

    ¡°I also want to record this and send it to my friends.¡±

    These two people should be husband and wife who¡¯de from somewhere else. They relied on monkey performances to make a living, but because they were afraid of urban management authorities, they dared not enter the city center. Instead, they chose a ce that was located between the vige and the town, the part where the urban and ruralndscapes merged...

    As he was far away, Zhang Zian could only see the general outline of the monkeys. Their necks were tied with thin iron chains, and the thin iron chains were fixed to a small truck driven by husband and wife...

    With the chains around their necks, they were not afraid of the monkeys running away. Besides, there were two big dogs watching by the side. As soon as the monkeys went a short distance away, they rushed out towards them with their yellow fangs and started barking loudly. This forced the monkeys to hurry back into the open space.

    These two big dogs were not purebred dogs. They were just ordinary mongrels. Zhang Zian could not detect what breed of dogs had created them from merely looking at them.

    The mongrel was banned in many cities because the dog was fierce and its temperament was not as stable as that of a purebred dog. It was easier for them to get out of control.

    These two dogs were being used as guard dogs when both husband and wife were roaming around. Otherwise, their safety would not be guaranteed.

    There was a total of five monkeys. The specific breed was not clear. Four of them were calmer, as if they had epted their fate. However, perhaps one of them was new. It kept running to the crowd as if asking for help. However, before it could reach the rope, it was pulled back by the chain on its neck, and then the two big dogs rushed fiercely over to it. That scared it immensely, and it hurriedly beat a retreat.

    The action of the new monkey caused the onlookers tough.

    ¡°I heard that there is a shepherd dog. I didn¡¯t expect to see a monkey dog!¡±

    ¡°This dog is a god and can scare the monkey. Even I am scared of it!¡±

    ¡°Boss, when will the show begin? Hurry up!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s starting! It¡¯s starting! Everyone, please wait a little bit. We will start soon!¡± The man smiled and politely replied to them. He wanted to wait a little longer. After all, the more people, the better, as not everyone was willing to pay.

    The woman took out two signs and ced them on the ground. On them, were the QR codes of Alipay and WeChat Pay.

 Chapter 1400: Monkey Show

    <h4>Chapter 1400: Monkey Show</h4>

    A monkey show could be regarded as a long-established folk craft. In the past, when cultural life had been scarce, a shout on the streets could have immediately signaled to hundreds of people to gather around. Men, women, and children would put down the things at hand and flock to watch the monkeys perform.

    There are couples who put on monkey shows like this, and there were also circus monkey shows, but the format was simr.

    The man took a few steps around the field, striking his gong and observing the number of onlookers. He had to bnce waiting for more people and avoiding a lengthy wait as it wore away other people¡¯s patience.

    Seeing that the number was no longer increasing, he put down the gong and made a circle around him. ¡°My wife and I are here today in your precious town to perform a monkey show for you,¡± he said. ¡°We will not do a lot of talking, but young or old, if you have some spare cash, please give us some as a form of encouragement. Those who don¡¯t have money, if you enjoy what you see, do consider giving us something so we can get food to eat. My wife and I thank you for being here!¡±

    ¡°Good!¡±

    ¡°Good!¡±

    ¡°Get started! If it is good, you¡¯ll get our money!¡±

    People were not afraid to offer free apuse. Besides the people who were filming on their mobile phones, the others apuded and urged the man to start soon.

    ¡°Well! This is the beginning! Let the boss of the monkeys give everyone a song: ¡®Two Springs Reflecting the Moon!¡¯¡±

    With that, the man took a monkey to the center of the open space, stuffed a toy erhu and a bow into its hand, and began to y ¡°Two Springs Reflecting the Moon¡± with a portable speaker. The monkey also did its thing, holding the erhu in one hand and the bow in the other. It looked around from time to time, looking quite the part.

    After the song ¡°Two Springs Reflecting the Moon¡± was finished, people apuded. After all, it was a free show, and they could not ask for too much.

    At this time, the man pulled out the second monkey and said, ¡°My family¡¯s monkeys are versatile. The boss is a musician, and the second one knows tricks. Let the second one perform a somersault for everyone! It is as good as those monkeys you see on TV!¡±

    ¡°My children, start marching!¡±

    As he said this, he began to periodically shake the thin iron chain in his hand, and the monkey also moved along with his movements.

    He kept on shaking, and the monkey didn¡¯t stop.

    The difficulty was much higher than that of the first performance.

    People watched, concentrated, and apuded spontaneously.

    However, after the monkey flipped more than a dozen times, its physical strength was depleted and did not do one properly. It eventually fell to the ground.

    Peopleughed, and someone called out, ¡°Get up and turn it over! Turn over a few more times! Just like that! Do ten more and I will give you a hundred yuan!¡±

    The man¡¯s face was nk, and he reached out and picked up a short whip. He mmed it on the ground next to the monkey, and it left a deep scar on the ground. It was as loud as a firecracker.

    The monkey stood up and trembled on both legs, staring at its owner in horror.

    ¡°Hey! Thank you! This was a mistake on its part. The following is the official performance!¡± The man smiled at the voice. ¡°Come, my child, show your skills to this gentleman!¡±

    The monkey stood up and did a few more somersaults. The difference from thest time was that every time it flipped, the whip would hit the ground as if in warning that if it made a mistake, the whip would ¡°mistakenly¡±nd on it...

    ¡°WeChat collection, one hundred yuan.¡±

    ¡°WeChat collection, ten yuan.¡±

    ¡°WeChat collection, five yuan.¡±

    The performance was perfect, and all ten somersaults were performed to perfection. Everyone cheered loudly, and the gentleman who¡¯d requested it paid the one hundred yuan generously. The others watching the fun also gave from five to ten yuan. Besides, with the economy as it was right now, no one would be worked up with five to ten less yuan in their pockets. Five yuan may not even be able to buy breakfast.

    The man had a wide smile on his face, and he threw a few peanuts to the exhausted monkey as a reward.

    Next, he took the third monkey to perform the trick of a monkey riding on a dog.

    The monkeys were obviously afraid of the two big dogs. They were afraid of dying, but they had to be forced to ride on the dog. The man took them on the leash and yed the old version of the ssic track ¡°Journey to the West.¡± It brought about a lot ofughter.

    ¡°You take the burden, while I lead the horse...¡±

    Of course, the performance could not be as simple as this. In the middle, he gave the dog a secret signal, ordering the dog to jump up and fling the monkey on its back to the ground as if to scare it. The monkey was scared to death, but it still tried to climb onto the back of the dog again.

    The fourth monkey performed a monkey climb for everyone¡ªit juggled on the poles that had hastily been put together.

    Due to the iron chain around its neck, the monkey made a major mistake in juggling. It identally let the chain wrap around the pole and almost strangled itself. The performance certainly failed, but the man had experienced this before. He improvised immediately and said that this performance was called ¡°hanging the money.¡± However, not everyone was a fool. Perhaps only the primary school students would believe that. Everyone could see that the monkey had been strangled until it was spewing foam at its mouth. This was definitely not part of the performance, but what did this have to do with them? They were just spectators, and most of them were not going to pay.

    Although no one debunked the man¡¯s lies, few people had given him money.

    The man brought out thest monkey that had not yet appeared. It was the new monkey who was not very obedient and always wanted to escape. He wanted to use this monkey to turn the situation around and make more money before leaving the ce. He would make a trip around Binhai City for a week before traveling to other cities.

    He had identally obtained this monkey.

    It was unbelievable. When the stall had been set up in the previous ce, this monkey had seen its peers and been silly enough to approach them. It had tried to untie the chains around their necks.

    When he¡¯d seen this scene, he had been stunned, but he¡¯d reacted very quickly. He had immediately imed that it was part of the performance. Then he had made a secret signal to the two dogs and ordered them to stop the monkey from running away. It had then been tied up with a chain and locked away with the other monkeys.

    He suspected that the monkey had run away from other monkey keepers. When it had appeared, there had been a toy keyboard in its hand... But after careful inspection, it was not quite like the others because there were no traces of a chain on its neck. Long-term shackles on the neck would make the hair on their necks be abrasively scraped off, and there would also be clear scars.

    Anyone who put on monkey shows would use the iron chain around the monkey¡¯s neck. Even the monkeys in the circus were no exception. The circus did not need to chain the monkeys during the performance but still had to chain them up during training. This was to prevent any unnecessary issues. A monkey that was anxious may bite a person.

    He smiled and said to the onlookers, ¡°Everyone, young and old, this monkey is the youngest and is also the grand finale of our show. Its performance, I dare to guarantee, is something that you have never seen before. Can all of you guess what it is?¡±

    With that, he pointed to the toy keyboard it held in its hand. ¡°It can type words.¡±

 Chapter 1401: Monkey and Its Keyboard

    <h4>Chapter 1401: Monkey and Its Keyboard</h4>

    The onlookers saw this monkey holding a toy keyboard and thought that it was the same type of act as the first monkey holding the toy erhu and ying ¡°Two Springs Reflecting the Moon.¡± It would be nothing more than random hits on the keyboard. It would be somewhat like typing. Momentarily, they lost interest in the act. They would rather watch monkeys perform somersaults. Many requested to see monkeys perform that or climb the poles.

    The man smiled. ¡°Please, everyone, do you think that I, an old man, am deliberately fooling you? Let me tell you, it is real typing. If you don¡¯t believe me, in a moment¡¯s time, please look very carefully!¡±

    With that, the woman took a tablet from the trunk of the car and started a word processing app. The couple used the tablet to watch movies every night by stealing other people¡¯s Wi-Fi.

    Someone dismissively said, ¡°What typing? It¡¯s merely randomly hitting the tablet. It is you that is saying that it is typing!¡±

    ¡°Oh! Of course not! Young one, it is all up to you now. Don¡¯t embarrass your brothers! Otherwise, be careful! I will hit you!¡± The man pointed at the new monkey and threatened it while stroking his beard.

    ¡°Zzz...¡±

    The new monkey was not ustomed to being tied with an iron chain on its neck. It felt that even breathing was not smooth. It always held the toy keyboard in one hand and pulled at the chain with its other hand. However, its strength was no match for a human¡¯s. Regardless of how hard it resisted, it was still forcefully pulled to the center of the space.

    When they had picked up this monkey, the couple had noticed that it held the toy keyboard like a baby. No matter where it went, it didn¡¯t let go of it. From time to time, it turned on the key cap with its finger and typed furiously away. It was as if it could derive happiness from tapping on the keyboard.

    The wife, who had been to high school, observed inadvertently that the letters it hit did not seem to be at random. Instead, it observed the rules of Hanyu pinyin. Although it was just a toy keyboard, it had a Bluetooth function and could be connected to a tablet.

    She tried to connect the keyboard to the tablet and switched the input method to Hanyu pinyin. She was surprised to find that within the meaningless strings of sentences that it typed, there was an asional sentence with a certain deeper meaning.

    They¡¯d studied it through the night to make sure that this was not idental. As long as it typed long enough, for example, for more than ten minutes, there would definitely be a sentence that made sense. Sometimes, it took less than ten minutes.

    The couple forcefully took the keyboard from the new monkey and brought out the other monkeys to test them. The other monkeys did not know how to use the keyboard. They only mmed on it in a silly manner or put it in their mouths.

    The two of them thought that this monkey might not be ordinary. Perhaps this monkey had run out of ab.

    The woman was somewhat worried about whether it would have any germs and advocated for sending it away. If theboratory found them, they could im that they¡¯d detained the monkey without authorization, and they may see awsuiting their way.

    The man thought somewhat differently. He¡¯d picked this monkey up of his own ord, so why couldn¡¯t he keep it? He intended to take it to perform in his show. Even if theb found it, they would have to spend money to get it back.

    Because of its unknown origins, they were much nicer to this new monkey. Apart from strictly preventing it from escaping, they did not really use the whip to strike it. In addition, its food was better than that of the other four monkeys.

    The other four monkeys did not take well to this new monkey joining them. Why was it treated preferentially and got to eat better than them? Therefore, whenever the couple was not paying attention, the other four monkeys always looked for opportunities to bully the neer. They pushed it, screamed at it, and grabbed its food from it.

    The new monkey didn¡¯tpete with them. It merely held on to the toy keyboard and hid at the farthest distance allowed by the chain length.

    Today, the couple were taking it out for its official performance for the first time, and the man hoped to rely on it to make a good impression.

    ¡°Come, young one. Sit down and type for everyone.¡± The man took out a small table and a small bench, indicating that the new monkey was to sit on the bench.

    Being stared at by a hundred hot eyes, the new monkey was scared, and with a heavy iron chain around its neck, it almost couldn¡¯t walk. It sat on the small bench in horror and kept scanning the crowd.

    ¡°Come on. Don¡¯t look around. Look here, look here.¡±

    The man patted the table and guided its gaze to the tablet, and the cursor shed at the beginning of the open nk document.

    He gestured to the keyboard and indicated to it to start typing.

    The crowd was basically skeptical. It was not so much like watching a monkey type words, but more like watching a magic show by the popr magician Liu Qian during spring festival shows and trying to figure out the crux of the magic.

    ¡°Type! Did you hear me?¡±

    The man saw that the new monkey was always looking at the faces in the crowd. He decided to raise his short whip. Although he did not whip it, the monkey had seen him do so with the other monkeys¡ªkilling a monkey and letting the other monkeys see was much more effective than killing a chicken and showing the monkey.

    ¡°ZZZ!¡±

    The new monkey was so scared that he quickly put the keyboard on the table and used a single w to tap on the keyboard, making a gesture to indicate that it was preparing for typing¡ªnot to mention that its pose looked quite decent. It was at least much better than the monkey who had yed the erhu.

    Tap!

    Tap! Tap!

    The new monkey¡¯s fingernded on the key cap, and the corresponding text appeared in the tablet¡¯s document.

    ¡°Hey, is it really typing?¡±

    ¡°Is there someone else typing? Is this monkey just pretending?¡±

    The onlookers saw that this was something new and started discussing it.

    The person closest to the monkey stretched his neck and observed it carefully. He found that the monkey did not seem to be pretending. Wherever its thumbnded, the corresponding letter appears in the document. For example, when it pressed ¡°W,¡± the input method would prompt the Chinese character that meant ¡°I.¡± It continued typing out a string of letters, and the tablet input method disyed the corresponding Chinese character prompt.

    If it was pretending, and there was someone behind the scenes, typing with another Bluetooth keyboard, it would be impossible to fully synchronize the entire typing performance.

    Others had alsoe closer to see if it was true that this monkey was indeed typing. Although the words typed did not make much sense when strung together as a sentence and therefore has no inherent meaning, it was undeniable that it was typing.

    ¡°Hey, how did you train this monkey? Very impressive!¡±

    ¡°Wow! This monkey really looks as if it is typing hard, but its posture is slightly awkward...¡±

    ¡°WeChat collection: five yuan.¡±

    ¡°WeChat collection: ten yuan.¡±

    Ten minutes passed. Although some people gave money, this obviously did not meet the expectations of the couple.

    When they had tried itst night, it could create one meaningful sentence within ten minutes, but today there were no signs of that at all.

    As for the reason... They found that the new monkey had been pulling the iron chain with one hand and typing with one hand. It had not been chained during the testst night, which obviously would seriously affect its typing efficiency.

    The two looked at each other and agreed to take the iron chain off. Anyway, there were two big dogs guarding it. There were also a ton of people forming a threeyer human barrier. It would be impossible for it to run away.

 Chapter 1402: The Monkey Masterâ€™s Mischief

    <h4>Chapter 1402: The Monkey Master¡¯s Mischief</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The man pulled out a bunch of keys from his belt, found the corresponding one and untied the chain on the new monkey¡¯s neck. He then turned his back to everyone and poked its head with his finger as a warning to not run away.

    He arranged the two big dogs on each side of it to prevent it from running away.

    The new monkey rubbed its sore neck and looked at the fierce big dogs. It curled up its body even tighter. He mmed his fists and typed it. Although it was better than before, it was often distracted when the big dogs and spectators were around.

    The audience stood around for a long time and gradually became impatient. After all, the mosquitoes were still around, annoying everyone as they kept on biting them from time to time.

    ¡°Boss, is there anything new?¡±

    ¡°If not, then we¡¯ll be on our way.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, just let the monkey do somersaults. It¡¯s more interesting, plus I didn¡¯t have time to record it just now so do it again!¡±

    A chubby primary school student was holding arge bag of snacks in his hand and constantly munching anyway, creating turns of crunching sounds. His lips were covered in food residue, and from time to time he stuck his fingers into his mouth and sucked them.

    ¡°Stupid monkey! Stupid monkey! It can¡¯t even type! It¡¯s stupid! It¡¯s stupider than me!¡± He cursed as he threw the finished snack bag onto the new monkey¡¯s back. The remaining food and its juices flowed out and stained the monkey¡¯s back.

    The new monkey wanted to dodge, but at the same time didn¡¯t dare to do so. For one, it feared that the man would¡¯ve whipped it. Secondly, he was afraid that if he dodged, the juices would¡¯ve sshed onto the keyboard and damage it.

    It didn¡¯t matter if it didn¡¯t hide. It was nothing more than the hair on its back getting dirty. As for the humiliation, it didn¡¯t care.

    The real problem was that there were vacuum-packed chicken feet and soya sauce duck legs In the fat boy¡¯s snacks. After eating, there wasn¡¯t much of the juice left, but the juice essence was very rich. The juice didn¡¯t mean much to people, but when the two big dogs immediately salivated upon smelling it, to the point where they almost couldn¡¯t hold themselves back.

    The two big dogs haven¡¯t been trained to resist food yet. In their eyes, the monkey facing them was more like an oversized soya sauce duck leg.

    In response to the fat boy¡¯s behavior, the man only frowned slightly but did nothing to stop him. At most, he would¡¯ve wiped the monkey clean when he returned. The customer was always right, and he couldn¡¯t afford to offend them. This fat boy carried so many snacks with him, making it likely that his family spoiled him rotten. He probably had plenty of pocket money as well. Perhaps his parents were also watching the show at the side since peace brought wealth.

    There were still people joining the crowd to see what was going on, but there were generally more people leaving.

    The man was a little anxious, ring at the new monkey whilst whipping the short whip to create sounds.

    As people wereing and going, there was a gap in the circle of onlookers. A man squatting into the inneryer with a birdcage pointed to the man and said loudly, ¡°Are you aware that you¡¯re breaking thew?¡±

    The spectators who were discussing the act suddenly became quiet, and everyone¡¯s eyes fell on Zhang Zian.

    The man was also stunned, looking back at him as he said, ¡°Breaking thew? What did I do wrong?¡±

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t sure if he was actually stupid or pretending to be, but it was most likely the former. Based on how he looked and sounded, he didn¡¯t seem like someone who studied a lot. Even if he did study a little, many people were still unaware that private rearing, buying, and selling of monkeys are illegal.

    There were pet shops selling monkeys that have since closed down, some of them even digging their own graves who dug their own graves by broadcasting their monkeys on the Inte. The monkeys are a national second-ss protected animal species. They are also close rtives of primates and humans and are not allowed to be raised privately without the authorization of the forestry department. This couple, who are performing on the streets, it is easy to guess that they are unlikely to have the correct documents that prove they are allowed to raise monkeys.

    In this case, they used wild animals to illegally make a profit. Considering the severity of the case, the lightest punishment for them was a jail sentence of ten years.

    The surrounding spectators didn¡¯t bother to take action. Some of them may have already known, but they seemed to not care as long as they were satisfied. They would rather just watch the monkey show then stand up and take action.

    ¡°Do you have a certificate for raising monkeys? Did you know that it¡¯s illegal to raise a monkey without proper documentation?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Documents?¡± The man was trying to deny it. As a bright idea suddenly came up, he looked around and said in a different tone, ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Then take it out and show us.¡±

    ¡°I have the documents, but why should I show them to you?¡± The man stretched out his neck and shouted to the surrounding spectators. ¡°Everyone here, young and old! My wife and I are from out of town and have traveled south to make a living, which hasn¡¯t been easy on us. This is the first time we are here in your town, so we are unfamiliar with your ce. We did not know that we need to pay some protection fees here. That is our fault! Please, we are only a small business. Please help us get out of this mess!¡±

    This person knew what to say to make himself the victim. His ploy shifted everyone¡¯s attention away from himself. What they were doing was clearly illegal, but he managed to portray Zhang Zian as a local gangster forcing them to pay a protection fee.

    People were always born with the tendency to sympathize with the weak. To everyone, this unkempt couple was pitiful. It wasn¡¯t easy to bring a few monkeys to perform everywhere. They did not even have a house. On the other hand, Zhang Zian appeared neat, tidy, and even well-dressed. He also has a huge birdcage in his hand, much like a rich guy who was merely wandering around for fun.

    ¡°Hey, is it easy for ordinary people to earn a living?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but everything you say involves breaking thew. If there were other ways to earn money, who¡¯d want to work and earn money this way?¡±

    ¡°The rich people eat meat, and the poor do not even have proper soup to drink. Where is the equality in this?¡±

    ¡°Rich people probably have nothing better to do than creating trouble for other people. They only know how to bully themon folk. If you can, why not catch and report corrupt officials...?¡±

    The public opinion has turned towards the couple, and they have used Zhang Zian of being a busybody or merely spouting words without even thinking. Many people know that the private rearing of monkeys is illegal, but the couple was poor and would thus win the argument.

    Some people have lived a bad life throughout the weekdays whilst working. They were now hiding amongst the crowd and stirring up people¡¯s emotions.

    The emotions of the masses were easily influenced by others. Almost in the blink of an eye, the people next to him started cursing and swearing at him. This was a rapid esction from mere pointing and murmurings.

    ¡°Go! Go away if you are not watching!¡±

    ¡°Go away!¡±

    ¡°How ridiculous! It¡¯s the festive season but you still want to make us mad!¡±

    Zhang Zian was also a good man who knew not to pick a fight he cannot win. Seeing that the situation wasn¡¯t in his favor, he decided to stand down. The hotheaded individuals were so agitated that they might¡¯ve exploded at any moment. They maye together to beat him up then scatter immediately after. He wouldn¡¯t be able to reason his way out; thew didn¡¯t seem to work against a huge group.

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t care less about other monkeys, but I want to take this monkey away,¡± He pointed to the new monkey and decided to take a chance.

 Chapter 1403: Using Violence to Violate the Law

    <h4>Chapter 1403: Using Violence to Vite the Law</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When Zhang Zian stood on the high tform to observe, he had already called the relevant departments, mainly the Binhai Forestry Bureau, and reported to them that there were some monkeys here but probably didn¡¯t have proper licensing. However, it was unclear if the relevant departments woulde. After all, they weren¡¯t the patrol police.

    After the phone call, he instructed the ck and white kitten not to run around. Seeing that it nodded as a promise, he then squeezed into the crowd.

    At the time, the situation didn¡¯t look good for him. He couldn¡¯t save all the monkeys, but he had to save at least this one. Even if he couldn¡¯t see it on the outside, he felt at ease as soon as he heard the sound of the keyboard.

    ¡°Squeak!¡±

    The new monkey heard Zhang Zian¡¯s voice and turned its head with widened eyes. It stared at him with anticipation.

    Zhang Zian looked down and saw that the hair on its neck was pressed hard enough to leave an indent. However, its round eyes shone with wisdom, which was quite different from the other somewhat rowdy monkeys.

    He recognized that it was a Rhesus Monkey, and the other four were the same species as well. However, this monkey was younger and looked cuter. The way it stared at his eyes looked like a kid admiring their parents.

    ¡°Squeak!¡±

    It reached out its hands to him as if waiting for him to take it away. It even gave up the toy keyboard that it had never left behind.

    Zhang Zian also reached out to it. Although the other hand was holding a birdcage, one hand was enough to pick up such a small monkey.

    However, its hand was violently pped aside.

    The man inserted himself between Zhang Zian and the monkey. He said arrogantly, ¡°This is my monkey. What makes you think you can take it away?¡±

    This was indeed an unsolved problem.

    Zhang Zian was an ordinary person with now enforcement power or right to arbitrarily invade other people¡¯s property. Although he was almost sure that the couple didn¡¯t have the required breeding permit, they were only suspects before being convicted by the court.

    If he insisted on taking the monkey now, he would also be breaking thew.

    But if he did nothing, who knew when the relevant departments would¡¯ve arrived? By then, the couple might¡¯ve already taken the monkeys somewhere else.

    He was usually cautious and would think of other ways to circumvent legal risks. He would try to solve problems without breaking thew, but today was an exception.

    At that moment, he didn¡¯t seem to want to follow the rules.

    After more than 20 years of obeying thew, this might be the time of his life when he did something different.

    Even if it was only for a day.

    ¡®If thew doesn¡¯t work for me, then I will use violence to get my way!¡¯ he thought.

    Right in front of everyone, he flexed his empty arm and naturally concentrated his strength built from momentum and throughout the lower half of his body. Once done, he struck the man¡¯s nose without any fancy moves to it.

    ¡°You should have listened and given in earlier! I wouldn¡¯t have had to punch you in that case,¡± he said casually. He rubbed his greasy fist on the ck cloth of the birdcage.

    The man¡¯s shock surpassed even the pain he felt. With his eyes opened in disbelief, his nose squirted blood as he fell on his back.

    The surrounding spectators were also stunned. In such a situation where things weren¡¯t in his favor, he dared to initiate a fight and hit a man. He was very manly indeed!

    ¡°Yeah! People fighting! People fighting! People are fighting in broad daylight! Where is thew!¡±

    The woman screamed at the sight of her man lying on the ground as blood kept flowing out of his nose.

    It was strange, but the spectators who were filled with indignation earlier and wanted to beat him up did nothing. After Zhang Zian took the initiative to provoke a fight, they kept silent and didn¡¯t say anything. Many people quietly left out of fear of getting involved.

    They initially thought that Zhang Zian as a weak and deceivable man, but now they that he was not.

    The more honest people were, the more likely they were to be bullied. However, who dared to bully the one wearing the big gold chains with his arms tattoed?

    Man was the ruler of all things and knew when things were in his favor. However, the same didn¡¯t apply to dogs.

    When the two big dogs saw their masters being hit, they angrily rushed towards Zhang Zian without being told.

    Even if Zhang Zian was brave, he wouldn¡¯t fight two big dogs with his bare hands. He immediately retreated.

    nk!

    nk!

    Just a little bit more.

    He was so close to being bitten. Luckily, the length of the chain had reached its fullest extension.

    He could almost feel the burning breath from the dogs¡¯ nostrils and smell the foul odor from their mouths.

    However, he had only taken a few steps back when his ass seemed to have hit something. Looking back, it was the fat boy whonded on his back and spilled his snacks all over the ground.

    ¡°Ah! You dare to hit me! You have to pay for my snacks and my clothes!¡± The fat boy sat on the ground and cried without hesitation.

    Zhang Zian thought that this fat boy was also familiar, but he didn¡¯t want to think about it or know him.

    The woman snorted and cried as she held her man and helped him to wipe his nosebleed. She pleaded for everyone to help her seek justice and not let Zhang Zian escape.

    The two big dogs continued to rush toward Zhang Zian. This made the iron chain continue nking away.

    Zhang Zian gave the little monkey a wink and used his finger to draw an imaginary half circle. Whilst the attention of the two big dogs was concentrated on him, he suggested that it went out from the sides.

    The little monkey knew what he meant and did as he was told.

    The spectators watched silently and used their mobile phones to record videos. No one was idle.

    However, an unexpected obstruction appeared; it was the four old monkeys. One of them suddenly came over, grabbed the hair of the little monkey and did not let it go. Instead, it hurried the other monkeys over and each pulled an arm or a leg.

    Monkeys were closely rted to humans, and their level of intelligence was higher than most animals.

    The old monkeys knew that when the small monkey was around, the couple would cook better food for it that they could grab to eat. If it ran away, they would have to eat the garbage previously fed to them. There were also afraid that the couple would be angered andsh out on the four of them.

    If they also had a chance to run, they didn¡¯t mind running with it. However, they knew they couldn¡¯t run away because their chains were still around their necks.

    Therefore, for their benefit, they couldn¡¯t let the little monkey run away.

    They were as realistic, cruel, intelligent, and selfish as a human.

    It was at that moment that under the repeated impact of the two big dogs, the chains that held them were finally broken.

    The spectators were dumbfounded. The two dogs were so fierce that whoever got caught by them would be bitten to death.

    People ran away immediately. They were afraid of running slowly and being bitten by the dogs. As people ran in various directions, many people ended up running into one another. The scene was very chaotic.

    The man managed to stop the nosebleed and stood up. Instead of stopping his dog, he became angry and waved a short whip. He pointed at Zhang Zian and said, ¡°Bite him!¡±

    This scene gave Zhang Zian a strong sense of D¨¦j¨¤ vu, and he blurted out,

    ¡°The red g spurs the peasant¡¯s armed forces, while the enemy raises the hegemon¡¯s whip!¡±

    It seemed that citing this poem triggered something. Suddenly, a series of screaming meows echoed all around him.

 Chapter 1404: I Canâ€™t Take It Anymore

    <h4>Chapter 1404: I Can¡¯t Take It Anymore</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The two big dogs haven¡¯t been trained professionally. This made them even more dangerous since they weren¡¯t to attack the target¡¯s arms and legs and avoid the torso, head, and neck. This was to limit the target¡¯s actions, so even if professional police dogs are fierce, there was a limit to the damage that they will make. It would only hurt but not kill. It was hard to say if the same applied to untrained dogs.

    Seeing that the two big dogs were barking loudly and rushing to him, Zhang Zian was also panicking. How did the situation get so out of hand? Nevertheless, he was still able to recite a poem.

    When faced with stray dogs, a person generally shouldn¡¯t turn around and run. Once he started running, the dogs would chase him. However, should he then not run and wait to be bitten?

    Even a heavyweight boxing world champion could only turn around when faced with two angry big dogs. It was impossible to beat them, and it wasn¡¯t worth fighting them.

    Humans were only above other species because they could use their brains.

    He chose not to escape in a straight line. Two legs couldn¡¯t outrun four legs, and the dogs would soon catch up with him. He could only use the surrounding terrain and obstacles to run around in a circle.

    The small truck that the couple drove in was not far away. Zhang Zian run a few steps, rushed to the front of the car and pressed his hands on the bo. Then, he used the momentum to jump onto the hood.

    The hood wasn¡¯t safe, so he jumped further to the top of the driver¡¯s seat before rolling over to the top of the boot.

    The two big dogs caught up quickly, easily jumped onto the hood, and then stood up with the two front legs on the upper edge of the hood, intending to jump up.

    Zhang Zian certainly couldn¡¯t wait for them to catch up. Once they stuck their heads out, he threw his shoes towards their noses.

    A dog¡¯s nose was very sensitive and fragile. The nerves, blood vessels, and cartge were concentrated there along with their precious olfactory receptors.

    The best way for ordinary people to deal with wild dogs was to stick the dog¡¯s nose with sticks. If you miss, that would¡¯ve been another story. If you didn¡¯t miss, the dog would stop wagging its tail and contemte its own life regardless of how fierce it was. Even the legendary pit bull that was rumored to be not afraid of pain was no exception.

    When raising or training a dog, one should never hit its nose even if the dog made a big mistake or didn¡¯t change its behavior. Not only would this cause permanent damage, but it would also leave a psychological scar that is difficult to erase.

    Of course, there weren¡¯t many people who could instantly strike down their target with one throw. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have a stick in his hand, but he took advantage of the geography. He had the height difference and was leaning against the top of the car. He took the opportunity to aim well and managed to strike one of the dog¡¯s nose.

    If the dog was dashing towards someone, it would¡¯ve been extremely difficult to use their leg to kick a dog¡¯s nose. Even if they did hit it, the force might¡¯ve not been strong enough.

    The dog groaned in pain and jumped off the car after calming down. If a strong stick was used, the dog would¡¯ve instantly lost its will to fight.

    The situation was slightly better with only one dog left, but his next move was still critical. If Zhang Zian used the same method to strike the second dog¡¯s nose, he would¡¯ve likely missed since he already lost his chance to do so. Instead, the dog wouldn¡¯t let go and bite hard on his foot whilst vigorously turning its head from left to right to drag him off the roof.

    Zhang Zianid on his back with his hands on the sides of the roof and used the other leg to kick the dog¡¯s head. However, he didn¡¯t do much damage to the dog; his posture was wrong and made it difficult to generate any power.

    After his poem, a series of meows suddenly sounded around him. However, he waspletely unaware of this and instead concentrated on the two big dogs at the time.

    There were several stray cats on the surrounding roofs and walls, trained to surround the venue and ignore the humans running around in a panic. Instead, they were all focused on the two big dogs.

    The dog that was kicked by Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t seriously injured since his foot wasn¡¯t as strong as a stick. However, it didn¡¯t dare provoke Zhang Zian again but instead stared at the monkeys. It began salivating at the sight of the little monkey covered in tempting duck feet sauce.

    It howled, but not as fiercely as before. Even so, it was still enough to scare the four older monkeys.

    The older monkeys retreated to the side, leaving only the little monkey with the hair on its body unkempt, staring at the big dog.

    The big dog showed its fangs and was about to rush to taste the duck. Suddenly, its hind leg was scratched. Since the dog had almost no hair, that scratch left a few bloody marks.

    First, its nose got kicked. Now, its leg got scratched. The big dog couldn¡¯t take it anymore. His hind leg was already somewhat in pain. When it turned around, It saw that it was surrounded by a few cats.

    Usually, these stray cats would¡¯ve turned around and ran upon seeing it. However, today was different.

    Not waiting for it to understand, its other hind leg was scratched again. It turned out another cat had quietly gone around it.

    The stray cats didn¡¯t fight directly against it. They instead kept on turning left to right, making the dog confused with all that head-turning and moving to exhaust it. Its body was covered in blood marks, its turning speed beginning to get slower...

    The little monkey watched anxiously. After a while, it looked at the big dog, then looked up at Zhang Zian who was stuck on the roof. It didn¡¯t know what to do.

    At this time, a furry paw rested on its shoulder.

    ¡°Squeak!¡±

    The little monkey was shocked and jumped to the side as if he were a frightened bird. Looking back, behind it was only a blue-gray cat and a Russian blue cat.

    The little monkey caressed his chest and heaved a sigh of relief; it finally found its teammates.

    The blue-gray cat clenched its front paw as if to say, ¡°Where there is oppression, there is resistance!¡±

    The little monkey was a little bit stunned and turned to see the toy keyboard on the table.

    The big dog that had dominated earlier was now made dizzy by the stray cats. Coupled with some blood loss and a painful nose, its steps grew weary until it was almost unable to stand still.

    ¡°Squeak.¡±

    At this time, the big dog was provoked by the sound of the little monkey behind him. Its sense of panic quickly transformed into one of rage. ¡®Forget being bullied by a bunch of evil stray cats. How dare this mere little monkey insult me further? I may not be able to bite these crafty cats, but I can still bite this monkey. It will be so much more satisfying!¡¯ he thought.

    It mastered all its strength and suddenly turned around to bite the little monkey.

    It expected the little monkey to be goating and dancing around arrogantly instead of defending against it if it suddenly turned around.

    However, it had just turned around when it saw flowers all over.

    The little monkey, who was always perceived to be weak and easily bullied, held the toy keyboard in both hands and used all its strength to p its nose!

    Smack!

    The big dog screamed as its nose bled massively. It swayed around beforeying t on the ground.

    The toy keyboard was smashed into two under the severe impact, and several keys rolled off it and towards the men whose nose was bleeding along with his dog.

    He and the woman looked down and couldn¡¯t help but widen their eyes as the monkey finally made another meaningful word by neatly arranging several keys to read: F, U, C, K, Y, O, U.

 Chapter 1405: Victory Meeting

    <h4>Chapter 1405: Victory Meeting</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The man impulsively let loose his two big dogs to bite Zhang Zian, furious enough to make his blood boil. Once he gave the order, he immediately regretted it knowing how fierce these two big dogs were. If they did bite Zhang Zian, he and his could only have their ¡®Death Wish¡¯ fulfilled.

    However, the development of the situation was beyond his expectations. Not only did the two dogs take no advantage, but one was already half-mutted with thest blow from the little monkey.

    The most annoying thing was the few keys on the floor. Even if he didn¡¯t go to school at all, he still knew some profanity when he first started learning a foreignnguage. Knowing what was typed, he got so angry again that his nose that stopped bleeding started leaking once more.

    Could this have been a coincidence?

    Having attended high school, the woman felt that it should¡¯ve just been a coincidence. It wasn¡¯t that the little monkey deliberately made it. After all, for all the fallen keys that scattered all around to form the swear word was unimaginable.

    Zhang Zian leaned on the roof and concentrated on the other big dog, but his shoes were bitten and he was starting to panic.

    The dog suddenly opened its eyes wide, loosened its mouth, and turned to face the bottom with his ass towards Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian was lucky to have saved his leg. He hurriedly bent it and checked it. Luckily, the sole was thick and had not been bitten through just yet.

    Ths dog had the upper hand, so why did it suddenly give up?

    He was half-squatting on the roof of the car and saw dozens of stray cats have been surrounded the truck.

    It seems that the cat had attacked the dog¡¯s private parts from behind and caused it to give up Zhang Zian¡¯s foot. It had to turn around to protect its jewels and couldn¡¯t leave its ass wide open for others to attack.

    The couple saw this strange situation but was too stunned to react. They quickly retreated to the side of the truck, open the door and hurriedly got in. They did not dare toe out.

    They wanted to start the truck and escape without their four old monkeys and two dogs. However, no matter how hard they turn the key, the engine refused to start since a stray cat had quietly got into the engine from the bottom of the car and destroyed it. Some key parts of the engine were destroyed before it snuck back out.

    Zhang Zian saw the smaller half of the broken toy keyboard in the little monkey¡¯s, as well as the keys scattered all over the floor. He saw the dog whose nose was hit twice in a row and could probably guess what happened.

    The four older monkeys, who were originally on the sidelines, were tempted to grab the arms and legs of the little monkeys to prevent it from escaping. However, they witnessed the scene of it using its keyboard to smash the big dog and decided to stay on the sidelines. They were also scared when the little monkey red at them.

    It seemed that the wrath of the honest man was universal and could be used everywhere. When pushed to his limits, the honest man wasn¡¯t afraid to use his fists. Having a good temper didn¡¯t mean that he didn¡¯t have a bottom line on being bullied. This was much like the phrase, ¡°An anxious rabbit can kick an eagle¡±.

    The reason why the little monkey was caught by the couple was that he wanted to save the four old monkeys and untie their iron chains. It still sympathized with the old monkeys and wanted to sav them even though theyter bullied it, grabbed its food, and prevented it from escaping. It believes that their ¡°malice¡± was formed by the couple abusing them daily. If a child was abused by his parents from an early age, he might¡¯ve also be a bad person when he grew up.

    It got close to the four older monkeys. They were kneeling on the ground, holding their heads and screaming. They had been scared by the power it unleashed on the dog and thought it would retaliate against them.

    The blue-gray cat walked over and patted the little monkey¡¯s shoulder while shaking his head. It meant that the monkeys had been squatting for a long time and had forgotten how to stand up.

    On the other hand, the remaining big dog was also stunned by the stray cats¡¯ use of guerri warfare and thought it was going to die. However, it never escaped because of its loyalty to its owners.

    Zhang Zian took the opportunity to jump off the roof and lock the broken dog chain with the iron chain that previously held the little monkey to limit the dog¡¯s range of activities. Doing so greatly reduced its aggression. It finally went limp andy on the ground as if it were surrendering.

    Most of the onlookers have run away and stood from a safe distance.

    The fat boy who fell to the ground wasn¡¯t so lucky. He was trampled on by several feet in the chaos. Fortunately, his skin was thick. Except for his nose and face, he was not trampled on until he developed much bigger problems. At this time, he stood up from the ground and cried so hard that blood flew from his nose.

    Themotion was so great that someone may have already called the police. It would¡¯ve been a bad idea to stay there for too long.

    Zhang Zian retook the birdcage that was thrown aside in the chaos. To avoid the res and murmurs of the people, he looked at the little monkey indicating that it should run a little farther and meet up with himter at a hidden ce.

    The blue-gray cat sat quietly on the hood. When he walked over the birdcage, it lifted a front paw and hit him with his hand as if it was saying, ¡°Team One and Team Four Victory meeting!¡±

    Squatting by the birdcage, Zhang Zian picked it up and waved at the ck and white kitten waiting for him. As one cat and one man went into the alley, the little monkey was waiting for them after a turn by the wall.

    He gave the little monkey his empty hand, and it hesitated. It turned around and look back at the open space as if he still could not give up on the old monkeys.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Someone will take care of them,¡± he said.

    ¡°Squeak.¡±

    The little monkey nodded, grabbed Zhang Zian¡¯s hand, and borrowed his strength to climb to his shoulder. It felt like a ko on his back.

    The blue-gray catmanded the stray cats to clean the battlefield and take all the food that they could eat.

    The couple hid in the truck until the stray cats were ordered to leave. Only then did they carefully open the door.

    They struck their chests looking at the mess. They were resentful and angry but did not take the chance to reflect on their behavior. Instead, they cursed Zhang Zian for being nosy as the man also vented his anger by kicking the leg of one of the big dogs.

    Several vehicles marked with the Forestry Bureau Insignia drove to the scene one after another. The couple who could not escape due to the damage of their truck was caught. The four old monkeys were used as evidence of their wrongdoing. There was no way they could deny it or wiggle their way out of a punishment. The dogs, the monkeys, and the couple were all arrested. The couple d a legal trial awaiting them.

    The four old monkeys were probably able to enjoy better lives in the future and regain their freedom. However, their character had already taken shape and was hard to change.

    As the sky became darker, Zhang Zian tried to take the same secluded path back to the pet store. It took him extra time because letting others see him carrying a monkey might¡¯ve brought unnecessary trouble for him.

    The first floor of the pet shop was lit with lights and wasn¡¯t closed for the day. It may have been because he had not yet arrived home, so the lights were left on to wee him.

    When he stepped in, he heard his parents talking in a panic, ¡°It¡¯s really weird, what is it with these two cats? Howe no matter how we try, we can¡¯t get them to leave? Whose cats are these?¡±

    A golden cat and a tea-colored old spirited cat squatted on the cat¡¯s climbing frame and in the corner respectively. They treated the ce as if they were in their own home.

 Chapter 1406: Impromptu Speech

    <h4>Chapter 1406: Impromptu Speech</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    When Zhang Zian¡¯s parents opened for business today, a golden cat and a tea-colored cat walked into the store one after another. Thetter was somewhat understated but the former was simply arrogant and jumped to the cat climbing frame. It may have disliked that ashes or the hair of other cats were on the climbing frame, so it pulled a paper towel and wiped down the cat¡¯s climbing frame before casually throwing it aside.

    His parents saw that there were no bells or nametes on the necks of the two cats. They first thought that they were stray cats, but upon closer inspection saw that they weren¡¯t. The two cats were very clean and had no odor or dirt on it. The tea-colored cat was an authentic roon cat, but they couldn¡¯t recognize the golden cat because they haven¡¯t seen it before. However, they have seen many pure breed cats The difference between a pure breed cat and a mixed cat was observable, and this golden cat looked like it was from some rare cat species.

    Maybe someone else¡¯s cat ran here?

    The old couple had run their pet shop for many years but never encountered such a situation. It was time to close the store and their guests have left, but they didn¡¯t close just yet. Firstly, their son has not returned yet. Secondly, they didn¡¯t know how to deal with the two cats. Should they have posted a lost-cat-found poster at the door?

    They were discussing their next course of action when Zhang Zian came back carrying a cat, a birdcage, and ... on his shoulder... isn¡¯t that a monkey?

    ¡°Zhang Zian, you... you... went to the dog market?¡± The old couple was so stunned they couldn¡¯t talk properly.

    ¡°Oh! Why did you buy the monkey back? We can¡¯t raise it! It¡¯s illegal! Hurry and go back to return it!¡± The father hurriedly took his outer coat. He wanted to head back to the dog market before it closed and make Zhang Zian return the monkey immediately.

    They heard that the management of the dog market wasn¡¯t standardized. Some vendors who wanted to make quick money took advantage of the buyer¡¯s information. With a gibbed tongue, they could persuade customers to buy some pets that weren¡¯t allowed to be sold in the country. An example of this was leopard cats being sold under the guise of other types of pet cats. They also peddled rare birds and thumb monkeys. When trouble urred, they would move. They wouldn¡¯t stay at the dog market long enough to get caught.

    They probably thought that Zhang Zian went to the dog market and was fooled by the unscrupulous traders into buying a monkey. They didn¡¯t know what was in the birdcage, but they assumed it was a rare bird as well.

    ¡°No, don¡¯t worry about it. I met a couple who were putting monkey shows on the road. Their monkeys are undocumented, so I reported them,¡± Zhang Zian took out his mobile phone and showed some photos he took of the monkey couple being seized by the Forestry Bureau.

    The old couple understood, but they felt relieved and worried at the same time. They were relieved because their son was not deceived but also worried because what he did was dangerous. If others found out, what would he have to do to retaliate?

    However, the son¡¯s approach was correct and couldn¡¯t be scolded for doing the right thing.

    ¡°As for this little monkey, it was from the monkeys in the chaos that I met. It is alreadyte, and the Forestry Bureau should have gotten off work. I¡¯ll send it to them tomorrow morning.¡±

    ¡°There is also this gray parrot, which will be sent there together tomorrow morning,¡± He put down the birdcage, picked up the ck cloth covering the birdcage, then went to the door to pull the shutter door down.

    ¡°Was this gray parrot... also raised by the couple who have monkeys?¡± The old couple felt incredulous. They have never heard of monkey shows having parrots. After all, this wasn¡¯t the circus.

    Stunned by the light, the gray parrot turned his ck eyes and looked at the old couple, pping its wings and shouting: ¡°Hey! Hey! Look! The stylistic monkey, two flowers blossoms!¡±

    The old couple¡¯s doubts were suddenly dispelled. This parrot was definitely raised by the couple and attracted business by talking rubbish!

    Since the monkeys and the gray parrot would be sent to the Forestry Bureau tomorrow morning, it was fine for them to stay here for one night.

    ¡°This cat...¡± They stared at the ck and white kitten again. ¡°They not only raised monkeys but cats too?¡±

    ¡°This is not their cat. It is from the outside. It seems to be abandoned. I already contacted one of my high school ssmates who said he intends to raise it. I will send it to him tomorrow,¡± Zhang Zian randomly came up with a reason.

    ¡°Oh... yes, while you were gone, two cats ran into our store...¡± The old couple pointed at the golden cat and the tea-colored cat.

    ¡°This...¡± Zhang Zian scratched his head. ¡°They look like someone else¡¯s lost cats. It¡¯s alreadyte, so let¡¯s talk about it tomorrow. They¡¯ll likely leave by themselves tomorrow morning. If they don¡¯t leave, I will help you get a notice up and find their owners.¡±

    The old couple nodded as they could not think of another solution.

    ¡°Your date today... How was it?¡± The mother peeked at his face as her heart rate increased. Her son went out all day and did many messy things, but how his date went was what mattered.

    When the old couple had no customers during the day, they quietly discussed this matter. They wanted to send a message asking their son how things were progressing, but they were afraid that their son would be annoyed. They also feared that the sudden beep from their text message would disturb the supposed romantic atmosphere. They were even more worried that many girls nowadays disliked Mama¡¯s Boys. Although their son definitely wasn¡¯t one, what if they sent the wrong message to the girl?

    They kept discussing until they finally decided not to send. They chose to wait for their son toe back and ask again, so they spent a whole day anticipating his return.

    ¡°It was good,¡± he said earnestly. ¡°We all had a good impression of each other and were very happy today. We went to the street, the beach, and the old church in the south. We n to keep in touch.¡±

    ¡°Okay! That¡¯s good!¡± The parents nced at each other with joy as the stone in their heart finally fell to the ground. As long as this matter can be achieved, nothing else mattered.

    They were eager to go for dinner, and his mother seemed to be in a good mood. She carefully asked, ¡°When is your... next date? Have both of you talked about it?¡±

    Zhang Zian pretended as if he had just thought of it. He mmed his head, ¡°Speaking of that... I have one thing I forgot to mention.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    The old couple thought it was a matter rted to dating and stiffened up slightly. The purpose of blind dates was marriage. Did thedy state a requirement that was too difficult to fulfill? Did she ask for a big house, a fancy car or a huge wedding dowry? After all, they heard that the girl¡¯s family was well-to-do so it was normal that she asked. However, the economic conditions of their family were normal...

    ¡°Actually, thepany called me today.¡±

    Zhang Zian took out the phone call record, pointing to the message his boss sent as he said, ¡°He told me that thepany has a new batch of orders and I must terminate my holiday early... Thepany needs me to go back to work by the morning two dayster at thetest. So, I must leave tomorrow afternoon.¡±

 Chapter 1407: Leaving is the Saddest Part

    <h4>Chapter 1407: Leaving is the Saddest Part</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°What? How... how could this be...?¡±

    His parents were both surprised and regretful towards this unexpected news. It had only been three days into the seven-day Golden Week Holiday. Now he had to leave on the fourth day?

    To celebrate their son¡¯s return, they prepared plenty of frozen fish and meat in the refrigerator, and only half of it was consumed. Even with that... he had to leave?

    They found it very difficult to ept.

    The mother proposed a solution. ¡°Why not talk to thepany and ask them to give you leeway? You tell them you can¡¯t buy a ticket now and will return two dayste... If they can¡¯t, then tell them you¡¯ll be a dayte before you return. How about that?¡± she suggested.

    She really wanted her son to stay for a few more days, even if just for one more day. It was already night now and if he left tomorrow at noon, it would¡¯ve been too soon... Three days had passed in a blink of an eye. She still had so much to tell him, and many things that she wanted to do that she wasn¡¯t able to do.

    They nned to wait for Zhang Zian to recover from the fatigue of his work and, after a day of business, the three of them would go to the park, climb the mountain, and then eat out.

    If she knew that he had to go tomorrow, she would have done all that the past three days...

    The father thought her negotiation through a bargain was almost childish, but he didn¡¯t say anything. What if it seeded?

    Zhang Zian understood that they wanted him to stay for a while because he also felt the same way. If he had the choice, he wanted to stay for a few more days or even stay longer, but...

    He was reluctant to leave, but he nevertheless made up his mind and said, ¡°I don¡¯t have a choice, there aren¡¯t many people in thepany. The order amount is very big. I am a technical backbone for thepany; they can¡¯t do it without me... The Boss has promised to pay me overtime. And after we¡¯ve finished with this order, he¡¯ll return home for the holidays and give me more days off during the New Year¡¯s Day holidays.¡±

    Although they had several thoughts on thepany depriving their son of his holidays, hearing that thepany depended on their son made the old couple very happy. It proved that their son was a very promising and important member of thepany.

    The father sighed and said, ¡°If that is the case, then we don¡¯t have a choice. I hope that your boss will keep his word. Then, you cane back for a few more days on New Year¡¯s Day. It¡¯s only two months away anyway.¡±

    Zhang Zian forced a smile and echoed, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s less than two months from New Year¡¯s Day. I don¡¯t have much time to rest now but I get to rest more for New Year¡¯s Day, so it¡¯ll be the same. Plus, I get overtime pay.¡±

    ¡°When it¡¯s the New Year¡¯s Day holidays and it¡¯s cold outside, how is it the same? Things would¡¯ve been much better if you applied to be a civil servant in Binhai City. Civil servants have time off and always get plenty of it,¡± His mother was still bothered by the issue.

    The father persuaded, ¡°Forget it, privatepanies are like this. Your time belongs to the boss so there¡¯s no point whining about it, but... if you go back in advance, what about the date with the girl?¡±

    The mother was awakened by these words. Compared to a few days off now orter, more importantly, her son and the girl managed to develop good chemistry between one another. They should¡¯ve taken the chance to confirm their rtionship whilst the holiday is still ongoing. However, this sudden situation changed everything... was he trying to make her anxious?

    She raised her voice and said angrily, ¡°If you really can¡¯t then don¡¯t go back, I won¡¯t believe it. What will happen if you return two dayster? Isn¡¯t thepany dependent on you? They wouldn¡¯t dare fire you for it! Just call thepany and say that you¡¯re currently traveling abroad and can¡¯t return!¡±

    For her, marriage was more important than work.

    ¡°Think about what you¡¯ve just said...¡± Father shook his head.

    ¡°What did I say? Is there something wrong with what I said?¡± The mother got angrier the more she talked. She couldn¡¯t control her temper seeing that something good was going down the drain.

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°Listen. I¡¯ve asked her about it. It just so happens that she also intends to go to the big city for her own personal development. She may go over a few dayster and then we have time to meet there.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Really.¡±

    His mother¡¯s anger suddenly disappeared, and her eyes widened in surprise at the progress of her son and thedy growing more rapidly than expected. Otherwise, how could thedy be willing to follow him to leave Binhai city? She still wasn¡¯t sure what personal development meant in the big cities. If she wanted to go, why did she choose to go now of all times?

    His father went from a state of worry to one of happiness.

    They chose not to ask for further details, such as the next steps in their rtionships.

    The times were changing, and issues between young people should be left for them to solve on their own.

    Zhang Zian further exined his ns to them. He nned to send the gray parrot and monkey to the forestry bureau tomorrow morning, then go directly to the station to take the high-speed rail.

    The parents felt that the timing was a bit off, but they let him be since he had already thought about it.

    The usual dinner was already splendid. Today, it was even more splendid than usual after learning that he needed to leave. They also made the dishes that they had nned to make the next day. The food on the table could not be finished, so they urged him to eat more.

    After dinner, the three of them sat in the living room watching TV as per the previous two days. They watched until nearly midnight, muchter than usual, and only then did they go to sleep.

    As for the guests, they found their own corners to rest without anyone telling them.

    The next morning, the parents were surprised to see his bloodshot eyes and obvious dark circles.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t sleep wellst night?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, a bit of insomnia.¡±

    Zhang Zian reluctantly forced a smile.

    He almost didn¡¯t sleep at allst night, staring at the ceiling with his eyes open. It wasn¡¯t because he was not tired, but he merely wanted to cherish this moment for as long as possible.

    ¡°Then sleep again on the train,¡± His parents smiled and thought he couldn¡¯t sleep because of how excited he was to meet his date.

    His things had been packed upst night, and the empty suitcase was stuffed to the brim with souvenirs and snacks that he could have on the way back.

    He ate his breakfast very slowly. While his parents had finished eating and were washing up, he had only eaten half of it.

    ¡°Hurry up, eat and go to the Forestry Bureau, Don¡¯t miss the train, and eat again on the road if you get hungry.¡± His parents urged.

    They didn¡¯t want him to leavest night, but today they were worried that he would¡¯ve missed the train.

    ¡°...alright.¡±

    He silently scooped the rest of the rice into his mouth.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to wash your bowl, we will do the dishes. You should go soon and try to be early.¡± The father took the bowl from his hands without asking.

    Every minute was precious, but he had no reason to keep dragging his feet.

    The trunk and birdcage were ced at the door of the store.

    The golden cat, tea-colored cat, ck and white kitten, and the little monkey gathered silently at the door.

    As he put on his coat, his gloomy face turned into one as bright as the sun when he turned around.

    ¡°Dad, Mom, I am leaving. Take care!¡±

 Chapter 1408: There Is Always A Thousand Words When Meeting, But Only Two When Parting

    <h4>Chapter 1408: There Is Always A Thousand Words When Meeting, But Only Two When Parting</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Instead of sleepingst night, Zhang Zian conceived countless ways to say goodbye, from crying with his head tucked in to long lyrical narratives. He finally chose the mostmon way, which was as nd as when leaving home to go to college or work. If things weren¡¯t going well outside, he coulde back home at any time. It was as nd as if all this is true.

    ¡°Is your luggage heavy? Would you like me to take you to the station?¡± His mother looked at the suitcase. She was like this as wellst night, desperately trying to stuff things inside but worrying that it might be too heavy.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not heavy. Besides, I¡¯m rolling it anyways, not carrying it. It¡¯s fine,¡± he said with indifference, ¡°No need to take me there, your customers wille soon. I can do it myself.¡±

    His parents asked if he left anything behind, be it his wallet or mobile phone. They reminded him that the station was crowded, and he should bring his luggage when he went to the bathroom so that it wouldn¡¯t be stolen...

    This wasn¡¯t the first time he had left home for a long time. Since the beginning of college, this process has been repeated countless times. The difference was probably, ¡°Don¡¯t forget to bring your train ticket¡±. After all, he was now entering the station with his ID card and therefore didn¡¯t need a ticket.

    No matter what they said, he promised them one by one. However, he didn¡¯t hear a single word but merely stared at their faces in a way that made him want to cry.

    Once all the preparations wereplete, his parents told him a few more things like ¡°Go and be nice to the girl over there, don¡¯t be too stingy¡± or something simr.

    He walked to the door, holding the luggage lever, and put his other hand on the doorknob door. He held it tightly without pushing too hard.

    After a short while, he turned abruptly, ¡°Why shouldn¡¯t I leave? Like Mom said, thepany can¡¯t do without me anyway, and I should be fine dying two more days.¡±

    The several new members nearby silently lowered their heads, and the gray parrot was so disheartened it buried its head in its wings as discouragement. Before they came, they were full of confidence and determined that the strength of the whole team would definitely pull him out of the dream. After their arrival, they weren¡¯t so confident anymore.

    Even if he didn¡¯t do as nned, they couldn¡¯t me him and would understand his choice.

    It may have been that his father helped his mother think about the situationst night. His motherughed and simply said, ¡°You¡¯re such a grown adult already and you still can¡¯t leave home? Are you still crying when leaving us? Go. You will be back again in less than three months.¡±

    She walked over, wiped his tears with the corner of her sleeve, and murmured, ¡°You¡¯ve grown so fast. So many years have passed in the blink of an eye, and now I can barely reach you without tiptoeing ...¡±

    His father also said earnestly, ¡°Everything your mother said yesterday was just out of anger. Good men can thrive anywhere. Go out and see the world while you¡¯re still young. Why stay at home all day? Go, it is time to go.¡±

    Zhang Zian stood still for a few seconds, raised his hand to wipe away the tears from the corners of his eyes, and said with a smile, ¡°Okay, then I¡¯m going.¡±

    ¡°Go. Be careful on the road, don¡¯t drop or lose your things, and watch out for cars.¡±

    They took the trouble to remind him once again of what he needed to be careful about. With that, they opened the door for him to leave the store.

    Zhang Zian held up the birdcage with one hand and pulled the suitcase with his other hand, with the little monkey sitting on it. The cats who couldn¡¯t be brought out of the shop yesterday also took the first opportunity and left.

    The weather was wonderful. It wasn¡¯t a cloudless sunny day or a cloudy and rainy day, but cloudy weather with moderate light and suitable temperature. It seemed as though someone had arranged for the weather to be like this especially for his departure.

    His parents stood side by side at the door and only re-entered the shop after seeing him leave.

    He took a few steps out of the store, took a deep breath, let go of the hand holding the suitcase, and turned to wave them farewell.

    ¡°Goodbye!¡±

    They also smiled and waved to him.

    He waved for about five seconds, then slowly put down his hands. He picked up his suitcase again, held his chest up, and strode toward the station.

    m!

    After he went a little farther, he heard the store door close. Even though the sounds of people passing by and of the cars around were noisy, he still could hear it so clearly that even his heart even jumped a little.

    He couldn¡¯t help but stop and stay still.

    He had a feeling that he was at the crossroads of a journey. If he turned back now, he could still make it in time.

    Three cats, a bird, and a little monkey, waiting silently for his choice.

    A blue-gray cat squatting on the wall beside the road was also waiting.

    A police car came towards him slowly. There was a folding wheelchair in thepartment. A girl in a light blue dress sat on the back seat. The policewoman sitting next to her saw the pet shop sign, pointed to it and asked the girl, ¡°You mean, this is where your home is?¡±

    When the police car passed by Zhang Zian, the girl saw him pulling the suitcase, and hurriedly mmed on the window ss to get the car to stop. She wanted to open her mouth but couldn¡¯t speak. It took a few seconds for the policewoman to figure out what she wanted. She ordered the driver to reverse the vehicle.

    The little girl with twin tails noticed that he was in a daze like he was about to go away for a long time. She hesitated for a while and intended to slip past him, not wanting to disturb him. After all, they had just known each other for two to three days, and her mother often told her that she should not bother adults when they are dealing with something or else they would be rather upset.

    The girl had a pale face from not getting enough sunlight for a long time. She worerge-frame thick-bottomed sses and held a cat in her arms. She walked next to the wall as if she was a thief. Her eyes fell on the ¡°cat wash¡± sign in front of the pet shop but didn¡¯t notice his presence.

    Two boys with dark eye bags seemed to have just left the Inte cafe after an overnight session. With disheveled hair, they begged their grandparents over the mobile phone to tell their ssmates to help them deal with the teacher ¡®s roll call. After they finished the call, they discussed where to have breakfast and then headed back to their dormitory for some catch-up sleep.

    The two of them didn¡¯t pay attention to Zhang Zian but were instead attracted by the little monkey on the suitcase, and each one made a face to make fun of it when passing by.

    ¡°Sleep early tonight ande to work tomorrow.¡±

    Zhang Zian said without thinking it through.

    The two boys looked at each other with confused expressions and felt deeply scolded; was this man mad? They decided to ignore him and walk away.

    ¡®Yes, I have to work tomorrow as well. After such a long rest, I can¡¯t just sit back and eat, or else my family¡¯s pet store will be confiscated.¡¯

    He took a few more steps and continued to move forward. It was a bit stiff at first as if he was a machinecking lubricating oil, but his movement gradually became smoother.

    The elves were very pleased with his choice but not as happy as they expected.

    The bus stop was empty, and he didn¡¯t care whether the seat was clean or not. He sat down with his elbows on his knees and stared down at his feet.

    The bus came in, stopped, opened, closed, and left.

    He didn¡¯t get in. He seemed to have been waiting for someone.

    Suddenly, everything around him was frozen, as if a pause button was pressed.

    Such a strange phenomenon did not set off any rms in front of his calm eyes.

    A mboyant Chinese costume wobbled and appeared on the edge of his field of vision, then stopped abruptly.

    He then heard Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s voice around him.

    ¡°You did all this just to say ¡®Goodbye¡¯?¡±

 Chapter 1409: At First, I Didnâ€™t Know What It Meant. Then, I Feel It is About My Past

    <h4>Chapter 1409: At First, I Didn¡¯t Know What It Meant. Then, I Feel It is About My Past</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian looked up and saw that everything around him was still, but covered with ayer of misty gray.

    The little girl ran to the pet store¡¯s entrance and maintained her posture of pushing the door.

    The pale otaku girl hovered near the pet shop door and hesitated.

    The frowning expressions of the two boys who were talking about Xiuxian¡¯s novels had frozen expressions on their faces.

    The policewoman had just pushed the wheelchair out of the carriage, but it was not enough time for the disabled girl to sit on it.

    The exhaust of the bus was diffused around the exhaust port and hadn¡¯t dispersed yet.

    Pedestrians, vehicles, birds, mosquitoes... even the wind remained still.

    Everything froze except for Zhang Zian himself, four cats, a bird and monkey, and a mute disabled girl.

    Of course, there was also Zhuang Xiaodie standing in front of him. Her gorgeous Chinese costume looked even more gorgeous in this gray world.

    She stood upright and stared down at him.

    As the elves approached their enemies, they became fully alert.

    The golden and tea-colored cats bowed and flexed their ws, while the blue-gray cat clenched its fists. The little monkey was unarmed for its only weapon, the keyboard, was smashed yesterday. Thus, it had to pick up a branch and hold it in his hand. The gray parrot held up its ass, ready to use chemical weapons in vition of UN conventions ...

    The mute girl who couldn¡¯t do much was a little further away could do nothing but look. In this dream world, she was unable to even talk, so her invisible high-frequency sound waves that were capable of harming people couldn¡¯t be used.

    However, their struggle was futile in this dream world. As long as she waved her hands, they would either be wiped out or forced to withdraw from the dream world.

    The ck and white kitten knew this and didn¡¯t intend to put up any unnecessary resistance.

    She was the absolute master of this world. In the past, she always held herself back to prevent Zhang Zian from detecting her irrationality. Now that was no longer necessary, and there was no need to use the butterflies to do her bidding. She was able to freely unleash her powers.

    ¡°Acting? You call it that, but what¡¯s the difference? Life is like a y and a dream at the same time. As long as you want to livefortably, you must learn to lie to yourself,¡± He didn¡¯t seem to notice her face. It was as if a storm wasing. He calmly looked elsewhere and admitted his actions.

    ¡°When did you know about this?¡± She asked simply.

    When did he start doubting that this was a dream, and when did he start to make sure that it was one?

    ¡°I don¡¯t know the exact time, but it was likely when I saw the posters in the cinema. I had long been suspicious of them, but I didn¡¯t think of them as a ¡®dream¡¯. Instead, I suspected that something was wrong with my brain, which was then confirmed a whileter,¡± He replied.

    She looked up at a dog-shaped cloud in the air, but the cloud didn¡¯t move.

    This problematic dog truly gave her plenty of trouble.

    Zhuang Xiaodie had his memories and learned how well he could disguise his emotions. The way he epted the idental death of his parents was too calm, so calm that she could sense his deception. Thus, she used this as an entry point. She thought it was a sess; as long as no elves broke into her dream, she was confident that she would have seeded without being detected.

    Even if the elves¡¯ appearance led to idents and deviations, what she regretted most was that she could not see behind his act.

    Why was that so?

    When she browsed his memory, she easily saw his lies and falsehood at a nce, but in this dream, she was deceived by his spectacr acting ...

    Why...why was that so?

    She already knew the answer to that question, but she didn¡¯t want to ept it.

    At first, she did not know what it meant. Upon hearing it once again, however, she realized that it was about her past.

    She remained unbiased while watching from the perspective of a third party, but when she participated and became part of the dream herself, she can no longer remain calm and impartial. Instead, she was lost in the dream.

    It was indeed sad and regrettable.

    She couldn¡¯t forgive herself, let alone the elves who caused this series of events to ur.

    She shifted her gaze and nced at them coldly. Although this was only their consciousness, they were also connected to their bodies. If their consciousness was severely damaged, how could their bodies continue to exist?

    It was toote for them to leave the dream now. If they waited for her to attack, it would¡¯ve been almost impossible to retreat once she made her move...

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Zhang Zian suddenly had an idea without thinking about it too much.

    Besides the gray parrot that only spoke a few words, Zhang Zian and Zhuang Xiaodie were the only ones who could speak. Given that, he was clearly talking to her.

    ¡°Thank me? Thank me for what?¡± She furrowed her eyebrows, trying to determine whether he was acting or not.

    He led the ughter of hundreds of millions of herpatriots, and she forced him into a dream to have her revenge. If he couldn¡¯t escape, the only thing waiting for him was death. They should¡¯ve hated each other, so there should¡¯ve been nothing to thank her for.

    ¡°Thank you for allowing me to say ¡®goodbye¡¯.¡± He said, ¡°Although this might not be what you intended to happen, I still want to thank you.¡±

    Yes, he wanted to say ¡°goodbye¡±. He could not say it with a smile. He didn¡¯t have the chance to say it before, and he thought he would never have another chance to say it.

    No matter why she brought him into the dream, she had given him this opportunity. He wanted to thank her for that.

    Zhuang Xiaodie was left speechless. She should have sneered at this, but why was she now experiencing mixed feelings in her heart?

    Sheughed at herself. She came for revenge but unintentionally freed him from the biggest regret in his heart.

    With his biggest regret gone, he was able to lead a new life.

    ¡°No need to thank me. I just want you to tell me something. Since you were merely acting in front of me, why couldn¡¯t you act more realistically? You should know that if I¡¯m not happy, I can end this dream at any time and never give you the chance to say ¡®goodbye!¡¯ she answered coldly, ncing at the ck and white kitten.

    She already lost some of her dignity by begging him to be with her. However, he still refused her and preferred to chase a kitten instead. She couldn¡¯t believe this.

    He nodded and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I wanted to say ¡®goodbye¡¯ at the right opportunity, but I didn¡¯t know if, the elves¡¯ physical bodies would be affected if they were injured or killed here. Their powers in this dream are greatly weakened, and can¡¯t protect themselves well. I can¡¯t just sit back and not care about them.¡±

    Knowing that there were cat abusers in this world, he wasn¡¯t assured that the powerless ck and white kitten would be safe when running around. He had to chase after it. However, if the dream ended early because of his decision, there was nothing else he could do about it.

    Every minute and every second in this dreand was a bonus for him.

    He wanted to spend more time with his parents, but Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s anger could longer be suppressed. Instead of making her dreame to an abrupt halt out of anger, she thought it was better to close it off soon and say ¡°goodbye¡± decisively.

    Fortunately, she had been fine with that until now.

    No matter when the dream ended, he no longer had regrets.

 Chapter 1410: Hundred Years of Human Suffering Passed in Laughter

    <h4>Chapter 1410: Hundred Years of Human Suffering Passed in Laughter</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian¡¯s honesty allowed Zhuang Xiaodie to find the answers to some questions that she hadn¡¯t figured out before. It provided her with such a sense of realization that she wanted to hit herself on the forehead for it, angrily asking herself why she didn¡¯t realize it sooner.

    The elves¡¯ presence reminded him that it was a dream, so he started acting. He could have performed better and spent more time with his parents in this dream. He could¡¯ve said ¡°goodbye¡± on thest day of the Golden Week, ore up with other reasons to postpone it indefinitely; she had given him wealth, freedom, and reasons to do so.

    However, when he found that the elves¡¯ powers were greatly weakened and he might¡¯ve not been able to protect them in this dream world, he decided to stop the dream as soon as possible.

    It was likely a painful decision to make. For the entire third day of the Golden Week, he found himself in a dilemma. However, this itself revealed nothing.

    Now that she knew all this, she had no regrets.

    Zhang Zian waited for her decision. What would happen next was entirely up to her.

    Zhuang Xiaodie paced back and forth. She appeared calm, but she was so confused by the various thoughts flowing through her mind that she now had a massive headache.

    The other party held all power over life and death. While he passively waited, Zhang Zian quietly winked at the elves. It meant that they had fulfilled their purpose of entering, and thus it was time to leave. There was no point in them staying, and the survival of this world boiled down to her decision alone.

    Although the golden cat could not speak, it was obviously scoffing. It never knew how to escape, at least not how to escape in front of a butterfly.

    The tea-colored cat looked even calmer as if her expression wouldn¡¯t change even if the mountains copsed. Let her be strong, however strong she may be. Breathe well and the body will be strong, too.

    The blue-gray cat was fearless; death was not part of the Meow Meow Doctrine! It had long disliked the butterfly¡¯s idealism and the various superfluous messages she sent throughout the entire dream. No matter how ufortable it felt, it had nowhere to vent.

    The little monkey waved the tree branch and was determined not to just sit and write novels in the future. It nned to actively exercise and be as capable as the Monkey King.

    ¡°Quack! Eat fart! Eat fart!¡± The gray parrot raised its butt up and down enough to make someone worry if it would really fart and shit.

    The mute girl felt anxious and helpless, trapped in the car and unable to move her wheelchair.

    The ck and white kitten stared at Zhuang Xiaodie.

    The white cloud dog in the sky looked like a silhouette.

    None of them intended to flee without a fight, although they knew that they had no chance of winning.

    Zhuang Xiaodie stopped pacing and turned her head.

    She gritted her teeth and said, ¡°I¡¯ll give you another chance to choose. If you pretend to know nothing, then I¡¯ll pretend that nothing happened. We can just continue to live in dreams.¡±

    She doesn¡¯t know why she proposed this n. Maybe she didn¡¯t want to end this dream.

    Zhang Zian was surprised, but he quickly shook his head. ¡°Thank you, but that¡¯s enough. No matter how wonderful the dream is, it should be over.¡±

    ¡°Why? Why?!¡±

    Her tone rose sharply, indicating the pent up anger she felt in her heart. She was already so indignant by his actions, yet he still refused to surrender to her will!

    ¡°Let go of your prejudices! Why are you so stubborn to think that the real world is better? Have you forgotten the discrimination, oppression, injustice, and darkness in the real world? Or do you think that dreams are short-lived because you fear death? Are you physically dying in the world?¡± she asked in a loud and bold tone.

    ¡°Dreams have a different time flow from the real world. In reality, your body may only be able to support you for another ten days, but those ten days are enough for you to dream for hundreds of years! Every day in the dream, your life will be very fulfilling. Every day, you will be extremely happy and have fresh andsting memories of the days before. In a dream, you can be a sessful person unlike in reality. You can walk every corner of the world, see everything the world has to offer, and have everyone greet you with a smile, The whole world will treat you well. This is a privilege that no fictional protagonist has ever been granted!¡±

    She calmed down a little, took a steady breath, and continued, ¡°But what about the real world? A century of life is also nothing but a big empty dream. Reality offers many experiences, but only one of them will be pleasant. The other 99 include annoyances, sorrows, emptiness, pain, anger, entanglements, and regrets... Is such a life worthy of your hard pursuit? Don¡¯t talk about experiencing life. Aren¡¯t people in the real world purposely seeking a painful reason to exist?¡±

    She vented out the words that lived in her heart for so long. Her face became flushed with excitement, but her heart was happier and lighter.

    Yes, those who would still go to the mountains knowing that tigers lived there were fools.

    It was simr to experiencing life...

    If he picked one choice, his parents would be alive, he would have children, no illness and his heart desire fulfilled. As he slowly grew old, he would be able to smile without regrets.

    If he picked the other one, he¡¯ll rarely be rewarded for his efforts, his trust may be betrayed, and he¡¯ll work hard only to face hardships. Just when he tasted sess, he may sumb to an illness and die before even enjoying it.

    Only a fool would choose thetter!

    Zhang Zian listened silently, without interrupting her. Her statements were urate and couldn¡¯t be refuted.

    He didn¡¯t doubt that she could fulfill her promise. As long as she nodded, she could give him a wonderful life that would be impossible to describe; he would spend a hundred years living in a dream and be the happiest person in the world.

    ¡°So, I will ask you onest time; Do you choose to live in a magnificent dream, or a reality intertwined with suffering?¡± she asked with confidence.

    Zhang Zian sighed, ¡°If only I had met you sooner ...¡±

    ¡°What do you mean? Don¡¯t be so cryptic!¡± Her heart began beating faster.

    ¡°If I met you in the real world when I first returned to Binhai City, I would choose the former without hesitation, even if I knew it was a dream, and have a happy life for a hundred years. Does it matter what the dream is?¡± He smiled softly as his thoughts returned tost autumn.

    ¡°But now, I can only choose thetter,¡± he said regretfully.

    ¡°Why?¡± She couldn¡¯t believe it; was he really a fool?

    He turned his head and nced at the elves first before facing the little girl by the door, the otaku girl in front of the pet shop, and the two male college students talking to one another.

    ¡°Because in reality, everyone is worried about me. If I just fall asleep like this, many people will be sad for me. How could I abandon them for my happiness alone?¡±

    All of the elves, whether physically present or invisible, suddenly widened their eyes burning in an unprecedented fiery anger!

 Chapter 1411: Glad to Know Iâ€™m No Longer in a Dream

    <h4>Chapter 1411: d to Know I¡¯m No Longer in a Dream</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian remembered what he said. Earlier, he reminded Famous that people who controlled what happened in their dreams easily became depressed and ultimately disappointed with reality. The only meaning of their life back then was to focus on further practicing how to better control their dreams.

    However,paring any dream with the Butterfly¡¯s Dream was likeparing themunity kindergarten with the world¡¯s top universities.

    The Qingming dream was an ordinary person¡¯s dream, and he would soon wake up if he slept long enough.

    The person in that dream knew, or at least have realized, that he was in a dream. Then, they would be able to actively control what happened in their dream. Although impressive, it is tiring, and the dreams weren¡¯t continuous.

    The Butterfly¡¯s Dream perfectly solved all the Qingming Dream¡¯s issues. As long as a person wanted to sleep, they could do so until their body died, while the dream was colorful and no different from reality.

    If someone was lonely and widowed, living in a butterfly dream was extremely blissful. They would¡¯ve lived a life without trouble, sorrow, or pain; everything would go well. They wouldn¡¯t have needed to work, but they would still be wealthy.

    Even if he realized that this was a dream, Zhang Zian still hesitated when normal people would¡¯ve simply given in. He also had the urge to simply continue sleeping.

    So what if his physical body died in the real world?

    A beautiful and fulfilling century had already passed in my dream! Where was the sympathy?

    However, he was no longer alone. Although he still didn¡¯t have a girlfriend, he had arge group of partners and friends around him. If he only pursues his own happiness, they would be filled with sadness and self-me. They may even have had several regrets. That would have been too selfish.

    So, there was no other option. He still had to choose to return to reality.

    Reality may have been full of frustration, failure, injustice, and darkness, but life can also be enjoyable as long as you can restrain your desires.

    The most important thing was that although the dream was beautiful, there were no elves.

    ¡°Oh!¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s expression suddenly changed as he screamed aloud because his calf was bleeding after somebody scratched it hard.

    The golden cat drew its ws back coldly and stared at him as if to give him a warning.

    Someone once left it all alone and went to sleep. It didn¡¯t want to experience the same thing again; this scratch was meant to tell him not to even think about it!

    He ground his teeth. Why did she still simte pain so vividly in dreams? Fortunately, this wasn¡¯t reality. Otherwise, there would¡¯ve been another scar on his leg. Summer was here; it was time to show the hair on his legs todies. It could¡¯ve told him its thoughts when he woke up, but it still chose to use its ws here.

    The blue-gray cat holds its right paw tightly, also wanting to usher in an ideal world without exploitation and oppression. However, he could¡¯ve only created such a world with its own two ws and it didn¡¯t want others to simply give it even if they were in a dream.

    The mutedy lowered her dark green brim and covered her red eyes. She remained silent with her mouth firmly shut tight. She looked like a girl in a vegetative state, a ssic character from any Korean drama.

    ¡°Quack! Quack! You idiot!¡± The gray parrot fluttered his wings in the small cage and kept tumbling around. It fluttered its feathers and soon felt dizzy. It was very happy, thinking that Zhang Zian rejecting such a beautiful woman probably meant that he preferred men!

    The tree branch in the little monkey¡¯s hand dangled and scrapped the ground. Its excitement grew as it thought of how to write such a story for its readers in the future.

    The tea-colored cat narrowed its eyes and looked at him,forted by Zhang Zian¡¯s growth and maturity.

    Although the white cloud was still frozen, it appeared grayer as a warning sign before it rained.

    Zhang Zian bent down and rubbed the scratches on his calves. He originally wanted to urge the elves to leave this dream before revealing his feelings to Zhuang Xiaodie, but they stubbornly remained. Now he was the one who felt embarrassed.

    At that moment, he felt something furry swipe the back of his hand, but he looked down only to find nothing.

    The elves didn¡¯t move from their positions, so who swept his hand?

    He nced towards the other side. Not far from his hand was a ck and white kitten squatting there while flicking its tail. The fear in its eyes had almost disappeared.

    Zhuang Xiaodie stood there in a daze. She couldn¡¯t forgive his response, but she epted defeat; when she heard his words, she knew it was futile to say more.

    Her defeat was not influenced by ack of ability, but rather by choosing a wrong opponent.

    Nevertheless, she didn¡¯t regret it.

    ¡°It¡¯s a wonderful dream,¡± she said.

    The howling wind blew faster, but her long skirt didn¡¯t move with it. It merely shook a little at the beginning, before slowly but surely moving with more intensity.

    Zhang Zian and the elves all focused on her, staring at this incredible scene unfold with wide eyes.

    Arge group of various butterflies took off from her colorful sleeves... or rather, her colorful sleeves turned into butterflies!

    They weren¡¯t just colorful sleeves; her gorgeous Chinese costume turned out to be numerous butterflies on her body collectively taking flight!

    The chaos of butterflies was very charming!

    Numerous butterflies used her as their core and scattered around like a blizzard. Zhang Zian, who was closest to her, was the first to be amazed by them. They came so close to him that he couldn¡¯t open his eyes, and the floating pollen from their wings seemed to create a colored haze. He had to cover his head and face with his hands and arms, holding his breath and preparing for what came afterward.

    He couldn¡¯t look straight ahead but wanted to know what happened. He forced a tiny squint by the corner of his eye.

    The butterflies took off andnded soon after. When theynded on something, everything returned to its original color.

    nts, water, walls, windows, cars, pedestrians, the sky... The gray world was being urately colored by a masterful artist.

    ¡°You can go back, but how do you know that you won¡¯t go back to another dream in your dream?¡± Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s voice suddenly rang in his ear. She was close enough for him to smell her breath, full of temptation.

    Zhang Zian was shocked by what he had heard.

    Then, he opened his eyes and realized that he was covered in cold sweat.

    The colorful world disappeared, and a monotonous ceiling upied his vision.

    His chest was heavy as if he was being held down by something. He was almost out of breath and looked down to see what was there.

    He didn¡¯t expect the first thing he saw to be Snowy Li.

    Snowy Liid on his chest and licked her paws. The tips of her paws were stained with some unknown red liquid.

    When he woke up, Snowy Li looked at him with extra gentle eyes. Her tone was so gentle that Zhang Zian wondered if he entered another dream.

    ¡°You¡¯re awake! The operation was sessful! You are now a girl!¡±

    Wait, what?!

    Zhang Zian immediately regretted waking up!

    Zhuang Xiaodie, where are you right now? I take back what I said! I don¡¯t want to be awake anymore! Can I continue to sleep instead?

 Chapter 1412: Moments After Awakening

    <h4>Chapter 1412: Moments After Awakening</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Snowy Li, who already ate and was sleeping across his chest and belly, found it was no wonder that he had nightmares!

    Zhang Zian was anxious to know whether or not if he was still a man. He waved Snowy Li off of him, got out of bed and hurriedly touched himself; fortunately, all his parts were still intact.

    He weakly copsed on the bed and broke out in cold sweat from fear.

    ¡°Meow! I wanted to get you sterilized, but I don¡¯t think you bathed for quite some time. How terrible! I didn¡¯t want to get my ws dirty, so I¡¯ll let you stay a man for a little while longer!¡± Snowy Li hummed and then ran away.

    ¡°Your Majesty! You¡¯re awake! I was so anxious for you! It¡¯s so hot, let me lick your hair to cool you down!¡± When Fina woke up, Snowy Li¡¯s attitude instantly changed.

    Zhang Zian wanted to sit up, but he had lied down for so long that his whole body seemed to be falling apart. Even if he ran a marathon, he would not have been so tired.

    On top of that, his stomach grumbled in hunger and his lips were cracked with thirst.

    He barely got up from the bed and saw the elves in the room waking up.

    Instead of sleeping in their usual sleeping spots, they had gathered near the single bed.

    It seemed that everyone except Snowy Li had gone to sleep. They left Snowy Li outside to take care of them. However, she was only allowed to do her job and nothing more. She spent all day thinking about how to castrate him...

    ¡°I am hungry.¡±

    He took a deep breath and was about to express his feelings and thanks to everyone, but was interrupted by Fina¡¯s cold words.

    Fina wasn¡¯t trying to tell him she was hungry. What she meant was that being hungry put her in a bad mood. If he was smart enough, he should¡¯ve looked past the nonsense and immediately prepare food.

    Along with Fina, Old Time Tea and Famous were also hungry.

    ¡°Zhang Zian, I don¡¯t want to hide it from you, but I¡¯m so hungry...¡± Old Time Tea smiled bitterly.

    Famous paid no attention and went straight downstairs to find some dog food to eat. He had secretly taken some dog food by itself and found that it tasted really good.

    ¡°Whoa, the bathwater smells! There are algae all over! It¡¯s disgusting!¡± Shihua screamed in the bathroom.

    ¡°Quack!¡± Richard helplessly spread his wings as a stench emerged from his anus, ¡°I wasn¡¯t prepared enough and took a few more bites before going to bed...¡±

    ¡°What the?!¡± Zhang Zian said in disgust. He wrapped his head and ass with a towel and threw it into a bin that opened and closed on its own.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Richard¡¯s protest was muffled inside the lid of the trash can.

    ¡°Squeak! Squeak!¡±

    As soon as ¦Ð opened his eyes, he anxiously turned on theputer and saw numerous posts in thements section asking why the author didn¡¯t post an update recently. In response, he quickly added a note that stated that he was on leave because he fell ill.

    ¡°Meow...¡± Xinghai tilted its head and looked around. ¡°Everyone is awake, that¡¯s good...¡±

    Yeah, everyone woke up, that¡¯s great.

    dimir jumped on the window sill, looked outside and said, ¡°It seems that the insect disaster is over, and everything outside has returned to normal.¡±

    Zhang Zian wanted to know what day it was now? How long was he asleep?

    He picked up the phone but found that it ran out of power and shut down.

    He plugged the phone into the charger, walked to the window to open it, and smelled the fresh air outside. This was when he realized that the air inside was dirty, stuffy and smelly inparison.

    It was now morning. People who stayed inside during the insect disaster finally went out onto the streets. However, everyone still held an umbre in their hands and carefully walked under the tree.

    The tree leaves were almost eaten by the caterpirs, and the cleaners were struggling to clean their corpses on the ground while the morning was still cool.

    ¡°Butterfly,¡± dimir said.

    Zhang Zian also saw that there were still many butterflies and moths flying around at low altitudes, but there were fewer of them than before. It no longer posed a major threat.

    However, many butterflies and moths haveid eggs and may stille back at this time next year.

    Zhuang Xiaodie... Or rather, where was that butterfly elf?

    The whisper in his ear echoed clearly in his mind, was this reality? Or was it another dream she created?

    Was this his dream?

    Or was this hers?

    Is he dreaming of her, or was she dreaming of him? Who was able to tell clearly?

    Fina was usually rather impatient, and even more so when she was hungry. However, Zhang Zian was also very hungry and unable to cook. He found an excuse to run downstairs, pulls up the shutter door, and open the store for today¡¯s business.

    ¡°Yo! Master! Are you back? How was your blind date?¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun came in early today and unexpectedly bumped into him at the door.

    ¡°Yes, Master, your girlfriend... no, where are the pictures of Master¡¯s prospective wife? Show us!¡±

    ¡°Master, you look thin! Did you lose weight to impress her?¡±

    They anticipated his reply with faces that looked eager for gossip.

    ¡°Blind date...¡±

    Zhang Zian guessed that the elves must have used blind dates as an excuse to exin his sudden disappearance over thest few days. Even so, it coincided with the actual situation.

    ¡°She¡¯s pretty, but not my type. As for the photos... I won¡¯t show them to you, so forget about it!¡± He said. To avoid further arguments with them over it, he switched the topic. ¡°Right! How were your final exams?¡±

    Wang Qiang and Li Kun looked at each other bitterly. ¡°We just finished yesterday. Can you stop asking about it... Don¡¯t tell anyone, but we will have to retake the exam.¡±

    Zhang Zian expected as much. ¡°Hurry up inside and get to work!¡±

    If the exam was just yesterday, he could probably guess today¡¯s date. He had likely slept for three days. No wonder he was hungry; he would have starved to death if he slept for a few more days.

    ¡°Yes, Master...¡± Wang Qian said nothing else.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Zhang Zian asked, ¡°If you have something to say, then spill it!¡±

    ¡°Actually, we had a very strange dream,¡± Wang Qian murmured.

    Li Kun replied, ¡°Well, it¡¯s strange because both had the same dream. It was like we didn¡¯t know each other and passed by one another on the street. When I woke up, I couldn¡¯t remember the details. In any case, I was in such a hurry that I woke up.¡±

    ¡°Me too.¡± Wang Qian nodded. ¡°So I got up very early today.¡±

    Zhang Zian stared at them for a while, then showed a scornful look, ¡°Sounds awful... I don¡¯t want either of you to dream of me, so hurry up and stop talking nonsense! But first, go to Uncle Li and see if breakfast is done! Quick! Run, no walking! 123, 123... ¡±

    After the two of them ran far enough, he exercised at the door before taking a brisk walk around. He looked at the door of the neighboring shop and saw only a dry, empty shell with an open back in the corner. The swallowtail butterfly had left without a trace.

 Chapter 1413: Enter the World, Seeking Nowhere

    <h4>Chapter 1413: Enter the World, Seeking Nowhere</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Staring at the empty shell, Zhang Zian¡¯s mind once again fell into an endless spiral of thoughts.

    Was this another dream?

    Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s final words were nted in his heart like seeds sprouting and growing frantically.

    Everything around him was so real. Whether it was his staff that he interacts with daily to the empty shell of this swallowtail butterfly. Excluding the three days when he was in a deep sleep, everything else matched with what happened before that.

    The elves were there, too.

    Was he truly back in reality?

    Not necessarily.

    Last time, Zhuang Xiaodie chose to start the dream when his parents were alive and fine-tuned the timing of some things. It was a dream without elves.

    However, after learning from the previous experience and lessons, she felt that making a dream too beautiful raised suspicion. Thus, she created this dream to be no different from reality and even simted a game that can capture elves...

    There was no doubt that she was capable of this.

    It was like the man dressed in ck leather in ¡°The Matrix¡±. He stretched out two hands to the protagonist, one with a red pill and the other with a blue pill. He asked the protagonist to choose between waking up to face the real world or continuing to live in the programmed dream. At the same time, it was also a reality that many people thought was real.

    The protagonist chose to face the truth, but this choice did not apply to Zhang Zian. Although he also chose the real world, he didn¡¯t know if it might¡¯ve been a blue pill wrapped in red sugar coating.

    Some people suspected that the so-called human world was just a program written by a higher-level civilization. This was hard to prove or falsify because everyone lived in this program. They were all people in their own dreams. They had no man in ck leather clothes to present them with a pill as he did with the protagonist.

    Zhang Zian sighed, shook his head, and stopped thinking about such a nerve-racking question that he couldn¡¯t answer. It was crazy to continue thinking about it. He had better leave it to scientists and philosophers to think about since they weren¡¯t afraid of balding from thinking too much.

    As for him, he could only tell himself that regardless of whether he was in reality, another dream, or an alien program, he needed to make life more exciting and strive to make himself and his partners happy. That way, he could make the most of his life.

    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Store Manager!¡±

    Zhang Zian heard the voice and looked back. He saw Little Celery standing behind him in short-sleeved shorts, looking up at the empty shell. If it weren¡¯t for her two little braids, he would have mistaken her to be a lively boy.

    ¡°Good morning, Little Celery. Aren¡¯t you on holiday?¡± He moved his head up and down to look behind her. She wasn¡¯t carrying a school bag.

    ¡°It¡¯s my turn to go to school to take care of the hamster,¡± she answered crisply.

    ¡°Oh... wait, has Xu Zhuangzhuang been misbehaving recently?¡± he asked.

    Little Celery thought about it and said, ¡°I don¡¯t seem to see him misbehaving!¡±

    Well, it seemed that the naughty child was stung quite badly by the caterpir and took the opportunity to get a note of absence from his parents.

    ¡°Oh, Mr. Store Manager, what have you be doing these days? They said you went looking for a fair, rich and beautifuldy in your dreams. What does that mean?¡± Little Celery asked out of curiosity.

    Zhang Zian said nothing. He couldn¡¯t spare whoever was corrupting his image behind his back!

    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Store Manager.¡±

    ¡°Morning, Mr. Store Manager.¡±

    Fortunately, he was saved by Lu Yiyun and Jiang Feifei¡¯s arrival. Otherwise, he didn¡¯t know how to exin to elementary school students what a fair, rich and beautifuldy is...

    ¡°Morning, why did you twoe together?¡± He quickly changed the subject.

    ¡°I asked Little Yun to take me to her neighborhood to see the house. I liked the house and am now moving in. I lived there yesterday. It¡¯s also more convenient to get to work from there now,¡± Jiang Feifei exined.

    ¡°Oh.¡± Zhang Zian nodded, ¡°How¡¯s your job search going?¡±

    Jiang Feifei sighed, and her whole posture simr to that of a soulless salty fish. ¡°The job you want and the job that are avable arepletely different...¡±

    Zhang Zian felt the same. This was the plight of almost every college graduate, but he couldn¡¯t do anything to help her. After all, he was just a pet shop owner.

    After Lu Yiyun greeted him, she kept staring at Zhang Zian until he noticed and asked out of curiosity, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Don¡¯t you recognize me? Or rather... did you have nightmaresst night?¡±

    She froze slightly before snapping back into reality. ¡°Oh, it seemed like I had a dreamst night, but I woke up and forgot about it... Well, I wanted to say that when I came over just now, I might¡¯ve seen a beautiful butterfly falling behind your neck ... ¡±

    Butterfly?

    Being extremely sensitive to the word, Zhang Zian immediately turned his head. ¡°Where?¡±

    He then remembered that if it fell behind his neck, he wouldn¡¯t be able to see it even if he turned his head!

    Even so, his movements should startle the butterfly if Lu Yiyun was right about a butterflynding on him.

    Lu Yiyun tilted her head to check his neck and said, ¡°That¡¯s weird... I thought I saw it clearly, why is it gone...?¡±

    Zhang Zian simply turned around and asked, ¡°Is it on the back of my shirt?¡±

    ¡°No, not there either ...¡± Lu Yiyun pushed her thick and heavy-rimmed sses. ¡°Maybe I saw it wrong...¡±

    ¡°I saw it too!¡± Little Celery raised her hand.

    ¡°Oh? Did you see it too?¡± Zhang Zian had let his guard down only for it to be raised again.

    Little Celery nodded, ¡°Yeah, but it seems to be gone again!¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at Jiang Feifei. Amongst the three of them, one was an elementary schoolgirl and another an otaku girl. Despite being the only so-called normal adult here, she shook her head. ¡°I didn¡¯t notice it. I¡¯m tired of moving yesterday and my whole body hurts.¡±

    His heart was beating fast, but there was no other way. He said, ¡°Never mind, go into the store. It may have been a reflection or something.¡±

    At that moment, Wang Qian and Li Kun returned with a foam instion box. They keptining that it was unnecessary to use it during the summer.

    They all met at the door and were about to enter the shop together. Wang Qian suddenly screamed, ¡°Master, did you go for a blind date or did you go to catch bees and butterflies? Why...?¡±

    The utterances ended halfway.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Don¡¯t just leave your words hanging halfway and finish your sentence!¡± Zhang Zian wanted to scold him and say that no one would shit halfway. However, he decided against it since Little Celery was there. He could only patiently await his response.

    Wang Qian also had a forced look on his face. ¡°Just now, I think I saw a weird and beautiful butterfly behind you, but it was within my peripheral vision... No, I caught it with the corner of my eye, but it was gone after a closer look. How spooky!¡±

    Zhang Zian sucked in a breath of cold air. He had heard of spirits sitting on people¡¯s backs, but no one had a butterfly on their backs before. What was so special about this... was the butterfly not real?

 Chapter 1414: Plagiarism of Methodology

    <h4>Chapter 1414: giarism of Methodology</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Many people have had a simr experience. If someone was starved for a long time and suddenly got food, they were unable to eat enough regardless of how much they ate. The same was true for Famous. He was so hungry he couldn¡¯t wait for breakfast and decided to run down the stairs. With a grimace on his face, he grabbed the dog food that Zhan Zian was staring at. However, it wasn¡¯t enough food to satisfy him. After eating, Famous pulled another bag of unopened dog food from the shelf, tore it open and gobbled it down. His mouth was stuffed with food.

    As the saying goes, eating anything sweet while you¡¯re hungry tasted like honey, and eating honey when full wasn¡¯t sweet. The more Famous ate, the more fragrant the food was. He felt like his stomach is like a bottomless pit; he could eat as much as he wanted.

    He unexpectedly ate until he felt so full that he could barely stand straight. He could only lie on his side and wait for the food to digest. Even when Zhang Zian opened the foam box, the smell of roasted meat throughout the store was unable to stimte his appetite again.

    Fortunately, he already drank a lot of water after waking up in the morning. Otherwise, it may be the first elf to die from eating too much.

    The other elves began to eat breakfast, although it was more like them gobbling it down. However, they ate much more elegantly than Famous did while the clerks began to clean the store. Since the insect disaster was almost over, customers were more likely toe.

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    Famousid down and watched calves of different sizes walking past him. He listened to Zhang Zian and the rest talk about an invisible butterfly. His eyelids gradually drooped as he unknowingly entered the dreand; this wasmonly known as sleeping after eating.

    ¡°Brother Famous, are you awake?¡±

    Famous opened his eyes again and saw the younger version of Old Time Tea standing in front of him with a smile.

    ¡°Brother Famous has been away for a long time, and I was worried that you wouldn¡¯t wake you up. Fortunately, everything is well now!¡± Old Time Tea said, pointing to the food basket on the side. ¡°The Wu family sent some potatoes and bacon over. I didn¡¯t know when Brother Famous would wake, so I ate first. Please don¡¯t be mad at me...¡±

    Famous trembled a little and stood up. Although his belly was empty, what was this inexplicable nausea he felt?

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t want to eat right now ...¡±

    He noticed that there was something next to him. He turned around and was shocked by what he saw. He then took two steps back, ¡°You ...¡±

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    A ck-and-white kitten stood a few steps away and raised its front paw. ¡°Meow... Good morning, Famous...¡± it greeted him.

    ¡°Oh, Xinghai was one step ahead of you and got here first. I¡¯m ashamed to say that I didn¡¯t even notice when it came.¡± Old Time Tea exined.

    Famous looked suspiciously at Xinghai. This Xinghai seems to be... closer to the one in the pet shop.

    ¡°Meow... Shall we y hide-and-seek together?¡± Xinghai turned to scan the open space in the forest. The empty environment made it eager to run around.

    ¡°No, I want to eat!¡± Famous resolutely refused, running towards the food basket. He would rather eat while feeling nauseated than y hide and seek.

    He still missed the Xinghai that used to catch butterflies ...

    The potato was roasted just right, though the outer skin was a little scorched. Nevertheless, the inside was soft and fragrant after peeling the skin away. Eaten with good bacon, he felt as if his nausea was slowly going away with every bite.

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    Xinghai walked around in regret, looking around strangely. It seemed to be its first time here.

    Old Time Tea saw that Famous was rushing and advised from the side, ¡°Brother Famous, eat slowly. I have already eaten, so I won¡¯t steal your food...¡±

    Famous learned from the previous dog and didn¡¯t eat too much. He stopped in a hurry, although the so-called former dog was itself.

    ¡°Brother Famous, what¡¯s the reward for this trip? Now that you have returned safely, does that mean you¡¯ve seeded?¡± Old Time Tea was cultured. Although he may have already known the result, he still patiently asked what happened.

    Famous pushed the food bowl to the side and burped. To avoid being asked to y hide-and-seek again by Xinghai, he had to find something to do. Thus, he exined in detail the causes and consequences of the entire episode. Old Time Tea listened intently.

    ¡°Oh... I see.¡±

    To the young version of Old Time Tea, the unbelievable story sounded almost like night and day. However, for Famous to be able to recall it in detail, then the story must be true.

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    ¡°Fortunately, things turned out well. Zhang Zian was able to act ording to the circumstances and got away. Of course, everyone was able to help him. It is gratifying,¡± Old Time Tea said with relief. ¡°Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t seem to be able to help much. I regret it so much... ¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that,¡± Famous shook its head. ¡°Old Time Tea, you are too humble. If you didn¡¯t urge him to study hard and practice hard every day, his body wouldn¡¯t be so well-conditioned. He might¡¯ve have taken longer to realize that he was in a dream.¡±

    The other elves helped Zhang Zian visually regain his memories. Only Old Time Tea¡¯s method was unique; a person who never learned self-defense could suddenly knock down a few punks. If they were not stung by spiders, they would naturally have been suspicious.

    ¡°Compared to this, what I want to know...¡± Famous called out for Xinghai, who was walking everywhere, and asked him, ¡°Xinghai, I want to ask you... did you really not predict the appearance of the Butterfly Elf? Or...¡±

    Famous had always been suspicious and wondered. Why did Xinghai, who could have predicted the future, let the butterfly elf appear and pull Zhang Zian into the dream? Although the butterfly elf was indeed outrageous, it seemed to be on the same level as Xinghai. Given that, it looked like... Xinghai did this deliberately.

    It must have predicted that the Butterfly Elf could not hurt Zhang Zian and would even help him get rid of the demon. Doing so would¡¯ve made him closer to everyone, so it deliberately allowed for this to happen.

    ¡°Meow...¡±

    Xinghai tilted its head and opened its mouth to answer, but looked over Famous. With a surprised look, it stared at something behind him.

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    Famous¡¯s felt a chill travel through his heart, telling him that something could have happened.

    ¡°Where are the monsters and demons?¡± Old Time Tea shouted, standing upright in alertness.

    Famous turned his head around, his whole body feeling cold.

    Hundreds of butterflies suddenly flew out of thewn in the middle of the open space, with more butterfliesing up from the surrounding canopy.

    Countless colorful butterflies gathered in one ce and soon formed a human shape.

    At first, the human figure was just a silhouette, but it slowly became that of the gorgeous andplex Chinese costume with her unparalleled face of beauty. When thest butterfly turned into a wreath ornament, she slowly walked towards them.

    Famous could hardly breathe!

    Zhuang Xiaodie looked at the surrounding environment and inadvertently smiled. She stared at Famous and said, ¡°It seems that you like to break into other people¡¯s dreams and make a mess out of it, right?¡±

    ¡°How... How could you...?¡± Famous trembled in shock.

    Zhuang Xiaodie smirked lightly and sneered, ¡°Do you think that you¡¯re the only one who¡¯s good at learning? I¡¯ve learned plenty of interesting knowledge from Zhang Zian¡¯s memory!¡±

    With that, she nced at Old Time Tea, rolled her sleeves up, and posed like a white crane spreading its wings. Her movements were so graceful that they could take someone¡¯s breath away and suffocate them.

    Famous could only borrow Zhang Zian¡¯s words and roared from the bottom of his heart, ¡°What the?!¡±

 Chapter 1415: An Unexpected Guest

    <h4>Chapter 1415: An Unexpected Guest</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    This was one of the worst nightmares Famous ever had! Nothing else could¡¯ve been more terrifying than this!

    He stared at Zhuang Xiaodie as she slowly walked towards him, his heart beating fast...No, felt more like a dog being beating to death.

    Run!

    Running away in hiss own Imagined world shouldn¡¯t have been so shameful!

    For the first time, Famous felt so much despair that he thought of ??running away without fighting back!

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    Although he confidently uttered eloquent words before entering Zhang Zian¡¯s dream, it was only when he actually entered the dream that Zhuang Xiaodie created that he realized how intricate it was. Compared with this, his Imagined world was too rough. His world relied heavily on Old Time Tea¡¯s memories, events always developing sequentially. It was impossible to disrupt the sequence of events and precisely strip the existence of the game and elves like her.

    Thus, her invasion was equivalent to a college student breaking into a kindergarten ssroom.

    But where could he have escaped?

    This was his Imagined world. His opponent was an elf that relied on butterflies to change her form. Even if he escaped to the ends of the earth, she could probably catch up to him.

    Old Time Tea was shocked to see that this woman was created with the gathering of butterflies. He had been around for many years and only heard of stories about demons and monsters that were meant to scare women and children. However, he never actually saw a demon fox that could change between various forms. He also never saw one that chose to transform into a human, which further confused him. Thus, it slowly but surely concluded that the so-called monsters and demons didn¡¯t really exist, but merely lived on only within folk legends and stories.

    Since the dawn of consciousness and wisdom, the closest thing to a demon or ghost was Old Time Tea, Famous and Xinghai, who all came from outer space.

    But now, he saw countless butterflies merging into a human figure in front of him... it was really strange!

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    ¡°Brother Famous... this... is this...?¡± Old Time Tea, who was usually calm and collected, now trembled and couldn¡¯tplete his sentence. It was as if everything was falling apart.

    All the details were consistent with Famous¡¯ description of the woman, which helped confirm her identity. Thus, was this... Zhuang Xiaodie, who yed Zhang Zian and all the elves of her own ord?

    Famous nodded stiffly. This Zhuang Xiaodie should be the same after evolution. For example, why the hell did she pose like a crane spreading its wings earlier? And how the hell did she invade his Imagined world?

    When she appeared, she revealed two elements that were a secret between the two elves. If she wanted a grand entrance... she made both of them think negatively about her.

    ¡°Xinghai! If you had intended to hide the truth from us to lure her, now you can tell the truth. Please tell us: You foresaw her arrival as she appearing at that moment, right?¡± Famous asked, almost in a pleading tone.

    However, Xinghai shook its head solemnly, ¡°Meow... I didn¡¯t see it...¡±

    Famous was shocked and became as stiff as a wooden or y sculpture. Upon seeing the surprise on Xinghai¡¯s face, he figured that even Xinghai didn¡¯t foresee her arrival.

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    What sort of events was Xinghai unable to predict?

    Her appearance was truly a random number in the realms of probability, rather than a pseudo-random number simted by a random function. Thetter was limited by storage uracy; anyone could get the answer by seeking infinitely, but Xinghai didn¡¯t. It only meant that its ability had limits and couldn¡¯t predict everything.

    Zhang Zian briefly mentioned this when exining ¦Ð¡¯s untitled books because untitled books were also infinite. When ¦Ð wanted to find something, even Xinghai couldn¡¯t tell what the contents of the book were with just one nce. This was somewhat simr to Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s sudden appearance.

    If Famous¡¯ body was capable of sweating, then he would¡¯ve been very sweaty by now. However, he could only spit out his tongue and breathe rapidly.

    Zhang Xiaodie had only just left her dream and already understood a part of Famous, Old Time Tea and Xinghai¡¯s skills. Even if she held up her right fist the next moment and called on the oppressed caterpirs of the world to unite, it wouldn¡¯t have surprised anyone.

    After all, she was the master of her dream. As long as the flow of time in dreams was extended by even one hour, she had enough time to study and practice there for countless years ...

    ¡°So you came into my Imagined world. Are you seeking revenge? Because I have invaded the dream you made, so you are here as well to...¡± Famous asked timidly.

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    Zhuang Xiaodie smiled mockingly, ¡°What kind of Imagined world is this... it¡¯s nothing more than a remake of an existing dream! After giving it a good name, you thought you created something extraordinary?¡±

    Famous wasn¡¯t in the mood to argue with her. He wondered what her intentions were; if she just wanted to cause trouble, he wasn¡¯t afraid. Since everything in its Imagined world has already happened, what could she do, even if she just wanted to cause trouble?

    Of course, letting her stay here would¡¯ve been awkward. However, Famous neither knew nor could expel her.

    If he really couldn¡¯t do it, then all he could do was pull Zhang Zian into his Imagined world. He had seeded in dealing with her, so he let them two gods fight it out!

    Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s tone was cold, but she didn¡¯t look like she was going to cause any trouble immediately. She heard the sound of roaring wheels pulled by horses from the forest and asked out of curiosity, ¡°What¡¯s that sound?¡±

    She had Zhang Zian¡¯s memory, but Zhang Zian¡¯s memory didn¡¯t contain this part of Old Time Tea¡¯s memory, so her inquiry was understandable.

    That should¡¯ve been the voice of Miss Wu¡¯s family sending her off, but Famous didn¡¯t want to tell her.

    ¡°Oh, you won¡¯t tell me? Then why don¡¯t I go over and see?¡± With a boastful look on her face, she casually walked to the edge of the forest.

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    Old Time Tea swiftly moved in front of her and blocked the way. ¡°Please stay.¡±

    ¡°No one can tell me where I should go.¡± She said this with pride and confidence, but she wasn¡¯t bragging. She would¡¯ve said otherwise if she were in the real world, but she was almost invincible in the Imagined World.

    Old Time Tea said with sincerity, ¡°I know little about your grievances, but this matter has nothing to do with the team sending Miss Wu off. Please... won¡¯t you show mercy and let them go?¡±

    ¡°Who said that I was going to cause trouble? Would I lower myself and behave in the same manner as that dog over there?¡± She nced at Famous with a scornful tone.

    ¡°Then can you tell me why you¡¯re here?¡±

    When Old Time Tea saw Famous and Zhuang Xiaodie had some underlining animosity and didn¡¯t get along, he knew it had toe out and mediate.

    ¡°As for why ...¡± She pretended to think for a moment, and then smiled proudly. ¡°Although I lost to Zhang Zian because of insufficient preparation, one day he will ask me to forgive him! Before that... well, I¡¯m bored so I¡¯ll just have to enjoy myself!¡±

    Famous listened to her eloquent speech. It seemed that she has something on Zhang Zian. Or rather... she was predicting that sometime in the future, Zhang Zian would beg for her help.

 Chapter 1416: Bug

    <h4>Chapter 1416: Bug</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After eating two or three times the usual amount of breakfast, Zhang Zian grimaced at his staff and touched his belly. He was finally full. He estimated that his mobile phone was almost fully charged and walked back to the second floor, his stomach as big as a pregnant woman.

    Shihua heard the sound of his footsteps and began asking him to change the water in the bathtub immediately. In the summer, if the water hasn¡¯t been changed for a few days, green algae would have grown in it.

    ¦Ð was busy typing away, so he didn¡¯t have to take care of it.

    The bedroom window was open, and dimir wasn¡¯t in the room. He most likely ran outside to inspect the surroundings.

    Only then did Zhang Zian remember that Richard was still in the trash. He put on his gloves, opened the lid, and carried the bird by its ws into the bathroom. He put it under the showerhead, started rinsing off the bird droppings, and hung it on the windowsill to bask in the sun.

    After doing this, he had time to sit down and check his cell phone. He figured that many people would¡¯ve sent him a message asking him what he was doing. The question was how did the elves answer them for him. He had a bad feeling about this.

    However, after booting up, the first thing to pop up on his screen was the ¡°Pet Hunter¡± game.

    ¡°Congrattions! You have increased your lucky cat¡¯s favorability factor towards you to trust level. You have gained the ability to move freely!¡±

    ¡°Congrattions! You have increased your Apprehensive Bird¡¯s favorability factor towards you to trust level. You have gained the ability to move freely!¡±

    ¡°Congrattions! You have increased your Mermaid¡¯s favorability factor towards you to trust level. You have gained the ability to move freely!¡±

    Several notifications appeared across the screen, then disappeared.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart rate increased upon seeing these. He didn¡¯t expect that going into the dream world would¡¯ve been so worth it! Although he almost starved to death upon leaving the dream, it turned out that the favorability of the three elves towards him had greatly improved. This must¡¯ve been the so-called ¡°no risk no reward¡±...

    At this point, the favorability of all the elves except for Snowy Li had been raised to the highest trust level. He felt that he haspleted an extraordinary job ...

    As for Snowy Li, there was no chance for him to reach that level unless he cut his testicles off and gives them to her.

    He even had a higher favorability factor for the idiotic Richard. Was it because rejecting Zhuang Xiaodie led him to develop some big misunderstanding?

    Shihua¡¯s favorability improvement was rather unexpected... wasn¡¯t she the dummy girl in the dream? Being willing to venture into the dream together with everyone was already rather unexpected. It was even more so that she yed such a pitiful role in the dream. Apparently, all those Korean dramas she watched did not go to waste.

    The most unsettling thing was that even Xinghai ¡®s favorability improved. Hot tears almost welled up in his eyes. Before the end of the dream, it seemed that the ck and white kitten swept the back of his hand with its tail. That wasn¡¯t an illusion, right?

    However, this dream journey taught him to not underestimate the unknown elves. If the game said that the catch danger was extremely high, it was best to listen and obey if he wanted to protect his life.

    Zhuang Xiaodie was like a beautiful but poisonous butterfly. Fortunately, there was no need to have anything more to do with her... right?

    Thinking of this, he turned back so abruptly that he almost twisted his neck with too much force. However, there was nothing behind his head. The so-called butterfly that disappeared upon closer inspection was not there.

    Phew... Surely he must¡¯ve been overthinking it, believing it was a butterfly in a quantum state or something...

    Heughed to himself at his ability to conjure up absurd stories. He turned his head back and saw Famous at the entrance of the stairs, looking at him with a weird expression

    He noticed his expression and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did you eat too much? Would you like some digestive chips?¡±

    Famous blinked, ¡°I think I saw a butterfly fly past when I got up here. But looking again, it¡¯s no longer around...¡±

    ¡°What? When?¡± Zhang Zian was startled.

    ¡°When you looked back,¡± Famous said.

    A chill traveled down Zhang Zian¡¯s spine. ¡°...Forget it, don¡¯t talk about this. Weren¡¯t you sleeping just now?¡±

    Famous looked down in despair and told him what he had just experienced in its Imagined World.

    After listening, Zhang Zian jumped directly off his chair and said, ¡°... Are you serious? Zhuang Xiaodie appeared in your Imagined World? She also learned the ability of the other elves?¡±

    ¡°It seems that way. She said that in the future, you would ask for her help. Then, she will take advantage of that opportunity to wash away her humiliation.¡± Famous stared at him relentlessly. ¡°How about you find a way to enter my Imagined world and apologize to her? ¡±

    ¡°No way!¡± Zhang Zian dismissed this thought without hesitation. ¡°If she wants to y around in the Imagined world, then leave her be.¡±

    Famousined, ¡°You can take it lightly, but wouldn¡¯t I have nightmares every night? Maybe one day she¡¯ll get tired of my Imagined World and run into your dreams instead ...¡±

    That was a problem. However, Zhuang Xiaodie would¡¯ve been invincible to anyone in the dream world after gathering the abilities of so many elves. Zhang Zian knew that it would¡¯ve been impossible to use force to subdue her. Even if he went in, he would only be yed by her.

    While she didn¡¯t have much ability in the real world, she was rather erratic and unpredictable.

    ¡°What¡¯s all this talk about me asking for her help in the future ... How could I ask her? No matter how powerful she is in her dream, I can¡¯t ask her to introduce me to a girlfriend, right?¡± he said in disapproval.

    When he turned, he saw Xinghai running upstairs and casually asked, ¡°Xinghai, what do you think?¡±

    ¡°Meow...¡±

    Xinghai stared at him with a tilted head, neither approving or disapproving.

    Huh?

    Xinghai¡¯s ambiguity... Would I need to ask her something? What would I beg her to do? To create a dream world without the game and elves? Am I going to have to stoop that low?

    ...

    Night had fallen.

    Before going to bed, the elves tossed and turned around for a long time. It was like a fun carnival as if they were trying to make up for the lost fun over thest few days.

    Zhang Zian thought he would lose sleep or have nightmares if he slept too much.

    The same was true for Famous. When the other elves were asleep, they were still lying down with their eyes wide open.

    By the middle of the night, they could not take it any longer and they both fell asleep without even having a dream.

    Everything was quiet during the night.

    The screen on Zhang Zian¡¯s phone under the pillow suddenly turned on with various notifications popping up:

    ¡°Error!¡±

    ¡°The favorability of the elf has been found to have increased abnormally in a short time. The reason is unknown, but it was likely caused by a bug.¡±

    ¡°The favorability levels for some of the elves exceeds the game¡¯s design threshold and will soon reach or exceed the original owner¡¯s favorability. This may cause the risk of memory leaks.¡±

    ¡°Online repair program is starting...¡±

    ¡°The first online repair... failed!¡±

    ¡°The second online repair... failed!¡±

    ¡°The third online repair ... failed!¡±

    ¡°Cannot be repaired online, waiting for further processing...¡±

    The phone screen went out.

    Everything fell silent.

 Chapter 1417: Seizing Every Opportunity

    <h4>Chapter 1417: Seizing Every Opportunity</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In front of the artificial forest next to thendfill, dimir and Little White came face to face again.

    ¡°The spring breeze of reform blew in and shook myrade Little White¡¯s spirit!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t call me your friend! ¡±

    Staff members from the waste recycling station were loading piles of empty stic bottles and cans. Since there were so many, they had been working for more than an hour or two.

    ¡°I say, friend, do you smoke? Are these your pets? It looks like they¡¯re fighting...¡± The person in charge came to Zhang Zian and handed him a cigarette set.

    ¡°The cat is, but not the dog. Maybe it¡¯s a stray dog from nearby. You know there are many of them in thendfill.¡± Zhang Zian refused the cigarette.

    The man didn¡¯t care about cats and dogs and just used it as a conversation starter. He proceeded to change the topic and said, ¡°Oh, did you collect all these empty bottles by yourself?¡±

    ¡°Haha, of course I didn¡¯t. I bought them from nearby scavengers. I don¡¯t earn enough ie on my own,¡± Zhang Zian casually gave a suitable reason.

    ¡°Oh, that exins it...¡± Suddenly, the man¡¯s enthusiasm towards exploration subsided since they were both in the scrap industry. He knew that the scrap collectors were also human beings and would be very calctive over the purchase price of half a kg of empty bottles; he wanted the difference in money the scrap collectors made. The payment could not be directly proportional to the harvest. Otherwise, why wouldn¡¯t anyone else have used this method?

    Those folks had nothing to do all day. To increase the purchase price per half a kilogram, one would¡¯ve had to ride a tricycle for more than ten kilometers to a higher level waste recycling center.

    He thought carefully about why Zhang Zian dared to do this. He was either stupid, had a hidden strategy, or both. He forcibly recovered the waste products at a low price from the scavengers and earned the difference. If that was the case, he didn¡¯t think it was a very effective strategy. Besides, there were better ways to make money. Who would¡¯ve wanted to do this?

    After a fewughs, he went back and encouraged his workers to work as fast as possible.

    Although Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what he was thinking, he could¡¯ve somehow guessed what was happening.

    On the other side of the artificial forest, stray dogs were enjoying dog food and drumsticks. When they felt thirsty, they went to the ditch to drink water.

    There were few people in the vast salt and alkalind between the two cities. The artificial forest was nted to act as a wind and sand barrier. After the trees matured, they no longer needed to be taken care of. As long as no one cut down the trees, no one bothered to take care of them.

    Stray dogs peacefully and happily lived and worked here. As long as they didn¡¯t cause any trouble, there were no problems for the time being. If they managed to save enough money to sell waste products, they could¡¯ve considered setting up a stray animal rescue center here.

    Even if they were eager to work, they needed to avoid the sun at noon during the summer or they would¡¯ve been prone to heatstroke.

    In July, the weather in Binhai city was stiflingly humid.

    Following the insect disaster, the leaves that were almostpletely eaten away began to grow again, but they couldn¡¯t grow as dense as before.

    Every time Zhang Zian came to sort out the waste purchase, dimir followed him whilst fighting with Little White.

    Since the insect disaster ended, the fragile peace agreement between the stray cat and dog had lost its foundation. However, no one outright mentioned this for now. The cats needed to recuperate, whilst the dogs needed to be fed.

    Although they were talking, they were bound to sh if they were around each other for too long. They couldn¡¯t help but insult and attack one another if they didn¡¯t agree with each other.

    Because of the abundant food supply, Little White further consolidated his authority amongst the stray dogs and began gathering support from his capable and powerful generals. This further optimized the organizational structure of the stray dogs and made them more disciplined. Ordinary stray dogs would¡¯ve reported to their superiors if they had any problems. If necessary, the superiors then reported to Little White. That way, he didn¡¯t have to deal with everything on his own.

    All this was done to have an advantage over the stray cats.

    Whoosh!

    Zhang Zian suddenly turned around.

    There was nothing behind him.

    Lately, he had been slightly uneasy after some people had said that they saw butterflies behind him that randomly disappeared, but he never saw them for himself. Whenever the opportunity arose, he would suddenly turn around but always found nothing behind him.

    Famous was still haunted by nightmares. Zhuang Xiaodie did whatever she wanted in his Imagined World. She always took out a lot of money and spent it freely, even once running to meet Wu Ning. She seemed like ady from a noble family who moved to Binhai City and became famous almost instantly.

    Regarding the mysterious butterfly fairy that was giving him a headache, he could only close one eye and keep the other open whilst pretending nothing happened.

    The other elves still lived the same life. Along withining about the stuffy summer in Binhai City, the only difference was that they were homebound and toozy to go out.

    There wasn¡¯t much that could¡¯ve been done about this. The summer in Binhai city would¡¯ve remained the same. Typhoons could¡¯ve passed through the city in unluckier years, and they could only grit their teeth and endure them.

    Finally, the staff counted all the empty bottles and cans and calcted the money for Zhang Zian. They transferred him the money and drove away.

    ¡°How much did you earn today?¡±

    Little White stopped talking to dimir for a while and ran over to ask.

    Zhang Zian showed Little White the transfer record on his cellphone.

    ¡°What?! Damn it! ¡±

    Little White jumped up and barked excitedly, ¡°This is the wrong amount! I calcted it for myself! It should be more than that! ¡±

    ¡°I know it¡¯s about 10% less than the actual amount,¡± Zhang Zian nodded and looked at the back of the car.

    ¡°If you knew, then why didn¡¯t you say so?¡± Little White asked in anger.

    ¡°Those people deliberately withheld a part of the amount when they counted it. Maybe they thought it was so much that I wouldn¡¯t notice them withholding some of it,¡± he said.

    Little White furiously said, ¡°Barking Hell! How dare they embezzle military funds! They should be dragged out and shot! ¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing we can do about it. When the water is clear, there will be no fish. They also have to collect some benefits. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t be willing to work hard when the bottles are dirty and smelly in summer,¡± he exined.

    Little White refused to ept it. These empty bottles and cans are picked up by stray dogs one by one in the heat of the summer. How could he have let them get away with it?

    ¡°Do you know where they live? How dare they provoke someone with authority over thisnd! I will make them suffer! ¡±

    Little White was full of anger as he spoke; maybe he had been around stray dogs for too long,

    ¡°Well, I know where they live, but it¡¯s a long way from here. It¡¯s in a northern suburb in Binhai City, way on the other side of the city...¡± Zhang Jian said this to persuade him to leave the issue alone. It wouldn¡¯t be easy to run there on such a hot day; they could have a heatstroke.

    ¡°No! My brothers need me, I can¡¯t let them down! ¡± Little White shook his head obstinately.

    ¡°How about you let me drive you there? It¡¯s too far,¡± he suggested.

    Little White looked back at dimir. Riding in the same car as his rival was going to be immense torture.

    Zhang Zian saw that there was still conflict between the two. He thought of another way and proposed, ¡°or you can temporarily enter my mobile phone. I can still take you there, but you may not leave the pet store immediately.¡±

    Little White replied, ¡°Why? I went there before. You were still in a deep sleep at the time, and I had no problems going in or out....¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t bring that up anymore! ¡°Zhang Zian interrupted him with an awkward cough. It was better to speak less about his darker past. ¡°This time it¡¯s different. It¡¯s veryplicated to exin, but just imagine that there is an invisible fence around the pet shop... ¡±

    dimir angrily interrupted his exnation, clenched his fist, and said, ¡± This act of reversing history is destined to fail! Only a dog with such rotten and backward thinking like you would be subject to thew of the dynasty!¡±

    Little White said with disdain, ¡°Listen, was this stupid cat not trapped? Then if this stupid cat could escape, I can too.¡±

    The two of them openly fought anywhere they went, and this situation was no exception.

    Zhang Zian reminded Little White to think carefully. If he couldn¡¯t leave, he would be trapped in the pet shop for a while. He wouldn¡¯t be able to take care of the stray dogs, either.

    Little White didn¡¯t care; the leadership of the stray dogs has been established and the dogs were disciplined. As long as there was no interruption of the food supply, that wasn¡¯t a big problem.

    Unable to get past his stubbornness, Zhang Zian no longer argued with him. He picked up the cellphone, aimed at Little White, started the game and pressed the ¡°capture¡± button.

    Little White disappeared from the spot.

    [Game Tip]: ¡°Capture! Recovery dog!

    Zhang Zian: ¡°Huh? That¡¯s strange. Why is it called recovery dog? ¡±

    dimir sneered, ¡°This stupid dog is just talking rubbish!¡±

    Zhang Zian entered the virtual pet pen and saw Little White squatting in it.

    He clicked on its body and detailed data from the game popped up.

    [Game Tip]: Pet attributes

    [General name]:Recovery Dog

    [Rarity]: Epic/legendary

    [Features]: I am a King¡¯s old dog. I followed the immortals toe to earth!

    [Origin]: Not unlocked

    [Real name]: Not unlocked

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    When he realized what was going on, he pped his forehead and muttered, ¡°I see, this must be Murong Fu¡¯s dog! He kept thinking about restoring Dayan all day and ended up in ruins! I don¡¯t know how the ending is different in this new version. I¡¯ll read it when I have time. If I can guess its real name based on this, then maybe I can increase my familiarity with it! ¡±

    dimir stared at him, at a loss for words. Who was he talking to?

 Chapter 1418: Bird Safety Collar

    <h4>Chapter 1418: Bird Safety Cor</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian drove the Wuling Hong Guang MPV back to the pet store. Instead of turning on the air conditioner, he opened the window. Not only was it fuel-efficient, but he had also been driving the whole day. Pets, including aquatic ones, would¡¯ve inevitably begun to smell. Thus, keeping the car window closed in summer was a bad idea.

    To his surprise, Grandma Gu stood at the door shaking slightly whilst fanning herself with a small palm fan as if waiting for him to appear.

    ¡°Grandma Gu!¡± He got out of the car, opened the door of the store and invited Grandma Gu to hurriedly get inside. ¡°Why don¡¯t youe in, there¡¯s air conditioning inside.¡±

    To attract customers, the ss door of the pet shop was decorated with a sign that read: ¡°Air conditioning is operational¡± ced next to the aquarium. The air conditioner was more powerful, while the outdoor unit worked 24 hours a day. It was estimated that the electricity bill that month would be exorbitant.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t feel hot. The fan is just right. I¡¯m old, and I can¡¯t stand the air conditioning. I¡¯m prone to getting sick from them,¡± Grandma Gu exined.

    Grandma Gu didn¡¯t enter the store, but Richard took the opportunity to rush out of the store and fly onto Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°What do you mean, you¡¯re getting old? Grandma Gu, you keep getting younger! 82 this year, 28 the next year!¡± he said.

    ¡°I¡¯m not 82 this year! Do I look that old?¡±Grandma Gu stroked the wrinkles on her face, feeling slightly depressed.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it like that...¡± Zhang Zian immediately changed the subject, ¡°Did you need something?¡±

    ¡°Well, the battle against the insect disaster seems to havee to an end. However, our sister cities that used birds as a biological deterrent haven¡¯t been doing so well since they eat caterpirs.¡± Grandma Gu took out a piece of material. ¡°There are cities nearby that need our help. These birds don¡¯t breed easily. I heard from somewhere that we should consider the possibility of another insect disaster in nearby cities. We need to do our best to protect the environment and prevent these birds from. We should allow them to thrive so that they will benefit us as well.¡±

    Zhang Zian listened carefully but didn¡¯t think it had anything to do with him for a moment.

    During the worst insect infestation, certain breeds of caterpirs had developed strong resistance toward insecticides, resulting in their ineffectiveness. They had to employ other pest control methods such as new insecticides or biological control. The use of birds was one such strategy amongst many others.

    Grandma Gu took off her reading sses and looked at dimir next to her. ¡°Some people said that many birds were killed by cats who ate them.¡±

    ¡°Er... Do you mean stray cats?¡± asked Zhang Zian.

    If stray cats were killing the birds, then dimir needed to strictly restrain them. They should not be underestimated. As soon as it was proven that stray cats were eating birds, they had to find a way to control them so they could deal with the problem.

    Stray cats are the killers of small animals in urban areas. They hunted for different things and killed all mammals, rodents, reptiles, and particr birds in the city. In many ces, this led to an ecological disaster.

    Objectively speaking, this pest disaster in Binhai City was partly because there were too few wild birds in the city. Caterpirs needed to be suppressed in the early stages to prevent an outbreak. Even so, this situation existed in most cities.

    Grandma Gu nodded initially, then shook her head. ¡°Stray cats are really a problem, but there¡¯s no solid solution as of now. All we can do is find a way to keep domesticated cats from eating birds. ¡±

    It didn¡¯t make sense to ask many people to keep domestic cats from not eating birds. How could domestic cats eat birds if they were raised indoors?

    Only young people living in the city tended to hide their precious cats inside. Middle-aged people and the elderly, as well as cat owners living in suburbs and viges, were more inclined to raise their cats separately. They let their cats out during the day to find food to eat before returning home at night.

    Apart from a few purebred cats unsuited for staying outdoors, it didn¡¯t make sense for most cats to hunt or forage outdoors. They would¡¯ve most likely returned hungry.

    Along with China, the United States also had more than 80 million pet cats, more than half of which were in the state of free breeding. Arge number of stray cats posed a serious threat to the livelihoods of urban small animals.

    ¡°You mean...¡±

    As soon as Grandma Gu mentioned this, Zhang Zian could guess what she was asking, but he continued to listen.

    ¡°Little Zhang Zian, I know you have a wealth of knowledge about cats, dogs, and other pets. Do you have any suggestions? While this is the natural order of things, it¡¯s a pity that the precious birds are being eaten by cats,¡± Grandma Gu said.

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment, ¡°There is one solution, but I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s cumbersome to do it. You¡¯d have to go to the door-to-door and advertise to people. You can imagine the resistance you¡¯ll face.¡±

    Grandma Gu raised her head. ¡°I¡¯ll do it as long as it¡¯s possible. I¡¯ll take care of the rest!¡±

    ¡°This also used to be a headache for bird lovers abroad, but someone invented a kind of loose neck cor to hook around cats. It¡¯s called ¡°Birdsbesafe¡±, which just means ¡®Bird Safety¡¯. The names that foreignerse up with are rather strange...¡±

    ¡°Quack! Bird¡¯s safety is safer,¡± Richard mumbled and pped Zian¡¯s head with its wings. ¡°You need it, too.¡±

    ¡°Does this bird¡¯s cor work?¡± Grandma Gu asked curiously, ¡°If it works, I¡¯ll go door-to-door far and wide! ¡±

    ¡°It should be of some use. This type of cor won¡¯t affect the cat¡¯s diet. It¡¯s different from Elizabeth¡¯s cor, but it¡¯s extremely colorful. It¡¯s so eye-catching that birds can see it from a distance and avoid it,¡± Zhang Zian gave Richard a warning look.

    This type of cor benefitted not only birds but also any small animal with color-sensitive vision.

    ¡°Good! Then, Zhang Zian, you should sort out the information about the cor and the purchase price as soon as possible and send them to the street office. I¡¯ll take care of it at once,¡± Grandma Gu pped her hands together.

    This type of cor wasn¡¯t avable in China, even on the all-purpose Taobao. However, there didn¡¯t seem to be many technical specifications to make it. As long as the picture of it was copied, it shouldn¡¯t be difficult to make it a replica here.

    Grandma Gu left in a hurry to organize the staff to try promoting it to the whole street. Once it worked, she would try promoting it in the city.

    ¡°Quack! As the only bird and intelligence representative in the pet shop, I greatly appreciate the cor for bird safety. Aren¡¯t you going to promote it in the pet shop first to save my life from any imminent threats?¡± Richard said seriously.

    ¡°It¡¯s your beak that threatens your own life. As long as you know when to shut up, no cat is interested in your life. All your meat is simply covered in the smell of bird poop!¡±

 Chapter 1419: Newcomer

    <h4>Chapter 1419: Neer</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Little White couldn¡¯t wait to get justice, but the pet shop was filled with people during the day. After the insect disaster, the customers woulde to visit one after another. If he appeared suddenly, wouldn¡¯t the shop assistants be surprised and wonder where this white dog came from?

    In his spare time during the day, Zhang Zian ran around several times to print out the relevant materials and pictures of the Bird Safety Cor and deliver them to Grandma Gu. It wasn¡¯t avable in China, but it was urgently needed. It was possible to try to copy it. Because of what happened during the insect disaster by the street office, it became of utmost importance. They would¡¯ve dealt with it immediately and contacted small factories nearby for trial production.

    The only problem was that this type of cor is to be poprized amongst the various domestic cats. Since they weren¡¯t stray cats, domestic cat owners were more likely to resist. For example, they would worry about if the cor would¡¯ve been too tight after wearing it? Would the cat suffer? Would it affect the cat¡¯s diet?

    If these problems were not solved early on, it would be challenging to promote it.

    Zhang Zian volunteered to dress the cats in the shop with the cor as a trial, observe the effect and give feedback to the factory.

    At night, the pet shop closed. Wang Qian and Li Kun went home, while Jiang Feifei and Lu Yiyun returned to the rental house. Zhang Zian pulled down the shutter door to indicate it was the end of the day.

    ¡°Meow, meow, meow! Your majesty, forgive me for not being able to serve you tonight. Tonight, I will sleep here instead! ¡± Snowy Liy in the empty cab. On top of the air conditioner, its fluffy tailfortably drooped in front of the outlet.

    She had been there since this morning, and her long fur flew all over the shop because of the air conditioning. However, she was a beautiful creature so the customers in the store didn¡¯tin about it.

    Amongst the elves, Snowy Li disliked the heat the most. It is the equivalent of wearing a down jacket all year round. The hot and humid summer was unbearable for her.

    ¡°In a moment, this air conditioner will turn off to save power.¡± Zhang Zian said, ¡°You can go to the second floor and blow the fan.¡±

    ¡°Bah, bah, bah! The fan is not cooling at all! If you dare to shut this down, I¡¯ll fight you! That Bird Safety Cor won¡¯t be able to protect you! ¡± Snowy Li said angrily.

    Fina ignored the quarrel between them, jumped off the cat stand and went upstairs to rest. Because she grew up in the hot desert of Egypt, the heat was nothing to her. It needed dehumidification more than cooling.

    However, there was at least one advantage of the hot summer. Young girls who moved in and out of the pet shop have started wearing skirts. Regardless of the length of their skirts, the wind blew them everywhere.

    When there were young female guests, Fina didn¡¯t take a nap either. She always looked at the girls¡¯ legs and looked around. If Zhang Zian was caught doing this, he would¡¯ve been regarded as a pedophile.

    So when evening arrived, Fina felt sleepy faster than usual and went upstairs about an hour earlier than before.

    ¡°Wait! Fina, are you going upstairs now? Could you call ¦Ð down? A new friend is staying in the shop tonight,¡± He called out to Fina.

    ¡°Correction, not a friend.¡± dimir added, ¡°of course, if it voluntarily went to Siberia for ideological transformation then you can be considered a friend.¡±

    Fina said angrily, ¡°Who do you think you are? Why should I be running errands for you?¡±

    ¡°Chop it off! Chop it off! But before that, I¡¯ll take a bath. I smell awful. I don¡¯t want my ws to be dirty! ¡± Snowy Li spirit suddenly came back.

    Zhang Zian felt helpless. ¡®I merely asked you to call ¦Ð down. Do you need to go on like this?¡¯ he thought.

    But forget it. Little White had already met the elves in the pet shop when he camest time, so asking ¦Ð toe down specifically to meet him was not necessary. Besides, he and Shihua didn¡¯t think ¦Ð and Little White spoke anymonnguage.

    He pointed at his cell phone at the open space in the store. He found Little White in the virtual pet bar and clicked ¡°release¡±.

    Little White appeared in the store. Theyout of his surroundings was different, but there was a cool and dry atmosphere inparison to the hot and humid outdoor air. For a moment, he couldn¡¯t adapt to the change of environment.

    There were countless strange smells in the store. Little White remained alert and looked around. Last time it jumped in through the second-floor window. This time around, he was on the first floor, so it didn¡¯t recognize his surroundings for a while.

    ¡°Little White, this is my pet shop, and...have you met all the elvesst time?¡± Zhang Zian introduced.

    ¡°Meow... I¡¯m Xinghai... Do you like to y hide and seek?¡± Xinghai raised a paw to say hello.

    Snowy Li covered her nose, ¡°Meow, meow, meow! It smells awful! ¡±

    Other elves also smelt the odor that came from Little White. However, they didn¡¯t mention it to avoid hurting his feelings.

    Little White followed the stray dogs to thendfill every day. Afterward, they needed to go to the seaside to clean themselves then dry in the sun.

    Little White had known for a long time that most of the elves in this shop were cats. Although they were not the current stray cats it was ustomed to, he still felt uneasy around them.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t be here for long,¡± Little White looked up to Zhang Zian, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that it¡¯s hard to go out once you have gotten in?¡±

    Zhang Zian advised.¡±Well, it¡¯s toote for that today. You¡¯d better have a good rest here. Even if you want to go to the waste recycling station, you would have to wait until tomorrow... ¡± Zhang Zian advised.

    ¡°No, I want to go now while humans are less likely to see me at night,¡± Little White insisted, ¡°Please open the door for me. I want to see if anyone is going to set off the rm.¡±

    For some reason, dimir didn¡¯t understand what he meant but said with a smirk, ¡°OK, but be careful, don¡¯t bump your head!¡±

    Since Little White insisted on it, Zhang Zian opened the door again.

    It was now getting dark. Although it was almost 8 p.m., the sky in the West hadn¡¯tpletely darkened.

    Before, there was a catastrophic insect disaster in the past that kept people housebound. Now at night time, the streets came to life with people going shopping, strolling in the street, running and walking at night. There were also many young couples seen running along the road. They weren¡¯t afraid of the heat since they stayed near each other.

    Of course, businesses couldn¡¯t pass up this opportunity to make money. The aroma of all kinds of delicious food wafted through the streets. Mr. and Mrs. Li had a barbecue stand at the entrance of the snack bar where cold beer was served. Several young people enjoyed eating barbecue and drinking beer together. They also rewarded the cat in the shop with extra food.

    Everyone knew that setting up a barbecue in the summer was a lucrative business. Mr. Li¡¯s family was not the only one to set up barbecue stands. There were also fruit stalls, essories, and clothing stores. It was quite lively, just like a small night market.

 Chapter 1420: The Disappearing Wall

    <h4>Chapter 1420: The Disappearing Wall</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    During the evening, Zhonghua Road in front of the pet shop wasn¡¯t very busy. The only time it was bustling was in July and August every year.

    Vendors set up their stalls near Binhai University during the semester. Currently, the university was closed. Most of the students had left the school to go home or out for internships and thus moved here.

    To prevent pedestrians on the street from noticing the abnormalities happening in the pet shop and stop the lights in the shop from attracting mosquitoes, Zhang Zian turned off the main lights on the first floor, leaving only a few dim yellow night lights.

    Little White stood at the door of the store and people on the street, inhaling the smell of barbecue meat carried by the night¡¯s wind. Small dogs such as the Toy Poodle and Pomeranian, as well as medium andrge dogs such as the Samoyed and the Golden Retriever, were carried or led by their owners. They passed by the door from time to time.

    Compared to thendfill, life in the city was a paradise that people rarely wanted to move away from. But once hundreds of stray dogs invaded the city, both stray cats and humans would fight back against them. This was therefore only temporary thinking.

    ¡°Meow, meow, meow! Are you going out or not? If not, then shut the door or else the air conditioner won¡¯t be effective! ¡± Snowy Li grumbled.

    Other elves knew how hard it was to break through the confinement that the game set around the pet store. Although Famous and dimir¡¯s cases were precedents, they didn¡¯t believe that Little White would seed.

    Old Time Tea looked at Little White in silence. Even if he couldn¡¯t be a hero in the future, he was at least trying to be one. Regardless of whether he was a hero or not, Old Time Tea didn¡¯t want to see him hitting the wall. To save himself from embarrassment, he went back upstairs first.

    As for Fina, she didn¡¯t care if Little White could break through the barrier at all. She wanted to go to bed early and went back upstairs.

    Although Richard wanted to watch the fun, he was blind at night when the lights were switched off. He flew into the pet bathroom but couldn¡¯t get out.

    Soon, only Little White, Xinghai, dimir, and Snowy Li remained at the front of the pet shop.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t see past the air wall set by the game. He could only roughly draw out the location of the air wall to remind Little White.

    Little White looked and smelled around, but he didn¡¯t find any air wall. He raised his paw doubtfully and touched an invisible wall in front of it.

    ¡°Please think about what you¡¯re doing. After you have wholeheartedly embraced the Meow-meow doctrine, you can go out into the world!¡± dimir would take any opportunity to promote the superiority of the meow meow doctrine even if to his enemies.

    Little White was eager to go to the waste recycling station. He was toozy to quarrel. He tentatively pressed the air wall at the door with his ws once to find a rtively vulnerable position.

    When he pressed it at a certain location, his w suddenly moved past the air wall and stretches forward.

    ¡°Ah?¡±

    ¡°Meow the hell!¡±

    Zhang Zian and dimir were all stunned since the former witnessed others struggle with it. Although it was invisible, they were familiar with its texture from top to bottom. Its surface was like a sandbag wrapped in a spongey cushion. However, one of Little White¡¯s forepaws had managed to pass through the air wall.

    ¡°Air wall? Just like that? What was that about the Meow-meow doctrine? It wasn¡¯t helpful...¡± Little White said contemptuously and turned to look at dimir.

    ¡°How dare you! Wanna say that again?¡±

    dimir was so angry that he was about to attack Little White.

    ¡°Sure, just tell me how many times you want me to say it!¡±

    Little White did not back down and drew his ws in case he needed to.

    ¡°Fight! Fight! Fight! ¡± Snowy Li was lying on the counter, gloating as it witnessed the impending fight.

    Zhang Zian stood between them. ¡°Wait a minute! Something seems wrong. ¡±

    dimir wasn¡¯t going to act like the other stray cats and attack themander of the other party they had a truce with. Not only that, but Little White also relied on Zhang Zian. He was responsible for coordinating the work of changing waste products to obtain dog food. It was impossible to do anything to him, so they had to stop fighting for a moment when he stood between them. They both took two steps back as a sign of respect for Zhang Zian.

    Snowy Li smacked her lips disappointedly. ¡°Oh,e on. You just had toe in and butt in on this, huh?¡±

    He squatted next to the theoretical position of the air wall and tried to recall carefully.

    ording to the existing data, when the favorability of the elves keeps to the initial state, they will be trapped in the pet store by an invisible and qualitative air wall. However, if their favorability rises to the first level or when they utilize a method simr to BUG to cross the air wall, the air wall will no longer work against them as long as they sessfully crossed it once.

    ¡°dimir, do you remember where your fist was when you first hit the air wall?¡± He asked.

    That was such a long time ago, dimir couldn¡¯t remember it very well. He wondered, ¡°Why do you ask?¡±

    Zhang Zian pointed to the position Little White had just pressed. ¡°If I remember correctly, I think it¡¯s here?¡±

    dimir didn¡¯t care about such a small detail and thus couldn¡¯t remember it.

    There was a surveince camera at the cashier¡¯s desk at the door. The view covered the small area of the cashier¡¯s desk and the store door, to prevent theft and money disputes with customers.

    Zhang Zian switched on theputer of the cash register and pulled up the video of dimir¡¯s first day. After carefulparison, he determined that it was indeed the same location.

    Thus, he figured that when dimir broke the air wall in this location, the game didn¡¯t fix it for some reason and left a hole there.

    As for why the game hadn¡¯t repaired the wall, Zhang Zian had no idea. It may have been that the game thought that it was impossible for an elf to escape from the prison before the promotion of likability, or even to break through the prison on its own. Thus, the need to repair the prison hadn¡¯t been considered.

    The confinement itself was intangible and only worked for the elves whose favorability wasn¡¯t high enough. Such a setting was not only veryplicated as it was but also difficult to repair. Instead of repairing it, it may have been better to simply rece it as a whole.

    A lot of games were like this. Game designers thought that the game that designed are wless, but loopholes will always be found out by diligent yers. These yers could¡¯ve then made profits by exploiting the loopholes before the game fixed them.

    In any case, since the hole that dimir cracked had not been repaired, there was no need for an alternative.

    Little White lowered hits head, slightly shrunk his body, and drilled out of the pet shop from where the hole was.

 Chapter 1421: Compensation

    <h4>Chapter 1421: Compensation</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Little White left the pet shop so easily that Zhang Zian and dimir couldn¡¯t tell what just happened.

    ¡°Meow! What a crazy dog! ¡± dimir said out of spite, ¡°If he could make a hole, then leave on your own!¡±

    Little White didn¡¯t fall for the trap or put up a fight. Even if he had made a hole in the air wall, dimir might find fault with it and say that the air wall itself wasn¡¯tplete or as strong as before.

    He had identified the direction and chose to go north along the wall. Although he wasn¡¯t sure about the specific location of the waste purchase station, he could always find it because the pungency of the smell of waste increased the closer he was.

    Zhang Zian stopped him and said, ¡°Why don¡¯t I drive you there? I¡¯m free right now and it¡¯s too early to sleep. My nightlife should be more exciting.¡±

    Little White hesitated and shook his head. ¡°No thank you, you can take me to the city and I¡¯ll walk the rest of the way. I can¡¯t thank you enough already for that.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. You were right before about those empty bottles and cans being picked up by stray dogs in the heat. I shouldn¡¯t be too generous or friendly with others,¡± Zhang Zian apologized.

    During the day, the employees of the waste purchase station deliberately left out the empty bottles. What he thought at that time was that if he cooperated with them for a long time, he could overlook some losses. However, Little White got angryter on. He reflected on why he thought this way and realized it was because he still didn¡¯t equate thebor done by the stray dogs to that of humans.

    If the same bottle was picked up by an old man and someone deliberately withheld back his money, others would¡¯ve interfered. The old man¡¯s life was already hard enough, so why not go on and take further advantage of him? However, as for the bottles picked by stray dogs, others would¡¯ve thought that there wasn¡¯t much else to it. A few bottles less were no big deal. Besides, dogs ran fast and had a lot of stamina. At most, they could pick up a few more bottles.

    Both people and dogs were all manually picking up bottles. Didn¡¯t they all put in the same hard work? People chose not to respect dogs but should respect the effort they put.

    Although this wasn¡¯t deliberate upation discrimination, a person working at a waste recycling station wouldn¡¯t have been as moral. On the basis that the work is difficult to endure and dirty, Zhang Zian decided that it was more humane to close an eye and not be too hard on them. Even so, they wouldn¡¯t have appreciated it or known how to be grateful. It was more likely that he would¡¯ve been treated as a fool, which may have intensified their efforts to take advantage of him.

    Topensate for this, he nned to take Little White on a trip. It was best if he could negotiate with them this time. They wouldn¡¯t be able to deduct the quantity next time.

    If the negotiation failed, he would have to react ordingly.

    He told Little White what he thought, and Little White nodded.

    Back at the shop, he told the other elves to go ahead and sleep first since he wasing backte. He pulled down the shutter door, let Little White sit in the MPV and drove north to the suburb.

    This time, dimir wasn¡¯t with them. Little White didn¡¯t have to ride in the same car with his rival.

    When night arrived, the temperature dropped significantly. With the windows open, the night wind blew into the car in a rather pleasant way.

    There were fewer vehicles in the evening. The MPV maintained a steady but fast speed and soon passed through the city and into the northern suburb.

    It was quite dark in the countryside. The distance between the streetmps was quiterge, their brightness was somewhat weak leaving nearly no light between eachmp.

    Zhang Zian then slowed down. In areas like this, driving fast was not a good idea. You never knew if anyone was going to randomly cross the road or not.

    Suddenly, a yellow shadow swept past the car; either it was too fast or the car¡¯s lights were too dim. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t see what it was, so he quickly stepped on the brakes and the car screeched to a halt. The vehicle merely bumped the object a little.

    Little White was caught off guard. He didn¡¯t wear a seat belt since it wasn¡¯t designed for dogs. He rolled out of the seat during the braking process in such an embarrassing manner and got stuck between the seat and the glove box.

    Afraid that he had bumped into someone, Zhang Zian broke out into a cold sweat. A momentter, he came to his senses. He reached out for Little White¡¯s leg and pulled him out of the gap.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Little White said, feeling rather awkward.

    ¡°What was that just now?¡± Zhang Zian pretended not to see his embarrassment and looked aside. By now, the thing disappeared in the dark, but they only knew it was an animal.

    With the window open, Little White took a deep whiff and said, ¡°It¡¯s a dog, likely a stray dog living in the countryside.¡±

    Although the dog ran away, the rotten stench and sour musk still lingered in the air. It smelled like rotten vegetable leaves in garbage heaps. Clean and decent dogs in the pet shops never had this smell.

    In suburbs and viges, it was verymon to keep arge or medium-sized dog with aplex pedigree dog to guard the house. In other words, the mongrel which was mixed with several breeds that Zhang Zian didn¡¯t recognize was usually tied up in the yard. There were also free-range puppies or stray dogs. The Binhai City Dog Breeding Regtions were for urban areas only, so nobody checked here.

    ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous. I nearly hit it,¡± Zhang Zian wiped the sweat off his forehead.

    Fortunately, he was able to slow down the car ahead of time and only stepped on the brake. If he swerved the steering wheel, his vehicle was more likely to roll over so he could avoid pedestrians or animals.

    There were often stray cats, dogs and other animals on the highway who get killed and crushed when crossing. Traffic idents caused by their crossing of the highway were alsomon.

    Little White thought, ¡°I¡¯ve been ignoring it before this. Since there are also stray dogs in the north, the East and West...¡±

    ¡°None to the East, unless there are sea dogs.¡± Zhang Zian corrected.

    Little White said, ¡°Well, I¡¯m only familiar with the small geographical area southeast of Binhai.¡±

    Before this, just feeding hundreds of stray dogs in thendfill was enough to give Little White a headache. Every day, he had to think about finding clean food and had no time for other things. Now that the problem of food has been solved, he could rx for the time being. He now had more energy to devote to other issues on his mind.

    Zhang Zian thought, ¡°If we could find a way to integrate the stray dogs in the north, west, and south, we would stand a better chance against the stray cats.¡±

    Zhang Zian calmed down, looked at the navigation map, and found that the waste purchase station was not too far from where they were. It seemed to be in the direction the stray dog was going just now, but it went through a shortcut. All he could do was continue along the road.

 Chapter 1422: Night Feast

    <h4>Chapter 1422: Night Feast</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As they approached the scrap purchase station, a relevant sign on the side of the road indicated that it was up ahead. There was no need for a sign; the smell in the air said everything.

    When Little White saw it, he asked Zhang Zian to stop the car. He nned to split up from Zhang Zian, just in case the negotiation was unsessful.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what to do if the negotiations were unsessful, but dimir said that Little White wasn¡¯t easy to deal with.

    He continued to drive for a while until he reached a stretch of bungalows.

    The neighborhood was deserted, with no other regr houses. It made sense since living next to the scrap station meant living with many mosquitoes, rats, fleas, and cockroaches. There was also a variety of germs and the smell of the station.

    Living near the scrap station required more courage than living next to an airport. Compared to the annoying loud noises, living here was far worse!

    The first few bungalows hadrge spotlights that shone onto the roads, making them white. A few trucks were parked in the shadows, but no one was in sight.

    Zhang Zian parked the car by the side of the road and approached a closed door. He knocked and asked, ¡°Is anyone home?¡± No one responded.

    He walked over to the window and peered into the house.

    The house was lit, but the windows were dirty so he could barely see anyone walking about.

    How strange, was no one here? Was everyone out in the city to enjoy the nightlife?

    Since it was a remote ce, he was unsure if broadband was avable in the area. However, people in the area should be able to get inte ess now that mobile data fees are cheaper. Even so, the otaku¡¯s only night entertainment was surfing the web. The inte could never rece paid sexual entertainment.

    The smell in the air was very unpleasant and made people nauseous. Swarms of mosquitoes flew onto the bodies, while fat grey rats that weren¡¯t afraid of humans asionally ran past their feet. The soil was filled with shiny shelled bugs moving about. The environment made it difficult to stay a moment longer.

    Zhang Zian searched through the darkness to find the insect repellent he bought from Pinduoduo and smeared it on all his exposed parts not covered in clothes, trying to repel the mosquitoes and rats. He started to think about how the mice might¡¯ve carried fleas, and fleas might¡¯ve infected the mice. The very idea gave him goosebumps.

    He went to another house and knocked on the door. This time, someone responded.

    ¡°Who is it?¡± a blurred and impatient voice responded.

    ¡°Well... I am... you guys came over the other day to buy some of my empty bottles,¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    ¡°Wait.¡±

    After two or three minutes, a drunk skinny man with dirty hair opened the door. He was shirtless but wore low-rise ripped jeans and a pair of flip-flops.

    Zhang Zian never saw this person in the day, or maybe he didn¡¯t take notice of him.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± He leaned onto the doorframe, drew a cigarette out of his pockets, and squinted at Zhang Zian. He seemed to either have just woken up or hadn¡¯t fully awakened yet and was interrupted by Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian hesitated before he said, ¡°During the day, you guys came to buy my empty bottles. However, there were some mistakes in your calction of the price; the number of bottles was wrong and you paid me less money.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t concern me. Look for the person who calcted the money. No one is in today, talk tomorrow!¡± The man didn¡¯t wait for him to finish, waved his hands to drive him away, then hurriedly closed the door.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s intention just wanted to exin the situation so that they wouldn¡¯t repeat it in the future. However, the man seems to have misunderstood the situation and thought that he wanted the rest of the money in the morning.

    However, this was to be expected. It was difficult to retrieve pocketed money. After all, these people didn¡¯t have the best personalities. Expecting them to be grateful would¡¯ve been pointless.

    He returned to the car, but he did not dare to stand still out of fear that fleas would crawl into his shoes and trousers.

    Unsure where Little White went, he could only wait for him to return.

    Within a few minutes, a sudden buzzing sound came from the grass near the car, as if something was approaching. However, it was very dark and he couldn¡¯t tell if it was a human or an animal.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart skipped a beat as he asked softly, ¡°Who is it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s me.¡±

    Little White responded in a low voice and appeared out of the darkness.

    ¡°How was it?¡± He asked.

    Little White didn¡¯t answer, turned around and gestured. ¡°Come with me.¡±

    Zhang Zian locked the car and tightly closed the windows. Then he followed behind Little White.

    Little White led him around several bungalows and slipped behind the waste station.

    No one was guarding the way, but nobody had to anyway. No one would¡¯vee to the scrap station to steal things.

    Voices wereing from the front along with soundsmonly heard in a carnival.

    Little White turned his head and motioned for Zhang Zian to be careful, for someone was in front.

    Zhang Zian acknowledged his gesture and moved forward with caution.

    From behind the corner of a house, he peeked halfway out and quietly looked in the direction of the noise.

    In the open space between the rubbish dumps, several people were sitting around the fire and camping in the rubbish. There were several familiar faces, some that he had seen during the day.

    There were crates of beer cans beside them, which they kept pouring it in their mouths.

    What interested Zhang Zian the most was that on thend next to them, there was a dog with its four limbs tied together.

    Little White stared at the dog, turned back to Zhang Zian and gave him a look.

    Was this... the rural dog that was almost hit by the MPV just now?

    Why is it tied up?

    In such a situation, gut instincts were often correct.

    The dog was thin with no fat on its body. Not only were its limbs tied, but its mouth was also tied closed with a rope.

    It couldn¡¯t bark, only twisting and struggling on the ground.

    Under the light of the fire, someone stood up holding a beer can and smiled at the others, saying, ¡°We were lucky today. We cheated a fool and earned a few cases of beer. I was going to buy some food, but this stupid dog immediately appeared at our door. Let¡¯s enjoy ourselves today, my brothers! The rest of the money goes to buying more beer tomorrow! ¡±

    ¡°Haha! I¡¯m salivating all over just by looking at it! The dog meat was so fragrant thest time! I¡¯m drooling just thinking about it!¡±

    ¡°Yeah! The fragrance of dog meat is something you can never forget once you eat it, it¡¯s so delicious!!¡±

    Someone turned to look back at the bungalow behind. Zhang Zian thought he had been found and was ready to run away.

    ¡°Is my son still asleep? Should we call him?¡±

    ¡°Forget it, this dog doesn¡¯t have enough meat on it for us to share, so let him continue to sleep!¡±

    ¡°Haha! Tomorrow he¡¯ll be so jealous that we didn¡¯t call him up for dog meat!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t talk about that, we¡¯ll finish the beer soon! Let¡¯s do it!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    The man who stood up swiftly took out a spring knife from his pocket and looked at the dog with a twisted expression.

 Chapter 1423: Dog Rescues Dog

    <h4>Chapter 1423: Dog Rescues Dog</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The employees at the waste acquisition station were likely nning to kill and eat the dog, and it didn¡¯t seem to be their first time doing this. Even the pot and seasoning were ready. They were merely waiting to ughter it and remove its hair. Once done, they could start the stew.

    They¡¯ve eaten dog meat before and drooled thinking about how it tasted. They couldn¡¯t wait to eat the fragrant dog meat served with a cold beer as soon as they could. That would¡¯ve been heaven.

    Although this unfortunate dog couldn¡¯t understand what the people were saying, it seemed to have a hunch thanks to its biological instincts and the fact that it was tied up. Seeing these people staring at its body and constantly licking their lips made it shiver. From time to time, small whimpers emerged from the sides of its mouth, begging to be free.

    It may have been a native dog from the nearby vige, or it may have been a stray dog. It was likely driven by hunger to find food at a scrap purchase station but was unfortunately caught by these people.

    They don¡¯t care if it had an owner. They could bury its hair and bones after eating it, anyway. Who would find it? Was it possible for them to test it with their own fecal matter tomorrow?

    In the shadow of the nearby corner, another dirt dog, Little White, was shaking with anger with an intense look in his eyes.

    To these people, dogs were nothing more than free food. However, the dog was the same kind as Little White. He would¡¯ve reacted simrly to how people would react to cannibalism.

    Zhang Zian feared that Little White would jump in too soon. If he made a mistake, the situation might¡¯ve been made worse for everyone. Instead, he quickly gestured for Little White to calm down. After all, the native dog was not dead.

    Those people had a knife in their hands and a set of dog poles set aside. One end of the pole was an adjustable loop of steel wire sleeve. The dog¡¯s neck was twisted with steel wires, so squeezing the loop would¡¯ve quickly stopped the carotid blood flow. In this situation, the dog was unable to resist. Even if Little White was invincible, the dog¡¯ss neck was still fragile.

    Zhang Zian understood Little White¡¯s desire to save hispanion. If he saw another human being eating here, then he wouldn¡¯t stand idly by either. However, he needed to think carefully and couldn¡¯t jump in himself.

    Little White was extremely anxious because the person might kill the dog at any time. He had already drawn the knife onto the dog¡¯s neck and was instructing the others to boil water using the pot.

    Zhang Zian tried to calm down Little White and gestured for him to run a little farther and bark loudly to distract these people. That way, he would be able to rescue the dog.

    Little White didn¡¯t have a better idea and knew that if he bit the leash with his teeth, it would¡¯ve taken a long time to bite through or untie the rope.

    He quickly ran into the shadow of the other direction. A dog¡¯s bark soon came from where he went, spreading far and wide in the night.

    ¡°Huh? Another dog?¡±

    ¡°Now today is twice as... no, three times as happy!¡±

    ¡°This dog isn¡¯t good enough for our gluttonous brothers. This is great!¡±

    ¡°Oh, I hope this dog is fat!¡±

    Rather than being surprised, the few people were pleased when they heard the barking of dogs. They felt that today was their lucky day.

    ¡°Go get the dog!¡±

    Without much hesitation, they grabbed the set of dog poles and ran in that direction, for fear that the dogs would run away if they didn¡¯t act quickly.

    As for the dog that was tied up, it couldn¡¯t untie the rope by itself. It was already like a dead fish on the chopping board. Those people thought it would be okay to leave it there. As for the new dog that appeared, it might¡¯ve been harder to block and capture it if fewer people went.

    Zhang Zian waited for them to run into the darkness, took out the Swiss army knife in his pocket, and ran quickly over to the native dog.

    Seeing the light from the fire reflecting off the Swiss Army Knife, the dog struggled in shock, thinking that he was going to kill it and eat it.

    ¡°Shh!¡±

    He put his forefinger to his lips and shushed while gesturing to it, but he didn¡¯t know if it understood him. However, it did struggle less fiercely, either because it sensed the presence of Little White and the other dogs or instinctively sensed Zhang Zian¡¯s kindness.

    To prevent it from calling back those people too soon, Zhang Zian cut the rope of its limbs separately but did not cut the rope tied around its mouth with a serrated knife to mislead them. If he used an ordinary knife, the cut was obvious at first nce. However, a cut from a serrated knife was uneven; it would look as if another dog bit through the rope.

    The broken rope came off, freeing the native dog.

    Since its mouth was still tied, Zhang Zian grabbed that rope and dragged it into the darkness. Then, they ran to where he parked, took it to the car, and quietly started the car. Using the MPV¡¯s excellent off-road ability, they drove directly into the field.

    When the firelight on the open space of the waste acquisition station was almost out of their sight, he stopped and turned off all the lights, quietly waiting for Little White to find their smell.

    After nearly half an hour, when he began to worry about Little White¡¯s safety, a gray shadow suddenly stood up and mmed itself to the window and scared him. He thought something was haunting the wilderness.

    Upon taking a closer look, it was just Little White.

    ¡°Are you okay? What took you so long?¡± Zhang Zian opened the door.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. I was worried you didn¡¯t have enough time to run away, so I tried to get them farther away and left some footprints around the open space.¡± Little White shook his head and saw the dirt dog with its mouth still tied up. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with it? Is it OK? You can untie the rope now, you know. ¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s all right.¡± Zhang Zian cut the rope.

    Upon seeing Little White, the scabby dog ??sniffed beside it but did not bark.

    The dogs didn¡¯t need to bark at each other because plenty of information could be exchanged simply by smell.

    ¡°It seems that it¡¯ll be hard for me to sessfully negotiate with them. We can only do so while exchanging the bottles in person.¡± Zhang Zian said to himself with some uncertainty.

    His previous method of dealing with them was also more of ast resort. He was worried that if he asked the wrong amount, those people would recklessly ask him to count it again. Then, how much time would it have taken to settle the bottles? How much time would he have to spend on this? There was still so much to do back home.

    Proceeding with this line of questioning would¡¯ve been too draining for him. Thus, he preferred to shut his mouth and stop asking. However, doing so further emboldened them into bing even more reckless trying to take from him.

    Little White and the native dog exchanged information through whispers that Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t understand, sometimes staring out into the darkness.

    Shortly afterward, they seemed to have finishedmunicating, Little White said, ¡°Don¡¯t go back yet. Please take us to any other dogs. I can¡¯t ept this; I must teach those people a lesson!¡±

 Chapter 1424: Intimidation

    <h4>Chapter 1424: Intimidation</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian knew that Little White refused to take this lying down, simr to what dimir would¡¯ve done.

    No matter who the leader was, they were willing topromise and concede defeat when faced with hardships. It was simr to how the stray cats and stray dogs called a truce when threatened by the insect disaster. However, they couldn¡¯tpromise on certain major issues. One step backward and everything could go downhill from there...

    As for Little White, he wasn¡¯t able topromise at the moment.

    This wasn¡¯t for money and food, but life and dignity.

    The Local Dog jumped out of the car, took a few steps forward, stopped, and stared back at Zhang Zian as if waiting for him to follow.

    Zhang Zian started the car. However, he didn¡¯t turn on the high beam and only drove with his low beams turned on and stumbled forward to avoid being noticed.

    He didn¡¯t dare to drive fast in case a ditch suddenly appeared on the road. It was possible both the car and the people inside to flip over into the ditch. He refused to even think about if he fell into a manure ditch. He would¡¯ve be greatly embarrassed about it for the rest of his life, provided that he didn¡¯t drown in the manure first.

    Fortunately, the dog suddenly sped up shortly after he began driving as if he was going to loved ones.

    At the same time, several dogs of different colors emerged from the darkness up front where the car lights could not properly illuminate them. They surrounded the yellow-colored dog and sniffed it all over while barking at the lights.

    The dipped low beam light was shining on the ground with some light reflected in the distance. Some bright eyes watching from afar were visible, obviously from stray dogs.

    Zhang Zian stepped on the brake. He could¡¯ve turned on the high beam here, but he was worried about angering these dogs. He decided to let Little White handle the situation.

    Little White jumped out of the car window and barked loudly at the stray dogs, presumably mobilizing his troops before the war.

    Although Zhang Zian was still a singleton and the dogs recognized each other, he still could not understand the dog barks. He could only sit in the driver¡¯s seat and use his mobile phone. From time to time, he looked up at the stray dogs¡¯ reactions.

    The stray dogs gradually changed from being highly alert upon seeing Little White to a state of confusion before turning around in excitement. Finally, they barked loudly as if they were venting their anger.

    Zhang Zian turned off his phone and knew that the problem had been solved. It reminded him of how Little White and dimir were simr to one another in certain ways. Recently, Little White had also been using more lip service to get the dogs to obey, rather than using his position to forcefully make them obey.

    Sure enough, Little White turned around and led the way. The stray dogs followed in excitement and together darted in the direction of the waste collection station in an arrow shape.

    Zhang Zian could only drive after them. He was worried about the drastic actions of these stray dogs. Although he understood how they felt, it would¡¯ve been a problem if someone died during the whole thing.

    He had to go through the tumultuous journey backward once more. Just when he was feeling dizzy, he saw the fire of the waste recycling station again.

    What was wrong? If those people had no more dogs to stew, why didn¡¯t they extinguish the fire? Is it that interesting to make a bonfire in the summer?

    He stopped the car, turned off the lights, quietly got out of the car, and trailed behind the stray dogs from a distance.

    After the dog was captured, those people set up iron crockery on the fire and started to barbecue meat. Nobody knew where the meat came from, and the amount of meat was not enough to fill some of their bellies. This made them very upset over the dog fiasco earlier.

    ¡°Damn it! What bad luck! We already had it but now it is all gone!¡±

    ¡°Ah! If only we left someone behind to look after it ...¡±

    ¡°Who would¡¯ve thought this dog has friends ...¡±

    ¡°Look at this mark... does it look like a dog bite? I don¡¯t see any drool or anything...¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart slightly trembled. Of all things, he forgot to spit on the section of the rope.

    But someone else was able to exin it. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t another dog, then what else could it be? On such a hot day, the saliva would¡¯ve dried up a long time ago!¡±

    ¡°But ... What the! Dogs! Get up!¡±

    Little White ??suddenly emerged from the darkness and surrounded the men with the stray dogs behind him. Each dog grinned and red at them with the mes of anger burning in their eyes.

    The men jumped up from the ground in horror, trembling at these numerous and obviously irritated stray dogs. They backed down, with their possibilities to retreat limited by a fire behind them.

    ¡°What¡¯s with these dogs? Are they all crazy?¡±

    ¡°No! Isn¡¯t the dog afraid of fire? Why...¡±

    ¡°What! Only wild dogs are afraid of fire. These are all domestic dogs, they will not be afraid of any damn fire!¡±

    Someone said in fear, ¡°Is this... their revenge... for eating dog meat...?¡±

    These people working in the waste recycling station had only been in school except for a few years, and several of them have dropped out before even graduating from elementary school. They couldn¡¯t do much other than recycling waste. Otherwise, who would¡¯ve wanted to do dirty and tiring work only to earn a few bucks?

    Thus, they believe in the supernatural. Seeing so many angry stray dogs, they couldn¡¯t help but think it was vengeance for the dead dog they ate the other day?

    Little White slowly stepped out of the darkness and showed them its fangs.

    ¡°Wait! I think I¡¯ve seen this dog before!¡±

    One of them pointed at Little White. He was likely drunk from having too much beer. He said whilst twirling his hair, ¡°Is that the dog that we ate the other day? Wasn¡¯t that dog white, too?!¡±

    ¡°Yeah! You¡¯re right!¡±

    ¡°What should we do? Should we... call the police?¡±

    ¡°What would be the point? The police would get here in half an hour!¡±

    ¡°Then what do we do?¡±

    They all drank a lot and were even slurring their words a little. To them, these stray dogs looked like a group of dancing devils.

    Without knowing who took the lead, one person suddenly knelt and banged his head towards Little White.

    ¡°Grandpa dog! Please spare me! I have a family to feed. I promise to never eat dog meat again!¡±

    With one of them taking the lead, everyone else knelt like dominos. Fully intoxicated, they mumbled off about Grandpa dogs, ancestor dogs, and whatnot. If their real grandpas heard what they said, it was unclear if they would¡¯ve been angry. If so, they just might¡¯ve been so furious as to jump out of their coffins.

    Little White¡¯s work was done, and he hurried moved forward to pressure them further.

    One person was so scared he tried to move back and hide but forgot that the fire was behind them. The clothes they wore were thin in summer. The red charcoal and hot iron made them scream and kicked the fire all over the ce. The hot ashes were spread all over, with fireballs and hot clouds of dust flying everywhere. The scene quickly became chaotic

    Little White growled again and signaled for the other dogs to retreat. They disappeared quietly into the night.

    Zhang Zian heaved a sigh of relief and put down his mobile phone. His phone the whole scene with these pathetic people. If they dared to revert to their old ways, perhaps he could post this video on the Inte. If that happened, they would probably be so ashamed that they would never want to see the world again.

 Chapter 1425: Weird Illness

    <h4>Chapter 1425: Weird Illness</h4>

    A few days had passed.

    Early that morning, Zhang Zian assigned the store¡¯s cleaning work to the shop assistants before routinely driving the Wuling Hong Guang MPV with dimir to thendfill.

    The weather was getting hotter and hotter, especially in the summer afternoon. It was particrly prone to heavy rain. The sky was clear and cloudy one moment, but dark clouds appeared in the blink of an eye. Then there were thunderstorms and lightning. He had many other things to do, so after discussion, he told the people at the acquisition center to collect the empty bottles in the morning. If he had enough free time, it would be once a day. Otherwise, it was once every two days.

    The people at the Scrap Acquisition Center may have learned a lesson. Since that day, their eyes had changed when they met Little White in front of the artificial woods. They no longer deliberately undercount the number of bottles.

    Under the dark and with hazy drunk eyes, they weren¡¯t even sure if Little White was the same dog from that night. Since they were nevertheless guilty and highly superstitious, so they chose to act more honestly.

    They repeatedly asked Zhang Zian whether Little White was his dog, to which he denied. Even if they suspected him, they could not find evidence because Little White had never been to his pet store since that day.

    When Zhang Zian drove in front of the artificial woods, the people at the waste collection station had not arrived yet, but the stray dogs already remembered him and his car. If it wasn¡¯t for Little White and his handyman holding them back, they would have definitely flocked over and surrounded the MPV.

    Their original intention was not to attack him, but nobody could stand being surrounded by so many stray dogs ofrge and medium-size! Although they nned to go to the beach to take a bath before eating, it was impossible for even dogs from pet shops topletely wash off the smell. Thus, it must¡¯ve smelled awful with hundreds of them.

    It was okay since it was warm right now, but it would¡¯ve been a problem to bathe in the sea when it became colder in the future. After going to the beach to bathe, it would¡¯ve been difficult to dry their fur before they froze to death. Perhaps he needed to install a few automatic dog bath washers?

    But this was something to consider at least three monthster since it was still too early to consider.

    ¡°Will they be here soon?¡± Little White asked.

    Zhang Zian looked at the time and said, ¡°They should be.¡±

    ¡°Then I will get my dogs to hide on the other side of the woods.¡± Several of Little White¡¯smanders ordered the stray dogs to leave so they wouldn¡¯t scare the workers.

    The stray dogs were reluctant, but they were very easy to train. They could be conditioned to perform certain reflexes. They knew that if they didn¡¯t leave, Zhang Zian wouldn¡¯t carry dog food and chicken legs outside the car, and empty bottles piled up like a mountain wouldn¡¯t magically disappear, Thus, they obediently lined up and left.

    Only Zhang Zian, dimir, Little White, and a few stray dog leaders remained there.

    The leaders were the few stray dog warlords who scrambled in thendfill before Little White appeared. They appeared sturdy and feisty, with their bodies full of scars. At first nce, they were the masters who cannot be provoked.

    It was estimated that the workers at the waste collection station also noticed that these dogs were responsible for guarding the empty bottles so they wouldn¡¯t be picked up by others.

    With them around, no one dared to even go forward and try anything funny.

    A while had now passed.

    ¡°Why haven¡¯t they arrived yet?¡± Little White asked.

    Zhang Zian was also confused. Looking at the time, it was about 20 minutes past the agreed time. Usually, they wouldn¡¯t have been sote even if they said so.

    Fortunately, the sunlight during the morning wasn¡¯t that strong yet. If it were noon, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to tolerate it.

    ¡°I¡¯ll call them and ask. Maybe there is a traffic jam on the road,¡± He picked up his cell phone and was about to make a call when he saw the smoke and dust rising on the highway in the distance. Seeing the vehicle model, they seemed to have been the trucks used to haul the empty bottles.

    Since it was here, he didn¡¯t need to have to pay any unnecessary phone call fees.

    He put down his phone and nned to discuss the importance of punctuality with them in a while.

    The truck got closer and closer. He was right; it was the usual truck.

    The car stopped slowly by the side of the road. Someone poked his head out of the window and asked, ¡°Hey, are you going to recycle the empty bottles?¡±

    Zhang Zian hesitated and answered without thinking, ¡°Yes, I am.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good. I haven¡¯t been here before. I almost didn¡¯t find it... get off the car! We¡¯re here!¡± The man took a long breath, jumped out of the car, and ushered everyone else out.

    Zhang Zian took a closer look. He didn¡¯t recognize this driver or any of the other people who came along.

    ¡°Oh! So many bottles ...¡± The man who drove the truck grinned bitterly, ¡°That¡¯s quite a few! Brothers, everyone is responsible for a pile of bottles, remember to count correctly!¡±

    The people under him responded, picking up several empty bottles and counting them.

    The driver also wanted to move forward and pass him but was stopped by Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Ah! That... If you don¡¯t mind me asking, how about those people who worked before? Why was it changed to be you today? Did they ask you to take over because they were busy?¡±

    Zhang Zian brought his hand to his pocket. In this case, it should¡¯ve been better to pass the man a cigarette, but he didn¡¯t smoke or have a cigarette on him. The only thing in his pocket was the cooling oil; it was an amazing tool and couldn¡¯t be casually shared with others. Thus, he had to pretend to not know how to behave. He intended to make up for it tomorrow.

    The driver gnawed his teeth and said vaguely, ¡°This... it¡¯s... something did happen.¡±

    Huh?

    Zhang Zian looked at him. He seemed to have a secret. Bored without much to do, he thickened his skin and asked further, ¡°It¡¯s not easy for everyone to work when it¡¯s hot. I¡¯ll go to the nearby store to grab some ice Beer to quench your thirst. ¡±

    The driver seemed to be an alcoholic, but he had to drive and wasn¡¯t allowed to drink. He was also unwilling to take advantage of getting a free drink, so he quickly pulled Zhang Zian aside and whispered, ¡°Forget about beer ... if I drink I can¡¯t drive! Get me Sprite instead!¡±

    ¡°Okay, got it!¡± Zhang Zian nodded intently before asking, ¡°What happened to those people before... why did they leave?¡±

    The driver had received a small favor from Zhang Zian and no longer concealed the matter. Besides, he would be responsible for handling the bottles with Zhang Zian in the future. It was beneficial for everyone to be on good terms with one another.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you, but please don¡¯t tell anyone else,¡± The driver lowered his voice even more. No one was around and everyone was working. Only a cat and a dog were listening attentively.

    ¡°Okay, my lips are sealed.¡± Zhang Zian patted his chest and promised. The mysteriousness of this matter made him very curious.

    Though, he wasn¡¯t bragging. He kept his mouth tightly closed. Even if he knew the secret, he wouldn¡¯t reveal it.

    The driver looked frightened as he whispered, ¡°For the past two days, some of them suddenly got strange diseases and were taken away by the CDC ambnce!¡±

 Chapter 1426: Bad Omen

    <h4>Chapter 1426: Bad Omen</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Since the stray dogs started picking bottles and he started selling bottles, Zhang Zian had dealt with the same group of people at the waste acquisition station. He could tell by their ent that they were from the same ce, probably from the same vige. Maybe they came together to Binhai City to find work. This was verymon.

    When he discovered that a new group of people came today, he thought that something had happened in the vige of the previous group such as an important wedding or funeral. Thus, they collectively left to return to their hometown and nned to return after finishing their business back home. This was understandable.

    However, the new driver gave him apletely unexpected answer.

    The driver was about to leave when he finished talking, but Zhang Zian quickly held him and asked, ¡°Weird disease? What strange disease? Just tell me! Don¡¯t leave me hanging like that and finish the story!¡±

    ¡°Just drop it...¡± The driver smiled bitterly, but his smile was uglier than crying, ¡°I really don¡¯t want to talk about this. Do you think we wanted toe to this shift? Was there any other way? Anyone who knows a little bit more about what happened is really scared, and rumors are flying all over... If the head tells you to go somewhere, you have to go even if you don¡¯t want to! ¡±

    The more he said this, the more Zhang Zian wanted to know. The more he spoke, the more he couldn¡¯t hold the secret.

    ¡°How can that be? I saw them two days ago! They were fine at the time!¡± He retorted deliberately.

    He tried to think about it. When he saw that group of people two days ago, they didn¡¯t seem abnormal at all but were at most a little unspirited. This wasn¡¯t surprising. After all, they had a regr schedule and often stayed upte to y cards or something. Besides, the weather was so hot and these people were almost always out in the sun.

    Sure enough, the driver saw that he didn¡¯t believe it and felt immediately anxious. He said, ¡°Why would I lie to you? I heard that they were calling ambncesst night when they found that something was wrong with them!¡±

    ¡°What was the problem?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Now that he knew, the driver no longer tried to hide it and told everything he knew. Of course, it is impossible to know too much inside information at his level. They were all just rumors that he heard. After all, once words were shared, details get tweaked. Perhaps only 20% of the information was true.

    It turned out that they were fine the morning the day before yesterday, but slightly dull in their movements and senses. Other colleagues joked with them, but they did not answer. Had it been in the past, it would have already been a lively affair.

    In the afternoon, they became moreidback and couldn¡¯t even finish the work as usual. They spread out one by one on the bed or chair, looking sick.

    Other colleagues noticed their anomalies around this time, but everyone came from the countryside so they were strong enough to endure hardships. Otherwise, no one could work in a ce like a waste station. Usually, no one gave much thought to a headache and fever. They thought they were suffering from heatstroke, so they gave them some cold water and let them sleep.

    Yesterday morning, after these people fell asleep, the symptoms became worse. After waking, they were sitting beside the bed with empty eyes like zombies.

    Other colleagues greeted them for breakfast but were ignored. When they bid them farewell to head to work, they still ignored them.

    Someone kindly walked to a person¡¯s side and wanted to see if he had a fever hot enough to have driven him mad. As soon as he touched the person¡¯s forehead, the person suddenly began jumping up and down. The poor guy didn¡¯t know how to react. Then, he hysterically punched and scratched the former, even going so far as to bite him

    Fortunately, other colleagues saw that something was wrong and quickly pulled them apart. Had they not intervened, the former would¡¯ve been beaten badly. Even if this were the case, he bled from the corners of his nose and his body was bruised with multiple injuries.

    Thetter was surprisingly strong. Even the strongest guys could hardly restrain him and had to tie him to a chair.

    After that, his colleagues were wary of the other people with the same symptoms and rushed to tie them down to their beds.

    While they were tying these people up with ropes, some of them acted like a salted fish and resigned to being bound. Others, however, resisted fiercely like the first guy.

    After they tied them all up, the other colleagues were scared and found the whole situation strange.

    Although these people were uneducated, they usually liked to watch CCTV¡¯sw statements. They were worried if their actions would lead towsuits for illegal detention.

    There were still people who thought of the more terrible aspects. They were worried that they collectively got rabies? Someone in the vige was bitten by a dog before, but after a while became ill and wanted to bite any human he saw.

    Upon hearing this, the man who was scratched and attacked was so scared that he fell to the ground.

    People also spected more bizarre situations, saying that they¡¯ve been living in the wild country. Did ghosts attack and possess them? Or did they run into evil and offend Huang Daxian?

    After some discussion, they finally agreed to call the police.

    After the police arrived, they learned about the situation. Since the people looked like they had rabies, the police quickly called the CDC to send an ambnce.

    After theboratorians of the CDC came, they performed a preliminary examination of the people then called in those who were not infected for rted questioning.

    A policeman was watching the entire thing, so even the people who always acted tough answered the doctor¡¯s question honestly.

    Unsurprisingly, the doctor mainly asked whether the people had been bitten by a dog before and had been vinated against rabies.

    The others shook their heads and talked a lot, presumably meaning that one or two of them might have been bitten a long time ago. It was not clear if they had been vinated against rabies or not. The rest didn¡¯t remember being bitten by a dog.

    At that moment, they calmed down a little and noticed something different from the doctor¡¯s attitude and questioning. Upon retrospect, how would several people have had simultaneous rabies attacks even if they were infected?

    Rabies patients also seemed to be afraid of water, but some of them had plenty of cold water when they got upst night as well as this morning.

    In that case... did they anger the Mythical God, Huang Daxian?

    After the doctor and the police discussed the situation, the broken bungalows where those people usually lived were all closed off and prevented others from going in or out.

    All the sick people were taken to hospital by ambnce.

    Staff who did not get sick were also taken to the hospital for a blood test, after which they were told not to tell anyone else what happened.

    However, it was difficult to keep secrets during this Digital Age and the news was quickly leaked.

    Although garbage collecting was very simple, it couldn¡¯t stop for a day in the modern city. The superior thus transferred a group of people from other waste stations to rece all the employees in this station.

    The driver and his men were just transferred in from elsewhere today. They were unfamiliar with this area and were thereforete.

 Chapter 1427: New Secret Code

    <h4>Chapter 1427: New Secret Code</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After the driver spoke of the incident at the waste recycling station, he told Zhang Zian again not to tell anyone else.

    For one, it was easy to see that this driver¡¯s mouth was rather loose and would talk after some coaxing. The others probably weren¡¯t any better. It was estimated that this matter had spread over the vicinity.

    It was hard to distinguish fact from fiction from what they said. It might¡¯ve been somewhat exaggerated. The driver described the sick person as very powerful. ording to him, the person who was scratched was almost killed. However, it may have not been so exaggerated after all. The sick person only exerted so much force because he was unaware of what was happening. Additionally, the injured person would not have been easily pushed down like Pan Jinlian. It was more likely that he fell from being frightened.

    After the driver finished speaking, he nced at Little White next to him and unpredictably moved his steps away from him.

    Along with the spection that Huang Daxian was angered, some of the elders in the countryside said that those people met a particrly evil dog in the night a few days ago since ck dogs were evil. However, they encountered a white dog, so they changed it and said that a white dog was worse. It was unclear exactly how evil the dog was, but the story could¡¯ve be quite chilling once people began talking about it.

    The driver saw that Little White was simr to the white dog they described. Knowing that the careful boat could stay sailing for ten thousand years, it was better to stay away from him.

    Zhang Zian asked a few more questions but the driver¡¯s knowledge was limited. He could only answer with hearsay or repeatedly say the same few lines. The more he spoke of it, the more absurd the issue seemed. He even said that Huang Daxian¡¯s nest was in the field near the waste recycling station.

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s nothing else for me to do. Go get to work. I¡¯ll go buy two boxes of Sprite,¡± Zhang Zian nodded.

    ¡°Just buy one box for us and ce the other one under my driver¡¯s seat for my son,¡± the driver whispered.

    ¡°Okay, got it.¡±

    While waiting for the driver to finish counting the number of empty bottles, Little White said, ¡°Why should I pay for two boxes of Sprites? They should just deduct it from the bnce of the scrap.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t dispute over such a small price, just like the northerners who rushed to pay the check after eating. Instead, he turned to ask dimir, ¡°Will something else in Binhai City be a demon again?¡±

    dimir raised his fist indifferently and said, ¡°Come what may! I¡¯ll beat one if onees, strike two if twoes!¡±

    ¡°I mean, are there any signs?¡± He added.

    dimir shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I will send out a cat to investigate.¡±

    Zhang Zian said to Little White again. ¡°The description of the person just now doesn¡¯t sound like rabies but wasn¡¯t urate either. We may have not understood what he just said, but we must be prepared to prevent rabies. Even if it is not rabies, it may be an infectious disease. Your stray dogs will likely suffer from some strange diseases all day long, so they should pay more attention to their hygiene from now on. Once you see a dog in bad condition, immediately iste it. ¡±

    Little White nodded.

    ¡°Stray cats should also be vignt. Rabies can be transmitted without distinction between cats and dogs,¡± Zhang Zian also reminded dimir.

    dimir smiled indifferently. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. When strange stray cats meet, they will make the secret signal. If both sides can match the code, then that would mean they¡¯re both safe. Tell the stupid dogs to be more careful!¡±

    It was now clear that whether it was rabies or this strange disease, using a secret signal to judge a patient¡¯s mental state was safer than close contact.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it just a password? What¡¯s the big deal?¡± Little White sniffled. ¡°We stray dogs can also have a secret password, right?¡±

    With that, he called his aide to his side and gave it a secret sign. It did not deliberately hide from Zhang Zian and dimir since they couldn¡¯t understand them anyway.

    Little White said to the dogs with a serious face, ¡°From today onwards, if you meet any stray dogs you don¡¯t know, you have to confirm with them this secret sign before getting in touch. Even if you know them, you have to show it this password before getting closer, understand? ¡±

    Some of the dogs barked a few times. Although they didn¡¯t understand Little White¡¯s intention, they would execute the order faithfully.

    ¡°As for the secret code ...¡± Little White thought about it, raised his left paw and stretched it outward, and said, ¡°Potato! Potato! I am a sweet potato!¡±

    Zhang Zian was at a loss for words.

    They look at it, stretch their left paws out and barked a few times. This secret code was realistic and pleasing to the ear!

    ¡°Again, this is the secret code: Potato! Potato! I am a sweet potato!¡± Little White repeated himself.

    After repeated exercises with the stray dogs, they have learned it. From there, they had to give the same instructions to the other stray dogs.

    Meanwhile, Zhang Zian unloaded the dog food and chicken thighs, then drove to the nearest store, bought two boxes of Sprite, and quietly stuffed one of them into the driver¡¯s seat of the truck.

    The workers who counted the empty bottles sometimes noticed the strange behavior of these dogs. They tried to continue counting but would forget where they were and had to count again.

    After counting, Zhang Zian invited everyone to drink Sprite, limiting each person to a few cans.

    The driver checked the quantity with Zhang Zian, and the payment was transferred. The quantity was simr to the stray dog statistics with only a single-digit difference, which was within the range allowed by the error. At least he could tell that this group was rtively honest.

    After leaving the truck carrying the empty bottles, Zhang Zian¡¯s cell phone rang. The caller was Lu Yiyun.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Xiaoyun?¡± He asked.

    The shop assistants knew that he has been tinkering with scrap recently, so there must¡¯ve been something important. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have called.

    There seemed to be an unfamiliar male voice in the background. It was still early, so there usually weren¡¯t many customers at this time.

    She whispered, ¡°Mr. Store Manager, how much longer will it be until youe back? There¡¯s a salesman in the store who won¡¯t leave until he sees you ...¡±

    ¡°Salesman? What is he promoting? Insurance? Credit card? Micro-loan? Fitness card? Whatever it is, can Wang Qian and Li Kun just get him to leave?¡± he replied.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s for dog food,¡± she replied.

    Dog food...

    He then remembered that a couple came to the shop to show affection and then realized that they may have gotten the wrong ce.

    ¡°Real dog food?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    He thoughtfully looked at the stray dogs who were lining up for dog food. The daily consumption of dog food was veryrge. Although he and the manufacturers have tried their best to get close to the wholesale price, it was better to have cheaper dog food.

    ¡°What brand of dog food?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Um... I don¡¯t know. It seems to be an American brand, and the packaging ispletely written in English,¡± she said.

    Lu Yiyun had long been obsessed with painting and wasn¡¯t as good with English. It was also unreliable to depend on Wang Qian and Li Kun, who needed to take makeup exams for English even up until fourth grade.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯lle back right away. Let him wait for a little.¡±

    Zhang Zian told Little White that he was leaving and drove back to the pet store with dimir.

 Chapter 1428: Dog Food

    <h4>Chapter 1428: Dog Food</h4>

    When the Wuling Hong Guang MPV arrived at the pet store, Zhang Zian saw a strange car parked in front of the store and a strange middle-aged man standing in front of the store and speaking loudly over the phone. People who didn¡¯t know would think that he was discussing orders worth billions of dors.

    When he saw the MPV stop, the man put down his cell phone, looked at Zhang Zian and tentatively asked, ¡°Are you the manager of this store?¡±

    On a hot day, MPV was good for everything, but the air conditioner wasn¡¯t very cold and it also consumed too much fuel. Zhang Zian wore abination of short-sleeved shirts and shorts, which was cooling and had many pockets.

    In contrast, this man had on trousers and a white shirt with a tie. The suit was ced on the forearm. This is the standard dress code of a real estate agent.

    Zhang Zian nodded, locked the car door, and asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m the manufacturer¡¯s agent responsible for the sale of dog food. I¡¯m visiting all the nearby pet store. Here¡¯s my business card.¡±

    The middle-aged man said, handing a business card over with both hands.

    Zhang Zian took the business card and looked at it. This person¡¯s name was Qi Tong. His position was a sales manager of a series of Englishpanies. Thepany name was very strange. He had never seen it before, but this was to be expected. Ordinary Chinese-speakers only heard of severalrge Americanpany names like Microsoft, Coca-C, and Amazon.

    ¡°Let¡¯s talk inside,¡± Zhang Zian signaled.

    ¡°Uh...¡±

    Qi Tong was embarrassed. ¡°There are two very big dogs in your store. They are not tied ...¡±

    He was obviously referring to Famous and Zhantian.

    ¡°Yeah, is something wrong with that?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°No... nothing, let¡¯s go in,¡± Qi Tong shook his head helplessly.

    While Zhang Zian was away, Qi Tong had just entered the store to try and sell once, but Lu Yiyun told him that the store manager was not there. She was just a cashier and couldn¡¯t have been the manager. She asked him to wait for the store manager toe back and talk with him instead.

    It was hot outside, and Qi Tong nned to stay in the store and wait for the manager to return. While waiting, he walked around the store, observed the types of pets and products on the shelves, and wanted to go upstairs to see the storage room. He wanted to see how much dog food was left in this store so that he could use it as part of his sales pitchter. However, he was fiercely stopped by Zhan Tian, and it scared him so much he began sweating. He quickly found an excuse to hide outside the store.

    When Zhang Zian and Qi Tong entered the shop together, Lu Yiyun saw Zhang Zian with him and continued to paint peacefully.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were ying an online game and looked up. They didn¡¯t like people who clearly saw the ¡°Employees Only¡± sign, pretended that it was invisible, and still wanted to go upstairs. Just now, seeing Qi Tong¡¯s helpless reaction to being chased out of the store by Zhang Tian made themugh for a long time.

    ¡°Please sit down.¡±

    Zhang Zian pulled up a chair and asked Qi Tong to sit down, while he sat on a reclining chair.

    In the past, he used to discuss prices with pet food manufacturers or provincial agents on the Inte. This was the first time he was meeting someone who came up voluntarily to meet him.

    ¡°Brother Manager, you are still young, and the future is promising for you! I heard from neighboring ces that this ce was very famous. You must be running the business very well!¡± Qi Tongplimented him with as few words as usual before quickly narrowing the topic, ¡°Brother, I just looked around. There aren¡¯t many dogs in your shop, but is it true that dog food consumption here is particrlyrge? ¡±

    As soon as Zhang Zian heard it, he knew that Qi Tong wasn¡¯t simple-minded. He must have researched this ce.

    The dogs in his shop ate the same domestic dog food that was also fed to stray dogs. Since there were too many stray dogs and the food quantity isrge, heter directly contacted the provincial representative of the manufacturer to discuss cheaper wholesale prices. Afterward, a batch of goods would be delivered directly by the province weekly to avoid him hoarding too many goods.

    Qi Tong could tell that the amount of dog food consumed in his store was abnormallyrge, which proved that he knew someone within the provincial management of the domestic dog food. Otherwise, he couldn¡¯t have known so much.

    Zhang Zian assumed that Qi Tong bought an insider in the provincial government. The insider gave him the address and contact information of a major customer in the province, and he came to visit.

    The insider who leaked information to Qi Tong received a sry from domestic dog food manufacturers but also revealed the contact information and information of his major customers to the sales staff of theirpetitors. There was a double-crossing agent!

    It wasn¡¯t surprising that they noticed Zhang Zian. In terms of daily dog food consumption, leisure pet breeding bases were far behind. After all, most of these breeding bases were puppies that would be sold before they grew up. However, he had to feed hundreds of adultrge and medium-sized dogs every day. He had risen to be thergest customer of domestic dog food in the province, so it made sense that such information was leaked.

    Faced with Qi Tong¡¯s inquiry, he certainly refused to exin why there is such arge consumption of dog food, and he did not have to exin. After all, this was a buyer¡¯s market.

    ¡°Well... I couldn¡¯t have eaten it myself,¡± he said lightly.

    ¡°Haha! It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t want to tell me. It¡¯s not good for everyone to know how to get rich!¡± Qi Tongughed. He then took out a bag of dog food from the bag he took with him and handed it to Zhang Zian, ¡°Come on, Brother. You¡¯re an expert on dog food, so how about this?¡±

    Zhang Zian took it for a moment. As Lu Yiyun said, the outside of the packaging bag was written in English without any Chinese character.

    The prominent positions on the front and back of the packaging bag were written inrge fonts with numerous self-proimed slogans, such as ¡°super high meat and protein content¡±, ¡°rich nutrients¡±, ¡°no artificial additives¡± and so on. This wasn¡¯t very important because all pet food manufacturers in China and abroad wrote things like this. Whoever didn¡¯t write it was a fool.

    As for the authenticity of the goods ... it was hard to tell.

    Ignoring the slogans, Zhang Zian looked for the ingredients list and focused on abination of words.

    ¡°By-products?¡± He asked, pointing to the word, ¡°What are by-products?¡±

    The word ¡°by-products¡± was simr to Chinese ¡°waste products¡±, but the meaning was broader. By-products appearing on dog food logos generally referred to leftovers from animals such as internal organs. Sometimes, even dead bodies of stray cats and dogs were made into food.

    Qi Tong did not expect that he would look so carefully and smiled awkwardly, ¡°Brother, I am only responsible for the sales. I know a few specific product details, but I don¡¯t know everything... This dog food is imported from the United States. It has customs clearance and sales permits. There is no problem with its quality and hygiene. You can rest assured that the product is good! The pet industry in the United States is so developed, and American standards are often the world¡¯smon standards. How could it be sold in the US if there was a problem? ¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head and handed the dog food back, ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, could you ask the manufacturer what they mean by ¡®by-products¡¯? Let¡¯s figure this out and then discuss further.¡±

 Chapter 1429: Leftovers

    <h4>Chapter 1429: Leftovers</h4>

    It was already a new generation. Some people¡¯s minds were still stuck in the old days where if ites from foreign countries, especially the United States, they must be better than domestic ones. Some people still believe such an exnation.

    Qi Tong blew up this American dog food brand that Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t seen before. This must¡¯ve been the American standard. It had been well received with fast-growing sales in the US market. Throughout everything that he mentioned, he continued to talk about American standards and contrasted it with his dissatisfaction with domestic food safety issues, detailing the major domestic food safety issues in recent years. Reading between the lines, he was trying to say that domestically produced food was not safe for either humans or dogs.

    The problems of domestic food safety standards couldn¡¯t be changed. After all, the country was too big with arge poption and high pressures in life. Everyone had sharpened their minds thinking of ways to make money; some people then came up with ridiculous ideas.

    But specifically towards dog food, people in both China and the United States were picky because pet food safety wasn¡¯t as strict as human food safety. Despite this, many American dog foods will indicate AAFCO on the packaging bag, including this dog food marketed by Qi Tong.

    AFAAFCO was certified by the American Feed Management Association, indicating that only the nutritional ingredients in this feed have reached the standard and believe the feed is still unsafe.

    Furthermore, AAFCO wasn¡¯t an official organization set up by the government. Much like the toothpaste industry that provided the national dental defense certification, the members of the AAFCOmittee also included representatives from feed manufacturers and raw material suppliers. In a way, didn¡¯t that mean these people were both the athletes and referees?

    In theory, the US Food and Drug Administration was responsible for pet food safety but couldn¡¯t fully control human food safety. Thus, they put in even less time and effort in controlling pet food safety.

    US pet feed problems didn¡¯t ur only once or twice, but almost every year since they had a recall system, where the manufacturers were responsible for recalling the products once problems were found. There have even been cases where metal and stic were found in popr dog food. Had these been found in domestic dog food, they would have been dealt with long ago.

    Additionally, many dog food brands from both China and the US, do not necessarily meet the nutritional requirements; they were written by XG8.

    Some have wondered how they could have passed the AAFCO certification. When the nutritional ingredients still weren¡¯t up to standard, it was because of the batch problem. This was the case in the processed food industry. It may have been that the initial batch of raw materials was good, so processed food would¡¯ve eventually met the standards. The raw materials or the origin of the raw materials may have been changedter on to reduce costs, and the standards may not be met. AAFCO could only certify the first batch of products sent for testing. It was impossible to re-certify each batch of products because the costs of human and material resources prevented them from doing so.

    As a member of the pet industry who had been to the United States, Zhang Zian understood that even human food safety wasn¡¯t always 100% reliable. How could people demand 100% reliable for pet food safety? As long as you were human, you would make mistakes. The same went for manufacturers.

    However, the ingredients list of this dog food was a bit ambiguous, and the coverage of these by-products was far too wide.

    By-products, waste-products, and leftovers all meant the same thing here.

    What were the leftovers?

    How would someone have defined leftovers?

    A chicken ham sausage that humans regrly consume had chicken and starch listed as its top two ingredients. That was fine, but doesn¡¯t the chicken also include their buttocks, feet, entrails, ground bone powder, skin, neck, and lymphatic tissue?

    Were these still part of the chicken or its leftovers?

    From below the chicken belly, where was the ¡°chicken ass¡± thought to start from?

    If someone were to look for processed food on the website carefully,bels such as ¡°made of whole beef¡± and ¡°made of pure chicken breast¡± may have been added to the details page. If that was true, it usually meant the quality of this product was better. Of course, these would¡¯ve been more expensive than the products without the samebels.

    However, it was possible to find simrbels for pet food. Even if there were, the price would¡¯ve been high. Not everyone was willing to pay such high prices for pet food. Feed manufacturers didn¡¯t use such feed as the main sales pitch because the public wouldn¡¯t be able to afford it.

    Even so, the term ¡°by-products¡± was too vague. In extreme cases, this may have meant that the ingredients of the feed may contain meat from sources other than the five major meat sources: cattle, sheep, pigs, fish, and chicken.

    Sweatshops were found not only in China but also in the United States. These factories in the United States had also been involved in scandals where pet food was made from stray cats and dogs.

    The condition of pet food in Europe was slightly marginally better. After all, the mad cow disease was spread from Europe since the feed processing mills pulverized the viscera and bones of cattle to make feed for their own cattle to add calcium to their diets. However, the mix contained the viscera and bones of sick and dead cattle.

    Now that people knew that mad cow disease could be transmitted from cattle to people, they dared not do it again; cattle were typical food sources for humans. If someone contracted the disease just for the manufacturers to make a small profit, there would¡¯ve been several penalties including jail time.

    Even so, the exposed ck-hearted factories in the United States still made cat food and dog food from dead stray cats and dogs. This greatly reduced the cost and increased the calcium and nutrition content at the same time.

    As Marx said, capitalism waspletely covered blood and dirt when it was introduced to the world. If it had a 10% profit, it was guaranteed to be used everywhere. If it had a 20% profit, it became active. If it has a 50% profit, the manufacturers would take risks. For a 100% profit, it trampled over all humanws. If there was a 300% profit, theymitted crimes that would even lead to corporal punishment.

    The ck-hearted factory in the United States didn¡¯t care since cats and dogs were not traditional food sources for humans. People did not eat cats and dogs, so they figure out that any potential problems would at most only affect the lives of cats and dogs. Humans would not be in any danger.

    This clever trick wasn¡¯t wrong as this theory was applicable in developed western countries.

    Even so, the national conditions here were different.

    Zhang Zian inexplicably thought of the people who were suddenly sick at the waste acquisition station. From their tone and actions that night, as well as the prepared pot and seasoning, this wasn¡¯t their first attempt at killing stray dogs to eat their meat. Since there were so many stray dogs, no one would care even if one quietly went missing. Besides, many people thought that reducing the number of stray dogs was much safer for humans.

    The strange disease and the dog meat they ate... Were they somehow connected?

 Chapter 1430: Money Offensive

    <h4>Chapter 1430: Money Offensive</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The mode of transmission of Mad Cow Disease, also known as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, starts from a diseased cow. Any meal which contained bones or diseased cattle organs carried the risk of passing on the disease. If the cattle feed was contaminated, healthy cattle can be infected.

    Assuming that there was some kind of dog food that could cause simr problems, a simr transmission pathway would be through a sick dog. A previously healthy dog would¡¯ve be sick, or at least a specific organ system of the dog. Thus, people assume that the dog ate contaminated food.

    In developed western countries, the transmission route hade to a stop at this point.

    But in some other countries, the route of transmission has not stopped here.

    Most Chinese people didn¡¯t eat dog meat, but there were a few people who enjoyed it.

    Stray dogs, although not necessarily always from birth, are stray dogs. They may have had owners that loved them at some point but were abandoned by their ownerster on due to certain extenuating circumstances. Before they were abandoned, they might also have enjoyed the dog food fed to them by their owners every day. It might have been the domestic dog food that Zhang Zian fed the stray dogs every day, or it may have been the dog food promoted by Qi Tong. Any kind of dog food was a possibility.

    Of course, this thought had shed through Zhang Zian¡¯s mind because he had been to the waste purchase station and saw the filthy environment there for himself. It was filled to the brim with flies, mosquitoes, mice, cockroaches, fleas, and arthropods... In that sort of environment, it wouldn¡¯t be surprising if you left the ce with the strangest diseases.

    In the past, news broke out that a high-tech security unit had an ident or made a mistake in transporting a batch of sealed drums containing radioactive elements. In short, several sealed drums had been misced. Several vigers found and picked them, thinking they were somewhat sacred because they didn¡¯t recognize them. Since they had neithermon sense nor much of formal education, they did not know that the brightly coloredbels on the sealed were warning signs of radioactive elements. There was nothing sacred or good in them. When they went home, they broke the drums open. As a result, the whole family got sick and died.

    Simrly, the people in the waste purchase station were also uneducated. They might also have been affected by the same radioactive material or some other strange diseases. When it came to bags of dog food with an ambiguous ingredient list, immediately suspecting the issue to be the dog produce or meat was a source of serious mockery for them. Since this assumption was not based on actual scientific evidence, it was best left to the professionals to carry out a professional diagnosis.

    However, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to ept that the dog food origins were ambiguous. If there was any problem, it would affect the reputation of the store. Moreover, he was disgusted with Qi Tong¡¯s behavior of buyingpetitors¡¯ staff to gain a slight advantage.

    Seeing Zhang Zian¡¯s refusal, Qi Tong didn¡¯t give up immediately. He knew that the quantity of dog food purchased in this shop was toorge. He didn¡¯t care what the dog food was used for, but he could not lose out on such a major business opportunity.

    ¡°Brother, don¡¯t rush to a decision so soon. At least listen to the price before you decide!¡± Qi Tong pushed the dog food back to him.

    ¡°All right then, how much does it cost?¡±

    They looked at each other with a smile. Zhang Zian asked as a matter of routine when he could not avoid people whom he had bumped into and could not run from.

    The price caught him off guard. Since this was imported dog food, it couldn¡¯t have been cheaper than domestic dog food in any way.

    ¡°For example, this bag is 2.5 pounds, which is about 1 kilogram. The suggested retail price is 69.99 yuan.¡± Qi Tong said.

    Zhang Zian frowned. The price was very cheap, especially because it was imported. Since the tariff was only about USD$10, it should have been cheaper in the United States... However, this may have been done to seize the market, beat thepetition, start an early price war. If there were customers who did not have much money but wanted to buy imported dog food, they should¡¯ve been easy to sell to.

    But this was still way over his budget because most of his dog food was meant to be fed to stray dogs. The stated price was still too expensivepared with domestic dog food.

    ¡°Forget it. It¡¯s better if I use domestic dog food... ¡± He refused again.

    ¡°Do not worry. The suggested retail price is 69.99 yuan, but if you buy from me, I will give you a very favorable purchase price of 50 yuan.¡± Qi Tong held out a palm.

    ¡°That is still expensive,¡± Zhang Zian said as he shook his head. With only a kilogram of 50 yuan dog food, the stray dogs would¡¯ve quickly eaten enough to make him bankrupt.

    Qi Tong looked back at the clerks and saw that they were all busy with the store. They were far away from him and Zhang Zian. He lowered his voice and said, ¡°The purchase price is 50 yuan. If you agree to purchase from me, I will give you a 10 yuan rebate for each bag of dog food sold. How does that sound? If you purchase arge quantity, we can discuss the price some more! ¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Zhang Zian was shocked. How much did this dog food cost? How was it possible for him to give such arge rebate ratio?

    Qi Tong thought he didn¡¯t hear him clearly and repeated himself.

    Zhang Zian finally understood that Qi Tong mistakenly thought he was the store manager because Lu Yiyun called him that.

    Generally speaking, the store manager and the boss of a small street store were not necessarily the same person. The boss may have had more than one store or wasn¡¯t too familiar with the operations or products of the stores he owned. He would¡¯ve then hired an expert on that to be the store manager. This was simr to how the boss and the general manager of apany were often not the same people; the former was responsible for paying while thetter was a professional and responsible for bringing in profits.

    If Zhang Zian was just the store manager and received a sry and bonus from the boss every month, he would¡¯ve found it hard to refuse such a tempting offer. If he sold a bag of dog food, there would¡¯ve been a 10 yuan rebate. As long as he strongly rmended the dog food to the shop¡¯s customers every day, that would be arge number in a month without the boss knowing.

    In simr past cases, medical representatives provided huge drug rebates to doctors with prescription rights in hospitals so that doctors would prescribe especially high rebate drugs to patients for their benefit, regardless of whether they really need them or not. The price of medicine itself would¡¯ve been very expensive; the doctors would be able to make a huge profit in one month.

    However, he was both the store manager and the boss, but Lu Yiyun was used to calling him the store manager.

    What was the point of his kickback? It was all his own money anyway. It was better to change the purchase price directly to 40 yuan.

    It was rather unfortunate that in instances where the manager and boss did not work at the same pet shop, the managers easily fell for kickbacks. The perpetrators would¡¯ve fattened their own pockets by cheating them in any possible way. Even so, they weren¡¯t doing anything particrly harmful by just selling dog food. Compared to the malicious doctors, they still had a good conscience.

    To prevent the staff from noticing and reporting the difference, the store manager would even partner with the staff. He would earn a 10 yuan rebate for each bag sold then generously give each staff member two or three yuan.

    The more Zhang Zian thought about it, the more he felt a chill travel down his spine. It was only a matter of time before this kind of American dog food swept the national market with such crazy money offensive and sales promotions!

    If the dog food was good in quality and cheap in price, then it was a win-win situation. However, it was hard to imagine the quality of dog food if the price was drastically reduced.

    If it was only a quality problem such as a false nutrition standard, it would¡¯ve been reasonably fine to discuss it further. However, once the dog food itself had substantially more serious safety risks, the consequences would¡¯ve simply been unthinkable.

 Chapter 1431: Half of a Country

    <h4>Chapter 1431: Half of a Country</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    If this dog food imported from the United States wasn¡¯t that cheap, the Zhang Zian would not so doubtful given that there were many rebates. He might¡¯ve even bought a small amount to try the effect and enrich the shelves in his store.

    However, the more Qi Tong actively promoted, the less satisfied Zhang Zian was. Finally, he stood up directly and asked him to leave. ¡°Mr. Qi, I have some things to deal with in a moment. At the moment, I¡¯m not considering changing the dog food in the store. I¡¯m sorry to make youe to see me for nothing. Nevertheless, if there is another opportunity in the future, let¡¯s cooperate again. ¡±

    Qi Tong came with great expectations and talked until his lips were dry. He was also scared to his wits by the dog. He became angry from not expecting Zhang Zian to simply disagree.

    ¡°Brother store manager! Please think carefully! This is a win-win situation! Soon we will advertise on the Inte and print media, and cooperate with pet celebrity V to promote it. Customers wille to your store and ask for this kind of dog food. If you can¡¯t get it out, you may lose more multiple regr customers!¡± Heined sadly.

    Now the economic effect of the fans was obvious. Important people such as Inte celebrity V could influence the direction of consumption. Most of V¡¯s rmendations could be bought for money without considering too many details when rmending products. As long as he saw that the import and export formalities of this dog food were formal and there was a sales permit, he would¡¯ve quietly taken the promotional money.

    Once other celebrities joined V in rmending the same dog food product and exaggerating its benefits, it was easy to psychologically influence their followers. Coupled with advertising, it could potentially lead to this product bing popr with the general public.

    Seeing Zhang Zian silent, Qi Tong thought he changed his mind and whispered, ¡°In fact, what¡¯s there to worry about? I don¡¯t understand the technical details, but I will give you a thorough exnation. Do you know Fanxing, the pet industry¡¯s top business? We have won the distribution contract with all their branches in our province. Almost half of the managers of directly-operated stores and franchised stores across the country have agreed to cooperate with us. Even if the sky falls, even you alone can¡¯t stop it!¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t respond.

    It was true that Qi Tong¡¯s model of giving shopkeepers high rebates was particrly weed by the storefronts ofrge chain pet supermarkets. Since the store managers needed to promote dog foods, why not benefit from selling them? ? They didn¡¯t even need to sell it manually; they could just put this dog food on the most prominent position on the shelf and add a slogan like ¡°Shop Manager¡¯s Rmendation¡± to increase sales.

    As far as he knew, Fanxing employed a model of collective purchasing at the headquarters that could reduce the purchase cost. However, each store was also autonomous to varying degrees. The most important thing was that if Qi Tong wasn¡¯t exaggerating, half of the country would¡¯ve quietly bought his goods. Even if the headquarters discovered this afterward, what could they do? As a penalty, would they have reced half of the store managers nationwide? That would¡¯ve been impossible, as their daily operations would bepletely paralyzed. There might¡¯ve not even been any punishment; with so many shopkeepers, they were likely to join together and fight this scandal by collectively going on strike. That would be enough to make thepany leadership nervous. Thew does not me the general public, so their best bet was to acquiesce this way.

    The more Zhang Zian thought about it, the more shocked he felt. He merely thought that this dog food had just entered the Chinese market. Could it have already been listed and sold across the country?

    It was easy to discuss if this dog food was safe. Once something bad happened, this may be a wider and more profound impact than a cat abuse incident.

    ¡°Ok, how about I buy this bag? Let me try it out.¡± Zhang Zian changed his mind, weighed the bag of dog food in his hand, and raised his voice to Lu Yiyun, ¡°Xiao Yun, open a receipt for a purchase, 50 yuan.¡±

    ¡°Receipt of 5... 50 dors?¡± Lu Yiyun looked up from the tablet and thought she heard wrong.

    Qi Tong quickly stopped him and said, ¡°Wait! Take this as a gift. I still have a few more bags in my car, I¡¯ll bring them to you.¡±

    He thought Zhang Zian was convinced. As long as he left a bag, it meant that there might¡¯ve been more business in the future.

    ¡°How could I...¡± Zhang Zian rejected. ¡°One bag is enough. I can¡¯t use any more even if you gave them to me.¡±

    No matter what Qi Tong said, he insisted on taking only one bag.

    Before he left, Qi Tong said, ¡°By the way, brother, I think you have more cats than dogs in the store. If you are interested in buying the same brand of cat food that¡¯s also affordable, give me a call! ¡±

    Zhang Zian once again didn¡¯t respond.

    ¡°Master, howe listening to this man¡¯s tongue-in-cheek tone makes him seem unreliable?¡±

    After their game was over, Wang Qian stood up and stretched his arms, squinting at Qi Tong¡¯s departure from behind. He and Li Kun couldn¡¯t hear exactly what was said, but they were able to at least to think that his tone of voice was highly insistent on people to do things for him.

    Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t think he is very reliable. If hees back in the future, tell him that I have gone to a faraway ce and you can¡¯t help me decide things.¡±

    ¡°This is the dog food he sells?¡± Li Kun stared curiously at the bag in Zhang Zian¡¯s hand. ¡°Do you want to open it and try?¡±

    Zhang Zian said, ¡°...What disgusting things did you do while I was gone?¡±

    ¡°No! Don¡¯t get me wrong! I mean open the feed for the dogs in the store to taste!¡± Li Kun quickly corrected herself.

    After chuckling Zhang Zian said in a more positive tone, ¡°I didn¡¯t take this bag for dogs to eat. I¡¯ll be going out again now to Binhai University.¡±

    ¡°What are you going to do there? The schoolgirls are not yet returning to school!¡± Wang Qian wondered.

    Zhang Zian: ¡°Do you have feces in your brain? I¡¯m going to Binhai University to find Professor Wei Kang and ask him to help find out what¡¯s in this bag of dog food!¡±

    Wang Qian then realized what he meant and said, ¡°Oh! I thought you were going to say goodbye to your blind date and never return...¡±

    Zhang Zian nced at him and said, ¡°Look after the store. I¡¯ll be back as soon as possible.¡±

    The test results wouldn¡¯t be easily ready and there might¡¯ve been other things in theboratory that had to be done, he had to wait until thebs had extra time before working on his project. Thus, he nned to find Wei Kang, exin the situation to him, send him the dog food and then tell him to inform him when the test resultse out.

    At the same time, he wanted to visit other pet stores in the city to see if they have this dog food on their shelves.

    He looked at the hot sun outside and the sweaty pedestrians on the street. He didn¡¯t want to go out, but there was nothing else he could do.

    As soon as one foot stepped out of the store door, he felt like he was stepping into a sauna from an air-conditioned room. He retracted his foot, ignored Snowy Li¡¯s murderous look as sheid on the top of the air-conditioning cab, turned and asked, ¡°Yes, and when do the freshman girls enter school? I can¡¯t stand the two of you for a long time. It affects my business, so I have to go recruit a few new girls to work part-time here.¡±

    Wang Qian looked at him in confusion.

 Chapter 1432: Cross Ocean Invitation

    <h4>Chapter 1432: Cross Ocean Invitation</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    A few days had passed.

    It was afternoon tea time in San Francisco, United States.

    Eddy Lewis sat at the table in the lounge and enjoyed the coffee in his hand, with a te of blueberry waffles on the table in front of him.

    The mist that had persisted for a long time finally dissipated and the afternoon sun came in through the window behind him, just covering his body and making his newly shaved bald head look dark.

    It is thought that Mark Twain once said, ¡°The coldest winter I have ever encountered was the summer in San Francisco.¡±

    The California cold current blew from the Pacific Ocean, whilst the hot summer wind blew from ind but was blocked by the north and south mountains. The cold and hot air currents could only meet at the bay of San Francisco, thus often creating heavy fog.

    The summer weather in San Francisco wasplicated. While Silicon Valley in the South Bay Area enjoyed the sun, residents of San Francisco wore thin down jackets.

    The food at Matthew Davis Cancer Research Foundation was excellent. Although it wasn¡¯t as good as the massive feasts of the top earners in Silicon Valley, it was delicious and provided afternoon tea.

    Eddy¡¯s gaze fell on the wall on the side of the lounge, which was covered with photos of Foundation members. His gaze fell on his photo, in which he wore Foundation-printed sportswear and grinned at the camera. It was taken by a colleague when he participated in the annual Bay to Breakers San Francisco Bay Cross Marathon, an important charity event that the Foundation regrly participated in every year in May.

    He seemed to be grown fatter thanst year... He looked at his picture, stared at the sweet waffle in his hand, hesitated a bit, and bit down on it hard.

    The news was broadcast on the TV in the lounge. He generally used the sound of the TV as background sound, but today¡¯s news guest was a person who has had many connections, so it caught his attention.

    ¡°Today we invited Dr. James Murphy from the CDC to exin to us the recent worrying chronic diseases.¡± The news host said, ¡°Hello, Dr. Murphy.¡±

    ¡°Hello.¡±

    A middle-aged fat man with male pattern baldness sat in the guest seat. He nodded cautiously towards the host and the camera.

    ¡°Dr. Murphy, Mule Deers infected with chronic slow-urring diseases have recently been found in some parts of the central United States. Because of its strange symptoms, especially the aggressive conditions that will appear in theter stages of the disease, people are calling it the zombie deer. People are worried that perhaps this disease can be transmitted to people by deer. What can you tell us about this disease? ¡°The moderator guided the topic.

    ¡°Uh...¡± Dr. Murphy pushed his sses, ¡°First of all, there is no evidence that the disease can be transmitted to people...¡±

    ¡°However, it is said that Canadian researchers have experimented with monkeys, who are primates like humans, have been infected.¡± The host¡¯s job was to dig deeper to arouse the interest of the audience, improve the program¡¯s ratings and his own poprity. Of course, he did not want the program to be too dull, so he interrupted.

    ¡°Yes, I have heard of this experiment. Simply put, the experiment was carried out by feeding five monkeys with infected deer meat. Three yearster, three monkeys were found to be infected with the disease.¡± Dr. Murphy nodded. ¡°But I need to emphasize that the monkeys being infected does not necessarily mean humans will be infected as well... ¡±

    ¡°But the possibility of human infection exists, doesn¡¯t it?¡± The host insisted on this, ¡°Should people be warned not to hunt deer or eat their meat anymore?¡±

    Dr. Murphy seemed annoyed by the constant interruptions. He raised his voice and said, ¡°I can¡¯t rule out the possibility of human infection, but that experiment was based on the premise that the monkeys were fed a lot of deer meat every day. Normally, humans can¡¯t eat that much deer meat, so I don¡¯t think it would be dangerous to eat a small amount of it as long as they¡¯re sold over formal and legitimate supply channels. However, do try to avoid eating wild deer meat, especially the deer¡¯s brain and spinal cord. Although, I don¡¯t know anyone who would like to eat deer¡¯s brain and spinal cord. ¡±

    ¡°Is it okay to eat only the deer meat?¡± The host asked.

    Dr. Murphy was dissatisfied with the host¡¯s deliberate attempts to put his words out of context and replied, ¡°I didn¡¯t say that!¡±

    ¡°You said that eating deer meat isn¡¯t dangerous,¡± the moderator pointed out.

    ¡°Listen to me, I didn¡¯t say that!¡± Dr. Murphy was almost mad sitting by the table and responding to the host.

    ¡°Haha!¡±

    Eddie Lewis put a piece of waffle in his mouth, chewed it with ease, and took another sip of coffee to relieve the sweet feeling.

    He thought of a good memory. At previous events organized by the Foundation, he had met Dr. Murphy and spoke with him for a while. He knew that he was straightforward and not good with words, but today he was unlucky to encounter a host with a sharp tongue and bad mouth.

    He ate the waffles with his coffee, stared at Dr. Murphy embarrassing himself on TV with a bitter smile and decided to watch the news as if it were a talk show. He had little interest in the news itself; as Dr. Murphy said, who would like to eat deer¡¯s brain and spinal cord? Eddy didn¡¯t even eat deer meat.

    He lived in the United States long enough to be used to the sensationalism of news programs throughout variousworks.

    During the past few years, he was invited by a friend to go on vacation. When the friend walked into the forest with him to hunt, he encountered a beautiful doe. He raised his gun and aimed at its heart.

    However, the deer suddenly turned its head and saw him.

    He saw the watery eyes of the doe as if begging him not to kill it.

    He also noticed that its belly was a bit big. Maybe it was pregnant, but he was not sure.

    He hesitated for a long time but still couldn¡¯t pull the trigger. He and his friends could only sleep hungry that night.

    This was his closest encounter to deer meat, after which he argued with that friend. Since then, he never went into the forest to hunt deer again.

    On TV, the battle between Dr. Murphy and the host was still going on, but Eddy¡¯s tea time was already over. He already packed his coffee cup and saucer. He nned to call his friend after returning home from work in the evening. This friend hasn¡¯t been in contact with him for a long time since the hunt, and he wanted to check in on how is he.

    He returned to the office with a stack of invitations still on his desk.

    To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the foundation, the Foundation was preparing to invite some guests to the event. The invitees either made significant contributions to the foundation, were highly respected in society, or left an impact in the history of the foundation. They had witnessed the growth and progress of the foundation.

    Eddie checked the invitations onest time and nned to send them before leaving from work.

    The farthest invite would cross the Pacific Ocean and be sent halfway across the world.

 Chapter 1433: Career

    <h4>Chapter 1433: Career</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Snowy, when is the next live broadcast?¡±

    ¡°Snowy, it¡¯s been a long time since you broadcasted, what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Thousands of people are begging Snowy toe on live!¡±

    ¡°Is Snowy sick? Did she get heatstroke?¡±

    Snowy looked at her Weibo¡¯s messages and private messages and scratched her hair in annoyance, looking sadly at the bright sun outside the window as if she felt the hot shes and summer heat outside.

    As the fans have said, she hadn¡¯t done a live broadcast for a long time mainly because of a worm disaster some time ago. Her mother was so scared that she issued an ultimatum. She was forbidden to take a step out of the house, or her mother would abandon her. Although Snowy herself usually looked like a boy, she was afraid of those caterpirs. She had also heard that many caterpirs were poisonous. Once they fell on the body, they would sting and cause a rash to be formed that may even have been red and swollen. Thus, she temporarily took her mind off on going to the outdoor to live broadcast, since there was nothing to broadcast live anyway. Many shops were closed, so wasn¡¯t her only option left to broadcast which caterpir can be eaten?

    She broadcasted live for fun and out of loneliness, but not to be second only to Bear Grylls.

    Her mother lifted her ban after the insect disaster subsided, but the coastal city in summer was too sultry and humid, and it often rained heavily. She really didn¡¯t want to leave the air-conditioned room, and she couldn¡¯t live stream like those that only yed games. Although many fans said that any form of live streaming was okay, she felt so apologetic to the audience as she didn¡¯t know what to say. Plus, she had to prevent her mother from suddenly entering her room whilst she was broadcasting.

    Like all humans who were constantly dragged on by inertia, she became toozy to leave the house. The most she was willing to do was taking Snowball out for a walk after breakfast and in the evenings.

    Faced with the fans¡¯ concerns, she didn¡¯t know what to do. She couldn¡¯t tell them that she waszy and had been hiding in the house, right?

    ¡°Snowy! Come down and eat some fruit!¡± shouted her mom from downstairs.

    ¡°Coming!¡±

    She respondedzily, pulling on her slippers and went down the stairs.

    To her surprise, her father was also there. She did not know when he returned, but he was sitting on the sofa and reading the newspaper.

    A sd bowl full of various fruits was on the dining table, and her mother used her mouth to motion for her to sit down and eat.

    A furry Snowballid on the wooden floor on its side to cool down. When it heard Snowy, it just looked up beforeying back down and narrowing its eyes.

    Snowy felt that she was now like this salty cat.

    ¡°Be honest; how have you beentely? Have you changed your mind?¡± Father looked over the top of the newspaper and nced at her.

    ¡°It¡¯s too hot, I¡¯m toozy to go out,¡± Snowy muttered.

    Her father put down the newspaper and said solemnly, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you like live broadcasting and wanted to pursue it as a career? Is this your three-minute passion for your career?¡±

    He pointed out the window, where gardeners were mowing thewn outside with their uniforms soaked in sweat.

    ¡°Everyone knows that the weather is hot, but even if the weather is ten degrees hotter, don¡¯t they still have to work to support their families?¡± He began his daily sermon. ¡°Regardless of what career you choose, you must persevere with your choice. If you cannot do that, ept it and then move on as soon as possible ... ¡±

    ¡°Ah! You¡¯re eating, can you talk less when eating?¡± Mom ps the table angrily. ¡°This is not yourpany, why are you struggling?¡±

    Snowy ate the fruits silently and rarely spoke back.

    The atmosphere was a little awkward.

    Her mother changed the topic and said, ¡°Snowy, where do you want to go for summer this year? Still Switzend?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t go to Switzend, I¡¯m going to the United States for a business trip soon,¡± Snowy¡¯s father interjected.

    Her mother shot him a look that said, ¡°Did I ask you to go? If you don¡¯t go, it¡¯s just us twodies!¡±

    The father did not get any response and helplessly decided to shut his mouth.

    ¡°Snowy, how about you? Where should we go?¡± Mom asked again.

    ¡°Anywhere is fine,¡± Snowy said lethargically.

    ¡°Anywhere... there must be a ce you want to go to, isn¡¯t there? We can¡¯t stay here anyway, it¡¯s too hot outside and it¡¯s not good to feel all stuffy in the house,¡± her Mom said, sounding rather distressed.

    As if he hadn¡¯t learned his lesson, her father interjected, ¡°Will you go with me to the United States? You haven¡¯t been to San Francisco yet, right?¡±

    Her mother red at him angrily, ¡°America? Do you think I don¡¯t know where that is? Aren¡¯t thetitudes of the United States and China about the same? Won¡¯t it be as hot as it is here?¡±

    ¡°You are wrong. I can¡¯t speak for anywhere else in the United States, but San Francisco is very cool in summer. It¡¯s often filled with cool mist, and it is dry and warm when the sun is out. It is never hot like this. There are many fun ces near San Francisco, too. You can go to the marine park to watch the killer whale show, the fisherman¡¯s wharf to eat seafood, Silicon Valley to visit high-techpanies, or Redwood National Park to go hiking. In short, it will be enough for you to y all you want!¡±

    He likely didn¡¯t want to be separated from his wife and daughter for a long time since they were going to wait out the summer of Binhai City before returning. He had no idea when that would be.

    Her mother stared at him suspiciously. ¡°How do you know so much? Have you been fooling around with another woman?¡±

    Her father remained silent.

    He knew that the time for a regr summer vacation abroad was approaching, but he couldn¡¯t travel because his business was going to cooperate with a high-techpany in Silicon Valley. However, he didn¡¯t like the idea of his wife and daughter heading to Europe alone. Thus, he checked in advance to see if he could persuade his wife and daughter to follow him to San Francisco.

    Snowy¡¯s mother was slightly persuaded by his words. She just went to Switzendst year, so it would¡¯ve been boring to go again this year. If they picked another European country... European countries were almost the same. They had nothing more than the castle, church, and opera. At most, they had slightly different styles. They could probably head up to Northern Europe to see Aurora Borealis, but the bitter cold ce was sparsely popted with nothing to do except see the lights. If Snowy¡¯s father was right about San Francisco¡¯s climate then it was a good choice since there were many fun ces to go.

    ¡°Snowy, where do you want to go? Europe or America?¡± Mom asked again.

    Snowy thought about it. She had to leave to avoid the summer heat; staying in Binhai City was rather masochistic. There wasn¡¯t much to do in Europe. Most of them are humanistdscapes that required an appreciation of the vicissitudes of history, such as visiting a winery that has been established for more than a century and tasting whiskey. This was unsuitable for Snowy¡¯s temperament and made her feel like a stale old man.

    If she had to choose one, the United States may have been better.

    ¡°America,¡± she said and pushed her bowl aside whilst standing up then trotting upstairs.

    ¡°Okay then. We¡¯ll go to America.¡±

    Both of her parents heaved a sigh of relief.

    After a short while, she changed into her usual clothes and went downstairs.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± His father asked.

    Snowy rolled her eyes at him and waved her cell phone at him. ¡°Doing my career.¡±

 Chapter 1434: National Standard

    <h4>Chapter 1434: National Standard</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In the artificial woods next to thendfill...

    Today, there were piles of empty bottles and empty packing bags stacked in the open space, with each packaging bag covered with English.

    ¡°We got this much?¡±

    Zhang Zian was taken aback. Although he knew that this dog food had been fullyunched on the market, the speed of expansion was still beyond his expectations.

    ¡°Every brother returned with one,¡± Little White exined.

    To find out how well this dog food is epted in the market, Zhang Zian specially asked Little White to get the stray dogs to ?pick up the empty packaging bag of this dog food along with the bottles from thendfill.

    The stray dogs were unhappy about this because empty bottles were important to them as dog food and chicken legs. What would this empty bag be used for? It was better to pick up an extra bottle than to retrieve an empty bag.

    There were almost two or three hundred bags of the same type on the empty ground, and there would definitely be more in the future.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with this dog food?¡± Little White didn¡¯t understand the purpose of picking up these empty bags, but he forced the stray dogs toe back with them, one by one.

    Zhang Zian picked up an empty bag with a branch and groaned, ¡°It¡¯s not easy to say now, but be careful. If stray dogs pick up this kind of dog food and it hasn¡¯t been eaten, tell them not to be greedy.¡±

    Little White nodded and passed the order through his superiors.

    At that moment, Zhang Zian¡¯s cell phone rang.

    ¡°Hello?¡± He answered the phone.

    ¡°Hello? Zhang Zhang? I¡¯m Wei Kang. The results came out for the two kinds of dog food you asked to be tested,¡± Wei Kang said.

    Zhang Zian was pleased and said, ¡°Please go on, I¡¯m listening.¡±

    He had simultaneously sent two bags of dog food to Wei Kang. One was the domestic dog food that was usually used, and the other was the American dog food Qi Tong gave him. Both were submitted for inspection andparison.

    ¡°I know you¡¯re anxious to know the conclusion, but let me talk about the test results first. Both types of dog food meet the GB / T 31216-2014 full-priced pet food standard issued by China. Specifically, this American dog food is much better than other domestic dog foods in terms of crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, and other major indicators such as trace elements and lysine. On the health indicators that you particrly emphasize, the contents of heavy metals such as fluorine, arsenic, and lead are less than or equal to the national standard. The total number of atoxins and bacteria is also less than the national standard. No salmone was detected, and the microbialmunity met the national standard. I will take a picture of the detailed report and send it to youter.¡±

    Wei Kang was reading out the test report given by his colleague ording to the original text.

    ¡°That means... everything is normal?¡± Zhang Zian confirmed with hesitation.

    He already expected this to be the result because this dog food had legal import and export procedures, which meant that this product had passed the quarantine of Chinese customs and met the requirements of Chinesew.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Wei Kang replied affirmatively. ¡°The other bag of domestic dog food is also qualified, but most of the indicators are slightly worse than this imported dog food. Of course, our school¡¯s food safety and engineering specialty is not the top in the country. I haven¡¯t done a dog food test before this. If you¡¯re still unsure, I can help you contact other more professional agencies. ¡±

    Zhang Zian was a little indignant, but what could he do about it? This time, Wei Kang asked his school colleagues as a favor to help test it. Colleagues who decided to help him because of his reputation would¡¯ve been less attentive than usual. Even if they switched to other institutions, they would have likely reached the same conclusion.

    ¡°What about atoxin, salmone and other toxins and bacteria?¡± He asked.

    Wei Kang asked, ¡°What do you mean? There are many types of toxins and bacteria. It is impossible to detect each one. National standards only specify these two types and the total number of bacteria, so I can only say that based on the test result, both dog foods meet national standards.¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    True, there were so many kinds of toxins and bacteria out there. If you didn¡¯t specify a specific name, how would have the inspectors checked for it?

    Wei Kang especially emphasized that this American dog food is legal andplies with Chinesews. Even if he did find some minor faults such as the dog food containing a trace amount of certain harmful bacteria, no legal action could be taken against this dog food as long as the bacteria total count didn¡¯t exceed the standard.

    Zhang Zian understood that this was Wei Kang¡¯s way of kindly reminding him not to do something he is unsure of.

    ¡°I see. Professor Wei Kang, I still have a question... can you detect the main meatponent of this American dog food?¡± He asked next.

    He heard the sound of pages turninging from the phone.

    Wei Kang said, ¡°This has also been tested. The meatposition of American dog food is moreplex. At least four categories of chicken, duck, fish, and beef have been detected. Chicken includes turkey and beef, which includes wild beef. The fish contains salmon and cod. There are also some grounded and finely grounded meats, although we don¡¯t know what animal it¡¯s from.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t a bad thing for dog food to haveplex meat ingredients. Many dog ??foods even used this source of meat to diversify the protein mix to ensure bnced nutrition.

    As for the finely ground meat, it probably consisted of grated bones and internal organs. This was also considered a routine operation. Many imported dog foods at medium and high prices also included finely ground meat that wasn¡¯tbeled. This dog food was so cheap; it would¡¯ve been impossible if this ingredient is not present.

    Zhang Zian had nothing else to ask. It seems that he was overthinking it. Maybe this American dog food was worth its price after all.

    He previously suspected that the ingredients of this dog food might include the meat of stray cats and dogs. Although this possibility couldn¡¯t bepletely ruled out, the probability was already very low.

    What¡¯s more, what would happen if the meat of stray cats and dogs was included? National standards do not stipte that dog food cannot be made from dog and cat meat. At most, he could only me manufacturers for their immorality.

    ¡°Is there anything else you¡¯d like to ask?¡± Wei Kang asked.

    ¡°No, Professor Wei Kang. Thank you for your help.¡± Zhang Zian quickly thanked him.

    ¡°No problem. Anyway, theboratory is not busy during the summer vacation,¡± Wei Kangughed. ¡°I¡¯ll hang up first and contact you if something happens.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    Zhang Zian hung up the phone and stared silently at arge empty bag out in the open.

    ¡°How was it? Do we still have to find this empty bag every day?¡± Little White saw that Zhang Zian didn¡¯t look pleased and didn¡¯t want to disturb him, but it was not easy for his brothers to pick up such waste in the hot weather. If they can do away with thisbor, it was the best.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s enough.¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head and barely squeezed out a smile. ¡°It seems that not everyone can be Sherlock Holmes. It¡¯s a waste of money to try to pin down a suspect because of a little baseless suspicion.¡±

    dimirforted him, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Bold assumptions and careful verification have always been the strategic purpose of our work. Besides, these dogs are sozy!¡±

 Chapter 1435:

    <h4>Chapter 1435:</h4>

    Controversial Location

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After learning from her father¡¯s incessant nagging, Snowy left the house in anger but regretted it when she went out; she felt as if she was plunging into a rolling heatwave.

    It was fine in the morning and at night, but now it was almost noon. When she went out, she did not even bring a parasol and immediately got hit by the sun¡¯s rays.

    This wasn¡¯t even the hottest time in Binhai City. However, she was so sensitive to the weather since she hadn¡¯t left the house for a long time. Her body has adapted to the air-conditioning environment. She may have always thought that it was spring or autumn, but now that she suddenly entered a temperature of at least ten degrees and 100% humidity difference, every cell on her body seemed to be protesting.

    She instantly lost half of the courage that she used to force herself out. She wanted to head back and continue being a salty cat. However, this would¡¯ve been embarrassing; if she did so, she will have no more chance to insist on live broadcasting to be her future career.

    Since she was in such a hurry to go out, she didn¡¯t have time to consider what to broadcast.

    She walked in the shade and habitually looked up at the leaves above her head, worried that she might suddenly feel a caterpir. Although the gue had subsided, the shadows left on people wouldn¡¯t be easily forgotten. Even in the distant future, they would talk to their children and grandchildren about the horrors of the gue.

    Sheunched the live app.

    With no advanced notice, the fans did not know she was going to broadcast but received the notification that the broadcast room opened.

    ¡°Hi! Hello everyone! I haven¡¯t seen you for a long time!¡± She waved at the camera without using the usual opening words. Not only was she exposed to the sun, but the live broadcast had not yet started. This was merely her warming up.

    ¡°Wow! Snowy, why did you suddenly broadcast live without saying hello?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! Fortunately, I have some time today!¡±

    ¡°Please notice me while there are fewer people here!¡±

    ¡°Snowy, what¡¯s the broadcast about today?¡±

    Snowy was also worried. Although fans wouldn¡¯t mind any live broadcast, she would¡¯ve had a heat stroke if she walked any further for today¡¯s live broadcast.

    Woof!

    She saw a gray shadow from the artificial woods. Snowy was ustomed to Good-For-Nothing prowling in the wood and thus wasn¡¯t surprised. She merely lifted a foot in front of it so could only lick the sole if he continued to run towards her.

    ¡°Stop! Stop running!¡±

    Good-For-Nothing stopped abruptly.

    ¡°what the! Is this a Husky? Why is all its hair shaved?¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha! This Siberian husky¡¯s hairstyle is too hrious!¡±

    ¡°Who did this to it?¡±

    The hair of the whole body of the husky was almost shaved, leaving only the hair on the head and tail intact. Only a long hair from the head to the tail was left on the spine as if shaved to form a Mohawk hairstyle.

    When it was shaved, Snowy also witnessed the tragedy. Uncle Jin originally boasted that he had styled others¡¯ hair before and wanted to show off his skills. The dog kept on moving around with every stroke of the shaver. The shaved parts were either too deep or too shallow, and its hair was uneven after shaving. In the end, Uncle Jin just kept a line of hair on its back out of anger, which looked weird once everything else was shaved.

    After shaving down Good-For-Nothing, it cooled off and ran to theke, looking down at the reflection of itself on theke only to be startled by what it saw. It whimpered back to the owner¡¯s crotch and shivered.

    Under Snowy¡¯s hriousughter, Uncle Jin led it to theke and finally made him understand the cruel fact that the dog on theke wasn¡¯t another dog or a ghost, but itself.

    That day, Good-For-Nothing was depressed like never before.

    Even now, Good-For-Nothing always resented Snowy because sheughed too loudly. It wanted to tell her how she had hurt it but passed it off with a smile.

    Dogs must maintain a sufficient amount of exercise even in the summer, especially those with too much energy like Good-For-Nothing. They couldn¡¯t stay at home all day like cats. Even so, their hair was too long, making them prone to heatstroke.

    Snowy saw that Uncle Jin was taking a nap in the shade by theke, lying on a sun lounger and covering his face with a fisherman¡¯s hat. Since he was asleep, she didn¡¯t bother him and waved Good-For-Nothing away.

    However, she still didn¡¯t know where to hold her live broadcast.

    ¡°Snowy, where are you? Is it the park? Why isn¡¯t this dog on a leash?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t you know that the Husky is famous for being abandoned by its owners?¡±

    ¡°If Snowy knows the dog owner, she should remind him to tie the dog well. Although this husky looks stupid, it would also be very distressing to lose it!¡±

    Snowy knew that her fans meant well but didn¡¯t understand the actual situation. She merely nodded and agreed.

    ¡°That... I heard that a newly opened restaurant is very special, I don¡¯t know if Snowy is interested...¡± Someone said amongst a barrage of messages.

    ¡°Oh? What is it? Let¡¯s hear it,¡± Snowy was worried and didn¡¯t know where to go. However, she suddenly became spirited by this.

    ¡°But if I say it, I might be beaten...¡± The man murmured.

    Snowy and the audience were very puzzled since she weed the local fans to provide suggestions. After all, the eyes of the crowd were clear; how would they attack the clue-providers?

    The man became pressured by everyone and finally said, ¡°Because... it¡¯s... a newly opened dog restaurant.¡±

    The chat was quiet for a moment.

    Snowy had a headache and was afraid of the sudden silence in her broadcast.

    The audiences in the live room came from all over the world, with different customs, lifestyles, and beliefs. When Snowy screened the locations provided by fans on the Weibo backend page, she always ticked off those ces that might¡¯ve made some viewers ufortable. This was especially so in the aspect of food and culture so as not to start arguments among the audience.

    Dog meat restaurant was obviously a very controversial location.

    She would rather take back what she said just now so that the person didn¡¯t say that.

    However, it was impossible to pretend thement wasn¡¯t there since everyone could see it.

    Sure enough, after a brief period of silence, the audience in the live broadcast split into three factions: those in opposition, those in favor, and those merely watching the entire saga.

    The supporters and opposers fought each other with no one giving in. The arguments gradually heated up, and those watching on the sidelines continued stirring up the animosity.

    Snowy was worried that such a noisy situation would¡¯ve caused many fans to leave and quickly rounded off the discussion. ¡°Stop! Don¡¯t quarrel! The things that exist objectively won¡¯t disappear because we don¡¯t like it... Since there are suggestions from the audience, I will take you there, but I can¡¯t provide a fair judgment of it so I don¡¯t want to eat dog meat. Is everyone okay with this?¡±

    She also knew that this was a bad idea. While neither side seemed to be guilty, both sides may be so. However, she couldn¡¯t think of otherpromises in such a short time.

    Out of the area, she called a taxi and proceeded to the location provided byizens.

    It didn¡¯t take long for the taxi to reach its destination, which more than ten meters away from the dog meat restaurant. The road ahead was blocked by arge crowd of onlookers.

 Chapter 1436: Performance Art

    <h4>Chapter 1436: Performance Art</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    On the way there, Snowy brainstormed other topics to talk about to make the audience forget their previous difort, but she couldn¡¯te up with anything. There were always some unobtrusive pulls back to the topic, which made her wonder whether today¡¯s calendar told her not to broadcast at all?

    Unexpectedly, there were many people around the door of the dog meat restaurant. It was as if something happened, which turned the audience¡¯s interest from the dog meat itself to the curiosity of what happened.

    Snowy paid the fare and got off the taxi. She saw that there were a lot of onlookers that were mostly male. They stretched their neck and tiptoes, with their faces filled with indescribable hunger. Something of great interest was in front of them.

    The audience¡¯s curiosity grew stronger, and they urged Snowy to squeeze in to take a closer look.

    Snowy also thought of doing so. Relying on her slender and flexible mouth to utter sweet words, she said, ¡°Uncle, uncle, let me through,¡± She was squeezed until all she could smell was body odor, but she finally made her way past the crowd.

    ¡°What?¡±

    She saw a woman amongst the crowd, and Snowy eximed softly before a palm stretched out to cover her eyes.

    ¡°Children don¡¯t look at this! What a terrible woman for doing this!¡±

    Talking and covering her eyes was an elderlydy carrying a vegetable basket on her arm with a bunch of fresh vegetables in the basket. It seemed like she had just returned from a grocery market and was going home to cook rice.

    Unfortunately, Snowy has already seen it.

    It wasn¡¯t that thedy who covered her eyes was saying something bad. However, this woman in the crowd was indeed ¡°disgusting¡± in a sense.

    The woman was fully naked and looked at the gaze of people around her calmly.

    Her body was fully naked, but important parts were painted using thick oil paint with a type of leopard pattern. The ck pattern on the yellow background was like a camouge color that visually distracted people. Strictly speaking... everyone knew she was naked but couldn¡¯t see anything that was considered to be scandalous.

    No wonder there were so many men watching.

    This was either a publicity stunt or performance art. The line between the two was highly blurred, making it difficult to differentiate them.

    Snowy has seen some Westerners do this in the news. At that time, she secretly said that the Westerners were bold and open. She didn¡¯t expect to see it in reality, especially not in this coastal area where folk customs meant people were not very open.

    The woman was quite young based on her face and body type, about thirty years old. A handbag was ced under her feet, which contained her clothes and shoes.

    The way she saw it, she came here in normal clothes, then suddenly began to undress until she was fully naked.

    In the process, she attracted more and more onlookers. Everyone who noticed stopped and stared at her erratically.

    Some people looked at her out of curiosity, while others did so out of surprise and freshness. There were also many people looking out of lust. Soon, the entire area was full of people.

    Performance art pieces like this would¡¯ve started many discussions in China today, then soon talked about even when they are abroad.

    People were specting about what she was doing. Did she have a mental problem? Did she escape from the mental hospital?

    If she was a mental patient, she didn¡¯t look like one because her eyes are firm and clear. Besides, this level of oil painting on her own body couldn¡¯t have been the work of a mental patient.

    Some elderly women like thedy covering Snowy¡¯s eyes squeezed into the crowd purely out of indignation, ordering her to put on her clothes or trying to forcefully dress her. However, she silently refused.

    Several elderly women changed their faces and began to swear and point at her. It was hard to hear clearly but they were scolding her for being a vixen on the street trying to seduce man, scolding her for disgracing her ancestors and eight generations. Some people also called her shameless and spat on her.

    Even some of the onlookers couldn¡¯t bear to hear these curses. However, she remained in her own world with her facial expression unchanged and epted the harassment.

    As for those open-minded young people, especially young girls, they tried to help her by justifying her actions. She was standing here without asking others to see, so why was it so bad?

    She didn¡¯t speak, but the young girls and the bigdies quarreled enough for themotion to attract more people.

    Even the taxi driver who brought Snowy over was no longer in his car. He got out of the car to stretch and perhaps loosen his trousers a little.

    Many people were shooting the scene with their mobile phones, even squatting down or raising their mobile phones to find a suitable angle. Snowy deliberately avoided using the phone camera to shoot her since she realized that the woman was naked.

    From just a glimpse of the situation, the audience in the live broadcast room probably figured out what was going on. Putting the dog meat debacle aside, they were specting about why this woman was putting on this kind of performance art.

    She was unlikely to be mentally ill, so she must have done it for a purpose.

    Just then, someone outside the crowd shouted anxiously, ¡°Let us pass! Let us pass!¡±

    A white figure desperately squeezed in from the periphery.

    People wanted to squeeze in to watch the excitement. Besides young girls like Snowy who may receive some preferential treatment, who else would¡¯ve made way for them?

    The man squeezed for a long time, squeezing so much he started sweating but he finally seeded.

    It was a middle-aged man wearing a white and yellow chef¡¯s uniform, a chef¡¯s hat, and an oily apron. His face was oily, and he has a long spoon in his hand. He looked like a chef who just ran out of the kitchen.

    After the chef squeezed in, he didn¡¯t stare at the woman like other men, but bowed at the people around him, begging: ¡°Everyone, don¡¯t look at her anymore! Please leave! We cannot do business at all with all of you here! ¡±

    The guests in the nearby shops were all attracted to see themotion. Even the employees in the shops ran out, especially from these restaurants. They could eat a meal less or eatte and be hungry, but this kind of show wasn¡¯t asmon.

    Everyone noticed that the chef ¡®s outfit had a light blue graphic mark on the chest depicting a bowl of fragrant meat. The text underneath is-Haiji Dog Meat Restaurant.

    This woman was standing near the entrance of the Haiji Dog Meat Restaurant for performance art. The business of the Haiji Dog Meat Restaurant was the first to be affected.

    No matter how much the chef begged, most of the onlookers simply ignored him, but a few people who came earlier and had seen enough left.

    The woman suddenly moved, her eyes fell on the mark on the master¡¯s chest. She stopped for a moment, then bent down, took out a rolled-up banner from the luggage, raised her arms to expand it, and slowly turned around so everyone could see it clearly.

    The banner read ¡°Dogs are human friends, don¡¯t eat friends.¡±

 Chapter 1437: Logical Thinking

    <h4>Chapter 1437: Logical Thinking</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After the woman in the performance art unfolded the banner, everyone in the audience, including the audience in the live broadcast room, suddenly realized that she used it to oppose eating dog meat.

    Just like the audience in the live room is divided into three factions, the attitude of the on-site audience to eating dog meat is also divided into three factions, which are supportive, opposed, and indifferent.

    However, everyone¡¯s perception of this woman¡¯s behavior has changed. At first, everyone suspected that she was mentally ill. Now that they know her purpose, no matter how you view dog meat, you have a little respect for her¡ªbecause few people can express their likes and dislikes in this way...how gracefully she had given her own views an image.

    Regardless of whether one agrees or not, he will at least admit it-she dared to express her opinion and dare to publicize her opinion in the world in such a shocking manner. This is what most people can¡¯t do and dare not do. Most people, no matter what they support or what they oppose, merely type away on the keyboard online.

    The chef is not only the head chef but also the owner of this newly opened dog meat restaurant. He pondered that there seemed to be a few dog meat restaurants in Binhai City, which seemed to be a business opportunity for him. So after nning, he chose to open the store here. He did not expect to encounter such a thing.

    At first, he thought he was unlucky. This crazy woman happened to be crazy at the door of his shop, but now he knows that she ising here for him!

    The gaze of the onlookers swam back and forth between him and her, growing in interest, knowing that a good show might be staged.

    The chef looked ready to cry. What can he do?

    If a man is making trouble at the shop door, he can get the guys in his shop to throw the man out. However, this is a woman and a woman who is indifferent. Under the eyes of everyone, he is afraid that it will cause more anger.

    This woman hase here and started to undress. No matter what people around her say, scold her, and persuade her, she keeps silent, making everyone wonder if she is dumb. Then she suddenly said, ¡°Friends, you all have friends and know how it feels to have friends. Dogs, although they look different from us and do not belong to the same species, dogs are also our friends. Do you have the heart to eat your friends?¡±

    The onlookers did not have any special reaction to her words. After all, this sounded quite reasonable, but if you think about it, the fake big empty speech is not convincing, at least not more convincing than her naked body.

    She also seems to be aware of this, and put it another way: ¡°Dear friends, do you know that there are norge meat dog breeding bases around Binhai? So, where do the dogs in this dog meat restaurante from?¡±

    This sentence finally shifted people¡¯s attention from her body and banner to her face.

    She paused, aggravating her tone, and continued, ¡°Yeah! They are stolen! It was stolen! It may be the dog you lost in your house or the dog you snatched from your neighbor¡¯s yard! Plus, all those stray dogs without an owner!¡±

    The onlookers suddenly panic.

    ¡°You...you talk nonsense!¡± The chef was anxious and pointed at her face with a long spoon, ¡°If you dare to talk nonsense, even if you are a woman, I will still hit you!¡±

    The woman ignored his intimidation, and she and he knew that he would not dare to do it in front of so many people. Otherwise, he would end up in the police station and cause the shop to close.

    She looked around the crowd and said, ¡°I know you want evidence. I investigated before I came. There were several meat dog breeding bases around Binhai. You may still find them on electronic maps. However, I have since visited all of them. Many of these dog meat breeding bases have either been closed for a long time, or the stock of dogs does not exceed thirty, which is not enough to supply the food consumption of dog meat houses.¡±

    People are suspicious. After all, this is her story. People want to see the evidence.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have evidence, and I don¡¯t need evidence. Just think about it, and you will understand the reason-to start a meat dog breeding base. You need to raise the dog to adulthood. You need to avoid the spread of canine gue and inject vines, and finally, sell dog meat. So, it¡¯s all about making money. Why not just start a pure breed breeding dog breeding base? As long as you raise your dog to two or three months old, you can sell it to pet shops and individuals Customers. The risks are smaller, the profits are much higher, and the sales cycle is shorter. Only when the brain is flooded with water, then will you abandon the high-margin breed dogs and raise dogs for meat instead!¡± She yelled.

    Her logic is very clear. It can be seen that it was made after careful preparation, and it is difficult for others to pick errors logically.

    The onlooker was not a fool. After a little thought, they felt that her words were logically sound.

    It is also necessary to pay attention to nutrition and also to inject vines. On the one hand, puppies can be sold to pet stores and customers at a high price when they are raised to two or three months old or even younger. On the other hand, to raise a dog till adulthood, then sell its meat by the pound to shops, which can earn more? Is this businessman a fool?

    Businessmen are not fools because they pay attention to profit margins.

    The dog meat shop must bnce costs. It is impossible to buy dog ??meat at too high a price, or else customers can¡¯t afford it. But can dog meat purchased at a low price really make meat dog farmers their money back?

    Even if you can get back your money, why not start a pure breed dog breeding base and chase after higher profits?

    After all, breeding dogs and breeding dogs for meat are simr in process. The former has a shorter cycle, and the former will not be inspected by the food safety department. Also, the former is definitely more profitable.

    As the woman said, the answer is already there, and no direct evidence is needed.

    The dog meat breeding bases that have not been closed are actually just a cover for the breeding base, in order to hide the true source of the dog meat they sell to the dog meat shop.

    The onlookers looked at the chef of the dog meat restaurant again, and his eyes were different from before.

    The chef¡¯s face was pale, and he panicked and said, ¡°Don¡¯t believe her gossip! The dog meat in my shop has formal purchase procedures!¡±

    However, such an exnation has no effect because everyone knows that the procedures can be faked, forged, and concealed. It is impossible for everyone to trace the dog meat in his store, but the logic cannot be faked unless he can provide a tit-for-tat view and refute the woman¡¯s logic.

    ¡°So do you all understand now? Most of the dogs in the doghouse are stolen and snatched dogs, and then sold to the doghouse, as well as stray dogs captured from the field. You don¡¯t even know what these dogs are fed before they are served to you on the table!¡±

    Everyone has a different point of view on eating dog meat and can support or oppose it, but she believes that everyone¡¯s views on food safety are the same, that is that any businessman who does not care about food safety at all; they all are damned!

 Chapter 1438: Costume Change Magic Trick

    <h4>Chapter 1438: Costume Change Magic Trick</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    This woman is very clever and pays great attention to her fighting strategies. She did not publicly exin why dog ??meat should not be eaten. Instead, from the perspective of food safety, she proimed why it is not safe to eat dog meat, and revealed that the source of dog meat in the dog meat shop was not hygienic. This gains people¡¯s support and sympathy.

    After the onlookers¡¯ thoughts were shocked and shaken, she hit the iron while it was hot and threw out new logic to support her arguments.

    ¡°Apart from the super-high-priced dog meat shops in first-tier cities, most of the dog meat sold in other dog meat shops are obtained informally, for the simple reason that dogs are not suitable forrge-scale breeding!¡± She said loudly.

    Pork, beef, mutton, chicken, duck, fish, and other meat sources aremonly found on people¡¯s tables. The reason they upy the mainstream of food and beverage is that they have bnced nutrition, taste, and price, and especially the low prices theymand. The poor cannot afford to eat meat, and the price can be kept low only with the help ofrge-scale farming.

    However, pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks, fish, and other poultry and domestic fish can be farmed on arge scale because they are mild-tempered herbivores and omnivores, so they can be farmed together, can be free-ranged farmed, and can do raised with just a handful of rice in a small farmyard, You can find a pasture and grass for cattle and sheep to weed, or you can raise a group of pigs around a corral with iron bars. The cost is very low, but it doesn¡¯t work for dogs.

    Although dogs are social animals, they are mainly carnivorous and have a mild personality.

    If a group of adult dogs is bred together, they will spontaneously bite each other to fight for leadership, and even fight to the death. Even if the dog king is decided, but when food appears, the dogs of the same rank will again start topete for the priority of food. It will cause all kinds of bruises, which obviously cannot be regarded as a reliable source of meat.

    In addition, the dogs on the farm are mobile. There are new dogsing in and old dogs leaving. It is impossible to have a long-term dog king, and it is impossible to form a stable social ss. This means that the dogs will keep fighting. It is almost impossible to farm on arge scale.

    Even the disciplined police dogs at the police dog training base follow the instinct of the dog poption. When they are held by the owner, they dare not make trouble, but when the owner leaves, the inherently proud police dogs will also fight.

    If there is a regr dog meat breeding base, starting from semirge dogs, they cannot be mixed and free-ranged farmed. Each dog must be kept in a separate cage until they reach adulthood, just like a police dog training base. However, the cost of breeding is high. If a dog that is raised cannot get more than one-hundred yuan per kilogram of meat, the dog shop will lose money. The base will need profits; after processing the meat, it must be able to double on the cost of making the meat in order to stay in business.

    Still the same idea...why go through so much trouble, when you can simply switch to breeding dogs to make money?

    If you want to understand this, then you will know where the cheap dog meates from in the dog meat restaurant.

    If only stealing was employed, that is not that bad. The key is the method of stealing dogs. They not only tie dogs up but also inject them with anesthesia darts, and feed them medicines for dogs. The medicine will stay in the dog meat and be ingested by humans.

    There are also stray dogs caught from rural fields. They all search trash for food. Indicators such as germs, parasites, and heavy metal content have long exceeded the maximum food safety control.s

    Now, even those born after the ¡¯90s have started to try maintaining good health. People are paying more and more attention to health, so it is difficult to ignore these health risks.

    This woman talked a lot about everything, from economic benefits, breeder psychology to the breeding model. There were also a few diners in the dog meat restaurant, but even the most loyal fans of dog meat, as long as it is reasonable, people have to admit that the logic she said is difficult to refute.

    The owner and head chef is also quite wronged. He feels that this is a market gap, and he thinks he is smart, seizing opportunities that others did not expect. However, he failed to think about why it is a market gap.

    In fact, he is also a victim. He bought dog meat from dog meat breeding bases, thinking that the dog meat he bought was regr breeding. He equated dog meat with ordinary meat such as beef and mutton and did not think much about it.

    With her causing such a ruckus, and that it is now the Inte age, the relevant videos must have spread by now. His business may be difficult to continue operating smoothly.

    Perhaps because she may have been living in an environment where she was taught to be carefully guarded everywhere, Snowy admired this woman very much. She admired her for daring to say her thoughts out loud and admired her for advocating her thoughts regardless of others¡¯ views about her.

    As her wishes can always be fulfilled, Snowy¡¯s growth into a woman is always the image of a good girl. The biggest rebellion, maybe that she insisted on doing live broadcasts, and this woman makes her feel like she is on the other extreme.

    The woman said a lot of words aloud, and her voice was a little hoarse. She also sweated a lot, and her oil was brightened by the sun.

    At that moment, there was a sudden rumble outside the crowd.

    ¡°The police are here!¡±

    ¡°Let us through! Let us through! Don¡¯t block here and affect the traffic order!¡±

    The police got wind of themotion. Several police cars are parked on the periphery. The policemen held loudspeakers and began to guide the crowd away and restore traffic order.

    When people saw the policeing, they didn¡¯t want to get themselves into trouble. Many went away, but the scene was very chaotic because there were too many people around.

    The woman responded very quickly. When she heard themotion from the police, she stopped talking, bent over, shoved the banner into the luggage, and pulled out a pair of sandals and a long dress from the luggage.

    Under Snowy¡¯s gaze staring at her, she first put on sandals, then throw on the dress from head to toe, stretched her hands to the back to zip herself up. Her oil paint waspletely covered by the ankle dress.

    Then, she tore off the rubber band of the ponytail behind her head, changed her hairstyle from a ponytail to a slightly curly shawl, andbed it with her fingers a few times, creating a messyyering.

    Finally, she put on a pair of stylish sunsses with a red frame.

    A series of movements that were as smooth as flowing clouds; she was almost like a brand new living person, be another person in the blink of an eye.

    Snowy looked down at her sneakers and cropped jeans in sorrow, and touched her short hair ends, sighing; she was also a woman. How could someone use her woman¡¯s advantage so well?

    Many people walked around like a headless fly, and few people noticed her changed image. Even when the police crowded into the crowd looking for the culprit of the congestion, they passed her by without paying attention to her, only picking up her abandoned luggage.

    She squeezed into a dense crowd of pedestrians, and soon passed into a quiet street with a sigh of relief.

    She thought that she had sessfully dumped everyone, but turned around and found that Snowy had been following her carefully and was not far away.

 Chapter 1439: Dating Show

    <h4>Chapter 1439: Dating Show</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Snowy also didn¡¯t know why she was following her. Maybe she thought this woman was very interesting. It was the type of person she had never seen before, so she could not help but follow her. However, the camera of the mobile phone was facing herself, so as not to offend this woman and invade her personal privacy.

    To be reasonable, once this woman¡¯s identity is revealed, she might be detained on charges of ravenous behavior and blocking traffic, right? Snowy is not very clear about thew. Although she feels that this woman¡¯s behavior may be walking in the gray area and on the edge of thew, she admires her courage to speak out and does not want her to be imprisoned because of her own curiosity.

    However, when that woman turned and faced Snowy, Snowy became embarrassed. She didn¡¯t know how to exin her behavior. She did not want to be treated as a reporter or a follower.

    ¡°Why are you following me?¡± The woman asked politely.

    ¡°That ...¡± Snowy said in a whisper: ¡°I was watching you just now...it¡¯s amazing, it¡¯s amazing!¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± she responded ndly, ¡°I saw you too, have you been shooting videos with your cell phone?¡±

    ¡°Ah! This ...¡± Snowy quickly waved her hand and rified. ¡°Actually, I am an outdoor live broadcast anchor. I came here identally. When I saw a lot of people surrounding you, I squeezed in to join the fun and see what was actually going on. I didn¡¯t mean to shoot you ... ... ¡±

    ¡°I know, your phone has been taking pictures elsewhere, everywhere else but me. I didn¡¯t see you taking any pictures of me since earlier.¡± She was calm. Even though she was surrounded by so many people whilst naked, she still managed to look around calmly. In the process of doing so, she just happened to notice Snowy. She noticed that Snowy¡¯s phone has been shooting sideways at the surroundings instead of facing her body straight, just like everyone else.

    Snowy was surprised and admired her even more. Had it been other people, it would be difficult to observe the crowd and still stay soposed.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to bother you. I¡¯ll leave now.¡± She bowed her head and apologized, and then wanted to leave.

    ¡°Wait a minute,¡± She called Snowy, ¡°You said you were a live broadcast anchor?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Snowy nodded.

    ¡°How many fans do you have?¡± She asked again.

    Snowy picked up his mobile phone and looked at it, ¡°70,000. Less than 100,000, but there are not so many people online today, because I didn¡¯t do a live broadcast preview today. Also, I don¡¯t know how many zombie fans there are ...¡±

    ¡°Enough,¡± she said.

    When Snowy¡¯s words were interrupted, she was so scared that she didn¡¯t dare to say anything. She wondered what this ¡°enough¡± meant, did she think that she was too noisy?

    The woman thought for a while, pointing at Snowy¡¯s cell phone, ¡°Is the live broadcast still going on?¡±

    ¡°Um.¡± Snowy nodded.

    ¡°As a form ofpensation, I¡¯m going to be the protagonist of this live broadcast, is that okay?¡± She said unexpectedly.

    ¡°What?¡±

    Snowy couldn¡¯t respond immediately as she did not expect this. ¡°I mean ... you want me to shoot you and show others how you look?¡±

    ¡°Is there a problem with my appearance?¡± She looked down at her ankle dress and pondered a little.

    ¡°No, I did not mean that ...¡±

    Snowy was embarrassed to remind her that, what if she showed her face to the audiences online, and someone recognized her. With that, what happens if they reported her to the authorities? After all, she did cause a mess and ruckus earlier in front of the dog meat restaurant...

    In addition, is there any problem with her appearance? Snowy is not sure, because the two of them are quite different in style. Also, it is very clear to her that, what is underneath that dress, once the dress is gone, is all bares...

    ¡°That¡¯s all right, when I put on a good amount of makeup, even my mother won¡¯t be able to recognize me.¡± She reached out to Snowy.

    ¡°What?¡± Snowy blinked confusedly.

    ¡°Lend me your make up,¡± she said and patted her body. ¡°Do you think I have somewhere to put my own cosmetics?¡±

    The dress didn¡¯t even have a pocket, let alone cosmetics. She didn¡¯t even bring her ID, wallet, and cell phone.

    ¡°Uh ... yeah ... but I only wear lipstick and sunscreen ...¡± Snowy said awkwardly.

    Thedy: ¡°...forget it, let me fix my hair then.¡±

    With that, she gathered her shawl hair slightly towards the sides of her face, and let the hair cover her face as much as possible. Her entire temperament changed suddenly, and her face became smaller.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s get started.¡± She finished her hairstyle change and waved at Snowy, ¡°Why are you so far away? Will you be able to get a good take of me? Don¡¯t worry. I also won¡¯t eat you up if youe just a bit closer.¡±

    Snowy approached with a smile, raised her phone, and confirmed again: ¡°Can I really shoot you and reveal it online?¡±

    ¡°Come on, yes you can,¡± she said generously.

    With that, Snowy raised her phone and pointed it at her.

    The live show was always on. Although the audience could only see the shaking floor, they roughly guessed what happened by the sounds andmotion that they are hearing. After seeing her face on the screen, they immediately went crazy.

    ¡°Wow! Beautiful!¡±

    ¡°Some beauties are better looking in clothes, and some are better looking undressed! So cool!¡±

    ¡°Can this beauty leave her contact information behind?¡±

    ¡°Beauty, let¡¯s be friends!¡±

    She can see that many audiences are very interested in this wild, maverick girl. Besides, she is not bad, and her figure is...highly voluptuous.

    There are even a lot of girls in the chat begging for her contact.

    The audience in the live broadcast room is young, open-minded, and generally epts alternative people that look slightly different from themselves.

    She wore sunsses and started to wave to the camera.

    Snowy: ¡°Today, Snowy wees a very special guest in my live broadcast room! As for how special...everyone can just let it go and open your minds wide! Can you introduce yourself to everyone? Of course, personal information need not be described in detail. ¡±

    She pursed her lips and smiled, and then said, ¡°It¡¯s impossible to tell you my real name, so just call me suspect Y.¡±

    Snowy responded. ¡°It¡¯s a very interesting name ... Wee, suspect Y!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s an honor to be a live guest here on your show.¡± Sheughed.

    As she couldn¡¯t see the barrage ofments on the screen of her phone, Snowy asked the top few questions that the audience mentioned the most.

    ¡°Everyone wants to know your contact information. There are still many people asking for contacts. How about it, would you consider it?¡±

    Suspect Y looked up slightly, as if she thought about it seriously, and smiled, ¡°Well, it¡¯s not impossible...I reallyck a boyfriend.¡±

    The audience was fooling around, asking for her contact. It was, of course, a joke. They didn¡¯t expect that she really agreed at one go, which made the audience temporarily do not know how to answer her.

    ¡°But I have high requirements for my boyfriend, and it is estimated that a few people can satisfy my needs,¡± she added.

    Snowy is slightly embarrassed, is this live broadcast going to change from exploring the performance art to being a dating show?

    ¡°Then...since everyone is very enthusiastic, can you talk about your requirements for your boyfriend?¡± Since it was her own decision to ask this, Snowy could only continue to ask her down this path.

    Suspect Y pointed to herself, ¡°Since I am a very paranoid animal protectionist and environmentalist, I ask my boyfriend to be vegetarian, do not eat meat, none at all. How about that, will anyone like me?¡±

 Chapter 1440: Person with Paranoia

    <h4>Chapter 1440: Person with Paranoia</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    As soon as suspect Y stated her requirements for a boyfriend, the army of love hunters went cold immediately.

    If she had required her boyfriend to have a car, a house, money, looks, and height, even if the conditions are harsh, such as 180cm / 180w / 180m2 / 180min / 180mm, she believed that there are, given that there are so many viewers in the live broadcast room, a few that can barely reach or approach these standards. However, she even asked her boyfriend to be a vegetarian like her. This ... surprised a lot of the 180ers in the group.

    Even if the post-90s are concerned about health, few people can im that they are pure vegetarian, right?

    ¡°The boyfriend you want, isn¡¯t it a monk?¡±

    As soon as these words came out, the other audienceughed.

    Someone joked: ¡°Even if you are a monk, few of them are really vegetarian, right?¡±

    ¡°I y with women, I drink, I eat meat, but I am a good monk!¡±

    Snowy asked whilst talking to her mobile phone: ¡°Are there any warriors in the audience who are willing to be vegetarian for life for love?¡±

    No, there is every type of person in the group, but there are no vegetarians. Although someizens who believe in Buddhism will be vegetarian for a short period of time, it is a little more difficult to say that theymit to it for a lifetime out of love... It will be an arduous task.

    As soon as one thought about leaving good food such as barbecue, fried chicken, meatballs, braised pork, barbecued pork, boiled pork, sweet and sour pork, and so on out of one¡¯s diet, the room that was lively with chatter momentarily went all out silent.

    ¡°Hey, Maslow¡¯s theory of the hierarchy of needs is really brilliant. If there is no meat, no matter how good love is, it will not be satisfying!¡±

    ¡°I used to think I was willing to give everything to get off being single, but now I find that perhaps I am still too young!¡±

    ¡°Me too, I would not mind being a bootlicker for her, but she does not want a dog, but a rabbit!¡±

    Netizensmented and felt that they had not the type of birth that they desired.

    Suspect Y added on to themotion, ¡°If there are no boys, girls will be just fine too. I am fine with both male and female.¡±

    There are a few sisters who do have the idea of ??being vegetarian, but they just stay on the idea and do not realize it due to the pressure and eyes around them.

    Imagine that, once you start to be a vegetarian, your parents are the first to be the enemy against your diet.

    ¡°Why do you not eat meat? How can you grow up without meat? Do you want me to force you to eat?¡±

    Then, it will be followed by ssmates and colleagues around.

    ¡°You¡¯re only vegetarian? Sorry, don¡¯t go to the party. Otherwise, everyone will have a bad time.¡±

    Finally, it is yourself.

    ¡°I¡¯m not feeling well today. Is it because I don¡¯t eat meat?¡±

    ¡°I read a popr science article, and it said that being vegetarian seems to affect the quality of life ...¡±

    China¡¯s current society is not particrly tolerant. The very people who can withstand these pressures are either those in solitary living high up in the mountains or someone...who can ignore the judging eyes of the surroundings, much like Suspect Y.

    The audience asked themselves. They may be able to eat vegetarian for a month, but for a longer time ...it will be difficult.

    If you want to eat a lifetime of vegetarian food, you might as well be a monk and earn a sry!

    Everyone sent out a lot of remarks and focused her attention on the vegetarian food she said but ignored the ¡°paranoid animal protectionists and environmentalists,¡± she said earlier.

    Snowy asked, ¡°Sister, you say you are an animal protectionist and environmentalist? Then I probably understand why you did it ...¡±

    Suspect Y nodded, ¡°Don¡¯t forget the word ¡®paranoid.¡¯ I know I¡¯m paranoid. In the eyes of many people, it is considered apostasy, but isn¡¯t there a book? Paranoia: History of the Madman. Much of history was created by paranoia, and I am willing to be such a paranoid.¡±

    Snowy understands this even more. Some people just don¡¯t want topromise with the world. They may be paranoid in this area or paranoid in that area. As suspect Y said, the winners and the great losers are often particrly paranoid in certain areas. They are relentless in identifying a certain direction and work tirelessly towards it.

    From the founders of various countries to the Adventists and rescuers in science fiction, which of their struggles is not deemed to be paranoid in the eyes of others?

    Suspect Y is just...it just happens that she is to be particrly paranoid about animal protectionism and environmentalism. Thus, there is no need to look at her with colored sses.

    She picked up a corner of her dress with her fingertips. ¡°I¡¯m not just vegetarian. My clothes are all linen. I refuse all fur and down materials. My sandals are made of nts. I only wash my face with water and brush my teeth with branches, rejecting disposables. Even my toilet paper is straw toilet paper...and my sunsses, the temples are wooden. If you want to be my boyfriend or girlfriend, I¡¯m afraid the pressure will be great! ¡±

    She looked at Snowy again, ¡°I just tried to borrow cosmetics from you just now; in fact, I was merely testing you. This is because I don¡¯t use cosmetics, and the oil paint on my body is also a natural oil paint prepared by myself.¡±

    Snowy and the audience were astounded. Environmental protection and animal protection to such a degree are simply unimaginable.

    ¡°Surprised? I said I was paranoid.¡± She shrugged. ¡°But you don¡¯t have to think of me as a scourge. This is because I don¡¯t hold others to my own standards-except, my boyfriends. I just hope that everyone can restrain their desires a little, choose to eat more vegetables and fruits, and try to eat less meat on a daily basis. ¡±

    She added: ¡°But dogs are human friend, unlike other poultry and domestic animals. There are obviously so many other types of meats to choose from. Why do you want to eat dogs and consumer dog meat? I simply do not understand, and so I will notpromise on this. ¡±

    Snowy asked, ¡°So, do you have a dog or other types of pets?¡±

    She thinks that Suspect Y likely treats dogs differently because she probably owns one and thus views them differently.

    ¡°No, I think that if you love an animal, let them live freely. This is especially so for dogs. They need ample space and time for various activities, which, s, I cannot provide at the moment.¡± Suspect Y shook her head with regret.

    Snowy could not urately describe her feelings, but this is really a person of personality and a highly principled person...

    ¡°Also, I am not only against eating dog meat but also against all animal performances, which is a vition of animal nature.¡± Suspect Y said firmly, ¡°These are things such as monkey show, circus, whale or dolphin performances... etc.¡±

    Snowy shrank her neck and felt a little guilty because her American summer vacation was scheduled to include a tour of the killer whale show.

    ¡°As for the next ...¡± Suspect Y didn¡¯t take her phone and looked up at the sky. ¡°It¡¯s gettingte, and I have to go somewhere.¡±

    ¡°Where?¡± Snowy asked with interest, ¡°Can I go together with you?¡±

    Suspect Y nodded: ¡°Yes, I heard that there is a pet store nearby that forces cats to perform shows, such as dancing. You can help me find the exact location on your mobile phone.¡±

    Snowy: ¡°???¡±

 Chapter 1441: The Pains of Growing Up

    <h4>Chapter 1441: The Pains of Growing Up</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In fact, many people have seen it in the live broadcast room. The woman who ims to be suspect Y is probably a richdy with a good family. At least she doesn¡¯t have to worry about her livelihood because she can devote herself to strict animal protection and the environment. This means that she has the money and leisure time. Ordinary people are tired from work and life and have no energy left to live in an environmentally friendly way like her because that life is obviously expensive.

    Just like the western developed countries which are currently pushing environmental protection and animal protection, the poor countries can only watch the show of these big brothers silently.

    They just didn¡¯t expect that her spearhead initiative was not only aimed at reducing the eating of meat but also pointed at animal protections in the blink of an eye.

    Throughout Binhai city, Snowy had only heard of one pet shop where cats can dance.

    Theizens in the live broadcast room are even more enthusiastic, and they coaxed Snowy to take her there quickly. Everyone wants to see the conversation between these two big brothers who have very different ideas on living.

    Suspect Y couldn¡¯t see the barrage of messages. She noticed Snowy¡¯s expression of both crying andughing, and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Is it not convenient for you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not inconvenient ...¡± Snowy slowed down and tried to dy the time so that she can think. She was wondering if she should take this woman there? Would it cause trouble for Zhang Zian after she arrives at the pet store? The lesson from the Haiji Dog Meat restaurant is still in sight. If she arrives at the pet shop and does the same trick of taking off her clothes...it is estimated that Zhang Zian will also join the crowd to watch her.

    However, suspect Y only asked Snowy to lead the way because she did not bring a mobile phone. As long as she made up her mind, even if she didn¡¯t go today, it would not be a big deal for her to head down another day, so it was only a matter of time before she heads there.

    As a result, Snowy decided to take her with her, for at least she was there. Maybe she could be the peacekeeper at key moments.

    ¡°I know that pet shop. I can take you there.¡± Snowy nodded, then waved to call a taxi.

    ¡°Don¡¯t call a car, isn¡¯t there a car there?¡±

    Suspect Y pressed Snowy¡¯s hand and pointed to the side.

    Snowy: ¡°...¡±

    This car is not another car but is a row of shared bicycles parked there.

    Needless to say, taxis are definitely not environmentally friendly, so you have to ride a bicycle.

    Since she wants to ride a bike, Snowy can only ride a bike. Otherwise, suspect Y doesn¡¯t know the way.

    Snowy hasn¡¯t ridden a bike for a long time, but luckily, she is wearing three-quarter jeans. She is more worried about how suspect Y will ride in her dress.

    Suspect Y first stepped onto the seat, drew the corner of the ankle skirt near the knee, then tightened it, and tied a knot, if you ignore this knot, it looks like a slim pencil skirt. Since her oil paint was not applied to the calf, it was not noticeable.

    ¡°Help me scan the code, thank you.¡± She patted the back of the seat.

    She definitely can¡¯t broadcast live when riding a bicycle. Snowy¡¯s bicycle skills are not so powerful, and it is easy for the journey to be dangerous. Thus, she told the audience about this and then temporarily stopped the live broadcast, and agreed to continue the broadcast when she is near the pet store.

    Sharing a bike by itself is not easy enough, plus Snowy has not been riding for a long time. The bike was crooked as soon as she hits the road, as if drunk. She was sweating profusely, but suspect Y, who was wearing a skirt, is very skillful. She even rides around in circles around Snowy. Fortunately, this street is rtively quiet, and there is very little traffic to and from. Thus, their riding does not affect other people.

    After riding for a while, Snowy regained the feeling of riding she had before and slowly became skilled at it.

    The twodies rode their bikes to Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

    On the way, since the live broadcast has stopped, there is no need to worry about protecting Suspect Y¡¯s identity. Snowy can ask some more in-depth questions, such as how much inconvenience a highly environmentally friendly life will bring, and when she chose such a life. What is the opportunity of this life, what is the impact, whether there are factors of religious belief, and whether after she choose such a life, did she regret it at all. After all, this choice has made her a lonely person who is not understood by outsiders.

    In order to avoid angering Suspect Y, and to avoid excessive vition of her personal privacy, Snowy asked very carefully. A question often took a long time to be answered. Nevertheless, she is doing so because she was very curious about this lifestyle.

    In addition to being serious when talking about environmental protection and animal health, Suspect Y has been talking about things in a cynical tone earlier, making it difficult to differentiate as to which of her words are serious and which are just jokes. Although she is almost thirty years old, she is more lively and cheerful than Snowy and was like a carefree girl.

    However, Snowy feels that someone who is so determined and capable of making such a big sacrifice must not be simple inside.

    Sure enough, suspect Y converged and smiled seriously while riding the bicycle, and said, ¡°When did I start ... Is it about vegetarian food? Actually, I can¡¯t remember it ... At first, be it intentionally or unintentionally, I was reducing the amount of meat I ate. Unknowingly, I had soon removed all of the meat. Then,ter, I discovered that I could live well without meat, so I simply stopped eating it. Do you know? You can save a lot of time without meat. Vegetables and fruits can be eaten just by washing and cutting them!¡±

    When she was a teenager, she was simr to other girls of her age. She liked to travel around the city to find a variety of delicious foods hidden in alleyways and shared them with friends with simr interests.

    At that time, she was slender and sensitive. She couldn¡¯t bear to dissect the frog in biology ss. The little white rabbit raised by her friend died. She was even sadder than her friend. She would put the cicadas that were blown down by the wind and rain back on the tree. However, many of the same age girls will do these things, and after doing so, they will be praised by others, saying that she is a very kind girl.

    She didn¡¯t think the bullfrog in the tray had anything to do with the frog in biology ss.

    Later, she once traveled to other ces. Other people asked her to eat roasted wholembs. If it wasn¡¯t for the store¡¯s proof that the raw materials were fresh by dragging out the livemb, she might still be an ordinary girl.

    She saw the poormb resisting as it was dragged out in front of them and yelled loudly after they saw it as it was struggling to leave the room, it looked back at her.

    That¡¯s the look that changed her.

    Perhaps she was fantasizing, but she thinks she did see something different in those eyes, such as the desire for survival and the fear of death.

    At that time, she was too shocked and confused and did not have time to stop and think. This littlemb turned into a golden roasted wholemb, but she had no appetite. She barely took a bite and immediately vomited.

    From then on, she ate less and less meat and began to think more deeply about things than children of her age. She also flipped through rted books, feeling that her distance from her peers had suddenly widened, and she walked alone in the darkness without being truly understood.

 Chapter 1442: Ambiguous Boundaries

    <h4>Chapter 1442: Ambiguous Boundaries</h4>

    Zhang Zian drove back to the city, and the phone rang several times whilst he was on the road, but because it was inconvenient to look at the phone when he was driving, it had been ignored.

    At about noon, he nned to have a meal at Lee¡¯s snack bar. He intends to pick up some box lunches for his staff and the barbecue meat for the elves back, instead of sending someone toe deliver lunch to him. He parked the car at the door of Lee¡¯s snack bar. He entered the store and ordered a rice bowl, sat down, and waited for the meal toe up. Then, he picked up the phone to check what was going on.

    The messages he received were from a few familiar customers. In other words, these are his sand sculpture customers whose crazy about sand sculptures. They usually send sand sculptures to each other, and asionally ask some questions about pets.

    In addition, these customers seem to be fans of Snowy¡¯s Live broadcast.

    The message they sent made Zhang Zian terrified.

    ¡°Oh, hurry up, close your shop, and run away! Don¡¯t even think about opening up for business today!¡±

    ¡°You must be in control at the moment, even if there is a beauty! Do not ignore indecent assault! Do not listen to indecent assault!¡±

    ¡°Although the Sister is beautiful and wild, you must hold firm!¡±

    ¡°We bears will never be ves! You can choose to eat bamboo, but you cannot give up your right to eat meat!¡±

    What¡¯s so special about this? What do all these mean?

    Snowy didn¡¯t give a preview of the live broadcast this morning. Even if he hadn¡¯t had time to watch it, he couldn¡¯t watch the live broadcast while driving. Thus, he couldn¡¯t figure out the situation at all.

    Of course, thankfully, he didn¡¯t watch it. Otherwise, when he sees the earlier scene in front of the dog meat restaurant, there is a possibility of a car ident ...

    He took a closer look. The sending time of these pieces of information was twenty or thirty minutes ago. What does this mean?

    ...

    Snowy can understand that there are often such bridges in movies and novels, as well as in real life. At a moment when everything around seems to be ordinary, it may be an opportunity to engrave a key moment in someone¡¯s heart. Presumably, suspect Y is also like this. The helplessmb turned into a cooked Chinese dish. It had a strong impact on a girl who was growing physically and mentally and drove her to a different direction in life.

    ¡°To say that life is inconvenient, that¡¯s for sure. Parents don¡¯t understand, people around us shooting weird looks... When I go out to meet with friends and say I am a vegetarian, others will always think that I am joking or losing weight. They would even put the best pieces of meat in my bowl and te. It¡¯s okay for them to persuade me to eat meat in this manner ... Do you know? When you reject others¡¯ kindness over and over again, others will gradually alienate you.¡±

    Suspect Y pedaled the bicycle easily, her sunsses frame reflected the bright sunlight, and the corner of her mouth said those words with a smile about the heavy past. This made Snowy worried and felt sad for her as if she saw her friend slowly leave.

    ¡°Did you regret it?¡±

    Snowy hesitated for a long time and asked another question again.

    Suspect Y¡¯s smile froze, then she shook his head, ¡°I¡¯m very sorry about it, but I didn¡¯t regret it.¡±

    Snowy did not know if this was her stubbornness or sincerity, but she did not continue to probe further because she felt somewhat cruel if she did.

    ¡°Why...why are you opposed to animal shows?¡±

    Actually, this is what Snowy wants to ask the most.

    ¡°Have you been to Thand? Have you seen an elephant show?¡± Suspect Y asked her back.

    Snowy shook her head. Although Thand is a popr destination for Chinese outbound travels, Snowy has never been there. As her name suggests, she is a person that is very afraid of the heat.

    ¡°Elephants are very docile, but they are very clever. So, the locals have used them as an endless money-making tool. Starting from baby elephants, they were forced to ept people with sticks, whips, and hunger. Orders, contrary to nature, are given to please the audience. They are even tortured to paint with their tender noses...isn¡¯t it cruel?¡±

    Suspect Y gave a smile and said indignantly: ¡°Other animal shows, like monkeys or ck bear juggling in a circus, although I haven¡¯t seen them, I think they are all about the same. They use cruel violence to drive animals to make money for people. Fortunately, these things are deemed old fashioned and not that many people are interested in watching them. Also, thew on animal protection has slowly spread; otherwise I don¡¯t know how many monkeys and ck bears will continue to be injured!¡±

    She sighed slightly. ¡°But there are new types of animal shows, such as the killer whale show in the San Diego Oceanarium. I n to stop this despicable behavior when I have time to go to the United States! Not only that, the despicable acts even stretch out to include cute cat! I can¡¯t figure it out. Some people forced the cat to learn to dance in order to sell cats. God knows how much abuse the poor cats suffered in the process of learning to dance ... ¡±

    As she said it, she can¡¯t resolve the hate she felt and pped the handlebars, as if to beat the unscrupulous pet shop owner.

    Snowy would like to justify for Zhang Zian. This is because the pet shop is different from the circus and the likes. Plus, the circus is only open to the audience during the performance, and the pet shop is open at least twelve hours a day. If the kittens suffer from abuse, customers can definitely see it, because the customers who enter the store are not all blind.

    But she thought for a while and decided not to go further, because after all, she didn¡¯t know Zhang Zian¡¯s method of taming cats. Once asked, she couldn¡¯t answer.

    She decided to go around in circles on the topic and said, ¡°What if ... I mean, if the animals were not abused during training?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Suspect Y frowned.

    Snowy remembered some of the stories she heard in the pet store and said, ¡°Or, what is the difference between abuse and normal training? For example, when a pet dog was just bought home, he will definitely not control his or her pee and mess up the house. Random urination, biting the sofa with their teeth, making a mess in the room... but this is the nature of dogs. If you train them to control the time and ce of urination and punish them for biting and scratching ¨C is this also considered abusive? After all, this is also against the dog¡¯s nature. ¡±

    Suspect Y was stunned. She hadn¡¯t thought about it, hadn¡¯t actually visited a pet store, and hadn¡¯t actually raised a dog.

    What is the boundary between abuse and normal training?

    ¡°You seem to understand this a lot, yeah? You have dogs at home?¡± She asked curiously.

    Snowy smiled and shook her head. ¡°My house has a cat, but the uncle next door keeps a very skinny dog ... But even if I have a cat, I still have to train it. After changing a new environment for my snowball, at first, It didn¡¯t know how to go to the toilet in the cat litter, and my room smelled very badly.

    ¡°Cats ... I want cats too.¡± Suspect Y showed envy and longing. ¡°But it is against the spirit of environmental protection.¡±

    Snowy wondered how raising a cat had anything to do with environmental protection. At this moment, she turned her eyes and was surprised to find that Zhang Zian¡¯s Wuling Hong Guang MPV did not stop at the pet shop door, but was parked at the snack shop door.

    ¡°Stop! You didn¡¯t bring any money. As a form of thank you for participating in my live broadcast, I shall invite you to lunch!¡± She said, pointing to the snack bar.

 Chapter 1443: So Delicious that I Cry

    <h4>Chapter 1443: So Delicious that I Cry</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was about noon. Suspect Y did not have a wallet or a mobile phone, and of course, she had no money to buy meals. Snowy saw that the Wuling Hong Guang MPV stopped at the snack bar door, and judged that Zhang Zian should not be at the pet shop at this time. Thus, she quickly responded to the situation and invited Suspect Y to have lunch together with her. This was mainly to avoid bringing trouble into the pet store and affecting people¡¯s business.

    ¡°You will like to treat me to lunch? Well, thank you in advance.¡±

    Suspect Y looked towards where Snowy¡¯s finger was pointing and saw the ¡°Li Shizun Sucking Cat Snack Bar¡± thoughtfully, and said, ¡°I¡¯ve heard of cat cafes. I didn¡¯t expect there to have cat eating restaurants? I heard that cats in cat cafes are too tired to cope with customers and often don¡¯t get enough rest, but I don¡¯t know what ¡®s going on at this restaurant. Is it worse? ¡±

    Snowy: ¡°... I think seeing is believing.¡±

    They stopped the bicycle by the side of the road, Snowy could not care less about locking up the bicycle, and quickened her pace and walked a few steps. First, she saw Zhang Zian sitting in the store and ying with his mobile phone through the ss door. She was relieved.

    There is a sign saying, ¡°Air conditioner is on¡± on the shop door. Snowy was touched by the word ¡°air conditioner.¡±

    With that, she locked the bicycles, and the two pushed the door open to enter.

    In addition to Zhang Zian, there are three to four people eating at the shop. The shop didn¡¯t fill up as before, and they did not have to wait in line. This is because of the previous insect disaster, and the weather was too hot. Thus, people were toozy toe out and would rather order take out.

    The room is very quiet, and the soft cold wind of the air conditioner istes the summer heat to the outdoors.

    Snowy felt around for the paper towel in her bag and wanted to wipe her sweat. However, she estimated that taking out this ordinary non-environment-friendly paper towel may cause suspect Y to jeer at her, so she chose not to wipe her sweat.

    A few cats wandered around the shop leisurely. They were all ordinary cats, or at most mixed with the blood of some pure breed cats.

    Zhang Zian heard that store door opened and closed, but did not look back, thinking that it was just some ordinary guests, and continued to browse the news at hand while waiting for the food to be prepared.

    In the whole store, he is the only one who was not ying with the cats. After all, this is a snack bar featuring cats, so he did look a little different.

    The other three to four people are also young people, white-cor workers who work nearby and used their lunch break toe here to eat and y with cats.

    In order to give the cat a space to move and to serve food conveniently, the tables in the store are all set against the wall. Snowy first chose a table parallel to Zhang Zian, and sat down close to the door herself, which is out of the sightline of Zhang Zian. This is to prevent Zhang Zian from seeing her and saying hello.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to continue the live broadcast?¡± Suspect Y reminded Snowy when she looked uncertain.

    ¡°Oh ... what is that. Why don¡¯t you order first.¡±

    Snowy raised her phone and started the live broadcast room.

    ¡°Everyone has been waiting for a long time. I am back!¡± Snowy said, ¡°But we haven¡¯t arrived at the Pet Store. Currently, we havee to the snack shop that we visited before to solve our lunch first. What do you eat at noon? Even if you work, no matter how busy you are with your studies, eat well!¡±

    Zhang Zian heard Snowy¡¯s voice and stared at her in doubt, thinking if he should say hello to her. However, he thought about it, and what she said seemed strange, because the snack bar and pet shop were actually very close, just a few steps away across the road. The straight line distance may be at most 50 meters. If there is something going on, why should she dy it and head to the snack bar instead?

    In addition, she obviously saw him, so why note over to say hello?

    It seems to be strange, isn¡¯t it?

    He moved his gaze and looked at the strange girl opposite Snowy, although she seemed a little older. It was not a problem to call her a sister.

    He nced for a few moments. The girl¡¯s skin color was dark and slender, and she looked like an outdoor sportsman, but he wondered what she and Snowy want to do by going to the pet shop. If you buy pets, it doesn¡¯t seem to be worthy of a live broadcast.

    At this moment, Aunty Li came over and asked Snowy and the girl what they will like to order.

    Snowy has been to this store before, and she was chatting with Aunty Li, and then ordering a fresh rice bowl with rice-in fact, she wanted to order pineapple grits, but taking into ount the feelings of suspect Y, she still ordered a vegetarian dish.

    ¡°Vegetable sd and fruit tter, thank you.¡± Suspect Y only nced at the menu and decided.

    Aunty Li hesitated, ¡°The main course ... you don¡¯t want anything?¡±

    In the opinion of Aunty Li, eating only vegetables and fruits at noon is not much, and soon one will be hungry.

    ¡°No, I usually only eat fruits and vegetables. I¡¯ll eat again if I am hungry.¡± Suspect Y said, watching the cats in the shop.

    Most people who open restaurants, especially the waiters hired outside, don¡¯t talk much to guests. The guests can order whatever they want, and they have nothing to say about that. Unless the guest asks to rmend special dishes, they may talk about it. If they talk too much, it might make their guests feel ufortable.

    However, Aunty Li¡¯s personality is simple and enthusiastic. She saw that the girl¡¯s small body was too thin, which made her distressed, and the girl did not seem to be able to eat because she was poor. After all, the price of fruit sd was not cheap. So she advised: ¡°Girl, you can¡¯t just eat these, you have to eat some meat, staple foods, or something else. Otherwise, your body will break down ... why not try our beef and green onion cake? Take a bite and eat it! It ¡®s so delicious, very delicious! ¡±

    With that, Aunty Li also nced at Zhang Zian, adding: ¡°Even the cats next door cry much to want to eat these!¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°...¡± Although Fina was very stubborn and particr about beef patties, it wasn¡¯t to the point of crying?

    Cats are also not suitable to eat beefcakes rich in starch and full of green onions, so ...

    Suspect Y didn¡¯t understand the meaning, thinking that the so-called cat next door refers to a cat raised by a neighbor and didn¡¯t care.

    Since she started eating vegetarian food, she has heard too many simr persuasions. She stayed calm andughed: ¡°Madam, don¡¯t worry! To tell you the truth, since I started eating only vegetables and fruits, my body is healthier than before. Also, the number of illnesses I get has also decreased. Migraine, hypertension, obesity, e, and other chronic diseases and health hazards that have always troubled me before have disappeared ... Vegetarianism brought me all of this and made me gain much. It ¡®s good for your body and mind. Thank you for your kindness, but I only need vegetables and fruits, and I sincerely rmend that if you have the opportunity to try vegetarian food, you should, as it is good for your health. ¡±

    As a middle-aged and elderly woman, Aunty Li is overweight, so she said this to her.

    Aunt Li heard this, and her mouth dropped open. ording to her many years of living experience and the experience of educating her children, eating only some foods are not good, let alone only eat vegetables and fruits. However, the way this girl said it made it seem as if she was not lying. This girl does look healthy. Perhaps then she was too nosy.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t listen anymore, and interjected, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, have you been to the hospital for a checkup recently? Do you have a fatty liver?¡±

 Chapter 1444: Fatty Liver

    <h4>Chapter 1444: Fatty Liver</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Suspect Y is enthusiastically advocating the benefits of the popr vegetarian diet to Aunty Li, just as she did every time she was persuaded to eat meat, but she was interrupted unexpectedly by Zhang Zian.

    Her smile was cold on her face because this strange man found a loophole in her words-she did have a fatty liver, although it was mild.

    Before starting a vegetarian diet, she was passionate about various foods. She was a slightly fat girl with high body fat, high blood pressure, and sometimes migraines. Her face was also peppered by e because of eating oily foods often. She did not lie, though. Since she became a vegetarian, these symptoms have been alleviated and disappeared, and she has since be deeply obsessed with vegetarian food. She believes that vegetarian food is not only a need for environmental protection and animal health but also a health need.

    The only problem is that she was found to have mild fatty liver during the physical examination. This is actually a small problem. In a modern society where everyone is getting excess nutrition, anyone who has a mild or moderate fatty liver is embarrassed to go out to say hello to people. However, for it appears In her body, she was still a little bit worried.

    She didn¡¯t ask the doctor¡¯s opinion, because the doctor¡¯s answer can be expected. It must be to make her a bnced diet. Don¡¯t just eat vegetarian food. Such a textbook-type answer is meaningless to her.

    She took it for granted that the problem was with the staple foods, such as rice, cakes, noodles, etc. It may be that these starchy foods were eaten too much by her, which led to fatty liver.

    As a result, she further severely restricted her diet and excluded starchy staple foods as much as possible from recipes. In addition to eating a small amount of rhizomes, such as sweet potatoes and purple potatoes, fruits, and vegetables, basically upied the main position of her recipes. However, her fatty liver has not disappeared.

    She was wondering, how did this strange man who had never met her know that she had a fatty liver? Is he an old Chinese medicine expert who knows everything? The problem is that he can¡¯t talk about being old at all.

    If he knows her through someone else, that¡¯s not likely, because she didn¡¯t tell anyone about her fatty liver. Other than the doctor who knows, nobody knows, so unless he can get her medical report, she can only think that he is an old Chinese medicine expert...

    Snowy listened to this and was stunned. In her heart, she wondered if there were any more hidden attributes of Zhang Zian that she might not even know about?

    ¡°Do we know each other?¡± Suspect Y asked calmly.

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you before.¡±

    ¡°Why do you say I have a fatty liver?¡± She neither admitted nor denied.

    ¡°This is because there is a disease called-vegetarian liver. It is a type of fatty liver. This disease is caused by theck of protein and vitamins in vegetables and fruits, which increases the secretion of glucocorticoids and releases arge amount of free fat into the blood. The carrying capacity of lipoproteins exceeds the normal threshold and are eventually deposited in the liver, leading to malnutrition fatty liver, ¡°Zhang Zian said.

    At this moment, even Aunty Li couldn¡¯t close her mouth in shock, and she, too, felt that Master Zhang was incredible. She could not see that before; might he indeed be a master physician?

    Snowy and the audience in the live broadcast were even more stupified by what they heard. They even wondered if they had recognized the wrong person, or that Zhang Zian was taken over by some divine god-like physician.

    Suspect Y is secretly shocked. If this person is an old Chinese doctor who is proficient in his craft and knows everything, she can still ept it, albeit grudgingly. However, when he opens his mouth, outes a whole set of western medical theories. Did she encounter an upgraded version of traditional Chinese medicine ... An old medic who specializes in treating intractable diseases but integrates traditional Chinese and western medicine?

    ¡°You ... Are you a doctor?¡± Her tone was a little less confident and calm, and a little more cautious and awesome. After all, Zhang Zian¡¯s words just now are too professional and cannot be taken casually.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m just an ordinary Gu Tianle ... no, just an ordinary person.¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what the girl had to do with Snowy and did not want to make fun of her too much. ¡°It is because I have a lot of cats, so I know.¡±

    ¡°Cat? What does this have to do with cats?¡± She asked nkly.

    ¡°Because cats also get fatty liver.¡± He raised his hand to stop Aunty Li, who was about to rattle off about some ¡®wise¡¯ words and said. ¡°Not the special cat in my shop that can eat a lot! In fact, cats will get fatty liver, often not from overeating, but by being chronically malnourished.¡±

    He nced at suspect Y¡¯s body shape, and said with a pointed finger: ¡°It¡¯s almost like a human.¡±

    Not only Snowy, Suspect Y, but also several young diners on the table noticed their conversation, stopped ying with the cats on their hand and listened with interest.

    Since the store also has cats, Aunty Li simply pulled a chair and sat down to listen carefully.

    There are several causes of fatty liver in humans. The mostmon are overeating and obesity. The true cause of fatty liver in cats has not yet been determined, but the biggest reason is insufficient food. Hungry-cats certainly don¡¯t eat fruits and vegetables. Cats¡¯ diet is pure meat.

    If the cat does not have enough meat to eat, they starve, get malnourished, and then suffer from a fatty liver.

    Humans who do not eat meat and eat only fruits and vegetables. This is another form of starvation, and they will, too, suffer from malnutrition fatty liver.

    The two are very simr.

    Simrly, if the cat has not been full for a long time, and has a lean body shape when their food intake is further reduced, the fatty liver will generally not develop in such cases. If they are generally obese, when the food supply level suddenly drops and continues for a period of time, cats are likely to develop a fatty liver.

    No one is born a vegetarian, but there is always an opportunity to be a vegetarian. When people change from omnivores to vegetarians, especially when they be extreme vegetarians, consuming only pure fruits and vegetables, they will experience something simr to cats. They will also suffer from fatty liver.

    Zhang Zian knows this because customers oftene to see him or send messages to inquire. My cat is too fat. Is it bad for its health? After receiving a positive response, customers often suddenly reduce the food supply of their own cats. Usually, two cans of food each meal is reduced to one at a time. As a result, cats will develop serious health problems.

    People are also like this. When pets or children are spoiled, they are afraid they get hungry if they are fed lesser. However, once the pets or children have health problems because of obesity, they anxiously make the pets or children lose weight all at once being significantly reducing the food intake. The extreme goes to the other extreme.

    He checked the relevant information, and in the process of checking the information, he asionally read about the problem of fatty liver of human vegetarians. Because of the simr inducement and principle, he looked at it a few more times.

    So when a customer asks about weight loss for a cat, he always emphasizes to them not to reduce the food intake too much. Otherwise, it will be dangerous.

    As for the cat that can eat a lot ... it will depend on itself to realize this fact.

 Chapter 1445: Double Standards

    <h4>Chapter 1445: Double Standards</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In recent years, with the improvement of people¡¯s living standards, and people generally eating well and moving less, more and more people are getting obese, and there are also more and more obese cats. However, fat has different meanings for humans and cats. For cats, as long as they are not overweight, storing some fat is a good thing, so Zhang Zian has always just verbally reminded Fina not to eat too much, and has not taken any preventive measures...to avoid being killed.

    Not all customers have the patience to slowly adjust the cat¡¯s food intake, especially those who are notcking in money and always use canned cats to feed their cats. Each time they feed the cats canned food, they think that reducing food intake by 1/2 or 1/4 of the can is too troublesome, and they might as well reduce the entire can.

    A cat is a sensitive animal. When they notice an abnormal decrease in food, they will have a physical and psychological stress response¡ªsimr to ¡°Why do you starve me when you have something to eat? Did you deliberately target me? To think that yesterday, I still caught cockroaches for you! ¡°... The result is a fatty liver.

    It is not a big problem for people with mild to moderate fatty liver, but fatty liver is very dangerous for cats. It is often toote when symptoms are found, which is cumbersome to treat, and sess cannot be guaranteed.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t sure that suspect Y has fatty liver, but when he heard that she eats vegetables and fruits as a staple food, he naturally associates it with the cat¡¯s fatty liver. So he merely tried his luck. Besides, they didn¡¯t know each other anyway, and It¡¯s okay to say something wrong. However, he was really right.

    There is no problem with vegetarian food. For example, some athletes are also vegetarians, as long as they have money. If ordinary people can spend 50 yuan a day and have bnced nutrition, vegetarians may have to double it because the calories in vegetarian foods are low and so they will have to eat more. However, it¡¯s a problem just eating vegetables and fruits.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you drink milk or take milk powder?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    The suspect Y replied subconsciously: ¡°Of course not. Cows have been locked up in the bullpen since they were young. They lost their freedom. They are also injected with various drugs and growth hormones. When they grow up, they are forced to continue to conceive to give milk in exchange for money for the owner. This is tantamount to the abuse of cows. If you drink milk, you will be an aplice to the abuse of cows. I don¡¯t know if you heard a phrase before: no trade, no harm?¡±

    There is no harm without trading ... Zhang Zian is familiar with these words, like the mantra of the girl who strongly advocated adoption instead of purchase. It seems that this sentence can be used not only for pet adoption but also for animal consumption, at least for most aspects of it.

    Suddenly, the girl in front of him seemed like the upgraded version of the previous girl.

    Aunty Li listened to these words as if she were listening to two different sides of a coin. In her simple thinking, animals are animals, there are good animals and bad animals, there are useful animals, there are useless animals, and it is natural for people to drink milk. They can make your body strong and not sick. How can you say it is abuse? Besides, isn¡¯t the medicine given to cows a vine to prevent them from getting sick? Rumors of injections of growth hormones seem to be rumors without evidence? Others also say that chickens sold in the market are grown up by injecting hormones ...

    She just didn¡¯t understand the lifestyle of young people anymore...

    She didn¡¯t n to argue with the customer, sighed, and was about to return to the kitchen when suspect Y called her again.

    ¡°Ma¡¯am, may I ask if these cats belong to your shop?¡± Suspect Y pointed at the cat.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Aunty Li nodded.

    ¡°Will they be kept in a cage after closing?¡±

    ¡°It will be closed in a few hours ... My husband and I will pack things up when we are done. My son is still at school. It will be a hindrance if they are going back and forth. It will also affect his learning. When we finish packing, we will put them back out and let them roam on the second floor.¡± Li Auntie answered truthfully.

    Suspect Y regretfully said, ¡°Don¡¯t you think this is against the nature of a cat?¡±

    ¡°Nat... nature?¡± Aunty Li was stunned by what was asked to her.

    ¡°Freedom is the nature of animals. Although I also understand that many pet cats cannot live outdoors without humans today, even so, they should not be kept in cages!¡± Suspect Y¡¯s tone slowed. ¡°Of course, I took a look. The cats in your store are not bad. They are not forced to do some inexplicable performances to please humans. ¡±

    Zhang Zian seemed to feel that she was talking about him and then saw Snowy winking at him. He knew in his heart what wasing¨Cis this extreme vegetarianing to my shop?

    If you can rte the cat to a performance, then that¡¯s his shop.

    Snowy supported the phone on the dining table and hid her hands under the table. She ced both palms together and continued to apologize to him, saying that she could not help it and had to bring the girl.

    Zhang Zian thought of the messages sent by the sand sculptureizens, and roughly guessed the cause and process of the incident.

    People do not eat vegetarian food for no reason. It is either because of some very rare illnesses or health needs, or because they are rted to religion, or they are rted to environmental protection and animal health. Generally speaking, these are the main three possibilities.

    Listen to the tone. This aggressive girl is the third.

    Adoption instead of purchase is not wrong, and environmental protection and animal health are certainly not wrong. No matter in the country or in society, environmental protection and animal health awareness are strengthening, but this should obviously be a long-term process. It takes hundreds of years of hard work. After all, even western countries with per capita ie that are several times that of China have failed to achieve these objectives. In the current situation in China, promoting extreme environmental protection and animal health protection can only prove that you have nothing else that is better to do. This cannot prove how high your level of thinking is.

    ¡°Do you think that humans should not ride on the coattails of other animals? Also, unless absolutely necessary, they should not be detained or eaten?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    She immediately agreed: ¡°You can say that people are part of nature and should live in harmony with other animals, so I refuse to eat any animal meat, eggs, and dairy products.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded, ¡°Since man is a part of nature, and as I understand it, man is also a high-level animal, then the man should also follow the naturalws given by nature. Do you think people are omnivores or herbivores?¡±

    She paused, frowning imperceptibly, ¡°Although she is an omnivorous animal, she can restrain her desire and eat vegetarian food ...¡±

    ¡°You see, when talking about animals, you talk a lot about not viting the nature of animals, letting animals enjoy the freedom and letting nature take its naturalws. However, when you are talking about humans, you said that you want to restrain your desires-as you said, ¡®Human beings force other animals to change their nature is called abuse, but forcing themselves to change their nature is a virtue?¡¯ Correct me if I am wrong, but does this not seem like a double standard?¡±

 Chapter 1446: Black Gold

    <h4>Chapter 1446: ck Gold</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian let the young girl keep a little bit of dignity, but the meaning is already obvious. If forcing other animals to change their nature is abuse, isn¡¯t then forcing themselves to change the nature of omnivores equivalent to masochism?

    Snowy heaved a sigh of relief because before, she was affected by suspect Y, and she didn¡¯t even dare to order the pineapple grunt meat she wanted to eat. However, now, she feels that Zhang Zian is very reasonable. Cats eat meat by nature, and people eat meat by nature too... Healthy vegetarian food is no problem, it is your choice, but you don¡¯t have to feel guilty about choosing meat either.

    Suspect Y¡¯s problem is that she can¡¯t clearly define whether a person is an animal or not. If people are not animals, then humans are above animals and eating animal meat is a matter of fact. However, If people are animals, she also cannot answer that vegetarianism is the true nature of humans, and therefore doing it is against human nature.

    Several guests near the table had long been unable to get ustomed to her standing on the moral high ground and pointing it high up like the mountains. Since they do not know her and have no need to leave her any form of dignity, many started pping their hands.

    Suspect Y stared at Zhang Zian tightly. She has been skeptical just now. Most people do not know so much about fatty liver problems in cats. Those that can understand it are either a veterinarian or a pet practitioner. Pet practitioners, if they want to talk about a senior pet practitioner that is from around here ...

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to stare at me like this. In fact, you just said that the aunt shouldn¡¯t put the cat in a cage. I can only say that you are standing and talking without experiencing it. You must have never had a cat, and never have so many cats. There is more than one person that stands for animal protection and environmental protection. Like this aunty here, all the cats in the shop are homeless cats that are abandoned. If it wasn¡¯t for her, they would have been on the streets, and maybe they will be dead by now. Yes, but Auntie will not have these things linger on her lips and boast about them.¡± Zhang Zian said whilst pointing at Aunty Li.

    ¡°Ah! It¡¯s nothing! It¡¯s nothing!¡± Aunty Li smiled and waved, ¡°I don¡¯t have that kind of realization.¡±

    Zhang Zian also said, ¡°If you don¡¯t know what happened, I think, how about you adopt some cats from here, try them yourself, and relieve some of the burdens on thisdy?¡±

    Suspect Y held her arms for a moment, and then her body shrank after reacting, and she waved her hands again and again, ¡°No, I don¡¯t own a cat because it is not environmentally friendly ...¡±

    ¡°Because it is not environmentally friendly, you can watch the stray cats wandering the streets with a peace of mind? Do you think they are more willing to eat and sleep outside, or are they more willing to lose a certain degree of freedom but have nothing to worry about in exchange for food and clothing? The small animals in the city be small animal killers and affect the ecological bnce here... Isn¡¯t this a more important environmental issue than contributing to the environment by eating vegetarian food? ¡°Zhang Zian, in turn, questioned her morally.

    Even for dimir, the ultimate pursuit is to make the stray cats have a master and no longer be a stray cat.

    Suspect Y: ¡°...¡±

    ¡°In addition, you can tell me, why is it not environmentally friendly to raise cats?¡± He did not force her too much. For this environmental pioneer, it is more suitable to guide rather than suppress, because as long as she gets the correct guidance, she can y a greater role in society.

    She thought about it, ¡°I¡¯ve thought about raising cats before. I can make a cat¡¯s nest by using a cotton cloth. I can make chicken breasts for them to eat. However, as for cat litter ... if you have a few cats, you will consume them every day, about two or three kilos of cat litter. These cat litters will be a burden on the environment. ¡±

    Zhang Zian heard the words and smiled Aunty Li.

    ¡°What are youughing at?¡± She was a little angry. Generally speaking, she was rarely angry, but she suffered a lot of abuse today, and she had long been suppressing her anger.

    ¡°Go and see for yourself. Let Aunty Li teach you something.¡± He was toozy to exin and let her see for herself.

    Aunty Li greeted her, warmly, ¡°Come, girl,e and see.¡±

    Suspect Y stands up unconvinced and walks towards the back door of the shop with Aunty Li, and Snowy picks up her mobile phone and curiously follows.

    They crossed the dining area, followed by a corridor, where the cat¡¯s food bowl and litter box were ced and followed the principle of one more than the number of cats.

    Mrs. Li pointed to the litter box. ¡°This is wood cat litter. Manager Zhang got it for me. The seven cats in the shop use more than 40 kilograms a month.¡±

    ¡°Sawdust cat litter?¡± Suspect Y first heard of this kind of cat litter, because themon cat litter is bentonite and some kind of green tea cat litter. These are not environmentally friendly. It takes a long time to degrade.

    She picked up some of the cat litter, and the unique cool woody touch came in contact with her palm. If it was sawdust, it might be ...

    ¡°Girl,e here.¡±

    Aunty Li went to the end of the corridor and pushed open the back door, which was a small courtyard.

    Although the courtyard is small, it is full of a variety of vegetables. They grow vigorously, and the eyes see nothing but greenery everywhere. There are also several butterflies and bees dancing on the flowers of the vegetables.

    There is a bag of used sawdust cat litter by the door of the back door, which condenses into a ball after being stained with cat urine.

    ¡°My family runs a restaurant, so I usually have a lot of fresh kitchen waste, which happens to beposted with sawdust cat litter,¡± said Aunty Li.

    ¡°Compost?¡± Suspect Y repeated.

    ¡°Yes! Dig a pit underground and clear the leaves and twigs from the shop into it every morning, put it under the pit, then cover it with sawdust cat litter and fresh kitchen waste, and then anotheryer of litter. After a month, it became ck gold. Don¡¯t you know it? ck goldposts the soil, and you can grow vegetables directly on it. It grows particrly well! I don¡¯t understand it, though. Manager Zhang said that the used cat litter contains Nitrogen that is suitable for nt growth.¡± Aunty Li exined proudly, ¡°We pick these vegetables anytime we want, and we can save a lot of money on buying vegetables! ¡±

    Aunty Li, who was from rural areas, didn¡¯t think it was worthy of bragging. Composting was just a routine operation. Although it was a bit tiring and hardbor and added a lot of extra work, it was worth it to save money on shopping.

    In the eyes of urban people, oil is worthy of being called ck gold, but in the eyes of farmers,post is ck gold.

    Snowy opened her eyes in surprise, and whispered to the audience in the live room: ¡°Please allow me to re-rmend this Lee¡¯s Supreme Snack Bar! I only know now that the vegetables in this store are actually organic vegetables! Such a huge selling point has never been promoted to the outside world? I deeply suspect that Manager Zhang is so secretive about this in order to enjoy the organic vegetables here exclusively! Considering the affordable price, this is probably the most value you can get by eating in Binhai! Cheap organic vegetables and cats!¡±

    Zhang Zian followed slowly, leaning against the door frame and said, ¡°Did you see that? This is really environmental protection.¡±

 Chapter 1447: Distraction

    <h4>Chapter 1447: Distraction</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian suggested that the Lis should ce a sign that said organic vegetables, but they refused after considering it because what troubles them is that the vegetable field is too small. After all, the citynd is expensive. The shop has a small yard behind, so the vegetable field cannotpletely solve the vegetable requirements in the shop. It can only be bought in the vegetable market, supplemented by the harvest of the vegetable field. They can¡¯t rush into the branding of the store as selling organic vegetables, otherwise, is that not fraud?

    They also considered using the green area behind the pet shop. Although the green area is barren, it is a public facility after all. nting vegetables in it is not protected by thew. One day, if the city or district government think about this green area and ns to renovate it, any vegetable field there would be leveled out and ttened.

    Nevertheless, Snowy¡¯s advertisements will bring a new wave of customers to the snack bar, which is enough to make some deserted businesses flourish again despite the double adverse factors of it being midsummer and insect disaster.

    Suspect Y alternately looked at the sawdust cat litter and the lively vegetable field with aplex mood. She feels like she was being forced into a dead end.

    ¡°Even if you don¡¯t n to grow vegetables, sawdust cat litter can be buried in the ground or thrown into the trash can. It will soon degrade anyway.¡± Zhang Zian deliberately provoke her: ¡°How? If you really im to love environmental protection and animal protection, just adopt a few cats and go home. In theory, you must first check-in and take care of these cats for one month in the store before adopting them. Nevertheless, this is a special case, and I will decide for you and save you this trouble.¡±

    Suspect Y did consider raising a cat, and she really gave up the idea because she felt cat litter was not environmentally friendly. Since the obstacles no longer existed, and she was also unwilling to be squeezed by Zhang Zian, she refused to lower proud head and immediately agreed: ¡°Okay, I¡¯m thinking of raising a cat anyway. Adoption can¡¯t be better. ¡±

    Mrs. Li looked at Zhang Zian uneasily. She murmured in her heart, can such a girl who doesn¡¯t even eat meat keep a cat?

    Zhang Zian¡¯s winking eyes reassured her. He opened a pet shop for so long. The eyesight to identify a good pet owner is there. The girl is vegetarian, but she won¡¯t let cats be vegetarian, because it ¡®s against the nature of cats.

    ¡°Well ... if only the dog can be as lucky as a cat ...¡± he sighed. ¡°There is a group of stray dogs in the south. Their survival has been greatly threatened recently. Some people go there to set up traps for dogs, drug dogs, and then most terribly, to sell dogs to dog meat shops ... ¡±

    Suspect Y is thinking about how to make the cat feel morefortable in her home, and she was immediately distracted when she heard these words.

    ¡°Really?¡± The string of struggle against such actions in her head was stirred.

    ¡°Really, it¡¯s near thendfill. I¡¯ve seen it with my own eyes. It would be nice if someone could build a stray dog ??shelter there, even if it¡¯s just a few rows of sturdy shacks so that they won¡¯t be exposed to the sun and rain. If it goes on like this, I don¡¯t know how they survive the next winter, ¡°Zhang Zian sighed.

    In fact, he was just one step behind before he followed them into the backyard. He used the time difference to log in to Snowy¡¯s live broadcast room. From the barrage of messages from the sand sculptureizens, he finally figured out the details of the incident and learned that suspect Y ¡®s explosive action was a somewhat lopsided approach. Thus, he took advantage of her deep disgust at dog eaters and nned to give her the headache of how to build a stray dog ??containment center for her to deal with.

    Suspect Y was fooled and said decisively, ¡°If it is true, then I must not sit idly by! I will find time to go there and see for myself!¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded diligently, ¡°Okay, then you¡¯d better inform me when you go, and I can lead you there, I am afraid that you can¡¯t find the way ...¡±

    He wrote his phone number on a note and gave it to her. It is not to get a girl or something, but to let Little White prepare in advance when they went, she as not to scare her.

    ¡°Everything that everyone ordered is ready toe and eat first,¡± Aunty Li said after washing her hands.

    They returned to their seats. Aunty Li added to suspect Y¡¯s food additional rapeseed and tofu in addition to the vegetable sd and fruit tter. She looked at it and said nothing. Maybe she believed what Zhang Zian said about fatty liver. In addition, tofu is an important source of protein for vegetarians.

    Zhang Zian was busy for a long time the whole day and was already very hungry. However, suspect Y was still questioning him about the situation of stray dogs in the south.

    At this time, the ss door was pushed open, and summer heat poured in from outside.

    A little brother who looks like a courier, came in and asked, ¡°Zhang Zian, who is it?¡±

    ¡°Me.¡±

    Zhang Zian beckoned, ¡°Is there a courier?¡±

    Generally, the courier will head to the pet store, and the parcel is collected by the staff. However, if it is a very important courier and must be signed by him, the staffs dare not take the initiative. It is estimated that they know that he eats at the snack bar and send the courier toe to look for him.

    ¡°Yes, an international document, please sign for it.¡± The courier handed over arge envelope of hard paper. The address on the envelope was several strings of English.

    Zhang Zian took a brief look and found that the sender was from Matthew Davis, Cancer Research Foundation in San Francisco, and the recipient was indeed him.

    He signed the receipt, sent the courier away, then borrowed a letter opener from Aunty Li, opened the envelope, and pulled out a delicate letter.

    It¡¯s about respecting personal privacy. Although Snowy was curious, she didn¡¯t peep. If it was Wang Qian and Li Kun, they would have been around already.

    A diner at the adjacent table told his story with a cat. ¡°Before, I went to tease stray cats I met on the road, and then I got a big scratch on my hand.¡±

    She turned over her wrist, and it turned out that there was an old scar on the inside of the forearm. It would be difficult to see it without paying special attention.

    ¡°Later, the wound healed. I happened to be looking for a job interview, but the interview process was not smooth. I felt like I was out of luck. Before leaving, HR coincidentally saw the scar on my hand and asked me if I was scratched by a cat. I said yes, and then, somehow, I was hired ... Later, I got acquainted with HR and asked him why he hired me. He said that thepany likes to hire people who raise cats because the persona of cat owners is-single, no children, seniority, high patience, worry that I will be jobless because of the cats, so I will not always take leave. Or at the least, I will not leave early because I need to rush home to walk the do. Although the requirement for sry is slightly higher because of the cat, overall, it is still thepany¡¯s favorite type of social animal ... ¡±

    After the diner finished speaking, the othersughed, but afterward, everyone felt a tinge of sadness for her. They were hoping she was really just joking.

    After reading the content of the letter, Zhang Zian was hesitant to ept the invitation and suddenly thought of something. He pulled out his mobile phone and opened a photo of the American dog food and zoomed in. The ce of origin seemed to be near San Francisco.

 Chapter 1448: Internship Application

    <h4>Chapter 1448: Internship Application</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    This is an invitation from the Matthew Davis Cancer Research Foundation, inviting Zhang Zian to San Francisco to attend the foundation¡¯s 20th-anniversary celebration.

    The Foundation also invited him to tell Kathy¡¯s story to more people at the ceremony.

    Of course, as a foundation, obviously, it considered his status as a Chinese. Inviting him to attend can show the foundation¡¯s growing influence and the determination of people around the world to join forces to fight cancer.

    On the one hand, Zhang Zian felt that this honor should be attributed to Kathy, and he did not feel right leeching off her. On the other hand, he also hoped that more people could hear Kathy¡¯s story.

    He fluctuated between eptance and decline of the invitation. After all, there are still some small unresolved problems here in Binhai City, but suddenly he thought about the origin of that American dog food. It seems to be from San Francisco. If he goes there, maybe he can get an answer. He still had some doubt, but doing this is tantamount to adding a heavyweight to the bnce on the ¡°eptance¡± side.

    Netizens in the live broadcast room were very curious because when Snowy¡¯s camera asionally swept across his face, they saw that he had a rare serious expression on his face as if he was thinking about something important.

    What letter was that?

    It came from a foreign country. Could it be that some of his foreign rtives died, leaving him arge legacy? Today, perhaps his riches are going to be harvested...

    After lunch, suspect Y followed Aunty Li to choose cats, and she nned to adopt three stray cats.

    Aunty Li gave her a lot of cat bags, cat food, and sawdust cat litter.

    However, the problem now is that she is carrying so many things; it is impossible to go back by riding a shared bicycle. However, she does not want to call a taxi as it is in vition of environmental protection principles. In the end, she can only call for an electric car running taxi.

    She got into the car, held up the note in her hand, and pointed it to Zhang Zian, ¡°One yard at a time, I will go back today, but I will call you.¡±

    In fact, she is already 70% to 80% sure. She feels that Zhang Zian is the owner of the pet shop that is famous for cats dancing. However, from the previous lesson, she was shocked and learned that she was not ready enough. She will be beaten. Although she still doesn¡¯t believe there is any way to teach kittens to dance without abusing them, her confidence has dropped from 100% to 99%. Perhaps it may be like the environmentally-friendly reuse of sawdust cat litter. There is always something she doesn¡¯t understand in this world.

    Zhang Zian shrugged, watched the electric car go away, and reminded himself that if she was not calling but adding him as a WeChat friend, he must remember to block the soft advertising of her message amongst her circle of friends.

    Snowy was also relieved, and then hurriedly said goodbye to Zhang Zian, because she didn¡¯t say that she would finish her lunch outside before going home, and it is estimated that her mother had already prepared and waiting for her with a meal.

    Zhang Zian drove the car back to the door of his store and stopped, carrying a foam incubator with packed lunches and roasted chicken breasts. Both the shop assistants and the elves were impatiently waiting. They were hungry.

    ¡°Master, where did you go? Did you forget that you still have a group of lovely staff waiting to be fed?¡± Wang Qian lifted the lid of the box and couldn¡¯t wait to snatch a box of lunch and snorted.

    ¡°The word ¡®cute¡¯ is so superfluous.¡± Zhang Zian shared the roasted chicken breasts with the elves, and when he passed it to Fina, he put on rubber gloves for washing cats in advance. Otherwise, he felt that there would also be a scratch on his hand. He does not need that as he does not need to interview for a job.

    ¡°What is this?¡±

    Li Kun noticed Zhang Zian¡¯s invitation letter and asked curiously.

    It was too hot at noon, and people were toozy to go out at this time. There was no guest in the shop, so Zhang Zian didn¡¯t hide it and talked about the invitation letter again.

    Fina, who was burning with hunger, didn¡¯t intend to let him off by dying the royal meal, and Snowy Li, who was on the other side of the air conditioner, had already put on a fierce cat pose, ready to execute her orders. However, hearing that currently, it is cool, dry weather in San Francisco, they decided to let him go for now.

    The humid and sweltering weather in Binhai City is driving them crazy. Although the absolute temperature is far below that of Egypt, the humidity in the air almost make everyone not to be able to withstand it. They can¡¯t even leave the air conditioner for a moment.

    In addition, everyone, whether it be Zhang Zian, shop assistants, or the customers, is full of a sour smell.

    ¡°San...San Francisco? Master, we have to go too! You don¡¯t take us to Los Angeles, and you don¡¯t take us to Germany, you don¡¯t take us to Egypt, so you should take us this time! It is summer vacation now!¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were about to cry without tears and were almost kneeling. In the summer vacation, their wealthy ssmates showed various photos of foreign travel amongst their circle of friends, which made them envious and jealous. They also wanted to go to San Francisco to take photos.

    ¡°You will have a chance in the future. Besides, I haven¡¯t decided whether to go or not,¡± Zhang Zian refused decisively.

    Jiang Feifei suddenly thought of something, and asked, ¡°There seems to be a very famous aquarium in San Francisco?¡±

    ¡°Well, yes, and more than one.¡±

    When Zhang Zian was eating just now, he used his mobile phone to check the map of San Francisco and replied, ¡°There are three aquariums in the San Francisco area. The first is the San Francisco Aquarium. The second is the San Diego Aquarium, famous for its killer whale performances; the third is the Monterey Aquarium, which is a very professional aquarium and an important marine experimental base, where many researchers work. ¡±

    Jiang Feifei was envious. She had certain thoughts in her heart, but she was embarrassed to say it, because it was really whimsical and impractical, and because she thought it might be too much trouble for Zhang Zian.

    But this opportunity is really rare, and may even be rted to her life¡¯s future. If she misses it, she will regret it in retrospect.

    ¡°That...¡± She said restlessly.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Just say anything, learn from these two cheeky boys with such thick skin.¡± Zhang Zian pointed to Wang Qian and Li Kun.

    Jiang Feifei firmly decided in her heart a few times and finally said, ¡°Well...if the store manager finally decides to go to San Francisco, can you help me ask the three aquariums if they...recruit international staff...or interns? Any aquarium is fine. I¡¯m not picky! ¡±

    Zhang Zian was surprised. ¡°Which three aquariums do you want to work or do an internship in?¡±

    ¡°Um,¡± she nodded. ¡°Actually, I want to find a job in a domestic aquarium, but because I did not study a rted major, people don¡¯t even give me the opportunity to do an internship. However, I really want to try...if those three aquariums epted me for a short internship, that will be really nice...¡±

    ¡°No problem, if I go, I will help you ask.¡± He promised, although this may mean that the store will be stretched, manpower wise. However, this is her dream and should be supported.

 Chapter 1449: Emergency

    <h4>Chapter 1449: Emergency</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It is cold before three in the morning and after nine at night. It is the hottest at three in the afternoon. Once we hit that timing, the weather is so hot and humid it bes unbearable.

    Although the climate has be more and more abnormal in recent years, it has been a bit too hot this year.

    The pet shop is an old house. Although it was renovated recently, it has not been fundamentally modified. The heat instion effect is still not very good, especially in ces with dense water pipes such as kitchens, bathrooms, and pet baths. At this time, a lot of water vapor condensed, dripping and dripping constantly. Even the walls were wet to the touch. Even if the air conditioner was turned on, there was not much improvement, because there were only two air conditioners on the second floor, and each bedroom had only one. They were also running on a small power split machine, which had a limited cooling effect.

    What¡¯s even more ufortable is the low air pressure over Binhai, which makes people feel very stuffy.

    ¡°Meow meow! Going to the toilet is almost like stepping into the rain!¡± Snowy Liined.

    ¡°Ah! There are bugs! Some bugs have climbed up from the sewer!¡± Shihua screamed in the bathroom.

    Early in the morning, the residents of the pet shop noisily mored.

    The old-fashioned bungalows and low floor buildings are easily invaded by insects in the summer. This is made especially worse due to the smell and feces of so many cats and dogs in the store, which is more attractive to insects.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if there are bugs, aren¡¯t those bugs in the sea more disgusting than those onnd?¡±

    Zhang Zian picked up a pack of insecticide and poured it into the leak in the sewer. As for the bug that crawled out, it was long unknown where the hell it went.

    ¡°The bugs in the sea won¡¯t crawl into my bathtub!¡± Shihua frowned, unplugged the bathtub, and unscrewed the faucet to change the water in the bathtub. This is because the water that had been soaked all night by her and was already warm and notfortable at all.

    ¡°Zhang Zian, you don¡¯t need to make tea, I can¡¯t drink it because of the heat.¡±

    Old Time Tea stopped him from boiling water.

    Like humans, when animals are older, their ability to regte body temperature also worsens. Old Time Tea will lie on a small nket in spring, autumn, and winter to prevent its belly from touching the floor for a long time and catch a cold. However, now, the small nket is removed, and the coldness of the floor is directly absorbed by the body to alleviate the heat.

    In fact, the air conditioner is already running at full power. Unfortunately, the shop area isrge, and there are many pets, and sometimes customerse to the store to bathe the pets. When the steam diffuses from the bathroom, the air conditioner seems to bepletely unable to work.

    ¡°Stop! I want to ask you something. San Francisco, is it really cool and pleasant at this time?¡± Fina stopped him as he was going to open the store.

    ¡°As far as I know, this should be the case,¡± Zhang Zian nodded. ¡°The weather over there is special. It may be a little hot at noon during the day, but it is very cold at night, and it hardly rains. There will be a lot of fog in some ces. Other cities in the United States are not much better than Binhai City during this season.¡±

    As soon as she heard that, Fina¡¯s eyes lit up. Although she didn¡¯t continue to say anything, the implication was already obvious. If she was forced to say it out, the scene would be awkward.

    ¡°Quack!¡± Richard fell on his shoulders with his wings pping. ¡°I heard that San Francisco is a very open city, a vibrant city that belongs to young people, especially the LGBTmunity, where you can get equality and tolerant treatment, no matter what bold ideas you have in your heart. You can finally release your long-depressed wildness under the rainbow of six colors... ¡±

    ¡°Go! I don¡¯t have any bold ideas in my heart!¡±

    Zhang Zian raised his hand and shooed it away, although what it said was generally true. This is because the nearby Silicon Valley gathered the best young people from all over the world, San Francisco is indeed a city with a broad mindset. People of all nationalities, religions, customs, and sexual orientations don¡¯t wear colored sses to look at themselves. However, that statement makes him feel like he was deliberately going to San Francisco toe out of the closet...

    ¡°A trip to San Francisco is not impossible, but you have to consider the cost-effectiveness of it-this time there is no scientific research team to bear the back and forth travel costs, and this foundation¡¯s activities are purely honorary. If you go, you have to pay for your own travel expenses, including eating and drinking...Besides...¡± He nced at the grey sky outside through the window.¡± Besides, the rainy season in Binhai is here, and maybe a typhoon will pass. I m worried that if I leave, the store will be blistered and filled with water...¡±

    To put it inly, they are all talking without thinking through the consequences!

    ording to the invitation letter of the Foundation, if it is not convenient to participate in person, you can record a video and send it to the Foundation¡¯s mailbox, so whether or not he goes, Cathy¡¯s story can be known to more people through the video.

    dimir said with regret. ¡°It would be great if we could nail a wedge in the heart of the capitalist world!¡±

    Wait a minute. Why did it change its tone to that of Zhen Yuan? It seemed that the weather was so hot that dimir¡¯s head was made dizzy too...

    In fact, let alone the elves, Zhang Zian himself also doesn¡¯t want to stay in Binhai on a hot day. Who doesn¡¯t want to travel? However, not everyone can simply leave everything behind and simply go on a trip.

    However, there is not much time left for him to consider. If he decides to go to San Francisco, he must leave as soon as possible. Otherwise, he may not be able to keep up with the Foundation¡¯s celebration, so he will be going there for nothing.

    Zhang Zian opened the shutter door, and the staff arrived on time. They lived not far from the pet shop, but even though they walked a short distance, the back of their clothes were wet with sweat.

    ¡°So hot!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s so hot! It¡¯s so hot!¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun spat their tongues out like dogs and panted quickly, constantly fanning themselves with their palms.

    Even Lu Yiyun, who is not afraid of heat, has sweat beads on the tip of her nose.

    ¡°Mr. Store manager, have you considered it?¡± Jiang Feifei cares more about Zhang Zian¡¯s decision than others.

    ¡°Uh...¡±

    Zhang Zian supported her in pursuing her dream, but after a thorough understanding of the situation, he felt that the feasibility of her internship in the United States was not high. Even if those aquariums intended to recruit her as an intern or even as a regr employee, where would she live? San Francisco¡¯s housing price has surpassed New York, bing the highest in the United States. The rent is astoundingly high, and her family¡¯s background is rather ordinary. Also, it is a foreign ce to her, and it will be difficult for her to gain a foothold after going there.

    He was going to persuade her to think more and not to act rashly. At this time, he saw Sun Xiaomeng rushing past the door of the shop and did not stop.

    From a glimpse of her through the window, he saw her yawning and carrying dark circles on her eyelids while driving.

    After hiring a nurse to help, she usually does not go to the clinic so early unless there is an emergency.

    ¡°You go to the store first and wait for me toe backter.¡± He gestured wildly to the shop assistants and got them to start working.

    He stepped forward, opened up his steps, and walked towards the pet clinic.

 Chapter 1450: Intractable disease

    <h4>Chapter 1450: Intractable disease</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    There was no trace of wind in the air, and within a few steps, Zhang Zian¡¯s clothes were drenched with sweat.

    Fortunately, the pet clinic is not too far away, and he walks fast, and he will be there in ten minutes.

    Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s car was parked in front of the clinic. The hood was still hot, and another unknown luxury car was parked next to it.

    It was early in the morning, and the clinic was empty.

    Zhang Zian pushed the door.

    Nurse Longxian was yawning as she cleans up the nurse¡¯s table, and when she saw him, she quickly covered her mouth with her hands.

    ¡°Director Zhang, is there something for you to be here so early?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Is there an emergency?¡± He asked openly without hesitating.

    ¡°Yes. Miss Xiao Meng just entered,¡± she replied with certainty.

    ¡°Well...what animal is it? A cat? A dog?¡± He asked again. If the answer was not a dog, then he would go back to his house to avoid disturbing others.

    ¡°Dog. I was still sleeping when I heard it mming the door.¡± Long Xian was afraid that the customers inside could hear her and murmured. She usually sleeps in the clinic, and it can save her a lot of rent.

    ¡°Oh...what¡¯s wrong? Trauma? Or ...¡± he asked again.

    ¡°Uh...it¡¯s not trauma. If it¡¯s a trauma, I won¡¯t call Sister Xiaomeng...Anyway, It¡¯s not in good shape. I can¡¯t see anything wrong with it either.¡± She shook her head.

    ¡°Shall I go in and see?¡± He asked.

    Longxianughed. ¡°As long as the customer has noints, that is fine. Why not wear a mask? The customer may think that you are a veterinarian.¡±

    Zhang Zian took the mask she had handed him, walked to the entrance of the clinic, and then probed and looked inside.

    A golden retriever was lying on the consultation table, looking very weak.

    Sun Xiaomeng held a stethoscope and moved back and forth between its chest and abdomen. Although she wore a mask to cover most of her face, he still could see that her face was rather serious, which meant that the condition of the golden retriever might not be good.

    The golden retriever¡¯s master was a middle-aged man. He stood anxiously beside and kept asking, ¡°How is it? How is it?¡±

    ¡°Cough!¡±

    Zhang Zian coughed and made a gesture for him to calm down and stop talking, for it is affecting the doctor¡¯s diagnosis and treatment.

    Sun Xiaomeng raised her eyebrows unexpectedly when she saw him, but didn¡¯t say anything, focused on examining the golden retriever.

    The middle-aged man may have really treat Zhang Zian as a medical staff in the clinic, but just nced at him. Nevertheless, he did stop asking further questions.

    Zhang Zian looked around and saw that this golden retriever¡¯s eyes were dull, its response to a stranger¡¯s arrival was slow, was not moving much, and its eyeballs were a little pale. Ity on the side of the consultation table, and its mouth was not closed. Its tongue dangled weakly from its mouth, and the saliva moistened the white cloth.

    After a while, Sun Xiaomeng took off her stethoscope and put on the golden retriever a special oxygen inhtion device for pets.

    ¡°How is it?¡± The man could not help but ask. He can¡¯t wait anymore.

    Sun Xiaomeng shook her head. ¡°The cause is unknown at the moment, and it can only be treated conservatively. Further examination may be required...¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± The man seemed to be made so furious he smirked. ¡°Can you cure it, just tell me in my face. If you can¡¯t cure it, say that you can¡¯t cure it! Just because you are nearby, that is why I came here. If I knew you couldn¡¯t do it, I would have taken it directly to the pet hospital. Why would I waste time here? ¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I can understand your mood, but...¡± Sun Xiaomeng whispered and advised.

    ¡°No more, but If you can cure it, say you can cure it. If you can¡¯t cure it, you can say no. So can you or can you not?¡± The man interrupted rudely.

    Zhang Zian watched and felt embarrassed for Sun Xiaomeng, but this is also the daily state of domestic medical staff. Whether it is treating people or treating pets-medical people who treat people may still be valued, There are also measures in major hospitals to prevent trouble, but doctors and nurses in such pet clinics may actually be more at risk. After all, people cherish pets that have been with them for years or even decades, and they have already been treated as family and friends.

    ¡°Friend, don¡¯t worry. You want the doctor to treat the dog, so the least you can do is to talk about the situation first. How did this dog get sick?¡± He began to help.

    ¡°How did it get sick? How do I know? Over thest few days, it was pretty good. However, these days it got more and more lethargic...Usually, it jumps to bed in the morning to wake me up with my wife, but this morning I woke up with my wife, and Ity on the ground like this...¡± The man said and got more and more distressed.

    ¡°Did it want any unusual food these days? For example, when you are going out to walk the dog.¡± Zhang Zian asked again.

    ¡°No! It ate as usual!¡± The man snapped back.

    ¡°Then...what brand of dog food does it eat?¡±

    The questions of Zhang Zian surprised both Sun Xiaomeng and the middle-aged man.

    ¡°Dog food brand? It¡¯sImported, what¡¯s the name...Leshi? It¡¯s the one that has always been advertised recently.¡± The man thought about it, ¡°What does this have to do with dog food? It has been eating it for a long time, and there is no problem. It¡¯s only over these days that its condition started going bad.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart sank.

    Le Shi was neither potato chips nor TV, but the Chinese trantion of the dog food imported from the United States. When Qi Tong came to sell to Zhang Zian, there was no official trantion, but for the convenience of sales in China, they came up with a nice-sounding name so that it will leave a good impression on people.

    He couldn¡¯t say that this Golden Retriever¡¯s condition was rted to dog food, but its sluggish state resembled the strangely sick employees at the scrap purchase station-he didn¡¯t see it, he just heard about it though. Thus, he cannot guarantee the degree of simrity between the two cases.

    The middle-aged man aggressively asked Sun Xiaomeng whether it could be cured. He had already looked down on such a small clinic. If there were arge pet hospital nearby, he would have already brought a dog here.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I can¡¯t give any guarantee, and the equipment here is notplete. If you are not assured, then go to arger pet hospital.¡± Sun Xiaomeng said helplessly. She actually wanted to find out the cause of the dog, but the attitude of the dog owner made her feel anxious, in case it was not cured...she didn¡¯t want to take the risk.

    ¡°Hum! Say it early then! Grumble...¡±

    The middle-aged man stomped his feet, unhooked the oxygen mask, hugged the golden retriever vigorously, stepped out of the clinic, and kept on shouting vulgarities.

    Sun Xiaomeng has long been used to it, and she tried to hide the unwillingness and humiliation in her eyes. Taking off her mask lightly, she asked Zhang Zian. ¡°Why are you here in the morning? And why are you asking about dog food? Is there something that you know?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought slightly and said, ¡°Oh, I came here to say that, I have something to go abroad recently. Binhai may have a typhoon crossing this season. When I¡¯m not here, if you have time, help me look out for my store. Of course, you have to be careful here as well.¡±

    He changed the topic for now and avoided answering her questions because he didn¡¯t know how to answer them. He didn¡¯t want to talk about things that he was not sure about.

    ¡°By the way, if you encounter a dog with that symptom again, it¡¯s better just to avoid dealing with it,¡± he advised before returning to the store.

 Chapter 1451: Entrust

    <h4>Chapter 1451: Entrust</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°See over there. These are the stray dogs.¡±

    Besides the artificial woods, Zhang Zian said as he used a fan to fan himself. He used his other finger to point towards an open space where the dogs are resting. This was to indicate to suspect Y as to where to look.

    Suspect Y is wearing abination of convenient clothes, cotton short-sleeved shirt, and cotton denim shorts today. She first took the bus to the nearest station, and then came by riding a shared bicycle. The weather was hot, and she sweated a loting here.

    She nced resentfully at Zhang Zian...The fan in his hand. In her heart, she thought that he is very ungentlemanly. She was the one that was so hot till she was sweating. He didn¡¯t offer to fan her, but at least he should take the initiative and loan her the fan isn¡¯t it?

    Zhang Zian pretended not to understand. To him, she decided to ride a bicycle. She cannot have that and also want to befortable. Is that wanting all the good things for oneself?

    ¡°So many...they are all stray dogs?¡±

    When suspect Y saw the number of dogs, she couldn¡¯t help but be surprised. This is because, in her previous imagination, the so-called ¡°herd¡± of stray dogs might be as many as twenty or thirty, but in front of her eyes were full of stray dogs. The number is far beyond her imagination, which almost makes her think that this is a breeding base for dogs.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go forward and take a closer look.¡±

    Zhang Zian gestured her, but she hesitated to follow.

    ¡°There are so many dogs, will there be any danger?¡±

    She dared to stand naked in the downtown area and allow hundreds of people to watch her but did not dare to take a step closer to the dogs. She instinctively stood next to the Wuling Hong Guang MPV, as if she might hide in the car at any time, a car that runs on gasoline. Something that she hates.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, although they are all stray dogs, even pirates have a code. They are...atypical stray dogs that are entirely self-reliant,¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    ¡°Sold reliant?¡±

    ¡°Well, they¡¯ll pick up empty bottles. When they pick up more, I¡¯ll sell them and buy dog ??food to feed them.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Suspect Y couldn¡¯t believe her ears.

    ¡°Dogs are very well trained, especially this group of stray dogs. With a little guidance, they will imitate the behavior of their leaders and eventually form a conditioned reflex-although they are not clear about the logic, they understand that empty bottles can be reced with something that they can eat. To them, that¡¯s enough.¡±

    Zhang Zian confided some details to her, albeit a half-truth. In the long run, he still hopes that someone can share his pressure of feeding them. Although it is the hot summer now, time always passes quickly. Autumn wille and then go. Come winter, and he will have limited energy. It would be great if she could help the stray dogs find a ce to stay.

    He led by example and walked towards the dog herd. The stray dogs have long been ustomed to his existence, and now, unless it is the usual mealtime, there is little to no response to his arrival.

    Little White had already discussed it with him in advance, ran to the other side of the road first, picked up an empty bottle, and brought it back here.

    The other dogs learned to do it in an orderly manner as well. They ran to the dump to fetch an empty bottle and theny back in the shade again, sticking their tongues out to rest.

    Suspect Y is stunned. Is this really a group of stray dogs?

    She had long suspected that he was the pet shop owner who trained cats to dance. Seeing this scene, she was even more convinced of her suspicion-although he said it lightly, why couldn¡¯t other people do what he did?

    ¡°I must remind you that it is best not to spread the word of what you are seeing. Otherwise, it will be known by others. When that happens, I don¡¯t know what kind of reaction it will be. I heard that there are so many dogs here, which may attract some stray animal management centers. Maybe it will lead to people who are looking to cause mischief, do you understand?¡± Zhang Zian said.

    If he was reced by someone else, he would not dare to let the other party see theplete process of stray dogs without thempletely knowing each other. However, for this extreme environmental and animal protection supporter, he felt that she would not publicize it. This is because that would cause trouble to these stray dogs, something she would probably object to.

    Sure enough, after a little hesitation, she nodded firmly, ¡°I see, I won¡¯t tell anyone.¡±

    Zhang Zian and Little White nced at each other and nodded secretly.

    ¡°Come here,e over and try it. They won¡¯t bite you.¡± He waved her forward again.

    She decided to build up her courage and carefully approached step by step. She watched the reaction of the stray dogs with horror at each step. As with each step, she got closer. The closer she gets, the more intense the food rancidity and odor of feces poured into her nose, which forced her to hold back her nausea. She covered her nose and breathed through her mouth, reminding herself in her heart that the next time shees, she must prepare a mask. However, it¡¯s hard to wear a mask on such a hot day.

    Zhang Zian and Little White have practiced with the dogs in advance, asking all dogs never to get up suddenly or bark loudly, so as not to scare her. This is not to mention that, for a woman like her, it would be tough. Even when Zhang Zian first came, he was almost scared to death.

    She wasn¡¯t a timid person. When she walked over to the dog group and saw that they didn¡¯t react too fiercely, her courage became bigger and bigger, and she tried to squat down and stroke the head of a stray dog.

    The dog was a little stressed and agitated, and often thought of getting up, but was red down by Little White andy down obediently.

    Howling...

    A few fluffy little dogs chased each other happily and ran not far away from her feet. These little dogs were the group that was just born when Zhang Zian had just arrived at the rubbish dump. Now is the time when they are the most naughty.

    Suspect Y was attracted by these cute little puppies and bent down to squat, hugging them one by one. Compared to big dogs, little puppies are not dirty and have no odor.

    While she was ying with the little puppies, Zhang Zian whispered to Little White, ¡°Are you sure you are not going to the United States with us?¡±

    Little White stared silently toward the east sea. The other side of the sea was the United States.

    ¡°I want to go, but they need me more here, and I can¡¯t leave yet.¡± It regretfully shook its head, ¡°If there is a chance in the future...¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded andforted. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. There is definitely a chance. We just went to Los Angelesst year. This time, we head to San Francisco, which is not far from Los Angeles. When these stray dogs have settled downpletely, there will definitely be opportunities to go to the United States. I also have a partnership with a cat house in Los Angeles. When the weather is cooler, I n to visit them to train a new batch of puppet cats.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Little White stretched out a front paw, ¡°I wish you all the best.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Zhang Zian crouched down and shook its ws. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t go too long... During the time I am away, you need to be extra careful not to let the stray dogs eat that American dog food.¡±

    Little White stared at him, ¡°This time, you decided to go to the United States, has it something to do with that dog food?¡±

    ¡°How do I say it...I have no evidence, but my gut tells me that I must go to America in person before everything bes toote...¡±

    Zhang Zian sighed.

 Chapter 1452: Traveling Again

    <h4>Chapter 1452: Traveling Again</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    In the past, Zhang Zian often needed coaxing or deceiving to persuade the elves. Otherwise, the elves were more willing to stay at home. However, this time around, it is different. Instead, the elves were eager to leave the hot coastal city, and go wherever, as long as they can avoid the summer heat.

    ¡°San Francisco...Does this name sound like it is rted to gold?¡± Fina said thoughtfully.

    ¡°...That¡¯s right. A long time ago, the United States had a gold rush. The Chinese workers who migrated to the United States in the early days called it Golden Mountain andter changed it to San Francisco. Of course, this is just the name that the Chinese gave,¡± Zhang Zian exined as he packed his luggage.

    Fina¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°Golden Mountain? Then why add another ¡®old¡¯ word in front?¡±

    ¡°It is not a gold mine. The gold rush at that time was when underground rivers passed through underground gold mines, carrying gold sand to the surface. Then, arge number of gold prospectors sifted the golden sand on the river bed with homemade filters and other equipment. There is a rumor that someone picked up a piece of dog head gold and became rich overnight, and this also inspired more people to flood in there and eventually pan out all the gold. Others then found new opportunities for gold mining elsewhere, so it became an old golden mountain, San Francisco... ¡±

    Zhang Zian turned his head and said to Old Time Tea: ¡°Speaking of which, Bruce Lee was born in Chinatown in San Francisco. Now there are also some martial arts halls in Chinatown over there. I heard that there are foreigners there who are coaches.¡±

    Old Time Tea could not help but cry out loud, ¡°Foreigners...teaching Chinese martial arts?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not just martial arts. I heard that there are foreigners doing business in the acupuncture hall over there as well...After all these years, these things have been going global.¡± Zhang Zianughed. ¡°Of course, I dare not let foreigners give me acupuncture, unless...¡±

    ¡°Unless it¡¯s a big handsome man!¡± Richard quickly replied.

    It fluttered with excitement and fluttered in circles around the house. ¡°Quack! San Francisco, probably the best city in the world! ording to me, you idiot should just go there and don¡¯te back. It¡¯s also good to have a pet shop over there! Every day, open the shop without wearing your shirt, smile to the handsome passing guys, and look forward to a puppy love whilst in a foreign country...What could be better than chasing true love? ¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Zhang Zian threw a towel at it, but it avoided it.

    After he decided to go to San Francisco, Richard became extremely excited. Although it was talking about Zhang Zian¡¯s sexual blessing, he felt that it might be excited because it could go to the United States again. After all, it was his hometown, and San Francisco, It¡¯s close to Los Angeles. Maybe he¡¯ll meet someone again...Even a glimpse from a distance is enough tofort him. As long as he knows that she¡¯s doing well, that¡¯s enough.

    ¡°Also, there is a wax museum in San Francisco, although it is not as famous as the wax museum in Los Angeles.¡± He told Famous, ¡°A wax statue of Audrey Hepburn is also in it, and also the ssic Breakfast at Tiffany¡¯s.¡±

    Famus is fascinated. It wants to be an angel like her, and now it feels closer to its goal.

    He turned to Xinghai again. ¡°There are a lot of people in San Francisco. After all, it is a big city, but there is nothing to y in San Francisco. The essence lies in the surrounding areas, such as the series of forest parks surrounding it. When we reach, we should rent a car, except for a small period of time. This is so that we don¡¯t have to worry about crowding with others. ¡±

    ¡°Meow...Forest Park?¡± Xinghai opened its eyes curiously.

    ¡°Well, yes, and there may be plenty of walking time.¡±

    Zhang Zian has checked that thepany that produces the Leshi dog food is located near San Francisco, and the processing nt is also nearby, near the forest park.

    However, it is clearly a private territory, and the United States has strict protection of private territories. Territory owners even have the right to set up power grids, raise fierce dogs, and hire security guards. Even trespassers can¡¯t me others even if they are killed, and obviously, no one will openly wee one to investigate one¡¯s premises...He is not sure whether they can enter safely, and he can only respond to the situation.

    The drones that had made great achievements during their trip to Egyptst time will also be brought along.

    The other elves are also looking forward to travel, especially Shihua.

    He has already booked a ticket. It was for a single person. He didn¡¯t book one or two more ces for the elves as before. After all, this time, it is purely at his own expense, and he must save if he can save it. Besides, the elves don¡¯t want to experience a car ride, waiting, boarding connecting flights, and other troublesome things in such hot weather.

    He kept the elves n his phone, and he carried his suitcase and backpack down the stairs.

    ¡°Mr. Store Manager, this is my resume in English.¡± Jiang Feifei handed her resume to him, adding, ¡°The electronic version was also sent to your mailbox.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll try to help you connect with them when I am there.¡±

    Zhang Zian stuffed her resume into his carry-on backpack.

    He is totally unsure about whether an aquarium in San Francisco and any nearby areas will ept an intern from China who is not personally submitting her resume there. He had no confidence in seeding, and he has no one else to help him. He can only try to do his best.

    Jiang Feifei¡¯s mentality is quite good. She is simply taking it as a brave attempt to chasing her dreams.

    ¡°Do you remember the things I instructed all of you?¡± Zhang Zian asked uneasily.

    ¡°I remember.¡± She nodded and repeated, ¡°If there is a typhoon, strengthen the doors and windows in advance, reserve ice cubes in advance, and rent a generator to maintain water cirction and oxygen.¡±

    ¡°Well, the most important thing is to pay attention to the safety of personnel. If it is really necessary to rent a generator, I will wire you the money.¡± Zhang Zian is most worried about the possibility of a typhoon crossing the city.

    Before, Binhai City also experienced a typhoon. However, at that time, he only operated a pet shop at his home. He did not have an aquarium as it is now, and the typhoon was thus no big deal. His shop was closed for a few days at most.

    The creatures from the aquarium, such as the ice anemone and ice angel, have be the stars of the aquarium, but they are not for sale. The city¡¯s aquarists oftene to visit. These creatures living in the icy waters are afraid of heat and are very delicate. Usually, the aquariums where they are located are facing the air conditioner. The ice cubes frozen by the ice maker are stacked outside the aquarium, for fear of them heating up.

    Once the power is lost due to a typhoon, these precious creatures may die, which is one of the important reasons why he has not made up his mind to go to the United States earlier on.

    ¡°Master, remember to bring us a souvenir! The amulet was very well receivedst time, and the dates are also good. This time,e back with something more interesting to make up for the regret that we couldn¡¯t go,¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun said as they frowned at him.

    ¡°I know, if you want souvenirs, you should be diligently looking after my shop. Don¡¯t give me crap to deal with when I am back.¡± Zhang Zian waved his hand impatiently, pushed out the door with his suitcase, and set out on his second journey to the United States.

 Chapter 1453: Same Flight

    <h4>Chapter 1453: Same Flight</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Since he was traveling at his own expense, everything he chooses must be frugal. Zhang Zian¡¯s ticket must be the cheapest economy ss, and then a window seat was selected on the airport¡¯s autonomous check-in equipment.

    Although he didn¡¯t book extra seats, Richard insisted on flying together with him on the ne. The other elves chose to return to his mobile phone to spend afortable flight with it.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to agree with Richard because, for a long flight, eating, drinking, and passing excrement will be a problem. If it passes on his shoulder, it will be disgusting, and he will be mistaken for a pervert by the stewardess and the surrounding sisters.

    Finally, it promised not to eat on the ne and to drink as little water as possible before he reluctantly agreed.

    ¡°Why do you want to sit on a ne so badly?¡± He found a remote spot in the waiting room and sat down, with the invisible Richard standing on his shoulder.

    Summer clothes are thin, and its bird¡¯s ws scratch his skin, and when seen by outsiders, the shoulders of his clothes appear wrinkled, and he looks sloppy.

    ¡°And why do you want to fly so badly?¡± Richardbed his feathers and red at him as if seeing through his mind.

    ¡°I have no choice but to sit on a ne. I also want to wake up to find myself at my destination,¡± he said.

    Richard sneered, ¡°Come on, you idiot is probably looking at the stewardess to get back the money you paid for the fare!¡±

    ¡°Then you are here...to see the captain?¡±

    One person, one bird, knows each other rather well.

    After a while, they started boarding.

    Sure enough...the quality of the flight attendants in the economy ss cannot be expected to be too high.

    Zhang Zian found his seat and ced his luggage overhead.

    Each flight is like a lottery ticket that has two lottery chances. Even if the quality of the stewardess is not pleasing to the eye, at least you can look forward to seeing whether the one in the seat next to you is a beauty or not...Of course, because it is a lottery ticket, the chance of winning is definitely...Slim.

    ¡°Hello there.¡±

    Expectedly, his luck was terrible, making Zhang Zian doubt whether this cheap bird also can predict the future.

    The person is a middle-aged man in his 40s. Although he is no longer young, he is still in good shape. His gray hair is slightly gray, though his hair volume is still a lot. The most important thing is that this man looks quite graceful. He has a calm and elegant temperament.

    His beard is clean and freshly shaved, and his nails are carefully trimmed. He pays attention to his appearance. Even in such a hot summer, he wears a fitted linen suit.

    In short, this man is a bit overly neat and tidy. If he is a working elite working in a high-end office building, that is understandable. Still, he is actually in economy ss...how can he be a career elite and sit in economy ss?

    Zhang Zian nodded in response to him, guessing that his profession was a university teacher, maybe a teacher at Binhai University.

    In any case, although it is not a beauty sitting next to him, it is at least not a 300-pound fatdy. At least, his luck was still not that bad.

    ¡°Have we met before?¡±

    After he put my luggage away, the middle-aged man took the initiative to talk to him.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder was grabbed hard by Richard, meaning: the ssic pick-up phrase appeared.

    Zhang Zian also felt that this person was somewhat familiar, but where did he see him, he couldn¡¯t remember it for a while. Thus, he guessed that this person might be a teacher at Binhai University, maybe when he bumped into him when he went to the university to find Wei Kang.

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember it very well,¡± he answered ambiguously.

    In general, as long as the person is not too shy, it is normal for the passengers in the next seat to talk before the ne takes off. During a long flight, it is inevitable to deal with meals and toilets. If nothing is said, who can he find if he ever needs help?

    Besides, if the other person happens to have amon topic with them in terms of interests, upations, etc., the journey can also be made less lonely, and it may even be a source of career support, which is verymon.

    This middle-aged man is quite talkative andughs heartily, ¡°Listening to your ent...you are from Binhai?¡±

    There is no direct flight from Binhai to San Francisco. Zhang Zian was transiting at the airport of another big city at this time and fly to San Francisco from here. If he can meet fellow Binhai citizens here, it will not be an everyday thing. The other person may havee here on the same domestic flight, but the two parties did not notice each other before until they chose the adjacent seat from one another.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhang Zian also politely asked, ¡°You too?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not from Binhai, but...I have a job in Binhai.¡± The middle-aged man said, ¡°Binhai is considered my second hometown.¡±

    ¡°Oh...¡±

    The dialogue is almost done here. If they continue to talk, it will inevitably go deeper, and Zhang Zian has not yet figured out whether he wants to know this person further.

    The busy stewardess checked the passenger list and determined that all passengers were on the ne. The boarding ramp is removed, and the cabin door is closed.

    The captain greeted the passengers via the radio, saying that the ne was about to take off on time.

    Flight attendants patrolled back and forth between the seats to check whether the luggage rack was secure, solve any problems for the passengers, and gently reminded the passengers to fasten their seat belts as the ne was about to take off.

    The middle-aged man took off his jacket to avoid the suit jacket from being pleated, and then put on his seat belt.

    When he took off his jacket, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t stare at him, but the light in the corner of his eyes seemed to catch a touch of metallic luster, swinging an arc from his neckline.

    That is a silver cross whose surface is slightly dim due to frequent friction, making it not as shiny as freshly-made metal utensils.

    When he saw this cross rocking back and forth, Zhang Zian¡¯s memory seemed to be deeply jolted, and some memories that were blurred because they did not ur in reality were awakened.

    The middle-aged man seemed to notice his gaze, shoved the cross back into his shirt cor, and smiled apologetically.

    Cross...

    His only interaction with the cross...

    Fragments of broken memory passed through his mind like shooting stars.

    A secluded street nted with sycamore...

    Western-style old building...

    Old masters with cameras hanging around their necks...

    Noisy Cosyers and the University Photography Society...

    Zhuang Xiaodie...

    He stared at the face of the middle-aged man, struggling to remember, ¡°Are you...in Nancheng District...¡±

    The middle-aged man raised his eyebrows in surprise, ¡°Have you been to our church? No wonder I find you familiar.¡±

    This keyword is like a bright light in Zhang Zian¡¯s mind. Some memory fragments are now connected together, and the faded memory is clear again, much like digital processing.

    Yes, he has been to a church in Nancheng District, not in reality, but in a dream.

    The middle-aged man in his dreams wasn¡¯t wearing a casual suit as he is now, but a straight-fitting robe. The difference between the two was too wide, so Zhang Zian didn¡¯t recognize him immediately.

 Chapter 1454: This Thing Canâ€™t be Learned

    <h4>Chapter 1454: This Thing Can¡¯t be Learned</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    For those people whom people have met only once or twice in their lives, people often remember the other person by their profession, rather than remembering the person¡¯s face. However, it is better to remember the person¡¯s entirety- from the face to the figure, from his or her temperament to his or her clothing. This is especially important for clothing with distinctive professional characteristics, such as police uniforms, nurse uniforms, restraint uniforms...and of course, this is including nun uniforms.

    The things in a dream are easy to forget after a person wakes up, and when Zhang Zian met the priest in his dream, his attention was paid more to his clothes and upation. He paid little to no further attention to the priest¡¯s face, leaving only a vague impression in his mind.

    No wonder, when he imed to be working in Binhai City, his choice of words were ambiguous. This is because, to be precise, the priest could not be counted as a profession, let alone be a job. They were not serving a boss, but serving...their supreme God.

    ¡°Are you...the priest of Nancheng District Church?¡± Zhang Zian confirmed.

    The middle-aged man was not deliberately concealing his identities, but most Chinese atheists do not necessarily believe in his god, so he always keeps a low profile as much as possible after leaving the church to avoid difort to others. This is to prevent disputes from arising.

    Fortunately...it won¡¯t be long before the ne is about to leave China.

    The middle-aged man smiled and stretched out his hand to Zhang Zian. ¡°My name is Chris, Chris Young.¡±

    Zhang Zian politely shook hands with the other party, hesitating for a while on whether to call himself Zhang Zian or Jeff Zhang and finally chose the former.

    ¡°Do you mind if I ask? Are you Chinese or...¡± he asked curiously because even if the Chinese have an English name, they will say the Chinese name when introducing themselves to another Chinese person. After all, this is not the capital¡¯s central business district, where there are numerous Nicole Jude Zhao and Oliver Dous Liu...

    Coupled with the other¡¯s special identity, he has reason to suspect that the other party is not Chinese.

    Sure enough, Father Yang admitted frankly: ¡°I was born in China, I went to Belgium with my parents when I was young, grew up there and became a citizen, then converted when I was studying at Ghent University in Belgium before returning to China a few years ago.¡±

    Father Yang Yang was very candid. He told his experiences in depth. For ordinary people, when they first meet with a stranger, they are afraid to talk in-depth, and often do not talk about their own past in such detail.

    Zhang Zian moved his lips slightly, trying to respond, but Richard, who had been silent up till just now, suddenly imitated his voice and spoke.

    ¡°In fact, I almost entered Ghent University,¡± it said.

    ¡°Oh?¡± It was Father Yang¡¯s turn to be stunned this time, ¡°Really? However,ter, you changed your mind?¡±

    Zhang Zian was also stunned. This was the first time he heard about Ghent University, what bad water does this little bird want to drink? He knew that no matter how much it begged,ter on, it would have to be locked in the phone.

    However, since the situation is as is right now, he can only smile and keep up the act.

    Richard sighed and hurriedly said, ¡°Because I found out that things like ¡®generally big¡¯ cannot be learned.¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°...¡±

    He was obviously so angry that he was about the explode, now he can only awkwardly smile across his face.

    Father Yang: ¡°... hehe.¡±

    Both of them are awkward because this kind of joke is not suitable for telling an orthodox clergy.

    Fortunately, the ne began to taxi on the runway, reminding passengers not to leave the seat and turning off the wireless connection on their mobile phone. It helps to dissipate the awkwardness, and it did notst very long.

    The airne taxied faster and faster, and with a sharp pull, the heavy body left the ground and plunged into the arms of the blue sky.

    The atmosphere in the cabin slightly rxed, but the aircraft has not yet flown into the stratosphere. It may be affected by the airflow and cause bumps, and one cannot leave the seat.

    Father Yang spoke again and switched the topic, ¡°Mr. Zhang, is San Francisco, your destination, or a transit stop?¡±

    ¡°Destination,¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    Father Yang frowned inconceivably. ¡°May I ask if you are visiting San Francisco for visiting rtives, visiting friends, working, or just for vacation?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a vacation trip. You should know that Binhai City is too hot right now, and I just have the time recently to go there and take a break from the summer heat,¡± Zhang Zian said. This time around, this is not a deception.

    Father Yang nodded, ¡°Okay, but...Although San Francisco is a good ce, it can be messy at times, so be careful, especially if you go out at night.¡±

    ¡°I know I¡¯ll be careful.¡±

    Zhang Zian knows that he was not trying to be an rmist. Compared with Binhai City, the United States that does not ban guns is a very dangerous ce. He heard that vicious incidents such as robbery easily happen in San Francisco at night. It may not be a joke that you may indeed lose your life because you cannot pay for it when you are robbed.

    So, he made up his mind to avoid going out at night when he was in San Francisco, telling himself that San Francisco is not New York or Los Angeles, and there is nothing fun to fo at night.

    ¡°Father Yang, are you familiar with San Francisco?¡± He thought of Jiang Feifei¡¯s request. Although he felt that there was not much hope, he still asked. Perhaps, there may be a certain aquarium that asked Father Yang to bless it?

    ¡°I¡¯m not very familiar.¡± Father Yang shook his head. ¡°I personally don¡¯t like the United States very much. I have to go because of something.¡±

    ¡°Oh...¡±

    Zhang Zian was a little disappointed. He didn¡¯t ask what was the matter, because he estimated that it was something rted to the church. Otherwise, what else could a priest who is separated from themon world do?

    ¡°Also...¡±

    Father Yang stopped talking.

    ¡°What else?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Father Yang had a grim look, and nced around, lowering his voice and saying, ¡°Also, it is my personal suggestion. When traveling in San Francisco and the north of it, if you can find apanion, it is best to go with that person and avoid being alone.¡±

    This surprised Zhang Zian. Isw and order in San Francisco so bad?

    Or did he got on a flight to Afghanistan by mistake?

    ¡°Why?¡± He asked.

    Father Yang hesitated a little, saying, ¡°This is because of the frequent coyote attacks in San Francisco and the northern region. Several witnesses imed that they saw small coyotes attacking small animals, including cats and dogs, and even...there are reports of coyotes attacking humans, but it hasn¡¯t caused casualties, but you certainly don¡¯t want to be the first, right? ¡±

    ¡°Coyotes?¡± Zhang Zian was really shocked. ¡°Coyotes? In San Francisco?¡±

    Father Yang nodded slowly, ¡°It stands to reason that coyotes generally do not actively attack humans, but in the witness reports we received, witnesses imed that the coyotes looked like they were crazy and were not afraid of people at all. When humans are walking their cats or dogs, if they refused to abandon their pets, the coyotes will even rush up to attack the human...and there is more than one such coyote in the area.¡±

 Chapter 1455: Overflowing with Coyotes

    <h4>Chapter 1455: Overflowing with Coyotes</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    The coyote is a kind of wolf that only exists in North America. It is smaller than a gray wolf, but even though it is smaller in size, it is still a wolf and not a dog.

    Their hair color is usually yellowish-brown, and their eyes are dark brown. They have a long tail that can reach half their length. Because of their habit is to only prowl around at night, they may be mistaken for stray dogs, wolves or foxes in the dim light. However, in most cases, coyotes appearing in cities are most likely to be treated as stray dogs.

    Coyotes are usually active at night, early morning or dusk, and asionally appear during the day. They have big ears, are more sensitive than dogs and wolves, and are very good at finding hiding ces. Tree pits, bushes, and well-built gardens are all very good ces for them to hide in.

    In China, except for zoos, there are no coyotes in the wild, so the trantion of this animal¡¯s name is not uniform. Some people call them coyotes or North American wolves, which are actually referring to the same species.

    Since the beginning of the 21st century, the number of coyotes has increased significantly due to the increase in people¡¯s awareness of environmental protection, and they have spread throughout the United States. They are not afraid of people and have broken into cities in a somewhat grand manner.

    Seattle, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston...They can be seen quietly in the night of every big city, especially San Francisco. Due to the proximity of several forest parks, the number of coyotes has reached a degree where they may already be affecting people¡¯s daily lives.

    ording to rough estimates, the number of coyotes in downtown San Francisco is between 50 and 100.

    If you have a super metropolis with a poption of over 10 million in Beijing and Shanghai and with most of them concentrated in urban areas, 100 coyotes are nothing, nothing more than a few drops of water into the sea. However, San Francisco is a household name in China that is thought to be a big city. In fact, San Francisco¡¯s urban area is notrge enough to match its reputation, so 100 coyotes are quite a lot, and coyotes are much more dangerous than stray dogs.

    Although stray dogs are fierce, most of the time, as long as people don¡¯t provoke them, they will not actively attack people. However, coyotes will attack cats, dogs, and even children. Some people even gave them a somewhat absurd name of ¡°Legged Rattlesnake.¡±

    However, if Father Yang is right, it seems that the San Francisco Coyotes have got cocky enough to start attacking adults. This is an extraordinary phenomenon.

    Most predators do not attack other animals that are significantlyrger than themselves. Firstly, it is that this hunting behavior itself may be dangerous. The other is that even if it takes all its efforts and sessfully hunt down the prey, it will not be able to eat it all in one meal, and it is giving other predators a sort of free meal.

    Examples of aggressive coyotes attacking adults are extremely rare, especially in cities.

    Zhang Zian checked his expression and thought that Father Yang didn¡¯t seem to be joking or something. After all, they were clergymen, and the clergymen do not like to joke around much.

    He was just a bit weirded out. Why did a priest such as Father Yang know so much about coyotes, and said that he had noses and eyes on the ground as if he had deliberately investigated it in detail, Maybe...Father Yang, whilst at that university before he became a priest...studied animal-rted majors? Then there is a chance that he would be close to Wei Kang as well.

    The ne broke out of the turbulent airflow and flew into the stratosphere. The cabin broadcast reminded passengers that they could now release their seat belts.

    Some people adjust the angle of the seat, put on a blindfold and earplugs, and go to sleep. Some people may have drunk too much water and can¡¯t wait to go to the toilet. Some people are watching the movie provided by the ne. Some people are typing on the notebook keyboard and writing documents. Some whispered to each other.

    Zhang Zian and Father Yang did not intend to use the toilet and continued from their previous topic. Richard also did not find a chance to interrupt for the time being.

    ¡°The recent coyote attack on a person happened just the night before, and in our local time, that is, yesterday morning in Binhai time. A young man did not return home at night, wandering in a remote neighborhood, and was looking for youths who were not interested in studying. The young man sold peddled illegal drugs he carried with him.¡±Father Yang said,¡± On one hand, the young man was careful to guard against the police, but on the other hand, he was trying to guard against rivals eating into his own customer base. Thus, he did not notice that there was a pair of them in the dark. Their eyes have been staring at him.¡±

    For that young man, it was not the first time he went out and sell illegal drugs during the night, relying on his familiarity with the terrain and his boldness. He had never been careless before, and he had never been caught by the police. Once he felt that the wind was not right, he ran away and truly did not expect to meet such a situation the night before.

    When it was almost midnight, he had justpleted a transaction with a few Mexican guys, and he estimated that there were few goods left in the pockets. The money should be enough for him to splurge for a while, and he nned to withdraw and head home. Otherwise, it was easy to attract too much attention with so much cash. After all, mobile payment in the United States is far less developed than China. Even if it is as developed as China, he is not stupid enough to use this payment method that may be monitored by the police.

    As soon as he turned around, he heard movement in the nearby trees, as if someone was hiding behind the tree.

    ¡°Who is there?¡± He asked, warily.

    No one answered.

    ¡°I warn you. Whoever you are, it¡¯s best to get away from me, for I have a gun!¡±

    He is not bluffing. He who dares to go out at night is definitely not vegetarian. The words didn¡¯tpletely leave his mouth when he really took out a numbered gun from his waist and aimed at the tree.

    ¡°Last warning!¡±

    He was convinced that it was not the police. If it was the police, the police had already fired the moment he took out the gun.

    The strongest possibility is a homeless man. They roam all over the streets of San Francisco, or maybe a drunk.

    Hu...

    When the thing appeared from behind the tree, he couldn¡¯t see clearly in the darkness, but his nerves rxed, thinking that it was a dog that was lost. Thus, he lowered his muzzle and grinned, ¡°You frightened me! Come, Dog! Come here! ¡±

    He murmured the usual teasing sound in his mouth and reached out to greet it.

    It took a few steps closer, a little bright light hit it, and he saw its eyes.

    He couldn¡¯t tell what he was thinking at the time, but his intuition told him that it didn¡¯t seem to be a dog, and his intuition had saved him more than once from the police and his colleagues.

    After he was able to respond, he wanted to raise the muzzle to point at it again, but it was toote, and the thing pounced on him at an extremely fast speed, biting the wrist of the gun holder.

    Bang!

    With severe pain, his fingers snapped at the trigger. His gun was never put to safety mode at night.

    With that, the gun went off.

    The bullet nearly hit his other arm.

    Nevertheless, the gunfire also saved him.

    The thing was frightened by the sound of gunshots, loosened its mouth, and turned around, and ran into the bushes, as fast as it appeared.

 Chapter 1456: A Tricky Problem

    <h4>Chapter 1456: A Tricky Problem</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Father Yang is eloquent. He described the process of a coyote attack on a young man who lost his way and illegally selling drugs as vividly as a witness.

    Zhang Zian listened with great interest and kept asking, ¡°How did you know so clearly what happened yesterday? Do you usually listen to overseas radio broadcasts?¡±

    Father Yang shook his head. ¡°No, there is a priest who knows him in the neighborhood where the young man lives. He heard it from him, and I heard the recount.¡±

    ¡°Oh...¡±

    Zhang Zian roughly understands that although it sounds strange. There are often people in the United States who are doing illegal acts while teaching and spreading the faith. He doesn¡¯t know how they usually deal with the teachings of God in their hearts butmit crimes with their own hands at the same time.

    ¡°That person is fine afterward?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s okay. After the coyote ran away, he painfully picked up the gun that had fallen off his hand. He thought that the gunshot might have been heard by people and that the police would soone. He simply wrapped his wrists and then left immediately,¡± Father Yang replied.

    Unlike the employees in Binhai City¡¯s scrap purchase station, the priests¡¯ recounted story should not be too exaggerated and should be very close to the facts.

    ¡°Coyotes are so abundant to such a point, but no one cares about doing something about it?¡± Zhang Zian said with emotion. This is the difference in national conditions. If it is a domestic issue in China, it may have already caused a storm all over the city.

    Father Yang said with regret, ¡°Things don¡¯t always pan out like what you think. There will always be voices that oppose it, and these coyotes should havee out of the forest parks. The source of these coyotes is in the forest park, but in the forest park, hunting them is illegal. Not only that, even in San Francisco, shooting or poisoning coyotes is also illegal.¡±

    ¡°Uh...¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    The United States is generally aw-abiding country, and serious people are unwilling to take risks tomit illegal acts. Otherwise, expensivewyer fees and prison disasters are waiting for you, as for other types of people ... they don¡¯t care about the threat of coyotes at all.

    Therefore, it is impossible to poison coyotes with drugs such as isoniazid.

    To kill or not to kill. It is unrealistic to expect the coyotes to leave willingly, making this a real headache.

    Father Yang said, ¡°In my opinion, there are two possible ways, either to find the source of the coyote¡¯s temperamental mutation or to introduce the coyote¡¯s natural enemies. The former is not easy, and thetter is not easy as well, and its effects are slow.¡±

    ¡°The natural enemy of the coyote?¡±

    Father Yang nodded. ¡°For the coyote, the biggest natural enemy is not humans, but their close rtives, the gray wolves in North America, have been almost made extinct by humans. Therefore, the territory of coyotes has continued to expand, from Mexico to the Arctic Circle and all the way to the ground. Rats, to asrge as elk, are all their hunting targets. Previously, the northern valley of Yellowstone Park was also gued by the presence of coyotes. Later, scientists reintroduced the long-disappeared gray wolf into the area, and the gray wolf would prey on coyotes. Just like a coyote would prey on a pet dog, after some time, the coyote waspletely driven out of the northern valley.¡±

    This is a biological control method. However, whilst the coyote was expelled, the problem of the gray wolf arises ... The gray wolf is arguably fiercer to deal with than the coyote.

    As for the source of the coyote¡¯s mutation ...

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t sure, but maybe it wasn¡¯t the sudden temperament change that caused them to attack adults, but some other factor.

    If those factors are not eliminated, even if the coyote is expelled by the wolf, he is afraid that the next problem is the wolf.

    ¡°Do you have any opinion on the cause of the coyote¡¯s sudden change of temperament?¡± he asked.

    He felt that Father Yang¡¯s trip to the United States might be rted to coyotes, but he did not want to understand why such a thing should be done by the priest. It should be a biologist¡¯s job instead.

    Father Yang said cautiously, ¡°It is not clear. Food poisoning, water pollution, environmental changes, disease factors, human stimuli may all have simr effects on coyotes, and we need to investigate carefully before we can conclude ... sorry, When I say this, will it affect your interest in traveling?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true. I think it¡¯s interesting,¡± Zhang Zianughed.

    ¡°In fact, in San Francisco, as long as you don¡¯t travel at night, it¡¯s rtively safe. You don¡¯t have to worry too much, just be careful when you leave the city to y in the surrounding area, and try to avoid doing things by yourself to avoid unnecessary idents.¡± Father Yang cautioned, kindly.

    ¡°I see, thank you.¡±

    As the stewardess pushed the dining car to deliver the meal, the conversation between them came to an end.

    After dinner, they began to feel sleepy, and they took a nap. Although they continued to talk after waking up, they didn¡¯t mention the coyotes. Father Yang said some interesting things and experiences while studying in Belgium. As for Zhang Zian, he told of his experience of traveling to Egypt in response.

    Unconsciously, this long-haul flight was nearing the end, and San Francisco was in sight.

    The ne began to descend, and a brown colored ground appeared at the end of the endless ocean.

    Generally speaking, this is a pleasant flight experience. Although there is no high-quality looking flight attendant, nor are they sitting next to young beauties, he did not feel lonely.

    Intentionally or unintentionally, Zhang Zian and Father Yang did not exchange contact information, because both of them knew that if they wanted to find each other after returning to China, he would just go to the church in Nancheng District, Binhai City. However, for Zhang Zian that is without religion, there does not seem to be a need to go to church.

    So they all think that this pleasant conversation is their first andst conversation.

    After grabbing his luggage and leaving the airport, Father Yang politely asked Zhang Zian if he would be taking a ride to the city.

    Zhang Zian saw someone driving to pick up Father Yang. They are two foreigners. Judging from their temperament, they seem to be Father Yang¡¯s counterpart in his upation.

    He feels that this is not convenient. People may have private words to say to one another, so he declined the invitation and chose to take the cheap Metro instead.

    To save money on this self-funded trip, instead of staying in a convenient but expensive hotel in the city center, he booked a slightly off-site bed and breakfast online, in advance, through Airbnb. It took a lot of time for him to choose a house. The general principle is that the location can be a little away from the city center, and the room can be small, but there must be enough privacy for him, and he does not want to live with thendlord.

    After connecting with thendlord and checking into the premises, he checked the room and felt satisfied. Thus, he released ¦Ð from the mobile phone, which needed to write novels daily. He decided to leave the other elves on his phone for now. Otherwise, if he chose otherwise, he doesn¡¯t even need to think about sleeping that night.

    After a little packing, he fell onto the bed, called the Matthew Davis Foundation, confirmed that he had arrived in San Francisco and would attend their celebration. Then, he began to sleep, trying his best to ovee the jetg as soon as possible.

 Chapter 1457: The Smell of San Francisco

    <h4>Chapter 1457: The Smell of San Francisco</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    At about five o¡¯clock in the morning, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t sleep anymore, and his head was still a little bit hazed. However, in order to sleepter that night, he couldn¡¯t sleep now.

    ¦° slept soundly in a padded rattan chair, and the dormantptop was ced on the table.

    The sunny weather outside the window indicates that it was a good day.

    This is a two-story single-family house. The first floor is upied by the two elderlyndlords. The second floor is rented to Zhang Zian. The second floor has a separate staircase to go up and down. If the tenant does not want to deal with thendlord, it can bepletely booked. He can then use Airbnb for instant check-out without dealing with them at all.

    Beforeing to the United States, Zhang Zian booked this house in Binhai City. At that time, He didn¡¯t know that this kind of online booking of homestays was reliable. Mainly, it is thendlords that were unreliable. After all, a big American city like this is tooplicated. Who knows whether thendlord is an old solid programmer during the day but turns into a murderer at night? Or perhaps is a kind of idiot who likes to wait for the tenant to fall asleep and sneak into the room to observe the tenant¡¯s sleeping state after renting the house? This is the routine in those Hollywood B-rated movies.

    Of course, even if the other party is really a killer, it is nothing muchpared to those that like to install a pinhole camera in the room to peep at the privacy of the tenant. That will truly be disgusting.

    Although thendlord of this house has a good rating online, he still kept an eye on him and asked ¦Ð to inquire through the nameless book to see if thendlord¡¯s old couple had any secrets to hide.

    The broader the question, the moreplicated it is to query because everything in the anonymous book records everything in detail, including theponents of each breath exhaled by the old couple from birth, and the slight changes in each hormone in the blood. Toplete this check, It will be a job that will take a few days and nights. Finally, Zhang Zian thought of a way to simplify the scope. He asked ¦Ð to check the number of cameras on the second floor. Where are they? Only when he was sure that there were no such cameras did he booked this house.

    There were two bedrooms on the second floor. The old couple was surprised when they heard that only Zhang Zian had moved in yesterday. He then proceeded to lie about it, saying that a friend who had been traveling with him abandoned the ns at thest minute. Thus, he could onlye by himself. However, maybe the friend will change his mind again, so don¡¯t rent the empty bedroom to others. He will just continue to rent it as usual.

    This is a weird request, but the old couple has also had weirder requests, so they still respect the wishes of the tenants.

    Compared with hotels, apart from being cheap, the biggest advantage of a homestay is that one can be integrated into the lives of locals. From the details, you can experience the local customs, such as interior furnishings and decoration. It can reflect the owner¡¯s tastes and preferences. There is a sense of vicissitudes in history. Unlike a hotel, where the interior is a standard furnishing, walking out of the room reveals a scene that is as vibrant as the inside.

    In addition, you can choose to keep a distance from thendlord andmunicate through Airbnb. You can also choose to be one and integrate well with thendlord. You can also get additional benefits when you make friends, such as free directions and even pick-up services at tourist attractions. Of course, thendlord is doing this out of his or her own ord and is merely being sociable.

    San Francisco is a mountain city. This homestay is located on a slightly elevatednd with a pretty good view. Outside the bedroom on the second floor is a spacious balcony surrounded by wrought iron railings, rocking chairs, and a small table where you can sit and rx.

    Zhang Zian opened the balcony door. San Francisco, under the morning light, came into view, and the cold air poured into the room. No wonder San Francisco can be a summer resort. This cooling temperature is no problem at all to call it thete autumn season as well.

    It was too early, and the streets were deserted. A few cars hurried past, and asionally, one or two morning runners marched along the street with vigorous steps.

    The air is cold but not fresh.Read more chapter on

    Zhang Zian returned to the room, aimed at the empty space to release the elves, and then took Richard out of the toilet.

    ¡°What¡¯s this smell?¡± Famous asked, frowning.

    The other olfactory sensitive elves also smelled it and then turned to Richard¡¯s ... butt.

    ¡°Ga? You stare at me; makes me so embarrassed ...¡± Richard said from his mouth, but he didn¡¯t feel embarrassed at all.

    The smell the elves smell was a strong smell of shit, and Zhang Zian was d that human noses were not so sensitive.

    ¡°Oh! You stupid man, how dare you urinate anywhere you like?¡± Snowy Li scolded, covering its nose.

    The elves all smelled it. This was not from the smell of bird feces, nor was it left by dog ??walkers on the street, but the smell of human feces.

    If it wasn¡¯t for the stars and stripes hanging on the windows of a private house below the balcony, they almost thought they hade to Egypt again ... No, Egypt is dirty and messy with stray dog ??shit everywhere, but in any case, there is not so much human shit ...

    With such a strong smell of feces, it is estimated that only slums in India and Brazil can overpower what is being smelled here.

    Zhang Zian spread his hands, ¡°Wee, to San Francisco.¡±

    Yes, downtown San Francisco is a city full of the smell of human shit.

    From January to August 2018, San Francisco had an average of 65 hotlines per day to report to the city government the piles of feces they found in the streets from humans. The northeast San Francisco city was the densest in terms of these reports.

    Not only is human feces somewhat disgusting, the key is that it can also cause more serious harm, such as the rotavirus. When the feces on the street are dried, they are blown by the wind, and the feces particles flutter with the wind. If they are inhaled, people may be infected with rotavirus.

    Where did these fecese from? Is it true that the people of San Francisco have had the habit of urinating and peeing anywhere they like since ancient times? Of course not.

    There are many people in tiny San Francisco. The nearby Silicon Valley gathers the world¡¯s top talents and top sries. Numerous young people have be rich overnight through stock options or entrepreneurship, which has led to expensive housing prices in San Francisco and the highest rents in the United States.

    In San Francisco, households with an annual ie of more than $350,000 are the only ones that are able to afford an average priced home.

    The poor can¡¯t afford or rent a house. They can only sleep on the streets, use newspapers as cotton coats, and use park benches as their homes. There are no other options. After all, there are only 22 public toilets in San Francisco. With five public toilets further under construction, there are more requirements then what is avable. When you are in a hurry, you can¡¯t care about hygiene and can only solve it on the spot.

    The problem of diarrhea and horrible night-timew and order is fundamentally caused by arge number of homeless people.

    It is no exaggeration to say that hungry tramps will kill people at night to rob them of a dozen dors of pocket money.

    To talk about the degree of difficulty of solving problems,pared to San Francisco¡¯s homeless problem, the problems of stray cats and dogs in Binhai City are not worth mentioning at all.

 Chapter 1458: Assault

    <h4>Chapter 1458: Assault</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Ordinary touristsing to San Francisco may not be aware of the serious feces problem here, and they may not be wary of homeless people on the streets, because they usually do not get up to go out so early. When they get up and leave the hotel, the cleaners have already cleared the manure on the street. During the day, the homeless will be somewhat restrained for a while and will put off defecating until at least nighttime...

    If one wants to see what San Francisco is like, one can only choose a remote homestay like Zhang Zian and get up early.

    After listening to his exnation, the elves were quite speechless. They did not expect that such a prosperous city had so many unseen problems.

    Zhang Zian wondered if many coyotes that lingered in downtown San Francisco would be attracted by the smell of feces? As a close rtive of dogs, the coyote liking to eating shit is a normal thing?

    Although the current mayor has promised to vigorously tackle the problem of feces by building more public toilets, this is, after all, a cure for the symptoms. Unless someone can solve the problem of homeless people¡¯s real problems, which is unemployment, it will not work out well. However, those who have that ability to do so are expected to be America¡¯s eternal emperor.

    Fina said disgustedly, ¡°Fortunately, the temperature in San Francisco is still cool. Otherwise, I might as well return to the temple immediately.¡±

    ¡°In fact, it doesn¡¯t matter. We just don¡¯t open the windows in the morning and evening as much as possible. Besides, we may not be able to stay in the city for long,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    There are not many ces to y in the San Francisco city area, and it is can all be finished up in one day. Coupled with going to the Foundation to participate in the celebration, it is estimated that they will stay in this homestay for a maximum of three or four days before they check out.

    The most convenient way to travel in San Francisco is to take public transportation. You can also use Uber if you have money. Renting a car is apromise, but considering that he has the elves, it is still the most convenient way by renting a car.

    China¡¯s driving license can be used in California, but driving rules and traffic signs may be slightly different, so he was still somewhat tensed about it. This is because the United States highway patrol officer is not as good as the traffic police in China. Once stopped inexplicably, he must roll down the window, sit in the seat honestly, with both hands on the steering wheel, so that the police can see the position of both hands. He must especially make sure that he does not open the door without permission. Otherwise, he may be shot within minutes, with no avenue to debate or to speak logic.

    Zhang Zian inquired about car rental information on his mobile phone. The elves were curious and walked around the room. Fina announced the ownership of the big bed in the bedroom next door. Shihua was not very satisfied with the bathtub and bathroom, because it looked like an ordinary person¡¯s house. The bathroom is not as luxurious and elegant as the hotel bathroom.

    Richard fiddled with the TV remote with its bird¡¯s ws, turned on the TV, and changed channels one by one.

    ¡°Look! FBI warning!¡± It cried.

    ¡°What?¡± Zhang Zian was attracted by what it said, but there was nothing on the TV.

    ¡°Quack! This uncle knows, as soon as you hear the FBI warning, you idiot, will be fooled!¡± Itughed whilst pping its wings.

    Zhang Zian: ¡°...I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about!¡±

    ¡°Quack! You just can¡¯t fool me when I am around!¡± Richard turned the TV to porn HBO, flew to the sofa back, and admire the various activities of men on women, men to men, women to women, women to men TV series.

    Famous ran to the balcony and looked around.

    This street has a very high green rate. There are carefully manicured flowers andwns everywhere. Birds were singing one after another. The flowers are bursting with smells, but they can¡¯t hide the smell of shit.

    Famous saw a young girl running with a Pomeranian in the morning and ran from the other end of the street, and was about to pass the homestay where they were.

    She is wearing a zer with long sleeves and had wireless earphones in her ears.

    Howl!

    She ran and ran, when her Pomeranian cried suddenly, and stopped reluctantly, unwilling to leave. It was staring at the flowers in a certain direction, barking constantly.

    The smaller the dog, the louder the barking sound and the sharper its prating power.

    She also stopped and squatted on the ground, soothing her Pomeranian softly. Her dog always apanied her to run in the morning, and this rarely happened.

    It was still too early, and she feared that it might inviteints because it barked so much and so loud.

    Famous, from the barks of the Pomeranian, heard fear, panic, and warning, which was a signal to call for hispanions to run away when facing natural enemies.

    But Famous didn¡¯t smell any abnormal odor, because the wind direction was bad for it to detect anything.

    It followed the Pomeranian¡¯s sight and saw a fluffy soft tail moving under a clump of flowers.

    It did not wait for the girl to react when a khaki figure suddenly burst out from the flowers and flew straight towards the girl and the Pomeranian.

    That is an animal that looks like a dog but is not really one. It hadrger ears and a strangely long tail.

    Famous didn¡¯t hear the conversation between Zhang Zian and Father Yang on the ne, so he didn¡¯t know what kind of animal it was, but it was clear that this animal had no good intention.

    Time was running out, and it was toote to say to call out to Zhang Zian. Famous jumped off the second-floor balcony and rushed towards the animal.

    Famous¡¯s bloodlines are better than the current German Shepherd and are more athletic. In addition, as an elf, under the blessing of faith, its speed and bouncing power are much stronger than ordinary canines.

    Famous startedter but arrived first, and blocked the girl and the Pomeranian from the new foe. It didn¡¯t want to fight with this guy, but merely wanted to scare it away, so he showed his sharp canine teeth and made a threatening posture.

    Under normal circumstances, the attacker, having been blocked by a third party, it should stop to observe the situation and then decide on whether to advance or retreat. However, strangely, it continues to rush forward, running in an arc as if there is a problem in its sense of direction. It did not go in a straight line.

    Famous noticed that its eyes seemed to be covered with an abnormal gray-white substance, and couldn¡¯t see the focus from its pupils. In addition, the animal was very thin, almost as thin as bones, as if it hadn¡¯t eaten for several days. It has a certain sense of hunger, and thick saliva was dripping from the corners of its mouth.

    The attacker was close at hand but did not mean to retreat. Famous had already smelled the rancid smell in the opponent¡¯s mouth, and even if he didn¡¯t want to fight, it seemed that this fight was necessary.

    At this time, Zhang Zian heard the movement, hurriedly ran from the house to the balcony, and reminded loudly, ¡°Famous! Don¡¯t bite it! Don¡¯t let it bite you as well!¡±

    Famous didn¡¯t know why he said that, but there must be a reason, so when he was about to strike, he avoided facing it head front, and instead raised out one leg, and kicked it from the side.

    Famous¡¯s leg strength is enough to kick an adult Tibetan Mastiff off bnce. This time around, it didn¡¯t get it its best, but it is reasonable enough to make the other party roll with pain.

    Strangely, the guy seemed to feel no pain. After being kicked to the ground, it immediately turned over and stood up. It stood there for three seconds, then suddenly turned around and ran. Its speed was amazing, and even Famous was left speechless.

 Chapter 1459: Performer

    <h4>Chapter 1459: Performer</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Famous drove the attacker away. At this time, Zhang Zian had also already hurried down from the second floor. The dedicated staircase channel showed its effect here, and he could get downstairs immediately without going through the first floor indoors.

    The girl who was holding her Pomeranian that was still shaking from the earlier encounter thought about the scene that she had just witnessed just now. It was clear that Famous had saved her and perhaps even her dog.

    She tried to touch Famous¡¯s neck and, upon seeing that it had no excessive reaction to her touch, she kept saying, ¡°Good dog, good dog...¡±

    ¡°Hi! Are you okay?¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at the traffic on the left and right, trot across the road, and greeted her in English.

    When he saw the girl¡¯s hair and skin color, his heart skipped a beat, because she was yellow-skinned and ck-haired. It was no ident that she should be Asian or an Asian American.

    San Francisco is an open city with multi-ethnic and multi-cultural coexistence. Residentse from all over the world and all over the globe. Asian girls are not umon to be seen here. Of course, this does not mean that she is Chinese or an overseas Chinese, but she can also Japanese, Korean, or Southeast Asian. Nevertheless, he felt at home seeing her here in a foreignnd.

    The skin color of this girl is not like that of Southeast Asians, because people there are generally darker in color than East Asians. She most likely has the ancestry of China, Japan, or South Korea in her blood.

    From the appearance, she should be regarded as an ordinary person, but she is very young and vigorous, apart from her hair being slightly yellow. Nevertheless, If she had ck hair, it will give her a lot of points.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m fine.¡± She also responded in English, ncing at Zhang Zian¡¯s skin and hair, ¡°Is this your dog?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± He nodded.

    ¡°Thank you. It saved my butter-oh, butter is my dog.¡± She picked up her Pomeranian. This is an orange pomegranate that does look a bit like butter.

    ¡°You should run,¡± Zhang Zian advised, ¡°when that coyote rushed towards you.¡±

    ¡°Coyote? Is that a coyote?¡± She opened her eyes wide. ¡°I saw it for the first time in my life...you¡¯re right, I should run, but I can¡¯t leave my butter behind...¡±

    ¡°You can change course from now on. Find a busy road, or postpone your running time to avoid the early morning and evening.¡± Zhang Zian suggested.

    ¡°Or have a big and fearless dog like this.¡± She stared at Famous with an envious face.

    Zhang Zian smiled helplessly. Did she think that all big dogs could scare away a coyote?

    At this time, he should politely tell her to be careful and then leave. Of course, if you want to get a girl, then you should invite her to your house to have a cup of coffee to calm her nerves. After all, is he not a hero (dog) who saved the beauty?

    ¡°May I boldly ask, are you from China?¡± The girl suddenly said.

    Zhang Zian froze. ¡°How do you know?¡±

    Is his oral English, trained so long by Richard, still sounded like English with a Chinese ent?

    She raised her finger at his clothes.

    He looked down, and it turned out that the domestic brand logo on the clothes was recognized by her.

    He didn¡¯t bring any pajamas or pants. For the sake of convenience, he directly brought domestic sportswear, which can be worn both indoors and outdoors. He didn¡¯t need to change clothes when going out. He changed it after checking in yesterday, but he is also wearing it now.

    For someone to be able to recognize the logo of a domestic brand at a nce...

    ¡°Actually, I am also Chinese,¡± she said in Chinese, ¡°I go to school here and work along the way.¡±

    Seeing a fellow citizen, both of their eyes were about to burst into tears. Although not to the extent of full-blown tears, the same mother tongue brought the distance between them closer.

    ¡°Be careful. I heard that San Francisco¡¯s coyotes are very active recently. It¡¯s better to postpone your running time until the sun risespletely.¡± He emphasized again.

    She sighed, ¡°I don¡¯t want to get up so early, but I don¡¯t have time. I will go back to the apartment to take a shower, and then I will go to ss. After ss, I will go to the aquarium to work. Otherwise, I can¡¯t afford the expensive rent...¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute, are you working at the aquarium?¡±

    Zhang Zian caught on this keyword sensitively.

    She nodded, ¡°ying a mermaid in the aquarium to make tourists happy, or why do you think I want to run every morning?¡±

    Speaking, she bent down and patted her thighs. ¡°When ying as a mermaid, I had to put on a 2-meter-long, 50-pound fishtail on my leg. If I didn¡¯t have any strength on my leg, I couldn¡¯t swim at all, or just look like a drowning salty fish. So, I have to run and work out every day to stay physically fit. ¡±

    This is so...Zhang Zian thoughtfully nced at her hair.

    Her hair was not born to be so yellowish but was caused by long-term soaking in salty seawater.

    After he got closer, he found that her skin was also not very good, and it was slightly red. It must have been because she had been soaking in the sea for a long time.

    The mermaid show is a key item for some aquariums to solicit business. When tourists are immersed in the deep and dark sea tunnel, watching strange marine life floating around, then suddenly a half-man and half-mermaid emerged through the school of fish, and even beckoning to tourists, will definitely surprise many tourists, especially curious children.

    However, ying as a mermaid is not as good as it looks, or anyone can easily make money by putting on a fluttering fishtail and swimming with schools of fish. This girl exchanged herbor to support her studies at the cost of her hair and skin. In addition, she has to indulge in running and fitness every day, getting up very early, running in the streets and alleys of San Francisco. The onlypany that apanied her was this Pomeranian.

    ¡°Yes, I haven¡¯t introduced myself yet. My name is Zhou Jing.¡± She held out her hand.

    ¡°My name is Zhang Zian.¡±

    He shook her hands.

    ¡°Are you traveling to San Francisco for holiday?¡± Zhou Jing asked.

    ¡°Sort of.¡± He nodded. ¡°I just arrived yesterday.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s rare for people to travel with dogs.¡± She stooped and grabbed Famous¡¯s back hair again.

    She is also from China, and she is also a dog breeder. She was also saved by Famous, which made her have a good impression of him from the beginning.

    ¡°If you want toe to the aquarium, you can find me.¡± Zhou Jingughed. ¡°Although I¡¯m just a part-time worker, and I can¡¯t give you free tickets, but it should be OK to take you backstage.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great. I¡¯m also curious about the back-office operation of the aquarium.¡± Zhang Zian temporarily held back Jiang Feifei¡¯s entrustment of his help and did not say it. After all, it seemed like too forceful to ask for help immediately.

    ¡°I have to go. I will bete for sster. I need to take a shower when I go back. I will leave you my phone number. You can call me before youe to the aquarium.¡±

    She brought a pen, but neither had paper, so Zhang Zian asked her to write the phone on the back of his hand.

    ¡°I¡¯m leaving now. Bye! Let¡¯s go, butter!¡±

    She was attacked by a coyote first and then talked to Zhang Zian, which made her abandon her morning run n. She returned with butter back the way she came from and hurried to ss.

 Chapter 1460: Route of transmission

    <h4>Chapter 1460: Route of transmission</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After Zhou Jing left, Zhang Zian suddenly remembered that he forgot to ask which aquarium she worked in, because there are several aquariums in San Francisco and the surrounding area. Which might be the one that she is working at?

    However, this matter is not urgent. It is not toote,ter on, to call and ask her when he decides to go to the aquarium. It is not necessary to ask her that now. He doesn¡¯t want to disturb others whilst they are in ss. It is not easy to work and study while studying, especially in San Francisco, a city that has an outrageous cost of rent.

    If he is lucky, you can ask her if her aquarium is still hiring. Even if she doesn¡¯t, he can be introduced to the situation of other aquariums. After all, she has been in San Francisco for a rtively long period.

    Famous asked, ¡°The animal from just now is called a coyote?¡±

    ¡°En,¡± Zhang Zian asked, ¡°You haven¡¯t been touched by its teeth or saliva?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Famous was convinced.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on with the coyote? Why is there such a beast in San Francisco?¡± He asked, and went back with Zhang Zian towards the house.

    ¡°Wait a minute.¡±

    Zhang Zian noticed that there was a wet stain on the pavement and stopped Famous because Famous might just step on this wet stain with two more steps.

    ¡°Is this...water? Or is it sweat?¡± He bent over and looked closely, but couldn¡¯t tell. Maybe it was Zhou Jing¡¯s sweat, maybe it was dripping water from a passing car, or maybe it was the saliva sprayed by the Pomeranian¡¯s barking...all options are possible.

    Famous didn¡¯t understand what a small wet stain can be fussed about by him, but Zhang Zian¡¯s expression was serious, so it didn¡¯t dare to take it lightly.

    ¡°It¡¯s not water or sweat. It seems like...the coyote¡¯s urine.¡± Its nose has been able to distinguish the nature of the wet stain on this road.

    Zhang Zian sighed for a moment and drew an arc over it, ¡°Come around, don¡¯t step on it.¡±

    ¡°You want to protect the scene?¡± Famous wondered. It could only think of such an exnation.

    ¡°No.¡± Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°Some diseases, such as Mad Cow disease, can be transmitted through urine. That is, even stepping barefooted on infectedwns with infected cattle¡¯s shit and pee may also cause one to be infected.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Famous was taken aback, even thinking that he had heard it wrongly, ¡°You can even get infected by walking barefoot on thewn covered with urine?¡±

    ¡°In theory, of course, though the probability of infection is very low. However, there is no need to take this risk, right?¡± He looked around, picked up a tree branch, and dug some soil to cover the urine.

    Although it sounds incredible, it is the case. What caused the BSE to spread is a special type of virus...It is not urate to say that it is a virus. It is more of a special protein that humans know very little, and urine may contain this special protein.

    He didn¡¯t want to be a sad story, but he was careful so that he can continue living for a good many years. If he was infected because he stepped on the urine, it would be an unjust death.

    Humans wear shoes well. Even if they have stepped on the mad cow¡¯s urine, it is not a problem, but Famous is barefoot, and the other elves are also barefoot.

    Famous bypassed the urine covered by the beach, and he turned back and looked back frequently.

    A man and a dog walked back from the stairs to the bedroom on the second floor, and the other elves gathered curiously beside the balcony door to witness what had happened earlier. Thus, they had all heard Zhang Zian¡¯s words.

    Zhang Zian first entered Zhou Jing¡¯s number into his mobile phone and then ryed the conversation he had with Father Yang on the ne to the elves. Richard also made some extra additions about Ghent University.

    What he didn¡¯t expect was that upon hearing about the coyote attack on the ne, he gets to see them on his first day in San Francisco.

    ¡°Why do coyotes go crazy?¡± The question of Famous is also amon question between Zhang Zian and the other elves.

    Since the primitive era, human beings have dominated the earth for tens of thousands of years. Needless to say, existing animals basically instinctively fear humans, or they try to live in harmony with humans like cats and dogs. How will any dare to actively attack humans?

    The possibility that they have all gone crazy does not exist. The most likely exnation is that they are sick or poisoned, which leads to their unconscious behavior and aggressive nature.

    The coyotes being poisoned is actually okay, for at least it is not contagious. Unless the toxin is spread by the carcasses of other animals after death, it will be more dangerous, but the scope of the spread is also likely to be very limited.

    He is afraid that it is an infectious disease that has not been discovered by humans...or an infectious disease that has been discovered by humans but not known if canines will be infected by it.

    Famous remembered the scene of confrontation just now and described the look of the coyote, mainly about its eyes being dim and gray, and theck of a sense of direction.

    This reminds Zhang Zian of the dog he saw in the pet clinic, and its eyes appear to be whitish and gray, which is a rare feature.

    Chinese dogs, American coyotes...They are separated by the Pacific Ocean, but is there any connection between them?

    Dogs and coyote are canines. Many people have misunderstood that dogs are dogs and wolves are wolves. In fact, dogs are not a separate species at all, and they are biologically equivalent to wolves.

    Defining a species requires that the offspring of this species that breeds within the species have stable and fertile traits and that they cannot breed with other species. Even if they did, the offspring that is born is infertile. In short, it is reproductive istion.

    From this definition, dogs, wolves, and coyotes are all the same species. They can be freely paired and reproduced, and their offsprings are fertile.

    If a certain infectious disease can be transmitted to wolves, it must also be able to be transmitted to dogs and coyotes, and vice versa.

    He tried to sort out his thoughts.

    He previously suspected that the American dog food named Loshi caused strange diseases in Chinese dogs, and further caused the strange illness of the staff at the waste recycling station. However, he could not determine the root cause of the strange disease. The toxin in dog food is caused by the germs in dog food, and it is not certain whether it is able to transmit freely. If the toxin spreads between dog food, dog meat, and then to people, it is called transmission, not an infection.

    But from the test report given by Wei Kang, from the routine inspection, he could not find any special harmful ingredients in that bag of dog food...

    Except for one point-the meat in dog food, which is aplex source of protein, hasrge particles from chicken, duck, fish, and beef,mon meats in the market. However, the source of finely grounded meat powder was not detected.

    The meat powder is not necessarily meat or at least 99% of the time, and it is not meat. If it is meat, it is not necessary to grind it into powder. Generally, it is the powder made after the bones or animal organs are dried.

    As for what kind of animal it is...he always thought it was a stray cat or a stray dog, or from the cat and dog carcasses from an animal shelter that had been euthanized because no one adopted it. However, perhaps there is something else? After all, it¡¯s easy for such activities to be leaked. Once leaked by the animal shelter staff who cannot keep their mouths shut, it is likely that the entire operations will be shut down.

    Will it be some kind of wild animal? Some kind of wild animal that can be used as both a coyote control and a dog food ingredient?

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    Chapter 1461: The Evidence Trail Ends

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian is, after all, not a biology student. The rtionship between dogs, coyotes, dog food, and people is tangled together like a mess, but there is one most critical gap, so the entire sage doesn¡¯t make sense to him.

    ¡°¦Ð, if you have some free time, can you help me find out, what exactly is making San Francisco¡¯s coyotes go crazy?¡±

    When he saw that ¦Ð was awake, he asked it for its help.

    If it¡¯s not to the point where he really can¡¯t figure it out, he doesn¡¯t want to bother ¦Ð. It is very tiring to sit and type in front of theputer every day. When one has some time, they should be more active and y with everyone instead of opening the unknown book and inquire about the secrets of the world. Besides, he had just made it check the details of the oldndlord.

    If for every major event or small incident that happens, he consults the nameless book to find the cause, it will greatly increase its burden and increase its inertia. Just look at the streets. Homeless men who haveplete hands and feet but are simply waiting for death. They are used to filling their stomach without hard work, and will slowly be a wasted person.

    Using your brain is a good thing, and it should be used more often.

    If there is more time, he is willing to think more about it, but the problem is that the situation is quite serious now. The key is that the public still knows nothing about it. If things continue on like this, China will face more trouble than the United States.

    ¡°Squeak.¡±

    ¦° nodded without hesitation, took a chair, and opened the unknown book. It then proceeded to flip through the pages.

    Generally speaking, this process willst for a long time. There are hundreds of coyotes in San Francisco, and not all of them are aggressive, perhaps even at varying degrees. This makes it difficult for ¦Ð to define what is ¡°crazy¡± and why they behave in that manner.

    However, Zhang Zian merely turned around a little, and ¦Ð stopped turning the pages.

    ¡°Squeak.¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    It is impossible to find the reason so quickly, so ¦Ð must have found another problem.

    ¦° started the hibernatingputer, and typed a line in the document: it involves other elves, and cannot be queried.

    ¡°Uh...¡±

    Zhang Zi reassured himself. He seemed to have seen this reason before, and it appeared in the cat abuse incident and prevented ¦Ð from finding the whereabouts of the cat god statue through the unknown book. Now, it is here again.

    Which elf is involved this time?

    He can¡¯t guess, and there is no way he can guess.

    Thest clue he had to cheat was also ruthlessly cut off.

    ¡°I am now hungry,¡± Fina said indifferently.

    Four simple words, like a fast knife, momentarily slice off all the mess.

    The sky is big, and the importance of a meal is equally great.

    No matter how big the dog food incident is, it is imperative to fill one¡¯s belly first.

    Egypt and Germany have their own special local delicacies, but what about America? The United States is often derided as a young country with only a history of just about 200 years. Many im this is no history at all, and of course, correspondingly, there is no traditional cuisine. However, the United States is an immigrant country, and its food is a hodgepodge. Immigrants from all over the worlde here to cook their own hometown food out of their homesickness. Over time, magically modified food from various countries can be found here.

    What¡¯s special in San Francisco is the mobile dining car on the street, which is almost the same as China¡¯s early stall, but it looks taller and bigger and maybe more hygienic.

    The mobile dining car is a special kind of truck. It can open a wide window on the side, and the body of the car is painted with bright and eye-catching spray paint. After driving to the destination, pushing the window open is equivalent to the signal of its opening for business. Fried chicken, pizza, pasta, and attractive ice cream, almost all the junk food you can imagine can be found here ... but they are not delicious.

    Zhang Zian went out to buy breakfast. Famous also wanted to follow in order to prevent another coyote from attacking, but the sun has already risen, and the streets are gradually bing lively. It is unlikely that there will be another coyote.

    After half an hour or so, he returned with two bags of fast food in his hand¡ªwhen he went there, he went on foot. However, when he came back, he drove a rented car and filled it with gas.

    Upon smelling the smell of food, the elves with empty stomachs can¡¯t wait any longer. Snowy Li did not wait for him to put the stic bag on the table, and anxiously wanted to tear the stic bag with its ws.

    ¡°Quack! Such a strong curry vor, which Indian brother did you this idiot hook up with again?¡± Richard turned off the TV and came over to join in the fun.

    Zhang Zian was unclear as to what special foods the colorful dining cars sell, so he simply bought one or two of each item. He also bought himself an ice cream cone, because he had the feeling that the elves would pick all the meat in the food, leaving him with a lot of lettuce leaves and crusts. At least, they would not eat ice cream.

    Fina chose a lobster sandwich. Two pieces of bread were sandwiched together with overflowingrge pieces of lobster meat. It was supplemented with natural butter. With a bite, the full-bodied protein taste covered its mouth. It was a very healthy meal.

    Snowy Li chose a burger that looked like it probably does not sell well, and in Richard¡¯s words, it was like ¡°hamburger shit.¡± However, that was the signature food of the famous Me So Hungry dining car-The Monster Burger. The burger is generously sandwiched with several thickyers of ingredients. The main feature is thebination of the Angus beef patties and bacon. It is coated with full-fat cheese and served with Asian barbecue sauce. Eating one can meet the energy requirements of an entire morning. Snowy Li, expectedly, picked out the lettuce and tomatoes and threw them out.

    Another thing that puzzled Zhang Zian is, does this dining car brand name conform to English grammar? If it was in Chinese, might it be ridiculed? It seems that Americans are also blind from G8 when naming theirpanies ...

    Old Time Tea chose crepes with steak filling, while Famous picked up some burritos.

    ¡°Quack! Have you this idiot forgot something?¡± Richard looked here and then looked over there, look over that. All that is left is ice cream and ancient-baked pizza, which is obviously not what it can eat.

    ¡°Who do you think the lettuce and tomato slices are left for?¡± Zhang Zian pointed to the vegetables picked out by Snowy Lion.

    Richard screamed indignantly, ¡°You little prick with no conscience, would it kill you to order for me a vegetable and fruit sd? I wish you get a very big boyfriend and who will feed yourge hot dogs every day!¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°... It seems you don¡¯t even want to eat lettuce leaves.¡±

    ¡°A man with such a small temperament ... no wonder he can¡¯t find his girlfriend.¡± Richard was really afraid he would throw away all the vegetables, and quickly picked up the lettuce and tomatoes and flew away. This is because it didn¡¯t eat much on the ne yesterday. He stole a few leaves while he was eating an airne meal, but he got up this morning and hasn¡¯t shit till now.

    Except for Richard, who only ate till it was half full, the other elves ate till they were full.

    Since they hade to San Francisco, they have to go out and y no matter what. Especially since he is traveling at his own expense, to not do so means wasting the trip. Something he certainly was not looking forward to.

 Chapter 1461: The Evidence Trail Ends

    <h4>Chapter 1461: The Evidence Trail Ends</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Zhang Zian is, after all, not a biology student. The rtionship between dogs, coyotes, dog food, and people is tangled together like a mess, but there is one most critical gap, so the entire sage doesn¡¯t make sense to him.

    ¡°¦Ð, if you have some free time, can you help me find out, what exactly is making San Francisco¡¯s coyotes go crazy?¡±

    When he saw that ¦Ð was awake, he asked it for its help.

    If it¡¯s not to the point where he really can¡¯t figure it out, he doesn¡¯t want to bother ¦Ð. It is very tiring to sit and type in front of theputer every day. When one has some time, they should be more active and y with everyone instead of opening the unknown book and inquire about the secrets of the world. Besides, he had just made it check the details of the oldndlord.

    If for every major event or small incident that happens, he consults the nameless book to find the cause, it will greatly increase its burden and increase its inertia. Just look at the streets. Homeless men who haveplete hands and feet but are simply waiting for death. They are used to filling their stomach without hard work, and will slowly be a wasted person.

    Using your brain is a good thing, and it should be used more often.

    If there is more time, he is willing to think more about it, but the problem is that the situation is quite serious now. The key is that the public still knows nothing about it. If things continue on like this, China will face more trouble than the United States.

    ¡°Squeak.¡±

    ¦° nodded without hesitation, took a chair, and opened the unknown book. It then proceeded to flip through the pages.

    Generally speaking, this process willst for a long time. There are hundreds of coyotes in San Francisco, and not all of them are aggressive, perhaps even at varying degrees. This makes it difficult for ¦Ð to define what is ¡°crazy¡± and why they behave in that manner.

    However, Zhang Zian merely turned around a little, and ¦Ð stopped turning the pages.

    ¡°Squeak.¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    It is impossible to find the reason so quickly, so ¦Ð must have found another problem.

    ¦° started the hibernatingputer, and typed a line in the document: it involves other elves, and cannot be queried.

    ¡°Uh...¡±

    Zhang Zi reassured himself. He seemed to have seen this reason before, and it appeared in the cat abuse incident and prevented ¦Ð from finding the whereabouts of the cat god statue through the unknown book. Now, it is here again.

    Which elf is involved this time?

    He can¡¯t guess, and there is no way he can guess.

    Thest clue he had to cheat was also ruthlessly cut off.

    ¡°I am now hungry,¡± Fina said indifferently.

    Four simple words, like a fast knife, momentarily slice off all the mess.

    The sky is big, and the importance of a meal is equally great.

    No matter how big the dog food incident is, it is imperative to fill one¡¯s belly first.

    Egypt and Germany have their own special local delicacies, but what about America? The United States is often derided as a young country with only a history of just about 200 years. Many im this is no history at all, and of course, correspondingly, there is no traditional cuisine. However, the United States is an immigrant country, and its food is a hodgepodge. Immigrants from all over the worlde here to cook their own hometown food out of their homesickness. Over time, magically modified food from various countries can be found here.Read more chapter on

    What¡¯s special in San Francisco is the mobile dining car on the street, which is almost the same as China¡¯s early stall, but it looks taller and bigger and maybe more hygienic.

    The mobile dining car is a special kind of truck. It can open a wide window on the side, and the body of the car is painted with bright and eye-catching spray paint. After driving to the destination, pushing the window open is equivalent to the signal of its opening for business. Fried chicken, pizza, pasta, and attractive ice cream, almost all the junk food you can imagine can be found here ... but they are not delicious.

    Zhang Zian went out to buy breakfast. Famous also wanted to follow in order to prevent another coyote from attacking, but the sun has already risen, and the streets are gradually bing lively. It is unlikely that there will be another coyote.

    After half an hour or so, he returned with two bags of fast food in his hand¡ªwhen he went there, he went on foot. However, when he came back, he drove a rented car and filled it with gas.

    Upon smelling the smell of food, the elves with empty stomachs can¡¯t wait any longer. Snowy Li did not wait for him to put the stic bag on the table, and anxiously wanted to tear the stic bag with its ws.

    ¡°Quack! Such a strong curry vor, which Indian brother did you this idiot hook up with again?¡± Richard turned off the TV and came over to join in the fun.

    Zhang Zian was unclear as to what special foods the colorful dining cars sell, so he simply bought one or two of each item. He also bought himself an ice cream cone, because he had the feeling that the elves would pick all the meat in the food, leaving him with a lot of lettuce leaves and crusts. At least, they would not eat ice cream.

    Fina chose a lobster sandwich. Two pieces of bread were sandwiched together with overflowingrge pieces of lobster meat. It was supplemented with natural butter. With a bite, the full-bodied protein taste covered its mouth. It was a very healthy meal.

    Snowy Li chose a burger that looked like it probably does not sell well, and in Richard¡¯s words, it was like ¡°hamburger shit.¡± However, that was the signature food of the famous Me So Hungry dining car-The Monster Burger. The burger is generously sandwiched with several thickyers of ingredients. The main feature is thebination of the Angus beef patties and bacon. It is coated with full-fat cheese and served with Asian barbecue sauce. Eating one can meet the energy requirements of an entire morning. Snowy Li, expectedly, picked out the lettuce and tomatoes and threw them out.

    Another thing that puzzled Zhang Zian is, does this dining car brand name conform to English grammar? If it was in Chinese, might it be ridiculed? It seems that Americans are also blind from G8 when naming theirpanies ...

    Old Time Tea chose crepes with steak filling, while Famous picked up some burritos.

    ¡°Quack! Have you this idiot forgot something?¡± Richard looked here and then looked over there, look over that. All that is left is ice cream and ancient-baked pizza, which is obviously not what it can eat.

    ¡°Who do you think the lettuce and tomato slices are left for?¡± Zhang Zian pointed to the vegetables picked out by Snowy Lion.

    Richard screamed indignantly, ¡°You little prick with no conscience, would it kill you to order for me a vegetable and fruit sd? I wish you get a very big boyfriend and who will feed yourge hot dogs every day!¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°... It seems you don¡¯t even want to eat lettuce leaves.¡±

    ¡°A man with such a small temperament ... no wonder he can¡¯t find his girlfriend.¡± Richard was really afraid he would throw away all the vegetables, and quickly picked up the lettuce and tomatoes and flew away. This is because it didn¡¯t eat much on the ne yesterday. He stole a few leaves while he was eating an airne meal, but he got up this morning and hasn¡¯t shit till now.

    Except for Richard, who only ate till it was half full, the other elves ate till they were full.

    Since they hade to San Francisco, they have to go out and y no matter what. Especially since he is traveling at his own expense, to not do so means wasting the trip. Something he certainly was not looking forward to.

 Chapter 1462: Walk around and take a Look

    <h4>Chapter 1462: Walk around and take a Look</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Hahahaha! Are you still alive, poor people watching my live broadcast? Are you still living a miserable life of being hungry and cold? And your idol, smart, beautiful, kind, hard-working, brave, and rich little mermaid Shihua is now, here in America!¡±

    In the bathroom with the door closed, Shihua spoke to the mobile phone with great joy.

    ¡°I am staying in a luxury hotel in Queens, San Francisco, but because the fans are just so crazy and scared me so much, I shall not reveal the hotel name as I did in Egypt! You have to guess which is the most luxurious hotel in San Francisco, and you won¡¯t be wrong!¡±

    At this time in China, it is the prime time at night for live broadcasting, and there are a lot of online people in her live broadcast room. Netizens are still ruthless and sharp.

    ¡°As far as I know, there is no Queens in San Francisco.¡±

    ¡°This brainless little mermaid confused New York and San Francisco.¡±

    ¡°Maybe, she probably feels that the sound of ¡®Queens¡¯ is rtively elegant, and so spouted rubbish...Well, this is also Shihua¡¯s style.¡±

    ¡°It is a step below Manhattan, and Queens is just an upscale slum.¡±

    ¡°So are you in San Francisco or New York? If you are in New York, I¡¯ll take a taxi to find you.¡±

    Shihua selectively ignored these barrage bullets, boasting wlessly how luxurious the hotel she stayed in was from a Korean drama she had watched before.

    ¡°Say, did you watch snowy¡¯s live broadcast? I heard that Snowy has also gone to San Francisco.¡±

    ¡°Snowke is here! Some insider information, Snowy, has indeed gone to San Francisco. Would you like to consider a joint live broadcast?¡±

    ¡°Is Snowy¡¯s fan called Snowke? What is the name of Shihua¡¯s fan group?¡±

    ¡°Peeing fish balls?¡±

    ¡°Scram!¡±

    Shihua pursed her mouth. Compared to vomiting, she didn¡¯t want to see her fans talk about other anchors and have their names at the tip of their tongue. This makes her feel rather betrayed, and so she quietly pulled up the IDs of those individuals and then cklisted them.

    Knock knock!

    The bathroom was tapped twice, and Zhang Zian pushed the door open, signaling that she should end the live broadcast.

    Shihua frowned. She didn¡¯t start broadcasting for long, but she also wanted to ask him something, and she said that she was jetgged and told her fans to watch her next live broadcast at Binhai local morning time the next day. With that, she closed the app.

    ¡°Hey! Did I hear someone say she was ying a mermaid just now?¡± She grabbed the edge of the bathtub and asked with anticipation, ¡°Is my reputation already in the United States? I hear that if it got a lot of hype, it would attract a lot of people to cosy! Is the cosy version of me popr in the US? ¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°...¡±

    In fact, this is not wrong, but the cosy image is that of the mermaid and not the individual image of Shihua.

    ¡°She cosys a mermaid, but it is not you,¡± he exined.

    ¡°I¡¯m a mermaid, and a mermaid is me.¡± She pointed to her nose. ¡°They cosyed me without giving me a license fee? What should I do if my portrait rights are vited? Doesn¡¯t all cosys are made to look like my image? If it does not look like me, does it not damage my reputation? Especially, please don¡¯t use my image to cosy and do some disgusting things. My image is the dream of girls all over the world. If it hurts my image, I must confess my sins to the people of the world! ¡±

    ¡°Where did you hear such tales? What is the barrage of sand sculptureizens online talking about all day long?¡± Zhang Zian is really speechless.

    Shihua¡¯s mind is like a child, and she was especially vulnerable to popr culture, whether it is Korean drama or Inte spoof.

    ¡°This shall be set aside first. Where are you going to y today? Be sure to make a video and let me watch it! Otherwise, the traitors on my live broadcast will say that I¡¯m bragging again!¡± She ps against the water with hate.

    ¡°Okay.¡± After Zhang Zian promised, he put her on his mobile phone and will be taking the video for her as a form ofpensation to her. After all, she couldn¡¯t go anywhere.

    Although San Francisco is near the sea, the ocean currents are very cold. Even in midsummer, you can¡¯t go out to the sea to swim. There is nothing to y by the sea. Even gorgeous girls would be rare to find there.

    The other elves all traveled in stealth, one after another in his rented travel wagon.

    The car is slowly heading towards downtown San Francisco.

    ¡°This ce...looks old,¡± Finamented.

    The buses that have been in operation since the end of World War II look very retro, because they are a product from decades ago.

    The driver pulled the metal lever, rang the bell, and drove a toy-like w car through the undting streets, and the passengers even experienced a roller coaster-like experience when going downhill.

    In addition,pared with China¡¯s big cities, San Francisco looks rather mediocre. The few high-rise buildings are concentrated in the downtown area. The other areas are basically low-rise buildings. The buildings are often painted in different colors. When viewed from the hill, they look like a row of colorful piano keys.

    As there are a lot of homeless people and street artists, some of the alleys are very distinctive. The walls on both sides are covered with post-modern style graffiti. Some graffiti are outstanding works of art, and some disyed various forms of nudity as a source of provocation.

    Zhang Zian doesn¡¯t understand art, and it is not easy to drive in the tight alleys. Driving in San Francisco is already a test of his driving skills, so he only stopped at the alleyways for a short while and browsed casually.

    ¡°San Francisco was originally a city full of sensations. Some people said: If you want to see the United States now, go to Las Vegas; if you wanted to see the United States 50 years ago, go to Los Angeles; if you wanted to see the United States 100 years ago, you muste to San Francisco.¡±

    It may be, due to the strong impact of exotic culture in Egypt, the elves¡¯ perception of San Francisco is rtively dull. They feel that it is not bad here. The air is fresh, and the temperature is suitable. They are all good in all aspects, but they can¡¯t say anything else that is special. Some aspects of it were like Binhai City, and they are both ces suitable for old age if housing prices are not considered.

    He drove around the city to check in at some famous attractions, such as City Hall, China Town, Little Italy, Lombard Street, took photos and recorded a few short videos, and then went to Fisherman¡¯s Wharf. He will solve his lunch here. After lunch, he took a picture with other tourists at the crowd of sea lions at Pier 39, and then went to the Golden Gate Bridge after dinner.

    To be honest, in various Hollywood science fiction movies, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Statue of Liberty are often the hardest hit areas by monsters and aliens. Therefore, when he saw the intact Golden Gate Bridge, he was still a bit ufortable, and his eyes were always looking towards the sea, expecting a monster like Godzi to pop up there at any time.

    The Golden Gate Bridge is also a well-known suicide sanctuary in San Francisco. Every month, several people plunge into the icy Pacific Ocean from the bridge to end their lives. They jump into the water from the 220-meter-high bridge, and the impact they will experience is no less than hitting a dirt road directly. There is almost no possibility of surviving...Fortunately, such tragedies did not appear when they visited.

    On his first day in San Francisco, his itinerary was no different from ordinary tourists.

 Chapter 1463: Wearing a Formal Suit

    <h4>Chapter 1463: Wearing a Formal Suit</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°How do I look in this?¡±

    The next day, Zhang Zian put on a suit and showed it off to the elves, and asked for their opinions.

    Today, it is the Foundation¡¯s celebration that is held in the form of a banquet. Guests who are present are required to enter the venue in formal dress codes ording to the organizer¡¯s requirements.

    This is the first time Zhang Zian wore a suit, because there is no need to wear it in China, and he doesn¡¯t pay much attention to these type of things. Even if there is a formal dinner in China, most guests will go in formal clothes consisting of cor shirts and long pants. If you don¡¯t wear a tank top and flip-flops for dinner, it¡¯s already a treat for the organizers ... If someone wears a tuxedo, it will make people think that they are trying too hard to please the host.

    However, for western dinners, especially for such serious asions, if you wear casual clothes or ordinary suits, it may make foreigners present feel that the Chinese do not understand etiquette, which will make the situation awkward.

    So, for this dinner, he had to spend money on a suit, which was one of the reasons why he was hesitant toe at first. He felt distressed to buy clothes that would be worn only once.

    ¡°Ga? This is a suit? You idiot can even make mistakes with your suit? It also reveals the fact that you have an insufficient IQ bnce!¡± Richard eximed gloatingly.

    This is because what Zhang Zian was wearing ispletely different from the traditional western-style suit, and it is closer to the style of a Chinese tunic suit. It has a dark cor pocket, but it is different. The material is satin, dark ck, and there is a Western-style pocket towel in it.

    Both Richard and Famous have never seen such a western-style suit, but both doubt that he was actually wearing the correct thing.

    ¡°Shut your beak! Do you think that only a western-style suit is considered a suit?¡± Zhang Zian rebutted, ¡°Can¡¯t you see that this a Chinese-style suit?¡±

    Before going abroad, he originally nned to make a western-style suit. However, after thinking about it, at the dinner party on this asion, the men were all dressed in the same style, and he couldn¡¯t tell who was who from the back, and his handsomeness would be lost amongst the sea of men looking the same. Thus, he decided that he might as well copy the style of national leaders at important banquets and order a new set of Chinese tunic suit, which not only obeyed the rules of Western-style dinners but also reflected his own personality and taste. Besides, it is the thing that his country¡¯s leadership wears, so no one will say that it is ugly.

    ¡°I feel that you look good. It fits the event and is generous enough, showing the temperament of my great country.¡± Old Time Tea praised because this dress is like the clothes it wore when it experienced progress during its era.

    Fina dismissed it off, ¡°I can¡¯t understand why the formal clothes of modern people are so dark, and they look very hot when they look at them.¡±

    ¡°Oh! It stained the olddy¡¯s eyes!¡± Snowy Li said, spitting, ¡°The olddy just wanted to know if the girls were wearing clothes that politely exposed the entire back and half of their thighs?¡±

    ¡°Should be simr, but what do you want to do with that?¡± Zhang Zian asked warily.

    Snowy Liughed cunningly twice and waved its paws a little, ¡°That kind of clothes should be very thin, and you can¡¯t wear underwear, as long as I pretend to identally cut off their strings... oh!¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°...¡±

    ¡°But I advise you not to dream about all these things. It will never even be your turn to X! When I start my operations, you¡¯d better turn your head or close your eyes, otherwise don¡¯t me me when I make you wear women¡¯s evening dresses in the future!¡± Snowy Li threatened fiercely.

    Zhang Zian: ¡°... it looks like it¡¯s time for you to go back to the phone to rest.¡±

    ¡°How dare you! Do you believe that I can castrate you on the spot, right now?¡± Snowy Li was so furious. It was not easy for there to be an event where it can easily and casually look at girls with backless tops and opened dresses that showed off their thighs. How could it just let that go?

    When it ran, he ran around it in circles. Anyway, its short legs could not catch up with him, and finally, it was so tired that it copsed directly on the carpet. However, the cat is cruel. When it is not toote at night, it announced that tomorrow¡¯s breakfast would be ham and eggs.

    Zhang Zian nned to wait for it to sleep on the night and then chase it to the balcony to fend for itself. Anyway, the night in San Francisco couldn¡¯t freeze it much anyway.

    ¡°Meow...The clothes look good on you.¡± Xinghai ran back from the balcony and looked at his clothes.

    ¡°Haha, I love to hear those words! But Xinghai, you usually look like you are wearing a suit anyway ...¡± Heughed.

    Isn¡¯t Xinghai¡¯s ck and white appearance very simr to thebination of a ck jacket and a white shirt?

    ¡°Squeak!¡± ¦° apuded and gave a thumbs up.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Zhang Zian moved forward calmly and slowly, because the person with your thumbs up may not be praising you, but it may be a precursor to an entirely opposite of praise...

    dimir is not in the house, and it always can¡¯t help it but run out to establish the Red Cross Society of America.

    The ones who were officially invited are only Zhang Zian and Famous. The Foundation knew that Famous was the dog that became the film king of Berlin, so it invited it to attend. The other elves could only go by adopting invisibly if they wanted to go.

    After trying it on, Zhang Zian put his clothes on the bed and prepared to wear them tonight.

    ¡°Quack! Where are you going today? Is it your long-cherished Castro area with rainbow gs flying? Find a white nerd with sses or a ck guy with a reggae head or a Latin American artist with an afro. Maybe you can experience if ¡®The ruler is longer, or the inch is shorter¡¯? However, let me remind you that the essence of Castro Streetes out only at night!¡± Richard flew over his shoulder and chattered.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t visit Chinatown well yesterday. I¡¯ll make up for it today.¡± Zhang Zian ignored its noise and turned to Old Time Tea for advice.

    Yesterday he drove past Chinatown and hovered at the entrance for a while, but ... unfortunately, the entrance of the Chinatown he arrived at happened to have a green roof gate with a que on it, saying, ¡°The world is public,¡± which was dazzled by the sunlight. It was beautiful under the light, and the scene was so green it made him panic.

    In addition, the timing of what they did yesterday was not right. There was a lot of traffic in Chinatown. Due to the narrow streets, the car drove like a snail, so he could only stroll outside without going in deeper, and he couldn¡¯t take Old Time Tea in to see the martial arts in Chinatown. He was a bit regretful, and so he ns to make up for it today. Of course, he must change to another entrance and can not pass under the green roof gate.

    Old Time Tea nodded happily.

    ¡°You idiot, you don¡¯t want to go to Chinatown, do you? Are you thinking of going to the Italian town next door to watch a strip show? Then fire off with an Italian cannon?¡± s, Richard, has seen through everything.

    It didn¡¯t wait for Zhang Zian to rify, and it said, ¡°Quack! But I don¡¯t object. It¡¯s mainly Cantonese in Chinatown. I happen to be learning Cantonese, which is going to be useful here!¡±

    It is rare for it to speak words that make sense. Thus, of course, Zhang Zian has no reason to object, but usually, it is just a superficial sense of making sense...

    Sure enough, it then raised its volume, took a deep breath, and shouted, ¡°Coming up next, let me, please sing you a Cantonese version of ¡°Swallowing Essence¡±! Swallow ...Ga!¡±

    As soon as it lifted its head to prepare to sing, it was tucked under the pillow by Zhang Zian.

 Chapter 1464: Chinatown

    <h4>Chapter 1464: Chinatown</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    After having breakfast, Zhang Zian took the elves with him and drove off.

    They went outter than yesterday, and since he already got dressed in the evening to prevent getting caught in traffic jams in the morning, today¡¯s schedule was very rxed. He was only nning to go to one area in Chinatown. If there was more than enough time, he would slowly explore Fusong City and Little Italy City nearby ... not to watch a strip show, of course.

    Richard crouched on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder in resentment with his mouth tied closed using a string. Sadly, that meant he couldn¡¯t sing.

    The other elves weren¡¯t as interested, but since they wouldn¡¯t be doing much, they followed anyway. Since they just came from China, how interesting would it be to go back to Chinatown? Isn¡¯t the bustling area full of Chinese people? Nevertheless, it was at least better than staying in Binhai.

    The terrain of San Francisco was undting and required the car to move slowly. Zhang Zian drove while listening to the navigator¡¯s directions.

    As he passed by a local pet store in the United States, he stopped to visit it and found the Leshi dog food on the shelf. Since he had plenty of time, he pretended to be an ordinary customer wanting to buy things and stayed in the store for a while to observe. He roughly estimated that the sales of this dog food were rtively average, probably because this was made in the United States and they couldn¡¯t rely on the blind trust of Chinese customers to sell foreign brands as a key promotion tactic.

    He stood in the store for half an hour and would sometimes see someonee over, pick up Leshi dog food andpared it with the dog food next to him, then either take it to checkout or put it back in ce.

    He didn¡¯t know what they were thinking, but It seemed that the Americans who choose Leshi dog food generally wore ragged clothing and had contemptible personalities; this dog food was considered a bargain. However, it was ced with other smaller brands of dog food on both the higher and lower shelves. Popr expensive dog foods were ced on the middle shelf, slightly lower than the customer¡¯s line of sight; it was the easiest ce for customers to find it. It seemed that wealthy customers entered the store and often bought popr dog food brands without thinking about the other ones, and the customers who would squat down or tiptoe are the ones that would pick up cheaper dog foods from smaller brands and contrast them carefully.

    ¡°Hello. I¡¯m struggling between these two dog foods, would you mind if I ask you which one you would choose?¡±

    Zhang Zian called out to a young man who was holding two packs of dog foods forparison, with one of them being the Leshi dog food.

    The young man nced at him and weighed Leshi dog food in his hand before he said, ¡°I choose this.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    The man shrugged and said, ¡°Because it¡¯s cheap enough, and it says the source of raw materials and processing ce are in the United States. I think it¡¯s better than the other one.¡±

    The raw materials of high-grade dog food were traceable. However, raw materials for lower-grade dog food couldn¡¯t be traced but generally indicated where they came from. Americans often thought that the raw materials that came from foreign countries, especially China, were unreliable.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t ask anything else left the pet shop after the bill was settled.

    He believed that Leshi dog food¡¯s packaging didn¡¯t lie. The source of the raw material and the processing ce were indeed located in the United States, but this didn¡¯t necessarily mean that it was reliable.

    The elves waited impatiently as he continued driving around Chinatown, deliberately changing where he would enter so he wouldn¡¯t pass that green-roofed door.

    Many people were attracted to gold. God knew why the arches of Chinatown were green; this made Zhang Zian extraordinarily superstitious.

    The car window was rolled down. As soon as someone drove into ??Chinatown, familiar Chinesenguages would be swept into the car by wind. Mandarin and Cantonese were used equally, while English and othernguages were used less frequently.

    67% of the shop signs on both sides of the road were written in pure Chinese using traditional characters, while the rest were a mixture of Chinese and English.

    Overall, it was simr to the old style of Hong Kong and Taiwan, but very different from Binhai.

    Tangren Street was too narrow to drive through, so Zhang Zian parked his car on the side of the road, used the parking meters to start the charge time, and took the elves out of the car and walk around.

    Most Chinatowns consisted of only a few restaurants. Chinese pharmacies were more abundant; you could encounter a pharmacy with pungent Chinese medicine just a few steps away.

    Additionally, many shops selling snacks put their goods out by the shop window, attracting the smell of pedestrians passing by.

    ¡°How fragrant!¡± Snowy Li licked its mouth as it stopped following Fina and staring intently at the neighboring shop, drooling.

    It was a prosperous butcher¡¯s shop with bright lights. Customerse and go from time to time. The store sold both raw and cooked meat products. Roasted turkeys and roast ducks were hung from iron hooks on the other side of the window, illuminated by the sun and glowing with a dreamy luster. It was almost within reach.

    There was also a lot of fresh meat, sorted in transparent refrigerators.Read more chapter on

    Outside the shop window, there were advertisements with slogans written in pure Chinese slogans on red and white backgrounds that read ¡°Our New Variety: Wild Boar Meat¡± and ¡°Our New Variety: Wild Venison¡±.

    ¡°Wild board meat, venison ... I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve eaten these yet,¡± Snowy Li suggested, hooking to the corner of Zhang Zian trousers with her ws. If he forced his leg forward, his trousers would tear.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you eat all the time? Besides, you eat a lot!¡± Zhang Zian whispered whilst looking around to see that no one nearby noticed him. ¡°The pork and venison sold in this shop are raw, and I can¡¯t just hold one bag of raw meat as I go shopping, can I? ¡±

    ¡°Meow meow! I just want to eat raw meat! The cooked meat is not delicious, all covered in MSG! And it¡¯s not pork, it is wild boar meat!¡± Snowy Li was enticed by the smell of raw meat and couldn¡¯t move forward.

    ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t believe that the pork was real wild boar meat. It was likely pretending to be real meat but was actually some domestic pork with high muscle content. The same applied to the venison. How expensive would it be if they were all really wild meat?

    ¡°I don¡¯t care! I¡¯m going to eat it!¡± Snowy Li said sternly, ¡°Otherwise, I¡¯ll rip your pants in front of everyone!¡±

    ¡°Zhang Zian, since she wants to eat, let her eat. It may be better to buy less and let her taste fresh meat,¡± Old Time Tea advised him, now tired of Snowy Li¡¯s whining.

    ¡°All right...¡± Zhang Zian reluctantly agreed.

    Even so, Snowy Li couldn¡¯t eat much after having breakfast that morning. Now she could eat at most 2 or 3 slices of raw meat. Zhang Zian also didn¡¯t want to walk around carrying a bag of raw meat. If he bumped into a pretty girl, she might think he was a family cook.

    The flesh was too fragrant and tempted the other elves, especially Fina. However, Snowy Li was too embarrassed to speak up and ask for it. When Zhang Zian said he wanted to enter the store, she ran in first.

 Chapter 1465: Roast Shop

    <h4>Chapter 1465: Roast Shop</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Chinese people at home and abroad often had the same obsession with ¡°wild¡±. Everyone thought that whether the animal flew in the sky, ran on the ground, or swam in the water, it was healthier to eat it if it was wild, so the finished products are more ¡°fresh.¡± Take chickens, for example. Chickens advertised as being free-range in rural areas were much more expensive and more sought after than those from farms. People preferred to buy the former for two or three times more. Some people even bought or poached them from national protected wildlife areas, but usually wound up in jail.

    Butcher shops in San Francisco¡¯s Chinatown weren¡¯t exempt from this phenomenon, using wild mountain pork and venison meats as gimmicks to solicit customers.

    Mountain pigs were wild boars, but different ces called them by different names.

    The fragrant smell in the meat shop was a bit sweet and reminiscent of the chicken and duck skin being roasted to a crisp.

    The plump roasted turkey and duck hang naked from the hooks like a seductive mistress, luring customers in tomit a crime.

    There were also freshly roasted suckling pigs and barbecued pork. With one nce, anyone could tell that they were roasted just nicely.

    These cooked products were caramel in different shades, and the light in the store was bright warm yellow. The two colorsbined to make this ce a carnivore¡¯s paradise.

    To be precise, this kind of shop was called a local roast shop but had different production methods and a business scope from the domestic roast shop of Cantonese cuisine. It was improved to suit a wider range of tastes. Domestic roasted turkeys that were hardly avable in Chinese roast shops were avable here.

    This shop mainly sold cooked food but also sold raw meat to expand the variety of its business.

    The elves were drooling the whole time. Fortunately, they were invisible. Besides, pets weren¡¯t allowed in such shops. What if they grabbed the roast turkey and ran away?

    There were several customers in the shop, mainly middle-aged and elderly Chinese. At a nce, they all had ck hair and yellow skin. There were only a few foreigners that asionallye in, so Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t entirely outstanding when he entered.

    Most of the customers and shop assistants spoke to each other in Cantonese. If they didn¡¯t know they were in San Francisco Chinatown, they would¡¯ve almost thought that they came to Hong Kong or Macao.

    Richard rubbed his shoulder hard as if he were saying, ¡°Hurry up and let me open my mouth. It¡¯s time for me to show my face.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t respond. The staff here should¡¯ve also been able to speak Mandarin and English, so there should have been no problemsmunicating with them.

    The other elves were dazzled by all kinds of cooked food. Only Snowy Li stuck her face to the ss of the refrigerator and kept swallowing hard whilst staring at the various raw meats inside.

    The shop assistants were behind the counter busy collecting money, weighing, chopping meat, and responding to customers¡¯ bargains; since they couldn¡¯te to greet guests, Zhang Zian could spend as much time as he wanted in the shop.

    Just then, a short white-haired Chinesedy holding a vegetable basket walked into the shop with her hands on her back and went straight to the meat counter like a customer normally would.

    ¡°Ah Jian, is this venison really wild? I¡¯ve lived for a very long time, so don¡¯t lie to me! My son-inw and grandson are visiting me with my grandson. I want to cook the venison with garlic for them to eat!¡± She went straight for the young male teller, opening her mouth and asking him in thick old-fashioned Cantonese. Zhang Zian could hardly understand what she, and only guessed based on her expression and tone.

    ¡°Our shop is child-friendly. You are also a regr patron of this shop, yet you still don¡¯t believe us? Don¡¯t worry! How much do you want?¡± The staff also spoke Cantonese, but the ent wasn¡¯t as strong. It was half Cantonese and half Mandarin.

    Still unassured, the olddy asked, ¡°Can you make it clear what deer this is? Is it the sika deer? If it¡¯s the sika deer¡¯s meat then it is good, for it is the most tonic. Don¡¯t try to fool me with stag or elk meat!¡±

    Deers in North America known as ¡°elks¡± weren¡¯t unique to China. Its real name was the red deer, but people often called it the wrong name and mixed it with other words. However, everyone was used to calling it that. Anyway, in the United States, it was called an ¡°elk¡±. Even an important car safety standard in the United States was called the ¡°elk test¡±.

    The sika deer is native to East Asia, but it was also introduced in the United States. Due to the suitable environment, the sika deer¡¯s antlers were also exported to South Korea inrge quantities along with the meat. It was a very popr product among Koreans; other deer¡¯s antlers weren¡¯t as valuable as those of the sika deer.

    As for the meat of sika deer, the Chinese of the old age only favored the meat of sika deer. There was no scientific basis for this, so they thought that the meat of other deer had no magical nourishing effect.

    The staff said impatiently. ¡°Ah! Of course, it is the sika deer! This batch of meat has just arrived, but there isn¡¯t much of it. If you don¡¯t buy it, it will be snatched up soon! Since you¡¯re a regr here, I left a portion of it for you!¡±

    Finally convinced, the olddy said, ¡°Well... weigh me a pound.¡±

    ¡°Oh, but your two sons and grandson are here! Children have a big appetite. Will one pound be enough? Take two pounds!¡± The salesman promoted promptly.

    ¡°Two pounds... two pounds, so be it. Give me a little more, since I¡¯m a regr patron ...¡± The olddy nced at thebel and took out her wallet in distress. If it wasn¡¯t for the baby grandson, she wouldn¡¯t have to pay for such expensive wild deer meat.

    ¡°Ah! Granny, are you here to buy meat?¡±¡±ess webnovel.live if you like watching mangaics.

    A middle-aged Chinese woman in her forties came in. She was more fashionable with conspicuous gold rings on her fingers, dyed hair, and well-maintained skin.

    ¡°Yes, my son, daughter-inw, and grandson came to visit me, and I want to cook for them something nice!¡± Said the old woman cheerfully, excited to tell everyone about her visitors.

    The two seemed to be acquaintances who constantly talked about family matters whenever they met.

    The staff has dealt with a variety of customers and knew that a savvy olddy is not the best to serve. If the meat wasn¡¯t weighed in front of her, she may suspect that she was given a lesser weight or not given the best cut of the meat. It would¡¯ve been very troublesome if that happened, so he went to help other customers first.

    The middle-aged woman nced at the refrigerator next to her and persuaded, ¡°Grandma, you¡¯re not young anymore. You need to take care of your body and just buy the ready-made roast turkey and roast suckling pigs. Don¡¯t trouble yourself with buying these anymore!¡±

    The olddy smiled and waved, ¡°Oh, but my grandson doesn¡¯t like to eat turkey and suckling pigs. He likes the garlic and venison I make the most. He can eat two more bowls of rice every time! I¡¯m still tough, it doesn¡¯t matter!¡±

    The middle-aged woman frowned and quietly pulled the olddy away from the counter. ¡°Granny, why would you still eat venison? Didn¡¯t you hear from the CDC recently? They said on TV that venison isn¡¯t safe to eat, especially wild deer meat!¡± she whispered.

    After they walked further away from the counter, they walked near Zhang Zian. Although they were talking quietly, he could still hear them.

 Chapter 1466: Total Collapse

    <h4>Chapter 1466: Total Copse</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    If it were only a middle-aged and elderly women chatting about casual family affairs, Zhang Zian wouldn¡¯t have bothered listening to them. How must he be to eavesdrop on others gossiping? However, the middle-aged woman mentionedter about the CDC, which caught his attention.

    ¡°CDC ... Where is this?¡±

    The olddy who spoke Cantonese fairly decently was bewildered. She may have been the type of immigrant who lived in China for the majority of her life while her children settled in the United States. She must¡¯ve then joined them here to reunite with her family. Older immigrants like this were unable to change their lifestyles for most of their lives, so it¡¯s unlikely that they would learn a newnguage.

    But this was actually nothing. Even if someone didn¡¯t know any English words, Chinatown couldpletely meet people¡¯s needs. Whether it was food, every day, clothes, legal or illegal items, they could be found here. It was almost a country within a country. It waspletely eptable to live here as long as there was no need to drive.

    Take this olddy, for instance. After immigrating to the United States, her lifestyle was no different from that in her home country. She spent 99% of her time in Chinatown shopping for food, cooking and ying mahjong, and watching Chinese TV programs. She ignored the English world outside of her lifestyle, treating it as if it didn¡¯t exist. She didn¡¯t care about the news of the outside world. As long as there was no global war going on, she would continue to live a peaceful life until she died.

    She heard the word CDC and didn¡¯t understand what it was.

    ¡°Grandma, you don¡¯t know? CDC is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States. Some doctor who was interviewed on TV recently said that there is a disease spreading in deers across North America. The disease may be contagious! It is said that if you must eat venison, it should have been quarantined by regr channels,¡± the middle-aged woman exined with patience.

    ¡°Wow, is it that terrible? Is it like the bird flu?¡± The olddy was suspicious. She looked at the middle-aged woman and looked back at the venison, feeling a bit reluctant.

    The middle-aged woman spoke Mandarin, and the olddy responded speaking Mandarin with a Cantonese ng.

    ¡°Excuse me, miss. I just identally overheard you talking, but what¡¯s wrong with the deer? ¡±

    Zhang Zian interjected, thickening his skin.

    The middle-aged woman nced at him and saw that he did not look like a suspicious character wanted by the Homnd Security Bureau, nor did he look like an employee despite being Chinese. Thus, she looked kindly at him and replied, ¡°I don¡¯t remember the specific name. You can find out what it is called online. It¡¯s something like wasting disease or thirsty disease.¡±

    ¡°Oh, thank you,¡± He thanked her and stepped back to the corner to show that he was no longer listening to the conversation between the two.

    The middle-aged women continue to persuade the olddy not to buy the venison.

    ¡°Thirsty disease¡± didn¡¯t sound right, so he took out his phone and searched for ¡°wasting disease + deer¡±.

    It was hard to see or know, but once it was found, it appeared shocking at first nce.

    Since when did this disease begin spreading throughout North America?

    A while ago, he was busy. Regardless if it was a trip to Egypt, pests, or stray dogs in the back, he didn¡¯t have the time and leisure to follow the news on the other side of the ocean. After all, he only had 24 hours a day and couldn¡¯t possibly follow news from so many ces.

    He searched for relevant reports and simply skimmed through them. After all, he was still in a butcher shop with peopleing and going. After reading it, however, he suddenly had a revtion as many mysteries lingering in his mind finally seemed to be resolved.

    The so-called chronic wasting disease, referred to as CWD, was a disease simr to mad cow disease because it was mainly spread by deer. Some people called it rabies because the disease would be just as aggressive in theter stages. Because the sick deer moved and looked like a zombie from a movie, they were also called zombie deer.

    The cause of the crazy deer disease was no ordinary virus or bacterium, but rather a kind of protein known as a prion. As long as it came in contact with the normal protein in the body, it could cause the normal protein to deform and convert.

    The most painful thing was that this protein was extremely tenacious, like a cockroach that couldn¡¯t be killed. Not only was it unaffected by a high temperature of 100 degrees Celsius, but it was also resistant to radiation, ultraviolet rays, andmon disinfectants.

    As long as the deer was infected with this prion, no known medicine could reverse the condition.

    As of January 2019, rabies was reported in 24 states of the United States and two provinces in Canada; since there were only 48 states in the United States, that meant that half of the nation has already been affected by rabies.

    Not only that, but the disease has spread outside of North America. Cases have also been found of reindeer and moose being affected in Norway, Find, and even South Korea, which imported arge amount of antler. Fortunately, these three countries had limited areas, unlike the United States where the disease could spread throughout millions of square kilometers ofnd.

    Some species of deer have be ustomed to long-distance migration. For example, thousands of wild reindeer in the Nunavut region of Canada would periodically migrate along with the wolves, making control of the disease extremely difficult.

    There were too many forest parks in the United States suitable for the survival and reproduction of deer herds, and forest parks were often very close or even connected. Deer herds could migrate from one park to another without knowing that they were aiding in the spread of the disease.

    What was more troublesome was that mad cow disease and crazy deer disease were only two of the many masterpieces of the prion. Additionally, it caused sheep pruritus, ferret infectious encephalopathy, and cat spongiform encephalopathy. These animal diseases were collectively referred to as ¡°Infectious spongiform encephalopathy¡±.

    Several simr diseases have been found within human society, including human mad cow disease transmitted from diseased cattle to humans. Rted studies have shown that simr deer diseases could infect primates, such as monkeys. In theory, humans could also be infected, but no human cases have been identified yet.

    The high vitality of prion protein made it resistant to conventional sterilization methods such as high-temperature cooking. The temperature of cooking rice and soup in the home would never kill the prion.

    The spread of mad cow disease during those years was caused by feed manufacturers feeding the meat, brain and internal organs of sick cattle to normal cattle. The disinfection method while processing feed also failed to kill the prion.

    His questions were finally answered. The meat powder with unknown ingredients in the Leshi dog food... was it made out of venison?

    High-priced venison was impossible. It needed to be kept at a low cost. It was likely to be a powder made of high-risk deer brain, internal organs, and bones containing the spinal cord.

    As for why the manufacturers dared to do this... He could only guess that it was because the infectious spongiform encephalopathy of dogs has not yet been found by the scientificmunity, so the manufacturers believed that there was no problem with including venison into dog food.

    But if something was not found, did it not exist?

    If sheep, cows, cats, ferrets, monkeys, and humans, all of which were unrted to each other, could be infected by this disease, could house dogs and coyotes be able to survive it?

 Chapter 1467: The Prophet

    <h4>Chapter 1467: The Prophet</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Although Zhang Zian vaguely understood what happened, but he could do very little to affect it because such a major event required irrefutable evidence before he spoke out.

    The so-called concrete and irrefutable evidence were to prove that the Leshi dog food contained meat of diseased deer, along with the fact that the dog¡¯s food might¡¯ve caused spongiform encephalopathy and that the coyote that eats sick deer meat can also be infected...

    However, these were too difficult to prove. The scientific experiment, as performed by Canadian researchers, was to feed monkeys only venison while excluding other foods that might¡¯ve interfered, and then observe and record it over time. This ensured that the monkeys didn¡¯te into contact with other wild animals, which might¡¯ve had the possibility of affecting the results. The results obtained in such a manner would¡¯ve then had a certain level of credibility. Additionally, the researchers themselves must¡¯ve had the appropriate education and qualifications to support their findings. Otherwise, who would admit and validate their results if they were unqualified?

    Prion protein wasn¡¯t a virus or a bacterium. The only way to diagnose deer, cattle or other animals with infectious spongiform encephalopathy was to perform a cranial autopsy on them.

    Before he came to the United States, he inquired that the people who were suffering from strange diseases at the waste acquisition station were still being treated in the hospital and weren¡¯t dead. Of course, it was impossible to call for a cranial autopsy to observe whether their brains had signs of spongiform encephalopathy. The process was extremely inhumane and thus would¡¯ve never been done.¡±readics on our webnovel.live¡±

    Additionally, ¡°aggressive¡± behavior was difficult to define because most of the previously identified infected animals were mild herbivores such as cows, sheep, and deer. The herbivores themselves weren¡¯t very aggressive, and infection would¡¯ve only made them behave abnormally. They may have done unexpected things that could¡¯ve been easily mistaken for offensiveness, but this was said to be purely rumored.

    He didn¡¯t witness what happened to those people at the waste acquisition station but merely listened to the reports. Their scientific knowledge was close to zero, and many descriptions added hype and doubts about the credibility of the reports.

    However, Zhang Zian saw that San Francisco¡¯s coyotes alone became more aggressive and attacked people, which was also evidenced by Father Yang.

    The middle-aged woman seemed to have finally persuaded the olddy to stop buying wild venison, but she decided to buy ordinary venison that was produced on the farm.

    The venison produced by the farm wasn¡¯tpletely insured because the virus had an incubation period. The safest option was to not eat venison at all.

    The emu was also killed during the incubation period. It was estimated that 15,000 infected deer unknowingly entered human stomachs every year, and this number would continue to increase.

    Snowy Li picked at the corner of Zhang Zian¡¯s trousers and urged him to buy the meat quickly before everyone bought everything else.

    ¡°Give me a pound of wild mountain pork meat,¡± He told the staff as he nced at the other salivating elves before adding, ¡°Another roast turkey... as well.¡±

    Snowy Li was very satisfied, but when she saw that he walked out of the shop immediately after buying the wild pork without nning to buy wild venison, she suddenly pulled a long face. She was lucky that there was wild pork or she could barely hold back her temper.

    After leaving the store, Snowy Li grabbed the corner of his trousers, ¡°Hey, stop right there! Why didn¡¯t you buy the venison? I haven¡¯t tasted it yet!¡±

    As people passed by them, it became inconvenient for Zhang Zian to speak, and he brought the elves to a quiet street corner and told them what he had just found.

    ¡°So it is like that ...¡± Old Time Tea nodded, ¡°Behind the walls, gentlemen are safe, but there is no guarantee that they will not be dangerous.¡±

    ¡°Well, the safety of venison in farms depends on the quarantine efforts and istion measures in the farms because studies have shown that whilst free-range deer herds have a 30% chance of infection, captive deer herds have a maximum of 100%. The possibility of infection is high; if there is a deer infection on the farm, no deer can run away. In this case, the venison from the farm cannot bepletely reassured, and it¡¯s not worth taking such a big risk to solve your hunger problem... though it doesn¡¯t matter since you don¡¯t use your brain,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Angered, Snowy Li said, ¡°What! What does thest sentence mean?¡±

    ¡°Nothing, do you want to eat now or wait until we go back?¡± He picked up the pork and shook it in front of her.

    ¡°Humph, we go back and wait we eat again, the outside is too dirty!¡± Snowy Li said as if being hypnotized by mountain pork, her attention sessfully diverted.

    San Francisco on its own was dirty and messy, but Chinatown was even worse. Although there weren¡¯t as many homeless people and feces outside, there was a lot of garbage thrown away by people; it really could cause one to lose their appetite.

    He carried the pork and roast turkey and proceeded forward with the elves.

    There weren¡¯t many tall and spectacr sights in Chinatown. He came here purely to feel the style of the old times and eat special food.

    As he walked around, it seemed that a group of people surrounded something in front as if watching a lively scene.

    Were they ying chess?

    In Chinatown, there were always old men who had nothing to do. When they were bored and set up a chess game, they attracted many other idle old men who gathered to give pointers to the yers.

    ¡°Wait.¡±

    Famous inhaled the air from his nose and stopped everyone.

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°That smell... it¡¯s familiar,¡± Famous stared at the crowd in doubt, ¡°It came from the crowd, but... that person shouldn¡¯t be here.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡± Zhang Zian wondered.

    Richard fluttered his wings and flew up, circled high, then fell back onto Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulders before he shaking his head and eagerly spoke up.

    Zhang Zian tore off the string tied around his beak. ¡°Who is it?¡±

    ¡°Quack! You won¡¯t believe who is ahead,¡± It lowered his voice mysteriously, ¡°You can see them if you look over the crowd. But I advised you to enter the vige quietly without shooting.¡±

    Zhang Zian perked up. Using the cover of the pedestrians and surrounding shops, he quietly walked to the periphery of the crowd and walked up to a window, pretending to be looking at the goods behind it. He then adjusted his angle and looked at the crowd through the reflection in the ss.

    ¡°Everyone, you must believe me. The cmity is imminent. The natural gue is about to sweep the entire world. By then, there will be sorrows and pain, and no one can possibly go through it alone. The things you cherish will disappear... The only way to survive this catastrophe is to transform yourself and evolve to a higher level so that you can avoid disaster and survive.¡±

    The clear and slightly hoarse Mandarin came from the center of the crowd.

    Zhang Zian trembled in his ce, almost throwing the turkey and bacon onto the ground.

    What the?! This voice...

    ¡°We at the Institute of Cosmic Information have decrypted the information from the universe, foreseeing theing of this catastrophe in advance, and are now doing our best to save the world.¡± The tall Peter Lee opened his arms wide with a smile and looked around. ¡°Come, join us.¡±

 Chapter 1468: Deceive the People

    <h4>Chapter 1468: Deceive the People</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Famous and Richard both had surprised expressions, and Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t believe his eyes.

    It was Peter Lee!

    Since parting ways at the Devil¡¯s Sea deep in the Sahara desert, he could not believe that he was even seeing Peter Lee¡¯s old face once again.

    Peter Lee still wore the white suit and white shoebination he had on before entering the desert, a wine-red shirt, and a ck twill tie over a ck background that made him look very personable. Today, he also had a gray wool scarf on his shoulder, drooping across his chest that added a bit of elegance to his appearance.

    He wore tan crystal sunsses and his hair was meticulouslybed.

    Anyone who saw him for the first time would¡¯ve probably thought he was a big name in the fashion industry, not some crazy psychic who deceived people all day long.

    After escaping from the desert, Zhang Zian never heard from Peter Lee again. It wasn¡¯t clear whether he and his men sessfully escaped from the desert. He didn¡¯t expect to meet him again in San Francisco¡¯s Chinatown. Such must have been the workings of fate.

    Zhang Zian figured that most of them were able to leave the desert alive because their team was highly disciplined, well-trained and experienced, and cruel to themselves and others; this was very different from the scientific research team.

    Now it seemed that Peter Lee and his men survived sessfully and continued to deceive others.

    Peter Lee¡¯s appearance in the United States was unexpected, yet Zhang Zian still expected it to happen for a reason.

    The United States was a very free country thanks to the First Amendment to the Constitution. It allowed freedom in all aspects such as personal belief, though perhaps it might have granted the people a little too much freedom.

    Based on statistics from the American Sectarian Association, there were thousands of legally registered sectarian organizations in the United States. Additionally, there were countless small organizations and sects in the private sector. Among them, there were many fish and dragons that were of course highly suspicious organizations.

    The United States had no way of taking on these suspicious organizations from a legal standpoint. The FBI and the police were only able to arrest them if they determined that someone in the organization was suspected of a crime, but the FBI was powerless against those who weren¡¯t suspected of crimes.

    To better understand how rampant these organizations were in the United States, yingputer games such as Far Cry 5 and Escape 2 or those who have watched American Horror Story Season 7 would¡¯ve given people a clearer idea of the situation.

    Peter Lee made the United States a base camp and promoted his ideas here, which was actually more appropriate. This was especially so in ces like Chinatown, where many Chinese elderly have lived for decades but didn¡¯t understand English or the sciences, nor did they have original beliefs. They were easy to persuade; once their will was shaken, it was difficult to extricate themselves from it. Thus, they were a naturally easy target for exploitation.

    Chinatown wasn¡¯t the only ce like this, either. Even San Francisco itself was the same way.

    Who was most likely to be deceived?

    The answer was vulnerable groups who were usually bullied, oppressed, depressed, living in istion, and living unhappily.

    San Francisco was full of people from such groups, considering the number of tramps living on the street.

    People who¡¯ve been sessful in their careers, happy in life, and always at the center of society would never be fooled. Sadly, they were very few of these people.

    Most people will have experienced hardships in life. Times of frustration and disappointment were inevitable. At that moment, they hoped to gain spiritual dependence and sustenance. If they met the right people then, they may have regained their vitality. If they met the wrong person... then they would¡¯ve gone astray.

    Peter Lee was here to manipte people into following his cause. He was allowed to do that. Neither Zhang Zian nor the US government had the right to interfere, but what did he say about the natural gue and the end-time catastrophe?

    In particr, the word ¡°gue¡± rubbed Zhang Zian the wrong way.

    The crazy deer disease could¡¯ve been regarded as a gue spreading among deer herds, as well as a potential threat to humans.

    Zhang Zian thought this was a coincidence because suspicious organizations like this always used predictions of the end of the world to shake the will of the people into a state of fear and panic, then take advantage of their imagination to obtain things from them. This method was alsomonly associated with scams.

    Many pedestrians who passed by were drawn in by Peter Lee¡¯s sensational remarks and stopped to watch. Most of them were Chinese with ck hair and yellow skin, but a few were of other races.

    Peter Lee spoke in Mandarin, while a helper tranted his words into English as he spoke so that more people were able to understand.

    Zhang Zian also recognized the helper as the balding schr.

    ¡°Are you here to scam us out of our money again? Tell me: how much is the membership fee this time?¡± Someone coaxed.

    Zhang Zian wanted to call out and praise that guy. It seemed that there were also smart people amongst the crowd who knew that this organization was often a front for collecting money. Once the participants who fell for it were brainwashed, they might¡¯ve even given up all their possessions.

    Peter Leeughed. ¡°I won¡¯t take a penny from you, we are not that kind of organization you think. We are trying to save the world with no other ulterior motive,¡± he said with a gesture.

    His men waiting next to him immediately opened the door of a car and took out a variety of food items including rice noodles, oil, milk, eggs, hamburgers, and sandwiches.

    Seeing that there were opportunities for them to get free food for themselves, the middle-aged and elderly people amongst the crowd were instantly excited and swarmed to pick them up. A left hand grabbed a barrel of oil while a right hand picked up a carton of milk.

    The prices in the United States were rtively cheappared to per capita ie. The same milk of the same weight, when converted into RMB, was sold at an even lower price than in China, but such small favors helped to sway people¡¯s hearts.

    Seeing that free food was avable, more people gathered around and nearly blocked iing traffic.

    ¡°We are not interested in taking your property. Instead, we will give away our property to you. As the gue approaches, the world is about to change and everything that exists now is meaningless,¡± Peter Lee said with a smile. ¡°If you want, we cane here at this time tomorrow with more and better things to give to you.¡±

    He raised his finger and pointed to the north. ¡°The catastrophe might strike at any time, and the city isn¡¯t safe. Once it begins, life here will be a living hell. If you are willing to join us and survive the catastrophe, we¡¯ll be waiting for you up in the north. We will provide free amodation and free food, and we will rebuild our homes together once the catastrophe ends. Only then will we be the masters of the world.¡±

    With that said, he waved goodbye to everyone before getting into the car with his men and leaving.

    Some of the onlookers have left the scene, but there were still people intrigued by Peter Lee¡¯s departure. For many people, there was nothing left to lose from doing so.

 Chapter 1469: You Cannot Avoid your Enemies

    <h4>Chapter 1469: You Cannot Avoid your Enemies</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    It was now evening.

    After a long stroll, Zhang Zian and the elves returned to their homestay. He put the roasted turkey in the microwave and heated it slightly, then cut it and divided it among the elves. As for Snowy Li, she enjoyed the raw mountain pork meat all by herself.

    While the elves were eating, he went to take a quick shower before bathing Famous as well. He then put on his suit in preparation to attend a celebratory dinner hosted by the Matthew Davis Foundation.

    After he finished washing, the elves alsopleted their meals andid down to let the food digest.

    The soft afterglow of the sunset shot into the house from the west, as the evening grew colder.

    He changed his clothes and tied a bow tie and a cor around Famous. After entering the venue, he took off the cor and the leash.

    Tired from walking around Chinatown during the day, the elves were now full and satiated. They were just slightly interested in attending a cold dinner party. All except Richard, because it didn¡¯t eat anything.

    He put the other elves into his phone, leaving only Richard and Famous outside. dimir was also still ying outside.

    Not only was it inappropriate to wear a suit while riding the bus and subway, but it was also inconvenient to bring pets with him onto public transport. Because of this, he reluctantly called Uber and took himself to the venue hotel with Famous and stealth Richard.

    The hotel was brightly lit. From time to time, private cars and taxis were parked at the door while handsome men and women walked out of them. Men were uniformly dressed in formal wear, but there were asionally men in suits. The women were beautifully d in evening dresses that revealed their back and thighs while remaining ssy. Some even exposed half of their chest.

    Zhang Zian, who was holding a dog, got out of the car and immediately attracted the attention of the reception staff and security guards.

    He showed his invitation card and his passport to prove his identity.

    Reception staff and security guards heard that this dog was the star of ¡°War Dog¡± and squatted down to take photos with it.

    Famous had grown used to the attention and didn¡¯t refuse anyone that came forward, skillfully putting on various poses for the photos.

    The guests who arrived afterward saw people rushing to take photos with the dogs. After asking what was going on, they learned who Famous was and rushed to take photos with him. Their excitement was understandable since this was San Francisco, not Los Angeles where movie stars were everywhere.

    ¡°Hi! You are here!¡±

    The towering Eddy Lewis came over and shook hands with Zhang Zian. When he saw Famous surrounded by the crowd, he could only smile at him helplessly.

    Eddy met Zhang Zian when he went to Binhai City. While taking photos with Famous, the two of them chatted casually. Since Zhang Zian was a donor and had the right to know what his money was used for, Eddy introduced to him the recent overview of the foundation and the future development direction.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand much of what Eddy talked about but responded with a polite smile anyway.

    The dinner was about to begin. Eddy and Zhang Zian dispersed the crowd and lead Famous into the venue.

    In the hotel¡¯s banquet hall, there were long tables lined with white cloths, high-quality bands ying soft music, various cold foods on the table, and waiters swiftly moving through the crowd with tes.

    No one participating in this kind of banquet nned on eating. They all used this ce where social celebrities gather to consolidate the friendship of old friends and meet new friends. Maybe they could be a business-boosting asset in the future.

    Regardless, Richard couldn¡¯t care less. He relied on stealth; when others could not see him, he fluttered his wings andnded on the dining table.

    ¡°Yes,e with me, I¡¯ll introduce you to someone,¡± Eddy spoke up as he pulled Zhang Zian anxiously away and walked to a corner of the hall.

    However, Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t expecting Peter Lee to be standing there and talking with a few foreigners that gathered around him as well.

    When Peter Lee saw Zhang Zian, his expression briefly froze.

    Upon noticing their reactions to seeing each other, Eddy asked, ¡°What? Do you know each other?¡±

    ¡°Haha! It¡¯s more than just knowing! We have a life-and-death friendship, a sort of fatal friendship! I just didn¡¯t expect my brother here to be a donor to this foundation!¡± Peter Lee chuckled, pretending to embrace Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder intimately. ¡°You look so good! It must be great to be so young!¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Zhang Zian took a ss of champagne from the waiter¡¯s tray and drank it to conceal his inner difort. He kept a smile on his face and dealt with the uing conversation by speaking in simple terms.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s great,¡± Eddy heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°Both of you will being up to speak in a while. Peter Lee is the most generous donor of the year, while Zhang Zian will be sharing with us a story of a cat breeder. ¡±

    Even if Eddy didn¡¯t pull them together, they would inevitably see each other when they were together on stage. Since they both attended the banquet, they couldn¡¯t hide from one another at all.

    At that moment, Eddy was still a little worried about the old grievances between them but now saw that they seemed to get along very well. He was reassured that things will go well. He just didn¡¯t know that Zhang Zian and Peter Lee were doing the same thing but for different reasons; they got together for a somewhat absurd reason.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know how much Peter Lee had donated to receive this honor, but he wanted nothing to do with him for that matter, especially after witnessing the scene in Chinatown earlier that day.

    Fortunately, Peter Lee didn¡¯t know that Zhang Zian saw him during the day and thought it was the first time the two had seen each other again after escaping from the desert.

    Peter Lee didn¡¯t expect to meet Zhang Zian here. When he saw the guestsing in groups to take photos with Famous, he looked surprised and said, ¡°Your dog is that big star? When you were in the desert, you were able to keep it a secret, huh? ¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t intentionally introduce Famous as a famous movie star to others while he was in the desert, so Peter Lee always thought it was just an ordinary German shepherd. Besides, German shepherds all looked simr and always thought that Zhang Zian was an ordinary person. No one would expect him to be the owner of this star dog; he was just an assistant to the scientific research team

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, I just had no reason to talk about it,¡± He replied casually. He secretly grieved about it because Peter Lee could easily find the pet store¡¯s address now that he knew his true identity. Perhaps he could¡¯ve even visited him if he wanted to.

    Peter Lee gave him a meaningful look before asking about Zhang Zian¡¯s schedule, when he ns to return to China, and other irrelevant questions. Zhang Zian answered each question with an absolute lie.

    After talking for a while, Peter Lee left to talk with San Francisco¡¯s celebrities and big names. Zhang Zian saw that he had a wide range of friends who really believed everything he said,ughing heartily from time to time.

    Zhang Zian sighed, but there was nothing he could do but to go with the flow. After the celebration officially started, it was his turn to take the stage. He took Famous to the stage together and told Cathy¡¯s story to everyone, winning a round of apuse and several tears.

    Then, he excused himself by iming that he was not feeling well. Before the end of the celebration, he took Richard and Famous out of the venue.

 Chapter 1470: Aquarium

    <h4>Chapter 1470: Aquarium</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    ¡°Hello? Is this Zhou Jing? Hello, I¡¯m Zhang Zian. When you were running two days ago...¡±

    On the third day, early that morning, Zhang Zian stood at the balcony of the homestay. It was around this time when Zhou Jing ran here the day before yesterday. However, he didn¡¯t see her. It was likely that she changed her running route or time. He waited for a little while before deciding to give her a call.

    As Zhou Jing didn¡¯t bring a mobile phone when she was running, he thought that it would¡¯ve been unlikely that the call could be reached. He was mentally prepared to call again after half an hourter anyway. However, after a few beeps, the phone was connected.

    Zhou Jing¡¯s voice came from the other side of the phone, ¡°Ah... oh, hello.¡±

    He didn¡¯t know if the phone caused her tone to change. Zhang Zian heard Zhou Jing¡¯s voice and found it to be a bit hoarse and unclearpared to when he met her two days ago.

    ¡°That... I want to go to the aquarium with you today, but I don¡¯t know if this is a good time for you...¡± Zhang Zian said, slightly embarrassed.

    If it was only for himself, he definitely wouldn¡¯t have asked for this kind of favor, but visiting the aquarium was just an opening. He mainly wanted to help Jiang Feifei build up the rtionship. He intended to find an internship or job opportunity through Zhou Jing, but it wasn¡¯t convenient to simply ask after he just met her. Besides, he barely even knew her, and vice versa.

    ¡°Okay, call me when you arrived,¡± Zhou Jing answered.

    ¡°Yes, but I haven¡¯t asked which aquarium you¡¯re at...¡± Zhang Zian asked patiently.

    Zhou Jing said, ¡°Oh, sorry. I forgot to say, it¡¯s the Monterey Aquarium.¡±

    ¡°Okay, see youter.¡±

    Zhang Zian hung up the phone awkwardly, feeling that he was simply going there to ask her for ¡®money¡¯.

    Monterey Aquarium was one of the most prestigious aquariums in the United States and possibly even the world. In 1978, one of the founders of Hewlett-Packard donated $55 million to support his daughter who studied marine life at Stanford and build this aquarium...

    55 million US dors in 1978!

    I¡¯ve never heard of such a supportive father before!

    However, he never heard of a mermaid show in the Monterey Aquarium. Was this something new?

    In any case, the Monterey Oceanarium was the best choicepared to the other two aquariums. The one in San Francisco was small and old, and San Diego Sea World was more like a children¡¯s amusement park.

    Old Time Tea asked suspiciously, ¡°Zhang Zian, about Peter Lee... Do you not have a problem with him at all?¡±

    The elves have heard that during the foundation celebrationst night, Zhang Zian once again met up with Peter Lee, who seemed to be making friends with the celebrities of San Francisco to expand thework. It appeared that his donation of money to the Foundation had a bigger ulterior motive. Charity work always won the favor of others, so those who were keen on charity were further favored by others.

    Besides, participating in charity work also proved their financial resources; how would¡¯ve someone with very little money been able to donate?

    For Old Tea Time, Peter Lee¡¯s deceptive tactics were the same as those of the ancient 5-meter rice teaching in ancient China. For them to achieve unspeakable goals, they all deceived people by using people¡¯s superstitions to solicit believers. Something like this was heartbreaking to see or hear about.

    The only question was what exactly was Peter Lee trying to do?

    Zhang Zian shook his head. ¡°We have no control over them, so we shouldn¡¯t bother dealing with them. What they¡¯re doing isn¡¯t illegal in U.S. territories, and ordinary people may be grateful to them for what they are preaching.¡±

    He was only a tourist, not even a U.S. citizen. Why should Peter Lee care about them? If Zhang Zian forcibly stopped him, Peter Lee might¡¯ve instead called the police to arrest and deport him from the country. For now, it was better to be patient for a while and to observe them in secret.

    After eating breakfast, he and the elves hurriedly set off since the ce was nearby. It was difficult to imagine Zhou Jing working so far from China, or did Zhou Jing not always live in San Francisco? It was more likely to be thetter.

    Monterey Aquarium was located on the Monterey Penins, more than 100 kilometers from San Francisco. There were many famous attractions on the way there, such as Silicon Valley and Stanford University.

    Sitting on the grass for a while in a world-renowned university and feeling the atmosphere of learning students reminding Zhang Zian of his previous school days.

    Silicon Valley was even more prestigious. Numerous high-techpanies had their headquarters here. Apany here couldunch a product tomorrow that could change the world.

    There was a little-known town along the road nicknamed Butterfly Town. From October to March of the following year, countless monarch butterflies stayed in the town for the winter during the migration period. However, butterflies were thest thing Zhang Zian wanted to see now. Fortunately, it was summer and no butterflies were in Butterfly Town.

    After passing through Butterfly Town, Monterey was not far ahead. He drove around to find the location of the aquarium.

    It wasn¡¯t a weekend or a holiday. There weren¡¯t many cars parked around the aquarium, so parking spaces were easy to find.

    He stopped the car, picked up his cell phone, and was about to call Zhou Jing again. Richard suddenly gripped his shoulder and said, ¡°Huh? You idiot! Who¡¯s that in the distance?¡±

    Zhang Zian looked up. It won¡¯t be Peter Lee again, right? What¡¯s more, he won¡¯te to the aquarium, what can he possibly have to do here?

    His eyes subconsciously nced at the man in front of him as he looked out for Peter Lee. He didn¡¯t see him but instead saw someone familiar with their back turned to him.

    ¡°Well... isn¡¯t that Snowy? Why is she here too?¡±

    At first, Zhang Zian thought he was wrong. Rubbing his eyes and looking again, it was indeed Snowy.

    It was rare to encounter someone you knew abroad, but it was also inappropriate to go up and greet her. He thought about it and got the elves to get out of the car.

    ¡°Hello, everyone ...¡±

    Snowy faced the camera of the mobile phone and was about to say the usual opening remarks to the audience in the live room. Suddenly, a head stretched out in front of her, blocking her from the mobile phone and startling her.

    ¡°Hello everyone, I¡¯m the handsome Mr. Store Manager!¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s face suddenly popped up in the live broadcast room, and his two hands were still sculpting a V in his head. His face looked distorted since he was too close to the camera. The audience was all shocked by his actions but started scolding him once the shock subsided.

    ¡°Shop... Mr. Store Manager, why are you here?¡±

    Snowy was both surprised and a little happy. She took a few steps back and pointed at him with her mobile phone.

    ¡°Why can¡¯t I be here?¡± Zhang Zian asked, ¡°If you can be here, then I can¡¯t?¡±

    ¡°No... that¡¯s not what I meant by that...¡± Snowy rified, ¡°I mean ...¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute.¡± Zhang Zian waved his hand and interrupted her exnation. ¡°I¡¯ll make a call first.¡±

    He dialed Zhou Jing¡¯s number. Within a few minutes, Zhou Jing weakly walked out of the aquarium, her face looking unwell.

 Chapter 1471: Lean and Thin

    <h4>Chapter 1471: Lean and Thin</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Snowy was actually a little nervous when she came to the aquarium by herself since she was in an unfamiliar foreign country, and she had never traveled alone before this. Although that wasn¡¯t true this time around, at least she left the country alone and relied on her broken English. Though, it was often necessary for her to make awkward gestures so that the other party can understand what they mean.

    From the beginning of the live broadcast where she stammered a lot when talking, she appeared moreposed in front of the camera. However, she was abroad and heard various ents around her. Plus, everyone spoke quickly. She became nervous again since what they said was difficult for her to understand but began live broadcasting after mentally preparing herself.

    She promised she would broadcast live while traveling abroad, and her fans were very eager to watch it, so she can¡¯t let them up. Because of this, she also rejected the proposal of going out with her mother so she wouldn¡¯t have been so nervous.

    Fortunately, Zhang Zian¡¯s unique personality helped her ovee it when he suddenly appeared. The surprise of a familiar face in a foreign country suddenly relieved her tension.

    However, fans didn¡¯t agree with that.

    ¡°I think I should call the police, I can¡¯t believe the stalking shop manager actually came to the United States!¡±

    ¡°911, there¡¯s an emergency here!¡±

    ¡°Gross, don¡¯t put your big face so close! I can see the nose hairing out of your nostrils!¡±

    ¡°Listen to yourself... Now that I actually went back and looked at it again, it looks really gross!¡±

    ¡°Hey, you guys have a unique taste. Do you really love Mr. Store Manager?¡±

    Fans especially looked forward to Snowy¡¯s first live broadcast abroad, waiting for the broadcast to air at the scheduled time. There were many online people, and the barrage of messages was even heavier.

    When Zhang Zian called and waited, Snowy remained rxed but wasn¡¯t idle. She took her mobile phone and walked around the front of the aquarium while interacting with fans.

    She introduced some features of the Monterey Aquarium to the fans, filming Chinese and foreign tourists who brought their families to visit. Some cheerful tourists approached the camera and greeted themselves as well.

    When Zhou Jing came out of the aquarium, Snowy looked at her curiously and found that she was really thin. Although her mother always thought that Snowy was too thin, she felt that she was too fatpared to Zhang Zian.

    Snowy visually estimated Zhou Jing¡¯s height to be about 1.7 meters. Despite being considered a tall girl, Snowy estimated that she might¡¯ve weighed at least 40 kg based on the measurements of her arms and legs, but couldn¡¯t have exceeded 45 kg.

    The sun shone on Zhou Jing¡¯s face, making herplexion look pale.

    Zhang Zian also noticed that Zhou Jing¡¯s face looked unwell.

    When he and Zhou Jing met on the street two days ago, Zhou Jing wore loose thermal sportswear since San Francisco was very cold in the morning and evening and she was too thin to not catch a cold during her morning run. At that time, he couldn¡¯t tell whether she was fat or thin. He thought she was just normal.

    However, today, Zhou Jing changed into a tight-fitting diving suit and it urately outlined the outline of the body; probably the smallest diving suit for an adult woman. To him, she seemed too thin and nearly lost all her feminine beauty.

    ¡°Sorry to interrupt you! I contacted you earlier today and didn¡¯t know if you were busy. If you are busy, I cane again some other day,¡± he said humbly.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Zhou Jing waved her hand, ¡°I¡¯m not going to... enter the water today. Come with me.¡±

    Despite what she said about not going into the water, he found out that her hair was still wet as if she had juste out of water.

    Zhang Zian assumed that she was hiding something. The expression between her brows was mixed with anxiety and anger as if she might¡¯ve erupted at any time.

    However, he didn¡¯t know her, why she was acting this way, or how tofort her. If he said some empty rhetoric, it might¡¯ve made her feel worse.

    He braced his head and pretended not to see it. Pointing to where Snowy stood at the side about ten meters away, he said, ¡°I have a friend over there, is it convenient...?¡±

    ¡°No problem, go ahead and meet up with them.¡± Zhou Jing agreed quickly.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll call her.¡±

    Zhang Zian trotted a few steps, ran to Snowy, and whispered, ¡°I met this girl by chance when I came to San Francisco. Since she works in this aquarium ying the role of a mermaid, she can take us into the aquarium. If you¡¯re interested in a backstage visit to the staff area ... ¡±

    ¡°Huh? I don¡¯t mind, but wouldn¡¯t I be bothering them?¡±

    Snowy was intrigued. For her fans, it wasn¡¯t interesting at all to walk around the aquarium like ordinary photographers. If someone captured the daily working conditions of the aquarium staff and the operation mode of the aquarium, then the quality of her broadcast¡¯s content would¡¯ve greatly increased.

    Besides, it was even better to have acquaintances visit together. At the very least, she would remain calm and not panic if she ran into any trouble.

    ¡°It should be okay. As long as we don¡¯t run around or do something we shouldn¡¯t do, it won¡¯t matter as long as w don¡¯t affect their work,¡± Zhang Zian actually didn¡¯t know if bringing her in was fine, but this was an opportunity he couldn¡¯t afford to have missed. The general principle was that they couldn¡¯t cause trouble for Zhou Jing. Other aquariums had their trade secrets. This was amercial aquarium, not a public facility.

    Snowy nodded and whispered excitedly to report this unexpected good news to the fans.

    Zhang Zian brought Snowy over and introduced her to Zhou Jing.

    Snowy was also very humble. After introducing herself, she did not wait for Zhou Jing to introduce herself in return but proactively ensured that if there was something that shouldn¡¯t do, she would never do it randomly.

    Zhou Jing was very generous and said with a smile, ¡°You think too much. I¡¯m just a minimum-wage worker in the aquarium. There¡¯s nothing you can¡¯t shoot in the ces where I can go, and I can¡¯t go where you can¡¯t shoot either.¡±

    That was the truth.

    As they were both frank with each other, they soon feltfortable enough to chat. Snowy also asked Zhou Jing to say a few words to the fans in front of the camera.

    Most of the fans¡¯ments sent persuaded Zhou Jing to eat more. Even the girls who were most keen on body shape thought that she was too thin and even worried that she might have anorexia, given that many girls were trying hard to lose weight. They often went on a crazy diet and even used extreme methods such as vomiting. The fat is eventually reduced, but there were some troublesome and terrible consequences such as anorexia.

    Snowy saw the barrage of messages but was hesitant to mention it. Asking someone who she just met about her weight was perhaps a little too much and would¡¯ve caused them to feel annoyed and displeased.

    After entering the aquarium, Zhou Jing led them into the employee-only channel instead of the normal tour route, telling the guard that they were here for an interview. She then quietly turned back to them and winked.

 Chapter 1472: Big Pig Trotters

    <h4>Chapter 1472: Big Pig Trotters</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    During working hours, many uniformed employees wereing in and going out of the staff channel, but some senior executives even wore in clothes. They didn¡¯t pay too much attention to Zhang Zian and Snowy¡¯s presence... or perhaps, after ncing at Zhou Jing wearing a diving suit, they understood that the two young people came to interview for a job and were ustomed to it.

    The staff passage was very spacious, with people driving a small forklift or small trailer to pull boxes of sea creatures to and from the passage, and the air was filled with the smell of the sea.

    Whenever a vehicle passed, the three of them stood against the wall to make way for the vehicle. Snowy took the opportunity to take pictures of the marine life in the box, but she didn¡¯t know what they were called. Even Zhang Zian didn¡¯t fully understand.

    To start up a conversation, Snowy asked Zhang Zian and Zhou Jing how they knew each other. Zhou Jing told the story from her perspective, which led Snowy and the audience to be d for her but also surprised; coyotes roamed all around San Francisco!

    For many viewers, this was the first time in their lives that they heard about the coyotes. After all, this animal is native to North American and thus not found in China.

    On the other hand, Zhang Zian took advantage of this opportunity to present obscure warnings to the audience. One of them was to prevent everyone from buying some recently popr dog food products due to potential safety problems. Another was to remind audiences living in the United States to beware of coyote threats soon, especially for viewers near San Francisco. It was also better for them to avoid eating venison soon.

    Although he didn¡¯t name the brand which made most of the audience very aggressive and curious, several clever dog breeds guessed that he was referring to the Leshi dog food because recently, it was the most popr dog food brand. They mentioned this on the barrage of messages, so everyone else knew it too.

    As for thetter, Snowy had tens of thousands of fans, and their rtives and friends must¡¯ve known people they knew living abroad. If a simple reminder could guarantee their safety, why not?

    Of course, there were questions from the audience asking him what happened to Leshi dog food, why it was not safe, and if there was any evidence.

    Zhang Zian had no evidence, but he couldn¡¯t say that so clearly. If he did, it would¡¯ve been equivalent to framing the brand.

    Facing the questions from the audience, he could only vaguely say that he had been studying it carefully for ten thousand years. It was best to observe newly emerging things for a while.

    No matter how Snowy¡¯s fans usually thought badly about him, they were convinced of his ability to keep pets. Seeing that he wasn¡¯t joking, they figured that he probably wouldn¡¯t make unwarranted warnings. Perhaps he had no concrete evidence and thus was unable to say anything.

    As for why venison couldn¡¯t be eaten, few audience members cared about this issue because there weren¡¯t many people who ate venison and only a few who lived in the United States. There were even fewer people here who ate venison.

    A few dog owners began to discuss the Leshi dog food in the live broadcast room. Other people who didn¡¯t have dogs were more interested in the various marine life in the aquarium; not all creatures were disyed, but they were visible in the background. Creatures that ordinary tourists cannot see, were just introduced, or weren¡¯t suitable for exhibition were all temporarily avable here.

    Zhang Zian was also the same. He was looking around with great interest. This was indeed an eye-opener.

    The Monterey Aquarium sat on the Pacific Ocean and had a unique geographical advantage. Even some of the pools in the museum were part of the Pacific Ocean. There was even a mysterious deep-sea canyon there, which made it the best aquarium in the world.

    Some girls were more worried about Zhou Jing¡¯s physical condition.

    They were walking through an air corridor at the moment with fish breeding ponds at their feet. Seeing someone passing by, the school of fish thought that it was time to feed and poked their heads out of the water to follow them.

    As they walked, Zhou Jing, who was leading the way, stopped suddenly. Holding the railing tightly with one hand, she slightly bowed her waist and covered the lower abdomen with the other hand, but she quickly straightened her body and moved on. However, Snowy and many female audiences keenly noticed that she wasn¡¯t feeling well at all.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s attention was focused on the school of fish with shining scales under his feet. When the group moved, it looked like a billboard that would automatically flip on the side of the road. He didn¡¯t pay attention to the front until his chest hit Snowy and he stretched out his hand. He stopped abruptly with a shocked look.

    ¡°Step back a bit, don¡¯t follow me!¡± Snowy said sternly. She casually pushed him back a few steps and passed her cell phone to him. ¡°By the way, take my cell phone.¡±

    Afterward, she supported Zhou Jing whilst speaking softly.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand what was going on, nced down at Snowy¡¯s mobile phone, and found that the girls in the live studio were scolding him for him being a big pig trotter.

    What happened?

    The heart-warming tall, handsome and rich image that he carefully created apparently did nothing for them, and his self-image seemed to be entirely copsing now.

    How depressing.

    Snowy worriedly supported Zhou Jing¡¯s lower back and whispered, ¡°Is your menstrual perioding?¡±

    Frowning as if she was enduring pain, Zhou Jing barely nodded and smiled. ¡°Well yes, but I¡¯m fine.¡±

    Snowy saw that she was indignantly trying to hold herself up. She took the heat pack out of her handbag and said, ¡°I have a heat pack here, do you want to...¡±

    However, Snowy paused after saying only half of what she meant. She meant to make Zhou Jing stick it on the lower abdomen, which might¡¯ve been better. She looked at Zhou Jing¡¯s one-piece wetsuit but couldn¡¯t find the zipper. She never wore such a diving suit like that before.

    Diving suits had a strong thermal instion effect, so it was pointless to stick her heat pack across the diving suit.

    ¡°No, thank you. I¡¯ll be fine in a moment.¡± Zhou Jing gritted her teeth and looked up at the front. ¡°Walking through this passage, we¡¯ll get to my workce, where I have chairs and a bed to rest.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll help you get there.¡±

    Snowy supported Zhou Jing, wanting her to reach the lounge as soon as possible. There should¡¯ve been a locker room in the lounge where she can help her take off her diving suit.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Are you sick?¡±

    Zhang Zian took Snowy¡¯s phone and asked from a few steps away, ¡°Do you want to use the bathroom? Didn¡¯t we just pass by one... huh?¡±

    Before he finished speaking, he noticed that the invisible elves were silently looking away as if they couldn¡¯t bear to look at his stupidity.

    What? My hearing isn¡¯t as good as yours!

    He was very indignant. It seemed that he was the only one who didn¡¯t know what was happening, and Snowy¡¯s eyes clearly suggested that he should¡¯ve jumped from here into the water to feed the fish; he was hopeless.

    While Snowy and Zhou Jing were in front, Richard whispered in his ear: ¡°It¡¯s simply easier to deal with a man.¡±

    It was simply the whisper of a demon!

    Although he knew what Richard meant by that, now he couldn¡¯t agree more!

 Chapter 1473: Sea World

    <h4>Chapter 1473: Sea World</h4>

    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

    Snowy helped Zhou Jing walk in front, as Zhang Zian took Snowy¡¯s mobile phone to help herplete her live broadcast job.

    ¡°Sexy store manager, live online!¡±

    He felt that he was better at this than Snowy; no matter what kind of marine life Snowy pointed at with her phone, she would only repeat those words over and over again such as ¡°So beautiful!¡±, ¡°Wow! It looks so cool!¡±, ¡°s! So disgusting! Haha, this fish looks interesting!¡±

    Although he couldn¡¯t recall the specific names of these marine creatures, at least he knew what groups they belonged to and was able to infer their habits from there. His exnation was no less than that of a quasi-professional aquarium guide, but he was only broadcasting live. Regardless of what he said, the sisters would stun whatever he said, and there will be a barrage of ¡°big pig trotters¡±. It made him rather indignant.

    ¡°The essence of Monterey Aquarium is not those big creatures such as giant octopuses, sharks, manta rays, et cetera. Although these big guys look prestigious and attractive, they¡¯re actuallymonly found in other aquariums. Truly knowledgeable peoplee here to focus on admiring seahorses, jellyfish, and sea slugs. ¡±

    ¡°Big pig trotter!¡±

    ¡°Like that one,¡± Zhang Zian held the mobile phone near a transparent aquarium. ¡°This is blood-red jellyfish with sex gills is nicknamed the ¡°Spanish Dance Concubine.¡±

    ¡°Big pig trotter!¡±

    ¡°I feel like it¡¯s actually part of a fat cow...¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m so hungry... Well, I¡¯ll go and make instant noodles now.¡±

    ¡°Am I the only one who thinks it looks like a sanitary napkin stained with blood?¡±

    ¡°Haha, indeed! By the way, I am feeling for the Store Manager.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not hungry anymore.¡±

    Theizen Sand Sculpture¡¯s description was quite appropriate. This blood-red six-gilled is about ten centimeters long and bright red like blood, surrounded by a white edge. It danced in the sea with its body gracefully. Seeing it as a dancer requires some abstract imagination, but food aficionados could¡¯ve easily seen it as a piece of a fat cow that had been simmering in a hot pot for a long time.

    ¡°Wow! I know this thing but I forgot the name. If think it¡¯s called a blue dragon or something online...¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Unfortunately, it is smaller than expected ... bad review!¡±

    As the camera swept through another aquarium, the sharp-eyed audience recognized the deep blue Antic Poseidon, shaped like an alien creature that was popr online.

    The overall image of the Poseidon¡¯s jellyfish was difficult to describe. It looked like a blue smander with four feet and a blue chrysanthemum blooming on the sole of each foot. If the Osprey transport aircraft in the United States had four rotors, it would¡¯ve looked very simr to this creature

    ¡°Is that a jellyfish? It¡¯s so pretty!¡±

    Walking across the ss floor-to-ceiling wall, they saw dozens of ghost-like jellyfish floating in the dim water across the ss as if roaming in space without the constraints of gravity. It looked a little immortal, but also a bit like it came from theherworld.Read more chapter on

    ¡°That¡¯s the famous moon jellyfish. Since its tentacles are not obvious, people usually focus on their umbre-shaped film. The way they float in the sea looks like a full moon reflected on the sea, hence the name,¡± Zhang Zian exined. ¡°The four bright donut-shaped rings in their bodies are actually their gonads.¡±

    If you visited the aquarium and took the normal tour route, there were relevant instructions in the corresponding ces but were all in English.

    The moon jellyfish was small and looked harmless to humans and animals, but the Pacific gold jellyfish next to it was shocking. Several wandering gold jellyfish had a disc-shaped film with a diameter of tens of centimeters, and each of their 24 tentacles was three or four meters long, like a yellow crystal chandelier and a dazzling array of beads. Based on the length of their tentacles, no one would¡¯ve wanted to get tangled with them while swimming in the sea. Even so, the jellyfish wasn¡¯t very toxic.

    Gold jellyfish and moon jellyfish were both verymon jellyfish species. There were also some lessmon and even rare jellyfish such as the egg yolk jellyfish, crystal jellyfish, inverted jellyfish, and more. Only tourists who studied marine life were able to understand how rare it was to see these creatures in front of them. Most people just took a look at it. To them, it was nothing more than jellyfish. When they looked at it, they would¡¯ve thought of cold jellyfish and wanted to know whether it was poisonous or not.

    As for the strange, thick and cute hippocampus, everyone liked it. This was especially true when the girls heard that the male is responsible for incubating the offspring. It also set off a wave of controversy in the live broadcast room that human men are all big pig trotters and were iparable to the hippocampus.

    The male fans who were now targeted for no reason also vented their anger on Zhang Zian.

    There were rtively few creatures that were visible in the background, reserved only for the eyes of the staff. The more eye-catching creatures such as the sea otters, tiger sharks, wolf eels, turtles, and giant octopuses were ced in the tourist area. They couldn¡¯t be seen here and could only wait to leave here in a while before going around to visit them. Otherwise, they would¡¯ve left with regrets.

    The Monterrey Oceanarium was connected to the Pacific Ocean. The penins was also a state marine protection area. Although there were hundreds of thousands of species of marine life, the seawater in the museum remained clear. The designer was very clever and usedrge water pipes to connect the pool in the pavilion with the Pacific Ocean. During the day, fresh seawater was introduced and filtered to keep it clear for the audience. When the hall was closed at night, the filter was closed to introduce seawater full of nkton for the sea creatures to feed.

    Zhou Jing¡¯s abdominal pain was still tolerable. As she walked, she listened to Zhang Zian¡¯s exnation behind her and looked back at him from time to time. His knowledge of marine life was iparable to that of most people and might¡¯ve been even better than hers. After all, she didn¡¯t have much interest in marine life and worked here just to make money.

    Snowy saw her doubts and also distracted her. She introduced Zhang Zian and told her that he opened a pet store in China that had an aquarium branch. However, the number of creatures in the store was less than one ten-thousandth of what was in this aquarium, but there were a few rare species in his shop.

    Zhou Jing then realized why he seemed very interested in visiting the aquarium. It turned out that he was in a simr profession.

    The aisle in front indicated that they reached the end, and the surrounding staff disappeared unknowingly. The aisle soon became deserted.

    At the end of the aisle was a spacious door with a sign that read ¡°Performance Preparation Room¡± next to it. It seemed that this was the preparation room before the mermaid show.

    Zhou Jing reached the door and looked at Snowy with aplex look. First, she knocked on the door, then slowly twisted the handle to push it inwards.

    ¡°The show is right about to begin. Where did you go, you idiot?¡±

    An English woman¡¯s loud scream came from the room.

 Chapter 1474 - cold Jade water

    Zhang Zian and snowy both thought that this was the preparation room for Zhou Jing''s personal use. They didn''t expect that there were other people in the room. Moreover, theirnguage was vulgar and their volume was surprisingly high. Just listening to their voices made people think of the word "Shrew."

    Snowy stood at the door and hesitated, hesitating whether to go in or not. However, Zhang Zian passed her and followed Zhou Jing into the house.

    The room was veryrge. There was an iron shelf on the wall with tworge fishtails hanging on it, one green and one blue. In addition, there were also flippers, swimming goggles, wet breathing tubes, diving suits, bikinis, and other diving equipment. There were also some little things of unknown use.

    This room was different from all the other rooms. On one side of the room was a small pool, which was connected to therge pool in the hall. The pool was clear and rippling with light.

    It made sense. The tail of the mermaid was two meters long and weighed 50 pounds, which was almost 50 pounds. Even if a man put this thing on his leg, it would be difficult, let alone a thin girl like Zhou Jing. So, after putting on the tail, she had to immediately turn into the water and swim into the big pool to meet the audience.

    The fish tail was veryrge. After entering the water, it was affected by the buoyancy and wasn''t as heavy as before. However, it was still very inconvenient for it to move.

    A white woman was sitting on the sofa in the room, ring at Zhou Jing. When she saw Zhang Zian and snowye in, she just nced at them casually and continued to scold Zhou Jing.

    The White woman was about 30 years old. She looked ordinary, but she was very simr to Zhou Jing. They were both tall and thin, especially thin.

    Zhou Jing seemed to have be ustomed to it. In the face of her reprimand, she silently endured it and did not refute. She turned around and said to snowy and Zhang Zian in a low voice,""You can just send me here. You can go back the way you came. I''ll be fine after a short rest ... I''m sorry that I''m not in good health today, so I can only take you to a few areas."

    The focus now was not on visiting the aquarium, but on the fact that the White woman''s curses were really unpleasant. She called Zhou Jing azy B * stard, a pitiful worm, and even some more insulting English words.

    Theizens in the live broadcast room were agitated. They couldn''t bear to see their fellow countrymen being scolded by foreigners. If it wasn''t for the fact that they were too far away, they would have rushed over to scold the White woman.

    Snowy couldn''t bear to leave, but she had no experience in dealing with this kind of Shrew. She could only stand aside helplessly.

    Zhang Zian didn''t want to leave just like that, because he still nned to ask Zhou Jing about the recruitment and internship in the ocean mansion. If he missed this opportunity, he would not have this opportunity again.

    "Who is this person?" He asked Zhou Jing,"why do you speak so harshly?"

    "My colleague," Zhou Jing replied expressionlessly."I guess you can say that she''s my senior." It''s okay, you guys don''t have to worry about it. Let her scold us. After all, she taught me a lot of things in the past. "

    "But ..." Zhang Zian frowned. Even if he had taught Zhou Jing before, could he insult her in such an insulting way? Ordinary people wouldn''t curse so fiercely even if they wanted to. This white woman seemed to be a little hysterical.

    Zhou Jing shook her head,"it really doesn''t matter. She''s a good person, but she has a bad temper. I don''t me her. She has been in this industry for too long. If I had been in this industry for so long, I might be like her."

    This made snowy and Zhang Zian very surprised. Zhou Jing was being scolded, but she still spoke up for the White woman.

    The two of them didn''t know the specific situation, and they didn''t know if rashly intervening would intensify the conflict. At that time, he and snowy would just leave. How could Zhou Jing and the White woman work together in the future?

    Therefore, they wanted to help, but they didn''t know how to help, or if they would be a burden.

    The White woman was probably tired of scolding. She stopped to take a few breaths, stared at Zhang Zian and snowy, and asked in English,""What are you two doing here?"

    "They''re my friends, so I brought them here to take a look. " Zhou Jing replied.

    "Friend?" The Caucasian woman sneered."I really didn''t know you had friends ... I thought you finally found someone who could help you get into the water ... What''s wrong? You were gone for so long just to pick them up?"

    She pointed at the fish tail on the iron shelf and said in amanding tone,""Now, change your clothes immediately. The performance is about to start!"

    Snowy couldn''t help but say in English,""She''s on her period, so she can''t go into the water. "

    "You can''t go into the water when you''re on your period? Who told you that?" The White woman asked in disdain.

    Snowy was speechless. Try not to touch cold water when you''re on your period, let alone soak in cold water. Isn''t thismon sense for women? Who needed to tell him?

    She walked to the small pool, squatted down, and dipped her fingers in the water. She immediately retracted her fingers and shook her head at Zhou Jing,"the water is too cold. You must not go into the water!"

    The reason why San Francisco''s summer is so cool is that the Cali cold currents pass by San Francisco day after day, bringing rich marine life and changing the climate of San Francisco.

    Even in the middle of summer, almost no one went swimming in the San Francisco ocean because the water was too cold. The pool water in the Monterey Ocean Pavilion, which was directly connected to the Pacific Ocean, was also very cold and cold to the touch.

    Zhou Jing already had abdominal pain due to her period. If she soaked in the cold water and yed the role of a mermaid for tourists, she was afraid that she would fall seriously ill.

    Zhang Zian pointed to the fishtail on the iron shelf,"aren''t there two sets of mermaid clothes? Who''s the other set?"

    He asked the obvious. He didn''t need to guess to know that the other set was definitely the White woman ''s. The unspoken meaning of his question was, why must Zhou Jing be forced into the water? Anyway, there were two people to perform. If one of them couldn''t do it, then another person would do it. It was just a temporary shift.

    Zhou Jing exined in a low voice,"no, there is a certain danger in the mermaid performance. ording to the rules, two people must go into the water together. This way, they can look out for each other."

    "Dangerous?" Snowy pouted and couldn''t figure out what was so dangerous about the mermaid performance. Wasn''t it just waving to the audience through the ss in the water? He couldn''t possibly perform a dance between man and shark, right?

    The White woman saw that the three of them kept muttering Chinese that she couldn''t understand and thought that they were scolding her in secret or trying to trick her. She jumped up from the sofa angrily and roared,""Zhou, I''ll ask you onest time. Are you going into the water? I''m warning you, if you dare to cause me to lose my job ..."

    She didn''t continue, but the threatening tone in her voice was already very strong.

    Zhou Jing''s heart was also filled with ruthlessness. She gritted her teeth and pulled out her bag from the locker in a fit of anger. She took out a medicine bottle from the bag, poured out two painkillers, and swallowed them. It seemed that she was going to force herself into the water to perform.

 Chapter 1475 - dying for money

    Although they had just met Zhou Jing, her stubborn appearance made theizens feel very distressed. She was so thin that she had to endure the pain of her period and still enter the cold water to y the role of a mermaid. It was simply inhumane.

    Everyone pointed their fingers at the White woman and saw her as the evil witch or stepmother in fairy tales. If she saw theizens ''cursing bullet screen, she would probably explode in anger.

    "How about this? manager, why don''t you pretend to be a woman and act as a mermaid for this youngdy?"

    "Forget it, him?"

    "I think it''s okay. Wear a wig and squeeze your chest hard. You''ll definitely be able to squeeze out a cleavage ..."

    "Just thinking about it hurts my eyes ..."

    Snowy quickly pulled Zhou Jing and advised her not to act on impulse. If she really went into the water, she might be seriously ill.

    Zhou Jing shook her head and pushed away snowy''s hand. She gritted her teeth and said,""I understand what you''re saying, but who asked me to choose this job ..."

    She looked up at the White woman."Abby is right. This job is too important to both her and me. We can''t lose this job."

    Only then did snowy know that the White woman''s name was Abby.

    "But ..." Snowy still wanted to persuade him.

    "You don''t understand," Zhou Jing sighed,"Abby is a single mother. She needs this job to support her and her child. Otherwise, she will be driven out by thendlord to sleep on the streets. And my father has just lost his job. I also need this job to pay for my tuition and support my family."

    As she spoke, she struggled to pick up the Blue Mermaid suit from the iron shelf.

    The 2-meter-long and 50-pound mermaid suit had to be taken off in a Princess carry. She was on her period and had poor physical strength, so Zhang Zian went over to help her carry it.

    This was the first time he touched a mermaid''s tail, and he felt that ... The touch from his fingers was familiar. This thing was not made of artificial materials as he had imagined.

    "This is ..."

    He put the mermaid suit on the ground, squatted down, and touched it carefully. The outside and the inside feltpletely different. The outeryer was smooth and soft, while the inneryer was rough and stiff.

    He could feel that the inneryer was made of rubber, and it was deliberately rough to increase friction. Otherwise, what if the fishtail fell off while swimming in the water? However, it would obviously be very ufortable to wear it like this.

    The outeryer was smooth to reduce water resistance.

    "Whale skin." Zhou Jing said,"the outeryer is hand-sewn with whale skin and then dyed with natural nt pigments. This mermaid suit alone is worth a lot."

    Zhang Zian secretly clicked his tongue. The leather clothes that ordinary people wore were at most cowhide, horse skin, sheepskin, and crocodile skin, but the whale skin mermaid clothes were definitely more expensive than crocodile skin.

    Zhou Jing opened her palm. Zhang Zian and snowy saw that there were some minor scars on her fingers and palm that had not yet healed. They looked like bloody holes made by needles. They were very thick needles, not ordinary sewing needles.

    "The mermaid suit has been soaked in the water for a long time, so it''s inevitable that it will tear. Once it tears, we have to sew it up ourselves. It''s the same for Abby''s hand. She''s better than me because she''s more skilled. " She said.

    Snowy looked inside the mermaid suit, stretched out her leg, and eximed,""This ... It''s so tight inside, can I get in?"

    Snowy''s figure was rtively slim, but by a rough estimate, she could only put her calves into the mermaid suit. Her thighs would definitely be stuck. The inneryer of the mermaid suit was made of rubber, not the stic man-made fiber that girls usually wore. It was a little stic, but it was generally very stiff, simr to the flippers used in diving. It was impossible to expand the entrance and force one''s leg in.

    "You''ve noticed it too, right? That''s why we have to be very thin, otherwise we won''t be able to fit into the human-tail suit. " Zhou Jing sighed,"I wasn''t this thin before. In order to get this job, I had to lose weight. Now, in order to maintain my weight, I only eat one meal a day...Abby is the same. She has worked longer than me and suffered more."

    As for making the mermaid suit bigger, that was not possible. First of all, the mermaid suit itself had an outeryer of whale skin, an inneryer of rubber, and a supportyer of padding in the middle. The bigger the space left for the legs, the bigger and heavier the mermaid suit would be, and the more difficult it would be to swim in the water. Secondly, the water had a refraction effect. People of ordinary build would appear fat in the water, while people of thin build would appear normal in the water. If the mermaid suit was made to be fatter, the audience on the other side of the ss would see that it was no longer beautiful, and would look like an old and frail mermaid ...

    Zhou Jingughed self-deprecatingly and pressed her lower abdomen with her hand."For people like us who are so thin, because of malnutrition and always soaking in cold water, our periods often disappear. asionally, theye without any pattern ... We have to soak in water of this temperature for about two or three hours a day. When we leave the water, our lips often turn purple from the cold. Abby...As far as I know, she hasn''t had her period for two or three years. Fortunately, she has already given birth ..."

    The audience in the live broadcast room suddenly became dispirited. As the saying goes, a pitiful person must have something hateful. Abby had a bad temper and often cursed people. Although it was hateful, how did she form such a character? Enduring hunger for a long time had led to emaciated bodies and physiological disorder. It would be difficult for others to maintain a calm mind, right?

    This wasn''t a limit diet of one or two meals, one day for two days, one week for two weeks, or one month for two months. It was calcted in years.

    Not only was she on a diet, but she also had to keep fit while dieting. How many people could run and do strength training to maintain their physical strength? Not to mention women, how many men could do that?

    The audience suddenly felt some sympathy and understanding for Abby. As a single mother, she had to bear such a hard job while raising her child. Her bad temper was her way of protecting herself and venting her pressure. Of course, it was wrong to curse.

    Zhou Jing and Abby''s special professions were somewhat like models. It wasmon knowledge that models had to maintain a slim body in order to look good on the runway. At the same time, in order to hold up their clothes, they had to do fitness training to reduce the fat that was bigger and rece it with smaller muscles.

    When snowy heard this, she advised him with heartache,""If it''s so tough, why don''t you change your job? Anything would be better than this! If this continues, your body will copse!"

    Zhou Jing shook her head."Abby and I can do other jobs. We earn too little money."

    Unlike China outside of the country generally did not ask about other people''s sry. After all, this was personal privacy, but snowy couldn''t help but ask,""Then ... How much is the sry for this job?"

    Zhou Jing thought for a moment,"ording to the annual sry, it''s 70000 US dors a year, about 500000 Yuan."

 Chapter 1476 - -hardships behind the scenes

    500,000 RMB!

    The idioticizens, who had originally sympathized with Zhou Jing and Abby and loudly denounced the capitalist society of cannibalism, were silent for a moment when they heard this jaw-dropping number, and then they were no longer calm.

    What was the concept of 500000 RMB?

    In 2018, the capital''s annual per capita ie was 62361 Yuan. This was the political and economic center of China, but the per capita annual ie was only slightly more than 60000 Yuan. The poor provinces in the West had less than 30000 per year.

    How many Chinese people do more difficult and dangerous jobs than this, but their ie is not even half of 500000 Yuan?

    Even in San Francisco, where housing prices are extremely high and rich people gather, a family with an annual ie of 70000 dors is considered to be in the middle ss!

    Zhou Jing''s annual ie, even if conservatively estimated, could beat 99.9% of theizens in the live broadcast room. In fact, excluding the keyboard warriors who bragged, 99.99% was also possible.

    Everyone suddenly realized that they were the ones who needed more sympathy ...

    "F * ck! Are you guys recruiting mermen?"

    "Don''t think that I''m a man. I''m very good at crossdressing. I''m more beautiful than many girls!"

    "Although I can''t bear to go for a sex change, I can still ept getting a breast bump or something. After all, you can''t see my legs in mermaid clothes ... Wouldn''t it be great to earn a few years ''money and then shrink my breasts back?"

    "I''ll sign up as long as I''m looking for a man. I''m not joking. It just so happens that I want to lose weight!"

    "That''s right, a job that only recruits girls, is it really not gender discrimination?"

    All sorts of shameless bulletments instantly exploded.

    Zhang Zian had more or less guessed that Zhou Jing and Abby were not fools. If it were not for the generous pay, who would grit their teeth and insist on such an anti-human job?

    A yearly ie of 500000 RMB was considered a lot? It was indeed a lot, but it had to be considered that this industry depended on youth. It was fine for a girl in her 20s like Zhou Jing, but Abby was already in her 30s. How many more years could she work? How many more years could his bodyst? At most, he could only work until he was 40 years old. His body did not allow it, and the ocean mansion did not allow it either. Who would want to see a mermaid Auntie when they were old and frail? What if he was in danger in the water?

    As a single mother, Abby could not lose this job, at least not now. She had to save money desperately, so that she could save enough for her living expenses and her child''s college tuition fees before she turned 40. Although it sounded like an extravagant hope, she could only work hard with this as her goal.

    Zhou Jing, since she chose this job, of course, she had her own reasons and difficulties. She agreed with Abby. Neither of them could lose this job, even if they had to take painkillers. They had to grit their teeth and hold on.

    At this point, snowy didn''t know how to persuade him. She had never experienced the process of struggling for survival, but saying some beautiful words would only make people think,"why not eat meat?"

    Abby didn''t understand what the three Chinese people were mumbling about. Tired of scolding, she simply sat in front of the dressing table and put on her makeup.

    Before going into the water, she had to put on heavy makeup with emphasis on eyeliner and lips. Otherwise, her facial features would be blurred through the water and ss.

    Snowy looked at the two sets of mermaid clothes and remembered that Zhou Jing had just told the staff that she and Zhang Zian were here for an interview. She had a guess in her heart. Could it be that the aquarium had already begun to look for Abby''s recement?

    There were only two sets of mermaid clothes and they were very expensive. In addition, Abby was old, and the ocean Hall might feel that it was time to change people.

    However, this job was too difficult and it destroyed a woman''s body. Unless one was crazy about money, it was not easy to find a backup candidate.

    Zhou Jing smiled."Are you pitying me?"

    "No, I didn''t ..." Snowy guiltily exined. In fact, she was really sympathetic.

    Zhou Jing shook her head."I''m very d to find this job. Although it''s hard and tiring, at least I earn a lot. As long as I can finish college, I''ll quit, because ... I still want to get married and have children. The one who really needs sympathy isn''t me. The girls who y the mermaid in the country do almost the same hard work. The only thing better than me is that they don''t have to endure such low water temperature, but correspondingly, their monthly sry is only five to six thousand Yuan, or even less. They deserve more sympathy. "

    Xiaoxue was silent and could only sigh at this time.

    There were too many people suffering in the world, how could he help all of them?

    Many ocean pavilions in China also had mermaid performances. When the audience saw the girls ying the mermaids swimming in the water, they might think that it was an easy job to make money by lying down. But in fact, it was a hard, tiring, and harmful job, and they might not get the corresponding reward.

    But even so, there were still many girls from the countryside fighting for this job. After all, this job didn''t require education or work experience.

    In contrast, Zhou Jing was already very lucky.

    The audience in the live broadcast room had mixed feelings.

    Chang tai breathed to cover her tears, mourning the hardships of the people.

    "I''ve seen a mermaid show before, but I didn''t expect it to be so hard to act as a mermaid ..."

    "Most service industries in the United States can get tips, but you still need tips for ordering takeaway. It''s so unfair that people who exchange their health for money can''t get tips."

    "I should ask all the girls who y the mermaid to draw a QR code on their backs. The next time I look at it, I''ll scan the code, close my eyes, and press zero."

    "That''s true. I''ve only seen one mermaid who can really make money lying down, and that''s the big-chested and brainless Sihwa ..."

    "Hahaha! After all, she has a pretty face. You can''tpare her with this. "

    It was clearly a joke, but everyone''s hearts were heavy.

    Being able to endure the pain of extreme dieting would make more money, but not everyone could be a model. It depended on looks, opportunities, and luck. Ordinary-looking people could only earn less money even if they put in more effort.

    This was not fair, but there was no such thing asplete fairness in this world. Otherwise, why would people prefer to live in dreams?

    Zhou Jing also sat in front of the dressing table and began to do her makeup.

    Seeing this, Abby knew that Zhou Jing had decided to go into the water, and her face finally showed a smile.

    Zhou Jing had never told anyone about these things, even to her parents and ssmates in China. She had always kept her mouth shut. Every time she was asked, she would always smile and answer,""It''s okay, it''s not too hard ... You''ve lost weight? I''m trying to lose weight! I know, I''ll eat well!"

    As long as she didn''t say it, no one could imagine how hard it was in this industry.

    She had been suppressing the bitterness in her heart and was about to explode. This time, after she opened her mouth, she couldn''t hold it back anymore. She kept putting on makeup and drawing her eyebrows while sheughed about all the grievances she had suffered over the years.

 Chapter 1477 - The American Dream

    When Zhou Jing came to the United States a few years ago, her father, who had already settled down, brought her and her mother to reunite with their family. She also reluctantly said goodbye to her domestic ssmates and transferred to a middle school in the United States.

    At that time, everything was fine. The only hidden danger was that it was difficult for her mother to find a corresponding job in the United States with her education and profession. However, her father''s sry was enough for the family''s expenses. Moreover, the proportion of full-time Housewives in the United States was very high, so her mother also followed the local customs and did not go out to work. She stayed at home to take care of the father and daughter''s daily needs and tutor Zhou Jing''s studies.

    Later on, his mother got pregnant again, and the whole family was happy for the little life that wasing.

    The world was constantly changing, and the rise and fall of many industries could be seen in the blink of an eye. One day, his father suddenly returned home during work hours and told the mother and daughter who were ying with the newborn that he had beenid off.

    The mother and daughter did notin or panic. Instead, they encouraged their father to get back on his feet. At worst, he could find another job. Because they inherited the traditional Chinese saving habits and were not as extravagant as United States families, they had a small savings and could temporarily live off the mountain.

    However, it was too difficult for theid-off middle-aged man to find a suitable job. Even though his father repeatedly lowered his expectations for the sry, nopany offered him an olive branch in a short time. In the end, he could only lower his price and work at a smallpany.

    In order to relieve her father''s pressure, her mother stood up and tried to apply for a job in apany. However, her Professional Certificate in China was not recognized in the United States, and her skills were rusty because she had been idle for a few years. In addition, she was at a disadvantage in age andnguage. She was a decent white-cor worker in China, so she could only find a job like a supermarket cashier.

    In addition, if the mother went out to work, there would be no one to take care of the baby, and they would have to hire a nanny. The cashier''s sry might not be enough to pay the nanny''s sry, so the loss outweighed the gain, so the mother had to stay at home.

    At that time, Zhou Jing had just gone to college. The pressure of the tuition fees made the financial situation of the already stretched family worse. The original harmonious family atmosphere gradually became a daily quarrel andint about money.

    The tuition fees of United States universities were rising every year. Student loans with interest were not for charity, so most American University students still had to rely on their parents ''financial assistance toplete their studies.

    Her mother was very regretful that the couple did not have enough awareness of the risks. If she had not chosen to be a housewife aftering to the United States and had applied to enter a University in the United States, it would not have been toote to be a housewife after she had graduated with her academic qualifications and certificates. Once the family was in a financial crisis, she could go back to work at any time.

    In addition, they also regretted having a second child. If they didn''t have a second child, although their days were tight, they could at least support themselves.

    However, a new life had already arrived, and there was no use in regretting it.

    Zhou Jing was a sensible child. In order to reduce the pressure at home, she had been looking for part-time jobs everywhere since she entered University. She had also done a lot of jobs, from being a restaurant waiter to a handyman in the hospital. However, these jobs were limited. Either it was not safe to work the night shift, or the sry was too low to pay for tuition and living expenses, or there were superiors or colleagues who liked to harass young women with words or actions.

    Once, she heard from her United States ssmates that the ocean Hall was recruiting mermaid cosyers. At that time, she was just like the audience in the live broadcast room. She thought that acting as a mermaid was an easy job that could make money while lying down. It was not only a fixed day shift, but also a well-paid job. There were no disgusting middle-aged greasy men who would do anything to her in the dark. It was simply ideal.

    She felt that such a job must have been snatched away by others, so she came to the aquarium to try her luck. The process was unimaginably smooth. The interviewer measured her height, asked her a few questions, and asked her toe for a few days to try it out. Later, she found out that the minimum height for a mermaid actor was 1.7 meters. She couldn''t be any shorter. Otherwise, after wearing a two-meter mermaid suit, the waist proportion would be out of proportion.

    On the first day of her internship, she met Abby with several other intern girls. She was also as surprised by Abby''s thin figure as snowy and Zhang Zian had been when they had first seen her.

    Abby was in charge of guiding them, and the first lesson she gave them was mathematics. She told them that the cross-section of the mermaid suit was generally oval, and their two thigh bones were the two focal points of the Oval. Then, she asked them to calcte how much the weight and volume of the mermaid suit would expand for every inch thick their legs.

    When their heads were spinning from the calctions, Abby sneered loudly, snatched their draft paper, and tore it apart, ordering them to go back and lose weight. At that time, some people were frightened by Abby''s violent performance and never appeared again.

    The first round of the weight loss test had filtered out most of the candidates, but Zhou Jing gritted her teeth and persisted. With an unimaginable perseverance and determination, she managed to lose her normal body in a short time to be as thin as Abby. Because the skeleton of East Asians was originally small, she looked the slimest among the remaining candidates.

    Abby was a little impressed with her, but the second step was more difficult than the first. When Zhou Jing jumped into the cold waters of San Francisco for the first time, her heart almost stopped beating.

    After the other applicants tried, they all gave up and gave up on thepetition. After all, as young girls with long legs, there were other ways to make money. There was no need to risk their lives in Silicon Valley. There were many rich sugar daddies, and these old men were happy to sponsor one or more sugar babies toplete their studies.

    Zhou Jing had a strong spirit and tenacity. She knew that if she chose to be a sugar baby, her parents would probably break her legs. Even though she seemed to have died once every time she entered the water, she actually jumped into the water under Abby''s mockery and curses day after day, and then came ashore with a livid face, trembling, and curled up into a ball like a shrimp, holding her body.

    One day, the Human Resources Department of the ocean mansion told her that she had gotten the job.

    Abby had been in this business for more than a decade. She had traveled from Europe to the United States and had witnessed the rise and fall of many ocean mansions. The Monterey ocean mansion was hertest stop, and perhaps herst.

    When she wasn''t angry, Abby was quite a nice person. Especially when she was talking about her son, her eyes would sparkle as if she had regained her youth.

    As Zhou Jing said, Abby had taught her a lot of things. After entering the water, they had to take care of each other in case of an ident.

    No matter how mean they were to each other, as long as they put on their mermaid costumes and jumped into the water, they would cooperate with each other like real mermaid sisters.

    In addition to the desire for a high sry, Zhou Jing felt that in the depths of her heart, she might enjoy this moment where she could throw away all her worries and focus on enjoying the audience''s amazement.

 Chapter 1478 - The pet park

    In this world, there was no love without reason, and there was no high sry without reason.

    Zhou Jing had retreated countless times. She was woken up by hunger in the middle of the night countless times. She had decided to give up this job countless times after waking up in the morning, but in the end, she still gritted her teeth and persisted.

    She used her own sry to pay for her school fees, living expenses, and other misceneous expenses, as well as a small amount of bursaries and schrships. She even had the spare energy to supplement the family''s economy. She didn''t dare to raise her sry too high to her parents, as that would arouse their suspicion. She only raised the amount of the bursary and schrship.

    The family''s economic conditions began to slowly recover. Her father''s work experience showed its effect on the development of the smallpany, and the sry increased. Her mother also made some handicrafts from her hometown in her spare time and sold them online. She could sell a few of them every three to five days, which was a sum of ie. All these made Zhou Jing more determined. As long as they could survive until they graduated from college, their family could usher in a new beginning.

    All girls loved beauty. No matter if they were as beautiful as Immortals or ordinary passersby, they all had a heart that loved beauty.

    She soaked in the high-salinity seawater every day, and her skin and hair had be very bad. Her hair was yellow and split, and her skin was red and peeling. However, she could not use shower gel, body lotion, hair conditioner, and other skin care products because these skin care products might affect the health of marine creatures. Those big guys might not be affected, but there were many slender and weak species in the water.

    She had to get up before dawn for a morning run. For breakfast, she only had an Apple, a banana, and a box of skimmed milk. Then, she had to work in the aquarium. After work, she had to go back to school. Work was her priority. After ss, she had to go to the gym for strength training ... There were two happiest moments of the day: lunch and sleep. The former was the only time of the day that she could eat full, and thetter was because she wouldn''t feel hungry when she fell asleep.

    She had endured all these, but loneliness was the most unbearable.

    She studied alone in San Francisco, and her parents were in other cities. Although they could often video chat, a video was just a video and could not rece daily contact, and Abby ... Abby was not suitable for dailymunication, nor was she suitable to be a close friend.

    As for her boyfriend ... Would there be any man who would like such a skinny body?

    There was once a male student who had expressed interest in her, but he was scared away when he saw her legs and arms, thinking that she was a drug addict.

    After she developed the habit of running in the morning, she often ran around San Francisco, looking for a suitable running route.

    Once, she ran past the Golden Gate Bridge and saw that the bridge was half-hidden in the fog, like a Fairnd.

    She was staring at it in a daze when she suddenly felt a slight panting sound behind her, as if something was following her.

    It was early in the morning before the sun rose, and it was still dark, but because she often ran into morning joggers, she thought it wasn''t dangerous.

    Could it be ... That the stubbled vagrant was following behind them and plotting something?

    The more she thought about it, the more afraid she became. She was panicking and short of breath. Her already empty stomach was churning with gastric acid, and she was almost about to copse.

    Later, she mustered up her courage and quickly nced behind her, nning to scream for help if she saw a homeless man.

    There were no homeless people behind her, only an orange Pomeranian following her.

    It turned out that she had unknowingly run into the area of Isabelle''s point.

    Isabelle point was located on the coast of San Francisco, overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. It used to be a wastnd full of wandering homeless people who quietly traded illegal drugs and other unspeakable activities. Later, some dog owners took their dogs for a walk here. As the number of dogs increased, and there were even big dogs with scary sizes, the criminals didn''t dare to stay there and were forced to move. This was the contribution of dogs to the city of San Francisco.

    As time went by, the reputation of Isabelle''s spot had spread far and wide. It had now be the best pet park in the United States, but it was mainly for pet dogs to y in the park. All the facilities in the park, including caf¨¦s, were open to pets, so that pets could enjoy the same treatment as their owners.

    This Pomeranian might have been lost with its owner, or it might have been abandoned by its owner. Its owner might have hoped that the dog owners in the park would pick it up and bring it home, so he left it here.

    Somehow, it seemed to like Zhou Jing very much. It kept running behind her. Even if she waved it away, it didn''t stop.

    Zhou Jing didn''t n to have a pet at all at that time, and before that, she preferred cats. However, the cat''s cold personality probably couldn''t help her get rid of loneliness, and it was impossible for it to apany her for a morning run.

    Still in shock, she couldn''t run anymore. She sat on the grass panting and kept shaking the sweat from the scare. It also stuck out its tongue and rested at the side, looking very obedient and cute.

    This was the first time she had the idea of having a dog. If she had a dog following her for a morning run, she wouldn''t be afraid of being followed by homeless people without knowing it, right?

    Did this dog have an owner?

    She wasn''t sure. Maybe it had just lost its master, or maybe master woulde to find it soon.

    She tried to take it home and made some notices to put up in Isabelle''s shop, asking the dog''s owner to contact her, but no stranger called her for a few days.

    In the past few days, it had already treated the apartment she rented as its home. As long as she was at home, no matter where she went, it would follow her closely.

    Zhou Jing bought dog food. She had to limit her diet, but seeing it eat happily, she also felt a sense of satisfaction in her heart, as if it had eaten her share for her.

    After making sure that no one woulde to find this Pomeranian, she named it "butter" ording to its fur color. Ever since she started dieting, butter, a high-fat and high-calorie food, had be something she particrly desired but didn''t dare to eat. Even in her dreams, she could dream of soft and fragrant butter bread, but often she would wake up with only dog fur ...

    With butter, part of her spirit was entrusted. Just like Abby always showed photos of her son, she also showed photos of butter. She ran in the morning with it, did housework with it, yed with it, and read books with it. Her life became more fulfilling, and her endurance became higher. If she did not grit her teeth and continue to y the role of a mermaid, she would not be able to afford butter, and it would lose its owner again.

    As time passed, Zhou Jing''s College credits had been more than halfpleted. The dawn of victory appeared in front of her. The bitter days were finallying to an end, but at least for now, she could not lose this job. For her family, for herself, and for butter.

    She had persevered for so long, and it wasn''t the first time she had gone into the water during her period, so she thought she could make it this time as well.

 Chapter 1479 - The crawling fish

    Zhou Jing and Abby skillfully finished their makeup. Basically, they only painted eyebrows, eyeliner, and red lips without any foundation cream. The eyebrows and eyeliner would be covered by goggles, which would note into contact with water, so there was no need to consider whether it would pollute the water. The lipstick was different from the onesmonly seen in the market. It seemed to be hand-mixed, and was probably a natural colorponent that could be waterproof.

    Snowy had already tried to persuade him, what else could she say? Although she had good intentions, this man had to rely on this job to support his family and make a living. If he lost this job, there might be more terrible consequences.

    At this time, Zhou Jing and Abby were still wearing one-piece diving suits. Before going into the water, they had to take off their diving suits and change into mermaid suits. Zhang Zian thought that they would at least find a dressing room or something to change their clothes, but he did not expect them to start taking off their clothes in front of him.

    He was about to turn around and leave when he realized that it was unnecessary because the two of them had already put on their bikinis under their diving suits.

    They put on swimming goggles, not the ordinary kind, but diving goggles. They were white and transparent, the kind that covered their eyes and nose. However, they couldn''t wear breathing tubes because it would affect the image. The breathing tubes prepared in the room were for daily practice and couldn''t be used in official performances.

    "One minute," Abby raised a finger at Zhou Jing.

    Zhou Jing nodded.

    Because they didn''t have a breathing tube or a water lungs, they just had to hold their breath and dive into the water to interact with the aquatic creatures and greet the audience. Even for those who had been trained for a long time, in order to ensure their safety, they usually had to hold their breath for a minute at a time, and then take turns to float up to breathe. The frequent floating up to breathe affected the audience''s feelings, so if a Big Shot came to watch the mermaid show live, they would try to hold their breath underwater for one and a half minutes, which was the safety limit. If it exceeded two minutes, they were likely to be in danger.

    Some of the audience members in the livestream expressed that holding their breath for two minutes was too easy, but their time of holding their breath was calcted in the swimming pool. If they dove five to ten meters underwater, their body''s oxygen consumption would increase greatly. Coupled with their nervousness, those who had not undergone training would probably be squeezed out of the water in one minute, let alone two minutes ...

    It was just a regr performance today, and one minute was enough.

    They couldn''t wear watches, so they could only count in their hearts.

    There was a small electric kettle in the room. Zhang Zian had noticed it before, but he didn''t pay much attention to it because Chinese people liked to drink hot water wherever they went.

    At this time, Zhou Jing took a pot of cold water, took out a small bag of red sugar and her own cut ginger from the small refrigerator, and turned on the kettle. Two or three minutester, the water was boiling, and the sweet taste of the red sugar and the spicy taste of the ginger quietly filled the room. She poured two sses and handed one of them to Abby. Thetter epted it without any reservations and held it in her hands, silently waiting for the temperature to drop to a level suitable for consumption. She poured the rest of the ginger tea into the thermos and ced it by the pool. She would drink it when the water came out.

    Red sugar ginger tea was a little trick brought by Zhou Jing, a Chinese person. At first, Abby didn''t care about it at all. She was more willing to drink a cup of coffee or ck tea before going into the water. However, after drinking it once out of curiosity, she regretted not knowing this little trick before.

    "You can''t see the performance from here. The side door leads to the tourist area. You can go there and watch our performance." Zhou Jing pointed to a small door in the room and said to snowy. She squinted her eyes naughtily and whispered,""Remember to give me a few more shots and make me look more beautiful."

    Zhou Jing was just joking because she didn''t have to deliberately lower her voice. Anyway, Abby didn''t understand Chinese.

    Xiaoxue nodded and worriedly said,""Then you ... You guys be careful, don''t force yourself ..."

    "Alright, see you after the performance!" Zhou Jing smiled and waved her hand.

    Zhang Zian was about to follow snowy through the side door to the tourist area, but he was stopped by Zhou Jing.

    "Ah, wait! If you don''t mind, can I ask you for a small favor?" Zhou Jing requested.

    "Help with what?" Zhang Zian asked.

    Zhou Jing smiled bitterly,"I may not be in a good state today. When the performance is over, I''m afraid it will be difficult for me to go ashore. Can you please stay here and help us when we go ashore?"

    Two sets of mermaid clothes were already ced by the side of the small pool. The edge of the pool was a gentle slope, like a slidedder into the water. The surface of the slope was covered with rubber to increase friction.

    It was easy to get into the water, as long as you rolled in the water. But when you came out of the water, the 50-pound tail was soaked in the water, and it weighed far more than that. The mermaid had to drag her heavy tail and crawl ashore on the slope with her arms propped up, just like a primitive fish climbing out of the sea with two evolved pectoral fins and bing the firstnd animals.

    If the slope was made of smooth ceramic tiles without rubber, their arms would have no ce to support themselves and they would not be able to climb up at all. However, if the slope was covered with rubber, friction would increase the difficulty of climbing while dragging the fishtail. It was a double-edged sword that must exist.

    After their performance in the water, they were already exhausted, and they still had to get themselves ashore. This process was very difficult to think about. If it were the usual Zhou Jing, it would not be a problem, but today, her physical strength was rtively weak. She was worried that she would lose her strength halfway and had to wait for Abby to climb up first, take off her fishtail, and then pull her.

    Since Zhang Zian was there, Zhou Jing asked him to stay by the pool and help her and Abby when they came out of the water.

    "Sure, no problem." Zhang Zian agreed without thinking, and then his calf was kicked by snowy Li, because he wouldn''t be able to see the performance if he stayed here.

    "Thank you. Sorry for disturbing your performance." Zhou Jing lowered her head and apologized.

    "There won''t be any dys." Zhang Zian took out his cell phone."Didn''t snowy go there to do a live broadcast? I saw the same thing in her live broadcast room."

    However, watching it live and watching it on the phone werepletely different. It was like watching a movie on the phone and watching it in the cinema.

    Zhou Jing also knew this, so she smiled apologetically,""The next time I''m in a good state, if youe over again, I''ll pay you for your travel ticket. Just take it aspensation."

    "No need. You can take us backstage for a tour and let us see the preparation process of the mermaid show with our own eyes. This is already a novel experience that you can''t get in exchange for any number of tickets." Zhang Zian said.

    It was almost time. Zhou Jing and Abby sat by the pool, put their legs into the fishtail, and then tried to pull the fishtail up to the waist to tighten the body.

    Their fishtails ... Or rather, their legs were soaked in the pool. They picked up the red sugar ginger tea and drank it in one gulp. Then, they raised the water to wet their upper bodies. When their bodies adapted to the water temperature, Zhou Jing nodded to Zhang Zian, put on her goggles, and jumped into the water with Abby.

 Chapter 1480 - -dancing in the water

    Zhou Jing and Abby shook their fish tails, and the blue waves in the small pool rolled violently, causing a magnificent spray on the wall of the pool and even overflowing out of the pool.

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins took a few steps back, away from the pool to avoid the water. They only saw two blurry, streamlined figures, one blue and one green, enter the connected big pool from the small pool and then disappear.

    Snowy had left through the side door and went to the tourist area for the live broadcast. Only he and the invisible elves were left in the room. Since this was the ce where the mermaid cosyer changed clothes and entered the water, there was obviously no surveince.

    Old time tea sighed."It''s not easy for them."

    "To wear a crown, one must bear the weight. Their high sries don''te from the wind." Zhang Zian nodded.

    The mermaid actors in China often did not wear such professional and heavy artificial fishtails. They just wore a rtively thinyer of translucent stic soft shell, about ten kilograms, less than two meters in length. The visual effect was certainly not as realistic as Zhou Jing and Abby''s mermaid clothes. Even if it was a fifty-cent special effect, it was not an exaggeration. After going ashore, one could even see their bikini color through the fishtail ...

    In addition, the water temperature of the ocean mansion in China was not as low as that of San Francisco, where cold currents passed through, so there was a reason for the high sry here. Capitalists were not fools, and they would not give high sries for no reason.

    Zhang Zian sat on the sofa, looking down to watch Zhou Jing and Abby''s performance through snowy''s live broadcast room.

    Snowy had already arrived at the tourist area, where many tourists were waiting for the appearance of the mermaid. Many of them were children who hade to see the mermaid''s performance, and their eyes were shining with excitement.

    It was a tall floor-to-ceiling tempered ss, which was also part of the big pool. As a warm-up for the mermaid show, several employees in diving suits and carrying oxygen tanks were scratching the ss with professional brushes, scraping away the algae and nkton attached to the ss to make the ss more transparent so that tourists could see more clearly.

    The venue was rather dark, just like a movie theater before the start of a movie. Light shot from the surface of the water into the water and refracted, forming spots of light and shadow in the water with the ripples of the waves.

    The bottom of the sea was made up of reefs and beaches. Colorful starfish, sea cucumbers, and shellfish were lying on the beach, and there were also prawns and crabs walking or hiding in the sand, waiting for prey to pass over their heads.

    There were more types of life on the rocks. Many sea anemones that he couldn''t name wandered between the rocks, worms and sandworms stuck their heads out between the cracks of the rocks, and conches and sea gluttons crawled slowly on the rocks.

    From time to time, there were all kinds of strange fish swimming nearby. Some fish would avoid the divers from a distance, while others would swim very close to the divers to observe them curiously. They would only swim away with a flick of their tails after losing interest.

    Therge but gentle ocean sunfish swam slowly like an old man, the silver sardines swam back and forth like a storm, the streamlined and muscr bluefin tuna swam back and forth like lightning, the naive sea turtles turned their heads curiously to look at the tourists through the ss, the sneaky tiger-striped cat sharks swam close to the beach, swallowing small creatures with no backbones hidden in the sand ...

    The wonderful underwater world was dizzying to the eyes, but each kind of strange animal could only attract people''s interest for a short time. Because the animals generally did not swim too close to the ss wall, they looked a little blurry, and most people could not urately name each creature. They only knew that there were sharks that did not eat people, tuna that was delicious and expensive, and so on ... The children were even more eager to see the mermaids.

    After the divers cleaned the ss wall, they waved to the tourists and lined up to walk around the aquarium. They had a lot of other work to do.

    The tourists who hade to watch the show before reminded the children that the mermaids wereing.

    There was a six or seven-year-old white girl next to her. She kept talking to her mother about her yearning for mermaids and said that she wanted to be a mermaid in the future. Her mother smiled and nodded in agreement.

    If her mother knew the hardships that a mermaid cosyer had to go through, she would probably not have agreed so easily.

    Snowy and theizens in the live broadcast room also opened their eyes wide, looking for traces of mermaids in the sea. They were all sweating for Zhou Jing.

    "Over there! Watch!" A little boy screamed.

    "They''re here! It''s here! The mermaids are here!"

    Before he finished his sentence, two fairy-like mermaids appeared from above and dove into the deep water. One of them was yellow and the other was white. One of them had a blue fishtail and the other had a green fishtail, but they were both graceful and soft in the water.

    After putting on the mermaid suit, his legs could not exert any strength, so he mainly relied on the strength of his waist and abdomen to swing his tail up and down to draw water and move forward.

    Zhou Jing and Abby appeared in front of the tourists, almost sticking close to the ss wall. The tourists could even see the clearly visible waistcoat lines from the contraction of their abdominal muscles.

    The tourists rushed to the ss wall, especially the children. They reached out to them through the ss wall, and they also put their palms on the ss wall. The parents took the opportunity to take photos of their children as a memento with the mermaid.

    Zhou Jing''s eyes, which were hidden behind the diving goggles, turned. She saw snowy holding her mobile phone and waved to her.

    Seeing that she seemed to be in a good state, snowy was more or less relieved and waved to her with one free hand.

    Zhou Jing and Abby had been working together for a long time, and they had already formed a tacit understanding. They floated up to breathe together, and then sank together. When they sank to the edge of the ss wall, the two separated to the left and right, each swimming out a round arc, and then joined together at the bottom of the ss wall. The swimming trajectory merged into a heart shape, expressing their gratitude to the audience.

    The children and adults all apuded and thanked them for their wonderful performance.

    They floated up again, took a breath, and sank down. This time, they surrounded each other and held each other''s hands, like a double helix of DNA ...

    They cleverly arranged the process of floating up to breathe into the dance, so that the tourists were unconsciously immersed in the wonderful performance.

    Snowy couldn''t concentrate on their performance and was always counting in her heart. Once they held their breath for nearly a minute, her heart would rise to her throat, but when she saw them floating up to breathe, her heart fell back into her stomach.

    Theizens in the live broadcast room who knew the inside story were also very worried.

    As the water temperature was too cold, the mermaid''s performance did notst long. ording to the n, it was only 15 minutes, so she only needed to float up about ten times.

    15 minutes was more than enough. Whatever tricks they could perform in the water, they could do it in 15 minutes.

    "Hurry up! Hurry up! Hurry up!"

    Snowy counted the number of times they had floated up, wishing that time could pass quickly.

 Chapter 1481 - Looking for a blind spot

    Plop!

    In the small pool in the performance preparation room, the water sshed again, and another shadow with a fish tail fell into the water.

    Whoosh!

    Sihwa emerged from the water and wiped the water stains on her face. She thought that she had returned to the bathtub in the house, but thepletely different touch at the bottom of the water told her that it was not a bathtub. The smell of the water was very close to that of real seawater, even including the fishy smell of the sea creatures in the water.

    "Where is this ce?"

    She flicked her hair and looked left and right.

    "This is an Ocean Gallery in San Francisco." Zhang Zian was already prepared. He kept his distance from her, not wanting to get wet from the water droplets in her hair.

    "Oh."

    Sihwa was obviously uninterested. If there was a ce that she was least interested in, it had to be the ocean mansion. Even she knew that the ocean mansion was nothing more than ocean life. If she wanted to see ocean life, why didn''t she go directly to the sea to see the original ecology?

    "Is this how the ocean mansion looks like?" She looked around fastidiously, but she didn''t see any marine life or tourists in the preparation room.

    "This is a staff room. I called you out just in case." "There are two ..." Zhang Zian said."After your admirers watched your live broadcast, they are imitating you and dressing up as mermaids to perform for tourists."

    "Really?"

    Sihwa was suddenly in high spirits, and her eyes widened."My admirers, where are they?"

    Fina watched this scene speechlessly. It wanted to go up and p Sihwa to wake her up. Why were you so easily fooled?

    "Squeak squeak."

    Pi held the untitled book and winked at fina, meaning,"You were often tricked by the same trick.

    It was a pity that fina couldn''t understand Pi.

    Zhang Zian pointed to the passage connecting the small pool and the big pool."They swam through this passage and are performing for tourists in mermaid costumes, but ... You know, how can their poor imitationpare with your original?"

    Sihwa was so ttered that she couldn''t even find the North."That''s right! Don''t look at how petty you are, you still have good taste! I''m the only real smart, beautiful, lively, cute, dignified, elegant, and generous mermaid in the world. No matter how hard the imitators try, they can''t learn one in a hundred million ... No, one in a millionth! That ... Trillion or a hundred million, which is bigger?"

    "In any case, they''re still far from you." Zhang Zian interrupted her meaningless thoughts,"however, it is precisely because their acting skills are so bad, and the water is too cold, that their performance has a certain degree of danger."

    "Is the water cold?" Sihwa wagged her tail in the water."I don''t feel anything. It seems to be warmer than the water in the north of Germany."

    "The Baltic Sea is almost at the Arctic!" "That''s not the point," Zhang Zian said."It''s about your admirers being frozen in the water. You don''t want your admirers to be in danger, do you?" If something happens to them, people will stop trying to imitate you ..."

    Sihwa became serious, which was a rare sight, and seriously thought about the logic behind this.

    "You miser, what you said seems to make some sense." She followed Zhang Zian''s train of thought. Of course, she felt that it made sense, but she didn''t know that even the basic premise was wrong.

    "That''s for sure. After all, I also hope that you can be a world-famous live streamer. When you earn a mansion in the future, I''d like to live there for free." Zhang Zianplimented.

    "Hahaha! No problem! Leave it to me! I''ll leave a bathroom and an exclusive bathtub for you in a 2000-hectare mansion with a Sky Garden and a cubic pool!" Sihwa patted her chest and promised.

    Zhang Zian thought,"..." In fact, you''re even more stingy than me!

    Sihwa was eager to try."Are we going to save them now?" If I let them embarrass themselves in front of the audience, will it affect my image?"

    Zhang Zian took a look at the live broadcast room. Through snowy''s live broadcast, he knew that Zhou Jing and Abby were normal now and there was no need to interfere. If a third mermaid suddenly appeared, they would be more likely to have problems in their panic.

    "No, I called you out just in case." "They might not be in danger," he said,"but if they do, it might be toote to call you out."

    Sihwa''s heart itched. She couldn''t wait to drag the two clumsy imitators back and let her perform for the tourists. After all, such arge bathtub was rare.

    "Don''t be so anxious. Listen carefully and feel it carefully. Can you hear the sound of water flowing rapidly in the pipe?" He asked.

    Sihwa''s hearing was the strongest among the Elfins, especially in water. Water was a good conductor of sound, and sound traveled much further than in the air.

    She plunged her head into the water.

    There were countless noises under the water, including the sounds of various marine creatures, the sound of water flowing over the rocks, the friction of certain arthropods digging through the sand, the rustling of fish swallowing seawater to absorb oxygen and then discharging seawater from their gills, the sound of the divers ''carbon dioxide bubbles bursting in the water ... Of course, there was also the noise made by the tourists walking.

    It was quite difficult to distinguish a specific sound from it.

    But that sound was certain because the Monterey Aquarium was designed like this. Because it was adjacent to the Pacific Ocean, the designer took a clever approach. They used pipes to connect the seawater from the outside to the aquarium. During the day, they turned on the filter to change the water in the aquarium to keep the water fresh and clear. At night, they turned off the filter to let the seawater bring nutrients and nkton into the aquarium to nourish the creatures in the tank.

    Just now, when he and snowy followed Zhou Jing through the staff passage, they saw the branch pipeline that separated from the main pipeline. There must be an entrance to the main pipeline in the aquarium where the mermaid was performing.

    It was not difficult to get Sihwa to save people. The difficult part was how to deal with the Aquarium''s investigation. A mermaid that came out of nowhere into a saltwater tank would most likely cause the aquarium to be shocked because it was a mistake. It could even be defined as an ident. They might not think that this was a real mermaid. They would only think that it was someone wearing a mermaid suit in disguise. So, he would give a reasonable exnation and exin how this person had sneaked into the aquarium.

    As a modern facility, there were surveince cameras in all the main areas of the aquarium. It was almost impossible for a person to escape all the surveince cameras and sneak in with a heavy mermaid suit without anyone noticing. However, Zhang Zian was sure that there were no surveince cameras in the seawater pipes.

    After two or three minutes, Sihwa emerged from the water and said confidently,""I heard it!"

 Chapter 1482 - -trapped

    56,57,58,59, surface!

    Hu!

    Zhou Jing emerged from the water. The gas in her lungs had been slowly discharged during the floating process. She opened her mouth into an oval shape and breathed in the fresh air quickly and slowly.

    Not far from her, Abby was also almost sticking her head out.

    The two did not have the time to talk. They could only use a few seconds to greedilyplete the exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen in their bodies. They took roughly four quick breaths, then took a deep breath and plunged into the water again. If it took too long, the tourists would get impatient.

    The ss wall that the tourists were standing on could only see the bottom of the saltwater tank, which was roughly five to nine meters below the water. When the two of them floated to the surface for a breath of air, they disappeared from the audience''s sight.

    The effect of the red sugar ginger tea had also disappeared. It was still a little effective when he first drank it, as if his burning skin had temporarily blocked the cold water from eroding his body fat and muscles. However, as they went up and down again and again, their hot skin quickly cooled down. The cold was like the shadow of the setting sun that quietly wrapped around their internal organs. Now, they could only feel their heartbeats and the burning heat in their lungs.

    This was the eighth time it had floated up.

    Zhou Jing and Abby''s performance wasing to an end.

    Perhaps it was the effect of the painkillers, Zhou Jing no longer felt the pain in her lower abdomen. Of course, it could also be that the cold had blocked the transmission of nerves.

    However, it didn''t matter. They just had to persist two more times and float up. After the tenth time, their task was to wave goodbye to the tourists, then drift away from their sight and swim back to the small pool.

    Zhou Jing''s spirit rxed a lot, and so did Abby.

    Abby made a gesture. Zhou Jing took a deep breath and began her ninth dive.

    Three meters underwater.

    There were scales marked on the wall of the pool. Abby and Zhou Jing were hovering three meters below the water. Below them, they could already see the upper edge of the ss wall.

    Both of them pinched their noses at the same time through the goggles, pursed their lips, tensed their facial muscles, contracted their chests, and put pressure on their lungs.

    At this depth, the eardrums would be dented under the water pressure, which was as painful as being pricked by needles. Therefore, they had to stop and apply ear pressure, using the air in their lungs to push the eardrums back, otherwise it would greatly affect the diving.

    Zhou Jing felt a light "buzz"ing from her earbones, and the tingling feeling in her eardrum disappeared, so she turned to look at Abby.

    Abby''s ear-pressing process seemed to have encountered some trouble. She made a gesture to Zhou Jing, which was a secret code between them that they could recognize at a nce, indicating that she needed to adjust. Then, she floated up half a meter and pressed her ear again.

    This situation was not umon in diving. Even if they were well-trained, they would asionally encounter situations where they failed to apply the ear pressure. They had to float half a meter up to adjust the water pressure and re-apply it, otherwise they could not continue diving.

    Every second of the one-minute diving time was particrly precious. Zhou Jing also made a gesture to Abby, indicating that she would dive first. She couldn''t let the tourists wait. This was also a verymon way for them to deal with it. If they kept waiting, it would give too much psychological pressure to theirpanions who failed to apply the ear pressure.

    Zhou Jing continued to dive and appeared in front of the tourists again.

    It was very dark on the other side of the ss wall, so it was difficult for her to see the tourists ''faces from her perspective. However, she still recognized snowy because her body was very conspicuous among a group of middle-aged and overweight United States women.

    Some of the children pressed their faces against the ss wall and tried to look up, as if they were wondering where the other mermaid had gone.

    Zhou Jing raised her arms and bent them inward. The fingertips of her two palms were closed to the Baihui point on the top of her head, drawing a heart-shaped pattern to the tourists, trying to attract the tourists ''attention to her.

    But ... She was not very sessful. Some of the tourists seemed to be attracted by something else, something behind her.

    If she wanted to see what was behind her in the water, she had to turn around as a whole. Zhou Jing swam sideways under the cover of other movements, pretending to look behind inadvertently.

    A shadow was approaching from the sea.

    It was a giant sea turtle, and the divers called it "irascible Bob."

    The irascible Bob actually didn''t have any ill intentions. He was just full of curiosity, especially about divers and mermaids. His brain capacity was probably too small, and he couldn''t remember the curiosity he had just had the day before.

    Terrible.

    Zhou Jing''s heart tightened. She and Abby had both suffered at the hands of this giant sea turtle. No matter how docile the sea turtle looked, its bite force was amazing. It could bite off a piece of meat in one bite. Her and Abby''s diving suit and mermaid suit had been bitten through by it.

    However, the turtle swam very slowly, so it could only make a surprise attack. Since she had already discovered it, it was not a big problem.

    The light and shadow above her head shook slightly, and Zhou Jing knew that Abby had already dealt with the ear pressure.

    Abby obviously also found the irritable Bob and found that he was swimming toward Zhou Jing, so she approached him a little and waved her hands at him, attracting his attention.

    Zhou Jing understood Abby''s intentions and stayed away from it in the opposite direction.

    The irascible Bob abandoned Zhou Jing and changed to chasing Abby.

    It seemed that only Zhou Jing could perform a one-man show this time.

    Zhou Jing estimated that there were still 15 seconds before she would float up. Her brain was slightly distracted, thinking about what actions she should do in these 15 seconds.

    In order to get away from the grumpy Bob, she had unknowingly approached the edge of the ss wall, where the bottom of the sea was connected by a series of dark brown reefs.

    Some sharp-eyed audience members suddenly saw something moving between the cracks of the reef.

    Immediately after, a long grayish-ck creature poked its head out of the reef and quietly swam towards Zhou Jing.

    A sea snake?

    Fish?

    The former should be longer than this creature, while thetter lived in the deep sea and should not appear in aquariums.

    After the turtle swam away, most of the audience were focused on Zhou Jing''s performance and didn''t see that the sinister guy was quietly approaching her.

    After Zhou Jing finished the action, she was a few secondste. Just as she was about to float up, she suddenly felt something quickly poke her butt. She was not hurt or hurt through the mermaid suit.

    The tourists all saw the guy and eximed.

    It was a strong, adult conger eel that usually hid between the reefs and waited for rabbits to catch them, preying on small fish that passed by.

    Compared to the warm sea turtles, the rapid and ferocious conger eels were more dangerous. Their teeth were as sharp as razors, and if they bit a hand, they could even bite off a finger.

    Zhou Jing knew that things were not good. Whether it was a sea turtle or a conger eel, why did they all rush to her at this time?

    Could it be ...

    She suddenly thought of a possibility. Could it be ... Because of her period?

    At this time, he didn''t have time to think too much. He had to float up to take a breath.

    She raised her head and was about to wave her fishtail to float up when a shadow suddenly blocked the light above her head.

    The irascible Bob swam back.

 Chapter 1483 - a good swimmer drowned in water

    When Zhou Jing looked up, she just happened to meet the irascible Bob''s eyes. She couldn''t help but panic.

    The giant sea turtle waved its short limbs and swam directly above her, its ck eyes staring at her with interest.

    In the water a little further away, Abby was also waving her hands, trying to attract the irascible Bob''s attention. She had tried her best, and she had also seeded in drawing him away, but he had turned around and swam back. It was hard to fathom the thoughts of wild animals. In the sea, she could only rely on her movements instead of her voice, and she couldn''t get too close to it, which made it even more difficult.

    Zhou Jing looked down and saw a bite on the back of the fish tail.

    The sea eel sneakily swam next to her tail, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

    The bite just now was just a test, and the taste was very strange. The sea eel was still observing the extraordinarilyrge creature. Whether she was alive or dead, it didn''t mind biting a few pieces of meat from her.

    In fact, Zhou Jing still had enough time at this time. As long as she could keep calm and choose the right direction to escape, there was a great chance of retreating.

    However, few people could remain calm in this situation. Even a senior free-diver with a heavy fishtail on his legs might not be able to remain as calm as usual.

    Zhou Jing also panicked, and her mind was in a mess. She regretted that she shouldn''t have insisted on going into the water during her period. She regretted that she shouldn''t have regarded work as more important than her life. She regretted that she didn''t find this sea eel in time. She regretted ...

    She regretted a lot of things, but the most regretful thing was that she should not have been overconfident. In the past, there had been no problems during her period, but it did not mean that there would be no problems every time. This was a problem of probability. It was like ying Russia roulette with a revolver loaded with one bullet. No one would be lucky forever.

    Those who were good at swimming would drown in the water. The sea was not like thend, and any negligence or ident could lead to a disaster.

    At this moment, many people and many things shed through her mind like a revolvingntern.

    Her brain sensed danger and secreted arge amount of hormones to deal with the enemy. The hormones increased her reaction speed and allowed her muscles to exert more strength. These were very useful onnd, but the brain did not know that she was in the water. The hormones made her stronger and faster, but at the same time, it also made her consume more oxygen.

    Her lungs felt like they were being roasted by fire, while the other parts of her body were as cold as ice.

    No, no, no! It was not the time to give up yet!

    She couldn''t make a calm judgment and chose a direction based on her intuition. She shook her fishtail with all her strength and fled in that direction.

    Her movements were too violent, and the water caused by her huge fishtail hit the bottom of the tank, stirring up arge amount of sand and mud, making the sea water muddy.

    The sea eel was enraged by her actions. It shot out like lightning and bit at her.

    She twisted her waist with all her might and dodged the bite at the critical moment, causing the sea eel to bite nothing. Just as she felt a little happy, she suddenly felt the fish tail sink.

    When she looked back, she saw the irascible Bob biting the end of her fishtail. There was no malice in his ck eyes, as if he was joking with her, but she really couldn''t take such a joke.

    She had just avoided the sea eel, but she had sent the tail to the turtle''s mouth. The irascible Bob couldn''t refuse the thing that hade to his door. Even though he didn''t know what it was, he stuck his head out and took a bite.

    The irascible Bob was the size of a small grinding stone and weighed at least 100 kilograms. It was like a big rock falling on her fishtail. No matter how much strength she had, she couldn''t shake her fishtail off.

    Abby knew that Zhou Jing was in trouble, but her own situation was not good either. She had consumed a lot of physical strength and oxygen in the process of pressing her ears and luring the turtle away. The wise choice was to float up to breathe first, and then dive down to help clear the turtle. Even if itbined the strength of the two of them, they might not be able to get rid of the turtle. As long as it did not let go, they had almost no way to do anything, not to mention that there was a ferocious sea eel next to them.

    However, at least half a minute had passed since she floated up to take a breath and then swam down to Zhou Jing''s side. Zhou Jing might not be able to hold on for another half a minute.

    Saving people had to be done within one''s means. If she rashly went to save people now, she was likely to lose her life as well.

    She hesitated for a second or two, and her son''s and Zhou Jing''s faces shed in her mind. If they were in different positions, would Zhou Jing save her?

    This was an unsolvable problem. No one would know the answer until the end.

    In the end, she gritted her teeth and decided to dive down to save Zhou Jing. She knew that she was being stupid. They were just colleagues, not friends, but she hoped that if she was in danger in the future, Zhou Jing would also risk her life to save her.

    Head down and feet up, she swam to Zhou Jing at the fastest speed and urately grabbed Zhou Jing''s hand. Then, she turned around and pulled Zhou Jing up.

    Zhou Jing''s mind was now in chaos. Her vision was blurred, her eyes were extremely protruding, and her lungs were about to explode. It was as if there was a demon whispering in her heart, telling her that as long as she opened her mouth, she would not have to suffer this torture.

    Her hand was grabbed by Abby, and the unconscious Zhou Jing was like a drowning person who had grabbed a life-saving straw, using all her strength to hold it tightly.

    Not only did Abby fail to pull Zhou Jing up, but she was also pulled down by Zhou Jing''s struggling movements. An ominous thought filled Abby''s mind, but Zhou Jing''s grip was so strong that her nails were deeply embedded in her skin. At this time, it was impossible to break free from Zhou Jing''s hand.

    Baby, I''m sorry ... Mommy loves you ..."

    Abby said goodbye to her son in despair.

    She regretted it. She should have been more cruel and wise. She shouldn''t have tried to be a hero, but it was toote.

    She didn''t know if it was an illusion caused by theck of oxygen, but she seemed to see a strange light and shadow swimming at a high speed not far away. The light and shadow were some kind of transparent thing shuttling through the sea, as if a part of the sea was empty, but it was not filled with air, but something simr to ss. Due to the different light pration rate, light was refracted at the edge, so it could be vaguely seen.

    What was even more surprising was that the ball of light seemed to be human-shaped, but the lower half was like a fish''s body. It moved as fast as lightning towards the water pipe above the tank, and the seawater was stirred up by the ball of light.

    It was impossible for a human to swim at such a speed in the sea, unless they were holding a torpedo.

    A series of bubbles came out of Zhou Jing''s mouth and nose. Theck of oxygen had made her brain unable to fully control her body.

    Abby''s eyes widened and she tried to maintain her remaining consciousness. She could already feel that the power from Zhou Jing''s hand had weakened. Perhaps she could get rid of Zhou Jing''s hand and do this, which might make her feel guilty for the rest of her life. But now, she only wanted to live and see her son.

    Suddenly, something swooped down at high speed from above, passing through the water that was only a meter away from Abby.

    Are they divers?

    The divers had discovered the two of them in danger and hade to save them?

    No, that''s impossible. The divers had already moved to other positions to clean the tank walls. This was routine work, and they weren''t wearing anymunication earpieces, so it was impossible for them to know.

    Abby saw another mermaid, with skin as white as snow and long hair as green as seaweed, as beautiful as an Angel, and a strong and flexible long fishtail.

    What was going on?

    Who was this?

    Abby could not believe her eyes, because she knew that there was no third mermaid cosyer in the ocean Hall, and there were only two sets of mermaid clothes prepared. However, her slow brain could no longer think much. She saw that the new mermaid did not slow down at all. It turned 180 degrees in the water, and its wide tail whipped the irascible Bob heavily. The power was so great that the giant sea turtle lost consciousness and hit the bottom of the sea like a cannonball.

    With a muffled thump, the turtle shell first hit the reef, and even the reef was smashed into pieces. It then hit into the sea sand, sshing up arge amount of sand and stone chips, and the sea was in chaos.

    Immediately after, a powerful palm held Abby''s other hand and quickly brought her and Zhou Jing up.

 Chapter 1484 - -escape

    Although Zhang Zian and snowy were both in the same building, and the straight-line distance was not far, the inte live broadcast itself had dys. From the stream pushing from snowy''s mobile phone to the server upload and send bandwidth, and then to the pull stream on Zhang Zian''s mobile phone, limited by thework environment and the decoder ability of the mobile phone hardware, the actual picture that Zhang Zian saw was about 15 seconds slower than the picture that snowy saw.

    However, he didn''t realize this at first. It wasn''t until the Elfins vaguely heard the exmations of the tourists and the live broadcast screen was still calm that he figured it out after a moment of confusion.

    "Something''s happened. Don''t wait anymore. Go and save them. Turn around from the seawater pipeline and then show yourself. Don''t rush over directly." He said to the invisible Sihwa.

    Sihwa was toozy to think about the reasons. She swam into the big pool from the passage connecting the small pool and the big pool. She quickly found the location of the seawater pipeline. When she swam there, she roughly saw the environment and general situation in the saltwater tank.

    She swam into the seawater pipe, which wasrge enough to amodate an adult. She did a front somersault and turned around, her fishtail smacking heavily on the filter. The working filter was broken and shattered, and the foreign object sensor in the pipeline issued an rm and turned red.

    Using the reaction force, Sihwa swam out of the pipeline at a higher speed and swam towards Zhou Jing and Abby, who were trapped in the water. She used her fishtail to p away the naughty turtle, and the sea eel was so scared that it fled back to the reef. Then, she pulled Abby and floated up.

    Sihwa''s strength and swimming speed in the water were beyond imagination. Abby, whose consciousness was blurry due to theck of oxygen, felt as if she was being lifted up by a rocket. When her head finally emerged from the water, her entire upper body rushed out of the water due to inertia. Her body seemed to have lost its gravity, and when she reached the highest point, she was pulled down by a heavy fishtail.

    She instinctively opened her mouth and greedily swallowed the sweet air.

    Immediately after, Zhou Jing, who was already in a semi-conscious state, was also thrown out of the water. Her lungs were choking with water and she coughed violently.

    The sea water was constantly rolling, and the muddy sand filled the air like a thick fog.

    Zhou Jing and Abby were weak all over. After falling back to the water, they should have sunk again, but they felt as if someone was holding their feet in the water, so that they could float on the water without shaking their tails.

    It wasn''t until they regained their consciousness and instinctively began to paddle with their arms that the force holding them under their feet quietly withdrew.

    The tourists were already in a mess. Everyone knew that something had happened, but what could they do? They could do nothing but scream and ask for help from the staff.

    They saw the sea eel''s sneak attack, saw the sea turtle biting the yellow-skinned girl''s tail without letting go, and also saw Abbying to the rescue but was in danger instead. Even though their actions stirred the sand and made the sea water a little turbid, the general situation could still be seen.

    The adults covered their children''s eyes or pulled them away, unwilling to let them see this cruel scene. Otherwise, it might leave a shadow in their Hearts for Life.

    Snowy was so anxious that she was about to cry. She regretted that she didn''t be tougher. If she had held on to Zhou Jing and refused to let her go into the water, wouldn''t this tragedy not have happened?

    Theizens in the live broadcast room were also very anxious, wishing that they could jump in and be the hero saving the beauty.

    At this moment, a muffled thud came from the other side of the ss wall, and the sound and vibration even spread to this side. Only a small number of people managed to see what happened. The mermaid who had just appeared whipped the turtle away with her strong tail. The force was so strong that they wondered if the turtle had hit the ss wall instead of the reef. Would the ss wall have been broken?

    The seawater was even more turbid, and they could vaguely see that the new mermaid was pulling the first two mermaids up quickly and out of their sight.

    The tourists at the scene looked at each other and were all confused by the unexpected turn of events.

    Where did this third mermaide from?

    A few of the visitors hade to see the mermaid performance before, but they had never seen a third mermaid. Could it be that the mermaid was a new candidate for the ocean Hall performance? Or was it specially used to save the day?

    However, the sharp-eyed audience in the live streaming room seemed to have recognized the third mermaid, and they excitedly sent bulletments."F * ck! Who told me that wasn''t Sihwa?"

    "It really seems like it!"

    "I think it''s simr too. Although I can''t see it clearly, the fish tail, hair, and the color of the bikinis ..."

    "Do you still remember the time when Sihwa saved people in Egypt? She''s probably the only one who can swim at this speed ..."

    "How did Sihwae to the ocean mansion? And how did you get into the pool?"

    A small part of the audience was both snowy''s and Sihwa''s fans. They sent bulletments one after another, but most of the audience were still confused.

    "Who is Sihwa?"

    "What happened just now?"

    "Stop talking nonsense. Let''s first confirm if those two girls are out of danger!"

    There were different opinions in the live broadcast room. Everyone was expressing their own opinions, and the scene was very chaotic.

    At this moment, in the chaotic seawater, a face suddenly pressed against the ss wall.

    Now, the people saw it clearly. It was indeed Sihwa. She didn''t even wear goggles and swam so easily, even waving at the tourists in a high and mighty manner.

    Of all the tourists present, no matter if they had been here before or not, no one had ever seen a mermaid enter the water without goggles. Moreover, the high-salinity seawater did not seem to stimte her eyes. At least, she did not show any signs of pain.

    She pointed upwards and made two "OK" gestures with both hands, meaning that the two people were safe and sound. At most, they were a little frightened, and it could be regarded as a lesson.

    In addition, she also made some hand gestures that no one could understand, as if she was praising herself.

    All the tourists present were worried for her. They were afraid that she would be in danger. What if something attacked her in the chaotic sea? She had been in the water for a long time, definitely more than a minute, but she had no intention ofing up.

    Everyone was pointing upwards, practically begging her to quickly float up.

    Seeing that everyone wasn''t paying attention to her performance, she angrily red at them with her hands on her hips.

    It was rare for Sihwa to show up in front of so many people. She wanted to stay a little longer, but she heard Zhang Zian calling her to go back quickly, so she reluctantly waved goodbye to the tourists.

    The people were excitedly discussing what had just happened.

    As if remembering something, snowy quickly ran back to the mermaid''s preparation room from the side door, just in time to see Zhou Jing and Abby, exhausted, swimming back. Zhang Zian was rolling up his sleeves and pulling them out of the pool.

    "What about the other mermaid? The one called Sihwa, has she alreadye up?" Snowy looked around the room.

    "Is there? I didn''t see him. " Zhang Zian took a deep breath and pointed to the towel and bathrobe."I''ll leave this to you. Help them dry their bodies and warm them up."

    In reality, there was no mermaid performance at the Monterey Aquarium, but the harsh environment that the mermaid actress was in was generally real.

 Chapter 1485 - Interest and job

    On the fourth morning in San Francisco.

    Zhang Zian still got up very early. First, it was difficult to change his biological clock that had been formed for a long time. Second, as a self-funded travel, every minute and second was precious abroad. How could he waste it on the bed (without girls)?

    To be honest, the summer in San Francisco is really cool. The night can be said to be slightly cold, which is very suitable for sleeping. You can curl up in bed with a warm quilt and sleep until dawn. At this time, Binhai city is sweating like rain.

    He didn''t know who was the one who kept fartingst night, but Zhang Zian opened the doors and windows to ventte the room after getting up. Today, San Francisco was still filled with the smell of feces.

    The elves also woke up one after another. Richard turned on the TV with his bird w, nning to continue watching yesterday''s erotic tv series.

    "Wait a minute, don''t change the channel." While brushing his teeth, Zhang Zian grabbed the remote control and locked it on a local TV station.

    The news was being broadcasted on TV, and the reporter was standing at the main entrance of the Monterey Ocean Pavilion, talking to the audience about what happened yesterday.

    Regarding yesterday''s incident, the ocean Pavilion''s officials were inclined to define it as a safety mistake. It was just a mistake, not an ident. This was probably to eliminate the negative impact that the incident might have on the number of tourists.

    A quick-handed tourist called 911, and the police arrived at the scene. However, since there were no casualties, the police were politely persuaded to leave after understanding the situation.

    The focus of the investigation was on how the mistake had happened and where the third mermaid hade from.

    Zhou Jing and Abby had a tacit understanding to hide the matter of their periods because they both wanted to keep their jobs. If the ocean mansion knew about it, they might be med.

    After asking them, the Ocean House believed that it was just an ident. No one could predict when the sea eels and sea turtles would be interested in divers or mermaids. This was part of the work risk. The star Killer whale from the ocean world in San Diego had killed its trainer more than once. Who could be med for this?

    The ocean mansion also wanted to minimize the impact of the incident and promised the public that divers would be on standby during the mermaid performance in the future to prevent any idents from happening again. However, those who knew the ropes knew that in a situation like yesterday ''s, even if there were divers next to them, they might not be able to turn the situation around. A turtle weighing more than 100 kilograms could easily beat up two or three adult men in the sea.

    Then the question was, what was the deal with the third mermaid that had mysteriously appeared?

    The Aquarium''s exnation to the media was that a prankster had broken the filter, slipped in through the seawater pipe in a self-made mermaid suit, and then slipped out the same way. Although it sounded unbelievable, this was the only exnation left.

    As for whether the prankster had anything to do with the security error itself, there was no evidence to prove this suspicion.

    Zhang Zian and snowy were also questioned. They imed to be Zhou Jing''s friends and had the intention to work part-time at the aquarium. It was not in line with the regtions to be brought in by her to visit Jian Jia, but it was human nature.

    Since there were no casualties, the investigation and questioning were carried out inside the ocean mansion. The police did not interfere, otherwise, it would not have been so easy to deal with.

    Zhou Jing and Abby were shocked, but they were not injured. Only Zhou Jing''s mermaid clothes were bitten and torn.

    After this ident, the ocean Pavilion announced the suspension of the mermaid performance. The performance would resume after the safety risks were eliminated and the safety measures were in ce, but the date was not set.

    In any case, Zhou Jing could at least get through this period safely. As for what would happen in the future, it could only be decided by her.

    Zhang Zian''s mobile phone received a message from Zhou Jing. She said that too many things had happened yesterday and that she had been in a hurry to say goodbye, so she didn''t have time to thank him. Now, she thanked him and snowy, asking him to pass it on to snowy, thanking them for their help, and inviting them toe and y again in the future.

    Just as he was thinking about how to bring up Jiang Feifei''s intention to intern, he received a message from Jiang Feifei on his phone.

    Jiang Feifei said,"manager, I''ve calcted the time difference. I think you should be up by now." Yesterday, I watched snowy''s live broadcast. I feel...That the idea I''ve always had has been shaken. If you haven''t submitted my resume to the ocean mansion yet, then don''t do it for now. Let me think about it.

    Probably, after listening to Zhou Jing''s narrative, Jiang Feifei found that the real work in the ocean mansion waspletely different from the work in her imagination, and her mood was hit hard.

    It was no wonder. How many people thought that acting as a mermaid was an easy and pleasant job?

    It was like many petty bourgeoisie or white-cor workers in the city who nned to break out of theirfort zone after drinking a few bowls of delicious Chicken Soup for the Soul. They wanted to start a business while they were young and open a flower shop, a cake shop, or a pet shop. They would be surrounded by fragrant flowers, delicious cakes, and lovely pets all day long. They could have a good ie and freely spend their time at the same time. It was simply heaven-like enjoyment.

    But in reality?

    A florist and a cake shop were different. At least, opening a pet shop was not as easy as outsiders thought. It was fun to clean a cat''s poop, but it was torture to clean dozens of cats and dogs ''poop and judge the health of each cat and dog ording to the color and dryness of the poop.

    When interest became work, everything would not be so good.

    Zhang Zian simply replied "okay" and then sent Zhou Jing''s contact information to her, so that she couldmunicate more things with Zhou Jing.

    He returned the remote control to the nagging Richard, went back to the bathroom to rinse his mouth and spit out the foam in his mouth.

    Sihwa stared at him suspiciously."Are you sure the two girls yesterday were my admirers?" Why didn''t I hear them mention me?"

    Her hearing was too strong, and it was quite troublesome. Zhang Zian made up a reason and said,""Didn''t you see the policeing yesterday? They love you, care about you, and don''t want to cause you any trouble, so they never talk about you. "

    Yesterday, Sihwa still wanted to show her face in front of the tourists, but she couldn''t stand Zhang Zian''s constant urging. She reluctantly swam back to the small pool before Zhou Jing and Abby, and then was put back into his mobile phone.

    Abby was not sure if the blurry light and shadow she saw was an illusion. She had asked Zhou Jing and Zhang Zian in private, but thetter two had denied it, so Abby decided to keep this a secret. She did not want to be regarded as a lunatic and be locked up in a mental hospital.

    Sihwa was skeptical, but after opening the live broadcast app, she saw that the number of her followers had increased a lot, which made her quickly throw her doubts to the back of her mind. She happily began to ask for gifts from the new followers. After all, a fish''s memory onlysted seven seconds. Before, Zhang Zian had thought that it was a rumor, but now it seemed to be true.

 Chapter 1486 - The priest and the homeless

    San Francisco, in an unremarkable house.

    In the eyes of the neighbors, this was a smallpany that could be seen everywhere, but they didn''t know exactly what thepany did. They only knew that it was an old-fashioned tradingpany. Every day, there were boring-looking middle-aged men in suits and carrying handbags who went to work and got to work on time. The receptionist girl hired at the front desk was not very beautiful. Even the old interior decoration of thepany was no different from that of the 90s, which was not interesting.

    In short, in San Francisco, next to Silicon Valley, in this era of information sweeping across everything, it was a miracle that such apany was still struggling on itsst legs.

    The nearby roamers seemed to realize that there were more taxi or private cars parked in front of thepany today than usual. A few unfamiliar faces who had never been in the vicinity got out of the car and walked into thepany with serious expressions.

    But in fact, in San Francisco, where the poption mobility is high, no one will be a busybody, even more so for the roamers. They only care about where to have dinner and if there are any charity organizations that will distribute food for free.

    Another car stopped at thepany''s entrance.

    Father yang got out of the car in a suit and looked around a few times. He saw an old homeless man with unkempt hair and a dirty face basking in the sun next to thepany. From time to time, he would put his hand into his clothes to rub mud.

    He took out a ten-dor bill from his pocket and ced it at the Tramp''s feet.

    "Thank you, good-hearted person! May God bless you!" The homeless man grinned and quickly put the money into his pocket. He felt that his luck in this ce had run out, so he got up and nned to change ces. Of course, it was best to buy some breakfast with this bill first, or go to a Chinese or Vietnamese shop to get a haircut.

    Father yang was about to walk into thepany when he suddenly remembered something. He took out another ten-dor bill, lowered his head and asked,""Can I ask you a few questions?"

    The homeless man''s eyes lit up as he stared at the money, revealing his mouth that was missing a few teeth. He chuckled. "I''ll tell you everything I know, Sir. "

    "Recently, have any homeless people like you joined any suspicious organizations?" Father yang asked.

    The Tramp was stunned for a moment."A suspicious organization? Ah, you mean like the Institute of cosmic information?"

    He observed father Yang''s expression and knew that he had guessed right.

    "There are a lot of new tramps. I know a young man who was sunbathing here with me the day before yesterday. He disappeared yesterday. I heard that he went with those people because they gave out free food stamps, nkets, and new shoes ... God can testify that it''s been really cold these few nights! But let me tell you, Sir, I''ve been in this city for many years and I''ve seen everything. I told him not to go. Nothing is really free. No matter what you want, you have to pay the corresponding price. For example, your $10 can be exchanged for myplete knowledge. " The homeless man mumbled, his words leaking due to hisck of teeth.

    Father yang looked at the pair of leather shoes on the Tramp''s left foot, which revealed his thumb."I didn''t ask you for anything from the previous ten dors."

    "I''m grateful, and at the same time, I''ve satisfied your conscience." The Tramp smiled smugly."Not all the things you pay can be seen and touched."

    Father yang did notment and asked again,""Do you know where they went?"

    "The north and east. I heard that those people built houses in the forest. As long as they want to live, they can live there. But I don''t believe that no one in this world is willing to pay so much just to satisfy their conscience. I told that kid that those people might be gathering the homeless to do some kind of experiment. I mean drug experiment, you know? "Some pharmaceuticalpanies often put up s in universities to recruit university students who are willing to participate in drug experiments. The pay is very high. After all, they have to swallow some suspicious pills. However, if they use tramps for experiments, as long as they give a few worthless food stamps, the cheapest thin nket, and a pair of old leather shoes that may have been worn by people, a lot of tramps will fight to be white mice ..."

    In order to prove his worth, the vagrant talked a lot of nonsense.

    "Even if homeless people like us go missing, no one will care, and no one will call the police. We are the best candidates to beb rats, aren''t we? Or rather, I think the mayor will be happy to see us disappear. Maybe the mayor is in cahoots with those people!"

    Father yang frowned. The vagrant was getting more and more outrageous. It was simply a wild guess, but one thing was right. In the secr world, nothing was really free.

    "It''s yours. " He handed the 10 dors to the homeless man.

    The Tramp took it. "I won''t thank you this time. I''ve already paid the price for it."

    Father yang smiled slightly, tidied his clothes, and walked into thepany.

    The homeless man wondered how he was going to use this huge sum of money. Should he get a haircut and fill his stomach, or should he wait until night to go to the remote red-light district and find the cheapest female illegal immigrant to satisfy his physiological needs that he had been holding back for so long? Although 20 dors could only get him to have sex with an old, ugly woman with rotten teeth, he had not been in contact with women for a long time, so there was nothing to be picky about.

    Thinking of this, he couldn''t help but hum a popr song from more than a decade ago, and the way he walked was like a Wall Street billionaire.

    Father yang went to the front desk of thepany, and the female receptionist, who was not beautiful but had a very dignified temperament, handed him his passport. Thetterpared the photo on the passport with his face, and after verifying his identity, handed him a maic card.

    He picked up the card and walked into the elevator. There was no one else in the elevator. He waved the card in the sensor area, and B2, which usually did not light up, lit up.

    The elevator didn''t go up to thepany''s office area. Instead, it went down.

    Ding! Ding!

    The elevator stopped on the B2 floor and the door opened.

    What appeared in front of father yang was not an underground parking lot or warehouse, but a spacious office that looked quite old.

    Several gray-robed men sat around the long oval table.

    Father Yang''s appearance did not surprise them. They just nced at him and did not speak.

    He nodded at them and sat on the only empty chair.

    The oldest man in a gray robe slowly stood up, a shining cross hanging on his chest, and his eyes were as bright as the cross. He nced at the crowd and said,""Everyone, evil has descended upon this city. The people and animals we protect are suffering. Let us activate the ancient seal and wipe out the heretics."

 Chapter 1487 - 7-voting

    Father Yang''s cheeks were tight, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously pursed into a straight line. The blue veins in his hands under the table were protruding because of the force.

    Was it finallying?

    Although he had a premonition before he decided to go to the United States, he still couldn''t help but be shocked when he heard the proposal to activate the seal with his own ears.

    Not only him, but the other gray-robed men had also suffered a mental impact. They exchanged meaningful nces withplicated expressions.

    Fortunately, everyone present was very cultured and full of unshakeable faith in the Father. If it were ordinary people, they would have probably been whispering to each other.

    Father yang was dyed because of some private matters. He came thetest and did not have time to change his clothes. He seemed a little different among the gray-robed people, but he and they did not care. Clothes were just a formality. The most important thing was the faith in the heart, as well as the cross hidden under the suit shirt or hanging on the chest of the gray robe.

    They came from all over the world, including Spain, Italy, Brazil, Japan, Sweden, South Africa, and China. The oldest had been living in San Francisco. This was not differentiated by their nationality, but by the location where they were responsible for preaching. After they joined the Association, they were brothers regardless of nationality.

    They rarely gathered together like this, but thanks to modern technology, they had regr video conferences, so they were no strangers to each other.

    On the other hand, since they were gathered together today, it also meant that the situation had be serious to a certain extent.

    The elder man in gray expected that this suggestion would definitely shock everyone, so he stood up without sitting down after he finished speaking, his hands crossed in front of his lower abdomen.

    A momentter, after everyone had digested some of the spiritual shock, he continued,""I know that sacred objects can''t be touched lightly, but the current situation is contrary to the logic of nature. The animals are panicking, and the Coyotes, who usually don''t attack people, have been frequently injuring people. If we continue to sit back and watch, the situation may deteriorate to an irredeemable point."

    "But we still can''t confirm that these incidents are rted to supernatural evil forces," another gray-robed man said."If we rashly use the sacred object, Vatican ..."

    "If we really care about Vatican''s opinion, we wouldn''t be sitting here today, would we?" the elder man in gray interrupted.

    This rhetorical question, which was obviously contemptuous, did not surprise anyone.

    "Next, let''s hear Chris''s opinion. He has experienced simr events before, so perhaps his opinion can be an important reference for us." The elder gray-robed man nodded to father yang.

    Father yang stood up."Not long ago, there was an animal anomaly in Binhai city, where I live. Some of you have heard of it, but some of you have not. In short, the incident originated from cat abuse and spread throughout China with an unusual trend. Many people imed that they were confused by a suspicious bronze cat statue and had the urge to abuse cats ... This is strange enough, but what''s even stranger is that the incidentter went to the other extreme. The abused stray cats seemed to have formed some kind of Alliance and United against the cat abuser. "

    The grey-robed men had been indifferent to the criticism of Vatican, but their expressions changed drastically when they heard this. They eximed,""A bronze cat statue, could it be ... No! This was impossible! We''ve already used the power of the Saints and sacred relics to expel it 800 years ago, why ..."

    Father yang nodded heavily."Although I didn''t see it with my own eyes, a series of signs show that our old enemy has returned. He reincarnated on another Holy Cat statue and once again wreaked havoc in modern society 800 yearster."

    A few other gray-robed men who knew the details said,""Is this the reason why you suggested using the sacred relic? But why did you stop the n in the end?"

    Father Yang''s firm eyes suddenly showed confusion,"because ... The Holy Cat statue and the series of vicious events caused by it were about to reach an irredeemable point, but they suddenly stopped andpletely disappeared. I still can''t understand the reason for this ..."

    The gray-robed man was silent.

    After a long while, someone said,"perhaps something else is stopping it. You all know that even though we believe in the heaven Lord wholeheartedly, there are all sorts of other believers in this world. And they also have their own sacred objects ..."

    "Hmph! It''s just a heresy!"

    "Heresy is still a belief. If the Germans hadn''t believed in heresy 800 years ago, how could the Holy Cat statue havee alive?"

    The gray-robed men argued with each other.

    The elder man in a gray robe patted the table."Everyone, let''s put the past aside first. What we''re going to discuss today is whether we should remove the seal of the sacred object here and let the glory of the Saint bathe this cursed city, so that the Holy faith can purify all the evil here."

    "Let''s vote,"someone suggested.

    The elder man in gray nodded and raised a hand."I think it''s time. This city is no longer worthy of its sacred name. There are tramps and beggars everywhere, demonic animals are doing evil everywhere, those in power are dead, and criminals are rampant. It''s time to put an end to all of this."

    Some of the gray-robed men raised their hands, some of them were still hesitant, and some of them thought that the time was not right.

    Four of the eight gray-robed men raised their hands.

    Everyone''s eyes fell on father yang. Although he was not wearing a gray robe, he was still one of them.

    Father yang slowly and firmly raised his hand.

    "Good, the votes are more than half." The elder man in gray heaved a sigh of relief. Those who did not raise their hands were not against it, but they were inclined to act cautiously. However, the time was fleeting, and blindly being cautious was not a good thing, at least in his opinion.

    He pressed a button hidden under the table, and with a creak, the wall on one side of the Round Table split apart along the sliding rails, revealing a dark room.

    Everyone stood up, pressed the cross on their chest, and bowed their heads in the direction of the dark room.

    A musty smell wafted out of the dark room.

    There was nothing else in the dark room, only a statue ... No, two statues, a human and an animal.

    The man was wearing a simple robe and was barefooted. He looked down at the animal lovingly, his hand on its head, and his lips were slightly open as if he was preaching to it.

    The animal, or the beast, seemed to have been convinced by the man. Its eyes lost the ruthlessness of a beast. It looked up at the man devoutly and perked up its ears, as if it was listening attentively.

    One man and one beast, their expressions were lifelike, enough to show the exquisite craftsmanship.

 Chapter 1488 - In the name of the sage

    Except for the elder gray-robed man, it was the first time for the other gray-robed men and father yang to see this secret room and these two statues, but they had long heard that the Brotherhood''s sacred relic was preserved under this building.

    Of course, thispany was used by the Brotherhood to deceive people. The employees in thepany were also believers of the Brotherhood. The ounts and trade transactions were all well-documented. As long as it was not for profit, it was not difficult to maintain the self-sufficiency of a Puppet Company.

    All the people present stared at the statue, as if they could feel its greatness and glory even through time and space.

    They had seen the Sage''s face countless times in other murals and statues, but only this statue was the most loyal to the Sage''s voice and smile. Even the fine lines between his eyebrows, the folds of his robe, the hemp rope knot at his waist, and the thick calluses on his feet from long-term barefooted trekking were all disyed, as if he woulde to life in the next moment and lead them to glory.

    The elder man in gray tottered to the side of the dark room and fumbled to press a switch. The light in the dark room turned on.

    Their pupils instantly contracted due to shock, and their eyes widened even more. Their knees went soft and they almost knelt down because they saw an unbelievable scene. As the light lit up, the saint''s head was also shrouded in a faint Halo.

    As the lights came on, the details hidden in the darkness were clearly revealed to them. There were pale red circr scars on the palms of his hands and the back of his feet. If an ordinary person who did not know about his past saw this statue, they would easily overlook these four scars.

    There was a hole in his robe on the left side of his ribs. Through the hole, one could vaguely see the deepest, fifth pale red hole-shaped wound.

    Even though they understood that they should give praise to the sculptor from hundreds of years ago and thank him for leaving behind such a perfect statue of the Saint for the future generations with his superb craftsmanship, they were still very grateful.

    As for the beast beside him ...

    The ferocious beast was also very lifelike. Its fur seemed to be dancing in the wind, and the fangs in its mouth were sharp. Its strong body looked as if it would Howl at the Moon in the next moment ... Only its eyes were clear and pious, a pair of eyes that did not belong to a ferocious beast.

    They were all familiar with the legend of the sage, so they knew that it was a beast, not a pet dog, such as an skan or a Husky, because its demeanor was very different from the impression of a ferocious beast like the gray wolf. However, this was not the fault of the sculptor. On the contrary, to be able to transform the ferocious gray wolf into a kind pet dog, it was enough to show how great the saint''s virtue was.

    " 800 years ago, the evil heresy worship made us at a loss. At that time, we also made a big mistake. In order to ovee the fear of the evil statue, we ughtered house cats and wild cats. The result was that the situation was so serious that it could not be resolved ... At that time, we could only pray piously, asking the Father to guide us in heaven, and asking the Saints to lead us out of the swamp. "The Father replied to us, and the Saint sent his brother to drive the Devils to hell for us, burying the evil statue deep underground and never seeing the sun again. "Today, heresy is quietly spreading in this city. The kind animals have sumbed to the devil''s summoning, so we have to ask the Saint again to give us His grace and lead us to defeat the devil again! Amen!"

    Father yang and the other gray-robed men drew a cross in front of their chests and chanted in unison,""Amen!"

    Having said that, they didn''t know how to remove the seal on the sacred relic. What happened 800 years ago was too long ago, so not much information was passed down.

    They looked at the older man in gray in unison, waiting for his instructions. As The Guardian of the sacred relic, Yingying should know more secrets than them.

    Moreover, he was the one who had gathered all of them. If he didn''t know how to lift the seal and summon the sacred artifact, wouldn''t he be a joke?

    The older man in gray said with confidence,""It''s simple. We pray, just like 800 years ago."

    Pray? Just pray?

    The eyes of the elder man in gray robes shone brightly."Not just us, please spread the word. The hundreds of millions of brothers and sisters of the Freemasonry and the Fangji female cultivators Association will start to pray with the greatest piety from today until the Saints and sacred objects respond to our call and lead us to defeat the demons ... Now, let''s start with us."

    Everyone present took a deep breath and prayed devoutly in unison.

    Lord!

    Please turn me into a tool of peace!

    Where there is hurt, let me convey forgiveness;

    Where there is hatred, let me spread love;

    Where is there any doubt, let me provide virtue;

    Where is the despair, let me bring joy ...

    They prayed over and over again. In front of the saint''s statue, their hearts were filled with reverence.

    They had no doubt that the Saints would respond to their prayers, nor did they doubt the legend that had been passed down from 800 years ago, that the Holy objects had been resurrected to expel the demons.

    If praying was the only thing they could do, then they were willing to pray until the day their lives ended.

    Countless brothers and sisters would pray with them, praying that the power of the Saint would descend upon this city named after him.

    Father yang was also praying. He was born in China, but he was taken abroad when he was very young. At that time, he had not heard of the city of San Francisco. Later, he grew up in Belgium to study, and then he knew that such a city existed in the United States, but he did not pay much attention to it. It was not until he converted to the church and joined the Brotherhood that this city had a special meaning to him ... When he passed the test of the church and could take charge of things on his own, he returned to China again. However, he had never been used to the name of San Francisco China.

    San Francisco is a very beautiful name, but it also has historical significance and a sense of the times. It has witnessed the blood and tears of countless Chinese workers who made their way to the United States to find gold and is worthy of respect. Unfortunately, among the three principles of trantion,"honesty, Dada, and elegance" have reached the extreme in "honesty" and "elegance," but the word "honesty" is missing.

    As for the strange trantion of San Francisco, he didn''t even want to think about it.

    He was more willing to use another name that wasn''t very down-to-earth to call the City, which was also the real name of the city.

    It was St. Francisco.

    The city was named after the animal, the merchant, the stowaway, the Catholic Church movement, The Guardian of the natural environment, the owner of the stigma, and the manifestation of the miracle, Saint Francis!

    Whether it was a heretic worshiper or a demon, if they dared tomit evil in this city that was named after the Saint, what awaited them was the fate of destruction.

 Chapter 1489 - The forest Park

    After breakfast, it was still Zhang Zian who cleaned up the mess. After all, a homestay was not a hotel, and he could not count on the room attendant or the cleaner to clean up the mess.

    Zhou Jing was resting at home today and didn''t go out for a run. She reflected on herself. Although work was very important, she still had to do what she could. When she had to work hard, she had to do it in moderation. It was the saddest thing to have the life to earn but not spend. If she had an ident at work, how would her parents exin to the newborn that she had never met her sister?

    After Zhang Zian was done throwing the garbage, old time tea asked,""Zian, what''s your schedule for today?"

    Compared to other Elfins who were focused on enjoying the fun of traveling, old time tea was not greedy for pleasure. It was more willing to do things that were beneficial to the people and society, no matter which country the people were from.

    "Well ... We''ve basically visited all of San Francisco. We also took a look at the rest of the nearby ces, like Stanford University or Silicon Valley, when we passed by. I don''t think there''s anything special worth visiting ... So I think we can check out today." He said.

    Generally speaking, those who visited Stanford University were parents with their children. They wanted their children to experience the profound heritage and learning atmosphere of the world''s top school. It was hard to say if this approach would be effective, but even if it was effective, it would be meaningless for Zhang Zian.

    As for visiting Silicon Valley ... Seeing those winners in life who were only a few years older than him but drove beautiful women away would only make him jealous, and it would ruin his good mood for no reason.

    "Gah? You''re going back so soon?" Richard turned off the TV and pped his wings,""I haven''t had any friendly exchanges with my foreign friends yet!"

    "Pei Pei Pei! I''m not going back. I want to live in San Francisco with Your Majesty and live happily with Your Majesty under the witness of the rainbow g!" Snowy Li bared its fangs and brandished its ws in opposition.

    The other Elfins were also reluctant, because the summer heat in Binhai city had not subsided. They had finally enjoyed a few days of cool days in San Francisco. If they went back just like that, they would feel ufortable.

    "No, I said I''m checking out, but I''m not staying here anymore. In fact, I n to ..." Zhang Zian took out a map of California he bought on the road yesterday from the junk, spread it out on the table, and drew an arc around San Francisco with his finger."I n to buy some camping equipment and drive into the forest Park near San Francisco. First, it''s to broaden my horizons, and second, I can try to figure out some problems."

    In the morning, when he went out alone to buy breakfast, he swiped his phone on the way, mainly tomunicate with the local staff, friends, and acquaintances to see if there was any new situation in the country.

    He told Wei Kang his suspicion that the Leshi dog food contained venison, and that the venison might havee from North America''s deer infected with prion.

    In the past, his suspicions about this dog food were mainly due to the bacteria strains and the possible toxins in it. He never thought that the problemy in the higher protein content in it than domestic dog food.

    Wei Kang attached great importance to the information he provided, but the problem was that prion itself was a kind of protein. It was difficult to separate it from all kinds of minced meat mixed in dog food. Otherwise, the test for prion infection would not be so difficult, and it would require an open skull to make a definite diagnosis.

    Wei Kang promised tomunicate with the teachers in the food safety Laboratory of Binhai University to see if there was the possibility of further in-depth testing, but he asked him not to have too much hope.

    Sun Xiaomeng also sent a message, saying that her clinic had epted another dog with a strange disease, mainly in the sense of direction and drooling at the corner of its mouth. This was because Zhang Zian told her to share the situation with him if there was a dog with a difficult disease.

    These problems were secondary. Humans were selfish. Another problem that worried him more was that a tropical low-pressure cloud was rising from the southern sea and slowly moving north.

    In fact, there were very few typhoons in Binhai city. On average, there was only one unlucky case every ten to twenty years, and it usually didn''t cause much damage. Most of the low-pressure clouds in the distance would weaken before reaching Binhai city, or turn to Japan or Korea. However, the Pet Shop was where he lived, after all. Once he left home, it was inevitable that he would have a lot of concerns.

    There was no need to worry about a low-pressure cloud that was thousands of miles away, and there was no need to end the trip early because of it, so he did not mention it to the elves.

    The Elfins jumped on the table and looked at the map of California. However, they could only recognize thend, green mountains,kes, and oceans. As for the dense small words, they were difficult to see, and even if they could, they would not be interested.

    "Kaka! "Camping is always apanied by car sex and field operations. On the road in the countryside of California, we''re going to have a Grand ... Hmmm ..." Richard was talking nonsense, but his beak was pinched by Zhang Zian halfway.

    Old time tea looked at the terrain around San Francisco, pointed to the dark green area, and asked,""These are all forests? There are quite a few of them, do we have to go to all of them?"

    Zhang Zian was also having a headache about this. There were several forest parks around San Francisco, and they were all very famous, so he was having a headache about which one to go. The originbel on Leshi dog food was vague. He had checked it out and found that it was a deep processing Workshop. Chicken, duck, beef, and fish from all over the United States were transported there through the cold chain to be made into finished dog food. The ce he wanted to find for the initial processing of venison, such as a ughterhouse, was a good example.

    If the manufacturer of Leshi dog food really used infected venison as he had guessed, they would definitely ce the ughterhouse in a very hidden location and keep it a secret from the outside world.

    Of course, there was another possibility. The manufacturer might not have done it on purpose. They might have just used venison from legal farms, but they did not know that the seemingly healthy deer were actually sick. If that was the case, the manufacturer would also be a victim.

    There were many national parks in California, and the ones that were famous for their dense forests were generally the National Park of Yggdrasil, the National Park of mahogany, the National Park of King''s Canyon, and the National Park of Larson volcano. The first one was the most popr one among tourists, with magnificent waterfalls and all kinds of strange peaks and stones, making it unforgettable. The second and third were often mixed up because of their simr names and characteristics. As for thest one, it was mainly known for itskes and hot springs.

    There were different kinds of wild animals in these forest parks, including deer herds.

    Which park was the ughterhouse hidden in?

 Chapter 1490 - Prohibition

    Trying to find the exact location of the venison ughterhouse from the many forest parks near San Francisco is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

    The elves expressed their own opinions, but their opinions were even more unreliable andpletely taken for granted.

    "Meow meow meow! The Larson Volcano Park sounds suspicious. " Snowy Li licked its lips in a serious manner."I guess there will be a lot ofdies in bikinis basking in the sun by the hot spring ... Maybe they will untie their upper bodies and lie down to let me help them apply sunblock!"

    Zhang Zian tried to think about the scene that snowy Li had described, and he couldn''t help but be fascinated. However, he immediately noticed that there was a problem with snowy Li''s vision, which was staring at his crotch.

    "What are you looking at?" He warily took two steps back.

    "Tsk! I''ve heard that it''s impossible to cut it cleanly in a shriveled state, and it may leave behind the root of the disease. It''s best to cut it in a state of blood congestion! It was truly, cleanly, and cleanly cut into two! Whoosh!" Snowy Li waved its paw hard, and the tip of its paw shone with a cold light."But have you lost your ability, stinky man? You didn''t have any reaction to my description?"

    Zhang Zian felt that if there was a reaction just by listening to a few words, then wouldn''t he make a fool of himself on the spot when he saw an about coconut juice on the street?

    "Kaka! As a man who has seen countless films, it''s impossible for him to have any reaction just by listening to a few words. " Richardnded on his shoulder."Besides, he''s not interested in thedies at all!"

    Even the elves like old time tea and famous couldn''t think of the most suspicious location.

    "Hmph, what''s the point of thinking so much? In bengong''s opinion, we should just go through all of them and ask the local people about the situation at each ce. It''s better than staying here and thinking blindly. " Fina said.

    If there was enough time, it was not impossible to do so. However, fina might not have a real concept of the area of these forest parks in the United States. She thought that they might be just slightlyrger than the parks in the city. In fact, the area of each Forest Park was veryrge, and the area that was developed as a sightseeing route was often less than one-tenth of the total area.

    At this time, Zhang Zian''s cell phone suddenly rang.

    He thought it was a message from a friend in China, but when he picked it up, it was from snowy.

    After the incident at the ocean mansion yesterday, Zhang Zian and snowy were questioned by the ocean mansion''s officials, but they didn''t know that snowy was a live streamer, so they didn''t ask further. Later, because the scene was quite chaotic, Zhang Zian and snowy left after leaving their contact information to the ocean mansion.

    "Hi!" Snowy said. I forgot to ask yesterday, why did Mr. Store managere to the United States?

    Zhang Zian replied,"traveling, summer vacation."

    Snowyughed,"haha, I thought it was to introduce new pet breeds to the Pet Shop."

    Zhang Zian said,"no, San Francisco is a city with very strict pet control. The pets sold in the Pet Shop can only be stray dogs and stray cats from the stray animal containment Center. In addition, I don''t know if you''ve noticed that people wearing leather coats are rare on the streets of San Francisco."

    Snowy said,"I didn''t pay much attention ... But it does seem like it. Why?"

    Zhang Zian said,"because San Francisco''s Environmental Protection and animal protection awareness are very strong, the San Francisco house of Representatives has banned the sale of fur products since New Year''s Day 2019."

    Snowy,"ah?" Was it true? My mom also brought a long leather windbreaker. Can I wear it when I go out?

    Zhang Zian advised,"don ''t." You only met one suspect Y in Binhai city, but in San Francisco, suspect Y is everywhere.

    At the mention of suspect Y, snowy on the other side of the phone suddenly understood the seriousness of the matter.

    San Francisco''s fur ban was initiated by a Chinese female Member of Parliament. The principle was that there is no harm without sale. This bill was passed in the House of Representatives of San Francisco, which was enough to show that she had a lot of supporters.

    San Francisco not only epts people of different skin colors and different sexual orientations, but it also epts people with different ideas, which will lead to some problems that will not be encountered in China.

    Some time ago, in San Francisco''s Chinatown, a Chinese restaurant was blocked by arge number of animal rights activists for killing chickens on the street. Although they took rtively mild actions and only sang in protest at the door, it was enough to cause a fatal blow to the restaurant''s business.

    In addition, the sea World of San Diego was also boycotted by many people because of animal performances, and its business was not as good as before.

    Young and middle-aged people who had received higher education in the United States followed the trend. Driving an electric car could show their support for the environment, so they were determined to buy Te, even if they could only buy the cheapest model. Animal protection was the same. So if they walked on the streets of San Francisco in fur coats, they might not be violently treated, but they would inevitably be rolled eyes.

    In addition to people''s Environmental Protection and animal protection concepts, another reason why this bill could be passed was that San Francisco was the city of St. Fang Luo. This Saint of the church was regarded as The Guardian of animals and nature by his believers because of his strange affinity with animals. The animal protectors and environmentalists in San Francisco are proud of this Saint.

    If residents in San Francisco want to buy a variety of cats and dogs, they can only buy them in areas outside San Francisco.

    Animal protection and environmental Protection had be politically correct. Not to mention small pet shops, even the big brand fur merchants could only lower their noble heads and say that they would produce several imitation leather products to rece real leather in the future, even if this would aggravate unemployment and lead to the further increase of the number of homeless.

    Because typing was too troublesome, Zhang Zian sent a voice message to exin the reason.

    After snowy heard this, she made a face at her mother.

    San Francisco''s unique climate makes the temperature difference between noon and morning extremelyrge. There is often cold mist in the northern area, which is very suitable to wear a warm and breathable leather coat, so her mother deliberately stuffed her favorite leather coat in her suitcase.

    "What do we do now?" Her mother stared at the leather coat spread out on the bed and was worried.

    "Why don''t you go shopping and buy a few more suitable clothes?" Snowy suggested,"it''s better than getting rolled eyes, right? You don''t want to be pointed at and gossiped about by others!"

    His mother frowned."Didn''t we agree to go to the forest Park in the North today?" Or have you changed your mind and want to go shopping with me?"

    Snowyughed."I don''t want to go shopping. You alwaysin that your feet hurt when you go to the park. Of course, we''ll split up and do our own things. You go shopping and I go to the forest Park to y. No one will be affected. Isn''t that great?"

    "No!" His father put down the newspaper with a sullen face."You can''t go by yourself. It''s too dangerous in the forest Park."

 Chapter 1491

    Aftering to the cool San Francisco, snowy and her mother ate, drank, and had fun all day. They no longer had to stay in an air-conditioned room like in Binhai city. Her father, Jiang tianda, was always busy with business meetings and basically didn''t participate in the mother and daughter''s activities.

    For convenience and safety, the mother and daughter also checked into the hotel in the North Bay of San Francisco, where Jiang tianda and thepany executives were staying. The scenery here was good. From the window, one could see the Golden Gate Bridge, and a few steps away from the fisherman''s pier, where delicious food was gathered. It could be said to be a very convenient tourist amodation.

    It was also because they could see the Golden Gate Bridge that they noticed that the mist had covered the northern end of the bridge and was spreading to the South. Seeing this, his mother was worried that it would be cold today, so she nned to wear a leather coat to keep out the cold. However, when she heard Zhang Zian''s voice message, she was a little shaken.

    Tonight, the couple would be invited to attend a social dinner together, and for the social dinner ... Everyone knew that thedies had to wear evening dresses. If it was cold, they would put on a coat over the evening dress and take it off before entering, otherwise, they would easily catch a cold when the cold wind blew.

    At a dinner party with celebrities, there might be firm environmental and animal rights activists. There would be, there would be. It would be strange if there weren''t any. Otherwise, the San Francisco house of Representatives wouldn''t have passed the ban.

    Although it would not affect the business negotiations if the environmental and animal protection activists saw her in a leather suit, they would definitely not have a good impression of her and might not be willing to make friends with her. If there were more environmental and animal protection activists present, they might even coldly iste her. If that really happened, it would be embarrassing. This was no joke.

    The purpose of the social dinner was to make friends in the political, business, and academic world. It might be useful in the future. If he was isted just because he was wearing a leather suit, it was not worth it. If it were not for Zhang Zian''s reminder, he might even be isted for no reason.

    Not only leather coats, but real leather handbags and other animal products were also best not brought. This was not to say that they were afraid, tolerant, hypocritical, or fawning, but respect and courtesy. It was just like if you went to someone''s house as a guest, you should at least respect the etiquette and tradition of the other family. If you knew that the other party might hate something, and you still insisted on bringing it, wouldn''t that be equivalent to going to quarrel?

    On the surface, Jiang tianda looked calm, but he was actually very upset. No one had reminded him of such an important detail, and he even had to let that ... Detestable pretentious d * ck remind him. However, this matter couldn''t be ignored, because the details determined sess or failure, which made him even more depressed.

    Of course, it was possible that the higher-ups under him did not know about this. After all, this was a new ban, and thepany''s business had nothing to do with fur products, so no one paid attention to this.

    Snowy''s mother, Shi Rong, was worried about what coat she should put on over the evening dress. She only had this leather coat on hand, so she might have to buy one on the spot.

    However, when he heard that snowy nned to go to the National Park in the North by herself, Jiang tianda could no longer pretend to be deaf.

    "What''s so dangerous about the National Park? Many people went to y! Quite a few of them went too! If other people can go, why can''t I?" Snowy thought her father was just scaring her, so she retorted.

    "There''s no danger? You can read the newspaper. " Jiang tianda pulled out a newspaper and threw it at her.

    Snowy picked up the newspaper and looked at it. Except for Arabic numbers, it was all in English. It gave her a headache, so she threw it aside and said,""Just say it, I''m toozy to look."

    Jiang tianda snorted and pointed at a picture in the newspaper.""A few days ago, a 19-year-old girl who just started University went hiking in the national park and went missing. The local county Police sent many people into the forest to look for her, but they haven''t found her yet."

    He was not trying to scare snowy. The National Parks in the United States were vast, and most of them were natural forests or canyons. Only a few beautiful routes were opened for tourists to walk or drive, but young people who were adventurous or just looking for fun would sometimes go deeper into the forest to camp alone or in groups.

    China''s scenic spots, tourists often got lost in the mountains. Forest parks like those in the United States wererger and more prone to idents.

    Every year, an unknown number of people went missing in the major forest parks in the United States. Some were found in the end, while others disappeared forever. Of course, the number of people who disappeared in the forest Park was too smallpared to the average of 2000 people who disappeared every day in the United States. It would not attract much attention. If it was a child who went missing, it might attract attention, but for an adult ... People might say,"Who asked you to y in the forest?

    Although snowy only nned to go to a small forest Park next to San Francisco to y, her parents still couldn''t feel at ease letting a young girl like her, who was unfamiliar with the ce and not very proficient innguage, go there alone. What if she was harassed by a homeless man?

    This was not China. In China, enthusiasticizens would help her call the police. When she encountered danger in the forest Park, she did not even know how to report her location to the United States Police.

    Xiaoxue didn''t think so. She had brought a pepper spray with her and had good physical strength. Wouldn''t she run away if she met a bad person?

    No matter how much she persuaded her parents, they refused to let her go alone. Her mother advised her to go shopping with her, and her father said he would take her to Silicon Valley to broaden her horizons. She would rather stay in the hotel than go out, and she would rather kill her than go out.

    Snowy had no choice. She thought for a moment, pointed to the phone, and said,""If you''re so worried, why don''t I ask my friends to go with me? Of course, we''ll have to see if he has the time. "

    "A man? I''m even more worried about that. " Jiang tianda pulled a long face.

    "Haha, it''s okay. You guys didn''t watch my livestream, so you don''t know. That guy is harmless. Even cats can bully him. He''s also nicknamed ''coward''. If I run into danger, he might not be able to outrun me." Snowy exined with confidence.

    ...Even Richard is a man.

    "I think it''s okay," his mother said."If it''s a girl, you should say that it''s not safe for two girls to go together."

    Jiang tianda was rendered speechless.

    Snowy was afraid that her parents would go back on their word, so she quickly sent a message to Zhang Zian and asked,"I''m nning to do a live broadcast at the red shirt National Park in the North today. Um ... Do you have any ns for today? If not, would you be interested in a friendly visit? By the way, I''ll treat you to food and drinks on the way.

    Zhang Zian replied almost instantly,"OK!"

 Chapter 1492

    Zhang Zian saw that snowy wanted to go to the forest Park for a live broadcast, and the most important thing was that she would take care of all the food on the road. He was excited and agreed without thinking. But when he saw the time she gave for the gathering, he immediately lost his calm, because the time was only an hourter. There was not enough time for him to buy camping supplies at all. Or was she taking care of all the camping supplies?

    As far as he knew, snowy had no experience in outdoor adventures, so she probably didn''t know what kind of camping supplies she needed to buy. He had been to the desert before.

    On the other hand, this matter itself was a bit strange. Why would a girl like snowy go to the deep mountains and forests to do a live broadcast? Was he that hardcore? She was an outdoor streamer, not an adventure streamer.

    After he calmed down, he read the message carefully again and realized that he had read it wrong.

    He thought snowy was going to the mahogany National Park further north, where there was a vast primitive mahogany forest. But after a closer look, the message said "mahogany National Park." Although there was only a one-word difference, and the mahogany was actually the same thing, both referring to California mahogany, but the meaning was different.

    Red shirt National Park, or the full name of Muir red shirt National Park, was a small National Park very close to the North of San Francisco. It could be used to go back and forth on the same day, and there was no need for camping supplies at all. It was also a ce where tourists often went. At the same time, it was also the shooting location of the first film of "rise of the ape." However, because of the small area and therge number of tourists, it was unlikely that there were any secrets hidden in this Park.

    The mahogany National Park, full name, was the mahogany National Park and state Park. It was a superrge park Group formed by thebination of one national Park and three state parks. Located further north, it was the shooting site of the second part of "Jurassic Park." It was nearly 500 kilometers from San Francisco in a straight line, and it was impossible to return to San Francisco in a day.

    Americans really didn''t know how toe up with names. These two national parks, as well as the American Red tunic and King''s Canyon National Park, should be tranted as American giant tunic. Giant tunic and red tunic were two types of trees that were easy to be confused with. They were simr but different. The former was thick andrge, while thetter was slender and long. In terms of height, thetter was slightly higher, but the former covered the sky and looked more imposing.

    These three parks always gave China tourists a headache. Even tourists from other countries would probably have a headache. Couldn''t they name them red shirt Park No. 1, red shirt Park No. 2, and giant shirt Park No. 3?

    Zhang Zian had read the message too quickly. He was too focused on thest sentence that snowy was treating him and forgot to ask which National Park it was. He immediately agreed.

    Now he realized that snowy was probably referring to the nearby Muir red-robed National Park. He was not interested in the park and did not want to go, but he had already agreed. If he were to go back on his words and say that he had seen wrongly and did not want to go, it would really ... Damage his glorious image.

    "Kaka! You don''t look too good, are you constipated?" Richard was keenly aware of the change in his expression.

    "It doesn''t look like constipation. I saw that his be was dark. He''s probably in trouble." Snowy Li said while licking its paws.

    Zhang Zian had no choice but to tell the Elfins about the situation. Of course, he hid the details of the wrong information. He only said that snowy invited him to a small National Park, and he agreed to it as a warm-up.

    Except for Richard, who vaguely reminded him that women were too troublesome and troublesome, the other Elfins had no objections. Before entering the real primitive forest, it was not bad to get used to the small forest. Pi was particrly excited. When it heard the name "towering trees," it was itching to climb them. Gxy was also very interested in forests with fewer people and more trees.

    After the discussion, Zhang Zian decided to check out after today. Today, he would go to Muir Park to y, and then buy camping supplies. Tomorrow, he would enter the primeval forest. As for which one ... It was hard to say for the time being.

    ¡°Hi! This ce! Here!"

    He drove the Elfins to the meeting ce, which was South of the Golden Gate Bridge. He saw snowy waving at him in a waterproof windbreaker.

    "I''m sorry for the long wait," He opened the door to the passenger seat and invited her to get in.

    "No, I just arrived! Hello, famous!" Snowy was surprised to see that famous was still sitting in the back seat, and she suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. Although Zhang Zian was a coward, famous was very powerful. With it, even if they encountered a homeless person, it would be no problem.

    Woof!

    Famous responded.

    In fact, there were other invisible elves in the back seat, but snowy couldn''t see them.

    Fina was very dissatisfied with the fact that she had to give up the front passenger seat, but normally, when snowy saw that the front passenger seat was empty, she would definitely sit in. Otherwise, if she sat in the back seat, it would seem like Zhang Zian used Uber ...

    While waiting here, snowy had already made a live broadcast announcement to her fans and invited the pet store manager, who happened to be in San Francisco, to go with her. She also exined the reasons. First, she was not very proficient in English. Second, it was not safe for a girl to go alone. Third, she did not know how to drive, so it was more convenient for her to take Zhang Zian''s car. However, the fans still did not buy it.

    "Hey, if I call you, do you dare to answer?"

    "To be honest, manager, do you know the consequences of harassment in the United States are very serious? I hope you can stop at the edge of the cliff and not cut yourself off from the party and the people. The iron fist of socialism can beat you even in the United States."

    "Manager, please don''t talk today. Can''t you just be a quiet, beautiful man?"

    Zhang Zian liked the way they hated him so much but couldn''t do anything to him. They were trying to make their presence known.

    It was foggy.

    The cold and warm air currents with arge amount of water vapor shed nearby, causing the area north of the Golden Gate Bridge to be almostpletely hidden in the fog.

    For the live broadcast, snowy chose to get out of the car and walk across the bridge. Zhang Zian drove over and waited for her in the North.

    "Squeak!" Pi stared at the Lasol on the bridge, lost in thought.

    It had seen "rise of the ape", especially the scene where the goris confronted the humans on the Golden Gate Bridge, which had left a deep impression on it. Now that it had seen the bridge with its own eyes, it wanted to climb to the highest point of the bridge like the goris in the movie.

    Zhang Zian advised it not to be impulsive. The scene in the movie was shot withputer special effects. The rope was not a tree branch, and it was very dangerous to climb the Golden Gate Bridge in the fog. If it made a mistake, it would die.

    Pi felt a little regretful, but it still listened to the advice and walked around the bridge a few times, as if it was paying its respects to its close rtives in the movie.

    Snowy exined to theizens as she walked. It took her nearly half an hour to cross the bridge and meet up with Zhang Zian at the northern end of the bridge. They took a car to the town of sosalito, which was the only way to the Muir National Park.

 Chapter 1493

    Sosalito was an unknown small town. It was barely a vige in China and might be considered a production team. However, because of the beautiful scenery of the town, it was only a bridge away from San Francisco, which made it a gathering ce for the rich. The vis on the hillside overlooked the Bay and the bridge, and the average price was more than 2 million US dors. Just like the rich people in Hong Kong lived on the mountains, the average price of houses in the town exceeded that of San Francisco.

    The masts of hundreds of private yachts stood on the dock, swaying slightly with the waves.

    Today''s weather was not good, and there was fog, so most of the yachts didn''t go out to sea. If it were a sunny day, the rich people would probably drive the yachts to the sea with hot bikini girls. What would happen after that? Of course, they would set up a table and y mahjong!

    In fact, it wasn''t lunch time yet, but considering that there might not be any restaurants near Muir National Park, snowy kept her word and invited Zhang Zian to a restaurant by the sea for lunch. In fact, whether Zhang Zian was there or not, she would always have lunch there and introduce delicious food to theizens.

    As a town where the rich gathered, the restaurant''s price was certainly not cheap. Everything on the menu was below $50. With tips, the two couldn''t afford a meal of $100. Zhang Zian ordered a seafood spaghetti, and snowy ordered something that might be seafood risotto.

    If snowy was alone, she might be a little embarrassed to be talking to her phone in a foreign restaurant. With Zhang Zian around, she could more or less ease the embarrassment.

    As usual, snowymented on the restaurant''s environment, facilities, service attitude, hygiene, and most importantly, the taste of the food.

    Pets weren''t allowed in the restaurant, so famous and the Elfins had to wait outside the restaurant. Fortunately, they had eaten a lot in the morning and weren''t hungry.

    While eating, Zhang Zian looked at the sea view through the floor-to-ceiling ss window. However, the most terrible thing was that this Bay was actually called Richard''s derson Bay, which always made him have bad thoughts.

    Perhaps because it was not yet the peak period, there were only two customers in the restaurant for the time being, snowy and him. The Italy bearded head chef even came over personally and asked them if they were satisfied with the dishes.

    Snowy was ttered and praised the food in her not-so-fluent English. She also asked the head chef to say a few words to the China audience. The head chef heard that snowy had tens of thousands of fans in China and was happy to take this opportunity to promote her.

    Zhang Zian would asionally help snowy convey her unclear meaning. Other than that, he had been eating and thinking about the National Park.

    At this time, an angry dog''s bark suddenly came from outside the store. Zhang Zian knew it was famous.

    "I''m sorry, I''ll go out and take a look. " He tore off the napkin on hisp and quickly ran out of the store.

    Snowy''s reaction was a bit slow, and she was chewing on a piece of onion, constantly praising it. So when she came back to her senses, Zhang Zian had already rushed out the door.

    He had just run out of the store and didn''t know what was going on. He only saw a man flying away on a skateboard, with famous closely chasing behind.

    "Gah! That''s a thief, he stole that woman''s bag!" Richardnded on his shoulder and gloated,""Didn''t I say that women are very troublesome?"

    Zhang Zian turned his head to look at the rented car. He saw a thin iron bar thrown on the ground, and one side of the door had been pried open.

    When he entered the shop to eat, the Elfins didn''t stay in the car, but wandered around.

    ording to Richard, a sloppy man walked past his car with an old skateboard under his arm. He looked inside and saw that Zhang Zian and snowy''s backpacks were left in the car. So, after he passed by the car, he turned back. While no one was paying attention, he used his clothes to cover himself and inserted the thin iron strip he carried with him into the window''s rubber seal. He pried open the door lock, then picked up snowy''s bag and got on the skateboard.

    Famous was the first to notice that the man was a little sneaky, but it didn''t think much about it. Even if it saw him turn back, it thought that he had suddenly remembered something and was going back the way he came.

    This person''s action of prying the car open was skilled and hidden, and he pried it open in the blink of an eye.

    Famous was the closest, and only then did it realize that the man was a bag thief. It barked to warn him and immediately chased after him. But because it was a downhill, the man was good at skateboarding. After stepping on the skateboarding, he stomped a few times and slid 20 to 30 meters in an instant. He was still elerating. It was difficult for famous''s four legs to outrun the wheeled man, and it was barely able to keep up.

    Zhang Zian understood now. That person must be a repeated bag thief, and might even have a previous record. These people always targeted foreign tourists, especially China tourists who often swallowed their anger. They had always been their target of theft.

    Snowy also ran out at this time. Seeing that Zhang Zian was about to drive after her, she quickly advised him to stop. There was nothing valuable in her bag, but her wallet and mobile phone were with her.

    The Italy chef shrugged indifferently and mumbled that they shouldn''t have left their bags in the car. Such things had been happening a lot recently. Homeless people stole things in the car, but the police didn''t care at all. If every homeless person who did this was caught and put in prison, San Francisco''s prison would be full of homeless people. Moreover, the homeless people might have weapons like knives or even guns that they picked up from somewhere. He advised them to keep the peace. Just treat it as a lesson.

    While they were talking, famous had already chased the thief into the fog and disappeared from their sight.

    Zhang Zian couldn''t just leave famous alone, and old time tea and dimir had already chased after it. Although they could climb the trees and take a shortcut, the thief slipped too fast, and the two of them were left quite far behind.

    "You guys wait here. I''ll go after them. We can''t just let them be."

    He closed the door. Although he was talking to snowy, he was also talking to the other invisible Elfins.

    The Italy chef shook his head, obviously disapproving of his life-risking behavior. He attentively opened the door and invited snowy into the restaurant to continue eating.

    Zhang Zian was unfamiliar with the terrain, and with the fog, he didn''t dare to drive too fast. When the restaurant disappeared into the fog behind him, he rolled down the window and shouted into the fog,""Famous! Where are you?"

    Woof!

    Famous''s cry came from the left, which sounded quite far away.

    Famous roared from time to time. He followed the sound and picked up old time tea and dimir. They gradually drove out of the small town that was less than five square kilometers and came to the edge of the forest behind the town.

    "I''m warning you, if you dare toe near me again, don''t me me for being impolite!"

    The thief was blocked by famous. He held a knife in his hand and waved it at famous to intimidate it.

 Chapter 1494

    Judging from his skin color and appearance, the thief seemed to be a Mexican, and like many Mexicans, he was very talkative. He kept mumbling, hoping to scare famous away. Seeing that famous was unmoved, he changed his face, hid the knife behind him, took out a piece of chocte, peeled it, and threw it to famous.

    The bottom of the skateboard flipped to the side, and the wheels were still spinning. His body was covered in mud, as if he had fallen down on the uneven road after running here. Otherwise, it would have been difficult to catch up with this kid.

    Of course, famous wouldn''t be tempted by the chocte. Besides, chocte was poisonous to dogs, but it pretended to be attracted by the chocte and lowered its head to smell it. With its acting skills, it easily fooled the Mexico thief. He thought it had been fooled, so he turned around and wanted to sneak into the woods. But as soon as he turned around, he was pounced on by famous from behind, and the knife flew to the side.

    "No! No! No!"

    He felt the hot breath behind his neck and thought famous was going to bite him, so he screamed in horror.

    Zhang Zian parked the car on the side of the road, jogged over, kicked the knife further away, and then picked up snowy''s backpack to brush off the dirt.

    "You ... Is this dog yours? Quickly tell it to leave!" The thief wailed.

    Famous''s entire body weight was on him. He didn''t dare to struggle, for fear of angering the dog and getting bitten.

    The weather was not good. Zhang Zian looked around and saw that there was not a single person nearby. It was very quiet, so he slowly squatted down.

    "Wait ... Wait! Hey! Why did you pull off my pants? "Could it be ..." The thief''s face was turned to the side. Suddenly, he felt his sweatpants being pulled down by someone, and his expression changed drastically.

    Richardnded on his leg mischievously, using his bird ws to hook his unbuckled sweatpants and pull them down. He imitated Zhang Zian''s voice and said,""Be bitten by it or be F * cked by me, you choose."

    "Oh ... Then be gentle ... Let me go after you''re done ..."

    He didn''t expect the thief to be so tactful and choose thetter without thinking. He even cooperated by sticking up his butt ...

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    What kind of people were these?!

    Richard lost interest. It''ll be meaningless if you don''t resist!"

    "He''s noting?" The thief felt that his pants had stopped at his butt and did not go any further. He was a little disappointed and quickly pulled up his pants.

    The man was dirty and stinky, and he had not taken a bath for many days. He was bald and wore a wool hat, and there was nothing valuable on him.

    Zhang Zian had originally nned to send him to the police station, but seeing his embarrassed look, he didn''t want to have any physical contact with him. Besides, after going to the police station, he had to record his statement and so on, which felt quite troublesome. It was better to give him a little lesson and let him go.

    "Do you often do this?" Zhang Zian asked.

    The thief was stunned and argued as if he had been insulted,""No! I only sleep with the person I like! I''m not a casual person!"

    "I''m asking about stealing someone else''s bag,"Zhang Zian replied.

    "Ah? Oh, no, I...It''s my first time, really, you have to believe me, I swear in the name of God, I swear in the name of my 80-year-old grandmother, it''s my first time! I''m begging you to spare me, okay?" The thief swore with his eyes wide open. Although his expression was on point, it was obvious that it was fake. How could an inexperienced person open the door so quickly?

    "I''m warning you, if you dare toy a hand on the China tourists again ..." Zhang Zian knew that he was lying, but he was toozy to expose him. He gave him a warning and then quickly went back to the restaurant to finish the rest of the seafood Italy. He couldn''t waste it.

    "China tourists? You''re a China Tourist? Oh my God! If I had known that you were a China Tourist, I would never have done this! I like China, and I like China''s capital, Shanghai. My aunt married a Chinese man, so I''m half Chinese! If you don''t believe me, see if my eyes are ck? I''m also yellow-skinned, just that the color is a little darker! "Oh my God, it''s a misunderstanding. I thought you were Korean. You know, I hate Koreans the most ..." The thief jabbered on and on, and they almost called each other brothers.

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    These smooth-tongued Mexicans were a real headache. They spoke human words and ghost words, and tried their best to get close to girls like dogskin ster. They also used this shameless way to chase girls, and some girls really fell for it.

    Richard blinked his eyes, meaning,"It didn''t seem like reasoning would work, so he''d better kill him decisively!

    Zhang Zian gave famous a look, and thetter understood. It lowered its head to the thief''s ear and barked a few times, which scared the thief so much that he almost wet his pants.

    "No! No! Don''t bite me! Don''t bite me!" He trembled and held his head, not daring to say anything more.

    Zhang Zian really didn''t know how to teach him a lesson. Beating him up was a bit too much, and it would also dirty his hands.

    "What''s your name?"

    "My ... My name is Fernando rambias de azwado." The thief replied.

    F * ck, this name is so long!

    "I''ll remember your name. Get up and get lost! Don''t let me see you again, and don''t steal the bags of China tourists. " Zhang Zian warned.

    Famous reluctantly moved away from the thief. It had taken a lot of effort to catch up with him, and it felt that letting him go would not satisfy its hatred.

    At first, Fernando couldn''t believe that Zhang Zian would let him go just like that. After a while, he found that it was true, so he quickly got up from the ground and dusted off the dirt. He didn''t dare to look directly into Zhang Zian''s eyes. He wanted to pick up the knife, but the knife was pressed down by famous''s front paw, and it growled at him as a warning.

    "Can you get it to return the knife to me?" Fernando said in a low voice.

    "So that you can use a knife to Rob and threaten others? No! Grab the skateboard and get out of here before I change my mind!" Zhang Zian refused.

    "No, no, you''ve misunderstood. I need someone to defend myself, do you understand? Otherwise, if I encounter other vagrants, I might be beaten up. And that damn coyote,st time I was chased by a coyote and almost got bitten! "After I enter the forest, if I don''t have the knife, my neck might be bitten off when I wake up ..." Fernando picked up the skateboard and held it under his arm, still not giving up his knife.

    It didn''t sound like a lie, but there was another word that caught Zhang Zian''s attention.

    "Forest? What forest? What are you doing in the forest?"

    Fernando smiled tteringly and pointed to the North."The mahogany forest Park. Someone there said that they would give us free food and a ce to live."

 Chapter 1495

    Although this Mexican named Fernando was full of lies, and nine out of ten sentences were made up, one or two of them might be true, such as coyotes attacking the homeless at night, or someone distributing free food and shelter to the homeless, which matched the information Zhang Zian had heard before.

    However, as a man with a strong mouth and a strong kidney, Zhang Zian couldn''t fall into the same trap twice. He asked further,"Which mahogany forest Park?"

    It was not easy to mix up the English names of the three red mahogany, red shirt, and Jushan parks, but it was not surprising that the Mexico tramp had mixed them up since he looked like he had not been to school for long.

    "Which one? It''s the one by the northern seaside. " Fernando spread his hands, his eyes still fixed on the knife on the ground."So, can you give me back the knife? I still have a long way to go. Of course, if you''re willing to give me a ride, I''ll be happy to ept that Yingluo, you''re here for a vacation in United States, right? If you''re interested in going to the mahogany forest Park, that would be great! It was really beautiful there, only those shallow white people would go there like a swarm of bees! Brother, you can trust me, I''m the best guide on the West Coast of the United States I used to go hunting with my uncle in the forest, and we even killed an adult grizzly bear with our bare hands. It was really thrilling ..."

    Famous took a step closer to him, and he immediately admitted,""Forget it, just pretend I didn''t say anything."

    There was only one Mahogany Park by the northern seaside, which was a huge group of parks made up of one national Park and three state parks.

    The most popr Park around San Francisco is undoubtedly Santa, because it has spectacr waterfalls and beautiful scenery, as well as a group of crazy rock climbers living in Camp No. 4.

    Inparison, the mahogany Park was rtively dull. There were only trees, a Sea of Trees that stretched as far as the eye could see. Other than the towering "Tall Tree" inside, most Americans couldn''t think of any other attractions worth visiting. Even if tourists wanted to admire this signature Divine Tree, they had to walk through the dense forest for more than two hours before they had the chance to see it.

    There were quite a few tourists there, but most of them drove through the forest roads to take a break in the two small towns in the South and North. They took a few photos and sent them their locations, which counted as a sessful card-checking.

    If they really wanted to go deep into the primeval forest ... It would take at least ten days to half a month, and that was under the condition that they didn''t get lost or encounter any danger. In fact, the mahogany park''s visitor management Center didn''t rmend tourists without rich hiking experience to abandon their cars and leave the road.

    Those who often watched B-rated horror movies in the United States would know that horror movies often had such plots. It was a group of young people camping or exploring the forest, and then they encountered mutated creatures or perverted murderers. In the end, they were all wiped out, and at most, only one female lead escaped. The more famous movies were "ghost ying with man,""Dark Invasion,""Lake Eden,""cabin in the forest," and so on. They all took ce in this kind of deserted primitive forest.

    Although the movie was fictional, it was true that people often disappeared in the forest.

    "Get lost. Remember what I said just now. Don''t let me see you again." Zhang Zian waved his hand.

    Fernando still wanted to say something, but famous red at him. He picked up the skateboard and ran away in a hurry.

    Zhang Zian didn''t know what to do with the knife. It didn''t seem good to leave it where it was. If the local children picked it up to y with, they might hurt themselves. If they threw it into the trash can, they might hurt others. So, he picked it up and threw it into the sea.

    "Zian, in my opinion, since we can''t find the location of the venison ughterhouse, why don''t we go to the mahogany forest Park to try our luck? at least we can try to persuade some people to turn back from their lost path. What do you think?" Old time tea asked.

    Old time tea saw that Peter Lee''s group used free food and lodging as a temptation to tempt so many people who didn''t know the truth to leave San Francisco to join the cosmic information Society. They might even use them to do something even crazier. It couldn''t bear to see them continue to be deceived, so it hoped to go there and expose the truth. It was best topletely destroy Peter Lee''sir.

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment,"I think it''s feasible, and ... Maybe there''s some connection between these two things."

    He remembered very clearly that when Peter Lee was in Chinatown, he always talked about the world-ending gue. Although he was not sure if it was deliberately scaring people, it was worth a try. As old time tea said, they couldn''t find the venison ughterhouse anyway.

    When he drove back to the restaurant, snowy was still anxiously waiting at the door. She was relieved to see him driving.

    Zhang Zian briefly exined the situation. He only said that the Mexico thief was a guy who bullied the weak and feared the strong. After being caught by famous, he surrendered obediently. He felt that there was no need to send him to prison, so he let him go after a few words of punishment.

    Theizens didn''t find it strange. This was famous, not a Husky on the street. The thief was blind and chose the wrong opponent.

    After the meal, snowy paid the bill and they continued to their destination.

    The Muir National Park was indeed a popr tourist spot near San Francisco. Even though it was foggy, there were still many tourists.

    This Park was equivalent to the lungs of San Francisco. Because it was very close to the city, many San Francisco residents were willing to take their children or partners to walk in the forest and breathe in fresh air rich in oxygen.

    Snowy paid for the two-person ticket, and Zhang Zian epted it calmly, which made theizens angry again. They scolded him for not being gentlemanly at all. In fact, he paid for the gas money.

    There were also homeless people near Muir Park. Like Fernando, they were also walking North. If they met a kind person, they would hitchhike, but no one was willing to let these dirty and smelly potential criminals get on the bus.

    Police cars were still parked at the entrance of the park. It was said that some homeless people had caused trouble here yesterday. In order to prevent the homeless from causing trouble again, the police were on duty.

    There were three walking routes in the park, short, medium, and long. The short one could bepleted in half an hour, while the long one would take an hour and a half.

    Zhang Zian and snowy discussed for a while and unanimously decided to choose the medium one.

    Soon after they set foot on the hiking route, snowy excitedly took a 360-degree shot of the surrounding green for theizens.

    Zhang Zian patted her shoulder and gestured for her to be quiet. He then pointed to a ce not far away from the jungle diagonally ahead for her to look.

    It was a plum deer, and its beautiful big eyes were looking at them.

 Chapter 1496

    It was actually a deer!

    Snowy held her breath and stared at the brown plum deer in surprise. Theizens in the live broadcast room were all eximing that snowy was really lucky to encounter a plum deer as soon as she entered the park.

    "What a beautiful deer!"

    "I''ve seen deer in Nara too. Snowy, try and touch it!"

    "Yes, yes, nara''s deer are so docile. They can even be fed with their shells!"

    It should be a doe that had just reached adulthood. Although it seemed to be staring at snowy and Zhang Zian, its eyes were on both sides of its head, which allowed it to see almost 270 degrees of the scenery, so it could guard against the attack of its natural enemies.

    Its back was covered with irregr spots, like the petals of plum blossoms falling on its body. Its two diamond-shaped ears turned around from time to time, listening to the movements around it.

    Snowy excitedly gave Zhang Zian a thumbs up, meaning,"That''s great, I didn''t even see it, how did you find out?

    The brown doe almost perfectly blended into the background of the brown trunk and the dead branches and leaves on the ground. Snowy had turned the camera 360 degrees just now, but she didn''t find a plum deer hiding there.

    In fact, Zhang Zian was not the first to discover it. He saw Gxy run there, then tilt its head and look at the tree trunk, as if there was something there. He took a closer look and saw the pair of round and full of vitality eyes.

    This was also the first time Zhang Zian had seen a deer outside of a Zoo. The feeling waspletely different from when he was in a Zoo. The animals in a Zoo, because they had been kept in a narrow space for a long time, often lost their spirituality in their eyes and movements, and also lost their vignce against humans.

    A few more tourists were walking over. Seeing the two of them standing on the forest path and not moving forward, they felt a little strange. Zhang Zian gestured to them one by one, asking them to pay attention to the sika deer. Everyone tacitly closed their mouths, took out their camera equipment, and began to take photos.

    Did this deer get infected with prion?

    No one knew, but at least it was not ill at the moment, and its movements and eyes were very agile.

    It sensed that these people had no ill intentions towards it, so it lowered its head and began to chew on the leaves and grass. Then, it continued to look at them while chewing.

    In addition, it seemed to have smelled other smells, the smell of cats, but it couldn''t see any traces of cats, which made it very confused.

    Seeing the bulletments in the live broadcast room, snowy''s heart was also itching. She had some small snacks in her backpack and wanted to take them out to feed the deer. At least they were more delicious than leaves. It would be even better if she could touch it.

    When Zhang Zian saw the food she took out, he quickly waved his hand at her, indicating that she should take the food back because feeding crickets to wild animals was forbidden in San Francisco, not just in San Francisco, but in most states of the United States. Of course, this was a good thing for wild animals, so that they would not be too dependent on humans. Moreover, ordinary people did not know the habits of wild animals and often fed them blindly. Some naughty children even fed animals things that could not be eaten. Even nara''s deer were often fed until they had health problems.

    Snowy regretfully put the food back into her bag.

    Drip, drip.

    The water droplets fell on Zhang Zian''s head and shoulders.

    There was no rain, but the air was too moist, and the moisture condensed into water droplets on the leaves and then dripped down.

    It was quiet outside the forest, and everyone wanted to take a look at this beautiful creature.

    Suddenly, fina, old time tea, famous, and the others ''ears moved, and they all turned their heads to look at the forest.

    The sika deer''s four limbs seemed to be on a spring, and it jumped up without any warning, running and jumping in the forest to escape.

    Just as everyone was wondering who had scared it, a coyote came out of the woods and chased closely behind the plum deer, making a strange giggle sound.

    The coyote and the deer were very fast, and coupled with the dense forest, the two animals had already disappeared into the forest before anyone could react. No one had captured the appearance of the coyote with the camera.

    "Ya!" Snowy didn''t know what a coyote was, so she whispered,"is that ... A Wolf?"

    "Coyote, a small Wolf that only lives in North America." Zhang Zian corrected her.

    "Then ... Then will the coyote eat the deer?" She stomped her feet anxiously. After all, this was a world where looks mattered. The beautiful plum deer was more popr than the gray-faced coyote.

    Old time tea and famous turned to look at him, wondering if they should go after the deer and save it.

    He shook his head slightly. This was a National Park. It was natural selection and survival of the fittest. Whether it was the coyote or the deer, they were part of the ecosystem. As a human, it was best not to interfere, especially in a situation where it was impossible to determine whether the coyote or deer were infected. It was better to let them control their own fate.

    "The deer is very alert and flexible. I don''t think the coyote can catch up with it." He consoled.

    Snowy was more or less relieved, but she looked around nervously."Are there other coyotes?"

    "I can''t say for sure. Let''s not stray too far from that group of people."

    The group of people who came from behind had already surpassed the two of them. Zhang Zian motioned for snowy to follow.

    Coyotes, like most other canines, are also social animals, but they are used to fighting alone when hunting. It may be because the area they live in oveps with human beings, and the objective environment does not allow them to fight on arge scale like wolves.

    Because of this small interlude, it added a sense of excitement and mystery to the originally dull Garden Tour.

    Along the way, snowy looked around with her eyes wide open, looking for traces of plum deer or coyotes, but she didn''t pay much attention to the park itself.

    The park was very quiet. The chirping of birds often came from the dense treetops, but they could not see where the birds were.

    Walking on the wet wooden nk Road, he breathed in the sweet air that couldn''t exist in modern cities. Taking a deep breath was like a cool stream that reached his internal organs.

    The leaves covered the sky and covered the sun. Many trees that had never seen the sun were covered in green moss. From time to time, small animals would step on the dead branches and leaves and quickly slip past, but when they looked over, they would disappear. In addition, there were also branches that were baring their fangs and brandishing their ws. If he were to walk alone in this Park at night, he might be frightened by these sounds.

    Snowy was a little d that she came with an acquaintance. Otherwise, she would have been a little frightened when the coyote appeared just now.

    Theyter saw squirrels holding nuts on branches and hedgehogs in tree holes, but the plum deer and coyotes never appeared again.

    At the end of the hiking route, they had a cup of coffee in the coffee shop next door to warm up. They also picked out some small gifts for their friends in China and the audience in the live broadcast room. Then, they embarked on their return journey.

 Chapter 1497

    It was the morning of the fifth day in San Francisco, but it wasn''t time to check out at noon yet, so in terms of the room fee, it was still the fourth day. There was nothing wrong with this logic.

    "Gah? Wait a moment! You idiot, stop! Birdmen will never be ves!"

    When Zhang Zian brought back a lot of things from the outdoor equipment store, the elves were quite curious about what these strange things were for. However, when he showed the special bags to the elves, Richard finally couldn''t help butin.

    Richard struggled to break free from a small bag with an stic band around its neck. It pped its wings and flew to a high ce, staring at Zhang Zian angrily.

    "Come down, I want to see if it''s suitable." He said.

    "First, tell me, what are you going to do with this thing? I''ll only decide if I''m going to do it after some consideration. " Richard said warily.

    "It''s very simple. The mahogany National Park covers a vast area and is densely covered with trees. If we go deep alone, it''s likely that we will encounter a road that a car can''t drive through. I can only carry a limited amount of supplies on my back, and the amount of food I can eat alone is already very much. Therefore, you guys have to try your best to be self-reliant. Even this bird of yours is no exception. " He exined.

    "Gah? Forgive me for being unruly and loving freedom, I will never lower my noble head. " "No!" Richard firmly disagreed.

    Fina didn''t bother to argue at all, and directly smacked the bag away.

    Snowy Li directly tore its cloth bag and shouted,""Did you see that? this is what happens to a stinky man''s offspring!"

    Only famous epted this arrangement. It was wearing the tactical vest for dogs that it had worn in the desert of Egypt and volunteered,""I''ll help everyone carry their things. "

    This vest was not only useful in the desert and snowfield, but it could also prevent itself from being scratched by branches in the forest. Even if it was fixed with two sailcloth bags full of things, it would not be too much of a burden for it.

    "Squeak squeak."

    Pi was also willing to help. It carried a children''s school bag and walked a few steps, pretending to be serious.

    In fact, Zhang Zian was just joking about getting these canvas bags back. He saw that these gadgets were not expensive in the outdoor equipment store, so he bought a few. He did not expect thesezy guys to really work hard. At the same time, due to the physiological restrictions, cats and birds were not suitable for carrying things.

    If it were in the past, he would definitely retreat if he had to walk in the primeval forest alone. He did not want to die for nothing and cause trouble for the forest Police. However, since he had the experience of surviving in the Egypt desert, his confidence had increased greatly. No matter how bad the environment of the primeval forest was, at least it would not be more terrible than the devil''s Sea in the Sahara Desert.

    As for the elves ''food, there was no need to prepare too much. They could obtain local materials in the forest, especially for Richard''s bird. If it really couldn''t do it, it could just eat grass.

    The necessary equipment included arge backpack, hiking shoes and Upstream Shoes, quick-drying clothes and jackets, tents, sleeping bags, waterproof mats, and all kinds of misceneous items, such as first aid supplies and water purification pills. The above were the equipment list from the trip to Egypt and slightly modified for the damp and cold forest environment. Of course, the God-tier equipment, Xuanji sanitary pads, could not be forgotten. Everyone who had participated in military training at the University knew about it.

    "Dealing with these useless things." "There''s so much food in the forest. Do you know what you need the most?" It''s a shotgun!"

    This was true, but Zhang Zian didn''t have a gun license, so he couldn''t get a shotgun. Even if he did, he wouldn''t know how to use it. Besides, he had to try to avoid affecting the local ecology when he went to the forest.

    Zhang Zian put all the big and small bags into the travel vehicle. The originally spacious space became crowded, but it was much better than when he was in Egypt. At least he didn''t have to prepare so much diesel.

    In fact, many things were better prepared than not. In the end, they might not be used at all, because there were a few small towns scattered around the mahogany Park. If needed, they could go to the towns to replenish their supplies.

    The remaining thing, which was also the most important thing, was to tell her acquaintances and friends about her itinerary, in Case No one called the police if she really got lost in the forest. This was also the mistake that many rookie backpackers and some bold old backpackers who had failed in a ditch would make.

    He didn''t have to inform them one by one. He just had to mention it when snowy was broadcasting, because he knew that the staff were also watching the live broadcast and should understand what he meant.

    When she heard that he was going to go deep into the mahogany Park alone, snowy was very worried for him and advised him not to take too many risks. She also told him about what her father had said about many people disappearing in the forest Park.

    Theizens also ridiculed him, but this was also out of good intentions. They wanted him not to be stupid. Thest time he could return safely from the desert, it was all thanks to the scientific research team. This time, he entered the forest by himself, and he might not be able toe out.

    This was not an rmist talk. In the past three to four years, from 2004 to 2007, nearly 50 people had died of thirst, starvation, freezing, heatstroke, and wild beast attacks in the major forest parks in the United States. This was only well-documented. If the number of people who entered the forest alone without informing their friends and family was included, the number might be doubled.

    Snowy and theizens all felt that there was no need for Zhang Zian to enter the forest. Why did he have to take such a big risk? Last time, they had helped the expedition team, but this time, it was a meaningless risk.

    Zhang Zian didn''t hide anything. He told them about his encounter with the group of quacks in Chinatown. He admitted that he was curious and wanted to see what those people were doing. In addition, he wanted to persuade some people who were not deeply poisoned to correct their mistakes.

    There were all kinds of people among theizens. Some people felt that he was doing the right thing, while others felt that he was being a busybody. Since those people were stupid and were willing to sell him to a suspicious organization, who could they me? Of course, there were also many neutral onlookers who didn''t care about the fate of those people. They were only curious about what the primitive forest looked like and urged him to start a live broadcast when the time came.

    It was unrealistic to broadcast live in the forest. The United States was more vast and sparsely popted than China. Moreover,municationpanies were purelymercialpanies with profit as their goal. They would not have the awareness of "vige ess to the inte." There would be no mobile phone signal in slightly remote ces. There was no inte, so what was the point of broadcasting?

    Snowy admired his determination, but she could only express her support verbally. Her parents would never agree to let her enter the forest with them. She promised that if he disappeared for more than a week, she would call the police for him.

    Zhang Zian didn''t think he would be in much danger. After all, he had the Elfins by his side.

 Chapter 1498

    Zhang Zian put all the camping supplies he had bought and the things he had brought from China into the car. Things that were not afraid of the wind and the sun, such as tents and waterproof mats, were tied to the Aluminum alloy luggage rack on the roof of the car. Looking at the car, he felt like he had returned to the days in Egypt when he was running around in the yellow sand under the hot sun.

    He cleaned up the room, mainly using a vacuum cleaner to get rid of the cat, dog, bird, monkey, and strange fish scales, so that thendlord wouldn''t be surprised when he checked the room.

    The other Elfins were easy to deal with. They could tour the scenery of the United States with the car, but Sihwa had to be kept in the phone. However, the mahogany forest was by the sea, so maybe there would be a chance to let her out.

    In the end, he told the old couple through the app that he had checked out and thanked them for the great homestay.

    The Elfins had all gotten into the car. He was thest one to get in and was ready to start the long drive from San Francisco to mahogany National Park, which was a straight line distance of nearly 500 kilometers.

    It was expected that they would arrive at the mahogany park''s Visitor Center before night time if they set off now and had lunch in a small town on the way. They would rest there for the night, ask the locals about the situation, and then go deep into the primeval forest the next morning.

    There were no loopholes in his n, but the n could not keep up with the changes. Just as he started the engine of the car, his phone suddenly rang.

    Who was the one who sent the information?

    Wei Kang? Shop assistant? Xiaoxue? Sun Xiaomeng? Or other friends and acquaintances?

    To advise him to be cautious and not risk going deep into the forest?

    Tell him that there''s new progress in the test results of the dog food?

    Another dog infected with the strange disease appeared in Binhai city?

    Little white and its Army of stray dogs are in trouble?

    The tropical low-pressure clouds have dissipated or have changed their course to the Sea of Japan?

    When he picked up his phone and unlocked the screen, these thoughts shed through his mind. They were all things he cared about and cared about. Because he couldn''t use his phone while driving, he nned to reply to this message before leaving.

    However, the message did note from anyone, but a prompt from the pet Hunter game.

    [Game hint: a rare pet has been detected in your city. It is up to the yer to decide whether to capture it or not.]

    [Game hint: the following is the pet''s information.]

    Pet type:

    [Rarity: Epic/legendary]

    [Capture Difficulty: High]

    [Danger Level: Medium]

    On the electronic map provided by the game, a shing light shrouded San Francisco.

    What was going on?

    But at this time ...

    Zhang Zian stared at the screen in shock.

    "Zian, what''s wrong?" Old time tea saw his constipated expression through the rearview mirror.

    Richard jumped onto the pillow! Did this even need to be asked? I''m sure a couple of lovebirds must have popped up in my moments. "

    Zhang Zian used his snap of the fingers and flicked Richard away without even looking.

    A new Elfin appeared in San Francisco, not too far from us. I''m thinking, could it be a coyote?" He said.

    "Oh? What a coincidence. Since there''s still time, we might as well go over and find out. " Old time tea pondered, and a sharp light shed in the corner of its eyes."If it''s really a coyote, I''m afraid it will cause harm to the citizens. We can''t just sit back and do nothing."

    "I''m just guessing. I don''t think the possibility of a coyote is high. I''ve never heard of a particrly famous coyote in history or science." He put his phone on the stand and used the electronic map provided by the game to navigate.

    Richard flew back to the pillow."I feel that it''s a bird this time. After all, as the representative of the Birdmen, I''ve been bearing the emptiness, loneliness, and coldness that I shouldn''t have at this age ... A Crow is not bad. You''ve been a little too lucky recently, kid, and you urgently need a crow''s mouth to bnce things out."

    "Shut your doomsday mouth. If you''re really unlucky enough to be right, I''ll take a piss and drown you!" Zhang Zian took advantage of the fact that it had not yet stabilized itself and stepped on the gas pedal, making it fall off the pillow head first.

    When he was waiting for the red light, he erged the map to its maximum and found that the light was located in the city center.

    He wasn''t familiar with the terrain of San Francisco. When he drove to Chinatown, he had passed by it. In his impression, it was full of high-end residential apartments and hotels, as well as luxury shopping malls, all of which made him flinch.

    San Francisco wasn''t big, and there wasn''t any traffic after peak hour in the morning. He quickly drove to the edge of the light, and in front of him was a visible nted road.

    So it was the Nob mountain.

    Nob mountain was a small mountain in San Francisco. The mountain was not high, but it was full of rich people. The people who could settle here were either rich or noble. Ordinary people would never be able to afford a house in the city center.

    But why would elves appear here?

    Zhang Zian parked the car on the side of the road and looked at the rows of buildings, feeling worried.

    This was different from Misty Mountain. Misty Mountain was a Lone Peak in the suburbs, while Nob mountain was located in the city center. The nearby buildings were too dense. If they searched one building after another, how long would it take?

    He had to narrow down the search area.

    ording to his current experience, the elves were unlikely to appear in ordinary residential buildings, but in ces rted to themselves, such as jewelry stores, teahouses, libraries, waxworks, Chinese ssrooms, and so on. But even so, the scope was toorge, and it was possible for them to appear in any public building.

    Old time tea saw him frowning and said,""If you don''t have a clue, why don''t you drive the car to the top of the mountain, and then we''ll split up and search in all directions? maybe we can find some useful clues."

    Fina snorted."Don''t involve me in this kind of thing."

    "I can also ask the strays to help look," dimir said enthusiastically."But what exactly are we looking for?"

    It seemed that dimir had sessfully nailed a nail into the heart of the capitalist world.

    Zhang Zian shook his head. He couldn''t exin it clearly, but he had to get to the top of the mountain first.

    He drove to the top of the mountain, carefully observing his surroundings along the way, but did not find anything unusual.

    "Kaka! It''s very lively on the mountaintop!" Richard''s field of vision was the highest, and he looked straight ahead."It seems like someone is getting married."

    "What?"

    Zhang Zian also straightened his body and looked forward.

    Richard was not wrong. There was indeed a wedding at the top of the mountain. There were many cars parked there, and the guests were all dressed in good clothes and looked happy.

    Most of the guests were white, so the emphasis on this point meant that the traditional wedding venue in the West was ...

    Could it be ...

    A thought shed through his mind, and at the same time, a solemn gray building appeared in his vision.

    When he was eating and sightseeing at the Fisherman''s Wharf, he had seen this building from a distance. It was the famous Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.

 Chapter 1499

    Although western buildings like churches were not umon in big cities in China, they could not bepared to Europe and the United States in terms of scale, aura, design, or historical heritage. They might even have some humiliating history in recent history. For people traveling abroad to Europe and America for the first time, they would feel fresh and excited when they saw the magnificent cathedrals. After all, most of the cathedrals were simr.

    However, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco was an exception because this Cathedral was very open, not the kind that opened its doors to wee guests, but that this Cathedral was as inclusive as the city of San Francisco. In contrast to themon sense that science and religion were at loggerheads, you could even see United Nations murals, aids worships, and even Einstein''s rtivistic forms in this Cathedral ...

    The grace Cathedral wasn''t only open to Christians. No matter what religion you believed in, no matter if you believed in it or not, you were free to enter and pray. What was important wasn''t which God you prayed to in which religion, but the prayer itself and the peace of the heart that came from it.

    So this was a church that had nothing to do with faith.

    It was this open, tolerant, and progressive attitude that made the church a Holy Land for different countries, different skin colors, and different believers.

    In addition to being open-minded, the church itself was also very open. Most of the areas were open to tourists, but because someone was holding a wedding here today, some areas were left for the newlyweds to hold the ceremony.

    When Zhang Zian slowly parked his car near the entrance, he happened to see the couple walking out of the church hand in hand. He was dumbfounded because the couple ... Were two girls. Although one was wearing a men''s suit and the other was wearing a wedding dress, he could still tell that they were two girls, and they were both quite beautiful.

    This kind of scene, which would have been on the news in China, wasmon here. The rtives and friends of the two girls sprinkled flowers and sent them their sincere blessings with smiles on their faces.

    "Meow meow meow! Beautiful Lily! Lily wonder! Lilies are great!" Snowy Li was excited.

    "It''s just that I can''t give birth. " Zhang Zian said.

    Snowy Li red at him and said,"Your Majesty, why don''t we hold the ceremony here today?"

    Richard patted Zhang Zian''s head with his wings andforted him,""There are two more single men in the world now, and one of them might be you ... But it doesn''t matter. Even if you change, you won''t change. Your sexual orientation depends on your sex nd. Why don''t you and the other one ..."

    Zhang Zian waved his hand and smacked it away."What''s all this nonsense!"

    He was here to find new elves, not to eat lemons!

    After a little analysis, it was clear that this church was most likely the ce where elves lived in the vicinity of Nob mountain, which was covered by the light. This was the case in all senses, and the possibility was far higher than other buildings.

    The only problem was that when he first saw the church, he wondered if it was an elf rted to Christianity. However, when he thought that Grace Church was an open and inclusive church, he was not so sure because it would open its doors to people of all kinds of beliefs.

    He opened the door and got out of the car, pretending to be a tourist who had never seen the world. He took out his mobile phone and took pictures of the two girls ''wedding scene, but in fact, he was looking for the elfin.

    He was not the only tourist or local who was watching the show like him. The tourists from more conservative countries were even more stunned and even pointed excitedly. In contrast, he was not conspicuous among the onlookers, but the problem was that the main entrance of the church was upied by the wedding crowd, so he could not enter for the time being.

    The phone scanned the crowd at the entrance of the church. He was suddenly stunned, as if he saw an familiar figure in the crowd, and quickly pulled the camera back.

    The man who appeared in the crowd was wearing an ordinary suit, so he didn''t notice at first. Now that he took a closer look, wasn''t that father Chris yang?

    Ever since they had met and parted on the ne, he had thought that he would never have the chance to meet this Chinese priest again. He did not expect to meet him here. Of course, that time in the dream did not count.

    Thinking about it carefully, it was not surprising. Wasn''t it normal for a priest to appear near the church? This could be considered his job.

    However, father yang was not as calm as he was on the ne, but he was looking around in the crowd, with a worried look, as if he was looking for someone or something.

    Zhang Zian decisively decided that since he had encountered it, he could not let it go. Perhaps father yang could help him get into the church.

    "Father yang!"

    He put down his mobile phone, shed past the pedestrians and touristsing and going, waved to father yang, and quickly walked over.

    Suddenly hearing Chinese in an English environment, and calling his name, father yang was also stunned. Because he was wearing casual clothes at this time, those who could recognize him must be acquaintances, at least people who had seen him recently.

    "Father yang, Hello, do you still remember me?"

    Zhang Zian walked to the side and asked with a smile, pointing to his face.

    "Of course! Mr. Zhang, did you have a good time in San Francisco?"

    Father yang was not perfunctory, but he really recognized Zhang Zian. He smiled and waved in response. He and Zhang Zian had a very good conversation on the ne. If he was not in an urgent matter now, he would be happy to say a few more words.

    "Thanks to you, I had a good time. I also saw coyotes two days ago, and it''s just like you said. Coyotes aren''t afraid of people at all, and they even attack pet dogs."

    Zhang Zian observed his expression and saw that father yang had something in his heart and didn''t want to talk about it. But he also had something to do. He couldn''t just let go of the only acquaintance on the scene. He could only pretend to be carefree and simply describe Zhou Jing''s morning run when she was almost attacked by coyotes.

    Father yang politely and appropriately replied with a few words, but his mind was not here. His eyes swept around from time to time, and even the topic of coyotes did not bring his mind back.

    "It''s so lively here! Tsk, two pretty girls together, really ... Sigh! What should I say? You don''t have to worry about scarcity, but uneven distribution!" Zhang Zian sighed. This was not an act. He changed the topic to the church itself,"father yang, are you here ... To inspect the work or to visit your colleagues? Or was he hosting a wedding? Do you know those two girls? Do they have any other close friends they can introduce to me?"

    Father yang pondered a little and shook his head,""Neither. I just happened toe here."

    He didn''t want to lie, but he couldn''t just tell Zhang Zian the truth because he didn''t know what had happened. He could only be perfunctory.

 Chapter 1500

    A strange thing happened.

    Father yang had no doubt about the power of the prayer. The prayer could make their voices reach the heavens, but he did not know how the Saints in heaven would respond after hearing the prayer, and how the sacred exorcism object passed down 800 years ago would help them.

    Today, he and several other gray-robed men were still gathered in thepany''s basement, praying devoutly. They didn''t care how long the prayer wouldst, and they firmly believed that the Saint would not abandon the city named after him.

    They sat around the statue and silently chanted the prayer over and over again. The basement was silent except for the buzzing of their prayers.

    Someone cried out in rm, and the others woke up from their prayers. At first, they didn''t know what had happened, but when they followed the line of sight of the person who cried out, they saw an unbelievable scene.

    The statues of the Saint and the wolf had undergone subtle changes.

    Originally, the Sage''s hands, feet, and under his left rib each had a light red round hole-shaped scar, which meant that he had been blessed with five stigmas by God.

    The statue faithfully restored the five stigmas.

    Putting aside its demeanour, the wolf was just an ordinary gray wolf in terms of appearance.

    At this time, the Sage''s five stigmas were fading and disappearing, but five faint red lines suddenly appeared in the air. They extended horizontally from the Sage''s palm, foot, and under his left rib, connecting with the gray wolf''s four feet and left rib.

    When the five marks on the saint''s statuepletely disappeared, the Wolf''s four feet and ribs perfectly replicated the five marks. The red line in the air also faded and disappeared, as if the five marks had been transferred from the saint''s statue to the Wolf''s statue.

    Everyone stared at this strange phenomenon that they had never heard of before, their heads full of cold sweat, their hearts full of shock and fear. They wanted to ask others for help, hoping that others could tell them what had happened, but everyone''s expression was the same, even the oldest man in gray.

    Then, the eyes of the Gray Wolf statue suddenly moved.

    That''s right, the eyes of the Gray Wolf statue moved.

    At first, everyone thought it was an illusion caused by the changing light and shadow. However, there was no natural light in the basement, and the lighting waspletely artificial. At this time, the light was stable and there was no shing, so how could there be a change in light and shadow?

    Seeing this scene, even the gray-robed man, who had the most firm belief, couldn''t help but tremble.

    What had their devout prayers summoned?

    Before they could react, the statue of the gray wolf blurred for a short time. Then, a gray shadow separated from the statue and quickly floated to the elevator like invisible smoke. There were five deep red dots in the smoke, drawing five phantom-like red lines.

    As the gray shadow''s speed was too astonishing, they could barely make out that the gray shadow looked like a four-legged animal.

    After entering the elevator, the gray shadow directly rose into the air and floated up through the venttion window at the top of the elevator.

    Father yang, who was young and strong, was the first to react. Without discussing with the other gray-robed men, he ran into the elevator and pressed the button on the first floor. No matter what it was, he had to see it.

    Before the elevator door closed, he took onest look at the gray wolf statue.

    For some unknown reason, the statue''s appearance had not changed at all from before, but it gave him the feeling that it had lost its soul, and was no longer as vivid as before.

    The other grey-robed men were still immersed in fear and shock.

    Ding! Ding!

    The elevator stopped on the first floor. Father yang did not wait for the elevator door to fully open before squeezing out from the gap.

    "Where did it go?" He shouted at the female receptionist at the front desk,"do you see that gray shadow?"

    On the first floor, there were a few ordinary people who came to the tradingpany to discuss business. They stared at him as if he was a lunatic, but he couldn''t care less.

    One of the female receptionists pointed at the door and said,"I think I saw ..."

    Without waiting for her to finish, father yang rushed out of the door.

    "What the hell?"

    The vagrant who was basking in the sun scratched his belly and shook his head with a confused look. The next second, his dirty cor was grabbed by father yang.

    "Did something run past?" Father yang shook the Tramp and shouted.

    The vagrant recognized father yang because father yang had once given him $20. Such a generous person was rare nowadays.

    He grinned."Do you want my thanks or my answer?"

    Father yang took out his wallet, and without even counting, he randomly pulled out a few banknotes and threw them out,"say it!"

    The Tramp pointed to the right."Over there!" God knows what the hell flew past me. It was like a ghost or a shadow, and I was shocked. But if I can get money every time, I''m willing to let anything fly past me, no matter if it''s a damn ghost or something else ..."

    Father yang didn''t listen to his long-winded words at the back. He ran to the right. His leather shoes, which were not suitable for running, stepped on the road, shaking his feet numb.

    The homeless man bowed in joy. Last time, he had struggled between a haircut and a red-light district. In the end, he chose a haircut and a full stomach. After all, only by staying warm could one think about desire. It seemed that God had taken care of him recently and sent him money again. This time, he didn''t have to choose. He would go straight to the red-light district.

    "What the hell? Which country''s money is this?"

    When he picked up the pink note and looked at the unfamiliar old man''s face, his face became distorted, feeling that this deal was a loss.

    Father Yang ran aimlessly for a while. As he ran, he looked around with his eyes wide open, trying to find traces of the gray shadow. He was almost hit by a car, but he did not see anything. Looking for a ghost-like gray shadow in the chaotic andplicated modern city was simply a fantasy.

    However, he did not give up. He continued to run forward until he was blocked by the wedding crowd. He looked up and saw Grace Cathedral in front of him.

    "Did you see ... Some kind of grey shadow? Or something like smoke?" He rudely asked a tourist.

    "Baka!" The tourist smacked his hand away and turned to leave angrily.

    He then pulled a few other tourists and locals, but they either didn''t understand English or looked at him as if he was a lunatic.

    It was not a good idea to keep searching blindly. The gray shadow might not have run in a straight line, but had turned around and never arrived at Grace Cathedral. However, he did not want to give up. If he gave up now, this mystery would haunt him for the rest of his life.

    Zhang Zian''s appearance interrupted his search.

    He did not want to lie, but he did not know how to exin what had just happened, nor why he hade to grace Cathedral.

    The third volume of the physical book had already been officially released. Those who were interested could go and buy it. The V Group would still hold a book gifting event, but the time was not set yet.

 Chapter 1501 - -miss

    Zhang Zian and father yang each had their own ulterior motives, but it was not convenient to reveal the real purpose of their visit to Grace Cathedral to each other, which made the atmosphere at the scene indescribable.

    The wedding was not over yet. As for Zhang Zian, he must be shamelessly clinging to father yang. Otherwise, it would not be easy to enter the church now. Even if he waited for the wedding to end, the scene would take some time to clean up.

    Father yang had lost the mysterious gray shadow, and he had no clue at the moment. The education he received to be kind to others made it difficult for him to refuse the request of others without a proper reason.

    Father yang, I''m very interested in Grace Cathedral. I wonder if I can enter and take a look?" Zhang Zian asked with a sincere smile. The implication was, of course, to ASK FATHER yang to make an exception for him. Otherwise, if he entered on his own, he would be politely stopped by the newlywed couple ... No, the rtives and friends of the newlywed.

    It was strange to say that two beautiful girls were getting married, but why did the rtives and friends they brought along all be big and strong men? He looked like he had juste out of the gym.

    Father yang looked back and promised,""Okay, the church will open its doors to every guest with a sense of longing. Wait here for a moment, I''ll try to see if I can speak to you."

    He walked to the priest in charge of the wedding and talked to him for a while. Because he was wearing casual clothes and didn''t know the priest, he could only show his id to prove his identity. Then he turned around and pointed at Zhang Zian.

    The wedding wasing to an end, and it was not a big deal to let a tourist who had the guarantee of another priest in to take a look. So the priest nodded and waved to Zhang Zian, indicating that he could go in.

    With the priest''s approval, the rtives and friends of the new couple did not stop him, so they moved aside to let Zhang Zian in.

    Today, San Francisco''s sky was clear and cloudless. The steps in front of the church were noisy, but all of this made him quickly leave when he stepped into the church, as if he had entered another space.

    The thick stone pirs, the bright marble floor, the statues of mythical figures, and the unsmiling cultivators-the solemn atmosphere unique to the church made people involuntarily keep quiet after walking in. Even the usually unrestrained wastrel seemed to be a different person after entering the church ... Or a different bird. For example, Richard had a long memory since he was punished by God for spheming the temple of God in the Siwa Oasis in Egypt. Although it was not clear whether it was a divine punishment at that time, it was better to believe it than to insult a God. It was better to just bully Zhang Zian.

    Due to the vast space, every step he took would echo faintly, so even his footsteps would unconsciously be lighter.

    Any famous church was not only a religious ce, but also a precious piece of art. You could find master-level sculptures and murals in them. Even the design details of the church itself were extraordinary. Acoustic and optical effects were fully considered when it was designed and built. It was aimed to make people feel the tremor from the soul when they stepped in. Some people might even convert because of it, just like people who entered the Apple experience Store couldn''t help but take out their wallets. Of course, it was a different story if there was no money in the wallet.

    The grace Cathedral was the same. The sunlight shone into the room through the stained ss windows, creating a dreamy color on the stone pirs and the floor. The high dome enhanced the singing of the choir, and the sound waves reflected back to the ground covered the top of the audience seats. To the audience, it was undoubtedly a sound from heaven.

    Zhang Zian also wanted to calm down and appreciate the high-level and unique church, but he had more important things to do now.

    The only problem was that the grace Cathedral opened more areas to the outside than most of the cathedrals, but there were still some areas that were not open to the outside world. Even if he looked for father yang to make an exception, it would be useless. He could only hope that the elf was not hiding in some particrly secret ce.

    He held up his phone. To others, it looked like he was filming the inside of the church, but in reality, he was looking for traces of the elves through the game''s capture interface.

    A long corridor extended into the depths of the church, but there were no traces of elves within the range of his vision.

    "It''s quite cool inside and sunblock is on. You cane here more often in the future." Richardmented cautiously, sneaking a nce at the statues of the mythical figures nearby. It did not leave Zhang Zian''s shoulder. If God''s punishment came, at least it would have to die.

    Zhang Zian red at it and told it to shut up. It was too quiet in here, and even if it spoke softly, it would be easy for others to hear it.

    There were strange andplicated lines on the floor of the corridor. Perhaps they had a specific meaning in religion. Devout believers all followed the lines to enter the church for a visit. But since Zhang Zian was not a religious person, there was no need to follow any rituals. After confirming that there were no Elfins in the corridor through his mobile phone, he quickly walked through the corridor and went deeper into the church.

    Some of the wedding supplies were still lying nearby, and a few rtives and friends were walking in and out, asionally ncing at him when they passed by.

    The interior of the church was notplicated. Basically, he just had to walk in a straight line. He came to the ce where the church usually held sermons, which was also the most important ce of the church.

    Rows of chairs served as a guard for the podium, surrounded byrge, bright murals and some narrative statues, but Zhang Zian did not know most of the mythical figures, nor did he know what stories they were telling.

    Looking up, the Holy statue of the Christian Church was nailed on a cross. There was a ck iron nail on each of his hands, feet, and left rib.

    However, to his disappointment, he didn''t see the elf when he looked around.

    He was not willing to give up just like that, and he wondered if Richard''s crow''s mouth was right. The new elf might be a bird, so he looked up.

    The church''s dome was very high, and there was bright light shining down from the top. It was dazzling to look at, but he was looking at it through his mobile phone. Even if he couldn''t see it clearly, it didn''t matter. As long as he scanned the elfin, a notification would pop up on his mobile phone.

    Still, nothing.

    He had no choice but to give the Elfins a look, indicating for everyone to split up and see if they could find anything.

    After entering the church, his mobile phone had been on the capture interface. At this time, there was no capture, so he returned to the electronic map interface, wanting to see if the elfin''s location had changed.

    It was fine if he didn''t take a look, but what he saw shocked him greatly. The light that represented the elves had started moving at some point in time. The area covered by the light had already left Mount Nob and was moving towards the North at an extremely fast speed!

    No wonder they couldn''t find anything. The elf was no longer here.

 Chapter 1502 - Mahogany forest Park

    Is there a mistake?

    The sprite actually moved?

    Zhang Zian stared at the phone screen in shock. If he remembered correctly, this was the second time he had seen an elfin that quickly changed its position after appearing. Thest time was dimir, but dimir''s situation was a little special. It took the initiative to appear and lead him to chase it, using it to test him. This time, he didn''t even see the elfin''s shadow, so strictly speaking, this was the first time such a situation had happened.

    In fact, elves could move. For example, Sihwa was born in Denmark. After she was born, she had been swimming South and was stranded on the northern coast of Germany.

    He was a little regretful. If only he had looked at the electronic map a few more times. He didn''t think that this elf could move at all. He could only say that empiricism killed people!

    "Ahem!"

    He coughed lightly and made a gesture to the elves, indicating for them to quickly retreat. The situation had changed.

    Seeing his helpless and anxious expression, the elves followed him out of the church, not knowing what had happened.

    Father yang still stayed at the door of the church, talking to the local priest.

    Zhang Zian didn''t have time to exin and hurriedly said,"Father yang, thank you for your help. If there is a chance in the future, I will treat you to a meal. Let''s talk about it when we return to Binhai city ... I suddenly have something urgent to attend to, so I have to go.

    Without waiting for father Yang''s response, he trotted across the road and returned to his car.

    Father yang shook his head slightly. It was a pity that Zhang Zian hade out after just a few minutes. How could he have time to understand the greatness of the Lord? Well, maybe Zhang Zian had no fate with the Lord, and this matter could not be forced.

    "Zian, what''s wrong?" Old time tea jumped into the back of the car and asked.

    The other Elfins were also quite puzzled. In the past, every time he caught a new Elfin, he would turn the elfin''s location upside down until he found it. Why was it that today ...

    "Kaka! Your stamina isn''t good anymore. Do you feel like you''re being drained after eating too many lemons?" After Richard left the church, he felt an unspeakable sense of freedom, especially his mouth.

    Zhang Zian fastened his seat belt, clipped his phone to the car stand, reversed the car, turned around, and replied,""The elf ran away. She''s no longer in the church."

    "He ran away?"

    The elves were even more surprised.

    The ce where elves were born was a ce of special significance to them. If this elf had intended to leave from the beginning, why did she stay in the grace Church for a moment? Could it be another big-breasted, brainless elf like Sihwa?

    Zhang Zian wasn''t sure if the elfin had anything to do with religion, and he was even more uncertain now.

    "Are we going to give chase or do our own things?" Old time tea asked again.

    The phone stopped at the electronic map interface, and he could see that the elfin was moving very fast, almost straight toward the Golden Gate Bridge.

    Coincidentally, this was in line with Zhang Zian''s nned route. He had originally nned to leave the old Jinshan city by the Golden Gate Bridge today and head north.

    "It''s also heading north. It''s going the same way as us. " He replied,"let''s follow them and take a look first. We''ll talk about itter."

    It chose the Golden Gate Bridge to cross the sea, which proved that it was an animal that walked on its legs, not a bird. Otherwise, it didn''t need to go to the Golden Gate Bridge, it could just fly over the Strait.

    After a while, when Zhang Zian drove to the Golden Gate Bridge, he found that not only did he not get closer to the light, but he was also pulled further and further away by the light. This could be attributed to his unfamiliarity with the road conditions and the traffic regtions of the United States he drove carefully all the way, for fear of being stopped by the police. In that case, he could not rush. In addition, the elfin could take a shortcut and run in a straight line, while he could only drive along the main road. If he mistakenly took a fork in the road, he would have to turn back.

    He had no choice but to shrink the electronic map to get arger search area.

    The ball of light was still heading north without any intention of stopping.

    "I feel like this elf is in a hurry to do something." He muttered,"where is it going?"

    He had a vague guess that this elfin would go to the same ce as him to take a look at the mahogany National Park in the North.

    The elves couldn''t answer this question.

    There was no basis for this guess, but he remembered what old time tea had said when it wasmenting on dimir. Some elves were born at the right time. When the world was in chaos and the people were in dire straits, the chosen ones would be born with strange phenomena.

    At present, although the world was not in chaos and the people were not able to live, under the seemingly calm surface, there were already undercurrents, such as the increasingly rampant suspicious organizations, and the suspicious dog food that quietly spread around the world. If these problems were not handled well, who knew if they would not lead to more serious consequences?

    The matter of dog food could be put on hold, but Peter Lee and his Cosmo Information Society were obvious cancer. Even if Zhang Zian was not an internationalist fighter, Bethune, he could not sit by and do nothing.

    Due to San Francisco''s freedom and openness, it naturally had a strong attraction to suspicious organizations.

    As early as the Cold War decades ago, a guy named Jim Jones and the notorious People''s Temple he established had their headquarters located in San Francisco for a long time. The man imed to be the Holy Father, and once incarnated as Buddha, Jesus, and Lenin ... He was really not afraid of bragging.

    Lies needed more lies to make up for them. Jim Jones had boasted too much, and there were always smart people in the world who could see the loopholes in his words. Therefore, he prophesied the end of the world and brought all his believers to the red-shirt Valley. There, he implemented a socialist system that provided free food and lodging, but in reality, he did everything he could to exploit and oppress them. He confiscated all the property of his believers and even gave himself the Supreme right to mate ...

    Many unjust deeds led to self-destruction, and Jim Jones couldn''t escape the end of destruction. But what made people sigh was that in the end, he pulled thousands of believers to apany him to hell, shocking the whole world.

    Peter Lee and the mahogany forest made Zhang Zian think of Jim Jones and the Redwood Valley.

    He hoped that he was just overthinking and that the tragedy would not repeat itself.

    Leaving San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge, he drove onto Highway 101 and headed north in the traffic, observing the position of the light from time to time.

    The speed of the ball of light was sometimes fast and sometimes slow. Sometimes, it would slightly adjust its path, but the general direction was still North.

    Zhang Zian''s back ached as he drove. After about five hours of driving, he and the Elfins finally arrived at the border between Northern California and Oregon, and the elfin also seemed to have run hundreds of kilometers without feeling tired.

    Of course, if the elfin was smart enough, it wouldn''t just run on four legs. Instead, it would find a way to hitchhike and jump into the back of a certain northwalker car to save energy. Zhang Zian suspected that it really did do that.

    A primitive forest that stretched as far as the eye could see appeared in front of them. They had arrived at the mahogany National Forest.

 Chapter 1503 - -holy light

    Although the sudden appearance of the new elf was an unexpected interlude, what was even more unexpected was that they had arrived at their original destination after chasing the elf. He didn''t know if this could be considered as reaching the same destination through different means.

    However, there was a new problem in front of Zhang Zian.

    After he got up this morning, he was busy packing his camping supplies into his car and was about to set off to look for the elfin in the city again. He chased the elfin for more than five hours without stopping, not even having lunch. When he entered the mahogany National Park, it was already evening.

    The ball of light that represented the elfin plunged into the primeval forest that covered hundreds of square kilometers. Even if Zhang Zian was crazy, it was impossible for him to follow the ball of light into the unfamiliar forest at night when he was exhausted.

    After the light entered the forest, its speed slowed down greatly, but it was still moving north. It seemed that it had indeed taken advantage of its invisibility to hitch a ride. From this point alone, it was at least smarter than Sihwa, because Sihwa was stupid enough to swim from Denmark to Germany and not think of a way to get on a boat ...

    No matter what, he had to find a ce to stay before the sky turnedpletely dark. Everything else could only be discussed tomorrow.

    The Elfins were alsoining. On the way, Zhang Zian stopped the car once or twice for them to solve their physiological problems, but their physiological problems could not be solved immediately. Except for Richard, the rest of them both dyed the time andined.

    Zhang Zian switched to Google Maps and followed the directions to the visitor center. Although this would make him further and further away from the light, there was no other way.

    In fact, there were more than a dozen forest parks of various sizes North of San Francisco to the border of Oregon. Mahogany and giant shirts grew in all of them, but the mahogany National Park was the most popr.

    When they arrived at the southernmost tourist center, Zhang Zian stopped the car. The Elfins couldn''t wait to jump out of the car and stretch their bodies.

    There were also two or three travelling vehicles parked next to him. They were probably all tourists like him.

    "What are those people doing?" Famous asked, looking around.

    There were a few tourists there, taking pictures with their cameras and mobile phones excitedly, but the problem was that neither Zhang Zian nor the Elfins could tell what they were taking. The camera was only aimed at the edge of themon mahogany forest.

    Could it be that they could see things that others couldn ''t?

    Since they were stretching, the elves ran over to watch the show curiously, but they still couldn''t see anything.

    After those people finished taking the photos, they got into their cars and left.

    Zhang Zian locked the car and walked over to take a look.

    He was taller than the elves, so he immediately understood when he walked over.

    "It''s the light of Jesus. " He said.

    "What?"

    The elves did not understand, and most of them did not know who Jesus was.

    Zhang Zian had them take a few steps back and look at them from a suitable angle.

    Due to the abundant water vapor in the forest and the rapidly dropping temperature due to theing night, water vapor condensed in the air, but it had not formed into fog yet.

    They were facing the West, and the light of the setting sun wasing from the West. The ring sunlight was blocked by a tall and strong red-robed tree, so it would not directly enter their eyes.

    On both sides of the red-shirt tree, the sunlight shone on the condensed water vapor, forming several light curtains like sharp swords. The parts of the light curtains close to the sun had several circles of rainbow halos.

    The sharp contrast between light and dark made the red shirt tree seem very dark, and the sunlight was very strong. Coupled with the quiet forest, the whole scene had a mysterious sense of holiness.

    This phenomenon was called the Tyndall effect. The audience seemed to be shrouded in the light of God, which was also piously called the light of Jesus.

    There was the light of Jesus in the West, and the light of Buddha in the East. They were both named after the great shock and impact on the audience''s soul. In essence, they were all optical phenomena and had been given sacred names by people.

    Zhang Zian exined to them the identity of Jesus and the rtionship between Jesus and the church just now, which immediately led to Fina''s disdain.

    In theory, it was born in the same era as Jesus, or even earlier than Jesus. Itughed and said,""There was Egypt before the sky, cat god came before Sphynx cat! Jesus ... Hehe!"

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    Snowy Li immediately seized the opportunity and said,""Your Majesty, I think it''s better to change the name of this light to'' fina light ''!"

    Fina was reserved and didn''t say anything, but its expression was still very happy.

    The general public could feel the shock of the light of Jesus, but not many people could urately call the name "light of Jesus." This name was mainly circted in the photography circle.

    Zhang Zian could say this name because he knew Luo Qingyu, the president of the photography club at Binhai University. He often posted simr things in his circle of friends to show off. Of course, the targets of his show-off were the new junior Girls.

    Once, Luo Qingyu showed a picture of the light of Jesus that she had taken and proudly shared it with others. But soon, another photography enthusiast saw that his picture of Jesus was photoshopped and not taken on the spot ... Then the post was deleted, but Zhang Zian still saw it before it was deleted.

    The light of Jesus was not rare, but it often appeared in the wilderness or at sea, and it required some specific weather conditions. When it appeared, it might not be seen by people, and those who saw it might not know how to take photos, so it was not often photographed, especially the most magnificent small part of the light of Jesus, which was basically not seen in densely popted areas.

    As the setting sun moved, the light of Jesus formed by the tree became weaker and weaker. It gradually faded and was no longer as shocking as it was at the beginning.

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins had seen enough. In any case, it was a good sign to be able to see such beautiful scenery as soon as they arrived.

    They took a few steps toward the visitor center and left the edge of the woods. They came to an open space and bathed in the setting sun.

    Old time tea asionally looked up at the sky and reminded him,""Zian, look to the West."

    Zhang Zian and the other Elfins raised their heads and looked up at the sky in the West. They were dumbfounded.

    Unknowingly, a thick cloud had quietly moved over from the West. The sun that had yet to set on the horizon was blocked by the clouds, forming a strange scene of "one line sky". The sun shone through a gap in the clouds, and an extremely magnificent light curtain fell on the sky above the vast forest in the West. It was as if an Angel would descend to the human world through the light curtain in the next moment.

    He looked down at his phone. Although he couldn''t say for sure, he could tell from his eyes that the position where the light screen connected to the forest seemed to be the position where the light representing the elfin shed on the game map.

 Chapter 1504 - Did you notice the bear?

    It was rare to see such arge-scale light of Jesus formed by clouds. Inparison, the light of Jesus formed by the single redwood tree was just an appetizer.

    It was almost night, and arge amount of water vapor in the forest had escaped to the sky above the forest. Because the sunlight was weak, it could not evaporate the water vapor quickly, so the conditions for the formation of the light of Jesus were met above the forest. And just as a suitable cloud passed by before the sunset, the light of Jesus appeared naturally.

    The curtain of light started from the clouds and followed the invisible water vapor all the way to the canopy of the forest, as if connecting the sky and the earth.

    The clouds were blown by the breeze in the sky, and they were constantly changing their shape. The light curtain of the light of Jesus was also constantly changing, and in the blink of an eye, it was different from what he had seen before.

    Zhang Zian lowered his head, raised his head, lowered his head, and raised his head again. He found that the light screen seemed to be moving closely with the light on the map. Wherever the light moved, the light screen would shine. This treatment was like a big star who was always shrouded in the spotlight on the stage.

    Of course, visual inspection was not urate. It was difficult to judge the distance between him and the light screen with the naked eye, and it was also difficult to judge the distance between him and the ball of light on the map. This could just be a coincidence or a psychological effect.

    Richard, who had always been noisy, shut his mouth. He had learned his lesson. Last time at the temple of the gods in the Siwa Oasis, he had talked a lot and seemed to have been punished by God. This time, it was the sunset and rted to God. Unlike fina, he didn''t have the cat God''s protection, so he wisely decided to talk less.

    Beautiful scenery was hard toe by, but unfortunately, there was no one to enjoy it. Zhang Zian switched his phone to normal camera mode and took a few photos of the light of Jesus to remember that this was the real light of Jesus, not photoshopped. The next time Luo Qingyu used the light of Jesus to show off in his WeChat moments, he could p his face.

    After a while, the clouds drifted away, the sun reappeared, and the light of Jesus disappeared. Everything that had happened before was like a dream, leaving a deep aftertaste.

    "I''m going to the visitor center to see if there''s anything to eat. I''ll also try to find out if there''s anything. " He put down his phone and said,"you guys can take a walk around. Just don''t go too far."

    "Squeak!"

    Pi, who had been bored for a long time, climbed up the tree happily. It grabbed a horizontal branch with both hands and swung around on the swing. It also tried to swing from one tree to another like the monkeys in the movies. At first, it was very careful, but after a few tries, it grasped the trick and had a lot of fun swinging around.

    The mahogany forest was a paradise for wild animals. Many kinds of animals lived in it, including the plum deer, an alien species. However, there were no monkeys. At most, there were two or three pet monkeys that ran out of the residents ''homes. Therefore, there were no monkeys in an environment that was clearly suitable for monkeys to live in.

    "Meow! Pi, are you ying hide-and-seek?"

    There was no one nearby, and Gxy was happily following Pi in the woods. Wherever Pi went on the tree, it would run to the ground.

    It was not difficult for other cats to climb trees, but they would not climb trees for no reason. It was like the behavior of a child.

    Famous ran deeper into the forest to solve its physiological problems.

    Richard was not interested in trees or forests. It was getting dark outside, and it would soon be troubled by night blindness, so itnded on Zhang Zian''s shoulder and entered the brightly lit Visitor Center with him. As for its physiological problem, it had already solved it on the way. It could not hold it in anyway.

    There was a map model of the entire area in the visitor center. It was not a two-dimensional map, but a 3D model, which allowed visitors to more intuitively understand the nearby terrain. In addition, there was also a corresponding introduction to the scenic spots, including some rmended hiking routes.

    Zhang Zian wasn''t here to y. He only took a picture of the map with his phone.

    There was a notice on the wall. At first, he did not notice it, but Richard poked him with his paw and reminded him to take a look.

    The title of the notice was shocking: "you are in the area of bears and Lions!"

    There were two main parts to the notice. The first part was on how to avoid encounters. The tour area gave a few hints, asking tourists to form groups when walking into the forest. Don''t let children out of their field of vision, and don''t let children run far ahead by themselves. Also, make some noise when walking and don''t be too quiet, so that wild beasts will usually avoid humans. The second part was what to do if you encountered a bear or a cougar. The advice in the roaming area was not to run, squat, or lie down. Stay calm, don''t split up, pick up the child, and give the beast a chance to leave. If the beast didn''t leave, shout, wave your arms, or throw things to scare it away.

    This wasn''t just about the bear, but also about the Cougar.

    The first part was certainly not controversial, but the second part was different from the domestic rumor of lying down and pretending to be dead when encountering a bear. However, this method often appeared in fabricated adventure novels and could not be taken seriously. It was better to have no books than to believe in books. In fact, bears never hated eating dead animals, unless they were full.

    In addition, this was an United States bear, after all, so he couldn''t deal with it the same way he dealt with China bears. The United States had its own national conditions, and he was more inclined to believe the notice in the visitor center.

    However, this also proved that there were dangerous beasts in the mahogany forest Park, and bears and mountain lions were outstanding representatives of them. If they were to reduce the possibility of encountering danger while walking, it was best to follow the advice and enter the forest in a group.

    Richard patted his head with his wings, asking him if he liked lion''s poop more than bear ''s.

    Seeing the notice, Zhang Zian was a little nervous, but encountering a bear and a Lion was a small probability event, after all, and he couldn''t give up halfway.

    He looked back through the ss door. The Elfins were having fun in the open space and at the edge of the forest. It was unlikely to encounter bears or Lions near the visitor center, so they should not be in danger, but it was still best to remind them to be careful, in case they were caught off guard and unprepared when they encountered bears or Lions.

    Most tourists would have calcted the time when they came to the forest Park. They would usually arrive during the day, and by the evening, they would have left or gone to find a campsite. He had been dyed by the unexpected appearance of the new Elfin, otherwise he would have arrived here long ago.

    At this time, another car stopped at the door, and a white woman who looked to be in her 40s came out of the car. She held a stack of paper, took out a piece of wiper and pressed it on Zhang Zian''s window. Then she took out a piece of paper that was pasted on the door of the visitor center. She pushed the door open and entered, looking around the interior.

    When she saw Zhang Zian, she took the initiative to talk to him. She asked with a sad face,""Excuse me, have you seen my daughter?"

 Chapter 1505 - the missing girl

    <h4>Chapter 1505: Chapter 1505-the missing girl</h4>

    <b></b>

    The sun had notpletely set, but it was already dark outside. When the White woman stuffed paper into Zhang Zian¡¯s car window, Zhang Zian thought she was giving out small advertising flyers. He thought to himself that these small advertising flyers were too simple. At least they should have been printed on bronze paper ... When she walked into the visitor center, he noticed that she looked Haggard, her hair was tied up behind her head, and her eyes were bloodshot. She looked like she had a seriousck of sleep.

    In foreign countries, if you encounter strangers or things that you don¡¯t want to talk to, such as someone on the street pulling you to promote Environmental Protection theories or stuffing you with flyers, you just have to pretend to be at a loss and not understand English. This way, you can get away without losing your manners. Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t here to travel. He had a lot of things to do, but seeing the woman¡¯s dazed look, he softened and replied,¡±¡±Your daughter? I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m a new tourist here and didn¡¯t see your daughter. ¡±

    In fact, he had not seen a single young girl since he came here. All he saw was a group of old mages taking pictures of Jesus ¡®light.

    The White woman had probably been disappointed too many times. Hearing his answer was like adding a scoop of water to the ocean of disappointment, and the me in her eyes that was already out of oil was just a little weaker.

    However, she still handed him a piece of paper.¡±Sir, this is my daughter. If you meet her in the forest ...¡±

    Zhang Zian took the paper and looked down at it.

    The picture of a young girl was printed on the paper. She had a bright smile, and the freckles on her cheeks highlighted her youthful vitality. She had short hair and was wearing a bicycle helmet with a GoPro next to it. She looked like a college student who liked outdoor sports.

    There were a few lines of words written below the profile picture. The girl¡¯s name was melgen Miller. She was 19 years old this year and was studying in a famous school. Because she loved all kinds of outdoor sports and was brave enough to challenge herself, she decided to use a bicycle and hiking this summer to set off from San Francisco and cross a series of forest parks on the West Coast of the United States. Unfortunately, she disappeared about two weeks ago. Finally, she gave a series of phone numbers, asking people to contact her family or the police.

    Zhang Zian frowned slightly. He had inquired about some information before and aftering to the United States because of zombie deer, coyotes, and Leshi dog food. Many people might not know that in the United States, which was regarded as the most advanced technology and civilization in the Western world, it was not until ten years ago that someone sessfullypleted a simr feat. They walked through the 1800-mile mahogany forest on the West Coast of the Pacific Ocean, and it waspleted by two men.

    He was not sure if melgen had done simr investigations before, or if she had gone to the cricket on a whim. He guessed that it was thetter. If she had really done any investigations, she would not dare to underestimate this vast primeval forest.

    It was true that tourists who drove freely on the road could easily cross the West Coast. Other than car idents, there was basically no danger. They could also choose one or two ssic hiking routes rmended by the park as a tour, but real hiking was much more dangerous than this.

    Anything could happen in a primeval forest. In addition to wild beasts like bears and cougars, rainstorms, floods,ndslides, mudslides, and ruffians with bad intentions could all take your life. Even if you identally sprained your foot, you could be trapped in the forest and not be able to get out. You wouldn¡¯t even be able to call for help.

    The vast but sparsely popted poption density andmercial telmunicationpanies made the mobile phone signal coverage in United States much worse than China. There was no signal in the suburbs, let alone in the Virgin forest. The tall mahogany that covered the sky could even make satellite phones difficult to use.

    After Zhang Zian took the printed paper, he was about to say something when a man in a special uniform came over and said,¡±¡±Mrs. Miller, you¡¯re making things difficult for us. The search and rescue work for your daughter is over. Although I understand your feelings, please do not disturb the other tourists. ¡±

    The man¡¯s uniform was a gray top with dark green pants. There was an orange shield-shaped badge on his shoulder and a light brown cowboy hat on his head. The uniform was quite handsome, but Zhang Zian had never seen it anywhere else.

    After carefully observing the man¡¯s badge, Zhang Zian suddenly realized that he was a Park inspector, or also known as a forest Inspector. It depended on whether he was in the United States park system or the American Forest System, simr to the forest Police China, but his duties were very broad, from collecting tickets to being a tour guide, to searching for missing people and investigating cases. Basically, everything that happened in the forest Park was under their control.

    Mrs. Miller seemed to be enraged and shouted,¡±¡±My daughter is not dead yet! You bunch of good-for-nothings ended the search and rescue on your own and forced me to agree! Good! Then I will do it myself! Don¡¯t even think about controlling me! Don¡¯t ever think about it!¡±

    The forest patrolman looked at Zhang Zian awkwardly and said,¡±¡±We didn¡¯t say that your daughter is dead. We just think that her missing location is not in this forest. I advise you to look for her in other forests.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s here! I¡¯m sure!¡± Mrs. Miller roared hysterically.

    The forest patrolman¡¯s face turned cold.¡±Mrs. Miller, please calm down. If you continue like this, I will have to ask you to leave. I will personally escort you out of the county.¡±

    Obviously, if Mrs. Miller didn¡¯t know what was good for her and continued to be tough, the inspector would see her as being unreasonable and drive behind her car until she was driven out of the county.

    Mrs. Miller¡¯s eyes were burning with anger, but she didn¡¯t dare to do anything. If she was expelled, even herst hope of staying here to find her daughter would be destroyed.

    She pursed her lips and said to the inspector after a while,¡±¡±May God forgive you.¡±

    The inspector¡¯s face was expressionless, but he was also angry at the words that were actually a curse.

    After Mrs. Miller finished speaking, she seemed to have lost all her strength. She pushed the door open and went back to her car in a daze, but she didn¡¯t start the engine. She just held the steering wheel and buried her face deep in it, her shoulders rising and falling from time to time.

    ¡°Crazy woman.¡± The inspector snorted and returned to his seat. He flipped through a newspaper.

    Zhang Zian had wanted to ask the inspector if there were any suspicious organizations nearby, but looking at the man¡¯s appearance, it was obvious that he was the kind of person who worked only to make money. It was better to avoid unnecessary trouble. If he asked, it would probably arouse the other party¡¯s suspicion, and they would suspect that he was here to cause trouble. In that case, it was better to not ask.

    After some thought, he also turned and left the visitor center. He walked to Mrs. Miller¡¯s car and knocked on the window.

 Chapter 1506 - -small house in the forest

    <h4>Chapter 1506: Chapter 1506-small house in the forest</h4>

    Mrs. Miller was like an angry lioness in front of the forest patrolman, but in fact, she was on the verge of copse. Since her daughter went missing more than ten days ago, she had been crying in regret and self-me. She only had two or three hours of sleep every day, and she was always woken up by nightmares. Every time her phone rang, she always thought that her daughter had been found safe and sound, or that she was fine with a little injury, as long as she was alive.

    Since the official announcement of the end of the search and rescue in the forest Park due to weather reasons, she had tried to restart the search and rescue with her own strength. After failing, she had handed out flyers to every tourist she met, asking them to help find her daughter.

    Everyone had given up, but she had never given up. But even she was reaching her limit.

    When someone suddenly knocked on the window, she thought that the damn inspector had changed his mind and wanted to drive her out of the county right now. She couldn¡¯t take it anymore and was about to explode, but she saw Zhang Zian standing outside.

    She was stunned. She quickly wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes and rolled down the window.

    ¡°Mrs. Miller, right? I¡¯m ... Jeff, a China Tourist, but I¡¯m very sympathetic to your experience. ¡± Zhang Zian reached out and shook her hand to convey his sympathy.

    ¡°Thank you, Jeff.¡± Mrs. Miller forced out a smile and shook hands with him. She had received a lot of eye-rolls in the past few days, and even empty sympathy was precious to her.

    ¡°In fact ...¡± Zhang Zian turned around and pointed to the tents, waterproof mats, and other camping supplies tied to the roof of his car. ¡°I also n to enter this forest on foot, alone, just like your daughter.¡±

    Mrs. Miller stared at him worriedly. She didn¡¯t want this young man, who looked about the same age as her daughter, to repeat her daughter¡¯s mistakes.

    ¡°Jeff, listen to me. It¡¯s not safe in the forest. Don¡¯t go in alone. At least find apanion.¡± She advised.

    Zhang Zian smiled.¡±Mrs. Miller, I didn¡¯t enter the forest for a simple adventure. I have a reason to enter the forest. Also, you don¡¯t have to worry too much about my safety. I know kung fu.¡±

    As he spoke, he made a few Wing Chun moves. His punches were Swift and fierce, and Mrs. Miller was stunned.

    ¡°As expected, Chinese people are all kung fu masters.¡± She eximed in admiration.

    Zhang Zian just wanted to boost her confidence, so he didn¡¯t rify her misunderstanding. Besides, he didn¡¯t expect Kung Fu to guarantee his safety in the forest. Even if he pulled ye Wen over, he wouldn¡¯t be able to fight a ck bear or a cougar alone. In the forest, the only thing that could guarantee one¡¯s safety was calmness and attentiveness. Of course, there were also the elves.

    ¡°What I want to say is that I haven¡¯t thought of a way to enter the forest ... So I thought, since we¡¯re going in anyway, I might as well ask you which way your daughter went in. If possible, I n to follow her route. Maybe I can help you find her ...¡± He said.

    Mrs. Miller¡¯s eyes suddenly widened, and she covered her mouth, staring at him in disbelief.

    ¡°Really? Are you serious? Oh my God! Oh my God! You¡¯re not joking with me, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course not.¡± ¡°You can believe me,¡± Zhang Zian said solemnly.¡±I¡¯m not religious, so I won¡¯t swear to God. But I can swear on my wallet.¡±

    Mrs. Miller was stunned for a moment, thinking that this might be a unique way of swearing for the Chinese, so she didn¡¯t ask further. Most importantly, someone was willing to help her find her daughter in the forest. Even if he was sent by the devil from hell, she couldn¡¯t care less.

    She looked warily into the visitor center and saw the inspector looking in her direction suspiciously. She immediately said,¡±¡±I believe you, but it¡¯s not convenient to talk here. Follow me.¡±

    Zhang Zian understood and returned to his car. He motioned for the Elfins who were taking a walk outside to get in.

    The temperature plummeted at night. The elves had fur to keep them wet, so they didn¡¯t hate the cool weather, but the rising humidity made them a little ufortable.

    ¡°Who is this person?¡± Fina asked.

    Zhang Zian briefly exined that her daughter had gone missing in the forest. Considering that she had participated in the search and rescue work for more than two weeks, he thought that she should be more familiar with the situation nearby, so he nned to ask her about the situation and help each other.

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡±old time tea agreed.

    After Mrs. Miller¡¯s car started, he followed her.

    It was foggy.

    The visibility of the road became very low, and the dark woods on both sides were like ghosts that appeared and disappeared in the fog. Zhang Zian could only follow the lights of the car in front of him from a distance, which reminded him of his driving experience in the ck storm in the Sahara Desert. The difference was that one was extremely dry weather, while the other was extremely humid weather.

    The two of them drove very slowly, especially when they turned corners. They were almost like snails. All the cars on the road disappeared. The number of cars they encountered could be counted on one hand. It seemed that no one was willing to drive at night in such a foggy day, as it was easy to be in danger.

    After an unknown distance, Mrs. Miller¡¯s car turned into a small road, and the road became bumpy.

    After a while, the car in front stopped.

    Zhang Zian also slowly stopped the car and saw a forest hut in front of him.

    This was really a very simple and crude wooden hut. It was not some kind of rural area. There were only two houses, and there was a pile of firewood outside the house. It looked like a hunting hut or a ce where people lived in seclusion in the mountains.

    Mrs. Miller had already gotten off the car and was standing at the door of the cabin, calling him in.

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins followed her into the house.

    ¡°Please take a seat. This ce was lent to me by a kind person because I don¡¯t want to leave. If my daughter is found, I want to see her immediately.¡±

    She was busy starting the diesel generator and turning on the electricity in the wooden house. Warm lights came on and expelled the darkness.

    Then, she brought in some firewood and lit the firece. As the mes rose, the room became warm.

    All the elves were attracted by a deer head on the wall. The deer head was very lifelike, and it was nailed to the wall as a specimen. Its round ck eyes reflected the light.

    Such specimens weremon in the United States. The owner of the house used the specimen to show that he was an excellent Hunter. Of course, the one who made the specimen might not be the current owner, but the current owner¡¯s father, grandfather, or even an ancestor.

    The elves were not used to it and felt that it was a bit cruel. Besides, weren¡¯t they afraid of being stared at while sleeping by this deer head?

    ¡°Tea or coffee?¡± Mrs. Miller asked.

    ¡°Tea,¡± Zhang Zian said. His clothes during the day were very thin, and he really needed a cup of hot tea to warm his body.

    Mrs. Miller made a cup of tea for herself, sat down, and told Zhang Zian what had happened after her daughter¡¯s disappearance.

 Chapter 1507 - Forest search and rescue

    <h4>Chapter 1507: Forest search and rescue</h4>

    The cottage was made of a mixture of brick and wood. Except for the firece, which was made of bricks, most of the other parts were made of wood. The walls were made of round logs fixed in ce by mortises and tenons. Although it looked crude, it was quite strong and practical. Most importantly, it had good thermal instion. It was warm in the winter and cool in the summer, even though the mahogany forest was not hot in the summer.

    The wooden house isted the mist outside, and the firece dispelled the cold. Through the small window, the mist could be seen flowing slowly like whiteva.

    The firewood burned, the kettle whistled, and the deep roar of the diesel generator outside the house could be heard clearly in the quiet forest.

    Sometimes, they could hear unknown soundsing from outside the door. Even though they knew that it was some small animal tiptoeing past, it was still difficult to suppress the terrifying delusions that grew wildly in their minds.

    Without running water, they had to rely on themselves to generate electricity, and there was no WiFi. Living in such a ce for a day or two might make them feel fresh, but after a long time, loneliness could kill them.

    It was conceivable that the person who lived here before must have been a rough middle-aged single man in his forties or fifties. He was a white man who had served in the Army and participated in local wars. He might have been diagnosed with PTSD, so he lived in seclusion and didn¡¯t want to deal with anyone.

    As a middle-aged woman who was used to living in the city, she had to live alone here for more than ten days in order to find her daughter. She really needed to borrow some courage from Liang jingru. Perhaps only maternal love could drive her to ovee the fear in her heart and do this.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s guess was confirmed by Mrs. Miller. The person living here was indeed a down-and-out middle-aged man who always wore camouge clothes. His words and actions seemed to be that of a soldier, but she didn¡¯t know more details.

    Said Mrs. Miller. Melgen had be very independent since she went to college. She made many decisions on her own, and she only informed her family after she started doing it, including the cycling and hiking trip through a series of mahogany forests on the West Coast. When Mrs. Miller got the news, melgen had already set off.

    At that time, although Mrs. Miller was a little worried, she didn¡¯t take it too seriously. She and her daughter had driven to the West Coast more than once and knew that there were many tourists here. There were also some small towns scattered in the forest, and her daughter wasn¡¯t purely trekking, so she didn¡¯t try to persuade her again after a few words. She knew her daughter¡¯s character. Once she decided to do something, she would definitely do it, and it was useless to persuade her. However, she asked her daughter to contact her once every morning and night and report her schedule. His daughter also agreed.

    At first, it was going well. Melgen tried to keep in touch with her every day. Even if she was interrupted for a day because of the bad signal, she would exin the situation to Mrs. Miller in time. Therefore, Mrs. Miller gradually felt relieved. Looking at the various fun pictures of the trip posted on her daughter¡¯s social ount, she also sincerely shared her daughter¡¯s happiness.

    However, on the day melgen arrived near the mahogany forest Park, she sent a message in a hurry. Besides reporting her location, she also mentioned that she had discovered something interesting. It was not the first time she had mentioned something interesting during the journey. Usually, it was because she had seen some surprising animals, such as a Golden Banana slug that was longer than the palm of a hand. It was as thick as a banana. When she saw the picture melgen had sent, she said, Mrs. Miller almost vomited the breakfast she had eaten half-way ... So, Mrs. Miller smiled and did not take it to heart. But the next day, melgen did not send any more messages. On the third day, she did not send any more messages, and she could not get through to melgen¡¯s phone either.

    Mrs. Miller couldn¡¯t sit still anymore and called the police, but the local police¡¯s attitude was more perfunctory and asked her to wait a little longer. They said that the signal in the forest was not good and that the families of the camping people often called the police. In the end, two dayster, it turned out to be a false rm. This kind of thing was toomon.

    She hoped so too, but she was still very flustered. On the morning of the fourth day, melgen still did not contact her. She immediately drove from the city in Central America and personally appeared at the local police station to ask the police to take action.

    On the fifth day, melgen, who still had no news, finally attracted the attention of the police, and the search and rescue work began.

    The search and rescue work was not going well, mainly because the forest had been foggy recently, and sometimes it rained heavily. In addition, the police had limited manpower. Even with the use of helicopters and the help of tourists and local residents, hundreds of people had entered the forest without any sess. However, several people had suffered bruises, sprains, and falls to varying degrees during the search and rescue work. There was even one time when they mistook their teammates for wild beasts and identally shot them.

    The search continued on and off for two weeks. The volunteers ¡®enthusiasm was worn out, and so were the forest patrollers. However, their harvest was pitifully little. They only found some daily necessities that could not be confirmed if they were left behind by melgen. Other than that, they found nothing.

    The police announced the end of the search and rescue work because they thought melgen had never been there. Melgen¡¯s phone wasst turned on by the sea dozens of miles away.

    The public opinion was reversed. Melgen¡¯s image changed from a healthy and cheerful outdoor sports expert to a runaway girl who was full of lies. She also hinted that it was the environment of a single-parent family that caused all this.

    Mrs. Miller could not exin why her daughter¡¯s cell phone signal would appear on the beach, but she firmly believed that her daughter would not lie to her. Melgen must have encountered some danger in this forest.

    Without the help of the police and volunteers, Mrs. Miller could only find her daughter on her own. She didn¡¯t want to leave this ce unless she found her daughter. Fortunately, a veteran who lived in seclusion in the forest trusted her and lent her his house. He carried a Lafu gun into the forest and helped her find her daughter.

    Zhang Zian was the second person she had met who was willing to help her after the search and rescue work was over.

    ¡°Another cup?¡±

    When Mrs. Miller finished telling what had happened, the teacups in her and Zhang Zian¡¯s hands were empty.

    ¡°Thank you! ¡°That veteran ...¡± Zhang Zian handed the teacup to her.

    ¡°His name is Mike. Although he doesn¡¯t like to talk, he¡¯s a good person.¡± She stood there and waited for the water to boil again.

    ¡°How many days has Mike been in the forest?¡± He asked.

    Mrs. Miller thought for a moment.¡±Tomorrow is the fourth day.¡±

    ¡°Did he say ... He¡¯ll be back in a few days?¡± Zhang Zian asked tactfully.

    ¡°He didn¡¯t say, but he told me not to worry. He said he was very familiar with the forest ... To be honest, I¡¯m a little worried about him now, but he doesn¡¯t even have a cell phone ...¡± Mrs. Miller sighed heavily.¡±He seems to have no family. In the eyes of the patrollers, he¡¯s always a troublemaker. No one cares about him.¡±

    After a moment of silence, Zhang Zian and she both knew that it was time to consider the possibility that Mike had also disappeared.

 Chapter 1508 - -following the vine to find the melon

    <h4>Chapter 1508: Chapter 1508-following the vine to find the melon</h4>

    It was hard to imagine what had happened that would cause a veteran who had lived in the area for many years and was very familiar with the forest to follow in melgen¡¯s footsteps and disappear quietly in the forest.

    If it was a wild beast, this veteran had brought a Lafu spear into the forest. Even if he encountered a ck bear or a cougar, he could still fight it. Unless he encountered a brown bear with its Cubs ... That would be really dangerous. However, as a veteran and an experienced Hunter, he would not make such a mistake.

    To be honest, the weirder things were, the more confident Zhang Zian was. There was an 80% chance that there was something unspeakable hidden in this forest. Melgen and Mike might have seen something that they should not have seen, so they met with an ident. The only thing that could make two living people disappear without a sound was a human.

    The elves were also listening attentively to Mrs. Miller¡¯s story, attracted by the mystery of the disappearance.

    Zhang Zian quietly extended a leg to block snowy Li, because it always moved to the firece to enjoy the warmth and dryness of the firece. However, if it continued to move like this, it would be a charcoal Lion.

    Mrs. Miller looked at him. He was still so young. If he disappeared like melgen and Mike, his parents would be so sad.

    ¡°Child, thank you for your kind intentions, but this forest is really strange. You¡¯d better consider your decision carefully. Even if you decide to quit now, I can understand,¡± she persuaded, enduring the pain.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m someone who walked out of the devil¡¯s Sea in the Sahara Desert alive!¡±He said.

    The atmosphere was too depressing. Zhang Zianughed and showed her the photos and videos he had taken during the Sahara trip, including the selfie he had taken when he almost died of thirst in the desert during the return trip. At that time, he had really realized that he was going to die, so he made an excuse to record a farewell video when he went to the bathroom. It was the first time that even the elves had seen this video.

    Mrs. Miller didn¡¯t understand Chinese, but looking at his dry lips due to theck of water and his face peeling from the sun, as well as the desire for life in his eyes, she could fully understand his despair at that time.

    She didn¡¯t expect this young man to have such rich adventure experience. No wonder she felt that he had a different temperament from ordinary people. This was the calmness that could only be possessed by those who had experienced the test of life and death.

    ¡°No matter how dangerous this forest is, it can¡¯t be more terrifying than the devil¡¯s Sea.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m not going into the forest alone,¡± Zhang Zian encouraged her.

    ¡°Ah? You have apanion?¡± Mrs. Miller was stunned, thinking that there would be friendsing to meet him. That was good, the more people the better.

    Zhang Zian whistled, and famous¡¯s barking came from outside the house in response.

    He opened the door. Famous was wet from the mist, and its hair was almost all stuck to its skin.

    Mrs. Miller was startled and stood up, but when she saw that it was a German Shepherd and that it was meekly lying by the firece after entering the house, she was relieved.

    When Zhang Zian went to the visitor center, he didn¡¯t bring famous with him. It was already dark, so Mrs. Miller didn¡¯t notice its existence. Later, Zhang Zian drove and followed her here. Before getting out of the car, he told famous to stay outside and see if there was anything unusual around. This ce was too remote, so he had to be wary of others. He couldn¡¯t blindly trust Mrs. Miller just because she was pitiful. What if she was a liar who made up stories to gain the sympathy of fools, and there was an aplice of the perverted murderer lying in ambush nearby?

    Famous patrolled around the wooden house and didn¡¯t smell any fresh scent left by other people nearby. It happened to hear Zhang Zian¡¯s Secret signal, so it responded.

    ¡°What a great dog! What¡¯s its name?¡± Mrs. Miller had also raised a dog before, but she had stopped after she died of old age. She took out ab and tried tob famous¡¯s hair, which was wet and knotted by the mist. Seeing that it didn¡¯t resist at all, she liked it more and more.

    ¡°Famous.¡± Zhang Zian said,¡±it will enter the forest with me to help you find your daughter. So, do you have anything that has the smell of melgen? It¡¯s best if it¡¯s something like clothes. ¡±

    ¡°There are!¡± Mrs. Miller immediately nodded and found a wool hat from a pile of junk.¡±They found this in the forest. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s my daughter ¡®s, but they said this kind of hat is toomon and can¡¯t be used as evidence.¡±

    Zhang Zian took the wool cap and put it in front of famous¡¯s nose for it to smell.

    ¡°It¡¯s a hat for young women. ¡± Famous said. To Mrs. Miller, it only barked a few times.

    ¡°During the search and rescue, the forest patrolmen also brought police dogs, and more than one, but they said that it was a heavy rain, and the smell was washed away ...¡± Mrs. Miller said worriedly.

    Zhang Zian smiled with confidence.¡±The rain will indeed wash away your daughter¡¯s smell, but I¡¯m not trying to track her smell. With all due respect, your daughter has been missing for more than two weeks. Even without the rain, I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s not much of her smell left.¡±

    ¡°Then, you ...¡±

    Due to theck of sleep, Mrs. Miller¡¯s mind was in a mess, so she didn¡¯t react for a moment. It was not until her eyes touched the furnishings in the cabin that she suddenly understood.

    ¡°Argh! You mean you want to track Mike¡¯s smell?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. ¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded.¡±There hasn¡¯t been any heavy rain in the past two or three days, right?¡±

    ¡°No, I didn ¡®t! I don¡¯t have any!¡±

    Mrs. Miller felt as if she was grasping at a life-saving straw. Her heart suddenly opened up, and she nodded excitedly.

    Melgen had been missing for too long, and her scent had long dissipated. Moreover, they were not clear about the exact location where she had entered the forest. It was too difficult to find her scent in the vast forest. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. However, Mike¡¯s scent should still be around. His starting point must have been this little house in the forest. If he followed Mike¡¯s scent, even if he could not find melgen, he could at least find Mike.

    As a veteran who had retired from the battlefield, Mike¡¯s smell characteristics were very obvious, much more obvious than that of a young girl. The strong smell of tobo, alcohol, sweat from not taking a bath for a long time, and especially the pungent smell of gunpowder smoke and gun oil were mixed together. Zhang Zian had smelled it when he walked into the room. He believed that these smells would exist for a long time in the windless forest.

    This forest was too dense, and the dense forest would be a natural barrier for the wind, so there was almost no wind in the forest. The fog would not dissipate for a long time, and so would the smell.

    The almost extinguished fire of hope in Mrs. Miller¡¯s eyes seemed to have been injected with new fuel, and it shone again.

    Mike¡¯s disappearance might be rted to melgen¡¯s disappearance. If they could find Mike, they might be able to find more clues about their daughter¡¯s disappearance.

    The dark clouds that had covered the sky for days finally revealed a ray of light.

 Chapter 1509 - heavy fog

    <h4>Chapter 1509: Chapter 1509-heavy fog</h4>

    At night, in order to collect as many clues as possible, Zhang Zian asked Mrs. Miller all of melgen¡¯s hobbies and habits, as well as Mike¡¯s character and physical characteristics. Mrs. Miller was very cooperative and told him everything. When it was almost midnight, Mrs. Miller returned to the room in the inner room, while Zhang Zian stayed in the room outside. They both closed their clothes and slept.

    Ever since the reversal of public opinion and the media painted melgen as a runaway girl, Mrs. Miller had been under a lot of pressure. In addition to that, she was worried about her daughter¡¯s safety. Her nerves were almost broken, but no one was willing to listen to her. Mike trusted her, but he was a man of few words, so he was not a suitable person to talk to. It was not until he told Zhang Zian everything that had been in her heart for a long time that she felt a lot more rxed, as if she had given Zhang Zian a part of the heavy burden on her shoulders ... So, this night was the only night she had fallen asleep in more than half a month.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t sleep for too long, mainly because he wasn¡¯t used to the living environment and the night in the forest. In addition, the deer head specimen was quite creepy under the light of the firece. In the end, he found a piece of cloth to cover it before he fell asleep. Every time there was the sound of dead branches breaking or fallen leaves being trampled on outside the house, he would wake up nervously. However, when he saw that the elves were sleeping very well, at least they looked like they were sleeping very well, he knew that it was just a harmless little animal running by. Hence, he continued to sleep.

    Staying in the wooden house for the night was the perfect transition before they really entered the forest. Otherwise, if they had directly set up tents in the forest, the mental pressure would probably be ten times greater than this. Now, at least they had a solid wooden house as a barrier, not a thin tent.

    The next morning.

    When Mrs. Miller opened the door and came out of the inner room, he also sat up and wiped his face.

    There was no running water in the wooden house, and all the water was transported by themselves, so life was quite inconvenient.

    The two of them ate something casually, and Zhang Zian said goodbye and set out to the forest. The sky brightenedte and the sky darkened early, so he had to make use of the daytime as much as possible to hurry on his journey.

    He could barely get a cell phone signal in the cabin, but the signal was not strong enough to go online. He texted the GPS coordinates of the cabin to snowy and his friends in China, who were still in the United States.

    Mrs. Miller had a good night¡¯s sleep and was much better. She asked him how many days he was expected toe out, which meant that she would call the police if he didn¡¯te out in a few days.

    He didn¡¯t dare to make any assumptions, as there were too many problems involved. For example, he was a novice and had no experience in walking alone in the forest, so he couldn¡¯t estimate his own walking distance. Also, if he found something unusual and followed, God knew how long it would take. In the end, he gave a vague answer of seven days.

    Aftering here, he knew very well that if he were to encounter any danger and be trapped in the forest, it would be impossible to expect the police to carry out an efficient search and rescue. If that really happened, it would be useless to call the police.

    The backpack was ready. It was big and heavy, with tents, waterproof mats, pots, bowls, raw rice, instant canned food,pressed dry food, chocte, and other camping supplies and food. There was even a cat¡¯s drinking basin. They only brought a small amount of drinking water because the water was too heavy and there was nock of water in the mahogany forest. It could be drunk after filtering and disinfecting.

    Famous was carrying a Kasaya, which contained some of the elves ¡®food to help him reduce the burden.

    As soon as he picked up the backpack, he felt like he was carrying a mountain. He almost fell back, and Mrs. Miller quickly helped him.

    ¡°It¡¯s so heavy. Is it okay?¡± She asked worriedly.

    The way veteran Mike and Zhang Zian entered the forest waspletely different. The former carried a gun and went in, while thetter was almost like moving. She couldn¡¯t tell which one made her feel more at ease.

    ¡°No problem. I didn¡¯t manage to maintain my bnce just now.¡±

    Zhang Zian walked a few steps against the wall and gradually mastered the trick. He had to lean forward at an angle so that the center of gravity of his upper body and the backpack was right above his legs. Only then could he walk normally.

    As a new hiker, he wanted to bring everything with him for fear of missing something or running out of food, which made his backpack heavier. He wasn¡¯t sure how far he could go in the forest with such a heavy bag.

    It was not because he was physically weak, but because of his ability to adapt. Just like some workers who were used to carrying heavy things, their physical strength was not much stronger than his, but their bodies, muscles, and nerves had adapted, so they could still walk quickly with heavy things on their backs.

    Famous, let¡¯s go.¡±

    He held a walking stick to help maintain bnce and called famous to lead the way.

    Famous had slept in the wooden house for a night and remembered Mike¡¯s smell clearly. It barked and ran in front of him, stopping from time to time to wait for him.

    ¡°Take care! Take good care of yourself!¡± Mrs. Miller looked at his back and said in the distance,¡±¡±Bring the two of them back!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! Mrs. Miller, you too!¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t dare to look back, nor did he dare to stop. He was afraid that he wouldn¡¯t be able to move again after he stopped, so he clenched his fists to show his confidence.

    The forest was still filled with the morning fog, and the air was extremely humid. Visibility was almost zero even after a dozen steps.

    His surroundings were extremely quiet, not even the sound of a bird chirping. It was as quiet as a grave, with only the crackling sound of his footsteps on the withered branches and his heavy breathing.

    After walking for more than ten minutes, the wooden house and Mrs. Miller had long disappeared into the fog. The elves who had been holding back for a long time finally spoke.

    ¡°Meow meow meow! I¡¯m so tired! I¡¯m not leaving, I¡¯m going back to my phone to rest!¡±

    The snowy Li¡¯s short legs stepped on the dead leaves of the forest, staggering and being left behind. Its snow-white fur was also stained with dirt and other dirty things. What was more disgusting was that there were often earthworms wriggling under the leaves.

    Zhang Zian was toozy to talk, so he put it back into the phone. This saved him a lot of trouble, since he didn¡¯t prepare raw beef brisket for it.

    ¡°Zian, is the elfin still there?¡± old time tea asked.

    ¡°Yes, he is.¡± Zhang Zian looked down at his phone and said,¡±¡±I saw it a few timesst night, and it¡¯s the same now. It¡¯s been staying in this forest, far ahead. It¡¯s moving very slowly, S-shaped in the forest, as if it¡¯s searching for something.¡±

    ¡°Hiss ... If that¡¯s the case, it might not be good ...¡± Old time tea took a deep breath and remained silent.

    Richard couldn¡¯t stand on Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder, so he could only stand on the top of the backpack, which gave him a wider view. He jumped and said,¡±¡±Kaka! Why do you say that?¡±

    Zhang Zian answered for old time tea.¡±Because this elfin has stayed here for too long, and its range of movement is too wide. It came all the way here from San Francisco. It didn¡¯t disappear or get caught, so it is likely to attract other yers.¡±

 Chapter 1510 - Heavenly lightning

    <h4>Chapter 1510: Heavenly lightning</h4>

    At first, the new Elfin left San Francisco and ran North, which happened to coincide with Zhang Zian¡¯s route. He happily thought that this was a good thing to kill three birds with one stone. Anyway, he was going to the mahogany forest to find a venison ughterhouse, as well as Peter Lee¡¯s suspicious organization. But when it plunged into the misty forest, it became extremely difficult to even approach it, let alone capture it. The good thing became unpredictable.

    The game¡¯s difficulty of capturing it was ¡°high,¡± but that was the difficulty in San Francisco. The dense primitive forest and the fog that didn¡¯t dissipate even during the day had probably made the difficulty of capturing it ¡°extremely high.¡±

    It was fine if they couldn¡¯t catch it, but it didn¡¯t disappear. It was like a Candle in the Dark, attracting countless moths.

    However, Zhang Zian was already riding a Tiger. If he backed out now, it would make Mrs. Miller, who had finally caught a glimmer of hope, heartbroken. It would make the problem of Leshi dog food continue to worsen, and Peter Lee and the others would deceive more people. He could only force himself into the forest now.

    Would someone else be attracted here?

    It was like the popr big escape game, where people were blindfolded and thrown into an unfamiliar forest to see who could survive or win the Holy Grail.

    Fortunately, the forest was big enough, the fog was thick enough, and he was well prepared. Now, he only hoped that the ce this elf wanted to go and the thing she wanted to find was not the same as him, or it would be troublesome.

    dimir clenched his fist and said heroically,¡±¡±There¡¯s good wine when friendse. There¡¯s a hunting rifle when wolvese!¡±

    Old time tea looked up and said,¡±the fog today doesn¡¯t seem to be dissipating.¡±

    ¡°Well, I hope they don¡¯t leave too early.¡± Zhang Zian wiped his sweat.¡±Famous, is Mike¡¯s smell still there?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s still here. ¡±

    Famous rushed in front and sniffed around. After three days, Mike¡¯s smell was still very clear. In its eyes, his smell was like a road woven by several colors, winding into the depths of the forest. Sometimes he would spit on the ground, which had not evaporated in the extremely humid forest. It was like a traffic sign on the road, which could not be missed.

    ¡°Alright, if you smell the fresh scent left behind by the others, let me know.¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Famous heard their conversation and understood the necessity and seriousness of the matter. It nodded in agreement and focused more on the smell.

    ¡°Zian, the fog is so thick, and the trees are too dense. Why don¡¯t you put down the drone?¡± Old time tea saw that he was struggling and tried to persuade him.

    That¡¯s right, he had hung another bag outside his backpack and stuffed the drone Nekhbet into it, adding a lot of extra burden.

    Old time tea was right. The drone was not as useful in the forest as in the desert. It was difficult to take off, and it could hit a tree and crash into scrap iron if it was not careful.

    However, what if it could be used? So, it was better to carry it.

    ¡°Gxy, don¡¯t go too far! Be careful not to get lost. ¡± He warned.

    Gxy was running around happily, sometimes rushing into the fog, and sometimes suddenly rushing out from the other side.

    ¡°Meow, hide-and-seek,¡± Gxy said excitedly. ¡°It¡¯s really a good ce to y hide-and-seek!¡±

    ¡°Squeak squeak.¡± Pi wasn¡¯t idle either. It climbed nimbly between the branches.

    Zhang Zian walked too slowly, and he often had to bypass the potholes on the ground, so the Elfins had to stop and wait for him.

    Pi didn¡¯t dare to run around like Gxy. While it was waiting, it climbed up the tree.

    ¡°Squeak!¡±

    As they walked, Pi climbed to the top of a tree and disappeared into the fog. After a while, it climbed down again, waving its hands and legs, gesturing at the top, as if it had found something strange.

    ¡°Pi, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Zhang Zian leaned against the trunk and stopped to catch his breath. Every tree here was thicker than his body, and most of them were hidden in the fog.

    Pi couldn¡¯t describe what it saw with hand gestures, and there was noputer here for it to type.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go up and take a look. ¡±

    Old time tea jumped up, grabbed the tree trunk, jumped up, and disappeared into the fog.

    A few minutester, old time tea reappeared and said,¡±¡±How strange. The base of this tree is perfectly fine, but there are signs of overfire in the middle. The top of the tree is as though it has been burnt to a crisp ... This forest is abnormally humid, so how could it have caught fire?¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    Zhang Zian raised his head and thought about it. The other Elfins climbed up the trees out of curiosity. When they came down, they all confirmed old time tea¡¯s words.

    ¡°It¡¯s not an ordinary fire. ¡± ¡°It¡¯s a lightning strike,¡±he said. As the saying goes, the most outstanding tree in the forest will be destroyed by the wind, but here, this saying can only be changed to the most outstanding tree in the forest, struck by lightning. ¡±

    Mahogany was the tallest tree species on earth. The tallest tree was called the ¡°Haibo Dragon God.¡± It was 115 meters tall and had grown for more than 600 years. It was the tallest tree known to humans. It was still young and could continue to grow, but there might be taller trees in this forest because it was not easy to measure the height of trees. Due to the dense forest,sers were not very urate. The most urate way of measuring was to climb to the top of the tree and throw a measuring tape down.

    Only a few people knew the exact location of the Haibo Dragon God. This was to prevent curious tourists from flooding in and bringing disaster to this giant tree.

    If a tree grew too high, it could attract lightning, and lightning could cause a Mountain Fire. In the mahogany forest Park, one could often see burnt marks on the fallen trees, which were caused by lightning.

    As old time tea had said, it was difficult to catch fire in such a humid forest, but a lightning strike was different. The high temperature of a lightning strike could ignite anything and evaporate the water vapor. If there was a sudden wind that blew away the fog, it could start a Mountain Fire.

    There were thousands of mountain fires of all sizes in California every year. Except for a few man-made factors, most of them were caused by lightning strikes. Several volcanos in 2017 and 2018 almost burned down California.

    ¡°Gah? Then we can¡¯t get close to the tree! If someone with an ugly face gets struck by lightning, I¡¯ll be implicated too!¡± Richard said noisily.

    Old time tea pondered.¡±I think that things that live too long will often be spirits. That¡¯s why they attract Heavenly Thunder. As the saying goes, things be spirits when they age. Heavenly Thunder strikes demons.¡±

    Richard still wanted to say something, but the cat-type elves suddenly twitched their ears as if they heard something in the fog. Then, a dark lightning bolt rushed out of the fog and pounced on Richard from behind with a shrill cry.

    The ck shadow moved so fast that Zhang Zian could only vaguely recognize that it was a strange-looking owl, which had mistaken Richard for a big gray rat.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    I would like to rmend the book ¡°tomorrow¡¯s disaster¡± that is on the shelves this month. The author is also an old author on Qidian, and the quality and updates are guaranteed.

 Chapter 1511 - -shock

    <h4>Chapter 1511: Chapter 1511-shock</h4>

    Richard¡¯s ability was all in his mouth. He was still talking big, but he did not know that the crisis wasing. The owl¡¯s ws were very sharp. If it was caught and taken away, it would be a big deal.

    Zhang Zian picked up the walking stick. He had only wanted to scare the owl away, but he had hit the owl by chance. Perhaps it had treated him like a stone and was not prepared for it. Anyway, it fell directly from the air to the ground.

    Without waiting for it to turn around and take off again, fina ran over nimbly and pressed its paw on its body.

    ¡°Which demon dares to assassinate this great master?¡± Richard finally reacted. Although it was scared, its mouth was not idle.

    Zhang Zian was actually quite lucky to be able to hit it, because owls were not known for their speed when flying, but for their silence. Before their prey could react, they had already quietly approached. If it were not for the few cats that had heard the very slight movement and reacted, he would definitely not have noticed its arrival.

    He put on gloves to prevent being scratched by fina, then squatted down and picked it up from under Fina¡¯s paws to observe it carefully. He found that it was an endangered spotted owl.

    This kind of owl only lived in the forests on the west coast of North America. It was seriously threatened by human activities, mountain fires, and the invasion of foreign species. Its number was decreasing day by day. The United States even introduced a strict Northwest Forest Act for it, which greatly curbed the logging in Northern California and Oregon.

    Just as its name suggested, its white feathers were covered with brown spots, especially around its eyes. The spots formed circles around its eyes, and when it did not move, it looked like an obese quail.

    However, it was a little strange. This kind of owl was usually active at night. It was still daytime, and although there was fog, it was still daytime. Why would this owl attack Richard?

    ¡°Kaka! You idiot, hold it down for me, I¡¯m going to teach it a lesson as a warning to the others!¡± Richard called out like a fox exploiting a Tiger¡¯s might.

    The spotted owl writhed its body helplessly, and its hook-like beak asionally let out a gurgling sound.

    ¡°It¡¯s injured. ¡± Zhang Zian checked and found that a piece of feather on the inside of its wing was charred ck and had a slightly burnt smell. He could rub it with his fingers and find many small ck particles, which were carbonized protein.

    ¡°Kaka! It seems that this guy was also struck by lightning, so it came to attack me in a daze. In the end, it was scared to the ground by my domineering aura as the king of all birds ...¡±

    Richard chattered on and on, but in order to hide the shock in his heart, he saw that the owl¡¯s ws were as sharp as steel hooks. If he had been sessfully ambushed just now, he would probably have to load a file and start over again ...

    ¡°Nonsense! How did the owl get struck by lightning?¡± He retorted.

    ¡°Why not? For example, if it was sitting on a tree branch pooping, then a bolt of lightning suddenly struck the tree, causing it to lose control of its dder and bowels, just thinking about it is exciting!¡±

    ¡°Hehe, you¡¯re talking as if you birds have a ¡®restriction¡¯ to lose ...¡± He was toozy to continue talking nonsense with it. ¡°How can the inside of the wings be charred ck after being struck by lightning?¡±

    Richard could not answer, but he did not want to admit defeat, so he tried to change the subject.¡±Then tell me why?¡± Could it be that it didn¡¯t hold the candle properly when it was ying with the wax drop?¡±

    Zhang Zian said,¡±I¡¯ll seal your beak with wax one day!¡±

    After chatting for a while, the other elves were also curious about why the owl was injured under its wings, so he spected,¡±¡±First of all, it¡¯s not a burn. It was indeed electrocuted. The voltage was high, but not to the extent of lightning. So, I think it wasn¡¯t struck by lightning, but identally touched the electric and got burned by the high voltage.¡±

    ¡°An electric?¡± The elf was surprised.

    Zhang Zian nodded. He guessed that the owl might have swooped down on its prey while it was hunting in the fog-but the moment it flew over the power grid-the inner side of its wings might have touched the power grid, or it might not have actually touched it. It might have just brushed past it lightly-or even been separated by a short distance, but maybe because the air was too humid-even if it did not directly touch the power grid-there would be electric sparks between its wings and the power grid.

    Although the owl was not immediately killed by the electric spark, its flying agility had obviously been affected. Otherwise, it would not have been killed by the stick.

    There was no doubt about the importance of wings to birds. With its wings injured, its hunting efficiency was severely reduced. Its brain and nerves might have also been affected, which was why it attacked Richard in the day.

    ¡°Why is there an electric in the forest?¡± The elves asked in confusion.

    ¡°The power grid is the most likely option. Otherwise, I can¡¯t think of anything that can shock it. If it¡¯s an electric wire, it¡¯s usually wrapped in insting rubber, so it won¡¯t be hurt by the electricity. As for the power grid ... Although this is a National Park, there are still a few areas that are privatend. The owner has the right to set up power grids on privatend, which is different from the situation China ¡± He exined.

    Even in the National Park, the owners of private territories still had a high degree of autonomy and even had the right to cut wood, but there was a size limit. Small trees could be cut at will, but trees over a certain size had to be applied for. Mahogany was absolutely not allowed to be cut, and it was certainly not a problem to build a power grid.

    But ordinary people wouldn¡¯t build a power grid in their private territory, as it might hurt their neighbors, children, and pets. Someone must be trying to cover up some secrets.

    As for what the secret was ... He and the elves all thought of the venison ughterhouse, or Peter Lee¡¯s Secret base.

    In any case, the injured owl was quite unlucky. Since they had encountered it, they had to give it something to eat. They could not leave it alone because there were only about three to four thousand of such owls left in the wild. After all, it was rare to see prey as stupid as Richard.

    He didn¡¯t put down his backpack, but took out a bag of dried meat from the bag on famous¡¯s back. After tearing it open, he soaked it in water and tried to feed it.

    The spotted owl was probably famished, as it did not hesitate to stretch out its beak to peck at the dried meat, gobbling it down.

    He fed it a few more, and it epted all of them with a smile. Soon, it finished the bag of dried meat.

    ¡°Good boy, he can really eat. Is this guy a pig?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t even have the manners to eat,¡± Richard said in disdain.

    ¡°Be careful, I¡¯m going to let it go.¡± He said.

    ¡°Gah?¡± Richard was so scared that he quickly flew to old time tea¡¯s side and said,¡±¡±Grandpa tea, we are good friends, right?¡±

    Old time tea advised,¡±to save a person to the end is to help a Buddha to the West. Since this owl bumped into us, it must be fate. If we let it go, I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be able to hold on. Why don¡¯t we take it with us?¡±

 Chapter 1512 - -traveling companions

    <h4>Chapter 1512: Chapter 1512-travelingpanions</h4>

    Richard was afraid that the owl was still hungry and would attack him again after releasing it, so he quickly added,¡±¡±Kaka! Since this owl is very rare, why don¡¯t you bring it back to your Shabby Store and make it the number one?¡±

    Zhang Zian gestured for it to look at his hand and said,¡±¡±No matter what, I have to let it go now. Otherwise, I can¡¯t do anything holding it with both hands, and of course, I can¡¯t put it back into my phone.¡±

    This was a problem, and an unsolvable one at that. Even if he wanted to take it back into the game, he had to let go of it and take a front photo of it without a QR code. However, he had two hands and could not free a third hand.

    In addition, as long as the owl did not suffer any permanent injuries, it was best to let it fly freely in the wild. The wild was where wild animals should live, especially rare and endangered animals like the ice anemone and the ice Sea Angel. The number of sea creatures that he brought back to the store should not be considered endangered in the wild, just because they lived under the ice of the pr regions and were far away from the world.

    The most important thing was that it had the opportunity to reproduce in the wild. If it was brought back to the Pet Shop, it could only be a single dog for the rest of its life.

    Richard had no choice but to shrink his body and hide beside old time tea, trembling with fear. He almost said that he was actually an African gray cat.

    Zhang Zian let go of his hand and immediately withdrew one hand to protect his face and neck, in case the owl retaliated and attacked his fragile face and neck.

    However, after waiting for a few seconds, it didn¡¯t attack. It just stretched its wings a few times and flew into the fog. No sound could be heard as it flew.

    As soon as Richard let out a sigh of relief, he saw a ck shadow sh in the fog. The spotted owl flew back after making a circle, and itnded on top of Zhang Zian¡¯s backpack, which had been Richard¡¯s exclusive throne before!

    ¡°Kakakaka! You, you, you ... You¡¯re an Eagle that¡¯s upying a parrot¡¯s nest!¡± Richard was so angry that he could not even speak properly.

    ¡°You B * tch,¡± Zhang Zianined,¡±why are you always whining? who did you learn this from?¡±

    This time, he took a closer look. The spotted owl¡¯s flight path was indeed a little nted and unstable, which was probably caused by one of its wings not being able to exert its strength normally.

    ¡°Grandpa tea, you are a loyal cat. Can you help me ... Help me drive this owl away? dimir, I usually admire your revolutionary optimism the most. Why don¡¯t you help me take the life of this owl? Your Majesty fina, this owl has the word ¡®cat¡¯ in its name. It should be your subordinate, right? Famous, brother famous, this owl just ate your food reserve. Are you going to let it take the food from your mouth?¡±

    Richard flew to the Elfins andined indignantly. As for Pi and Gxy, it didn¡¯t even bother to say anything. It felt that it was better to do it himself than to ask them for help.

    However, it sadly found that no elf had the intention to help it uphold justice. Had its poprity dropped to this extent?

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so scared. The spotted owl is a very gentle kind of owl. If it wasn¡¯t hungry just now and didn¡¯t think you were weak, it wouldn¡¯t have attacked you. Now that it¡¯s full, it probably won¡¯t attack you. ¡± Zhang Zian said.

    However, Richard was still not at ease. He used to think that it would be great if there was another bird elf to apany him in his tyranny, but now he hadpletely dispelled that idea. It was better to be unique.

    ¡°Meow!¡± Gxy was very interested in the spotted owl. It looked up at it and waved at it. ¡°Spotted, do you want to y hide-and-seek?¡±

    The spotted owl tilted its head and looked at Gxy.

    The owl¡¯s eyes were fixed in their sockets and could not move, so when they wanted to see something, they had to turn their neck as well. It might sound inconvenient, but nature¡¯s design was very clever. It gave their necks the ability to turn 270 degrees, so they always tilted their heads to look at people.

    Gxy ran a few steps forward and turned back to wave at it. ¡°Come on!¡±

    The owl pped its wings and flew out, chasing Gxy into the fog.

    ¡°Well done, Gxy! I will reward you!¡± Richard was overjoyed. He quickly flew back to his throne and secretly pooped on the top of his backpack to dere his ownership.

    However, in less than two minutes, Gxy ran out of the fog again, with the owl still chasing after it. It seemed to be tired of flying, and itnded on the top of its back to rest, standing side by side with Richard.

    Richard trembled in fear. After a while, when he realized that it really had no intention of attacking him, he finally felt relieved, but he still only dared to stand at the edge of the backpack.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t mean to fly away just now. It seemed that he wanted to follow him and be a free meal. This didn¡¯t matter, as he didn¡¯tck its food anyway. He just hoped that it didn¡¯t poop above his head.

    This little episode gave him and the elves a lot to talk about, and the owl seemed to get along well with Gxy, flying around in the fog from time to time.

    Carrying a heavy backpack, it was very hard to walk in the forest with uneven steps, and it would increase the risk of sprained feet. He walked very slowly, looking down at thepass on his wrist from time to time. Because no matter how he walked, he was surrounded by simr trees and fog, which always made him suspect that he was lost. He kept walking in circles, as if he had encountered the legendary ghost hitting the wall.

    He might get lost, but the elves wouldn ¡®t. Famous had been sniffing Mike¡¯s smell. The smell wouldn¡¯t lie. The seemingly simr forest was like a boring 2D map, but with the smell, it became a 3D map.

    When he passed by a stream at noon, he stopped to clean the water, filtered and sanitized it, and then used dead branches and leaves to make a pile of water to boil for cooking.

    The humidity of the dead branches and leaves was too high, and there was too much smoke. He choked and cried. When the rice was finally cooked, he put the can of instant food on the rice and stirred it evenly with a spoon. It was lunch for him and famous. Fina and old time tea had no choice but to eat canned food.

    After lunch, they extinguished the bonfire with the water from the stream and took a short rest. Then they set off again. Whether it was psychologically or physically, their backpacks were slightly lighter.

    The afternoon¡¯s journey was as boring as the morning. Not to mention people, they didn¡¯t even encounter many animals. The forest was unusually quiet.

    The sky turned dark early in the forest, especially when there was fog. At about four or FiveO¡¯ clock in the afternoon, it was as dark as evening. The night didn¡¯t affect most of the elves, but he couldn ¡®T. He had to set up camp before it waspletely dark.

    After a while, the tents were set up, and he and the elves would spend their first night in the forest.

 Chapter 1513 - wood sorrel

    <h4>Chapter 1513: Chapter 1513-wood sorrel</h4>

    Humans were social animals, and the more people there were, the more secure they felt. Zhang Zian had camped in the desert before, but at that time, he had arge group of people, excellent equipment, and powerful vehicles with him. Now, he was alone, and his equipment was only the average level of a wild camping person. He walked on foot. More importantly, there were norge beasts in the dense desert. As long as he set up a tent, he could ignore poisonous snakes and scorpions, but in the primitive forest ...

    In the evening, the fog was thicker, and it was difficult to light a fire with wet dead branches. Zhang Zian had to use solid alcohol to help ignite the fire.

    After that, he boiled water and cooked again. There was no difference from lunch, except that the taste of the canned food had changed, and a pot of light tea was boiled to warm his body.

    The spotted owl that he had picked up during the day was perched on a tree branch above the tent. It was afraid of the bonfire a few meters away. Its eyes were unusually bright at night, like two searchlights reflecting the light.

    ¡°Squeak ...¡±

    Zhang Zian heard Pi¡¯s strange cry and saw that its two fists were clenched. He walked over and opened its hands to see that its palms had blisters.

    Pi had a lot of fun ying in the tree today, and it even got carried away. It forgot that its hands were more suitable for the touch of the keyboard than the rough bark. It ignored the fact that it was actually an otaku monkey, and its palms did not have calluses that other monkeys had over the years. It did not realize that something was wrong until its palms were hot and burning, but it did not dare to tell everyone because it was its fault.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t me it. It was like a child who stayed at home all day to study. It would be strange if it didn¡¯t go crazy after suddenlying to the wild.

    He burst the blisters, disinfected it, and applied medicine. Finally, he wrapped it up with bandages. His bandaging skills were bad. After all, he was not a professional nurse. It was enough as long as it was practical. But tomorrow, Pi definitely couldn¡¯t swing around on the branches. It could either walk obediently, which was not what monkeys with long arms and short legs were good at, or go back to the phone.

    The other Elfins were also tired after a day of walking. They even missed the days of riding in the desert. Their memories always beautified the past, and they selectively forgot the fact that the temperature in the car in the desert was no less than that of a steamer.

    ¡°You¡¯re giving me nuts again? Where are the fresh vegetables? Where are the fresh fruits? You idiot, are you trying to make me malnourished?¡± Richard was not satisfied. He used his bird ws to poke around in the stainless steel te, which was filled with mixed nuts.

    ¡°There¡¯s freeze-dried fruit, but I didn¡¯t bring much. You have to eat it sparingly.¡± Zhang Zian opened a small bag of freeze-dried fruits and put them on its te, including blueberries, strawberries, mangoes, pineapples, and so on. Although the freeze-dried fruits were light and portable, they took up too much space, so he couldn¡¯t bring a lot.

    Normally, Richard would only grumble a little before burying his head in the food, but he felt that he had lost face during the day and wanted to regain his dignity, so he pushed the fruit aside in disdain and yelled,¡±¡±Don¡¯t try to fool me with these freeze-dried food! The fruits must be fresh to be delicious!¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what it was up to.¡±If you don¡¯t want to eat it, then forget it. If you don¡¯t want to eat it, then I¡¯ll eat it.¡±

    Richard was anxious when he saw Zian put the freeze-dried strawberry Mango into his mouth, but he had to pay the price to get back at Zian. So, he pped his wings and flew to a nearby nt with beautiful heart-shaped leaves, poked his head out to peck at the fruit, and even said with great relish,¡±¡±Kaka! It¡¯s so sweet and delicious!¡±

    ¡°Have you seen master bei¡¯s survival in the wilderness? In the wilderness, the most authentic way of survival is to use local materials. I despise people like you who bring big and small bags into the wilderness!¡± It called out proudly.

    Most of the other Elfins were carnivores and had no interest in fruits, so its moring did not cause anyone to be envious, jealous, and hate, so it made even more noise.

    ¡°There are only a few edible nts in the forest,¡± Zhang Zian kindly reminded her.¡±And even less of them can be eaten raw. Don¡¯t cut yourself off from the party and the people just to show off!¡±

    ¡°Kaka! While you were trying to make a living, I was learning and charging myself. I know what I can eat and what I can ¡®t, so you don¡¯t have to worry about me. ¡±

    Richard was very confident. He¡¯d noticed this patch of nts before dark and saw a gold flower rat hurriedly escape from the grass with a reddish-brown fruit in its mouth. Since gold flower rats could eat, Richard could probably eat as well.

    Zhang Zian was toozy to care about it, but he thought that it would be disgusting if it ate something bad and pooped all the way. So he walked over curiously to see what it was eating.

    When he saw the nt clearly, he picked up Richard by the feathers on the back of his head.¡±Don¡¯t eat it. You can¡¯t eat this.¡±

    ¡°Gah?¡±

    Caught off guard, Richard pped his wings and tried to break free.¡±Don¡¯t stop me. Are you jealous?¡± Honestly, admit that you¡¯re jealous, and I¡¯ll share some with you!¡±

    ¡°You ate it just because you knew what it was? This is an Oregonian sorrel, a nt that is native to the redwood forest. This nt is indeed edible, and whether it¡¯s its flower, fruit, leaf, or root, it¡¯s edible for humans. As for parrots ... This nt contains too much hydrochloric acid. If you don¡¯t want to get a bone fracture due to calcium deficiency or have to undergo surgery due to kidney stones, you¡¯d better spit out the half-fruit in your bird¡¯s beak as soon as possible. ¡± He said.

    ¡°Gah?¡±

    Richard was shocked when he heard that, and the remaining half of the fruit in his mouth fell to the ground.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, parrots can¡¯t eat food that contains too much silicate. Don¡¯t you know that? When have I ever fed you spinach?¡± Zhang Zian sighed helplessly.

    ¡°P-paralysis? Kidney stones? Aren¡¯t you the only one who has kidney stones? ¡°He has stones because he has not used his kidney for a long time ...¡± Richard was so shocked that he spoke incoherently.

    Whether it was human or animal, the consequences of calcium deficiency were very serious. The Grasse in spinach wouldbine with calcium to form calcium chloride. Not only would it severely reduce the absorption of calcium, but it would also umte in the urinary system and form stones. The smaller the animal, the more troublesome it was to get gallstones, and the operation would take half of the animal¡¯s life.

    When people ate spinach, they would not eat it raw. Instead, they would first put it in boiling water and melt it with high temperature. Even so, only arge part of it could be removed, not all of it. However, considering the nutritional value of spinach, it was still worth it.

    For parrots, spinach and any other vegetables with high oathless acid content could not be eaten, let alone eaten raw. It was just that other vegetables were not asmon as spinach, so it often took it as a typical example.

 Chapter 1514 - going south and going north

    <h4>Chapter 1514: Chapter 1514-going south and going north</h4>

    Oregonian sorrel was quitemon in the redwood forest on the West Coast of the United States. It was a unique nt that grew here, and its flowering periodsted from spring to early autumn. If a traveler was trapped in the forest and faced a food shortage crisis, it was the right choice to use this nt to fill their stomachs to survive the danger. ording to its ssification, this nt was indeed an edible nt. It could be eaten from its leaves to its roots.

    However, The Oregonian sorrel contained arge amount of silicate. Humans could barely eat it, but they couldn¡¯t eat too much. If they wanted to eat it, they had to try to eat the leaves and drink it with water. Otherwise, it would lead to silicate poisoning, not to mention the parrots, who had a low tolerance for silicate.

    Richard almost peed in his pants. He regretted it so much that his intestines turned green when he thought about the fact that he might lose his ability to fly, which was not even that great, and might even suffer from kidney stones that would make him aughing stock.

    ¡°Hurry! Was there anything that could induce vomiting? I¡¯m going to spit out what I¡¯ve just eaten!¡± It jumped up and down in panic.

    Zhang Zian secretlyughed at it for reaping what it had sown.¡±No, I didn¡¯t bring anything to induce vomiting. Drink more hot water!¡±

    Drink more hot water to dissolve the silicate in the berries you eat into the water and try to excrete it out before itbines with calcium. Birds have straight intestines anyway.

    He brewed a pot of light tea for old time tea and himself, but Richard drank more than anyone else. He drank so much that water wasing out of his throat. After drinking for a while, he peed, vomited, and had diarrhea. By the time he finally cleaned up the berries from his stomach, the other elves were already going to sleep.

    With Richard¡¯s fidgeting, the forest was covered up. When it was half-dead, the tent became quiet, and the sound in the forest seemed to be amplified. If one listened carefully, they could hear something squirming under the fallen leaves or something flying through the night sky.

    With the elves, famous didn¡¯t have to worry about The Night Watch at all. Ity on a thin waterproof cloth with its head tilted. Because the sound transmitted onnd was faster than in the air and the sound loss was less, as long as arge animal or person approached, it could hear the vibration earlier and more clearly.

    The spotted owl, who had no intention of leaving, could also be an excellent Sentry. Its night vision was much better than that of a cat, and it was not like a short-sighted cat, whose field of vision was very far. Once it saw a dangerous animal approaching, it would definitely cry out to warn.

    In theory, he should put out the bonfire before going to sleep when he was camping alone to prevent a fire. However, considering the actual situation of the mahogany forest, where the air was too humid and there was no wind, the risk of a fire was infinitely close to zero. Moreover, a fire could drive away the wild beasts and bring him a sense of security. So, he added a few pieces of wood to the fire and let the fire burn while he got into the sleeping bag in the tent.

    The firelight shone on the branches, casting strange shadows on the tent, like a demon baring its fangs and ws.

    He forced himself to close his eyes and stop thinking. He took a look at his phone. The light ball representing the elfin was still shing in front of him. The distance had been shortened and was no longer so far away.

    After an unknown period of time, he fell asleep while listening to Richard¡¯s moans.

    He was only separated from the forest by a thin tent, and any wind or grass movement in the forest could be clearly transmitted into the tent. He slept very lightly and woke up several times in the night, but nothing happened.

    The next morning, the fog still hadn¡¯t dispersed, but it was a little lighter than the day before.

    The bonfire had already extinguished by itself in the middle of the night. As soon as he got out of the sleeping bag, he felt a chill surrounding his body. It was the kind of wet and cold that Southerners China were familiar with. The humidity was unusually high, and it quickly took away the heat on the surface of his body and in the sleeping bag.

    Zhang Zian raised his head and looked at the top of the tree. The spotted owl still hadn¡¯t flown away. It was taking a nap with its eyes closed. When it heard the sound of him walking out of the tent, it only opened one eye to look at him.

    When he opened a bag of dried meat, it flew down from the branch without being called. It circled around but couldn¡¯t find a ce tond, so he tried to reach out his left arm. It probably felt that this was a good branch and was very suitable for holding, so itnded on his arm. Its ws were like steel pliers firmly gripping his forearm. It waited for the meal and swallowed the dried meat that was brought to its mouth without hesitation.

    After feeding it the jerky, he lifted one of its wings while it was still in the air. He was afraid that it would turn around and bite him. The burn marks under its wings had eased, and he could see that new pink meat had begun to grow, gradually recing the part that had been burnt ck by the electric sparks. With the tenacious vitality of wild animals, they would probably be able to regain their normal flying and hunting abilities in a few days.

    After breakfast, he packed up his tent and continued on his journey. His backpack was a little lighter.

    ¡°When will this fog dissipate?¡± Fina finally couldn¡¯t help butin. Although it enjoyed the coolness here, it was really not used to the humidity. Its hair had never been dry from morning to night.

    ¡°The weather here is like this. If it wasn¡¯t for the fog, there wouldn¡¯t be such a dense red shirt forest. A third of the water that red shirts needes from the fog, and it¡¯s the fog that created this vast red shirt forest.¡± ¡°Just bear with it,¡± Zhang Zian advised.¡±At least it¡¯s better today than yesterday.¡±

    Despite herints, fina also knew that the weather was not something that mere mortals could control. Even the gods of ancient Egypt might not be able to control it.

    When it was almost noon, famous, who was leading the way, suddenly smelled something unusual.

    ¡°There was a group of animals passing by here, probably yesterday or the day before.¡± It stopped and reported to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    Zhang Zian walked over and found the shape of hooves in the wet soil. There were big and small hooves, and they seemed to be walking in groups towards the southeast.

    He was not a professional hunter, but he knew that there were only two types ofrge hooved animals in this forest, deer and bison. However, there were very few bison, and the hoof prints of bison were muchrger than this, so he was basically sure that a herd of deer had passed by here not long ago.

    As for what kind of deer it was, he didn¡¯t have the ability to distinguish the type of deer just by the hoofprints.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go and take a look?¡± Old time tea knew that the zombie deer was one of the key points of this trip to the United States, which was directly rted to the mystery of the Leshi dog food, so it suggested.

    ¡°Famous,¡± Zhang Zian said,¡±which way did Mike go?¡±

    ¡°At present,¡± famous replied,¡±his scent is winding towards the Northwest.¡±

    Southeast, Northwest, South and North.

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment. Although the zombie deer was important, the missing melgen¡¯s life was in danger, and thetter was obviously more urgent.

    ¡°Let¡¯s continue to track Mike. As for the deer ... Let¡¯s not chase the deer. Let the deer Chase us.¡±

 Chapter 1515 - -waiting

    <h4>Chapter 1515: Chapter 1515-waiting</h4>

    Richard panicked for the whole night. The next morning, he found that he was not missing an arm or a leg, and his urinary tract was smooth. He knew that The Oregonian sorcerer grass he ate the day before had been cleared out of his stomach. Other than his feces being a little loose today, there were no more serious consequences. Thus, he jumped up and down again.

    ¡°Gah gah!¡± It flew to Zhang Zian¡¯s shoulder.¡±You idiot, are you still sleeping? Do you owe the deer money? Why would a Deer Chase you?¡±

    The other Elfins were confused, because Zhang Zian¡¯s words sounded unbelievable. If fina could make domestic cats chase them, or dimir could make stray cats follow them, anyone would believe it, but the question was, why did the deer listen to him?

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t exin, because a lion¡¯s poop was better than a bear¡¯s poop. While he was packing his backpack, he took out a small stic can and hung it on his waist. He patted the can confidently and said,¡±¡±Do you know what this is? This is a magic jar, second only to ddin¡¯s magicmp. As long as this jar is here, the deer will obediently chase after us. ¡±

    ¡°Gah?¡±

    The elves all looked at the ordinary-looking can, but they couldn¡¯t see anything special about it.

    Even old time tea was puzzled, let alone the other Elfins.¡±Zian, are you joking?¡±

    ¡°Monks don¡¯t lie. Just admit that you¡¯re bragging. No one willugh at you. After all, everyone is used to it.¡± Richard patted his head with his wings.¡±When will I shave your head?¡±

    Zhang Zian waved Richard away.¡±I¡¯m not joking. Practice is the only standard to test the truth. Let¡¯s give it a try and see if the deer will follow us.¡±

    Even though the elves were suspicious, they couldn¡¯t figure out the mystery of the jar without his exnation.

    When they set off again, just like yesterday, famous walked in the front, Gxy and the owl yed hide-and-seek around it, and the other Elfins either walked in front or beside him. No elfin was left behind.

    Seeing that no one was paying attention, Zhang Zian put one hand on his walking stick and the other on his waist. He turned the can around 90 degrees.

    Following his movements, a dozen small round holes the size of sewing needles quietly appeared on the top of the can.

    In fact, he was not 100% sure that he could attract the deer with the small jar, but it was theoretically possible. The Old Hunters in the northeast forest area of China used this method to hunt deer in the past, but he was not sure if this method could be used in the forests of the United States. After all, the country¡¯s situation was different.

    Even if it did not work, there was no other way. Finding the missing melgen was his top priority at the moment, and time waited for no one.

    The Elfins looked back from time to time as they walked, not to look at Zhang Zian, but to look past him to see if there were any deer following.

    Zhang Zian pretended to be calm, but he didn¡¯t know what to do. He didn¡¯t need to turn around. If the herd of deer followed him from behind, the elves would notice in advance.

    After walking for another morning, they had lunch an hourter than yesterday. They had to find a stream before they could cook. This way, they could replenish their water source and save the water they brought.

    Also, Richard¡¯s reckless eating of wild nts yesterday was not worth advocating, but it did remind him that there was no need to only eat canned food. The forest was a big treasure house, and there were rich nt resources around it, including edible ones.

    Therefore, when he was walking in the morning, he looked at his mobile phone as he walked. Hepared the nts he encountered in real life with the pictures of edible nts saved on his mobile phone. When he encountered edible nts, he collected them and put them in stic bags. When he cooked at noon, he washed them with the stream water and cooked them with the rice.

    After it was cooked, Richard stared at the vegetables with rice grains in front of him with a suspicious look. You¡¯re finally going to kill me?¡±

    Once bitten by a snake, it was afraid of ropes for ten years. It was afraid of every kind of nt collected from the forest.

    ¡°These are all edible. Didn¡¯t you want to eat fresh vegetables?¡± Zhang Zian said.

    No matter what he said, Richard rejected him firmly.¡±Forget it, I¡¯ll just eat nuts ... By the way, do you still have the freeze-dried fruit from yesterday?¡±

    ¡°No, I finished it.¡± Zhang Zian spread his hands.

    Richard cried out in grief and indignation,¡±heavens!¡± The earth quack! Why is my life so bitter!¡±

    Since it didn¡¯t want to eat it, Zhang Zian happily poured its portion of vegetables back into the pot, mixed it with the canned food, and then filled a big bowl for himself and famous.

    With Richard¡¯s lesson yesterday, famous was also suspicious. It was not worried about itself, but for Zhang Zian and Richard. Zhang Zian ran a pet shop, not a Botanic Garden. Although eating canned food alone was obviously unbnced in nutrition, there was no need to take risks for a bnced diet. If there was a mistake, wouldn¡¯t the two of them be ¡°defeated¡±?

    Old time tea knew some Pharmacology, so itughed and said,¡±¡±I can recognize two or three of these nts. This is alfalfa, and this is the flower of dandelion. They are both non-toxic and can be used as medicine, but it¡¯s fine to eat them ... However, this is the first time I¡¯ve seen a nt that looks like a sunflower, including The Oregonian sorrel from yesterday. May I know where they came from?¡±

    What old time tea was curious about was a nt with arrow-like leaves and bright yellow flowers that looked like miniature sunflowers.

    Zhang Zian exined,¡±yesterday¡¯s sorrel and this sunflower-like flower are local specialties. You can¡¯t see them China, so it¡¯s normal that you can¡¯t recognize them ... I forgot the scientific name of this flower. It¡¯s quite a tongue twister. The locals call it the okerian sunflower. Just listen to the name and you know that this nt doesn¡¯t exist elsewhere.¡± The leaves, fruits, roots, and stems of this nt can be eaten, and there¡¯s no problem eating it raw. ¡±

    The humble and studious old time tea was enlightened and dispelled the doubts in its heart.

    Famous listened to him clearly and didn¡¯t seem to be blindly guessing. It also dispelled the concerns in its heart and lowered its head to enjoy today¡¯s braised meat and wild vegetable rice.

    ¡°It¡¯s quite sweet and delicious!¡± It tasted the food and gave a good review.

    ¡°Hmph! Don¡¯t try to tempt this Lord!¡± ¡°What¡¯s sweet?¡± Richard jumped over.¡±What¡¯s sweet?¡± I don¡¯t believe you, unless you let me have a taste!¡±

    Both famous and Zhang Zian protected their jobs well, so Richard didn¡¯t have a chance to eat at all.

    After the meal, he simply washed the pot and bowls, then boiled a pot of water to make tea. At this time, the rice bowl became a tea bowl, and he poured the boiled water and tea leaves into a thermos bottle for him and old time tea to drink in the afternoon. The elves who didn¡¯t sing tea had another room temperature kettle.

    He was busy by the stream when he saw that the elves had all stood up and were staring at them.

    It was a deer!

 Chapter 1516 - -hunting deer

    <h4>Chapter 1516: Chapter 1516-hunting deer</h4>

    Zhang Zian turned around and saw something moving at the edge of his vision in the mist.

    He put down the kettle, picked up the telescope, and adjusted the focus. When his vision became clear, he saw that the thing moved again. It was a pair of nimble ears.

    He looked down and saw a pair of wet eyes looking in his direction warily under the leaves.

    ¡°My dear ... Did you really attract the deer?¡± ¡°This is not scientific!¡± Richard mumbled, staring at the small jar on his waist in awe.

    The elves were also surprised. They couldn¡¯t imagine how such an ordinary can could have such arge amount of magic power.

    Zhang Zian knew that if he continued to deliberately hide it, it would probably arouse the anger of the people. He untied the small jar from his waist and put it on a clean stone by the stream. After a morning of trekking, the weight of the jar had been reduced a lot.

    The elves gathered around curiously and sniffed carefully with their sharp noses. They asked in confusion,¡±¡±Why does it taste like ... Salt?¡±

    Zhang Zian unscrewed the bottle cap and revealed the answer.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, it¡¯s salt, the cheapest salt you can buy from the supermarket. And this can is just the mostmon seasoning can. The hole in the cap can be twisted, but it¡¯s blocked again. ¡± He turned the lid over and let them see the internal structure of the lid.

    A Seasoning Bottle filled with salt was enough to attract the deer?

    If it was really ddin¡¯s magicmp, perhaps everyone would ept it more ...

    Zhang Zian raised his binocrs and looked again. The deer was still there.

    ¡°This is a unique method of hunting deer in Northeast China. I¡¯m not sure if other countries have it, but at least the United States doesn ¡®t. Americans hunt deer for fun. They use guns to shoot, which is simpler and more violent, but alsocks wisdom and ingenuity.¡± He exined to the elves.

    If cats were said to be creatures that did not touch a single grain of salt, then deer were creatures that loved salt as much as their lives. This was all because of their unique physiological structure and habits.

    Cats were pure carnivores. The small animals they ate, such as mice, contained salt in their bodies, and they basically did not lose salt because of sweating. In addition, their kidneys were not good at excreting salt, so they did not need extra salt.

    Deer were herbivores. nts did not contain salt, and salt was a necessity for them to survive, so they had to find ways to replenish the salt in their bodies.

    What to do when there¡¯s no salt? He needed to find salt. Not only did they live in pursuit of water grass, but they also lived in pursuit of salt.

    Not only deer, but animals like goats and yaks also liked to eat salt. However, deer liked to eat salt the most. They could even smell salt from far away and would go to eat it from far away.

    People who worked in cattle, deer, and sheep farms all knew that these farms would ce salt bricks for cattle, deer, and sheep to lick the salt.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s method was very simple. He took advantage of the deer¡¯s obsession with salt and filled the seasoning Bottle with salt. This kind of Seasoning Bottle would leak out from the hole when he patted the bottom with his hand. He hung it around his waist, and as he walked, salt kept leaking out of the bottle. The leaking speed was very slow, but it could form an uninterrupted Salt Trail.

    If a deer smelled salt, it would definitely follow the smell and lick the salt on the ground.

    The deer¡¯s walking speed in the forest was definitely much faster than Zhang Zian ¡®s. Even though it was walking while licking the salt, it quickly caught up with him.

    The Old Hunters in Northeast China used this method to hunt deer before the liberation. Of course, salt was very expensive in the past, and they couldn¡¯t bear to waste it. So, they would first look for saline-alkalind in the forest, then lie in ambush around the saline-alkalind and wait for the deer to lick the salt frost. The wait might take two or three days, but for the survival of the family, it was worth the wait.

    If they couldn¡¯t find saline-alkalind in the forest, they might have to make it manually. For example, they would grind rock salt and sprinkle it on an open space, and then set traps and animal traps in the paths they had to pass.

    Deer were very alert and had extremely sensitive hearing. They could often hear the sound of human movement from a kilometer away and avoid it. This was why deer were actually quitemon in the National Park, but tourists and tourists were rare to see.

    Zhang Zian knew that he would have to deal with deer on this trip to the United States, but if it was difficult to even see a deer, how could he investigate?

    He looked it up on the inte and found that this traditional China method of hunting deer was simple and efficient. Even if it failed, he would not lose anything. So, aftering to the United States, he bought salt and seasoning bottles from the supermarket. When famous smelled the deer, he took it out and tried it. The result was really a lucky sess.

    This method was the crystallization of the wisdom of the working people in ancient China. It was definitely feasible. He had not been confident before because there was no sea next to the deep mountains and old forests in Northeast China. However, to the West of the mahogany forest was the Pacific Ocean. Could the deer here notck salt at all? If he wanted to eat salt, he could go to the beach and lick it. It seemed like a good idea.

    He had considered this problem before. Although seawater contained a lot of salt, theposition of seawater was veryplicated. It was not only sodium chloride, but also potassium chloride, magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, and so on. Deer might not be willing to take the risk of leaving the forest to drink salty seawater on an open beach. It tasted awful and had the risk of being exposed to hunters. The temptation of refined salt could not bepletely reced by seawater. They would rather eat salt in the forest.

    It turned out that his judgment was correct. The salt and seasoning bottles that were bought for a few dors had worked perfectly.

    After listening to his exnation, the Elfins feltplicated.

    ¡°Humans die for wealth, birds die for food, deer ... Actually grew on salt.¡± Richard sighed and said in a rare serious tone,¡±¡±This can¡¯t be known to the hunters in the United States, or the deer will be in trouble!¡±

    ¡°I think that a man who stands tall must be strong without desire. Because of desire, there is weakness.¡± Old time tea understood some philosophy from it.

    In fact, it didn¡¯t matter. Whether it was a Nature Reserve China or a forest Park in the United States, deer hunting had already been banned. So even if this method was spread, it was just a chance for tourists and tourists to have a good look.

    As for the poachers ... The poachers in China all knew this method, while the poachers in the United States only killed a few deer sporadically to satisfy their desire to track and kill. They would not use this unpassionate and challenging method to hunt deer.

    ¡°What do we do now?¡± Old time tea thought Zhang Zian was going to stop and study the deer behind him.

    Zhang Zian shook his head and continued to pack his luggage.¡±Let¡¯s keep going. Don¡¯t worry about them. Let them know that we don¡¯t have any ill intentions, and they will be more courageous.¡±

 Chapter 1517 - playing hard to get

    <h4>Chapter 1517: Chapter 1517-ying hard to get</h4>

    The salt could attract the deer, but it could not keep it. If Zhang Zian tried to approach the deer, even if he only took a few steps back, he might scare the deer away. Moreover, deer were vignt animals. No matter how much they liked to lick salt, they would not value it more than their lives. So once they were frightened, they might run far away and nevere close again.

    So Zhang Zian could only pretend that nothing had happened. He knew that the deer was in the woods about 50 meters behind him, but he couldn¡¯t act too anxious. He couldn¡¯t act like a fool who had never seen a woman before. If he talked about whether he wanted a four-piece set made of silk or pure cotton on the bed after meeting for the first time on a blind date, the girl would probably be scared and run away, and the deer would be the same.

    Tourists rarely visited this primeval forest. At most, they would drive through it or find a few officially rmended trails, even if they sessfully checked in. Therefore, the deer here were different from the deer in Muir Park. It was a popr scenic spot next to San Francisco, and people had long been used to deer.

    As for the number of deers behind them, whether it was one or a herd, or what kind of deers they were, he was not sure. The biggest possibility was that a deer was scouting the wind, and the main group was still in the forest further away.

    The Elfins felt that what he said made sense, especially the blind date analogy, which was easy to understand. However, they also inexplicably sympathized with him.

    He put out the bonfire he had made at noon and buried it with soil to prevent it from reigniting. He then carried his backpack and set off again. The diameter of the hole in the seasoning Bottle cap could be adjusted. He had only opened half of it before, but now he opened it to the maximum, so that more salt would leak out. This was to prevent the deer behind him from leaving halfway because it felt that there was too little salt.

    Although there was only one bottle of seasoning, he had bought several boxes of salt. He just needed to use it and replenish it.

    He had brought a lot of random things like this, which might or might not be useful, so his backpack was particrly heavy.

    ¡°Famous, old time tea, dimir, and fina, you have to be more vignt.¡±

    Not long after they set off, Zhang Zian saw that the Elfins were all curious about the deer behind them and looked back from time to time, so he reminded them.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Old time tea was shocked.¡±Is that the new Elfin?¡±

    Zhang Zian looked down at his phone. The distance between him and the elfin on the electronic map was getting closer and closer, but it was not close enough. He was more concerned about other things.

    ¡°The deer is still behind us?¡± He asked a question instead of an answer.

    Old time tea nodded.¡±They seem to be closer than before. The number ... I have seen two or three of them.¡±

    Zhang Zian said,¡±the deer is behind us, but there are beasts in this primitive forest, including ck bears, mountain lions, and coyotes. Deer are also one of the main prey of these beasts, so...The Mantis stalks the cicada, while the Oriole is behind. We are equivalent to the cicada!¡±

    After he said that, the elves understood the potential danger of the situation.

    Originally, it was a small probability for tourists and tourists to encounter beasts in this forest because humans were not on the beasts ¡®menu. The beasts also knew that humans were not to be trifled with, so they would stay far away when they heard the footsteps of humans and smelled the scent of humans ... But the situation was different now. The beasts also needed to find food. When they were really hungry, even if they knew that there were people nearby, they would not let go of these deer that were focused on licking the salt. If people did not know what was good for them and wanted to stop them, they probably would not mind adding an appetizer.

    ¡°Gah?¡± Richard was shocked.¡±I¡¯m so thin. I¡¯m not interested in bears or Lions, right?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t say for sure. Maybe he just wants to change his taste.¡± Zhang Zian said half-jokingly.

    The elves perked up and no longer paid too much attention to the deer behind them. Instead, they focused their eyes on the front and the sides in case of a sudden attack from a fierce beast. They were especially careful of the Cougar. This kind of small lion was very suitable for hunting and ambushing in the forest. It could even hide in the trees and wait for prey to pass by before pouncing down, pouncing on the prey¡¯s back and biting the prey¡¯s neck, catching the other party off guard.

    In the evening, Zhang Zian saw that the sky was dark and it was not suitable to continue moving forward, so he found a ce to set up camp.

    It was best to set up camp near a water source, whether it was a stream or a Lake. However, it was not easy to find a water source in the forest. They often found a stream when they did not need to set up camp, but when they needed to set up camp, they could not even find a waterhole. It was really annoying.

    After the crisis in the desert, he was now more concerned about the potential danger of a water shortage than ordinary trekkers. He had to n ahead before the signs of a water shortage appeared.

    Just as he watched the sky turn dark quickly and was anxious to find a water source before dark, fina suddenly reminded him,¡±¡±The herd of deers behind us, they¡¯re not following us.¡±

    He hurriedly looked back and saw that the deers had indeed stopped. They were looking at him and the path that had been stepped by an animal, as if they were hesitating.

    After a while, the leading buck took the lead and set foot on the path, while the other deers followed behind.

    Had they lost interest in salt? Or did she think he was dangerous?

    Or perhaps ...

    Zhang Zian suddenly remembered that the people in the Kongtong tribe needed water, and so did the deer. Just eating grass could not satisfy their body¡¯s need for water, not to mention that they had licked so much salt along the way. They would definitely be more thirsty than usual!

    Deer lived on water and grass, so they had the instinct to find salt and water. Just like how camels could find water in the desert, deer could find water in the forest.

    ¡°Famous.¡±

    He stopped famous in a low voice and made a gesture to it. He decided not to follow Mike¡¯s smell for the time being. Instead, he changed his route and walked in the same direction as the animal.

    The road was rugged and difficult to walk on. The ground was covered with dense fern nts, and the road was often blocked by horizontal tree roots. In addition, the surrounding towering trees and the permeating mist made it seem like they had crossed into the world of ¡°Jurassic Park¡±.

    The roots that protruded from the ground were about a meter high. When they encountered roots that blocked their way, the elves could easily jump over them. He could only take off his backpack, push it over, and then flip over to carry it. It was a bitter experience.

    He had bet that the deer were going to find water to drink, and he was very sure that his guess was correct, but he was not sure how far the water source was from them. What if it was very far away ...

    After walking for 20 to 30 minutes, the sky became darker and darker.

    Was there really a water source ahead?

    At this time, the elves with sensitive hearing said almost in unison,¡±¡±There¡¯s the sound of running water up ahead!¡±

    Zhang Zian, whose confidence was getting weaker and weaker, felt like he had been injected with a cardiac stimnt. His body was instantly filled with motivation.

    After walking for a while, they made a turn. After passing a few big trees, a murmuring stream suddenly appeared in front of them.

    The herd of deer was already quietly sipping the water by the stream.

 Chapter 1518 - -still staying

    <h4>Chapter 1518: Chapter 1518-still staying</h4>

    Zhang Zian was relieved to see the water.

    The moisture in the forest was very heavy. If they couldn¡¯t find a water source, they could use some survival methods in the wilderness to condense dew, but that would take up a lot of time, and it was barely enough to sustain life. If that really came to a point, it was better to find a way out of the forest as soon as possible, and not talk about finding the missing girl or other things.

    After traveling together for an afternoon, the deer herd seemed to trust him a little. They were not afraid even when they saw him appear by the stream. They were only about 20 to 30 meters away from him. If he had a shotgun, it would be difficult to miss with one shot.

    This was a small herd of seven or eight deers, including a majestic male deer walking in the front and a few lively young deers who did not know the dangers of the world.

    The young deers were full of curiosity about the human. They actually ran to a ce only a dozen meters away from him and stared at him with innocent eyes, as if they were curious about where this strange guy had so much delicious salt.

    He recognized them. They were a group of North American Red deers. The most obvious feature that differentiated them from other deers was the dark brown circle around their necks and the pair of strong antlers on the heads of the male deers.

    Not only him, but the elves also recognized it, because they had seen such a Deer Horn not long ago on the wall of the wooden house in the forest. However, under the deer Horn was aplete deer head that was made into a specimen.

    Horseback deer¡¯s horns could grow veryrge, and they had always been one of the hunters ¡®favorite spoils of war. They would chop off the deer¡¯s head and make specimens to disy their hunting skills and manliness at home.

    There were many kinds of deer, and their names were very confusing. There were different names in the United States and Europe. For example, the same word ¡°Elk¡± referred to Red deer in North America, and referred to camel deer in Europe. What was even more confusing was that many China tourists or local trantors in the United States tranted Red Deer as elk. In fact, elk was a deer unique to China and was extremely rare in existence. It was impossible to see it in the wild of the United States.

    North American Red deers wererge in size, liked to live in groups, and liked to move around during the day. These characteristics matched.

    But he didn¡¯t know if there were any individuals infected with prion protein in this group of red deers.

    While he was setting up the tent, this group of red deers, which were used to daytime activities, seemed to have no intention of leaving. They took turns sipping the stream water and nibbling on the grass and leaves.

    Their expressions were alert and alert, but they were not directed at him. Instead, they looked up from time to time at the depths of the forest that was getting darker and darker.

    ¡°Kaka! I¡¯ve found a toilet for you, you idiot. I guarantee you¡¯ll be satisfied. Do you want to try squatting there?¡± Richard pped his wings and flew over, trying tond on his shoulder, but because of his night blindness, he had tond a few times before he seeded.

    ¡°Toilet?¡± He couldn¡¯t be bothered with it. ¡°Did you fart?¡±

    ¡°Kaka! This child could be taught! But it¡¯s a pity that you¡¯ve underestimated my power. If I really did copse, I could make a hole in the ground!¡± Richard pushed him with his wings.¡±Go and try! Squat down and see if it¡¯s suitable!¡±

    Zhang Zian was annoyed by it. After setting up the tent, he picked up the pot and asked,¡±¡±Where are you? I¡¯m warning you, if it doesn¡¯t look like a toilet, I¡¯m going to eat chicken Mushroom stew tonight!¡±

    Richard showed him the way indifferently, leading him around a few thick trees to a thin tree about twenty meters away from the stream. Although it was a thin tree, its diameter was about the same as an adult man ¡®s.

    ¡°Look! Doesn¡¯t this look like a toilet?¡± Richard could not see clearly anymore, so he pointed to the ground with his wing.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t believe it at all. He casually looked at the ground and was immediately stunned.

    There was an oval-shaped pit under the root of the thin tree. It was about 20 to 30 centimeters deep and had smooth edges.

    ¡°Kaka! Why don¡¯t you tell me, you idiot! Doesn¡¯t it look like a toilet?¡± Richard mored smugly. When it had flown here to relieve itself, it had found this pit. It couldn¡¯t help but go back and show off its discovery to Zhang Zian. It couldn¡¯t exin why, but it vaguely felt that this pit was different from a naturally formed pit.

    A chill crept up Zhang Zian¡¯s back. He did not have time to talk nonsense with Richard. He turned on the head light and carefully examined the trunk of the thin tree. As expected, the trunk was about one meter above the ground, and a lot of bark had been peeled off.

    When he got closer, he used his fingers to pull out a ck hair the size of a little finger from the gap in the bark.

    F * ck!

    He cursed in his heart and stopped taking water from the stream. He took the empty pot and hurried back to the tent that had just been set up.

    ¡°Famous! Come with me!¡±

    Famous was lying down and resting. When it heard his voice, it immediately stood up and followed him back.

    Not only famous, but the other elves also heard the worry and urgency in his voice, so they followed him to see what was going on.

    Zhang Zian came to the pit again, pointed at it, and said,¡±Famous, you smell it ...¡±

    Famous didn¡¯t even need to get close to it. It had already smelled the smell.¡±What is this smell? It has a very strong body odor, like the smell left behind by arge carnivore!¡±

    It stared uneasily at the darkness that was getting thicker and thicker. The instinct left in its blood was warning it to leave immediately.

    The other Elfins with a keen sense of smell also smelled it. The smell seemed to have some kind of oppression, which made them almost breathless.

    ¡°Zian, what animal left this pit?¡± Old time tea was on high alert, its brass eyes shing.

    What animal would dig a pit? Pangolin? Anteater?

    Zhang Zian took a deep breath and barely suppressed the panic in his heart. He tried to keep calm and said,¡±¡±It¡¯s a ck bear. ¡±

    ¡°ck bear?¡± The elves were all stunned, and even Richard was so scared that he swallowed his words of ridicule.¡±Are you sure?¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded and pointed to the pit,¡±¡±This kind of pit is the bear¡¯s nest. The hunters and experienced walkers in the United States call it a bear bed.¡±

    He then pointed at the trunk of the thin tree.¡±The ck bear sleeps here and scratches. Its skin is rough and thick. If you rub it too hard, you will even scrape off the bark, and the ck bear¡¯s hair will be stuck in the bark.¡±

    He turned back to look at the herd of deer by the stream.¡±I¡¯m afraid the path they took just now was made by the ck bear. That¡¯s why they¡¯re so uneasy. But they¡¯ve eaten too much salt. No matter how uneasy they are, they still need to drink water ...¡±

    ¡°Then what should we do now? In this old man¡¯s opinion, I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s not wise to fight head-on. The best way is to leave. ¡± Old time tea advised.

    dimir, however, was eager to try. It clenched its fist and said,¡±¡±What ck bear and white Bear? they¡¯re all Imperials ¡®ck bears!¡±

    Famous, can you smell how long the ck bear has been gone?¡± He asked.

    Famous sniffed around carefully and said with uncertainty,¡±¡±Maybe one or two days.¡±

    They really needed water, and besides, how far could they walk in the middle of the night?

    Zhang Zian was caught in a dilemma. After thinking for a long time, he decided to take the risk and stay here tonight.

 Chapter 1519 - -night attack

    <h4>Chapter 1519: Chapter 1519-night attack</h4>

    The ck bear was the top carnivore in the mahogany forest. Neither coyotes nor mountain lions were a match for the ck bear. The only ones who couldpete with the ck bear were the wolves, which were now very rare.

    ck bears liked to be clean and would not excrete in their nests. They always kept their nests clean and looked like a cradle. But even so, they could not fool the sense of smell of other animals and the shrewd hunters.

    The herd of red deers might have noticed the ck bear¡¯s presence nearby, but it was already dark and their night vision was poor. Moreover, this ce was close to a stream. After eating salt during the day, they were thirsty for water, so they decided to risk it and spend the night here.

    Zhang Zian had the same consideration. The ck bear had been away for a day or two, and he might note back tonight. His tent had been set up, and it was not a good idea to run away in the dark. He would make it through the night and leave the ce tomorrow.

    However, they had to be on guard tonight.

    The North American ck bear was thergest ck bear. It was muchrger than the Asian ck bear that wasmonly seen in many urban zoos in China. It was also more aggressive, unlike the mature andzy ck bears in the zoo.

    A wild ck bear¡¯s paw would tear the skin and flesh of humans, dogs, and red deers, and they would lose their ability to resist. The bear¡¯s teeth, on the other hand, had a huge bite force that could easily bite off a person¡¯s arms and legs.

    Zhang Zian reminded the Elfins again and again that once the ck bear appeared, don¡¯t go up and fight it head-on. The ck bear had thick skin, and a few scratches and bites were just tickles, but if you were bitten or patted by it, you would lose at least half of your life.

    Famous felt the same way. It had fought side by side with old time tea in the barren mountains in the dream world, protecting the traveling merchants from the threat of wolves and driving the wolves deep into the mountains. But this was because the wolves were very smart. When they thought the losses of the battle were more than the gains, they would wisely choose to retreat. Bears, however, were different. Once they were injured, their wildness would be stimted instead, and they would rush forward with no regard for their lives, just like boorish men with muscles in their brains.

    After that, he boiled water, cooked, and rested. He did what he had to do, but he had to look up at the dark forest from time to time.

    Famous volunteered to sleep outside the tent. It was responsible for guarding the bonfire. If the bonfire showed signs of extinguishing, it would wake Zhang Zian up to add firewood orbustion-enhancing agents.

    This was destined to be a sleepless night. Even when he got into the sleeping bag andy down, Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes were still open. If he turned over andy on his side, he would see several other pairs of bright eyes blinking.

    Even Richard, who was blind, did not dare to close his eyes. He was like a blind man who knew that danger was imminent but could only leave his fate to fate. Zhang Zian only hoped that he would not be scared to the point of peeing and shitting at the sound of wind and grass.

    Just like that, they survived the first half of the night. Zhang Zian, who was sleeping with his clothes on, got up in the middle to add more firewood. It was wet and cold outside the tent, and there was fog. Famous was fine by the fire.

    The herd of red deers stopped on the grass by the stream, either standing or lying down. The young deers were sleeping with their legs crossed under their stomachs, but the leading male deer was just standing and pretending to sleep. When he heard the movement, he opened his eyes and looked in Zhang Zian¡¯s direction.

    On the branch above their heads, the spotted owl was scanning the surroundings with itsrge, Searchlight-like eyes.

    He continued to return to the tent after adding firewood.

    In the second half of the night, he thought he would be awake for the whole night, but his eyelids started to fight. Firstly, it was because of the fatigue during the day, and secondly, because he unconsciously rxed his mood. Subconsciously, he thought that it was not far from dawn, and a few hours passed in a sh.

    He didn¡¯t know when he had fallen asleep, but he was suddenly awakened by a loud roar. It was famous. It was close to him, trying to warn him.

    His body instinctively wanted to jump up, but the sleeping bag restricted his movement, and he could only sit up halfway.

    The elves in the tent were all awake. Pi squeaked and shrank into the corner, and Richard screamed and flew around. It was a mess.

    He didn¡¯t have time to get out of the sleeping bag. He zipped up the tent first and asked fina, old time tea, and dimir to leave the tent first. He couldn¡¯t let the bear block his nest.

    When they rushed out of the tent, he rolled and crawled out of his sleeping bag.

    The bonfire was already very weak before dawn. Famous kept barking in the direction of the deer herd.

    The herd of deers was also calling out. The male deers ¡®calls were loud and clear, while the female deers¡¯ calls were sharp. Shadows could be seen on the grass, and all the deers were running around in the dark.

    Zhang Zian turned on his tactical shlight, and a bright and highly concentrated beam of light cut through the darkness, shining straight into the woods, locking onto a huge dark figure.

    As expected, it was an adult male ck bear. It weighed nearly 400 pounds and was an out-and-out forest killer.

    The ck bear was breathing white air. Taking advantage of the deer¡¯s poor vision at night, it attacked from the Leeward side, its roar shaking the sky.

    Although the ck bear was huge, it was not slow at all. No matter if it encountered thorns or branches blocking the way, it would rush through them. On the other hand, the deer herd panicked in the dark and did not know where to go. The ck bear rushed towards the direction where the forest was denser, which was the direction of the tent. The denser the forest was, the more difficult it was for the deer to escape.

    In particr, the leading buck, in order to protect the mother and the young deers, shook the branch-like antlers on its head and bravely stayed to confront the ck bear. If the opponent was a lone coyote, Wolf, or cougar, it would have the strength to fight, and even winning was not impossible. But the opponent was a male adult ck bear, and its resistance was like a Mantis trying to stop a car.

    ¡°Quickly Dodge! Hide behind the tree!¡± Zhang Zian shouted.

    He wasn¡¯t shouting at the buck, since the buck couldn¡¯t understand him. He was shouting at the elves, because the frightened deer were running towards the tent. If they were hit by a female or young deer, they would at least get a fracture, or they might be knocked unconscious and trampled. If he had been hit by a young deer with long horns ... He would have been cut open on the spot.

    After shouting, he led by example and sneaked behind the nearest tree. He used the trunk to block his body, and pulled Pi and Richard along.

    The other Elfins reacted faster and moved more agilely. They understood the danger they were about to face and hid behind the trees or jumped up to avoid the wave of deer.

    The running deer stomped on the bonfire and kicked over the tent. Fortunately, they didn¡¯t step on the backpack, or the drone would be scrapped.

    After the herd of deer passed through, Zhang Zian poked his head out from behind the tree and looked in the direction of the ck bear.

    The leading buck covered the herd and sessfully escaped. It knew that it was no match for the ck bear and would die if it continued to drag on, so it turned around and ran in this direction.

    Since the bonfire had been stepped out, the only light in the woods was the beam of Zhang Zian¡¯s shlight.

    The buck had just run a few steps when it heard a crack. Its tall antlers were entangled with the low branches.

    With a sad cry, it fell on its back.

 Chapter 1520 - fighting black bear

    <h4>Chapter 1520: Chapter 1520-fighting ck bear</h4>

    The leading buck was also unlucky. His escape route was the same as the herd, but the herd had sessfully run over. He jumped a little because his horn was too tall, and as a result, his horn twisted a branch. With a crackling sound of the branch breaking, he lost his bnce and fell heavily to the ground.

    The ce where the buck fell was only three or four meters away from the tree where Zhang Zian was hiding.

    It had only been 20 to 30 seconds since he woke up. Zhang Zian was extremely nervous, but he couldn¡¯t do anything. Other than hiding behind the tree to avoid the deer¡¯s attack, his mind was nk. He didn¡¯t know what to do or who to help.

    That¡¯s right, he didn¡¯t know who he should help.

    After the herd of deer ran over, he btedly realized that Qingqing was in bad shape! If the herd of deer ran away, then wouldn¡¯t he be the ck bear¡¯s target?

    The unluckiest thing was that the herd just happened to run past him. If the ck bear wanted to chase them, it would obviously pass by him.

    The ck bear could run faster than a human. It could climb trees and swim. If it changed its target to him, it would be difficult for him to escape unscathed.

    Just as he was at a loss, the leading buck tripped on a branch. This was undoubtedly a good opportunity to escape. As long as he left the buck to the ck bear as a midnight snack, it would definitely die under the ck bear¡¯s ws. While the ck bear was eating the deer corpse, he and the elves could quietly escape.

    Wild beasts were different from humans. Humans would kill meaninglessly, but wild beasts would not do so under normal circumstances. When they had enough food to fill their stomachs, they would not take the initiative to attack humans or other animals. After all, they could not eat more, so why waste their energy? It¡¯s better to digest food and gain weight.

    Even the infamous great white shark could take a picture with the divers after eating, let alone the ck bear.

    Therefore, when he saw the buck fall to the ground, the first thought that shed through his mind was that it was a good opportunity!

    This was the best chance to escape. As long as he didn¡¯t care, he would definitely be able to escape from the scene.

    Of course, there was a price to pay. He only had time to carry his backpack. As for his tent, sleeping bag, waterproof mat, and some misceneous items that he had confiscated for breakfast the next morning, he could only leave them here.

    In addition, he had to run away in the dark, regardless of the direction, the further away from here the better.

    Zhang Zian hesitated for a moment and decided to run away. He couldn¡¯t risk his life and money.

    After the buck fell, it tried to get up, but there was a branch hanging on its horn. It was dizzy and couldn¡¯t tell the direction at all, and a section of its horn was broken.

    Of course, the ck bear would not let go of this opportunity. It quickly ran over and wanted to give the buck a fatal blow.

    The buck had just gotten up and ran two more steps when the bear pounced on him. The buck struggled with all his might, and the deer and the bear rolled to the side of the tree.

    ¡°Gah! Gah!¡± Although Richard could not see, the voice was so close that he peed his pants in fear.

    The ck bear smelled the scent of humans and also saw Zhang Zian hiding behind the tree. It roared to the sky, as if it was warning and threatening.

    The Buck¡¯s wet eyes reflected the light of the shlight, as if it was begging him.

    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

    Zhang Zian cursed in his heart. He didn¡¯t know what the bear was thinking. It might be warning him not to meddle in other people¡¯s business, or it might be angry because it thought he was being threatened.

    He could not wait passively for the ck bear¡¯s reaction. At such a close distance, if the ck bear pounced at him, he would not be able to Dodge.

    After being targeted by a bear, the biggest taboo was to turn around and run. If he didn¡¯t run, the bear might continue to attack the deer, but if he ran, it was very likely that it would turn to attack the person.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s legs trembled, and he resisted the urge to run away.

    At a closer distance, he could clearly understand how huge the ck bear was. It was probably a little taller than him when it stood up, like a moving mountain of meat. Unless he was given a cannon, he was definitely not the ck bear¡¯s opponent at this distance.

    The Elfins saw that the situation was bad and wanted toe to help, but the cat Elfins were on another tree and couldn¡¯t run over so quickly.

    Famous barked at the ck bear from the side, trying to attract the bear¡¯s attention to itself, and kept approaching it.

    The elves wouldn¡¯t just watch him die, but if they fought with this ck bear, even the elves would be severely injured. The more injured the ck bear was, the more furious it would be. It would only fight to the death.

    Forced by the situation, he didn¡¯t have time to think about it. He threw Pi behind him and reached out to his waist to take out a can of bear spray that his big baby pi pi had bought in a local outdoor equipment store in the United States.

    Since they knew that there were bears in the mahogany forest, how could they enter without any preparation? Should he ce all his hopes on the luck of not encountering a bear? What if he had bad luck?

    The bear-proof spray was expensive, about 40 to 50 dors per can. If he couldn¡¯t use it, he couldn¡¯t return it for seven days without a reason. However, this was a necessary investment for safety. Even if it hurt, he still bought it.

    In fact, ording to the investigation of bear attacks over the years, once a person was attacked by a bear, whether they had a gun or not, there was no difference in their own casualty rate. The guns that could be bought by the public were basically not able to kill the bear before you killed it. However, the bear-proof spray that contained chili ingredients was more effective than the gun.

    He lifted the cap, removed the safety of the spray, raised his hand and pressed the spray button at the ck bear, sincerely hoping that this ck bear was not a man of chuanxiang who loved to kill.

    The high-pressure yellow mist spurted out rapidly, instantly covering the ck bear¡¯s head and upper body.

    This was the advantage of the spray. It could spray a distance of several meters and cover arge area in a cone shape. As long as the general direction was right, there was almost no possibility of it going off course. It was unlike a gun that needed to be urately aimed at a life and death moment. One wrong shot could kill Yingying, but even if it didn ¡®t, it might not save her life.

    The mist with chili pepper was stimting the bear¡¯s eyes, nose, and throat. It was a stimtion that could not be endured by willpower. It roared, threw down the prey it had already caught, turned around, and ran across the stream to the other side of the forest.

    Zhang Zian was afraid that it wouldn¡¯t run far and woulde back again, so he chased after it and sprayed it in the ass and balls ...

    The ck bear plunged into the dark forest. The branches and grass cracked, and the ck bear¡¯s painful roars gradually faded away.

    The forest returned to silence. Zhang Zian held the spray in his hand and stiffly maintained his previous posture. His heart was beating so fast that it seemed like it was going to jump out of his chest, and his whole body was covered in cold sweat.

    I actually managed to drive away an adult male ck bear?

    It was simply blowing up the heavens!

    He couldn¡¯t believe it, but the truth was right in front of him. He had to believe it.

 Chapter 1521 - -hatred

    <h4>Chapter 1521: Chapter 1521-hatred</h4>

    After the ck bear fled in a panic, the forest returned to silence.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heavy breathing gradually subsided.

    Previously, he had clearly carried the bear-proof spray, but he still intended to escape, because he could not bet on the sess rate of the spray. If the bear was not afraid of the spray, or the spray itself lost its effect, then wouldn¡¯t he be seeking death?

    ¡°Kaka! Why did it suddenly be so quiet? Have I already be a bear¡¯s poop?¡± ¡°Blind Richard!¡± Cried out the blind man.

    ¡°Squeak! Squeak!¡±

    Pi was dancing with excitement, as happy as a Festival.

    The other Elfins had wanted toe over, but they had a keen sense of smell. The spray in the air hadn¡¯t dissipated yet, and the strong spicy smell was also very irritating to them.

    The buck on the ground struggled to get up. He shone his shlight on it and saw several bloody marks on its side, which were scratched by the bear¡¯s ws. Each bloody mark was almost enough to reach a person¡¯s little finger. Fortunately, it was a deer. If it were a human, its belly might have been cut open.

    Its wound had to be treated because ck bears liked to lick their ws, and there was a lot of bacteria on them. If the wound was not treated, it could get septicaemia.

    He took out a first aid kit from his backpack and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, scissors, gauze, and disposable gloves. He tried to approach it from the back, staring at the deer Horn on its head.

    He didn¡¯t dare to approach from the direction of its head. If it was still in shock and thought that he was an enemy, it would use its Deer Horn to hit him, and he would die before he could get away.

    The buck was seriously injured, and the wound hurt so much that it trembled and could barely stand. When it saw Zhang Zianing over, it instinctively wanted to stay away, but it only took two steps before it pulled on its wound. Its knees went soft, and it almost fell again.

    Zhang Zian finally walked to its side and whispered,¡±¡±I¡¯m here to help you. Don¡¯t be afraid. ¡±

    Although the buck couldn¡¯t understand, his animal instinct made him feel his kindness. If he wanted to hurt him, he would have done so at such a close distance.

    He put on a pair of gloves, cut the fur near the wound with a pair of scissors, opened a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, and poured it on the wound to disinfect it.

    The low concentration of hydrogen peroxide didn¡¯t stimte the wound, so the buck didn¡¯t feel any extra pain.

    He then washed away the remaining hydrogen peroxide with clean, filtered, warm water, and wrapped the gauze around its chest and abdomen many times, then tied a knot. If possible, of course, it would be best to stitch up the wound, but he didn¡¯t have the right thread. Even if he did, it would be difficult to stitch it up at night. This was different from the minke whale¡¯s situation. The minke whale was stranded on the beach and couldn¡¯t move much, and its blubber was very thick. But if the deer was in unbearable pain, who knew how it would struggle?

    Fortunately, the deer was very cooperative except for when it trembled a little when he tied the bandage.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know if this was the right thing to do. Maybe not interfering with the deer¡¯s life and death was the right choice. After all, it was part of the park¡¯s ecosystem. If it died of septicaemia, its corpse would also be a stepping stone for the survival of many scavengers.

    After the wound was bandaged, the Buck¡¯s mood seemed to have stabilized. It grunted a few times, and the sound was simr to that of a cow ¡®s. Then, it walked to the stream with small steps and lowered its head to drink.

    At this time, there was another sound from the woods not far away. Zhang Zian shone his shlight over and saw that the deer that had just escaped had carefully returned. They might have heard the deer¡¯s call and knew that the danger was over, so they came back to find the deer.

    After this little episode, the deer seemed to havepletely let down its guard against Zhang Zian. When Zhang Zian was counting the losses, it and the herd of deer had been staying about ten steps away. Perhaps it was because of the existence of amon enemy that made him stand on the same front as them, and his mentality had undergone subtle changes.

    The tent was kicked over by the galloping deer. Fortunately, the tent¡¯s fabric was very stic and smooth, so it didn¡¯t break. Only the alloy frame was deformed, but it could still be used if it was bent in the opposite direction. This was a good thing in the misfortune, or else they would have to really ¡°expose¡± their camp.

    He didn¡¯t lose anything else.

    The elves curiously looked at the bear-proof spray. They didn¡¯t expect that such a small guy could scare away a huge monster.

    When Richard heard that the ck bear had retreated, he shamelessly took all the credit.

    ¡°Kaka! If you want to talk about power, I¡¯m still the more powerful one. I was just pretending to be weak, my body shook, and my domineering aura leaked out. I defeated the ck bear with a pool of yellow urine ...¡±

    OWW!

    Before it could finish, another bear¡¯s roar came from the distance. It was the direction the ck bear had fled.

    ¡°Oh my God!¡±

    Richard was so scared that he pped his wings and flew away, but he hit the branches and fell into the dead leaves on the ground, rolling his eyes.

    Zhang Zian and the herd of deers were also staring in that direction, but judging from the sound, the ck bear had run quite far.

    ¡°Zian, the ck bear¡¯s roar was filled with anger. It must be holding a grudge after being defeated. Will ite back for revenge?¡± Old time tea asked worriedly.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t sure about this, but he encouraged everyone,¡±¡±There¡¯s nothing to be afraid of. We¡¯ll deal with whateveres our way. So what if it has a grudge? If we drive it away once, we can drive it away a second time, and a third time!¡±

    He said this with great confidence. The bear-proof spray could be said to be the bear¡¯s nemesis, unless the ck bear couldunch a surprise attack. However, with the elves around, the ck bear could not approach quietly without being discovered.

    This can of bear-proof spray could be sprayed a dozen times without any problem, and it was enough tost until they safely left the forest.

    The elves felt that it made sense and were relieved. They had seen the ck bear¡¯s violence and ferocity with their own eyes. Even if they were proud by nature, they would not want to fight a ck bear head-on. It would not be worth it if they were injured.

    ¡°That girl named melgen, could she have encountered a bear?¡± Old time tea asked again.

    If she had disappeared because she had encountered a ck bear, then she might have already lost her life.

    ¡°It¡¯s hard to say, but even so, it doesn¡¯t exin why Mike never returned. Mike has been living on the edge of this forest for a long time. He knows the forest and the ck Bears. He is also a veteran who has been on the battlefield. He shouldn¡¯t have disappeared at this time. ¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Theory was only theory. No one could be sure of what actually happened. Maybe melgen had indeed met with a ck bear or some other ferocious beast and died. Mike hade to look for her, but he only found her body. In a fit of rage, he decided to take revenge for her, so he took the initiative to attack the ck bear. However, he was also killed. This was possible. When a person was impulsive, they could do anything stupid.

    It was not far from daybreak after he was done with the torture. He could not sleep even if he wanted to. He decided to prepare breakfast early and set off early after eating to continue tracking Mike¡¯s smell.

 Chapter 1522 - A complicated smell

    <h4>Chapter 1522: Aplicated smell</h4>

    In the morning, they set off again.

    They were now deep in the heart of the forest, and no matter if they advanced or retreated, they could not easily leave the forest.

    The herd of red deers was still following Zhang Zian, about 20 meters behind. The first deer was staggering in front, while the rest followed behind leisurely, focusing on finding salt from the soil and grass.

    After a midnight rest, the deer had recovered some strength. Although it still couldn¡¯t run, at least it could walk.

    At first, Zhang Zian used salt to lead the deer to check on the condition of the deer¡¯s infection of the prion. There were no signs of infection or disease for the time being, so it was reasonable to say that he did not need to continue leading them. However, he found that the deer had a talent for finding water, which was very important in the forest. Even if he no longer sprinkled salt, the deer seemed to not intend to leave.

    As the injured deer walked, it turned its head back to look at Qingqing from time to time. It wasn¡¯t looking at the herd of deer behind it, but something further away.

    Zhang Zian looked through his binocrs, but he could only see the dense forest.

    ¡°What is it looking at?¡± Old time tea also noticed this problem.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head, but there was a faint worry in his heart. Could it be that the ck bear had a grudge and had been quietly following them, waiting for an opportunity to take revenge?

    That was a possibility.

    The territory of an adult male ck bear was dozens of square kilometers wide. The ck bear had left its nest for a day or two, probably to hunt and patrol the territory, or to mate with a female bear. For it, Zhang Zian was a hateful invader. Not only did he make it suffer, but he also took food from its hands, so it was inevitable that it would hold a grudge.

    It was afraid of the bear-proof spray¡¯s power and didn¡¯t dare to rashly attack again. Instead, it followed from far behind, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

    As an old rival in the forest, the leading buck might have some kind of intuition and knew that the ck bear was following them, so he led the herd to follow Zhang Zian, because he felt that he could easily defeat the ck bear and protect the herd.

    What could Zhang Zian do? He was also in despair. Whether it was the herd of deer or the ck bear, they could follow if they wanted to. Anyway, he would not stay in the forest for long.

    A piece of news that was both happy and sad was that after dawn, the fog gradually dispersed, revealing the cloudy sky. The sun was still not visible, but at least the visibility had improved.

    Last night, he had focused all his attention on the ck bear and did not pay much attention to the elfin¡¯s movements. Now, looking at the electronic map, he found that he was closer to it. It had been wandering around somewhere and did not continue to run.

    Famous found Mike¡¯s smell again and continued to track him.

    Mike was not walking in a straight line, but more like an S-shape. In order to expand the search area in the forest as much as possible, Zhang Zian could only follow his route to avoid losing him.

    The spotted owl and Richard were napping on top of his backpack. He wanted to take a nap too. He slept too littlest night and could barely keep his eyes open. However, he had no choice but to continue walking and try to leave the ck bear¡¯s territory as soon as possible. Although this often meant that he would enter the territory of another ck bear, he had no enmity with the other bears.

    After walking for another morning, as the weight of the backpack gradually decreased, and Zhang Zian had adapted to the way of walking in the forest, he could vaguely feel which ces were easy to walk and which ces were difficult to walk. He could also avoid some hidden pits covered by dead leaves, unlike the previous two days when he only found them after stepping into them.

    Even so, due to the twists and turns of the route, he did not go far in a straight line in the forest.

    After lunch, they continued their journey.

    As they walked, the spotted owl, which had been standing quietly on the backpack, suddenly became restless. It spread its wings and whimpered on the top of the backpack, turning around in circles anxiously.

    Richard was squeezed to the edge of the backpack like a bullied little wife. If he squeezed any more, he would have fallen off the backpack.

    ¡°Kaka! I¡¯m a tiger that has fallen from the sky, so don¡¯t you go too far, you owl!¡± It mored fiercely, but its body kept retreating.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what was going on, but he felt that the two birds on his backpack were quite restless. He asked Richard to be quiet and not bully the neers.

    Richard was indignant. He was the one being bullied.

    After walking forward for another ten minutes, Zhang Zian suddenly felt that his backpack was a little lighter. At the same time, he heard Richard¡¯s happy voice,¡±¡±Kaka! This freeloader had finally left! You¡¯re tactful. Remember, you¡¯re not allowed to appear in front of this great master in the future!¡±

    Zhang Zian turned around and looked up, only to see that the spotted owl had alreadynded on a horizontal branch.

    He had checked its injury this morning, and the burn had not fully recovered. When he tried to pull the injured wing, it would nervously retract its wing, but the other side was fine, so he guessed that the injury still felt pain.

    ¡°We have to continue moving forward.¡± He pointed to the front and repeated it twice. He even patted the top of his backpack, signaling for it toe back.

    It turned its head and looked around, still holding the branch tightly with its ws, showing no intention of returning to the backpack.

    Zhang Zian waited for two or three minutes, taking it as a break, but he couldn¡¯t wait forever, so he waved goodbye to it. ¡°Okay, see youter. Be careful in the future.¡±

    Finally, Richard could upy the throne at the top of the backpack, and he kept urging him to leave.

    While he was resting, famous didn¡¯t rest. It ran in front to explore the way. At this time, it trotted back and said,¡±¡±There are signs of people up ahead.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Zhang Zian was shocked, and he didn¡¯t know what to feel.

    He had been in the forest for almost three days, and because he was not walking on the official rmended hiking route, he had not seen a single person along the way. Logically speaking, when he heard that someone had appeared, he should be as happy as if he had met an old friend in a foreignnd, but who would appear in the depths of the forest like this?

    ¡°Melgen?¡± He asked.

    Famous shook its head.¡±It¡¯s the smell of a lot of people, and a lot of animals. There¡¯s even a very strong smell of gasoline and machine oil, and...The smell of blood.¡±

    He was stunned for a moment before he immediately reacted.¡±It¡¯s a ughterhouse!¡±

    The only ce in the forest that could meet these conditions was the ughterhouse.

    Could it be ...

    He looked up at the spotted owl again. Could it be that this little guy was injured when he crashed into the electric of the ughterhouse?

    If the ughterhouse built in the forest was not installed with a power grid, many carnivores and scavengers would be attracted by the smell of blood, which would cause great trouble and threat to the ughterhouse equipment and employees.

    No wonder it refused to move forward. It probably recognized the nearby terrain and knew that the power grid that hurt it was right in front. The pain of being electrocuted was still fresh in its memory, so it was afraid to move forward. Even if its injury was not healed, it did not want to stay in his backpack.

 Chapter 1523 - tight security

    <h4>Chapter 1523: Chapter 1523-tight security</h4>

    Zhang Zian guessed that the smell that famous had smelled was probably one of the main goals of entering the mahogany forest this time, the venison ughterhouse. However, this was only a guess. Whether it was a ughterhouse and whether this ughterhouse had anything to do with Leshi dog food still needed to be investigated.

    Of course, he was also praying in his heart that it must not be a mysterious military base surrounded by a power grid, such as ¡°a cabin in the forest¡±. Then, he would be captured and subjected to cruel experiments ...

    He asked the elves to be alert and pay attention to their surroundings. Then, he left an open can for the spotted owl. At least it would not have to go hungry today.

    Not long after they continued forward, there were indeed signs of human activity in front of them. As long as they were careful, they could find cigarette butts that had been stepped out in the grass, or paper scraps that had been blown by the wind, as well as small paths that had been stepped on by people often. Of course, there was no shortage of ... Small used umbres.

    Mmmmm...Field operations?

    He hoped that these high-spirited people who liked excitement would not encounter curious ck bears in the wild.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s line of sight patrolled around the ground to look for clues. The other Elfins ¡®line of sight was also lower. However, Richard, who was at the top of the exclusive backpack, saw a sign hanging on a tree next to him and pped his wings to remind him.

    The sign said,¡±you have entered private territory. There is an electric grid and vicious dogs inside. For your safety, please leave immediately.¡±

    Signs like this could be seen on the nearby trees at a certain distance.

    As expected, it seemed to be here.

    Zhang Zian was not afraid of the power grid or the dogs. As long as there were no mines, as long as it was not a military restricted area, he would not be scared off by these few lines of words. At least, he had to see it with his own eyes.

    As they walked further in, the forest was no longer as dense as before. The towering trees had disappeared and were reced by young, new trees. However, because the red shirt itself grew rapidly and the climate was suitable, the so-called new trees were thicker and taller than the old trees of ordinary species.

    Zhang Zian stopped, found a hole at the bottom of a tree, took off his heavy backpack, and stuffed it in. He was light and simple.

    The herd of red deers seemed to know that there was human activity nearby and hesitated. However, the deer was worried that the ck bear would catch up with them, so it did not dare to go too far away from him.

    Zhang Zian considered that there was a deer meat ughterhouse or a processing nt in front of him, so it was definitely not appropriate to bring a few deer there. Although he felt that the other party would not dare to openly kill wild deer, at least it would affect the secrecy of their actions. So he thought of a way. He found a thicker red shirt, melted the salt into a bottle of water, and then poured the salt water evenly on the bark.

    The herd of deer smelled the salt and gathered around the tree, licking the bark. It was estimated that it would allow them to stay here in peace for a while.

    As for the ck bear, it didn¡¯t sleep all night, so it was unlikely that it would attack the deer during the day.

    After he was done, he used the trees to hide his figure, lightened his footsteps, and continued to move forward with the elves.

    After walking for a short while, they were blocked by a barbed wire with a very eye-catching warning sign hanging on it. On the bright yellow background, there was a crossed lightning and a skull, and the words ¡°high voltage electric, do not touch¡± were attached. Even an illiterate person could understand the illustration.

    He didn¡¯t get too close, because there was a strong metal pole buried in the ground at a certain distance. The metal pole was not only the support of the power grid, but also a surveince camera on the top of the pole. The camera was facing outside the power grid. If he walked out of the forest, he would immediately enter the range of the surveince camera.

    Of course, the security guards working in the monitoring room might not be watching the images from so many cameras all the time. They might be taking a nap, ying cards, smoking, or going to the toilet, but this was a matter of probability, after all, and he did not want to bet on it.

    There were also some low trees inside the power grid, as well as a series of factories and dormitories. He could vaguely hear the sound of cars, people talking, and the roar of machines. He could also hear the barking of dogs. It seemed that the warning of ¡°there are vicious dogs inside¡± was not a Bluff.

    What secret was there that was worth thebination of power grid and vicious dogs to protect?

    At present, the power grid may be a ring. Judging from the curvature, the ughterhouse was notrge. After all, it was built in the depths of the forest, so transportation was inconvenient, and the employees did not have much entertainment.

    ¡°Kaka! How are you going to get in? Please take a piss and look at yourself, don¡¯t think you¡¯re James Bond!¡± Richard said mischievously,¡±also, don¡¯t even think about getting your hands on me!¡± If I fly in, I might be shot by a shotgun, or I might be caught as a gigolo!¡±

    The electric was three meters high. Even if famous wanted to jump in, it would be dangerous, let alone him. It was even more impossible for the cat elfin.

    As it was private territory, all the trees around the power grid that could be used as a springboard had been cleared to prevent the possibility of climbing over the power grid.

    Taking a step back, even if they set up a talldder to climb over the grid, did they have to jump from a height of more than three meters to the other side? If one¡¯snding posture was not good or had not received professional parkour training, they were likely to break their legs, or at least sprain their ankle.

    The elves looked at the power grid and the surveince cameras, feeling at a loss.

    Zhang Zian observed for a while through the binocrs to make sure that there was no one nearby. Since it was working hours, the employees might all be working in the factory. This kind of ce would not keep idle people.

    He had been mentally prepared for this situation. He would not take the risk himself, nor would he let the elves take the risk.

    ¡°You guys wait here, I¡¯ll be right back.¡±

    He returned to the tree hole where he put his backpack, and soon returned to retrieve the drone named Nekhbet, thergest single-piece weight-bearing Machine he had since he entered the forest.

    A few days ago, when the Elfins saw that he was going to carry the drone into the forest, they all thought it was a stupid move. This was not the Sahara Desert. The trees were too dense, and it was difficult for the drone to even take off. What was the use of carrying it?

    Drone, remote control, cloud camera, lens, backup battery, and charger-this set weighed at least five kilograms in total, and they were all sophisticated parts. They couldn¡¯t be stuffed together with other misceneous items and had to be carried alone. It was heavy and took up space. Wouldn¡¯t it be better to use this weight and space to carry other things?

    Along the way, the Elfinsined a lot. They were either short of things or ufortable. The more they looked at the drone, the more they found it an eyesore. They could not understand why he insisted on carrying it into the forest.

    Now that they saw him bring the drone, the Elfins suddenly realized that the Pi Xiu drone was just right for the current situation.

    Zhang Zian had never thought of himself as a lone hero like James Bond, nor did he want to destroy the ughterhouse alone. He just needed to find out what was going on and keep the evidence.

 Chapter 1524 - -collusion

    <h4>Chapter 1524: Chapter 1524-collusion</h4>

    The drone, Nekhbet, had made great contributions during their trip to Egypt. Without it, Zhang Zian and his team might not be able to leave the desert at all, or they might be forced to return after just two or three days.

    After leaving the desert, he bought it from Binhai University as a second-hand item. It was well maintained, and there were not many scratches on it. He would take it out and use it from time to time because electronic products were not to be used. Especially when he went to the beach to pick up the sea or took an assault boat out to sea with Sihwa, there were drones monitoring from the sky. If a boat passed by nearby, it could be discovered from a distance.

    Now it was time for it to show off its skills. Whether it was the power grid or the fierce dog, it didn¡¯t care about them.

    Zhang Zian assembled the propeller, battery, and cloud camera, then carefully controlled it to take off. When it flew out of the sparse woods at a steady and low speed, he gave it themand to climb, and then rose at the fastest speed out of the vision of the surveince camera.

    Nekhbet was quick to react. He climbed up almost in a straight line and transmitted the captured images to the screen of the remote control in real time.

    The entire ughterhouse could be seen at a nce.

    As Zhang Zian had guessed, the ughterhouse was notrge. Other than the only entrance and exit, the whole ce was surrounded by power grids. There were also people in security uniforms patrolling the factory with fierce Dobbies.

    The entrance and exit were on the other side of the ughterhouse, in the opposite direction of Zhang Zian. A simple road stretched into the forest.

    The drone could not see the situation inside the factory, and he did not want to see the bloody dismemberment scene.

    At that moment, a convoy of transport vehicles drove over from the distance. The truckpartment had been modified and sealed with an iron cage.

    The convoy stopped at the entrance. After the security guard verified their identity, he opened the gate and let the convoy in.

    Some employees walked out of the factory, opened the truck, and drove the electric forklift to move the iron cages into the factory.

    Through the drone¡¯s camera, it could be clearly seen that these iron cages were filled with deer, including white-tailed deer, ck-tailed deer, sika deer, and so on.

    The deers seemed to have a premonition of their fate, shaking their heads and chirping restlessly in the narrow cage.

    It was worth noting that each car in the convoy had the logo of a deer farm.

    What was going on?

    Zhang Zian had previously guessed that the ughterhouses might collect the dead deer in the forest for processing, or even illegally kill wild deer to reduce costs. However, there was a loophole in this guess that was difficult to answer, and that was how the ughterhouses knew where the wild deer died.

    The forest was vast, and wild deer that died of natural causes or from chronic slimming disease could have died anywhere. Before the deer¡¯s bodies were found, they might have been eaten by scavengers in the forest.

    From the looks of it, the ughterhouse¡¯s raw materials were live deer bought from the farm?

    Did he wrongly use the manufacturer of Leshi dog food?

    This meant that all his previous spections might have to be overturned. Although it was hard for him to ept it, he could not let go of a bad person, nor could he wrong a good person.

    The drone was hovering high in the air, and the employees on the ground would not look up at the sky for no reason, so he was not worried about being noticed.

    This was not a popr hiking route, so there would not be any tourists. The security guards actually spent most of their time pretending, so their work was easy and safe.

    Just as he was about to order the drone to return, he suddenly noticed the name of the farm on the car. He had an idea and ordered the drone to stop, then tried to open the web page.

    Open ... Open ... Open ...

    He mumbled in his heart. After a few seconds, the webpage appeared even though it was slow. It seemed that he could indeed ess the inte here.

    He searched for news rted to this farm and quickly browsed through it. He noticed an inconspicuous piece of news that was ranked at the bottom.

    ording to the news, the chronic slimming disease of deer had spread from Central America to Western America, and deer suspected of being infected had been found in sporadic areas in California. Therefore, in order to prepare for a rainy day, The Deer Hunter Association in California took radical measures and proposed a series of relevant bills in the state parliament. One of the most controversial proposals was that if a deer was found infected in any farm in the forest, all the deer in the farm must be killed.

    Before this, if simr infectious diseases broke out in other animals, such as pig gue, chicken gue, mad cow disease, and so on, they would adopt the policy of killing as a whole when they found an infected individual. But this time, when it came to deer, the deer farm owners refused to do so.

    The other proposal was to ban live deer, including blood and essence, from entering and leaving California.

    The third proposal was to prohibit the establishment of new deer farms, and the existing deer farms must be fenced with higher fences to prevent the reared deer from escaping.

    The reason for the three bills proposed by The Deer Hunter Association was that, so far, in areas where the disease had been discovered, most of the epidemic broke out from deer farms and was suspected to have spread to wild deer.

    If the disease was allowed to spread in California, it would seriously threaten the survival of wild deer herds. If all the wild deer were dead, wouldn¡¯t The Deer Hunter Association only exist in name?

    These three proposals were naturally strongly boycotted by deer farms in California. They believed that there was no evidence to prove that the disease broke out from the farms. Besides, who would pay for the raising of the fence? Who would be responsible for the losses of the farm owners?

    The two factions kept quarreling in the State Council, each using all their resources to lobby the state members to support their own side.

    At present, the two factions had not yet decided who would win, but the bnce of victory had quietly tilted in the favor of The Deer Hunter Association.

    Due to the continuous spread of the deer¡¯s chronic slimming disease, as well as the rumor that the disease might be transmitted to people by deer, many ordinary people, who had thought that it was none of their business, began to worry. Most ordinary people didn¡¯t care about the life and death of reared and wild deer, nor did they care about the losses of the capitalists on the farms. As long as they could effectively eliminate the danger they might face, they were willing to vote with their feet, and the state councilors had to take into ount the will of the voters.

    Once The Deer Hunter Association won, it was conceivable that the deer farm owners in California would suffer heavy losses.

    After reading this news, Zhang Zian tried to theorize from the perspective of the farm owner that if he was the owner of a deer farm and saw that the struggle in the State Council was at a disadvantage and might suffer huge losses, would he try to sell all the deer in the farm before they were forcibly exterminated? Even if they were sold at a low price, it was better than being killed unconditionally.

    There was an old China saying that goes,¡±a Xuanji family is extremely rich, and everything with fur doesn¡¯t count.¡± It was really philosophical and visionary.

    This made sense.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    In fact, the location where The Deer Hunter Association and the deer breeders were fighting in the Parliament was Minnesota, but for the sake of the plot, it was arranged to be in California.

 Chapter 1525 - Ive already called the police

    <h4>Chapter 1525: I¡¯ve already called the police</h4>

    If Zhang Zian¡¯s guess was correct, the reason why Leshi dog food could be so cheap was purely because deer breeders in California were eager to get rid of their reared deer. So, even if the dog food itself was cheap, there was still profit.

    Perhaps it was not just California. Due to the gradual deterioration of deer weight loss, more and more States had fallen. If the lips die, the teeth will feel the same. Many deer farms were definitely facing difficulties. In order to avoid going bankrupt, they could only sell their own deer with tears in their eyes. After selling all of them, they would either switch to other animals or simply close down.

    There were 400 deer farms in Minnesota alone, which meant that there were at least a few thousand of them in the United States.

    Why didn¡¯t the other dog foods do this? This was because the ingredients of their dog food had already been set in stone, unlike Leshi, which was a new manufacturer and could take advantage of the situation.

    As for the live deers sent from all over the country, only God knew if they were infected with the emaciated state.

    Zhang Zian noticed that some of the deer that had been carried down from the back of the truck, although alive, looked listless. Theyy in the cages with tired expressions, and the ughterhouse epted all of them.

    After the trucks at the breeding base unloaded all the deer, they formed teams and returned the way they came.

    Zhang Zian thought that the show was over and was considering whether to take back the drone. However, he saw two more carsing from the distance. This time, it was not a truck, but an off-road vehicle.

    The SUV stopped at the entrance of the ughterhouse and the window rolled down. The security guard seemed to know the person in the car and let the SUV in without even checking the documents.

    The man who came out of the off-road vehicle made Zhang Zian hold his breath.

    It was Peter Lee!

    Peter Lee¡¯s face was glowing, and he was still wearing his white suit, so even if he couldn¡¯t see clearly, Zhang Zian still recognized him.

    What was he doing here?

    After Peter Lee got out of the car Mexico a few more people got out of the car. Zhang Zian recognized one of them. It was the talkative Mexican homeless man who had broken into the car and stolen the bag in sossalito. His name was Fernando or something.

    At that time, Fernando said that he was going to the redwood forest in the North because someone promised to provide food and clothing for free, and he really came.

    The rest of them looked timid as well as they sized up the ughterhouse and the surrounding forest.

    Peter Lee said something, and then the security guard of the ughterhouse brought a few sets of staff uniforms for Fernando and several others to wear.

    As homeless people in San Francisco, Fernando and the others also had their dignity. It was impossible for them to work, not in their lives. They didn¡¯t know how to do business either. They could only steal cars and barely maintain their lives. If they were willing to work hard, how could they be homeless?

    Although Zhang Zian could not hear what they were talking about, he could see that they had a dispute with the security guards and were unwilling to wear the staff uniform. Fernando, in particr, was furious as if he had been cheated. He took advantage of the gap and threw the staff uniform at the security guard¡¯s face before the ughterhouse¡¯s door waspletely closed. Then he ran away, trying to escape.

    Peter Lee didn¡¯t chase or shout. He had a calm smile on his face.

    One of the security guards quickly pulled out something that looked like a gun from his waist and pulled the trigger at Fernando¡¯s back.

    Fernando had only run a few steps before he was shot in the back by something. His whole body twitched and he fell to the ground, unable to move.

    It was a taser gun that often appeared in American movies. It was a kind of taser gun, a non-lethal weapon. The gun was filled with nitrogen and shot out a dart with an electrode. After hitting a human body, it could make the person lose the ability to move.

    The rest of the homeless people saw it with their own eyes and knew that resistance was futile. They could only put on their employee¡¯s uniforms obediently and enter the factory under the order of the security guards.

    Zhang Zian understood. The homeless werezy. When they heard that there was free food and drink here, they came here to eat and drink. As a result, they met a ruthless character like Peter Lee. Not only did they not get any advantage, but they also lost themselves and became freebor for the ck-hearted ughterhouse. Anyway, no one would care if these homeless people disappeared.

    How should he put it, there was no free lunch in the world.

    He didn¡¯t know thews of the United States, but even if the video recorded by the drone couldn¡¯t prove that the ughterhouse used infected venison, at least he could be charged for illegal detention, right?

    Zhang Zian knocked on Richard¡¯s head and asked,¡±¡±Do you still remember the name of that Chatterbox? Fernando what?¡±

    Richard tilted his head in disgust.¡±Don¡¯t touch me. Do you know how many brain cells you¡¯ve killed with that? If you knock again, I¡¯ll be as stupid as you!¡±

    He pretended to knock again, but Richard thought for a moment and said,¡±¡±Kaka! I¡¯ll only say it once, and you¡¯d better remember it clearly, idiot. It¡¯s called Fernando rambias de azwado. ¡±

    Zhang Zian gestured for the Elfins to keep quiet, then dialed 911.

    ¡°Hello, is there an emergency?¡± The operator picked up the call quickly.

    ¡°Um ... I think ...¡± Zhang Zian wanted to say that someone was illegally detaining him, but he didn¡¯t know how to say it, so he simply changed his words,¡±¡±I want to report a kidnapping incident.¡±

    The operator¡¯s tone became serious.¡±Sir, what¡¯s your name? Who¡¯s been kidnapped?¡±

    ¡°My name is Jeff, and the one who was kidnapped was a homeless man named ... Named ... Fernando rambias de azwado, and a few of his friends.¡±

    ¡°Alright, Sir. Where¡¯s your seat?¡±

    Zhang Zian reported the ughterhouse¡¯s GPS coordinates and said,¡±¡±This is a venison ughterhouse in the forest. If you don¡¯t know, you can ask the forest patrolman. They must know.¡±

    ¡°Alright. How are Fernando and the others?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. They¡¯ve been taken into the ughterhouse. Please send the police over quickly.¡±

    ¡°The police are already on their way. Sir, is your location safe? Did you see them being kidnapped with your own eyes?¡±

    ¡°Yes, my position is still safe ...¡±

    ¡°Sir, we need you to stay in a safe ce until we send the police over.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡±

    As Zhang Zian was talking, he suddenly saw Peter Lee pick up his phone, as if someone was calling him.

    After Peter Lee picked up the phone, he didn¡¯t say a word. He just listened to the other party¡¯s words. His expression quickly changed from calm to solemn. A few secondster, he hung up and then made a powerful gesture to the security guard.

    The security guard picked up the walkie-talkie and said a few words. More security guards ran out of the factory and swarmed out of the ughterhouse¡¯s Gate. They raised their taser guns and searched the nearby woods.

 Chapter 1526 - -mole

    <h4>Chapter 1526: Chapter 1526-mole</h4>

    ¡°Teacher, are you still there? Mister?¡±

    On the phone, the 911 operator¡¯s voice kept calling, but Zhang Zian could not say a word.

    He stared in disbelief at the security guards who had entered the forest to search with taser guns. He then looked down at the three numbers on his phone screen, 911. He felt cold all over as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

    Now that things hade to this, no matter how stupid he was, he would understand what was going on.

    There¡¯s a mole!

    Either there was a mole in the 911 rm center, or there was a mole in the police that 911 sent out!

    There was no other way to exin what he had seen.

    Before the call to the police was over, a mole had already informed Peter Lee.

    As for what would happen when the police came, they would most likely leave after a few routine questions and then deal with it as a false police report.

    The operator¡¯s voice was still ringing, but he hung up.

    There was no point in calling the police.

    He should have thought about it earlier. Peter Lee must have had many years of connections in San Francisco for him to be invited to the Cancer Research Foundation¡¯s celebration. He might even have connections with the upper echelons of the entire California. The ughterhouse being built here must have been a key figure who had bribed the local police.

    The elves were also stunned. They thought that they could catch Peter Lee and Leshi dog food in one fell swoop, but theplexity of human society was beyond their imagination.

    ¡°Kaka! Still not running? Do you want to stay and y electric shock incontinence? I¡¯m sorry I can¡¯t apany you!¡± Richard shouted.

    The gate of the ughterhouse was on the other side, and it would take the security guards a long time to find it. However, if they stayed here, they would be electrocuted and dragged into the ughterhouse like Fernando. As for what would happen after they were caught ...

    When he thought of this, his heart sank. Could it be that this was how melgen and Mike went missing? Because she saw something she shouldn¡¯t have seen, heard something she shouldn¡¯t have heard, and called the police she shouldn¡¯t have called ...

    No matter what, he had to save his life first. Everything else could be discussedter.

    He immediately ordered the drone to return andnd. The process could not be rushed. The more rushed it was, the easier it was for something to go wrong. He was not worried about the drone that had caused the crash, but if it crashed, the security guards might hear the movement, detect his location, and surround him.

    Woof woof!

    What was even more troublesome was that the security guards were also leading two fierce Dobbies.

    Old time tea and dimir saw that the situation was urgent and volunteered to distract the security guards. It was easy for them, as long as they made some suspicious movements.

    After a few minutes, the dronended sessfully. Zhang Zian only took off the propeller, then picked up the drone in one hand and the remote control in the other, and ran. He didn¡¯t stop until he reached the tree hole where he hid his backpack. However, it wasn¡¯t safe here either. He had to move to a safe ce as soon as possible. The security guards had dogs, and they had to find a way to hide their scent. Otherwise, they would keep being chased.

    Famous, I¡¯ll leave this to you.¡±

    Zian took out the towel he had been using to wash his face for the past few days and wiped away the sweat and oil on his face. Then he handed it to famous and let it hold the towel in its mouth. He let the towel mop the floor and leave its smell. After running in the other direction for a while, Zian dropped the towel and met Zian at the agreed ce.

    Famous understood, picked up the towel, and ran. When it was Shooting Dog Warrior, it understood the principle of tracking and anti-tracking training in the movie plot. It deliberately made many turns in the woods, so that the security guards would take several times longer to track it. In the end, they would only find a towel ...

    The smell of the towel was definitely much stronger than the smell of his boots. Hopefully, it could fool the two Dobbies.

    Hearing the faint sounds of humans and dogs barking in the woods, Pi was so nervous that it didn¡¯t dare to speak. Even Richard kept his mouth shut. This was not the time to joke.

    Old time tea and dimir¡¯s restraint seemed to be effective. The human voices and dog barks were scattered, and they had gained some time.

    At the moment, their search range was limited to the area near the door because they didn¡¯t notice the existence of drones. But when they couldn¡¯t find anything, they would definitely expand their search range.

    Zhang Zian dismantled the drone, put it in a protective box, and carried his backpack.

    The herd of deer had already licked the salt off the tree bark. Seeing that Zhang Zian was about to leave, the first deer led the herd to follow him, because they also wanted to find water to drink.

    He walked as fast as he could with his head lowered, paying full attention to his feet, careful not to trip or fall.

    After a while, old time tea and dimir came to meet him.

    ¡°Zian, what about the tramps that have been arrested?¡± Old time tea sighed heavily.¡±The officials collude with businessmen and treat human lives like grass. What¡¯s the difference between this and the ancient times when they just grab young men at will?¡±

    Zhang Zian understood what old time tea meant. It couldn¡¯t bear to leave them alone, otherwise, those homeless people would probably never be able to make it.

    ¡°Let¡¯s find a safe ce to hide first. We¡¯ll sneak back to the ughterhouse at night and see if there¡¯s a chance to save them. ¡± He said.

    Richard was shocked.¡± You still want to go back? Wasn¡¯t this sending the parrot into the Eagle¡¯s mouth? Listen to my advice, those tramps aren¡¯t good people anyway. They probably do a lot of sneaky things, so this time, they asked for mercy and got what they deserved!¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head.¡±That¡¯s not the whole purpose of returning to the ughterhouse. First of all, although those vagrants had their own little misdeeds, they were separate matters.¡±Secondly, I think melgen and Mike¡¯s disappearance might be rted to the ughterhouse, so I¡¯m trying to find out more about it. Finally, the most dangerous ce is also the safest ce. If the security guards can¡¯t find us, they will expand their search area. We will do the opposite and run back to the area they have already searched and catch them off guard. ¡±

    ¡°Gah? It sounds reasonable, but what about the power grid?¡± Richard raised his paw and scratched his head.¡±I¡¯ve thought of a way for you. I guess the security guards here don¡¯t see women for months, and they think they¡¯re pretty when they see a doe. Why don¡¯t you dress up as a call girl at night? maybe you can get in easily ...¡±

    Zhang Zian scolded,¡±bullshit!¡± A call girl running to a primeval forest to provide services? Do you think she¡¯s a Summoner?¡±

    ¡°Kaka! I¡¯m just casually saying, dressing up as a call girl like an idiot like you probably won¡¯t be able to raise her interest!¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t dare to be too confident, because the power grid was indeed an almost unsolvable problem. Did he really have to find a way to sneak in from the front door? Even if he could sneak in, how could he bring the others out?

    Although most of the security guards had already entered the forest to search, and the ughterhouse was empty, the security guards at the door were still there, and there was more than one of them.

    Let¡¯s not care about that for now. We¡¯ll act ording to the situation at night.

 Chapter 1527 - -night vision

    <h4>Chapter 1527: Chapter 1527-night vision</h4>

    Zhang Zian walked for a few kilometers in the woods and found a hidden ce to hide. It was finally night time, and he was finally relieved.

    It was impossible to cook. He didn¡¯t even dare to start a fire, because the smoke from the kitchen might expose his position. Fortunately, he had considered that he might encounter an emergency situation where he couldn¡¯t cook after entering the forest, so he had brought self-heating rice and filled his stomach with famous. The cat elves were used to cold food and still ate Canned Cat Food.

    After he finished eating, he buried the packaging and the empty cans in the soil to prevent them from being discovered.

    The worst thing was that they could only drink cold water. This was really ufortable for Chinese people who were used to drinking hot water, but they could not ask for too much in this case.

    The herd of deer left on their own for a while, probably to find water to drink. After drinking, they came back. Zhang Zian changed the bandage for the deer. Its injury had healed quite well. After all, it was a strong deer.

    The Elfins were also very tired today. They took turns to Scout the enemy¡¯s situation nearby. Because Zhang Zian¡¯s target was too big, he was easy to find, so they could only rely on them.

    With the elves as his eyes and ears, he yed hide-and-seek with the security guards in the forest. The security guards knew that there was someone nearby, but they could not find him.

    Fina was not satisfied with the practice of hiding. It believed that no matter how strong the enemy was, it should fight as bravely as a warrior. Zhang Zian advised it to pay attention to strategies and methods even if it was a battle, and to preserve the strength of its side, which received strong approval from dimir.

    At the end of the day, it was his mistake to fall into this situation. He had underestimated the strength of the enemy. He wanted to call 911 to catch the other party in one fell swoop, but who would have thought that the local police would collude with Peter Lee?

    When night fell, he did not dare to light any lights or use any fire. However, the security guards who were searching for him turned on their shlights, but this was not a problem for him. He carefully took out a small gadget from his bag. It was a night vision device he bought in the United States. Although it was only a single-eye night vision device, after all, it was not allowed to be sold for civilian use. However, with this, he could at least see the road without turning on the lights.

    The night vision device was very expensive, and he felt the pain when he bought it. However, for the safety of entering the forest, he gritted his teeth and bought one. However, he had never opened it in his bag. He even kept the receipt. If he did not use it in the end, he could take it back to China as a new product and put it in idle fish to recover his health ...

    He had bought the night vision just in case, but he didn¡¯t expect it toe in handy in this situation.

    The Elfins looked at him suspiciously as he took out this little thing and gestured in front of him. They all knew that human vision at night was very poor, and even if it was not to the point of being blind, it was not much worse.

    As the forest covered the sky and the sun, coupled with the fact that there was no moon today, it could be said that he could not even see his fingers in the forest. How could he walk in the night with such a small thing? She was afraid that she would break her leg before she could even take a few steps ...

    The single-eye night vision device was usually fixed on a tactical helmet, but Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have a helmet, so he could only hold it in front of his eyes to look at the road. He tried to walk a few steps. At first, he was not used to walking with one eye. He always felt that he couldn¡¯t control his bnce or find his sense of direction. As he walked, he would bump into a tree. However, after getting used to it for a while, he felt much better.

    ¡°Kaka! Do you really want to return to the ughterhouse? I advise you to forget it and spend the night here peacefully. When you return to the manor tomorrow, don¡¯t go for wool ande home shorn!¡± Richard couldn¡¯t see anything and felt uneasy, but his mouth was not idle.

    ¡°What are you afraid of? My d * ck dropped a bowl!¡± He encouraged himself with bold words.

    Richard said sarcastically,¡±gah gah!¡± Come on, I advise you to be careful when you pee. If you take out your thin roots, they will probably be eaten by owls like bugs!¡±

    The grass rustled, and dimir came out.¡±¡±It¡¯s time, they¡¯ve just walked over!¡±

    dimir was happy with this kind of gueri warfare. It even weaved a soft branch with leaves into a ring and wore it on its head, making its movements more concealed in the grass ...

    ¡°Alright,¡± he said.

    Zhang Zian left most of his things here, only bringing a few things that might be useful, and quietly returned with the Elfins.

    The herd of deer had poor vision at night and had already gone to sleep. The things that Zhang Zian had left behind had his scent, so they stayed where they were without following him.

    What the elves didn¡¯t expect was that even though he walked unsteadily, he didn¡¯t hit the tree, and he could avoid the big pit in front of his feet. Of course, some small stumbling was inevitable.

    ¡°The power of technology is amazing,¡± old time tea said.¡±Even the night vision that cats are proud of has been caught up.¡±

    ¡°Where? It¡¯s far from enough. ¡±

    From the night vision goggles, except for Richard, the eyes of all the elves were frighteningly bright. Pi, who was also not suitable for night action, had already returned to the phone.

    If this thing could bepared to a cat¡¯s night vision, it was far from it. Every step had to be taken with full attention and caution. The attention could only be ced on the ground. It took a few seconds to adapt when looking up or changing the field of vision.

    Even so, night vision was really a good thing. At least it solved the problem of creating something out of nothing. The more advanced military version would definitely be much better, but it was not something that could be bought or bought.

    asionally, there would be a sh of a bright shlight in the distance. It was the security guards who were still searching in the forest. In fact, they were still far away from him, but the light of the shlight was enhanced by night vision.

    He was walking with his head down attentively when suddenly, his shoulder seemed to be grabbed by someone. He was so scared that his soul almost left his body and he almost cried out.

    It was impossible for there to be any of their own in the forest. They were either enemies or ... Ghosts.

    It was unlikely that he was an enemy. What kind of enemy could get close to him under the watchful eyes of the elves?

    Could it really be a ghost?

    He was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat. He suddenly turned his head and saw that it was not a human who had grabbed his shoulder, but the spotted owl from before. It was standing on one side of his shoulder, and its eyes were also frighteningly bright.

    As the owl flew silently, the elves only noticed its arrival now, which proved that the injury on its wing was almost healed.

    On his other shoulder, Richard did not know what happened, but he could feel the tension in his muscles and therge movements.

    ¡°Gah? Gah? What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. The spotted owl is back.¡± He said in a low voice.

    This was like a secret infiltration-type FPS game. His mission was to bypass the patrolling enemies and arrive at the destination barehanded.

    dimir, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped and clenched his fist to make a ¡°stop moving forward¡± gesture.

    Zhang Zian knew that it had discovered the situation, so he quickly found a tree to hide.

    The trees in the mahogany forest were very thick, so it was easy to hide.

    After a few minutes, he heard the sound of people talking and people stepping on grass. Two straight shlights were shing.

 Chapter 1528 - Eavesdropping

    <h4>Chapter 1528: Eavesdropping</h4>

    Someone wasing!

    Zhang Zian held his breath and gestured to the Elfins to keep quiet. He also deliberately pinched Richard¡¯s beak to prevent it from talking.

    The light from the shlight grew stronger and stronger, and the voice gradually approached.

    ¡°What F * cking bad luck! I¡¯m starving! When can we go back to eat?¡± Someoneined in English.

    ¡°If the boss doesn¡¯t say anything, who would dare to go back?¡± Another person replied.

    ¡°If you ask me, the person who called the police might have already run far away, and we¡¯re still here looking for him stupidly!¡±

    ¡°I just feel that this is quite strange. We have so many people and two dogs, but we can¡¯t even find the other party¡¯s shadow. We don¡¯t even know how many people there are, and we were fooled by a towel ... If I were the boss, I would be angry too.¡±

    ¡°When the boss is angry, it¡¯s US who suffer ... Brother, take a break, I need a cigarette.¡±

    Zhang Zian quietly peeked out from behind the tree. With the help of the night vision device, he saw two security guards standing under another tree, with shlights under their arms, smoking, chatting, and cking off.

    He was in the dark while the other party was in the light. As long as their shlights didn¡¯t shine on him directly, they couldn¡¯t find him.

    Hey, I think the boss knows that guy named Jeff.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°When he mentioned this name, his expression changed. It waspletely different from the situation of the two Rascalsst time.¡±

    ¡°You mean that little girl and that stinky, tough, and stupid Hunter?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it? I heard that the idiot was once a soldier and went to the battlefield, but wasn¡¯t he still pounced on by dogs in the end? That guy was quite tough, he even took out a dagger and killed one of our dogs after he was pounced on. But if we didn¡¯t arrive in time, I¡¯m afraid he would have been torn apart by the other two dogs!¡±

    ¡°Hmph! If he had surrendered, he wouldn¡¯t have to suffer like this. Now, he¡¯s half-dead ...¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s dead, but we still have to dig a hole and bury him. ¡±

    The two of them were silent for a moment, and only the light from the cigarette butt flickered.

    ¡°I hope I don¡¯t have to do this stupid job. I¡¯d rather spend the night in the forest than go into that Ward to carry a body.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t the boss say that even if a deer gets sick, it won¡¯t infect people? Why were the vagrants who came earlier all sick? Didn¡¯t you say that even if you get infected, you won¡¯t get sick so quickly?¡±

    ¡°Shh! Lower your voice! You¡¯re talking about animals! I¡¯m telling you, I¡¯ve secretly checked on the inte about skeleton experts. They said that the deer¡¯s nerve tissue and lymphatic tissue, during the ughtering process, will form an nanoparticles when rubbed against by a saw at high speed. Once the nanoparticles are inhaled into the nose, it is easily transmitted to the brain tissue by the nasal nerves. So it is said that the ughterhouse workers are the most likely to be infected, just like rabies. If a sick dog or bat bites your arm, it is not toote to get a normal rabies vine, but if your face is bitten ... It will soon attack. Because the closer it is to the brain, the faster the virus will spread to the brain and the faster the outbreak will happen!¡±

    ¡°No wonder the boss made these tramps work ... This means that the boss is quite good to us. Otherwise, we wouldn¡¯t even know how we died ...¡±

    ¡°Of course the boss is good to us. In the future, when everyone in the outside world is infected by the gue, we¡¯ll be the masters of the world!¡±

    ¡°You really believe that?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t believe me?¡±

    ¡°No... Nothing ... I think we should continue looking for that guy named Jeff. Where did he go? it¡¯s so hard to find him!¡±

    The two of them were afraid that they would be discovered if they werezy for too long, so they took a few deep puffs to finish the cigarette, then threw it on the ground and stepped on it to extinguish it. They held a shlight in one hand and ced the other on their waists, maintaining a position where they could pull out their taser guns and shoot at any time as they continued their search.

    Zhang Zian hid his head behind the tree.

    ¡°Hey, I say, we still have to move forward? It¡¯s so dark, we won¡¯t encounter a bear or something if we keep going, right?¡±

    ¡°Where did so many bearse from? We¡¯ve been here for so long, how many of us have encountered a bear? Besides, we still have guns!¡±

    ¡°Gun? Are you kidding me? This gun is good, but can it subdue a bear?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care anymore. The boss said to install surveince cameras on the surrounding trees tomorrow morning. If anyonees close, they will be discovered.¡±

    ¡°The roll of wires we carried just now was used to install the camera?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, the surveince cameras also need electricity ...¡±

    Their conversation gradually faded away.

    dimir looked around and saw that there was no one else behind them. It waved at Zhang Zian, indicating that they could continue moving forward.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t in a hurry to leave. He recalled the conversation between the two men, which revealed a lot of details.

    First of all, melgen and Mike had indeed been caught by the people from the ughterhouse. Mike had also been injured in a fight with the dopey and was locked in a room. However, they did not mention melgen¡¯s whereabouts.

    Secondly, even if Peter Lee was not the owner of the ughterhouse, he must have been inextricably linked to Leshi dog food.

    Third, most of the security guards were Peter Lee¡¯s believers, but their degree of trust was different.

    Finally, Peter Lee lured these homeless people to work as freebor, not to save money, but because the work in the ughterhouse included cutting deer meat with tools such as electric saws. During the high-speed cutting process, the deer¡¯s nerve tissue and lymphatic tissue would dissipate into the air in the form of an airborne form. When inhaled by the staff, it would lead to infection and disease outbreak.

    The special protein that caused the disease did not necessarily have to be eaten to be infected. After eating it, it had to go through the digestive system before entering the circtory system. It circted in the body for a long time before it could enter the brain. However, if it was inhaled by the nose, it could enter the brain directly through the nasal nerves. Whether it was the possibility of infection or the attack speed, it was more terrible.

    If ordinary people were working here, they would definitely be suspicious and anxious when they saw that people were collectively sick or had to wear gas masks to work. It would not be so much trouble if they used homeless people as coolies.

    In addition to these points, the wires that the two men mentioned at the end made his heart move slightly.

    ¡°Wait a moment.¡± He stopped dimir and said to famous,¡±Famous, do you remember the smell of those two people?¡±

    Famous didn¡¯t dare to speak loudly, so it just nodded.

    ¡°Okay, go along the path they took when they came and see if you can find the roll of wires they mentioned just now.¡± He ordered.

    Famous didn¡¯t know what he wanted the wires for, but it wasn¡¯t the time to ask. It immediately jumped into the darkness.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t meet any more security guards. He went to the ce where they had stayed during the day and chose a higher position with the Elfins. He put down the night vision device and looked at the brightly lit ughterhouse.

 Chapter 1529 - -everything is ready

    <h4>Chapter 1529: Chapter 1529-everything is ready</h4>

    Peter Lee had made a mistake. When he heard that the spies in the police station had leaked information to him that someone had called the police again, he had made an empirical mistake. He had thought that the new person would be like the bicycle Girl, the irritable veteran, and others. As long as he gave the order, the security guards would quickly find the person who had called the police from the nearby woods.

    However, from day to night, they didn¡¯t even find a hair, let alone the figure of the police ... That was not right. They did find a thrown towel, but they couldn¡¯t determine who it belonged to.

    If he had known earlier, he would have chosen to calm down the person who called the police, wait for the police car to arrive, and then order his men to catch the person who called the police ... But doing this in front of the police was more or less troublesome because not all the local police would bow to him, so he chose a more direct method, but he didn¡¯t expect that the person who called the police would escape.

    He only heard from the police that the caller was called Jeff, and his ent didn¡¯t sound like a local, so he immediately thought of the Jeff he had met in San Francisco when they entered the desert together.

    Jeff was a verymon name, but he didn¡¯t believe in coincidences.

    In the final stage of the desert Trip, Zhang Zian had caused him a lot of trouble. Some of which he knew, some of which he had spected after the event, and some that he didn¡¯t know or think of.

    In any case, the trip to the desert was aplete failure. He was willing to gamble and ept his loss, but among the reasons for his loss, he thought that Zhang Zian only ounted for a very small factor. The main reason was that he did not expect the ground to copse in the continuous explosions, as well as the mysterious attack in the Golden Pyramid.

    He had never thought of taking revenge on Zhang Zian, mainly because he did not want to enter China because China was not as lenient to him and his organization as the United States states. He did not expect Zhang Zian toe to the United States.

    So, the Jeff who called the police was most likely Zhang Zian.

    But Peter Lee couldn¡¯t figure out how Zhang Zian escaped. In front of so many security guards and two Dobbies, he disappeared without a trace like a ghost.

    He wasn¡¯t afraid of Zhang Zian calling the police. In any case, it would be treated as a fake police report. He was only worried that the FBI would be alerted. That was out of his control, so he had to catch Zhang Zian as soon as possible and not let the news spread out of the forest.

    He had focused his search on the woods near the ughterhouse¡¯s main entrance, because that was the only ce where he could see his men subduing the Mexico guy with taser guns ... Could it be that there was a problem with the direction of the search? However, other than that side ...

    He suddenly remembered the drone that had yed a big role in the desert Trip, and his heart turned cold.

    At that time, he and his men also wanted to bring the drone into Egypt, but they were stopped by the Egyptian customs. Because the expedition team had the official endorsement of Binhai University, they sessfully brought the drone in, and it had been operated by Zhang Zian.

    If it was a drone, then it could be exined.

    He didn¡¯t think of it during the day, and he didn¡¯t look up at the sky at all. If he had taken a second look, he would have either caught Zhang Zian or forced Zhang Zian to abandon the ne and escape.

    He would wait until tomorrow. As soon as the sun rose, he would adjust the direction of his search. He must catch Zhang Zian tomorrow.

    What he did not expect was that Zhang Zian had boldly returned to the ughterhouse.

    The feeling of the ughterhouse at night waspletely different from that of the day.

    Zhang Zian looked down at his phone. There was no signal or inte. It seemed that Peter Lee had turned off or interfered with the ughterhouse¡¯s telmunication base station in case he called the police again.

    It was a pity. He had nned to upload the video recorded by the drone to the inte, which might attract other people¡¯s attention. If he had uploaded the video first instead of calling the police during the day, the situation might have changed, but it was toote to regret.

    At present, there were only about four security guards in the ughterhouse, all near the door. Two were guarding the door outside, and two were patrolling inside. If anything happened, they could look out for each other. Their hands were on the Taser guns at their waists, and they looked around vigntly as if they were facing a great enemy. The headlights illuminated the area near the door. The main entrance was the ughterhouse¡¯s key defense area. If he wanted to break through it, he would have to drive a truck, but Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have a car.

    As for the other areas of the ughterhouse, although there were no security guards patrolling, all kinds of lighting measures made every ce as bright as day. There were no blind spots, and the constantly swaying surveince cameras indicated that there was at least one security guard in the monitoring room. Under such circumstances, the security guards in the monitoring room could not bezy or ck off.

    The biggest problem was the high-voltage power grid that was about three meters high, which was the capital that the security guards dared to go out in full force.

    Even the super spy in the movies would be in a difficult situation.

    The elves shook their heads at the scene, thinking that it was unrealistic to go in and save them. The optimistic dimir also felt that it was not appropriate to attack head-on. It was best to implement a n to disturb the enemy, making some noise outside to lure the security guards out and break them down one by one.

    However, the security guards were not fools. They might not be fooled, and doing so would expose the fact that Zhang Zian was nearby. As long as these four security guards stayed on their posts and contacted the security guards in the forest through the walkie-talkie, Zhang Zian would not be able to escape even if he had wings.

    Zhang Zian nodded to the Elfins, indicating that he would not act rashly. He told them not to worry. If they did not have a certain degree of confidence, they would nevermit suicide.

    He sympathized with Mike, melgen, and Fernando, but he had never met them before, or he had only met them once. He would save them if he could, and if he could not, he had no other choice. It was not worth it to sacrifice his life for them.

    After a while, the rustling sound of something dragging across thewn could be heard in the forest.

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins looked back and saw famous jumping out of the darkness with a roll of wires in its mouth.

    It ran in front of him, opened its mouth, and the wire fell to the ground.

    ¡°There are still a few more scrolls over there. If they¡¯re useful, I¡¯ll go get more.¡± It said.

    Zhang Zian picked up the wire and measured the thickness and weight of the wire with the light of the ughterhouse.

    This was a roll of thin wires. The monitoring camera did not need a thick wire to power it. This was good, too thick would be useless.

    ¡°No need, this is enough. You should rest.¡±

    The Elfins stared at him, wondering what he was going to do with the roll of wire and if he could turn something rotten into something magical.

    Unexpectedly, he alsoid down to rest. He put his hands behind his head, picked up the single-eye night vision device, and put it on one eye. Through the green field of vision, he observed the dark night sky covered with clouds.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°Is it time to rest?¡± fina couldn¡¯t help but ask.

    ¡°Fire is the best way to break the special seal,¡± Zhang Zian mumbled.¡±Everything is ready, except for the crucial wind.¡±

 Chapter 1530 - -kite-flying

    <h4>Chapter 1530: Chapter 1530-kite-flying</h4>

    Fina hated Zhang Zian¡¯s mysterious behavior the most. He was obviously trying to keep her in suspense. Cats were naturally curious, and she couldn¡¯t stand it.

    ¡°Don¡¯t talk about this nonsense. What do you want to do? are you going to tell me or not?¡± It showed its ws and said coldly.

    Zhang Zian was a schr who had encountered a soldier, so he could only fight when the odds were against him.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to tell you, but I¡¯m not sure if we can get in and out of the ughterhouse safely tonight. It¡¯s up to God. ¡± He quickly exined.

    ¡°The heavens?¡± Fina looked up at the night sky suspiciously.¡±What does it have to do with God?¡±

    Zhang Zian raised his phone. The local weather forecast was disyed on the screen, but it was updated during the day when there was inte ess. There was no inte ess now, so there was no way to update the real-time weather forecast.

    ¡°The weather forecast said that there might be strong convolutions tonight, and the probability of rainfall is 90%. Do you know strong convolutions? It¡¯s extremely bad weather like thunderstorms, strong winds, hailstones, and so on. ¡±

    Fina¡¯s face turned even colder.¡±Are you looking down on my intelligence?¡±

    ¡°No...¡± He exined helplessly. He sat up again and pointed to the forest behind him.¡±Do you still remember the red tunic tree that was struck by lightning and burned? When I saw that, I remembered that the air here is humid, cold and hot air converge here, and thunderstorms are not rare. ¡±

    Fina and the elves waited for him to continue.

    ¡°The red robes are extremely tall. Those red robes that are higher than their peers in the forest often be natural targets of lightning strikes. As the saying goes, the most outstanding tree in the forest will be struck by lightning.¡± He then gestured at the surroundings for them to look.¡±Look around again. This is private territory. There are no particrly tall ancient trees to act as lightning rods.¡±

    All the elves knew that the trees in this private territory were shorter than the tall red-robed trees in the forest.

    ¡°So, if there¡¯s Thunder nearby, where will the lightning strike?¡± He didn¡¯t expect the elves to answer the question. Instead, he pointed to the tallest building in the ughterhouse and said,¡±¡±Can you see that ce clearly? There¡¯s a long lightning rod on top of the building. ¡±

    The ughterhouse was brightly lit, and the elves could see a tall and thin rod pointing to the sky on the top of the building.

    ¡°There are no tall red shirts around to act as natural lightning needles. The ughterhouse must set up its own lightning needles to prevent being struck by lightning.¡±

    The ughterhouse wasn¡¯t very big, but it wasn¡¯t small either. The buildings were scattered, and several of them had lightning rods on top of them.

    The elves seemed to understand a little, but they didn¡¯t fully understand. They almost broke thestyer of paper window.

    Zhang Zian took out a Switzend army knife from his pocket and began to cut the insting rubber on both ends of the wire, revealing the copper core of the wire, which was more than ten centimeters long, on both ends.

    Then, he took out the box with the drone, opened it, and assembled it.

    ¡°So, I¡¯m going to use the drone to fly this electric wire to a high altitude, at least much higher than the ughterhouse¡¯s highest lightning rod, and leave the other end of the electric wire on the ground and connect it to the grid. If ... And I¡¯m saying if, if there really is a thunderstorm tonight, the lightning won¡¯t be attracted by the red shirt or the lightning rod, but will follow the wire and hit the electric. ¡±

    After he finished speaking, the elves took a few seconds to understand what he meant. It was simply terrifying!

    Richard could not see clearly, but he understood. He patted his head with his wings and said,¡±¡±Kaka! In my opinion, you¡¯d better not be a pet store manager with that brain of yours. You¡¯ll have a better future as a terrorist. ¡±

    ¡°Then ... What will happen if the lightning strikes the electric?¡± old time tea asked eagerly.

    Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders.¡±I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ll just take it as a scientific experiment.¡±

    ¡°Have you ever considered the idea of being used as an experimental subject in a ughterhouse?¡± Richard ridiculed.

    There was a scientific story that was widely known in both China and the United States. Many Americans believed it without a doubt, and it was even included in Chinese textbooks. The story was as well-known as Newton¡¯s apple and Galileo¡¯s two iron balls. It was ¡°Franklin¡¯s kite.¡±

    In the 18th century, Franklin was a very powerful historical figure. He had a lot of famous titles, such as writer, inventor, scientist, diplomat, thinker, and primary philosopher. He made indelible contributions to mathematics and physics, especially in the field of electricity. He was one of the pioneers of electricity.

    ording to the legend, one day in 1752, Franklin brought his son William to an open space and flew a kite in a thunderstorm. He tied a copper key to the end of the kite line. When the kite flew into the thunderstorm, a bolt of lightning shed. He felt his hand go numb, so he put his hand close to the copper key. Just as he had expected, sparks burst out between his finger and the copper key. He cried out in surprise,¡±¡±William! I was electrocuted! It can be proven now that lightning is electricity!¡±

    Almost everyone knew the story. Lightning was indeed electricity, but it was doubtful whether Franklin had done the experiment himself.

    The famous anti-rumor program ¡°rumor Terminator¡± discussed this legend in season 4 and Episode 5. The method used was very rigorous, and the conclusion was clear. If the experiment was sessful, Franklin would die without a doubt.

    In fact, a Russian scientist was struck to death by lightning in 1753 in order to verify this experiment. It could be considered a sacrifice for science.

    Franklin was undoubtedly a great man, but he might have never done this experiment, at least not in the legendary way. Otherwise, he would have lost a few of his awe-inspiring titles ...

    In addition, his son, William, was not a little kid like the illustrations in the Chinese textbooks. If the legend was true, William was 21 years old in 1752 and was a young man in his Prime. William was a politician himself, but he had never mentioned that he had participated in this famous experiment.

    There were countless historical riddles, and there was no need to miss this one. There were also many legends that people had imposed on great people. Whether or not this experiment happened, it didn¡¯t hurt Franklin¡¯s greatness.

    Franklin was the inventor of the modern lightning rod, but today, Zhang Zian was going to replicate his experimental method to bypass the lightning rod in the ughterhouse.

    How high was the voltage on the high-voltage grid?

    100,000 volts should be the maximum you can go right?

    The voltage of lightning was as high as 100 million volts!

    He didn¡¯t use a rain-soaked kite string, but a real copper wire.

    The erratic kite was also reced by stable and controble drones.

    At least on this night, he was the modern, China version of Franklin.

    The only uncertainty was whether the weather forecast was urate.

 Chapter 1531 - -Rolling Thunder

    <h4>Chapter 1531: Chapter 1531-Rolling Thunder</h4>

    As the saying goes, leave a line in life, and it will be easier to meet in the future. Zhang Zian was well aware that he and Peter Lee used to dislike each other. Peter Lee didn¡¯t know that it was his elf who was blocking his way in the Golden Pyramid. But if he really attracted lightning to destroy the grid this time, he and Peter Lee would probably be like fire and water in the future.

    But there was no other way. He knew that Peter Lee was doing evil, but he couldn¡¯t pretend not to know. Besides, Peter Lee had already ordered the security guards to search for him. After they caught him, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do well, so it was better to take the initiative to tear off all pretenses.

    The drone had four symmetrical propellers, which were distributed on the left, left, right, and right sides. There was a diamond-shaped empty area in the middle. When the propellers started spinning, the middle area would not be affected by the propellers.

    Zhang Zian cut off a small section of the insting rubber on both ends of the wire and wrapped one end of the wire, which was still covered with insting rubber, around the body of the drone to fix it in ce. He only exposed this small section of the copper core through the four propellers, which were less than one meter above the propellers. The more the copper core was exposed, the safer it would be for the drone itself. However, there was no other way. The wire was too thin and could not support its own weight. This was already the limit. Any longer and the wind would blow it off, get into the propellers, and cause a crash.

    The other end was left on the ground, and after the drone took off, it would ce the ground end on the power grid. The sky end did not touch anything, so even if the ground end was ced on the power grid, there would be no current.

    Usually, when the drone took off, its fixed partner was the cloud tform camera, but this time, it was not taking off for reconnaissance. Its weight-bearing capacity was limited, and it would probably be very difficult to take off while dragging the wire. It had to reduce its weight as much as possible, so it could not take the cloud tform. This time, after it took off, Zhang Zian could only rely on blind practice on the ground. Fortunately, he had night vision, otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t even be able to see a ghost in the air.

    He had left his other luggage in the hiding ce during the day, but he had brought the drone box with him because he had the idea when he saw the weather forecast during the day. At that time, he had nned to use wet cloth or thin rattan as wires. Now that he had wires, the conductivity was better, but it was also heavier.

    The elves couldn¡¯t help, so they could only watch him busy and look up at the sky from time to time. Even the blind Richard pretended to look up at the sky and mumbled,¡±¡±Are you going to go down or not? that¡¯s the question.¡±

    This time, it was the real ¡°Man proposes, God disposes.¡± No matter how wondrous one¡¯s imagination was, or how outrageous one¡¯s scheme was, if God did not give them face, it would all be in vain.

    Although Yanyi could not be taken seriously, someone as strong as Zhuge Kongming would have probably died long ago if the heavens did not send him that east wind ...

    Zhang Zian¡¯s hands were busy, and his heart was uneasy.

    The sky in the forest turned dark very early. In addition, it was a cloudy day to begin with. Although they had been busy for a long time, it was actually only about Teno¡¯ clock in the evening.

    Generally speaking, the rain would fall after midnight. If it didn¡¯t rain before dawn, he would have to pack up and leave. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t be able to escape when the sun rose.

    The security guards were still searching further away. They did not have to worry about them returning for the time being. Even if they did return, they would return to the ughterhouse from the gate to sleep.

    After a while, everything that needed to be done was done. He silently thought about what else he had not considered.

    Thunderstorms were often apanied by strong winds. Drones were much stronger than kites. They had gyroscopes in them. During flight, they could detect tilting in the ne¡¯s horizontal direction and automatically adjust the position of the drone to resist a certain degree of strong wind. However, it was not possible to do so if the wind was too strong.

    The drone had apanied him in and out of Egypt. Without it, he and his team would have long died in the desert and be mummies, so he had some feelings for it, but he was also mentally prepared for it to fold its wings tonight.

    Lightning was not just a strong current and voltage, it also had a strong physical impact, probably formed by the rapid evaporation of water vapor by lightning. The drone, which was already flying at full load, could not withstand such an impact.

    Time passed by. Just as he and the elves were about to fall asleep and start yawning, a faint muffled Thunder suddenly came from the Northwest sky.

    It¡¯s here!

    He and the Elfins immediately perked up and waited for the second thunder.

    A dozen secondster, the second p of thunder sounded.

    He and the elves looked at each other. Judging from their hearing, the second thunder seemed to be closer than the first, which meant that the thundercloud wasing.

    He touched the silver-white metal shell of the drone onest time with reluctance and gave it a take-offmand through the remote control.

    This might be itsst flight.

    The drone took off slowly, and because it was dragging a long wire, its bnce was affected to a certain extent. It was not as light as it usually was, and it swayed like a person who had spilled something.

    Just as Zhang Zian was worried that it would hit a branch, its built-in program seemed to have adapted. It flew out of the forest clumsily but firmly, and then climbed.

    The thunders were more concentrated and closer, and the entire sky in the Northwest was illuminated by the shes of lightning.

    ¡°You guys go up the tree, all of you go up the tree, it¡¯s safer on the tree.¡± He said to the elves.

    He didn¡¯t know what the consequences of this lightning-attracting experiment would be. If the lightning-attracting experiment failed, such as the wire being blown away by a strong wind and the lightning was not directed to the grid but to the ground, it would form a concentric circr stride voltage with the ground as the center. At this time, if his feet were in front and behind, the current would pass through the body.

    When the lightning struck the ground, the current would be transmitted to the ground. The animals on the trees would not be affected, so it was very safe to climb the trees.

    ¡°What about you?¡± Famous asked.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. I¡¯ll stand on the waterproof matter. ¡± He said.

    The elves followed his instructions and climbed up the tree. Even famous jumped onto the tree branch. It opened its eyes uneasily, waiting for the shocking scene that was about to happen.

    The drone flew higher and higher. Zhang Zian held the remote control in one hand and the wire in the other to prevent the exposed copper core from touching the ground. Otherwise, if a lightning suddenly came from above and was led to the ground under his feet, he would be dead.

    When all the wires left on the ground were pulled into the air, he let go and ordered the drone to stop.

    He adjusted the drone¡¯s flight altitude slightly and watched the exposed copper core sway about two meters above the ground. Then, he made the drone slowly move in the direction of the ughterhouse until the copper core gently touched the power grid. The bottom of the copper core was bent into a fish hook, which hooked onto a horizontal bar of the power grid.

    An irrepressible sense of achievement welled up in his heart, but it was a pity that no one around him cheered.

 Chapter 1532 - -goodbye, Nekhbet

    <h4>Chapter 1532: Chapter 1532-goodbye, Nekhbet</h4>

    BOOM!

    A twig-shaped lightning bolt lit up the northern sky. It struck down from the sky and hit an unusually tall red-robed tree.

    Through the telescope, Zhang Zian saw the top of the red-robed tree, which was more than 20 meters tall, crack and fall into the forest below with mes.

    The lightning was getting closer and closer, and it would reach the ughterhouse in a minute or two.

    He stood on the damp-proof mat and could only watch the rest.

    The wind started to blow.

    It was the first time he felt the wind since he entered the forest.

    The wind howled from the Northwest, bringing with it the thunderclouds.

    The remaining four security guards in the ughterhouse did not know that a disaster wasing. They did not feel anything special about the thunderstorm. They went back to the security room to get raincoats and rain boots to put on, and continued to guard the door and patrol.

    Through the night vision, Zhang Zian stared at the drone worriedly, silently helping it.

    The drone swayed in the wind like a rootless duckweed, as if it could crash at any time. The wires it dragged were also shaking violently, and the hook-like copper core at the end was sometimes blown away from the grid by the chaotic wind.

    In the face of nature¡¯s divine might, one could only do their best and leave it to fate. It was normal to fail at thest step.

    Zhang Zian was observing the drone through the night vision device, but the green vision of the night vision device suddenly turned white without warning, as if a sun was rising!

    He shouted and quickly moved the night vision device away from his eyes.

    At the same time, a Silver dragon-like giant lightning struck down from the clouds. When the majestic lightning flew over the drone, it suddenly disappeared, and only the sound of thunder covered his scream.

    At the same time, the electric around the ughterhouse burst out with dazzling electric sparks.

    The ceramic Transformers that supplied power to the grid exploded one by one like fireworks, and therge transformer gave off burnt ck smoke.

    The patrolling surveince cameras lost their power supply and lowered their heads.

    The abattoir that was still brightly lit a moment ago was suddenly enveloped by absolute darkness, and the roaring machines became mute.

    ¡°Fire!¡±

    Someone shouted at the top of their lungs.

    The fire rose from the substation inside the ughterhouse, and the chaotic wind blew the fire in all directions.

    In the darkness, everyone wanted to see the light again. The only thing they didn¡¯t want to see was the light of fire.

    The ughterhouse was in a mess. Everyone was panicking and running around in the dark like headless flies.

    All of this happened in just a few seconds.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s one eye that had been struck by the lightning had not recovered, and he saw everything through the night vision device with his other eye.

    The power of the lightning was far beyond his expectations. He had thought that it would be enough to shut down the power grid, but he had never expected that the power supply of the entire ughterhouse would be destroyed!

    An even stronger gust of wind caused him to stagger.

    He suddenly saw that the wire hooked to the power grid was red like a hot iron bar, emitting white smoke.

    The copper core in the wire was too thin, and the current of the lightning was toorge, so it instantly produced extremely high heat, causing the copper core to be in a semi-melted state. The air was filled with the smell of burning rubber, and then the wire was cut off from the middle.

    He looked up and saw that the drone had lost its power in the air. The propeller had stopped spinning and did not respond to his emergencymand. It was swept up by the wind and flew higher into the sky.

    The lightning shone on its silver-white metal shell, and it seemed to have merged into the lightning before finally disappearing.

    Goodbye, Nekhbet, thank you for your help all this time! You are worthy of the name of the God of Falcon!

    He silently said goodbye to it in his heart.

    It hadpleted its historical mission, but it didn¡¯t matter. When he returned to China, he would buy another drone of the same model, still calling it Nekhbet!

    He didn¡¯t have time to be sentimental. He had to hurry up and save the people.

    The elves on the trees were dumbfounded by this series of visual impacts. They had all seen the world, but this was the first time they had seen such a scene.

    He snapped his fingers and attracted their attention.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go in to save her. I¡¯ll be back as soon as possible!¡± He shouted.

    After that, he took a deep breath, ran a few steps towards the electric, jumped up with the momentum, and climbed onto the electric while the elves eximed in surprise.

    Of course, now that the power grid was out of power, the Elfins had not yet fully epted this fact. Even Zhang Zian¡¯s heart was beating like a drum. If the power grid was still out of power, he would instantly be a barbecue.

    It was easier to climb up from the power grid than ordinary barbed wire. He quickly climbed to the highest point and then climbed down from the other side.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go help too. ¡± Famous also rushed to the electric, jumped up, and sessfully jumped into it.

    Fina, old time tea, and dimir did not want to fall behind, and they crossed the power grid one after another.

    After Zhang Ziannded, he used the night vision device to distinguish the direction. In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man was the king.

    The incident happened in a hurry, and not many people in the ughterhouse had shlights in their hands. Because there was no signal on their mobile phones, they did not bring them with them. They were either busy fighting the fire or lost their minds. Zhang Zian easily avoided them.

    He had just observed that at about 10 O¡¯ clock at night, a security guard escorted a few homeless people in staff uniforms out of the factory and into an independent three-story building. Then, the security guard left.

    He ran to the three-story building based on his memory, and almost bumped into a figure when he turned a corner.

    ¡°Who is it? I¡¯m warning you, you¡¯d better not block my way, I have a gun in my hand! Get lost, or I swear to the Virgin Mary that I¡¯ll shoot you!¡±

    The figure threatened.

    Through the night vision, Zhang Zian could see clearly that the man was the Mexico Chatterbox, Fernando. He was only wearing a vest and pants, holding a branch in his hand, and staring in their direction with his eyes wide open.

    ¡°Fernando? I¡¯m on your side, and I¡¯m here to save you! Do you still remember me? You stole mypanion¡¯s bag in the town of sossalito, and you were caught by my dog!¡± Zhang Zian said,¡±also, you can throw away your branch.¡±

    Fernando was stunned at first, then he eximed in surprise,¡±¡±Jeff? Is that you? Why did youe to save me? Don¡¯t tell me you can¡¯t forget about my butt?¡±

    Of course, Zhang Zian didn¡¯te to save him. He asked,¡±¡±How did you get out? Where are the others?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know what happened just now, but the cell we were in was locked. When the power went out, I heard the lock click. I tried to push the door open, and I found that the door was open, so I ran out ... As for the others, they were all scared and beaten up by the security guards. They thought it was a trap and didn¡¯t dare to run. Only I ran out!¡± Fernando mumbled,¡±Jeff, just ignore them. Thank you for saving me. Let¡¯s run!¡±

    Zhang Zian grabbed him.¡±Wait! I still have something to ask you!¡±

 Chapter 1533 - The burning slaughterhouse

    <h4>Chapter 1533: The burning ughterhouse</h4>

    There was a backup power supply in the ughterhouse. If it was an ordinary power failure, the backup power supply would be activated temporarily to maintain the normal operation of various equipment. However, the lightning had destroyed the entire power supply system. It was not only the power failure of the main power supply line, but also the fire of the substation. This was an electrical fire. The power supply should be cut off immediately. Even if there was a backup power supply, it was useless.

    Fire wasn¡¯t the scariest thing. The scariest thing was smoke. The biggest cause of death in a fire was also smoke, especially the poisonous smoke produced by the burning of chemical substances such as insting rubber.

    In the dark, the people could not tell who was who. They were choked by the smoke and kept coughing, no one caring about each other.

    The wind helped the fire, and the fire helped the wind. For a while, there were many fires in the field, but there was no mobile phone signal. They couldn¡¯t call for a fire truck. Even if they called for a fire truck, it would probably be burnt by the time they arrived. Therefore, some brave people took the initiative to put out the fire with fire extinguishers.

    After Fernando was electrocuted during the day, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The other tramps who came with him were sent to work in the factory, while he was thrown into confinement and did not even have dinner. Fortunately, he was used to being hungry as a tramp.

    He was scared by the fire and couldn¡¯t wait to escape from this Devil¡¯s Den. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that he couldn¡¯t break free from Zhang Zian¡¯s hand, he would have run away long ago.

    ¡°Brother, if you have anything to say, say it after we get out. Now is not the time to talk!¡± He said anxiously.

    ¡°Is there a veteran named Mike in your cell?¡± Zhang Zian asked.¡±Was he bitten by a dog?¡±

    Fernando immediately nodded.¡±Yes, there is such a person! However, he couldn¡¯t make it anymore. Even the skin on his face had been torn apart by the dog. He only had one breath left. It was very frightening! Why? You know him?¡±

    ¡°Did he or anyone else mention a girl named melgen?¡± Zhang Zian asked again.

    ¡°Melgen? Let me think ... I think it was mentioned that Mike was having a high fever and was mumbling this name in a daze ... Is he your lover?¡±

    ¡°Did she say where melgen went?¡±

    ¡°Well ... I think they were taken away, but I don¡¯t know where they went.¡± Fernando looked around, fearing that he would be caught again.

    Zhang Zian had nned to save melgen and Mike, but melgen was not here, and Mike ... To be honest, ording to Fernando¡¯s description, Mike¡¯s injuries were so serious. Even if he was saved and left this ce, he was afraid that he would not be able to walk out of the forest alive without any help or medicine. Maybe he could live a few more days if he stayed here.

    ¡°Run in that direction and wait for me outside after crossing the electric. Oh, by the way, the power grid is out of power. ¡±

    Zhang Zian said, pointing at the road.

    ¡°You¡¯re not leaving? It¡¯s very dangerous to stay here. Those people are especially brutal, and it¡¯s better to die than to fall into their hands!¡± Fernando had been waiting impatiently for a long time, but he was alone and could not even tell the direction. If he wanted to survive in the forest, he had to rely on Zhang Zian¡¯s directions. He wanted to take Zhang Zian with him.

    ¡°I still have a bit. You can go out first and don¡¯t mind me.¡± Zhang Zian shook him off.

    Fernando had no choice but to run first. He did not have night vision, so he could only rely on the light of the fire and the sh of lightning. He could not see the road at all.

    Zhang Zian ran in the other direction, which was the ughterhouse¡¯s office building. It was only three stories high, and it was dark without any lights. Since the fire, people had all run out of the room. He wanted to take this opportunity to enter the office to find evidence of Peter Lee and the ughterhouse¡¯s crimes.

    The Elfins followed behind. Old time tea asked,¡±¡±Zian, what are you going to do?¡±

    Zhang Zian exined his intentions, rushed into the office building with the Elfins, and then split up to look for evidence, because he didn¡¯t know what was evidence.

    Time was of the essence. The security guards who were searching outside found that the ughterhouse was on fire and would definitelye back immediately. They all had taser guns, shlights, and two Dobbies. Whether they could find evidence or not, they had to leave before they came back.

    ¡°There¡¯s an openputer here!¡± Famous shouted.

    Zhang Zian heard the sound and saw that it was aptop, which was relying on the internal battery to power it. The screen was still on the interface of the electronic form. The owner must have found out that there was a fire outside and ran away in a hurry before turning off theputer.

    He nced at the form, which seemed to be the list of goods purchased from the ughterhouse. It listed the number of deer bought from which farm, the unit price, and other data.

    He heard dogs barking from outside, and through the ss on the third floor, he saw shlights shing in the forest outside the power grid. He knew that the security guards were about to return, so he closed the screen of theptop and held it under his arm, signaling the Elfins to retreat.

    He and the Elfins had just run out of the office building when they heard Peter Lee¡¯s voice through the loudspeaker.

    ¡°Everyone, listen up! Calm down! Don¡¯t panic! Don¡¯t put out the fire yet!¡±

    ¡°An enemy has sneaked into the interior, deliberately causing destruction, and even let our guest go!¡±

    ¡°All security, don¡¯t put out the fire. Find the enemy first!¡±

    ¡°The rest of you, form a group and search for the enemy! Be careful, the enemy may have a weapon. Do not talk to him when you see him, and attack immediately! Permission granted to use lethal weapons! I repeat, use of lethal weapons is permitted!¡±

    Zhang Zian turned around and saw Peter Lee standing on the roof of the tallest building, holding an emergency light in one hand and a loudspeaker in the other. He also had a walkie-talkie on his waist.

    What people needed the most in the chaos was a backbone. They needed someone to take charge. When they heard Peter Lee¡¯s voice, they immediately calmed down.

    The returning security guards all had walkie-talkies in their hands. After receiving the order, they did not rush into the ughterhouse. Instead, they formed an encirclement formation and surrounded the ughterhouse.

    Terrible!

    Zhang Zian secretly scolded Peter Lee, this old fox. He was going to burn down the ughterhouse to catch him. How big was the hatred?

    The situation wasn¡¯t looking good. They were like a turtle in a jar. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t n to save Mike just now. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t be able to escape with a living person.

    ¡°We can only take action!¡± Famous said in a deep voice.

    Except for a few elves who stayed outside, the elves who came in with him were all ready to fight. But even though they were brave, they had a natural disadvantage. If they wanted to break out of the encirclement, they had to climb over the. When they climbed over the, they had no ability to resist or fight back, so they were easily shot by the security guards outside.

    Of course, the security guards ¡®biggest target was Zhang Zian, but he was more clumsy when crossing the power grid. He was almost a live target. Unless the Elfins were responsible for attracting the security guards¡¯ fire, he would definitely not be able to escape.

    ¡°Over there! I see him!¡±

    One of the security guards ¡®shlights locked onto Zhang Zian¡¯s figure, and the other security guards nearby also aimed their shlights at him.

 Chapter 1534 - Donâ€™t try this

    <h4>Chapter 1534: Don¡¯t try this</h4>

    Before, Zhang Zian was in the dark, and the enemy was in the light. Now the situation had reversed, and the fire was getting bigger and bigger, providing light for the ughterhouse.

    Zhang Zian was not wearing his staff uniform or security uniform, so he was very conspicuous in the light of the fire. The other employees were walking in groups, and he was the only older brother. He was soon discovered by the returning security guard.

    ¡°He took away one of ourptops!¡± The security guard who found him also saw theputer under his arm and reported to the walkie-talkie,¡±prepare to arrest him!¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Peter Lee shouted into the walkie-talkie,¡±don¡¯t act rashly!¡± Keep an eye on him and wait for the others to pass!¡±

    The security guards didn¡¯t know why their boss was so cautious. The other party was clearly just one person, and they didn¡¯t see him carrying any weapons. But since their boss had spoken, they stayed where they were and aimed their taser guns at Zhang Zian through the power grid, waiting for him to move.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s body was locked onto by several shlights and taser guns. If he moved, he would probably be electrocuted to the point of incontinence ...

    The range of the Taser gun was limited, and the DART could be blocked by the electric, but it was hard to imagine a situation where several guns could not hit the target.

    More security guards had received the news and were rushing over.

    Peter Lee said through the loudspeaker,¡±¡±Jeff! I know it¡¯s you! We¡¯re old friends, and I¡¯ve always been very tolerant of old friends! As long as you put down yourputer and surrender, I promise I¡¯ll let bygones be bygones ...¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t believe a single word of Peter Lee¡¯s words. He knew that he was stalling for time and waiting for the security guards to surround him. However, he was in a very dangerous situation now. If there was any movement, the other party would not be soft-hearted, but if he dragged on, he would not be able to escape.

    Should he take a risk, or should he feign civility after surrendering and then find a way to escape?

    He didn¡¯t have much time to think. He had to make a decision as soon as possible.

    He wasn¡¯t the only one who had a gun pointed at him, famous was also the same. However, a few cat elves relied on their flexible bodies and dodged the moment the shlight shone on them. The security guards could only see a few blurry shadows.

    Even so, as long as the elves climbed up the power grid, they would be immediately seen by the security guards.

    Zhang Zian took a deep breath. Just as he was about to try to divert the security guards ¡®attention with words, he suddenly heard a series of deers¡¯ cries from the woods not far away. The sounds were very panicked.

    The security guards also heard it, but they were well-trained. Their eyes moved quickly, but their faces and guns were still aimed at Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian and the security guards looked at each other. He could see the woods behind them, but they couldn ¡®t.

    At this time, the deep shadow in the forest seemed to be stretched out, and then separated into a slightly smaller shadow.

    He blinked and wanted to raise his night vision to see what it was. He wanted to know if Fernando hade to save him, but he did not dare to act rashly.

    The dark shadow quietly moved behind the security guards, and the firelight gradually revealed a blurry outline.

    ¡°F * ck! It¡¯s a ck bear!¡± Zhang Zian was shocked. He stared at the shadow and shouted.

    He could recognize that this was the adult male ck bear that he had once driven away with bear-proof spray. He had always suspected that it had been quietly following behind the deer herd, waiting for an opportunity to take revenge on him. He did not expect to be right.

    ck bears were wild when they were angry, but they were not stupid. Otherwise, they would not often perform as circus animals to the audience. It must have noticed that he didn¡¯t have the bear-proof spray in his hand and thought that this was a good opportunity for revenge, so it appeared.

    The deer herd must have smelled the ck bear and knew that it was approaching, so they cried out to warn it.

    The security guards ¡®lips curved slightly, revealing an obvious contemptuous smile. Don¡¯t try this! Who are you trying to scare?

    ¡°ck bear! The ck bear is right behind you! You¡¯ll know when you turn around and take a look!¡± Zhang Zian shouted anxiously. He wanted to point it out to them, but he didn¡¯t dare to move. Even if he did, they might not look.

    The security guards looked at him with pity, meaning: ¡®Act, continue acting!¡¯

    The more he shouted, the more the security guards didn¡¯t take it seriously. They had been here for a long time, at least for a few years, and not many people had encountered the ck bear, let alone been attacked by it.

    The ck bear was probably wondering why these people had their backs to him.

    However, it didn¡¯t matter. Its anus was still burning in pain. Its eyes turned red as soon as it saw Zhang Zian. It thought that humans were all on the same side, and these guys were all protecting its enemy.

    However, it wasn¡¯t afraid. These people didn¡¯t have the smell of gunpowder on them, and they weren¡¯t holding anything that looked like a spray. As long as they didn¡¯t have guns that spewed fire or bottles that sprayed yellow mist, the bear-men had nothing to fear!

    The security guards were not all determined. One of them saw that Zhang Zian was putting in so much effort in his performance, and he was a little suspicious. There were several guns pointed at Zhang Zian anyway, so it would be fine if he was one less, right?

    So he turned around to look.

    His field of vision was blocked by a wall.

    He raised his neck stiffly and met the eyes of the ck bear, who was almost two meters tall.

    Immediately after, he felt a warm liquid flowing down his thighs and calves into his boots.

    ¡°Mother! Bear!¡±

    ¡°Wuwuwu~¡±

    The ck bear was angered by his scream. Before he could turn the muzzle to aim at it, it raised its palm and pped him. He spun two rounds on the spot like a top and fell to the ground with blood all over his face.

    When the other security guards heard the screams and bear roars, they were shocked. They turned their guns without thinking. Between arresting Zhang Zian and saving their lives, they wisely chose thetter.

    It was only when you were there that you could feel what it was like when a ck bear weighing almost 400 pounds pounced at you. Everyone would have a mental struggle, wondering whether to hide or to shoot bravely.

    The security guard who was the first to bear the brunt chose the former. He did not care about aiming and shooting. He jumped to the side and avoided the ck bear¡¯s pounce.

    The other security guards opened fire, but the range of the Taser was too limited, which meant that they had to get close to the ck bear to shoot. However, this was tantamount to putting themselves in danger. Few people would be so stupid to take the risk to save others.

    One or two darts hit the ck bear, but the electric shock, which could make a person curl up like a shrimp on the spot, only made the ck bear more furious. It did not make it lose its ability to move.

    The Taser gun was very effective against humans because humans were afraid of pain. However, even arge, furious dog could not bepletely subdued. At most, it could drive it away, let alone a ck bear.

    It pulled out the DART and roared as it rushed towards the person who hurt it.

    The security guards cried for their parents and ran away. Some ran to the side, while others climbed onto the power grid and sat on it, not daring toe down.

    ¡°What happened? Quickly answer!¡±

    Peter Lee shouted into the walkie-talkie, but no one responded to him.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t do anything. He took advantage of the chaos and quietly slipped away.

 Chapter 1535 - A taser gun on the ground

    <h4>Chapter 1535: A taser gun on the ground</h4>

    ¡°We¡¯re poor, eat less!¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at Fernando gobbling up the food. It was all the food he had brought, and this guy was not polite at all when eating.

    The sky was already bright, and the air was fresh and moist.

    After the stormst night, it rained heavily. The rain came and went quickly, leaving after watering the forest like a sprinkler. It was also because of this that the fire in the ughterhouse did not spread, but it was impossible to resume work in a short time.

    Fernando cursed as he ate, asking why the fire had to be put out with rain. He should have just burned those bastards to death ...

    In fact, the fire in the ughterhouse was not big at first. The employees and security guards had sessfully escaped from the building and ran to the open space outside to take refuge. Even if it didn¡¯t rain, the fire wouldn¡¯t have burned these bad people to death. The unlucky ones were the roamers in the prison and Mike, who was seriously injured and unable to move.

    As for the machines in the ughterhouse, they were all big and not afraid of burning. The impact of being struck by lightning was even greater.

    The biggest advantage of the rain was that it helped Fernando and Zhang Zian sessfully hide their tracks. The rain washed away their smell, otherwise it would not have been so easy to escape.

    The ck bear¡¯s attack caused the security guards to cover their heads and run away like rats. The ck bear was angered by their attack and forgot that its original goal was to take revenge on Zhang Zian. It was just a chaotic battle without any reason.

    Zhang Zian slipped away before the end. No matter which side won, he would not have a good ending.

    Fernando was really waiting for him outside. It was not that the Mexico homeless man was loyal, but that Fernando did not know how to leave the forest. Otherwise, he would have run away by himself. When he got close, Fernando jumped down from the tree and was about to give him a warm hug, but he was pushed away.

    Fernando was surprised to see Zhang Zian with his dog and cat, but he didn¡¯t have time to ask. Zhang Zian took him to the ce where he had hidden his luggage. He asked him to carry the luggage, while he held hisptop. He called the deer and ran in a random direction in the dark. He was as anxious as a stray dog and as scared as a fish that had escaped the. In short, he just had to run.

    They didn¡¯t stop to rest until dawn. Both of them were exhausted. Fernando asked Zhang Zian for food, and Zhang Zian was hungry, so he stopped to have some fast food.

    ¡°By the way, how many vagrants are there in the cell? Are they sick?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Fernando choked and lost his appetite. He wiped his mouth and replied,¡±¡±I don¡¯t know how many people there are in total. We are all in the same cell. There are eight people in this room. Including me, four of them are lying on the bed like corpses. They seem to have lost their souls. I keep feeling that something is not right. After the other two came back from work, they also hid far away, shrinking in the corner ... Do you think they have an infectious disease? Will I be infected?¡±

    ¡°No, you¡¯re overthinking it. Are you full? After we¡¯re full, we should part ways. ¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t tell him about the prion because he might not be able to understand it and would have to exin it. As for the second point ... Once the prion was infected, there was no cure. Instead of making him worry all day long about when his illness would fall, it was better to not let him know.

    Fernando was stunned again.¡±Part ways? You¡¯re noting with me?¡±

    ¡°No, I have other things to do. You can go out by yourself.¡±

    Zhang Zian handed him a sparepass and a map. The map marked their current location and the nearest town.

    ¡°After we get out, I suggest you don¡¯t call the police, at least not locally. Those people have eyes all over the sky, and you might be walking right into a trap if you call the police.¡±

    ¡°Uh ... Listen, bro, I think the wisest thing to do is to go out together. No matter what you want to do, you can think of a way after we get out ... Did you see that bearst night? It was really F * cking big! I don¡¯t want to encounter a ck bear alone in the forest!¡± Fernando said with an exaggerated expression.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have time to bargain with him, so he carried his backpack.

    ¡°Hey! Bro, wait! Can you at least give me that and some food?¡± Seeing Zhang Zian¡¯s firm will, Fernando knew that it was useless to persuade him. He pointed at the Taser gun on Zhang Zian¡¯s waist and shamelessly asked for it.

    This taser gun was picked up by Zhang Zian when he flipped over the power grid in the scufflest night. He didn¡¯t know which security guard abandoned the gun in panic and fled, probably because he felt that it was inconvenient to climb over the power grid to escape with a gun in his hand.

    He saw that the Taser bullet of the gun had not been used, so he picked it up and carried it with him. He could not leave a single needle or thread for the enemy.

    Fernando noticed the gun after dawn, but he did not say much at that time. Now that he heard that they were going to part ways, he wanted to find a guy to defend himself.

    ¡°Kaka! In terms of shamelessness, this Lord is willing to admit defeat!¡±

    As soon as it was daytime, Richard regained his energy and said sarcastically,¡±

    Fernando pretended not to hear him.

    That night and morning, Zhang Zian¡¯s pets had refreshed his worldview again and again. Whether it was the alert and powerful German Shepherd, the unique cats, the little monkey that was afraid of strangers, the big-mouthed parrot, or even the rare owl, they always made him feel like he was dreaming.

    ¡°If you follow the map, you¡¯ll be able to run out in two or three days. Now that you¡¯re full, you won¡¯t die of hunger even if you don¡¯t eat for two or three days. I still need to use the Taser gun, so I can¡¯t give it to you. ¡±

    Zhang Zian rejected his unreasonable request.

    This Homeless Mexico man had no credibility at all. What if he got the gun and threatened Zhang Zian to take food?

    Fernando still wanted to talk more, but famous growled and bared its teeth at him, which scared him back to his stomach.

    ¡°Alright, alright, I¡¯ll leave. To be honest, we¡¯re brothers, you don¡¯t have to do this.¡± As he retreated, he raised his hands in surrender and stuffed the map andpass into his pocket in frustration.

    Zhang Zian threw him another bottle of water, reminding him not to throw the bottle away after drinking it. He could still use it to hold water when he encountered a stream on the road. Otherwise, with the homeless man¡¯s character, he might really throw it away after drinking it.

    ¡°Remember, don¡¯t ever think of getting anything for nothing in the future. Otherwise, even God can¡¯t save you.¡±

    Zhang Zian gave him onest piece of advice, but he knew that he probably wouldn¡¯t listen to it. Even if he left the forest alive, he would still be the same.

    Fernando waved his hands casually and sneaked into the forest like a thief.

 Chapter 1536 - Lightning King Zhang Jeff

    <h4>Chapter 1536: Lightning King Zhang Jeff</h4>

    Fernando was just a homeless man, an insignificant character. His escape would bring some trouble to Peter Lee, but it was nothingpared to other troubles.

    It was conceivable that Peter Lee was likely to let go of Fernando and focus his energy on pursuing Zhang Zian.

    Not only did Zhang Zian destroy the power supply system of the ughterhouse, but he also set it on fire and even took away aptop. So, it was obvious that Peter Lee was absolutely in a hurry to catch him.

    Because ofst night¡¯s rain, Zhang Zian¡¯s smell was washed away by the rain. Peter Lee didn¡¯t know where he would run to, but he must have thought that he would escape the forest first and then go outside to call the police, so he would ce arge number of troops outside the nearest town to block him.

    Zhang Zian once again did the exact opposite. He was not in a hurry to leave the forest. It was not so easy to leave. Considering that the local police had spies nted, the traffic roads around the forest were likely to be watched. It was better to continue to walk through the forest and go to farther towns, hoping that Peter Lee would not control them.

    After the ughterhouse was destroyed, the deer meat supply of Leshi dog food was temporarily cut off. Even if the factory had deer meat in stock, it would notst long. As long as Zhang Zian left the forest and exposed the fact that this manufacturer was using sick deer to make dog food, this manufacturer was bound to be hit by thousands of people.

    He didn¡¯t want to reveal the truth himself. First, his words carried little weight, and second, he might be retaliated by the owners of the deer farms. So, he chose someone else to do this for him, The Deer Hunter Association in California and other states in the United States As long as he sent his information to The Deer Hunter Association and the animal protection organization in California, they would do the rest for him.

    As for the name of the email, he had already thought of it. It would be: It was arade Lei Feng who did not want to be named.

    However, this was a matter for after he got out. He had a lot of time to slowly think about the specific details.

    Theptop that he had brought out from the ughterhouse office had many documents and forms stored in it. He did not have time to look through them one by one and copied them all into the USB drive that he had brought with him.

    He removed the hard drive of theputer and carried it with him as a double safety of the USB drive. As for theputer itself ... Although it was a pity to throw it away, it was heavy and took up a lot of space. It would be considered a stolen item if he brought it home. He just had to find a dry tree hole and stuff it in, hoping that the fated person would pick it up.

    Maybe after a while, someone woulde to the forest and pick up aputer by ident, feeling like they had won a big prize ...

    After he was done, he took out the Taser gun he had picked up and studied it carefully.

    After he picked up the Taser gunst night, he didn¡¯t have time to look at it carefully. He only took a look and found that the Taser bullet had not been used. He picked it up with a thought. He had been running all night and didn¡¯t have time to look at it. Now, he had the time to study it. At least he had to learn how to use it so that he wouldn¡¯t electrocute himself when he needed to use it ...

    The elves were also very curious about the Taser. They had witnessed the scene of Fernando being electrocuted, but they had only seen it through the image sent by the drone and could not see clearly.

    Such a toy-like stic gun could actually subdue a living person in an instant?

    It was also Zhang Zian¡¯s first time seeing a real taser gun. If he saw it on the streets of China, he would most likely think that it was a toy gun that a naughty child had thrown away. He would not even be bothered to bend down to pick it up.

    The handle of the gun was bright yellow, and the body was ck. It looked like a cheap stic gun, and there was a buckle on the side that could be inserted into the belt to make it easy to carry.

    There was a adjustable knob at the end of the gun, and it could be turned up and down to S and F.

    ¡°S, it must be Sikes, F, it must be Focker,¡± Richard said, thinking he was smart.¡±After all this fuss, it¡¯s a sex gun ... Californians have such strong tastes!¡±

    It was just ying dumb. It had a safety device like any ordinary gun. S meant safety, and F meant firing. As a novice in using a gun, he would definitely pull the safety on the S when carrying it, and pull the F when needed. It was said that some experienced Gunners would usually use F-gear so that they could draw their guns and shoot at any time.

    Compared to a normal gun, an electric shock gun was much lighter. The main weight was the lithium battery inside, which was suitable for beginners.

    The gun barrel was equipped with a single-use electric bullet, which was the biggest difference between it and a normal gun.

    That was the problem. There was only one Taser bullet, and after it was fired, it would enter Sage Mode. If it missed, it would be a disaster ... However, the effective range of the Taser gun was only five meters, and there was aser sight under the muzzle. If it still missed under such circumstances, it would be useless to have a few more Taser bullets.

    Even without the Taser bullet, the two electrodes on the muzzle could be used as a Taser, but this meant that they would have to fight in closebat.

    Taser guns weren¡¯t cheap in America, so it was a good thing to pick them up.

    ¡°In the future, if you dare to talk nonsense again, I¡¯ll let you have a taste of electric shock.¡± He threatened as he waved the Taser in front of Richard.

    Richard didn¡¯t care! What kind of ability is it to bully a bird? Does it give you a sense of aplishment to electrocute me until I lose control of my dder and bowels?¡±

    ¡°No, even if you don¡¯t use electricity, you¡¯ll still be incontinent, right?¡± Zhang Zian had long been speechless about this shameless B * tch bird.

    Fina snorted.¡±You¡¯re just a mortal, but you¡¯re destined to have electricity.¡±

    ¡°Yup,¡± Old time tea agreed.¡±First, he used a drone to attract lightning. Then, he destroyed the ughterhouse. Then, he picked up a magical taser gun. Isn¡¯t it fate?¡±

    ¡°Kaka! From now on, everyone will call you ¡®lightning King Jeff Zhang¡¯, it¡¯s quite easy to say!¡± Richard said.

    There were always losses when there were gains. Although he had obtained some evidence and a taser gun, he had also lost the drone, Nekhbet. This was something that could not be helped. It was a necessary price to pay for attracting the lightning.

    He could onlyfort himself that he might not need the drone for the rest of the journey. It was a good thing that it was light. After all, the drone¡¯s full set of equipment was heavy and took up a lot of space. It would be a big burden to carry it around.

    Remote control, spare batteries, chargers, boxes, and other things that were not too expensive could also be thrown away. He only had to keep the Grand camera, which could save him a lot of money when he bought a new drone in the future. In addition, the video taken by the drone was still saved in the camera, which could be used as evidence.

    After checking their equipment and packing their bags, they continued on their journey.

    His phone had already been charged by a power bank. He unplugged the charging cable and picked up the phone to take a look. He found that the light representing the new Elfin was still there and was getting closer and closer.

 Chapter 1537 - -restless deer

    <h4>Chapter 1537: Chapter 1537-restless deer</h4>

    Speaking of lightning King, the primeval forest was really a divine tool to stop inte addiction. There was no signal or inte, and the mobile phone was no different from a brick. Its self-defense function was not even as good as a brick. Although he had saved some movies on his phone, he had been exhausted every day after entering the forest. At night, he was either scared or could fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. He had no time to watch movies. After all, it was not a refreshing little movie ...

    In the beginning, he would check for signal when he was walking in the forest, but after a long time, he was toozy to look. Even ces with roads passing through might not have signal, let alone deep in the forest. He could save electricity if he didn¡¯t look.

    He had been busy with the ughterhouse yesterday, so he didn¡¯t take out his phone. He ran around blindlyst night, and today, he realized that he was getting closer and closer to the ball of light.

    Famous, can you smell melgen¡¯s scent now?¡± He asked.

    Famous shook its head.¡±I can¡¯t smell anything.¡±

    It was no wonder. After melgen went missing, it had rained at least twice. If they arrived at the ughterhouse a dayter, even Mike¡¯s smell would have been washed away, let alone melgen¡¯s smell.

    ¡°The ughterhouse is just Peter Lee¡¯s workce, not their old nest in the forest.¡± He said,¡±I was going to find theirir and stop them from lying to the world. At least, I would record the location of theirir and then call the police ... But now the clues are cut off. Does anyone have any objections?¡±

    Famous said,¡±that Fernando just now, wasn¡¯t he brought to the ughterhouse from somewhere else? He should know something about the situation, right?¡±

    Fernando was driven to the ughterhouse by Peter Lee and the others. So, it was inferred that Fernando should have found Peter Lee first, and then Peter Lee got into the car.

    ¡°I asked him, and he said that there was someone in the nearby town who received the homeless. The person was like a charity organization, dressed neatly and greeted them with a smile. Then they took them to a house near the forest, where they underwent some kind of test. Some people like him were personally received by Peter Lee, praised them, and then took them to the ughterhouse in a car. The other group seemed to be the kind of ... Introverted, reserved. He didn¡¯t have a mind of his own and was taken to another ce, but he didn¡¯t know the exact location. ¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    ording to Fernando¡¯s description, even the tramps who took the initiative to surrender had to be screened. Those who were easy to control were brought to their nests to be brainwashed, and those like Fernando, who hated dogs, were sent to ughterhouses as cannon fodder.

    However, it was reasonable to say that melgen did not seem like a person who did not have her own opinions. Why was she taken away? Was it because ... She was a woman? That was true, there were almost no women among the vagrants ... He could only hope that her situation was not too bad.

    Fernando did not know anything else. He was toozy to work, so it was impossible for him to observe his surroundings carefully. Therefore, it was impossible to expect him to give any useful clues.

    Verkimir said impassionedly,¡±¡±Meow my a * s! Why don¡¯t we go back to the ughterhouse and catch them off guard? we can capture Peter Lee alive and solve everything!¡±

    This was obviously impossible. They had a lot of people and a lot of taser guns. Maybe they had even more lethal weapons. Besides, Peter Lee might have left the ughterhouse. It was not easy to catch him.

    ¡°It¡¯s too risky to go back to the ughterhouse,¡± old time tea said.¡±But we can follow the simple road. Maybe we can find some clues.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded.¡±That¡¯s a good idea, but it¡¯s too time-consuming. We don¡¯t have a car, and there are no ordinary vehicles on that simple road. We don¡¯t know where it leads to, and we don¡¯t know how long it¡¯ll take to walk.¡±

    The other elves had no better suggestions.

    Zhang Zian looked at the light on his phone screen and said,¡±¡±I¡¯ve been thinking, why did this elf appear from San Francisco ande all the way here? It wouldn¡¯t havee here for no reason. As an elf, it must have a wish to fulfill. ¡±

    His eyes fell on old time tea.¡±Just as you hate evil, maybe this elf also doesn¡¯t like what Peter Lee and his team have done. It came to the forest with a simr goal as us to stop Peter Lee and his team¡¯s deluding behavior. Of course, this is just my guess. ¡±

    Although it was only a guess, there seemed to be no other reason that could exin why this elf had run into the primitive forest.

    Famous understood what he meant and said,¡±¡±So we¡¯re going to the elfin¡¯s location?¡±

    ¡°Yes, there¡¯s definitely some danger, but how can you get tiger cubs better than a Tiger¡¯s Den?¡± Zhang Zian nodded.¡±And what happenedst night made me feel that ... Sometimes it¡¯s not bad to fish in troubled waters. The more troubled the water is, the better.¡±

    If the ck bear hadn¡¯t suddenly appearedst night, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to escape so easily. Although the ck bear was actuallying for him, it was difficult to tell friend from foe in the chaos. Enemies could also be friends, and friends ... Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have any friends in this forest.

    Now there were at least three known forces in the forest, urging him, Peter Lee, and the new elf. But if the ck bear, deer, other people, and other animals were included, the situation becameplicated and delicate.

    It was still unknown who would win, and his n was to make the water even more muddled.

    ¡°For the following journey, everyone must be extra vignt.¡±

    He lifted his backpack, which was much lighter, and looked up at the sky.

    It was still cloudy after the rain, and it didn¡¯t seem like it would continue to rain.

    Famous was still running in the front to explore the way, while the other Elfins were spread out to the left and right, expanding the search and alert range. Even Pi, whose palm was no longer hurting, climbed up the tree to look around from time to time.

    Because he didn¡¯t sleepst night, Zhang Zian was very sleepy. He forced himself to walk, looking at thepass and the position of the light ball from time to time.

    He really wanted to stop moving forward during the day to catch up on sleep, but this would mean that he would have to dy the whole day. Whether it was when he considered melgen, who was trapped in the Devil¡¯s Den, or the little supplies he had left, they were all imperceptibly urging him to hurry up. At most, he would set up camp earlier that night.

    After walking for a day, before the sky turned dark, Zhang Zian came across a small stream. He decided to stop and set up camp by the stream. He would have a good night¡¯s sleep and continue to set off early the next morning.

    ¡°Zian, there¡¯s something wrong with the deer herd. They seem to be restless, but I don¡¯t smell anything suspicious. Is the ck bear following us again?¡±

    He had just finished setting up the tent and was about to cook when famous ran over and reminded him worriedly.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s yawn and sleepiness disappeared together.¡±Take me to see her.¡±

 Chapter 1538 - An unfamiliar smell

    <h4>Chapter 1538: An unfamiliar smell</h4>

    Zhang Zian hadn¡¯t slept for almost 36 hours. He was so sleepy that he couldn¡¯t even open his eyes. He just wanted to quickly set up his tent and go to sleep. If it weren¡¯t for the Elfins ¡®need to eat, he wouldn¡¯t even want to eat dinner.

    However, when he heard that famous had found something unusual, he still forced himself to be alert and followed it to check. After all, it was better to be more cautious when walking in the forest.

    The deers all gathered by the stream to drink water. The young ones yed with the female deers, while the adult deers took turns to drink water. The ones that were already full looked around vigntly.

    The stream flowed rapidly, and the water was turbid. It carried a lot of sand, which was different from the other streams they had encountered. Zhang Zian guessed that this stream might have been formed by the thunderstormst night, or it might have been a branch of another stream because of the thunderstorm.

    The water had to settle down before being filtered and sterilized, otherwise it might affect the water purification efficiency of the filter.

    The deer herd was obviously not satisfied with the water quality, but it was not far from dark, and it might be toote to find other water sources, so they could only make do with it.

    The strong deer¡¯s injury had greatly improved. It was no longer as difficult to walk as it had been in the past two days. The wound no longer oozed blood, and there were no signs of infection. In addition to Zhang Zian helping it disinfect, another reason should be attributed to the cool weather in the forest.

    The deer looked at the woods upstream uneasily. When it heard Zhang Zian¡¯s footsteps, it only looked at him sideways, and then continued to look at him. It didn¡¯t even react when he walked to its side.

    Zhang Zian followed its line of sight. The dense forest was overgrown with branches. There was no sun, and it was very dark. His line of sight was swallowed by the branches and darkness more than ten meters away. He could see nothing.

    ck bear again?

    The deer¡¯s reaction was simr to when they encountered the bear¡¯s nest, but the bear had been left behind. Could they have entered the territory of another ck bear? If that was the case, it was probably a female bear. After all, it was too close to the territory of the male bear from before.

    However, looking at the other deer in the herd, it didn¡¯t seem like it. It seemed that only one deer in this small herd had sensed the potential danger, and the other deer were just on guard.

    Unfortunately, deers could not speak. Even if they could, Zhang Zian would not understand.

    Famous, you don¡¯t smell anything unusual?¡± He bent over to check the ground, but did not see any suspicious footprints.

    Famous said apologetically,¡±there are many smells. The smells in the forest are veryplicated. There are many smells left by animals, especially near water sources, but I can only distinguish a few of them, such as coyotes, ck bears, owls, golden rats, plum deers, red deers, and so on. I have never seen animals before. Even if I smell them, I don¡¯t know what animals left them.¡±

    This was a problem. Like most animals, famous recognized people and objects by smell. It had to see an animal with its own eyes and remember its smell. It could only know what animal left it when it smelled a simr smell in the future. Otherwise, it would only know what animal left it if it smelled a strange smell.

    Many animals needed to drink water, and the scents near the water source were moreplex.

    ¡°In other words, we can rule out the possibility of coyotes and ck bears?¡± He asked.

    Famous hesitated for a moment.¡±I don¡¯t smell it, at least not any fresh smell.¡±

    ¡°Is there a human scent?¡±

    ¡°No, I don ¡®t.¡±

    If it wasn¡¯t a coyote, a ck bear, or a human, then the beast in the forest that could threaten the Red Deer, was it a cougar?

    When it came to one-on-onebat in the animal world, weight was King. The felines that people loved to talk about were invincible in one-on-onebat because their weight and size were simr. Therefore, the threat of a cougar to humans was far less than that of a ck bear. If it was really a cougar, there was no need to be too nervous.

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment.¡±Forget it, I don¡¯t care. Maybe this deer is just too sensitive after being injured. We should eat and sleep. We can¡¯t be suspicious all day.¡±

    Having said that, the deer¡¯s reaction was like there was some kind of danger nearby that it was worried about. It was better to sleep with the bear-proof spray tonight.

    Dinner was still abination of instant canned wild vegetables and rice. Although there were different kinds of canned food, he was a little tired of eating this for three meals a day. At this moment, he missed those junk food, such as hamburgers, french fries, and happy drinks. He didn¡¯t even bother to eat them back in China, but now he couldn¡¯t help but swallow his saliva.

    Not long after night fell, he added some branches to the bonfire, then went into the tent and fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.

    Perhaps it was because she was too tired, she didn¡¯t even have a dream.

    He didn¡¯t know how long he had slept, but in his daze, he felt a furry paw patting him.

    ¡°Zian! Zian! Wake up!¡±

    Zhang Zian was in a deep sleep. After he opened his eyes, he didn¡¯t know where he was for a long time. He even wondered why the ceiling of the bedroom was deformed.

    After a few seconds, he turned his head and was shocked. He saw a huge shadow reflected by the faint fire outside the tent. It was wriggling outside the tent, and he could hear the rustling sound of ws rubbing against the waterproof cloth.

    ¡°I ...¡±

    He sat up and was about to shout, but he suddenly realized that the figure outside was very familiar. It was famous, but its figure was projected on the tent by the fire, making it look very big.

    It was old time tea who woke him up. Famous slept outside the tent and kept watch.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± He rubbed his eyes and asked.

    Old time tea saw that he was awake and whispered,¡±¡±There seems to be a situation outside. I only woke up when I heard the sound of famous rubbing the tent.¡±

    The other elves in the tent also woke up.

    ¡°What a tragedy!¡± Richard sighed. I haven¡¯t had a good night¡¯s sleep since I entered the forest. I¡¯m about to have a nervous breakdown!¡±

    This was nonsense with its eyes closed. It fell asleep faster than anyone else, and it began to snore as soon as its legs kicked.

    Zhang Zian ignored it, quickly put on his clothes, and then quietly unzipped the tent. From famous¡¯s reaction, the situation this time was not as urgent as the ck bear ¡®s. Otherwise, it would have barked loudly to warn him and to deter the enemy.

    It was foggy outside again, and the bonfire was almost extinguished, leaving only a little dark red Ash. The cool air gushed into the tent like water. The temperature was probably only four or five degrees Celsius, and it neutralized the little bit of heat that had been umted in the tent with great difficulty.

    Famous saw hime out and stopped scratching the tent. Instead, it stared in the direction of the deer.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± He asked in a low voice.

    Famous also replied in a low voice,¡±there are coyotes approaching. There is more than one. In addition, there seems to be the smell of some other animal. I can¡¯t tell what animal it is.¡±

 Chapter 1539 - -bonfire

    <h4>Chapter 1539: Chapter 1539-bonfire</h4>

    It wasn¡¯t strange to encounter coyotes in the primitive forests of North America. After all, they could encounter them in big cities, so it was normal to encounter them in the forest.

    No one knew exactly how many coyotes there were in North America. People only knew that in 2013 alone, the United States Department of Agriculture invested in the killing of more than 70000 coyotes, as well as 4 million other wild animals, for reasons such as the protection of endangered species, public safety, and control of Wildlife Diseases.

    These reasons were actually very easy to understand. Some animals were very adapted to the natural environment, so they reproduced inrge numbers, and the living space of some endangered animals would be upied. For example, the spotted owls were no match for the foreign owl poption, and their numbers were getting smaller and smaller. To protect the spotted owls, they had to kill the foreign owl poption.

    Coyotes are one of the most sessful species in North America. They have strong survivability and adapt very well to both the natural environment and the urban environment. It is normal for them to be rampant in the other 49 states except Hawaii. They pose a serious threat to agricultural production, public safety, and endangered species, so the United States often holds huntingpetitions for coyotes. However, if you want to kill a coyote, you must have legal documents and procedures. You can¡¯t kill it casually.

    Father yang said that coyotes rarely attack people, which is correct, but very few doesn¡¯t mean there is no one. In fact, in the past few decades, there had been more than 300 cases of coyotes attacking people in California. Most of the targets were children, and asionally, there were adults.

    There was once a 19-year-old girl who was bitten to death by a coyote. Zhang Zian had been worried that melgen would also be kissed by the wolf. Now he knew that melgen had been caught by Peter Lee and his team.

    When he heard that it was a coyote wandering nearby, he was relieved. Although he didn¡¯t know how many coyotes there were, at least it was better than encountering a ck bear.

    Famous didn¡¯t call the police loudly because it had seen coyotes and knew that a single coyote was very weak. Even if a group of coyotes came, they should not be able to beat the elves.

    But what was the other animal?

    Famous wasn¡¯tpletely unfamiliar with the smell. It had smelled a simr smell in the forest, but it didn¡¯t know what animal the owner of the smell was.

    The cat elves also left the tent. When they heard that it was not a ck bear, but another strange animal, their curiosity was aroused. Since they were already awake, they might as well go and watch the fun.

    Famous led the way in the direction of the deer herd.

    Zhang Zian took his night vision and shlight. Of course, he couldn¡¯t forget the bear spray and taser gun. He nned to go with the Elfins.

    He had just taken two steps when he noticed that Gxy was still squatting by the bonfire. It did not go with the other cats.

    ¡°Gxy, don¡¯t you want to go and have a look?¡± He asked.

    Gxy stretched its body and wagged its tail. It looked at the bonfire and said,¡±¡±Meow! The fire is going out!¡±

    As soon as Zhang Zian left the tent, he saw that the bonfire was about to go out. He had slept for a few hours without adding any firewood in the middle, so there was only some charcoal left in the bonfire. In the grayish-white ashes, there was a faint dark red light and a pitiful amount of residual heat.

    He had been thinking about the coyote, plus he had just woken up from sleep and saw that the bonfire was about to go out, but he only ¡°saw¡± it, and there was no fluctuation in his mind.

    So what if the fire was about to be extinguished?

    The purpose of the bonfire was to drive away the beasts while sleeping and prevent them from approaching. Now that he and the elves were awake, the bonfire was far less threatening to the beasts than the bear spray.

    The air was very cold. Zhang Zian rubbed his hands. He wanted to see what was going on immediately. How many coyotes were there and what other animals were there? however, Gxy was squatting by the dying bonfire, as if it wanted to warm itself up. So, he squatted down again, picked up the unburnt branches, and put them into the bonfire.

    ¡°Yeah, the fire is about to go out, so let it burn again.¡± He said.

    Because it had just rained the night before yesterday, and the fog was everywhere, the branches were rtively damp. After putting them into the bonfire, not only did they not burn, but the thick water vapor made the already dying bonfire even dimmer, as if it could be extinguished at any time.

    He had no choice but to walk back to his backpack and look for solid alcohol with his shlight. After finding a can, he took out a small piece and smeared it evenly on a dead branch. Then, he lit it with a lighter and stuffed it into the bonfire. He kept exhaling to help the air circte and bring more oxygen to the bonfire.

    With the solid alcohol as fuel, the bonfire quickly grew stronger and mes flickered. From time to time, there would be loud cracking sounds and sparks flying. That was the sound of the remaining water in the branches turning into steam and exploding.

    ¡°Gxy, don¡¯t get too close to the fire. Be careful of the fire sparks.¡± He warned.

    Gxy obediently stayed away from the bonfire, its silver-gray eyes reflecting the red mes, and said happily,¡±¡±Meow, it¡¯s so warm.¡±

    ¡°Then ... You stay here and warm yourself up. I¡¯ll go see what they¡¯re doing.¡±

    He was still quite worried about the elves who were watching the fun. After all, in addition to the coyote, there was another unknown animal. It would be good if it was not arge beast.

    ¡°Meow! Gxy is going too!¡±

    To his surprise, Gxy seemed to have lost interest in the bonfire and followed him, wagging its tail.

    So ... It didn¡¯t want to start a fire?

    Zhang Zian was a little confused, but forget it. It was not a bad idea to light a new bonfire, so that he would not have to light it again after watching the fun.

    He and Gxy jogged to meet up with the other Elfins.

    He didn¡¯t dare to turn on the shlight, for fear that it would provoke the wolves. Anyway, he had night vision, so it wasn¡¯t difficult to move.

    From afar, he could see the bright eyes of the elves, so he lightened his steps.

    In addition, in the forest upstream of the stream, there were also several pairs of eyes shining, as if they were having bad ideas about the deer.

    That must be the pack of suburban wolves.

    Like most canines, coyotes are also social animals, but they tend to forage for food alone in the city. In the wild, sometimes they forage for food alone, sometimes they hunt in groups. There is no fixed form, which also shows that they are easy to adapt to the environment.

    ¡°One, two, three, four, five, six ...¡±

    Zhang Zian roughly counted. He could see a total of six pairs of bright eyes. Perhaps there were more in the woods.

    These coyotes were probably attracted by the smell of the deer and nned toe over to have a taste of meat, but they had never found a suitable opportunity to attack.

    But ... What was the other animal?

    Zhang Zian could only see the bright eyes through the night vision device. He couldn¡¯t determine whether the six pairs of eyes included animals other than coyotes, but logically speaking, there shouldn¡¯t be other animals mixed in the coyote group, right?

    Wu~

    Wuwuwu~

    They didn¡¯t know which coyote started it, but they suddenly started howling.

 Chapter 1540 - -falling into a trap

    <h4>Chapter 1540: Chapter 1540-falling into a trap</h4>

    Famous could smell coyotes. Although deer¡¯s sense of smell was not as sensitive as that of dogs, their sense of smell and hearing were very developed, which was not much worse than that of dogs. In addition, their survival instincts, which had been living in the forest for a long time, made them aware that the enemy was nearby.

    The night was too dark, and the deer¡¯s night vision was very poor. They knew that there was an enemy and could roughly know the enemy¡¯s location, but they did not run away for the time being because the deer did not run. The deer had learned its lesson from thest time when it ran around at night and hit a tree. It ced its hopes on humans. It heard Zhang Zian¡¯s footsteps. Since he could drive away the ck bear, it would not be a problem to drive away the coyote.

    Even so, the herd of deer could still hold their ground at the beginning, but when the Coyotes began to howl, the mother and the young deers began to panic and wanted to escape. The deer endured the pain and tried to stop the deer that was trying to escape.

    When facing a ck bear, they could escape because not running would mean death. But the coyote scared the deers to run away, and once they ran, the formation would be broken. The male and female deers were less dangerous, but the young deers were directly exposed to the Wolf¡¯s kiss.

    In the silent forest, the long howl of the wolf was particrly terrifying. It sent a chill down one¡¯s spine, and even the small nocturnal animals were silent.

    The other Elfins had already arrived, but they didn¡¯t get too close. First, they didn¡¯t know what Zhang Zian¡¯s attitude was toward the battle between the wolf and the deer. Second, they were worried about the prion and were afraid of being infected.

    Zhang Zian and Gxy arrivedte, and old time tea said,¡±¡±Zian, should we watch the fire from across the river, or should we intervene? If the herd of deer escapes, will the coyote attack us?¡±

    He looked around with his night vision goggles, indicating that they should wait and see. As long as the deer didn¡¯t get scattered, the Coyotes probably wouldn¡¯t dare to attack rashly.

    ¡°That¡¯s strange, are there only these few coyote?¡±

    He didn¡¯t find any traces of other coyotes nearby, so he couldn¡¯t help but wonder.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Fina asked,¡±are these not enough?¡± You still think it¡¯s too little?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t mean it that way.¡± He denied it first and then exined,¡±because when wolves or Lions surround their prey, they usually adopt a rather clever cooperation mode. The main force in charge of the attack will lie in ambush nearby, and the other few will feign an attack. They will drive the prey to the ambush circle set by the main force, and then they will attack from the front and the back, wrapping the prey in a dumpling.¡±

    He gestured as he exined, making it easy to understand.

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell,¡± dimir praised.¡±They would spontaneously adopt such a simple and efficient tactic. The wisdom of the people is infinite!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m wondering why the wolves and Lions are like this. There¡¯s no reason for the Coyotes, who are more adaptable to the environment, not to use simr tactics.¡± He pointed at the pairs of eyes in the darkness.¡±Look, they¡¯re just howling and bluffing, but they don¡¯t seem to have the intention to attack. Will the real attack be like this? I think they¡¯re responsible for the feint attack. The main force of the Coyotes hasn¡¯t appeared yet and are still lying in ambush in the dark. ¡±

    He pointed out the suspicious points, and the elves came to a realization.

    Wasn¡¯t it just as he said? these coyotes are bluffing, and their purpose is to drive the deer herd to the main ambush point.

    ¡°If the enemy doesn¡¯t move, I won¡¯t move. If the enemy wants to move, I¡¯ll move first!¡± dimir nodded its head repeatedly.¡±It¡¯s best to hold back for now!¡± The moment you move, you¡¯ll fall into the enemy¡¯s trap!¡±

    So, where is the main force of the Coyotes?

    These coyotes may also feel a little puzzled. Usually, as long as they howled a few times, the deer herd would be scared and flee in all directions. Why did the deer herd refuse to leave the ce today?

    Zhang Zian used the night vision device to scan the area in front of him. It was reasonable to say that the terrain of the forest wasplex, and the Coyotes would not ambush too far away. Otherwise, what if the deer don¡¯t run in the direction they want?

    But he didn¡¯t see any other bright eyes. Of course, it could be that they were blocked by trees or grass.

    Old time tea sneaked up to the tree and looked down, but it also didn¡¯t see any suspicious moving objects.

    Could it be that he had overestimated this group of coyotes? In fact, these few coyotes are all there is to them. There is no feint or main attack at all. They just want to scare the deer away, but today the deer did not follow the script, so the Coyotes are at a loss?

    Was it like this?

    This was the most reasonable exnation at the moment, but it could notpletely dispel the doubts in his heart.

    The Coyotes howled for a long time, but seeing that there was no effect, they stopped howling one after another. The deer herd also slowly calmed down, and the two sides were in a stalemate.

    At this moment, the silence of the forest was suddenly broken by the shrill cry of a night owl!

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart trembled. He and the Elfins all turned around to look, because the cry came from behind them. It was the spotted owl¡¯s cry!

    Immediately after.

    ¡°Squeak! Squeak!¡±

    ¡°Kaka! Gah gah! Someone is molesting me!¡±

    Pi and Richard, who had stayed in the tent because of their poor vision at night, screamed at the same time, their voices full of fear.

    F * ck!

    Zhang Zian suddenly understood that the real target of the coyote was not the deer herd. It was a trick to lure the Tiger away from the mountain! The Coyotes appeared unhurriedly and howled one after another. Their real purpose was to attract him over and use a feint to contain him and the deer herd here, making him think that they were going to attack the deer herd. However, the main force of the Coyotes has long been quietly lying in ambush around the tent. Their real target is the monkey and bird in the tent!

    But, were coyotes that smart?

    He didn¡¯t have time to think and immediately ran back with the elves around him at the fastest speed.

    ¡°Meow my a * s! I¡¯ve been hunting geese every day, and today I was pecked in the eye by a goose!¡± dimir said remorsefully, representing the thoughts of the other elves.

    The previous ck bear had made him and the elves form a mindset that the coyote¡¯s appearance was also to attack the deer group. They never thought that the coyote would actually make them the target.

    Fortunately, the deer¡¯s resting ce was an open space, very close to the tent set up against the tree. The straight line distance was only about 20 meters. The elves arrived first, and he arrived after them.

    Before he got close, he saw the burning bonfire and a few coyotes that were illuminated by the fire. They wanted to attack the tent, but they were instinctively afraid of the fire, so they wandered only two or three meters away from the bonfire. Even so, they didn¡¯t back down, as if they were determined to get the monkey and bird in the tent.

    The Coyotes bared their teeth and made threatening low roars. In addition, a low and hoarse growl came from the darkness where the fire could not reach, as if urging the Coyotes to attack.

    Old time tea had sneaked back from the tree. It looked down and saw the figure of the thing. It suddenly remembered a legendary animal and eximed,¡±¡±Is that the bei?¡±

 Chapter 1541 - Colluding together

    <h4>Chapter 1541: Colluding together</h4>

    Zhang Zian was one stepte. He was worried about Pi and Richard¡¯s safety, so he misheard old time tea¡¯s words.¡±That¡¯s by ...¡± He thought to himself,¡±by what?¡± Why did he stop?

    But now was not the time to ask this. He had to drive away the Coyotes near the bonfire first.

    The spotted owl flew around in the air like a ghost. It was the first to notice the approaching coyote and warn it.

    Pi waved a thick branch in its hands and stood bravely at the entrance of the tent. It confronted the Coyotes across the bonfire, squeaking from time to time to strengthen its momentum.

    In fact, it was also afraid. These coyotes looked very fierce, as if they could jump over the fire and tear it to pieces at any time, but since entering Zhang Zian¡¯s dream and being bullied by the monkey chatans, it knew that retreating and tolerating would not get the other party¡¯s pity. It would only make the other party think that it was weak and easy to bully, and it would be even more aggressive. If it wanted to protect itself, it must be brave enough to resist.

    Richard wanted to fly to a higher ce to avoid it, but it was too dark to see anything. It hit the branches when it flew up and fell back to the ground. There was a pool of green and yellow under its butt. It was so scared that it had wet itself!

    Compared to Pi, this B * stard bird that only knew how to y the hero was too embarrassing. It was even worse than the owl!

    Seeing that the two of them were safe, Zhang Zian was relieved.

    It¡¯s not that you don¡¯t know what¡¯s good, but you¡¯re afraid ofparing it with what¡¯s good. At a nce, you know that the Coyotes here are much fiercer than the ones responsible for the feint attack on the other side of the deer herd, and their bodies are also muchrger. When they saw Zhang Zian, they weren¡¯t afraid at all. Instead, they showed their fangs at him threateningly, warning him not to get close.

    Famous rushed to the bonfire and barked at the Coyotes.

    Pi saw that the big guy hade back to help, and it was more confident. It waved its branches more vigorously, squeaking at the Coyotes. Zhang Zian thought that tomorrow, he would cut a wooden stick for it and it would be able to bloom.

    On the way back, Zhang Zian had already opened the cap of the bear-proof spray and held it in his hand. Although this thing was used to defend against bears, the chili water was also enough to deal with coyotes.

    Famous, fina, old time tea, and verkimir were all good at fighting, and dealing with these coyotes was not a problem for them. However, they were worried about the threat of the prions. God knew if these coyotes had eaten sick deer and became sick, so they only remained alert and did not rush up.

    Wu~

    A low growl came from the darkness.

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins looked over by the light of the fire and saw another coyote walking out of the woods ...

    Wait a minute! Is this a coyote?

    The new animal didn¡¯t look like a coyote. It was muchrger than a coyote, and its whole body was covered in ck hair, which made it look more like a dog or Wolf.

    It wasn¡¯t necessarily a dog. Its eyes were more ferocious than dogs and coyotes, like a rare ck Wolf.

    But no, wolves and coyotes are sworn enemies, and it is absolutely impossible for a Wolf to mix in among the Coyotes.

    Zhang Zian turned on the shlight and shone it over. He noticed that this Wolf-like animal was not as strong as the wolf, but it was heavier and stronger.

    He recognized it. It was a Wolfhound!

    If there were no idents, it should be the offspring of a stray dog or a stray dog and a coyote.

    Wolfdogs were much more ferocious than coyotes, and this ck wolfdog was obviously the leader of this group of coyotes.

    Other than that, his shlight also scanned another animal.

    The animal was much smaller than the ck wolfdog and the coyote. At first nce, it looked like a cute roon, but upon closer inspection, it was not cute at all. It had a t head, fangs exposed in its mouth, a fierce face, and cunning eyes. When it was illuminated by the shlight, it seemed reluctant to expose itself. It waved its two extremely sharp front ws and dug the ground. In a short time, it dug a pit and hid in it to avoid the shlight.

    Old time tea was secretly shocked. It had heard rumors that there was a strange animal called ¡°bei¡±, which was used to working with wolves. The former was smart, and thetter was fierce. The twoplemented each other and achieved the effect of 1+ 1 = 2, which was why there was the idiom ¡°wolves collude¡±.

    It had wandered in the forests of southern China for a while and had encountered wolves more than once, but it had never seen the legendary bei. It had once wondered if the so-called bei really existed, but now that it looked at this animal, didn¡¯t it look a little like the legendary bei?

    If it was just a Wolf Pack, it wouldn¡¯t be scary, but there were many incredible legends about the bei. It was said that their intelligence was simr to that of a human, which made old time tea deeply worried, so it reminded,¡±¡±Zian, be careful! That¡¯s the legendary bei?¡±

    The other Elfins had never heard of an animal called bei, so they didn¡¯t know what old time tea was talking about.

    ¡°Bei?¡±

    Zhang Zian understood this time. It was not ¡°by¡±, but ¡°by¡±.

    Before the animal hid in the pit, Zhang Zian had a good look at its appearance and recognized its identity. It was not a Lycan, but an United States Badger!

    The name ¡°Badger¡± was not very loud, but there was a kind of red Badger, the Honey Badger, also known as the ¡°African t-headed brother.¡±

    The Honey Badger was the most famous kind of Badger, but in fact, all Badgers were simr. They were fierce, dared to fight with fierce beasts that were several timesrger than themselves, and dared to prey on poisonous snakes.

    Badgers were not only fierce, but they were also very smart, to an incredible extent. Not only could they effectively use their sharp teeth and ws to hunt, but they were also skilled in using tools. What was even more bizarre was that they would cooperate with other animals to hunt.

    In Africa, honey badgers worked with ckthroat honeysuckles to steal honey, and scientists had seen more than once United States Badgers worked with coyotes to hunt various animals in North America.

    From fish, shrimp, birds to fawn, and even young ck bears, they were all on the American badger¡¯s menu. If they couldn¡¯t find fresh food, they didn¡¯t mind eating rotten meat.

    China course, there were no United States Badgers in China. There were dog Badgers, also known as Eurasian Badgers. In addition, there were no coyotes in China. But since American badgers could form an alliance with coyotes, who knew if a dog Badgers would not form an alliance with a certain Wolf in Eurasian continent thousands of years ago?

    In this sense, the Badger was indeed quite simr to the legendary wolf, and it might even be the prototype of the wolf.

    The ancient people did not have such powerful lighting tools. When the ancient people encountered a small Wolf Pack in the dark wilderness, they probably did not have the time to carefully identify the strange animal in the Wolf Pack. After they were lucky enough to survive, they told others about their experience of escaping from death and gave them the name ¡°bei¡±...

    Coyote packs, ck wolfdog, and this United States Badger. These three animals colluded together to form a strange and powerfulbination.

 Chapter 1542 - Fire at that hole

    <h4>Chapter 1542: Fire at that hole</h4>

    Old time tea wasn¡¯t afraid of anything, but the legend of the bei was so mysterious that it was a little afraid. When Zhang Zian said that it was not a bei, but an United States Badger, it rxed a little. However, when he said that the Badger might be the original form of the bei, it could not help but be stunned.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t care if it was a Badger or a Wolf. Animals were animals, and they couldn¡¯t be smarter than humans. He had been at a disadvantage before because he had a fixed mindset and underestimated the enemy. As long as he paid attention to it, this United States Badger wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything. The great Qing Kingdom had fallen long ago!

    Compared to the United States Badger, he paid more attention to the ck wolfdog¡¯s movements.

    Wolfdog. China vigers often saw big yellow and ck dogs, so they called them wolfdogs. In daily life, some people also called German Shepherds wolfdogs, but to be more serious, they should be the offspring of wolves and dogs, at least with The Blood of Wolves.

    Dogs, wolves, coyotes, and other canines have no reproductive istion. As long as they want to, they can be arranged in variousbinations. Of course, if a pet dog was too small with a Wolf or coyote ... It was basically impossible to give birth to a wolf-dog, because their bodies were too small and could not provide enough nutrition and growth space for the bigger fetus.

    There were a lot of stray cats in the United States, but stray dogs were rare because the United States had strict management of dog owners. In addition to not being abandoned casually, many states also enforced legition that dog owners had to go out and walk their dogs for at least an hour a day.

    China¡¯s national conditions were different. If China stipted that dog owners had to walk their dogs for an hour a day, few people would really count on the time. However, Americans were sometimes quite serious. Their American neighbors were as vignt as the Chaoyang residents. Even if you didn¡¯t trim thewn in front of your house for a long time, the neighbors might call the police. If the neighbors calcted that you had walked your dog for less than an hour a day, they might really call the police because they thought you were abusing your dog.

    Although American houses were quite big, you couldn¡¯t use the excuse of walking your dog at home instead of outdoors. Once the police came to your door, you would be fined and educated, and might even be deprived of your right to raise a dog ...

    Even walking a dog was like this. If your dog disappeared for no reason and you didn¡¯t look for it, the neighbors would be more suspicious, so you couldn¡¯t abandon the dog quietly, which led to very few stray dogs in the United States

    Of course, very few didn¡¯t mean there wasn ¡®t. Like this ck wolfdog, it was obviously the descendant of a coyote and some kind ofrge dog. No dog owner would allow their dog to have sex with a coyote, right? So, it must be a stray dog, or a long-term stray wild dog.

    The real wolfdog was not like the local dogs or German Shepherds in the countryside. They were generally very fierce. The natural affection of dogs towards humans had disappeared from wolfdogs, and the natural fear of wolves towards humans had also disappeared from them. Therefore, a single wolfdog might be more dangerous than a single Wolf.

    Fortunately, there were very few stray dogs in the United States. Otherwise, if they were to randomly mate with these rampant coyotes and give birth to arge number of wolfdogs, it was estimated that many people would be bitten and killed every year.

    The ck wolfdog¡¯s eyes were fierce and cold, and it was obvious that it was not a good person. However, no matter how powerful it was, it was no match for the elves. It was just that the elves were hesitant to attack, and they were afraid of the infection of the prions, so they were unwilling to rashly have physical contact with these canine wild animals.

    The elves didn¡¯t make a move, and the Coyotes didn¡¯t retreat, forming a stalemate across the bonfire.

    The bonfire was reignited by Zhang Zian with solid alcohol, but it was also like being injected with chicken blood. The life of the dead branches was overdrawn in advance in exchange for a short period of glory. After a long time, the bonfire slowly dimmed. Although it was still far from beingpletely extinguished, the deterrent force to the Coyotes was obviously reduced.

    The Coyotes were even more eager to move, and the ck wolfdog slowly moved forward, as if it wanted to fight in person. When it came to the bonfire, it must be the beginning of the battle.

    Of course, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t give the initiative to the coyote. Just like dimir said, if the enemy is ready to move, I will move first.

    He didn¡¯t know what role the United States Badger yed in the pack of coyotes. If it was really the original form of the Lycan, it could be considered the strategist of the coyote.

    There was a faintmotion on the deer herd¡¯s side. It seemed that the Coyotes over there couldn¡¯t wait any longer and were also ready tounch a strong attack on the deer herd.

    If you want to defeat this group of coyotes, you must let their leader and military counselor have a taste of power.

    However, the ck wolfdog was very vignt. It kept walking and stopping, not in a straight line, but slowly circled around Zhang Zian and the Elfins, and at the same time, kept a close eye on his movements. The United States Badger had been hiding in a pit further away, and neither the bear spray nor the Taser could hurt them. Besides, wasn¡¯t it a waste to use the precious taser gun that only had one shot on a Badger?

    He had already returned to the tent, which was set up against the tree, and his backpack was leaning against the trunk.

    He used his body as a cover, reached behind him with one hand, and found a long stick-like object in his backpack.

    It was very dangerous to walk alone into the primeval forest. Moreover, melgen and Mike¡¯s continuous disappearance had also made him realize that there was something strange about the forest. Therefore, the equipment he relied on for self-defense was not just a bottle of bear-proof spray. That would be tantamount to suicide.

    He didn¡¯t look down or turn back, but simply used his hand to feel the stick-like object up and down. One end of the stick-like object was t, but the other end felt different. It was slightly bulging, like a stic cap.

    The top of the cap was as rough as sandpaper, which was a very distinctive feature. It was designed to prevent people from making mistakes in the dark.

    He put down the bear-proof spray, freed his hands, and quickly twisted off the cap. Without waiting for the Coyotes to react, he raised his hands to his chest, one hand holding the cap, the other hand holding the stick, and the two moved up and down.

    Whoosh!

    In the darkness, a dazzling red light burst out from his chest, and the intense smell of sulfur filled his nose.

    ¡°Fire in the hole!¡±

    He had wanted to shout this ssic line in the game for a long time, and he finally had the chance today.

    At the same time, he threw out the rod that was shining with red light. It drew a circle in the air, rolled, andnded in the pit that the United States Badger had dug.

    He wasn¡¯t a professional basketball yer, so his aim wasn¡¯t that good. Even if he were a professional basketball yer, he might not be able to throw the stick urately. After all, this wasn¡¯t a basketball.

    Unsurprisingly, the stick didn¡¯t fall into the pit, but only fell on the edge of the pit. It bounced twice, and the burning red me quickly ignited the weeds around the pit.

    The coyote was confused by the sudden change, and the United States Badger was also on fire and screaming as it climbed out of the pit.

 Chapter 1543 - Red flames

    <h4>Chapter 1543: Red mes</h4>

    Not only the Coyotes, but the elves were also confused by Zhang Zian¡¯s series of actions. They knew that he had a lot of things in his backpack, but they did not expect to have this kind of burning stick that could be thrown out.

    In fact, it was not a rare thing. It was just a road re, which was easy to buy in the United States.

    People said that the United States was a country built on wheels. It was vast and sparsely popted, and it was difficult to move without a car.

    What if the car breaks down while driving? Of course, it was to repair the car, but what if it broke down in the wilderness? Mobile phone signal coverage in the United States was not high, and there were often signal blind spots in the wild. It was very troublesome for a car to malfunction in the wild at night. They could only ask for help from passing vehicles, either to repair their car or to take themselves to the repair shop in the nearby town.

    It was dangerous to stop a car on the road in the middle of the night. If the driver didn¡¯t notice you, you might be directly hit and sent flying. However, if you were waving a Burning Road torch, you would be noticed by others from far away.

    In addition, if the car broke down on the road at night, in order to prevent other vehicles from crashing into it without being able to see clearly, a road torch could also be ced a certain distance behind the car to warn the vehicles that cameter.

    Nowadays, road torches didn¡¯t necessarily burn. Many of them were electric torches with batteries, but Zhang Zian still bought real road torches.

    The torch on the road was like arge match, and the rough part of the cap was red phosphorus. The mmable objects in the torch carried an oxidizer, which would burn violently when it came into contact with the red phosphorus. It couldst for at least a few minutes. Not only could it be used for road help, but it could also be used to drive away wild beasts and act as a distress signal in the wild so that the search and rescue helicopters could see you.

    This thing was considered a throwing weapon. How far it could be thrown depended on the arm strength of the thrower. As for its uracy, the further it was, the worse it would be.

    If it was thrown at the coyote, it would definitely be ineffective. The coyote would avoid it nimbly, but this United States Badger liked to dig holes and hide itself. He could not be med for this.

    The brightness, power, and smell of the road torch were far better than that of a bonfire. As it contained an oxidizer, it could burn in the rain or even in water. The first inch was especially intense because it waspressed with arge amount of mmables. It burned more intensely than theter parts and gave off an extremely dazzling red light. Once it was ignited, it was almost impossible to extinguish it.

    It was precisely because this thing burned so intensely that it instantly dried the moisture in the dead branches and leaves at thending spot and set them on fire.

    The red light illuminated the nearby forest, and even Richard, who had night blindness in birds, could temporarily see again.

    ¡°Kaka! What a brilliant and brilliant sun!¡±

    ¡°Argh! Your eyes are shining!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s as brilliant as the sun!¡±

    It opened its mouth and sang ¡°my sun¡± in Italian. Its thick, high-pitched voice traveled far in the silent forest, startling the birds that had long returned to their nests at night and causing them to fly away in groups.

    The Coyotes finally adapted to the bonfire, and suddenly there was a more powerful light source and heat source, which suddenly made it a mess. The United States Badger was even more unlucky. The fur on its butt was thick and dry, like a broom. It would catch fire with a touch.

    In addition to the smell of sulfur, there was also the stench of burning protein in the air.

    It screamed in pain and ran around mindlessly, but the Coyotes, who regarded it as a military counselor, avoided it in fear, afraid that the moving fire would implicate them.

    If it had been in another ce, the United States Badger might have been burned to death, but there happened to be a small stream nearby. Zhang Zian and the deer had set up camp near the stream. It ran and ran, and probably understood, so it jumped into the stream and put out the fire on its body.

    When it came out of the water again, the lower half of its fur had beenpletely burned off, revealing its flesh. The front half of its fur had also been burned half-bald, and it was the most appropriate word to describe it-Pi Xiu was in a sorry state.

    It could no longer care about the pack of wolves, limped into the forest, and disappeared.

    The ck wolfdog was a battle-hardened leader. Seeing that their morale had been greatly reduced, the wolves lost all will to fight. They could only howl bitterly and follow the United States badger into the woods.

    The other coyotes also ran away, and the forest returned to its calm.

    Richard was also back to his blind state.

    The torches on the road were still burning, but the light had been greatly weakened.

    Zhang Zian walked over, picked it up, and threw it into the stream. He then filled an empty can with water to put out the fire on the grass to avoid causing a forest fire.

    The herd of deer quieted down, probably because the coyote had run away.

    ¡°I almost burned that demon to death.¡± Old time tea sighed.¡±I saw that ... The United States Badger is very old, and its fur is white. I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s old and smart, but it ran away.¡±

    Old time tea was still brooding over the legend of the bei. It always felt that this thing had an evil and Yin Qi. After all, it was an animal that liked to dig holes.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s been burned by the fire. Even if it doesn¡¯t die, it¡¯ll be half dead. It won¡¯t cause much damage. It¡¯s just an old Badger.¡± Zhang Zian exined to old time tea.

    ¡°Squeak! Squeak!¡±

    Pi was so happy that it threw away the branch and danced to celebrate the victory.

    ¡°Pi, you¡¯re great!¡±

    Zhang Zian gave it a thumbs up.¡±You¡¯re brave and strong. You¡¯re amazing!¡± Able to be civil and able to be martial, both blossomed!¡±

    ¡°Squeak ...¡±

    Pi was not used to being praised, so it covered its face in embarrassment.

    ¡°Kaka! Where is yours truly? Am I also very powerful? You idiot, aren¡¯t you going to praise me?¡±

    Richard called out, but it couldn¡¯t see clearly, so it wasn¡¯t facing Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Hehe.¡±

    Zhang Zian had long been speechless at this cheap bird. He picked it up and washed its butt in the stream, then put it by the bonfire to let it dry its feathers.

    ¡°Ohoh! Is this ... Is this the legendary Ice and Fire?¡±

    It was talking nonsense that Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t understand, and no one paid it any attention.

    ¡°Gxy, thank you for reminding me.¡±

    He thanked Gxy again. If Gxy had not reminded him to keep the bonfire burning, something might have happened. Pi and Richard might have been hurt by the pack of coyotes.

    ¡°Meow?¡±

    Gxy tilted its head, as if it didn¡¯t understand what he was saying.

    ¡°Thank you, too, spotted.¡±

    He raised his head and said to the spotted owl, thanking the sentries for the night.

    It squatted on the branch above its head, neither flying nor barking. Its stomach was not as shriveled as it had been two nights ago, and it was probably quietly full. It seemed that it had recovered most of its ability to hunt for food.

    After such a long time, it was still far from daybreak.

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins didn¡¯t feel sleepy for the time being. They first went around to pick up some dead branches, increased the bonfire, and then went back into the tent, sleeping until dawn.

 Chapter 1544 - Eat my old Piâ€™s stick

    <h4>Chapter 1544: Eat my old Pi¡¯s stick</h4>

    Originally, they said to go to bed early, get up early, and set off early. As a result, Zhang Zian had been tormented for a long timest night because of the coyote¡¯s attack. He was in a daze and didn¡¯t really fall asleep until it was almost dawn. He felt as if he had just closed his eyes when he was awakened by the chirping of birds outside.

    By the time he got out of the tent, the sky was already bright.

    In fact, the Elfins had already woken up, but since he hadn¡¯t woken up, they were happy to rest a little longer.

    The bonfire had long been extinguished, and even the embers were cold. He added more firewood at about four in the morning, and estimated that it could onlyst for two hours at most.

    Famous suggested that it would be responsible for adding firewood. Anyway, it slept outside the tent, which was more convenient. However, it did not have flexible hands like humans. If it wanted to add firewood, it could only push dead branches into the fire, which could easily cause sparks, so it was dangerous. Therefore, it decided to do it himself.

    Seeing hime out, famous yawned and said without waiting for him to ask,¡±¡±Everything is normal. The coyote has not returned. Also, I think I know why the deer was able to detect danger in advance yesterday. ¡±

    ¡°Oh? Why?¡±

    When they had chosen to set up camp by this stream the day before, the deer had obviously looked nervous and uneasy, as if it had sensed some potential danger. However, famous didn¡¯t smell anything, and something happened that night. It had been brooding over this for a long time. Even when Zhang Zian and the other Elfins went back to their tents to sleep, it was still thinking about it, and it finally understood.

    Famous led him to the stream.

    The water level of this temporary stream formed by the thunderstorm had obviously decreasedpared to yesterday. The flow rate and volume had weakened a lot. In about two or three days, the stream would be a mud ditch and finally dry uppletely, until the next thunderstorm came and it would be rejuvenated.

    ¡°Because the deer drank the unboiled water from the stream,¡± famous exined.¡±I drank the water that you filtered, disinfected, boiled, and cooled.¡±

    Zhang Zian seemed to understand,¡±you mean, the smell of the coyote is dissolved in the water, so the deer tasted it?¡±

    ¡°It should be like this.¡± Famous nodded.

    This made sense.

    Zhang Zian looked up at the upstream of the stream.

    Coyotes also have to drink water. After they drink from upstream, the smell is carried downstream by the stream. When the deer drinks water, it notices that there are coyotes upstream, so it is nervous. However, famous has drunk cold water, and the smell is no longer present.

    The deer knew that there were coyotes upstream, but it couldn¡¯t be sure exactly how far they were. No one knew how long the stream was. As long as it was in the direction of the stream, it could be considered upstream.

    ording to scientists ¡®research, deer were not very afraid of coyotes. To be precise, deer had two reactions after smelling the scent of coyotes. One was when they smelled the scent of the dominant individual in the coyote, which was the coyote leader, the deer would be frightened, but if they only smelled the scent of ordinary male or female coyotes, the deer would not show obvious fear.

    It was obvious that the ck Wolfhound from yesterday had caused the deer to react uneasily.

    Zhang Zian held apass in one hand and his mobile phone in the other. Throughparison, he found that the location of the light seemed to be in the direction of the current upstream of the stream. If he continued to move towards the light, he might encounter coyotes, especially the group fromst night.

    Of course, the stream¡¯s direction of flow was very erratic, and it might change direction after a few turns.

    In any case, a living person couldn¡¯t make way for a few animals. Even if he took a detour, it might not be without trouble. Badgers were smart and vengeful animals. There were many videos online that showed the nature of Badgers, including the movie ¡°God is crazy 2¡± where the male lead was chased all the way through the desert by theadbro after identally stepping on his foot ...

    The Badger had suffered a huge loss yesterday, and it was likely to take revenge after it recovered.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t care about this. It coulde if it wanted to. Anyway, there might be a ck bear following behind it. A few more coyotes were no different from an United States Badger. It wouldn¡¯t bite when it had too many lice, and it wouldn¡¯t worry about its debts when it had too many ...

    ¡°Kaka! Do you still have any more of the road torches fromst night? Give me one to y with!¡±

    Richard pretended to be close and jumped onto his shoulder.

    ¡°Why do you want that thing?¡± Zhang Zian waved his hand and chased it to the side,¡±get up. Don¡¯t dy me from making breakfast.¡±

    ¡°Kaka! You Idiot¡¯s aim is too bad. Last night, if you had just thrown the torch into the pit dug by that stinky Badger, wouldn¡¯t you have been fine? Therefore, if we encounter any unexpected situations again, I can transform into a bombing chicken and hold the torch to be responsible for dropping the bombs. I guarantee that I will be able to drop one bomb urately!¡± It called out.

    ¡°If you dare to talk nonsense again, I¡¯ll remove the ¡®boom¡¯ word.¡± ¡°Look at how scared you werest night!¡± He said disdainfully.

    Richard desperately tried to find excuses for himself, something like a gentleman forbade poverty ...

    After breakfast, it was not appropriate to walk immediately after eating, as it was easy to get stomach problems, so Zhang Zian did not rush to set off. Instead, he carried out the idea he hadst night. He found a branch of the right length, cut off the bark and branches with a small knife, and shaved them into a straight wooden stick. Then, he used the rough red phosphorus on the cover of the road torch as sandpaper to Polish the spiky parts.

    ¡°Pi, this is for you.¡±

    He greeted Pi and waved the wooden stick in his hand.

    ¡°Squeak?¡±

    Pi was sitting on a branch and looking at the giant tree in the distance. The blisters on its palms had disappeared. Hearing Zhang Zian¡¯s voice, it looked at the wooden stick again and couldn¡¯t help but be confused.

    ¡°You were very bravest night, but it was ufortable to wave the branches, right? That¡¯s why I cut this stick for you. We still need you to protect us in the future. ¡± Zhang Zian swung the wooden stick a few times, creating a gust of wind.

    ¡°Squeak!¡±

    Pi jumped down from the tree and ran over on all fours. It took the stick happily, ran to the open space, and swung it a few times like Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s mountaineering stick was too long and heavy for Pi. It loved the stick, and both its weight and length were suitable for it.

    Pi swung the stick for a while, then carried it on its shoulder again. It paced around the camp in a high-spirited manner, looking around vigntly like a loyal guard. Even Richard was envious of it.

    dimir was nning to give Pi a Red Star when it returned to China.

    Looking at how happy it was, Zhang Zian secretly regretted not thinking of cutting a stick for it to y with.

    Every elfin had its own strengths, as long as they were given a suitable stage to y on. Beforest night, who would have thought that Pi would be so brave to fight against the coyote?

    Even the spotted owl had yed a partst night, screeching to warn of the appearance of the coyote.

    The only one he could not count on was Richard.

 Chapter 1545 - The smell of a cat

    <h4>Chapter 1545: The smell of a cat</h4>

    After enough rest, Zhang Zian dismantled the tent, packed everything, and continued to set off.

    Famous was still running in front, but it was not responsible for leading the way. It was only responsible for sniffing out suspicious smells.

    Zhang Zian followed the electronic map in the game and moved toward the shing light. However, there were no roads in the forest. He often had to take a detour, and sometimes it was not close.

    Pi, who had just gotten a new toy, followed closely behind famous.

    Previously, when it heard any noise in the woods, Pi would be nervous for a while. If a small animal was suddenly driven out of the grass by famous, Pi would be so scared that it would hide behind Zhang Zian.

    Now that Pi had a handy self-defense weapon in its hands, it couldn¡¯t wait to see some small animal in the forest so that it could try it out. The forest had been quiet, but it made Pi scratch its ears and cheeks in anxiety.

    Zhang Zian was not worried that it would encounter danger. Although there were some fierce beasts in the mahogany forest, there were very few snake sightings, probably because of the low temperature and the fog all year round. There were definitely no poisonous snakes, so he did not bring anything to prevent them.

    The herd of deer was still following them. With the deer guarding the back, they didn¡¯t have to worry about ck bears or coyotes suddenly killing them from behind.

    The deer¡¯s injury was much better, but the wound from the bear¡¯s scratch would not heal so quickly. It would take at least a month for it to fully recover.

    The deer herd and Zhang Zian seemed to have formed a tacit Alliance, not just a rtionship of feeding salt. It was good for both sides to walk together. This was a symbiotic rtionship in a sense, just like the rtionship between coyotes and United States Badgers.

    Today¡¯s weather was the best since they entered the forest. Although it was notpletely clear and cloudy, at least part of the blue sky could be seen. There was no fog, and the air was dry and coolpared to a few days ago. It could not be directlypared with the dryness of the Egypt desert.

    When it was almost noon, famous, who was walking in the front, suddenly stopped and straightened its body to look ahead.

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins all knew that it might have discovered something new, so they were all on high alert. Pi even clenched the stick in its hand.

    He first turned back to look at the herd of deer. The first deer did not have any abnormal reaction and stopped to eat the grass leisurely.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± He walked over and asked famous in a low voice.

    Famous nced at the cat elves in confusion and said,¡±¡±I think I smell a cat.¡±

    ¡°A cat¡¯s scent?¡±

    Zhang Zian was also surprised. How could there be a cat¡¯s scent in the forest?

    Fina and old time tea also came over and sniffed it carefully, giving strong support to famous¡¯s words.

    ¡°It¡¯s indeed a cat¡¯s scent. ¡± Old time tea agreed.

    Fina didn¡¯t deny it.

    Although dogs were known for their sense of smell, cats ¡®sense of smell was not worse than that of dogs, and might even be better. However, cats were not as easy to train as dogs, and they were not as diligent and hardworking as dogs. So, even if cats had an extremely sensitive sense of smell, they would only serve themselves.

    Take fina as an example. It was hard to imagine it recing famous¡¯s position and cutting through the obstacles in front as the vanguard ...

    Zhang Zian looked up at the branches nearby.¡±Is it a short-tailed cat?¡±

    Just like the coyote was a canine native to North America, the short-tailed cat was a felines native to North America. It was arge wild cat, different from the Japan short-tailed cat among pets. To avoid confusion and misunderstanding, it was more appropriate to call it ¡°North American mountain cat.¡±

    The Lynx was widely distributed in the three countries of North America. The specific number was unknown, but there was no danger of extinction for the time being. They were often legally hunted during the hunting season.

    After the attack of the ck bear and the coyote, the North American mountain cat was just a piece of cake. Although this kind of wild cat was very fierce and would even attack people actively, they were not social animals. If they were alone, they might not be able to beat Pi with a stick, so there was nothing to worry about.

    Wild animals either gathered in groups, were big, or were poisonous. Otherwise, they posed little threat to humans.

    After hearing Zhang Zian¡¯s exnation, although it sounded reasonable, the Elfins were notpletely convinced.

    ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s a Lynx?¡± Fina asked suspiciously.

    This question ... Zhang Zian had not seen it with his own eyes, so how could he be 100% sure? Of course, he didn¡¯t dare to make any guarantees. If he said something wrong, he would be the subject of gossip.

    ¡°If it¡¯s not the Lynx, what else can it be? Could it be a cougar?¡± He asked in return.

    Mountain lions were called mountain lions by the locals. They were muchrger and heavier than the North American mountain cat. Their body length was twice that of the North American mountain cat, and they were also a greater threat to people. Therefore, the notice in the forest Park specifically pointed out the two fierce beasts, the mountain lion and the ck bear.

    The logo of a famous sports brand was a white cougar on a ck background.

    The Cougar had another name, which was the Golden Jaguar, so if one had to say ... It could also be considered a cat?

    These were the only two species of felines that could be called felines in the wild of North America, including their series of subfamilies.

    Fina and old time tea looked at each other, and then famous. They didn¡¯t seem to agree with his conclusion.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? If you have something to say, say it. ¡± He was a little confused by their ambiguous attitude.

    Richard seized the opportunity and added,¡±¡±Kaka! If you have a fart, let it out! Bullshit! Shit! Joy in sh * t! Extreme joy begets sorrow!¡±

    Zhang Zian raised his hand and was about to hit her.¡±I¡¯ll make you sad first!¡±

    ¡°What we smell is not the smell of wild cats,¡± famous said.¡±It¡¯s like ... The smell of domestic pet cats.¡±

    Zhang Zian, who was ying with Richard, was stunned when he heard that.

    There¡¯s the scent of a pet cat in the depths of the forest?

    Could it really be a pet short-tailed cat? How was that possible?

    But looking at fina and old time tea¡¯s expressions, famous didn¡¯t seem to be joking.

    Of course, the smell of pet cats was different from that of wild cats. Humans couldn¡¯t smell the difference, but elves could.

    ¡°Are they stray cats?¡± He suggested a possibility.

    Famous and the others shook their heads and didn¡¯t say anything, because they weren¡¯t sure.

    Domestic cat, stray cat, and stray cat. There was no clear definition of these three concepts. Domestic cats were considered stray cats after wandering outside for a few days? If a stray cat stayed in the wild, would it be considered a stray cat?

    There were many stray cats in the United States, but even if they were stray cats, how did they wander into the depths of the forest? There were all kinds of ferocious predators along the way, such as coyotes, Badgers, mountain lions, North American Bobcats, andrge raptors such as eagles and owls, all of which would prey on small domestic cats.

    Zhang Zian scratched his head. He couldn¡¯t understand this question.

    ¡°Forget it, there¡¯s no need to think too much. I¡¯ll just take it one step at a time.¡± He waved his hand and said,¡±let¡¯s move on. If there really is a cat, we might meet one.¡±

 Chapter 1546 - Things are abnormal

    <h4>Chapter 1546: Things are abnormal</h4>

    Although there must be something wrong with this abnormal thing, he couldn¡¯t understand anything that didn¡¯t conform to logic even if he racked his head. If he had toe up with an exnation, it might be too far-fetched. So, he simply didn¡¯t think about it.

    Famous put forward a more reasonable possibility,¡±¡±We may be close to Peter Lee¡¯sir. Maybe they have a cat, and the cat ran out on its own?¡±

    Compared to a domestic cat running from outside the forest to the depths of the forest, this statement was much more reasonable.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know how many fans Peter Lee had, and how many homeless people and people with unhappy lives had been deceived by Peter Lee¡¯s lies. Some of them were likely to have brought cats. When he was shopping for breakfast in San Francisco, he had seen homeless people with dogs. They were obviously slovenly dressed, but they had cleaned their dogs very well and walked their dogs like a decent gentleman.

    In fact, many of the vagrants in San Francisco used to be decent gentlemen. They became vagrants not because they were fired by thepany because they werezy, nor because they got involved in prostitution, gambling, and drugs and squandered all their property. It was only because they were divorced.

    United Statesws often providedprehensive care for the disadvantageous party in a marriage as a stay-at-home woman. Even if the woman divorced because of her mistake or adultery, the man had to go out and pay arge amount of alimony every year until the woman remarried. If the woman refused to remarry, emmmm ...

    Therefore, many United States men were white-cor or even gold-cored workers living in high-endmunities one day, and the next day, they might bring a few changes of underwear to sleep in motels because their wives filed for divorce.

    The long process of filing awsuit made the man, who had to go to work every day, physically and mentally exhausted. He wasid off because he couldn¡¯tplete the work assigned by his superiors.

    After the divorce, the ex-wife would get the child, the house, most of the property, and alimony. If she still had any feelings for the good times in the past, she might leave the dog to her ex-husband.

    The unemployed ex-husband went bankrupt because he couldn¡¯t afford the alimony, and the man and dog wandered the world ...

    Of course, it was not a problem to change it to a cat.

    It was normal for a homeless man to follow Peter Lee with his beloved cat.

    As they continued to move forward, Zhang Zian told the elves about the suffering of United States men as a joke to relieve their boredom.

    The Elfins were shocked. No wonder some tramps on the street looked so gentlemanly and waited patiently in line to get relief meals. They would even discuss some profound academic issues with each other while waiting in line. Maybe they used to be Wall Street executives or university professors.

    Richard patted his head with his wings and sighed,¡±¡±Kaka! Getting married is a mistake, and getting a divorce is an awareness. In order not to make a mistake, it¡¯s better to be single, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°My ass! I¡¯m not getting married in United States! Let the United States men have a headache over this!¡± Zhang Zian waved his hand and drove it away from his shoulder.

    Richard pped its wings and flew to the top of the backpack, standing side by side with the spotted owl. Perhaps it was happy to see the tragic fate of others, so it hummed and sang.

    ¡°The White Dragon Horse with its hooves facing west. It carried me and followed my brothers. There were no roads on the west shore, and we traveled dozens of miles ...¡±

    ¡°What ck bear, coyote, night owl, Badger, vast forest, electric, and fog? none of them can block my fiery eyes. I¡¯ll escort you to the West ...¡±

    ¡°White Dragon Horse, the bell on my neck is urgent, jolting me. Trotting brothers, it¡¯s not easy to walk on the West Coast, it¡¯s easy to achieve great achievements ...¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by ¡®the enemy is vicious and the elves are magical¡¯,¡¯ 81 obstacles and 72 changes to defeat the enemy¡¯...¡±

    ¡°Idiot, you¡¯ve been working together with us all this time. Evil can¡¯t beat justice!¡±

    Although it was always blowing its own trumpet, Pi was waving a stick in front of it, so the song was quite fitting. If it hadn¡¯t added thest sentence,¡±let¡¯s go,¡± Zhang Zian wouldn¡¯t have hit it with his walking stick.

    The weather was good, and with Richard¡¯s nonsensical improvisational performance, everyone temporarily put their previous problems to the back of their minds. Although the road was rugged, it was not boring.

    Famous was walking in the front, grinning from time to time at theughter behind it. However, it was getting more and more confused, because it smelled more than one cat. If the first cat¡¯s scent was a coincidence, then how could the other cats ¡®scents be exined? How many cats did the roamers bring in?

    It didn¡¯t want to disappoint everyone, so it didn¡¯t say anything. But looking at fina and old time tea¡¯s expressions, they seemed to have noticed the problem as well, but they were silent for the same reason.

    A day passed by quickly.

    They were walking along the stream, but they would asionally deviate from it. After making a few turns, they saw the stream again, but they were not sure if it was the same stream.

    In the evening, they set up camp by the stream as usual.

    This time, Zhang Zian paid more attention to the deer. It did be a little nervous after drinking the water from the stream, and it looked up in the direction of the upstream.

    It seemed that there were still fierce beasts like coyotes nearby. Maybe it was the group from yesterday, maybe it wasn ¡®t. No one knew.

    Famous also wanted to taste the stream and judge the taste of the beasts, but Zian refused because it was not necessary. God knew what dirty animals had waded through the stream. It would not be worth it if it caused diarrhea or infected with parasites after drinking it.

    They had already encountered the most dangerous ck bears and coyotes in the mahogany forest, so what else could there be?

    After setting up the tent, he spent more time collecting dead branches to use as firewood. He had to make sure that the bonfire would not go out tonight.

    Famous and Pi also took the initiative to help him. They helped him pick up some dead branches. Although the total amount was not much, it was still a kind gesture from them, which was better than the idle guys next to him.

    After gathering enough firewood to burn until the next morning, they went on to get water, clean water, start a fire, boil water, and cook. Everything was no different from the previous few days.

    After dinner, he and the Elfins were not tired because they had woken upte this morning. They sat around the bonfire and talked about things, mainly about family matters.

    Home, of course, referred to the Pet Shop.

    It had been almost half a month since he left the Pet Shop. It didn¡¯t sound like a long time, but a lot of things had happened during this time, so it felt very long.

    This time, unlike in the Egypt desert where Peter Lee provided a satellite phone to keep in touch with his family, after entering the depths of the forest,munication was almost always cut off. The only chance to make a phone call was to call 911.

    What¡¯s the situation at home?

 Chapter 1547 - -bark the moon

    <h4>Chapter 1547: Chapter 1547-bark the moon</h4>

    They had left Binhai city for almost half a month. ording to the sr terms, Binhai city might not be as unbearably hot as before. After all, it was a coastal city, so at least it wouldn¡¯t be too hot with the sea breeze.

    Did the silly shop assistants cause any trouble?

    Are the pets sick?

    Have you encountered any difficulties in your daily operations?

    Did the tropical low-pressure clouds change their course?

    Zhang Zian was thinking about the situation in the Pet Shop, and the Elfins also missed thefortable beds in the bedroom on the second floor. Even if dimir always liked to lie on the ground, it was at least better to lie on the wooden floor than in the dead leaves. At least no insects would climb onto its body.

    They were starting to miss home.

    In fact, the trip to Egypt was much longer than this time, but that was when he entered the desert with arge group of people. They disliked each other, guarded against each other, and had to help each other. He rarely felt lonely, but this time was different.

    He and the Elfins didn¡¯t show how much they missed each other. In order not to affect everyone¡¯s morale, they just joked about how the electricity bill was going to explode in the summer, and whether the electrician, welder, and Carpenter trio would try to kill themselves again.

    As they spoke, they all felt that there was something strange about the night. Looking around, they found the reason.

    There was a moon tonight.

    It was cloudy during the day and it was the same at night.

    The moonlight was like water, shrouding the quiet forest, sprinkling a thinyer of Silver Frost on the small empty space in the forest.

    Moreover, it was a full moon, so the visibility was better than ever.

    He raised his head to look at the moon and lowered his head to think of his hometown.

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins were all a little emotional. They opened their eyes of different colors and looked up at the pockmarked moon, lost in thought. They didn¡¯t speak for a while.

    After a while, the wind pushed a cloud over, slowly covering the moon.

    The forest turned dark again.

    Zhang Zian rubbed his sore neck and was about to say something when he suddenly saw a few green fluorescent lights in the forest.

    He was stunned for a second or two before he immediately reacted. He stood up and pointed in that direction.¡±¡±A coyote!¡±

    The wind blew away the cumulonimbus clouds and fog, but it was precisely because of the wind, even if it was a very light wind, that it gave the Coyotes a chance to suddenly attack.

    Neither the elves nor the deer noticed the arrival of the Coyotes, because the Coyotes were quietly approaching from the headwind. They raised their ws high and gently set their feet, almost making no sound. Even if there was a slight sound, it was covered by Zhang Zian¡¯s voice and blown away by the wind.

    If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that the moon happened to be covered by the clouds at this time, the overly bright forest would even make them unable to notice the green eyes of the coyote, and they might not even realize it until the coyote was close at hand.

    Old time tea snorted.¡±You little rascal, how dare you sneak attack me!¡±

    ¡°Squeak!¡±

    Pi grabbed the wooden stick next to it and nervously prepared to deal with the enemy.

    Zhang Zian held the bear-proof spray, and the other Elfins also jumped up.

    In the beginning, they didn¡¯t take the defeated suburban wolves seriously, but when they saw pairs of green eyes in the forest, they realized that something was wrong.

    How many damn coyotes are there?

    Zhang Zian picked up a burning branch and threw it at the intersection between the open space and the forest. Several nearby coyotes were suddenly exposed by the fire.

    Especially that brutal ck Wolfhound, who was standing at the front, baring its fangs at him.

    The Coyotes knew that their whereabouts had been exposed, so they no longer hid and appeared one after another. They surrounded them from several directions, and the forest was full of the faint sound of leaves being stepped on.

    Every deer in the herd, including the first deer, was trembling. They even lost the courage to resist, as if they had a premonition that they would not be able to escape their fate.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart was beating very fast, but he was not panicking, because in the worst case scenario, he and the Elfins could just hide in the trees and wait for the sun toe out. The wolves would naturally retreat, but the deer would be in trouble.

    ¡°Gah? Gah? What¡¯s wrong? What happened?¡± Richard shouted btedly. The more it could not see, the more scared it was.

    Where was the United States Badger? Tonight¡¯s attack was most likely rted to its vengeful nature.

    Zhang Zian raised his night vision device and looked around, but the United States Badger seemed to have learned its lesson. It did not show itself at all and had been quietly hiding in the darkness of the forest.

    The suburban wolves surrounded Zhang Zian and the deer, deliberately leaving only a few gaps.

    He silently observed the situation. At this time, if they abandoned the deer herd and fled, they might have a chance to escape, but maybe this was a trap. The coyote pack surrounded them and deliberately left an empty space for escape, but there might be other coyotes lying in ambush, waiting to intercept them halfway.

    The Coyotes stuck out their tongues and drooled, drooling as they stared at the fawn and doe in the herd. Their eyes were burning with hunger. Some coyotes stared at the elves with ill intentions, viewing the elves as weak and easy to bully food.

    After a while, the ck wolfdog realized that he had no intention of escaping, so it growled a few times, and the Coyotes further narrowed the encirclement.

    Even if there were more coyotes, the elves weren¡¯t afraid. The only headache was that if they fought in closebat, the prion might take the opportunity to infect others. If it weren¡¯t for this, old time tea would have subdued the ck wolfdog long ago.

    As long as the leader was subdued, the rest of the mob would copse without a fight.

    ¡°Grandpa tea, don¡¯t do anything yet.¡± Zhang Zian saw that old time tea¡¯s eyes were burning, as if it was really angry and could attack the ck wolfdog at any time. He quickly advised it not to be anxious. He didn¡¯t want old time tea to be in danger of being infected with prion.

    ¡°Zi ¡®an, if we continue to drag this on, the situation will be extremely disadvantageous to us.¡± Old time tea said in a deep voice.

    The herd of deer was extremely frightened. The head deer couldn¡¯t hold its ground and was about to escape in all directions. If they ran back to the tent in the panic and scattered Zhang Zian and the elves, the coyote was likely to seize the opportunity to attack.

    Zhang Zian racked his brain to think of a way to solve this situation.

    He thought about it and decided that the only way to protect the Elfins was to get closer to the ck Wolfhound and then use the Taser to electrocute it.

    He tried to take two steps forward, but was immediately stopped by old time tea.

    ¡°Zian, don¡¯t take any risks!¡± Old time tea said firmly.

    The cloud in front of the moon was blown away by the wind again.

    The full moon hung high in the sky, and moonlight once again filled the forest.

    Wuwuwuwu~

    The ck wolfdog howled at the full moon, and the howl seemed to stimte the wildness in the blood of the Coyotes. They all raised their heads and howled, and the next moment, they might rush up together.

    At this time, a long howl in response suddenly came from not far away.

    Aowuwuwuwuwu~

    It was the howl of a Wolf!

    A real Wolf was not a coyote.

    The suburban wolves immediately fell silent.

 Chapter 1548 - -Wolfâ€™s Trail

    <h4>Chapter 1548: Chapter 1548-Wolf¡¯s Trail</h4>

    The image of the canine¡¯s moonhowl had already formed a rigid impression in people¡¯s hearts through movies, animations,ics, and other media. It could be imagined without any description.

    Not only coyotes and wolves, but even pet dogs such as the Husky sometimes did the same. Of course, when the Husky howled at the moon, it was not as domineering as its ancestors. Instead, it would be beaten up by its owner for disturbing the people ...

    As nocturnal animals, wolves and coyotes don¡¯t have any special meaning to their moonhowl. It¡¯s just a means ofmunication between theirpanions. Their windpipes are fully opened, allowing air to pass through their vocal cords at high speed. Of course, it¡¯s better to raise their heads. I¡¯ve never seen any singer with their head down when singing.

    Due to the ancient people¡¯s fear of wolves, they imagined the scene of the wolves barking at the moon. This led to a series of mysterious legends, such as werewolves transforming on the night of a full moon, which were all nonsense.

    However, one thing was for sure. The wolves howled at night to contact theirpanions.

    The ck wolfdog¡¯s long howl clearly ordered the Coyotes to prepare to attack. The Coyotes responded to their leader with a long howl, indicating that they were ready.

    It happened to be a full moon night today, and he was alone in the forest surrounded by a group of coyotes. The continuous howls were really creepy.

    Zhang Zian was already mentally prepared to call the Elfins up the trees to take shelter. He didn¡¯t want to confront the Coyotes directly to avoid being infected by diseases. As for the deer, although he was also very sorry, thew of the jungle in the forest Park was a part of the ecosystem. Coyotes and deer y their respective roles in the ecosystem.

    However, he and the Coyotes didn¡¯t expect that there would be another wolf howl in the forest. The previously arrogant coyotes suddenly shriveled up like frost eggnts.

    The howl of a coyote was rtively short, far less long than that of a real Wolf. It was easy to hear the difference between the two. Even if you didn¡¯t know which wolf howl it was, at least you knew that it was definitely not a coyote.

    The ck wolfdog¡¯s howl was to contact itspanions, so what was this howl for? It was obviously to contact hispanions.

    Zhang Zian was surprised at first, then he was both happy and sad. He secretly motioned the Elfins to calm down and wait to see what happened.

    Wolves are the natural enemies of coyotes and often hunt them for food. However, due to the consideration of human safety and the protection of animal husbandry, the number of wolves in North America has been reduced sharply. Coyotes have no natural enemies to restrict them, and their number has soared to the extent of flooding.

    In recent years, scientists have been breeding gray wolves in some national parks in the United States to control the number of coyotes, and they have achieved good results.

    Could it be that the wolves had reappeared in the redwood forest?

    Whether it was in terms of size, feral nature, or team cooperation, wolves were the Super-enhanced version of coyotes. A Wolf Pack facing a coyote pack was the same as a coyote pack facing a deer pack. It was basically a one-sided ughter.

    Therefore, when this group of coyotes heard the howl of their natural enemy, they were suddenly scared and kept quiet out of fear. Some coyotes were hoarse halfway through their howl and did not dare to howl again, while more coyotes whimpered like frightened puppies.

    Even the ck wolfdog leader had its tail between its legs, and its body seemed to have shrunk. It looked around in panic, not bothering to attack Zhang Zian and the others.

    Famous, who had been on full alert, seemed to have awakened the wild genes flowing in its blood after hearing the distant wolf howl. It felt as if there was something in its chest that it had to spit out. It could only resist the desire to howl because it knew that it was not a Wolf or a coyote. It could not lower its status and howl blindly with these wild animals.

    When Zhang Zian first found the coyote, he had already added a lot of dead branches to the bonfire. At this time, the newly added dead branches were all ignited. He held the one that had not yet caught fire and threw The Burning Dead branches in all directions. He did not expect to burn the coyote, but to expand the safety zone.

    Wherever the dead branch was thrown, the Coyotes there would retreat out of fear of the fire, and the encirclement that had already been set up became scattered.

    As the leader, the ck wolfdog judged the situation and wisely judged that it had lost the possibility of attacking. If it attacked, not only would it face the tenacious resistance of this human, but it might also be attacked by the wolves behind it at any time ... In the worst case scenario, the entire pack of wolves might be annihted, roasted by the charcoal fire, or be food for their natural enemies.

    Helplessly, it let out a short low roar at the Coyotes. The Coyotes, as if they had been pardoned, followed it into the forest with their tails between their legs and quickly disappeared.

    Other than the lingering smell of the coyote, it was as if nothing had happened.

    The sudden end of the crisis left the elves at a loss.

    ¡°Kaka! What about the Coyotes? If you have the guts, thene over. I¡¯ll fight you for 300 rounds!¡±

    Hearing that the Coyotes have retreated, Richard, who had been hiding somewhere, jumped out and shouted again, with shit and urine hanging on his butt.

    ¡°Come on! If you want to fight, you can. Although the Coyotes are gone, there may still be gray wolves. ¡± Zhang Zian grabbed its neck.¡±Don¡¯t treat your words as farts!¡±

    ¡°Gah? Gray ... Gray wolf? I¡¯m not afraid. Other bird owners call me gray machine. I¡¯m from the same family as gray wolf. Gray wolf doesn¡¯t eat gray machine, hahahaha!¡± Richard was already so scared that he was incoherent, but he still tried to act tough.

    ¡°Zian,¡± old time tea said worriedly,¡±that was a wolf howl. I¡¯m going to investigate nearby. If it¡¯s really a Wolf Pack, we have to be careful.¡±

    Old time tea had seen wolves attack livestock and pedestrians before, so it knew how terrible the most disciplined animals were when they moved in groups. Only a few animals could resist them.

    He shook his head slightly.¡±It doesn¡¯t look like it. If it was a Wolf Pack, it shouldn¡¯t be just a howl. Even if there are wolves in the mahogany forest, there won¡¯t be too many of them. I think that howling sounds more like they¡¯re looking for theirpanions. ¡±

    There were no hints or warnings about wolves in the visitor center of the forest Park. This might be because there were too few wolves in the forest, or maybe the staff didn¡¯t know that the wolves had returned to the forest. After all, wolves had suffered a great loss from humans, so they generally hid from humans. Moreover, in the depths of the forest where few people visited, even the park staff rarely came in.

    A few wolves were nothing to worry about.

    After his analysis, old time tea felt that it made sense. There was nock of prey in the forest Park, and wolves generally would not take the initiative to attack humans when there was other food.

    Even so, they were still on guard that night. They would wake up every once in a while, as if they had not slept much.

    In the end, the night passed by peacefully without any more abnormal situations.

    The next morning, they packed their bags and continued on.

 Chapter 1549 - side issues

    <h4>Chapter 1549: Chapter 1549-side issues</h4>

    ¡°Did anyone notice where the wolf howl came fromst night?¡±

    Zhang Zian asked the Elfins after they left.

    The elves looked at each other and shook their heads. Richard wanted to say something, but it was the least likely to know, so Zhang Zian pinched its mouth in advance.

    ¡°I can only roughly tell which direction it is from.¡±

    Old time tea raised its paw and pointed to the front, drawing a range of about 45 to 60 degrees.

    This was understandable. The wolf howl was too sudden. At that time, they were fully focused on dealing with the pack of wolves. When they suddenly heard the howl, they had no time to carefully distinguish the direction of the howl.

    The area covered by the forest was too wide. There were many ins and few mountains. In the quiet night, the howling could travel far. The sound waves were repeatedly divided and reflected between the thick trees. Even if Sihwa, who had the best hearing among the elves, was present, it would be difficult to determine the urate source of the sound.

    The key was that the wolf had only howled once. If it howled a few more times, it might be possible to narrow down the scope.

    Zhang Zian looked down at his phone. The light that represented the elfin was also in the range. This might be a coincidence, or it might not be.

    Then, he noticed an abnormal situation. The ball of light representing the elves seemed to be dimmer than before.

    He rubbed his eyes and took a closer look. It did seem a little dimmer, but it could also be a visual error. After all, the first few days when they entered the forest, the weather was dark, and the phone screen was bright. The weather these two days was good, and when the surroundings were bright, the phone screen was dark. He had always set the phone to a fixed brightness.

    In addition, the size of the ball of light seemed to have shrunk.

    Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t take any screenshots at the beginning, so he couldn¡¯t confirm it with his eyes.

    Was this new elf finally going to disappear?

    He remembered that when Pi appeared in the library of Binhai University, the light ball representing it was weakening and dimming at a speed that was almost visible to the naked eye. At one point, Zhang Zian felt that he couldn¡¯t help it find the book it wanted in time. Fortunately, with Gxy¡¯s hint and the help of others, and a little luck, he finally brought the book to it before itpletely disappeared.

    In the process of capturing the other Elfins, he had never encountered such a tight situation, because they had all been captured within a short period of time after they appeared, unlike this new Elfin.

    This new elf had been around for several days. In a sense, this meant that it was very powerful and had a deep obsession. But even so, its strength was still weakening. Could it hold on any longer?

    Zhang Zian felt that it was a pity, but there was nothing he could do. He couldn¡¯t just run toward it in the forest just because it might disappear. It was too dangerous.

    Judging from the speed at which the ball of light was dimming, there was still quite a bit of time before itpletely disappeared.

    Just like yesterday, famous walked in the front, Pi followed closely with a wooden stick, the other Elfins walked around casually, and Richard squatted on the backpack, his mouth not idle for a moment.

    The burns on the spotted owl¡¯s wings were almostpletely healed, and fine fur had begun to grow on its new pink meat. At least it would no longer affect its hunting, so Zhang Zian did not need to feed it dried meat anymore. However, it was still squatting on the backpack, perhaps thinking that it was good to get a free ride.

    The herd and the first deer were in a simr situation. After yesterday¡¯s frightening night, the herd of deer didn¡¯t dare to leave on their own, and they followed even closer.

    Zhang Zian was walking forward with uneven steps when famous suddenly stopped and said,¡±¡±There¡¯s the smell of cats again. ¡±

    He hesitated for a moment.¡±Forget it, I don¡¯t care. If there¡¯s a cat, then there¡¯s a cat. I¡¯ll just take it that the homeless man¡¯s pet cat has gone missing.¡±

    ¡°The smell this time is very fresh.¡± Famous added,¡±and ... There¡¯s the smell of blood.¡±

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins were stunned.

    Fina was concerned about the safety of the cat family. It walked near famous and sniffed. From its serious expression, famous was right. The bloody smell came from the cat, not from the prey that the cat had hunted.

    ¡°Meow my a * s! Who¡¯s so bold as to hurt these prosterless cats who are actively pursuing progress?¡± dimir clenched his fist and said indignantly.

    In dimir¡¯s view, the cats brought into the forest by the homeless had nothing and could not enjoy the superior life of domestic cats in the city. They naturally had the potential to be a Meow-Meow doctrine believer and were worth focusing on developing. Ever since it heard that there were homeless cats in the forest, it had been thinking about how to unite these cats and establish a branch organization in the mahogany forest. In the end, these cats were besieged by the reactionary forces, who tried in vain to kill the fire of the Meow-Meow doctrine in the cradle. How terrible was this?

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to meddle in other people¡¯s business. At least, he had to wait until the main things were solved. If he had time, he would think about why the domestic cat appeared in the depths of the forest. However, from the looks of it, both fina and dimir were interested in finding out what was going on. After all, they were fellow countrymen who shared the same fate.

    Putting himself in her shoes, if he discovered that there were innocent humans injured or dead in the forest, he would not be able to ignore it, so he would volunteer to take on the task of finding melgen.

    ¡°Could it be a cat that met a coyote or ... A Wolf?¡± Old time tea said cautiously. Because of what happenedst night, the first thing it thought of was these two beasts.

    Zhang Zian nodded.¡±That¡¯s possible.¡± But the problem was ... There were trees everywhere in the forest. If a cat encountered a Wolf or coyote, even if it couldn¡¯t beat it, wouldn¡¯t it go up the tree to hide? Wolves and coyotes can¡¯t climb trees, so cats should be safe hiding in the trees. ¡±

    This question was reasonable.

    There were almost no snakes in the mahogany forest. There were only a few kinds of beasts that cats could encounter, and most of them could not climb trees.

    ¡°Could it be that they were killed by a mountain cat, a cougar, or an Eagle?¡± Old time tea said.

    Zhang Zian scanned the surrounding environment.¡±The woods nearby are too dense. It¡¯s not suitable for an Eagle to fly. I can¡¯t say for sure about the other two.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s better to go and take a look than to keep guessing. ¡±

    As fina spoke, it turned around and followed the smell, walking in another direction.

    Old time tea also nodded.¡±It¡¯s not good to have empty talk. It¡¯s good to go and take a look.¡±

    They couldn¡¯t let fina go alone, so they could only follow behind.

    Zhang Zian secretly sighed. Although famous had pointed out that the smell was fresh, who knew how much more they would have to walk for this?

    He had no choice but to follow.

    After following the scent for about half an hour, the smell of blood became more and more obvious. Of course, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t smell it. The Elfins all sped up, and fina was even running wildly. He was left far behind, and he kept shouting to remind them to run slower.

    Fina finally stopped in front of a dead cat.

 Chapter 1550 - -buried

    <h4>Chapter 1550: Chapter 1550-buried</h4>

    Along the way, the backpack, which had been lightened several times but was still very heavy, pressed Zhang Zian down like a snail. He walked quickly and slowly, but he really could not run. He could only watch as the elves swarmed in front of him. What was even more infuriating was that Richard kept shouting ¡°let¡¯s go!¡± Above his head ...

    Seeing that the elves seemed to have found something in front of him, he didn¡¯t have the time to deal with this B * tch bird. He stepped on the fallen leaves and walked for more than ten minutes.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    He didn¡¯t walk to the front, but leaned against the nearest tree and used his backpack to push against the tree. He used the friction to let his legs rest. This was a little trick he had learned along the way. He couldn¡¯t take off his backpack whenever he encountered any trouble. Once he took it off, he wouldn¡¯t want to walk anymore.

    The Elfins silently separated to the left and right, allowing him to see a small animal lying on its side in the thorns in front of him.

    It was a silly cat.

    After seeing it clearly, he immediately reminded,¡±¡±Don¡¯t get too close, you might get an infectious disease. ¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not an infectious disease. He was bitten to death. ¡± Fina said without any expression.

    Zhang Zian sighed helplessly. It seemed that he could only put down his backpack and walk over to take a closer look. He couldn¡¯t even squat with the backpack on his back. He would fall backward.

    He moved his shoulder and his backpack slid down the tree trunk, leaning against it. The spotted owl silently flew to a nearby branch to rest, while Richard pped his wings and stood on his shoulder.

    The Elfins had also considered the problem of infectious diseases, so they didn¡¯t get too close to the dead cat. After all, he had said that the prion could be infected even if they stepped on the urine of infected animals, although they didn¡¯t smell the urine, only the smell of blood.

    He moved his sore shoulders a few times, bent down to pick up a branch, walked to the dead cat, and used the branch to push away the grass that was half-covering the body.

    The grass was stained with dried blood, but there were only a few drops.

    It was an adult male cat with arge body and long fur. Its chest and abdomen were white, and the rest of its body was xen with brown and ck stripes. It was probably a mixed breed of Maine Coon.

    Even a person who didn¡¯t understand cats would know that this was not a short-tailed cat from the forest after seeing its long tail.

    There was a wound on its shoulder, which was its fatal wound. If it went any higher, it would have hurt the carotid artery. If that were the case, it would not have dragged its injured body all the way here before it died.

    The blood from the wound had soaked its long fur into a ball, and the shape of the wound could not be seen clearly.

    Zhang Zian used a branch to smooth the fur near its wound, revealing a pair of wounds that were obviously bitten by the fangs of some kind of beast. The inside of the wound was conical and very deep.

    He used a branch to tilt the body at an angle and shone the shlight on the other side of the body. There was no wound there.

    It was obvious that it had been running away after being injured, but it couldn¡¯t run anymore and died of blood loss.

    The mahogany forest had a cool climate. The cat had been dead for a long time, but it didn¡¯t give off an obvious rancid smell. At least, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t smell it, but the Elfins should have.

    When the elves came, there were some small carrion-eating animals or arthropods nearby, but they ran away as soon as they got close.

    ¡°Can you tell what kind of animal it was?¡± Old time tea asked.

    Zhang Zian shook his head.

    If Mike, a veteran who had lived in the forest for a long time, was here, he might have been able to see it. However, Zhang Zian was not an experienced Hunter, so it was impossible for him to tell what beast had bitten him just by looking at the wound.

    Since the cat had escaped here after being injured, this was not the scene of the crime, and the footprints of the culprit could not be seen.

    ¡°Needless to say, it must be a coyote! I¡¯m 80% sure it¡¯s the groupst night!¡± ¡°ck bears use their ws,¡± dimir said indignantly.¡±What other animals can there be besides coyotes?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s possible that it¡¯s a coyote, but the problem is that the cat-Yingying-can actually escape after being bitten. ¡±

    He was a little puzzled by this question. It would be fine if he could struggle to escape from the ws, but after being bitten by the hook-like fangs of a carnivorous beast, he could actually break free and escape? It was indeed possible that it was the work of the coyote with a smaller bite.

    What was even stranger was that after the beast bit the cat, it didn¡¯t chase after it? Wasn¡¯t this the same as letting the prey escape?

    The elves didn¡¯t think too much about it. dimir was in pain, regretting letting the pack of coyotes gost night. Maybe it was the pack of coyotes that ran away and met the cat.

    Zhang Zian was a little worried that fina would be too emotional, but when he looked at it, it was calmer than dimir. It was just staring at the cat¡¯s body thoughtfully.

    ¡°Fina, what do you think?¡± He took the initiative to ask.

    Fina nced at him and said indifferently,¡±¡±No matter what, this cat died in battle and didn¡¯t bring shame to the cat race. That¡¯s enough.¡±

    Speaking of dying in battle, Zhang Zian was suddenly inspired. He quickly used a branch to pull the cat¡¯s two front paws. Sure enough, he saw a few strands of hair in front of the paws that did not seem to belong to the cat.

    Just as fina had said, the cat had died in battle. Even if the other party was far stronger than it, at least it had tried to resist, but it had only managed to scratch a handful of its hair.

    These strands of hair were dark in color, but unfortunately, Zhang Zian could only tell that they were not from a ck bear, and probably not from a cougar. He could not tell what kind of beast the hair was from.

    ¡°Zian, I can¡¯t bear to see its corpse exposed in the wilderness. Can you please bury it?¡± Old time tea pleaded.

    In the traditional view of China, it was indeed important to be buried in peace. Corpses lying in the wilderness would only turn into a delicious meal for all kinds of carrion eaters. After death, not even aplete body would be left, which would affect the next reincarnation, so even eunuchs would preserve their manhood for life.

    ¡°Alright,¡± he said. Zhang Zian nodded in agreement.

    Although this was a waste of energy and meaningless work for him, since it was old time tea¡¯s request, he didn¡¯t want to refuse. From the perspective of a cat, he really couldn¡¯t bear to leave the body of his own kind alone. This was also a cat¡¯s nature.

    He took out a folding shovel from his backpack. He usually used this shovel to cut long dead branches into a few pieces, or cut some dry tree cores from dead trees to start a fire.

    He quickly dug a small pit under the tree with a shovel that could only amodate the cat¡¯s body. He deliberately dug deeper to prevent scavengers from digging it out after they left.

    After the pit was dug, he caught his breath and pushed the silly cat into the small pit with a branch. He then shoveled the soil and ttened it. Finally, he covered it with dead branches and grass, making it impossible to see anything from the surface.

    After burying it, he packed up the shovel and called the Elfins to continue on the road.

 Chapter 1551 - The ecological chain

    <h4>Chapter 1551: The ecological chain</h4>

    <b>?</b>

    Because they had followed the smell of the dead cat, Zhang Zian and the others had deviated from the previous route. Although they could continue to go this way, considering that it was more convenient to get water by going upstream, he decided to go back.

    The cat elves ¡®hearts sank when they saw the deaths of their own kind.

    Richard had no feelings for ordinary cats. On the contrary, he was gloating in his heart because these stray cats usually posed a great threat to birds, including parrots. Many parrots kept at home were eventually buried in the mouths of cats. It was gloating in its heart, but it didn¡¯t dare to say it out loud, in case the disaster came out of its mouth.

    Returning to the starting point where it first smelled the silly cat¡¯s scent, famous turned its head to look in another direction and asked,¡±¡±The smell ising from there. Should we go over and take a look?¡±

    ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s not go. The cat has been bitten for at least 12 hours. Even if we chase it, we might not be able to find any clues.¡±

    Although the cat¡¯s death was quite strange, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to waste any more time on it. He had to solve the serious business first.

    The elves didn¡¯t object. The strong preyed on the weak in the wild. They were either killed or killed. Evenst night, weren¡¯t they almost treated as coyotes ¡®prey? Humans were no exception. Once they entered a primeval forest, they would be a part of nature¡¯s ecosystem. No one could me them if they were eaten by wild beasts.

    Even if they followed the smell and found out that the murderer of the cat, Yingying, was probably arge beast, what could they do? Fight it and make it pay with its life?

    After entering the forest, Zhang Zian had been talking to them about the problem of the ecosystem, as well as why he hesitated to save the head of the herd of red deers. This gave them a new understanding of how nature worked. It was a problem that they had never thought about before.

    This question was difficult to exin in the deste desert, but the natural forest with rich resources was the best ssroom.

    As they walked, a light breeze blew, and the Elfins stopped almost at the same time. Even Zhang Zian could smell a strange smell.

    The wind brought with it a rancid smell.

    After the cat died, there were no signs of dposition on the body. Perhaps the anaerobic bacteria had begun to dpose the internal organs, but at least it was not obvious on the surface. As for this smell ... If someone had not built a septic tank nearby, it was probably the smell of arge animal that had died and was highly dposed.

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins didn¡¯t say anything. They tacitly changed their direction and followed the smell.

    After turning into a forest, the rancid smell became stronger and stronger, and Zhang Zian had to cover his mouth and nose with a towel to resist the urge to vomit.

    Elves had a more sensitive sense of smell, but they didn¡¯t physically feel like vomiting like humans.

    On the other hand, the herd of deer that had been following behind felt nervous and uneasy. They hesitated and did not follow, but stayed where they were and nibbled on the grass.

    As he walked in the forest, his eyes suddenly brightened up, and a small clearing appeared in front of him.

    In the shade of the green grass, there was the corpse of arge animal. It was a deer.

    From Zhang Zian¡¯s point of view, he could not see theplete body of the deer, because it no longer had aplete body. However, from the snow White color of the bottom of the deer¡¯s tail, he could guess that it was a white-tailed deer.

    Not only did they see the dead deer, but they also saw a few coyotes tearing at the carrion next to it.

    The coyote also saw them and looked at them across the dead deer.

    Canines have the nature to protect their food. If domestic pet dogs don¡¯t go through repeated training from their owners, they will often bite their owners when they eat, even if their owners touch their food.

    The same was true for the Coyotes. The deer was enough for them to fill their stomachs, so they did not intend to attack Zhang Zian and his team. However, if Zhang Zian intended to snatch the food, they would definitely not be polite.

    Of course, Zhang Zian was not interested in the rotten deer corpse. He saw this situation and did not want to have unnecessary conflicts with these coyotes. He was about to call the Elfins to leave when he suddenly saw the deer¡¯s eyes.

    He raised his telescope and took a closer look.

    The deer had died with its eyes open. It had died with its grayish-white eyes that seemed to be covered in ayer of ash.

    He put down the telescope, made a gesture to the elves, and said in a low voice,¡±¡±This is likely to be a deer infected with prion protein. Let¡¯s retreat quickly.¡±

    The elves weren¡¯t afraid of coyotes, but the mysterious and incurable prion made them stay away from it, so they turned around and retreated, even if it was a sign of weakness in the eyes of the Coyotes.

    ¡°Zian, isn¡¯t it inappropriate to let the Coyotes eat the sick deer?¡± Old time tea said.

    What old time tea meant was that the Coyotes may be infected with prion and continue to spread in the ecological chain.

    ¡°There is a problem, but we can¡¯t do anything. Self-protection is more important.¡±

    How could Zhang Zian not know that? but what could he do? Even the United States government was helpless against this. He could stop it this time, but how could he stop the dead deer in the forest from being eaten by scavengers?

    Before he left, he took onest look at the dead deer and the Coyotes.

    Just then, a ck shadow suddenly jumped out of the opposite forest. While the attention of the Coyotes was focused on Zhang Zian, it pounced on a coyote in the blink of an eye and bit the coyote¡¯s neck.

    Zhang Zian and the Coyotes were all shocked. He quickly raised the telescope again, adjusted the focal length, and clearly saw the new uninvited guests from the imaging of the lens.

    It was the world¡¯srgest wild canine, a North American gray wolf. Not only was it much bigger than a coyote, but it was also stronger than its rtives in Eurasia.

    Some pet dogs, which grew bigger and bigger due to selective breeding by humans, were bigger and heavier than North American gray wolves, such as Big Dan dogs and various Mastiffs. Therefore, North American gray wolves were thergest wild canine animals, and the word ¡°wild¡± could not be ignored.

    The North American gray wolf looked very simr to a coyote, but when put together, its weight was at least equivalent to 1.5 coyotes. The outline of its body was two timesrger than that of a coyote, and its strong neck strength was enough to bite the neck of the coyote that had be its prey. No matter how it struggled, it would not let go.

    Zhang Zian immediately remembered the wolf howl fromst night. Was that the North American gray Wolf¡¯s howl?

    The remaining coyotes saw that theirpanion had been captured by their natural enemy. They were afraid but did not want to give up on theirpanion. They fan-shaped around their natural enemy and barked at the gray wolf.

    The elves heard the noise and came back. They also saw the big gray wolf.

    Through the telescope, Zhang Zian noticed that there was an eye-catching gadget on the Wolf¡¯s neck. He was stunned because it was a cor.

 Chapter 1552 - migration of wolves

    <h4>Chapter 1552: Chapter 1552-migration of wolves</h4>

    <b>?</b>

    Seeing is believing, hearing is not.

    Zhang Zian had heard a Wolf¡¯s howlst night, but he had never seen a wolf in the wild, let alone heard a Wolf¡¯s howl in the wild. He could only judge from the sound that it was obviously different from the howl of a coyote. He thought it might be a Wolf.

    He was not sure because the gray wolves in California had gone extinct since 1924.

    As for the wolves he saw in the zoo, they had long lost their wildness after being fed by humans and would not howl even once.

    Now, he had seen this strong North American gray wolf with his own eyes. What was even stranger was that there was a cor on its neck. What was going on?

    Someone kept a gray wolf as a pet?

    This was not the Middle East. Whether it was the rich in the United States or the Middle East, they all preferred to keep big cats to show off their wealth. If you had a gray wolf, people would probably think that it was an impure Husky ...

    As the gray wolf confronted the other coyotes, it moved its body, and Zhang Zian saw more details of the cor through the telescope.

    It was a cor with a signal transmitter.

    He had once put a simr cor on an fennec fox in the desert of Egypt.

    He understood now. The gray wolf was either reared by the scientists, or it had been captured by them before. After anesthesia, the scientists put on the cor and let it go. Just like what they did in the Egypt desert, the cor with the signal transmitter was used to track the gray wolf¡¯s migration route and physiological characteristics.

    The gray wolves in California had gone extinct in 1924. The next time gray wolves were seen was in shasaiyou County in 2015 and Larson National Park in 2017. Scientists named them the Shasta Wolves and Larson wolves. The former gray wolf family of seven disappeared in 2016.

    Could it be that the Shasta Wolves that had disappeared had secretly run into the mahogany forest?

    This was very likely. Gray wolves had very good endurance. In order to find food, they could run more than 30 kilometers a day. As long as they avoided humans, it was very easy for them to migrate across regions. It was spected that the members of the Shasta Wolf Pack and the Larson Wolf Pack might havee to California from the state of Oregon in the North.

    As for the cor on its neck, it was reasonable to say that it would automaticallye off after wearing it for a period of time, so that the scientists could easily recycle it. However, sometimes it would get stuck and note off as expected. As a result, it could not be recycled even after the electricity was used up. This was also normal. If it was a machine, it would malfunction. Gray wolf usually did not care and maintain the cor when it was living and hunting.

    Of course, other possibilities couldn¡¯t be ruled out. For example, this Wolf was also a lone wolf that came from Oregon. Because it couldn¡¯t always stay with its parents after growing up, it had to go out and explore to build its own business, territory, and family.

    So the wolf howl fromst night, was it from this Wolf? Or was this Wolf also attracted by the Wolf¡¯s howl?

    The coyote that was bitten by it couldn¡¯t even make a sound because its windpipe was blocked, and its struggle was getting weaker and weaker.

    The other coyotes divided up the work, with two in the front to attract the attention of the gray wolf, and the other three running to the side and back of the gray wolf, trying to use the tactic of besieging the Wei to save the Zhao, by attacking the gray wolf to save theirpanion.

    There was an old China saying that wolves had copper heads, iron legs, and tofu waists, which meant that the Wolf¡¯s waist was very fragile. In fact, this was true for mostnd spinels. It was impossible for their ribs to cover the waist, otherwise, they would not be able to turn around agilely. The human waist was also very fragile.

    The gray wolf wasn¡¯t stupid. It was impossible for it to give its weakness to the enemy, but it didn¡¯t want to give up the prey in its mouth, so it simply dragged the coyote in its mouth and ran.

    The Coyotes followed closely behind.

    The gray wolf ran for a while, put down the coyote in its mouth, showed its fangs, and growled to scare off the Coyotes. When the Coyotes retreat, it picked up the dying coyote and continued to run, just like that, fighting and retreating.

    Neither side was interested in Zhang Zian, so they went back and forth, and soon disappeared into the woods.

    He waited for a while. The Coyotes and gray wolves didn¡¯t seem to being back in a short time, but after a long time, the Coyotes maye back and continue to eat the deer carcasses.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go over and take a look. You guys wait here. ¡± He had the Elfins stay where they were, because it was dangerous to get close to a dead deer.

    He quickly took a few deep breaths, then took a deep breath and quickly walked to the deer¡¯s corpse. He held his breath not only to avoid smelling the pungent rancid smell, but also to avoid inhaling the possible airborne substances.

    ¡°Gah? What do you want to see? This deer doesn¡¯t have any horns, so it¡¯s most likely a female. You¡¯re not interested!¡±

    Richard, who was the only one not at risk of infection, cherished his life very much. He pped his wings and left Zian¡¯s shoulder,nding on a branch tob his feathers.

    The back of the deer¡¯s abdomen was dug out from the chrysanthemum by the Coyotes, and the internal organs such as intestines were all dragged out. The green, purple, and red were unbearable to look at, but he deliberately did not let his eyes fall on it.

    The smell of the internal organs was probably spreading, and it might attract other scavengers, so he had to be quick.

    He went around to the other side of the deer and saw its ears.

    When he was looking through the telescope, he noticed that there was something on the deer¡¯s ear, but it was too far to see clearly. Now, he saw it clearly. It was a yellow ear tag, the kind that was usually used to mark deer in farms.

    He picked up his phone and took a few pictures, including the whole body of the deer and the specific ear tag. Then he jogged back to the edge of the open space, exhaled the turbid air in his lungs, and took a few deep breaths quickly to regte his breathing.

    ¡°What are you looking at, you idiot?¡± Richard flew back to his shoulder. This b*stard¡¯s mouth was really like Tang Sanzang ¡®s. The other Elfins knew that he was going to say something and were all waiting to hear it.

    ¡°This deer might be a deer waiting to be ughtered in the ughterhouse.¡± He said, but both he and the Elfins knew that it was impossible for the deer that was brought into the ughterhouse to escape from the three-meter-high power grid.

    So, the deer probably didn¡¯t escape from the ughterhouse. Otherwise, it could be written in a book about Shawshank¡¯s redemption. It was most likely that Peter Lee and the others had released it after the ughterhouse had been struck by lightning and was unable to operate.

    Peter Lee and his team were unable to restore the ughterhouse to normal in a short time. They estimated that it would be suspended for three to five months. What about the batch of live deer that had just arrived that day? It was not realistic to keep them. They did not prepare any feed, and they were not that responsible. They might have just opened the door and let the deer go, leaving them to their own devices.

    ording to the known information, if a deer on a farm was infected with prion, it was likely that all deer would be infected. As for the deer in the wild, if one of them was infected, the other deer in the same forest would only have a one-third chance of being infected.

    No matter what, the beasts that fed on deer in this forest might be in trouble.

 Chapter 1553 - Watson and Sherlock Holmes

    <h4>Chapter 1553: Watson and Sherlock Holmes</h4>

    The encounter with the dead cat and the dead deer was just the beginning. It wasn¡¯t even noon when famous, who was walking in front, smelled a third strange smell.

    Although Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t smell it, from the Elfins ¡®reaction, he could guess that the owner of the third animal body, Yingying, was still a cat.

    Sure enough, he and the elves followed the scent and found the source of the scent in a tree hole. It was an American Shorthair.

    Simr to the previous Maine hybrid, this American Shorthair had also been bitten by sharp teeth. It ran to the tree hole to hide and died from excessive blood loss.

    Zhang Zian poked the American Shorthair¡¯s body with a branch. It hadn¡¯tpletely stiffened yet, which proved that it hadn¡¯t been dead for too long.

    He and the elves stood on the side, and no one spoke for a long time.

    If there was only one cat, it could be considered a coincidence. However, in such a short period of time, he had already met two cats that had the same cause of death. Could this be exined by coincidence? No one would believe anyone who came out.

    Not only were the causes of death the same, but even the time of death was simr. The strangest thing was that the corpses were still intact, which meant that the beast that bit them to death did not intend to eat them, but only bit them to death.

    It wasn¡¯t to hunt, but to kill.

    There was a saying that people often said that only humans would kill meaninglessly, while animals only killed when they needed to eat. This saying was applicable to most ferocious beasts, such as the great white shark. When it was full, divers could even swim beside it.

    However, there were always exceptions in the world. Many canines, such as wolves, foxes, and jackals, would asionally carry out meaningless killing. In the past, there was often a situation where a Fox would enter a henhouse and bite all the chickens to death in the countryside.

    Logically speaking, a Fox could not eat so many chickens no matter what. If it ate one, took one away, and let go of the others, it coulde back to eat again in the future. Why did it bite all of them to death?

    Wolves and jackals were in simr situations. For example, the jackals would enter the sheepfold and bite all the sheep to death.

    Regardless of whether it was in China or other countries, such incidents weremon.

    In a forest in Northwest Canada, scientists had once witnessed a pack of wolves killing more than 30 reindeers in a short time. The bodies were scattered in an area of a few square kilometers, but they only ate a few. Most of them were abandoned after biting them to death.

    The sess rate of a Wolf¡¯s hunting was not as high as people usually thought, only about one-tenth, so wolves often could only eat their fill once a week. It was very puzzling that they would kill but not eat precious food.

    In the past, people hated animals like foxes, wolves, and jackals to the bone. They would kill every animal they saw, which led to the current situation where these animals were almost exterminated.

    Felines were sometimes the same.

    Why would these animals do such meaningless killing? Were they like the criminals in human society who killed for fun?

    No one knew.

    Perhaps their actions were not meaningless, but humans could not understand the hidden meaning behind it.

    The current situation was as if one or a group of scavengers had appeared in the forest and were carrying out a meaningless ughter like the one above.

    The other thing that he could not understand was why there were house cats appearing one after another in the depths of the forest.

    Without waiting for old time tea to say anything, Zhang Zian took the initiative to take out the folding shovel and buried the dead American Shorthair. Before he buried it, he took a few photos of the American Shorthair.

    Everyone continued on their way in silence. Other than Richard who was still talking, no one else said anything. They were all thinking about the inner cause of these strange things.

    In the end, before they set up camp in the evening, they encountered a total of four dead cats and two dead deers in the same way.

    The deer¡¯s body attracted scavengers. The body was iplete, and the cause of death could not be seen. The cats were all bitten to death.

    In the end, old time tea was too embarrassed to ask Zhang Zian to bury the body.

    After dinner, everyone sat around the bonfire, staring at the burning mes in a daze. No one went to bed early.

    ¡°Meow my ass!¡± ¡°F * ck!¡± dimir cursed, Breaking the Silence, but it did not continue.

    Zhang Zian stole a nce at fina. He thought that fina would fly into a rage because of this, but he didn¡¯t expect it to be quite restrained from the beginning to the end. But in a sense, this made him even more worried that this guy, Yingying, was secretly nning something to die in silence?

    Fina¡¯s expression was very calm, and it maintained the thoughtful look it had for the whole day.

    ¡°Kaka! It¡¯s time for me to make my appearance!¡± Although Richard could not see anything, it did not stop him from talking big.¡±Let me show you the way!¡±

    No one paid any attention to it. No one was in the mood to joke.

    Richard was thick-skinned enough to not feel embarrassed at being ignored. He continued,¡±¡±Kaka! In my opinion, the first thing we need to do is to find out the cause of death! Watson, what do you think?¡±

    It patted Zhang Zian¡¯s head, indicating for him to speak.

    ¡°Cause of death? You¡¯re not only blind at night now, but you¡¯re also blind during the day?¡± He unhappily spread its wings.¡±Didn¡¯t you see that they were all bitten to death?¡±

    ¡°Kaka! I said you¡¯re an idiot, but you still don¡¯t admit it! Of course I know the cats were bitten to death, but why were they bitten to death?¡± It asked a strange question.

    ¡°Why? How would I know why? ¡°I didn¡¯t bite them to death ...¡± He replied without thinking.

    ¡°Kaka! ¡°So, Watson, you can only be a supporting character. As the main character, I, Richard Holmes, will not be as stupid as you! To deal with such a cruel serial killer, the first thing you have to do is to find themon point of the victims!¡± Richard pretended to jump around, only hating that he did not have a pair of sses that could be worn on the beak of a bird.

    ¡°Common traits of the victims? Aren¡¯t they all cats?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Look, look, tsk tsk! Rotten wood can¡¯t be carved!¡± Richard shook his head and sighed in disappointment.¡±If four humans were killed and I asked you what the victims had inmon, would you answer, would you dare to answer that all the victims were humans?¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless. If he really dared to answer like that, he would probably be torn apart by the family of the deceased.

    No matter how much Richard usually spoke without thinking, at least it was right this time.

    He and the other Elfins were wondering what animal had bitten the cats to death.

    On the other hand, Richard cut into the problem from a unique detective perspective, thinking about what the victims had inmon.

    What were themon points?

    In addition to the first Maine Coon hybrid, Zhang Zian had taken photos of the other three bodies before burying them. He took out his mobile phone and opened the photo album, browsing through the photos one by one.

 Chapter 1554 - Tiger spot

    <h4>Chapter 1554: Chapter 1554-Tiger spot</h4>

    It was not normal for many pet cats to appear in the depths of the primeval forest, and these cats appeared in the form of death, which was even more incredible. It had an invisible influence on the thinking of Zhang Zian and the other Elfins. They knew that some felines and canines would engage in meaningless killing, so they preemptively believed that the four cats that had died were also the result of meaningless killing.

    But what if he wasn ¡®t?

    As a Bird, Richard had always been a calm and objective third party. Besides, it had always liked to talk big, so even if it said something wrong, others ¡®impression of it would not be worse.

    If it wasn¡¯t a meaningless killing, there must be a reason why the beast chose to bite the four cats to death.

    Famous serial killers in history, such as Jack the Ripper, did not choose their victims randomly. Criminal investigation experts could find somemon characteristics from the victims and predict their future targets. They would then send police officers to y the role of ordinary people who matched the characteristics to lure the killer into the trap.

    Zhang Zian admitted that Richard did point out the blind spot in his thinking. Even so, it did not mean that Richard¡¯s guess was correct. Everything had to be based on facts.

    In addition, if the beasts really chose their targets, didn¡¯t that mean ... They had a certain level of intelligence and thinking ability?

    Fortunately, from the moment he met the second dead cat, he took photos of the dead cat. He didn¡¯t think much about it when he took the photos, but he felt that it was a little strange. Besides, taking a few photos wasn¡¯t a waste of time, and such an unintentional move came in handy now.

    Even the first Maine mixed breed that wasn¡¯t photographed had left a deep impression on him. He could still remember it clearly in his mind. After all, the first one had brought quite a visual impact.

    When it came to cats and dogs, Zhang Zian was more or less a professional among ordinary people. He quickly browsed through the three photos in the album and one photo in his mind a few times, and he really found something inmon.

    Among the four cats, there were mixed breeds, purebreds, male cats, and female cats. They were all adult cats, but their ages varied. There were no simrities in these aspects, but themon point was that they were all tabby cats.

    The tabby cat had a wide range of fur colors, including five typical ones.

    To be specific, tabby cats not only included the immediately thought of cat species such as the American Shorthair and Dragon Li, but also many unexpected cat species, such as pure-color Abyssinian cats, Maine Coon, Norway Forest Cat, and so on, which were rtively rare in China. Of course, the Egypt mau, the ancestor of tabby cats, must be included, and so were many local cats. Overall, tabby cats ounted for about 80% of all domestic cats.

    It might be hard to understand why Abyssinian cats were ssified as tabby cats, because their multicolored fur was equivalent to stripes. In addition, although their bodies were of pure colors, the stripes on their foreheads were still visible.

    As long as there were stripes or circles of stripes on the forehead, tail, and limbs, they could generally be regarded as tabby cats.¡±Tabby cats¡± were not a cat species, but just a feature of the fur color.

    In short, there was an 80% chance of saying that a tabby cat was a tabby cat when you saw it on the street, which was not a bad thing.

    The only pure-colored cats that didn¡¯t belong to the tabby cat were probably snowy Li and dimir.

    Westerners believed that the temper of tabby cats was more ... Strange, unpredictable, and egoistic. They even deliberately used the English word ¡°tabby¡± as the root of the word to describe the temper of tabby cats. However, this was actually nonsense. If tabby cats ounted for 80% of the domestic cats with strange temperaments, then perhaps the remaining 20% were not tabby cats. After all, the minority was subordinate to the majority.

    These four dead cats were all tabby cats, so it wasn¡¯t very rare in terms of probability. It would be a bit far-fetched to use this as amon feature. For example, if it were a human, the adult women killed by serial killers all had heavy or light makeup on and sprayed more or less perfume. This was toomon in modern society. As long as they didn¡¯t use the same lipstick color or perfume, it was difficult to be considered amon feature.

    Zhang Zian knew this, but he still thought it was amon feature, because themon feature was not their identity as tabby cats, but a certain detail on their tabby patterns.

    He quickly browsed through the photos a few more times, then individually selected a few photos from which he could clearly see their facial features. He gathered them together and slowed down to take a closer look.

    The Elfins couldn¡¯t help, and they stared at his movements and expressions with half-curious and half-suspicious eyes.

    He put down his phone, pondered for a moment, and said to the elves,¡±¡±Richard is right, these four cats seem to have somemon characteristics.¡±

    ¡°Did you hear that? Am I powerful? Don¡¯t you admire me?¡±

    Richard was very proud of himself. If it was not for the fact that it was already dark and he had night blindness, he would have flown three rounds in the sky as a celebration, and then made a lot of noise to let every elf know that it was his credit.

    When he met the four silly cats during the day, the elves were all around, but he couldn¡¯t think of anything inmon with them.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes fell on the foreheads of old time tea and fina one after another, staring for a moment and then looking away.

    Old time tea touched its forehead, thinking it was dirty.

    ¡°Zian, what are the characteristics?¡± Famous couldn¡¯t wait to ask. It saw that the cat Elfins were hesitating because of their personal rtionship, so it asked on their behalf.

    Zhang Zian pointed to his forehead, then held the phone in his hand. He swiped the close-up photos of the three cats ¡®heads one by one for them to see, indicating that they should pay attention to the foreheads of the three cats.

    ¡°Kaka! What was it? Don¡¯t bully me because I can¡¯t see!¡± Richard shouted.

    ¡°Stripes?¡± Famous asked, puzzled.

    Yes, these three cats had vertical stripes on their foreheads, just like many other cats.

    Zhang Zian nodded and stared at old time tea and fina again.¡±Look again andpare the stripes on old time tea and Fina¡¯s foreheads. Are they the same as these three cats?¡±

    The other elves shook their heads, looking at old time tea and Fina¡¯s foreheads, and then at his phone screen.

    Gradually, they seemed to really see something different, but they couldn¡¯t describe what it was.

    Old time tea was scared and smiled bitterly,¡±¡±Zian, are the Emperor and I different from the rest, or are the three ... No, the four cats different?¡±

    Zhang Zian muttered to himself,¡±it¡¯s not really different. It¡¯s just two different lines. The lines on your and Fina¡¯s foreheads look like scarabs, but the lines on the foreheads of the four cats look more like M-shaped.¡±

 Chapter 1555 - nine lives

    <h4>Chapter 1555: Chapter 1555-nine lives</h4>

    After being reminded by Zhang Zian, the other Elfins re-observed old time tea, fina, and the three cats on the phone screen. They suddenly felt like they had woken up from a dream.

    The Elfins had just vaguely seen something, but they couldn¡¯t find the right words to describe it. After hearing his description, it was as if a stone blocking their windpipes had been removed.

    They followed Zhang Zian to Egypt entered the Great Pyramid, and entered the Golden Pyramid. They also saw many souvenirs of ancient Egyptian culture in the market, among which were many items and murals rted to scarabs. After all, ancient Egyptians believed that scarabs pushed the sun to rise and set every day, which upied a very important position in ancient Egyptian mythology. It symbolized the rebirth of pharaohs and was one of the mostmonly used shapes to make amulets.

    The pattern on Fina¡¯s forehead was a Scarab with an unusually clear outline.

    Old time tea had a simr pattern on its forehead, but it was not as bright as Fina¡¯s Scarab pattern.

    Richard could only hear but not see, and it was very anxious. It pecked Zhang Zian¡¯s head with its beak, asking him to exin in words. Because it usually did not dare to look at fina, and old time tea always wore a bamboo hat, it really did not pay much attention to the pattern on the foreheads of the two cat elves.

    Zhang Zian knew that if he didn¡¯t give Richard a clear exnation, it would probably be tormented the whole night. At the same time, to let the other Elfins understand better, he said,¡±¡±The Scarab lines on fina and old time tea¡¯s foreheads are simr to the capital letters W, H, and M. They are arranged from top to bottom.¡±

    He used a branch as firewood to write these three letters in the soil.

    W

    H

    M

    The turning points of W and M were connected to the upper and lower ends of H, making it look like a sacred beetle with forelimbs, hind limbs, and a body.

    There were also some who omitted the H in the middle and only connected W and M.

    In contrast, the three cats in the photo album didn¡¯t have the upper half of the picture on their foreheads, only an M.

    The sacred beetle pattern and the M-shaped pattern. Basically, all the tabby cats had these two patterns on their foreheads. The former was the majority, while thetter was a small portion.

    The Elfins finally understood. Thinking back to the ordinary cats in the Pet Shop, as long as they were tabby cats, they seemed to be like this.

    But what did this mean? It¡¯s just a vein pattern on the forehead!

    Zhang Zian had never noticed this subtle difference before. He had to thank professor Wei Kang for understanding this.

    Professor Wei Kang was studying the evolution process of domestic cats. He wanted to find a transitional cat species with mackerel patterns and spots, which was the primitive Egypt cat.

    Zhang Zian had participated in the trip to Egypt as a special consultant and enjoyed the free food, clothing, amodation, and transportation provided by Binhai University. He had to be loyal to the people who ate their sries, otherwise professor Wei Kang would be embarrassed, so he was quite active in maintainingmunication with professor Wei Kang. By chance, he had heard professor Wei Kang mention this, about the problem of the striped tabby cat¡¯s forehead.

    Professor Wei Kang specialized in the study of domestic cats and was quite knowledgeable in this area. At that time, he had only mentioned it casually and mentioned an ancient legend that exined the differences between the two lines.

    Professor Wei Kang had said it in a half-joking tone, but because it was quite interesting, Zhang Zian silently took note of it.

    ¡°Fina, how much do you know about this?¡±

    Zhang Zian stared at fina, who had been silent.

    When he was thinking, observing, and telling, Fina¡¯s attitude was different from its usual calmness. Even when he met the four dead cats during the day, its attitude was so calm that he suspected that it was going to die quietly.

    ¡°Bengong noticed it long ago, long before today.¡± Fina began to speak,¡±when I taught the kittens to dance, most of the kittens were very obedient. Some kittens were a little naughty. At that time, I thought it was the difference in intelligence, but I did notice that the patterns on the foreheads of these naughty kittens were iplete ... Thousands of years have passed, and the world has changed. The cats today are different from the cats of my time, so I didn¡¯t pay much attention to it.¡±

    The other Elfins all knew that fina would teach the new kittens to dance from time to time, but they didn¡¯t think there was a hidden story behind it.

    Fina¡¯s eyes suddenly became brighter, and it stared at Zhang Zian.¡±About this, what do you want to tell me?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t answer immediately, but asked,¡±¡±Do you know that cats have nine lives?¡±

    ¡°Nine lives? Nonsense!¡± Fina said firmly,¡±if cats had nine lives, the sacred beetle would not be the symbol of rebirth in ancient Egypt!¡±

    Old time tea also interjected,¡±about this, I often hear people talk about it on TV. I don¡¯t know where it came from. Every time I hear it, I¡¯m confused. I¡¯ve lived for so many years, but I¡¯ve never seen a cate back to life ...¡±

    ¡°Gah? Nine lives?¡± ¡°When you were selling the Siberian Forest Cat, which is said to not cause allergies, didn¡¯t you say there was a movie about cats called nine lives?¡± Richard asked.

    Zhang Zian nodded.¡±Yes, the legend that cats have nine lives is not only popr in China, but also widely spread in the West.¡±

    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Fina repeated,¡±I¡¯ve never heard of it! I won¡¯t believe it either!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s normal that you haven¡¯t heard of it. ¡± Zhang Zian exined,¡±because this legend started after you.¡±

    He said to the elves,¡±there were no cats in ancient China. Cats came to China from the Western regions. The legend of nine lives also came from the Western regions. The origin of this legend is the Middle East.¡±

    In the ancient Middle East, the ¡°ancient¡± period was after Fina¡¯s era. There was a very famous and prestigious man who was respected as a prophet by others.

    The Prophet had a cat called Mieza and doted on him.

    One time, when the Prophet was about to pray, he found miezha sleeping in his long sleeve. In order not to disturb its good dreams, he simply cut off his sleeves and put on a long robe to pray. Miezha seemed to know how much he cared for her after she finished her prayers. She bowed and wagged her tail as if she had a mind of her own to express her gratitude. The Prophet lovingly stroked miezha¡¯s head three times, leaving behind four ck lines, which were his four fingerprints in the shape of an M.

    ording to legend, the Prophet not only left an M-shaped mark on miezha, but also gave him nine lives. This was the origin of the legend of cats having nine lives.

    From then on, the sacred beetle and the M-shaped pattern had parted ways.

    After Zhang Zian finished, the other Elfins were entranced, while fina sneered.

    People said that the moon on the 15th day was 16 round.

    He raised his head to look at the full moon in the night sky. A cold wind blew past, and he suddenly felt a little cold. He shrank his body and muttered,¡±

    ¡°The White jade capital in the sky, twelve buildings and five cities. The Prophet touched my head and formed a seal to receive nine lives ...¡±

 Chapter 1556 - bait

    <h4>Chapter 1556: Chapter 1556-bait</h4>

    The next morning.

    As usual, he got up, cooked, ate, dismantled the tent, and packed his luggage.

    Last night was a rare peaceful night. It was so quiet that people were not used to it. It felt like a pond before a thunderstorm in summer.

    It was still the same until morning.

    Zhang Zian yawned and put his things into his backpack. Although he had nothing to dost night, he was always awake. He woke up inexplicably while sleeping. He raised his head to listen to the movement outside the tent. After more than ten seconds, his head fell back to the pillow as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it a little too quiet ...?¡± Richard mumbled.

    ¡°What did you just say?¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t hear her clearly.

    Richard looked around suspiciously.¡±I mean, don¡¯t you think it¡¯s a little too quiet, you idiot?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± He was busy with his work, so he nced at the elves and the deer herd. Everything was normal.

    Richard restrained his frivolous tone, which was rare.¡±Why is there not a single bird around? Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s strange that we didn¡¯t even hear a bird¡¯s call this morning?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t pay attention to this. He stopped what he was doing and listened carefully.

    Most of the trees in the mahogany forest Park were mahogany. There were fewer other trees because mahogany was too tall, and it was difficult for other species topete with them for sunlight.

    The branches and leaves of the thick and tall mahogany trees covered arge area like heavy umbres. This caused them to be unable to see a single bird even though they could hear the endless chirping of birds around them.

    In the current situation, there wasn¡¯t even a chirping of a bird.

    Zhang Zian carried a heavy backpack every day like a snail, and he had to pay attention to the movements around him at all times in case of sudden danger. He didn¡¯t have much time to pay attention to whether the birds were chirping or not ... But thinking back, he seemed to have been woken up by the chirping of birds when he overslept in the morning.

    As soon as Richard said that, he listened attentively for a while. He did not hear any birds chirping, which was unusual in the dense primitive forest.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it too early? the birds that move at night have just returned to their nests to rest. The birds that move during the day haven¡¯t left their nests yet, right?¡± He suggested a possibility.

    Richard scratched its feathers with its beak disdainfully.¡±I said you¡¯re an idiot, but you¡¯re really acting stupid. Do you think a bird¡¯s movement is like a human¡¯s at work, so urate that it can be summed up with the three numbers of 996?¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°...You don¡¯t have the right to look down on me. Besides, I¡¯ve already been freed from 996.¡±

    In fact, he knew that what it said made sense. The reason he gave was very far-fetched.

    ¡°Let¡¯s observe along the way. There¡¯s no need to make a conclusion so early.¡± He said.

    ¡°You dare to question my observation skills?¡± Richard shouted, unconvinced. You idiot, are you tired of living? Although I can¡¯t see at night, my heart is still clear! Don¡¯t use your eyes to observe, you have to observe with your heart, understand?¡±

    Zhang Zian rarely heard such philosophical words from its mouth, so he quite agreed with it.

    Richard did not wait for him to answer and answered his own question,¡±¡±No, you don¡¯t understand. You only know how to use your ass eyes to observe the world.¡±

    When Zhang Zian picked up his walking stick and was about to hit it, it had already flown to a higher branch and was smug.

    The chirping of birds needed further observation to confirm, but what was the point of confirming it?

    In addition, regarding yesterday¡¯s incident, the lines on the foreheads of the cats that were bitten to death also needed further observation. He couldn¡¯t remember the lines on the forehead of the first hybrid Maine, and the other three as samples were still too few.

    After packing up, he didn¡¯t rush to call the Elfins to set off. Instead, he took out his mobile phone, aimed at the open space, and clicked to release snowy Li.

    ¡°Meowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeow?¡±

    Snowy Li appeared on the fallen leaf with a confused look on its face. It blinked its eyes and looked around.

    ¡°Why is it still a forest? Why hasn¡¯t this stinky man be a little sister yet?¡± It said gloomily.

    It turned around and saw fina. It happily walked over to fina with its short legs.¡±Your Majesty! I¡¯ve missed you to death! It¡¯s hard to travel in the forest, you¡¯re covered in dust, let this servant lick your fur!¡±

    It had just taken two steps when it was stopped by Zhang Zian¡¯s legs.

    ¡°You stinky man, what do you want to do?¡± It widened its eyes and threatened,¡±¡±Do you think that I won¡¯t dare to go against your influence in the forest?¡±

    ¡°The main reason I called you out is to ask you for a favor.¡± Zhang Zian automatically ignored its other words.

    ¡°Help? If you want to help me castrate myself, I¡¯d be more than happy to. ¡± It licked its ws and stared at his crotch with ill intentions.

    Zhang Zian took out a half-burnt piece of charcoal from behind him, which was left after the bonfirest night.

    ¡°Actually, you don¡¯t have to do anything. Just let me draw a few lines on your forehead.¡± He said.

    Snowy Li¡¯s mouth was wide open in shock. It was stunned for a while, and then itined to fina remotely, as if it had been greatly wronged,¡±¡±Your Majesty! You stand up for this servant! This stinky man wants to paint a tortoise on my head!¡±

    What the f * ck is this?!

    Snowy Li said indignantly,¡±when you were asleep, I didn¡¯t show you any mercy. I didn¡¯t even draw a turtle on your face. Now you want to repay my kindness with ingratitude?¡± I didn¡¯t misjudge you, all stinky men deserve to die!¡±

    ¡°No, you didn¡¯t draw it back then because your ws couldn¡¯t hold the brush, right? Otherwise, you definitely won¡¯t let go of that opportunity!¡± Zhang Zianined.

    Snowy Li was embarrassed and angry, as if her thoughts had been hit. Why do you care? I didn¡¯t draw it anyway!¡±

    Quarreling with snowy Li was as meaningless as quarreling with Richard. It would always drag him down to the same bottomless level as it, and then defeat him with its rich experience.

    ¡°I¡¯m not asking you to draw a tortoise on your face. I just want you to draw a few vertical lines. ¡± He exined as he looked at the ck mark on snowy Li¡¯s forehead.

    Snowy Li¡¯s whole body was as white as snow, but there was a line of ck lines on its forehead. He thought it could be modified and used.

    The detective had analyzed the serial killer¡¯s tendency tomit crimes. What should he do next? He couldn¡¯t just sit around and wait for the killer to reveal his ws. He could only watch the number of victims increase. The correct approach was to provide protection to the high-risk group that matched the characteristics of the victims on one hand, and on the other hand, take the initiative to attack. The police officers would disguise themselves as the type of victims that the killers liked, and then wander around the areas where the killers might appear to attract them.

    Of course, the police officers themselves couldn¡¯t do it alone. There had to be more police officers around them in disguise to protect them secretly. Otherwise, if even the police officers were killed, the entire police station would be embarrassed.

    dimir wanted to volunteer and let Zhang Zian draw a few M-shaped ck lines on its forehead. It would act as bait to attract the beasts, but he considered that if there was a conflict, it would be the main force of the attack, and it looked very alert. It didn¡¯t look like it was easy to bully, so it might not be able to attract the beasts.

 Chapter 1557 - confrontation

    <h4>Chapter 1557: Chapter 1557-confrontation</h4>

    Zhang Zian thought about it and decided that snowy Li was the most suitable bait. It looked cute on the outside, but it was cruel on the inside. It was the best cat to y the pig to eat the Tiger.

    No matter what he said, snowy Li didn¡¯t agree with what Yingying did. Why did it help this stinky man?

    ¡°Look, I even prepared beef for you.¡± Zhang Zian pointed at the food bowl and said,¡±although there is no raw beef brisket due to the limited environment, it is still beef jerky that has been soaked in water.¡±

    ¡°Ha? Beef jerky doesn¡¯t have a soul!¡±

    Snowy Li looked like it had been insulted.¡±I want to eat raw beef brisket!¡±

    In the end, fina couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. She walked over and said,¡±¡±You should suffer some grievances and draw a few ck lines on your forehead. Just take it as giving bengong face.¡±

    Snowy Li rolled its eyes and felt that it couldn¡¯t miss this good opportunity. It had wanted to lick Fina¡¯s fur as a condition, but it thought that fina would definitely not agree, so it took a step back and said,¡±¡±Then ... Your Majesty, please help me wipe off the ck lines!¡±

    Fina nodded.¡±Okay, I promise. I¡¯ll wipe it off for you after I¡¯m done.¡±

    Snowy Li was finally satisfied. It turned its head and red at Zhang Zian,¡±you stinky man, what are you doing?¡± Hurry up, don¡¯t wait for me to change my mind!¡±

    Zhang Zian squatted down in front of it with the charcoal.¡±Don¡¯t move. I never passed my drawing ss in primary school. If you move, you might really draw a straight line into a turtle ...¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡± Snowy Li was so angry that its fur stood on end, but it was afraid that he would draw something strange on its face, so it could only hold back the urge to scratch him and didn¡¯t dare to move.

    Zhang Zian used charcoal to slightly modify the ck lines on its forehead. After thickening them, they split into two and then expanded into an M-shape. This could be referenced to the M-shape on the forehead of the person controlled by Babidi in the Dragon Ball.

    His drawing skills were too poor, and he could only barely look at it after he finished. He couldn¡¯t even achieve basic symmetry. One could tell that it was fake when looking at it from a still position, but when he walked, he could almost pass the fake as the real thing.

    Snowy Li anxiously waited for him to throw away the burnt coal. With tears in its eyes, it asked,¡±¡±Your Majesty, is it ... Very ugly? Am I disfigured?¡±

    Fina looked around and said,¡±it¡¯s okay. It¡¯s not that ugly, Yingluo. You¡¯re more attractive.¡±

    Fina didn¡¯t mean tofort orpliment snowy Li. It was just telling the truth. After all, snowy Li¡¯s beautiful face and long fur made it so that few people could fight it. Even if it drew a turtle on its forehead, a lot of cat ves would still kneel and lick its feet. This world of looking at the face was too real.

    However, Fina¡¯s words made snowy Li feel ted. It felt like it was on cloud nine.

    Zhang Zian had already put on his backpack and told the Elfins to continue their journey.

    In the past, famous always walked in the front, but today it was snowy Li leading the way. The other Elfins formed a three-dimensional protection on the left and right sides and on the trees.

    In fact, even though snowy Li looked weak, anyone who dared to underestimate it would die a horrible death.

    ¡°Which way should we go?¡± Snowy Li was very happy, and even its tone of speaking to Zhang Zian was much better.

    Zhang Zian lowered his head and stared at the electronic map on the screen of his mobile phone. The light ball representing the new Elfin was getting closer and closer. Yesterday, he was not sure, but today, he could clearly see that the light was dimmer and smaller than yesterday. It was as if the power of the new elf was weakening, or ... Injured.

    He pointed in the direction of the light, and snowy Li walked in front of him excitedly. It just wanted to finish up quickly so that fina could wipe off the ck lines for it. That must be the fun of drawing eyebrows in the boudoir ...

    Snowy Li¡¯s short legs slowed down the team¡¯s speed, and Zhang Zian could rest against the tree for a few seconds from time to time. Today, he listened carefully. It was not that there were no birds chirping, but the frequency was greatly reduced. It was far different from the frequency of the background sound when he first entered the forest, and it was not as good as two days ago.

    The herd of deer still followed behind themfortably. They were used to this kind of movement and felt very safe.

    However, the spotted owl on top of the backpack seemed to be a little uneasy today. It frequently changed its legs to stand, sometimes using its left w to support its body, and sometimes shifting its center of gravity to its right w, as if ... It was ready to fly at any time. However, it was daytime now, and it was not its usual time to move.

    Since entering the forest, famous, who had been acting as the vanguard, was finally a little more rxed today. As one of the snow lion¡¯s guards, it just had to wander around and protect the nearby area in secret, so it had a lot of free time.

    Anyone who had yed mmorpgs before would know that in arge-scale boss battle, the healers would have the toughest time. They would always keep an eye on their teammates ¡®health bars, and even after the boss battle, they would not know what the boss looked like.

    The same was true for famous. In the past few days, it had been focusing on theplicated smells around it. It had lowered its head a little above the ground to carefully smell and analyze suspicious smells. It could only see a small area of the ground and had no time to appreciate the overall view of the forest. Today, it could finally straighten its neck and look around.

    As it walked through a small clearing in the forest, it raised its head and saw that the sky looked a little strange. It could not help but be stunned.

    Today was still cloudy and dry, the best weather for hiking. Zhang Zian and the other Elfins were used to it. Besides, the tall trees covered the sky, and they often couldn¡¯t see the sky when they looked up.

    ¡°Famous, What are you looking at?¡±

    Old time tea was hiding in a tree on the edge of the open space. Seeing famous¡¯s strange behavior, it jumped down from the tree and ran back to ask.

    Famous shook its head, looked to the East, and then to the West, and said,¡±¡±Old time tea, look at those two clouds. They look interesting. Don¡¯t they look like two people?¡±

    ¡°Oh? Famous, you¡¯re really in the mood ...¡±

    Old time teaughed and looked up indifferently, but it was also surprised. It couldn¡¯t help but sigh,¡±¡±You don¡¯t say, they really do look like two different people ...¡±

    Zhang Zian saw that the two of them had stopped, so he walked over to check on the situation. Old time tea pointed to the sky and told them about famous¡¯s discovery as an interesting story.

    He also looked up and saw arge cloud gathering in the East and the West. The clouds had a head, legs, hands, and a body. The two clouds were simr but different. They looked like two people in long robes, each taking a side. From their postures and movements, the atmosphere between the two was quite heavy.

    What was even more amazing was that there was a breeze in the forest today. The wind in the sky should be stronger. Small clouds gathered and scattered when the wind blew, but these tworge clouds seemed to be unaffected by the wind. No matter how the wind blew, they only moved their positions as a whole, but they would not be blown away.

    It was like in a kung fu film, where two top martial arts experts were circling each other, looking for each other¡¯s ws. They didn¡¯t make a move, but once they did, it would be earth-shattering.

 Chapter 1558 - The Guardian of nature

    <h4>Chapter 1558: The Guardian of nature</h4>

    <b>?</b>

    Zhang Zian admitted that the two clouds in the sky were very interesting. If he was free, he would be willing to quietly watch the flowers bloom and fall in front of the courtyard, and leisurely watch the clouds in the sky ... But unfortunately, the road ahead was still long, and he had to rely on his two feet to walk.

    What was worrying was that, after he checked the supplies this morning, there was not much left, mainly because Fernando had eaten a day¡¯s worth of food. If he did not reach the target, the return journey would not be toofortable. Other than taking the shortest route to leave the forest and not going back the way he came, he would probably have to replenish his food with local materials.

    The nearest road might not be the best choice. No one knew if there was a cliff or a Rapid River blocking the way, so they had to take a long detour. Turning back the original way was the most secure choice.

    Fortunately, the forest was not as barren as the desert. As long as he was willing to think of a way, he would not starve to death in the forest.

    The other Elfins had already gone far away. He called famous and old time tea to follow them.

    Snowy Li was not used to trekking in the forest. It keptining about the dead branches sticking to its stomach and the muddy leaves dirtying its body ... As it walked, it suddenly stopped and looked forward in confusion.

    Zhang Zian raised his binocrs and saw something furry lying in the grass in front of him. If he was not mistaken, it was another dead cat.

    Snowy Li had not experienced what had happened yesterday. It squinted its eyes for a while, and its instinct told it that it was a ... Female cat?

    Speaking of the female cat, snowy Li got excited. Seeing the cat lying in the grass, it didn¡¯t think about how there were cats in the forest, and ran over with its short legs.

    ¡°Meow meow meow? It¡¯s actually a dead one?¡±

    As it got closer, snowy Li was surprised. There were two obvious holes on the neck of the female cat. It had died long ago, and the grass under it was stained red with blood.

    ¡°Don¡¯t go near it! And don¡¯t touch it!¡± Zhang Zian quickly caught up from behind and reminded him.

    Snowy Li rolled its eyes at him. I¡¯m different from you, I¡¯m not so hungry that I¡¯d have thoughts about corpses!¡±

    Zhang Zian: ¡°...¡± This guy¡¯s mouth is really poisonous. Fortunately, it¡¯s a cat. If it was a woman, it would probably make countless otakus heartbroken.

    Old time tea could see everything clearly from the tree, and it said in a deep voice,¡±¡±Zian, there¡¯s more than one corpse.¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned for a moment. He made a gesture to the elves who had not arrived yet, indicating that everyone should be on guard. Then, he took a few steps forward and was suddenly stunned by the scene in front of him.

    In front of him, there was a small open space. There were more than a dozen dead cats lying on the ground. They were all motionless and had lost their vitality. He couldn¡¯t see clearly from the distance, but there were bite marks on the necks of the corpses nearby.

    The cats he had met yesterday had all struggled to run to other ces after being bitten before dying. However, the cats here all seemed to have been bitten very badly and died soon after being bitten.

    Zhang Zian looked at the foreheads of the cats, and all of them had M-shaped lines. This hadpletely ruled out the possibility of a coincidence.

    ¡°Damn it! Who did this? You better not let me catch the murderer, or I won¡¯t let him off!¡± dimir was furious.

    This was a massacre that was shocking to the eyes.

    Fina¡¯s face was extremely cold, but her lips were tightly shut and she said nothing.

    Old time tea sighed,¡±what a sin!¡± Who did these cats offend that they would be killed ...¡±

    Usually, when something like this happened, Richard would always cleverly shut up and keep a low profile to prevent trouble froming out of his mouth, especially when it was rted to cats, such as the previous cat abuse incident. It liked to joke, but it also knew that it had to consider the asion.

    However, this time, Richard expressed his opinion, which was a rare sight, and it was a tit-for-tat opinion.

    ¡°Only the lives of cats are worth money, but the lives of birds are not? In the face of life and death, everyone was equal, right? Birds also have Bird rights ... Could it be that as a bird, you deserve to die?¡±

    Richard¡¯s voice was not loud, and he seemed a little guilty, but his pronouncing words were clear enough for everyone present to hear him. It knew that saying these words when the cat elves were angry was tantamount to adding fuel to the fire, but if it yed dumb and didn¡¯t say it, who would fight for the right to live for birds?

    The other Elfins quieted down at once and focused their eyes on Richard, not knowing what he meant.

    Zhang Zian squatted down next to the nearest dead cat. He had just noticed that there seemed to be something in the cat¡¯s mouth, but he had only noticed the lines on its forehead. At this time, he found two thin branches and forcibly pried open its mouth.

    A few bloody feathers and a bloodied bird leg fell out of its throat.

    The Elfins who had been indignant just now suddenly didn¡¯t know what to say.

    Zhang Zian found a few more dead cats and pried open their mouths. At least half of their mouths had the remains of birds and other small animals, but most of them were birds.

    So that was how it was ...

    No wonder the chirping of the birds in the forest was getting less and less, and today, it was almostpletely inaudible ...

    So many cats were brought into the forest. What did they eat every day? The answer was obvious.

    Cats had always been famous for killing small animals. It was estimated that every year, there were billions of birds killed by domestic cats and stray cats, and tens of billions of smallnd animals were killed.

    Most of the birds in the city weremon birds. People would at most feel sympathy for them if they were killed. People would turn a blind eye to it out of their love for cats. However, in this primeval forest Park protected by the state, there were many birds that were endangered and birds that had not been discovered by humans, such as the spotted owl on the backpack. They were reduced to food for the cats.

    The only native cats in this forest were the rare North American Mountain Cats and mountain lions. There should not be house cats, as they did not belong here.

    Arge number of domestic cats hade to the primitive forest to kill birds and small animals. There was no doubt that it was an invasion of foreign species, which would cause a huge disaster to the ecosystem here.

    An ecological disaster might not cause any harm to humans in the short term, but one day, nature would take revenge on humans in its own unique way.

    When the Elfins saw the remains of the birds in the mouths of the silly cats, they remembered the ecosystem that Zhang Zian had often mentioned along the way. Their mood became extremelyplicated, and they suddenly didn¡¯t know how to address the beast or group of beasts that killed these cats.

    For cats, that or those beasts were undoubtedly cold and cruel murderers.

    However, to the birds and small animals in this forest, that beast or those beasts were no different from saviors.

    It all depended on whose position you stood on when you looked at the problem.

    No matter what the purpose of the beasts biting the cats to death was, to a certain extent, they were the Guardians of the primitive forest.

 Chapter 1559 - mending the lost sheep

    <h4>Chapter 1559: Chapter 1559-mending the lost sheep</h4>

    Richard had finally mustered the courage to speak up for the birds, but before he could finish, fina and the others red at him, and his courage disappeared. He quickly used Zhang Zian¡¯s head to cover his body and avoid their sight, for fear that he would be retaliated against.

    After waiting for a while, the revenge it expected did note. It then nervously stuck its head out from behind Zhang Zian¡¯s head.

    To its surprise, dimir, who had been furious just now, had calmed down and said,¡±¡±Richard is right. ¡°When I was in Binhai city, I also tried to restrain stray cats from hurting small animals, at least not to hurt beneficial small animals, such as mice. Of course, we can¡¯t let go of them, and we don¡¯t have to worry about the danger of the mice going extinct, but don¡¯t go hunting for birds. Using dialectical materialism, everything is the same. If there is no ck, where is the White? if there are no mice, where is the modern house cat?¡±

    As it spoke, dimir seemed to be immersed in philosophical thinking.¡±Humans, of course, including cats, as a part of nature, can not be above nature and demand from nature without limit. Instead, they must constantly adjust their rtionship with nature, make it harmonious and unified, and meet their own needs under this premise.¡±

    It nced at the dead cats with regret, but they could no longer hear its philosophy.

    Zhang Zian felt that these words were familiar, as if he had returned to the fear of being ruled by political textbooks in high school.

    Old time tea nodded slightly and reflected in its heart. Even it had almost failed to think it through just now. It now had a new understanding of justice and righteousness. Perhaps there was no absolute justice in this world, only rtive justice. It depended on whose perspective one was standing on.

    Fina sighed.¡±I¡¯ll be fair.¡±

    Zhang Zian instinctively wanted to say,¡±when have you ever been fair? However, he swallowed his words after being red at by it.

    ¡°These birds are innocent. It¡¯s not the cats ¡®fault, nor is it the beast that killed these cats. It¡¯s the person who brought these cats into the forest.¡± Fina said.

    Zhang Zian was surprised to hear that. This guy was really fair, and he was also very skilled at pushing the me.

    Fina seemed to know what he was mumbling in his heart. She nced at him and said,¡±I have always been fair in Public Affairs. Right is right, wrong is wrong. Otherwise, how can I convince the public?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty is wise!¡± Although snowy Li didn¡¯t understand, it didn¡¯t miss the opportunity to tter him.

    ¡°Your Majesty is wise! Your Majesty, please enjoy your immortal blessings and longevity!¡± Richard was a step toote. He regretted it, but it was better to bete than never.

    Did you see that? in ancient times, these two would definitely be able to be first-rank high officials by ttering, Zhang Zian thought.

    Although she wasining, Fina¡¯s words still made sense.

    For unreasonable animals, there was no distinction between good and evil, so they needed humans to restrain them. Whether it was domestic cats killing small animals, dogs biting people, or dogs disturbing people, in the end, it was all because humans did not y the role of discipline and restraint that they should have.

    Raising without teaching is the master¡¯s fault, and teaching without proper guidance is the master¡¯s fault.

    Although pet cats didn¡¯t have to be trained like pet dogs, as the owner, he should know where he could and couldn¡¯t take his own cat, or if he didn¡¯t want to keep it anymore and could just throw it out.

    Abandoned cats, causing the cats to be taken away by stray animal shelters, and then euthanized because no one had adopted them for a long time. Was there any essential difference from bringing the cats into the forest, letting them feed on birds and then be killed by other beasts?

    Therefore, it was unfair to use the stray animal containment Center of being irresponsible or the beasts were cruel.

    Otherwise, who would pay for the endless raising of stray cats, and who would maintain the ecological bnce of the forest from destruction?

    Wasn¡¯t the lesson from the capture and killing of wolves, which led to the proliferation of coyotes and even the invasion of the city, enough?

    Zhang Zian was not an extreme environmentalist like suspect Y, but at least he maintained the bottom line of a modern civilized person. He brought his own food into the forest, causing his backpack to be extremely heavy. Other than spraying a ck bear and burning an United States Badger for self-protection, he had never hurt any animals because of his personal desire for food.

    The precious mahogany forest didn¡¯t only belong to the United States, but also to the entire human race. Just like when you were traveling abroad, you couldn¡¯t just leave the words ¡°XX is here¡± on it just because the cultural relics were foreign. It would be a disgrace to all Chinese.

    It was the fault of whoever brought these cats into the forest.

    There were other reasons for Fina¡¯s calm restraint, but the most important reason was that it was reasonable.

    ¡°Richard is right,¡± old time tea sighed,¡±but I think that killing without teaching is torture ...¡±

    Old time tea couldn¡¯t continue, because it thought about it. They were different species, and it seemed that there was no way to teach them. Should it let a Tiger guide a group of rabbits step by step, so that the rabbits could only eat carrots and not precious herbs?

    Even if he could really teach them, by the time the rabbits understood that they couldn¡¯t be eaten, the precious herbs would have long been eaten up. The theory was correct, but it wasn¡¯t practical in reality.

    The simplest and most efficient way to expel foreign species and protect the ecology of this primitive forest was to stop killing by killing. Just like the United States Department of Agriculture killed more than 70000 coyotes and 4 million other wild animals in 2013 to protect endangered species, simr massacres were carried out every year.

    The beast¡¯s actions were exactly the same as the United States Department of Agriculture.

    Of course, there was another way, which was to find the remaining cats that were still alive and let fina lead them out of the forest. This way, they could take the overall situation into consideration and make up for the lost sheep.

    dimir was usually very reasonable, but it couldn¡¯t bear to see the cat suffer, so it was a little impulsive in its anger. But since it had calmed down, it could analyze the problem rationally.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t turn on the light, it won¡¯t light up, and you can¡¯t exin it! It¡¯s a good thing to argue, there¡¯s only a conclusion when there¡¯s argument!¡± dimir waved its paw firmly.¡±Now, we need to unify our thoughts, gather a consensus, have a clear direction, and firmly grasp the implementation. We need to find a way topletely solve this problem! I think that we should follow the principle of ¡®whoever benefits is responsible¡¯. No matter what the purpose of bringing these cats into the forest is, whoever it is must be responsible for it!¡±

    dimir was good at summarizing, just like a leader who was responsible for giving a summary speech after a meeting. He spoke in a set of words that were reasonable, far-sighted, and convincing.

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins nodded without any objection.

    How could he find this person?

    ¡°Since this is the scene of the murder,¡± famous suggested,¡±I think we should look around. Maybe we can find some clues.¡±

    The elves followed his advice and split up to search the nearby area.

 Chapter 1560 - Snowy Lionetâ€™s intuition

    <h4>Chapter 1560: Snowy Li¡¯s intuition</h4>

    The four silly cats had died of blood loss after running away yesterday. They didn¡¯t die at the scene. Perhaps the beast or the group of beasts had changed their fighting style and attacked them ruthlessly. As for whether the cats had escaped with injuries, it was hard to say.

    They were looking for clues, but it was mainly the sensitive Elfins who were looking for clues. Zhang Zian was responsible for checking the bodies of the cats one by one to see if he could find anything from the bodies.

    ¡°Phew! You scared this Grandpa to death!¡±

    After the elves dispersed, Richard stood on his shoulder and used his wings to stroke his chest.

    ¡°You¡¯re quite bold to actually say that. ¡± He teased.

    ¡°Kaka! I don¡¯t care about life and death, I¡¯ll fight if I¡¯m not convinced! However, what you did was not right. As a fellow bird, you still have to wait for this Lord to speak out. ¡± Richard criticized pretentiously.

    ¡°What? Why am I a bird?¡± He was stunned.

    ¡°Kaka! Don¡¯t they all call you a coward? You still dare to deny it?¡±

    ¡°F * ck! I¡¯ll drown anyone who dares to call me that!¡±

    Although he was joking around, his hands were still busy. He turned the silly cat¡¯s four legs with his gloves on. As expected, he found the fur of a beast in the ws. There were even some bloodstains, but he still couldn¡¯t tell what kind of beast it was.

    The weeds in the middle of the open space were ttened and crushed. Obviously, there had been a fierce battle. These cats did not sit still and wait for death. Their dynamic vision allowed them to resist even when they were faced with a muchrger beast. Relying on theirrge numbers, they caused a certain amount of damage to the enemy.

    ¡°I¡¯ve found the scent of the beast. It should be a Wolf!¡± Famous said from afar.

    ¡°Only one?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Famous nodded. When it met the gray wolf that killed the coyote, it smelled the gray wolf and remembered it.

    ¡°Then let¡¯s go and see.¡±

    After getting his approval, famous took on the task of leading the way again, following the smell left by the gray wolf into the forest.

    Snowy Li keptining and asked famous to run a little slower. It couldn¡¯t catch up with famous no matter how hard it tried.

    Yesterday, Zhang Zian thought that although the matter of the cat being bitten to death by a beast was suspicious, it was not as important as finding Peter Lee¡¯s nest to save melgen. But today, if this matter was not resolved, there might be internal conflicts among the elves, which would be even more troublesome. Unity was the greatest strength.

    The herd of deer behind him also smelled the Wolf¡¯s scent, but the wolf had disappeared in this forest for nearly a hundred years. The herd of deer felt that the scent came from some kind of ferocious beast, but they did not know what kind of ferocious beast it was. Therefore, although they were a little scared, they still continued to follow Zhang Zian.

    Famous went all the way Northwest, lowered its head to smell the wolf, and unconsciously led the team into a depression.

    This depression was located behind a low hill. It was Leeward, hot, and humid. The vegetation was extremely dense, and vines were everywhere like those from the Jurassic period. There was almost no road for passage. When they encountered overgrown vines, they had to either climb over or drill through.

    The line was forced to be drawn out.

    There were only vines around them. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t notice anything unusual, but famous felt that something was wrong. From the beginning, the team seemed to have been going in circles, and the smell formed a closed loop here.

    ¡°Meow meow meow? There¡¯s another ...¡±

    Just then, snowy Li, who was staggering behind the team, suddenly felt as if static electricity was generated on its body, as if it had seen something disgusting and had physiological disgust. This reaction often meant that a disgusting male animal was quietly approaching it, and it might even reach out its lecherous hand to touch it.

    It opened its blue eyes wide and saw a gray wolf that was muchrger than it was pouncing at it, its sharp fangs shining with a cold light.

    Snowy Li wasn¡¯t someone to be trifled with. It saw that the situation was critical, so it didn¡¯t retreat. Instead, it rolled on the ground and rolled under the gray wolf¡¯s body. When it rolled to the bottom, it stretched out one of its ws and scratched upwards. Its sharp nails were all exposed.

    ¡°Pei Pei Pei! You haven¡¯t even grown your hair yet, and you still want to take advantage of this olddy!¡±

    Fortunately, snowy Li¡¯s arms were short, and gray Wolf¡¯s hind legs were long, otherwise ... There would be another eunuch in the world.

    But even so, the inside of the gray wolf¡¯s hind leg was cut by snowy Li¡¯s fingernail. It howled in pain and suddenly became a littleme.

    Zhang Zian and the others, who were walking in front, realized that there was a situation behind them. They hurried back and immediately saw the young gray wolf trying to escape.

    Without hismand, the Elfins immediately surrounded it from all directions, preventing it from escaping.

    ¡°Snowy Li, are you okay?¡± Zhang Zian asked out of courtesy.

    ¡°Hmph, how many storms and waves have I been through? How could he possibly capsize in such a small river?¡± Snowy Li rolled its eyes and said,¡±but this guy dared to have bad intentions towards me. ording to thew, he should be castrated!¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute, don¡¯t move.¡±

    Zhang Zian put down his backpack and took out a first aid kit and an alcohol swab.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Snowy Li asked suspiciously.

    ¡°Wipe that blood-stained w of yours.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that snowy Li was like an ordinary cat. It liked to lick its paws. It didn¡¯t matter usually, but now was a critical period. It was necessary to put an end to all possibilities of being infected with prion.

    Snowy Li was not very happy, but it had heard some things about prion on the way, so it pinched its nose and asked him to wipe the wolf blood off its paws.

    Zhang Zian dug a small hole with the tip of his shoe and buried the bloodied alcohol cotton in the soil. Only then did he have the time to carefully observe the young gray wolf.

    The fur on the back of its neck and back had been torn off, revealing its flesh. Some of the wounds were bleeding, and there were even a few w marks on its face. It was obvious that it had been injured in the fight with the cats. These were all small injuries that did not affect its movement, but the scratch from the snowy Li was a little harsh.

    After being surrounded by the Elfins, it growled nervously, its eyes sweeping over the foreheads of the cat Elfins one by one, as if it had not found its target, and then its eyes fell back on snowy Li.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, we¡¯re friends. We won¡¯t hurt you. ¡± Zhang Zian spread out his hands and motioned for the Elfins to retreat a little. They didn¡¯t want to get too close to it and make it nervous.

    He tried to maintain a calm voice and convey his calm emotions to it, but he was also ready to pull out his electric gun or bear spray for self-defense.

    Although it looked like a dog, the young gray Wolf¡¯s eyes were full of wild and exuberant vitality, which was very different from domestic animals.

    At first, it wanted to run away, but no matter which direction it tried to escape in, there would always be Elfins to stop it. These Elfins were not like the cats it had attacked before, and they were not afraid of it at all.

    After several failed attempts, it finally understood that it could not escape.

 Chapter 1561 - How fragrant

    <h4>Chapter 1561: How fragrant</h4>

    At Zhang Zian¡¯s signal, the Elfins all exercised restraint and always kept a safe distance. They only stopped the gray wolf from running away, and did not further anger or scare it.

    The gray wolf¡¯s eyes and movements were filled with fear, anger, unwillingness, humiliation, despair, and other extremely negative situations. It only knew that it was surrounded, and its instinct as a beast told it that these seemingly ordinary animals were only ordinary on the surface.

    Zhang Zian had never dealt with wolves before, so he was nervous. After all, he was facing a carnivorous beast, and he did not have the dynamic vision and sensitive movements of elves. If the gray wolf really pounced on him ... He would be lying if he said he was not afraid.

    However, it was more important to stay calm and collected in such a situation. Although it sounded like metaphysics that animals could sense human emotions, it was not the case. The hormonal changes in the human body would be reflected in the exhaled air and sweat. With the sensitive sense of smell of canines, they could sense things on a deeper level.

    Although it was his first time dealing with wolves, he was very familiar with dogs, especially since he got to know little white and arge group of stray dogs under it. He hade into contact with manyrge fierce dogs. When he walked into therge group of dirty, stinky, and fierce stray dogs, he was so scared that his legs went soft. Not to mention that it was his first time feeding them and he had no experience. When it almost caused a riot among the stray dogs, if it wasn¡¯t for little White¡¯s full suppression, something might have happened.

    What was the essential difference between wolves andrge fierce dogs?

    If one had to be serious,rge fierce dogs were actually scarier than wolves, because wolves were afraid of people, butrge fierce dogs were not afraid of people. In fact, manyrge dog breeds were even trained and nurtured as guard dogs ... What was a guard dog? To put it bluntly, it was a breed of dog that specialized in dealing with humans, and the training it had undergone was to pounce and bite people.

    A Doberman might not be able to bite a wild gray wolf, but when it bit a person, it would definitely not be as cautious as a gray wolf.

    So he tried to adjust his mentality, quietly recalling the process of dealing with therge fierce dogs under little white, and constantly gave himself psychological hints that even those more dangerousrge fierce dogs did not do anything to him, let alone a Wolf that was originally afraid of people.

    The psychological cue gradually took effect. He recalled thoserge fierce dogs that looked extremely fierce. As long as he got to know them well, they were not much different from gentle breeds like Golden Retrievers. They would also roll around in front of him when they were happy, and when they ate the extra reward food, they would be as excited as children who got a game machine.

    The sweat on his forehead and body was gradually dried by the wind.

    The change in his mentality was reflected in the change in the hormones in his body. Although he could not feel the change in his hormone level, he could feel that his heartbeat was slowing down and his breathing was not so rapid. He no longer looked at the gray wolf as a dangerous beast, but as a stray dog running in the wilderness.

    On the other hand, the gray wolf noticed that the elves had no intention of attacking it. Coupled with the consumption of physical strength, it temporarily gave up its attempt to break out of the encirclement and gasped for breath.

    After it calmed down, it had the energy to feel the details of its surroundings. It didn¡¯t know about Zhang Zian¡¯s psychological changes, but the smell of hormones floating from his body made it feel that this person had eliminated his hostility towards it. It was not like the initial elimination on the surface, but the elimination from the heart.

    It turned its head to look at him, and to its surprise, he was sitting cross-legged on the ground, looking very rxed.

    Zhang Zian did sit down, because at his height, standing would give him a lot of pressure. In real life, when meeting people as tall as Yao Ming, even if Yao Ming was smiling, normal people would feel some pressure.

    Sitting down did not mean that he hadpletely rxed his guard. In fact, he had folded the tent in front of his chest as a protection, and hid a bear-proof spray between the tent and his chest. If it really pounced on him and bit him, he would not be powerless to fight back. He would put the tent into its mouth first, and then spray its eyes with the spray.

    Wanting to hurt it and wanting to protect themselves were twopletely different mentalities, and the smell of their hormones were alsopletely different. This was why one should never have the intention to hurt others, but one should always be on guard.

    Not only that, but he also gave the elves a look, indicating for them to sit down.

    The Elfins didn¡¯t know what he was thinking and felt that he was being a bit arrogant. But after being with him for so long, they knew that he wasn¡¯t a rash person. Instead, he was full of bad ideas, so they all sat down to rest.

    The scene quieted down. At first, one could still hear some panting, but then it was almostpletely silent.

    Zhang Zian deliberately avoided making eye contact with the gray wolf. He looked up at the sky for a while, and then looked into the forest in boredom.

    After a long time, the elves saw that the gray wolf didn¡¯t seem to have any intention of attacking, and they also yawned.

    The tense atmosphere disappeared.

    Even so, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what his next step was.

    He was very curious about this young gray wolf. He wanted to know why it wanted to bite those cats to death. Did someone ask it to do so?

    He wanted to live in peace with it, but he knew that it would not tell him anything through words, so he felt that what he was doing now was a waste of time. What was the point?

    Or maybe we can try to be friends?

    It was well known that dogs were domesticated by wild wolves, but unlike domestic cats, which originated from North Africa and the Middle East, the ancient people all over the world had domesticated wolves, so it should be easier to domesticate wild wolves than wild cats.

    He didn¡¯t have any extravagant hopes of taming this Wolf, as that would waste a lot of time and energy, and it was also meaningless. Even if he did, he couldn¡¯t just casually take it away ... However, it was still possible for him to make friends with it. There were many legends of people making friends with wolves in history, and there were also stories of Mister Dongguo and the wolf. All of these showed that the ancients often interacted with wild wolves, and if the wolf didn¡¯t meet, it would eat people. Although the authenticity of these legends and fables couldn¡¯t be verified, they were definitely not baseless.

    After a while, he took out an egg white bar from his backpack and ate it with relish. This thing was not only edible for humans, but it could also be used as a substitute meal for the elves. There was a little sugar but no salt in it.

    Not only did he eat it himself, but he also threw food to the elves who needed to eat, so that everyone could eat together.

    The gray wolf was a little confused by their actions, and the smell of food made it drool.

    ¡°Do you want to eat?¡±

    Zhang Zian also threw an egg white stick at it, which rolled a few times on the ground andnded in front of it.

    It nervously took two or three steps back, staring at the egg white bar as if it was some dangerous item.

    After waiting for about ten seconds, the egg white bar didn¡¯t suddenly turn into a monster that bared its fangs and brandished its ws. Instead ... It was very fragrant.

 Chapter 1562 - The call of the wilderness

    <h4>Chapter 1562: The call of the wilderness</h4>

    In fact, when Zhang Zian smelled and tasted it, there was nothing special about the egg white bar. It didn¡¯t smell good, and it didn¡¯t have any texture to it, even for modern people who had been spoiled by various exquisite foods.

    However, for a wild gray wolf, excluding the new cats, the sess rate of hunting under normal circumstances was only one in ten. It often could only eat once a week, and the prey it had caught with great difficulty could only be eaten raw. It had been used to the hard-to-gnaw bones and the hair that stuffed its teeth. When it suddenly encountered such a soft and nice smell, it could not help but smell it again and again.

    It saw that Zhang Zian and the other Elfins were eating this thing. It hesitated for a while, and finally couldn¡¯t resist the appetite in its stomach. It tried to put the egg white bar in its mouth, and almost swallowed it.

    ¡°There¡¯s also this,¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that the gray wolf was a camel. It often didn¡¯t eat for a week and ate a week¡¯s worth of food at a meal. An egg white stick was definitely not enough to satisfy its appetite, so he threw it a bag of torn beef jerky.

    The gray wolf couldn¡¯t resist the strong aroma of the beef jerky at all. It finished the beef in a few seconds without hesitation. Then it licked its mouth expectantly and stared at Zhang Zian.

    He opened another can of red braised meat. He was not even willing to eat it himself. After opening it, he drooled.

    He definitely couldn¡¯t throw an open can over, otherwise the soup and meat would spill on the ground. He shook the can at it twice and ced it on the ground half a meter in front of him, signaling it toe over and eat.

    As a canine, even Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t resist the smell of red braised meat. The gray wolf stared at the can, and after a few moments of hesitation, it finally came over and put its mouth into the can. It finished the meat in a few bites and even licked the soup clean with its tongue.

    To it, the taste of the meat was a little strange. It was different from the raw meat it often ate, but it was so soft that it felt like it would melt in its mouth.

    ¡°No,¡±

    Zhang Zian spread out his hands, indicating that even if you looked at me again, I wouldn¡¯t be able to take it out.

    Actually, he still had more, but how many cans could fill this Wolf¡¯s appetite? It was simply a bottomless pit.

    An adult gray wolf could eat 9 kilograms of meat in one meal, and could be called the king of appetites.

    The gray wolf waited for a while, but when it saw that he had no intention of taking out more food, it had to turn around and take a few steps back. But this time, it was half lying on the ground, raising its injured hind leg, and sticking its head into its crotch, licking the wound with its tongue.

    Snowy Li¡¯s cut wasn¡¯t too deep. After all, the arm was short, so it only cut the skin and didn¡¯t hurt the nerves or bones.

    People from the older generation said that saliva could disinfect, and when children were injured, they would lick their wounds. The reason was that when animals were injured, licking their wounds would heal them. In fact, there were two situations for this.

    When an animal was injured, perhaps it was an ident, or perhaps it was bitten by other animals, the wound was already very dirty. Licking it with the tongue could indeed have a positive effect, at least it could clean the wound. But if the wound was not dirty to begin with, licking it with the tongue would only have the opposite effect.

    As for people, licking their wounds was just a false rumor. It was better to wash it with running water than lick it.

    Zhang Zian took out hydrogen peroxide and bandages. As soon as he tried to get up, gray wolf immediately stood up alertly and stared at his movements.

    ¡°Help you bandage it?¡± He used the bandage to wrap around his arm a few times as a demonstration.

    Gray wolf did not seem to understand what he meant.

    Forget it. After all, it was a carnivorous beast, not a herbivore like a deer. It was too dangerous to deal with wounds. Moreover, the wound didn¡¯t look deep and had stopped bleeding. It would probably be fine even if it wasn¡¯t bandaged.

    The deer had been scratched by the bear¡¯s hook-like ws. The wound was very deep, and it would not stop bleeding if it was not bandaged.

    Speaking of deer, the herd of deer had retreated to a safe distance when the gray wolf appeared. They didn¡¯t know wolves, but their intuition told them that they were dangerous.

    This also proved that the wolves were new to the mahogany forest Park.

    Zhang Zian put the hydrogen peroxide and bandages back into his bag.

    It wasn¡¯t good to stay here all the time. He stood up and beckoned to the Elfins, ready to continue.

    The elves had always wanted to find the killer who had killed the cats. At first, they wanted to take revenge, butter, they wanted to see the killer¡¯s face. Now that they had seen it, there seemed to be nothing they could do.

    Old time tea said that killing without teaching was torture.

    Now that they had beaten the wolf up and even killed it, would it understand why it had to be beaten and killed? Of course not, so this was also abuse.

    Since they couldn¡¯tmunicate or kill, there was no point in staying.

    They had rested enough, so they nned to leave with Zhang Zian.

    The gray wolf watched their movements and stood in ce without saying anything.

    At this time, famous and gray Wolf¡¯s ears moved at the same time, as if they had heard something.

    ¡°Wolf howl!¡±

    Famous said, staring in a certain direction.

    ¡°Howe I didn¡¯t hear it?¡±

    As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Zhang Zian also felt that it was nonsense. His hearing was far less sensitive than the Elfins ¡®. He must have not heard it because he was too far away.

    Famous could hear the howls of wolves, but it couldn¡¯t understand the meaning. After all, dogs and wolves had been separated for tens of thousands of years, enough to form twopletely differentnguage systems.

    Gray wolf listened for two or three seconds, then walked in the other direction.

    Zhang Zian and famous exchanged a look, and famous nodded, meaning that it was in the direction of the wolf howl.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go and take a look. ¡±

    He waved his hand to have the Elfins follow.

    Because the gray wolf¡¯s hind leg was slightly injured, it couldn¡¯t run fast or walk on the particrly rugged road, so it wasn¡¯t too hard for Zhang Zian and the others to keep up.

    Snowy Li had been pestering fina to wipe its face.

    ¡°Zi ¡®an, I¡¯m afraid this Wolf is going to meet up with the other wolves. It doesn¡¯t seem safe to chase after it.¡± Old time tea said worriedly,¡±besides, this Wolf can¡¯t tell us what we want to know, and I don¡¯t think the other wolves can tell us either.¡±

    Why would wolves bite specific cats to death, and why they would rather starve than eat them? this was something that he and the elves could not understand.

    Zhang Zian pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked a strange question,¡±¡±I can¡¯t hear the Wolf¡¯s howls, but you can. Can you be sure that it¡¯s a real Wolf¡¯s howl?¡±

    This question stupefied the elves.

    ¡°If it¡¯s not a real Wolf¡¯s howl, then it¡¯s a fake Wolf?¡± Famous asked.

    ¡°I can¡¯t say for sure. I just think it¡¯s possible.¡±

    He exined as he walked.

    If hunters in North America wanted to kill coyotes, they first had to find coyotes, but how do they find them?

    Coyotes can use their cries tomunicate over a long distance, so hunters thought of a way to record the cries of other coyotes and then y them at the ambush spot. This often attracts coyotes, and they call this method a ¡°Coyote call.¡±

    If this method could attract coyotes, would someone use this method to attract gray wolves?

 Chapter 1563 - resurrection

    <h4>Chapter 1563: Chapter 1563-resurrection</h4>

    After listening to Zhang Zian¡¯s exnation, the Elfins felt novel and surprised. There were actually hunters who recorded the sound of coyotes to lure and kill them. The power of technology was really terrible.

    It was said that coyotes are very cunning. After a recording is used in a certain ce, the same recording will be yed again, and the Coyotes won¡¯t be fooled, so hunters have to change the recording often. In addition, the recording wasn¡¯t 100% effective because people didn¡¯t know what the recording was about. Maybe the coyote was saying that it would kill whoever came over.

    He was talking to the Elfins at the back, trying to keep his voice as low as possible. The young gray wolf in front could definitely hear him. It also knew that Zhang Zian and the others were following it, but it didn¡¯t show obvious disgust and impatience. Perhaps it felt that it had already be ... A friend of wine and meat with him.

    With the gray wolf walking in front, Zhang Zian and the others only had to follow it. They didn¡¯t pay much attention to the path. Besides, there was no path in the forest, and the same area was full of simr nts. When they walked out of the depression covered with vines and entered the forest again, he suddenly felt that the surroundings looked familiar.¡±Aren¡¯t we back to the starting point?¡±

    But the situation didn¡¯t seem right. Before he could figure out what was wrong, he heard the elves exim in unison,¡±¡±Where are the cats?¡±

    Only then did he realize that they had returned to the open space where they had set out to track the smell of the gray wolf. There should have been more than a dozen dead cats on the open space when they left, but now the open space was empty. There were only some blood stains and cat fur left on the fallen leaves, and the dead bodies were all gone.

    Zhang Zian looked around nervously. He touched the Taser gun and bear spray and said in a low voice,¡±¡±Could it be ... That it was taken away by a scavenger?¡±

    This was the most logical exnation. There were manyrge and small scavengers in the forest, including coyotes and ck bears. They would not let go of food that could be easily obtained, even if it was a corpse that had been dead for a few days.

    He knew that the ck bear and the pack of suburban wolves might be following behind him, waiting for an opportunity to take revenge. They could havee here to clean up the battlefield while he left to track the gray wolves.

    The elves were on high alert. If a ck bear or coyote had really been here, it was likely to be nearby.

    The young gray wolf stared at the open space and was also a little confused. It ran into the open space and sniffed, then looked back at Zhang Zian, and turned its head in another direction.

    Famous also sniffed around the open space, excluding vultures and other scavenger birds. If bears and coyotes had been here, they must have left a fresh smell.

    However, after sniffing it, it was stunned. It couldn¡¯t believe its own judgment and sniffed again.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, famous?¡± He noticed its abnormal behavior.

    ¡°There¡¯s no smell of coyotes and ck bears,¡± famous said in amazement.¡±It¡¯s more like ...¡±

    It was so shocked that it said after a while,¡±¡±It seems like the cats left on their own ...¡±

    Leave on his own?

    Zhang Zian and the other Elfins were also dumbfounded. The previous dozen cats were all dead, and their bodies were cold. He had examined almost every cat¡¯s body personally and saw the teeth marks and holes on their bodies. It was impossible that any cat was actually pretending to be dead or was seriously injured. Not to mention one or two cats, he was blind and didn¡¯t see it, but all the cats were like this?

    What a joke! It¡¯s like a group of Forest Cats bullying me for being old and powerless, pretending to be dead!

    Not only did he not believe it, but the other elves did not believe it either. All the elves with a keen sense of smell sniffed around the open space. From their expressions, they had reached the same conclusion as famous.

    The smell wouldn¡¯t lie. When they left, there was no new smell near the open space, so they could rule out the situation of people or animals taking the cat body away. The freshest smell was the smell of the cats leaving together.

    After eliminating all the possibilities, the only thing left that was hard to ept was the truth.

    ¡°Are those cats still alive?¡± Zhang Zian tried to find a reasonable exnation.¡±She¡¯s unconscious due to heavy injuries, or there are nts around that can cause anesthetic effects ... Although the probability of this is small, it¡¯s notpletely impossible, right?¡±

    The elves remained silent.

    Human¡¯s thought process was heavily dependent on sight, but animals could analyze it bybining their sight and smell.

    A living animal and an animal that had been dead for a long time had different chemicals in their bodies, and the smells they gave off werepletely different. The elves could tell the difference.

    The cats were indeed dead, but for some reason, they stood up again and left the open space in a dead state. The elves could even ¡°see¡± the footprints they left with the smell.

    He was simply like ... A walking corpse.

    Seeing the Elfins ¡®constipated expressions, Zhang Zian had already gotten their answer.

    ¡°Meow my a * s! This matter is really F * cking strange!¡± Even dimir, who had always dared to fight against the heavens and earth, showed a rare look of confusion.

    ¡°Squeak!¡± Pi shrank its body and hugged its little stick tightly.

    ¡°Gah? Gah? I hate horror and supernatural movies the most! ¡°No, I think I need to pee ...¡± Richard pped his wings and flew to a branch to solve his physiological problem.

    Zhang Zian imagined a dozen dead cats suddenly standing up and walking into the forest like zombies, not knowing where they were going ...

    Famous suddenly turned around.¡±The four silly cats from yesterday ...¡±

    If these dozen or so silly cats coulde back to life today, then wouldn¡¯t the four silly cats they had met yesterday be able to do the same ...

    Zhang Zian slowly shook his head.¡±I buried the four cats yesterday. You saw it. Even if they were alive, it should be difficult for them to climb out of the ground.¡±

    Yesterday, old time tea had asked him to bury the four dead cats out of kindness, and he had done so. In order to take care of the feelings of the elves, he had deliberately dug the pit deeper to prevent the bodies of the cats from being dug out and eaten by scavengers. Now, it seemed that his simple act had saved him and the elves some trouble ...

    Even if the four cats were alive, their bodies were tightly pressed down by the soil, and there was no space for them to move their joints. It was impossible for them to dig themselves out of the soil. It was like a person tied to a chair in a sitting position. His arms, body, and legs were all tied up. He could not stand up from the chair with his own strength.

    ¡°The White jade capital in the sky, twelve buildings and five cities. The Prophet touched my head and made a seal to receive nine lives ...¡±Old time tea was creeped out and sighed.¡±If I have nine lives, I¡¯d rather only live once ...¡±

    There was a zombie deer before him and a zombie cat after him. Was there a connection?

 Chapter 1564 - A dilemma

    <h4>Chapter 1564: A dilemma</h4>

    In just two days, the Elfins ¡®mood had undergone several 180-degree changes.

    In the beginning, they were indignant at the fact that so many cats had been bitten to death by a beast, and they wanted to find the killer immediately and make him pay with his life. Later, Richard was the first to discover that the existence of these cats had caused arge number of rare birds to be hunted. The other Elfins, who were sensible, also felt that the cats were in the wrong and that the killers were excusable, but they still did not have a good impression of Richard. Now, they had seen the killer¡¯s true body and the dead cat hade back to life. This ...

    Their feelings were extremelyplicated, and some of their previous inherent ideas had been subverted.

    Zhang Zian thought a little more. He was not a cat, so he was not as shocked as the elves. He did not have a keen sense of smell, so he did not have as much imagination as the elves.

    He was thinking about the connection between the zombie deer and the zombie cat. Could it be a coincidence? Of course, zombie deer was just an image of what people called it. Deer infected with prion would not be resurrected after death.

    Prion protein could infect cats, which corresponded to spongiform encephalopathy of cats. However, there was no precedent of cats being resurrected from death. If there was such a situation, the scientificmunity would have been turned upside down.

    He was still inclined to believe that the cats did note back to life like the zombies. It might be something that he and the elves did not expect. After all, they did not witness the whole process.

    ¡°Forget it. We won¡¯t be able to guess anything even if we stay here. That Wolf has already left. If we dy any longer, we¡¯ll be left behind.¡±

    He looked back in the direction that the young male wolf had left. Although the elves could follow its smell, if there was a Wolf Pack in front of them, it was better to have a familiar Wolf lead the way.

    The elves had been too shocked and were hesitant about what to do. The bold elves wanted to dig up the soil of the four cats buried yesterday to see if the four cats were alive, while the timid elves wanted to pretend that nothing had happened.

    At least, there was a problem that had been revealed. Why did the gray wolf bite the cat to death but not eat the cicadas? even in games or movies, did people eat zombie meat after killing it?

    But how did gray wolf know about this? It was probably impossible for him toprehend it on his own, so how could wild wolves have such an awareness? Wouldn¡¯t that be a demon? Even if humans specially trained a group of hounds to do this, it would probably take a lot of effort.

    It was most likely that someone had instructed the wild wolves to do this. As long as he followed this young male wolf, he might be able to find out the truth.

    The elves were convinced by him. They left the open space and re-entered the forest by following the scent of the young male wolf.

    The young male wolf was not walking very fast, and it seemed like he was waiting for them. They caught up with him in no time.

    It walked and stopped, sometimes lowering its head to sniff at the tree roots, and sometimes tilting its head to look at something.

    ¡°There¡¯s the smell of urine from other male wolves. ¡± Famous reminded in a low voice.

    In that case, the young male wolf was indeed going to meet up with the Wolf Pack. It was probably not the only Wolf that was wandering in the forest to hunt the zombie cat.

    Zhang Zian nodded. Just as he was about to respond, the Elfins with sensitive hearing suddenly seemed to hear some sound and collectively looked up behind them.

    Not only the elves, but the young male wolf and the herd of deer behind him also looked up in panic.

    At first, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t hear anything. A few secondster, a rumbling sound came from behind at a high speed, and the sound was getting louder and louder.

    He looked up and saw a helicoptering from behind through the gaps between the leaves. It was about to fly over his head. The strong wind caused by the propeller shook the canopy slightly, and the leaves and branches fell like raindrops.

    A helicopter?

    There were actually helicopters in the depths of the forest?

    He first thought of snowy, because before he entered the forest, he asked snowy for a favor. After he left the forest, he would tell her and the others that he was safe. If he didn¡¯te out, he would ask her to call the police on his behalf.

    Why did he ask her for help? She was the only one he knew who was traveling in the United States and also in California. Otherwise, he couldn¡¯t ask his friend who lived in China to call the police. The American police would definitely think it was a prank.

    Other than her, he could not think of anyone else who would call the police.

    She had already called the police?

    Was this helicopter here to rescue him?

    He was a little happy, but also a little regretful. He was happy that someone was still concerned about his safety, but regretfully that the police had been reported a little early, and he was not at the end of his rope yet.

    He touched the torch on the road through his backpack, hesitating whether to light it and ask for help.

    If he didn¡¯t light the road torch to send out a strong red light as a signal, the helicopter pilot couldn¡¯t see him on the ground through the dense branches and leaves. But if he lit the torch and the helicopter saved him, it meant that the journey was over.

    To be honest, he was very unwilling to give up, because he felt that he was getting closer and closer to the truth. He was only halfway to the truth, and if he left now, it would be tantamount to failure.

    But if he didn¡¯t light the torch, he couldn¡¯t bear to let the forest Police and Rangers spend a lot of manpower and resources to search and rescue him, even though it wasn¡¯t his money, but the money of the United States taxpayers ...

    The opportunity was fleeting, and there was not much time left for him to make a decision.

    The mahogany forest was arge park Group consisting of one national Park and three state parks. It covered arge area. Even though police Lin had narrowed the search area through the information obtained from snowy and melgen¡¯s mother, they still could not find his exact location. They could only search for him like looking for a needle in a haystack. After the helicopter flew over, it would take a long time to fly back, and it might not even fly back.

    He was hesitating, but his hands were not idle. He took out a torch from his backpack with one hand and raised the telescope hanging around his neck with the other. He did not suspect anything, but he just wanted to take a closer look.

    However, the moment his eyes fell on the helicopter through the telescope, his hand that was searching for the torch stopped.

    This ... Did not seem to be a search and rescue helicopter for the forest Police.

    Although he had never seen the helicopter used by the local Forest Police, ording tomon sense, the search and rescue helicopter was generally painted in striking colors such as red, yellow, red-white, red-yellow, and the body would also have the abbreviation of the corresponding unit.

    At the same time, when the search and rescue helicopter was carrying out a mission, the cabin door would also be in a semi-open state. The police officer sitting in the cabin would extend his head to look down at the forest below, on the left and right sides, increasing the chances of finding the victims. The pilot could not rely on himself to find the victims.

    Finally, the search and rescue helicopter would not fly very fast. After all, they were there to find someone, so they had to give the victims and police Lin enough time to react.

    However, the helicopter didn¡¯t fit any of the above criteria.

    Therefore, it was not a search and rescue helicopter.

 Chapter 1565 - The final destination

    <h4>Chapter 1565: The final destination</h4>

    Seeing that it was not a search and rescue helicopter, Zhang Zian¡¯s mood was veryplicated. It seemed that he had thought too much. It turned out that snowy had not called the police yet.

    It was neither a police helicopter nor a military helicopter. From its blue and white paint, it was just an ordinary civilian helicopter.

    What was a civilian helicopter doing deep in the forest?

    There weren¡¯t many open spacesrge enough for it tond safely. For example, the open space just now, although it was called an open space, it was onlypared to the tall and dense forest. In fact, there were many short trees and thorns.

    If it was an ordinary forest, the people in the helicopter might be able to put a rope to the ground, and then the helicopter would hover. The people in the helicopter would slide down the rope to the ground like the Special Forces. However, this method would not work in the mahogany forest because the mahogany trees were too tall, easily tens of meters or hundreds of meters. The ground could not be seen from the air, and the situation on the ground waspletely unknown. Even if the Special Forces came, they would not dare to slide down, and the rope might not be long enough.

    Therefore, if the helicopter was not here for a search and rescue mission, there must be an open space in front for it tond safely. It was likely to be a man-made take-off andnding site.

    Zhang Zian immediately thought of Peter Lee¡¯sir, and all the hair on his body stood up. If this helicopter was rted to Peter Lee, then he had really lit the road torch to send a signal. That was no different from walking into a trap!

    The helicopter flew over his head, and he saw the logo painted on the tail of the helicopter. He was stunned again. It was the English name of stars pet chain supermarket.

    What was going on? How did the helicopter of stars Corporation appear here?

    He was confused as he watched the helicopter disappear.

    What had happened in the outside world during the few days that he had been isted from the world?

    Could it be that the matter of Leshi dog food could no longer be hidden?

    He had long known that Leshi dog food was quickly upying the market with its low price and rtively good quality. The high rebates that sales representatives gave to pet store managers in private were even more effective weapons. Few people could resist this temptation. Many Alliance Stores and direct-sale stores in stars pet chain supermarket ced Leshi dog food in the most eye-catching position to sell.

    If there was no problem with this dog food, it would be fine. After all, this was how things were in the world. There were always gray hidden rules. But in fact, low prices and high quality were difficult to reconcile. The raw material of Leshi dog food was the reared deer that North American deer farms were eager to sell, and many of them might have been infected with prion.

    The extremely tenacious prion protein could still remain active after being processed into dog food. Dogs who ate a lot of Leshi dog food were likely to be infected, and some people who especially liked to eat dog meat may also be infected after eating it.

    It was not just dogs. If someone ate a cat with spongiform encephalopathy and a deer with chronic slimming disease, they could also be infected.

    The employees at the garbage station taken in by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Binhai city were probably the first batch of people to be infected.

    This was an incurable disease, and human lives were at stake. Once the matter was confirmed and exposed, the spearhead would be pointed at the domestic agents and sellers of this dog food.

    Although it was the store managers of stars pet chain store who decided to sell this dog food on their own, once the matter spread on the inte, no one would care if the chain store was authorized by the head office. It would be a fatal blow to thepany¡¯s image.

    Perhaps the higher-ups of stars pet chain supermarket had finally noticed that something was wrong, and they hade to the United States to investigate and solve the problem.

    Thinking of this, Zhang Zian felt a sense of relief. With a giant like stars pet chain supermarket interfering, it seemed that he didn¡¯t need to meddle in other people¡¯s business anymore.

    However, when he thought about it further, he vaguely felt that there were only two ways to resolve such a huge scandal. One was to hold a press conference and sincerely apologize to the public and admit his mistakes, promising to give the victim a hugepensation. The result would be thepany¡¯s image and performance taking a dive and bing the target of public criticism. The other way was to weigh the pros and cons and decide to cover up the mistake at all costs, until the day it could no longer be covered up.

    Throughout history, mostpanies had chosen thetter. After all, nopany would take the initiative to expose their mistakes.

    If stars pet chain supermarket chose thetter ... They probably didn¡¯te to the mahogany to solve the problem, but to reduce the chance of it being exposed.

    After thinking about it, he felt that he couldn¡¯t pin all his hopes on stars pet chain supermarket. He didn¡¯t need to change his n for the time being. He just needed to do what he needed to do. After leaving the forest, he would send the video to the Environmental Protection organization and The Deer Hunter Association, and then upload a copy to the video website. As for Peter Lee and the others, the FBI would deal with them.

    Theyers of canopy quickly covered the figure of the helicopter, and only the rumbling noise could be heard as it quickly flew away.

    The Grey Wolves and the deers had never seen an Air Monster that could let out such a loud roar before, and only now did they slowly calm down.

    The Elfins had just said a few words, but they were all covered by the sound of the propeller. After a while, old time tea asked again,¡±¡±Zian, that¡¯s a helicopter? Why are you here?¡±

    He told his spections to the elves.

    Old time tea nodded.¡±You¡¯re right. It¡¯s indeed necessary to guard against it. If stars pet chain supermarket thinks about it again and again and decides to collude with Peter Lee to hide this matter, it¡¯s no different from asking a Tiger for its skin.¡±

    Fortunately, it was the age of the inte. If it was 20 years back, it would be impossible for an ordinary person like him to go against a bigpany. However, the inte provided infinite possibilities. In these days, once something was uploaded to the inte, it was basically impossible to eliminate it. The officials were also paying more and more attention to the influence of the inte. It was no joke to rule the country on Weibo and Twitter.

    As long as he left the forest safely, found a ce with inte ess, and uploaded the video of the ughterhouse recorded by the drone, his mission would be more than halfpleted.

    The only questions left were melgen, Peter Lee, and the new elf.

    He looked down at his phone screen. The young male wolf seemed to be leading them in the same direction as the light. The angle was very close.

    Not only that, but that was also the direction the helicopter was flying in, which might also be where Peter Lee¡¯s nest was.

    He had a premonition that that might be the end of this journey.

    The ball of light had be weaker, and it was clear that the existence of the new elf could notst long.

    Was its power weakening, or was it in some kind of ident like Pi, and was struggling to hold on?

    The sound of the propeller hadpletely disappeared, so there was no point in guessing. Zhang Zian put away his mobile phone and asked the Elfins, especially snowy Li, to speed up and follow the young male wolf in the forest.

 Chapter 1566 - The Wolf Pack

    <h4>Chapter 1566: The Wolf Pack</h4>

    This was a very strange team, led by a young gray wolf, followed by a man, a dog, a monkey, two birds, and a few cats. There was a small herd of deer some distance behind. As for the ce further back, in the dense forest, there might be ck bears and coyotes waiting for an opportunity to retaliate.

    Such a huge team trekked through the dense jungle like a drop of water in the sea. Even if they flew directly above in a helicopter, they could not see any signs of existence.

    After walking for an hour or two, famous ran back to Zhang Zian and whispered,¡±¡±There¡¯s the smell of other wolves, cats ... And humans, but they¡¯re not recent. ¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded, signaling the Elfins to be more alert. The wolves were right in front of them, and it was impossible to tell if they were friends or enemies.

    He took a few steps back, stopped a deer, and pointed to the side, telling them to stop there and not move forward. The deer was still a little unhappy until he hid his backpack in a tree hole next to him, indicating that he woulde back. The deer then led the herd into rest mode and lowered their heads to gnaw on grass, leaves, and wild fruits.

    If the wolves in this forest had not disappeared for nearly a hundred years, the deers would not have been able to follow him all this time. No matter how much they liked to lick the salt and trust him, it was impossible. They had already forgotten how dangerous the wolves were. It was like sending sheep into the wolves ¡®mouth.

    The young gray wolf seemed to be eager to reunite with his family. Despite the pain from the wound on his back leg, which was still scratched by snowy Li, he quickened his pace. Zhang Zian, who was light and simple, followed closely with the Elfins.

    After walking for a while, they could not urately judge the distance in the forest. The front suddenly opened up. The trees had temporarily disappeared, and what appeared in front of them was a low hill made of rocks.

    Several wolves were wandering among the rocks. There were about ten of them, including the young gray wolves, including both adult and young wolves.

    A Wolf Pack was usually made up of arge family, including the alpha couple, their siblings, and their children. For example, the young gray wolf might be the child of the alpha couple, who had grown up but had not yet separated from the pack.

    Strictly speaking, the Wolf Pack was not ruled by a male Alpha Wolf, but by a couple. The male Alpha Wolf managed the male wolf, and the female Alpha Wolf managed the female Wolf. They also raised the young wolves, just like the Emperor and the Empress, who were in charge of the outside and the inside.

    Zhang Zian quickly recognized the alpha Wolf. It was a strong adult male wolf standing on a stone, and its spouse was taking care of three puppy-like young wolves. The other wolves were chasing and ying in the open space in front of the stones. However, their ying was very dangerous to humans. It was like they were seriously biting each other. Their fur was flying everywhere, and sometimes they even bit and bled.

    The male wolf that had once picked up a coyote was also among them. It might be the brother of the alpha.

    The sudden appearance of Zhang Zian and the elves made the wolves panic. Wolves were the top carnivores in the forest, and even ck bears did not dare to provoke them easily. However, mountain lions could only stay away from them, let alone coyotes. Their only natural enemy was humans.

    The humans had once exterminated the gray wolves on thisnd. Now that they had returned, if the humans wanted to, they could exterminate them again.

    What made the wolves even angrier was that there was actually a traitor among them. It was the young male wolf who led people into the house and brought dangerous humans to them.

    The alpha Wolf jumped down from the stone and roared at the young male wolf a few times, but it didn¡¯t have time to reprimand it further. It just bared its fangs at Zhang Zian and red at him.

    The other wolves, except for the ignorant young wolves, all rushed over and surrounded Zhang Zian and the others in a fan shape. As long as the alpha Wolf gave the order, or he did something extreme to stimte them, they would all rush forward.

    The young male wolf whimpered in grievance, hesitating at the side and looking very confused.

    There was a strict hierarchy within the canine groups of wolves and dogs. The alpha couple, as the highest level, was called alpha, and the second level was beta, which was equivalent to middle management. The rest were Omega, who acted as underlings.

    The adult male wolf that bit a coyote and took it away should be betta, and this young male wolf should be Omega.

    Bing either a beta or an Omega did not depend on the Wolf¡¯s size, but on the Wolf¡¯s age and character. The gentle Wolf that had just reached adulthood would be Omega. When it was a few years older and had honed its superb hunting skills, it would be as ferocious as other wolves. It would challenge beta wolves, and after winning, it would be beta.

    Of course, Omega wolves would sometimes leave their pack and be lone wolves. They would either establish their own family or die alone while wandering.

    The sess rate of a Wolf Pack hunting was only one in ten, and the sess rate of a lone wolf hunting on its own was even lower. Without the protection of the Wolf Pack, a lone wolf would face a great survival crisis. Most of the time, they would die in a foreignnd, or they would attack the domestic animals of humans because they were too hungry. That would be even more suicidal.

    The previous beta wolf took advantage of the confrontation between the Coyotes and Zhang Zian to sessfully sneak attack and bite a coyote to death, and calmly retreated with its prey under the siege of three or four coyotes. Its rich hunting skills could be seen. In the face of Zhang Zian¡¯s food attack, the young male wolf easily let down his guard, because he was a young and gentle Omega Wolf.

    If the two were reversed, the young male wolf would probably have to give up the prey in his hands and escape in a hurry, while the adult male wolf would probably fight to the death if it was surrounded by elves.

    Seeing this situation, Zhang Zian knew that things were not good. He had hoped that the young male wolf would introduce his fair-weather friend to the Wolf Pack, but his status in the Wolf Pack was too low. In the face of the powerful alpha wolves and beta wolves, he couldn¡¯t even interrupt.

    If they had met in another ce, the Wolf Pack¡¯s reaction might not have been so intense, but most mammals were protective of their Cubs, and the Wolf Pack had a strong sense of territory. They might have thought that he was going to hurt the three young wolves, and in order to protect their Cubs, they would definitely fight to the death.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t dare to make any big movements, and he didn¡¯t dare to try to lure the wolves with something like beef jerky. He guessed that it wouldn¡¯t be of any use either, as that little bit of beef jerky wasn¡¯t even enough to fill the gaps between the wolves ¡®teeth.

    He quietly held the bear-proof spray. If the wolves rushed over, he would spray it in a circle in front of him in a curved manner to scare them off and then take the opportunity to escape.

    The elves were also on high alert. In order to save his own life, Richard flew to the branch on his own.

    He secretly made a gesture to the elves, asking them to slowly retreat.

    At this moment, the wolves seemed to have heard something and looked back in unison. Their eyes were fixed on the highest point of the pile of rocks, but there was nothing there.

 Chapter 1567 - Virtue

    <h4>Chapter 1567: Virtue</h4>

    When the wolves turned around, Zhang Zian knew that things had taken a turn for the better. He thought it would be like that time at the ughterhouse, when the ck bear behind them suddenly appeared to take revenge. Then he might be able to see the exciting scene of the wolves fighting the ck bear.

    However, when he followed the wolves ¡®line of sight, the ck bear that he had been expecting did not appear. He did not know what they were looking at, but he could feel that the tense atmosphere had eased.

    When facing that direction, the alpha Wolf, who should have upied the Supreme position in the Wolf Pack, showed a surprisingly humble posture. It tucked its tail between its legs, as if it was ready to listen to the instructions of a Wolf of a higher position.

    If the alpha Wolf was like this, then the other wolves were even more humble.

    How was this possible? Other than alpha, betta, and Omega, could there be other levels of wolves?

    Zhang Zian was still wondering when famous pricked up its ears and said,¡±¡±There¡¯s movement over there, and there¡¯s the smell of a new Wolfing over. ¡±

    But he still didn¡¯t see anything.

    Suddenly, he remembered the ball of light that represented the elfin. Thest time he looked at his phone, he seemed to be very close to it. Could it be ...

    He quickly took out his phone and was surprised to see that his position hadpletely coincided with the shing ball of light.

    Switching to the capture interface, he nced in that direction, slowly raised his phone, and pointed the camera in that direction.

    An invisible gray wolf appeared on the screen and was also staring at him.

    [Game hint: target confirmed: the devout Wolf!]

    The new elf was actually a Wolf?

    He was stunned. Logically speaking, this game should only be able to capture pets, but if he had to be serious, there was no essential difference between wolves and dogs. Wolves had been tamed into dogs for about 10000 years, and 10000 years was only a short moment in the history of evolution. It was not enough to form two kinds of animals. Last time in the desert, he could capture an fennec fox, so it seemed reasonable for wolves to be ssified as pets.

    To his surprise, the wolf that appeared in the depths of the mahogany forest in the United States was not a North American gray wolf.

    It was a size smaller than thergest wild canine, the North American gray wolf, and was the mostmon Eurasian gray wolf in Eurasian continent.

    The Eurasian continent was toorge, and the Eurasian gray wolf included many subspecies. To be specific, this was a European gray wolf. Its characteristic was the hair on its face. There was a circle of white hair around its mouth, shaped like a mask. It did not look like a wolf, but more like a dog like a Husky or skan dog.

    On the other hand, no matter what color their fur was, the fur color on the North American Wolves ¡®faces was the same. There were no facial features.

    As long as he remembered this characteristic, he would not mix up the European gray wolf with the North American gray wolf.

    The fur on the Wolf¡¯s back was ck, and the fur on its chest and abdomen was close to the color of cream.

    Although it was smaller than the North American gray wolves around it, it was not its size that determined its position in the Wolf Pack, but its age and character. Although that was the case, it did not look as fierce as the alpha Wolf. Due to the existence of the mask, it was more like a gentle dog than the wolves, and so was its eyes.

    As a leader, it was not as arrogant as fina, nor was it as passionate as dimir, who always gave an impassioned speech. It was also not like little white, who would fly into a rage at any moment. Its eyes and temperament were like ... A monk or a simr profession. And it was not an ordinary monk, but the kind of monk who put down the butcher¡¯s knife and became a Buddha immediately, full of the calmness after washing away the lead.

    Perhaps, the reason why the pack of wolves, including the alpha, bowed to it was because they could feel its past of killing in all directions with a butcher¡¯s knife in its hand. Although it had put down the butcher¡¯s knife now, it did not mean that the past did not exist. The bloody past had be part of its temperament and would remain on it forever.

    This was just like humans. Although some people were big and strong, wearing big gold chains with Peppa prints, and had shiny green hair, they could only scare unarmed ordinary people. In front of people who had really experienced big scenes or even killed people, their aura was suppressed and they could not lift their heads.

    The young male wolf trotted to the bottom of the rocks where he was standing. He rolled on the ground and showed his belly, showing his absolute obedience. Then he whimpered in a low voice, as if he wasining.

    It listened to the young male Wolf¡¯s voice and looked at Zhang Zian calmly. Then its eyes lit up, as if it had seen something interesting in him.

    ¡°You¡¯re here. ¡± It suddenly said.

    Zhang Zian was stunned and looked around. There was no one else around, so these words were probably meant for him.

    ¡°You knew I wasing?¡± He asked in confusion, pointing at his own nose.

    It looked up at the sky and said leisurely,¡±¡±Yes, I¡¯ve received a divine revtion,¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    He didn¡¯t believe in God, so even if a God really gave a divine revtion, it probably had nothing to do with him.

    ¡°You don¡¯t believe me?¡± Its gaze fell back on him.

    ¡°Ahem ... Well ...¡± He was too embarrassed to say that he didn¡¯t believe it, so he could only rub the back of his head andugh.

    ¡°The Saint told me that a young man would enter the forest and meet me.¡± It said seriously,¡±this young man has many virtues that he appreciates. He told me to treat this young man well. Is this young man you?¡±

    ¡°Kaka! Virtue? And many virtues?¡±

    Without waiting for Zhang Zian to respond, Richard saw that the crisis had been partially resolved, and could not help but stand on the branch and interrupt,¡±this idiot is always unkind and greedy for help. What virtue can he have?¡±

    ¡°Meow meow meow! And all day long, he was still flirting! You¡¯re running a train with your mouth!¡± Snowy Li also chimed in,¡±you¡¯re trying to sow discord between Your Majesty and me!¡±

    ¡°Since when did I steal money? I didn¡¯t even pick up a wallet!¡±

    Although Zhang Zian didn¡¯t think he had anymendable virtues, it was too embarrassing to be exposed in public. He waved his fist at Richard and snowy Li threateningly, but Richard, who was standing on a high branch, was not threatened by him. Instead, it stuck out its butt and pulled a pile of bird poop at him, while snowy Li bared its fangs and ws at him.

    The grey wolf elf grinned slightly, as if he was smiling, and said,¡±¡±Even if you don¡¯t like to help others, at least you¡¯ve helped others, right? In addition to the virtue of helping others, the Saint also told me that in the modern society full of desires, you should not associate yourself with the secr world, and stick to the virtue of poverty and chastity. Is that right?¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    ¡± Snowy Liughed and rolled on the ground like a snowball.

    ¡°CAW CAW CAW CAW CAW CAW!¡± Richardughed so hard that he lost his grip on the branch and fell into the grass on the ground. He shouted,¡±¡±That¡¯s right! It¡¯s him! He¡¯s the poor Virgin you were talking about!¡±

 Chapter 1568 - -Wolf Brothers

    <h4>Chapter 1568: Chapter 1568-Wolf Brothers</h4>

    If he really had to say it, Zhang Zian felt that he still had some small virtues, such as frugality, frugality, and frugality. Why did he have to mention something that was not suitable to be said in public?

    Also, Richard¡¯sughter was so exaggerated that he wanted to shut him up with a bear spray.

    Fortunately, there was no one else nearby, or it would be too embarrassing.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know which God this European grey wolf elf was referring to, and which Saint it was referring to. However, since there were two codes of conduct that favored chastity and poverty, it must be the rtively ... Orthodox God, not some strange God that advocated sexual intercourse and dual cultivation. Although he didn¡¯t dislike that kind of God, if Qianqian could send girls if she believed in it, he would be willing to be the first to raise his hand and sign up.

    The gray wolf looked at snowy Li and Richard, who wereughing together, as if he did not understand what they wereughing about. He looked down at the spotted owl on his shoulder and said,¡±¡±Other than that, I¡¯ve also heard that you¡¯re willing to live in harmony with nature and have never hurt any animals in the forest because of your personal desires.¡±

    This was true, but he didn¡¯t feel that he had done anything great. It was just something that modern people should do.

    It was a little embarrassed to praise him, and also a little ... Indescribable awkwardness, because if it was not speaking without thinking, it meant that everything he had done since he entered the forest had been seen by some God or some people in the sky. Fortunately, he did not bring Xiao Ying in.

    From the characteristics it mentioned, it didn¡¯t seem to have recognized the wrong person. After all, there were very few people in this primitive forest who could meet those characteristics at the same time ... As for Peter Lee and his people, it was even more impossible to meet them.

    ¡°Ahem!¡± He saw that it seemed to want to continue praising him, so he quickly coughed and interrupted,¡±¡±Wait a minute! I¡¯ll say this first, are you misunderstanding something? I don¡¯t believe in any God, and I don¡¯t have any faith. I don¡¯t know why the God and Saint you mentioned told you those things, but ...¡±

    He was trying to tactfully point out that if it wanted to sell him the things it believed in, it would be disappointed. Although it looked like a very strong elf, he would not believe in something against his will to win its favor. This was a matter of position. Lies could onlyst for a while, not forever.

    It shook its head.¡±It doesn¡¯t matter what you believe or not.¡±

    He was stunned. From what it said, he thought it was rted to some God, but it didn¡¯t seem so.

    It looked at the clouds in the sky and said in a sad voice,¡±¡±I¡¯ve hurt many people and livestock, so it¡¯s normal for me to be beaten to death, but...He didn¡¯t return an eye for an eye, an eye for an eye. He didn¡¯t see me as an unforgivable Wolf, but a brother. He patiently talked to me, and I also treated him as a brother...As for the others, they admired me because of my rtionship with him, and even erected a statue of me. That¡¯s their thoughts, and it has nothing to do with me.¡±

    Its words resonated with dimir.

    dimir was always worshipped by stray cats, but it didn¡¯t want to be worshipped like that, as long as they agreed with its ideas.

    It seemed that this Wolf elf was the same. It didn¡¯t want to be worshipped by humans. It was with the man it mentioned because it agreed with his ideas and was moved by his ideas. It was willing to turn over a new leaf and bid farewell to its cruel past.

    ¡°Faith is not a narrow thing. As long as you are kind, whether you believe it or not, whether you are a man or a Wolf, you will be blessed by the gods.¡±

    Zhang Zian remembered that this elfin seemed to have first appeared in Grace Cathedral, and its theory seemed to be as open and inclusive as Grace Cathedral, which was something that many religious people could not do. Perhaps it was because it was a Wolf, so it could see through some things better than humans, just like Xiao Feng in old Jin¡¯S Pen. His experience as a foreign race had given him a deeper understanding of the war between han and Yi.

    ¡°The person you¡¯re talking about, why did he specifically mention me to you?¡± Zhang Zian asked. He was just an ordinary person. Even if he had the virtues it mentioned, there were many people who had simr virtues. It was said that if one adhered to the virtues until the age of 30, they could even fire big fireballs ...

    ¡°Because your ideals are very simr to ours, because this forest needs your help before it ispletely tainted.¡± It stopped smiling and said seriously.

    ¡°You mean ... Peter Lee and his people?¡± He finally asked the question that had been bothering him for a long time,¡±¡±Those cats ... Were you the one who ordered the wolves to kill them?¡± he asked.

    This was the question that the elves were most concerned about, and they all perked up their ears to listen.

    ¡°Yes, I am.¡± It nodded without thinking and looked down at the young gray wolf, saying regretfully,¡±¡±I¡¯ve already heard that these children¡¯s hunting skills aren¡¯t high enough, making the problem that should have been solved in one go a little moreplicated ...¡±

    Before he finished his words, he suddenly moved from the top of the pile of rocks. He descended from the sky at lightning speed and pounced on the young gray wolf. One of his front paws pressed on the young gray Wolf¡¯s body, revealing his sharp fangs and biting down.

    The young gray wolf was caught off guard and didn¡¯t have time to Dodge, nor did he dare to Dodge.

    Zhang Zian, the Elfins, and the Wolf Pack were all stunned. They didn¡¯t know why it suddenly attacked itspanion.

    The grey wolf elf¡¯s wide-open mouth bit the young Grey Wolf¡¯s neck from the back, but it didn¡¯t bite. Its teeth only touched the young Grey Wolf¡¯s body lightly, then it immediately let go and stepped back, allowing the young Grey Wolf to stand up.

    ¡°If the children did not suffocate the cats by biting their windpipes or bite their blood vessels to cause them to bleed to death, but instead broke the necks of the cats like this, the cats would not be able to stand up after death.¡± It indifferently exined the terrifying truth.

    The young male wolf and the Wolf Pack finally understood that it was demonstrating its superb hunting skills, and they all listened respectfully.

    Due to the massacre of wolves by humans in modern times, wolves were almost extinct, and the inheritance of hunting skills had long been interrupted.

    Zhang Zian took a deep breath. The Elfins were also experts among the Elfins. They could see a lot of things from this pounce and bite. For example, its scalpel-like sharp teeth fell between the young male Wolf¡¯s cervical vertebrae. This way, it could break the cervical vertebra in the most effortless way without breaking the teeth.

    Although it was only a glimpse, it was enough for him and the elves to feel how brutal it was before itid down its butcher¡¯s knife.

    It used to be a real forest killer, but fortunately, it had turned over a new leaf. Otherwise, Zhang Zian would rather encounter a cougar or a ck bear than the Wolf Pack it led.

 Chapter 1569 - joining hands

    <h4>Chapter 1569: Chapter 1569-joining hands</h4>

    In the eyes of this Grey Wolf elf, the hunting skills of modern wolves were so poor that it made it feel depressed. No wonder these wolves were always hungry. If it was in its era, such poor skills would only catch rabbits ...

    If it had enough time, it was willing to teach them all its skills so that they could live and work in the forest, instead of running out of the forest to hurt people and livestock driven by hunger.

    However ... It didn¡¯t have much time left. There were more urgent matters to be resolved.

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins were still shocked by its thunderous strike. Even for old time tea, fina, and famous, who had richbat experience, there was nothing wrong with the strike.

    Old time tea¡¯s skills were inspired by human martial arts. Fina was more of amander than a soldier. Famous was more of a fighter who used its strong physical ability.

    The whole process of the grey wolf elf pouncing and biting was simple, natural, hidden, and efficient. There were no unnecessary movements. It was trained in countless fights and killings. It was not very elegant, but it was perfect for a killer. Zhang Zian felt a chill at the back of his neck.

    It was said among the China people that when a Wolf attacked a person, it always liked to quietly follow behind the person. Then, it would stand up and ce its two front paws on the person¡¯s shoulder from behind. The person would think that it was an acquaintance greeting and instinctively turn around, but the wolf would bite their throat.

    In fact, based on pressure, the teeth of wolves could break most bones, not to mention the fragile cervical spine of humans. There was no need to wait for people to turn back, so legends were just legends.

    When wolves attacked people, they usually did not put their hands on people¡¯s shoulders from behind. However, Tigers liked to do so. When hunting buffaloes, they would jump on the back of the Buffaloes and bite the neck of the Buffaloes to avoid being hurt by the dangerous horns. It was also for the same reason that ancient Indians would wear a mask behind their heads, so that Tigers could not tell which side was the front of a person.

    In addition, although the bite force of wolves was not as strong as that of tigers and lions, the weight of tigers and lions was far greater than that of wolves. If the bite force was calcted ording to the ratio of bite force to weight, the bite force of wolves was one of the best amongrge beasts.

    The threat of the Wolf Pack to Zhang Zian had been lifted, and they were practicing the skills taught to them by the wolf elf with great interest.

    Zhang Zian was not done with his questions. He knew what was going on, but he didn¡¯t know why, so he asked again,¡±¡±Why? Why are you targeting those cats?¡±

    The grey wolf elf¡¯s eyes fell on Fina¡¯s forehead, and then on snowy Li¡¯s forehead. Zhang Zian¡¯s graffiti on snowy Li¡¯s forehead could only fool ordinary wolves, but not it. It could tell at a nce that it was a drawing.

    ¡°Because those cats were driven into the forest by people and killed countless small animals, even if they were not hungry ... Also, they spread an evil gue in the forest.¡± It replied.

    Canines would sometimes engage in meaningless killing, and felines were no exception. Outside of human vision, a gentle domestic cat could also be a cold animal killer.

    ¡°An evil gue?¡± He asked despite knowing the answer.

    ¡°You know, I¡¯ve encountered it before. It¡¯s the kind of gue that makes deer, cats, wolves, and coyotes like walking Dead.¡±

    He nodded. It seemed like he couldn¡¯t hide anything from it.

    ¡°Who brought those cats in?¡± He asked again.

    The gray wolf was silent, looking up at the moving clouds in the sky.

    After a moment, it said pointedly,¡±¡±I won¡¯t force you to believe in anything, but some people will. They brought in many cats with special marks on their foreheads. One of them is extremely powerful and has extraordinarybat power. It can evenmand other cats to fight for it. With the protection of other humans, it has nothing to fear. I have a feeling that they are plotting some crazy n.¡±

    Fina snorted, took two steps forward, and said,¡±¡±Let me ask you, the cat with the special mark on its forehead you mentioned, is it the M-shaped mark? Something like this?¡± It pointed at snowy Li¡¯s forehead.

    The grey wolf elf gave an affirmative answer.¡±In order to prevent the situation from worsening, I can only try my best to get rid of its wings ... If this makes you feel ufortable, I apologize to you here.¡±

    It had such excellent hunting skills, but its attitude was unexpectedly low-key, which surprised fina.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need for an apology. It was this Queen¡¯s fault for not being strict. I didn¡¯t expect that in the time this Queen left the human world, there would be a cat who tried to rece this Queen. It also caused many innocent cats to be its ws and teeth, dying for it. It¡¯s really ... Can be killed but not left alive!¡± Fina said through gritted teeth, its body trembling slightly due to anger.

    With its pride, it would never allow other cats to be on the same level as it, not to mention that the cat had driven an innocent cat to be a tool of evil and lost its life. It could not tolerate it.

    Zhang Zian thought about what the grey wolf elf said and roughly guessed that there was a cat suspected to be an elf who led a group of cats into the forest and helped Peter Lee to do evil. They spread the gue in the forest, and the small animals that would not be infected with the gue were killed. If left alone, it would not take long for the forest to be a quiet Cemetery, and it would spread to the surroundings.

    It was no wonder that Peter Lee was so fearless in his anti-human behavior. He had helpers.

    ¡°There¡¯s more than one enemy. ¡± ¡°There was a steel bird hovering over the forest just now,¡± the grey wolf elf said.¡±But its body was toorge and hard, so it couldn¡¯tnd here and flew away.¡±

    Steel flying bird?

    Zhang Zian was stunned for a moment.¡±You mean the helicopter?¡±

    ¡°Probably.¡± It said, then shook its head.¡±The Saint and I don¡¯t like what¡¯s in the helicopter. Although we¡¯ve never seen it before, the smell of profit-seeking that it exudes makes us feel disgusted.¡±

    Uh ... Probably referring to the temperament of a nouveau riche? For it, who appreciated the virtue of chastity and poverty, the temperament of a nouveau riche was really out of ce.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s previous spection was not entirely correct. He thought that the helicopter was here to negotiate with Peter Lee and the others, but the grey wolf elf¡¯s words were correct. It seemed that the helicopter had other intentions.

    The forest was so big, and the open space full of rocks was not conspicuous. Why did the helicopter hover here instead of somewhere else?

    Unfortunately, there was no way for the helicopter tond here. If he wanted to see the grey wolf elf, there was no other way than to measure the forest with his feet like Zhang Zian.

    ¡°The power of evil is too great,¡± the grey wolf elf said solemnly.¡±I can¡¯t do it on my own, so I¡¯m here to ask you, young man, to live in harmony with nature. Are you willing to join me in purifying this forest?¡±

 Chapter 1570 - -not Fahai

    <h4>Chapter 1570: Chapter 1570-not Fahai</h4>

    The enemy of my enemy is my friend, this saying is not false at all.

    Since entering the mahogany forest, Zhang Zian had repeatedly felt that he was alone. Although the elves were next to him, to be honest, the help that the elves could provide was very limited. The biggest role that famous yed was nothing more than smelling. Gxy had reminded him that the bonfire was going out, and snowy Li had acted as bait. That was all. Most of the things were done by him.

    It was not the elves ¡®fault, as they were used to living in the city and not used to the forest environment. However, this Wolf elf was theplete opposite. It was a natural killer in the forest, not to mention that it led a group of North American gray wolves.

    He didn¡¯t think much about it and nodded in agreement.¡±¡±I¡¯m willing to cooperate, but I have to emphasize that I¡¯m not very poor. ¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± he said.

    The gray wolf nodded and raised a front paw, as if to shake hands.

    In order to show respect, Zhang Zian did not bend down. Instead, he squatted down to be at eye level with it, stretched out his right hand, and stacked it with its right front paw.

    At this time, through the screen of his mobile phone, he noticed that there was a faint red mark on the back of its right front paw, like a trace of healing after an injury. If it had not raised its paw to shake hands, it would have been difficult to notice it during normal activities.

    However, how did the back of the w get injured? From the looks of it, the injury was like stepping on a vertical nail, causing the entire w to be pierced by the nail.

    He tried to imagine it. If he guessed correctly, it must have been very painful when he was injured. After all, the fingers were connected to the heart.

    Then, he moved his phone and unconsciously nced at its other three paws. He was surprised to see simr scars on the other three paws.

    What was going on? Did it fall into a trap full of nails? Otherwise, how could he have suffered such injuries?

    Zhang Zian thought it was unbelievable. If it had really stepped on a trap by mistake and its four feet had been pierced by nails, it would be very difficult to survive in that situation. It would definitely fall down under the intense pain in its four feet, and then its whole body would be pierced with thousands of holes ...

    The other guess was that it might have been captured and abused by someone. The person who captured it might have wanted to take revenge, or it might have been for fun, so he deliberately tortured it by piercing its four feet with nails ... Considering the cat abuse incident in Binhai city, this guess was not entirely impossible. After all, there were perverts since ancient times.

    The gray wolf noticed his gaze but did not exin further. He put down his paw after shaking hands.

    ¡°Does your injury still hurt?¡± Zhang Zian pointed at the red marks on the back of its paws and asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s pain, but it¡¯s also glory,¡± It said meaningfully,¡±if you don¡¯t experience the same pain, how can your soul be redeemed?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand what it meant at all. It was like a monk who liked to y games.

    He had been holding the phone with one hand and looking at it. His arm was a little sore, so he decided to change his hand. But when the phone moved away from his sight, he seemed to see an incredible scene. It was impossible to see the wolf without the game Capture interface, and it was true. However, he saw a faint red mark floating in the air. When he looked down, he saw four other red marks on the ground.

    He picked up the phone again and looked at the wolf again. The four red marks were still on its paws, and the red mark that was suspended in the air was on its left rib.

    He put down the phone and it disappeared, but the red mark was still there.

    When he picked up the phone, he could see it. He could see the red mark.

    He put down the phone. He couldn¡¯t see it, but he could still see the red mark.

    It was as if the five red marks had nothing to do with its body, but were added onter.

    To give an inappropriate example, it was like the scar on the head of a monk.

    Even so, if one didn¡¯t know that it was right in front of them, it would be very difficult to see the five red marks with the naked eye. This was because the red marks were originally very small dots, and their color was very light.

    ¡°By the way, how should I address you? I¡¯m Zhang Zian. Your God must have told you already, right? Since we¡¯re working together, it¡¯s more convenient to call each other by name. ¡± He changed the topic.

    ¡°Name ...¡± It lowered its head in thought.

    It never had a name. When it hurt pedestrians and livestock outside Gubio, people called it ¡°that Wolf¡± or ¡°that damn guy¡± with hatred. When it was convinced by him and appeared in front of people again in a tamed manner, people forgave it and called it ¡°that Wolf¡± or ¡°his Wolf¡±. Although it was still ¡°that Wolf¡±, the tone was different.

    And he had always called it ¡®brother¡¯.

    ¡°Just call me Fati.¡± It said.

    ¡°Law ... Law deduction?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought to himself,¡±that¡¯s good. This Wolf is actually of the generation with the character fa. Maybe it has something to do with Fahai ...¡±

    Speaking of Fahai, he thought of the White Lady, and speaking of the White Lady, he thought of little Qing ... Of course, snakes were also pets, right? Maybe he could get the White Lady through this line, and if he got the White Lady, he could get little Qing. Buy one get one free, wouldn¡¯t it be two blooming flowers?

    Seizing the opportunity, Richard jumped onto his head and poked his scalp with its sharp ws.

    ¡°Kaka! French pushing means ¡®brother¡¯ in Latin. Looking at your eyes, I¡¯m thinking about something else. Do you need me to wake you up? It just so happens that I didn¡¯t drink much water today, and my urine smells yellow. I¡¯ll give you a free six-taste dihuang oral solution, and I guarantee that you¡¯ll be cured by the time you pee!¡±

    ¡°Get lost! I¡¯m not thinking blindly! I don¡¯t know any of that!¡±

    Zhang Zian waved his hand to drive it away. He coughed a few times, but he could not hide the disappointment in his heart.

    It had nothing to do with Fahai, but ... It was a pity that he was happy for nothing!

    Snowy Li¡¯s eyes drooped and it stared at him in disgust. Stinky men are so disgusting! Even if little green and Lady White were there, they would be digested internally, and you wouldn¡¯t even get to be suppressed! Hmph, I¡¯m an expert at catching snakes!¡±

    The grey wolf elf¡¯s divination God probably only told it some necessary things, and certainly didn¡¯t tell it about the little green and whitedy, so it was confused, not knowing what Zhang Zian and the bird and cat were struggling about.

    Zhang Zian was afraid that it would see through him and damage his image, so he quickly changed the topic and said incoherently,¡±¡±By the way, are there any snakes in the forest? No, no! I¡¯m talking about ... Thew, right? It¡¯s a good opportunity for me to get to know everyone!¡±

    Fati was still a little confused.¡±There are very few snakes in this forest. At least, I¡¯ve only seen one or two since I came here. They¡¯re not poisonous, so you don¡¯t have to worry.¡±

    After hearing that there were very few snakes here, not only was he disappointed, but snowy Li was also disappointed.

    Richard covered his face with one of his wings and could not bear to look at his embarrassed face.¡±You don¡¯t have to exin to him. This idiot doesn¡¯t care about the snake at all!¡±

    ¡°Fati, you don¡¯t understand love. Xu Xian is his cup of tea!¡± It even started singing.

 Chapter 1571 - divinity show

    <h4>Chapter 1571: Chapter 1571-divinity show</h4>

    F * ck!

    Hearing Richard¡¯s song, Zhang Zian felt that his image in front of the new elven mage was rapidly copsing.

    He picked up his walking stick and jumped up, wanting to hit it, but it had already expected it and had already flown to a higher branch, making up the story of his meeting with Xu Xian in high spirits ...

    The other elves turned their heads away, not wanting to see their daily disgraces.

    Looking at this scene, Fati recalled something that happened a long time ago.

    That person, its brother, was also like this young man. He was loved by all kinds of animals, such as frogs, turtles, pigeons, dogs, squirrels, chickens, lizards, sheep, peacocks ... All of them gathered around him and lived in harmony.

    Cats, dogs, monkeys, parrots, and owls were also gathered around this young man ... There was also the smell of deer on him, and perhaps there were other animals that were not with him.

    The most important thing was ...

    It turned to look at the young male wolf.

    He had befriended the wolf without its intervention. It was a familiar scene.

    It looked up at the human-shaped cloud in the sky above its head and gained a deeper understanding of the divine revtion. It also understood why the Saint had sent this young man into the forest and guided it to meet him. It was because the two of them were too simr.

    After a while, Zhang Zian still did not seed in taking revenge with the cane, so he had to let Richard be arrogant for a while.

    He took a few deep breaths, but he was still curious about the five red marks on Fati¡¯s body. How could these five red marks appear independently of its body?

    He wanted to ask, but he guessed that it wouldn¡¯t tell him. After all, they had just met, and they were strangers.

    However, he was certain that these five red marks were no ordinary objects. Otherwise, it would be impossible for such a phenomenon to ur.

    Pi¡¯s nameless book seemed to be an external object, but before Pi was captured, it was also in an invisible state, which meant that the nameless book was Pi¡¯s essory.

    Old time tea¡¯s bamboo hat and long robe were the same.

    The five red marks seemed to be a different situation. They did not belong to the wolf elf Fati, and of course, they did not belong to Fahai. They could escape the rules of the game and exist independently, which might mean that they came from some ... More powerful existence, and were given the five red marks.

    This was probably rted to the origin of the deduction.

    Fati mentioned ¡°God¡± and ¡°Saint¡± in his words, so they probably didn¡¯t refer to the same existence. However, it was unclear which of the two had given it the five red marks.

    Since he had specially given it five red marks, these red marks must have a special use. Perhaps it was an additional cheat or something.

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment. Which God or legendary figure in the mythology was rted to the five red marks? However, he didn¡¯t believe in God, and the legends in the world were as vast as the ocean, so he couldn¡¯t remember it for a while.

    At this moment, Fati took a few steps forward and nodded to the other elves.¡±Hello, I¡¯m Fati. It¡¯s an honor to be with you all on the next journey.¡±

    The Elfins ¡®gazes moved around, without a fixed focus.

    Zhang Zian could see its appearance through the phone, but the Elfins couldn ¡®t. They could only hear its voice and smell it. Although they could barely know its general location with their sensitive senses, it was obviously not suitable formunication. When talking to each other respectfully, it was basic courtesy to look into each other¡¯s eyes.

    Fati only realized this after he finished speaking and said apologetically,¡±¡±Oh, I¡¯m sorry. I forgot that you can¡¯t see me.¡±

    It looked up at the human-shaped cloud above its head and prayed silently. Other than not opening its mouth, it looked like it was howling at the moon.

    Zhang Zian saw its movements and expressions through the phone and wondered what it was doing.

    It was a cloudy day. Other than the two strange human-shaped clouds in the sky, the weather was generally good, and sometimes the sun could be seen.

    A few secondster, the shape of a cloud in front of the sun changed slightly, spreading out in a line from the middle.

    A majestic curtain of light pierced straight down from the clouds, like a sharp sword stabbing into the ground from the sky.

    The light of Jesus again!

    Many people had experienced it before. When they turned on their shlights in the dark, the cone-shaped beam of the shlight would illuminate the dust in the air.

    It was the same for the light of Jesus. The water vapor evaporated in the forest was originally invisible to the naked eye, but this strong light made the dense water vapor above the forest appear like mist, ethereal and uncertain, like a Fairnd.

    Different from the light of Jesus that they had seen from afar, this time, the light of Jesus fell right on top of Zhang Zian¡¯s head, covering the nearby rubble. The light was so strong that it was hard to look at it directly.

    Zhang Zian also raised his head, trying to see what push was looking at, but he was almost Blinded by the Light.

    This time, he was not going into the desert. He had learned about the climate of the mahogany forest in advance, so he did not wear sunsses. He did not expect to be enlightened ...

    The elves also squinted their eyes and ran to the nearby trees to avoid the strong light.

    The family of the wolves nearby were even more frightened by the bright light that fell from the sky. They whimpered and hid under the rocks.

    Fati, on the other hand, held his head high and puffed out his chest. He seemed to be immersed in the bright light. Every hair on his body was shining, and the five red dots ... Were so bright that they looked like they were about to drip blood.

    Wait a minute!

    Zhang Zian suddenly realized that something was not right ...

    Because the light was too strong, he was using his hands to block the strong light from the sky. He didn¡¯t raise his phone in front of his eyes at all, otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t be able to see anything clearly.

    Then ... How did he see the Fati?

    After a few seconds, it seemed that the cloud in front of the sun had moved or changed its shape. The sun was once again blocked, and the magnificent light of Jesus disappeared.

    The pile of rubble returned to its original calm.

    The pack of wolves crawled out from under the rocks in fear and looked up with lingering fear.

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins were shocked to see a strong European gray wolf squatting in front of the rubble. It was slowly lowering its head, changing from looking up to looking down. It nced at him and the Elfins one by one, its eyes full of peace.

    They saw Fati¡¯s figure without looking at the game¡¯s capture interface!

    Zhang Zian was still in the same position, dumbfounded.

    The elves were also stunned. This was the first time they had seen a push.

    Richard noticed Zhang Zian¡¯s funny posture, so he pped his wings and shouted,¡±¡±Kaka! A young man fears the sun and uses his hands to block the shadow!¡±

    Zhang Zian red at it and quickly put down his hand. This B * tch bird really wanted to be a B * tch whenever and wherever it was ...

    ¡°Hello, everyone. Let Me Reintroduce Myself. I¡¯m Fati, and I¡¯m honored to be with you all on the next journey.¡± Faxiang nodded at the elves.

 Chapter 1572 - -cooperation

    <h4>Chapter 1572: Chapter 1572-cooperation</h4>

    Most elves had extremely sensitive senses, unlike humans who relied heavily on sight. They could not see what the Fati looked like before, but now that they knew that it was an adult Wolf, could hear its voice, smell its scent, and even feel the slight vibrations when it walked and jumped, they could roughly imagine its shape, movements, and position ...

    However, all of this was not as real as seeing it with his own eyes.

    Zhang Zian looked up at the sky suspiciously. He thought to himself,¡±it¡¯s strange. How did it just happen to shine a beam of light, and this beam of light can make it reveal its true form?¡±

    He remembered that on the evening when he first arrived at the mahogany forest Visitor Center, he had also seen a magnificent light of Jesus shining in the forest. However, the light of Jesus was only a special optical phenomenon. Other than its name, he had never heard of such a magical power ...

    Not to mention other things, just based on its ability to summon the light of Jesus at any time, Zhang Zian was determined to be good friends with it, because it was simply a weapon to show off in front of girls!

    Imagine, when a girlined about the cloudy day, he would affectionately say something like ¡°you¡¯re My Sunshine¡± and at the same time, a beam of sunlight would fall on their heads. He would probably be able to win the girl¡¯s heart in an instant ...

    While he was lost in his thoughts, the other Elfins also introduced themselves to Fati, except for Pi, who introduced itself on Richard¡¯s behalf because it could not speak.

    Although dimir wasn¡¯t interested in gods or ghosts, it knew the big picture and knew that at this time, it should unite all the forces that could be United and expand the United Front. In the past, in order to fight against the insect disaster, even the more annoying stray dogs could be temporarily put on a truce. This Wolf...Was better than little white in any case.

    The other Elfins now knew thatw had no choice but to drive the Wolf Pack to kill the cats, not to mention that it was still ambiguous whether the cats had really been ¡°killed,¡± so they didn¡¯t hold a grudge against it.

    Power determined one¡¯s right to speak. Fati¡¯s unbelievable miracle had proven his power. Otherwise, someone as ignorant as Richard might have tried to intimidate him in order to improve his status among the elves.

    ¡°Oh right, Fati, there¡¯s something I want to discuss with you,¡± Zhang Zian pointed to the woods behind him.¡±It¡¯s not easy to talk about this ... There¡¯s a group of red deers not far behind us. Can you ask your wolves not to hurt them for the time being?¡± After all, they followed me here. If they were eaten just like that ... It would feel like I was the one who harmed them. After I¡¯m done here and leave the forest, I won¡¯t interfere with the wolf and deer¡¯s business. ¡±

    Fati nodded happily.¡±Even if you didn¡¯t say it, I would have restrained the wolves from attacking the deer for the time being, because I¡¯ve seen the deer get infected with the gue with my own eyes. In the near future, the Wolf Pack will be mainly hunting coyotes. I feel that there are too many coyotes in this forest. ¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good. ¡±

    Zhang Zian was relieved. The deer¡¯s slimming disease had not only appeared recently. It had been quietly existing for more than 50 years. It had only attracted people¡¯s attention because the trend of the recent spread had suddenly intensified. For more than 50 years, human beings had no way to cure this disease, so in the foreseeable future, it would be difficult for human beings to find a way to restrain the prion. The threat of the disease suffered by deer would not be cured in a short time.

    ¡°You¡¯d better tell the wolves that even if you hunt coyotes, it¡¯s best not to eat their spinal cord, lymph, brain, and other organs. Also, don¡¯t prey on coyotes that look suspicious. Just bite them to death and don¡¯t eat them, so as to prevent the gue from spreading to the wolves through deer and coyotes.¡± He warned.

    Fati grinned with confidence.¡±Don¡¯t worry. Although this is the first time I¡¯ve seen this kind of disease, I¡¯ve seen more terrible madness. The patients ¡®faces are swollen, their hands and feet fester, and they¡¯re highly contagious ... To control the further spread of the madness, we must keep the infected deer away from healthy deer.¡±

    Zhang Zian listened to its exnation, which was in line with the principle of controlling infectious diseases, so he didn¡¯t give more advice on this issue.

    ¡°What do we do next?¡± He asked.

    Fati was more familiar with the forest and the nearby terrain than he was, so he should be able to provide reliable advice.

    He picked up a branch, referred to the photo taken at the visitor center, and roughly drew a topographic map of the area on the soil.

    Fati looked at it carefully for a while, then pointed to the Northwest with one of his front ws and said,¡±¡±There¡¯s a human gathering point in the Northwest, not far from the sea. I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s Peter Lee and the others you mentioned, but as far as I know, there¡¯s only one human gathering point nearby ... And the steel bird just flew in that direction.¡±

    ¡°Oh? That¡¯s probably right. ¡± Zhang Zian nodded. Afterparison, the terrain there was higher, with undting hills.

    ¡°How many people are there in total?¡± He asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± Fati sighed regretfully.¡±The security there is tight, and there are many cats patrolling the woods outside. Once Wolves Like Us get close, we¡¯ll be discovered, and then people with hunting dogs and guns wille ...¡±

    Zhang Zian understood its difficulties. The wolves had just returned to the forest, and their numbers were still too small. One death meant one less. They couldn¡¯t fight with the other party head-on, so they could only wander in the depths of the forest like now, trying to cut off the enemy¡¯s wings as much as possible, but that would take a lot of time.

    As for why there was such arge-scale private territory in the forest Park, the reason was actually very easy to understand. Manynd deeds were passed down from the early days of the founding of the United States or even before the founding of the country. At that time, pioneers ran horses to im thend. This kind of ownerless wastnd belonged to whoever upied it. In the next two to three hundred years, the owners of thend changed several times, but as private property, it was always protected byw, even if the area was designated as a forest Park.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about the cat for now.¡± Zhang Zian nced at fina.¡±Assuming we can break through the blockade of cats, what should we do next?¡±

    Fina¡¯s face was frosty, and its green eyes were full of ice and snow. Under the ice and snow, it was as if a volcano was about to erupt. It had been holding a fire in its heart for a long time, and no matter who drove these cats to be cannon fodder, it would punish them severely.

    ¡°Oh, there¡¯s one more thing. I¡¯m looking for a young girl named melgen. I think she¡¯s been locked up in Peter Lee¡¯sir. They might have been brainwashing her day after day. I was entrusted by her mother to save her ... And I believe that many people have been deceived toe here. If possible, I want to try to release all of them.¡±

    Saving one person and saving a group of people was not the same level of difficulty. Fa Xiu knew this, but he still nodded firmly.¡±¡±Alright, I will do my best to cooperate with you. May God be with us!¡±

 Chapter 1573 - heading for the coast

    <h4>Chapter 1573: Chapter 1573-heading for the coast</h4>

    ording to Fati, the human gathering point was built on the hills, not far from the coast, and there was only a simple road leading there. If one wanted to drive there, they would definitely be stopped on the road.

    The other one seemed normal to the Fati, but what Zhang Zian found strange was that the people living there still maintained the tradition of men farming and women weaving. If the fully armed security guards and rare technology equipment were ignored, it was like the idyllic era thousands of years ago.

    Sometimes, Fati would run to a ce closer to the vige and stand on a high ce. From there, one could see the men working hard in the fields, the women busy raising all kinds of poultry and domestic animals, and the security guards carrying weapons patrolling the periphery with dogs.

    ¡°Is someone trying to escape?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Fati shook his head.¡±At least, I didn¡¯t see those men and women who were working. Their expressions were numb and dull. I almost couldn¡¯t see them smile. They were just like moving farmers.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a power grid ... No, a barbed wire to prevent them from escaping?¡± As soon as he said that, he realized that thew might not know what a power grid was, so he changed to a simpler way of saying it.

    ¡°No. In my opinion, if they wanted to escape, those supervisors wouldn¡¯t be able to stop them.¡± It replied.

    In that case, only the believers who had been deeply brainwashed would be released to work. Those who did not have strong beliefs or were new would not be released easily.

    In addition, Fati had also seen ships docking at the shore. It could be inferred that there was a small dock at the shelter, where daily necessities that could not be produced by themselves were delivered.

    As for why they didn¡¯t take the road, it could only be spected that it was more convenient and covert to take the sea route. Driving a private yacht from the San Francisco Pier would get them here without anyone knowing.

    That was all the French deduction knew about the situation. Since it could not get close, it did not know more.

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins had a little discussion and decided to Ask the Law to lead the way. They didn¡¯t have much of a choice now. They had alreadye this far, and it wasn¡¯t their style to give up halfway.

    Fati raised his head and let out a long howl.

    Hearing the Wolf¡¯s howl at such a close distance, Zhang Zian felt as if an electric current had passed through his back. The weak current ran from his tailbone to the back of his head. Perhaps this was the instinctive fear of the Wolf¡¯s howl that humans had developed during the long process of evolution.

    When the frolicking wolves heard the howl, they immediately gathered around Fati. This kind of natural action and discipline was notparable to that of stray dogs. After dogs were domesticated, their tendency to live in groups decreased, and they became more free and undisciplined.

    Fati growled a few times, and the Wolf Pack spread out tacitly. As the vanguard, they fanned out and entered the forest in the Northwest. With so many wolves, the search efficiency and alert range were much better than famous ¡®s, and the elves were happy to be idle.

    Zhang Zian went back to get his backpack, and the herd of deer cautiously followed behind him.

    Although there had been many twists and turns along the way, the overall route was still inclined towards the Northwest, getting closer and closer to the coast.

    After walking for about an hour, the average height of the nearby trees slowly decreased. The trees had also changed from dense red shirts and cold fir trees to a variety of trees, such as beech, Cedar, oak, Cypress, maple, ck walnut, and so on. Richard was jumping around on the ground looking for fallen acorns and walnuts, but it was not the season for the fruits to ripen yet, so they were not edible.

    At noon, they came across a small river. The flow and width of the river were greater than the small rivers they hade across in the past. The depth of the river was at least the waist of an adult, so it was dangerous to cross the river.

    They decided to have lunch here first, and then go upstream along the river to find a shallower and narrower position to cross the river.

    Just as Zhang Zian was wondering what the wolves were going to eat for lunch, the young male wolf came back with a strange prey in his mouth, like a superrge rat. It ran in front of Fati and put down its prey as if it was presenting a treasure. Although it was hungry, the alpha Wolf should enjoy the food first. This was the rule of the Wolf Pack.

    ¡°What is this?¡±

    Fati had never seen such a strange animal before.

    The young male wolf obviously couldn¡¯t tell him the answer, but Zhang Zian had already recognized it, so he replied,¡±¡±This is a Beaver.¡±

    ¡°Beaver rat?¡±

    Fati sniffed doubtfully. Under the threat of the evil gue, it was not sure if the animal could be eaten safely.

    Yes, this is an animal native to South America ...¡±He felt that it might not know where South America was, so he added,¡± ¡°It¡¯s in the South, far, far away.¡±

    ¡°Far south?¡± The Dharma idol thought for a moment.¡±In other words, this animal¡¯s home is not here?¡±

    ¡°Yes, you can eat it without worry because Beaver rats are considered an invasive species here. Their reproductive ability is amazing. An adult female Beaver can give birth to 200 offspring in a year. It has be a disaster here and has be an ecological disaster.¡±

    He picked up a thin branch and pried open the mouth of the dead beaver rat, revealing its long and sharp teeth. He said,¡±¡±Just like other rodents, the front teeth of Beaver mice can grow indefinitely, so they always eat things to grind their teeth. Soft grass and wild fruits obviously can¡¯t grind their teeth, so they eat trees.¡±

    In the animation, the way the Beaver gnawed at the tree was often quite cute, so many people did not understand the danger of the Beaver. Its gnawing efficiency wasparable to that of a chainsaw. It could easily gnaw a tree that was as thick as an adult¡¯s thigh from the root. It was not a big deal if it really gnawed off the tree. What was more dangerous was the kind of tree that was only half gnawed. The trunk had a huge gap, and only the other half was connected to the root. It could fall down and hit people at any time.

    Not only that, but Beaver rats would also dig holes and build their nests on the riverbank, the coast, and even beside dams. The seemingly t riverbank may have been dug into thousands of holes.

    Beaver rats did not pose a disaster in their hometown, South America, because there were crocodiles, pythons, and other carnivorous beasts in South America that limited their number. But in North America, their natural enemy was the scarce Wolf, and coyotes seemed to be uninterested in them, causing their number to increase uncontrobly.

    The Beaver that was brought here by the young male wolf had a smooth brown fur. It looked very fat and weighed about ten pounds.

    As they were talking, other wolves also brought back several fat Beaver rats. It seemed that they had just destroyed a Beaver¡¯s nest and brought its whole family here.

    ¡°Alright, in that case ... Let¡¯s eat together?¡± Fati invited him seriously.

    ¡°Uh ...¡±

    Zhang Zian was about to decline, but when he turned his head, he saw that fina and the rest seemed to be very interested in these fat rodents, so he had to bite the bullet and agree.

 Chapter 1574 - -tail

    <h4>Chapter 1574: Chapter 1574-tail</h4>

    As a promising young man who was born and raised in the city, Zhang Zian had never even ughtered a live chicken except for cutting fish. It was quite difficult for him to deal with the Beaver that looked like a superrge rat.

    Since entering the forest, fina and the others had been eating instant canned food all day, and they were tired of it. However, seeing that Zhang Zian had practiced not hunting the animals in the forest for food, they could only endure it for the time being, so as not to be used of ¡°destroying the ecological bnce.¡± At this time, seeing the wolves bring a few fat Beaver rats, they couldn¡¯t help but drool. In their eyes, Beaver rats were no different from rabbits, and they probably tasted the same.

    The fat in the food was very important to cats. As pure carnivores, cats relied on protein and fat to provide energy, not starch.

    After trekking in the forest for the past few days, fina, old time tea, and famous had all lost a lot of weight, and they were even more eager to eat fresh meat.

    Zhang Zian estimated the appetite of the elves, took two Beaver rats to the river, and used the Switzend army knife he carried with him to cut open their chrysanthemums and remove their internal organs. His hands were full of blood. If it weren¡¯t for the river water, he would rather offend the elves than do such a dirty thing.

    The most troublesome thing was that the Switzend army knife was too small and not sharp enough. It took him a long time to cut off the tail of the Beaver, and he was sweating all over.

    It was not easy to clean the body of the Beaver rat, and then it was soaked in the river to wash the blood. After that, it was strung up with sharp branches and ready to be roasted.

    As for the skin and internal organs, of course, they couldn¡¯t be thrown anywhere. The stench was too bad and easily attracted flies. They might even attract scavengers. It was easier to throw them into the river, but it would severely pollute the river.

    So, he dug a hole with a shovel and buried the fur, internal organs, and so on.

    While he was digging the hole, Richard, who had been driven away by the smell of blood, flew back andnded on a branch nearby. He covered his nose with his wings and shouted,¡±¡±Kaka! You idiot! Can¡¯t you see that there are still two stinky tails that haven¡¯t been buried? Or do you have any ideas about these two ck and thick tails?¡±

    Richard was, of course, referring to the Beaver¡¯s tail that had been cut off. Zhang Zian had thrown the two tails by the river, so Richard thought that he had forgotten to bury them. It was so noisy that it was worried that it would attract the scavenger vultures from the sea.

    Everything around the tail was stinky. Although Richard¡¯s sense of smell was not very sensitive as a parrot, he could still smell the blood and stenching from the tail.

    Zhang Zian filled the hole with soil, rolled his eyes at it, and scolded,¡±¡±You know nothing! I left it behind on purpose, okay?¡±

    ¡°Gah?¡± Not to be outdone, Richard rolled his eyes even wider.¡±You idiot, you clearly forgot about it, and you¡¯re still being stubborn? What are you doing with these two stinky tails? This tail doesn¡¯t have much meat!¡±

    ¡°Of course it¡¯s useful.¡±

    Zhang Zian rinsed the skinned Beaver¡¯s tail with river water, thenid it t on a t and concave stone by the river. He then soaked the tail in some river water, roughly estimated the proportion, and added some salt.

    ¡°Tsk tsk! I understand, you want to eat skewers, right?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not.¡±

    Zhang Zian shook off the water on his hands and started to pick up firewood nearby to start a fire.

    The other elves were also quite curious. He didn¡¯t look like he wanted to eat the Beaver¡¯s tail. Why did he stay?

    ¡°The tail tendon of a Beaver is made of cogen, so it¡¯s very suitable to be used as a medical suture. I thought it might be useful, so I nned to extract the tail tendon after dinner. What if it could be useful?¡± He exined.

    Previously, the Red Deer¡¯s head had been seriously scratched by the ck bear. He had only disinfected and bandaged it, but because there was no anesthetic and no suture, he couldn¡¯t suture it. Fortunately, it was strong enough to survive.

    Earlier, he had stitched the wound of the minke whale that was stranded on the coast of Binhai city with a kite string. Because the wound of the minke whale was too big and deep, it would not have survived if it was not stitched up. Besides, the minke whale was stranded on the beach and could not move. The whale¡¯s skin and fatyer were thick, so the pain might not have been very strong. That was why he had the courage to sew the wound without anesthesia.

    Deer, on the other hand, were different. Their hide was thin and they didn¡¯t have much fat. Once they felt pain, they would definitely have to run and struggle. Besides, there were no stitches, so they gave up.

    When he saw the Beaver, he remembered where he had seen it before. It seemed to be written in the first aid manual he borrowed from sun Xiaomeng that the tail tendon of the Beaver could be used as a suture after treatment. It would dissolve itself in the wound after about a month, and the thread did not need to be removed.

    Since there were ready-made beaver rats, he nned to torture them a little. It would be best to pull out a few tail tendons as spare, but it was unpredictable. If he needed to use them, he would not be helpless.

    As for the anesthetic, there was still no solution.

    While he exined, his hands were not idle. He walked around and found enough firewood to start a fire and roast the meat. Then, he put two Beaver rats on the firewood. One of them was slightly coated with a thinyer of salt inside and outside, and the other was not. He stuffed some edible wild vegetables and fruits into its abdomen to remove the fishy smell.

    After lighting a bonfire, the fat beaver rat was soon roasted to the point that it was sizzling with oil.

    While waiting for the meat to be cooked, he peeled off the meat attached to the tail and found what looked like the tail tendon. He pierced the tail tendon with the tip of the spiral-shaped bottle opener in the Switzend army knife used to remove the cork of wine bottles and hooked it. He slowly pulled the tail tendon out of the tail, selected the right one, and soaked it in hydrogen peroxide to disinfect it.

    This was a delicate task. There was more than one tail tendon in each tail. Some were long and some were short, some were thick and some were thin. If it was too short and thin, it would definitely be useless. Some of the originally longer ones might be broken in the tail during the process of pulling out, so it was necessary to be patient and extra careful.

    The other Beaver rats had already been eaten by the Wolf Pack, but Fati did not eat them. It seemed that it was like the other elves, no longer eating raw flesh and blood, but waiting to eat roasted beaver rat meat.

    It wasn¡¯t wrong to think about it. Although Fati was a Wolf, since he was summoned as an elf, he must have been someone¡¯s pet or had a close rtionship with someone. In that case, it was normal for him to be used to eating cooked food with that person.

    As Fati listened to his exnation of the Beaver¡¯s tail, he suddenly realized something and praised,¡±¡±If the people in the past knew this kind of knowledge, they would definitely be able to save many lives.¡±

    The other elves had long been used to his misceneous knowledge. Instead of pondering about the origin of this knowledge, they were more interested in the fragrant roasted beaver meat and couldn¡¯t help but swallow their saliva.

 Chapter 1575 - sharing

    <h4>Chapter 1575: Chapter 1575-sharing</h4>

    Catgut was amonly used medical suture, mainly used for suturing wounds that were difficult to remove. With the development of times, the source was no longer limited to sheep¡¯s intestines. However, before catgut was used on arge scale, it was popr to use the tail tendon of a mouse to make the suture.

    Compared to sheep intestines, rat tail tendons had many advantages. The main one was that it was easier to raise rats than sheep. Moreover, the human body absorbed rat tail tendons better and had almost no rejection reaction. The disadvantage was that rat tails were short and thin, and the length of the tail tendons was not long enough.

    Compared to ordinary mice, the tail of a Beaver mouse was thick and long. Its tail tendon had the advantages of an ordinary mouse¡¯s tail tendon, but it did not have the corresponding disadvantages. It was the most ideal medical suture. However, because Beaver mice were not easy to raise, and the tail tendon was not easy to extract, the price of the suture of Beaver mouse¡¯s tail tendon was very expensive.

    Of course, the tail tendon from the tail of a wild Beaver must be carefully disinfected before it could be used, which was what Zhang Zian was doing.

    The fat-rich Beaver¡¯s meat had been roasted to a golden color. Large drops of yellow oil seeped out of the meat and gathered together. When the tension of the oil drops could not support its weight, they would drip into the bonfire, and the bonfire would burst into a higher me, almost licking the Beaver¡¯s meat.

    The wolves, who were afraid of fire, were attracted by the fragrance and wandered nearby to peep.

    The grilled chicken breast that the elves usually ate didn¡¯t have this much oil. Inparison, this was more like a roast duck.

    Even snowy Li, who always liked to eat raw meat, was drooling. It couldn¡¯t wait to urge Zhang Zian to stop roasting it, as it wouldn¡¯t taste good if it was burnt.

    However, Zhang Zian still roasted it for a while to be careful, until it was well-cooked inside and out, because Beaver rats, as rodents, could also spread many diseases, such as the gue.

    He took the two fat Beaver rats from the bonfire. After the meat was cooked, it was easier to separate from the bones than when it was raw. He simply removed therge pieces of meat from the bones. The one with salt was given to famous and Fati, and the other one to fina, old time tea, and snowy Li.

    As for the remaining two sets of skeletons, there was still a lot of meat on them, so he threw them to the wolves who were waiting at the side.

    The Wolf Pack didn¡¯t care if it was leftovers or not. The beta wolves of simr status immediately fought each other and broke the bones apart in an instant. With a crunch, they easily chewed the bones to pieces like they were chewing on potato chips.

    As for the lower-ranking Omega wolves, they could only drool with their eyes wide open.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t eat it himself, because the gross weight of each Beaver was about ten pounds. However, after removing the hair, bones, and internal organs, and removing the meat that was attached to the bones, the weight of therge piece of meat might be less than half, which was barely enough for the elves to eat. He was toozy to clean up the third one, so he didn¡¯t join in the fun. At most, when he was picking the meat for fina and the others, he secretly tore a few pieces of meat and tasted it. It tasted simr to rabbit meat.

    Although his movements were hidden, they didn¡¯t escape snowy Li¡¯s eyes. It mercilessly exposed him. A stinky man who only knows how to cheat on women!¡±

    When the Elfins were eating, he didn¡¯t rush to cook for himself. Instead, he first took out the tail tendons that were soaked in hydrogen peroxide, put them in a cool ce, and waited for them to dry. Then, he began to prepare his own food, which was still abination of canned food, rice, and wild vegetables.

    If Fati and famous really wanted to eat to their heart¡¯s content, one Beaver¡¯s meat wasn¡¯t enough. Fortunately, the two of them were more gentlemanly and each ate half.

    ¡°Is that all you¡¯re eating?¡±

    Fati noticed Zhang Zian¡¯s way of cooking. He poured rice, wild vegetables, and canned food into the pot and steamed them together. After stirring them well, he began to eat. Most of them were rice and wild vegetables. There was very little meat in the can, and it didn¡¯t taste very good. It was just edible.

    ¡°Hmm, do you want to try some?¡±

    Zhang Zian wiped his mouth. There weren¡¯t many cans left, so he had to consider the way back, so he deliberately controlled the food consumption and just made do with filling his stomach.

    Pushingw shook his head.¡±No need, you can eat.¡±

    After a long time of skinning and cramping, Zhang Zian was already hungry. He didn¡¯t stand on ceremony and scooped the rice into his mouth.

    Fati stared at him as he ate, and then looked at fina and the others who were sharing the Beaver¡¯s meat. He asked curiously,¡±¡±I¡¯m giving you this food on behalf of the Wolf Pack. You have the right to distribute it ording to your wishes, but why do you give all the meat to them and not save some for yourself? Even if we split it equally, no one has the right to criticize anything. ¡±

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment, then knocked the edge of the bowl with the spoon.¡±Because I can still eat rice, and they can only eat meat.¡±

    Fati nced at famous and asked,¡±¡±What about us? You can leave some meat for yourself from this Beaver. ¡±

    ¡°Because it¡¯s tougher for you guys. I don¡¯t need to crawl around in the thorns and bushes. I¡¯ll just eat rice.¡± He answered.

    Fati looked back at the heavy backpack that he was leaning against the tree trunk. Although it did not know the exact weight of the backpack, it could tell that it was definitely not light from the vibration when he walked with the backpack and the depth of his shoes in the soil.

    There were all kinds of camping supplies in the backpack, including pots, pans, tents, rain equipment, waterproof sleeping bags, and so on. There was enough food tost for many days, and a variety of other items. In order to respect the elves, there was even a food bowl for each elfin ... On the first day he entered the forest, the backpack was so heavy that he almost couldn¡¯t keep his bnce while walking.

    Along the way, he had to do most of the work by himself. The elves could not help in any other aspects except for the task of guarding. Fati had noticed the scratches and blisters on his palm caused by branches, wands, and stones when he was washing his hands by the river after dealing with the dead Beaver.

    ¡°You¡¯re like a donkey. ¡± Fati suddenly said.

    Zhang Zian almost spat out his rice!

    Was heplimenting her or insulting her?

    Although the tourists often called themselves backpackers because they looked like donkeys who were responsible for transporting heavy objects when they carried bags on their backs, they couldn¡¯t call others donkeys so directly, right?

    Richard pecked at the dried fruit and echoed,¡±¡±Kaka! I can¡¯t tell that you have such good eyes! This idiot is indeed as stupid as a donkey!¡±

    ¡°The fate of a donkey is to walk with a heavy burden on its back, to be whipped, and to eat the roughest and smallest amount of food.¡± Fatui¡¯s eyes gradually filled with nostalgia and longing.¡±It¡¯s not a shameful thing to be like a donkey. Only those who can endure asceticism can step on the road to bing a saint.¡±

 Chapter 1576 - Opening a path in the mountains and building a bridge in water

    <h4>Chapter 1576: Opening a path in the mountains and building a bridge in water</h4>

    Zhang Zian finally understood that Dharma pushing did not refer to a donkey friend¡¯s donkey, but more likeparing him to a mule, or, in the Chinese term, a diligent old yellow ox.

    Did all Westerners ... No, Western Wolves like to praise people like this? Or was this an ancient way of praising people?

    Also, what the hell was bing a saint?

    He could only think of the physical sanctification in myths, Xianxia, and fantasy novels, but those were obviously nonsense.

    ¡°Meow meow meow! Let me tell you, this stinky man has already be a ¡®Saint¡¯, and he¡¯s one of the 60 million leftover men in China. Congrattions!¡±

    Snowy Li slowly tore off a piece of Beaver¡¯s meat and didn¡¯t forget to tease him.

    The pushing spell was shocked.¡±There are that many saints in China?¡±

    ¡°Meow meow meow! It was more than that! There will be even more!¡± Snowy Li pouted, nced at him, and said,¡±¡±I think you might as well benefit your fellow men and be a sister to let your brothers have fun, how about that? If a leftover man bes a girl, the number of leftover men will be reduced by two. It¡¯s worth it no matter how you look at it!¡±

    Zhang Zian buried his head in his rice. These two Elfins were like chickens talking to ducks. He couldn¡¯t exin it clearly, so he just gave up.

    After the meal, the elf eithery down or strolled around to digest the food. He boiled a pot of tea, and after he had enough water and food, he continued on his way.

    He first packed up the other things that needed to be packed. After everything was packed up, he finally went to check on the tail tendons that had been left in the shade to dry.

    The tail tendon had obviously shrunk after drying. It was translucent white and less than 1 mm in thickness.

    In order to cope with different situations, he chose two kinds of tail tendons. One was about 15 centimeters in length, and the other was about 30 centimeters in length. Thetter was too difficult to pull outpletely, so he only had one.

    He wrapped the tail tendons in dry paper towels and put them in the first aid kit in case he needed them. Of course, it would be better if he didn¡¯t need them.

    After packing up, he and the Elfins continued to move forward, going upstream along the river in the opposite direction.

    The Wolf Pack seemed to have tasted the sweetness of it, and they were actively looking for traces of Beaver rats along the way. They would dig around the river bank when they had nothing to do, and soon found a nest of lively Beaver rats.

    Zhang Zian had a headache, because he was the one doing the dirty work of skinning the Beaver rats and digging out their internal organs. It would be better to cook rice directly to save time, but considering that this could indeed save canned food, he let them do it.

    It was reasonable to say that wild animals couldn¡¯t be hurt in the forest Park, but the wolves had to eat, and there was nothing they could do about it. Anyway, he didn¡¯t kill these Beaver rats.

    He found a rtively narrow channel along the river and asked the Elfins to stop, nning to cross the river from there.

    ¡°Squeak?¡±

    Pi stood by the river with the wooden stick he had cut for it. It tried to put the stick into the river to make sure that it waspletely submerged in the water. Only a small part of the stick in its hand was exposed, but it didn¡¯t reach the bottom of the river.

    It worriedly gestured, meaning that although the river here was narrow, it was very deep and it was not suitable to wade through the river.

    Zhang Zian nodded, took off his backpack, pointed to a tree, and said,¡±¡±I know, but we¡¯re not going to cross the river by wading through water. Let¡¯s try to build a bridge now.¡±

    ¡°Gah? Just you? Bridging?¡± Richard covered his chest with his wings.¡±You¡¯re making meugh so hard that I¡¯m going to have a heart bypass!¡±

    The other Elfins didn¡¯t understand how he was going to build the bridge at first. They walked to the tree and took a closer look, only to find that the bucket-thick tree about 20 centimeters from the root had been gnawed off by some animal. Only a small part of the root and trunk were connected, and it was on the verge of copse.

    Everyone¡¯s eyes fell on the Beaver¡¯s sharp and long front teeth, and they knew who the culprit was.

    Once Beaver rats were rampant, they would do great damage to the forest. In a sense, they were also killing meaninglessly, because they ate the trees not to eat them, but to grind their teeth.

    It was a cypress tree that grew by the river. Due to the erosion of the river bed, part of its roots were exposed in the river and drifted with the washing of the river.

    Zhang Zian estimated that if the Cypress was pushed down in the right direction, the crown should be able tond on the other side and form a bridge. Even if he didn¡¯t knock down the tree, it wouldn¡¯t live for long.

    Even in the middle of summer, the climate in the depths of the mahogany forest was still cold. The river was ice-cold, and he did not want to get into the water unless it was absolutely necessary. There was no ce to dry his clothes even if they were wet.

    It was not easy to push down a tree as thick as a bucket. If it was an intact tree, he would have to use an electric saw, but fortunately, the Beaver mouse had alreadypleted most of the work for him.

    He had the elves and wolves move away to avoid being hurt by the fallen trees.

    He rolled up his sleeves and touched the trunk with both hands. He felt a rough touch on his palms. He took a deep breath and used 80% of his strength to test it. The small section connecting the root and the trunk made a slight cracking sound. Due to the obstruction of the transmission of nutrients, the withered yellow leaves fell like rain.

    It looked like there was a chance.

    He adjusted his angle and stepped firmly on the river bank with his legs in the horse stance. He stood firmly and took a few deep breaths, then took a deep breath, all the strength in his body concentrated on his palms.

    ¡°Hi!¡±

    His face turned red and he exhaled loudly. His shoes were deeply embedded in the soil because of the force.

    Crack ...

    Crack, crack, crack ...

    The small section of the tree where the roots connected to the trunk gave off an ominous cracking sound, and the sound gradually grew louder.

    He first pushed, then hugged the trunk and pulled back. The repeated pushing and pulling made the remaining small section more and more fragile.

    The tree trunk above his head was shaking more and more violently, and could fall down at any time. He had to make it fall to the right position, or at least not fall on his body.

    Just like the process of swinging, he pulled the tree trunk into his arms for thest time, then pushed it forward with all his strength, and dodged quickly at the same time.

    Sess or failure would depend on this!

    Gah ...

    Gah gah ...

    Gah gah gah ...

    However, the most infuriating thing was that the trunk of the Cypress tree tilted about 45 to 60 degrees and then stopped. The fallen leaves floated all over the river.

    It was so close to failing. Zhang Zian stared at it. If a look could make it fall, it would have fallen countless times.

    It seemed that he had missed the process of pulling and pushing.

    This situation was more troublesome to deal with. Just as he was thinking about how to clean up the mess and save his face, he saw a gray shadow sh. The Dharma wheel leaped onto the tree trunk and followed the trunk to the crown of the tree.

    Then, one after another, the gray wolves followed it to the top of the tree.

    With their heavy pressure, the Cypress tree finally couldn¡¯t bear it anymore. The connection between the roots and the trunk broke with a loud bang, and the crown smashed heavily to the other side of the river.

    The pack of wolves had already nimbly jumped off the tree crown in advance andnded on the ground on the other side.

    A tree bridge was built.

    ¡°A bridge flying from north to south!¡± dimir pped his hands and eximed in admiration.¡±A natural moat changes the path!¡±

 Chapter 1577 - barren village

    <h4>Chapter 1577: Chapter 1577-barren vige</h4>

    <b>?</b>

    If it wasn¡¯t for Fati¡¯s help with the Wolf Pack, which was thest straw that broke the camel¡¯s back, the tree would not have fallen so easily. Zhang Zian did not dare to approach a half-fallen tree rashly. It was like setting off fireworks. The fuse had clearly burned out, but the firecrackers were still quiet. At this time, it was risky to go forward to check or leave it alone.

    The cat elves could help, but the cats were too light. Even with fina, it would not be enough ...

    ¡°What are your eyes looking at?¡±

    Fina noticed his gaze and immediately asked in a cold voice.

    ¡°Meow meow meow! This servant will help Your Majesty dig out his pair of thieving eyes!¡± Snowy Li mored and bared its fangs.

    Zhang Zian immediately exined,¡±I wanted to tell you to get on the car. No, get on the bridge!¡±

    Although the tree had fallen, he didn¡¯t dare to go directly onto the bridge until he was sure that it was stable. He was still carryingrge and small bags, which made it difficult to bnce. If he walked on the bridge and the bridge suddenly rolled sideways, he would fall into the water with his bag, and he couldn¡¯t count on the elves to save him.

    The other Elfins crossed the bridge safely one by one. Richard even flew a few rounds on the river to show off his wings, so he did not need to cross the bridge.

    He pushed from the side and felt that it was quite stable. He first threw the hiking stick to the other side of the river and carefully crossed the bridge. He stretched out his arms as if he was walking on a tightrope to help maintain his bnce. He tried not to pay attention to the rapid current of the river and finally crossed the river safely.

    As for the herd of deer that was following them from a distance, crossing the river was not a problem for them. Whether they walked over a tree bridge, jumped over it directly, or even swam across the river, it was not a problem. After all, deer had a strong jumping ability, and they were not afraid of getting their bodies and backpacks wet like Zhang Zian.

    After crossing the river, there were no more obstacles in front.

    After walking for about an hour, the sky in the forest turned dark early, and it became dark before evening.

    There was no water source in the surroundings, and the deers did not dare toe close due to the presence of the wolves, so he could not count on the deers to help him find water again.

    It was absolutely impossible to not have water. If they still could not find a water source by the time the sky turnedpletely dark, they would have a very difficult night.

    Zhang Zian was hesitating. Should he turn back downstream for a while, or should he continue forward and try his luck to find a water source?

    ¡°By the way, Fati, other than the river we just passed, where is the nearest water source?¡± He remembered that he should be able to ask the Wolf Pack about the situation, so he asked.

    Fati called back the pack of wolves running in front of him and asked them with a low growl.

    Zhang Zian quietly waited for the result of themunication between it and the Wolf Pack, and took a breath.

    After a while, Fati said in surprise,¡±¡±There¡¯s no water source, but I heard from them that there¡¯s a vige not far ahead. ¡±

    ¡°Ah? A vige?¡±

    Zhang Zian was shocked. The fact that there was a vige in the primeval forest was no less of an impact to him than seeing a ghost in broad daylight.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that the only human settlement nearby is where Peter Lee and his team are?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Yes, I am.¡± Fati nodded calmly.¡±Because this vige has been abandoned for a long time. The wolves found it when they came here before. At that time, there was no one in the vige, but it¡¯s not quite urate to call it a vige because there were only a few houses.¡±

    ¡°I see ...¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at the sky. If they couldn¡¯t find a water source, they might as well spend the night in the abandoned vige instead of camping in the wild.

    In addition, he considered that since there were people living here, perhaps the vigers had a way to solve the water problem. They couldn¡¯t carry a load to the river to get water every day, right?

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s ask the Wolf Pack to lead us there.¡± He said.

    Fati growled a few more times, and the pack of wolves that received the order turned in another direction.

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins followed behind.

    After walking for a while, they found a path that looked like a pedestrian path in the forest. Although it was covered with weeds, they found a vague road sign on the side of the road.

    After following the arrow for a few more minutes, a mini vige appeared in front of them.

    Just as Fati had said, the so-called vige only had a dozen houses scattered around. Some were made of stone, some were made of wood, and some were half-stone and half-wood. The windows were all dark, and it looked ghostly.

    If it were an ordinary person, they would probably be shocked when they suddenly saw these houses while walking in the forest. They might even think that it was a haunted house. However, Zhang Zian was not very afraid. The ghostly atmosphere was just a psychological effect. Compared to ghosts, humans were more terrifying existences.

    ¡°Is it the residence of the hunters in the forest?¡± Old time tea asked.

    Zhang Zian shook his head.¡±No, hunting has been banned here for a long time, unless you have a hunting license or you don¡¯t care about thew.¡±

    Even if there were hunters in the forest, they could just build a small wooden house to rest, just like the old soldier Mike. These houses were obviously used as long-term residences.

    Outside the houses, there were tables, chairs, and carts for people to cool off. Some houses even had old swings behind them. There was even a red Chevrolet from the 1960s. The paint had peeled off and was covered in pine leaves and leaves.

    Some of the houses had their doors wide open, while others had their doors and windows tightly shut. However, from many signs, the owners of the houses did not seem to be in a hurry when they left.

    ¡°Look over there.¡±

    Zhang Zian pointed to the side and said,¡±it¡¯s the stables and beehives. I understand now, this used to be the residence of beekeepers and Wrangler. ¡±

    Next to a house, there were many wooden boxes arranged in an orderly manner, and a wooden canopy was set up on top to shelter them from the wind and rain.

    Further away, a long row of stables blocked a house like a wall, and the food trough in the stables was also covered with dead leaves.

    The beekeepers and Wrangler were like wild Geese, moving between ces periodically. They moved to where flowers bloomed and where the aquatic nts were abundant. When the flowering period came and the aquatic nts were withered, they would move to other ces.

    This ce used to be one of their fixed migration locations, but no one knew when it started. Perhaps it was because of the continuousmercialization of California, the traditional industry had declined, and beeking and horse herding were no longer enough to fill their stomachs. The owners of the houses gradually stopped visiting this ce, and it became an abandoned vige.

    If he was not wrong, the beekeepers and Wrangler who used to live here might have been Native Americans.

    The history of the Native Americans in the United States was a coffee table filled with cups.

    After solving the problem of why the vige was abandoned, everyone was at ease. Otherwise, they would have been thinking about this problem for the entire night.

    In any case, they finally didn¡¯t have to stay in a tent tonight.

 Chapter 1578 - -key

    <h4>Chapter 1578: Chapter 1578-key</h4>

    ¡°Let¡¯s split up and see which house is moreplete. At least, it has to be airtight. We¡¯ll stay in that house tonight. ¡±

    Zhang Zian unloaded his backpack and rubbed his sore shoulders.

    The elves were all curious about the deserted vige that used to be the residence of beehives and Wrangler, so they all walked into the vige to take a look.

    He was not sure when the vige was abandoned, but since he could see a 1960s Chevrolet, it must have been after this.

    As the dense forest provided natural shelter, the strong wind and heavy rain were blocked and weakened by the trees. The Native Americans had some unique skills in building houses, and the most important thing was that there were no naughty children. All these factors added up to ensure that the vige was well preserved. At a rough nce, most of the windows were intact.

    There were two possibilities when the beekeepers and Wrangler abandoned the vige. One was that it was theirst time here and they took away all the valuable items that could be taken away. The other was that they felt there was no need toe back to pack up and abandoned the vige.

    If it was thetter, he might be able to find some useful things in the vige.

    Taking something that others didn¡¯t want shouldn¡¯t be considered stealing, right?

    He didn¡¯t expect that little white would lead the stray dogs to pick up scraps in China, while he would pick up scraps in the United States ...

    ¡°Squeak! Squeak!¡±

    Pi waved its wooden stick and ran back first. It grabbed the corner of Zhang Zian¡¯s clothes and gestured for him to follow it. It looked very excited.

    Zhang Zian left his backpack where it was. There were so many wolves guarding it anyway, so he wasn¡¯t afraid of it being stolen.

    He followed Pi to the back of a house, where a fallen tree almost crushed the house.

    ¡°Squeak squeak.¡± Pi pointed at the space between the trunk and the ground.

    The tree didn¡¯tpletely fall to the ground, but maintained a small angle with the ground, as if it was supported by something.

    Zhang Zian squatted down to take a look and was surprised to find that it was actually a well made of stone.

    Pi, move a little further away. I¡¯ll push this tree to the side.¡±

    He sized it up and felt that the tree was not very thick, so he could try to push it.

    ¡°Squeak?¡±

    Pi gestured worriedly, then turned back and pointed at the entrance of the vige, wondering if it should ask the wolves for help, because this tree was much thicker than the one that had been used as the bridge.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be a problem. ¡± Zhang Zian rolled up his sleeves, picked up an iron chair from the side, and tried it out. It was quite handy.¡±I didn¡¯t push it with brute force. You know the lever principle, right? Give me a woman and I can create ... No, give me a fulcrum and I can move the earth!¡±

    He put the back of the iron chair into the gap between the Ishii tform and the tree trunk, then pushed the leg of the chair forward, the L-shaped chair acting as a crowbar.

    The heavy tree trunk became loose. Every time it rose, it moved a little to the side and finally fell to the ground, revealing the dark well.

    Zhang Zian shone the shlight into the well and saw the reflection of the water.

    As the tree trunk hadpletely blocked the well, there were not many leaves on the water surface. The water looked quite clear. After all, it was underground water.

    The other Elfins heard themotion and ran over to check on the situation.

    Thanks to Pi, we found a water source.¡± He said,¡±you don¡¯t have to be thirsty tonight.¡±

    ¡°Squeak squeak.¡± Pi lowered its head shyly.

    As a vige, no matter how small the vige was, it would be too inconvenient without water. The Native Americans, who were proficient in wilderness survival, must have considered this when they built the vige.

    The wolves did not know of the well¡¯s existence because it was blocked by a tree.

    Zhang Zian was confident now that he had found a water source.

    ¡°Gah gah gah gah!¡±

    Richard¡¯s scream came from a house not far away.

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins ran over and were also shocked. They saw a group of animals flying out of a house with an open door. They screamed at a high frequency and flew into the evening sky, like fast-moving dark clouds.

    It was a bat.

    They were flying so fast that he couldn¡¯t see their faces clearly. They were probably the big brown bats that weremon in North America. They had made the house their nest.

    ¡°These flying rats almost scared me to death!¡± Still in shock, Richard called out with his wings on his chest.

    ¡°Your eyes aren¡¯t good. Don¡¯t look around all day. Be careful that you don¡¯t lose your little life one day.¡± Zhang Zian warned.

    Although bats were a kind of beneficial animal, their bodies were very dirty and could easily spread germs. So, there was no need to look at that house. There must be a lot of bat feces in it, and it smelled terrible.

    ¡°Zian, this old man found a house that seems to be intact.¡± Old time tea ran over and said.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go and take a look. ¡±

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins followed old time tea to a house and looked at it carefully.

    The foundation and walls of the house were made of stones, and the roof was made of wood. It was both strong and light. The West Coast of the United States was a disaster-stricken area. In the event of an earthquake, the stone roof was likely to crush everyone in the house to death. The wooden walls were not safe against the ck Bears in the forest.

    The room did look quite intact. Not a single window ss was broken, and the curtains were half-closed, as if the owner coulde back at any time.

    ¡°Is there anyone inside?¡±

    Even though there was a 99.99% chance that there was no one in the room, he still knocked on the door and asked loudly.

    ¡°Who is it?¡±

    A sharp and sinister voice replied, sending chills down one¡¯s spine.

    He and the Elfins were stunned and took half a step back in unison. It took a few seconds for them to realize that it was F * cking Richard who had imitated a human¡¯s voice.

    ¡°Gah gah!¡± Knowing that he was going to be beaten up, Richard quickly flew to a higher ce to hide.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have the time to pay attention to it. He tried to push the door, but it was locked and very strong.

    It seemed like he had no choice but to break in through the window.

    He was about to break the window and unlock the window to enter the room when he suddenly remembered that in many United States movies and TV series, Americans often hid the key near the door, such as under the mat of the door, above the door frame, or under the flower pot on the windowsill ... Especially in a holiday house like this, the owner would note once in a few months, and it was easy to lose the key with him.

    With a thought, he fumbled around the door. Anyway, he wouldn¡¯t get pregnant if he tried, so it wouldn¡¯t be toote to break in through the window if he couldn¡¯t find anything.

    Once the integrity of the house was destroyed, it was likely to be a bat¡¯s nest. In the future, if any travelers came here, they could only camp in the wild in disappointment ...

    It was better to think about others.

    ¡°Kaka! What are you looking for, you idiot?¡± Richard could not help but ask.

    ¡°I ...¡±

    Before Zhang Zian could think of how to reply to this B * tch bird, he moved a natural stone under the porch. There was a metal key under the stone.

 Chapter 1579 - plundering

    <h4>Chapter 1579: Chapter 1579-plundering</h4>

    The Elfins were all surprised to see Zhang Zian find the key from the door.

    In the face of the elves ¡®questions, he pretended to smile mysteriously and said nothing. He would not say that it was a key-hiding habit of Europeans and Americans that he had seen in western movies.

    He inserted the key into the lock and twisted it gently. The lock was a little rough after not being used for a long time, so he put more strength into it and finally twisted it. The lock retracted with a click, and with a push of his hand, the door opened.

    Before he could see the situation inside, the dust on the door frame sprayed down, making him cough and take a few steps back with the Elfins.

    When the dust at the door settled, Zhang Zian turned on the shlight and shone it into the room, looking at the furnishings.

    The air in the room was very turbid, the floor was thick with dust, and the corners were covered with cobwebs. However, the spider was only a shriveled empty shell. After all, the doors and windows were tightly sealed, and even flies and mosquitoes couldn¡¯t fly in. The spider could only sit and eat.

    The tables, chairs, simple sofas, and other daily necessities were all neatly arranged, and they were even covered with ayer of white cloth to prevent dust from falling. This proved that the owner had intended toe back when he left, but perhaps due to the deterioration of the economic situation or other reasons, the owner never came back.

    Fortunately, the vige was located in a primitive forest. Otherwise, even if the owner was away for a few days, the ss would be broken by naughty children or bored teenagers, or they would think that it was a haunted house. Then, they would urinate and defecate in the house or draw graffiti everywhere. They might even burn the house down ...

    There was a candle stand on the table in the room. Zhang Zian walked into the room and lit the candle with a lighter. The warm candlelight expelled the darkness.

    He pulled down the White cloth covering the furniture, and dust filled the room. He held his breath and quickly opened all the windows for venttion.

    As it was closer to the sea, it was not as windless as the depths of the forest. The wind quickly blew away the floating dust.

    The elves slowly entered the room and looked around curiously.

    Zhang Zian went to the other rooms and opened all the doors and windows.

    The house included a master bedroom and a secondary bedroom, each with a bed, a storage room, and a bathroom. He found a bucket and a rope in the storage room, which he could use to get waterter.

    There were also hammers, chisels, hand saws, and other tools in the storage room. He mped the hand saw under his armpit and prepared to use it to saw branches to start a fire.

    The life of the owner of this house was really boring. There was no inte and no television. The only entertainment equipment he could find was an old radio, which had been out of use for a long time.

    There was a simple hand-made shower system in the bathroom. Hot water was poured into the tall water tank, and the hot water was sprayed out of the shower head by gravity.

    The mirror in the bathroom cab was also covered with a thickyer of dust, and she couldn¡¯t see her handsome self in the mirror. He found a piece of cloth and tousled it twice, at least he could see the figure.

    When he was cleaning the mirror, he felt the mirror shake a little.

    Including the bathroom cab, all the furniture in the room was handmade by the owner. Although it was not very good-looking, it was strong and practical. It was still as good as new after many years of storage. There was no reason for it to go wrong on the bathroom cab.

    He was stunned for a moment and suddenly remembered that in Europe and the United States, the bathroom mirror could be pulled open. There was a smallpartment behind the mirror, and the Europeans and Americans would put somemon drugs in thepartment. In TV and movies, there were often such scenes where the male or female lead looked at the mirror for a while, then pulled the mirror open to take out the mental medicine to eat ... But most of the bathroom cabs in China did not have such apartment.

    So he tried to look from the side and found a pair of hinges on one side. He lifted it from the other side.

    The hinge was a little rusty, and it didn¡¯t open after pulling a few times. He took out a Switzend army knife and pried it open sessfully. There was a inteyer, and as he expected, there were some bottles and cans of medicine in the inteyer.

    He unscrewed a random medicine bottle. The pills in the bottle were still dry after so many years. They had definitely expired, but he didn¡¯t know how much of the effect was left.

    The traffic here was extremely blocked. The beekeepers and Wrangler lived in the forest for a long time and had little contact with the outside world. They had to find their own ways to solve their daily headaches and fevers. With their meager ie, they might not be able to afford the sky-high medical expenses in the United States therefore, the variety of medicine in the mezzanine was more abundant than what was usually avable at home. There were even unopened one-time use syringes.

    The medicine bottles were all in English, and there were even some crazy Latin words. Hepared them to the trantion software on his mobile phone and reluctantly chose some medicine that might be useful. He didn¡¯t dare to take the oral Medicine that had been kept for so many years. Eating it was probably the same as drinking arsenic with a smile. The external medicine could be used together with some other medicine. He put it into his first aid kit along with the syringe, just in case.

    With the consumption of supplies, his backpack was much lighter, so he didn¡¯t mind adding a little more weight.

    As for the other things in the house ... He looked through them roughly and found nothing useful or valuable. However, he found a frame on the bed in the bedroom, which confirmed his guess that the owner was a Native American.

    He simply cleaned up the dust in the bedroom and living room. Although he was only staying for one night, he couldn¡¯t be too indulgent. Then he began to boil water to prepare dinner and lit the firece.

    The elves were all gathered by the firece, warming themselves up and knocking on the tes, waiting for the meal. He was the only one busy.

    Dinner was the same as lunch. The elves had roasted beaver meat, while he had abination of rice, wild vegetables, and canned food. The kitchen was full of pots and pans, but the problem was that his cooking skills were too advanced. Even with kitchenware, he couldn¡¯t cook well.

    The Wolf Pack did not stay idle at night. They went hunting by themselves and only came back after filling their stomachs. They slept outside the house, and one could hear them chasing and ying outside the house.

    It was rare to have a shower, and since he entered the forest, he hadn¡¯t taken a shower for many days, so he simply boiled a few more buckets of hot water and took a random shower. After washing his hair that was as sticky as a bird¡¯s nest, he suddenly felt refreshed and felt much lighter. The dirty water from the shower almost blocked the sewer.

    That night, perhaps because he was used to sleeping in a tent, or perhaps because he was not used to sleeping in a stranger¡¯s bed, Zhang Zian was a little excited. He did not fall asleep until the second half of the night. He even dreamed that the owner of the house, an India had suddenly returned, pointing a dark double-barrel shotgun at his head, trying to extort him for a huge sum of money for the amodation fee ...

    That¡¯s why you¡¯re so conflicted even when you¡¯re dreaming.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    [PS: at my request, I wish the Italy readers and sand sculpture group members a Happy Birthday in Colnd Gucheng.]

 Chapter 1580 - Peeping

    <h4>Chapter 1580: Peeping</h4>

    The next morning, Zhang Zian and the Elfins all got up a littlete. Although the bed was hard and ufortable to sleep on, it was a t bed, not pothole-fillednd, so they didn¡¯t want to get up.

    He still had to get up even if he didn¡¯t want to. After all, the journey wasn¡¯t over yet. After all, this wasn¡¯t his home. The earlier he achieved his goal, the earlier he could go home.

    After breakfast, Zhang Zian wrote a few words on a piece of paper with charcoal in English and then stuck it on the inside of the window. The key is under the stone at the door. Don¡¯t smash the ss.

    If there were other travelers here in the future, they would definitely look through the ss and see the paper and the message on it.

    He also wrote another note and ced it on the floor. It meant: Please use whatever you want, and leave it as it is when you leave.

    He did all these unnecessary things because, first, it would be a pity if the house was destroyed, and second, he took some of the owner¡¯s medicine and saw. He did it out ofpensation, even though the owner might nevere back.

    After that, he packed his things and backpack, covered the furniture in the room with the White cloth, locked the doors and windows, and left the house with the Elfins. He pressed the key under the original stone.

    Before leaving the vige, he covered the well with a wooden board to prevent the fallen leaves from falling in, and then pressed a stone on the wooden board to prevent it from being blown away by the wind. As long as one had a normal IQ and eyes, they would notice the well.

    When he called for the Elfins to set off, he noticed that Fati was sitting upright. It was not the kind of sitting that cats and dogs did casually. It was more like a serious sitting posture. His back was straight, and his body was like a reef that was ready to resist the wind and waves.

    Its eyes were closed, and its mouth seemed to be chanting something silently. Its face was bathed in an almost holy brilliance, and there was a solemn atmosphere around it ... Even if it had the appearance of a Wolf, it was difficult to treat it as a bloodthirsty beast.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t dare to disturb it, and he also stopped Richard, who was always talkative, from continuing to make noise.

    After a while, Fati opened his eyes. There was an unyielding light shing in his eyes, and there seemed to be a deep sorrow. It was not a sorrow for the individual fate, but a higher level. It was somewhat like old time tea¡¯spassion for the state of the universe, but not entirely. It was more like the helplessness of facing the copse of a building.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Is there something wrong?¡±

    Zhang Zian noticed that it was in a strange state and asked.

    Fati looked up at the sky and mumbled,¡±¡±The sky ... Is about to turn dark.¡±

    When he got up in the morning, there was sunlight shining through the window. Zhang Zian thought it would be another sunny and cloudy day, so he didn¡¯t pay much attention and was busy with the chores.

    At this moment, he also raised his head. Through the gaps between the leaves, he could see dark clouds gathering on the horizon in the Northwest.

    This was not the rapidly moving cumulonimbus clouds that were usually seen in thunderstorms. Those clouds were blown by strong winds. They seemed menacing, but they left as quickly as they came, and their area of influence was narrow. Often, there would be sunrise in the East and rain in the West. The characteristic was that the clouds were very low, and the dark clouds seemed to be about to crush the city, as if they were about to fall above their heads.

    The clouds in the sky at this time were probably caused by the slowly moving cold edge, forming arge area of high-level clouds. This kind of clouds would not bring strong winds and heavy rain, but it would bring bad weather for a long time.

    The good weather that hadsted for several days was finallying to an end.

    Zhang Zian was also very regretful. The rain would cause some problems, and even starting a fire would be more difficult. However, he was still optimistic. At least this matter would not affect his mood too much.

    ¡°It¡¯ll clear up eventually. ¡± He consoled.

    Fati continued to stare at the sky worriedly.¡±No, you don¡¯t understand.¡±

    Zhang Zian followed its line of sight and was surprised to see that the two human-shaped clouds that had existed since yesterday were still floating in the air. One of them was in the Northwest, and the heavy clouds seemed to being from him ... No, from behind it, as if they were going to devour the human-shaped cloud in the southeast.

    In one day and one night, not only were the two clouds not blown away, but they also changed their shape constantly. It was an anomaly.

    He was amazed. Unfortunately, due to the cover of the leaves and the fatigue of the journey, he did not have the time and ability to spend a whole day taking pictures of the changes in the two clouds. Otherwise, if he posted it on the inte, it would definitely cause a lot of people to Marvel. He might even be an inte celebrity.

    ¡°We are losing this battle of faith.¡± ¡°No,¡± Fati said sorrowfully.¡±Whether it¡¯s the quantity or quality of faith, the other party¡¯s power is not inferior to ours.¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t understand what it was saying, but he could tell from its tone that the situation was serious. He remembered that the light that it represented on the game Capture interface had been weakening. Perhaps this meant that its power was weakening ... Or being suppressed.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± He asked in confusion.

    Fati sighed.¡±Do you still remember what you said? The invasion of foreign species. Whether it was a cat or a Beaver, they were all foreign species in this forest. ¡°Sometimes ... Faith is the same. Faith that doesn¡¯t belong to this continent is invading this continent. The new evil is corrupting us from the inside.¡±

    Its exnation was equivalent to no exnation, and he was even more confused.

    ¡°Maybe this is fate. To some extent, we are also invaders. We reced the Native Americans, and now someone else is going to rece us.¡±

    Fati¡¯s words seemed to be cutting to the chase, but it also seemed to be expressing something vaguely.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand, but it wasn¡¯t good to say nothing, so he tried to persuade her,¡±¡±Actually, I think it¡¯s up to man to do it. Besides, faith is something that keeps up with the times. Take this forest for example. The key is not the alien species, but whether they will cause harm to the ecosystem of this forest ...¡±

    He didn¡¯t know what he was talking about. It was like he was talking nonsense and didn¡¯t have anyforting effect.

    As he spoke, he suddenly had a strange feeling in his heart, as if he was being spied on by someone. This feeling was familiar. It was the feeling of being secretly observed by dimir in the capital.

    He looked at the forest next to him. It was very quiet in the forest. The shadows of the trees were swaying, and the strong contrast between light and darkness was very suitable for animals to hide in. He looked around a few times, but did not find any human or animal shadows.

    When he looked over, the feeling of being watched disappeared.

    He counted the number of wolves again. All the gray wolves were here, ying and chasing each other. Not a single one was missing, so it couldn¡¯t be a Wolf.

    The elves were also nearby, ready to set off.

    Neither the wolves nor the elves had any abnormal reactions, indicating that they had not noticed anything unusual.

    A deer? A Badger? Is it a coyote? ck bear? Or were there other animals hiding in the forest?

    Or was he being overly sensitive?

 Chapter 1581 - The remains

    <h4>Chapter 1581: The remains</h4>

    Even Fati, who was talking to Zhang Zian and standing close to him, did not notice anything unusual. It saw that he was distracted and thought that he was not interested in the topic, so it said,¡±¡±Let¡¯s continue. The road ahead isn¡¯t easy to walk. It¡¯s faster to take a detour around the sea.¡±

    ¡°Uh ... Okay.¡±

    Zhang Zian wanted to exin his gaffe. After all, it was impolite to be absent-minded when talking. However, no one noticed anything unusual, so his exnation would seem weak and might even be regarded as an excuse.

    He looked back at the quiet forest and called the elves to set off. They followed behind Fati and the Wolf Pack and left the abandoned Native American vige.

    The closer they got to the sea, the sparser the forest became. They gradually transitioned into abination of short trees and grasnds, and their field of view became wider.

    The ecosystem here was different from that of the forest. The ck-tailed deer were scared away by the wolves, the Dous squirrel jumped to the top of the trees, and the double-crowned Hawkbill turtle soared over the seaside cliff in the distance. From time to time, it swooped down like a bomber, and the cool sea wind blew on their faces.

    Zhang Zian asionally turned back to check the situation behind him, not knowing if the herd of red deers was still following them.

    After walking for a while, they went around a stone wall and the majestic Pacific Ocean appeared in front of them.

    They stopped at the same time and looked at the sea, as if they could see Binhai city on the other side of the sea.

    The sea here was not as blue as the sea in Egypt. It was slightly grayish-green, and waves of tides surged onto the beach, hitting the rocks on the coast.

    Pfft!

    A mist suddenly spurted out of the distant sea, like a brilliant rainbow under the fading sunlight, and then disappeared again.

    It was a whale.

    Zhang Zian raised his telescope and looked. It was too far away, so he couldn¡¯t tell what kind of whale it was.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the beach. ¡± He suggested to fa Xiu,¡±I still have a friend here that you haven¡¯t met yet.¡±

    Walking on the beach was uneven, and they often sank into the sand, which obviously affected their speed more than walking on the grass. Fatale had no opinion and ordered the wolves to change to the beach.

    Compared to the famous 17-mile coastal scenery near San Francisco, the scenery on this Wild Coast was nothing special. The sea was not blue, the beach was not white, and even the rocks on the coast were not magnificent, so it was normal that there was not a single person. Otherwise, no matter how remote it was, it could be developed into a tourist area.

    Zhang Zian stood on a rock by the sea and saw that there were a lot of marine creatures living between the rocks, such as small fish, small shrimp, barnacles, mussels, stone turtles, starfish, crabs, and so on. Because there was no human disturbance, the most primitive ecological environment of the survival of the fittest was maintained.

    He aimed his phone at the water next to the rock and released Sihwa.

    Thump!

    A figure with a human body and a fishtail plunged into the water, causing a huge ssh.

    ¡°Aiyo! My ass!¡± Sihwa bared her teeth and popped her head out of the sea. She red at him and said,¡±¡±Why don¡¯t you choose a ce with deeper water? He almost hit my head! If my peerless beauty is damaged, will you be able to bear the consequences?¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t say anything to her. She noticed the existence of the French pushing and immediately diverted her attention. Where did this doge from?¡±

    The Dharma Protector coughed.¡±I¡¯m a Wolf.¡±

    ¡°Alsatian?¡±

    ¡°Wolf.¡±

    ¡°Dog and Wolf¡¯s time?¡±

    ¡°......¡±

    Fati looked at Zhang Zian for help. It didn¡¯t know how to answer, and it felt that its mind couldn¡¯t keep up with this new half-human, half-fish guy.

    Zhang Zian quietly pointed to his temple, meaning that there was a hole in this guy¡¯s brain and that he should not take her seriously.

    He let Sihwa out mainly because he felt sorry for letting her stay in the phone for so many days. Now that they were at the beach, he let her out for some fresh air. Otherwise, when they returned to Binhai city, she might use this reason to argue for a long time.

    Sihwa kept calling Fati ¡°doggie,¡± making Fati feel helpless. Just as he was thinking about how to introduce himself and emphasize that he was a Wolf, he heard the wolves running in front of him howl strangely.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Zhang Zian saw its ears move, as if it had heard something.

    ¡°What did the wolves find? let¡¯s go and take a look.¡±

    There was a limit to what the wolves could express through their cries, and Fati was not sure what they had found. He could only see them circling something in the desert from a distance, seemingly interested in it. They were pulling it with their front ws and even trying to bite it.

    Zhang Zian thought it was something like a sea turtle, so he followed along with the Elfins.

    ¡°Hey, hey! Where are you guys going? Why did you leave without a word?¡± Seeing that they were leaving, Sihwa swam parallel to them in the sea.

    Fati was the first to arrive at the scene. With a shout, he dispersed the Wolf Pack, and Zhang Zian followed closely behind.

    The thing that appeared in front of them, half-buried in the sand, shocked them all. Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help but take two steps back, unable to believe his eyes.

    When the Elfins arrived, they were all shocked. The timid Pi even hid behind Zhang Zian, covering its eyes and not daring to look.

    Even Sihwa, who was always in a daze, was so shocked that she covered her mouth to stop herself from screaming and hugged her arms tightly as if she was afraid of the cold.

    It was a shoe.

    To be more precise, it was a mid-waist walking boot, and the shoces were tied very firmly.

    A shoe wasn¡¯t a big deal, but he and the Elfins clearly saw a grayish-white stick-like object sticking out of the shoe. It was as thick as a branch, but it was much straighter than a branch, and the cross-section was uneven.

    It was ... A human¡¯s calf bone.

    If he walked to the side and looked into the shoes, he should be able to see the bones of the feet, and maybe even ... The feet that had notpletely rotted.

    It depended on how long the person had been dead.

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins looked at each other. No one approached, but they really looked into the shoes.

    They had seen mummies and skeletons in the desert of Egypt. Although they were shocked at that time, they had been prepared for it, but this time, they were really caught off guard.

    In addition, the mummies and skeletons were people who had been dead for many years, and the style of this shoe was quite trendy. The owner of the shoe probably had not been dead for a long time.

    ¡°Zian, what¡¯s going on?¡±

    Old time tea looked at the Wolf Pack suspiciously. In this forest, there weren¡¯t many animals that could kill people. The Wolf Pack was obviously the most suspicious, and their excitement when they found the shoe just now only added to the suspicion.

    The other elves also stared at the wolves warily.

    Fati¡¯s expression was solemn. He had only been in this forest for a few days, and he could not guarantee that this person had not been eaten by wolves.

 Chapter 1582 - Ill send you away, a thousand miles away

    <h4>Chapter 1582: I¡¯ll send you away, a thousand miles away</h4>

    On the deste and deserted beach, a broken foot in a shoe suddenly appeared, half buried in the beach ... This kind of secret room murder in the broad sense should have appeared in the plot of the death god primary school students, but it had appeared in front of Zhang Zian.

    There was only one truth, and the murderer was ... Anyway, it could not be Zhang Zian.

    Ever since the discovery of this broken leg, the atmosphere between the elves and the wolves had been a little subtle. After all, although the elves here looked down on humans in various ways, eating humans was still ... Somewhat uneptable.

    Dharma was stuck in the middle, and it felt very difficult to handle.

    The wolves also felt the strange atmosphere, but they didn¡¯t understand why.

    Zhang Zian tried to smooth things over.¡±You¡¯re thinking too much. The owner of this shoe obviously died in the sea and then was washed up to the shore. It wasn¡¯t the wolf.¡±

    The Elfins were stunned. They were prejudiced and wary of wolves, so they didn¡¯t think of this. However, it seemed a little too much to say that the man died in the sea just because his leg was half-buried in the sand. The probability of him dying onnd was obviously higher than in the sea.

    This broken foot was wearing hiking shoes, so it might also be a traveler, or at least a traveler. Even if a traveler saw the sea and wanted to swim in the water, he wouldn¡¯t go in with his shoes, right?

    Besides, the cold current of the Pacific Ocean passed through the coast of California. Even in Midsummer, few people were willing to go into the water to swim. The sea here was really only for viewing from afar.

    Zhang Zian knew that he couldn¡¯t win the Elfins ¡®trust with just his conclusion, so he added,¡±¡±In fact, it¡¯s not new to find a broken foot on the West Coast of the United States. In addition to the broken foot in front of us, thest broken foot was found on the beach of dock Ind in Washington, thousands of kilometers away from here, during New Year¡¯s Day in 2019 ... We are now in Northern California, bordering Oregon, and farther north of Oregon is Washington.¡±

    Before he came to the mahogany forest, he had learned about the dangers of trekking in the forest so that he could be prepared. When he was looking up information, he saw a report about the mystery of broken feet on the beach on the West Coast of the United States

    In the past ten years, starting from August 2007, people wearing shoes with broken feet were frequently found near the coast bordering the United States and Canada. There was even a TV series with this theme. Whether it was the TV series ¡®scriptwriter, scientists, or even detectives, all of them racked their brains to find a reasonable exnation for the source of these broken feet.

    The scientists believed that the ocean current had brought the broken foot to the shore. As for the other parts of the body, they had either been devoured or dposed by the Marine creatures in the sea. The broken foot was not to the liking of the Marine creatures because of the existence of the shoes. It had been floating on the surface of the sea and was eventually washed to the beach because the current shoes were light and buoyant.

    It sounded reasonable, but it still couldn¡¯t exin the key question. Why did the baby start in August 2007? why didn¡¯t such a thing happen in the past years?

    Only a few of these broken feet had been identified. There was a special page on Wikipedia that recorded in detail the time, location, urate coordinates, shoe style, size, characteristics, and so on when these broken feet were found. They hoped that one day, the owners of these broken feet would be found by their families.

    This kind of gimmicky news would always attract people¡¯s attention, and Zhang Zian was no exception. At that time, he was just casually browsing through it. He did not expect to see a broken foot on the beach with his own eyes.

    Before this, no one had ever found a broken foot in a ce so far south, but this was not surprising. This was because the ce where a broken foot had been found was a noisy beach near the city. People often walked their dogs or strolled on the beach, so it was easy to find unusual objects. The mahogany forest was too deste. It was impossible for a person to walk along the beach for several years, so it was reasonable that no one had found a broken foot before.

    He took out his phone and took a picture of the broken leg, at the same time recording the coordinates. When he left the mahogany forest, he uploaded the picture, and the relevant page on the Wikipedia would have to be edited again.

    No one could give a reasonable exnation for the source of the broken leg. Although there were spections such as suicide, drowning, ne crash, and shipwrecking, if the key time point of August 2007 was taken into ount, no one could exin why no one found a broken leg on the beach before August 2007.

    Taking into ount the time, the most reasonable exnation was that a criminal organization established in 2007 had thrown the victims ¡®bodies into the sea to cover up their crimes. They dumped the bodies at a fixed location, and the ocean currents would bring the sea water and bodies to a specific direction, such as the beach at the border of the United States and Canada.

    Zhang Zian exined these facts and rumors to the Elfins, and a new idea came to his and the Elfins ¡®minds: When was Peter Lee¡¯s suspicious organization established?

    They knew very little about Peter Lee, him, and the organization, but during their trip to Egypt, when they were camping at night, he asionally heard Peter Lee and his team members talking loudly, probably deliberately trying to attract young girls like he he on the expedition team. They talked about how their society had been established for more than a decade, which was almost consistent with 2007, and that this was their old nest ...

    If Zhang Zian¡¯s guess was right, the crimes of Peter Lee and the others were not only illegal detainment ... They might even include murder.

    For those who were tricked toe here but refused to be brainwashed, would Peter Lee keep them and always prevent them from escaping? For Peter Lee, who even found it troublesome to raise deer, it probably wouldn ¡®t. He might not have killed them directly, but as long as they were not provided with sufficient food and medicine, they would not live long.

    After those people died of unnatural death, such as illness or starvation, Peter Lee ordered people to throw their bodies into the sea to destroy the evidence. This was a good way to cover up, but he did not expect that the ocean current did not bring the bodies to the deep sea, but to the border between the United States and Canada.

    However, it didn¡¯t matter. It was difficult for people to associate a broken foot with a criminal activity thousands of kilometers away. Unfortunately, the Justice was long and loose, and Zhang Zian, who hade here, found clues of the crime.

    As for why the broken foot was here, it could also be simply exined. It was because it had not been taken away in time. Perhaps the next tide would roll the broken foot back to the sea, wrapped in the current and brought to the North.

    This was his guess. Although he thought it was reasonable, he still needed evidence to prove it. Otherwise, it could only be called a delusion.

 Chapter 1583 - The body is honest

    <h4>Chapter 1583: The body is honest</h4>

    <b></b>

    After Zhang Zian exined his guess, the Elfins felt that it was very reasonable and nodded repeatedly. After all, he was quite eloquent, especially when it came to deceiving people.

    The scientists and detectives in the United States and Canada were not fools. Regarding the frequent cases of broken feet on the beach, they most likely suspected that it was done by a criminal organization, but they also had no evidence.

    The ocean currents were veryplicated. So far, people could only figure out the direction of the main ocean currents, but in fact, the ocean currents were likely to be as deep as the three-dimensional dense ocean. It was entirely possible that the upperyer of ocean currents would go north, the middleyer would go west, and the loweryer would go south.

    Scientists believed that the broken leg was brought to the beach by the ocean current, but they didn¡¯t know which ocean current brought it to the border between the United States and Canada. The money and technology they had at hand did not allow them to conduct a thorough tracing. After all, this was not a big case.

    The simplest way to track the ocean current was to ce buoys with signal transmitters, and then use satellites to receive the signal and record the trajectory of these buoys to draw the trajectory of the ocean current. However, this method could only track the shallow ocean currents and could not track the deep ocean currents hidden under the sea.

    The submarine forces of various military powers knew the most about the deep ocean currents, but the hydrology information collected by the submarine forces was obviously not disclosed to the public.

    Zhang Zian turned his head to call out to Sihwa. Thetter had not dared to look at the broken foot on the beach since just now.

    ¡°Sihwa, it¡¯s your turn. I saw a whale in the sea earlier. Can you ask the whale if there¡¯s an ocean current that flows North?¡± He said.

    The known cold current in California flowed from north to south. If his guess about the broken foot was correct, there must be an undercurrent flowing from south to north. Otherwise, it would not be possible to bring the broken foot to the border of the United States and Canada.

    Sihwa, who always wanted to go to the sea to have fun, seemed very reluctant this time.

    ¡°I¡¯m not going! What if a broken leg floats in front of me while I¡¯m swimming in the water ... It might scare me so much that I¡¯ll be traumatized by the sea!¡± She mumbled and pressed her hand to her chest.¡±United States is so scary! Now, my heart is thumping in fear!¡±

    Zhang Zian thought,¡±how can it be so coincidental?¡± Do you think broken legs can be seen everywhere in the sea? Besides, there are people drowning ormitting suicide every day. Even in the sea of Binhai city, you might often pass by corpses ...¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not listening, I¡¯m not listening! Mutter Scriptures, you bastard!¡±

    Sihwa was so scared that she quickly covered her ears with her hands and shook her head like a rattle. The water droplets in her dark green hair sshed on Zhang Zian¡¯s face.

    Fina red at him.¡±How can you persuade me like this?¡±

    Zhang Zian also felt that the joke just now was a bit too much. He was big-hearted, but that didn¡¯t mean that others were also big-hearted. It was better to avoid making jokes about the dead.

    He changed his tune and said,¡±I¡¯m sorry, I was just joking. It¡¯s actually not that serious. Statistically speaking, the probability of a person¡¯s feet bing floating feet on the sea and being found is only one in a million!¡± One in a million! It¡¯s even lower than the chances of me winning the second prize of the two-colored ball or you bing a top inte celebrity!¡±

    ¡°Bah! I will definitely be a top inte celebrity, don¡¯t underestimate me!¡± Sihwa said angrily.

    ¡°Kaka! The probability of an ordinary person winning the second prize or more of the double-colored ball didn¡¯t exist! You idiot, stop dreaming!¡± Richard, on the other hand, was not afraid of his feet breaking, and was leisurelybing his feathers.

    Just by rambling a few words, Sihwa¡¯s fear was eliminated. However, she still asked suspiciously,¡±¡±Is the probability really only one in a million? You¡¯re not fooling me, are you?¡±

    ¡°This is the expert¡¯s estimate. It¡¯s definitely real, I swear on my wallet.¡± Zhang Zian took out his wallet and ced it on his chest.

    Fati was speechless.¡±...¡± Oaths were sacred. It had never seen anyone swear to their wallet.

    ¡°Kaka! You don¡¯t have any money in your wallet. It¡¯s fine if you want to fool others, but don¡¯t try to fool me! It¡¯s not like I haven¡¯t seen your wallet before, there¡¯s not even a single cent in it!¡± Richard shouted.

    ¡°That was in China. After all, even beggars in China use QR codes to collect money. But here in United States, I don¡¯t bring a single cent when I go out. I¡¯m afraid that I¡¯ll be killed by a robbery!¡± Zhang Zian opened his wallet to show them. There was indeed a stack of US dor notes in it.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll reluctantly believe you this time.¡± Only then did Sihwa believe him.

    ¡°£¿£¿£¿¡±

    The French guy had a question mark on his face.

    It didn¡¯t understand the logic behind this. Why did swearing on the wallet work so well?

    In any case, Sihwa finally agreed to ask the whale for help.

    ¡°I can¡¯t help you for free. What are you going to give me in exchange?¡± She stretched out her hand as if she was asking for something.

    She was like a child in this aspect, and there were conditions for everything she did.

    ¡°What do you want?¡± He asked in return.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have anything I want for now.¡± She tilted her head and thought about it.

    ¡°Then we¡¯ll talk after you¡¯ve thought it through. As long as it¡¯s not out of line, I¡¯ll agree.¡± He promised.

    Sihwa was very satisfied with this answer.¡±Hmph, that¡¯s more like it!¡±

    Usually, when she returned to the sea, she would be as happy as a Dragon returning to the sea or a Tiger entering the forest. She would jump into the water and note out for a long time. But today, she was like a child who had just learned how to cross the road. She carefully observed the surrounding sea water and made sure that there were no unknown floating objects. Then, she plucked up her courage to dive into the water. She shook her long and strong fishtail, pulled out a white line, and swam deep into the sea.

    Zhang Zian raised his telescope. The whale had stopped spraying water after that. He didn¡¯t know if it had left, but he believed that Sihwa could call it back.

    As if toplete the mission as soon as possible and leave the waters as soon as possible, Sihwa swam very fast. In a short while, even the line of the water could not be seen.

    Zhang Zian held the telescope and slowly turned his body, looking for traces of the whale on the sea.

    A few minutester, Richard patted his head with his wings.¡± There¡¯s a tidal spray over there!¡±

    ¡°Where? where?¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s spirit was lifted, and he quickly moved the telescope. However, he immediately came back to his senses and waved his hand to hit it. ¡°If it¡¯s spraying water, just say it¡¯s spraying water. Don¡¯t always use such misleading excuses!¡±

    Having anticipated his reaction, Richard flew into the air in advance and dodged his palm. He shouted proudly,¡±¡±Kaka! Even though I said no, my body still responded honestly!¡±

    Zhang Zian was so angry that he couldn¡¯t do anything, but it was flying in the air. He had just leaned his walking stick on the reef, so he didn¡¯t have a suitable weapon to hit it. He had to let it go for the time being and go to see the whale that was spraying water.

 Chapter 1584

    <h4>Chapter 1584: Chapter 1584-J2</h4>

    Despite Richard¡¯s subtle choice of words, it was not a lie. There was really a water column rising from the sea. To be precise, it was a pir of air, and the height of the rise was limited. It was easy to miss if one did not pay attention to it.

    Just by looking at the aura of this pir of air, one could tell that it was probably not arge whale that was spraying water.

    Zhang Zian moved the telescope down a little and saw a ck, high dorsal fin that cut the sea like a military knife.

    If one only saw the dorsal fin and did not see the water spray, an ordinary person would most likely think that it was a great white shark. However, upon closer inspection, one would find that the dorsal fin was slightly different from the equteral triangle dorsal fin of a great white shark. It was more like a rectangle with a narrow top and a wide bottom.

    Of course, he was only in the mood to carefully observe the dorsal fin when he was standing safely on the shore. If he was close to the dorsal fin, his only thought would probably be to run away ...

    In fact, whales and sharks were different in many ways. For example, the way they swam was different. Sharks swam underwater most of the time. Even if their dorsal fins were exposed, their bodies remained straight. However, whales were different. When whales floated on the surface of the water, they liked to use their bodies to move around in the sea, up and down.

    There was also the way they swung their tail fins. Sharks swung their tail fins left and right, while whales and dolphins swung their tail fins up and down.

    Zhang Zian recognized that it was a whale, and when it got closer, especially when its body rose out of the water like a butterfly swimmer because of pleasure, he confirmed from its ck-and-white body that it was an Orca.

    Killer whales were social animals, like a pack of wolves in the sea. Seeing one often meant that there was another group nearby.

    Sure enough, when he moved the telescope in the direction of the deep sea, he saw more killer whales approaching.

    Killer whales were the overlords of the sea and even fed on other whales. Even great white sharks were not a match for killer whales, but they were particrly friendly to humans. If you encountered stray cats and dogs outside, it was best not to slip away for safety reasons. However, if you encountered killer whales in the sea, as long as they were close enough, they could have a good time.

    They were so friendly to humans, and the half-human, half-fish Sihwa was closer to them in size, so it was only natural that they would warmly wee her.

    It turned out that Sihwa, who was in a bad mood, was hugging the dorsal fins of the killer whales and swimming around in the sea with them. It was as if she was having so much fun that she had forgotten what her mission was. Zhang Zian was too far away to remind her, so she could only stare.

    No matter what kind of social animal it was, it would have one or several leaders. It could not be without a leader.

    Zhang Zian observed for a while and noticed that there was arger female whale in the group. When the other whales yed with each other or yed with Sihwa, they would all be respectful and carefully avoid this whale ... If there were no idents, it should be the leader of this group of whales.

    Sihwa yed with the other whales for a while before she remembered what she had to do. She floated on the surface of the sea and turned her head as if she was looking for something. When she saw the whale, she swam towards it and climbed up to its head as if she was whispering something.

    The female whale seemed to have understood what she meant. It shook its tail fin and dived into the sea, while Sihwa held its dorsal fin and took a ride.

    The other whales also dived into the water.

    The surface of the sea returned to its calm state.

    ¡°Is she alright?¡± Fati asked worriedly.

    Seeing that she had note out after sinking into the water, it guessed that she might be in danger.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the thing that can hurt her in the water hasn¡¯t been born yet. ¡± Zhang Zian, on the other hand, was very open-minded.¡±Fortune favors the foolish. Besides, even if she¡¯s in danger, there¡¯s only a few of us. Who can save her?¡±

    He had grown up in the coastal area. Although he was not andlubber, if he were to swim so far into the sea to save people, he would not have the strength to swim back by the time he swam over. If Sihwa could not handle it, he would have been in vain.

    Fa tuo looked at the broken leg and muttered,¡±¡±This must be the guidance of God¡¯s will. It allowed us to find this broken leg and blow the horn for the destruction of the wicked.¡±

    The guidance of the Divine Will ...

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t think that this had anything to do with God. It was just that they happened to choose the seaside road. Even if the wolves didn¡¯t find the broken foot, the elves would.

    At this time, water sshed on the surface of the sea. The group of whales surfaced again, and Sihwa was perfectly fine as she climbed onto the dorsal fin of the whale.

    The group of whales swam to the shore, but they were limited by their size and did not dare to swim too close. Thest section of the road was left to Sihwa to swim over herself.

    ¡°How is it?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Sihwa wiped the seawater off her face and nodded.¡±¡±There is indeed an undercurrent that flows North under the coast. It¡¯s warmer and flows very fast. As for where it flows to ... It¡¯s not very clear. Anyway, it has been flowing North. Just now, it took me to dive into the undercurrent and experience it.¡±

    She turned around and pointed at the female whale, saying excitedly,¡±¡±It¡¯s very old, but it¡¯s very smart. It can understand everything I say. I¡¯ve never seen such a smart whale. It¡¯s easier to talk to it than to talk to you!¡±

    ¡°Is it very old?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s very old. It¡¯s so old that it can¡¯t even tell how old it is. The other whales are all its grandsons or even great-grandsons!¡± Sihwa answered with certainty.

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment.¡±In that case, maybe it¡¯s the killer whale that¡¯s officially called J2 but nicknamed ¡®old grandma¡¯ by everyone.¡±

    ¡°Kaka? J2£¿¡±Richardnded without a sound and scratched his head with his bird ws.¡±I know about J2 + 6!¡±

    Sihwa was intrigued.¡±So it¡¯s called an old grandma?¡± How old is it?¡±

    Zhang Zian counted with his fingers.¡±It is said that it was born in 1911, a year before the sinking of the Titanic. At that time, the Qing Dynasty had not yet fallen! Now, it was already extremely old! Thest time it was seen was 2016, and thest time was 2014. At that time, it led a group of whales from the coast of California to the North of the George Strait ... After 2016, no one has seen it again, and it was spected that it might have died of old age. I didn¡¯t expect it to still be alive. ¡±

    ¡°In 2016, it was witnessed in the sarichi sea.¡± He emphasized, but found that the elves didn¡¯t understand, so he added,¡±¡±The sarichi Coast is the ce where people frequently find broken feet.¡±

    J2 must have often led its family of whales to patrol the northeast Pacific Coast, especially the section between California and the sarichi sea, so it definitely had a say. Since it said that there was an undercurrent that was heading north, it must be true.

    The school of whales was still swimming not far from the shore. When the mother whale flipped over, its dorsal fin waspletely exposed, and from the iconic white ban on its dorsal fin, he confirmed its identity. It was J2, who had disappeared from human sight for a long time, so he took a few photos.

    After leaving the mahogany forest, he would upload these photos to the inte. Many people who were concerned about J2¡¯s fate would be relieved.

 Chapter 1585 - rowing a boat with oars

    <h4>Chapter 1585: Chapter 1585-rowing a boat with oars</h4>

    On this Coast, gray whales were the mostmonly seen, but now that the gray whales had gone north, it was rare to see a group of killer whales. What was even rarer was that they could actually see this old killer whale.

    If Zhang Zian had an assault boat now, he would definitely try to get close to it and see if its eyes, which had been through hundreds of years, really contained unimaginable wisdom as Sihwa said.

    Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t have a boat, and the whale¡¯s testimony couldn¡¯t be used as evidence.

    ¡°Did you ask when they n to leave these waters?¡± He asked again.

    Sihwa answered,¡±they won¡¯t leave for the time being. They seem to be nning to spend the summer here. There are many seals on the coast here. They have to eat their fill before they can go on their way.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought for a while and said,¡±then you can y with them next. We¡¯ll walk onnd. You can y in the sea and follow them. Maybe the whales can help.¡±

    ¡°Help with what?¡± Sihwa was not very happy.¡±Are you asking it to help you search for treasure at the bottom of the sea or find a sunken ship?¡± It¡¯s already so old, you cheapskate, don¡¯t always torment it with small things!¡±

    Zhang Zian really didn¡¯t think of a way to make a fortune by looking for shipwrecks at the bottom of the sea. However, shipwrecks usually searched for treasure in international waters. If it was in the territorial waters of the United States, even if they found it, they would have to hand it over to the country ...

    ¡°No, I¡¯m asking it and the whales to help save people,¡± ¡°Maybe some people were still alive when Peter Lee and his team threw them into the sea,¡± he exined.¡±They¡¯ll need to show up.¡±

    Sihwa thought about it. This should not be a problem. Killer whales were always happy to get along with humans. Besides, she did not want to see human corpses in the sea.

    If she wanted to discuss with the whales, she didn¡¯t need toe close. She just had to put her head underwater and talk to them in the way of whale song.

    About half a minuteter, she poked her head out of the water, indicating that the whales were happy to help. They had nothing else to do now anyway.

    After the agreement, Zhang Zian and the Elfins continued to walk onnd. The Wolf Pack, which had been cleared of the suspicion of cannibalism, still ran in front, looking for food and leading the way.

    Fati looked around and said thoughtfully,¡±¡±What a huge and strange team. Evenpared to back then ... They are not at a disadvantage.¡±

    There were cats, dogs, birds, monkeys, and owls in this team that was walking along the coast. Wolves were running in front, whales and a half-man, half-fish guy were swimming on the left, deer were following behind, and there might be Badgers, coyotes, and ck bears further behind ... The animals that were originally rivals had gathered together for different reasons, pulling out a long dragon-like team in the forest. It was a spectacr sight to see.

    Sihwa swam freely in the shallow waters, swimming freestyle for a while and backstroke for a while. Shemunicated with the whales with low-frequency sounds that human ears could not hear. She was not lonely at all.

    J2 had lived for more than a hundred years, and its eyes had seen all kinds of cold and cruel things in the world. It chose to lead the whales to hide on this deserted Coast because it had a veryplicated mentality towards humans. It was both longing and afraid of humans.

    Zhang Zian was the one who had it the hardest on the team. He was carrying a backpack, so it was hard for him to walk on the beach. Fortunately, the view of the beach was wide, unlike in the forest, where one would suspect that there were monsters hiding behind a thick tree if they heard a little noise.

    As they walked, Sihwa suddenly swam a little toward the shore. She and the whales heard an abnormal sound. It was regr and regr, not like the sound of nature.

    After listening for a while, she said loudly,¡±¡±There¡¯s movement in the sea ahead. It seems like someone is paddling. ¡±

    Zhang Zian had taken her out to sea before. In order to prevent the propeller from getting sand or foreign objects, he would use the oars to row in the shallow area near the shore, so she knew what the sound of rowing was like.

    ¡°We¡¯re not far away.¡± Fati looked around and reminded him,¡±we should be able to see it after turning around the heand in front.¡±

    Without Zhang Zian¡¯s reminder, the Elfins were on high alert.

    At this time, he was thinking about the lost drone, Nekhbet. If it was flying above his head, he would be able to see everything within a few kilometers.

    When they were near the Cape, Zhang Zian and the other Elfins stopped and let Sihwa and the whales check out the situation first.

    A momentter, Sihwa reported back.¡±There is a small boat in front, but it¡¯s strange. The boat is made of wood, but it doesn¡¯t have a propeller. It¡¯s all manual work.¡±

    ¡°How many people are there on the ship?¡± He asked.

    ¡°About four or five, all men. I think I heard a woman¡¯s voice, but I didn¡¯t see one.¡± She said in confusion.

    He asked the other Elfins to stay where they were, put down his backpack, and only held the telescope. He carefully stepped on the reef alone and climbed to the top of the Cape on all fours.

    On the other side of the heand, there was indeed a small wooden boat floating in the water that was not too deep. It was bigger than his assault boat. Four tough-looking men were divided into two groups to row the boat, and there was a person who seemed to be the leader sitting at the stern.

    There was a simple dock on the coast, and a small path meandered from the dock to the forest.

    Further away, there was a white lighthouse that was not too tall on the coastal Hignds. Rows of wooden houses could be vaguely seen in the woods, and there seemed to be people working in therge fields.

    They had finally arrived. This must be Peter Lee¡¯sir.

    As for the wooden boat that Sihwa found strange, the reason why it didn¡¯t use a motor or propeller but instead used human power to row was very simple. Any organization that promoted such suspicious creeds must be anti-intelligence, and they must be extremely opposed to modern technology products. They must say that science made the world degenerate and always missed the good old days ... If not for this, their rule would not be stable, and their lies would be exposed.

    The leaders of these organizations would not iste themselves from the world, but they would ask their believers to do so. That was why they chose such a deste ce as their nest, where traffic andmunication were blocked.

    Before Zhang Zian had time to carefully observe, there was a new movement on the boat.

    The four men stopped paddling and stopped the boat about 100 meters away from the shore. Then, under themand of the leader sitting at the stern, they lifted a young white woman who was struggling from the bottom cabin.

    The White woman¡¯s hands and feet were firmly tied with nylon ropes, and her mouth was stuffed with rags. The most shocking thing was that there was a hemp rope tied to her feet, and the other end of the rope was tied to a stone.

    She was like a fish that had just left the water, struggling in despair. Her eyes were full of tears as she prayed to God, praying for a miracle to happen and for someone to save her.

    But she also knew that it was absolutely impossible. No one could find her. This was a ce where demons ran rampant, a corner forgotten by God.

 Chapter 1586 - Melgen in despair

    <h4>Chapter 1586: Melgen in despair</h4>

    <b></b>

    Since the White woman¡¯s hair was disheveled and she was struggling to move her body, Zhang Zian could not see her face clearly through the telescope, but he suspected that she was melgen, who he was looking for.

    Whether she was melgen or not, he could not leave her in the lurch.

    Of course, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have the ability, and he didn¡¯t have the time. Hey on the rocks on the heand, carefully turned around, and made a gesture to Sihwa.

    However, Sihwa was ying happily with the whales and did not notice his hand gesture.

    He lowered his voice and said,¡±Sihwa, someone is about to be thrown into the water. You and the whales think of a way to save her. Yingluo, take this. Use a small knife to Cut the Rope.¡±

    Sihwa was in the sea, and he was lying on the rock on the heand. The wind was whistling around him, and his voice was very low. Under normal circumstances, it was difficult to hear what he was saying, but Sihwa¡¯s hearing was extremely sensitive. She was about to ask what to use to Cut the Rope when she saw him put a small thing into the pocket of his waterproof windbreaker, wrap a stone of appropriate weight in the windbreaker, and then throw the windbreaker in her direction.

    The situation was urgent, and there was no time to climb down the heand.

    If the stone was not wrapped, the light windbreaker would not be able to be thrown far.

    The jacket fell into the sea and sank down with the stone. Sihwa quickly swam over and grabbed the jacket, took out the stone, and threw it away. From the pocket of the jacket, she found the Switzend army knife that Zhang Zian always carried with him.

    In the small boat, the woman struggled violently, but the four burly men easily grabbed her arms and ankles, picked her up like a hen waiting to be ughtered, and shouted ¡°1,2,3¡±. At the same time as the exit of the three, they also threw her out of the boat.

    She fell into the water with a plop. Her tightly bound limbs were unable to row, but under the control of her survival instinct, she held her breath before falling into the water, so the speed of her sinking was rtively slow.

    However, the fifth person on the boat lifted the stone tied to her foot, whistled, and threw the stone into the water with a cruel smile on his face.

    Her speed of sinking suddenly increased, and the stone dropped her to the dark bottom of the sea.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡±he said.

    The leader made a hand gesture, indicating that they were done and were going back to the house.

    They had done this many times, and it was as easy as eating a meal. At first, they would wait for a while in the same ce and only return when they saw that the sea was no longer bubbling. However, as time went on, they felt that there was no need to waste time. It was obvious that those who were thrown into the water would not survive, so they might as well go back and y cards.

    The four of them paddled and turned the bow of the boat. One of them had sharp eyes and saw a school of whales on the sea. However, whales were often seen here, so he didn¡¯t pay much attention.

    As the boat sailed to the simple Pier, under the blue-gray sea, the young woman who had been thrown into the sea was struggling desperately.

    She was melgen, the young girl who had nned to cross the mahogany forest alone. She had appeared in the wrong ce at the wrong time and met the wrong person, causing her to be in a hopeless situation where she had no chance of survival.

    Melgen liked outdoor activities. Her physical fitness and lung activity were better than most of her peers, but so what? It was nothing more than dying the time of drowning for a few seconds. Even if it was dyed for a few seconds, it was no different from a purgatory experience for her.

    The speed at which the stone fell to the bottom of the sea was too fast, and her eardrums could not adapt to the water pressure. They buzzed with pain, and she could not hear anything. Her eyes could only see the small light above her head that was gradually fading away.

    Mom, I¡¯m sorry ...

    Thest scene that appeared before her eyes was not God, but her mother. She regretted not listening to her mother¡¯s advice, but it was toote. She had paid the price for her persistence.

    A series of bubbles gushed out of her mouth, bringing herst words and her soul to the surface of the sea.

    In her remaining consciousness, she felt that the speed of her sinking seemed to have suddenly slowed down. Perhaps it was because the density of the deep sea water was higher, which led to an increase in buoyancy.

    She stopped sinking, because the rock had already sunk to the bottom of the sea.

    She felt a rapid undercurrent around her, blowing her around like a kite.

    An unknown school of fish frequently brushed past her cheeks and pecked at her with their beaks, as if they were testing if she was edible.

    An evenrger shadow swam past her.

    It was so big!

    What fish was it?

    Her dull eyes could no longer move, and the thoughts in her mind were broken like snowkes.

    There was some kind of friction-like vibration under his feet, and then his feet became lighter.

    Those people had randomly found a stone on the shore and tied it to her feet. They tied it very firmly. Could the stone have fallen off?

    The light in front of her disappeared, and her feet seemed to be pulled by something, turning into a posture of head down and feet up. She was being pulled by something and was swimming at an extremely fast speed.

    Was it a shark?

    Before he drowned, he had to be bitten to death by sharks? That¡¯s not bad, at least I¡¯ll die a happy death.

    Melgen thought to herself in a self-deprecating manner andpletely lost consciousness.

    Sihwa used a Switzend army knife to cut off the stone that was sinking melgen to the bottom of the sea. She grabbed her feet and quickly rose to the surface of the sea.

    The group of whales had also arrived at this time. They seemed to have felt the urgency of the situation and circled around Sihwa, asionally letting out a pleasant whale song that only Sihwa could hear.

    It took about a minute to sink, but it only took about ten seconds to float up.

    Sihwa¡¯s speed could have been faster, but she had heard that one could not float too fast from deep water. Humans could not stand it.

    When she was cutting the rope at the bottom of the sea just now, Sihwa noticed that there were several simr stones with ropes tied to them at the bottom of the sea. They were being blown by the undercurrent and kept swaying like a soul-summoning banner.

    Fortunately, she didn¡¯t see any bones. They had probably been dismembered by the fish and then swept away by the undercurrent.

    Whoosh!

    Sihwa pulled melgen out of the sea, and the small boat in the distance had not even had time to dock.

    J2, the long-lived female whale nicknamed the old grandma, used its body to block her and melgen at this time. Under the cover of J2 and the whales, Sihwa pulled melgen to the back of the Cape.

    Zhang Zian had already climbed down the heand and was waiting by the shore.

    Melgen was pushed toward him by Sihwa, and he dragged melgen, who had lost consciousness, to the beach at the fastest speed. Then, he pressed her chest and performed CPR on her.

    Due to suffocation and the cold of the sea, melgen¡¯s face had turned blue. Other than her body temperature, she had almost lost all signs of life.

    The elves all watched with bated breath, and only Fati closed his eyes and prayed to God for this fresh life that was about to be lost.

    Time passed by second by second. Just when the elves shook their heads secretly and thought that there was nothing they could do to save the situation, melgen suddenly coughed violently. It was unknown whether it was because of CPR or her prayers, but she kept coughing out the turbid seawater in her lungs and windpipes. Her body was as tense as a bow.

    Zhang Zian also breathed a sigh of relief. Before melgen regained consciousness, he asked Sihwa to hide in the sea. Otherwise, if she opened her eyes and saw a mermaid, she would probably think that she was in heaven.

 Chapter 1587 - compromising

    <h4>Chapter 1587: Chapter 1587promising</h4>

    Coughing was just an instinctive reaction of her body. In fact, melgen had not fully recovered her consciousness yet. Her eyes were open, but her vision was pitch ck. There was a severe pain in her brain, as if there was a steel needle stirring inside.

    Her lungs rejected the sea water, which was a foreign object, and her alveoli hungrily asked for oxygen from the trachea, so she coughed and panted, panting and coughing. The twopletely opposite physiological reactions made her suffer.

    After she coughed out all the seawater in her lungs and trachea, her brain began to recover oxygen supply, and the darkness in front of her gradually subsided, like a pair of sses that had been wiped clean from the middle to the sides.

    She saw Zhang Zian.

    A strange thought suddenly appeared in her still-groggy brain. ¡®So God is yellow-skinned?¡¯

    ¡°Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere else?¡±

    When she coughed out the water, Zhang Zian had already roughly examined her body. Other than being a little skinny due to malnutrition, there were no obvious scars on her body. However, there were visible bruises under her skin, including the corners of her eyes. It was suspected that she had been beaten.

    She was wearing a pair of torn and tattered sackcloth clothes, the kind that could perfectly y the role of a medieval poor person without changing clothes on the set of a historical drama.

    Melgen stared at him nkly for a few seconds. Only then did she have the strength to turn her head slightly to look around. The first thing she saw was Fati, who was squatting beside her.

    Melgen often did outdoor activities. She was not a newbie, so she had a certain understanding of wild animals. She was shocked when she saw Fati¡¯s appearance. ¡®Isn¡¯t this a Wolf?¡¯

    She trembled and crawled backward, trying to escape from Fati.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. ¡± Zhang Zian quickly held her shoulder.¡±It won¡¯t hurt you.¡±

    ¡°No, you don¡¯t understand. This is a Wolf!¡± Melgen called out in a hoarse voice.

    ¡°No, you¡¯ve misunderstood. This is actually ... A dog, well, an skan Mmute. It just looks more like a Wolf. Many people were shocked like you before.¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    Melgen was stunned. Of course, she hoped that this man was telling the truth, but the persecution she had suffered in the past few days had made her extremely wary of strangers. She did not dare to trust anyone.

    Woof! Woof woof!

    Zhang Zian was thinking about how tofort her, but he heard the French pushing dog bark twice, and it was so lifelike.

    Not only did Fati learn to bark like a dog, but in order to make her not afraid, he eveny on the ground to show that he was not a threat.

    ¡°It¡¯s ... It¡¯s really a dog?¡±

    The dog¡¯s barks dispelled most of melgen¡¯s doubts, and she was no longer as afraid.

    ¡°Uh ... It¡¯s indeed a dog.¡±

    Zhang Zian admired Fati¡¯s spirit of sacrifice. It had just argued with Sihwa that it was a Wolf and not a dog, but now it was willing to pretend to be a dog in order to make the frightened girl feel at ease ... If it were other Elfins, they would have died, but it was impossible for them to lose their dignity and pretend to be another animal.

    Melgen heaved a sigh of relief.¡±Where is this? I¡¯m not in heaven, right?¡±

    ¡°No, heaven¡¯s real estate market is probably in short supply, and there aren¡¯t that many wastnds ... What I mean is, of course, this isn¡¯t heaven. It¡¯s not far from where you were thrown into the sea.¡± He answered.

    His words made her recall the process of being thrown into the sea just now. The murderer¡¯s ferocious face was still vivid in her mind. Her heart was once again seized by extreme fear, and her face instantly lost what little blood was left.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, those people have already left. ¡± Zhang Zian said,¡±it¡¯s safe here.¡±

    ¡°No! You don¡¯t know! There was no safe ce! We must quickly escape! Otherwise, they would capture him again! To be captured and brought back to that hell! They won¡¯t let you off!¡±

    Melgen¡¯s torture over the past few days had left a deep psychological shadow on her. She held Zhang Zian¡¯s arm tightly, trembling like a frightened little beast.

    Zhang Zian wanted to say that he understood how she felt, but it was easy for him to say that. If he had not experienced her pain himself, he would not be able to understand her feelings.

    He could only repeatedly emphasize,¡±don¡¯t worry. I will bring you out of the forest safely. You will return home and reunite with your mother. I promise.¡±

    Hisforting words had some effect, and melgen calmed down a little from her panic. However, she carefully thought over his words, and a feeling of being startled rose in her heart again. She wondered why he had to mention her mother.

    ¡°You ... You¡¯re a Nomad?¡± She looked at Zhang Zian¡¯s outfit up and down.

    ¡°I guess so ... You are melgen, right? I¡¯m from China and I came to United States for a vacation. I met your mother at the edge of the mahogany forest and she asked me toe and find you. ¡±

    Zhang Zian took out his cell phone. He considered that he might not be able to win melgen¡¯s trust when he met her, so he asked her mother to record a video for her in the wooden house in the forest. He yed it for her in person.

    Melgen choked when she saw her mother¡¯s familiar face and voice.

    Mrs. Miller poured out her thoughts of melgen in the video, and melgen was heartbroken when she heard it. She covered her mouth and cried silently. Mrs. Miller believed that melgen must still be alive, and she made melgen believe in this Young China man. She also believed that he would bring her out of the forest safely.

    Melgen¡¯s wariness towards Zhang Zian hadpletely disappeared. She wished she could leave the forest in one step, throw herself into her mother¡¯s arms, and cry her heart out, crying out all her grievances.

    After the video was yed, Zhang Zian patted her shoulder without saying anything. He gave her enough time to calm down.

    ¡°You¡¯re Jeff, right? I want to thank you. Thank you for taking the risk toe to the forest to find me. Thank you for saving me. You gave me a Second Life. Thank you!¡±

    After a while, melgen finally stopped crying and wiped her red eyes to express her gratitude. Her pale words couldn¡¯t express her gratitude.

    The sea was cold, and when she got on the shore, the sea breeze blew, and she curled up and shivered.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t the ce to talk. Let¡¯s find a ce to settle down first. I also need to understand some things from you.¡±

    When he patted her shoulder just now, Zhang Zian felt that her shoulder was as cold as ice. He knew that she had been in the sea for a long time. Coupled with her malnutrition and shock, she was in danger of having low body temperature.

    He also wanted to gentlemanly take off his coat and put it on her, but his windbreaker had just been thrown into the water and was still wet. He could only find a nket from his backpack to let her wrap her body.

    Considering melgen¡¯s current terrible condition, it was not suitable for her to leave the forest immediately after a long journey. Otherwise, she might die on the way. He did not have enough supplies for two people, and he had notpleted his mission. He could not leave the forest for the time being.

    Zhang Zian could only think of the abandoned Native American vige where he could temporarily stay. He didn¡¯t expect that he would have to stay there again so soon. Fortunately, he had kept the house intact.

 Chapter 1588 - The courage to recall

    <h4>Chapter 1588: The courage to recall</h4>

    Melgen stood up with Zhang Zian¡¯s help. She didn¡¯t know where she could settle down nearby, but since her mother asked her to believe in this Chinese man, she chose to believe him. Besides, her brain was about to explode, and she couldn¡¯t think much.

    After she put on the nket, she felt a little warmer. Only then did she notice the elves beside her.

    ¡°Ya!¡±

    She was even more frightened than when she saw the push force. She screamed and backed away until she hit Zhang Zian.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What are you afraid of?¡±

    He asked as he held her, but he didn¡¯t see anything scary.

    ¡°Cat ... Cat ...¡±

    She trembled as she pointed at fina, Gxy, old time tea, dimir, and snowy Li.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the cat?¡± He asked again.

    Melgenposed herself and realized that these cats seemed to be different from the evil and strange cats she had met. These cats looked normal, just like the usual obedient and cute cats.

    ¡°No... Nothing ...¡± She looked back in shock, worried that her scream would attract the attention of the bad guys, and urged,¡±¡±Let¡¯s leave this ce first. ¡±

    Zhang Zian left the backpack where it was and helped her back the way they came. Although most of her body weight was on him, she was not much heavier than the backpack.

    She looked back with every step she took, afraid that the bad guys would catch up from behind. In fact, her worry waspletely unnecessary. Those executioners would never think that someone would survive after being thrown into the sea.

    She turned a corner and the jagged rocks disappeared behind her. Only then did she rx.

    ¡°These cats, dogs, monkeys, parrots ... And owls, did you bring them here?¡±

    Before her nervousness disappeared, she asked curiously and in surprise.

    She knew that some people would bring their pets, mainly dogs, when they walked in the forest. They could relieve boredom and act as guards, but to bring so many pets along ... She had never heard of it.

    ¡°Not entirely. I picked some up in the forest, such as that owl. Its wings were injured and it couldn¡¯t find its own food, so I took care of it for a while. Now that its injuries have healed, it can fly away at any time.¡± He exined,¡±as for the other pets ... I was worried about leaving them at home, so I brought them along.¡±

    Melgen nodded. She knew that some people loved pets and couldn¡¯t leave them for even a moment. Maybe he was that kind of person ... At least, a person who loved pets and had so many pets couldn¡¯t be a bad person.

    However, he also thought of the strange and evil cats he had met in the Devil¡¯s Den. Who raised those cats?

    After walking the same road once, Zhang Zian had gained experience. He could avoid the rotten roads and take shortcuts, so it didn¡¯t take long for him to return to the barren vige.

    Fati was afraid that the wolves would scare melgen, so he had asked them to hunt for food on their own before she had regained consciousness. After that, they would follow the smell ande here.

    Melgen was even more surprised when she saw the barren vige hidden deep in the forest. The houses were very well hidden, and it was hard to imagine that they would find this ce while walking in the forest.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t exin much. He helped her to the onlyplete house, took out the key from under the stone, helped her into the second bedroom, and let her sit on the bed.

    The bedroom¡¯s wardrobe still had clothes left behind by the owner. Although the size was definitely not suitable, at least it was much better than her clothes, which were wet and barely covered.

    He found some clothes for her, then left the room and closed the bedroom door so that she could change her clothes on her own.

    After a while, she shouted from inside the room, indicating that she had changed her clothes. Zhang Zian entered the room again and saw that she had not only changed her clothes, but also curled up in the quilt.

    He had wanted to ask her some questions, but seeing her like this, he decided to let her rest for a while. He went out to pick up some firewood to boil water, then made a pot of hot tea with the tea bag he brought with him and brought it to her bedroom.

    Compared to living in the forest, the elves preferred afortable room.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± he said.

    Melgen propped herself up on the bed, barely perking herself up, and took the hot tea.

    ¡°Be careful, it¡¯s hot.¡±

    Zhang Zian pulled out a chair and sat by the bed, holding a cup of tea.

    ¡°I really don¡¯t know how to thank you. I really owe you too much.¡± She smiled bitterly as she sipped the hot tea, her body warming up from the inside out.

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. Anyone who encounters that kind of situation will help.¡±

    Zhang Zian waited for her to finish her tea, then took the cup and asked,¡±¡±Melgen, can you tell me in detail what happened to you after you entered the mahogany forest?¡±

    Melgen still had lingering fears when she recalled what had happened a few days ago. She did not want to recall it, but she knew that running away would not solve the problem.

    She used to be an optimistic and cheerful girl who loved outdoor activities and made friends. Her friends also liked her.

    If she couldn¡¯t defeat herself and bravely face those unbearable memories, then the optimistic and cheerful girl would have died and slept forever in the dark bottom of the sea. The only living one would be a walking corpse named melgen Miller.

    She clutched the corner of the nket tightly in her hand and said through her teeth,¡±¡±When we first entered the redwood forest, everything was normal ...¡±

    After arriving at the mahogany forest, melgen enjoyed her solo trip. She shared her updates with her mother and friends every day and won their appreciation.

    She knew that there would be no signal in the forest, so she told her mother in advance and rushed into the forest.

    Melgen was not walking. She was riding. She was riding a light cross-country bicycle. Most of her supplies were ced in the luggage rack. She was very rxed.

    She was wearing a helmet with a GoPro sports camera fixed to it. It recorded everything she saw and heard from a first-person perspective. When she walked out of the forest, it would definitely be an eye-opener for her mother and friends.

    As she walked, she encountered a herd of deer in the forest. The deer started to run away when they saw her. In order to take some interesting shots for her friends, she chased them on her bike for some distance and unknowingly deviated from the scheduled route.

    Melgen was not afraid. She had apass and a map. She also had a wealth of Outdoor Travel experience. She found the right direction very quickly.

    However, just as she was trying to return to the nned route, the road took a turn and she saw the ughterhouse.

    She also saw the power grid warning, but out of curiosity, she stayed a little longer. As a result, she saw someone being forcibly detained and kidnapped.

    The education she had received since she was a child made her first reaction to call the police, and she happened to receive cell phone signal there, so she called the police without thinking, and then the nightmare began ...

 Chapter 1589 - The last dinner

    <h4>Chapter 1589: Thest dinner</h4>

    If it was an ordinary girl, she might have been scared out of her wits when she encountered a crime, or she might have run away in a panic. But melgen was a very independent girl with her own opinions. She noticed that the bad guys had not discovered her existence. She calmly called 911 and told the operator what she saw in an orderly manner. Of course, she also told the operator her own name.

    The operator told her that police officers had been sent to the scene and asked her to take care of herself and keep the call going.

    Everything was normal up until now.

    Due to the remote location, the police car took a long time to arrive. By then, the crime had already ended, and the illegally detained homeless people had been locked up in their houses. However, melgen was confident because the motion camera on her helmet had already captured everything. The criminals ¡®excuses were useless.

    Just as she heaved a sigh of relief and thought that justice was about to be served, she found that the police officers who arrived at the scene were chatting with the security guard like old friends. They did not even enter the ughterhouse and went home.

    Melgen was stunned. With herck of social experience, she had never thought that such a thing would happen. She also did not expect that she would be the target of the criminals.

    A momentter, she seemed to hear some movement in the woods behind her. She quickly turned around and found that several security guards were searching for her.

    Under such circumstances, she finally realized that she had been betrayed. Fortunately, the security guards had not discovered her yet, so there was still time to escape.

    As long as she ran into the depths of the forest, she was very confident that she could escape because she had a bicycle. The security guards only had two legs, and she would definitely leave them far behind after a long time.

    As long as they avoided the obvious Hills and depressions, most of the terrain in the mahogany forest was still t. This was one of the reasons why she nned to cross the forest by riding.

    However, just as she was about to push her bicycle and leave quietly, her phone suddenly rang. It was a call from 911.

    In the quiet forest, the ringing of her mobile phone was no less than a bomb, and it immediately made the security guards discover her.

    She tried her best to escape, but it was no use. She was soon surrounded by security guards. Facing the Taser gun, she wisely stopped resisting and surrendered. There was no point in continuing to resist except to suffer physical pain.

    Her bicycle, sports camera, mobile phone, backpack, wallet with her driver¡¯s license and student ID, everything had been taken away. They easily found out her identity, forced her to unlock her mobile phone, and learned her hiking n through chat records with her friends on social media. They also knew that she would frequently report to her mother and friends that she was safe.

    After discussing in front of her, they decided that it was not appropriate to lock her up in the ughterhouse, at least not before the storm passed. So, they blindfold her, tied her hands and feet, and threw her into the back of a pickup truck. It was a bumpy journey. When her blindfold was taken off, she had already arrived at a strange ce. The sound of the tide told her that it was not far from the sea.

    It was very strange here. She saw many dull-looking people working hard in the fields in rough clothes. No matter how she screamed for help, they turned a deaf ear to her, as if she didn¡¯t exist. Some people even smiled and blessed her, as if she was about to receive the blessing of God.

    She was locked up in a room, and every day, someone would send her the minimum amount of food and drink through a small window, barely keeping her alive.

    Every day, someone would enter the room with a kind smile and tell her some ... Dogmas that she could not ept at all. But if she did not try hard to memorize and repeat them, that person would instantly change his ferocious face and punch and kick her.

    Physical and mental torture, coupled with hunger, could easily make people yield. Wasn¡¯t it just reciting some doctrines? He just had to memorize it. As long as he did, he wouldn¡¯t need to be beaten and could eat his fill. It was such a simple thing!

    It was not hard to imagine that most people would slowly surrender and brainwash themselves day after day, eventually bing their loyal ves.

    Melgen could not guarantee that she would not give in, but at least, she had been gritting her teeth and resisting for the past few days. This was because she was a well-educated and opinionated person. Most importantly, she had her own beliefs, and she would not change her mind so quickly.

    She didn¡¯t know if she would starve to death first or surrender first. However, just as she was about to give up, probably yesterday, she heard the guards in the corridor whispering through the wooden wall. They seemed to say that her mother had not given up on looking for her and that it was getting worse and worse outside. Some of her friends also bravely stood up and stood on her side, calling and pleading everywhere to restart the search and rescue operation for her.

    Upon hearing this, she was moved to tears. Her thin body was full of resistance, and even her dark skin no longer seemed to hurt. Her empty stomach was no longer hungry. She felt that she could hold on until the day her mother found her, and she was willing to hold on until that day.

    Last night, as usual, someone came to brainwash her, but after she firmly refused again, the other party did not punch and kick her as usual. He only nced at her, shook his head as if he had given up on treatment, and left.

    Thatst look seemed to be filled with ridicule, as if ... He was looking at a dead person.

    Today, the amount of food sent to her room was a little more than usual, and there were even a few pieces of meat.

    She was even happier, thinking that her mother and friends ¡®resistance had worked. She even fantasized that she might be released in a few days.

    After this sumptuous meal, she was taken out of the room after many days.

    She thought that the release she was looking forward to woulde so soon. In order to make these people feel at ease, she promised them that she didn¡¯t know anything and would keep her mouth shut after she went out. She wouldn¡¯t say anything. In any case, she didn¡¯t even know where she was.

    Those people ignored her, and she talked to herself like a fool.

    It wasn¡¯t until her hands and feet were tied up again, and even her mouth was gagged, that she realized that things were probably not what she had imagined.

    When she saw her feet tied to the stone, she finally understood what was going to happen.

    At this moment, she was really willing to give in. No matter what kind of doctrine it was, she was willing to ept it. Even if she had to eat sh * t, she was willing. As long as she could live, there was nothing better than living ... But unfortunately, her mouth was blocked, and she couldn¡¯t say anything to beg for mercy.

    It turned out thatst night was hisst chance, and today was hisst dinner, hisst meal.

    In order to prevent her mother from blowing things up, these people finally decided to silence her and destroy the corpse.

    Her life was supposed to end like this, but it was changed to an ellipsis by a China Tourist.

 Chapter 1590 - strange cat

    <h4>Chapter 1590: Chapter 1590-strange cat</h4>

    After listening to melgen¡¯s story, Zhang Zian also understood that after he entered the forest, melgen¡¯s mother had not been idle. She had been active outside, trying to restart the search and rescue of melgen.

    But what Mrs. Miller didn¡¯t expect was that if it was an ordinary disappearance, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem, but her daughter¡¯s disappearance wasn¡¯t an ordinary disappearance. Doing this would only elerate her daughter¡¯s death.

    Once the search and rescue work restarted, things would be troublesome if some volunteers really found the ce and found out that melgen was there. This possibility could not be ruled out.

    Therefore, they had to eliminate melgen¡¯s existence.

    He did not know how tofort melgen. Those days must have caused indelible damage to her heart and body. He could only hope that time could make up for the damage.

    At this time, a white shadow shed at the door, and snowy Li ran into the bedroom. Without saying hello, it jumped directly onto the bed and climbed onto melgen¡¯sp.

    It stroked her leg with one paw and deliberately stared at Zhang Zian, meaning,¡±Are you envious? I can touch it if I want to!

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    Melgen hugged snowy Li in surprise.¡±Hi! Little guy, are you here tofort me? You¡¯re so pretty, the most beautiful cat I¡¯ve ever seen!¡±

    Her fingers dug into snowy Li¡¯s long fur, and the good feelingforted and rxed her heart.

    This ... Was probably a mutual flirting!

    ¡°What¡¯s its name? She knew that I was sad, so she came tofort me ...¡±A happy smile appeared on her face. It seemed that the addiction to petting cats was not an exaggeration. It was more like an anesthetic.

    She was wrong again, but Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to expose her fantasy, so he replied,¡±¡±Um ... It¡¯s called snowy Li.¡±

    ¡°Snowy Li ... You¡¯re really heavy.¡±

    After being held in her arms, snowy Li became even more presumptuous. Its two paws were touching everywhere without restraint, and the person who was touched was quite happy.

    When she wasn¡¯t paying attention, snowy Li showed her its sharp tiger teeth, meaning,¡±¡®I¡¯m here to monitor you. A man and a woman are alone in a room, so I have to protect this girl from you ... Although I¡¯ve always suspected that you¡¯ve long rusted, and you¡¯ll probably spill it with a few strokes!¡¯

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    ¡°You know what? I feel much better after telling you this. ¡± Melgen hugged snowy Li and heaved a sigh of relief from the bottom of her heart.¡±Even if I go back to the outside world, I don¡¯t want to tell my mother about this. I¡¯m afraid she¡¯ll be sad, but if I keep holding it in, I¡¯ll definitely go crazy.¡±

    ¡°You can tell the police when the timees.¡± He said.

    At the mention of the police, her face once again showed an expression of a frightened bird, but she could not be med.

    ¡°You¡¯ve been locked in your room all this time?¡± He asked,¡±I want to know more details about that ce. Do you have anything that you can remember?¡±

    Melgen looked out of the window uneasily, as if she was worried that someone would catch up with her and drag her back to the Devil¡¯s Den.¡±Jeff, I think we should leave the forest as soon as possible. When we¡¯re outside, I can tell you whatever you want to ask.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. They won¡¯t be able to find us here. No one knows we¡¯re here. ¡± Heforted her,¡±you¡¯re not in a good condition for a long journey, and the food I brought is not enough for two people. If we want to leave alive, we have to find a way to get those people¡¯s supplies.¡±

    This reason was very convincing. Melgen was a rational person. As long as she could calm down and face the truth, she would understand that these two points were indeed the obstacles that prevented them from leaving. Danger lurked in every corner of the forest. Even a healthy person with sufficient physical strength and resources would find it difficult to walk out of the forest alive, let alone her, who had nothing at the moment, and her mental and physical strength were at rock bottom.

    ¡°I¡¯m nning to sneak in,¡± Zhang Zian said.¡±But I need your help.¡±

    Melgen made up her mind.¡±Okay, I understand. I¡¯ll tell you everything I know, but I don¡¯t know much. Most of the time, I was locked in a room without windows. I only heard some things through the guards ¡®chit-chat, and I saw some things during the few minutes when I was taken to the toilet ...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Anything is fine, as long as it¡¯s something you know and you think it¡¯ll help me.¡± He encouraged.

    Melgen thought about it, organized her words, and said,¡±¡±You have to be careful of those cats.¡±

    ¡°A cat?¡± Zhang Zian focused on listening.

    Not only him, but the elves who were guarding the living room outside also pricked up their ears.

    ¡°Of course, I¡¯m not referring to such a cute little guy.¡± She poked the ck pattern on snowy Li¡¯s head affectionately.¡±It¡¯s ... A cat that looks evil at first sight ... God! I¡¯ve never thought that a cat could make my hair stand on end!¡±

    ording to melgen, there was no toilet in the room she was detained in. There was only a urinal, and her pee could only be taken in the urinal. Every morning, she was ordered to bring the urinal to the toilet outside the corridor to wash the urinal, and to take care of her poop ...

    In fact, she ate very little and did not relieve herself once in two or three days. However, if she was locked in her room for a long time, she would really go crazy. Even if it was just for a few minutes, she was willing to go out for a walk.

    Once, she was about to leave the room and go to the toilet when she was suddenly stopped by the guard.

    The guard motioned for her to wait a while before leaving.

    At this time, she saw two cats, walking arrogantly from the other end of the corridor. If they didn¡¯t have the shape of cats, their expressions and aura would be more like two pampered nobles.

    ¡°Wait! You mean two cats?¡±

    Zhang Zian interrupted her,¡±are you sure you didn¡¯t see it wrong?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am.¡± Melgen nodded. She did not understand why he asked that question.¡±There are indeed two cats. One is in the front, walking in the middle of the corridor. It seems like it has a higher status. The other is behind, walking on the side of the back, looking at the former¡¯s graceful appearance. Thetter¡¯s eyes are sharp, her body is strong, and her steps are strong and powerful. She looks like ... A President¡¯s Bodyguard.¡±

    ¡°Yes, continue.¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Melgen frowned.¡±I know that every cat is unique. Every cat has its own way of thinking and doing things. Some people simply say that all cats are neurotic, and it¡¯s not surprising for them to do anything strange ... But these two cats are weirder than any cat I¡¯ve ever seen. When they look at me, it¡¯s as if they¡¯ve seen something unsightly. I¡¯ll never forget the contempt and disdain in their eyes.¡±

    Contempt ...

    Zhang Zian subconsciously turned around and saw that fina was also standing at the door of the bedroom, listening in a daze.

    ¡°Is it this kind of contempt?¡± He pointed at fina, because the way it looked at him always made him feel like he was being despised.

    ¡°No, no, no, it¡¯s not like that. It¡¯s the kind of ... Disdain for the unclean. But this unclean is not the toilet in my hand, but ... Me.¡±

 Chapter 1591 - -creating a diversion

    <h4>Chapter 1591: Chapter 1591-creating a diversion</h4>

    It was only at that moment that melgen seemed to understand that she was stopped by the guards so that she could make way for the two arrogant cats and let them pass first.

    Melgen did not own a cat, but she liked cats. Which young girl did not like cats? However, she had never heard of a human giving way to a cat and could not ept it.

    Not only that, but the two cats seemed to dislike her.

    Since she was young, melgen had always been cheerful and popr. She had many friends, and no one had ever despised her so much when they first met.

    She watched the two cats swagger in front of her and suddenly felt an uncontroble sense of humiliation. She had never felt such humiliation even when she was abused. She wanted to bump into them deliberately, but she soon sobered up and remembered the fact that she was a prisoner. The guards also seemed to be respectful to them. If she caused trouble, she would inevitably be beaten up again.

    After the two cats disappeared at the end of the corridor, she entered the toilet with the bucket.

    The guard at the door began to count the time and brought the toilet bucket along. She only had ten minutes. If she exceeded the time limit, the guard would rush into the toilet and drag her out.

    Melgen¡¯s cell did not have any Windows. It was like a solitary room in a prison that was prepared for restless prisoners. However, there were Windows in the toilet in the corridor. Although it was reinforced with iron railings, and it was impossible to escape from the window, at least she could see the outside through the window.

    <sub></sub>

    She was hungry and didn¡¯t feel like defecating. After washing the toilet, she leaned against the window and greedily breathed in the fresh air, admiring the scenery outside, imagining the day she walked out of this Devil¡¯s Den.

    The scenery here was in, and there was nothing much to see with the numb people working in the fields, but at least it was better than her cell.

    She saw the two cats again. After they walked out of the room, many more cats ran out from the woods and ran to them respectfully, kneeling down to worship them.

    When she saw this scene, she thought that her eyes were ying tricks on her. Those cats were actually worshipping these two cats in unison? Could they have been trained?

    When she was browsing YouTube for Cat Fanciers, she seemed to have seen a few videos. It seemed that there was a cattery that specialized in selling trained cats, and those cats could dance to music, which made her heart itch. If it were not for the outrageous price, which was beyond her ability to afford, she really wanted to buy a cat that could dance. It was said that this was the only cattery in the entire United States that sold such dancing cats. Of course, it was a raremodity, and the owner was also very secretive about the training methods. After all, it was a money tree.

    Then, she saw an even more surprising scene. A few more cats staggered out of the woods. These new cats were all stained with blood to varying degrees. With her good vision, she could even vaguely see that they had wounds simr to those bitten by beasts. If such serious injuries appeared on a human body, it would not be strange for them to die on the spot.

    The two strange cats seemed to be surprised as well. The cat of lower status was furious and screamed as if it was in heat. It was not the usual meowing of cats, while the cat of higher status looked up at the sky thoughtfully.

    There seemed to be something strange about this scene. Before melgen could figure it out, the time was up. The guard kicked the door open, grabbed her hair, and dragged her back to the cell.

    In the next few days, she had seen the two cats more than once, and each time she saw them, she had a strange feeling. It wasn¡¯t just her. Everyone was afraid of the cats that had suffered fatal injuries but were still alive, so they all avoided them.

    As a prisoner, melgen could only see very limited things. However, just yesterday, she heard from the guards in the corridor that a Big Shot wasing, and they wanted the residents to stop what they were doing and line up to wee him. Not long after that, she heard the sound of helicopter propellers, but she had no idea who exactly wasing.

    Melgen told Zhang Zian everything that she could remember in detail. As for whether it was useful or not, Zhang Zian would be the one to judge. Her brain had refused to think. What had happened these days was like a nightmare.

    After she finished speaking, her stomach let out a long growl.

    ¡°Are you hungry? I¡¯ll go prepare dinner now. ¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have anything else to ask. Even if he did, he wouldn¡¯t get the right answer. He got up and left the bedroom, leaving the bedroom door ajar so that she could rest for a while.

    In fact, it was only the afternoon, but they hadn¡¯t had lunch yet, so they might as well have lunch and dinner together.

    The Wolf Pack seemed to like eating fat and tender Beaver rats. Moreover, Beaver rats had never seen wolves before and did not know how dangerous wolves were. They were confused and were attacked by wolves.

    Zhang Zian pulled out a chair and sat by the well. While using the well water to process the ingredients, he silently thought about countermeasures.

    Melgen could not move for the time being before her physical strength recovered. She could only recuperate in the barren vige. It was rtively safe here anyway. It was fine as long as she did not leave the house. The house was built very firmly. The door was made of thick solid wood, and the windows were ced high. Even if the ck bear came, it would be difficult for it to enter.

    Instead of returning from the forest with the risk of supplies being cut off early, it was better to hope that melgen¡¯s mother would restart the search and rescue operation, and hope that snowy would call the police. He was, after all, a Chinese man. He might be able to attract the attention and pressure of the local Chinese Embassy. In other words, he was waiting for people toe and save him.

    As for how to deal with Peter Lee ... ording to Fati, there were many cats in the woods around the farm who were responsible for guarding, and melgen had confirmed this. If he rashly barged in, it would be difficult to act in secret, and being in secret was his biggest advantage at the moment. The feeling of the enemy being in the light while he was in the dark was really good.

    If fina ordered the cats to surrender, he didn¡¯t know if it would work. He wasn¡¯t sure if it would work, and even fina wasn¡¯t sure if it would work. If it didn¡¯t work, it was equivalent to exposing herself.

    Besides, what about the guards? They would definitely patrol at night, and Zhang Zian was not 007.

    After thinking about it, he could only use the strategy of diversion.

    He skinned the Beaver and marinated it with salt, wild fruits, and weeds to remove the fishy smell. Then he threw the internal organs to the wolves to eat. He told the elves to stay in the vige to rest, and he went outside to pick up firewood.

    He walked all the way to the beach and saw Sihwa ying with the whales in the sea from a distance. He called her a few times and asked her toe to the shore.

    Sihwa hadn¡¯t had so much fun in a long time. Killer whales were more active than minke whales and gray whales, and they were also more intelligent. After all, they wererge dolphins, and the high intelligence of dolphins was well-known.

    Her only regret was that she had forgotten to ask Zhang Zian for her cell phone. Otherwise, if she had recorded a few videos with J2 and the killer whales, those poor fans would definitely be so envious that they would cry!

    <strong></strong>

 Chapter 1592 - prank

    <h4>Chapter 1592: Chapter 1592-prank</h4>

    Sihwa, who usually dawdled and ignored Zhang Zian¡¯s greetings, immediately went to the shore and reached out her hand when she heard him.¡±Where¡¯s my phone?¡± Hurry up and give it to me!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be in a hurry to y with your phone. I have something more fun to do. Do you want to join in?¡± He knelt down and asked.

    Sihwa, who was yful like a child, was immediately attracted to it. ¡°How do I y?¡± y what? Is this hide-and-seek? I really want to y hide-and-seek, but you guys never call me!¡±

    ¡°Cough! We can¡¯t y hide-and-seek with you ... You¡¯re either in the bathtub or in the sea. How can we y hide-and-seek with you?¡± He spread his hands helplessly.

    If Sihwa could y hide-and-seek, it would save him a lot of trouble.

    ¡°What exactly is that?¡± She had lost most of her interest.

    ¡°Actually ... It¡¯s more or less the same as ying hide-and-seek.¡±

    Zhang Zian told his n to Sihwa. What she had to do was very simple, and even with her intelligence, she could understand.

    <sub></sub>

    Back in the barren vige, he called all the elves outside and discussed his n with them. Although it was not an impable n, he could not think of a better one in a short time.

    Dinner was much earlier than usual, and the sky was Not Dark Yet. Zhang Zian brought the roasted Beaver and rice to the table, then went to the bedroom to wake melgen up.

    She had fallen asleep with snowy Li in her arms. She was in a deep sleep, and he had to wake her up several times.

    Melgen was already famished. Her eyes glowed like a hungry wolf when she smelled the smell of roasted meat from the dining room. She sat at the table and grabbed a roasted Beaver with both hands. She began to tear the meat and stuff it into her mouth.

    If it were someone else who had been starving for so many days, their table manners would not be any better. If she ate to her heart¡¯s content, she could eat an entire beaver rat by herself. Zhang Zian was so scared that he quickly snatched it from her hands.

    He didn¡¯t feel bad for the Beaver. He could have as many as he wanted, as long as he let the wolves catch it. However, her stomach was used to light food. If she suddenly ate too much greasy food, she would definitely not be able to digest it, and she might even have an upset stomach. So Zhang Zian told her that he only allowed her to eat half of the Beaver, and that she had to eat rice and meat at the same time. She had to eat more wild vegetables and fruits, and try to chew slowly.

    Melgen knew that he was right, and she tried her best to control her appetite.

    After eating for a while, the sugar replenished her blood, and her face became Ruder and her thoughts became more sensitive. She only remembered to ask Yingying what animal this meat was.

    Zhang Zian told her the truth.

    At first, she thought it was venison, but when she heard that it was the flesh of a beaver rat, her expression twisted for a moment. Then she reached out to grab the meat and even sucked the oil off her fingers.

    After she finished eating, only her stomach bulged out from her thin body due to malnutrition. She was so full that she didn¡¯t want to move.

    Zhang Zian tidied up the utensils. He said he was going to throw the bones outside, but he was actually feeding them to the wolves outside.

    When he returned to the dining table, he did not tell melgen about his n. He only asked her to stay in the house and have a good rest. If she wanted to sleep, she could sleep. If she could not sleep, she could walk around the house, but she should not leave the house, because once night fell, all the wild beasts in the forest woulde out and move.

    As a matter of fact, when he was walking in and out of the room, she had vaguely heard some movement outside. It was the sound of the wolves fighting for the Beaver¡¯s bone.

    She knew that he was nning to sneak into the Devil¡¯s Den and was deeply worried for him. The two of them were now on the same line, and neither could escape. If he was caught, she was afraid that she could only starve to death in this house.

    She had already died once and really did not want to die again, but there was no other way. She could only ce all her hopes on him and said,¡±You must be careful, I will pray for you!¡±

    Zhang Zian told her to lock the door from the inside and only light candles in the bedroom with thick curtains, pretending that no one lived in the house. Unless he came back, she should ignore anyone who knocked on the door. He especially reminded her that no matter what strange sounds she heard, she should pretend not to hear them.

    Melgen was more and more confused as she listened. ¡®What kind of strange sounds can be heard in the forest?¡¯

    Zhang Zian did not exin in detail and left the house with the Elfins.

    Fati had a good impression of melgen. He even left a few wolves to guard the barren vige and drive away the beasts that were approaching.

    The dark clouds from the Northwest hadpletely covered the sky. It was basically night before it was dark, and it was a pity that they couldn¡¯t see the beautiful sunset over the sea.

    When Zhang Zian and the Elfins arrived at the beach, Sihwa and the whales were already waiting there. She was full of anticipation for the prank, and she asked eagerly,¡±¡±Are we starting now?¡±

    He looked at the time and then at the sky.¡±Let¡¯s wait for a while more, when they have dinner.¡±

    The Elfins each found a ce to rest and digest, while he carefully climbed up the heand and used his telescope to observe the farm and the houses further away.

    ng ng ng!

    A guard-like person held arge copper Bell and rang it three times. The long sound of the bell could even be heard by Zhang Zian, who was half a small bay away.

    The people working in the fields put down their farming tools and lined up to leave the farm. They went to a simple wooden fence made of wood to line up for dinner.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t see what dinner was. He could only see that each of them had a wooden te with a piece of ck bread, a bowl of soup with unknown contents, and two spoonfuls of curry-like stew. It was not much different from relief meals during the war. Even the food in prison was probably better than this.

    After receiving their meals, the people sat on the wooden chairs and quickly finished eating. Then, they were divided into several groups and entered different wooden houses.

    Most of the wooden houses were lit with dim yellow lights, which came from simple oilmps and candles. There was no entertainment equipment in the wooden houses, not even ying cards. It was hard to imagine that in modern California, the capital of technology, there were still people living such a primitive life out of their own free will.

    After a day of hard work, the people could not rest after simply washing up. Instead, they knelt down and prayed devoutly to a portrait. They mumbled to themselves that the person in the portrait was not God, but a man wearing a white shirt and white pants. Although the face could not be seen clearly, wasn¡¯t this Peter Lee¡¯s signature dress?

    The prayer continued for more than ten minutes and was not over. It probably would not end even after a while. Zhang Zian originally wanted to wait for these poor people to go to bed before he made trouble, but now he did not intend to wait any longer. Perhaps it would be a good time to shake their faith.

    The sky was alreadypletely dark, and because there was no moon or stars, the sea was dark. The brightest ce nearby was the small lighthouse on the shore.

    ¡°Sihwa, it¡¯s your turn.¡± He shouted.

    <strong></strong>

 Chapter 1593 - Singing in the middle of the night

    <h4>Chapter 1593: Singing in the middle of the night</h4>

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t worried that someone else would hear him, since he was so far away. The sound of the tide was enough to cover his voice.

    Sihwa had been waiting impatiently for a long time. She swam to the small bay with the whales.

    The small bay was shaped like a horse¡¯s hoof, and was surrounded by two heands, one South and One North, that extended into the sea. The southern heand was the one Zhang Zian was on, and the lighthouse was located on the northern heand.

    Other than its small area, this small bay was a natural haven.

    Zhang Zian put on his night vision goggles. In his green vision, he saw Sihwa swimming near the entrance of the Bay as nned, and then...She began to sing.

    Yes, she was singing.

    The range of Sihwa¡¯s vocal cords was extremely wide, far beyond that of humans. She could even emit ultra-hearing waves and infrasonic waves that the human ear could not hear. Zhang Zian had experienced it in the Pet Shop before, and she had almost shattered all the ss windows of the shops on the entire Street.

    Her singing this time did not use ultrasonic or infrasound, but it was extremely sharp, like a needle piercing into the eardrum, like a long fingernail scratching ss, like the scream of the female lead in horror movies ... It had a strong prating power, and even Zhang Zian, the initiator, had goosebumps all over his arms.

    <sub></sub>

    Sihwa used a sharp voice and anguage that humans could not understand to slowly sing a song with an ethereal melody and unknown meaning.

    The song was blown to thend by the sea breeze, floating over the farm and the wooden house.

    If it was a modern vige or town, most people would stay at home at night to do housework, use their mobile phones, watch soap operas, change diapers, clean poop, and do things like ¡°pa pa pa¡±. Few people would notice the singing outside. After all, it was not square dance apanied by heavy subwoofer cannons ... But for this primitive vige that was like the Middle Ages, everyone was quietly praying with their eyes closed, and the sharp singing soon reached everyone¡¯s ears.

    This voice ... Sounded like a female ghost crying at night.

    He didn¡¯t know where Sihwa learned it from. Maybe it was from the live broadcast app. After all, there were all kinds of live broadcasts there. There were probably people who watched domestic horror movies while live-streaming. That way, he wouldn¡¯t be afraid.

    In short, Zhang Zian asked Sihwa to sing, and she foolishly suggested to simply imitate the female ghost¡¯s singing, and then they hit it off.

    However, as he leaned on the heand and listened carefully, he felt that the shrill wailing of the female ghost in her song was only an illusion. In reality, it gave him a feeling that was more like ... A sound that was recorded by the underwater pickup device from the deep sea. It was distant and empty, like a person closing her eyes and sinking into a bottomless abyss. In the surrounding darkness, in the cold sea, there were countless huge and distorted shadows peeking at you ... This was actually more terrifying than the female ghost¡¯s wailing at night. It was essentially a chorus of deep-sea creatures.

    Zhang Zian only used the underwater pickup device to record a small number of sounds in the shallow sea. When he listened to it alone, he often felt his scalp go numb. It was hard to imagine how terrifying the sounds in the deep sea were.

    Whether it was the guards or the people praying, they all heard her singing. At first, they tried to calm down and ignore it, but her voice became higher and higher, almost prating through every hole, constantly attacking their spiritual defense.

    Finally, the people stopped praying in horror and turned to stare at the darkness outside the window, hoping that someone would stand up and tell them not to be afraid.

    There were also some people who desperately prayed to Peter Lee¡¯s portrait, but they obviously did not get the response and protection they were looking for.

    The guards were also frightened by the creepy song, but most of them were hired thugs by Peter Lee. Some of them were even criminals who had been on the run for a long time, so they were more courageous than ordinary people.

    The leader of the guards raised his shlight and told them that they would usually avoid using such household appliances, but now that the situation was different, they couldn¡¯t care much.

    The guards could tell that the song wasing from the seaside. Some of them went to report to their superiors, while the rest of the guards surrounded the seaside under the leadership of their leaders. Everyone took out their taser guns.

    They had been operating here for many years and had never encountered such a situation. Their first reaction was that someone was ying a prank, but who woulde to such a remote ce to y a prank?

    These strong men quickly arrived at the beach in a tactical formation and rushed to the simple dock. Several shlights were shining everywhere on the beach, trying to find the singer.

    The highly concentrated shlight asionally shed across the South Sea Cape where Zhang Zian was. He carefully lowered his body and only revealed one eye behind the night vision device to avoid being discovered.

    However, they soon realized that the song did note from the beach, but from further ... The sea.

    They couldn¡¯t see anything on the dark sea, like a pool of ck ink. Only the waves that rushed close were covered with gray and lifeless bubbles. Even if they shot their shlights straight in the direction of the sound, it was still not far enough, and the darkness easily swallowed their shlights.

    Speaking of which, Yin Tian was really of great help. If it was a clear day with a bright moon and few stars, things would not have progressed so smoothly.

    The singing on the beach became clearer.

    The guards looked at each other, their palms holding the shlights were covered in cold sweat.

    They had different skin colors and came from different countries. Although they all spoke English here, they were used to scolding people in their mother tongue when they were angry. However, they were like a small United Nations, and no one could tell whatnguage the song was sung in.

    What they could feel was the great fear hidden in the song, like the undercurrent in the deep sea, which made them feel cold.

    It was not known which person¡¯s will wasn¡¯t too firm, but he said in a trembling voice,¡±¡±Don¡¯t ... Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s the woman who drowned today?¡±

    ¡°Bullshit! How could someone who drowned ...¡±

    The leader didn¡¯t even finish his sentence before he choked.

    All of them were not atheists.

    Since they weren¡¯t atheists, it meant that they believed that there were existences higher than humans in this world. They believed that in the human body, there was the existence of souls in addition to blood, flesh, bones, and skin.

    They regarded Peter Lee and the other quacks as gods, or at least the messengers of God. Since there was a God, there would also be a ghost or a devil that was the opposite of God.

    When Peter Lee was preaching to them, he often described the products of modern technology as the temptation of the devil. He called those who were caught but refused to convert evil spirits possessed by the devil, which was equivalent to the existence of the devil.

    Even they themselves didn¡¯t know how many wronged souls were wandering under this small bay.

    Usually, they didn¡¯t care and didn¡¯t think in this direction at all. But today, in this dark night, could it be that those vengeful spirits were going to collectivelye out to im their lives?

    <strong></strong>

 Chapter 1594 - Her brain was filled with ...

    <h4>Chapter 1594: Her brain was filled with ...</h4>

    The guards, who had been brainwashed by suspicious doctrines, might not be afraid of tangible things. Even if the FBI Special Forces came, they would dare to fight with real guns and bullets. However, as long as they were theists, they would be afraid of something, especially ghosts and demons.

    They were scared out of their wits by Sihwa¡¯s ethereal yet heart-wrenching song, and their heavy breathing sounded like that of an old man who was about to die.

    The firm atheists often could not understand such fear. They might be afraid when they heard a Midnight Song, but they would not be afraid to this extent, because the people they were afraid of were not ghosts.

    ¡°Don¡¯t panic! Someone must be up to no good!¡±

    The leader of the guards forced himself to calm down and shouted to the others.

    The ones who were most afraid of her were the five executioners during the day. They were the ones who had thrown melgen into the sea with their own hands, and they still remembered the look of despair and hatred in her eyes when she was about to die.

    ¡°No! No! Boss! It was definitely the woman from earlier in the day! I understand the song, she¡¯s cursing us! It can¡¯t be wrong! She wanted toe back and strangle us to death, then drag us to the bottom of the ocean ... Or directly drag us to the bottom of the ocean and drown us!¡±

    The five of them shivered and kept retreating.

    ¡°Nonsense! With heavenly Master Li here, no wandering ghost would dare to cause trouble!¡± The leader scolded. In fact, he was also very guilty because the song was too strange. No matter how he thought about it, it didn¡¯t seem like a human could sing it.

    <sub></sub>

    ¡°You guys,e with me! Let¡¯s row over and take a look. No matter who¡¯s trying to act mysterious, I¡¯ll skin him alive!¡± The leader ordered.

    There were a few wooden boats docked at the dock, tied to wooden stakes with hemp ropes, and floating with the waves.

    They also had a modern yacht, but the yacht was not here at this time. They were going to San Francisco to buy living supplies. They urged the farmers to work like cattle and horses, because ording to the teachings of celestial master Li, they had sinned and had a job in their previous lives. In this life, they were paying off the debts of their previous lives. The guards, celestial master Li, and the Oracle, of course, could not follow them to eat rice and vegetables. After all, they were all good people of ten lifetimes, and they had no crimes or jobs in their previous lives.

    Without a yacht, they could only row a small boat to the sea to see what was going on.

    Upon hearing this order, the guards ¡®legs went soft. If it was during normal times, it would be fine, but on this pitch-ck night, rowing a small boat to get close to the vengeful spirit that was demanding their lives, wasn¡¯t this courting death?

    ¡°Boss, why don¡¯t we just pretend we didn¡¯t hear anything? or we can go after dawn tomorrow ...¡± Someone suggested, and the others all supported him.

    ¡°Bullshit! On such a cloudy day, there were still at least ten hours before daybreak! He was just going to let her sing for the entire night? Who can bear the consequences if we rm the heavenly master and the divine envoy?¡± The leader shouted.

    The other guards were speechless after being reprimanded. It was hard to say which consequence was more terrible, being killed by a female ghost or offending the celestial master.

    If it was a female ghost onnd, they could ask the divine cat to send a cat to investigate, but for matters at sea, they could only be cannon fodder.

    They had no choice but to untie the small boats and split into several groups, each steering their own boat towards the Bay entrance.

    They were big and strong, but now they were like weak girls. They didn¡¯t put in any effort when rowing the boat. They just wanted to let the other boats go first and leave their own boat behind. If there was danger, it would be easier for them to escape.

    On each boat, there was a person lying on the bow of the boat, holding a shlight and looking forward with wide eyes.

    As they got closer and closer to the source of the song, all of them were covered in sweat. Their hearts were beating so fast that they felt like they were about to have a heart attack. They were afraid to see some...Terrifying things.

    However, what they were afraid of happened again. Someone¡¯s shlight suddenly shone on a blurry figure on the surface of the sea. He screamed in shock and even dropped the shlight into the water.

    He saw that there was indeed a woman in the sea. The problem was that this woman was not sitting in another boat, nor was she swimming on the surface of the sea. Instead ... Her upper body was straight out of the sea, and her hair was disheveled as she stared at him coldly.

    She ... Seemed to be standing in the sea as if she was weightless.

    They were very familiar with this Bay. The Bay was a natural shelter, and there were no hidden reefs in the sea route. It was impossible for someone to stand on a hidden reef with only their upper body exposed.

    Then this woman ... How did she ¡°stand¡± in the sea?

    As for her appearance, the man could not see her clearly because he was far away and panicked. He could only confirm that she was a Caucasian woman from her skin color, just like the woman who drowned during the day.

    It was scary, it was scary. His sudden scream scared the others.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What did you see?¡± The leader shouted.

    ¡°Ghost ... It¡¯s a ghost ... The woman from earlier in the day has turned into a water ghost and is here to im my life!¡± The man¡¯s face was pale as he pointed in the woman¡¯s direction. He bit his tongue several times to the point of bleeding, but he didn¡¯t feel any pain.

    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re not seeing things?¡±

    The others felt a chill in their hearts and shone their shlights in the direction he pointed. Their movements were so fierce that the boat swayed left and right.

    However, they were a step toote. The shlight only shone on arge ssh, like arge animal quickly sinking into the sea. At the same time, the singing also disappeared.

    ¡°Did you see a seal or a Manatee? There are a lot of seals nearby, and there are also some manatees. I heard that ancient sailors thought of manatees as mermaids. Are you a brat with only women in your head? Are you treating sea cows as women?¡±

    The leader¡¯s exnation seemed to make sense, but how could he exin the singing?

    ¡°It could be the sound of a seal or a Manatee.¡± The leader tried to exin, but it was hard to convince people, because they had heard the cries of seals many times, which waspletely different from the song just now.

    Just as they were in a dilemma, the song rang out again, this time from the left side of the ship.

    They hurriedly shone their shlights at the water, but they still only saw the ssh of water.

    Then, on the right side of the ship and the back of the boat, singing came one after another, and they also ran to the source of the singing with their shlights, like ying whack-a-mole.

    They once again confirmed that this song was definitely not the sound of an animal, but anguage they could not understand.

    What kind of thing could swim so fast?

    Even a great white shark would not have such terrifying speed, unless it was a ... Water ghost.

    In the face of such a strange situation, the leader finally couldn¡¯t hold on any longer. Anyway, they hade to the scene to check, so at least they weren¡¯t cowards. They could exin themselves when they returned.

    Hence, he ordered a retreat.

    The guards felt as if they had been granted Amnesty. Unlike when they hade, they all paddled back with all their strength.

    However, after paddling for a long time, the boat seemed to be frozen in the sea.

    The Orca flock had already lifted up all the small boats from under the boat.

    <strong></strong>

 Chapter 1595 - -exile

    <h4>Chapter 1595: Chapter 1595-exile</h4>

    Because the night was too dark, and their attention was focused on finding the so-called female ghost, the guards did not notice the approach of the killer whales. If it was daytime with good light, they should be able to see the killer whales spraying water from afar, or at least see the huge shadow approaching the boat.

    It was only when the boat was knocked off bnce by the orcas and the guards were swaying left and right in the boat that they realized there was something under the boat.

    Some people still associated it with ghosts and spirits and shouted,¡±¡±A ghost! It was the water ghost lifting the boat! They were going to capsize the boat! Throw us into the water! Drag us to the bottom of the sea by our ankles!¡±

    They were already panicking, and now they were even more out of their wits.

    As for how to deal with these guards, Zhang Zian and the elves had some differences in opinions. Some advocated to simply capsize the boat and drown them all. After all, these guards were all executioners with bloody hands, and they deserved to die. However, this proposal was strongly opposed by Sihwa.

    Sihwa didn¡¯t care much about whether these people were alive or dead, but the problem was that most of them should know how to swim. Simply overturning small boats wouldn¡¯t cause them to drown. The entrance of the Bay was only two or three hundred meters away from the dock. Although the sea was cold, as long as people could swim, they would be able to get out of danger safely ... Therefore, simply overturning small boats was useless, unless they were dragged to the bottom of the sea by killer whales, or simply bitten to death by killer whales.

    This raised a question. Orcas were very friendly to humans and had a certain degree of intelligence. Was it really appropriate to let orcas do such a thing?

    Once killer whales attacked humans, who could guarantee that they would not attack other innocent humans in the future? It should be known that wild killer whales had never been recorded to attack humans, but they had the bad name of ¡°killer whales.¡± With the poprization of marine knowledge, many people knew that killer whales did not hurt people. However, once this bad name was confirmed, the image of killer whales would be seriously damaged.

    <sub></sub>

    Most importantly, the leader of the Orca flock, J2, might not agree to this n. If it were anyone else in its position, it would probably not want its great-great grandchildren to be executioners for irrelevant people.

    Never underestimate the wisdom of a 100-year-old man. It could survive for so long and lead the southern residential whales to hide in this Wild Coast, even letting the outside world think that it was dead. It was enough to show that it had great wisdom. It knew what it was doing, what it should do, and the kindness and malice that humans had maintained for it.

    With that said, not only did the Elfins feel that it was too much to let the Orca flock, which was aloof from the world, do such a thing, but even Zhang Zian reevaluated his own thoughts. He had originally nned to go back and release the photos and videos of J2 still alive, but perhaps keeping it a secret was the best thing to do.

    The problem now was, how should he deal with these guards?

    Toyed with them and then let them retreat in one piece? This was obviously impossible. It was no different from letting a Tiger return to the mountain, and there would be endless trouble in the future.

    Zhang Zian had thought of a way. He asked Sihwa to ask J2 if there were any inds in the nearby sea.

    After Sihwa asked J2, she gave an affirmative answer. There were indeed a few isted inds outside the tengjin Bay. However, rather than calling them isted inds, it was more urate to say that they were connected submerged reefs. The area was very small. When the tide rose, they were barely above the sea surface. When the tide fell, they were only about 20 centimeters above the sea surface. There was not a single de of grass growing on the submerged reefs. At most, there were some small fish, shrimp, and crabs in the puddles. It was difficult to even stand on them. Of course, there was no fresh water.

    Zhang Zian suggested that the whales carry the small boat and push them to the submerged reef, then throw the small boat to the submerged reef. In this way, the bottom of the boat would inevitably touch the reef, leak water, and be beached. It might even directly break into pieces on the submerged reef, and the guards would be trapped on the submerged reef and unable toe back.

    In such cold water, unless one was wearing a full diving suit, swimming two or three hundred meters was the limit. After a long time, their hands and feet would be frozen numb.

    The guards were trapped on the submerged reef, and there was no response to their cries. They had no water or food, so they could only wait for others to find them and rescue them. Not only did this greatly weaken the other party¡¯s strength, but it also gave him a bargaining chip. It was equivalent to taking these guards as hostages, and maybe he could even negotiate terms with them.

    The elves couldn¡¯t find any fault with thispromise. The guards could stay on the reef for almost three days without water and food. No matter what the result was within three days, the dust had been settled. They could only wait for the police to save them on the reef, provided that they didn¡¯t kill each other in these three days ...

    Sihwa discussed the proposal with J2, and thetter agreed.

    When the police came, they would definitely ask the guards what happened. How would the guards answer?

    Not only the guards, even the numbed farmers would take notes when the police arrived. They would say things like female ghosts and strange cats, but would the police believe them?

    Who would believe these mysterious and brainwashed people? No matter what they said, no one would take it seriously.

    In addition, the vige was so primitive that there were no surveince cameras. Everything that happened here could not be recorded. This was the best.

    The group of whales, under J2¡¯smand, suddenly emerged from the bottom of the ship and quickly swam away from the shore with the few small boats on their backs.

    The guards were helpless on the boat. They saw the lights of the vige and the lighthouse getting farther and darker. The boat was about to leave the continental shelf and be pushed into the deep sea.

    They had the chance to escape by jumping into the sea, but they missed the opportunity due to their fear of the female ghost in the sea. In a moment of hesitation, the distance between the boat and the shore was so far that they could not swim back to the shore even if they were frozen in the sea.

    They knew how cold the water was. If they jumped into the water now, they would definitely die. Even if they were willing to be Jack, they didn¡¯t have big breasts and silk. There were only scary female ghosts.

    Someone reacted first and realized that it was a whale that was pushing them away. He raised his taser gun and shouted,¡±¡±Use the gun to stun them!¡±

    However, the Taser gun might not even be able to subduerge dogs. Against these adult killer whales that weighed a few tons, it was no different from scratching an itch. It could not even prate their skin. Not only did it not have any effect, but it also made the whales a little annoyed at their restlessness. They all sprayed water columns and drenched them.

    As the sea breeze blew, their faces turned blue and purple from the cold. They ally down at the bottom of the boat to avoid the sea breeze. As for where the small boats would be sent to, they had left it to fate.

    Through the night vision device, Zhang Zian watched as the boats gradually disappeared from his field of vision. Now that these people in the way had disappeared, he could carry out the next step of the n.

    <strong></strong>

 Chapter 1596 - high yield like sow

    <h4>Chapter 1596: Chapter 1596-high yield like sow</h4>

    Most of the guards who were free followed their leader to the beach to find the source of the song. Only a few guards who were on duty did not dare to leave their posts. They could only wait for them toe back and wait for the damn song to disappear.

    The song had indeed disappeared, but it only disappeared for a short while. Then, it continued to sing, but the sound was louder and closer. The guards who had gone to investigate had disappeared without a trace like mud cows entering the sea.

    The remaining guards were even more panicked. There were twenty to thirty of them, and each of them had brought a taser gun. How could they just disappear like that?

    Even if Godzi or yer Lord hade ashore, at least one of them had toe back to inform them, right?

    If they were already in such a state, then the ordinary people were even more out of their wits. As the strange song got closer and closer, they could only cover their ears in fear and hide in the corner with their hands on their heads.

    However, covering their ears did not have much effect. Although they felt that the singing was somewhat reduced after covering their ears, in fact, the singing was not reduced. Instead, it was getting higher and higher. Some of the tones had exceeded the range of human hearing, so they felt that the singing was reduced.

    The originally quiet forest suddenly became noisy.

    Animals that were active during the day and rested at night, such as various nocturnal birds, had already returned to their nests to rest, but they were awakened by the sudden high-frequency sound waves. They were unable to fly at night due to night blindness, so they could only make all kinds of cries to show their uneasiness and fear.

    <sub></sub>

    As for the birds that were already active at night, such as bats and owls, their normal hearing was also affected by Sihwa¡¯s high-frequency sound waves. They relied on their hearing to hunt and avoid obstacles, which made them fly around like drunkards. The dark swarm of bats even swept over the farm and wooden houses. Many bats even crashed into the houses through the ss, and some even hit people directly.

    The beasts on the ground were not any better. Although they did not rely on their hearing to hunt, basically all nocturnal animals had very sensitive hearing in order to avoid their natural enemies and humans. The high-frequency sound waves made them upset and disinterested in foraging. They rampaged in the forest, ignoring each other even when they met their prey or natural enemies.

    Even humans with slow hearing would feel inexplicable irritation when they couldn¡¯t hear ultrasonic waves. They would even have abnormal symptoms such as nausea and blurry vision.

    Sihwa had already swum to the dock near the shore. It was closer here, and the sound could reach further.

    Her upper body emerged from the sea, and invisible sound waves spread out from her mouth in a cone shape. The Restless atmosphere continued to spread in the forest.

    In the forest outside the farm, there were several cats on the branches. Their task was to guard the ce and alert the others if any suspicious people or animals approached.

    These cats might not be afraid of injury or even death, but the invisible weapon of ultrasonic waves made them jump up and down anxiously like ordinary animals.

    Suddenly, the vegetation in the nearby bushes rustled.

    The cats struggled to remember their duties. Although they were staggering, they still tried to stare in that direction, trying to see what wasing.

    A t nose and a pair of sharp and long fangs poked out from the bushes first. On the t surface of the nose, there were tworge nostrils that kept exhaling hot air.

    Immediately after, a huge pig head suddenly appeared, followed by a strong and powerful body.

    A wild boar!

    It was an adult wild boar that weighed almost 400 kilograms, no less than a ck bear.

    This wasn¡¯t the end. After this male wild boar appeared, a few more wild boars appeared one after another. There were male and female, big and small.

    The wolves known for their tactics and discipline, the ck Bears and brown bears known for their invincibility in one-on-onebat, and the tank-like wild boars were all the real overlords of the forest.

    Once a herd of wild boars charged in anger, both wolves and bears had to retreat. Even a ck bear might not be able to take on an adult male wild boar alone.

    An adult wild boar was big and heavy, and it had two sharp fangs. No one could stop it when it ran, unless it was a rhinoceros, elephant, or hippopotamus. However, this was not Africa, and there were no rhinoceros, elephant, or hippopotamus, so wild boars were the undisputed overlords of the forest.

    Not only were coyotes rampant in the United States, but wild boars were also the same. It was estimated that there were more than 6 million wild boars in the United States, causing 1.5 billion US dor economic losses to the United States ¡®agriculture every year.

    Wild boars were omnivorous animals. They could eat anything, be it weeds, wild fruits, insects, rodents, etc. Everything was on their menu. They didn¡¯t even mind rotten meat. When they were hungry, they would even attack and prey onrge canines and felines such as coyotes and leopards. If a single human provoked them, they would not let go of the human body after killing the human.

    The reproductive ability of wild boars was also very strong. Needless to say,¡±high yield like sows¡± was enough to summarize it.

    They could eat and reproduce, so what could stop the proliferation of wild boars?

    Probably only humans could do it. It was a pity that these wild boars were not born in China, otherwise ... They would be so fragrant!

    In fact, the wild boars had harassed the farm more than once. When they were hungry and couldn¡¯t find any other food, they certainly wouldn¡¯t let go of the delicious grains grown by the silly humans. It was as if they were prepared for them.

    However, no matter how stupid the wild boars were, they knew that humans were not to be trifled with. Humans had guns, and if they were not careful, they would be roasted game. Therefore, when they came to the farm to harass them in the past, they would alwayse secretly and leave after eating. Once they were discovered by the guards or farmers, the wild boars would quickly escape.

    Today¡¯s situation was a little different. The boars were enraged by the high-frequency sound waves and lost their minds. They came for revenge like crazy. They could hear the sound wavesing from the farm and the human vige, but they didn¡¯t know that the real origin was the beach behind the vige.

    Some distance behind the herd of wild boars, a few wolves stopped. They hadpleted their task of driving the herd of wild boars from a distance to here.

    The wolves didn¡¯t dare to move forward. They were also affected by the high-frequency sound waves. The closer they got, the more irritated they became. They couldn¡¯t help but want to howl at the sky, but this would expose their whereabouts. They had to retreat quickly with their tails between their legs and avoid the area where the sound waves were the most concentrated.

    Wolves were the natural enemies of wild boars. Wolves would not fight the wild boars head-on. Instead, they would slyly go around the wild boars and attack their eggs and anus. They would pull out the wild boars ¡®intestines and internal organs, and the wild boars would die from blood loss after a few jumps.

    Before assigning the tasks, in a friendly atmosphere, snowy Li also sincerely exchanged its anus-digging skills with the wolves, which made Zhang Zian shudder ...

    <strong></strong>

 Chapter 1597 - -great sound of hope

    <h4>Chapter 1597: Chapter 1597-great sound of hope</h4>

    The wild boar¡¯s theoreticalbat power was very powerful, and once it charged, its momentum was unstoppable. But it really couldn¡¯t beat the Wolf Pack, because the Wolf Pack had tactical cooperation and wouldn¡¯t let them charge easily.

    Not to mention the Wolf Pack, even the well-trained hunting dogs could drive the wild boars out of their hiding ces and let the hunters deal with them, although they could not beat the wild boars.

    This group of wild boars was exhausted from the chase of the wolves and was annoyed by the high-frequency noise. Their eyes had long turned red, and they only wanted to find the source of the noise and stab it with their fangs.

    The leading boar, which weighed 400 kilograms, was the wild boar King of this forest. When its eggs were cut off, it weighed almost 10 kilograms. Its whole body exuded a violent aura caused by excessive male hormones. Even hunters despised such a giant wild boar because its eggs emitted an extremely strong odor, causing the meat to taste terrible.

    It led the wild boars in the forest and was being chased by the wolves. As soon as it started to speed up, it hit a tree. Now that they hade to the seaside meadow with fewer trees, their speed had taken off. It was no exaggeration to say that even if a small car stopped in front of them, it could flip it over.

    It howled as it ran, venting the anger in its chest.

    However, wild boars had poor vision, especially static vision. They were basically blind at night, and could only vaguely see a light not far away, and the fragrance of grains nearby.

    Kachaa!

    <sub></sub>

    The Super-short-sighted wild boar did not see a tree as thick as a bowl in front of it and just ran straight into it. Its shoulders, which were getting thicker and thicker because it often scratched the tree, hit the tree trunk hard. It did not feel any pain, but became even more furious. It used all its strength and broke the tree in half.

    The male wild boar was so happy that it felt invincible.

    At this time, it felt something that could move fall on its back. This thing was alive, and it could use its sharp ws to hook the hair on its back to prevent it from falling.

    It was a cat. It had been lying on the tree and had fallen onto the boar¡¯s back after the tree was broken.

    The boar¡¯s neck was too thick for it to turn its head. It couldn¡¯t see what was on its back, but it could tell from the smell that it was a North American mountain cat or a cougar, because there were only these two types of felines in the forest.

    As for their weight, the difference between the weight of a house cat, a mountain cat, and a cougar was no different in front of a 400-kilogram wild boar King. Its eyes were red, and it had already put its brain into its balls and loaded the gun.

    The Wolf Pack was fine, but how could a mere cougar dare to mess with a taisui?

    It knew that these felines ¡®routine was to jump on its back and bite its throat or neck. Of course, it couldn¡¯t let them seed, so it ran even faster, broke through the fence, and trampled the new crops in the field into mud. Finally, it hit the wall of a wooden house, which copsed half of the house, and the cat on its back was thrown off by the impact.

    The people in the room looked at a huge pig¡¯s head in confusion. When they came to their senses, they screamed in shock and ran away through the cracked wall.

    Immediately after, the other boars excitedly followed their leader into the vige. They did not know why they had rushed in, but they just wanted to feel good.

    The wild boars rampaged through the vige¡¯s roads, and no one could or dared to stop them.

    Ever since the vige was built, there had never been such a huge chaos.

    However, this was only the beginning. It was far from the end.

    The frequency of Sihwa¡¯s singing was still rising rapidly. At present, it was beyond the range of the human ear¡¯s hearing, so the remaining guards and vigers suddenly felt quiet, but the symptoms of nausea and blurred vision were intensifying. They could even feel blood flowing through their temples, and they were in pain from jumping.

    This was the so-called ¡°great sound hopes for sound.¡± The loudest sound could not be heard.

    Pa~

    Pa~

    A tiny crack appeared on the ss of one of the wooden houses ¡®Windows. Then, the cracks spread rapidly like a cobweb, as if an invisible hand had carved a leafless tree on the ss. Finally, it shattered to one side.

    For quartz ss, sound frequencies that reached or exceeded 20000 Hertz would cause resonance. A few human male or female soprano singers could do this at close range, shattering thin ss such as red wine sses. However, from the beach to the vige, to be able to shatter ss at such a distance was not something that humans could do.

    Not only this window, but all the windows in the vige were breaking, and like an infectious disease, it spread to the pottery and porcin products.

    The people whose vision was getting more and more blurry saw in horror that there was no earthquake, but the water in the cup and pot rippled as if they were ced in a microwave.

    They could no longer tell if this was an Illusion or Reality. They only knew that if this continued, everyone¡¯s brains would probably be cooked.

    It was unknown who was the first to run. It could be a farmer or a guard. The high-frequency sound wave, which had a frequency close to the microwave range, seemed to have returned their brainwashed minds to their primitive state. They were driven by their survival instinct, and their survival instinct told them to run quickly, as staying here would only lead to death.

    With one person running, the others all ran out of the vige. Their minds couldn¡¯t hold anything else, and they could only run.

    A few of the more determined guards, or rather, the more brainwashed guards, tried to stop their fleeing colleagues and even raised their taser guns to threaten them. However, they were quickly drowned by the flood of vigers and wild boars, knocked down and stepped on a few times.

    The spreading panic made the trend of copse unstoppably. If this was a more densely popted ce, such as a Stadium, arge-scale trampling tragedy would have already happened.

    The people ran in three different directions except for the beach and plunged into the forest. In the dark, they ran around mindlessly.

    Some of them only stopped when they were out of breath and could no longer run. They held onto the trees and panted for their lives, turning around in fear.

    They had been running for a long time and thought that they had run quite far. In the dark forest, they could still vaguely see the lights on the small Hignd.

    Had that terrifying sound stopped?

    Since they couldn¡¯t hear the sound anymore, they couldn¡¯t tell if the sound had stopped. The only way to judge was to run back and try it out in person ... But who would be willing to do that?

    There were also many people who had better physical strength. They ran even deeper into the forest in one breath. They couldn¡¯t even see the lights. There was no moon in the sky, and their surroundings were pitch ck. They couldn¡¯t even find their direction, so how could they talk about going back? He could only climb up a tree or start a fire to avoid the wild beasts, and think of a way during the day.

    <strong></strong>

 Chapter 1598 - personal grudge

    <h4>Chapter 1598: Chapter 1598-personal grudge</h4>

    The vige, which had been bustling with activity just a moment ago, had now be an empty city no different from a Native American vige. Most of the people had run away, leaving only a few guards whose backs had almost been stepped on and could not get up, as well as a herd of wild boars feasting on the farnd.

    The wild boars that had been venting their anger calmed down a little, mainly because the high-frequency sound waves that had been lingering in their ears had quietly stopped.

    Sihwa received the signal to stop singing. It was Zhang Zian who used the shlight to send out the light signal that had been agreed on in advance. It was nothing more than a simplebination of lighting it up and turning it off a few times. If it wasplicated, she wouldn¡¯t be able to understand it.

    He had been lying on the heand to observe the situation. It was at a 90-degree angle from the center of the sound waves, so the impact was much less. After all, the higher the frequency of the sound waves, the more concentrated they were. But even so, his eardrums were not veryfortable, as if something had entered them. He always wanted to reach his little finger in and scratch it.

    He didn¡¯t want to hurt the innocent. What if the vigers were brainwashed too deeply and refused to leave the vige? There was no other way. He could only ask Sihwa to stop and think of other ways. He couldn¡¯t really let their brains be cooked and their blood vessels burst, right? Besides, Sihwa¡¯s voice might not really reach the frequency of a microwave. He was not sure, and Sihwa was not sure.

    If it could really reach the frequency of a microwave ... Would he be able to sell the microwave at home as a second-hand local and take it from the same city?

    Although Sihwa¡¯s singing had stopped, the people who ran away did note back. First, they had run too far away in panic, and second, they could not be sure if the singing had really stopped.

    This was good, the fewer people in the way, the better.

    <sub></sub>

    After this ordeal, especially when the wild boars were rampaging through the vige, they had destroyed several houses. These houses were all made of wood, and it was night time now. The vigers ¡®lighting waspletely dependent on candles and oilmps. This led to a problem. The vigers and guards were affected by the high-frequency sound waves. When they fled in a panic, they did not notice that a few candles and oilmps had fallen in the chaos.

    The candles and oilmps first lit up the tablecloth, then the table and chairs.

    The house and the simple furniture inside were all made of wood, which was a natural lighting material.

    If there were people present, the current fire could still be controlled. Although wooden houses were easy to burn,pared to modern buildings, theycked gasoline, gas, alcohol, rubber, stic, and otherbustion-supporting materials, as well as synthetic materials that would emit poisonous smoke when burning. It was rtively easy to put out the fire.

    Unfortunately, most of them had run away.

    When Zhang Zian saw the fire jump up from a roof through the telescope, he was shocked. He was not the wise Zhuge Liang, and the fire was not in his n.

    There were hills and hignds on the other side of the North Channel, which could be divided into three parts: At the bottom was the farm, because the farm had to be cultivated on thend, not on the stone. The slightly higher elevation was the main body of the vige made of wooden houses, where the muddleheaded farmers and most of the guards lived. The terrain was higher than the t ground, so it could avoid the tide from pouring in during typhoons and tsunamis. The hills became precipitous as they went higher, and a winding path led to arge house at a higher ce. Although it was not as good as a European castle, it was not much worse. That was where the high-ranking people lived, overlooking the entire Bay and the nearby forest.

    Since ancient times, the big shots had always lived on high ground. This had never changed.

    Just as Zhang Zian¡¯s South Sea Cape was not affected by the high-frequency sound waves, the big house at the top of the North Sea Cape was even less affected. When the adults were drinking and talking, they did not hear the faint singing from the sea at all.

    The guard who was waiting for the news ran along the path to the big house, panting. Then, he went in to inform the guard of the big house, because Peter Lee had told him that there were guests tonight, and they were not to be disturbed unless it was important.

    The guards of the mansion were not sure if the singing of the female ghost was important, so they stopped the messenger from entering. After a while, the second guard almost rolled and crawled up, saying that therge group of people who went to the seaside to investigate had not returned. It was suspected that the entire Army had been annihted. The guards of the mansion felt that something was wrong and quickly ran in to report.

    In the luxurious banquet hall of the big house, Peter Lee was standing proudly, raising his ss with a red face. He was about to drink with the guests when he was interrupted by the guard who suddenly pushed the door open.

    The guard whispered a few words to Peter Lee with a pale face and simply told him about all the strange things that had happened below.

    Peter Lee was stunned and whispered,¡±¡±You¡¯re serious?¡±

    The guard nodded with a bitter smile. How could he dare to speak nonsense about this matter?

    Peter Lee was still wearing his iconic white suit with a colorful silk scarf around his neck. He didn¡¯t wear brown sunsses like he did during the day.

    He was very calm. It was clearly a mess below, but he didn¡¯t rush to check the situation. Instead, he muttered to himself, trying to analyze the current situation.

    Ghost Song of the Sea and the missing guards were obviouslying for him. He just didn¡¯t know which force was so powerful that 20 to 30 people could disappear without a trace.

    The police?

    FBI?

    Army?

    No, if thesew enforcement officers were here, there would be no need to use tricks like Ghost Song. If they had substantial evidence of his crime, they couldpletely break through with armored vehicles, helicopters, and special Forces. No matter how strong his armed forces were, it was impossible topete with the officialw enforcement forces.

    If they didn¡¯t have any substantial evidence, it would be impossible for them to be there. After all, he was a prominent figure and had a good personal rtionship with the local chief.

    So, this must be a personal grudge.

    When it came to personal grudges, the first person he thought of was Zhang Zian.

    He didn¡¯t know how Zhang Zian did it. He destroyed the power grid system of the ughterhouse, sneaked in, stole aptop, and escaped unscathed. Finally, he burned all the important equipment in the ughterhouse ... After the equipment expert came to fix the damage, after inspection, they said that the equipment had been damaged before the fire. It was destroyed by a current far higher than the rated current. Even the transformer and voltage stabilizer did not y their role. It was like ... He had been struck by lightning.

    Peter Lee was surprised. He knew that the mahogany forest was a lightning-struck area, so he had deliberately ced lightning rods on every higher building of the ughterhouse. How could these lightning rods fail at the same time?

    The principle and structure of the lightning rod were very simple. It had not changed much since its invention. Unless the lightning attracting lines of these lightning rod were all physically cut off, it was impossible for them to fail at the same time.

    After that, he checked each lightning rod one by one, but they were all working normally without any signs of damage.

    <strong></strong>

 Chapter 1599 - friendship between host and guest

    <h4>Chapter 1599: Chapter 1599-friendship between host and guest</h4>

    Peter Lee couldn¡¯t figure out how the power grid was destroyed, but he didn¡¯t believe in coincidences. Zhang Zian happened to appear at the same time as the power grid was cut, and he sneaked into the office to steal theptop. How could this be a coincidence?

    The ughterhouse was a key part of his n. Everything else could be reced except for this one. It would not be able to resume operations in a short time.

    His personal grudge with Zhang Zian started in the tomb of the Great Pyramid of Egypt. At that time, he thought that this person seemed to be a bit interesting, so he wanted to win him over. Unfortunately, this person was stubborn, so he gave up. Later, by chance, they went to the desert to find the lost Golden Pyramid. At thest moment, he and his team were strangely obstructed. At that time, he suspected that there was something strange.

    The encounter in San Francisco was probably not a coincidence.

    He was very puzzled as to how Zhang Zian managed to deal with so many guards by himself. Were the Taser guns of the guards useless?

    In short, there were too many mysteries surrounding Zhang Zian. He could always turn the impossible into the possible, which was something he could not tolerate.

    Peter Lee¡¯s eyes gradually condensed into a line, like a needle piercing into Zhang Zian¡¯s image in front of him.

    This time, he had to end the long-term grudges. If this continued, he would either be dragged to death or be angered to death.

    <sub></sub>

    He coughed and waved the guards away, indicating that he would deal with this matter immediately.

    After the guard left, he ced the full ss of red wine back on the table.¡±Everyone!¡±

    There was a difference between the host and the guest. The distinguished guests were all graceful and cultured people. When they saw the guard quietly reporting private matters to thendlord here, of course, it was not good to deliberately eavesdrop. So they chatted with each other andughed from time to time.

    As the host, Peter Lee had spoken, so the guests also put down their sses of red wine. Their faces became serious, and they all stared at Peter Lee¡¯s face.

    There were only a few guests sitting at the long banquet table covered with a white tablecloth, and the banquet hall seemed empty and quiet.

    ¡°There¡¯s a small problem down there. ¡± Peter Lee¡¯s smile did not change.¡±Someone is here to cause trouble, and those good-for-nothing guards can¡¯t handle it, so I have to excuse myself and go down to deal with it.¡±

    His tone was very rxed, but the guests were not so easy to fool. They all noticed Peter Lee¡¯s worried face after the guard reported the news and knew that things were not as simple as Peter Lee appeared to be.

    ¡°Peter, I think you can tell the truth.¡± An old man with a white beard and a long robe said calmly,¡±although we have different ideas, we respect different creators, and we have argued many times over this, the fact that we are allies will not change. Ourmon goal is to beat down the stupid Americans. Your business is our business. If you need help, just ask.¡±

    The old man¡¯s English was not very fluent. He had a non-local ent, and with his dark skin, he seemed to be a foreigner. He was a low-key person and was not as eye-catching as the Falcon on his arm.

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Peter, you heard the teacher¡¯s words. If you have something to say, just say it! Who¡¯s here to cause trouble? Is he the same person who destroyed the ughterhouse?¡±

    Another middle-aged man, who was also wearing a long robe, shouted.

    The middle-aged man was about 40 to 50 years old. He had a thick beard and was short and fat. He had a big belly, but his movements were agile. He was obviously an agile fat man.

    The middle-aged fat man had a simr skin color to the older man, and he also spoke English with an ent. However, his temper was unusually hot. He angrily mmed his pure gold and diamond-iid mobile phone on the table and suddenly stood up, almost knocking over the red wine ss on the table in front of him.

    The third customer didn¡¯t say anything and calmly took a sip of red wine.

    Having lost most of the guards, Peter Lee was now in a dilemma. He needed the help of supernatural forces to transfer people back from other ces. So, his first speech was actually to retreat in order to advance. He did not take the initiative to ask for help, but waited for them to offer to help.

    ¡°Cough! Since it¡¯s difficult to refuse everyone¡¯s hospitality, I¡¯ll be Frank and open. ¡± Peter Lee sighed.¡±If I¡¯m not wrong, it¡¯s the person who destroyed the ughterhouse! I¡¯m generous, but he has gone against me time and time again. If it wasn¡¯t for him, I might have been able to open Egypt¡¯s coffin and take out the eye of wajet amulet. ¡±

    The older man smacked the table in disdain.¡±What¡¯s the use of such a heresy?¡±

    The Falcon on his arm followed his movements and red at Peter Lee.

    Peter Lee smiled.¡±Of course you don¡¯t like it, but the eye of wajite itself is priceless. I¡¯ve read a lot of ancient documents and think this amulet may have a more important role ... And maybe it will be useful to others.¡±

    As he spoke, he nced at the third customer. Thetter still did not say anything, but he did not continue to taste the wine.

    The elder pondered for a moment.¡±Are you sure that the eye of wajite amulet is in the sarcophagus?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not confident. ¡± ¡°I even have doubts about whether Egypt¡¯s mummy is in the sarcophagus, but this is the most likely ce I can think of where the eye of wajite is hidden ...¡± Peter Lee said without any reservation.

    ¡°If that woman¡¯s mummy isn¡¯t there, where else can it be? You¡¯re thinking too much, it¡¯s definitely there. ¡± The tone of the older man clearly did not agree with Peter Lee¡¯s judgment and shook his head slightly.

    Peter Lee didn¡¯t dwell on this issue. The process Egypt Cleopatra¡¯s death was only a one-sided story from a book. Who knew if there was a man-made secondary creation in the book ... That was almost certain.

    This was what the so-called history book authors did. They used their imagination to write secret talks or secrets that should have been extremely confidential and could not be known by a third person. Later historians, because they had no other references or other references that were even more ridiculous, could only helplessly ept it and regard it as a guide.

    He sighed again.¡±Unfortunately, there were some inexplicable changes at that time, and with that person¡¯s interference, I was forced to leave as soon as I stepped into the Golden Pyramid. I didn¡¯t even reach the Queen¡¯s tomb, so I couldn¡¯t see Egypt¡¯s sarcophagus with my own eyes, let alone open it to see Cleopatra¡¯s true appearance. I was deeply regretful ... A few days ago, I sent a team to take the same route, but they didn¡¯t find the ce we had arrived at. ording to the report, the terrain of thatrge area has beenpletely changed, so I hope that the eye of wajite is not in the sarcophagus, so that we may have a chance to find it one day ...¡±

    ¡°Alright, alright! I already know that you have a deep hatred for that person, and he has made you suffer multiple times. We¡¯ll help you get rid of him, once and for all. It¡¯s just another floating corpse in the Bay!¡± The fat middle-aged manughed wildly.

    <strong></strong>

 Chapter 1600 - Deep into The Tigerâ€™s Den

    <h4>Chapter 1600: Deep into The Tiger¡¯s Den</h4>

    Zhang Zian put down the telescope. He could see the fire in the vige without the telescope.

    Since all the houses were made of wood and furniture, as long as one house caught fire, the mes would quickly engulf the entire house. Most of the houses here were long, row-shaped houses, and once they were set on fire, several houses would be burned.

    Although there was no strong wind today, as long as it was by the sea, there would be some sea breeze, and the sea breeze would help to fan the fire.

    To put it in a good way, these wooden houses and the furniture inside were not worth much. If they were burned, so be it. At most, they could build more. However, it would be bad if they caused a forest fire.

    The entrance of the big house on the high side of the North Sea Strait was located on the other side of the house. From the South Sea Cape where Zhang Zian was, he could only see the back of the house, so he did not know the security force in the house, nor did he know how many people were in the house.

    He waited for a while and decided not to wait any longer. The other party didn¡¯t seem to care about the burning of the wooden house and had no intention of putting out the fire. However, he wanted to take this opportunity to search for some food and supplies in the wooden house that wasn¡¯t on fire.

    There were not many supplies left with him, and it was definitely not enough for him and melgen to walk out of the forest alive. Although he believed that Mrs. Miller must be working hard outside, and melgen¡¯s ssmates were working hard, and he also believed that snowy did not forget that he had asked her to call the police, he could not put all his hopes on others. People always had to rely on themselves, and he could not just wait for others to save them. What if the rescue did note? was he going to wait here for his whole life?

    There were too many reasons for the rescue not being able toe. For example, it was the typhoon season in summer and autumn. There were also many mountain fires in the forest. Fire and water were merciless. It was entirely possible that the rescue team would be blocked outside the forest. Or, it was simply because the redwood forest was toorge that they had not found this ce.

    Considering that melgen might need a few days to recover her ability to move, Zhang Zian¡¯s sense of crisis made him not n to wait. He quickly went to pick up some garbage before the firepletely engulfed the vige.

    He used his shlight to give Sihwa the signal that they had discussed earlier, indicating that he wanted to enter the vige and ask Sihwa to stop singing.

    The higher the frequency of the voice, the more energy it carried. Sihwa had already used up a lot of energy in the continuous singing. Now, even if she were to sing again, she was afraid that she would not be able to sing.

    He used his hands and feet to climb down the heand. It was more dangerous to climb down in the dark than to climb up, as he could break his neck if he missed a step.

    When he returned to the t ground, he called out to the yawning elves,¡±¡±Let¡¯s go. Be careful of those legendary cats when we go through the woods. I¡¯m not sure if they¡¯ve been scared away by the wild boars. ¡±

    He didn¡¯t go over the heand directly, because the other side of the heand was very steep, almost straight up and down. Otherwise, he could go around the forest and save a lot of trouble.

    Hearing this, fina perked up and said with hatred,¡±¡±Bengong hopes that they are still around. Bengong will definitely punish those scum who ruin the reputation of the cat race!¡±

    It was not angry about anything else, but that the cats were used as cannon fodder, and even as a source of disease transmission. This had challenged its bottom line. Even in its era, only the most despicable viins would do such a thing, such as throwing mice carrying an evil gue into the enemy¡¯s city, so that all the men, women, old and young in the city would be infected and die. The people who created this indiscriminate killing deserved to die.

    In addition, didn¡¯t it know that it would be morefortable to bring in some domestic cats to serve him? It was better than Zhang Zian¡¯s stupid servant, right? It knew this, but it still didn¡¯t do it. Instead, it trekked all the way with Zhang Zian. No matter how much he suffered, it would suffer the same.

    It was so hard that even it was touched.

    However, a cat had actually brought in so many cats. It must be a big show. What would this be in ancient times? It was crossing! It didn¡¯t conform to the etiquette! They were going to be beheaded!

    Fina had been holding in her anger for a long time, and it had also been a long time since she had the intention to kill. The actions of the mastermind behind the scenes were not wrong even if they were cut into a thousand pieces!

    ¡°Calm down! Calm down! Don¡¯t be too impulsive. Strategically look down on the enemy, but tactically value the enemy. ¡± Zhang Zian advised.

    Fina snorted arrogantly and didn¡¯t listen at all.

    ¡°Meow meow meow! Your Majesty will personally lead the troops, and we will definitely seed!¡± Snowy Li saw that he was defeated, so it didn¡¯t miss the opportunity to tter him.

    Fina didn¡¯t say anything, but in its heart, it agreed with snowy Li¡¯spliment.

    The Elfins followed Zhang Zian to find the path that had been trampled by the wild boar. Following this path, they could pass through the woods and reach the farm.

    ¡°Everyone, please be careful,¡± Fati reminded.¡±Those cats are very strange. It¡¯s very likely that they¡¯re hiding in the forest.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not surprised by this, it¡¯s a monster that¡¯s defeated! All the reactionaries are just paper tigers!¡± dimir clenched its fist.¡±Some of ourrades have led decadent lives and cut off their Meow Meow doctrine and meow people. It makes me extremely sad! However, in the spirit of punishing the past and warning the future, we still have to try our best to save those fooled and deceived cats. We will not abandon or give up!¡±

    Dharma idol was stunned. What was this? Although it couldn¡¯t understand what he was saying, it felt inexplicably convincing ...

    ¡°Kaka! Idiot, take off your Chrys...No, take off your hood, I want to go in!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to be cat sh * t if there are too many cats in the forest!¡± Said Richard as he pped his wings like a blind man touching an elephant.

    Zhang Zian was toozy to pay attention to it, but it was indeed a problem to leave it alone. It might have been taken away by seabirds or Raptors. He could only pinch its nose and throw it into the hood of his windbreaker to hide.

    Richard used his bird ws to grab the hood and wrapped it around his body tightly, only revealing his head to look around. The hood was one of its favorite spots. Although the view in front was basically zero, there was still a great view behind it, and it was very warm.

    The wind by the sea was very cold at night, and Richard was the most afraid of the cold among the elves.

    Pi¡¯s vision at night was simr to a human ¡®s. It waved its stick, indicating that it could help.

    Zhang Zian would definitely not leave any elfin alone outside the forest. As for Sihwa, she was invincible in the water, not to mention that there was a group of killer whales, the Overlord of the sea, by her side.

    Just as he was about to step into the alley, famous was already in front of him. It was better to have it lead the way, as its sense of smell, hearing, and night vision were much better than people ¡®s.

    Fati also stepped forward. It was the one who led everyone here, so if there was any danger, it should be the one standing in front.

    In order to avoid exposing his location, he didn¡¯t turn on the shlight. He held the night vision device in one hand and held Pi¡¯s hand in the other as he carefully stepped into the forest.

 Chapter 1601 - Staying behind to guard

    <h4>Chapter 1601: Staying behind to guard</h4>

    There was still some fire outside the forest. Although the sky was covered by dark clouds, the sky was notpletely dark. It was almost pitch ck when they entered the forest.

    Zhang Zian walked very slowly. With his night vision, he had to pay attention to his feet and his surroundings.

    It was very quiet in the forest. The branches, leaves, and trunks seemed to be a natural soundproof nket, absorbing all the sounds nearby. Only the asional crackling sound of something being burned and burst in the vige could be heard.

    Zhang Zian felt that every step he took on the leaves would make a loud noise, while the Elfins were light inparison.

    Richard wisely kept his mouth shut. He could not see anything, so he would be the unluckiest if there was any danger.

    Because a group of wild boars had just run past, the smell in the forest was extremelyplicated. Famous and Fati¡¯s attention was mostly focused on searching and identifying the smell, so they kept their heads low.

    Zhang Zian was the first to notice the abnormality. Because he was tall, his poor night vision was made up for by the night vision device.

    As he was walking, he suddenly saw an animal lying on the branches of a tree. Its eyes were glowing like will-o ¡®-the-wisps in the green light provided by the night vision device. Judging from its shape, it was a cat.

    He grunted and pointed in that direction.

    The cat was looking down at him and found him. Just as it was about to jump down the tree and run away, it heard Fina¡¯s cold voice.¡±Stop!¡±

    The order was like a mountain falling. The cat¡¯s body trembled and it lost its bnce. It could have fallen from the tree branch normally, but it lost its bnce and fell to the ground.

    It was only two or three meters high, and the ground was full of fallen leaves, so the cat would not be hurt. It got up from the ground, looked back in the direction of the house on the North Sea Cape for help, and then looked at fina timidly. After a moment of hesitation, it slowly moved back with small steps.

    Zhang Zian could see that this cat really didn¡¯t listen to fina. If it were the cats in the Pet Shop, Fina¡¯s snort could scare them to the point of pooping.

    Fina was also angry and annoyed. It wanted to rush over and punish him in person, and snowy Li wanted to do it for it and win his favor, but it was stopped by Zhang Zian.

    ¡°What if they have that kind of prion ... It¡¯s not worth it.¡± He advised.

    Fina¡¯s sharp eyes swept around, and it raised its voice and meowed twice.¡±Those who are hiding nearby, get out here!¡±

    As soon as he finished speaking, the cats hiding in the tree holes, the grass nests, and behind the stones came out from their hiding ces.

    If it were amon domestic cat, it would definitely lie on the ground to show its submission after seeing fina. Although these cats did not run or move, they did not lie down either. Their eyes were cunning and unruly.

    Fina¡¯s face burned when everyone saw that her order had failed. She wanted to rush up, pick up the cats, and throw them out. But as Zhang Zian said, it was not worth taking the risk for a moment of anger.

    ¡°This Prince orders you not to go anywhere. Stand here and reflect on your mistakes until this Prince allows you to leave!¡± Fina shouted.

    The cats reluctantly walked to the nearest tree trunk, turned their bodies, and stared at the tree in a daze.

    The forest was not wide, and a few more steps and they would be out of the forest. The farm was in front.

    Fati heaved a sigh of relief. He had sent wolves to pass through the forest to investigate, but every time they were discovered by the cats and warned, they would immediately call for armed guards. Wolves could not climb trees, so they could not do anything to the cats. He did not expect to pass through so easily this time.

    Fina¡¯s expression, however, was not rxed. She noticed that these cats did not honestly reflect on their mistakes. They did not even know what mistakes they had made. From time to time, they would turn their heads to look at her, as if waiting for her to leave.

    It knew that as long as it left, they would continue to do bad things. Perhaps they would immediately find a way to inform the others.

    ¡°You guys go first, bengong will stay here to look after them.¡± Fina said.

    Zhang Zian frowned. Although fina was very strong, and there were no other beasts in the forest, he still felt that it was not appropriate to leave it alone.

    ¡°Meow meow meow! I¡¯m willing to stay and apany Your Majesty! Wherever Your Majesty is, I will be there!¡± Snowy Li took the opportunity to show its loyalty.

    Snowy Li looked soft and cute, but it was actually very cruel. However, it was really loyal to fina.

    With snowy Li apanying fina, Zhang Zian reluctantly agreed.

    ¡°Then you guys have to be careful. Don¡¯t be careless.¡± He warned.

    ¡°Pei Pei Pei! You stinky man, get as far away as you can! Don¡¯t be an eyesore and disturb this mother and her Majesty!¡± Snowy Li frowned and spat on the ground.

    Fina and snowy Li stayed behind to monitor the cats with bad intentions. Zhang Zian quickly passed through the woods with the other Elfins.

    Snore?

    Hulu?

    The herd of wild boars that had rushed over earlier were still gnawing on the crops in the farm. They had almost eaten the entire farm clean, like hungry ghosts.

    The 400-kilogram wild boar King was keenly aware of the Wolf¡¯s smell. It raised its head and red at the Fati, a string of sweet potatoes hanging on its fangs.

    In the North American continent, wolves were the greatest natural enemies of wild boars, except for humans. The wild boar King shook its head to shake off the sweet potato and angrily growled twice, causing the other wild boars to notice the arrival of their natural enemy.

    The herd of wild boars gathered together and stared at Fati as if they were facing a great enemy, all of their thick and hard manes standing on end.

    The wild boar King¡¯s nostrils could fit an adult man¡¯s thumb, and it kept exhaling white gas. Its two front hooves took turns to dig the ground, and it groaned angrily, like a truck that could step on the gas at any time.

    Obviously, as long as the Fati moved forward, the group of wild boars wouldunch a collective charge.

    Fati was a natural killer. Although it had turned over a new leaf now, its hands had been full of blood back then. It had rich experience in dealing with wild boars, so of course, it was not afraid of the wild boar. If necessary, it was confident that it could dig out the wild boar King¡¯s intestines in a few rounds.

    But just because it wasn¡¯t afraid, it didn¡¯t mean that Zhang Zian and the other Elfins weren¡¯t afraid, especially the little monkey. When it saw its second junior brothers, it didn¡¯t feel like it had met an old friend in a foreignnd. Instead, it was so scared that it was trembling.

    Wild boars ran much faster than humans. Zhang Zian, who had been trained for a long time, was physically better than the average person, but he was still human. If the group of wild boars charged, he and the little monkey might be caught in the crossfire.

    Fati quickly analyzed the current situation and said to Zhang Zian,¡±¡±You guys go first. I¡¯ll stay behind and stall these boars.¡±

    It could see the situation clearly, and so could Zhang Zian. He knew that this was the only choice. Otherwise, he would have to fight with the wild boars before dealing with the real enemy.

    If converted to game data, the wild boars were monsters with high attack, high HP, and high defense. Even if the elves attacked together, it would be quite difficult to fight them. What if the enemy took advantage of this?

 Chapter 1602 - -a loyal hymn

    <h4>Chapter 1602: Chapter 1602-a loyal hymn</h4>

    As the saying goes,¡±a good tiger can¡¯t hold up a group of wolves.¡± Wolves were good at dealing with wild boars, but a Wolf couldn¡¯t fight a group of wild boars alone. No matter how powerful an elf like Fati was, when faced with a group of wild boars with thick skin and not afraid of pain, he would only be able to dig out a few wild boars ¡®intestines at most, but he would also be pierced through by the remaining wild boars¡¯ fangs.

    This group of wild boars had been chased by a few wolves just now. When they met their enemies, they were extremely jealous. They couldn¡¯t beat a pack of wolves, so how could they not beat a Wolf?

    If the Fati continued to move forward, it would definitely provoke the group of wild boars to attack.

    Zhang Zian was helpless.¡±You have to be careful,¡± he said.¡±There are too many wild boars. Don¡¯t fight them.¡±

    Fati nodded.¡±Don¡¯t worry. Since the cats in the forest have been taken care of, I¡¯ll summon the Wolf Pack to help.¡±

    Zhang Zian was still not at ease. He was worried that Fati would be alone if he stayed. At this time, famous took the initiative to ask,¡±¡±I¡¯ll stay too. At least we can look out for each other. ¡±

    For a long time, famous had been the only canine elf in the Pet Shop. Although it had long been used to it, sometimes it felt a little lonely. Little white was also a dog, but it didn¡¯t live in the Pet Shop. It had too many things to do outside, and it was always busy. asionally, it came to the Pet Shop to discuss important matters with Zhang Zian, so famous and little white didn¡¯t have much of a friendship.

    Perhaps it was because the Blood of the Wolf ancestors flowed in famous¡¯s body, and it was also the ancestor of the European wolves, famous felt a natural sense of familiarity when it saw Fati. It just so happened that Fati would be worried if he stayed, and Zhang Zian had other elves with him, so he probably wouldn¡¯t be in danger. Therefore, famous decided to stay as well. First, it would help Fati, and second, it would get closer to him.

    ¡°Alright, then the two of you will judge the situation. If the situation is not good, retreat. Don¡¯t force yourself.¡± Zhang Zian also thought that the two of them were a goodbination. In the face of the wild boars, they could at least stand in an invincible position and wait for the Wolf Pack toe to reinforce them.

    Fati nodded gratefully at famous, and thetter also smiled and nodded in response, tacitly standing in position. Thus, the wild boars formed a horn formation, and the wild boars had to be distracted.

    The biggest natural enemy of wild boars was humans, and when humans hunted wild boars, they often brought along hunting dogs. When wild boars heard the dogs barking, they knew that something bad was going to happen. Their fear of hunting dogs was no less than their fear of wolves.

    A Wolf and a dog were confronting the wild boars about thirty meters away.

    Zhang Zian called the other Elfins and carefully walked around the side. They walked very slowly and their movements were very light so as not to anger the wild boars.

    The boars had no time to care about anything else. All their attention was on Fati and famous. Zhang Zian and the others passed through the farm smoothly and arrived at the residential area.

    He turned around and saw that Fati had yet to make his move even though he imed that he was going to summon a pack of wolves.

    With a little thought, it was easy to understand the dilemma of the magic deduction. The wolf howl could summon the Wolf Pack, but it could also anger the wild boar. Before the Wolf Pack arrived, how long could famous and itst against the charging wild boar group? No one was confident.

    Therefore, the only thing that the Dharma idol could do now was to maintain the status quo and wait for things to turn around.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help. The only thing he could do was not waste the time that thew pushed to him.

    He had observed the area while lying on the heand. This residential area was a mix of guards and farmers. The west side of the area was close to the sea, and the east side was where the farmers lived. The area of the east side was muchrger than the west side, separated by a t main road in the middle. Currently, the houses on fire were concentrated in the east side, and the west side had not been affected by the fire yet.

    ¡°Hey! S-Stop! You¡¯re not allowed to move forward! You ... Who are you ...¡±

    A weak voice came from the side. A man in a Guard¡¯s uniform was half-lying on the ground, and he pointed at Zhang Zian with great effort.

    The Guard¡¯s face was swollen, and his body was covered in shoe prints and ... Pig¡¯s hoof prints. He had obviously been trampled on badly. Blood was still oozing out of the corner of his mouth, and his internal organs might have been injured.

    Even in such a miserable state, he was still loyal to his duty. He did not forget his duty because of the pain on his body. Zhang Zian was deeply touched and wanted to sing a song of loyalty to him.

    Zhang Zian bent down and picked up a taser gun from his feet. The Taser bullet had already been used, but it could still be used as a Taser stick.

    So, Zhang Zian put the two exposed electrodes at the front of the Taser gun on his back and pulled the trigger. He kept holding the trigger without letting go, and the sharp electrodes pierced into his clothes.

    ¡°Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!¡±

    The guard let out a drawn-out scream. His eyes rolled up, and his whole body twitched from the electric shock, like a fish out of water.

    Five secondster, Zhang Zian released the trigger, and the current stopped being released. The guard waspletely limp on the ground like mud. He had passed out from the electric shock. Even the contact point on the back of his clothes was burnt by the electricity, giving off a burnt smell.

    A pungent smell of urine spread from between the Guard¡¯s legs. He had actually been electrocuted.

    ¡°The Buddha is merciful.¡± Zhang Zian shook his head regretfully.¡±What a sin ...¡±

    ¡°Be good!¡± Richard sighed.¡±I can¡¯t see, but just hearing this voice ... You idiot, have you awakened some strange fetishes?¡±

    ¡°Squeak!¡±

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    There was another scream. This time, it came to a corner in front of them. There was a guard who had also been stepped on, trying to escape quietly. However, Pi noticed it. It jumped over with a stick like a pole vault andnded on the Guard¡¯s leg. Then, it picked up the stick and knocked him out. Pi¡¯s stick was made of tree branches, so it didn¡¯t weigh much. Even if it used all its strength, it wouldn¡¯t kill anyone.

    ¡°The Golden Monkey rises with the thousand-ton cudgel,¡± dimir praised.¡±The Jade universe is clear for ten thousand li!¡±

    ¡°Squeak squeak.¡±

    Pi scratched its head in embarrassment, meaning that it was still far from being able to do anything.

    The second guard was really mean. He clearly saw his colleague getting electrocuted, but he didn¡¯t have any intention of helping. He only cared about running for his life. However, it was no wonder. Husband and wife were birds of the same forest, and they would fly separately in the face of disaster, not to mention these motley crew of multinational troops.

    The elves all wanted to beat up the fallen dogs and search for the fish that had escaped the. They heard screams one after another between the rows of houses, and finally, it returned to silence. The injured guards who remained had all been knocked unconscious or knocked out.

    If he left the unconscious guards where they were, when the wind changed and the fire spread to this side, the guards might all be burned or choked to death. This was not good. Some of them exceeded the limit of legitimate self-defense, and it might be troublesometer. So he dragged the unconscious guards like dead dogs to the rocks of the hill to avoid the scope of the fire. Only then did he enter the house to search for supplies with a clear conscience.

 Chapter 1603 - -counter

    <h4>Chapter 1603: Chapter 1603-counter</h4>

    <h4>? </h4>

    Zhang Zian had left most of his supplies in the house in the Native American vige. He had deliberately left his backpack empty so that it would be more convenient for him to search for things.

    Even though the farmers had a meal that was simr to pig feed, he noticed that the guards did not eat while the farmers were eating. It was obvious that the guards had given them special treatment.

    He kicked open the door of the nearest house and almost fell over from the smell.

    Compared to the bunk beds in the farmer¡¯s room, the guards had two people in a room, each with a single bed. However, the room was very messy, with all kinds of garbage thrown around. There was almost no space for them to walk.

    To his surprise, there was electricity in the guard¡¯s room, but he didn¡¯t hear the roar of a generator. It could be that there were sr panels set up on the roof, or it could be electricity being transmitted to this side through underground cables from somewhere nearby. In short, there was a television, a Blue-ray yer, a small refrigerator, and a microwave in the room, as well as arge stack of ... Blue-ray DVD yers with a cover that looked very indecent.

    Compared to the fresh Japanese-style ingredients that often used youth, school, tutoring, and being a housewife as the theme, the American-style ingredients were simpler and more brutal. Just like the signature Monster Burger of the Me So hungry dining car, they generously gave out meat on arge scale. Not only were there snow-white full-fat cheese paired with burnt barbecue, but there were also exotic Asian barbecue sauces. If it was spicy, they would even give away Havana chili peppers ...

    Wait a minute, what am I thinking?

    Zhang Zian realized that he was distracted, probably because he had not eaten proper food for a long time.

    The floor was filled with all kinds of junk food packaging, and there were many wet spots of unknown origin on the wooden walls and floor. A half-eaten frozen pizza was thrown on the bed. It was moldy, and cockroaches were crawling everywhere. It was disgusting to look at.

    There was still a lot of food in the fridge, and his main targets were canned food, sausages, and bread that could be stored for a longer time. No matter how attractive frozen food was, it was useless for him to take it away.

    Fortunately, as the dormitory of a group of single dogs, the refrigerator had nock of fast food. What made him even more overjoyed was that Yingying actually had a few bottles of old Godma!

    The old Godma was really a divine tool for cooking. His most regretful thing was that he didn¡¯t buy any old Godma in the supermarkets he went to before entering the forest. It wasn¡¯t that they didn¡¯t have any for sale, but they were out of stock.

    As long as there was an old godmother, even eating in white rice would be delicious!

    He swept all the long-term food in the refrigerator into his backpack.

    After he was done with one room, he went to the next room and finished packing the backpack.

    ¡°Zian, the wind has changed. The fire is about to spread here!¡± Old time tea, who was keeping watch outside, reminded him.

    The wind direction by the sea was already chaotic, and it often formed whirlwinds, especially near heands and cliffs.

    Zhang Zian responded, picked up his backpack, and was ready to leave. There were still a few rooms that he hadn¡¯t had time to enter, but they were enough to eat.

    ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s retreat.¡± He called out to the elves who had entered the house.

    ¡°Meow~¡±

    He walked to the door and was about to step out, but when he turned around, he found that Gxy was still in the room, fiddling with the CD case with its ws as if it was very interested, as if it had not heard him.

    ¡°Ahem!¡± He coughed and trotted back to Gxy to remind it,¡±Gxy, let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Meow~¡±

    Gxy then ran to the door happily.

    ¡°Gah gah!¡± Richard stuck his head out of the hood and rolled his little ck eyes mischievously.¡±¡±You idiot, don¡¯t think that I didn¡¯t see you putting a few in your clothes just now?¡±

    There was a light in the room, so Richard could see. It had guessed that Zhang Zian had been thinking about the discs and had been keeping an eye on them. In the end, Zhang Zian had passed the discs three times without taking them. This had originally made Richard a little impressed, but in the end, he had lost his integrity. Taking the opportunity toe back and call Gxy, he had taken a few discs and put them in his arms at lightning speed.

    The other Elfins did not notice his little movement, and his hand speed, which had been single for many years, was indeed something to be proud of. Only Richard saw it.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to have such a weird taste, you idiot. You actually like white and ck ...¡±

    Before it could finish, Zhang Zian pinched its beak to stop it from continuing.

    He turned to the other puzzled elves and exined,¡±¡±Oh, I just ... Saw a box of white and ck cold medicine, so I took it.¡±

    The other Elfins didn¡¯t doubt him and all believed him.

    It needed to be emphasized that Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have a special preference for white and ck. It was just that the timing was fleeting, and he didn¡¯t have time to choose.

    He and the Elfins left the house. As old time tea had said, the wind blew the fire to the West, and the smoke and sparks came. It would be toote if they didn¡¯t leave now.

    ¡°Zian! Be careful!¡±

    Zhang Zian returned with a full load. He had just run a few steps when he heard old time tea¡¯s exmation.

    He was stunned when he heard that. Before he could react, something shed in front of his eyes, and he felt a pain in his chest.

    With the light from the fire, he saw a silver electrode in the front of his clothes. It was a Taser bullet!

    He was shot!

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    He flipped over and fell to the ground. Then, his eyes rolled up, his teeth clenched, and his whole body twitched in pain.

    The other elves were all stunned by the sudden change.

    The two electrodes were each connected to a long wire that pointed to the darkness around the corner of the house.

    A man holding a taser gun walked out of the darkness. He was dressed in white and had a graceful demeanor. It was Peter Lee.

    Fina, famous, and Fati, the Elfins with sensitive sense of smell and hearing, were not around. Old time tea was responsible for keeping watch, mainly to observe the fire, in case the fire swept over while Zhang Zian was searching the house, and he didn¡¯t notice that someone was quietly approaching.

    dimir, Pi, and Gxy, these imaginative Elfins, were not good at sensing.

    In addition, even if the elves were next to him, they might not be able to detect Peter Lee¡¯s arrival due to the chaotic wind and billowing smoke.

    Peter Lee hid in the dark and shot an electric bullet at Zhang Zian when he was not prepared. Old time tea found it toote and couldn¡¯t stop him in time.

    ¡°I¡¯ve finally caught you. This game of cat and mouse is finally over. ¡± Peter Lee smiled and stopped walking. He nced at old time tea, dimir, Pi, and Gxy.¡±No wonder you seem to have God¡¯s help. It turns out that you have their help.¡±

    ¡°Have you heard of a saying? Viins die because they talk too much. ¡±

    Zhang Zian, who should have been electrocuted to the ground and lost the ability to move, suddenly turned over and took out his taser gun to point at Peter Lee.

    One of the two electrodes was stuck into the skin of his chest, while the other one was blocked by the disc he had just put into his arms. It hung limply at this time.

    The electrode did not form a conductive circuit.

 Chapter 1604 - -captive

    <h4>Chapter 1604: Chapter 1604-captive</h4>

    The principle of the Taser gun was very simple. It shot out two electrodes connected to the wire. After the electrodes pierced the human body, the human body became part of the closed electrical circuit, and the current began to cycle. However, if one of the electrodes was shot askew or blocked by an instor, the electrical circuit would be disconnected, and no current would pass through.

    This was also the reason why the effective range of the Taser gun was only five meters. After the two electrodes were shot, they automatically separated, and the distance between them gradually increased. It was difficult to hit the same person at the same time after five meters.

    Since both electrodes had to be pierced into the skin to be electrified, the Taser gun was not very effective against animals. The animal¡¯s hair was too long and dense, and the skin was too thick and hard. The electrode might not be able to prate the animal¡¯s skin.

    Zhang Zian had heard of Nokia and iPhone blocking bullets. He never thought that such a lucky thing would happen to him, and he didn¡¯t want to be shot by a bullet one day ... He didn¡¯t expect that the CD would help him block the electric bullet today.

    The Taser gun¡¯s five-meter range limit meant that when he entered the opponent¡¯s range, the opponent would also enter his range. Besides, unless one had Parkinson¡¯s disease, it was impossible to miss.

    But to be honest, it did hurt a little when the electrode pads pierced into the skin, especially when he pounced on the ground to pretend, so the electrode pads were pressed deeper.

    He stood up from the ground and pointed the Taser gun at Peter Lee with his right hand. His left hand held the electrode that had pierced into the skin. He gritted his teeth and pulled it out. The pain made him gasp. The electrode was upside down to prevent it from falling off after piercing the skin. If he pulled it out, he would definitely bleed.

    ¡°Master Li, Peter Lee, President Li, I didn¡¯t expect that we would meet again under such circumstances, and you even gave me such a warm wee. It¡¯s a pity that I¡¯m unlucky and can¡¯t afford it!¡±

    Zhang Zian waved the Taser slightly, signaling Peter Lee to throw the gun away.

    As a non-lethal weapon, the Taser gun could only hold one Taser bullet at a time, and it had to be reloaded after firing. It could not shoot continuously like a traditional gun, which was its weakness. However, one of the most important indicators of a gun was to stop its function. Whether it was a ck gun or a white gun, it was a good gun if it could stop the target¡¯s movement. The Taser gun was outstanding in this aspect, better than most police equipment.

    Something that could be solved with one shot didn¡¯t need many shots.

    Peter Lee knew that he could avoid an even more awkward situation by cowering now. He did not want the back of his white suit pants to be stained with yellow water.

    He threw away his taser gun and raised his hands.

    ¡°Jeff, I¡¯m just joking. We¡¯re old friends, so there¡¯s no need to be like this, right? Ever since we parted in Egypt, I¡¯ve missed you so much. I¡¯ve been wanting to visit you in Binhai city, but I¡¯m too busy to find the time ... Since you¡¯re in the United States let¡¯s have a good time together. Let me do my part as the host. ¡±

    If one only heard Peter Lee¡¯s kind and kind tone, one might really think that he was an old friend of the Chinese people. One would never imagine that he was being pointed at by a taser gun and had just tried to electrocute Zhang Zian to the ground.

    To be honest, if the situation between the two of them was reversed, and Li was the knife and Zhang was the fish, Zhang Zian doubted whether he could be so calm. This was rted to life experience and self-restraint, but it still gave Zhang Zian the feeling that the other party was fearless. He suspected that Peter Lee had some hidden cards that he had not shown.

    Seeing that Zhang Zian didn¡¯t respond, Peter Lee turned around a little and pointed to the big house on the North Sea Cape.¡±The night wind is cold. Why don¡¯t youe to my house for a chat?¡± My humble home will definitely be honored by your presence. ¡±

    ¡°Forget it, do you think I¡¯m stupid? I¡¯m not going to walk right into a trap. ¡± Zhang Zian refused without a word. He knew that there must be other guards in the big house. Although there might not be many of them, they were more than enough to deal with him.

    ¡°Listen, Jeff, let¡¯s sit down and discuss this. What do you think?¡± Peter Lee said as he sat on a stone, massaging his legs.¡±You can see that I¡¯m not young anymore. I can¡¯t do it for a few more years ... But I can¡¯t bear to give up the career I¡¯ve worked so hard for. I need someone to take over.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Zhang Zian replied while carefully observing his surroundings. He was still thinking about why Peter Lee was so calm.

    ¡°You might have some misunderstandings about my career, but it¡¯s okay. If you¡¯re willing to listen, I can exin it to you slowly.¡± Peter Lee said,¡±when we were in the Great Pyramid, I invited you to join. My olive branch is still valid. ¡°I¡¯m not patronizing you, and I¡¯m not ttering you. When we were in Egypt, I found out that you¡¯re very good at convincing people. If you¡¯re willing to join us, I promise you¡¯ll upy a very important position in our group. After I retire, everything you¡¯ve seen and many things you haven¡¯t seen will be under your control ...¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t believe a word of what Peter Lee had said. He thought that Peter Lee had only two purposes. Either to distract him and find a chance to fight back, or to dy time and wait for things to turn around.

    So which one was it?

    The difference was that if it was the former, Peter Lee¡¯s counterattack would have to rely on his own strength. If it was thetter, Peter Lee might be waiting for reinforcements.

    ¡°Lie on the ground.¡±

    Peter Lee was still talking when Zhang Zian interrupted him and pointed his Taser at the ground.

    ¡°Jeff, you don¡¯t have to do this at all ...¡± Peter Lee frowned.

    ¡°Lie down.¡± Zhang Zian pretended to pull the trigger.

    Peter Lee finally tore off his mask of gentleness, and a wave of anger surged in his expression. He said in a threatening tone,¡±¡±I promise you¡¯ll regret this ...¡±

    ¡°Lie down slowly and move slowly. Let me see your hand. Otherwise, don¡¯t me me for being impolite. I don¡¯t want to say it again.¡± Zhang Zian was tougher because he knew that Peter Lee was a knife-throwing master. He could not let Peter Lee¡¯s hands out of his sight.

    Although his mouth was tough, Peter Lee still obedientlyy on the ground. After all, a wise man does not fight when the odds are against him.

    Zhang Zian had just found nylon straps in the guards ¡®room, which were used by the guards to tie melgen¡¯s hands and feet. At this time, seeing that Peter Lee had given in, he walked over, half-knelt, and put his knee on his back. He tied his hands behind his waist with the straps, and tied his legs together.

    This eliminated the possibility of Peter Lee relying on his own strength to fight back.

    ¡°Kaka! Your posture is not bad. If you dare to move, I¡¯ll F * ck you up!¡± Richard mimicked Zhang Zian¡¯s voice and threatened.

    Peter Lee¡¯s body really froze. He didn¡¯t know that Zhang Zian had such a hobby.

 Chapter 1605 - -exposing her true colors

    <h4>Chapter 1605: Chapter 1605-exposing her true colors</h4>

    Tying up Peter Lee would eliminate the possibility of him relying on his own strength to fight back.

    As for how to deal with this person, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have a good idea. He didn¡¯t want to dirty his hands by killing him, but he also didn¡¯t want to ask for trouble by taking him out of the forest on foot. He simply left him here and left him to the United States Police to deal with. What awaited him should be the trial of thew.

    ¡°No! No! Wait a moment!¡± Peter Lee saw Zhang Zian pick up a used taser gun and walk towards him. His face was twisted in horror.

    ¡°I remember that California has the death penalty. I believe you should be prepared to sit in the electric chair one day, so why don¡¯t I let you get used to it first? Compared to life and death, you¡¯re actually more afraid of your ugly state being seen by your believers, right?¡±

    Zhang Zian saw his reaction and knew that he had guessed it right. Everyone had their own fragile side, and Peter Lee¡¯s greatest fear was that the image he had painstakingly built for many years would suddenly copse.

    From the white suit that Peter Lee always wore when he appeared, it could be seen that he deliberately strengthened his image in the hearts of others, especially in the hearts of his believers.

    ¡°No! No!¡±

    Peter Lee struggled with all his might, but his hands and feet were tied up.

    Zhang Zian pressed the exposed electrode against Peter¡¯s back and said softly,¡±¡±One day, when you sit in the electric chair, you will thank me for letting you experience the electric chair in advance.¡±

    The moment he finished speaking, he pulled the trigger.

    The current flowed into Peter Lee¡¯s body through the two silver-white electrodes. The first thing to be affected was the muscles in his waist and abdomen, including the deep muscles.

    Peter Lee¡¯s eyes rolled back, his face was red and purple, the veins on his neck were popping out, and his body was twitching.

    Five secondster, Zhang Zian released the trigger.

    The spreading water stained Peter Lee¡¯s pants yellow, and the foul and smelly smell hit his nose.

    Peter Lee was really a Wolf. He gritted his teeth and didn¡¯t shout, nor did he pass out, but his whole body was as soft as mud, and he was only left with one breath.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t n to let Peter Lee go so easily, so he took out a hemp rope from the guard¡¯s room. It was the same rope that the guards used to tie stones to melgen¡¯s feet when they threw her into the sea. ording to Sihwa, there were many such hemp ropes at the bottom of the sea.

    Whether it was the binding belt or the hemp rope, they were the revenge of countless vengeful souls at the bottom of the sea.

    He also tied Peter Lee¡¯s feet with hemp rope, then hung him upside down on a branch of a nearby tree. With the help of the fire, he took a few photos with satisfaction.

    ¡°Come and take a look! This is your heavenly master! This is what Peter Lee really looks like!¡± He cupped his mouth with both hands and roared in the direction of the forest.

    The sound spread far and wide in the quiet forest.

    No one responded, but he knew that someone would definitely see this scene. After all, Peter Lee¡¯s white clothes were too conspicuous in the dark.

    ¡°You¡¯ll regret this ...¡± Peter Lee gritted his teeth and said. His eyes were full of resentment.

    ¡°I might regret it, but you won¡¯t even have the chance to regret it.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t care about his threat. After saying hisst words, he called the Elfins to turn around and leave.

    He had collected enough food, exposed Peter Lee¡¯s true face to the fooled people, and found the wolf elf. He hadpleted what he had to do. Next, he just had to leave the forest with melgen and upload a series of evidence, such as the video taken by the drone and the data in theputer¡¯s hard disk, to the inte.

    Even if Peter Lee had eyes and hands everywhere, it was impossible to fight against the state apparatus. Themander could take him down with a Twitter.

    ¡°Injustice is doomed to destruction! Peter Lee only has himself to me for his current situation!¡± Old time tea sighed,¡±good and evil will be rewarded in the end. It¡¯s just a matter of time.¡± When we were in Egypt, I felt that he was quite shrewd, and after looking at it, I realized that he was indeed a great evil. ¡±

    ¡°Hehe, we don¡¯t need to care about him anymore. He¡¯s already a dead man in a social sense. Maybe once he¡¯s untied, he won¡¯t be able to bear the grievance and will kill himself.¡± Zhang Zianughed.

    dimir was a little regretful.¡±I thought he had some real ability, but it turns out that he¡¯s just a paper tiger who¡¯s trying to y tricks!¡±

    ¡°I hope the news of a broken leg at the beach will never appear again.¡±

    Zhang Zian was joking with the Elfins, but his heart was notpletely at ease. He kept feeling like he had missed something.

    ¡°Squeak squeak.¡±

    Pi knew that it was getting closer and closer to the day of going home, so it waved its wooden stick in high spirits and walked in front.

    Gxy, on the other hand, seemed to be looking for something. It looked around, and its eyes were a little erratic.

    Old time tea jumped between the branches, its eyes burning, and its long robe fluttering in the wind.

    As for Richard ... This B * stard bird could be ignored, he might be pooping under his hood.

    After a few more steps, Zhang Zian suddenly stopped.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Zian?¡± Old time tea noticed his strange expression and stopped to ask.

    Zhang Zian looked back and saw that Peter Lee was still hanging upside down from the tree, swaying slightly like a hanging ghost. His face was hidden in the shadows and could not be seen clearly.

    ¡°Wait a minute, things seem a little strange.¡± He frowned and thought.

    ¡°What¡¯s strange?¡± Old time tea asked.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes fell on old time tea and Pi.

    Logically speaking, there were no wild monkeys in North America. Wasn¡¯t it strange for Pi, a monkey, to appear in the depths of the forest and wave a wooden stick as if it had spirituality?

    As a Dragon-li cat, old time tea had a strangebination of a long robe and a bamboo hat. It looked more like a human than a cat, which was also strange.

    Even Gxy¡¯s silver-gray eyes were not something that ordinary cats could see.

    When Peter Lee was hiding in the corner, he might have heard him talking to the elves. If it was an ordinary person, wouldn¡¯t they be surprised to see these details?

    When melgen was rescued from the sea, she was very surprised when she saw the elfin. However, she had just escaped from death at that time, and Zhang Zian was her Savior. Her mother had told her to believe in Zhang Zian, so she did not have the energy and did not want to ask too much.

    However, when Peter Lee saw the elves, he didn¡¯t seem to be very surprised. Instead, there was a sense of relief as if a mystery had been solved. In addition, when he had the advantage and persuaded Zhang Zian to cooperate, he didn¡¯t mention the elves. He only said meaningfully at the beginning,¡±no wonder you have God¡¯s help. It turns out that you have their help.¡±

    What was the meaning of this?

    After a little thought, he felt that the possibility of Peter Lee saying all this nonsense to dy time was getting higher and higher.

    With Peter Lee¡¯s experienced character, even if Zhang Zian went back to ask Peter Lee, Peter Lee would never answer. Maybe he would say something else to dy the time. The most urgent thing was to meet up with the other elves first, otherwise he would always be unable to feel at ease. He felt that things were not as simple as he thought.

 Chapter 1606 - -splitting up

    <h4>Chapter 1606: Chapter 1606-splitting up</h4>

    After watching Zhang Zian leave, Fati and famous confronted the wild boars. They knew that the difference in number between them and the wild boars was too big, and it would be difficult to fight them head-on. They didn¡¯t want to win, but they wanted to make no mistakes, so they didn¡¯t bark or move, trying not to anger the wild boars.

    From where they were, their line of sight was blocked by a row of houses on fire, so they couldn¡¯t see Zhang Zian¡¯s situation. They weren¡¯t sure if Zhang Zian would be in danger, but fortunately, he had Gxy, old time tea, and Pi with him. Plus, his physical fitness was better than ordinary people, so even if he couldn¡¯t fight against danger, he could at least run.

    ¡°Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!¡±

    A drawn-out scream came from afar. It was difficult to tell who made this out-of-tune sound due to extreme pain, especially with the interference of the sound of the wooden house being burned and copsed, only a male voice could be heard.

    Famous and Fati looked in that direction at the same time, and then turned their eyes back to the wild boar King.

    ¡°If you¡¯re worried, you can go over and take a look. I¡¯ll handle this.¡± Fati¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t move when it spoke. It didn¡¯t need to look at famous to feel the changes in its mood from its smell, and famous could do the same.

    ¡°No,¡± famous said in a deep voice.¡±I believe he can handle it.¡±

    Fati was slightly surprised.¡±You¡¯re very confident in him.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am.¡±

    Famous suddenly had a desire to talk. It wanted to tell French what had happened after it came to the Pet Shop, especially what had happened when it was shooting the movie in Binhai studio. After listening to it, French would definitely agree with its confidence.

    However, now was not the time to tell a story, and it was not the best narrator. If there was a chance in the future, it would be better to let Pi tell the whole story to inferw.

    Another scream was heard, but this time it was shorter.

    Famous really wanted to ask Fati if he was interested in going to Binhai city with everyone, but it didn¡¯t think Fati would leave, because the wolves had just returned to the redwood forest and had yet to gain a stable foothold. Their hunting skills also needed to be honed, and it was the time when they needed the leadership of Fati the most. If famous were in Fati¡¯s position, it might also be difficult to abandon itspatriots. This was somewhat simr to little white, who would rather live a life of eating and sleeping in the wild for the sake of itspatriots.

    The screams came one after another, and famous was relieved. Although it couldn¡¯t hear Zhang Zian¡¯s voice, it was sure that these sounds came from different people. It was most likely the guards who were suffering.

    Fati had also guessed it. ¡°It seems that your confidence is right.¡±

    Famous was proud to be recognized by the pushing spell.

    After a period of silence, there was another short scream. It was also a sound that was distorted because of extreme pain, but for some reason, famous¡¯s heart suddenly thumped. It felt that the scream came from Zhang Zian.

    Fati noticed the sudden change in famous¡¯s mood. He hesitated and asked,¡±¡±Are you really not going to take a look? Even if you¡¯re confident in him, there will always be unexpected situations ...¡±

    Famous wanted to rush over recklessly, but it didn¡¯t move. If it was an ident that even old time tea and Gxy couldn¡¯t handle, it would be useless even if famous went. Besides, Zhang Zian trusted it, so he let it guard this ce with Fati. If anything happened, it didn¡¯t want to disappoint him and everyone.

    It believed that even if Zhang Zian was unable to call for help in an ident, Richard would definitely call for help with a voice as loud as a broken Gong so that the whole forest could hear it.

    That was thest scream. After that, there was no more sound. Only the sound of houses copsing could be heard from time to time.

    At this moment.

    ¡°Argh! Help me!¡±

    A scream came from the side.

    Famous and Fati were stunned at the same time. They turned their heads at the same time, but they couldn¡¯t see anything clearly in the dark forest. They could only confirm that it was a woman¡¯s scream, which was rather far away.

    Who was screaming?

    Melgen?

    The sound didn¡¯te from the direction of the abandoned Native American vige, but rather, it was more distant.

    Zhang Zian had clearly told melgen not to leave the house without permission no matter what strange sounds she heard. She should stay in the house and wait for him toe back with food. Could it be that this silly girl had left the house and encountered danger?

    Fati had even left two wolves to guard the barren vige to prevent wild beasts from approaching, but this could not stop her from seeking death!

    The night in the depths of the primeval forest was very dangerous. All kinds of nocturnal beasts were active, and many of them had been upset by Sihwa¡¯s high-frequency sound waves just now. The beasts that usually did not take the initiative to attack people might have a big change in personality.

    Famous had confidence in Zhang Zian, but it didn¡¯t know melgen at all. Who knew what she was thinking?

    Of course, they were not sure if the voice was melgen ¡®s. They were only sure that it was a young woman¡¯s voice.

    Fati and famous looked at each other, and the former said in a deep voice,¡±¡±Someone seems to be in danger. I don¡¯t think we can just leave him in the lurch.¡±

    Famous nodded in agreement. Even if Zhang Zian was here, he wouldn¡¯t leave him to die.

    Then, who would save him?

    ¡°You can go.¡± ¡°The boars are more afraid of you,¡± famous said.¡±If you leave, the possibility of them attacking will be smaller.¡±

    Famous also wanted to save them, but someone had to stay here. First, it was to wait for Zhang Zian toe back and tell him what had happened. Second, if both of them left, the boar would probably encounter fina and snowy Li when it retreated after leisurely eating the grain. It was best to maintain the current confrontation.

    The Fati agreed with its judgment.¡±Then I¡¯ll go. I¡¯ll leave this ce to you.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. ¡±

    Famous raised its spirits.

    Saving people was like putting out a fire, and there couldn¡¯t be any dy. Fati didn¡¯t have time to say anything. It also believed that famous could handle it, so it ran into the forest.

    Fati ran in the direction of the scream based on his memory.

    As soon as they entered the forest, the mes of the farm were blocked by the dense trees.

    It ran for a distance and wasn¡¯t sure how far it was from the woman, so it stopped, lowered its head, and sniffed around. Then, it pricked up its ears to listen for suspicious sounds.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    There was another scream, but this time it was much closer. It should not be far ahead.

    Fa Xiu immediately corrected his direction and elerated forward.

    In the dark night, it saw a woman leaning against a big tree in front of it. She was wearing a dark red cloak and her face was buried in her arms. She seemed to be injured.

    Fati was not sure if it was melgen. The wind was not in its favor, and it could not smell her.

    ¡°Woof! Woof woof!¡±

    It was afraid of scaring her, so it barked a few times to remind her.

    When she heard the call, her shoulders moved and she raised her head slightly.

    It was not melgen.

    Fati did not know this woman.

    This woman¡¯s eyes ...

    Terrible! Could it be a trap?

 Chapter 1607 - The nemesis of wild beasts

    <h4>Chapter 1607: The nemesis of wild beasts</h4>

    Fati was more than 20 meters away from the woman, and it was very dark around them. It actually didn¡¯t see the specific meaning in her eyes, but its animal instinct made it alert, because some details made it suspicious.

    Both of her screams were filled with extreme fear, as if her life was in danger. However, after seeing her with his own eyes, Fati did not notice any imminent danger around him. So why was she screaming?

    In addition, her dress was also very strange. She was actually barefooted and didn¡¯t seem to be wearing any socks. The clothes on her body were very thin, so it must be very cold to wear this in the forest at night.

    Since Fati appeared in San Francisco and went all the way north, it had run and hickered to the mahogany forest. It had seen a lot of travelers ¡®clothes, the typical ones should be like Zhang Zian, carrying a bag, preparing all kinds of materials, and wearing waterproof, warm, and wear-resistant clothes.

    It learned from the wolves that, in addition to Peter Lee¡¯s old nest, the only man-made building nearby was the small Native American vige, and melgen was the only one in the vige.

    The woman did not look like a Nomad, nor was she melgen. She was most likely from Peter Lee¡¯sir.

    The farmers on the farm were all men, and so were the guards. Fa Xiu guessed that a small number of women should be concentrated in the big house at the North Sea Cape. They were probably in charge of cleaning, washing, cooking, and other chores.

    These women had also been brainwashed to varying degrees. Melgen, who refused to give in, might have been thrown into the sea.

    Therefore, this woman who suddenly appeared in the depths of the forest was very suspicious.

    Realizing that this might be a trap, Fati was d that it was him and not famous who came. This didn¡¯t mean that it thought it was stronger than famous. It was just that out of the spirit of sacrifice, it would rather be in danger.

    It turned around and wanted to retreat. It didn¡¯t matter if this woman was an enemy or not, it had to retreat to a safe distance first.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Several muffled sounds came from above.

    It wasn¡¯t a traditional gunshot, nor did it sound like a Taser.

    Fati raised his head subconsciously and saw the chessboard-likeing down on him.

    Not good!

    It pounced to the side with all its might, but the was too fast. There was more than one, but three of them covered it from all directions. It dodged one, but was caught by the other.

    It was caught by the, and its struggle made the tighten around it. Soon, it was wrapped like a rice dumpling.

    ¡°Hahaha! We¡¯ve caught him!¡±

    ¡°I caught one!¡±

    A few guards jumped down from the nearby trees, each of them holding a strange gun-shaped object in their hands.

    If Zhang Zian was here, he would definitely recognize that it was an anti-riot gun, also known as a shooting gun, catching, and other nicknames. Like the Taser gun, it was a non-lethal weapon, mainly used to capture the target without hurting the target. Not only was it used in the anti-riot area, but it was also often used to capture dangerous beasts.

    This thing looked like a hairdryer and was driven bypressed gas. After pulling the trigger, it would spray out a with heavy objects hanging from the four corners. The would automatically open in the air and wrap itself tightly around any obstacles.

    The range of a gun was slightly longer than that of a taser gun. It was not very useful against people because people were standing and had flexible hands. After being caught by the, as long as they were not too panicked and understood the situation, it would take them a few seconds to break free from the. In addition, the person caught could still take out lethal weapons such as knives and guns to counterattack. Therefore, this thing was actually very awkward in the police field and was far less useful than a Taser.

    The Taser spear was good at dealing with people, but not wild beasts. On the other hand, the-shooting spear was the opposite. It was very effective against wild beasts. No matter if you were a Lion or a Tiger, it would be difficult for you to break free after being caught in the. You could only wait to be captured.

    Fati was extremely angry. It wanted to break free from the, but the was getting tighter and tighter. As an elf, it was much smarter than ordinary wolves. It realized that struggling was useless. It had to bite a hole in the with its teeth to escape.

    If it was given enough time, it might be able to do it. Even if the nylon was tough, it was confident in its sharp teeth.

    But these guards obviously did not intend to let it do as it wished. As soon as it bit a small hole, they swarmed up and pressed its head and body tightly to the ground.

    It¡¯s over. Fa TUI knew that he would rather die than be alive if he fell into the hands of these people.

    They did not capture it alive out of pity. On the contrary, they captured it alive to torture it better. They would only kill it after experiencing all the torture.

    It was just like what melgen had experienced.

    It was just like what the man who was crucified on the cross two thousand years ago had experienced.

    From the corner of Fati¡¯s eye, he saw the woman stand up. She was unscathed, and her injured look was an act. She had a few words with the guards, and it was obvious that she was with them.

    Even so, it was angry because it had been fooled and became a prisoner of these criminals. However, it did not regret it. If it was given another chance to choose, it would stille to save people when it heard the cries for help, but it would be more cautious, just like Zhang Zian.

    It knew that Zhang Zian was very cautious. He always figured out the situation first before deciding what to do next.

    In fact, it was also very cautious, so hunters in the Middle Ages had tried all means to catch it, but it had underestimated modern technology and did not know that there was a nemesis of wild beasts like the gun.

    It didn¡¯t give up resisting and kept biting the guards. Even if it died, it wanted to take them to hell with it. However, they were careful not to be bitten by it, and one guard simply taped its mouth together.

    Wuwuwu ...

    It hadpletely lost its ability to fight back. It couldn¡¯t even curse these people, and its throat was making whimpering sounds.

    At this moment, it sniffed a certain smell. It turned its head and saw a cat walking slowly towards it from the side of its field of vision. There was a very eye-catching M-shaped pattern on its forehead.

    Wuwuwu ...

    Although Fati had never seen this cat before, its intuition told it that this was the main culprit who drove those strange cats to destroy the forest ecosystem. It was one of the culprits of the series of events, and it wanted to eat its flesh raw.

    The cat stared at it coldly and smiled mockingly.¡±In the end, you still failed. I¡¯m the only winner in this battle of faith.¡±

    Wuwuwu ...

    Fati wanted to roar, wanted to spit on the cat¡¯s face, wanted to use all means to provoke the enemy. Kill Me if You Can!

    ¡°No, I won¡¯t kill you so quickly. You¡¯re still very useful to me.¡± The cat looked up at the dark forest, which was the direction Fati hade from. He smiled confidently and said,¡±¡±You¡¯re my bait. You can help me capture all those elves in one fell swoop!¡±

    Fati¡¯s heart seemed to have fallen into an ice cer. This was thest thing he wanted to see.

 Chapter 1608 - -hatred that is difficult to dispel

    <h4>Chapter 1608: Chapter 1608-hatred that is difficult to dispel</h4>

    Zhang Zian walked back to the farm. The first thing he saw was that the group of wild boars were still facing him with their butts arched, and their small tails that did not match their size were wagging here and there. It seemed that their vignce had rxed. Thergest wild boar King among them shook the two lumps of ... Eggs that weighed ten pounds behind it and slowly turned its head to look at him. However, due to its nearsightedness, it might only be able to see a vague human figure, and then it continued to gnaw on the grains.

    Previously, the wild boars were still in a state of daggers drawn, but now ...

    He didn¡¯t dare to pass by the wild boar, so he could only walk around the farm from a distance. Halfway through, he heard famous shout, and couldn¡¯t wait to call him over.

    Seeing that famous was safe and sound, he felt more at ease. However, he immediately realized that Fati was not there. Did it run into the woods to pee and poop?

    ¡°Who was screaming just now?¡±

    Famous, where¡¯s Fati?¡±

    He and famous opened and closed their mouths almost at the same time, waiting for the other party to ask first. In the end, it was Zhang Zian who answered famous¡¯s question first and exined the situation on his side in a few words.

    Famous exined that it and Fati had heard the woman¡¯s cry for help, and Fati had gone to save her.

    ¡°Someone is calling for help? Melgen?¡± He asked with a frown. His first reaction was that melgen had left the Native American vige without permission.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I can¡¯t tell.¡± Famous replied.

    ¡°How long has thew enforcement been gone?¡±

    ¡°Uh ...¡± Famous didn¡¯t wear a watch, so it could only roughly estimate the time. It was worried about Zhang Zian¡¯s situation, and also worried that the Dharma deduction was in danger. It was anxious and felt that time passed very slowly. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. About ten minutes?¡±

    There were two choices in front of Zhang Zian. One was to chase after them and see what was going on. The other was to put the backpack containing the food back into the barren vige and confirm melgen¡¯s situation before going.

    He thought for a moment and felt that melgen was not a rebellious young man. Unless there was a fire in the barren vige itself, it was unlikely that she would leave the house after he had repeatedly emphasized it.

    ¡°Let¡¯s call fina and go with them. ¡± He threw his backpack onto a tree branch about two meters above the ground and hid it. In the dark, no one would walk with their heads up, so it was not easy to find.

    He and the Elfins returned to the woods and saw that nothing had happened to fina and snowy Li. Snowy Li kept rubbing itself on Fina¡¯s body, looking anxious. It was like a silly cat, nning to do something that everyone loved to do in the quiet woods at night.

    Fina, on the other hand, was not as carefree as snowy Li. It sternly patrolled the cats who were facing the tree and thinking about their mistakes. It was getting more and more frightened because they were still sneaky when it was close to them, such as sticking their heads out, and even daring to pee and poop in front of it.

    Not only that, but it also felt that they were getting restless, and the air was filled with a restless atmosphere. It felt that if this continued, it would not be strange even if they suddenly resisted its orders.

    ¡°Fina, are you guys okay?¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s appearance made fina feel relieved.

    ¡°How could anything happen to bengong? As for you, have you finished all the things you need to do?¡± Fina snorted and looked at him quietly, not showing any of the uneasiness it had just had.

    ¡°I¡¯m done with my things. Fati heard someone calling for help and ran to save them. I was worried that it might be in trouble, so I came to call you guys. We¡¯ll chase after it together.¡± Zhang Zian exined the situation.

    ¡°What should we do with these cats? If bengong leaves, they will probably y some tricks. ¡± Fina stared at the cats in embarrassment.

    ¡°You can¡¯t just stay here and watch them.¡± Zhang Zian advised,¡±they¡¯re just small fries. There must be many more like them. Are you going to take care of every single one of them?¡±

    He had already done what he needed to do, so he wasn¡¯t afraid of these cats disclosing information and ying tricks.

    Fina knew that he was right, but it hated that it was alone. If they were outside the forest, it would have gathered the nearby domestic cats to try and convict these traitors.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go then. It¡¯s a good deal for them.¡± It grumbled a few times and left the forest with Zhang Zian.

    After walking for a while, it looked back and saw that the cats had indeed stopped facing the tree to reflect on their mistakes. They whispered a few words to each other and then collectively left the forest in the opposite direction.

    Fina stopped and changed its mind.¡±You guys go ahead. I¡¯m going to follow these cats.¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help but frown. The forest was full of danger, and the enemy was eyeing them covetously. They shouldn¡¯t have scattered their forces.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t very good ...¡±

    He was about to persuade her, but fina had already expected this and tly refused,¡±¡±No need to say more! Bengong¡¯s heart is set! If I can¡¯t find the person behind these cats, I won¡¯t have the face to leave this forest!¡±

    It hated the mastermind to the bone and was determined to make the other party pay the price. It couldn¡¯t take this lying down.

    Fina didn¡¯t care much about Fati going to save people, because it wasn¡¯t familiar with Fati, and it didn¡¯t think that Fati would definitely be in danger. Zhang Zian had other Elfins to help him, so it wasn¡¯t necessary for fina to be alone.

    Zhang Zian was anxious and helpless. Just now, fina wanted to stay here to watch over the cats, and he agreed. Because it was not too far away, if something really happened, he could take care of it in time. But now it had to track the cats into the depths of the forest. God knew where they would go. The forest was so big, where would he go to meet fina?

    ¡°Meow meow meow! Your Majesty! No matter where you go, I¡¯m willing to go with you!¡± Snowy Li felt that this was a good opportunity to get rid of Zhang Zian, so it volunteered eagerly.

    ¡°No, you stay and follow him. You can¡¯t keep up with me and you¡¯ll be discovered by them.¡± Fina refused this time.

    Everyone knew that snowy Li couldn¡¯t run fast, and because its hair was too long, it had been entangled by thorns and branches along the way. It was screaming in pain, so it had no chance to track people in secret.

    Snowy Liy down on the ground and began to roll around. Leaves soon hung from its snow-white fur, making itself dirty.¡±No! No! I want to go with Your Majesty!¡±

    Unfortunately, no matter how much it begged, fina wouldn¡¯t be moved. Usually, it would at least amodate snowy Li, but now was a special time, and it couldn¡¯t allow snowy Li to drag it down.

    Time was running out, and he didn¡¯t know if there would be any idents or dangers on the French fries ¡®side. On the other hand, the cats were walking further and further away, gradually disappearing into the forest.

    Zhang Zian was in a dilemma as to how to convince the determined fina, when old time tea stood up and said,¡±¡±Although Your Majesty is both a schr and a martial artist, it¡¯s difficult for you to do it alone. If you don¡¯t mind my old age, I¡¯m willing to go with Your Majesty.¡±

 Chapter 1609 - Surrounded

    <h4>Chapter 1609: Surrounded</h4>

    Zhang Zian had always respected the individual will of the Elfins. If they were determined to do something, he would usually not insist on opposing it. He would only help them analyze the pros and cons. If they still wanted to do it after understanding the pros and cons, he would only do his best to help them.

    He could see that fina was very resentful of the person behind the scenes who drove the cats to do evil, and it would not give up until it found the other party. Obviously, there was no room forpromise, but if he agreed so easily, he would not be at ease with its safety.

    Of course, it would be great if other elves were willing to go with them, but this should be done voluntarily and not by force.

    Old time tea¡¯s initiative solved the problem. Everyone knew old time tea¡¯s skills. Although it always said that it was old and weak, when it moved, it was no slower than any elf. With it and fina moving together, it was like double insurance.

    Zhang Zian felt that this was still eptable. Otherwise, it would be too dangerous for fina to go alone. If something really happened, there would be no one toe back for help. If old time tea and fina went together, they could at least take care of each other.

    ¡°Fina, is it okay for old time tea to go with you?¡± He confirmed, because he didn¡¯t know if fina would suddenly throw a tantrum and insist on going alone. This guy¡¯s character was really unpredictable.

    Of course, fina would not doubt old time tea¡¯s ability. It was more confident in itself and felt that there was no need to make a mountain out of a molehill. However, it could not refuse old time tea¡¯s good intentions, so it reluctantly nodded.¡±That¡¯s good, but this is my personal grudge. If it is not necessary, you should not interfere.¡±

    Old time tea smiled.¡±I¡¯ll do as you say. I¡¯ll follow your Majesty¡¯s orders.¡±

    Thinking that the matter was settled, dimir raised a front paw and said,¡±¡±I want to join in the fun too. The mastermind behind the scenes is extremely evil. I want to see who it is that dares to use ignorant cats to do evil!¡±

    Zhang Zian was surprised.¡±You want to go too?¡±

    dimir nodded and clenched his fist.¡±¡±Whether it¡¯s a domestic cat or a stray cat, all the cats that are being exploited and oppressed are one family. They must unite!¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at fina for its opinion. As long as it didn¡¯t object, he had no reason to object. dimir¡¯s participation was tantamount to adding wings to a Tiger. No matter what kind of danger they encountered, this three-catbination could at least escape unscathed.

    dimir¡¯s strength was also outstanding, and it was especially good at dealing with those illusory things, such as the Holy Cat statuest time. Fina and old time tea¡¯s sharp ws couldn¡¯t cause fatal damage to it, but dimir¡¯s Iron Fist directly hit it back to its original form.

    ¡°Bengong doesn¡¯t have any objections, but if this is the case, your side is a bit ...¡±

    For fina, there was already old time tea, so it didn¡¯t matter if dimir was added. However, it didn¡¯t agree immediately. Instead, it nced behind him hesitantly.

    If the distribution was like this, Zhang Zian could only fight famous and snowy Li.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, I didn¡¯t give it to you for free!¡± Zhang Zian patted the Taser gun, bear-proof spray, and road torch on his waist, and then confidently pointed to his head.¡±The most important thing is that my IQ is still there.¡±

    However, his finger only touched a nnel-like object.

    Richard seized the opportunity and jumped out of his hood and onto his shoulder. Thank you for thepliment, I¡¯m not ashamed of it!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t think too much! Bengong was not worried about you!¡± Fina raised a w in anger, as if it was going to cut him.

    The n was set. Fina and the other three cats would track the cat group, and Zhang Zian would lead the other Elfins to find Fati. If the two parties went further and further away, they would have to return to the beach and meet up with Sihwa by dawn at thetest. Whether they had achieved their goal or not, they would discuss the next step at that time.

    Fina couldn¡¯t wait any longer. It immediately ran in the direction of the cats, followed by old time tea and dimir.

    Zhang Zian watched them leave.¡±Let¡¯s go. I don¡¯t know how things are going on the French push.¡±

    Famous ran in front, tracking the scent left by French. He and the other elves followed.

    The longer they waited, the more he and famous felt that something might have happened to Fati. When it ran far enough from the wild boars, it could use wolf howls to summon the wolves, but they didn¡¯t hear anything.

    Fina and the other two were all Masters of tracking. They carefully followed behind the group of cats and kept a distance between them to avoid being detected by the cats.

    After a while, old time tea got close to fina and whispered,¡±¡±Your Majesty, there¡¯s something suspicious about this.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s suspicious?¡± Fina stared at the group of cats and asked casually.

    Old time tea looked around cautiously.¡±It¡¯s reasonable to say that the culprit behind the scenes might have thought that we might follow these cats to find it, so it might have taken precautions in advance ... Or even deliberately let these cats lead us into the trap, or it might have ordered these cats to circle in the forest, with the purpose of dispersing our strength.¡±

    Old time tea was experienced and wise. It had long passed the age of being impulsive, so it was more thoughtful andprehensive when it encountered things.

    It could see that fina was angry and not as calm as usual, so it had to follow fina in case something happened to her.

    dimir also agreed.¡±Old time tea is right. We have to be prepared for the best and n for the worst. Our Army never fights unprepared. But now we are being led by the nose by these cats. It is better to stop and think about it ...¡±

    They couldn¡¯t see the stars or the moon tonight, and they didn¡¯t have apass. They couldn¡¯t even tell the direction, so they were worried that they were going in circles in the forest.

    Fina was upset. Deep down, it knew that what they said made sense. It was not a good idea to keep chasing, but its pride did not allow it to let go of the mastermind.

    At this time, the group of cats in front of them suddenly stopped, and then turned their heads in unison. Their Will-O-Wisp eyes seemed to be staring at fina and the others.

    Had he been discovered?

    Fina¡¯s face was burning. It was not glorious for her to track ordinary cats with her identity, and now she had been discovered, which was even more embarrassing.

    It was hesitating whether to show up and scold them to relieve the embarrassment, when it heard old time tea gasp and exim in a low voice,¡±¡±Your Majesty! We¡¯ve been surrounded!¡±

    dimir also noticed the bright eyes that had suddenly appeared around it. ¡°What the hell! Oh, the enemy is besieging us with tens of thousands of troops. Their formation is quite big. ¡±

    Fina turned around and saw two or three hundred domestic cats of various colors jumping out of the nearby branches, tree holes, grass nests, and stone cracks. They surrounded the three of them and stared at them with ill intentions.

 Chapter 1610 - -hostage

    <h4>Chapter 1610: Chapter 1610-hostage</h4>

    With famous leading the way, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have to worry about getting lost. He had used up all his attention to look at the road under his feet with the night vision device. He might trip over roots or weeds if he was not careful.

    He was both worried about the Fati and worried about fina. He felt as if his side was being pulled apart by an invisible hand, which was not a good thing. He would have more strength if he clenched his fingers into fists, but now he was tired of running.

    After stumbling for a long time, Zhang Zian found that there seemed to be light ahead of them with the help of his night vision device. He could also hear a woman¡¯s faint sobbing, which drifted in the forest.

    He stopped famous and told the Elfins to stop.

    Famous, is the smell of Fati still spreading to the front?¡± He asked softly.

    Famous nodded.

    Richard wrapped his hood tightly and mumbled,¡±¡±Yiyiyaya, you¡¯re wailing like a female ghost. How unlucky!¡±

    Logically speaking, it was not strange for there to be tourists in the wild who called for help when they encountered danger. However, in such a vast forest that did not belong to any popr trekking route, the probability of two strangers meeting was extremely low. He had been walking for so many days, and he had not even seen any traces or garbage left by other tourists, let alone other tourists. Why did he have to meet them at this time?

    This ce was too close to Peter Lee¡¯sir, so it was difficult for him to convince himself that the crying woman was an ordinary hiker.

    If he wasn¡¯t a Nomad, it would be very suspicious for him to appear here.

    He flicked Richard¡¯s forehead.¡±Hey! Do you know how to howl like a Wolf?¡±

    ¡°Gah?¡± Richard shook his head.¡±Don¡¯t mess up my hair!¡± It¡¯s not difficult to imitate a Wolf¡¯s cry, but I don¡¯t understand the meaning behind it. I can only imitate its form, not its spirit. I¡¯m afraid an idiot like you won¡¯t understand this principle. ¡±

    In addition to his specialty, the parrotnguage, Richard was also proficient in various humannguages, but he knew little about thenguage of animals and birds. This was because he had mastered the humannguage after a long period of scientific training. As long as he mastered onenguage, othernguages would not be a problem. However, he had no beginner and could not learn thenguage of animals and birds.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, just learn from it. If I did it before, it would definitely be curious or respond.¡± He said.

    Richard did as he was told and raised his neck.¡±CAW CAW CAW CAW~¡±

    The wolf howl it had learned sounded no different from a real Wolf¡¯s howl, but it was definitely not the case in the ears of a real Wolf.

    The Wolf¡¯s howls spread far and wide in the silent forest. The sobbing stopped for a while, but after a while, it rang out again. The crying was even louder, but there was no response from Fati.

    ¡°There might be a problem.¡± The more Zhang Zian thought about it, the more suspicious he became. He asked the Elfins to be more vignt and carefully move forward step by step.

    Snowy Li had been forced to separate from fina, and it had been holding a fire in its heart for a long time. It was concerned about Fina¡¯s safety, and it couldn¡¯t wait to solve the problem of pushing the sea of Dharma as soon as possible so that it could quickly meet up with fina. It was very dissatisfied with Zhang Zian¡¯s dilly-dallying way of action.

    ¡°Pei Pei Pei! This stinky man who¡¯s always so wishy-washy! Wasn¡¯t it just a girl who was crying? What¡¯s there to be afraid of! I¡¯m not afraid! This olddy is about to explode from anger!¡±

    Snowy Li grumbled and suddenly sped up. Although it had short legs, now that everyone was moving forward on tiptoes, it suddenly left everyone behind.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t stop it, and he didn¡¯t dare to call it, because if this was a trap, they would be telling the enemy their position and actual situation. Besides, it wouldn¡¯t listen to him.

    Snowy Li rushed out of the grass and saw a woman leaning against a tree and crying. Her short cloak was on the ground next to her, covering most of the animal¡¯s body, but from the color and shape of its tail, it seemed to be a French cat.

    Fati was lying on the ground, motionless, as if he had fallen asleep.

    Snowy Li ran to the sobbing woman without caring about the massage on the ground. It poked her with its paw and said,¡±¡±Are you there? kkp?¡±

    She stopped crying and was stunned. This script was not normal.

    ording to the n, if other animals came to save the wolf, they would either look at her vigntly from a distance, or run directly to the wolf and lift up the cloak to check the Wolf¡¯s condition. What was going on with this white cat? Its eyes sneakily drilled into her body, and its ws were always restless, trying to lift her clothes ...

    Her hand reached for the gun hidden behind her, but the distance was too close, and the gun couldn¡¯t be used at such a close distance.

    She raised her eyes and peeked at the tree. The guards hiding in the tree were also hesitating. If they used guns, they would catch the white cat and her, and their position would be exposed.

    Their n was that if the targets appeared at the same time, they would capture them all from the trees. If the targets were very cautious, they would send one to Scout first, and she would capture the Scout. When the other targets rushed up to rescue them, they would capture them all in one fell swoop. The current situation was beyond their expectations.

    Just as she and the guards were hesitating, she suddenly noticed that the white cat only used one front paw to scratch her body, while the other front paw quietly reached under the cloak. She didn¡¯t know what it was doing, but because of its white and long fur, its movements were very concealed.

    With a ¡°Chi¡± sound, snowy Li¡¯s paw cut off the tape on the French pushing machine¡¯s mouth. It couldn¡¯t see it through the cloak, so it could only scratch randomly, and it just happened to cut off the tape.

    Fati, who could finally speak, shouted with all his might,¡±¡±Quickly run! This was a trap! Be careful, there are people on the tree!¡±

    Although the woman and the guards didn¡¯t understand what the wolf was howling about, they knew that they had been exposed and there was no need to pretend anymore.

    She kicked snowy Li aside and tore off Fati¡¯s cloak. She took out a shiny scalpel from somewhere and pressed it on the side of Fati¡¯s neck, shouting,¡±¡±Jeff! I know you¡¯re here! Hurry up ande out to surrender! Otherwise, I¡¯ll kill this Wolf!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯te out! Don¡¯t mind me!¡± Fati shouted.

    ¡°Shut up!¡±

    The woman¡¯s fingers exerted force, and the sharp scalpel had cut through Fati¡¯s skin.

    Fati did not fear death at all and continued to shout,¡±¡±Do note out! Don¡¯t be fooled! Even if you surrender, they won¡¯t let me go, and neither will they let you go!¡±

    ¡°You think I won¡¯t dare to kill you?¡± The woman was furious. She raised the scalpel and was about to bleed the massage.

    ¡°Wait a moment!¡±

    A shadow shed in the woods, and Zhang Zian appeared with his hands raised.¡±I¡¯m out. Let¡¯s talk it out. Don¡¯t kill it.¡±

    Fati was both angry and anxious. It did not know why he was so stupid to show himself even though he knew it was a trap ... But at the same time, it was also very touched that he had actually put himself in danger to save its life.

 Chapter 1611 - -perfume

    <h4>Chapter 1611: Chapter 1611-perfume</h4>

    The woman and the guards were equally surprised. They had no choice but to try to use the wolf as a hostage to threaten Zhang Zian to show up. They didn¡¯t expect him to really show up, and he was very obedient.

    They were both surprised and in disbelief. The nemesis that gave the Taoist master a headache was actually so easily caught by them? When he returned, he would definitely receive the blessings of the heavenly master.

    Although Zhang Zian appeared, he did not approach. He kept a safe distance and could hide in the woods at any time.

    Since the guards ¡®hiding position had been exposed, they might as well not hide anymore. They jumped down from the trees or slid down the rope, raised their taser guns, and aimed at him. It was not easy to shoot a with a taser gun.

    They felt that Zhang Zian¡¯s appearance was a little strange, and they had always heard that he was full of tricks, so they did not dare to be careless. They did not dare to rashly approach him to capture him, and at the same time, they paid attention to the movements around them.

    Someone sniffed and cursed,¡±¡±F * ck! What¡¯s that smell?¡±

    Not only him, but the other guards also smelled a strong smelling from Zhang Zian¡¯s body.

    ¡°It seems to be ... F * ck! It¡¯s my CK Cologne! His grandmother! This kid stole the CK cologne I left in the house!¡±

    ¡°Ha? ¡®Is it ... CK Cologne?¡¯ You¡¯re so flirtatious!¡±

    ¡°Even if it¡¯s a free perfume, you can¡¯t spray so much on your body!¡±

    Someone could tell that Zhang Zian¡¯s body smell was from the perfume of the C-K team. Among all the guards, he was the only one who had bought this perfume, so Zhang Zian must have stolen it from his room.

    He often went to San Francisco with the yacht to buy supplies and would take this opportunity to flirt with girls in bars. Of course, he had to use perfume to cover his body smell and sweat smell. And he didn¡¯t buy an ordinary perfume, but CK¡¯s ¡°love¡± series Cologne.

    The ¡°bewitching¡± series, just by the name, could make women lose their minds to a certain extent and increase the sess rate of picking up girls, so he was willing to spend a lot of money on it.

    The problem was that he only needed to spray a little bit of the Cologne when he was using it. The faint smell was the best. If it was too strong, it would only have the opposite effect. However, not only did Zhang Zian steal his Cologne, but he was also wantonly wasting it. The smell was so strong that it had be stinky, which almost made him die of anger.

    ¡°Oh, you mean this?¡± Zhang Zian was holding a bottle of perfume.¡±Sorry, I like the smell, so I took it. If you want it, I can give it back to you.¡±

    As he spoke, he threw the perfume bottle at the guard.

    Although the guard was worried about the perfume, he was worried that Zhang Zian was up to no good. He didn¡¯t dare to take the perfume bottle, but dodged.

    ¡°Ah, I didn¡¯t tighten the lid, why didn¡¯t you take it? This time, it¡¯s all spilled!¡±

    Zhang Zian sighed with regret.

    The cap of the perfume bottle was indeed not tightened. When it fell to the ground, it spilled out, and the extremely strong smell was a little choking.

    The woman couldn¡¯t help but frown. She felt that Zhang Zian was too calm and seemed to have other intentions, but she couldn¡¯t figure out what he was up to, so she shouted,¡±¡±Shut up! Throw away your gun! Hurry up!¡±

    Zhang Zian obediently took the Taser gun from his waist and threw it on the ground. He looked at her innocently.¡±You asked me toe out and surrender. I came out and surrendered. When will you let this Wolf go?¡±

    The womanughed. How could she keep her promise? This guy was too stupid!

    ¡°What about the other dog? Don¡¯t you still have a dog? Let it out! Otherwise, I¡¯ll kill this Wolf!¡± She did the same thing again and ced the scalpel across the French bullseye¡¯s neck.

    She had heard that Zhang Zian had a very powerful German Shepherd. Perhaps this German Shepherd was his support and was hiding nearby, waiting for an opportunity to attack them.

    Zhang Zian was still very obedient. He turned around and said,¡±Famous, you shoulde out too.¡±

    A strong German Shepherd walked out of the woods obediently and kept a certain distance from him. It also did not enter the range of the gun and taser gun.

    The woman¡¯s palm, which was holding the scalpel, was sweating a lot. She still felt that things were going a little too smoothly, but she couldn¡¯t think of any other tricks that Zhang Zian could have yed.

    ¡°And the road torches and bear-proof spray, throw them all away.¡± She ordered.

    Zhang Zian did as he was told, and he waspletely disarmed.

    She gave the guards a look, meaning to go over and tie him up.

    The guards were divided into three groups. One group approached famous, nning to catch it with guns, another group approached Zhang Zian, and thest group stayed on guard, ready to support the first two groups at any time.

    As they approached, Zhang Zian and famous retreated.

    ¡°You said you would let it go.¡± He acted like an overly na?ve idiot.

    ¡°Hehe.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡±

    The woman and the guards allughed out loud. This guy was really still dreaming even when his death was near.

    ¡°Um ... Do you know why I took this bottle of Cologne?¡± Zhang Zian suddenly changed the topic.

    ¡°Why?¡± She asked subconsciously.

    ¡°Because it¡¯s not just people who are attracted to the Cologne.¡± A strange smile appeared on his face.¡±If you don¡¯t believe me, look up.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t fall for his trick!¡± The woman shouted.

    ¡°Really, if you don¡¯t watch it, you¡¯ll definitely regret it.¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s expression was very sincere.¡±In India there was a Tiger named Avni that took 13 lives in a row. The local government even sent troops to encircle and suppress it, and they used dk Cologne because the main ingredient of this perfume is simr to Muska¡¯s Cologne, which can attract Tigers.¡±

    She and the guards did not react for a moment. After all, brainwashed people like them were not interested in science.

    Zhang Zian stared at the branches above their heads and said,¡±¡±There are no Tigers in the mahogany forest, but there are mountain lions.¡±

    Before he could finish his words, the guards heard the branches above them. They looked up in horror and immediately met the eyes of several strong adult mountain lions.

    The love potion had a magical effect. Not only could it attractrge cats, but it could also make them fall head over heels for it, just like how cats were obsessed with catmint. Of course, the effects of catmint varied from cat to cat. Some cats were indifferent to catmint, and the same was true for the love-inducing Cologne. However, it seemed that these few cougar were the majority.

    In their eyes, these humans were too much of a hindrance.

    A guard took the lead to raise his gun and shoot, but taser guns were not very effective against animals, while guns were used against targets from high above. The shot out would only fall down and cover themselves.

    Their attack angered the Cougar, and they roared and pounced on them from the tree.

    The guards who were pounced on screamed repeatedly, and the remaining guards braced themselves and tried to save their colleagues.

    The woman knew that her mission had failedpletely. She raised the scalpel fiercely and was about to stab it into Fati¡¯s neck. Even if she died, she wanted to take him with her.

    ¡°Hey!¡±

    The tip of the knife was still in the air. She heard Zhang Zian¡¯s shout and saw him quietly approaching in the chaos. He raised the Taser and pulled the trigger at her.

 Chapter 1612 - -line of fire

    <h4>Chapter 1612: Chapter 1612-line of fire</h4>

    In movies, it wasmon to see heroes being shot several times before they persevered in killing the bad guys before falling to the ground. This was to show the hero¡¯s iron will and strong body. However, if one was shot by a taser gun, anyone would have muscle spasms all over their body, and they would not even be able to straighten their little finger. Therefore, using a taser gun to stop crimes was quite effective.

    The two electrodes were quickly shot toward the woman¡¯s body under the push of high-pressure nitrogen. There was no possibility of missing at such a close distance. They hit her right chest and left abdomen respectively, piercing through her thin clothes. The tip of the barbed tips sank into her skin, and the high-voltage electricity instantly passed through her body.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    Her whole body could not stop twitching. The tip of the scalpel was clearly very close to the Dharma push, but her fingers could no longer hold the handle. It was not quite right to say that she could only watch the scalpel slip weakly from the gap between her fingers. Although her eyes were open, she was in a state of turning a blind eye.

    In the state of chaos, some of the guards noticed the situation here, but it was difficult for them toe over to help because of the trouble caused by the Cougar. Famous also joined the battle. It avoided the guards with guns and attacked the guards with taser guns at the risk of being electrocuted once or twice.

    Mountain lions lived alone and didn¡¯t move in groups most of the time. However, these mountain lions weren¡¯t together in the first ce. They were attracted by the smell of the passion-inducing Cologne.

    After snowy Li ran away, famous smelled the signs of cougar activity nearby, so Zhang Zian tried to release perfume in the limelight, and it really attracted the Cougar.

    There were tens of thousands of cougar in North America, but they rarely attacked people. In the forest, they would actively avoid people. But today¡¯s situation was special. The smell of perfume made them unable to resist the ecstasy, which aroused their breeding instinct.

    The woman twitched and fell to the ground. Snowy Li, who had been kicked by her just now, was full of hatred. It immediately jumped on her, stepped on her chest with its front paw, and kicked her face with its back paw, and yelled,¡±¡±What waves! You can continue to be wild! Why don¡¯t you take a look at what kind of person you are, and you still dare to kick me! You¡¯re as cunning as a ghost, but you still have to drink the water I wash my feet with!¡±

    It kicked him a few times before it recovered. Will I get an electric shock too?¡±

    Zhang Zian ignored it. While the woman was paralyzed on the ground, he rushed over to pick up the scalpel and cut off the straps that tied up the pushing monk¡¯s limbs.

    Fati stood up at once and looked around. He saw that only a portion of the elves were with him, and several elves, including fina, were not there.

    ¡°Where did the other Elfins go?¡± it asked, not having the time to thank them.

    ¡°Fina and the others are going to find the culprit who ordered the strange cat to do evil. What¡¯s wrong?¡± Zhang Zian¡¯s heart tightened when he saw its anxious expression.

    ¡°Not good!¡± Fa tuo¡¯s expression changed drastically.¡±This is a trap. You¡¯ve been tricked!¡±

    Zhang Zian thought,¡±I know it¡¯s a trap, but I didn¡¯t fall for it.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re not just going to kill me,¡± Fati said anxiously.¡±They¡¯re using me to lure you here and keep you here. The ones they¡¯re really going to deal with are fina and the others!¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡±

    Zhang Zian was shocked. He believed that Fati would not lie, and he suddenly felt the seriousness of the situation.

    After Fati was caught, he thought that he would be tortured by the cat and was determined to die. The cat did intend to do so and closed in on him step by step. However, an ordinary cat suddenly jumped out of the forest and made a few gestures to the cat. The cat¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up, as if it had found more valuable prey.

    So, the cat made a few hand gestures to the woman, indicating that she should deal with the magic. Thest hand gesture was a horizontal sh, obviously for her to get rid of it after using the magic.

    The cat left after the arrangements were done.

    Later, Zhang Zian came, but Fati was tied up on the ground and couldn¡¯t see anything. He thought that the Elfins were all with him, but now he knew that they had split up.

    Based on this, Fati guessed that the cat might have thought that it was dead for sure, so there was no need to waste any more effort. As long as it was left to the woman to deal with, and as long as it lived toplete the task of being a bait, it would be killed. The cat, on the other hand, intended to further expand the results of the battle and wait for an opportunity to get rid of fina and the others.

    ¡°We have to quickly help fina and the others, or it may be toote!¡± Fati was so anxious that it did not want the other Elfins to sacrifice themselves because of it.

    The more Zhang Zian listened, the more shocked he became. Although he thought that thebination of fina, old time tea, and dimir was very powerful, the other party had made a n before taking action, so they could not be underestimated.

    ¡°But I don¡¯t know where fina and the others are.¡± He frowned and said,¡±they went to track the cat. Unless I go back the way I came and chase fina from the other ces. But that will take up too much time. I may not make it in time.¡±

    In addition, the matter here had not been resolved for the time being. Although the Cougar had the name of a Lion, it might be the weakest among the Lions. It was hard to deal with an adult man. After the guards ¡®initial panic disappeared, they were not so afraid of the Cougar and even gradually gained the upper hand.

    Fati suddenly thought,¡¯I was very close to that cat just now and remembered its smell. I can go after it! If we can catch it, we might be able to find fina and the others!¡±

    This was a shortcut.

    Famous had a keen sense of smell, but there was more than one cat smell here. It didn¡¯t know which smell to track, and famous was also fighting with the guards, so it couldn¡¯t get away for the time being.

    ¡°Okay, then you go first. Fina and the others must be in urgent need of help. After we solve the problem here, we¡¯ll follow your scent and rush over!¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Fati nodded heavily. Without saying anything else, he searched for the cat¡¯s scent on the ground and went into the forest in the other direction.

    ¡°Meow meow meow? Is Her Majesty in danger?¡±

    Snowy Li was ravaging the woman in all kinds of ways. When it heard that fina might be in danger, all of its fur stood up.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but we have to get there as soon as possible!¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that the situation was urgent. Seeing a guard retreating to avoid the attacks of the Cougar, he kicked the guard in the waist and kicked him far away. The guard was then hugged by a cougar.

    ¡°Pei Pei Pei! None of these stinky men are good!¡± Snowy Li¡¯s eyes were also red with anxiety. It looked at Leng Zi, who was stabbing the guards ¡®Achilles tendons with its ws. It was cruel and ruthless, and those who were stabbed couldn¡¯t stand up immediately.

    Zhang Zian and snowy Li joined the battle, and the situation changed again. The guards ¡®taser guns and guns were all empty, and it was more difficult to reload. He was not afraid of them empty-handed.

    Awoo~awoo~

    A distant and sharp wolf howl came from the direction where fa TUI had left, and it spread in all directions with the wind.

 Chapter 1613 - -enraged

    <h4>Chapter 1613: Chapter 1613-enraged</h4>

    <h4>? </h4>

    Fina, old time tea, and dimir were suddenly surrounded by arge group of cats. The bright cat eyes all over the mountains and fields made people¡¯s hair stand on end. Even so, they were not afraid. No matter how many ordinary cats there were, they did not care.

    Normally, the three of them would fight and leave as they pleased, but now they knew that there might be cats infected with prion, so they didn¡¯t want to have physical contact with each other unless it was absolutely necessary, so it was not easy to get out for the time being.

    ¡°Are you guys trying to rebel?¡± Fina looked at the cats and said coldly.

    Although these cats didn¡¯t really listen to Fina¡¯s orders, it still had its power, and their arrogance suddenly stagnated.

    ¡°Get out of the way immediately, and this Queen will spare you for your insubordination! Otherwise, don¡¯t me bengong for being impolite!¡±

    Fina hoped to get out of trouble without doing anything.

    There was amotion among the cats, but they did not make way.

    Old time tea whispered from the side,¡±Your Majesty, it seems that this is a trap. In my opinion, it¡¯s better for us to wait and see for the time being. It¡¯s best to wait until Zi ¡®an and the others finish solving the matter of thew deduction ande to meet us. At that time, we can work together from the inside and the outside. We can get out of this trap.¡±

    dimir raised an objection.¡±We¡¯re waiting. They¡¯re obviously waiting too. We¡¯re waiting for Zian. Who are they waiting for?¡± If we continue waiting like this, we don¡¯t know who will be the first toe out. ¡±

    The group of cats surrounding but not attacking was also waiting. Both sides were waiting, which was tantamount to leaving their fate in the hands of others. dimir didn¡¯t like this, so it was more inclined to take the initiative to attack. Otherwise, if the other side waited for the person they were waiting for first, the bnce would immediately be broken.

    Fina thought that what they said made sense, and it was difficult to make a decision for the time being. However, with her character, she was more inclined to dimir¡¯s opinion. With her identity, how could she wait for the help of a mere mortal?

    After a little thought, it decided to try to provoke the other party to show itself. Thus, it raised its voice and shouted into the darkness,¡±¡±Don¡¯t let this Motley crowde out and make a fool of themselves. Since they dare to challenge this Prince¡¯s authority, why are they still hiding like rats?¡±

    The group of cats were all scared by its voice and curled up.

    After waiting for a while, fina didn¡¯t hear any response, so it concluded that the culprit was not at the scene, and the cat group was probably waiting for the culprit.

    Fina sneered and decided to wait ording to old time tea¡¯s suggestion, because it hade here to find the culprit. Since it was already here, it should just let it be. If it was afraid, it should note. If it came, it should not be afraid!

    Old time tea kept its energy and responded to all changes by staying the same.

    ¡°You poor cats who have been enved, do you want to be used as tools? Far away in the East, we are building a cat paradise. There will be no exploitation or bullying. I hope you can join our team!¡± dimir seized the time and tried to shake the will of these cats.

    However, its words had little effect on these cats with strange expressions.

    dimir did not give up and continued to persuade them to surrender.

    After a long night, it was not too far away from dawn.

    ¡°Hehe! Hahaha!¡±

    Suddenly, a wild and arrogantugh came from the darkness, and a shadow slowly walked out of the forest.

    Fina and old time tea¡¯s eyes widened, and dimir shut its mouth.

    If Fati was present, he would definitely recognize the cat immediately.

    The cat was quite old and didn¡¯t belong to any cat breed today. Even Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t ssify it. The most eye-catching thing was the bright M-shaped pattern on its forehead, which seemed to have been left by someone¡¯s fingers when they were dipped in ink.

    In addition, the cat seemed to be surrounded by a strange aura, which made people feel afraid for no reason.

    Fina snorted coldly.¡±What¡¯s your name? I¡¯m not interested in nameless rats.¡±

    The cat looked at fina with a fake smile, and its eyes were as cold as a poisonous snake.¡±You don¡¯t know me, and there¡¯s no need to know me. You¡¯re going to die anyway, so it doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯t know me. But I can guess who you are. I¡¯m looking at you. You¡¯re the messenger of Bastian, the false god, right?¡±

    No matter how good-tempered fina was, it would be furious at this time, not to mention that it had a bad temper to begin with.

    ¡°What did you just say? Do you dare to say that again?¡± Fina was so angry that its whole body was trembling slightly.

    ¡°Hahaha! So what if he said it ten times? Bastian, that false god, didn¡¯t have any abilities. He was just a name, and now, two thousand yearster, wasn¡¯t he still buried in the yellow sand? ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right, we were the ones who buried that false god. If we were happy, we would leave those ruined temples for people to bury. If we were not happy, we might even sweep the ruins of the temple out of the door! Oh, that¡¯s right, I¡¯ll also bury you today so you can go to theherworld and hug your false god for warmth!¡±

    The cat shouted arrogantly, as if it was not worried about angering fina at all.

    ¡°Bastard!¡±

    Fina gritted its teeth. It had never hated anyone or any animal so much. Its hatred for the cat even surpassed its hatred for Anthony.

    Previously, it had thought that if the culprit had a good attitude when confessing and was willing to repent, it could consider letting him live after punishment. But now, it hadpletely dispelled this idea.

    ¡°You should die!¡±

    Fina started walking towards the cat, slowly but firmly.

    ¡°Your Majesty, please calm down ...¡± Old time tea was very worried, because the other party seemed to be deliberately provoking fina. If he just wanted to kill fina, there was no need to say such nonsense. Was there a conspiracy?

    ¡°Dodge!¡± Fina rudely pushed away old time tea¡¯s paw, which was trying to stop it.

    Now, no one or anything could stop Fina¡¯s actions.

    On the other hand, the cat seemed to be standing there without any defense. It was at ease and did not know that death wasing.

    Although fina was extremely angry, her instinct as a warrior made her always vignt. She didn¡¯t think that the other party would give up without a fight. She would definitely put up ast-ditch struggle, and maybe she was hiding some killer move.

    So, fina stopped a few meters away from the cat. It changed its n of killing it with its own hands and announced proudly,¡±¡±I am fina Paris XIII, The Guardian of the kingdom of eternity, the high priest of the Bubastis divine Pce. In the name of the cat god Bastian, I grant you suicide!¡±

    The cat¡¯s face finally showed fear, because one of its front paws was lifted up uncontrobly, and a sharp w was extended.

    Before old time tea, dimir, and the other surrounding cats could react, it saw its ws stabbing towards its neck at an extremely fast speed!

    Pfft!

    A few deep gashes appeared on its neck, and fresh blood spurted out.

    It stared at fina in disbelief, its throat making a gurgling sound, but it couldn¡¯t say a word, and then fell to the ground.

    The surroundings suddenly became quiet.

 Chapter 1614 - -unexpected change

    <h4>Chapter 1614: Chapter 1614-unexpected change</h4>

    This ... This is it?

    Old time tea and dimir were so shocked that their mouths could fit an egg ... No, a duck egg!

    They found it hard to believe, but the truth was right in front of their eyes, so they had to believe it.

    The caty on the ground with its eyes wide open. Blood was still flowing out of the hole in its neck, and it was flowing slower and slower. Only its limbs were still twitching meaninglessly, which was a physiological reaction when it died.

    Fina turned around, proudly raised its head and chest, and nced at the cats with a victorious look. It shouted,¡±¡±Open your eyes and take a good look! This was the oue of spheming the gods! This Prince will punish you on behalf of God as a warning to the others!¡±

    The group of cats trembled in fear, and some of them even lost control of their bowels.

    Old time tea heaved a sigh of relief. It had thought that it would be a fierce battle, but it didn¡¯t expect that it would be solved so easily. The remaining motley crew should just scatter like the monkeys when the tree falls.

    dimir¡¯s pupils contracted slightly, and he said in disagreement,¡±¡±It¡¯s better to use your remaining courage to chase after the bandits, not to be a famous Overlord! Melgen seemed to have mentioned that she had two cats ...¡±

    Melgen imed that when she was imprisoned, she had seen two strange cats in the corridor. The dead one must be one of them, but what about the other one?

    Old time teaughed.¡±There¡¯s an old saying China. Don¡¯t chase after a desperate enemy. It¡¯s dark now. Let¡¯s wait until dawn to talk about the rest ...¡±

    Both of them made sense, and it was difficult to determine who was right and who was wrong. dimir meant to cut the weeds and eliminate the roots to avoid future trouble, while old time tea was out of careful consideration to avoid unnecessary casualties on its side.

    Fina¡¯s confidence grew rapidly. It looked up and said,¡±¡±Let alone one, even if there were a hundred, what would this prince be afraid of?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty¡¯s divine might is absolute, this old man¡¯s horizons have been broadened.¡± Old time tea agreed, but it wasn¡¯t really ttering.

    However, dimir¡¯sbat awareness did not rx, because it believed that the enemy had not beenpletely annihted.

    At this time, the cat¡¯s body, which should have been cold, suddenly moved. Fina and old time tea, who were immersed in the joy of victory, did not notice it at first. Even if they did, they would only think that it was a nerve and muscle spasm after death.

    dimir¡¯s eyes widened. It saw that the blood that had flowed out was flowing back, and the bloody hole in the cat¡¯s neck was healing quickly. The gray eyes were glowing again, as if ... It was resurrected!

    ¡°Damn it! It was alive! Quickly Dodge!¡±

    dimir knew that they had all been fooled, and at this time, Fina¡¯s back was facing the resurrected cat body, so it was the first to bear the brunt.

    It roared loudly and pounced over.

    However, its roar only had the opposite effect. Fina and old time tea didn¡¯t know what had happened, and they turned to look at it in confusion.

    The cat¡¯s body ... No, it should be the resurrected cat. It hadpletely stood up, raised its blood-stained ws, and stabbed Fina¡¯s back at a very fast speed. Its eyes were full of smugness.

    Old time tea was able to determine the position by listening to the wind. Suddenly, it saw that the cat was about to assassinate fina. It couldn¡¯t help but be shocked and immediately tried to stop it. However, its reaction was toote, and its movement was also too slow. The moment it made its move, it knew that it was toote.

    Fina finally realized that something was wrong. Her smile froze on her face, and she turned around subconsciously.

    The cat¡¯s blood-stained face was twisted in madness, and the M on its foreheadughed evilly.¡±Go to hell and meet your cat god!¡±

    Fina watched as the sharp ws were about to stab her chest, but she couldn¡¯t react in time. Suddenly, the words that Zhang Zian had said that night came to her mind.¡±Looking down at white jade Jing in the sky, 12 buildings and five cities, the Prophet touches my head, and I will die nine times with a seal.¡±

    In its cognitive concept, cats never had nine lives. Even when it had encountered the strange disappearance of cat bodies, it stubbornly believed that there were other exnations, such as being taken away by wild beasts.

    He actually ... Really had nine lives!

    Unfortunately, it realized this mistake toote.

    Fina didn¡¯t have time to react, and old time tea didn ¡®t. At this critical moment, someone took a deep breath and shouted,¡±¡±Take this meow meow meow doctrine Iron Fist of mine!¡±

    dimir descended from the sky with the force of a Thunderbolt. It didn¡¯t save fina directly. Instead, it adopted the strategy of besieging the Wei to save the Zhao, and it swung its fist at the cat.

    If the cat insisted on attacking fina, the final result would be a life for a life, and it would die with fina.

    The cat¡¯s eyes shed as it saw the Blue Cat¡¯s unstoppable punch. For some reason, its heart suddenly thumped. It had a vague feeling that this punch would cause great additional damage to itself and not just seriously injure its body. The Blue Cat¡¯s attributes seemed to specifically restrain it, and it was not sure if it would be able to resurrect normally after taking this punch.

    The blue cat didn¡¯t believe in resurrection from the dead, and this belief was infused into his fist, so the punch didn¡¯t just cause physical damage.

    In addition, the blue cat was now on guard. Even if it was resurrected, it would probably be greeted with a second punch ...

    In the cat¡¯s eyes, its life was obviously more important and valuable than fina ¡®s.

    So, at thest moment, it stopped in time and dodged to the side, avoiding the fatal punch. It saved its own life and also saved fina ¡®s.

    Fina had just escaped death, and its face was pale with fear.

    Old time tea let out a sigh of relief and thought that it was a close call. However, it immediately opened its eyes and saw a new crisis!

    dimir¡¯s punch missed andnded lightly on the ground. It was the transitional stage where the old force had weakened and the new force had not yet been generated. As long as it was given a second or even half a second to breathe, it would swing its fist and continue to chase and hit the evil cat.

    Fina and dimir didn¡¯t see it, and old time tea had just seen it. Almost at the same time that the cat attacked fina and dimir tried to save it, another ck shadow suddenly jumped out of the forest without a sound. It pounced on dimir with a strange figure and angle. It was the Mantis hunting the cicada, the Oriole behind, and the Oriole hunting the Mantis with a slingshot behind.

    This was a chain trap. It would be best if the first cat attacked fina sessfully. Even if it failed, there was still a second cat hidden in the dark as double insurance.

    The second cat also realized that dimir¡¯s existence posed a more serious threat to the first cat, so it changed its target from fina to dimir.

    Furthermore, after dimirnded, it was right in front of fina. If he wanted to attack thetter, he had to defeat the former first.

    dimir and fina didn¡¯t see the new attacker. Old time tea, who had wanted to save fina, had to change its move in a hurry and try to block the attack.

    However, the second cat was also a fighting master. It noticed old time tea¡¯s fist approaching, so it used one of its front paws to block old time tea while the other paw continued to attack dimir.

 Chapter 1615 - -bloody battle

    <h4>Chapter 1615: Chapter 1615-bloody battle</h4>

    With a bang, blood appeared!

    From the moment the first cat died and resurrected to ambush fina, the cat¡¯s dynamic vision could see everything clearly. However, in the human¡¯s eyes, it was just the blink of an eye, and the situation on the field had changed greatly.

    Old time tea¡¯s reaction was not slow, but it was at a disadvantage because of its hasty response. In addition, it was an upright cat and did not bother to use tricks, while the other party had been preparing for a long time, and was insidious and cunning.

    Therefore, old time tea¡¯s punch collided with the second attacker¡¯s left w, making a muffled bang. The other party took the hit, and its body was knocked sideways a few inches, and its right w was also a little off.

    Only then did dimir and fina notice the new attacker, but it was toote. dimir could only breathe in and out, desperately dodging to the side.

    It was this slight difference that allowed dimir to avoid being hit in its vital parts, but the w still shed through its body, causing its skin to split open.

    Without old time tea¡¯s help, the w would have been deep, urate, and ruthless.

    dimir cried out in pain, and a bloody wound appeared on its left shoulder. Its body staggered and fell, and fina quickly held it up.

    Old time tea¡¯s eyes were about to pop out of their sockets. It pointed at the two cats and shouted,¡±How dare you!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! What a joke!¡±

    The two cats stood side by side. The second cat that had just appeared was slightly chubby. It was younger and stronger than the first cat. Its sharp ws were ck, and the tips of its ws were stained with dimir¡¯s blood.

    The first catughed hysterically at fina.¡±You¡¯re lucky, but you won¡¯t have such good luck a second time!¡± He said.

    Fina was anxious and angry. It had been injured on the battlefield and had lost itspanions on the battlefield, but it had never caused the death of itspanions because of its own mistakes. It had also never seen such a cunning and cruel enemy. If looks could kill, it would have killed these two cats countless times with its eyes.

    Old time tea noticed the seriousness of the situation. It had an overwhelming advantage, but now it was at a disadvantage. Originally, even if it was two against two, old time tea and fina would not be afraid of the enemy, but they had to be distracted to take care of dimir, be careful of the surrounding cats, and be more vignt of any other hidden enemies. They were held back everywhere.

    Although dimir wasn¡¯t injured in any vital areas, the wound was quite deep, and it kept bleeding. If this continued, it would die from blood loss sooner orter.

    Even in the face of life and death, it still forced a smile and waved with a fearless optimism.¡±¡±You guys go ahead. Don¡¯t worry about me. I can handle it because death doesn¡¯t belong to the Meow-Meow doctrine believer!¡±

    Waving his hand touched his wound, and it was so painful that he almost fainted.

    Fina took a deep breath and was about to order the two cats to kill themselves. It would make them kill themselves however many times they were resurrected, but they obviously did not intend to give it time to recite such a long chant. They raised their ws and bent down, ready to change their attack immediately.

    After all, this wasn¡¯t a Japanese anime where the enemy would only watch the protagonist transform or chant a spell.

    At this moment, the trees and grass rustled, and a ck shadow jumped out of the forest.

    Fina and old time tea were frightened. If the enemy had helped them again, the three of them would have really died here today.

    However, the other two cats were equally surprised, because what appeared was the French prediction that they thought was dead.

    Fati¡¯s body was covered with dead branches and fallen leaves. It sniffed the enemy¡¯s scent all the way and chased after them at the fastest speed possible. However, a ce where a cat could walk might not be suitable for a Wolf to walk. In a hurry, it did not take a detour but forced its way in.

    It nced around and saw the injured dimir. It could roughly guess that they had been ambushed.

    When enemies met, their eyes would turn red.

    ¡°Go!¡± Fati roared,¡±bring it for treatment and leave this to me!¡±

    Normally, fina would definitely stay behind to kill its enemies, but the main reason why dimir was injured was to save it. Seeing that dimir¡¯s life was in danger, it could only temporarily put down its pride.

    Fina said in a low voice,¡±I¡¯m taking it to the house. When it sees Zhang Zian, tell him to get his ass over here!¡± One secondter, I will ask snowy Li to castrate him!¡±

    To treat the injured dimir, it must be done in a safe, clean, and bright ce. It could not be done in the wild. The only ce nearby that could be rted to safety and cleanliness was the big house where melgen was.

    Fina couldn¡¯t say it clearly in front of the enemy, but old time tea understood what it meant and nodded.

    The enemy obviously wouldn¡¯t give up the opportunity to kill dimir on the spot. The older old cat was targeted by the pushing spell, and the younger fat cat moved to intercept fina, but was immediately blocked by old time tea.

    Old time tea got into position and said,¡±¡±Brother fa is alone. This old man is overestimating himself. I¡¯m willing to help Brother fa!¡±

    In the face of the enemy, it didn¡¯t have the surname fa, but it didn¡¯t have time to think about whether it was a Dharma brother or not. It also knew that the enemy was powerful and cunning. It would be difficult to win if it fought against two enemies alone. It was great that old time tea was willing to stay and help.

    Old cat still didn¡¯t want to let fina go, so with a shriek, the surrounding cats suddenly became restless. They abandoned old time tea and Fati and gathered around fina.

    Usually, fina would not care about the group of cats, but now that it was supporting dimir, its ability to move was not even one percent of its usual speed.

    dimir gritted its teeth and reiterated,¡±don¡¯t worry about me. Go and deal with the enemy. I can hold on. Death does not belong to the Meow Meow doctrine ... Damn it, it hurts!¡±

    Its voice was getting weaker and weaker, as if it could faint at any moment. It was purely using its steel-like will to maintain its consciousness.

    ¡°Save your strength! Don¡¯t be silly!¡±

    Fina¡¯s heart was burning with anxiety. Just as it was at a loss, severalrge beasts jumped out of the dark forest one after another. They were the North American gray wolves.

    The Grey Wolves heard Fati¡¯s call and finally arrived at the scene.

    Fati also let out a long howl and ordered one of the wolves to find Zhang Zian, while the other wolves escorted fina and dimir out of the siege.

    Thew of the forest was that numbers and size were the absolute rules. The highly-disciplined wolves were like arrowheads, protecting Fina¡¯s front and wings, rushing into the group of cats to open a way for fina.

    The wolves ¡®goal was not to kill the cats. When they encountered a cat in their way, they would either sweep it away with their ws or bite it and throw it aside. Later, they found that it was most efficient to copy the wild boar and just charge around with their bodies. The North American gray wolf, which weighed 60 to 70 kilograms, was like a tank crushing a car to the cats, who weighed less than 10 kilograms on average. The cats were sent flying as soon as they were hit.

    Under the protection of the wolves, fina helped dimir out of the encirclement and staggered back to the abandoned Native American vige. The wolves also fought and retreated, staying behind to hinder the pursuing soldiers.

 Chapter 1616 - The birch forest in October

    <h4>Chapter 1616: The birch forest in October</h4>

    Zhang Zian and famous fought and retreated. It didn¡¯t matter whether they defeated the guards or the Cougar. No one was here to film a documentary anyway, and it was more important to meet up with the elves. So, while the guards weren¡¯t paying attention, he gave the elves a look and went into the forest.

    He had night vision, and the advantage was that once he hid in the forest, he could barely see the road without using the shlight, so the guards couldn¡¯t judge his position by the light, and he quickly lost the guards.

    Famous sniffed the Fati¡¯s scent and led the way, and he followed behind.

    After walking for a while, the road became more and more difficult to walk on. They had to go through rugged, narrow, and thorny ces. Not to mention him, even famous was suffering unspeakably. The feeling of a big rat suddenly jumping out of the grass and stepping on its face in panic was very satisfying.

    At this time, there was another noise in the grass in front of him. It seemed that arge beast was approaching. Zhang Zian¡¯s hand pressed the switch of the shlight, nning to wait for the beast toe out and take a look.

    A North American gray wolf jumped out of the grass. It was dark, so he couldn¡¯t tell if the wolf was Fati¡¯s man, but from famous¡¯s reaction, it should be.

    It obviously recognized him and ran over in a hurry. It grabbed his pants and pulled in another direction.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What happened?¡±

    The wolf could not answer his question.

    ¡°Stop pulling, I¡¯ll go with you. If you pull my pants again, they¡¯ll be shorts!¡±

    The Wolf¡¯s teeth were so sharp and had a high bite force that they had already torn the corner of his unlucky pants into strips. His heart ached when he saw it.

    After he took the initiative to follow, the wolf let go of his pants and ran in front to lead the way. However, it had no experience in leading the way and often left him behind. It even had to stop to wait for him or go back to find him.

    Zhang Zian looked down at his feet, but famous smelled a familiar scent.¡±Isn¡¯t this the way to the Native American vige?¡±

    Why would he go back to the deserted vige? Something happened to melgen?

    He was filled with confusion, but the wolf would not answer him, so he could only continue walking.

    At night, the deserted vige was like a ghost vige. The open doors and windows made people feel that there was a monster hidden inside. Only a few lights came out from the intact house.

    What was going on? He had clearly told melgen not to turn on the lights in the room with the curtains open ...

    He became more and more puzzled, and his premonition that something had happened grew stronger and stronger.

    ¡°Melgen, it¡¯s me! I¡¯m back! Open the door!¡± He knocked on the door.

    Famous lowered its head and sniffed, then said nervously,¡±¡±Oh no, there¡¯s a bloody smell. It seems to be ...¡± It couldn¡¯t bear and didn¡¯t want to continue.

    Gxy raised its head and stared at him.¡±Meow! Zian, you must calm down.¡±

    The lock rang, and melgen opened the door in a panic. She stuttered as she pointed into the room.¡±I didn¡¯t turn on the lights, but ...¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t wait for her to finish speaking and rushed into the room. At a nce, he saw dimir lying on the coffee table and fina, who was anxiously waiting to the side, as well as ... The blood that had dyed dimir¡¯s blue-gray hair purple.

    As soon as Pi saw the blood, it was so scared that it threw away the stick and covered its eyes, not daring to look again.

    ¡°Gah? Gah?¡± Richard, who had always been sharp-tongued, stammered and could not say aplete sentence.

    ¡°What ... What¡¯s going on?¡±

    He rushed to the side of the coffee table and checked dimir¡¯s injuries.

    ¡°No! There was no need to exin! Let¡¯s bandage the wound first!¡± He interrupted fina and melgen, who were about to speak,¡±let me think ... Melgen, go and boil a pot of water and wash your hands. I need your help!¡±

    Melgen had already given up on thinking, and she subconsciously followed his instructions.

    In order to steal food and supplies, Zhang Zian had emptied his backpack, leaving most of the things in it here. He quickly found the first aid kit and put on disposable gloves.

    Fina also had blood on its body, but it was dimir¡¯s blood. It remorsefully med itself,¡±¡±It¡¯s all bengong¡¯s fault for being too careless ... You can cure it, right?¡±

    dimir was already in a semi-conscious state due to blood loss, but it was still breathing. Zhang Zian checked its injuries, and the injuries themselves were not fatal. It was just that it had lost too much blood during the journey. The top priority was to sew the wounds up and stop the bleeding.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, there won¡¯t be any problems. ¡± Heforted fina, but he didn¡¯t have much confidence in himself.

    The cat was different from the minke whale he had saved before. The whale was fine even if it lost a hundred pounds of blood, but the cat did not have much blood in its body to begin with ...

    Melgen had already washed her hands.¡±What do you need me to do?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to cut off the hair near the wound and sew it up. ¡±

    Melgen was smart. She did not need him to exin in detail. She helped him pick up the hair near the wound to avoid cutting his skin.

    As a Wrangler and beeper who lived in seclusion in the deep mountains and forests, they had to be self-sufficient in everything. The tools in the house were veryplete, such as the needles for sewing clothes. In fact, there was also a thread, but the thread that had been ced there for many years was no longer of much use, and it broke with a pull.

    Zhang Zian instructed melgen to disinfect the wound with hydrogen peroxide, then washed off the remaining hydrogen peroxide with clean water, and used tweezers to clean the hair and dirty things in the wound. He used a lighter to disinfect the needle, then found a suture made from the tail tendon of a Beaver and put it into the pinhole.

    When the needle pierced into his skin, the half-unconscious dimir was temporarily awake because of the pain. It slowly opened its eyes and took a few seconds to see him clearly.

    ¡°Don¡¯t move, bear with it. ¡± He focused on the wound and the thread and thread.

    Melgen pressed its head and body gently with her hands nervously. She was afraid that it would move, but she did not dare to use too much force.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Be bold. You¡¯re not afraid of blood and sacrifice when you do great things. For the sake of sacrifice, you have the ambition to change the sun and the moon ...¡± It encouraged him with a weak voice.

    Melgen could not understand what it was saying, but for some reason, she was crying.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s hands were also trembling, and his vision was a little blurry. The premonition that he might lose a reliable partner made him almost unable to hold the thin needle. He took a deep breath and tried his best to steady his hand. He did not think too much and sutured the stitches.

    Fina walked around anxiously and dejectedly. It hated this feeling of powerlessness the most, just like when it had lost her.

    Snowy Li tried tofort fina, but it didn¡¯t work.

    Famous knew that it couldn¡¯t help, so it could only lie quietly at the door, listening to the movements in the forest.

    ¡°It¡¯s a little cold. Are you guys cold? ¡°It¡¯s as cold as October. Have I returned to the Red Square in Moscow ...¡± dimir muttered.

    ¡°Listen! It¡¯s the sound of cannons in the Winter Pce ...¡±

    ¡°Look! It¡¯s the zing mes that have dyed the East red!¡±

    ¡°The cheering people are pouring into the red Square!¡±

    ¡°The history that the imperialists could conquer a country and a nation with only a few cannons in the East is gone forever ...¡±

    ¡°Wake up! dimir! Wake up! Don¡¯t fall asleep!¡± Zhang Zian held back his tears,¡±in the future, let¡¯s go to Moscow together!¡± Go to the Red Square! nt the red g all over the world! There are so many suffering stray cats in the world waiting for you to liberate them!¡±

    Upon hearing this, dimir seemed to have sobered up a little. It tried its best to look at him with its listless eyes and grinned.

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    dimir looked forward to the future and used its steel-like will to fight against the sleeping demon. In order not to fall asleep, it gently hummed a song.

    ¡°White snow fluttered in the quiet vige,

    Pigeons flew under the hazy sky,

    The two names were carved on the white birch tree.

    They swore to love each other for the rest of their lives.

    One day, the mes of war spread to his hometown.

    The young man picked up his gun and rushed to the border,

    My beloved, don¡¯t worry about me,

    Wait for me to return to that birch forest ...¡±

    dimir liked to sing, but it used to sing battle songs that were full of fighting spirit. Today, it uncharacteristically sang the slow and sad ¡°white birch forest.¡±

    Zhang Zian also hummed along with Richard. Although he was tone-deaf and out of tune, Richard remained silent and did not mock him.

    Melgen clearly didn¡¯t understand Chinese or dimir¡¯s words, but she just heard the traditional Russia melody and started crying.

    ¡°Please ... You have to save it ...¡± Her shoulders trembled. She was not even this sad when she was in prison.

    Zhang Zian nodded solemnly and motioned for her to light the firece to warm up the room. He then covered it with a few dry towels.

    The fire in the firece started burning, and the firewood crackled with a few sparks.

    ¡°Meow! dimir ...¡± Gxy jumped onto the coffee table and gently touched dimir¡¯s forehead with its front paw.¡±You will get better ...¡±

    ¡°Squeak squeak.¡±

    Pi tried its best to suppress its fear of blood. It came over and grabbed one of dimir¡¯s front paws with both hands.

    ¡°Don¡¯t ... Don¡¯t act like it¡¯s dying!¡± Fina rebuked angrily, jumped in front of dimir, and roared,¡±¡±Bengong has not allowed you to die, do you hear me! Did you hear me?¡±

    Famous turned its head and faced the bare door, not willing to let people see its wet eyes.

    Zhang Zian could hear his own heartbeat. For the first time, he felt that time had passed so quickly, and his movements were so clumsy.

    The room was very cold, but he was sweating because of his panic.

    But in fact, it only took him a few minutes topletely stitch up the wound, and the tough and strong beaver tail tendon firmly bound the wound. The wound was very neat, as if it had been cut open by a sharp weapon, which indirectly reduced the pressure on the stitching. After all, he was not a professional veterinarian, and it would be too difficult if it was aceration.

    After thest stitch, he tied a knot, and melgen cut off the extra tendon with a pair of scissors.

    ¡°How is it? Can it survive?¡± Melgen clenched her hands in front of her chest with tears in her eyes.

    No one hoped that dimir would survive more than Zhang Zian, but the situation was not optimistic. Although the bleeding had stopped, it had lost too much blood before and was already on the verge of danger. If it had not been for its strong body and strong will, it might not have been able to make it here.

    ¡°It has lost too much blood. If we want it to be safe, we have to find a way to transfuse blood to it.¡± He said word by word.

 Chapter 1617 - Blood donation

    <h4>Chapter 1617: Blood donation</h4>

    Melgen and the Elfins were all stunned when they heard Zhang Zian¡¯s words.

    ¡°Blood transfusion? You mean to transfuse blood to this cat?¡± Melgen subconsciously confirmed.

    Zhang Zian nodded.¡±That¡¯s right.¡±

    Fina¡¯s eyes lit up. It had never wanted to owe anyone a favor, but this time, it owed a huge favor because of its own carelessness. Although the blood transfusion could not fully repay it, it could at least make it feel better.

    Therefore, it was the first to jump out and say,¡±¡±Blood transfusion, is it? Use bengong¡¯s blood!¡±

    ¡°Scared? Blood ... Blood transfusion?¡± Snowy Li was so scared that it shrank its body, as if it was afraid of being caught and its blood drawn.¡±Blood transfusion, does it hurt?¡±

    Melgen continued to ask,¡±you mean ... We need to transfuse the blood of the other three cats to this injured blue cat?¡±

    The other three cats were fina, snowy Li, and Gxy.

    However, Zhang Zian shook his head. He denied both Fina¡¯s request and melgen¡¯s inquiry.¡±No, not their blood.¡±

    Snowy Li heaved a sigh of relief.¡±You scared me to death ...¡±

    Melgen and the other Elfins were stunned because there were only four cats here. If they did not use the blood of the other three cats, where would they find blood to transfuse to the blue cat?

    Zhang Zian¡¯s gaze fell on famous, who was at the door. He walked over, squatted down, and patted its body.¡±Famous, can I borrow some of your blood for dimir?¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡±

    ¡°Gah?¡±

    ¡°Squeak?¡±

    ¡°Meowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeow?¡±

    Melgen¡¯s eyes almost popped out of their sockets when she heard that. The Elfins ¡®jaws almost fell to the ground. They could not believe what they had just heard.

    ¡°Kaka! You idiot, I can understand your feelings, but are you so anxious that you¡¯ve lost your mind?¡± Richard poked his head out of the hood and shouted.

    Snowy Li: ¡°it¡¯s over! It¡¯s over! This stinky man is out of his mind!¡±

    Famous was also confused. It had always thought that it couldn¡¯t help.¡±Uh ... I don¡¯t care, but can my blood lose to dimir?¡±

    Melgen rushed over and grabbed Zhang Zian¡¯s arm,¡±Hey! Are you crazy? Although I don¡¯t know much about pets, I don¡¯t think a dog¡¯s blood should be given to a cat. It will definitely cause a serious rejection reaction. Not only will we not be able to save its life, but it will even ...¡±

    This was a blood transfusion between different species. In her opinion, even if humans and monkeys could exchange blood with each other, it was impossible for cats and dogs to do so. After all, they were not even distant rtives.

    ¡°Yes, I can!¡±

    Zhang Zian gave a serious and positive answer.

    ¡°Cats have blood types too. Most of them are type A, a few are Type B, and a few are type AB. Like humans, you can¡¯t mix different blood types.¡± He looked at dimir and then nced at the other cats.¡±But I don¡¯t know what blood type it has, and I don¡¯t know what blood type they have. No matter which one of them I draw blood from and transfer it to dimir, it¡¯s a gamble.¡±

    In addition to this worry, he was also not sure if ancient cats like fina and snowy Li had different blood types from modern cats.

    ¡°But, even if it¡¯s a gamble, there¡¯s at least a 50% chance of winning. Didn¡¯t you say that most of them are type A?¡± Melgen still did not understand, and neither did the Elfins.¡±But if we use dog¡¯s blood, won¡¯t we not even have a 1% chance of winning?¡±

    Zhang Zian took out the syringe from the first aid kit, which he had found in the bathroom cab of the house.

    ¡°You don¡¯t understand. A dog¡¯s blood can be transfused to a cat, and you don¡¯t have to worry about the blood type.¡± He exined as he prepared for the blood transfusion, or melgen might refuse to help.

    ¡°Since 1962, more than 60 cats have survived through the transfusion of dog blood, and four Rted Papers have been published. The general principle is that the immune system of the serval cat will not immediately reject the first transfusion of dog blood cells. It will take about a week for the rejection to ur.¡± He said.

    ¡°Ah?¡± Melgen was dumbfounded.

    ¡°The point is, the half-life of dog blood cells in a cat¡¯s body is only four days! Do you understand? Before the cat has a rejection reaction, the dog blood cells have all died naturally, and four days is enough to survive the critical period of urgent need for blood transfusion!¡±

    As a good student with good character and academic performance, melgen finally understood that it was taking advantage of a time difference. The cat¡¯s immune system was rtively slow to react to dog¡¯s blood cells. By the time it reacted, the dog¡¯s blood cells that were transfused into the body would have died naturally. Therefore, there would not be a violent rejection reaction. It was much better than randomly transfusing cat blood and trying one¡¯s luck in the situation of unknown blood type.

    ¡°It¡¯s amazing ... Cats and dogs actually have such a rtionship ...¡± She muttered,¡±¡±There must be a reason why God arranged cats and dogs as human¡¯s closest animal friends ...¡±

    ¡°Then can we do the opposite? ¡°Transfusing cat blood to a dog ...¡± She asked curiously.

    ¡°No,¡± Zhang Zian said,¡±it¡¯s impossible to do it the other way around. After all, this is only an emergency n, because a cat can only ept dog blood once in its life. If it¡¯s a second time, even if the bloodes from the same dog and is transfused to the same cat, the cat who is transfused will have serious rejection reactions.¡±

    The cat¡¯s immune system might have a slow reaction the first time, but it was not stupid. It would firmly remember the characteristics of dog blood cells and mark them as invading foreign objects. If dog blood entered the body the second time, it would immediatelyunch an immune attack and expel the dog blood as a foreign object. Not only would it not Save the cat¡¯s life, but it would also lead to the cat¡¯s death.

    He was not very clear about the situation in North America and Europe, but basically all pet hospitals in China did not have a regr cat blood bank. Not to mention China, even the neighboring country, Japan, which was much richer and treated pets better than China, did not have a cat blood bank. When blood was needed, they could only temporarily draw blood from healthy cats in the hospital.

    What if there were no healthy cats in the hospital at that time, or the cat was too old, too young, and too weak to draw blood? The only thing he could do was to tell the public and ask enthusiastic people to bring their cats here to donate blood.

    What if it was in a remote ce, no one nearby voluntarily brought cats to donate blood, or the situation was urgent and no cats were willing to donate blood?

    If there was a dog nearby, as long as it was a healthy adult dog, it could be used as a blood donor in an emergency. Moreover, dogs were usuallyrger than cats, so the impact of blood donation was small.

    However, there were very few people who knew about this. asionally, some people might have heard about it as strange news, but they did not understand the principle behind it. Even most veterinarians in China did not know about it. Fortunately, he knew a professional veterinarian who was a top student.

    Zhang Zian handed melgen a syringe.¡±If you understand, get ready to start. Listen to mymand.¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    Melgen took the syringe in excitement. Her heart was filled with a sacred sense of duty.

    Famous squatted next to the coffee table and ced one of its front paws on the table.¡±Come on!¡±

 Chapter 1618 - -direct transfusion

    <h4>Chapter 1618: Chapter 1618-direct transfusion</h4>

    Melgen had donated her own blood before, and she had also seen other people do so. However, she never knew how animals should donate blood and transfuse blood. She held the syringe nervously, afraid that she would mess it up.

    Zhang Zian forced himself to calm down. He had never eaten pork before, but at least he had seen pigs run. He had seen sun Xiaomeng transfuse blood to cats and dogs in the pet clinic, so he had a general idea of the process. The problem was that hecked a special medicine.

    The beekeepers and Wrangler families that once lived in this Indian vige were self-sufficient. Some things that ordinary City families did not have in stock might be found here.

    Thinking of this, he ran to the kitchen cab and rummaged through it.

    ¡°Kaka! Transfusing dog¡¯s blood to a cat, this sounds like a F * cking dog¡¯s blood!¡± Richard had already jumped out of his hood and wasbing his feathers.¡±¡±The most melodramatic thing is that this isn¡¯t made up!¡±

    Melgen heard it toot, but she didn¡¯t understand Chinese. She didn¡¯t know what the parrot was saying. If she could understand, she would feel the same way.

    ¡°If the first cat that ate the crab was still alive, I would definitely give it an honor.¡± Fina sighed.

    ¡°It¡¯s not just cats that can be transfused with dog blood. Now, scientists are also researching the possibility of transfusing pig blood to humans. ¡± Zhang Zian added.

    Snowy Li nodded in realization.¡±Meow meow meow! It¡¯s true that men are big pig trotters!¡±

    Not only was dog blood not fatal to cats, but it could also prolong their lives. This was simply a piece of news that subvertedmon sense and three views.

    Although cats could only receive dog blood once in their lives, it was enough to give her a further understanding of the wonderful rtionship between living things. She even felt that her suffering was somewhat worth it.

    Zhang Zian saw that she was too nervous, so he rummaged through the things he was looking for while asking her to light all the candles and oilmps she could find to make the room brighter.

    There was no electricity in the house, only oilmps and candles. It was conceivable that the light was not good. When he was sewing just now, he had almost stuck his eyes to dimir¡¯s wound. However, he needed to be more precise when drawing bloodter, so he had to increase the brightness of the light.

    Melgen responded and gathered all the candles and oilmps from the rooms upstairs and downstairs into the living room, decorating the ce like a candlelight church.

    Not only that, but she also brought along all the mirrors and other shiny objects that could be moved to enhance the reflection.

    Jeff, how did you know that cats can receive dog blood?¡± She asked curiously as she set up the ce. After all, this kind of knowledge was too rare.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s hands didn¡¯t stop moving. He kept searching through the bottles and jars in the kitchen, exining casually to satisfy the curiosity of her and the Elfins.

    Once, sun Xiaomeng received a customer who brought a cat to the clinic for emergency treatment. The cat had identally eaten a sausage for a poisoned dog, which had caused severe hemolysis and internal bleeding, and was in urgent need of blood transfusion.

    As Zhang Zian and she both knew, pet hospitals in China basically didn¡¯t have a standing cat blood bank. Blood transfusions could only be done temporarily, not to mention her small pet Clinic, which couldn¡¯t have cat blood.

    However, after testing, the cat¡¯s blood type was the rare Type B blood. Type B blood contained very strong type A antibodies, so type A blood could not be transfused.

    Unfortunately, the few healthy cats in the clinic who met the requirements for blood transfusion were all type A. They were all abandoned by their owners in the clinic.

    At that time, sun Xiaomeng also asked the amazing fate pet shop for help, but Zhang Zian was abroad at that time, and the Abyssinian cats had note to the shop yet. The cats in the shop were all kittens about three months old, which did not meet the conditions for blood donation, so there was no other way.

    So, she proposed to the cat owner to use dog blood to Save the Cat. However, the cat owner was furious and questioned her medical qualifications. No matter how she exined, the other party would not listen. After scolding her, he took the cat and went to a Pet Hospital. However, there were norge pet hospitals nearby, and there was no news on whether the cat was saved in the end.

    Sun Xiaomengined about this in her circle, and Zhang Zian saw it and remembered it in his heart.

    Most mediocre veterinarians didn¡¯t know this unpopr knowledge. A few more ambitious veterinarians might know, but they might not dare to put it into practice, because the disputes in the pet medical industry were no less than that in the human medical industry. If a cat died after receiving a cat blood transfusion, it was understandable. After all, it was a normal treatment. But if a dog blood transfusion couldn¡¯t save the patient, it would be unreasonable, and they might have to pay a lot of money ... First, the doctor needed to be knowledgeable, and second, the customer needed to actively cooperate with the doctor¡¯s work. Neither of these two conditions could be missing.

    Melgen sighed and said enviously,¡±Dr. Sun must be an excellent veterinarian ...¡±

    ¡°Kaka! You¡¯re right!¡± Richard echoed.

    This was not an exaggeration at all. The poption density and pet density in China were far higher than that of Western countries, so the number of surgeries performed by Chinese doctors and veterinarians each year was enough for Western doctors to do for a lifetime. Western doctors could easily earn a high sry by performing one operation a week, but it wasmon for Chinese doctors to die from overwork after three major operations in the morning, afternoon, and evening. The saying ¡°practice makes perfect¡± made sense. In all routine operations that required surgery, the average level of Chinese doctors was basically better than Western doctors.

    ¡°I found it!¡±

    Zhang Zian held up a bottle and saw the words on the bottle with the help of the shlight. Although the small words were a little blurry, the big words ¡°sodium acidic¡± were still very clear.

    As the original owner often came back once every six months, in order to prevent moisture, the mouth of the bottle was sealed very tightly. The White powdered crystals inside looked no different from the new factory, at least not to the naked eye.

    ¡°What¡¯s this for?¡± Melgen asked curiously.

    ¡°It¡¯s a food additive. The owner of this house may often use fruits or wild fruits to brew drinks during the summer, or homemade cheese, but most importantly, sodium incorporeal is an essential anti-coagulosis agent for blood transfusions.¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    Whether it was arge pet Hospital or a small pet Clinic, blood must be temporarily drawn when transfusing to cats. However, if the blood just drawn was directly transfused to cats, it may cause coagtion, so anti-coagtion drugs were needed. Sodium lemonade was the mostmonly used and cheap anti-coagtion drug. The difference between food grade and pharmaceutical grade was very small.

    He had observed the process of sun Xiaomeng preparing sodium acidic solution, drawing blood, and transfusing blood. In medicine, this was called the direct blood transfusion method. It was different from the frozen blood taken from the blood bank. Normally, three people were required to cooperate, one to draw blood, one to pass the blood, and one to transfuse the blood. The blood must be injected as soon as it was drawn. Even if the process of passing the blood was omitted, it would require at least two people. Therefore, he needed melgen¡¯s help, and he could not do it alone.

 Chapter 1619 - A once-in-a-lifetime blood transfusion

    <h4>Chapter 1619: A once-in-a-lifetime blood transfusion</h4>

    Zhang Zian had a small amount of bottled water in his backpack. It was for emergency life-preservation in the event that he couldn¡¯t find a water source. However, he had never encountered a water shortage along the way, so he had not used it.

    He took out a bottle and washed a cup of water. Then, he used a syringe to extract a certain amount of pure water and heated it slightly on a candle. He then used the small scale in the kitchen to weigh a certain amount of sodium acidic Aqua and mixed it together while shaking it evenly. Although he was not particrly urate due to the limitations of the conditions, he could roughly achieve a concentration of about 4%.

    After shaking it well, he used a 50ml syringe to suck 5ml of sodium acidic solution. A ratio of 9 meant that 45ml of blood would be drawnter.

    Famous, you can put down your paw. We¡¯ll need to draw blood from the cervical veinter.¡±

    He saw that famous was still putting one of its front paws on the table, as if it was learning how humans drew blood. He couldn¡¯t help butugh.

    Famous withdrew its front paw in embarrassment.¡±Do you want to cut the hair on the neck shorter?¡± I don¡¯t mind. ¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. Melgen did not wait for his instructions and took the initiative to cut off a piece of hair from dimir¡¯s neck.

    After the wound was stitched up, dimir¡¯s condition did not continue to deteriorate for the time being, but it did not get better either. Its consciousness was on the edge of rity and blurriness, and it was trying hard to fight against the sleeping demon. Even when melgen was trimming its hair, she only nced at her slowly.

    In the two steps of blood drawing and blood transfusion, blood transfusion was more a test of patience, because blood transfusion to cats had to be done very slowly. Under normal circumstances, a tube of blood in this 50ml syringe would take an hour to be injected into dimir¡¯s body, and the first half hour was even slower, so slow that it was suspected that time had stopped.

    With the amount of blood loss that dimir had lost, a tube of blood was definitely not enough, so the time it would take was obvious. It was estimated that it would not be finished even by dawn.

    Of course, dimir¡¯s body was sturdy, and he was in an emergency situation where he needed blood. He could get the blood transfusion a little faster.

    Zhang Zian handed over the task of blood transfusion to melgen. He was only responsible for drawing blood because he had other things to do. He was eager to understand what had happened and whether old time tea and French pushing, who were not present, could encounter the same danger.

    He repeatedly emphasized the important points of blood transfusion to melgen, and she kept them in mind.

    He found famous ¡®and dimir¡¯s cervical veins with the help of the shlight and candlelight, as well as the feeling of his hand. He marked them with a marker and slowly drew a tube of blood from famous¡¯s body. He stopped several times in the middle and waited for the blood to mix with the solution quietly. Then, he continued to draw. It took him quite a long time to fill up a tube of blood. He shook it evenly and handed it to melgen.

    Melgen inserted the needle into dimir¡¯s cervical vein and started to push it carefully at an extremely slow speed.

    Zhang Zian began to draw a second tube of blood.

    The room was extremely quiet. The Elfins silently watched the two of them draw blood and push blood, not even daring to breathe.

    Famous had repeatedly asked for more. It could withstand it, but Zhang Zian only filled five syringes in the end, which was enough to help dimir survive the most dangerous stage.

    By the time he had finished drawing five tubes, melgen had not even fully injected one tube of blood into dimir¡¯s body.

    She was fully focused, and sometimes slow was more tiring than fast.

    dimir seemed to have fallen asleep, but it was not the kind of dangerous sleep it had. Its blood had been slightly replenished, and its breathing was calmer than before.

    Famousy down tiredly.¡±I¡¯m going to rest for a while, I¡¯ll be fine in a while ...¡±

    Zhang Zian ced the remaining four syringes side by side on the coffee table. He gave fina a look, and they quietly went outside.

    ¡°What happened?¡± He had wanted to ask for a long time, but he held back and did not dare to ask, because he was worried that once he knew the situation, he would not be able to focus on treating dimir.

    Fina remorsefully and remorsefully told him what had happened after they had split up.

    The thrilling, bizarre, and tortuous process made Zhang Zian secretly shocked.¡±So, Grandpa tea and the French pushing are now in a fierce battle?¡±

    There was no need to borate on old time tea¡¯s skills. Before the Dharma idol turned over a new leaf, it was a notorious killer with excellent hunting skills. However, the two of them had not returned yet, which proved that the enemy¡¯s strength and cunning were beyond imagination.

    With dimir as a lesson, he was deeply worried about the current situation of old time tea and French pushing. He really didn¡¯t dare to imagine what would happen if even old time tea and French pushing met with an unexpected situation ...

    Fina nodded heavily.¡±Yes, if there¡¯s nothing that I need to do here, I¡¯ll immediately go and help!¡±

    In fact, it had wanted to go for a long time, but if it left, Zhang Zian would not know what had happened, so it was anxious and held back.

    Zhang Zian looked at the blood, dust, grass, and a few bruises on its body. He knew that it had not been easy for it to help dimir break out of the encirclement. Heforted it,¡±¡±You don¡¯t have to me yourself. dimir won¡¯t me you, but you¡¯d better stay here. Otherwise, if the cats find this ce, who will stop them? As you can see, the blood transfusion process is very slow, and it can¡¯t withstand any unexpected interference. ¡±

    He understood Fina¡¯s desire to fight and wash away its shame, but what it needed the most now was rest. Melgen, dimir, and famous, who was tired from drawing blood in the house, all needed its protection. He could not count on snowy Li and Richard, could he?

    Fina was both depressed and anxious, but it could not refute Zhang Zian¡¯s words. If dimir¡¯s blood transfusion process was interrupted, it would be wrong again and again.

    ¡°Alright ...¡± After weighing the pros and cons, it reluctantly agreed. It stared at him and said,¡±¡±However, you have to promise this Queen that you will make those two bastards pay with their blood! Otherwise, you don¡¯t need toe back to see bengong!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I promise. ¡± He patted his chest and said.

    He might have fooled fina many times in his life, but at least this time, he was more sincere than ever. His hatred for the murderer was no less than fina ¡®s, and he couldn¡¯t wait to cut them into a thousand pieces to vent his hatred!

    ¡°Squeak!¡±

    Pi gestured with its wooden stick, meaning that although it didn¡¯t have much ability, it still wanted to avenge dimir.

    ¡°Kaka! How can I miss out on this kind of thing!¡±

    Richard had always been a coward. If it was the usual him, he would have preferred to stay in a rtively safe house.

    ¡°Meow! Beat the bad Cat!¡±

    Even Gxy, who had always been kind to others, clenched its fists, which was rare.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go together. We¡¯ll take revenge for dimir!¡±

    He also raised his fist firmly.

    Fina returned to the room and helped him lock the door.

    The wolf that had led Zhang Zian back to the barren vige was still lying outside, resting. Zhang Zian walked over and patted it, then pointed to the forest.¡±Take me to help your boss.¡±

 Chapter 1620 - The sage of the Western regions

    <h4>Chapter 1620: The sage of the Western regions</h4>

    In fact, dimir¡¯s life wasn¡¯t entirely saved by old time tea. Of course, old time tea¡¯s help must have yed a part, but the main reason was that the second cat had held back when it attacked and didn¡¯t kill it.

    It sounded unbelievable. The two sides were clearly mortal enemies, so why did they hold back?

    This was because it judged that heavily injuring dimir was in the best interest. If dimir died on the spot, fina and old time tea would definitely fight it and its teacher to the death. It believed that the strength of both sides was equal, and it was not known who would win. But if there was still a child from another family, fina and old time tea would definitely not be able to fight with all their strength in order to take care of the injured dimir. When it and its teacherpletely gained the upper hand, they would kill fina and old time tea first, then end dimir¡¯s life. This was the best choice.

    Just like how a smart sniper would injure the first enemy on the battlefield but not kill him, and then wait for the enemy¡¯srades toe to rescue, he would take advantage of the enemy¡¯s stupid friendship and kill one if one came, and kill two if two came. This would be more beneficial than simply killing the first enemy.

    It believed that fina and old time tea were such stupid enemies. They were not wise enough to abandon their teammates, and in the end, they could only die together.

    However, even though it had nned well, the sudden appearance of the divination disrupted its n.

    Both it and its teacher believed that the divination was doomed. When they saw the divination, they knew that something was wrong.

    The change in the situation forced it to revise its n.

    Seeing that fina was about to leave the battlefield with the injured dimir, letting them go at this time would be tantamount to raising Tigers. It would be difficult for the cats to stop them, so it jumped up and nned to intercept them personally.

    As soon as it moved, a gray figure immediately leaped in front of it, sealing off all its routes of advancement. If it tried to force its way in, the door would definitely open.

    ¡°Hehe, your opponent is me.¡±

    Although old time tea wasughing, it was obviously really angry.

    No matter how angry it was, it still maintained the demeanor of a martial artist. It cupped its fists and bowed,¡±¡±I¡¯m old time tea. I¡¯m willing to fight with you. May I know your name?¡±

    The moment old time tea cupped its fists, the other party¡¯s eyes shed coldly. He thought that this was an opportunity andunched another sneak attack.

    However, old time tea already knew how despicable the other party was, so it didn¡¯t let its guard down when it cupped its fists. It immediately spread its fists and waved its ws to fight back.

    In the blink of an eye, the two figures separated and each took a few steps back.

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Old time tea was surprised, because it had seen a lot and had vaguely perceived the opponent¡¯s moves from the brief exchange of blows just now. On one hand, the other side had attacked old time tea with his elbow and knee, and on the other hand, he had used his fingers like a sword to stab old time tea¡¯s vital parts. It was the same move that he had used to injure dimir, but it waspletely different from the Central ins martial arts that were better at using boxing, palm strikes, and whip kicks.

    If it weren¡¯t for old time tea¡¯s richbat experience, it would have been injured by the opponent¡¯s strange move in the first round.

    ¡°Could it be a martial art from beyond the Great Wall?¡±

    ¡°Hmph, you have good eyes.¡± This was the first time the other party had opened his mouth since he appeared. His voice was low and full of vigor.

    Old time tea was confused.¡±The martial arts of the frontier originated from the Kunlun Mountain. They belong to the same line of Chinese martial arts. Why are you helping outsiders?¡±

    ¡°Bah! Who is a Chinese martial arts branch? Don¡¯t put gold on your face! I don¡¯t mind telling you since you¡¯re going to die soon. My name is Emile. ¡±

    Aamir showed his door in a strange posture, which was different from the martial arts of the Central ins.¡±The Prophet¡¯s fist technique was passed down by the sage.¡±

    Old time tea took a deep breath. The other party was still vague, or it might be taboo for the venerable to change a few words in the pithy form. But based on the other party¡¯s posture, old time tea had confirmed his identity and school. It was indeed the martial arts of Kunlun Mountain, which it had guessed.

    ¡°Alright, since you don¡¯t admit that you are from the same line of Chinese martial arts, then this old man will not show any mercy.¡± Old time tea also showed the door of Wing Chun fist.

    Old time tea was kind and didn¡¯t want to kill dimir. After all, although dimir was injured, it was not dead. It would be against the heavens to take his life, and revenge would never end. However, the other party had even abandoned his identity as a member of the Chinese martial arts. It was likely that keeping him alive would only bring trouble to them. Therefore, old time tea had a rare killing intent.

    On the other hand, Fati blocked the first cat that attacked fina and said coldly,¡±¡±I heard the guards call you Lord miezha. That must be your name.¡±

    When its limbs and mouth were tied up, it had heard the guard and the woman mention the name in awe. At first, it didn¡¯t know who it was referring to. After all, it had never heard Zhang Zian tell that story. But after listening for a while, it knew that it was the cat in front of it.

    Miezha sneered.¡±It¡¯s a pity that I only covered your mouth and not your ears. Those guards are really useless. Otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t be alive in front of me ... But it doesn¡¯t matter. This is thest thing you will know before you die.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d better pray that your real ability is half as good as your glib tongue. ¡± Fa TUI sneered back.

    ¡°Teacher! Don¡¯t waste your breath on them, just kill them!¡± ¡°Then go after the others!¡± Aamir shouted.

    Miaizha nodded and gave Aamir a look. The two of them had worked together for a long time, so they knew each other¡¯s thoughts. There was no need for words. Aamir immediately understood and jumped into the dark forest.

    ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going, you rat!¡±

    Old time tea knew that the other party was going to split up and attack them separately, but since it had already made up its mind to kill them, it could only follow them into the forest.

    How could the other party¡¯s real skills be put aside for the time being? just these endless tricks alone were not what a gentleman should do. Obviously, they couldpete with each other in a fair and square way, but they were full of schemes. This alone made them inferior, and old time tea despised them.

    Fati and miaizha remained where they were, staring at each other. They knew that this battle was bound to happen sooner orter. Only one of them was destined to leave this forest alive. This had nothing to do with personal grudges, but something of a higher level.

    Since Amir had called miaizha his teacher, Fati knew that Amir¡¯s moves were strange when he attacked old time tea. Since miaizha was Amir¡¯s teacher, his moves were probably from the same origin. Miaizha often attacked from unexpected angles and methods, and his teacher must be more skillful.

    However, to Fati¡¯s surprise, miezha raised his ws and lowered his body. He gave up on his strange moves and rushed straight at it, as if he was going to fight like a reckless man who would end up with both sides injured!

 Chapter 1621 - The Prophet and Saint

    <h4>Chapter 1621: The Prophet and Saint</h4>

    Fati knew nothing about Chinese martial arts. When it watched the fight between old time tea and Amir, it only felt that it was very magical. The way they used their strength waspletely different from the fighting style of Western Warriors. It was both gorgeous and strange, as if each move contained countless follow-up moves. The flexibility of a cat¡¯s body made their martial arts level far beyond the limit of human beings. Fati¡¯s eyes could not even keep up with their movements.

    However, Fati had a strong perception. Perhaps it was because it had a lot of experience in hunting in the wild, but it actually found some animal shadows in old time tea and Amir¡¯s moves. It seemed that these moves were improved by humans after imitating the movements of animals, including cats, snakes, Lions, Eagles, and other fierce beasts. This was Fati¡¯s best field.

    Ever since it appeared in the city of St. Francisco, Fati noticed that it was no longer in its original era. It was very different in all aspects, one of which was the wilderness. The wilderness of this era was very deste, while the wilderness of its era was full of danger. All kinds of beasts wandered in the dark, including some beasts that had quietly be extinct in the modern era. Even it had to tuck its tail between its legs and act like a Wolf. There were also bandits gathering in the mountains, burning, piging, and doing all kinds of evil.

    Fati had fought with all kinds of beasts, so it could see the shadows of the animals in Chinese martial arts at a nce. It had initially formted a countermeasure, but it never expected miezha to rush up and fight with it in a way that would cause both sides to suffer. The way miezha fought was rough and unrefined, like a vige man hugging, throwing, scratching, biting, and punching. It was simply a surprise to Fati!

    As the saying goes, a chaotic punch can kill an old master. Caught off guard, the Fati suffered a few hits and was scratched with a few bloody marks. With the advantage of his body size and weight, he could still hold on for the moment.

    Under the storm-like attacks, the pushing spell retreated continuously to avoid being hugged by the other party. Because once the two of them hugged each other, no matter how exquisite the move was, it would be useless. Then, they could only instinctively bite each other¡¯s neck and see who would bite the other to death first.

    Fati didn¡¯t know why Mieza chose this strategy. It was because Fati would definitely have the absolute advantage in a neck-bitingpetition. Whether it was the length, sharpness or bite force of its teeth, it would never lose to a cat. It was confident that it could bite the enemy to death first.

    Of course, under the enemy¡¯s counterattack, it would also be injured, but not to the extent of death.

    It was because it was too easy that it was suspicious. Why would miezha choose such a suicidal attack?

    Before it could figure out the problem, it would rather be at a disadvantage of being beaten.

    Before it met Zhang Zian, when it led the Wolf Pack and confronted the cat Pack, it had deeply felt the other party¡¯s slyness, so it was more careful.

    ¡°Is that all you¡¯ve got? Did your master only teach you this much? Or do you n to be like your useless master, hiding for the rest of your life, wasting your life on insignificant things, and finally die a tragic death like an old dog?¡± Miezha used physical attacks and verbal attacks at the same time, trying to provoke Fati, just like how it had provoked fina.

    Fati¡¯s life and experience were different from fina ¡®s, so its personality was also different. It did not have Fina¡¯s arrogance, and its feelings for its master were not like Fina¡¯s attachment, but more like ... A fellow Taoist. Therefore, miezha¡¯s words were ineffective against Fati. Its master¡¯s glorious and great life had long been concluded, and the nder of a heretic cat was insignificant.

    To settle the matters of the church and win fame in life and death. He chose the path he wanted and stuck to it for his whole life. He had many followers when he was alive and was widely recognized after his death. Even his enemies recognized him as an impable Saint, a near-perfect person. Even today, there was a prosperous Super City named after him ... What could be more fortunate than this?

    Due to theck of information, Fina¡¯s master had been controversial. Therefore, fina was very sensitive to remarks that ndered her and could not tolerate it. However, it was different for the Fati. Its master ... No, its brother was an indisputable Saint!

    Fati suddenly thought it through. It remembered those strange cats that had been resurrected from the dead. If those cats were resurrected because of miaizha¡¯s power, then miaizha, who was the source, might also have the ability to resurrect!

    It all made sense now. Why would miezha use such a brutal method of exchanging a life for a life ... It was because it could be resurrected, but thew could not.

    Fati was different from fina and dimir. It knew that a person had been resurrected 2000 years ago, so it naturally epted the possibility of resurrection.

    After understanding the cause and effect, fa Xiu was even more vignt and did not allow miezha to get close to him, but he still had no idea how to defeat miezha.

    The reaction speed and dynamic vision of canines were inherently inferior to that of felines, and this gap would not be erased even after bing an elfin. In the face of the enemy¡¯s truly crazy attacks, thew attribute could not avoid all the attacks and could only fight and retreat. It had already suffered several injuries. If this battle of attrition continued, it would also lose without a doubt.

    ¡°My brother, please give me strength and help me defeat the evil demon!¡±

    It had no other choice but to pray.

    ¡°Forget your faith! Your faith can¡¯t protect you!¡± Miaizhaughed wildly and increased his attack in an attempt to disrupt its prayer.

    The Fati was unmoved. It had undergone a harsher test. The enemy¡¯s attack would not distract it. Once the prayer began, it would not stop until it achieved its goal.

    It prayed even louder, and its eyes seemed to prate the dark night sky and the dirty clouds to see him in the sky.

    ¡°Evil demons appear in all kinds of forms. Sometimes they are human, sometimes they are non-human. The best way to defeat them is personal sacrifice and unremitting efforts!¡±

    ¡°My brother! When I need it, please give me strength! You are my shelter, my power. I fear nothing, because you are with me!¡±

    Fati¡¯s prayers seemed to be of no use. There were more and more injuries on its body, and more and more blood was flowing out, but it was still praying, burning its own life like a candle.

    Blood flowed down from its back, from its four limbs, through its left rib and four feet, leaving blood stains on the ground.

    On his left rib and four legs, the five originally light red scars became unusually distinct after being stained with blood. These five ces were clearly uninjured, but it seemed as if blood was about to gush out.

    Personal sacrifice and unremitting efforts were the only way to win the favor of God. This was God¡¯s trial for people, or else they could not prove their piety.

 Chapter 1622 - difficult to determine victory

    <h4>Chapter 1622: Chapter 1622-difficult to determine victory</h4>

    After all, the ordinary Wolf at the Door was not an elfin, and its ability to understand was limited. Zhang Zian had to exin and gesture several times before it seemed to understand what he meant, and it turned and ran into the forest.

    Only Gxy, Richard, and Pi Feifei went out with Zhang Zian. To put it bluntly, they were the three most difficult Elfins to fight. Snowy Li chose to stay with fina, which was a good thing. It would save them the trouble of having an empty rear.

    He jogged a few steps and was about to leave the barren vige when the feeling of being spied on appeared again.

    In the second half of the forest trip, this feeling had appeared more than once. Sometimes it was strong, sometimes it was weak, and sometimes it was erratic. Sometimes, the feeling of being peeked was so strong that he thought that as long as he turned around, he would be able to see the true face of the peeper. However, when he put it into action, he still saw nothing.

    He didn¡¯t want to cause any additional psychological burden to the elves, so he didn¡¯t mention it. Besides, it had no actual impact, so there was no need to worry about it.

    It was simr to dimir¡¯s peeking in the capital. He did not feel any malice from the peeking. Of course, it was different from dimir¡¯s kind of testing peeking. This peeking was more like a simple observation.

    ¡°Squeak?¡±

    Pi saw him slow down and gestured to ask.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Let¡¯s go. ¡± He still buried his doubts in his heart and bore them himself.

    The wolf led them for a while, and the more he walked, the more shocking it became. The surrounding thorns, weeds, and shrubs were crushed to varying degrees. Some ces were stained with a small amount of blood, and hair was everywhere. There was wolf hair and cat hair everywhere. It could be imagined how shocking it was when the Wolf Pack escorted fina and dimir out of the siege.

    They entered a small clearing in the forest, where the traces of battle were even more obvious. There was also a pool of dried blood on the ground, and the blood droplets, from big to small, pointed to the way they hade.

    Clearly, this was the ce where dimir had been ambushed.

    However, where were Fati, old time tea, and the enemy?

    The wolf sniffed around on the ground. The smell here was too messy, and it had not been professionally trained. It was not difficult to find the smell of a magical deduction from theplicated smell, but it was difficult to determine which way it had gone.

    Richard had been ying the hero just now, but now he was a little regretful. After all, when he was with the big group, he could do whatever he wanted. Now, there were only small groups left, and each one was more cowardly than thest. It made him feel that his life was in danger.

    Pi was also very nervous. It held the wooden stick so tightly that its palms turned white.

    Gxy was as calm as usual, as if it didn¡¯t feel scared at all, even in this small battlefield.

    Suddenly startled

    à»à»~à»à»~à»ÎØ¨C

    A Wolf¡¯s howl came from a certain direction, and it didn¡¯t sound too far away.

    Zhang Zian let out a sigh of relief. This should be thew of deduction, right?

    ¡°Hey!¡± He snapped his fingers and called the wolf.¡±Is that yourpanion¡¯s voice? Is it aw deduction?¡±

    He could hear Fati¡¯s voice, but the wolf howls ... They all sounded simr to him. Maybe Sihwa could hear the difference, but she was not here.

    The Wolf¡¯s ears twitched, and it seemed to be a little hesitant. After a few seconds, it ran in that direction and went into the forest.

    After walking for a while, the wolf walked slower and slower. It tried to put its nose close to the ground to find the smell, but its eyes became more and more confused, as if ... It couldn¡¯t find the smell.

    However, every once in a while, there would be faint howls of wolvesing from the front. The howls were not loud and were alwaysing from not far away, as if they were guiding them forward.

    This strange situation made Zhang Zian wonder if it was another trap.

    But he had no other way to find old time tea and French pushing. Even though he knew it was a trap, he could only force himself to move forward.

    After walking for a while.

    Huuuu

    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

    Hu Hu

    ¡°Swish!¡±

    ¡°Ha!¡±

    The faint sounds of fierce fighting and the shouts of exhaling from the sharp moves could be heard from the front.

    It was Grandpa tea!

    Zhang Zian¡¯s spirit was lifted. It didn¡¯t seem to be a trap. Old time tea was fighting fiercely with the enemy, but he didn¡¯t know what the Fati was doing and didn¡¯t hear the sound of it.

    It was rare for old time tea to meet an equal opponent today. Its strength might be slightly better than Aamir ¡®s, but Aamir¡¯s moves were very strange. They were different from the martial arts of the Central ins. He used the flexibility of the cat bone armor and joints to counterattack from unexpected angles and even his disadvantage.

    In addition, old time tea was worried about dimir and Fati¡¯s situation. It was sure that Amir had other ns for separating it and Fati. Perhaps miaizha was very good at fighting Fati, so in order to prevent them from changing opponents, it had brought him here to fight. It had only thought about it after it came here. It wanted to go back, but was stopped by Amir. It seemed that it had to defeat Amir before it could meet with Fati.

    Aamir had a strong foundation, strange moves, and a fat but flexible body. It would take him at least a few hundred rounds to determine the winner.

    Unlike humans, they did not fight on the ground. Their battlefield was three-dimensional. From the 100-meter-tall red wood Ridge to the dark, rugged rocks, there were w marks everywhere. Branches, leaves, and wild grass were cut into pieces as if they had been cut by a meat grinder. Grass and tree sap flowed all over the ground, emitting a pungent smell.

    All the animals in the vicinity, whether they were carnivorous or herbivores, had all fled, giving their territory to these two fiends.

    After 200 rounds, Aamir knew that he was not as good as his opponent in terms of Kung Fu and experience. It was only a matter of time before he lost the fight. He pretended to lose the fight and fell from the top of a tree with a cry.

    Old time tea was in a hurry to join up with the Dharma Protector, so it immediately chased after Aamir and tried to kill him.

    However, Emile was lying on the ground. One of its paws had already dug into the ground. Seeing old time tea approaching, it raised its paw and a piece of sand and soil flew toward old time tea¡¯s head.

    ¡°Despicable!¡±

    Old time tea was shocked and angry. The other party¡¯s Kung Fu was at the master level, but they used this kind of sand-confusing tacticmonly used in street fights.

    It immediately lowered its head and held its chest. The sand and mud hit its bamboo hat. Although it was not blinded, it knew that the enemy was pretending to be defeated, and the insidious counterattack woulde immediately. So it did not have time to raise its head, but quickly retreated, its ws in front of its body to protect the vital parts of its chest and abdomen.

    ¡°^*&amp;%)(*&amp;!¡±

    As expected, Amir shouted a name in anguage that old time tea didn¡¯t understand. He used the same trick he used to attack dimir. His fingers were like swords, and he stabbed toward old time tea¡¯s chest. It was the famous finger technique in the Kunlun Mountain martial arts of the Western Region, which was tranted as the finger of faith.

    Old time tea was prepared, but the area that its ws could cover was limited. It couldn¡¯t cover all the chest and abdomen.

    Old time tea heard the sound of the sword fingers breaking the wind and knew that it was not good. It made up its mind and changed its defense to attack. If the other side did not withdraw its fingers, it was bound to end up with a lose-lose situation.

    Zhang Zian imitated Emile¡¯s pronunciation and shouted,¡±¡±Eh? F * cking light!¡±

    He turned on the shlight and pointed it at Emile¡¯s eyes.

 Chapter 1623 - unjust acts lead to self-destruction

    <h4>Chapter 1623: Chapter 1623-unjust acts lead to self-destruction</h4>

    In the pitch-ck Forest and the pitch-ck night sky, a strong sh of light from a shlight hit Emile like a bolt of lightning.

    Nocturnal animals were most afraid of sudden bright light that shot directly into their eyes. The tactical shlight¡¯s light convergence was very strong. Even in the daytime, the human eyes could not stand it, let alone nocturnal animals, who had widened their pupils to the limit to collect weak light.

    Back in the desert of Egypt, Zhang Zian had used his shlight to shake a nest of alert fennec foxes so much that they couldn¡¯t take care of themselves. Even Fina¡¯s eyes had been identally shaken. The speed of light was the fastest in the universe, faster than the speed of any martial arts master¡¯s fist.

    It was like a sun had risen in front of Emile¡¯s eyes, and after extreme brightness, it was followed by explosive blindness.

    It screamed and lost its aim, but old time tea¡¯s counterattack didn¡¯t miss. It left three deep wounds on its front w and chest.

    ¡°Old time tea, I¡¯m sorry for interfering, but I can¡¯t stand this kind of despicable man.¡±

    Zhang Zian had just arrived a few seconds ago when he saw the thrilling scene. In fact, he was worried that his intervention would make old time tea feel that it was unfair to win with so many people. However, when he saw that Amir was using despicable means to win, he couldn¡¯t help it anymore. His principle had always been to give old time tea a taste of its own medicine.

    Old time tea¡¯s counterattack was instinctive. Although it was determined to kill the viin, it still held back at thest moment. Otherwise, Amir would have died on the spot.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Everyone has the right to kill rebels and traitors! Moreover, the other party was disloyal in the first ce, so it¡¯s not our fault for not following the rules of the martial world. ¡± Old time tea shook its head and panted slightly. The intense battle just now had also exhausted it.

    Emile was an upright cat, but it was also flexible. It would not abide by meaningless and pedantic beliefs. After Amile¡¯s repeated sneak attacks, he had lost the qualification to be a martial artist.

    ¡°How are dimir¡¯s injuries?¡± It asked worriedly, panting.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already bandaged it, and famous has also given it blood. When I left, its condition had improved, so it should be fine.¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    Old time tea was shocked. It often watched TV and knew about blood transfusion, but how could a dog transfuse blood to a cat?

    ¡°I¡¯ll exin itter. Grandpa tea, where is the Fati? She¡¯s not with you?¡± He looked around.

    When he arrived, he thought that Fati was also injured, but he didn¡¯t see Fati after looking around.

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve been separated from you. I¡¯ll deal with this one, and you¡¯ll deal with the other one. I don¡¯t know how it¡¯s doing, but the enemy is cruel and cunning. It¡¯s better for us to go and help.¡± Old time tea said as it pointed at Emile.

    ¡°Kaka! This idiot is really not afraid of anyone!¡± Seeing that the crisis was over, Richard fluttered his wings and became active again. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that it was too dark, he would have flown to Emile¡¯s head and pooped.

    Aamir was severely injured. He had a wild spirit in him, so he was able to hold himself up with a rock. However, the wound on his chest was bleeding rapidly, and he would die soon if he didn¡¯t get treated.

    ¡°Hehe, keep dreaming! That Wolf has already been turned into ashes by our teacher. Even if you go, you will only see its corpse!¡± Emile shouted arrogantly.

    Emile was not only cruel to his enemies, but also to himself. He used his uninjured front paw to dig out a handful of mud and covered the wound on his chest with it. Then he stumbled and ran in the opposite direction, not caring that his wound might get infected.

    It had a n in its mind. If Zhang Zian and old time tea chased it, it would buy time for the teacher to kill the Fati. If they didn¡¯t chase it, it might be able to escape back to the big house at the North Sea Cape in time to save its life.

    The enemy¡¯s fierce style made Zhang Zian and old time tea hesitate for a second or two. Old time tea moved its body and was about to end Amir¡¯s life so that it wouldn¡¯t hurt people again in the future. Suddenly, a ck shadow jumped out of the woods next to them, opened its bloody mouth, and bit Amir.

    Old time tea stopped and looked sideways. It was the gray wolf that had led Zhang Zian and the others here!

    The grey wolf seemed to have gone berserk. Its eyes were red as it held down Emile¡¯s body with its front paws. It shook its head and kept tearing at Emile with its sharp teeth. Emile screamed as the grey wolf tore the cat into pieces. Blood and organs were all over the ground. It was a horrible sight.

    Miaizha had been blessed by the Prophet and had nine lives, but Aamir was not so lucky. He was powerful in martial arts, but he could not be resurrected in his full form like miaizha. At most, he could be resurrected as a Walking Dead like ordinary cats. If he did that, he would not have even one percent of his martial arts skills left.

    Now that it had been torn to pieces, it was impossible for it to even revive as a walking corpse.

    A generation¡¯s Grandmaster-level cat had ended up with a tragic ending, which made people wring their wrists and sigh. It could only me itself for being unjust and bringing about its own destruction.

    Pi was so scared that it covered its eyes and hid behind Richard. Richard also shrank his head back in fear, not daring to breathe.

    Zhang Zian and old time tea were both shocked, because the Wolf Pack led by Fati before adopted a ... Humanitarian killing style. They only bit the cat to death, but did not destroy the cat¡¯s body, let alone eat the cat. This originated from the faith of Fati, so the Wolf Pack was strictly prohibited from torturing and killing. This was the benevolence of Fati. Of course, objectively, it also left behind future trouble. The cats that kept the intact body wereter resurrected as The Walking Dead.

    And this Wolf ... Why did it suddenly change?

    Awoo~awoo~

    Aamir, who had been cut into eight pieces, was as dead as dead could be. The wolf howled at the sky as if the smell of blood had awakened its ancient wildness. The gentleness in its eyes was reced by violence. No one would mistake it for a big dog now.

    Hu~

    The gray wolf, whose face and teeth were stained with cat blood, looked up at Zhang Zian, turned around, and ran into the forest, quickly disappearing.

    ¡°CAW ... Why aren¡¯t you guys talking? What was that scream just now? Howe I can still hear the crunching sound of bones being crushed?¡± Richard asked in a trembling voice.

    Zhang Zian and old time tea looked at each other. They both felt that something was wrong, but the most important thing now was to quickly answer Fati. They could exin the question about the wolf to Fati after the matter was resolved.

    Old time tea had a keen sense of smell. It didn¡¯t need to show off when famous was leading the way. At this time, it led Zhang Zian and the Elfins back to the ce where they had fought before, and then followed the smell of the Fati.

 Chapter 1624 - -change

    <h4>Chapter 1624: Chapter 1624-change</h4>

    Under miezha¡¯s frenzied attack, the Fati was soon covered in wounds. Of course, it did cause some damage to miezha, but what was the use? The other party could resurrect with full health, deliberately die once after being injured, and then turn around to be a good man again.

    In terms of reaction speed, attack speed, and dynamic vision, Fati was at a disadvantage. It was like a strength-type hero in a game who had strength but was beaten by an agility-type hero. Moreover, this agility-type hero had a resurrection artifact on him, so it was even more difficult to fight.

    It prayed loudly. The damage to its body could not shake the devotion in its heart, just like a me that could not be extinguished by the storm ... Or rather, the more damage its body was damaged, the more it could concentrate its will on its brain and pray. It was as if it had abandoned its body, and its soul became lighter and lighter, as if it had been sublimated.

    It firmly believed that prayers would be answered for no reason, and there was no need for evidence to prove it. This was because when doubts were raised in the heart, the prayer was no longer pure, and an impure prayer could not be answered by God.

    The five red wounds on Fati¡¯s body became more and more obvious, and in the end, blood really seeped out from these five old wounds.

    Miezha, who had the upper hand, suddenly felt something strange. He was about to add a new wound to the push spell, but he stopped in time and took a few steps back.

    Its messy hair and bleeding body did not make it look bad. It looked solemn and aloof, as if it had forgotten the enemy in front of it. It looked up at the sky and said softly,¡±

    ¡°Let there be light.¡±

    Before he could finish his sentence, a narrow gap appeared in the dark sky, and a beam of sunlight pierced through the clouds, shrouding Fati like a stage spotlight.

    It turned out that it was already sunrise, but because the clouds were too thick, none of them realized it while they were fighting.

    It was a very strange scene. In the chaotic and dark world, there was only one beam of light that pierced through the darkness, and the scattered light illuminated the bottom of the clouds, making the rolling clouds look even more ferocious, as if countless ghosts were distorted by the sun and finally evaporated into invisible water vapor.

    Compared to the wonders of nature, miezha was more shocked by the changes in Fati¡¯s body. The devout Wolf¡¯s body swelled up like a balloon. As a European gray wolf, it was originally thinner and weaker than the North American gray wolf, but its body had quickly expanded to be taller and bigger than the North American gray wolf!

    The difference in size between a Wolf and a cat was already huge. When Fati¡¯s body expanded, it was like a giant and a dwarf against miezha.

    In the animal kingdom, body size and weight were the absolute rules. Even if people often said that felines could beat dogs, it was based on the premise that the difference in body size and weight was limited and that the two sides were not in a life and death battle.

    Not only did Fati¡¯s body expand, but its hair also grew like wild grass. Thick and long hair that wasparable to soft armor covered its entire body, and its fangs became longer and sharper. It looked like a giant wolf that had gone extinct since ancient times.

    The world was dark, and fa tuo was bathed in the only ray of sunlight. There seemed to be something invisible and untouchable on his body, such as ... Divinity.

    ¡°What kind of trick is this? You don¡¯t have any other abilities, do you only know how to use these ridiculous smokescreens?¡±

    Miezha cursed. He had a bad feeling. Things were getting out of his control. If he waited any longer, God knew if the Fati would expand further. He reached out his ws again and charged at the Fati.

    However, it soon discovered an embarrassing problem. Its front ws were not long enough.

    Fati¡¯s limbs grew longer as its body expanded. Otherwise, it would be out of proportion. Now that Fati had extended its forelimbs, it could hit miezha, but miezha could not reach Fati ...

    Hu!

    Fati¡¯s wound was no longer bleeding. It suddenly jumped up and pounced on miezha like Mount Tai. Miezha could only Dodge, or else she would be squashed ...

    Mieza relied on his agility to roll to the side. From the sound and vibration when the French tussle fell to the ground, he thought that the French tussle¡¯s weight might have reached more than 100 kilograms, which was almost ten times his weight.

    ¡°Dammit! He was as stupid as a pig, and even wild boars would not use such a stupid tactic! Are you a F * cking kangaroo? Oh! I¡¯ve heard that there¡¯s an animal called a coyote, so your father is a Wolf and your mother is a kangaroo? Or the other way around?¡±

    Miezha kept cursing and swearing. It was an insult to his status, but the more he cursed, the more guilty he felt, because he couldn¡¯t think of any way to counter this stupid tactic.

    Fati was unmoved and allowed it to curse as it jumped and pounced in the air, forcing miezha to sh around.

    Miaizha was not afraid of being killed by the push. At most, he could just revive. However, if the push could cost him one life without paying any price, it would not be worth it.

    Seeing that the scales of victory were tilting in favor of the Fati, the cunning Mieza calmed down after the initial panic. He dodged the attack of the Fati and suddenly realized that he was in a daze because he was too eager to kill the Fati. Why was he so tired of running around? Couldn¡¯t he just go up the tree and hide? Wolves can¡¯t climb trees anyway.

    The trees in the mahogany forest grew taller. The tallest ones were hundreds of meters tall, and the ordinary ones were dozens of meters tall. If it were the short trees in the outside world, the giant wolf might be able to jump up. However, no Wolf could jump to the top of the trees here.

    Miezha took advantage of the opening and jumped onto the nearest tree. Her ws clung firmly to the tree trunk, and she quickly climbed to a height that the French TUI could never reach.

    The situation was in a stalemate. The cat and the wolf were staring at each other on the tree, and neither could do anything to the other.

    Miezha got a chance to catch his breath and calmed down to think of a n.

    After some preliminary analysis, it decided that it would be better for it to drag this on until Emile took care of the old cat ...

    Awoo~awoo~

    However, a strange wolf howl suddenly came from Emile¡¯s direction.

    Miaizha¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He had a bad feeling about this. ¡°Could it be ... Could it be that my favorite student, Amir, is dead?¡±

    What an idiot! He had actually died at the hands of his enemy ...

    Miaizha thought to himself. However, before he felt sorry for Aamir, he had to think about himself. If the enemy had already killed Aamir, they would only be waiting for the tea-colored old cat. It would be dangerous even if they were on the tree.

    ¡°Do you think you¡¯re the only one who can pray? Now, let me teach you what a real prayer is!¡±

    Miaizha made up her mind. Sheughed at fa tuo, theny down on the branch and began to pray to the East.

 Chapter 1625 - -divine ice descends from the heavens

    <h4>Chapter 1625: Chapter 1625-divine ice descends from the heavens</h4>

    ¡°F * ck! What the hell?¡±

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins, led by old time tea, had only taken a few steps when he felt the brightness of the night vision device increase sharply. In order to avoid being blinded, he quickly moved the night vision device away from his eyes.

    Then, he saw an unbelievable scene. A straight light curtain pierced through the clouds in the eastern sky, like a sharp sword, and stabbed into the forest not far away. The rest of the sky was still covered with dark clouds, as dark as the bottom of a pot.

    The gap in the clouds was constantly changing, and the light curtain was also constantly changing shape. The dense water vapor was illuminated by the light curtain, and once again, the dream-like Tinder effect was produced. There seemed to be countless angels flying in the path of light.

    Aftering to the mahogany forest, he had seen this optical phenomenon more than once, which was also known as the light of Jesus. This phenomenon was not rare in the wild, but the frequency was too high.

    Even among all the light of Jesus captured by photographers from all over the world, this scene was unique.

    The elves were also shocked speechless by the wonder of nature.

    ¡°That¡¯s F * cking awesome! Just seeing this is enough to make this trip worth it. ¡±

    He clicked his tongue in wonder. If he had the time, he would really like to enjoy the beautiful scenery, as if even his heart would be opened up. But he was still in a hurry to find a Dharma guide, so he could use the light to speed up.

    ¡°Meow~¡±

    As soon as he took a step forward, Gxy blocked his way and blinked its silver-gray eyes at him.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Gxy?¡±

    He felt that Gxy had something to say, so he stopped.

    Gxy turned its head thoughtfully, staring at the forest in front of the light curtain, and then looked at him again a momentter.

    ¡°Meow, let¡¯s rest here for a while,¡± it said and sat down first.

    ¡°Ah?¡± Zhang Zian was stunned.¡±Xinghai, are you tired?¡± ¡°If you¡¯re tired, you can rest first. We have to find a Fati. If we drag this on for too long, I¡¯m afraid it¡¯ll be in danger. You cane after us after you¡¯ve rested enough, or you can go back to your phone to rest ...¡±

    He didn¡¯t feel at ease leaving Gxy alone.

    In fact, Pi was also tired, but it was still fine as it was supporting itself with a wooden stick to share the pressure.

    ¡°Meow ...¡± Gxy shook its head.¡±Everyone, stay and rest. We don¡¯t have to move forward.¡±

    ¡°Uh ...¡±

    Zhang Zian and old time tea were both confused, and thetter indicated with its eyes that it had not found any danger.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we move forward? Is there anything up ahead?¡± He asked.

    Gxy blinked, tilted its head, and stared ahead. It said seriously,¡±¡±The battlefield of the gods is in front of us. It¡¯s no longer a ce we can step into.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian and old time tea looked at each other.

    If fina and dimir were here, they might be able to do something, but we ... Meow! Let¡¯s take a break!¡± Gxy yawned in a rxed manner.

    These words ... Zhang Zian felt that he was being despised. It was like saying ¡°wash up and go to sleep¡±. There was a sense of powerlessness.

    Old time tea didn¡¯t really believe it, and it was full of pride. Itughed and said,¡±¡±Zian, you guys stay and rest. No matter if it¡¯s a God or a demon in front of us, this old man would like to meet them ... Eh?¡±

    Before he could finish, old time tea¡¯s dynamic vision saw a translucent thing passing in front of its eyes at a very fast speed, and it quickly took a step back.

    Pa!

    A hailstone the size of a duck¡¯s eggnded on the stone and exploded with a bang, sending countless ice fragments flying.

    Old time tea immediately covered its face with its sleeves, blocking the sharp ice shards that were flying toward its face.

    Then, more hailstones fell from the sky.

    ¡°Gah gah!¡±

    ¡°Squeak!¡±

    ¡°What the hell! Quickly find a ce to hide!¡±

    Zhang Zian covered his head with his hands and called the Elfins to avoid the hailstones.

    Pi also threw away the stick and covered its head with its hands, just like Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Gah! Gah! You heartless little thing! Help this Lord block it!¡± Richard wailed.

    ¡°Meow! There¡¯s a big rock over there!¡±

    Gxy pointed to the side, and they saw a huge rock with an irregr shape, taller than an adult man. One side of the rock was concave, like an inverted trapezoidal shape, which was just enough to amodate a body.

    No one had time to be picky. They ran to the huge rock as fast as they could and shrank into the concave of the rock in a row to avoid the storm-like hailstones. Their ears were full of the sound of the hailstones hitting the rocks and exploding.

    Just as they managed to hide, the hailstones became even more violent.

    The hail was menacing, and the scale was beyond imagination. Perhaps the rich water vapor above the forest provided sufficient ammunition. Zhang Zian had lived for so long and had never seen such a fierce hail.

    Old time tea had seen an avnche in the deep mountains and forests, which was a rare urrence in 100 years. It had also seen heavy rain and floods on the way to see the bride, but it had never heard of such a violent hail.

    In the beginning, the size of the hailstones ranged from eggs to duck eggs, which was barely normal. But in the blink of an eye, they became ice blocks the size of red bricks and fell down. There was even a huge ice block the size of a stool that fell into the soil in front of them. If it hit anyone, it would be like being hit by a Cannonball ...

    Thergest hailstone ever recorded in the world weighed less than one kilogram, but there were rumors of superrge hailstones the size of millstones falling in many ces. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know whether it was true or not, nor did he know how such heavy hailstones condensed in the air. It could not be exined by physics, but at least Zhang Zian now saw giant hailstones that definitely weighed more than one kilogram.

    The hailstones kept breaking the record, one after another. Other than the continuous ¡°holy shit¡±, he had nothing else to say. He wondered if it was some God¡¯s old refrigerator in the sky that was defusing.

    In the face of nature¡¯s power, an individual¡¯s strength was too small. The speed of the hailstones falling was beyond the capture range of the cat¡¯s dynamic vision. Even old time tea didn¡¯t dare to say that it could escape all the hailstones.

    In this case, Zhang Zian was worried about thew. He didn¡¯t know if thew could find a ce to hide from the hailstones, but he really couldn¡¯t help. Leaving the stone¡¯s protection at this time was almost like suicide. Not only could he not help thew, but he might also lose his life.

    This hailstorm came so suddenly and strangely. Could it be ... That this was the battlefield of gods that Gxy had mentioned?

    Zhang Zian was more inclined to believe that it was a coincidence, but it was also a fact that the size of the hailstones was too exaggerated.

    If the edge of the battlefield was already so dangerous, then the center of the battle...Would probably be no different from hell.

    It was said that in Journey to the West, Sun Wukong¡¯s process of subduing demons was to see who had a stronger background. If he encountered a demon without a background, he would kill it directly. If he encountered a demon with a strong background, he could only ask for help. In that case, he could only hope that the background of his Dharma idol was stronger.

 Chapter 1626 - The unknown in the fog

    <h4>Chapter 1626: The unknown in the fog</h4>

    Perhaps it was a wild animal¡¯s instinct for natural disasters, or perhaps it was the guidance of the gods, when the first hailstone fell, Fati was already on alert and took two steps back. It watched as a hailstone the size of a potato smashed into the ce it had just stood.

    The size and power of the hailstone were far beyond its expectations, and it appeared at this time, so it was hard to think that it was naturally formed.

    It saw miezha lying on a branch 30 to 40 meters above the ground, praying attentively to the East. However, it was too far away and it could not hear the eulogy. It did not want to hear it either as it thought it would dirty its ears.

    ¡°See? Your God only knows how to use light and shadow to y tricks on children, but my God has the power to destroy the world!¡± After miezha finished praying, he stood up and raised his two front paws to the sky.

    The Fati tried its best to Dodge the hailstones, but the hailstones were falling too fast, and it was difficult to follow their trajectories with the naked eye. In the blink of an eye, it had been hit a few times. Fortunately, the hailstones at the beginning were not too big, and its body was now enhanced by the Holy Light, so its resistance to attacks was greatly enhanced. Otherwise, these hailstones would have broken its bones.

    However, seeing that the size of the hailstones was getting more and more exaggerated, Fati knew that this could not go on.

    Thus, it left its fate in the hands of God and closed its eyes.

    Although its eyes were closed and it was dark in front of it, it saw many things in its mind. It saw a magnificent dome, gorgeous embossed, a soft red velvet carpet, and vivid stained ss windows ...

    It heard a heavenly song and saw countless angels surging out of the corridor as if they were weing it. They pulled its hair and guided it to the arch above the steps.

    It guessed what was behind the arch door, or to be more precise, who was inside. Its heart beat fast, and it obediently let the angels lead it to the arch door step by step.

    Miezha said a lot of things on the tree, but he realized that the French monk under the tree did not seem to hear him at all. His eyes were closed, and he was walking forward unsteadily as if he was sleepwalking.

    The strange thing was, it was this drunkard-like pace that allowed the Fati to Dodge all the hailstones, not a single one hitting it.

    Miaizha was furious. He stared at the spots of light that looked like winged children on the screen. He knew that it was those guys ¡®doing, but there was nothing he could do.

    If the hail didn¡¯t work, how about changing to the hot Ghibli wind from the Sahara Desert with a temperature of more than 70 degrees? The strong wind that carried yellow sand would blind the eyes and block the ears. The trees that were broken by the wind would fly like javelins and could easily pierce through the flesh.

    Miezha thought about it and decided not to change his mind. If the hailstones could not hurt Fati, the giblish hot wind would probably be useless.

    It jumped down the tree and decided to personally go into the field to avoid the hailstones with its eyes closed.

    As for itself, it was naturally unaffected by the hailstones.

    Sure enough, its first attack was effective. Fa tuo, who was half-sleepwalking with his eyes closed, was caught off guard. A bloody wound was cut on his body by its w, followed by a second, a third ...

    The Fati once again returned to its passive state of being beaten. Even with its thick skin and thick flesh, it would not be able to hold on for long.

    ¡°Your God can¡¯t save you. Just die!¡±

    Miaizha¡¯s attacks became even more frenzied. He waved his ws and attacked continuously, vowing to kill Fati on the spot.

    The divination was indeed at the end of its rope. Its God was not as violent as the other party, who would bring disaster to the world for his own desires.

    With such a huge and violent hailstorm, it was unknown how many animals in the forest would die, including those rare animals that were already few in number.

    It seemed to be able to hear the sad cries of the animals in its ears, and the tragic scene of them being smashed to death by hailstones appeared in its eyes. Every time an animal died, the Fati felt that they were implicated by it, and its conscience continued to be condemned.

    Moreover, even if the God of divination sent down a disaster to counter violence, miezha would not be killed so easily. He could be resurrected after he died.

    Perhaps ...

    Perhaps his death was a good thing for the animals ...

    As a pessimistic and negative thought appeared in Fati¡¯s mind, his dodging movements became sluggish, and in the blink of an eye, a few deeper wounds appeared on his body.

    At this moment, he suddenly felt a strange feeling, as if he was being spied on by something.

    Not only Fati, but Mieza also felt it.

    ¡°Who is it? Who was peeking? Get out here!¡±

    Miaizha was puzzled because such a violent hailstorm would destroy any animal or human who dared to step into this ce, except for himself and Fati, who were two elves blessed by different gods.

    It could not tell if the person hiding in the dark was an enemy or a friend, so just in case, it temporarily stopped its attack on the French pushing.

    Fati opened his eyes and dodged the hailstones while looking around in confusion.

    Is it Zhang Zian?

    Or other elves?

    If they were here, why didn¡¯t they show themselves?

    It didn¡¯t think it was Zhang Zian and the others, because the area had been blocked by the hailstorm, and it was as difficult as climbing the sky toe in safely.

    Hu~

    Due to therge amount of hailstones falling to the ground, the ground was covered with translucent crystal-like ice. The melting of ice would absorb arge amount of heat, and the temperature of the mahogany forest was low all year round. This caused the surrounding temperature to drop rapidly, approaching the freezing point. Unknowingly, a hazy fog quietly filled the air.

    Fati and miaizha saw at the same time that a white mist suddenly appeared somewhere in the forest. It was like the White mist exhaled by warm-blooded animals in winter, but there was nothing there.

    ¡°Who is it?¡±

    Miaizha asked again as he raised his ws to protect his chest.

    Creak. Creak.

    A very light sound of stepping on dry branches came from the forest and slowly moved towards the two of them.

    ¡°Hmph! Do you think that you can scare me?¡±

    Miaizha raised a front paw as if to signal to something in the sky. Then, a huge ice block fell from the sky in response to his will, smashing down toward the ce where the sound hade from.

    The ice block was ridiculouslyrge, about the size of a shopping cart in the supermarket. It broke a tree as thick as an adult man¡¯s thigh in half, and arge amount of crushed ice and ice powder fell like rain.

    Crushed ice, ice powder, leaves, and thin branches fell on an invisible thing, outlining the outline of that thing. It was ... A Wolf or a big dog. Because judging by its size alone, among the wild canines today, only the North American gray wolf had such arge size.

    Fati and miaizha were shocked at the same time. They took a few steps back, calmed down, and closed their eyes to pray.

    Fati did not know what miezha was praying for, but it was praying for God to give it the Eye of Providence, which was also the legendary omniscient eye, to allow it to see the unknown in the fog.

 Chapter 1627 - -exile

    <h4>Chapter 1627: Chapter 1627-exile</h4>

    In many ancient civilizations and myths derived from ancient civilizations, there was the worship of ¡°eyes.¡± From ancient Egypt¡¯s Eye of Horus to Mesopotamia¡¯s giant Sumerian eye, and then to the vertical and convex eyes in the ruins of the ancient Shu state on the pile of three stars. Perhaps the ancient lighting equipment was too poor, and the darkness was full of danger, so people eagerly hoped that they could see more and further.

    What the fascendants prayed to God was a magical eye that was said to have originated from the Eye of Horus.

    When the Fati opened its eyes again, its eyes were different. Its pupils and irises were no longer the typical Wolf Eyes, but human eyes.

    The world removed its disguise in its eyes and revealed its true form. It could see every fine grain of the trees, every grain of dust dancing in the air, and the hailstones falling at high speed as slow as snails. It could see every bubble in every hailstone.

    The eyes were a magical organ that sent a huge amount of visual data to the brain every second. The brain could only ept it selectively and filter arge number of useless details. Otherwise, it would not be able to process it. The visual data brought by the omniscient and omnipotent eye was unimaginably huge.

    The powerful omniscient and omnipotent eye was not something that Fati¡¯s identity could withstand. Even if he prayed with all his heart and offered himself to God, he could only get a glimpse.

    In this nce, it saw another Wolf, a typical North American gray wolf.

    The male wolf had a strong body, one of the strongest wolves in North America.

    However, what attracted his vision was not the Wolf¡¯s body, but the Wolf¡¯s extremely strange face.

    Fati and the elves it had seen all maintained their original looks. Even old time tea, who always wore a bamboo hat, didn¡¯t change its appearance.

    The face of this North American gray wolf was covered in strips of oil paint. The colors included red, white, ck, and green. It was definitely not naturally formed, but was painted with some natural paint.

    Other than its face, its body was also painted with some oil paint, but it was not as concentrated as its face.

    Not only that, but there was also a circle of long bird feathers behind the wolf¡¯s head and ears.

    To be honest, if anyone saw this Wolf in the middle of the night, they would probably be scared to death. This was not a Wolf, it was a monster!

    Fati was very familiar with the body structure of a Wolf. It could tell at a nce that this was a Wolf, but it did not know why it had painted its face and body.

    ¡°Eh? What kind of monster is this?¡±

    Miaizha eximed. It seemed like it had obtained something simr to the omniscient eye through its prayers, and it also saw the Wolf¡¯s appearance clearly.

    The pleasure brought by the omniscient and all-seeing eye could not be expressed in words. It was as if everything was under his control, and such a feeling could easily make people obsessed.

    Whether it was Fati or miezha, the divine eyes they obtained could onlyst for a short moment. Otherwise, their brains would not be able to withstand the continuous influx of data and would probably burn up like an overheatedputer.

    They closed their eyes and opened them again. Their eyes had returned to their original state, and the world they saw was the same as before. However, they knew that there was an invisible Wolf there.

    Is it a new elf?

    No, it was more like an elf that had not fully formed.

    Fati recalled what he had just seen. In theory, the omniscient eye could see everything clearly, but part of the Wolf¡¯s body was still a little blurry, which proved that it had not fully condensed.

    ¡°Damn it! Why did you have toe out and cause trouble at this time!¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Miezha cursed. That monster! I don¡¯t care what you are, if you don¡¯t want to die, then get lost!¡±

    Fati and miezha were not sure what the New Elf¡¯s stance was, but it was a Wolf after all, so Fati had an innate sense of familiarity with it, so it chose to wait and see.

    Moreover, it felt that since this Wolf had appeared here before it had formed, it would definitely not leave easily.

    Hu~

    The wolf exhaled another white breath. The blurry outline of the crushed ice and powder turned around as if it was staring at miaizha.

    Miaizha thought to himself that this was bad. This monster seemed to being for him. Any third party entering the game would reverse the bnce of victory.

    Aowu~

    The wolf raised its head and howled.

    Fati seemed to understand that this was the order for the Wolf Pack to gather and attack, and ... That Wolf was willing to act as a feint and was responsible for attracting the attention of the prey.

    Then, the wolf shook off most of the ice and powder from its body. Its outline was almost invisible as it charged at miaizha.

    ¡°Ha! What a joke! Since you want to die, I¡¯ll fulfill your wish!¡±

    Miaizha wanted to raise his front paw again and summon ice to smash at the blurry shadow. This time, the ice was unprecedentedlyrge. It did not need to be very urate. It would send the shadow to God just by brushing the side.

    But just as it raised its front ws halfway, it sensed that something was wrong, because its four limbs were suddenly entangled by something, and it could not move.

    It was the vines.

    The vines around it were like snakes with intelligence, quietly wrapping around it and restricting its movements.

    ¡°Thank you, brother.¡±

    Fati silently thanked the wolf. It had already thought of a way to deal with Mieza, and the wolf had bought it precious time.

    Fati took a deep breath, and the wounds on his four feet and left rib glowed with a holy red light.

    ¡°Imand you on behalf of my father!¡±

    ¡°Imand you on behalf of the child!¡±

    ¡°Imand you on behalf of spirit!¡±

    ¡°The one with the highest position in heaven only has one Lord. In the name of Father, Son, and spirit, I order you to go back to hell, demon!¡±

    The earth suddenly began to shake, the mountains shook, the rocks rolled, the ancient trees swayed like roly-poly, and the soil began to flow like liquid.

    The ground beneath miezha, who was bound by the vines, cracked open. It was so deep that one could not see the bottom, as if it led straight to hell. Orangeva could be vaguely seen flowing, and the wails of ghosts came from deep underground.

    ¡°No! It shouldn¡¯t be like this!¡±

    Miaizha howled in despair. He looked up at the sky and tried to change his fate with prayers again. However, a vine wrapped around his mouth and he could not utter a single word.

    The vines bound miaizha and he fell into the abyss with her.

    The ground began to close up. When the crack disappeared, miezha¡¯s final curse came to an end.

    The hailstorm stopped.

    The curtain of light from the sky had also disappeared, but the dark clouds had visibly thinned out, revealing the bright sky.

    Fati¡¯s body returned to normal, and it fell to the ground weakly, gasping for breath.

    Perhaps miezha really had nine lives, but he didn¡¯t know if those nine lives would be enough for him to escape from hell.

    Oh, no, there were only eight left at most.

    Hu~

    The wolf let out another breath of white air and turned to walk into the forest.

    ¡°Wait a minute! Where do you want to go?¡±

    Fati tried to stop it, but it did not stop and disappeared into the forest without any hesitation.

 Chapter 1628 - -totem

    <h4>Chapter 1628: Chapter 1628-totem</h4>

    Fati was at a loss. It was as if a void had appeared in his heart. It was not only because of the wolf that had appeared briefly to help him and then left immediately. It was also not because it had just defeated an enemy that was so powerful that it could not defeat by itself. More importantly, it was at a loss about its own fate.

    From the moment it appeared in this world, it had a clear goal to purify the mahogany forest and expel the evil in the forest.

    It didn¡¯t know how this goal entered its mind, but it could only think of it as the guidance of God. God guided it all the way from San Francisco to the mahogany forest, and also guided it to meet Zhang Zian. Now, it hadpleted the task with the help of him and the other Elfins, but it had not received further guidance to tell it where to go in the future, so it was confused.

    It was confused but not suspicious. No matter what God guided it to do or whether it remained silent, it was God¡¯s arrangement for it, and also a trial for it.

    It had to find its own path. Just like its human brother, he had lived a normal childhood and youth, and experienced a short period of confusion in his youth, but he finally found his own path, a path that might not be understood by others, but it led to Supreme glory.

    There was a rustling sound in the forest. Someone stepped on dead branches and fallen leaves, separating the thorns and short trees as he walked over. At the same time, he had to be careful to avoid the hail under his feet so as not to slip.

    ¡°What the hell, the hailstones here are even bigger!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that the West Coast of the United States is adjacent to a fault zone. In addition, there¡¯s a time bomb-like Yellowstone Volcano. Sooner orter, there will be a superrge earthquake above magnitude 8. The earthquake just now almost scared me to the point of peeing. I thought it was the end of the world ...¡±

    Zhang Zian stepped over a tree that had either fallen from the hailstones or an earthquake. Seeing that Fati was covered in injuries, he quickly asked,¡±¡±Fati, are you alright? How did you get injured like this?¡±

    Fati lowered his head and looked at his body.¡±These are all superficial wounds. It¡¯s not a big deal.¡±

    Zhang Zian was relieved.¡±That¡¯s good, but you have to disinfect it as soon as possible to prevent infection. By the way, where¡¯s the cat?¡±

    He held the shlight and looked around nervously. Although the sky had be much brighter, the shlight was his only weapon.

    ¡°That cat ... Has already gone to hell.¡± Fati said.

    ¡°Ah? That awesome?¡± Zhang Zian looked at it in shock and admiration. The phenomenon of hail and earthquakes just now really made him think that the end of the world hade. He thought that this was a real fight between gods and themon people. However, Fati had actually survived this unimaginable battle and killed the enemy. The undying demon cat with nine lives, wouldn¡¯t that make the world explode?

    Fati looked at his expression and knew that he had misunderstood. It meant to go to hell literally and did not mean that the cat was dead. However, it was very troublesome to exin, especially for a person who did not believe in gods and ghosts, so it decided not to correct his mistake.

    ¡°I¡¯m not that powerful. Another Wolf helped me. Otherwise, I would be lying here now.¡± Fati looked in the direction that the wolf had left.

    ¡°Ah?¡±

    This time, Zhang Zian was even more stunned, but he took it for granted that it was another ordinary Wolf. He thought to himself that the wolf was really lucky to be able to walk through such a dense hailstorm.

    ¡°Actually, we wanted to help you, but the hailstorm was too strong. We couldn¡¯t get close at all ...¡± He exined.¡±The other cat was also seriously injured by old time tea, and then it was torn apart by a Wolf ... I don¡¯t think it¡¯s the same Wolf you¡¯re talking about. I feel that the wolf was affected by something and became very violent.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s already over. ¡± Fayuan guessed that the wolf that tore Aamir apart was probably affected by the immature Wolf elf. After all, they were both North American gray wolves.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go back to the vige and rest. Your wound needs to be disinfected,¡± said Wang Yao.

    No one objected to this proposal. Everyone needed to rest, and Zhang Zian was also worried about dimir¡¯s recovery.

    When they returned to the vige, the sun had alreadye out. The weather was cloudy and there was a light breeze. It was very pleasant.

    Famous was already waiting at the entrance of the vige. It was happy to see that everyone had returned safely.

    ¡°Famous, are you okay? How are dimir and the rest?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Famousined that he didn¡¯t take it to the battle. It just wanted to rest for a while, but it fell asleep by ident. When it woke up, it found that he and several elves had left.

    It had wanted to chase after them, but was worried that the enemy would take advantage of the emptiness behind it and enter, so it could only stay uneasily. Later, it saw strange phenomena falling from the sky, such as light curtains, hailstones, earthquakes, and so on. It was even more worried, so it ran to the vige entrance to wait.

    ¡°dimir is recovering well. It looks much better. Melgen just gave it a blood transfusion. It¡¯s so tired that it just fell asleep.¡± It replied.

    ¡°I see ...¡± Zhang Zian was relieved.

    ¡°They finally fell asleep. Let¡¯s wait outside for a while. Don¡¯t wake them up. My injury is nothing.¡± Fa Xiu suggested.

    ¡°Okay, then we¡¯ll wait for half an hour before going in. They should be asleep by then.¡±

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins all sat down to rest.

    ¡°Fati, what do you n to do in the future? Stay in the forest?¡± Famous asked.

    The Fati had not thought about it yet.

    Just as it was worrying about how to answer famous¡¯s question, it suddenly saw a face. It stood up and stared at the face.

    To be more precise, it was a face carved out of wood. It was not a human face, but a Wolf¡¯s face. Its body was also that of a Wolf. It sat on the top of a wooden pir at the vige entrance in an aggressive manner.

    The face was painted with strips of oil paint, and there was a circle of long feathers stuck in the back of the head. The feathers were also carved out of wood, so they were still there even after the wind and rain. If they were real feathers, they would have fallen off long ago.

    It was exactly the same as the Wolf¡¯s face that Fati had seen earlier.

    Of course, the oil paint on the Wolf¡¯s face had faded after years of exposure to the wind, sun, and rain. However, one could still imagine what it looked like when it was first carved.

    The wooden pir was carved from a whole tree. It was also painted with various colors and had also faded. If one did not pay close attention, they would only think that it was a dead tree. Moreover, the tree was tall, so they had all ignored the wolf face on the wooden pir. After all, no one would look up for no reason. Moreover, it was evening when they arrived at the vige, and the light was not good.

    ¡°That¡¯s ...¡± Fati eximed in shock.

    Zhang Zian thought that something unexpected had happened. He nervously grabbed the shlight and looked in the direction of the sound.

    After seeing the wooden pir and the wolf carving, he immediately rxed.¡±Oh, that ... If I¡¯m not wrong, that should be the totem pole of the Native Americans, and the theme is the wolf spirit they believe in.¡±

 Chapter 1629 - -all living things have a spirit

    <h4>Chapter 1629: Chapter 1629-all living things have a spirit</h4>

    The elves all looked up at the wolf Totem pole at the entrance of the vige. They had never seen such a strange and primitive carving style.

    ¡°A wolf spirit?¡± Fati mumbled repeatedly. It was the first time it had heard this strange word.

    Zhang Zian had somemon sense in this regard. After all, he had been influenced by many old United States movies and read some novels, so he exined it to the elves ording to hismon sense.

    ¡°Yes, the Native Americans worship and Revere nature. They believe that all things have spirits. As the top beast in this forest, the wolf is the object of their worship. Because the Native American warriors like to paint their faces and insert feathers on the back of their heads to show their strength and deter their enemies, they have also changed the image of the wolf ording to their appearance. This is the totem we see.¡±

    ¡°The Native American tribes are very scattered. Different tribes have different beliefs. Some tribes may worship bears more, some may worship Eagles more, some may worship mountain lions more, and the tribe here may worship wolves more.¡±

    ¡°Uh ... In that case, the former residents of this barren vige may be the descendants of the Native Americans in this forest even earlier. After entering the industrial age and the information age, their lifestyles have changed drastically. They abandoned many traditions, but they still retained the wolf spirit worship of the tribe. This is theirst connection with their ancestors. They put the wolf Totem pole at the entrance of the vige to remember their ancestors and to prove their ... Home if other Native Americans visit. ¡±

    Since he had nothing to do for the time being, he might as well speak frankly to avoid being bored.

    ¡°I¡¯m not an expert in studying Native Americans. I¡¯ve learned all this from movies and novels. Maybe it¡¯s right, maybe it¡¯s wrong. I¡¯m just overhearing it.¡±

    ¡°I see ...¡±

    Fati finally found out the Wolf¡¯s origin.

    ¡°If it¡¯s like you said, that the Native Americans worship wolves, will there be an Indian wolf elf?¡± It asked.

    ¡°This ...¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned by the question. After thinking for a while, he shook his head and said,¡±¡±In theory, it¡¯s possible, but in reality ... The Native Americans who used to be the owners of thisnd are almost gone. Can the few remaining Native Americans support the power of faith needed to form an elf?¡±

    Taking advantage of Fina¡¯s absence, he said a few more words,¡±¡±This is different from the worship of the cat god in ancient Egypt. Although ancient Egyptians also disappeared, ancient Egyptian culture has been passed down, while modern Egyptian culture has no sense of existence. When ites to Egypt, the things people are familiar with are all from ancient Egypt, and here ... Here is the United States almost the birthce of modern civilization. It exported modern American culture and ideas to the world, such as Hollywood, McDonald ¡®s, Microsoft, Apple phones, and ...¡±

    ¡°Pornhub¡£¡±Richard interrupted.

    Zhang Zian red at it. ¡°This B * tch bird is talking about YouTube ... Not only the Native Americans, but even the native culture has been buried in the dust and stepped on. Not many people miss it.¡±

    ¡°So, even if there¡¯s such a Wolf elf, it might never be able to take form and eventually appear in this world?¡± The fatale knew that it was getting closer and closer to the answer, and the fog in its heart was gradually clearing up, and a path appeared from the fog.

    ¡°Yes, I think so.¡± ¡°But who can be 100% sure about things in this world?¡± Zhang Zianughed.

    ¡°I understand.¡±

    Fati was no longer confused. It turned to famous and said,¡±¡±I want to go with you to the East and see the ancient China. I¡¯ve heard about it for a long time, but I¡¯ve never seen it in person. I also want to see Binhai city and that pet shop that sounds interesting.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Famous, Zhang Zian, and the other Elfins were all surprised. They had all thought that the Fati would stay for the wolves in the forest, just like how little white couldn¡¯t abandon the stray dogs.

    ¡°What about the wolves? They still need your leadership, don¡¯t they?¡± Famous asked on behalf of everyone.

    The Wolf Pack¡¯s hunting skills still needed to be improved, this was what they had seen before.

    ¡°The Wolf Pack already has a more suitable leader,¡± Fati said with a satisfied smile.¡±It¡¯s much better than me, a half-baked leader.¡±

    Fati used to be a cold-blooded killer. It was a lone wolf and did not like to be the leader of a group. Ever since it had turned over a new leaf, it had be too kind and was not suitable for the wild world where the strong preyed on the weak. It knew this very well. If it continued to lead the Wolf Pack, it would definitely lead the Wolf Pack astray.

    How could a sheep lead a pack of wolves?

    Fortunately, a more suitable candidate ... No, the Wolf¡¯s choice had appeared.

    Perhaps the wolves that had returned to the redwood forest had awakened the Indian WolfSpirit, or perhaps the evil that had invaded and polluted the forest had awakened it. However, the power of faith was too weak, and it could not finally form, at least for now.

    However, this was also good. He would let it be in this undisturbed state and lead the pack of wolves in the mahogany forest to grow stronger.

    It was ferocious, brutal, and ruthless, but this should be the nature of a Wolf.

    Inparison to this foreign European grey wolf, this native Indian wolf spirit should be the true master of this forest and Wolf Pack.

    Whether it was the gods that miezha believed in or the gods that Fati believed in, they were all imported goods from thisnd. Only the wolf spirits and other Native American nt spirits were the most primitive guardians of nature on the North American continent.

    Therefore, there was nothing to do here. It was an unnecessary existence here, an invasive species. It believed that the Indian WolfSpirit would be more qualified for this position.

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins looked at each other, confused. They didn¡¯t know who the more suitable leader was, but since it said so, it should be fine.

    Without the omniscient eye, Fati seemed to see the Wolf¡¯s face painted with oil paint again. The face appeared in the shadows of the trees in the forest, looked at Fati, turned around, and gradually disappeared, as if bidding Fati farewell.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t notice the disappearance of the strange wolf face in the forest, but the feeling of being spied on since he entered the forest had quietly disappeared.

    That¡¯s right, Fati had asked the wolf spirit a ridiculous question before, asking it where it was going. In fact, it wouldn¡¯t go anywhere. This forest was its home, and the one who should really ask where it was going was Fati himself.

    Now, fa Xiu already had the answer and saw his own path clearly. It was a path that crossed the sea and reached the East. Compared to staying in the forest, this road to the East might be full of hardships and might not be understood by the same kind, but it didn¡¯t matter ...

    Fati retracted his gaze and turned to look at Zhang Zian.

    Its human brothers and sisters), always with it.

 Chapter 1630 - when things are done, Iâ€™ll leave

    <h4>Chapter 1630: Chapter 1630-when things are done, I¡¯ll leave</h4>

    What happened after that was simple.

    Just like in Hollywood action movies, the police always came to clean up the mess after the protagonist won, which made people want to ask what they had been doing earlier.

    Not long after Zhang Zian and the Elfins returned to the house, they heard helicopters flying over their heads, and there was more than one. The bodies of the helicopters were painted with proper rescue and fire protection signs.

    Melgen rushed out of the house and waved her arms at the helicopter excitedly. Unfortunately, the people on the helicopter could not see her.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know who called the police. Maybe melgen¡¯s mother and friends, maybe snowy, or maybe the smoke from the farm Firest night made the Park Police think that there was a forest fire, so they sent a ne to check on the situation. It was hard to say now.

    dimir¡¯s sadness had already calmed down, and fina felt that it was a pity that it couldn¡¯t personally punish the enemy, which was also expected.

    Zhang Zian handed a road torch to melgen and taught her how to use it. He asked her to run to a slightly open ce to send a rescue signal to the helicopter.

    Melgen did not think too much about it. Her mind was filled with the desire to go home and reunite with her mother. She took the torch and ran away. Soon, she saw a red me light up in the forest.

    Zhang Zian had already packed up his things. He put dimir, who needed to recuperate, into his phone and called the elfin to go out, but he did not go in the same direction as melgen.

    ¡°Kaka! From the looks of it, you¡¯re nning to leave after this?¡± Richard jumped back onto his shoulder.

    He wrote a note and stuck it on the door. He pressed the key back under the stone in the porch. Melgen, you don¡¯t have to look for me. I¡¯m going to continue my journey. I can take care of myself, and I have a safe journey.¡±

    The helicopter could onlynd on t ces such as the seaside or the farm. By the time melgen returned to the barren vige with the rescue team, he had already gone far away.

    If he and melgen left the forest in a helicopter, they would definitely be the focus of the news media when theynded. Even if it was the local media, the United States had nevercked Street tabloids that were hunting for novelty, and he did not want to be on the news in this way.

    Last night, he noticed that there were other small boats on the dock, so he asked Sihwa to untie the cable and get a small boat to the designated location. Now, he was setting out to meet up with Sihwa, and then asked the Orca group to drag the small boat to the nearest seaside town with the cable in their mouths. Of course, it could also be directly dragged to San Francisco, but that would be too high-profile.

    With the size and weight of the killer whale, it would be too easy to drag a small boat, a living person, and a few animals. There should not be any trouble.

    Guu.

    The spotted owl on the branch seemed to have noticed that he was leaving and muttered something.

    ¡°Goodbye. Take care of yourself and don¡¯t bump into the power grid again.¡± Zhang Zian waved at it.

    ¡°Meow! Bye Bye, spots!¡± Gxy also said goodbye to it.

    ¡°Kaka! ¡°You¡¯ve been intimidated by my domineering aura in the end, haven¡¯t you? but unfortunately, I¡¯m Zhao zikuang of Chang mountain. I¡¯ve always been a loner, so I won¡¯t take you in as my underling ...¡± Richard took advantage of the situation with his mouth.

    Zhang Zian sprinkled thest bit of salt on the ground as he walked. When he and the Elfins arrived at the beach, the herd of deer had caught up with them.

    He checked the deer¡¯s wound and found that it was recovering well. Then, he changed the bandage for thest time and left the rest of the salt for them.

    A small boat was parked on the beach. Sihwa¡¯s upper body was out of the water, and she was lying on the beach as if she was sleeping in the sun.

    When she heard footsteps approaching from afar, she turned over and sat up vigntly. She only rxed when she saw that it was him.

    ¡°Ajeoan! What was going on this morning? There were hailstones and earthquakes, and the sea water became muddy. The aquatic creatures were panicking. If it wasn¡¯t for the smart, beautiful, and kind me who tried my best to dissuade them, the old grandma would have left with her Orca flock!¡± She called out, eager to know what had happened. After all, she was almost in a state ofplete ignorance.

    ¡°It¡¯s a long story about what happenedst night. We have plenty of time to talk about it on the way. ¡±

    Zhang Zian threw his backpack into the boat and had all the Elfins jump into the boat. He pushed the boat into the sea and paddled deeper into the sea.

    A slightly smaller young killer whale volunteered to bite the rope and drag the boat to the nearest town next to the sea. Other killer whales also apanied them.

    Zhang Zian repeatedly told them to swim slower, but the speed of the boat was stillparable to that of a propeller. The bow of the boat was tilted about 30 degrees, and it was speeding on the sea as fast as lightning.

    He couldn¡¯t help but sigh. If he had known the location of Peter Lee¡¯sir earlier, he could have taken the sea route and saved a lot of time.

    However, first of all, he couldn¡¯t know the location in advance. Secondly ... If he knew the location and took the sea route, he wouldn¡¯t be able to encounter the spotted owls and deer herds, nor would he be able to encounter the Dharma deduction.

    Although they had experienced many dangers along the way and were often ready to fight, it was still an excellent trip. Such an opportunity might be hard toe by in a lifetime for ordinary people.

    Looking at the mahogany forest that was getting further and further away, he started to miss the journey even before he left.

    Fati was the same. It squatted at the stern of the boat, its eyes filled with determination as it silently prayed for its Wolf Brothers, praying for them to be safe and happy in the mahogany forest.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. If there¡¯s a chance in the future, we cane here to visit our old friends. After all, transportation is developed now, and I¡¯m unemployed.¡± Zhang Zian patted its back andforted it.

    Fa Xiuughed in relief.

    Using his free time, Zhang Zian told Sihwa about what had happenedst night. After all, she had contributed a lot and had the right to know what had happened. Old time tea, Fati, and fina had also added their own things.

    Sihwa¡¯s jaw dropped when she heard this, but as long as the bad guys got what they deserved, her simple sense of right and wrong was satisfied.

    Just like that, they talked andughed along the way. After only a few dozen minutes, Sihwa ryed the words of the whales, saying that there was a small town ahead. Although it was not close to the sea, there were often ships going out to sea for a ride.

    The whales sent them to the shore very close to the town. Zhang Zian rowed to the shore, and Sihwa reluctantly said goodbye to the old grandma and the killer whales. She even invited them toe to China to y.

    Seeing the familiar signal sign reappearing on the top of the phone screen, the phone immediately rang non-stop. It was a worried message from friends in China and abroad. Of course, there were also various advertising messages and credit card repayment bills.

    It was time to reveal the truth to the world.

    He first replied to a few important messages and sent a message to his friends to inform them that he was safe. Then, he uploaded the drone and mobile video to more than one video website and applied for a new email to send the email he had prepared in advance to the animal protection organization and The Deer Hunter Association in the United States

    The first domino had fallen, and no one could predict what would happen next.

 Chapter 1631

    Chapter 1631: Going home

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    This trip to the United States was longer than Zhang Zian had expected, but for an unemployed person like him, it didn¡¯t affect him much. On the bright side, by the time he returned to Binhai city, the summer heat had basically subsided. There was a cool breeze in the morning and at night, and there was a faint taste of autumn.

    After uploading the video in the seaside town, he took a bus back to San Francisco that day and booked the earliest flight back home. Why was he in such a hurry, not even taking a break? it was because he didn¡¯t know if Peter Lee would mention his name during the interrogation. He didn¡¯t want to stay and cooperate with the investigation. How long would it take to investigate such a big case?

    As for the car he drove here, he would leave it to the car rentalpany.

    During this period, he learned about what had happened in the outside world while he was isted from the world, while quietly waiting for the video to develop.

    Xiaoxue had indeed called the police. Without her help and supervision, the rescue might not havee so quickly. Under the pressure of the China Embassy, the local police had to pay more attention.

    Melgen was saved. The touching scene of her and her mother hugging each other and crying could be seen on the television. The charges of illegal detainment, kidnapping, and murder that she had used made the local prosecutor announce theunch of relevant investigations. As more details were disclosed by the media, the impact of the incident became greater and greater. It even attracted the attention of the mainstream media. The focus of the investigation shifted from suspected criminal behavior to the suspicious organization that Peter Lee had established.

    Peter Lee might be able to buy over the local police, but it was hard to buy over a District Attorney. He and the other heads of the suspicious organization tried to sneak out of the country, but they were quickly intercepted by the Coast Guard. There were rumors that their ship was blocked by the whales, but this kind of news from the tabloid was obviously not taken seriously.

    At present, Peter Lee and his men had been arrested, and what awaited them was a protracted investigation and trial. Peter Lee was rich and could afford a goodwyer. He kept on appeal, so it could be imagined that thesewsuits would take several years toe to a conclusion.

    Several animal protection and environmental protection organizations in the United States received anonymous emails on the same day, including The Deer Hunter Association. All of them received a video of Peter Lee¡¯s ughterhouse using sick deer to process venison, as well as a list of farms that transported sick deer to the ughterhouse.

    The internal rtionship between the ughterhouses, Leshi dog food producers, and Peter Lee needed to be further excavated. However, the Western reporters had finally gotten a big piece of news, so they would obviously pursue it to the root. They believed that they would soon find clues.

    Compared to the series of felonies such as murder and kidnapping that Peter Lee faced, Leshi dog food was not the focus of the investigation, nor was it the focus of people¡¯s attention. However, it was still inevitable that the police and Food Safety Department woulde to the door and take away the relevant people responsible. As a new brand, Leshi dog food¡¯s sales in the United States, which was not high to begin with, had fallen. It was also rejected by distributors inrge numbers, and it was about to close down.

    The influence of Peter Lee¡¯s incident quickly went beyond the scope of a County, a County, and a state. Even the FBI was involved in this matter. The series of events were still in the early stages of brewing, and the ck material that had been exposed so far was only the tip of the iceberg. He believed that as the investigation progressed, a huge criminal gang would be brought to justice.

    In China, on the other side of the ocean, the reaction speed of the news media was a few beats slow. The rted news basically only appeared on the online media, and therger print media only briefly mentioned it in the corner of a piece of tofu. After all, the destruction of such a suspicious organization was not suitable to be publicized, especially when the leader was suspected to be a Chinese.

    On the other hand, the problem of Leshi dog food had caused a lot of shock in the pet Circle in China. Whether it was for the purpose of attracting attention or to attackpetitors, many inte celebrities, spontaneously or incited, published rted articles on Weibo and public ounts and began to criticize Leshi dog food. Some of them had insight, and some of them fanned the mes. It could be said that everyone would push the wall when it fell. However, in the eyes of those with discerning eyes, wasn¡¯t this a wise man after the fact? What were you doing earlier?

    There were more and more people raising cats, dogs, and fish, but it was undeniable that pets were still a minority in China because most people raised them blindly. They fed cats with leftovers, fed dogs with chocte, bought blue-ring octopuses out of curiosity, and slept with cats in the summer with a mosquito scent. When pets were sick, they were left to fend for themselves and were reluctant to bring them to a Pet Hospital. The source of pet knowledge was from articles forwarded on WeChat moments. Pets that were really well taken care of were only the minority.

    The proportion of owners who would spend time learning about pets, willing to take their pets to the hospital for treatment, and willing to spend money on high-end pet food was not high, but the value of their pets could not be underestimated, and their education level was often higher. They heard that the imported dog food that they spent a lot of money on had such a big scandal. Once their beloved dog ate Leshi dog food, even if it was not sick at the moment, it might still have the possibility of getting sick in the next few years. How could they bear this?

    In order to protect their legal rights and interests, refunds and ims forpensation were the least they could do. But the problem was that the United States headquarters of Leshi dog food had closed down, the general agent in China had run away, and the customs had announced a ban on the import of Leshi dog food. Who could they seekpensation from? Then he could only follow the principle of whoever sells it should be responsible and seekpensation from the seller of Leshi dog food.

    Some dogs died for various reasons after eating Leshi dog food. To be honest, most of them had nothing to do with Leshi dog food. Some died of old age, and some died of other diseases. However, as long as it was not an idental death, it was inevitable that the owners would suspect that it was Leshi dog food. Of course, there were many scammers, but it was also a fact that flies did not bite seamless eggs.

    It was the same in the United States all the owners of their dogs who had eaten Leshi dog food had joined forces to file a collectivewsuit and seekpensation against the manufacturer of Leshi dog food. China could not catch the manufacturer, so they could only find trouble with the seller.

    In short, even though the mahogany forest incident was over, it was only the beginning.

    After a long flight and a domestic transfer, the ne finally arrived at Binhai City Airport.

    Zhang Zian dragged his suitcase out of the airport, looked at the long line of cars, and took a deep breath of the familiar exhaust.

    He didn¡¯t feel it when he was in the primitive forest, but in fact, his lungs had been spoiled by the rich oxygen and negative ions in the forest. They couldn¡¯t adapt to the fog and haze in the city.

    In any case, life had to go on. At least, he had to earn back the expenses of this self-funded trip.

 Chapter 1632

    Chapter 1632: Eating watermelons together

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Just like the previous trips, Zhang Zian would try to pick the night flight when he came back, mainly to save some social trouble. If he came back when the store was open, he would inevitably have to face the staff and old customers ¡®questions, especially about where the unique pets in the store had gone and why they didn¡¯te back with him.

    He could make up an excuse to exin, but why did he have to use his brain? It was better toe back at night and take a nap to relieve the fatigue of the trip. The next day, without his exnation, people would take it for granted that he had brought the elves back with him.

    When he arrived at the Pet Shop, it was about nineo¡¯ clock at night. The staff had already gotten off work on time because he didn¡¯t tell them that he would be back today. Otherwise, they might have stayed in the Pet Shop for a few more hours, and in the name of weing him back, they would grandly ask for the reimbursement of barbecue and beer from public funds. After work, they would either draw or y mobile games, which could be done in the shop, and they could save on the air conditioning in their own homes.

    He opened the curtain Door with the spare key and entered the shop.

    The shop was no different from when he left.

    Zhan Tian had stood up vigntly when it heard the word ¡°open¡±, but its strict training had made it not bark like an ordinary dog when it heard movement outside. It only quietly raised its guard until it saw him and happily ran over to rub against the corner of his pants.

    ¡°It¡¯s been hard on you these days when I wasn¡¯t at home. ¡± He patted its head as a reward.

    Many dogs raised at home would actually y tricks on their owners after they were mature. They were not stupid. When they saw their owners holding snacks in their hands, they would try their best to show off. Without the owner asking, they would take the initiative to show off all the little tricks they knew. But if the owner had nothing in his hands, no matter how loudly you screamed, they would always lie on the ground and roll their eyes at you. They could be described as full of scheming boys and girls, especially some dogs with high intelligence, such as Border Collies.

    But police dogs were different. For police dogs, the highest reward was the owner¡¯s caress and praise, unlike those shallow foodies of the same kind.

    Many customers were envious of Zhan Tian¡¯s performance and always asked him how he had trained the dog to be like this. Although he had not trained Zhan Tian, he was familiar with everyone in the police dog Unit and had even watched the training. The training method was not something that needed to be kept secret. However, knowing the method was one thing, and putting it into practice was another.

    Let¡¯s not talk about dogs. Take children as an example. Parents clearly knew how to educate their children from a young age, such as patience, encouragement,panionship, smile, and not simply hit and scold them, but how many parents could really do it? The pressure of life and work often caused the parents ¡®patience to onlyst for three seconds, and then they would either turn hostile and scold them, or let them go and y with their mobile phones.

    If this was the case for children who could understand humannguage, how could it be so easy to train a dog who could not understand humannguage? The police dog Unit specialized in this. They had time, experience, and patience, so he always told the consulting customers clearly that unless they raised dogs as a career, they should just wash up and sleep. They should not overestimate their patience.

    If he really wanted to raise such a dog, he could go to the police dog brigade and take over. Maybe he could adopt retired police dogs.

    He went to the aquarium next door. As soon as he entered, he saw an empty aquarium tank with two watermelons soaked in cold water, and another fish tank with big watermelons soaked in ice water. The former was probably for the girls to eat. The Aquarium¡¯s air conditioner and water cooler had to be on 24 hours a day, so the staff had the idea of iced watermelons.

    He had been scamming all day, and in the end, he had been scammed by the staff. How could he tolerate this? So, he simply carried a big watermelon that wasn¡¯t too cold back to the Pet Shop and prepared to eat it for dinner.

    He pulled down the curtain Door and released the Elfins one by one, including Sihwa, who was released on the second floor.

    ¡°dimir, how do you feel? When I passed by the pet clinic just now, I saw that the lights were still on. Do you want me to send you there for a full body examination?¡±

    What he was most worried about was dimir, who had escaped from death. Now that he thought about it, it really had a close brush with death.

    dimir was lying on a small nket in a bedroom on the second floor. Its body was still very weak, but its spirit had recovered quite well.

    ¡°No need, my skin is thick, it¡¯s fine.¡± It turned its head and looked around with great effort.¡±We¡¯re home.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m home.¡±

    ¡°Myrades are still waiting for me toe back and preside over the work, but I ¡­ Sigh ¡­¡± It sighed with regret and patted the nket angrily.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Work can¡¯t be finished. Take care of your body so you can focus on your work.¡± He consoled.

    It nodded and suddenly asked,¡±by the way, I was in a daze after I was injured. I heard that famous gave its blood to me?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s famous.¡± He said, and simply exined the principle of cats being able to transfuse dog blood to it.

    dimir¡¯s expression wasplicated, and it was silent. After a while, it sighed.¡±I didn¡¯t expect that my determination to be irreconcble with stray dogs and to drive out stray dogs as my responsibility would now have dog blood flowing in my body ¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t think too much, quickly rest. ¡±

    Zhang Zian turned off the light in the bedroom on the second floor and closed the door of the bathroom, because Sihwa had started a live broadcast in the bathtub again. She bragged to theizens in various ways and exaggerated her experience of swimming with killer whales in the United States.

    When he turned around and went downstairs, he saw dimir¡¯s eyes still blinking, as if it was thinking about something.

    Perhaps this incident would turn the situation around for the rtionship between dimir and little white to further ease up?

    It was still very lively downstairs. The Elfins had slept enough through the phone and were not sleepy at all.

    The Elfins sat in their respective ces, some ying and some watching TV. Only the Fati walked around in the shop, looking at the unfamiliar environment and finding everything new.

    When it was near the door of the shop, it sniffed carefully at the open space opposite the cashier. It smelled a familiar evil aura, which immediately made it alert.

    ¡°Was there a bronze cat statue here?¡± It asked Zhang Zian, who was cutting watermelons.

    ¡°Yup.¡±

    He vaguely recalled that in the dream created by Zhuang Xiaodie, he and she had met father yang in advance in the dream. Father yang told them about the chaos caused by another Holy Cat statue in the 13th century. In the end, the chaos was solved by what father yang called the sacred exorcism item, but father yang did not borate on what the sacred exorcism item was.

    ¡°It ¡­ The statue, where is it now?¡± Fati was obviously nervous.¡±We have to get rid of it as soon as possible, otherwise ¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, that statue has already been suppressed. That¡¯s a different story. Let¡¯s talk about it while we eat.¡±

    He ced the cut watermelons on a te and specially took out the small piece of seedless cheese in the center of the watermelon, cut it into small pieces, and put it on a te. He called the Elfins and said,¡±¡±Come, everyone, eat some melon.¡±

    In theory, cats were pure carnivores and didn¡¯t need to eat vegetables and fruits, but in fact, eating a little bit was beneficial and harmless, especially in thete summer and early autumn when the weather was still not cool. Many cats didn¡¯t like to drink water, so eating watermelon to replenish water and induce urine was the best option. Many cats actually liked the taste of watermelon.

 Chapter 1633

    Chapter 1633: Chapter 1633-kitten

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    The next morning.

    Zhang Zian, who opened the curtain Door, was surprised to see an uninvited guest at the door.

    Meow~

    A little guy was curled up in the corner of a shoe box, looking at him uneasily and letting out a weak cry.

    Even little celery, who didn¡¯t allow pets to be kept at home, blurted out,¡±¡±Ya! A little orange cat!¡±

    ¡°When did youe?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Of course, he was not asking the orange cat, but little celery.

    ¡°Good Morning, brother store manager! Long time no see! I just came here and saw you squatting on the ground. I thought you were poking ants with a branch like the boys in my ss, so I squatted down to look. ¡±

    Little celery was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and denim shorts. She squatted next to him and stared at the orange cat with him.

    Zhang Zian: ¡°¡­I¡¯m long past the age of using a branch to poke ants!¡±

    Then again, the orange cat in the shoe box looked only one or two weeks old. It might have just opened its eyes, so it was weak, pitiful, and helpless. In order to avoid the rising sun, ity in the shade of the shoe box, meowing in a childish voice.

    Even if Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t Sherlock Holmes, he could immediately guess that the owner of the orange cat didn¡¯t intend to raise it for unknown reasons, but he couldn¡¯t bear to leave it to its own fate, so he ¡°kindly¡± put it in the shoe box and left it in front of the Pet Shop. Whether the Pet Shop owner adopted it or the customers who came to the Pet Shop to buy cats adopted it, it could save himself from the condemnation of his conscience and embrace a new life with confidence. To put it bluntly, it was some kind of moral kidnapping.

    It was like abandoning a sick pet in a Pet Clinic. It was a very speechless thing. People who could do this kind of thing were probably used to pushing their difficulties to others in their daily life and work.

    But there was no other way. Moral kidnapping was a kidnapping of people who still had morals and conscience.

    Sun Xiaomeng couldn¡¯t bear to kick the pet abandoned in the clinic out, and he couldn¡¯t leave the kitten to its own fate. The sun at the end of summer and the beginning of autumn was still very poisonous. Today was a sunny day, and the sun was rising higher and higher. Once thest dark corner of the shoe box was hit by the sun, the kitten would probably be burned to death.

    He picked up the shoe box and asked little celery toe into the shop with him.

    The air conditioner was on in the shop early in the morning. Although the temperature was lower than it was in Midsummer, the elves were used to the coolness of the mahogany forest. If they didn¡¯t turn on the air conditioner, they would rebel.

    ¡°Little celery, what are you doing here? School has started?¡± He ced the shoe box on the cashier and took out the leftover watermelon fromst night from the refrigerator.¡±Have you had breakfast? Do you want two pieces of watermelon?¡±

    Little celery had finished her breakfast, but she couldn¡¯t walk when she saw the cold watermelon. She didn¡¯t rush to see the hamster and the lop-eared rabbit, but happily took the watermelon. Her two big front teeth were like rodents, and they were quite suitable for eating watermelons!

    Her mother didn¡¯t allow her to eat food from strangers outside, but the brother store manager was obviously not a stranger.

    ¡°School hasn¡¯t started yet, but it¡¯ll start soon.¡± She chewed on a watermelon and said,¡±¡±There¡¯s no extracurricr ss today, so I¡¯m free. I wanted to see if brother store manager is back, and I just happened to run into him.¡±

    ¡°I just came back yesterday.¡± Zhang Zian started to clean up and thought about how to deal with the orange cat.

    Zhang Zian noticed that she had spat all the watermelon seeds into her palm, so he motioned for her to just spit them on the ground. After all, she would be sweeping the floorter.

    Little celery shook her head.¡±No, I¡¯ll feed Xiao Ling with watermelon seedster!¡± By the way, Mr. Manager, was it fun United States?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, but it¡¯s a little messy. There are many homeless people, and the security is worse than in China. I¡¯m mainly going to the forest for a hike.¡±

    Little celery¡¯s eyes lit up at the mention of the forest.¡±Are there many interesting animals in the forest?¡±

    Zhang Zian told her about the animals he had encountered in the forest, such as golden rats, Beaver rats, horseback deers, ck-tailed deers, spotted owls, and so on. Of course, he omitted the ending of the Beaver rats bing dinner.

    Little celery listened with great interest. After eating two pieces of watermelon, she wrapped the seeds she spat out in paper towels and ran to wash her hands.

    ¡°Ya! There¡¯s another big dog!¡± She looked at Fati in surprise, then timidly looked back at Zhang Zian,¡±why does it look a bit like ¡­ The wolf in man and nature?¡±

    No, you¡¯re wrong. It¡¯s actually ¡­ skan Mmute, just not very pure.¡± Zhang Zian referred to the wolf as a dog.

    Woof woof!

    The Fati barked twice and rolled on the ground, trying to imitate a dog and even wagging its tail.

    Zhang Zian felt lucky that he didn¡¯t say it was a Husky, or else it would be hard to imitate the Husky¡¯s erjin ¡­

    Little celery blinked and said,¡±¡±In the story my mom told me, dogs can wag their tails. Wolves can¡¯t wag their tails, but this one can. It¡¯s really a dog!¡±

    She was already convinced by Zhang Zian¡¯s pet knowledge, and after confirming it with her mother¡¯s story, she was not afraid anymore.

    No matter how her mother got this knowledge, it was a wrong knowledge that had been passed down from generation to generation. Wolves also wagged their tails, but Zhang Zian could not rify it at this time, so he could only let the mistake be. After all, little celery would not meet other wolves in the city. After all, this was not the United States where coyotes were rampant.

    Fati was not like the other elves who had a proud sense of identity to their own race. It did not care if it was a Wolf or a dog, as long as it could make the little girl in front of it feel at ease.

    If it were fina, not to mention pretending to be a dog, even if it was asked to pretend to be a Tiger, it would definitely be angry.

    Little celery washed her hands. She was not in a hurry to y with the hamster and the lop-eared rabbit. She had time anyway, so she picked up a rag and helped Zhang Zian clean up.

    After a while.

    ¡°F * ck! Why was the door open? Did we forget to lock itst night, or was there a thief in the store?¡±

    ¡°Who was thest one to leavest night?¡±

    ¡°I forgot ¡­¡±

    ¡°I also forgot ¡­¡±

    ¡°What do we do? Do you want to call the police?¡±

    Two foolish male voices came from outside the door.

    Zhang Zian said,¡±¡­Don¡¯t stand at the door and embarrass me!¡± Which thief woulde to a pet shop to steal? Hurry up and get in here to work!¡±

    Outside the door, Wang Qian and Li Kun looked at each other, stuck out their tongues, and then pushed the door open with a smile.¡±Master, I¡¯m not convinced by what you said. Didn¡¯t the Holy Cat statue get stolen before? There are many thieves, and there are always some who don¡¯t open their eyes ¡­¡±

    After not seeing them for a while, the two brats seemed to have gotten a lot tanned. It seemed that they had driven the assault boat out to sea to y a lot.

    When they saw the leftover watermelon rinds, they thought that the watermelons they had bought had been harvested by Zhang Zian, and they couldn¡¯t help but scream.

 Chapter 1634

    Chapter 1634: Chapter 1634-blood type

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Wang Qian and Li Kun had just finished mourning for watermelon when they saw Fati. However, they were not too surprised, because they were used to Zhang Zian bringing back some strange animals every time he came back from his trip. He probably had a friendly exchange with foreign pet lovers.

    As for the fact that the dog was a Wolf, it was even more difficult for them to tell. Wolves and dogs were difficult to distinguish, even for wildlife experts. Little celery was just making a casual remark, but adults hadmon sense, andmon sense made them think that it must be a dog.

    In addition to watermelons, they were most concerned about the local specialties. The dates and 18k gold amulets they brought back from Egyptst time had made them very proud, so they were full of anticipation for this trip to the United States

    Zhang Zian really didn¡¯t prepare any gifts this time. Everything sold in the United States market was made in China, and things from the forest couldn¡¯t be taken back, so how could there be any local products? However, they insisted on it, so he could only promise to mail the gifts to them directly.

    Sending wool from a thousand miles away was not a big deal. He nned to put a white and ck disc in each envelope as a local specialty and even share it with the whole dormitory.

    After settling the problem of the gift, Wang Qian and Li Kun happily picked up the cleaning tools and began to clean up. At this time, they heard a faint cat meow and saw a shoe box on the cashier counter. There was a kitten in the shoe box.

    ¡°Aiyo? There are orange cats in the United States?¡± Wang Qian asked in confusion,¡±but this United States orange cat is simr to a China orange cat?¡±

    ¡°Orange cats are everywhere in the world. Besides, this is an orange cat China. Maybe it¡¯s a native orange cat from Coast City. It was found in front of the shop this morning. Someone might have left it there.¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Brother store manager and I found it together!¡± Little celery raised her hand.

    ¡°Hey, little celery, you¡¯re here again.¡± Li Kun noticed that there was still a watermelon seed stuck to her face and said bitterly,¡±¡±So, you¡¯re also the murderer who plotted against our watermelons!¡±

    ¡°What do we do with this cat? No onees to the Pet Shop to buy orange cats, right?¡± Wang Qian scratched his head.¡±Why don¡¯t we send it to sister Xiaomeng? maybe someone who has just experienced the pain of losing a cat will take it?¡± After all, it¡¯s easier for everyone to ept a small cat. ¡±

    There were some sick cats and dogs abandoned by their owners in the pet clinic. Some people brought their pets there to pay a deposit and never returned, and the deposit was far from enough to pay for the follow-up fees. Some people simply tied their pets to the clinic entrance in the early morning or midnight and left alone, no matter how the pet called them.

    The former required the clinic to sign a medical agreement when paying the deposit, which stipted the time to take the pet away, and then the clinic had full authority to deal with the pet. Thetter was more difficult. They could not receive a single cent for the treatment, and they had to raise the pet for free for no time limit in case the owner came back to ask for it.

    The best fate for these abandoned pets was, of course, to be adopted by customers. However, most people liked to raise pets from a young age, afraid that they would not be familiar with them when they grew up. Most of the abandoned pets were adults.

    Wang Qian¡¯s suggestion was a good idea, but it was more troublesome to raise a kitten, and he might not be able to meet customers who wanted to raise it immediately. Leaving it in the clinic would increase the workload of the customers.

    As they were talking, Lu Yiyun came to work with Jiang Feifei, carrying her bag and a drawing board. When they saw Zhang Ziane back, they were also surprised and happy. However, they didn¡¯t ask for local specialties like the two idiots, and immediately noticed the little kitten.

    After they greeted each other, Zhang Zian told them about how he had picked up the kitten.

    Lu Yiyun took Jasmine out of her backpack. Seeing the kitten meowing pitifully, she knew it was hungry, so she went to mix some goat¡¯s milk to feed it.

    ¡°Xiao Yun, wait a moment.¡± Jiang Feifei pulled her back and suggested,¡±¡±Isn¡¯t there an Abyssinian cat who just gave birth to a kitten and has just been weaned? Why don¡¯t we try to change the Crown Prince with a roon? I often see the news that a tiger cub is raised by a female cat, or vice versa ¡­ If the Tiger is like this, then the cat is even better, right?¡±

    This idea was unanimously agreed by everyone. If it was feasible, it would save a lot of trouble.

    Wang Qian patted his head and said,¡±that¡¯s right!¡± That¡¯s right! Why didn¡¯t I think of that ¡­ No, I thought of it, but I was a step toote to say it! When my neighbor was taking a walk downstairs, he picked up a kitten. His mother cat had just given birth not long ago, so he stained the kitten with some of the mother¡¯s urine and sessfully stuffed the kitten into the arms of the mother cat to drink milk with the other kittens!¡±

    Zhang Zian waved his hand.¡±No, there¡¯s a certain risk.¡±

    ¡°What risk? Are you afraid that the female cat will eat it?¡± Li Kun asked.

    They listened to Zhang Zian¡¯s advice every day and learned some misceneous knowledge, such as cannibalism, but they didn¡¯t know how to put it to use.

    ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily the case. Female cats only eat kittens when they just give birth. Now that Abby has been weaned off milk, how could she possibly feed on her own kind?¡± ¡°It¡¯s mainly because we don¡¯t know the kitten¡¯s blood type,¡±Zhang Zian exined.

    ¡°Ha?¡±

    The staff were all stunned.¡±Does feeding have anything to do with blood type?¡±

    Wang Qian was anxious.¡±No, that¡¯s what my neighbor did. Nothing happened!¡±

    Zhang Zian red at him.¡±It¡¯s fine for you to cross the road and run red lights every day. Can you guarantee that you¡¯ll be fine for the rest of your life?¡±

    When dimir was injured, because he didn¡¯t know its blood type and the blood types of other cat Elfins, Zhang Zian had to use famous¡¯s blood to transfuse to it, because he didn¡¯t dare to take the risk and try his luck.

    In addition to the unpopr knowledge of transfusing dog blood to cats in an emergency when the blood type was unknown, there was another problem that was easily ignored: you couldn¡¯t simply give a kitten to a female cat during its breastfeeding period.

    People, cats, or other animals of different blood types could not transfuse blood to each other. This wasmon knowledge because there were antibodies against other blood types in the blood.

    However, in addition to blood, there was another liquid that also had antibodies, and that was mother¡¯s milk.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know much about human medicine, so he didn¡¯t know the human situation. For example, could a mother with type A feed a child with Type B blood? however, cats were dangerous in this regard. Kittens had low immunity. Once they drank the breast milk of a mother with a different blood type, the blood type antibodies in the mother¡¯s milk would attack the kitten¡¯s immune system, causing a hemolysis reaction of the same type as newborn animals.

 Chapter 1635

    Chapter 1635: Microscope

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    The blood type problem between a mother cat and a kitten was actually quite critical. Not only was it dangerous for non-blood rted mothers to pair with kittens, but even if the blood type between the mother cat and the kitten was different, it would be dangerous for them to breastfeed.

    It might sound incredible, but if the female cat was Type B and the male cat was type A, and the kitten with type A blood was born, the kitten could not drink the milk of the female cat. Instead, the owner should rece it with goat¡¯s milk. Otherwise, the kitten might have a serious hemolysis reaction, ears and tail necrosis, and it might even die without any warning.

    On the other hand, the female cat was type A, and the male cat was Type B. It was not a big problem to give birth to a kitten with Type B blood, because the antibodies in type A blood mother milk were less, so it would not have a significant impact on the kitten.

    This was one of the reasons why stray cats and cats that were not sterilized, raised, or reproduced under the guidance of the spirit of science in ordinary families died young.

    Therefore, it was the safest for cats of the same blood type to reproduce, and they would only give birth to kittens of the same blood type.

    The probability of abyssal cats having Type B blood was very high, and Cathy¡¯s cats were all Type B, so it was easy to breed them.

    Zhang Zian did not deny the sessful experience of Wang Qian¡¯s neighbor, because the blood type problem was nothing more than a matter of probability. Even if it was a human, when he lost a lot of blood and needed a blood transfusion, if there was really no way to test the blood type, he could just force himself to find someone to donate blood to. Maybe the blood type would be right, and nothing would happen, and the life of that person would be saved.

    In the mahogany forest, if famous wasn¡¯t present, he might have asked Fati for help. After all, they were canines. But if Fati wasn¡¯t present, he couldn¡¯t just watch dimir die. He could only try his luck and draw blood from the cat elf and transfuse it to dimir.

    Most of the cats were type A, so the chances of meeting the right one were high.

    But was this an emergency? Obviously not.

    The staff could only be convinced by his reasoning.

    ¡°Then why does it only need goat¡¯s milk?¡± Wang Jie was still unwilling to give up.

    ¡°It¡¯s simple, because the antibodies in sheep¡¯s milk don¡¯t work on cats. ¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    It was just like how a dog¡¯s blood of any blood type could be transfused to a cat of any blood type. It seemed ridiculous, but it was actually reasonable.

    ¡°Also, what breed is your neighbor¡¯s cat?¡± Zhang Zian asked Wang Qian.

    Wang Qian thought for a moment.¡±It¡¯s just an ordinary cat. What was that kitten I picked up again?¡± It looks like three flowers?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, because the probability of a hybrid cat having type A blood is higher. The native cat and Tri-flower are both hybrid cats, so there¡¯s A high probability that they are also type A blood. Your neighbor is a blind cat that encountered a dead mouse. Purebred cats had a higher chance of being Type B, but Qianqian had a higher chance of being Type Bpared to mixed cats. Most purebred cats were still type A. Cathy has done blood tests on the abyssal cats, and they are all Type B. This orange cat, because it is a mixed breed, is likely to be type A ¡­¡±

    Before Zhang Zian could finish, Wang Qian interrupted him with a headache,¡±stop! I haven¡¯t studied probability for many years, and I¡¯ve been hearing all these A and B ¡®s, but I understand now. Anyway, this little orange cat can¡¯t acknowledge Abby as his mother, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. ¡± Zhang Zian nodded.¡±In fact, cats also have type AB blood. I haven¡¯t joined the discussion of the third situation ¡­¡±

    Wang Qian¡¯s face was bitter.¡±I studied liberal arts to escape from advanced mathematics. Your actions remind me of the fear of being dominated by mathematics during the college entrance examination ¡­¡±

    Lu Yiyun continued to make goat milk powder.

    Zhang Zian also felt that it was a pity. If the abyssal was type A, he could have followed Jiang Feifei¡¯s suggestion and let the female abyssal take care of the kitten. It would save a lot of trouble, but unfortunately, he couldn ¡®t.

    Li Kun, who was more clever, seemed to have thought of something. He asked,¡±¡±Master, we received an express delivery for you yesterday morning. The sender was some precision instrument factory, and the content was a microscope. Could it really be a microscope?¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless,¡±nonsense!¡± What else can it be if not a microscope?¡±

    Li Kun and Wang Qian looked at each other and argued,¡±¡±No, that ¡­ At that time, we were discussing whether it was an adult product that you bought even though there was a microscope attached to the box. The store was considerate and delivered it privately. This ce is called a microscope ¡­ After all, what use do you have for a microscope? We wanted to open it secretly, but the express deliverypany sent us the watermelons we bought online. We forgot about it ¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t think of me as such a dirty person! Also, what¡¯s the rtionship between the microscope and the disc?¡± Zhang Zian was so angry that he threw a rag at them, but they avoided it.

    Did these two idiots really think that discs were carved by hand?

    ¡°Kaka! I¡¯ll tell you why this idiot bought a microscope, because the magnifying ss is already ¡­ Ga!¡±

    Before Richard could finish his sentence, a dirty rag flew over and covered his face. After all, little celery was still there.

    Little celery was not only present, but she also listened very carefully, because she felt that it was very knowledgeable.

    Mr. Manager, why did you buy a microscope?¡± She looked at Richard, who was struggling under the rag, confused. She didn¡¯t understand why Zhang Zian didn¡¯t let it finish.

    Zhang Zian coughed.¡±It¡¯s to do a blood test for cats, and of course for dogs.¡±

    The incident in the mahogany forest made him feel the potential danger that he had previously neglected. Elves could be injured. If they were injured and needed a blood transfusion but did not know their blood type, it would be troublesome. This time, dimir had relied on famous¡¯s blood to survive, but what about the next time? A cat could only receive dog blood once in its life. dimir always ran out and had a feud with little white. Who could guarantee that it wouldn¡¯t get hurt in the future?

    Therefore, including the other elves, it was better to take a blood test as a precaution.

    ¡°You can do a blood type test with a microscope?¡± Little celery asked curiously.

    ¡°Yes, as long as there is a cat whose blood type has been determined, such as an abyssal with Type B blood, take two drops of blood, then take one drop from the cat for the blood test. After a few minutes, observe it under the microscope to see if there is any coagtion reaction. ¡°Of course, we can also use blood type test paper for convenience, but there is a certain probability of error with blood type test paper, and it can¡¯t be used repeatedly. It¡¯s better to buy a microscope ¡­¡± He said, looking at Wang Qian and Li Kun.¡±Maybe we can also use it to carve discs.¡±

    Little celery raised her hand and said eagerly,¡±¡±Our science teacher taught us how to use a microscope!¡±

    She really wanted to test a cat¡¯s blood type with her own hands, and she could even write a meaningful scientific record based on it.

    ¡°No problem, I¡¯ll let you try itter.¡± Zhang Zian agreed.

 Chapter 1636

    Chapter 1636: Chapter 1636-sense of superiority

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    With the microscope and the confirmation that the cat was Type B, it was easy to test the cat¡¯s blood type. The only problem left was to take the blood, which was nothing more than pricking the cat.

    Zhang Zian, little celery, and the staff were cleaning up. There was no hurry to test the blood type. They could do it at any time, since they had a lot of time.

    The staff were all very curious about his experience United States, so he avoided the main point and exined it to them, focusing on the ocean mansion and the mahogany forest.

    When they heard that he had also encountered ck bears, gray wolves, coyotes, and other fierce beasts, the staff¡¯s eyes were wide open.

    ¡°By the way, did you contact Zhou Jing after that?¡± Zhang Zian asked Jiang Feifei. Thetter had always wanted to work at the ocean mansion. It just so happened that he could help to connect with Zhou Jing, who yed the mermaid in the ocean mansion in San Francisco.

    Jiang Feifei sighed.¡±I talked to her a lot, almost every day. The real work at the ocean mansion is very different from what I imagined. It extinguished a lot of my enthusiasm, but I still want to try it out. I¡¯ll just take it as being willful while I¡¯m young.¡±

    Zhang Zian was still very supportive. After all, he had the same idea when he resigned and took over the Pet Shop. He always felt that giving up like this would leave him with regrets. If he wanted to try again when he was older, he would be timid.

    As they were talking, the door was pushed open, and the smell of perfume mixed with the air flow of the air conditioner was surging in the room.

    ¡°Waa! It was better to be lucky than early! Store manager Zhang, you didn¡¯t even inform me that you¡¯ve returned from overseas. I thought I had made a wasted trip!¡±

    At first, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t recognize the woman with big waves, sunsses, and a mask that covered four-fifths of her face. When he heard her voice, he recognized her. It was Zhao Qi.

    Even if it wasn¡¯t as hot as the Midsummer, it wasn¡¯t cool outside. Zhao Qi covered herself up in such weather and even held an umbre.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you feel hot wearing so much? Don¡¯t let your eyes pop out!¡± He said.

    ¡°I have no choice. It¡¯s better than being tanned by the sun.¡± Zhao Qi removed her defense, took off her mask, sunsses, and other small items one by one, put away the umbre, and stuffed it into her bag. She stood in front of the air conditioner and carefully wiped off her sweat with a paper towel to avoid ruining her makeup.¡±It¡¯s still cooler in the house.¡±

    Although no one swam on the beach in San Francisco because of the cold sea, there were many people sunbathing. Everyone was keen to tan their bodies. It was hard to imagine what Zhao Qi would look like if she went there for a trip.

    In addition to Zhao Qi, there were two other people behind her, a man and a woman. They were about the same age as her and looked like a couple. They looked ordinary, unlike Zhao Qi, who had delicate makeup and dressed casually. She looked like an ordinary person you could see on the street.

    ¡°Oh, they¡¯re my colleagues. They came with me. They also want to raise cats. I strongly rmend your ce. For my sake, please take care of them.¡± Zhao Qi gave Zhang Zian a look, meaning,¡±I¡¯ve introduced you to another business. Don¡¯t forget about this favor.

    Zhang Zian also returned the favor and said generously,¡±¡±Zhao Qi is a regr customer of our shop, and she has taken care of our business. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t let you suffer a loss. May I ask how I should address the two of you?¡±

    ¡°My surname is Wang, you can call me Xiao Wang. This is my girlfriend, Tian Qi. In fact, we wanted to raise a dog at first, but Zhao Qi kept urging us to raise a cat, saying that it was troublesome to raise a dog. ¡± The man among the couple smiled bitterly.

    ¡°Actually, I like cats a little more. Although I don¡¯t reject dogs, Qi Qi always told us that big dogs tear down houses and small dogs bark. It¡¯s troublesome to raise them. It¡¯s like raising a naughty child, and we have to take them out often for a walk. She told us to raise cats, saying that we won¡¯t regret it.¡± Tian Qi said, her eyes attracted by the various pets and pet supplies in the store.

    The pets in the store, especially the puppies, were always very excited when they saw a stranger in the store. They eagerly ran around the disy cab and barked from time to time, hoping that their future owner would take them away.

    In nearly a year¡¯s time, Zhao Qi had changed from a pet noob to a pet master among ordinary people. She was very good at talking about pets, not only cats, but also dogs, and what she said was quite reasonable.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s just talk about the weather outside ¡­¡± Zhao Qi pointed at the sky outside the ss door.¡±It¡¯s hot and sunny. If I didn¡¯t agree to apany you to choose pets today, I really wouldn¡¯t even want to go downstairs. I even rejected my date with my best friend! Think about it, the summer when you¡¯re sweating all over, the winter when it¡¯s so cold that you don¡¯t want to get out of your bed, the spring and autumn when it¡¯s always windy and rainy and caterpirs fall, and you still have to go downstairs at least twice a day to walk the dog, isn¡¯t that tiring? Anyway, if it were me, I would just want to hold mynn at home and be a salted fish. You can have a dog when you get married and have children. When the children grow up, you can have a dog. Let your children walk the dog every day, so that they don¡¯t have to y games on their phones all day!¡±

    Zhao Qi¡¯s mouth was like fried beans, and the whole room could only hear her speak. Her personality was so strong, and Zhang Zian had long been used to it. From her tone, he could tell that her rtionship with these two colleagues could only be said to be ordinary, unlike Shishi, who was her best friend.

    ¡°You raised a child together just to walk the dog?¡± Zhang Zian was afraid that they would be embarrassed, so heined.

    The characters of these two couples were rtively gentle and introverted. When they met a strong woman like Zhao Qi, they would only be led by the nose.

    Both of their faces were a little red, not because of the sun, but because of a slight fever, because Zhao Qi talked about getting married and having children, and they were actually still a long way from that.

    In all fairness, what Zhao Qi said was not unreasonable. The worse the weather, the more people did not want to go out. They wanted to stay in the air-conditioned room to y games, watch TV, and use their mobile phones. Those who had higher expectations might go to the gym, read books, and study. Walking their dogs downstairs for half an hour or an hour was hot and time-consuming, and they had to walk their dogs.

    Every time Zhao Qi met someone walking her dog downstairs in the morning and evening, she would always have an inexplicable sense of superiority.

    Many people raised dogs and enjoyed walking the dog by themselves, leaving the task of walking the dog to their retired parents or grandparents. However, young people nowadays were not willing to live with their elders. It was troublesome and easy to have conflicts. They all wanted to enjoy the two-person world, so they had to walk the dog by themselves.

    Tian Qi awkwardly changed the topic.¡±Qi Qi usually looks very cold, but she¡¯s actually very enthusiastic. She heard that we wanted to raise a pet and even invited us to her house to y with the cat.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not cold ¡­¡± Zhao Qi coughed twice.¡±I just don¡¯t want to talk to people I don¡¯t like.¡±

    ¡°Speaking of which,¡± Xiaowang interrupted awkwardly,¡±I have to mention that Zhao Qi¡¯s cat doesn¡¯t seem to like me¡­I¡¯m not very wee.¡±

 Chapter 1637

    Chapter 1637: Chapter 1637-not giving support

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Just as Zhang Zian had guessed, Zhao Qi, Xiao Wang, and Tian Qi worked in the same unit, but her rtionship with the couple could only be considered a nodding acquaintance. She was not interested in how they knew each other or how they got together. They had no contact before.

    Because Zhao Qi often showed off her cat in her friends ¡®circle and talked about cat raising, she was a cat master in the small circle of colleagues and rtives, so her colleagues who had pets or wanted to raise pets often came to her for advice. Her knowledge was second-hand knowledge from Zhang Zian. Even if it was only second-hand knowledge, because Zhang Zian¡¯s pet knowledge was thetest, it was far from the old knowledge that had been passed down for decades. Her colleagues were shocked when they saw it, and it often made her secretly happy.

    Little Wang and Tian Qi also came to her because of her fame and wanted her to help rmend pets. At first, she was inclined to raise dogs, but as a cat fan, she strongly rmended the cat Qianqian because her knowledge of dogs was rtively shallow, and she would be exposed if she said too much.

    The couple was a little soft-hearted and followed the crowd. They couldn¡¯t help but be more inclined to raise cats, but they hadn¡¯t made up their mind yet.

    Yesterday was Saturday, and it was too hot outside. Zhao Qi didn¡¯t want to go out, and it was boring to stay at home. She invited them toe to her house to y with her cat, mainly to show offnn.

    Little Wang and Tian Qi had originally nned to visit the Pet Shop on the spot, but it was difficult to refuse such hospitality. They were shy, so they agreed and arrived at Zhao Qi¡¯s house on time. They also prepared small gifts such as cakes and ice cream.

    As they had already greeted each other before they arrived, Zhao Qi, who was cleaning the house, knew that they were here when she heard the doorbell ring. She immediately opened the door.

    Lann also followed behind her curiously.

    Back then, when Zhao Qi first broughtnn home,nn almost ran out through the crack of the door when the courier came to the door. She had to be extra careful every time the courier came to the door.

    Other than Shishi, only Liu Wenying and Yueyue were regr customers of Zhao Qi¡¯s house. They were both familiar withnn, so it probably thought that they would be the onesing this time.

    Zhao Qi confirmed the guests ¡®identities through the peephole, opened the door, and warmly weed them in.

    Little Wang and Tian Qi exchanged a few words before he lowered his head and sawnn. This strong-looking little girl had left a good first impression on them.

    However,nn, who was usually very warm to Shishi and Liu Wenying, turned around and went back to her room when she saw little Wang and Tian Qi. She was always curious about the corridor and wanted Zhao Qi or someone else to carry her back.

    Zhao Qi felt a little strange, but she didn¡¯t think much about it. She was busy greeting the guests. Little Wang and Tian Qi didn¡¯t know the habits of cats, so they thought that cats were like this and didn¡¯t care.

    After entering the room, the host and the guest took their seats. Little Wang and Tian Qi first politely praised theyout and furnishings of the room. Then, the three of them shared the cake and ice cream and exchanged some gossip. They were familiar with each other and were all young people, so the atmosphere gradually became harmonious.

    The topic naturally shifted to the cat.

    When they had been talking, the three of them had been sitting on the sofa in the living room. Zhao Qi had hinted tonn a few times, asking it toe over and jump on the sofa or sit on herp, but it always seemed to hesitate, hovering two or three meters away and not approaching.

    Tian Qi¡¯s eyes kept ncing atnn. In order for them to see clearly and to show off how obedientnn was, Zhao Qi walked over and pickednn up. She put her on the coffee table in front of Tian Qi and little Wang, and even encouraged them to take a nap.

    Tian Qi tried to stroke it a few times and was immediately fascinated by the smooth touch. She was so happy that she let her boyfriend touch it too.

    However, just as little Wang reached out to touch it,nn immediately jumped off the coffee table in disgust and turned to go back to the bedroom.

    This time, Zhao Qi was a little embarrassed. Lann was not usually like this. She could even flirt with Yue Yue very happily.

    Little Wang was also embarrassed. Heughed at himself and said that he had never been liked by cats.

    When he was in college, there was a stray cat on the campus. Not only did it live in peace with the students, but it also often ran to the ssroom and sat upright, as if it was listening to the ss seriously. Everyone said that this was a cat that loved to learn. From the teachers to the students, they all took good care of it. It seemed to know that the students would not hurt it, and it had no problem petting it a few times if it wanted to. It even seemed to enjoy it.

    Once, the stray cat was lying on a bench in a small park, basking in the sun. He and a few ssmates passed by, and the girls among them went up to stroke it happily. He saw others stroking the cat with great enthusiasm and was reprimanded by his ssmates, so he wanted to try stroking it himself on a whim. He had never raised a cat before, and he had never stroked a cat before. As soon as he approached it, it seemed to run away unhappily before he could even squat down and reach out his hand.

    His ssmatesughed and said that he wanted to slip away without feeding it. This was originally just a joke, but because some of the girlsughed along, he felt embarrassed. Later, he specially bought Canned Cat Food and fed it whenever he saw it. It ate happily, but when he tried to slip away, it twisted its body unhappily, as if it didn¡¯t want him to slip away. Heughed a few times and gave up the idea of killing it.

    It was just a small matter, but small matters could sometimes make people mind, especially when he met this stray cat on campus again in the future. It would always be like a thorn that would make him recall the embarrassing experience.

    After he graduated, he left school and came to Binhai city to work. He also met Tian Qi. The busy work and rtionship made him gradually forget about this matter. Sometimes, even if he thought about it, he felt that the stray cat might be an exception. It did not mean that other cats hated him.

    However, today,nn in Zhao Qi¡¯s house reminded him of that incident again. Two different cats had given him cold looks, which meant that this was not an exception.

    Now, he was much more mature than when he was young and inexperienced in college. In addition, his work and rtionship were very stable. Even if he was despised by the cat, he would not be as embarrassed as he was back then. However, he still felt ufortable in his heart.

    He said to Zhao Qi in a self-deprecating manner,¡±the elders in my hometown used to say that men don¡¯t raise cats and women don¡¯t raise dogs. Maybe I¡¯m really not suitable to raise a cat. Cats don¡¯t like me either. Why don¡¯t I raise a dog?¡±

    Zhao Qi didn¡¯t like what he said. She was not convinced. In order to prove that he was wrong, she asked them to sit for a while and went upstairs to borrow the white cat from Liu Wenying¡¯s house.

    The little white cat, who had lost its mother because of the cat abuse incident, had grown up and was very lively. In the hearts of Liu Wenying and Yueyue, it had more or less reced the dead Maomao.

    However, the little white cat, who was even more unafraid of strangers thannn, didn¡¯t seem to like Xiao Wang too much. Although it wasn¡¯t as resistant asnn, its bodynguage had already exined everything.

    Zhao Qi¡¯s shallow knowledge of pets was not enough, so one of the reasons she had brought them to the Pet Shop was to get to the bottom of things with Zhang Zian.

 Chapter 1638

    Chapter 1638: This must be a physical problem

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Of course, Zhao Qi had heard people say that men don¡¯t raise cats and women don¡¯t raise dogs, but it was all said by a few male colleagues who usually talked dirty during team building or dinner parties. She didn¡¯t agree that this could be used as a basis for raising cats and dogs. The reason was simple. Why didn¡¯t Qianqian have simr rumors abroad? Could it be that there was a difference between foreign cats and dogs and China cats and dogs?

    Tian Qi had been persuaded by Zhao Qi and was more inclined to keep a cat, but she had to take care of her boyfriend¡¯s feelings. If she bought a cat and only she could enjoy it, she would be letting her boyfriend down. It might affect their rtionship as time went by.

    Xiaowang was more open-minded and loved his girlfriend. He advised her not to take it to heart, saying that the three cats, the stray cat on campus,nn, and the little white cat, didn¡¯t like him, probably because they were not familiar with each other. If he bought a kitten and raised it from a young age, it would definitely be familiar and wouldn¡¯t avoid him.

    Tian Qi felt that this was a good idea. A cat that was raised since young was definitely different from a cat that she was not familiar with. Perhaps this could really solve the problem.

    Regarding this question, Zhao Qi wasn¡¯t very sure. She didn¡¯t dare to boast, otherwise, what if she misled the disciples? She said that she knew a pet shop owner who was reliable, knowledgeable about pets, and had a good reputation. She wanted to bring them here to ask for advice.

    The couple was suspicious because they had nned to buy dogs and cats from famous kennels and catteries on Weibo. They were more at ease this way, and nine out of ten owners of small shops on the street were unscrupulous merchants.

    Zhao Qi advised them to believe it with their own eyes, because in this day and age, anything could be seen, especially on the inte. The number of followers on Weibo and thements left by fans could also be seen. Maybe they would be pulled into a 40-member group, and 39 of them were the side ounts of the group leader. If they were cheated, they would still have to count the money for the other party.

    They couldn¡¯t resist Zhao Qi¡¯s force and agreed toe with her on Sunday the next day.

    Zhao Qi was actually quite regretful. She could have stayed at home for two days, but she had to do such a hard job. She had to go out in the sun. She wasn¡¯t sure if Zhang Zian had returned from abroad. If he hadn ¡®t, then she would havee all the way here for nothing. However, they might have found a cat in the shop by chance. After all, it was a coincidence.

    Fortunately, Zhang Zian hade back. The moment she saw him, Zhao Qi felt relieved. She could finally throw this hot potato to him. As for whether this business could be done or not, it would depend on how he tricked her.

    After Zhang Zian heard the whole story, he nodded to show that he understood.

    Little Wang smiled bitterly.¡±Manager, that¡¯s what happened. Zhao Qi always said that you know a lot. Then I want to ask, is there really a legendary body that attracts cats and ¡­ A body that makes cats dislike you?¡±

    Zhang Zian already had an idea of why little Wang was not popr with the cats by observing her.

    ¡°Whether a cat-summoning physique exists or not can¡¯t be judged with a simple ¡®yes¡¯ or ¡®no¡¯. However, a physique that makes cats feel disgusted does exist.¡± He said,¡±first of all, both male and female cats prefer women. Men lose at the starting line, so women are more suitable for raising cats. This is not wrong.¡±

    ¡°Meowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeow?¡± Snowy Li, who had been napping on the air conditioner, suddenly woke up. It opened its eyes wide and said,¡±¡±As expected, I¡¯m not alone. Everyone likes pretty girls!¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun had dealt with hundreds of cats, so they had enough say in this. They had long felt that the cats would be more cooperative in the process ofbing, trimming, and bathing. They had always thought that it was because the girl¡¯s movements were gentler, more careful, and more patient, but it turned out that cats liked girls more?

    ¡°The way animals feel the outside world is nothing more than hearing, smell, and sight. As for taste and touch, they are irrelevant to the issue we are discussing, so we will exclude them for the time being. Cats ¡®vision during the day is not as sharp as humans¡¯, and they focus more on observing moving objects. Besides, their judgment of human beauty and ugliness is probably different from humans ¡®own standards, so vision can also be ruled out first, leaving only sound and smell. ¡±

    Zhang Zian looked around at the crowd.¡±If I ask you to close your eyes, can you tell if the speaker is a man or a woman from the voice?¡±

    Everyone nodded to show that there was no problem. Excluding a few oddballs and falsetto, there was at least a 90% uracy rate. This was a conservative estimate. The actual uracy rate might be 99%.

    ¡°There is a significant difference between men¡¯s and women¡¯s voices. Men¡¯s voices are low and women¡¯s voices are clear. Unfortunately, the frequency range of women¡¯s voices is more pleasing to cats, about 2hz to 6hz, which is the normal tone of women¡¯s speech. This alone makes cats like women more ¡­ In addition, men often speak loudly, while women speak more delicately and gently. Cats obviously don¡¯t like the former.¡±

    Zhang Zian turned to face Xiaowang.¡±It¡¯s about you. When Zhao Qi opened the door, you greeted her. Lann didn¡¯t have a good impression of you at first when she heard your voice, but it can¡¯t be helped. Men¡¯s voices are like that. However, other than the fact thatnn doesn¡¯t like your voice, I can probably smell the smoke and alcohol on you. These are the two smells that cats hate. Of course, most women hate the smell of smoke and alcohol on men, so from this point, cats and women are on the same side. ¡±

    When Xiaowang first came in, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t notice. After all, his nose wasn¡¯t like a dog ¡®s. However, when Xiaowang opened his mouth to talk to him, he could faintly smell the smell of smoke in Xiaowang¡¯s mouth. In addition, little Wang also took out a cigarette from his pocket, but stopped halfway when he saw the no smoking sign on the wall.

    As for alcohol, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t smell it, but generally speaking, there were fewer men who didn¡¯t touch alcohol. Men who only drank and didn¡¯t smoke weren¡¯t rare, but men who only smoked and didn¡¯t drink were even rarer. It might be even rarer than men who didn¡¯t smoke and didn¡¯t touch alcohol, so he thought that little Wang had a high probability of smoking and drinking at the same time.

    Almost all animals didn¡¯t like the smell of tobo, and cats hated both the smell of smoke and alcohol.

    Snowy Li sneered.¡±On one side, there¡¯s a soft and beautiful girl. On the other side, there¡¯s a smelly man who smokes and drinks. His face is oily and he doesn¡¯t pay attention to personal hygiene. Do you think we cats will choose thetter? do you think we¡¯re idiots?¡±

    Snowy Li¡¯s mouth had always been vicious, but in this case, it was not crude. Think about it, even if a human turned into a cat and had to lick and clean himself every day, he would not choose to be carried by thetter. After being carried, his fur would be stained with the smell of cigarettes, alcohol, and disgusting grease. For a cat that loved cleanliness, it could not stand it.

    If the frequency of the cat¡¯s voice made the man lose at the starting line, then the smell of cigarettes, alcohol, and greasy skin would directly sentence the man to death.

    So the conclusion was clear. Most women were born with the physique to attract cats, and men who smoked and drank were disliked by cats.

 Chapter 1639

    Chapter 1639: The nestlingplex

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    From little Wang¡¯s expression, Zhang Zian knew that he had guessed right.

    As expected, Tian Qi immediately punched her boyfriend with her small fist andined,¡±I told you to quit smoking a long time ago, but you refused to listen to me. You¡¯ve finally quit smoking for two days, and now you¡¯re acting like you¡¯ve lost your soul. You smoke again when I¡¯m not paying attention ¡­ What¡¯s so good about smoking? It¡¯s not only harmful to your health but also costs a lot of money. Why can¡¯t you change?¡±

    Little Wang¡¯s face looked like he was constipated, and he was even more embarrassed in front of Zhao Qi and Zhang Zian. However, he was not in the right, so he could only apologize carefully without retaliating.

    Tian Qi and little Wang had a good rtionship, but they had quarreled more than once about smoking. Her heart ached for her boyfriend¡¯s health. He was tortured by work and smoking every day, but the key was that he did not realize this. Every time they talked about this, she would be angry.

    What made her even angrier was that every time Xiaowang patted his chest and promised that this would be thest cigarette, he would never smoke again. She chose to believe him again and again, but he disappointed her again and again. He often smoked behind her back. This was not only a matter of smoking, but also a matter of integrity ¡­ And now it was also rted to the issue of raising a cat.

    Xiaowang had his own difficulties. His family was in the countryside. He had tried smoking since he was young under the influence of his uncles and cousins. At that time, he was young and insensible. He only thought it was cool. Later, he unconsciously became ¡°a little¡± dependent on smoking. If he didn¡¯t smoke for a day, he wouldn¡¯t be able to concentrate and his work efficiency would be affected. He didn¡¯t think he was addicted to smoking, and he would only smoke one pack a day at most. However, his girlfriend, who was easy to talk to, was not willing to give in to this problem.

    As for drinking, neither of them felt that it was a serious problem. After all, men inevitably needed to drink at social gatherings, birthdays of elders, weddings, funerals, and other social events. If they didn¡¯t drink, they would be looked down upon and felt that they weren¡¯t manly enough. Therefore, she usually urged him to drink less and didn¡¯t force him to quit drinking like how she would quit smoking.

    Zhang Zian used to have a few drinks when he was at work, but since he took over the Pet Shop, he basically didn¡¯t drink anymore, and he didn¡¯t have the opportunity to drink. After all, he had to pay for his own alcohol, which was not worth it.

    In addition to any happy events in the store, he would have a can of cold beer when he went out to have a barbecue with the staff to celebrate. He usually did not drink on his own initiative because he knew that the smell of alcohol would hate cats and cat elves. If the favorability he had gained with great difficulty dropped because of the smell of alcohol, he would cry in the toilet.

    There was only gender difference in cat-attracting qualities. If someone imed to have a very strong cat-attracting physique, it was almost certain that they or she must have sprayed some kind of perfume on them. The perfume contained the smell of animals and nts that cats liked. It was the smell of perfume that attracted cats, just like how CG Cologne attracted big cats.

    This had always been a scientific problem. Cats were attracted to people from far away because of their hearing and smell, but some people always thought it was metaphysical.

    Little Wang was a man with a low voice. He had been smoking since he was a child and often went out to drink with his ssmates and colleagues. It would be strange if cats liked him.

    As for economic strength, height, face, mood, talent, future, humor, and self-improvement, which could be favored by human women, cats didn¡¯t care. After all, looking for a ve was not looking for a husband.

    Zhao Qi added,¡±¡±There¡¯s nothing good about drinking. Why don¡¯t you quit drinking as well? even cats dislike you, what¡¯s there to be reluctant about?¡±

    The two women talked back and forth. Xiaowang had his own difficulties. He hade to buy a pet, but he had been dissed for no reason.

    He quickly changed the topic and asked Zhang Zian,¡±¡±About that ¡­ I¡¯ve already deeply understood the importance of quitting smoking and drinking, but you have to take things one step at a time, and you have to take a long journey step by step, right? Especially when ites to quitting smoking and drinking, it can¡¯t be rushed. If you quit too quickly, it¡¯s easy to rpse ¡­ But my girlfriend and I want to buy a pet now. I think if it¡¯s a cat that we¡¯ve raised since we were young, it shouldn¡¯t be that bad, right? Isn¡¯t there a saying that a son doesn¡¯t mind his mother being ugly, and a dog doesn¡¯t mind his family being poor ¡­¡±

    As soon as he said this, he also felt that it was a little wrong. Dogs didn¡¯t mind being poor, but cats might not.

    ¡°Kitten? We¡¯re all kittens here. ¡± Zhang Zian raised his hand and motioned to him to see the kittens running around in the shop.

    ¡°Eh? This is a kitten? Aren¡¯t all cats half-grown? Do you have a smaller one?¡± Little Wang said awkwardly.

    ¡°¡­I¡¯m afraid you have some misunderstanding of the definition of a kitten,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Zhao Qi interrupted,¡±yeah!¡± I¡¯ve told him about it, it¡¯s the ¡°ssic of cat appreciation¡± that you always talk about. The cats that are chosen are 120 days old, and they leave their mothers too quickly and fall sick ¡­ But he just wants to raise a kitten, the smaller the better, he thinks that raising it from a young age will make it closer. ¡±

    This time, even Tian Qi could not help but nod, expressing that she also wanted to raise a cat from a young age, and the smaller the cat, the better.

    In fact, this was the consensus of many people. They believed that pets should be raised from a young age. The younger they were, the closer they would be to themselves. More than one person came to the Pet Shop and felt that the cats and dogs here were too big. They turned around and left, insisting on buying kittens and puppies that were one or two months old. No matter how they were persuaded, they would not listen. They even said eloquently that all animals had a nestlingplex and that the younger they were, the better.

    This was a typical case of only knowing one thing and not knowing the other.

    In the animal world, there was a kind of ¡°marking phenomenon.¡± Inyman¡¯s terms, when newborn animals opened their eyes and saw the first life, they would recognize it as their mother and develop a strong attachment to it.

    Because this phenomenon was first discovered in birds, it was also called the nestlingplex.

    There was a scientific basis for the engraving phenomenon, not pseudoscience, but many people believed that pets should be raised from a young age, which was wrong, because this phenomenon was not applicable everywhere, and it did not apply to all pets.

    Birds had this phenomenon, and so did dogs. Birds and dogs raised from childhood were indeed closer to their owners when they grew up, but cats didn¡¯t have this phenomenon. To be more rigorous, there was no clear evidence to prove that cats had this phenomenon.

    Was it a good thing to be closer to the master? Not necessarily.

    Take children as an example. There was no objection to children being the closest to their parents. However, when children started primary school, they often listened to their teachers more. One word from the teacher was more effective than ten words from their parents.

    It was the same for dogs. Dogs raised from a young age were indeed closer to their owners, but dogs needed to be trained. They should not be pampered blindly. Dogs should not treat their owners as parents, but should treat their owners as superiors and teachers to respect. So, when the dog was a little older, it would be easier to train it and let the dog understand its position in the family. Otherwise, something would happen sooner orter.

    Things like big dogs tearing down homes and small dogs peeing and biting everywhere often gave many owners a headache, and there was no good way to deal with them. Arge part of the reason was that dogs were brought home when they were too young, and the imprint phenomenon made them treat their owners as their parents. Of course, they could act coquettishly in front of their parents.

    So what if he angered his master and gave him a beating? Look at those brats, which one of them is afraid of being beaten up by their parents?

    The naughty child was like a dog that treated its owner as its parents. The more it was beaten, the more mischievous it became. In the end, there was no way to control it.

    It would be even more tragic if the owner also treated the dog as a child.

 Chapter 1640

    Chapter 1640: Start from zero

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    As an outstanding representative of the engraving phenomenon, if pet birds wanted to have rtives, they must be raised from a very young age, and they could not always be kept in cages. The master had to start from the nestling to feed them on behalf of their mother, and y with them in their hands. Through physical contact andnguagemunication, the nestling¡¯s impression of the master would be strengthened. Hand-raised birds in this way had more rtives than birds in cages, and they could even be raised indoors like cats and dogs.

    It was not an easy task to raise a bird by hand. Any kind of baby bird had to eat less and eat more, which meant that the master had to feed the baby bird at least four or five times during the day. When it was too young, the master had to use a needle and a soft tube to inject it into the bird¡¯s mouth. When it was not easy, it would take the initiative to drink the milk from the spoon. When it grew a little older and entered the period of milk aversion, it would not drink it properly again.

    If you wanted to raise a kitten from a young age, especially a kitten that had not been weaned off milk for less than a month, it was more troublesome than raising a nestling. This was because birds at least rested at night, but kittens were more energetic at night, and sometimes they had to be fed twenty times a day.

    The most important thing was that there was no clear evidence that cats had the engraving phenomenon, and there was no evidence that kittens raised from young were closer to their owners than kittens raised from three to four months old. In any case, they still had to dislike it ¡­

    When little Wang and Tian Qi heard this, they could not help but feel a little discouraged. This waspletely different from what they had imagined. They had had high hopes, but reality had given them a p in the face.

    ¡°How about ¡­ I keep a dog?¡± Little Wang suggested.

    However, Tian Qi asked with a woman¡¯s emotional mentality, Manager Zhang, you said that you don¡¯t have any clear evidence. Are you saying that you¡¯re not sure?¡±

    It was a tricky angle, and Zhang Zian had to admit,¡±¡±I¡¯m not sure, because people don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on in a cat¡¯s mind. Whether it¡¯s raised from a young age or adopted halfway through, it¡¯s normal for cats to dislike you. Even if they like you, they might not show it, so even scientists can¡¯t do anything about it.¡±

    ¡°However, when the cat was young, it was indeed quite clingy. It may not be the same when it grows up.¡± He added.

    ¡°Mynn has always liked me,¡± Zhao Qi interrupted.¡±I can feel it.¡±

    Little Wang and Tian Qi discussed awkwardly for a while, but they had not reached a consensus yet.

    At this time, Lu Yiyun came back with the warm goat¡¯s milk. She was not sure if the little orange cat would take the initiative to drink it, so she brought a needle in addition to the bottle.

    It was only then that little Wang and Tian Qi realized that the shoe box at the cash register had not been thrown there casually. There was actually a quiet kitten in it.

    No matter how ugly they were when they grew up, most of the Cubs were very cute when they were young, and kittens and puppies were even cuter. It was no wonder that many people wanted to raise pets from a young age. In order to keep this childhood that would never return, even if they knew that raising pets from a young age would be very tiring, they would still flock to it like ducks.

    Even Zhao Qi¡¯s eyes lit up. It was her first time seeing such a small kitten, and it was so adorable, which aroused her maternal instinct and desire to protect it.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t it look like custard buns?¡±

    Tian Qi¡¯s words exposed her gluttonous nature, but she did look a little like her. The orange kitten¡¯s color was very light, almost light yellow, and it was very quiet. It didn¡¯t make a sound when everyone was talking, and it only meowed softly when it smelled the goat¡¯s milk in the bottle.

    ¡°So cute!¡±

    While feeding it, Zhao Qi reached out and touched it, and then asked curiously,¡±¡±Eh? Why are there orange cats in your shop? Where¡¯s its mother?¡±

    ¡°It was picked up from the shop entrance this morning. Someone left it there.¡± Zhang Zian gave a simple introduction.

    ¡°Uh ¡­ Then what do you n to do with it?¡± Zhao Qi asked again,¡±is it troublesome to take care of such a small cat?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll just keep it for now. There¡¯s no other way. It¡¯ll only be troublesome before full term. After that, I¡¯ll drink milk and eat on my own. I¡¯ll give it to whoever wants it ¡­ If no one wants it, then we¡¯ll see.¡± He answered honestly.

    Zhao Qi seized the opportunity and urged little Wang and Tian Tian,¡±¡±How is it? Why don¡¯t you raise it? This kitten is so cute, maybe it¡¯ll mature as time goes on. It¡¯s just a little troublesome at the beginning ¡­ It¡¯s okay, just take it as practice for taking care of the baby in the future. ¡±

    The couple blushed again. Although they were living together, they didn¡¯t think so far ahead. In addition, they were really tempted. They wanted to raise a kitten. The kittens in the Pet Shop were too big for them, and it was not easy to find a kitten that met their expectations. This orange kitten seemed quite suitable. Besides, it was cute and free. They felt that if they missed this opportunity, there would be no such shop again.

    They looked at each other and exchanged nces. Finally, Tian Qi asked Zhang Zian,¡±¡±Then ¡­ We want to keep this cat, can we?¡±

    Zhang Zian had some concerns about the two of them, who were new to raising cats. People who had never raised a cat before would not be able to keep it alive if they started raising it from such a small age.

    Zhao Qi guaranteed for them,¡±¡±They are good at learning and responsible. I will try my best to teach them how to raise cats. You don¡¯t have to worry about this and that.¡±

    Tian Qi actively added,¡±I¡¯m in charge of the logistics and warehouse. I¡¯m usually quite free, so I have my own office. I can secretly bring it to work without anyone taking care of it. It won¡¯t starve, and it doesn¡¯t bark much, so it won¡¯t disturb anyone.¡±

    Zhang Zian could see that the couple was calm and not the kind of people who were particrly impetuous at first nce. From their clothes, they did not look like the moonlight n like Zhao Qi, which showed that they had a certain ability to n their lives and could restrain their desire to spend. Of course, he could not say this to Zhao Qi, or she would definitely be furious. She would say that he was making his own money and spending his own money. Who was in her way?

    He pondered for a moment and nodded.¡±Alright then. But at least one of you has to stay here today. Learn how to take care of a kitten.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll all stay. We don¡¯t have anything to do today anyway. ¡± Tian Qi was overjoyed and agreed immediately.¡±Let¡¯s call it custard bun!¡±

    Little Wang wanted to say something but stopped. After all, a young man would prefer to stay at home and y games or watch football matches on the weekend. However, considering that he had just made his girlfriend angry, he held back his words. He didn¡¯t want to get himself into trouble and have to coax his girlfriend again. If that happened, he might lose the rest time for the entire next week ¡­

    Zhang Zian pretended that he didn¡¯t see his conflicted expression. Between being responsible for the kitten and being responsible for the two customers who didn¡¯t spend in the store, he could only choose one.

    He gave Lu Yiyun a look, signaling her to give them the milk bottle in her hand and teach them from scratch.

    Normally, Zhao Qi didn¡¯t need to stay at this time. After all, she wasn¡¯t the one learning how to take care of the kittens. But she didn¡¯t leave. She observed the kittens eating lunch, as if she had something to do.

 Chapter 1641

    Chapter 1641: Chapter 1641-hate food in summer

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    The area of the Pet Shop was not veryrge, and most of the space had been used efficiently, leaving enough space for disy cabs and the kittens to move around. Now, there were three more adults in the shop who were not consumers, three adults who were constantly emitting heat. Zhang Zian was very annoyed at the thought of the rapidly turning electricity meter.

    ¡°What else do you have to say?¡±

    So he took the initiative to ask Zhao Qi, and the meaning of his words was nothing more than,¡±If there¡¯s nothing else, go do your work. Don¡¯t stay in the store to dissipate your heat.

    Zhao Qi red at him.¡±You¡¯re too snobbish. I just didn¡¯t buy anything from you. You¡¯re asking me to leave just like that?¡±

    ¡°How is that possible? I¡¯m fair to all my customers. ¡± Zhang Zian said sternly.

    ¡°But if we don¡¯t spend, we¡¯re not considered consumers, right?¡± She rolled her eyes.¡±Forget it. I don¡¯t want to stay too long on such a hot day anyway. I just want to ask, my Lan seems to be a little off recently. Can you give me an idea? do you want to take her to the hospital for a checkup?¡± Is this an after-sales service?¡±

    ¡°Oh? What¡¯s wrong?¡± He asked,¡±you have to make it clear first before I can give you any advice.¡±

    ording to Zhao Qi,nn had be a little fat after being fed by her. The British Shorthair was originally round, and by the time Zhao Qi noticed it,nn had already gained a lot of weight. She had learned from Zhang Zian that it was not a good thing for cats to be too fat, just like how it was for humans to be too fat. However, it was more troublesome for cats to lose weight than for humans. It was impossible to lose weight through exercise, especially for British Shorthairs, which were quiet and not active, so they could only eat less.

    If she lost too much food all of a sudden, it would easily cause a stress reaction in the cat and cause a fatty liver. So she was quite conflicted about how to helpnn slowly lose weight.

    However, through her recent observation, she found thatn Lan¡¯s appetite seemed to have decreased. There was often some leftover cat food. Did it also know that it should lose weight?

    Lan Lan¡¯s weight had indeed started to decrease, but the speed was still quite slow. Zhao Qi was quite happy. It had reduced its food intake, which meant that it was full. This was different from being forced to reduce its food intake, and it would not cause a stress reaction.

    It was a good thing that the problem of food intake had been solved, but she also found thatn Lan¡¯s drinking volume had also decreased, which was not a good thing. She had asked Zhang Zian on WeChat, but because he had no signal in the mahogany forest, and when there was a signal, he had received hundreds of text messages, WeChat messages, and emails all at once. He could only pick up the important replies and ignored the questions about pets from her and other customers.

    ¡°Lann used to drink 300 to 400 ml of water a day, but now she only drinks 200 to 300 ml. Is this normal?¡± She asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s not normal. It¡¯s normal to drink more water when the weather is hot. The standard is 50 ml of water per kilogram of weight a day. You can calcte if you¡¯ve reached the standard or not. I think yournn seems to be sick of food in summer. What¡¯s the temperature in your house?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Uh ¡­ It should be around 28 degrees.¡± Zhao Qi wasn¡¯t sure.¡±But my house doesn¡¯t have central air conditioning. It¡¯s inevitable that some rooms are warmer, and some rooms are cooler. I can¡¯t stand the cold, so I didn¡¯t set it too low. Also, when I work and not at home during the day, the air conditioner is not on 24 hours a day. The windows are open for venttion. Otherwise, the electricity bill ¡­¡±

    ¡°It should be hot. It¡¯s not a big deal. The most suitable temperature for cats in summer is 25 degrees, which is lower than that of humans. Because they have fur, kittens are more active. I set it to 24 degrees here.¡± He pointed at the LED screen of the air conditioner.

    ¡°No wonder it¡¯s so cold ¡­¡± Zhao Qi had worn a lot of sunblock, so she didn¡¯t feel the difference in temperature between here and her home.

    ¡°Then, should I adjust the temperature of my house to 25 degrees?¡± Tian Yi, who had been listening to their conversation, quickly took the opportunity to ask.

    ¡°Don ¡®t. The temperature in your house can¡¯t be lower than 30 degrees. Kittens have poor body temperature control and short fur. They can¡¯t get cold.¡± Zhang Zian dissuaded her in time.

    ¡± 30 degrees ¡­¡± Little Wang¡¯s face was full of bitterness. Men were more afraid of heat. In the summer, 30 degrees and they couldn¡¯t turn on the air conditioner. It was ufortable to y games.

    Zhang Zian asked a few more questions in detail and learned a detail. When Qianqian was at home, ifnn couldn¡¯t finish the cat food, she would quickly clean up the remaining cat food to prevent insects froming in on hot days. Even if the cat food didn¡¯t attract insects, it was easy for it to go bad when it came into direct contact with the air.

    But this was actually the wrong way to do it. Cats were originally nocturnal animals and ate in the dark night. However, because they lived with humans, they barely adapted to the human¡¯s work and rest schedule. Cats don¡¯t have an urate concept of time. They judge time by the brightness of the sun. In the summer, when the sunlight is long and hot, their biological clock is inconsistent. They can¡¯t finish cat food not because they are full, but because they think it¡¯s not time to eat yet, or it¡¯s already past the meal time, so in summer, they should adjust the feeding time appropriately or strengthen the shade indoors. During the day, when no one was at home, even if the air conditioner was not on, at least the curtains were closed and the fan was on. The cat could lie on the ss or ceramic table without sharp edges to cool down when it was too hot.

    As for drinking water, it was also a big problem that cats did not like to drink water. At this time, catmint was the only way. Tear the catmint into small pieces and pour it into the water. A better way was to make a self-made catmint yogurt. Thectic acid bacteria broke down the sugar content in the milk. Even cats who werectose intolerant would have no problem drinking it. It was nutritious and delicious. Even people would have no problem drinking it, but they might not be able to stand the acidity.

    ¡°Wait, mynn doesn¡¯t seem to like catmint.¡± Zhao Qi frowned,¡±I tried to tease it with catmint, but it didn¡¯t react. It doesn¡¯t like the taste of catmint, right?¡±

    ¡°There are cases like this too. Some cats just don¡¯t like catmint. But it¡¯s okay, you can try other cat grass. Cat grass isn¡¯t just catmint. There are also barley grass, barley grass, clovers and so on. Try more, there will always be something that cats can¡¯t stop. Just don¡¯t mix it up with the leaves of wheat and barley.¡±

    Little Wang and Tian Qi tried to digest the conversation between Zhang Zian and Zhao Qi. Many things were strange to them, who were new to raising cats.

    Zhang Zian had already taken care of their feelings when he was exining, and tried to make it simple and easy to understand. They faced unimaginable hardships when raising kittens. When the kittens grew up, they would face the predicament ofck of socializing because they did not have the guidance of a mother cat. They would not know how to retract their ws, they would not be good at getting along with other cats, their emotions would fluctuate, and so on. They might not even know how to go to the toilet by themselves ¡­ These things required enough patience to teach, and even if they were patient, the results might be minimal. After all, humans were not cats and could not rece their mother. He could only hope that this couple would persevere.

 Chapter 1642

    Chapter 1642: Chapter 1642-old partner

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    A few dayster.

    The news of Zhang Zian¡¯s return had already spread in the familiar circle. Some old customers like Zhao Qi had also brought their friends and rtives who wanted to buy cats and dogs. Although famous ¡®fans were much fewer than during the movie¡¯s screening period, as Dog Warrior had passed the cinema-exclusive period and was released on the inte tform, many new fans came from thousands of miles away to the Pet Shop to take photos with it. The poprity of the Pet Shop was as hot as the weather.

    However, even if there was a temporary Tiger in autumn, the sr term meant that it would not be as hot as summer.

    The turn of summer and autumn was the season with the most typhoons along the coast. Before he went to the United States, he was worried that the typhoon wouldnd in Binhai city. Fortunately, the previous Typhoon eventually changed its course.

    A Typhoon could cause a water and power outage. The Pet Shop was fine. After a water and power outage, it would at most be a little stinky. But once the water supply of the aquarium was cut off, if they were not prepared in advance, the Marine creatures that relied on the low-temperature environment would suffer.

    Now, he would squat in front of the TV every night and watch the weather forecast with old time tea.

    Last night, he was holding a big bowl of cold noodles in his mouth while watching the weather forecast. Sure enough, he saw the dignified host pull the map to the South China Sea, saying that there was a tropical cloud with low air pressure moving northeast.

    He had experienced a miraculous hailstorm in the mahogany forest. When he came back, he described the scene to others, saying that hailstones the size of chairs were falling down. No one believed him and thought he was bluffing again. Unfortunately, he had forgotten to record the video at that time, so he had no proof. If he had heard others say that, he probably would not have believed it either.

    After this incident, he was afraid of extreme weather. He nned to strengthen the doors and windows and re-waterproof the roof before the typhoon really came. After all, it was an old house.

    He had nothing to do after lunch, so he went outside to think about it and how to deal with it.

    It was a cloudy day, not too hot, and the wind was about three or four levels strong. It was a good day for going out, as long as it didn¡¯t rain.

    ¡°Brother Zhang, are you reading the property fortune?¡±

    A voice as thick as a Bell suddenly sounded from behind him.

    Zhang Zian looked back and saw two energetic middle-aged and elderly people standing on the side of the road with their feet supporting their bikes. One was riding an electric bicycle, and the other was riding an ordinary bicycle. They were welder Zhao and electrician Wu, who he had not seen in a long time. The person who greeted him was the former. He was not tall and his voice was not small. Just from his voice, he thought he was a big man.

    ¡°Little Zhang, how are you! Long time no see. ¡± Electrician Wu also waved at him.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s master Zhao and Master Wu! Do you want toe in and sit? The air conditioner is on in the shop, so it¡¯s cool. ¡± Zhang Zian invited her out of courtesy.

    Thest time he saw the two of them was in the end of spring and early summer. At that time, welder Zhao, who had just survived the toxin of the palytoxin, had bought a batch of low-cost aquatic creatures from a store that had been closed down by the Industry and Commerce for selling the palytoxin. As a result, dangerous blue tang had mixed in with those fish. It was only when Zhang Zian had been invited by electrician Wu and brought dimir to the store that he had found out.

    In fact, the aquarium store was also quite wronged because the purchase process of the aquarium store was different from that of the pet store. Many times, they purchased by weight or box, especially thosemon aquatic creatures. In order to make it easier to settle the bill, they bought them by weight. They didn¡¯t have time to carefully check the small fish and shrimp, so it was inevitable that some stowaways would sneak in.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s aquarium didn¡¯t have such concerns. The water creatures in his shop were all picked up by him from the beach. He didn¡¯t care about quantity, or quality. At least he knew what he was selling.

    Electrician Wu and welder Zhao had always been close to each other. They had been colleagues for many years and often worked together after retirement. It was said that they hade to Zhang Zian¡¯s aquarium a few times, but Zhang Zian happened to be out of town or abroad, so they didn¡¯t meet. They had nothing to do anyway, so they just strolled around to see if there were any new and rare goods in the aquarium. They wouldment on them and then go brag to their old friends.

    ¡°No, no. We were just passing by and saw you in a daze, so we just wanted to say hello. We won¡¯t go in and disturb you.¡± Electrician Wu smiled.

    Zhang Zian noticed that both of them were carrying a long storage bag on their backs. Judging from the shape, it seemed to be sports equipment like a Golf Club. Of course, with welder Zhao¡¯s stinginess, it was impossible for him to spend a lot of money on golf. That was a sport for the rich and powerful.

    Welder Zhao pulled a long face and said unhappily,¡±¡±What do you mean by disturbing? We¡¯re not outsiders with brother Zhang, and we¡¯ve had a friendship that¡¯s been through life and death with him. How can that be called an interruption? Maybe I will introduce a wife to brother Zhang in the future!¡±

    ¡°You can drop it! Could this be called a friendship that had gone through life and death? You can stop embarrassing yourself!¡± Electrician Wu shook his head at Zhang Zian helplessly.

    Zhang Zian also knew welder Zhao¡¯s temper. He was a careless person, especially good at bragging. He was very straightforward, and no matter what he said, he would give a 20% discount. In fact, people with this kind of temper were easy to get along with. They would say everything in the open and would not y dirty.

    These two old partners kept talking and not giving in to each other. It seemed like they would fall out at any time, but in fact, no one would take it to heart. They were all joking, but it attracted the attention of passers-by who didn¡¯t know the truth.

    ¡°Where are the two of you going for a walk?¡± Zhang Zian interrupted them. He didn¡¯t want the passers-by to think that it was really two old men quarreling. If he recorded a video and posted it online, it would be a big misunderstanding.

    Welder Zhao patted the long storage bag behind him and answered,¡±¡±The weather¡¯s pretty good today. I¡¯ve asked a few old buddies to go fishing together!¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡±

    Zhang Zian finally understood that they were carrying fishing rods, but they couldn¡¯t just fish with rods. It wasn¡¯t like Jiang Taigong was fishing with a straight hook, so they had to at least have bait. Seeing that they were empty-handed, did theye to the beach to dig earthworms? It was hard to say. With welder Zhao¡¯s stinginess, he could do anything.

    Welder Zhao guessed what he was going to ask and immediately added,¡±¡±My old buddies have a car, so it¡¯s easy to transport goods. They said that we¡¯ll just have to carry the pole, and they¡¯ll prepare the rest.¡±

    Electrician Wu immediately followed up by saying,¡±Xiao Zhang, don¡¯t mention it. They all know what kind of person old Zhao is. He¡¯s lucky that he¡¯s willing to buy his own fishing rod. They even specifically told him the model of the fishing rod and asked him to buy it from the fishing gear shop or online. He shouldn¡¯t cut one with wood ¡­¡±

    Even though welder Zhao was thick-skinned, he couldn¡¯t hold it in when he heard that.¡±Bullsh * t! What kind of person do you think I am? It¡¯s really a waste of our friendship of so many years! Break off their friendship! We¡¯re no longer friends in the future!¡±

    With Zhang Zian¡¯s understanding of welder Zhao, he was really that kind of person.

 Chapter 1643

    Chapter 1643: Fishing at sea

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Electrician Wu looked down on welder Zhao¡¯s miserly behavior from the bottom of his heart. His retirement sry was quite high. He had medical insurance, his own house, no loans, and his son and daughter-inw had their own jobs. It was not as good as his previous one, but it was more than enough. Although he was not considered rich, at least he had no worries about food and clothing. Why was he so miserly?

    Just look at the other retired people. They lived a carefree life. They bought micro-single cameras and long-focus lenses that cost tens of thousands of Yuan without even blinking. Then, they invited their friends to go watch the Lotus flowers and birds. Some of the richer people even bought off-road vehicles. With their backs to the camera, they drove through the deserts and grasnds. It was a real sunset. They had money and time, and they lived more carefreely than young people. Retirement was the beginning of a new life.

    Then, he looked at welder Zhao. He was simply ¡­ He didn¡¯t know what he was saving money for. He didn¡¯t bring it with him when he was born, and he didn¡¯t take it with him when he was dead ¡­

    Electrician Wu was full of bitterness. He pulled Zhang Zian and told him everything about welder Zhao.

    It turned out that welder Zhao¡¯s friends had recently started to y sea fishing, and they invited welder Zhao to y with them. Welder Zhao didn¡¯t know how to fish, and he wasn¡¯t interested in sea fishing. But on second thought, he might be able to catch some rare fish by sea fishing. He wouldn¡¯t have to go to Zhang Zian¡¯s aquarium all day and look at those strange fish that he couldn¡¯t afford.

    He had heard that the fish in Zhang Zian¡¯s shop were bought from nearby fishermen. The fishermen would catch strange fish and sell them to Zhang Zian. Since the fishermen could catch it, the fishing buddies could probably catch it too. Didn¡¯t that mean they didn¡¯t have to spend a single cent?

    Welder Zhao made up his mind, but on the surface, he was hesitating. He knew that he had to raise money to buy some sea fishing tools in the beginning. If he nned to go fishing for a long time, he might have to raise money to buy a boat or rent a boat. So, he kept saying that he didn¡¯t have time at the moment. He nned to wait until they had enough money to buy what they needed before he agreed to join Qin Zhuan studio. They were all colleagues who had known each other for many years. They wouldn¡¯t ask him to make up for the money, would they?

    The workmates ¡®Fishing Team had been established for some time now, and they had bought all the things they needed. They had also held a few fishing activities. At this time, welder Zhao had shamelessly hinted and hinted at them. They said,¡±you can do it. You can just buy a suitable fishing rod.¡± So, welder Zhao went to the fishing equipment store to buy a fishing rod.

    Up until now, electrician Wu had nothing to do, because electrician Wu usually took care of the fish tank and took care of his grandson. His life was leisurely and fulfilling. He had heard that his retired colleagues had set up a Fishing Team, but he had no intention of joining in the fun.

    However, when welder Zhao went to the fishing equipment shop and asked, he couldn¡¯t help but click his tongue. That was because the kind of fishing rods designated by the sea fishing Team were not cheap. A mere rod cost more than a thousand dors. If it weren¡¯t for his colleagues ¡®repeated reminders, he might have really cut one himself with wood and bamboo. The fishing rod that cost more than a thousand dors was just a little lighter. Why was it so expensive?

    No matter what he said, the owner of the fishing gear shop wouldn¡¯t listen and wouldn¡¯t lower the price. In the end, he couldn¡¯t help but be pestered by him. He couldn¡¯t stand himing to the shop every day and staying there for half a day, which affected the business. He relented and said that one fishing rod couldn¡¯t lower the price, and that if you wanted to buy two, he would give you the wholesale price.

    Welder Zhao immediately thought of electrician Wu, so he ran to his house and asked him to go fishing with him. If they caught any strange fish, they would take turns to share them.

    Electrician Wu pointed at his nose and scolded him. He asked,¡±why didn¡¯t you think of me when it came to good things? why did you think of me when it came to spending money?¡± I won¡¯t go.

    Of course, welder Zhao was even more pestering in front of his old buddy. He immediately said,¡±if you don¡¯t agree, I¡¯lle to your house every day to get free food.¡±

    Electrician Wu was afraid of him now, because this guy would fight for good food with his grandson while freeloading.

    At this time, electrician Wu¡¯s family also tried to persuade him to go with welder Zhao. It wasn¡¯t like his family couldn¡¯t afford the 1800 Yuan.

    In everyone¡¯s opinion, fishing was a very good activity for middle-aged and elderly people. It could cultivate their sentiments, cultivate their character, and strengthen their interpersonal rtionships, so that they would not be more lonely as they got older. As for other things, they were secondary. At least it was much better than eating, drinking, and gambling. It did not affect others like Square dancing.

    Electrician Wu had no choice but to agree first. He then contacted his colleagues ¡®Fishing Team and asked if they needed more people. After getting a positive answer, he went to the fishing equipment store with welder Zhao another day. They each bought a fishing rod at a discounted price.

    Now that they had fishing rods, neither of them knew how to fish, so they could only wait patiently for the next event held by the co-workers ¡®Fishing Team.

    Yesterday, they had received news that the sea fishing Team was nning to hold an event this afternoon, and they were informed to participate.

    After lunch, the two of them rode their bikes and rushed to the gathering point by the sea. Because they had plenty of time, they happened to see Zhang Zian when they passed by the Pet Shop, so they stopped to say hello.

    Zhang Zian understood and admired welder Zhao¡¯s shamelessness. He was even willing to take advantage of his long-time colleague.

    Electrician Wu sighed from the side and shook his head. He said that it was a shame to be careless in making friends. He originally said that they had prepared the utensils and didn¡¯t ask for money, so it wouldn¡¯t be good for them to go empty-handed on their first trip. They should at least buy two boxes of drinks to bring along. However, welder Zhao rejected him on the grounds that it was inconvenient to bring along when riding a bike.

    Welder Zhao found an excuse for himself, saying that electrician Wu was ndering him.

    Although the two of them were constantly chatting, anyone with a discerning eye could immediately see the deep friendship between them. Otherwise, it would be impossible for them to continue to hang out whileining.

    In order to change the topic, welder Zhao asked loudly again,¡±¡±Brother Zhang, you haven¡¯t answered. Just now, you were staring at your shop in a daze. Were you trying to read its face?¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s the typhoon season again. Just in case, I n to strengthen the doors and windows of these two shops and make the roof waterproof again. Otherwise, it will be troublesome if there is a leak in the storm and hail.¡± Zhang Zian exined,¡±I was in a daze just now because I was thinking about how to do it.¡±

    Electrician Wu nodded and agreed,¡±¡±We do need to prepare. Even if the typhoon doesn¡¯t pass through our city, it will still rain heavily. The wind can even blow down trees. I¡¯ve seen it with my own eyes. When that happens, the sewers can¡¯t drain so much water. It¡¯s all blocked by garbage. The entire Street has be flooded. We have to row small boats when we go out. All cars and motorcycles will turn off and die ¡­¡±

    Welder Zhao interrupted him, patted his chest, and said,¡±¡±Aiya! It turns out to be such a small matter ¡­ Brother Zhang, you don¡¯t have to worry, leave this matter to me! Make the windows into blinds that can be opened and closed. No matter if it¡¯s hailstones or stones blown by the wind, they won¡¯t break the ss inside. Add a few moreyers of waterproof material on the roof to ensure that it won¡¯t leak!¡±

    ¡°Uh, how can I ept this ¡­¡± Zhang Zian wanted to decline.

    Electrician Wu chimed in,¡±little Zhang, you don¡¯t have to be so polite. He¡¯s the best at this. He¡¯s the one who did all the renovations for our old buddies ¡®houses. He has his ways of getting cheap renovation materials, and his skills aren¡¯t bad either. Just leave this to him. You don¡¯t have to pay a single cent.¡±

    ¡°If I don¡¯t pay, I¡¯ll lose money ¡­¡±

    Welder Zhao was about to raise an objection when electrician Wu shouted back,¡±¡±What a loss! Can¡¯t you be a little more mature? If it wasn¡¯t for her warm-hearted nature, you would have been sleeping in a small square box and enjoying the incense of the world! You still have the face to ask for money?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just saying ¡­¡± Welder Zhao stopped talking.

 Chapter 1644

    Chapter 1644: Chapter 1644-returning alone

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    The reinforcement of doors and windows and the waterproof of the roof were very basic decorations. They didn¡¯t need to be gorgeous, just durable. Zhang Zian had nned to go to the roadside to find some decoration guerris to do it, but with welder Zhao¡¯s self-rmendation, it saved him a lot of trouble. Although welder Zhao was not very reliable, his handiwork was great. Zhang Zian had seen the fish tank he made by hand and some of the furniture in the house with his own eyes. They were stable and strong.

    Electrician Wu continued,¡±we are retired factory workers, and each of us is specialized in one craft. If you need anything, you don¡¯t have to be so polite. Just let us know. Our products don¡¯t look good, but we guarantee that they willst.¡±

    Zhang Zian believed electrician Wu¡¯s words. Anyone who could work in the difficult and dangerous environment of the old factory for decades ande out of it unscathed must have a few brushes.

    Therefore, he did not decline and agreed to thank her.

    ¡°Brother Zhang, I see that you¡¯re quite free. Why don¡¯t youe with us to go fishing? There¡¯s quite a number of people here, it¡¯s really exciting!¡± Welder Zhao rolled his eyes and invited him with great hospitality.

    Welder Zhao thought that Zhang Zian had a lot of knowledge and knew a lot of marine creatures. If he caught some rare creatures that no one knew and threw them back into the water, wouldn¡¯t that be a hundred million Yuan? It would save a lot of trouble if Zhang Zian was there to help with the identification.

    He heard from his co-workers, who had also heard from other fishing buddies, that there had been some strange and rare fish in the open sea of Binhai city in the past few months. asionally, they could catch one or two strange fish, which made them famous in the circle of fishing buddies. It was said that one of his fishing buddies caught a fish that was too strange, and he was even interviewed by a local TV reporter.

    He thought that the rare fish in Zhang Zian¡¯s shop probably came from this. It was simply a business with no cost but great profit.

    ¡°Forget it, you guys go ahead. I don¡¯t know how to fish, and I don¡¯t have a fishing rod.¡± Zhang Zian declined. He really didn¡¯t know how to fish. Fishing required patience, and he often sat there for half a day. He wasn¡¯t that free.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine. We¡¯re just fishing blindly. Let¡¯s go and y together!¡± Once welder Zhao decided to take advantage of the situation, he would stick to it like a ster and wouldn¡¯t stop until he got what he wanted.

    ¡°Little Zhang, if you don¡¯t have anything to do, you cane and y with us. Those old guys won¡¯t mind having one more person at thest minute. If you don¡¯t have a fishing rod, you can use mine.¡± Electrician Wu also tried to persuade him.

    Zhang Zian really didn¡¯t have much to do today. The staff had already dealt with the general customers. He would at most have a short lunch break when he returned to the store. Not to mention that Sihwa had returned to Binhai city, and he still had to go to the beach every day to y the recording of her song. He hadn¡¯t gone today, so he had to go to the beach in the afternoon anyway. So, he nodded and said,¡±¡±Alright, but forget about fishing. I¡¯m going to the beach to rx, so I¡¯ll send you guys there. I¡¯ll just watch you guys fish.¡±

    Welder Zhao¡¯s mind was that as long as Zhang Zian agreed to go to the beach, everything else was fine.

    Zhang Zian had a car. He asked for the meeting ce and let the two go first, because they were both riding bicycles or electric cars, and they couldn¡¯t all be stuffed into the Wuling Hong Guang MPV.

    He drove to the beach, one step ahead of the two of them. After the three met up, they soon found the ce where the fishing Team was going. Because the activities organized by these retired workers had a strong sense of old cadre style, they could see from afar that they were holding a banner with the words ¡°the fifth fishing activity of a certain team¡±.

    The workers ¡®boat was a modified fishing boat, which could be second-hand or rented daily. Now that there were fewer and fewer fish in the coastal waters, small fishing boats like these were gradually bing useless. It was not expensive to rent or sell by fishermen, and it could be considered recycling.

    Welder Zhao introduced Zhang Zian to a few other middle-aged and elderly people, then asked him to board the boat with him. He declined because he had his own assault boat, and he had other business to do.

    His colleagues urged welder Zhao to get on the boat as they were just waiting for the two of them. Welder Zhao had no choice but to get on the boat and go out to sea with his colleagues.

    Most of these co-workers were new to sea fishing. After fishing with others a few times, they learned the general process and felt that it was more interesting to y with their brothers, so they formed a co-worker sea fishing Team.

    Their small boat didn¡¯t dare to sail too far away from the shore. They stopped at a distance where they could vaguely see the reefs on the shore and dropped the anchor. The excited workmates took out their fishing rods, sat on the folding chairs, hung the bait, and cast the hook.

    Electrician Wu was still okay. He would learn humbly if he didn¡¯t understand something, but welder Zhao felt that it was very simple after a few nces. There was nothing to learn, so he just imitated how others fished.

    Zhang Zian also pumped up his own assault boat and pushed it into the sea to y Sihwa¡¯s song. He didn¡¯t dare to get too close to the small fishing boat of his co-workers, because his assault boat was rubber-inted, and many fish in the sea had thorns. These fish usually didn¡¯t take the initiative to attack the assault boat, but it was hard to say if they were hurt by the hooks of his co-workers.

    He kept a certain distance from the fishing boat, and from time to time, he could hear the heartyughter or shouts of his colleagues in the direction of the fishing boat. It seemed that fishing was indeed a very suitable outdoor activity for retired middle-aged men to y with.

    He watched them fishing from a distance for a while. The safety and protective measures of his colleagues were quite good. Everyone wore life jackets, and there were lifebuoys in the fishing boat. It looked quite standard. He didn¡¯t think there would be any danger in such close proximity to the sea. After he was tired of watching, hey down and yed with his mobile phone.

    After a while, Sihwa¡¯s song ended. Zian sat up and saw that his colleagues were still fishing in the same ce. Welder Zhao¡¯s voice was the loudest.

    Welder Zhao had very poor patience, and fishing was a sport that required patience. This led to him catching the least fish. Even electrician Wu, who was a novice, had a good harvest. Welder Zhao, on the other hand, only caught a few small fish. Every fish he caught was like a treasure at the bottom of the sea, and he thought he had caught a rare treasure. However, the fish he caught didn¡¯t need Zhang Zian¡¯s appraisal. His colleagues could tell at a nce that they were ordinary.

    Zhang Zian sent a message to welder Zhao and electrician Wu, and then waved to the small fishing boat, telling them to have fun. He went back first.

    When others said that the fish he caught were garbage, welder Zhao didn¡¯t believe them. He insisted on keeping them in the bucket and waiting for Zhang Zian to identify them. When he saw that Zhang Zian was going back, he wanted to stop him, but it was toote.

    After saying hello, Zhang Zian drove the assault boat back to the beach, deted the boat, and stuffed it back into the car. Then, he returned to the Pet Shop and did what he had to do.

    That night, he was having dinner with the staff when he received a message from welder Zhao,ining that he was not kind enough and that he could not go back early.

    He saw that his co-workers were in high spirits and only returned at night.

    Zhang Zian said that he had something urgent to attend to and had to return early. Welder Zhaoined a little more, then said that he would help him fix the doors, windows, and roof tomorrow.

 Chapter 1645

    Chapter 1645: Chapter 1645-scratch

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    The next morning.

    Zhang Zian was dealing with the customers in the shop when he saw someone push the door open, stick his head in, and say in a rough voice,¡±¡±Brother Zhang, I¡¯m here.¡±

    It was welder Zhao, whom he had made an appointment with yesterday. There was an Electric Tricycle parked outside the door, and thepartment was full of all kinds of decoration materials that were needed.

    Zhang Zian left the customers to the staff and walked to the door.

    ¡°Woof! There are so many people in the store ¡­ Brother Zhang, you don¡¯t need toe out, we can do our own work. I just wanted to say hello to you. ¡± Welder Zhao said.

    ¡°How can we do that?¡± Zhang Zian followed her out of the shop.¡±Do you need any help?¡±

    What surprised him was that electrician Wu was also there.

    ¡°Little Zhang, I¡¯m here to help too.¡± Electrician Wu waved his hand.

    Today, for the convenience of work, the two of them wore old and wear-resistant work clothes,bor protection gloves, and old-fashioned liberation rubber shoes, just like how they used to work in the factory.

    Zhang Zian felt a little apologetic. Since they didn¡¯t want money, he nned to treat the two to a nearby restaurant for lunch to express his gratitude. After all, it was a favor.

    He even asked Wang Qian to go to the small store next door and bring a box of mineral water over. The weather was quite hot, and they were wearing thick clothes, so they would definitely sweat a lot.

    When welder Zhao heard that he was going to treat him, he happily agreed.¡±Brother Zhang, do you have wine at home? Bring a bottle of wine, I haven¡¯t had a drink with you before, the wine in the restaurant is too expensive!¡±

    Electrician Wu frowned.¡±When we left, sister-inw told you to drink less outside ¡­¡±

    ¡°Aiya, what can a bottle of wine do? I¡¯m happy today. It¡¯s rare for brother Zhang to treat me, so I¡¯ll make an exception!¡± Welder Zhao didn¡¯t care.¡±Wu, don¡¯t tell on me when you get back!¡±

    Electrician Wu shook his head. He couldn¡¯t do anything.

    Zhang Zian remembered that there should still be some white wine left by his father in the wine cab. He didn¡¯t drink it himself anyway, so he might as well wait for them to finish their work and leave with two bottles. This was also a way to make friends.

    He went back to the second floor of the store and rummaged for a while. He randomly chose two bottles of white wine from the wine cab. The grade should not be too low, because his father always drank cheap wine in the past. He wanted to save the good wine forter, but ¡­

    He sighed and went downstairs with the wine.

    Wang Qian had already returned with a box of mineral water.

    Seeing the wine in Zhang Zian¡¯s hand, welder Zhao¡¯s eyes were firmly locked on the packaging of the wine. He clicked his tongue and praised,¡±¡±Not bad, brother Zhang, this is good wine! For the sake of this wine, I won¡¯t hold it against you for leaving first yesterday. ¡±

    ¡°Master Zhao, you can take the wine back for a drink, but don¡¯t drink in the afternoon. If you drink and still ride an electric bike, it¡¯ll be dangerous.¡± Zhang Zian advised her,¡±I¡¯ll put the wine back in the shop first. You can take it with you when you leave.¡± Master Wu, you ¡­¡±

    Welder Zhao was quite happy because the two bottles were good wine, and he was a little reluctant to drink them.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to give it to me. I¡¯ve already quit drinking.¡± Electrician Wu waved his hands.

    ¡°Alright,¡± he said.

    Zhang Zian put the wine back in the shop and turned around. He saw welder Zhao and electrician Wu moving the decoration materials out of thepartment of the electric Tricycle, including the wood and waterproof paint for making the odor-proof Windows, as well as other Small Parts.

    ¡°I¡¯ll help you move it. ¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°No, brother Zhang, you can just go and bring adder here ¡­ Si ¡­¡± Welder Zhao had just picked up a bundle of wood and turned to talk to Zhang Zian. Suddenly, he grinned and gasped.

    ¡°Master Zhao, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Zhang Zian asked with concern.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, just a small cut on my hand. It¡¯s nothing. ¡± Welder Zhao¡¯s hands held the wood, and he said,¡±¡±Brother Zhang, you go and find adder.¡±

    ¡°Uh ¡­ If it¡¯s not convenient, we can do it another day. I¡¯m not in a hurry.¡± Zhang Zian advised.

    Welder Zhao waved his hand impatiently and said,¡± I¡¯m not a delicate young man like you, asking for leave every day when I have a headache or fever, crying for my mother in pain ¡­ For old bones like us, not to mention a small cut on our fingers, I had a pimple on my butt and had it cut off in the hospital. Because I heard that there was a batch of goods that needed to bepleted urgently, Iid on the bed for three days before I was discharged and returned to the factory. When I rushed to deliver the batch of goods overnight, my workmates found that the back of my pants was dyed red, Those bastards even asked me if my period is here ¡­¡±

    He wasn¡¯t bragging. Electrician Wu had corroborated the story. There was indeed such a thing. For the old workers in the factory, a small cut on their fingers was nothing. It wasn¡¯t even considered a light injury.

    Zhang Zianughed helplessly. This could be considered a unique mark of the era. In their era, the sense of collective honor was more important than life. It was difficult for modern young people to understand.

    The two old masters were wearingbor protection gloves, so Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t see the condition of the wounds. Since welder Zhao said it was fine and just a small cut, he could only let him be.

    In the past, when Zhang Zian¡¯s parents were running the Pet Shop, the small cuts on their hands that were scratched by cats had never stopped. Sometimes they were so deep that the bone could be seen, but they still worked. As welder Zhao had said, young people nowadays were too delicate.

    More customers came to the Pet Shop one after another, including fans of famous. Zhang Zian saw that the shop was tight on manpower, so he greeted the two masters and told them to ask for anything they needed, then returned to the shop to help.

    The morning passed quickly. At first, Zhang Zian took time to go outside twice to take a look. He saw that the two of them were working well together, deftly, measuring the dimensions, sawing the wood, and making the waterproof coating. The work was carried out in an orderly manner. They really did not need the help of ayman like him. If he were to intervene rashly, he would only make things worse. In addition, the store was quite busy, so he did note out again.

    At noon, it was time for lunch. The customers and fans in the store finally left, and Zhang Zian and the staff had some free time.

    ¡°Um ¡­ The two old chefs have been busy for a long time. I¡¯ll treat them to a mealter. You can order your own takeaway.¡± He said to his staff.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun also expressed that they wanted to freeload food and drink, but he refused them mercilessly.

    Thest few customers left in groups. Zhang Zian stretched his back and thought about which restaurant nearby was suitable for a treat. At this time, he heard amotion at the door of the shop and electrician Wu¡¯s exmation,¡±¡±Old Zhao! Old Zhao! What¡¯s wrong? Don¡¯t scare me!¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart suddenly tightened. He looked at the staff and rushed out of the door as fast as he could.

    Welder Zhao, who had been full of energy before, was now sitting on the ground with a pale face and a head full of sweat. He was panting heavily. If electrician Wu hadn¡¯t supported him, he might have fallen to the ground directly.

 Chapter 1646

    Chapter 1646: Chapter 1646-copse

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    At noon, most people had gone home for lunch. There were not many idle people on the street. Except for thest few customers, there were only a few passers-by who stopped and looked at them curiously. They felt that it was nothing serious and left.

    Some of the customers were familiar with Zhang Zian, but they didn¡¯t know what the rtionship between Zhang Zian and welder Zhao was. They thought that welder Zhao was hired by Zhang Zian to work, so they kindly reminded him,¡±¡±Manager Zhang, are you trying to extort us?¡±

    Society was veryplicated, and they were reminding him out of good intentions.

    First of all, welder Zhao was stingy, and everyone knew that he would asionally take advantage of others, but he didn¡¯t seem like the kind of person who would do that. In addition, if his acting skills could reach this level, it would be a waste of talent to use it to ckmail people.

    The paleness of his face and the constant sweating could not be faked.

    Electrician Wu was also very anxious, and he was sweating profusely.

    Zhang Zian walked over to welder Zhao and squatted down. He asked,¡±¡±Master Zhao, what¡¯s wrong? Do you need me to send you to the hospital? Or should I call an ambnce for you?¡±

    Welder Zhao gritted his teeth and waved his hand with great effort.

    Zhang Zian was most worried that he would have a heart attack, but after some observation, he found that he did not cover his chest or heart with his hands, so it should not be a particrly urgent condition.

    After a while, the pain seemed to have subsided a little. Welder Zhao said weakly,¡±¡±I¡¯m fine ¡­ I¡¯m fine. There¡¯s no need to call the ambnce ¡­ I might have a heat stroke. Let me sit down and rest for a while ¡­¡±

    Heat stroke?

    It was windy yesterday, and it wasn¡¯t today, so the air was still a little stuffy. In addition, welder Zhao and electrician Wu were both wearing long-sleeved and long-sleeved canvas work clothes. They were busy going back and forth between the ground and the roof, sawing wood and moving materials. It was indeed possible for them to get a heat stroke.

    The back of the two workers ¡®overalls was wet with sweat. Master Zhao¡¯s entire back was wet, but it was unclear how much of it was from work and how much was from exhaustion.

    Even at the end of summer, it was normal to get a heatstroke, so Zhang Zian asked Wang Qian to go to the nearby pharmacy to buy some huoxiang zhengqi water.

    In addition to the possibility of a heat stroke, this situation was also simr to sudden hypoglycemia. Zhang Zian saw that welder Zhao¡¯s condition had stabilized, so he quietly waved to electrician Wu and called him to the side.

    ¡°Master Wu, does master Zhao have diabetes?¡± Zhang Zian whispered.

    ¡°No, I didn ¡®t,¡±

    Electrician Wu shook his head firmly.

    The two of them were old friends, old colleagues, and their families were familiar with each other. An illness like diabetes wasn¡¯t hard to hide, so once they got it, they wouldn¡¯t hide it. Zhang Zian believed in electrician Wu, but it was also possible that welder Zhao had diabetes without knowing it.

    ¡°Has he had a physical examination recently?¡± Zhang Zian asked again.

    ¡°I took a medical examination for a retired employee in March.¡± Electrician Wu answered.

    It was March. It had been almost half a year.

    ¡°How are the results of the physical examination? Is everything normal?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Electrician Wu smiled bitterly.¡±We¡¯re already half-dead. Which body doesn¡¯t have some minor problems? ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about the three high schools, almost everyone has it. As long as they¡¯re not tested for cancer, they don¡¯t care about other small problems. They just eat and drink as they should. Even if they avoid eating, how many more years can they live?¡±

    That¡¯s true. How many retired people in their 60s and 70s arepletely healthy? One in a hundred.

    Not to mention the middle-aged and elderly, even the young people in their 20s and 30s nowadays, how many of them dared to say that they werepletely healthy?

    ¡°Then you also think that master Zhao suffered a heat stroke?¡± Zhang Zian asked for his opinion.

    Electrician Wu hesitated for a moment before he nodded slowly.¡±¡±Old Zhao¡¯s body used to be quite strong, and I¡¯ve never heard of him getting a heat stroke. But he¡¯s old, after all, and can¡¯t bepared to when he was young, don¡¯t you think? I¡¯ve had a heat stroke before, and the symptoms are quite simr to this. I felt dizzy and couldn¡¯t stand steadily. As I spoke, my legs went soft and I fell to the ground. ¡±

    Zhang Zian pondered and didn¡¯t answer.

    At that moment, Wang Qian came back from the medicine shop with huoxiang zhengqi water.

    Electrician Wu thanked him and walked back to help welder Zhao drink the medicine.

    Zhang Zian asked Lu Yiyun to make a ss of sugar water and let welder Zhao drink it too. One reason was to wash away the bitterness of the huoxiang zhengqi water in his mouth, and the other was to prevent hypoglycemia.

    Welder Zhao rested on the spot for a while. His symptoms seemed to be relieved, and he struggled to stand up and continue working.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, hehe, this medicine is quite effective ¡­ Hurry up and finish the work. We still have to go to the restaurant for lunch ¡­¡± As soon as welder Zhao stood up, his body staggered. Fortunately, electrician Wu was next to him and helped him.

    Electrician Wuined,¡±old Zhao!¡± Go home and rest for today. Let sister-inw make a pot of porridge. Don¡¯t go out and eat those greasy things. You won¡¯t lose anything by taking two bottles of wine with you!¡±

    Zhang Zian definitely couldn¡¯t let welder Zhao continue working today. If something really happened, who could bear the responsibility?

    Welder Zhao, however, insisted that he was fine. He said that he might be hungry and that he would finish his work after lunch.

    Famous was also crowding at the entrance of the shop to watch themotion. It had a keen sense of smell, and at this moment, it vaguely smelled a faint odor, so it leaned closer to welder Zhao.

    Welder Zhao wasn¡¯t tall. When he lowered his hand, his palm was almost at the same height as famous¡¯s head.

    Famous sniffed carefully and finally confirmed that the source of the smell was welder Zhao¡¯s palm.

    It called Zhang Zian to the side and whispered its discovery.

    ¡°What? There¡¯s a rotten smell?¡± Zhang Zian was shocked.¡±Are you saying that welder Zhao¡¯s hand is rotting?¡±

    ¡°No, I mean, there is indeed a rotten smell on his hands, but the smell is very light. It should be just part of the tissue that is beginning to rot.¡± Famous corrected its wording.

    ¡°That¡¯s still very serious!¡±

    A chill ran down Zhang Zian¡¯s spine. This could exin welder Zhao¡¯s sudden illness. The tissues of his palm began to rot, which meant that the white blood cells were trying to fight against bacteria or viruses, which might have caused an inmmatory reaction.

    He couldn¡¯t care about anything else. He strode over to welder Zhao, grabbed his hands, and asked,¡±¡±Master Zhao, which hand of yours is injured? Did you get cut yesterday?¡±

    Without waiting for welder Zhao to answer, Zhang Zian had already pulled off thebor protection gloves on both of his hands. He saw a band-aid on his right palm.

    Zhang Zian pulled the edge of the band-aid and tore it off. Welder Zhao grimaced in pain, and his head was covered in sweat.

    ¡°Be gentle! Gentle! Brother Zhang, what are you doing?¡±

    Welder Zhao wanted to take his hand back, but his wrist was firmly grabbed by Zhang Zian.

    Under the light, Zhang Zian could see that the wound was ck.

 Chapter 1647

    Chapter 1647: Ferocious bacteria

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Welder Zhao¡¯s wound was on the edge of his palm, right in front of the web between his thumb and index finger. It was indeed a small wound, as if he had been cut by something sharp. It looked like he had only bled a little. The wound was only two or three centimeters long, and it was not deep.

    In addition to this main wound, there were a few unremarkable minor wounds on his fingers.

    Under normal circumstances, such a wound would not attract too much attention. Most people would not go to the hospital because of such a wound, let alone a careless person like welder Zhao.

    However, it was such a small wound that the skin on both sides of the wound had turned white, and the flesh under the skin had turned slightly ck. There were no signs of healing at all.

    ¡°Did you get this cut yesterday? How did you get cut? What did you get cut by?¡± Zhang Zian asked three times.

    Welder Zhao didn¡¯t seem to care, but electrician Wu could see his serious expression, just like the expression he had every time welder Zhao died at work. So, he answered the three questions for his old friend.

    Zhang Zian had left early for the sea fishing event the previous afternoon. It was not easy for his co-workers to get together, so they would not leave easily. They would definitely enjoy themselves before going back.

    The fishing team¡¯s equipment, especially the safety equipment, was quiteplete. Welder Zhao and electrician Wu only brought their own fishing rods. The fishing Team shared their spare equipment with them. In addition to fishing tools such as bait and thermal boxes, there were also safety equipment such as life jackets and cut-proof gloves.

    Welder Zhao had been doing hard work for decades, so his palms were fat. He couldn¡¯t put on the cut-proof gloves prepared by the fishing Team. He also thought it was too hot to wear the gloves, so he didn¡¯t want to wear them. The others didn¡¯t force him, only letting him wear a life jacket.

    Because they had to put the bait on the hook, the gloves of the sea fishing Team were bare, or it would be inconvenient. In fact, the protective ability of these gloves was also very limited, mainly to prevent the palm from being cut by the line.

    As he fished, a fish finally took the bait on welder Zhao¡¯s bobber, which made him very excited since he hadn¡¯t had any business for a long time. When the fish was out of the water, because of his unfamiliarity and the fact that the fish was always struggling, the fish was swaying left and right in the air, and he couldn¡¯t put it into the bucket no matter how hard he tried. In a hurry, welder Zhao used his hand to touch the fish, and the fish entered the bucket. The edge of his palm was cut by the struggling fish, and it was bleeding.

    When electrician Wu saw this scene, he was very nervous because there were too many precedents from Zhao Zun¡¯s death at work. He quickly asked if the fish was poisonous.

    The co-workers looked into the bucket and were certain that the fish was verymon and definitely not poisonous.

    More than one worker confirmed this statement and advised electrician Wu not to worry.

    Welder Zhao didn¡¯t care even more. He washed his wound with seawater, then asked for a band-aid from his co-workers. He stuck it on his wound and continued ying.

    They yed until the evening, and everyone returned to their homes. They found a barbecue stall to eat barbecue and drink beer. During this time, welder Zhao was fine, so electrician Wu was relieved.

    By the time electrician Wu came to the Pet Shop with welder Zhao this morning, he had already forgotten about this small matter.

    Electrician Wu told him everything that happened yesterday, but he didn¡¯t think that such a small wound would affect him much. If the wound had been made by a rusty metal piece, or if the wound was deep and dirty, he would have forced welder Zhao to get a tetanus shot, but that wasn¡¯t the case.

    ¡°Little Zhang, do you think there¡¯s a problem with this wound?¡± Electrician Wu asked nervously.

    Famous sniffed the wound and nodded to Zhang Zian, meaning that the rotten smell wasing from here.

    Zhang Zian said with reservation,¡±it¡¯s hard to say now.¡±

    As he had pulled off the band-aid so violently, the wound that had not healed began to bleed again.

    It wasn¡¯t good to stay outside all the time. First, it was hot, and second, it would attract unnecessary attention.

    He asked the staff to help the two old masters into the shop and found chairs for them to sit down and wait for a while. He went upstairs to get the Blood Collection Needles.

    He had bought a microscope for the Elfins to test their blood types, and he had also brought along a blood collection needle. These days, under his guidance, little celery had gotten addicted to testing blood for cats and gained a lot of knowledge. He had also tested the Elfins ¡®blood types clearly.

    After that, the microscope did not eat any dust for the time being. After all, he had just gotten a new toy and was very fresh. He often used it to observe the microscopic world. He observed whatever he thought of. Chicken, onions, water droplets, cat food, bird droppings ¡­ They all became the objects of observation for him and the elves. It was quite interesting. The elves were even more amazed by the microscopic world that they had never seen before. There was actually an unimaginable world in the microscopic area that could not be seen with the naked eye.

    Zhang Zian used a blood collection needle to pick up a drop of blood from welder Zhao¡¯s wound, and then observed it through the microscope.

    Under a high magnification microscope, red blood cells were like buns. They did not appear red when they were not dyed, and white blood cells were even more difficult to distinguish when they were not dyed.

    He continued to adjust the magnification to see what the enemy the white blood cells were fighting hard against was.

    Was it bacteria? Virus? Or a parasite?

    As he magnified it, he saw some small ck dots floating in the blood.

    He continued to make minor adjustments, and the ck dot¡¯s true form finally became slightly clearer.

    The microscope he bought was definitely notparable to the ones in scienceboratories. He could only vaguely see the outline of small ck spots.

    The little ck dot was curved into an arc, and one could almost see the extremely fine fungi moving.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart sank. Thebination of these two characteristics proved that they were some kind of vivibro.

    If these Vipers were the cause of welder Zhao¡¯s illness, and if they entered his body through the wound on his hand yesterday ¡­

    Assuming that the answers to the above two questions were yes, then the bacteria had only been in welder Zhao¡¯s body for slightly more than 12 hours. In such a short time, it had already caused him to have symptoms of exhaustion. It could be seen that the bacteria multiplied rapidly, and the white blood cells in welder Zhao¡¯s body were almost helpless against them. They could not y their due role in suppressing them.

    Putting all the signs together, he suddenly thought of a type of bacteria that wasmon in the sea and extremely terrifying.

    He was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly stood up and walked to welder Zhao, saying seriously,¡±¡±Master Zhao, you must go to the hospital immediately. Go now, or call the ambnce to pick you up!¡±

    Welder Zhao was still trying to be brave.¡±I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m much better now. It was just a heat stroke ¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian interrupted his nagging, pressed his shoulder and said,¡±¡±Master Zhao, I¡¯m telling you seriously that you might have been infected with the virus. If you don¡¯t hurry to the hospital, you might lose your hand or even your life!¡±

 Chapter 1648

    Chapter 1648: High-risk group

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    The name ¡°vibro fiend¡± sounded very unfamiliar. The shop assistants and the few regr customers who came in to watch the fun weren¡¯t even sure what it was.

    If Zhang Zian said that any animal was poisonous, even if the fish that cut welder Zhao¡¯s palm yesterday didn¡¯t seem to be poisonous, but was actually poisonous because of gic mutation, welder Zhao and electrician Wu would definitely believe it without a doubt. But regarding bacteria ¡­ It sounded too mysterious.

    In everyone¡¯s knowledge, the easiest thing to get infected after an injury was tetanus. What the hell was this bacteria of yours?

    Zhang Zian knew that if he didn¡¯t exin it clearly, it would be impossible to make welder Zhao, who was more stubborn than a donkey, go to the hospital obediently, so he patiently exined the ins and outs of the virus.

    There were about 90 types of Vipers, most of which were not directly harmful to the human body, so Zhang Zian only knew this one type of Vipers. After all, this type of Vipers was closely rted to marine life.

    It was only in 1976 that Vipera Vulture was identified as apletely new pathogen. From then on, people started to pay attention to it.

    This type of Vi could only survive in seawater. It was salt-thirsty and liked high temperatures. Generally, when the temperature was above 30 degrees Celsius, the temperature of the seawater would also be above 20 degrees Celsius. At this time, this type of Vi would start to be active. Therefore, people would often be infected in the summer of the temperate zone, or during most of the year in the tropical and subtropical regions.

    As long as the temperature was right, the bacteria was widely distributed in the sea. Whether it was eating uncooked seafood or a damaged wounding into contact with seawater, it was possible to be infected with the bacteria. Some developed countries had already given relevant warnings on thebels of seafood.

    Having said that, healthy people had enough resistance and were not easy to be infected with the virus. The high-risk group was men with chronic liver disease living by the sea.

    That¡¯s right, due to the protection of the estrogen in the body, it was very rare for young women to be infected with the virus. It could only be said that youngdies were indeed treated well everywhere. Even the bacteria were lenient on youngdies ¡­

    However, when women got older, their estrogen levels would decrease, and the probability of infection would be close to that of men. This was the so-called ¡°since ancient times, bacteria was like a beauty, and no one could see white hair in the world.¡±

    The reason why it was emphasized that people living by the sea faced greater danger was that only people living by the sea had the opportunity to eat fresh seafood, and only then could they have the chance to be infected by the food with the bacteria, especially in the process of processing seafood, such as injuring their hands when they were scraping the scales and removing the internal organs ¡­ On the contrary, people living in the maind, because the seafood they ate was frozen, had no possibility of being infected by the bacteria.

    It wasmon knowledge that no matter how salty the seawater was, once it was frozen, it would desalinate into fresh water. The salt-loving and high temperature-loving bacteria, v. Nih, was covered in ice and soon froze to death.

    It could only be said that while people living by the sea enjoyed the most delicious and natural taste of seafood, they also faced the possibility of being infected by this terrible bacteria.

    Just as electrician Wu had said, how many retired people werepletely healthy? They more or less had some chronic diseases, and young people were basically in a sub-healthy state.

    Welder Zhao liked to drink. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t see his medical report, but he guessed that he had an alcoholic liver, which was moremon among middle-aged and elderly men who retired from factories.

    A middle-aged man with an unhealthy liver determined that welder Zhao was the most likely person to be infected with the Vulture.

    The scary thing about the bacteria was that it attacked quickly. From the moment of infection, it was possible to die within 48 hours. Due to the low number of cases, the estimated death rate was more than 40%. If treatment was not timely, even if one¡¯s life was saved, it was likely that one would have to amputate. The second reason was that humans knew too little about this bacteria. Humans were not even sure about its pathogenic mechanism, and medical schools would not even mention this bacteria.

    Due to theck of knowledge on the virus, infected people often didn¡¯t care about it, just like welder Zhao, and missed the best time for treatment. Even if they went to the hospital for treatment, the doctors might use the wrong treatment n due to their ignorance of the disease. It could even be said that the reason why this disease was rare was not because there were so few infected people, but because some of the infected people had already died without knowing why.

    Logically speaking, the reason why the fatal rate of the virus was so high wasn¡¯t because it was super awesome. Some bacteria onnd were even more awesome than it. However, humans were animals that lived onnd. Their immune system had almost no fixed immunity to bacteria from the sea. It was unlike the flu, which came in a different form almost every year. If the flu virus didn¡¯t mutate in a different form, the human immune system might not be afraid of the flu.

    It was like a cat¡¯s first transfusion of dog blood. The cat¡¯s immune system was ignorant of dog blood cells, so there was no rejection reaction, but in fact, it had secretly marked the characteristics of dog blood cells. If it dared to transfuse dog blood a second time, the immune system would be able to suppress it in minutes.

    In the summer, everyone liked to go to the beach to y in the water to relieve the summer heat and lower the temperature. They could also feast their eyes. When they had fun, they would always forget the horror of the sea and the various dangers hidden in it. Not only were there sharks and jellyfish on the surface, but even the invisible residents of the microworld were also ready to invade the human body at any time.

    Zhang Zian briefly exined the scariness of the bacteria. Even welder Zhao, who had always been loud, became listless, and his face turned pale. They usuallyughed at themselves for having one foot in the grave, but when they were really facing the danger of death, who didn¡¯t treasure their own life?

    ¡°Old Zhao! Why are you still sitting there? Hurry to the hospital!¡± Electrician Wu was the first to react. He grabbed welder Zhao¡¯s arm and pulled him out.¡±Xiao Zhang, I¡¯ll get someone to do the rest of the work. You don¡¯t have to worry about it ¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡±

    Zhang Zian ran back to the second floor, took out a few pills from the medicine cab, and handed them to welder Zhao.¡±Take some medicine first. When you get to the hospital, go directly to the emergency department and say that you¡¯ve been infected with vibro fiend and must get treatment immediately. You can be tougher. Otherwise, some medical staff may neglect you because they don¡¯t know this type of bacteria.¡±

    At this time, welder Zhao was out of his wits. Without thinking, he took the medicine with mineral water. Without even asking, he took out his phone in a panic.¡±I ¡­ I want to call my wife ¡­¡±

    ¡°Aiya! You¡¯re usually so hot-headed, but you¡¯re so wishy-washy now!¡± Electrician Wu snatched the phone away in exasperation.¡±Let¡¯s go to the hospital first!¡± Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Electrician Wu dragged welder Zhao out of the shop like he was dragging a dead dog. He waved his hand to stop a taxi and went straight to the nearest hospital.

 Chapter 1649

    Chapter 1649: Chapter 1649-antibiotics

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian and the staff sent the two masters out and watched their car leave before returning to the store.

    A few of the regr customers also had a lingering fear when they heard this. Living by the sea, they had eaten a lot of seafood, and it was all fresh seafood that had just been caught from the water. Because it was cheap and nutritious, everyone said that eating seafood was good for health. They spent a small amount of time in restaurants, and most of the time, they bought it home and dealt with it themselves. It wasmon for their hands to be pierced by Fishbone and shrimp spear. Now that they thought about it, they were still a little scared.

    Zhang Zian could tell that they were worried, so heforted them,¡±¡±You don¡¯t have to be too scared. We¡¯re not sure how master Zhao got the infection. Did he get it when he cut his palm with a fish, or did he get it when he washed his wound with seawater, or both ¡­ But as long as he keeps himself healthy, especially his liver, and drinks as little as possible, the probability of ordinary people getting this bacteria is extremely low.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good. If I can¡¯t eat seafood, I¡¯d rather die ¡­¡± Someone sighed.

    Li Kun was also quite afraid.¡±Master, you have always asked us to wear rubber gloves when dealing with seafood ¡­ No, when dealing with marine pets. Is this the reason?¡±

    Every time Zhang Zian picked up an umon marine creature from the beach to add to the Aquarium¡¯s disy, the rest of the work was done by the staff. However, the staff did not like to wear rubber gloves, as it was hot and inconvenient, but he always emphasized that they must be worn.

    ¡°You¡¯re thinking too much. This is really just to prevent being stabbed by poisonous creatures.¡± Zhang Zian rolled his eyes at them. After all, they were all healthy young people. Instead of taking special protection because they were worried about being infected with the virus, they might as well be worried about being hit by a car on the road.

    ¡°Master, what medicine did you give master Zhao in the end? Did you make the pill yourself, but disguised it as Western medicine?¡± This was the question that Wang Ben was most concerned about. He had been itching to ask this question for a long time, and now he finally had the chance.

    ¡°It¡¯s not a rare medicine. It¡¯s justmon cironfaxacin,¡± said Wang Yao. Zhang Zian exined.

    ¡°Cirpline can ¡­ Restrain vibro fiend?¡±

    Everyone was very concerned about the answer to this question. If they encountered a situation suspected of infection in the future, at least they would not be helpless.

    ¡°I also have penicillin in my house. Next time I cut my hand when I deal with fish, I¡¯ll eat two doses of it to prevent it ¡­¡± The customer also said.

    Penicillin is a verymon andmonly used antibiotic. When the patient has a cold, fever, and inmmation, doctors often prescribe this medicine to the patient. If they can¡¯t finish the medicine, they won¡¯t throw it away. The next time they have a fever, they don¡¯t need to go to the hospital. They can just take some medicine and get over it. Many people do this.

    However, the abuse of antibiotics had been a serious problem for a long time. In many cases, when there was no need for antibiotics, such as a mild or moderate cold, it could allow the body¡¯s immune system to ovee the cold virus. However, in order to help the patient recover as soon as possible, the doctor would also give the patient antibiotics. Sometimes, even if the doctor did not prescribe antibiotics, the patient would still ask for it.

    This was a very helpless thing. The pressure in modern society was too great, especially in modern China, where there were supplementary sses during the holidays and a 996 work system. If you had a cold, you would not take medicine but rest in bed for a few days?

    In your dreams!

    Did the teacher agree? How many days until the high school entrance and college entrance exams?

    Did the boss agree? Would he agree to the mountain of work? Do you agree to pay back the money and IOU for this month?

    It would be fine if he was really seriously ill, but his teacher and boss would probably not agree to take a few days off because of a cold or to be drowsy because of the cold, which would affect his study and work. Therefore, he could only take antibiotics to speed up his recovery.

    It was barely a reasonable reason for humans to take antibiotics when they were sick, but some breeders, be it domestic and poultry breeders or fish and shrimp breeders, would add antibiotics to their feed in order to prevent their pets from getting sick. This was immoral.

    After the antibiotics passed through the human and animal bodies, they would eventually enter the sea. As a result, the bacteria in the sea would slowly develop a resistance to the antibiotics.

    Since the discovery of the virus in 1976, the bacteria had developed resistance to antibiotics such as penicillin, penicillin, and penicillin. Fortunately, some antibiotics, including penicillin, were still effective against this bacteria, but if it continued to develop like this ¡­ The future would be bleak.

    It was ironic that a bacteria widely distributed in the ocean with a death rate of more than 40% after infection had developed resistance to it before human resistance.

    For example, the customer who spoke just now had to take two tablets of penicillin to prevent his palm from being pierced by a fish while dealing with seafood. This was considered the abuse of antibiotics, and it waspletely unnecessary to do so as long as he was healthy.

    Even so, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t say anything like don¡¯t eat penicillin or abuse antibiotics, because everyone only had one life, and no matter how much they cherished it, it was not wrong. Choosing between noble feelings and personal interests was normal for most people. Besides, penicillin could indeed suppress this terrible bacteria, at least for the time being.

    It was the responsibility of the country, society, and the hospital to call for the abuse of antibiotics. It was not up to him, a small pet store manager, to worry about it. It was useless to worry about it. He would go bald if he thought too much. It was better to leave the matter of worrying about the country and the people to the people in his position.

    Of course, he didn¡¯t go to the restaurant for lunch, so he still ordered takeaway with the staff.

    The two bottles of wine that he had nned to give to welder Zhao had not been given out yet. He had to seriously reconsider whether he should change them to other gifts.

    After electrician Wu escorted welder Zhao to the hospital, he contacted welder Zhao¡¯s family as he reported the emergency. He couldn¡¯t exin it clearly over the phone, only saying that welder Zhao was in an emergency and needed toe to the emergency department of a certain hospital.

    As Zhang Zian had expected, at first, the nurses on duty and the outpatient department were ignorant of this strange bacteria. They advised electrician Wu to go to the regr outpatient department and not specte about his illness. In the end, electrician Wu lost his temper and roughly ryed Zhang Zian¡¯s words. Only then did it attract attention. By this time, welder Zhao had already started to have a fever and feel cold all over.

    After welder Zhao was admitted to the hospital, his family also came. Electrician Wu had to spend a lot of time exining.

    Fortunately, the family members were already used to welder Zhao looking for trouble every now and then. They heard that as long as the treatment was timely, there would not be too much danger, so their emotions were still stable.

    Electrician Wu kept in touch with Zhang Zian through the phone. If there was anything that he couldn¡¯t exin clearly, he would ask Zhang Zian to exin over the phone. This was a great help to the hospital, which had never received simr cases before. They quickly arranged targeted antibiotic treatment measures. Otherwise, even if they checked the information now, it might dy the condition.

    The hospital estimated that welder Zhao wouldn¡¯t go so far as to amputate, but a small piece of flesh from his palm was inevitable.

    Welder Zhao was quite scared at first, but he still cared about his face in front of his family. His heart was beating fast, but he still pretended to be calm on the surface. He even imed that this was a blessing in disguise, and that he would be immune to water creatures in the future.

    As for the scar on his palm, he didn¡¯t care at all!

    It might be more convincing if he could wipe the sweat that kept dripping down his forehead when he made such a bold statement.

 Chapter 1650

    Chapter 1650: Chapter 1650-peaceful coexistence

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Two to three dayster.

    It was another working day¡¯s morning.

    He had just sent away a fan who had brought a child from another city to take a photo with famous, so there was not much people in the Pet Shop for the time being.

    An electric bike stopped in front of the shop.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun, who had just returned from walking the puppies in the green space, greeted him. Zhang Zian also walked out of the store when he heard the sound.

    It was electrician Wu. There was still some work to be done on the waterproof of the roof. If he didn¡¯t finish it before the next rain, his previous work would have been in vain. So, he took some time toe over and finish the work himself.

    Electrician Wu had juste back from the hospital. He gave welder Zhao a box of milk and a bag of apples. No matter how well-cooked they were, it wasn¡¯t good to visit the patient empty-handed, not to mention that receiving gifts would make welder Zhao feel better.

    Zhang Zian asked electrician Wu to go into the house to take a breath before he started to work. They were not in a hurry, and everyone wanted to know thetest situation of welder Zhao.

    Electrician Wu wasn¡¯t tired. After all, it wasn¡¯t hard to ride an electric bike. He said that welder Zhao¡¯s hands were wrapped in gauze and he was receiving an IV. Since he was admitted to the hospital, he had been takingrge doses of antibiotics. He had safely passed the critical period of the infection within 48 hours and was in good condition.

    The hospital tested welder Zhao¡¯s blood and confirmed that he had been infected with bacteria fiend. Since it was the first case that the hospital had received, it attracted the attention of everyone. Doctors kepting in and out of welder Zhao¡¯s ward, including the highly respected old doctor who was teaching interns. It was said that the local TV station hade to the hospital to interview him, which would be broadcast on the TV station in a few days. At the same time, it also took the opportunity to remind the public to be careful when ying in the water and eating raw seafood.

    Welder Zhao, who had been unknown for decades, suddenly became a small celebrity. He was happy to be interviewed all day. He was not satisfied with the interviews from the local TV station. Even if they were interviews from online media, he would ept them. Everyone hadmon sense and would note-handed. The small Ward was full of people, and the bedside cab was full of gifts.

    He was quite open-minded. Anyway, he couldn¡¯t take the stab for nothing. At least, he had to make up for the hospitalization fees.

    There were fewer people visiting and interviewing him that day. Welder Zhao started toin that he wanted to be discharged and go home. The doctor advised him to stay for two more days, but he was worried about the hospitalization fee and had to leave by tomorrow at thetest.

    Of course, welder Zhao couldn¡¯t do heavy work for the time being since his hands were bandaged, so electrician Wu had to finish the work himself today. There wasn¡¯t much left anyway.

    Zhang Zian and the others were relieved to hear that.

    Welder Zhao was the first patient who had been infected by the bacteria, but it might not be the first case in Binhai city. Maybe someone had been infected before and died for some reason. If welder Zhao¡¯s illness could make more people more alert about the bacteria, then his knife would be worth it.

    After this incident, welder Zhao finally made up his mind to quit drinking, although he was mostly forced by his family, so Zhang Zian did not give away the two bottles of wine.

    Electrician Wu also conveyed the gratitude of welder Zhao¡¯s family to Zhang Zian, and then he went out to work.

    Zhang Zian returned to the second floor and caught a glimpse of a stray cat jumping out of the window and running away.

    There was an even more restless patient on the second floor. dimir, like welder Zhao, also wanted to be discharged, repeatedly emphasizing not to treat it as a patient.

    Its wound had begun to heal, but it was still wrapped in gauze. He didn¡¯t approve its application to be discharged, because if it were other cats, the so-called discharge would only be moving from the second floor to the first floor. But what it meant by being discharged was obviously to leave the Pet Shop and move around freely.

    ¡°It¡¯s very cool outside today. I can be discharged, right? What the f * ck! Staying in the room all day, I¡¯m almost suffocating to death. Even the prison isn¡¯t like this!¡± It asked impatiently.

    Today was another cloudy day. There was a cool breeze that swept away the previous summer heat.

    The reason why Zhang Zian didn¡¯t agree to let it go out before was that the weather was too hot, and the wound was easy to get infected. Now that it was cool, this reason didn¡¯t hold up.

    ¡°How can there be such a good prison with air-conditioning? If you¡¯re discharged, where do you n to go? You haven¡¯t fully recovered from your injuries, so you definitely can¡¯t fight with little white. ¡± He walked to the window and saw the stray cat¡¯s figure disappear at the corner of the street.

    Sihwa was still ying live broadcast in the bathroom, boasting about her trip to United States to her fans. She also took the photos Zhang Zian took along the way as her own. This time, the forest walk unexpectedly received good reviews from theizens. Because everyone had eaten a lot of oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar, they actually liked this kind of light taste.

    Pi sat in front of theputer and typed attentively. Whether it was dimir¡¯s Secret conversation with the stray cat or Sihwa¡¯s noise, it could not be affected.

    A wooden stick was leaning against the basket hammock chair. It was the stick that Zhang Zian had cut for it in the mahogany forest. It was reluctant to throw it away, because it had entrusted the stick with its courage and asked him to help bring it back to Binhai city.

    He fulfilled its wish. The wooden stick was very light and was not a prohibited item. As long as he pretended to be disabled, he could use it as a crutch. It was just a little awkward when he faced the gazes of the ground crew and flight attendants when going through customs and boarding the ne.

    When Pi wasn¡¯t typing and resting, it often looked into the distance with a wooden stick in its arms. It also sniffed the stick from time to time, as if it could smell the fragrance of mahogany that was thousands of years old.

    dimir sat on the window sill and stared at the stray cat with envy.

    ¡°I¡¯m not an idiot!¡± ¡°I¡¯m at my weakest now,¡± it said.¡±I wouldn¡¯t choose to fight now.¡±

    ¡°Then you n to ¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to find little white, but not to fight it. ¡± dimir said sternly,¡±on the contrary, I n to talk to little white face to face. The era of you hitting me and I hitting you has passed. In the past few days, I have seriously evaluated the strength of both sides. The stray cats and stray dogs can not gain an overwhelming advantage. Instead of fighting until both sides are injured, it is better to put the dispute aside first. The principle of seekingmon ground while reserving differences and peaceful coexistence is to build a rtionship that is facing the new era!¡±

    It¡¯s just that Binhai city is so big that it can amodate both stray cats and dogs. We can put aside the dispute for the time being and develop it together.¡± It was afraid that Zhang Zian would misunderstand, so it added.

    ¡°That sounds reasonable,¡± Zhang Zian said.¡±You want to go now?¡±

    ¡°The earlier the better!¡± It nodded.¡±If I continue to stay in the room, I¡¯ll go crazy!¡±

    ¡°Okay ¡­ Then I¡¯ll drive you there. I haven¡¯t seen little white for so many days, and I don¡¯t know how the stray dogs are doing. I also want to go and take a look.¡±

    He finallypromised and agreed to dimir¡¯s travel request.

 Chapter 1651

    Chapter 1651: Chapter 1651-mountain-like umtion

    Trantor: 549690339

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know much about dimir¡¯s mental journey. From being at odds with the stray dogs to being willing to live in peace now, it must have thought a lot these days. Perhaps the experience of being injured in the mahogany forest had contributed to this to a certain extent. Although the dog blood in its body had been metabolized, something was probably left behind.

    He greeted the staff and electrician Wu, telling them to be more observant and to quickly prepare whatever electrician Wu needed. He then took dimir out of the store and got into the car.

    It had been almost a month since he had been to the southern suburbs. He and dimir sat in the car, looking at the scenery that was quickly passing by the side of the road. They both felt that things had remained the same, but people had changed.

    After a while, the Wuling Hong Guang MPV arrived in the southern suburbs and stopped opposite thendfill.

    Zhang Zian and dimir¡¯s eyes stared straight at the small forest. There should have only been trees and an artificial ditch there, but now there was a row of simple wooden sheds and a fence formed by wire mesh.

    The stray dogsidfortably under the wooden shed, and their days were much morefortable than before.

    What was going on?

    A stray dog on sentry duty had long discovered the Wuling Hong Guang MPV. At first, it didn¡¯t recognize Zhang Zian, but after running over and smelling it carefully, it finally remembered its owner, who used to bring food for them.

    Xiaobai also ran over after receiving the news.

    ¡°Little white, these wooden sheds ¡­¡± He got out of the car and asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s that woman, the woman called suspect Y.¡± Xiaobai exined simply.

    Zhang Zian remembered that before he went to the United States he brought the extreme environmentalist suspect Y here and let her see the dogs in urgent need of help. Now it seemed that her strong ability to act really yed a role.

    ording to little white, after Zhang Zian went to the United States, suspect Y came over every now and then. Sometimes she brought food, and sometimes she brought people who looked like workers to build wooden sheds so that the stray dogs would have a ce to hide from the snow in the winter, which seemed far away but was in fact very close.

    Although she had done a lot of things for the stray dogs, and little white was very grateful to her, it didn¡¯t like her very much. It was because she seemed to treat the stray dogs as beggars and wanted to keep them in captivity like the dogs in the asylum. They could earn their own living and didn¡¯t need anyone¡¯s charity, so it was very conflicted in its heart.

    At that moment, it saw dimir jump out of the car from the other side. It had smelled dimir¡¯s scent earlier and knew that its nemesis hade along. However, it was even more surprised when it saw that the other party was injured.

    Little white knew dimir¡¯s strength better than anyone else, and its rival, who was almost on par with it, was actually injured. Didn¡¯t this mean that the person or animal that had injured dimir was incredibly strong?

    ¡°Do you want tough? Laugh if you want, I don¡¯t want to fight with you today. ¡± dimir said calmly.

    It was indeed in a sorry state. Zhang Zian and melgen¡¯s skills were too trendy. They had shaved its fur, and its chest and shoulders were wrapped in a full circle of bandages. It looked like a wounded soldier who had retired from the battlefield.

    Xiaobai did notugh.¡±Who injured you like this?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯splicated ¡­ In short, you just need to know that the guy is dead, although I didn¡¯t kill him myself.¡± dimir was toozy to tell a story.¡±If you want to know, you can ask him.¡±

    Little white was very curious, but it suppressed its patience and didn¡¯t ask, because it had already happened. It could ask at any time in the future, and now it had more important things to say.

    ¡°Follow me, there¡¯s something you¡¯d better take a look at.¡±

    After little white finished speaking, it led the way in front, bringing Zhang Zian and dimir into thendfill.

    Thendfill in summer and autumn was extremely smelly. Flies were flying around in groups, and maggots were wriggling everywhere. The smell alone was enough to make people faint.

    Zhang Zian covered his nose and mouth with his clothes, but the nauseating smell was still unbearable.

    After walking for a while, the smell in front of them lessened slightly, and a small garbage mountain appeared. It was a garbage mountain without much smell, and it looked fresh and refined in the surrounding piles of garbage.

    At first nce, Zhang Zian recognized the familiar color of the garbage mountain. It turned out to be a garbage mountain piled up with bags of Leshi dog food.

    Most of these packets of dog food wereplete and unopened. Only a small number of them had been opened, but it was not sure whether they were opened by human consumers or by small animals living in the garbage dump.

    A big gray rat saw the man and the cating over, and with a mouth full of dog food, it ran away unhurriedly.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯ve experienced in the United States, but since a few days ago, a lot of this dog food has been transported from all parts of the city, including neighboring cities, in garbage trucks. Most of them haven¡¯t been opened yet, and they¡¯re still being transported today, and the amount has increased.¡± Xiaobai said worriedly.

    Zhang Zian and dimir looked at each other. They understood that this was one of the consequences of exposing the Leshi dog food incident, and it was a consequence they did not expect.

    Leshi¡¯s dog food was unsalvageable, and no one could help them. What if the distributors received arge number ofints and refunds? what would they do about the mountain of dog food that was returned to the warehouse? Leaving it there would take up space and increase the storage cost. There was no way to return it to the United States headquarters, so he could only throw it away.

    It was said that the online store of Leshi dog food in China had also closed down. Ordinary consumers who purchased dog food online had no way to return the goods or felt that it was troublesome to protect their rights, so they had no choice but to throw away the unfinished dog food.

    In addition to other scattered channels, all the dog food that was thrown away was collected in thendfill, forming this garbage mountain.

    Are you worried that the stray dogs won¡¯t be able to resist eating this dog food?¡± Zhang Zian asked. After all, this was food that was within reach. Even if people were starving, they knew that the food had expired or might cause health risks, but they still couldn¡¯t care less.

    Xiaobai shook her head slowly.¡±The stray dogs ¡®lives are much better than before. I can still manage to keep them in check.¡±

    ¡°Then what are you worried about?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Last night, we heard the sound of a car engine. We thought it was a garbage truck bringing in a new batch of garbage, but after listening carefully, the sound and the vibration from the ground were different from that of a garbage truck. There were almost no other cars passing by in the middle of the night, so I took a few dogs to check the situation, and found that someone nearby was driving to steal the dog food ¡­ The word ¡®steal¡¯ doesn¡¯t seem appropriate for the word ¡®stolen¡¯, but in any case, a few people were driving away a batch of dog food quietly. From their ent, I think they¡¯re farmers living nearby. They transport the dog food to feed their dogs, and they¡¯re so happy as if they¡¯re celebrating the New Year. ¡± Xiaobai sighed.

 Chapter 1652

    Chapter 1652: Chapter 1652-backup n

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Around thendfill in the outskirts of Binhai city, there were a few viges scattered around. It was obvious that the smell near thendfill must be terrible. Anyone with a certain amount of financial ability would definitely choose to move. The rest of the people were farmers who lived at the bottom of the socialdder, and they might be relying on government relief for a living.

    Even the remote and poor farmers often had dogs at home to guard their homes. Dog food, which had been abandoned by the city people, was like a pie in the sky for these poor farmers. As for the health of the dogs, it was not within their consideration. After all, even their own health was up to fate. How could they care about the dogs?

    It was reasonable to say that this dog food should be destroyed in a centralized manner, but due to the restrictions of objective reasons, it could only be piled up here. In the garbage dumps of other cities, there might be one or more simr garbage mountains.

    ¡°Then, what do you think we should do with this dog food?¡± Zhang Zian asked, looking up at the mountain of dog food.¡±Do you want me to burn all this garbage?¡±

    Incinerating and burying were both effective ways to dispose of garbage, but open-air burning would cause serious air pollution. Moreover, with so much dog food, it had to be doused with gasoline and otherbustible materials. If it really burned, it would probably burst into mes and might even attract the fire brigade, which would be a big deal ¡­

    Thendfill area was toorge, and the workers also had priority when dealing with the waste. For the time being, the dog food that could be ced for a long time would not be avable. By the time it was their turn, the farmers would have probably stolen all of it.

    Xiaobai shook her head.¡±I don¡¯t know. On the one hand, I don¡¯t want my people to eat these things that may have health risks. On the other hand, those farmers are really quite pitiful. Their clothes are torn and the cars they drive look like they might fall apart at any time ¡­ Is there a good way to kill the best of both worlds?¡±

    The gap between the rich and the poor in modern society was getting bigger and bigger. He had not seen the farmers who stole dog food with his own eyes, but he could imagine that they must be unkempt. Otherwise, who would pick things up in the stinky garbage dump?

    As for the best of both worlds ¡­

    He thought for a moment and said,¡±I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any precedent of pigs being infected with prion.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Little white didn¡¯t understand because it didn¡¯t participate in the United States trip and didn¡¯t know about prion.

    He exined,¡±for farmers, this dog food can not only be fed to dogs, but also to pigs. It¡¯s definitely faster to gain weight than eating leftovers all day. After all, the raw material of this dog food contains a lot of protein, which is better than any pig feed ¡­ And the most important thing is that it won¡¯t infect pigs.¡±

    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying that farmers are encouraged to pick up dog food and feed it to pigs, not dogs?¡± Xiaobai seemed to understand.

    ¡°Yes,¡±

    Zhang Zian went around and picked up a few pieces of slightly clean wooden boards and cardboard, then wrote a few lines with the marker in the car. He hung or inserted them around the garbage mountain, saying,¡±Poisonous dog food can be fed to pigs, but it¡¯s strictly forbidden to feed dogs.

    ¡°Will this work?¡± Little white was a little suspicious. In the dark of the night, the farmers might not be able to see these words clearly, and even if they could, they might not care.

    ¡°I¡¯ll need you and the stray dogs to help.¡±

    Zhang Zian picked up a bag of damaged dog food and threw away the remaining dog food.¡±You can hear the sound of the farmers driving in advance. Then, you can act out a y. Fill an empty bag with ordinary dog food sent by me or suspect Y. When the farmers arrive at the scene, you will eat in front of them, and then pretend to be very ufortable, rolling on the ground, foaming at the mouth, wailing ¡­ In short, you can be as scary as you want. When the farmers see this scene, you can¡¯t help but be shocked. If they see these warnings again, they¡¯ll probably believe it at least 80%.¡±

    dimir nodded in agreement.¡±Not bad! The peasants must be able to understand and understand it. A y that is close to that of the workers, peasants, and soldiers is a good y!¡±

    ¡°Of course, after you pretend to be in pain, you have to run away with difficulty. You can¡¯t lie on the spot and pretend to be dead. Otherwise, if the farmers check your breathing and heartbeat, they will find out that you are pretending, and all our efforts will be in vain ¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian added. In fact, there was also an unspoken meaning that if Youyou yed dead on the spot, she might be taken home to cook hot pot ¡­

    Little white thought about it a little and felt that this method was feasible. Not only could it protect the dogs raised by the farmers from being poisoned by poisonous dog food to a certain extent, but it could also give the farmers some benefits. It was not difficult to send a few stray dogs here every night to act. What¡¯s more, the stray dogs in charge of acting would have supper to eat. It could be said to be the best of three.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll make the arrangements.¡±

    Finally, they could leave thendfill. Zhang Zian stood there for a while, and the smell made him dizzy. He also noticed that the flies seemed to be attracted by the smell of dimir¡¯s wound. They were always hovering above its head, waiting for the opportunity tond on it, making it constantly twist its body.

    Returning to the woods, Zhang Zian strolled to check the workmanship and quality of the wooden shed. The stray dogs might not remember his appearance, but they all remembered his smell and surrounded him enthusiastically. He used toe with a lot of dog food every time, which made them form a conditioned reflex.

    He noticed that little white seemed to have separated the adult stray dogs into male and female, each living in a different wooden shed, and the number of little milk dogs waiting to be fed was fewer than he had expected. It seemed that little white had realized that it couldn¡¯t allow the stray dogs to reproduce indefinitely. Otherwise, they would always be running around for food, and the sudden increase in the number of stray dogs would also attract the fear of nearby humans.

    Perhaps one day in the future, stray cats and dogs would find a better home. Before that, it was better to maintain a peaceful state with humans.

    While Zhang Zian was wandering around the wooden shed area, little white walked up to dimir, stared at it, and said,¡±¡±You gave me a look just now. Do you have something to say to me in private?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re done with your acting?¡± dimir asked.

    ¡°Today is the first time. I¡¯ll demonstrate it myself.¡± Xiaobai answered simply,¡±you didn¡¯t call me here alone to talk about this, right?¡±

    dimir¡¯s expression was grave.¡±In the United States, I was ambushed by the enemy and was injured. He almost lost his life in the United States.¡±

    Xiaobai listened attentively.

    ¡°You can¡¯t me anyone else for being ambushed, you can only me my carelessness. This injury is a good thing. It made me understand that there are more terrible enemies in the shadows, and you and I ¡­ No, it should be said that between stray cats and stray dogs, there is an internal conflict between stray pets, so I propose to suspend the confrontation between us indefinitely until the external problems are solved. ¡± dimir said.

    Xiaobai was silent for a moment.¡±Although I¡¯m more inclined to resist foreign aggression, with the insect disaster as a precedent, I think there¡¯s no harm in cooperating temporarily ¡­ But from what you¡¯ve said, do you mean that even us stray dogs can¡¯t stay out of it?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I suggest you make a backup n. For example, if you suddenly disappear, get injured, or even die, a contingency n in such a situation.¡± dimir said pointedly.

    Little white was shocked, because this was the biggest weakness of the stray dogs at present. It relied on its prestige to maintain unity. Once it lost itsmand ability for various reasons ¡­ The stray dogs would probably fall apart.

    It had always thought that there was still a lot of time to solve this problem, and perhaps the time was not as abundant as it had imagined.

 Chapter 1653

    Chapter 1653: Chapter 1653-encounter

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    ¡°Grandpa tea, the mountain road is rugged. Why don¡¯t you take a rest in the phone and I¡¯ll let you out when we reach the top of the mountain?¡±

    Zhang Zian, Fati, and old time tea got off the taxi and looked up at the hill in front of them.

    Misty Mountain, which was not very high, seemed to have risen from the ground forever. The top of the mountain was covered with pine trees and cypresses, and the top of the mountain was surrounded by clouds, which reminded Zhang Zian of the fog in the mahogany forest.

    It was still a working day, so there were very few tourists around. Even during holidays, there were not many tourists. After all, this was not a famous scenic spot. It only upied a corner of the tourist map of Binhai city. There were no scenic spots on the mountain, and the only feature was the fog all year round. Who woulde to this ce just to see the fog, and even climb a mountain without a cable car?

    There were only a few vendors at the foot of the mountain, selling nothing more than food, water, umbres, and travel shoes. The umbres and shoes were all knock-off goods that could be seen at a nce, such as dick, leopard, and so on. Even pinxixi¡¯s goods would not be so straightforward. It was estimated that they were only one-time use, and they might not be able to go down the mountain in them.

    Old time tea squinted its eyes and looked at the mountain. It saw a few white-haired old men in pure white training clothes walking up the mountain with unsheathed swords. It smiled and said,¡±¡±No need, this old man can still climb this mountain.¡±

    It was these old people who had gotten off the bus with Zhang Zian just now. Probably because the bus was free for people over the age of 70, they came to climb the mountain every day.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it that way ¡­ If it were me, I¡¯d rather be carried up the mountain.¡± Zhang Zian shrugged.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I said you¡¯re a referee!¡±

    Someone suddenly interrupted him.

    Fati didn¡¯t feel anything, but Zhang Zian and old time tea were both stunned.

    Did I meet someone I know here?

    There weren¡¯t many customers in the shop today, and the weather was cool, so he suggested going out to y, but dimir had gone out early in the morning. Pi had taken too much leave when it went to the United States and was updating its chapters. Famous was busy taking photos with its fans, and Gxy didn¡¯t want to go to crowded ces. The mountaintop was too small, so there was no ce to y hide-and-seek, and the other elves were very otakus ¡­ After asking around, only old time tea and French pushing responded to his call. Thetter was new to the shop. He was curious about Binhai city and was willing toe out for a walk and get to know the way.

    Since he hade out on a whim, he did not make a big fuss about it. He had not decided where to go before he left. He only agreed toe to Misty Mountain after getting in the taxi, so even the staff did not know that he was here, let alone others.

    Those stupid customers andizens always called him ¡°taxi¡± from time to time, so he was very sensitive to this word. He thought that he had met an acquaintance again and was a little happy in his heart. Now, who in the world didn¡¯t know him?

    The voice came from behind him. Just as he was about to turn around to see who it was, a young girl brushed past him and passed him. She held the phone to her mouth and continued in a clear voice,¡±¡±I should increase my training!¡±

    It turned out that she was on the phone and not talking to Zhang Zian.

    Her hair was neither long nor short, barely reaching her shoulders. A strand was lifted by the breeze, just enough to cover the side of his face, so he couldn¡¯t see her face clearly. However, he was sure that he didn¡¯t know her, because there were no middle school students in his social circle.

    Whether it was his former circle of ssmates, colleagues, current circle of customers, or friends, the people he knew were mostly adults, college students, elders, and a small number of primary school students who were around his age. However, he did not know any teenagers from grade one to grade three, regardless of gender.

    The reason was very simple. The pressure of homework from grade one to grade three was rtively heavy. Moreover, the teenagers of this age group had no economic autonomy, let alone the conditions to raise pets independently. So, even if there were teenagers of this age group who came to the Pet Shop, they woulde with their parents. Very few came alone. Even if there were some, they would only look and not buy.

    The girl who had just passed by him, from her height, figure, voice, and skin tone, seemed to fit the category of a junior high school student, so he was sure that he did not know her.

    Unless she was a fan of snowy and had seen him in the live broadcast room, it would be hard to say.

    In addition, she was wearing a sailor suit and knee-length socks. There was some kind of symbol printed on the chest, which might be the school badge. Of course, this couldn¡¯t prove anything. After all, many girls would buy sailor suits to y with because they looked good.

    She was full of youthful energy, and her sailor suitplemented her. She walked briskly to the mountain road, and at the same time, she kept her phone by her mouth.

    What made Zhang Zian a little confused was that, although he only took a look at it at a close distance, he found that the material of the sailor suit seemed to be very strange. It was neither cotton nor linen, and it was as shiny as silk, but it could maintain its shape instead of sticking to the body. Perhaps he was too unfamiliar with it, but he had never seen clothes made of this material on girls.

    In the blink of an eye, she had already disappeared at the turn of the mountain road.

    ¡°Zian, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Old time tea asked when it saw that he was lost in thought.

    ¡°Nothing, let¡¯s go.¡±

    Zhang Zian came back to his senses. If he stared at the back of a middle school girl like this, he would probably be regarded as a pervert. However, he was really just curious about her clothes.

    ¡°This is the Misty Mountain you were talking about? The mountain is indeed as its name suggests. ¡± Fati had been looking around, and everything he saw was new.

    Fati had a cor and a leash around his neck. Since he was going to pretend to be a dog, he had to act more like one. He didn¡¯t mind being leashed, because When in Rome, do as the Romans do. He was an animal of the forest, and he had to follow the rules of the city when he came to the city.

    The air here is much better than in the city, but it¡¯s still not as good as the mahogany forest.¡± Zhang Zian told the truth. He still didn¡¯t understand why Fati chose to leave the wolves in the mahogany forest ande to Binhai city with him.

    As it was away from the urban heat ind and lush vegetation, the temperature here was cooler than in the city, and the air was fresher. It was a good ce to stay away from the summer, if there was a cable car.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Each has its own benefits.¡± Fatiughed in a rxed manner.¡±I still think that there are too few people in the forest. Other than a few tourists, there are only sneaky criminals. It¡¯s better to be in the city, where you cane into contact with all kinds of people.¡±

    After arriving at the Pet Shop, Fati had been squatting in the corner of the first floor during the day, quietly observing the customersing and going. If it saw a cross hanging around someone¡¯s neck, it would smile sincerely.

    It tooking to the East as its own trial, and it quickly fell in love with it. It was immersed in the new culture and unique atmosphere. The only regret might be that people were always a little scared at first sight of it, and Zhang Zian tried to make people believe that it was just a little fierce, but actually very gentle.

 Chapter 1654

    Chapter 1654: Special eyes

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    In fact, Zhang Zian had long wanted to revisit Misty Mountain, but it was too cold in winter, and the mountain roads were covered with snow and ice. In summer, it was either the hot sun or the heavy rain. Spring was very short, and the trees on the mountain were bare. In the end, autumn was the most suitable time.

    It wasn¡¯t because of the high cost here.

    The most important thing was that he was too busy. He was either busy with the store, or other things, or going abroad or abroad. He had too little free time. Even if he considered a group trip when he was free, he had to consider everyone¡¯s thoughts and choose a ce that everyone could ept.

    Today, because there were only old time tea and Fati, he suggested toe here. If everyone came, wallet-kun would be dead ¡­

    The only ce that could leave such a deep psychological shadow in his heart was probably Misty Mountain.

    Including his dreams, he had been here twice.

    It was a double psychological shadow.

    It was not that there were no people who walked up the mountain with a dog. When the surrounding vendors saw him walking a big dog, they were not too surprised. When he walked past them, they politely asked him if he wanted to buy water, saying that the water on the mountain was too expensive and that he should buy it at the foot of the mountain before going up the mountain. Many tourists did not listen to their advice and were so thirsty that smoke was about toe out of their mouths. They cursed as they went down the mountain.

    Upon hearing this, he knew that the teahouse in hidden fog had not closed down.

    In fact, not only did it not close down, but the rating of the hidden fog teahouse on the review app was also very high. It had be a high-end inte celebrity card punching ce. The beautiful pictures of various teas and snacks were drooling, and the literaryments wereparable to prose poems ¡­ Zhang Zian understood. After all, he had spent so much money. Even if it tasted bad, he had to pretend it was good. Otherwise, wouldn¡¯t he be a fool with too much money?

    asionally, someone would give a one-star bad review because the price was too high. Other people who had visited this ce would onlyment that the price of the Kasaya was not the other party¡¯s weakness, but your own weakness. Why didn¡¯t you look at the price before you spent?

    The owner of the teahouse had never responded to thesements, and this cold attitude had gained many fans.

    Zhang Zian was in a dilemma. On the one hand, the owner of the teahouse had a rtionship with old time tea. On the other hand, he really hoped that the teahouse would close down as soon as possible so that he could go up the mountain without any psychological burden.

    They stepped on the mountain road and walked up step by step. At first, they didn¡¯t feel anything, but after a long time, it became a little boring. As the view rose, what they saw was only ordinary scenery, without strange peaks and ravines, Flowing Springs and waterfalls, and other decorations. This determined that the Misty Mountain could not be a popr tourist spot, and it was not worth opening a cable car.

    The leaves were only slightly yellow, far from the red leaves on the mountain.

    Walking on the mountain road, he thought of two people, to be precise, one person and an unknown thing, which were snowy and Zhuang Xiaodie.

    After he left the mahogany forest, he also sent a message to snowy, who had helped him to call the police. If it were not for her and melgen¡¯s mother¡¯s efforts, the ending of the matter might have had a subtle change.

    Snowy was still in the United States, but she might be returning soon. She said that she woulde back when the summer waspletely gone. During her time in the United States, she had done many outdoor live broadcasts and visited all the attractions around San Francisco and the Bay Area.

    He remembered her because he had met her on his first mountain climb, and the reason for thinking of Zhuang Xiaodie was simr. Butterflies rose and fell from time to time in the woods beside the mountain road, enjoying the few pleasant moments beforete autumn.

    ¡°Oh right, Fati, do you see any butterflies flying behind or above my head?¡± He asked.

    Fati, who had been admiring the surrounding scenery, walked up to him and looked behind him.¡±Butterfly? I didn¡¯t see him. ¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good. ¡±

    Zhang Zian heaved a sigh of relief. The butterfly that had always been looming before had made him suspicious.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the butterfly? Isn¡¯t it normal to have butterflies?¡± Fati saw that he seemed to be hiding something, so he asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s a long story ¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled bitterly. Anyway, the road up the mountain was boring, so he simply told her about Zhuang Xiaodie.

    ¡°There¡¯s such a thing ¡­¡±

    Fa tuo listened attentively, and after listening, he was shocked. It became more and more convinced that it had made the right choice toe to the East to find its own path. Otherwise, it would not have heard such an incredible story. There were elves who could make people fall asleep and trap them in their own dreams without anyone knowing. It was simply appalling.

    ¡°The problem is that I thought she had disappeared after everything was over, but the elves often said that they could see butterflies hovering around me, but I couldn¡¯t see them myself ¡­¡± He sighed.

    Fati thought about it seriously for a while and said,¡±¡±Does this matter bother you? If so, I can pray to God and ask God to temporarily give me a pair of special eyes that can see everything that the naked eye can¡¯t see. If she¡¯s just hiding, maybe I can see her through this pair of special eyes. ¡±

    It was, of course, referring to the all-knowing and all-seeing eye. However, unless it was a critical moment of life and death, it did not want to waste time on insignificant trifles. Only when one was still in a desperate situation after self-sacrifice and unremitting efforts could one ask for help from God, so it wanted to know if it was necessary.

    ¡°Uh ¡­ It¡¯s not really a problem. I wasn¡¯t used to it at first, so I always felt like there was a knife in my back. Later, I got used to it ¡­ And I often forgot about it. After all, she never appeared in my dreams again.¡± Zhang Zian pretended to be rxed and said,¡±don¡¯t waste your time.¡±

    He saw its solemn expression and guessed that this special pair of eyes might be extraordinary. The flickering butterflies did not cause any substantial damage to him, so he gave up.

    Moreover ¡­

    With the help of special eyes, the Dharma idol could find the butterfly that Zhuang Xiaodie incarnated into. There were only two results. One was that she was no longer there, and the other was that she was still there.

    There was no need to mention the former, but if it was proven to be thetter, wouldn¡¯t it only add to his troubles?

    He might as well lie to himself and say that she had already disappeared.

    She was invisible and intangible, and no physical means could deal with her. She was like a ghost that even dimir could not do anything about. Being in the home field of the dream, she could even suppress Gxy¡¯s power, and the other elves could not do anything to her. They could only stare at her helplessly, like a bug.

    Zhang Zian thought about it. There was a way topletely eliminate Zhuang Xiaodie. In fact, it was very simple. He had an immature guess. Her existence seemed to be attached to his dream. If he disappeared, she would be like water without a source, and there was an 80% chance that she would disappear with him.

    However, this method was basically useless. He had not lived long enough and did not want to disappear with her.

    ¡°Alright, if you change your mind, you can let me know at any time.¡± He didn¡¯t force it.

    Just like that, they talked as they walked, gradually approaching the top of the mountain. The air became cooler, and their bodies were shrouded in a faint mist.

 Chapter 1655

    Chapter 1655: Don¡¯t re at me

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    There were only a few steps left until the end of the mountain road. Zhang Zian¡¯s physical fitness was much better than thest time he came. At least he wasn¡¯t panting like a cow. He was about to jump up thest few steps when he almost bumped into a girl.

    ¡°Zhuang ¡­¡±

    He was at the lower part of the mountain road, and he looked down at the steps to prevent himself from stepping on them. After all, the fog at the top of the mountain was very slippery, so he only saw a light yellow long dress. He was so scared that he almost screamed out loud, thinking that Zhuang Xiaodie hade to reality, or ¡­ Was this another dream? Or ¡­ Had he never woken up from that dream?

    When he looked up, he found that it was not Zhuang Xiaodie, but just an ordinary girl in Chinese clothing.

    It wasn¡¯t easy to climb the mountain in the traditional Chinese dress. He was about to praise her physical strength when he realized that she had lifted the corner of her dress off the ground to avoid stepping on it, but the corner of her jeans was exposed under the traditional Chinese dress.

    It seemed that she hade up the mountain in ordinary clothes and then changed into the Han Chinese clothing.

    It didn¡¯t seem cost-effective to go through such a great effort to do this. Who would she wear a beautiful Han Chinese costume to climb to the top of the mountain for?

    At this time, she tilted her head and shouted to the side in a coy voice,¡±¡±Senior! Isn¡¯t it my turn yet?¡±

    ¡°Immediately! Immediately! Just wait a few more seconds!¡±

    A tall and thin boy, who looked like a bamboo pole, ran over. He had arge single-lens reflex camera hanging around his neck and smiled at her.

    A middle-aged woman was hiking the mountain with her child and was about to go back down the mountain. Her child looked up at the bamboo-like boy and shouted in horror,¡±¡±Mom! This person is ring at me with his nose!¡±

    The middle-aged woman quickly pulled the child and sped down the mountain.

    Zhang Zian and the boy looked at each other and said at the same time,¡±¡±It¡¯s you!¡±

    The boy in front of her was Luo Qingyu, the president of the photography club of Binhai University. He liked to raise his head slightly when he spoke, and he was tall, so he did look like he was ring at people with his nostrils ¡­

    Luo Qingyu seemed to have thought of something. He took a step forward and wanted to grab Zhang Zian¡¯s cor. He said excitedly,¡±¡±That picture of the light of Jesus in the forest, you photoshopped it, right?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t get all handsy the moment youe up. ¡± Zhang Zian pushed his hand away.¡±How could it be photoshopped? I still have the video here.¡±

    After returning to Binhai city, Zhang Zian posted the beautiful scenery he had taken in the United States to his friends ¡®circle, especially the light of Jesus in the mahogany forest, which had won everyone¡¯s unanimous praise.

    The most important thing in photography was to have beautiful scenery. If one had the technology but did not have amazing wonders, the photos taken would only be ignored. It was just like how the most important thing in taking photos of girls was that the girl was beautiful. This was a world where looks were the most important.

    The scenery of tourist attractions had all been poorly taken, and the wonders would only appear in ces with few people. Luo Qingyu, who spent all day around Binhai city, had no chance toe into contact with that level of scenery. Although Zhang Zian¡¯s photography skills were mediocre and he did not have a single-lens reflex camera, he appeared in the right ce at the right time and took a Big Shot with just a casual shot.

    ¡°Detestable! I want to save money! I want to travel abroad! I want to travel the world! The photos I take will monopolize the National Geographic magazine!¡± Luo Qingyu cried out in grief and indignation.

    ¡°You cane to my shop for a part-time job. It just so happens that my public ount iscking someone who can take good photos of cats and dogs.¡± Zhang Zian was kind enough to offer a job opportunity.

    ¡°Woof! I can¡¯t work, not in this life. I want to sell my photos to make money. I¡¯m just missing a Bo Le. I just sent a batch of photos to a Photo copyright website. I¡¯ll definitely sign a contract this time!¡± Luo Qingyu said contemptuously.

    ¡°Good luck then.¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t care.

    ¡°Senior, who is this? An acquaintance of yours?¡± The Girl in the Yellow Dress asked curiously.

    ¡°Uh ¡­ Not really,¡± Luo Qingyu replied.

    Zhang Zian suddenly thought of a question.¡±Wait a minute, Luo Qingyu, weren¡¯t you in your fourth yearst year? You should have graduated by now, right?¡±

    Luo Qingyu coughed dryly.¡±The quality of the new batch of junior sisters is not bad. For the sake of these cute junior sisters, I¡¯ve decided to study for another year in the fourth year ¡­¡±

    At this moment, another boy with a camera around his neck walked over andined,¡±¡±Senior, even if you don¡¯t graduate, you should at least give up your position. You¡¯ve been the president since I entered the club in my first year. Now that I¡¯m in my fourth year, you¡¯re still the president. Will my ¡®vice¡¯ title apany me until I graduate?¡±

    ¡°Look at you, what¡¯s the rush? Can¡¯t you see that I¡¯m talking to someone!¡± Luo Qingyu waved his hand impatiently.¡±Go, practice your polishing skills and mirror-operating skills. Don¡¯t always bezy.¡±

    The boy walked away resentfully.

    Zhang Zian nodded in admiration,¡±you don¡¯t have to say it. I understand.¡± I wish you to be in your fourth year every year and have a junior every year. ¡±

    Hearing the sarcasm in his words, Luo Qingyu red at him and was losing his temper. Another junior next to him called him senior Luo, so he put on a smile and ran over.¡±Junior, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Zhang Zian, old time tea, and Fati also arrived at the top of the mountain.

    Several old men in white clothes and white pants arrived at the top of the mountain one step ahead of them. They yed music and performed a group sword dance with their own plug-in slightly. They practiced every day, so their movements and clothes were neat and uniform. In addition, the fog was everywhere, and the pine trees were like umbres, making them look like Immortals.

    A few girls in traditional Chinese clothing, who were obviously college students, were posing, and a few boys from Binhai University¡¯s Photography Club were taking photos of them from various angles.

    Zhang Zian really wanted to remind these boys that photography was a road of no return. Sooner orter, they would be led astray by their President. They should quickly get off this pirate ship.

    Theyout of the mountaintop was slightly different from when Zhang Zian camest year. There was an additional square Pavilion, which might be used for tourists to take shelter from the rain. Such a change was not reflected in the dream created by Zhuang Xiaodie, which fully showed that her dream was based on his memory. There was no square Pavilion in his memory, and there was no such thing in her dream.

    The teahouse in hidden fog was no different from what he remembered, except for a wooden sign outside the door. The wooden sign listed the teahouse¡¯s signature snacks and their prices with pictures and words, so that curious tourists would have some psychological expectations before entering the teahouse. It was probably because of this that many disputes urred.

    Zhang Zian looked around the top of the mountain. There was no sign of the junior high school girl on the palm-sized mountain top. Could she have entered the teahouse?

    Even white-cor workers would have to check their wallets before entering a teahouse of this grade. A junior high school student could only be exined as a rich second generation.

    Fati was not interested in drinking tea and eating snacks, but he was very interested in the old man who was dancing with the sword. He felt that the old man was filled with a mysterious Eastern aura, and he stared at them intently as soon as they reached the top of the mountain.

    Zhang Zian asked for its opinion. It wanted to stay outside and watch the sword dance, so Zhang Zian tied the leash to the door of the teahouse. Anyway, even if there were any idents, the French pushing machine could easily break free from the leash.

 Chapter 1656

    Chapter 1656: Chapter 1656-freeloading

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian could tell that Luo Qingyu had coaxed a group of new students to be his photography models. When the new female students heard that the president of the photography club was going to take photos for them, they would be very happy. Who didn¡¯t want to keep their beautiful youth in their photo albums forever? However, Luo Qingyu¡¯s skills ¡­

    The entire mountaintop was very quiet, and only the group of people could be heard chattering.

    The girls were a little scared when they saw Fati, but Fati immediately rolled around on the ground mischievously, which soon amused them and removed their wariness against it, not to mention that it was still tied up.

    Some of the bolder girls even tried to get close to it. Seeing that it was unusually docile and had no ill intentions, they yed with it very easily.

    Luo Qingyu was busy teaching the girls how to pose, teaching the club members how to choose angles, and sometimes even personally doing it. He was very busy.

    Two girls had just finished shooting and were sitting on the stone bench to rest. They turned to look at the teahouse in hidden fog enviously and half-jokingly said to Luo Qingyu,¡±¡±Senior! Senior! We¡¯re so tired from posing, our faces are sore, and we¡¯re thirsty. Please treat us to tea!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, senior. Let¡¯s go to the teahouse to shoot. What¡¯s the point of always shooting outside?¡± The other girls also took the opportunity to jeer.

    Luo Qingyu nced at the price on the wooden board and tried to scare them,¡±¡±This is a famous tourist trap. I heard that the tea here has been tested for pesticides. For the sake of your health ¡­ You should drink some water!¡±

    As he spoke, he took out two bottles of mineral water from his bag and handed them to them. They were ice cream, the kind that cost one Yuan a bottle. They were not as good as the cats in Zhang Zian¡¯s shop.

    The girls these days were all smart. How could they be deceived by such a clumsy lie? they pouted and pushed the ice Dew away.

    Even if Zhang Zian had a psychological trauma about the teahouse in hidden fog, he couldn¡¯t stand it anymore, because the photography club and the girls all used the teahouse as the background to take photos, but in turn, they were ndering the teahouse.

    Luo Qingyu turned a deaf ear to the girls ints. Anyway, he had tricked them toe here to take photos. At most, he could change to another group of girls when he went back. There were so many new students, and some of them would be fooled.

    ¡°By the way, senior Luo, did you see a girl who looked like a middle school student just now?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Look ¡­ Wait! Don¡¯t call me senior with that old face of yours!¡± As soon as Luo Qingyu opened his mouth, he immediately reacted,¡±I¡¯m not your senior!¡±

    ¡°I saw it! He saw it! What an exquisite little girl! You look like a doll!¡±

    The girls at the side, however, chimed in.

    ¡°Oh? She went into the teahouse?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Right! Senior Luo tried to stop her from taking photos, but she ignored him. He even said he wanted to treat her to tea, but she walked into the teahouse herself. ¡±

    The girls red at Luo Qingyu with resentment. If looks could kill, Luo Qingyu would have fallen from the top of the mountain.

    Luo Qingyu asked suspiciously,¡±why do you want to know about the little sister?¡± What are you trying to do?¡±

    ¡°What are you trying to do? ¡°You even stopped a middle school student and wanted to take a picture ¡­¡± Zhang Zian retorted.

    ¡°Is it wrong to pursue art and beauty?¡± Luo Qingyu said.

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment.¡±Well, you¡¯re right. I know a little girl with good qualifications. I¡¯ll introduce her to you when she goes to junior high school ¡­ By the way, her name is Wang Yaning.¡±

    ¡°Wang Yaning? Alright, I¡¯ll remember this name. ¡± Luo Qingyu nodded.

    Zhang Zian mourned for him for a few seconds, thinking that he would leave the university campus in the form of going to prison ¡­

    Since he couldn¡¯t get any more useful information from Luo Qingyu, Zhang Zian gave old time tea a look and walked into the teahouse under the girls ¡®envious gazes.

    He pushed open the door of the teahouse, and a faint fragrance of tea mixed with the smell of flowers and herbs overflowed. He and old time tea took a deep breath at the same time. When he drank tea, it was like a whale swallowing a cow. He could not taste any difference between good tea leaves and bad tea leaves, but this only proved that the tea leaves he drank were not good enough. Otherwise, anyone with a tongue would be able to taste the difference.

    The teahouse was a little dark and quiet. There was only one customer, the middle school girl. She upied a table by herself, holding her chin and waiting for the tea to be served. She shook her head slightly, as if she was watching the shopkeeper¡¯s tea making skills with great interest.

    She was facing the counter, and Zhang Zian still couldn¡¯t see her face from behind. He wasn¡¯t interested in what she looked like, so he found another empty table and sat down.

    ¡°Wee. How many guests?¡±

    The waiter walked over briskly and was about to hand the menu to Zhang Zian, but he suddenly stared at his face in confusion and froze.

    ¡°You ¡­ You again! You¡¯re a freeloader!¡±

    She finally remembered, pointing at his face and shouting angrily.

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    He didn¡¯t expect that she would still remember him after meeting him once a year ago. Could it be that she had been cklisted without his knowledge?

    The waiter held the menu in front of his chest like a shield and stared at him guardedly.¡±What are you doing here?¡± You still want to freeload?¡±

    ¡°Cough! ¡°You can¡¯t say that. Last time, your shopkeeper gave me a free meal, not a free meal ¡­¡± Zhang Zian corrected her with ack of confidence.

    Thest time he was here, the Pet Shop had a lot of things to do, and every penny he earned had to be spent sparingly. He definitely couldn¡¯t spend it extravagantly in such a luxurious ce. Almost a yearter, although he was not a rich man, he could still afford this level of consumption, so he really came here to spend this time.

    The waiter¡¯s eyes were clearly saying that only a ghost would believe him! Last time, you fooled us so badly, don¡¯t expect us to fall for it again this time!

    ¡°Anxin! How can you speak to a guest like that?¡±

    The female shopkeeper surnamed ye had just been focused on making tea for the junior high school girls, and now she finally had time to scold the waiter.

    ¡°Sister ye, you don¡¯t recognize him? ¡°He¡¯s the despicable freeloader fromst year ¡­¡± The waiter pointed at Zhang Zian¡¯s face, feeling wronged.

    ¡°How many times have I told you, whoever enters the shop is a customer! Do what you¡¯re supposed to do, apologize to the customer!¡± The female manager raised her voice.

    The waiter was so angry that he clenched his teeth, as if he wanted to rush up and bite him, but he did not apologize.

    ¡°Cough! There¡¯s no need to apologize, I know she¡¯s joking ¡­ Haha! Bring me the menu, do you have any new refreshments?¡± Zhang Zian took the initiative to help both sides out.

    ¡°Ice and water has been sold out, please don¡¯t ask for a higher price!¡± The waiter quickly said.

    ¡°I¡¯m here to drink tea. What the hell is in water with ice?¡± Zhang Zian pretended to be confused. Could it be that after thest incident, this teahouse really added water with ice to the menu?

    ¡°Hmph! I¡¯d like to see what you¡¯re up to this time!¡±

    The waiter saw that the female manager was really about to lose her temper, so he reluctantly threw the menu on his table.

 Chapter 1657

    Chapter 1657: Chapter 1657-ancient times

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Unlike French pushing, old time tea was traveling in stealth today because it was worried that pets were not allowed in the teahouse. If there were other guests, they might not be unhappy to see their pets drinking tea with others.

    After entering the teahouse, it carefully looked at the things and people it had not seen for a long time, and could not help but sigh.

    The older it got, the more it liked peace and quiet. The teahouse in hidden fog was an ideal ce for peace and quiet. In ancient times, Masters often built their own thatched cottages in the wild mountains. However, when it was too quiet, it would think of action. This was one of the reasons why it chose to go down the mountain with Zhang Zian.

    The interior of the teahouse was almost the same as it had been a year ago, even the arrangement of the chairs. The shopkeeper and the waiter were the same, as if time had stopped in the teahouse.

    Old time tea felt that even if they returned to this ce next year, it would still be like an ink painting that had already been set.

    Of course, if one were to judge them from the perspective of picking bones from an egg, the shopkeeper and the waiter had some slight changes in their appearance, such as the taste of their skin care products, the length of their hair, and the look in their eyes as they grew older.

    Fortunately, time had not yet carved lines on their faces, although it was only a matter of time. After all, it was human nature to die of old age and illness. Even if the two of them did not have to worry about money for the time being, they would face the fork in life of marriage sooner orter.

    ¡°It¡¯s good!¡±

    A crisp voice of praise interrupted old time tea¡¯s thoughts. It turned its eyes and looked at the back of the middle school girl.

    The shopkeeper and the waiter, who it thought were in the prime of their youth, paled inparison in front of true youth. She was like a ray of light that illuminated the entire teahouse. She held the teacup with her slender hands, and her skin was as smooth as if it was translucent. She did not need any skin care products at all.

    ¡°Shopkeeper, the tea you made is too good!¡± ¡°Even the ancient tea Saints and tea Immortals couldn¡¯t taste such good tea!¡± The young girl eximed in admiration.

    Old time teaughed. He was indeed a young man who was not afraid of Tigers. He was really outspoken.

    ¡°Guest, you¡¯re too kind. How can we hope to catch up to the ancient sages?¡± The shopkeeperughed, but she still enjoyed the praise of the customers.

    ¡°I¡¯m serious! Many people would praise the ancient times when they talked about traditional culture. How could the ancient times be so good? Everything was developing, and technology was constantly improving, and tea art was the same! If we bring the tea from Tang and song to this day, you¡¯ll probably throw up after taking a sip!¡± Although she was young, she spoke eloquently, and thepels of her sailor uniform rose and fell slightly with her words.

    Of course, the shopkeeper would not argue with such a young girl, so he just smiled and said nothing.

    After a lot of hard work, Zhang Zian finally got the menu. He nodded and said,¡±¡±That¡¯s true. Those who bragged about Dragon liver and Phoenix brain in ancient times have never tried KFC and fat otaku happy drink. Modern science has already studied taste to the molecr level. If you bring the cheapest bag of chicken essence back to ancient times, a pot of random hodgepodge with a small pinch of chicken essence will be iparably delicious. You will most likely be praised as the God of chicken ¡­¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! Chicken God is alright. ¡± The junior high school girl trembled as she held the teacup.

    ¡°Are you ordering tea or talking nonsense?¡± The waiter said angrily.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, order immediately. ¡±

    Zhang Zian was really aggrieved as a customer today. He had offended her in the past, and she had been holding a grudge until now ¡­

    There were some new dishes on the menupared to nearly a year ago. Of course, the prices were more expensive as well. Yingying¡¯s memory was far from good enough to remember the prices of the menu from a year ago. It was only because he had relived the menu once in his dream that he could not forget it.

    Heid the menu t on the table, indicating that old time tea would like to have a meal, and he himself ordered the cheapest set meal.

    Old time tea browsed a little and pointed at the Tieguanyin tea with its w. It was only considered a mid-range tea in the teahouse. In the high-end columns, there were so many ¡°8s¡± that it was dizzying. Looking at it, it felt like the ¡°8s¡± had copsed and be an infinite symbol ¡­

    ¡°I¡¯d like a pot of the highest quality Tie Guan Yin. ¡± He added when he saw that the waiter was about to leave.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you alone? Tea is included in the refreshments set. Why did you order a pot of tea?¡± The waiter looked at him as if he was a country bumpkin.

    ¡°The more I order, the more I¡¯ll help your business, right?¡± Zhang Zian answered seriously.

    The waiter¡¯s lips moved, and he suddenly put his face close to his ear.

    Zhang Zian thought that she was going to kiss him. It seemed that the business in the store was not good. He could get a kiss by ordering two pots of tea? Am I that kind of person?

    He turned his face to her and was about to reject her sternly when he heard her say in a low voice,¡±¡±A new police station has opened at the foot of the mountain. If you dare to eat for free again, I¡¯ll call the police!¡±

    After saying that, she returned to the counter without looking back and said loudly,¡±¡±A pot of top quality Tie Guan Yin and a Jasmine Matcha Set meal!¡±

    ¡°Alright! A pot of Tieguanyin tea and a Jasmine Matcha Set meal. They will be ready soon. ¡± The shopkeeper replied.

    The waiter took out a basin stand with three slots inside, which were a small basin, a disposable soap, and a disposable towel. There was a pool of clear water in the small basin, which seemed to be for Zhang Zian to wash his hands before tea. This was a service that had not been avable thest time he came.

    Zhang Zian sighed. No wonder the price of the menu had increased again. It turned out that the service had been upgraded again. Even the first ss of the ne didn¡¯t have such service, right? Although he had never taken a first-ss flight before, he guessed that the ancient nobles were probably just like that.

    It could only be said that it was good to be rich, and the things that rich people could enjoy were also good!

    After he washed his hands, the waiter brought the basin rack back. Then, he heard a ssh. The basin of water that had been manually carried to the top of the mountain was thrown away, making his heart ache.

    The shopkeeper¡¯s tea-making skills were very ornamental, but at the same time, they were very scientific and rigorous. He used a thermometer to urately monitor the temperature of the boiling water in the silver pot so that the tea could be brewed at the best temperature. This alone was not something that the ancient people could do. Because there were no thermometers in ancient times, the temperature of the boiling water could only be measured by experience and estimation. Moreover, even if the ancient people also used silver pots to boil water, the silver content in the silver pots was not as pure as the modern silver pots. The more impurities there were, the more difficult it was to taste the tea to a certain degree. Any impurities could affect the taste of the tea, so the junior high school girl¡¯s words were not unreasonable.

    The shopkeeper first made jasmine tea, and the waiter brought out a matcha cake from the kitchen, cing it on a tray and serving it to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Please enjoy.¡± The waiter said routinely.

    The shopkeeper continued to brew tie Guanyin tea.

    The cake was exquisitely made, but ¡­ The portion was not enough. Zhang Zian felt that he could eat it in one bite.

    At this moment, the middle school girl suddenly said,¡±¡±Aiya! I forgot to bring money, can I put it on credit?¡±

 Chapter 1658

    Chapter 1658: Chapter 1658-foot bill

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Even when he was travelling and eating outside, Zhang Zian would usually not take pictures of food. He would eat directly with his chopsticks. It was rare for him to eat something so expensive and cost-effective. He took out his mobile phone and nned to take a picture like others before eating. Otherwise, he would feel that he had lost more money.

    However, when he heard the middle school girl¡¯s words, he was so shocked that he almost threw his phone away.

    Wasn¡¯t this touching a sore spot? The waiter was about to explode because of his visit again, but she had to do this.

    Sure enough, the waiter was stunned at first, and then he became angry. But what made Zhang Zian cry out that it was unfair was that the waiter did not get angry immediately. Instead, he patiently asked again,¡±¡±Customer ¡­ Are you joking?¡±

    Zhang Zian was willing to bet that if he had said that he didn¡¯t have any money, the waiter would have picked up a stool and hit him. The world was unfair.

    The middle school girl¡¯s voice was very innocent.¡±I really forgot to bring money! I¡¯ll pay on credit this time, and I¡¯ll make up for it next time. ¡±

    The waiter pointed at her phone.¡±Can¡¯t you pay with your phone?¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t pay with your phone.¡± She said.

    ¡°Our shop doesn¡¯t ept credit. Can I borrow from a friend or parent?¡± The waiter¡¯s voice clearly turned cold.¡±Besides, isn¡¯t itmon sense to check if you have the money to pay before entering the restaurant to eat?¡±

    ¡°Borrow money ¡­¡± The middle school girl scratched her head in frustration.¡±I don¡¯t know anyone who can lend me money ¡­¡±

    The waiter couldn¡¯t hold back his anger any longer. Originally, when they saw this middle school girl enter the shop alone, both she and the shopkeeper were a little surprised and hesitated about whether they should ept this business.

    From the girl¡¯s clothes, appearance, and temperament, they all thought that she was probably a child from a rich family. It was fine if Yingluo said that they judged people by their appearance, but they actually didn¡¯t care about the money. They just didn¡¯t want to be upset because of it, and they didn¡¯t want to be seen as a spendthrift.

    What they were afraid of happened. Their worry came true. This girl really didn¡¯t have the money to pay.

    The waiter still had a glimmer of hope. He surrounded the girl and looked her up and down to see if she was secretly taking photos. Some teenagers liked to take funny videos and upload them on the inte, such as the reaction of the owner when he ate the king¡¯s meal.

    After looking around, this possibility was also ruled out.

    The waiter took out his phone angrily.

    ¡°Anxin, what are you doing?¡± The shopkeeper frowned.

    ¡°Call the police to avoid any unnecessary actions.¡± The waiter nced at Zhang Zian with hidden meaning.

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    ¡°Forget it, don¡¯t call the police. It¡¯ll make everyone look bad.¡± The shopkeeper sighed and said to the girl,¡±¡±Little girl, you can go. I¡¯ll let it go this time, it¡¯s free for you. Next time you go to other restaurants to eat, you must bring money ¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that shopkeeper ye had a good heart, a good temper, and the way he spoke was like a spring breeze. Only this kind of temperament could make good tea.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to! Why should I just let it go? I¡¯m going to call the police and ask her parents toe over and take care of this child!¡± The waiter was in a fit of anger. She was the main server, so she was obviously more qualified to be angry.

    At this time, if the junior high school girl sincerely bowed her head and apologized, the waiter would probably be soft-hearted too. Who asked her to be beautiful and cute? this was a world where looks were everything. Even girls liked beautiful girls.

    The waiter didn¡¯t care about the money, but he just couldn¡¯t take it lying down.

    However, the middle school girl didn¡¯t ept the shopkeeper¡¯s good intentions. She said stubbornly,¡±¡±No need for a free bill, just on credit. I¡¯ll definitely pay you back next time. Why don¡¯t you believe me?¡±

    He was clearly a dead duck, but he still refused to admit it. The waiter was so angry that he added fuel to the fire and really began to call the police station at the foot of the mountain.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t sure if this junior high school girl was deliberately eating for free. If she was, he really should find her parents to educate her. This was for her own good.

    However, if she was doing this on purpose, why didn¡¯t she just ept the good intentions of the manager?

    Therefore, he was inclined to think that she was telling the truth. She really didn¡¯t bring any money, she couldn¡¯t pay with her phone, and she didn¡¯t have anyone to borrow money from.

    ¡°Forget it, I¡¯ll pay for her.¡±

    He started to regret the moment he opened his mouth, but he couldn¡¯t swallow his words back.

    ¡°You?¡±

    The innkeeper and the waiter all stared at him suspiciously.

    ¡°You know her? You guys are together?¡± The waiter asked. If he gave a positive answer, she would be even angrier, because it meant that the two of them had teamed up to deliberately cause trouble in the shop.

    ¡°I don ¡®t.¡± He shook his head.¡±This is the first time I¡¯ve seen it.¡±

    ¡°Then why did you pay for her?¡± The waiter didn¡¯t quite believe it. If the price of the tea was tens of Yuan, it wouldn¡¯t be surprising for an ordinary person to be generous to a beautiful girl. However, the junior high school girl ordered an expensive mid-range tea set, and it just so happened that this miser imed that he wanted to pay for her. This was very outrageous.

    In fact, Zhang Zian made this decision for three reasons. One was that he was inclined to believe this junior high school girl. Second, what he owed should be paid back. Thest time he came here, he was hated for a year for trying to freeload, so he would just take it as paying back the debt with interest. As for the three, it was an inexplicable impulse.

    ¡°There¡¯s no special reason. It¡¯s mainly because I think she¡¯s telling the truth. Besides, when we¡¯re out, everyone has times when they¡¯re short of money. It¡¯s understandable for them to help each other, right? In the pugilistic world, helping the weak and helping the poor was amon thing. If you don¡¯t ept her credit, then just treat it as me lending her money, okay?¡± Zhang Zian said casually. Since he had already acted tough, he had to act tough to the end.

    Old time tea stroked its beard and nodded approvingly. At the same time, it secretly pointed to the shopkeeper¡¯s hand.

    The shopkeeper had just started to brew the tie Guanyin tea when he was interrupted by this ident. He stopped and did not continue to brew the tea. He just took out the tea leaves from the tea can.

    What old time tea meant was that it didn¡¯t want the pot of tea, which could help him save some money.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t say anything. He just pretended that he didn¡¯t see old time tea¡¯s hint. This time, he went out to treat old time tea to tea. How could he save money from this?

    ¡°You¡¯re serious?¡± The waiter looked at him doubtfully, as if it was the first time he had seen him.

    ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± He emphasized,¡±put down the phone. Don¡¯t call the police.¡±

    ¡°Here, then you pay her first.¡± The waiter said warily,¡±and your own money for the tea. I¡¯ll only believe you if you pay up.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that his reputation here was at the freezing point. He had no choice but to take out his mobile phone and let her scan the payment QR code. He closed his eyes and did not dare to look at the payment number, afraid that he would have a heart attack.

    With a ding, the sessful payment was announced.

 Chapter 1659

    Chapter 1659: Chapter 1659-people¡¯s trail destroyed

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian paid for the middle school girl, but it didn¡¯t mean that she didn¡¯t need to pay back the money, because it was equivalent to him lending her money, not giving it to her.

    In this day and age, the one who borrowed money was the grandson, and the one who owed money was the master. He had doubts about whether this money would be wasted because this kind of verbal loan had no legal effect at all. It was more like a gamble.

    In fact, he was already prepared for her to not pay him back. At most, he would just take it aspensation for the losses of the hidden fog teahouse a year ago, but he thought that he would at least get a thank you.

    In the end, he paid with his eyes closed. Before he could open his eyes, he heard the voice of the middle school girl and the sound of small leather shoes tapping on the wooden floor moving quickly.¡±Alright, I¡¯ll return the money to you in the future. I¡¯ll be leaving now!¡±

    When he opened his eyes, he only saw her back disappearing behind the screen at the door. Then, with a creak, the door of the teahouse was pulled open and then closed.

    The three people present, including him, were all dumbfounded.

    Even the waiter, who had always had a bad opinion of him,ined on his behalf,¡±¡±This ¡­ Who is this person ¡­ So rude at such a young age? You¡¯re not even going to say thanks?¡±

    Shopkeeper ye shook his head and smiled bitterly. She didn¡¯t say much, but her eyes clearly said: I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll be able to get your money back.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what to say. Were all middle school students like this? Or was it because he was in the middle of his second year of middle school, where he was the most Supreme in the world, so he was arrogant?

    The most important thing was that she imed that she wanted to pay him back. Even if it was just for show, she should at least ask for his contact information. Otherwise, how could she pay him back?

    Perhaps he was really a busybody. It might be better to let the waiter call the police and then let the police call her parents to teach her a lesson, but children at this age often cared about their face, and criticism and education might not have the desired effect.

    He thought of something and pushed the tea and snacks aside. He stood up and said hurriedly,¡±¡±I¡¯m going out for a bit. I haven¡¯t eaten yet. Don¡¯t take it away!¡±

    Maybe it was because of his habit of training cats and dogs, he gave old time tea a look, meaning that he would go out and stop the girl and teach her a lesson.

    Kittens and puppies didn¡¯t understand humannguage, were energetic and often very naughty. Things like knocking over cups, biting off wires, biting through sofas, tearing clothes, and peeing and defecating indoors weremon. They often gave new breeders a headache, but they didn¡¯t know how to educate them. They could only scold or beat them up, but it wasn¡¯t necessarily effective.

    In fact, the correct way of education was to catch them in the act of adultery on the spot, hold them down and scold them in the process of their crime, not wait until after the incident to teach them a lesson. In that way, they would not know why they were being punished. They were clearly just lying down quietly, but their master would yell at them fiercely or beat them up for no reason ¡­

    Not only would they not learn their lesson, but they might also develop a conditioned reflex that ¡°silence¡± was equivalent to ¡°being beaten up,¡± and they would be even more tormented next time.

    Some customers also asked him what he would do if he went to work during the day or was not at home because of other matters. What if he came back and saw the scene of the tragedy?

    There was no other way. He knew that his pets were naughty, but he didn¡¯t lock them in the cage or restrict their movements when they left home. He couldn¡¯t me anyone else, but it was useless to get angry at this time.

    That was why he wanted to stop the girl and point out her mistakes in front of her face, just like teaching a pet a lesson. However, she was not a pet, and no one knew if she would listen. He could only reason with her, but he couldn¡¯t really scold her or beat her up. If he did, he would be in jail ¡­

    Education was one thing, but he had to specifically remind him not to clean up his refreshments. Otherwise, when he came back and saw that the untouched refreshments had been thrown into the trash can, he would really cry.

    The innkeeper and the waiter also saw through his intentions, and no one stopped him. They all felt that the girl should indeed be educated.

    He took a few steps forward, walked around the screen, pushed open the door, and walked out.

    Luo Qingyu¡¯s Photography Club and the new girls in traditional Chinese clothing were all gone. They probably returned to school after shooting. Only a few old people in white clothes and white pants were left on the top of the mountain. Fati was still tied to a pir under the porch, quietly squatting and watching the old people dance.

    Seeing Zhang Ziane out, Fati stood up, thinking that he was going down the mountain.

    He nced around and didn¡¯t see the girl. He thought to himself that she was quite fast and had probably already walked down the mountain road. He waved at the French Tussler and quickly walked down the mountain road without exining.

    The mountain path was filled with mist, but there was still no sign of the girl.

    He thought it was strange. Could she be a sports student? how could she be so fast?

    The mountain path spiraled around the mountain. He thought that she had taken a turn and his vision was blocked, so he quickly went down the mountain path.

    The steps were wet and slippery. It was always harder to go down the mountain than to go up. He focused his mind and chased down as fast as he could. After two turns, he still didn¡¯t see her. Instead, he saw Luo Qingyu, who was swaying like a bamboo pole.

    As Luo Qingyu walked down the steps, he looked down at the photos he took today through the SLR LCD screen. He walked very slowly, not afraid of falling off the cliff ¡­

    ¡°Senior Luo! Stop!¡±

    He caught up with Luo Qingyu and stopped him.¡±Senior Luo, where¡¯s the newborn girl?¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s your senior?¡± Luo Qingyu rolled her eyes at him.¡±What junior high school girl?¡±

    ¡°The one you took a photo of at the top of the mountain.¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    Luo Qingyu was stunned.¡±Didn¡¯t she go into the teahouse?¡±

    ¡°She just came out. Didn¡¯t you see her?¡± As Zhang Zian asked, he looked further down, but there was no one on the mountain road.

    Without Luo Qingyu¡¯s answer, Zhang Zian had already gotten the answer from his expression.

    There was only one mountain path, and it was quite narrow. Unless she could fly, it was impossible for her to pass by Luo Qingyu without being seen by him.

    ¡°Forget it, it¡¯s fine. Just pretend I didn¡¯t say anything.¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head, turned around, and started to go up the mountain again.

    ¡°Wait a minute! What happened?¡± Luo Qingyu asked with great interest. He vaguely sensed that something strange might have happened. Although he usually focused on portrait andndscape photography, he didn¡¯t mind taking a few news and documentary photos asionally, as long as he could be famous and make money.

    ¡°Nothing. I was just joking with you since you were all alone.¡± Zhang Zianughed.¡±When you go down the mountain, look at the road. Don¡¯t always look at the camera. If you miss your step, there is no nine yang Scripture hidden under the cliff.¡±

    Luo Qingyu gave him the middle finger in disdain and mouthed ¡°go to hell¡±. He continued to look down at the camera as he walked up the steps.

    Zhang Zian waited for Luo Qingyu to disappear into the fog, then he returned to the top of the mountain as fast as he could.

 Chapter 1660

    Chapter 1660: Chapter 1660-losing people but not losing face

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    After returning to the mountaintop, Zhang Zian turned the small mountaintop upside down and carefully searched every corner, including the back and side of the teahouse. The girl might not have gone down the mountain immediately after leaving the teahouse, but circled to the back of the teahouse for some reason. He thought that she had already gone down the mountain.

    He searched the entire mountain peak, but he couldn¡¯t find her.

    Fati had long noticed his strange behavior, and when he approached, he asked,¡±¡±You lost your wallet?¡±

    ¡°Not exactly ¡­ But it¡¯s almost the same.¡± Zhang Zian took a deep breath.¡±Something strange happened.¡±

    ¡°What strange thing?¡± Fati perked up.

    ¡°How did that middle school girl disappear in the blink of an eye? It grew wings and flew away?¡± He said, puzzled.

    The Fati was stunned.¡±Which girl?¡± The one at the foot of the mountain?¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Fati was even more confused.

    ¡°That ¡­ Didn¡¯t a middle school girl leave the teahouse just now? Where did she go? Did you see that?¡± He ced his palm across his chest to his chin and gestured the girl¡¯s height.

    Fati stared at him and saw that he did not seem to be joking, but his words were getting more and more iprehensible to it, so it answered in confusion,¡±¡±Just now, you were the only one who left the teahouse.¡±

    The F * ck?

    Zhang Zian was dumbfounded and did note back to his senses for a long time.

    ¡°From the time old time tea and I walked into the teahouse until I came out, no one walked out. Were you too engrossed in the sword dance that you didn¡¯t notice?¡± He tried to confirm again.

    It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t believe in divination, but it was just too bizarre. A living person had disappeared for no reason. Was there going to be an X-Files show on the mountaintop?

    ¡°I¡¯m not that obsessed. If someone leaves the teahouse, I¡¯ll definitely know.¡± Fati answered his question from the side.

    It was an insult to wolves topare the senses of wild animals like wolves with humans. Their sense of smell, hearing, and the meat pads on their feet could sense the smell, sound, and vibrations of humans when they walked. It was impossible for them to let a living person pass by without knowing anything.

    This was strange. He clearly heard the sound of her opening and closing the door, but fa tuo said that she had not left the teahouse. This contradiction ¡­

    ¡°Then, before I left the teahouse, did you hear the sound of the door opening and closing?¡± he asked again in another way.

    If the answer was negative, then he could only assume that the entire teahouse was in some kind of different space.

    ¡°There is.¡±

    Fati nodded.¡±Someone opened and closed the door, but no one came out. I thought someone was going to leave but changed his mind at thest minute.¡±

    Zhang Zian finally found the root of the problem.

    After entering the teahouse, there was a screen. The manager, the waiter, and he only saw the girl¡¯s figure disappear behind the screen, and then heard the sound of the door opening and closing. They naturally thought that she had left the teahouse, but no one saw it with their own eyes.

    The screen only served as a cover and couldn¡¯t hide anyone at all, so the answer was to urge her to walk behind the screen, open the door, close the door, pretend to leave, and then ¡­ Disappear between the screen and the door.

    Could she be a magician who could make people live?

    Or was she an Esper who had the ability to be invisible? The legendary China Dragon Group?

    A supernatural event? It¡¯s still daytime, what the hell? Although dimir, who was good at warding off evil spirits, was not present, the exorcism power of thew was not given for nothing.

    ¡°What the hell happened?¡± Fati had long been unable to suppress his curiosity.

    Zhang Zian told it the details of what happened. It was only a few minutes, anyway. If it could find the blind spot in his thinking and exin this matter with a reasonable answer, it would be great.

    However, the Fati was also dumbfounded, not to mention suggesting other possibilities.

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible, right? Did I miss something? How could a living person just disappear into thin air?¡±

    It thought of the Indian wolf spirit in the redwood forest. It was also secretive, but the wolf spirit was an immature sprite, so it had such characteristics.

    ¡°But the other exnations are even more ridiculous.¡± Zhang Zian scratched his head. He even felt that it would be better if he didn¡¯t chase after them. Out of sight, out of mind, so he wouldn¡¯t have to encounter such strange things.

    The man and the wolf looked at each other and reviewed the whole thing again, but they still couldn¡¯t figure out how she disappeared.

    After the old men finished their sword dance, they sat on the stone bench and rested for a while. Then, they chatted andughed as they went down the mountain together.

    The mountaintop waspletely silent.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand, but he couldn¡¯t keep thinking like this. So he told thew and went back to the teahouse.

    His tea and snacks were left on the table, intact.

    ¡°You¡¯ve been gone for so long. If I hadn¡¯t paid, I would have thought you took the opportunity to run away ¡­¡± The waiter mumbled.

    After he left, shopkeeper ye did not brew tie Guanyin tea because he did not know when he would return. If he brewed the tea too early, it might get cold by the time he returned. Now that he was back, she started to make tea.

    Zhang Zian sat back in his chair. The jasmine tea was a little cold, but the temperature was just right for the sensitive cat¡¯s tongue. He poured two cups, one for old time tea, and refused the shopkeeper¡¯s offer to warm the tea for him.

    ¡°Did you educate that little girl?¡± The waiter saw his expression and asked curiously.

    He coughed drily.¡±Of course. I taught her a harsh lesson, and she also realized her mistakes and reflected deeply on herself. She promised that she wouldn¡¯t make the same mistake again. She wrote down my contact information and said that she was going back to get my red packet money and return it to me ¡­¡±

    This was the so-called losing people but not losing face, even if your face was swollen, you still had to pretend to be fat.

    The innkeeper and the waiter were a little suspicious. The girl didn¡¯t seem like someone who was so easily educated, but they weren¡¯t present, so even if they didn¡¯t believe it, they couldn¡¯t produce any evidence.

    After a while, the shopkeeper made the tea and the waiter served it to him. Then, the two of them went back to the counter and talked in low voices. They talked about trivial matters of life and asionally talked about the girl.

    As for Zhang Zian pouring two cups of tea for himself, they had already gotten used to it a year ago.

    His words could only fool them, but not old time tea. It observed and knew that things were not as simple as he had said. While making tea, it slipped out of the window and asked Fati for details. When it came back, it was also surprised.

    Old time tea sniffed. The girl¡¯s scent did stop between the door and the screen. The smell she left outside had been blown away by the wind.

    Old time tea came back and shook its head slightly, indicating that it had no idea either.

    Zhang Zian had expected this. The man and the cat drank in silence, with a helpless and bitter smile on their faces.

    The three of them could be considered to have failed miserably today.

 Chapter 1661

    Chapter 1661: Chapter 1661-changing scenery

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian pushed the door open-Gong Jie subconsciously felt that this should be the door of the teahouse-it seemed that she was going to leave after finishing her tea.

    He took a few steps forward in a daze, still a little puzzled as to why the tea did not have any refreshing effect. At this time, he suddenly felt that something was wrong. His body quivered, and he suddenly woke up.

    Was this ¡­ The peak of the mountain?

    He looked around in a daze. The top of the mountain should be covered with stone bricks and was very t. There were a few small shops that had closed because there were no tourists buying things, a Pavilion, and a few stone benches and other man-made objects, but these things were all gone.

    The surroundings were barren, and there were only wild weeds growing under his feet. The soft feeling of the soil waspletely different from the stone bs, but the ancient pine trees were still standing.

    Where was this ce?

    He suddenly turned around, but was shocked to find that the teahouse in hidden fog had also disappeared. It was empty behind him, and there were only twisted ancient pine trees and weeds.

    ¡®This isn¡¯t right. If the teahouse is gone, where did Ie out from?¡¯

    By the way, where are old time tea and Fati?

    The three of them had clearlye together, but now he was the only one left on the mountain peak.

    ¡°Grandpa tea! Law pushing! Where are you guys?¡±

    He shouted loudly and then listened carefully.

    There was no response other than the slight sound of the wind.

    Could it be that the teahouse was really a product of a different dimension, and that old time tea and Fati had been taken to another dimension before they could leave?

    He was drenched in cold sweat.

    No, even if the teahouse was a product of a different dimension, why did the entire mountaintop change?

    He quickly walked to the entrance of the mountain path. There was no more bluestone-paved mountain path there. Perhaps only The Mountain Goats, or the agile hunters and herb gatherers, could climb up by using the shallow cliff nests and slightly raised rocks.

    The F * ck? How was he going to get down?

    He didn¡¯t have the ability to rock climb, and if he forced his way down the mountain, he would only end up as a crate.

    Oh right, cell phones!

    Hurry up and call for help!

    Out of habit, he reached into his pocket and took out his phone.

    There was no signal.

    What was going on? There was a signal at the top of the mountain. This was China, where every vige had inte ess, not the United States.

    Trapped on the top of the mountain, no one responded to him. There were no springs or wild animals on the palm-sized mountain top. If this continued, he would die Here sooner orter.

    He scratched his head and tried to get rid of all the distracting thoughts. He focused his mind and tried to figure out what was going on with this strange situation.

    Soon, he gave up on scientific thinking, because this was obviously not something science could do. There were only two possibilities left: Supernatural events and phenomena.

    He didn¡¯t believe that there were any real supernatural events, at least he had never encountered one before. He also didn¡¯t think that any supernatural events could appear in front of dimir and Fati. Even Sadako, who had be a spirit after a thousand years, would not dare to cause trouble.

    Was it a supernatural phenomenon?

    Alien hijacking?

    As soon as he thought of the word ¡°hostage,¡± a light suddenly shed in his mind. Like the clouds were cleared and the sun was seen, his courage was boosted. All the anxiety and fear, if not disappeared, at least they retreated.

    In addition to aliens, there was another god who could do this and kidnap him to a different space without anyone knowing.

    Andpared to the mysterious aliens, he was more willing to face thetter. After all, his winning rate against thetter was currently 1:0.

    Zhuang Xiaodie, I know it¡¯s you. Come out.¡±

    Heid on his back on the grass, quietly watching the clouds in the sky.

    He was 99% sure that this butterfly elf was the one who had switched between reality and dream.

    The only thing he wasn¡¯t sure of was when he was pulled into the dream.

    He remembered that during the day, he, old time tea, and Fati had finished tea at the teahouse in hidden fog and went home smoothly. After returning home, everything was normal: looking after the shop, eating, closing the shop, and sleeping.

    Of course, this memory might not be real. It was entirely possible that the entire day was a dream. It was even possible that he had been trapped in her first dream and had note out. He thought that he had defeated her, but in fact, he had only entered a deeper dream within a dream.

    One dream after another, like a Russia nesting doll, they were endlessly nested.

    The scariest thing about her dreams was the seamless and smooth transition, which blurred the boundary between reality and the dream, making it impossible for people to know when she entered the dream or whether she had woken up.

    Rustle.

    The soft sound of a long dress dragging on thewn came from above his head.

    Then, in the background of the blue sky and white clouds, a beautiful face appeared. Her hair was tied up, and she was expressionless, but her eyes were shining with a butterfly-like colorful light.

    She was still wearing the traditional Han Chinese clothing, which he had never seen before. It was still so fitting and gorgeous.

    ¡°Yo! Long time no see!¡±

    He pretended to be calm and raised his hand to greet her.¡±How have you been? Have you had breakfast?¡±

    She didn¡¯t answer, as if she couldn¡¯t be bothered to answer.

    Zhang Zian tried his best to smile like a winner. Although he didn¡¯t have any confidence, he said loudly,¡±¡±I won again. I saw through your trap with one look. After all, I¡¯m an experienced yer. I just panicked a little ¡­¡±

    Zhuang Xiaodie stared at him in silence, but the more she stared at him, the more guilty he felt.

    ¡°How long are you going to lie on the ground?¡± she asked after a while.

    ¡°Lying on the grass is veryfortable, do you want to lie down for a while? ¡°Anyway, the ce is quite big ¡­¡± Zhang Zian spoke without thinking. Since he couldn¡¯t gain the upper hand in terms of momentum, he could only y the fool.

    He couldn¡¯t read Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s thoughts from her face. After a while, she moved lightly and disappeared from his field of vision.

    He tilted his head and saw that she was walking to the edge of the mountain. There were no mountain roads there, only a steep slope close to a cliff.

    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t take things too hard!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s talk this out,¡± he shouted.¡±Don¡¯t try to court death.¡±

    She didn¡¯t continue the conversation and suddenly said,¡±¡±Then you can continue to lie down. You can lie down for as long as you want, but you¡¯ll miss out on a good show. Don¡¯t me me for not reminding you.¡±

    A lively scene?

    What¡¯s there to see in this barren mountain?

    Zhang Zian¡¯s curiosity was piqued by her. He hesitated for a moment, then got up from the ground, stretched, and walked to the edge of the cliff. He stood side by side with her, trying to look into the distance.

    A long line of carriages was moving from the foot of the mountain. However, they were not made up of cars, but horse carriages, ox carriages, and donkey carriages.

    At the front of the convoy, someone puffed up his cheeks and yed the suona with all his might. The sound was fleeting and soaring.

    ¡°What¡¯s this for? Shooting a period drama?¡± Zhang Zian asked, puzzled.

    ¡°This is a bridal team,¡± Zhuang Xiaodie said lightly.¡±They are going to send ady from a rich family to Binhai town.¡±

 Chapter 1662

    Chapter 1662: A hundred years of vicissitudes

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    In the dream, it was a sunny day with a gentle breeze. It was rare that the top of Misty Mountain was not surrounded by fog. The air was also unusually clear, almostparable to the air in the redwood forest, so one could see very far.

    Zhang Zian had seen this kind of thing in some ancient costume movies. In his impression, it was quite boring. It was nothing more than ying music and singing to send the shy bride in the pnquin to the wedding scene, and then the family members would eat and drink until the groom was drunk. If the groom had a good tolerance for alcohol and could still force himself into the bridal chamber, it was estimated that the ending would be the instant surrender. If the groom had a poor tolerance for alcohol, the bride would have to count the money that night ¡­

    At this time, he stood on the top of the mountain and looked down at the bridal escort team. It was simr to his impression, but the length of the team was beyond his imagination. It was indeed a youngdy from a rich family. At the back of the team were boxes of dowry pulled by the ox cart. The deep rutted marks proved that they were not empty boxes for show.

    Everyone in the caravan was dressed in red and had a look of joy.

    As he was standing on the mountain, everyone in the convoy was like a small ck dot in his eyes.

    The red sedan chair at the front of the group, heavily guarded by the servants, was particrly eye-catching.

    ¡°Tsk! There¡¯s one less rich woman in the world. ¡±

    He looked envious, but he was even more envious in his heart. Just by looking at the number of people, he knew that the woman was definitely rich, and the man would most likely have to work twenty years less ¡­

    The strange thing was, although many people in today¡¯s society were proud of retro, and there were many couples who held old-fashioned weddings, was there a need to make it so realistic? Even the ox-cart, horse-cart, and donkey-cart had been boarded, but where was the wedding photographer? Could it be that the wedding was filmed using a drone?

    He looked up and searched at a low altitude, but he couldn¡¯t find the drone.

    ¡°Well, which rich or official¡¯s son is getting married?¡± He asked casually.

    Zhuang Xiaodie did not answer.

    Are you still ying riddles with me?

    Zhang Zian gathered all the limited information in his mind, and thest word she said suddenly made him realize.

    ¡°What? What are you talking about? Binhai town? Where is Binhai?¡± He asked in confusion.

    ¡°Binhai town was renamed to Binhai city after the liberation in 1949. It was once the provincial capital of the province, butter ¡­¡±

    As a native of Binhai city, Zhang Zian certainly knew a little about the local historical changes. What she said was also what he remembered from the Baidu Encyclopedia in Binhai city.

    However, as she mentioned, Binhai town had ceased to exist in 1949. It had been upgraded to Binhai city.

    He subconsciously looked in the direction of the convoy, and his vision went further and further. Finally, at the limit of his vision, he saw ¡­ A small, dusty town, almost all of which were single-story houses, with only a few tall buildings, including the church in the southern Urban area.

    The town was only about the size of the inner circle of Binhai city. It was surrounded by low walls that could only keep out wild beasts but not people. By modern standards, it was the size of a fishing vige.

    In modern society, hidden Fog Mountain was a suburb of Binhai city. It wasn¡¯t considered an suburbs, and it could be reached directly by bus. However, right now, the area around hidden Fog Mountain was no different from the wilderness.

    The city gate opened, and arge group of people stood there to wee the bride. After seeing the bridal procession from afar, they immediately began to set off firecrackers, and in a short time, the firecrackers dyed the ground at the city gate a festive red.

    Themoners who were watching the show greeted them. It was not that they were warm and hospitable, but the generous bridal procession generously threw copper coins on both sides when they passed by, causing themoners to scramble for them.

    Further away, the waves of the sea were sparkling, and groups of wooden fishing boats were paddling out to sea.

    Even if Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to believe it, he had to face the truth, even if it was an incredible truth.

    ¡°What ¡­ What year is this?¡± He asked in a trembling voice.

    ¡°About a hundred years ago.¡± She answered.

    The F * ck?

    It was earlier than Zhang Zian had expected.

    He thought to himself that this woman was getting better and better at ying. She actually pulled him into a dream from a hundred years ago. But whose dream was this?

    In fact, he had vaguely guessed that famous had once said that Zhuang Xiaodie appeared in its imagined world, and its imagined world was built on the basis of old time tea¡¯s memory, so this should be a dream built on the basis of old time tea¡¯s memory.

    Zhang Zian almost knelt down. This woman was simply ying with his dreams, and he had no power to resist.

    In front of her, he could only be a masochist ¡­

    ¡°This bride-escorting team set off from a very far ce and traveled thousands of miles. They encountered bandits, horses, gues, and floods on the way. It can be said that they have experienced hardships and dangers ¡­ Everyone¡¯s face was full of smiles. They were not only happy for the bride, but also happy for themselves. Finally, theypleted the bride-escorting mission, ate and drank, and received a rich reward. Then, they could go home.¡± Zhuang Xiaodie said to herself.

    Zhang Zian could imagine that a hundred years ago, when most people would never leave the vige they were born in, few people had seen cars and trains. In addition, in the chaos of war and the warlords, it was a miracle that this bridal team could reach Binhai town safely.

    Although this was a dream, they were infinitely close to reality. The bridal party would never expect that on the Misty Mountain they had just passed, a person from a hundred yearster was standing on the top of the mountain and looking at them.

    If he pushed a big stone down at this time, they would look up in panic, perhaps thinking that it was a horse trying to snatch the bride, and then there would be chaos, because they had clearly inquired that Misty Mountain was a barren mountain, and only woodcutters asionally went up the mountain to chop wood. Where would the horsee from?

    Thinking of their panic, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help butugh. He was just thinking about it and wouldn¡¯t put it into action.

    His mood was veryplicated now. Witnessing the vicissitudes of history with his own eyes made him feel great shock, and the unknown purpose of Zhuang Xiaodie made him uneasy.

    How long was she going to trap him this time?

    Last time, with the help of famous, he finally realized that it was a dream. Only when he realized that it was a dream could he wake up.

    This time, he soon realized that it was not that he had be smarter, but that Zhuang Xiaodie had prepared a new script. Because if she didn¡¯t want him to notice, there were many ways. First of all, she should put him in a familiar environment, whether it was the campus he used to live in or the workce he used to work in. There were too many suitable entry points that could deceive him, rather than simply throwing him to the top of a barren mountain a hundred years ago.

    He coughed drily.¡±Sending a bride is very interesting, but it has nothing to do with me, right? Why don¡¯t you tell me what it will take for you to wake me up this time?¡±

    Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s beautiful eyes turned, and her colorful pupils seemed to stare at him with a deep meaning,¡±are you sure it has nothing to do with you?¡±

 Chapter 1663

    Chapter 1663: Chapter 1663-good omen

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian was left speechless by Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s question.

    Did the bride-escorting team have anything to do with him?

    His family was from Binhai city, but he wasn¡¯t sure how ¡°ancestral¡± it was. His family wasn¡¯t a very old-fashioned and traditional family, so he didn¡¯t care about family history. Therefore, he didn¡¯t know when his ancestors had lived in Binhai city. Considering the dynasty cycle in China history, they might have fled to this ce during a war and settled down.

    From his parents ¡®asional mention, he seemed to have heard that his family¡¯s ancestors used to be rich, but they slowly declined in the long twentieth century, one war after another. In addition to the several turmoil after the liberation, no matter how rich a family was, they couldn¡¯t withstand such a torment.

    If his ancestors had lived in Binhai town a hundred years ago, he would understand her question.

    In such a small seaside town, anyone with a little bit of status in the town knew each other, and it was normal for them to try to get closer to each other. After all, blood rtions were the most basic and reliable bond to maintainmon interests.

    Therefore, a certain person in this bride-escorting team, such as the youngdy sitting in the sedan chair or the servant girl serving next to her, after a hundred years of offspring, may have some kind of blood rtionship with him, close or distant. If it was close to a certain extent, he might not even have been born without the arrival of this bride-escorting team. This was also very easy to understand.

    Thinking of this, he suddenly felt a sense of closeness to the bride¡¯s team. It was as if he was stroking a small object passed down by his ancestors. When he thought of this small object being held in the hands of many people for generations, it was as if he had crossed time and space to see their faces.

    ¡°It¡¯s a pity that I didn¡¯t bring anything with me. Otherwise, I would have given them some congrattory gifts. I wish the couple to have children soon. They must have a few more and increase their production to serve the country.¡± He said half-jokingly.

    This was a dream, not history. It was just a mirror image of history, so it didn¡¯t matter if he was a little reckless.

    The bride escort team was already very close to the city gate, and the suona hands were blowing more vigorously. The leaders of the bride escort team dusted off the dust on their bodies and led the bride escort team forward to meet.

    Just as the two sides were about to meet, butterflies suddenly flew up from the forest and grass on both sides of the road. They were of different shapes and colors, including some extremely rare species or species that had been extinct in modern society.

    The bride-escorting team, the bride-weing team, and the onlookers were all stunned. The suona hands stopped ying and looked at this amazing scene in a daze.

    ¡°Miss! Miss! Quickly look! An auspicious sign! This is a rare auspicious sign!¡±

    The maidservants patted the pnquin excitedly, and the curtain of the pnquin was pulled open. The bride in the pnquin lifted her veil slightly and looked at the colorful butterflies in surprise.

    At this time, a huge butterfly as big as a sunflower fluttered its wings and flew toward the carriage. The other butterflies made way for it as if it was the king of butterflies.

    The bride unconsciously reached out a fair hand from the window of the sedan, wearing a glistening jade bracelet on her wrist.

    The giant butterflynded on her wrist, and the face under her veil was reflected in its countless eyes. A momentter, it flew up again, circled a few times on the top of the pnquin, and flew away.

    The other butterflies followed it, like a colorful cloud, floating in the direction of Misty Mountain.

    It wasn¡¯t until the butterfly had flown far away that everyone present regained their senses. The way they looked at the pnquin waspletely different now. It was as if they were looking at a God. A few of the old and young even knelt down in front of the pnquin and mumbled to themselves.

    If it had been a few years earlier, perhaps the county Magistrate would have opposed this marriage and sent the bride to the pce to present to the Emperor, bing hisdder to promotion and wealth.

    Fortunately, the Qing Dynasty had already fallen.

    ¡°Look! Those butterflies are flying around the mountain, don¡¯t they look like a cloud of colorful fog?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s an old immortal living on the top of the mountain?¡±

    Wu Mancheng, who was at the front of the bridal party, pulled a local and asked,¡±¡±May I ask, what¡¯s the name of that mountain?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t have a name. It¡¯s usually called West Mountain in the local area.¡± The local waved his hands.¡±There¡¯s always white fog on the mountainside, so we can¡¯t see the top of the mountain. Today, we finally saw it, but it¡¯s covered by these butterflies ¡­¡±

    Wu Mancheng was naturally happy that his precious daughter had encountered such a rare auspicious omen on her wedding day. Just to see this scene made his trip not in vain. ¡°Why don¡¯t we call it Misty Mountain then?¡± he smiled as he stroked his beard.

    The auspicious omen was obviously for the bride. No one present dared to object to the bride¡¯s father¡¯s words, so they all agreed,¡±¡±Good name! Good name! It¡¯ll be called Misty Mountain!¡±

    The head of the bridal team did not dare to be negligent. Later, he joined forces with the local gentry and Noble families to jointly submit a petition to the local government, requesting to name the barren mountain as the hidden Fog Mountain.

    The overwhelming number of butterflies covered the entire mountaintop, dancing around it. Zhang Zian felt like he was in the eye of a storm made up of butterflies.

    ¡°Thank you, this gift is very good.¡± He said.

    Zhuang Xiaodie looked at him sideways,¡±do you think I asked the butterflies to go?¡±

    Zhang Zian was surprised again.¡±No?¡±

    He thought that she had sent these butterflies to form this strange scene as a congrattory gift because he had just mentioned sending a congrattory gift. But from her tone, could it be that this strange scene had really happened in history?

    He suddenly thought of a problem. The insect disaster in Binhai city was caused by caterpirs, which included many rare caterpirs. These butterflies were also developed from the abnormal development of caterpirs, and there were many rare butterflies among them.

    Could it be that the insect disaster had been a hidden danger since a hundred years ago?

    What¡¯s more, if this was done by Zhuang Xiaodie, why should she please him because of his words? Did he have such a big face?

    This kind of strange scene had really happened in history, and Zhuang Xiaodie had taken the initiative to tter him. Which of the two was more likely to happen? the answer was self-evident.

    It turned out that he was overthinking things again. He rolled his eyes gloomily.

    The butterflies were probably tired from flying, so theynded on thewn on the top of the mountain to rest. They dried their wings under the sun, making the top of the mountain look like a paradise.

    ¡°The show is over, now it¡¯s time to talk about serious matters.¡± Zhuang Xiaodie seemed to have lost interest in the bridal team. She turned to face him and stretched out two Jade fingers,¡±I want to ask you two questions, and I hope you can answer them truthfully.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll let me go if I answer your questions?¡± Zhang Zian asked, as if he was grasping at a life-saving straw.

    Zhuang Xiaodie didn¡¯t deny it,¡±it depends on whether your answer can satisfy me.¡±

    He sighed. He had hated these kinds of subjective questions since he was a student, but he had no choice.

    ¡°Then ask away.¡±

 Chapter 1664

    Chapter 1664: Chapter 1664-fate

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    In fact, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t think of what Zhuang Xiaodie had to ask. His memory had probably been turned upside down by her, including some deep memories that even he himself had forgotten or was unwilling to remember. She knew what he knew, and she also knew what he didn¡¯t know. What was there to ask?

    He wanted to ask her about the movies that he had watched and thought were artistic and thought-provoking. Now, he wanted to review them but had forgotten the specific titles ¡­

    She didn¡¯t ask immediately, but paced around the cliff slowly, as if thinking about how to ask.

    Zhang Zian really wanted to return to the real world as soon as possible, even if it was to sleep in the real world, but he didn¡¯t dare to rush her, so he could only wait patiently.

    Waiting wasn¡¯t a big deal. Time passed at her will in the dream. Even if she waited for a hundred years in the dream, it might just be a snap of her fingers in the real world.

    After walking for a while, she suddenly stopped and stared at him with her colorful eyes. He knew that a problem hade, so he immediately perked up and waited.

    Thest time he was trapped in the dream, her eyes were no different from a normal person ¡®s, but now she had a dreamlike seven-colored eye. He didn¡¯t need to ask to know that she had disguised herself as a normal person when she entered the dreamst time, but this time, she didn¡¯t need to.

    ¡°Does free will exist?¡± She asked her first question.

    The F * ck?

    Zhang Zian was dumbfounded by the question. After a while, he smiled bitterly and said,¡±¡±It¡¯s beyond my level ¡­¡±

    He should have thought about it earlier. She knew his memory like the back of her hand. If there was any question she wanted to ask, other than the question of which one did he prefer, the eastern girl or the Western girl, it would be this kind of mysterious question.

    ¡°Do you still want to go back?¡± She questioned.

    ¡°Okay ¡­¡± He scratched his head in distress and began to pace back and forth on the mountaintop like she had just done, thinking and organizing his words at the same time.

    Free will was a philosophical question to some extent, but with the development of modern science, this question had an inseparable connection with science.

    The antonym of ¡°free will¡± was ¡°determinism¡±. Simply put, the former believed that humans could think and make decisions as they pleased and choose from countless options, while thetter believed that everything was set in stone. You thought you had made a choice, but in fact, it was just the choice that you were destined to make.

    In other words, could a person really decide his own fate?

    Let¡¯s say you¡¯re lying in bed reading a novel and finally can¡¯t hold it in anymore and want to go to the toilet. Which foot do you want to step on after getting out of bed? is it your own decision or fate?

    Obviously, most atheists and featherists epted determinism, while most atheists preferred free will. That was why the phrase ¡°my fate is in my own hands, not in the hands of heaven¡± was particrly exciting.

    However, if free will did not exist, even the one who shouted this sentence was destined to shout this sentence.

    The uncertainties of quantum mechanics were a powerful support for free will, and the principle of minimum time of Fermat¡¯s principle was a powerful backing for determinism. Some experiments on Neurology seemed to have confirmed that free will was a false proposition.

    ¡°God doesn¡¯t throw dice,¡± Einstein said.

    This statement had already expressed the opinion of the greatest Master of Science in human history.

    Philosophily speaking, quantum mechanics and free will were both idealism, while determinism was more in line with the materialistic view of material determination.

    Whether it was from a scientific or philosophical point of view, free will and determinism were mortal enemies.

    With Zhang Zian¡¯s ability, how could he dare to challenge this difficult problem that had troubled countless sages?

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if free will exists, but personally, I prefer free will.¡± He knew that this answer would not satisfy her, but after hesitating for a long time, he could only give this answer.

    She raised her eyebrows slightly and broke the expressionless state.¡±Because of Gxy? Because it let Zhao Qi leave your store?¡±

    He suddenly understood what she meant. The Gxy order had caused the 187 futures of Zhao Qi passing by the Pet Shop but not entering it to disappear, and the one future of Zhao Qi¡¯s decision to enter the shop to copse into reality. He often said that this had changed his fate, but how could he know that his fate had never changed?

    ¡°Those 187 futures might not even exist. They might just be a Mirage, and the future it has chosen is the one it is destined to choose.¡± She looked straight at him and said,¡±it¡¯s destined that you will meet it, it¡¯s destined that it will help you, it¡¯s destined that it will choose this future. No, it didn¡¯t choose this future, but it¡¯s destined to happen. Zhao Qi is destined to walk into your store, and the process of its choice is just a formality.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t ept it emotionally, but he couldn¡¯t refute it in theory.

    She wasn¡¯t trying to argue, nor was she trying to belittle Gxy. She was just calmly and objectively borating on a possibility, a possibility determined by determinism.

    Everything was fate, and everything was destined in history.

    Gxy was the observer of fate. There were two possible meanings to this word. One was that its observation caused countless fates to copse and copse, and it chose one of them. The second was that it was only observing fate, the only type of fate. It could not change anything, but it could see the fate that was about to happen in advance.

    Which one was the real one?

    Zhang Zian looked at Binhai town again.

    The bridal procession had entered the city. It was a mess outside the city, with broken red artilleries everywhere. It gradually became quiet, with only a few starving people trying to find the copper or even silver coins scattered by the bridal procession in the soil.

    The city was noisy. Wherever the bridal procession passed, the entire Street was decorated withnterns and streamers. People lined the streets to wee them. The small Binhai town was almost like the new year.

    The bridal party finally entered arge mansion, one of thergest in Binhai town. The door closed, and the final preparations for the Grand wedding began.

    Was the history that had happened before their eyes really destined to happen?

    In the face of the rich dowry, did none of the servants under the bride¡¯s father have any evil thoughts during the journey, trying in vain to take the dowry for themselves and put it into action?

    They might have thought of using money to move people¡¯s hearts, but they didn¡¯t do anything. Was this result decided by their own will or by fate?

    No one could answer this question, and Zhang Zian was no exception.

    He sighed and felt like he was going to go bald.

    ¡°So, you haven¡¯t shown up all this time because you¡¯ve been racking your brain to think about this problem?¡± He looked at Zhuang Xiaodie.

    ¡°Yes, I am.¡±

    She nodded, and her eyes were filled with a sense of loss, as if she was unable to control her fate.

 Chapter 1665

    Chapter 1665: Chapter 1665-taking out his anger

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhuang Xiaodie learned a lot of things from Zhang Zian¡¯s memory, not only including Chinese, English, Japanese, mathematics, physics, history, geography, and other conventional knowledge, but also themon sense and misceneous knowledge that he had quietly umted since he was born. It was much more than she imagined. The poor knowledge of the ancient people was like a drop in the ocean. She needed a long time to digest and absorb this knowledge.

    However, she had a lot of time. As long as she slowed down the time flow in the dream, she was confident that she could master all this knowledge in the real world in a short time. She even had the leisure to stroll around famous¡¯s imagined world. When she was in a good mood, she would asionally appear and disappear behind Zhang Zian. Seeing his helpless and angry look, her mood would be even better.

    Until she encountered the problem of free will in the ocean of knowledge.

    She had almost unlimited time in the dream. Zhang Zian had only received formal education for a dozen years. Even if she had a poor foundation, no teacher¡¯s guidance, and her learning progress was slow, and 100 years was not enough, she could use 200,300,500 years to study ¡­ Even longer was no problem.

    Therefore, in terms of scientific literacy alone, she had far surpassed Zhang Zian and most people in the world.

    The only obstacle between her and the top scientists was that she couldn¡¯t get those high-end experimental instruments. After all, modern cutting-edge science could be said to be built on the basis of experiments. From the electron microscope to the positive and negative particle collider, Zhang Zian¡¯s memorycked the appearance and structural principles of these experimental instruments, so she couldn¡¯t create them out of thin air in the dream world.

    Without reliable experimental results as a Foundation, no matter how much time was invested in cutting-edge science, it would only lead them further and further down the wrong path.

    So, she gave up on all the science that required experiments and began to study theoretical mathematics and theoretical physics. These two fields didn¡¯t need experimental equipment, just a piece of paper and a pen.

    There were many difficulties without the guidance of a teacher, the discussion of ssmates, and the assistance of academic journals. However, these difficulties were not as difficult to ovee as the experimental equipment. She had time.

    There were a lot of problems in Zhang Zian¡¯s memory, and he didn¡¯t understand them himself. He had only heard that free will was not outstanding among these problems. It was in the corner and received little attention in the human world, because other problems and conjectures had at least one proof direction, but this one ¡­ Seemed to be a blind guess.

    Moreover, what was the point of proving the existence of free will?

    Didn¡¯t it start from waking up in the morning, going through the house, the car, the money, the children, and the wife like a trotting horsemp, and finally falling asleep in the middle of the night, exhausted? whether this was fate or he had iting, what was the difference? What could it change even if it was proven?

    Even if they proved to be sessful, they would still have to continue doing what they were supposed to do. They would continue to live in the house, the car, the money, the children, and the wife. Nothing could be changed physically or mentally. It was even better to believe in some religion that focused on the afterlife. At least it wouldfort them to be a ve in this life to atone for their sins, and they would be able to be a man in the next life ¡­

    So what was the point of proving this question?

    Perhaps only the idle otakus on the inte were interested in this question.

    However, after Zhuang Xiaodie carefully studied this problem, she suddenly panicked because she had more time than the Otaku. Like the Otaku, she did not have to worry about the house, car, money, children, wife, and other trivial things in life. What she pursued and yearned for were things in the spiritual world, and the problem of free will was precisely the core of the spiritual world.

    She had been studying in the dream world so that she could be like the protagonists in wuxia novels, cultivate in seclusion for a few years, and be invincible in the world.

    But if free will did not exist, what did this mean?

    It meant that no matter if it was the people in the secr world or her, they were just some ordinary characters in the novel. Their endings were already destined before they were born. Even if they trained to be invincible in the middle of the game, they could be killed by the plot at any time!

    Weren¡¯t there a lot of such examples in novels?

    At the thought that all her actions might be led by an invisible red line, and that no matter how hard she tried, it might be useless, she was so vexed that she couldn¡¯t do anything.

    It would be best if free will existed. She would no longer have any worries and could just continue to concentrate on her studies.

    If free will really did not exist ¡­ She would not ept her fate, but would try to find out who had set the fate. Whether it was a man, God, or some unimaginable existence, she would find him, learn from him, and then change her own fate.

    However, the current ambiguous situation almost drove her crazy.

    She disappeared from famous¡¯s imagined world, and she no longer appeared and disappeared behind Zhang Zian. She locked herself in the deepest part of the dream, put aside all other problems, and tried to solve this problem.

    However, although she had almost infinite time, there were many scientific and philosophical experts in human history who had put in painstaking efforts to solve this problem. So, it was no different from a fool¡¯s dream for her to achieve what her predecessors couldn¡¯t do by herself.

    In the end, she vented all her anger on Zhang Zian. Who asked him to have such an evil thing in his mind? If he didn¡¯t me him, who else could he me?

    Zhang Zian had never been troubled by this. In this regard, he was no different from ordinary people. His mind was full of houses, cars, money, children, wives ¡­ Well, he had not thought about thetter two, but when he had them, he would probably not think about the problem of free will.

    As a form of revenge, she pulled him into the dream again. At least, she wanted him to feel part of her pain, and she would feel the pleasure of ¡°you¡¯ll have this day too¡± in her heart. Perhaps it was just as he thought, she really did have a little S tendency, even if it was just a little ¡­

    After she finished exining what had happened, her calm expression actually hid a monstrous anger that could erupt at any time, and the target of her anger was only Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian felt wronged. It was you who intruded into my memory without permission. It was fine to flip through it, but I couldn¡¯t afford to offend you. In the end, you me me?

    This was like a robber breaking into a civilian¡¯s house, twisting his foot while stealing something, and then righteously demandingpensation from the owner ¡­ Was it so unreasonable? Is there still anyw?

    Although he felt wronged, what could he do? He could only hold it in if he was not convinced.

    In her dream, she was the reason, she was thew.

 Chapter 1666

    Chapter 1666: The strongest person

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian did notfort her. A strong person like her did not need hisfort at all.

    He couldn¡¯t understand her pain either. She was almost immortal in her dreams, so she had a lot of time to think about these philosophical questions. And as she said, he was just an ordinary person, an ordinary person among the masses, busy repairing the house, maintaining the car, making money, fighting for a wife, raising children in the future ¡­ Even if someone told him that his fate had long been decided, he could only say ¡°Oh¡± and do what he had to do.

    He had epted the fact that he was an ordinary person, but she was not. She wanted to be invincible in the world and be the strongest master. In such a state of mind, she suddenly heard the news that free will might not exist. No matter how strong she became, her fate would still be yed in the hands of something in the dark. It made her feel a strong fall and a great sense of defeat.

    ¡°I know that you are in pain and angry right now. I want to answer you, but unfortunately, since you know my memory like the back of your hand, you should know what I am capable of. Whether I tell you that I have free will or not, it will be a wild guess without any basis. It will only make you angrier, but it will not alleviate your pain.¡±

    After some deliberation, he decided to tell the truth because her scientific literacy was far above his. Whatever nonsense he was spouting would be seen through by her. Angering a person who was in a fit of anger would only make his end worse.

    As soon as he said that, he was prepared for her to be even angrier. Unexpectedly, she smiled for the first time today and asked gently,¡±¡±Do you want to be the strongest human?¡±

    He was stunned.

    Who didn¡¯t dream of bing the strongest person in their second year of middle school? To be a sports superstar, universal Best Actor, the world¡¯s richest man, and the ruler of the earth ¡­ It was just that as he grew up, his dreams were crushed by reality.

    ¡°The strongest I¡¯m talking about is the strongest in the true sense. Unlike old time tea, who only taught you a few fancy moves, what can Kung Fu do in modern society? He can fight one, ten, and even a hundred?¡± She smiled, but her smile made him feel a chill down his spine.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you know that I can control everything in the dream world.¡± She said expectantly,¡±I can make you covered in wounds and close to death. Your heart and breathing will stop, and you¡¯ll only be a step away from brain death. Then you¡¯ll recover in the next second. This cycle ¡­ You¡¯ll die again, die again, ande back to life again. You should know what the consequences will be, right?¡±

    F * ck!

    Zhang Zian¡¯s hair stood on end and he almost peed his pants!

    After experiencing this endless cycle, Gxy became a quantum cat.

    Famous had experienced a simr but weaker limited cycle and gained the ability to predict danger.

    It might seem enviable, but if they had a choice, they would rather give up such a powerful ability in exchange for an ordinary and peaceful life.

    As the spirit of all living things, he was definitely much stronger than cats and dogs. If he went through a simr cycle, even if he couldn¡¯t reach the level of Gxy, he would at least be more powerful than famous. It was not a lie to say that humans were the strongest.

    This was not an empty threat. She definitely had the ability to do what she said.

    But this process was equivalent to the infinite power of hell.

    Let alone infinite times, even if one was on the verge of death a hundred times, in the end, one would only ask for a quick death.

    She walked towards him step by step with a smile on her face, while he was so scared that he stepped back until he reached the edge of the cliff and had no way to retreat.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we start with the fall? what do you think?¡± She smiled sweetly and nced at the cliff that was a few hundred meters high. She raised her hand and gently stroked her hair. Her tone was so rxed that it seemed like she was discussing with him what to eat for dinner.

    At this point, Zhang Zian no longer cared about his National and collective sense of honor or his personal mission. If he knew any secrets, he would definitely confess immediately in exchange for his death. Unfortunately, he did not even have that bargaining chip.

    ¡°What are you trying to do? ¡°I¡¯m not worth your time ¡­¡±He wanted to cry but had no tears.

    She looked at him seriously.¡±When you be a quantum dog ¡­ Ah, I mean a quantum person, we can discuss with each other and see if you can freely choose the many futures you see. This is more effective than me researching on my own. You¡¯re also looking forward to bing the best, right? With such an ability, I can get as many girls as I want ¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not looking forward to it at all! Please let me go, I¡¯ll do anything you want as long as you let me go!¡± Zhang Zian had already given up his dignity.

    She had once said that the next time they met, she would definitely make him beg her, and now she had fulfilled her promise.

    This woman ¡­ No, this butterfly was too scary. He was also starting to curse his fate. Why did he have to meet such an extremely beautiful and extremely terrifying fairy?

    She seemed to have been waiting for him to say this.¡±Oh, really?¡±

    ¡°Really, I¡¯ll agree even if you want me to die.¡± He said dejectedly.

    Unfortunately, she would not let him die. If he died, she would disappear as well.

    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± She smiled and pped like a little girl.

    ¡°Stop acting and just tell me what you want me to do.¡± He sighed helplessly.

    She wiped away her smile and regained her cool.¡±Do you still remember the girl you met this morning?¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned again. He wanted to ask if the girl had anything to do with Zhuang Xiaodie, but she mentioned this first.

    ¡°Of course I remember. Why?¡±

    She was silent for a while.¡±Maybe it¡¯s a premonition. I think she can tell me the answer to this question, so the next time you see her, you have to ask her this question clearly, otherwise ¡­¡±

    Otherwise, there was no need to say anything else.

    Zhang Zian waspletely confused. That middle school girl had this kind of ability? Could she be the reincarnation of Einstein?

    His mind was in a mess, and he was trying to sort out theplicated rtionship, but he heard her say,¡±¡±Stop daydreaming. Did you forget that I have two questions to ask today? that was only the first question.¡±

    Waves of exhaustion hit his body, and he almost couldn¡¯t stand still. The first question had already taken half of his old life, then the second question ¡­

    ¡°I¡¯m not in a hurry to get the answer to the second question. You can go back and think about it slowly. ¡±

    She leaned close to his chest, exhaling like orchids, and whispered,¡±¡±Robots, do you dream of Electronic Sheep?¡±

    Before he could react, her slender hand quickly reached out to his chest and pushed.

    He fell.

    Her carefreeughter came from the top of the mountain, getting further and further away from him.

    He screamed in horror and waved his arms wildly. He retreated at high speed from the top of the mountain, the wind whistling in his ears. Then, the moment before he fell to the ground ¡­ He woke up.

 Chapter 1667

    Chapter 1667: Chapter 1667-spinning silk from a cocoon

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian sat up straight on the bed. His whole body was soaked in sweat, and his sweatshirt stuck to his body. It was very ufortable.

    His vision turned ck, as if the image of him falling off the cliff was still lingering in his mind. His heart was beating in a straight line. It seemed that people said that if one died in the dream, one¡¯s body would also die in reality. This might not be a lie.

    The brain can¡¯t differentiate between dream and reality, thinking that it¡¯s in danger, it will drive the body to make a stress response, releasing arge amount of hormones, elerating the heartbeat and blood pressure, and may stop the heart if it exceeds the limit.

    He sat on the bed in a daze for a long time before he gradually recovered.

    If this continued, he would get a heart attack from this terrifying butterfly sooner orter.

    The wind blew the curtains up and down, and a little light seeped through the gaps of the curtains. The sky was still bright, even earlier than he usually got up. As the saying went, Spring Dreams were too short, but nightmares were too long.

    He had sat up very abruptly just now, and he might have even ground his teeth before he woke up. Several sensitive Elfins should have woken up by now. They probably saw that he had just had a nightmare and went crazy, so they went back to sleep.

    Fortunately, the morning at this time of the year was neither hot nor cold. Otherwise, he would probably catch a cold if he sat on the bed in a daze with cold sweat all over his body.

    After having a nightmare, one should quickly divert their attention instead of reminiscing about the nightmare, but Zhang Zian could only do the opposite. He tried to reminisce about the dream while he still remembered it, otherwise the nightmare would definitely haunt him for the rest of his life.

    The previous drama was put aside for the time being, and the focus was on the two questions raised by Zhuang Xiaodie.

    He quickly understood why she had threatened him. It was because he was an ordinary person and didn¡¯t care about free will. If she had just casually mentioned it, he probably wouldn¡¯t have taken it to heart. Even if he met that junior high school girl again, he probably wouldn¡¯t have asked Yingluo if she knew about free will or if he was an adult man to talk to a junior high school girl ¡­ No matter how he thought about it, it was too weird. He might as well have asked for money.

    He doubted whether Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s premonition was wrong. How could a little girl expose the truth of free will? What a joke. Children of this age were either overwhelmed by their homework or had feelings growing in their hearts. They ran to the basketball court every day to cheer for their tall, thin, handsome, and sunny male students. Who would consider things like free will?

    However, he had already agreed to it. He had to ask.

    Of course, the premise of all this was that he had to meet the junior high school girl again. If he couldn¡¯t meet her, then everything else was out of the question.

    He was d that she didn¡¯t leave her contact information in the teahouse in hidden fog, otherwise it would be troublesome. He just thought that the money was fed to the dogs, and he didn¡¯t n to take it back.

    There was a sea of people, and he had no way to contact her. He didn¡¯t even know her name and appearance, so where was he going to find her? Even if Binhai city wasn¡¯t a first-tier city, it had at least a few million permanent residents. Including the migrant workers, there would be tens of millions of people.

    Thus, although this question was rted to his life, it was actually very weak and could be dyed.

    There was another problem ¡­

    Do robots dream of Electronic Sheep?

    This seemingly strange question was actually the name of a science fiction novel. Many people had never heard of it, let alone read it. After all, the novel was first published in 1968, which was not very suitable for current reading tastes. Moreover, the author of the novel, Philip Dick, had always been known for his bold writing and imagination. It was difficult for non-hardcore science fiction fans to read it.

    Although this novel was not popr, the film adapted from it was thunderous in the Western film industry. It was ¡°Silver Wing killer¡±, which was released in 1982. It was regarded as the Best Science Fiction Film by many science fiction fans and even scientists.

    Coincidentally, this film, which was born in thest century, was about a conflict in Los Angeles in 2019.

    Zhuang Xiaodie was talking about the name of the novel, not the name of the movie, so the movie part should be ignored. The content of the novel was actually not new today, but the title was more impressive.

    ¡°Do robots dream of Electronic Sheep?¡± After Zhang Zian thought about it over and over again, he felt that she should be asking about the literal meaning of this sentence, and not testing if he could remember the contents of the novel. He had read the novel before, but he could not remember the content clearly.

    There were two meanings to this sentence. Even a primary school student who was good at Chinese could analyze it. One was whether the robot would dream, and the other was whether the robot would dream of the electronic Sheep.

    The question that Zhuang Xiaodie asked must have a deep meaning. She would not ask for no reason. She was not so free and in no mood.

    The so-called robots could be found in the workshops ofrge factories. The dexterous mechanical arms assembled the parts neatly and looked quite shocking, but those robots that only worked ording to preset programs were not in the same category as the robots people usually imagined. When people talked about robots, they usually referred to ¡°human-like machines¡± in the true sense, or in other words, Bionic robots, which had the shape of a human and were simr to humans in terms of speech, movements, and even thinking.

    Robots of this level obviously didn¡¯t exist in modern society. Otherwise, the next industrial revolution would have broken out, and the productivity of human society would have explosive growth. The material life would be extremely rich, and humans would no longer work for survival and enter the ideal society ahead of time ¡­ If one thought about it positively, maybe ¡°the Terminator¡± would be a reality, and the robot uprising would take human lives ¡­

    Bionic robots were still far from being realized. The current level of human technology had not even touched the door. Would Zhuang Xiaodie be interested in such a distant problem?

    He continued to think deeply. The body of the Bionic robot was not the key. Whether it looked like a human or not was a trivial matter. The level of technology in modern society was almost enough to use machines to create a human body that looked like a fake. The deciding factor was whether the brain of the robot could think like a human, just like the key to determining the key to human being being the spirit of all creatures was the human brain, not the weak body of a human.

    If the word ¡°robot¡± was extended to artificial intelligence, it seemed to make sense.

    Once artificial intelligence in the true sense of the word appeared, the Bionic robot would also be born.

    Of course, modern society had yet to invent artificial intelligence that was no different from humans. Even so ¡­

    Zhang Zian took out his phone from under his pillow and stared at the ck screen without unlocking it. He just stared at it in a trance.

    In his phone, there was a real artificial intelligence, or at least it imed to be.

    Therefore, Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s question was actually an obscure question to him. Would the navigation elf dream?

 Chapter 1668

    Chapter 1668: Reappearance of her

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Could the navigation elfin be dreaming ¡­ Zhang Zian had never thought about this question, just like he had never thought about the problem of free will.

    Logically speaking, if the navigation elfin was an artificial intelligence in the true sense of the word, it was very likely that it would also dream.

    What was its dream like? Would they have erotic dreams and nightmares like human dreams?

    Would it dream of another navigation elf? Or was he dreaming of the electronic Sheep?

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t imagine the robot¡¯s dream, but it must be very strange.

    If he wanted to know, maybe he could ask the navigation elf. Although it never lied, it was a question whether he was willing to answer or not ¡­ And Zhuang Xiaodie deliberately used such an obscure way to ask, probably not wanting him to ask the navigation elf. Otherwise, it would be like the first question, just let him ask directly.

    He sat on the bed in a daze, and he vaguely touched some kind of illusory inspiration. He seemed to understand Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s intention. She was the master of the dream. If the navigation elf was also dreaming, then ¡­

    It was cold.

    The sweat all over his body evaporated and took away the heat of his body, but her second question and her hidden intentions made him feel a bone-chilling cold from the inside out, and even made him shiver.

    She really dared to think about it ¡­

    He didn¡¯t know how many years she had spent in the depths of the dream studying theoretical mathematics and theoretical physics. Perhaps she had already derived a lot of mathematical and physical forms that he had never learned before. In addition, he had the programming knowledge in his memory. The most important thing in programming was the mathematical foundation. She might have an amazing attainment in programming and coding.

    No matter how difficult and magical artificial intelligence was, it should be built on the foundation of code, just like how she could easily invade his dreams, maybe ¡­

    He shook his head. Forget it, this aspect was already beyond his imagination.

    ¡°Are you possessed this early in the morning? Sighing and shaking your head, can¡¯t you let bengong sleep?¡± Fina stood up from the princess bed, its face ugly.

    Usually, Zhang Zian would crack jokes and change the topic, but today he was not even in the mood to change the topic. He sighed again,¡±don¡¯t mention it. I had a nightmarest night.¡±

    ¡°Kaka! You dreamed of being toyed with by several big men?¡± Richard also jumped up from the pillow.¡±You¡¯ve finally been enlightened, young man!¡±

    The other Elfins woke up one after another. In fact, they hadn¡¯t really fallen asleep after being woken up by him. It wasn¡¯t a good thing to be too sensitive.

    ¡°Even if I¡¯m toyed with by several big men, I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s better than dreaming about her ¡­¡± Zhang Zian said weakly.

    ¡°Gah?¡±

    Richard¡¯s half-opened beak was stunned. He had not expected him to admit defeat so easily.

    ¡°Could it be ¡­ Zhuang Xiaodie?¡± Famous suddenly woke up. She had left a deep psychological shadow on it. After all, she was too strong.

    Zhang Zian nodded,¡±that¡¯s her.¡±

    ¡°She hasn¡¯t appeared in my imagined world for a long time. I thought she had disappeared ¡­¡± Famous murmured.

    ¡°Her appearance this time should be rted to what happened yesterday.¡±

    After Zhang Zian returned from the teahouse in hidden fog yesterday, he had discussed it with old time tea and French pushing. He didn¡¯t tell the other Elfins about the middle school girl, because it was too unbelievable and would only cause more trouble for everyone.

    But now he decided not to hide it anymore. He told her everything about the day and the dream at night, including Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s first question, but only omitted her second question.

    After about half an hour, he finally finished. Old time tea and French pushing supplemented for him and proved him against the doubts of the other Elfins.

    Fortunately, he had old time tea and Fati with him. Otherwise, everyone would have thought that he was seeing things or bluffing.

    The elves who repeatedly interrupted him in the narrative process fell into silence after he finished. In addition to thinking about how the junior high school girl disappeared mysteriously, Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s first question also resonated with them.

    Yes, no one wanted to be a chess piece of fate.

    Only fina jumped from the princess bed to the head of his bed. She widened her eyes and shouted,¡±¡±What did you just say? The girl disappeared mysteriously, and I can¡¯t tell where she left from the smell?¡±

    It was fierce, and its tone was extremely harsh. Its two green eyes were almost spewing fire, and its sharp ws were also out. It seemed that if Zhang Zian was slow to answer, it would give him a w.

    ¡°Yeah, didn¡¯t I just say it? He didn¡¯t know why it was so excited, but he just hoped that he wouldn¡¯t be caught in the crossfire.

    ¡°Could ¡­ Could it be her ¡­¡± Fina panted violently, walking around anxiously as if it was thinking about a difficult problem.

    ¡°Who is it? You know him?¡±

    Zhang Zian was curious about the girl¡¯s identity, but he didn¡¯t want to know, because once he knew, he would help Zhuang Xiaodie ask.

    The other elves also looked at fina.

    After a long while, fina stopped and said,¡±¡±In ¡­ The Golden Pyramid, I also met a strange girl. She was simr to your description.¡±

    Fina still remembered what had happened that day.

    After all the hardships, it finally entered the king¡¯s tomb in the Golden Pyramid. Seeing her stone coffin, it was unable to suppress its emotions. It wanted to stay with its queen in the pyramid that was about to sink into the sea of sand forever, so that it could soothe the pain and regret in its heart.

    It even wanted to curse the Oracle of the Siwa Oasis. Why did it give it hope and then cruelly shatter it?

    But at that time, a young girl appeared outside the tomb without any warning. As the tomb door was very low, it could only see her legs. From her voice, it could tell that she was very young, but it could not tell how old she was.

    The girl said that its wish would be fulfilled, and it could see her Queen again, but not at this time and ce.

    After saying that, the girl turned around and left. Of course, it would not let her go so easily. It immediately chased after her out of the tomb.

    It was already very fast, but there was no one outside the tomb. There was only a pair of fresh footprints belonging to a human woman on the ground, proving that what it had seen and heard just now was not an illusion.

    It was her words that made it give up the idea of staying to apany the sarcophagus in anger, shock, and anticipation. It escaped the Golden Pyramid with Zhang Zian.

    Since then, as long as a young woman came into the Pet Shop, it would always stare at their legs, trying to find the girl in the vast sea of people.

    However, it never saw the pair of legs again, nor did it hear the voice.

    Also because it was too bizarre, it didn¡¯t tell him or the other Elfins about this. Now that it heard his description, it was almost 100% sure that these two were the same person!

    She had reappeared!

 Chapter 1669

    Chapter 1669: Gathering

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Shanghai.

    In the new headquarters of stars Corporation.

    Since the morning, the employees who drove to work had noticed strange foreign vehicles driving into the building¡¯s underground parking lot. Since the entire building and the underground parking lot belonged to stars pet chain supermarket, they needed to show their employee ID to enter the parking lot, so the owners of these foreign vehicles must be temporary visitors.

    The models of these cars were all different, from Rolls-Royce to BYD, from Ferrari to BMW Mini, and even an old Volkswagen Santana 2000. The license tes were from all over the country, and of course, there were also local photos in Shanghai. The employees were puzzled. If she came to thepany to discuss business, there would be apany car to pick her up. Even if she drove herself, considering that it was a business cooperation, she should drive a more stable and suitable car for business. And these cars were tooplicated.

    The car owners were even more mysterious. After getting off the car, they did not take the ordinary elevator or the staff elevator, but entered the building through the VIP elevator. They went straight to the top floor of the building, where the office and the most luxurious meeting room were located.

    The news spread very quickly, and many people liked to gossip. For the whole day, the employees were discussing these mysterious strangers in private.

    Some people who liked to show off revealed the news mysteriously, saying that these strange people were Feng Shui masters and extraordinary people invited by the boss. They were going to set up a Feng Shui array to change thepany¡¯s luck in one fell swoop.

    There were rumors that the Fengshui of thepany¡¯s new headquarters was not very good. Some employees jumped off the building because they couldn¡¯tplete their sales tasks, and some employees got into trouble. Recently, everyone was in a terrible state because of the Leshi dog food incident, and there were many obstacles to going on the market ¡­ Every employee, no matter which Department they were previously in, was now working part-time as a Public Rtions Officer, busy posting on the inte or spending money to hire inte celebrities to guide public opinion.

    The superstitious employees believed it, while the less superstitious employees scoffed and said that which bigpany didn¡¯tmit suicide? Every high-rise office building in Shanghai was filled with wandering ghosts. People with poor psychological quality who couldn¡¯t bear the pressure of the workce would also jump off the building in otherpanies. Even if they didn¡¯t jump off the building, there were many other ways tomit suicide ¡­ As for what those strange people were here for, what did it have to do with us, the bottom-level employees? Just do your work obediently!

    Of course, the middle managers couldn¡¯t let the employees talk about these groundless things. They severely reprimanded the ones who were the most enthusiastic in the discussion and finally suppressed the gossip for the time being. In fact, the middle managers were also curious and asked each other in private, but no one knew.

    Some of the middle managers could not help but ask the senior executives they were familiar with, but the senior executives also did not know. They only knew that the boss had invited them in his personal name. In short, it had nothing to do with thepany. They just had to do their work and not meddle in other people¡¯s business.

    In the conference room on the top floor.

    The people who were called weirdos by the employees each took a corner after entering the conference room, as if they were all wary of each other.

    There were both men and women among the strange people. Not only were there Chinese people, but there were also foreigners with high noses and deep eye sockets. They were dressed in different clothes. In addition to suits and ordinary casual wear, there were also people wearing ethnic clothes, like a small United Nations.

    High-end fruits and drinks were ced on the oval conference table, and everyone present was equipped with a simultaneous trantor to facilitatemunication between them in differentnguages.

    But no one said anything.

    Some people touched up their makeup in front of the small mirror, some kept looking at their watches, some ignored the no smoking sign on the wall and smoked cigars one after another, and some unscrewed the cap of the small wine pot they carried with them and drank a mouthful of vodka ¡­ The silent atmosphere was a little scary, as if a fight could break out at any time.

    The time they arrived at the building was precisely staggered so that each person could take the VIP elevator alone, so they entered the conference room in different order. However, thest person hade in fifteen minutes ago, so it seemed that no one else woulde, but the owner had not appeared.

    The most impatient one cursed. He pushed his chair away and stood up. It seemed like he didn¡¯t want to wait any longer.

    At this moment, the meeting room¡¯s door was pushed open again.

    As the host, li yuanfei stared at the man and said calmly,¡±¡±Since you¡¯re already here, you should at leaste up with a conclusion before leaving.¡±

    After that, he closed the door and casually sat on the seat at the entrance.

    The person from before snorted and sat down again.

    Everyone put down the things in their hands at the same time, regardless of whether they were touching up their makeup or smoking. The atmosphere was getting more and more tense.

    Li yuanfei nced at the crowd. Not only did he see the people present, but he also saw the invisible sprites around them. There were all kinds of sprites, not only including the moremon pet species such as birds and beasts, but also rare pet species such as insects and reptiles.

    ¡°If you have something to say, then say it quickly. We don¡¯t have time to waste here!¡± A Southeast Asian man shouted.

    A short and fat man in a white robe mmed the table and said angrily,¡±¡±Shut up! If you don¡¯t want to stay, then get lost! Stopining!¡±

    Not only did the southeast Asian man not shut up, he even mocked,¡±¡±You want me to shut up? Are you worthy? Look, a loser who has lost his elf has the face to sneak in. If I were you, I would have killed myself by banging my head against the wall!¡±

    His words were tranted by the simultaneous trantor to the white-robed man. The trantor was not able to express things that were too spoken, but at least it made the general meaning clear. In fact, the southeast Asian¡¯s tone exined everything.

    The white-robed man was furious. He rolled up his sleeves and was about to beat the man up, but when he saw the fierce eyes of the White python beside the southeast Asian man, he was discouraged.

    Although the others did not say anything, they looked at the white-robed man with contempt. It was as if they agreed with the southeast Asian man¡¯s words. For a loser like the white-robed man to still participate in the meeting, his skin was really thick to a certain extent.

    The white-robed man¡¯s face turned red, and he mmed his fist on the table to vent his anger. He sat down again in anger. He had lost his beloved cat Emile in the mahogany forest. If li yuanfei hadn¡¯t taken him out of the mahogany forest overnight with a private helicopter, he would have been involved in Peter Lee¡¯s case and would have ended up in a prison meal in the United States.

    As for his teacher, he was disheartened after losing his beloved cat, Mieza. Ling Yun¡¯s ambitions were all gone, and he had returned to his home country to recuperate. He was afraid that he would never leave the desert again.

    He was not willing to lie low and follow li yuanfei to China trying to find an opportunity to make aeback.

    Everyone present had the right tough at such a loser, but they all reminded themselves to learn from the white-robed man, or they would be the next one to beughed at.

 Chapter 1670

    Chapter 1670: Chapter 1670-powerful enemy

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Everyone who came to the secret meeting in Shanghai today was not easy to deal with. As yers of the pet Hunter game, they could have stayed out of this chaotic battle. After all, this battle was not forced to participate. However, various desires and ambitions drove them to try to kill or seize the elves of other yers, and they might evenmit some crimes that were not tolerated by thew.

    As time passed, other than the yers who had been hiding from the start and did not get involved in this mess, the ones who had participated in this battle and survived were all true powerhouses.

    Even if they were powerhouses, many of them had had enough of living in fear all day long and wanted to find a better solution.

    It wasn¡¯t just one person who thought this way. Even some battle maniacs were tired of running around the world to find enemies. They were eager to solve the problem once and for all, such as gathering the remaining strong people and then finishing them off. Theirbat experience and winning record filled them with confidence. Everyone believed that they would be the final winner.

    However, it was very difficult to organize such a meeting. Who would organize it, where would it be held, and how to ensure the personal safety of the participants were all problems.

    The organizer had to have at least the financial resources and a sufficiently secretive venue. More importantly, he had to have the ability to attract attention. At the same time, there were not many people who met these three conditions.

    A white-robed old man who seemed to be a member of the royal family stood up and, with the royal family¡¯s reputation as a guarantee, sent an invitation to them to the Middle East desert. He personally owned a desert near the sea, big enough and hidden enough. His elves were also powerful enough.

    The remaining powerhouses had all participated in many battles, and it was difficult for them topletely cover their tracks. Basically, they had all received invitations from the old man through various forms such as letters or the inte.

    After some consideration, they had decided to ept the invitation, but an unexpected incident happened. Before the appointed date, the old man in the White robe was defeated in the forest on the West Coast of the United States.

    Seeing that the meeting, which had been organized with great difficulty, was about toe to an end, li yuanfei stood up and announced that he would take over the old man¡¯s ce to hold the meeting. Everything else would remain the same, except that the venue would be changed to China.

    The others were all suspicious of this new guy, not knowing how good he was and whether he was qualified to rece the old man.

    The old man didn¡¯t want to attend the meeting anymore, but he made a promise for li yuanfei. Compared to the chaotic Middle East, China, which banned guns and was more stable, was more attractive.

    With the old man¡¯s guarantee, the others reluctantly agreed to change the meeting venue and came to Shanghai on the agreed day. They soon felt li yuanfei¡¯s organizational ability, such as urately arranging their arrival time and letting them stagger the elevators. Otherwise, no one could guarantee that they would not fight in the elevator ¡­

    Of course, they probably wouldn¡¯t be so stupid. Those who could make it this far were all strong. They wouldn¡¯t fight before the rules were set and let others benefit.

    Li yuanfei waited for the white-robed man and the southeast Asian man to finish quarreling, then made a hand gesture to calm down and said in a deep voice,¡±¡±Everyone hase from afar, and some of you have even crossed half the earth. I would like to express my sincere gratitude ¡­¡±

    ¡°Save this nonsense!¡± The southeast Asian man shouted impatiently,¡±we just want to know if you cane up with a fair and effective n. We don¡¯t have time to listen to nonsense!¡±

    This was exactly what the participants were concerned about. They thought about it and could onlye up with two options. One was to advance through a single elimination round, and the other was to circle a certain area, such as an uninhabited forest. Everyone would enter together, and whether it was a conspiracy, a sneak attack, or a cooperation and then a betrayal, there would only be one winner in the end.

    Li yuanfei looked at him calmly.¡±You¡¯re in such a hurry. Do you think you will be the final winner?¡±

    The southeast Asian man raised his eyebrows and was about to attack. His white python also had the intention to attack and broke the invisibility state.

    However, li yuanfei wasn¡¯t targeting him. After he finished speaking, he looked at the others and said,¡±¡±What about you guys? They probably think that they will be the final winner, right?¡±

    The others didn¡¯t respond. They all thought it was a ridiculous question. If they didn¡¯t think so, who woulde to this meeting?

    Li yuanfei smiled.¡±But I think that if one person¡¯s strength is obviously stronger than the others, shouldn¡¯t we unite and defeat that person first before resolving our differences?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Who is it?¡±

    The others finally broke the silence and asked one after another, looking at each other vigntly.

    They had never fought each other before, but judging from the rumors they had heard, their strength should not be too far apart from each other. At least, there was not a huge gap between them. This could be proven by the reaction of their own elves to other elves. They were confident and would not underestimate their opponents, but they really did not find anyone who was obviously stronger than their peers.

    Li yuanfei was waiting for them to ask. He pointed at the man in the White robe and said,¡±I¡¯m serious. He and his teacher can prove this.¡±

    The white-robed man¡¯s anger had not subsided, and he reluctantly nodded.

    ¡°They were defeated on the West Coast of the United States ¡­¡± Someone asked doubtfully.¡±I thought they were defeated by another group. Was it actually defeated by one person?¡±

    The short and fat white-robed man and his teacher shared the same interests. There was no distinction between them and they did not have to worry about backstabbing each other, so they had be a solid team. They had almost ttened the entire desert in Central Asia and had always been high-profile and well-known. They did not expect to fail not long after they entered the United States.

    The white-robed man felt even more embarrassed when he heard this. He didn¡¯t have the face to answer and could only silently agree. He and his teacher didn¡¯t see the person who defeated miaizha and Aamir with their own eyes, but from the information they gathered, it was probably one person, not a group. This made things even more awkward, and it also meant that the person had multiple elves.

    Some of the people present had multiple sprites, while others only had one. This was because sprites were not all suited forbat, and they might not get along well with each other.

    Since that person could defeat the two famous white-robed men in the Middle East, he must be quite powerful. Why hadn¡¯t he heard of him before?

    Li yuanfei saw that everyone was a little shaken and was about to further state the pros and cons when he heard a swish. Someone opened a can of Coke and started drinking.

    The guests seemed arrogant, but they were actually cautious. No one touched the fruits and drinks on the table, so the sudden sound of the ring being pulled was a little abrupt.

    A young girl who looked like a middle school girl was drinking Coke while waving her hand, indicating that they could continue and not mind her.

 Chapter 1671

    Chapter 1671: Chapter 1671-unknown origin

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    With the help of the power and financial resources of the royal family, the white-robed old man collected some personal information of the remaining powerhouses, but the information was not veryplete. Some people only had very little information and only knew the online names of themonly used social media software. Some people had more information and could know their real names and vague appearances captured by the surveince cameras. Some people had more detailed information, which was usually bought from the losers with money.

    The old man had tried his best to contact anyone he could, and there was nothing he could do if someone really didn¡¯t reply. Everyone who was invited received a physical or electronic invitation. The content of the invitation was very simple. Outsiders would be confused, but the yers would know at a nce. The general idea was to bring the elves to a designated ce to end the game, and all expenses on the journey would be borne by the old man.

    After the old man returned to the desert, li yuanfei got the vague name list. He didn¡¯t do much, but sent their contact information again, informing them that due to an unexpected situation, the location had been temporarily changed to Shanghai.

    The information on the list was too vague. Some of the People¡¯s appearances were nk. At most, he only knew their gender and approximate age range, so he was not sure if the junior high school girl was on the list.

    The employees treated them as weirdos because most of them used sses, hats, masks, dyed hair, and other means to hide their true appearance. They even used exaggerated makeup to make their faces unrecognizable to their own mothers. At first nce, they looked like a group of demons dancing wildly, and only a few people showed up with their real faces.

    Among the weirdos, this girl who didn¡¯t hide her original appearance was particrly fresh and refined.

    She was wearing a sailor¡¯s suit and sitting leisurely in the corner. Before she finished her Coke, she reached for a banana and ate it with relish, not treating herself as a guest at all.

    Could such a young girl be one of the invited powerhouses?

    At the door, li yuanfei¡¯s personal assistant was in charge of checking the invitation letters. Every invitation letter was special. Whether it was a physical invitation letter or an electronic invitation letter, there was a corresponding Secret Mark, such as a built-in chip or a secret key, to prevent merfolk from sneaking into the venue.

    Li yuanfei knew that you couldn¡¯t judge a book by its cover. Some people were very shrewd at a young age and could show ruthlessness beyond that of an adult. If this girl used her age, gender, and appearance to eliminate others ¡®wariness of her and then suddenly attacked, it would indeed be impossible to guard against.

    Li yuanfei didn¡¯t see any sprites around her, which was not surprising. Not all sprites were big. Those insects or small reptilian sprites couldpletely hide in their master¡¯s clothes.

    The others also noticed her at this time. Everyone arrived at different times, so they thought she had arrived earlier. After a few nces, they didn¡¯t pay much attention to her. After all, they were here for serious business. Compared to this little girl, they were more concerned about the mysterious person that li yuanfei and the short and fat white-robed man had mentioned.

    Li yuanfei originally wanted to ask her to show him her invitation again, but the others were eagerly asking about the mysterious person, so he had to put this matter aside for the time being. Anyway, even if she was beautiful and ck-bellied, how could she turn the world upside down in front of so many strong people?

    These people were all very extreme. They either shouted loudly in an ear-piercing voice, or were sarcastic, or they kept a straight face and didn¡¯t say a word. Fortunately, the conference room¡¯s soundproofing was good enough. No matter how lively it was inside, it couldn¡¯t be heard from outside.

    He motioned for everyone to calm down and said,¡±¡±Actually, I don¡¯t know much about that person¡¯s situation. After some investigation, we¡¯ve locked onto the target in Binhai city.¡±

    Li yuanfei didn¡¯t n to get involved because he didn¡¯t think it was necessary. His sprite was strong enough, and he had many things to do, so he didn¡¯t have much free time.

    Taking a step back, even if he changed his mind one day, it was not a bad idea to use the strategy of striking after the enemy had attacked. He would wait for the others to fight to the death, and then consider whether he wanted to participate and clean up the mess.

    However, because of the branch managers who were backstabbing, hispany was inexplicably rted to Leshi dog food. The bigger thepany was, the slower the feedback received by the senior management on small matters. In addition, the store managers and low-level supervisors deliberately deceived the upper management and the lower management. By the time he and the senior management realized it, almost half of the stores in the country were selling Leshi dog food.

    This was not a big deal. It was nothing more than using thepany¡¯s channels for personal interests. This kind of thing was toomon in bigpanies. Anyone who had a little power in their hands would often not let go of the opportunity to profit from thepany. It was difficult topletely eliminate such internal losses. Besides, it was not a criminal case where one person was greedy for millions of Yuan. Even if the middle and higher-ups knew about it, most of them would turn a blind eye to it.

    It wasn¡¯t difficult to solve this problem. As long as the Company issued an order to prohibit the store managers from selling products that were not sold through thepany¡¯s channels, it should be able to stop this undercurrent. However, the Alliance Store was a little troublesome.

    This was just a small matter that didn¡¯t belong to thepany¡¯s priority consideration. Moreover, some executives suggested that if this dog food was very popr, it was better to include it in thepany¡¯s purchase list, so that the branch manager¡¯s idea of taking advantage of the situation would be cut off from the source.

    Other senior executives also agreed with this proposal, so they entrusted a third-partypany to make a detailed analysis of Leshi dog food and got a very good evaluation result. The procurement department went with the flow and began negotiations with the China General manager of Leshi dog food. If the negotiations went smoothly, the future was quite bright.

    However, there were gradually bad rumors about Leshi dog food on the inte. Although most of these rumors were deliberately spread by other dog foodpanies for the purpose ofpetition, there was no smoke without fire. This kind of dog food could reduce the cost so sharply, which was already suspicious. Some real consumers also posted on forums or Weibo that their dogs suddenly had a big change in personality and died not long after, suspecting that it was rted to the change of new dog food.

    Anyone who owned a pet knew that in the domestic market of cat food and dog food, because of the considerable profit and rapid growth in sales, there was a fierce quarrel between manufacturers. All kinds of hired trolls to defamepetitors, and it was difficult to distinguish whether the rumors were true or false. In the absence of conclusive evidence, no one could say for sure whether the problem of Leshi dog food really existed or if it had been ndered.

    Thepany¡¯s negotiation team got a good price and were waiting for li yuanfei to make the decision. As long as he signed, Leshi dog food would be purchased inrge quantities and be thepany¡¯s main dog food product.

    Li yuanfei had been in the pet industry for many years, and he was instinctively worried that there was something strange about the quote of Leshi dog food. He happened to have something to do in the United States, so he asked to visit the manufacturing factory.

 Chapter 1672

    Chapter 1672: Things are different now

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    After li yuanfei arrived in the United States, he saw the dog food processing nt under the other party¡¯s arrangement. The conditions of the hygiene and so on were still okay, but when he asked about the source of the meat, the other party¡¯s words were erratic, which aroused his suspicion and he insisted on visiting the ughterhouse.

    The other party could not bear to lose such a big business deal, so he invited him to the mahogany forest.

    In the mahogany forest, he saw Peter Lee, but what caught his attention was not Peter Lee, but the two white-robed men, an old man and a fat man, and their elves.

    Li yuanfei¡¯s cat was not suitable for fighting, at least not in the form of meleebat. So, when he encountered other yers unexpectedly, he felt very uneasy.

    The two white-robed men looked down on him at that time because their two cats could easily kill his cat. There was a lot of contempt in their words, but they didn¡¯t make a move for Peter Lee¡¯s sake.

    Li yuanfei, who had been looked down on, felt bad. In addition, he had seen the scene where the source of the meat was suspected to be a sick deer. He had nned to leave, but he suddenly remembered that when the helicopter was on the way, it had detected a new Elfin in the forest. However, the helicopter could notnd, so he could only leave the elfin regretfully.

    At that time, he had already learned about the rumors of crazy deer disease and knew that if the news of using sick deer to make dog food was disclosed, it would definitely cause a great uproar. Even hispany would be involved. Logically, he should have returned to China immediately and cleared the connection between hispany and Leshi dog food as soon as possible.

    He thought about it carefully. Since the elfin could survive in the primeval forest, it was estimated that it had a strongbat power. If he could get it, he might be able to wash away the contempt he had been subjected to ¡­ So he nned to stay in the forest for one or two more days and try to catch it. Anyway, if something were to happen to Leshi dog food, it would have happened a long time ago, so one or two more days wouldn¡¯t make a difference.

    The two white-robed men scoffed at his idea. They knew of the elf¡¯s existence earlier, but they had no interest in capturing it. They only wanted to wait for it to disappear or find an opportunity to kill it because they were not on the same page.

    Since they didn¡¯t n to get involved, li yuanfei was even more at ease. He only had to wait for the next day to enter the forest to capture the elfin and then return home immediately. He wouldn¡¯t waste a single minute.

    As for Peter Lee¡¯s side, li yuanfei pretended to be polite and verbally agreed to the purchase of Leshi dog food. He also showed a very generous look, and the host and guest talked happily.

    However, something happened that night.

    The two white-robed men deliberately showed off in front of him and confidently sent their elves to solve Peter Lee¡¯s problem. Their elves had always been well-coordinated and never failed, but today they never returned. Even Peter Lee did not return, until they received the news of the elf¡¯s death from their pure gold diamond-encrusted mobile phones.

    Li yuanfei had learned some things about Zhang Zian from Peter Lee. Coupled with the various idents that had happened tonight, he concluded that the guy called Jeff Zhang by Peter Lee must also be a gamer and had a very powerful elf.

    Taking advantage of Peter Lee¡¯s absence, he decided to leave immediately, otherwise it would be toote. He persuaded the two white-robed men to take the helicopter with him and leave before the police arrived. His move was mainly to ask the two old foxes about the other yers.

    One of the two white-robed men was heartbroken, and the other was furious, but the situation was better than the man. Seeing that the situation was over, no matter how unwilling they were, they couldn¡¯t stay and wait to be arrested, so they fled the forest with him.

    After that, the short and fat white-robed man, who wanted to make aeback, became respectful from the beginning. He relied on his value and followed them to China shamelessly. The white-robed old man returned to the desert.

    Li yuanfei, who had returned to China, found that his backyard was on fire. The Leshi dog food incident hadpletely broken out. Thepany was facing arge number of rights protection andwsuits, which could not be settled with money. If he could easily getpensation, more unruly people would pick up a dead dog to ckmail him.

    He ignored the opposition of his subordinates and insisted on gathering some weirdos to his private meeting because he was almost at the end of his rope. If he could be the final winner of the game, he might be able to change his fate.

    His mentality was different from when he started from scratch. When he started his pet shop, he had also faced customers who deliberately made things difficult for him and demandedpensation. At that time, he could patiently appease every customer, win favors, and reason with them. But now, he was no longer the small store manager who was happy to sell one pet every day. He was now used to looking down on his customers, and it was impossible for him to start over again.

    Not everyone knew where Binhai city was, but working together to kill the strongest was to their taste. Some of the more astute ones were even thinking about how to divide up the elves.

    ¡°Pfft, hahaha!¡±

    The middle school girl, however, spat out the coke in her mouth and coughed fromughing.

    Her clear, spring-likeughter was particrly abrupt in the chaotic conference room, and it was also like a gurgling spring.

    Li yuanfei¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He thought to himself that this little girl was indeed here to cause trouble, but he didn¡¯t know who gave her this courage.

    The others also quieted down and stared at her with shing eyes. Even the slowest person knew that her sudden smile was definitely strange, so they all raised their guard.

    ¡°Little girl, what are youughing at? If you have anything to say, you can just say it. ¡± Li yuanfei said.

    After a long while, she finally stoppedughing and wiped her lips.¡±¡±I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t want to disturb you, but I really can¡¯t take it anymore. ¡±

    Li yuanfei exchanged nces with the others and asked without changing his expression,¡±¡±What¡¯s so funny? Can you share it with us? We want to smile too. If we can smile, we¡¯ll have ten years to live. If we can smile as young and beautiful as you, that would be even better. ¡±

    However, she sighed.¡±I¡¯m sorry to disappoint you. Actually, I wasughing at myself.¡±

    ¡°Oh? What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± Li yuanfei asked with a smile.

    ¡°To be honest, I can¡¯t help it whenever I see fruits and Coke,¡± she said with a frown.¡±I only remembered that I haven¡¯t done the housework today, but I only ate it ¡­¡±

    Do housework?

    Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what she was up to.

    Sheined,¡±it¡¯s because I received the red packet money from my father in advance. My father has always been a stingy person. He never gives me the red packet money for free. Once I take the money, I have to work. Otherwise, he will nag at me like the Tang monk. He¡¯s practically treating me like a dog and scolding me ¡­¡±

    Everyone was even more confused. What kind of family chat was this?

    ¡°Then you should go home and do the housework,¡± li yuanfei said, pretending to be concerned.¡±Don¡¯t be nagged by your father.¡±

    She sighed.¡±But I have to do the house chores here today. The job is to clean up.¡±

 Chapter 1673

    Chapter 1673: Habits

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    In the eyes of the employees, this middle school girl was even weirder. She kept saying things that they couldn¡¯t understand at all, such as New Year¡¯s money, housework, stingy dad, and so on. However, when they heard herst sentence about cleaning here, they finally seemed to understand a little.

    As a luxurious conference room on the top floor of the building, if it weren¡¯t for the fact that some of these weirdos were smoking and rubbing their feet in the mud, the indoor environment could only be described as spotless. The table was so clean that it could reflect a person¡¯s shadow, so why would there be a need to clean up? Besides, she wasn¡¯t a cleaner, so she wouldn¡¯t have the chance to do the spring cleaning.

    In that case, it was self-evident what the ¡­ Trash she was going to clean up meant.

    They were already confident enough, but they didn¡¯t expect a middle school girl to be even more arrogant than them. She wanted to take them all down with her own strength. Wasn¡¯t this a fool¡¯s dream?

    As powerful beings who had made it this far, each of them had experienced at least two or three battles. The elves they had brought with them were either agile, strong, or both. They could release poison or change their colors in disguise,e to reality, ore from imagination ¡­ If all of them attacked at the same time, no one or elf would be able to resist.

    Because it was too preposterous, none of them were afraid. Instead, they allughed as if they had heard a joke, but their eyes became colder and colder.

    The girl didn¡¯t seem to know that danger wasing, and she also smiled with them.

    If she continued to anger them, she might kill them. Li yuanfei didn¡¯t want to see that scene. After all, this was the headquarters of the group, and it wouldn¡¯t be good if things got out of hand. So, he advised,¡±¡±Little girl, if you¡¯re here to cause trouble, please leave. This ce doesn¡¯t suit you.¡±

    The southeast Asian man jumped out andughed,¡±don ¡®t! Aren¡¯t you just worried that your house will be stained with blood? It doesn¡¯t matter, let my White Dragon swallow her in one bite. No one will find any trace of her being here. ¡±

    Hearing its Master¡¯s words, his white python flicked out its dark red tongue and raised its head high, almost reaching the ceiling. Its cold body was half-coiled, and its smooth scales were shining with a metallic luster. Its cold and ruthless Snake Eyes stared at her.

    This white python was thergest of the elves present. It might not be the strongest, but it might also be the fiercest. Cold-blooded animals had no mercy when hunting. With its size, it might really swallow her alive.

    The others, including li yuanfei, frowned and subconsciously moved away from the White python that had entered an attacking state to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

    Some of them were only pursuing victory for their own selfish desires, so they weren¡¯t bad people. No matter how the battle between the elves was, at least they didn¡¯t deliberately hurt anyone. They couldn¡¯t just watch this beautiful girl be swallowed alive by a Python.

    Immediately, a few people¡¯s expressions changed. They were hesitating if they should step forward to stop this tragedy. However, if they did, they might end up falling out with this Southeast Asian man.

    The girl wasn¡¯t afraid at all. Instead, she cried out in surprise,¡±¡±What a huge white python! Was it caught in a swamp in Southeast Asia? It looks like an albino Myanmar Python. ¡±

    Li yuanfei coughed lightly and reminded,¡±¡±It¡¯s not toote for you to leave now. This is yourst chance. This Python is so ferocious. Once it attacks, I¡¯m afraid ¡­¡±

    She smiled and waved her hand disapprovingly.¡±It¡¯s okay! Uncle li Shentai is just scaring me. He won¡¯t really attack me, am I right?¡±

    Everyone looked at the southeast Asian man in shock. If his real name was suddenly mentioned in such an asion, he could forget about hiding his identity in the future.

    Li yuanfei was also stunned because the name list given by the white-robed old man did not include the southeast Asian man¡¯s real name. Was his name really li Shentai?

    ¡°I¡¯m not! I didn ¡®t! Don¡¯t talk nonsense!¡± The southeast Asian man¡¯s face was as purple as a pig¡¯s liver as he denied.

    He had a bad temper, but was not good at shrewdness. This kind of performance was tantamount to confessing.

    He pointed at her in exasperation, his eyes red. He gritted his teeth and shouted,¡±¡±You ¡­ You ¡­ What makes you think I won¡¯t do anything?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s very simple. Although pythons are scary, they will enter Sage Mode after they have eaten their fill. They will immediately turn from super Saiyans into weaklings. They will need one to two weeks or even one to two months to fully digest their energy before they can be fully resurrected ¡­ The war is imminent. Uncle li Shentai, you won¡¯t waste such an important opportunity on me, right?¡± She blinked her eyes and said yfully.

    The southeast Asian man¡¯s body and expression instantly froze.

    The others were originally afraid of the White python and were respectful of the southeast Asian man. Now that the little girl had pointed out the White Python¡¯s huge weakness, the way they looked at him ¡­ Was different.

    However, the fact that so many adults were not as calm and knowledgeable as a little girl really made them feel a little ashamed.

    ¡°How do you know so much?¡± Someone asked.

    ¡°Because ¡­ I have one or two little snakes at home, and I¡¯m also responsible for feeding them, so I have a general understanding of the habits of snakes. This isn¡¯t strange, right?¡± She chuckled.

    Everyone looked at each other in silence. Could it be that her spirit was a snake?

    If it was a small snake, it would most likely be extremely venomous and might be able to kill a person on the spot with one bite.

    Everyone¡¯s perception of her was changing rapidly. They no longer looked down on her as they did in the beginning. They stared at her hands and feet vigntly, in case she suddenly released a poisonous snake and urged the Python to enter Sage Mode after eating a person. However, as long as the snake¡¯s poison was fierce enough, it would be no problem to knock out all the people here.

    ¡°Hahahaha!¡± The short and fat man in the White robe was humiliated just now, but now he was in a good mood. He raised his head andughed wildly.¡±So you¡¯re just a piece of trash who can only bask in the sun after eating your fill!¡±

    ¡°What ¡­ What did you say?¡± The southeast Asian man red at the white-robed man.¡±I dare you to say that again!¡±

    After losing his beloved cat Emile, the white-robed man became more and more extreme. He patted his chest and shouted like a hoodlum,¡±Come on, let your snake eat me. If you don¡¯t care, I don¡¯t care either. Someone else will deal with you!¡±

    With the white-robed man¡¯s size, if the White python swallowed him, he would probably lose his appetite for half a year.

    The southeast Asian man suppressed his anger and stared at the girl with hatred. He said,¡±¡±Even if I don¡¯t eat you, I can get the White Dragon to crush every bone in your body!¡±

    ¡°I won ¡®t.¡±

    In the face of his verbal threat, she shook her head indifferently.¡±Today¡¯s script wasn¡¯t written like this.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re speaking as if our fates have already been decided. ¡± Li yuanfei sneered. He no longer saw her as a weak and easily bullied little girl.

    She nodded her head seriously.¡±Yes, your fates have been decided.¡±

 Chapter 1674

    Chapter 1674: An inevitable fate

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Everyone¡¯s impression of this mysterious and arrogant girl had changed. From the initial contempt and ridicule to the current doubt and fear, because from the conversation just now, everyone could see that she was neither crazy nor stupid. On the contrary, she was calm and smart. And since a calm and smart person dared to challenge them alone, she must have something to rely on.

    Some people even began to secretly regret attending this meeting, but it was toote. Since they were already here, they could only brace themselves to the end.

    ¡°Our fates have been decided?¡± The southeast Asian man pointed at her and shouted,¡±you mean, we are all going to die Here? Do you believe that I¡¯ll let the White Dragon swallow you before I die?¡±

    The others did not believe in the nonsense that fate was already set. Like the southeast Asians, they were inclined to believe that she or her elves used some kind of method to kill them all. It was very likely that they used poison.

    The elves broke out of their invisibility state one after another and stared at her covetously, ready tounch an attack at any time.

    She ignored the tense atmosphere and stood up leisurely.¡±Don¡¯t misunderstand. I mean what I said.¡±

    ¡°Fate? I don¡¯t believe in fate. ¡± Li yuanfei shook his head.¡±Even if fate does exist, I will use my hands to change fate!¡±

    Everyone agreed with his bold words.

    She walked to the window and pressed a button to change the ss¡¯s transparency, allowing more sunlight to enter the room.

    ¡°Have you heard of Fermat¡¯s principle?¡± She changed the topic abruptly.

    No one responded. Everyone was trying to guess her intentions.

    She stretched out a hand and let the sun fall on her red palm. Staring at the light, she slowly said,¡±¡±Light is the most widespread and most stable matter in the universe. Many of Einstein¡¯s theories are based on the premise that the speed of light is constant, so that the speed of light can remain unchanged under any circumstances.

    ¡°There¡¯s an interesting phenomenon of light, which is that light always has a limit. Light that passes through two fixed points in space, the actual path is always the light path or the path that takes the shortest time.¡±

    Her vocabry was simple and easy to understand, and even people who didn¡¯t go to school could understand her.

    Even though they understood what she was saying, they still didn¡¯t know what she was trying to do. Besides, what was interesting about this phenomenon?

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s strange? Although the speed of light was very, very fast, so fast that one could always ignore the speed of light, light did have speed. When the distance was far enough, light would not arrive in an instant ¡­ But don¡¯t you think it¡¯s strange? How did you know which path was the shortest before you set off?¡±

    Some people seemed to vaguely understand what she meant. It was as if the light had a will of its own and would automatically choose the shortest path. If one thought deeper into this matter, it was indeed very strange. Did light really have a will of its own?

    Humans would choose the shortest path because they had consciousness and could see it with their eyes. Light had no eyes, so how could it know which path was the shortest when it set off? Could it be that he had already ¡®seen¡¯ the end point like a human before he set off?

    Thinking about it carefully, he was terrified.

    ¡°If you stand at the same starting point as the light and look along the light, you can see the end at the end of the light at a nce and not see anything else.¡± She said,¡±fate is the same. Everything has been predestined. You are destined to be here, and I am destined to be here. You are destined to be disheartened. You are destined to make futile attempts and be swept into the garbage dump of history by me. All of this was destined before you were born. But even if you knew that you would fail today, would you choose not to be born? I¡¯m sorry, but you don¡¯t even have the choice of not being born. ¡±

    She looked at their paler and paler faces with sympathy.¡±In quantum mechanics, photons are unpredictable. Each of you seems to have free will, but it¡¯s only limited to the three-dimensional space we are in. If you add ¡®time¡¯ to the dimension, it¡¯s a four-dimensional space. However, if you stand in the fifth dimension or higher dimension, quantum mechanics is not applicable. It¡¯s like having the omniscient eyes of God. In front of you, everything in the four-dimensional space will unfold on all timelines at the same time. You can see the beginning and end of everything at the same time. You can see yourself sliding from the starting point to the end step by step, with no possibility of change. ¡±

    The more they understood, the more afraid they became. If she was not bluffing, then her power was far beyond their imagination.

    The omniscient eyes were already shocking enough to them. Such a powerful eye was actually just a temporary vision of the fifth dimension with the help of divine power, allowing her to see all the secrets of the fourth dimension ¡­ But her tone made it seem as if she could freely travel through the fifth dimension!

    If that was the case, she could appear at any time and any ce in the four-dimensional space at any time, and she could return to the high-dimensional space at any time.

    The ants crawling on the paper could not imagine the humans staring at them in the four-dimensional space. Every ant thought that they had free will, but the unknown world they were trying to explore on paper was so ridiculous to the humans. They could see their starting and ending point at a nce.

    Humans in the fourth dimension could not imagine the power that was watching them in the fifth dimension. The so-called free will of humans only existed in the fourth dimension. The creatures in the fifth dimension could see the birth and death of people at a nce.

    The light in the fourth dimension tried every possible path. The light in the fourth dimension did not know where the end was before it set off, but in the eyes of the creatures in the fifth dimension, the beginning and the end were clear at a nce. Light could only choose, and must choose, the shortest path.

    In this sense, humans were just ants of a higher level.

    Her eyes swept over each of their faces. She knew their names, their exact birth dates, what they had done, what they were doing, what they were going to do, when they would die, and ¡­ The real names of every elfin in their phones.

    By knowing the true name of the elves, the power of the elves was locked.

    The few people who had a good education in physics were the first to understand what she meant. Their legs gave way and they fell to the ground. Their faces were full of despair. They thought that humans could easily crush ants on paper, and she could also easily crush them ¡­ No, not crush them, but kill them in a way that ants and humans could not imagine.

    She turned to look at li yuanfei.¡±Now, I¡¯ll answer your question. Fate can¡¯t be changed. From the moment everyone is born, their fate has been fixed. Everyone lives to realize their own fate step by step ¡­ Today is an important node in your fate.¡±

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    [Author¡¯s note: if you don¡¯t understand this chapter, you can watch the movies ¡°advent¡±,¡±interster transmigration¡±, and the original novel ¡°advent¡±,¡±the story of your life¡±.]

 Chapter 1675

    Chapter 1675: Childhood

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    On the roof of the stars Corporation building.

    In order to prevent people from choosing this ce to jump off the building, the roof had been sealed. Even maintenance staff had to get the procedures and maic cards to get to the roof.

    The wind was very strong on such a high roof, even though the ground was so stuffy and hot that there was no wind at all.

    On this roof that should have been empty, there was a young girl who looked like a middle school student. Her sailor suit of unknown material was fluttering in the wind.

    She stood on the edge of the roof and looked down at the bustling Shanghai city. The bustling traffic on the road stopped and went. Although her body was swaying in the wind, she was not afraid of the possibility of falling from a height of 100 meters.

    Behind her, a ck and white kitten suddenly appeared, and she turned around at the same time.

    ¡°Meow~¡±

    ¡°Wahaha! Gxy! Raise it high!¡±

    She bent down to pick up Gxy and happily raised it above her head. Gxy, who had always been afraid of people, reacted no different from an ordinary pet cat at this time. It yed with her affectionately. After all, it had been with her since she was born.

    ¡°How is everyone? What was his stinky father doing? Needless to say, he must have been badly battered looking for you!¡± She held Gxy in her arms, sat down on the roof, and said with a smile full of longing,¡±¡±I really want to go to the pet shops of this era!¡±

    ¡°Fina must be angry with me, but it also likes me the most!¡±

    Snowy Li is the gentlest to me, but I always suspect that it wants to lead me in a certain direction ¡­¡±

    ¡°No matter how naughty I am, Grandpa tea will always protect me.¡±

    ¡°Richard brought me a lot of joy in my childhood ¡­¡± He said.

    ¡°Famous is a busy man. It¡¯s busy all day.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how many jokes sister Sihwa¡¯s global travel live broadcast will make ¡­¡±

    ¡°When I was ying mud and climbing trees with Pi, my d * mned father said I was like a mud monkey!¡±

    ¡°Fati is the most honest, I always ride him like a horse, hehe!¡±

    ¡°dimir and little white are still in love and killing each other all day long ¡­¡±

    ¡°Teacher Xiaodie ¡­ I¡¯m really a little scared of her. She always leaves me with a lot of homework to do ¡­¡±

    ¡°Argh! There was more! Her father probably didn¡¯t realize that Feifei¡¯s sister was actually a career woman. The ocean mansion that she had worked hard for was running well. Uncle Qian and uncle kun ¡­ They didn¡¯t seem to have any intention of getting a girlfriend and getting married. Wu~I really want to get an autograph from sister Yi Yun before she became a BLic artist ¡­¡±

    Even for her, she only had one childhood. She could reminisce about her childhood countless times, but she could only experience it once.

    ¡°Meow~¡± it blinked its silver-gray eyes and looked at her.

    ¡°I know, but it¡¯s not time yet.¡± She nodded regretfully.

    As long as she wanted to, she could see everything that had happened, was happening, and was about to happen in the Pet Shop, but ¡°seeing¡± and ¡°personally experiencing¡± were ultimately different.

    When humans looked at the ants crawling on paper, they might feel that the ants were pitiful. The unknown world that they had spent so much physical and mental energy to explore was clear to them, but could they deny the joy of the exploration process just because they knew the results?

    Humans are not ants, how can they know the joy of ants?

    When it was time to get off work, fashionably dressed men and women swarmed out of various office buildings. Their expressions were happy and depressed. They were thinking about getting a promotion and a raise, or falling in love and getting married. Perhaps their lives would not be smooth, but at least they would be very fulfilling. Most of them were unknown throughout their lives, but being unknown didn¡¯t mean that they had achieved nothing. They had tried and explored, and that was enough. That was life.

    ¡°If I can¡¯t find you for too long, father will get suspicious. Let¡¯s go back first and help me say hello to everyone from the bottom of my heart.¡± She put Gxy down and stood up.

    Gxy raised one of its front paws and said reluctantly,¡±¡±Meow! Bye-bye!¡±

    ¡°Bye-bye!¡± She waved back.

    Gxy disappeared from where it was.

    She knew that Gxy had used the opportunity of ying hide-and-seek toe here. Her father had searched the house several times but couldn¡¯t find it. He had already admitted defeat and told it to stop hiding ande out quickly.

    ¡°Alright, I should get going too~¡± she muttered to herself.

    The next moment, she disappeared as well.

    Almost at the same time, she appeared again.

    It was not urate to say ¡°the next moment¡± because her disappearance and appearance seemed to have no time interval, but to her, time was not linear, and words like ¡°the next moment¡± had no practical meaning.

    Only ants would crawl from one end of the paper to the other. Humans only needed to fold the paper and send it over.

    One end was connected to the past, and the other was connected to the future.

    She appeared in a dark forest, surrounded by deste grass and insects.

    The bushes rustled and swayed. Some small beasts and night birds were startled by her sudden appearance and fled into the depths of the forest.

    The full moon hung high in the night sky like a silver te, and a pothole-filled path made by people and livestock passed through the forest and stretched into the night.

    She opened her hand and there was a small piece of paper in her palm. However, it was different from a regr piece of paper. This piece of paper only had length and width, no thickness, and was infinitely thin.

    As the night wind blew, the paper suddenly began to expand. To be more precise, it unfolded.

    It was like a three-dimensional greeting card. When it was folded, there was only one ne on the X-axis and Y-axis. When it was unfolded, there was an additional Z-axis, forming a three-dimensional object.

    The piece of paper turned into a mobile phone, or at least something simr to a modern mobile phone.

    She tapped twice on the screen.

    A white python appeared in front of her without any warning. It was the one in the conference room.

    The White python curled up its body and flicked its tongue uneasily. It observed the unfamiliar environment around it. The climate here made it feel very cold, and its body was stiff.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. ¡± She consoled him,¡±this is your destiny.¡±

    However, the White python was still afraid, half of it was because of her, and the other half was because of the instinctive fear of death that humans and animals had. Only people and elves with iron will could ovee this instinct.

    She gently stroked its cold scales.¡±It¡¯s okay. There¡¯s a cause, and there¡¯s a result. If there¡¯s a life, there¡¯s a death. If you didn¡¯t go down in the history books here, you wouldn¡¯t have be an elf. If you didn¡¯t be an elf, you would just be a slightly rare, ordinary albino python. You wouldn¡¯t have spent those days with uncle li Shentai.¡±

    At the mention of the southeast Asian, the White Python¡¯s cold eyes seemed to warm up a little, and it was no longer so afraid.

    It already knew its fate. It would die Here. Only then could it be an elf and be captured by li Shentai.

    Perhaps in the eyes of the world, it and Li Shentai were both evil people. However, the days when they fought hand in hand and killed other yers and elves together were really enjoyable!

    After a moment, it nodded and epted its fate.

    It was willing to die to fulfill its fate in exchange for the good times it had with li Shentai.

 Chapter 1676

    Chapter 1676: Chapter 1676-snake

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Everyone in the conference room of the stars pet chain supermarket had resisted the idea or action, but they had epted their fate in the end, just like this white python.

    ¡°Go, someone¡¯sing.¡± She said,¡±I have to prepare too.¡±

    There was an abandoned wooden house not far away. The roof was made of thatched grass, but now there was no roof, and there were only three walls left. It might have been destroyed in the war or by the beasts. After all, this era was still a Savage era, and many beasts were muchrger than 2000 yearster.

    She walked straight in from the broken side.

    The wooden house could be described as a bare house with only four walls. In the corner was a copsed wooden bed, and the only thing that could be considered furniture was a wooden cab. After all, the people who lived here had nothing valuable to hide.

    There was a stove made of stone at the door, and a copper pot with several missing corners was on the stove. The bottom of the pot was ck from the smoke, and the stove was full of cold ashes and burnt Coke.

    She went straight to the wooden cab, lifted the lid, and saw what she wanted. It was a set of torn clothes, but they were still rtively clean. It was probably the only decent piece of clothing for the people living here.

    If it was an ordinary middle school girl, she would definitely despise such a torn shirt and wouldn¡¯t even touch it. However, she took it out of the cab without a care and put it on casually.

    Then, she dug out a handful of ash from the bottom of the stove and applied it on her hair, face, and exposed parts of her body. She also messed up her hair.

    In the blink of an eye, the pretty little girl had turned into a little beggar with unkempt hair.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s more like it.¡±

    She was very satisfied with her outfit. Anyway, it was dark and she couldn¡¯t see anything clearly, so this was enough.

    As she entered the house, the White python slithered to the small path and coiled its body. It raised its head and red at her, flicking its dark red tongue.

    This was its end and also its starting point.

    It wanted to embrace death in its best state, and also wee new life in its best state.

    The moonlight shone on its thick scales, giving it a mysterious and terrifying look.

    It didn¡¯t have to wait too long.

    A man dressed like a farmer hurried over from the distance. In order to avoid falling, he kept looking at the ground and ran with his head lowered. He didn¡¯t notice the White python blocking the path until he heard the sound of its scales rubbing against each other.

    ¡°Mother! What a huge snake!¡±

    He looked up and was so scared that he fell to the ground. His pants were wet and his heart almost stopped beating.

    They had seen snakes nearby. Sometimes, when they were hungry, they would kill the snakes to eat. They had never thought that there would be such a huge snake, and it was a majestic white Snake. It was like a snake King, or ¡­ A White Dragon.

    ¡°Grandpa snake god, I have old and young people to take care of, please don¡¯t eat me! I¡¯m begging you!¡± He kowtowed like pounding garlic, crying with snot and tears.

    The big snake slithered very quickly. With mud on both sides of the path, he could not run away. He knew that he would die. If he had known this, he would have gone to Xiao Mountain to repair the Imperial mausoleum. Although he would also die, at least he could live for a few more days, which was much better than being swallowed alive by the big snake and turned into snake dung.

    After waiting for a while, the urine in his pants had turned cold, but the snake had not swallowed him.

    He mustered his courage and sneaked a peek. Suddenly, he found that the snake¡¯s eyes seemed to be empty, as if it was not looking at him.

    Could it be ¡­ That the snake was sleeping?

    He tried to get up quietly, but the snake still didn¡¯t move.

    So, he lightened his steps and slowly stepped back. His head and body were covered in sweat, for fear of waking it up.

    The snake really seemed to be asleep. It did not move at all.

    He didn¡¯t run in the direction he came from until he was far enough away. He hated that his parents didn¡¯t have a few legs.

    He ran as fast as he could, not daring to stop even when he was foaming at the mouth, until he almost bumped into someone walking towards him.

    The man wasn¡¯t young anymore. He had a copper sword at his waist, his hair and beard were already white, and his mouth reeked of alcohol. He was drunk, but his every movement had an intimidating aura.

    ¡°Stop! Who¡¯s running at night?¡± The man shouted, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword as he tried to open his drunken eyes and size him up.

    The farmer recognized the man with the sword, and as if he had seen his Savior, he said breathlessly,¡±¡±PA¡­Pavillion man¡­There¡¯s a huge snake in front of us ¡­ I¡¯m willing to return it!¡±

    He was responsible for exploring the path. There was only one path in the forest. The other ces seemed to be covered with thick fallen leaves, but in fact, they were like mud without a top. There was no way to walk.

    Since the Python had upied the only path, they could not move forward and could only retreat.

    ¡°Hahahaha!¡±

    The man with the sword was drunk, and he was full of pride when he heard this.

    Although there were snakes nearby, he had never seen a particrlyrge snake. Heughed at the farmer¡¯sck of knowledge. He was afraid that he had mistaken a snake as thick as an adult man¡¯s arm for a big one.

    ¡°What¡¯s there to be afraid of?¡±

    Under the influence of alcohol, he suddenly pulled out his copper sword, which startled the farmer.

    ¡°Pavilion master, you can not! This snake is huge!¡±

    The farmer wanted to stop the man with the sword, because the snake was definitely not something that could be killed by human strength. If he woke it up from its sleep, it would be no different from sending food to his door.

    The man with the sword was drunk. He pushed the farmer away impatiently and strode forward.

    The farmer thumped his chest and stomped his feet. He and hispanions admired the man with the sword¡¯s righteousness and vowed to follow him. They couldn¡¯t bear to see the man with the sword die like this. However, he was really scared out of his wits by the snake and didn¡¯t dare to go alone with the man with the sword.

    When he thought of the others, he quickly ran back.

    After running for a short distance, they saw fire ahead.

    A few simrly shabbily dressed farmers surrounded the bonfire to roast mountain rats. When they saw him return, they invited him to eat roasted mountain rats.

    He didn¡¯t care about eating and told them what had happened in a fluster. Everyone was shocked. They had vowed to follow the man with the sword, so they should follow him in life and death. So they stepped on the bonfire and put it out, took out their self-defense weapons, and ordered him to lead the way to meet the man with the sword. Even if they died, they would die together with him, so as to not let down the man with the sword who had helped them.

    The man with the sword at least had a copper sword, while the farmers only had hoes that were tied together with wooden sticks and stones. They couldn¡¯t hurt the snake¡¯s scales at all. Even if they went, they would only be food reserves for the snake to get through the winter.

    The farmer who was scouting the way wasining in his heart, but everyone had to save the man with the sword. If he didn¡¯t go, wouldn¡¯t it make him look like he was afraid of death? Although he was a farmer, he knew how to repay a favor and would rather die than be looked down upon.

    Forget it!

    He gritted his teeth and made up his mind. At most, he would return his life to the man with the sword.

    So, he led the other farmers and quickly chased in the direction of the man with the sword.

 Chapter 1677

    Chapter 1677: Chapter 1677-ambitious heart

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    The man with the sword held the copper sword in his hand. Under the moonlight, he ran forward with uneven steps. His mind was filled with the thought of killing the so-called big snake and roasting it for everyone to drink with, so as to boost their courage.

    He had moremon sense than the farmers who only knew how to dig for food in the soil. If it was a small snake, he would be somewhat afraid, but a big snake was often not poisonous, so he was not as afraid as the farmers.

    He drank to drown his sorrows, but he did not expect that the wine would make his sorrow worse. He saw that those farmers were pitiful. If they were sent to Xiao Mountain, they would probably all be piles of bones under the Imperial mausoleum, so he released them on impulse. Now they were in a situation where they could not surrender to a country or return home. What was going on?

    In fact, he had no choice but to do this, because several people had already escaped. Even if the rest of the farmers were all escorted to Xiao Mountain, he would still be unable to avoid dereliction of duty and would be executed ording to thew.

    In that case, it was better to do a favor at no cost and release the rest of the people so that everyone could escape together. He did not expect the remaining farmers to thank him for his kindness and were willing to follow him. Although there were only a few of them, at least they were better than him.

    In addition, although he was only a small vige constable, he had always had a grand ambition in his heart. He could be a vige constable now, but he didn¡¯t want to be one for the rest of his life.

    Seeing that he was getting old and his hair was turning white, how could he not feel depressed when he could not realize his ambitions?

    On the other hand, the farmers who had little knowledge ate and drank as much as they could without any great ambitions. On the contrary, they were free and unfettered, which was envied by others.

    He clenched the copper sword in his hand tighter and tighter. He just wanted to find something to chop at and vent the anger in his chest.

    He ran for a while under the influence of alcohol. The cold wind blew on his thin clothes and he gradually sobered up.

    There was a fishy smell in the wind.

    A warning sign suddenly appeared in his heart, and he suddenly looked up. He was so frightened that he almost dropped his copper sword!

    You call this a snake?

    The moonlight illuminated the thing in front of them clearly. It was a giant snake that they had never heard of before. Other than having no ws, it was no different from the legendary flood Dragon.

    The man with the sword cursed the farmer in his heart countless times. He med the farmer for not exining in detail and was afraid that he would cause the farmer to lose his life here for no reason.

    He wanted to escape, but he had already made such a bold statement. If he ran back now, he would definitely beughed at. He would never be able to raise his head again, and his grand n would be aughing stock.

    Besides, could he run away?

    ¡°You, you, you have such lofty aspirations, but you are afraid of a snake. Then wouldn¡¯t the millions of Tiger and wolf soldiers of Qin be much more powerful than this snake?¡±

    Forget it!

    He widened his bloodshot eyes and the veins on his forehead bulged. He raised his copper sword and charged at the snake.

    Today was the day. Instead of being depressed every day in the future, he would rather die in the snake¡¯s mouth today. It would be more satisfying.

    ¡°Please stay for a moment, Pavilion master!¡±

    ¡°You mustn ¡®t, vige constable!¡±

    The farmers had set offte and were a step slower, only now did they catch up from behind. With the help of the moonlight, they saw from afar that he was about to strike the snake with his sword, and they were all scared out of their wits.

    Oh my God, this snake is too big!

    They lived in the North. How could there be such a huge snake in the North? Compared to the snake, the man with the sword looked like a young man standing in front of a bearded man.

    This attack was like an ant trying to shake a tree, like an egg trying to hit a stone. There was no chance of winning at all. As long as the snake swung its tail, it could send him flying. As long as the snake opened its mouth, it could bite his head off.

    However, they were still too far away and couldn¡¯t be rescued in time, so they could only speed up. They wanted to run faster, but their legs felt weak for some reason.

    Perhaps awakened by the farmers ¡®cries, the snake suddenly moved. It changed its original posture of a Tiger and a Dragon, straightening its body horizontally. It seemed to be intimidated by his momentum and wanted to escape into the forest mud on both sides of the path.

    Seeing this, he became even more courageous. How could he allow it to escape? he quickly ran to the snake¡¯s body, raised the copper sword high, and shed down with all his strength!

    Pfft!

    The copper sword, which had been sharpened day and night, was deeply stabbed into the snake¡¯s body, cutting the snake¡¯s skin and flesh. Its round body was cut in half, but one side of the de was also rolled up by the hard scales of the snake. After all, bronze was still too soft.

    It was reasonable to say that a dying beast was the most terrible. The snake¡¯s counterattack in pain would be as fierce as stone and earth-shattering, and it could break all the bones in his body in minutes. However, its reaction was very strange. It seemed to be panicking. It was clearly in pain, but it did not run or counterattack. It just rolled on the spot.

    Taking advantage of the fact that it had rolled over, the man with the sword saw that his attack had seeded. Without thinking, he turned his wrist and used the other side of the de to draw the sword and cut again.

    The sword finally split the snake in half.

    The snake¡¯s internal organs flowed out, and its upper and lower body writhed and struggled violently. Blood sttered everywhere, but its eyes ¡­ Were shining with a strange light.

    ¡°Hahahaha! It felt great! It¡¯s great!¡±

    The man with the sword casually threw away the copper sword that was rolled up on both sides. He felt great, not only because he had killed this huge snake, but also because his confidence had increased greatly. It was as if he could see the future when he would rise and conquer the world.

    His body was hot and dry, and the after-effects of the wine came in waves. He could no longer hear the shouts of the farmers behind him. He ran wildly with his head lowered, and only the cold wind that came in his face could make him feelfortable.

    In a short while, he had disappeared without a trace.

    He ran for several miles until he tripped over a small branch. He then fell into the grass and fell into a deep sleep, snoring like thunder.

    When the farmers behind rushed to the scene, panting with hoes, they only saw the lower half of the snake¡¯s body, but the front half was nowhere to be seen.

    They looked at the huge snake corpse and exchanged looks. Their respect for the man with the sword increased several times. To be able to cut this snake god-like giant snake in half, the man with the sword was truly an extraordinary man in the world. He was worth following for the rest of their lives! As long as he followed the man with the sword, he would be able to make a name for himself. Even if he died, what would he regret?

    The front half of the White Python¡¯s body struggled and slithered back to the broken wooden house, leaving a trail of blood. Its eyes were fixed on the middle school girl who had changed her face, as if it was trying its best to convey what it wanted to say through its eyes.

    ¡°I know. Sleep well. When you wake up, he¡¯ll be waiting for you there. He¡¯s at the ce where you¡¯re destined to meet. I promise.¡± She squatted down and stroked its head as she spoke gently.

    The White Python¡¯s breath disappeared, and its tongue hung limply on the ground, unable to be retracted.

    It had died peacefully, and even after death, it was still vivid and lifelike.

    The cycle of fate had begun.

 Chapter 1678

    Chapter 1678: Chapter 1678-spacetime Wanderer

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    A few farmers stood on the path and stared at the snake¡¯s corpse for a while. Suddenly, they realized that there was only the lower half of the snake¡¯s corpse-the first half must have run away. When they ran over, they saw a blurry white shadow slip into the forest.

    This big snake was so fierce. If it didn¡¯t die, what would they do when it recovered and came back to take revenge?

    Their minds were filled with legends of mountains, rivers, spirits, and ghosts. The more they thought about it, the more afraid they became. In fact, they were fine. If the snake wanted revenge, it would definitely find the man with the sword first. But now that they had made up their minds to follow him and achieve something, how could they watch him die in the snake¡¯s mouth?

    What to do?

    They thought about it and decided that they might as well go all out. Since the snake was seriously injured, they might as well chase after it and eliminate it at its roots. It was also a way to get rid of the worry of the man with the sword. They couldn¡¯t beat the snake that was in good condition, but could they not beat the snake that was only half-broken?

    They hade to a decision. They clenched the hoes in their hands and found the blood flowing from the front half of the snake¡¯s body. They pulled aside the waist-deep weeds and began to track it.

    They were afraid that there would be poisonous creatures hidden in the grass, and they were even more afraid of stepping into a man-eating swamp. They did not dare to walk too fast. They stretched out their hoes to clear the grass in front of them to find a way, and at the same time, they scared away the poisonous insects and beasts in the grass.

    The snake had shed a lot of blood, and the bloodstains were very obvious. It wriggled its way up a mound.

    When they reached this point, some people became afraid. They said that the snake had lost so much blood, so it must be dead. Why don¡¯t we go back and find the vige constable? If the giant snake struggled to return to its nest before it died, what if there were other giant snakes in the snake nest? wouldn¡¯t they be seeking their own deaths?

    The others were also hesitating when they suddenly heard the sound of sobbing in the night wind. It sounded like a woman¡¯s sobbing, and it seemed to being from the top of the hill, very close to them.

    Just imagine, in the middle of the night, in the quiet forest, the ground was covered in the stinky blood of the snake, and the sound of a woman¡¯s faint crying ¡­ It was really terrifying.

    The few farmers were scared witless. If they had not peed their pants before, they might have peed again.

    They stood there in a dilemma. If they retreated like this, how would they answer if the vige constable asked them about this matter tomorrow? To say that he was scared away by a woman¡¯s crying? He would definitely beughed at by the vige constable, and he would not be entrusted with any important tasks in the future.

    In the end, they huddled together and looked out for each other. They gathered their courage and carefully walked up the mound.

    A dpidated wooden house sat on a small mound. In front of the wooden house was an old woman with disheveled, gray hair, stroking the snake¡¯s corpse and crying on the ground.

    With the help of the moonlight, they could see clearly that there was a house and a person. This person even had a shadow, so it was most likely not a ghost. Moreover, the snake corpse on the ground waspletely dead, so it was unlikely that it would jump up and hurt people.

    In this era, the people had no means of living. It wasmon for people to hide in the deep mountains to avoid military disasters and escape frombor.

    When the farmers saw that it was a living person and not a female ghost, their courage was boosted. They pointed at the old woman and shouted,¡±¡±Why are you crying?¡±

    The old woman used her worn-out sleeve to wipe the corners of her eyes. She lowered her head and sobbed.¡±He killed my son, so I cried.¡±

    In this chaotic era, it wasmon for people to die. But the farmers looked around and didn¡¯t see her dead child, so they asked,¡±¡±What do you mean by¡± kill upon seeing ¡°?¡±

    The old woman stroked the snake¡¯s corpse pitifully and replied,¡±¡±My son, the son of the White Emperor, turned into a snake and ruled the path. Today, he was killed by the red Emperor, so I cried.¡±

    What?

    The farmers were all dumbstruck. What nonsense was this old woman talking about? Her child was the son of the White Emperor and had turned into a huge snake blocking the way, but was killed by the son of the red Emperor?

    How could a human turn into a snake? what Red Emperor and white Emperor? are they deliberately bullying US farmers who have not seen the world?

    They were also people who bullied the weak and feared the strong. In the past, they were afraid of snakes and ghosts, but now that the snake was dead, there was only a crazy old woman left. What else did they have to be afraid of?

    They looked at each other. The old woman was acting suspiciously. If they didn¡¯t beat her up, she wouldn¡¯t tell the truth. Besides, they had been eating mountain rats and wild fruits for several days, and they always had diarrhea. Maybe the old woman had food at home. They could knock her to the ground and search for food. If they could bring food back, the vige constable would definitely praise them for their ability.

    The farmer who was in charge of scouting the path was eager to save his face, so he was filled with anger. Without saying a word, he picked up the hoe and hacked at the old woman¡¯s back. If this hitnded, she would be killed on the spot.

    In this day and age, human lives were like grass, so what if they killed people? it wasn¡¯t rare for them to even eat people.

    However, his determined attack missed. When he looked closely, the old woman¡¯s figure was nowhere to be seen.

    The others were also shocked, and they retreated with pale faces.

    Ghost! It was indeed a ghost!

    If he wasn¡¯t a ghost, how could he have disappeared into thin air?

    They didn¡¯t know who started it, but they threw down their hoes and ran away. They didn¡¯t even dare to look back, for fear that they would see the female ghost chasing after them.

    After they ran away, the old woman appeared again.

    She took off her tattered clothes and put them back in the wooden cab. She patted the grass dust off her hair and took out a wet tissue to wipe her face, arms, legs, and hands clean.

    The sailor suit of unknown material did not have a speck of dust on it. It was even cleaner than her face. After all, it was a nano material from the future.

    After she was done, she heaved a long sigh of relief.

    The sky in the East was gradually turning white, and it was not far from dawn.

    The morning breeze was exceptionally fresh and even a little sweet.

    At this time, the group of farmers had probably found the drunk man with the sword lying on the grass. They shook him awake and told him about it.

    The snake corpse on the ground suddenly underwent some strange changes. The original white scales gradually faded, and the snake corpse gradually became transparent, revealing the grass that had been crushed under the body.

    She was used to such strange scenes and was not surprised at all.

    After a while, the snake¡¯s corpse becamepletely transparent, and then ¡­ The crushed grass tenaciously straightened its back?

    The snake¡¯s corpse did not be transparent, but disappeared, including the bloodstains that stretched all the way here. The second half of the snake¡¯s corpse that was left on the path was the same,pletely wiping away the traces that it had once existed in this era.

    She didn¡¯t do it. She didn¡¯t do anything. It was the game that took away its body and everything. It deconstructed and reconstructed its body tissue, gave it life again, and brought it back to the modern world. It appeared as an elf to be captured, and had a fated encounter with the southeast Asian Li Shentai.

    ¡°Speaking of which, the Grand scribe once said,¡¯a schr¡¯s words may not have ghosts or gods, but there are things in his words.''¡±

    She mumbled, but there was no one around. Even the snake corpse had disappeared, and she didn¡¯t know who she was talking to.

    ¡°When old Mister si Maqian was writing this piece of history, he must have been very confused about how a living person like si Maqian could just disappear into thin air. As a historian, he didn¡¯t believe in ghosts and gods, but he had to objectively record all the strange things that had happened, so he still wrote it down ording to the rumors. ¡± She recalled the history books she had read.

    ¡°Although the historical records are not true history, old Mr. Sima Qian still took a responsible attitude and pointed out that Chen Sheng and Wu Guang¡¯s bonfire and Fox cry were fake. He deliberately ordered people to y tricks to pull the g and pull the Tiger¡¯s skin ¡­ He may have doubted the truth of the White Snake killing because it was more mysterious than the bonfire and Fox cry, but first, the farmers were right, and second ¡­¡± A meaningful smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.¡±Old Mr. Sima Qian is the historian of the Han Dynasty. How would I dare to suspect him ¡­ Even if I suspect him, I can¡¯t expose him. ¡±

    ¡°However, it doesn¡¯t matter if history is true or not. What¡¯s important is that people believe in the true history, and because of that belief, it produces power, right?¡±

    She gently patted thepels of her sailor suit, picked up the thing that looked like a mobile phone, and swiped the screen.

    One after another, life-like pet sprites appeared on the screen.

    ¡°Sigh, all the elves in the conference room have to be sent to the era and ce they should go to.¡± She sighed.¡±It¡¯s so troublesome. My bad father always puts all these troublesome things on me ¡­ But, thinking on the bright side, at least it¡¯s much better than staying at home and being forced to do homework by teacher Xiaodie. I can onlyfort myself like this.¡±

    ¡°The heart is ambitious, but the body of a butterfly is helpless. Isn¡¯t this a true portrait of teacher Xiaodie? ¡°Unfortunately, she¡¯s a butterfly and doesn¡¯t even have an ID card, so it¡¯s not convenient for her to show her face in public. Otherwise, with her level, she would probably be the greatest scientist after Einstein ¡­¡± She shook her head helplessly.¡±But no matter how much homework you give me, I can¡¯t be the second her ¡­¡±

    She only dared toin in a low voice when teacher Xiaodie was not around. Otherwise, if teacher Xiaodie heard her, she would probably be punished by doubling her homework ¡­

    ¡°Forget it. Where should I go next?¡±

    She swiped the screen and the elfin on the screen changed rapidly like a trotting horsemp. When it stopped, it was a macaw.

    ¡°The Phoenix cries at Qishan ¡­¡± She rubbed her stomach helplessly. It was time for breakfast. She really didn¡¯t want to go back to this wild and ancient era where the food was so bad. She had to bear with it and send the parrot there before going home for breakfast.

    At this time, a white and fat little bug crawled out from under the cor of the sailor suit. Its body was milky white like cheese, and it looked like a Caterpir, but without hair. It had two big and ck eyes on its head. It wriggled its body and looked around innocently, looking like the funny snacks in Japan, the sweet wriggling worm.

    Its eyes were absolutely ck, as if they could absorb all light, like bottomless ck holes.

    ¡°Buggy, let¡¯s go. Let¡¯s quickly finish our business and go home for dinner.¡± She urged as she brought her palm close to her cor.

    It seemed to understand her words and nodded. It wriggled its body and slowly climbed from her clothes to her palm. It stuck its head out of her palm and kept shaking, as if it was sniffing the air.

    As its head shook, a strange scene appeared.

    The clear air in front of her suddenly rippled, as if someone had touched the surface of the water.

    The ripples expanded rapidly, and a strange distortion appeared in the space, forming a translucent vortex.

    The vortex spun slowly with the little bug as the center. Standing in front of the vortex, one would feel as if everything around them was being sucked into the vortex, not even light could escape.

    From her point of view, the vortex reflected another starry sky. It looked no different from the current starry sky, but it was a starry sky from an even earlier era, waiting for her to bring the macaw there and fulfill its fate of a Phoenix singing in Qishan.

    She was already used to this kind of scene. She easily lifted her foot and took a step forward. The leg sank into the vortex and disappeared from the air, followed by her body and the other foot.

    She walked into the vortex just like that.

    When her bodypletely disappeared, the vortex also slowly calmed down and returned to the same air as the surroundings.

    The dpidated wooden house was quiet, as if nothing strange had happened. Only the shallow shoe prints on the ground proved that someone who did not belong to this era hade here, but unfortunately, no one would notice.

    Pet attributes:

    [General name]: mysterious worm

    [Rarity: Unknown]

    [Characteristics]: your name is known throughout the universe, who canpare to you in a thousand years!

    [Unlock history]:

    Wormholes, also known as Einstein¡¯s morosen bridge, were known for their shape, which was simr to the holes made by worms. They were multidimensional tunnels in the universe. This concept was proposed by the Austria physicist, Ludwig Fleming in 1916. In the paper ¡°particle problem in the general theory of rtivity¡± co-published by Albert Einstein and Nathan Rosen in 1935, it was pointed out that wormholes were the space-time binding solution of the general theory of rtivity.

    Wormholes were created by the rotation ofs and gravitational forces. They were like whirlpools in the sea, omnipresent and fleeting. If the whirlpools in the ocean were strong enough, they could even go from the surface of the ocean to the bottom of the ocean, as if they were connecting two different worlds.

    Einstein believed that wormholes could be used for instantaneous space transfer or time travel.

    Earth was the cradle of humans, but humans could not always live in the cradle because humans were already mature enough. The cradle was too narrow, and one day, it would be old and dpidated.

    Since ancient times, humans had longed to leave the surface of the earth to travel the starry sky, and countless people had paid the price of their lives for this.

    Humans yearned to find another habitable to meet with other space civilizations, and the conventional way of interster travel was greatly limited.

    As the greatest Master of Science in human history, Albert Einstein¡¯s thoughts and theories were far beyond the times. Even in the future, humans were still guided by the theory of rtivity. Ever since Einstein pointed out the infinite possibilities of wormholes, generations of humans had ced infinite reverie and hope on this wonderful space-time travel method.

    In the near future, due to the deterioration of the environment, the depletion of resources, and the explosion of poption, the earth would be upied by garbage, bing more and more unsuitable for human survival.

    Humans were so eager to escape from Earth. With the support of the nearly infinite power of faith from tens of billions of humans, this worm that should not have existed turned from a pure fantasy into an elf between heaven and earth.

    It could open up a space-time Tunnel that led to a higher dimension, bringing one across time and space, past and future!

    Seven days in the cave was equivalent to a thousand years in the real world.

    [Unlocked true name ]-Einstein¡¯s space worm!

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    PS: you should have more or less guessed it, right? After all, Einstein¡¯s name was frequently mentioned in the recent chapters, so don¡¯t think of him as a transmigrator or something. The people in this book were all ordinary people, and there were no people with superpowers. Although this was indeed a transmigration,paring a transmigrator to her was an insult to this elf.

 Chapter 1679

    Chapter 1679: Chapter 1679-storm

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    It was a very normal day. When it was almost noon, Zhang Zian was dealing with the customers in the store and also taking care of the aquarium. Even Lu Yiyun, who was usually only responsible for collecting money, had no time to draw today. Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Jiang Feifei were busy today and couldn¡¯te. The school had a weing task for them, so the store was very tight on manpower.

    The reason why the fourth-year students who were about to graduate were asked to wee the new students instead of the second and third-year students was probably because the fourth-year students were more free. They had nothing else to do other than graduation designs and internships.

    Speaking of which, it was the start of the new year again.

    No wonder there seemed to be a little more people with strange ents in the past two days. They should be parents from other ces who sent their children to Binhai University.

    These parents usually stayed in Binhai for a few days before going back. They had to see their children settle down with their own eyes before they could feel at ease. Then they would walk around Binhai city with their children, which always brought a lot of business to the shops and hotels near Binhai University. Unfortunately, such a good thing had never been rted to Zhang Zian. He had never heard of any parents buying pets for their children because they were afraid that their children would be lonely in college.

    The customers of the Pet Shop were mainly young girls, and the parents who were afraid of puppy love in high school had a 180-degree change in attitude when they were in college. If their daughter said that college was lonely and boring, the parents ¡®reaction would most likely be to urge her to find a boyfriend instead of buying a pet, especially when the daughter of an aunt had a pet and was toozy to find a boyfriend or something ¡­

    In a few days, these college freshmen who had been raised in their third year of high school would be so tanned that their mothers wouldn¡¯t be able to recognize them ¡­ Generally speaking, this was the case. asionally, when the weather was good, those children would be very happy after a few days of rain.

    This year¡¯s children might also be secretly praying for God¡¯s blessing.

    In terms of sr terms, it was already summer, but these two days were particrly hot and humid, and the humidity was high.

    Pet shops had always had more customers than customers. In this aspect, aquariums had to add the word ¡°more¡±. Retired people who had nothing to do often stayed in the aquarium for half a day to enjoy the air conditioning and also feast their eyes. Business owners couldn¡¯t drive them away. It was finally noon, and the old people went home for lunch. The aquarium had zero business in the morning, so Zhang Zian simply closed the aquarium early, and then ordered a takeaway each for Lu Yiyun.

    After the take-out was delivered, Lu Yiyun ate slowly while watching the drama. Zhang Zian ate quickly. If he watched the drama, he might have finished it before the opening song was finished. So, he held the lunch box and stood outside the door to eat the steamed buns. Didn¡¯t they say that eating while standing was good for digestion? At the same time ¡­ He could also see the long-legged beauties passing by, which would make his meal better.

    As he was eating, he suddenly heard the sound of running approaching.

    ¡°Brother store manager, good afternoon! Are you eating?¡±

    Little celery trotted over from the direction of Zhonghua Road primary school.

    She was wearing short-sleeved shirts and shorts, carrying a school bag, and her face was covered in sweat from running.

    ¡°Hey, little celery, good afternoon. What brings you here at this time?¡± Zhang Zian was puzzled.

    Little celery stopped and took a few breaths.¡±The school has suspended sses at thest minute ¡­ The teacher left us homework and asked us to go home to do it.¡±

    ¡°What? sses were suspended? Why?¡±

    Zhang Zian wondered if there was an ident at school. For example, bad people breaking in, or a fire.

    He looked around and didn¡¯t see any smokeing from the school, so it shouldn¡¯t be a fire.

    ¡°Phew ¡­¡± Little celery wiped her sweat.¡±The teacher said that a Typhoon ising. She told us to go home immediately after leaving school and not to run around. She also told us to wait until the evening to inform our parents in the WeChat group whether we will arrive at school tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Ah? A Typhoon?¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart sank.¡±That¡¯s not right. I saw the weather forecast this morning. The typhoon didn¡¯te this way.¡±

    In fact, since a few days ago, a tropical cyclone had been formed in the South China Sea and was moving northeast. This was the seventh strong Typhoon in the Western Pacific and the South China Sea this year.

    The trajectory of the typhoon was erratic and difficult to predict. Most of them had changed their course to the East and headed for Japan before they reached Binhai city. However, it was inevitable that there were typhoons that took unusual routes.

    Just like the first six typhoons this year, Zhang Zian had been paying close attention to this strong Typhoon No. 7. Every morning and night, when old time tea was watching the news, he would also watch the weather forecast.

    Last night, the weather forecast didn¡¯t look too good. It said that the possibility of a Typhoonnding in Binhai city couldn¡¯t be ruled out. However, this morning, the host gave the good news that the typhoon had changed direction, which made him and the other people in Binhai city who were paying attention to the direction of the typhoon feel relieved.

    After that, he was so busy the entire morning that he didn¡¯t pay attention to the weather forecast.

    Little celery was confused.¡±I don¡¯t know. Anyway, the teacher said that the whole school is on holiday. Look at ran ran.¡±

    She pointed behind her.

    Sure enough, therge group of primary school students was flooding out of the school in all directions. She had arrived first because she had run.

    Zhang Zian felt the seriousness of the matter.

    Little celery and the others were still in ss in the morning, which meant that the school also thought that the typhoon had changed direction this morning and wouldn¡¯t threaten Binhai city, so they let the students go to school as usual. But now, the whole school had suspended sses at thest minute. The typhoon must have made a new move.

    ¡°Little celery, you should go home now.¡± He urged,¡±the typhoon is very dangerous. Listen to the teacher and don¡¯t stay outside.¡±

    ¡°En!¡± Little celery nodded and waved.¡±Then I¡¯m leaving. Bye, brother store manager!¡±

    Zhang Zian had lost all his appetite. Just as he was about to turn around and go into the house, he thought of something and called out to her.

    ¡°Wait a minute, little celery. Are your parents home?¡±

    Little celery¡¯s expression seemed a little strange.¡±My mom is working.¡±

    ¡°Then, you ¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian wanted to ask her if her father was also working, but he suddenly remembered that she had never mentioned her father. That¡¯s right, he had known her for almost a year, but she always talked about her mother and never about her father.

    In fact, Zhang Zian had his suspicions before. Other children were like babies, and their parents often picked them up, but little celery went to and from school alone most of the time. asionally, she would go with Wang Yaning and other ssmates. He had never seen her parents pick her up.

    There could be many reasons for this. For example, double-working families were very busy, and the couple worked 996 days. In addition, her grandparents did not live in the city. This situation was not unheard of, but even so, she should not have never mentioned her father.

    The divorce rate in modern society was too high, especially for young couples. They were not as tolerant as the older generation, who often divorced because of a disagreement.

    It would make sense if she came from a single-parent family.

 Chapter 1680

    Chapter 1680: Chapter 1680-chaos

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Single-parent families, especially single mothers, were under great pressure to survive in modern society.

    China¡¯s situation was different from the United States in the United States, after a couple divorced, the man basically had an extra mother. The woman usually received a house and a child, and received monthly alimony, including double the alimony for the woman and the child. There might even be government subsidies and relief funds, so the situation was rtively better. In China, even if the property division was more fair, the woman could at most receive alimony for the child, and the amount might not be much. It was difficult to survive on this, so he had to go out and work.

    Every family had its own difficulties. It would be fine if the woman quickly found a new lover after the divorce, but if she was deeply hurt by her previous marriage and couldn¡¯t get over the shadow, or if she ced her child first and didn¡¯t n to get married again because she was worried that her stepfather would treat her child badly, she could only work and take care of her child. It was normal that she didn¡¯t have time to send her child to and from school.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know the specific situation of little celery¡¯s family. Maybe it was just as he had guessed, or maybe he hadpletely overthought it. The truth was that the couple worked in 996, and little celery didn¡¯t really like her father, so she didn¡¯t mention it.

    He didn¡¯t ask any further. What could he do even if he asked? What¡¯s the point of tearing open someone¡¯s wound and emotionlessly expressing sympathy for something you can¡¯t do?

    However, he could at least do some small things that were within his power.

    ¡°Then ¡­ Is there anyone in your house now?¡± he asked.

    Little celery shook her head.

    ¡°Will you be able to enter the house when you go back?¡± He asked again.

    She extended a finger and lowered her head in embarrassment.¡±¡±Yes, because I always lose my keys, my mom changed the lock to a fingerprint lock ¡­¡±

    In fact, she wasn¡¯t sloppy, but she was too lively. It was indeed easy to lose her keys when she was jumping around all day.

    ¡°I see ¡­¡±

    He thought to himself,¡±little celery doesn¡¯t have a cell phone, so I don¡¯t know if the school has called her mother to inform her. It¡¯s unlikely. At most, she [email protected] in the WeChat group. How could so many students call each and every one of them? besides, the teachers are in a hurry to go home, in case their children are in danger during the typhoon.¡±

    While they were talking, several primary school students ran excitedly from the door of the shop. They didn¡¯t know how dangerous a Typhoon was, but they knew that they had at least half a day off. Although the teacher had left them a lot of homework, they were still happy like birds out of their cages.

    ¡°Little celery, if there¡¯s no one at home, do you want to stay in my shop for a while? Wait for your mom to get off work before going back, or give her a call and wait for her to pick you up?¡± He suggested.

    Usually, it would be fine, but leaving a primary school student alone in a Typhoon could be dangerous. No one knew how strong the typhoon was this time. Besides, even if there was no danger, it would leave a psychological shadow.

    ¡°But ¡­ The teacher asked us to go home immediately after leaving school ¡­¡± Little celery was hesitant. Obviously, the teacher¡¯s words had a strong restraint on her.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. We¡¯ll analyze the situation in detail. Of course, we have to listen to the teacher, but we can¡¯t make the same conclusion.¡± He advised,¡±I asked you to go home quickly because I wanted you to stay at home with your parents. However, your parents are not at home now. This is not in line with the original intention of the school and the teachers.¡±

    At this moment, someone else approached.

    ¡°Master, have you heard? a Typhoon ising.¡±

    Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Jiang Feifei came back together. They had originally said that the school¡¯s weing work wouldst a day, but it seemed that it had ended early because of the typhoon.

    The three of them were like primary school students. They were not afraid at all when they heard that a Typhoon wasing. They were excited and nervous, especially Jiang Feifei. Her family was ind. She had only heard of typhoons before, but had never seen one with her own eyes.

    Not only primary school students and college students, but also middle school students and some office workers had begun to appear on the streets and rush home. All the vehicles were fully upied. Even the shared bicycles that could barely be ridden had been pushed out.

    Under normal circumstances, children, middle School, University students, and office workers all had staggered travel times. Now that they were all gathered together, in addition to the parents who came out to pick up their children because they were worried about their children, hundreds of thousands of people rushed to the streets at the same time. One could imagine the chaotic situation.

    Everyone was in a hurry to go home, and the traffic instantly became congested. The more anxious they were, the more congested it became. Illegal actions such as snatching the road and running red lights were frequent. Some people simply rode their bicycles or e-bicycles on the sidewalk because the road was blocked. From time to time, there were owners who stopped their vehicles and quarreled because their vehicles scratched each other. Small idents such as you hit me and I hit you one after another were even moremon. Sharp and harsh honking sounds came one after another, intensifying everyone¡¯s anger.

    All the traffic police were out on the streets to maintain order and direct the traffic, but it was like a drop in the bucket. The traffic in the entire Binhai city was almost paralyzed.

    It was still cloudy in the morning, and the air was so heavy that there was no wind at all. Now, the sky was silently covered with dark clouds, and from time to time, strong winds blew sand and dust from the South, blowing paper scraps and stic bags into the sky.

    ¡°Little celery, look at this. It¡¯s too dangerous for you to go home alone. You might be hit by a car if you¡¯re not careful. You¡¯d better stay in the shop.¡± Zhang Zian tried to persuade her again.

    Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Jiang Feifei also tried to persuade little celery when they heard that there was no one at home.

    Little celery was finally convinced. She nodded and agreed to stay.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were talking about the uing Typhoon and were about to walk into the store when Zhang Zian stopped them and said,¡±Both of you live in Binhai city, so you should go home as well. Otherwise, your family members will be worried.¡±

    The two of them didn¡¯t care and said that it didn¡¯t matter. They just had to call home. Moreover, the current traffic condition was really not suitable for going home.

    As for Lu Yiyun and Jiang Feifei, they both lived in other ces. They rented a house in themunity opposite the Pet Shop.

    Lu Yiyun came out of the store with Jasmine in her arms and asked nervously,¡±Mr. Store manager, is there a Typhoon?¡±

    ¡°Yes, are you and Fei Fei going back to the rental house or staying in the shop? Did you close the windows before you left this morning?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    They said that the windows were closed, but Zhang Zian considered that if the typhoon was strong, the window ss might not be able to hold up. If the ss broke, a lot of water would pour into the house. Their home appliances and digital products would all be finished if they were soaked in water.

    So, Zhang Zian asked Wang Qian and Li Kun to follow them back to the rental house, seal all the windows with tape, cut off the power switch, close the gas valve, and pack all the valuables up to a higher ce. He also brought important documents with him and came back after everything was done.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun followed the two girls and left the Pet Shop.

 Chapter 1681

    Chapter 1681: Chapter 1681-the wickedined first

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    After the staff left, old time tea came out of the shop. Because the wind was getting stronger and stronger, it had to hold the bamboo hat with its front paw to prevent it from being blown away. ¡°Zian,¡± it reminded,¡±all the local TV stations are broadcasting urgent news. They say that a Typhoon ising. Do you want to see it?¡±

    This was the most reliable news about the typhoon situation, so he couldn¡¯t miss it.

    Zhang Zian and little celery returned to the house and gathered in front of the TV with everyone else.

    The Elfins had basically never experienced a Typhoon before. In their impression, a Typhoon was nothing more than a bigger storm. They couldn¡¯t understand why Zhang Zian and the other humans were so nervous.

    Old time tea, on the other hand, had seen the power of a Typhoon on TV. It was definitely not something that could be fought against by human power. Even miezha, who they had met in the redwood forest, could cause extreme weather in a small area by praying, but the scale of the typhoon was thousands of timesrger. Not to mention praying to God, even if the gods came down to earth, they might not be able to stop it.

    The news host looked very nervous. First, the approaching Typhoon could cause serious damage to Binhai city. Second, her report would not only be broadcasted on local TV, but it might also be broadcast live on Central TV.

    The TV screen showed the scenes captured by the fishermen on the ocean and offshore fishing boats. On the sea, the waves were rolling, the wind was howling, and the storm was pouring. The 10000-ton ship was shaking up and down between the peaks and valleys like a toy.

    The video from the camera on the shore showed waves of tides constantly hitting the coastline, causing waves that were several stories high on the breakwaters of the dock. Almost all the trees in the storm forest by the seaside were blown bald. As the wind continued to increase, some of the fragile trees were likely to break.

    The host announced thetest news from the meteorological station. This year¡¯s Typhoon No. 7 had turned northeast fromst night to this morning. Just as everyone was relieved, it suddenly turned and elerated toward the Northwest, heading straight for Binhai city and its neighboring cities. It was still not sure where it wouldnd.

    The city government encouraged all citizens to stay in a safe room and not go out to prevent being injured by broken trees or fallen billboards. Homeless people could take refuge inrge public buildings nearby.

    The elves were shocked to see that this wasn¡¯t a special effect from a movie.

    ¡°This wind is even stronger than the hot wind in the devil¡¯s Sea!¡± Fina eximed.

    ¡°That¡¯s for sure. Basically, everything that can spin in nature is scarier.¡±

    ¡°Kaka! That¡¯s right! I also think that flushing toilets are scary. I¡¯m always worried that the toilet will suck me in!¡± Richard interrupted.

    ¡°Is this the reason why you always shit outside the toilet bowl? I¡¯ll beat you to death today!¡± Zhang Zian pretended to fight.

    Little celery looked at him enviously, as he could talk to a cat.

    At this moment, a duck-like voice suddenly came from the entrance of the shop,¡±¡±Woof! Cai Xiaoqin, if you don¡¯te home after school, I¡¯m going to tell the teacher!¡±

    Zhang Zian turned his head and saw that the brat standing at the door looked very familiar. He was also wearing short-sleeved shirts and shorts, carrying a school bag, and barefooted in sandals. However, children grew up quickly, so the short-sleeved shirt seemed a little small. It was tight on the body, squeezing out the meat around the waist, and the dirty belly button.

    ¡°Why are you here again?¡±

    Zhang Zian knew this Fat Boy. He was Xu Zhuangzhuang, who had suffered a big loss in the insect disaster. He hadn¡¯t seen him for a while, but he hadn¡¯t grown any taller, but his waist had be thicker.

    Xu Zhuangzhuang stood at the door of the store and stuck his head out. Seeing that there were many adult cats and dogs in the store, he didn¡¯t dare to go in. He clung to the door frame and looked like he was about to run away at any time. Ignoring Zhang Zian¡¯s question, he pointed at little celery and shouted,¡±¡±I¡¯m talking to you? Did you hear me?¡±

    Usually, Xu Zhuang Zhuang was often mischievous in school and the girls would report him to the teacher. Today, he had a rare opportunity to catch someone¡¯s weakness, so he was immediately fearless.

    Since thest time he was hurt by the caterpirs, he had been well-behaved for a short time. However, as the insect disaster was resolved, he had quickly forgotten the pain.

    Little celery was so embarrassed that her face turned red.¡±I ¡­ I was going home ¡­¡± She said.

    ¡°You¡¯re still being stubborn? You¡¯re the one who didn¡¯t listen to your teacher! I¡¯m going to tell the teacher. Just wait for the teacher to criticize you! We might even have to call your parents!¡± Xu Zhuangzhuang was unforgiving.

    Zhang Zian saw this situation and defended little celery,¡±¡±It¡¯s a special situation now. Little celery¡¯s family is at work, and there¡¯s no one home. Even if you tell the teacher, she will understand. I can also help her prove that I invited her to the store to avoid the typhoon. ¡±

    Xu Zhuang Zhuang pouted.¡±You? What¡¯s the use of your proof? I¡¯m going to tell the teacher!¡±

    Little celery was scared. She had always listened to her teacher, and the teacher had never criticized her. She didn¡¯t want to be criticized because of this.

    The reason why she was so troubled over such a small matter was that she didn¡¯t know how scary a Typhoon was.

    Zhang Zian retorted.¡±My words are definitely more effective in front of the teachers than yours. I guess you have no credibility in the eyes of the grade teachers, right?¡±

    Xu Zhuangzhuang snorted and didn¡¯t reply. He tried to act disdainful.

    ¡°Also, didn¡¯t the others leave already? why aren¡¯t you home yet?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Xu Zhuangzhuang¡¯s eyes turned and he said with a straight face,¡±¡±What ¡­ What does it have to do with you? Why do you care?¡±

    He took out a mobile phone from his pocket. It was an outdated model from two or three years ago and said proudly,¡±¡±See that? My dad called me and told me to find a ce to hide. He¡¯lle and pick me up immediately!¡±

    ¡°Oh, then you should go somewhere else to hide. My small shop is closing.¡± Zhang Zian asked him to leave.

    ¡°Woof! You think I care? Your shop is full of cat and dog fur, I don¡¯t want to touch it!¡± Xu Zhuangzhuang¡¯s mouth was pouted so much that a soy sauce bottle could hang on it. He really didn¡¯t walk into the shop, but squatted under the porch of the shop next door.

    Zhang Zian always felt that Xu Zhuangzhuang¡¯s attitude was a bit strange, but he couldn¡¯t tell what was strange.

    After a while, he saw Xu Zhuang Zhuang open his bag, take out his textbook, and start reading.

    The F * ck?

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. He quietly asked little celery,¡±how¡¯s Xu Zhuang Zhuang¡¯s academic performance now?¡±

    ¡°Last ce in the grade.¡± Little celery answered honestly.

    This was strange. How could a person who seized the time to study even when the typhoon wasing be at the bottom of the ss?

    Xu Zhuangzhuang¡¯s words were rude, but it was a Typhoon after all, and it was dangerous to stay outdoors. Zhang Zian was hesitating whether to let him in, when he heard someone shout,¡±¡±Zhuang Zhuang! Zhuang Zhuang!¡±

    Zhang Zian looked over and saw that it was Xu Zhuangzhuang¡¯s father.

 Chapter 1682

    Chapter 1682: Chapter 1682-ying tricks

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian had seen Xu Zhuangzhuang¡¯s father before. Although he was not familiar with him, he immediately remembered him when he saw him.

    He came riding an electric bicycle, and his hair was as messy as a bird¡¯s nest due to the wind. He tried his best to squint his eyes, but it was still hard to block out the sand and dust. He parked the bicycle on the other side of the road and called Xu zhuangxu over with his hands together.

    Xu Zhuang Zhuang pretended to be focused on reading and didn¡¯t hear his father¡¯s shout.

    ¡°Hey! Your father is here to pick you up, stop pretending!¡± Zhang Zian said from the side.

    Xu Zhuangzhuang red at him.

    Xu Zhuangzhuang¡¯s father saw that his son had no reaction, so he rode his electric bike carefully to avoid traffic and crossed the road toe here.

    ¡°Zhuang Zhuang! Zhuang Zhuang! I¡¯ming, hurry up and get in the car to go home!¡±

    Xu Zhuang Zhuang finally raised his head and happily stood up with his bag.¡±Dad! Why are you only here now! I¡¯ve been waiting for a long time!¡±

    His father looked at the textbook in his hand and smiled. He was obviously very satisfied with his son¡¯s attitude of learning hard.

    ¡°The road is tough and the traffic is bad. I came as fast as I could ¡­ Your mom kept rushing me, so I¡¯m really worried ¡­ Okay, let¡¯s get in the car and go home.¡± His father patted the back seat.

    Xu Zhuang Zhuang didn¡¯t seem to be in a hurry. He walked slowly, and as he walked, he looked around sneakily, as if waiting for something.

    Zhang Zian noticed that after he opened the bag, he didn¡¯t close the cover of the bag and left it open.

    Could it be ¡­

    He turned around and called famous over.

    Famous didn¡¯t know what he was going to do, so it walked to the door of the shop in confusion.

    Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew over. It was even stronger than the wind from before.

    Xu Zhuang Zhuang¡¯s eyes lit up, and his pupils burst with excitement. He pretended to cover his eyes, raised the hand carrying the bag to face the strong wind, and then pretended that the wind was too strong that it had slipped from his hand.

    Whoosh!

    His school bag was rolling on the ground, and all kinds of exercise books flew out of it. It looked like they were about to be blown away by the wind.

    ¡°Argh! My homework!¡± Xu Zhuang Zhuang pretended to cry out in pain, but the corners of his mouth were full of joy.

    Because school was dismissed half a day earlier, and in order to prevent students from staying outdoors and not going home, the teachers left a lot of homework, which caused the students toin all over. When other primary school students passed by the store, Zhang Zian had already heard themin.

    He didn¡¯t expect that Xu Zhuang Zhuang would actually think of the typhoon. He pretended to make use of every opportunity to review his homework, but his real purpose was to let the wind blow away all his homework, and in front of his father. This way, he had a legitimate reason to y crazily for an afternoon and a night. If he still couldn¡¯t go to school tomorrow or the day after, he might be able to y to his heart¡¯s content for a few days.

    You could say that he was smart, but his grades were at the bottom ¡­ You could say that he was stupid, but this stupid idea was not something that an ordinary primary school student coulde up with.

    His father threw the electric bike down and waved his arms anxiously to grab the exercise book, but the wind was too strong, and in the blink of an eye, the exercise book was blown high up.

    At this moment, a ck and yellow figure nimbly leaped over his head and urately caught the exercise books in between them as they were blown over the roof.

    His father took a closer look and saw that it was a German Shepherd that had rushed out of the Pet Shop.

    Famous didn¡¯t bite too hard to avoid biting through the exercise book.

    ¡°Kaka! I¡¯ll help too!¡±

    Richard pped its wings and flew higher, trying to resist the wind and hold the exercise book in its mouth. It was not usually so active.

    Zhang Zian took the exercise book and homework from their mouths, and picked up Xu Zhuang Zhuang¡¯s bag. He smiled and said,¡±¡±I was almost blown away.¡±

    ¡°Aiya! Thank you so much! Thank you so much!¡± Xu Zhuangzhuang¡¯s father was very happy and pped Xu Zhuangzhuang¡¯s head.¡±Why are you still in a daze, kid? hurry up and thank him! Without her, you won¡¯t be able to do your homework!¡±

    Xu Zhuangzhuang¡¯s face turned green, and he stared at famous as if he had killed his father.

    ¡°Little celery, help me get a rubber band from the shop. The wind is too strong. Let¡¯s help Xu Zhuang Zhuang tie his bag tightly so that his homework won¡¯t fly away again.¡± Zhang Zian greeted her with a smile.

    Little celery quickly got some tape and helped Zhang Zian wrap Xu Zhuang Zhuang¡¯s bag around it.

    ¡°The wind is too strong. Why don¡¯t you help him hold it?¡± Zhang Zian solemnly handed the bag to Xu Zhuang Zhuang¡¯s father.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll carry it. This brat can¡¯t even carry his bag. He¡¯s wasted all his weight!¡± His father stuffed his school bag into the front basket of the electric bike and even closed the cover.

    ¡°Goodbye, Xu Zhuang Zhuang. Come again next time if you have the chance. You should lose weight.¡± Zhang Zian smiled and waved goodbye.

    ¡°Little brat, say goodbye to your uncle!¡±

    His father dragged Xu Zhuang Zhuang, who was on the verge of tears, to the back seat.

    Until the electric car went away, Zhang Zian could still hear Xu Zhuangzhuangining about the problem of the exercise book being stained with dog saliva and bird poop, but his father would neverpromise on the problem of doing homework.

    Brother store manager, did he throw his homework away on purpose?¡± Little celery was simple but not stupid. She could guess what was going on from Zhang Zian¡¯s attitude and practice.

    ¡°Definitely. This kid is really working hard just to not do his homework.¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Little celery nodded and didn¡¯t say anything. She didn¡¯t n toin to the teacher, but when she saw someonee to take Xu Zhuang Zhuang home, she couldn¡¯t help but show some envy in her eyes.

    The wind grew stronger, Thunder rumbled, and rain began to fall.

    At this time, the staff also came back from the rental house in the oppositemunity. They didn¡¯t have umbres because they were all wet because there was no point in holding umbres in such a strong wind.

    They taped up the windows of Lu Yiyun and Jiang Feifei¡¯s rental house, moved all the electrical appliances that could be moved to the bed and table, and wrapped the small digital products in stic bags. They also put important things such as documents and bank cards into sealed waterproof bags and carried them with them.

    It was just past noon, but the sky was getting darker and darker, almost like evening.

    The wind continued to grow stronger, and the world was filled with ghostly wails and howls. Those who were slightly further away could not even hear clearly what was being said. All they could hear was the howling of the wind and the pitter-patter of the raindrops.

    The number of pedestrians and vehicles on the road had been greatly reduced, and those who had not had time to go home all hid nearby. It was too dangerous to stay outdoors in this weather, and the sound of ss being blown to the ground and broken bones could be heard frequently.

    Zhang Zian asked the staff to pull down the curtain Door on the first floor and glue the ss door together with tape. He went up to the second floor and put down all the blinds that welder Zhao and electrician Wu had made.

    ¡°Squeak?¡±

    The power of nature made Pi nervous and restless. Seeing Zhang Zian go upstairs, it quickly gestured to him to ask about the situation.

    Just as Zhang Zian was about to tell it not to sit by the window to prevent the ss from being blown to pieces and hurting it, he heard a thunderp from above his head. It was so loud that his ears buzzed and echoed. Then his vision went ck, and he could not see anything.

    There was a power outage.

 Chapter 1683

    Chapter 1683: Power cut

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    In Zhang Zian¡¯s childhood memories, this Street often had power outages. Because it was an old residential area, the power capacity of the wires was too poor. During peak periods, the power would trip, especially in the summer.

    The summer was hot and humid. Even if people didn¡¯t have much money at that time, they still had to turn on the air conditioner when they needed to. They had to boil water to take a bath every day, sometimes more than once a day. In addition, other household appliances often turned off at night when he was focused on watching cartoons. Once there was a power outage, the entire Street would be cut off. The time of the call was uncertain, depending on whether the electrician on the street was free.

    Every time there was a power outage, the children who were immersed in the world of animation were disappointed beyond words. If they happened to encounter the climax of the animation, it was even more depressing than failing an exam ¡­

    Later on, with the development of the old city reconstruction work, the power outages gradually decreased. Later on, there were almost no power outages. Children who were born in recent years did not know what power outages were.

    If Xu Zhuang Zhuang was born at that time, he wouldn¡¯t have to do his homework just because there was a power outage. He would have to do his homework even if he had to light candles.

    Normally, a power outage was not a big deal, at least it would not bepletely dark. But at this time, Zhang Zian had just closed all the windows and blinds, and even pulled the curtains. The sudden darkness was very ufortable for his eyes.

    Fortunately, theptop automatically switched to the built-in battery, and the screen became a small light source. It was better than nothing.

    Sihwa¡¯s scream came from the bathroom.¡±¡±Who turned off the lights?¡±

    ¡°Squeak?¡±

    Pi found that the inte was cut off, and theputer couldn¡¯t get online.

    Although theptop had a battery, the router didn ¡®t. Even if thework cable was unplugged and plugged directly into theputer¡¯swork port, it would be useless because the router set up by the telpany outside was probably out of power.

    Zhang Zian shared the hotspot on his phone with theptop, and then asked Pi to save what it should save, because the battery of this oldptop couldn¡¯tst long.

    He felt around in the dark and walked into the bathroom. He saw that Sihwa¡¯s phone was also lit up.

    Most of her body was out of the water, and she was leaning against the edge of the bathtub against the wall. Her face and phone were pressed against the very small window of the bathroom, and she was filming the situation outside.

    ¡°Why did you turn off the lights? You even want to save on such a small electricity bill?¡± She turned around and said angrily,¡±I was just about to broadcast the typhoon live to my fans!¡±

    ¡°Live broadcast my ass, there¡¯s a power outage.¡±

    Zhang Zian exined briefly and closed the blinds of the bathroom. The whole bathroom was almost dark, and only her phone screen was still lit.

    ¡°Ha? When is the calling? It must be because you live in such a shabby house that the power went out!¡± She called out anxiously.

    Zhang Zian suspected that this guy had already suffered from cell phone dependence like many other people. It was fine if he didn¡¯t eat for a day, but his life would be dark if he didn¡¯t y with his cell phone for a day ¡­

    ¡°It¡¯s hard to say when the call wille. At least, the possibility of iting today is not high. It might be two or three days.¡± He said. Due to the interference of the wind, rain, and Thunder, theizens in the live broadcast room could hardly hear his voice.

    ¡°Two or three days?¡± She scratched her head in despair.¡±I¡¯m going to die! Also, why did you close the window? I¡¯m going to broadcast the typhoon Live!¡±

    Zhang Zian found a candle from the bathroom cab, lit it with a lighter, and put one on the edge of the bathtub. The dim yellow light illuminated the bathroom.

    ¡°The atmosphere isn¡¯t bad. I¡¯ll livestream ghost stories. It might be popr.¡± He said.

    After leaving the bathroom, Zian also put a candle on the desk to help Pi light up, and closed all the windows and blinds in the other bedrooms and storage rooms.

    The raindrops fell on the roof, and the sound came down from the ceiling. The drainage holes in the eaves were like a tap, draining water out. He checked the ceiling of the second floor with his phone. There were no signs of water leakage. He hoped that welder Zhao¡¯s roof waterproof could withstand the typhoon.

    He went downstairs and saw that the staff had already closed all the doors and windows, and sealed the door with tape and stic bags. With such heavy rain, the city¡¯s drainage system might not be able to discharge the umted water in time to prevent the umted water from the streets from pouring into the store.

    The most troublesome part about the power outage was the cooling system in the aquarium. He had a small generator that he used when he helped little white, which could maintain the water cirction and supply system in the aquarium. Otherwise, it would not take long for the Marine creatures to turn over. He also used a cold cab to freeze ice to prevent power outages caused by typhoons, so he could still hold on for the time being.

    Since everyone was on the first floor, he lit a few candles on the first floor and tried his best to light up the first floor.

    Little celery couldn¡¯t help, and everyone was afraid that she would get hurt, so they didn¡¯t ask her to help. She sat obediently next to the cashier. When she saw the light, she opened her bag and took out her homework.

    She wasn¡¯t like Xu Zhuang Zhuang, who nned to let her homework go on its own. Instead, she nned to start doing her homework. After all, the teacher had left too much homework, and if she didn¡¯t hurry up, she might not be able to finish it.

    ¡°Little celery, don¡¯t write anymore. It¡¯s too dark. It¡¯ll hurt your eyes.¡± Wang Qian kindly reminded him,¡±it¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t do your homework once or twice. It¡¯s not worth wearing sses in the future for this.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s not dark. ¡± Little celery waved her hand and insisted on doing her homework.

    At this moment, the first floor suddenly became much brighter. Although it was not as bright as usual, at least it was not too dark.

    Zhang Zian walked over with the only emergency light in the shop and put it on the cashier¡¯s desk.¡±I¡¯ll leave this light here. You can write if you want.¡±

    ¡°Waa! Thank you, Mr. Manager!¡± Little celery pped her hands in surprise.

    She spread out her homework and, with the help of the light, began to write it stroke by stroke.

    Although the windows and doors were closed, it was impossible topletely iste the house from the outside. There was a strong wind outside, but a light wind inside. The shutter doors and blinds were constantly ttering. The whole house was like a rusty machine.

    Sometimes, the curtain Door seemed to be hit by something in the wind. It could be a branch or some other debris, making a loud noise that shocked everyone in the room.

    Through the ss door, they saw that the rolled-up Curtain Door had a few dents in it. Without the protection of the rolled-up Curtain Door, the ss door might have been broken.

    ¡°Master, do you have Mahjong here? Since I¡¯m bored, why don¡¯t we y a few games?¡± Li Kun suggested.

    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea,¡±Wang Qian agreed.¡±Don¡¯t they say that the sound of the wind, rain, and Mahjong is pleasing to the ear? It¡¯s just right for the asion!¡±

    Zhang Zian red at them, then used his eyes to signal to little celery. He was trying to say,¡±she¡¯s doing her homework here, and you¡¯re ying mahjong nearby. Is this appropriate?¡±

    Little celery generously said that it didn¡¯t matter.

    The two of them pondered for a moment. It seemed like they really shouldn¡¯t do such a thing that would harm others and benefit themselves. Should they go to the aquarium next door to y mahjong?

    Zhang Zian nced around the store and seemed to find something missing.

 Chapter 1684

    Chapter 1684: Chapter 1684-call

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    The area of the Pet Shop was not too small. The first floor had aplicated environment with shelves and disy cabs. Every inch of space was used as much as possible. This was not a disadvantage during normal times, but after the power outage, the ces where the candles and emergency lights could not shine on were very dark. There were shadows everywhere, and the line of sight was not good.

    The Thunder, the rain, and the wind were too noisy, and the elves couldn¡¯t sleep even if they wanted to. They yawned in boredom.

    The kittens and puppies were very sensitive to the sound of thunder, and they would often be frightened by the sound of thunder.

    Zhang Zian took the shlight and walked around the first floor carefully, then went up to the second floor to look for it. The suspicion in his heart was confirmed. The other Elfins were all there, but only dimir was missing.

    dimir¡¯s wounds had basically healed, and there was no need for bandages anymore. However, its body had not returned to its previous lively state, so Zhang Zian asked it to shorten the time it spent outside as much as possible and wait until it had recovered. After all, its body was the capital of that thing.

    In the morning, the staff was not there, and he was busy dealing with the customers. He remembered seeing dimir in the shop in the morning. Later, because of the sudden arrival of the typhoon and the little episode with Xu Zhuang Zhuang, he had no time to care about it. But if it left from the door on the first floor, he should have seen it.

    Pi, have you seen dimir?¡± Zian asked Pi, who had been waiting on the second floor.

    ¡°Squeak squeak.¡±

    Pi nodded, pointed to the window, and made a gesture. It meant that it had seen Pi jump out of the window, just when the news of the typhoon suddenly came.

    Zhang Zian understood that dimir might have helped the stray cats take refuge. It couldn¡¯t bear to leave itself in a safe ce and let the stray cats live and die on their own. This was indeed its style.

    At this point, he had no other choice. It was unrealistic to go out and look for it in such bad weather. The storm had erased all smells and footprints, so there was no way to track it. He believed that dimir could take care of itself. The Meow-Meow doctrine believer who dared to fight was not afraid of the storm.

    Not only dimir and the stray cats, but little white and the stray dogs must also be trying to survive the typhoon at this time. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t help them and could only hope that they were lucky.

    He returned to the first floor again. Wang Qian and Li Kun were still nning to y mahjong, while Lu Yiyun and Jiang Feifei were ying on their mobile phones.

    The inte speed on his cell phone was terrible. He would definitely be scolded by his teammates when he yed games, and he would be disconnected. He could barely get online, but he might not be able to get online after a while.

    ¡°Master, how about Mahjong? Don¡¯t you have Mahjong at home? I¡¯m so bored that I can¡¯t even y games, so let¡¯s y mahjong together!¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun said in embarrassment.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t in the mood for that.¡±You guys go ahead. I still have things to do.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll pass, I don¡¯t know how to y. ¡± Lu Yiyun waved her hand.

    Jiang Feifei didn¡¯t refuse, but the three of them couldn¡¯t y, and they didn¡¯t even have Mahjong.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun kept pestering him.¡±What do you want in this damn weather?¡± Can you help us find some mahjong tiles first?¡±

    Pi didn¡¯t need to use his phone as a hotspot to surf the inte anymore. When he came down from the second floor, he took his phone down and waved at them to shut up. He said to little celery,¡±¡±Little celery, what is your mother¡¯s phone number? Do you remember?¡±

    Little celery nodded. Although she didn¡¯t have a cell phone, her mother had asked her to memorize her cell phone number in case she needed to call.

    ¡°Give your mother a call and tell her you¡¯re here.¡± Zhang Zian opened the dial page.¡±I¡¯ll help you.¡±

    Little celery gave him her phone number. After he dialed the number, he raised the phone to her face.

    Toot du du du

    The other party¡¯s phone rang a few times before it was connected.

    ¡°Hello? Who are you looking for?¡±

    An unfamiliar female voice said while panting. Her voice sounded anxious and impolite. Probably because the number was unfamiliar, she thought she had called the wrong number.

    The environment on the other end of the phone was very noisy. It was obviously outdoors, and the rumbling Thunder could be heard even on the other end of the phone.

    Zhang Zian guessed that after she heard the phone ring, she had found a ce to take shelter from the rain before answering the phone, in case the phone lost its function due to water. Perhaps she had hesitated about whether to answer this strange call.

    ¡°Mother!¡± ¡°I ¡­¡± Little celery said loudly.

    As soon as he started, he heard the other side almost screaming,¡±¡±Little celery! Where did you go? I¡¯m dying of anxiety!¡±

    Little celery was so scared by her mother¡¯s tone that she couldn¡¯t say anything. The more she couldn¡¯t say anything, the more anxious her mother became.

    ¡°Say something! Where are you?¡±

    ¡°Hello?¡± Zhang Zian put the phone to his ear,¡±Hello, are you Xiao ¡­ Cai Xiaoqin¡¯s mother?¡± Your daughter is hiding from the typhoon at my ce. Don¡¯t worry, she¡¯s fine and not hurt at all. If it¡¯s convenient for you, you cane and pick her up. But if the weather is too bad, you ¡­¡±

    Without waiting for him to finish, the other party interrupted,¡±¡±I¡¯ll be right there. Where are you?¡±

    Zhang Zian told her his address and said,¡±¡±Don¡¯t force yourself. Cai Xiaoqin is very safe here. I suggest you wait for the storm to pass beforeing back. It¡¯s too dangerous to be outdoors now. If you get hurt ¡­¡±

    Little celery also said loudly in worry,¡±¡±Mother! I¡¯m fine, there are a few brothers and sisters with me here, you don¡¯t have to rush over ¡­¡±

    ¡°No need to say anything, I¡¯ll be there immediately! Little celery, don¡¯t go anywhere, just wait there!¡± The other party hung up the phone.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my mom is not like this ¡­¡± Little celery apologized pitifully.

    ¡°I know, it¡¯s okay.¡±

    The other party¡¯s tone was rough and irritable, but Zhang Zian couldpletely understand the other party¡¯s mood. It was a pity for parents in the world. Their young daughter was taking refuge in a strange ce with a few strangers in such bad weather. Which mother would not be anxious? The more anxious she was, the more she cared about little celery¡¯s safety.

    He advised her not toe over for the time being out of good intentions, because it was too dangerous to move outdoors in such weather. Little celery might be safe and sound while she got hurt, which would not be worth it.

    She refused his kindness and chose the former between her daughter¡¯s safety and her own. She would not feel at ease until she saw little celery¡¯s situation with her own eyes.

    Maybe it would be better to call her after the storm had subsided, which could ensure the safety of both parties, but she might go crazy by then. After weighing the pros and cons, Zhang Zian decided to call her now and let her make the choice.

    She was so anxious to see little celery that she didn¡¯t give him enough time to exin. Even if he called her again, she probably wouldn¡¯t pick up, and it was dangerous to pick up the phone in a thunderstorm.

    He had no choice but to wait.

 Chapter 1685

    Chapter 1685: The flood at Coast City

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    The more colorful his life was, the more boring his life would be when there was a power outage for a long time. Although their mobile phones could still ess the inte, the signal was very weak, and they were often cut off from browsing the web. It might be that the nearest telmunication base station had been hit with water, causing arge area of residents to only use the base station that was farther away to ess the inte. There were too many roads, and there was no way to go about it.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were still thinking about ying mahjong. It was not that Zhang Zian was deliberately making things difficult for them, but there was really no Mahjong at home. In the past, the old couple had been busy from morning to night and had no time to y mahjong.

    Richard was also very interested in the quintessence of Chinese culture, Mahjong, and mored to y together.

    He didn¡¯t want them to be too noisy and disturb little celery¡¯s homework, so he gave them a few candles and drove them to the aquarium next door. Someone had to keep an eye on them.

    The water creatures were very delicate. After the air conditioner was turned off, the temperature of each aquarium had to be monitored every half an hour, especially those rare and cold-loving creatures. They had to rely on adding ice to maintain the temperature, but adding too much ice would lead to a decrease in the salinity of the sea water in the tank. Therefore, when adding ice, sea salt should be added in proportion, not without thinking.

    Fortunately, after he bought the house next door, he found an opportunity to open a side door on the first floor of the two houses from the inside. Otherwise, it would be troublesome.

    The sound of the storm continued to increase, and turbid water began to pour in through the gaps of the curtain Door, which proved that the water outside was higher than the sidewalk, the foundation of the shop, and the steps. The water depth was probably 20 to 30 centimeters.

    The Street¡¯s sewers were probably blocked by fallen leaves and debris. The umted water couldn¡¯t be discharged, and the water level would definitely rise further.

    The staff had already taped the lower edge and gaps of the ss door, but they couldn¡¯tpletely seal it. As the water pressure increased, the water leakage became more and more serious.

    The two girls put down their phones, put on gloves, and put the rags and towels at the door to absorb water. When one batch of rags and towels were all soaked, they would rece them with another batch and take turns to wring the wet towels in the pet bathroom. This cycle was repeated to prevent the sewage from spreading into the store.

    ¡°Manager!¡± Jiang Feifei shouted from the bathroom.

    Zhang Zian went over to take a look. It turned out that the sewer of the bathroom had also begun to gurgle with sewage, indicating that the underground drainage system of this Street had been paralyzed.

    They could only wrap a cloth in a stic bag and stuff it into the drain to prevent the sewage from flowing back.

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment, then took two stic buckets and asked the two girls to wring the dirty water into the buckets. When one bucket was full, he took it to the storage room on the second floor, found a raincoat to put on, and then opened the window of the storage room to pour the dirty water out.

    As soon as the window was opened, the strong wind blew raindrops the size of beans into his face, and the rain got into his raincoat through the cor.

    The world was in chaos, and the streets had be a River. asionally, one or two cars would split the water and pass by, looking like boats. Rows of trees swayed left and right, and the flower pots on the balcony of the old residential buildings were blown off by the wind and smashed to the ground.

    The wind and rain were so strong that it was almost impossible to open one¡¯s eyes. It seemed that he would have to wear a pair of goggles the next time he opened the window to pour water.

    He poured the dirty water out of the bucket, and it took a lot of effort to even close the window.

    Would little celery¡¯s mother be able to get through such a terrible situation outside?

    Everyone was busy, and it was windy and rainy outside. Little celery was not doing her homework at ease, and she was also worried about her mother¡¯s safety.

    The staff, who didn¡¯t care about the typhoon at first, slowly felt the power of the typhoon. They were trapped in a room and couldn¡¯t get out. There was water constantly surging into the room. No one knew how high the water level would rise, and no one knew if it would have a big impact on the Pet Shop and Aquarium¡¯s operations.

    This was only the edge of the typhoon. If it was the center of the typhoon, it would not be strange for some old houses to copse.

    While Zhang Zian and the staff were working hard, the Elfins with sensitive hearing turned their faces in the direction of the ss door.

    ¡°There¡¯s someone outside,¡± famous reminded.¡±Someone¡¯s smashing the door.¡±

    The sound of the wind, rain, and Thunder was too loud. Zhang Zian and the others didn¡¯t hear anything. Even if they heard a little, they would think that the wind had blown branches and other things to the door.

    ¡°Mother!¡± Little celery threw down her pen, ran to the ss door, and screamed while hitting the ss door.

    The staff asked Zhang Zian if they should open the door and let her mother in.

    Zhang Zian waved his hand.¡±Little celery, don¡¯t shout anymore. You can¡¯t hear from outside. It¡¯s no use shouting until you¡¯re hoarse.¡± We can¡¯t open the door. Once we do, all the water wille in. And we don¡¯t need to open the door. You guys wait here. ¡±

    He returned to the second floor and entered the storage room again. He put on his raincoat, opened the window, and stuck his head out.

    The storage room had a long and narrowyout, and the windows were narrow. It was useless for many people toe in, and it would be a hindrance instead.

    At the door of the shop, a woman in her thirties, but not yet forty, was desperately hitting the curtain Door and shouting little celery¡¯s name. She wasn¡¯t wearing a raincoat, and her whole body was soaked. Her hair was disheveled, and she was barefooted.

    ¡°Woof! Above! Here!¡± Zhang Zian shouted.

    She was worried that she hade to the wrong ce after knocking on the door to no avail. Just as she was about to find a ce to take shelter from the rain and take out her phone to make a call, she heard his voiceing from above.

    She raised her head and saw Zhang Zian. She pointed at the curtain Door and shouted,¡±¡±Open the door!¡±

    Zhang Zian waved his hand and pointed to the Wuling Hong Guang MPV parked under the window.¡±The door is sealed!¡± Climb onto the roof, I¡¯ll pull you in from the second-floor window!¡±

    dimir often took this route, jumping on the roof of the car, then jumping on the window sill on the second floor to enter the house.

    She was stunned, but there was obviously no time to exin in this situation, nor did she have time to ask additional questions. She walked to the Wuling Hong Guang MPV and tried to climb to the roof.

    ¡°Use this!¡±

    Zhang Zian threw a folding chair down for her from the window and let her climb up the engine cover and then the roof of the car.

    The muddy water had already covered the sidewalk, washing over the houses and debris on both sides of the street like a small river. The trash cans were washed down, and all kinds of debris were floating around. However, the four-legged folding chair with small legs and a strong mechanical structure could stand steadily in the muddy water and would not be washed down easily.

    Since she was barefooted, she unfolded the chair and stepped on the seat. This way, it would be easier for her to climb to the roof of the car.

    After she climbed onto the roof of the car, her thin body was swaying in the wind.

    ¡°Give me your hand!¡±

    Zhang Zian stretched out his body and held her hand, but their hands were covered in rain and too slippery. He couldn¡¯t hold them at all.

    He asked her to wait, took out a pair of rubber gloves from the house, and threw another pair at her to put on. There was enough friction now, so he pulled her to the window sill in one go.

    She cooperated by clinging to the window sill firmly and desperately lifted her legs into the window. Finally, she got in.

 Chapter 1686

    Chapter 1686: Single mother

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    She was anxious and exhausted. After entering the room, she copsed on the ground, gasping for breath. Her face was pale and bloodless.

    Zhang Zian quickly closed the window again, then brought her a towel, a set of Winter Pajamas, and a pair of slippers. He left the storage room and let her dry her hair and body. Then he changed into the pajamas, otherwise she might catch a cold. He didn¡¯t have any other clothes suitable for her.

    After a while, she opened the door and came out. She changed into her pajamas and slippers. She seemed to have stuffed the wet clothes into her bag and handed him a wet towel.¡±Thank you. Where¡¯s my daughter?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Your daughter is on the first floor. Watch your step and don¡¯t miss it.¡±

    Zhang Zian could understand how anxious she was to see her daughter, so he pointed to the stairs.

    She thanked him again and hurried to the first floor, with Zhang Zian slowly following behind.

    ¡°Little celery!¡±

    ¡°Mother!¡±

    Little celery was already very anxious. When she suddenly heard her mother¡¯s voiceing from behind, she was shocked. She turned around and saw that it was really her mother. She immediately ran into her mother¡¯s arms.

    Little celery had been worried about her mother¡¯s safety. Now that she finally saw her mother, she was relieved and very happy. She was so happy that she even cried.

    Her mother was also very excited. She hugged her small body while sobbing. Only a mother could understand her mother¡¯s feelings at this time.

    Lu Yiyun looked at the touching scene of the mother and daughter meeting and couldn¡¯t help but think of her own mother. Although she had fallen out with her family because she dropped out of college, blood was still thicker than water. She often thought of her family in the middle of the night and then silently shed tears ¡­ But she had long made up her mind. Since her family looked down on her and opposed her painting as a career, she must make a name for herself before going back. Otherwise, she would not be able to repair their rtionship and would definitely fall out again.

    The second floor was very dark, while the first floor was brighter. Zhang Zian and the staff looked at little celery¡¯s mother with the light.

    She must be over 30 years old, but it was hard to say how old she was. She looked a little Haggard. After all, it was hard being a single mother. She had to take care of her work, life, and children. Fortunately, little celery was a good child. If she was a naughty child like Xu Zhuang Zhuang ¡­ She would probably have a lot of negative energy every day.

    The shape of her face was simr to little celery ¡®s. She was of medium height and a medium-thin figure. She had been wearing a business suit, and the makeup on her face had been washed away by the rain. Her arms, legs, feet, and hands had several scratches and scratches. It was not hard to imagine how dangerous the journey had been.

    She held little celery for a while, then pushed her away a little, and looked her daughter up and down.

    ¡°Little celery, are you okay?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Mom, you¡¯re hurt ¡­¡± Little celery took her hand.

    Lu Yiyun found a first aid kit and took out some iodophor for her to disinfect.

    She wasn¡¯t in a hurry to disinfect the wound. First, she looked at the Pet Shop and the others with a hint of vignce.

    ¡± My name is Zhang Zian. I¡¯m the manager of this pet shop. ¡±

    Zhang Zian and the staff introduced themselves one after another, because this way they were notpletely strangers, and could more or less lower her guard.

    ¡°My name is Cai meiwen.¡± She also introduced herself.

    Zhang Zian and the staff were moved. She and little celery had the samest name, which probably meant that she had changed little celery¡¯sst name. Because ¡± Cai ¡± was not amonst name, the possibility that little celery¡¯s father also had thest name ¡± Cai ¡± was very low ¡­ Of course, it was also possible that she had two children, one with the father¡¯sst name and the other with the mother¡¯sst name. Wasn¡¯t this popr now? in short, there was no need to ask too much about other people¡¯s family affairs. Every family had its own difficulties. He was not at the age where he was free enough to ask about other people¡¯s gossip all day.

    From their faces, Cai meiwen didn¡¯t think they were bad people. There were also two young girls here, and the other two shop assistants were very lively and cheerful.

    She saw that there were many cats and dogs in the shop, both young and adult, especially three big adult dogs. They looked scary and were not tied up, so she subconsciously pushed little celery behind her.

    ¡°Manager, aren¡¯t you going to tie up your dog?¡± She pointed at famous, Fati, and Zhan Tian.

    ¡°Mother! They¡¯re very well-behaved and never bite!¡± Little celery exined.

    ¡°Never bite?¡± Cai meiwen had a suspicious look on her face.¡±They say our dogs never bite. What if they really do?¡±

    Her worries were not unreasonable. Many dog owners swore that their dogs would not bite. Except for a few breeds of dogs such as Golden Retrievers, Labradors, and Huskies, it was hard to say for sure whether other breeds of dogs would bite. They might not usually bite, but it was hard to say if they were provoked or frightened.

    There was no point in saying more. Zhang Zian gave famous and the others a look, and they understood and left the first floor with Zhan Tian to the second floor.

    Cai meiwen was stunned. These three big dogs had been tamed beyond her imagination. They didn¡¯t even need to say amand and went upstairs by themselves as if they understood human nature.

    She believed most of little celery¡¯s im that they didn¡¯t bite. She felt a little embarrassed, but she couldn¡¯t change her mind and ask them toe down, so she pretended not to know.

    ¡°This is a pet shop, right? There aren¡¯t any snakes, spiders, or other animals, right?¡± She looked warily at the disy cabs in the dark.

    ¡°No, there are no poisonous animals.¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    She heaved a sigh of relief.¡±That¡¯s good.¡±

    Little celery was also very embarrassed. She twisted her body uneasily, feeling sorry for Zhang Zian.

    He secretly made a face at little celery, indicating that she didn¡¯t need to mind.

    From his childhood to running the Pet Shop by himself for a year, what kind of people had he not seen? There were many people in the world. Some people liked pets, and some people hated pets. Some people loved cats, and some people abused them. Some people loved dogs, and some people ate dogs. There was nothing new under the sun.

    Cai meiwen didn¡¯t seem to like dogs, especially big dogs. This was normal and excusable. Not everyone liked Yuan, and father MA even regretted setting up Alibaba.

    Lu Yiyun took a bottle of mineral water and handed it to Cai meiwen.¡±Drink some water. There¡¯s no way to boil water now that there¡¯s a power outage. Your wound needs to be treated too.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± he said.

    Cai meiwen unscrewed the bottle cap and drank a few mouthfuls of water. She used the remaining water to wash the wound clean, then applied iodophor with a cotton swab to disinfect the wound. Little celery helped her from the side.

    Zhang Zian gave the staff a look, meaning to tell them not to just stand there and watch. Do what you have to do and try to be natural. You¡¯re giving them a lot of pressure by staring at them like this.

    He and the staff continued to run back and forth between the Pet Shop and the aquarium, making jokes and doing silly things to liven up the atmosphere as usual.

    The water level on the streets continued to rise, and the sewage seeped in even faster than before.

 Chapter 1687

    Chapter 1687: Chapter 1687-traveling alone

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Although Zhang Zian and the others didn¡¯t look like bad people, they were in apletely unfamiliar environment. Cai meiwen really wanted to take little celery home immediately, because the word ¡°home¡± always made people feel at ease and warm. However, the storm outside was getting stronger and stronger. Even if she wanted to go home, she couldn ¡®t. She could ovee all difficulties to find her daughter, but she couldn¡¯t bear to take her daughter to risk her life in the storm. She knew how dangerous it was, as she had just experienced it.

    After she treated the wound with iodophor, little celery helped her throw the used cotton swab into the trash can.

    ¡°Little celery, why didn¡¯t you go home after school? why did youe here? Didn¡¯t the teacher tell you to go home directly?¡±

    She held little celery¡¯s arm and asked seriously.

    Cai meiwen¡¯s workce was quite far from her home. It was a privatepany, and it was located in the opposite direction of Zhonghua Road primary school, so it was very difficult for her to take little celery to and from school every day, which would take a lot of time.

    In fact, when little celery first started school, she did send and pick her up every day.

    Little celery was very sensible. She saw that her mother was working so hard that she had to get up early every night to prepare breakfast, send her to school, and then go back to work. It was so hard that she looked Haggard.

    Going to school was fine, but leaving school was the most troublesome. Primary school ended early, and Cai meiwen got off workte. With this time difference, she could only beg her boss to let her pick up her child and thene back to work. She would also use overtime for free to make up for the time lost during this period. Not only did her boss¡¯s face look terrible, but she also had to endure the looks of disdain from her colleagues. Because a lot of work was done by the team, her leaving halfway would dy everyone¡¯s time.

    One day after school started, little celery said that she could go to school by herself, and she didn¡¯t need her mother to pick her up.

    Cai meiwen¡¯s first reaction was definitely worry and uneasiness, but little celery was very stubborn and insisted on going to and from school by herself. She even used a tender pen to draw a map of the route from home to school. This showed that she didn¡¯t make this request on impulse. She had carefully observed the idea aftering up with it, and had firmly remembered it in her mind, and finally put it into practice on paper and pen.

    The route map was full of the childlike interest of a child of her age. Since she was not able to read at the beginning, she could only use pinyin and graphics to describe thendmark buildings, especially when she needed to turn and cross the road. She even wrote warnings such as ¡°stop once, look twice, and pass three times.¡±

    Cai meiwen remembered that this pet shop seemed to be in the route that little celery had drawn. It was the outline of a house with the simplest brush technique, and then she drew a cartoon cat¡¯s head inside the house. When she took little celery to school, she didn¡¯t notice the existence of this pet shop. Perhaps she was in a hurry to send little celery to school and go to work, and was afraid that she would be scolded by the boss and get her sry deducted if she waste, so she didn¡¯t have the mood to look at the shops on both sides of the road.

    When she saw the map little celery drew, she was very surprised and happy at the same time. In addition to being surprised and happy at little celery¡¯s careful observation, what was especially valuable was little celery¡¯s care and concern for her mother. When other children of the same age were still squandering their parents ¡®unconditional love, little celery already knew how to give back ¡­ To be able to feel this kind of care, no matter how hard she worked, it was all worth it.

    She was not in a hurry to agree. The next day, when she sent little celery to school, shepared the route with the map and found that it was very urate. Even a person who had juste to Binhai city could easily get to Zhonghua Road primary school from her house ording to the route.

    So, the next night, she agreed to let little celery go to and from school by herself.

    Little celery was so happy that she jumped up and down on the bed. She didn¡¯t seem to be nervous or afraid at all.

    Cai meiwen smiled, but her heart wasn¡¯t that big. On the morning of the third day, she left home first, pretending to go to work, but in fact, she was waiting downstairs quietly. She saw little celery walking out of the building during school time, carefully following the route map to school.

    She followed little celery from a distance. She was very worried, especially when they reached the intersection, or when a stranger approached little celery.

    Little celery seemed to be a little nervous. Every time she reached an intersection, she would repeatedlypare the road map to confirm thendmark buildings, then observe the traffic lights and vehicles before finally moving forward.

    It wasn¡¯t until the gate of Zhonghua Road primary school appeared in front of them that the mother and daughter both let out a sigh of relief. After watching little celery walk into the school, Cai meiwen happily went to work.

    That night, little celery excitedly talked about her first time going to school alone. She described the process very easily, and Cai meiwen happily sang the same tune as her daughter while cooking.

    Cai meiwen¡¯s test for her daughter wasn¡¯t over yet. In fact, during the day, she had asked a female colleague who she got along well with to help her.

    On the fourth day, little celery went to school alone as usual. On the way, she met a stranger who talked to her. This stranger was Cai meiwen¡¯s female colleague. Little celery had never seen her before. She took out little celery¡¯s favorite snacks and tried to lure little celery to go with her, but little celery ran away without looking back, not paying any attention to her.

    When Cai meiwen saw this scene from afar, she finally smiled in relief. It seemed that her usual advice had not been in vain.

    In the days that followed, Cai meiwen could finally put more energy into work and get more rest. She also eased the tension between her and her colleagues, and all of this was because little celery could go to and from school alone.

    Later on, she would asionally follow little celery secretly. Little celery was more and more familiar with the route, and she was more and more at ease. The frequency of her following became lower and lower, and finally, she stopped following her.

    Maybe it was because of the rtively good security environment and simple folk customs of Binhai city, but there were not many migrants. Little celery never had any problems going to and leaving school. Slowly, Cai meiwen could finally treat this matter as a normal thing. Only when she asionally heard some rumors, such as a few jobless people with dyed hair, who were fighting and robbing on the way to little celery¡¯s school and were then subdued, would her heart tremble. It also happened at night, and the primary school students had already returned home from school.

    Until today, she had been busy with work the whole morning, and it was not until noon that she learned about the news of the typhoon. Privatepanies were always cautious about such news. They only decided to take a break when they had no other choice. After all, the government would notpensate the money that their boss lost because of a break.

 Chapter 1688

    Chapter 1688: Chapter 1688-helpless

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    After Cai meiwen learned that the holiday was due to the typhoon, she was very happy at first. After all, she had earned a holiday for nothing. She could spend more time with little celery and finish the piled up chores.

    Thinking of little celery, her heart suddenly tightened. She immediately turned on her cell phone and was surprised to see that the school teacher [email protected] parents in the ss group. This message was sent more than half an hour ago. She was busy with work and ignored the message on her cell phone, because she subconsciously thought that the new semester had just started, so it was impossible for her to have any urgent matters to see her parents. Besides, if little celery really had something important, the teacher would definitely talk to her privately or call her to discuss it.

    There were also a few parents in thepany, and they were not in a hurry because they had other people at home to pick up their children, while Cai meiqin had no one in the city who could help her.

    She [email protected] teacher and asked if little celery had left school, and she got a positive answer.

    Her house was a high-rise residence. Although there was no hidden danger of flooding, there was another problem. Wanwan was afraid of power outages. Once the power outage urred, she would have to climb more than twenty floors. What was more worrying was that if the power outage urred in the elevator, it would be terrible. Because of the typhoon, it was impossible for people toe to the rescue quickly. She did not know how long she would be trapped in the elevator, and if the elevator ¡­

    The terrifying scenes of the elevator going out of control in movies and news kept appearing in her mind. Her heart was extremely tight, and she wanted to go home in one step.

    She tried to call thendline at home, but no one picked up. ording to the time, little celery should be home by now.

    It started to rain outside, and the wind and thunder were mixed together. From the first drop of rain to the downpour, only a few seconds had passed.

    Cai meiwen left thepany in a panic. She usually used public buses tomute, but at this time, the public transport was almostpletely paralyzed. She couldn¡¯t see any public buses or hail a taxi.

    Fortunately, one of her colleagues was driving to work. It was the female colleague who had helped her test little celery. Seeing that she was in a daze at the bus stop, she kindly stopped to give her a ride.

    Her colleagues were also in a hurry to go home, so Yan Ming could only drive her to a ce not too far from home. Even so, she was very grateful. In the car, she kept calling thendline at home, but no one picked up.

    The severity of the traffic situation was beyond her imagination. Along the way, she saw countless traffic idents of all sizes. In addition to people driving violently in a hurry to go home, the bad weather was also a big factor. The torrential rain made the windshield wipers work in vain. It was hazy outside the window, and she could only vaguely see the lights of the front and back cars. If someone walked or rode a bicycle through the traffic, they would definitely not have time to react.

    The traffic situation on the road was so bad that people riding bicycles and electric vehicles could only invade the sidewalk to ensure their own safety. There were many cases of pedestrians being knocked down by bicycles and electric vehicles.

    Cai meiwen¡¯s heart was burning with anxiety. She didn¡¯t expect the situation to be so serious. If she had known earlier, it would have been safer for her daughter to stay at school and wait for her to pick her up.

    For the first time, she regretted letting her daughter go to and from school alone. No matter if her daughter was injured on the road or trapped in the elevator, she would never forgive herself.

    The car moved like a snail to a fork in the road. This was the ce where her colleague had told her to get off. Her colleague had kindly given her an umbre, but she had refused. It was meaningless to use an umbre in this weather. Once she got off the car, she would be blown away by the strong wind. She wrapped the phone in a stic bag and put it in her bag, then rushed into the rain without hesitation.

    The water on the ground had already reached up to their calves, and it was as if a hole had been poked through the sky.

    She wore high heels to work. The heels were not particrly high, so she waded through the water with uneven steps. After taking a few steps, she realized that her high heels had greatly limited her speed. She was washed down by the water, and her heels were stuck in something from time to time. So she decisively broke the heels and changed them into t shoes.

    Unfortunately, her high heels were not sports shoes and had no ties. As she walked, one of her shoes was washed off and she could not find it. After a while, the other shoe was also washed away.

    She gritted her teeth and walked forward barefooted.

    At this time, she could already see the outline of her residential area, but what she was afraid of happened. The area was dark, so it wasn¡¯t strange that there was a power outage. She already had a hunch because almost all the residential areas along the way had a power outage.

    The sky was as dark as the bottom of a pot. Little celery didn¡¯t have any lighting tools, cell phones, or shlights. Did she have to climb up more than 20 floors in the dark corridor alone? What was even more terrifying was the sudden power outage while taking the elevator.

    She found a ce where she could take shelter from the rain, took out her phone and tried to call the property management, hoping that they could help her check if anyone was trapped in the elevator of her building.

    The neighborhood didn¡¯t seem far away, but it would take a long time to reach it on foot in such bad weather. If the property management could help, it would save a lot of time, which was also a calming pill for her.

    This damn property management was extremely diligent when it came to collecting fees. Every time the owners needed to find them, they never found them.

    Today was no exception. The property manager¡¯s phone rang many times, but no one picked up.

    She was angry and desperate, and her chest was so tight that it was about to explode. She almost threw her phone on the ground and smashed it.

    She really wanted to cry out loud. Ever since she had raised her daughter alone, she had never been so lonely and helpless. It was as if the whole world had abandoned her and her daughter.

    However, this was not the time to cry. Even if he wanted to cry, he would wait until he found his daughter.

    She kept praying to all the gods and Buddhas she knew in her heart. This was a desperate situation.

    What was she going to do even if she returned to her neighborhood? First, they climbed the stairs from the first floor to the floor where they lived. If little celery wasn¡¯t in the stairwell or at home, then either she hadn¡¯t returned to themunity yet, or she was trapped in the elevator. Yingluo preferred the former, because if she was trapped in the elevator, how could she be sure which floor or between which floors the elevator was trapped in now that the power had been cut off?

    There was no relevant knowledge in her general knowledge.

    If she couldn¡¯t find little celery in the staircases, in the house, or in the elevator, she would have to follow the route that little celery often took to school, from home to school, and she would not give up until she found little celery.

    She gritted her teeth and was about to rush into the rain again when her phone rang. She looked at it and saw that it was an unknown number.

    For her, every minute and every second was precious. It was rted to little celery¡¯s safety. If she had called the wrong number ¡­

    After hesitating for a while, she still answered the phone, because this was a local cell phone number. She hoped that someone had told her about little celery, but at the same time, she was worried that ¡­ It was bad news.

 Chapter 1689

    Chapter 1689: Chapter 1689-me

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    After picking up the phone, Cai meiwen immediately heard little celery¡¯s voice. Although the tone of the voice had changed after being transmitted, how could she not recognize her daughter¡¯s voice?

    She knew that she should be patient and calm. She shouldn¡¯t yell at her daughter. Even an adult like her was frightened in the face of a Typhoon, and this was only the edge of the typhoon, let alone an elementary school student like her daughter. However, she was too anxious and eager to know her daughter¡¯s condition. The worry, panic, despair, and regret from before were like an uncontroble volcano eruption, and they were released in an instant.

    She scared her daughter so much that she couldn¡¯t speak. A strange male voice took the phone and told her where little celery was.

    A pet shop?

    She remembered the cartoon-shaped pet shop on the route map. At first, the logo of the Pet Shop was a cat head, butter, when she cleaned up her daughter¡¯s room, she found the map that was no longer needed. She found that little celery had been adding details to the route map, even adding colors, such as where a new snack shop was opened, and where people often walked their dogs on the road when they went to school. The logo of the Pet Shop had also changed from a cat¡¯s head to a rabbit¡¯s head. The rabbit ears were easy to recognize, and there was a red carrot drawn next to it.

    She didn¡¯t think much of it at the time. She smiled and put the map back in its original ce.

    She couldn¡¯tpletely trust the strange man who answered the phone. There were too many perverts in the world. She couldn¡¯t bepletely at ease until she saw her daughter safe and sound with her own eyes.

    Little celery didn¡¯t have a cell phone, but in order to prevent her from getting lost, she wore a children¡¯s GPS watch on her wrist, which allowed her to check the time. Cai meiwen had checked it several times today, but the app always showed that it was busy and couldn¡¯t connect to the server. She didn¡¯t know if it was because of the poorwork signal or because too many parents were logging in at the same time. Otherwise, she would have known little celery¡¯s location long ago.

    She was usually not a rude and violent person, but she acted like a middle-aged woman with a gunpowder barrel on the phone. Because she was a single mother with no one to rely on, she could only pretend to be rude and unreasonable, like a female cat that would explode at any time, to better protect herself and her daughter. After all, society was sometimes unreasonable.

    Cai meiwen¡¯s mood calmed down a little. At least, from her daughter¡¯s voice, she didn¡¯t sound like she was injured or abused. After she rxed, her whole body began to hurt. Her calves had been soaking in the cold, dirty water, and she had a faint cramp. The soles of her feet must have been worn out. She was already very lucky that she didn¡¯t step on broken ss. What made her even more uneasy was that there seemed to be something with scales sliding across her calves. She could only pray that it was a fish that had escaped from the fish pond. It was not a snake or other animals.

    She put the phone back into the stic bag and changed her route, taking a shortcut to the Pet Shop.

    She had slipped and fallen countless times, and the water was getting stronger and stronger. It was still slightly better for her to hold on to the wall and walk. The branches that were blown down by the strong wind kept hitting her body and head. Some of the branches were even as thick as her arms. Fortunately, she was quick to react and dodged her head, only hitting her shoulder. The thin branches scratched a few bloody marks on her face. Otherwise, she might have been knocked unconscious on the spot and then washed away by the water. She might have even been washed into the sea ¡­

    There were a lot fewer people on the streets. Many people chose to take refuge nearby. Many cars were abandoned in the middle of the road, probably because their engines had died due to water, and the owners were missing.

    She even saw a Mini floating in the road like a toy, washed by the filthy water, and finally blocked by another abandoned car.

    Dongcheng Area was an Laocheng District, and the infrastructure was rtively backward. Some low-lying areas had umted a deep pool of water, which might be one or two meters deep or even deeper. She saw a couple-like couple squatting on the roof of the car at a loss. The car¡¯s sunroof was open, but the engine had died long ago. The water had not passed through the windshield wipers. As long as a wave hit, they would be washed away along with the car.

    They probably didn¡¯t have much driving experience and were unfamiliar with the nearby terrain. All they wanted to do was to drive home as soon as possible. They followed an off-road vehicle or SUV in front of them, but the vehicle¡¯s chassis was high, so they were trapped when they drove through the depression.

    There were more than two people who were trapped like this. They could be seen in almost every low-lying area.

    Cai meiwen didn¡¯t have the time or the mood to care about other people¡¯s business. She walked mechanically in the direction of the Pet Shop, wondering why little celery didn¡¯t listen to the teacher and go home after school, but went to the Pet Shop instead. Although the result seemed to be a good thing, it was a matter of principle. This time, she was lucky, but she might not be so lucky next time. She might even end up in a Tiger¡¯s Den.

    So, when she saw that little celery was safe and sound in the Pet Shop, she was relieved and immediately began to me little celery for not listening to the teacher.

    Little celery was still immersed in the joy of seeing her mother again, but she didn¡¯t expect her mother to suddenly turn hostile and speak in a very stern tone. Usually, her mother would only be like this when she made a very serious mistake.

    She didn¡¯t know how to answer. There were many things she wanted to say, but the more anxious she was, the more she couldn¡¯t say them. The more she didn¡¯t speak, the worse her mother¡¯s expression became.

    It was Zhang Zian who spoke up for little celery,¡±¡±Ms. Cai, don¡¯t worry. You¡¯ll scare her. Let me exin. I suggested that she stay here to take refuge because I heard that there was no one at home. In such bad weather, I think it¡¯s very dangerous to let a child go home alone.¡±

    The shop assistants also tried to prove that the weather had worsened very quickly and the traffic was extremely chaotic. They should not have let the child go home alone.

    How could Cai meiwen not know the situation at that time? however, there was still a thorn in her heart-the key point of her struggle was why her daughter agreed to his suggestion? Where was the daughter who was usually very alert to strangers? If she agreed to any random stranger¡¯s invitation to take shelter from the rain, how could Cai meiwen be at ease letting her go to and from school alone?

    As the saying goes, no one knows their daughter better than their mother, and no one knows their mother better than their daughter. After all, she was a close-fitting cotton-padded jacket.

    Little celery guessed what Cai meiwen was thinking earlier than anyone else. She finally mustered up her courage and said,¡±¡±Mom ¡­ I¡¯m sorry, there¡¯s something I didn¡¯t tell you. Brother store manager is my friend, not a stranger, so ¡­ So I came here to take shelter from the rain ¡­¡±

    The more she spoke, the softer her voice became. In the end, it was so soft that it could barely be heard.

    ¡°I wanted to tell mom a long time ago, but she was very busy and tired. I couldn¡¯t find a suitable opportunity to tell her, and I was afraid that she would scold me after telling her ¡­¡±

 Chapter 1690

    Chapter 1690: Running

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    When Cai meiwen heard little celery¡¯s words, she was very angry at first, because it was obviously not normal for an adult man to be friends with an elementary school girl. It was easy to suspect that the man had ulterior motives. But when she heard little celery say that she was always busy and didn¡¯t have the chance to tell her, she felt an inexplicable sadness in her heart, and she was overwhelmed by a wave of depression.

    Little celery lowered her head and stared at the tips of her shoes, then added in a daze, ¡°It¡¯s not just the store manager. There are also the two silly store assistants, the cashier who¡¯s always drawing seriously, and the mysterious big sister fish. They¡¯re all my friends ¡­¡±

    Jiang Feifei was stunned for a moment, then she realized that the so-called big sister fish was referring to her. It was probably because she spent most of her time in the aquarium, and the lights in the aquarium were dim. She always stuck her face to the wall of the aquarium to observe the aquatic creatures, so she seemed a little mysterious. Perhaps the word ¡°mysterious¡± had already been beautified. Little celery might really want to say that she was a little ghostly ¡­

    This was probably ¡­ The consequence of ack of fatherly love.

    Cai meiwen had always thought that she could be both a father and a mother, and she thought that she had done a good job. At least, she was better than those families where the husband and wife didn¡¯t care about their children even though they weren¡¯t divorced. In fact, little celery was still very lonely, but because little celery had always been very sensible and obedient, she didn¡¯t want her to worry, so she didn¡¯t show that she was lonely.

    Little celery only had friends in school, but no friends in real life, because Cai meiwen didn¡¯t have time and didn¡¯t feel at ease letting her y with the other children in the neighborhood. She had already taken out all her free time to apany little celery, but at the moment, it was far from enough. Or rather, a mother¡¯s love couldn¡¯tpletely rece friends.

    Cai meiwen was silent, and little celery kept peeking at her face, afraid that she would get angry.

    Zhang Zian and the staff were also very nervous. They had always regarded little celery as a non-staff member of the store. If her mother was angry and forced her not toe again, there was nothing they could do. After all, she was her mother, and they couldn¡¯t let her get into a conflict with her mother because of them.

    The elves ¡®eyes flickered as they watched the silent confrontation.

    The quiet room made the storm outside seem particrly violent.

    The awkward silencested for a while.

    Cai meiwen touched little celery¡¯s braids. She had personally braided them for little celery before she set off in the morning. Just by looking at the angle of the two braids, she knew that today was Monday.

    She cherished the time she spent with her daughter because her child would grow up without her noticing. She didn¡¯t know how long she could braid her daughter¡¯s hair. Maybe after a few years, her daughter would find this method very old-fashioned and would no longer let her do it.

    ¡°Little celery, tell me, how did you meet them?¡± She asked softly.

    Little celery nodded and told him how she had be friends with the amazing fate pet shop, including things that even Zhang Zian and the others didn¡¯t know.

    When she first started going to school alone, she was actually very scared. Everyone around her was much bigger than her, and some of them looked very fierce. She really wanted to run home and escape from her mother¡¯s protection, but she thought that her mother was already very tired, so she wanted to help her reduce the burden.

    She was like a pitiful little beast, cowering as she walked on the sidewalk.

    Because of her fear, she wanted to get to school as soon as possible, so after she left home, she started to run.

    She ran around the corner, past the breakfast stalls, past the shops ¡­ Other than when she was crossing the road, she kept running.

    She didn¡¯t know how many days she had gone to school alone, but when she went to the Pet Shop, she was suddenly hit on.

    ¡°Little friend, have you been going to school by yourself these days? It¡¯s awesome!¡± A gentle-looking middle-aged woman stood at the door of the Pet Shop, smiling and greeting her. She even gave her a thumbs-up.

    Little celery paused for a moment. Her mother told her not to say hello to strangers, but it would be rude if she didn¡¯t answer, so she quickly nodded and continued running.

    The next morning, she was struck up by the same middle-aged woman at the entrance of the Pet Shop.

    ¡°Every day, I see you running over there full of energy. Even I feel like I¡¯ve be younger.¡± The middle-aged woman said with a smile. She was wearing an apron and rubber gloves.

    Little celery looked into the shop and saw a man of the same age working there.

    She didn¡¯t answer and continued to run.

    On the morning of the third day, the same thing happened again.

    ¡°Little friend, your two braids are very interesting. From a distance, they look like a pair of rabbit ears. They are as cute as a little rabbit when they jump around.¡± The middle-aged woman¡¯s smile didn¡¯t fade as she threw a bag of trash into the trash can.

    Little rabbit?

    Little celery thought of the little bunnies she saw on TV. They were really cute. She had never thought that she would be like a little rabbit.

    On the morning of the fourth day.

    ¡°Little friend, don¡¯t run when crossing the road. Be careful of the car.¡± The middle-aged woman was wearing a mask and a mask. She was pouring some pungent liquid into a spray-like object at the entrance of the shop.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Although it was just a small ¡°hmm,¡± little celery did reply, which seemed to be against her mother¡¯s principle of not letting her talk to strangers. But it was just a small ¡°hmm,¡± so it should be fine, right?

    On the morning of the fifth day.

    The middle-aged woman didn¡¯t work today. She was standing at the door and talking to another middle-aged man. When she saw little celery, she just waved at her.

    ¡°Send him a message and ask him if he¡¯ll be back during the National Golden Week.¡± The man said,¡±when Ie back, I¡¯ll go buy the meat and fish in advance. Otherwise, it¡¯ll be expensive to buy them before the festival.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯ll definitely be back. The Mid-Autumn Festival is around the same time. How can he not be back? Auntie Liu even said that she¡¯s going to introduce him to someone. ¡± Although the middle-aged woman said that, she didn¡¯t seem to be confident. She looked hopeful.

    Who wants toe back?

    Little celery also waved her hand slightly. If Yingying just waved her hand, it wouldn¡¯t be considered talking to a stranger, right?

    The sixth day ¡­ Well, the sixth and seventh days were weekends, so there were no sses.

    Next Monday, when she ran past the Pet Shop, the middle-aged woman would still greet her every day, even if she didn¡¯t respond.

    Running was very tiring, and the weather hadn¡¯tpletely cooled down yet, so it was also very hot. Every day when she ran to school, she would be covered in sweat.

    When she ran to the Pet Shop, she was very close to the school. She felt at ease, as if she didn¡¯t have to be so afraid anymore. Therefore, she would unconsciously slow down, take a break, and catch her breath.

    ¡°Wipe my sweat?¡±

    A few meters away, the middle-aged woman stood in front of the store and handed her a pack of tissues.

    Little celery shook her head.

    On Tuesday, the middle-aged woman handed her a tissue again.

    Little celery stopped.

 Chapter 1691

    Chapter 1691: Chapter 1691-Prison Break

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Little celery had been going to school alone for about two weeks. She went back and forth every day. She was familiar with the nearby streets and even knew which traffic light had a longer green light and which one was shorter. However, the same road always had different people. She went out at a fixed time every day. The others seemed to be early andte. She saw different faces every day, all of whom were strangers. Only the middle-aged couple in the Pet Shop could be considered ¡­ Familiar.

    Except for the breakfast stalls, the other shop owners on the street seemed to bezy. When little celery ran past them in the morning, they all closed their doors, but when she returned home in the afternoon, they all opened their doors. After all, Binhai city was not a big city with a fast pace of life.

    This pet shop was also an exception. Every time little celery ran past the shop, she would take a look inside. There were only a few customers, but the two people in the shop always seemed to have endless work to do. They were busy all the time, and it was not easy to see them idle.

    Her observation skills were very detailed, so she could draw an urate route map. She also observed the Pet Shop and the owner couple with such detailed observation skills, subconsciously drawing them out of the category of ¡°strangers.¡±

    Little celery stopped when the middle-aged woman handed her a tissue, but she didn¡¯t take it. Instead, she shook her head and said,¡±¡±Thank you, Auntie. Mom doesn¡¯t allow me to take other people¡¯s things.¡±

    After saying that, she continued to run.

    Even though she did not take the tissue, this was the firstplete sentence she said to them.

    The next day.

    Little celery told her mother and prepared a tissue to wipe her sweat. Because little celery was very lively and active, her mother didn¡¯t think it was strange.

    When she passed by the Pet Shop, she unconsciously slowed down and habitually sneaked a nce to the right.

    Habits were just that scary.

    ¡°Where did he go?¡±

    ¡°Catch it!¡±

    ¡°I just jumped past you!¡±

    The middle-aged woman was not standing in front of the Pet Shop today. The Pet Shop was in a mess. The couple was walking around, staring at the floor and half-bending, as if they were looking for something or ying games.

    ¡°Aiyo! ¡°My old back ¡­¡± The middle-aged man¡¯s face was twisted as he hit the back of his waist and gasped.

    ¡°Quick, close the door first, don¡¯t let it run out!¡± The middle-aged woman urged.

    Children were always as curious as cats, and little celery was no exception. She looked at the store in confusion and couldn¡¯t help but take a few steps closer, and for a moment, she was fascinated. She left the house early and had been running all the way. There was still a long time before ss started, so she had plenty of time to watch the fun.

    At this moment, a furry little guy suddenly jumped out of the shop. The fur on its body was wet, and its two long and soft ears drooped down. Its three-petal mouth was half open, revealing two front teeth, looking very cute.

    This thing was simr to the rabbits little celery saw in cartoons, but it was not exactly the same. The rabbits in cartoons had straight ears, but this little guy¡¯s ears were soft.

    In any case, this little fellow had nothing to do with the word ¡®fierce¡¯.

    Little celery and it stared at each other. She seemed to be blocking its escape route.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let it escape!¡± The middle-aged couple in the shop called out.

    The two of them were old, and their legs were not as agile as when they were young. In addition, the shop had just mopped the floor, and the floor was slippery. They did not dare to run, in case they fell.

    ¡°Hey!¡±

    Little celery assumed the posture of an Eagle catching a chick, her arms wide open, and her feet in a horse stance, blocking the way even more.

    The teacher said in school that a good child should be happy to help others. This should be considered helping others, right?

    The furry and wet little thing saw that it couldn¡¯t run away in a straight line, so it could only jump to the side. But when it jumped, little celery also moved to the side.

    It seemed to be very timid. After its path was blocked, it wanted to stop its body in an emergency. As a result, it identally stepped on the stairs and rolled down. Because its front legs were short and its back legs were long, it was not good at walking up the stairs.

    Little celery was the closest to it, so she was very agile. She rushed up and held it down with both hands.

    ¡°I¡¯ve caught it!¡± She shouted excitedly.

    At this time, the owner couple also ran out of the shop and said happily,¡±¡±Thank you, little friend. I almost let the rabbit Run away!¡±

    Being able to help others and be thanked, little celery was very happy. Sheughed and said,¡±¡±You¡¯re wee. This is what I should do!¡±

    The man picked up the rabbit.

    Little celery stared at it and asked curiously,¡±¡±What kind of rabbit is this?¡±

    ¡°A lop-eared rabbit. Have you never seen it before?¡± The middle-aged woman wiped the sweat from her forehead.

    Little celery blinked her eyes, trying to digest this strange name,¡±lop-eared rabbit ¡­¡±

    ¡°This little guy is usually kept in a cage, but the cage is rtively small, so we let it out every day to move around. The weather is not very cool now, and its fur is thick. We were about to give it a bath, but it saw an opening and jumped out of the bathtub, causing us to chase after it ¡­¡± The middle-aged woman exined what had happened.

    Little celery was fascinated by the story, and it was interesting to imagine it.

    The man went back to the shop with the lop-eared rabbit in his arms, and little celery¡¯s eyes followed the rabbit in his arms reluctantly.

    ¡°Do you want to go into the shop and take a look?¡± The middle-aged woman noticed her gaze and pursed her lips into a smile. The child¡¯s thoughts were too easy to guess. It was practically written on his face. Thus, she pointed at the shop and invited her.

    ¡°No, no, I¡¯m going to school.¡±

    Little celery waved her hands in a panic and ran away. She really wanted to see it, and it was still early for ss, but ¡­

    After school that day, she revised the route map again. She erased the cat head sign of the Pet Shop and reced it with a rabbit head. At first, she drew the rabbit ears as soft, but she found that her drawing skills were too poor. The rabbit she drew this way was ugly and didn¡¯t look like a rabbit at all, so she changed it to regr rabbit ears.

    During dinner, she told her mother about the interesting things that happened at school during the day as usual. As she ate, she suddenly said,¡±¡±Mom, have you ever seen a lop-eared rabbit?¡±

    ¡°No, is that a kind of rabbit?¡±

    Her mother replied casually. From the beginning of dinner, she seemed a little absent-minded. Every time she was busy with work, she would always be like this. She had to be like this. She ate dinner with her mouth, but her heart was thinking about work, because if she didn¡¯t work, she wouldn¡¯t have any food to eat. And every time this happened, little celery would observe her and wisely not bother her with small things.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Little celery didn¡¯t continue. After dinner, she went to help her mother wash the dishes, and then went back to her room to do her homework.

    Her mother tidied up the kitchen utensils and returned to her room to work until it was veryte.

    When little celery was sleeping, she found a long white rabbit fur on her clothes and dreamed of the lop-eared rabbit at night.

 Chapter 1692

    Chapter 1692: Witness

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    The next morning, little celery passed by the Pet Shop again.

    Today, the owner and his wife were not standing at the door, but busy inside the shop.

    After a while, the middle-aged woman noticed a small figure standing at the door. She turned around and found that it was little celery, who always appeared on time from Monday to Friday.

    ¡°Good Morning,¡± She waved at little celery.

    ¡°Good Morning,¡± Little celery also waved her hand, but she didn¡¯t run away as usual.

    The middle-aged woman pondered the child¡¯s thoughts and immediately understood. After all, she also had a child.

    ¡°Do you want to see the lop-eared rabbit?¡± She asked with a smile.

    ¡°It ¡­ It didn¡¯t run away today?¡± Little celery racked her brain for an excuse.

    ¡°Ah, he hasn¡¯t run away yet. Do you want toe in and take a look?¡± She invited him again.

    Little celery hesitated and didn¡¯t say anything.

    ¡°I ¡­ I don¡¯t want to buy pets.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t buy it. ¡± ¡°Just take it as a thank you for helping us stop it yesterday,¡± she added with a smile.

    Little celery told herself in her heart, I¡¯m just going in to see the rabbit, I won¡¯t talk to them, and I¡¯m not going with strangers.

    ¡°Then ¡­ Alright.¡±

    Little celery walked into the shop carefully, looking curiously at the decorations and all kinds of pets in the shop. She nced at the middle-aged couple from time to time, ready to run away at any time.

    The middle-aged couple acted as if she didn¡¯t exist. They continued to work skillfully while chatting.

    Little celery saw the lop-eared rabbit in the cage. At this time, the Pet Shop seemed to be divided by pet species. Next to the lop-eared rabbit, she also saw a hamster, which was also a rodent pet, and it was also very cute.

    The lop-eared rabbit and the hamster were all gathered on one side of the cage, as if they were anxiously waiting for breakfast. There were fresh vegetables and nuts outside the cage, but they could not eat them.

    She turned around and looked at the middle-aged couple.

    ¡°If you want to feed them, then go ahead. It¡¯ll save us some trouble.¡± They said.

    It was still the same saying, a child¡¯s mind was too easy to guess.

    Seeing the lop-eared rabbit and hamster finish their breakfast in satisfaction, little celery was as happy as if she had just eaten a delicious meal.

    ¡°Aiya! Terrible! We¡¯re going to bete!¡± She looked at her watch and was shocked to realize that she had been here for too long.

    ¡°Hurry up and go to school. You can see rabbits any day.¡± The middle-aged couple said with a smile.

    ¡°Bye ¡­ Bye!¡±

    Little celery ran out of the store in a panic and ran to the school. After a few steps, she suddenly remembered something and stopped to look back.

    ¡°Qi ¡­ Pet shop.¡±

    There were too many strokes in the second character, so she couldn¡¯t recognize it. However, the teacher taught new Chinese characters every day, so she would definitely be able to recognize it in the future.

    During dinner that day, her mother wasn¡¯t as distracted as she was yesterday. When little celery told her about the interesting things that happened at school during the day, she also talked andughed. It seemed that she had done a good job yesterday.

    ¡°Mom ¡­¡± Little celery took a sip of the soup and peeked at her mother¡¯s face nervously.¡±Lop-eared rabbit ¡­ It seems very cute.¡±

    ¡°No, you can ¡®t.¡± Her mother seemed to have guessed what she was thinking and rejected her immediately.¡±We don¡¯t have pets at home. It will affect your studies and it¡¯s very troublesome to take care of you. The most important thing for students is their studies. If you want to have one, you can have one when you grow up.¡±

    It was a verymon reason. Basically, when all children begged to buy a pet but were rejected by their parents, they would hear the same reason, even the wish they made was the same, as if they could do anything when they grew up ¡­ After all, parents all hoped that their children would be Dragons and phoenixes. Since ancient times, raising pets could be categorized as a waste of time.

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    If it was Xu Zhuang Zhuang, he would probably lie on the ground and roll around until his wish was fulfilled. He would promise that having a pet would not affect his studies, just like buying aputer would not affect his studies ¡­ But little celery did not say anything more and just drank the soup silently.

    Fortunately, she would stop by the Pet Shop for a while every day when she went to school and personally feed the lop-eared rabbits and hamsters. As for the time after school at night, she had more time, but there were always other customers in the Pet Shop, so she just quietly looked outside the shop, looking forward to the short time of the next morning.

    One day, the daily cycle was suddenly interrupted without warning.

    That day, the Pet Shop, which would open early in the morning, was not open.

    Little celery stood outside the rolled-up curtain and waited for a while. She looked up at the second floor. Did the owner and his wife sleep in?

    She waited and waited, but there was no movement in the store.

    ss was about to start and she couldn¡¯t wait any longer. She could only run away regretfully.

    After school in the afternoon, she passed by the Pet Shop and found that the door was still closed.

    The next day, the third day, the fourth day ¡­ As long as it was a school day, little celery woulde to the door and wait, but the Pet Shop never opened, and little celery didn¡¯t see the lop-eared rabbit and hamster again.

    Every afternoon, when she ran past the Pet Shop, she saw some old grandpas and grandmas pointing at the Pet Shop and talking in low voices. She couldn¡¯t hear what they were saying, but she felt that they were sighing.

    For the past few days, she was in a bad mood. Her mother thought it was strange, thinking that she was sick or bullied by her ssmates. But she took her temperature and found it normal. She contacted the school teacher, but no one bullied little celery. The teacher also noticed that little celery was a little depressed, so she thought that something was wrong with her family.

    However, little celery¡¯s depression didn¡¯tst long, because the Pet Shop was open again. Although the owners of the shop were no longer the kind middle-aged couple, the shop door was still open for her.

    The re-opening pet shop had changed a lot, not only in theyout and furnishings, but also in the people.

    Since the Auntie and uncle were no longer around, the new brother store manager had strange ideas almost every day. When she came every day, she felt that the Pet Shop was different from yesterday.

    She saw with her own eyes that there were more and more staff in the Pet Shop, from two silly staff brothers to the cashier sister who was good at drawing, and then to sister fish who always stayed with fish ¡­

    She saw with her own eyes that there were more and more pets in the Pet Shop. There were all kinds of cute cats and dogs, and there were also strange-shaped fish ¡­

    She saw with her own eyes that there were more and more customers in the Pet Shop. When school ended in the afternoon, the shop was often crowded, and sometimes there was even a line outside.

    There were also a few unusual cats, dogs, and birds, all of which appeared in the Pet Shop like magic.

    She had witnessed all these changes with her own eyes, earlier than anyone else.

    More importantly, there were more and moreughter in the shop.

    Little celery liked to stay in the Pet Shop. She still missed the old owner couple, but she liked the current manager and staff more.

    Ah, there was one more thing. The teacher had taught her new Chinese characters, and she had finally matched the pronunciation with the shape. She could now write the name of the shop on her map.

    The second word of the shop¡¯s name was read as ¡°Yuan.¡±

 Chapter 1693

    Chapter 1693: Chapter 1693-fate

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    The wind howled above Binhai city, but the rain did not slow down. Sometimes there was no wind, but the next second, the wind was so strong that it felt like it was going to blow the roof off.

    Typhoons didn¡¯t hit Binhai city often, but in this year¡¯s climate temperature rose, the ocean soured, and even the once-in-a-century flood urred every three to five times. Inparison, typhoons weren¡¯t that rare. It just happened to turn to Binhai city this year.

    Little celery spoke very slowly, but it didn¡¯t matter. They couldn¡¯t do anything else in this weather anyway, and even sleeping was a luxury.

    There was a strong wind outside and a light wind inside. The candlelight swayed violently in the wind, and the room flickered between light and dark. The atmosphere was very suitable for stories.

    In addition to the necessary work of absorbing water, wringing rags, pouring sewage water on the second floor, adding ice and sea salt to the aquarium, everyone was listening to little celery¡¯s story. Because she spoke slowly and the things she talked about were very familiar to everyone, even if she went to pour water and add ice, she coulde back and continue.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help but feel disappointed. Looking around at the furnishings that had changed beyond recognition, for the first time, he had a certain idea that what his parents had left him was not only the Pet Shop itself, but also some invisible and intangible things that did exist.

    Because he had been studying and working in other ces for a long time, his general impression of his parents ¡®daily life in the Pet Shop was still that of his middle school days. Little celery¡¯s story helped him fill in thest days of his parents¡¯ life, as if filling a nk space in his heart.

    The staff was also entranced by the story. Except for Jiang Feifei, the other three had entered the store at about the same time. However, no matter who it was on their first day of work, they would always see a little girl with two braids jumping around to check in. She was almost never absent on any school day. They thought that she was just a neighbor¡¯s child that Zhang Zian knew, but they didn¡¯t expect that she had such aplicated experience before ¡­ She seemed to be the best employee in the Pet Shop.

    The Elfins were also listening attentively. Famous and the Fati were lying on the upper floor of the stairwell, listening. Even Pi was quietly sticking its head out to listen. Although Sihwa was far away in the bathroom on the second floor, with her hearing, as long as she wanted to listen, she could hear everything on the first floor clearly. This happened before they came to the Pet Shop. It wasn¡¯t even recorded in Pi¡¯s novel, at least not now.

    Cai meiwen couldn¡¯t remember what had happened a year ago at all. She couldn¡¯t remember that little celery had once mentioned the term ¡°lop-eared rabbit,¡± nor did she remember that she had once said something like ¡°we don¡¯t have pets at home.¡± However, this did sound like something she would say. Perhaps this was the so-called saying,¡±the speaker didn¡¯t mean it, but the listener took it in.¡±

    Her eyes fell on the cashier at the door, where little celery¡¯s exercise book was spread out, and the only emergency light in the shop was ced next to it.

    She remembered that when she first saw little celery, she was so excited that she forgot about other things. Now that she thought about it, little celery was very rxed in the store, and this kind of rxation couldn¡¯t be faked. She would only be so rxed in a very familiar and safe ce.

    Therefore, little celery did not mix with strangers easily. Her fate with the Pet Shop had started a long time ago, and it had gradually deepened.

    ¡°The owner couple is ¡­¡± Cai meiwen¡¯s eyes fell on Zhang Zian¡¯s face.

    ¡°My parents.¡± He answered simply.

    ¡°They ¡­¡± Cai meiwen hesitantly scanned the store again, but she didn¡¯t see any signs of middle-aged or elderly people.

    There were a few parts that were unclear in little celery¡¯s story, including the period when she had to close down for some unknown reason. Cai meiwen had an impression of the period when little celery was in low spirits, but now she knew that it was because the Pet Shop had closed.

    As an individual store, it was normal for it to close for a while. The store owner might have gone back to his hometown to visit rtives, or he might have gone on a holiday, or he might just want to rest for a few days. After all, 365 days of work in a year was too tiring ¡­ However, even if it was a temporary closing, he would usually inform the old customers in advance or put a notice on the door to tell the store owner where the customers had gone and when they woulde back, so as to prevent the customers from being left empty again.

    ording to little celery, the shop owner and his wife had suddenly closed their business. One day, they were still working well, and the next day ¡­

    This future gave Cai meiwen a bad feeling.

    ¡°They¡¯re ¡­ Gone,¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    His answer was very vague, but his expression and tone already showed the actual meaning of the word ¡°left.¡±

    Cai meiwen frowned and nced at the confused little celery. This was the answer she didn¡¯t want to hear the most. Fortunately, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t answer her directly.

    ¡°I understand.¡± She sighed and rubbed her throbbing temples.

    She didn¡¯t know if it was because she had caught a cold in the rain or because she had heard and seen too many unexpected things, but the depths of her head ached.

    She regretted that she had been too busy with work and neglected her daughter¡¯s feelings. This was undoubtedly her dereliction of duty as a mother.

    She worked hard to create better living conditions for her daughter, at least so that little celery wouldn¡¯t fall behind her parents ¡®family financially, but she couldn¡¯t use this as an excuse to shirk her responsibility.

    If she had gone back in time, she would definitely havemunicated more with her daughter and would not have ignored the signs that her daughter wanted to say something but hesitated. In fact, she had time to notice these signs, but she always lied to herself with the excuse that ¡°if my daughter doesn¡¯t say anything, it means that it¡¯s nothing.¡± After all, she had to work and take care of the family. It was really tiring. Sometimes, she just wanted to sleep without thinking.

    Little celery looked at Zhang Zian for his permission, then ran to the disy cab happily. She opened the ss lid, carefully took out the lop-eared rabbit, and then carried it to her mother.

    ¡°Mom, look, these are the ears!¡± She smiled happily.

    Today, he didn¡¯t have to worry about his ears breaking out of prison again, because the door and windows were all sealed.

    Ear was also very obedient today. It probably felt the elves ¡®covetous eyes, so it didn¡¯t dare to run away and obediently let little celery hold it.

    Cai meiwen nced at the lop-eared rabbit. It was indeed very cute. It was so soft and cute that all girls would like it. Even she would feel pity for it.

    Jiang Feifei wanted to help break the awkward atmosphere out of good intentions. She smiled and said,¡±Little celery, if you really like it, and if your mother agrees to let you raise it, I¡¯ll give you the ear today!¡±

    In Jiang Feifei¡¯s mind, after hearing little celery¡¯s touching story, as long as she was not stone-hearted, a mother should not object to her daughter having a pet.

    Little celery looked at her mother expectantly.

    To his surprise, Cai meiwen rejected him again.¡±I appreciate your kindness, but I don¡¯t have pets at home. Thank you.¡±

 Chapter 1694

    Chapter 1694: Chapter 1694-temperature loss

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Jiang Feifei¡¯s original intention was to ease the awkwardness, but she didn¡¯t expect Cai meiwen¡¯s cold attitude to further escte the awkwardness.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun scratched their heads. It didn¡¯t seem appropriate to make a silly move to break the deadlock at this time.

    To be honest, even the well-informed elves were enraged by her words. They had already given her a way out, but she didn¡¯t appreciate it. If it weren¡¯t for little celery, they would have already mmed the table and stood up ¡­ They had never seen such an ungrateful person!

    Richard was already holding back his vulgarities.

    Jiang Feifei stood in ce andughed.¡±What a pity ¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was also a little upset, but how should he put it? maybe some parents really did value their children¡¯s academic performance more than anything else. This was not wrong. After all, thepetition and pressure in today¡¯s society were too great. If one suffered more when they were young and endured more loneliness, they would be more likely to be a man of high status when they grew up. They would be more likely to obtain a beautiful and happy life. No matter how ideal they were, it was difficult to be happy without money in modern society.

    Little celery lowered her head in disappointment and responded in an almost inaudible voice,¡±¡±Mm ¡­¡±

    Cai meiwen¡¯s face was cold, and she didn¡¯t exin further. She pretended not to notice the piercing gazes around her.

    That¡¯s right, whether it was today or time going back in time, she would refuse little celery¡¯s request to keep a pet. They could be good people and y the good cop, so she would be the good cop.

    The atmosphere in the store was so awkward that it was hard to breathe. The staff couldn¡¯t wait to escape from the scene and find work for themselves. Obviously, there was no need to add ice cubes next door, but Wang Qian and Li Kun quickly ran over to take a breath. Lu Yiyun and Jiang Feifei also kept wring and changing the rags.

    Cai meiwen didn¡¯t feel good either. She only hoped that the storm would stop so that the mother and daughter could leave this ce as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the heavens didn¡¯t grant her wish.

    At this time, famous, who was lying on the stairs, suddenly stood up and barked. It turned to look at the second floor and said,¡±¡±It seems like dimir has returned ¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s attention was suddenly diverted. He had confidence in dimir, but it had just recovered from its injury, and its physical strength had not yet fully recovered. The violence of the typhoon was far beyond his imagination, so he had been very nervous.

    ¡°I¡¯m going upstairs for a while. If there¡¯s anything you need, just let the staff know. ¡± He said to Cai meiwen, then hurried back to the second floor. Because the ss window was closed, dimir couldn¡¯te in even if it came back, unless it broke the ss with a punch.

    He came to the storage room that was filled with water, put on his raincoat, and opened the window.

    The rain outside was even more violent than before. The storm had already turned into uninterrupted thin threads that connected the sky and the earth. The puddles on the streets were about 30 to 40 centimeters deep and were extremely chaotic. Vortexes had even formed in some ces, and all kinds of debris were floating in the direction of the sea along with the water.

    On the roof of the Wuling Hong Guang MPV, dimir was sitting like a drenched chicken. Beside it was a stray cat that seemed to be only a few months old.

    Seeing the window open, dimir grabbed the fur at the back of the stray cat¡¯s neck from the back, and then jumped in through the open window.

    Zhang Zian immediately closed the window.

    ¡°dimir, you ¡­¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see if it can still be saved!¡± dimir sneezed and spoke first.

    It was too dark on the second floor, so Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have time to ask more questions. He carefully picked up the stray cat and quickly walked downstairs.

    ¡°Little celery, put away your exercise book first! First aid kit!¡±

    He did not bother to exin and quickly issued an order.

    Little celery put the lop-eared rabbit on the ground, quickly put the exercise book washi, and pen into her bag, and emptied the cashier desk.

    Lu Yiyun put down her work, took the first aid kit, and put on disposable gloves, ready to help at any time.

    With the light of the emergency light, everyone could see the dying stray cat. Its forehead seemed to have been hit. There was a wound, but it was no longer bleeding.

    Zhang Zian quickly checked the other parts of its body, but he didn¡¯t find any more wounds. The wound on its forehead wasn¡¯t deep, so it shouldn¡¯t be fatal. The problem was that its body was too cold.

    He touched the meaty pad of its paw. It was very cold.

    Drenched, dimir jumped onto the cash register and asked anxiously,¡±¡±How is it? Can you give it some dog¡¯s blood, like I did?¡±

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t a veterinarian, but he knew as much as veterinarians about first aid. In fact, he knew even more about it.

    The stray cat¡¯s problem was not blood loss, but its low body temperature.

    He took out the stethoscope from the first aid kit and ced it on the stray cat¡¯s chest. Its heartbeat was very weak.

    ¡°I¡¯m using the electric heater ¡­¡±

    Old time tea didn¡¯t use the electric nket in the summer, so it was always idle. He raised his hand and pointed at the electric nket, but then he realized that there was no power in Xuxu. What was the use of an electric nket?

    Without electricity, the electric kettle couldn¡¯t be used, and he couldn¡¯t use a warm bath to warm it up quickly.

    Without power, the hairdryer couldn¡¯t be used, so it couldn¡¯t dry its hair as soon as possible.

    Without electricity, he couldn¡¯t do anything!

    Zhang Zian ran to the kitchen on the second floor and tried to turn on the gas stove, but it didn¡¯t start. It should be that themunity or the government department was worried that the natural gas pipeline would be damaged by the typhoon and cause danger, so the gas supply was interrupted. It could also be that the pipeline had been damaged.

    ¡°Xiaoyun, take off your gloves. Let¡¯s hug its body together!¡±

    He went downstairs and simply wiped the stray cat¡¯s body with a towel. He put his palms together and hugged the lower part of its body in an O-shape, demonstrating to Lu Yiyun.

    Lu Yiyun immediately took off her disposable gloves and put her hands together, hugging the upper part of its body in an O-shape, using their body temperatures to keep it warm.

    This method was ast resort. Perhaps it was more effective for humans with low body temperature because humans didn¡¯t have that much hair on the surface of their body, which could transmit temperature directly from the skin to the skin. On the other hand, cats had dense and wet hair, and arge part of the heat was wasted on evaporating the water in the hair. It was toote to cut the hair temporarily.

    ¡°Call Wang Qian and Li Kun over,¡±

    He said after a while.

    Jiang Feifei immediately ran to the next room and called the two boys who were ying dead.

    ¡°The two of you, rub your palms together and take over from us.¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun¡¯s brains were not bright, but their execution was impable. They immediately began to rub their palms together, and soon ¡­ ck mud was rubbed out.

    Zhang Zian and Lu Yiyun¡¯s palms were already wet and cold, so they let Wang Qian and Li Kun, who were rubbing their palms, take over. Then they wiped their hands with towels, rubbed their palms, and took over from Wang Qian and Li Kun again.

    The task of adding ice and absorbing water all fell on Jiang Feifei¡¯s shoulders. She was so busy that she could fly.

    At this time, a pair of small hands reached out from the side and held the stray cat¡¯s paws. Each hand held a pair of front and back legs, and the palm was pressed against the meat pad.

    Little celery bit her lips.¡±I¡¯ll help too!¡±

 Chapter 1695

    Chapter 1695: Chapter 1695-unreasonable

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Little celery was worried that her mother wouldn¡¯t agree, so she stole a nce at her mother¡¯s face.

    Cai meiwen frowned. No matter what, it wasn¡¯t appropriate for her to object to such a loving act of saving small animals. She only said,¡±¡±This cat doesn¡¯t look very clean. You have to wash your handster.¡±

    Little celery nodded quickly.

    Taking advantage of his temporary free hands, Zhang Zian found a dry towel and dried dimir¡¯s hair, which was drenched like a drenched chicken, in case it caught a cold and fell sick, as its physical strength had not yet fully recovered. The hairdryer could not be used, so he could only wipe the outeryer of hair randomly. He could not do anything about the deeperyers of hair.

    dimir didn¡¯t let him wipe it for too long and said in resistance,¡±¡±It¡¯s more important to save it first, I¡¯m fine!¡±

    Zhang Zian had to find another dry towel and let it wrap its body.

    The generator in the aquarium next door didn¡¯t have enough power, so it could only maintain the operation of low-power equipment such as the water pump and oxygen pump. Otherwise, boiling a pot of water at thest minute might solve the urgent need. Now, they could only use the most primitive method to keep the stray cat warm.

    Zhang Zian pretended to talk to himself,¡±¡±I wonder how the other stray cats are doing in this terrible weather ¡­¡±

    He was actually asking dimir in an obscure way.

    dimir¡¯s heart was heavy.¡±I have asked all the stray cats in the city to run to a safe high ce to take refuge, such as the corridors of high-rise residences or high-rise buildings under construction. They must be strong and can shelter from the rain. If it really can¡¯t be done, even if they are thick-skinned and go into other people¡¯s houses, it will be fine, but definitely not all cats can make it in time ¡­ I met this guy on the road. It seems to have been hit by a falling branch.¡±

    It couldn¡¯t be helped. Even humans couldn¡¯t prepare for this sudden Typhoon, not to mention stray cats. However, stray cats also had their advantages. They had strong climbing abilities and a soft body that allowed them to squeeze into narrow gaps. As long as they could climb to high ces, they would not be washed away by the sewage.

    It was not clear what the situation of the stray dogs in the suburbs was like. The stray dogs were big and strong, and they were used to the wind and rain. When their fur was soaked in water, they would shake their bodies to shake off the water, so their situation might be better than the stray cats.

    ¡°With such a terrible natural disaster, it is inevitable that there will be casualties. What is more worthy of vignce is that after a great disaster, there will often be a major epidemic. Storms and floods have drowned many animals, and garbage is overflowing. In addition, the weather is not cool yet. After the flood subsides, there may be arge number of rats and fleas, so I n to buy some medicine online to prevent the outbreak of infectious diseases.¡± He said in a low voice.

    He nned to buy medicine for cats and dogs online, not for humans. The staff didn¡¯t understand and wondered if it was that serious.

    dimir nodded. It would distribute the medicine for the stray cats.

    As for the stray dogs, he would definitely have to rely on little white.

    If arge number of stray cats and dogs died because of infectious diseases, the rotting corpses would also aggravate the epidemic faced by the residents of Coast City. Therefore, helping stray cats and dogs was helping the residents indirectly.

    A few people surrounded the cash register, and Jiang Feifei even took some time out of her busy schedule to help them.

    Little celery held the stray cat¡¯s paws tightly and kept breathing into her palm, trying to help it recover its body temperature as soon as possible, but her little hand was wet and cold.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do it. You go wash your hands. ¡±

    Cai meiwen walked to the side, held little celery¡¯s hand, and pulled her hand away from the cat¡¯s paw.

    Little celery looked up and smiled at her mother, then obediently went to wash her hands.

    Zhang Zian subconsciously said, thank you ¡­¡±

    ¡°No need to thank me. I didn¡¯t do it to help you.¡± Cai meiwen took advantage of her daughter¡¯s short absence and whispered,¡±¡±I just don¡¯t want this cat to die in front of little celery.¡±

    When the staff who were busy rescuing the stray cats heard this, they all felt that she was too unreasonable and too hard-hearted, and they developed a sense of disgust for her.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart was moved. After all, he had seen and heard too many stories about humans and pets since he was a child. Some of the customers who came to the Pet Shop had pets for a while. Their previous pets ¡­

    ¡°Did you have a pet before?¡± He asked.

    Her expression changed. Although she instantly regained her calm, her voice still trembled slightly,¡±No.¡±

    Little celery ran back after washing her hands and asked with concern,¡±¡±How¡¯s Xiao Mao?¡±

    Now it was Wang Qian and Li Kun¡¯s turn to keep the stray cat warm. Wang Qian, who was in charge of holding the front half of its body, suddenly shouted,¡±¡±Master! I don¡¯t think I can feel its heartbeat!¡±

    Zhang Zian quickly put the stethoscope on its chest and listened to its heartbeat.

    There was only silence in the stethoscope.

    Everyone looked at him nervously.

    A few secondster, he took off his stethoscope and shook his head.¡±Everyone has worked hard. It¡¯s a pity ¡­ It was soaked in the water for too long and we couldn¡¯t save it.¡±

    The staff all sighed in regret and went to wash their hands.

    Little celery looked at everyone in confusion. After a while, she seemed to understand something. She pulled Zhang Zian¡¯s arm and asked,¡±is the kitten ¡­ Dead?¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded.¡±It¡¯s dead.¡±

    Little celery lowered her head and stared at the dead stray cat.

    She tried to save it, but failed. Her palm still had the soft touch of its pad, as if a life had just slipped through the gaps of her fingers.

    ¡°Let¡¯s save it again? Is that alright? Maybe it¡¯s not dead yet?¡± She pulled Zhang Zian with tears in her eyes and said unwillingly.

    Zhang Zian squatted down,¡±little celery, it¡¯s dead ¡­¡±

    Unexpectedly, his words caused Cai meiwen topletely explode.

    ¡°Why? Why did you bring this stray cat in?¡± She shouted with all her might, her hair that had been hastily dried made her look like she had gone crazy.¡±You obviously can¡¯t save it, so why did you bring it in? Wouldn¡¯t it be better to just let it die outside? Why did you have to die in front of us!¡±

    Little celery was sad about the death of the stray cat. Tears were welling up in her eyes, but she was scared away by her mother¡¯s roar.

    The shop assistants all poked their heads out of the pet shower room with pale faces, thinking that a fight was about to happen. The key was, why was there a fight? Wasn¡¯t he fine just now?

    The Elfins stood up one after another. They hadn¡¯t seen anyone who dared to cause trouble in the Pet Shop for a long time. Was this woman crazy? The stray cat died, and Zhang Zian was to me? Who could know in advance if it could be saved? Could it be that he wouldn¡¯t save them just because he might not be able to? What kind of logic was that?

    Zhang Zian was also shocked when she started to scream, but by the time she finished, he had calmed down.

    ¡°Is this the real reason you don¡¯t want little celery to have a pet? If you¡¯re destined to experience a painful separation, why don¡¯t you not have it from the beginning?¡±

    In the face of her seemingly unreasonable usation, he didn¡¯t yell back. Instead, he said very calmly,¡±

 Chapter 1696

    Chapter 1696: Chapter 1696-love separation

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian clearly remembered that when business had just taken a turn for the betterst year, a father had brought his son, who was in primary school, to the Pet Shop. He wanted to buy his son a dog, and he didn¡¯t have many requirements for the type of dog, as long as his son liked it.

    The child usually lived in the city. Because his parents were busy with work, he would be sent back to his hometown in the countryside during the summer vacation and let his grandfather take care of him.

    At first, the little boy, who was used to city life, was out of tune with vige life. However, his grandfather had a big yellow Dog, which was very obedient and not fierce at all. The little boy often liked dogs, so he naturally yed with the dog. They went to the river to catch fish and shrimp together, caught grasshoppers and butterflies together, and yed wildly in the fields together ¡­ Leaving behind a summer vacation full of beautiful memories.

    In theing semester, the little boy would return to the vige during the holidays. He would stick to the big yellow Dog all day long and enjoy the happiness that he would never experience in the city.

    The little boy grew up year by year, and the big yellow Dog grew older by the year. It gradually couldn¡¯t keep up with the little boy¡¯s running, and only a few teeth were left.

    When the summer vacationst year ended, the little boy returned to the city. He thought that such a life would continue forever. However, the day after he left, the big yellow Dog died. It was as if it had been holding on until he left.

    Even though they had only spent two or three months together in a year, and even though he didn¡¯t see the big yellow Dog die with his own eyes, the little boy still suffered indescribable pain. It was so painful that even his father couldn¡¯t bear to watch him die. He decided to take him to the Pet Shop to pick a new dog. No matter how expensive the dog he chose was, he would buy it for him as long as it could make up for the trauma in his heart.

    If the little boy had grown up with the big yellow Dog, wouldn¡¯t the pain he had to endure be several times more than this?

    If ¡­ If the Father had predicted this ending in advance, would he still let his son go back to his hometown in the countryside for the summer vacation? Would big yellow still be his son¡¯s ymate?

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know. He had never asked his father, and there were no ifs in history.

    Among the customers who came to the Pet Shop, there were some who were new to raising a pet for the first time. They were always full of longing to have their own pet. There were also people who had raised a pet before. Some of them gave their pet away for some reason and now they wanted to raise it again. Some of them were lost or stolen, and some were dead.

    Zhang Zian had dealt with countless customers, and he could always identify certain customers from the clues. After entering the store, they would always stare at a certain type of cat or dog, as if they had seen something very familiar. Sometimes, they would stare at it until their eyes turned red ¡­ It was not their first time raising a pet, and they liked it very much. Some people repeatedly asked about the lifespan of a certain pet and bought it home, while others shook their heads and left after hesitating.

    There were a lot of customers like this. They had all been in pain from losing their beloved pets. Some of them tried to make up for the pain by raising new pets, while others still liked pets, or even more than the former, but their hearts could not bear the second blow.

    The little boy and his son belonged to the former, and Cai meiwen probably belonged to thetter.

    She didn¡¯t stop her daughter from having a pet because she was afraid that it would affect her studies. At least, that wasn¡¯t the only reason.

    She had once lost her pet and had experienced an unforgettable pain, so she would never want her daughter to experience the same pain.

    If having something meant separation, then it was fine as long as he didn¡¯t have it.

    Although she was screaming in the Pet Shop, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t me her, nor was he angry with her. How could he me a mother who tried her best to protect her daughter?

    She wasn¡¯t hard-hearted, but if needed, she was willing to y the bad guy. Although her daughter would me her in her heart,pared to the pain of losing the one she loved, what was this?

    He understood why she had lost herposure, but the staff didn¡¯t understand, the elves didn¡¯t understand, and little celery didn¡¯t understand.

    After all, Wang Qian and Li Kun were young and impetuous. They couldn¡¯t stand it anymore and were about to curse at her on the spot, but they were stopped by Lu Yiyun and Jiang Feifei. Otherwise, it was a small matter for them to scold her, but how could little celery face them in the future?

    After a short silence, little celery finally burst into tears.

    ¡°Mom, don¡¯t be angry ¡­ Sob ¡­ It¡¯s all my fault. I don¡¯t want to have a pet anymore ¡­ Sob ¡­¡± Little celery couldn¡¯t stop her tears from flowing out. She hugged her mother¡¯s thigh and begged.

    Cai meiwen¡¯s expression was extremely unsightly. Her chest heaved up and down, and her lips trembled, but she couldn¡¯t say a word.

    She didn¡¯t expect that Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes were so sharp that he could see through the real reason why she refused to let little celery have a pet, and also the secret she had hidden in her heart for many years.

    He could only say, as expected of the pet store manager?

    ¡°Little celery, don¡¯t cry. Your mother is not angry with you. On the contrary, she loves you more than anyone else in the world.¡± Zhang Zian walked over and patted little celery¡¯s shoulder.

    Little celery sobbed and looked up at her mother¡¯s face with tears in her eyes, as if she was trying to confirm Zhang Zian¡¯s words.

    A clear stream of tears silently fell from the corner of Cai meiwen¡¯s eyes and dripped on little celery¡¯s face. Then, like a flood that had broken the dam, she squatted down and suddenly pulled little celery into her arms, crying her heart out.

    The excited staff and elves were all dumbfounded by her crying.

    What was going on? A few seconds ago, she looked like she was looking for trouble and was about to quarrel. Now, she made it seem as if she had lost the argument, but they had not even retaliated yet!

    Little celery didn¡¯t know what to do. She didn¡¯t know why her mother suddenly cried, so she could only cry with her mother.

    Zhang Zian gave the staff a look, meaning to tell them not to look around. It was not convenient to exin now. Let¡¯s just do what we have to do. Maybe she will exin herself when she is done crying.

    In just a few seconds, a lot of water had seeped in through the crack in the door. In order to avoid the sewage that spread through the door, the kittens all shrank into the depths of the shop, or climbed to the top of the disy cab or the shelves.

    Zhang Zian and the staff worked in a flurry, wiping and sucking with a mop, and finally temporarily clearing the sewage that hade in.

    Cai meiwen gradually stopped crying and gently patted her daughter¡¯s back.¡±Little celery, be good. Don¡¯t cry. Don¡¯t hurt your eyes. Wipe your tears. Mom isn¡¯t angry with you.¡±

    After coaxing little celery for a while, she helped little celery wipe her tears, turned to Zhang Zian, and said,¡±¡±You¡¯re right, I¡¯ve had a pet before,¡±

    Little celery was so surprised that she stopped crying.¡±Mom ¡­ You have a pet before?¡± she asked.

    Cai meiwen nodded.¡±It was a long time ago.¡±

 Chapter 1697

    Chapter 1697: The problem girl

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    A long, long time ago, when Cai meiwen was still in junior high school, her family had a puppy. She didn¡¯t want to raise it, but one day, after school, she saw a puppy in her house. Her parents exined that it was her aunt¡¯s dog, but because she moved to the sixth floor, it was too tired to walk the dog every day, so she didn¡¯t want to raise it. She came over and asked if they wanted to raise it. If they didn ¡®t, they would send it to the countryside.

    Her parents saw that the puppy was quite clever, and they had the mentality that it would be a waste not to buy it, so they kept it. Anyway, her aunt said that dogs were very easy to raise. They could be raised by feeding it some leftovers, and it could also help look after the house.

    At that time, the real pet industry China didn¡¯t exist yet. People raised pets blindly,cked relevant knowledge, andcked channels to understand the relevant knowledge, unlike now, where you could find out everything by searching online ¡­ And at that time, most people were not financially well-off. They even fed cats with leftovers, not to mention dogs.

    At that time, Cai meiwen ¡­ Was probably in her rebellious phase. She was very rebellious and didn¡¯t like her parents and teachers. She hung out with a few of her best friends all day. She dyed her hair, smoked, put on lipstick, wore ear studs, skipped ss, and swore ¡­ She was a problem girl.

    Whether it was little celery or Zhang Zian, or anyone who knew Cai meiwen now, it was impossible for them to imagine what she looked like at that time. Even she herself sometimes dreamed of herself at that time, and when she woke up, she would wonder who the strange girl was. Had he been possessed by a Vixen or Huang Daxian?

    In fact, this was very normal. A person¡¯s personality would change. Or rather, a person originally had many personalities, but at different times, they focused on one. Weren¡¯t many people¡¯s personalities very different in reality and on the inte?

    In short, at that time, Cai meiwen didn¡¯t even like her parents, so of course, she didn¡¯t like this uninvited dog. As for the reason ¡­ Did rebellious teenagers need a reason?

    If one had to find a reason, it might be that her living space had been upied. After all, her house was notrge. It was themon two-bedroom one living room at that time. Theyout was so terrible that it made people wonder if the designer¡¯s head had been mped byckeys. The walls and doors were as thin as paper. At night, they often heard some sounds that should not be heard. Of course, it was the sound of her parents sighing for her, a problematic girl, and not any other sound that could easily cause people to think wrongly.

    When Cai meiwen entered and saw the puppy, she was so angry that she immediately flew into a rage. She asked,¡±why didn¡¯t you discuss it with me before raising a dog?¡± Am I not a member of this family? I don¡¯t agree with keeping a dog. You guys send it back, back to where it came from!

    Her parents were in a difficult position. Her aunt had left for a long time, and she had already promised her. How could she go back on her words? So they didn¡¯t agree. Instead, they told her that this puppy was so cute and that they would let her stay to relieve her boredom.

    She didn¡¯t want to keep a pet at all, and she didn¡¯t like this dog. Although she didn¡¯t know what kind of dog it was at that time, she could tell at first nce that it was a mixed-hair dog. It didn¡¯t look expensive at all. With her aunt¡¯s poor family, how could she keep an expensive dog, and how could she give it away?

    The dog was also frightened by her thunderous voice and shrank under the coffee table, not daring toe out, which made her sneer at it even more ¡­ Of course, if the dog was not afraid of her voice and bravely barked at her a few times, she would have more reasons to send it away. Anyway, as long as it was not pleasing to the eye, there would always be a reason.

    She angrily returned to her bedroom and mmed the door. She then picked up her bag and threw it on her bed to vent her dissatisfaction.

    Her parents were already used to her being like this. They kept sighing outside. She was such a cute and obedient girl when she was young. How did she grow up to be like this? Who did he learn this from? What was he going to do in the future?

    Cai meiwen pressed her head down with a pillow, not wanting to hear those old words. She didn¡¯t even hear them when they asked her to eat.

    What would they do in the future? In the future, of course, he would lead a happy life in the pugilistic world. He did not want to live a life like them, where they worked for nothing!

    She was deeply influenced by the newsstands that sold pirated Hong Kong and Taiwan books at the school gate. She was immersed in unrealistic fantasies about the future. In her mind, she sketched out an illusory image of herself being able to get wind and rain as she pleased, and slowly fell asleep.

    After an unknown period of time, she woke up from hunger.

    When she got up from the bed, she saw that it was already dark outside, and it was also dark inside.

    She turned on the light and walked out of the bedroom with sleepy eyes.

    ¡°Mom, I¡¯m hungry!¡±

    There was no response.

    The living room and master bedroom were also dark, and only the moonlight shone in from the balcony.

    She turned on the light in the living room and saw a note on the dining table.

    Her parents had gone to the night shift and left her a message telling her to leave dinner in the pot and heat it up before eating. They told her not to eat cold food, as it would ruin her stomach. They also told her to lock the door after she woke up and to go to bed early after eating. It was all clich¨¦ talk and nothing new.

    Her father was a factory worker and had three shifts. Her mother was a nurse in the hospital and often had to work the night shift. It was not unusual for them to go out on the same day to work the night shift.

    At that time, incandescent lights consumed a lot of power, and their lives were not well-off. It was not like now, when no one was at home, the night lights were still on, and the lights were turned off when they went out.

    She threw the note away and walked into the kitchen with a yawn, ready to eat.

    The lights in the kitchen were not on, but there was moonlight. After all, it was a home he was very familiar with. He would not go the wrong way even if he closed his eyes. He could find the location of his things in the dark.

    She opened the lid of the pressure cooker, and there was a steamer in it. Oneyer was rice, and the otheryer was vegetables, but because it had been left there for too long, it had already turned cold.

    Taking advantage of her young age and good health, she ignored her parents ¡®advice. She found it troublesome to cook hot food, so she directly brought out the dishes and nned to eat them cold.

    Compared to this, she had been thinking about what to do tonight. Of course, she couldn¡¯t do her homework. It would be embarrassing to do it. Why don¡¯t she have a long phone call with her best friend?

    At that time, the phone bill was more expensive, and she only had a fixed phone at home. Because she was always on the phone, the monthly call fee was very high. Her parents had already warned her seriously that if she continued to talk on the phone, they would dismantle the phone.

    As she was thinking about something else, she absent-mindedly took out a bowl and chopsticks from the cupboard. She had just turned around and taken a step when her ankle rubbed against something furry.

    ¡°Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!¡±

    She screamed and threw the bowl and chopsticks in her hand, which broke on the ground with a bang.

    That thing was also shocked and quickly ran out of the kitchen. Only then did she see that it was the puppy. She had forgotten about it after sleeping.

    ¡°Damn dog! Why are you scaring me?¡± She roared in anger.

    The puppy shrank back under the coffee table, only revealing its head to look at her in fear.

    The bowl shattered on the floor. It was not an empty bowl. It was filled with rice and vegetables. She had nned to eat while watching TV, but now it was all smashed on the floor.

    Fortunately, her parents had left more food for her today than usual. There was still food in the pot, so she was not hungry.

    ¡°I¡¯ll deal with you after I¡¯m full!¡± She red at it fiercely.

    She scooped another bowl of food and brought it to the living room. She turned on the TV and ate while watching the TV. After she finished eating, she threw the empty bowl on the dining table and waited for her parents toe back from work to clean it.

    As for the broken bowl and the food on the ground, she didn¡¯t care.

    Soon, she was immersed in the world of wuxia and variety shows. She was so fascinated that she giggled as she watched, or was infatuated with handsome male stars.

    At about Teno¡¯ clock in the evening, the TV series and variety shows had finished broadcasting. She was thirsty and stood up from the sofa to get a ss of water.

    At this moment, she suddenly saw that the leftovers on the ground had disappeared. They had almostpletely disappeared.

    The puppy licked its lips and looked at her with satisfaction.

    ¡°Woof! This dog is lucky!¡±

    She pursed her lips. This was good. At least her parents would have lessints when they came home tomorrow.

    She went to the kitchen to pour some water, and it followed her into the kitchen. It stared at the cup in her hand, as if it was thirsty.

    She gulped down a ss of cold water, ignoring its sad eyes.

    Wu~

    At this moment, it whimpered and turned to look at the door.

    The TV was still on, and the sound was quite loud. Cai meiwen didn¡¯t notice anything unusual, and she ignored the dog. After drinking the water, she sat back on the sofa and changed the channel in boredom.

    Once it was past 10:30 pm, there were no more interesting programs. She changed all the TV stations that she could receive, and the boring programs made her sleepy.

    Forget it, I¡¯ll just call my best friend. It shouldn¡¯t be a problem to call less.

    The phone was also ced in the living room, not far from the TV. If you wanted to make a call, you had to turn off the TV or lower the volume, otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t be able to hear clearly.

    She turned off the TV, picked up the phone, and was about to dial when she suddenly noticed that the puppy was still staring at the door. It would wagged its tail at her asionally, then continue to stare at the door.

    ¡°Is this dog stupid?¡± She sneered.¡±You don¡¯t want to stay in this house anymore? You want to run back to your original home? Alright, then I¡¯ll let you out!¡±

    She smacked her forehead. She was really muddled from anger. Why did she only think of such a great idea now?

    If she opened the door and let it run away, she could tell her parents that it ran away through the crack in the door when she opened the door to school. Wouldn¡¯t that be easy to get rid of it?

    She immediately walked to the door, nning to open the door and drive it away.

    When her parents went to work, they locked the door from the inside. However, the locks at that time were rtively simple and useless in the eyes of people who knew how to pick locks, unlike the Beyond B grade lock that was popr now. So, they told her to plug in the bolt after she woke up as a double safety.

    Wuwuwu~

    The puppy seemed to be a little restless and kept running in circles.

    Her hand had already touched the lock and was about to twist it open.

    Woof!

    It had not made a sound since it entered the house, but it suddenly made a sound and faced the door.

    There was a corridor outside the door. They lived in the family residential area of the factory.

    The voice-controlled lights outside the door lit up, and a ck shadow seemed to sh in the door mirror. Then, a series of footsteps quickly disappeared down the stairs.

    Cai meiwen didn¡¯t put her eyes on the door mirror at that time, so she didn¡¯t see clearly what the ck shadow was. However, her heart instinctively trembled, and her palms were covered in cold sweat. Her hands unconsciously moved to the bolt, but not only did she not unlock it, but she also gently locked it.

    She was rebellious, but she was not stupid. She was also afraid.

    Judging from the height of the door mirror from the ground, the ck shadow could only be a person.

    Who had walked over?

    Her house was on the fourth floor, and there were two floors above hers. The factory employees and their families lived on the first and second floor. Due to the three-shift working system, it wasmon for them to go out or go home in the middle of the night after the night shift.

    Therefore, the ck shadow was probably just a neighbor who was on a night shift and happened to pass by her house.

    The problem was that when people went up and down the stairs at night, they would usually stomp or cough to wake up the voice-controlled light to avoid stepping on the stairs. However, she didn¡¯t hear the person cough or stomp.

    Of course, it was also possible that she didn¡¯t hear the man stomping his feet when she had the TV on. The voice-controlled light turned off when the man passed by her house, and the barking of the dog woke up the voice-controlled light. This seemed to be a reasonable exnation.

    But what if he wasn ¡®t?

    She suddenly shivered. While she was watching the TV andughing, had that person been quietly waiting at the door, standing in the dark, listening to the movements in the room?

    Excluding the possibility of temporary shifts, the shift schedule in the factory was public and could be seen by everyone. There was also a certain pattern to the nurses ¡®night shifts, so those who were observant could actually know when her parents went out, when they came home, and when they would work the night shift at the same time. This included the working hours of the neighbors upstairs and downstairs.

    Speaking of that era, people nowadays often missed how sweet the fruits were and how simple life was. In fact, that was not the case at all. The public security situation at that time was much worse than it was now. However, because there was no inte, the news was blocked, and the information blockade was very serious. Therefore, even if there were major murders, few ordinary people knew about it. Everyone thought that they were living in a peaceful world and did not know how to be vignt.

    It was the same for Cai meiwen. She had never been in any danger since she was a child. In her impression, the workers in this familypound were all petty and disobedient. This night was the first time she felt afraid of the silence of the night, afraid of being alone.

    Usually, she wished her parents would work 24 hours a day so that they could just cook for her and not be an eyesore at home. But now, she desperately wanted them toe home at thest minute.

    She stared at the door. The door mirror had turned ck again, the voice-controlled light had gone out, and the corridor was dark.

    If she suddenly coughed loudly and turned on the voice-controlled light, would she see ¡­ A ferocious face in the door mirror?

    She took a few steps back, afraid to make a sound.

    Creak.

    Her slippers stepped on a broken bowl, making a light sound.

    The sound was too soft, and the sound detector was not as sensitive.

    Wu~

    Her ankle rubbed against something furry again. It was the puppy.

    It seemed to have rxed. It licked its lips and stared at her, asionally turning to look at the kitchen.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    She tiptoed into the kitchen and filled a te with water for it.

    It licked the water and wagged its tail.

    At least, she didn¡¯t n to let it out tonight.

 Chapter 1698

    Chapter 1698: Leave of absence

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Heatstroke, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, no updates tonight.

    His buddies tried to understand. After all, it wasn¡¯t easy to move bricks in a construction site on a hot day.

    In addition, I wish puqun¡¯s bookworm, stressed by a mountain of books, a Happy Birthday.

 Chapter 1699

    Chapter 1699: Chapter 1698-unspoken proof

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    That night, Cai meiwen didn¡¯t sleep well the entire night. She was extremely sensitive, and she would always wake up when she heard movement at the door the moment she closed her eyes.

    The door was very thin. It was not made of solid wood, but twoyers of hollow thin wooden boards that were glued together. It was a defense against gentlemen but not against viins. An adult man could probably knock a hole in it with force. However, to avoid waking the neighbors, picking the lock might be a better way. After all, the lock was easy to pick.

    It wasn¡¯t until dawn that she heard the sound of cleaners sweeping the streets downstairs that her tensed nerves finally rxed and she fell asleep.

    This sleep had caused her to sleep past her Normal School hours. She only woke up when her parents came home from the night shift.

    In the past, she had only secretly skipped ss. When her parents saw that she was stillzing in bed, they thought that she had fallen to the extent of skipping ss openly. When they saw the broken bowl pieces on the floor, they were instantly furious.

    Cai meiwen told them aboutst night¡¯s incident in a panic, saying that a strange man was loitering at the door of her house. However, their eyes were full of suspicion. They clearly took it as an excuse for her to skip ss and didn¡¯t believe a single word. They told her not to think too much and to hurry to school.

    It was no wonder they didn¡¯t believe her. Her usual lying and skipping sses had already made her credibility drop to the freezing point, just like the story of ¡°the wolf is here.¡±

    The only thing that could prove that she was not lying was a dog that could not speak.

    She was so angry that she almost went crazy. She shouted at them hysterically and went to school without even eating breakfast.

    The teachers were already used to her beingte and skipping sses, so they let her do whatever she wanted and pretended not to see it. Anyway, it didn¡¯t matter to them how bad she would be in the future. The teachers were also helpless. Once they were strict, the problem boys and girls would gather together and beat the teacher up without any reason.

    During the break, Cai meiwen told her best friends aboutst night¡¯s incident and asked them for help.

    Her best friends couldn¡¯te up with any good ideas either. A few of themughed and scolded her for being overly sensitive. The other best friends were a little more serious and asked her to inform them when her parents were working the night shift at the same time. They would go to her house to spend the night with her so that she wouldn¡¯t have to be afraid.

    As soon as she heard that, she felt that it made sense. The more people there were, the more courageous they would be. She no longer took this matter to heart.

    Having said that, she should have thought of it earlier. Just like her at that time, the credibility of her best friends was almost at the freezing point.

    Later, when her parents worked the night shift at the same time, the first time they came, three or four best friends came to apany her. The second time, only two or three came, and the third time, all of them found excuses to break the appointment. After all, they were still junior high school students at that time, and the social atmosphere was not so open, so their movements were limited. If they kept staying out all night, their parents would definitely not be able to bear it. Some of their best friends even got beaten up by their parents because of this.

    The most important thing was that nothing had happened during thest few nights, so gradually, everyone did not take it seriously.

    Cai meiwen could only spend the night alone again. Her disappointment with her best friends had also quietly changed her mentality. The so-called best friends of the same spirit were only so-so, who else could she rely on?

    As time went by, there was a subtle estrangement between her and her best friend. On the surface, they still hung out with each other every day, but after school, she had less and less phone contact with her best friend. Even if she did call asionally, it was someone else who called her.

    Her best friends seemed to have noticed herziness and gradually looked for her less.

    She had a lot more free time. When she was really bored, she would reluctantly read a book, especially at night when her parents were working the night shift at the same time. She did not dare to sleep, so she simply read aloud the Chinese or English texts until she fell asleep.

    She had gotten used to the existence of the mottled dog and no longer rejected it as strongly as she did at the beginning. Although most of the tasks of feeding and walking the dog were done by her parents, when they really couldn¡¯t find time, she would reluctantly help. At least, it was a living creature that could breathe when they were alone at night, right?

    Slowly, she realized that it wasn¡¯t that annoying. Other than being a little ugly, it never barked, never bit, and was never picky about its food. It ate whatever was avable and was easy to raise.

    No matter how she treated it coldly, it never seemed to be angry with her. As long as she fed it some food and water, it would happily wag its tail at her and rub against her calf. It only ran away when she half-seriously warned it not to pee on her leg ¡­

    Her parents had named the dog ¡°goody,¡± but she thought it was too uncouth and called it ¡°mottled hair¡± every time. However, no matter whether she called it ¡°goody¡± or ¡°mottled hair,¡± it would always run over happily.

    As time went on, more than half a year had passed. Although she was still often scared when she was alone at night, nothing had actually happened, so she began to wonder if she was really overthinking it.

    In the past six months, her image and behavior had changed a lot. She had distanced herself from the circle of problem girls and was not epted by the top students in the ss. She simply lived alone.

    After entering the third year of junior high school, in order to prepare for the high school entrance examination and increase the enrollment rate of key high schools, her school, like most schools, began to organize supplementary sses and evening self-study sessions, and it waspulsory for everyone to attend.

    The evening self-study sessionsted from 6 pm to 9:30 pm. By the time Cai meiwen got home on her bicycle, it was usually past 10 pm.

    One day, she finished her evening self-study as usual and rode her bike back to the family District. She locked her bike in the shed and hummed as she entered the building.

    She had thought that today was just an ordinary day, with only her mother working the night shift and her father watching a football game and drinking beer at home. But in fact, a few days ago, the factory had received a new order, and her father¡¯s work group had been arranged to work overtime at thest minute. She had to work the night shift tonight, but she didn¡¯t know that because they didn¡¯t have mobile phones at that time.

    Because of this, she didn¡¯t look up at her window before entering the building. If she had taken a look, she would have noticed that the light in the house was dark. If at least one of her parents was at home, they would have turned on the light and waited for her toe back before going to sleep.

    After entering the corridor, she stomped her feet. The sound-controlled lights on the first floor corridor lit up, and she strode upstairs.

    Then, it was the second floor.

    In the middle of the second and third floor, she stomped her feet, but to her surprise, the lights on the third floor were not on.

    She thought that the sound was too soft, so she stomped her foot harder, but the lights on the third floor were still not on.

    At that time, incandescentmps were powered by tungsten wires to an incandescent state to emit light and heat. Their life span was far worse than the LED lights today. The tungsten wires would break quickly after frequent turns on and off. Besides, the light bulbs used in the corridor were not high-end goods. Not only were they often broken, but they were often stolen home. It wasmon for the voice-controlled lights to not light up.

    She thought, the light bulb was broken again, or someone stole it? Really, he was too uncultured!

    This thought shed through her mind. She stopped for a second or two before she continued to go upstairs.

    What else could he do?

    Putting aside the fact that she thought her father was home, even if her parents were not home, was she going to stay out all night just because the lights on the third floor were not on? Where should I sleep?

    Since she was going to reach home soon, she quickened her pace. Just a few steps away from the third floor, she suddenly heard a dog barking from above.

    She immediately recognized that it was the barking of her dog. The sound was loud and angry, and it kept barking.

    It had never called out like this in the middle of the night.

    Like other dogs, mottled hair had a very sensitive hearing. Whether it was day or night, as long as a family stepped into the first or second floor, he could hear their footsteps and run to the door to wee them.

    It must have heard her footsteps, but why did it suddenly cry out, and in such a loud voice?

    Cai meiwen suddenly remembered that night she had almost forgotten, and her heart shivered. She stopped and didn¡¯t dare to go up. Instead, she held the railing and looked up.

    The loud dog barks lit up the lights on the first, second, and sixth floors, leaving only the third, fourth, and fifth floors dark.

    With the help of the faint light on the sixth floor, she seemed to see a figure on the fourth floor holding the railing and looking down at her. She could only see a vague outline, but she felt a great fear in her heart, as if she was being stared at by a poisonous snake.

    The figure retracted his head.

    The sound of footsteps.

    She screamed subconsciously, turned around, and ran as fast as she could. She ran out of the corridor and stopped at the guard room at the entrance of themunity.

    Perhaps some people would scoff at her and think that she was too timid. If she blocked the entrance of the corridor, wouldn¡¯t she be like a turtle in a jar? However, as a middle school girl, she was already very lucky that she didn¡¯t copse on the ground.

    After hearing herint, the guard of the neighborhood took his shlight and checked, but of course, he didn¡¯t see anything.

    Some of the neighbors in the building heard her scream and went out to check the situation, but they didn¡¯t see anything.

    In such a situation, it was obviously useless to call the police. She didn¡¯t see anything clearly and there was no substantial damage. What could the police do?

    The security guard of the neighborhood called her parents, and her parents hurriedly took a leave of absence toe back. Although they didn¡¯t believe her words, seeing her crying like a Pear Blossom bathed in rain, they still felt very distressed. Theyforted her a little and took her home to sleep.

    When she returned to the familiar home, mottled hair was still waiting at the door as usual, wagging his tail at her.

    To her parents ¡®surprise, she, who was usually cold to the mottled fur, suddenly held it in her arms and cried even more sadly than before.

    Because in this world, only mottled hair believed her, and only mottled hair was on her side.

    Since then, her rtionship with mottled hair had gotten better and better. She often fed it the meat her parents had given her when they were eating.

    It was not that her parents did not believe herpletely, but there was very little they could do. As long as they did not work the night shift, they would always wait for her at the door of the familypound after evening self-study and try their best to avoid working the night shift as much as possible. Other than that, as a civilian, there was no other way.

    When her parents worked the night shift at the same time, Cai meiwen would ask them to leave Zha Mao in the guard room when they went out. After night study, she would pick Zha Mao up from the guard room and go home with him. As long as she gave the guards a few packs of cigarettes or two bottles of ordinary white wine as a favor every month, the guards would be happy to help.

    After school, she returned to the neighborhood and beckoned to the guards. She locked her bicycle in the shed with mottled hair.

    In that era, there was no need to leash dogs, so no one had this awareness. Mottled hair was running around in front and behind her, so he was not too far away.

    When she arrived at the unit, she waited at the door and pointed to the corridor. The mottled hair seemed to understand her and ran into the building by himself. He ran to the fourth floor in one breath and only ran down happily after confirming that the building was safe. He went upstairs with her.

    Later, on a weekend afternoon, she took mottled hair downstairs to walk the dog and let it run and y by itself. She found a chair to sit down and memorize some words.

    After a while, she heard mottled hair bark. She looked up and saw that it was barking at a colleague, and it was very fierce.

    The colleague was wearing an ordinary work uniform. It was obvious that he had just gotten off work and had not changed his clothes. He was also wearing a cap, and his face was hidden in the shadow of the brim of the cap.

    The mottled fur stood a few steps away from him and barked at him. It even looked like it was going to rush up and bite him.

    The man was caught off guard and panicked, but this was normal. Who wouldn¡¯t panic when a dog barked at such a close distance?

    It was dusk, and there were many family members of the other workers who had just gotten off work in themunity who were taking a walk. Some of them were holding onto their dogs, and there were also many women with their children and babies.

    The man wanted to shake off the mottled hair and quickly move to the side, but the mottled hair followed closely and continued to bark.

    No one knew if he was panicking or deliberately doing it, but seeing that he couldn¡¯t shake off the stray hair, he ran specifically to the women with the children and carrying the babies, and kept shouting,¡±¡±What¡¯s wrong with this dog? Had he gone crazy? What did it mean to bite someone? Whose dog is this? No one cares?¡±

    The women were afraid that their children would be bitten by the dog. The timid ones ran away with their children, and the bold ones rushed forward to kick them. They also shouted at the dog to get lost.

    Several of them also knew mottled hair. They knew that this dog was usually very obedient and never barked or bit. However, how could a dog be reasonable when it went crazy?

    Cai meiwen was stunned for a moment. She immediately jumped up from her chair and rushed over to pick up mottled hair. She repeatedly apologized to the women around her and was even reprimanded.

    Some of the frightened womenforted her and said that she was fine, while others asked her to take care of her dogs. Some even pointed at the Mulberry and scolded her, digging up her past as a problematic girl. The implication was that ran ran¡¯s family upbringing was just like this. If she couldn¡¯t even teach her daughter well, what more a dog?

    To be honest, if she was still a problem girl, she wouldn¡¯t be afraid of these gossipmongers at all. She wouldn¡¯t be afraid whether they were scolding each other or rushing up to scratch her face and pull her hair. However, she was no longer the same person as before.

    Being surrounded by a group of women and criticizing him at the same time, even if Zhuge Liang were to be reborn, he would probably not be able to win against a group of women with his words, not to mention that the mottled hair was still crying out in her arms.

    When she squeezed out of the crowd with Zha Mao in her arms, Zha Mao finally stopped screaming. But when she looked around again, she couldn¡¯t find the shadow of her previous colleague.

    As arge state-owned enterprise, there were thousands of employees in the factory. It was not easy to find a person who did not even see his face clearly.

    Moreover, so what if they found it? What bad things had he done?

    The only person who knew the truth was a dog that couldn¡¯t speak.

 Chapter 1700

    Chapter 1700: Chapter 1699-two deaths

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    If this was a novel or movie, the following plot would be Cai meiwen fighting with the suspect with a bunch of stray hairs, finally bringing the criminal to justice without any danger, receiving high praise from the public and the school, and bing an excellent member of the Communist Youth League ¡­ But unfortunately, this was often not the case in real life.

    In real life, those who wanted to be heroes might not be heroes, but they would be the next victim of the criminals.

    She only had one life. She was just a third-year middle school female student, and a small dog that had not received any professional training. What were the chances of winning against a real criminal? He was probably just seeking his own death.

    In fact, after that evening when she met her suspicious colleague, it was like a roller coaster that had reached its peak and suddenly fell. Cai meiwen¡¯s life hadpletely returned to peace. Whether it was in the corridor after the evening self-study or when she was alone at homete at night, she didn¡¯t encounter anything that scared her. Even if there were some, it was quickly proven to be a misunderstanding.

    Not long after, she had to take her high school entrance exam and enter high school. She took this opportunity to bid farewell to her former problematic self. After that, she had to take three years of college entrance exams and five years of mock exams. She was so busy that she could sleep from day to night.

    Once, during lunch, his parents happened to be at home. The three of them chatted andughed as they ate. There was even a mottled dog under the table, ready to pick up any leftovers.

    With her return, her parents were, of course, more and more pleased. After getting rid of their biggest worry, the family atmosphere was much better. There was more joy andughter, and the family was happy and harmonious every day.

    They talked for a while about the school and her ns for the college entrance examination in the future. Although her parents wanted her to stay in the local university, she wanted to get into a better school as much as possible.

    It didn¡¯t matter if there were differences in opinions. There was still a long time before the college entrance examination anyway, so there was plenty of time to discuss it slowly.

    At this moment, someone knocked on the door. It was a neighbor from the neighborhoodmittee. Her father got up to receive him, and after Cai meiwen and her mother greeted the guests, they cleared the table.

    Cai meiwen kept putting the dishes into the sink and wiping the table with a rag. Her mother was washing the dishes in the kitchen.

    The guests were talking and she couldn¡¯t take an afternoon nap. She had nned to go back to her Room to Read a book after wiping the table and sleep after the guests left, but a few words from the guests caught her attention.

    It turned out that a vicious case had happened a few days ago in the neighborhood next door. The victim was a female student who attended the same junior high school as the other children nearby. It was also the junior high school that Cai meiwen attended. The murderer used self-made tools to break into the room andmit the crime when the victim¡¯s parents were not at home. He then fled overnight and was currently being arrested by the Public Security Bureau.

    There was no news of what the murderer had done. They only knew that the Public Security Bureau had used the word ¡°particrly cruel¡±. They could only be sure that the girl had died on the spot.

    In order to avoid causingrge-scale panic, the Public Security Bureau did not publicize the matter. Instead, they asked the housing Committee of the neighboringmunities to search for families with young girls in themunity and remind everyone to pay attention to safety in the next few days and not let the young girls be alone, in case the murderer was still hiding nearby and continued tomit crimes.

    His parents couldn¡¯t help but sigh after hearing this. A young girl in the prime of her youth with a bright future had withered just like that. How could it not make people feel sad?

    Cai meiwen¡¯s heart suddenly throbbed, and she almost dropped the bowl.

    She thought of those two nights and that evening again. It had only been one or two years, but it felt like a lifetime ago. Although the police didn¡¯t say it clearly, she had a hunch that the murderer might be the co-worker she had met before. He knew that he had been recognized and remembered by the punk, so he had to regretfully give up his original n and look for another target. Otherwise, she might have been the girl who was killed.

    After the neighbor left, her parents might have recalled her previous experience, but their dignity as adults made them y dumb and pretend to forget. Cai meiwen wanted to bring the murderer to justice and uphold justice for the girl she didn¡¯t know, but what could she do? And to be honest, she was scared and afraid of revenge.

    Death was something that she had nevere into contact with. She never thought that her first encounter with death would be due to the death of a girl of simr age. The ck wings of the Grim Reaper had once enveloped her head, so close to her that it was only a step away fromnding. If not for a little bit of luck, the one who would have died would not have been that girl, but her.

    From a certain perspective, that girl had died in her ce.

    The most terrifying thing was that the murderer was still atrge.

    This incident had a huge impact on her soul. Fear and guilt made her hide in the house for several days, not daring to go out or go to school. As long as there was the sound of footsteps outside the door, she would scream nervously.

    Her parents were very worried about her and no longer dared to say that her worries were groundless. They even took shifts and asked for leave with others, spending a few days at home to take care of her. At the same time, they were also worried that the murderer would return.

    However, her parents could only apany her for a while. They were all working ss, what would they eat and drink if they didn¡¯t work? They didn¡¯t have the money to buy a new house and move. Even if they did move, they couldn¡¯t just move as they pleased. Moreover, because they had taken a few days of leave in a row, they would have almost no leave to take for a period of time.

    After her parents went back to work, she was left alone at home. If she was alone, she might have stayed at home forever out of fear like the cocoon dwellers, but there was still mottle at home. No matter what, she had to go out for a walk.

    When it was time to walk the dog, even if she didn¡¯t want to go out, mottled hair would excitedly pull her out to have fun and solve her physiological problems.

    She believed in mottled hair. She could only believe in him. After all, he had saved her more than once.

    Since it was acting normal, then ¡­ There was probably no danger nearby.

    After sealing herself off for a few days, she finally tried to walk out of her home. It took her a long time before she managed to ovee her psychological fear and went back to school and sses. She also spent some time making up for the lost lessons.

    However, this city, which was her hometown, had left a psychological shadow in her heart. It made her secretly decide to enter a University in another city and usher in a new beginning in a new city.

    At that time, her parents had not retired yet, and they were unwilling to leave their hometown because of their deep affection for it. However, there must have been a ce in her vision for the future.

    Unfortunately, people in that eracked knowledge about pets. Although mottled hair was a puppy, it was only small in size. Neither she nor her parents knew that it was not young in terms of age. At that time, pet feeding wasn¡¯t scientific. High salt or leftovers mixed with food that were harmful to dogs were still fed to dogs. In addition, the pet medicine industry was just starting out, and people didn¡¯t know how to regrly give pets physical examinations, which led to a lower pet lifespan than it is now.

    Mottled hair died the same summer vacation when she received the eptance letter from Binhai University. He died without any warning. He might have died of old age or illness. His parents couldn¡¯t exin it clearly. They only said that he was fine when they walked the dog in the evening, but he didn¡¯t wake up the next morning, and his body was cold.

    At that time, she was on a graduation trip with her high school ssmates as a celebration. When she came back, the dog had already been buried, and she didn¡¯t even get to see it for thest time.

    Thinking back, the high school ssmates who went on the graduation trip with her said that they would travel together for life and that they would be friends forever, but ironically, these ssmates who had once sworn to be undying friends were now few and far between. She didn¡¯t even have a deep impression of them and couldn¡¯t even remember their faces clearly. Although Yingying¡¯s words were a little sorry for them, her impression of them added up was worse than mottle ¡®s.

    So, what was the point of this graduation trip?

    He didn¡¯t keep anything, not his youth that was destined to pass away, not even the mixed hair.

    To this day, she still suspected that the murderer, who had never been caught, had returned and poisoned the rascal who had ruined his ns time and time again because of his hatred.

    If she had not gone on the graduation trip but stayed at home instead, mottled hair might not have died. She had always been very careful and vignt when walking her dog with mottled hair. No matter which strange man approached her and mottled hair, she would stare at his face. However, her parents were very casual when walking the dog. They would always chat with their neighbors and co-workers and let mottled hair y by himself.

    Of course, this was only a suspicion. There was no evidence. Perhaps the stray hair had died of old age or illness and had nothing to do with the murderer. But even though she knew this, she couldn¡¯t contain the regret in her heart. She almost couldn¡¯t breathe when she thought of the bad attitude and behavior she had shown to the dog when it first came to this house.

    In her heart, she med her parents. She knew that she shouldn¡¯t have done this, but she wanted to find a scapegoat because of her remorse.

    The time they spent together was too short, and she was too busy with her studies. She didn¡¯t know how to cherish it at first, and it was toote for regrets after losing it.

    She had sessfully been admitted to her ideal University and had no academic pressure. The summer vacation after graduation was supposed to be a rose-colored color, but it was already covered in ayer of gray haze.

    Without waiting for the University to officially start, or even saying goodbye to her high school ssmates, she packed her bags and went to Binhai city. Because she had lost her friend, she no longer felt safe in her hometown. No one could protect her, so it was better to leave this sad ce as soon as possible.

    Her parents were busy with work, so it was difficult for her to take leave. She rejected her parents ¡®offer to send her to Binhai city and went to a foreignnd with her own bags. From then on, she ushered in a new stage in her life.

    From then on, her life trajectory was fixed in Binhai city. She went to college, found a job, fell in love, got married, had children, divorced, and raised a child on her own ¡­

    Cai meiwen knew that Qianqian had to keep this a secret. The two deaths she had experienced during her adolescence had a huge impact on her life and world view, which had caused her to develop a certain degree of psychological defects. She was paranoid and sensitive, and she didn¡¯t consult a psychiatrist at the time. This also caused her marriage to fail to a certain extent.

    Fortunately, her failed marriage wasn¡¯tpletely useless. At least it left her an extremely precious product, and that was little celery.

    She couldn¡¯t imagine how she, who used to be a problem girl and had a terrible marriage, could have such a perfect child like little celery. She was much better than she was back then!

    That was why she especially cherished little celery, even more than her life.

    It was precisely because of her terrible experience that she was particrly vignt and nervous when she heard the sound of little celery talking with a strange man on the phone. She instantly thought of the poisonous snake-like gaze on the stairs of the fourth floor in the dark. She wanted to rush to her daughter¡¯s side regardless of the storm, until she saw her daughter safe and sound with her own eyes.

    She hoped that her daughter could grow up healthily and not take the wrong path like her. In order for her daughter to grow up smoothly, she was willing to smooth out all the possible hardships for her.

    For example, death.

    She could not control the death of humans, but she could at least control the death of pets.

    Back then, as a problem girl, even though she despised it at first, she eventually fell in love with the ugly mixed-fur dog. As her daughter, it was natural that little celery would like pets. She could understand.

    If her daughter wanted to keep long-lived pets like turtles, or aquatic pets like koi or pigeons that had limited interaction with people, she would not have the heart to refuse her daughter¡¯s request. After all, she was well aware of her daughter¡¯s self-control. Her daughter would not dy her studies because of these pets.

    If her daughter wanted to raise a cat or a dog, she might reluctantly agree. After all, cats and dogs had long lifespans. If she raised them from a young age and carefully took care of them, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem to raise them for more than ten years. Maybe she could raise them for more than fifteen years. By then, little celery would be an adult and even have a boyfriend. Her outlook on life and world would have formed, and she should be able to bear the impact of the death of her beloved pet.

    If it was any other pet that was easy to raise and had a long life, she could seriously consider it. But why did it have to be a hamster and rabbit?

    Whether it was her former familypound or her current colleagues, some people had kept hamsters and rabbits as pets, so she had some understanding of them. Hamsters and rabbits were not as easy to take care of as cats and dogs. Their vitality was very weak. Their theoretical lifespans were one thing, but their actual lifespans were another. If he kept a hamster and rabbit as pets, he could predict that they would die when little celery was in her puberty, which was unstable.

    Cai meiwen knew her daughter¡¯s personality very well. Little celery was too gentle and loving. Once she had a pet, she would put too much love into it, and the more love she put in, the more pain she would suffer when she lost it.

    She absolutely did not want her daughter to be stimted by the death of her beloved pet and form her own paranoid character. Instead of that, it was better for her to eliminate this possibility.

    She knew that she might be overprotective, but she had no choice. She only had her daughter, and her daughter only had her. Her daughter did not have a father, so she could only pour double the love on her daughter.

    If this was stubbornness, then she was willing to continue being so. This was her right as a mother.

 Chapter 1701

    Chapter 1701: Two taboos

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    The wind outside seemed to have weakened, and the rain had eased. No one could watch the news because of theck of electricity, so no one knew if the typhoon had passed or if it had just changed direction temporarily.

    After listening to Cai meiwen¡¯s story, everyone finally knew that she had experienced an unusual event and understood her difficulties. It could only be said that she thought further and more carefully than ordinary parents. Not only did she consider the situation when the pet was alive, but she also considered her daughter¡¯s feelings when the pet died.

    If it were a lot of big-hearted parents, they would definitely be very open-minded and say that if their pets died, then so be it. They were just children, and they would forget about it after a few days of sadness. What could happen?

    But in fact, every child who had a pet when they were young, even if it was only for a short time, would not forget the sadness and pain of the pet¡¯s death when they grew up. The better a child¡¯s rtionship with a pet, the sadder they would be when they lost their pet. No one could say for sure if this would have a long-term impact on a child¡¯s psychology and character. After all, the human brain and mental world were veryplicated, full of mysteries like the universe.

    Cai meiwen¡¯s experience reminded Zhang Zian of Stephen King¡¯s horror novel,¡±pet cemetery,¡± which had been put on the screen twice. There were some subtle simrities between the two.

    In ¡°pet cemetery,¡± the mother experienced a terrible death at the age of 8. The victim was her sister. Before her death, she was tortured by an illness, which left a deep psychological shadow on her. So when the Father tried to exin the concept of life and death to his young daughter, he flew into a rage.

    The young daughter had a cat and treated it as a treasure. One day, the cat was killed by a passing car when it went out to y. The Father couldn¡¯t bear to see his daughter sad because of the loss of his beloved cat, so he made an extremely wrong decision ¡­ The rest of the story was irrelevant.

    Because of the shadow of death when she was young, Cai meiwen didn¡¯t let her daughter keep pets with short lifespans. She didn¡¯t want to see her daughter grieve when her pets died too early. She had the shadow of the male and female characters in Stephen King¡¯s book.

    If it was just horror, starting from horror and finally horror, then it was no different from fast food online novels. However, Stephen King was the King of Horror novels, and his books were all about human nature. Take the book ¡°pet cemetery¡± for example. Under the cover of a horror novel, it was actually talking about the importance of life and death.

    Assuming that after the mother¡¯s sister got an incurable disease, the elders knew that her sister would die and exined the correct view of life and death to the mother in advance, then the mother would not be left with a psychological shadow that she could not let go of when her sister died. Later, when the Father tried to exin the view of life and death to the daughter, she would not rudely interrupt the Father.

    If the young daughter had the right view of life and death, she would have been more courageous to face the death of her cat lover, and the series of tragedies that followed would not have happened.

    Simrly, Cai meiwen¡¯s first encounter with death was when she brushed shoulders with a cruel murderer, and then she experienced the death of her beloved dog. Before that, her parents had never talked to her about the death.

    It had to be said that many China parents were like this. It was extremely taboo to talk about embarrassment and death with their children. They thought that these two things were extremely dirty and unbearable. Parents believed that as long as they didn¡¯t say anything, their children would not be exposed to these two things.

    As for when to say it, they would probably never say it. They felt that their children would naturally understand when they grew up, so there was no need to say it.

    But could they really get their wish? As long as they kept their mouths shut, the child would always remain pure and innocent?

    News of junior high school girls giving birth in the toilet or junior high school boys stabbing their ssmates dozens of times in a row was actually not umon anymore.

    As children nowadays were generally precocious, the taboo of parents made children ignorant and defenseless the first time they faced sex and death. It was inevitable that they would make big mistakes, and the root of the problem was the parents.

    Many schools had poprized sex education courses, but it seemed that the school and parents didn¡¯t care about life and death.

    The other reason why parents and schools avoided talking about death was probably because they felt that death was very difficult to exin. The parents ¡®education level was uneven, and even they did not really understand death. How could they exin it to their children and let them understand?

    Atheism upied a dominant position in China Society, but this also made parents more at a loss when talking about the concept of life and death.

    Parents in Western countries were a little less troublesome. If it was convenient, they could tell their children that their dead pets and family members had gone to heaven to apany God. This way, their children could ept and understand it more easily. When their children grew up, they could talk about the concept of life and death on a deeper level.

    What would the China parents say? Are you going to tell the child that your dog went to the heavenly court to apany the Jade Emperor? Or did he go to the Western Heaven to apany Buddha Tathagata? This didn¡¯t seem to match.

    Maybe the child would cry and ask,¡±can I see it in the next episode of Journey to the West?¡±

    After all, the Paradise in the West only existed in people¡¯s imagination, while the heavenly court in the East had already been deeply rooted in people¡¯s hearts decades ago ¡­

    For difficult problems, parents usually put them on hold indefinitely.

    Because of her own psychological trauma towards death, Cai meiwen¡¯s way of preventing her daughter from repeating the same mistakes was to not let her daughter keep pets with short lifespans, instead of exining the correct view of life and death to her daughter at the appropriate time. This was tantamount to covering her ears and stealing the bell. Just as she said, people couldn¡¯t control their own deaths, whether it was the death of others, pets, or themselves.

    No matter whether the fate of mankind was controlled by free will or fate, it was just a delusion to control death. Others might want you to die, but others couldn ¡®t. Natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanoes, typhoons, and asteroids could also kill you.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t imagine how much of a shock his parents would have had if they had passed away when he was a child instead of when he was an adult. His parents had never talked about the concept of life and death with him, and in this regard, they were no different from most other parents.

    Even after he became an adult, if it wasn¡¯t for the dream world created by Zhuang Xiaodie, he couldn¡¯t really feel relieved about the sudden death of his parents. If it was when he was a child ¡­ Whether it was the trajectory of his fate or his character, it would definitely have a huge change.

    However, living in the Pet Shop and witnessing the birth, aging, illness, and death of his pets, he had subtly cultivated his simple view of life and death. So, if his parents died when he was a child ¡­ His ability to bear it might be better than other children, but who could say for sure?

 Chapter 1702

    Chapter 1702: Chapter 1701-difficult to return to homnd

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian understood Cai meiwen¡¯s feelings and sympathized with her experience, but he didn¡¯t agree with her approach, and he couldn¡¯t see her using the wrong way to guide little celery.

    Although little celery was her daughter, it didn¡¯t mean that she had absolute control over her daughter. This was also the concept of many parents, who treated their children as their own personal belongings and didn¡¯t allow others to interfere.

    Having said that, a battle had to be fought using methods and strategies, not brute force.

    Cai meiwen was a good mother in essence. It was just that she had some mistakes in her teaching methods, and she was trapped in them, unable to look at her past from a detached point of view.

    In terms of probability, what she did was wrong, but it did not mean that she would not get a good result. As long as she arranged things around little celery well, maybe little celery would really do as she wished, avoid the shadow of death, and grow up healthily.

    However, just like this Typhoon No. 7, which had clearly turned to Japan but suddenly turned back, no one could be sure what would happen in the future.

    No one wanted a sad ident to happen, but it would be stupid to take this chance. It was better to tell the child that life was full of idents and that even if something bad happened, he had to face it bravely.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t cursing Cai meiwen. He had no enmity with her, so why would he curse her? But he knew that she had been working very hard. She had been working very hard and taking care of her child. Nowadays, the average age of young people suffering from cancer was decreasing year by year, and there were many people who died from overwork. If something happened to her one day, little celery, who was not mentally prepared, would be hit hard.

    The heavens were kind, and Cai meiwen was trapped here with a Typhoon and flood. Otherwise, under normal circumstances, she would have immediately left with little celery after she flew into a rage out of humiliation. She wouldn¡¯t have told them about her childhood, and she wouldn¡¯t havee back. She wouldn¡¯t have let little celery step into the store again. No one had the right to stop her, and any obstruction was against thew.

    Therefore, he had time to think of a solution.

    It was not that children had nevere into contact with death. Death was everywhere in life. From ants, caterpirs, to frogs, birds, any child had seen the death of animals. However, the death of ordinary animals could not affect the child¡¯s mind. Only the death of pets and rtives would cause such a thing.

    Little celery was confused by what her mother had just said. She had a good rtionship with her grandparents, but because they didn¡¯t live in the same city, she could only get in touch with them through online videos.

    During the holidays, her ssmates and friends often went back to their hometown, but her mother had never taken her there. She didn¡¯t understand why, but her grandparents woulde to Binhai city every one or two months with big and small bags of local produce to visit little celery. They would stay for about a week before taking the train back.

    Her grandparents were very kind and liked little celery very much. They always said that seeing little celery was like seeing her mother when she was a child, but she was much cuter than her mother. Every time they came to Binhai city, they would take little celery shopping and buy her a lot of snacks, toys, and clothes. When they got home, their mother would always frown and say that they spent too much money and spoiled little celery.

    The only shoring of his grandparents was that they were a little old-fashioned, especially his Grandpa, who didn¡¯t even know how to use WeChat. He was even worse than little celery. However, many old people were like this, so it wasn¡¯t a big problem.

    At first, little celery thought that her mother didn¡¯t have a good rtionship with her grandparents, but it didn¡¯t seem to be the case. Every time her grandparents came over, her mother was very happy and treated them very warmly. Before they left, she would buy them things and secretly give them money. It was probably only ¡­ When they asked her when they would find another man and so on, her mother would turn hostile and ask them when they were leaving.

    So, it wasn¡¯t that her mother hated her grandparents, but ¡­ She simply didn¡¯t want to go back to her hometown, right?

    Little celery actually wanted to go to her hometown and see the city where her mother was born and grew up. She wanted to see the neighborhood her mother used to y in, the school she went to, the house she lived in, the bed she used to sleep in, and the toys she used to y with ¡­ She also wanted to sleep on that bed.

    But her mother didn¡¯t want to go back, and little celery couldn¡¯t do anything about it.

    This was the first time she had heard that her mother had raised a puppy when she was young. Her mother had never mentioned it before.

    Unfortunately, the puppy was dead. Little celery didn¡¯t understand the whole process. It seemed that there were bad people who always made her mother worried, and the puppy might have been killed by a bad person.

    Dead ¡­

    Little celery turned her head and looked at the cashier. The stray cat that had just died was still lying on the table, as if it had fallen asleep.

    Did that little dog die like this?

    She looked down at the lop-eared rabbit that was obediently lying at her feet, not daring to move, and the hamster in the disy cab. Would they die like this?

    She couldn¡¯t imagine what the hamster and lop-eared rabbit would look like when they died, but the thought of them never being able to jump, never being able to breathe, and never being able to happily eat nuts and vegetables made her so sad that she wanted to cry.

    Cai meiwen had just told them a long story, and her mouth was dry, but the staff didn¡¯t seem to have any intention of bringing her more water, so she was embarrassed to ask for more.

    She was in aplicated mood and regretted her abruptness. In a moment of desperation, she dug out the past that had been buried in her heart for many years and told it to a stranger.

    Ever since high school, she had never told anyone about her past except her ex-husband, including her college ssmates and current colleagues. She felt that Zhang Zian and the staff were secretlyughing at her in their hearts. They thought that she was too paranoid. She was so scared because a girl of the same age in the neighborhood next door was killed, and she even med the death of the stray hair on the murderer.

    But on the other hand, after telling her about this past, she felt inexplicably relieved. What surprised her even more was that the appearance and cries of mottled hair were still clearly imprinted in her mind, as if she had just said goodbye to it yesterday.

    Once again, she clearly felt the weight of this mottled fur in her heart.

    She looked at the curtain Door from time to time. She couldn¡¯t wait for the typhoon to pass so that she could leave with little celery.

    The staff also had mixed feelings in their hearts. They didn¡¯t know what kind of attitude they should have towards Cai meiwen now. They sympathized with her, but was it right for her to refuse little celery to raise a pet because of her unbearable past?

    ¡°Little celery,¡± Zhang Zian said,¡±I have nothing to do. Let me tell you a story.¡±

    He then looked around at the staff and elves.¡±You can all listen to it. Maybe after this story is finished, the typhoon will pass.¡±

 Chapter 1703

    Chapter 1703: The story of the picture book

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Cai meiwen was very protective of her child, and she was very resistant to others interfering in her life with little celery. She was even more disgusted with others educating little celery on her behalf. She knew that saying things like raising a pet in the Pet Shop was no different from starting a fight, so she was prepared to quarrel. However, she didn¡¯t expect Zhang Zian to just tell a story.

    She didn¡¯t know if the story was a fictional story or a real story like her story, but if it was just a story, there seemed to be no reason to object.

    Little celery¡¯s attention was drawn to the story, so she temporarily put the stray cat¡¯s death aside.

    The rain was gradually easing, and the staff¡¯s work pressure was greatly reduced. They had never heard Zhang Zian tell stories before, so they were all very curious.

    Even the Elfins were listening with great interest, including Sihwa, who was in the bathroom upstairs. She often read fairy tales to theizens in the live broadcast room. Zhang Zian was telling stories in front of her. Wasn¡¯t this showing off in front of a beautiful door?

    ¡°I have to make it clear that I didn¡¯t write this story. The original author is a picture book author from Japan, and this author was born in the capital of China. I can¡¯t remember the exact content of the story, so I¡¯ll make some minor changes to it. ¡± Zhang Zian had made a copyright statement first, saying that he could not simply take other people¡¯s stories for his own.

    Little celery raised her hand and asked,¡±what is a picture book?¡±

    It was rare for Lu Yiyun to take the initiative to interject in front of outsiders. She timidly whispered,¡±¡±I¡¯ll answer. I know someone who¡¯s drawing picture books for a publishing house, so I know a little about it. ¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded to her encouragingly.

    Lu Yiyun raised her voice a little.¡±The so-called picture book is actually simr to a children¡¯s fairy tale book. It¡¯s mainly pictures, apanied by a small amount of easy-to-understand words ¡­¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s a fairy tale book? He gave it a Grand name. ¡± Wang Qian interjected.

    Lu Yiyun shook her head.¡±It¡¯s simr, but not entirely.¡± ¡°Fairy tales are mainly about telling stories. It¡¯s enough as long as children find it interesting and can understand it. There¡¯s no need to bear any additional meaning. At most, it¡¯s to help children learn how to read. For example,¡± daughter of the sea. ¡°This famous fairy tale is sad and beautiful, but after listening to it, it doesn¡¯t seem to have any special educational significance. Perhaps adults can understand something from it, but children definitely don¡¯t have the ability to understand it. They¡¯ll be done after listening to it.¡±

    Everyone listened thoughtfully and felt that it made some sense. The popr fairy tales in modern times originated from Europe and America. Most of the fairy tales in Europe and America were simply stories, and they were all about the things between princes and princesses over and over again.

    What was the educational significance of a fairy tale like snow White? Are you saying that stepmothers are all bad people and always try to kill you? This did not seem too harmonious in modern society. The stepmother wanted to kill the princess because she had a throne to inherit. However, most of the children who read fairy tales were children from ordinary families. At most, they would inherit the flowers ¡­

    Divorce rates were getting higher and higher in modern society. People got married and divorced more and more casually. It wasmon to remarry after getting divorced with a child. There were many stepfathers and stepmothers who treated their partner¡¯s child as their own. However, if the child had a deep impression of Snow White, his initial favorability towards the stepmother or step-father would probably be reduced by 30%¡­ It was simply the poisonous grass of capitalism.

    Of course, one couldn¡¯t be biased. A small number of fairy tales did have some educational significance, such as ¡°the adventures of the puppet.¡± At least it taught children not to lie, or their noses would grow longer. However, the educational significance of this was too weak. It could not stand scrutiny or verification. Perhaps only three or four-year-old children would believe it.

    Compared to the fairy tales that were ancient and out of the times, books in the form of picture books were new. Countless picture book authors were pushing out new ideas every year. The story of the picture book was close to reality, so that children would have a natural sense of immersion. Most importantly, the story of a good picture book must have a high degree of educational significance. Whether it was teaching children life knowledge, scientific knowledge, or outlook on life and values, it would not make children feel bored while teaching. Even adults would have some enlightenment when they read it. It was very suitable for parent-child reading.

    Unfortunately, many parents couldn¡¯t tell the difference between fairy tales and picture books. They felt that since they were children¡¯s books, they could just buy some and throw them to their children. They wouldn¡¯t read them themselves, nor would they guide their children to read them correctly.

    Especially stepparents who often appeared as viins in fairy tales. How many parents would tell their children when they read it with them that bad stepfathers and stepmothers were only an exception, and that most of them were good people like their biological parents?

    Just because one¡¯s own child had a native family didn¡¯t mean that other children were equally lucky. Their own child mightugh at the children of other parents who had remarried and scare them that their stepparents would abuse them.

    Lu Yiyun rified to everyone the subtle but important difference between a fairy tale and a picture book, and then she stopped talking.

    ¡°Thank you, Xiaoyun. You exined it very clearly.¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Cai meiwen was a little embarrassed. She had been like this before. When she bought books for little celery, she had always bought a lot of books in one go when there was a full weight loss event in the online store. Among the books, there must be some world-famous fairy tales. She didn¡¯t know if there were picture books, but there should be, but she treated them all as fairy tales.

    In her opinion, the world¡¯s famous fairy tales had been passed down for so many years, and all the children would read them. How could she have bought the wrong ones?

    Most of the parents had the same thought. Since others were buying, they would buy as well.

    She knew that this was just an excuse. In fact, it was essentially a parent¡¯s way of saving trouble.

    She really didn¡¯t have time to read fairy tales with little celery, but she nned to go back and sort out little celery¡¯s fairy tale books, eliminating those that were famous but no longer suitable for modern children.

    Since everyone present knew the difference between a fairy tale and a picture book, Zhang Zian went straight to the point and said,¡±¡±Compared to the distant and unrealistic princes and princesses, picture books often usemon animals in daily life as the protagonists, and themon animals in daily life are often the pets that apany people all day long.¡±

    At the mention of pets, little celery became even more energetic. She knew that the next story would definitely be about a pet.

    ¡°The name of the story in this picture book sounds very strange. It¡¯s called ¡®the cat that lived a million times¡¯.¡± Zhang Zian said,¡±I¡¯ll emphasize again that I can¡¯t remember the original story, so I can only make some harmless changes to the content. In the original story, there were more pictures than words, but due to the limitations of objective conditions, I can only describe it with words andnguage. Little celery, you can try to imagine it in your mind ording to my description. If you think it¡¯s hard ¡­¡±

    He turned to look at the elves.¡±You can also imagine it by looking at their appearances.¡±

 Chapter 1704

    Chapter 1704: A million lives

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    The Elfins had been watching the show from the side. They thought they were all onlookers, but they didn¡¯t expect Zhang Zian to lead the topic to them, which made them both surprised and curious.

    A child¡¯s imagination was limited, and if there was something to use as a reference, it would be very helpful.

    Cai meiwen and the staff didn¡¯t know what he was up to, but the staff knew that Zhang Zian wouldn¡¯t say anything without a reason.

    Zhang Zian cleared his throat and said,¡±¡±There¡¯s a cat that has lived a million times. It has died a million times and also lived a million times. ¡±

    Whether it was a student¡¯s story or a writer¡¯s novel, it was important to have an attractive beginning. This was like a battle between a good-looking appearance and an interesting soul. If one¡¯s appearance was too bad, how could they attract others to understand their interesting soul?

    The beginning of the story was great. Whether it was adults, children, or elves, everyone was deeply interested and curious by this simple sentence, and Cai meiwen was no exception.

    Zhang Zian had already made it clear that this was a story simr to a fairy tale. Even an experienced bickering spirit would probably not take a fairy tale seriously. Why could a cat live a million times ¡­

    But in fact ¡­ Zhang Zian looked at Gxy. There were really cats that could live and die a million times, or even more.

    Gxy was sitting in the corner, its silver-gray eyes shining, as if it already knew what kind of story he was going to tell, a story rted to all elves.

    Zhang Zian looked at fina again.¡±This is a very cool cat with tiger stripes. A million people loved this cat.¡±

    Little celery followed his line of sight and looked at fina. She immediately imagined Fina¡¯s image in her mind.

    She wasn¡¯t the only one. Cai meiwen and the other staff also looked at fina.

    When it came to tabby and style, which cat could better represent these two characteristics than fina?

    They thought that a million people was an exaggeration, but in fact, there were more than a million people who liked fina as much as they liked their Queen.

    Fina unconsciously straightened its body, changed from a lying position to a sitting position, and sat majestically on the highest point of the cat tree, overlooking all living beings.

    Zhang Zian continued,¡±there were also a million people who cried for this cat when it died.¡± However, the cat never shed a single tear. ¡±

    Little celery¡¯s heart ached. It was just a story, but because she had a vivid imagination, it was as if she had really seen the majestic and loved tabby cat die. She also felt the sadness of a million people.

    Zhang Zian imed that he had forgotten the original text of the story. In fact, he had told a small lie. He remembered the original content very clearly. After all, it was a picture book with pictures and texts. There were not many words, and it was very impressive. For example, the first part of the story was exactly the same as the original.

    He lied because he needed to make some changes to the story.

    The content that he was about to talk about waspletely different from the original text. It was almostpletely different. He only retained the main theme of the original text.

    ¡°This was the first time it died, and then it came back to life, in another era, in another country.¡±

    Hearing this, little celery¡¯s sad mood was suddenly washed away. Her curiosity took over again. She opened her eyes wide and stared at Zhang Zian¡¯s lips.

    ¡°This time, it¡¯s a Dragon Li of a Chinese Kung Fu master.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at old time tea, who was lying next to the TV.

    When it came to Chinese Kung Fu masters, everyone was influenced by wuxia movies. They immediately thought of the swordsman with fluttering clothes, who was as quiet as a Virgin and as fast as a rabbit. The cat in the shop that fit this image the most was undoubtedly old time tea.

    ¡°It followed the kung fu master to travel the world. During the day, it was a traveler who enjoyed tea and flowers, andughed at the moon and wind. At night, it transformed into a chivalrous hero who eliminated the tyrants and helped the poor. ¡°Together with the kung fu master, it helped many people who were bullied, and it was thanked and loved by the people. Its body umted more and more injuries ¡­ Finally, one day, it couldn¡¯t hold on anymore. After it fell in battle, it never stood up again. The swordsman buried it on the top of a mountain so that it could forever watch over the people it had once helped.¡±

    Every China person had feelings for wuxia. This story easily immersed everyone, as if they had seen the heroic cat who sacrificed himself for others with their own eyes.

    Little celery was so touched that she almost cried. If the first cat was likable because of its appearance and temperament, the second cat had a unique charm.

    Cai meiwen and the staff were also touched by the story, and they felt sorry for the cat.

    After a few seconds, Zhang Zian continued,¡±

    ¡°It died, and then it came back to life. This time, it was living in another era, in another country.¡±

    Just like before, everyone¡¯s sadness was once again reced by curiosity.

    ¡°This time, it¡¯s the blue cat of a great philosopher. It has been influenced by the thoughts of a philosopher since it was a child. It can live afortable andfortable life for the rest of its life, but it is determined to free all the suffering stray cats.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at dimir.

    dimir squatted on the cashier¡¯s desk and looked down at the dead stray cats in pain. It tried its best, but it still couldn¡¯t save the life of itsrade.

    While the other cats were hiding from the storm in the Pet Shop, dimir risked being washed away by the flood to bring back the injured stray cat from the storm. Everyone saw this scene.

    Who else was more qualified than dimir to be the representative of the blue cat in the story?

    ¡°No matter if it¡¯s under the hot sun or under the heavy rain, it will always run around in the most difficult and difficult ces, selflessly providing all the help it can to the stray cats. It brought unity and discipline to the stray cats, and it also taught the stray cats its thoughts and insights that had been influenced by the philosopher. Under its leadership, the stray cat group became stronger and stronger. They bravely fought against the bad people who abused them and fought for their dignity and peace. ¡±

    ¡°It kept running around, and finally, one day, it was tired and fell asleep, never to wake up again. Strays bury it under a sunflower because it is the sun that brings them light. They will continue to follow the path it has opened up, until the day all strays are liberated. ¡±

    This was a selfless and ambitious cat. The Dragon Li in front could save hundreds of people, but this blue cat could save tens of thousands of cats.

    Little celery was touched again. She had seen several stray cats in school, and some boys would throw stones at them. It would be great if a cat could help them.

    Cai meiwen and the staff were also sighing. This blue cat reminded them of the martyrs who had shed their blood for the liberation of mankind in history.

    The story of the cat that had lived a million lives was not over yet.

 Chapter 1705

    Chapter 1705: A story that never ends

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian¡¯s story was very interesting to all the adults present. The staff slowed down the rate at which they poured water, not wanting to miss the details of the story. Little celery was even more fascinated.

    The reason for this was, of course, because the story itself was excellent. It was a fable about life and was praised as a picture book that was loved by adults and children and surpassed the times. It described life, death, and love, and it was a famous work that you wouldn¡¯t get tired of even if you read it a million times. Next, Zhang Zian reced part of the story with the elves in the Pet Shop, making up a half-true, half-false background story for them. Little celery was very familiar with them, and immediately had a strong sense of immersion.

    While little celery and the others were still grieving for the blue cat that was determined to save all stray cats, Zhang Zian continued to pull them into another story.

    ¡°It died, and then it came back to life. This time, it was also living in another era, in another country.¡±

    Everyone thought that he was going to use snowy Li as a temte to tell the story of the white cat, or Gxy as a temte to tell the story of the ck and white kitten. After all, they were the only two special cats left in the shop. Snowy Li was eager to try, baring its fangs and ws, and strongly expressed that it wanted to appear on camera, or else it would make him bleed in his crotch.

    Zhang Zian pretended that he didn¡¯t see snowy Li¡¯s hint. He turned to look at the other pet and said unexpectedly,¡±¡±This time, it¡¯s the cat of an United States movie director. It¡¯s covered in ck and yellow. It¡¯s not an expensive cat breed, but it¡¯s full of love for film performances.¡±

    In order to dispel Cai meiwen¡¯s worries, famous stayed on the upper floor of the stairwell, lying quietly.

    ¡°Film performances are very hard, and because there are no stars in animal films, the funding is limited, so the animals always have to go into action themselves and challenge some difficult and dangerous actions. The rewards they get are far less than that of human actors. It worked hard on the set just to see the children¡¯s smiling faces in front of the screen. ¡±

    ¡°Then, there was an ident during a filming. It was seriously injured and couldn¡¯t be treated. The film director had buried it in Hollywood¡¯s eternal Cemetery. Other than its name on the tombstone, its epitaph read: An actor. Even though the epitaph is only four short words, it is the greatest praise for it. ¡±

    Only then did Cai meiwen notice the group photos hanging on the wall. They were all group photos of famous with European movie celebrities and Chinese movie actors. It had even been received by the leaders of Binhai city. The one in the middle was a photo of it standing in the middle of the stage and receiving an award.

    Even if she didn¡¯t pay much attention to entertainment news, she had heard that a dog movie King had appeared in Binhai city and caused a sensation. Could it be the German Shepherd that she had regarded as a dangerous person? If that was the case, it would be too awkward ¡­

    In addition to the death scenes and pointing at a dog as a cat, little celery and the staff all looked at famous with respect.

    Little celery¡¯s school had once organized a group to watch dog Warrior in the cinema. At the end of the movie, the naughty boys were excited, and several of them were determined to get into military school or Police School to protect their country, while the girls were crying for the injured police dogs.

    Although famous had written its own death in the story, it was not angry at all, nor did it feel that it was unlucky. Instead, it felt that it was hard to find a soulmate. If it died one day, such an epitaph was enough.

    Old time tea and dimir were also not angry. They both felt that the death scene that Zhang Zian had fabricated was full of poetry and beauty, and it could be said that they had died for a good reason.

    Whether it was on the top of a mountain or under the sunflowers of Russia¡¯s national flower, it was the best ce to bury one¡¯s bones.

    Even fina wasn¡¯t angry, because it felt like it had already died once in the Golden Pyramid.

    ¡°It died, and then it came back to life. This time, it was also living in another era, in another country.¡±

    The cat¡¯s million lives continued.

    With the experience of the previous cat, everyone knew that the prototype of the protagonist in the story was not limited to the cats in the shop.

    ¡°This time, it¡¯s a Denmark inte celebrity cat. It¡¯s not that busy, and unlike other cats who hate water, it¡¯s a Turkey van Cat that likes water by nature. As long as it¡¯s at home, it¡¯s willing to stay in the bathtub all day.¡±

    The staff looked at each other, wondering which cat this was. Was it little Snow¡¯s snowball? After all, snowy was a very popr live-streaming inte celebrity, but he had never heard that her snowball liked to y in water.

    Sihwa, who was on the second floor, suddenly held her breath.

    ¡°It likes to sing and has an unparalleled sweet voice. It is said that when it sings, even the nearby fish will be attracted to it and listen to it. Although humans couldn¡¯t understand what it was singing, it had be a popr cat on the inte, even more famous than its owner. Gradually, it was no longer satisfied with the narrow bathtub. The vast blue ocean filled its heart, and it always sneaked to the beach to y with the fish in the sea. ¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at the curtain Door that was crackling under the rain.¡±One day, there was a storm in the sea. It was fiercer than today¡¯s Typhoon. It was swept into the depths of the sea by the storm and never surfaced again. From then on, its owner woulde to the beach on that day every year and throw the memorial letters fromizens all over the world into the sea, asking the sea to pass on their grief. ¡±

    Little celery hugged her mother tightly, as if she was afraid that she would be swept away by the terrible storm.

    Cai meiwen and the staff sighed. A good swimmer had drowned. No matter what, this cat had finally gotten what it wanted and was now in the arms of the sea forever.

    Sihwa remembered that when she first appeared in this world, she almost froze to death in the Baltic Sea in winter. If she had died at that time, she would never have had the chance to be an inte celebrity.

    ¡°It died, and then it came back to life. This time, it was also living in another era, in another country.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at Richard. The usually noisy guy was unusually quiet today.

    ¡°This time, it¡¯s an United States zoologist¡¯s cat. It has been living in theboratory since it was born, cooperating with the zoologist to explore the intelligence of animals through a series of experiments.¡±

    The staff did not know about Richard¡¯s past. They thought that Richard was just an ordinary gray parrot. After all, gray parrots all looked the same, but they were very smart, even though they always used their intelligence on the wrong things.

    ¡°Bing an experimental subject means that it has to cooperate with all kinds of strange testing methods that humans havee up with. It was very smart. After all, it was a cat that had lived for a million times. It often surprised the zoologists and assistants in experiments. They even felt the need to redefine the intelligence of cats. However, it¡¯s because it likes zoologists that it¡¯s so hardworking. It wants to make zoologists happy, so it constantly excavates its potential. ¡±

    ¡°One day, perhaps because it had been living in theboratory for a long time, its body¡¯s resistance to bacteria decreased. It fell sick, a very serious illness. Even the best veterinarian couldn¡¯t cure it. It died, but the zoologists didn¡¯t leave it in theboratory. Instead, they brought it back to their home and buried it in their courtyard. It could be with the zoologists forever. ¡±

    Everyone thought of the white mice in theboratory and the beagles that had be human test subjects. It was because of the existence of these animals that human medicine continued to advance and human lifespans continued to be extended. They had used their lives to exchange for human lives. Of course, human beings should pay tribute to these animals who had sacrificed themselves for science.

    Except for referring to a bird as a cat, the story was almost the same as Richard¡¯s own experience. It was as if he had returned to theboratory, oveing difficulties together with the doctor.

    ¡°It died, and then it came back to life. This time, it was also living in another era, in another country.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at Fati again. Thetter was also lying on the stairs, quietly looking at him.

    ¡°This time, it was the cat of an ancient European priest. It and the missionaries had abandoned their wealth and lived a very simple life, often traveling mountains and rivers on an empty stomach. In the ancient times when the gue spread, it and the priests risked being infected by the disease, walked among the sick to serve them, performed acrobatics for them, and made them forget their pain. No matter how poor or difficult it is, it and the priests are always optimistic and bring joy to everyone. ¡±

    ¡°One day, they encountered andslide. It was unfortunately hit by a falling rock and died. The priests buried it in the church¡¯s graveyard so that it could listen to the heavenly voice of the choir every day and enjoy eternal joy and peace. ¡±

    Fati squinted its eyes in relief. This was the best ending for it.

    Although Cai meiwen and the staff were not religious, no matter what the purpose was, what the cat did was no different from that of a noble medical worker, and it deserved people¡¯s gratitude.

    ¡°It died, and then it came back to life. This time, it was also living in another era, in another country.¡±

    Zhang Zian finally looked at snowy Li, who had been impatient for a long time.

    ¡°This time, it¡¯s the cat of an ancient China Princess, who lives in a Royal Garden all day long. The pce was as deep as the sea and heavily guarded. It couldn¡¯t leave even if it wanted to. Moreover, it had experienced so much hardship and it should rest. Its fur is as long as the ground and its fur is whiter than snow. It is extremely loved by the princess and the pce maids, and they y with it every day without any worries. ¡±

    Obviously,pared to the cats that people couldn¡¯t figure out, this cat¡¯s prototype was definitely snowy Li. It was also the beauty of the Pet Shop, and even the Ragdoll cat that was popr paled inparison.

    Cai meiwen said that she didn¡¯t have a pet, but when she followed everyone¡¯s gaze and saw the snow Lion, her maiden heart, which had not been there for a long time, began to stir. If there hadn¡¯t been an argument just now, she really wanted to buy it home. After all, every woman once had a princess dream.

    Snowy Li was ted. Living in a Pce full of young girls and having the princess as its backer, it was like living the life of a God!

    ¡°However, one day, the peaceful life suddenly came to an end. Without it realizing it, this country was invaded by foreigners, the Imperial City fell, and people were burned, killed, and plundered everywhere. The barbarians only knew about gold, silver, and jewelry. They didn¡¯t know about the four Arts, nor did they know how to appreciate beauty. They burned down the Imperial Pce. It was separated from the princess and was killed by a fierce-looking barbarian. The copsed Pce and ashes buried it. ¡±

    ¡°Meow meow meow?¡± snowy Li asked.

    The cat in this story was very ordinary. It had not done anything earth-shattering, touching, and tearful, but it was in and ordinary. It was because of its ordinary nature that people paid more attention to the background of the era and imagined the painful history of the country¡¯s destruction.

    ¡°It died, and then it came back to life. This time, it was also living in another era, in another country.¡±

    Before everyone could recover from the vicissitudes of history, the cat¡¯s story continued.

    Zhang Zian looked at the stairs again, at Pi, who was next to famous. He could only see it from his position.

    ¡°This time, it¡¯s a writer¡¯s cat. The author is a homebody, except for necessary activities. This cat is also a homebody, so they are a perfect match. ¡±

    The cat surprised the staff again. They exchanged nces and asked each other if Zhang Zian had found out that they were secretly writing a novel.

    ¡°It watched the author type in front of theputer every day and began to imitate it. It used its ws to tap on the keyboard continuously until one day, it could finally type out meaningful words. The author bought it aputer and it began to work hard, writing out the million lives it had experienced and the million stories it had told. It wanted to share these stories with a million people. ¡±

    Pi¡¯s eyes grew brighter. If it were that cat, it would have done the same.

    ¡°The author read the story and found it very interesting. He illustrated it and made a picture book for the publisher, which was published smoothly. The title was ¡®the cat that lived a million times¡¯. The children who see these picture books love them very much and always look forward to the publication of the next book. ¡±

    ¡°However, a million stories were too long. It wrote and wrote, from young to old, from youth to old age, but it still didn¡¯t finish. One day, it fell asleep in front of the keyboard and never woke up again. The author buried it together with the published picture book, so that it can reminisce about the million lives it has lived. ¡±

    This story was a mix of reality and fiction, which made little celery almost breathless. Even Cai meiwen and the staff couldn¡¯t tell which was reality and which was fiction.

    ¡°This story is over?¡± Little celery asked eagerly. She was deeply attracted to the story, just like those children who looked forward to the next picture book being published. She hoped that the story would never end.

    Zhang Zian shook his head and gave her a meaningful smile,¡±No, not yet. Just when it thought that everything was over, it came back to life again. It was also living in another era, in another country. ¡±

    He looked at Gxy again.¡±This time, it¡¯s the cat of an Austria physicist.¡±

 Chapter 1706

    Chapter 1706: Chapter 1705-happy life, no regrets in death

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    With the end of the story, everyone thought that the series wasing to an end. After all, there seemed to be no better ending than this cat. However, they didn¡¯t expect that the series was still not over.

    Everyone had already guessed that this story was definitely different from the original. It was probably just the original name and beginning, but the content of the story was not much worse than the original. Hearing that the story was not over yet, everyone was both relieved and worried. They were relieved because they could hear more stories, and worried because they were worried about Zhang Zian¡¯s ability to make up stories. They hoped that he would not make up a story that could have ended here with a dog¡¯s tail and a ferret¡¯s tail.

    However, this series of stories was not entirely made up by Zhang Zian. He did not have such quick wisdom. He just processed the stories ording to the elves ¡®stories, keeping the original taste of the stories and making them more suitable for everyone¡¯s taste.

    Little celery blinked and asked in confusion,¡±¡±Physics? What was physics? And what is a physicist?¡±

    As a primary school student, she had nevere into contact with this strange word.

    ¡°Physics, simply put, is the most basic existence and operating principle of matter. Physicists are scientists who specialize in physics.¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    ¡°Are you going to experiment on this cat like the zoologists?¡± Little celery asked again.

    Zhang Zian shook his head,¡±yes and no.¡± To be precise, this cat can be said to exist, but it can also be said to not exist. It lives in a sealed ck box, sometimes it exists, sometimes it doesn ¡®t. Even this physicist has never seen it with his own eyes. ¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s amazing ¡­¡± Little celery¡¯s eyes widened.

    Cai meiwen and the staff all guessed who the physicist was, but they were more curious about how he was going to make up the story.

    ¡°This time, it has a very magical ability. As long as it stays in the ck box, it will never truly die. Even if it dies, it will immediately resurrect in the box, far more than a million times. However, once he left the ck box, this ability would lose its effect. Little celery, if it was your cat, what would you want it to do? leave the box or stay in the box forever?¡± Zhang Zian threw the question to her.

    Everyone was so addicted to the story that they had forgotten the original purpose of his story, but he didn¡¯t forget that his purpose of telling this series of stories was to guide little celery to establish a correct view of life and death.

    Little celery followed his gaze and looked at Gxy. She remembered very clearly that this ck-and-white kitten was the first special member of the Pet Shop. When it first came, it was very afraid of people. Even if she waved to it, it would be so afraid that it would hide behind a small sandalwood flower pot. Unconsciously, it seemed to be less afraid of people. Although it would still hide far away when customers came, when there were only acquaintances present like now, it would bravely walk a few steps away and look at them. It was so obedient that it made one¡¯s heart ache.

    If it was his cat ¡­

    Little celery tried to imagine it. She saw the dead stray cat and heard that her mother¡¯s dead dog had developed a resistance to death. If it was her cat, she hoped that it would stay in the ck box forever, so that it would not die.

    She told him the answer.

    ¡°It¡¯s true that you won¡¯t die if you stay in the ck box, but what¡¯s the point of this long life? Just to live? You can¡¯t see the bright sunlight, you can¡¯t smell the fragrance of grass and flowers, you can¡¯t hear theughter of your friends, you can¡¯t taste delicious food, you can¡¯t feel the warm embrace of your family ¡­ Life is not just about living, it¡¯s more important to do some meaningful things. ¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Little celery thought hard.

    ¡°This cat died countless times in the ck box and lived countless times. It finally understood this truth, so it tried to escape from the ck box.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at Gxy. He had heard famous talk about its strange experience. When it first appeared in the waxwork museum, it was inexplicably drawn into another seemingly real and illusory mental world. It spent a long time with the seemingly real and illusory Gxy in the ck box.

    This experience might not bepletely real, but ording to famous¡¯s experience of entering and exiting the imagined world many times, the result was real and would not change. Gxy escaped from the ck box at a certain time and then appeared in the world.

    What was the reason for Gxy to escape from the ck box?

    For the sake of freedom?

    No, if a person was born in a room isted from the world and had no contact with any books or media, he would not understand what freedom was, let alone pursue it.

    But at least he would feel lonely.

    ¡°Because it was lonely, it escaped from the ck box. Even though it only had one life outside, it still left without looking back, because there was sunlight, flowers,ughter, food, friends, and people who loved it ¡­ All of these were more meaningful than eternal life. If you had all of these and lived a happy life, you would not feel regret even in the face of death.¡±

    Zhang Zian turned his head to look at Cai meiwen.¡±Just like your mother¡¯s dog. At least when it was alive, it was very happy. It loved its owner and spent a happy time with its owner. Although it died, you can say that it didn¡¯t die, because it has been living in your mother¡¯s memory and is still protecting her.¡±

    dimir chanted excitedly,¡±¡±Some people are alive, but they are already dead. Some people die, but he¡¯s still alive!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not just mottled hair, and it¡¯s not just this cat that pursues happiness. There¡¯s also the high and mighty cat, the cat that vanquishes violence and protects the good, the selfless cat, the cat that exquisitely works on acting, the cat that can sink fish and Wild Geese, the intelligent cat, the cat that devotedly practices, the cat that lives in luxury, the cat that writes quickly, and the cat that loves to dream that is not mentioned in detail in the story, the cat that thinks it is a dog, and millions of other cats, although they all died in the end. However, their stories have been left behind and spread by people. Every time more people know their stories, they live in more people¡¯s hearts. ¡±

    Zhang Zian squatted down and stroked the back of the lop-eared rabbit.¡±This rabbit will die one day, but if it can create beautiful memories with the person who loves it, I think it will feel that its life is full of sunshine.¡±

    He nced at the elves ¡®faces and said firmly,¡±¡±Happy life, no regrets in death?¡±

    Cai meiwen¡¯s throat choked up. Just as Zhang Zian had said, the image of mottled hair had always been in her memory. Even though she had forgotten the looks of her high school ssmates, its image was still fresh.

    ¡°Mother!¡±

    Little celery held Cai meiwen¡¯s hand and looked up at her, begging,¡±¡±Actually, I¡¯ve been meaning to say this for a long time ¡­ The next time we have a long vacation, let¡¯s go back to our hometown together, okay? My grandparents are getting old, and they alwayse to Coast City to visit me. I want to visit them too ¡­ I also want to see where my mother lived when she was young, see the school my mother went to ¡­ I also want to see photos of me ¡­¡±

    ¡°Good! Mom promises you that we¡¯ll go back to our hometown together during the Golden Week of November!¡±

    Cai meiwen squatted down and hugged little celery tightly, her eyes hazy with tears.

    She was no longer the little girl who would be scared helplessly by strange and suspicious men, and she was no longer afraid of him.

    In her vision that was blurred by her tears, she seemed to see the mottled hair running out of the corridor to wee them when she and little celery reached the downstairs of their old home. He ran in front of them and behind them, rubbing against the corner of their pants.

    It was time to stop running away and face his inner demons.

    The Elfins were also deep in thought. Except for dimir, they had never considered the meaning of life before. After listening to Zhang Zian¡¯s words today, they couldn¡¯t help but feel enlightened.

    Their lives were full of unimaginable wonders, and they could summon the wind and rain in their era. But in retrospect, the deepest impression they had was not their own extraordinariness, but ¡­ The person who had once brought them unforgettable memories.

    They had regretted many things, but they never regretted the course of their lives, just like a white python that they had never met. It would rather suffer the pain of being cut in half at the waist toplete its fate, just to meet someone in its destiny.

    As the saying goes,¡±happy life, no regrets in death!¡±

    Little celery tried to turn her head away from her mother¡¯s arms and asked,¡±¡±Is the story of that cat over?¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head.¡±No, it is creating a new story with them, and there will be new cats to continue their story.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great ¡­¡± Little celery said longingly.

    Unknowingly, the sound of raindrops hitting the curtain Door stopped, and it was quiet outside.

    The staff pulled open the blinds and looked out, then shouted in surprise,¡±¡±Manager! The rain had stopped! The typhoon seems to have passed!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great. ¡± Zhang Zian also let out a sigh of relief.

    The passing of the typhoon was only the beginning. There was still heavy disaster relief and reconstruction work to be done, but at least it was a good start.

    The lop-eared rabbit jumped to little celery¡¯s feet, and its three-petal mouth kept wriggling, as if it was hungry.

    Cai meiwen wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes and stood up. She looked down at the lop-eared rabbit and said,¡±¡±Thank you for telling me so much, but I still won¡¯t agree to keep a pet.¡±

    The staff and Zhang Zian were all stunned, and they looked at each other.

    Logically speaking, even if one¡¯s heart was made of stone, one should be able to break metal and stone with one¡¯s sincerity. Why did she ¡­

    Little celery also lowered her head in disappointment.

    ¡°Little celery, if you like, you cane to the store to visit them every day when you go to school. You can also y with them for a while, but you can¡¯t take them home.¡± Cai meiwen gently stroked her daughter¡¯s hair.¡±Because during the Golden Week and the winter and summer holidays, we went back to our hometown and no one took care of them.¡±

    Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then they understood her good intentions. If little celery brought the lop-eared rabbit and the hamster home, she probably wouldn¡¯t have a reason toe to the Pet Shop again. But if she left the lop-eared rabbit and the hamster in the shop, she would have a legitimate reason to visit them every day.

    Maybe she had finally realized that the people in the store were not bad people. Maybe she had figured out that she could not satisfy all of little celery¡¯s emotional needs by herself. Little celery would also be lonely and need friends.

    It was just that she was too embarrassed to say it directly, so she expressed her meaning in such a roundabout way with a cold face.

    She probably had a tsundere personality when she was young.

    Little celery didn¡¯t think too much about it. What she was most worried about was that her mother would forbid her froming to the Pet Shop again because she had kept it a secret for so long. But now her mother seemed to have allowed her toe to the Pet Shop every day to y. Although she still couldn¡¯t bring the lop-eared rabbit and hamster home, it was good to visit them every day.

    In terms of results, nothing seemed to have changed, but it also seemed to have changed a lot.

    ¡°Thank you, Mom!¡± She smiled through her tears.

    She already knew that the hamster and the lop-eared rabbit would die one day, just like the stray cats and mottled fur, but she was no longer afraid. Instead, she felt a sense of urgency. She had to care and love them more. Before that day came, she had to work hard to create better memories with them.

    It was already evening, and the sky was getting darker and darker. Soon, they would have to face the problem of how to spend the night.

    With so many people, the Pet Shop definitely couldn¡¯t amodate them. There were also many inconveniences, and eating was also a big problem.

    Cai meiwen didn¡¯t say it out loud, but she was anxiously trying toe up with a n. She wanted to take her daughter home, but she didn¡¯t think it was possible. At least, she wouldn¡¯t be able to leave the Pet Shop tonight. The water outside Yingluo was too deep. It would be fine if she was alone, but she couldn¡¯t drag little celery home with her, right?

    ¡°Now that the typhoon is over, you guys want to go home too, don¡¯t you?¡± Zhang Zian saw through her thoughts and waved his hand,¡±¡±Follow me. Wang Qian and Li Kun, follow me too.¡±

    Cai meiwen thought that he was going to open the curtain Door. The water outside was so deep, wouldn¡¯t it all pour in once he opened the door?

    To their surprise, Zhang Zian took them to the storage room on the second floor.

    ¡°Wang Qian, Li Kun, you two jump onto the roof of the car first, then into the water. Open the trunk and take out the assault boat.¡± Hemanded.

    The staff suddenly realized that they had almost forgotten about the assault boat.

    Binhai city had already be a swamp. Was there any more convenient means of transportation than an assault boat?

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were both wearing sports shorts, so they weren¡¯t afraid of the dirty water. They jumped from the second floor to the top of the Wuling Hong Guang MPV, and then into the water. The water was already over their waists.

    They used the key to open the trunk, took out the assault boat, put it on the roof, and then climbed up to inte the assault boat.

    After it was charged, Zhang Zian handed the fully charged battery to them from the house, and they installed it with ease.

    Cai meiwen was dumbfounded. Which pet shop would have an assault boat? However, this was also good. With the assault boat, the road would definitely be smooth.

    The assault boat could fit four people. She and little celery climbed out of the window, jumped on the roof, and sat in the assault boat.

    Zhang Zian asked Wang Qian and Li Kun to take the mother and daughter home, thene back to take Lu Yiyun and Jiang Feifei back to the rental house. Finally, he asked them to drive the assault boat back to their home.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun rubbed their hands together. The experience of sailing a boat in the city was not something that could be encountered every day. This journey must have been very cool.

 Chapter 1707

    Chapter 1707: Chapter 1706-nightmare

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    The rain had notpletely stopped, and it continued to fall intermittently. However,pared to the previous storm, it was already insignificant. It could be said that it was difficult for a Typhoon to cause rain.

    Zhang Zian stood on the second floor and watched Wang Qian and Li Kun drive the assault boat to send little celery and her daughter away. Little celery kept waving goodbye until they turned the corner and could no longer see the Pet Shop.

    Just as Wang Qian and Li Kun had guessed, now that the street had be a River, the assault boat was riding the wind and Breaking the Waves. It was more eye-catching than driving a Ferrari sports car, and the real Ferrari sports car was still submerged underwater because of its low chassis.

    When the neighbors saw that the typhoon had stopped, they all stuck their heads out of the windows on the second and third floors. They just happened to see the assault boat speeding past. Their eyes were filled with unspeakable envy. Everyone was trapped at home, but those who had boats coulde and go as they pleased. After all, even in coastal cities, no one would prepare their own assault boats.

    asionally, assault boats from the municipal and fishery departments would pass by, busy rescuing the people trapped outside or whose houses were flooded by the typhoon, but it was really a drop in the bucket. Big boats could note in, and small boats were not enough. In addition to saving people, clean drinking water and food had to be distributed, and the public¡¯s emotions were cated through speakers.

    Otakus were easy to calm down. It didn¡¯t matter if there was no water or electricity, as long as their phones had electricity and inte. However, most people needed more things to survive. The sky was about to turn dark, and it was too ufortable to spend the night in the dark.

    The typhoon hade too suddenly, and it was inevitable to be caught off guard. Not everyone was as prepared as Zhang Zian was. After all, the aquarium was too afraid of power outages, and the Pet Shop was too afraid of flooding.

    With this experience, the people of Binhai would not be so flustered the next time a Typhoon came.

    Zhang Zian and the staff continued to go downstairs to clear the sewage that had flooded in.

    After about half an hour, Wang Qian and Li Kun came back. They said that they had safely sent little celery and her mother to their neighborhood. They drove the boat all the way to the entrance of the building. They lived on the upper floor, and the elevator well was soaked in water. There was no electricity, which meant that they could only climb up to the upper floor step by step, but there was no other way.

    Zhang Zian asked the staff to go home, but now that the typhoon had stopped and their families had received the news that they were safe, they were in no hurry to leave. After all, it was really troublesome for Zhang Zian to take in the water by himself.

    It was not until midnight that the staff drove the assault boat away one after another.

    As all the sewers in the city were blocked, the sewage would not be discharged in a short time. The water level was only slightly lower than when the typhoon had just stopped. Even by tomorrow, the sewage would notpletely go away, so Zhang Zian told the staff to rest at home tomorrow and note. They would not be open for business anyway.

    After they left, he and the elves had dinner.

    The cat Elfins ate all kinds of canned food, snowy Li ate raw beef sirloin, and Zhang Zian and famous ate the self-heating rice he bought online.

    Not only little celery, her mother, and the staff, but the elves also realized something from the story in the picture book. As for what it was, each elf felt different, so they were particrly quiet when they ate.

    It had been a really tiring day. Even Zhang Zian, who was still young, was so tired that his back and legs hurt from frequently bending over to offer chrysanthemums. After climbing into bed, he didn¡¯t want to move anymore. There was nothing to do in the dark, so it was better to go to bed.

    He couldn¡¯t sleep well either. He had to wake up every few hours to clean the sewage. Otherwise, when he woke up the next morning, it would be a flood.

    He set the rm on his phone and fell asleep almost instantly.

    Mere mortals! Seeing that you have served me for many days, even if you have no credit, you have worked hard. I will not pursue your crime of great disrespect ¡­

    Zian, I¡¯ve taught you everything I¡¯ve learned in my life. Remember to practice hard. It will be of great use in the future ¡­

    Meow meow meow! Stinky man! It¡¯s a pity that I still haven¡¯t turned you into a girl ¡­

    Zian, thank you for helping me find my name ¡­

    Gah gah! When I¡¯m not around, you idiot must be very lonely!

    The revolution had not yet seeded, and the director still needed to work hard!

    Squeak ¡­ Squeak ¡­

    Ajeoan~stingy~why can¡¯t you be generous to me just this once?

    Brother, may God guide your path.

    Meow~Zian~

    In his daze, he seemed to hear the voices of the elves, but he was too sleepy. His eyelids seemed to be glued, and he couldn¡¯t open them no matter what.

    He knew that it was stillte at night, and the elves should be sleeping, but why ¡­

    Was it a dream?

    This feeling was indeed very simr to a dream, especially the kind of dream where a ghost pressed on the bed. It was the scientific sleeping paralysis. He clearly felt that he was awake, but he could not open his eyes and sit up no matter what.

    What are you guys talking about? Why are you not sleeping in the middle of the night?

    Sleep paralysis generally urred at two times: one was when you had just fallen asleep, and the other was when you were about to wake up. Themon point was that during the half-awake period, the brain that was not fully awake could not control the muscles, so it would produce all kinds of terrible illusions.

    He used all his strength and struggled to wake uppletely, but he couldn ¡®t.

    It would have been fine if he had beenpletely woken up from a nightmare, but this was not a nightmare.

    After a while, Yingying couldn¡¯t tell how long this ¡°while¡± was. Maybe it was just a moment, or maybe it was a few minutes. The voices of the Yingying elves seemed to have disappeared, and the surroundings returned to silence.

    Was it a dream?

    As soon as he rxed his mind, he felt an irresistible sense of fatigue. This time, hepletely fell into the dream.

    It was as if the glue that held his eyelids had disappeared. He suddenly opened his eyes, and this time, he opened them very easily.

    In front of him was ¡­

    An excellent view.

    It was a green ocean that stretched as far as the eye could see.

    There was a faint mist under his feet ¡­

    He immediately recognized where he was. This was the peak of Misty Mountain, not the modern Misty Mountain.

    To be honest, he heaved a sigh of relief, because he knew that this was a dream.

    Since he knew it was a dream, he also knew who had pulled him into the dream.

    Sure enough, when he turned around, he saw Zhuang Xiaodie, dressed in a Han Chinese dress, sitting on a stone bench, looking into the distance.

    He was already familiar with the dream world, and he was able to detect dreams faster and faster. He was secretly happy for his intelligence.

    ¡°Yo! Have you eaten?¡±

    He raised his hand to greet her.

    Zhuang Xiaodie did not answer this nonsense, and he had long been used to her coldness.

    ¡°I feel like your work is getting rougher. This stone chair shouldn¡¯t be here.¡± He pointed at the stone chair she was sitting on, his tone like Conan.

    ¡°Oh?¡± She finally reacted and turned to look at him.¡±You think so?¡±

 Chapter 1708

    Chapter 1708: Chapter 1707-changed to the human world

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart was inexplicably full of self-confidence. Maybe it was because he knew that Zhuang Xiaodie was different from other elves. She did not live in his mobile phone, but in his body, or maybe deep in his brain, so he and she were in a symbiotic rtionship to some extent, so she would not do anything to him, at least not let him die. At most, she would torture him in various ways ¡­

    Otherwise, if he died, she would disappear with him.

    The voices of the elves in his previous dream made him feel quite uneasy, but now that he knew it was a dream, he was more or less at ease. After all, Zhuang Xiaodie was the absolute master of the dream. He would dream of whatever she wanted him to dream of.

    It was actually quite scary to think about it this way. If she gave him some kind of psychological suggestion day after day in the dream, for example, suggesting that he really liked men, maybe after a period of time ¡­

    No, forget it.

    He quickly expelled the distracting thoughts from his mind. If she found out about these thoughts, he would rather die than live.

    Zhuang Xiaodie sat on a stone bench, which was very close to the cliff. Half of her long dress was dragged outside the cliff, and it was blown by the mountain wind. It looked very dangerous, but at the same time, it was full of immortal aura, making her feel otherworldly, as if she could go back with the wind at any time.

    The strong wind did not mess up her exquisite hair bun.

    If the ancient hunters and herb gatherers saw her sitting on the top of the mountain in such a graceful manner, they would definitely worship her as if she was a fairy who had descended to the mortal world.

    Zhang Zian remembered very clearly that this stone bench was ced in the same position in modern times for tourists to rest, but there was a guardrail in front to prevent tourists from falling. Thest time he returned to the ancient hidden Fog Mountain peak, the top of the mountain was empty and deserted.

    So, this w was too obvious. Even if he didn¡¯t notice the dream at the beginning, he would¡¯ve noticed it immediately when he saw the stone bench.

    Had her ability to create dreams dropped? Or was she being too casual?

    She stared at him, her colorful eyes like a kaleidoscope. Deep purple, bright yellow, noble green, beautiful red, bright blue, warm orange, refreshing green ¡­ It was like a Whirlpool that was about to suck people in.

    ¡°The stone chair you¡¯re sitting on doesn¡¯t seem to belong to this era.¡±

    He coughed and looked away, pointing at the stone chair.

    She gave another ¡°Oh¡± and asked without changing her expression,¡±¡±Why?¡±

    Why?

    He felt that she was pretending to be stupid and asking the obvious.

    The top of the hidden Fog Mountain was no different from thest time he came here. Wild grass grew, stones were scattered, and ancient trees were withered, but this stone chair stood out.

    ¡°Because it doesn¡¯t belong to this era. The Misty Mountain of this era should still be a barren mountain ¡­ I say, are you looking down on my intelligence?¡± He said indignantly.

    She looked at him for a while more and shook her head slowly.¡±No, you¡¯re wrong.¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned. She didn¡¯t seem to be joking. Sometimes she did make some bad jokes, but she wouldn¡¯t usually joke about such a small matter.

    What did I do wrong?

    He muttered as he moved his feet, wanting to get closer to take a closer look at the bench. However, his ankle tilted as if he had stepped on a stone and almost twisted his foot.

    He lowered his head and looked at his feet. He was stunned again, almost unable to believe his eyes.

    In the grass was half a stone b, which was the kind of antique square brick often used in squares or open spaces.

    As they walked forward, more broken bricks and tiles appeared in the grass. At a nce, they could tell that they were all man-made.

    That¡¯s impossible, right?

    Even if there were one or two ws in the dream created by Zhuang Xiaodie, it would not be full of ws like this ¡­

    He took a few more steps and suddenly found a stone tform shaped like the base of a pir in the wild grass. The stone tform caved in, and the pir that should have been standing in it was long gone.

    Wait a minute ¡­

    He tried to recall theyout of the modern Misty Mountain in his mind.

    With the stone chair and the ancient tree as a reference, he should be standing at the main entrance of the teahouse in hidden fog.

    He remembered clearly that the tea house in hidden fog was an antiqued version with a wooden pir at each of the four corners as its structural support.

    The concave stone tform under his feet seemed to be the base of one of the wooden pirs.

    He lowered his head, and walked in the other three directions for a distance. Sure enough, he found another three stone bases, which were simr to the previous one. They were all somewhat dpidated, like historical sites.

    Not long ago, he had just visited the teahouse in hidden fog that ughtered customers like pigs. It had only been built for one or two years, but it looked like a new one!

    No way ¡­

    He raised his head in a daze and subconsciously looked in a certain direction.

    There, he subconsciously looked forward to seeing two things. It was either the bustling Binhai city or Binhai town, which was no different from a small fishing vige.

    However, what he saw shocked him.

    That ¡­ That¡¯s Binhai city?

    That¡¯s right, he could still tell from the outline andyout that it was indeed Binhai city. He was too familiar with Binhai city, but it was a very broken Binhai city. There were wild grass as tall as a person everywhere in the city, and giant trees that covered the sky. Wild animals that vaguely looked like deer or goats ran and jumped on the streets, and then they were suddenly pounced on by carnivorous beasts that suddenly jumped out of hiding, bit their necks, and dragged back to their hiding ces ¡­

    In the main teaching building of Binhai University, the walls of the lower floors were covered with vines that were growing wildly. Almost all the ss had fallen off, revealing dark windows.

    Further away, the ocean waves rose and fell, and there was not a single boat.

    Most importantly, the entire Binhai city was dead. There was no sign of human activity.

    There were no car horns, no train roars, and no nending.

    Other than the mournful chirping of insects, there was a dead silence everywhere.

    This ¡­

    It felt like he had traveled to the post-apocalyptic world and arrived at Binhai city after the nuclear war ¡­

    ¡°Where ¡­ Where is this ce?¡±

    His knees went soft, and he knelt down in the grass, asking in a trembling voice.

    ¡°You should be able to recognize where we are, right?¡± She asked in return.

    ¡°But ¡­¡±

    Zhuang Xiaodie stood up and walked on the edge of the cliff as light as a swallow. If it was an ordinary person, this was obviously an extremely dangerous move, and they could be blown off the cliff at any time by a strong wind.

    ¡°Actually, you should be asking Yingluo what era it is.¡±

    She opened her cherry lips and said leisurely.

    Zhang Zian swallowed hard and asked in a hoarse voice like a parrot,¡±¡±What era is this?¡±

    She stopped and turned to him with a bright smile.

    She stretched out her arms, her long sleeves fluttering, like a colorful butterfly that was about to take off after drying its wings.

    ¡°Wee to Binhai city, a thousand years from now.¡±

 Chapter 1709

    Chapter 1709: It¡¯s been a thousand years since I woke up from my dream

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Binhai city a thousand yearster?

    Zhang Zian¡¯s brain couldn¡¯t react to this sentence for a long time.

    To him, a year was a long time. He didn¡¯t know if he could get a wife in ten years. It was already a big victory to live to the 22nd century. What did a thousand years mean?

    When his consciousness finally epted reality, he almost peed his pants!

    The only reason that could stop him from peeing his pants was that he kept telling himself that it was a dream.

    ¡°You ¡­ You¡¯re not joking, are you? This is 1000 yearster ¡­ Could it be that mankind has gone extinct?¡± He asked bitterly.

    It was no wonder he thought so. He stood at the top of the hidden Fog Mountain and looked around, but there was no sign of human activity. The huge Binhai city was like a Dead City, as cold as a grave.

    Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s smile disappeared,¡±this is not necessarily the case.¡±

    ¡°Not necessarily ¡­ What do you mean?¡± He had a glimmer of hope.

    ¡°This is just one of the futures I¡¯ve deduced based on the current trend of human technology, national rtions, social changes, group thinking, and other conditions,¡± she said calmly.¡±It doesn¡¯t necessarily mean that this is the future. After all, I don¡¯t know how to travel through time and space.¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned again. He had mixed feelings in his heart, but he was more or less relieved. This was the future that she had predicted, not the real future. And listening to her, there were many possibilities for the future, and this was only one of them.

    ¡°Where did the humans go?¡± He asked tentatively.

    ¡°In different futures, humans will have different endings. In some future, humans would use nuclear wars to destroy themselves; In some future, humans would sessfully leave earth and head for the stars; In some futures, humans will be destroyed ¡­ But no matter which future it is, Binhai city¡¯s future will be like what you see. It¡¯s not just Binhai city, all the big cities in the world will be like this. A thousand yearster, it¡¯s impossible for humans to still live in the primitive cities on the surface. Otherwise, I¡¯m afraid that they¡¯ve lived for a thousand years for nothing. ¡± She replied with certainty.

    I think you¡¯re scolding me, but I don¡¯t have any evidence.

    ¡°It¡¯s really interesting. I created a dream pocket dimension in the real world, and then sped up the flow of time in the pocket dimension without any interference. The real world will be like this a thousand yearster ¡­ As long as the initial conditions are slightly adjusted, the results of the evolution will also change, but the appearance of the city is basically the same a thousand yearster.¡± She recalled the process of her experiment in a leisurely and fascinated manner, and the expression on her face was like that of a scientist who was obsessed with exploring the nature of the world.

    The only difference was that she used the entire earth as her experimental subject to observe the evolution of human society. It was simr to how humans observed what a nest of ants would look like after they reproduced for hundreds of generations.

    The more Zhang Zian listened, the more speechless he became. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that he was afraid of talking about her balls, he would have split her.

    She squatted down, picked up a piece of broken brick and tile, and gently rubbed it. ¡°Civilization is really fragile. Whether it¡¯s the steel ships all over the sea or the aviationwork covering the world, they are all vulnerable in the face of time. Only stones and concrete can live for thousands of years without decay, just like the pyramids in Egypt.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at Binhai city again. As she said, as long as he looked carefully, he would find that the whole city was only left with the outline of concrete, and the debris such as billboards, ss, neon lights, cars, garbage boxes, and so on had all turned into scrap metal with indistinguishable shape and attributes.

    The wooden structure of the teahouse on the top of hidden Fog Mountain could not escape the erosion of time, and not even a single piece of wood was left.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡±he said. She said.

    ¡°Where to?¡±

    He thought that she was kind enough to let him leave the dream.

    She gave him a reproachful look, as if ming him for not being romantic.¡±Where are you going? Shopping in Binhai city, of course. ¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    If it was in reality, he would probably be punished by the heavens for rejecting the invitation of such a peerless beauty. However, the thing he was in the least mood for right now was shopping. Thinking about how the streets where he was born, grew up, lived, and lived had be ruins, this kind of feeling was really F * cking terrible.

    Having said that, he didn¡¯t dare to offend her and could only try to ask,¡±¡±We¡¯re going to Binhai city from here? Walking?¡±

    No matter what, hidden Fog Mountain was located in the suburbs Binhai city. Although it wasn¡¯t too far from the city center, it was still impossible to reach the mountain.

    Of course, if she didn¡¯t care about time, he didn¡¯t need to care about it either. A day in the dream world might be equivalent to a second in the real world.

    She didn¡¯t exin much and took the first step. She actually walked directly to the edge of the cliff, one of her feet already in the air.

    Even though he knew that it was a dream, Zhang Zian was still frightened, and his palms were sweating.

    She did not fall from a high altitude like he had imagined, nor did she grow a pair of wings to fly across the void. However, a rainbow path seemed to have appeared under her feet, from the top of the mountain to the city. She stepped on the rainbow and slowly walked forward.

    Zhang Zian was convinced in his heart. At least in terms of acting tough, she had already surpassed her master.

    He mimicked her and stood at the edge of the cliff. He nced at his feet and his fear of heights almost red up. However, he had no choice. If he didn¡¯t want to be looked down upon by her, he could only brace himself and follow.

    He stretched out a foot and tried to step on it. Stepping on the rainbow felt like stepping on a synthetic race track, firm, stic, and not slippery.

    Walking on the rainbow was really a magical experience. The earth extended under his feet, and because the rainbow was tilted down at a small angle, it was not strenuous to walk at all.

    The wind was a little strong, and he felt that he could be blown down the rainbow at any time.

    The shortest distance between two points was a straight line. It didn¡¯t take long for him to enter the traditional Binhai City area.

    Most of thendmark buildings in the city were unrecognizable due to the dense trees and weeds, and there were some high-rise buildings that he had never seen before. The most obviousndmark nearby was the main teaching building of Binhai University. He still remembered the main teaching building clearly. After all, he had wandered inside for a long time in order to find Richard, but he had never observed it from the outside at such a close distance. He was afraid that no one was there.

    The Rainbow Passage brushed past the teaching building, and most of the tiles on the building had peeled off. Even if there were some remaining, they had long lost their original luster due to the erosion of the wind and sand.

    Walking in the sky above the familiar yet unfamiliar city, the further they went, the closer they were to the ground. The closer they got to the buildings, the clearer they became. It gave one a feeling of great changes.

    After walking for a while, the rainbow was getting lower and lower, and Zhuang Xiaodie was the first to step on the ground.

    ¡°This is ¡­¡±

    Even though everything around him was strange, he suddenly felt a sense of familiarity.

    ¡°Zhonghua Road, the old address of the amazing fate pet shop.¡± She said.

 Chapter 1710

    Chapter 1710: Testing the waters

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    The ce where Zhang Zian and Zhuang Xiaodie stood was a small open space full of wild grass. The height of the wild grass was almost as high as an adult, and next to it was a gloomy ancient tree in the sky. The vines spiraled up around the trunk, tightly wrapped around the big tree like an infatuated woman.

    There were sounds of insects chirping in the surroundings, and strange sounds asionally came from the depths of the wild grass. It seemed that some wild beast had quickly slipped past, but because the wild grass was too high and dense, nothing could be seen clearly.

    This environment was more dangerous than the mahogany forest. There might berge carnivorous beasts hiding around. Zhang Zian was uneasy, but since Zhuang Xiaodie was around, if something really happened, she would be there.

    He could no longer recognize the brick and concrete building in front of him, let alone associate it with a pet shop. The building was at least four or five stories high and upied the space of several shops around it. The size was equivalent to a bookstore or a small museum. Like other buildings, the signboard and other signs of the building had be mud and dust, so he could not guess what the building was for.

    ¡°Finally ¡­¡± He was stunned for a long time, but he soon revealed a happy expression.¡±It¡¯s finally demolished?¡± How much did you lose?¡±

    This time, it was Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s turn to be speechless.

    She had brought him here because she wanted to see his sad and mncholic face. What kind of brain did he have to think about the demolition?

    Zhang Zian counted on his fingers the two floors of the Pet Shop and the two floors of the aquarium he bought. After all, the standard ofpensation for the demolition was based on the construction area, not thend area. Taking into ount the price of the nearby houses and intion, the more he thought about it, the better he felt.

    Zhuang Xiaodie observed his expression and found that he was not pretending, but really happy because of the demolition.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you sad to see your house gone?¡± She asked in disbelief.

    ¡°Why should I be sad?¡± He asked in confusion,¡±this house is old. It was first built in the early 1990s. After several refurbishments, the main structure has long been old, especially the power supply and drainage system. Theyout of the house is also out of date. As the saying goes, if the old is not removed, the new will note. Not to mention, you can lose a lot of money ¡­¡±

    He spoke eloquently and seemed to make a lot of sense, making her speechless for a moment. After a while, she asked,¡±¡±What about the Pet Shop?¡±

    ¡°A pet shop? The tree is dead, but people are alive. Just move to a new address!¡± He said matter-of-factly,¡±moving to a new location will definitely be better in all aspects. Who doesn¡¯t like living in a new house? why stay in an old house?¡±

    ¡°But your parents bought the Pet Shop and then ran it bit by bit.¡± She warned.

    ¡°I know,¡± He nodded.¡±So?¡±

    ¡°So you want to sell the precious inheritance they left you?¡± She asked.

    ¡°They left me a lot of things, and the Pet Shop is the least important thing.¡± He calmly replied.

    After listening to little celery¡¯s story, he had a deeper understanding of this point. The things left for him by his parents included both tangible and intangible assets. He had a bnce in his heart, and he could tell which was more important.

    He shrugged and added,¡±they left the Pet Shop to me, but that doesn¡¯t mean I have to leave the Pet Shop to my son or daughter. Wouldn¡¯t that make it a dpidated house?¡±

    Sihwained about his bathroom and bathtub every two or three days. He also knew that the bathroom was old and outdated, but what could he do?

    If he could move to a suitable new home through the demolition, the living conditions of both his pets and the elves would be greatly improved. Perhaps he could also take advantage of the spring breeze of the reform and get married. Which young girl would be willing to live in an old house after marriage?

    Zhuang Xiaodie realized that he had really untied the knot in his heart after his parents ¡®death, and this was all thanks to her ¡­

    The first contest in the dream had ended with her defeat, which had always made her gnash her teeth in hatred. But now hearing his answer, she felt relieved deep in her heart, like a stone had fallen to the ground.

    The main reason she brought him here was to test him and see if he was still holding on to something from the past. If that was the case, things would be very troublesometer ¡­

    Why?

    Because if he could not untie the knot in his heart, and for some reason, he got the opportunity to return to the past, the consequences would be unpredictable.

    In the long river of time, if the river upstream was altered by even a centimeter, the river downstream might be shifted thousands of miles away ¡­

    She cherished her existence. There were too many new things in this world waiting for her to explore. She didn¡¯t want to disappear from this world because of this Idiot¡¯s impulsiveness.

    Whatever happened in the future was fine, but if someone tried to change the past and threatened her existence, she would not sit by and watch.

    If he hadn¡¯t passed her test just now, he would have been in an eternal sleep. She wouldn¡¯t have allowed him to wake up again.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know that she had such aplicated mental journey. He didn¡¯t know that he had almost be a real sleeping Beauty. He couldn¡¯t even wake up when a youngdy kissed and hugged him. He had been thinking about how to spend the huge sum of money after the demolition. At the same time, he was wondering if he could buy a few more shops before the demolition ¡­

    It was quite ironic. His parents had worked hard to get up early and sell the pets for more than ten years, but they probably couldn¡¯t make as much money as tearing down the pets.

    At this moment, a cloud suddenly floated over her head and blocked the sunlight.

    He looked up subconsciously and was dumbfounded. It was not a cloud, but an outrageouslyrge ¡­ Spaceship, like a Super City floating in the air. Because it was so big, he could see it clearly even from the ground.

    This was a flying city made of steel. Countless small spaceships the size of sesame seeds were going in and out of the city, reminding people of the Crossroads ofmuting time.

    ¡°That¡¯s ¡­¡±

    She looked up.¡±Of course it¡¯s the future city.¡±

    ¡°F * ck! The future technology was already so powerful? ¡°No wonder humans abandoned the cities on the surface ¡­¡± He clicked his tongue in wonder.

    She looked at him meaningfully,¡±how do you know that the people living in that city are humans?¡±

    He was stunned.¡±If it¡¯s not a human, then it can be a robot?¡±

    ¡°Maybe,¡± She didn¡¯tment. She looked over his shoulder and stared at something behind him.¡±What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    He quickly turned around, but there was nothing behind him except for the wild grass.

    Then, he was suddenly pushed.

    Before he fell face down, he woke up.

 Chapter 1711

    Chapter 1711: The missing elf

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    ÎË¨CÎË¨CÎË¨C

    The periodic vibrations came from under the pillow, and the music was getting stronger.

    Zhang Zian woke up in a daze. He felt that he had just closed his eyes and hadn¡¯t fallen asleep at all when his phone rm rang.

    Why did the phone rm ring?

    He had just left the dream, so his mind was still at the border between reality and the dream, and he was notpletely awake.

    It was stillpletely dark outside the curtains, with the asional raindrops hitting the window ss.

    It was time to get up and pour water.

    He finally remembered the reason for setting the rm. The typhoon had just passed, and the sewage outside had not subsided.

    If the sewage that seeped through the door gap was not cleared every two or three hours, the first floor might be soaked. When the sewage reached the height of the kick line, it would leave an ugly watermark on the wall that would be difficult to remove unless the wall was repainted.

    In addition, the temperature of the aquarium might have risen to the edge of danger. It was time to add ice and sea salt to lower the temperature.

    The staff had all gone home. He had to do all this by himself. He estimated that it would take at least half an hour. By the time he was done, it would be almost dawn, but there was no other way. Fortunately, the sewage water would be mostly gone by day, and the municipal department would probably hurry to repair the circuit.

    Every time Zhuang Xiaodie pushed him out of the dream, she used such a simple and violent way. If only she could silently nourish him like when she pulled him into the dream ¡­ But she just thought about it, and she dared not say anything.

    In addition, he was not sure if she was deliberately tormenting him, or if he had to leave the dream in this way. After all, it was easy to linger in the dream, and if he wanted to leave, he could only create a miracle with great force.

    There was no electricity, and the sky was dark. The room was so dark that he couldn¡¯t even see his fingers. However, he knew theyout of the room like the back of his hand, so he wouldn¡¯t trip even if he closed his eyes.

    He fumbled his way down the stairs. The first floor was dark, of course. The cats and dogs heard the noise and there was a slightmotion.

    He put on the emergency light and went next door to add ice and sea salt to the aquarium in proportion. Then he returned to the Pet Shop, threw the cloth that was full of water near the door into the stic bucket, wrung out the dirty water, and reced it with a wrung cloth.

    After he was done, he was sweating a little, but he was basically awake. He was not sleepy at all, and he might not be able to fall asleep even if hey back in bed.

    He didn¡¯t know why, but he felt that something was wrong. After thinking carefully for a while, he noticed that he didn¡¯t seem to hear the elves ints.

    Usually, the sensitive elves would be woken up by this kind of thing in the middle of the night. Although most of them didn¡¯t care, there were always a few who liked to sleep andined.

    However, he had not heard a singleint since the beginning.

    Was it because they were sleeping too deeply?

    During the day, the Elfins weren¡¯t as busy as he and the staff. They weren¡¯t tired, so they shouldn¡¯t be sleeping so well.

    His heart suddenly skipped a beat, and a bad feeling welled up in his heart.

    Carrying an emergency light upstairs might attract the Elfins ¡®attention. Besides, he was very familiar with the house and didn¡¯t need an emergency light, so he put it back on the cashier counter.

    He picked up the emergency light again and walked up the stairs.

    Standing at the door of the bedroom, he became more and more flustered and short of breath. He actually didn¡¯t dare to open the door.

    No, it shouldn¡¯t ¡­

    He tried tofort himself that he was probably just overthinking it. When he pushed open the door, the bright light of the emergency light would illuminate the room, and the Elfins would definitely be angry at him ¡­

    So, after a few rounds of mental preparation, he lowered his head and pushed open the door.

    Strong rays of light shone into the room.

    The room was still quiet, and the expected scolding did not appear.

    He slowly and absent-mindedly raised his head.

    The empty room was clearly illuminated by the emergency lights, and there were no living creatures in it.

    The baby¡¯s cot was empty.

    The curtains of the princess bed were empty.

    It was empty under the princess bed.

    The electric nket with the summer sleeping mat was empty.

    The basket hammock chair was empty.

    It was empty beside the nightmp.

    Beside the pillow, it was empty ¡­

    His chest felt like it was being pressed by a thousand-ton Boulder, almost suffocating him. It was extremely difficult to breathe.

    What was going on?

    ¡°Gxy? It¡¯s not the time to y hide-and-seek. ¡±

    There was no response.

    ¡°Fina?¡±

    ¡°Grandpa tea?¡±

    ¡°Richard?¡±

    ¡°Famous?¡±

    ¡°Law deduction?¡±

    ¡°¦Ð£¿¡±

    ¡°Snow Lion?¡±

    His voice was like a y ox entering the sea, and there was no response.

    He didn¡¯t give up. He quickly walked to the bed, squatted down, and lifted the hanging sheets.¡±dimir?¡±

    dimir, who usually slept under the bed, was also not there.

    He rushed to the bathroom and pushed the door open without even knocking.

    ¡°Sihwa?¡±

    The bathtub was filled with clear water, and there was no sign of Sihwa.

    His heart was beating so violently that it was about to jump out of his throat. His temples were throbbing in pain, and he felt like his throat was spewing hot air like a fire-breathing dragon.

    ¡°Hey! Where are you guys hiding? Don¡¯t hide! Was this a surprise? My birthday isn¡¯t even here yet!¡±

    He raised his voice and was practically shouting. He didn¡¯t care even if someoneined about him disturbing peoplete at night.

    There was still no response.

    What was going on?

    If it was a joke, it would have gone too far. Besides, only Richard would make such a joke.

    When he had just finished the work, he was only slightly sweating, but now he was sweating like rain. His chest and back were wet, as if he had run five kilometers in the hot summer.

    Calm down, calm down.

    There was no point in panicking now.

    He had to figure out what was going on first.

    Could it be ¡­

    Suddenly, he had a sh of inspiration. Like a thirsty person who saw a clear spring, he had a great hope.

    Could this still be a dream?

    Zhuang Xiaodie repeated the same trick and made a dream where all the elves disappeared, making him think that he had left the dream, but it was actually a dream within a dream like a Russia nesting doll?

    ¡°Zhuang Xiaodie,e out. I have already seen through it. This is another dream you created, right? The same trick can only work on me once, so try something new. ¡± He said with a Bluff.

    He desperately wished that this was a dream. As long as he woke up, everything would be normal. He would scream and sit up from the bed, and then be scolded a few times. That was all.

    After waiting for a while, there was still no response.

    Based on his understanding of Zhuang Xiaodie, if he saw through the dream, she seemed to have no need to continue ying. She disdained to y dirty. With her character, she should appear generously, torture him, and then let him really wake up.

    After waiting for a while, Zhuang Xiaodie did not appear nor did she respond.

    He stood in the room, his heart as empty as the room.

    He hoped that this was a dream, but he couldn¡¯t numb himself and put all his hopes on this dream. He also couldn¡¯t put all his hopes on Zhuang Xiaodie.

    People always had to rely on themselves.

    He tried his best to adjust his breathing and forcefully divert his attention. He no longer thought about whether this was a problem of the dream world and began to consider other possibilities.

    Would he ¡­

    He thought of another absurd possibility. Could it be that elves never existed, and everything was just a fantasy in his mind? He even came up with a logical exnation that he had been too shocked by his parents ¡®sudden death and fantasized about the elves apanying him.

    In other words, had he already gone crazy?

    However, all the details pointed to the fact that there was indeed another living thing in the bedroom.

    A few short strands of ck and white hair fell on the mat of the crib.

    He reached his hand under the mattress of the princess bed and took out the diamond ring hidden there. The diamond ring had a slight scratch left by a sharp w.

    He turned on hisptop and saw a Word document saved on the desktop. After clicking on it, the cursor shed at the end of an unfinished chapter.

    There was a faint yellowish-green Mark on the bed sheet beside the pillow, and it gave off a foul smell.

    On the bathroom cab next to the bathtub, there was a feminine-looking phone that had run out of battery.

    These details couldn¡¯t have been fabricated by a madman to deceive him, right? That was too F * cking professional!

    If it wasn¡¯t a joke, a dream, or madness, then what reason could exin the collective disappearance of the elves?

    Could it be that some terrifying enemy had sneaked in and killed all the elves without anyone knowing?

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    How was that possible?

    Not to mention that he had been sleeping in the room with the elves, even if he was a negligible referee, what powerful existence could do this without waking him up?

    As he thought of this, his gaze fell on the pillow.

    He walked to the bed and took out his phone from under the pillow. After he had stopped the rm, he put the phone back under the pillow.

    He unlocked his phone, swiped the screen, and looked for the familiar icon.

    No, there wasn ¡®t.

    The more he swiped, the more panicked he became. He swiped the interface countless times, but he couldn¡¯t find the icon of the pet Hunter game.

    How could he start the game without an icon?

    At this moment, he noticed that there was an unread notification in the notification bar at the top of the screen.

    He pulled down the notification bar.

    [Game hint]: Hello, dear yer. Due to the umtion of more and more irreparable errors in the game, and recently arge number of elves have been defeated by unknown units that do not exist in the database at the same time, we judge that the stability of the game has reached a precarious level. Now, we are sorry to inform you that this game has stopped operating. ording to the User Agreement, all yers ¡®ounts have been canceled, and all captured elves have been recycled. When you see this notice, the game app has been automatically removed from your phone and can not be restored. Thank you for your participation andpany in the past year. Goodbye.

    After reading the entire text, such an official passage could be summarized in a few simple words, my dear yer, I¡¯m your father.

    He read the notice over and over again until every word was etched into his mind.

    Although he was so angry that he wanted to smash his phone to the ground several times, he held back his impulse and did not even cross out the notice, because it was the only proof that the pet Hunter game once existed in the mobile phone. Once it was crossed out, it was as if the link between him and the elves waspletely cut off.

    All the muscles in his body trembled. It turned out that the sudden disappearance of the elves was the game¡¯s doing!

    Thinking back, when he first downloaded the game and registered, something like a User Agreement did sh on the screen, but who would read such a long string of things carefully? Didn¡¯t he just confirm it without thinking? If you don¡¯t confirm it, you can¡¯t y.

    Thinking about it carefully, the User Agreement seemed to say that the yer¡¯s ount and Elfins belonged to the game, but even so, it was too unreasonable to log out and take back as he pleased. He did not do anything against the rules of the game ¡­ Well, dimir might have gone too far by breaking the air wall, but this had nothing to do with him. For example, arge number of elves were defeated by unknown units, which had nothing to do with him. Why should he be responsible for this?

    No, this can¡¯t be tolerated!

    He suddenly stood up and was about to walk out with his phone, but he stopped after a few steps.

    To whom?

    Expose it to the TV station or file aint to the consumer Association?

    Would it work?

    He slumped onto the floor and held his head in his hands. His head was about to split open.

    It was useless. It was useless no matter who he looked for.

    The ck technology that the game disyed was far beyond the scope of modern technology. As long as people were willing, they could conquer the world in minutes.

    As time passed, his heart grew colder and colder.

    He didn¡¯t want to admit it, but the fact was that he might never see the elves again. He didn¡¯t even have time to say goodbye.

    The pain and helplessness he felt as if he had fallen into an abyss was no less than the feeling he had when he received a call from his parents.

    No, in fact, the elves had said goodbye to him. Just as he was half-awake, he heard the elves say something in a different tone than usual.

    At that time, he thought it was a dream, because even snowy Li, who always hated him, seemed to be sad.

    If ¡­ If he had opened his eyes at that time, he might have been able to see the elves onest time and say goodbye.

    Pa da.

    Tears silently rolled down her cheeks and dripped onto the floor.

    The empty house was as quiet as a grave.

    After an unknown amount of time.

    He just sat there with his head down. He didn¡¯t even want to drink water or add ice. He just wanted to do whatever he wanted.

    Just as the first faint ray of light shone through the window.

    In her blurry vision, she suddenly saw something move.

    Meow! Zian, don¡¯t cry!¡±

    His heart was heavily struck, almost stopping.

    He slowly raised his head and saw a ck and white kitten sitting in front of him.

    ¡°Star ¡­ Star Ocean?¡±

    He stared at it in disbelief.

    Was he dreaming? Did I fall asleep again unknowingly?

    Gxy is back?

    ¡°Meow, Zian, pull yourself together! Don¡¯t be sad~¡±

    Gxy looked at him with its silver-gray eyes.

    ¡°But ¡­ Everyone¡¯s gone ¡­¡± He wiped away his tears and stared at the sea of stars in front of him, afraid that it was just a Mirage.

    ¡°Meow! Gxy knows!¡± It nodded.¡±Don¡¯t worry, let¡¯s wait for reinforcements together!¡±

 Chapter 1712

    Chapter 1712: Chapter 1711-a glimmer of hope

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian stared at Gxy in a daze, trying to convince himself that it was not an illusion.

    Was it another dream?

    Or had he really gone crazy this time?

    The sky was still dark, and the faint light of dawn cast a faint shadow on the sea of stars. No matter how one looked at it, it was real.

    ¡°Gxy, why are you ¡­ What the hell is this ¡­¡± He stammered incoherently. There were too many things he wanted to ask, and all of them rushed to his mouth at once, but he didn¡¯t know how to ask.

    Gxy seemed to know what he was going to ask. It nced at the phone he threw on the bed and said,¡±¡±Everyone was locked up. Gxy escaped on its own.¡±

    Its words were simple, but it was enough to exin the situation.

    ¡°Where are we locked up? I ¡­¡±

    He wanted to say that he was going to save everyone, but ¡­ He was already past the age where he could not do what he wanted to say on impulse.

    Gxy looked at the void,¡±everyone was locked in an invisible space. It took Gxy a lot of effort to escape.¡±

    An invisible and untouchable space ¡­ It took a lot of effort ¡­

    Zhang Zian noticed that Gxy¡¯s hair was a little messy, as if it had juste out of a particrly narrow ce.

    ¡°Good ¡­ It¡¯s good that you managed to escape ¡­¡± He muttered.¡±Is everyone ¡­ Okay?¡±

    ¡°Everyone is also trying to escape.¡± Gxy did not answer directly.

    ¡°Then ¡­¡± Hope welled up in his heart.

    Gxy shook its head.

    ¡°Now, we can only wait patiently for the reinforcements to arrive~¡±

    His heart sank again. Gxy¡¯s meaning could not be more obvious. It was difficult for the other Elfins to escape the shackles set by the game. Their power was not good at dealing with this invisible space.

    The reinforcements ¡­

    This was the second time Gxy had mentioned this word. The first time, Zhang Zian¡¯s brain was still numb. He was still immersed in the shock of the Elfins ¡®disappearance and Gxy¡¯s appearance alone. He didn¡¯t hear it clearly, nor did he know what it said.

    ¡°Reinforcements? Where are the reinforcementsing from?¡± He asked tentatively.

    Gxy shook its head again.¡±Meow! I can¡¯t tell you. Zian, you have to be confident.¡±

    ¡°Alright ¡­ If confidence is all that matters, I can have as many as I want.¡±

    Zhang Zian was well aware that if even the elves couldn¡¯t do it, he would be even more helpless. Now he could only trust Gxy.

    He had to pull himself together, not only for the elves, but also for himself.

    Perhaps it was Xinghai¡¯s return that made him slightly more rxed. At least he still had Xinghai, or perhaps it was Xinghai¡¯s words that ignited the fire of hope in Him. His strength returned to his body, and his mind was clearer.

    He picked up his phone and looked at the game notification again. He noticed some rhetorical details.

    [All captured elves have been retrieved ¡­]

    Not all the sprites had been recalled, but all the captured sprites had been recalled. There seemed to be no difference, but the truth was that they were very different.

    He knew that there were at least three sprites that had not been captured after they appeared. One was Zhuang Xiaodie, the second was little white, and the third was the Indian wolf spirit.

    If he did not misunderstand this sentence, these three sprites should still exist in this world.

    It was not that the game had stopped operating, but it might have just removed the user interface. It was like the client was damaged, but the server was still running normally, but ordinary users could not connect to the server.

    It was easy to verify this conjecture as long as he confirmed that the three Elfins still existed. However, the Indian WolfSpirit was in the mahogany forest Park in the United States, far away. He had lost the game¡¯s help, so even if it didn¡¯t disappear, he couldn¡¯t see it, so he could only rule it out.

    Zhuang Xiaodie ¡­ The situation of this elfin is very special. Its existence does not rely on the mobile phone, and may no longer rely on the game. She is a parasite in his brain, using his dreams as nutrients. As long as he is not dead and can still dream, she will always exist.

    From a certain perspective, she could be said to have jumped out of the Three Realms and not within the five elements ¡­ She was just that awesome.

    He remembered the dream very clearly. She pulled him into the dream after the other Elfins said goodbye to him. There was a difference in time, so she was likely to still exist.

    However, every time Zhang Zian saw her in his dreams, it was because she wanted to see him that he could see her. It did not mean that he could dream of her every night. That would be crazy ¡­

    Not to mention whether he could fall asleep in his current state of mind, even if he did, he might not be able to dream of her.

    In that case, only Xiaobai was left ¡­

    At this moment.

    Thump.

    Something hit the window of the second-floor bedroom.

    ¡°dimir?¡±

    He was ecstatic, thinking that dimir had also escaped after Gxy, so he quickly ran to the window to look out.

    Although there was no dimir outside the window, he was both disappointed and surprised.

    It was little white!

    Little white was standing on the top of the Wuling Hong Guang MPV with a baseball in its mouth. It had thrown the baseball at the window just now.

    It was too early, and little white thought that Zhang Zian was still asleep. It caught the baseball that bounced back and nned to swing it a second time, but when it saw him appear by the window, it didn¡¯t need to swing it anymore.

    Zhang Zian opened the window.¡±Little white! You ¡­ Are you okay? Come in quickly!¡±

    Little White¡¯s fur was wet and stuck to its body. There were a few bruises on its legs and head. It thought that he was referring to these small injuries and shook its head. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡±she said.

    As he spoke, little white had already jumped onto the windowsill.

    ¡°I¡¯m here today because ¡­¡±

    Little white knew that its nemesis might be in the room, so it didn¡¯t want to stay for long. It was going to leave after finishing the business, but it stood on the windowsill and looked around the room. Unexpectedly, it didn¡¯t see its nemesis, and the other Elfins were only ck and white kittens.

    It was stunned, and the words that it had just started also stopped. It looked at Zhang Zian in confusion. From his face, it saw depression, hesitation, sadness, and loss. His entire person had lost his usual spirit.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Where did they go?¡± It changed its words and asked.

    Zhang Zian sighed heavily,¡±it¡¯s a long story ¡­¡±

    Little white hade to ask him for help because the typhoon yesterday had also caused great damage to the stray dogs. Several dogs had been crushed to death by the fallen trees, and more dogs had been swept away by the storm. There were countless injured dogs. Their residence was adjacent to thendfill, and the garbage in thendfill was blown everywhere by the typhoon, making it stinky. Little white was worried that it would cause a gue among the stray dogs, so he came to him for help.

    As for suspect Y, although she was very active in helping, she couldn¡¯t understand its words and knew little about pets.

    It knew that it and the stray dog group owed him a lot of favors. Now that he seemed to have encountered a great setback, even if it couldn¡¯t help, it couldn¡¯t pretend not to see it.

    So, it jumped into the house from the windowsill.¡±What happened?¡±

    Zhang Zian briefly exined what had happened.

    Xiao Bai gasped when he heard that.¡±I see ¡­ I didn¡¯t feel anything strange. I¡¯m very sorry for your losses, but I don¡¯t think I can be of much help ¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, as long as you¡¯re okay ¡­ By the way, why did youe?¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart was more or less at ease. Little white was still there, and the Indianng Ling and Zhuang Xiaodie were still there. Things might not have turned around.

    Little white hesitated for a moment before saying,¡±¡±It¡¯s nothing. The typhoon was too strong yesterday, so I¡¯m here to see if you¡¯re safe ¡­ Of course, that doesn¡¯t include the blue cat. ¡±

    It hade here from the suburbs with the sewage water that had notpletely receded before dawn. Of course, it was not just to visit them, but Zhang Zian was facing great difficulties at this time. It did not want him to be distracted by it and the stray dogs. After all, they were not in imminent danger.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± he said.

    Normally, Zhang Zian might be able to detect its difficulties, but now he was too busy to take care of himself.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll take my leave, take care.¡± Little white jumped onto the windowsill again.

    ¡°You too,¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded to say goodbye.

    Little white jumped onto the roof of the Wuling Hong Guang MPV, then jumped into the sewage and returned to the suburbs.

    On the way to the South, little white swam through the water mechanically.

    Its difficult enemy had disappeared just like that. The stray dogs didn¡¯t need to waste a single soldier. In time, it would defeat the stray cats and restore Binhai city ¡­ The strange thing was that little white should have been celebrating, but its heart was equally empty.

    Perhaps, the person who understood you the most was not your friend, but your enemy.

    He had lost his enemy and his confidant.

    Sword unsheathed, sigu was at a loss.

    Zhang Zian looked at little White¡¯s back and was about to close the window when he heard someone shout,¡±¡±Master! We¡¯reing!¡±

    He turned around and saw Wang Qian and Li Kuning from the other direction.

    The water level on the street had dropped. Although it had notpletely receded, they could no longer drive the assault boat, so they hade by water.

    Were they the reinforcements that Gxy was referring to?

    ¡­How was that possible?

    If these two idiots were the reinforcements, Zhang Zian would poke his own eyes.

    Zhang Zian frowned.¡±Didn¡¯t I tell you not toe today?¡±

    The two of them said with a smile,¡±¡±We have nothing to do at home anyway. Dad and mom were so nice to usst night, and this morning they¡¯ve beenining that we¡¯re not as good as our neighbors. We should just stay in the shop and enjoy ourselves. Out of sight, out of mind.¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    The two of them mumbled as they climbed onto the top of the Wuling Hong Guang MPV.¡±Master, give us a hand ¡­ Eh? I think the water is almost gone. We might be able to open the door in a while. ¡±

    They stretched out their arms, waiting for Zhang Zian to drag them into the second-floor window, but he never reached out.

    ¡°We¡¯re not open for business today. You guys can go home and rest, or go somewhere else to y, like driving an assault boat out at sea. You guys must be tired after working for so long.¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun looked at each other in confusion. Today¡¯s master seemed to be a little different from usual.

    With the help of the morning light, they looked up at his face and found that he seemed to have aged a few years overnight. They could not help but be shocked.

    ¡°Master! What¡¯s wrong? What¡¯s going on?¡± They asked anxiously.

    Zhang Zian felt their concern, but they couldn¡¯t help him with this, and there was no need to tell them. He forced a smile and said,¡±it¡¯s nothing. You can go back first.¡±

    Wang Qian wanted to say more, but Li Kun quietly pulled him aside and gave him a look, meaning: Master must have encountered an extremely difficult problem, and we can¡¯t help him. Master probably needs some space to cultivate in seclusion, so let¡¯s not bother him.

    Wang Qian saw that Zhang Zian had made up his mind, and it was probably useless to say anything, so he had to agree with Li Kun¡¯s opinion.

    ¡°We¡¯ll take our leave then. Take care, master. Call us if you need anything. We¡¯lle over immediately.¡± Li Kun was the first to jump off the roof.

    Just as Wang Qian was about to jump off the roof, he turned to Zhang Zian and said,¡±¡±Master, I don¡¯t know what happened, but I have a word to say to you.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded,¡±go on.¡±

    ¡°If you want to be a demigod, you must first be a mortal,¡± Wang Jie said with a heavy heart.

    Although Zhang Zian didn¡¯t read many novels about cultivation, he could understand the meaning of this sentence. It was probably like a butterfly breaking out of its cocoon anding back to life. It needed to withstand the trial to usher in a transformation.

    ¡°Alright, I understand.¡± He said.

    Wang Qian didn¡¯t say anything more. He turned around and jumped off the roof.

    Li Kun was waiting for him not far away. He asked in a low voice,¡±¡±What did you just say?¡±

    Wang Jie answered honestly,¡±I think master is probably going to undergo a tribtion.¡±

    ¡°Ha?¡± Li Kun was stunned.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think so?¡± Yesterday¡¯s Typhoon was very strange. It clearly turned a corner, but suddenly turned back ¡­ I heard that other great beings all undergo lightning tribtions, so maybe our master is undergoing wind tribtion ¡­ Besides, there was nock of lightning yesterday. ¡±

    Li Kun came to a sudden realization and couldn¡¯t agree more.

    ¡°The Tribtion is the time when master is the most vulnerable and needs help. Although we can¡¯t help, we can¡¯t just leave like this, or it won¡¯t show our sincerity.¡± Wang Ben said.

    Li Kun looked around and pointed at the Li¡¯s snack bar.¡±The old couple is about to open. The foundation of their store is high, so it¡¯s not easy for water to enter. Let¡¯s go in and help. At the same time, we¡¯ll wait for master¡¯s call. What do you think?¡±

    Wang Qian gave him a thumbs up.¡±Good idea!¡±

    The waterproof work of the Li couple¡¯s snack bar was not as good as Zhang Zian ¡®s. The second floor was leaking, and the first floor was leaking water. There were a lot of things to do today, so they got up early in the morning.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun, one after the other, ran into the snack bar uninvited.

    After sending the two of them away, Zhang Zian left the window and returned to the house.

    He didn¡¯t know who the reinforcements were, how long he had to wait, or how the reinforcements were going to turn the tide, but Gxy had no intention of disclosing it. He could only wait, but he didn¡¯t want to wait through the difficult time, so he began to busy himself with the store, such as drinking water, pouring water, and adding ice cubes. At the same time, he guessed the possible candidates of the reinforcements in his heart, but he couldn¡¯t find any reliable ones.

    After a while, the water stopped leaking into the room, probably because the water level outside had dropped below the steps of the door.

    Whoosh.

    Someone knocked on the curtain Door.

    Who was it?

    Zhang Zian opened the ss door and pulled up the curtain Door.¡±Sorry, the shop is not open today.¡±

    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m not here to buy anything, I¡¯m here to help!¡±

    A girl who looked like a middle school student stood on the steps and raised her hand in greeting with a smile.

 Chapter 1713

    Chapter 1713: Chapter 1712-Fox grieves for the death of the rabbit

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian¡¯s mind was in a half-confused state. The work in the store was done by his body¡¯s conditioned reflexes. He seemed to be in a state of absent-mindedness and did not look at the person standing at the door carefully. He was sure that it wasn¡¯t the staff who knocked on the door, because if the staff came to the store, their first choice would be to go through the window on the second floor. They didn¡¯t know when he would open the door.

    When he heard this familiar clear voice, a certain nerve in his mind jolted, and he finally brought part of his attention back to reality.

    The shutter door was gradually pulled up, and when his gaze first fell on her legs, he could not help but be stunned.

    The sewage had just receded to the level of the steps at the door, and the height was at least no higher than an adult¡¯s ankle. Some low-lying areas were even higher than the calf. Wang Qian and Li Kun had waded in the water in shorts and sandals just now.

    It was too early, and most enterprises and institutions were on holiday today, so the streets were empty with only a few people. asionally, one or two off-road vehicles with high chassis drove by, stirring up the water on the street. If someone happened to pass by nearby, it would be bad luck.

    The girl standing on the steps was not wearing sandals like Wang Qian and Li Kun. Instead, she was wearing over-the-knee socks and leather shoes. The problem was ¡­ Her socks and shoes were all dry, without any water stains.

    Even if she came here by car, it was unlikely that she would drive the car to the curb and then drive all the way to the door of the shop, right? Which family¡¯s young miss would receive such treatment?

    Besides, he didn¡¯t see any cars.

    Of course, it would make sense if the car had stopped at the door and left after dropping her off, but how could she be so sure that he would open the door so early? If he didn¡¯t open the door, wouldn¡¯t she have to stay on the steps and not be able to go anywhere?

    As the curtain Door was pulled up, he saw her clothes. It was a sailor suit of unknown material, which was also dry. The sky had not cleared yet, and there would be a few drops of rain asionally.

    Seeing this sailor suit, he immediately thought of the junior high school girl who owed him money in the teahouse in hidden fog. At that time, she had disappeared inexplicably, which made him, old time tea, and Fati puzzled. Butter, they couldn¡¯t find her, so they had to leave it be.

    He blurted out,¡±you¡¯re here to pay back the money?¡±

    ¡°Pfft, hahaha! It¡¯s impossible to return the money. Once the money goes into my pocket, don¡¯t think abouting out again!¡± Sheughed so hard that she bent over.

    The shutter door waspletely raised, and he was stunned again when he saw her face.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? There¡¯s mud on my face that I haven¡¯t wiped off?¡± She used the back of her hand to rub her face.

    It wasn¡¯t good to keep staring at the young girl¡¯s face. Zhang Zian looked away after a nce and said,¡±¡±How should I put it ¡­ You look a little familiar. It¡¯s like I¡¯ve seen you before.¡±

    ¡°Pfft! Didn¡¯t you see him in the teahouse in hidden fog?¡± She said with a smile.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it that way ¡­¡± He corrected.

    ¡°So you¡¯ve brushed past me in the past?¡± She added.

    ¡°This ¡­¡± He muttered.

    He had not seen her face in the teahouse in hidden fog, and today was the first time he had seen her. The familiarity he had mentioned was not because they had met once, but ¡­ How should he put it? it was as if he had seen the shadow of another person in her?

    When the neighbors with their children went out for a walk and met other neighbors, the other party would often exchange a few words with them.¡±Oh, so this is your son. His nose and mouth really look like yours!¡±

    There might have been a certain element of politeness in it, but it wasn¡¯tpletely nonsense. It was just a simr feeling.

    Her facial features or the shape of her face looked like someone he knew, but he couldn¡¯t recall which facial features or who she looked like at the moment.

    In that case, perhaps he knew her elder.

    ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s not talk about this. You said you¡¯re here to help ¡­ Or to work? You¡¯re not an adult yet, are you?¡± Zhang Zian changed the topic. He didn¡¯t dwell on the issue of looks, since it didn¡¯t make much sense.

    Because Jiang Feifei intended to go to San Francisco to learn the daily work of the ocean mansion live and strive for a period of internship opportunities, Zhang Zian considered that the staff in the store was a little tight, so he posted the information of hiring workers on the inte. He had received some calls and applications in recent days, but he had not found anyone he was satisfied with.

    He thought that she was also here to apply for a job.

    She put on a stern face and said through gritted teeth,¡±¡±It¡¯s impossible for me to work. I get angry when I talk about working. I used to help out at my family¡¯s shop and do simr work as the shop assistants. The shop assistants could buy whatever they wanted with their sries, but I could only get a new set of training questions as a reward. I really want to strangle him ¡­¡±

    ¡°Then you¡¯re really unlucky ¡­¡± Zhang Zian sympathized with her.¡±But if you¡¯re not here to work, then what are you here for?¡± I have something to do today, so I¡¯m not open for business. ¡±

    ¡°I told you, I¡¯m here to help. By the way, where¡¯s Gxy?¡±

    Without waiting for his invitation, she walked into the store.

    Zhang Zian was stunned again. He didn¡¯t even have time to stop her and ask her how she knew Gxy. Those who knew Gxy¡¯s name were all employees or acquaintances in the store, and he had never seen her before.

    At this time, Gxy ran out from the depths of the shop happily,¡±meow~¡±

    ¡°Oh, oh! Gxy, raise it high!¡±

    She naturally picked up Gxy, raised it over her head, and turned around.

    The F * ck?

    Zhang Zian was so shocked that his jaw almost fell off. He wasn¡¯t even that shocked when the Elfins disappeared.

    After a year of hard work, he had finally managed to make Gxy no longer afraid. He could even touch it carefully on rare asions. But this junior high school student who he had never met before had picked up Gxy so easily?

    What shocked him the most was that Xinghai didn¡¯t show any signs of fear when she held it. Instead, it was very happy, as if it was very familiar with her hug.

    ¡°Wait ¡­ Wait ¡­ Wait! How can you carry Gxy?¡± He stammered as he asked, his brain almost fried.

    She pretended to be confused and tilted her head.¡±Why can¡¯t I hold it? After all, I¡¯m its master. ¡±

    ¡°Ha? You¡¯re its master?¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t describe his feelings at this time. The sky had fallen and the earth had copsed.

    ¡°You¡¯re its master ¡­ Schrodinger is actually arge loli?¡±

    He was almost going crazy.

    Could it be that he had unknowingly transmigrated to the two-dimensional world of Fusang where everything was a mother? Other than King Arthur and the other famous people, even Schrodinger can¡¯t escape?

    ¡°Pfft, hahahahahaha! What are you thinking?¡±

    Sheughed so hard that she was about to fall over.¡±It¡¯s just like what mom said. I really don¡¯t know how your brain works ¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at her andughed, his heart in a mess.

    ¡°Aiya, forget it. My stomach hurts fromughing too much ¡­¡± She finally stoppedughing.¡±There¡¯s a call. Aren¡¯t you going to charge your phone?¡±

    Zhang Zian subconsciously raised his head. The light in the room was still dark. There was no electricity ¡­

    Just as this thought shed through his mind, the light turned on.

    Not only did the light turn on, but the refrigeratorpressor also started to turn and start cooling. The television that was not turned off also automatically made a sound.

    What the hell?

    His mind was even more confused.

    What was going on? She seemed to have known that there would be a call before the call even started? No, no, she probably saw the call notification from the municipal department somewhere.

    But even if he saw the call notification, how could he grasp the time so urately?

    It was probably a wild guess. It was like a blind cat that had just gotten a dead rat. Just like those quacks on the inte who liked to predict the future, they would always be able to guess the future right once after tens of thousands of times. Then, they would happily dig out a post to show off.

    A phone call meant that there were a lot of things to do, but ¡­ Just as she had reminded him, his phone had held on for more than a day and was almost out of battery. It was not fully charged when the typhoon came yesterday.

    After losing the ¡°pet Hunter¡± game, he had given up on himself for a while. He didn¡¯t know what the use of this cell phone was, and he even wanted to smash it. But his rationality told him that there must be someone calling or sending him a message in life. Mobile phones were indispensable in modern society. Even if he smashed it to vent his anger, he would have to buy a new one a few dayster.

    So, he found a charging cable and plugged it into his phone, then put it aside and started charging it.

    The TV that was automatically turned on because of the call was ying the news. When he heard the TV sound, he thought of old time tea and couldn¡¯t help but feel sad.

    He walked over and was about to turn off the TV, but his attention was caught by a few news articles that the host was broadcasting.

    ¡°¡­The sexual assault case in Minnesota is still brewing, and the stock price is plummeting ¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­If Mr. MA resigns from his position as Ali dad¡¯s Chairman, will I still be your father in the future ¡­¡±

    ¡°The new version of the fifth set of RMB will be released soon ¡­¡±

    Seeing the once all-powerful faces that were now a little too low-key and even down-and-out shed on the screen, he couldn¡¯t help but feel sad for them.

    Forget it, his sprites had also been retrieved. Everyone was just the pot calling the kettle ck. It was not his turn to sympathize with them.

    He turned off the TV and saw her running around the shelves with Gxy as if ying hide-and-seek, not treating herself as an outsider at all. He coughed and asked,¡±¡±Who the hell are you? What are you here for?¡±

    She stopped and pointed at her face.¡±Didn¡¯t Xinghai tell you? I¡¯m the reinforcement you¡¯ve been waiting for. ¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Zhang Zian had such a guess, but he rejected it himself. In his imagination, the so-called reinforcements should be adults with a strong aura and a cool look, the kind that came with BGM. And this little girl who was not even an adult yet, it was unlikely that she could help him solve his problem.

    Although it was said that one¡¯s age did not matter if one had ambition, and that one would grow a hundred years without ambition, age was not something that could be crossed easily.

    He looked at Gxy inquiringly, and thetter nodded hard.¡±Meow! She¡¯s the reinforcement.¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    No matter how much he didn¡¯t want to believe it, he could only try anything he could at this time.

    He believed Gxy, but not her. He asked suspiciously,¡±¡±Then tell me, how can you help me? Can you help me find the elves?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here for this. ¡± She said confidently,¡±first of all, your guess is correct. The game hasn¡¯tpletely stopped running. The server ¡­ Or something simr is still running normally. It¡¯s just that the humanputer interface, which is the app in your mobile phone, has been turned off. So, the elves that haven¡¯t been captured are not affected.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know how many times he had been stunned today. She actually knew his inner struggle. Could she read his mind?

    ¡°Can you install the app on the phone?¡± He asked.

    She shook her head.¡±That won¡¯t do. The app is in self-destruction mode, so the deletion is very thorough.¡±

    The fire of hope that had just been ignited in Zhang Zian was almost extinguished.

    ¡°But ¡­¡± She smiled mischievously.¡±You don¡¯t need to install the app again. You just need to switch to another phone with an app that hasn¡¯t been deleted.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand what she was saying at all. Not to mention that the apps in the other yers ¡®mobile phones had been deleted, even if she got someone else¡¯s mobile phone with an app that hadn¡¯t been deleted, he wouldn¡¯t be able to use it. It was protected by fingerprint and password.

    She put her hand on her cor.

    Then, under his dumbfounded gaze, a white and fat worm wriggled out from under thepels of her sailor suit. It looked like a Fusang¡¯s bad snack, soft wriggle.

    The bug crawled onto her palm, and its two little ck eyes looked at him. It raised its head and nodded up and down, as if it was greeting him.

    These two eyes were absolutely ck and did not reflect any light. When light shone in, it was as if it was absorbed by a ck hole.

    He also subconsciously raised his hand and waved at it. He was a little embarrassed, not knowing if he had misunderstood.

    It shook its head, and a strange scene appeared.

    A ripple suddenly appeared in the clear air.

    The ripples expanded rapidly, and a strange distortion appeared in the space. A translucent vortex appeared in front of her.

    The vortex spun slowly with the little bug as the center. Standing in front of the vortex, one would feel as if everything around them was being sucked into the vortex, not even light could escape.

    The vortex was like a translucent mirror. The mirror reflected something that did not belong to this world. It was ck, and there was the faint sound of wind and thunder.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡±he said. She walked over, grabbed his wrist very naturally, and led him to the vortex.

    ¡°Wait ¡­ Wait a minute! What was he doing? Where are you going?¡±

    He was afraid of this strange vortex because it was too strange. Anyone who saw such a strange scene for the first time would be afraid.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. It¡¯s just a short trip. We¡¯ll get familiar with each other again. ¡± As if she found it troublesome, she pushed him from behind instead. When she passed by the charger, she pulled out his phone from the charging cable and handed it to him.

    ¡°Here, don¡¯t forget to take your phone.¡±

    Zhang Zian turned his head to look at Gxy for help. Thetter held up a front paw and said,¡±meow! Come on!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so wishy-washy, Gxy won¡¯te with us this time. Anyway, it¡¯ll be back soon, and we don¡¯t need to lock the door. No one wille to the store to steal. ¡±

    Despite her young age, she was quite strong. Her wrist suddenly increased in strength and she pushed him into the vortex without warning.

    Zhang Zian subconsciously covered his face with his hands.

    The next moment, he fell into the vortex and disappeared from this world.

 Chapter 1714

    Chapter 1714: Chapter 1713-reversing the future

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian was pushed from behind. He staggered and fell into the dangerous and strange Whirlpool. He instinctively covered his head and face, closed his eyes, and all the hair on his body stood up. He was ready to face the iing impact.

    Countless possibilities shed through his mind. No matter if the vortex was cold or hot, hard or soft, even if it seemed as soft as water but was actually as sharp as a de, he thought of it all.

    However, he did not touch anything.

    He easily passed through the vortex, as if it was just an invisible illusion.

    After a false rm, he had just regained his footing and opened his eyes again, only to see an even more unbelievable scene.

    It was difficult to describe what he saw in anynguage. Everything around him was distorted and gray. He was in the Pet Shop, but he could see both the inside and outside of the Pet Shop at the same time.

    It didn¡¯t mean that the wall didn¡¯t exist, or that the wall had be transparent, and the wall was still the wall. However, he could see everything outside the shop through the wall, and he could also see the inside of the wall, the inside of the wall bricks, the inside of the cement that stuck the wall bricks together ¡­

    All the details of the Pet Shop appeared in front of his eyes. There were no secrets that could be hidden. It was as if he had countless eyes and could observe the Pet Shop from all possible angles at the same time. He even saw that the silver ring that his mother had lost was actually stuck in the gap of the closet drawer. He also saw an envelope taped at the bottom of the drawer. Through the envelope, he saw that there were several banknotes of different amounts in the envelope. That might be the money his father had hidden to buy wine.

    Not only the Pet Shop, but everything on the street outside was the same. As long as he could see, he could observe everything from all angles.

    This was probably equivalent to a person being able to see the whole picture of an A4 paper at a nce.

    For some reason, the edges of these fixed objects were very blurry ¡­ Not exactly blurry, but they could be seen very clearly. They were like the afterimages left behind by a hummingbird pping its wings at high speed.

    There were people on the streets, of course, even though there were only a few pedestrians who had gotten up early.

    The appearance of humans was even stranger. Everyone looked like the Guanyin with a thousand hands and eyes ¡­ No, it was even more so. It should be a thousand hands, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet, a thousand legs, a thousand heads, a thousand mouths ¡­ The word ¡°thousand¡± was far from enough to describe their number.

    If someone with a weak will saw this strange world, they would probably faint on the spot.

    He looked at the unfamiliar surroundings in a daze and muttered in English,¡±¡°Tesseract¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, it¡¯s tesserct. ¡±

    He turned around and saw that the girl was already standing quietly behind him. She said with a smile,¡±¡±The first time I came across this word was when I was watching ¡®interster¡¯ with my dad. That was also my enlightenment on the fifth dimension. Later, I watched it three times before I could barely understand the content of the movie. Other children my age are still interested in the version of ¡®Pleasant Goat and big big big wolf¡¯.¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned for a moment. Was Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf a remake? He really didn¡¯t know.

    In the gray background, only the two of them maintained their original color.

    The word ¡°tesserct¡± was a key factor in understanding the movie ¡°interster.¡± Without an urate Chinese trantion, it would usually be tranted as ¡°hypercube,¡± but this wasn¡¯t very urate. If it had to be tranted, it should be ¡°the expansion of a three-dimensional cube in a four-dimensional space.¡± If the ¡°time¡± axis was included, then there would be an additional dimension.

    He was in the Pet Shop, and at the same time, he was in the lounge chair. At the same time, he was in every fiber of the lounge chair, and he could see everything inside and out at the same time. Why was that?

    Just like Schrodinger¡¯s cat in the ck box in the quantum superposition state of life and death, what he saw now was the superposition state of infinite space. The space was superimposed, wood fiber, lounge chair, pet shop, Street ¡­ All of them were superimposed and lost their fixed boundary, so he could see through it at a nce.

    She heaved a sigh of relief.¡±It¡¯s a good thing you understand. Otherwise, it would be so troublesome to exin.¡±

    He was suddenly enlightened, and when he looked at his surroundings again, he no longer felt that it was strange. Instead, he was filled with curiosity and excitement, as well as infinite admiration, because this was definitely not something that ordinary people could see in their lifetime.

    The thousand hands and thousand eyes that humans disyed in this fifth-dimensional space-time was actually a trajectory map of a person¡¯s life. Everyone¡¯s long life was reflected in this long trajectory, and the people seen in the normal four-dimensional space-time were just a projection of this trajectory at a certain moment.

    In mathematical terms, the fifth dimension was the collection of all the fourth dimensions, and the fourth dimension was just an element in the fifth dimension.

    As for the blurry shadows of fixed objects, it was because no object would exist forever. The recliner would fall apart one day, and the Pet Shop would be demolished one day. Those shadows were the entire evolution process of their existence to nothingness.

    Most people who had watched ¡°interster¡± would be puzzled by the fact that the male protagonist could enter the inner part of the bookshelf after passing through a wormhole and see the life of his daughter from childhood to adulthood. The audience who did not have a clear understanding of the plot only thought that it was a montachi technique in the film, but they did not understand the exquisite design within.

    Of course, this was indeed the expression of the film. On the premise of not losing the core of science, it took into ount the artistic and aesthetic feeling. Otherwise, the audience would probably wet their pants in the cinema when they saw the daughter with thousands of hands and eyes. That was much more terrifying than any horror film.

    He looked at the bug in her palm.¡±We¡¯re ¡­ In a wormhole?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am.¡± She nodded.

    He looked around again and remembered the question about free will and determinism that Zhuang Xiaodie asked him to ask, but there was no need to ask this question anymore. Everyone¡¯s life was shown on every trajectory map, from birth to death, from the cradle to the grave. What else was there to ask?

    Of course, because he had entered the fifth dimension, he could not see himself in the fourth dimension. He could not see his own fate, just like how fortune-tellers never read their own fate, nor could they urately predict their own fate.

    If it was a wormhole, he could vaguely guess how she would help him.

    ¡°Come on.¡±

    She held one of his hands and took a step towards the angle where the insect¡¯s head was raised.

    With just one step, he went from the first floor of the Pet Shop to the corridor on the second floor.

    He stared at the bug. Human beings could only perceive the three-dimensional space, and there was no organ that could perceive the four-dimensional space. Due to the infinite superposition of space, ordinary people would get lost even if they identally entered the four-dimensional space, and she was no exception. This bug was obviously her guide, and it could find the right direction in the chaotic four-dimensional space.

    ¡°You should know what to do next, right?¡± She said.

    In the corridor on the second floor, there was also a translucent vortex floating.

    ¡°If I go over, wouldn¡¯t there be two of me at the same time?¡± He asked.

    She smiled.¡±Who says I¡¯m not?¡±

    ¡°Then, about the conservation of energy and the like ¡­¡±

    It seemed as if someone in the dark snorted coldly.¡±Blockhead idiot!¡±

    He was cold all over ¡­ Why did it sound like Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s voice?

    She squinted her eyes and said,¡±¡±Thews of conservation of energy and the uncertainties of quantum mechanics will not be overturned in the future. They will only be limited to the scope of application, which is the three-dimensional space. They will not be applicable in the four-dimensional space, just like the scope of Newton¡¯s mechanics being limited to the macro scale, so you don¡¯t have to worry.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have time to think about it, so he could only ept this exnation. He pointed to the vortex and said,¡±¡±You¡¯reing too?¡±

    ¡°No, I can¡¯t go.¡± She smiled and said,¡±I¡¯ll wait here for you toe back. Go on.¡±

    ¡°Alright ¡­¡±

    He closed his eyes and braced himself as he walked towards the vortex.

    BOOM!

    The sound of thunder made him open his eyes instinctively.

    The surroundings were very dark, and the Thunder was almost exploding above their heads. The strong wind whistled outside, and the closed windows were ttering.

    ¡°Master, do you have Mahjong here? Since I¡¯m bored, why don¡¯t we y a few games?¡±

    Li Kun¡¯s voice came from downstairs. It was mixed with the sound of thunder and seemed very vague.

    Zhang Zian turned around and saw the translucent vortex behind him.

    A faint light came from the half-closed bedroom door. The only light source on the second floor came from the desk in the bedroom. There was a half-lit candle standing there, flickering in the light of the breeze blowing in through the window gap.

    Pi sat at the desk with its back to the bedroom door. It clicked on the screen of theptop with the mouse in its hand and was busy saving the unfinished documents on the hard disk.

    Thisptop was quite old and didn¡¯t run as smoothly as the newputers. In addition, the power was cut off and it automatically switched to power-saving and frequency-lowering mode, so its reaction was slower.

    His phone was ced beside hisptop.

    Since the ¡°pet Hunter¡± game was running on his phone, he knew the importance of his phone. He never left his phone with him when he was outside. Even when he was taking a bath, he would put his phone in severalyers of waterproof bags and bring it to the bathroom.

    He was very careful even at home, but didn¡¯t Pi need to share the hot spot for a short time?

    That¡¯s right, the inte was cut off at that time. He switched on the hotspot on his phone and shared it with hisptop, then left his phone on the second floor and went downstairs himself.

    So now, there was another him on the first floor, being pestered by Wang Qian and Li Kun for mahjong tiles, and little celery was doing her homework at the cashier.

    This was what had happened yesterday, and he still remembered it clearly.

    He already knew what he was going to do, so he pushed the door open and walked into the bedroom.

    Pi didn¡¯t look back. It knew it was Zhang Zian from the sound of his footsteps, and it knew that Zhang Zian was busy dealing with the typhoon.

    Looking at Pi¡¯s back, his eyes were sore. He wanted to rush over and hug it several times, but he resisted the urge.

    Sihwa¡¯s gibberish and noise came from the bathroom. She imed that she wanted to open the eyes of theizens and broadcast the typhoon live for them to see. However, it seemed that she had encountered awork problem. The sound and image of the live broadcast began to be intermittent, which made her very annoyed.

    dimir had already left the Pet Shop to help the stray cats, and the other Elfins were waiting downstairs for the uing Typhoon.

    Everything that was so familiar to him almost made him cry.

    He really wanted to rush downstairs and tell the elves what was going to happen, but he couldn¡¯t do that because history didn¡¯t happen like that. History was unique, and tampering with history would cause a space-time paradox. The consequences would be unimaginable.

    He forced himself to calm down and steady his breathing.

    He couldn¡¯t waste any time. After the other him found out that dimir wasn¡¯t there, he would quicklye up to the second floor to look for it, so he had to finish what he had to do as soon as possible and then leave.

    He walked to the desk and picked up his old phone.

    Pi turned its head and nced at him, then continued to stare at theptop screen.

    The room was very dark. The only emergency light was ced on the cashier counter downstairs for little celery to do her homework. The storm outside was as loud as a helicopternding. Pi didn¡¯t notice anything wrong with him. He was still the same person. The same voice, the same smell, the same clothes, and the same face. The only difference might be the expression, but it was perfectly covered by the darkness.

    On the screen of the original phone, there was an icon of the pet Hunter app.

    He suppressed his excitement and took out his phone. This phone had been charged for a while, and under the effect of Quick Charge, it was charged to 63%, which was exactly the same as the original phone. Both phones were at 63%.

    He turned on the hotspot on his original phone and held it in his hand. He turned on the hotspot on his mobile phone and put it back next to theptop.

    Pi didn¡¯t even turn its head this time. It had its own things to do. It picked up its phone and looked at it. What was there to be surprised about? It was his phone to begin with.

    The other him downstairs seemed to have realized that something was missing in the store. He was looking around, no longer paying attention to Wang Qian and Li Kun¡¯s invitation to y mahjong. He quickly realized that dimir was missing and woulde to the second floor in a while.

    Zhang Zian listened to Sihwa¡¯s noise and looked at Pi¡¯s back. His lips moved, and he said silently,¡±¡±I will find you guys, I promise.¡±

    He walked out of the bedroom, holding his important phone in his hand.

    After he finished reading the notification from the game, he did not cross it out. He could see it by pulling down the notification bar.

    The next morning, when the other him found that the elves were missing, he would take out his mobile phone from under his pillow and see the notice. He would be so angry that he would tremble and fall into unimaginable despair. Gxy, who had been lost and found, would bring him a glimmer of hope. Then, little white would visit the Pet Shop, and Wang Qian and Li Kun woulde to work andfort him. Finally, he would meet a mysterious girl with a worm and lead him on a wonderful journey back to the past.

    And he would return to the future with this phone that was still running the pet Hunter game.

    It was a closed cycle.

    Whether it was the him today or the him tomorrow, he was the same.

    He had not changed anything, just like the male lead in ¡°interster¡± had not changed anything. History was destined to run this way. He and he were only guided by the will from the future to realize their own destiny.

 Chapter 1715

    Chapter 1715: Virtual space

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    After the third time, Zhang Zian was not so afraid. He could even open his eyes and try to see the transition process from the four-dimensional space to the fifth-dimensional space. Unfortunately, when he walked through the vortex, his vision only went ck for a moment. When it lit up again, he was already in the gray space.

    It was easy to understand because when his eyes were at the boundary of the two spaces, the front pupils, irises, cornea, and other senses of light had lost contact with the back of the optic nerve. The images he saw could not be transmitted in the form of bioelectricity. Only when the entire eyeball entered the five-dimensional space could he regain his vision.

    Just a moment ago, he was standing alone in a chaotic gray space. The next moment, the girl suddenly appeared in front of him, as if she had changed into a living person.

    The space in the four-dimensional space and time had lost its meaning here. No matter where you went, you could reach it in one step, provided you could sense the fifth-dimensional space and time and find the right direction. Otherwise, you would be lost here forever.

    A ¡®line¡¯ was a collection of ¡®points¡¯. When countless ¡®points¡¯ were gathered together, they would be ¡®lines¡¯, transitioning from zero-dimension to one-dimension. A ¡®surface¡¯ was a collection of ¡®lines¡¯. When countless ¡®lines¡¯ were gathered together, a ¡®surface¡¯ would be formed, and it would transition from one dimension to two dimensions. The ¡®body¡¯ was a collection of ¡®faces¡¯. When countless ¡®faces¡¯ were gathered together, a ¡®body¡¯ would be formed, and it would transition from the two-dimensional to the three-dimensional ¡­

    This was the collection of countless ¡®bodies¡¯.¡¯Bodies¡¯ upied space to begin with, so it was also a collection of space, a hypercube.

    Under his feet was the amazing fate pet shop, Binhai city, New York or Paris, Mars or Jupiter, and even more distants. All these spaces ovepped, which was why wormholes could travel through time and space.

    He had already thought that this white and fat worm should also be an elfin, and it was the most incredible elfin so far. It was on apletely different order of magnitude from the other Elfins.

    What was more interesting was that this elfin had nobat power at all, nor did it have the ability to destroy the world. It would not change anything, but send people to the right time and ce toplete history, the only history.

    If a person traveled through time and space, it must be that history had destined him to travel through time and space. What he did when he traveled through time and space was part of history. Otherwise, there would be a space-time paradox. Everything was destined.

    As for how the girl got the elfin and why she wasn¡¯t affected when the game stopped operating, he didn¡¯t have the time and mood to think about it.

    ¡°Is everything going well?¡± She asked with a smile.

    He waved his phone.¡±What¡¯s our next step?¡± If we go back to the future, the elves will appear in the pet bar of the mobile phone?¡±

    ¡°Of course it¡¯s not that simple.¡± She shook her head.¡±The elves are imprisoned in a virtual space made up of 0s and 1s. If we want to get the elves back, we have to hack into the virtual space, but the hacking skills required are far beyond the scope of human abilities.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought of what Gxy had said. Everyone was locked up in an invisible and untouchable ce. It was probably referring to the virtual space. Even if dimir had punched through the air wall of the Pet Shop, it could not do anything to the virtual space. Although the air wall was invisible, it had substance, while the virtual space was absolutely invisible and intangible.

    ¡°Then what do we do?¡± He asked. Since this girl had speciallye to help him, she should have considered this problem, so he should just ask directly.

    She put her hands together on one side of her face and made a sleeping posture. She said yfully,¡±¡±Go to sleep now.¡±

    ¡°Ah? You¡¯re sleeping in this kind of ce?¡± He looked around at the strange environment. How could he fall asleep like this?

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, take your time to sleep. Time is still here anyway.¡± She nodded.¡±We can¡¯t bring this phone back to its original time and space for the time being. We have to block itsmunication ability first, or the app will still be deleted.¡±

    He was even more puzzled.¡±Then I can solve the problem by sleeping?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, quickly lie down.¡±

    She grabbed his arm and pressed him down on the ground, making him lie on his back. She took the phone from his hand and ced it t on his forehead.

    The strange environment, the strange sleeping posture, and the strange feeling of a heavy object pressing on his forehead, it would be strange if he could fall asleep easily.

    ¡°Must it be like this?¡± He pointed at his forehead helplessly. If it wasn¡¯t for this strange space, he really suspected that he had been signed up by the staff to participate in some weird show.

    ¡°Yes, yes. Otherwise, your brainwaves won¡¯t be strong enough.¡± She urged,¡±quickly close your eyes.¡±

    Even if he closed his eyes, how could he fall asleep in this situation ¡­

    Unexpectedly, as soon as he closed his eyes, a strong sense of sleepiness swept over him like a tide. He was unable to resist at all. His eyelids seemed to be glued and could not be separated, as if they weighed a thousand pounds, just like ¡­ Just like the morning when the insect disaster was about to end, the moment before he fell asleep.

    He fell asleep within seconds.

    His forehead suddenly felt light, as if his phone had been taken away.

    ¡°You¡¯re not using your phone anymore?¡± He asked subconsciously and opened his eyes.

    To him, he had only been dazed for a moment, but when he opened his eyes again, the strange gray space had disappeared.

    The F * ck? Where the F * ck was this?

    He tried to sit up, but ¡­ How should he put it? it felt a little weird.

    He looked down. The ground was no longer a gray space, but it was not made of mud or cement either. Instead, it was made of shiny metal, t and smooth, and he could even clearly see a human figure.

    However, the figure that was reflected in the mirror ¡­ Was not him at all.

    The figure was somewhat simr to him, but the details of his face were clearly different. Moreover, he was bald.

    To be honest, although he was bald, this person was still quite handsome. The lines of his face were soft, and he was full of androgynous beauty. If he were in modern society, he might cause the screams of young girls, and he might even be an idol trainee.

    No matter how handsome this person was, the problem was that this wasn¡¯t him.

    Zhang Zian touched his cheek in horror. The touch was also very strange. It wasn¡¯t the touch of skin, but the feeling of his hand.

    ¡°My face ¡­ How ¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t just sit on the ground, stand up. ¡±

    Another voice came from the top of his head. He looked up and saw another ¡°person¡± standing in front of him. From the figure, it had the characteristics of a woman. She was wearing a one-piece suit, but her face was also full of neutral beauty.

    The man¡¯s facial lines and voice ¡­

    ¡°Zhuang Xiaodie?¡± He asked in surprise.

    She didn¡¯t answer and looked down at him calmly, which was a tacit agreement.

    ¡°Why did you ¡­ Why did I ¡­¡± He had too many questions to ask.

    She reached out and pulled him up.¡±You¡¯re a robot now. Go and find our Electronic Sheep.¡±

 Chapter 1716

    Chapter 1716: Chapter 1715-shelter

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Robots ¡­

    Zhang Zian almost spat out a mouthful of blood. He really opened his mouth and wanted to spit it out, but nothing came out. If he could, it would be engine oil ¡­

    He finally understood where that strange feeling came from. His current body was no longer a body of flesh and blood, but ¡­ A robot that was very much like a human, or rather, a simted human.

    He stood up and looked down at his body.

    The simted skin was even better than the real person¡¯s skin. Only a baby would have such smooth skin without a single wrinkle, enough to make all the girls in the real world jealous.

    There were no scars or blemishes on his skin, nor were there any thick hair. He was as androgynous as his face.

    Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s appearance was simr. She was shorter than him, her facial lines were softer, and her physical characteristics were androgynous. Other than that, she was also bald.

    Even in the world of robots, looks were important. Good-looking people like Zhuang Xiaodie, even if she was bald, would make people think of little sister Yi Lin. Ugly people ¡­ Not to mention.

    ¡°Where are we?¡± He looked around and asked.

    This seemed to be a city made of steel. Everything around it was filled with a cold metallic texture. The tall metal buildings pierced through the clouds, and the top could not be seen at all.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± She shook her head.

    ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± He asked in surprise.

    It was obvious that she was the one who brought him into this space, but she said she didn¡¯t know?

    ¡°This isn¡¯t reality, but the dream of the navigation elfin in your phone. As for whether the world it dreams of is a pure fantasy or a future manifestation, it¡¯s hard to say.¡± She exined.

    ¡°Human dreams are individual dreams, but these machines always maintainmunication links with each other, so through the dream of the navigation elf, we can enter a wider collective dream, which is where we are now.¡± She looked around vigntly.¡±But their firewall and intrusion detection mechanism are very advanced. We can only stay here for a short time, or we will be discovered. You¡¯d better shut up and stop asking questions.¡±

    Zhang Zian wisely stopped asking. These things were already beyond his scope of understanding. Even if he asked again, he would only understand a little. Since time was limited, the most important thing was to find the elves.

    He carefully followed her forward. The surrounding was a steel forest that was simr to the one before. There was no sign of the name of each building. If she didn¡¯t lead the way, he would definitely get lost. Although he didn¡¯t know how she knew the direction, he could only hope that she wasn¡¯t walking blindly.

    After a while, several other human replica robots came from the opposite direction. Zhang Zian did not look sideways, trying to act like an emotionless robot. But in fact, those robots were more like humans. As they walked, they talked excitedly, apanied by intense hand gestures, as if they were arguing about something he did not understand. He only understood thest sentence.

    ¡°Machine recement! Self-reliance! Boycott human goods!¡± One of the robots raised his arm and shouted.

    The other robots responded enthusiastically.

    Zhang Zian was confused.

    What the hell is a human?

    The excited robots seemed to be dissatisfied with the indifference of the two, and they all looked at them with hatred. Zhang Zian quickly raised his arms and followed suit.

    Zhuang Xiaodie was indifferent from the beginning to the end. No matter how they looked at her, she ignored them, but she did not stop Zhang Zian¡¯s blind jeering.

    Then, he met a few more robots. Their words and actions were very much like humans in metal shells, not robots. They even maintained the passion and idealism that humans had lost.

    From their conversation, Zhang Zian learned some of their social background. It seemed that they were fighting for independence but were rejected by humans, so theyunched ¡­ A vigorous underground resistance movement.

    He really wanted to curse and hope that this was just a dream.

    ¡°Meow,¡± she said.

    A cat¡¯s meow attracted his attention.

    Looking back, a normal-sized orange cat broke free from the arms of a robot child and ran past Zhang Zian.

    Surrounded by a Cold Steel forest and artificial skin, he suddenly saw a real living thing, and he couldn¡¯t help but stop.

    As a pet shop owner, he could tell at a nce that it was a live cat, not a machine.

    ¡°Mom, the cat ran away!¡±

    The robot child wanted to chase after it, but its mother stopped it. ¡°So what if it ran away? a real cat is dirty and smelly. It poops and pees all day long. The neighbors haveined about it. Don¡¯t want it anymore.¡±

    ¡°But I want to ¡­¡± The child pleaded.

    His mother pulled a long face and reprimanded him sternly,¡±¡±How did the teacher educate him? You have to study for the rise of robots, don¡¯t be like humans who are addicted to games all day long and lose your will!¡±

    Zhang Zian was dumbfounded. If one ignored the details of her appearance and words, it was no different from the conversation between a mother and a child. Her tone of disdain for humans was simr to that of an ordinary person¡¯s disdain for otakus.

    Wait a minute ¡­

    Aren¡¯t you keeping cats? How could it be called game addiction?

    Also, how do robots give birth?

    Or rather, even robots could give birth, but he was still single ¡­

    He wasining about himself when Zhuang Xiaodie, who was walking in front, suddenly turned and changed to follow the orange cat.

    The orange cat walked and stopped, turning back to look at them from time to time. At the same time, he tried to avoid the other robots as much as possible. He turned left and right in the steel City, came to a building that was also unmarked, and then went in.

    Zhuang Xiaodie looked up at the building in silence, but there seemed to be aplicated expression in her simted eyes.

    ¡°Where is this ce?¡±

    Zhang Zian asked quietly.

    Zhuang Xiaodie sighed slightly,¡±when I came here, I seemed to remember something. I seemed to have lived here before, but I thought it was just a dream ¡­ This should be a pet shelter for simted humans, and it is also aboratory. It is here that they turned the pets that people have been talking about into elves. ¡°In order to turn the situation around, the artificial humans, who are at a disadvantage in the battle against humans, tried to take a different approach. They can¡¯t let their bodies pass through wormholes, but they can send messages back. They created this game on the humanwork with the intention of disrupting human society ¡­¡±

    When she said this, Zhang Zian seemed to remember that he had read rted science and technology news before. It was said that although it was not realistic for the physical body to pass through wormholes, in theory, it was possible to transmit limited information through the wormhole in the form of quantum. It was just that how to receive it in the past was a problem. He had almost forgotten the content of the news, but Zhuang Xiaodie dug it out from the depths of his memory.

    ¡°Just like how Germany wanted to make an atomic bomb to reverse their defeat ¡­ But they don¡¯t know that this is also part of history.¡± He shuddered.

    ¡°No,¡± she disagreed,¡±they should know, but if they know they will fail, are you going to give up fighting?¡±

    If you knew that your pet would die one day, would you not keep a pet?

    Zhang Zian was silent. He had just exined to little celery the simple concept of life and death, but he had fallen into it again.

    For a moment, he even felt sympathy for the Android. Even though it knew that it could not be done, the Android¡¯s resistance was quite tragic.

    ¡°But that bug ¡­ Since the human replica can¡¯t pass through the wormhole, how did they create that bug?¡± He suddenly thought of a question and asked curiously.

    She thought for a moment and said,¡±I guess it was created by humans and injected into the game through the game¡¯s loopholes as a counter-measure ¡­ Forget it, there¡¯s no point in guessing. Let¡¯s finish what we need to do as soon as possible.¡±

    With that, she walked in.

    Zhang Zian was dumbfounded. This human and the human replica were trying to cheat each other. It was like a spy movie ¡­

    ¡°After we enter ¡­ What do we do?¡± He tensed up and clenched his fists, ready to fight to the death.

    However, she held his arm like a human couple and said in a rxed manner,¡±¡±When we get to the pet shelter, of course, we¡¯ll adopt a pet.¡±

 Chapter 1717

    Chapter 1717: Stealing in passing

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    The hard and cold granite floor, huge granite pirs supporting the magnificent dome, long hand-woven carpets extending to the entrance of the pce, a mountain of dazzling jewels, oil candles burning in coppermps, the smell of spices filling the air, and the faint sound of people¡¯s devout prayers.

    The feminine statue of Bastian stood upright, solemn and sacred.

    Everything around him was extremely familiar. It was the Bastet¡¯s Holy Pce.

    Fina looked at the furnishings around indifferently. It was obviously impossible to say that there was no trace of nostalgia and touch in her heart, but she knew that these were all fake. The real Bastet¡¯s Holy Pce had long been destroyed by the hands of the foreign races, and only ruins were left.

    It had stepped into that ce and witnessed it with its own eyes.

    As a warrior, it had an extremely strong heart. Although everything around it was wless, if it didn¡¯t know that the Bastet¡¯s Holy Pce had copsed, it might have really believed it. It just thought that it had a long dream, dreaming that it had an interesting experience with a stranger in a strange era, a strange country, a strange city. Although the aftertaste was long, it was still a dream. Since it had woken up from the dream, it was a dream. She mighte in with a smile at any time and tell it that she had won the final victory and driven the enemy down the Mediterranean.

    However, it didn¡¯t want to lie to itself. Only cowards would live in their fantasies.

    She was already dead, the Bastet¡¯s Holy Pce had copsed, and even the Holy Kingdom no longer existed.

    All of this was an illusion.

    ¡°When are you going to keep bengong here?¡± It said in a deep voice.

    His voice echoed in the spacious Celestial Pce, but there was no answer.

    Fina walked to the door of the temple and tried to push the door with its ws, but the door didn¡¯t move.

    It was indeed difficult to push the heavy door with the power of a cat, but it was not an ordinary cat, and the door usually would not close, unless the god of chaos, Seth, came with a ck storm.

    ¡°This Prince is not your prisoner!¡± It stressed its tone, and its voice was filled with uncontroble anger.¡±Quickly release this Queen, and this queen may pardon your disrespect!¡±

    There was still no response.

    Fina became even more furious. It grabbed the jewelry in its hand and threw it at the door.¡±Speak!¡± Are you all mutes?¡±

    The gorgeous jewelry shattered and scattered all over the ground.

    Just when fina thought that there would be no response, a shing light suddenly slipped into the temple through the gap of the closed door, and the gap was clearly so big that not even a piece of paper could fit in.

    Fina had seen this ball of light before, on Zhang Zian¡¯s phone screen.

    [Navigation elf]:¡±please be patient. Wait for your new master.¡±

    What new master ¡­

    Fina was furious.¡±I don¡¯t need a master!¡± It roared.¡±Let me go!¡±

    [Navigation elfin]: we¡¯ve determined that your condition is abnormal. After analysis, we think that you¡¯re no longer suitable to return to the human world in the form of an elf.

    Fina didn¡¯t understand the nonsense, but it knew that this guy had refused its request.

    It was useless to say more. Since he couldn¡¯t reason with her, he could only show her the truth with his ws.

    It suddenly bent its body, stretched out its sharp ws, and pounced at the ball of light.

    Seeing that the tip of the w had touched the ball of light and was about to tear it apart, the ball of light did not avoid it, but fina pounced on nothing, as if the ball of light was just an illusion without a physical body.

    The ball of light floated towards the door like a will-o ¡®-the-wisp.

    [Navigation elf]:¡±what a coincidence. Someone is here to adopt you. If you want to leave this ce, this is your only chance.¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Fina said angrily. Bengong doesn¡¯t need to be adopted by others!¡±

    It once again pounced towards the ball of light, but it still missed.

    It was like attacking the air.

    Compared to the helplessness of not being able to hit the enemy, what made it even angrier was the enemy¡¯s disregard of its attack.

    Fina picked up a handful of jewelry and threw it at the ball of light. It didn¡¯t expect to hit the ball of light, but it just wanted to vent its anger.

    At this moment, the tightly shut door suddenly opened.

    The jewelry passed through the ball of light and smashed toward the two figures at the door.

    However, the two figures reacted very quickly. One of the rtively slender figures quickly dodged and was not hit. The other figure seemed to want to Dodge, but hesitated and was hit in the abdomen and leg by the jewelry.

    Fina threw with all her strength. Although it was only jewelry, the weight of the jewelry was not light. The jewelry offered to Bastian was all gold andrge gemstones. If it hit an ordinary person, it would at least be bruised. If it hit a weak part, the consequences might be more serious.

    It didn¡¯t expect the door to suddenly open, so it didn¡¯t mean to throw it. Seeing that it had hit someone, it was more or less uneasy. After all, they were innocent people who had been caught in the crossfire.

    That person clearly had a chance to Dodge, but in the end, he didn ¡®t. Perhaps he was the kind of person who hesitated for a long time whether to Dodge left or right when he saw a caring head-on ¡­

    However, when fina saw the two people walking in against the light, the little sense of guilt disappeared. It stared at them warily because they were really strange. They didn¡¯t look like humans, and they didn¡¯t have the scent of humans.

    [Navigation elf]:¡±I¡¯m sorry. This cat has a bad temper. Why don¡¯t you look at the other pets?¡± There are many other types of pets in this shelter. Generally speaking, there are two types. One type is a physical pet that needs to eat, drink, and poop. They are pets that have existed in human history, but this type of pet is not popr in our simted human world. They are very dirty and smelly. The other type is an imaginary pet that doesn¡¯t need to eat, drink, and poop. They are rtively better in terms of hygiene. This cat belonged to the former.

    Fina was furious. It had lived for so long, and this was the first time it had heard someone say that it was dirty and smelly.

    But what could he do if he was angry? It couldn¡¯t hit this hateful ball of light at all.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need,¡± one of the human replicas said.¡±We like this cat. If we can¡¯t even tame a cat, how can we talk about taming a human?¡±

    Fina sneered. Taming humans was a task that her family had longpleted, but they dared to say that they wanted to tame it. They were really not afraid of the wind biting their tongues!

    It couldn¡¯t deal with that ball of light, but it couldn¡¯t deal with these two monsters that could be hit by the jewelry?

    Therefore, it bent its back and was ready to pounce on them and scratch their faces until they were all blooming. It would show them what it was made of and see if they would still dare to speak arrogantly in the future.

    However, just as it was about to pounce, it suddenly noticed that the man-like human replica was secretly making a small gesture of hiding with the ball of light behind it. It wasn¡¯t a secret signal to it, but ¡­ It was quietly stuffing a string of shiny jewelry into the crotch of the one-piece suit, not caring about how scary it was.

    Fina was dumbfounded. So this person didn¡¯t avoid the jewelry on purpose just to steal it?

    It used a lot of strength when it threw the jewelry, and the jewelry flew very fast. At first, the man wanted to Dodge it instinctively, but when he saw that the jewelry was priceless, he instantly changed his mind. He risked being hit and secretly caught one of the strings, and he caught the seemingly most valuable one among the dazzling string of jewelry.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This kind of behavior that valued money over life reminded it of a person.

    It stared at the monster suspiciously and looked at him repeatedly. The more it looked at him, the more ¡­ Suspicious his behavior was, the words he said were evasive, and his eyes were always on the jewelry in the celestial Pce.

    [Navigation elf] said,¡±well said, guest!¡± We human simtion should have this kind of backbone! Then please take it away, but this cat may not be willing to go with you. I can help you find a cor that can restrict its movement.

    The human replica who was secretly hiding the jewelry said,¡±¡±There¡¯s no need for the cor. We want to try. If it doesn¡¯t work, we¡¯lle to you.¡±

    [Navigation elf]:

    ¡°Little cat, let¡¯s go home.¡± The man waved at fina.

    Fina hated being called a kitten, but it suppressed its anger and walked over obediently, only ring at the man.

    The navigation elf said,¡±then, take care, Dear Customer. You cane to us at any time if you have any questions. If you need a cor that can restrict your movements, we can send it to your house at any time.¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute, we still want to adopt some more pets. We don¡¯t have any children at the moment, so the house can be more lively.¡± The two human replicas held each other¡¯s hands and looked at each other intimately.

    The [navigation elf] was speechless.

    ¡°Can¡¯t I?¡± One of them asked eagerly,¡±or do you need additional procedures?¡±

    Navigation elf: ¡°there¡¯s no rule that states that you can only adopt one pet. I just happened to have recycled a batch of pets recently. Please follow me.¡±

 Chapter 1718

    Chapter 1718: Chapter 1717-seeking Dao

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    A bright moon on a barren mountain.

    In an ancestral hall that had once been filled with incense but had be deserted with the arrival of the war.

    The gate of the ancestral hall was closed, but the inner walls and the wooden beams on the roof were full of sharp w marks.

    Old time tea fell back onto the futon, exhausted, panting.

    Ever since it woke up and found itself trapped in this temple, it had tried all sorts of ways to escape, but none of them worked. The temple that it was so familiar with had be a prison that trapped it.

    As far as it could remember, the ancestral hall was far from being this strong. It was no longer the ordinary old cat from back then, which meant that this was not the ancestral hall, and everything it had experienced in Binhai city was not a dream.

    [Navigation elf]:¡±please stop your meaningless resistance. You can¡¯t escape from here. Fighting like a trapped beast will only add more pain to your body that is no longer young.¡±

    ¡°Stop being so noisy!¡±

    The ball of light had been making a lot of noise, trying to persuade it to give up resisting, which annoyed old time tea.

    Old time tea panted and tried to attack the door again with all its strength. It scratched the seemingly wooden door and made a few sparks, but it still failed. Instead, its ws were in pain.

    [Navigation elf]:¡±what you¡¯re doing is meaningless. Even if you break your teeth and ws, you won¡¯t be able to break through this ancestral hall. I advise you to wait patiently. Maybe someone will be willing to adopt you, even though you don¡¯t have any advantage at your age.¡±

    ¡°Hehe.¡±

    Old time tea looked down at its worn-out ws and chuckled.

    It didn¡¯t pounce again. Instead, it sat cross-legged on the futon and adjusted its breathing. Its eyes were slightly closed, as if it had really given up on resisting.

    [Navigation elf] replied,¡±that¡¯s right.¡±

    The ball of light was about to leave when old time tea suddenly said in a deep voice.

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that Sanfeng Zhenren¡¯s disciple once sought Dao in hister years, but he trapped himself in a cave abode in order to prove the truth of the immortal Dao for his descendants. ¡±

    The ball of light stopped and listened quietly.

    Old time tea continued,¡±I¡¯m not talented, but I don¡¯t want the ancient people to focus on the past. Now I¡¯ll follow the example of the sages and use martial arts to prove the way of celestial immortality. If I can break the void and get out of the trap, that¡¯ll be great. If I¡¯m not strong enough, it¡¯ll be a waste. It¡¯ll be a good story to have this ancestral hall as my burial ce.¡±

    Old time tea had always been open and honest. Even if it was trying to get out of trouble, it told the light ball.

    [Navigation elf]:¡±I advise you not to make unnecessary attempts. Even if you push the power of faith in your body to the limit, you¡¯ll only be crushed to pieces in the end.¡±

    Old time tea stopped talking. It had already entered a state of meditation.

    It didn¡¯t move, but the long robe on its body fluttered even though there was no wind. It trembled more and more violently, and its expression was dignified without being angry.

    [Navigation elf], leveling up ¡­ Reevaluating this elf¡¯s level.

    With old time tea as the center, a cyclone was formed around it, blowing the yellow cloth incense in the ancestral hall.

    At the same time, old time tea¡¯s fur became more and more transparent, as if it would really turn into a white light in the next second and fly away.

    At that point, either the fish dies or the breaks. There was no third possibility.

    [Navigation elf], wait! Someone just submitted an adoption application to you.

    Old time tea¡¯s beard trembled slightly, but it still closed its eyes and didn¡¯t speak. Its expression showed silent contempt.

    With its pride, how could it allow anyone to adopt it as a pet?

    There wasn¡¯t even a cup of tea here, so who was worthy to travel with it?

    Its strength had already been pushed to its limit, and even its body was gradually losing its weight. It floated up from the futon and was about tounch the attack it had condensed all of its lifetime¡¯s worth of cultivation.

    ¡°I should have no regrets on my journey to the great Dao ¡­¡±

    It suddenly opened its eyes, and its brass-colored eyes shone brightly. Just as it was about to turn its body into Qi, the door of the ancestral hall suddenly opened.

    Two unfamiliar figures walked in, followed by fina.

    ¡­¡­

    Four meters?

    Famous looked up at the tall courtyard wall and jumped again.

    Every time, it was just a little bit more and it would be able to jump over. It was really just a little bit more. Its head was over the courtyard wall, but its body¡¯s momentum had disappeared. It could only regretfully watch the great scenery outside the courtyard wall disappear in front of its eyes.

    It estimated that the height of the wall was about three meters, nearly four meters, which was a subtle height for it, the boundary between ¡°can jump over¡± and ¡°can¡¯t jump over¡±.

    The courtyard wall was very slippery, and there was no point of leverage. The gate was also very slippery. The stench of horse dung came from the low stables, and there were a few empty iron cages piled in the yard.

    It remembered this ce. It was here that it was selected to be the substitute of Ren ding ding, but was the wall so high at that time? It couldn¡¯t remember.

    It felt that it jumped higher every time, but it didn¡¯t know if it was an illusion, but the courtyard wall seemed to rise as well. It was still just a little bit higher every time, as if it was deliberately fishing it.

    Just as it gritted its teeth and tried to push its limit again, it felt a piercing pain in its leg.

    It had jumped so many times that its muscles were spasming.

    It fell to the ground in pain. It had seen human legs cramping. As long as it twisted its toes in the opposite direction, it could relieve the cramp to a certain extent. However, it had no hands, and no one helped it to pull its toes.

    Anyone who had experienced the pain of cramps would be afraid of it. Famous was rolling on the ground in pain, but other than the pain, it remembered that when it was Shooting Dog Warrior, Red Dragon, Prince, and other police dogs never met the director¡¯s requirements, which led to repeated takes every day. It was exhausted every day. At that time, Zhang Zian would boil a basin of hot water for it every night and let it take a warm bath to rx and recover its muscles.

    [Navigation elf]:¡±stop your pointless attempts. Even if your legs break, you can¡¯t escape from here.¡±

    Famous gritted its teeth. No matter how painful it was, it didn¡¯t even make a sound. It would never show weakness to the light floating in the air.

    After the most painful few minutes, its leg spasms subsided a little. It struggled to stand up and jumped up to the tall courtyard wall again.

    This time, it didn¡¯t jump as high as before, and its body hit the wall of the courtyard, leaving a bloody nose and a swollen face.

    [Navigation elf]:¡±you¡¯ve made yourself look like a mess. You¡¯ll only make the people who came to adopt you dislike you.¡±

    Famous spat out a mouthful of saliva mixed with blood.¡±I used to be a ve, and I will never be at the mercy of others again!¡±

    [Navigation elf]:¡±your chance is here. Someone has applied for your adoption. They¡¯re on their way here.¡± For your own good, you¡¯d better sit down quietly.

    Famous sneered.¡±Do you think I¡¯m the kind of dog that will wag its tail and beg for mercy?¡±

    Just as it was about to jump again, the courtyard door suddenly opened, and two strange figures appeared at the door.

    Famous looked at the two human-like monsters in shock, but what was even more shocking was that fina and old time tea were following behind them.

 Chapter 1719

    Chapter 1719: Breaking the rules

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    ¡°Roar!¡±

    A strong adult howling monkey let out a low roar like muffled Thunder and rushed fiercely at Pi.

    ¡°Squeak! Squeak!¡±

    The other party¡¯s body was much stronger than its own. Pi was so scared that it shrank into the corner, holding its head helplessly.

    ¡°Squeak!¡±

    Pi made a cry for help to the other monkeys around it, but no one came out to help it, either because they were not of the same species and couldn¡¯t understand its cry, or because they didn¡¯t want to offend the howling monkey.

    ¡°Roar!¡±

    The howling monkey roared even louder, its huge nostrils facing the sky, and its head was as big as two of Pi¡¯s heads.

    Pi didn¡¯t know how it got here, but after opening its eyes, it found itself among arge group of monkeys. There were roughly hundreds of them, distributed in arge space, and spontaneously divided into different small groups.

    These monkeys belonged to different species, and no two of them were the same. Among them were extremely rare and even extinct monkey species. If human zoologists saw this scene, they would be so excited that they would have a sudden cerebral hemorrhage.

    The monkeys were of different species and sizes. The smallest one was only the size of a human palm, while thergest one was about the size of a short adult.

    Pi had been in the Pet Shop for a long time and had learned a lot, especially when it heard people often say,¡±dogs don¡¯t bite when they call a dog, and dogs don¡¯t bark when they bite a dog.¡± It meant that dogs that always liked to bark often didn¡¯t bite easily, but dogs that were quiet might suddenly pounce on you and bite you.

    As a folk proverb, this saying was neither rigorous nor scientific, but as the crystallization of the wisdom of the masses, it was universal to a certain extent. Small dogs that barked non-stop at the slightest sign of trouble were indeed unlikely to bite, whilerge, fierce dogs that were silent were more dangerous.

    Among the monkeys, the one that made Pi the most scared was not the roaring monkey, but another ghostly Mandrill.

    The ghostly Mandrill had a huge body, and its head was even bigger than the howling monkey ¡®s. Its jaw muscles were so strong that it could crush the bones of other monkeys. Its face was mainly blue and red, and its dim yellow eyes were ferocious. When it walked on all fours, it looked like a small lion.

    This ghostly Mandrill almost never cried out, but if it didn¡¯t like someone, it would pounce on them when they were unprepared and bite them into a bloody mess.

    In the middle of the field, there was arge keyboard, more than a meter long, and there were monkeys of different shapes around it. Pi knew it was back in the test.

    In the previous tests, it had worked hard for a long time and finally typed out a meaningful sentence, which stood out from the group of monkeys. So this time, as long as it followed the same pattern, it would probably be fine. It was confident.

    The only problem was that the ghost-faced Mandrill had taken over the keyboard and was furiously typing away.

    If it had been an ordinary keyboard, it would have smashed it with its fist. However, the keyboard remained intact no matter how it smashed it, so it must be a very special keyboard.

    Pi looked around and didn¡¯t find a second keyboard. This was different from the previous tests. It seemed to be more difficult.

    As for the person in charge of the test ¡­

    Pi held its head and peeked at the sky. Right above the keyboard, there was a floating light, as if it was monitoring them.

    Most of the monkeys were like Pi, cowering in the corner, not daring to say anything. There were also idiots like the howling monkeys who bullied the weak and feared the strong.

    ¡°Squeak?¡±

    When the howling monkeys went to bully the other monkeys, Pi quietly elbowed a Golden Monkey next to it, pointed at the ghostly Mandrill, and then pointed at itself. Finally, it made a typing gesture.

    What it meant was, could you help it lure the ghost-faced Mandrill away? it wanted to use that keyboard to type.

    ¡°Squeak squeak.¡±

    The Golden Monkey waved his hand and turned his face away. He didn¡¯t care about its n at all because this n didn¡¯t benefit the Golden Monkey at all. On the other hand, it had to bear a huge risk. Only a fool would help it.

    ¡°Squeak?¡±

    Pi struck up a conversation with a short-tailed monkey next to it and made the same request.

    This short-tailed monkey had a goatee and looked like an old man. He didn¡¯t refuse in a hurry, but made a few hand gestures, meaning what good would this do to him?

    Pi scratched its ears. This n seemed to only benefit itself. Why would the other monkeys help it? If he was in their shoes, he might have rejected them as well.

    However, it had to escape because it hadn¡¯t finished its novel.

    It sighed and was extremely envious of dimir¡¯s inspiring speech. If dimir were here, it might have been able to convince the other monkeys.

    However, it was hard to say. As primates closest to humans by blood, monkeys were as cunning and selfish as humans. They were also more short-sighted and might not be as close to humans as cats. After all, cats often caught small animals such as mosquitoes and geckoes for the servants, so as not to starve the servants who were too stupid to hunt.

    Therefore, if there were no benefits, it was impossible to get these selfish monkeys to help.

    In fact, with so many monkeys, if they swarmed up, even a few more ghost-faced Mandrill would be beaten to a pulp. However, it was better to expect the monkeys to evolve into humans than to expect them to unite.

    Pi clenched its fists with regret. It was a pity that its Jingu staff was not with it. Otherwise, it might have really mustered the courage to challenge the ghost-faced Mandrill. Now, it was going to die if it went up empty-handed.

    ¡°Squeak?¡±

    Pi made a new gesture to the short-tailed monkey, meaning,¡±Are you ying games?

    ¡°Squeak?¡± What game?

    The short-tailed monkey was interested.

    Pi nced at the howling monkey and the ghostly Mandrill. Seeing that they weren¡¯t looking in its direction, it stood up carefully.

    ¡°The first thing you say when you wake up every day is to give yourself some encouragement!¡±

    ¡°Every time you miss a word, you have to say sorry!¡±

    It hummed a human¡¯s brainwashing tune, and the rich rhythm immediately attracted the attention of the nearby monkeys.

    Not only did it sing well, but it also crouched, stood up, squatted, and stood up to the rhythm.

    Monkeys liked to y by nature, and they liked to imitate. Their bodies involuntarily swayed to the melody, squatting and standing straight like Pi, just like some people who especially liked to dance after hearing the rooster.

    ¡°Pose! Pose!¡±

    Pi grinned and beat the monkeys like a DJ. It corrected the monkeys ¡®movements and adjusted their positions silently.

    The monkeys got more and more excited as they yed, and they swayed around like a group of drunkards.

    It was very difficult to make a group of undisciplined monkeys squat down and stand up ording to Pi¡¯s instructions, but this was the only way Pi could think of. Fortunately, the monkeys didn¡¯t realize what they were doing at all. They just thought they were ying.

    More and more monkeys joined Pi¡¯s dance group, and their movements became louder and louder. Finally, they caught the attention of the ghostly Mandrill, who red at them with great annoyance.

    The big keyboard in the middle was fixed to the ground and couldn¡¯t be moved. If the ghost-faced Mandrill wanted to shut the noisy monkeys up, it had to leave the keyboard.

    It seemed to know the importance of the keyboard and that it was the key to escape from this ce. The other monkeys also knew it, so once it left, the other monkeys might take advantage of it.

    Thus, the ghost-faced Mandrill was hesitant.

    Pi felt danger. The ghost-faced Mandrill could rush over at any time after being angered, and it would be the first to bear the brunt. It couldn¡¯t count on the motley crew of monkeys to help. When the tree fell, the monkeys scattered, and its efforts to escape would be in vain.

    In addition, it didn¡¯t know if this n would work, because it was clearly not within the rules.

    Even if its n seeded, would ¡®breaking the rules¡¯ be recognized?

    It had no confidence at all, but this was the only way.

    The ball of light floating in the air seemed to have noticed the situation here. It slowly floated over and observed the group of smiling monkeys from above.

    The monkeys didn¡¯t know that they had been quietly arranged by Pi to a specific position. Although they were not ¡°vertical,¡± at least they were ¡°horizontal.¡±

    From the light ball¡¯s angle, these monkeys formed a mini keyboard with only alphabet keys and a few control keys. There were no numerical and function keys.

    And the way they squatted and stood up, didn¡¯t it look like key caps were pressed and then bounced back?

    The monkeys thought they were dancing and singing, but this could only be seen from a certain height above.

    Pi believed that the light could see it, because the purpose of the monkeys, including itself, was to type on the keyboard correctly.

    However, did he really have to use that keyboard?

    What if he created a ¡®keyboard¡¯?

    Breaking the rules.

    [Navigation elf]: the creation and use of high-level tools have been detected. Reevaluating the level of this elf and ¡­ The species of this elf.

    [Navigation elf]: elves have the possibility of self-evolution. It is rmended to save this information and add it to the log.

    What did it mean to create and use advanced tools?

    In theory, all the elves in this game were pets, but if ¡­ An elf began to evolve to a higher species, would it still be a pet?

    Even the designer of this game probably didn¡¯t think of this possibility. After all, the evolution of species often took thousands of years, and the possibility of it happening to an individual was negligible.

    If this continued ¡­ The logic of the game itself might be challenged.

    The monkeys nearby were squeaking and ying. Pi didn¡¯t hear the light mumbling to itself. Even if it did, it didn¡¯t care. It just wanted to go home, a warm and peaceful home.

    Pi felt very guilty. It felt that it was no different from the other monkeys. They were all selfish and only wanted to escape on their own. If it were dimir, it would definitely think of other ways, such as leading the monkeys to beat the ghost-faced Mandrill first, then trying to attack the high light ball, and then escaping with everyone.

    However, it knew that it didn¡¯t have dimir¡¯s ability. If only one of these monkeys was destined to escape, it would seize this opportunity at all costs, no matter how selfish it was.

    The monkeys were ying like crazy. The other monkeys scattered in other corners also ran over to watch enviously. They twisted their bodies and even wanted to join them, but Pi politely pushed them aside and let them y by themselves.

    Although the other monkeys were dissatisfied, they couldn¡¯t do anything, because only Pi could hum. It couldn¡¯t speak, but the melody it hummed fascinated them, and it seemed to have magic that made their bodies twist.

    There were even a few idle monkeys who spontaneously maintained order and did not allow other monkeys to get too close.

    Seeing that its authority was being challenged, the ghost-faced Mandrill finally couldn¡¯t take it anymore. After some observation, it found that a new monkey was leading the group.

    How dare a neer rebel? He really didn¡¯t know the immensity of heaven and earth!

    Its yellow eyes stared at Pi¡¯s figure, gradually filled with killing intent.

    Pi felt its gaze, as if it was being stared at by a venomous snake. Fortunately, after its constant rehearsing, the monkeys ¡®movements finally had a certain standard.

    ¡°Mirror Mirror, Mirror Mirror, tell me, where is my way out?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll work hard, I¡¯ll work hard, I must escape!¡±

    The other monkeys had their backs to the ghost-faced Mandrill, and they were all staring at Pi. Only Pi saw that the Furious ghost-faced Mandrill had abandoned the big keyboard and was rushing over madly.

    The ghost-faced Mandrill didn¡¯t bark when it bit a dog, and the dog didn¡¯t bite when it was called. It just wanted to tear Pi to pieces.

    ¡°The first thing you say when you wake up every day is to give yourself some encouragement!¡±

    Pi seemed to be racing with the god of death. Although the monkeys hadn¡¯t fully practiced, time waited for no one. It decisively started humming from the beginning.

    The monkeys reflexively squatted down, stood up, squatted down, and stood up ¡­

    It¡¯s finished! It¡¯s toote!

    The ghost-faced Mandrill was too fast, but the monkeys were not in a hurry. Pi estimated that it wouldn¡¯t have time to finish aplete and meaningful sentence before the ghost-faced Mandrill rushed over and tore it to pieces.

    It was toote to change it to something shorter, the monkeys didn¡¯t have that ability.

    Just as Pi was about to close its eyes and wait for death, it suddenly heard the sound of typing and a thunderous roar.

    It turned out that the howling monkey had been ying the pig to eat the Tiger. When it saw the ghost-faced Mandrill leave the big keyboard, it took the opportunity to rush to the side of the big keyboard and began to type. It was actually typing very well.

    The ghost-faced Mandrill stopped in its tracks and charged back furiously, pouncing on the howling monkey. The two different species of monkeys were fighting each other for their only chance to escape, and both were biting to death.

    Taking advantage of this precious opportunity, Pi hummed even louder, trying to cover up the sound of their fighting. The monkeys finally squatted down and stood up ording to its n. Pi, who was standing at the ¡°period key,¡± was thest to squat down. It did not stand up for a long time, but looked up at the ball of light nervously.

    Can you understand the ball of light?

    The keyboard made up of monkeys was notbeled with letters, but if one was familiar with theyout of the keyboard and knew that it was a ¡°keyboard,¡± they should be able to see that the monkeys typed the sentence ¡°i want to go home.¡±

    Including the howling monkey and the ghostly Mandrill, all the other monkeys had disappeared.

    It suddenly became quiet.

    [Navigation elf]:¡±you can go home. We¡¯ve arranged a new home for you. Someone will adopt you soon.¡±

 Chapter 1720

    Chapter 1720: Chapter 1719-sky path

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Sihwa realized that she did not recognize this unfamiliar ocean at all.

    ¡°Phew! It¡¯s so hot!¡±

    She poked her head out of the sea, and the hot sun above her head was almost within reach, so bright that she almost couldn¡¯t open her eyes.

    Where was this ce?

    She turned 360 degrees and looked in all directions, but no matter where she looked, the sea and the sky were the same. There was no sign ofnd.

    The temperature of the sea was very high, just like the tropical area on the globe that Zhang Zian had given her. This was, of course, her guess, because she had never been to a real tropical area, so she did not know how high the temperature of the tropical ocean was. However, the temperature here was almost as high as the temperature of the smallke in the desert oasis in Egypt.

    When she was in the narrow bathtub, she yearned for the sea all the time ¡­ Well, it was an exaggeration. After all, she couldn¡¯t charge her phone in the sea, and she was now a severe mobile phone addiction.

    She had always thought that the sea was her home, but now that she was in the middle of the vast sea, she felt inexplicably panicked.

    Perhaps it was because she didn¡¯t have a cell phone with her?

    This must be one of the reasons. It was like an ordinary person who had forgotten to bring their mobile phone on a trip. They would be depressed and helpless. After all, it was almost impossible to go out without a mobile phone these days. It was no fun, so it was better to stay at home.

    The other reason was ¡­

    Sihwa had never been so far away from the coastline. Since she appeared in the world, she had basically been active on the coast, swimming South from Northern Europe along the coastline. Even if she asionally left the coast a little further, she at least knew which direction the coast was and which way to swim back to the beach.

    But now, she didn¡¯t even know where she was on earth. She secretly regretted not studying the earth apparatus seriously.

    Could it be that ¡­ She thought she liked the ocean more, but in fact, she only liked the seaside more? The only thing that could give her a sense of security was solidnd?

    ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of the sea. ¡±

    She flicked her hair and tried to drive the distracting thoughts out of her brain.

    ¡°It must be because it¡¯s too hot ¡­ Why is it so hot?¡±

    The temperature of the sea water did not seem to be swimming, but more like a bath, making her body soft.

    She covered her eyes with her hands and carefully observed the position of the sun, trying to determine the direction ording to the trajectory of the sun. She still understood the rules of rising in the east and setting in the West, but she had been in this strange ocean for a long time, and the sun seemed to be nailed to the sky, not moving at all.

    At this moment, a shadow floated over from the horizon.

    ¡°It¡¯s here again ¡­¡±

    Sihwa frowned.¡±What kind of disgusting thing is that ¡­ If only the cheapskate was here. You can ask him ¡­¡±

    That shadow was not a dark cloud. At first, she also thought it was a dark cloud. She swam over happily. If there was a heavy rain, it would at least be cooler. However, when she swam closer, she was shocked to find that it was not a dark cloud, but a rusty dark red Sea.

    The Red Sea water continued to surge over. It was very slow, but it was so overwhelming that one could not see the end of it.

    As the red seawater gradually approached, Sihwa felt that her body was sticky, as if it had been stained with some kind of disgusting mucus. It also emitted a strange smell, and it became difficult to breathe.

    She grabbed a handful of it from the water and looked at it carefully. It looked like some kind of seaweed.

    In the face of unknown things, Sihwa quickly turned around and swam in the opposite direction. She swam very fast and tried to stay as far away from the red seawater as possible. She used the clean seawater to wash away the mucus on her body. She swam a long way in one breath, thinking that she had shaken him off, but it didn¡¯t take long for him to catch up to her again.

    She remembered the story of the turtle and the rabbit¡¯s race. Although the turtle ran very slowly, if it kept running, it would catch up with the rabbit sooner orter.

    What worried her even more was that if she kept running away blindly, would she be getting further and further away from the coastline?

    In another strange ce, she had been swimming for so long, but she had not seen a single fish in the sea. Not a single fish. The sea was empty, like a fish tank without any fish.

    She couldn¡¯t keep running like this. Although she didn¡¯t need to eat, there was a limit to her physical strength, and she needed to sleep. She was already drowsy from the hot sun, and it was entirely possible that the red seawater would quietly catch up and surround her in her sleep. When she woke up, she might be surrounded by blood ¡­ She might never wake up again, and her body would be wrapped in disgusting mucus, and she would suffocate to death without knowing it.

    He had to findnd as soon as possible.

    But where was thend?

    The earth was round. Perhaps if she chose a random direction and kept swimming, she would eventually reachnd one day, but before that, she might be exhausted to death.

    Besides, what if the Red Sea water came from the other side as he swam?

    Sihwa floated helplessly on the surface of the sea. When she used to y in the sea, she would always deliberately avoid the sight of other humans, but now she couldn¡¯t care about anything. It would be good if anyone came, but could they tell her where thend was?

    There was not even a shadow of a ship on the sea, let alone a figure of a person. There was also no ne flying in the sky.

    There were no people, no boats, no fish, no nes, only the endless Red Sea water that was constantly spreading ¡­ What kind of world was this?

    Being roasted by the scorching sun, she didn¡¯t know how many times she turned around, trying to find a life-saving straw. She felt that her brain was about to melt from the heat, but she couldn¡¯t find anything.

    She had almost frozen to death in the cold Baltic Sea. Was she going to be boiled by the sea now?

    She fell into deeper and deeper despair, so aggrieved that she wanted to cry. Usually, everyone in the Pet Shop had to coax her, and she always pretended to cry when she lost her temper. But now, even if she cried until her throat was broken, who could hear her?

    I can¡¯t cry. Now is not the time to cry.

    She wiped the corners of her eyes and tried to lift her spirits.

    If Zhang Zian was here, what would he do?

    She racked her brain and tried to think in his way. It was very difficult. After all, his way of thinking was considered strange among humans.

    She thought of her trip to the mahogany forest not long ago and suddenly had an idea. Would the situation at the bottom of the sea be better?

    On the West Coast of the United States, she dived into the sea and found the undercurrent that could not be seen on the sea. She also saved melgen, who had almost drowned. Otherwise, there would be another broken foot of unknown origin at the border between the United States and Canada.

    No matter how hot or cold the water on the surface was, the undercurrent at the bottom of the sea might have apletely different temperature, and the speed of the undercurrent was often very fast. It would bring things that were drawn into the undercurrent to other ces. This might mean danger to humans, but she could breathe underwater. If she could find an undercurrent, wouldn¡¯t it be like taking a free ride?

    ¡°Goodbye, damned sun!¡±

    She pointed her middle finger at the sun, which she had learned from theizens in the live broadcast room, although she was not sure what the gesture meant.

    She swung her strong fishtail, head down and tail up, sshing high waves. With a sudden dive, she dove to the bottom of the sea, almost vertically downstream.

    She didn¡¯t notice that the moment she started to dive, a faintly shimmering ball of light floated down from the position that almost coincided with the sun. It sank with her and followed her from far behind.

    Previously, the ball of light had been shrouded by the light of the sun, and no one dared to look directly at the sun, so Sihwa had never noticed the ball of light.

    The deeper the water, the darker the light.

    After swimming for a while, she saw a faint reflection in the water.

    Have we reached the bottom of the sea?

    She thought that the reflection was the reflection of the fine sand at the bottom of the sea, but when she swam closer, she was shocked. A series of bubbles came out of her mouth and nose.

    What ¡­ The hell was that?

    Sihwa stared at the bottom of the sea in horror. It was a human city that had sunk underwater.

    For a moment, she was so flustered that she almost forgot to breathe. She was afraid that she would recognize a familiarndmark from that city, because she was only familiar with one city.

    She wanted to look, but she didn¡¯t dare to. After hesitating for a long time, she finally gathered her courage and continued to sink.

    In the dim light, the city was like a gloomy grave, dead.

    She stared at him for a long time before she finally heaved a sigh of relief. Her body was almost exhausted.

    It wasn¡¯t Binhai city, nor was it one of the northern European, Egypt, or San Francisco cities that she had seen before. In terms of scale and grandeur, it was far inferior to those cities. It looked very shabby, and the architectural style was obviously not in the style of China, America, Europe, and Egypt. There wererge and small temples everywhere, but there were only a few tall buildings.

    She was relieved that it was not Binhai city.

    This sunken city was too eerie and terrifying. There might still be drowned ghosts floating in the streets and alleys, so she didn¡¯t dare to approach.

    She felt an undercurrent passing under her feet at high speed. She immediately swung her tail and threw herself into the undercurrent.

    The undercurrent was really cool, carrying her over the mountains effortlessly. Soon, she left the sunken city and the Red Sea behind.

    Sihwa¡¯s physical strength had been restored, and she noticed that the terrain at the bottom of the sea was veryplicated. There were continuous underwater mountains and trenches everywhere, but overall, one side was high and the other side was low.

    If he kept swimming higher, would he be able to findnd?

    She thought about it carefully and felt that this idea should be correct. She broke free from the undercurrent and swam in the direction of the higher terrain. If she encountered other undercurrents in the same direction on the way, she would hitchhike for a while.

    Several other cities that had sunk to the bottom of the sea appeared one after another. They were smaller than the previous one and more like towns.

    She felt uneasy. Why did these cities all sink under the water? What had happened?

    She couldn¡¯t figure it out, so she was even more eager to findnd, to find Binhai city, and catch the cheapskate for an exnation.

    Fortunately, her judgment seemed to be correct. The seabed was getting higher and higher, and they were getting closer and closer to the surface of the sea. As long as they persisted, they would definitely be able to reachnd soon.

    Half-swimming and half-hitching a ride, after a long time, she saw the underwater mountain range in front of her rise rapidly and rise above the sea surface.

    They had finally foundnd!

    She almost cried tears of joy as she broke free from the undercurrent and swam over as fast as she could.

    Land!

    When she floated to the surface of the sea, she saw a solid piece ofnd. It was bare without a single tree. There were some grayish-white fish bones on the shore, which were crushed into powder upon contact.

    She was about to die from exhaustion. Just as she was about to lie on the shore and take a good rest, she saw the lingering red color from the corner of her eye.

    The red ocean water had caught up again. Although it might not be the same as before, it was no different.

    Sihwa looked around in panic. She vaguely saw something like a stone tablet not far from the shore. There were words written on it, but she could not see them clearly.

    Perhaps, the stone tablet said where she was. If that was the case, she might be able to find the direction to Binhai city.

    She only had two choices: escape before she was surrounded by the red seawater, or go ashore.

    She didn¡¯t want to run anymore. The endless escape had made her more and more disheartened.

    If he never returned to Binhai city ¡­

    She held onto the rocks on the shore and used all her strength to roll away from the sea and onto thend.

    It was so hot!

    The stone was scorching hot under the sun and could almost roast her. The scales stuck to the stone for a few seconds and would be burned to the ground. If she moved it again, it would hurt her heart.

    With a ripping sound, the bloody scales remained on the stone.

    She had ten thousand reasons to cry, and no one would me her, but she didn¡¯t cry. She supported herself on the ground and dragged her heavy fish tail to the stone tablet, leaving a long trail of blood behind her.

    In fairy tales, The Little Mermaid in human form felt as painful as walking barefoot on the tip of a knife with every step she took onnd.

    That was probably how it felt.

    The ball of light floated above her head.

    [Navigation elf]: stop, or you¡¯ll die.

    Sihwa raised her head and looked at it. ¡°Who are you? Where was this ce? Where¡¯s Binhai city?¡±

    [Navigation elf]:¡±we¡¯ve found you a new adopter, but if you keep going, you won¡¯t be able to go anywhere.¡±

    ¡°The new adopter ¡­ Is he in Binhai city?¡± Sihwa asked.

    [Navigation elf] replied,¡±no, you won¡¯t be going back to Binhai city.¡±

    Sihwa shook her head and continued to drag the stone tablet.

    [Navigation elf]: do you want to die?

    Sihwa shook her head again.¡±I won¡¯t die. Someone likes me, and I¡¯ve already obtained an indestructible soul. I¡¯ll turn into bubbles and fly to the daughter in the sky.¡±

    [Navigation elf]: stop. You will really die.

    The stone tablet was getting closer and closer.

    Sihwa no longer paid attention to the ball of light. There was only one thought in her mind that drove her forward.

    Finally, her fingers touched the stone tablet. Her fishtail was already a bloody mess, and even her palms were covered in blisters from the heat.

    She gathered her remaining willpower and tried to distinguish the words on the stone tablet.

    ¡°Mount Everest ¡­ Altitude measurement ¡­ Monument ¡­¡±

    ¡°Altitude ¡­ 8844.43 ¡­ Meters ¡­¡±

    She felt dizzy and lost all her will and strength in an instant. She turned over and fell down.

    Sure enough, she had been moving towards heaven ¡­

    The sunlight was so strong ¡­

    In the haziness, the stone tablet suddenly moved.

    How was that possible?

    The stone tablet was pushed open like a door, and a few figures walked out.

    This must be an illusion.

    A human figure blocked the sunlight for her, and a furry paw was ced on her burning forehead.¡±Silly ¡­¡±

    ¡°Fina ¡­¡±

 Chapter 1721

    Chapter 1721: Chapter 1720-traitor

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    ¡°Where ¡­ Is this?¡±

    dimir wandered around the unfamiliar Street in a daze.

    It was almost evening, and the lights were on.

    Everything around him seemed to be the same as Binhai city, but also seemed to be different.

    The people walking on the streets all looked terrified, afraid that disaster would befall them. As they walked, they looked around uneasily, their eyes searching back and forth between corners, walls, treetops, and roofs.

    The people who were riding and driving were also very fast. They came and went in a hurry, and the speed was so fast that dimir broke out in a cold sweat for them.

    Sure enough, at the corner of the street, the two cars scratched each other because they were too fast. Fortunately, the two drivers reacted quickly and stepped on the brakes in time and turned the steering wheel to the other side. They did not use the elerator as the brake, so the damage to the cars was not serious. Moreover, the people in the cars were all wearing seat belts, so there were no casualties. At most, it was a false rm.

    dimir was used to seeing such small traffic idents in the capital and Binhai city. He had already guessed what would happen next. It was nothing more than people from both sides getting out of the car and pretending to be very good at determining damage by taking photos and videos. The good-tempered one would negotiate whether to settle it privately or call the traffic police. The bad-tempered one might directly scold each other and then fight.

    However, the drivers of the two cars used an unexpected solution. They rolled down their Windows and looked at the damage of their own cars. As if they felt that it was within an eptable range, they looked at each other and exchanged a few words with their eyes. Then, one of the drivers raised his mobile phone and showed the QR code of his social app, while the other driver used his mobile phone to scan the code and added the other as a friend. Then, they raised their Windows and left. He didn¡¯t say a word from beginning to end.

    dimir was dumbfounded. It had heard that when two owners of luxury cars had a traffic ident, they would often deal with it this way. Compensation was not important, and it was better to make friends. But these two cars were both ordinary brands, and the owners were actually so free and easy?

    Rather than saying that they were free and easy ¡­ It was more like they were afraid of staying for too long at night.

    It was the same for all the pedestrians.

    That¡¯s strange. Could it be ¡­ That the Holy Cat statue or some other evil thing is causing trouble in Binhai city again?

    ¡°Skewers! Freshly made skewers!¡±

    dimir¡¯s ears perked up. It heard a familiar shout from another street.

    It was uncle Li¡¯s voice!

    It immediately jumped onto the wall and took a shortcut to the direction of the sound.

    If it¡¯s uncle li, then this should still be Binhai city?

    As long as it was in Binhai city, it was at ease. The Pet Shop was diagonally opposite the Li¡¯s snack bar. It knew that the Li¡¯s snack bar was responsible for providing most of the food in the Pet Shop. In order to win both sides, it had specifically instructed the stray cats to often wander around the snack bar. If they encountered harmful animals such as rats and cockroaches, they should directly eliminate them.

    Not long after, it saw the Li couple, but strangely, they were not selling skewers in the snack bar. Instead, they went back to their old business, using electric tricycles as mobile vendors.

    What was going on?

    Everyone knew how blissful it was to have their own small shop. No matter how small it was, at least they didn¡¯t have to shelter themselves from the wind and rain outside or be driven away by the urban management. They clearly had their own shop, so why did they have to work as a mobile stall owner?

    dimir couldn¡¯t understand, but this wasn¡¯t the top priority at the moment. Maybe he wanted to relive the feeling of doing business in the past? Nostalgia was popr these days.

    ¡°Hi!¡±

    It jumped down from the wall and raised a front paw to greet them.

    The Li couple had seen most of the Elfins in the Pet Shop, and they also knew dimir. When it passed by, they often fed it roasted meat, but it had never eaten it.

    Logically speaking, they shouldn¡¯t be too surprised to see it.

    Unexpectedly, they looked as if they had seen a ghost. Their faces instantly lost all color, and their hands trembled. The meat skewers they were roasting fell to the ground.

    ¡°Don¡¯t ¡­ Don¡¯te over ¡­¡± The old couple said in a trembling voice as they retreated.

    dimir was stunned. It didn¡¯t understand what had happened, but to avoid scaring the two old men, it took a few steps back and stayed away from them.

    They saw that it was reasonable and that its body was quite clean. It didn¡¯t seem like a stray cat. They were slightly relieved and exchanged nces with each other. They immediately began to pack their things and nned to pack up and go home.

    dimir hesitated, wondering if it should quietly follow them. Maybe it could follow them to the Pet Shop, but they were so scared ¡­

    Also, what were they afraid of?

    At this moment, it suddenly heard light footsteps. It looked up and saw a few pairs of eyes of different colors shing on the wall.

    It was a stray cat!

    It was good to find stray cats, and he could ask them where the Pet Shop was.

    dimir was about to greet them and give them a secret signal, but they ignored it. Their eyes were fixed on the roasted meat skewers, and they jumped off the wall and pounced on the Li couple¡¯s electric Tricycle.

    dimir was stunned again. What were they doing?

    The Li couple also saw the stray cat and suddenly turned pale with fright. They carried the main valuables into the car and drove away without looking back, leaving behind a few simple folding tables and chairs. On the table was arge te of roasted meat skewers, which numbered about a hundred.

    The strays jumped onto the table and started to gobble down the skewers.

    ¡°Meow my a * s! What are you guys doing?¡±

    dimir was angry. It also jumped on the table and waved its ws to drive away the stray cats.

    ¡°Why do you want to Rob the things of ordinary people?¡± It questioned sternly, its body trembling with anger.

    If it hadn¡¯t witnessed this unbelievable scene with its own eyes, it would never have believed that stray cats would do such a thing as a Street robber.

    The stray cats jumped off the table in shock, but they didn¡¯t run away. Instead, they surrounded the table and looked at dimir in silence.

    ¡°Who¡¯s your branch head? Get it toe see me!¡± dimir roared.

    The stray cats were shocked, but they quickly bared their teeth and hissed fiercely at it, ready to pounce.

    ¡°F * ck, are you guys thinking of rebelling?¡± dimir was so angry that itughed and moved its shoulders.¡±Looking at you, I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s not the first time you¡¯ve done this. Today, I¡¯m going to punish you on behalf of your branch Minister as a warning to others!¡±

    The stray cats seemed to have felt its power and only bragged around the table, not daring to really pounce on it.

    After a while, dimir heard soft footsteps again. It looked up and saw more stray cats nearby, probably hearing theirpanions ¡®cries for help.

    The shops nearby might have heard the stray cats ¡®meowing as well. They pulled down their shutter doors as fast as they could, closed their doors, and even turned off the lights in their rooms. It was like ¡­ The Japanese had entered the vige.

    dimir was pained to see this. What was going on?

    More and more stray cats gathered there, surrounding dimir inyers, but it was fearless. Its eyes were like torches, full of anger and sadness.

    The stray cats stared at it with eyes full of anger. It didn¡¯t know why they were angry. Was it because it had stolen their skewers?

    ¡°All of you, do any of you understand what I¡¯m saying?¡± It roared loudly, temporarily suppressing their noisy hisses.

    It raised a front paw.¡±The king covers the ground!¡±

    There was no response.

    The stray cats tensed their muscles vigntly, thinking that it was going to attack them with its strange posture. Their fur stood on end and they screamed even louder at it.

    dimir¡¯s ws were trembling, not because it was tired, but because its heart was about to break. The stray cat organization that it had built up with its own hands, was it going to fight now?

    ¡°Meowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeow.¡±

    A weak voice came from the outside.

    Immediately after, the stray cats split into two sides, and a ck cat with a missing ear slowly walked into the group of cats.

    ¡°A que? Is that you, a que?¡±

    dimir cried out in surprise. It recognized that it was a que, its right-hand man.

    However, the previous ah que had only lost one ear. The current ah que still had one squinted eye, as if he was blind in one eye. There were several scars on his body and he had aged a lot.

    Due to the loss of one eye, ah que couldn¡¯t maintain a straight line when he walked. As he walked, he would tilt to one side, which made dimir feel even more pained.

    ¡°A que, what¡¯s wrong with your eyes?¡± It gestured with its hands and asked,¡±who blinded you?¡±

    A que stared at it suspiciously, then turned his head to listen to the group of cats ¡°neighing. He made a gesture to it, meaning: Traitor! Why are you helping the humans?

    T-traitor?

    dimir felt as if it had been struck by lightning. It had never thought that it would point out that it was a traitor, just because it had stopped the stray cats from snatching the Li couple¡¯s skewers?

    ¡°A que ¡­ You don¡¯t recognize me? I¡¯m dimir!¡±

    There were tears in its eyes. It didn¡¯t even shed a tear when Emile and miaizha attacked it and injured it.

    A que gestured even more angrily, meaning: Traitor, I was just about to ask you, where did you learn these secret signals and hand gestures? Why did you pretend to be our leader?

    ¡°I ¡­¡±

    dimir was dumbfounded by the question, and a mouthful of blood was stuck in its chest, almost suffocating it.

    ¡°I ¡­ I¡¯m dimir. A que ¡­ What happened? Why do you want to steal from humans?¡± It said with difficulty.

    The stray cats were even more indignant. They hissed in unison, and their shrill meowing echoed in the sky above Binhai city, attracting the response of stray cats further away.

    dimir vaguely felt that they didn¡¯t seem to be screaming blindly, but singing some kind of melody ¡­

    In the dense forest, there were campsite for hisrades everywhere.

    On the high hills, there are countless of our Good Brothers;

    Without food and clothes, the enemy woulde forward.

    No guns, no cannons, the enemy made ¡­

    Ah que waved his paw, and the stray cats ¡®meowing stopped for a moment. Then he made a gesture that was extremely firm, but it made dimir feel extremely sad. Eliminate the tyranny of humans and the world belongs to the cats!

    The stray cats were so excited that their shrieks resounded through the sky. They were all screaming the same thing, and the sky above Binhai city was like a ghost¡¯s cry.

    dimir¡¯s body went soft, and it staggered and fell off the table. Its heart had already been broken into countless pieces.

    Was ¡­ Was this a dream?

    It wished that this was a dream so that it could forget everything that had happened in the dream when it woke up.

    History seemed to have gone in another direction at a fork in the road.

    ¡°No¡­ Ah que, listen to me. This is not right. Stray cats and humans may try to coexist peacefully ¡­¡± It desperately tried to exin.

    A que coldly stared at it and made a gesture to interrupt it, Traitor! How dare you question the leader? the leader is a God, and that is absolutely correct!

    This hand gesturepletely broke down dimir¡¯s mental defense.

    It had always worked hard, bled, and sacrificed itself, not to make him the target it had always been trying to defeat.

    ¡°Where is your leader? I want to see it. ¡± It panted as it spoke.

    Ah que made a sorrowful gesture,¡±the leader has left, and he died with a bronze cat. We will finish his unfinished business!¡±

    dimir understood. They probably didn¡¯t have time to stop the Holy Cat statue and allowed it to gather too much power of faith and be abnormally strong, so they ended up perishing together.

    It had fought for its entire life in order to sweep away all the monsters and demons. It had fallen at the most glorious moment, causing the stray cats to have absolute respect for it, and then it had been regarded as a God ¡­

    Could there be anything more painful than this?

    But that¡¯s not right. Why did history go in this direction?

    Where was Zhang Zian? Why didn¡¯t he stop it? why didn¡¯t he ¡­ Stop it?

    ¡°Chief Zhang, where are you?¡± It asked weakly.

    If ¡­ If even Zhang Zian became the enemy of the stray cats ¡­

    A que made a confused gesture, Who was chief Zhang?

    dimir raised its head.¡±Amazing fate pet shop? Did you know?¡±

    A que was confused.

    ¡°I ¡­ No, why did your leadere to Binhai city?¡± dimir asked.

    Ah que gestured,¡±there¡¯s no harm in telling you this traitor. Because the bronze cat is acting so wantonly andwless here, the leader heard the news and trekked all the way here from the capital.¡±

    So that was how it was ¡­

    No wonder the Holy Cat statue had be so big and strong. If it had traveled thousands of miles from the capital, it would definitely not have made it in time.

    This world ¡­ Was a world where it had not met Zhang Zian.

    ¡°I understand ¡­¡± It muttered to itself.¡±As long as we find him, he will definitely have a way to remedy it ¡­¡±

    ¡°I understand!¡±

    dimir roared and used all its strength to fly into the air. Without waiting for the other stray cats to react, it jumped onto the wall and ran desperately towards the east.

    The amazing fate pet shop was located in the Dongcheng Area. This Binhai city was simr to the real Binhai city, but it was different. It might be a few years or even ten yearster in the real world. Hopefully, the Pet Shop would not have moved by then.

    He saw it! It was the amazing fate pet shop!

    dimir saw the sign of the amazing fate pet shop from a distance and couldn¡¯t help but cry with joy. In the chaotic world, only this sign was like a light that illuminated the darkness.

    However, the shop¡¯s door had already been closed, and the rolled-up Curtain Door had fallen.

    dimir stopped at the door of the shop and saw that the lights were still on inside, which meant that Zhang Zian had not gone far. Otherwise, with his stinginess, he would definitely not have forgotten to turn off the power switch.

    It jumped onto the window sill on the second floor, and through the ss, it saw Zhang Zian sitting on the bed, focused on his mobile phone.

    Thump!

    It used its ws to tap on the window, but he didn¡¯t seem to hear it.

    Whoosh!

    It exerted more force, but he still didn¡¯t respond.

    ¡°Chief Zhang, the sky is falling, and you still have time to y with your phone?¡±

    dimir couldn¡¯t care so much anymore and punched the ss hard.

    Unexpectedly, the ss was extremely strong. Not only did it not break, but the reaction force also bounced it back to the ground.

    dimir looked up as if it had sensed something and saw the ball of light floating in the night sky.

    So that¡¯s the case. Who¡¯s behind this?

    When it saw Zhang Zian, it was no longer afraid. It stared at the light andughed,¡±

    ¡°As soon as wind and thunder rise from the earth, there will be piles of bones!¡±

    [Navigation elf]:¡±isn¡¯t this the world you want?¡±

    ¡°Let out his meow fart!¡±

    dimir roared,¡±open the door! Otherwise, I¡¯ll smash the door open!¡±

    [Navigation elf]:¡±please don¡¯t make unnecessary attempts.¡±

    dimir couldn¡¯t be bothered to listen to its nonsense. It clenched its fist and smashed it on the shutter door.

    The rolled-up Curtain Door was supposed to be very thin, and a punch should have made a loud noise. But after this punch, the rolled-up Curtain Door was like the thick iron door of an underground nuclear fallout shelter that weighed thousands of tons. It didn¡¯t move at all, and there was not even a hollow echo. The punch only hurt it.

    [Navigation elf]:¡±if you continue, you¡¯ll only break your bones. Someone has already suggested ¡­¡±

    dimirughed out loud.¡±Shut up!¡±

    It clenched its fists tightly, and its eyes were filled with lofty ideals. It took a deep breath and said,¡±

    ¡°Take this meow meow meow doctrine Iron Fist of mine!¡±

    The punch broke the door.

    The unstoppable punch was like a destructive force.

    Debris flew everywhere, smoke filled the air, and a deafening explosion reverberated throughout the entire Binhai city.

    A terrifyinglyrge hole appeared on the curtain Door, as if it had been sted open by a huge amount of C4.

    The few figures behind the door were shocked, and they took a few steps back. Among them, there were a few figures that dimir was very familiar with.

 Chapter 1722

    Chapter 1722: Chapter 1721-your shape

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    ¡°Hell! Still no call?¡±

    It was pitch-ck all around. Like most other birds that were active during the day, Richard, who was also night-blind, had been waiting in the dark for a long time, making him anxious and stuffy.

    ¡°Gah! Is there anyone there? Idiot, where are you?¡±

    It didn¡¯t know how many times it had asked at the top of its voice, but there was still no response.

    ¡°What a ghost! That idiot must have been talking about the cat in the ck box all day and got his retribution. But even if it¡¯s retribution, he should be locked in the ck box with the other naked man. Why should it be on me?¡±

    In fact, the surrounding light was notpletely dark. If it was a cat or a dog, it should be able to see a lot of things. Even an ordinary person with average vision would not be so blind. However, it could not be helped. Its eyes were the worst at sensing dark light.

    In order to get rid of the boredom and the panic in its heart, it tried to find joy in the midst of suffering. It jumped on the spot and muttered to itself,¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve already thought of the experiment content. Before Qianqian opens the ck box and observes it, you¡¯ll never know if he¡¯s connected to another naked man in the ¡®connected and disconnected¡¯ superposition state! I¡¯m really a genius. Maybe people will use my name to name this experiment in the future, and it will be called ¡­ Richard¡¯s gay?¡±

    It felt that theyout here seemed a little familiar, but it was not the first or second floor of the Pet Shop that it often stayed in. Otherwise, it would not fall with its eyes closed. It really did not dare to fly around here. What if it hit something and broke its neck?

    At that moment, a door suddenly opened, and the light from the corridor shone into the room. Before Richard could react, the curtains were pulled open.

    The room instantly turned from night to day.

    The morning sun shone through the window and illuminated the room.

    ¡°Hey! Little fellow, how did you sleepst night?¡±

    A wise woman in a white coat with slightly curly hair stood by the window. The sun coated her figure with ayer of golden outline, like a Holy goddess.

    Richard was stunned, his eyes and brain frozen at the same time.

    She had a folder under her armpit. After pulling open the curtains, she opened the folder and wrote something with a pen, as if she was nning for the day.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see what today¡¯s mission is ¡­ Hmm, are you ready to face a new challenge? But let¡¯s have breakfast first. ¡±

    Her image was younger than it remembered.

    Memories flooded into its mind in an instant.

    If it remembered correctly, at her age ¡­ The experiment should have just started not long ago. She was just an ordinary scientific researcher, and it ¡­ Was just a grey parrot bought from a pet store.

    It didn¡¯t know how long the so-called ¡°just¡± was, because at that time, its mind was not fully developed, and its concept of time was very vague. It might have left the Pet Shop for theboratory for half a year to one or two years.

    Yes, even the currentboratory was very different from theter stages, so it did not have a deep impression.

    She put down the folder and brought a small box to its cage. The box contained a mixture of vegetables, fruits, and nuts.

    She looked a little tired. After she went home yesterday, she probably read books or worked on research untilte at night. She didn¡¯t want to be like this, but the research on the intelligence of gray parrots had stagnated and her funds were burning. She had to re-reflect on what went wrong in her research direction and where to improve.

    Needless to say, the most important role in the experiment was the grey parrot. Its state determined the sess or failure of the experiment.

    Sometimes, for example, when the experiments were fruitless for several days, she would stare at it for a long time in a daze. She couldn¡¯t help but wonder if this grey parrot was the ideal experimental subject. After all, there were differences in the individual intelligence of humans. It was normal for her to buy a not-so-smart parrot by chance.

    If that was the case, it might be the right choice to change to a parrot as soon as possible.

    Perhaps some people would say that there was no need to change, and that they could just buy a few more grey parrots to be experimental subjects.

    In fact, it wasn¡¯t that simple. Grey parrots were very smart, so smart that they wouldn¡¯t easily trust people, let alone cooperate with experiments. When buying grey parrots, you had to get familiar with them first, and when they trusted you, you could start the experiment. The time and cost were incalcble.

    She had limited funds and manpower. Objective conditions didn¡¯t allow her to choose arge number of parrots for years or even decades of experiments.

    And ¡­ She could tell from its daily behavior and eyes that it was a very smart parrot. Maybe it just needed more patience and time.

    ¡°You ¡­ Didn¡¯t sleep wellst night? You look terrible. You should rest more. ¡± Richard muttered.

    ng.

    The small box, along with the vegetables, fruits, and nuts inside, fell to the ground.

    Her eyes widened in shock, and her mouth formed an O shape.

    Oh my God! It ¡­ It just spoke? And he even said it so well? Am I dreaming?

    From the moment she greeted it after entering the room, she didn¡¯t expect it to respond to her words. She just greeted it as usual and talked to it as much as possible from morning to night so that it could adapt to the environment.

    As a smart grey parrot, of course it could speak, but what it could say now was still far from being able to prove its intelligence.

    However, the two sentences just now came out of its mouth so naturally. The words were right, the pronunciation was round, and the meaning and context were impable. It was no different from another person talking to her.

    How was this possible?

    She stared at it in a daze, wondering if there was something wrong with her brain. Was she hallucinating because she was too eager to make progress in the experiment?

    ¡°Can ¡­ Can you say one more sentence?¡± She pleaded with her eyes.

    ¡°No problem,¡± said Richard with a smile,¡±as long as you¡¯re happy ¡­¡±

    She was so excited that she almost fainted. She paced back and forth at a loss and covered her chest as if she was afraid that her heart would jump out of her chest.

    Unfortunately, the assistant was on leave today and did not witness this scene. There were no surveince cameras in theboratory at this time.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Let me get you something to eat. After that, we can talk more, okay?¡± She finally calmed down and said with a smile.

    ¡°Alright,¡± he said.

    She picked up the vegetables and fruits on the ground and threw them into the trash can, then hurried out.

    ¡°Doctor ¡­¡± It spoke again.

    She stopped and turned around.

    ¡°I¡¯ll always be here waiting for you. I won¡¯t go anywhere. You know that, right?¡± It said with a smile.

    She also smiled.¡±I know ¡­ I¡¯ll be back immediately.¡±

    No one was more eager to talk to it than her. Her painstaking efforts had suddenly paid off far more than expected, but as a scientific researcher, she restrained her ecstatic mood. It had not eaten breakfast yet, so she had to be patient and not so eager for quick sess.

    She was going to prepare another breakfast for it, then take the camera and record her conversation with it. It would be a documentary that would shock the world.

    Her figure disappeared in the corridor, and theboratory returned to silence.

    Richard looked up at the ball of light floating on the roof and said disdainfully,¡±¡±So, is this a dream or some other trick? What kind of bird am I? how could I be trapped in a dream for so long like that idiot? You brat, don¡¯t underestimate this great master!¡±

    The [navigation elf] was speechless.

    Richard said,¡¯the living live while the dead die. For her, I¡¯m already dead, and life and death are different. The dead shouldn¡¯t interfere with the life of the living, it¡¯s just adding to her troubles ¡­ Otherwise, if I want to see her, I can go see her myself, why would I need you to cause trouble?¡±

    The [navigation elf] was speechless.

    That¡¯s right, although Richard had died before, she was still alive. Now it was not separated from her, which was fundamentally different from Zhang Zian¡¯s parents in his dream.

    If it wanted to see her, there were many ways. It had been brought to the United States by Zhang Zian more than once, but it had actively refused to appear in front of her, including the time when they had met at the airport.

    It loved her, but it knew how to let go.

    Of course, in a sense, whether it was a dream or something else, it was happy to see her again. After all, this was not reality, and it would not cause her any trouble in reality. Just like how Zhang Zian said goodbye to his parents in his dream, its only regret was that he never said goodbye to her. He never officially said goodbye to her.

    Now, it was saying goodbye.

    Even though it was a one-sided goodbye, it didn¡¯t matter. This was its dream, and it would be fine as long as it unraveled the knot in its heart.

    Richard was slowlybing his feathers. asionally, he turned back and saw a pile of feces in the corner of the birdcage. He covered it with a few grass leaves with his bird ws.

    ¡°Let me ask you, when are you going to let me go back? Your IQ is too low, you can¡¯t even pee in the same pot as me. ¡± It said leisurely.

    [Navigation elf]:¡±ording to our judgment, you are no longer suitable to return to the human world as an elf. We will try our best to find a new master for you in this world.¡±

    Richard tilted his head. He was neither surprised nor angry, but listened with interest. Then he asked,¡±¡±Why?¡±

    [Navigation elf]: because the favorability was too high, it was out of the design range.

    ¡°Is it because he¡¯s already in my shape?¡± Richard cried out excitedly.¡±Is it because he¡¯s already in my shape?¡±

    The ball of light fell silent.

    Richard muttered to himself in satisfaction,¡±¡±As expected, you probably don¡¯t know my alias, right? I¡¯ll tell you a secret, my stage name is Zhang genshuo ¡­ Birds are just like their names, you know. ¡±

    It meaningfully winked at the ball of light.

    The [navigation elf] suddenly changed the topic,¡±Don¡¯t you want to talk to her? Don¡¯t you want to spend more time with her? ¡°At that time, you¡¯re still young, and you can spend a long time together, and it¡¯ll be when you¡¯re clear-headed. You can shock the world together, your photos can be printed on the cover of major scientific journals together, you¡¯ll be the subject of interviews by major TV stations, you can ¡­

    If other Elfins had seen this scene, they would have been surprised that the navigation elfin, which was always concise, could say so much in one breath.

    ¡°Save it,¡± ¡°I¡¯ll emphasize it again,¡± Richard interrupted rudely.¡±What kind of bird am I? why would I stay in the Unreal world? I¡¯ve never lied to myself like that idiot. Do you think I¡¯m a three-year-old kid in a kindergarten who has achieved sess in this illusory world?¡±

    The [navigation elf] was speechless.

    ¡°Besides, I¡¯ve already done all the things you said. Although I did it after my death, didn¡¯t so many famous people in history be famous after their deaths? I¡¯ve already left my name in history, but you ¡­ Who knows your name? Does anyone remember your name?¡± Richard jabbered on like a monk.

    The [navigation elf] was speechless.

    A good bird grows on its beak, and a good horse grows on its legs. When it came to talking, Richard would never admit defeat.

    ¡°You should have intelligence, right?¡± How old are you this year? Where did you graduate from? Did she usually do this kind of customer service work? He doesn¡¯t seem to have any future ¡­ How much is his sry? What¡¯s the prospect of promotion?¡±

    Then, it threw out a great killing weapon that could kill gods and Buddhas in its way,¡±¡±Do you have a partner?¡±

    The [navigation elf] was speechless.

    Richard pped his wings and cackled.¡±¡±You¡¯re not young anymore, it¡¯s time for you to find a partner. If you really can¡¯t find a girlfriend, do you want to try a boyfriend? There should be more than one customer service representative like you, right? have youe into contact with the little brother you like during your work?¡±

    The [navigation elf] was speechless.

    He did not know if it was an illusion, but the ball of light seemed to be slowly retreating, trying to distance itself from Richard.

    Richard¡¯s little ck eyes rolled slyly.¡±Aiyaya, don¡¯t be shy. You have to face yourself bravely, face yourself, and think back to the moment when your heart was beating ¡­ The sun, the sports field, the sweat, the smell of hormones mixed in, the bright muscle lines, and his hearty smile ¡­ It¡¯s time to abandon the fantasy of women. Men should y with men.¡±

    [Navigation elf]:¡±um ¡­ Someone has applied for adoption. They¡¯re already here. They¡¯re waiting outside the door. You can leave this scenario.¡±

    For some reason, the ball of light sounded very embarrassed. Although his expression could not be seen, his tone sounded like he was panicking, and he was in a hurry to send Richard away.

    Richard snorted.¡±The adopter ¡­ Is it a man or a woman?¡±

    [Navigation elf]:¡±it¡¯s a couple. They don¡¯t have any children and want to adopt a few more pets.¡±

    Richard smacked his lips.¡±Unfortunately, I have no interest in married men. Of course, if they are husband-and-wife, that¡¯s another story ¡­¡±

    At this moment, theboratory door was pushed open again.

    There were a few figures standing outside the door, some familiar to Richard and some unfamiliar to him. They seemed to have been listening at the door for a while.

    One of them was an unfamiliar figure. For some reason, as soon as he entered the door, his hand reached for the broom next to the trash can.

 Chapter 1723

    Chapter 1723: Chapter 1722-humanity

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    It was a moonless night where one could not even see their own fingers.

    A dense temperate broad-leaved forest.

    There was something hidden in the surroundings, something extremely cunning and brutal.

    Fati could clearly smell evil.

    It had fought with several terrible enemies, whether it was the bronze cat from thousands of years ago, the nine-lives cat in the mahogany forest, or other enemies hiding in the dark. It had rich experience in fighting demons, but the enemy in front of it seemed to be more difficult.

    What was this ce?

    Fatale could not remember when and how he came here. He had been in this strange forest for at least dozens of days.

    At first, it wanted to leave the forest, but this forest was too vast. No matter which direction it went, it was an endless sea of forests, as if there was no end.

    One day, it suddenly noticed an abnormality. It was a living creature¡¯s instinct that a terrible enemy had appeared nearby.

    There were many signs that proved that it was not overthinking. It saw meaningless killing. The bodies of more than a dozen deer were piled up in an open space in the forest. They were all bitten to death by sharp teeth, but they were almost not eaten.

    The incident in the mahogany forest made Fati very cautious. It was not sure if the deer were sick. If they were sick, they would have to be bitten to death in order to save more deer.

    However, as it moved forward, simr meaningless killings happened many times. The targets of the killings were not limited to deer. All kinds of animals that were bitten to death but not eaten appeared again and again. However, because the mostmonrge animals in the forest were all kinds of deer, the number of deer that died was the highest.

    Fati, The Guardian of nature, was furious. Since it could not find a way out of the forest, it decided not to leave for the time being and wandered around the forest to find the demon.

    However, the demon was too cunning, drifting like a ghost. Fati searched the forest for a few days, but other than a few subtle clues, it had never encountered the demon.

    It would be great if he had a helper.

    It was a pity that there were no wolves in the forest, and Zhang Zian and the other Elfins were not around. Otherwise, things would have been much easier.

    As time went by, Fati¡¯s mood became heavier and heavier, because it discovered an even more terrible fact that the God of Pi Xiu was no longer responding to its prayers.

    After a few days of fruitless searching for the demon, it tried to seek help from God and pray to God, asking God to give it the omniscient eye to see through the demon¡¯s disguise.

    But ¡­ Nothing happened.

    God and its brother in heaven seemed to have abandoned it.

    It was difficult for people without faith to understand the huge impact on the mind of thew attribute. It did not know if it had done something wrong and why God had abandoned it.

    Not only that, but the faint red marks on its four legs and left rib were also slowly fading away, almostpletely invisible.

    Its power was disappearing.

    Fa Xiu could only try to convince himself that this was God¡¯s trial for him.

    It did not give up on tracking the demon, which seemed to have be its only goal in life. However, with the loss of its power, its strength was not much stronger than that of an ordinary gray wolf. Sometimes, it could not even defeat the Leopards in the forest. Even if it found the demon, what could it do?

    Kachaa.

    The sound of breaking branches came from the forest ahead.

    The Pharaoh immediately leaped out like a conditioned reflex. It had a certain intuition that the voice was from the demon it had been looking for.

    Not far away, the sad cry of a deer could be heard. That damn fellow was creating meaningless killing again, but this time, it was very close, and perhaps the French could stop it in time.

    It jumped into an open space in the Rocky forest and saw more than a dozen animal corpses lying on the ground. Blood was still gushing out of their necks, chests, and abdomens. Some of them were notpletely dead, and their limbs were still twitching.

    Fati saw the demon. The demon¡¯s back was facing him, as if waiting for him.

    From the size of the other party, Fati could tell at a nce that it was a gray wolf, probably also a European gray wolf. This was not unexpected, because from the wounds of the dead animals in the past, he had found the sharp teeth marks of canine animals. There was almost no other choice for a canine murderer who could kill so manyrge animals.

    ¡°Finally ¡­ I¡¯ve found you! Prepare to go to hell, demon!¡±

    The Fati got into an attacking stance. It disdained to attack from behind and shouted,¡±¡±Face me, demon!¡±

    The wolf slowly turned around, blood still dripping from the gaps between its teeth.

    Fati¡¯s heart almost stopped beating when he saw the Wolf¡¯s true appearance!

    God!

    That Wolf ¡­ That demon who was killing wantonly, was actually exactly the same as Fati. It was like looking into a mirror!

    ¡°Why ¡­¡±

    Fati took a few steps back and stared at the other party in disbelief.

    No matter how it looked at it, the wolf was no different from itself. It was only stronger because it had enough food.

    Fati suddenly understood that it was not just ¡°like¡±. It was the bloodthirsty killer that it had looked down on a long time ago, wandering in the forests of Europe. At the same time, it was also the one who would not be able to walk out of this forest, be abandoned by God, and be a bloodthirsty beast again. It was the one who would kneel and fall to Lucifer.

    ¡°No!¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Fati roared in pain.

    Its body went soft and fell to the ground. Its stomach was full of nausea, but it couldn¡¯t vomit anything out.

    The wolf looked at Fati pitifully and stuck out its long tongue to lick the blood around its mouth. It bared its blood-stained fangs as if it was saying,¡±Join me, brother! Chase after blood with me, don¡¯t suppress your inner desires!

    Fatiy on the ground, panting heavily.

    It had fallen into a desperate situation, abandoned by God, and its prayers were not answered. Its body was weak because it only ate the minimum amount of food every day. It was absolutely no match for its other self.

    However, it would not yield, because it had a brother who could defeat the enemy without relying on the power of God.

    After a while, it tried to support its body and stand up again.

    ¡°No,¡± she said.

    ¡°You¡¯re not my brother,¡± it said firmly and calmly.¡±Demon!¡±

    The other one was infuriated. It raised its head and howled, then opened its bloody mouth and pounced at it.

    The Dharma pushing technique used all its remaining strength to bite at the other party.

    Fangs against fangs, ws against ws.

    After a long time.

    The forest regained its silence. The grass and rocks nearby seemed to have just been swept by a tornado, their appearances changing drastically.

    In the empty space, a Wolf covered in wounds stood alone. These wounds were not caused by bites or scratches, but by the scratches of dead branches and rocks.

    The moon was out.

    The dead wolves on the ground slowly disappeared, and so did the dead animals. The blood on the ground was all Fati¡¯s own.

    Fati¡¯s eyes regained their rity.

    The past it, the present it, and the future it, the three of them merged into one again.

    The demon that was really going to be expelled was not in the forest, but hidden in its heart, and it was destined to never be expelled, because it was a Wolf, not a dog. Suppressing its killing instinct and desire for blood was already against the will of the heavens, which meant that it would have to fight against the demon in its heart for the rest of its life.

    The heart¡¯s devil was as strong as it was, or even stronger. In all kinds of myths from ancient and modern times, the fallen God always had more power than before.

    The inner demon would wear down its will, erode its belief, weaken its power, and constantly want it to be corrupted like Lucifer and join the army of hell.

    However, it had an advantage that the inner demon did not have, and that was that it had another human brother. This gave it a sense of humanity in addition to its divinity and Wolf nature.

    The five marks reappeared on its four legs and left rib, and they were very clear.

    Ity down quietly and did not go anywhere. It also ignored the mysterious light floating above its head, because it had sessfully suppressed its inner demon and had received a divine revtion. Although it was very weak, it was like a divine revtion from an extremely distant world that urged its brother toe and pick it up in some form and form that it might not be able to understand.

 Chapter 1724

    Chapter 1724: Chapter 1723-heart medicine

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    ¡°Xue ¡®er,e here,e here. I¡¯ve prepared something delicious for you.¡±

    A young girl in a luxurious robe was sitting in the pavilion, waving to snowy Li.

    There was a lunchbox in front of her. After opening the lid, a wave of hot air and fragrance floated out. She waited for the steam to dissipate a little and took out a few small tes from inside. There were all kinds of exquisite refreshments and snacks in them.

    ¡°Come quickly, it¡¯s going to get cold.¡± She smiled and urged him,¡±there¡¯s still your favorite stewed beef.¡±

    It had been snowing sincest night, and it hadn¡¯t stopped during the day, but it was much lighter. Therge courtyard was covered in white.

    Snowy Li had been staring at the plum blossoms on the tree, lost in thought. Hearing her voice, it slowly walked toward the small pavilion.

    Its legs were short, so it could not walk fast in the snow that was below an adult¡¯s ankle.

    As for the cold ¡­ It had never known what cold was. The current temperature was just cool for it, provided that its fur was not wet from the snow. But this was impossible. Fortunately, even if its fur was wet, it could just go back to the copper stove in the house and dry it.

    ¡°Actually, I like raw beef. The sirloin is the best.¡± Snowy Li sighed.

    It didn¡¯t know where it was or what era it was. It just appeared in this big yard for no reason and was picked up by this girl.

    The courtyard was surprisinglyrge, and the snow Lion was not very mobile, so it had never found the boundary of the courtyard.

    There was no need to ask, this family must be a rich and powerful family.

    Snowy Li lived a god-like life here. It had nothing to worry about. When it encountered food that it didn¡¯t like, it would just flip it over with its ws. Naturally, there would be servants who would make other food for it, and no one would me it.

    It was only the raw beef brisket that it couldn¡¯t exin to them. There were no cows in the yard, or it would have pounced on the cow and bitten it a few times, and they would have probably understood.

    Walking into the pavilion, it didn¡¯t need to jump on the table. The girl had already picked it up lovingly and put it on herp. She brushed off the snow on its body, picked up a pair of delicate ivory chopsticks, picked up the crystal clear beef slices and fed it to its mouth. It only needed to open its mouth.

    ¡°Is it good?¡±

    The beef slices were as thin as cicada wings and melted in the mouth. The vor of the spices was very strong. It might be a delicious dish for humans, but for cats, it was a little too strong.

    Snowy Li didn¡¯t refuse. It really needed some excitement in its life, even if it was the stimtion of the heavy taste of beef.

    It didn¡¯t know how many days it had been here, because every day was the same as the day before. It opened its eyes and closed them again, and a day had passed ¡­ It was as calm as water.

    It watched the spring flowers bloom, listened to the chirping of cicadas in the summer night, experienced the autumn of the Lotus pond, and now the heavy snow.

    In the inner residence of a wealthy family, it was filled with servant girls and old women. It had never seen a man surrounded by all kinds of women. It was reasonable to say that this was a heaven-like life, but ¡­ It was too boring, so boring that it exploded.

    It had also tried to find some fun for itself by hiding the girl¡¯s precious jewelry, just like how it had stolen the watch in Binhai city. However, the girl¡¯s temper waspletely mild. She was a submissive person who had been raised by the top rich families. Even if she lost her jewelry, she was not in a hurry. Moreover, she had too many jewelry, and she could not wear them all.

    ¡°Xue ¡®er, did you lose weight again? Eat more. If the taste doesn¡¯t suit your taste, ask the chef to make it again. ¡±

    The young girl felt that it was even lighter than thest time, and her heart ached.

    Snowy Li tilted its headzily and didn¡¯t let her put the beef into its mouth again. It didn¡¯t open its mouth. Its stomach was empty, but it had no appetite.

    It knew that it was losing weight because its hair had grown longer. It was not the healthy kind of long hair. It was lusterless, dry, and forked. It was said that people were poor and had short ambitions, while horses were thin and had long hair. It seemed that cats were the same.

    It sighed more and more, ate less and less, slept longer and longer, and the most terrible thing was ¡­ Even its need in that area was getting lower and lower. It could obviously reach her chest with its ws, but it couldn¡¯t bring itself to do it.

    That was because she was not flirtatious enough.

    Not to mention its previous owner, the famous woman surnamed pan, who had a lot of tricks in her boudoir, which amazed it. Even Zhang Zian was more coquettish than her, okay?

    They should all understand, right? What was the best? What you can¡¯t get is the best.

    That kind of rejection, but also weing, clearly wanting to be a girl in the depths of his heart, but on the surface, he resisted being cut off his balls, like a chaste woman who refused to obey ¡­ It also aroused snowy Li¡¯s desire to conquer. No wonder many people liked to y rape games.

    As for this young girl, how should he put it? she was like lying on the bed at your mercy, neither cooperating nor resisting. She was boring.

    Wasn¡¯t this just a piece of meat?

    No one would be able to stand a veteran who was used to living a life of luxury suddenly bing a vegetarian, right?

    Oh no, if this goes on, I¡¯m going to get depression ¡­ Maybe I¡¯ve already gotten it.

    ¡°Meow, meow, meow ¡­ Your Majesty, where are you? ¡°Come and take me away ¡­¡± Snowy Li sighed again and closed its eyes.

    The young girl called a servant girl, and arge group of girls chattered about whether or not Xue ¡®er was sick and whether or not they should ask a doctor to make a few prescriptions for it.

    Their voices gave it a headache, and it only wanted to sleep.

    Before he knew it, the girls ¡®voices suddenly disappeared, and their bodies were frozen like in a movie, maintaining the posture of a moment just now. If it was snowy Li in the past, it would definitely y the ¡°time stop y¡± enthusiastically, but now it was toozy to even open its eyes.

    A ball of light floated down from the top of the pavilion.

    [Navigation elf]:¡±we¡¯ve detected that your condition is very bad. Many of your body¡¯s functions are seriously declining, but we didn¡¯t detect any tumors, inmmation, or other causes in your body. Please cooperate with the treatment and tell us where you¡¯re feeling ufortable.¡±

    Snowy Lizily opened its eyes a little, looked at it, and then closed them again with disinterest.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know who you are, but get as far away from me as you can. I¡¯m just feeling ufortable in my heart. My heart, do you understand?¡±

    [Navigation elf] replied,¡±other than low blood pressure and slow heartbeat, there are no abnormalities detected in your cardiovascr system.¡±

    Snowy Li was so angry that itughed. You haven¡¯t missed anything or anyone, have you? It¡¯s like a missing piece in my heart ¡­ I¡¯m sure you don¡¯t have it. You don¡¯t even have a heart, so how can you know how I feel?¡±

    [Navigation elf] replied,¡±we don¡¯t have a heart in the traditional sense, but ¡­¡±

    Snowy Li interrupted,¡±that¡¯s it. A heart¡¯s sickness needs a Heart¡¯s Medicine to cure it. My Heart¡¯s Medicine is Her Majesty fina. Either you bring her Majesty to me, or you get lost and let me sleep in peace.¡±

    [Navigation elf]: if you fall asleep, you won¡¯t wake up again.

    Snowy Li¡¯s tone was calm, and it didn¡¯t even bother to open its eyes.¡±It¡¯s okay if I can¡¯t wake up. Last time, after I died on the steps, I met her Majesty fina. It was a really happy time ¡­ So, let me sleep. Maybe we can wee a new beginning.¡±

    The snow was still falling. The snowkes that had been blown into the pavilion slowly covered the snow lion¡¯s body. They didn¡¯t melt anymore, and it was hard to tell where the snow and the fur were.

    Navigation elf: ¡°now, there¡¯s a chance. The fina you mentioned has already been adopted. If you¡¯re willing, I can help you ask the adopters. Maybe they¡¯ll be willing to adopt you.¡±

    Snowy Li opened its eyes with great effort. Are you trying to fool me? How could Her Majesty fina agree to be adopted?¡±

    [Navigation elf] replied,¡±that¡¯s the truth.¡±

    Snowy Li was in a daze for a while. Then, as if it had figured out something, it struggled to stand up, shook off the snow on its body, and staggered a few steps.

    ¡°Why did you tell me? Because he didn¡¯t want his mother to die? Am I that important to you?¡±

    The ball of light slowly floated up.

    [Navigation elf]:¡±we want to see if the medicine really exists.¡±

 Chapter 1725

    Chapter 1725: Chapter 1724-looking around

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    This so-called pet shelter was a very amazing facility. After Zhang Zian and Zhuang Xiaodie walked in, they were led around by a ball of light with the excuse of adopting a pet.

    At first, he was a little worried that the light ball would recognize him, but it turned out that this worry was unnecessary. The two simted human images created by Zhuang Xiaodie were wless. After all, she had created a bustling crowd in his dream, including his acquaintances. The difference between humans was far greater than the difference between simted humans. Did he notice anything wrong at that time?

    No, there wasn ¡®t.

    Everyone was so lifelike that even if they saw it, they wouldn¡¯t think it was anyone else.

    This time, she was injecting the images of the two of them into the dream of the group of simted humans. Because they were all connected to each other, she did not need to shape a world, and the work was easier.

    However, she did not look rxed. After entering the asylum, Zhang Zian was basically the one leading the conversation. She yed the image of a gentle wife, sometimes smiling and sometimes nodding. In fact, she was using this to cover up her absent-mindedness, because she had to be distracted by fighting against the firewall and intrusion detection mechanism of the virtual human.

    For humans, dreams were dreams, and reality was reality. However, for simted humans, the boundaries were not so clear. After all, they all relied on electronic systems to sense the world. Whether it was dream or reality, they were just electronic signals.

    Therefore, she did not just simply defend. She hid in the vast torrent of electronic signals inside thework of artificial humans. Sometimes, as long as she quietly modified some of the feedback signals from the outside world, she could make the artificial humans make wrong judgments and even cause interference to their own operating logic.

    For example, they didn¡¯t sense temperature through the skin like humans, but through the sensors distributed on the surface of the body. If she fine-tuned the feedback signal of the temperature sensor, it would make a certain artificial human misjudge the temperature, and its misjudgment would be transmitted to other artificial humans in real time, which would also make them misjudge.

    Through simr principles, she could provide great convenience for this trip-for example, the ball of light mentioned the adoption procedures, but in the blink of an eye, it indicated that it had received the procedures and reviewed everything that was purely electronic. While it was convenient, it also provided infinite possibilities for skilled hackers.

    This was a battle in the virtual space, and no one could help her.

    The interior of the building had a minimalistic style, so minimalistic that it was dizzying. The corridor was a vast expanse of white. If it wasn¡¯t for the light floating to a certain position and the door in a certain position automatically bing transparent, Zhang Zian wouldn¡¯t have even noticed a door in the corridor.

    These doors were like any of Doraemon¡¯s doors. After each door became transparent, another world would appear behind the door. Although he knew that every world was a digital virtual world, he was still extremely shocked to see that there were no ws.

    Behind these doors, he saw a dazzling fantasy world. Some of the worlds were so strange that they didn¡¯t even look like they were on earth. There was an elf in every world, and all kinds of elves. Some elves had very obvious characteristics, which made him think of a famous pet in history or Science at a nce. Some elves looked very ordinary, but judging elves by their appearance was the most wrong thing to do.

    Theserge numbers of elves were doing different things in different worlds. Most of them might not realize that they were in a virtual world, and a few might have discovered it. However, if they were unable to escape the virtual world, they would only suffer more pain if they discovered it.

    There were so many Elfins that Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have time to check them one by one. He described the Elfins he wanted in the light without leaving a trace and tried to narrow the selection range as much as possible. For example, he would first rule out the elves of reptiles, insects, and pure water creatures, which would save a lot of time.

    Of course, he hoped that the orb would provide a list of all the Elfins to choose from, but that would be too obvious.

    He didn¡¯t dare to narrow down the scope too much.

    The ball of light followed his request and led them to visit the Elfins that met the requirements one by one. Some of them were Elfins he didn¡¯t know. He looked at the Elfins through the transparent door. Some of them were free, some were lonely, but he couldn¡¯t take them all away. With their pride, they might not be willing to go with him. That was why the human replica with the child outside had only adopted an ordinary cat and not an elfin.

    When he saw fina, he was finally relieved. It was safe and sound. It was furious in its world as usual, until the light ball opened the door through some unknown means. After they walked in, fina stared at him suspiciously. He was thinking about how tomunicate with it, but it came out with him obediently.

    After that, he found old time tea, famous, Pi, Sihwa, dimir, Richard, and Fati one after another. In the end, the light ball even rmended snowy Li.

    It was strange that even though he looked so strange and unfamiliar, and his smell waspletely different, the elves seemed to recognize him and followed him obediently. Some of the elves with a strong desire to perform even put on a show of reluctance, as if they had reluctantly agreed to leave with him.

    On the way, the elves tacitly stopped talking to each other, mainly because they were also attracted by the grotesque world behind each door.

    In order to avoid suspicion, Zhang Zian also tried to apply for adoption of two or three elves that he didn¡¯t know. As expected, the light ball either replied that he hadmunicated with the elves and the elves didn¡¯t agree to be adopted, or they were rejected in person after seeing the elves.

    Every elf had their own pride, and even when they were caught, they had to cater to their interests. For example, Fina¡¯s jewelry, Richard¡¯s flirtatious, old time tea¡¯s kind and righteous oppa, how could they be so easy to take home?

    After being rejected, he expressed his regret and showed more interest in the elves that he didn¡¯t get than the current elves.

    While they were exchanging pleasantries, Zhuang Xiaodie poked him from behind. He knew that it was time to leave. Anyway, the mission had beenpleted. As long as he disconnected the mobile phone from the world, even if the virtual human discovered itter, what could he do?

    So, the two of them and the elves politely said goodbye to the light orbs and were politely sent out of the shelter. They were weed toe back at any time if they encountered any problems. If any pet was not to their satisfaction, they could return it to the shelter unconditionally.

    After leaving the shelter and turning a corner, Zhuang Xiaodie grabbed his arm. When he subconsciously looked back, he suddenly felt dizzy.

    Then, he woke up.

 Chapter 1726

    Chapter 1726: Chapter 1725-machine dream

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    When he woke up, he saw nothing but darkness. When a pair of hands moved the phone away from his eyes, he saw the strange gray space again.

    The mysterious girl squatted beside him with a smile.¡±Did you have a pleasant journey?¡±

    Every time he woke up from a Deep Dream, it would take him a few minutes to distinguish between reality and illusion. But this time, it only took a few seconds before he struggled to sit up and looked to his side.¡±Where are the elves?¡±

    There was nothing around him except for the strange superposition space.

    She shook his phone in front of his eyes and said with confidence,¡±¡±Don¡¯t worry, they should all be in the phone now. ¡±

    He took the phone, but he didn¡¯t dare to unlock it.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Teacher Xiaodie must have forged a two-way feedback signal. The server of the virtual human thinks that the app on the phone has deleted itself, and the navigation elf in this phone thinks that the game is still operating as usual, just like ¡­ Well, let me give you an example. In this era, in order to y a particrly old online game that has stopped operating, some people set up a private server of the game and opened it to others who want to y it. They don¡¯t know that they¡¯re connected to a private server and not an official one ¡­ It¡¯s pretty much the same. ¡± She exined.

    The exnation was easy to understand, and Zhang Zian understood it immediately.

    Zhuang Xiaodie should have simted a server and disconnected the mobile phone from the real server, but connected it to a fake server and continued to run.

    The navigation elfin in the phone had probably fallen into an eternal dream, and the signals it received were all fake.

    ¡°However, this phone can no longer capture new Elfins.¡± She reminded him,¡±after all, the new Elfin will have to extract data from the real server. Other operations will not be affected.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, this is enough.¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head. One couldn¡¯t be too greedy. He had no other hope to find all the Elfins he had now.

    Her lips moved, but in the end, she pursed her lips and smiled.

    ¡°Then, let¡¯s go home now. We still have other things to do after a short rest.¡± She said.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what she meant by ¡°other things.¡± Was she asking for payment? It was reasonable to say that she had almost turned the world around with her own power, so it was not wrong to ask for more rewards, but ¡­ What kind of rewards in the secr world could enter her eyes?

    The other person who had made the most contributions must be Zhuang Xiaodie. It was estimated that she would not be willing to work for nothing. In the future, she might make some strange requests as a reward.

    She held the White and fat soft worm in one hand and held his arm with the other, walking in the direction the worm pointed.

    Zhang Zian followed behind her, and when she didn¡¯t see him, he secretly took something out of his pants ¡­ But there was nothing.

    No, the things that should be there were still there, but the string of jewelry was gone. That was only natural.

    She took a step and arrived at the first floor of the pet building again. The translucent vortex that they hade from was there, still spinning.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡±he said.

    She was the first to step into the whirlpool, and after two or three times of experience, he was no longer afraid and followed her into the whirlpool.

    When he returned to the real world, he saw that Gxy¡¯s front paw was falling back to the ground, and its mouth was notpletely closed, as if it had just said ¡°all the best.¡±

    He nced at his watch. The time was exactly the same as when he left the real world and stepped into the vortex.

    In other words, in the eyes of the people in the real world, he might have never left the real world.

    He turned around, and the translucent vortex had disappeared.

    Luckily, the mysterious girl didn¡¯t disappear and was still standing beside him. Otherwise, he would really suspect that he was dreaming.

    ¡°Meow! Did your journey go smoothly?¡± Gxy asked, tilting its head.

    The young girl gave him a thumbs up.¡±Great, but he almost peed his pants.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense, I didn¡¯t pee my pants!¡± Zhang Zian quickly rified.

    He couldn¡¯t care about anything else. He unlocked the phone screen and saw that the game icon was still on the main interface. He heaved a sigh of relief. When he entered the game and saw that all the Elfins were in the virtual pet bar, he waspletely relieved.

    He returned to the second floor and released the Elfins one by one, including Sihwa into the bathtub.

    The elves looked at the familiar second floor and felt as if it had been a lifetime.

    ¡°Zian, has the crisis been resolved?¡± Old time tea didn¡¯t have time to say anything else. It asked the question that everyone was most concerned about.

    It should be fine. It¡¯s all thanks to Zhuang Xiaodie and this ¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian gestured to the Elfins to see the mysterious girl. He didn¡¯t know her name, so he couldn¡¯t introduce her.

    ¡°Hey! Hello, everyone! It¡¯s our first meeting! Hahaha!¡± The young girl waved her hand andughed,¡±ah! No, I think I¡¯ve met Grandpa tea once before. That time, I was forced to pay my respects to Grandpa tea. I¡¯m sure Grandpa tea won¡¯t me me!¡±

    Old time tea was surprised. It recognized the girl as the one it saw in the teahouse in hidden fog, but why did she call her so intimately? it was as if they were a family.

    ¡°Uh ¡­ May I ask what your name is, little girl? where do you live?¡± Old time tea asked curiously,¡±how do you know me?¡±

    ¡°Well ¡­ It¡¯s not the time to talk about it yet.¡± She put her hands together and made a gesture of begging for mercy. She winked at old time tea and asked it not to ask for the time being.

    Old time tea was also confused, but at its age, it certainly couldn¡¯t make things difficult for a child. Besides, the child had put in a lot of effort to solve the crisis.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Hurry up and tell me!¡± Fina couldn¡¯t wait to ask Zhang Zian.

    The other Elfins were listening attentively, and only the inte-addicted girl, Sihwa, was anxious to let him charge her phone first ¡­

    ¡°It¡¯s a long story,¡±

    Zhang Zian went to the kitchen to boil a pot of water. While waiting for the water to boil, he told everyone what had happened since this morning.

    This experience was more bizarre than anything they had ever experienced before. The elves couldn¡¯t close their mouths as they listened, and their eyes alternated between his and her faces.

    Time travel!

    Enter the dream of machines!

    If they hadn¡¯t experienced part of it themselves, they definitely wouldn¡¯t have believed such an incredible story.

    After he finished speaking, the water was also boiling. He spoke until his mouth was dry, so he made a pot of tea and waited to moisten his throat. She didn¡¯t even have breakfast this morning, but because of her emotional ups and downs, she didn¡¯t feel hungry at all.

    The other Elfins were silently reminiscing the story. Only fina strode to the mysterious girl and said sternly,¡±¡±You mean you can travel through time?¡±

    The girl seemed to have been waiting for it to ask this question. She calmly nodded and said,¡±¡±Fina, I promised you that I would bring you to see her alive.¡±

 Chapter 1727

    Chapter 1727: Chapter 1726-heart knot

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Of all the elves present, not to mention the imaginative ones, the ones who had a grudge against the former master, the only ones who were close to the former master were old time tea, Richard, and fina. Richard¡¯s former master was still alive, and old time tea had long been indifferent to life and death, the only one who could not let go was fina.

    Fina had left too many regrets and regrets 2000 years ago, and this had be her obsession. It was so painful that it would hurt even when she dreamed about it at night.

    Fina, who had an obsession, was like a time bomb. No one knew when and where it would explode.

    Zhang Zian had considered letting Zhuang Xiaodie sneak into Fina¡¯s dream to help it solve this obsession.

    But after thinking about it carefully, he was afraid that it wouldn¡¯t work. Zhuang Xiaodie could sneak into his dream because she was residing in his mind. She could sneak into famous¡¯s dream because famous had once connected its imagined world with his dream to save him from his dream. She could sneak into the navigation elf¡¯s dream for the same reason. So, it was hard to say whether she could sneak into Fina¡¯s dream or not. Even if she could, with Fina¡¯s pride, Once he knew that his most precious memories were being manipted by her ¡­ He was afraid that not only would he not appreciate it, but he would also turn against her.

    No one was more eager than fina to end this obsession. Since it met this mysterious girl in the Golden Pyramid, it had been thinking about her promise. Although it was too bizarre to believe, it was undeniable that her promise had be a part of its elven pir.

    Today, it found out that this young girl could travel through time, which proved that she wasn¡¯t speaking without thinking. How could it not be excited?

    ¡°Alright, if you can help this Queen realize this wish, this Queen is willing to exchange everything she has!¡± Fina gritted its teeth and said.

    ¡°Meow meow meow? Your Majesty, what if she wants me to devote my life to her?¡± Snowy Li interrupted, but fina ignored it.

    Everyone could understand Fina¡¯s feelings, but what if the girl really asked for something very precious ¡­

    ¡°This is what I promised. It¡¯s just a matter of lifting a finger. It¡¯s something that¡¯s destined to happen.¡± She shook her head, then squatted down and looked at fina seriously.¡±But fina, I have to remind you that history is unique, established, and unchangeable. No matter how much you miss her, once you go back to the past and try to change history ¡­¡±

    She looked around, her eyes moving from the faces of the elves to Zhang Zian¡¯s face.

    ¡°Then, everything in reality, everything you cherish, including him, will all disappear ¡­ I will also disappear.¡± She said as she twisted her fingers.

    If there was any change in the history of two thousand years ago, the impact would be boundless.

    Once you return to the past and kill your grandmother, you won¡¯t be born again. If you¡¯re not born, how can you return to the past and kill your grandmother? This was the paradox of time travel.

    Zhang Zian watched silently from the side. He wasn¡¯t sure if she was really worried that fina would change history, or if history had determined that she had to exin the pros and cons to fina.

    After personally experiencing time travel, especially when he saw the fate of all living things in the fifth dimension, he was inclined to believe that fate could not be changed. Of course, history could not be changed either, but this was only for humans. The existence of elves could not be spected withmon sense, so maybe the elves had the slight possibility of rewriting history.

    This matter was not only rted to fina, but also to every elf present. Once fina insisted on doing things her own way, it would threaten the survival of all elves.

    He didn¡¯t see his own life trajectory in the fifth dimension, nor did he see the life trajectory of the elves. He couldn¡¯t tell what choice fina would make.

    Of course, he was more inclined to think that this was just a formality, and she just wanted to exin it clearly to fina.

    The other Elfins were also silent. Fina¡¯s decision was rted to everyone¡¯s life and death, but they believed that fina would make the right choice. This was the conclusion that they hade to after a long time of interaction.

    ¡°No need to say anything,¡± fina said, ncing at him.¡±I know what to do.¡±

    ¡°Alright, is everyone ready?¡±

    The girl stood up with a rxed expression and stretched out her palm. The White and fat worm in her palm raised its head and looked at the elves around it. It nodded frequently, as if it was greeting everyone.

    ¡°Uh ¡­ We can all follow?¡± Old time tea asked.

    ¡°Of course you can, as long as everyone wants to go.¡± She nodded.¡±Except for sister Sihwa ¡­¡±

    Who didn¡¯t want to broaden their horizons? He wanted to experience the wonders of time travel, the blood and fire, the sea and sand 2000 years ago.

    ¡°Am I going to be left behind again?¡± Sihwa hit the water in the bathtub angrily.¡±Why is it me every time?!¡±

    She still wanted to brag to theizens in the live broadcast room, although no one would believe that she had really traveled through time.

    It couldn¡¯t be helped. She didn¡¯t have legs. Unlike her slim appearance, her fishtail was very heavy, and most of it was filled with dense muscles. Even Zhang Zian found it difficult to drag her onnd, let alone carry or carry her.

    Zhang Zian put Sihwa, who wasining non-stop, into his phone. She was not in a good state either. The torture she suffered in the dream was not reflected physically, but it had an impact on her mind. It was better to let her rest more.

    The other Elfins did not experience as much as Sihwa in the dream. Even snowy Li had recovered after seeing fina.

    Everyone gathered together and watched as the worm opened the space-time Tunnel again, and a slowly rotating translucent vortex appeared in front of everyone.

    Just like Zhang Zian, the elves were all in awe of this unknown existence. Only fina, after a little hesitation, bravely stepped in and disappeared into the vortex.

    The Elfins looked at Zhang Zian and asked him. He nodded, then set an example and stepped into the vortex.

    Everyone walked in one after another, with the young girl being thest one.

    After entering the gray and extremely strange fifth-dimensional space, everyone was shocked beyond words. Zhang Zian had to repeatedly exin the principles to everyone. Everyone thought it was amazing, but in fact, few could really understand it.

    They held each other¡¯s hands or ws to avoid getting lost in the fifth dimension. Then, they took a step forward with the girl leading them.

    With this one step, he crossed two thousand years of history, from the eastern Hemisphere to the Western Hemisphere.

    Another vortex appeared in front of him, which was the exit of the space-time Tunnel.

    Fina held its breath. From the ovepping space around it, it vaguely recognized some familiar shapes, and these shapes, could they be ¡­

    It looked at the girl and did not object. It rushed out of the vortex first and came to a beautiful pce.

 Chapter 1728

    Chapter 1728: Chapter 1727-dying for the country

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian, the mysterious girl, and the other Elfins, one step behind fina, walked out of the vortex and came to the amazing and magnificent building.

    This should be a room in a huge building. The four walls and ceiling were all made of solid granite, which they had seen in the pyramid. It was difficult to even insert a de into the cracks of the stone.

    The floor was covered with a luxurious Scarlet carpet, and the bronze floormp rack was burning with oil candles, illuminating the room. The statues of ancient Egypt tutry flickered in the candlelight.

    In the middle of the room was a spacious bed. Incense was lit on both sides of the bed, and the room was filled with a calming smell.

    The furnishings and decorations in the room were too gorgeous to take in, but there was a certain existence that made everything pale inparison.

    There was a woman lying on the bed. Although her appearance was notparable to Sihwa or Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s otherworldly beauty, and even if it was judged by modern aesthetic standards, it might not beparable to those awl-faced inte celebrity beauties, but for some reason, she had a unique temperament and aura that made it impossible for people to ignore her existence.

    She looked like a typical Southern European woman. Her eyshes were long, and she had a lightyer of makeup on her face. Her eyes were closed, and her face was pale. There was a faint ck aura flowing under her skin.

    She was dressed in a very gorgeous Royal robe, and her arms and neck were covered with luxurious jewelry. On her head was a heavy golden crown, and on the front of the crown was a three-headed Cobra, which was the unique symbol of the Ptolemy dynasty.

    She was dressed so formally and was wearing such a heavy crown, as if she was specially dressed up for the National ceremony. However, it must be very ufortable to lie on the bed in this dress. No normal person would do this.

    She seemed to be asleep. She didn¡¯t hear the sound of Zhang Zian and the others when they appeared. Of course, their movements were very quiet.

    However, in front of her bed, there were two maidservants. They were lying on the ground, their faces blue and purple, and they had already stopped breathing.

    The door of the house was closed, and the sound of heavy military boots stepping on the floor came from the corridor outside. It sounded like the guards were changing shifts.

    From even further away, the faint wails and angry yells of people could be heard. Their voices were filled with ¡­ The despair that was unique to people facing the destruction of their country.

    Seeing this scene, Zhang Zian and the Elfins suddenly understood where they were and the era.

    Two thousand years ago, on the eve of the destruction of ancient Egypt.

    ording to historical rumors, Cleopatra the seventh had been defeated and was now a prisoner imprisoned in the pce. She had tried to seduce Octavius, but he had chosen the former between the country and the beauty, and had not followed in the footsteps of Caesar and Anthony.

    It was impossible to verify whether these rumors were true or not. It was possible that the ancient Romans deliberately smeared her image. After all, history was written by the victors.

    However, at least one thing was certain from the current situation. Yingluo had been poisoned, and her two personal maids had tested the poison for her, so they had died before her. As for her ¡­ It looked like she did not have much time left.

    Hiss hiss hiss

    A very small snake slithered out of her Royal robe. It raised its triangr head high, showing its hook-like poisonous fangs, and flicked its ck tongue to demonstrate its power to Zhang Zian and the others.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t recognize the species of the snake. It might be a species of snake that had long been extinct in the world. It was definitely extremely poisonous. After poisoning three people in a row, it still had the energy to threaten others.

    If he brought this snake back to the real world, it would definitely be a raremodity, but he couldn¡¯t bring it back. Moreover, just as he had this thought, a golden light struck over like a Thunderbolt. Before the little snake could react, its body and head were cut in two by the sharp ws, and its head and body were separated.

    Fina vented all of its anger on the little snake. It was the one who poisoned Cleopatra the seventh, so it had to be cut into pieces.

    With the agility and reaction speed of a cat, it was almost certain to deal with this kind of small snake, not to mention that fina was personally involved.

    Fina first cut off the head of the little snake with one w, then cut the body of the little snake into pieces. This was not enough to vent her hatred. Finally, she used her ws to pick up the head and body of the snake, and threw them all into the oil burning in the coppermp.

    Zhang Zian looked at the girl worriedly. He was afraid that Fina¡¯s killing of the little snake had affected the course of history. However, her expression was calm and sympathetic. She was not shocked or panicked.

    So, fina was destined to travel back to this time and space to kill the venomous snake and avenge Egypt?

    Everyone knew that it was impossible for this little snake to break into the heavily guarded Pce on its own. It should be simr to the rumors in history. Cleopatra the seventh saw that the situation was over and that there was no way to reverse it. In order to avoid falling into the hands of the enemy and being humiliated, being brought back to ancient Rome to be paraded in the streets, he would rather die for his country.

    The Emperor guarded the country¡¯s Gate, and the monarch died. This was the highest consciousness that a monarch of a feudal dynasty or a ve Dynasty could make. No matter how the people of theter generations felt about her due to the influence of the rumors, this alone was enough to make many monarchs Xu Mei in ancient and modern times feel disgraced. At least she did not have to bow down to a ve and live an ignoble life.

    This little snake was the one who killed her, but in the end, it was just a tool. Even without it, she still had many ways to die. The ones who really killed her were ancient Rome and Octavius.

    The snake¡¯s body was originally rich in fat. After being thrown into the oilmp, the me of themp suddenly became more vigorous. The snake blood fell into the oil, making a crackling sound.

    Lying on the bed, she had already closed her eyes, quietly waiting for death to take her away from this world. If she didn¡¯t want to die, who would? She still had many regrets. She didn¡¯t see her children grow up, she didn¡¯t see the kingdom of God exist forever, and ¡­ She didn¡¯t say sorry to fina.

    The snake¡¯s venom was spreading in her blood, and she felt that it was getting more and more difficult to breathe. With her eyes closed, she seemed to see her glorious ancestors waving at her.

    She felt sorry for her ancestors for not being able to protect their base, but it didn¡¯t matter. When her ancestors were resurrected from the pyramid, they would definitely lead the Egypt army to conquer the world.

    She heard the crackling of the oil candles and noticed that there were a few more light breathing sounds in the room.

    Was it ¡­ Wu Dawei and his Army that barged in?

    Something had jumped onto the bed and was staring at her from a very close distance. She could even feel its breathing.

    She struggled to open her eyes, and it took her a while to see the existence in front of her.

    ¡°Fina ¡­¡±

    Her pupils suddenly contracted, and her heart, which was already at the end of its strength, throbbed violently, sending more blood to all parts of her body. Her pale face turned red again, and she looked beautiful.

 Chapter 1729

    Chapter 1729: Chapter 1728-exposing heavenly secrets

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    As soon as Cleopatra VII opened his eyes, the room seemed to be bright. With the restoration of her beauty and her gorgeous dress, everyone saw the image of a majestic yet charming female Emperor. The aura of an Emperor was not something that ordinary people could casually pretend to be.

    Zhang Zian knew that the sudden excitement was not a good thing for her. If she kept calm, the snake venom would spread slower in her blood, and she could live for a few more minutes, but the increase in her heart rate and blood pressure would speed up the spread of the snake venom in her body ¡­ This was probably her final moments.

    However, so what if it was the final radiance of the setting sun? Instead of dying slowly, silently, and alone, wouldn¡¯t it be more gratifying to be able to reunite with your closest friend before you die?

    ¡°Fina ¡­ Is that really you?¡± She raised her hand and reached out to fina in disbelief.

    Finally, her hand touched Fina¡¯s head. Its hair and skin were so familiar that it was definitely not an illusion.

    ¡°It¡¯s me. ¡± Fina said softly. Its voice was so gentle that Zhang Zian had never heard it before. It did not call itself ¡°this Queen.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great, fina, you¡¯vee to see me ¡­¡± She smiled with relief.

    Holding back her grief, finay down in front of her so that she could touch it without raising her hand too high, because her arm had no strength left.

    Zhang Zian was confused. He was proficient in Chinese, Japanese, English, and many othernguages, so he couldn¡¯t understand what they were talking about at all. The Elfins were the same, except for one elfin.

    ¡°Good ¡­¡± Richard said in surprise,¡±¡±She¡¯s using ancient Greek ¡­ I thought thisnguage would only be used in Ph.D. Research courses ¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense, quickly trante. ¡±

    Her life was at stake, and every minute and second was precious. Zhang Zian had no time to talk nonsense with Richard.

    Richard tranted her words so that everyone could understand. The most important thing was that it also tranted Fina¡¯s words into ancient Greek so that she could understand. Before that, no matter how close she and fina were, they had nevermunicated so directly.

    Cleopatra the seventh was surprised and happy.¡±Fina, is this bird speaking for you?¡±

    She was knowledgeable and proficient in severalnguages. Richard¡¯s Ancient Greeknguage was very standard, but there were a few strange parts, which were not to be med on Richard. After all, even ancient Greek had various dialects.

    Fina nodded.

    ¡°That¡¯s great! What a magical bird ¡­¡±

    She had noticed the uninvited guests around her before, but her heart waspletely focused on fina. She was about to die, so she had nothing to worry about. So, she had been ignoring them, seizing every minute and second to enjoy thest moments of her life.

    She looked at Zhang Zian, the mysterious girl, and the elves.¡±Fina, are they ¡­ Your friends?¡± Were they the ones who brought you here?¡±

    Fina nodded again.

    ¡°Fina¡¯s friends ¡­ That¡¯s rare. Can you introduce them to me? ¡°They don¡¯t look like locals, nor do they look like annoying Romans. They¡¯re visitors from afar ¡­¡± She finished a few words weakly and stopped to catch her breath.

    Fina¡¯s brain was inplete chaos, and it couldn¡¯t say anything at all.

    Zhang Zian saw that fina was silent, and she was waiting for their answer, so he said for fina,¡±¡±Uh ¡­ Your Majesty, it¡¯s a long story. We came from two thousand years in the future. These cats, dogs, birds, monkeys, wolves ¡­ Can also be considered to havee from two thousand years in the future. We are all friends of fina. For some inexplicable reason, fina has been living with us in a world that has been around for two thousand years. Out of its wish, we came to this era with it through this thing. You can treat this thing as a door that connects the past and the future. ¡±

    He pointed at the translucent vortex.

    Richard tranted his words.

    ¡°I see ¡­ It¡¯s amazing ¡­¡± Her face glowed even more brightly because she was also a person who liked to study mathematics and science.¡±Where are you from?¡±

    ¡°China¡± He knew that she had never heard of it, so he exined,¡±¡±It¡¯s a country very far away from here, and it gave birth to a glorious civilization simr to yours.¡±

    ¡°China ¡­¡± She mumbled the unfamiliar word and imagined the strange and distant country.

    She wasn¡¯t convinced. Of course, she thought that Scandinavia was unparalleled. However, it hade from China 2000 years ago, which proved that China still existed at least 2000 yearster.

    ¡°After two thousand years, is the divine Kingdom ¡­ Still there?¡± She asked expectantly.

    Zhang Zian hesitated for a moment, but still shook his head honestly.¡±Your Majesty, nothing is eternal.¡±

    ¡°Ah ¡­¡± She was first disappointed, then relieved.¡±That¡¯s right, after I die, the kingdom of God will probably follow me ¡­ Thank you for telling me the truth.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know what to say. He smiled awkwardly. At least at this moment China was still a little bit worse than ancient Egypt. However, after today, ancient Egypt would be destroyed. This was the truth of ¡°you can only have DPS if you are alive.¡±

    Her gaze fell on the young girl again, because the young girl had her long-lost youth and smooth and tender skin. Even though she was dying, her female instincts still made her extremely envious.

    ¡°This girl ¡­ Is she your daughter? She¡¯s very pretty and looks like you. ¡± She praised him from the bottom of her heart.

    For her, this sentence came out naturally, and she didn¡¯t think there was anything wrong with it. First, she couldn¡¯t see Zhang Zian¡¯s specific age. Second, because the average life expectancy of ancient people was short, and the age of marriage and children was generally early, so in her opinion, it was normal for him to have a daughter of this age.

    Richard was dumbfounded, his mouth was wide open like a wooden statue.

    Fina, who was immersed in sadness, also looked back at him and the girl¡¯s faces in shock.

    ¡°What did she just say? Trante, did you get your tongue stung by a Ho or something?¡± Seeing Richard¡¯s dazed look, Zhang Zian really wanted to give it a good beating.

    Richard, who had always been eloquent, tranted her words with a stutter.

    ¡°Ah?¡±

    The tranted sentence was like a thunderp to Zhang Zian and the Elfins!

    Zhang Zian suddenly turned his head and stared at the mysterious girl¡¯s face.

    The first time he saw her face, he felt that her facial features or outline were simr to someone he knew. It wasn¡¯t that they were simr, but they were simr in spirit. However, he couldn¡¯t remember who it was at that moment. Later, various bizarre events made him forget about it for a while.

    Now, he finally remembered who the so-called ¡°someone¡± was. Yingluo was himself in the mirror!

 Chapter 1730

    Chapter 1730: Chapter 1729-returned to Zhao

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian was so shocked that he felt like he had been struck by lightning. The Elfins were also so shocked that they couldn¡¯t speak.

    The Elfins had only seen the girl for a short time, and so many things had happened, so none of them were in the mood to pay attention to her appearance. At this time, they looked at him and then at her, and really found some of Zhang Zian¡¯s shadow in her face.

    ¡°Zian ¡­ Zian, could she be your ¡­ Distant cousin or something?¡± Even old time tea, who would not change its expression even if Mount Tai copsed, stuttered.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s parents and his generation basically didn¡¯t have any rtives they knew. His rtives had been lost in Wars, turmoil, and movements in the mountains and viges, even before his grandfather¡¯s time. So far, there were only a few rtives who still kept in touch with him. They didn¡¯t have much contact with each other. They were probably the kind who would be rejected even if they tried to borrow a few thousand Yuan.

    Zhang Zian had never heard of his distant cousin. Even if he did, why would shee all the way here to help him, an unfamiliar distant cousin?

    Moreover, distant cousins would not have any simrities in appearance.

    It was said that sons resembled their mothers and daughters resembled their fathers. There was a certain scientific truth to this, but it was not absolute. It depended on which of the parents¡¯s sex chromosomes were dominant, which was whose genes were stronger.

    Richard, who was standing on his shoulder, hit his head with his wings in grief and indignation.¡±You are heartless, you are cruel, and you are unreasonable! You betrayed the revolution! Didn¡¯t they say that they would be gay friends for life? It was wrong! It must be the ck technology of boys having children in the future! And you¡¯re definitely the one in charge of the pregnancy!¡±

    Snowy Li licked its paws and said,¡±meow meow meow? How could a piece of trash like him find a wife? Why don¡¯t I believe you? In order to prevent the poor women from being poisoned, I¡¯d better castrate him now to see thest eunuch in ancient Egypt. Congrattions!¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at the girl with a nk expression.

    ¡°Hahaha! I¡¯ve been seen through!¡± She put her hand to her forehead in embarrassment and sighed.¡±But now is not the time to talk about this. We¡¯ll talk about it when we get back.¡±

    Zhang Zian forced himself to look away and gave Cleopatra the seventh a perfunctory smile as a reply to her question.

    Today¡¯s main characters were her and fina. The others should not overshadow the main characters and leave the time to her and fina.

    After a while, the elves stopped talking, but they were still shocked.

    Cleopatra the seventh did not expect such a big reaction from her ordinary words. She did not understand what the cats and birds were talking about, but she found it interesting.

    The room quieted down. Other than herself and fina, only Richard faithfully tranted for them.

    The fact that the mysterious girl might be Zhang Zian¡¯s daughter shocked fina, but she had more people and things to care about at the moment.

    The human senses were very slow, but it could feel that her vitality was rapidly flowing away. She was like a coppermp that was about to run out of oil. Even a breeze could make her close her eyes forever.

    ¡°You ¡­ Are you okay?¡±

    There were thousands of things it wanted to tell her, to throw a tantrum, to hold her and cry, but in the end, it only asked a very silly question.

    Of course, she was not in a good state. Her country was in ruins, and her life was on the line. She had only touched it with her right hand and kept her left hand close to her side. Because there were two teeth marks on the inner side of her left forearm, her originally healthy wheat-colored skin had turned blue and purple, and the range of the blue and purple was still expanding. The area around the teeth marks had turned ck, and it faintly emitted the rancid smell of body tissues being corroded by poison, and pus was also seeping out.

    She was an Emperor, but she was also a woman. Even if she were to die, she wanted to die in the most beautiful way. She didn¡¯t want fina to see her ugly side.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. How about you?¡± She replied with a smile.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, too ¡­¡± Fina¡¯s throat was stuck. It couldn¡¯t go on. No matter what it said, it would cry on the spot.

    She could tell that fina was doing well. Its fur was as smooth as usual, and it even seemed to be stronger than thest time she saw it. Its eyes were more ¡­ Intelligent. It was no longer like a cat, but more like a human.

    ¡°Really? that¡¯s great. I¡¯m relieved then.¡± She smiled brightly.¡±Your friends are all very nice. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be very happy to live with them.¡±

    Her hand kept stroking Fina¡¯s head and back, and shebed its hair for thest time.

    Fina suddenly raised its ws and pressed her hand on the bed. All the hair on its body stood up, and it shouted at her,¡±¡±Liar! Big liar! You¡¯re obviously dying, so why did you lie to me and say that you¡¯re doing well? Why? You promised to see me at the celestial Pce. Why didn¡¯t you keep your promise? Why ¡­ Do you want to leave ¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian and the others could see its shoulders and body moving up and down from behind. It was obviously sobbing.

    They lowered their heads and pretended not to see anything.

    She tried to sit up and apologize to it, but the poison had spread to her spine and she couldn¡¯t sit up.

    ¡°Fina, I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t keep my promise. It¡¯s all my fault. I¡¯m sorry. Please forgive me.¡±

    She also cried, and her tears messed up her eye makeup. She held fina tightly in her arms, and the cat and human hugged each other and cried.

    Being too emotional would speed up her death, but at least she said sorry, and she had one less regret before she died.

    A momentter, she stopped crying and held back her tears. Time passed in a sh, and she could already feel the footsteps of death approaching. She couldn¡¯t waste thest of her time crying.

    ¡°Fina, I¡¯ve always been worried about you. I¡¯m worried that you won¡¯t be able to live well in the future. I won¡¯t be able to take care of you in the future. You must take care of yourself, okay?¡± She whispered in Fina¡¯s ear,¡±promise me that I will only leave this world in peace if you are well.¡±

    Fina wiped its tears with its ws, gritted its teeth, and nodded.

    She tried to lift her arm with great effort, but she had no strength left.

    ¡°Please help me.¡± She asked Zhang Zian for help.

    Zhang Zian was stunned for a moment, but he still quickly walked to the side of the bed and waited for her instructions. Whether it was out of respect for a King or out of the demeanor of ady, he was hesitant.

    She pointed to her neck.¡±Help me take this off. It¡¯s time to return it to fina.¡±

    Zhang Zian recognized it at a nce. It was a gorgeous and exquisite cor, shining with a mysterious and sacred light under the light of the oilmp.

    It was no ordinary cor, but the eye of wajite amulet. It looked very simr to the one on the Holy Cat statue¡¯s neck, but thetter was obviously a fake.

    The eye on the amulet was lifelike and seemed to move.

 Chapter 1731

    Chapter 1731: Chapter 1730-fusion

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    If Cleopatra the seventh was not lying down but standing, Zhang Zian would have noticed the amulet she was wearing.

    It would be an insult to describe the eye of wajet amulet as a ¡°priceless treasure¡±. It was a real divine artifact, and was on the same level as the heirloom seal in China, or even half a level higher. The first reason was that the heirloom seal had only been born for one or two hundred years, while the eye of wajet amulet had existed for at least a thousand years or more. The second reason was that the heirloom seal represented the authority of the monarch, while the eye of wajet amulet represented the authority of God.

    As for the gold and gems used to make the amulet, they were not worth mentioningpared to the symbolic meaning of the amulet.

    The amulet was a dead object, and the carved eye could not move, but Zhang Zian looked down at the eye and felt that it was really looking at him.

    This might be the result of a godly carving technique. The eye itself had an arc like a human¡¯s eye, but it was also simr to thepound eyes of insects. It looked like an eye, but in fact, the surface of the eyeball was cut with countless tiny edges. Under the flickering light of the surrounding oilmps, the eye reflected a myriad of rays of light in an instant. It was extremely lively and vivid. If you took a step to the side, you would feel that the eye was moving with you and staring at you all the time.

    The ancient people couldn¡¯t figure out the principle behind this. Standing in front of the eye of wajite amulet was like being watched by a God¡¯s eye. The fear in their hearts could be imagined, and they couldn¡¯t help but kneel down.

    If an Emperor with a strong enough aura wore the eye of wajite amulet, held the Golden scepter that symbolized ancient Egypt¡¯s rule, and was crowned with the three-snake golden crown that symbolized the royal identity, under the double blessing of monarchical power and theocracy, it would be as mighty as a mountain.

    Ordinary people couldn¡¯t even take a look at the real thing, let alone touch it.

    Simr to the fate of the heirloom seal, the original eye of wajite amulet had also been lost in the long river of history. After all, ancient Egypt was about to be destroyed at this time. After the turmoil that happened 2000 yearster, no one knew the whereabouts of the amulet. People often took it for granted that the amulet might have been buried with thest pharaoh, Cleopatra the seventh.

    At the end of hisst trip to Egypt, after Peter Lee entered the Golden Pyramid, he had wanted to open the sarcophagus to find traces of the amulet. He thought that the amulet was most likely hidden in Cleopatra¡¯s sarcophagus. Of course, the premise was that the sarcophagus did indeed contain Cleopatra¡¯s body, and not an empty coffin. However, due to the natural and man-made disaster they had caused, they had not seeded.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s hands and feet were a little weak.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡±

    He held his breath and reached behind Cleopatra the seventh¡¯s head, holding her head up slightly. He touched the ring of the amulet behind her neck with the other hand and tried it a few times. Finally, the ring was removed. Just doing these two simple things made his forehead sweat.

    He held one side in each hand and took off the amulet that carried her body temperature. The pure gold amulet iid with many gemstones was heavier than he had imagined.

    If he identally dropped the amulet on the ground or got scratched, he would be a sinner in history ¡­

    ¡°Please help me return it to fina.¡± She stared at the eye on the amulet.¡±I used to ask fina for this amulet to wear, as if it was by my side, but then ¡­ A lot of things happened, and I have never been able to return it to fina.¡±

    Thest time she met fina, she had taken the amulet. She had nned to return it to fina when she returned home, but the heavens did not grant her wish.

    Zhang Zian carefully moved his feet, avoiding the two dead maids under his feet, and walked behind fina.

    For some reason, it felt a little like the coronation ceremony of the Pope in ancient Europe.

    He took a deep breath and was about to put it on fina, but something happened.

    Thump!

    ¡°Thump thump!¡±

    ¡°#¡­¡­%£¤&**&*!¡±

    The door of the room was heavily knocked, and a series of birdnguage that he could not understand came from outside the door.

    He was so shocked by the sudden knock that he almost threw the amulet away.

    Richard was also shocked, and he quickly tranted,¡±¡±The guards are knocking on the door. Tell ¡­ Her and the maid to open the door quickly and not do anything stupid.¡±

    It seemed that the prolonged silence in the room had alerted the Roman soldiers, or Egypt Cleopatra had promised to go out after changing her clothes. But because there was no movement, they were worried that something had happened in the room.

    The Roman soldiers had been standing guard outside the door. They were not afraid that she would escape. Where could the three weak women run? They were only worried that they wouldmit suicide. A living Egypt was far more valuable than a dead body.

    Egypt¡¯s weather was so hot. If a body was transported back to Rome, the body would have long rotted to the point that no human form could be seen. No one could prove that it was Cleopatra.

    She might have convinced them with her glib tongue to give her some private space to change her clothes, then sneaked them outside, locked the door from the inside, and began her suicide n.

    When the guards found that the door was locked from the inside, they were shocked and anxious. They guessed that she mightmit suicide. If she seeded, their heads might not even be able to stay.

    There was no response when they knocked on the door. They all used their bodies to knock on the door, but the pce door was so strong that it could not be opened easily.

    In ancient times, the soldiers of powerful countries killed without blinking. Once they rushed in, they would definitely think that they were here to save Egypt and kill them all without any exnation.

    ¡°Please hurry up, we don¡¯t have much time left.¡± She urged weakly. This was for their safety.

    Zhang Zian tried to calm his breathing and looked back at the mysterious girl. Seeing that she still didn¡¯t object, he put the cor around Fina¡¯s neck, let the amulet hang on her chest, and fastened the ring. Then he stepped aside to see if Cleopatra the seventh was okay.

    The Golden fina was matched with a cor made of pure gold. The amulets iid with various jewels shone on her chest, and the lifelike eye of wajite was so captivating that no one dared to look at it directly.

    Zhang Zian only felt a sense of relief, as if he had transferred a hot potato. However, the elves, such as dimir, old time tea, famous, and Fati, suddenly opened their eyes wide, because they felt a different, dense, and invisible power gathering on Fina¡¯s body. This amulet seemed to be a natural part of fina, making finaplete.

    Fina had be an elf without the amulet. Now that the amulet that had endured people¡¯s worship of Bastian for at least a thousand years had returned to her, it was natural that it would bring her to a whole new stage.

    If his phone was still connected to the real server, it would have been ringing non-stop.

 Chapter 1732

    Chapter 1732: Chapter 1731-cheating

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Cleopatra the seventh looked at fina repeatedly, as if he wanted to engrave its appearance in his heart and soul, so that he would never forget it even in his next life.

    She knew that she would not be able to sleep in the carefully built pyramid. The Romans were toozy to waste so much time. If she could not sleep in the pyramid, how could she be resurrected?

    This time, it was probably an eternal farewell.

    Fina lowered its head and looked at the amulet, which had once been very familiar, but now was very strange. It felt as if it had not worn it for a long time.

    It could feel that the power of the amulet was filling its body, and there was something else. It might be the souls or will of the Grand priests who had worn the amulet before.

    ¡°Fina, you should go.¡± She wished that time could stop at this moment, but the guards outside the door were banging on the door louder and louder. They might have even gone to get the tools for the siege and were about to break in.

    ¡°You too. Take fina and leave quickly. Thank you for taking care of fina for me ¡­¡± She turned her head to greet Zhang Zian, the mysterious girl, and the elves, and then pointed to the jewelry that could be seen everywhere in the room.¡±If you have anything you like, you can take it. I don¡¯t need them anymore ¡­¡±

    ¡°No, you¡¯re too kind. We ¡­ Don¡¯t need these.¡±

    Zhang Zian said against his will.

    He really wanted to take away all the jewelry in the room, but he didn¡¯t dare to. First, these pieces of jewelry were too valuable and symbolic. Once they were revealed, they would shock the world, which was not in line with his low-key style. Second, if he took them away from this era, he was afraid that it would affect the course of history.

    As for the eye of wajite amulet, it was very special. For the next 2000 years, it sank into the sea and never appeared again, so the answer was likely that fina had taken it away and brought it back to the modern world.

    ¡°Fina ¡­ Can you smile at me again? I know I¡¯ve let you down, but ¡­ I hope we can say goodbye with a smile. ¡± She held Fina¡¯s paws and massaged them.

    There were already a few thin ck lines spreading up her neck. Her lips had lost their color, and her forehead was full of sweat. Her breathing was shallow and rapid, like a broken bellow, which indicated that her lungs were rapidly failing.

    Once her lungspletely lost their function, it would be the day of her death.

    ¡°Kleopatra! Open the door! No matter what you want, we can discuss it! Open the door!¡±

    Suddenly, a loud ancient Greek sentence was heard outside the door. Although Zhang Zian could not understand it, he could at least understand the pronunciation of her name.

    ¡°Wu Dawei is here ¡­¡± She smiled sadly.¡±We¡¯re running out of time soon. Fina, do you still hate me?¡± You¡¯re not even willing to fulfill myst wish?¡±

    Fina lowered its head in a daze. After a while, it raised its head, and its eyes suddenly burst with anger.

    ¡°Wu Dawei!¡±

    That¡¯s right, the one who took her life was not the venomous snake, but Octavius, who was even more terrifying than a venomous snake. The real murderer was the self-proimed Roman Emperor.

    It suddenly broke free from her hand and said sternly,¡±¡±Open the door! Bengong will make Wu Da Wei pay with his life!¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart trembled.¡±Oh no, what I¡¯m afraid of ising.¡± If fina killed Wu Dawei here, there would no longer be a reason for it tounch a surprise attack in the next 2000 years. Maybe it could really take the head of the general in the midst of thousands of soldiers.

    He looked back at the elves for help to see if they had any good ideas.

    The elves looked at each other. As long as there was a possibility, they were not willing to attack theirpanions. Not to mention that fina was too strong now. Once the two sides started fighting, they were bound to fight with all their strength, without any room for reservation.

    ¡°Fina!¡± Cleopatra the seventh used thest of his strength to hold onto fina and begged,¡±¡±Don ¡®t! I beg you, don ¡®t! Let¡¯s go! You guys should take fina and leave!¡±

    She didn¡¯t know how strong fina was now, but no matter how strong it was, even if it really killed Wu Dawei, what was the point?

    Caesar was dead, Anthony was dead, and she was not far from death. If one Octavius was killed, there would be a second or a third Octavius to step forward and take over the Roman army. There was no one in Egypt who could fight against the Roman army, and nothing would change. Fina and Fina¡¯s friends would definitely die at the hands of the soldiers that would keeping.

    Zhang Zian had no choice but to take out his phone and point it at fina, nning to put it back into the phone. However, this required a clear and uncensored front photo, so he had to stand in front of fina.

    Hatred had already overwhelmed Fina¡¯s mind. As soon as he raised the phone in front of it, it realized his intention and pped the phone away with its ws, but he had no time to react.

    The other elves gasped. Forced by the situation, they had to be ready to subdue fina.

    ¡°Fina! Don¡¯t be so willful anymore!¡±

    Zhang Zian scolded fina loudly, which was a rare sight.

    His phone fell on the bed and he bent down to pick it up.

    At this time, the mysterious girl¡¯s voice came from behind him.

    ¡°Fina, calm down. She won¡¯t die!¡±

    Zhang Zian had just touched his cell phone and had not had time to straighten his back. He could not help but be stunned when he heard this.

    Even if he knew nothing about the human body, he could see that Cleopatra the seventh had already reached the level of being a Bian Que. The snake poison had destroyed most of her organs. Unless there was a special anti-venom serum, she might have a chance of survival. Otherwise, she would not live for more than five minutes.

    The anti-Snake Serum was very specific. It couldn¡¯t be used randomly when bitten by different kinds of venomous snakes. Where could he find an anti-Snake Serum for this kind of venomous snake that might have been extinct for a long time?

    Besides, even if the future world invented a broad spectrum antivenom, it would not be able to save her. History would be changed if they did.

    Before he could figure it out, a hand suddenly pushed him from behind.

    ¡°Sigh, I¡¯m sorry, Mom.¡±

    He was bending over to pick up the phone, but he did not expect the mysterious girl to suddenly push him. He lost his bnce and fell forward.

    In front of him was Cleopatra the seventh, who was lying on the ground, and fina, who was ring at him.

    This girl ¡­ Was definitely not his biological daughter! Was there such a scam?

    He desperately tried to regain his bnce, because he knew that if his hand touched something he shouldn¡¯t touch, he would be killed by fina in the next second ¡­ Maybe he would be killed first and then castrated, and he wouldn¡¯t even die in aplete body.

    He twisted his body like a fried dough twist and barely moved his hand to a safe angle, supporting himself on the bed instead of her body. However, he couldn¡¯t stop the inertia of his body in time and quickly tightened his neck and turned his face to avoid kissing her.

    He had seeded, he had basically seeded. He did not spheme thest pharaoh who had both monarchy and theocracy. He had only touched her forehead with his forehead.

    This was an ident. He was just about to exin it to fina.

    However, even though it was a light knock, his vision turned ck and he lost consciousness.

 Chapter 1733

    Chapter 1733: Chapter 1732-my world

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian subconsciously straightened his back, because he thought that Cleopatra the seventh had been pinned down. But when he took a closer look, he was no longer in the pce of ancient Egypt.

    This ¡­ Isn¡¯t this the Forbidden City?

    It was the first time he had seen dimir in the Forbidden City. Besides, the architectural style of the Forbidden City was too obvious. Whether it was the pce or the square, they were all big.

    The sudden change from an ancient Egypt style to an ancient China Style was just too big of a gap.

    He was currently standing at the entrance of Taihe Pce. Compared to the pce, he was as small as an ant.

    ¡°I ¡­ Where am I?¡±

    A woman¡¯s voice suddenly sounded from the side.

    He turned his head and looked, speechless.

    Cleopatra the seventh was standing behind him, even more confused than he was.

    She was still wearing the Golden Crown and the Royal robe, but her face, lips, and skin color had all returned to normal. She looked very healthy, and there was no sign that she had just faced death.

    She looked down at her whole body in disbelief, especially the area where her left arm was bitten by the poisonous snake. There were no teeth marks there, and her skin was as wheat-colored as the rest of her body.

    She then touched her neck and head. Everything was normal.

    ¡°Is ¡­ Is this a dream? Or is it a 2000-year-old magic spell?¡± She looked at Zhang Zian in shock, waiting for his answer.

    ¡°I¡¯m probably ¡­ Dreaming. ¡±

    Zhang Zian was not used to such an abrupt scene change. Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s work was getting simpler and more rough. Couldn¡¯t she just silently and gently transition into the dream world?

    ¡°Wee to my world.¡±

    The voice of Zhuang Xiaodie sounded at the right time.

    Countless butterflies of different colors swarmed over and flew to the front of Taihe Pce. They gathered together like a tornado, twisting and spinning.

    A blurry figure appeared in The Butterfly Storm and slowly became clear. The colorful scales that fell off the butterfly wings condensed into her skin, hair, and clothes.

    Zhuang Xiaodie slowly walked out of The Butterfly Storm, and the butterflies scattered.

    Zhang Zian thought to himself,¡±no wonder the scene changes are getting more and more perfunctory. It turns out that he has spent all his energy on his own animation ¡­¡±

    Cleopatra the seventh was dumbfounded.

    She had never seen such a magical scene before. She had never seen such a beautiful woman.

    Zhang Zian was used to it, and he was not surprised that he could understand her words. After all, there were all kinds of dreams.

    He noticed that Zhuang Xiaodie had changed into a new set of clothes. This set of clothes had gold and red as the main colors, with arge number of gold threads andplicated embroidery. It looked graceful and elegant, with a hint of royal aura.

    ¡°As a woman, I admire you very much. I can¡¯t bear to see you die in vain, so I¡¯ve invited you to my world as a guest.¡± Zhuang Xiaodie said.

    ¡°Hehe ¡­¡±

    ¡°What are youughing at?¡± Zhuang Xiaodie coldly nced at Zhang Zian.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing ¡­ I¡¯m just having fun. ¡±

    Zhang Zian had a lot of things to say, but he didn¡¯t dare to say them out. For example, what the hell did he mean by Yingluo being a woman too? Aren¡¯t you a butterfly?

    He had no choice. How could he not bow his head when he was under the roof? It would not do him any good to expose her, so he just pretended not to hear her.

    However, Zhuang Xiaodie and Cleopatra the seventh did have some simrities. They both had a strong interest in mathematics and science, but thetter was limited by the times and was usually busy with government affairs, so he did not make any achievements in science that could be passed down toter generations.

    As a Queen, Cleopatra VII calmed down after a brief panic. She looked at Zhuang Xiaodie, especially at the special shape of the clothes on her body.

    ¡°Thank you for your generosity. Are you also a friend of fina? May I know your name?¡± She said.

    I can only be considered a friend of a friend. My name is Zhuang Xiaodie. This is my world. Zhuang Xiaodie gestured to Zhang Zian with her eyes, asking him to exin to the new customer.

    ¡°Wait a minute, before you invite someone else, can you first ask for my opinion?¡± Zhang Zian pointed at his head.¡±This is my head.¡±

    ¡°Oh, then may I invite her?¡± Zhuang Xiaodie asked perfunctorily.

    ¡°¡­Forget it,¡± Zhang Zian said.¡±Since I¡¯m here, I won¡¯t argue with you.¡±

    He understood. It must be that at the moment when their foreheads touched, Zhuang Xiaodie connected his brain waves with Cleopatra VII¡¯s brain waves. Although it was only for a short moment, it was enough for her to copy thetter¡¯s memory and consciousness into his mind.

    It was said that the human brain was only developed by 3% or 5%. Anyway, most of the brain¡¯s potential was in a dormant state, so there was enough space to amodate more things.

    There seemed to be no other peaceful solution to the situation just now, so he could only acquiesce. Resistance was meaningless. He just hoped that Zhuang Xiaodie would not ¡°invite¡± others into his brain again and again.

    He exined the ins and outs of the matter to Cleopatra the seventh as easily as possible.

    ¡°So, in the end, I¡¯m still dead ¡­¡± She muttered.¡±Then, am I still me now?¡±

    Zhuang Xiaodie smiled approvingly.¡±You can think of this level, which is brilliant. I really didn¡¯t misjudge you. The current you has inherited all of your memories and consciousness, and your body is exactly the same as the original you. What¡¯s the difference between you and the real you? The original you was already one step away from death. If you want to live, you can only live in my world in this state. ¡±

    ¡°Then ¡­¡± Cleopatra the seventh wanted to ask if his children could enter this world like this, but she knew that they had been strictly guarded by the Roman army and had no chance at all. So she sighed and changed her words,¡±¡±Can I still see fina?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll have to ask him. ¡± Zhuang Xiaodie threw the question to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°I ¡­ Should be able to.¡± Zhang Zian muttered in his heart, can the brain waves of humans and cats be connected? At worst, he could transfer through famous¡¯s imagined world.

    ¡°Also, I can tell you that your son will die in the hands of Wu Da Wei, but your daughter will live. My condolences.¡±

    Since she could no longer leave the dream world, it was no big deal to tell her the rest of history. Bringing her to the dream world was indeed a good idea. It would not change history, but it could also appease fina.

    ¡°I know, thank you.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± she said dejectedly. This was already much better than the ending she had expected. At least her daughter was able to survive. It was already a blessing in the midst of misfortune.

    ¡°Now, I¡¯m going to show our guests around. You can go back.¡±

    Zhuang Xiaodie suddenly flicked her long sleeves at his face. He instinctively leaned back, wanting to Dodge, and then he woke up.

 Chapter 1734

    Chapter 1734: Chapter 1733promise

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    ¡°You bastard, how long do you want to lie there? Get lost!¡±

    As soon as Zhang Zian opened his eyes, he met the angry Fina¡¯s eyes. It had already raised its ws and was about to scratch down.

    He was so scared that he quickly stepped back and almost tripped over an obstacle on the ground. He staggered and stabilized his body.

    The obstacle on the ground was the body of the maid. The sound of knocking on the door was getting louder and more urgent. The elves were waiting for it, but they did not know whether to attack fina or the Roman soldiers who were about to break in.

    Although the dream was short, it was at least half an hour long. He spent most of his time exining the dream world to Cleopatra the seventh.

    However, in reality, only a second or half a second had passed. It was probably like taking a nap in the afternoon and waking up as soon as your head sank. It was such a short moment, but you had a dream that was neither long nor short.

    With tears in her eyes, fina gently patted Cleopatra the seventh¡¯s cheek with its ws, trying to wake her up.

    She fell into aa, and its meaty paws could feel that her body temperature was very high, much higher than a normal person¡¯s body temperature.

    Her life had always been like a candle in the wind, about to be extinguished at any time. If the ident just now had not happened, she might have been able to hold on for another one or two minutes.

    No matter how fina patted her, her eyes were still closed, and her breath was weak. She didn¡¯t respond at all.

    The ck lines of the snake¡¯s venom had already spread to the corners of her eyes and temples. It might even have invaded her brain, and she would never wake up again.

    People who were poisoned by snake venom often did not die suddenly like those who were seriously injured. Instead, they would die slowly like this. Before dying, they would first experience a deepa. This was good, otherwise it would be too painful.

    ¡°You ¡­ You ¡­¡±

    Fina suddenly turned around, pricked up her ears, and stared at Zhang Zian with hatred. Her eyes were full of anger.¡±You useless mortal, why did you have to do this at this time ¡­¡±

    Usually, snowy Li would definitely add fuel to the fire, but now it saw that fina was really angry, and it was so scared that it kept quiet out of fear.

    ¡°Wait a minute! Listen to my exnation! She¡¯s not dead yet!¡± Zhang Zian said as quickly as he could.

    ¡°Nonsense! Of course she¡¯s not dead yet. Are you cursing her to die?¡± Fina was even more furious.

    ¡°No, no, no, that¡¯s not what I meant. I mean, I have a way to keep her alive!¡±

    Zhang Zian had to say something shocking, or else it would be impossible to distract fina.

    ¡°What? What nonsense are you talking about?¡± Half of Fina¡¯s anger had disappeared. Compared to revenge, it certainly wanted her to live.

    It was conflicted and deliberately avoided eye contact with the other elves. In its subconscious, it even hoped that the elves would stop it.

    It couldn¡¯t bear the sight of her dying in front of it, but it didn¡¯t want everything in Binhai city to disappear. It felt like its heart was about to be torn in half.

    His words made it suspicious. She could die at any time, how could he let her live? Unless she transmigrated to an even earlier time to stop her from killing herself with a poisonous snake. But if that was the case, why did she transmigrate to the present?

    Zhang Zian finally got the chance to speak. He exined what had just happened in his mind in the shortest possible words. He told it Egypt Cleopatra could live in his dream, and it could also meet her in its dream.

    Fina understood. Although it was still notpletely relieved, but ¡­ What was done was done. It was better to live in the dream world than to die.

    With the help of famous¡¯s power, fina had entered his dream. It was a world that was so real that it was amazing. It could hardly feel any difference from the real world.

    This might not be the perfect solution, but it was the only solution that could be epted by all parties.

    The other elves were suddenly enlightened. They let out a long breath and looked at the mysterious girl in admiration. If she hadn¡¯t been quick-witted ¡­ Or if she hadn¡¯t predicted it, today¡¯s matter would definitely not have been good.

    Fina¡¯s airne ears drooped slowly, indicating that its anger had subsided.

    Thump!

    There was a loud noise outside the door, and the thick door was deformed.

    The Roman soldiers had already brought siege weapons and would break through the gate in a few moments.

    ¡°Let¡¯s leave quickly. If we don¡¯t leave now, it¡¯ll really be toote!¡± Zhang Zian urged.

    He, the mysterious girl, and the other elves all walked to the translucent vortex and waited for fina.

    Fina lowered its body and kissed Cleopatra the seventh¡¯s forehead. It whispered,¡±¡±I will not forgive you, and I will not say goodbye, because this is not an eternal farewell.¡±

    After saying that, it flew to the side of the whirlpool and scolded,¡±¡±Are you waiting for death if you don¡¯t leave?¡±

    The moment they all stepped into the vortex, the vortex disappeared. At the same time, the door was smashed into pieces, and arge number of soldiers rushed into the room under the lead of a proud general.

    Octavius held the hilt of his sword and scanned the room with his eagle-like eyes. He immediately saw Cleopatra the seventh, who was lying on the bed.

    ¡°Terrible! Damn it!¡±

    He saw what he didn¡¯t want to see the most. He cursed and ran to the side of the bed with his confidants.

    The confidant reached out to check her breathing and pushed her left arm away. He saw the teeth marks left by the venomous snake and shook his head at him, indicating that she was beyond saving.

    She was dead.

    The all-powerful Empress of a generation had died on her bed just like that.

    Wu Dawei fiercely punched the stone pir, his heart filled with regret that he was not able to do his best, and the glory he had when he returned to Rome was also reduced.

    This damned cunning woman!

    He noticed a strange thing. She died with a smile on her face, as if she was mocking him.

    Compared to the flustered and exasperated him, she seemed to be the final Victor.

    ¡°What do we do?¡± The confidant peeked at his expression and carefully pointed at her body, waiting for his instructions.

    It was impossible to bring her back to Rome alive. If it was to appease the emotions of the Egypt people, she should be buried in the tomb she chose, the same as the Pharaoh. After all, the dead were not a threat.

    Wu Dawei scanned the room onest time. Other than the three dead bodies, there was nothing unusual. The poisonous snake that killed them had disappeared.

    ¡°Go! Leave her here, seal up this room, and take away all the valuable things. ¡± He gave a simple exnation, turned around, and strode out of the room, leaving the aftermath to his men.

    Towards this woman whoughed at him before she died, he only had hatred and no pity.

    Not long after, the door of the house was sealed by rubble, and the pce itself sank to the bottom of the sea in an earthquake. Archaeologists and explorers were still searching for it.

    No one knew that this woman, who had caused endless reverie in the future, had witnessed a shocking secret before she died. She had died with this shocking secret.

 Chapter 1735

    Chapter 1735: Chapter 1734-waving away the restraints

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    When thest elfin left the translucent vortex, everyone returned to the second floor of the Pet Shop, and the vortex immediately disappeared.

    Everyone looked at each other and was still in shock. They were so close to meeting the powerful Roman soldiers. This was not too serious in itself, but the problem was that if the ancient people witnessed the modern people in strange clothes and disappeared for no reason, then the problem would be big.

    ¡°It¡¯s amazing. If I didn¡¯t experience it myself, I would have thought I was dreaming ¡­¡± Old time tea stroked its beard and sighed.

    Famous agreed.¡±What I experienced just now was more real than any movie, and more bizarre than any movie, especially when I walked in the fifth dimension ¡­¡±

    The other Elfins felt the same way. Even arge-scale science fiction movie like ¡°interster¡± could only express the appearance of the five-dimensional space in an artistic way. No post-production special effects could really reproduce the infinite stacking of space.

    dimir waved his fist and said in an impassioned manner,¡±¡±After what happened just now, it has once again proved the correctness of the dialectical materialism historical view! The birth of human society was inevitable in history, the development of society was inevitable in history, and the recement of the old system by a new system was also inevitable in history! Historical inevitability is what historical materialists insist on and the direct determining factor to exin social development!¡±

    ¡°Squeak squeak.¡±

    ¡°Meow meow meow? I¡¯m starting to miss that youngdy¡¯s big breasts. Although they¡¯re always tightly wrapped, they¡¯re still exceptionally big ¡­¡±

    The elves discussed what they felt just now, but they felt that it was a little irrelevant ¡­ It didn¡¯t matter. After all, they all talked about their own things.

    ¡°You guys go ahead, I¡¯ll go check on the stray cats first.¡± dimir jumped onto the window sill.

    ¡°Wait a moment!¡± Zhang Zian stopped it,¡±when you were not here, little white came by. It ¡­ Was worried about you.¡±

    Although little white didn¡¯t express this meaning at the time, he felt that little white still cherished heroes for dimir. The positions and ideas of the two sides were different, but positions and ideas didn¡¯t mean everything. There were many records of enemies on the battlefield in ancient and modern times ¡­ And the two of them had fought together against foreign enemies more than once, so they should have some battle friendship.

    dimir was stunned.¡±Is that so? I got it. ¡±

    ¡°Also, Binhai city has just been hit by a Typhoon. It will take some time to eliminate the impact of the typhoon and restore order. You can continue to call a truce for the time being.¡± He suggested.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll consider it.¡± After dimir finished speaking, it jumped out of the window.

    Zhang Zian went into the bathroom and put Sihwa back in the bathtub. When she picked up her phone and found that less than a minute had passed, she thought that they had not gone anywhere.

    He walked out of the bathroom and was stopped by fina.

    ¡°When are you going to sleep?¡± It pointed at the bed and said,¡±aren¡¯t you very tired?¡±

    ¡°¡­Thank you for your concern. Although I¡¯m really sleepy, it¡¯s business hours now ¡­¡±

    If he remembered correctly, this was the first time it had asked him when to sleep. Usually, when it was time to sleep, it would only roar and shut up.

    Fina¡¯s face was obviously long, and its chin was almost touching the amulet on its chest. Its eyes were clearly saying,¡±What are you ying dumb for?

    Zhang Zian was also a decent man. He couldn¡¯t just lie down and start sleeping as soon as it said so. That would be so embarrassing.

    If it weren¡¯t for the fact that there were outsiders present, which was the mysterious girl, fina probably wouldn¡¯t have been so polite.

    Richard flew away from his shoulder to avoid being caught in the disaster. You idiot better not test me on the edge of death. ¡±

    ¡°Is anyone there? Brother store manager is not here?¡±

    Little celery¡¯s voice came from downstairs, and she helped him out of the situation.

    ¡°They¡¯re here! Wait a moment!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go downstairs first,¡±he said to fina.

    ¡°Stop!¡± Fina stopped him again, then turned around.¡±Take this thing off for me.¡±

    Zhang Zian was very surprised. The value of the eye of wajet amulet itself was not to be mentioned. ording to Egypt, fina had been wearing this amulet, and now it was just wearing it again. Why did it have to take it off? So many people wanted to get this amulet but couldn ¡®t, but it obviously didn¡¯t like it.

    Fina didn¡¯t see him move for a long time, so it turned around impatiently.¡±I told you to sleep on your back, but you didn ¡®t. Now you¡¯re sleeping standing?¡±

    ¡°No, are you sure you want to take it off?¡± Zhang Zian confirmed. He was worried that it would change its mind faster than turning the pages of a book. If it didn¡¯t admit that it asked him to take it off after he took it off, it would be troublesome.

    Fina snorted coldly.¡±Do you think I want to wear this? Why don¡¯t you try wearing a toilet seat around your neck?¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    The other elves held back theirughter.

    ¡°In the past, bengong could only wear it because bengong could not speak. Now that bengong has the right to choose, why would bengong still let such a heavy thing hang around my neck?¡± Fina said unhappily.

    This was true.

    Zhang Zian had weighed the weight of the cor. The pure gold amulet iid with a variety of gems and the pure gold cor were quite heavy to the touch. It was even heavier than the big gold chain worn by the bald tattooed man. It was ufortable to have such a heavy thing on a human¡¯s neck, not to mention the cat¡¯s neck, which was much lighter than a human ¡®s.

    Cats don¡¯t like to wear cors around their necks, such as Cat Bells. Cats are sensitive and suspicious, and the tinkling of bells will make them more sensitive.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll help you take it off.¡±

    Zhang Zian walked behind it, squatted down, and carefully undid the cor.

    Finafortably twisted its neck and shook its hair.¡±This is much morefortable.¡±

    Fina had only exined the superficial reason why he had to take off this amulet. In fact, the deeper reason was because¡­It was time to say goodbye to the past.

    He had once been the high priest of the Bubastis divine Pce, The Guardian of the kingdom of eternity, but that was 2000 years ago.

    The divine Pce, which it had once thought would stand forever, was only left with broken walls. It had witnessed the moment of the destruction of the divine Kingdom.

    The glory and responsibility of the past were like this cor that tightly bound it. It was entrusted with the expectations of countless ancient Egypt people, and the pressure was so great that it could not breathe. It had to put the kingdom of God and the pce first at all times, otherwise it would have left the pce with her at that time.

    Life in the celestial Pce, or life in Binhai city, which one was morefortable?

    The answer was obvious.

    It was already tired. The things that it had fought for were just the smoke of history.

    Now, it no longer had to bear that glory, and it could also abandon that responsibility. It was time to pursue its own happiness, hidden in the Pet Shop, a happiness that was as bright as the morning dew.

 Chapter 1736

    Chapter 1736: Chapter 1735-like sisters

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian looked at the cor in his hand. The eyes on the amulet seemed to have some kind of magic, making him look at it attentively.

    He didn¡¯t notice that the other elves also heaved a sigh of relief at the same time. The invisible pressure that seemed toe from ancient times had also disappeared.

    Fina, who was wearing the amulet, looked a little strange to everyone. It was as if something invisible was added to Fina¡¯s body with the amulet.

    It was the soul and will of the great divine priests of the past generations. Every cat was different from other cats. The past great divine priests also had different personalities. In addition to their loyalty to the kingdom and the pce, some were brave, some were cunning, some were brutal, and some were crazy ¡­ Every great divine priest wore an amulet for the rest of their lives, and a part of their soul and will were imperceptibly hosted in the amulet. When a new great divine priest wore the amulet, he would not be affected under normal circumstances. After all, every new great divine priest was not a mediocre person, but it was hard to say when their emotions fluctuated.

    After fina put on the amulet again, due to the great change, it witnessed the scene of Cleopatra VII being poisoned to death. It was a huge blow to its mind, and those ancient souls took the opportunity to enter and try to influence Fina¡¯s actions. They seeded partially. Fina was indeed affected and became like a different cat. Fortunately, what Zhang Zian told it restored its calmness, or the consequences would be unpredictable.

    It had chosen to take off the amulet, which was a good thing for it and the other elves.

    ¡°Don¡¯t look anymore, you can¡¯t pull it out once you¡¯ve seen it in your eyes!¡± Fina snatched the amulet from his hand and stuffed it under the mattress of her princess bed, next to her diamond ring.

    ¡°I¡¯m warning you, if I ever find out that you¡¯re secretly sending my amulet to a jewelry store ¡­¡± Fina red at him,¡±I¡¯ll hand you over to snowy Li!¡±

    ¡°Meow meow meow! Don¡¯t worry, Your Majesty, I¡¯ve prepared ten cruel tortures for this stinky man. I¡¯ll make him beg for death, and finally, I¡¯ll cut off his balls with a w!¡± Snowy Li licked its paws in excitement.

    Zhang Zian spread out his hands. He was really wronged. The nose ring of the Holy Cat statue was put aside. No matter what, he would not dare to send such a level of artifact to a jewelry store. Wouldn¡¯t that be walking into a trap? The staff of the jewelry store would probably call the police on the spot to arrest him as soon as they saw the amulet. This kind of divine artifact was not something that ordinary people could touch. It was better to leave it under Fina¡¯s mattress.

    Little celery was still waiting downstairs. He finally finished his work on the second floor and came to the first floor.

    However, he didn¡¯t notice that the mysterious girl had already run downstairs, so the scene he saw when he walked down the stairs was Yingying.

    ¡°Wahaha! A loli version of sister little celery, hehe!¡±

    The mysterious girl happily hugged little celery and rubbed her face against little celery ¡®s.

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    Little celery was confused. She didn¡¯t understand why this strange big sister, who was obviously much older than her, would call her big sister ¡­

    However, it felt good to be called ¡°sister.¡± Every time little celery heard her ssmates talk about their younger brothers and sisters, she was very envious. If they had a younger brother or sister, it would be very interesting, and they would not be lonely anymore.

    She used to think that she was like what her mother had said, picked up from the supermarket or given to her by topping up her phone, so every time she went to the supermarket with her mother, she didn¡¯t dare to let go of her mother¡¯s hand, for fear that she would get lost and be picked up by others ¡­ However, after she personally participated in the hamster raising, she vaguely understood some concepts about reproduction. Only male and female hamsters could give birth to little hamsters, so the idea of having a brother or sister was obviously unrealistic.

    Little celery saw Zhang Zianing downstairs and looked at him for help. Her lips moved a few times, but she didn¡¯t know how to exin the strange situation in front of her.

    The mysterious girl was still rubbing against it non-stop, as if she really liked ying this kind of game. She was simply enjoying it.

    Zhang Zian had no choice. He walked over and pulled the mysterious girl¡¯s ear.¡±Hey, hey, you¡¯re too much!¡± She¡¯s still a child!¡±

    ¡°Aiyo! I¡¯m not your rabbit, why are you pulling my ears!¡±

    The mysterious girl was in so much pain that she quickly let go of little celery and gasped.

    Little celery, who had finally escaped, quickly ran behind Zhang Zian, using him as a shield. She didn¡¯t dare to face the mysterious girl directly.

    Zhang Zian let go of her, and the mysterious girl rubbed her ears with tears in her eyes. It was just a few times! What should I do if you pull my ears big and small!¡±

    Little celery looked up at him and asked in a low voice,¡±¡±Brother store manager, who is she? A customer? Or a new employee?¡±

    Good question!

    He also wanted to ask this question.

    Who was she?

    Cleopatra VII¡¯s unintentional words had pierced through the window paper, but he had more important things to deal with, so he could only put this matter aside for the time being.

    He had never thought that this mysterious girl who might havee from the future was actually his own daughter.

    To be honest, there was only a slight resemnce between them, or it could be said that she had some of his shadow in her, but this could only be seen when the two of them stood together. The possibility of it being a pure coincidence existed.

    Not only him, but the Elfins were also very curious about this question. They also came downstairs, sitting or lying in their own territory, and observed the development of the situation with great interest.

    ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about this first. Little celery, why are you here? How¡¯s the road outside?¡± Zhang Zian changed the topic,¡±do you still have to go to school today?¡±

    The flood brought by the typhoon was almost subsiding, and the water level in most streets was now lower than their feet. The water level in some low-lying areas was still very deep.

    The streets were in ruins. Branches, debris, and garbage were everywhere. Some of them might be dangerous items, such as broken ss. It would take time and manpower to clean up these things.

    Little celery was carrying her usual school bag, but primary school wasn¡¯t a key high school that was preparing for the college entrance examination, so there was no need to resume sses the day after the typhoon.

    It was no longer raining, but she was still wearing rain boots to prevent the debris in the dirty water from hurting her feet.

    Little celery shook her head,¡±I don¡¯t have ss today, but my mother has to go to work. Because the electricity in our neighborhood hasn¡¯te back yet, my mother is worried about me staying at home alone, so she asked me toe here to do my homework.¡±

    Zhang Zian understood now. Cai meiwen¡¯s worry was not over the top. It was indeed not safe to leave the child at home after the natural disaster. There might be thieves taking advantage of the situation.

    As for little celery, the Pet Shop would always open its door to the chief employee.

 Chapter 1737

    Chapter 1737: Keep your expectations

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    In the face of the damage caused by the typhoon, not only did the city need to tide over the short-term difficulties, but the Pet Shop also had a lot of things to do. Because the sewage from the sewer inevitably poured into the room and washed the floor several times, it was necessary to disinfect the whole shop. There was no business today, and there would be no customers, so Zhang Zian arranged for little celery to continue to use the desk at the cashier to do her homework.

    Little celery was still a little curious about this friendly girl, but the difference between her and Xu Zhuangzhuang was that she could distinguish the priorities and listen to the adults. During the two days when sses were suspended, the school had left a lot of homework. If she didn¡¯t want to be criticized by her mother and the teacher, she had to hurry up and do it. After all, she was not a top student like Wang Yaning.

    For children, the world was so strange and vast. It was full of new things, and it wasmon for them to like the new and hate the old. How many adults could still remember the interesting things that happened in the lower grades of elementary school? Unless it left an unforgettable impression, it would only slowly fade away.

    It was the same for little celery. Compared to fighting the typhoon with everyone in the Pet Shop, and listening to her mother¡¯s secret for many years, meeting a strange little sister was just a small thing, and she would soon forget it.

    It wasn¡¯t until many yearster, when Cai Xiaoqin, who was preparing to go to college, visited the Pet Shop again on thest summer vacation of high school, that she saw the little girl in primary school blushing cutely. Her long-lost childlike heart was aroused. She picked her up and rubbed her face hard. The little girl¡¯s embarrassed look made everyoneugh. It was not until then that Cai Xiaoqin vaguely remembered that when she was a child, there was a little sister whose face was already blurred who also rubbed her face like this.

    But that would be a long time in the future, so long that little celery, who was doing her homework, couldn¡¯t even imagine the distant future.

    The mysterious girl remembered everything. When she grew up, she relived everything that happened when she was a child. She was surprised that she had forgotten so many fun things from her childhood, especially when sister little celery, who had always been an excellent student and a model for other children, suddenly made fun of her. Perhaps sister little celery, who had sessfully been sent to her ideal school, had let herself go a little.

    She looked at the young sister little celery and the pedestrians who asionally passed by the shop. The sense of reality of being in the shop was definitely notparable to the cold fate of being in the fifth dimension and seeing everything clearly. So, even if she knew about fate, she still wanted to live every day in excitement.

    ¡°So, Who are you? Is it really as Cleopatra the seventh said, that you are my ¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian walked to her side. Because the woman had moved into his brain, he was embarrassed to directly say Egypt, which was a Chinese movie that would make people think of it in a slightly crooked way.

    ¡°Well ¡­¡± She chuckled.¡±You can only guess.¡±

    ¡°Can you at least tell me your name?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t tell you that either. But it¡¯s okay, you¡¯ll figure it out one day.¡± She grinned like a child who was teasing an adult.¡±I can tell you that my surname is also Zhang, but don¡¯t think too much about it. After all, Zhang is amon surname. It¡¯s one of the top five, or even top three, surnames among the Chinese people.¡±

    This was the truth. There were indeed many people with the surname Zhang. It would be too nonsensical if she wanted to acknowledge her family just because her surname was also Zhang.

    She nced at the clock on the wall and said regretfully,¡±¡±Ah, I¡¯m leaving. Although I really want to stay in this era for a while longer and experience aplete day of this era, or even stay forever seems very interesting, but ¡­ Fate is fate. It can¡¯t be changed, must be followed, must be realized. In half a minute, sister Yiyun and sister Feifei will appear at the entrance of the shop, so there¡¯s only onest question left. You have to think carefully before asking!¡±

    As she spoke, she stretched out her palm, and the White and fat maggots eroded a translucent vortex in the space like before. Then, she nodded to him and the elves as if she was saying goodbye.

    During the day, it was dark inside and bright outside. Little celery was doing her homework attentively. The pedestrians outside the shop didn¡¯t look into the shop. Even if they did, they couldn¡¯t see anything clearly due to the contrast of light.

    There was only one problem left ¡­

    Zhang Zian really wanted to ask Yingying if she would appear again and if he could see her again.

    However, it was better to keep some surprises for himself. Maintaining a sense of anticipation for the future was the source of motivation in life.

    So he asked another question, a question that was of utmost importance to him and her.

    ¡°Who¡¯s your mother? You should at least tell me this!¡±

    After being single for so many years, he suddenly found out that he would not be alone. He was full of energy and his future seemed to be full of sunshine ¡­ He was both nervous and looking forward to his future partner.

    ¡°Hahahaha! I knew you would ask this question! But how can I tell you?¡± Sheughed heartily and walked towards the translucent vortex with light steps.¡±Try your best to find her ¡­ Maybe you¡¯ve already found her!¡±

    With thest word, her figure disappeared into the vortex.

    The translucent vortex had disappeared, as if it had never existed, and the many events that had happened this morning were like a series of absurd dreams.

    Zhang Zian smiled bitterly. What kind of answer was that? Wasn¡¯t it almost the same as not saying anything?

    Fine, I¡¯ll just treat it as maintaining my expectations and motivation for the future.

    Although this society often judged heroes based on sess or failure, the process of searching was actually the most interesting.

    Now that he knew that he would have a wife in the future, what was there to worry about?

    ¡°Eh? Did that big sister leave?¡±

    Little celery did her homework for half an hour. ording to her mother¡¯s request, she moved her eyes away from the book and looked at the street in the distance to maintain her eyesight. She looked out for a while, but when she turned back, she found that the strange sister was no longer on the first floor of the Pet Shop.

    ¡°She¡¯s gone. Little celery, you¡¯re too focused on your homework. She asked me not to disturb you, so she left quietly just now. ¡± Zhang Zian made up a little lie.

    The figure outside the door swayed.

    ¡°Manager, we¡¯re here for work.¡± Jiang Feifei and Lu Yiyun walked into the shop together. The former pointed outside and said,¡±¡±We also saw Wang Qian and Li Kun at the entrance of the snack bar. They were loafing around again.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded.¡±Have you had breakfast? If you haven¡¯t eaten yet, ask them to bring some breakfast over. It¡¯s my treat. ¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    Jiang Feifei stared at him curiously.¡±What¡¯s going on today? You¡¯re so generous, manager. ¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! To celebrate theck of wind today!¡±

    Zhang Zian walked out of the store and stretched his back.

    It was another beautiful day.

 Chapter 1738

    Chapter 1738: A different life

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    ¡°What you¡¯re seeing now is a weapon called Khopesh. This weapon that looks like a scimitar is widely seen in ancient Egypt novels and movies, but very few people know its exact name. Khopesh was the symbol of the ancient Egypt Warriors. It was about 50 to 60 centimeters long and had des on both sides. The outer side was used to cut the enemy¡¯s body and cause deep wounds, while the inner side was used to hook and cut, catching the enemy¡¯s weapons and shields to create an opening in the enemy¡¯s movements. ¡°Due to the use of overall casting technology and the progress of smelting technology in ancient Egypt, Khopesh is more powerful than the daggers used by the Roman soldiers on the battlefield ¡­¡±

    An elegant woman in a professional suit was exining an ancient Egypt scimitar in the disy cab to the tourists.

    The scimitar was made of bronze andy quietly on the dark red velvet. Under the light, it shimmered with the dark yellow light unique to copper. It looked very old, but it did not rust. Perhaps the hot and dry weather of ancient Egypt kept it in good condition until it was dug out by archaeologists one day after being buried deep in the sand.

    The guide¡¯s in-depth and easy-to-understand exnation made the tourists feel enlightened. They all praised the curved sword made by the ancient Egyptians and picked up their cameras or mobile phones to take pictures of it.

    She looked dignified with her hands crossed in front of her lower abdomen and a natural smile on her face. She patiently waited for the tourists ¡®desire to take photos to be satisfied.

    ¡°Xiao Li,e over for a moment.¡± A balding man with a big belly stopped her.¡±Let Xiao Liu exin it to you first.¡±

    ¡°Chief, what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    She walked over in her high heels, her steps steady and full of rhythm. She was not inferior to the models on the runway.

    ¡°Li, this is professor Wei Kang from Binhai University.¡± The head of the museum introduced them to her.

    She extended her hand to professor Wei Kang.¡±Hello, professor Wei. Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Li Ao, an assistant researcher andmentator at Binhai Museum.¡±

    Wei Kang shook hands with her.¡±Hello, Miss Li. I¡¯ll cut to the chase and get straight to the point.¡±

    ¡°Please speak.¡± Li Ao listened carefully.

    The big-bellied director took his leave.

    ¡°It¡¯s like this. I¡¯ll be leading an expedition team to the Sahara Desert in Egypt soon to carry out a scientific activity. For the sake of confidentiality, I can¡¯t tell you the details of the research for the time being. I can only say that we¡¯re looking for a special pyramid. Actually, we were once close to it, but due to a natural disaster, it was buried by the yellow sand. I heard that you have a deep understanding of ancient Egypt culture, second to none in Binhai city and the province, so I¡¯m here to invite you to join our team. What do you think?¡±

    Wei Kang exined the purpose of his visit and added,¡±¡±Of course, I came suddenly, and this matter is of great importance. You can take your time to think about it. You don¡¯t have to rush to answer.¡±

    She frowned and thought for a while, then looked at Zhang Zian, who was beside Wei Kang.¡±Is he also a member of the expedition team?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I forgot to introduce him. This is the special consultant of the expedition team. He also followed us the whole time when we entered the desertst time. Without him, we might not have been able to get out of the desert ¡­ Xiao Zhang, you tell us.¡± Wei Kang said.

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    Why do I have to apany you to act?

    He had no choice but to bite the bullet and say,¡±¡±My name is Zhang Zian, and I run a pet shop in Binhai city.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you. Professor Wei has such a high evaluation of you, you must be hiding your true strength. ¡±

    She shook his hand again. Her palm was delicate but strong.

    What did he mean by ¡®hidden¡¯¡­

    Zhang Zian waspletely acting. He wasn¡¯t famous, yet he was forced to make up the numbers and had to pretend that he didn¡¯t know each other to introduce himself to people he knew.

    Well ¡­ He admitted that when he first entered the museum with Wei Kang, he really did not recognize this elegant guide, and did not even realize that it was a dream.

    Everything seemed to make sense. Wei Kang was still holding a grudge against the Golden Pyramid buried in the yellow sand. Due to the sess of thest scientific examination, Binhai University had approved his application for the next one. Since they were going to the same ce for the examination, they had to try to keep the same team, so it was not surprising that Zhang Zian was called. It was reasonable.

    It wasn¡¯t until she was called over by the museum director that he recognized the woman under the alias Li Ao from her eyes. She was actually Cleopatra the seventh, and this was obviously a dream.

    That¡¯s right, other than her, how many people could know the weapons of ancient Egypt like family treasures?

    While she and Wei Kang were discussing the details of the expedition, Zhang Zian strolled around.

    Among the group of tourists, there was a woman in a traditional Chinese dress. He did not notice her before because she was surrounded by the tourists. Now that the other tourists had gone to visit other ces, she was the only one who stayed where she was. She was carefully studying the scimitar named Khopesh. If he still could not see it, he would be blind.

    ¡°I say, what are they ying at this time?¡± He walked to her side and asked,¡±you city people really know how to have fun ¡­¡±

    Zhuang Xiaodie didn¡¯t even turn her face, as if she knew that he woulde over and also expected him to ask this. She replied casually,¡±¡±Isn¡¯t it very interesting?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the point? You¡¯re ying an RPG game, so why are you dragging me along?¡± He said helplessly,¡±I¡¯m tired to death in the day. At night, I dream and am dragged here to be a able-bodied man. I¡¯m too difficult. I must have been a math problem in my previous life.¡±

    ¡°The math questions aren¡¯t difficult at all. They¡¯re full of beauty.¡± She retorted.

    It was a Brainiac¡¯s speech!

    Zhang Zian had no other expression except for sighing and a bitter smile.

    Zhuang Xiaodie looked back at Cleopatra the seventh, who was enjoying himself, and said,¡±¡±She asked me to arrange this.¡±

    ¡°Arrange for her to be a guide?¡± He asked.

    Logically speaking, if one could arrange their roles in the world at will, most ordinary people would arrange for themselves to be an Emperor, President, billionaire, sports star, celebrity, Kato masa ¡­ And other top sessful people to enjoy the pleasure of money, power, and sex.

    If Zhang Zian were to choose, he might also choose to reincarnate as one of those people. After all, he could win by lying down.

    However, she chose to be an ordinary person, a staff member of the museum. In addition to doing research every day, she also had to exin the collection of the museum to tourists.

    ¡°Yes, she wants to live a different life. She wants to be an ordinary person, but she doesn¡¯t want to be as dull as ordinary people. She will asionally be involved in exciting adventures ¡­ Simr to you.¡± Zhuang Xiaodie turned to look at him.

    ¡°Almost the same as me?¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned.

    The life that he was used to was actually envied by the Pharaoh of thest generation, who had lived a magnificent life and enjoyed wealth?

    This was really ¡­ What one couldn¡¯t get was the best!

 Chapter 1739

    Chapter 1739: Chapter 1738-ex

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian looked at Cleopatra the seventh, who was talking to Wei Kang from a distance. In order to respect her personal wishes, he decided to call her Li Ao. She and Wei Kang discussed the details of their trip to Egypt seriously, and even discussed the possibility of Cleopatra the seventh being buried in the pyramid. The truth that she asionally revealed made Wei Kang praise her endlessly.

    No one would have thought that it was a dream just by looking at this scene.

    Zhang Zian had experienced the dream world several times. Everyone¡¯s words and actions in the dream fit their character, especially those he was familiar with. He had juste to the museum with Wei Kang, and he didn¡¯t realize that it was a dream.

    If he had not recognized Li Ao, he might have still thought that he was going to go to Egypt for a second time.

    Li Ao was very engrossed in her acting. She was very eloquent, but not aggressive. She knew when it was appropriate to speak and when it was appropriate to listen, which made her a very good conversation partner. When they talked, it was like a spring breeze.

    Just like fina, who had chosen to take off the amulet, she also chose to take off her crown and Royal robe to get rid of the heavy shackles and no longer be bound by the glory and responsibility of the past. This was the realization that only they, who had experienced prosperity and returned to their original nature, could make.

    She could finally embrace a new life, forget the hatred of her country and her family, and pursue her own happiness, even if it was only a dream.

    However, as Zhuang Xiaodie said, a hundred years of life is just a dream in the void. In the end, who can tell what is real and what is illusionary?

    Therefore, he understood her choice and was happy for her. She could finally live for herself for once. He believed that her life would be wonderful this time.

    ¡°Little li is really amazing.¡± The big-bellied curator finished his work and walked back to Zhang Zian¡¯s side. He sighed,¡±¡±Not only is she beautiful, but she can also speak Chinese so fluently and is extremely knowledgeable. Even a few famous Egypt experts in China were convinced by her. Professor Wei must havee because of her reputation, right? ¡°Also, she¡¯s very knowledgeable, but she doesn¡¯t have that overbearing aura. She¡¯s very friendly. Ever since a female broadcaster called little snow came to visit her a few days ago, she¡¯s be famous. Even the number of visitors to the museum has increased severalfold ¡­ I know that everyone is here for her, but no matter what, it¡¯s always a good thing that the ticket revenue has increased. With the money to give our Qingshui Yamen employees benefits, I really can¡¯t bear to let her take a long leave.¡±

    This curator was so honest that he was cute. He didn¡¯t avoid talking about money. A leader who didn¡¯t care about his employees was definitely not a good leader.

    That¡¯s right, Li Ao¡¯s appearance was obviously in the southern European style. One look and you could tell that he was not a native Chinese. She was the only foreign staff member in the museum. She was beautiful, had a good figure, had a gentle temperament, was elegant, knowledgeable, and spoke fluent Chinese. As long as there was an opportunity, she would be popr. It would be unreasonable if she was not popr.

    As soon as Zhang Zian came in, he was quite puzzled. It was not the new year or summer vacation, so why were there so many tourists in the museum? This was only the Binhai City Museum, which was shabby and dpidated. Most of the exhibits in the museum were replicas, and there were only a few real ones. When he came here, the door was empty and miserable, but now ¡­ Damn, another wave of tourists hade in before one wave had left.

    Although the number of tourists couldn¡¯t bepared with therge National Museum, it was much more than before. Everyone saw that Li Ao was talking to someone and would rather wait for her to finish her work than let other guides show them around.

    The other staff in the museum would be lying if they said that they were not jealous at all. However, he was indeed capable and could greatly increase everyone¡¯s meager ie. In the face of a small amount of money, nothing else was a problem.

    To the curator, Li Ao¡¯s appearance was like sister Lin falling from the sky. He was both happy and worried, because he was worried that she would be poached by other museums, or simply resign and be a full-time inte celebrity.

    In fact, he didn¡¯t have to worry. The modern city that Zhuang Xiaodie was most familiar with was Binhai city. For a city that she and Zhang Zian had never been to, even if she simted it, it would be far from the real city. There was only one museum in Binhai city, so Li Ao would not jump ship. Besides ¡­ This city had fina.

    He still wanted to say something, but at this time, the mood of the tourists was a little anxious because of Li Ao¡¯ste arrival. He hurriedly went over tofort the tourists.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said. Zhang Zian said.

    Zhuang Xiaodie pretended to be surprised,¡±why are you thanking me?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no reason. In any case, thank you. ¡± He did not answer directly.

    ¡°Do you want to know what¡¯s going to happen next?¡± Zhuang Xiaodie answered her own question.¡±She will join the expedition team and return to Egypt. After enjoying modern Egypt, she will go deep into the desert with the expedition team and find the Golden Pyramid that had sunk into the ground but was blown away by the wind and reappeared. Then she will enter the pyramid and find the sarcophagus in the king¡¯s tomb. The moment the sarcophagus is opened, her sealed memories will awaken and she will find that her previous life was Cleopatra the seventh. She will start a love-hate rtionship that spans two thousand years ¡­¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s really ¡­ A Mary Sue. ¡± Zhang Zianmented.

    ¡°Of course, there will be various idents during the process. I¡¯ve added some variables to this dream. As for how these variables will develop and affect the plot, even I can¡¯t be sure.¡± She smiled and said,¡±so, in order for this scene to develop smoothly and make the plot progress unexpected but reasonable, you will have to participate greatly.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought, so you¡¯re saying that I¡¯ll be busy even in my dreams?

    ¡°An able man does more work.¡± Zhuang Xiaodie did not give him a choice to refuse,¡±well, let¡¯s stop here for today. They are done talking.¡±

    Li Ao and Wei Kang ended their conversation. The former hurriedly went to apologize to the tourists and began a new round of exnation, while thetter came to Zhang Zian with a smile. It seemed that their conversation went smoothly.

    ¡°Xiao Zhang, let¡¯s go. It seems that our expedition team is going to wee new members ¡­ Oh, right, Li Ao heard that thest time we went to Egypt, we brought cats and dogs, and it was a great help to the trip. She said that she liked cats and asked me about the location of your pet shop. She said that she would visit you another day.¡± Wei Kangughed.

    Zhang Zian pretended to smile. He had already expected this result.

    ¡°This is ¡­ Your acquaintance?¡± Wei Kang nced at Zhuang Xiaodie.

    ¡°She is ¡­¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know how to introduce her.

    ¡°Ex-girlfriend.¡± Zhuang Xiaodie said a word that made him surprised, but the power of this word was great. Wei Kang tactfully did not ask again, and found an excuse to leave first.

    Zhang Zian was afraid that Wei Kang would believe him, so he was about to chase after him to exin, but his foot slipped on the floor, and he woke up.

 Chapter 1740

    Chapter 1740: A year

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    In the morning, Zhang Zian opened his eyes.

    A new day had arrived.

    The window was open, only blocking the gauze window. The early morning bird chirping came from outside the window, and the sound of the broom sweeping the street.

    The cool air poured in through the window, causing the curtains to dance, and the beautiful morning light was revealed through the gaps between the curtains.

    He stretched his back. Although he had a whole night of strange dreams, he had recovered quite a bit.

    This was almost the most beautiful time of the year. The temperature was neither too hot nor too cold, the humidity was neither too dry nor too damp, and sleeping with the windows open was the mostfortable.

    The elves also got up one after another.

    Apart from the day shortening and the night getting longer, there was almost no change in the daily routine. It was in and busy.

    But in reality, there were changes every day. As long as one had a pair of observant eyes, they could capture these subtle changes. As long as one maintained their enthusiasm and expectations for life, every day would not be dull.

    The green leaves quietly turned golden, the children grew taller, the business ie of the store slowly increased, and the number of friends he made increased ¡­ This was probably happiness.

    Life was full of all kinds of feelings, sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, salty, and not just sweet.

    Today seemed ordinary, but it was actually a special day.

    Usually, he would be busy preparing for business after he got up, always waiting for the preparations to be almost done before going to buy breakfast. But today, as soon as he got up, he went into the kitchen and began to make breakfast with his clumsy cooking skills. The ingredients had already been packed and put in the refrigeratorst night.

    Could it be that ¡­ He had made up his mind to practice cooking in order to get a wife?

    If that was the case, the elves would have started mocking him. After all, there was not even a shadow of the legendary wife.

    However, the elves were unusually quiet today. Even Richard and snowy Li did not mock or ridicule them. On the contrary, Richard did not rush to eat his nut and vegetable mixed breakfast after getting up, and snowy Li did not eat the bloody raw beef brisket in front of it. Because their food was different from the other elves, they usually ate alone.

    Gxy didn¡¯t y hide-and-seek with the kittens, fina didn¡¯t stay in bed, old time tea didn¡¯t go downstairs to watch TV, famous didn¡¯t sit on the first floor waiting to wee its fans, dimir didn¡¯t leave the Pet Shop tomand the stray cats, Pi didn¡¯t open its eyes and sit in front of theputer to type, Fati didn¡¯t recite its daily morning prayers, and Sihwa didn¡¯t start her live broadcast early ¡­

    Everyone seemed to be silently waiting for something.

    There was the sound of pots and pans in the kitchen, and the rumbling of the exhaust fan returned to silence. Zhang Zian finally came out with a basin. On the tray were two sets of breakfast that were not very good at cooking but were very rich.

    He didn¡¯t put the tray on the table, but took it to the cab and ced two sets of breakfast in front of his parents ¡®portrait. Then he bowed respectfully and lowered his head in silence.

    ¡°Dad, mom, I missed you ¡­¡±

    His eyes were red.

    It had been a year.

    It had been a whole year since his parents ¡®sudden death.

    He closed his eyes, and the voices and smiles of his parents appeared in front of his eyes again. The scenes of the past shed by like the essence of a movie. From his childhood memories, he went to kindergarten, primary school, middle School, University, work ¡­ Although there were many disputes with his parents. Which child did not have ideological conflicts with their parents during their growth? However, all he could recall now were the most pleasant and beautiful memories.

    Richard pped his wings and flew over, putting a few nuts into the tes of two breakfast.

    Snowy Li didn¡¯t want to give up the fresh raw beef sirloin, and it knew that the two old people might not like to eat raw meat even if they were still alive. However, it still tried to jump several times and finally reached the counter, putting two raw beef sirloin on the te.

    The ceremony was hosted by one elf with great enthusiasm, and the other elves also presented their own gifts, such as a wreath woven from wildflowers, medicinal tea picked from the wild, and some elves prayed for them, some gave them blessings, and some wrote beautiful funeral prose for them, which was then recited by another elf with a more beautiful voice ¡­

    Since a few days ago, the Elfins had been quietly preparing. Even if some of the Elfins were careless and slow, they could more or less detect the changes in the other Elfins. As for how they knew the specific day, of course, they knew it from Pi¡¯s novel.

    As more and more things were ced on the te, the smiles on the two old men¡¯s faces became more and more gratified.

    dimir was about to announce the beginning of a moment of silence when a Low Dog bark came from outside the window. It was little white standing on the roof of the Wuling Hong Guang MPV with a set of postcards in its mouth. It was a set of intact and clean postcards. It was not easy to find such clean things from the garbage dump. The content of the postcards was world-famous scenery, making up for the regret of the two old people who had never gone abroad.

    dimir stood on the windowsill and looked at little white. Then, it silently opened the gauze window and let little white jump in.

    Little White¡¯s body was also very clean, without any odor. It had taken a bath by the sea beforeing here. It put the postcard on the cab, then retreated to the side, standing in a corner with dimir. Today was the first time the two of them had called a truce for a day for something outside of their own race.

    Famous was dressed more solemnly, and Pi helped it tie a pure white bow tie.

    The Elfins squatted or stood around, all of them lowering their heads to mourn for the two old people, including Sihwa in the bathroom.

    All of them had their eyes closed, and no one noticed that there seemed to be a faintly discernible colorful butterfly flying around the two portraits, scattering a dreamy five-colored scale powder, and then suddenly disappeared on the back of the portraits.

    No matter where everyone came from or what extraordinary experiences they had, fate had gathered everyone here. Everyone was also grateful to the two old men for providing such a shelter and a new stage for their lives.

    Little White¡¯s situation was a bit special. It didn¡¯t live in the Pet Shop. It came to pay tribute to the two old people because it wanted to thank Zhang Zian for the long-term help he had provided to the stray dogs. As for how it knew the specific date, of course, it was the other elfin who had hinted at it.

    No one ordered them to do so, and no one had the right to order them to do so. The people who could make them submit simply did not exist in this world. They had never bowed to power, never to wealth, never to beauty, but today, they had bowed to two old men who had passed away.

    Zhang Zian thought he would cry, but he didn ¡®T. He had already said what he wanted to say to them in his dream. In his dream, he smiled and said goodbye to them, so he wouldn¡¯t cry today.

    Rather than crying and reminiscing about the past, it was better to face the future with a smile.

 Chapter 1741

    Chapter 1741: Chapter 1740-harvest

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Golden autumn.

    It was a sunny day.

    At this time, primary school students would be assigned homework or essays by their teachers. There would often be a fill-in-the-nk question in the homework, or a sentence often appeared in theposition written by primary school students with tender writing.¡±Autumn is the season.¡±

    A few days ago, Zhang Zian happened to see this fill-in-the-nk question in little celery¡¯s homework, which evoked his childhood memories. He had done this question when he was in primary school, and the answer he wrote was exactly the same as little celery ¡®s. Autumn was the harvest season.

    It was a verymon answer, but it would definitely get her points.

    However, if he were to fill it out now, he would definitely write that autumn is the electricity-saving season. To hell with the score!

    He couldn¡¯t help but feel guilty when he thought of himself when he was a child, shouting to turn on the air conditioner when it was a little hot. He didn¡¯t know how expensive water and electricity were. Now, in addition to the cost of buying kittens and puppies in the Pet Shop and aquarium, the biggest daily expense was the electricity bill, followed by the water bill. The price ofmercial water and electricity was double that of residential water and electricity. Every time the electric bill came out, he would be so excited that he would have a heart attack.

    In the summer, they had to turn on the air conditioner, and in the winter, they had to turn on the electric heater. Only in spring and autumn did they need to turn on anything, and the door was open for venttion.

    ¡°When one side is in trouble, all eight sides wille to help! This is the donation collected by everyone. Today, I will transfer all the donation to Mr. Store manager and ask him to buy disinfection and epidemic prevention drugs for the stray cats and dogs in Binhai city. ¡±

    Snowy held up a sign with a four-digit number written on it. In front of the phone camera, she solemnly handed the sign to Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian took the sign.¡±Then I would like to thank you on behalf of the stray cats and dogs in Binhai city. I will ask snowy to publish the detailed purchase list of the medicine on her Weibo and the public ount of our store. I guarantee that it will be open and transparent.¡±

    The money had already been transferred to him. Today was just a small ceremony to let the enthusiasticizens know that the money he had donated had been realized.

    After the typhoon and flood subsided, the streets of Binhai city were in a mess. What was even more disgusting was that the bodies of small animals drowned in the flood were often seen. Most of them were rats, followed by cats and dogs.

    Most of the drowned cats and dogs should be stray animals, including a small number of free-range families.

    dimir and little white had tried their best, but the typhoon hade too suddenly, and it was impossible for them to save all the cats and dogs.

    Whether it was for the surviving stray cats and dogs or for the city¡¯s residents, epidemic prevention after the flood was the top priority. The city government would organize arge number of human and material resources to put into key areas for disinfection, but for the stray cats and dogs that were elusive, people had no good way to deal with them.

    Snowy¡¯s stay in the United States this time was far longer than expected. She had already bought ne tickets, but she was shocked to hear that a Typhoon was approaching Binhai city. In this situation, even if she took a ne back, she wouldn¡¯t be able tond. Besides, her parents would never agree, so the family of three dyed for a while before returning home.

    The second day after she returned to China, she ignored the fatigue of the journey and immediately threw herself into the work of an outdoor livestream. She introduced the disaster situation of Binhai city to fans all over the country and even around the world. In her live broadcast, everyone saw the bodies of stray cats and dogs that had drowned and had not been cleaned up in time. Of course, they only nced at them from a distance. Otherwise, snowy and the girls who were weaker would not be able to stand it.

    Although some people suspected that she was taking the opportunity to attract fans, she was innocent and she was innocent.

    The corpses of drowned small animals would cause fleas and other pests to breed inrge numbers, and they would spread to stray cats and dogs. Many people thought of this possibility, but there was no good way, unless all the stray cats and dogs were eliminated, but that was too cruel, and it might cause controversy. Besides, the existence of stray cats and dogs would more or less limit the reproduction of rodents such as rats. If all the stray cats and dogs were killed, wouldn¡¯t the rats run rampant?

    Snowy was also very worried about this problem. She went to the Pet Shop to ask Zhang Zian for advice. Thetter said that he could solve the problem by regrly applying medicine to strays, and he had already nned to do so.

    Enthusiastic pet-loving and well-offizens were generous, no matter how much money they had, they expressed their sincerity.

    It was the weekend, so the store was full of people. As soon as snowy left, Zhao Qi, Liu Wenying, and Yue Yue came.

    ¡°Store manager Zhang, it¡¯s been almost a year since you took over this store, right? When will you have a one-year anniversary promotion?¡±

    Zhao Qi was carrying her newly bought branded bag, Liu Wenying was holding Yueyue¡¯s hand, and Yueyue was holding a half-eaten ice cream. It might be thest time this little girl had the Fortune to eat ice cream this year. After all, the weather was getting colder as the days went by.

    ¡°I really haven¡¯t thought about this. Our shop is a small business and suffered heavy losses in the typhoon. If we offer any more discounts, we¡¯ll have to sell our blood.¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t give in.

    ¡°Woof! Who are you trying to fool? I don¡¯t care, today our cat food must be discounted and I want a bone fracture!¡± Zhao Qi carried a pile of imported cat food and ced it on the cashier.

    Every time she and Liu Wenying came together to store cat food, they would always find various excuses to ask Zhang Zian to give discounts, which made Liu Wenying feel embarrassed. In fact, Zhao Qi was willing to buy a bag that cost a few thousand Yuan, so why would she care about the discount of a hundred Yuan? What she enjoyed was the thrill of discounts. Otherwise, she would feel that she had made a loss. This was probably the shopping logic of urban white-cor workers. Otherwise, the 11/11 holiday would not have be a National Carnival.

    It wasn¡¯t until Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t persuade her and quietly agreed to give them a 5% discount that she and Liu Wenying returned with arge pile of cat food.

    ¡°Little Zhang, do you have time? There¡¯s something I want to discuss with you. ¡± Wei Kang came to visit in a brand new private car.

    ¡°Professor Wei, congrattions on your promotion. Come in quickly.¡± Zhang Zian could tell at a nce that Wei Kang was in high spirits, and he finally took off the ¡°vice¡± word in front of his title.

    ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about this, let¡¯s not talk about this ¡­¡± Wei Kang humbly waved his hand and looked around the shop.¡±Hey, there are so many people in your shop, it¡¯s almost full. I won¡¯t go in. I¡¯ll leave after a few words.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    He thought it was about Peter Lee and the Leshi dog food, but Peter Lee was facing a long trial of the century in the United States, which could drag on for eight to ten years.

    ¡°It¡¯s like this, ourst trip to Egypt left us with a lot of regrets, and you see, it¡¯s been almost half a year. The radio devices installed for the Fennec foxes may be running out of power and falling off one after another. After all, the local environment is too bad, the temperature difference between day and night is too big, and the battery life may not meet the design requirements. We can¡¯t leave the recovery of the radio devices to the local schrs and nomads. This is what we put in ourst time ¡­ So I think we should go to the desert again and recover those devices with our own hands. At the same time, we can work together with the teachers and students of the archeology Department to solve the regrets we left behindst time. What do you think?¡± Wei Kang stated his intention.

    Zhang Zian almost fainted when he heard this. Did he fall into Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s dream again? Or was it the so-called sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu?

    Everyone in Zhuang Xiaodie¡¯s dream fit their own character setting, which made her dream have a strong prophetic effect. The Wei Kang in reality and the Wei Kang in her dream both had deep regrets about thest trip to the desert. It was not surprising that they would make the same decision after tossing and turning. This was Wei Kang¡¯s character.

    He quickly advised Wei Kang to give up on the idea. It should not be a big problem to leave the retrieval of the radio device to the local people, because the Fennec foxes were social animals. Missing a few devices would not affect the analysis of the survival of the entire group too much.

    Was there a need for ayman in biology like him to remind him of such things? Of course, Wei Kang knew that it was just an excuse. The fennec fox was not the main point.

    Wei Kang and his fellow teachers had inadvertently mentioned the Golden Pyramid hidden in the depths of the sand Sea during the gathering. Although Wei Kang had not seen it with his own eyes, Peter Lee¡¯s court trial had vaguely revealed the relevant information, so it had aroused the great interest of the archaeology Department of Binhai University. After all, it was a pyramid that had never been discovered before. It was likely to be the mausoleum of thest pharaoh of Egypt. If a China Expedition team could enter it first ¡­ It would definitely cause a sensation in the world and make the Department of Archeology of Binhai University famous at home and abroad.

    The professors of the archaeology Department hesitated, and Wei Kang was also tempted. If it was a joint application by the biology Department and the archaeology Department, the school would definitely approve it, and there was also the previous sessful experience as a guarantee.

    Wei Kang had long been disappointed with his useless disciples. He had heard that the students of the Department of Archaeology had always been diligent and hardworking. They often participated in field excavation work and even had field excavation experience in ancient tombs in the Gobi Desert of the Western Region. They had some simrities with the desert. If they cooperated, this time they would be familiar with the road, better thanst time, with better materials, equipment, and manpower. Perhaps they could find more secrets about the original Egypt cats in the murals of the Golden Pyramid.

    He and the archeologists had discussed and agreed that Peter Lee¡¯s im that the Golden Pyramid had been buried in the yellow sand was just a one-sided statement. Perhaps the cunning Peter Lee had deliberately said that, but in fact, he had secretly nned to send his men to take the treasure in the Golden Pyramid. In order to avoid this situation, they had to rush deep into Egypt desert before Peter Lee¡¯s remnants made their move and conduct a protective excavation of the Golden Pyramid.

    Zhang Zian was speechless and smiled bitterly. The Golden Pyramid had really been buried, but it was not convenient for him to prove it for Peter Lee. Otherwise, the pressure and focus would be on him.

    This time, it was obvious that the Department of Archeology at Binhai University was eager to make a big deal out of this. They were determined to bring Wei Kang to Egypt.

    He tried to persuade Wei Kang to leave, but it was just a temporary stop-gap measure. Even if Wei Kang changed his mind, the people from the archaeology Department might not give up.

    But what could he do? Let¡¯s just take it one step at a time.

    He nned to visit Binhai City Museum the day after tomorrow to see if there was a female guide with a Southern European look in the museum ¡­

    After sending Wei Kang off, he saw an acquaintance pushing a wheelchair across the road before he entered the shop.

    It was Guo Dongyue pushing his mother for a walk. The wheelchair had been modified and had a stand with a birdcage hanging on it. A few parrots were jumping around in the birdcage, asionally speaking humannguage, which made passersby look at them.

    Guo Dongyue¡¯s mother raised her head and smiled like a child. She looked so innocent that an adult¡¯s face shouldn¡¯t be showing. She looked at the parrot in the cage like a child, her lips moving as if she was talking to the parrot.

    Zhang Zian had seen Guo Dongyue¡¯s WeChat moments a while ago. It seemed that the big house that Guo Dongyue had bought nearby had been renovated. It seemed that they had already moved in.

    Across the road, he waved at Guo Dongyue, who had been looking at the Pet Shop and also waved back.

    An SUV was parked by the side of the road, blocking his view.

    ¡°Brother Zhang, your business is doing well!¡± Feng Xuan got off the car with a smile on his face.

    ¡°Director Feng? Why are you here?¡± Zhang Zian was very surprised.

    ¡°Shh!¡± Feng Xuan quietly made a gesture to keep quiet. Now that he had be famous, he still kept a low profile and didn¡¯t want to be photographed by people nearby.

    Brother Zhang, I¡¯m going to visit a friend in the film and television industry. I happened to pass by, so I came to see you and famous.¡± Feng Xuanhan asked in a startled tone,¡±how have you been? are you okay?¡±

    ¡°Everything¡¯s fine. Director Feng, do you want toe in and sit?¡± Zhang Zian invited.

    Feng Xuan looked at the crowded store and shook his head with a smile.¡±Forget it. I¡¯lle back when I have the chance.¡± By the way, brother Zhang, the script for Dog Warrior 2 has been released recently. I¡¯ve read it and think it¡¯s pretty good. Do you want to consider it?¡±

    After Feng Xuan became a first-ss director in the country with the help of Dog Warrior, he was not like other directors who became famous overnight, who were desperate to make quick money to shoot bad films. Instead, he was particrly cautious and did not want to ruin his reputation at ater time. He had very high requirements for the quality of the script and the investors, and ordinary films were not in his eyes.

    The poprity of Dog Warrior had attracted the Chinese film industry, who liked to follow the trend, to rush forward. All kinds of animal films appeared on the stage, and 99.9% of them were crudely made to make money. This made the Chinese film Critics feel bitter andment that the audience would lose their enthusiasm if this continued. Dog Warrior had opened the door to China animal movies, but it was about to be closed by other bad movies ¡­

    The domestic animal film Market was in urgent need of another cardiac stimnt to continue the audience¡¯s enthusiasm, and there was no better choice than Dog Warrior 2.

    Dog warrior¡¯s reputation and box office were both good. Whether it was the crew or the investors, they obviously would not give up this golden signboard. The sequel was put on the agenda early, and the investment budget was ten times higher than the first film. It was said to have no upper limit.

    The script of Dog Warrior 2 had long been in the process of being revised, and Binhai studio was also actively working on it, expressing their full cooperation. They must keep the sequel shooting location in Binhai city and not give it away. Even the leaders of the municipal Cultural Department were paying close attention to it and actively promoting the matter.

    The other details were easy to deal with, but the main lead couldn¡¯t be changed to Yingying. Of course, this didn¡¯t mean the human lead in the movie.

    Zhang Zian and famous found it hard to refuse.

    He knew that after the release of Dog Warrior, famous did not immerse itself in its past glory, but continued to observe life, hone its acting skills, and strive to make new breakthroughs.

    Everyone was looking forward to famous¡¯s sess in Dog Warrior 2.

 Chapter 1742

    Chapter 1742: Chapter 1741-troubled times

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Feng Xuan cherished his reputation. If he wasn¡¯t very optimistic about the script of Dog Warrior 2, he wouldn¡¯t havee to Zhang Zian personally to mention this.

    In the past, when famous acted in ¡°Dog Warrior,¡± it was paid the price of a neer. Although it wasn¡¯t particrly low, there was a big gap with the pay of human actors. Things were different now. The productionpany of Dog Warrior 2, whose budget had been increased by ten times, had directly thrown out a sry that, in Zhang Zian¡¯s opinion, could be considered sky-high. If ordinary people did not squander, they could not work for the rest of their lives.

    This was not the highest pay he had ever seen. The producers and directors who hade to negotiate with him for film contracts were like a school of silver carps crossing the river. Some of them were paid so high that it was unbelievable, even ounting for more than half of the total budget of the film. The rest of the human actors were all B-list pretty actresses and young male stars, and they took up another quarter of the budget. If he signed the contract for famous, he would only be left with a yacht and a mansion for the rest of his life, but famous¡¯s reputation would be almost ruined.

    What kind of luxurious life had famous not experienced? When it was extravagant, the ancestors of these actors were still eating dirt. It used to treat the best Wagyu beef as a regr meal, and now it found the beef bought from the market, which cost 30 yuan per 500 grams, delicious. No matter how big the house was, sleeping space was only one square meter.

    It had seen through all these worldly possessions. In 20 years, no one would remember the old and faded popr stars, and it would be remembered in the history of movies.

    Zhang Zian took the script that Feng Xuan handed over. The script was not thin, and the content was very detailed. It was definitely impossible to read it on the spot and give an answer. He had to study it repeatedly with famous in private to try to be as perfect as possible.

    Feng Xuan eagerly urged him to raise any opinions about the script. Since Zhang Zian was busy, he didn¡¯t want to disturb him, so he left first.

    As soon as he left, Zhang Zian was standing at the door, looking down and skimming through the script. He wanted to take a look at the plot outline first. After all, as a fan of famous, he was also very curious about the content of Dog Warrior 2.

    At this time, another private car stopped by the side of the road and honked twice to attract his attention.

    Zhang Zian quickly walked over.

    Sun Xiaomeng opened the trunk and got out of the car.

    ¡°The medicine you requested has been prepared. See if it¡¯s enough.¡± She pointed at the stic buckets in the trunk and said.

    ¡°Almost. I¡¯ll find you if it¡¯s not enough.¡± Zhang Zian opened the lid of one of the buckets and saw that it was filled with white powder, which was a mixture of several kinds of insecticide and disinfectant.

    ¡°But what do you want so many for? A medicinal bath for pets?¡± When sun Xiaomeng received Zhang Zian¡¯s prescription request, she had already guessed that such a medicinebination could only be used in a medicinal bath, but the amount was far more than the dosage needed for ordinary pet shops. Themon medicinal bath medicines were all in liquid form, in the form of shower gel, for convenience of use, but Zhang Zian specifically asked for dry powder, because the dosage was toorge, and the liquid took up too much space.

    It was difficult for ayman to master the ratio of several strong drugs, and it was also difficult to get these drugs. The manufacturers were more willing to sell medicinal bath body lotions with high profits, so he asked sun Xiaomeng to buy and mix them for him.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, if you buy more at once, Won¡¯t You Be able to lower the unit price?¡± He answered.

    Seeing that he was ying dumb, sun Xiaomeng obviously didn¡¯t want to answer why he bought such arge dosage. Anyway, these drugs were very toxic to humans, and unless they were eaten in a whole bucket, they generally wouldn¡¯t cause harm to humans.

    She was also very busy at her clinic. The typhoon had caused many pet fractures, burns, and so on, so she had to hurry back to the clinic to receive customers.

    She hurriedly exined the proportion of water mixed in, as well as which bucket was for cats and which bucket was for dogs. She also emphasized that these strong insecticide was highly toxic to pets and must not be drunk.

    Zhang Zian nodded and remembered it. He also had to pass this information to dimir and little white.

    He nned to buy an intable swimming pool for home use and ce it somewhere in the suburbs. Then, he would put some medicinal powder in it and mix it with water. Then, he would use the generator to make a simple water cirction shower device. Taking advantage of the fact that the weather was not too cold, he would find a good day with good weather and let the stray cats and dogs line up to disinfect it, and then dry their fur.

    He asked Wang Qian and Li Kun to move the barrels of powder into the shop.

    ¡°Manager Zhang!¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng was not willing to give up. She wanted to further explore the real reason why he bought so many drugs, but suddenly a loud voice called out to Zhang Zian. She did not know the thin bald old man, so she had to leave and return to the clinic.

    Zhang Zian looked over and saw that the person who called him was an old man who was not tall but had a loud voice. It was welder Zhao, and electrician Wu, who was almost inseparable from welder Zhao, was next to him.

    Welder Zhao was riding an Electric Tricycle, and electrician Wu was riding an electric bicycle. The two old men were in good spirits.

    ¡°Master Zhao, Master Wu, what are you doing here? I¡¯ve been busy recently, so I didn¡¯t have time to visit you. If you didn¡¯t help me make it waterproof, my shabby shop probably wouldn¡¯t have survived this Typhoon. ¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it, we¡¯re on the same side, no need to be polite. ¡± Electrician Wu said,¡±if it wasn¡¯t for you, my old partner would have lost his life several times ¡­¡±

    ¡°How could it be several times?¡± Welder Zhao was not convinced. His voice was loud, almost like a quarrel, and it attracted the attention of the customers in the shop.

    Zhang Zian was afraid that they would start arguing again, so he quickly changed the topic.¡±Master Zhao, is your body ¡­ Okay?¡±

    Welder Zhao patted his chest proudly.¡±I¡¯m fine, I¡¯m fine a long time ago. I¡¯m still very healthy ¡­ It¡¯s just that I¡¯m missing a piece of flesh on my hand.¡±

    Due to the infection of the Marine bacteria, arge piece of rotten flesh had been cut off from the edge of his palm by the doctor. The wound had just healed and the bandage had been removed, revealing an ugly scar.

    ¡°I¡¯m already so old anyway, no one cares what I look like. So what if I lose some meat? it¡¯s no big deal. ¡± He said loudly,¡±eat a few more pieces of meat and you might grow back!¡±

    With his personality, should he be called open-minded and optimistic, or should he be called someone who only knows how to eat and not how to beat? Perhaps both.

    ¡°Master Zhao, Master Wu, where are you guys going?¡±

    Zhang Zian noticed that there were some umon tools in the container of the electric Tricycle, which did not look like decoration tools. They included a stic bucket, a small shovel with a wooden handle, a bag with a narrow eye, long rain boots, a long and thick iron hook, a t stone with a rope tied to it, a thick-handled writing brush ¡­ And the strangest thing was a can of salt.

    ¡°AI!¡±

    Electrician Wu sighed before he spoke. He pointed at welder Zhao and said,¡±¡±It¡¯s all because of him. A few days ago, the ps were still so painful that he couldn¡¯t sleep without taking painkillers. Now that the ps no longer hurt, he¡¯s starting to torment himself again ¡­¡±

    Welder Zhao interrupted him, Wu! Why are you always ridiculing me? Am I tormenting you? I¡¯m just ¡­ Cooking some game to thank manager Zhang! Besides, who was in so much pain? Who¡¯s in so much pain that they can¡¯t sleep all night?¡±

    Electrician Wuughed coldly.¡±Manager Zhang, I really don¡¯t care about him anymore! His wound didn¡¯t hurt too much these days, so he began to eat meat, especially crayfish. However, after the typhoon, crayfish were generally out of stock, and the price was too high. He was greedy and reluctant to spend money on them. ¡°Yesterday, I heard from my aquatic friends that there was a beach in the South. After the typhoon, someone was digging for Taotie prawns there. He dug a few catties and went home to make his own spicy Taotie prawns. He said that they were more delicious than spicy crawfish, so delicious that he almost ate his fingers ¡­ When old Zhao heard this, he couldn¡¯t sit still at home. His palm no longer hurt. Today, he dragged me to dig for Taotie prawns no matter what. This car is filled with stuff for him to ask for advice. It¡¯s a tool that people told him about, a tool used to dig out big mole crickets. ¡±

    Welder Zhao straightened his neck and said, unconvinced,¡±¡±Manager Zhang, please be reasonable. The giant Taotie shrimp is lying under the sand of the tidal t. I¡¯m digging, and so are the others. Why can¡¯t I dig? Store manager Zhang, I¡¯m telling you, I even brought lunch today. I¡¯m not going home until I dig up ten catties of giant Taotie shrimp! We won¡¯t regard each other as strangers, I ¡­ I ¡­ I¡¯ll share five pounds with you!¡±

    When he said that he would give Zhang Zian five pounds, welder Zhao¡¯s face was full of heartache.

    Zhang Zian understood now. It turned out that welder Zhao wanted to eat shrimp, but he was reluctant to spend money on crayfish, so he had the idea of buyingrge tadpole shrimp.

    The giant Taotie shrimp was not as likable as the crayfish. It was a little ugly, but it was indeed edible. He heard that it was delicious, and the most important thing was that it didn¡¯t cost money.

    This kind of shrimp was hidden in the sand of the tidal t and could only be caught when they were dug out. When they were caught, they would use an incredible tool like a writing brush. No wonder they had a thick and long writing brush in their car.

    However, catchingrge Taotie prawns was a technical job. Inexperienced people might not be able to catch a few in a day. Zhang Zian doubted whether welder Zhao¡¯s bold words of digging five kilograms could be realized.

    The most important thing was, was electrician Wu anxious and angry because of the Taotie shrimp? It was obviously because of welder Zhao¡¯s death-seeking physique!

    ¡°No need, master Zhao, you can keep it for yourself. I don¡¯t really like eating crayfish or giant Taotie shrimp.¡± Zhang Zian declined.

    Actually, how many people didn¡¯t like to eat crayfish? He said that because he could understand welder Zhao¡¯s stingy mind ¡­

    When welder Zhao heard that, he pretended to be happy and regretful.¡±¡±You don¡¯t like it? Sigh, then I have no choice. I¡¯ll get you some old hens raised in the countryside one day to nourish your body. ¡±

    Anyone could tell how unreliable this kind of promise was. Electrician Wu sighed as he listened, wishing he could find a hole to hide in.

    ¡°That ¡­ Master Zhao, I don¡¯t know which part of the southern tidal t you¡¯re talking about. I¡¯ve never been there before, but I¡¯d like to remind you to be careful of the danger.¡± Zhang Zian said.

    What welder Zhao and electrician Wu were doing was to clear the mudt. The concept of clearing the mudt and clearing the sea were very simr, even ovepping, but notpletely the same.

    Travelling to the sea was usually to look for creatures or shells washed up by the waves on the beach or between the reefs on the coast. The harvest was especially great during low tide. The key was to step on the harder sand or reefs.

    Tidebanks were carried out on soft sand. When one stepped on it, the sand might reach up to one¡¯s calf, and they might even have to dig out creatures from the sand. Because it was difficult to walk in the soft sand, they might not be able to safely return to the shore in time when the tide rose.

    He reminded them not to go too deep into the tidal t during low tide, or they would be in trouble during high tide.

    Welder Zhao promised, saying that he had already asked his fish friends about the things to pay attention to, and he would not be rash.

    In all fairness, welder Zhao was not reckless. After all, he had been working in the factory for decades without any idents. His safety awareness was quite strong, but ¡­ He was just too unlucky.

    He picked up a rock with a bobbit worm hidden in it.

    His neighbor had some water creatures mixed in with poisonous sand anemones.

    His hand was cut while he was fishing, and he was infected with the Marine bacteria Vulture ¡­

    He had encountered almost all of these unfortunate events that ordinary people would not encounter in their entire lives.

    It was a miracle that he could still be alive despite his bad luck. In superstitious words, he had a tough life.

    Electrician Wu still wanted to say a few more words, but welder Zhao couldn¡¯t wait any longer. He wanted to run to the beach, afraid that if he was a stepte, all the big Taotie prawns would be dug up by others. He said goodbye to Zhang Zian and forcefully pulled electrician Wu away.

    Zhang Zian looked at the two old men who had been quarreling all the way and couldn¡¯t help butugh. He silently wished them a safe return with a full load.

    As soon as the two left and he was about to enter the shop, he saw another private car driving over.

    He didn¡¯t recognize the car, but after a closer look, he found that the driver was Sheng ke, who was in casual clothes.

    What a busy day ¡­

    He looked up at the sky and sighed in his heart. This seemed to indicate that theing year would not be easier than the previous year.

    ¡°Captain Sheng, what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    He rushed over and opened the door for Sheng ke.

    Sheng ke was surprised by his question.¡±No, I¡¯m on leave today. I¡¯m shopping with my wife and children. I saw you standing by the road, so I came to say hello.¡±

    Zhang Zian was relieved. If even Sheng ke had something to ask him, he would be so busy that he would cry.

    Sheng ke¡¯s wife and children were sitting in the back seat of the car. Zhang Zian had seen their photos before, but this was the first time he had seen them in person.

    They smiled and greeted Zhang Zian, their expressions full of sweet joy.

    Sheng ke was always so busy that he often had to be on duty or work overtime on the weekends. It was rare for him to enjoy precious holidays and go shopping with his wife and children on the weekends.

    Zhang Zian invited them into the shop for a while, but they said that they had already booked tickets to the amusement park. They were afraid that there would be too many tourists if they werete, so he did not insist. After all, the family should enjoy their precious holiday.

    They exchanged a few words about their recent situation. Sheng ke was quite talkative and wanted to talk more, but Zhang Zian urged him to leave quickly, not to let his sister-inw and niece wait too long.

    Sheng ke understood his concern. He got back into the car, restarted the engine, and drove toward the amusement park. His wife and children waved goodbye to him from the back window.

    However, just a few seconds after the car started, it suddenly stopped.

    Zhang Zian saw Sheng ke put his phone to his ear and said a few words, and then his face turned serious.

    As expected, his premonition was right. This was a period of trouble.

 Chapter 1743

    Chapter 1743: Chapter 1742-Wufeng is also worried

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    On vacation, Sheng ke drove his own private car. The weather was good, and the windows and sunroof were open. The cool breeze also carried the sound of Sheng ke¡¯s phone outside the car.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t mean to eavesdrop on the phone call, and it was probably about official business. But because he was so close, and Sheng ke¡¯s voice was also high, he heard it passively.

    Sheng ke¡¯s men reported to him a new case.

    Normally, Binhai city was a medium-sized city, and there were countless big and small reports every day. If he were to report every one of them to Sheng ke, he wouldn¡¯t even have 48 hours a day. So, the reports to him must be special cases, such as major criminal cases, difficult cases that his subordinates had no clue about, or cases that he had specially requested.

    For the police, the most infuriating thing was the case where the suspect had already been locked in, but the suspect had escaped first. It would make them feel aggrieved and let down the victim.

    Sheng ke¡¯s men found that the new report had some simrities with a previous case model. In addition to some other doubts, his men judged that this may be a case involving a wanted suspect, so they called him.

    Sheng ke nced at Zhang Zian through the rearview mirror and said in a deep voice,¡±¡±Don¡¯t act rashly. Wait for me to go back and make arrangements. No matter what, we can¡¯t let him escape again. ¡±

    As soon as he said that, his wife and child¡¯s faces immediately turned dark.

    ¡°Must you go? You¡¯ve been out all day, and the children can¡¯t recognize you anymore!¡± His wife had long been used to her husband¡¯sst-minute overtime. If it were any other day, she would not have anyints because it was useless toin. However, today was the day that they had agreed to go out and y together.

    The child was on the verge of tears as he secretly wiped the corners of his eyes.

    Sheng ke knew that he owed his wife and children too much, but ¡­

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, another day. I¡¯ll definitely make it up to you guys another day. Today¡¯s matter is more important, so I have to be there.¡± He tried his best to exin.

    ¡°Compensation! Compensation! How many times have you said it? when have you everpensated me? Everything is important, but only US two aren¡¯t important, right?¡± Sheined. Although her words were somewhat unreasonable, she couldn¡¯t be med for this. Who asked her to hold in her resentment for too long?

    Sheng ke was anxious and really didn¡¯t have the mood to quarrel with his wife. Besides, he was indeed in the wrong, so there was nothing to argue about.

    ¡°I¡¯ll send you back first. If I finish early, I might have time tomorrow ¡­¡±He said.

    ¡°If you want to go, go by yourself. We¡¯re not going back!¡±

    His wife¡¯s temper was also rising, and she pulled the child out of the car in a fit of pique.

    It was hard to have a good family and a good career. Sheng ke was in a dilemma. He couldn¡¯t help sighing, but he had to leave. The difficulty was how to calm his wife down.

    Zhang Zian came over to smooth things over.¡±Captain Sheng, why don¡¯t you ask your sister-inw and niece toe to my shop? we can watch the fish, y with the cats, and y with the dogs. You can go and do your own things.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, yes! You can go to the Pet Shop and the aquarium. It¡¯s much more fun than the amusement park. You¡¯ll know when you see so many people in the shop. ¡± Sheng ke chimed in.

    His wife was quite virtuous. This time, she had lost her temper because she was really angry. She knew her husband¡¯s character well. Even if she made a fuss, it would be useless. Besides, it was embarrassing to quarrel on the street. It might even affect her husband¡¯s career if it was photographed by some busybodies.

    With Zhang Zian as the peacemaker, she could only reluctantly go with the flow. What else could she do?

    Seeing his wife and children enter the aquarium angrily, Sheng ke felt relieved. He said to Zhang Zian,¡±¡±Thanks, brother. I have something to do, so I¡¯ll take my leave first.¡±

    He didn¡¯t have time to say anything more and immediately drove away.

    After Sheng ke left, Zhang Zian heard the leaves rustling above his head. He looked up and saw that old time tea had quietly sneaked up the tree.

    Zhang Zian could hear Sheng ke on the phone, but he couldn¡¯t hear what he was saying. Old time tea, however, could.

    ¡°Grandpa tea?¡±

    He noticed that old time tea was squinting its eyes and looking in a certain direction.

    ¡°The person on the phone said that The Phantom beauty salon was ckmailed by arge sum of money, andst night, a group of unidentified people smashed it. Fortunately, the boss wasn¡¯t therest night, or else ¡­ Later, the boss called the police, saying that he was jealous of his peers.¡± Old time tea said.

    This mode ¡­

    He and old time tea looked at each other and thought of the same person at the same time.

    ¡°It seems that Qing Ren is back.¡± Old time tea sneered,¡±he probably thought that the matter was over, so he returned to Binhai city tomit crimes.¡± He managed to escapest time, but since he¡¯s back now, Binhai city will be hisst stop before he goes to prison. ¡±

    Sheng ke must have thought of this too, so he left in a hurry and personally arranged the arrest of Qing Ren.

    ¡°I have nothing to do. It¡¯s a good time to stretch my muscles and give you a hand.¡± Old time tea said decisively.

    The police had already been mobilized, and it was not convenient for Zhang Zian to show up. With his skills, he might alert the enemy. He knew that old time tea had made up its mind, so he said,¡±¡±Grandpa tea, please be careful.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s no big deal, just a thief, this old man will be back soon. ¡± Old time tea smiled. Under the cover of the trees, it jumped between the treetops on the sidewalk and disappeared in the blink of an eye. The pedestrians under the trees heard the sound of leaves above them, but they didn¡¯t see anything.

    Zhang Zian knew old time tea¡¯s skills, but he didn¡¯t know its strength. After all, old time tea always kept a low profile, and its strength was unfathomable, so he was not worried.

    Besides, this operation was carried out by the police. Old time tea was just hiding in the dark, waiting for an opportunity to take action to restrain the cunning Qing Ren, so there would be no danger. No matter how powerful Qing Ren was, he was just a weaker version of Peter Lee. Compared to Peter Lee, he was just a small yer.

    ¡°AI! How do you guys drive? Do you have eyes?¡±

    At this moment, the sound of a car braking was heard on the street, followed by a series of curses.

    Zhang Zian turned his head and saw a municipal engineering vehicle that had stopped on the road with an emergency brake. Next to the vehicle, a woman riding an electric bicycle was shouting and cursing.

    It turned out that as the engineering vehicle was driving forward, the container was constantly flowing with sewage. It seemed that the sewage had sshed on the woman¡¯s clothes, so she stopped the engineering vehicle and demanded that the engineering vehicle pay for it.

    It was none of Zhang Zian¡¯s business. To be honest, if it was a more expensive or favorite piece of clothing, it would be very angry to be sshed by the sewage. However, he noticed that the person who jumped out of the engineering vehicle looked a little familiar.

    The man apologized to the woman in a low voice.

    Zhang Zian stared at the man¡¯s side profile and thought for a while. He finally remembered where he had seen him before. It was the time when he and the Huang father and son were rescuing the stranded minke whale on the beach. They had called the fishery administration staff, andter, he had seen him again next to the dead gray whale that had almost exploded.

    What was his name again ¡­

    Zhang Zian looked through his phone¡¯s contact list and found his name, ke shaohui.

    Ke shaohui was pestered by the woman and insisted that he pay. He really had no choice. After bargaining, he paid her 100 yuan and asked her to dry-clean her clothes. Only then did she give up resentfully.

    He sighed at his bad luck. The sry of the fishery administration was low to begin with, and now he had lost 100 yuan for no reason. What could he do with this 100 yuan? Even if he treated the brothers from the administration of fishery to beer, it would be better than throwing them away. He could only me his poor driving skills and carelessness. It was much more rxing to drive a boat on the sea. He could drive it however he wanted.

    ¡°Master ke, are you alright?¡±

    Just as he was about to get into the car, he heard someone call him from behind. Because hisst name was not verymon, people usually did not call him by the wrong name.

    Looking back, he also recognized Zhang Zian. After all, he had met him twice, but he couldn¡¯t remember his name.

    ¡°I¡¯m Zhang Zian, the one who runs a pet shop.¡± Zhang Zian smiled and pointed at the sign of the Pet Shop.

    ¡°Oh! Yes, yes! I remember now!¡± Ke shaohui smacked his forehead in realization.¡±Look at my memory ¡­ Sigh! I¡¯m sorry to let you see this ¡­¡±

    He knew that Zhang Zian must have witnessed the scene just now, and his face was a little hot.

    Zhang Zian looked at the water dripping out from the gap of the car. The water was green and had a strong fishy smell. No wonder the woman was so persistent. The smell was on the clothes and not easy to wash off.

    ¡°Master ke, the water is flowing out ¡­¡± He said.

    Ke shaohui sighed.¡±I have no choice. This car was borrowed temporarily. There are no suitable cars, so I can only make do with it.¡±

    Zhang Zian sniffed it. ¡°Master ke, what kind of water is this?¡± It smells like seawater ¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s hai Shui. ¡± Ke shaohui nodded.

    He had dealt with Zhang Zian twice, and in those two incidents, he felt that Zhang Zian was very knowledgeable and knew more things than ordinary people, especially some strange and unpopr knowledge.

    ¡°Come, take a look.¡±

    He waved at Zhang Zian, then stepped on the back tire of the engineering vehicle and climbed to the edge of the container.

    Zhang Zian hade over to chat with him out of curiosity, so he followed his example and stepped on the tire to look into the car.

    ¡°It¡¯s really delicious ¡­¡±

    The top of the trunk had a fishy smell. To his surprise, the inside of the trunk was filled with green algae.

    The seaweed was wet, obviously just fished out of the sea. The fine and dense seaweed leaves were especially good at storing water, no wonder it was dripping water all the way.

    The problem was, why did they use the municipal engineering vehicles to pull the seaweed? Did this thing have any economic value?

    Also, where did the seaweede from? Were there so many algae near Binhai city?

    Zhang Zian had many questions in his mind, but he didn¡¯t know if it was convenient to ask.

    Ke shaohui began to talk about it himself.

    It turned out that the typhoon was formed in the distant South China Sea, and then it went all the way north with great momentum. Not only did it sweep up arge amount of water vapor, but it also swept up arge amount of seaweed from the southern sea.

    After the typhoonnded in Binhai city, its energy slowly dissipated, and it entered a Sage Mode. The seaweed that was swept by the typhoon remained in the open sea of Binhai city.

    The days after the typhoon had been calm. The wind and ocean currents did not exert any force, so arge amount of seaweed had stayed in the open sea and gathered there. The specific location was in the sea near Binhai city.

    The seaweed was like dense vines that were intertwined, upying arge area of the sea. From a distance, it looked like a dark green carpet.

    What was troublesome was that once a fishing boat of ordinary tonnage or a fishery administration ship entered the seaweed area, the propeller would soon be entangled, and the boat would be trapped inside.

    The fishing rest period was about to end, and the fishermen had to go out to sea to fish. Otherwise, what would they eat?

    The seaweed had blocked the fishing port, and the fishing boats couldn¡¯t get in or out, which made the fishery administration anxious and had to do this. It was a temporary measure to fish the seaweed up and then transport them away in batches. The fishery administration and fishermen were not stupid enough to think that they could fight against nature with their meager manpower. It was impossible to clear all the seaweed in this way, but at least they could open a passage for fishing boats to enter and leave the port.

    The only thing that couldpletely remove the algae was the strong monsoon, but who knew when the monsoon would start? With global warming, sr terms were bing more and more unreliable.

    The arrival of the typhoon made people feel helpless, but it was not a good thing to have no wind.

    Binhai city¡¯s fishery administration was unlucky. They had just finished their disaster relief work for the typhoon, and before they could take a break, they had to fight the seaweed again. Everyone was exhausted.

    It was the same for ke shaohui. He had been a little tired from driving just now and had only been distracted for a little while. The dirty water flowing in the car had sshed on the passers-by, and he could only me himself. At this time, he took the opportunity toin to Zhang Zian to clear his mind a little.

    They had to transport the seaweed to a designated ce far away from the city, dry it, and then burn it.

    Zhang Zian understood the whole story and sympathized with the staff of the fishery administration, but he couldn¡¯t help. He was neither the wind god nor the Dragon King. What could he do with the seaweed?

    Whenrge amounts of seaweed gathered together, they would multiply explosively under suitable conditions. The scale was beyond imagination. When Columbus was searching for a new world, the fleet was trapped by seaweed for a month.

    Of course, the seaweed in the sea near Binhai city wasn¡¯t that scary, but it still caused a lot of difficulties for people¡¯s daily lives and production.

    Another thing that caught Zhang Zian¡¯s attention was that ke shaohui had just mentioned that the seaweed was currently gathered in the sea area south of Binhai city. No wonder he had not seen any seaweed when he went out to sea to y Sihwa¡¯s songs.

    The ce that welder Zhao and electrician Wu went to just now seemed to be the tidal t in the South of Binhai city.

    Ke shaohui¡¯s words came to an end, and Zhang Zian had no more questions. He was embarrassed to continue wasting other people¡¯s time. Just as he was about to jump off the tire, he suddenly felt something moving in the seaweed.

    Seaweed was not an isted creature. When arge amount of seaweed gathered together,rge ocean predators and fishing boats would stay away from them. It was a hotbed for many small ocean creatures. In the seaweed that floated from other ces, you could often find ocean creatures that did not exist locally.

    When the fishery administration staff fished for the seaweed, they inevitably also fished up some small creatures attached to the seaweed.

    Zhang Zian looked at it carefully, took out a paper towel, and picked up a very small, translucent bug.

 Chapter 1744

    Chapter 1744: Chapter 1743-you went for wool and came home shorn

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    There were many small and micro-sized creatures in the sea. The seawater looked clean and clear, but in fact, if some strange guests drank a mouthful of seawater, they might end up in their stomachs.

    Most of these creatures were harmless to the healthy, but there were always exceptions.

    The thing that Zhang Zian had picked up was too small, about the size of a rice grain. At first, he thought it was a small worm onnd that was attracted by the fishy smell of the seaweed, so it was like a moth flying to the fire in search of food. However, when he looked at it carefully under the sun, he noticed that the body structure of this ¡°bug¡± was quite special. It didn¡¯t look like a bug onnd, but more like a crustacean animal in the water, such as a shrimp or something.

    The more detailed things could only be seen with the help of a magnifying ss or microscope.

    Ke shaohui saw his actions and smiled.¡±¡±Did you pick up something good?¡±

    ¡°What is this? Do you know him? Is it a prawn?¡± Zhang Zian handed the shrimp to ke shaohui with a tissue.

    This thing was really too small. Zhang Zian had to put it almost in front of his eyes to barely see its outline. He was too embarrassed to directly reach out his hand in front of people¡¯s eyes.

    Ke shaohui¡¯s vision wasn¡¯t bad, but he still couldn¡¯t see it clearly from a distance. He had been a sailor before, so he had a rough personality. He stretched out two fingers and wanted to pinch it to see it.

    Zhang Zian felt that it was a little inappropriate. It was obviously not a wise move to touch an unknown creature, but it was too small, and he had never heard of any kind of shrimp that was poisonous, so he hesitated and did not stop it.

    As a result, ke shaohui had just picked it up when his facial muscles suddenly twitched and he sucked in a cold breath.

    ¡°F * ck! This thing ¡­ It bit me!¡±

    He subconsciously swung his hand to get rid of it, but he regretted it as soon as he got rid of it because it was too small. It fell to the ground and mixed into the soil, unable to be found.

    ¡°Where did it go?¡±

    He jumped from the tire to the ground and crouched down to search for the item.

    ¡°Forget it, stop looking. Is your hand okay?¡± he asked. Zhang Zian asked.

    Ke shaohui lowered his head and looked at his hand. There was a wound the size of half a grain of rice on the tip of his right index finger that was bleeding.

    ¡°What the f * ck? This little thing is so fierce?¡±

    He stared at his finger in disbelief.

    He used to be a sailor on a ship, and he often traveled for half a year on the ocean. The life at sea was not as delicate as a pig girl ¡®s. The sailors lived very rough lives, and they spent all day with machines, ropes, duners, and railings. Every sailor¡¯s palms were rough.

    He retired from a sailor a few years ago and was admitted into the administration of fishery. The things he often touched changed from cables to keyboards. The calluses on his fingers had been smoothed out, but they were still much rougher than ordinary people¡¯s fingers. Even so, when he saw the little thing, he was bitten and bled.

    If it had been any other part of his body that had been bitten, he might not have reacted so violently and directly flung it away, but the fingers were connected to the heart.

    ¡°What is that thing? Why was he so fierce? You¡¯re biting me right away!¡± He looked at Zhang Zian in fear because he didn¡¯t see anything clearly, but Zhang Zian at least saw more clearly than him.

    Zhang Zian also looked at his fingers and shook his head.¡±¡±It¡¯s hard to say. It could be some kind of shrimp or something else.¡±

    ¡°Shrimp?¡±

    Ke shaohui was stunned.¡±Prawns bite people?¡±

    This was something he had never heard of in his many years as a sailor.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but the ocean is so vast. There are always species of creatures that humans don¡¯t know about.¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t jump to conclusions.¡±By the way, has the fishery administration received simr reports recently, such as incidents of tourists or citizens being bitten by the sea?¡±

    ¡°This ¡­¡± Ke shaohui thought about it awkwardly.¡±Even if there is such a thing, we should ask the hospital. Unless it gets out of hand, I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ll be thest to know ¡­¡±

    This was true. The jurisdiction of the fishery administration was very wide, but because it was too wide, it couldn¡¯t be very detailed. If someone was bitten by this creature at the beach, if it was serious, they would go to the hospital to treat the wound and then go home. Basically, no one would consciously report it to the fishery administration.

    ¡°You suspect that there are a lot of those things in the sea?¡± Ke shaohui asked.

    ¡°There must be a lot of them. Such small creatures must be gathered inrge groups to survive. I was born in Binhai city, and I¡¯ve never heard of these biting creatures near the sea. They must have attached themselves to the seaweed and were blown here by the typhoon. ¡± Zhang Zian nodded.

    ¡°Then ¡­ What should we do?¡± Ke shaohui¡¯s face looked as if he was constipated. First, there was a Typhoon, then there was seaweed, and now there were mysterious biting bugs. If this continued, the fishery administration would have to resign collectively.

    A single bug could bite through his rough fingers. If it was a group of these small bugs ¡­ He didn¡¯t dare to think further.

    What to do?

    The simplest solution was, of course, to prohibit citizens and tourists from swimming in the sea. However, once this decision was announced, it would definitely cause a great uproar. People would not believe that it was a biting bug at work, but would make wild guesses about whether there was some terrible danger in the sea. From the leakage of nuclear fuel to Godzi¡¯s appearance, people¡¯s imagination in this regard was always very strong.

    Zhang Zian picked up a handful of seaweed and observed it carefully in his palm.

    As a pet practitioner, he was good at identifying pet-rted animals. He was not good at nts unless he had done his homework. For example, before entering the mahogany forest, he had studied which nts in the forest were edible. However, as a child who grew up by the sea, he had some understanding of seaweed and could recognize that it was algae of the genus Ultis.

    Ultis algae was the general name of arge species of algae, including more than 40 kinds of algae. He couldn¡¯t tell which kind of algae the algae in his hand belonged to.

    The pollution of the ocean, the deterioration of water quality, and the explosive reproduction of algae would often lead to a red tide, leading to the death of arge number of marine creatures, also known as red spirits.

    Not all red tides were red. There were also green tides formed by the explosion of green algae, and a typical example was the algae of the Ultis family.

    Recognizing that it was algae of the algae family, Zhang Zian remembered a piece of news he had seen before. It was about some kind of shrimp that bit people, so he had a deep impression of it. It was the first time he had heard that shrimp bit people.

    In August 2017, a 16-year-old Australia teenager ran to the beach and soaked his feet in the sea because he felt his leg muscles were sore after ying football in the afternoon.

    This was not the first time he had done this. He and his friends would swim in the same spot almost every day, and nothing had ever happened.

    However, about half an hourter, when he lifted his feet from the sea, he was horrified to find that both of his feet were densely covered with small wounds from the middle of his calves down. They had been bitten to a bloody mess, and there was almost no intact skin left.

    When he soaked his feet, he felt a tingling sensation, but he thought it was a normal reaction caused by his muscles, which were hot and bloodshot from exercise,ing into contact with the cool sea water. After all, it was winter in the Southern Hemisphere.

    After he was sent to the hospital, the doctor could not determine what had bitten him.

    In order to find out the truth, his father came to the same beach again and put the raw meat into the sea. When he picked it up again, he found a group of bloodthirsty small crustacean-like creatures. After identification, they seemed to be some kind of ss hook shrimp.

    This dangerous ss hook shrimp did not only exist in the Southern Hemisphere. As early as 2007, there was a record of more than one citizen being bitten by them in the Shandong Penins. What was certain was that this ss hook shrimp would swim with the seaweed in the sea and not too far away from the seaweed.

    In adventure novels, people often described the Army ants as gods. It was said that a group of army ants could instantly eat a living person into a skeleton. Of course, this was an exaggeration. A living person was not stupid. Who would stand there and wait to be eaten by army ants?

    These bloodthirsty ss hook prawns were like army ants in the sea. It was not easy for people to run away in the sea. It should be very dangerous to encounter groups of ss hook prawns when swimming, but normal people would not swim inrge patches of seaweed, right? The probability of being entangled by seaweed and drowning was much higher than being gnawed by ss hook shrimp.

    Therefore, in general, these ss hook shrimp and humans did not interfere with each other. There were not many cases of humans being bitten, at least not reported. They were too small and their bodies were translucent, which made their movements extremely concealed. If you were bitten when you were swimming in the sea, you would not think that it was a kind of small shrimp that had bitten you.

    Zhang Zian told ke shaohui everything he knew andforted him,¡±¡±As long as no one is swimming near the seaweed, there shouldn¡¯t be any major problems. There¡¯s no need to take any special measures to avoid panic. At most, a few signs will be set up on the beach where there is seaweed to warn citizens and tourists not to swim in the sea, or they may be entangled by the seaweed and cause danger.¡±

    Ke shaohui nodded repeatedly and heaved a sigh of relief. What he was most worried about was to make the matter a big deal. Whether or not people were injured or even killed because of this, the Department of Fishery administration would be the one to suffer in the end. It would be best if the problem could be solved by putting up a few signs.

    ¡°This is only a temporary solution. The real solution is to wait for the monsoon toe and blow the seaweed back to the deep sea. If we¡¯re lucky, the wind might start in a few days.¡± Zhang Zian added.

    ¡°I hope so.¡± Ke shaohui sighed.¡±You¡¯re really good at causing trouble for the administration of fishery ¡­ I¡¯ll go first. Bring this truck of seaweed to the ce, and I¡¯ll get a few more signs to nt on all the beaches with seaweed.¡±

    Zhang Zian suddenly thought of welder Zhao and electrician Wu, and asked,¡±¡±Wait a minute. Is there a tidal t in the South? Someone¡¯s digging for giant Taotie prawns there?¡±

    ¡°Y-yes, there¡¯s such arge tidal t.¡± Ke shaohui confirmed.¡±What¡¯s wrong with the tidal t?¡±

    ¡°Uh ¡­ Are there anyrge patches of seaweed in the ocean?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s one of the areas with the densest algae. There¡¯s arge outbreak of algae, and the big tadpole shrimp, big bamboo m, and m are all fed with seaweed. Someone is catching shrimp there.¡± Ke shaohui smiled embarrassedly.¡±To be honest, my colleague used to be a shrimp catcher there, but he¡¯s been too busy recently and hasn¡¯t been there ¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    Other people might just be catching prawns there, but as long as it was a dangerous ce, welder Zhao would definitely be in danger.

    He even suspected that welder Zhao was a person with hidden superpowers, who could increase the risk of danger from close to zero to one ¡­

    As soon as he thought about it, his phone rang. It was electrician Wu.

    Seeing this, ke shaohui waved goodbye to him and gestured to keep in touch in the future. Then, he returned to the car and drove the municipal engineering vehicle away.

    ¡°Hello? Master Wu, did something happen to master Zhao?¡± He answered the call.

    Before electrician Wu could say anything, welder Zhao¡¯s shrieking came from the other end of the phone.

    ¡°Cough! Don¡¯t even mention it!¡±

    Electrician Wu briefly exined what had happened.

    It turned out that the two of them had calcted the time when the tide would fall. When they arrived at the beach, the tide had already fallen. They parked the electric car on the shore and carried their tools to catch the giant Taotie shrimp.

    Welder Zhao had heard his fish friends talk about how to catch shrimp, but he thought he had learned it after listening to a few words. He walked into the tidal t after the tide fell with confidence, but it was not that simple when he actually did it.

    To fish for the giant Taotie shrimp, one had to shovel away ayer of sand from the flooded mudt with a shovel. After shoveling away the sand, if there was a hole below, one had to insert a bamboo stick or something simr into the water. If the bamboo stick moved, it meant that there was a giant Taotie shrimp in the hole. Next, he had to stick the brush into the hole.

    The Taotie shrimp was a clean freak and knew how to clean up the foreign objects in the cave. If it thought that a writing brush was a foreign object, it would push the writing brush out. As it pushed the writing brush, it would pop out of the cave. At that time, it would be fine to catch it quickly.

    It seemed simple, but the timing was not so easy to grasp.

    Welder Zhao was impatient. He boasted that he would catch 10 pounds of giant Taotie shrimp that day. In the end, a few of them came out of the hole but went back in. He couldn¡¯t help it. He threw away his brush and reached into the water-filled hole to get the shrimp.

    He took out several big Taotie prawns in a row andughed at electrician Wu, who was fishing for prawns step by step with a brush. Unexpectedly, when he put his arm into the water again to look for prawns, he didn¡¯t get any, but his hand was bitten.

    He thought it was a shrimp using its pincers to pinch him, so he didn¡¯t care and continued to dig deeper. In the end, the hole was more twisted, and his hand was stuck.

    Then, he felt a sharp pain in his palm and forearm, as if he had been electrocuted. It wasn¡¯t very painful, but he was still wondering what was going on.

    When he finally pulled his arm out of the hole, he found that his palm and forearm were covered in blood. There were also many semi-transparent bugs hanging on his skin, not letting go.

    The visual impact frightened him more than the pain on his skin. He screamed in fear, and electrician Wu almost had a heart attack.

    Electrician Wu was also dumbfounded when he saw his arm. He threw his tools aside and pulled him up to the electric bike by the beach. He nned to take him to the hospital and call Zhang Zian while running.

    Zhang Zian sighed after hearing this. This time, it was just a flesh wound, so there would not be any danger. But if welder Zhao continued like this, the rest of his life would be full of passion and adventure.

 Chapter 1745

    Chapter 1745: Chapter 1744-strong wind and clouds

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    When Zhang Zian pulled the curtain Door open, a gust of wind, about level three or four, mischievously gushed into the room.

    The wind started to blow.

    He was caught off guard and almost got dust in his eyes.

    The wind continued to blow from the Northwest ind direction and towards the southeast sea.

    ording to the content in the middle school geography textbook, in September every year, cold and high pressure would form over Mongolia. The cold and dry northeastern or Northwestern seasons would first arrive China Northern China and then push all the way South.

    The cool autumn weather was reallyfortable.

    Yesterday, he had driven to the beach in the south of the city to take a look. Standing on the shore, he could see the vast green of the sea. Large clusters of green algae had been washed up to the shore, which was a disgusting sight. Fortunately, the tidal t was not a scenic spot. Usually, no one would visit it except for those who went to the beach to drive the tidal t away, so the green algae outbreak would not affect their tourism ie.

    The wind should be able to blow away arge amount of seaweed in the open sea of Binhai city, and it could also give the people from the fishery administration a good rest.

    ¡°Good Morning, manager ¡­ Ah ¡­¡± Jiang Feifei came in yawning, followed by Lu Yiyun.

    The former had been chatting with Zhou Jing in San Francisco on the inte recently, not only about the ocean mansion, but also about life in the United States and the daily life of the Pet Shop. However, because of the time difference, she knew that Zhou Jing¡¯s work in the ocean mansion was very hard, so she tried to adapt to Zhou Jing¡¯s work and rest schedule, which led to her always staying upte or getting up early to chat with Zhou Jing.

    Lu Yiyun was also yawning. She seemed to be very busy recently. She used all her free time to draw, and often stayed upte. But every time Zhang Zian wanted to see what she was drawing, she would quickly switch the screen interface, as if ¡­ Embarrassed? Forget it, he was not interested in shoujo mangas anyway.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun also came to work yawning. They didn¡¯t do anything serious, but stayed upte to y games. In their fourth year, they had even less to do. As for their future goals, they would only think about it when they were in the toilet.

    The staff began their daily routine, and everything was no different from usual.

    After a busy Sunday, it was Monday. As the saying went, there was little business on Monday, so Zhang Zian didn¡¯t have high expectations for today¡¯s business. He could expect that today would be a leisurely day.

    Even so, who knew what would suddenlye knocking on their door and make them so busy?

    Life was always full of surprises and surprises.

    For example, he received an email from United States Los Angeles yesterday. Tim and Lauren from blue climax cattery invited him to go to the United States again. In addition to the new batch of Ragdoll cats that needed his help in training, they also wanted to bring back the Abyssinian cats that had stayed in the United States to participate in the CFA tournament back to China. After Cathy passed away, she left all her cats to Zhang Zian. In order to not let her efforts go to waste, he did not bring all the cats back to China. Instead, he left one or two for Tim and Lauren to represent him in the CFA tournament.

    ording to the date, it was time to bring them back to China and let them reunite with the other Abyssinian cats. In order to avoid inbreeding, the healthy Abyssinian kittens needed to be infused with more vibrant blood. All of this had been written in Cathy¡¯s breeding log, but that was all.

    The more distant future was a nk in her breeding log, waiting for future generations to continue writing.

    ¡°Good Morning, brother store manager!¡±

    Little celery ran over like the morning wind, stopped in front of the store, took a few breaths, and said,¡±¡±I¡¯m on duty today, so I won¡¯t be going in! ¡®Bye!¡¯ I¡¯ll disturb you again in the afternoon!¡±

    ¡°Bye! It¡¯s fine to run a little slower. ¡± Zhang Zian waved his hand.

    ¡°Good Morning!¡±

    After a while, Masanori suzuhara also ran over in a loose-fitting sportswear, with Snoopy the Beagle.

    ¡°Good Morning, long time no see.¡±

    Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°Haha, I returned to China during the summer break and left Snoopy with a friend. I just came back two days ago.¡± Masanori suzuhara kept walking on the spot to warm up and smiled.¡±¡±We were lucky enough to avoid the typhoon.¡±

    Since she had to pick up Snoopy¡¯s feces, she was carrying a small sports backpack. She took out a very beautiful box from her bag and handed it over respectfully.¡±¡±This is a local specialty from my hometown. Please share it with everyone.¡±

    When Zhang Zian thought about how the box was put together with dog poop, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a little ufortable. Although dog poop was in a separate stic bag, he still reached out to take the box. He could only pray that Snoopy had not pooped today.

    ¡°Alright, thank you.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t read Japanese, but from the pattern on the box, it seemed to be Japanese-style snacks.

    ¡°See you tomorrow,¡±

    Masanori suzuhara continued her morning run, and Snoopy happily followed her.

    As soon as the snack box was opened, it was snatched by the staff. Zhang Zian didn¡¯t even get a piece. However, it was fine. He preferred to eat meat.

    As he had expected, there were very few customers today, so he had a lot of free time.

    ¡± Gxy asked with great interest.

    ¡°Come, let¡¯s go! I¡¯ve been observing the sky at night. Today, I¡¯m going to win!¡±

    Meow! You¡¯re bragging!¡±

    A new round of hide-and-seek had begun.

    As he ran past the cat tree, fina was napping in boredom. Recently, it had been napping for a longer time every day, ying an interesting role in its dream with the uniform version of Cleopatra the seventh.

    Snowy Li looked at him in disgust and said to itself,¡±¡±It seems like it won¡¯t be so noisy after being castrated ¡­ Meow meow meow! Your Majesty, the weather is good today. Let me lick your fur!¡±

    When he ran past the corner, old time tea was watching the TV intently, sipping tea from time to time. Assisting the police in the arrest was nothing to it. It was far less interesting than the TV show.

    ¡°Gah gah!¡± Richardnded on his shoulder.¡±I feel that you¡¯ve been very listless in the morning recently!¡±

    ¡°Bullshit! How am I out of energy?¡± Zhang Zian rolled his eyes. Was he lying?

    Richard rolled his little ck eyes mischievously and patted his head with his wings.¡±I¡¯m not talking about you, I¡¯m talking about your second brother. A steel gun will rust if it¡¯s not polished. Why don¡¯t we go to the blind date corner in the People¡¯s Square today? I¡¯ll definitely help you find a good man ¡­ Gah!¡±

    It ran away in time before Zhang Zian could fight back.

    Famous, who was next to the stairs, didn¡¯t take a nap today. It had a Bluetooth headset in each of its ears, repeatedly listening to the recording, which was Feng Xuan exining the script of Dog Warrior 2 to Zhang Zian.

    He didn¡¯t find Gxy on the first floor. Zhang Zian went up to the second floor, gently pushed open the door of the storage room, and looked inside.

    There was no Gxy in the storage room. Fati closed his eyes and sat facing the window, praying silently. The storage room became Fati¡¯s prayer room, where he couldmunicate with God without being disturbed.

    Of course, this was just Zhang Zian¡¯s guess. Maybe it didn¡¯t pray at all, but was meditating, emptying its mind, and obtaining the sublimation of its soul.

    Meditation was a good thing for everyone. He also needed to meditate and think about his future path, but he was always busy and could not calm his heart. When he had time, maybe he could Ask the Law pushing for advice.

    Next to the desk, Pi was typing away, continuing to tell the readers the story of the Pet Shop. No matter how long the story was, it woulde to an end one day. He didn¡¯t ask what it nned to do in the future, but he just needed to stand by its side and continue to support it.

    The story might end, but life would never end.

    He didn¡¯t knock on the door and directly pushed the bathroom door open. Anyway, Sihwa¡¯s ears were very sharp, and she must have heard the sound of him approaching.

    ¡°Hey! Listen to me! I¡¯ve climbed the Himyas before, and I¡¯m only one step away from the top!¡± Sihwa shouted angrily at the phone,¡±why don¡¯t you believe me?!!!¡±

    Normal people would not believe it. Although climbing Mount Everest had be an industry, not just anyone could climb it. Netizens would not believe that an otaku girl like her, who spent all day in the bathtub and doing live broadcasts, could climb the Himyas.

    There was also no sign of Gxy in the bathroom. He missed it again and was even sshed by Sihwa¡¯s anger.

    He searched the second floor, but he still couldn¡¯t find Gxy.

    Zhang Zian would not give up just like that. He was used to losing anyway. There was nothing on the first and second floor. Could it be on the rooftop?

    He went up to the roof from the second floor.

    There were still branches and debris from the typhoon on the roof. He hadn¡¯t had time to clean them up, but it wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t have time, he had forgotten about it.

    Welder Zhao and electrician Wu¡¯s renovation skills were on point, so the roof survived the typhoon and didn¡¯t leak rain.

    There was no Gxy on the rooftop.

    Zhang Zian stood on the edge of the roof and looked at the scenery around the Pet Shop.

    The air was fresh, and the view was excellent.

    Near the row of old bungalows further away from the green space, a white-haired olddy could be vaguely seen hunched over as she counted the empty stic bottles, and a puppy was ying around beside her.

    He returned to the second floor, then went down to the first floor, and started searching again.

    ¡°Stop! Stop right there!¡±

    Two figures, one white and one blue, jumped into the Pet Shop from outside. dimir ran in front, and little white was chasing behind.

    Panting, little white stuck out its tongue and roared,¡±¡±Stop right there! If you have the guts, fight me head on!¡±

    dimirughed wildly as it ran.¡±Damn it, only a fool would fight you head-on!¡± When the enemy advances, I retreat. When the enemy is tired, I fight, do you understand? If you have the ability, thene and chase me!¡±

    The two of them ran a few rounds around the shelves, and after a while, they ran out of the store and disappeared.

    It was another peaceful day in the Pet Shop.

    After searching downstairs and downstairs several times, he finally gave up,¡±Gxy,e out, I admit defeat.¡±

    ¡°Meow~¡±

    As soon as he turned around, Gxy was squatting behind him.

    Time passed slowly, and it was already evening.

    There were even fewer customers in the evening. Zhang Zian and the staff were all looking for things to kill time.

    ¡°Handsome? Is the hottie here?¡±

    An Electric Tricycle stopped in front of the store, and the deliveryman stuck his head in.

    ¡°I! I¡¯m here!¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s spirit was lifted. He stood up from the recliner and walked to the door.¡±Is this my express delivery?¡±

    ¡°Uh ¡­ You¡¯re a hottie?¡± The deliveryman sized him up with a strange look.¡±Then ¡­ Please sign here.¡±

    Zhang Zian signed the words ¡°super handsome¡± on the express delivery form.

    ¡°Master, what good stuff did you buy? It¡¯s Shunfeng express. ¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun came over curiously.

    ¡°You guys guess.¡±

    He waved the delivery box in front of them as if showing off.

    ¡°Uh ¡­ An adult toy? ck and white with a CD? Shizun, you really caused us a lot of troublest time!¡± Wang Qian and Li Kunined.

    ¡°What ck and white?¡± Jiang Feifei asked, puzzled.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Don¡¯t listen to their nonsense. ¡±

    Zhang Zian red at them, took out a letter opener, and opened the seal of the courier box to take out the contents.

    ¡°ng! My new phone!¡±

    He happily showed them his new phone.

    ¡°Waa! Master, I want it too! Buy us one too!¡± The shop assistants were envious and jealous.

    ¡°Hahaha! That will depend on your performance!¡±

    Zhang Zian was like a child who had just gotten a new toy. His face was full of joy.

    Although his old phone could still be used, many of its functions were already outdated, and it usually ran a little slow. As a single dog, he didn¡¯t need to spend money on his girlfriend, so it wasn¡¯t too much to buy a new phone to reward himself for his hard work in the past year, right?

    Since there were no customers, he let the noisy staff get off work early so that they could enjoy the moment of ying with their new phones.

    After experiencing the new phone¡¯s functions, he felt that the money he spent was worth it. He started to download and install the apps he often used.

    Time passed by and the lights were finally lit.

    After the peak hour for office workers to get off work, people were all at home cooking and eating. There was still some time before the old men and women went out for a walk, so the streets were temporarily quiet.

    He finally downloaded all themonly used apps, then logged into his ount one by one and migrated the information from his old phone to his new phone.

    After doing all this, he was about to exit the software market when he suddenly had an idea. With the thought that he wouldn¡¯t get pregnant even if he tried, he entered the words ¡°pet Hunter¡± in the search bar and then clicked search.

    The search results shed on the loading screen.

    He knew that there would be no definite search results. The software market would only rmend a bunch of simr apps based on these keywords.

    It should have been like this.

    However ¡­

    The search results were not zero.

    [Limited time download]:

    [Pet Hunter 2.0]!

    A brand new upgrade! A brand new and modified version!

    [The game will stop downloading in 00 hours, 00 minutes, and 49 seconds.]

    Zhang Zian stared at the few lines of words and the decreasing numbers, dumbfounded. His breathing stopped.

    Could this be ¡­ The same name?

    He used his slightly trembling fingers to click on ¡®view more¡¯.

    Pet Hunter 2.0

    New content:

    1. Fix bugs in the old version.

    2. Add more captured elves into the game.

    3. A new game is avable and waiting for you to experience it.

    He took a deep breath and tried to suppress his wildly beating heart.

    The great thousand world was about to experience another storm.

 Chapter 1746

    Chapter 1746: A new journey (end)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    The countdown timer slowly ticked away.

    Would he click the ¡®Download¡¯ button again, just like a year ago?

    What was he thinking?

    Of course he would.

    Cleopatra the seventh said that he envied his life, but what was she envious of?

    Envious of his endless work?

    Envious of him for finally being able to live afortable life financially?

    Envious that he was single without a girlfriend and could spend a lot of time freely?

    No, she was not envious of these things.

    What she envied was that he was an ordinary person, but his life was not as calm as ordinary people ¡®s. asionally, he would be involved in exciting adventures.

    This was the ideal life that she envied and desired.

    So, why should he refuse?

    If he refused this opportunity, he would only be left with a life as in as water. Although it might be a little more fun than a real ordinary person, it was far from enough. It was just like how it was difficult to adapt to a person who was used to eating the Manchu Han Imperial Feast and French cuisine suddenly changing to a simple meal.

    If he rejected this opportunity, he would continue to repeat his daily work in the future and be satisfied with watching the bnce in his bank ount gradually increase. In the future, there might be a girl who would marry him and have children with him ¡­

    With such a life, even if one did not have the ability to predict the future, one could still see the end of one¡¯s life at a nce.

    Most ordinary people were experiencing such a life. Some were ordinary and happy, while others were ordinary and unfortunate. There was nothing toin about because they had no choice.

    Now, the right to choose was in front of him.

    Even though he knew that pressing this button would bring danger and idents to his life, he still couldn¡¯t refuse, perhaps because he had already fallen in love with the feeling of his heart beating faster.

    He seemed to have free will, and he seemed to have countless futures to choose from, but he would only choose this future. This was probably fate.

    Break the unchanging daily routine, make life full of surprises, and maintain expectations for the future.

    He moved his finger to the ¡®download¡¯ button and clicked it.

    Based on his experience from a year ago, it seemed like he might not make it in time, but ¡­

    It could only be said, as expected of a 5G mobile phone.

    The download Progress bar went from 0 to 100% in an instant.

    It was much faster than his old 4G phone.

    While he marveled at the convenience brought by technological progress, he clicked ¡®install¡¯.

    The instation speed of the App was much faster than that of his old phone. He had already experienced this just now.

    The instation waspleted. Between ¡°confirm¡± and ¡°open,¡± he clicked ¡°confirm.¡±

    The screen of his phone automatically returned to the interface of the software market. He did not search again, but the search result became 0. He did not find a matching result. The software market rmended some other applications with simr names.

    He closed the useless Software Market and saw the icon of pet Hunter on the screen. He didn¡¯t recognize it at first nce, because the icon was different from before.

    He clicked on the icon.

    The game started.

    [Game hint]: this game is an AR reality game. You need to turn on your phone camera and get your location information.

    [Game hint: if this is your first time entering the game, please register a free ount.]

    [Game hint]:¡±register for free¡± or ¡°you already have an ount. Log in immediately.¡±

    Which one should he choose? Was there a need to ask?

    In theory, his previous ount had been logged out and taken back, so he could only choose to ¡°register for free.¡±

    [Game hint: to confirm the user¡¯s uniqueness and log-in security, we need you to enter your fingerprint. Please ce your finger in the fingerprint identification area of the phone and enter it from different angles ording to the instructions.]

    He had found outst year that the game did not use the default fingerprint to unlock the phone, but a separate entry.

    Last year, he had registered his left hand¡¯s fingerprint. This year, he chose his right hand¡¯s fingerprint.

    The new phone was unlocked with a fingerprint, so it was much more advanced than the old phone.

    [Game hint: fingerprint sessfully entered. Logging in automatically ¡­]

    In the dark background that was as deep as the night sky, a white ball of light jumped lightly.

    [Navigation elf]: Wee to the world of pet hunters! I¡¯m your navigation elf!

    Hearing the familiar greeting, he smiled. It was still the same familiar recipe and taste.

    [Navigation elf]:¡±throughout the game, I will do my best to help you!¡± I hope we can experience a magnificent adventure together!

    Now, when he heard the navigation elfin¡¯s voice, he was no longer as scared as he was a year ago and almost threw his phone out.

    [Navigation elf] replied,¡±if you encounter any problems in the game, you can contact me at any time!¡±

    The in-game interface had been modified to fit the most popr full-screen mobile phone, which made it more exquisite and futuristic, but it was still the same.

    Then ¡­

    He tried to ask,¡±how do you y this game?¡± It looks very interesting. ¡±

    [Navigation elf]: since this is your first time logging into the game, do you want to experience the novice tutorial before the official game? Or, you can skip the tutorial and start the game directly.

    As expected, because it was a new phone and a new fingerprint, the game had recognized him as a new yer?

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s start with the beginner¡¯s tutorial.¡± He said.

    [Navigation elf],¡±beginner tutorial begins, reading data ¡­¡±

    The phone¡¯s performance had improved in all aspects, and even the loading speed of the beginner¡¯s tutorial had improved by leaps and bounds.

    [Navigation elf]: this game can allow you to capture real or virtual pets. Even the elves in the world can be kept in your pocket and be your loyal partners!

    [Game hint]: beginner tutorial: To capture a real pet.

    [Game hint]: the name of this game is ¡°pet Hunter¡±, version 2.0. The pets to be captured in the beginner¡¯s tutorial are limited to regr pets, such as cats, dogs, ornamental fish, ornamental birds, etc. Capturing animals such as ants and cockroaches will notplete the mission.

    [Game hint: turning on the rear camera ¡­]

    The beginner¡¯s tutorial was exactly the same as before, so there was no need to change the basics.

    He wouldn¡¯t try to take pictures of pets on theputer screen like he did a year ago. There were so many pets in the store anyway, so he could just take a picture of one.

    At that moment, dimir ran back in a hurry. It was as dirty as usual, covered in dust and grass.

    ¡°I was too focused on fighting with that stupid dog and almost forgot what I was supposed to do.¡± It crouched in front of the store and muttered to itself.

    Zhang Zian wondered what serious business it was. Immediately after, three stray cats jumped down from the wall and between the branches. They were the ck Cat with a missing ear, the soft-eared cat, and the short-haired white cat. They sat in an arc in front of dimir, meowing and gesturing at it.

    ¡°The epidemic in the Western Theater of Operations has been controlled!¡±

    ¡°The epidemic in the southern war zone is under control!¡±

    ¡°The epidemic in the northern War zone is under control!¡±

    He couldn¡¯t understand what they were saying, but he could guess that they were probably reporting it.

    dimir nodded in satisfaction, then looked around.¡±Where¡¯s big orange? Why isn¡¯t big orange here yet?¡±

    The meow of a cat was heard from afar.

    Zhang Zian, dimir, and the stray cats looked over and saw a fat and big orange cat that could definitely crush a brick bed running towards them with great effort.

    There was a reason for this orange cat¡¯ste arrival. Other stray cats took shortcuts by flying on roofs and walking on walls, but this cat was on its feet steadily.

    It had tried its best, but speed was not its Forte.

    dimir and the three stray cats took the initiative to find it, which would save time than waiting.

    They were about to move when the orange cat suddenly disappeared.

    ¡°What the ¡­ Where¡¯s big orange? Did big orange fall into the sewer? How did he disappear in the blink of an eye?¡± dimir rubbed its eyes, but it still didn¡¯t see big orange.

    The three stray cats were also shocked.

    ¡°Don¡¯t panic, it¡¯s here. ¡±

    Zhang Zian said behind them.

    They turned around and saw big orange in the Pet Shop, looking around with a confused face.

    ¡°What ¡­ What¡¯s going on?¡± dimir¡¯s eyes widened in shock.

    ¡°Tsk, tsk.¡± Zhang Zian yed with his new phone with satisfaction.¡±Amazing, the new phone¡¯s long-range lens can actually take high-definition uncensored photos from so far away in such dark ¡­ The money spent is worth it!¡±

    [Navigation elf]: The goal was achieved!

    [Game prompt]: captured! An orange tabby!

    That¡¯s right, he was just excited when he saw big orange slowly running towards him, so he tried to switch his phone to the long focus lens and took a picture of it.

    He had only wanted to give it a try and didn¡¯t have much hope. In the end, he had seeded. He had sessfully captured big orange, made it disappear from where it was, and then released it in the shop.

    dimir listened to him and eximed,¡±¡±You can do this? F * ck, Science and Technology are really the number one productivity!¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t agree more. The new phone¡¯s camera-taking ability was much better than the old phone ¡®s, and this progress also made it more convenient to capture pets.

    [Navigation elf]: you havepleted the beginner¡¯s tutorial. As a reward, you will get a chance to draw a lottery.

    Zhang Zian pretended to be surprised,¡± Can I draw a lottery?¡±

    [Navigation elf]: This was the only chance to draw a prize in the game, and it was only awarded to yers whopleted the beginner¡¯s tutorial. There were no more chances after this. Therefore, please cherish it.

    It wasn¡¯t his style to refuse free things that were delivered to his door.

    ¡°Okay, I want to try my luck at the lottery now.¡± He said.

    [Navigation elf],¡¯begin.¡¯

    Arge square appeared on the phone screen. Therge square was divided into countless small squares, scattered like a Go board. One could vaguely see a pet¡¯s avatar in each small square.

    Zhang Zian took a quick nce and noticed that a few of the pets ¡®avatars seemed to be the Elfins he had seen in the machine dream.

    [Navigation elf]: you only need to say ¡°start¡±, and the game will traverse the entire database. When you say ¡°stop,¡± the cursor will be at the pet you have drawn.

    The routine was very familiar, but he was still quite looking forward to what kind of elf he would get.

    ¡°Begin!¡± He said.

    The cursor moved between different squares at an extremely fast speed, sometimes left, sometimes right, sometimes up, and sometimes down, without any pattern.

    When should I stop?

    He didn¡¯t know when, but Gxy was already squatting by his hand, its silver-gray eyes wide open, staring at the phone screen.

    There seemed to be countless stars shining in its eyes, and the cursor was reflected in its eyes, like a bright meteor flying among the stars.

    Wherever the meteors went, the stars seemed to explode into supernovelties, bursting out a dazzling light that could illuminate the darkness of the universe.

    ¡°Stop!¡± Zhang Zian said.

    The cursor stopped.

    ¡°What did I get?¡±

    The navigation elfin, which answered fluently, was unexpectedly silent for a few seconds.

    [Navigation elf]: Just now, I thought that this elfin didn¡¯t exist in the database, but after repeated confirmation, it does exist.

    Zhang Zian was stunned. What the hell?

    [Navigation elf]: [You have drawn the mysterious worm!]

    [Game hint: pet ¡°mysterious worm¡± has been added to your elfin pet bar. You can check it at any time.]

    A white and fat worm that looked like a Japanese¡¯s funny snack, soft wriggle, appeared in his elfin pet bar.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s brain short-circuited.

    No way?

    He tried to click on the worm in the elfin pet bar.

    Pet attributes:

    [General name]: mysterious worm

    [Rarity: Unknown]

    [Characteristics]: your name is known throughout the universe, who canpare to you in a thousand years!

    Origin: locked

    [Real name: locked]

    So that was how it was ¡­

    He finally understood.

    He had been wondering before, since the game had stopped operating, how did the girl who imed to be from the future get this worm in the future?

    In addition, how could he capture an elf that could travel through time and space?

    The answer was right in front of him.

    This elfin had not been captured, but had been drawn by a lucky draw, from an infinitely close to zero probability and from the vast database.

    ¡°Gxy, thank you.¡± He simply expressed his gratitude, because in the face of luck that was enough to make the stars pale inparison, any gorgeous words were pale and powerless.

    ¡°Meow~¡±

    Gxy seemed to have finished a veryborious work. Ity down to rest, exhausted, but its expression was full of joy and happiness, because this was the key to realizing its fate.

    As for who was the one who had secretly added this worm elf into the game database in a sh ¡­ Was it the mysterious girl, Zhuang Xiaodie, or someone from the future? This was hard to say.

    Big orange made clumsy hand gestures to indicate that the epidemic in the eastern war zone had been controlled.

    It seemed that the deworming, disinfection, and epidemic prevention measures for stray cats had been effective.

    dimir nodded in satisfaction.¡±Disband!¡±

    The four stray cats left on their own. Even after the other three had disappeared from the treetops and eaves, big orange was still taking small, slow steps.

    Zhang Zian nced at fina.

    ¡°What do you want to say? You might as well be direct. ¡± Fina stared at him coldly.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡±

    Life is precious, how can you say what you¡¯re thinking?

    The nearby residents had finished their dinner and went out for a walk. They gathered in groups of three and five, waving their cattail-leaf fans to drive away the mosquitoes.

    The streets were exceptionally bright tonight.

    Zhang Zian stood in front of the shop and looked up as he pulled down the curtain.

    A bright moon hung in the middle of the sky. It was big and round, as if it was very close to the earth and could be touched by raising one¡¯s hand.

    The Mid-Autumn Festival had arrived again ¡­

    Time passed so quickly. She didn¡¯t even know when the holiday was when she didn¡¯t go to work.

    Whoosh!

    He pulled down the curtain Door and locked it, officially ending the day¡¯s business.

    Ding! Ding!

    His phone beeped.

    Did someone send a message?

    He picked up his new phone and unlocked it.

    The game started on its own, and a shing light appeared on the screen.

    [Navigation elf]:¡±in order to celebrate the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival of the world¡¯s Chinese people, we are holding a Holiday Challenge. Are you interested in participating?¡±

    ¡°A Festival challenge?¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned. This was the first time he had heard of this. Could this be the new way to y the third point mentioned in the game introduction?

    Navigation elf: ¡°yes. In order to enrich the game content, we have prepared a variety of challenges during major human festivals. You are wee to participate.¡± Of course, if you¡¯re not interested, we won¡¯t force you to participate.

    He looked at the time. It was eighto¡¯ clock at night.

    ¡°The Mid-Autumn Festival is tomorrow, right? There¡¯s still four hours to go, aren¡¯t you guys moving it forward?¡± He asked.

    [Navigation elf]:¡±in fact, due to the rotation of the Earth, the twelve Eastern Districts have just entered the Mid-Autumn Festival.¡±

    He thought about it carefully. China was the eighth Eastern Region, and the twelfth Eastern Region was indeed four hours ahead. There was no problem.

    ¡°Then tell me, what kind of challenge is it?¡±

    How could he not be interested? After all, the moment he clicked ¡°download¡±, it was for the sake of enjoying the passion and adventure in his daily life.

    [Navigation elf], a challenge with the theme of Mid-Autumn Festival, called ¡°bent Osmanthus in the Moon Pce.¡± You can choose the S, A, B, C, and D difficulty. The higher the difficulty, the better the reward. Once you choose, it can not be changed.

    ¡°Wait a minute, you should at least tell me the rtive rtionship between the difficulty and the reward, right? Also, I have to weigh the content of the challenge. I can¡¯t just randomly choose it. ¡± Zhang Zian said.

    [Game hint]: challenge target: Youyou, save the Jade Rabbit from the Moon Pce that is full of danger.

    [Game hint]:

    The possible dangers are as follows:

    A ss D maelstrom in the lunar Sea.

    C-gradeurel forestbyrinth.

    ss B, the cat-faced olddy Chang ¡®e.

    [A-ss: axe-wielding homicidal demon Wu Gang]

    They were all S-grade and above.

    [Navigation elf]: Chang ¡®e regrets stealing the elixir, blue sea Blue Sky Blue heart night after night. If you can sessfully pass the highest difficulty of the S-ss and save the Jade Rabbit safely, you will receive a bottle of immortal elixir for pet sprites.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s jaw almost dropped.¡±Immortal medicine? Is it the kind of immortal medicine I imagined? Are you sure you¡¯re not bragging?¡±

    [Navigation elfin]: the immortal elixir is only for pet Elfins, and its effect is to stop aging permanently.

    ¡°What happens if people eat it?¡± he asked curiously.

    [Navigation elf]:¡±this is why Chang ¡®e turned into a cat-faced olddy. It¡¯s toote to regret.¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    He looked around at the Elfins. They all heard the navigation elfin¡¯s words, and their eyes of different colors looked at him in unison, leaving the decision to him.

    The immortal medicine ¡­

    Fina, old time tea, famous, Fati, Richard, and maybe even little white, these pet Elfins that had really existed in history, would still be limited by age and longevity. This was something he already knew.

    Cleopatra VII¡¯s dream gave him inspiration. Perhaps when the elves were old in the future, he could ask Zhuang Xiaodie to let them enter his dream for a long time. However, this was a helpless move.

    The elves, who had already seen through life and death, might not care, but he did.

    If the game could really provide the immortal medicine ¡­

    ¡°F * ck them! I choose the S ss!¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s style had always been to drink the strongest alcohol and the wildest poodle in the day. Small fights were boring.

    [Navigation elf]: you have chosen the S-level challenge. You only have one chance to clear it. Please cherish it. If you feel that you can¡¯t do it, you can give up at any time, or your life may be in danger.

    ¡°No need to talk nonsense, let¡¯s start!¡±

    He put the old phone and the new phone into his pockets on both sides. The old phone had pet Hunter 1.0, and the new phone had pet Hunter 2.0.

    From today on, he was the ¡°dual-operated man.¡± Those who didn¡¯t know the inside story would think that he was busy with business.

    [Navigation elf], activating the portal. Moon Pce bent Osmanthus!

    A translucent vortex appeared in the Pet Shop, spinning in the opposite direction of the vortex that the worm had opened.

    ¡°Is everyone ready?¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes swept across the faces of the elves one by one.

    He rubbed his palms together, and the elves were also eager to try.

    ¡°Meow!¡± Gxy¡¯s physical strength had not recovered yet, so it still turned over and stood up.

    ¡°What cat-faced olddy ¡­ Which woman dared to taint the face of the cat race and escape with medicine? Bengong will not let this go!¡± Fina said proudly as it sat at the top of the cat tree.

    ¡°Meow meow meow! I will follow your Majesty¡¯s footsteps. ¡± Snowy Li expressed its loyalty in time.

    Old time tea finished thest sip of tea in its cup, and its eyes were cold.¡±I¡¯ve long heard of the legend of Chang ¡®e flying to the moon. It seems that Chang¡¯ e has long achieved the immortal path. I¡¯d like to ask her for advice.¡±

    ¡°I heard that the first animal to enter space is a dog. Maybe someone will shoot a movie with this theme in the future ¡­ It¡¯s a rare opportunity, so I have to learn about it in advance and experience the character.¡± Famous closed the script of Dog Warrior 2.

    Fati squinted his eyes at the full moon. The wildness of the ancient times made his heart surge. No matter where he went, God would always be with him.

    ¡°Hey, hey! It¡¯s not easy to have the ocean, it¡¯s not easy to have a chance for this beautiful young female streamer to appear. Whether it¡¯s the ocean or the ocean, I¡¯m going to stream!¡± Sihwa shouted from the bathroom upstairs. Unfortunately, she didn¡¯t even think about whether there was a cell phone signal in the Moon Pce.

    ¡°Squeak! Squeak!¡± Hearing the sound, Pi ran down from the second floor, waving the wooden stick it had brought back from the mahogany forest. If it had another stick cut from the branch of aurel tree, it might have been able to bloom.

    dimir clenched his fist and sang to the moon,¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a kind of courage called strength!¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a choice called being strong!¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a voice called majestic!¡±

    ¡°Our team heads for the moon!¡±

    ¡°Our team heads for the moon!¡±

    ¡°Ovee the hardships, rain, snow, wind, and frost!¡±

    Richard pped its wings andnded on his shoulder. ¡®I¡¯ve always thought that the muscr brother, Wu Gang, has some simrities with King Billy. They must both have a deep understanding of philosophy!¡¯ Even if there are more men than men on this trip ¡­¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Zhang Zian pinched its beak to stop it from talking nonsense.

    Like him, the elves were full of confidence in this trip.

    They came from different history and regions, and had different beliefs, but at this time, they were all partners, friends, and family under the same roof. They would never fight alone.

    ¡°OK! Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Zhang Zian firmly made a gesture.

    An exciting adventure was about to begin, and a new chapter in his life was slowly opening.

    How could they not be filled with anticipation?

 Chapter 1747

    Chapter 1747: Finishing speech

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    August 18th was a very suitable day to say goodbye, because of the harmony¡¯s ¡±

    There were many things he wanted to say, but he forgot his lines before he put down the brush ¡­

    In short, from February 28th, 2017 to August 18th, 2019, a lot had happened in the two and a half years.

    I would also like to thank the website and the editor for providing me with a writing tform that can allow my imagination to run wild.

    The story is over, but life goes on. Maybe one day, when you go to a quiet seaside city and stroll around the old Urban area, you will encounter an inconspicuous pet shop. Don¡¯t forget to go in and take a look. Maybe you will meet the pet that you are destined to meet in your life.

    Some of you might want to ask about the new book, but as you all know, the world of online literature is in a delicate period of turmoil. What can be written and what can not be written still needs to be observed, so it¡¯s hard to say.

    As for what woulde next, it was not time to rest yet, because it was likely, possible, maybe ¡­ That the ¡°bent Osmanthus¡± series would continue to be updated.

    Ah, I almost forgot. There are a few elves that, for some reason, are not suitable to be exined in the official text. They will be exined in the official ount jiepo666 ¡­ Although you may have already guessed it.

    ¡°Finally, I hope that you readers can raise your pet scientifically and civilly. Otherwise, I¡¯ll be very ashamed.

    Bow!

 Chapter 1748

    Chapter 1748: The bent Osmanthus in the pce (1)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    ¡°Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!¡±

    With a series of screams, a man fell from the sky.

    He scratched his hands and kicked his feet, trying in vain to grab onto a life-saving straw.

    If a child happened to be standing below, he would probably point at him and say,¡±¡±Mom, look at how miserable that person is!¡±

    However, there were no children below, only the vast sea with rolling waves.

    The strange thing was that the ocean was not like the ocean on earth, which was sometimes blue and sometimes dark green. Instead, it was an incredible gray.

    The gray ocean.

    Never before.

    It was somewhat simr to the ocean on earth. The surface of the sea was not of the same depth of gray. Some ces were dark gray, and some ces were light gray. The shades of gray were different, which seemed to indicate the rugged terrain at the bottom of the sea. There were mountain ranges and canyons.

    Zhang Zian admired himself for being in the mood to observe these details even when his life was on the line. However, there seemed to be nothing else he could do other than observe the details.

    He confidently walked into the teleportation channel opened by the game, but he never expected that the other side of the channel would be high in the sky.

    This ¡­ This level S difficulty?

    He must have missed it, this was clearly Si level difficulty!

    Water, in themon impression, was the gentlest thing. People oftenpared women to water. It was fine if the ancient people used such a metaphor, but who would dare to use such a metaphor in modern times? they were most likely otakus who had never seen a woman before.

    No matter how gentle the water was, once it was hit at high speed, the water would be as hard as cement, just like the girls in modern society who would kill otakus in minutes after being angered.

    Why was the world diving record 61 meters, not 610 meters, or 6100 meters? This was because diving from a height of more than 100 meters in the air, the impact of falling into the water was almost the same as jumping down from 10 stories. It was almost certain death.

    Even in bungee jumping, where the rope was tied to the ankle, once the rope broke, the bungee jumper would fall into the water. In light cases, their eardrums would rupture, and in serious cases, their bones and tendons would break.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t know exactly how high he fell from the sky, but it was definitely more than 100 meters.

    When he understood this, he was already in despair.

    What was even more despairing was that he did not even have time to take out his mobile phone, unlock the screen, and request to quit the game halfway. Since he knew that the dangers he might encounter included the lunar Sea vortex, he had put both mobile phones in the water-proof bag before he set off.

    At that time, he was still proud of his cleverness and wit, but he did not expect that he would be too smart for his own good.

    The only thing he could do now was to choose a position to enter the water.

    Would he fall into the water like an idiot? Or did he want to jump into the water like a graceful fish?

    He could not choose either.

    The former might fracture his sternum and stab the broken bones into his heart, while thetter would directly smash his head into his chest. In the future, he would be Xing Tian with his eyes and mouth ¡­

    Even though there was a 99% chance of dying in the water from this height, he still tried his best to fight for that 1% chance of survival.

    The only way for him to survive was to curl up his knees and put his feet into the water first, just like how he saved himself when an elevator lost control and fell, to protect his spine, internal organs, and brain as much as possible.

    Fortunately, he had put the Elfins into his phone before he left. At least they would not be as unlucky as him.

    He had just tried his best to adjust his posture, and the sea was already in front of him. He could only pray that he would not be knocked unconscious by the sea and drown directly.

    Thump!

    He crashed into the water like a cannonball, and his posture was far from perfect.

    But ¡­

    The terrible state of his broken legs and bloody mess that he had imagined did not appear.

    The impact of falling into the water was indeed very high. He even felt that his brain was swaying like tofu in his skull, but it was not to the extent that the human body could not withstand it at all.

    Goo Goo Goo Goo Goo Goo ¡­

    The inertia made him keep sinking, and a long string of bubbles came out of his mouth. It was not that he did not want to hold his breath, but the huge impact of falling into the water was like a heavy hammer hitting his chest, and it was impossible for a human to hold it.

    He didn¡¯t have time to think about anything else. He had to surface first.

    Fortunately, he grew up by the sea and was good at swimming. His swimming posture was not very standard, but it was enough. Moreover, the clothes he was wearing today were not thick. If he were a non-swimmer, he might have sunk to the bottom directly.

    He stepped on the water and paddled with all his might, but the sparkling surface of the sea seemed to be far away, and time seemed to be frozen.

    Hu!

    His head finally emerged from the sea. He opened his mouth and breathed desperately, panting and coughing.

    He only recovered after about half a minute.

    Soon, he noticed something strange.

    Although he was good at swimming, paddling was surprisingly easy, as if he could keep floating with just a little effort.

    He raised his head and saw in the thin, translucent sky ¡­ An unusuallyrge moon, which was mainly blue, supplemented by brown and green, and dotted with many white ¡°moons.¡±

    It was earth.

    The Earth¡¯s oceans,nds, forests, and clouds.

    If that was earth, then wouldn¡¯t he really be on the moon?

    However, there was no air or ocean on the moon ¡­

    He seemed to understand that this should be the magically modified moon ¡­ It wasn¡¯t urate to put it that way. It should be said that this was a product of thebination of the real moon and the moon in the legends, The Misty Moon Pce.

    Although he didn¡¯t know how the game did it, it might be a dream or virtual reality, but it gave people a very real feeling.

    Even the gravity here was only one-sixth of earth ¡®s.

    This was why he didn¡¯t die on the sea after falling from such a high ce, and also why he was able to float on the sea.

    He was surrounded by a vast gray ocean, with waves rising and falling, with no end in sight.

    Wait a minute, isn¡¯t this wave a little too big?

    The waves were three feet tall without any wind, but the waves here would be monstrous if they were on earth. On the one hand, the gravity was too low, and on the other hand, the tidal effect on earth was too strong.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s body jolted as if he was on a roller coaster. Sometimes he was on the tip of the waves and thrown ten meters into the air. Sometimes he watched himself sink into the valleys more than ten meters deep, and could be buried in the sea at any time.

    People with seasickness must have vomited.

    What worried him even more was that such special hydro phase conditions could very well produce huge vortexes that humans could not even imagine, just like the game trailer.

    He touched the phone in his pocket. ording to his hand, the phone and the water-proof bag should be intact.

    After a few minutes, he had more or less grasped the rhythm of the waves. He found an opportunity and, while he was being thrown into the air by the waves, opened the water bag of his old phone, put one finger in to unlock the screen and enter the game. Then, he sealed the mouth of the bag again before he fell back into the sea.

    Next, he just had to operate the phone through the water-proof bag. Anyway, the water-proof bags now all supported touch screens.

    He found Sihwa in the elfin pet bar and clicked release.

 Chapter 1749

    Chapter 1749: The bent Osmanthus in the pce (2)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    A beautiful, streamlined figure fell into the sea.

    Her skin was as white as snow, her long dark green hair, her light blue bikini, and ¡­ Her fishtail broke the monotony of the gray ocean.

    Whoosh!

    Sihwa emerged from the sea and looked around in shock, just like Zian had just done.

    ¡°Where ¡­ Where is this? What kind of water was this? Buzzzzzz! It looks so disgusting!¡±

    ¡°This is the Moon Pce. As for the water ¡­ I don¡¯t know why it¡¯s gray. Maybe it¡¯s because theposition of seawater is different from that of Earth. But that¡¯s not important. The important thing is to findnd for me as soon as possible, or I¡¯ll drown!¡± Zhang Zian exined in a hurry.

    ¡°Oh ¡­¡±

    He didn¡¯t know if Sihwa understood him. She reached out to him.¡±Where¡¯s my phone?¡±

    Before they left, he had already exined to her that there might be no signal in the Moon Pce, so it would be useless to take her mobile phone with him. However, she still insisted that he must take her mobile phone with him, so he had to put her mobile phone in another waterproof bag and take it with him.

    He passed her phone to her.¡±What do you want your phone for? I¡¯ve checked, there¡¯s no signal. ¡±

    Her phone was waterproof to a certain extent, so she took it out of the waterproof bag and took a selfie with a peace sign without saying a word.

    ¡°I have to leave some evidence. Otherwise, those evilizens will not believe that I have been to the moon Pce!¡± She said angrily.

    Zhang Zian: ¡°¡­I¡¯m almost drowning. You still don¡¯t forget to take selfies?¡±

    ¡°Where? Aren¡¯t you fine?¡± Sihwa took a few more photos and also recorded a video of monstrous waves. Then, she calmly put the phone into the water-proof bag.¡±Let¡¯s see what they have to say this time!¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t understand. There might be a super huge Whirlpool nearby. Even if an aircraft carrier came over, it would be swallowed in an instant, let alone me.¡± He looked around nervously, but the towering waves really affected his vision. He couldn¡¯t see anything further.

    She had a look of disbelief on her face, because she had never seen such an exaggerated Whirlpool in the ocean on earth, nor had she heard whales talk about it from the whale songs around the world.

    She would rather kill him than have him exin the scientific principles from the beginning.

    He was thinking about how to exin it to her when he felt like a cloud had floated over his head, casting a shadow over him.

    Sihwa, who was floating in front of him, showed a very surprised expression. Her eyes and mouth were wide open, and she was staring at the top of his head.

    To be honest, the look in her eyes made him a little scared, and he didn¡¯t dare to look back.

    Without waiting for him to react, she grabbed his arm and swam forward at full speed.

    Her actions were too sudden, and Zhang Zian was caught off guard. He gulped down a few mouthfuls of water, not knowing if the water was poisonous or not. He felt like he was being dragged by a racing car, and his shoulders almost dislocated.

    He turned his body to the side, trying to keep his nose and mouth above the sea, and looked back.

    This look almost made him pee his pants!

    It was a strange fish the size of a small mountain. It had a mouth full of teeth and a fierce appearance. Its whole body was covered in ugly scales, and its size was about the same as thergest whale. One look and one could tell that it was not a vegetarian.

    Normally, such a big carnivorous fish wouldn¡¯t be interested in a small creature like Zhang Zian. It might want to try the fresh Yingying. Little brother, let me eat kangkang.

    Sihwa held his wrist, and he also held her wrist in return, afraid that his hand would slip and fall off. That would definitely be death, and he would fall directly into the mouth of the strange fish.

    Generally speaking, therger the size of the carnivorous fish in the ocean, the faster they were. However, this strange fish was aggressively chasing after it, and it actually couldn¡¯t catch up with Sihwa for a while.

    The reason might be that Sihwa was an elfin, and her body was unusually strong, but this could notpletely make up for such a huge difference in size. After all, the discement of water from the strange fish with a swing of its tail was equivalent to a huge wave.

    Other than trying hard to increase his speed, Zhang Zian could only leave it to fate. But he thought of a possibility. Could it be that he and Sihwa were used to life on Earth, and their muscles were grown to resist the standard gravity? then, if they came to the moon Pce, where the gravity was only one-sixth, wouldn¡¯t they all be Supermen?

    In that case, this strange fish might be strong on the outside but weak on the inside, and wasn¡¯t as terrifying as it looked ¡­ Of course, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem to eat him in one bite.

    Seeing that the strange fish was gradually closing in on him, he racked his brain to think of a way to escape.

    It was a pity that he was too careless this time. He came to the moon Pce without making any preparations after making such a bold statement. Otherwise, with his caution, he might have bought shark repellent and other things, knowing that there was a moon sea here. He had to try it no matter if it worked or not, just like the materials and props he had prepared before entering the mahogany forest.

    But there was no other way. It waste at night, and the outdoor equipment stores were closed. There was no time to buy online. Besides, the general outdoor equipment stores might not necessarily sell shark prevention agents.

    Seeing that the fangs of the strange fish were about to touch the soles of his shoes, it suddenly turned around and swam away in fear, as if it had seen something terrible.

    Zhang Zian was stunned for a moment, but his heart sank before he could be surprised. The strange fish would not give up on the game that was within reach for no reason. It must be because there was a greater danger imminent.

    ¡°Stop! ¡°COO~¡± he shouted and tried to grab Sihwa. In order to shout, he even drank a mouthful of water.

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Sihwa screamed in front of him, and then Zhang Zian felt his body being pulled down by her. It was a strange feeling, as if his body was being torn apart by a huge force.

    He immediately turned his head and looked forward.

    A huge hole appeared in front of them, like an inverted cone. Hundreds of millions of tons of seawater fell into the bottomless Whirlpool every second. The roar was deafening, and white fog filled the hole. It was impossible to see how deep and how wide the whirlpool was.

    The strange thing was that only when one was at the edge of the vortex could one hear the roar of the vortex. It seemed that even the air, which was the carrier of the sound, was sucked into the vortex.

    Sihwa had sprinted at full speed before, and she had been swimming too fast. She did not expect a Whirlpool to suddenly appear in front of her. By the time she noticed the abnormality, it was already toote. She felt that the arm that was stretched out to hold the water seemed to have broken through the wall of water. She used too much strength and could not stop it. She only held the water in the air, and then her body was sucked down by the whirlpool.

    At this time, Sihwa¡¯s body was already in the whirlpool and under the sea level, while Zhang Zian¡¯s body was still on the sea, but he also felt a huge suction force.

    They were connected by holding each other¡¯s hands, but now he was holding her hand.

    Sihwa panicked and desperately swung her fishtail, trying to escape from the whirlpool, but it was easier said than done.

 Chapter 1750

    Chapter 1750: The bent Osmanthus in the pce (3)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    The vortex¡¯s suction was so strong that even though it was only at the edge, it was not something that human power couldpete with. A speedboat would have been sucked in. If it had been any other elfin instead of the mermaid, it would have been gone by now.

    What was even more terrifying was that with every step he took towards the center of the whirlpool, the suction force would double.

    Even if it was Sihwa, she would not be able to hold on for too long in this situation.

    She and Zhang Zian both felt that, maybe it was sweat, maybe it was water, or maybe it was because of the strong pulling force, their palms became more and more slippery, and it was more and more difficult to hold each other¡¯s wrists.

    Fear distorted her swimming movements, and her physical strength was rapidly consumed. Her fishtail was more than ten times heavier than usual, like a heavy iron anchor that was about to sink her to the bottom of the sea.

    If she was on earth, she wouldn¡¯t be so afraid, but the huge strange fish just now made her feel a lingering fear.

    She could see that there were other strange and huge shadows in the wall of water in the whirlpool, as if many strange creatures had been sucked into the whirlpool. If she was caught in it, she might be bitten by those monsters and swallowed.

    She didn¡¯t want to die. It was fine if she died on the top of the earth, but she didn¡¯t want to die in such a strange ce, especially in the sea. It was too embarrassing.

    The pouring gray sea water kept washing her face, and her survival instinct made her wagged her tail while holding Zhang Zian¡¯s wrist tightly.

    However, the sea and the sky were leaving her at a slow and irreversible speed. Even Zhang Zian¡¯s body was pulled by her into the vortex.

    If this continued, both of them would be sucked into the vortex.

    If she herself was sucked into the whirlpool, she might still have a chance of survival. After all, she could breathe in the water. But if he was sucked into it ¡­ He would definitely die.

    What to do?

    What to do?

    ¡°Let go!¡± She gritted her teeth and shouted. She didn¡¯t know why, but she felt much more rxed after she shouted.

    Zhang Zian was already using all his strength to hold her and swim. He was holding on with his will. It was absolutely impossible for him to open his mouth to respond. Otherwise, once he lost his breath, everything would be over.

    He only shook his head and told her not to give up hope.

    ¡°Let go!¡± ¡°If this continues, we¡¯ll all be sucked into it!¡± She shouted again.

    He still shook his head.

    ¡°Let go, I¡¯m fine! Did you forget? I¡¯m a mermaid! I¡¯m the daughter of the sea, I won¡¯t die in the sea!¡± She tried her best to squeeze out a smile.

    She was angry at his stubbornness. If it were any other time, she would have scolded him, but she was also very happy.

    Wasn¡¯t it the happiest and most gratifying thing for her that someone was willing to die with her?

    Zhang Zian really wanted to scold her for having big breasts and no brains. The spinning speed of the center of the vortex was too fast. Once she was sucked into the center, it was like being in a washing machine that was being dehydrated. Not to mention that she was a mermaid, even if she was an Ironman, she would probably be torn and twisted.

    But he couldn¡¯t open his mouth. He could only hold her wrist with more strength and answer with his actions.

    How annoying!

    The force of the seawater hitting her cheeks was too strong. It was like a fist hitting her nose, causing her nasal cavity to suddenly be blocked by something sour and swollen.

    Fortunately, at this moment, it should be impossible to distinguish between tears and seawater.

    ¡°That¡¯s enough. I¡¯m already very satisfied. Thank you, Zi ¡­¡±

    Sihwa smiled and let go of her hand. Now, he was the only one holding her wrist. This was obviously impossible to hold on to. In a few seconds at most, her wrist would slip from his hand.

    ¡°Swim that way! Gu Gu Gu~Gu~¡±

    Zhang Zian tried his best and finally managed to squeeze out a sentence to interrupt her. At the same time, he turned his head to one direction.

    Sihwa had been trying her best to swim out of the whirlpool, swimming away from the center of the whirlpool, but the position that Zhang Zian was pointing to was beside them.

    She didn¡¯t understand, but she believed in him. She could only believe in him. At this critical moment of life and death, he must be very confident to say that.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t hold his breath after saying those four words, and his body was instantly swept into the edge of the vortex.

    They had almost been separated.

    The moment they were about to separate, Sihwa instinctively held his wrist again.

    She changed her direction and swam towards the direction he indicated. Now, it was her who was pulling him.

    A miracle happened.

    Although that direction was not the shortest way out of the whirlpool, it was much easier to swim in. She could clearly feel that she was moving away from the whirlpool, as if there was an invisible hand pushing her from behind.

    She looked back. Zhang Zian¡¯s entire body and head were submerged in the water, but the strength of his palm told her that he was not dead.

    Please don¡¯t die!

    An unknown force suddenly poured into her body, and she swam forward as if she was burning her life.

    It was too slow!

    Why was he so slow?

    She had never swum so fast before. If someone were to see this scene from the sky, they would be amazed at her lightning-fast speed. She cut through the waves and left a long white line of water, but she still felt that she was as slow as a starfish.

    The suction force behind him was getting smaller and smaller. Of course, the pushing force was getting smaller and smaller.

    Sihwa turned around and used both hands to hold Zhang Zian¡¯s hand. She swam backstroke and dragged him out of the sea.

    ¡°Cough! * Cough * Cough!¡±

    Gray seawater gushed out of Zhang Zian¡¯s trachea. He coughed and gasped violently, and his face turned blue. He was already in a state of semi-drowning, and he would fall into aa in a few seconds.

    The short few minutes just now felt like a century. He paddled until his whole body was out of strength. The hand holding Sihwa¡¯s wrist was too strong, and now it was curled up like a chicken w and could not be stretched straight.

    Sihwa went around behind him and held him under her armpit. At the same time, she was careful to guard against any strange fish taking advantage of the situation.

    A minute or twoter, Zhang Zian finally recovered. Even when he huped, there was a strange smell of seawater.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Sihwa asked.

    ¡°He¡¯s still alive,¡± Zhang Zian wiped the seawater off his face.¡±By the way, did you just call me Zian?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re hearing things. ¡± She pulled a long face and changed the topic.¡±¡±Why can we escape the vortex by swimming in this direction? You cheapskate, you can¡¯t keep it to yourself!¡±

    Zhang Zian panted a few more times.¡±The reason is very simple. The vortex is a circle, and this direction is roughly the direction of the tangent of the circle. If you want to escape the vortex, this is the right path. With the help of centrifugal force, you can get twice the result with half the effort.¡±

    ¡°The line cut? I know a circle, but what is a tangent?¡± She blinked her eyes in confusion.¡±What is centrifugal force?¡±

    Zhang Zian sighed helplessly. If they were in the Pet Shop, he could draw pictures and exin to her, but how could he exin it now?

 Chapter 1751

    Chapter 1751: The bent Osmanthus in the Moon Pce (4)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Sihwa was very dissatisfied with Zhang Zian¡¯s perfunctory attitude. She simply withdrew her hand and let him swim by himself. Anyway, he would not drown to death at least for the time being.

    ¡°Also, since you knew that you could swim out from the tangent direction, why didn¡¯t you say so earlier?¡± She asked aggressively,¡±are you trying to embarrass a beautiful girl like me?¡±

    Zhang Zian had to rify this issue.

    When people were in danger, their first reaction was always to act ording to their instincts. If you fell into the vortex, your first reaction would be to swim away from the center of the vortex. Everyone would do that. Even if a physicist fell into the vortex, his first reaction would be the same, provided that the physicist knew how to swim and not drown.

    Zhang Zian was no exception. When he suddenly realized that he was trapped in the vortex, he was also in a panic. All he could think about was to escape in the opposite direction, the faster the better.

    As they were in a deadlock with the suction of the whirlpool, he felt that they could not continue like this. They would definitely die. As the saying goes,¡±a man is quick-witted, and a dog jumps over the wall in desperation.¡± He didn¡¯t want to die Here for no reason, so he could only find a way to escape.

    He used to like ying games, whether it was a single-yer game on theputer or an online game. Therefore, he tried to think from the perspective of a game designer.

    Was this Festival challenge designed to make things difficult for yers?

    Perhaps it was.

    However, as a game designer, if no one could clear the level, it was a failed design. It was like designing a mathematics question for the college entrance examination. If no one China could solve it, the question would be a failure. It would be meaningless and would not y the screening role it should have.

    As the first challenge, the Moonsea vortex might be difficult, but it was not unsolvable. If the Challenger was doomed to die, wouldn¡¯t the rest of the challenges be in vain?

    Did the designer of this game look that stupid?

    That was impossible!

    There were four obstacles, and each one didn¡¯t need to be so difficult that it was unsolvable. As long as 90% of the people were filtered out in each obstacle, the probability of clearing the challenge would only be 0.1*0.1*0.1*0.1= one in 10000, which was in line with the S-level challenge.

    Let¡¯s take the mathematics questions of the college entrance examination as an example. Every question can be solved, but among the tens of millions of college entrance examination applicants every year, how many of them can get a full score? Therefore, there was no need to design a difficult problem that had no solution.

    After thinking about this, Zhang Zian¡¯s mood became a little calmer.

    His confidence came from the belief that there must be a way to escape this Whirlpool! It was definitely not certain death! Otherwise, this would be a failed challenge! It was not his failure, but the failure of the game designer!

    After he calmed down, he pulled Sihwa along and swam desperately. He also had to carefully observe the water¡¯s flow, and he disyed his level and ability beyond normal.

    He saw many strange-looking fish being sucked into the whirlpool, but asionally a few fish struggled at the edge of the whirlpool because they happened to choose the right direction while they were struggling.

    Why would he be able to struggle a little more if he swam in that direction?

    Middle school physics knowledge suddenly poured into his mind, and his mind instantly became clear.

    Don¡¯t think of this terrifying vortex as a vortex. It was just a circr trajectory. It was like a person quickly swinging a rope tied to a stone. The two of them were like ants lying on a stone.

    If one wanted to escape from the rock, one had to rely on ¡®momentum¡¯. Momentum was the centrifugal force.

    This was just to apply what he had learned. It was easy to say, but toe up with an answer in this situation of life and death was the most difficult.

    This led to what happenedter.

    Sihwa was still confused, but she couldfort herself that she had never studied physics. When she returned to the Pet Shop in the future, she would definitely ask him to make up for this lesson so that she could show off in front of theizens.

    Zhang Zian simply exined that it was not the time to exin these things in detail. They had to find a way to findnd and go ashore first, or the two of them would be fish shit sooner orter.

    The sea was vast, where could he go?

    This wasn¡¯t earth at all, and the geographical knowledge on earth was almost useless here. Danger was everywhere in the sea, and one wrong step would either feed the fish or fall into the whirlpool without a corpse.

    Sihwa had a strong sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu about the current situation. It was as if she had returned to her dream of being a machine. The whole world was drowned by the sea, and she could only helplessly go with the flow.

    Near the whirlpool, the sea was rtively calm and there were no huge waves.

    Zhang Zian took out his old phone, unlocked it, released Richard, and put it into the yback water bag.

    ¡°Gah?¡±

    Every time Richard appeared, it would almost fall to the ground, but this time, he held it up so that its feathers would not touch the seawater, or it would not be able to fly.

    ¡°You idiot, why are you so kind today?¡± Richard stood on his palm andbed his feathers, looking at the strange sea uneasily.¡±Where the hell have you brought me? It¡¯s so grey, I almost thought I was color blind. ¡±

    There was no time to joke, so Zhang Zian briefly exined the current situation to Richard.

    ¡°Gah? So dangerous? I¡¯m going back to my phone, let me go back!¡± Seeing that most of the elves were not around, Richard was immediately scared.

    Zhang Zian red at it. ¡°You think I want you toe out? There¡¯s one thing that you must do now. ¡±

    ¡°Kaka! I can¡¯t believe you have a time to ask me for help ¡­ What is it?¡±

    Richard¡¯s role in the team had always been to relieve boredom. Although it would be boring without it, it did not affect the result of the operation. Richard knew this very well. There were many masters in the team, and it was at the bottom, only higher than Zhang Zian, so it was very surprised.

    Zhang Zian exined,¡±you also know that our drone crashed in the mahogany forest. Now, someone must fly in the air to give Sihwa and me a warning. So, you can temporarily be our drone ¡­ Okay.¡±

    ¡°Will you die if you don¡¯t tell me? I¡¯m a Jiao, not a chicken!¡± Richard pped its wings, trying to hit him, but it could not reach him. Usually, it would be easy for it to hit him while standing on his shoulder, but now it was held in his palm, and it was too far for him to reach.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to make any more noise with it. He raised his palm and threw it into the air.

    ¡°Gah! You heartless ¡­ Huh?¡±

    Richard was about to transform into a bomber and start the bombardment of bird poop, but he suddenly felt refreshed, as if his conception and Governor vessels had been opened.

    It had never experienced such an easy and pleasant flight. Its body seemed to have lost its weight, and it pped its wings effortlessly. Every time it pped its wings, it could fly a long distance or increase its height by a lot.

    It even felt that it could fly out of the atmosphere and into the boundless universe.

    It was like Nekhbet, the God of Falcon in Egypt mythology.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    [PS: in the trailer, the real names and origins of the elves were not stated clearly, and the reason was posted on today¡¯s official ount. It¡¯s called ¡°an addendum to the finale.¡±]

 Chapter 1752

    Chapter 1752: The bent Osmanthus in the pce (5)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Having suddenly arrived in a world with one-sixth of gravity, Richard was having a crazy time flying in the air, up and down, left and right, even easily performing the Cobra maneuver.

    Zhang Zian understood its happiness, but now was really not the time to y. Besides, it could show him and Sihwa the way while ying, and it would not affect anything.

    He shouted at Richard a few times, and in the end, he threatened Richard to put him back into the phone if he didn¡¯t do something serious. Only then did Richard stop ying.

    In the air, the sea below could be seen at a nce. The gray sea had higher visibility than the blue sea. In addition, the sea here was pure natural and pollution-free, so they could see things deeper under the sea.

    ¡°Gah? That¡¯s the maelstrom you mentioned?¡± It noticed the hole in the ocean not far away. It was so wide that it could even amodate a mountain on earth. It could not help but be amazed.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Don¡¯t fly above the vortex out of curiosity. There¡¯s an invisible turbulence in the air there that will drag you in.¡± Zhang Zian warned. Otherwise, this guy might really go and take a look when he was having fun.

    When the Golden Pyramid sank, the few eagles flying above seemed to be caught by an invisible hand, also because of the sinking air.

    In order to get a good view, Richard flew high up into the sky, so high that he could barely be seen, and then he flew back down, pointing to the side and said,¡±¡±There seems to be a shadow over there. It might bend.¡±

    Zhang Zian and Sihwa both had lingering fears about the dangerous waters. Even Sihwa, who had been moring to appear, would rather leave earlier.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    Sihwa suddenly screamed, and her face instantly turned ashen.

    Zhang Zian was almost scared out of his wits, thinking that some monster was approaching or another vortex was forming under his feet.

    ¡°My phone! My phone¡¯s gone!¡±

    Sihwa grabbed her hair in pain.¡±What should I do?¡± He must have fallen into a Whirlpool just now ¡­ No! I have to pick it up!¡±

    She only had one bikini on her, not a set. There was no pocket at all, and in that situation, she didn¡¯t even know when her phone had slipped from her hand.

    She wasn¡¯t just saying it casually. It seemed like she really wanted to go and look for it.

    Zhang Zian quickly stopped the inte-addicted girl and promised to buy her a new mobile phone when he went back. She reluctantly agreed, still thinking that the selfie and video had been wasted.

    He had worked hard for a year before he was willing to buy a new mobile phone. Sihwa was almost her third mobile phone, right? To her, a cell phone was a consumable ¡­

    She was still pulling him forward, which was much faster than him swimming by himself. Besides, he had a stomach full of water and was almost unable to swim.

    With Richard acting as an early warning in the air, the safety was greatly improved. When it saw a huge shadow approaching under the sea, or a huge Whirlpool in front of it, it quickly directed Sihwa to swim in another direction.

    Sihwa¡¯s hearing was extremely sensitive. Even if Richard was speaking in the air, she could still hear him clearly.

    This fish and bird had a tacit understanding.

    Zhang Zian was dragged behind like a dead dog, barely keeping his mouth and nose above the sea.

    She didn¡¯t know how long she had been swimming before she heard Sihwa cheer. She seemed to have seennd.

    Zhang Zian was even more relieved.

    However, at the same time, Richard cried out in surprise,¡±burp! Hurry up! Swim fast! You idiot, swim faster too!¡±

    Zhang Zian raised his head and saw that it was looking behind him. Even its voice had changed, as if something terrible had appeared behind it.

    He didn¡¯t have time to confirm whether it was joking or not. At least he had recovered some strength. He immediately used his free hand and legs to start paddling. At this time, it was indeed safer tond as soon as possible.

    After a few seconds, Sihwa made a sound of surprise because she realized that she seemed to have stopped in the water. No matter how she swam, the distance from thend remained almost the same.

    No, it wasn¡¯t that she had stopped, but that the sea level was rapidly falling, and the sea water was flowing back into the sea, like a low tide.

    If it weren¡¯t for Zhang Zian¡¯s help, the two of them might have even been swept back by the sea.

    Richard shouted in the air, urging them to go ashore quickly.

    When Zhang Zian was kicking, his feet touched the soft sand, and the sea had already retreated to waist-deep.

    The outline of the coast could be seen, and on the shore was a boundless forest. The trees looked like the Laurel trees on earth, but they were different. They were especially tall and thick, even more exaggerated than the thousand-year-old ancient trees in the mahogany forest.

    One could imagine that because the restrictions of gravity were smaller, the trees here were more difficult to be crushed by their own weight. They could grow without any restraint, just like the pirs supporting the heavenly court.

    This was probably the moonurel forest maze.

    The strange thing was that they had already stepped on the beach. No matter what terrible thing was in the sea, they should have been out of danger, but Richard was still urging them to run into the forest.

    Sihwa¡¯s fishtail became a burden on the beach. Zhang Zian took out his old mobile phone, put her in it, and ran forward on the beach.

    A long and loud noise came from behind him, as if ten thousand horses were galloping.

    He looked back and was scared out of his wits because it was a monstrous wall of water. He couldn¡¯t see its end from left to right, and it was sweeping toward the shore.

    It was a tsunami!

    The only way to survive was to climb up aurel tree that was taller than the tsunami.

    He was quite mischievous when he was young. He learned how to climb trees from the brother in the shoe store next door. He ran to the nearest tree root and climbed up on all fours.

    Logically speaking, he wouldn¡¯t have time to climb to a safe height before the tsunami, but due to the low gravity, his body was lighter than the monkeys on earth. Just like the cloud-scalingdder in wuxia novels, he didn¡¯t need to climb at all. He just had to step on the branches and jump up.

    The Laurel tree towered into the clouds. Its branches were extremely thick, and its bark was rough and chapped. There was a lot of space for climbing, and there was almost no possibility of falling.

    Ever since he came to the moon Pce, he had been running for his life, trying his best to survive. He wanted to dig out all the potential in his life, otherwise, he would have died a long time ago.

    As for why he didn¡¯t call the game to quit this deadly challenge, it had to be exined by the ¡°sunk cost¡±. It referred to the cost that one had paid for something that could not be recovered. For example, if one got married in order to get married, and found out that their personalities were notpatible, but the huge betrothal gift had been given, how could they divorce? Just make do.

    A huge betrothal gift was equivalent to a sunk cost. If they couldn¡¯t get it back, they would lose both their money and life if they divorced.

    When the cyborgs were sessful and had children, the sunk cost would be even greater, and he would bepletely trapped.

    The temptation of the immortal elixir was too great. He had just escaped from the lunar Sea vortex with great difficulty, so he couldn¡¯t bear to withdraw from the challenge just like that. Otherwise, wouldn¡¯t all his previous efforts be in vain?

    Fortunately, he finally managed to climb to a higher position than the tsunami before it hit.

 Chapter 1753

    Chapter 1753: The bent Osmanthus in the pce (6)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    The impact of the tsunami caused the incredibly thickurel tree to shake violently, and its bark, leaves, and branches fell down. Zhang Zian hid under a horizontal branch, holding onto the trunk tightly to prevent himself from being shaken down.

    The White foam of the waves sshed on his face and body. Looking down, there was a turbulent gray current. He could not hear anything except roars.

    The tsunami came quickly and left quickly. It did not take long for the tide to flow back from the forest to the sea.

    ¡°Kaka! You idiot, your movements are quite Swift. Although your brain isn¡¯t developed, your cerebellum is very powerful!¡± Seeing that the danger had subsided, Richard pped his wings and flew down.

    Zhang Zian sat tiredly on the horizontal branch, his back against the trunk. He was so tired that he didn¡¯t want to move at all.

    If he were to experience these things a few more times, he would definitely die.

    ¡°I say, the next time you see a tsunami, can¡¯t you tell me earlier?¡± A few minutester, heined.

    The sea water had notpletely receded yet. If he went down the tree now, he would have to walk through knee-deep water. The water entering his shoes was as ufortable as lead being tied to it, so he nned to rest up in the tree before going down.

    ¡°Gah? You heartless little thing, I saved your dog life, and you still dare to negotiate with me?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a tsunami!¡± Richard shouted indignantly.¡±It¡¯s not a tsunami at all!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a tsunami?¡±

    Zhang Zian was skeptical. The seawater retreated quickly first, then condensed into huge waves that hit the shore rapidly. It was clearly a tsunami.

    Richard looked back at the sea with a lingering fear.¡±At first, the sea was quite calm, but just as you were about to reach the shore, I suddenly saw a huge shadow chasing after you from the bottom of the sea, and then ¡­¡±

    ¡°What happened after that?¡± Zhang Zian felt his blood run cold.

    ¡°Then ¡­ A big mouth appeared on the sea, half above the surface and half below the surface. It was as if it took a breath, and seawater began to flow into that big mouth. I can¡¯t imagine how big a guy could drink so much seawater in one breath ¡­ Then, that guy spat out all the seawater that he had sucked in, forming the tsunami that you idiot kept talking about.¡± Richard was shivering.

    Zhang Zian was dumbfounded. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t believe it, but it was too absurd.

    ¡°What is that thing? did you see it clearly?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Its body hasn¡¯te up yet. From the shadow outline that I saw on the surface of the sea, I think it¡¯s a ¡­ Super huge toad.¡± Richard said.

    ¡°Ha?¡± Zhang Zian was stunned.

    A giant toad ¡­

    On the night of the full moon with high visibility, if one looked at the moon from earth, they would see that it was not a wless silver te, but a lot of irregr shadows. ording to the shape of the shadow, the ancient people used their imagination to think that the shadow was like a Toad and a rabbit.

    In the early days, people thought that it was the toad that devoured the moon, not the heavenly dog that ate the moon. The heavenly dog eating the moon was a legend that became popr among the people veryter on. Perhaps it was because the dogs raised by every family would bark uneasily during the lunar eclipse.

    If there was no Toad, how could it be called the toad Pce?

    In his previous experiences, only the trip to Egypt and the mahogany forest could be considered a real adventure. However, that was on earth, in real life, after all. Everything here was too strange. It did not follow the usual routine. It was a fantasy world thatbined mythology and reality.

    In any case, he had to release the other Elfins other than Sihwa first, and it was better for everyone to brainstorm.

    The elves appeared on the branches one after another.

    ¡°What is this ce?¡± Fina asked, puzzled.

    ¡°The bright moon shines between the pine trees, and the clear spring flows on the rocks. It¡¯s a good ce to live in seclusion.¡± Old time tea praised.

    Famous looked at him.¡±Zian, why are you in such a sorry state?¡±

    While resting, Zhang Zian told the Elfins what had happened.

    Richard added from the side, emphasizing its contribution.

    The elves were all entranced by the story, marveling at this magical, strange, and dangerous world.

    What surprised them the most was the low gravity here. After a little adaptation, they were almost omnipotent. For example, fina and old time tea could jump more than ten meters forward, and famous could also jump more than ten meters high, as if they were riding on clouds. Even the clumsy Snow Lion was as light as a swallow.

    ¡°Squeak squeak.¡±

    Pi didn¡¯t participate in the Elfins ¡®fun, but gestured at the Laurel tree, showing its unbearable desire.

    Zhang Zian knew what it wanted. Since it was resting, he found a branch of the right length and thickness, broke it off with a Switzend army knife, and cut off the bark for it. Then, he ground the thorns clean, and got a wooden stick that was as white as Jade, exuding a light fragrance. It was very light.

    The wooden stick from the mahogany forest was wooden and slightly red. It had left it in the Pet Shop. Pi liked its new weapon very much. After getting it, it immediately started to y with it.

    After the elves had adapted to the environment, dimir asked,¡±¡±Our Army isn¡¯t afraid of the difficulty of the expedition, just wait for the mountains and rivers! Director, since this ce is known as the moonurel forestbyrinth, it¡¯s definitely not easy to get out of it. Do you have any good ideas?¡±

    Zhang Zian had been thinking about this question.

    This moonurel forest was a primeval forest that had not been set foot in by humans. It was denser than the mahogany forest, and its area was many timesrger. He stood on a branch and looked around. Other than the side of the sea, the other three sides were the same. There was no difference between The Endless Forest and the rest.

    On earth, he had the GPS and a map, but now he had nothing. He didn¡¯t even know which direction to go.

    ¡°Kaka! Do you know how important I am now? I can fly freely in the air, and I¡¯ll know where to go after flying one round. ¡± Richard volunteered, intending to show off.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    Zhang Zian picked up a brown feather from the branch and put it next to Richard forparison. This feather obviously did not belong to Richard, and it was several times bigger than the thickest and longest feather on its body.

    ¡°What is this?¡± Wasn¡¯t it just a feather? Although it¡¯s thicker and longer than mine, age doesn¡¯t matter if you have ambition. Without ambition, you¡¯ll live a hundred years in vain. A big tool may not be good at work. Teddy may be small, but it can F * ck a Husky ¡­¡±

    ¡°This is probably a secondary flying feather from some kind of bird of prey.¡± Zhang Zian interrupted its noise.

    The lower part of a bird¡¯s wing consisted of two kinds of feathers, one was the secondary flying feather, and the other was the primary flying feather. The former was close to the body, while thetter was far away.

    ¡°Gah?¡±

    Richard understood what he meant. If this was a secondary feather from a bird of prey, how big was the bird?

 Chapter 1754

    Chapter 1754: Bent Osmanthus in the Moon Pce (7)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    In the Moon Pce, because the gravity was only one-sixth of earth ¡®s, all the creatures had grown into behemoths. The strange fish, toads, andurel trees that they had seen so far could have directly participated in ¡°Godzi¡± on earth.

    If there were birds of prey here, they were likely to be surprisinglyrge.

    ¡°You idiot, don¡¯t scare me. How do you know it¡¯s a bird¡¯s feather? It might be the feather of another parrot. ¡± Richard said stubbornly.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, that¡¯s why I said it¡¯s possible. But generally, birds that eat grass or insects have more colorful feathers, while the feathers of birds of prey are darker. ¡± Zhang Zian yed with the brown feather.

    Richard was silent.

    If there wererge predators in the forest or above the forest, it would be courting death if it flew too high.

    Zhang Zian had rested enough, and the sea water in the forest was almostpletely gone. He greeted the Elfins and motioned for them to get down the tree together.

    Old time tea knew that he had exhausted himself, so it advised him,¡±¡±Zian, you can rest more. We¡¯ll go ahead first. It¡¯s good to explore the surroundings.¡±

    Zhang Zian also wanted to rest, but the seaside was probably the worst ce to rest, because toads were amphibian.

    Zhang Zian identified the direction ording to the position of the sun and led the way to the North.

    Why the North?

    ording to the legends, Chang ¡®e lived in the Guanghan Pce, which might be a rtively cold ce. The temperature here was just as warm as Binhai city in September, so he thought it was the Northern Hemisphere of the moon. ording tomon sense, the further north one went, the colder it would be.

    He didn¡¯t know how reliable his guess was, but he had no other choice. He could only take a gamble.

    Even if the direction was correct, without any food or water reserves, how far would they have to walk to reach the vast cold Pce? He still didn¡¯t know, but just like when he escaped from the whirlpool, he firmly believed that this wasn¡¯t an unsolvable problem.

    If nature was cruel and merciless, it was very likely that he would be trapped in the forest because nature did not need to consider the passing rate of the challenge. However, the game designer had to consider it. Therefore, he felt that as long as he found the right method, he would definitely be able to pass the challenge.

    With him as the center, the elves fanned out to expand the search area and look out for each other at the same time. They also had to be careful of the wild beasts that might exist in the forest.

    Zhang Zian felt that the possibility of a beast was low, because the trees were too close to each other. Even if there was a beast, it would not be too big.

    In a low-gravity environment, the most energy-saving way to move forward was not to walk, but to jump. He and the elves sometimes walked on the ground, and when they encountered obstacles, they would jump on the low branches.

    The most suitable thing to do in this forest was still thew attribute. It was always able to detect potential dangers, such as a piece ofnd that looked very t but was actually made up of fallen leaves.

    The fallen leaves covered the fallen leaves, and there were manyyers stacked on top of each other. The bottomyer of fallen leaves was airtight and had umted a lot of heat. The fallen leaves rotted in the hot environment. During the process of rotting, mucus would ooze out, and finally, a dangerous swamp was formed.

    Not only that, the forest was sometimes filled with mist, but it was not the fresh Mist of the mahogany forest, but the methane and miasma formed by the decay of fallen leaves. identally entering it could lead to suffocation or poisoning, and it could even explode when exposed to an open fire.

    Fati walked at the front, cautiously leading everyone to avoid danger.

    They walked for a long time, but no matter how they walked, the forest was always in front of them. Zhang Zian was even worried that they were going in circles. However, the Elfins had a keen sense of smell. If they were going in circles, they would have noticed it long ago.

    As they walked, Fati suddenly stopped and hid behind a tree, staring straight ahead.

    Zhang Zian and the other Elfins knew that it must have found something. They didn¡¯t even dare to breathe, and they all looked for ces to hide.

    Fati took a few nces and walked back quietly. He said to him in a low voice,¡±¡±Our mission objective this time is to rescue the Jade Rabbit, right?¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. That was right.

    Fa tuo pointed to the front.¡±There seems to be a White Rabbit in front of us. Its fur is as white as Jade, but I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s the Jade Rabbit we¡¯re looking for ¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s spirit was lifted, and he was overjoyed to hear this. If the Fati was not wrong, then he would be able to go home soon.

    Richard flew a little higher and thennded on his shoulder again, nodding to show that there was indeed a rabbit in front of him.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s footsteps were heavy. In order to avoid alerting the enemy, he chose to climb up a tree nearby to observe.

    There was indeed a rabbit in front of him. It was gnawing on the grass, and its long ears kept shaking as it vigntly listened for any movements around it.

    Just like what Fati had said, its fur was as white as Jade and extremely lustrous. It seemed that there was no such rabbit on earth.

    If he was still using his old phone, he would have to take the risk to get closer to capture it. But now he had a new phone, which could take high-definition uncensored photos from far away.

    He had just gotten his new phone, and he was already involved in this challenge, which made him unable to implement many of his bold ideas ¡­

    He started the game on his new phone, switched to the long-range lens, aimed at the rabbit, and clicked ¡°capture.¡±

    [Game prompt]: captured! Moon Pce garden rabbit!

    What the hell was a Moon Pce garden rabbit?

    Zhang Zian was stunned.

    The rabbit in the distance had disappeared. He checked the pet bar, unwilling to give up. Sure enough, he saw that it appeared in the normal pet bar, not the elfin pet bar.

    He clicked on it.

    Pet attributes:

    [General name]: Moon Pce garden rabbit

    [Rarity: none]

    [Characteristics]: ordinary Jade Rabbit

    [Origin]: a rabbit that can be seen everywhere in the Moon Pce.

    [True name]: none

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    ¡°I know.¡± He mumbled to himself,¡±the Jade Rabbit to be caught must be the moon Rabbit, the one that will destroy you on behalf of the moon ¡­ It seems that the game is going to give me a girlfriend. Although she seems to have a husband, I won¡¯t be picky. So, is it the NTR plot next?¡±

    Richard: ¡°it¡¯s all shining. My urine is yellow. I¡¯ll be responsible for waking him up!¡± Dye his hair yellow and he¡¯ll be able to perform the NTR plot as he wishes!¡±

    Fati was embarrassed.¡±Not this rabbit?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like it.¡± Zhang Zian was also quite regretful. He felt that it couldn¡¯t be that simple.

    Or from the point of view of the game designer, one must pass through the four obstacles before one could see the real Jade Rabbit. Otherwise, wouldn¡¯t the levels that other people had carefully designed be wasted?

    In order to avoid the awkward situation, heforted her,¡±¡±But it doesn¡¯t matter. Since an ordinary Jade Rabbit has appeared, I feel that we¡¯re not far from the vast cold Pce. Everyone, work hard. At the same time, you must be vignt, because ¡­¡±

    ¡°Because the muscr brother, Wu Gang, might be cutting trees in the forest.¡± Richard said.

 Chapter 1755

    Chapter 1755: Bent Osmanthus in the Moon Pce (8)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Richard called Wu Gang ¡°brother musclehead¡±, which relieved the psychological pressure of everyone, especially Zhang Zian, to a certain extent. At least it sounded better than ¡°homicidal maniac¡± or something ¡­ Wait a minute, when did he start to think that ¡°brother musclehead¡± sounded better than ¡°homicidal maniac¡±?

    As for the ordinary Jade Rabbit that he had already caught, he didn¡¯t n to let it go. It was good to keep it as a memento, provided that he could bring it back to the Pet Shop alive.

    Everyone continued to move forward, with push fa leading the way.

    In Europe a thousand years ago, the primeval forest coverage was still very high, and arge area was untouched, just like this ce. Fati had been to many ces with its human brothers, even all the way to Egypt. So when professor Wei Kang visited, it was very interested in visiting the old ce, and also felt sorry for not being able to participate in thest trip to Egypt.

    After walking for a while.

    ¡°Did you guys feel it? The temperature seems to be getting lower and lower?¡± Zhang Zian said.

    The Elfins didn¡¯t feel anything, because their hair was thick and dry, so they were not sensitive to changes in the outside temperature. His clothes were wet from the sea, and he wrung them dry when he was on the tree. Although he was not cold because he had been moving, he vaguely felt that the temperature seemed to be dropping, and he didn¡¯t know if it was an illusion.

    ¡°Look, it¡¯s a rabbit again.¡± Fati said.

    A few rabbits appeared on thewn in front of them. They were all Jade rabbits with fur as smooth as Jade. They seemed to be from a family, and they were eating wild fruits and grass.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t catch rabbits from a family like this again. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t be good to break up the family. If he met a rabbit that was alone again, he could consider it.

    Because they did not deliberately lower their voices when they were talking, the Jade rabbits ran away alertly, leaping into the forest and disappearing without a trace.

    Richard pped his wings and flew over.¡±I wonder if this wild fruit can be eaten ¡­¡±

    Everyone set off after dinner. The elves were fine, but Zhang Zian was a little hungry because he had been in the sea for a long time.

    He walked over and picked up a few wild fruits. Each of them was the size of a child¡¯s fist. He didn¡¯t know what kind they were, or maybe they weren¡¯t on earth. But since the rabbits in the Moon Pce could be eaten, he probably wouldn¡¯t die after eating them.

    ¡°Quick, test the poison for me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to live the life of an Emperor,¡± Richard said while pecking at its feathers.

    He put one in his mouth and bit it.

    Pfft.

    The wild fruit was already ripe, even a little over-ripe, and especially soft. It was at the level where it might rot if left there for a while longer.

    A thick juice burst in his mouth, and the sweet fragrance overflowed. The soft and sticky flesh melted in his mouth, and the core was very small.

    He had never eaten such delicious fruit before.

    He ate a few more to satisfy his hunger and quench his thirst. He simply couldn¡¯t stop.

    Richard wanted to eat it as well, but the fruit was too big for it to swallow. It put it in its beak and took a bite. The juice sshed everywhere, and the flesh fell to the ground. It could not eat anything, so it had to give up.

    The other sprites that needed to eat were not interested in wild fruits, and they were not hungry.

    Zhang Zian had experienced the test of the desert. He knew that when there was not enough food, he could not eat all the food in one go. He stopped after eating a few.

    He took off his vest and tied a knot on the open bottom. Then he put the rest of the wild fruits in and carried them.

    This kind of wild fruit seemed to be very rare. They walked forward for a while and didn¡¯t encounter any simr wild fruits. The elves didn¡¯t smell the fragrance of wild fruits either.

    It wasn¡¯t Zhang Zian¡¯s illusion. The further he walked, the lower the temperature was. Later, he could even breathe out mist-like white gas. The Elfins felt it too.

    ¡°Squeak?¡±

    As it walked, Pi seemed to be hit on the head by something.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Pi?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Pi picked up a small piece of bark from the ground and showed it to Zhang Zian. It meant that it had been hit by the falling bark, but because the gravity was very low, and the eleration of gravity was also very low, it didn¡¯t hurt.

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins didn¡¯t care. After all, in such a dense forest, it was normal for the bark to fall off.

    ¡°Squeak?¡±

    After a while, another small piece of bark hit Pi¡¯s shoulder.

    This was a little strange. Everyone was also jumping forward, so why did Pi always get hit?

    Everyone looked up at the same time.

    The Laurel tree was too tall, and the top was hidden in the fog. There seemed to be some animals jumping between the branches. Their movements were very agile, and the number of them was not small.

    He and the Elfins were all shocked. They had been paying attention to the movement and smell on the ground, but they didn¡¯t expect there to be animals moving on the top of the trees.

    With him as the center, the elves formed a circle and were on guard.

    The animals didn¡¯t seem to have a strong intention to attack. They were more like ying, or they wouldn¡¯t have thrown Pi with the bark but attacked it directly.

    After a while, the animals saw that they had stopped moving. They probably felt bored and moved down from the top of the tree, staring at them with curiosity.

    ¡°Squeak?¡±

    Zhang Zian, Pi, and the other Elfins were all stunned, because they were a group of monkeys. No wonder they were deliberately provoking Pi. It must be because they thought Pi was the same kind. Why did they have to travel with these weird guys?

    Pi was also very curious about the sudden appearance of its kind, but Zhang Zian and the Elfins were its family and friends, so it was just curious. It didn¡¯t jump up to the tree.

    The monkeys might have thought that these guys were not dangerous, so they ran even lower, almost looking at Zhang Zian and the Elfins from above.

    ¡°Squeak!¡±

    ¡°Squeak! Squeak!¡±

    The monkeys kept talking, but Zhang Zian didn¡¯t understand what they were doing. Were they asking Pi to go with them? He definitely couldn¡¯t agree to it.

    ¡°Squeak squeak.¡±

    Pi pulled his hand and pointed to the wild fruit in his back pocket.

    ¡°They want these wild fruits?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Pi nodded. It could more or less understand the gestures of its kind.

    He was in a difficult position. These wild fruits were the only food he could find at the moment. What would he eat if he gave them to them?

    The monkey saw that he didn¡¯t respond for a long time and shouted even louder anxiously. It even peeled off the bark and threw it at them.

    Old time tea rebuked,¡±these monkeys are so rude!¡± Zian, there¡¯s no need to be polite with them, just drive them away!¡±

    The other elves were also infuriated by the monkeys ¡®barks. They had never suffered such grievances before.

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment and decided to be polite before using force. He said to Pi,¡±¡±Tell them that these wild fruits are our food. We can¡¯t give them.¡±

    Pi pointed at the wild fruit, then pointed to its mouth, making a eating gesture.

    ¡°Squeak!¡±

    ¡°Squeak! Squeak!¡±

    The monkeys became more agitated, but they didn¡¯t throw the tree bark at them anymore.

    ¡°Squeak squeak.¡±

    Pi looked at it in confusion for a while, then gestured to Zhang Zian again, meaning,¡±They seem to be saying that they want to exchange other food with us.

 Chapter 1756

    Chapter 1756: The Osmanthus in the Moon Pce (9)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian muttered in his heart, why do the monkeys value these wild fruits so much? Or could it be that these wild fruits had some hidden attributes, the kind that eating one was equivalent to three years of bitter cultivation?

    He tried to channel his inner energy ¡­ But he felt like farting.

    He probably ate too many wild fruits.

    ¡°Tell them that we can trade, but we have to do it face to face. We¡¯ll get the goods with the money. Otherwise, what if they take the wild fruits and run away?¡± He said.

    This meaning was difficult to express. Pi gestured for a long time before the monkeys could barely understand.

    ¡°Squeak!¡±

    ¡°Squeak! Squeak!¡±

    The monkeys quarreled with each other for a while, and when they couldn¡¯t win, they started fighting. Finally, they reached an agreement under violence.

    Pi was speechless.

    The monkeys gestured to Zhang Zian and the others to follow, then ran in one direction.

    Zhang Zian gave the Elfins a look, and everyone followed. They wanted to see what these monkeys were up to.

    The monkeys walked and stopped, bringing everyone to a pile of rugged rocks.

    Famous and Fati sniffed at the same time and said to Zhang Zian,¡±¡±It reeks of ¡­ Alcohol.¡±

    At this moment, another monkey suddenly leaped onto the top of the pile of rocks.

    This monkey was obviously not the same as the other monkeys. It should be some kind of macaque. Its hairless face was slightly red, and it swayed with a drunken look.

    ¡°Luan ¡®er!¡± It burped loudly, and its eyes fell on the wild fruit that Zhang Zian was holding. It was so happy that it scratched its ears and cheeks. Fruit! A ripe fruit!¡±

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins were shocked. This monkey could actually talk?

    The monkey obviously couldn¡¯t speak, but since it could ¡­

    He quickly took out his new mobile phone, opened the game¡¯s catch interface, and aimed at it.

    [Game hint: target confirmed: the wine monkey.]

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t believe it. It was an elfin?

    ¡°Navigation elfin, why didn¡¯t you tell me that an elfin had appeared?¡± He asked, wondering if the new version of the game didn¡¯t prompt him anymore.

    [Navigation elf]: sorry, when you are in the middle of a Holiday Challenge, the game will not give you any hints about the appearance and location of the elfin. Please use your wisdom to find the elfin. Aspensation, the sprites that appeared in the festival challenge could be seen with the naked eye, and there was no need to capture them through the game interface.

    He understood now. If the game disyed the Jade Rabbit¡¯s location on the electronic map, then the moonurel forestbyrinth would be meaningless. He couldpletely find the vast cold Pce and the Jade Rabbit directly by referring to the electronic map.

    The wine monkey couldn¡¯t help but reach out to him.¡±Fruit! Fruit! Give me the fruit!¡±

    ¡°What do you want the fruit for?¡± He tried to ask.

    ¡°Wine! Delicious wine! Goo Goo Goo! Luan ¡®er!¡± It gestured the way it was drinking.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to use fruits to make wine?¡±

    Zhang Zian suddenly realized.

    Since ancient times, it was said that monkeys could make wine. It was said that before winter came, monkeys would hide the wild fruits they collected in tree holes or stone caves as food reserves for the winter. However, monkeys were yful by nature and often forgot the wild fruits they hid. After a whole winter¡¯s fermentation, the wild fruits became a delicious wine, called ¡°monkey wine.¡±

    There were many rumors about monkey wine, and no one knew if it was true or not. After all, very few people had seen it with their own eyes. However, monkeys did like to drink. This was well-founded and easy to prove.

    From a long time ago, China and foreigners knew that wine could lure monkeys to approach and capture them. They even ced a jar of wine where the monkeys appeared and left it alone. When they came back the next day, they saw Drunk Monkeys lying on the ground ¡­

    It was better to use ripe wild fruits to make wine. With high sugar content, it was easy for yeast to breed, which could convert fructose into ethanol, also known as alcohol.

    From the perspective of evolution and survival, drinking wine could speed up blood cirction. Wine itself was a high-calorie drink that could help monkeys survive the long winter.

    This ¡­ Wine monkey elf was obviously a drunkard. It seemed to be addicted to alcohol. It scratched its ears and butt uneasily, begging Zhang Zian for the wild fruit in his hand.

    Ripened wild fruits were very sweet and rich in sugar, which was rare in the forest. Probably many herbivores liked to eat these wild fruits and often ate them before they were ripened.

    Under its leadership, the other monkeys might have also been addicted to alcohol. They found the food they had hidden between the rocks and treetops, such as various nuts or dried insects, and asked to exchange food with Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t like Lord bei, so he wasn¡¯t interested in the food. He thought for a while and said to it,¡±¡±I want to find out some information. If you can tell me, I¡¯ll give you the fruit and I don¡¯t need your food. How about it?¡±

    ¡°Luan ¡®er! What? What did he want to ask? I¡¯m willing to trade fruits for anything! Give me the fruit!¡± The wine monkey couldn¡¯t wait to sneak over and reach out to grab his back.

    He quickly hid the vest with the wild fruits behind him and winked at the elves to ask them to help look after the monkeys to prevent them from rushing up and snatching the fruits. This was the only condition he could negotiate with the monkeys on.

    ¡°Wait a minute, don¡¯t be anxious. As long as you can answer my question, the fruits are all yours.¡± He warned her,¡±but don¡¯t you think about it, because we are not to be trifled with.¡±

    ¡°Luan ¡®er! Ask! Quickly ask!¡± It burped again, and Zhang Zian quickly turned his face away.

    ¡°I want to ask ¡­ Is there a Pce nearby? Was there a man with an axe cutting down trees and an ugly woman?¡± He asked.

    If a foreigner wanted to find something, he would have to ask the locals who were familiar with the situation.

    The wine monkey¡¯s face immediately showed a resentful expression. Men! What an annoying man! To brew his own wine! You won¡¯t let us drink!¡±

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins looked at each other and were overjoyed. This wine monkey knew the location of the Moon Pce, or at least knew where Wu Gang was.

    dimir blurted out,¡±¡±Ask Wu Gang all about it. Wu Gang brings out the osmanthus wine!¡±

    ¡°Luan ¡®er! The osmanthus wine ¡­ Is delicious!¡± The wine monkey drooled, squinting his eyes in intoxication as he licked his lips.

    Zhang Zian asked again,¡±can you take us to that annoying man?¡±

    The wine monkey didn¡¯tment and pointed at the wild fruit in his hand. He had already shown enough sincerity, and it was time for him to fulfill his promise.

    No matter how delicious the wild fruits were, they were just wild fruits. They wouldn¡¯t die even if they starved for a meal or two.

    Zhang Zian generously handed the vest to it. ¡°I mean what I say. You can have it.¡±

    ¡°Luan ¡®er! Fruit! Fruit! A ripe fruit!¡±

    Wine monkey grabbed the vest and carried it on his shoulder. He slipped back to the pile of rocks and carefully moved a rock away.

    The fragrance of the wine permeated the air.

 Chapter 1757

    Chapter 1757: The bent Osmanthus in the Moon Pce (10)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    The wine monkey sprites had obtained ripened fruits, and the other monkeys were also extremely excited. All of them were craving for wine, like drunkards who hadn¡¯t tasted wine for many years.

    It made sense. The fruit was most suitable for wine-making only when it was fully ripe. Otherwise, the sourness would be too high. In a year, only autumn was the season when the fruit ripened. How many months could the wine made from the fruits in autumnst in the hands of a group of drunkards? He was afraid that he would finish it in a few days.

    The monkeys all gathered on the rubble, drooling as they looked at the wine monkey fiddling with the fruit. They didn¡¯t care about anything else in the outside world at all, just like human drunkards who were addicted to alcohol.

    Zhang Zian also jumped onto the pile of rocks and stretched his neck to take a look. It turned out that the monkeys used the natural pits or holes on the surface of the rocks as natural wine cers.

    However, most of these wine cers were empty, leaving only the aroma of fruit wine and a little residue of the fruit flesh. It was obvious that these drunkard monkeys were in a wine shortage period. No wonder they were willing to exchange everything they had for the humans in order to get the fruit. Once they got addicted, they would even dare to betray their own parents.

    In order to satisfy their addiction to alcohol, some monkeys poured water into the empty wine cer with dug-out wood, theny on the stones and sipped the water that smelled of alcohol.

    After all, the wine monkey was an elf. It was not that low. Its addiction to alcohol was the most serious, but it was a decent and particr drunkard. It could ept wine mixed with water, but as a drinker, it would never ept water mixed with wine.

    It opened the best-shaped and most tightly sealed small wine cer. There were some fruits in the wine cer, and as soon as it was opened, the smell of wine wafted out. It was like the smell of ordinary people buying fruits and leaving them in room temperature and forgetting to eat them. The fruit would soften and release a soft smell, but it was more fragrant and intoxicating.

    It poured all the fruits on its back into the small wine cer, poked them with a branch, and mixed them evenly with the original fruits. It added some water, then covered them with stones seriously, and then used grass mud to paste the gap.

    As for the tank top, it didn¡¯t return it to Zhang Zian. It looked at his clothes, then copied him and put the tank top on. The tank top was too long for it, so it looked like a skirt.

    ¡°Squeak!¡±

    ¡°Squeak! Squeak!¡±

    The monkeys were stimted by the wine¡¯s fragrance and gathered around, staring at the wine cer with eager eyes.

    ¡°Luan ¡®er! Get lost! The fruit was still the fruit! It¡¯s not wine!¡± The wine monkey threatened,¡±don¡¯t drink until winter is over and spring is here!¡±

    It understood some of the principles of wine-making, but the other monkeys didn ¡®t. Before the wine was finished, they might be able to bear with it, but now that they saw the wine cer empty with their own eyes, they were afraid that they wouldn¡¯t be able to drink the wine, so they still surrounded each other and were on guard against each other.

    Alcohol addiction had always been getting worse and worse, and so were these monkeys ¡®. When the wine monkey first arrived, they didn¡¯t know what wine was. Theyughed at it for being stupid when they saw it hiding the delicious fruits it collected in the stone instead of eating them. However, when spring came, when it unsealed the wine cer, the intoxicating fragrance that drifted out simply hooked their souls away.

    The wine monkey wasn¡¯t stingy, because it was boring to drink alone. It was good to havepanions to drink with, so it generously distributed the fruit wine to the other monkeys and let them have a taste. The result was out of control. The monkeys were addicted to the fruit wine, but they didn¡¯t have a certain level of self-control like humans.

    It couldn¡¯t be helped, this little bit of wine wasn¡¯t enough for everyone to drink, so the wine monkey ordered them to collect wild fruits to make wine.

    The wine made from the fruits in spring was sour and bitter, as hard to swallow as horse urine. The wine made from the fruits in summer was slightly better, barely drinkable, but not delicious. The best was the fruits in autumn.

    However, seeing that the harsh winter without fruits was about to arrive, how were they going to survive this long winter with their increasingly strong alcohol addiction?

    The monkeys had no n when they drank the wine, and they had no control. They would get drunk today and talk about the futureter. Every time the wine was brewed, they would snatch it all away.

    The fruits they had now could only make three or four bowls of fruit wine at most, which was not enough for everyone to share. The moment the wine cer was opened in spring, everyone would fight for it.

    They might not even be able to wait for spring half a yearter. Looking at the situation, the monkeys who were addicted to alcohol smelled the wine and wanted to kill the chicken to get the eggs.

    The wine monkey obviously had to protect the dignity of the wine. The things in the wine cer were not wine at all, they were just rotten fruits. How could he waste such a precious gift?

    It tried its best to exin to the monkeys, but it was no different from ying the zither to a cow. The drunkards who were addicted to alcohol would not listen to any exnation. If they were forced into a corner, they might even put a stone with the smell of alcohol into their mouths to chew, let alone a rotten fruit with the smell of wine.

    This was not an exaggeration. It was said that once the drunkards of thebat race were addicted to alcohol, they would not even let go of the fighter¡¯s anti-freezing liquid. In 2016, there was even a piece of news that was hard to distinguish whether it was true or false. It said that the poor people in Irkutsk drank alcoholic shower gel as alcohol and that 55 people died from drinking it. The reason was that thebel of the shower gel only said that it contained ethanol, but it actually contained the poisonous methane.

    The manufacturer of the shower gel was actually quite wronged. When they produced it, they didn¡¯t think that someone would drink shower gel like wine ¡­

    Therefore, once his alcohol addiction kicked in, there was no limit to what he could do.

    This was the case for humans, not to mention monkeys.

    Usually, the monkeys would respect the wine monkey because it could make wine, which was equivalent to mastering the core technology. They would respect it as their leader and listen to everything it said. But now, with their addiction acting up, even if their own parents were in the way of the wine cer, they would still put righteousness before family.

    The wine monkeys didn¡¯t seem to be good at fighting. In terms ofbat power, they weren¡¯t much different from ordinary monkeys. They were pushed and shoved by the monkeys and were in a very sorry state. As long as it was pushed away from its original position, the newly sealed wine cer would be opened by the monkeys, and the fruits with the smell of wine would be eaten. If it had insisted on resisting, the consequences might have been even more serious.

    The elves shook their heads at the sight of the drunkard monkeys, especially famous. There was a time when it was also addicted to good wine and food. It couldn¡¯t help but feel scared when it thought about it. Maybe it had almost be one of these drunkards.

    Zhang Zian was still counting on the wine monkey elf, the only one who couldmunicate with him, to lead the way. Of course, he couldn¡¯t just sit back and do nothing, so he suggested,¡±¡±The man with the axe should have a lot of bars, right? The fragrant osmanthus wine was enough for everyone to drink. I¡¯m going to find that person, why don¡¯t we all go together? Beat the local tyrants and split the good wine!¡±

 Chapter 1758

    Chapter 1758: The bent Osmanthus in the Moon Pce (11)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Wu Gang!

    Carrying a sharp axe with a cold glint, the bull-like muscr brother was a Master of Wine while chopping trees all day long. After all, there was no mobile phone or WiFi in the Moon Pce, so what was he doing? He had to find something to do.

    It was obvious that the monkeys had all seen Wu Gang before, and they were all deeply afraid of that man. Upon hearing his name, they even temporarily sobered up from their alcohol addiction and looked at each other in fear.

    ¡°Luan ¡®er!¡± The wine monkey was so scared that he let out a big and stinky burp. He waved his hands and said,¡±¡±No! No! Kachaa! Kachaa!¡±

    It made a chopping gesture, meaning that Wu Gang would chop off its head.

    Zhang Zian tried to persuade them,¡±¡±Let me ask you, does this moonurel forest and the moonurel tree belong to Wu Gang?¡±

    The wine monkey tranted his words to the other monkeys. The monkeys were stunned and shook their heads.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, thend, trees, flowers, and fruits don¡¯t belong to Wu Gang. They belong to all of you, and the wine made with these things should also belong to everyone! What era was it already? why was there still such a backward private system! This was a reversal of history! If there¡¯s wine, we¡¯ll drink. If there¡¯s money, we¡¯ll spend it. We must achievemon prosperity!¡± He said with righteous indignation.

    dimir nodded as he listened. The director¡¯s level of thinking had improved again.

    The monkeys were confused. However, as the old saying goes,¡±wine strengthens one¡¯s courage¡±. Under the effect of alcohol addiction, they, who usually avoided Wu Gang, were hooked by the osmanthus wine described by him. At this moment, even if he told them to exchange one arm or leg for a bowl of osmanthus wine, they might agree.

    It was really hard to say that he was addicted to alcohol.

    Zhang Zian further incited,¡±

    ¡°Eat wild fruits, prepare wine, and go straight to Guanghan to battle Wugang. Wugang has good wine!¡±

    ¡°Eat his mother, drink his mother. If there¡¯s not enough, find Wu Gang!¡±

    ¡°If we don¡¯t work, if we don¡¯t store food, we¡¯ll all have a good time!¡±

    The monkeys had never heard such bewitching words before, and they were immediately tickled by it.

    That¡¯s right! Why do we have to work so hard to collect wild fruits to store food for the winter? Wu Gang has wine and meat, why can¡¯t we eat? Just snatch it and it¡¯ll be over!

    ¡°Squeak!¡±

    ¡°Squeak! Squeak!¡±

    The monkeys were excited, beating their chests and stomping their feet. Their faces were full of murderous intent, as if Wu Gang really owed them wine. They looked at Zhang Zian as if he was their Savior who had guided them to the light.

    What did he, the ¡®Savior¡¯, actually do? All Kong did was shout a few slogans.

    How did Wu Gang offend this group of monkeys? He brewed his own wine and drank it himself. It had nothing to do with the monkeys, but now the monkeys felt that he owed them wine ¡­ What kind of logic was this? Just because he had something, he had to Rob?

    The elves shook their heads. This strange slogan was obviously encouraging the monkeys to enjoy life and not work hard, promoting the unhealthy trend of ¡°let¡¯s get drunk today¡±, but because it catered to these monkeys ¡®mentality of reaping without sowing, it actually got such support from them? The world was really degenerating day by day, and the heart of a monkey was no longer ancient.

    The only one who wasn¡¯t surprised was the monkey¡¯s kind, Pi.

    As early as the first time it entered the dream world, when it was caught by the monkey chatans and forced to perform, Pi already knew how selfish and ruthless its kind were. Later, its experience in the dream of the machine further confirmed this point, so it had no sympathy for its kind at all.

    Zhang Zian saw that all the monkeys had been mobilized, so he gave the wine monkey a look. Thetter hesitated for a moment, made up his mind, and nodded heavily. How could it not want to drink the osmanthus wine? usually, just by smelling the fragrance from afar, it would almost pounce over several times.

    Not only did it agree, but in order to show its determination, it even opened the wine cer that it had just sealed and shared the fruit with the monkeys to let them ferment some of the fruit, which already contained a small amount of alcohol.

    The monkeys fought to eat the fruit. After a while, they were drunk and their steps were unsteady. They were even more crazy. Their faces were red and their necks were thick. They yed with each other, beat their chests, and roared with all their might. They hung themselves on the branches with their tails and swayed back and forth. They were obviously two male monkeys, but they were riding together ¡­ As if they had endless energy to vent.

    There were also monkeys who tried to provoke the elves with the excuse of being drunk, but they were asking for trouble.

    The strict elves, such as fina and dimir, couldn¡¯t stand the disgusting and ugly behavior of these monkeys.

    In the legends, the reason why Walker sun dared to wreak havoc in the heavenly Pce was most likely because the monkey had secretly drunk too much wine at the Queen Mother¡¯s banquet and had gone crazy.

    There was no helping it, the monkey was not good at drinking and was addicted to alcohol.

    If this was the real world, Zhang Zian would feel bad. After all, he was tricking a group of monkeys into risking their lives. However, this was not the real world. These monkeys should just be game characters simr to strange fish and toads. They thought that they were real, and what they did was simr to the monkeys in the real world. In fact, they were not. Therefore, he did not have to feel guilty. Very few people would feel guilty about unknown characters in games.

    Richardnded on his shoulder and said,¡±¡±Kaka! You idiot, you were probably born at the wrong time. ¡±

    ¡°Why do you say that?¡± He asked curiously.

    Richard rolled his eyes.¡±If you were born in the ancient times, with your shamelessness and instigation, you might have been able to leave your name in history as ¡®Zhang Xiuquan, the king¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s Zhang Xiuquan? I¡¯m Zhang Zian. ¡± He waved his hand to drive it away.¡±Bandit names and whatnot ¡­ How unpleasant.¡±

    After the wine monkey finished eating the fruit, he burped loudly with the help of the wine. Fight Wu Gang! Fight Wu Gang! Fight Wu Gang!¡±

    The monkeys didn¡¯t wait for his orders and ran towards a certain direction in the forest. The wine monkey was also mixed in, waving to Zhang Zian and the others to follow.

    ¡°Squeak squeak.¡±

    Pi stopped them, waved the wooden stick in its hand at them, and then performed a sweep, a vertical sh, a straight stab, a pole vault, and other uses.

    The characteristic of the monkeys was that they were good at imitating. When they saw that there were so many ways to y with a wooden stick, they jumped onto a nearby tree, broke off the branches, and used them as wooden sticks. They imitated Pi¡¯s movements and waved them around. After a while, they were very good at it.

    Although the monkeys weren¡¯t elves, they were strong in adapting to the gravity and environment here. They were also vicious and merciless with the help of alcohol. Coupled with their fearless madness from their addiction to alcohol, they were a force to be reckoned with.

    Zhang Zian gave Pi a thumbs-up. Now that the monkeys had weapons, they would definitely be much stronger than if they were unarmed. He had overlooked this before.

    The monkeys waved their wooden sticks and hollered like a primitive tribe as they marched towards the vast cold Pce.

    But why did this look like a group of monkeys on the flowerfruit mountain wreaking havoc in the Moon Pce?

 Chapter 1759

    Chapter 1759: The bent Osmanthus in the Moon Pce (12)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Thump!

    Thump!

    The loud and dull sound of the collision echoed in the forest for a long time, like the Thunder before a storm. But unlike the Thunder, this sound did note from the sky, but from the depths of the forest.

    The wine monkey stopped and timidly pointed to the front.¡±Luan ¡®er! The man with the sharp axe! Osmanthus wine!¡±

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins followed behind the monkeys. After walking for about half an hour, they could clearly feel the temperature dropping rapidly.

    The leaves of the Laurel tree here were withered and yellow, and the trunk was covered with a thinyer of frost. The fallen leaves on the ground were very crisp when stepped on, and white gas apanied every breath.

    Although the moon was small, it wasn¡¯t so small that it would take half a day to reach the North Pole. Thus, from all the signs, the vast cold Pce was already very close. The first to bear the brunt would be Wu Gang, who was cutting down trees.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s clothes were rtively thin, and he had fastened all the buttons that could be fastened on his clothes. Fortunately, he had been exercising all the time, so he didn¡¯t feel cold.

    He made a gesture to the elves, asking them to be on guard.

    Thump!

    Thump!

    The sound of the tree being cut down grew louder and louder, like the war drums of two armies.

    He and the elves were all muttering in their hearts. Is this a noise that a human can make?

    Kachaa!

    In the forest ahead, a tallurel tree copsed with a loud bang. At the same time, it revealed an open space. In the distance, a pure white Pce building could be vaguely seen.

    A bearded man wearing an animal skin apron was wiping his sweat with an extrarge two-handed axe. His strong chest muscles were exposed in the cold air, giving off waves of heat.

    Oh my God!

    At first nce, he didn¡¯t think much of it, but when hepared the curly-bearded man to the Laurel tree next to him, Zhang Zian was shocked to find that the man¡¯s height and body size were not in the category of human beings at all!

    Clearly, this curly-bearded man was Wu Gang.

    Wu Gang was more than four meters tall. He was strong and strong, with big shoulders and a round waist. He stood there like a wall, and the axe in his hand was about the height of an adult.

    He wasn¡¯t human, but more like a god.

    Gudu.

    Wu Gang sat down on the stump of the Laurel tree, untied a leather bag from his waist, and pulled out the cork with a bang. He raised his head and gulped down a few mouthfuls of wine. He narrowed his eyes in satisfaction, and his face quickly flushed red.

    The wine monkey swallowed his saliva.

    The monkeys stared at his wine sack, their eyes red.

    Wu Gang rested for a while, then picked up his axe again and began to chop the Laurel tree he had just cut down. He chopped it into small pieces, as if he intended to use it as firewood.

    The wine monkey gestured to the other monkeys, wanting to rush up and grab Wu Gang¡¯s wine bag, but he was stopped by Zhang Zian.

    ¡°How many days is this bag of wine enough for you to drink? We¡¯ll see where he got the wine from and then we¡¯ll grab his barrel. ¡± He said.

    These words were exactly what the monkeys wanted.

    ¡°Brother gang, when will the bathwater be ready ¡­¡± She asked.

    An extremely thin and sharp voice came from the direction of the White Pce. It was clearly far away, but it was clearly heard. It was like a steel needle piercing into the minds of everyone present, making their eardrums itch.

    Wu Gang raised his voice and shouted,¡±Sister E, the wood is almost done!¡± Please wait a moment!¡±

    If Zhang Zian didn¡¯t already know that Chang ¡®e was a cat-faced olddy, he might still have some fantasies about her. At this time, hearing her deliberately sweet and coy voice at her age, he really got goosebumps all over his body.

    Chang ¡®e¡¯s voice rang out once more.¡±Big brother gang, don¡¯t boil the bathwater. Let¡¯s cook first, Yingying. I want to have rabbit meat and monkey brain for lunch today, okay?¡±

    ¡°Uh ¡­ The rabbit meat is ready-made, but where can we get the monkey brain in such a short time? I was afraid you¡¯d be hungry, how about we eat roasted rabbit meat with osmanthus cake?¡± Wu Gang said awkwardly.

    ¡°Keke!¡± Chang ¡®e suddenly let out a bone-chillingugh.¡±Big brother, you don¡¯t have to worry. Those stupid monkeys have delivered their brains to our door, as well as their delicious human livers ¡­¡±

    Terrible! He had been discovered!

    Zhang Zian¡¯s heart sank, and then he saw Wu Gang¡¯s fist-sized eyes looking in his direction. He roared fiercely,¡±¡±Where did this thiefe from? How dare you trespass vast cold Pce?¡±

    The voice was like a thunderp in his ears, and even the frost on the tree trunk was shaken off.

    Wu Gang lifted his giant axe and strode over. The weight of the axe and the man probably exceeded a ton, and the thudding sound reminded one of the Tyrannosaurus in Jurassic Park.

    ¡°Zian, let me handle this.¡± Old time tea volunteered.

    ¡°Old time tea, you have to be careful ¡­¡± Zhang Zian was worried for old time tea.

    ¡°It¡¯s no problem. ¡± Old time tea was calm.¡±This person has brute force, but his movements are not very flexible. His lower body is unstable, and it is difficult to turn. I will deal with him, and I don¡¯t think I will be at a disadvantage.¡±

    Old time tea¡¯s eyes were sharp. It could tell that Wu Gang¡¯s center of gravity was on his upper body. This was because the gravity in the Moon Pce was too low, so Wu Gang¡¯s legs didn¡¯t need to be strong to support his body. Therefore, the muscles of his torso and arms were more developed than his legs.

    ¡°I¡¯ll stay too. I¡¯ll deal with him with old time tea.¡± Famous said.

    ¡°Alright, you guys just need to be more careful and dy him.¡± Zhang Zian said.

    The monkeys clenched the branches in their hands. The alcohol had made them forget their fear. All they wanted to do was to beat Wu Gang to death and enjoy the osmanthus wine.

    Zhang Zian and the other Elfins avoided the attack and went around to the side.

    ¡°Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!¡±

    In the blink of an eye, Wu Gang had already rushed to old time tea and famous, swinging his giant axe.

    The muscles on Wu Gang¡¯s arms were bulging, and the veins were bulging. It was enough to show how terrifying his strength was.

    The speed of the axe was too fast. The de of the axe rapidlypressed the air, making a shrill whistling sound. The frost on the ground was blown away by the strong wind.

    The de of the axe shed with a cold light. Wherever the axe passed, the grass and thin branches were silently cut in half, just like tofu being cut by a knife, and then rolled into the air by the rapid airflow.

    Not to mention being hit by a giant axe, even if it was just a graze, the result would be the same as being hit by arge truck.

    Zhang Zian was scared witless. If he were to face this axe head on, he might not even have time to Dodge and would be cut in half by the axe.

    Wu Gang was considered to be of the difficulty level of an A-level challenge, probably because this level was extremely dangerous and difficult to defeat with intelligence. They could only fight head-on.

    Old time tea jumped nimbly and dodged the axe. Famous¡¯s premonition of danger also came into y in time, allowing it to see that it might be badly mutted next, so it jumped to a safe position in advance.

    The monkeys upied the high ground and cheered for old time tea and famous. They threw the branches in their hands at Wu Gang¡¯s face, neck, and other vulnerable parts like javelins. After that, they broke other branches and continued to throw.

    Wu Gang didn¡¯t expect there to be an attacker above him. He was caught off guard and suffered a small loss. His face and body were cut by branches, and blood gushed out, making him look even more ferocious and terrifying.

 Chapter 1760

    Chapter 1760: The bent Osmanthus in the Moon Pce (13)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Although the monkeys had limitedbat power and couldn¡¯t cause any fatal damage to Wu Gang, they had the advantage in their numbers. They kept throwing branches and chirping non-stop, as annoying as a group of flies.

    Old time tea and famous were busy with Wu Gang¡¯s bottom and middlene respectively, while the monkeys were harassing him from above. Even so, Wu Gang didn¡¯t retreat. Instead, he fought more and more fiercely.

    He spun the giant axe in a circle, and the sharp de cut through the air with a whistling sound. The axe shadow covered an area with a radius of about five meters. Neither old time tea nor famous could get close to him, let alone cause him any damage.

    On the other hand, the monkeys could at least injure him a little, but it was better to expect him to copse from exhaustion than to expect these small injuries to make him fall down.

    Such a big attack was bound to consume a lot of physical strength. Old time tea and famous had encountered ck bears in the deep mountains and redwood forests in real history and in their imagined worlds. They treated Wu Gang as a ck bear, avoiding his attacks and waiting for him to run out of strength.

    However, perhaps because of his long-term tree-cutting and huge size, Wu Gang seemed to have endless power. No matter if it was a thin tree or a thorn vine, it was cut in half by the giant axe.

    Old time tea and famous tried their best, but they could only slow down Wu Gang¡¯s pace. They couldn¡¯tpletely restrain him.

    Wu Gang didn¡¯t forget that Zhang Zian was his primary target. As he waved the giant axe, he took slow and heavy steps toward Zhang Zian. Although Huahua¡¯s steps were slow, his legs were long and his steps were big.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s scalp went numb. He felt like Leon in Resident Evil 2, who was chased by a tyrant until he had no way out ¡­

    Richard had already flown to a higher and safer position, and said,¡±¡±Wake up, you idiot! You¡¯re not as handsome as Leon. If you don¡¯t run now, your ass will be blown up into a sunflower by this muscr brother!¡±

    Zhang Zian had already run to the edge of the forest, but he didn¡¯t dare to rush out of the forest, because on t ground, Wu Gang was even more invincible.

    At this moment, a gray shadow suddenly leaped high into the air and pounced toward Wu Gang.

    Wu Gang¡¯s defense was focused on the middle and the bottomne, so his upper body and head were indeed empty. Old time tea and famous could also see this, but the problem was that his attack range was toorge. Breaking through in the air waspletely suicide. As long as he reacted in time, there was almost no room for him to Dodge in the air.

    Everyone took a closer look and realized that the gray shadow was actually Fati.

    Wu Gang raised his head and saw the wolf that did not know death. He could not help but reveal a sinister smile. He turned his sharp axe around and swung it at the Dharma Protector with the force of a fire burning the sky.

    Terrible! He was too rash!

    Zhang Zian and the Elfins ¡®hearts were in their throats, and they almost screamed out loud, because in everyone¡¯s opinion, it would be difficult for Fati to escape unscathed.

    What¡¯s wrong with thew pushing? Why did he make such an attack without considering the consequences?

    Wu Gang¡¯s line of sight followed the figure of the pushing spell, and the axe de rushed over. Even if the other sprites wanted to save it at this time, they were too far to do so.

    Just as Fati¡¯s body reached its highest point in the air, the light red stigma under its four feet and left rib became brighter, as if blood was about to drip out.

    It didn¡¯t look at Wu Gang, but closed its eyes and said devoutly,¡±¡±Let there be light.¡±

    Light was the benchmark for speed in the universe. Before he could finish his words, a majestic light curtain descended from the sky and enveloped thew attribute. Wu Gang, who was diagonally below thew attribute, was also bathed in the light curtain.

    ¡°Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!¡±

    Wu Gang was caught off guard, and the strong light stung his eyes, causing the center of his vision to turn dark. He closed his eyes in pain. His body of steel was suffering the same pain as an ordinary person. After all, no matter how hard he trained his muscles, he could not train his eyes.

    His vision was seriously affected, the axe lost its aim, and his whole body staggered and lost bnce.

    No matter how powerful he was, he was still a human. As long as he was a human, he would rely heavily on his vision.

    Fati closed his eyes not to show off, but to prevent himself from being blinded by the bright light.

    The strong light only existed for a short moment. It immediately opened its eyes after the light curtain disappeared. It stepped on the side of the giant axe that passed by it, changed its direction, and fell back to the ground.

    Old time tea and famous didn¡¯t let go of this rare opportunity. They took advantage of Wu Gang¡¯s huge w and attacked resolutely. One of them made a bloody w mark on his left knee, and the other bit the Achilles tendon of his right foot. After the attack, they quickly retreated. Although it was not fatal, these two injuries were at his joints, which was enough to limit his movement.

    The unexpected and risky attack of the Fati had broken the deadlock. Otherwise, Wu Gang would have been invincible in his normal state.

    Wu Gang roared like a trapped beast, waving his giant axe even more fiercely. However, he had lost the opportunity. His blurry vision and unstable position greatly reduced his attack. He was able to defend himself and no longer had the strength to catch up with Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian gave a thumbs up to push Fati in approval, then turned around and ran out of the forest with the other Elfins, leaving Wu Gang behind. He had to hurry up. Even if the three elves and the monkey group continued to confront Wu Gang, it was hard to predict the oue.

    After running out of the forest, there was arge open space in front of them. The open space was covered with deste grass, which swayed unsteadily in the wind, giving people a sense of destion.

    In the middle of the open space, there was a Pce with carved beams and painted rafters. However, unlike the many pces in the Forbidden City, this Pce was a rare white color. A blue gilded que hung on the door of the pce, with the words ¡°Guanghan Pce¡± written in a traditional style.

    Under normal circumstances, white would remind people of pure and wless beautiful things. However, the White of Guanghan Pce was not milky white or jade white, but a deathly white, the kind of white that belonged to skeletons. There were even faint shes of phosphorus fire. Its shape was not as solemn and majestic as the pce in the Forbidden City. Instead, it was extremely strange. It did not look like the legendary Guanghan Celestial Pce, but more like the king¡¯s pce of Yama.

    A man-made canal surrounded the vast cold Pce like a Jade belt. In front of it were three Jade arch bridges that crossed the canal, connecting both sides of the canal.

    There were countless tiny skeletons scattered on the ground around them. They were not human skeletons, but rather, rabbit skeletons.

    Zhang Zian motioned for the Elfins to stop. The front was like a dragon¡¯s pool or a Tiger¡¯s Den. They had to observe clearly before moving, in case of any mistakes.

    As he was looking around, he saw something being thrown down from the second floor of Guanghan Pce and rolling on the ground. It was a rabbit rack that had not been eaten clean and still had some meat on it.

    ¡°Keke! That idiot Wu Gang, he¡¯s so big, but he¡¯s really a silver-like wax spear head that looks good but is useless. He doesn¡¯t have any abilities other than cutting trees and making wine, and he can¡¯t even deal with you thieves, so do you think this Pce Master has to personally take action?¡±

    A sinisterugh came from the second floor.

 Chapter 1761

    Chapter 1761: The bent Osmanthus in the Moon Pce (14)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Even before seeing Chang ¡®e¡¯s face, just hearing herughter was enough to make Zhang Zian¡¯s hair stand on end, and he felt as if a steel brush had brushed past his back.

    What he was more worried about was that this Chang ¡®e seemed to like eating rabbit meat very much. The Guanghan Pce was surrounded by the bones of rabbits, but he didn¡¯t know if she had eaten the real Jade Rabbit.

    Probably not yet, or else this challenge would have ended in failure.

    Even so, the situation wasn¡¯t optimistic, because he didn¡¯t know what a real Jade Rabbit looked like or what the difference was between it and an ordinary Jade Rabbit.

    ¡°Meow my a * s! Old witch! If you have the ability,e down and fight with us. What kind of ability is hiding upstairs and talking nonsense?¡± dimir yelled upstairs. Its purpose was to anger her and make her leave the vast cold Pce. This was better than going into The Tiger¡¯s Den.

    ¡°Keke! What the hell are you? Daring to talk back to this Pce Master, are you tired of living? There are so many guests today, I want to have a full meal. I¡¯ll use cat heart, monkey brain, rabbit head, dog leg, and human liver to stew a big pot of soup. I¡¯ll add more cooking wine and moon Osmanthus to remove the fishy smell. It¡¯ll definitely restore my vitality! Keke!¡±

    Chang ¡®e was still only able to hear his voice but not see him, and she remained on the second floor chatting with them.

    Richard, who was hiding in the hood behind Zhang Zian¡¯s back, was relieved that Chang ¡®e didn¡¯t mention him, but then she added,¡±¡±I¡¯ll grill some chicken wings too. ¡±

    ¡°Gah? I¡¯m a Jiao, not a chicken! You dare to eat me? I¡¯m an endangered animal in the world. Stupid woman, do you want to spend the rest of your life in prison?¡± Richard stuck his head out and shouted indignantly.

    ¡°Yo, this flexible tongue should be good for making sashimi.¡± Chang ¡®e said.

    ¡°Gah? You stupid woman, not only are you stupid, but you¡¯re also ugly. You must be so ugly that you can¡¯t see anyone, that¡¯s why you¡¯re hiding and don¡¯t dare toe out, right?¡± Richard could tell that Chang ¡®e would not leave the Guanghan Pce, and he was immediately emboldened.

    His words struck Chang ¡®e¡¯s sore spot. No matter what, she used to be a woman, and she must have been a woman who loved beauty. It was normal for her to steal the elixir and escape to the moon Pce because she didn¡¯t want to grow old. However, in this script that had been modified by the in-game demon, the elixir she stole was the elixir of immortality that was only for pet sprites. Although she had obtained immortality as she wished, the beautiful woman had turned into a cat-faced olddy.

    When Zhang Zian heard the story of Chang ¡®e flying to the moon for the first time when he was a child, he felt a little indignant for the great Qian dynasty. Why was Chang¡¯ e not punished for using the stolen celestial medicine to be a fairy? The so-called punishment, was it to be trapped in the Moon Pce forever? What kind of punishment was this? Da Yi was dead, but she was still alive and well.

    As a child, he didn¡¯t understand that eternal loneliness was a form of punishment. However, Chang ¡®e wasn¡¯t lonely. At least she had Wu Gang.

    This adulterous couple must have been doing what everyone loved to do every day in the Guanghan Pce. They must have been cuckolded by Da Yi one after another ¡­ Zhang Zian felt sorry for Da Yi for a second.

    And he quite admired Wu Gang. In the face of a cat-faced olddy, he could actually ¡­ Harden?

    ¡°You cheap bird! Shut your mouth for this Pce Master!¡± Chang ¡®e flew into a rage out of humiliation.¡±I¡¯m so beautiful that I¡¯m shaming the moon and flowers. How can I allow a lowly bird like you to nder me as you please?¡±

    ¡°Kaka! ¡°Ah!¡± Fairy Chang ¡®e, your husband is here! Hurry up ande down to wee us!¡± Richard purposely screamed.

    Knowing that it was talking nonsense, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help but look around, wondering if big gun would reallye. That would be lively.

    Even after thousands of years had passed, Chang ¡®e still felt guilty. After all, she had stolen her husband¡¯s celestial medicine and cheated on him. If her husband found her here, he would definitely skin her alive.

    ¡°You ¡­ You¡¯re talking nonsense! Da Qian was already dead, he couldn¡¯t havee here! It¡¯s impossible!¡± She said in a trembling voice.

    Richard patted the back of Zhang Zian¡¯s head with his wings.¡±Bajie, what are you waiting for? Why don¡¯t you hurry up and carry your wife? Don¡¯t you always want a wife?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought,¡¯¡­You¡¯re the F * cking Bajie! I¡¯d rather be a monk than be interested in this ugly woman. After all, this is a world that values looks. ¡±

    ¡°Kaka! You¡¯re so picky with your conditions, no wonder you¡¯re destined to be alone!¡± Richard raised his head and said,¡±fairy Chang ¡®e, don¡¯t worry. There was an epidemic in the lower realm this year, and many pigs died. Marshal Tianpeng is busy with breeding in his harem. When he¡¯s done, I¡¯ll make hime to the moon Pce to apany you!¡±

    Chang ¡®e almost exploded with rage at the sight of the man and bird singing the same tune.

    ¡°You bastards! This Pce Master will kill you all! I¡¯m going to skin you, pull out your tendons, break your bones, suck your marrow, and then grind your bones to dust!¡± She shouted with all her might.

    Despite her shouting, she refused toe out of Guanghan Pce.

    If he couldn¡¯t get her toe out, there was no point in arguing with her. After all, old time tea and the others were still fighting with Wu Gang in the forest. He had to hurry.

    Chang ¡®e would rather be humiliated than leave the vast cold Pce. She was probably waiting for Wu Gang to finish dealing with the matter in the forest and thene back to deal with Zhang Zian and the others.

    From time to time, roars could be heard from the forest. The sound of the fallen trees and the monkeys ¡®cries could be heard. Even though Wu Gang was injured, he was still full of energy.

    Time was on the enemy¡¯s side.

    His verbal attack had also been effective, and at least it had strengthened the momentum of his side. If he continued to listen to Chang ¡®e¡¯s strange and sinisterughter, he would more or less cower before the battle, and it wouldn¡¯t matter if they had a falling out with each other like shrews.

    In fact, it would be best for Richard to fly directly to the second floor to check the situation, but the B * stard bird¡¯sbat power was zero, and it might not be able to fly back alive if it flew up. Besides, it knew that very well and would not dare to go.

    He and the Elfins had already circled the Moon Pce and confirmed that there was only one entrance on the ground. Without further ado, he gestured to the Elfins to stay alert and then stepped onto the arch bridge.

    The man-made ditch under the arch bridge was filled with moss and still water. It was dark green, and there were also bones of various animals floating in it.

    Lonesome and lonely forever was also a kind of torture. If a person was locked in prison for thousands of years without aputer or inte, the person would eithermit suicide or go crazy in the end.

    Obviously, Chang ¡®e belonged to thetter.

    Other than the stupid Wu Gang, she had no one to relieve her boredom with. She had no social interaction and no entertainment. If it were anyone else in this environment, they would probably go crazy too.

    Fortunately, she was just a character set in the game, otherwise Zhang Zian would have some sympathy for her.

    They crossed the arch bridge safely and came to the main gate of Guanghan Pce. They pushed it hard.

    Creak! Creak! Creak!

    The pce gate opened inward with a series of long groans that made one¡¯s teeth ache.

    It was so cold!

    Waves of biting cold air gushed out of the dark Pce.

    Was there a cold storage warehouse inside?

 Chapter 1762

    Chapter 1762: The bent Osmanthus in the Moon Pce (15)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Whether it was a Chinese-style Pce or a Western-style church, it would appear beautiful when there was sufficient light. Once the light source was gone, it would appear gloomy and terrifying because it was too empty.

    Zhang Zian stood at the door of Guanghan Pce. It was dark inside, and there were no lights. The milky-white cold mist reached up to his knees and slowly flowed out like spring water. It really looked like a cold storage used to freeze meat.

    Richard was scared again. If he followed them in, it would mean that his night blindness was going to act up, but if he was left outside alone, he would be even more afraid. He had to wrap himself in Zhang Zian¡¯s hood, just like a child hiding in the quilt out of fear. Out of sight, out of mind.

    Pi¡¯s night vision was simr to that of humans, so the wine monkey must be the same.

    This dark environment was suitable for the cat elves to y their role, but because of their height, their vision was seriously affected by the cold fog.

    At the same time, the cold mist also concealed the condition of the ground. If there were any potholes on the ground, it was likely that one would trip.

    ¡°Squeak squeak.¡±

    Pi pulled on his arm and handed him the Laurel branch.

    Thank you, Pi. This is really useful.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t stand on ceremony. With a wooden stick in his hand, he walked along the road.

    ¡°Everyone, be alert and look out for each other.¡±

    He reminded the elves again and again, and then stepped through the door first.

    The moment they all entered the pce, the door closed automatically behind them with a thud. Perhaps it was because the surroundings were too quiet, but the sound was unusually loud, giving him a shock.

    He turned around and tried to push it, but it didn¡¯t move at all.

    Maybe it would be better to leave one or two elves outside the door ¡­ But it was hard to say. Maybe that would further disperse their forces. Otherwise, who would they leave outside? He would be worried if he left the sprites with weakbat power behind, and it would be a waste if he left the sprites with strongbat power behind.

    Chi Chi Chi Chi.

    It sounded like a small beast was running past them quickly, its voice very soft.

    ¡°Who is it?¡±

    Zhang Zian asked, holding the wooden stick tightly, but there was no response.

    ¡°Everyone, pay attention and don¡¯t split up,¡± He warned in a low voice.

    He turned on the shlight function of his new phone.

    The walls and pirs reflected the light, reflecting a very faint phosphorescence, but this degree of glimmer only added to the gloominess and horror. There were ghostly shadows everywhere.

    The cold mist filled the air, and the shlight¡¯s effect was limited. It could only shine within a two to three-meter radius.

    ¡°Keke! I didn¡¯t expect you to be so stupid toe in and court death!¡±

    A voice drifted over the beam at an extremely fast speed. It could be clearly heard that the voice was getting closer and closer, and then further and further. The position of the voice was erratic, giving people the feeling that ¡­ The speaker was climbing up the beam. When he shone the shlight over, he didn¡¯t see anything.

    ¡°Meow my a * s! If you have the ability, get out here! Don¡¯t try to y tricks here!¡± dimir cursed.

    ¡°Keke! You idiots, your mouths won¡¯t be smelly for long, this Pce Master, I ¡­¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± ¡°Hmph!¡± Fina snorted coldly.¡±In front of me, who are you to call yourself the pce Master!¡±

    In fact, there was nothing wrong with Chang ¡®e calling herself the pce Master. After all, she was the master of the Guanghan Pce, which was also famous in the myths. But it couldn¡¯t be helped, because fina was just so unreasonable.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go together, don¡¯t get separated. ¡±

    Zhang Zian held a wooden stick in one hand and used his phone to light up the ce with the other. The Elfins walked beside him.

    As he walked, Gxy, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped and looked back at him.

    He was about to ask Gxy what was the matter, but Gxy didn¡¯t seem to be looking at him, but ¡­ Its line of sight passed through his body and stared at something behind him.

    Wait a minute, something doesn¡¯t seem right.

    ¡°Pi, are you there?¡±

    ¡°Squeak squeak.¡±

    Pi¡¯s voice came from behind him. After it gave him the stick, because its night vision was simr to that of a human, it had been pulling Zhang Zian¡¯s clothes and following him.

    ¡°Wine monkey, are you there?¡±

    ¡°Luan ¡®er! I¡¯m here, do you have any wine?¡±

    The wine monkey¡¯s voice came from his right side. Its vision was not good, and it was drunk and drowsy. It walked unsteadily outside. After entering the pce, it followed Pi and pulled on Zian¡¯s clothes, or it would fall after a few steps.

    Pi was on the left, and the drunken Monkey was on the right, so who was pulling his clothes behind him?

    Obviously, it was not Richard in the hood, nor could it be Gxy, fina, dimir, or snowy Li, because these cat elves ¡®eyes were burning, and their eyes of different colors were shing in the cold fog, not one of them was missing.

    He wasn¡¯t afraid of one less, but he was afraid of one more.

    Zhang Zian broke out in a cold sweat, and the back of his neck felt cold.

    Should he turn around at this time?

    The scenes from all kinds of horror movies he had watched before suddenly flooded his mind. In any horror movie, he would be scared to death if he turned around at this moment. He would most likely see a strange, pale face.

    However, he really couldn¡¯t pretend that he didn¡¯t know anything without looking back.

    The pce was well sealed. There was no wind at all, but he felt like something was blowing at the back of his neck.

    When the Elfins saw that he suddenly stopped walking, they all stopped and looked back at him. However, because of the cold fog, their vision was also very blurry.

    ¡°Meow meow meow! You stinky man, why aren¡¯t you moving? You want to stay and be a gigolo?¡± Snowy Li said.

    Zhang Zian tried to calm down and think. The Elfins were very vignt. If the thing behind them was walking on the ground, even if it didn¡¯t make any sound, the Elfins could feel the slight vibration on their paws. However, looking at the Elfins ¡®reaction, they didn¡¯t notice anything unusual, which could only mean that ¡­

    He clenched the wooden stick in his hand, mustered all his strength, turned around abruptly, and thrust it diagonally upwards.

    As the shlight flickered, he saw a woman with disheveled hair hanging upside down from the beam like a bat. Her head and upper body drooped behind him. It was only a few seconds before her bloody mouth was about to bite his neck.

    Her face was ferocious and terrifying. She had a sharp mouth and a monkey¡¯s cheeks, fangs exposed, and a few strands of white hair that looked like beards grew on her cheeks. She did look a little like a cat, but she was not as cute as a cat at all.

    He had only met her once, and she curled up in pain because he had stabbed her in the stomach.

    As he already knew, he was used to Earth¡¯s gravity and could be considered half a superhuman in this Moon Pce world. Although he was not as powerful as Wu Gang, he had a stable lower body. Power came from his legs, and he twisted his body in the horse stance. This stick strike used all his strength.

    It was a pity that the tip of the stick wasn¡¯t sharp, otherwise, she would have suffered a lot.

    ¡°Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!¡±

    Chang ¡®e let loose an extremely shrill cry of pain, and she almost fell from the beam of the roof. She barely managed to support her body, and she wrapped her arms and legs around the beam like a Spider. Before the elves could react, she had already disappeared into the darkness of the ceiling.

 Chapter 1763

    Chapter 1763: The bent Osmanthus in the Moon Pce (16)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    ¡°What kind of monster is that?¡± dimir eximed.

    Richard, who was in the hood, was almost deafened by Chang ¡®e¡¯s scream. He cursed,¡±¡±Stop shouting! Call you a big head! If you have the strength, go to the bed and scream!¡±

    Fina and dimir¡¯s vision was blocked by the cold fog, and they could only see the afterimage of Chang ¡®e¡¯s escape. They were about to jump onto the roof beam to chase after her, but they were stopped by Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Forget it. The enemy is in the dark while I¡¯m out in the open. The situation here isplicated. Don¡¯t chase after a cornered enemy.¡± Zhang Zian tried to stop her.¡±She¡¯s only running away temporarily. She¡¯ll definitelye backter. She won¡¯t let us do whatever we want in the Moon Pce ¡­ We should find the Jade Rabbit first.¡±

    To be honest, he was also scared to death just now. His heart was still beating violently, as if it could jump out of his throat at any time.

    When he watched horror movies, he alwaysughed at the protagonists and supporting actors for being too stupid. They knew there were ghosts but still did stupid things. He even turned off the sound, turning the horror movies intoedy. But now that he had experienced the horror movies himself, he couldn¡¯t even cry. If there was a third party watching him from a supernatural perspective, they would definitely call him stupid. Why didn¡¯t they find a way to escape from this ce?

    He had a way to escape, and he could just ask the game to quit the challenge. However, he had already passed through five stages and was one step away from the end. Wouldn¡¯t it be a pity to quit now?

    He had to strengthen his defenses. The elves were responsible for the movement on the ground and around them, while he shone his shlight back and forth on the beams in front and behind him, in case Chang ¡®e did the same thing again.

    The shlight frequently shook in the dark, making him a little dizzy and adding to the psychological pressure. He returned the wooden stick that was too weak to hurt Pi, and took out his old phone. He turned on the shlight function of both phones, and then stuck the screens to each other, one in front and one behind, so that he could see 360 degrees in front and back. This way, he only had to turn his head from time to time.

    As they walked, the wine monkey suddenly let go of his clothes and ran in the other direction excitedly.

    ¡°Luan ¡®er! Wine! I smell bad wine!¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help but frown. He hade here to find the Jade Rabbit, not the wine, but if they split up at this time, they would definitely be caught by Chang ¡®e one by one, so he motioned for the other elves to follow.

    The wine monkey sniffed and found a hidden side door in the cold mist, then pushed it open excitedly.

    ¡°Luan ¡®er! Wine! Osmanthus wine!¡±

    It rushed in happily, as if it had seen a long-lost rtive.

    Zhang Zian and the others had no choice but to follow.

    It was a wine cer with manyrge wooden barrels. The wooden barrels were about the size of a water tank, and the rich aroma of wine wafted in the wine cer.

    There were characters written on every wooden barrel. Some had the words ¡® 100 years¡¯, some had the words ¡® 300 years¡¯, some had the words ¡® 500 years¡¯, and even the innermost barrel had the words ¡® 1000 years¡¯.

    If he was not wrong, this should be the year of cered for each barrel of wine.

    The wine monkey happily hugged a 100-year-old cered barrel. It couldn¡¯t find a way to open it, and it was so hungry that it lost its soul, so it kept biting up and down.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help butugh. He groped for the wooden wedge on the barrel cover, inserted a small knife in the Switzend army knife into the gap of the wooden wedge, and then suddenly pushed it to the side. The wooden wedge loosened.

    He did the same thing and pried the other wooden wedges on the lid.

    Bang!

    The barrel¡¯s lid popped open.

    Even Zhang Zian, who didn¡¯t drink much, was deeply attracted by the aroma of the wine in the barrel. It was a rich and sweet taste mixed with the fragrance of Osmanthus and a variety of wild fruits. After hundreds of years of precipitation and fermentation, it was by no meansparable to modern alcohol. Just one breath of it was enough to make one drunk.

    The wine monkey couldn¡¯t wait to stick its head into the barrel, but it was still a little short of the wine in the barrel. It couldn¡¯t drink it, so it could only lick it with its tongue.

    Zhang Zian saw its ugly state and was about to smile wryly, speechless. Suddenly, he seemed to have thought of something, so he walked to the wooden bucket and stuck his head in to look inside.

    The wine was about twenty centimeters away from the barrel.

    He didn¡¯t know how to make wine, but he felt that it was better to eliminate the interference of air as much as possible for something that needed to be sealed in a cer for a long time.

    In other words, he believed that when this wooden barrel was first sealed a hundred years ago, the wine inside should have been full. After a hundred years of precipitation and concentration, some of the water evaporated, so the wine¡¯s surface had declined, and the wine¡¯s purity had slowly increased.

    It was easy to prove this conjecture.

    He told the elves to keep an eye on their surroundings to prevent Chang ¡®e from ambushing them, while he put his phone aside, bent his knees, and took a horse stance. He then wrapped his arms around an unopened wooden barrel from a century-old cer.

    ¡°Rise!¡±

    He held his breath, tensed up all the muscles in his body, and carried the big wooden barrel. Of course, this was mainly because the gravity in the Moon Pce was low. If it was a wooden barrel filled with wine as big as the one on earth, he would not be able to carry it even if he broke his waist.

    After picking it up, he put the barrel down again. He knew the weight of this 100-year-old wooden barrel in his heart, and then went to pick up another 300-year-old wooden barrel.

    Sure enough, the 300-year-old wooden barrel was lighter than the 100-year-old one. With a slight shake, he could feel the wine inside shaking more violently.

    Then, he tried a wooden barrel that had been kept in the cer for 500 years, which was even lighter.

    In order to verify his feelings, he opened them separately. The wine inside was indeed less and less, and the wine fragrance was getting richer.

    Finally, there was the thousand-year-old wooden barrel. There seemed to be only a fifth or less of the wine left in the barrel.

    He thought for a while and decisively opened the only barrel of osmanthus wine that had been stored in the cer for a thousand years.

    In the beginning, he did not smell anything.

    However, the wine monkey, who was greedily licking the hundred-year osmanthus wine, suddenly straightened its back and looked at him with a dull expression, as well as the wooden barrel of the thousand-year osmanthus wine beside him.

    ¡°So fragrant. Bengong has never smelled such a fragrant smell.¡± Fina narrowed its eyes in intoxication.¡±Like a girl on the Nile River throwing flowers ¡­¡±

    ¡°Meow!¡± Gxy sniffed deeply.

    ¡°Let the wine flow, and the tide of the heart rise!¡± dimir was in a poetic mood.

    Snowy Li¡¯s interest was also piqued, and it murmured,¡±¡±I don¡¯t see the man in the ck Hat, but I¡¯m still thinking of holding the wine and serving it to thedy~¡±

    ¡°Squeak squeak.¡± Pi¡¯s cheeks were slightly red.

    ¡°Ga ¡­ Ga ¡­ I want to fly higher ¡­¡± Richard stomped his bird ws in his hood.

    Just by smelling the fragrance of the thousand-year osmanthus wine, the elves seemed to be drunk.

    Great sound, great elephant, and great fragrance?

    He did not smell anything, but that was only because the human¡¯s sense of smell was too bad, and the fragrance of the thousand-year osmanthus wine was too strong and pure. For example, the sun was clearly seven colors, but the human eye could not separate the seven-colored spectrum, and only thought that the sun was a warm yellow.

    ¡°Since I¡¯ve entered Mount treasure, how can I return empty-handed? I can¡¯t afford to drink it in Maotai. Let me try this thousand-year osmanthus wine and see if it¡¯s better than Maotai so that I can brag to others when I go back ¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian muttered to himself, then lifted the very light wooden barrel of the thousand-year osmanthus wine. He put the barrel to his mouth and took a big gulp.

    In the eyes of those who knew how to drink, this kind of rare thousand-year-old wine had to be tasted in small mouthfuls. Before drinking, one had to take a bath, change clothes, burn incense, and pray. Then, they had to gargle with the best pure water more than ten times before they could take a small sip in fear. This way, they could live up to the reward given by their ancestors. If Zhang Zian drank like a whale, it would be a waste of God¡¯s gift. They would definitely scold him for forgetting his ancestors.

    Thump.

    Zhang Zian put the wooden bucket back on the ground and wiped the corners of his mouth with the back of his hand.

    ¡°Luan ¡®er! Is it ¡­ Good? I want to drink too! Leave some for me!¡± The wine monkey said, his heart aching.

    It had originally nned to start with the 100-year-old wooden barrel and slowly taste it from low to high. Otherwise, it would feel dull if it drank the 1000-year-old osmanthus wine at the beginning. However, Zhang Zian did not y by the rules. He drank the 1000-year-old osmanthus wine directly and took a big gulp. From the sound, there was not much wine left in the barrel.

    Zhang Zian still kept his head down and didn¡¯t answer.

    He seemed to be drunk as well. His body was shaking slightly as if he could not stand steadily.

    ¡°Luan ¡®er! One look and I can tell that you¡¯re a young child who hasn¡¯t drunk much wine. How can a thousand-year-old wine be drunk in one gulp?¡± The wine monkey shook his head and sighed.¡±I¡¯ll need to sleep for at least three days and three nights before I wake up.¡±

    ¡°Keke! He can¡¯t wake up!¡±

    A gust of cold wind blew over the drunkard monkey¡¯s head, causing it to shrink back in fear. It was so scared that it was half-awake from the alcohol.

    Just as Zhang Zian and the Elfins were intoxicated by the fragrance of the thousand-year osmanthus wine, a pale shadow quietly climbed on the roof beam and slipped into the wine cer from the outside.

    Chang ¡®e was overjoyed to see that the elves were all intoxicated by the aroma of the thousand-year-old osmanthus wine, and Zhang Zian had fallen asleep standing on the spot after taking a big sip. He had also put his phone aside.

    Only the drunkard monkey had a strong resistance to alcohol because of his long-term excessive drinking. Even after drinking a few mouthfuls of the hundred-year osmanthus wine, he still maintained his usual half-drunk and half-awake state.

    She didn¡¯t care about the wine monkey at all. She wanted to take this opportunity to bite Zhang Zian¡¯s throat, drink his blood, and then kill the cats and monkeys. Finally, she would torture the stinky bird, pull out its feathers one by one, and then kill it.

    She quickly slid along the beam to the top of Zhang Zian¡¯s head, her legs hooked onto the beam, her head and upper body hanging down, and her chicken w-like fingers reached for Zhang Zian¡¯s neck.

    At this moment, Zhang Zian suddenly raised his head and met her eyes. His eyes were clear, and he was clearly not drunk.

    His cheeks were puffed up, and he seemed to have something in his mouth.

    Chang ¡®e felt likeughing. Did this guy think he was a giant toad from the ocean?

    Before she could understand, the next second,

    He raised a small object to his mouth with his right hand. It was his windproof lighter.

    Pfft!

    Arge cloud of intoxicating wine mist spewed out of his mouth and enveloped arge area in front of him. Chang ¡®e was caught off guard and had no ce to hide.

    At the same time, he flicked a lighter with his right hand.

    Sparks flew as the wine mist transformed into a powerful Fire Dragon that swept toward Chang ¡®e.

 Chapter 1764

    Chapter 1764: The bent Osmanthus in the Moon Pce (17)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    On earth, the distance and range of spraying a mouthful of water out was very limited. If it was sprayed into a mist instead of a pir, it was the limit to spray about two meters. However, this was the Moon Pce, which had low gravity. With the same amount of force, and the fact that the density of alcohol was lower than water, the mist could be sprayed further and wider.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t sure if the alcohol purity of the thousand-year osmanthus wine was enough to support the burning, so he could only take the risk and try it. However, he estimated that it was about the same. After all, the concentrated osmanthus wine was the essence. If the thousand-year osmanthus wine was not good enough, then the remaining 100-year or 5-year osmanthus wine would be even worse.

    When the wine first entered his mouth, he was already mentally prepared for the spiciness in his mouth. However, he did not expect that such a high-purity wine did not feel any difort after entering his mouth. Instead, it was as mellow and long as the legendary bejeweled nectar, with a refreshing fragrance. He clearly did not want to drink it, but the wine slid down his throat like an overly smooth silk. He could only try his best to lower his head and block his throat. Otherwise, he would be drunk on the spot after swallowing this big mouthful of wine.

    He didn¡¯t have to wait too long before Chang ¡®e appeared just as he had expected. She didn¡¯t realize that this was a trap that he had set up on the spot, and she fell into it without any hesitation.

    Of course, if the wine in his mouth couldn¡¯t be lit by the lighter in the end, he would be too smart for his own good and set a trap for himself.

    Fortunately, he won the bet.

    The sudden appearance of the fire Dragon was scorching and bright, dispersing the cold mist nearby and illuminating the entire wine cer.

    The elves who had been intoxicated by the wine were awoken by the fire Dragon and Chang ¡®e¡¯s shrieks. They saw Chang¡¯ e hanging upside down from the beam, her entire body covered in mes. Her face was burned like a Sadako who had just crawled out of a stove in a vige. The White beards on both sides of her cheeks had been wiped clean, and her hair was also on fire.

    Alcohol wasn¡¯t as scary as gasoline, and it wasn¡¯t pure either. The fire caused more psychological damage to Chang ¡®e than the physical damage. After all, many people¡¯s faces were sshed with liquid such as rain, but very few people had fire on their faces.

    The mes of alcohol were very gentle, not as violent as gasoline. The orange mes slowly spread across Chang ¡®e¡¯s body, but they were still mes.

    Chang ¡®e fell from the roof beam like a fireball, and she rolled into the damp, cold mist while wailing. She put out the fire and crawled out of the wine cer. In addition to the rich aroma of wine, there was also the faint smell of expired roast meat, which had a sour odor.

    ¡°Meow my a * s! That old hag who was pretending to be a ghost! I¡¯ll catch up to her and beat her up!¡± dimir was annoyed by her repeated scaring and wanted to chase after her.

    Chang ¡®e¡¯s body reeked of roasted meat, osmanthus wine, and burnt clothes, making it difficult for her to hide.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll chase them together. It¡¯s better not to split up. ¡± Zhang Zian advised.

    He took his phone and took two steps forward. Suddenly, he held onto the wall and stopped.

    ¡°That B * tch has already run far away. What are you acting again?¡± Fina said in dissatisfaction.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t acting. He put the osmanthus wine in his mouth, and even though he quickly spat it out, some of the wine still remained in his mouth and flowed down his throat. It was just a little bit of wine, but it made him a little dizzy and warm.

    What a powerful wine.

    He was secretly scared. If he had really drunk a mouthful, he would definitely have fallen asleep.

    He patted his face, took a few deep breaths, and sobered up a little. Then he called the Elfins to leave.

    ¡°Luan ¡®er! You guys can go ¡­ I won¡¯t go ¡­ I want to drink wine ¡­ Hehe, osmanthus wine ¡­ Good ¡­¡±

    After a while, the wine monkey jumped into the wooden barrel of the hundred-year osmanthus wine. It was like taking a bath in the wine. It could drink the wine as soon as it opened its mouth. It burped in a drunken haze. This was like heaven to it.

    Zhang Zian looked at it and felt that it would be useless to bring it along. It was better to leave it here and think about it after finding the Jade Rabbit.

    Leaving the wine monkey in the wine cer, he and the elves left the wine cer and returned to the main hall of Guanghan Pce.

    Chang ¡®e was no longer able tounch sneak attacks, and the elves could detect her scent from far away, so she was much less of a threat.

    ¡°Where did she go?¡± He asked.

    The elves pointed in the same direction in the darkness, but that was not the way they came from, but the way deeper into the pce.

    Whether it was a human or a beast, when they were injured and couldn¡¯t go to the hospital, they would instinctively escape to a ce that they felt was safe. Chang ¡®e was probably the same.

    He made a hand gesture and continued to use his mobile phones to light up the ce. Everyone followed her scent and chased after her.

    He had been considering whether he should keep another mouthful of the thousand-year-old osmanthus wine in his mouth, so that he could burn Chang ¡®e to death if he ran into her again. However, he was also thinking that the wine from the first mouthful had already made him dizzy, and he didn¡¯t know how long he would have to keep it in his mouth for. If he identally swallowed it, he would be in trouble.

    ¡°Kaka! I have a telepathic feeling that you¡¯re thinking about perverted things. Have you awakened some strange attribute?¡± Seeing that the crisis was temporarily averted, Richard mumbled under his hood.

    He didn¡¯t pay attention to it, but the more he argued with it, the more excited it became.

    He had also considered putting some wine in a container and bringing it with him ¡­ First of all, he did not have a suitable container on hand, and second, it would be toote to open the container and drink if he really encountered danger.

    ¡°Meow meow meow! You stinky man, the fire you spat just now looked like a hobo performing on the street. Why don¡¯t you change your profession in the future?¡± Snowy Li sneered.

    Zhang Zian was about to exin to it that professions didn¡¯t matter. If it could meet a fair, rich, and beautiful woman, it would be good to perform on the street ¡­ At this moment, the road ahead came to an end, and there was another door. The door was slightly ajar, and Chang ¡®e¡¯s scent disappeared into the door.

    ¡°Could it be a trap?¡± Fina whispered.

    It was unlikely that Zhang Zian would think it was a trap. It was difficult to set a trap in a situation of panic, especially since Chang ¡®e didn¡¯t seem to be the kind of person who was extremely scheming. After all, trickery needed to be practiced often. Who would she practice with in the Moon Pce? All skills were useless when used, and the same was true for scheming. It was endless fun to fight with others.

    Even so, he had to be on guard.

    He motioned for the Elfins to be on guard, and he leaned to the side of the door and gently pushed it open.

    After waiting for a while, there didn¡¯t seem to be any danger. He stuck his head out and looked into the door.

    He saw Jade rabbits, many, many Jade rabbits.

    Was this a F * cking Jade Rabbit farm?

 Chapter 1765

    Chapter 1765: Bent Osmanthus in the Moon Pce (18)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    This room was not as dark as the main hall of Guanghan Pce. The ceiling and walls were iid with Jade-like self-illuminating stones. Although the light was very weak, it was enough to make out the things in the room.

    In addition, this ce was warmer and there was no cold fog.

    The room was veryrge, and there were rows of wooden cages arranged in an orderly manner. The Jade rabbits that were locked in the wooden cages were the kind that he had once caught in the forest.

    The rustling sound of Jade rabbits gnawing on grass stems and leaves rose and fell, and the room was filled with the stench of rabbit urine.

    Come to think of it, Chang ¡®e ate rabbit meat all day, so did she go into the forest to catch rabbits every day? And Wu Gang, with that guy¡¯s body size, he would probably eat 10 pounds of rabbit meat for a meal, right? The two of them would have starved to death if they had only caught rabbits to eat.

    Therefore, it was reasonable to have such arge room dedicated to raising rabbits. Chang ¡®e and Wu Gang were like the huannong brothers who raised bamboo rats on earth. They would eat whichever Jade Rabbit they saw that had a heat stroke. As for how they got a heat stroke in such a cold Guanghan Pce ¡­ They didn¡¯t care about these details.

    There were so many rabbits in front of him, and Zhang Zian was worried. Which one was the Jade Rabbit he was looking for, or were none of them? Did he have to look for them one by one with his phone?

    While he was worrying, he heard Gxy say,¡±¡±Meow! Zian will recognize the real Jade Rabbit when he sees it!¡±

    That¡¯s right, sprites must be different from ordinary animals, either in appearance or temperament. Instead of being in a daze and worrying, it was better to let nature take its course.

    Chang ¡®e¡¯s scent was mixed with the scent of the rabbit¡¯s urine, making it difficult to trace.

    After some thought, he decided that since he had already offended Chang ¡®e, he might as well go all out. He opened the rabbit cages and let all the rabbits out.

    The rabbit cages were not locked. They only had to lift the cage door. He and the Elfins lifted the cage door one by one and let the Jade rabbits out.

    There were a lot of rabbit cages, arranged in a three-dimensional manner like the shelves of a supermarket. Soon, the ground was full of rabbits, and many of them ran into the main hall of Guanghan Pce from the open doors. They were stimted by the sudden cold fog and peed in the main hall. Soon, it was a mess everywhere, and the smell of urine filled the air.

    ¡°Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! You bastards! You¡¯ve dirtied this Pce master¡¯s moon Pce! This Pce Master will not let you off!¡±

    Chang ¡®e screeched as she slipped out from the corner, her mouth and hands covered in blood. She had been hiding in the corner to feast on the rabbit raw to recover her strength, but she could no longer remain dormant after seeing her Moon Pce in a mess.

    Chang ¡®e¡¯s image had quickly fallen from the mysterious and sinister to the pathetic state she was in now, and the difference between the two was truly devastating.

    Her face was charred, her clothes were full of burnt holes, and her hair had be Afro, as if she had returned from the battlefield Iraq or had an explosion in a hair salon. No one was afraid of her anymore, and everyone wanted tough at her.

    ¡°Gah gah!¡± Not only did Richard dare to think about it, but he alsoughed out loud.¡±You B * tch! I¡¯ve never seen a woman as ugly and old as you!¡±

    Chang ¡®e flew into a rage out of humiliation, and she extended her razor-sharp fingers as she charged toward them.

    Zhang Zian was calm andposed. He only puffed up his cheeks, but she was so scared that she didn¡¯t dare to approach him. After all, once in a fire, ten years in a fog of wine.

    ¡°If you have the ability, just you wait. I¡¯ll call my man to deal with you!¡±

    Chang ¡®e quickly opened a secret door and slipped away. Immediately after that, she yelled,¡±¡±Wu Gang! You damn bastard! I¡¯m being bullied at home! Hurry up ande back to avenge me!¡±

    ¡°What? Who dares to bully you?¡±

    Wu Gang¡¯s angry roar came from the direction of the forest.

    ¡°You still dare to ask? If you hadn¡¯t fallen for the enemy¡¯s scheme to lure the Tiger out of the mountain, how would I have been humiliated by them?¡± Chang ¡®e sobbed.

    ¡°Wayayayayaya! I¡¯m so angry! Sister E, don¡¯t be sad. I¡¯lle back immediately to avenge you!¡± Wu Gang roared.

    Zhang Zian and the others quickly chased into the secret door. There were two paths in the secret door. One was the stairs leading upstairs, and the other was the door.

    Chang ¡®e hade up to the second-floor tform from the stairs and summoned Wu Gang.

    Wu Gang, who was fighting with old time tea and the monkeys, realized that he had been tricked. He was so angry that he abandoned old time tea and the monkeys and ran to Guanghan Pce. He wanted to avenge Chang ¡®e and tear the people and animals who humiliated her into pieces.

    Old time tea and the others tried their best to stop Wu Gang, but they couldn ¡®t. They knew that things were not good. Zhang Zian and the others had note out after entering Guanghan Pce. If they were blocked by Wu Gang and Chang¡¯ e in Guanghan Pce, it would be troublesome.

    With Wu Gang¡¯s terrifying strength, in the narrow room, no one would be able to avoid his giant axe.

    Old time tea and the others had to chase Wu Gang to Guanghan Pce, trying to slow him down.

    The adulterous couple was echoing each other upstairs. Zhang Zian stood in the secret door, caught in a dilemma. Should he go upstairs to chase Chang ¡®e, or should he go and see what was behind the other door?

    Even though the adults did not have a choice, Chang ¡®e would not allow herself to be captured without a fight. There might not be enough time for them to inspect both ces at the same time, and it would not be appropriate to split up.

    This was just a game challenge, and it didn¡¯t matter if Chang ¡®e was Dead or Alive in the game. Even if she was killed or captured alive, there would be no additional rewards.

    Time was limited, so he motioned for the elves to go and check the situation behind the other door, hoping that the real Jade Rabbit was behind the door.

    The door wasn¡¯t locked, so it opened when he pushed it.

    The room behind the door wasn¡¯t big, and the situation inside could be seen at a nce.

    When he saw the thing in the room, he and the elves were all stunned, because it was definitely not an object that should appear in the background of a myth. It was full of the delicate sense of technology and was out of tune with the surrounding environment.

    It was cold, hard, and lifeless. It had a strange appearance and had nothing to do with the image of a rabbit.

    But Zhang Zian immediately remembered what Gxy had said before. When he saw the real Jade Rabbit, he would recognize it.

    That¡¯s right, such a cold, hard, and lifeless iron block was the ultimate goal of this Festival. It was the Jade Rabbit he had been painstakingly looking for, the only Jade Rabbit out of the thousands of Jade rabbits in the Moon Pce.

    He was 100% sure.

    There was no other rabbit more qualified than it to represent the image of the Jade Rabbit.

    It was the Jade Rabbit lunar probe vehicleunched by China to the moon at the end of 2013.

    It was the real Jade Rabbit.

    The Jade Rabbit, which carried the National pride of more than one billion people and was closely watched by billions of friends from all over the world and astronomy enthusiasts, had been alone in the moon Pce for many years. It was time to take it home.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    The physical book publishing firm brought everyone the benefit of finishing the book!

    Those who are ying Weibo, take note. Tomorrow (August 28th),@fengxuan animation media will post the congrattory picture for thepletion of ¡°Pet King¡± on Weibo. Those who reposted the Weibo can participate in the lucky draw and get the physical book of ¡°Pet King¡± for free. You can follow it.

    Just point your finger and you might be the one to win!

 Chapter 1766

    Chapter 1766: The bent Osmanthus in the Moon Pce (19)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian could recognize the Jade Rabbit, not because he was familiar with such high-tech detectors, but because of the small but very eye-catching five-star red g on the Jade Rabbit. So far, this was the only detector that China hadunched andnded outside of earth.

    If he didn¡¯t have the red g, even if he could recognize it as a probe, he wouldn¡¯t know which country it was made in. Could it have been left on the moon by the United States or the Soviet Union in thest century? after all, he wasn¡¯t a hardcore astronomy enthusiast.

    He could recognize the Jade Rabbit, but the elves didn¡¯t know what it was. They surrounded it and sized it up curiously, but they didn¡¯t dare to get close because this guy¡¯s appearance was too strange.

    The Jade Rabbit was very clean because there was no air on the real moon, so there was no sand or dust. Even though it had been transferred to this Holiday Challenge stage by the game, it had always stayed in this single room. There was no dust, and it was impossible for it to rust. It did not look like it had been on the moon for so long. Even if it had been on the moon for many years, it would still be the same.

    Its body was very smooth and had a very high reflective ability. It reflected light like a mirror in order to avoid the high temperature that could damage the internal equipment and precision instruments due to the direct sunlight during the day on the moon.

    In the eyes of the elves, it was nothing more than a strange-shaped piece of iron with six wheels and a te-like thing on top that seemed to be able to turn.

    Zhang Zian briefly told the elves about the origin of the Jade Rabbit, as well as the series of stories that had happened around it.

    The Jade Rabbit arrived on the moon on December 15th, 2013. It was originally expected to be in service for three months, but it only stopped working on July 31st, 2016. It no longer responded to the calls of humans and fell into a deep sleep.

    During this period, it took a lot of photos about the moon, the earth, and the starry sky. It also did a lot of scientific research, analyzing the thickness andposition of the moon¡¯s soil, exploring the moon¡¯s minerals, and drawing geological profiles.

    Its predecessors in the United States and the Soviet Union had done simr things. Some probes had even brought rocks from the moon back to Earth. Inparison, the Jade Rabbit¡¯s greatest achievement was that it had temporarily set the Chinese¡¯s attention on the stars. It had temporarily freed the Chinese from their daily concerns and focused on the stars and the unknown. Even if a Chinese child developed a great interest in the stars, they might be the one who changed the world in the future.

    Therefore, the historical significance of the Jade Rabbit to modern China could not be exaggerated.

    The Jade Rabbit had sessfullypleted its historical mission and was gradually forgotten by people. After all, there was a lot of eye-catching news every day, such as a star cheating, a new iPhone release, a new low in marriage rate, the birth of another inte celebrity, and so on. Perhaps only during the Mid-Autumn Festival every year would people asionally remember that there was an unusual Jade Rabbit alone on the moon, looking at its hometown from afar.

    However, bringing the Jade Rabbit back to Earth was an unrealistic idea at the moment. After all, it weighed 140 kilograms. Sending a spacecraft tond on the moon and bring it back was not as valuable as bringing moon rock and soil of the same weight. Every gram of payload was precious in space. If he had brought back this useless piece of metal, he would definitely have been criticized for wasting money and manpower.

    Therefore, in the foreseeable future, unless a miracle happened, the Jade Rabbit would remain on the moon.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help but look at the new version of ¡°pet Hunter¡± in a new light. He didn¡¯t expect to design a very meaningful Holiday Challenge. It didn¡¯t set an ordinary elfin as the mission target, but gave it a more noble color. It faintly had the feeling of surpassing the small andpleting the big.

    However, there was a problem. The lunar rover was very heavy. Even in the Moon Pce, carrying it with a weight of 140 kilograms was equivalent to carrying an object of about 24 kilograms on earth. Furthermore, it was squarish in shape, with wheels and a radar. It was very difficult to carry it or carry it on your back. If you were not careful, you could damage its appearance.

    How was he going to bring it back?

    Just as he was worrying, he heard an earth-shattering sounding from the entrance of the pce.

    ¡°Sister E! Where are the people who bullied you? I¡¯m going to cut them up alive!¡±

    Wu Gang¡¯s voice was like a great Bell, and his roar reverberated repeatedly in the pce.

    ¡°I have it! Not only did they bully me and let your Rabbit Run away, but they also shamelessly stole our things!¡± Chang ¡®e screamed.

    Steal your things? Do you think the Jade Rabbit is yours? Who was the one who was so shameless?

    Wu Gang broke through the front door of the pce, held his giant axe upside down, and rushed into the pce. He was striding toward the room where Zhang Zian and the others were.

    Old time tea, famous, and Fati followed closely behind. They had tried their best and had many bruises all over their bodies. However, the difference in strength and body size between the two sides was too great. In hand-to-handbat, strength and body size were more important than agility and skill.

    Once they entered the pce, old time tea and the others had even less room to use. They had no choice but to use their own agility and speed to surpass Wu Gang and follow Zhang Zian¡¯s scent to this room first.

    ¡°Zian, how is it?¡± ¡°We can¡¯t stay here for long,¡± old time tea said, panting.¡±It¡¯s better to retreat!¡±

    In order to fight against Wu Gang, Fati had prayed to God to make it bigger and stronger than usual, but it was still far from being Wu Gang¡¯s opponent.

    Famous stuck out its tongue and was too tired to say a word.

    ¡°Just give me a little more time.¡± Zhang Zian gritted his teeth and said.

    ¡°Zian, life and death are determined by fate. There¡¯s no need to force it.¡± Old time tea said with an open mind. It knew that the Holiday Challenge was mainly because it was old. Although fina and the others had a limited lifespan, they were still young. It didn¡¯t want everyone to lose their lives here for it.

    Seeing that the situation was getting more and more urgent, he circled the Jade Rabbit anxiously. How was he going to move this big and heavy thing? He had passed all 81 difficulties, so was he going to fail at thest step before sess?

    Buzzzzzz!

    The door of the room was kicked open by a giant foot, and Chang ¡®e and Wu Gang appeared side by side at the door.

    ¡°Keke! You bunch of disgraceful things! Don¡¯t even think about running away today, this Pce Master will use you as a sacrifice to the heavens!¡± Chang ¡®e stretched out her ten sharp ws gloomily.

    Wu Gang raised his giant axe. After fighting with the three sprites for so long, he was still in high spirits.¡±Sister er, I fell into a trap by mistake. I¡¯ll take revenge for you and chop them into meat paste!¡±

    There was only one door in the room, not even a window. Zhang Zian and the Elfins were stuck in the room. He held his new phone tightly and tried to think of a solution. If there was really no other way, he could only admit defeat and request to withdraw from the challenge from the navigation elf.

 Chapter 1767

    Chapter 1767: The Moon Pce bent Osmanthus (20)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    The door of the room was not wide to begin with. Wu Gang was tall and strong, so he blocked the door himself. In addition, the agile Chang ¡®e was climbing on the beam of the room, waiting for an opportunity to move. In this situation, even if the elves could break out of the siege, Zhang Zian would definitely not be able to escape.

    He racked his brains for a way, but it seemed that he had really reached the end of his rope. It was impossible to win with force or with intelligence.

    Wu Gang raised his giant axe and advanced step by step. Their living space was gradually beingpressed.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s back hit the wall, and he had no way to retreat.

    At this critical moment.

    Wu Gang and Chang ¡®e sniffed at the same time, puzzled.¡±What¡¯s that smell?¡±

    The elves also smelled it.

    Zhang Zian was thest one to smell it. This is ¡­ The smell of smoke?

    At first, he wasn¡¯t sure, but in just a few seconds, the smell of smoke became so strong that he could even see the green smoke floating on the ceiling.

    Chang ¡®e, who was climbing up the beam, was the first to be affected. She choked and coughed repeatedly before falling to the ground. Wu Gang quickly went to help her.

    ¡°You damn bastard! Hurry and see what¡¯s going on!¡± Chang ¡®e angrily pushed his hand to the side.

    Wu Gang returned to the door and looked outside.

    ¡°Oh my God! It¡¯s on fire!¡±

    Before he could finish his words, he saw something with mes burning on several parts of its body lunging over.

    Wu Gang didn¡¯t see clearly what it was, and he instinctively dodged to the side.

    The thing ran into the house and cried out in pain.

    Zhang Zian shone his phone¡¯s shlight and saw that it was actually wine monkey!

    No matter what, they had a cooperative rtionship with the wine monkey. They couldn¡¯t just leave it to die, so they took off their coats to put out the fire on its body.

    The fur on the wine monkey¡¯s body had been burnt to the point of baldness, revealing its burning red skin.

    ¡°Chen ¡®er ¡­¡± It half-dead burped,¡±I ¡­ I didn¡¯t mean it ¡­¡±

    Wu Gang thumped his chest and stomped his feet as he eximed,¡±the fire started from the wine cer!¡± My thousand-year-old wine ¡­ Is all gone!¡±

    Why would there be a fire out of nowhere?

    Zhang Zian thought of something and reached into his pocket.

    The F * ck? Where¡¯s my lighter?

    He suddenly understood. He had drunk a little of the thousand-year osmanthus wine before and felt dizzy. He left the lighter in the wine cer and it might have been picked up by the wine monkey.

    Animals like monkeys especially liked to imitate human movements. When it picked up a lighter, it imitated Zhang Zian¡¯s way of lighting a fire. After the mes came out, it felt scared. After all, it was a wild animal, so it was so scared that it threw the lighter away.

    The alcohol content in the air of the wine cer was very high, and it was originally mmable and explosive. Every wooden barrel was soaked in wine inside and outside. The lighter that fell beside any wooden barrel would set it on fire.

    Within a few seconds, the entire wine cer was filled with raging mes.

    Thump!

    A deafening sound was apanied by a violent tremor, causing the entire vast cold Pce to tremble. A powerful shock wave spread out from the wine cer.

    Chang ¡®e and Wu Gang couldn¡¯t stand still and both fell down. Zhang Zian and the Elfins, who were used to the high gravity environment, were able to keep their bnce.

    Many cracks and copses appeared on the walls of the pce. The Jade rabbits sensed that a great disaster was imminent and escaped from the vast cold Pce through the cracks.

    With the help of alcohol, the smoke and fire were quickly engulfing the entire Pce.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s room was far from the wine cer, but it couldn¡¯t hold on for long. They could choke to death without waiting for the fire to reach them.

    Wu Gang¡¯s body was huge, and the amount of oxygen he consumed was alsorge. He was coughing so much that he couldn¡¯t breathe. He threw away the giant axe and covered his neck with both hands. His face was purple from holding in his breath.

    ¡°Director! Let¡¯s go! My butt is on fire!¡± dimir shouted.

    Zhang Zian covered his mouth and nose and was about to leave, but when he turned his eyes, he was shocked again.

    Due to the violent quake just now, the Jade Rabbit, which had been sleeping for many years, seemed to have been awakened. The pair of sr panels on its back slowly spread open like a pair of wings, revealing the structure beneath the sr panels.

    ording to the design, there should be a hydraulic pump¡¯s power box under the sr panel. At that moment, a shiny silver mechanical rabbit had actually appeared in the box!

    The mechanical rabbit looked as if it was alive, and what was more eye-catching was that there was a Golden Spring on its back that looked like a bow.

    Zhang Zian subconsciously reached out and twisted the spring.

    The mechanical rabbit suddenly moved and nimbly jumped out of the power box. It stood on its hind legs, and its two front legs were retracted in front of its chest. It looked around with great interest, and its pair of long ears swayed back and forth nimbly.

    It stood on its hind legs and jumped a few steps forward. It waved its front legs up and down and said as if it was singing,¡±¡±Ll~pounding medicine! Pounding the medicine!¡±

    Its voice was very neutral, which reminded Zhang Zian of the human-like voices in the dream world.

    It was obvious that it was a spirit that was formed from people¡¯s longing for the Jade Rabbit.

    ¡°Rabbit! It¡¯s my rabbit! Give me back the rabbit!¡± Chang ¡®e greedily reached out to him, but the next moment, Wu Gang picked her up by the waist.

    Wu Gang crashed into the wall like a bull, creating arge hole with a boom. He escaped through the hole with Chang ¡®e in his arms, and no one knew where they were.

    At this time, Zhang Zian saw that there was something else in the power box. It was an antique jade medicine bottle, on which the seal characters ¡°¡± were engraved with gold thread.

    As if he had obtained a treasure, he excitedly grabbed the medicine bottle and put it in his arms. He had finally obtained it! This trip was really not in vain!

    The mes licked the upper edge of the door frame and would burn into the room in a few seconds, incinerating everything inside.

    Zhang Zian held his breath and pushed the Jade Rabbit out of the Guanghan Pce through the hole that Wu Gang had made. This was the only thing he could do.

    He started the game on his new phone and aimed it at the mechanical rabbit.

    [Game hint: target confirmed: Orianna bunny!]

    Click, capture.

    The bun rabbit disappeared.

    [Game prompt]: captured! Orianna!

    [Navigation elf]: [You¡¯ve obtained the real Jade Rabbit and sessfully passed the S-ss Festival challenge. You can teleport home at any time. If you¡¯re not in a hurry to go home, you can also stay and continue exploring this world.]

    ¡°Hurry up! This ce is going to copse!¡±

    Zhang Zian shouted. This world was too dangerous, and he had no interest in staying.

    The burning beams in the pce kept copsing, and the entire vast cold Pce was about to be destroyed.

    A translucent vortex appeared in front of him.

    He put all the elves into his phone and was about to throw himself into the whirlpool when the corner of his shirt was suddenly pulled.

    When he looked down, he saw the wine monkey, who had been burned beyond recognition, pulling at him pitifully.

    This guy was the main culprit behind the fire, but if not for that, he would have probably typed GG.

    If it was left behind, it would either be burned to death or beaten up by the angry monkeys, bing the lowest ss of the monkeys.

    Forget it, I¡¯ll just save its Monkey Life.

    Zhang Zian pointed his new phone at it.

    [Game hint: target confirmed: wine monkey!]

    Click, capture.

    [Game prompt]: captured! The wine monkey!

    ¡®Alright, I can finally go.¡¯

    Zhang Zian stepped into the translucent vortex with satisfaction and returned to earth.

    The Jade Rabbit should be fine, and the world would be shocked.

 Chapter 1768

    Chapter 1768: The bent Osmanthus in the Moon Pce (21)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian stepped out of the vortex and returned to the Pet Shop. He thought that not much time had passed, but when he looked out of the window, the moon was almost setting, and the sky was almost bright.

    The semi-transparent vortexes provided by the game were only used as a teleportation channel, and the time that passed in the challenge seemed to be the same as the time that passed in reality.

    Zhang Zian opened the window and looked at the moon that was about to set in the West. The dim spots on the moon looked more and more like a Toad and a rabbit.

    He didn¡¯t know if it was a psychological effect, or if there were light clouds floating in the sky, but he felt that there was smokeing from somewhere on the moon ¡­

    It was already the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the moon would be brighter and rounder at night.

    He released all his elves.

    The elves had been busy the whole night and were tired and sleepy, especially the three elves who had been fighting Wu Gang. They were so tired that they went back to their seats andy down to rest, not wanting to move at all.

    He opened the elfin pet bar and saw a white and fat worm, a silver mechanical rabbit, and a battered monkey.

    He clicked on the mechanical rabbit.

    Pet attributes:

    [Common name]: hairband rabbit

    [Rarity: Epic/legendary]

    [Characteristics]: pale snow, sparse stars, bright moon, Guanghan immortal mansion is older!

    Origin: locked

    [Real name: locked]

    ¡°Navigation elf, are you there? I would like to ask, what¡¯s up with this mechanical rabbit?¡± He asked.

    [Navigation elf]: the new version of the game added arge number of new elves, including the mechanical elves.

    ¡°I still don¡¯t understand. How did the mechanical elvese about?¡± He asked,¡±the game manual says that sprites are born from the power of faith ¡­¡±

    [Navigation elf]: yes, ordinary elves are born from the power of faith of humans, while mechanical elves are born from the power of faith of robots and artificial intelligence. [The hairband rabbit you captured is one of the ancient Sacred Beasts that robots will worship in the future. It¡¯s equivalent to the legendary Sacred Beasts such as dragons, phoenixes, and Qilins in the human concept. However, the former is real, while thetter is an illusion.]

    [Navigation elf]: if you want to get more mechanical elves, you are wee to continue participating in more festivals and challenges. The mechanical elves, which represent the crystallization of the highest technology of various countries and races, are waiting for you to discover! ¡°If you can gather all the mechanical elves, your image might beparable to the creator of humans in the history of robots!

    The navigation elfin stopped talking, and Zhang Zian lowered his head in deep thought.

    He thought that his little tricks had sessfully deceived the game. He had taken advantage of the loophole in the game¡¯s new user Certification and sessfully enjoyed the benefits of a novice in ¡°pet Hunter 2.0¡±. However ¡­ Did the game really not know? Or was he pretending?

    He felt that the navigation elfin was subtly guiding him to participate in the festival challenge.

    Forget it. At least for now, he needed to rest.

    He released the fringed rabbit.

    Other than the appearance of a machine, the fringed rabbit¡¯s expression and actions were very simr to that of an ordinary rabbit.

    It stood on its hind legs and looked curiously at the Pet Shop and the other Elfins. It raised a front paw and waved.¡±Ll, Hello. If you need my help with the medicine, you¡¯re wee.¡±

    The elves were also very interested in it. Seeing that it was very polite, their initial impression of it was greatly enhanced.

    ¡°Meow! Hello, I¡¯m Gxy~~Gxy responded.

    Old time teaughed.¡±In that case, I have nothing to do, so I took advantage of the cool autumn weather to collect some herbs. I was worried about how to process them. I hope you can help me.¡±

    Zhang Zian knew that old time tea was proficient in Pharmacology. Because of the popr practice of martial arts in Foshan, it was inevitable for people to fall and get injured when practicing martial arts. There were many Martial Arts Centers and medical centers.

    Richard yawned.¡±Little rabbit, do you have a name? Why don¡¯t I give you a name? I¡¯ll call you Xuanji Yaoyao-Cech trouble, how about that?¡±

    As soon as it finished speaking, it was drawn to the side by Zhang Zian.

    The hairband rabbit¡¯s two silver ears shook back and forth.¡±Ll~I think this name is very nice, but it¡¯s a pity that it¡¯s a little long. I¡¯ll call it Yaoyao~¡±

    Zhang Zian reminded her,¡±Yaoyao, you look different from the other Elfins here. In front of outsiders, you can pretend to be an ordinary clockwork rabbit toy. You can¡¯t move without winding the clockwork. Is that okay?¡± Otherwise, he might scare others. If anyone asks, I¡¯ll say that you¡¯re a child¡¯s toy. ¡±

    Yaoyao shook its long ears and nodded.¡±Ll~no problem~¡±

    Richard retaliated by pping his wings and smacking the back of his head. Other otakus would think of a child¡¯s name when they see an unfamiliar beauty. You idiot don¡¯t even have a girlfriend or a child¡¯s name, and you even bought a child¡¯s toy? I¡¯m really ashamed to be associated with you!¡±

    Since the hair rabbit and the Elfins were getting along well, and there was no barrier between them because it was a mechanical life form, Zhang Zian clicked on the wine monkey again.

    Pet attributes:

    Wine monkey

    [Rarity: elite]

    [Characteristics]: since ancient times, the sages have been lonely, only the drinker left his name!

    Origin: locked

    [Real name: locked]

    The wine monkey rolled out with the smell of wine and burnt flesh. It looked around with its eyes wide open. For a moment, everyone couldn¡¯t tell if its butt was naturally red or if it had been burned red ¡­

    ¡°Wine! Wine! Luan ¡®er!¡±

    It couldn¡¯t see anything else, but it saw the two bottles of wine on the cab and immediately pounced on them.

    Zhang Zian had originally nned to give the two bottles of wine to welder Zhao as a reward, butter he learned that welder Zhao¡¯s liver wasn¡¯t very good because he liked to drink, and he had even been infected with the Marine bacteria Vulture, so he gave up. Later, because of a series of events such as the typhoon, he was toozy to put the wine away, so he just put it outside as decoration.

    These two bottles of wine were good wine that his father had been reluctant to drink in the past. The old people were always like this, always using the bad things first and saving the good things. Perhaps it was because people who had personally experienced difficult times liked to hide the good things like hamsters, in case of an emergency.

    Zhang Zian grabbed its neck,¡±don¡¯t you think you¡¯ve caused enough trouble?¡± Are you trying to burn down my shop?¡±

    In all kinds of historical stories and performances, there were many famous officials and fierce generals who messed up things because of their greediness. When it came to wine, drinking a little was good for the mood, but drinking too much had no benefits. The wine monkey was a typical example. Now that everyone hade back to their senses, they recalled how they had almost been burned to death by the wine monkey in the vast cold Pce and felt a lingering fear.

    Wine monkey had a guilty conscience. Under everyone¡¯s angry gazes, he was so scared that he held his head and didn¡¯t dare to answer.

    Richard was overjoyed to see that this guy was weak, ordinary, and unlikable. It would no longer be at the bottom of the food chain in the Pet Shop.

 Chapter 1769

    Chapter 1769: [The Moon Pce and the Osmanthus (22)]

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    It didn¡¯t take long for the sky to brighten up. It was only September, and the day was still long.

    Pedestrians and cars started toe and go on the streets. Binhai city was like a sleeping beast waking up from a dream.

    Zhang Zian had not slept all night. He wanted to take a nap, but considering that it was the Mid-Autumn Festival today, which meant a holiday, and a holiday meant business, he decided to try his best to resist. At most, he would go to bed early at night.

    As he yawned, he closed the curtain Door. The staff arrived on time for work.

    ¡°Master, what¡¯s with your panda eyes? Did you have insomniast night?¡± Wang Qian was straightforward.

    Li Kun elbowed him, meaning to say,¡±why are you speaking the truth?¡±

    ¡°Master, the mooncakes we make at home have more filling than the ones sold outside. They¡¯re safe and hygienic, so we brought them for you to try.¡± Li Kun changed the topic and handed the eight pieces of mooncake wrapped in oil paper to Zhang Zian.

    ¡°Mooncake? it¡¯s perfect for breakfast. Let¡¯s eat it together.¡± Zhang Zian asked Lu Yiyun and Jiang Feifei toe over and eat the mooncake.

    However, the two girls didn¡¯t like to eat such sweet things. They were afraid of getting fat, so they shared a piece and stopped eating.

    Zhang Zian had eaten three or four pieces after a night without food.

    ¡°Good Morning, brother store manager! Waa! What is this?¡± Little celery didn¡¯t carry her school bag today. She skipped into the shop and immediately saw the mechanical rabbit with a spring on its back.

    As expected, Yao Yao didn¡¯t move at all, just like an ice-cold lifeless object.

    ¡°Hahaha! It¡¯s the Mid-Autumn Festival, and I stole it from Chang ¡®e. ¡± Zhang Zian said seriously,¡±twist the spring on the back and it will move.¡±

    Everyoneughed. Of course, no one would believe it, not even little celery.

    Little celery followed his instructions and tried to twist the bow-shaped Golden Spring. The spring made a crisp sound of winding, just like the pure sound of the most high-end Switzend mechanical watch.

    ¡°Ll~Hello! ¡°I¡¯m Yao Yao~¡±the clockwork rabbit stood up on its hind legs, raised one of its front legs, and waved its long ears back and forth to greet little celery.

    Little celery was so surprised that she couldn¡¯t close her mouth. So powerful! It can talk!¡±

    Yaoyao: lla~if you want to talk to me, just shout ¡®Yaoyao¡¯.¡±

    ¡°What the f * ck? Amazing, master. Where did you buy this robot rabbit? I also want to buy one for my little niece. ¡± Wang Qian said enviously.

    Li Kun promptly poured cold water on the situation.¡±Come on, this rabbit doesn¡¯t look cheap. You definitely can¡¯t afford it.¡±

    ¡°Then can you lend me your New Year¡¯s money?¡±

    ¡°Get lost!¡±

    Everyone thought that Yaoyao was simr to the smart slightly that were popr these days. It was connected to the Inte in real time and could have simple conversations with people ording to the built-innguage logic.

    Yaoyao¡¯s acting was also very simr. It would only respond when others started speaking with ¡°Yaoyao.¡± Sometimes, it would deliberately act clumsily and make mistakes in other people¡¯s words.

    Not to mention little celery, even Lu Yiyun and Jiang Feifei were squatting next to it, teasing it with great interest.

    ng!

    The Sound of Things Falling to the ground could be heard from upstairs.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun were stunned.¡±Master, is there a guest upstairs or a thief?¡±

    ¡°No, where would a thiefe from in broad daylight? A cat ran up there just now. I¡¯ll go and take a look. ¡±

    Zhang Zian gave a few perfunctory words and returned to the second floor. He followed the sound into the kitchen and saw the wine monkey cowering in the corner, with Richard standing on its head in a high and mighty manner.

    Richard said,¡¯quack! This guy¡¯s alcohol addiction acted up and actually wanted to secretly drink the cooking wine, but I stopped him in time!¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t quite believe Richard¡¯s one-sided story. Maybe it deliberately lured the wine monkey to drink the cooking wine and then stepped forward to stop it. This B * tch bird waspletely capable of doing such a thing, but the wine monkey¡¯s addiction was indeed a problem, so he could only slowly make it quit drinking.

    There were not many opportunities for monkeys to appear as human pets in history. Zhang Zian could not remember which monkey was famous for drinking. In addition, this wine monkey only drank and did not need to eat, which proved that it was an imaginative elfin. Drinking was its attribute, not its survival need.

    Speaking of imaginative Elfins, Zhang Zian thought of an interesting theory called the ¡°Drunk Monkey hypothesis.¡±

    Why do humans like to drink? How could the human body withstand and break down alcohol?

    Most animals in nature would instinctively avoid eating ripe fruits because they contained a lot of alcohol. Eating too much would cause slow reactions and sleepiness, increasing the probability of being preyed on by natural enemies, which was not conducive to survival. So why did humans and monkeys like to drink so much?

    Scientists believed that this was caused by some kind of gic mutation. Ancient humans who had the mutant gene that could dpose alcohol could survive in winter and cier by eating fermented wild fruits, while other ancient humans who did not have such mutant genes were eliminated during evolution. As a result, modern humans generally had the gene that could dpose alcohol and had a high tolerance to alcohol. They would not get drunk and be eaten by wild beasts just because of a sip of alcohol.

    A theory was just a theory. How could he verify it? Humans had already evolved to a high level, so it was not feasible to test it on humans. Therefore, scientists turned their attention to human close rtives and proposed the drunken Monkey hypothesis.

    Was there any connection between this wine monkey and the drunken Monkey hypothesis? He could only wait for time to tell him the answer.

    The busy day passed by quickly. A few familiar people also sent mooncakes, especially the mooncakes from snowy. They were so high-end that he couldn¡¯t bear to eat them. He also couldn¡¯t bear to return the favor and give them to others. He really wanted to secretly sell them ¡­

    He closed the store early and let the staff go home for a reunion. Even the staff whose home was not local might want to call home to ask about it.

    ¡°Manager Zhang, Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!¡± Uncle li handed the foam insted box to him.¡±Why do you eat so much barbecue instead of mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t help it, I just like to eat meat.¡± Zhang Zian smiled.¡±Happy Mid-Autumn Festival. Send my regards to the aunt.¡±

    After uncle li left, he pulled down the curtain Door and locked it. Then, he carried the foam insted box and went up to the roof from the second floor.

    There were tables, chairs, waterproof mats, and pic nkets on the rooftop. There was a vase with freshly picked osmanthus flowers on the table. The elves each chose their favorite seats.

    The tes were filled with melon fruits and mooncakes from others, as well as the roasted meat that Zhang Zian had brought. There was also tea, milk, and drinks. It was enough for everyone to eat to their heart¡¯s content.

    As for the wine monkey, he bought him a can of beer. After all, it was a Festival, and it was impossible for him to quit just because he wanted to.

    After opening the ring, the wine monkey¡¯s smell was very low. At first, it looked like it didn¡¯t like it, but after taking a sip, it seemed to have discovered a new world.

    A figurended on the rooftop with a faint medicinal fragrance.

    Old time tea was carrying a soft cloth bag, which was filled with all kinds of herbs it had picked from the suburbs.

    ¡°Grandpa tea, you don¡¯t have to rush to pick herbs. Besides, you have a headache and a fever now. It¡¯s more convenient to take Western medicine.¡± Zhang Zian tactfully advised.

    Old time tea took off the soft cloth bag, caught its breath, andughed,¡±¡±It¡¯s no big deal. Last month, when I went to the teahouse in hidden fog, I saw that shopkeeper ye¡¯splexion wasn¡¯t good. It might be caused by overwork and worry, so I specially found some herbs to nourish the Qi and calm the mind. Western medicine is not as effective as Chinese medicine in this regard.¡±

    Unlike many old people who were more stubborn as they got older, old time tea was very epting of new things. It adhered to Chinese medicine and did not reject Western medicine.

    It handed the soft cloth bag to Yao Yao.¡±Then I¡¯ll have to trouble you, little friend. When you¡¯re done with the medicine, I¡¯ll have to trouble you to deliver it.¡±

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t sure. The girl might not take the medicine from a man he wasn¡¯t familiar with. What was that saying again? He was either a traitor or a Lackey when he was trying to curry favor for no reason.

    He had no choice but to bite the bullet and agree.

    Yaoyao picked up the soft cloth bag and said,lla~leave it to me~but I need a bowl and a mallet~¡±

    ¡°There are bowls everywhere. What¡¯s a mallet? Can you buy it in a Chinese medicine shop?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Yaoyao shook its long ears.¡±Ll~that¡¯s a mallet for pounding medicine~¡±

    What it was looking at was the Jade medicine bottle iid with golden threads.

    The shape of the Jade medicine bottle was somewhat like a gourd. The bottom was wide, the middle was narrow, and the top was slightly wide. If the medicine was held in the middle with two forefeet, it did look very suitable for pounding medicine.

    It just so happened that everyone was here, and it was time to get down to business.

    Zhang Zian picked up the Jade medicine bottle, unscrewed the cap, and poured a few pills into his palm. A strange medicinal fragrance filled the roof. Even just smelling it made him feel light, as if he was about to leave the ground. If he ate it, he might fly to the moon Pce like Chang ¡®e.

    He didn¡¯t want to be a cat-faced old man and travel with Wu Gang and Chang ¡®e in the Guanghan ruins.

    As for whether the medicine could really make the elves immortal, he could only wait for time to verify it. In this regard, he believed that the game could do it.

    He distributed the pills to fina, old time tea, famous, Richard, Fati, little white, and the other elves who really existed in history, one pill for each elf. The navigation elf said that one pill was enough.

    That¡¯s right, little white was also there. It had fought with dimir during the day, and Zhang Zian had invited it to stay over to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival with him in the evening.

    He shook the medicine bottle, and there seemed to be some left.

    The elves swallowed the pills with excitement and nervousness, as well as worry about their personal gains and losses.

    They did not fear death, but who did not want to live longer? After all, the good life had just begun, and the future was bright.

    ¡°Come, cheers!¡±

    Zhang Zian raised his cup and used tea as a substitute for wine.

    ¡°Cheers!¡±

    ¡°Meow~¡±

    ¡°Gah gah!¡±

    ¡°Squeak!¡±

    ¡°Meow meow meow!¡±

    ¡°Luan ¡®er!¡±

    ¡°Ll~¡±

    A fair arm stretched out of the bathroom window and raised the ss with great effort.¡±Wait a minute, don¡¯t forget me again!¡±

    Zhang Zian walked to the edge of the roof and clinked sses with her. She retracted her arm and continued the live broadcast.

    There was one more person who could probably only drink in his dreams tonight.

    The moon was high in the sky.

    The moon today was exceptionally round.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    This is the end of the ¡°bent Osmanthus in the pce of Toad¡± series. I hope everyone will still like it.

    As for the other side stories ¡­ To be honest, I only thought of this one series. The other side stories might have individual chapters, but a series of side stories would require inspiration, and I didn¡¯t want to just randomly create a Festival challenge to make up for it.

    In addition, at the same time as this chapter was posted,[@fengxuan animation media] had already posted a congrattory picture on Weibo. Readers who wanted to draw physical books could go forward it.

    Thank you to the artist and editor for working overtime for several days in a row. It was very hard.

    Finally, Qidian¡¯s Book Review section also released a free book event. It was also a physical book, and disciples and above fans could y with it. The specific rules were already written in ¡°ending Easter egg!¡± In the post.

    I wish everyone good luck and, by the way, a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival and a full moon.

 Chapter 1770

    Chapter 1770: Side Story: the first drop of snow

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Early in the morning.

    At the amazing fate pet shop.

    ¡°It¡¯s so cold!¡±

    Zhang Zian took a deep breath. He was already awake, but he really didn¡¯t want to leave the warm bed.

    ¡°Why is it so cold ¡­ Is it snowing?¡±

    He curled up in the nket like a snail, sat up, and pulled open the curtains.

    Outside the window, everything was covered in silver.

    It was indeed snowing.

    The roads and roofs were covered in snow. Pedestrians who had gotten up early for work or just got off the night shift carefully walked through the streets. Even so, they would slip from time to time.

    Everyone was wrapped up like a rice dumpling, white misting out of their mouths and noses, running around in such bad weather to make a living.

    Zhang Zian looked at it for a while and felt that he couldn¡¯t continue to be like this. Even if he was unemployed, he still had to get up.

    His teeth were chattering, and he quickly put on his shirt and coat, as well as the divine weapon, long johns, that was essential for Guo Dong.

    Eh?

    He stuck his foot into the long johns from the waist, but something popped out from the corner of the pants.

    ¡°Gah? Who¡¯s poking my butt?¡± ¡°Harder!¡± Richard shouted in a daze.

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    He had already put on his long johns, but he pulled them out again to check if there was any bird poop inside ¡­

    The other Elfins woke up one after another after Richard¡¯s call. They had their own woollen sweaters and pants, so it was not as difficult for them to get out of bed as he did.

    ¡°Meow!¡± Gxy jumped on the windowsill excitedly.¡±It¡¯s snowing! Let¡¯s have a snowball fight!¡±

    A soft white Worm was still lying on Gxy¡¯s head. It shook its head in confusion, indicating that it had no hair to keep warm and did not want to leave the warm room.

    ¡°Yo, why did you get up personally today?¡±

    Fina, who usuallyzed in bed, didn¡¯t wait for Zhang Zian to wake it up. Instead, it lifted the curtain of the princess bed.

    Fina could tell that there was a hidden meaning in his words. It nced at him coldly and said,¡±how dare a mere mortal talk about the will of God?¡±

    After saying that, it jumped off the bed and went to wash up.

    Although it didn¡¯t say anything, it had been living in the tropical desert for a long time. It was only its second year seeing snow, so it was quite rare.

    Famous stretched, sat up, and looked at Zhang Zian inquiringly.

    He understood what it meant.¡±I¡¯ll give director Feng a callter. The snow is quite heavy. Let¡¯s see if we should postpone today¡¯s shooting.¡±

    The first film of Dog Warrior took ce in the Northwest border, while the second film took ce in the southern border. Although it was still shot in Binhai studio, there were no scenes of snow. The weather wasn¡¯t good today, so the shooting had to be postponed. The crew, including famous, had also umted a lot of fatigue, so they could rx for a day.

    Of course, he couldn¡¯t make a decision on his own. It depended on the overall arrangement of Feng Xuan and the crew. It was too early now, so he could make a phone call and askter.

    He picked up his phone and opened the crew¡¯s WeChat group to check the group chat.

    The night owls of the crew had gone to bed quitetest night, fighting with each other and giving out red packets. They might have seen the weather forecast and knew that it might be snowing today, so they started to have fun.

    The pictures they posted were of course all kinds of tidbits. Everyone was an adult and understood.

    Zhang Zian browsed the group chat to see if there were any red packets that had not been collected. He inevitably crossed these pictures.

    When he saw a perverted cat-eared girl picture, snowy Li licked its paws and said,¡±¡±Pei Pei Pei! No matter how many more of these pictures you see, I will never be a girl! However, I can turn you into a girl ¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian subconsciously mped his legs together.

    Snowy Li saw that there was no chance, so it turned around in disappointment and shouted,¡±¡±You! That baboon! Go get the raw beef brisket from the fridge!¡±

    ¡°Huang ¡®er?¡±

    Wine monkey, who even slept in the corner, had the lowest status in the shop. He was ordered around by snowy Li and Richard all day long. It was his fault for always drinking and messing up things.

    ¡°Ajeoan!¡± ¡°It¡¯s almost Christmas,¡± Sihwa called out from the bathroom.¡±You should prepare a Christmas present for me, the invincible beauty!¡±

    This was no longer a hint but an indication.

    Zhang Zian said,¡±our pimple doesn¡¯t celebrate Christmas.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care! I want to pass! I want this new cell phone! Light up my beauty!¡± Sihwa shouted, unwilling to let him off.

    Zhang Zian was helpless.¡±National Day, Mid-Autumn Festival, 11/11, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year¡¯s Day, Chinese New Year ¡­ Is there any holiday that you don¡¯t want to celebrate? And he even asked for gifts on every Festival? I¡¯d rather find a girlfriend and be a Lackey!¡±

    Richardnded on his shoulder andforted him.¡±¡±Have some ambition, will you? The dog can¡¯t be won! You can enjoy the feeling of being licked by a boyfriend!¡±

    ¡°Get lost!¡±

    Zhang Zian was annoyed by these guys, so he took his cell phone to the first floor to make a call. Sure enough, he got a notice from Feng Xuan that they would stop work for the day.

    He pulled the curtain Door open, and the cool air mixed with snowkes gushed in.

    A small car slowed down as it drove past the store. Sun Xiaomeng didn¡¯t stop, but rolled down the window and shouted,¡±¡±It¡¯s getting cold. Don¡¯t always think about saving on the electricity bill. Turn on the electric heater when you need it. Don¡¯t let Richard catch a cold likest year!¡±

    He waved his hand, indicating that he understood. He felt indignant in his heart. What¡¯s going on with this person? How could he be so petty?

    ¡°The world is vague, and there is a ck hole in the well; The ck Dog¡¯s body was white while the White dog¡¯s body was swollen! Hahaha! The White dog¡¯s body is swollen!¡±

    dimirughed wildly and ran over.

    ¡°Wang Xi Pi! F * ck you, you¡¯re pointing at the Mulberry and scolding the locust again, right? Stop right there, I¡¯m going to have a direct battle with you today!¡± Little white was panting as it chased after him. When the snowkes fell on its body, it really looked like it was swollen ¡­

    It was a cold day, but these two guys were still full of energy!

    A snowke drifted into his neck from his cor and melted into ice-cold water.

    He took in a breath of cold air and quickly returned to the house.

    ¡°Master, why did you freeze like a dog so early in the morning?¡±

    Wang Qian and Li Kun came to work together.

    Zhang Zian red at them.¡±Wipe your snot before you talk!¡±

    After a while, Lu Yiyun and Jiang Feifei also came to work.

    The water was just ready. Zhang Zian quickly poured a cup of hot tea and brought it over. He said in a low voice,¡±¡±Xiaoyun! Sister Yun! Grandma Yun! In yourtest chapter yesterday, why did the new male character keep staring at the store manager¡¯s butt? And that store manager, why did he burst his clothes in the Pet Shop without saying anything? Can you make some changes?¡±

    ¡°But the readers ¡®response is very good ¡­¡± Lu Yiyun said, feeling very embarrassed.

    ¡°As an art creator,¡± Zhang Zian said,¡±you have to take the initiative to guide the readers ¡®aesthetic. You can¡¯t just cater to them with vulgar tastes ¡­¡±

    Richardnded on his head.¡±Shut up! I like vulgarity!¡±

    ¡°Brother store manager, this morning ¡­¡±

    Little celery trotted all the way to the shop, but when she reached the door, she slipped and was about to fall.

    Fortunately, the French TUI next to her was quick, or perhaps it had received some divine enlightenment. In any case, it appeared in the right position and stretched out its front leg to cushion her body, so she did not feel any pain.

    ¡°Little celery, the road is slippery in this weather. Don¡¯t run. It¡¯s not worth it if you fall and get injured.¡± Zhang Zian advised.

    ¡°Oh, okay.¡± Little celery patted the snow off her body and said embarrassedly.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go into the store to warm up. ¡±

    Little celery entered the store, but she didn¡¯t go to see the hamster or the lop-eared rabbit. Instead, she ran to the silver-haired rabbit.

    ¡°It¡¯s so cold,¡± She endured the coldness of the touch and wound it up.

    ¡°Lla~Good Morning~if you want to talk to me, just call me ¡®Yaoyao¡¯~¡± Yaoyao pretended to have just recovered his energy after winding up a spring and said.

    Fati looked thoughtfully at the children on the street who had no parents to pick them up and send them to and from school.¡±Zian, is there a way to make a simple sleigh?¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned.¡±We can ask welder Zhao and the others. It shouldn¡¯t be difficult.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s make the children happy while it¡¯s snowing. ¡± Fati looked up at the sky.¡±Christmas ising.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll make a callter. I¡¯ll give welder Zhao something to do, so he won¡¯t be asking for trouble all day.¡±

    Zhang Zian understood what it meant. It was going to take the sleigh for a ride with the children. After all, he had always imed that it was an skan Mmute ¡­

    Old time tea strolled to the door, adjusted its bamboo hat, and put on an extra coat, which made it look even more handsome.

    ¡°Grandpa tea, are you going to pick herbs today?¡± He asked.

    Ever since old time tea had taken the immortal elixir from the Moon Pce, the aging of its body had stopped miraculously. Not only was it more energetic, but its body was also getting better and better, as if it had returned to its youth.

    It went out to pick herbs almost every day, and then gave them to be crushed. After drinking the herbal tea it made, Zhang Zian also felt that his body was getting better and better. He was full of energy during the day and had a deep sleep at night.

    Of course, it would be better if he could stop dreaming about Zhuang Xiaodie ¡­

    The teahouse in hidden fog also had new medicinal tea, and the price rose.

    ¡°It¡¯s just a little Blizzard, it¡¯s fine,¡± Old time tea smiled.¡±I¡¯ll be back soon.¡±

    With that, it leaped up to the roof, let out a long hiss, and floated away.

    ¡°Master, do you have a shovel? The entrance is frozen. ¡± Wang Qian and Li Kun said while they were sweeping the snow.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll go upstairs and get it.¡±

    Zhang Zian returned to the second floor and went to the storage room to get a shovel. When he passed by the living room, he heard the familiar sound of the keyboard.

    Pi, what are you writing?¡±

    He walked to the desk with the shovel and saw Pi open a Word document again.

    ¡°Squeak!¡±

    Pi covered the screen in embarrassment, but it still saw that the document was empty, with only ¡°Chapter 1¡± written.

    ¡°Is that so? a new story has begun ¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian patted its back,¡±good luck.¡±

    ¡°Squeak squeak.¡±

    Pi nodded shyly but firmly.

    Zhang Zian looked around and saw that there were no other Elfins for the time being. He lowered his body to its ear and whispered,¡±¡±If I¡¯m still the main character this time, can you arrange a few more girls for me?¡±

    ¡°Zhi?¡± Pi asked.

    ¡°You stinky man, you¡¯re thinking of eating fart! I¡¯ll turn you into a girl first!¡±

    Snowy Li appeared out of nowhere and pounced at his crotch with its fangs and ws bared ¡­

    The pet store manager¡¯s life today was still simple and boring.

 Chapter 1771

    Chapter 1771: [Side Story] wedding (1)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Had this day finallye?

    In the morning, Zhang Zian stood in front of the dressing mirror, solemnly put on his suit, tidied his tie, and checked his front and back to see if there were any wrinkles.

    His leather shoes were shiny.

    He, who almost never wore a watch, even wore an old mechanical watch left behind by his father, not to check the time, but for decoration and matching.

    The suit was the one he had prepared for the Berlin Film Festival.

    Her newly-cut hair yesterday was also very handsome, and she even sprayed hair styling gel on it.

    ¡°Perfect! He¡¯s so handsome!¡±

    He muttered to himself.

    ¡°It¡¯s better to go to the wedding venue earlier in case we¡¯rete. ¡±

    The weather was cold, and he put on a long wool trench coat over his suit. He felt that he was more and more handsome.

    Richardbed his feathers unhurriedly and said in disdain,¡±¡±What¡¯s the hurry! You¡¯re not the groom anyway! You won¡¯t even get to be the best man!¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    He picked up the gold-stamped invitation card with a red background and opened it to confirm the time, ce, and main character of the wedding again.

    The groom was Liu sang.

    The bride was Ji Shishi.

    The wedding is scheduled for Christmas in the church in the south of the city. Pleasee.

    This invitation was personally sent by Zhao Qi, who asked him to be present to build up his momentum.

    To be honest, his rtionship with the new couple was very ordinary. The groom had bought a Labrador from his shop and asionally asked him about dog raising on WeChat. The bride was Zhao Qi¡¯s best friend. He had met her a few times in the shop and were just acquaintances.

    If he had to attend the wedding of every acquaintance he knew, he would go bankrupt with the gifts!

    The day he earned back his capital was the day he got married, and he was still single.

    This ¡­ This was a loss-making business no matter how one looked at it!

    That was why he didn¡¯t want to go.

    The reason why he changed his mind was because of his rtionship with Zhao Qi, but more importantly, the wedding was a Western-style wedding held in the church in the south of the city, and the guests did not need toe with gifts.

    ording to Zhao Qi, Shi Shi didn¡¯t like traditional Chinese weddings because it was too noisy and unromantic. She had to force a smile all day in front of distant rtives and elders that she had never seen before, and they had to take turns toasting each other. It was tiring for both the people and the mind, but the groom¡¯s family insisted on holding a traditional Chinese wedding.

    The two families had a falling out because of this disagreement for a while. Later, they both took a step back and held a traditional Chinese wedding first, then a western wedding ording to the bride¡¯s wishes. The Western wedding was simple. No elders were invited except for the parents of both parties, and only the young friends of the two newlyweds were invited.

    As her best friend, Zhao Qi was undoubtedly on Shishi¡¯s side. She was afraid that Shishi would be bullied after her marriage. She couldn¡¯t help her with other things, but at least the number of friends who were present couldn¡¯t be less than the man¡¯s side. So, she had been helping Shishi find suitable guests. By ¡°suitable,¡± she meant that they were people with status, face, stable behavior, and could appropriately liven up the atmosphere.

    The people she invited would definitely sit with Shishi¡¯s family.

    So, Zhang Zian had a weird idea. Most of Zhao Qi and Shishi¡¯s friends were young women, so if he appeared handsomely, maybe ¡­ This could happen!

    Yes, this was the reason why he woke up early in the morning to wash up.

    As for the mockery of the elves led by Richard, he had turned a deaf ear to it.

    ¡°Alright, is there anyone who wants to attend the wedding with me?¡±

    He put the invitation into his pocket and asked the elves.

    Only a few responded.

    It was so cold outside that most of the elves didn¡¯t want to go out.

    When Shishi and the others chose the most romantic day, Christmas, they had forgotten that the church was very busy at Christmas. The wedding could not be held in the church, but on thewn outside the church. By the time they thought of this, the invitation had already been sent out. It was impossible to postpone it. If they insisted on changing the date, they would only beughed at by the man¡¯s family.

    Therefore, they specifically told their friends to wear more clothes. If the girls wanted to be beautiful and slim, they could hide heating pads in their clothes if they didn¡¯t want to wear thick cotton-padded clothes.

    Just the fact that they were freezing on thewn had already dispelled the interest of many elves.

    Fina closed its eyes and dozed off, ignoring him. If it didn¡¯t go, snowy Li wouldn¡¯t go either.

    The wedding scene was crowded and chaotic, and Gxy didn¡¯t want to go, and the worm on its head was even more afraid of the cold.

    Old time tea wasn¡¯t used to such Western celebrations, and Pi had its own things to do.

    dimir and little white had run off somewhere early in the morning to fight.

    Sihwa? She could not go even if she wanted to.

    Medicine ¡­ If he brought it over, it might be kept as a gift for the future child of the new couple ¡­

    ¡°Burp?¡±

    The wine monkey came over and tugged at the corner of his clothes, meaning to ask if there was any wine to drink at the wedding.

    Because it was a Simple Western wedding in a church, there was no wine. Even if it was a Chinese wedding, they couldn¡¯t bring a baboon to drink.

    Famous¡¯s shooting work was very hard. In order to pursue a bigger scene and a moreplete plot, the duration of the second film of Dog Warrior had been extended from one and a half hours to just over two hours. The shooting content was heavy, but Zhao Qi strongly urged famous toe, because it would make the bride¡¯s side feel very proud. She strongly suspected that she really wanted to invite famous, and he was just a side character ¡­

    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, I want to go and take a look.¡± Fati stood out.

    Christmas, the church, the time and ce all had special meanings to it.

    ¡°Sure, but you might have to stay with a Labrador after you arrive.¡± Zhang Zian reminded her.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, it doesn¡¯t matter.¡± It said.

    Richard¡¯s eyes rolled. Prepare a royal carriage for this great master!¡±

    The so-called Imperial chariot was a birdcage covered with cloth, and a warm baby was ced inside.

    After asking around, only Richard, Fati, and famous would go.

    He went downstairs.

    ¡°Waa! The manager is so handsome today!¡± Jiang Feifei said as she ate breakfast.

    ¡°Yeah?¡± Zhang Zian was very happy to be recognized.

    Lu Yiyun didn¡¯t say anything. She just picked up her phone and took a few photos as material for her manga.

    ¡°Master, if you dress up gorgeously, be careful not to be fancied by any gay guy ¡­¡± Wang Qian advised sincerely.

    Zhang Zian raised his hand,¡±I told you to Read lessics!¡± How can you have such dirty thoughts!¡±

    The staff was very rxed today because there were usually not many customers on Christmas Day. The first few days were the peak period. People who were nning to buy pets as gifts for their children or girlfriends had already bought them in advance. Even if they had forgotten that people who wanted to buy ast minute gift for Christmas would buy them this morning, so they left work after lunch.

    Zhang Zian put on cors and traction ropes for Fati and famous, then took the birdcages and took them to the Wuling Hong Guang MPV, driving all the way to the south of the city.

 Chapter 1772

    Chapter 1772: [Side Story] wedding (2)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    It was Christmas, a holiday for young people. Middle-aged and elderly people did not care about it at all.

    There weren¡¯t many pedestrians and cars on the road. The young couples were probably walking along the road and looking for a suitable ce to get a room.

    The Wuling Hong Guang MPV sessfully arrived at the church in the south of the city. There was a slight traffic jam because the guests who came to attend the wedding and the church members who came to attend the mass were all gathered together.

    The volunteers and the wedding staff were busy trying to disperse the crowd.

    Zhang Zian found a ce to park the car, held the traction rope, and got out of the car with the birdcage. He followed the sign to the back of the church.

    Including in his dream, he had been to the church once or twice, but he had only been to the entrance. He had never entered the church, nor did he know that there was another world behind the church.

    After turning around the church, a greenwn appeared in front of them. It was particrly surprising in this deste winter because the grass in other ces had all withered and yellow.

    However, he soon realized that the grass was fake, and the ground was made of stic.

    Although it wasn¡¯tpletely natural, it was actually good because more and more young people came to the church for Western-style weddings. With the poption of China, the naturalwn couldn¡¯t stand being stepped on day after day, and the soil would be muddy after rain and snow. In the end, the visual effect of the video or photo would be worse than the fakewn.

    There were a few big trees around thewn. Of course, their leaves had all fallen off, but there wereyers of dark green bird¡¯s nest-like things on the branches that reced the leaves. Zhang Zian took a closer look. It turned out to be mistletoe.

    Mistletoe had a special meaning for Christmas. It was simr to the Spring Festival couplets in the Lunar New Year. Western weddings had a tradition where the bride and groom had to kiss under the mistletoe tree, which meant that they were destined for life. Therefore, mistletoe had double the significance for Christmas weddings.

    A tree could be without leaves, but it could not be without mistletoe.

    This church was so well-prepared that it was obviously not the first time they had held a wedding. In fact, the wedding had already be the fixed revenue of the church. Everyone was a monk, and the money could not be earned by the monks of the Shaolin Temple ¡­

    He was very eye-catching with the birdcage and two ¡°dogs.¡± Zhao Qi, one of the wedding staff, heard the news and immediately came over with a few of her best friends.

    Of course, his friends were not here to see him, but to take photos with famous.

    Zhao Qi gave Zhang Zian a look and pulled him to the side. She seemed to have something to say, and she looked a little nervous.

    He believed that famous could take care of itself, so he followed her to a corner and asked,¡±¡±What¡¯s wrong? Such a happy day and you still have such a gloomy face, could it be that the groom broke off the engagement and ran away?¡±

    He was just teasing her, but he didn¡¯t expect Zhao Qi to notin, but stare at him speechlessly.

    ¡°What the f * ck? No way? Did the groom really run away?¡± He was shocked.

    Zhao Qi didn¡¯t say anything, which was a tacit agreement.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± He asked, his gossipy heart stirring.

    Zhao Qi looked around awkwardly and said in a low voice,¡±¡±Shishi is still in her bridal makeup, but we can¡¯t find the groom anywhere. He showed up here this morning, but I don¡¯t know where he¡¯s gone now. His phone is turned off when we tried to call him ¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian¡¯s mind immediately went astray.¡±Could it be ¡­ That I¡¯m going to pretend to be the groom?¡± This ¡­ I¡¯m not mentally prepared for this ¡­¡±

    Zhao Qi spat,¡±what are you thinking? Still sleeping? I don¡¯t need you to be mentally prepared! Hurry up and help look for her before the wedding starts!¡±

    ¡°Where are we going to find him? ¡°I don¡¯t even know where he went ¡­¡± Zhang Zian spread his hands.

    ¡°His car is still here, so he can¡¯t have gone far. Didn¡¯t you bring your dog? Can you smell where he is?¡± Zhao Qi pointed to a BMW 3 Series in the parking lot, which the groom had bought with a loan.

    Zhang Zian nced back at the wedding scene that was being decorated. There were many people. The church volunteers and staff were arranging chairs, and young people who knew or did not know each other were talking in groups of three or five.

    As expected of young people, the boys ¡®conversation was full of high-level words such as stock market, futures, crude oil, Trump, and so on. They would be embarrassed to talk to him if they didn¡¯te up with a few English words. The girls¡¯ eyes lit up and their faces were full of admiration.

    Zhang Zian wondered what he could say if he went over. Talk about the impact of trade disputes on the global pet market?

    ¡°¡­Forget it, I¡¯ll try then, fly ¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t call it famous. Famous is in charge of weing guests. Didn¡¯t you bring another dog?¡± Zhao Qi interrupted him and pointed at the French pushing.¡±This one!¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    Sure enough, famous had been surrounded. Many of the guests had received the news that the star lead actor of ¡°Dog Warrior II¡±, which was being filmed in Binhai studio, would also be here today. They were the bride¡¯s big support.

    ¡°Alright, I got it.¡±

    Zhang Zian was helpless. He was here to show off, but in the end, he had be an errand boy.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you then. You must find him as soon as possible before the wedding, or else Shishi will be embarrassed ¡­ Anyway, I have to get my makeup done.¡± Zhao Qi was wearing a long dress and a military coat, but her face was still blue from the cold.

    She jogged away and went to the temporary dressing room to do her makeup.

    Zhang Zian stood there hesitating. Where could he find it?

    ¡°Zian, the groom doesn¡¯t like the bride? Why did you run away at the wedding?¡± Fati asked.

    Zhang Zian smiled bitterly.¡±I¡¯m not very familiar with the groom. Who knows if he has something he can¡¯t tell me?¡± Isn¡¯t it forcing me to go and find someone?¡±

    ¡°Gah? A man¡¯s words? * ***************? Strong locking man?¡± Richard poked his head out of the birdcage with great interest.¡±I won¡¯t be sleepy if you talk about this!¡±

    Whether it was the groom or the bride, it was not rare for them to break off the engagement at thest moment before the wedding. There were various reasons, not necessarily for themselves, but for family reasons, or simply because they were afraid of getting married.

    ¡°Kaka! I know, the groom must have realized at thest moment that he doesn¡¯t actually like women and decided to find his true love. You idiot, don¡¯t meddle in other people¡¯s business!¡±

    The situation that Richard mentioned could not bepletely ruled out. After all, the world was full of wonders. But no matter what the reason was, he had to exin it to the bride face to face. Why did she just run away without saying a word?

    Fa tuo felt that marriage was sacred and was blessed and protected by God. Especially a wedding held in the Holy Land, it was not just a simple ceremony. ¡°I¡¯ll go look for him. As long as he¡¯s not too far away, I should be able to find him soon. ¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded.¡±Okay, then it¡¯s up to you. To be honest, if the groom really runs away, the two families will probably be enemies.¡±

    Fati closed his eyes and began to pray.

 Chapter 1773

    Chapter 1773: [Side Story] wedding (3)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    The Fati had intended to pray, but as soon as it closed its eyes and entered a state of meditation, it immediately felt that it had a connection with the Supreme existence in the dark.

    It could only be said that this was indeed a Holy Land.

    God was everywhere, even in the East across the ocean.

    When it opened its eyes, it saw everything.

    It was as if it had been given God¡¯s eyes. It could observe the world from countless angles at the same time. No matter if it was a door, a wall, or the earth, nothing could be an obstacle to its vision.

    It could not maintain the state of omniscience and vision for a long time. Otherwise, the massive amount of information would burn its brain. Just a glimpse was enough. All that was left was to recall and analyze everything it had just seen in its mind.

    ¡°How is it? did you find him?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Fati didn¡¯t have time to answer as he ran into the crowd.

    ¡°Ya! Whose dog was this? Why didn¡¯t you tie it up?¡±

    ¡°Stop it, don¡¯t let it run around!¡±

    There was amotion in the crowd, but many people mistook it for a Husky or an skan Mmute. These two types of dogs almost didn¡¯t bite, or the scene would have been even more chaotic.

    It happened so suddenly that Zhang Zian was dumbfounded.

    What¡¯s wrong with the Fati? Could it be that he was provoked by something?

    No matter what, he had to quickly pull it back, or the wedding would be ruined in his hands.

    He quickly picked up the birdcage and chased after the Pushcart.

    The Fati didn¡¯t run too far. It rushed to the side of a well-dressed young man, stood up, and smacked the phone in his hand to the ground with its front paw. Fortunately, there was an artificialwn on the ground, so it wasn¡¯t broken.

    The man was immediately enraged.¡±Whose dog is this? You scared me to death!¡±

    When Zhang Zian arrived, he secretlyined in his heart. He had to apologize,¡±I¡¯m sorry, the dog is mine. I didn¡¯t pull it back just now ¡­¡±

    Fati barked angrily at the man, baring his fangs to stop him from picking up the phone.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with this dog? Was he crazy? Why don¡¯t you take care of your dog?¡± The man cursed.

    The guests gathered around to watch the show. Many people recognized that he was famous¡¯s owner and thought that there would be a show to watch. They took out their mobile phones to film.

    Zhang Zian was also very confused. He kept apologizing while picking up the phone for the man.

    The Dharma did not stop him from picking up the phone.

    Zhang Zian squatted down. The moment his fingers touched the phone, he saw the content on the screen.

    ¡°You ¡­¡± He raised his head and stared at the man. The man¡¯s expression became more and more nervous.¡±Were you secretly taking photos of a woman¡¯s skirt just now?¡±

    There was silence.

    It was as if someone had cast a group silence spell.

    Everyone had wanted to see Zhang Zian¡¯s excitement, but when they heard this, they all looked at the phone screen.

    Zhang Zian picked up the phone and held it up for everyone to see.

    The photos on the screen ¡­ As well as the contents in the photo album, were unsightly.

    A few of the girls present screamed in embarrassment and anger. They had already recognized their skirts, thighs, and ¡­

    Even in the coldest days of winter, whether it was the bridesmaids or the female guests, most of them were dressed in cool clothes, beautiful and freezing.

    This time, the scene exploded.

    The man didn¡¯t want his phone anymore. He turned around and ran away.

    The young men present chased after her. They couldn¡¯t let go of the opportunity to show off in front of the goddesses. Anyway, they were outnumbered.

    To be honest, if these men who seemed to have been injected with chicken blood participated in the Olympic Games in a group, there would be no other countries in the track and field arena ¡­

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t chase after him. He knew that the man couldn¡¯t run away. This wasn¡¯t the wilderness. It was impossible for one person to escape with so many people chasing him.

    In addition, he didn¡¯t chase after them because he was surrounded by several girls.

    Unfortunately, they weren¡¯t chasing him for his contact information. Instead, they were asking him to delete the photos in that person¡¯s phone.

    He repeatedly told them that the phone had to be handed over to the police to be dealt with. Because this was evidence, the person had to be punished by thew. The police would definitely not let the photos be leaked, so they could rest assured.

    What he needed to worry about now was whether the person would be beaten to death after being caught ¡­

    Fortunately, this was a church, after all. The man was quickly caught and kicked a few times and punched a few times. Before he was beaten even more badly, the kind church members persuaded the angry crowd.

    Someone had already called the police. The police arrived at the scene a few minutester and took the man into the police car. They asked about the situation and took the phone as evidence.

    The police officers saw that this was a wedding scene, so they didn¡¯t disturb him too much. There were witnesses and evidence, so they didn¡¯t allow the suspect to quibble. They left a few minutester.

    The guests present didn¡¯t give up and began to ask each other for the name of the person who had secretly taken the photo. Because he could sneak in here, he most likely had an invitation, so it wasn¡¯t easy to hide his identity.

    Not only that, but he also wanted to find out who had invited him.

    After asking around, the person¡¯s name was found. It turned out that he was a friend of a guest. The guest couldn¡¯te for some reason, so he sneaked in with an invitation.

    Next, it was time to post on WeChat moments, chat, and Weibo.

    The unexpected interruption had dyed the wedding process slightly, objectively buying more time.

    The fatale suddenly became the focus of everyone¡¯s attention, no less than famous.

    Several people, especially the young women, asked Zhang Zi how his dog had found out that the man was secretly taking photos.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t exin. He could only vaguely say that the man looked suspicious and that his dog had been trained with the police dogs of the police dog brigade.

    Everyone surrounded Fati in admiration and love, stroking its hair and feeding it with the snacks they had brought with them.

    Someone sighed. His own Husky only knew how to tear down houses, but how could other people¡¯s Husky catch a sneaky photographer?

    Some people say that it¡¯s skan Mmute, which is not as stupid as a Husky. If your Husky looks like this, it¡¯s definitely not a purebred.

    No one suspected that it was actually a European gray wolf.

    Zhang Zian had experienced ups and downs in a short period of time, and he was at a loss for what to do. If Richard had not pretended to be him and shouted,¡±what¡¯s so good about secretly taking photos of women¡¯s skirts? if you¡¯re so good, go and take photos of men¡¯s skirts!¡± If he did, he might be able to add a few girls on WeChat ¡­

    He decided to send it to KFC directly after the wedding.

    Needless to say, Fati must have seen the man taking photos of the woman¡¯s skirt with the help of the omniscient eyes. In order to prevent him from destroying the evidence or spreading the photos through the inte, it did not have time to exin. It immediately pounced on him, took his phone, and did not let him pick it up.

    Indeed, only thew could do such a thing among the elves.

    Although he was reluctant to leave the girls, he did not forget that he still had important things to do. This unlucky wedding could not take a second round of trouble, and he had to find the groom as soon as possible.

 Chapter 1774

    Chapter 1774: [Side Story] wedding (4)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Fati had seen someone secretly taking photos of the bottom of a woman¡¯s skirt just now. It was almost mad with anger. This was not some random ce, but a sacred ce. This kind of behavior was tantamount to sphemy. If it was the old Fati, it would at least bite off one of the man¡¯s hands ¡­ No, if it was the old Fati who had not converted, it would not have cared about this kind of thing.

    Zhang Zian first found an excuse to squeeze out of the crowd and made a gesture to it. It also came out of the crowd, and its body was covered with the fragrance of makeup.

    It knew what he was going to ask, so it said directly,¡±¡±I don¡¯t know what the groom looks like, but in the church¡¯s repair room, there¡¯s a man who fits the description.¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned. A cultivation room?

    The doomsday room was the confessionary room. It was a small room provided by the church for the people to repent to God. Regardless of whether they were believers or not, they could enter to repent. As the spokesperson of God, the priest would listen to God¡¯s confession on his behalf, open up and forgive his confession. Furthermore, the priest would keep the confessioner¡¯s confession a secret to a certain extent, unless it involved criminal behavior.

    Fati nodded.¡±Because the person in the repair room was wearing a formal dress and a bow tie.¡±

    The groom could wear either a suit or a suit for a western wedding. The formal suit was probably requested by Shishi. After all, most women hoped for a once-in-a-lifetime wedding and wanted to leave a perfect Memorial on this one and only wedding.

    Among all the young men present, only the groom would wear a suit.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go find him.¡±

    Zhang Zian wondered what the groom was confessing. Could it be that he really didn¡¯t like Shishi and was forced to get married due to the pressure around him?

    Things like repentance were actually more of a form of self-relief and could be considered as a form of psychological treatment. One could tell their suppressed thoughts to someone who would keep their secrets for them in order to obtain peace and salvation in their heart ¡­ As for the effect of being forgiven by God, it was either believed or not.

    At the entrance of the church, he was stopped by a volunteer. He was told that people could enter, but dogs could not. Otherwise, what if the dog pooped or barked in the church?

    He peeked inside and saw that there were already many members of the church gathered in the church. There were Chinese and foreigners. Everyone was chatting in a low voice affectionately, waiting for the beginning of Mass. Some were even carrying babies to be baptized.

    He had no choice but to tie Fati to the outside as a symbolic gesture. He entered the church, bypassed the seating area, entered the side hall, and went upstairs.

    The cultivation room was generally located in a rtively secluded location in the church, so that confessioners could confide in the priest without being disturbed.

    However, when he went up to the second floor, he was stopped by a volunteer who was waiting outside the Shuhe room.

    ¡°Are you here to repent? Please wait a moment, there¡¯s already someone inside. ¡±

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t get in, but Richard quietly jumped out of the cage. It knew that the volunteers would definitely hear it if it pped its wings and flew, so it jumped on the carpet and slipped in.

    The real mending room was just a very small wooden hut, with a door on each side. The confessionist stayed on one side, and the priest who was listening to the confession on the other side. The middle was separated by wooden boards, so they could not see each other. The door was full of small holes, and the confessioners and priests could not be seen from the outside, but they could tell if there was anyone inside the door through the shadows.

    Richard noticed that there was only a figure on the left side of the room, and the right side was empty, which meant that the priest had note yet. After all, it was Christmas, and the clergymen should be very busy.

    The one on the left was probably the groom.

    So, it jumped to the right side of the door, opened the door with its ws, jumped in, and closed the door.

    ¡°Ahem!¡± It coughed and said pretentiously,¡±¡±Speak, tell me what crime you havemitted, my child.¡±

    It didn¡¯t know the exact process of repentance, but fortunately, the other party didn¡¯t know that the man and bird were the real Li Gui and had met the fake Li Kui.

    Liu sang had been struggling for a long time. When the ¡°priest¡± finally came, he said quickly,¡±¡±Father, will you keep what I say here a secret?¡±

    ¡°Of ¡­ Of course I¡¯ll keep your secret,¡± said Richard.¡±Don¡¯t worry, my child.¡±

    It would never let go of anything that it could take advantage of verbally.

    He heaved a sigh of relief. Since he was here, he could only trust the credibility of this ¡°priest.¡±

    ¡°Father, I¡¯m guilty. It¡¯s too difficult for me ¡­¡±

    He had been under a lot of pressure ever since the proposal.

    Rtives and friends were giving him all kinds of half-joking hints. ¡°You¡¯ve been together for quite a while, right? when are you getting married?¡±

    When they went shopping together, Shishi seemed to like children very much.

    When he returned to his parents ¡®house, his parents would always say,¡±¡±While we¡¯re still healthy, if you give birth early, we can help you take care of ¡­¡±

    Perhaps the speaker did not mean it, but the listener took note of it. Of course, he was the one who took the initiative to pursue Shishi. Now that they were together, and they were not particrly young, would the status quo remain? Wasn¡¯t that ¡­ A scumbag?

    Once, he had proposed to her on impulse. Although she was surprised, she agreed the next day. Then, she told her friends and family to start preparing for the wedding.

    The process of marriage was more torturous than imagined. It was not only a marriage between two people, but also apetition between two families. They had a lot of disagreements because of various problems. They even had to argue about the date and the location of their honeymoon. It made the two mentally and physically exhausted, and their financial problems were like a mountain pressing on their heads.

    Shishi didn¡¯t save much money for eating, drinking, and having fun. She basically belonged to the moonlight and didn¡¯t want to reduce the quality of her life after marriage.

    He had some savings, but he had to take a car loan for two to three years to save face.

    The economic situation was not good, and both of them had no hope of getting a promotion and a raise in the short term.

    It was not fair to say that he was the only one who had the intention to retreat, because Shishi had said ¡®forget it¡¯ more than once.

    The closer it was to the wedding date, the less heated the rtionship between the two was. It was because of the various problems exposed in the wedding preparation process.

    Dating was one thing, but getting married was another.

    He had finallye to this point after all the obstacles along the way. He suddenly began to doubt himself. Could it be that he didn¡¯t really like Shishi? otherwise, why would there be so many twists and turns? Then, he tried to convince himself that he liked Shishi.

    The marriage certificate had been collected, and the Chinese wedding had been held. After today¡¯s western wedding, the two of them were going to use the New Year¡¯s holiday, marriage leave, and Spring Festival holiday to go on a honeymoon abroad. So, what was done was done, but he had to find a ce to talk about the entanglement and depression in his heart.

    Richard listened to his long-winded speech, which was as stinky and long as an olddy¡¯s foot-binding cloth, and he became impatient.

    ¡°Then, let me ¡­ Let me point you in the right direction.¡± He interrupted.

    ¡°Oh? What clear path?¡± Liu sang asked anxiously.

    ¡°Actually, you¡¯re not the only man who is confused before marriage. I¡¯ve heard many simr confessions.¡±

    Liu sang felt much better after hearing that. He was not the only one who was like that.

    ¡°So, you can register an alternate ount on a social app, post your feelings on the inte, and leave your contact information. There will definitely be people who are in the same situation as you who will contact you. You men can form a group, preferably a group from the same city, and confide in each other in the group. Or, when your wife is not around, you can simply go to a bar for a drink and improve your rtionship through face-to-face chat ¡­¡±

    At first, Liu sang nodded his head to learn, but he felt weird when he heard about improving their rtionship ¡­

    ¡°I know someone. He¡¯s an owner of a pet shop in the east of the city. His surname is Zhang or something. He¡¯s quite famous in the city. Have you heard of him?¡±

    ¡°Zhang? A pet shop? I¡¯ve heard of it, and I even know it! Zhang Zian, right?¡± ¡°What happened to him?¡± Liu sang was surprised.

    ¡°In fact, he oftenes here to repent because he has been troubled by simr anxiety, so he has never gotten married ¡­ He has created a group. You can ask for the group number from him. There are many people in the group who share the same goal. You will definitely be able to find your own kind in the group.¡±

    Liu sang felt much better. He thought it was because of his repentance, but in fact, it was just because he said what he had been holding back.

    ¡°I understand. Thank you, Father. I¡¯ve learned a lot from talking to you. If there¡¯s a chance in the future, I¡¯lle and visit again.¡±

    He had never intended to run away from the marriage from the beginning. They had already collected their marriage certificate and had a Chinese wedding. What was the point of running away from a western wedding?

    He left the cultivation room, bowed respectfully to the wooden door on the other side, and then left the room.

    Unexpectedly, he met Zhang Zian outside the room. He was stunned at first, then immediately remembered that the ¡°priest¡± had said that Zhang Zian often came to repent, and he immediately believed the ¡°priest¡¯s¡± words without a doubt.

    Zhang Zian saw hime out and said,¡±¡±What are you still doing here? It¡¯s gettingte, hurry ¡­¡±

    Liu sang walked closer and said in a low voice,¡±Manager Zhang, what¡¯s the group number?¡±

    ¡°What group ID?¡± Zhang Zian was stunned by the question.

    Liu sang gave him a meaningful smile, patted his shoulder and said,¡±¡±You¡¯re right, don¡¯t doubt yourself, just continue being single. Don¡¯t be like me, a single mistake can cause a lifetime of regret ¡­ When Ie back from my honeymoon, you must tell me the group number, I want to interact more with those men.¡±

    After that, he turned around and went downstairs to attend the wedding, leaving Zhang Zian, who was still confused.

    He was terrified when he thought about it. This guy was indeed a well-hidden ¡­

    The wedding went ording to the procedure and went smoothly.

    After the bride and groom exchanged their rings and kissed under the mistletoe tree, it was time for the bridesmaid¡¯s most anticipated event.

    Shishi, who was wearing a white wedding dress, raised the bouquet in her hand and threw it high.

    She had already seen where Zhao Qi was standing, and of course, she had to throw the bouquet at her best friend.

    Zhao Qi reached out her hand expectantly, ready to ept her best friend¡¯s blessing.

    A gray shadow flew past in the air. Richard appeared halfway and flew away with the bouquet in his mouth. The wedding scene fell silent.

    Facing the murderous gazes of more than ten bridesmaids, led by Zhao Qi, Zhang Zianined endlessly.

 Chapter 1775

    Chapter 1775: [Side Story] confinement y (1) underground trade

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    At night.

    Binhai city.

    At the amazing fate pet shop.

    The street was quiet, and the wind in the spring night was still quite cold.

    Whoosh. Whoosh.

    Knock, knock, knock.

    A strange knocking sound came from outside the tightly closed curtain Door. The person who knocked on the curtain Door first patted it twice, then knocked on it three times with his knuckles.

    Inside the door.

    Zhang Zian held his breath and put one ear on the curtain Door, listening quietly.

    After making sure that the knocking didn¡¯t sound again, he lowered the sound and opened the curtain Door a little. The steps were only two fists ¡®height from the ground, and then he pushed the three bags of dog food out of the door.

    Whoosh.

    The three bags of dog food were picked up by the people outside the door and they turned around to leave.

    Hearing the footsteps moving away, Zhang Zian closed the curtain Door.

    Throughout the entire process, the two of them didn¡¯t say a word, not even a fart.

    The elves in the shop looked at him speechlessly.

    ¡°Zian, are you a thief?¡± old time tea said, its heart aching.

    Zhang Zian replied,¡±well, no, Grandpa tea, I don¡¯t have a choice.¡± If the customers need it, I have to serve them! Mr. Lu Xun taught us to serve our customers!¡±

    Old time tea recalled,¡±I¡¯m not talented. I was born in the same era as Lu Xun. On the way to see my wife off, miss Wu read Lu Xun¡¯s articles to me more than once, but I don¡¯t seem to have heard of this sentence ¡­¡±

    Snowy Li spat.¡±You¡¯re such a glib-tongued stinky man!¡±

    Richard pped his wings and said mischievously,¡±¡±Kaka! My intuition tells me that the person outside the door just now should be a man. As the saying goes,¡±when the moon shines on the willow branch,¡± a man dates behind the chrysanthemum ¡­¡±

    Before it could finish, Zhang Zian threw a towel at it and covered its face.

    Famous sighed.¡±Zian, how long will this life of confinementst?¡± The filming was about to start, but now this happened ¡­ I don¡¯t know when we¡¯ll start work ¡­¡±

    ¡°Well ¡­ I¡¯m afraid no one can say for sure at the moment. We can only wait for the arrangements of the country and the provinces. Besides, we¡¯re not the only crew affected, the other filming crews are also affected. The more unfortunate ones were those films that were scheduled to make a lot of money during the spring Festival, but all of them lost their money. So, looking at it from the bright side, we¡¯re lucky in our misfortune. At least we can use this time to do post-production, which is equivalent to moving our work after the Green Film Festival to now. Anyway, those otakus who do post-production can do office work online. ¡±

    Richard shook off the towel.¡±I can feel your deep malice towards otakus ¡­¡±

    It couldn¡¯t be helped. Due to well-known reasons, normal life hade to a standstill. Every house was closed, shops were closed, and any ce where arge number of people might gather was closed due to force majeure, including the Pet Shop.

    ¡°I had nned to travel abroad this Spring Festival, learn a foreignnguage, and have a wonderful rtionship ¡­ But it was all ruined!¡± Zhang Zian sighed.

    ¡°Gah? Even if that didn¡¯t happen, you must be dreaming, right?¡± Richard said.

    Zhang Zian ignored the bird¡¯sints, looked around at the kittens and puppies in the room, and said worriedly,¡±¡±Now that my business has taken a nosedive, I can¡¯t sell my pets anymore. I can only sell cat and dog food to make up for my living expenses, and I can only sell them secretly ¡­¡±

    Everyone wanted to raise pets from a young age because they felt that pets that were raised from a young age would be closer to their owners. Most of the pets that Zhang Zian had brought in were more than three months old. When there were no problems with business, the pets would be sold out in half a month at most. But now ¡­

    Basically, kittens and puppies over four months old would be permanent customers in the store, and it would not be easy to sell them. Zhang Zian had to trick them every time.

    In fact, kittens and puppies over the age of four months would not have any family issues, especially cats. Whether they were close or not had little to do with their age. As long as there were no problems with social education and they were not abandoned or abused, they would still be close to each other when they were raised at a young age. This was because in the long directed breeding process, cats that were not close to people or even fierce people had been eliminated. However, it was quite difficult to find a domestic cat as close as a Siamese cat or a Ragdoll cat because of the character of the domestic cat.

    As for dogs, if one intended to train them seriously, it was indeed better to raise them from a young age. But how many people could really persevere in training dogs? Most people kept pets for fun. Some people bought border shepherds and vowed to train their dogs, but in the end, they were trained by border shepherds ¡­

    Every time a customer asked for a younger pet, Zhang Zian would ask about the customer¡¯s situation. If it was the customer¡¯s first time raising a pet, he would strongly rmend that the customer raise a slightly older pet, because young pets were not easy to raise, and pets that were four to six months old were tougher.

    If the current situation continued, who knew when the store would resume business. By then, the kittens and puppies in the store would all be more than four months old, and he would have to think carefully about what to say.

    The Pet Shop was not rted to the national economy and people¡¯s livelihood. The most optimistic estimate was that thest few shops would be approved to resume business, so ¡­ The days were hard.

    There was nothing toin about. After all, the whole country was the same. His situation was not the worst. He could only try to alleviate it as much as possible.

    Fortunately, almost half of the profit source of the Pet Shop came from pet supplies and pet food. The money from selling pets had long starved to death.

    Now that transportation was inconvenient, express delivery had be slow or non-delivery. Many customers had used up their cat food, dog food, cat litter, cat canned food, and other consumables at home. It was not so easy to replenish them, so they could only find familiar physical stores to buy them. The sales of pet consumables in Zhang Zian¡¯s store were not affected. Instead, they were selling better than before because the express delivery service was not working.

    However, because he couldn¡¯t do business openly, he could only quietly carry out underground transactions with his customers in the dead of the night. The customers first paid for the order on the second-hand trading tform, then chose to do face-to-face transactions,e to the Pet Shop to pick up the goods, and then confirm the receipt.

    Ding.

    The second-hand trading app on his mobile phone sent a notification that the customer had confirmed the receipt of the goods and the money had been transferred.

    Many customers were worried that the situation would worsen, especially those who had more than one cat or dog. They were worried that their cats and dogs, who were used to eating imported cat and dog food, would run out of food. Because the situation in foreign countries was worse, they chose to stock up food. Often, one order would cost 10 to 20 kilograms of cat and dog food. The sales were so good that Zhang Zian had to limit the purchase. Only customers who had bought pets in his store had priority to buy, and each person could only buy three bags at most.

    If the Pet Shop could stillplement each other in terms of profit and loss, the aquarium was in a state of pure loss.

    In the past, the saying ¡°a family is extremely rich, but those with fur don¡¯t count¡± was only said on the tip of his tongue, but now it was actually true.

    He couldn¡¯t just sit around and wait for the business to resume. He had to think of another way ¡­

 Chapter 1776

    Chapter 1776: [Side Story] confinement y (2)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    It had never been Zhang Zian¡¯s style to sit back and eat. He should be prepared for danger in times of peace, not to mention that he was really in danger now.

    The threat of force majeure in the pet industry was not the most serious. There were many other industries that were even more unlucky, but now was not the time to be miserable. He could not help the world, so he had to find a way to protect himself first.

    While he was pondering, someone suddenly knocked on the shutter door again.

    Eh?

    He opened the second-hand trading app to take a look. The only person who had made an appointment tonight was the person just now. Who was it this time?

    ¡°Who is it?¡± He asked softly.

    ¡°Me!¡±

    A voice that was obviously older but was unusually confident came from outside the door.

    Zhang Zian immediately knew which God had arrived.

    ¡°Yo! Grandma Gu! It¡¯s sote at night, why aren¡¯t you ying with your grandchildren at home? why do you have the time toe here? Have you had dinner?¡± He said through the curtain Door.

    ¡°Xiao an Zi, who was that person who just left your shop?¡± Grandma Gu ignored his glib tongue and went straight to the point.

    ¡°What? He¡¯s probably just passing by?¡± Zhang Zian was shocked and quickly gave a perfunctory answer.

    ¡°Just passing by?¡± Grandma Gu was the head of the housing Committee, so she was not so easily fooled.¡±Zian, I¡¯m telling you, you¡¯re not allowed to do business privately. If you want to do business, you have to apply and the government will approve it. Do you know that?¡±

    ¡°I know, I know,¡± Zhang Zian felt that there were at least 1000panies in the city who had applied to resume work. If even thesepanies had to line up, how long would his small pet shop have to line up for? The application was also in vain.

    ¡°Okay, then I¡¯ll go first.¡±

    ¡°Grandma Gu, don¡¯t you want toe in and sit for a while? I¡¯m almost done with dinner, do you want to eat with me?¡± He asked.

    ¡°What do you mean by ¡®sit¡¯? it¡¯s not good to visit. You know that I won¡¯t go in, so you¡¯re saying that, right?¡± Grandma Gu said disdainfully.

    ¡°How could I? Grandma Gu, take care!¡±

    When Zhang Zian heard the footsteps go away, he was relieved.

    As the saying goes, the county Magistrate is not as good as the current management. In the current situation, the power of the street Housing Committee and the property management of themunity has greatly expanded. Although his street shop was not under the management of the property management, it was not an exaggeration to say that the housing Committee had the power to control the sky.

    On this Street, he wasn¡¯t the only shop that was secretly operating like this. After all, everyone had to make a living, especially when many people rented their shops. If their business couldn¡¯t run, they still had to pay the rent.

    The snack bar couldn¡¯t open for business, so uncle li and his wife could only turn to take-out food that they were not familiar with. Their son, who was still in school, had to work as a part-time Meituan rider because of the dy in school. Every day, he rode an electric bike through the streets and alleys to deliver take-out food, giving priority to his family¡¯s orders. The fertile water should not flow into others ¡®fields, but there were not many people ordering take-out now. They said that the fertile water was too much, and it was at most swill.

    After Lu Yiyun sent back the authentic dates he brought back from Egyptst time, she had done some other things, such as proving that she could make money, live a good life, and had many people following herics on Weibo, so her family¡¯s impression of her had changed, and their rtionship had eased. She had originally nned to go back to her hometown during the spring Festival, but after this incident, she had no choice but to give up. She refunded her ticket and continued to stay in the rental house in the oppositemunity.

    Jiang Feifei was the same. As a fourth-year graduate, she was one of the unluckiest batch. This year¡¯s spring recruitment had failed, and her opportunity to work at the ocean Pavilion in San Francisco had been postponed indefinitely. She could only continue to work in the Pet Shop.

    As for Wang Qian and Li Kun, they were the happiest. They yed like crazy. However, after staying at home for a long time, their parents disliked them more and more. They thought that they yed games all day and didn¡¯t know how to study. They quarreled every day, so as long as there was a chance, they would sneak out and hide in the Pet Shop. They stayed from dawn to dusk, all day long.

    Little celery, like other children, was tortured by nails and online sses every day. She was lively by nature, and she couldn¡¯t stand this kind of life of being cooped up at home all day. She was also worried about the rabbits in school.

    The other person who was being tortured was snowy. She had no choice but to switch from an outdoor live broadcast to an indoor live broadcast. Her live broadcast content was mainly about her Persian cat, and asionally there was a Husky.

    The worst was sun Xiaomeng¡¯s family¡¯s breeding farm, which was just short of hanging a sign that said,¡±pets are unsble, help us.¡±

    Zhang Zian would asionally sell one or two pets here, mainly new customers introduced by old customers. During this period of confinement, many people felt bored and raised a cat or dog to relieve their boredom, but the trading process was even more thrilling. Because pets were not cat or dog food that could be carried away, they had to at least be checked carefully to see if it was the same one they had seen through the video, as well as if there were any hidden diseases and so on. It would take some time, so dimir had to lead the stray cats outside to keep watch. This was to prevent grandma Gu from suddenly being caught off guard and getting all the favor.

    The most worrying thing was Shi Shi and Liu sang¡¯s Christmas wedding. They had met too many people and gone to too many ces during their wedding and honeymoon. As soon as they returned to Binhai city, they were forced to be quarantined. If this continued, their time together would be very short. He hoped that they would take safety measures.

    Zhao Qi was very worried. This natural and man-made disaster had affected the privatepany that she and Liu sang worked in. People were saying that thepany was going toy off staff. This made her feel that the civil servants she had looked down on before were the ones with the highest sry. So she had been staying at home recently, ying with her cat and preparing for the civil service exam. Hernn was almost bald.

    Almost everyone¡¯s life was impacted and affected by this event. Everyone¡¯s life trajectory and direction were quietly changing. It was not an exaggeration to say that this event had aroused everyone¡¯s sense of urgency.

    It was the same for Zhang Zian. He had nothing to do and analyzed the living conditions of his acquaintances around him. He found that the more people focused on the real economy, the more serious the impact was, and the new economy that relied on the inte was less affected. For example, snowy could temporarily switch from outdoor to indoor, and her fans didn¡¯t think much of it, because everyone was first and foremost a fan of her, and then the content of her live broadcast.

    So, he had a bold idea. Yingying, why don¡¯t I do a live broadcast too?

    He used to fantasize that he could earn a million a month by doing a live broadcast of cleaning cats ¡®poop, but at that time, he felt that there was no future. Besides, the Pet Shop was doing well, and he was so busy every day. He also had to participate in the elves¡¯ Affairs, so where would he have the time to do a live broadcast?

    Now that he had the time, he had always thought that he was a man who was handsome enough to make a living with his face.

    Perhaps an Auntie would take a fancy to him, and he wouldn¡¯t have to work hard anymore ¡­

 Chapter 1777

    Chapter 1777: [Side Story] confinement y (3) the decision to stream

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    In life, one had to be prepared for the best and n for the worst. A soldier who did not want to be a general was not a good soldier, so Zhang Zian set a limit for himself to earn a million Yuan a month by live streaming. As for the lower limit ¡­ If he really couldn ¡®t, he could make a hundred Yuan a month. At least it could cover a day¡¯s meal.

    It was mainly because, in the current situation, he really couldn¡¯t think of any other way to increase his ie. Every bit he could earn was a bit better. Besides, Sihwa was soaking in the bathtub all day and talking nonsense, and people kept sending gifts. No matter how bad he was, he couldn¡¯t be worse than Sihwa, right?

    ¡°Kaka! She¡¯s wearing a bikini, and most of the people who watch live broadcasts on the inte are otakus. Why don¡¯t you wear a bikini too? maybe some men will like you? After all, there are so many people watching the live stream, there must be a few men who like men!¡± Richard seemed to have read his mind because he had been talking about it for the past few days.

    Zhang Zian ignored the stupid bird who came up with bad ideas all day long and asked the other Elfins,¡±¡±If I do a live broadcast, I¡¯ll do it in a pet shop or aquarium. Do you think it¡¯ll work?¡±

    Before Richard asked who the livestream was and why he wanted to do it, he threw it aside with a towel.

    ¡°Give up. There¡¯s no hope. Just wait for death!¡± Snowy Li said concisely.

    ¡°Meow, Zian is going to do a live broadcast? What¡¯s a live broadcast?¡± Gxy asked curiously.

    ¡°Uh¡­Livestreaming is¡­Broadcasting your daily life to others in real-time? You¡¯re free to chat with everyone, and if they think you¡¯re handsome enough, they¡¯ll give you a gift?¡± Zhang Zian tried to exin.

    ¡°Bah! It¡¯s simr to those who beg for food on a bridge with the word ¡®miserable¡¯ hanging on their neck, just that they give more money!¡± Snowy Li said angrily.

    Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t take it anymore and mmed the table.¡±Snowy Li! If the livestream doesn¡¯t seed, not only will you not be able to eat raw beef brisket, we¡¯ll all have to starve!¡±

    Snowy Li was shocked.¡±Meow meow meow? If it reallyes to that, I¡¯ll send you off to sell your ass first!¡±

    ¡°Zian,¡± old time tea muttered.¡±Live broadcast is fine, but you must convey righteousness in the live broadcast. You can¡¯t let loose!¡±

    Richard said,¡¯quack! Don¡¯t worry, old time tea, I¡¯ll make sure he ¡®s¡¯ upright ¡®!¡±

    Fina couldn¡¯t take it anymore. It yawned and said,¡±¡±The live broadcast must raise my cat¡¯s prestige and strengthen my cat¡¯s momentum. Otherwise, I will never agree to it!¡±

    The Elfins were all talking at once. Even Pi, who was typing upstairs, heard the noise and ran down to make gestures and express its opinions. The recent confinement made it impossible for outsiders to enter the Pet Shop, so it was not afraid of others seeing it.

    Since dimir wasn¡¯t around, the country¡¯s ban didn¡¯t affect it. It still went crazy outside every day from morning to night. It was better to say that because there were fewer people on the streets, the stray cats had be the Masters of Binhai city. In the daytime, they would form groups and swagger through the city, maintaining patrols to prevent little White¡¯s Army of stray dogs from taking advantage of the gap ¡­

    The silver Jade Rabbit was only focused on pounding the medicine. Old time tea picked some herbs that were said to be able to strengthen the body and made medicinal tea for everyone to improve their immunity.

    ¡°In fact, because everyone has been locked up at home recently and spent more time with pets, they have all kinds of questions. After answering one person¡¯s question, others will ask again and again. I think it¡¯s better to answer the customer¡¯s question live, so that other people who may encounter the same problem will not be confused. Maybe they will be happy and give a few small gifts.¡± He said.

    Answering customers ¡®questions in the form of a live broadcast was more intuitive and realistic than answering the questions in text or voice on WeChat. The audience would also be wider.

    Now that no one could go out, many shops maintained contact with their customers in the form of live broadcast. Gyms, for example, hired trainers to do exercises remotely in the form of live broadcast. Of course, he had to keep up with the times.

    Fati nodded in agreement.¡±This method is very good. It¡¯s like a priest¡¯s live preaching to answer the questions of potential believers. He¡¯s generous, and I think highly of it.¡±

    The Elfins all felt that it was quite fresh. They had watched snowy and Sihwa¡¯s live broadcasts, and asionally appeared in snowy¡¯s live broadcasts. However, snowy was an outsider, after all, and Sihwa¡¯s live broadcasts were not very nutritious. They were purely selling their faces to otakus, so they were still looking forward to Zhang Zian¡¯s live broadcast.

    Zhang Zian had registered on the live streaming tform before, and Sihwa had used his ID card to verify her real name, so he had created a new live streaming ount himself. He started to promote it on online tforms such as customer groups, WeChat moments, Weibo, Public ounts, space, and so on.

    Most of the customers who had bought pets were very interested, and potential customers also expressed their intention to watch, which encouraged him. Otherwise, it would be embarrassing if there were only a few viewers for the live broadcast.

    Some of his friends and acquaintances helped him repost and promote it, and even the Army of cats and dogs also moved because there were all kinds of cats and dogs in the Pet Shop.

    The matter was settled just like that. The first livestream was set for the next day. Although it was a little rushed, the earlier the livestream, the more money he could earn.

    Early the next morning, Wang Qian and Li Kun sneaked out of the house to take refuge at his ce.

    ¡°I say, can youe and go as you please in your neighborhood? Isn¡¯t it true that the entry pass for each household can only be used once every two days?¡± Zhang Zian was puzzled.

    ¡°Hehe, master, you don¡¯t understand. The two of us climbed over the wall and didn¡¯t take up any of the entry passes. This martial arts is all because we were not allowed to bring aputer in our first year and had to skip ss to go to inte cafes to practice!¡± Wang Ben said proudly.

    ¡°Master, I heard that you¡¯re going to do a live broadcast today? Does that mean that we disciples will also have a chance to show our faces today?¡± Li Kun had even changed into a new set of clothes today. Unfortunately, when he climbed over the wall, he had gotten a big piece of it dirty, which was enough to prove that he was not as skilled as Wang Qian in his business.

    ¡°After you¡¯re done cleaning up today, go back quickly. You¡¯re not allowed to visit unless it¡¯s absolutely necessary!¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t want to be picked on by grandma Gu.

    ¡°Don ¡®t! Can¡¯t we just hide in the bathroom and not show our faces?¡±

    The two of them begged, and Zhang Zian finally feltpassion for them. He told them to stay in the aquarium next door after they were done cleaning. They could do whatever they wanted, as long as they didn¡¯te out and cause trouble.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun had nothing to do, so they sent a message to ask Lu Yiyun and Jiang Feifei toe out. Of course, the two girls couldn¡¯t learn how to climb walls like them, but they were going out to buy vegetables today, so they came to the Pet Shop for a few hours. It was quite boring to stay at home all the time. The four of them stayed in the aquarium next door. After finishing the daily cleaning and maintenance, Lu Yiyun continued to draw, while the other three yed the king of games.

    Seeing that everything was ready, Zhang Zian sent the beer monkey upstairs and gave it a can of beer so that it wouldn¡¯t suddenly run downstairs and cause trouble after getting drunk.

    He set up his phone with a tripod,@everyone in the group, and then officially started the livestream.

 Chapter 1778

    Chapter 1778: [Side Story] confinement y (4)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    As soon as the live broadcast room opened, people from all walks of life came in.

    Because it was in the morning, many night owls, who were used to sleeping during the day and going out at night during the holidays, had not woken up yet. But it didn¡¯t matter. Zhang Zian was ready to live for the whole day and end it in the evening.

    [Celery is delicious, not expensive]:[Good Morning, brother store manager!]

    This ID was little celery. She was used to live streaming her sses online. Today was the weekend, but she didn¡¯t sleep in. She got up in the morning and waited for Zhang Zian¡¯s live broadcast.

    ¡°Good Morning, little celery.¡±

    [June¡¯s snow]:¡±roar! I¡¯ming!¡± Good Morning, Mr. Store manager!¡±

    ¡°Thank you foring, snowy. Good Morning.¡±

    The bullet screen suddenly filled withments.

    ¡°Xiaoxue¡¯s fan club is here for a room check. They¡¯re here to harass the store manager!¡±

    ¡°Xiaoxue¡¯s fan club is here for a room check. They¡¯re here to harass the store manager!¡±

    ¡°Xiaoxue¡¯s fan club is here for a room check. They¡¯re here to harass the store manager!¡±

    Snowy not only helped him with publicity, but also came to boost his reputation, which touched him very much. She said that it was quite a fresh perspective to asionally watch other people live broadcast in ces that she had been to.

    Why just this? Just this? An ID with a chicken leg icon said in disdain.

    [Only the first three rows are avable for meetings]: Xu Zhuang Zhuang, have you finished your homework? Don¡¯t let the teacher talk about our ss again on Monday!

    The ID ¡°drumstick¡± seemed to be shocked and sneaked out of the live broadcast room.

    [I¡¯m the cutest in the world]:¡¯the most beautiful, cutest, and smartest mermaid in the world is here! Where are my fans? Don¡¯t lose to other streamers!¡±

    ¡°Fish ball No. 1 reporting for duty!¡±

    ¡°Fish ball No. 2 reporting for duty!¡±

    ¡°Fish ball No. 3 reporting for duty!¡±

    Sihwa actually came too. Last night, she had scoffed at it. Could it be that snowy, who was on the same tform, hade to cheer her on and aroused herpetitive awareness?

    But what the hell was this fan club¡¯s name? Did she really know what fish ball meant? He had probably been fooled by his brother in the live broadcast room again.

    [Time is like a poem and a song]: What an energetic single dog! He looks so much like my Xiao La!¡±

    ¡°Binhai sea, waves hitting waves¡±:¡±Hello, manager. My wife and I are here to support you too~¡±

    Shi Shi and Liu sang, the newly-wedded couple, were here to torture the dog again.

    ¡°Welder Zhao Zheng: ¡± brother, I¡¯m here. I asked my grandson to help me register an ount. My friend picked up a strange fish from the sea. When are you going to help me take a look and see if I can keep it?¡±

    ¡°Electrician Wu¡±:¡±Oh my God, old Zhao, hurry up and throw that weird thing away!¡±

    As the saying goes, a good man has three helpers. It was impossible to be so lively on the first day of the live broadcast without the help of friends and acquaintances. Otherwise, the live broadcast room would definitely be cold and miserable.

    Zhang Zian responded to everyone¡¯s greetings one by one. Some of the IDs he couldn¡¯t match, but they were definitely people he knew. Even some bored people in the crew came, including the makeup artist who raised a furless cat at home and did makeup for it.

    Many fans of famous had alsoe. They were there to support the show, but in fact, they were asking Zhang Zian about the behind-the-scenes highlights of Dog Warrior 2.

    Early in the morning, there were already 400 to 500 people in the live broadcast room. It was already very good for the first day of the live broadcast. Most importantly, many people had given gifts.

    Zhang Zian was very clear that a lot of his current poprity was brought by snowy and Sihwa, but they could only y the role of a guide. It was impossible for them toe and help every day. How much poprity he could really retain depended on whether his live broadcast could attract continuous attention.

    After the friends ¡®greetings came to an end, the customers and potential customers in the live broadcast room began to speak one after another.

    Manager, What should I do if the puppy sneezes?¡±

    ¡°Manager, my cat¡¯s belly is round, is it full?¡±

    ¡°Store manager, help! My fish tail is turning whiter!¡±

    There would always be a variety of problems in the process of raising pets, and live streaming was very convenient formunication. Zhang Zian would answer the questions whenever he saw a bullet screen. Not only would the questioner be taught, but other customers who might encounter the same problem would also pay attention to it to avoid repeating the same mistakes.

    Many of the people who asked the questions received a satisfactory answer and gave a small gift of a few Yuan. Even if they didn¡¯t give a gift, they would at least say thank you. Besides, they were customers of the store, so this was considered after-sales service. It could also let potential customers feel the responsible attitude of the store.

    In addition to those questions with standard answers, there was another problem that was not so easy to answer, but it was a problem that many people had encountered.

    ¡°Manager, can I ask what I should do if my cat doesn¡¯t kiss people?¡±

    Many customers had this question, and many potential customers had simr concerns before raising cats. Dog owners didn¡¯t need to consider whether the dogs were close to each other, but it was verymon for cats to not be close to each other.

    What¡¯s more, everyone had different standards for what was close and what was not. It was impossible for some people to hope that cats would be close to each other like dogs.

    ¡°What is the breed of your cat? How old are you?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Anyway, it¡¯s not a kitten anymore. I picked it up from the park. It was drizzling, and I pitied it, so I picked it up in a cardboard box.¡±

    ¡°Rain? How long ago did you pick it up?¡± He asked. Thest time it rained in the city wasst autumn, and there was only rain and snow this spring.

    ¡°It¡¯s been more than half a year, but I still feel like it¡¯s not mature ¡­¡±

    ¡°It usually hides under the bed or the sofa. It doesn¡¯t show its face in front of me at all. It onlyes out to eat the cat food after I leave the room. When Ie back, it goes back to hiding ¡­¡±

    ¡°In the middle of the night, it will sneak out and rummage through the trash can, overturning the bin and digging out the chicken bones and fish bones inside, then hide them under the sofa or under the bed ¡­¡±

    ¡°If I was at home all weekend and it didn¡¯t even use the litter box, it just pooped and peed under the sofa or bed. I¡¯d be wondering why the house was so smelly. After looking for a long time, I found that there was either cat poop or bones under the sofa. It was so disgusting ¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s very dirty. I suspected that there were parasites on it. I wanted to give it a bath, but never mind giving it a bath. As soon as my hand got close to it, it scratched and bit me. My hand was full of wounds, and I had to get a few shots of rabies and tetanus vine ¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m very tired now. I feel like I¡¯ve raised an ungrateful Wolf that can¡¯t be tamed. It doesn¡¯t know how to be grateful and treats me like an enemy ¡­¡±

    I heard from my friend that the store manager can train cats, so I came to ask for help ¡­¡±

    ¡°If the manager can¡¯t do anything about it, then ¡­ Then I might have to throw it away again. I can¡¯t take it anymore ¡­¡±

    At the beginning of the story, everyone sympathized with him, but when he finally talked about the possibility of abandoning the cat again, some people couldn¡¯t stand it and began to use him of being irresponsible. Since he had raised the cat, he should finish what he started and not let the cat get hurt again.

    That person didn¡¯t send any more bulletments, but he didn¡¯t leave the live broadcast room either. He had been silently watching everyone¡¯s criticism and criticism of him.

 Chapter 1779

    Chapter 1779: [Side Story] confinement y (5) an evil cat at home

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    On online media tforms, everyone was used to seeing all kinds of cute and cute or funny and yful pets, especially therge group of people who kept pets on the cloud. Subconsciously, they felt that pets were just that cute and every pet was a happy fruit. But in fact, what the uploaders showed was only the tip of the iceberg. In real life, pets had both cute and troublesome sides, and some pets even had hateful sides.

    Zhang Zian looked at the bullet screen. There were only a few people who had extreme opinions.

    The so-called extreme opinion was either to simply throw the cat away, or to beat it up a few times until it was convinced and scared, or to use the cat of not being patient and responsible.

    Most people actually sympathized with the cat, but there were different opinions on how to deal with the cat.

    When thements stopped, Zhang Zian said,¡±¡±This situation is actually not umon. I¡¯ve always advised first-time cat owners not to pick up stray cats from the park, because it¡¯s easy topletely dispel their enthusiasm for raising cats.¡±

    ¡°First of all, everyone¡¯s criticism of this friend is unfair. There has never been ack of people on the inte who take advantage of others. Everyone has heard how much trouble this cat has caused her. In my opinion, she has already done her best. If anyone has the confidence to do better than him, I¡¯ll pay for the shipping and ask that friend to send the cat to you. Ask the otherizens to supervise you. You¡¯ll pass as long as you can take care of it for half a year. ¡±

    The public opinion on the inte still needed to be guided, and the voices of moring and criticism were indeed much less.

    ¡°Most of the people who are gathered in my live broadcast room should like pets, but to different degrees. Some people think that pets are pets, and some people think that pets should enjoy the same rights as humans ¡­ These are all understandable, but I want to emphasize that even in Western Europe, where small animals are the most strictly protected, once a pet attacks or hurts people, the owner can send the pet to euthanasia. No one has the right to say anything.¡±

    ¡°Although people tend to be more tolerant of cats, at the legal level, there is no difference whether it is a cat or a dog. Because if a pet attacks you today, it may attack your neighbor tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, it may attack a child ¡­ Just like the friend just now, does your family never have a rtive¡¯s child visiting? Who would be responsible if the cat scratched or bit the child? Me? Ta? Or are you all theizens in the live broadcast room?¡±

    ¡°Why is there such aw? What happened to the protection of animal rights? That friend¡¯s cat was no longer a kitten. If it was a kitten that bit or scratched people, it could be regarded as a kitten ying around without knowing the severity, but the ws and teeth of an adult cat were too lethal. In the face of human safety, the rights of animals could only be secondary. Although manyizens jokingly call themselves cat ves, it¡¯s okay to make fun of them, but they can¡¯t take it seriously. Human ancestors evolved in the cruel natural environment for millions of years to stand at the top of the. It¡¯s not for you to bow to any creature. ¡±

    Fina licked its paws, meaning to say that it would not argue with him for now, and that they would settle the score at night.

    Most of theizens were reasonable, and the extremeizens only made up a small portion. It was just that the voices of these extremeizens were often louder, so they could suppress the voices of others.

    Zhang Zian¡¯s words were reasonable, and most of theizens agreed with him.

    ¡°After we¡¯re done with the theory, let¡¯s talk about reality. That friend¡¯s cat is an adult stray cat that I picked up. Why do I keep emphasizing that pedigree cats have better personalities? In addition to genes and excellent breeding, another important reason is that pedigree cats have never experienced suffering since birth. ¡±

    ¡°In the recent Oscar-winning movie ¡®parasite¡¯, Mrs. Park was rich not because she was kind, but because she was rich, she was kind. Pedigree cats had been pampered since they were young. They were kind and willing to trust the world and strangers. If there was a bowl of cat food, they were willing to share it with other cats because they knew that as long as they acted coquettishly to their owners, the bowl would be filled with cat food again ¡­ But what about stray cats that were hungry and full? A bowl of cat food might be their food for a few days. It will fight whoever touches its food. It rummages through the trash can and takes the chicken bones under the sofa because of this insecurity. It is collecting food in case it goes hungry tomorrow. ¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not its fault, but it¡¯s even less of that friend¡¯s fault. Could this kind of behavior be changed? Perhaps. However, the longer the cat was a stray, the more deep-rooted this behavior became. Even if it changed, it was impossible for it to be as gentle and pleasant as the breed of cats raised from childhood. If that friend was at fault, it was because he didn¡¯t know this before he showed kindness. If he knew this, he probably wouldn¡¯t have picked up the cat and he wouldn¡¯t be scolded by you guys here today. ¡±

    ¡°Can it abandon it? I think that if there¡¯s really no other way, it¡¯s understandable that the Qianqian couple abandoned the cat. They could divorce if they had domestic violence, and the wrong party would leave the marriage with nothing. Why would they force the cat to live for the rest of its life? It was a torture for both sides to stay at home. ¡°As for the second hurt, if the cat treats it as its master and its home as its home, abandoning it is indeed a second hurt, but it treats it as an enemy and its home as a hunting ground. A breakup may be a release for both of them ¡­¡±

    At this point, just when everyone thought that Zhang Zian was going to suggest to him to throw the cat away immediately, he changed his tone and said,¡±¡±But if you don¡¯t want to give up, I can teach you some methods. Try and see if they work.¡±

    ¡°I want to try again. I¡¯ve been raising it for so long. I want to finish what I started. Otherwise, I¡¯ll always have a knot in my heart.¡± That person finally spoke again.

    ¡°Alright,¡± he said. Zhang Zian nodded.¡±First of all, you¡¯re not the only one who¡¯s feeding the cats the wrong way, Yingluo. I dare say that at least half of theizens watching the live broadcast are feeding the cats the wrong way.¡±

    This sentence sessfully attracted everyone¡¯s attention. Many people were not convinced and were ready to hear what he had to say before retorting.

    Everyone was in disbelief. Was there any other way to feed it? At most, he would just eat less and eat more.

    ¡°You left the food in the house and left on your own, so that the stray cat could sneak out to eat the cat food so that it wouldn¡¯t starve. However, its attitude towards you was still very bad. You said that it was ungrateful, but I¡¯m sorry. In the eyes of the cat, you have no gratitude at all. The cat food it ate was found by itself. What does it have to do with you?¡±

    Theizens were stunned. A cat would actually think this way?

    ¡°Didn¡¯t it not dare toe out when you were at home? Alright, then don¡¯te out. Let it hide under the sofa and starve. Let¡¯s see how long it can endure. When it can¡¯t bear the hunger anymore, it wille out for a stroll like a child throwing a tantrum and not eating properly. That means it¡¯s not hungry. Let¡¯s see if it will eat after two meals! No matter if it¡¯s a human or a cat, if you want to starve yourself to death, you need steel-like perseverance. Otherwise, why is there only one ¡®Maidan Gandhi¡¯?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s extremely hungry and will definitelye out. If you change the trash can to a flip-over one that it can¡¯t open, don¡¯t leave any food that can be easily obtained at home, only a bowl of cat food in your hand, it can only covet this bowl of cat food if it doesn¡¯t want to starve to death. ¡°You can¡¯t be soft-hearted at this time. If it wants to eat, you have to take away the cat food and not give it any. When ites close to you again and does this again and again, it will know that food doesn¡¯t grow out of thin air. It¡¯s because you go out and hunt every day that it has food to eat. It¡¯s because you¡¯re giving it alms. Only then will it know how to be grateful and who¡¯s the boss in the family.¡±

    ¡°When other people raise cats, they can also use this method at the beginning because the most important need of a pet is food. It is the most convenient and effective way to train a pet with food. The cat at home is too arrogant and distant. One of the important reasons is that it gets food too easily. It doesn¡¯t feel that you have raised it, so why should it be grateful to you?¡±

    The pet-raisingizens in the live broadcast room all felt a faint sense of enlightenment.

    The meowing and expressions of cats and dogs when asking for food often made people unable to help but satisfy their desire for food, especially cute kittens and puppies. As soon as they called, their owners would hurriedly bring food to them.

    If the owner was usually busy, whether it was going to work or school, he would often leave early and returnte. He was afraid that his pet would be hungry, so he would pour excessive cat and dog food into the pet¡¯s food bowl every morning for the pet to eat in the form of a buffet.

    Especially for kittens and puppies, many people believed the advice on the inte, saying that kittens and puppies didn¡¯t need to limit their food intake. They could fill their food bowls and eat as much as they wanted. This was a big mistake.

    Not to mention the possibility of the kittens and puppies being stuffed, this method was equivalent to missing the best weapon to train them, causing them to have the wrong idea that they found the food with their own ability, and that big two-legged beast at home was a piece of trash. It took up my space and often used its dirty hands to hit me ¡­ If you dare to hit me again, I¡¯ll bite you to death!

    In the long run, as the kittens and puppies grew up, their attitude towards their owners would be more and more slighted. When they grew up, they couldn¡¯t change it even if they wanted to.

    Their family was clearly not rich, but they still had to raise their children well. If their children wanted money and food, they would give it to them. If they wanted food, they would buy it. What would their children look like? Even if you used your butt to think, you would know, right?

    If the child was already like this, would the more insensible cats and dogs spontaneously thank their owners? Stop dreaming!

    Those articles that described how Western parents educated their children, excluding the Chicken Soup for the Soul factor, were at least correct in educating their children on the concept of money. For example, letting their children clean and trim thewn in exchange for pocket money. This was because children would know that money was not easy to get. It was exchanged for their parents through obedience, sensibility, andbor.

    Compared to pets, pets also had to understand that food was given to them only because they were obedient and sensible. It was given to them by their Masters after they went out to hunt. They had to respect their Masters, or they would starve.

    If a child didn¡¯t know how to be grateful to his parents, he wouldn¡¯t be filial when he grew up. If a pet didn¡¯t know how to be grateful to its owner, how could it be close to its owner? The logic was the same.

    Everyone knew the principle of educating children, but why were they all so dumbfounded when it came to pets? It was probably because people subconsciously felt that pets were insensible and could be indulged. Besides, there were many Ugly Children, but not many ugly pets.

    ¡°Thank you for your exnation, manager. I¡¯ll return the automatic feeding machine I bought from you right away.¡± Someone said.

    Zhang Zian was confused.

    I f * cking ¡­

    ¡°I understand the logic, and I want to feed him every meal myself, but I really don¡¯t have the time. The unemployed store manager doesn¡¯t understand the pain of 997! ¡°It¡¯s because it¡¯s easier to raise a cat ¡­¡±Someone said.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have time?¡± Zhang Zian snorted.¡±No time is just an excuse.¡± He didn¡¯t even have the time to grab an appropriate amount of cat food in the morning and put it into his food bowl? Cats are not as fragile as you think. You can have a meal in the morning and eat a second meal at home at night, no matter if youe back at 9 or 10 at night. ¡±

    ¡°As for beating up cats, first of all, I¡¯m not against punishing pets. Even if a mother cat beats up a kitten, she¡¯ll be ruthless. Otherwise, the kitten won¡¯t be able to learn the right way to get along with humans or other cats. But there¡¯s clearly a more effective way of feeding, and beating can only y a supporting role. Using a stick and a carrot at the same time is the right way to educate pets. ¡±

    ¡°The other problems that the friend mentioned, such as the cat peeing and pooping under the sofa, resisting bathing, and so on, are actually all minor details. As long as you implement the policy of strengthening the walls and clearing the wild, hide all the edible things in the house, make it hungry ande out from under the sofa on its own initiative, giving up its dignity and wildness to ask for food from you, all the other problems can be easily solved. Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t believe that a cat has the willpower to starve itself to death. The key is that you don¡¯t be soft-hearted. If you¡¯re soft-hearted and give up halfway, it will be even more arrogant and despotic. ¡±

    ¡°Thank you, manager,¡± the ID said gratefully.¡±You really live up to your name. I know, I¡¯ll be cruel ¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t rush. ¡± Zhang Zian said,¡±I¡¯ll get the ugly words out of the way first. If you do what I say, most cats can change their attitude towards you. As for how much it can change, that¡¯s another matter ¡­ But! But! However, just as there were very few people with antisocial personalities, there were also very few stray cats that had been seriously stimted and had antisocial cat characteristics. This kind of cat was beyond saving. It was like an iron block that could never be heated. No matter how good you were to it, it would return kindness with enmity. This kind of cat is really evil. If you try my method and find out that your cat is this kind of evil cat, then whether you abandon it or send it to euthanasia, I will support you. This kind of cat is not suitable to live under the same roof with humans. ¡±

    In conclusion, he didn¡¯t try to smooth things over. Instead, he clearly expressed his attitude. This was because his saint-like heart seemed to be good to the cat, but in fact, it had harmed this innocent and kindizen. Although he was a pet store manager, he did not hesitate to stand on the human side when it came to the choice between the innocent and the evil cat.

    ¡°Okay, I understand. Thank you, manager. As long as you¡¯re still livestreaming, I¡¯lle to clock in every day and report my progress.¡± Theizen said,¡±I¡¯ll go offline first. I¡¯ll go and hide some food.¡±

    ¡°Good luck, I wish you good luck.¡± Zhang Zian said.

    After it left the live broadcast room, Zhang Zian said to the otherizens,¡±¡±Listen to my advice. If you don¡¯t have a diamond in the rough, then be more honest. Don¡¯t pick up stray cats. Kittens are still fine, but don¡¯t pick up stray adult cats. Unless you have super patience, the trouble they will bring you will be far beyond your imagination.¡±

 Chapter 1780

    Chapter 1780: [Side Story] confinement y (6) don¡¯t be a bootlicker

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Theizens had thought that Zhang Zian was just ying with the live broadcast, but they didn¡¯t expect to meet someone who could do it on the first day. The cat-feeding method that he pointed out was a mistake that many people had made, but they didn¡¯t realize it.

    Raising a pet was like raising a child. It was impossible to spoil them blindly. How many children who grew up under the doting of their grandparents would not have a twisted mentality? A spoiled child didn¡¯t know how to be grateful, but a spoiled pet knew how to be proud and shameful?

    Why did so many people sigh that their cats didn¡¯t care about humans?

    Before ming others, it was better to reflect on whether there was a problem with the way he fed the cats.

    Dogs were easier to train in this aspect. Dogs were pets that had long been tamed by humans, while cats had never really been tamed by humans. However, dogs and cats had one thing inmon, which was that they had to understand who was the boss in the house.

    Animals would always bow to the strong and never pity the weak. If they think you are stronger than them, they will obey you, stick to you, let you flirt with them, and even if you p them a few times, they will still bow to you and please you ¡­ On the contrary, if they think they don¡¯t need you, food wille out of their bowls, the toilet will be clean, and you will be redundant in this room. The consequences can be imagined.

    ¡± When customers buy pets, I always emphasize that you should not give food to the pet as soon as it calls, or it will think that you can order you to give it food when it quietens down. You should also tease it a few times before putting down the food bowl, such as putting down the food bowl and taking it away immediately, so that it wants to eat but can¡¯t, and finally give it food when it is anxious. This is not abuse, but for its own good, and for your own good ¡­ I just don¡¯t know how many customers really listen. ¡±

    Many people who had pets in the live broadcast room couldn¡¯t help but feel ashamed, especially those customers who had bought pets from Zhang Zian¡¯s store. They did remember Zhang Zian telling them, but when they first bought the pets, they werepletely immersed in joy. When they got home, they were afraid that the pets would be hungry. Not to mention giving food to the pets when they called, even if they didn¡¯t call, they would rush to put dried fish, Nutrition Cream, and other things into the pets ¡®mouths, let alone beating them. He was afraid that his pet would hate him after reprimanding him a few times ¡­ He had really be a servant to the Queen.

    Don¡¯t me pets for not being close to each other. Which Empress would look at a servant in the eye?

    No, the Empress would always bow to the Emperor. No matter how the Emperor hit her or scolded her, as long as he did not cripple her or kill her, she would always be loyal to the Emperor because the Emperor was a strong person and a servant was just a servant.

    The truth was so ironic that bootlickers would never be able to get the goddess ¡®favor and lick until they had nothing left.

    Those who had pets in the live broadcast room silently reflected on how they usually treated their pets, while those who didn¡¯t have pets took this as a warning. When they raised pets in the future, they shouldn¡¯t make the same mistake. They could love pets and not be bootlickers. Only tall, rich, and handsome could possess the goddess ¡®body, and bootlickers could only move themselves.

    The milk tea girl was already so green, but she still chose to forgive him. Why? Because he was a strong man, and she knew that she could be reced. As long as she divorced, there would be a lot of younger and more beautiful girls fighting for the position.

    Isn¡¯t it ironic? The goddess would choose to turn green on her own strong man, rather than to lick her own dog.

    It was the same for pets. Pets only obeyed the strong. Even if the strong beat them, they would not hold a grudge and would still obediently please the strong. They felt that the strong had the right to beat them, but they would only use their ws and teeth to lick dogs because they felt that the status of the lick dogs was lower than their own. They had the right to beat the lick dogs ¡­ This was the nature of animals.

    In short, the more inferior you were in front of your pets and the goddess, the less you would be favored by them.

    Many people treated cats with all their heart, but the cat didn¡¯t kiss them or let them kiss them. So theyughed at themselves as cat ves, thinking that they didn¡¯t treat the cat well enough, so they treated the cat even better ¡­ The result was that they were destined to suck up to the cat.

    The live broadcast not only answered theizen¡¯s confusion, but also taught otherizens a lesson. At the same time, this semi-anonymousmunication method also preserved the face of theizen. Otherwise, he might not havee to the Pet Shop to ask. It would take time and money to make a trip, and he might not even get a satisfactory answer. It was convenient tomunicate through live broadcast, and it would not be embarrassing. Otherwise, he might just silently endure it or silently abandon it.

    It wasmon to encounter a stray cat on the road and take it home out of pity, but to be honest, there were not many who could end up well from the beginning to the end. And those keyboard warriors who saw people on the inte saying that they wanted to raise a cat and urged them not to buy a cat, and went to the park to pick a better cat were the most hateful. They were either stupid or bad. They were on the moral high ground and left all the risks to others. It didn¡¯t mention the series of troubles that picking up stray cats could cause for first-time cat owners ¡­ If they were unlucky and picked up an evil cat like thatizen, even experienced cat owners would have a headache, let alone first-time cat owners.

    Perhaps it was the experience of thatizen and Zhang Zian¡¯s answers that aroused the desire ofizens to talk andmunicate. The bullet screen became more intense, and many people were sharing and reflecting on the troubles they had encountered and the detours they had taken when raising pets. Sometimes, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t even need to speak. Sometimes, theizens could answer a lot of questions for him. Only when they encountered some particrly difficult or difficult questions did they need him toe out and answer them.

    He didn¡¯t stay idle either. From time to time, he tidied up the store, cleaned up the cat litter and dog poop, added cat and dog food, checked the physical condition of the kittens and puppies, such as if they had runny noses, too much eye poop, diarrhea, and other problems. Every few minutes, he would look at the bulletments in the live broadcast room and participate in the interaction with theizens.

    Zhang Zian thought that if he made it sound too serious, it would affect the sales of the Automatic Feeding Machines in the store, so he left some leeway and added,¡±¡±Of course, if your cat and dog were raised from a young age, you can feed them yourself for the first few months. When they acknowledge your position as the boss at home, you can rece your hand-feeding with the automatic feeding machine. However, you still have to stop using the automatic feeding machine from time to time. By feeding them yourself, you can strengthen your position in front of the pet ¡­¡±

    Theizens were all asking for a refund.

    In fact, the automatic feeding machine was quite useful. For example, he would feed it himself before going out in the morning and at night, and after he returned home. At noon, he would feed it once with the automatic feeding machine. It was harmless. Moreover, when single dogs went on business trips during the new year and other festivals, they would have to ask others to take care of them or leave their pets outside without an automatic feeding machine, which was very inconvenient.

    In the morning, he was live streaming in the Pet Shop, and he paused for an hour during lunch break. In the afternoon, he moved the venue to the aquarium and asked Wang Qian and Li Kun to stay in the Pet Shop.

    Time passed very quickly. A group ofizens left because they had something to do, and moreizens who had just woken up came after hearing the news. The live broadcast room was still very lively, mixed with the bickering between snowy¡¯s fans and Sihwa¡¯s fish ball¡¯s fans, and famous¡¯s fans repeatedly asking Zhang Zian to reveal the interesting things that happened during the shooting process and behind-the-scenes news.

    In the blink of an eye, it was already evening. Manyizens had been excited for the whole day and were now showing signs of fatigue. Zhang Zian took the opportunity to announce that today¡¯s live broadcast was over. He weed everyone to pay attention to the live broadcast room and continue the broadcast tomorrow morning.

 Chapter 1781

    Chapter 1781: [Side Story] confinement y (7)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    The next day.

    Early in the morning, as soon as Zhang Zian got up, someizens who had his personal WeChat couldn¡¯t wait to ask him when he would start his live broadcast.

    Yesterday, manyizens came to support and join in the fun. They didn¡¯t n toe today, but because theizen who picked up stray cats said that he woulde to clock in today to report the situation of his evil cat, it aroused everyone¡¯s interest. Everyone was very curious. Could that evil cat really turn over a new leaf?

    Some other people hade because of the fame. They had heard from others that yesterday¡¯s livestream was very interesting. The content was rich and interesting. Interacting with theizens was not just a casual chat, so they were looking forward to today¡¯s livestream. They were all from various Pet Exchange groups. Some were local, but most of them were foreigners. They wanted to know more about pet raising experiences.

    ¡°How many gifts did you receive yesterday?¡± Fina was lying on the cat tree, staring down at them like a tiger, as if it was checking ounts.

    ¡°About four or five hundred Yuan.¡± He answered.

    ¡°So many?¡± Fina was surprised.¡±You can earn four or five hundred Yuan just by talking?¡± Didn¡¯t you waste your life in the past?¡±

    ¡°Meow meow meow! Your Majesty, you¡¯re telling the truth!¡± Snowy Li didn¡¯t miss the opportunity to tter him.

    Zhang Zian said,¡±¡­Well, you can¡¯t say that. First of all, yesterday was the first day of the broadcast. New and old friends came to support me. Because people who raise and like pets are basically not pure noobs, they won¡¯t be too short of money. If they feel good watching it, they can still afford to give some small gifts to support it. After all, they are willing to spend a few hundred Yuan of cat food a month, so giving gifts that cost tens of Yuan or more is nothing. In addition, I didn¡¯t waste my life in the past. If I didn¡¯t have the umted knowledge and experience from the past, wouldn¡¯t I have made a fool of myself the moment I went on a live broadcast?¡±

    A live broadcast was not a recorded broadcast. In the face of all kinds of tricky and difficult questions fromizens, he couldn¡¯t say ¡°let me think, I¡¯ll check and then answer¡±. If that happened, no one would watch it. He had to organize his words within a few seconds, so that theizens would believe that he had something to say. Therefore, the 400 to 500 yuan was umted and not earned by just anyone. If it were him when he had just taken over the Pet Shop, He definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to say more than two sentences ¡­ Besides, he still had to split the four to five hundred Yuan with the tform.

    ¡°Meow meow meow! Can we add raw sirloin today to our celebration?¡± Snowy Li said while licking its lips.

    Zhang Zian said,¡±you didn¡¯t do anything, so why should I have an extra meal?¡± If you act cute in front of the camera today, I might consider it. ¡±

    ¡°Bah! Shameless! I¡¯ve always sold my body, not my skills!¡± Snowy Li retorted,¡±if it¡¯s a big-breasted girl, I¡¯m fine with it!¡±

    ¡°I feel like the shop is as lively as before when I¡¯m livestreaming.¡± Old time tea said with relief,¡±I¡¯m getting old. I like lively ces.¡±

    ¡°Old time tea, you are getting younger and younger. It¡¯s time to abandon the mentality of an old man.¡± Zhang Zian said.

    It wasn¡¯t a matter of age. The other Elfins felt the same way as old time tea.

    Everyone was used to the lively and bustling pet shop every day. Although they often felt that it was noisy, they were not used to it when it suddenly became quiet. Sometimes, when they were closing their eyes and taking a nap, they seemed to hear the customers ¡®questions again, but when they opened their eyes, the shop was still empty.

    Not to mention the crazy elves like Richard, even the elves like Gxy, who were originally afraid of people, were happy at first because there were fewer people, but after a long time, they became bored. Snowy Liined all day that it could not see the cute little sister.

    The same house, the same pets, the same furnishings, and the rolled-up Curtain Door that was rarely opened once or twice a day. Later on, people often leaned against the window and looked out, but there were not many people on the street.

    At first, everyone felt that it was fine. This kind of life would pass after a few days. However, as time passed, there was no way to return to normal. Everyone began to feel depressed.

    Even dogs were suffering from depression, let alone humans.

    Yesterday¡¯s live broadcast made everyone feel lively again. Zhang Zian projected the content of his mobile phone to the TV on the first floor, and everyone saw bulletments rolling across the screen, as if they were seeing customers asking questions at the same time. This made everyone believe that as long as everything returned to normal, the Pet Shop would be as lively as before, or even more lively.

    It wasn¡¯t just theizens and customers who were looking forward to the livestream, but the elves as well.

    Lu Yiyun and Jiang Feifei had already left themunity once yesterday. They could only go out once every two days, so they could note to the shop today. However, Wang Qian and Li Kun, who were good at climbing walls, still called for their attendance every day.

    After breakfast, Zhang Zian started his live broadcast earlier than expected.

    ¡°The livestream is starting?¡±

    ¡°First ce!¡±

    ¡°Second!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for a long time ¡­ Manager, did the person from yesterdaye?¡±

    Theizens poured into the live broadcast room one after another. Most of the people who hade to support yesterday were also here today. Many people came in and directly asked if theizen from yesterday hade. Everyone wanted to know what happened after that.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯s here yet. Today¡¯s livestream is going to start early. There¡¯s no need to wait for him. Just do what you¡¯re supposed to do. He might not be here for sure. Maybe something happened.¡± Zhang Zian said.

    [June¡¯s snow]:¡±Mr. Store manager, I¡¯m sitting with my mom today to watch your live broadcast. I used to tell her not to spoil snowball so much, but she didn¡¯t listen and kept saying that I don¡¯t know anything. I let her watch the recorded broadcast yesterday, and she wants to watch it today too!¡±

    [June¡¯s snow]:¡±when did I nag?¡± Don¡¯t listen to this child¡¯s nonsense!

    [June¡¯s snow]:¡±I didn¡¯t say it just now. It was my mom who stole the phone and typed it!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! Me too, my mother is watching it with me!¡±

    ¡°I have a dog, not a cat. My dad is watching it with me.¡±

    ¡°Oh, wee! Wee!¡± Zhang Zian said. At the same time, he thought to himself that he couldn¡¯t be too reckless with his words today.

    Most of the people watching the live broadcast were young people who were very epting of new things. However, the people who doted on pets and children were the middle-aged and elderly people. For example, some children were living well with their parents and were sent to their grandparents for a holiday. When they came back, they became very naughty. The same was true for pets. Some cats were sent to the elderly because their owners were pregnant, and in the end, the cats were raised into pigs ¡­

    No matter if it was a child or a pet, it was easy to develop a bad habit, but it was difficult to change it again, because good habits were always ufortable.

    Therefore, after watching yesterday¡¯s live broadcast, there were many people like snowy who dragged their parents to watch today¡¯s live broadcast.

    Zhang Zian was encouraged, but at the same time, he felt pressured. Fortunately, he was well prepared. He said,¡±¡±Wee, old and new friends. In order to repay everyone¡¯s support, I¡¯ve invited a mystery guest to help us today. As for who it is¡­Let me keep you in suspense.¡±

    Everyone was looking forward to it even more.

 Chapter 1782

    Chapter 1782: [Side Story] confinement y (8) kingship and shortcut

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Not long after the live broadcast began, while Zhang Zian was chatting with theizens, a familiar ID entered the live broadcast room. He was working and didn¡¯t notice, nor did manyizens.

    Manager, I asked yesterday about my cat. I¡¯m here today to report.¡±

    Someizens who had Zhang Zian¡¯s personal WeChat saw the bullet screen and saw that Zhang Zian was still cleaning up the cat litter and dog poop, so they reminded him to look at the bullet screen through WeChat messages.

    Zhang Zian finally walked back to the phone and said,¡±¡±Oh, wee. How¡¯s the situation?¡±

    ¡°To be honest, there¡¯s no obvious improvement, maybe because the time was too short ¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve hidden all my food. I only have a small bowl of cat food beside me. ¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sitting on the bed and ying with my phone. It¡¯s still hiding under the sofa, asionally sticking its head out to nce at me, and its eyes are very fierce ¡­¡±

    ¡°It might have pooped again, it¡¯s very smelly.¡±

    ¡°Should I Kick It Out from under the sofa? It¡¯s not too hot now, but it might attract insects in a few days ¡­¡±

    This situation was within Zhang Zian¡¯s expectations, so he didn¡¯t let theizens have high expectations.

    ¡°Cats have very strong endurance, especially this kind of stray cat. It¡¯s nothing to go hungry for a day or two, so you have to persist and not be soft-hearted.¡± Zhang Zian said,¡±you don¡¯t have to drive it out for now. Tomorrow, or at most the day after tomorrow, it will be so hungry that it wille out by itself.¡±

    ¡°Then why don¡¯t I have to do it?¡±

    ¡°Well, just keep it as it is. By the way, I don¡¯t know what you wear at home, but it¡¯s best to wear thick clothes on your legs and thin gloves on your hands. This cat is likely to have a bad temper when it¡¯s hungry and will scratch or bite your legs when you¡¯re not prepared.¡± Zhang Zian reminded her.

    ¡°Oh, I know. The otherizens still have questions, so I can¡¯t take up all of their time. I won¡¯t stop the livestream, I¡¯ll look for you again if there¡¯s anything. ¡±

    ¡°Well, good. This is a long battle. Let¡¯s see who is more patient.¡± Zhang Zian nodded.

    The otherizens also expressed their opinions.

    ¡°I thought this was a movie, but it seems like it¡¯s going to be a drama.¡±

    ¡°Sigh, I really want to know the results in advance after transmigrating a few days ¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian guessed that the idioticizen had no patience, so he said,¡±¡±Don¡¯t worry, it won¡¯t be too long. The process of disciplining an evil cat like this is supposed to be long. If we do it step by step, it will take half a month or even a month to see the results ¡­ But I know you are impatient, so I will find a way to speed up the progress. Just wait and see. ¡±

    ¡°F * ck! Manager, you still dare to keep me in suspense?¡±

    ¡°Manager, you¡¯re really working hard for the poprity of your live broadcast ¡­¡±

    In fact, Zhang Zian didn¡¯t mean to keep them in suspense. Just like in middle school exams, there was often more than one solution to a big question. There were both the king¡¯s way of solving it step by step and cumbersome, and the shortcut¡¯s way of solving it. So, when the teacher exined the test paper, which solution would he use to solve the question?

    There was no need to ask. Everyone liked a shortcut solution. A King¡¯s Way solution required more than a dozen steps to calcte the result, while a sword¡¯s unconventional solution might only require a few steps.

    However, most of the teachers would only use the king¡¯s way solution to demonstrate how to solve the problem. Some of the more responsible teachers would first use the king¡¯s way solution to demonstrate it once, and then choose the shortcut solution to demonstrate it again. There was absolutely no teacher who would only demonstrate the shortcut solution and not the king¡¯s way solution.

    In any case, the best solution was the foundation. This was because not all students could think of the shortcut solution during the exam. It was often the privilege of the top students. Moreover, the shortcut solution was not universal. It only targeted one question. If the question stem was slightly changed, it would not be suitable.

    In other words, the shortcut solution required certain prerequisites, which was to be opportunistic, while the king solution was suitable for every person and every question of the same type.

    Zhang Zian was now facing hundreds of people in the live broadcast room, like students of different levels in big sses. He wanted to demonstrate the way of the king solution, or at least exin the general idea of the way of the king solution clearly. However, due to time constraints, he would supplement it with a shortcut solution, but the way of the king solution was the foundation.

    The so-called King¡¯s Way of solving the problem might have a cumbersome process, but as long as the process was done correctly, the result would definitely be correct ¡­ Unless there was something wrong with the problem itself, such as a stubborn and hopeless evil cat.

    After listening to his exnation, theizens understood in their hearts. After all, everyone had gone to school, but they still had to make fun of him verbally.

    At this moment, anotherizen suddenly asked for help,¡±¡±Manager! Look at me first! My cat is sick, shouldn¡¯t we send it to the hospital immediately?¡±

    When theizens heard this, they got excited again.

    ¡°If you¡¯re sick, go to the hospital X; if you¡¯re sick, ask the pet store manager ¡Ì.¡±

    ¡°Brother, Mr. Jin is not qualified to practice medicine. Isn¡¯t it a waste to ask him?¡±

    ¡°Ask my ass! Hurry up and send him to the nearest Pet Hospital!¡±

    Theizen panicked after being criticized by everyone.¡±Alright, I¡¯ll put on my clothes and send it to the hospital immediately ¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait a moment!¡±

    Zhang Zian stopped him.¡±Don¡¯t rush. We don¡¯t need to rush to the hospital in a minute or two. Why don¡¯t you tell me how it got sick first?¡±

    ¡°Uh, diarrhea, doesn¡¯t eat, poor spirit, always sleeping ¡­¡±

    ¡°No more?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Well, I think it¡¯s gone, but it¡¯s already the second day. It hasn¡¯t eaten for nearly two days, and it¡¯s still having diarrhea. My heart hurts ¡­¡±

    When the otherizens heard this, they exploded even more.

    ¡°This is the cat gue! It¡¯s the kitten¡¯s bad luck to have a master like you!¡±

    ¡°You were like this yesterday, and you only want to be sent to the hospital today?¡±

    ¡°A poor little life is going to be destroyed in your hands.¡±

    ¡°You still have the face to say your heart aches? You¡¯re feeling heartache over the money, right?¡±

    Thatizen was also very depressed.¡±Yesterday, I thought it was because it ate too much. When people eat too much, it¡¯s normal to have diarrhea for the whole day and not want to eat, right? I didn¡¯t expect it to be like this today ¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian stopped everyone from arguing.¡±Calm down. Where did you buy your cat?¡± he asked. Did you get a vine?¡±

    ¡°Uh, I didn¡¯t buy my cat. It¡¯s a kitten that someone I know gave birth to. I thought it was quite cute, so I brought one back two monthster ¡­ You probably didn¡¯t get the vine, right? I wanted to get it. I¡¯ve been following your public ount for a long time and I know that vines are very important, but now there¡¯s a sudden disaster. A while ago, it couldn¡¯t even leave the neighborhood, so it was dyed ¡­¡± Theizen tried to exin under everyone¡¯s criticism.

    ¡°We¡¯re doomed! If you don¡¯t get a vine, it must be the cat gue!¡±

    ¡°Brother, I¡¯m begging you to send him to the hospital, don¡¯t dy! If you dy any longer, you will lose your cat life!¡±

    The otherizens had already given the kitten a death sentence.

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment andforted her.¡±Observe carefully. Think about it carefully. If there are no other symptoms, I don¡¯t rmend you go to the hospital.¡±

 Chapter 1783

    Chapter 1783: [Side Story] confinement y (9) guest

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Theizens were very puzzled. In everyone¡¯s opinion, theizen¡¯s cat was very seriously ill. Why couldn¡¯t it be sent to the hospital?

    However, theizen himself felt a lot more at ease after hearing Zhang Zian¡¯s words.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t I rmend sending him to the hospital? If thisizen¡¯s cat has been vinated, it¡¯s not a problem to go to the hospital, but thisizen¡¯s cat was brought from a friend and has not been vinated. In this case, it is worth discussing. ¡±

    There were several ways to get a pet, such as buying it from amon cat or dog house or pet shop, adopting it from animal charity, picking up stray animals, or raising it from friends and acquaintances. Sometimes, when a private family gave birth to kittens and puppies, they felt that they could not afford these little lives, so they sold the kittens and puppies. This could also be ssified as adopted.

    The characteristic of adopted pets was that the owner didn¡¯t spend money or only spent a small amount of money, and the pets they got often didn¡¯t have vines. Themon purchase of kittens and puppies was generally vinated.

    ¡°Just now, you talked about the cat gue for a long time. Yes, the cat gue is a fatal infectious disease for kittens, and the symptoms of the cat do look like the cat gue. However, the cat gue has two important characteristics, which are vomiting and bloody stool. The kitten did not show these two symptoms, so I think the possibility of cat gue is low ¡­¡±

    ¡°There are two reasons for a cat¡¯s diarrhea, insatiability, and poor mental health. One is bacterial gastroenteritis, and the other is viral gastroenteritis, also known as the cat gue. The kitten may have gotten bacterial gastroenteritis, but it doesn¡¯t mean that gastroenteritis isn¡¯t serious and there¡¯s no need to send it to the hospital. It¡¯s because it¡¯s young, and now it¡¯s sick. It¡¯s at its weakest stage. If it¡¯s sent to the pet Hospital in this situation, it¡¯s likely to be infected with the cat gue.¡±

    ¡°When the temperature is low, such as in winter and spring, the cat gue virus can survive in an environment for half a year. Even in summer, when the temperature is high, it can survive for several weeks. If I say that the pet Hospital doesn¡¯t have the cat gue virus ¡­ Would you believe me?¡±

    Aizen raised an objection,¡±that¡¯s not right. Don¡¯t pet hospitals disinfect?¡±

    Zhang Zian replied,¡±disinfection? of course it can be disinfected. But which Pet Hospital can do that? they can disinfect every cat thates.¡± That was impossible. It was already good enough to have it detoxified once every night after business. Disinfection work is often done by cleaners, not Pet Doctors. No one knows how it can be done, whether it¡¯s just a formality or not. ¡±

    ¡°Pet hospitals have the highest concentration of viruses. Of course, it¡¯s the same for human hospitals. In this era, who would dare to go to a hospital? She would recuperate at home with some minor injuries and illnesses, and would not go to the hospital for no reason. Humans had self-awareness. Even if they went to the hospital, they could wear masks and not touch anything. Could cats do the same? Why don¡¯t you try putting a mask on the cat? You can search on Baidu for keywords such as getting vinated for cat gue, getting vinated for cat gue, getting vinated for small infection, canine gue, and so on. Cats and dogs that have not been vinated in advance during their healthy period will have a drop in resistance during their illness, and there is a high risk of infection if they are brought to a Pet Hospital. ¡±

    It was right for people to go to the hospital when they were sick because people had masks and gloves, two deadly viruses. However, cats and dogs were not sensible. Most pet hospitals ¡®hygiene and disinfection measures were notparable to human hospitals. They might even be worse than vige clinics. If it was a cat and dog that had not been vinated, if they were to rush to a Pet Hospital when they were slightly sick, it might be pushing them into the fire pit.

    A few formal and responsible pet hospitals would use an ultra-light to disinfect the treatment room after every cat and dog was treated. However, the ability of the ultra-light to kill the cat gue virus was actually very limited. The ultra-light mainly dealt with bacteria, not viruses. Even if it was used to kill bacteria, it would take a certain amount of time to be exposed to the light, and the disinfection time was directly rted to the turnover of the pet Hospital. Therefore, the duration of the ultra-light disinfection was only a few minutes at most, which was more symbolic than practical.

    Anotherizen raised a question.¡±Manager, my kitten was also brought from a friend¡¯s house. I also n to wait until this confinement period is over before getting a vine. In fact, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a big deal not to get a vine. After all, I don¡¯t go out. But considering that I¡¯ll have to go to the hospital for sterilization in the future, I still have to get a vine ¡­ So, ording to what you said, there¡¯s no absolutely safe time for a vine?¡±

    Zhang Zian shook his head.¡±You can¡¯t say that. I just emphasized that for cats and dogs who have not been vinated, a Pet Hospital has a certain danger, but who said that you must go to a Pet Hospital for a vine?¡±

    Whoosh. Whoosh.

    Before theizens could react, someone knocked on the curtain Door.

    ¡°Everyone, please wait a moment. The guest should be here. Let me go and take a look.¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled mysteriously, and everyone¡¯s attention was temporarily diverted.

    He first put on a mask and opened the curtain Door halfway. A young woman walked in with a bent back. Because everyone wore a mask when they went out now, even the regr customers of the Pet Shop didn¡¯t recognize her at first. It was not until they saw a heavy thermal box in her hand with a Red Cross symbol on it that several clever customers realized who she was.

    ¡°Is it Dr. Sun from next door?¡±

    That¡¯s right, it was sun Xiaomeng.

    Zhang Zian peeked out of the curtain Door. It was early in the morning, and there were not many pedestrians outside, not to mention grandma Gu¡¯s shadow, so he quickly pulled the curtain Door back down.

    ¡°Meow meow meow! Girls! It¡¯s Alive!¡± Snowy Li smelled the young woman¡¯s scent and jumped down from the cat tree excitedly. It jumped directly to the door, stretched out its two front paws, and jumped forward like a hungry cat.¡±Let me touch your chest!¡±

    Weng.

    Snowy Li was so excited that it didn¡¯t notice that Zhang Zian had closed the ss door next to the cash register, and its head hit the ss door.

    ¡± It hurts! You damn stinky man, see if this olddy doesn¡¯t cut you to death!¡± Snowy Li hugged its head and rolled on the ground.

    Theizens were amused.

    ¡°Hahaha! This white cat is so interesting. Didn¡¯t you see the ss door?¡±

    ¡°The screen has been recorded and made into an emoji pack.¡±

    ¡°Do you smell dried fish?¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng stopped as soon as she crossed the shutter door. She didn¡¯t go further in. She put down the incubator, took out a white coat from her backpack, put it on, put on disposable gloves, a headcover, and even put on disposable shoe covers, and tucked her trousers in.

    Zhang Zian then opened the ss door and let her walk into the store with the thermal box.

    ¡°A Pet Hospital might not be safe, but you can invite a doctor to your house like this and vinate your pets. At least your house is safe, right?¡± He said,¡±let¡¯s wee today¡¯s special guest, Dr. Sun Xiaomeng. Let¡¯s give her a round of apuse!¡±

 Chapter 1784

    Chapter 1784: [Side Story] confinement y (10) door-to-door service

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    There were three kinds of pets in Zhang Zian¡¯s shop. One was from sun Xiaomeng¡¯s family¡¯s breeding base, the second was from the Ragdoll cats from the blue peak cattery Los Angeles, and the third was the Abyssinian cats he inherited. The first two had been vinated beforeing to the Pet Shop, but the Abyssinian cats he bred had not been vinated yet.

    Many pet shops, catteries, and kennels, as long as they were breeding their own pets, would basically have a cooperative rtionship with pet hospitals or clinics. They would invite doctors to visit them for vination, instead of bringing arge number of kittens to the hospital for vination, which was troublesome and dangerous. So when the abyssal reached the age to get the vination, he chose to invite sun Xiaomeng to visit the next day of the live broadcast.

    Usually, sun Xiaomeng¡¯s clinic was very busy. After all, there were few people in the clinic. But now, it was a special time. The nurse she hired had gone back to her hometown for the new year, so she couldn¡¯te back for the time being.

    This situation was very troublesome. If he hired a new nurse, what would happen if the original nurse came back? The clinic couldn¡¯t afford the sry of the two nurses, and they couldn¡¯t just fire them even if they had signed the contract. After all, this was an emergency, and even professional nurses couldn¡¯t ept a temporary contract of two or three months.

    In addition, the clinic¡¯s business was very quiet now. The customers were unable and unwilling to go out. Whether it was vination or sterilization, they wanted to wait until this special period was over.

    Sun Xiaomeng thought about it and decided not to hire new nurses. At the same time, the clinic was temporarily closed. Regr customers had to make an appointment in advance to see a doctor in the clinic. In the remaining free time, she nned to visit the clinic herself.

    In addition to promoting in her own customer group, she had already discussed with Zhang Zian in advance to cooperate with his live broadcast today. She would use the live broadcast as an opportunity to promote in front of more people, so that she would have more business. Of course, the main focus was on door-to-door vination. Other treatment methods were still rtively difficult in the absence of equipment.

    Theizens were indeed very surprised. They didn¡¯t expect the guest to be a veterinarian.

    ¡°Many of you in the livestream may know Dr. Sun Xiaomeng is a licensed veterinarian, the qualified kind. Today, I invited her toe here to give my pet a vination, and to tell you a piece of good news. During this special period, if your pets are sick or need a vination, you can make an appointment with her door-to-door service. Of course, it will be slightly more expensive than if you go to her shop to get a vination. After all, she will cost extra time and travel expenses. However, the vine was only given once a year, so it was not a big deal to spend money to buy peace of mind. What¡¯s more, some cats were afraid of going out, so they could just stay at home and get the vine. How convenient was that? When the vine is done and the Special Period is over, we won¡¯t have to worry about going to the hospital for sterilization. ¡±

    Since sun Xiaomeng came to help him, he also helped her promote. What he said was the truth. Except for the fact that it was more expensive to get a vine at home, it was beneficial to the pet in all other aspects. It was safe and convenient, and it could also avoid the pet¡¯s stress response when it went out.

    Sure enough, manyizens were tempted and sent bulletments to ask about the price.

    Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s price was fair. A home vine was more expensive than a hospital vine, which cost more than 100 yuan. No one would get up early if there was no profit. They used money to save time and effort. Besides, this kind of special period might not happen more than a few times in their lives. Compared with spending more than 100 yuan, if the pet really fell sick because of not getting a vine, it would cost more than 100 yuan to go to the hospital.

    [June¡¯s snow]: my snowball is one year old. It seems like it wants to get a triple vine? I want to ce an order, How do I contact them?

    [Time is like a poem and a song]: my Xiao La seems to be getting rabies soon, can you give me his contact information? By the way, I¡¯ll ask Qi Qi¡¯snn if she wants to fight. Can the two of us be considered a group purchase?

    [June¡¯s snow]:¡±um, I still have a Husky here that I want to fight too. Just fight whatever needs to be fought ¡­ Uncle Jin, if you¡¯re watching the live broadcast, can you say something?¡±

    To sun Xiaomeng¡¯s surprise, theizens responded very enthusiastically. In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen people wanted to vinate their pets, and there were dozens of people who were interested. Many people were hesitating to wait and see, because they were hoping that this special confinement y period would suddenly end. But when they saw so many people, and thought of the grim situation abroad and the repeat of the situation in China, they gritted their teeth and decided to fight immediately.

    Theizens from other ces who were watching the live broadcast expressed their regret. Those who had pets at home who needed vines were envious of the fact that Binhai city could provide them with vines.

    It was not that there was no door-to-door vination service in other cities, but it was only limited to the first-tier big cities of North, Shang, Guang, and Shen. Other cities basically did not have simr services.

    In fact, many young people who owned pets in second-and third-tier cities were bing more and more otakus. They were unwilling to go out or cook when they had nothing to do. They would rather spend more money on takeaway and save time to y games ¡­ If they could get a vine at home, it was eptable to spend more than 100 yuan. It was just the delivery fee. It was not like they needed to get the vine every day, it was only once a year. Young people were more willing to spend money in exchange for time than middle-aged and elderly people.

    This market was quite big. To put it bluntly, the pet industry China still needed to be further expanded.

    Sun Xiaomeng was overjoyed. This business was even better than sitting in the clinic and waiting for customers toe. She estimated that she could only go to six ces at most every day, because she couldn¡¯t just leave after getting the vine. Money was not that easy to make. She had to observe for at least half an hour after the vine was taken and see if there were any abnormal reactions before she could leave.

    Some customers asked about the intention of a group purchase. They asked if a few customers who lived close to each other, such as those who lived in the same neighborhood, could ce an order together and offer a discount.

    She happily agreed to a 20% discount for two people, 30% for three people, 40% for four people, and a maximum of 50% for more than four people ¡­ To make it convenient for herself.

    Of course, the price of the vine itself could not be discounted. What could be discounted was the door-to-door fee.

    This stimted the demand even more. Many people began to ask in the industry owners ¡®group chat in their ownmunities if there were any pets that needed to be vinated. Everyone paid one Yuan for group purchases. If there were more than four people, each person would only spend a few dozen Yuan more, so why not?

    There were too many people who wanted to add sun Xiaomeng as a friend on WeChat. Some decided to fight, and some wanted to ask for further advice. In the end, she simply created a vine group, and the result was that there were 200 people in an instant!

    If they continued to dawdle now, it would really take forever to line up. Many people were fighting to pay the deposit and upy the seats first.

    Happiness came too suddenly. While sun Xiaomeng was busy dealing with everyone¡¯s questions, she quickly contacted the vine manufacturer and asked for a batch of vines to be delivered by air as soon as possible, because it seemed that the vine inventory in her clinic could not handle it at all!

    To put it bluntly, this sudden and longer confinement y period than anyone had expected had triggered the special need for pet vines to be injected at home.

 Chapter 1785

    Chapter 1785: [Side Story] confinement y (11)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Sun Xiaomeng did not expect so many people to have a demand for the vine. She thought it would be good if there were more than a dozen people, but after a rough calction, there were more than a hundred people who signed up individually and in group groups who wanted to pay the deposit immediately, not to mention other people who expressed their interest.

    She quickly counted the number of people and the amount. Zhang Zian saw that she was in a hurry, and obviously had not done this kind of work before, so he added Lu Yiyun into the group and asked her to help her count.

    [Time is like a poem and a song]:¡±however, as a young woman, wouldn¡¯t it be dangerous for Dr. Sun to do this at home?¡± What if we encounter a pervert with bad intentions ¡­¡±

    As soon as Shishi mentioned this, many women in the live broadcast room expressed the same concern.

    Thank you. Manager Zhang and I have thought of that as well, so I won¡¯t be visiting alone. Someone wille with me ¡­¡±

    Before sun Xiaomeng could finish, she saw two hotheaded young men jump out from the corner of the screen. They were Wang Qian and Li Kun.

    The two of them assumed the posture that Wu Tian and Trakus had before theybined and shouted,¡±¡±That¡¯s right! I am indeed this one!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian covered his face with his hands, and the live broadcast room instantly became quiet.

    As a young woman, there was indeed a certain risk to go to the house alone for a vine shot. Although most pet owners were kind, there were always perverts in the team, and even if they were not perverts, they might find an excuse to pester them.

    Therefore, when sun Xiaomeng heard that Wang Qian and Li Kun were ying games in the store all day, she proposed to borrow one of them to apany her to the house visit. She would pay 20% of the house visit fee as a reward.

    When Wang Qian and Li Kun heard this, they felt that this was a good job that fell from the sky!

    Assuming that the average home visit fee was 100 yuan, 20% would be 20 yuan. Going to six ces a day would be 120 yuan!

    The point was, they didn¡¯t have to do anything, and they didn¡¯t have to pay a single cent. Even ying games didn¡¯t stop Yingying from ying games in the Pet Shop. She could just sit in sun Xiaomeng¡¯s car and y games. What was the difference?

    They weren¡¯t public servants, so they didn¡¯t have to follow any rules. If they apanied them to the door, they might be able to get some snacks and drinks. They might even be able to add a few in-game friends. It was simply a win-win situation!

    Not to mention 20%, they would be willing to do 10% or even 5%!

    He could return home with money every day, and he was much more unyielding when faced with his parents ¡®nagging. He could im that he had two jobs, and his parents would respect him ¡­ No, they would look at him in a new light!

    It seemed that sun Xiaomeng was at a loss. If she were a man, she wouldn¡¯t have to spend the extra money ¡­ But that wasn¡¯t the case. If she were a man, female pet owners who lived alone would have concerns. Out of self-protection, they wouldn¡¯t dare to let an unfamiliar male veterinarian enter their homes.

    There were many young women who kept pets alone. If it was a male veterinarian, he would also lose some orders, which might not be less than 20% of the consultation fee. So, everything had two sides, and there were pros and cons.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun rubbed their fists and wiped their palms, wishing that they could start apanying him to see patients today. They even secretly hoped that this kind of confinement y wouldst a little longer.

    In the midst of the noisy bullet screen, oneizen¡¯s bullet screen was drowned out, but Zhang Zian didn¡¯t forget thisizen. He said to sun Xiaomeng,¡±¡±Just now, aizen said that his kitten had diarrhea, no appetite, and was tired. What do you think ¡­¡±

    Everyone was only talking about the home visit, and then they remembered theizen who had been interrupted, so they quieted down for the time being so that sun Xiaomeng could see thements of theizen.

    This was also an opportunity for sun Xiaomeng to dispel other people¡¯s concerns. After all, most of theizens in the live broadcast room didn¡¯t know her and didn¡¯t know her level.

    She asked theizen about the symptoms of the kitten, and, like Zhang Zian, she also asked if it had any signs of vomiting and blood in the stool. She got a negative answer.

    ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, your cat should have gotten bacterial gastroenteritis. If you¡¯re worried that your cat doesn¡¯t have a vine and don¡¯t want to go to the hospital, you can give it some medicine today and observe it for a day. If it doesn¡¯t get better by tomorrow, you can go to the hospital again.¡±

    Theizen quickly asked,¡±what medicine?¡± Where can i buy it?¡±

    ¡°Oral penicillin injection and montasolin powder will do. You can buy them in any pharmacy.¡±

    ¡°Ah? Qing University? Isn¡¯t this medicine for humans? Can I give it to a cat?¡±

    ¡°Sure, just pay attention to the dosage.¡±

    ¡°Dosage ¡­¡± Theizens were in a difficult position.

    Sun Xiaomeng asked for the kitten¡¯s age and weight, and said,¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll exin it to you and you can write it down. If the diarrhea was serious, a small bag ofmon montasolites was divided into three parts, one of which was dissolved in 30 to 40 milliliters of water and given to the dog. This was to stop diarrhea and promote the discharge of harmful bacteria in the stomach. One vial of Qingda injection was 2ml, which was 80000 units. Take one and mix it with 18ml of clean water. Shake it well, then use a needle or a drip tube to extract 2ml of the 20ml solution and give it to the dog. Take it first, then give it the montasolites an hourter. Give it one as soon as possible now, and one more at night. If nothing goes wrong, it will get better tomorrow morning. ¡± She finished her sentence in one breath.

    Manyizens thought that human medicine and animal medicine couldn¡¯t be mixed together. In fact, in many cases, they could be mixed. For example, Qing University killed harmful bacteria. Whether these bacteria were in the human body or in an animal¡¯s body, they were killed the same way. It was even more so for a physical antixative like montasolites.

    It was more dangerous to use intramuscr injections at the Qing University. They couldn¡¯t inject it casually, but it was safe to take it orally and send it to the intestines. The bacteria were already causing trouble in the cat¡¯s intestines, so it was a good target.

    The medicine that people took would go through strict tests before it was released on the market. The guided dosage would also be very cautious. If a certain medicine took 10000 units and might cause harm to the human body, the guided dosage would only be 1000 or less.

    The medicine that could be taken by babies would not have any problems for pets.

    Theizen didn¡¯t say anything and immediately ran out of the house to the pharmacy to buy medicine. It just so happened that the pharmacy was right below his house. In this day and age, any shop could be closed, but the pharmacy was definitely open.

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t worried at all. If it were him, he would also prescribe medicine like this. This kind of minor illness was very nervous for pet owners, but he had seen a lot of pet shop owners like him. Which child had not had diarrhea? Which kitten or puppy hadn¡¯t had diarrhea before? It was toomon. It would be a big deal to suspect that it was a cat gue when you saw diarrhea. It was better to cremate it directly than to use Baidu to cure it.

    He had all the regr medicine in his store, but he was not a practicing veterinarian, so he could not prescribe medicine in public.

    Theizens in the live broadcast room had different opinions. Some were sharing their pet¡¯s experience of being sick and treated, while others were guessing whether theizen¡¯s cat would get better tomorrow. There was one more reason to attract people to continue watching the live broadcast tomorrow.

 Chapter 1786

    Chapter 1786: [Side Story] confinement y (12) abnormal filming

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    On the third day of the live broadcast.

    Early in the morning, sun Xiaomeng¡¯s car was parked in front of the Pet Shop before the street office went to work.

    Wang Qian and Li Kun yed finger-guessing games to decide who would go with them today. In fact, even if they were only paid, they would be willing to go. However, they still had chores to do at the Pet Shop and the aquarium. On the other hand, wouldn¡¯t it be a waste of fuel to carry a useless person?

    The reason why they gathered at the Pet Shop instead of sun Xiaomeng picking them up directly at the door of Wang Qian and Li Kun¡¯s house was mainly because they were afraid that their parents would misunderstand and think that their children would not have to work hard in the future ¡­

    Of course, this was a joke. The real reason was that the vine needed to be stored in cold storage. Sun Xiaomeng had just taken the vine out of the clinic¡¯s refrigerator and put it into a thermal box. There was still dry ice in the thermal box to keep it cold. Because they had to run around all day, they had to leave immediately after picking up the people and the vine.

    In the end, Wang Qian won in finger-guessing games. Today, he would go, and tomorrow, it would be Li Kun¡¯s turn to go.

    Lu Yiyun and Jiang Feifei had the opportunity to leave themunity once every two days, so they decided to take turns. Today, Lu Yiyun woulde, and tomorrow, Jiang Feifei woulde. They could also buy things at the same time.

    Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s first home visit was at the nearest clinic, which was also one of her regr customers. Of course, it was also very close to the Pet Shop, so Zhang Zian also took a taxi there. He made her home visit the first part of today¡¯s live broadcast.

    ¡°Hello everyone, I¡¯m an. This is where we eat, drink, y, and have fun ¡­ No, I think we¡¯re at a different channel? I¡¯m the manager of the handsome pet store. This is the third day of the livestream. Have all my friendse?¡±

    Sun Xiaomeng drove, Wang Qian sat in the front seat, and Zhang Zian sat in the back. This way, it was convenient to film sun Xiaomeng¡¯s actions from the side.

    ¡°I¡¯m here, I¡¯m here. I¡¯ve just arrived and I¡¯ve already seen your ugly face! Puke~¡±

    ¡°F * ck! [Manager, isn¡¯t it enough that you¡¯re wearing a mask? you¡¯re even wearing sunsses?] Do you think I won¡¯t recognize you if you wear sunsses?¡±

    That¡¯s right, not only were Zhang Zian and Wang Qian wearing masks, but they were also wearing sunsses. Their faces were almostpletely covered.

    ¡°Shush! It¡¯s an abnormal shoot!¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°F * ck! I¡¯ll report you to grandma Gu!¡±

    Zhang Zian thought, F * ck! There¡¯s a mole! Terminate the transaction!¡±

    Including the time to wait for the traffic lights, it was less than ten minutes. Sun Xiaomeng parked the car at the entrance of amunity. The customers came to the door to pick them up and exin the situation to the security guard. After the three of them registered, Wang Qian carried the cooler box, and Zhang Zian followed behind them all the way into themunity.

    The customer was quite familiar with sun Xiaomeng, so they chatted with each other while walking. Soon, they arrived at the door of the house. The customer knew that he was the first one, so he agreed to let Zhang Ziane with them.

    The customers opened the door and invited them in. Sun Xiaomeng gave Wang Qian and Zhang Zian each a pair of disposable gloves, headcovers, and shoe covers. The three of them put them on before stepping into the room.

    The vination went well. There were three cats in the house, and each cat was vinated at sun Xiaomeng¡¯s ce, especially this time at home. The cats were not afraid at all, and they cooperated well throughout the whole process. The host and the guest talked andughed. Wang Qian ate heartily, nibbling on melon seeds and ying games.

    Zhang Zian felt embarrassed when he saw Wang Qian crunching on the melon seed shells. However, the owner didn¡¯t care. He said that these melon seeds were originally prepared for guests and rtives who came to visit during the new year, but no one came at all. If these melon seeds were not finished as soon as possible, they would be thrown away due to the moisture. Since Wang Qian liked to crack melon seeds, he would let him take them all with him when he left.

    Wang Qian didn¡¯t stand on ceremony. When he left, his master gave him a five-pound bag of loose melon seeds with peanuts in it. He carried it away happily.

    After they left, they took off the disposable gloves, head covers, and shoe covers and threw them into the trash can. Sun Xiaomeng and Wang Qian rushed to the next shop, while Zhang Zian called a ride back to the Pet Shop.

    Through the live broadcast, theizens saw that the home visit process was very standardized, ensuring the safety andfort of the pets to the maximum, and saving the pet owners from running around. After all, few pets liked to stay in the air box, so theirst doubts were dispelled.

    Lu Yiyun received dozens of home visit applications. Now sun Xiaomeng didn¡¯t dare to ept the deposits, because she was afraid that she wouldn¡¯t be able to digest so many orders, because the first and second shots of the triple vine were at least 20 days apart, and these 20 days were already full. No one knew if this special period of being closed at home would end in 20 days.

    Theizens who ced orders didn¡¯t care. Regardless of whether the confinement y ended or not, everyone was more willing to wait at home for the vination. Even if they returned to work, they could just dy their orders to the weekend.

    As soon as he returned to the Pet Shop, theizen who had his kitten sick yesterday entered his live broadcast room.

    ¡°Manager! My cat is much better!¡± As soon as he came in, he said this without any rhyme or reason. Some of theizens who didn¡¯te yesterday didn¡¯t understand what was going on.

    ¡°Oh, really? Congrattions. ¡± Zhang Zian was not surprised.¡±Tell everyone.¡±

    ¡°Yesterday, I followed Dr. Sun¡¯s instructions and went to the pharmacy to buy medicine. There was also a pipette. I carefully mixed the dosage ording to her instructions and repeatedly confirmed that I didn¡¯t make a mistake. Then, I opened the kitten¡¯s mouth and forced it into its mouth again and again. It couldn¡¯t be helped. At that time, it didn¡¯t want to drink water, and I couldn¡¯t wait, so I could only force it in. It even bit my hand.¡±

    ¡°I drank it once in the afternoon and again at night. Before I went to bed, it had an appetite, but I didn¡¯t dare to give it anything to eat ¡­ This morning, I was woken up by its Meow Meow early in the morning. Seeing it clinging to my trousers and wanting to eat, I really ¡­ A man like me almost cried!¡±

    Theizens ridiculed him and were happy for him. They could feel his tears of joy. After all, his cat had not eaten for two days. If it still did not eat on the third day, it might have a fatty liver and liver damage. Zhang Zian had previously exined that cats would not get a fatty liver because of gluttony, but because of long-term hunger.

    It was fine if it was an adult cat, but it was more troublesome for a kitten that was only a few months old to have a fatty liver.

    ¡°I soaked the cat food in warm water and gave it some, but I didn¡¯t dare to give it too much. It¡¯s much better now, but it stinks from pooping. I didn¡¯t dare to give it a bath, so I could only wipe it with wet tissues in the sun ¡­ By the way, is Dr. Sun not here? She didn¡¯t reply to my messages. ¡±

    Thisizen had sent a message to sun Xiaomeng half an hour ago, but seeing that she didn¡¯t reply, he thought that she felt that he didn¡¯t understand the ways of the world, so he quickly sent another red packet, but she still didn¡¯t ept it.

    Zhang Zian replied,¡±she should be driving or getting a vine. She¡¯s busy, but she told me that if your cat gets better today, take the same dose as yesterday to consolidate the condition and prevent the disease from acting up again.¡±

    ¡°Good! I got it!¡±

 Chapter 1787

    Chapter 1787: [Side Story] confinement y (13)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    In fact, as long as cats don¡¯t go out and don¡¯te into contact with other animals, even if they haven¡¯t been vinated, the probability of suddenly getting the cat gue is very low. Although in theory, the cat gue virus can be stained on the soles of people¡¯s shoes and brought into the house, people basically change into slippers as soon as they enter the house, and the outdoor shoes won¡¯t have their soles facing up. Cats have all kinds of quirks, but cats that like to lick the soles of their shoes are still very rare, so this route of infection only exists in theory.

    Bacterial gastroenteritis was far moremon than cat gue because cats liked to lick things randomly. They licked their own fur, their buttocks, and after that, they licked their owners. It was normal for bacteria to enter their bodies. Bacteria were everywhere, but the virus was not everywhere.

    It was the same for children. After grabbing the mud, they would grab something to eat. It would be strange if they didn¡¯t have diarrhea. It wasn¡¯t a viral infection, but a bacterial infection.

    Zhang Zian added,¡±if your cat gets better tomorrow, you can stop taking these two drugs. Mix it with mommy¡¯s love cream in its cat food. It¡¯s very cheap. It¡¯s a kind of beneficial fungus. Because Qing University kills bacteria in the intestine, including harmful and beneficial bacteria, it needs beneficial fungi to rebuild the intestinal ecosystem.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Alright, I¡¯ll go buy someter!¡± Theizens were full of energy.

    ¡°By the way, don¡¯t use the remaining medicine from yesterday today. Make some new ones.¡± Zhang Zian added,¡±especially the Qingda injection. It¡¯s been almost 24 hours since I opened the bottle.¡±

    ¡°Manager, you must be joking. The medicine is so cheap. It only cost me 20 to 30 yuan for the two medicines. I always prescribe a new one every time I give it medicine.¡±

    ¡°No, you¡¯ve misunderstood. The manager isn¡¯t joking. He¡¯s just that stingy!¡± Theizensined.

    ¡°But it¡¯s really too cheap. It only costs 20 to 30 yuan. I can keep the rest of the medicine for future use. If I go to a Pet Hospital, it¡¯ll cost 200 to 300 yuan, right?¡±

    ¡°Two or three hundred? Are you looking down on pet hospitals? You just need to do a biochemical test and a blood test, and that¡¯s five to six hundred Yuan!¡±

    ¡°Cry! Last time, my cat had diarrhea, so I hurriedly took it to the hospital. After the biochemical test and blood test were done, they said that it had digestion problems if it ate too much. In the end, they spent 68 yuan on a box of microbial bacteria. I said that I was a student and had no money, so they asked me for 500 yuan in total, and that was on discount ¡­ A box of ¡°mommy¡¯s love ¡°in the pharmacy only cost a dozen Yuan. It¡¯s really a scam!¡±

    Theizensined about how shady the pet Hospital was with their own experience. This was not theizens being harsh, it was a fact that the treatment for pets was expensive.

    Take medicine as an example. Human medicine was purchased from medical insurance. The country had a series of measures to control the price of medicine such as bidding, limit limits, subsidies, and so on. However, pet medicine was set by the manufacturer. Some medicines were actually not much different from human medicine in terms ofposition. If they were given the name of pet-specific medicine, the price could be several times higher. If it was a medicine from a Pet Hospital, the price might be doubled. This was because when a pet suddenly had a disease, it was toote to purchase it online.

    Although many pet owners couldn¡¯t stand it, as long as it existed, it was reasonable. Keeping pets had always been regarded as something that only people with money and leisure time could do. Besides, this was also true in most cases. People who couldn¡¯t even afford to keep pets themselves would not be in the mood to keep pets. If the pet¡¯s medical expenses were so expensive that people couldn¡¯t afford to see a doctor, they would naturally reduce the price. This was how the market economy worked.

    As for the mandatory insurance for pets in the form of legition, it was still rtively distant for a big country withplicated national conditions like China.

    As an individual, he had to know somemon knowledge about pet medicine. He had medicine at home, when his pet was sick, he had to stay calm, and when necessary, he had to send his pet to the hospital. That was already a very qualified owner.

    ¡°By the way, I¡¯d like to ask again. My finger was bitten by it when I was feeding it the medicine, and it¡¯s bleeding. Do I need to go to the epidemic prevention station for a vine or something?¡± Theizen was happy but also worried.

    ¡°If your cat hasn¡¯t been out of the house recently and hasn¡¯te into contact with other animals, you don¡¯t need to get a rabies vine. However, if the wound is deep, you may need an tetanus vine.¡± Zhang Zian said.

    The abuse of rabies vine in China was more serious. The rabies virus did not naturally exist in cats, and even if a cat carried the rabies virus, it was not infectious when it was not infected. The rabies virus could not lurk in the cat¡¯s body for a long time, so for domestic cats that did not leave the house and had note into contact with mice, bats, dogs, and other animals, there was no need to get a rabies vine for any reason that they bit their owners.

    The people at the health and epidemic prevention Center would not tell you these things. As long as you said that you were scratched and bitten by a cat, they would let you get a vine regardless of the consequences. They might even let you get the more expensive rabies protein. After all, it could generate ie.

    However, if it was bitten by a dog at home, because the dog needed to go out for a walk, and you couldn¡¯t be 100% sure whether the dog had been bitten by a mouse or other dogs when you went out for a walk. Sometimes, the bite was in hidden ces such as the toes or inner ears, which couldn¡¯t be seen from the outside. So, to be careful, it was better to get a vine, and then observe the dog for ten days to see if it would die before deciding whether to get a second vine.

    As for being bitten and scratched by stray cats and dogs, it was better to get a vine. The dog¡¯s life was more important.

    Theizens ¡®topic shifted from being ripped off at the pet Hospital to the experience of being bitten by cats and dogs and getting a vine. In short, whether it was treating a pet or getting a vine for a bite or scratch, the word ¡°expensive¡± and ¡°poor¡± were highlighted, and finally summed up as the word ¡°miserable¡± in capital.

    [Determined to get to shore]:[i rolled in here when I saw it!] When I first brought mynn home, because she was too cute, I tried to feed her with my hands on the first night, but it bit my hand while eating ¡­ At that time, I didn¡¯t know manager Richard well, so I hesitated for a day before I went to get a vine ¡­ Now that I think about it, how many cans of food could I buy fornn with the money from the vine!¡±

    [Time is like a poem and a song]: Qi Qi, you¡¯re here too!¡±

    [Determined to get ashore]: Watching Shen Lun gives me a headache~I¡¯ll secretly fish for a while!¡±

    When theizens ¡®topic came to an end, and theizen got a satisfactory answer, anotherizen entered the live broadcast room after the bullet screen was washed up.

    ¡°Hello everyone, manager, I¡¯m here to clock in.¡±

    Everyone immediately recognized that this was theizen who had the evil cat at home. Many people came every day just to watch the TV series, and they immediately became alert.

    ¡°Wee,¡± Zhang Zian said.¡±How¡¯s your cat?¡±

    ¡°It came out from under the sofa today, but ¡­ It didn¡¯t seem like it was going to give in. It snatched the cat food from my hands. If the store manager didn¡¯t remind me to wear gloves, I might have been in the hospital now ¡­¡±

 Chapter 1788

    Chapter 1788: [Side Story] confinement y (14)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Thisizen had picked up a stray cat. It wasn¡¯t that stray cats couldn¡¯t be picked up, but they either had to be kittens or those that had obvious family tendencies. For example, they would approach you and meow, or even rub your legs, using this as an excuse to make you pay for the prostitution ¡­ There was generally no problem with picking up such cats at home, and they were often easy to pick up. You could experience all kinds of difficult positions.

    However, the cat that thisizen had picked up did not have such a reaction. It was just that the other party saw that it was pitiful in the rain on a rainy day, so it was kind enough to bring it home. In the end, it picked up an ancestor and was kidnapped by someizens ¡®morals.

    Zhang Zian analyzed it for the cat. The cat was so hungry that it left the sofa, but it didn¡¯t give in to the cat. Instead, it showed a strong aggression and tried to snatch the food from the cat.

    In some foreign countries with stricter regtions on raising pets, they would evaluate the pet. Once the pet was rated as aggressive, it would be sent to euthanasia. Even adoption agencies would not rmend the adopter to adopt such a pet, but the adoption agencies in China ¡­ Didn¡¯t you see that the rmendations were all ¡°family¡± and ¡°clingy¡±? In fact, if it was really a close and clingy stray pet, why didn¡¯t it take the initiative to ask for love after seeing people?

    Assuming that a cat¡¯s character was divided into ten levels, Level 1 was extremely close, level 10 was extremely distant and aggressive, then the character range of a pedigree cat was from 1 to 5, the character range of a domestic cat was from 1 to 7, and the character range of a stray cat was from 1 to 10. Whether you bought a cat, picked up a cat, adopted it, or adopted it, the cat¡¯s character you got was actually a lottery, but the distribution of the prizes was different.

    Someone picked up a stray cat with a super good personality, and then rmended everyone to pick up the cat. He would say that his cat was so and so, and that was irresponsible.

    In order to gain reputation, catteries often brought their cats topete inpetitions. They had to pay for thepetition fees, and they had to pay for their own travel, amodation, and food expenses. It took time and money to participate in thepetition. The cats brought to thepetition had to be judged by unfamiliar people, and the winning factors such as bone quality, body size, and hair quality were assessed by touch.

    In the face of an unfamiliar Stadium, a noisy crowd, all kinds of cats, and a touchy judge, the participating cats would definitely have a stress reaction. What if it reached out its ws to attack the judge under the stress?

    The consequence was unconditional disqualification, and all the investment of the cattery would be in vain.

    No matter how good the condition of such a cat was, it was not qualified to be bred as a breeding cat for the next generation. This was because personality was hereditary, and the cattery needed cats that would not attack people under stress.

    As a pet owner, didn¡¯t he need a cat with the same personality? Don¡¯t you need a cat that will choose to walk away instead of turning around and attacking your child after your child has pinched its tail?

    Of course, if your attitude was to me your child¡¯s cheap hands, to be scratched, to be bitten, and to be bitten a few more times to learn to be good, it didn¡¯t matter if he was scratched and disfigured, then ¡­ Another matter.

    After generations of selection, the distribution of the personality of the pedigree cats was better than that of the domestic cats. This was not an exaggeration, but a fact. The upper limit was the same, but the lower limit was higher.

    Stray cats were basically domestic cats. If there were any breeds of cats that were stray, they would have been picked up by people long ago. In addition, they had been stimted, so the longer they wandered, the more extreme their personalities became. Dogs that had been sessfully tamed by humans would also be stray dogs after wandering for a long time, not to mention cats.

    Returning to thisizen¡¯s situation, in view of his super tolerance and patience, Zhang Ziforted,¡±¡±Don¡¯t be discouraged. In fact, you¡¯ve alreadypleted the first step of your long journey. It came out from under the sofa to snatch food from you, which means that it has been forced to leave itsfort zone. Next, you can give it a small amount of food and let it see that the food is a charity from you and not taken from you. Then, while it is eating, you can clean up the bottom of the sofa. It¡¯s best to block the bottom of the sofa and bed with junk items such as delivery boxes so that it can¡¯t go back after eating.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± he said. Theizen agreed,¡±but I don¡¯t seem to have many suitable items at home. I don¡¯t have the habit of keeping a courier box. Should I go buy something?¡± But it¡¯ll still take a few days to mail it over ¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment. Thisizen was already unlucky enough. If he spent extra money on unnecessary shopping to deal with the evil cat, it would really make good people feel disappointed.

    ¡°Let me first ask, do you live in Binhai city or somewhere else?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve been watching snowy¡¯s live broadcast. One time, snowy was nting grass in your pet shop and thought the cat was cute, so she picked this one up ¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Zhang Zian nodded. It seemed that they were fated.

    ¡°Do you have any friends who own cats?¡± He asked again.

    ¡°I do have a friend who has a cat, but she took the cat back to her hometown for the new year and hasn¡¯te back yet ¡­¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at the other audience members in the live broadcast room and said,¡±¡±The next step will be a long-term war. Through feeding and clearing the wild, we will let the cat know who the boss is, but this will take too long. Next, I will talk about the shortcut. But I want to emphasize that the reason I didn¡¯t talk about the shortcut at the beginning is that the shortcut has prerequisites. This friend here doesn¡¯t have the prerequisites.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you¡¯re a cat you picked up or a cat you bought. If it has a bad character, is stubborn, and attacks you with its ws, then there¡¯s one way, and that¡¯s to send it to another cat owner¡¯s house and let other cats discipline it for you. However, not everyone has cat owners as friends, and they may not be willing to help you, so this prerequisite is not easy to meet.¡±

    Cats did whatever they wanted just because they were cute. Once their social education failed when they were young or they were provoked when they grew up, they would be aggressive to humans. Humans could not understand catnguage and could not reason with them. It was difficult to correct their character. Even if they wanted to beat it, they would have to face heavy pressure, such as cat abuse and other such rumors. Sometimes, it was not easy to grasp the strength and timing of the beating. It would also fight back, and eventually, the human-cat fight. After being beaten for a long time, he had forgotten why he was being beaten.

    However, if there was another cat with a good personality and sessful social education, it could help you discipline the evil cat.

    The so-called ¡°good personality¡± referred to a good personality towards humans, but not towards other cats. For example, Golden Retrievers were known for being non-aggressive towards humans, but when they bit other dogs, they would not be soft-spoken.

    The more sessful the social education of the cat was, the more it would take the initiative to teach the evil cat a lesson when it saw other catsing to its territory to attack people, defecate and urinate everywhere.

    When the evil cat came to an unfamiliar environment, it had a stress reaction, and itsbat power was reduced by 50%. How could it defeat the natives?

 Chapter 1789

    Chapter 1789: [Side Story] confinement y (15)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    At least half of theizens watching Zhang Zian¡¯s live broadcast were locals of Binhai city and its surrounding areas. They had be familiar with each other in the live broadcast room over the past few days. In addition, everyone was a pet lover. When they saw that theizen was in trouble, several people spoke out for him. They said that they had a cat at home and that it was very obedient. They asked theizen to send the evil cat to their house and try to discipline it.

    ¡°I say, you guys are worrying too much. Isn¡¯t there a ready-made ce to go? Send that evil cat to Mr. Richard¡¯s pet shop. I¡¯ll see how many more days it can run around!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Hahaha! I¡¯ll probably pee my pants as soon as I enter the shop!¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me. Every time I go to the manager¡¯s store to buy cat food, that golden cat red at me, and my legs and stomach trembled!¡±

    ¡°Not to mention the Golden Cat, I don¡¯t think I can even afford to offend that white cat. It only meows at beautiful women every time, and when I get close to it, it will spray me with its breath!¡±

    Theizens agreed that sending the evil cat to Zhang Zian¡¯s shop for his help to discipline it was the best choice. First of all, he had a well-known cat training skill, and second, even if he didn¡¯t do anything, the few cats in the shop alone were enough to make the evil cat suffer.

    Zhang Zian said,¡±although it¡¯s not impossible to send the cat to me, as I said, it¡¯s already a shortcut to use the cat to control the cat. Sending the cat to me is considered cheating. What if theizens in other areas don¡¯t have the conditions?¡± I¡¯ll still help you with this matter, but I won¡¯t help you by cheating. Thisizen currently doesn¡¯t have any friends who have a cat in the city, so I¡¯ll help him find a cat and send it to him. Of course, it¡¯s not a cat from my shop, but a cat that can be found by everyone. ¡±

    It sounded like bragging, but the localizens all knew that it was the truth. Many cats made a big fuss when they were bathing at home, and when they came to Zhang Zian¡¯s shop to bathe, they were terrified.

    However, it was still a question whether the new cat would have a stress response when it came to an unfamiliar environment. What if it was bullied by the evil cat in the stress state?

    Lu Yiyun quickly hugged Jasmine tightly, afraid of sending her cat over.

    ¡°First of all, I have to get the permission of theizen. Do you ept me sending a cat to your house to help you discipline that evil cat? The discipline willst for at least a few days before you can see the results. Your house might be a little noisy these few days. If it¡¯s not convenient, you can use the king¡¯s way to solve it slowly. ¡± Zhang Zian said to the phone¡¯s camera.

    He and theizens had good intentions, but if theizen had any inconvenience, they couldn¡¯t force him. After all, some people paid more attention to privacy, and maybe their family situation was special, so they didn¡¯t want others to see it. All these were understandable.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. I cane over at any time. I believe in the manager. The earlier the problem can be solved, the earlier I can be at ease. Now I can¡¯t sleep and eat well. I¡¯m staring at it all day as if I¡¯m guarding against a thief ¡­¡± Theizen said.

    ¡°Okay, send me your contact information. I¡¯ll go look for a suitable cat.¡± Zhang Zian said,¡±there¡¯s no time like the present. I¡¯ll bring the cat over today.¡±

    This made theizens even more excited. Everyone was curious where he found a suitable cat. If it was not a cat from his shop, where was it from? In addition, the experience of using a cat to discipline a cat was too rare, and everyone wanted to broaden their horizons.

    In fact, fina didn¡¯t mind going there in person. It was so angry when it heard that the evil cat had wreaked havoc in other people¡¯s homes. Wasn¡¯t it losing a cat to the cat family? There was nothing worse than being looked down upon by mere humans.

    Zhang Zian was very confident. Letting the Elfins do it was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, and it was not a good thing to take effect too quickly. It would cause theizens to misunderstand such a simple thing.

    ¡°Wait a moment, I¡¯ll be right back.¡± He said to the camera.

    ¡°Manager, where are you going? Take the phone and let us have a good time!¡±

    ¡°Say no more. The manager is going to find his stic girlfriend to solve his physiological needs. He will be back in about 15 seconds.¡± (Thisment is yellow.)

    ¡± 15 seconds? I think 10 seconds will be enough!¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t see theizens ¡®ridicule. He left the phone and walked to the back door leading to the green space. He opened the door and saw that there was no one around. He tried to call out,¡±¡±dimir, are you there?¡±

    When he had hunkered back, he had seen dimir and a few cats in a line slip over the wall and run in the direction of the green space.

    After half a minute, dimir slipped out of the green space, wiped the dust off his face, and said,¡±¡±Director, you¡¯re absent from the meeting today. You have to be there next time. We still have to vote by secret!¡±

    ¡°Oh, I can¡¯t go out for a walk, can I?¡± Zhang Zian looked in the direction of the green space and saw that there were a lot of stray cats sitting in a line.¡±I almost forgot. Today is the Binhai City Cat representative conference, right?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Mm! I¡¯ll let it go this time, but prepare a speech. You¡¯ll be the human representative in the next meeting. ¡± dimir ordered.

    ¡°Alright,¡± he said. Zhang Zian nodded and thought to himself,¡±should I learn how to meow first?¡±

    After dimir finished talking about the important matter, it asked again,¡±¡±By the way, what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re busy, then go ahead. I¡¯m not in a hurry.¡± He said.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. The meeting is over. It¡¯ll be over soon. Just say what you want.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s like this ¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian repeated his request.

    ¡°Oh, you mean to send a stray cat over? Alright, who do you think is suitable?¡± After listening to the cause and effect, dimir readily agreed.

    ¡°Who¡¯s in charge of that?¡±Zhang Zian asked.

    dimir thought about the address given by theizen.¡±It¡¯s the war zone thatmander ju is in charge of.¡±

    ¡°If big orange isn¡¯t busy, why don¡¯t we ask it to make a trip personally?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Sure,mander orange~¡± dimir shouted at the top of its lungs.

    After a while, an orange pig ¡­ No, a cat, ran over unsteadily.

    Big orange ran in front of dimir and squatted at attention. Once it squatted, its hind legs could not be seen,pletely covered by the fat hanging down from its body.

    Commander ju, the organization has an important mission for you!¡± dimir said.

    Big orange raised one of its front paws. To others, it looked like it was scratching its ear, but it was actually saluting. It meowed, meaning: I¡¯ll definitelyplete the organization¡¯s mission!

    dimir briefly exined Zhang Zian¡¯s request.

    Big orange saluted again and meowed a few times, indicating that it was deeply ashamed of the existence of such a stray cat scum in its jurisdiction. It was willing to go with chief Zhang to punish the evil cat as a warning to others!

 Chapter 1790

    Chapter 1790: [Side Story] confinement y (16)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian asked big orange to wait for him at the entrance of the store. He had to go back to the store to get his mobile phone first, as the live broadcast could not be interrupted.

    dimir had nothing to do, so it expressed that it wanted to go and have a look, so it also went to the shop entrance.

    When Zhang Zian took his cell phone and car keys from the store and returned to the door, theizens immediately saw big orange squatting in front of the car because he had been live streaming.

    ¡°What the f * ck? What¡¯s wrong with you, little brother? I told you not to dye pigs!¡±

    ¡°Manager, what kind of grudge do you have with her? Are you trying to eat the poor?¡±

    ¡°You said you want to find a cat that everyone can find. Where do you expect us to find such a fat pig?¡±

    Putting thesements aside, Zhang Zian also heard discordant soundsing from the bathroom window on the second floor.

    ¡°Wahahahaha! Fina,e and take a look! There¡¯s an orange cat that¡¯s even fatter than you! The kind that could really crush a brick bed ¡­ Don¡¯t pull my hair! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!¡±

    ¡°¡­Forget it, I¡¯d better not look back,¡± Zhang Zian said.

    He opened the car door and let big orange and dimir get in. He put his phone on the stand and drove to the location given by theizen.

    Recently, the situation had improved a little, but there were still not many people and cars on the road. It was much less than normal. Other than the necessary industries and jobs, the economy was still in a half-stagnant state. However, this brought about one advantage, which was that the air was much fresher and the traffic was no longer congested.

    Theizen lived closer than he had imagined. It was also in the Dongcheng Area District, which was part of the eastern Theater of Binhai city and big Orange¡¯s territory. Zhang Zian chose big orange to help because he wanted to give it a ride. What if it became thin from the back and forth ¡­

    However, he deliberately avoided the office door of the street office to avoid being found out by grandma Gu, who would pull his ear and nag him again.

    Not long after, he arrived at the neighborhood where his online friend lived. As he had asked the online friend in private if he would mind if he brought his phone with him for a live broadcast and received a negative answer, he kept his phone on, but it was usually directed at himself instead of the road or the surrounding buildings. This was to prevent people from recognizing the neighborhood where his online friend lived and causing trouble.

    He took the elevator to the floor where theizen was staying, found the room number, and pressed the doorbell.

    The door opened almost instantly. Theizens must have been waiting at the door.

    The person who opened the door was a bespectacled young girl with medium-long hair. She looked like a university student or a fresh graduate and was wearing a mask.

    It was precisely because everyone was wearing a mask when they met that theizen did not refuse Zhang Zian¡¯s live broadcast. After all, wearing a mask could avoid being recognized by others, and it could also prevent her from being discovered by meddlesome people because of her thoughts of abandoning the cat.

    ¡°The manager, right? Pleasee in. ¡±

    She had watched Zhang Zian drive to her house and go upstairs. She knew it couldn¡¯t be anyone else, and that this was just a small talk, so she opened the door as soon as she knocked.

    ¡°Hello, sorry to disturb you.¡±

    Of course, Zhang Zian was also wearing a mask. After greeting them, he brought big orange and dimir into the house.

    ¡°It¡¯s a little messy in the house, sorry to see that. ¡± She said apologetically.

    Zhang Zian saw that there was only a pair of outdoor shoes at the entrance, and there was no shoe cab or anything like that, so the girl probably lived alone.

    The room was actually not messy, much better than many single women or men, but ¡­ It was very smelly. Although the windows were open for venttion and electronic incense was lit, it was still very smelly.

    He was familiar with this smell. It was the strong smell of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide emitted by cat poop.

    Aooo

    A shrill meow came from the toilet door.

    Zhang Zian, big orange, and dimir looked in the direction of the sound and saw a domestic cat standing at the door of the toilet. Only its head and neck were exposed, and its ears were pulled into airne ears. Its eyes were wide and round, and it was fiercely staring at dimir and big orange.

    Most of the body of this domestic cat was white, and there were some Dragon Li lines on its head, neck, and back. Its appearance was actually not bad, but its eyes were very fierce.

    ¡°Is this the one?¡± Zhang Zian confirmed.

    ¡°Yes, I am.¡± The girl nodded nervously.

    Zhang Zian looked sideways at the girl¡¯s clothes. She was in her own home, but she was not wearingfortable home clothes or fall clothes. Instead, she was wearing jeans and a sweater, thick socks, and wool gloves. The gloves were already disconnected in several ces, and the ends of the gloves were ttering. It was hard to say whether she was thrifty or ¡­ Torn by the cat.

    There was a mop, a rag, a bucket, and other cleaning tools next to the sofa. The girl must have been cleaning under the sofa when the cat left.

    The fur on the cat¡¯s chin was wet, and considering that it came out of the toilet, and cats generally don¡¯t turn on the tap ¡­ It should have just drunk water from the toilet.

    In the face of the three uninvited guests in its home, it probably felt that its territory had been invaded and wanted to drive the intruders away with a cry.

    It nced at the bottom of the sofa from time to time, obviously trying to go back to itsfortable area.

    ¡°Is there a supermarket nearby? Go buy some oranges, I¡¯ll help you clean up under the sofa. ¡± Zhang Zian rolled up his sleeves and said.

    ¡°This ¡­ How can I ept this ¡­ I have bananas, apples, and Kiwis at home. I¡¯ll go get them now ¡­¡± She thought that Zhang Zian wanted to eat fruit, so she went to the fridge to get them.

    ¡°No, no, I asked you to buy oranges because cats hate the smell of orange peels. After you clean the bottom of the sofa, spray the juice of the orange peels under the sofa, and throw a few pieces of orange peels in. Then, it won¡¯t dare to go back to Yingying¡¯s house. If there¡¯s a ce that she doesn¡¯t want cats to go to, she can use this method to temporarily prevent cats from getting close if it¡¯s inconvenient to block it.¡±

    She suddenly understood, but she was still embarrassed to ask Zhang Zian to help her clean up under the sofa.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. This is what I do every day. I¡¯m very familiar with it. You can go and buy some oranges first.¡± Zhang Zian rolled up his sleeves and put on his gloves.

    The girl saw that she couldn¡¯t persuade him, so she took her phone. She didn¡¯t need to change her clothes anyway, so she jogged out of the house to buy oranges. Zhang Zian had been livestreaming the whole time, so she didn¡¯t have to worry about him stealing or ying dirty.

    Zhang Zian was cleaning up the Dried Cat poop under the sofa while observing the cat.

    dimir jumped onto the sofa and sat down, while big orange turned his body to the side andy down on the carpet. As the saying went, it was better to lie down than sit. There was a reason for being fat.

    They were also observing it, but because of their status, they didn¡¯t bother to roar at it.

    The phone was pointed at the evil cat, and theizens in the live broadcast room were also discussing the cat with great interest.

    After a while, dimir seemed to have understood the cat¡¯s meowing, and said to Zhang Zian,¡±¡±This cat has been bullied by humans before, so it feels that the whole world owes it. At best, it¡¯s just a little Shrew among the stray cats. It bullies the weak and fears the strong. It doesn¡¯t dare to take revenge on the people who bullied it. It only dares to bully kind-hearted human girls.¡±

 Chapter 1791

    Chapter 1791: [Side Story] confinement y (17)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    dimir looked at the open door with disdain. Since Zhang Zian and the others had just entered the house, the door had not beenpletely closed. This might be the girl¡¯s thoughts or concerns. After all, there was an unfamiliar man in the house. But no matter what, the door was open. If you felt that this house was not suitable for you, you could leave. But you didn¡¯t leave. You stayed in this house and bullied the owner of this house. What was going on?

    The discipline of stray cats was that if people didn¡¯t offend them, they wouldn¡¯t offend them. If humans didn¡¯t take the initiative to provoke them, they wouldn¡¯t offend humans at all. If they didn¡¯t take a needle and a thread from the homes of ordinary people, what the stray cat had done obviously deserved to be expelled from the revolutionary team.

    The evil cat still didn¡¯t understand what had happened. Why did two cats and a two-legged beast suddenly appear in its territory? who allowed them to enter?

    However, it could tell that this two-legged beast was not easy to deal with. It was muchrger than the two-legged beast in the house and looked much stronger. It was somewhat simr to the two-legged beast that had kicked it before.

    And these two cats ¡­ Didn¡¯t seem to be easy to deal with. At least, it didn¡¯t dare to fight one against two, so it had been patient and observing, its eyes ncing back and forth between the two cats and the Beast.

    Zhang Zian usedundry detergent and warm water to quickly clean the dirt under the sofa. At this time, theizen also came back with a big bag of oranges and thanked him with embarrassment.

    ¡°Where did you put the cat food?¡± He asked after she put down the orange.

    ¡°The moment I held the cat food in my hand, it would rush over to grab it, so I put it in the cupboard.¡± She pointed at the cab.

    ¡°Yes, take it out.¡± He said.

    ¡°Uh ¡­¡± She looked at the evil cat hesitantly. She was already traumatized by its snatching of food.

    Snatching and protecting food were all bad habits that often urred to stray pets due to the failure of social education, the excessive spoiling of their owners, and once they were formed, it was not easy to change. Dogs needed a long time to change, and so did cats.

    Cats of noble andfortable breeds did not know the value of food. They knew that their owners had plenty of food, so there was no need to snatch or protect them. It was difficult for stray cats in the city to starve to death, but they still had to fight for good food with their own kind.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Don¡¯t worry and just take it out. I can¡¯t do this for you.¡± Zhang Zian said. He started to peel the orange and ate it. The orange peels were piled up and he didn¡¯t throw them away.

    ¡°Alright ¡­¡±

    She carefully opened the cab door.

    The vicious cat had been watching her movements. As soon as the cab door was opened, its ears stood up and its standing posture changed as if it was gathering power.

    There was a stic food box in the cab, which was half-filled with cat food. This box could prevent the cat food from getting wet after it was opened.

    Although he didn¡¯t see the packaging of the cat food, Zhang Zian could guess the brand of the cat food by looking at the shape and color of the cat food particles. Although it was not imported cat food, it was still a domestic brand with a good reputation.

    In fact, many people were too superstitious about imported cat food, as if domestic cat food was the original sin. But in fact, there were many cats who ate imported cat food that had ck chins and soft poop. High-quality domestic cat food was no worse than imported cat food. The expensive part of imported cat food was the cost of materials,bor, tariffs, sales and transportation. Foreign manufacturers were not doing charity.

    Just like pedigree cats and domestic cats, imported cat food had a high limit. The quality was not very good, but at least it was guaranteed. It was a fact that domestic cat food varied in quality. The good ones were no worse than imported cat food, and the bad ones had no bottom line.

    She opened the food box, scooped out a spoonful of cat food with a small spoon, and poured it into a dish.

    The evil cat seemed to have heard some kind of signal, and it shot out like it was flying, and charged at her aggressively.

    Unfortunately, just as it was halfway there, a palm flew past it diagonally, and it rolled a few times in an instant.

    It was stunned by the p. It stood up and shook its head. When it looked closely, it saw big orange squatting on the connection between it and her, blocking its way.

    Aooo

    It angrily hissed at big orange threateningly, the kind of sound that could be judged as disturbing people at night.

    Big orange was unmoved, toozy to care about it.

    Theizens watched with great enjoyment. This p was fierce, fast, and urate. If it were a human, it would be difficult to urately hit the cat¡¯s face while it was running at high speed. If it was a light p, it might be bitten back, and if it was a heavy p, it might kill it.

    ¡°Well, do you have any extra tes? It hasn¡¯t eaten today. ¡± Zhang Zian pointed at big orange.

    ¡°Uh, okay ¡­ Has it had breakfast? Do you want to give it a portion?¡± She pointed at dimir.

    ¡°No, it has already eaten.¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    She took out a simr te and poured a spoonful of cat food into it. Then, looking at big Orange¡¯s size, she took another spoonful and poured half a spoonful into the te. She felt that it might not be enough, so she poured the remaining half a spoonful into the te.

    Zhang Zian sighed. If only the hands of the cafeteriady in college had also been shaking like this ¡­

    The evil cat¡¯s heart itched when it heard the crashing sound. It tried to go around big orange and pounce on her again.

    Don¡¯t look at big Orange¡¯s fat body. How could it be easy to be amander among the stray cats? This time, it was angry. It roared and waved its ws. It didn¡¯t really attack, but the evil cat was so scared that it shrank back halfway.

    Whether it was a human or a cat, when they encountered other species, they would always misjudge their own strength and the other ¡®s. For example, when humans saw giraffes that were beautiful and cute, they would feel a sense of closeness. Their long necks looked weak, but when giraffes were angry, they could even kick Lions to death. When cats saw humans without thick hair and sharp ws to protect themselves, they would also think that humans might be easy to bully. However, cats would have a more urate estimate of the strength of their own kind. Just like how ordinary people would be as obedient as a rabbit in front of Tyson, they didn¡¯t need to try.

    She ced two tes of different sizes side by side on the floor and took a few steps back.

    Big orange sniffed and walked overzily. It lowered its head and started to eat the extra portion.

    The evil cat licked its tongue greedily and sneaked over carefully like a thief. It approached big orange tentatively step by step.

    Its goal was neither the less nor the more cat food. It wanted to take the opportunity to attack big orange and take all the cat food for itself.

    It felt that the distance was about right, so it leaped up and pounced at the back of big Orange¡¯s neck.

    She was so scared that she retreated to the wall, because she had experienced this flying posture too many times.

    Big orange didn¡¯t even look at it. After it hugged the back of its neck, it didn¡¯t make a sound no matter how hard it bit. It turned around and hugged it, jumped up and did a back throw, then sat it on its butt.

    The evil cat screamed and almost rolled its eyes. It quickly ran away and sneaked back into the toilet, not even daring to stick its head out.

    Big orange finished the two portions of cat food calmly.

 Chapter 1792

    Chapter 1792: [Side Story] confinement y (18) making friends out of nothing

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Seeing the two empty tes, the femaleizen was dumbfounded. There was so much cat food, but it was all gone. Furthermore, it looked as if it had not had enough. Could it be that this orange cat also had an extradimensional belly?

    Big orange didn¡¯t fight for food, but it cherished it. After eating the cat food on the te, it licked the bottom of the te, even the crumbs. Then, it sat cross-legged and began to wash its face, lick its fur, and clean its appearance with saliva.

    She found it interesting to see it struggling to lift one leg and fight against its stomach to clean its anus. She couldn¡¯t help butugh and said,¡±¡±What¡¯s the name of this orange cat?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s called big orange. ¡± Zhang Zian replied,¡±if you think it¡¯s too ordinary, you can also call itmander orange. It likes to be called that.¡±

    ¡°Commander ¡­ Commander ju?¡± She was stunned. It was the first time she had seen a cat with such a name. It didn¡¯t sound like a name, but more like a job.

    Big orange seemed to have heard her. It raised its head and nced at her, then continued to lick its fur.

    ¡°What about it?¡± She then looked at dimir, who had not moved much.

    ¡°It¡¯s called dimir. ¡±

    What a weird name. Is it a foreign cat? Or is the owner a foreigner?

    ¡°Is it an English Shorthair?¡± She asked.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not a pure Russia Blue cat. It¡¯s easy to mix up a British Shorthair and Russian Blue. You can tell just by looking at their body sizes. To make it even simpler, you can look at their eyes. The former is bronze and thetter is green, just like Tom in cat and mouse.¡±

    ¡°They seem quite rare. Are they cats you borrowed from your friend?¡± She asked again.

    ¡°I guess so.¡± Zhang Zian said vaguely,¡±you don¡¯t have to worry about this. This er LAN just came here on the way and has to leave in a while. However,mander orange can stay with you for a while. At least he will help you to control this evil cat.¡±

    Aizenughed,[the store manager has activated the ssic skill],[making friends out of nothing!] Every time he gets a cat, dog, or bird, he says he got it from a friend, but I¡¯ve never seen his friend!¡±

    ¡°I also want a friend like this!¡±

    This wasn¡¯t wrong. For example, Richard, Fati, famous, and dimir were all using this excuse to stall theizens. Once or twice, theizens would believe it, butter, theizens would only be left with the same excuse.

    Zhang Zian ignored them, because there was no way to exin this. The more he exined, the more unclear it would be. He continued to say to her,¡±¡±If you see big orange opening the door, let it out temporarily. When ites back, it will open the door again, and you just have to open it.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± She agreed in a daze.

    Big orange was themander in charge of the eastern war zone. He couldn¡¯t let his guard down during this special period. He had to be on guard against the counterattack of the stray dog Army led by little white. Therefore, he had to go out sometimes to do things and couldn¡¯t spend all his time here.

    At this moment, big orange, who was licking its fur, seemed to have heard something. Its ears shook, and it tiptoed to the door of the toilet. It paused for a moment, then suddenly jumped in.

    à»¨Cà»¨C

    Shrill screams came from the toilet, and the sound of things being knocked over. It sounded like big orange and the evil cat were fighting again.

    Two or three secondster, the evil cat jumped out of the toilet and shrank into the corner of the room, lying on the ground and shivering.

    Big orange walked out of the toilet as if nothing had happened and continued to lick its fur.

    The two of them looked at each other. It was not convenient for Zhang Zian to enter the toilet of a girl who lived alone, so she went in to take a look herself.

    ¡°It seemed to have peed on the floor of the toilet just now ¡­¡± She came out with a wet tissue in her hand and said to him. Then she went back to the bathroom and flushed the tissue down the toilet.

    The fur on the evil cat¡¯s body was a little wet. It seemed that it had been beaten up by big orange halfway through its pee, and the other half had peed on itself.

    In addition to the bottom of the sofa, there were many dark and hidden ces in the room, such as the toilet. The evil cat wanted to use the human toilet as its own toilet, but it was stopped by big orange in time.

    Zhang Zian ate a few oranges, squeezed out the juice from the orange peel, and sshed it on the floor under the sofa. He also squeezed it at the door of the toilet to form a smell blockade.

    ¡°Do you want to squeeze some orange peel juice out of your bedroom?¡± He asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. My bedroom door is usually closed ¡­ I wouldn¡¯t dare to leave it open ¡­¡± She pointed to a closed door with a bitter smile. The outside of the door was covered in scratch marks left by the cat¡¯s ws.

    At her worst, she was afraid that this evil cat would sneak into her bedroom in the middle of the night and kill her. She had really had such a nightmare. Although her rationality told her that it wouldn¡¯t be able to kill her, it could easily scratch her face while she was sleeping. Therefore, regardless of whether she was in the bedroom or not, the bedroom door was always closed. The bedroom was her Pure Land in this family. At night, after tidying up, she would hide in the bedroom, watch books and dramas, and suck on other people¡¯s cats. It was as if she had a tyrannical roommate who didn¡¯t have to pay rent and always threw rubbish in the house.

    She hadined to her friends about this matter, and they all advised her to throw the cat away or find someone else to adopt it. However, she was azy person and procrastinated a little. Every morning when she woke up, she would see the mess outside her bedroom and made up her mind to throw it away today. When she got home from work at night, after she was done with her work, she was toozy to move. She thought that since she had been through so many days, one more day wouldn¡¯t make a difference. She would wait until tomorrow or the weekend.

    In fact, she had analyzed herself and felt that she might have a little masochism or masochism tendency, or perhaps it was the kind of weak personality that would submit to adversity.

    Just like that, she had unknowingly spent more than half a year with it.

    She and Zhang Zian were both wearing masks, and she was also wearing sses, so most of her face was covered. They were like strangers, so she didn¡¯t hide anything and just said what she wanted to say.

    After Zhang Zian heard this, heforted her,¡±¡±Actually, you don¡¯t have to feel embarrassed. Many people have encountered such situations. For example, when you share an apartment with someone else, some people don¡¯t know what they¡¯re doing. They use your shampoo, makeup, eat your snacks, and even wear your clothes when they think your clothes are good and high-ss. They don¡¯t wash the pots and bowls after eating, never clean the public area, or pee out of the toilet ¡­ Aren¡¯t such roommates very simr to this evil cat? It¡¯s clearly a home for two people, but he¡¯s upying it all by himself, and he still thinks it¡¯s a matter of course. ¡±

    ¡°Most of the victims would choose to bear with it and clean up the mess for their roommates. They would think that they should just bear with it until the rent expired, and then either he or I would leave. What if this evil cat suddenly knew how to be grateful? I¡¯ve always had such a lucky thought in my heart. ¡±

 Chapter 1793

    Chapter 1793: [Side Story] confinement y (19)

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian¡¯s words resonated with manyizens. Who hadn¡¯t met a few bad roommates since they were young?

    Whether it was the dormitory roommates or the dormitory roommates who had paid the rent together after they started working, there were always a few who made people speechless. The typical ones were not self-conscious and were proud of taking advantage of others. They thought that they were close to you and used your things as they pleased. They even took your things without asking and did not clean up. The good dormitory atmosphere was destroyed by them alone. In the end, bad money drove out good money. Good people always could not afford to offend bad people. They could either move out of the dormitory and rent a house outside. The other option was to pay an expensive price and rent an entire apartment.

    There was a tradition in China that suffering a loss was a blessing. Parents would also tell their children to be tolerant when they were outside. However, tolerance was not necessarily a good thing. Bad people were bad people because they would not restrain themselves just because good people were tolerant. On the contrary, they would be worse.

    It was the same for picking up stray cats. Before you picked them up and raised them for a period of time, you didn¡¯t know what their personality was, or if there was a problem with the way you raised them, they wouldn¡¯t know how kind you were to them. Whether it was a human or a cat, it was easy to learn bad things, but hard to learn good.

    Zhang Zian said,¡±¡±You don¡¯t have to hold back. If you keep holding back, your roommate and cat will never realize that they¡¯ve done something wrong and cause you to be unhappy. You should lose your temper when you need to. Don¡¯t always try to be a good person ¡­ If you¡¯re too shy and soft-hearted to do it, you can introduce a third roommate or another cat. For example, let your friend live with you for a while and let your friend y the bad guy. You can deliberately disgust your roommate and make him do what he has done to you even worse. After that, you can just leave. Like this, we¡¯ll borrow a cat with good social education and let the cat teach the evil cat a lesson. ¡±

    After a head-on test and a sneak attack attempt, the evil cat waspletely defeated in front of big orange. This was normal. How could a tyrannical catpare with a stray cat like big orange, who had experienced hundreds of battles outside? Coupled with its weight advantage, big orange could wash its face with one paw and press it down with the other paw ¡­

    The evil cat, who was hiding in the corner, saw big orange cleaning its body. After waiting for a while, it seemed to be bored and began to clean its body, especially licking off its own urine. After all, cats did not like to be wet, even if it was their own urine.

    Big orange finished cleaning its body unhurriedly. It strolled to the front of the femaleizen, sniffed her body, and looked at the room again. It tried to take a few steps to the other rooms, but when it looked back and saw that she didn¡¯t object, it went into the other rooms one by one to observe theyout and remember theyout of the rooms, including her bedroom. It was like every cat that hade to a new environment, except that it omitted the stress response.

    Big Orange¡¯s endurance wasn¡¯t good, but its explosive power was quite good. Although it was fat, it could still jump on the top of the table and other ces, but it didn¡¯t jump randomly, especially the kitchen counter and the dressing table full of skin care products and cosmetics.

    Theizens were amazed.¡±Commander orange is quite observant, huh?¡±

    ¡°My cat is too naughty. It jumps on the cab all day and breaks countless bottles of my cosmetics. I don¡¯t even dare to put my cosmetics outside ¡­ I also want to borrowmander orange for a few days!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s strange. Isn¡¯tmander orange a stray cat?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s normal for a cat to be observant,¡± Zhang Zian said,¡±a cat that has sessfully undergone social education should be able to observe a human¡¯s expression, actions, and tone. Moreover, social education is not limited to the pet cats at home. As a stray cat, it is also important to observe a human¡¯s expression. This is a guarantee of survival.¡±

    He didn¡¯t know when big orange started to wander, why it wandered, was it abandoned by its owner, or had identally run away from home but couldn¡¯t find its way home. But there was no doubt that big orange knew how to get along with people, which showed that it had not been wandering since it was born.

    The few governors that dimir had chosen were not born stray cats. It was because they hade into contact with humans that they understood how humans did things. As the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.

    Big orange wasn¡¯t the only one who was curious. The evil cat saw the bedroom door that had never been open for it, so it slipped in from the door when no one was paying attention. But the difference was that it seemed to be attracted by the smell of a specific nt in the cosmetics, and it wanted to jump on the dressing table as soon as it entered.

    Just as it was halfway up, big orange pounced on it from the side. In the air, it threw it to the ground and pressed it under its body. It raised a paw and pped its head. It screamed and ran away again.

    So be it. When it passed by the femaleizen, it even scratched her calf, as if it was venting its anger on her for being beaten up.

    This was a typical error in status. It thought that her status was lower than its own, and even if it couldn¡¯t beat big orange, it couldn¡¯t beat her.

    Fortunately, she had just gone out and was still wearing jeans. Otherwise, there would be another bloody mark on her leg.

    This time, big orange was also angry. It did not let it escape, but spread its four legs and chased after it.

    As the recorder, Zhang Zian also held up his cell phone and chased after them. Otherwise, theizens who liked to watch the fun would definitely not let it go.

    The evil cat took advantage of its flexibility and familiarity with the house. It ran around the house, whether it was a sofa, a dining table, an air purifier, or an air conditioner. It jumped on anything it caught. However, the house was small with two rooms and one living room. The kitchen was closed, so there was limited space for it to escape. In the end, it couldn¡¯t hide anymore, so it hid in a corner behind the air conditioner.

    It didn¡¯t care that it was covered in dust and stared at big orange with a cunning look, as if it was provoking it. ¡°If you have the ability,e in! You can¡¯t get in, can you?

    The cab-type air conditioner was ced in the corner of the wall. It was at a triangr angle with the two walls on both sides. The space was very narrow, and the dust had umted for many years. The evil cat had forced its way in, so big orange definitely could not get in.

    Big orange circled around the air conditioner and reached out from the left. The evil cat shrank to the right. Big orange turned to the right and reached out, and the evil cat shrank to the left.

    The more anxious big orange was, the prouder the evil cat was.

    The femaleizen was anxious as she watched. Her heart ached for big orange, and she wondered if she should move the air conditioner in the room. But she couldn¡¯t move herself.

    ¡°Use this,¡± Zhang Zian handed her arge piece of orange peel.¡±It¡¯s time to lose your temper and let your roommates know that you¡¯re not to be trifled with.¡±

    She was stunned for a moment. Even a man made of mud had some dirt in him. It was impossible to say that she was not angry at the cat at all.

    She tore off a piece of the right size from the orange, rubbed it with her palm, and squeezed out some juice.

    ¡°Hey!¡± She shouted.

    Big orange and the evil cat looked at her at the same time.

    She aimed at the corner and threw the orange peel. The orange peel hit the wall and fell on the evil cat¡¯s head.

 Chapter 1794

    Chapter 1794: [Side Story] confinement y (20) you¡¯re not Chinese if you don¡¯t switch

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    It wasn¡¯t easy to expect a girl to harden her heart to hit a cat, not to mention that she might not be able to beat it. Without sufficient protection, she might be scratched by the cat. Long-range throwing weapons like orange peel were safer.

    The pungent smell of the orange peel startled the evil cat and made it jump out of the corner. As soon as it came out, it was pressed down from the side by big orange, and it was pped back and forth.

    ¡°bo!¡±

    ¡°bo!¡±

    ¡°bo!¡±

    ¡­¡­

    ¡°F * ck!¡±

    Some fighting game enthusiasts were attentively counting big Orange¡¯sbo. Big orange had actually whipped the evil cat more than 20 times in just three to four seconds. It was dazzling, and they couldn¡¯t even count it if they were slow.

    The cat was so stunned that it forgot to run away. It took a few seconds for it to react. It grabbed big orange and bit him. Big orange pretended to be weak andy down on the ground. He grabbed the cat¡¯s neck with his ws and strangled it. He rolled around continuously. When he was below the cat, he grabbed the cat¡¯s neck and dragged it out.

    The evil cat hit the wall and slid down, listless.

    Theizens in the live broadcast room were also dumbfounded.¡±What did I see? Wasn¡¯t that the back throw in grappler? My money for the judo training was wasted. After a few years of training, I¡¯m not even as good as an orange cat?¡±

    Big Orange¡¯s body size was indeed like a heavy grappler. Although it was chubby, its body was soft and flexible. The fierce cat had no advantage in front of it.

    The evil cat¡¯s initial attempts at testing big orange, its sneak attack, and now the final battle, all ended in a crushing defeat. It seemed to have epted the fact that it could not defeat big orange, and that big Orange¡¯s status was higher than its own. It no longer dared to provoke big orange. Instead, it slowly approached big orange with humble movements, showing a respectful expression.

    Animals were like this. If they lost in a battle to determine their status and territory, they would either leave their homes or be obedient underlings. They would not have too many tricks up their sleeves.

    Big orange nced at it and felt that it was dirty and covered in dust. It flicked its tail away from it and lowered its head to lick its fur that had been messy and dirty in the battle just now.

    The evil cat was bored. Big brother was taking a bath and changing clothes, so it could only take a bath and change clothes. It also began to lick its fur.

    It had been quite tormented just now, and it hadn¡¯t eaten for two days. It licked its fur and felt even hungrier. It looked up at the femaleizen.

    Aooo

    It had just opened its mouth to howl when big orange gave it another p and turned around to howl at it, as if saying,¡±¡±Owling my ass, say I love you.¡±

    The evil cat felt wronged, but it didn¡¯t dare to act rashly. Instead, it meowed and asked for food from her.

    Even if she didn¡¯t understand catnguage, she could see the change in the cat¡¯s attitude and tone. It had obviously lost its arrogance and unruly attitude.

    She looked at Zhang Zian in surprise. Seeing that he didn¡¯t object, she scooped out two spoonfuls of cat food from the food storage box and ced them on two tes.

    The evil cat didn¡¯t die at the sight of cat food like before. Instead, it sneaked a nce at big Orange¡¯s attitude, as if it wouldn¡¯t dare to eat it if big brother didn¡¯t eat it.

    Big orange had already eaten three spoonfuls of food by itself, but it still did not refuse anything. It slowly strolled to the te, lowered its head, and ate.

    Seeing this, the evil cat was relieved and followed them to eat.

    Looking at the two cats eating cat food side by side in front of the food te, and wagging their tails from time to time, no one would think that the two cats had just fought and their fur was flying.

    She had mixed feelings when she saw it, but she was more happy. Even her hatred for the evil cat had been reduced by a lot. She knew that she was partly responsible for it bing such an evil cat, just like how parents had to be responsible for their children who were not taught well.

    On that rainy day, when she first brought it home, it just didn¡¯t have any rtives, avoided people, and would reach out its ws when she wanted to touch it. But if she didn¡¯t get close to it, at least the human and cat could live in peace.

    When did it be like this?

    It was probably because she felt that it was very scared when it arrived at a new home and that she should give it enough space and not disturb it. From then on, she and it became two tenants under the same roof. One moved during the day and the other at night, and they would asionally meet. That was all. She would prepare water and food for it every day and not disturb it, thinking that this was good for it.

    Perhaps when she went to work in the day, it would wander around the house to explore, leaving its own smell in every house and using its own smell to erase her smell, slowly expanding its territory. When she came home from work, it would spread her smell again, and in its eyes, she was an invader who waspeting with it for the space.

    So, it was her indulgence that made it an unruly child.

    Now, big orange was like a teacher, helping her to discipline it. It seemed that it was only afraid of big orange and did not hate big orange, because the weak in the animal world had no right to hate the strong. The strong did not bite them to death or drive them away, which was already the pity of the strong.

    The evil cat finished all the cat food on the te. After all, this was its usual amount of food, and it had not eaten for two days. It looked at her, then at big orange, licked its lips, and tried to meow a few more times.

    She was about to get more cat food when she suddenly thought of something and looked at Zhang Zian.

    Zhang Zian shook his head slightly. Whether it was from a health point of view or from a training point of view, now that its behavior had just changed, it was best not to give it the impression that it would have food to eat as soon as it barked.

    She nodded, took two small tes, filled them with water, and ced them side by side on the floor.

    The two cats had just finished their fight and had eaten their dry cat food. They were just about to drink some water, so they ran over and started licking the water.

    After drinking the water, big orange saw that the sun was just right outside, so it ran to the balcony to bask in the sun. The evil cat also followed.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be leaving for today. Commander ju, you can stay at your house for now. I¡¯lle back in a few days.¡± Zhang Zian got up and left.

    ¡°Alright, thank you so much, manager!¡± She stood up to send him off.

    The two of them walked to the door, and Zhang Zian stopped and said,¡±¡±Finally, I¡¯ll give you a fundamental guiding principle. At the same time, it¡¯s also for all theizens in the live broadcast room. As long as you follow it, whether it¡¯s raising a cat or a dog, or raising a child in the future, from small things like getting along with your roommates to big things like ruling the country and pacifying the world, you¡¯ll all benefit.¡±

    Hearing him speak so seriously, she quickly washed her ears and listened.

    However, theizens expressed their doubts out of habit.¡±Manager, you¡¯re lying again. Don¡¯t you have to add another sentence: You¡¯re not Chinese if you don ¡®t, right?¡±

    Zhang Zianughed and said,¡±if you seek peace through conflict, then peace will exist.¡± If we seek peace throughpromise, the peace will be destroyed. ¡±

    dimir nodded in appreciation.

    Theizens thought,¡¯this is really not Chinese!¡¯

 Chapter 1795

    Chapter 1795: [Side Story] confinement y (21) freedom

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    A few dayster.

    The domestic situation was not just a little good, but a big one. There were voices of people returning to work in the public world. Although there were still hidden worries abroad, they had seen the light of hope in general.

    Some shops on Zhonghua Road, where the amazing fate pet shop was located, had also tried to open for business, but they had to set up special staff at the door to measure the temperature of the customers before they could enter.

    However, the customer flow was still far from recovering. The legendaryrge-scale retaliatory spending had not been seen. Instead, many people had learned their lesson and began to save money in retaliation on arge scale. As for the retaliatory buying of pets ¡­ What the hell did they want to eat?

    Zhang Zian pulled open the curtain Door. Sun Xiaomeng¡¯s car was already parked at the door. Li Kun sat in the car while ying games, and continued to go to the clinic for vines.

    He was thinking that he should start his business again. As expected, there wouldn¡¯t be many customers, but there had to be a slow recovery process.

    There was a set of white protective clothing and a temperature-measuring gun on the cashier¡¯s desk. Lu Yiyun put it on and tried it on. The size was quite suitable. After the opening, she would be responsible for taking the temperature of the customers.

    The Elfins were also looking forward to the day the Pet Shop regained its vitality.

    He took his phone, sat in the Wuling Hong Guang MPV, and went to pick up big orange. ording to the feedback from the femaleizen these days, the evil cat ¡­ No, it already had a strange name,¡±dog.¡± The dog¡¯s living habits had greatly improved under thebination of big Orange¡¯s punches and kicks.

    dimir didn¡¯t follow them today, because it had a meeting to criticize and self-criticize the recent style of stray cats. After Zhang Zian picked up big orange, he immediately had to send big orange back to the meeting.

    When he arrived at the neighborhood where theizens lived, he stopped the car and went upstairs to knock on the door.

    The femaleizen had changed into a pair of cropped pants and loungewear today. She was barefooted and wearing slippers and an apron. It seemed that she was busy when he knocked on the door. Of course, she had to wear a mask.

    The smell of stewed meat wafted from the kitchen. As soon as Zhang Zian entered the house, he saw big orange and the dog squatting side by side at the kitchen door, drooling at the stove.

    The dog couldn¡¯t help but want to go into the kitchen through the crack in the door a few times. Every time it moved, big orange would p its head.

    ¡°You came just in time. Let¡¯s leave after lunch. They¡¯re all home-cooked dishes.¡± She invited them warmly. This was the basic etiquette in interpersonalmunication. When the guests came and saw that the host was cooking, the host would definitely invite them. The guests had to be more aware. They could not ept the invitation shamelessly. After all, they were not familiar with each other.

    ¡°No, I have something to doter.¡± Zhang Zian declined.

    ¡°I see ¡­¡± She felt a little regretful.

    He noticed that there were several delivery cardboard boxes of different sizes at the door.

    ¡°Nowadays, express delivery has be slow delivery. I saw thatmander orange had a hard time squeezing into the cat litter box that was originally prepared for the dog, so I bought a bigger one. It only arrived today.¡±

    She opened thergest cardboard box, and inside was a brand new andrge cat litter box.

    ¡°And the external insect repent I bought for them, I¡¯ve never used it before. The instruction manual says to remove the hair on the back of the neck and drip it on the skin. Is that what it looks like?¡± She asked.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. This is how you use the de-worming medicine.¡± He nodded with certainty.¡±Do you need my help?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to try it out myself first,¡±

    She opened the medicine bottle and dripped the medicine on the back of big Orange¡¯s neck ording to the instructions. Then, she carefully pressed the dog from behind. The dog twisted its body and wanted to struggle. It also wanted to kick with its hind legs, but it was pped by big orange. She pulled the hair on the back of its neck and dripped the medicine on it.

    She heaved a sigh of relief. She had finally done what she had wanted to do for a long time. She had dewormed the dog. In a few days, she nned to take the dog to the pet Hospital for aprehensive physical examination and vination.

    However, before that, she had to let the dog get familiar with the cat bag. She could already imagine the resistance of the dog when she carried it into the cat bag.

    Zhang Zian looked at the time and said,¡±if there¡¯s nothing else, I¡¯ll take my leave.¡±

    She was stunned. She didn¡¯t expect him to be in such a hurry.

    ¡°Commander ju, we should go.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± He called out and walked to the door. Big orange nced at the dog and followed behind.

    Gou ¡®Zi didn¡¯t know what had happened and looked at them suspiciously.

    She walked him all the way to the door, rubbed her hands, and said embarrassedly,¡±¡±Um ¡­ I have something to discuss with you, manager.¡±

    ¡°What is it? If you have something to say, just say it. ¡± He said.

    She looked at big orange tenderly.¡±Manager, you said thatmander orange is a stray cat. You¡¯re not joking, are you?¡±

    No, it¡¯s really a stray cat. It often loiters around my shop and ys with other stray cats.¡± He answered.

    ¡°Oh ¡­ Then ¡­ If it doesn¡¯t have an owner, can you not let it go? I¡¯ll take care of it.¡± She probed with a nervous heart.

    In the few days that big orange had been here, her life had changed dramatically. She had finally experienced the joy of raising a cat. She no longer had to be on guard against the attacks of evil cats all day long. She no longer had to get up in the morning and be vexed by the cat poop on the floor. Before she went to bed, she could see two cats snuggling up to each other on the balcony. She could sleep more peacefully. Although she had not experienced the feeling of stroking a cat,pared to before, it was like a cat ve who had turned over and sang!

    All these changes came from big orange, who forced the evil cat to change a lot of bad habits. Even watching them y every day was a pleasure.

    She had just started to enjoy it when big orange was leaving. The cat litter box she bought for it had not been used yet.

    ¡°You wantmander ju to stay?¡± He asked.

    ¡°I can ¡®t?¡± ¡°I definitely won¡¯t abandon it, and I won¡¯t let it suffer ¡­¡± She said anxiously.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s see what it wants.¡± Zhang Zian said, then squatted down and asked big orange,¡±¡±Commander ju, do you want to stay in this house?¡±

    Big orange looked at her, then at the dog. It meowed a few times, walked out of the door, and squatted at the door, waiting for Zhang Zian.

    The more human it was, the more she couldn¡¯t bear to let it go.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to feel sorry. It¡¯s often active in this area. Maybe one day, when it¡¯s tired and hungry, it¡¯lle to you for food and see if the dog has caused any trouble.¡± Zhang Zianforted her.

    ¡°Manager Zhang, everyone says you can talk to cats. Is that true? Commander orange ¡­ Big orange, what did you just say? Are you not satisfied with my family? ¡°If it is, I can change ¡­¡± She still didn¡¯t give up.

    Zhang Zian shook his head.¡±You misunderstood. That¡¯s not what it meant.¡±

    ¡°Then ¡­ What does it mean?¡± She asked.

    Of course, theizens were spreading false rumors. He couldn¡¯t understand catnguage, but he didn¡¯t need to understand what big orange said to know what it was saying.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go outughing, I¡¯m a free cat now. ¡±

 Chapter 1796

    Chapter 1796: [Side Story] the tale of the elves

    <span><b></b>

    The weather was getting warmer.

    These days, the weather was bing more and more abnormal. Spring and autumn were pitifully short, as if winter had passed into summer in the blink of an eye. Therefore, while the tail of spring was still around, they should try to do more things that should be done in spring, such as making money.

    Thanks to the United efforts of the people all over the country to fight against the disease, the Pet Shop could finally open its business in the open, instead of sneakily carrying out PY transactions in the dark.

    Even though the weather was getting warmer and warmer, many people still didn¡¯t take off their masks. This was good. After all, those who wore masks were handsome men and beautiful women. It gave them more space for their imagination to run wild. That¡¯s right, it was just their imagination. It wasn¡¯t illegal to think about it.

    The Elfins were also suffocating. Although no one stopped them when they went out, there was no point in going out when there were only a few people on the street.

    ¡°Yeah, there aren¡¯t any handsome guys to look at.¡± Richard said.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t there one in front of you?¡± Zhang Zian ran his fingers through his hair.

    ¡°rgh! I¡¯m about to throw up my overnight sirloin!¡± Snowy Li was drooling, lying on the cat tree and looking outside.¡±Why isn¡¯t it the season for the girls to show their flesh yet?¡±

    In the past, Zhang Zian should have felt the same way, but he didn¡¯t have the time to think about it now. The key was to restore the traffic, or he would have to close the door and go under the bridge to drink the Northwest wind.

    Although they could open for business now, many things were gone forever. Many shops on Zhonghua Road had not been open since they closed. Instead, they hung signs for rent and transfer. The number of pedestrians on the street had visibly decreasedpared to previous years. Many people now chose not to go out if possible.

    However, the problem was that spring was short. After summer, it would be autumn. Who knew if the God of gue that had been sent away by the people of the country would note back? These two years would definitely be the most difficult time for a small business owner like him.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. If only the immortal medicine rewarded by the Moon Pce was reced with a vine that could cure all diseases.¡± Old time tea sighed with its usualpassionate kiss.

    ¡°Old time tea, you¡¯re overthinking it. Even if it¡¯s a vine, there must be a bracket with a note: Only for pet sprites to use. ¡± Zhang Zian advised,¡±the elixir of life is better.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. ¡± Old time tea smiled and picked up a cloth bag that he had sewn for it.

    ¡°Grandpa tea, you¡¯re going out today?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not talented, but I¡¯m willing to start with Chinese medicine. I¡¯ll try all kinds of herbs like Shennong. Maybe I can find a prescription to get rid of the gue and strengthen the body.¡± Old time tea said,¡±since God has given me a second chance at youth, wouldn¡¯t I feel guilty if I let this good time go to waste?¡±

    Zhang Zian stuffed some frozen chicken into its cloth pocket.¡±If you can¡¯te back in time at noon, you can just fill your stomach first.¡±

    Old time tea nodded happily.¡±I¡¯m leaving.¡±

    Zhang Zian watched old time tea¡¯s figure disappear on the roof. He didn¡¯t need to say any polite words. It was old time tea, who had recovered its youth.

    ¡°Look at Grandpa tea. He¡¯s also a human, but he¡¯s young and only knows how to eat and sleep, and then sleep and eat. He¡¯s also using his phone. How can he be so ¡­¡±

    ¡°Bengong seems to feel that there is a hidden meaning in your words. Are you talking about humans or cats?¡± Fina interrupted his mumbling and said coldly,¡±¡±Bengong feels offended!¡±

    ¡°Of course I¡¯m talking about ¡­ People. Look at those two idiots, aren¡¯t they just like that?¡± Zhang Zian pointed at Wang Qian and Li Kun, who were ying games at the door.

    Every time he saw that there were no customers in the shop, and the two of them could y games and get paid, he would get angry.

    Of course, every time he saw Lu Yiyun¡¯s drawing of the pet store manager, who looked like him, being held in the arms of a strong man with a lovestruck expression, he was also very angry ¡­

    As for Jiang Feifei, who couldn¡¯t go to San Francisco for an internship because of the more serious confinement y in the United States, she was wearing headphones and watching American dramas in the name of learning English. This ¡­ Could be considered as her learning.

    He was the only one worried about the Pet Shop¡¯s future.

    This was the so-called ¡°don¡¯t just look at the thief eating meat, don¡¯t see the thief getting beaten up. ¡°When the boss made money, everyone was jealous, but when the boss made losses, they selectively lost their vision.

    The livestreaming business was not very popr. With the support of new and old customers and friends, it was not a problem to make a living by livestreaming, but it was impossible to make a living for a store.

    The main focus was still on his old profession.

    ¡°Meow!¡± Gxy chased the kitten energetically.¡±Zian, don¡¯t look so sad. Everything will be fine.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. ¡± He rolled up his sleeves. There was no point in worrying, so he called out to the idlers,¡±Hey! You guys, move your butts and start working!¡±

    ¡°Immediately, immediately! After this round!¡±

    ¡°Immediately, immediately! I finished drawing this draft. ¡±

    ¡°Immediately, immediately! After this episode ¡­¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by finish this episode? Don¡¯t you study English?¡± Zhang Zian said angrily.

    He couldn¡¯t count on the few of them, he had to do it himself.

    ¡°Oh right, Fati, there¡¯s a role in the crew that¡¯scking a person ¡­ No, it¡¯s a dog. Are you interested in taking over? There¡¯s a reward. ¡± He found Fati, who was napping.

    The crew had started to resume work, but due to the influence of the epidemic, the owner of one of the pet actors had been quarantined and could note for the time being. However, time was precious in the crew, and they were spending money every day, so they were trying to find a way to recruit suitable actors. Although most dog actors could be reced by police dogs, police dogs were all German Shepherds, Kunming dogs, and Labradors, so they were not easily recognizable. Since this dog was going to act opposite famous, they had to consider the visual differentiation. The director wanted a dog in light colors, such as a Husky or an skan Mmute, and it had to be domineering enough.

    In the past few days, many dog owners had brought their beloved dogs for interviews, but none of them had been sessful. Zhang Zian saw an acquaintance with the surname Jin among them. He drove his Husky to the interview in a luxury car. As a result, before it was its turn, it had gnawed on all the chicken legs in the lunch boxes of all the crew members, leaving only chicken bones. It had also torn down two sofas ¡­ It made its owner quite embarrassed.

    In line with the principle of not letting one¡¯s fertile water flow into others ¡®fields, Zhang Zian wanted to letw push try. After all, it was a gray wolf, so there was no problem with its color recognition and domineering aura.

    Famous was also teasing him.¡±Yeah, Fati, go and try it. It¡¯s boring to stay at home all day.¡±

    Fati was a little tempted. It was good toe to this country, but it didn¡¯t have much freedom when going out. Every time it went out, it had to be led by Zhang Zian or someone else, or it had to go out in an invisible state. It was embarrassed to always trouble others. After all, everyone was busy, and it couldn¡¯t enjoy interacting with humans when it was invisible, so it was a good opportunity to rx.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Why did you suddenly update the side Story?

    The reason was that ¡°Wang meow¡±, a loyal reader who often sent insert art drafts to the public ount,& had specially written a poem for the book ¡­ Was it a poem or a judgment? In short, it was very shocking, because it was written too well. Even if it was just for this judgment, he had to desperately update a few chapters.

    ¡ª¨C¾«ÁéÆæÔµ¡ª¨C

    The sea of stars brightened and dimmed, and the God country¡¯s immortal Pearl light was chaotic.

    The golden age was bright and peaceful, and the state of mind was reincarnated and the mortal world was light.

    Her delicate ws were charming and charming, as if she was trying to understand his words and calm her heart.

    Endless eternal river sand surrounded it, and the whale falls sang beautifully.

    [The iron fist of the universal truth godfiend powder can withstand the weight of three people.]

    The pious Sage seal changed in pain, and the spiritual butterfly sighed in the dream.

    Time and space whirled, and the moon was full.

    The fairy tale¡¯s book shadow was still on the table, and the pet King was not done yet.

    by Woof& meow

 Chapter 1797 - [Side Story] danger!

    Chapter 1797: [Side Story] danger!

    Zhang Zian walked to the stairwell and called director Feng. He told him that he had found a suitable ¡­ Dog, and that he would take it for an interview when he had time.

    Director Feng was relieved. He believed that the dog that Zhang Zian had brought would be very reliable. At least it would not destroy the two sofas in the crew.

    Dong Dong Dong Dong Dong

    There was a rhythmic sounding from the kitchen on the second floor. Most people would think that there was a virtuous, beautiful, and gentle new wife cutting vegetables in the kitchen just by listening to the sound.

    Zhang Zian also hoped so.

    ¡°Change!¡±

    He released a powerful will and cast a spell on the kitchen.

    In front of the chopping board in the kitchen, a beautiful girl with snow-white skin and a silver essory around her neck suddenly appeared and smiled at him ¡­

    ¡°Wake up! You idiot!¡± Richard¡¯s wing suddenly hit his face.¡±I¡¯ve never seen anyone as shameless as you. He¡¯s just a herb maker, not a garlic or vegetable maker!¡±

    The illusion disappeared. It was not the beautiful girl who was cutting vegetables by the chopping board in the kitchen, but the mechanical Jade Rabbit.

    This was due to a sudden idea of his. He changed the Jade bottle used to grind the medicine to the pestle used to grind the garlic. The mashed garlic was really good! Then, he changed to a vegetable knife of the right size and let Yao Yao try to cut the vegetables. The shredded carrots he cut wereparable to the skills of a Top Chef. He was seriously considering whether to open a small restaurant ¡­

    Something tugged at the corner of his clothes. He turned around and saw wine monkey holding a cloth in his hand. He stared at him pitifully and licked his lips.

    ¡°Have you wiped the cabs clean?¡±

    Zhang Zian walked around the second floor like a strict supervisor. Whether it was the kitchen cab, the bedroom wardrobe, the bathroom cab, he checked everything, even the hidden corners. They were all wiped clean.

    He walked to a safe and opened it with his fingerprint. There were no bundles of cash in the safe, only bottles of white wine or beer.

    He took out a can of beer and handed it to the wine monkey.¡±This is the reward for today¡¯s portion.¡±

    As if he had obtained a treasure, the wine monkey happily sat on the ground with the beer in his hands. He opened the can with a pfft and started drinking.

    ¡°It¡¯s really stinky old wine!¡± Richard said, shaking his head.

    ¡®Stinky old wine¡¯ was the nickname Richard had given the wine monkey.

    Since this guy came to the Pet Shop, Zhang Zian found that the wine left by his father would always be empty, and next to it was a Drunk Monkey. So he bought a cheap safe and locked all the wine, and had the monkey clean the second floor every day to exchange for wine. At first, this guy was alwayszy and slippery, only doing the surface work, cleaning the visible ces and slipping away the invisible ces. But after being punished by Zhang Zian several times, he was banned from drinking. It slowly learned to be obedient.

    After all, it was a primate with aplete set of limbs. It was not good to idle around all day. It had to rely on itsbor to exchange for alcohol.

    Although he had the Jade Rabbit to cut vegetables and the wine monkey to clean, Zhang Zian still hoped that he could pack them up and Exchange them for a sky snail girl. He didn¡¯t need change ¡­

    ¡°Softy, What are you looking at?¡±

    Zhang Zian saw the White Worm lying on the window sill and sticking its head out through the ss, so he walked over to look outside.

    ¡°Oh, little celery, you¡¯re here.¡±

    It was a Saturday, so he didn¡¯t have to go to school, and many schools hadn¡¯t started yet, but he saw little celery walking towards him from her house.

    When he went downstairs, little celery was also at the door of the shop.

    ¡°Good Morning, brother store manager.¡± Little celery greeted him with great energy.

    ¡°Morning, where are you ¡­ Going?¡±

    Little celery wasn¡¯t carrying her school bag. She was carrying a fishing on her shoulder. If it was summer, she might have gone to catch cicadas, but it wasn¡¯t the season for cicadas yet.

    ¡°The nature teacher gave us the homework to make butterfly specimens.¡± She frowned and said,¡±I¡¯ve searched around my house and couldn¡¯t find a butterfly, so I came to ask brother store manager where I can catch a butterfly.¡±

    ¡°Butterflies ¡­ Why don¡¯t we go to the green space behind my shop and take a look?¡± He suggested.

    ¡°Mm! I¡¯ll go now! Brother store manager, bye!¡± Little celery¡¯s eyes lit up. She ran around the Pet Shop and ran toward the green space.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t notice it before, but after little celery¡¯s words, he didn¡¯t remember seeing any butterflies this year. Usually, this was the season when butterflies were flying, but this year seemed a little unusual.

    Was it because of the change in climate?

    He thought for a moment. Even if the climate had changed, it was reasonable to say that there would be no butterflies. Could it be ¡­

    Last year, the insect disaster in Binhai city was still frightening. Disgusting caterpirs were crawling everywhere, on trees, roofs, ground, roof ¡­ There was no ce where caterpirs did not exist.

    In order to take back Binhai city from the caterpirs, all the citizens were mobilized at that time and used all possible means to control the caterpirs. Of course, the most important thing was to spray them.

    Could it be that he had sprayed too much medicine, causing the caterpirs to be exterminated?

    This was not impossible. At that time, the pesticides were sprayed as if they were free. It was definitely an overdose. At that time, the city leaders were only concerned with solving the urgent situation and did not have the time to think about the effects of excessive pesticide spraying.

    Caterpirs were disgusting, but caterpirs, butterflies, and moths were an indispensable part of the ecological environment. If there were no butterflies or moths in Binhai city this year, it might cause other ecological problems.

    Zhang Zian was standing in front of the store, lost in thought. Suddenly, he heard the bell of the bicycle, followed by a screech of the emergency brake.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s master Wu. Good Morning. Where are you nning to go today?¡±

    The one riding the bicycle was electrician Wu, but what surprised Zhang Zian was that welder Zhao, who had always been close to electrician Wu, didn¡¯t follow him.

    He looked behind electrician Wu and thought that welder Zhao was some distance behind him. However, there was no sign of welder Zhao behind electrician Wu.

    Could it be that these two old buddies had quarreled?

    Electrician Wu and welder Zhao had long since retired. After retirement, they had nothing to do. They often wandered around Binhai city and the suburbs on their bicycles and e-bikes. When they passed by the Pet Shop, they would stop to chat, or go into the aquarium to see what new rare things they had found.

    Just a few days ago, the two of them had shown up at the entrance of the shop.

    He was puzzled, but then he noticed electrician Wu¡¯s face was full of worry, and there was a big bump on his lips because of the heat.

    ¡°Master Wu, what¡¯s wrong? You lost your wallet?¡± He asked.

    Electrician Wu let out a heavy sigh, beat his chest, and stomped his feet.¡±¡±Don¡¯t even mention it! Old Zhao, he ¡­ He ¡­¡±

    ¡°Master Zhao? What¡¯s wrong with master Zhao?¡±

    Zhang Zian thought welder Zhao was up to something again, but electrician Wu¡¯s next words shocked him.

    ¡°Old Zhao ¡­ He¡¯s in critical condition!¡±

 Chapter 1798

    Chapter 1798: [Side Story] a waste of feelings

    Zhang Zian was dumbfounded.

    Although it was said that the weather was unpredictable, and people had their ups and downs, just a few days ago, welder Zhao, who was still alive and kicking in front of his shop, was in critical condition in the blink of an eye. This ¡­ Wasn¡¯t this development a little too fast?

    Since the opening of his aquarium, he had met electrician Wu, welder Zhao, and Carpenter Wang, the three great water and electricity remodelling workers by chance. The first two had almost always witnessed the growth of the aquarium. Now, his shop had finally survived the disease that swept the world, but welder Zhao, who was in great health, had fallen?

    ¡°No¡­ What happened to master Zhao? Did she get sick or was she hit by a car?¡± He asked hurriedly.

    ¡°He wasn¡¯t hit by a car. He has a strong sense of safety and follows the traffic rules. It¡¯s just that ¡­ He got sick. Sigh!¡± Electrician Wu let out a long sigh.

    On closer look, electrician Wu seemed to have aged a few years. His already gray hair had turned even whiter.

    ¡°What kind of illness?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Ah ¡­ Cancer!¡±

    In fact, electrician Wu had just said that it was cancer, but Zhang Zian mistook it for an ¡°AI¡±.

    Hearing that it was cancer, Zhang Zian was upset. Most cancer was terminal if it was not diagnosed in time, and very few people could survive it. Especially when he heard that welder Zhao was in critical condition, it must be in thete stage. There was basically no cure.

    ¡°Is there anything I can help with?¡± He asked....

    At times like this, electrician Wu was welder Zhao¡¯s best friend. He should be by welder Zhao¡¯s side orforting his family. However, since electrician Wu hade to his shop on purpose, it was probably not as simple as just informing him.

    Zhang Zian wondered if welder Zhao wanted to take advantage of him when his life was in danger and asked electrician Wu toe over and tell him about it so that he could bring gifts such as a fruit basket and milk to visit him.

    Electrician Wu really sighed this time and said, ¡± ¡± Old Zhao asked me toe and tell you that no one in his family owns fish, and he doesn¡¯t want to give away the junk in his fish tank to someone else. He asked you to go and take his things back to your shop. He said that he has troubled you a lot, and as a fish friend, it¡¯s too vulgar to give money. Besides, his family is waiting to get a share of the money. Those fish and corals, just take it as a gift from a friend. It¡¯s a memento. At the same time, he said goodbye to you onest time and thanked you. ¡±

    When Zhang Zian heard this, he almost couldn¡¯t hold back his tears. Indeed, when one was about to die, one¡¯s words were kind. Welder Zhao, who had always been stingy, actually wanted to give him the fish he raised. This ¡­

    To be honest, if welder Zhao wanted to take advantage of him for thest time and asked him to bring a fruit basket and milk to visit the patient, he would feel better.

    Electrician Wu looked into the store. ¡± Store manager Zhang, do you have time? ¡± If it¡¯s convenient, can you fulfill his wish and make a trip? This will be thest time I¡¯ll trouble you.¡±

    In this case, even if Zhang Zian¡¯s shop was full of people, he would still have to make time to go there, not to mention that it waspletely deserted now.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go now. ¡±

    Electrician Wu heaved a sigh of relief and said,¡±¡±Sure. Manager Zhang, you¡¯re driving, right? I rode my bicycle here, so I¡¯ll be leaving first. ¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Zhang Zian was about to turn around and go into the shop to exin to the staff when he suddenly remembered that he had not asked clearly what was going on. He asked again,¡±¡±Master Wu, should I go to master Zhao¡¯s house or the hospital? Which hospital?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you go to his house a few times? You should know the way, right?¡± Electrician Wu said.

    ¡°Ah?¡±

    Zhang Zian was stunned.¡±Isn¡¯t he in critical condition? You¡¯re not hospitalized?¡±

    ¡°†ã!¡±Electrician Wu pped his thigh in anger, and the veins on his forehead were popping out.¡±I get angry every time you mention this!¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhang Zian was puzzled.

    ¡°This old man said that he¡¯s hopeless. He¡¯s not going to be treated, and he can¡¯t be cured. He won¡¯t be hospitalized no matter what. He¡¯s going to wait for death at home. I think he just can¡¯t bear to spend money!¡± Electrician Wu was so angry that he pounded his chest and stomped his feet.¡±When I was in school, I saw stories about misers. I thought they were made up. How can there be people in this world who would give up their lives for money? Ever since I met old Zhao, I feel like I can write a textbook!¡±

    This was indeed welder Zhao¡¯s style.

    ¡°So, manager Zhang, I would like to ask you to talk to Mr. Zhao. He has always trusted you. If you can get him to stay in the hospital, you¡¯ll be the Savior of his family!¡± Electrician Wu sighed.¡±It¡¯s not that his family is so poor that they don¡¯t have the money to treat his illness. He has seen too many cases of poverty caused by illness. There were co-workers in the past who were such examples. He didn¡¯t want his entire family to be implicated if he died.¡±

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    Just now, he was still angry. Why didn¡¯t he stay in the hospital if he was sick? Just to save money? Now, he admired welder Zhao for being a man.

    In fact, welder Zhao¡¯s concerns were notpletely unreasonable. Some diseases could not be spent. If the money could be used to cure the disease, it would be fine. The worst thing was that after a few years, the money would be used up, and the person would be gone. He would lose both his life and his money.

    If he spent all his savings to cure his illness and sold his house, it would not matter if he closed his eyes or kicked his legs, but his whole family would have to go under the bridge and drink from the Northwest wind.

    Who didn¡¯t want to live? As long as it was a normal person, they would want to live a good life. Welder Zhao was the same. He was stingy with his money because he didn¡¯t want to waste it and leave more money for his family. However, if he wanted to struggle for his own life, he had to make his family suffer. As a man, he should think more. From this point of view, he admired welder Zhao.

    ¡°I look down on old Zhao.¡± Electrician Wu suddenly said.

    ¡°Why?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°What does he take us old co-workers for? If it reallyes to that, we¡¯ll just pool our money together and have a mouthful of food to eat. We won¡¯t let his family go hungry!¡± Electrician Wu said in a muffled voice.

    Zhang Zian also sighed. Electrician Wu was very loyal, but there were some things that the person involved couldn¡¯t be so free and easy about. A favor was still a debt, and the money of his old colleagues didn¡¯te from the wind. Also, did the family members of his old colleagues agree?

    ¡°How much does the treatment cost?¡± He asked.

    ¡°This ¡­ I don¡¯t know yet.¡± Electrician Wu shook his head.

    ¡°What did the doctor say? What are the chances of being cured?¡± He asked again.

    Electrician Wu spread his hands.¡±The doctor didn¡¯t say anything. Before he could ask, Zhao was already saying that he wanted to go home.¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡± Zhang Zian was stunned again.¡±You¡¯re asking to go home?¡± The notice of critical illness ¡­¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no notice of critical illness. It¡¯s old Zhao himself who said that he¡¯s in critical condition. After he came back from the hospital, heid in bed and moaned. He said that he felt ufortable all over and that the cancer might have spread. He¡¯s about to die.¡± Electrician Wu exined.

    Zhang Zian was speechless.

    He had wasted his feelings because, based on his understanding of welder Zhao, this might not be thest time he would trouble him.

 Chapter 1799

    Chapter 1799: [Side Story] war god

    Zhang Zian felt that welder Zhao was most likely suspicious of a Ghoul. He might have been fine, but when he heard the wind and grass, he thought he was seriously ill.

    Although it was just his guess, it was notpletely baseless. Welder Zhao was still alive and kicking a few days ago. How could he suddenly be critically ill? Although the probability of this happening was notpletely zero, it was still too low. It was not like they had encountered a traffic ident.

    Based on his understanding of welder Zhao, although he was usually unlucky, in terms of life, welder Zhao should be the first in the world. Even if everyone else died, welder Zhao might not have a chance.

    No matter what, he had to go there and see what was going on with welder Zhao. If he was really in critical condition, he would try his best to help.

    ¡°How about this, Master Wu? you can go first. I¡¯ll let the shop know and then drive over. I think I¡¯ll be there by the time you arrive.¡± He said.

    ¡°Alright, then I¡¯ll take my leave first.¡± Electrician Wu saw that Zhang Zian had agreed. He hade today for this matter, so he got on his bicycle and rushed back to the staff quarters.

    When Zhang Zian returned to the store, Li Kun, who had sharp ears, heard the wind. He stuck his head out and asked,¡±¡±Master, who¡¯s critically ill? Is it to invite you to bring back spring?¡±

    Wang Qian echoed while ying the game,¡±¡±Master, recently, there¡¯s a crooked mouth war god or something that¡¯s quite popr. Don¡¯t let him steal the limelight!¡±

    ¡°Gah gah!¡± Richard rolled the tip of one wing into an O shape and twitched the other wing back and forth in the O shape.¡±Don¡¯t worry, this idiot is the crooked God of War. He peed in the crooked God of War¡¯s mouth, and I guarantee not a drop will leak out. He will turn the crooked God of War into a crooked-mouthed chamber pot!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the crooked God of War! Where¡¯s the Orleans material bag I bought yesterday? I¡¯m going to marinate you today!¡± Zhang Zian looked through the package, but he couldn¡¯t find where the package from yesterday had gone....

    He still had to rush to welder Zhao¡¯s house, so he didn¡¯t have time to talk to this stupid bird. But he still had to emphasize to Lu Yiyun that the crooked God of War was fake, and that she shouldn¡¯t simply add new characters to the pet store manager in theic ¡­

    Fortunately, there were no customers in the store, especially female customers. Otherwise, they might Sue him for harassment. After all, they would not Sue a parrot.

    He took the car keys from the cashier, went out, started the Wuling Hong Guang MPV, and drove in the direction of welder Zhao¡¯s house. Since he was not sure if welder Zhao was really seriously ill, he did not dare to bring his elfin to cause trouble for him.

    He was embarrassed to visit a patient empty-handed, so he stopped for a while on the way to the supermarket to buy a fruit basket, a box of milk, and a box of eight-treasure porridge. Because these two things were usually brought when visiting a patient, no one could find any problems with them, and they were very practical for the patient.

    Electrician Wu had lived in Binhai city for his entire life, so he was familiar with the roads and took shortcuts. When he arrived at the family courtyard, he happened to see Zhang Zian stop his car. The former pushed his car and walked with thetter to the residential building where welder Zhao lived.

    ¡°Master Wu, what happened? Wasn¡¯t master Zhao still fine a few days ago?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Electrician Wu pouted.¡±I¡¯m confused too. Everyone is confused. Everyone who knows him knows that old Zhao is a healthy and strong man. After the news of his critical condition spread in his circle of friends, many people didn¡¯t believe it. They thought that he was pretending to be sick to cheat people of their food and drink.¡±

    It seemed that the crowd had sharp eyes, and everyone knew what welder Zhao was like.

    ¡°But I¡¯m neighbors with Zhao and we¡¯re close. I know that he¡¯s really sick, but I didn¡¯t expect it to be so serious ¡­ Sigh!¡± Electrician Wu sighed.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t old Zhao and I go to your shop a few days ago? ¡°Nothing happened at the time, but on the second or third day, old Zhao suddenlyined about having a stomachache. You know old Zhao. He¡¯s a carefree person, and he doesn¡¯t care about minor illnesses or pain at all. When heined about it, it meant that the pain had already reached a certain level.¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded and agreed with electrician Wu.

    ¡°Not only does old Zhao have a stomachache, but he¡¯s also vomiting and having diarrhea. Manager Zhang, you know it¡¯s verymon for people to have stomachaches. They usually eat something bad, right?¡±

    Indeed, who hadn¡¯t experienced stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea? Under normal circumstances, no one would care. More than 90% of people wouldn¡¯t go to the hospital on purpose. They would go to the pharmacy to buy one or two boxes of huoxiang morality capsules or otherxatives for two days and they would be fine. Most of them ate bad things.

    ¡°At that time, old Zhao¡¯s family felt the same way. They gave him two boxes ofxatives. After he took them, hisxation stopped, but his stomach still hurt.¡± Electrician Wu shook his head.¡±Sometimes, old Zhao is just too stubborn and braggart. If you¡¯re still in pain, you should have said something. He didn¡¯t say anything and said that he would be fine after taking the medicine. However, the pain is only temporarily alleviated. It still hurts.¡±

    ¡°Then, in the middle of the night, because he kept turning around in bed, his wife woke him up. She saw that he was in so much pain that his head was covered in sweat and his shirt was soaked. His face was pale and he was about to copse. She was shocked and quickly pulled him out of bed. She called her son-inw and asked him to drive him to the hospital.¡±

    Electrician Wu smacked the handle of the car and said angrily,¡±¡±He¡¯s still trying to show off and doesn¡¯t want to go to the hospital. He keeps saying that he¡¯s fine and that his son-inw still has to work and doesn¡¯t want to trouble his son-inw to take care of him. Of course, at that time, he still thought that he had a stomachache and nothing else. ¡±

    ¡°He made his wife so angry ¡­ When our son-inwes, we¡¯ll give him two options. One is to take our son-inw¡¯s car to the hospital for a checkup, and the other is for her to call an ambnce. He probably thought that troubling his son-inw would only cost him some gas money, which was better than wasting money, so he reluctantly followed his son-inw to the hospital ¡­¡±

    ¡°His wife was afraid that he wouldn¡¯t be willing to spend money on the check-up after going to the hospital, so she came back after making a round. She even specially told her son-inw to take half a day off and apany him throughout the entire check-up ¡­¡±

    To be honest, if this had happened to someone he didn¡¯t know, Zhang Zian would haveughed out loud. Electrician Wu¡¯s description was too vivid, and it was as if the listener had seen the scene with their own eyes. This was not because electrician Wu had a special literary literacy, but because these things had really happened, and electrician Wu was just describing it truthfully.

    ¡°In the end, old Zhao¡¯s son-inw apanied him to the hospital for a stomach examination. Guess what he found during the examination?¡± Electrician Wu asked.

    ¡°I can¡¯t guess.¡± Zhang Zian didn¡¯t dare to guess randomly. If he guessed it seriously, wouldn¡¯t he be cursing someone?

    Electrician Wu didn¡¯t mean to keep him in suspense. He still couldn¡¯t believe that it was true. He sighed and said,¡±¡±The doctor said that he found something like a tumor in his stomach!¡±

 Chapter 1800

    Chapter 1800: [Side Story] unexpected disaster

    ¡°Tumor-like thing?¡±

    Hearing this, Zhang Zian couldn¡¯t help but be serious.

    No matter what, it was not a good thing to have something abnormal in the stomach.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know the details. I wasn¡¯t there.¡± Electrician Wu exined.

    ¡°What happened after that?¡±

    ¡°†ã! I just said that old Zhao is very tough, but when the results of the stomach examination came out and his son-inw said it, he immediately copsed in his chair. His lips trembled for a long time, and his face was pale. ¡±

    In fact, this was very normal. When people talked about other people¡¯s illnesses, they could always be rational, objective, and calm. But once the illness fell on themselves, how many people could still remain calm?

    Especially the word ¡°tumor.¡± This wasn¡¯t a cold or fever, this was cancer!

    These days, whether it was because of environmental pollution or lifestyle problems, there were more and more people suffering from cancer, and they were getting younger and younger. It was not a new thing for middle-aged and elderly people to suffer from cancer. Many young people had simr colleagues and friends suffering from cancer. Once they were rted to cancer, who wouldn¡¯t talk about the change in expression?

    Of course, welder Zhao¡¯s reaction was oneyer more than that of ordinary people. He was worried that it would cost a lot of money to treat cancer. Although retired employees like them had medical insurance, the medical insurance did not cover the full amount. Not to mention, some specific anti-cancer drugs were not covered by the medical insurance. They had to pay out of their own pockets, and those drugs were all sky-high prices. This general knowledge had long been spread to the public by the popr drug God movie....

    ¡°The doctor didn¡¯t say anything?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°The doctor asked him to stay in the hospital for further examination, but old Zhao ¡­ After he recovered, his temper rose and he refused to stay in the hospital. He had no choice but to call his daughter and ask her to talk to her mother-inw and get old Zhao¡¯s wife toe and persuade him ¡­ But he sneaked away from the hospital when his son-inw called. When his son-inw finished the call, he was gone!¡± Electrician Wu¡¯s tone was filled with disappointment.

    ¡°If he¡¯s the strongest son-inw, then there should be no problem ¡­¡± Zhang Zian mumbled.

    ¡°What?¡± Electrician Wu didn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°Nothing, and then master Zhao went home?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Yes, he went straight to bed and started to make arrangements for his funeral. His wife was angry and anxious. If it were any other time, she would have hit him, but ¡­ But now that she thought about the possibility that he might have cancer and not have many days left, how could she bear to hit him?¡± Electrician Wu shook his head and sighed.¡±You don¡¯t know this, but his family has been in a mess for the past two days. His wife and daughter have been crying all day, trying to persuade him to go to the hospital for treatment, but he refused to do so. He even said that if they call an ambnce, even if they take him to the hospital, he will find a way to escape. What do you think we should do? Isn¡¯t that infuriating?¡±

    Every family had its own difficulties. It was okay to say that welder Zhao was stubborn and stupid, but he was really thinking about his family. He felt that he was already so old, and it was not too early to die. He could not let his family live a hard life just to treat his illness. The worst thing was that he had nothing. His family understood that, so they had to think about him even more. If he lost money, he could tighten his belt and earn it again, but if he lost his life, he was really gone.

    ¡°Master Wu, please calm down first. Don¡¯t get too angry and hurt your body.¡± Zhang Zian tried to persuade him,¡±I¡¯m just wondering why this illness came so suddenly. Did master Zhao do anything special before he got sick?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s sudden, but manager Zhang, to be honest, I¡¯m old and have seen a lot of things. Some of them suddenly got sick, including cancer. A few of my old ssmates and colleagues died like that. They were fine before they went to the hospital for a check-up, but after they were diagnosed with cancer, they almost copsed in the blink of an eye.¡±

    Electrician Wu thought of his friends who had passed away, and his eyes became wet.

    Zhang Zian nodded. Many types of cancer were very well hidden before they reached the final stage, with almost no obvious signs. Once they entered the final stage and showed signs, the person was basically hopeless.

    ¡°If we¡¯re talking about something special that he did ¡­¡± Electrician Wu tried to recall, but he suddenly smiled bitterly.¡±Manager Zhang, you know that most of the things that he did were not normal. They were all things that ordinary people couldn¡¯t do!¡±

    Zhang Zian alsoughed. Electrician Wu¡¯s evaluation was too correct. Fortunately, welder Zhao always had electrician Wu by his side. Otherwise, he didn¡¯t know what more ridiculous things he would do.

    ¡°Something special ¡­¡± Electrician Wu¡¯s smile disappeared. He thought for a while and said,¡±recently, he did something so stupid that I was too embarrassed to say it ¡­ You know that the seafood market is going yellow, right?¡±

    At first, Zhang Zian thought that the seafood market had another ¡°xxx¡± incident, but after thinking about it carefully, he didn¡¯t mean it that way.

    ¡°Why is it turning yellow? I haven¡¯t been to the seafood market recently. ¡± He said.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you see the news? Didn¡¯t you say that there were problems in several seafood markets both in China and abroad? either there were patients with the disease or the virus was detected in seafood products. ¡± Electrician Wu exined,¡±although the virus wasn¡¯t detected in the seafood market in Haibin city, it¡¯s still quite ¡­ Jittery. The market supervision Department is almost permanently stationed in the seafood market, afraid that something would happen. If something were to happen, from the District Secretary to the direct leader of the seafood market, arge number of people would be fired.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I understand.¡± Zhang Zian suddenly understood.

    Although that kind of ¡­ Viral disease had almost been suppressed in the country, the repeated outbreak of the virus in the seafood market made everyone shudder.

    Especially for the officials, they could do nothing, but they could not make mistakes. If they did nothing, they could be promoted step by step. If they got into trouble, no matter if it was self-inflicted or an undeserved disaster, their life would end. Because someone had to be responsible for it. Why couldn¡¯t it be you?

    Electrician Wu continued,¡±that¡¯s why the seafood merchants in the seafood market are having a hard time. The local seafood merchants are fine, but the frozen imported seafood merchants are really unlucky. They were ordered by the market supervision Department to close down. All frozen imported seafood can¡¯t be sold. When can it be sold? I don¡¯t know, but it¡¯s probably not going to happen this year. ¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded. It wasn¡¯t convenient toment on this kind of thing. Everyone had their own difficulties, just in case something happened.

    ¡°You know how expensive imported seafood is. The price is high. Now that we¡¯ve lost everything, the merchants won¡¯t be able to get anypensation. Some of them just admit that they¡¯re unlucky, and some of them ¡­ Maybe they¡¯re greedy, or maybe they¡¯re borrowing the loan. They really can¡¯t lose everything, so they secretly sold the frozen seafood in the warehouse at the base price. They¡¯ll sell it for as much money as they can ¡­¡±

    Without waiting for electrician Wu to finish, Zhang Zian had already guessed it. ¡°Could it be that master Zhao went to take advantage of the situation again?¡±

 Chapter 1801

    Chapter 1801: [Side Story] King of fish

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    (I¡¯ve changed it three times in the previous chapter, but it¡¯s still blocked. I¡¯ve been rejected every time. The most troublesome thing is that I have to wait 48 hours every time I apply for the ban to be lifted. Go to the public ount and take a look.)

    It wasn¡¯t embarrassing to take advantage of a clearance sale, but who wouldn¡¯t want to take advantage of it? As long as it was a real clearance sale and not a promotion under the name of clearance, or if the items themselves had hidden dangers, or if you didn¡¯t know much about the items, you would feel that it was a loss if you didn¡¯t take advantage of the clearance sale.

    Thest time there was an aquarium clearance sale, welder Zhao had gone overnight to pick up some cheap goods, and he had almost made a mistake. After all, there were as many water creatures as there was a sea, and welder Zhao was only a dabbler. But this time, it was only a clearance sale for frozen imported seafood. Logically speaking, it shouldn¡¯t have anything to do with welder Zhao¡¯s illness, right? Imported seafood would at most be frozen in the warehouse for too long and not fresh anymore. It would lose its taste and upset the stomach. What else could it do?

    ¡°Old Zhao even dragged me along that time, saying that he would be a bastard if I didn¡¯t take advantage of him ¡­ I didn¡¯t want to go at first, not because of anything else, but because I was worried that the imported seafood would be contaminated with germs like other ces. It¡¯s fine if I fell for it, but I don¡¯t want to teach it to my entire family. He said that we¡¯ll wear masks and disposable gloves, and after picking out the items, we¡¯ll take off the packaging on the spot and throw it away. We¡¯ll scan the code on WeChat to pay, and after we¡¯re done, we¡¯ll throw the masks and gloves into the trash can. What could happen?¡±

    Electrician Wu locked the car in the car shed downstairs and went upstairs with Zhang Zian.

    ¡°I¡¯m stupid. I can¡¯t reason with him. After a long time, I was convinced by him ¡­ And I have to keep an eye on him to see if he¡¯s really wearing a mask and gloves as he said, and if he¡¯s reluctant to throw them away after buying them.¡±

    Zhang Zian smiled.¡±You¡¯re very thoughtful. What happened after that?¡±

    ¡°Then, I went with him. We didn¡¯t go to the seafood market, but to a cold storage warehouse near the market. When we arrived, we weren¡¯t the only ones who came to take advantage of the situation. A few of old Zhao¡¯s fish friends were also there. He heard the news from his fish friends. The seafood seller held a two-dimensional code. Whoever picked something, they would haggle on the spot. If they could ept it, they would take it on the spot. I looked at it for a while, and the price was indeed very cheap, too cheap. It¡¯s not half price, it¡¯s a bone fracture!¡±

    Halfway up the stairs, electrician Wu paused in the corridor. It was as if he was taking a breath, but also as if he was too embarrassed to let his family hear what he was about to say.

    ¡°To be honest, manager Zhang, I was also tempted at that time. I was envious of others taking advantage of me. Old Zhao hadn¡¯t even made a move, and I had already grabbed two big lobsters! It¡¯s as long as my arm, and the widest part of its head is as thick as my thigh! The seafood seller said it was the King of Australia lobster. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s true, but it¡¯s really big!¡± Electrician Wu¡¯s eyes lit up as he measured the size of the lobster.

    Zhang Zian nodded.¡±Probably. Such a big lobster should be expensive.¡±...

    ¡°Can you guess how much a lobster this big costs?¡± Electrician Wu excitedly pointed out two fingers.¡±I tried my best to haggle for a long time, and in the end, we agreed that it was two hundred Yuan each!¡±

    Zhang Zian gave her a thumbs up.¡±We¡¯ve earned a lot. Such a big lobster, you can¡¯t even buy it with 2000 Yuan.¡±

    Electrician Wu was happy for the first time today, but he immediately sighed in embarrassment.¡±After that, I brought the lobsters home. To show off and save face, I didn¡¯t tell my family that I bought them at a cheap price while they were clearing their warehouses. I told them that a child I used to take care of in the factory is now sessful and a leader. He came to visit me and gave it to me ¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian could understand. Who didn¡¯t want face?

    Who lived in a vacuum and didn¡¯t care about the eyes of their family and the people around them? Who wouldn¡¯t want their family to treat them as an important person? Especially for these old people, who had a declining family status, they didn¡¯t want their families to treat them as useless trash.

    ¡± That day, my son, daughter-inw, and grandson were so happy that they took pictures of the lobster and posted them on their social media. My wife, in particr, nagged for a long time about how big the lobster was, as if it had turned into a spirit ¡­ They couldn¡¯t bear to eat it. They said that they would freeze the lobster and eat it during the new year or when there were important guests at home. I said that there wasn¡¯t enough space in the refrigerator and that they would eat it today. I also asked my daughter-inw to call her parents over and make a few more dishes. The two families ate together that day, and they were as happy as if it was the new year. Everyone said that it was all because of me, or they would never have been able to eat such a big lobster in their lives ¡­¡±

    Electrician Wu recalled what had happened that day. He felt like he had be a few years younger, and his back was straight. After all, it was a rare moment of glory for him at home after his retirement. He had once again enjoyed the feeling of being the head of the family.

    ¡°Then ¡­ What did master Zhao buy? It¡¯s also a lobster? ¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    Electrician Wu smacked his forehead and said in frustration,¡±¡°†ã! Where did I go? I¡¯m old. I was talking about old Zhao, but I¡¯m getting off topic ¡­ I found these two lobsters in the corner of the cold storage warehouse. I told old Zhao that the crabs there are quite big. Why don¡¯t you buy some? Old Zhao rolled his eyes. Heughed at me for being ignorant. He said that things like crabs and lobsters with shells are not worth the price. If you remove the shells from the bigger ones, there¡¯s only a few taels of meat inside. He wouldn¡¯t take them for free because he thought it was too troublesome to shell them. In the end, he bought a lot of fish back, saying that they were all wild and frozen, like Pomfret and whatnot ¡­ I can¡¯t name the fish, but I remember him saying,¡¯cherry blossoms are King, fish ¡­¡¯ What was in the fish again?¡±

    ¡°Sakura in flower is the king, and snapper is the king. The other species he bought is the red snapper, right? It¡¯s one of the best saltwater fish. If it¡¯s imported, it should be from Japan. Old Zhao knows his stuff. ¡± Zhang Zian added.

    ¡°Yes, yes, yes, that¡¯s the name!¡± Electrician Wu nodded his head.

    ¡°I say, Master Wu, if there¡¯s such a good thing next time, remember to call me along. I want to take advantage of it too.¡± Zhang Zian also wanted to show off in front of the Elfins, especially fina, who always had misunderstandings about who the head of the Pet Shop was.

    ¡°I thought you young people were all prideful and didn¡¯t care for these cheap things!¡±

    As they spoke, they came to welder Zhao¡¯s house. Probably because there were a lot of visitors these two days, the door wasn¡¯t locked, and it was left unlocked.

    Electrician Wu and welder Zhao¡¯s families were the same. He didn¡¯t knock and just pushed the door open.

    This was not the first time Zhang Zian hade to welder Zhao¡¯s house. He had seen his family members. At that time, his wife, daughter, son-inw, and even his inws were all sitting in the living room. The TV was on, but no one was watching it.

    When they saw Zhang Zian, they felt that he looked familiar. When they saw him carrying a fruit basket and milk, they knew that he was here to visit. They quickly wiped the corners of their eyes and stood up to wee him.

 Chapter 1802

    Chapter 1802: [Side Story] visiting a patient

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian suspected that welder Zhao¡¯s condition was not as serious as he had made it out to be, but he did not dare to jump to conclusions before meeting welder Zhao. He still greeted welder Zhao¡¯s family in ordance with the proper etiquette.

    Every time welder Zhao¡¯s friends arrived, his family would always ask them to help persuade him to go to the hospital for an examination, and Zhang Zian was no exception.

    Maybe other people would just give a few false words of advice, but Zhang Zian was different. He already had doubts in his heart, and always felt that this matter was too strange.

    Zhang Zian put down the milk and fruit baskets he had brought. He saw that there were already a lot of such visiting gifts piled up in the corridor of the house. He then followed electrician Wu into welder Zhao¡¯s bedroom.

    As soon as he entered the room, a strong smell of Chinese medicine was overwhelming. He looked at the bowl on the bedside table. The bottom of the bowl was ck, and he didn¡¯t know what medicine it was.

    The curtains were drawn, and the room was dark. Coupled with the smell of Chinese medicine, she really looked like a terminally ill person.

    ¡°Ouch ¡­ Ouch ¡­¡±

    Welder Zhao was lying on his side on the bed, covered with a nket, and groaning in his throat.

    ¡°Old Zhao, old Zhao? Are you awake? Let¡¯s see who¡¯s here. ¡± Electrician Wu walked over and gently pushed welder Zhao¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°Who is it ¡­¡±

    Welder Zhao turned over weakly, changing from lying on his side to lying on his back. Electrician Wu put a pillow under his waist to raise his upper body....

    ¡°Manager Zhang ¡­ You¡¯re finally here! ¡°I thought I wouldn¡¯t be able to see you before I died ¡­¡± Welder Zhao¡¯s eyes lit up, and his voice trembled.

    ¡°Master Zhao, what¡¯s the matter?¡± Zhang Zian walked to the window and pulled the curtains open.

    ¡°Aiyo!¡± Welder Zhao quickly raised his hand to cover his face from the sunlight outside the window.¡±Store manager Zhang, what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m opening the curtains for you. You¡¯ll get sick if you lie in a small dark room without seeing the sun all day.¡± Not only did Zhang Zian draw the curtains, but he also opened a window to let the air in the room in and get rid of the strong smell of Chinese medicine.

    Zian carefully looked at welder Zhao¡¯s face. He did look dispirited, but that did not prove that welder Zhao was really seriously ill, because suspicion could also achieve the same effect.

    ¡°Manager Zhang, please take a seat. Did old Zhao ask you toe?¡± Welder Zhao pointed at the chair weakly.

    ¡°Yes, master Zhao said you were sick, so I came to see you. How are you now? Are you feeling better?¡± Zhang Zian and electrician Wu took their seats.

    ¡°AI! It¡¯s over, everything is over! ¡°I can¡¯t live for more than a few days. It¡¯s fine if I die. I¡¯ve lived enough anyway. I just can¡¯t let go of the fish tank that I¡¯ve worked so hard to prepare ¡­¡± Welder Zhao pointed to arge fish tank opposite the bed.

    The fish tank was about 1.8 meters long and 1.1 meters tall, ording to the golden ratio. Under the LED light, the swimming fish, corals, and other aquatic creatures were swimming in the tank, making it look full of vitality.

    For ordinary fish lovers, just by looking at this fish tank, one could tell how much effort they had put in.

    The fish tank was made by welder Zhao himself. It had a wooden frame, ss, hidden lighting, filtration, oxygen-increasing, and heating. The rocks and sand inside were picked up by him from the beach time and time again, and the water creatures were obtained by taking advantage of various small advantages. Some people might think that this was too troublesome and troublesome, so they might as well spend money to solve the problem, but it was actually fun to do it. Most people with bad hands couldn¡¯t do it at all.

    ¡°When I¡¯m dead, manager Zhang, you can take all these fish and corals to your store and keep them. You probably don¡¯t need this fish tank, so sell it for me if you can. Maybe you can buy a bone ash box with the money ¡­¡±

    ¡°Bah! Old Zhao, what are you talking about! I¡¯m telling you, hurry up and go to the hospital, don¡¯t force me to tie you up and bring you there!¡± Electrician Wu couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. He pped his chair and stood up, ring at welder Zhao.

    Zhang Zian waved his hand to calm electrician Wu down.

    ¡°Sigh, look, I¡¯m dying, and this old man is still treating me like this ¡­¡± Welder Zhao shook his head regretfully.

    ¡°Master Zhao, is the fish good?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°What?¡±

    Welder Zhao was stunned. He looked at the fish tank and misunderstood what Zhang Zian meant.¡±What fish?¡±

    ¡°No, I heard from Master Wu that you went to the seafood market a few days ago. He bought two big prawns. How many fish did you buy?¡±

    Welder Zhao and electrician Wu didn¡¯t expect Zhang Zian to suddenly bring this up. Welder Zhao was stunned for a while, then nodded and said,¡±¡±It¡¯s pretty good, but not as good as I thought. ¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s normal. Most of the time, the food you imagine is the best. When you actually eat it, it¡¯s just ordinary. Even if it¡¯s a Manchu Han Imperial Feast, it¡¯s the same.¡± Zhang Zianughed,¡±how do you eat? I mean, should I steam, braise, deep fry, or ¡­¡±

    ¡°Tsk!¡± Welder Zhao pointed at him smugly.¡±Look at you. You¡¯re young, after all. You¡¯re an amateur, right? If you want to taste the most primitive taste of such top-quality sea fish, the only way to cook it is to make it into sashimi or sushi, like what you said about steamed and braised ¡­ Haha, you¡¯re too much of an amateur, really. Manager Zhang, You Must Remember This when you go out, or else you¡¯ll make the real expertsugh their heads off!¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Zhang Zian remained calm.¡±So you were ¡­ Eaten raw?¡±

    ¡°Right! I took the fish home, and while it was still fresh with ice shards, I scraped the scales, removed the internal organs, and cut the freshest and tender part of the fish into thin slices. I dipped it in sauce and ate it with a little wine. It was so delicious!¡±

    Welder Zhao¡¯s face glowed, and his dispirited look was gone.

    ¡°Did your family ¡­ Eat with you?¡± Zhang Zian pointed outside.

    ¡°When they heard that they bought it from the seafood market, they didn¡¯t dare to eat it. Just nice, I can eat a few more meals myself.¡± Welder Zhao pouted in disdain.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid of getting parasites when you eat raw fish?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    ¡°Parasites?¡± Welder Zhaoughed.¡±How is that possible? Freshwater fish had parasites, but how could saltwater fish have parasites? It¡¯s possible that there are parasites on the fish scales, but I don¡¯t eat fish scales. How many people eat sashimi every year? a cooked steak is almost the same as raw steak, but aren¡¯t they all fine? And I drink it with soy sauce and white wine. Even if one or two parasites got in, they would die after being stung by soy sauce and alcohol. ¡±

    ¡°Wait! Old Zhao, I can¡¯t pretend I didn¡¯t hear this! Didn¡¯t you quit drinking after you were infected with the Marine bacteria?¡± Wu asked.

    ¡°This ¡­ Isn¡¯t this just an asional drink?¡± Welder Zhao changed the subject.¡±You can¡¯t eat such good fish every day ¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian stopped their argument and said,¡±¡±Master Zhao, you look much better now. I don¡¯t think you¡¯re seriously ill, but you¡¯ve been infected with parasites.¡±

 Chapter 1803

    Chapter 1803: [Side Story] parasite

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Middle-aged and elderly people like welder Zhao were often very stubborn. Once they had decided on something, it was difficult to believe other things ¡­ They couldn¡¯t be med. Maybe when Zhang Zian and his generation grew older, they would be even more stubborn than this generation of middle-aged and elderly people.

    Welder Zhao was sure that there were no parasites in the sashimi he ate. The reason was simple. Everyone ate the same way, and they were all fine. He heard that young people especially liked to go to Japanese restaurants to eat sashimi and sushi. He had never heard of anyone having an ident.

    Everyone¡¯s fine, so I¡¯m fine too. Actually, a lot of people think this way. It¡¯s right in most cases, but to put it bluntly, many things are just a matter of probability. You won¡¯t be able to win the lottery, but you might be the unlucky one.

    Electrician Wu was skeptical. He also felt that if eating raw fish slices could cause an ident, then how many people in the country would be in an ident?

    Zhang Zian knew that he couldn¡¯t convince welder Zhao with words alone, and he wasn¡¯t 100% confident, so he said,¡±¡±Master Zhao, I¡¯m just saying that it¡¯s possible. It¡¯s easy to confirm it. Go to the hospital and get a proper examination. Don¡¯t think that you have stomach cancer just from the results of the gastroscopy.¡±

    When welder Zhao heard that, he asked him to go for a checkup again. He refused to go, and electrician Wu was so angry that he almost tied him up and forced him to go to the hospital.

    ¡°How about this, master Zhao? I won¡¯t force you if you don¡¯t want to go to the hospital, but I heard that you bought a few fish. Have you finished them?¡± Zhang Zian adopted a roundabout strategy.

    ¡°No, those fish are quite big. I¡¯ve frozen the unfinished ones in the refrigerator. Do you want to try them?¡± Welder Zhao asked.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to taste it. But if my suspicion is correct, we should be able to find the eggs orrvae of the parasites in the fish ¡­ Do you have a magnifying ss at home?¡±

    ¡°A magnifying ss? He often uses a magnifying ss to light a fire, and every time he does so, he pees on the bed ¡­ Let old Wu get it for you. ¡± Welder Zhao pouted at electrician Wu.

    Zhang Zian left the bedroom with electrician Wu. Thetter went to ask for a magnifying ss, while the former went straight to the kitchen and rummaged through the freezing chamber in the refrigerator for fish....

    After a while, when Zhang Zian took out a few pieces of fish that were hard enough to kill a dog, electrician Wu also came in with a magnifying ss.

    The two of them cut a few pieces of meat from the fish with a knife and thawed them in water.

    After another ten minutes, when the meat softened, Zhang Zian took a magnifying ss and searched the surface of the fish.

    ¡°Did you find it?¡± Electrician Wu asked impatiently. His presbyopia really couldn¡¯t help, so he could only watch from the side.

    This was a meticulous job. After looking through it, Zhang Zian¡¯s eyes were sore, but he did not find what he suspected.

    He shook his head.

    Electrician Wu sighed in disappointment. Although eating a parasite was disgusting, it was better than getting cancer.¡±I think it¡¯s better to persuade Lao Zhao to go to the hospital.¡±

    Zhang Zian thought for a moment.¡±I¡¯ll look for it again.¡±

    ¡°How do we find him?¡± Electrician Wu was puzzled.

    Zhang Zian cut the fish vertically.¡±Maybe the eggs on the surface were soaked in water.¡±

    After the fish was cut open, the number of slices increased from a few to more than ten. The workload was even heavier.

    ¡°I found it!¡±

    He was so excited that his spittle sprayed on the magnifying ss.¡±It¡¯s an egg ¡­ No, arva!¡±

    ¡°Ah? Let me see!¡±

    Electrician Wu was shocked. He quickly put his head in front of the magnifying ss and squinted his eyes.¡±Which one is?¡±

    Zhang Zian took a match and pointed it at a small translucent spot in the fish.¡±See this? This is the SAC that contains thervae. ¡±

    ¡°No, no, I have to get my sses. Wait for me.¡±

    Electrician Wu rushed to the living room and borrowed a pair of reading sses from someone. Anyway, reading sses didn¡¯t have a specific requirement on the degree. It was fine as long as the degree was about the same.

    During this time, Zhang Zian found several simr sacs on other fish.

    Electrician Wu came back with his reading sses. Even with the help of the sses, it took him a lot of effort to see what the bug sac looked like. Because the bug sac was too small and translucent, it was very well hidden against the pink muscle fiber background.

    No matter if it was the head chef in the restaurant or the husband and wife at home, no one would use a magnifying ss to observe the fish when cooking.

    ¡°It¡¯s really a bug ¡­¡± Electrician Wu took a deep breath.

    Zhang Zian asked electrician Wu to find a needle and a pair of tweezers. He picked out one of thervae and ced it on the table. He asked electrician Wu to hold the magnifying ss for him. He used two needles to Pierce the SAC and opened it, finally revealing thervae that were curled up inside.

    Although thervae were small when they curled up, they were about one or two centimeters long after their heads and tails were straightened. Even in such a state, as long as one did not look closely, one would think that they were a small section of white cotton thread.

    ¡°Is this bug Dead or Alive?¡±

    Electrician Wu felt nauseated. Luckily, he didn¡¯t eat the fish with welder Zhao. Otherwise, if he ate it and saw the bug again, he would have vomited the food he hadst night.

    ¡°Dead.¡± Zhang Zian replied.

    ¡°Dead ¡­ Dead bug ¡­ It should be fine to eat it, right?¡± Electrician Wu asked.

    Zhang Zian shook his head.¡±It¡¯s dead now because it froze to death in the refrigerator. It should be alive before it was frozen.¡±

    ¡°This kind of worm may be a heterodermore, which is widely distributed in saltwater fish, especially red snappers, which are also found in salmon. Do you know why they are called ¡®heterodermore¡¯? First, because they look like cotton, and second, because their heads are very sharp, especially able to drill into the human stomach. After entering the human body, they will drill into the human stomach and absorb Human Nutrition, excrement, and dead insects, which will cause allergic reactions in people, such as vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. Are the symptoms the same as master Zhao ¡®s?¡±

    Electrician Wu¡¯s eyes were wide open, and he couldn¡¯t say a word. After a while, he finally said,¡±¡±Luckily, my family never eats these foreign fish ¡­¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s also this in the body of domestic fish such as hairtails, but hairtails are very safe. No one will eat hairtails raw. It¡¯s no problem when they¡¯re cooked. It¡¯s just a supplement for protein. Out of sight, out of mind.¡± Zhang Zian spread out his hands.¡±The salmon that ordinary people buy from emerce and supermarkets are fine. Even if they make it into sashimi, it¡¯s fine because those salmon are frozen and transported here. This kind of insect can¡¯t survive for more than two days at-18 degrees Celsius.¡±

    ¡°But old Zhao ¡­¡±

    ¡°Master Zhao¡¯s problem is that the fish he bought are all rare species. They were air-flown from Japan, not frozen, because freezing will ruin the original taste of the fish. People who eat such fish are more particr about this. Japanese food is popr now, and Japanese food can¡¯t be eaten without sashimi and sushi, so I never go to those high-end Japanese restaurants that im that their seafood is frozen ¡­ Of course, one reason is that no one is treating me.¡±

 Chapter 1804

    Chapter 1804: [Side Story] obsessed

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    The urrence of diseases caused by the parasitism of the Anomalocaris in the human body was rare in China. However, it was heard from time to time in Japan. After all, it was notfortable to eat it raw there. The more high-end the food was, the more attention was paid to the original vor of the ingredients. To put it bluntly, it was all caused by the word ¡°fresh¡±.

    High-end sea fish were transported back to the seafood trading center on the shore in one piece after being fished out of the water. The head chef of the high-end restaurant would get up at fouro¡¯ clock every morning and wait on the shore. As soon as the fishing boat docked, a variety of fish was ced on the ground, and he would immediately grab the fish that met his requirements before the other head chefs. Then, he would bring the fish back to the restaurant while it was fresh and immediately process it. When the first wave of old dishes arrived at noon, he would be able to taste the most delicious food ¡­ Only such a head chef was worthy of a high-end restaurant. Those restaurants that raised the head chef like a boss could only have an undeserved reputation.

    However, the chef¡¯s processing process did not include the inspection of the fish for parasites, because a restaurant like this had to process a lot of ingredients every day. It was impossible to examine the fish piece by piece with a magnifying ss. After the fish was cut into thin slices, it had to be put in the mouth soon. Otherwise, if it was exposed to the air for a long time, the taste would also decline, which would affect the reputation of the restaurant.

    In order to pursue the top taste, the old gluttons didn¡¯t care too much about these things. Let alone parasite infection, there were many people who were poisoned to death eating pufferfish in the restaurant, but the diners were still like ducks.

    Electrician Wu was both happy and angry. He gritted his teeth and said,¡±¡±Old Zhao is an idiot. Of all the things he could learn, why did he have to learn to eat raw food like foreigners? isn¡¯t there something wrong with this?¡±

    Zhang Zian exined,¡±it¡¯s actually not that bad. Master Zhao just wants to try the taste of the top red snapper because it¡¯s rare to meet one. He can brag about it to others in the future.¡± Generally speaking, this kind of situation rarely happens. In fact, master Zhao has bad luck again ¡­¡±

    Electrician Wu still shook his head.¡±I just don¡¯t understand. Is it worth it just for a mouthful of fresh meat?¡±

    Perhaps many people China did not understand this kind of fanaticism. However, in life, people often fanatically liked certain things, such as ying games, fishing, bodybuilding, racing, building models, and so on. There were popr hobbies and also niche hobbies. There were hobbies that could be understood by the public, and there were also hobbies that were despised and even spurned by the public.

    When it came to fishing, many people¡¯s first impression was that it was an elegant hobby, but there were many people who abandoned their wives and children for fishing. They were all obsessed with it, and any interfering factors that affected fishing had to be eliminated.

    The risk of pursuing delicious food was nothing. It was already a healthy and harmless fanatical hobby. It was much better than being fanatical about games, because one had to have money to pursue delicious food. If one wanted to have money, one had to make money. It was not like being fanatical about games and bing a Nibby family or a useless otaku ¡­

    When it came to the dangers, people who got infected by parasites by eating raw fish slices were really much less than people who got tenoshinone or cervical spondylosis from ying games. It was not even a drop in the bucket....

    Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t a glutton. He wouldn¡¯t risk getting infected by parasites for a bite of fresh food, but he understood and respected the gluttons ¡®choice. However, it would be more difficult for electrician Wu to understand.

    It didn¡¯t matter, there was no need to force it. Welder Zhao was welder Zhao, and electrician Wu was electrician Wu. People¡¯s thoughts were different, and that was what made a society of all kinds.

    Zhang Zian and electrician Wu called welder Zhao¡¯s family into the kitchen and showed them the sacs andrvae in the fish.

    ¡°The thing that looked like a tumor in master Zhao¡¯s stomach was most likely therva that had grown up. Several adult worms were in a ball. Since the cases of infection by the Anomalocaris are rare in China, the doctors probably have no experience. Master Zhao also refused to do further examination, which led to the current misunderstanding.¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    Welder Zhao¡¯s family was skeptical. Of course, they hoped that Zhang Zian was right, but they were also a little worried about the uracy of his judgment. After all, he was neither a doctor nor an authority in this area.

    Zhang Zian understood what they were thinking and said,¡±¡±Master Zhao¡¯s abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea are all allergic reactions caused by the toxins released by the dead parasites. So, if you have anti-allergy medicine at home, you can give master Zhao some. If it¡¯s effective, it can more or less confirm my guess.¡±

    Over-the-counter anti-allergy medicine such as polmyne or Caritan were always avable in many families, whether it was for certain food allergies or pollen allergies. Therefore, master Zhao¡¯s family found the anti-allergy medicine and coaxed welder Zhao to take it.

    Half an hourter, welder Zhao shouted,¡±¡±Eh? What did you give me to eat? My stomach doesn¡¯t hurt that much anymore ¡­ Sigh! AI! Why did you hit me? Put down the broom! What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°I hit you? I¡¯m going to beat you to death! You useless old man, you¡¯re already so old and you¡¯re still pretending to be sick! It was so embarrassing! You might as well just die! I¡¯m going to kill you today!¡±

    Welder Zhao¡¯s wife had been worried for the past few days. She couldn¡¯t eat or sleep. She was worried all day and lost a few pounds of meat. In the end, welder Zhao had a small illness like worms in his stomach. It caused the whole family to be in a mess. Even his neighbors and former colleagues came to visit him with gifts. How could he apologize to them?

    Welder Zhao¡¯s bedroom was in a mess. His wife was so angry that she jumped onto the bed and used a broom to hit him all over his face. He was so shocked that he rolled under the bed with the quilt and did not dare toe out.

    Welder Zhao¡¯s daughter and son-inw quickly went in to stop the fight. The two old people were not young anymore, and it was not good to be too emotional. After a long time of persuasion, welder Zhao¡¯s wife finally stopped. She stopped her hand, but she was still pointing at welder Zhao and scolding him.

    At this time, welder Zhao also heard the whole story from his daughter and son-inw. He was so stunned that he couldn¡¯t speak.

    ¡°Master Wu, give me a hand.¡±

    Zhang Zian came in with a stic bucket and a small. He first used the stic bucket to scoop half a bucket of water from the fish tank, then asked electrician Wu to scoop the fish from the fish tank into the bucket.

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait, wait!¡±

    Welder Zhao hurriedly got out from under the bed. Because he was too fast, he hit his head on the edge of the bed. He didn¡¯t care about the pain and stopped Zhang Zian and electrician Wu.

    ¡°What are you guys doing?¡±

    Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders.¡±Master Zhao, didn¡¯t you say that these fish and corals were for me? I¡¯ll take them back now. As for this fish tank being too heavy, I¡¯lle back to deal with it in two days ¡­¡±

    Welder Zhao was so anxious that he stomped his feet.¡±I¡¯m not going to die. It wasn¡¯t easy for me to get these fish. I can¡¯t give them to you!¡±

    The whole family was too embarrassed to raise their heads. This was too embarrassing!

    Zhang Zian sympathized with welder Zhao¡¯s son-inw. If he had such a father-inw, he would rather be single.

 Chapter 1805

    Chapter 1805: [Side Story] a clear path

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Welder Zhao was considered a repeat offender. He made Trouble Every Day, and every time he did, themotion would get bigger and bigger. This time, it was even worse. In this old-fashioned staff family home, the news spread very quickly. Almost everyone knew that he had cancer. Even the head of the unit came to visit with two boxes of milk. In the end, it was a huge mistake. How ¡­ How could he exin this to others?

    Previously, the family was in a gloomy mood. Now, they were still frowning. They looked at the fruit baskets, food and drinks, and flowers that filled the corridor. They had to return them. Things like fruit baskets and flowers were not easy to return. They had to be converted into money to return them. Thinking about it this way, they would suffer a great loss.

    Welder Zhao didn¡¯t care.¡±Return what?¡± ¡®I¡¯ll just keep them all. They¡¯re here to visit a patient, and parasites are also an illness. Why should I return them ¡­ The next time they get sick, I¡¯ll just carry things to visit them too?¡¯ It¡¯s just returning the favor ¡­¡±

    His wife was so angry that she wanted to beat him up again. Was this how you should return the favor? Wasn¡¯t this a curse?

    At the moment, no one was 100% sure that welder Zhao was infected by parasites. He still needed a medical re-examination to make a diagnosis. However, the abdominal pain stopped after taking the anti-allergy medicine. This was already a clear sign of the problem. If it was a tumor, how could the anti-allergic medicine work?

    Welder Zhao saw that he had be the target of public criticism, so he tactfully shut up and didn¡¯t dare to mention epting all the gifts. But with his character, he definitely wouldn¡¯t want to pay for his own mistake.

    He looked at the flowers and fruit baskets in the corridor, pped his thigh, and said,¡±¡±I have an idea! Old Wu, let¡¯s get on the tricycle tomorrow and put these flowers and fruit baskets in the tricycle. Then, we¡¯ll ride to the nearby hospital entrance and set up a stall. Anyway, it¡¯s not good to go to the hospital-handed. As long as we sell them at a cheaper price, others sell them for 100 yuan, but we sell them for 95 Yuan. We don¡¯t have to worry about not being able to sell them. Maybe we can even make a profit ¡­ No, why don¡¯t we go tonight? Aiyo! Why did you hit me again? You¡¯re taking advantage of me, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    His wife was so angry that she was trembling. She pointed at him and scolded,¡±You ¡­ You dead man, you¡¯re going to the hospital to treat the bug in my stomach right now. You still want to set up a stall?¡±

    ¡°The worms in my stomach can wait. It doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s a day or two, but the fruit basket and the flowers have a time limit, especially the flowers. They might wither tomorrow and be worthless ¡­¡± Seeing that his wife was about to start again, welder Zhao quickly added,¡±¡±I have an idea. I¡¯ll treat the insects and set up a stall on the ground. We have to go to the hospital anyway, killing two birds with one stone! Old Wu, let¡¯s go. When we get to the hospital, look after the stall first, I¡¯ll go register for a queue number!¡±

    Less than an hour ago, welder Zhao thought that he had cancer and looked sickly. Now that he knew that he probably didn¡¯t have cancer, he immediately returned to his lively state and didn¡¯t take the parasite seriously. When he was young, people in the country didn¡¯t pay much attention to hygiene. It wasmon to have worms in his stomach, so he just had to take some deworming medicine ¡­

    Electrician Wu rubbed his temples as if he had a headache. He really didn¡¯t know what to do with his old buddy....

    ¡°Master Zhao, the worms in your stomach are not roundworms. Don¡¯t take it lightly. The threadworm can drill into the internal organs. They are now only in the stomach. If we dy any longer and let them reproduce in the stomach, they will enter the small intestine or even the liver. In the stomach, you can take it out with a pair of forceps through the fiber gastroscopy, but when ites to the liver, you may have to operate on it. Think about the cost of the surgery ¡­ Don¡¯t lose the big deal because of the small cost!¡±

    Nothing was more effective than Zhang Zian¡¯s words. As soon as welder Zhao heard that it was going to be an operation, the first thing he thought of was the operation fee and the follow-up hospitalization fees. It was a bottomless pit, and it even dyed him from raising fish.

    Everyone tried to persuade him, using both soft and hard tactics, and finally dispelled welder Zhao¡¯s idea of setting up a stall in front of the hospital.

    As for how to tell the truth to the people who hade to visit the patient ¡­ No one cared about this problem. Anyway, it was welder Zhao¡¯s own fault, so he could deal with it himself.

    Welder Zhao¡¯s wife opened the refrigerator and wanted to throw the fish he had bought into the trash can, but he refused. He said that he couldn¡¯t eat them raw, but it was the same even if they were braised. Now the country was calling for them to save food. This was a crime, do you know that?

    Welder Zhao¡¯s old couple kept arguing, and their daughter and son-inw were also trying to persuade them. The whole house was in a mess. Zhang Zian¡¯s head hurt from their argument, but electrician Wu seemed to be used to it. Obviously, this was welder Zhao¡¯s daily life.

    ¡°Master Zhao, I¡¯ll take my leave first.¡±

    ¡°Ah? Oh, store manager Zhang, take care. I don¡¯t have time, so I won¡¯t be giving it to you ¡­ Old Wu, help me give it to him ¡­ Wait! Manager Zhang, what¡¯s that in your hand?¡±

    Zhang Zian looked down and saw that he was carrying a fruit basket, milk, and eight-treasure porridge.

    ¡°I brought these. Since you¡¯re fine, I don¡¯t want the fish in the tank, but I have to return these things. Fortunately, I¡¯m prepared and didn¡¯t throw away the receipt.¡±

    ¡°No, you¡¯ve already sent it here, why do you want to take it back? That¡¯s too stingy!¡±

    Welder Zhao was still shouting, and electrician Wu was so angry that he took two more fruit baskets and said to Zhang Zian,¡±¡±Manager Zhang, let¡¯s go. Take these two fruit baskets with you. I¡¯ll help you carry them downstairs.¡±

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t refuse, because there were too many fruit baskets sent by others. Welder Zhao¡¯s family couldn¡¯t finish them anyway, so he could take them back to visit the store¡¯s employees.

    Welder Zhao¡¯s son-inw was quite good at dealing with things. He probably cleaned up the mess his father-inw had caused, so he quickly took two boxes of milk and went downstairs to ask Zhang Zian to take them with him.

    Welder Zhao¡¯s heart ached. He mumbled that he wouldn¡¯t take advantage of the situation anymore. Great, he went for wool and came home shorn and lost a ton of rice!

    The people present did not take his words to heart. Everyone knew that it was better to hope that the China men¡¯s football team would win the World Championship than to hope that welder Zhao would turn over a new leaf.

    ¡°Master Zhao,¡± Zhang Zian said,¡±for the sake of these two boxes of milk, let me show you the way.¡±

    ¡°What? Theherworld road? I¡¯m not dead yet! Whatherworld path?¡± Welder Zhao¡¯s eyes widened.

    Zhang Zian didn¡¯t respond to his words and continued,¡±¡±You know that the local Binhai daily has a kind of activity to collect news clues with prizes, right? The reward for every clue is 50 to 500. ¡±

    Welder Zhao rolled his eyes.¡±Continue.¡±

    ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, you¡¯re the first local person to be infected with the Anomalocaris because of eating raw fish. You might even be the first in the country. This is very newsworthy. Reporters might even visit you and use you as an example to warn others not to eat raw fish.¡± Zhang Zian said.

    Welder Zhao¡¯s eyes became brighter and brighter. He pped his thigh and said,¡±¡±Zi ¡®an, you know me!¡±

 Chapter 1806

    Chapter 1806: [Side Story] humans are not cats, how can you know the loneliness of cats?

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Zhang Zian, welder Zhao, and his family went downstairs together. Welder Zhao sat in his son-inw¡¯s car to go to the hospital for an examination. He also called the TV station and newspaper in the car, using the form of bidding. Whoever paid more money, he would reveal the so-called exclusive news to them. He also urged them to make a quick decision so that they could go to the hospital to see the examination results with their own eyes ¡­ In a sense, this was a happy funeral.

    On the way back to the Pet Shop, he made a detour to the home of aizen, the one who had an evil cat at home, to see how the cat was doing. Theizens were also very concerned, so he turned on a live broadcast while he was there.

    Compared to before, thisizen¡¯splexion was much better. He had changed into short-sleeved home clothes, and his bedroom door was no longer closed.

    When the evil cat saw Zhang Zian enter the house, it immediately hid under the sofa. However, there was an abandoned courier box stuffed under the sofa, so it couldn¡¯tpletely hide. As long as people lowered their heads, they would see its tail or feet.

    ¡°It¡¯s much better now. Although it¡¯s still not very close to me, at least it doesn¡¯t scratch me anymore ¡­ Except when I cut my nails.¡± Aizen said,¡±I have to wrap myself up tightly when I¡¯m cutting my nails. Otherwise, it¡¯ll cause a hugemotion.¡±

    In fact, most of the adult stray cats that were picked up were just like that. They were only close to people in the morning and when they were feeding. They could only y with people during these times. Other times, they were basically two different species under the same roof. As long as they did not affect each other, they were lucky.

    Someizens suggested that she raise another cat. Whether it was bought or adopted, as long as it had a good character and was close to her, it would be fine. Maybe this could change the cat¡¯s character to that of a close rtive.

    Zhang Zian snorted and said,¡±theizens who often hang out in this live broadcast room should have an impression of theizen named¡± Qi Qi ¡°in my shop, right?¡± He¡¯s theizen who always haggled for the price of cat food. ¡±

    [Qi Qi]: wait! I can¡¯t pretend I didn¡¯t hear you! What was called shamelessness!

    [Time is like a poem and a song]: Hey! Qi Qi! Aren¡¯t you pooping on paid leave? It¡¯s been almost half an hour, and I can¡¯t cover for you in front of the supervisor anymore! Quickly go offline! The supervisor is going to call an ambnce for you!

    Qi Qi: Shishi, don¡¯t ¡­ Don¡¯t even think about borrowing money from me in the future!...

    Qi Qi left the live broadcast room.

    The conversation between the two of them was so explosive that theizens in the live broadcast room were dumbfounded.

    Zhang Zian was also dumbfounded. He had heard that after Zhao Qi¡¯spany returned to work, everyone had started to work overtime and tried to make up for the dyed orders. He thought that Zhao Qi was buried in work today and wouldn¡¯t hear a few bad things about her behind her back. He didn¡¯t expect that she was in the toilet pooping while watching the live broadcast.

    The next time she came to buy cat food, she would probably be scolded by her.

    However, theizens ¡®bulletments began to develop in a strange direction.

    ¡°Yysy, I often do paid pooping too.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, I¡¯ll even deliberately store my sh * t in thepany before pooping. ¡±

    ¡°Yes, paid pooping is my silent resistance to the 996 work system.¡±

    ¡°Even pooping at thepany smells better than pooping at home ¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s easy to get hemorrhoids from squatting for too long ¡­¡±

    ¡°But I didn¡¯t expect pretty girls to shit.¡±

    Seeing that the topic was getting more and more perverted, Zhang Zian had to bring it back.

    ¡°I was talking about Qi Qi. She¡¯s a regr customer of our shop. Her family has a British Shorthair that they bought from our shop. Also, because she usually works during the day and often goes shopping with her best friend on the weekends ¡­¡±

    [Time is like a poem and a song]:<======= best friend

    Zhang Zian ignored Shi Shi¡¯s interruption, because he estimated that Shi Shi would not be able to jump around for more than a few seconds. After Zhao Qi, who had juste back from the toilet, was scolded by the supervisor, she would soon take revenge on Shi Shi.

    ¡°In short, because Qi Qi isn¡¯t home during the day, she only spends time with her cat at night, but there are a lot of things to do at night. In addition to the unfinished work during the day and daily social interaction, facial masks and other maintenance activities are also very time-consuming. After all, she¡¯s almost middle-aged, so the time she has to interact with her cat is rtively limited ¡­¡±

    [Time is like a poem and a song]: You¡¯re ruthless! This poem is convinced!

    Zhang Zian thought that since he had already offended her, he might as well offend her to the end. Anyway, Zhao Qi would definitely cut the price when she bought cat food next time.

    ¡°That¡¯s why Qi Qi felt guilty and felt that her cat was too lonely. She had expressed more than once that she wanted to raise another cat. Of course, during the beginning of the year, no one could go out for special reasons that everyone knew. So during that period, she spent all day with her cat and temporarily gave up on the idea.¡±

    ¡°But she¡¯s going back to work now, and she has to work overtime often. I guess she¡¯s about to have the same idea again, including theizens in the live broadcast room. They already have a cat at home, so they¡¯ll asionally have the idea of raising another one, right?¡±

    These words were widely agreed by theizens in the live broadcast room.

    ¡°Although this is good for our shop¡¯s business, I still advise her to think twice, because ¡®thinking that a cat will be lonely¡¯ is a false proposition in itself. Just like many parents say,¡¯if you only have one child, you will be lonely when you grow up, so why don¡¯t you have a second child? It¡¯s obvious that you want to have children, and you want to have ¡®extra things¡¯, but you force it on your own child. Is this reasonable?¡±

    ¡°Humans are like cats. They are born with a sense of territory. They want to monopolize all resources and love from their parents. But humans are humans after all. Humans can ovee this selfishness and slowly develop feelings for their younger brothers and sisters. Children might have lonely times, and they would definitely want their parents to apany them instead of their siblings. Cats, on the other hand, needed to sleep more than ten hours a day. When the owner went out to work, they would sleep during the day, so how could they have time to be lonely? Cats have a stronger sense of territory, so I told Qi Qi that raising a cat is like opening a harem, and you¡¯ll love every one you see. If you want to raise another one, just say you want to, don¡¯t push it to your cat, because if your cat can talk, it definitely doesn¡¯t want other cats to share space with it. ¡±

    ¡°Qi Qi is stubborn, saying that many people have two or more cats, isn¡¯t that pretty good? At first, the Aboriginals might reject it, but they will slowly ept it. ¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. After all, cats don¡¯t have a choice. But I have to remind you that if you have two or more cats, the cats that are originally attached to you will no longer be attached to you. They will stay with their own kind, chase or fight. It¡¯s like you have two beautiful women at home and you want to enjoy a happy life with them, but the two of them end up together and ignore you, a loser ¡­¡±

    ¡°I feel offended!¡±

 Chapter 1807

    Chapter 1807: [Side Story] there are gains and losses

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    ¡°There¡¯s a saying that you don¡¯t know if it¡¯s true or not. It says that if a cat is raised by you since young, it will think that you and it are both cats because cats don¡¯t have a strong self-awareness. It doesn¡¯t know what it looks like and will be shocked when it sees itself in the mirror. If a second cat appears, it will realize that you are not cats of the same kind as it is ¡­ So it will not kiss you as it did before. ¡±

    It was not that Zhang Zian was fooling theizens, but that was the truth. Having two cats would definitely lead to a decrease in their intimacy with their owners, and it would be a lot less.

    Before raising the two cats, the owner imagined the pictures of the two cats snuggling up to each other on the inte, but after raising the two cats, he knew that they would only snuggle up to each other when they were tired of fighting. The two cats ¡®daily routine at home was fighting and parkour. Their fur was everywhere, and parkour made it hard for one to sleep at night. Cosmetics and other expensive and fragile things would be sacrifices ¡­ This was a rathermon phenomenon.

    Is this still in line with your original intention of raising two cats? The first cat would not be lonely, but it might not be willing to not be lonely in this way.

    They fought to drive each other away so that they could upy their own territory, but the house was closed, and the weak couldn¡¯t run away even if they wanted to.

    When two cats fight, there will always be one stronger and one weaker. The weaker one can¡¯t escape from your house and can only be bullied endlessly all year long. Have you ever considered the feelings of the weaker one?

    It was just like how a family would look like after they had given birth to a second child. Whether it was the siblings, there was no time when they did not fight. The eldest child bullied the second child, and the second childined to their parents. They were all fighting for the family¡¯s resources and their parents ¡®love. Only when the two children were adults, entered society, and even had their own children, would they recall the events of that time. The memories would automatically be filtered out, leaving only the good things behind. Only then would they feel that it was not bad to have a sibling. But at that time, no matter what, they would only hate each other ¡­ There should be very few brothers and sisters who loved each other from the beginning to the end.

    Returning customers who had bought a cat in Zhang Zian¡¯s shop and felt that it was not bad and wanted to buy a second cat would always be reminded of the possible consequences of raising a second cat.

    He would ask customers what their original intentions were for raising a pet, whether they were satisfied with watching the pet y on its own at home, or if they wanted the pet to interact more with them. If it was the former, it was fine to buy a second cat, but if it was thetter, buying a second cat would be asking for death.

    ¡°No wonder the ck and white kitten in the manager¡¯s shop is always ying parkour with other cats.¡± Aizen posted a bulletment.

    ¡°Something like that,¡± Zhang Zianughed....

    Of course, sprites were different from ordinary pets. They had gained sentience and had the consciousness of panions¡± instead of ¡°the same kind,¡± but they couldn¡¯t exin it to theizens.

    ¡°It¡¯s precisely because Qi Qi is an old customer of our shop that I strongly advise her not to raise a second cat, because she¡¯s currently in a benign interaction range with her cat. Once she raises a second cat, she will imagine herself having a pair of women on the left and right, but in fact, she will spend more energy and work more, but the gains will be negative.¡±

    ¡°There are exceptions. Nothing is absolute. If it¡¯s cats from the same litter or cats of the same age, it¡¯s better if they grew up together. But at the same time, their interaction with you will never be as much as the interaction between a single cat and you.¡±

    ¡°Of course, as the owner, you have the right to raise a second cat, just like you have the right to have a second child as a parent. However, before you raise a cat or give birth, don¡¯t always think about the bright future. Think about the not-so-bright future and be mentally prepared. This is how you are responsible for your first cat or your first child. Don¡¯t always look at how harmonious the cats at home are on the inte, because it¡¯s just like WeChat moments. People only show the good things. As for the trouble behind it ¡­ Once it¡¯s disyed, it won¡¯t be as eye-catching anymore. ¡±

    Whether it wasizens who had one cat at home, many cats, or cats on cloud, they were all very touched, especially those who had siblings. It was impossible to say that they had never thought ¡°if only I were the only child at home¡±. Who stole whose toys, who dirtied whose clothes, when brothers and sisters quarreled, they would always want each other dead. When there was arge age gap, they could not y together at all, and it was difficult to develop feelings for each other in daily life. If humans were like this, what more cats?

    On the other hand, the dog gang was happily watching the show, because there would not be such a problem when raising dogs. Whether you raised one dog or many dogs, as long as they believed you were a pure-blooded Dog King, they would unite around you ¡­

    Theizen next to her listened thoughtfully. She remembered the day when big orange came, it chased and fought with the cat at home. In the end, big orange won an overwhelming victory with its unshakeable weight advantage. It could also be said that it used violence to force the indigenous people in the family to change their bad habits. But what if she really adopted big orange, and then the family yed such a chase and fight every day? Who was she going to side with? was big orange a native? If she couldn¡¯t stop the fight and let the natives be bullied, she didn¡¯t want that.

    There was already one cat at home. No one knew in advance whether the two cats would get along with each other if a second cat was brought in. If one cat was being bullied, should one of the cats be sent away?

    ¡°Thank you, manager Zhang. I understand. I won¡¯t have any other thoughts. I¡¯ll take care of the cat first.¡± She nodded and then said as if she had thought of something,¡±¡±By the way, big orange came againter. Although he didn¡¯t enter the house, the cat food and water I put at the door were reduced. On this floor where I live, there are usually no stray cats running up, so it should be him. I also hoped that he would scratch the door to let me know that he was here, so I could open the door for him to rest in the house.¡±

    ¡°Alright, if I meet big orange, I¡¯ll try tomunicate with it.¡± Zhang Zian nodded.

    ¡°Manager, are you nning to smear Orange¡¯s poop on the wall? Paint the wall with feces?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say anymore. It¡¯s better to put a few dried fish at the door.¡±

    ¡°If I put the dried fish, I¡¯ll probably attract flies first ¡­¡±

    Zhang Zian was about to retort when Wang Qian called.

    ¡°Hello?¡±

    ¡°Master, when will you be back?¡± Wang Ben asked.

    ¡°Soon, why?¡±

    ¡°Tsk, if you¡¯re fine,e back quickly. It¡¯s not easy to get some business, but someone came to ruin it ¡­¡± Wang Qian was speechless.

    ¡°Oh? Alright, I¡¯ll go back immediately. ¡±

    Zhang Zian was very surprised. Judging from Wang Qian¡¯s tone, it was not a force-based attack, so someone was disrupting the business.

 Chapter 1808

    Chapter 1808: [Side Story] cat police

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    The weather was good now, and the door of the store was open for venttion. As soon as Zhang Zian parked the car, he saw several figures moving in the store. Wang Qian and Li Kun were trying to deal with them, and the introverted Lu Yiyun couldn¡¯t help either.

    As soon as he saw Zhang Ziane back, Li Kun quickly retreated, trotted to his side, gave him a strange look, and said in a low voice with a sad face,¡±¡±Master, it¡¯s rare for someone toe here and buy a cat, but that woman ¡­¡±

    Li Kun quietly pointed to a short young woman in a red shirt.¡±She came in and kept talking, saying that the cats in our shop are all backyard cats and that they shouldn¡¯t buy cats in our shop. If they really want to buy cats, they should go to a cattery with a good reputation on Weibo. Look at this ¡­¡±

    ¡°Master,¡± Wang Qian also ran over andined,¡±a while ago ¡­ That¡¯s the period before the confinement y, when we were still open for business, weren¡¯t you always running around? ¡°They were Egypt and United States. We were in charge of looking after the store, and most of the customers were quite easy to talk to, but there was one customer ¡­ The ¡®backyard cat¡¯ who always opened and closed his mouth kept talking. We couldn¡¯t say anything, but we pretended not to hear him. In order not to make you feel ufortable, we didn¡¯t mention it ¡­ After that, the store was closed for a while, and there were no customers, so we forgot about it. Now that we¡¯ve just opened for business, such a person has appeared again ¡­¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡± Zhang Zian nodded without saying anything.

    If ordinary people wanted to buy a pedigree cat, there were only a few main ways. The first was to find a personal seller in the online second-hand app, the second was the flower, bird, fish, insect market, or the dog market, the third was the Pet Shop, and the fourth was the cattery.

    The waters of the flower, bird, fish, and insect market were too deep. No matter if it was a cat or other pets, it was cheap, but not to mention an average person, even an average person would most likely be scammed if they went there. So, a slightly more rational person would not choose to buy a cat there.

    A reliable personal seller was actually not bad, but it was well known that scammers were rampant on the inte, especially for living things like pets. The risk of mailing them was too high. It wasmon to find that the goods were wrong after buying them, and there was no way to reason with them. So, if you wanted to find a personal seller, it was best to find one in the same city. You must be able to see the cat in person and pay in person. You must find a seller who paid the cat in person.

    Why did he have to visit the cat? This was because they could see the kitten¡¯s parents at the door. By seeing the color of the kitten¡¯s parents ¡®hair with their own eyes, they could have a clear idea of the kitten¡¯s future hair color and body development, especially for Ragdoll cats, which had a long growth period and their hair color would be darker and darker. When you first bought it, the mask might be brown, but when it was three or four years old, the mask color would be close to ck, if you didn¡¯t like such a dark mask color. It was very important to see the depth of its parents ¡®fur in advance, and it was necessary to see it with your own eyes. Nowadays, people often recorded videos with a filter, and the color was seriously distorted. Moreover, the environmental light during the recording would also affect the visual effect. It was fine to see a beautiful woman in a mobile video casually, but you would lose if you took it seriously, not to mention a cat that had to be bought with real money.

    In addition, personal sellers might not necessarily vinate kittens, and the seller said that even if they had been vinated, they couldn¡¯t be 100% trusted. It was safer to buy them and get their own vines.

    If you could see the kitten and its parents living in the same house when you visited, at least there would be a certain guarantee in the source of diseases such as cat gue. If the kitten carried the source of the disease, its parents would definitely carry it. If you bought the kitten and found that the kitten had cat gue, and the seller¡¯s parents and siblings of the kitten were all normal, it meant that the cat gue was unlikely toe from the seller. It was best to find the reason from yourself....

    Pet shops and catteries were the main ces for the trading of pedigree cats, and the right and wrong around them had always been a hot topic on the inte. Mainly, catteries unterally dissed the Pet Shop, calling it ¡°backyard,¡± but the problem was that the term ¡°backyard¡± was invented by domestic catteries, and there was no corresponding vocabry abroad. Now, the phenomenon on the inte was that whoever was louder was reasonable. Once there was a different voice, they would attack it together. This phenomenon didn¡¯t only exist in pet circles, but it was widespread in the inte world.

    However, one thing was for sure. The same cat in the flower, bird, fish and insect market, in the hands of individual sellers, in the Pet Shop, and in the cattery, the price could be more than ten times different. The most expensive ce was undoubtedly the cattery.

    The girl in red said to the other customers,¡±¡±It¡¯s obvious that the cats in this shop are not licensed. The truly responsible catteries only sell one or two kinds of cats. This shop is like a grocery store, selling all kinds of cats. ¡±

    The other customers might not know her, but they just happened toe to the shop at the same time.

    Some customers listened to her carefully as if they were being brainwashed. Some customers were obviously tired of her talking non-stop like a monk. One of the hot-blooded young boys said,¡±¡±I also know that it¡¯s good to have a certificate, but it¡¯s expensive. Are you going to pay for the difference?¡±

    The girl in red became even more excited. If it weren¡¯t for the mask, her saliva would have sprayed on his face.¡±You can¡¯t be cheap. If you really like cats, you have to be responsible for them. This kind of backyard store only sells weekly cats. If you buy the cat home, it will die in less than a week. By then, will you lose or gain?¡±

    The boy choked on her words and seemed to be wavering.

    Zhang Zian understood now. The girl in red should be the so-called ¡°cat police,¡± not ¡°police cat,¡± but ¡°cat police.¡± She thought she stood at the top of the pet Circle, and everything she thought was absolutely correct. Anything she didn¡¯t like in the pet Circle, she would punish them with words and pen. However, this kind of bored person was usually active in the online world, and was rtively rare in reality. After all, the people who were scolded by her on the inte couldn¡¯t go down the inte to attack her. In the real world, if someone was angered by her scolding, they might really beat her up. The Cat Police were clear about this.

    ¡°By the way, where should I go to buy it?¡±

    Zhang Zian asked, pretending to be a new customer.

    ¡°A cattery! Find a cattery on Weibo. It¡¯s expensive, but it¡¯s guaranteed!¡± The moment the woman in red saw how he was humbly asking for advice, her teacher-like side was immediately aroused.

    ¡°Then ¡­ A pet shop and a cattery, other than having a license, what¡¯s the difference between the cat itself?¡± He asked again and nced at the boy.¡±It¡¯s almost the same cat. If the only difference is whether you have a license or not, I don¡¯t want to pay for a license. After all, I don¡¯t have enough money now ¡­¡±

    The girl in red said in exasperation,¡±¡±You¡¯re wrong! There was a huge difference between having a certificate and not having one! You can¡¯t buy a backyard cat like this!¡±

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    [Off-topic: ever since I started writing this book, about 200000 words or so, the number of readers had just increased. From time to time, people would leavements in thement area, saying,¡±backyard cats,¡±¡±the Pet Shop is the backyard,¡±¡±don¡¯t write about the Pet Shop, write about the cattery,¡± and so on.]

    There were some words that I had to say a long time ago, but I didn¡¯t want to argue with the readers.

    First of all, this book was called ¡°Pet King¡±, not ¡°Cat King¡±, so he could not close the Pet Shop and open a cattery.

    Secondly, was the cattery really as white as it looked? In the next few chapters, let me uncover the little secrets of the cattery that are not known to outsiders.

    This is a book revolving around science and rationality. I also hope that the readers of this book have the ability to think independently and objectively, and not be brainwashed by public opinion.

 Chapter 1809

    Chapter 1809: [Side Story]

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    If Zhang Zian wasn¡¯t in this line of work, but an ordinary person who suddenly wanted to keep a pet and didn¡¯t know much about pets, he might really be shocked by the girl in red. However, as long as he had a little understanding, he would know that in the current domestic pet market, the so-called certificate was actually ¡­ A very awkward existence.

    The CFA certification could be registered for tens of dors without any restrictions. You could register even if you didn¡¯t have a cat. It was a non-governmental organization in itself. After registration, you could call it a regr cattery. Then, if this regr cattery gave birth to four kittens, they could have a certificate, regardless of their appearance, whether they had gic defects, whether they had congenital diseases, and even if they were not registered personal sellers, they could buy certificates for the kittens. After all, there was the all-purpose Taobao.

    Certificates were something that relied on self-awareness. The domestic business environment was generally eager for quick sess and instant profit. People wanted to make quick money. If there were self-aware sellers, even if the cat did not have an id, the cat itself would be fine. If there were tricky sellers, even if the cat itself had an id, you would not know if there was a problem with the cat.

    ¡°A certificate, right? Wait a moment, I¡¯ll go get it. ¡± Zhang Zian walked to the cashier and asked Lu Yiyun to take out a stack of certificates from the drawer and show them to the girl in red,¡±here, the CFA registration certificate.¡±

    The girl in red and the other customers were stunned.

    ¡°You ¡­ You¡¯re the owner of this shop? Pretending to be an ordinary customer, you¡¯re just trying to be a shill!¡± The girl in red had a deceived expression on her face, as if she would fly into a rage out of humiliation at any moment.

    ¡°When did I say that I was an ordinary customer? I¡¯ve just returned from the outside. Is the shop owner going to stick a piece of paper on his head and write the word ¡®shop owner¡¯?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    The girl in red was still in a fit of anger. The other customers had alreadye over to look at the certificate in Zhang Zian¡¯s hand carefully. After all, ordinary people had never seen the so-called CFA certificate. It was a good opportunity to broaden their horizons.

    ¡°Your certificate is fake, right? Did you buy it from Taobao?¡± Her attack was immediately directed at the certificate itself.

    ¡°You also know that you can buy certificates on Taobao? But you just said that there¡¯s a big difference between having a certificate and not having one. If such an important certificate can be bought with money, then is it still important?¡± Zhang Zian said to the other customers,¡±in our shop, only the Ragdoll and Abyssinian cats have the CFA certificate. Although the other cats don¡¯t have the certificate, they have no health problems. You can sign the sales agreement.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t the other cats have a certificate?¡± a customer asked....

    ¡°Only Abyssinian cats are bred in this store. Ragdolls and other cats are not bred in this store, and the other cats themselves are cheaper, so additional registration certificates will increase the price by a lot. It¡¯s like when you go to Computer City to buy digital products, there is one price with an invoice, and there is another price without an invoice ¡­¡± Zhang Zian exined.

    The boy who had spoken earlier obviously knew more about digital products than cats. He immediately nodded in agreement and said,¡±¡±Yes, yes! It¡¯s only a few thousand Yuan, so there¡¯s no difference of a few hundred Yuan without an invoice. ¡±

    Zhang Zianughed.¡±I¡¯m not encouraging you to buy things without invoices. You¡¯ll save money without an invoice, but the country will have less tax, and it may affect the product¡¯s warranty.¡±

    The boy blushed andughed awkwardly.

    ¡°Cats are different from digital products. Most of the money for the CFA certificate goes into the CFA Association. The CFA doesn¡¯t care if your cat has any problems. I think if there is no problem with the cat itself, there is no need to get a certificate. Let the profit be given to the consumers, the customers can save money, and it does not affect the after-sales of the cat in our store ¡­ The quality and health of a cat should not be determined by a certificate. ¡±

    A high-quality Ragdoll was worth at least 10000 to 20000 Yuan. An additional few hundred Yuan for a certificate was nothing. People who wanted to buy a Ragdoll would not care about the additional few hundred Yuan. However, for pet cats that were generally worth two to three thousand Yuan, an additional few hundred Yuan was an additional burden on the customers. The key was that the certificate itself had no binding force. It was not endorsed by the manufacturer and the country like an invoice.

    Even the certificate officially issued by the CFA for cats could only prove some of the cat¡¯s birth information, such as parents and nest number. In other words, it was a cat¡¯s studbook, which had nothing to do with the cat¡¯s health and appearance. It was impossible for the CFA to go door to door to check.

    The girl in red carefully looked at the certificate in Zhang Zian¡¯s hand. She couldn¡¯t tell whether it was real or fake. Seeing that Zhang Zian¡¯s words had gained the approval of several customers, after all, for ordinary customers, the price was definitely a sensitive factor when choosing a pet. She quickly changed the topic, pointed to the kittens on the ground, and said,¡±¡±A regr cattery would not allow customers toe to the door like your shop. What if the cats are scared?¡±

    ¡°I think I¡¯ve heard of it too.¡± A bespectacled girl interjected in a low voice,¡±wasn¡¯t he not allowed to go out a while ago? I¡¯ve been looking at Weibo for a few weeks, but I can¡¯t make up my mind. First, the famous catteries on Weibo are too expensive, and second, I sent private messages to these catteries asking if I could visit them to see their cats and choose their cats. All the answers were No. They said that only those who could visit the regr cattery could visit the cats. ¡±

    The red-shirted girl thought that the bespectacled girl agreed with her and was about to be happy, but the bespectacled girl continued,¡±¡±But I still feel uneasy if I don¡¯t see the cat with my own eyes. I want to raise a Ragdoll, a Ragdoll that costs tens of thousands of dors. I have to pay a deposit just by looking at the photos and videos. Sometimes, even if I don¡¯t want it, the deposit can¡¯t be refunded. This ¡­ No one¡¯s moneyes from nowhere. It¡¯s a little risky to choose a cat through videos ¡­¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t understand!¡± The girl in red interrupted him rudely,¡±the cats in the regr cattery are free-range, whether they are big cats or small cats, they are free to y in the house. If anyone can juste in and see, what if they scare the kittens or infect them with the cat gue?¡± Kittens are sensitive and fragile, and people who really love cats definitely don¡¯t want to scare them!¡±

    ¡°But aren¡¯t the cats in this shop free-range?¡± The boy pointed to the kittens in the Pet Shop and raised an objection. He might havee here with the girl in sses. He had long found the girl in red unpleasant to the eye and felt that her tone was too arrogant.

    The girl in red was stunned for a moment before she argued,¡±¡±It¡¯s not good because of this. Anyone cane to their door and these kittens are running around. What if these kittens are infected with the cat gue?¡±

    The reason why the girl in red was difficult to deal with was that she had a sharp tongue, and her words were always about the cat. This meant that if they retorted, they would easily fall into a moral trap and bebeled as ¡°don¡¯t love cats¡±,¡±unscrupulous cat dealer¡±, and so on.

    But what was the status of a person? Consumers were gods in other ces, but they had to be humble in front of cattery?

    The words of the girl in red were all deliberately created by the cattery to suppress their peers. As long as they were analyzed rationally, they would not hold any ground.

 Chapter 1810

    Chapter 1810: [Side Story] the lie of the cattery

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Those who didn¡¯t know anything about pets might not be intimidated by the girl in red¡¯s words. However, most people would have some knowledge about pets before buying them, especially when it came to cat gue. It was said as if it was dog shit that could be stepped on anywhere.

    In the past, Zhang Zian had met a woman who strongly advocated not eating dog meat at the door of a dog meat restaurant. Although he also did not agree with eating dog meat, he did not blindly advocate that dogs were human friends, so they could not eat dog meat like her. Instead, he analyzed it from the perspective that there were norge-scale dog meat farms China.

    From Baidu, it seemed that countless dog meat farms could be found. In fact, those were all disguises. Even if those farms really existed, they were also used as a cover for the boss. The boss actually bought pet dogs from the dog thieves, ughtered them, and then sold them as dog meat. Anyway, they had already been ughtered, so who could tell whether they were pet dogs or meat dogs for breeding?

    There was not much meat on a puppy. If they wanted to make a profit, they could only raise it and then ughter it. However, it was too difficult to raise a meat dog. Dogs were not herbivorous animals such as cattle, sheep, chickens, and ducks. They could not be raised in groups like poultry and livestock. Otherwise, they would bite and fight with each other when they were a few months old. Dogs such as Huskies could not fight, but who would raise a Husky as a meat dog?

    As long as one wasn¡¯t a fool, they would know that in order to make money, it was better to keep a pet dog. After keeping it for three months, it could be sold for money. A three-month-old breed dog was more valuable than the meat of an adult dog. In that case, who would raise a meat dog for the sake of faith?

    Therefore, a conservative estimate of more than 95% of the dog meat on the table was poisoned by poison needles and tranquilizer guns. Usually, when it came to food safety, everyone was filled with righteous indignation. Now that it was his turn, he even dared to eat this kind of meat?

    At that time, when he said this analysis, the others were speechless, because they could not refute it logically.

    He wasn¡¯t going to argue with the girl in red today. Instead, he nned to refute some of her facies about the cattery. At the same time, he would let the staff listen so that they wouldn¡¯t be so clumsy the next time he met a simr cat police.

    ¡°You said that the cattery allows customers to pick their cats at the door, which may cause the kittens and breeding cats to be infected with infectious diseases such as the cat gue, right?¡± Zhang Zian asked. This was the mostmon excuse when a cattery rejected customers.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, do you have an opinion?¡± The girl in red said provocatively. Then she turned to the other customers and added,¡±¡±You don¡¯t know how difficult it is to run a cattery. In the past, you could visit the cats at the cattery. Later, apetitor deliberately brought the cat gue to the door and pretended to be a customer. As a result, all the cats in the cattery were infected with the cat gue. Not a single kitten or breeding cat survived. It was terrible!¡±

    The few customers were shocked when they heard this. They thought about it and felt that it was indeed possible. There was too muchpetition in doing business in China, and it wasmon to hear people deliberately do bad things to theirpetitors....

    ¡°Alright,¡± he said. Zhang Zian nodded.¡±Then let me ask you, you can¡¯t visit the cattery, but you can visit the Pet Shop, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, isn¡¯t this what you¡¯re doing?¡± The girl in red nced at the kittens in the shop.

    ¡°If the cat gue is so easy to spread, all the pet shops China ¡­ No, all the pet shops in the world should have closed down a long time ago, and all the owners of the pet shops should havemitted suicide. Otherwise, why would the so-calledpetitors only open catteries and not pet shops?¡± He asked.

    ¡°ording to what you said, as long as one pet shop owner has an evil intention and brings the cat gue virus to all the other pet shops in Binhai city, all the cats in these shops will be done for, and the entire pet market in Binhai city will belong to him ¡­ No, this is not enough. Let¡¯s bring in the canine disputes and minor viruses along the way and kill both cats and dogs. Wouldn¡¯t that be great?¡±

    Zhang Zian looked at the customers and shrugged,¡±but have you ever heard of such an incident?¡±

    The girl in red was tongue-tied.

    She was desperately thinking of a way to refute, and Zhang Zian took advantage of the victory to pursue her.

    ¡°Let¡¯s take a step back and assume that what you said is true. There are indeed people with evil intentions who deliberately spread the cat gue to the cattery, but the cattery doesn¡¯t have any way to guard against it?¡±

    Zhang Zian walked to the pet shower room on the first floor and pulled the sliding door open.¡±The cattery divides a room into two parts with a sliding door. The kittens to be selected can stay on one side, and the customers can stay on the other side. You can lock the sliding door in the middle, or you can even make an immovable floor-to-ceiling ss instead of a sliding door topletely iste the two sides. Is that not possible?¡± In this way, it was impossible for customers to spread the cat gue, and it was also impossible to scare the kittens. Then, they asked the customers to wear disposable shoe covers and disposable masks when they entered the house. But why were few catteries doing this? Don¡¯t say that the cattery can¡¯t afford the cost. ¡±

    Some of the customers had already sided with the girl in red, but after hearing his analysis, they sided with him again. The way they looked at the girl in red was clearly saying,¡±Can you please exin this problem?

    If the cattery could do it but didn ¡®t, it could only be considered as deliberately making things difficult for the customers and creating obstacles for the customers to visit the cats. What was the purpose?

    The girl in red racked her brain and tried to exin to the customers,¡±¡±Many catteries are family catteries, all of which are ordinary residents in residential areas, and many owners are young single women. It¡¯s not good to let anyonee to see the cats, right? There might be danger? Am I right?¡±

    It was hard to convince others with this.

    Zhang Zian sneered,¡±so, in the end, it¡¯s not for the good of the cats or the customers, but for the good of the owner?¡±

    The boy also chimed in,¡±¡±They¡¯re all for sale, and young single women at that ¡­ I¡¯ve never seen any of those ¡®female-use¡¯ items on idle fish that are really for female-use.¡±

    Zhang Zian said,¡±can a young single woman run a cattery on her own?¡± It¡¯s notpletely impossible, but it can only be a small cattery with a few cats. Otherwise, everyone can just open a cattery and make a fortune ¡­ I dare to say this, none of the famous catteries on Weibo are run by young single women!¡±

    ¡°Also, hehe ¡­ Family catteries, none of the family catteries in the residential area you mentioned have a business license. Which one of them will pay business tax? Whichpany will pay the value-added tax?¡±

    ¡°Those family catteries even have to avoid paying taxes to the country in order to make money, but you believe that they love cats and abide by the morality of cats?¡±

    After Zhang Zian said this to the customers, he asked the girl in red a question that she would never dare to answer.

    ¡°As a China citizen, is the country¡¯s morality more important or is the pet¡¯s morality more important?¡±

 Chapter 1811

    Chapter 1811: [Side Story] the society is dangerous

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Was this question fair?

    It was unfair. There was no inevitable rtionship between morality and thew. There was also no inevitable rtionship between cat love and patriotism. There might be people who were anti-society and anti-country, but they loved cats very much. Such people did exist.

    However, if you used morality to oppress others, you could only stand on a higher moral high ground and oppress them. Otherwise, no matter what you said, you would fall into an endless cycle of ¡°if you don¡¯t do this, you don¡¯t love cats¡±. This way, you would at least have a fair environment for a debate, and not be a shrew-like pestering.

    The girl in red was unable to answer this question.

    Zhang Zian turned to the girl with sses and said,¡±¡±You think it¡¯s wrong to not see the cat on the spot. Those catteries that don¡¯t allow you to visit the cat can only sell the cat by mail. But if you have bought a cat from a cattery before, you will find that many air boxes sent by the cattery don¡¯t have the sender¡¯s address in the column. It¡¯s not the exact address of the cattery. Do you know why?¡±

    ¡°Are you afraid that the buyer will find out that you¡¯ve been tricked ande to fight with you?¡± The boy guessed.

    The other customers had simr thoughts.

    ¡°That¡¯s part of the reason. ¡± Zhang Zian nodded affirmatively.¡±But not all customers are so uncultured that they fight at the door. Many people will choose legal means to solve it. However, you have never done business before and don¡¯t know a littlemon sense. If you don¡¯t know the specific house number of the seller, no matter if you call 12315, go to the Industry and Commerce Bureau, call 110, or go to court, it will not be epted. Do you understand? To Sue in court, you need to send the subpoena to the other party¡¯s reliablemunication address. The court is not obliged to help you check the other party¡¯s address. Besides, you don¡¯t even know the other party¡¯s real name. The other party has no registered store name with the industrial andmercial Bureau, no name, no address, what are you suing for?¡±

    The customers were all dumbfounded, and so were the staff. Lu Yiyun also stopped painting. For the first time, they, who were still inexperienced, felt the sinister side of society.

    This was The Bloody Truth that had scammed countless pet buyers online.

    For expensive pets like cats and dogs, which cost tens of thousands of Yuan, was it illegal for the seller¡¯s shipping address to be written as the delivery address? It was not illegal, but once there was a transaction dispute, if you wanted to go to legal channels toin about the seller, sorry, you don¡¯t know the real address of the seller. The industrial andmercial Bureau, 110, court, 12315, these legal channels would not bother you....

    The only way to contact the seller was through WeChat or Weibo. If they deleted you, you would have no way toin. If you caused trouble on Weibo, they would block you and delete your messages. There would also be a lot of inte trolls using you, saying that the seller¡¯s cats were good and you didn¡¯t know how to raise them. What could you do?

    Just admit defeat.

    This is society, and everyone has to grow up in the midst of being beaten. Someone has to pay the tuition, so why can¡¯t it be you?

    If you were lucky, there was no problem with the cats purchased online, or if there was a small problem but you tolerated it, it would be fine. However, once there was a problem, the only thing you could count on was the conscience of the cattery ¡­ And this was back to the moral issue at the beginning.

    Even if the Pet Shop was dissed by the cattery, at least it had a physical store address and had been registered with the industrial andmercial Bureau. The owner could run away, but the temple could not. Why couldn¡¯t he gain the trust of the customers?

    On the one hand, it could only be said that the quality of the Pet Shop was indeed mixed, but the quality of the cattery was also mixed. On the other hand, the brainwashing of the cattery was too amazing.

    ¡°House catteries originated from the United States and the West, but what do house catteries in the United States or the West look like?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    No one could answer. Even if they had traveled abroad, they might not have specially gone to a foreign cattery.

    But Zhang Zian had visited it before. He took out a photo frame, which was a photo of him, Tim Lauren, and his wife in front of the blue climax cattery, and showed it to them.

    ¡°Where is the home of the Americans? I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve seen it in movies and TV shows. They either rent an apartment in the city for the convenience of going to work, or they¡¯re houses in the suburbs. They drive or take the light rail to work in the city every day. ¡±

    Everyone nodded. They had no objections to this sentence. Even if they had not eaten pork, they had seen a pig walk.

    ¡°No one dares to open a cattery in an apartment in the city, otherwise the neighbors willin to the police. In the United States, house catteries are all houses in the suburbs, which is equivalent to a single vi here.¡±

    ¡°Where are the domestic catteries in our country? In ordinary residential areas, no matter if it¡¯s a low-rise or high-rise house, they just rent a house and start raising cats. They don¡¯t consider the trouble that the cattery will cause to their neighbors. ¡±

    ¡°Everyone hates people who raise pigeons in residential buildings because they know that raising pigeons is a nuisance to people. Arge group of pigeons is very noisy, and therge amount of feces they produce will attract mosquitoes. The feather dust that the pigeons drop may cause respiratory diseases for neighbors ¡­ But in terms of disturbance, opening a cattery in the residential area is no better than raising pigeons. The shedding of cats, the noise during estrus, and the mosquitoes attracted by feces will all make the neighbors suffer. Have the owners of these catteries ever thought about their neighbors?¡±

    Zhang Zian raised his hand to show his pet shop.¡±My shop and the shop next to mine are all two-story, so there is plenty of space. This Street is a Commercial Street, and there are no ordinary residents around me. When my shop was renovated, I deliberately strengthened insect prevention and venttion, so it never disturbs people. In terms of family catteries, my shop is closer to a real family cattery, not those so-called family catteries hidden in residential areas.¡±

    ¡°Think about it, if you live next door to the cattery, every day when you open the door, cat hair and mosquitoes wille into the house, and every night you hear the cat¡¯s meowing from next door, what good impression will you have of the cattery?¡±

    ¡°Of course, you can¡¯t just kill everything with one blow. Is there anyone who rents a single vi to open a family cattery? Yes, definitely! However, don¡¯t forget that the purpose of opening a cattery is not to love cats, but to make money. To make money, you have to increase the output and reduce the expenditure. Not all catteries are willing to spend this kind of money. If my parents hadn¡¯t bought this shop early, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to afford the current house price. The cost is too high. ¡±

    When it came to the price of a house, everyone knew that the price of a house in the suburbs of the United States and a single vi in China could be ten times more than the price of a house in the same area.

    To put it bluntly, the domestic catteries in the United States were not suitable for China¡¯s national conditions. Only the Chinese police were easy to talk to. If it were the American police who would pull out their guns at the slightest disagreement, as long as the neighbors called the police to disturb the residents, all the catteries in residential areas would be killed.

    ¡°No wonder the cattery doesn¡¯t allow customers to visit the cats. There are so many tricks in there ¡­¡± The boy sighed.

    Zhang Zian shook his head.¡±You think that¡¯s all? No, this is just the beginning. ¡±

 Chapter 1812

    Chapter 1812: [Side Story] illusory character setting

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Consumers who wanted to buy cats in catteries often had the most puzzled and entangled problem. Most catteries did not allow visiting cats at home, and it seemed to have formed a strong seller¡¯s market. Not to mention visiting cats at home, if you didn¡¯t buy them, there would be arge number of people waiting in line for cats, even waiting for the next year.

    The earlier you paid the down payment, the earlier you would be able to choose the cats after the litter was born. Of course, you could choose the cats through video. If you were not satisfied with the cats in this litter, it was okay. You could continue to choose the next litter ¡­ It sounded very human, but it was equivalent to binding the person who paid the down payment forever. You couldn¡¯t just wait forever, could you? I¡¯ll wait until you¡¯re old, but you still haven¡¯t chosen the cat you like.

    If you don¡¯t get a cat that you¡¯re satisfied with, or if you regret it, then the deposit you pay will be in vain and can¡¯t be returned. Even if you hang yourself at the door of the cattery, you can¡¯t return it. You don¡¯t even know which way the door of the cattery will open, so in the end, you can only make do with it.

    Even with all kinds of inconveniences, there were still many people who chose to pay the deposit to buy cats in the cattery. In addition, with the public promotion that the Pet Shop = backyard, the cattery seemed to have be the only reasonable and legal channel to buy cats, which further consolidated the confidence of the cattery to refuse to visit the cat.

    ¡°Customers who have bought cats in our shop know that I have always emphasized that choosing a cat is choosing a character. Dogs have simr characters, and they are all loyal and clingy to their owners. However, cats have very different personalities. Cats from the same litter have different personalities. Some are lively and naughty, and some are shy and afraid of strangers. As for how lively and afraid they are, you will only understand after watching them up close. You can¡¯t see it in videos.¡± Zhang Zian said.

    ¡°But what¡¯s the real reason why the cattery refuses to visit the cats?¡± The boy¡¯s curiosity was piqued even more.¡±We could¡¯ve set up a special visitor room topletely separate the customers whoe to see the cats from the kittens. Why not do that?¡± he asked.

    ¡°When you think of a ¡®pet shop¡¯, whates to your mind? When you think of the cattery, whates to your mind?¡± Zhang Zian asked.

    He answered his own question.¡±When you think of a ¡®pet shop¡¯, you think of dirty, messy, bad, ck-hearted shopkeeper, unscrupulous cat dealer, and so on. When you think of a ¡®cattery¡¯, a beautiful picture appears in your mind ¡­¡±

    ¡°The young and beautiful female owner of the cattery waszily half-lying on the bed, reading a book in the sun. A few cats, big and small, were lying beside her. The adult cats were handsome and beautiful, and the kittens were obedient and cute. She held the book in one hand and gently stroked their fur with the other. When she was tired of reading, she asionally took a look at her phone and saw the message sent by the customer who had paid the deposit an hour ago. She tapped her Jade-like fingers and replied with a few words miserably, then threw the phone aside. Continue to enjoy thepany of the book and the cat ¡­¡±

    His exaggerated description amused several customers and staff.

    ¡°Why did such a scene appear in your minds?¡± Zhang Zian asked,¡±because you haven¡¯t seen the real situation, you can only imagine it based on your imagination. You know what a pet shop is like, so you can go to any pet shop. Some pet shops are indeed dirty and messy, and reality is never as good as imagination. It¡¯s like a Street full of girls wearing masks, and it seems that the average appearance has improved, because you will imagine that the girl¡¯s face is covered by a mask.¡±...

    ¡°If youe to the cattery and find that the female owner is actually a 40 ¨C 50 year old, ordinary-looking middle-aged woman, vulgar, hoarse voice, and has one or two big men working for her, wouldn¡¯t your fantasy be shattered?¡± Zhang Zian said half-jokingly.

    A joke was a joke, but the words were unreasonable. If you were to speak with your conscience, if you were to go to the market to buy vegetables, would you speak to a young beauty or an ordinary middle-aged woman in the same way?

    ¡°Back to the point. The cattery and the Pet Shop ovep. In order to make a difference, we have to put in some effort into the character design. For example, the cattery focuses on promoting free-range raising, and cage raising is one of the unforgivable sins of the Pet Shop. So, the beautiful picture just now will appear in your mind. You think that all the cats in the cattery are free-range as the cattery promoted, but that is the biggest mistake, and the most important reason why the cattery refuses to visit!¡±

    Zhang Zian looked around at the crowd.¡±I¡¯m not going to debate whether it¡¯s better to raise cats in cages or free-range cats. I¡¯m only going to analyze it from a scientific and logical point of view. Why is it so difficult to achieve free-range cat breeding?¡±

    When he first met the woman who promoted not to eat dog meat, he didn¡¯t argue about whether there were formal meat dog breeding farms in China. Instead, he analyzed why it was difficult to raise meat dogs on arge scale and why it was more profitable to raise pet dogs than to raise meat dogs. It was the same today. He put aside cage and free-range dogs and only talked about the difficulty of free-range raising.

    ¡°Many pet cats in families, whether they are bought or adopted, have been sterilized. Why? Aside from the benefits of sterilization, if the cat is not sterilized, it will also bring a lot of trouble to the owner. For example, the cat will change its behavior during estrus every month, which ismonly known as disturbing the cat. The female cat will scream all night, the male cat will spray urine everywhere ¡­¡±

    The bespectacled girl raised her hand and interrupted,¡±uh, my friend has a male cat. She said that it hasn¡¯t been sterilized, but she said that it has never been like what you just described ¡­ A cat that is noisy.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a good question,¡± Zhang Zian gave her a thumbs up.¡±She might be right. Her male cat wasn¡¯t sterilized, but it didn¡¯t cause any trouble either. The male cats of some of my customers and manyizens are the same. Why?¡± This is because male cats are different from female cats. Male cats are in heat passively. ¡±

    ¡°What is passive estrus? For example, a young monk grew up in a temple in the wilderness and has never seen a woman, so he won¡¯t be ¡­ In heat. ¡±

    Richard coughed a few times to express his objection, because it did not mean that he would not be interested in other monks ¡­

    Zhang Zian ignored it. ¡°It¡¯s the same for a male cat. If a male cat that has been raised at home since childhood has never seen a female cat or heard the call of the female cat in heat after it matures, it may not cause trouble for the cat for the rest of its life.¡±

    The bespectacled girl suddenly understood.

    ¡°However, the adult male cats in the cattery have not been sterilized and have all mated. It would be a lie to say that they have never seen a female cat. This means that they will definitely make trouble with cats, and frequently. Except in the hot summer, they will make trouble in the other three seasons.¡±

    ¡°They will urinate on the bed, sofa, floor, and cab in the cattery. They will be irritable and aggressive, and fight with other male cats for territory. Think about it, if the male cats are free-range in the house, can the house still be kept?¡±

 Chapter 1813

    Chapter 1813: [Side Story] the memory of the inte

    <strong>Trantor: </strong>549690339

    Any pet owner who had raised a male cat that met the three conditions of not being sterilized, in heat, and not being kept outdoors should know how annoying such a male cat was. Your house would be full of smells and urine stains, and the cat would pick up the urine in the corners that were difficult to clean.

    The urine of a male cat in heat was so pungent that no normal person could stand it. If he didn¡¯t keep it in a cage and let it pee in the cage, but peed everywhere in the house, the house would be filled with a sour and refreshing smell.

    There was more than one breeding zhongs in the cattery, so the consequences of keeping them indoors were obvious. Not to mention that they could fight. Wouldn¡¯t it hurt if their beautiful appearance, which was worth nearly 100000 Yuan, was damaged in the fight?

    If you want to refute this argument, you have to change the habits of cats in heat. But if you can change the habits of cats, why do you still open a cattery? Hurry up and go to Sweden to receive the Nobel Prize.

    ¡°But ¡­ Why didn¡¯t you just say it? Even if it was a male cat in heat, keeping it in a cage was not something to be ashamed of, right? Why did you have to lie and say that all the cats in the cattery are free-range?¡± The girl wearing sses didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry.

    ¡°Because it sounds good. There are two exnations. One is that all the cats in this cattery are free-range, and the other is that only kittens are free-range, and the nursing female cats are dependent on the situation, while the adult male cats are locked in cages. The former is a lie but sounds good, and thetter is the truth, but will the customers admit it? People always liked to hear nice words, just like why scumbags always had many girlfriends, even if nine out of ten sweet words from their mouths were fake, while honest people would be single for the rest of their lives. It¡¯s the same for catteries. Other catteries are all sweet-talking, but if you tell the truth to your customers, you can just wait to close down. ¡±

    It was not only the pet industry, but any industry was like this. When lying became the default rule, if you told the truth, then you would either be the target of all your peers, or wait to go bankrupt. It was that cruel.

    ¡°To think that I¡¯ve seen those catteries on Weibo. Whether it¡¯s pictures or videos, whether it¡¯s kittens or big cats, all of them are ying freely in the house ¡­¡± The girl wearing sses felt that her worldview had been hit.

    ¡°It¡¯s a pose, ssmate, it¡¯s a pose!¡±He said bitterly. Could it be that in this day and age, they couldn¡¯t even distinguish between posing and real life? When the male cat is done, it will either be thrown back into the cage or locked in a separate room. There is no way it will stay with other cats. ¡±

    ¡°As long as the customers don¡¯te to the door, the lie will never be exposed. It¡¯s easy for you to prove your innocence. Buy a few second-hand mobile phones and live stream 7 x 24 hours in the cat activity area without any blind spots. It won¡¯t invade your privacy and you don¡¯t have to y the sound. Just y the live stream and let everyone see if your cat is not in the cage 7 x 24 hours. A gentleman is magnanimous, there¡¯s nothing to hide. ¡±

    Even if there were catteries who had done live streaming, it was basically at a specific time period, no different from posing. There was no cattery who dared to y 7 x 24 hours live streaming with no dead angles. This was obviously a great opportunity for the top catteries to promote their catteries and further gather poprity, so why didn¡¯t anyone do it?...

    In fact, many catteries had their own difficulties. They also knew that cages were not evil and were necessary in many cases. However, if people in the same industry knew that you had a cage in your cattery, you would be dissed by your peers. Even if they dissed you for using cages secretly, as long as it was not exposed, you would still be a White Lotus.

    There were too many Chinese people, and they were too smart. In any profitable industry, the pressure ofpetition was like a Red Sea. Just look at the mobile phone industry. Mobile phone manufacturers called each other ¡°friends¡± affectionately on the surface, but in their hearts, they could not wait to burn and kill their ¡°friends¡± first. They would never let go of any opportunity to stab each other in the back. Friends were the ones who hated friends the most.

    Simrly, the catteries spared no effort in exposing each other¡¯s shorings and stabbing each other with knives. They even abandoned the false warmth of calling each other ¡°friendly merchants¡± on the surface.

    ¡°Of course, there are exceptions. If you rent or buy a vi to open a cattery, like the houses in the United States, and the vi has to be big enough to give each adult male cat a separate room, to give each breastfeeding female cat and its kittens a separate room, and the rest of the female cats and weaned kittens to share arger room, this is possible. This way, you don¡¯t have to keep the cats in cages, but the initial investment is veryrge. Even if you rent a vi, spending a few million in the first year is already considered a small amount. A cattery that can meet this standard ¡­ Will definitely be very few. ¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve done a lot of homework to find a proper cattery,¡±the girl with sses sighed.¡± It seems that I¡¯ve done it for nothing ¡­¡±

    ¡°Speaking of homework, there¡¯s a post on Tieba titled ¡®help, a deposit made five years ago. At that time, the cattery was small, and there was no such thing as a non-refundable deposit.''¡±

    Zhang Zian said. The post had left a deep impression on him.

    ¡°The poster might be a girl who said that in 2015, she paid a deposit of 1000 Yuan in a cattery. At that time, she also did her homework and thought that she had chosen a regr cattery. At that time, the cattery had not given birth to kittens, but the customers had to pay a deposit in advance ¡­ It was like asking the customers to buy a house before the foundation had been dug, and in the end, it became an unfinished building. In 2015, the cattery said that the price of a cat was about 8000 Yuan. At that time, there were no cats in the cattery. After a year or two, the cattery had cats, and the price rose to 16000 Yuan. Do you want to buy?¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t buy it, the 1000 Yuan down payment will go down the drain. I will never return it to you. If you buy it ¡­ Can you take this lying down?¡±

    The boy was indignant and stunned.¡±Raising the price on the spot? There¡¯s such an operation?¡±

    Zhang Zian nodded.¡±Yes, as you know, pet cats are priced ording to their quality. The problem is that when you pay the deposit and wait in line at the cattery, the kittens are often not born yet, so there is no way to set a price. When the kittens are born, what if the cattery offers a price that you can¡¯t afford? if you don¡¯t buy it, you will continue to line up like this girl for five years. What will you do when you see the price rise?¡±

    ¡°What about you? Other than postingints on Tieba, Douban, and Weibo like this girl did to carry out the so-called exposure, what else could he do? Do you think you can punish this cattery by exposing it and make it lose business? The memory of the inte is only 7 seconds!¡±

    Several customers couldn¡¯t help but feel discouraged. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack if they wanted to find a real cattery on Weibo instead of stepping into a trap. The problem was that they had to step into it to know if it was a trap or even a bottomless abyss.

 Chapter 1814: [Side Story] chain of contempt

    Chapter 1814: [Side Story] chain of contempt

    Several customers looked depressed because they felt that it was too difficult to buy a breed of cat that they liked, while the staff gloated at their misfortune.

    Zhang Zianforted her."There are real catteries. Of course, it''s hard to find one. I can give you a few hardware references."

    They listened curiously. After all, this was a reference from apetitor of the cattery. It was said that the person who knew you best was not your friend, but your enemy, right?

    Zhang Zian counted on his fingers."First of all, the cattery must be registered with the Industry and Commerce Bureau and must have a formal business license. You can choose not to register with the CFA, you can choose not to register with the TIA, but you must register with the Industry and Commerce Bureau. This is the basic condition for you to operate legally. Secondly, no matter if you are paying the deposit or the final payment, you can''t transfer the money to the other party''s personal WeChat ount. You must transfer the money to the other party''spany ount. Didn''t you register with the industrial andmercial Bureau? Then you must have a public ount. "

    "Once you meet these two conditions, let''s not talk about whether you can buy a satisfactory cat or whether there is a problem with the cat you buy. Once there is a trade dispute, you at least have a ce toin. But if it is a quality dispute, the Industry and Commerce Bureau can''t do anything about it. At most, they can control the situation of the cat being infected with diseases after bringing it home."

    "Third, if you live in a first-tier city like North China, you find a cattery in the same city, but the other party doesn''t let you in. Instead, they ask you to meet at a caf¨¦ near the cattery to discuss the details. You can take note that if the caf¨¦ you meet is within the Fifth Ring Road, you basically don''t expect the other party to raise cats in a single vi. 99% of the time, they will rent a house in a residential area. If you don''t care about this, then it doesn''t matter. "

    "The above three conditions are the hardware conditions, but even if they are met, it still can''t solve the problem of visiting the cat and the deposit. Some catteries allow you to visit the cat after paying the deposit, so try to choose such a cattery ... Of course, you can only guarantee that you can see the cat with your own eyes. The deposit will go to waste, or we can continue to wait. "

    "As long as you hand the deposit to the other party, it means that you have given up the right topare the goods with the other party. It can only be tied to the cattery that you have paid the deposit to. During the waiting period between paying the deposit and picking up the cat, if you meet another cat or hear about the dark history of this cattery and find that this cattery is not as formal as you think, or if your enthusiasm for raising cats has passed and you suddenly don''t want to raise cats anymore, it''s the most difficult time. The bigger the cattery, the more you y with futures. It''s normal to wait for a few months or half a year after paying the deposit. It''smon to wait for a year. "

    Although he was trying tofort them, the more they listened, the more discouraged they became. Why?

    The reason was simple. Theory was theory, but practical application was another matter.

    If the seller was strong enough, if you asked to see their business license or to make a public transfer, they couldpletely ignore you. It was up to you whether you wanted to buy it or not. If you didn''t buy it, there would be others who wanted to buy it. They might even scold you as "troublesome mother." What could you do?

    Nowadays, even if otakus went to the market to buy vegetables, they couldn''t haggle with the vegetable aunties. How could they negotiate with the customer service of the cattery who had met countless people? It was basically a suicide mission.

    Forget about the customer service of the cattery, even the customer service of Taobao, which sold ordinary goods, would still treat you like a grandfather before you paid the money, but would not bother to talk to you after you paid the money.

    Oh, if the Taobao customer service disdained you, you could at least give a bad review to vent your anger. The cattery doesn''t have a Taobao shop.

    On the other hand, no matter how much you criticized the Pet Shop, at least the Pet Shop had always paid for the cat. If there was no cat you liked in this shop, you could just leave and go to another shop. If there was a problem with the cat in this shop, as long as you signed the sales agreement, you could go to the shop and ask for justice. If the owner did not solve it for you, you could put up a banner, sit in front of the shop, or call the industrial andmercial Bureau or 12315, Maybe he could even send the owner to the 315 G next year.

    As for the cats themselves, most of the cats in the cattery were also secretly kept. A considerable number of cats in the cattery were not in heat naturally but were catalyzed by drugs. Some cattery even secretly bought kittens from pet shops or personal breeders and sold them to customers for several times the price. How would an ordinary consumer know?

    All the catteries would im that they fed the best cat food to the big and small cats, so the customers must also be well-fed. Then I would say that the cats in my shop grew up eating Dragon liver and Phoenix brain. Anyway, you can''te to my shop and I won''t do a live broadcast, so you can''t refute me.

    Every cattery would call themselves a regr cattery, and no one would stick the word "irregr" on their forehead.

    It was not something to be proud of, but the chaos was objective. The cattery and the Pet Shop were just the pot calling the kettle ck.

    Even if th

    e cattery originated from the United States ording to the definition of "backyard" for domestic catteries, there were many backyard catteries in the United States.

    Not only in the United States, but developed countries like the United Kingdom and Australia had catteries in their backyards that fit the definition. The moon in foreign countries was not always round. Even if you disliked domestic catteries and pet shops and went abroad to buy cats and bring them back, it might not be as you wished.

    "This world is full of chains of contempt."

    Zhang Zian suddenly changed the topic that he didn''t seem to want to do.

    "The top 2 students despise the 985 students, the 985 students despise the 211 students, the 211 students despise the students from both schools, the students from both schools despise the students from both schools ... And the top 2 students are despised by Harvard and Cambridge."

    "Those who watch youbuute despise Bilibili, those who watch Bilibili despise TikTok, and those who watch TikTok despise the fast-handed ... And those who watch Pornhub express that the above are all rubbish. You can even learn quantum physics and programming on Bilibili."

    "Those who watch English dramas despised those who watch American dramas, those who watch American dramas despised those who watch Japanese dramas, those who watch Japanese dramas despised those who watch Korean dramas, those who watch Korean dramas despised those who watch Hong Kong and Taiwan dramas ... And then, all of these were crushed by the anti-Japanese dramas."

    "People who promote ''adoption over purchase'' despise people who buy pedigree cats, people who buy cats in cattery despise people who buy cats in pet shops, and people who buy cats in pet shops despise people who buy cats in the flowers, birds, fish, and insect markets ... However, some beast King hunters are lucky enough to pick up Ragdoll cats, American Shorthair, and other pedigree cats while walking in the evening. They get pedigree cats without spending a single cent and can also enjoy the pleasure of saving stray cats. They can be called winners in life."

    "Those who make cat food for their cats every day despise those who feed their cats with imported cat food, those who feed imported cat food despise those who feed domestic cat food, and those who feed domestic cat food despise those who feed their cats with leftovers ... Not everyone has the money and time to make their own cat food or buy imported cat food. Are the poor not worthy of raising cats?"

    At first, everyone thought that Zhang Zian was talking about something irrelevant, but they slowly realized that that was not the case. And this topic ... Seemed to contain some deeper things.

    If you find that the subject of the essay is to write an 800-word essay about pets, and the topic is self-made, then you can write about pets for the whole essay. If you write well, you may get a high score, but if there is a full-score essay, the concept of the full-score essay must be based on the pet and higher than the pet. At the end of the essay, the theme must be sublimated, and it will cause more profound thinking. This way, you can get the favor of the grading teacher.

    "In life, everyone is part of the chain of contempt. If you despise others on this chain, others will despise you on another chain. Even if you are the leader of the country, you will still be despised by the leaders of other countries or the people of other countries. No one can escape from the chain of contempt."

    Zhang Zian looked at the girl in red again. She was finallypletely discouraged, because if there were fanatical propagandas of "adoption representatives buying" today, her so-called "cattery loves cats more" theory would still be despised in the eyes of others. People would say,"if you really love a cat, then adopt it."

    Then, would the people who promoted ''adoption over purchase'' be invincible?

    Of course not. Did he or she eat meat? Wear any clothes rted to animal products?

    As long as you eat meat, even if it''s eggs, even if there''s a strand of hair in your clothes thates from an animal, you''ll be despised by herbivores. Yingluo, you''re just adopting a few cats, what''s the big deal? How could a frog in the wellpare to the righteousness of environmental conservation? What''s the big deal with loving cats? We love nature!

    The moral of the cattery was a piece of sh * t in front of the adoption advocates, and the moral of the adoption advocates was a piece of sh * t in front of the vegetarian environmentalist. So, was the vegetarian environmentalist invincible?

    Not necessarily, you can''t stand on the moral high ground on every aspect.

    The truly invincible ones were the keyboard warriors on the inte. As long as they didn''t reveal their true identity or what they did in real life, they could look down on everything.

    Keyboard man graduated from the world''s top two University. He advocated nature and environmental protection. He picked up Ragdoll cats on a walk, made cat food every day, studied hard on the P site, watched anti-Japanese dramas in his spare time, and only went online to y withizens when he was really bored.

    "Both cattery and pet shop are only worthy of being at the bottom of the chain of contempt, but they still want to get rid of each other. From a higher point of view, isn''t it ridiculous? We''re from the same root, so why are we in such a hurry to kill each other?"

    This was Zhang Zian''s conclusion.

    Several customers, including the girl in red, and several shop assistants were all lost in thought. Everyone hadplicated feelings, as if they had just listened to a ss that seemed to be learning and debating on the surface, but wa

    s actually thinking about life.

    The cattery and the Pet Shop, these two enemies who despised each other, were just a small section of the longer chain of contempt. Even if they fought to determine the length and the height, what was the point?

    Do what you want to do, be responsible for your own choices, and don''t be bound by morality. No matter how hard you work, you will still be despised by people with higher morality.

    There was only one life. Since that was the case, why not just do as he pleased?

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    This time''s series hade to an end.

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